Panorama Vol. XVIII, No.5 (May 1966)

Media

Part of Panorama

Title: Panorama Vol. XVIII, No.5 (May 1966)
Issue Date: Vol. XVIII, No.5 (May 1966)
Year: 1966
Rights
extracted text: How the Bilger monorail will look as it passes in front of City Hall and Congress area, Manila. MAY 1966 75 Centavos THE PHILIPPINE MAGAZINE OF GOOD READING Special Subscription Offer PANORAMA is a magazine of carefully selected reading materials either original or adopted in whole or in part from local and foreign sources. Founded in 1936, PANORAMA is one of the oldest month-* ly publications in the Philippines today. For a limited time, we offer the following special subscrip* tion rates for new subscribers for PANORAMA: P 6.00 for one year P 10.00 for two years Send paper-money or money order by registered mail to;. COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC. Inverness St., Sta. Ana, Manila, Philippines MATURITY A certain degree of development prepares a man for the best work he is able to do. A certain amount of aging gives the good wine the flavor that enriches its taste. A certain stage of growth ripens the fruit making it fit for wholesome consumption. A certain length of time hardens the tree and prepares it for man’s valued uses. That level of progress at which man and other living organisms attain their highest value is maturity. Time alone does not produce it in human beings for while it assumes much of the responsibility for physical growth, it must be accompanied by other ingredients for the development of man’s mind and spirit. It cannot be brought about by pas sive waiting regardless of the number of years to be so spent. It may only be born out of strenuous efforts to improve one’s native strength and to expand the breadth of a latent vision. indolent mind does not mature. Neither is it aware of the shortcomings of immaturity. To be viable an immature society needs mature leaders. A mature society can be self-governing. It is not prone to adopt extreme measures. It is stable but not static. It is dynamic but not hasty. There is a middle stage between immaturity and ma turity in man and in society. It is a half-baked condition, neither childhood nor adulthood. It is the adolescent stage. It deserves the appellation of pretentious immaturity as con tradistinguished to childhood which is innocent immaturity. Adolescence is a dangerous stage. It demands much in the name of freedom without acceding to the positive restraints of responsibility. — V. G. S. ■ Reexamining the ties of friendship. THE FILIPINO-AMERICAN PROBLEM It may be pertinent to con sider the discussions on Viet nam and the Philippine role at the recent PhilippineAmerican Assembly held in Davao. Bearing in mind that this assembly made an effort at high level and serious de liberations, and that there were prominent delegates from both sides (further given importance by the pre sence of speakers like Wil liam Bundy, the US Far Eastern affairs Secretary, and our own secretary of foreign affairs) their viewpoints on Vietnam should be of in terest. It was of course im possible ’ to disregard the question of Vietnam in the talk? on Philippine-American relations,' particularly since the bill providing military aid to Vietnam had just created debates in the Senate then. Let us first turn to the final, official report as pub lished. On Philippine-Am erican relations since after 1946, the report states this backgrounder that traces some major causes of discord in Philippine-American rela tions: “In view of certain limitations on Philippine in dependence it was particu larly difficult to establish the reality of this independence and its credibility in the eyes of other nations, more particularly, in Asia. From the Philippine viewpoint, such credibility was further compromised by pressures exerted from time to time on Philippine policies and decisions in the international field.” On “special-relations” as a whole: “The relationship has become so burdened with slogans and cliches that mutual understanding is fre quently inhibited. It should be accepted that the two na tions approach situations from different premises. Fili pino traditions and perspec tive of shared problems and interests differ from those of Americans — and vice versa.” And on Philippine foreign 2 Panorama policy: "The Philippines should continue to seek and utilize, in terms of its in terests, the opportunities for greater cultural, educational, economic, and political co operation within Southeast Asia. The United States re cognizes the inherent and legitimate responsibility of the Philippines for its for eign relations. We urge the United States to accept the validity of Philippine re gional aspirations and, wher ever possible, to support Philippine initiatives along those lines.” On Vietnam specifically: “The Philippine recognizes that it too has an important stake in the outcome of the struggle in Vietnam. It is already making its own con tribution, together with ma ny , other , countries, and should decide, in terms of its own assessment of its interests, the timing, form, and extent of further participation.” These are the pertinent points regarding our policy in Vietnam that may serve as a guide for the present dis cussions. It should be noted that the above is the final consensus arrived at by the Filipino and American par ticipants, and not the opinions of the rightist or radical members, because in truth, there was a Filipino in our particular group who was for fighting in Vietnam, while there was an American who questioned the entire policy in Vietnam and lean ed to the minority “pullout of Vietnam movement” in the US. The Philippine-American Assembly consensus on Viet nam comes from participants who can hardly be consider ed communist-dupes or irres ponsible agitators; and yet the final report, despite wa tering down and diffusion by cushioning phrases, clear ly distinguishes the Philip pine from the American role in Vietnam; the least dis cernment will reveal where Philippine policy direction regarding Vietnam, stands. — Alfredo R. Roces in Manila Times, March 22, 1966. May 1966. 3 ■ These are ideas of a responsible college-educated Filipino woman on a question of international and national interest. HOW TO HELP VIETNAM I have listened to the doves and the hawks. I have made my own studies on the mat ter. I went to Vietnam very recently to see for myself the conditions there and to sound out for myself what the people there really want and really need. I came home with some distressing findings. What is at stake in Vietnam is not democracy. Democracy cannot be at stake where it has not taken root. A people that has no demo cratic tradition cannot fight for that cause. Neither, do the people there understand communism, they cannot be lieve in it, they cannot fight for it. What is happening there is the pitiful plight of a peo ple, just now awakening from centuries of darkness under a foreign rule, the same black night that engulfed us during the 300 years of Spa nish domination, just now coming to the realization that they as a people are entitled to their own little bit of ground under their own lit tle bit of sky, with a govern ment that is their own and responsive to the needs of their own people, but in the process of this search for their place in the family of nations, being caught up in the power struggle between the great powers which now refuse them the right of selfdetermination because these great powers want to preserve that little bit of sky for their own sphere of influence. This is the painful truth. The Vietnamese do not want the Russians, nor the Chi nese, nor the Americans. They just want to be left alone. • • • While in South Vietnam, I was informed that a popu larity poll among a cross section of the South Viet namese people on the coun tries there at present help ing the Vietnamese showed 4 Panorama the Philippines topping the list. The Americans are way down that list; this in spite of the fact that the United States has poured almost a quarter million men and bil lions of dollars into the Viet nam war; in fact is almost single-handedly carrying the burden of supporting both the Vietnamese government and the fight against the Viet Cong. This is hard to understand when we consider that against that quarter, million American and those billions of dollars, we have a contingent there of 69 army doctors and nurses un der an appropriation of one million pesos, and these doc tors and nurses have not suf fered any casualty in spite of the fact that they do not even have a security unit to guard them from the Viet Cong. • • • The favorite argument of those in favor of sending troops to Vietnam is the classic: When your neigh bor’s house is on fire, would you not help put out the fire? This is solid, irrefu table argument because it is really sentiment and emo tionalism, but it does not apply in the case of Viet nam. Vietnam is not a house on fire. It is a house divid ed; a house whose owner ship is under dispute be tween two groups of con tending brothers. The fight has become bloody, and fatal to many, but I maintain that we have no right to meddle in the same manner that when we have dispute in our own house, we would not want a neighbor to come barging in and helping one side. Let us be committed, as we are, unreservedly, wholeheartedly and without pretense to democracy, but let us grant other people the right to self-determination, as we claimed self-determi nation when 68 years ago, in Kawit, Cavite, we proclaim ed our right to be free and chose a government, repub lican in form, and a way of life that is democratic for our people and our country. The best we can do for Viet nam, the way the people of Vietnam want us to help, is to minister to their sick and their wounded. This we have been doing and this we should continue to do. In this manner, whichever side wins their fratricidal strife, May 1966 5 we are sure to preserve the goodwill of the winners and the gratitude of the survivors, for we did not participate in their family dispute. * « • But to pursue the argu ment further, granting that this sentiment is argument. Let us grant that our neigh bor’s house is on fire. Should we go barging in to shoot the arsonist? That would be taking the law in our own hands, a very anti-democratic precept. What we should do instead is again to help minister to the burned and the maimed, provide what we can spare in clothes and extra food, and in general help make life easier for the homeless family. While I maintain that the fight in Vietnam is not be tween communism and de mocracy, • I admit that the menace of communism is in separable from the Vietnam issue. And this, history, both distant and recent, has shown us: that communism thrives, regardless of the most repre sentative measure against it, where the economic wants of the people are unmet, where governments are not responsive to the needs of the people, where graft and corruption have eaten up the body politic to such an ex tent that no hope remains for the have-nots to improve their lot except by embracing an alien ideology that offers some hope, however un realizable and however dis tant. And this I believe. The place to fight communism for the Filipinos, is here on our own shores. Being a woman, I believe that we must put our own house in order before we should at tempt to put other people’s houses in order, granting that we have the right to do so. — Senator Eva EstradaKalaw, Speech at Filoil con vocation, April, 1966. Panorama ■ The views of an economics columnist of the mostwidely read newspaper in the Philippines. PROSPEROUS TAIWAN In a brief span of time, Taiwan, our neighbor in the north, has accomplished so much toward industrializa tion as to increase its per ca pita income to a level second only to Japan in the whole Far East. Almost every week there is a ground-breaking ceremony for a new indus trial plant. Occupying an area almost one third of Lu zon, Taiwan is now produ cing manufactured as well as agricultural products in amounts greater than the whole Philippines. How it could accomplish so much with its scanty resources has amazed many economic ob servers. Fathoming Taiwan’s suc cess may not prove as diffi cult as it appears. It is easily concievable that the secret for that success may be found in its internal stability and in the dedication of its people. It is also conceivable that there are many periphe ral factors that contribute to the creation of a wholesome business atmosphere. Among these are a hard currency, strict maintenance of peace and order, wise economic planning, sympathetic atti tude of the government, a corps of competent labor force, relatively honest public officials, and an open door to foreign investments. Placed beside Taiwan, the Philippines pales in signifi cance. That we are being outshone is perhaps largely our fault. We Filipinos don’t know what we exactly want. Having scanty funds with which to finance multi-mil lion dollar projects that would exploit and develop our natural and human re sources, we insist on placing all sorts of hurdles on the entry of these foreign invest ments on the fear that their migration to the islands might only impair our sove reignty but also displace our entrepreneurs and thereby make our people as just “mere water carriers.” In fact the attitude toward foreign investments has be come so envenomed as to May 1966 7 cause some of us to have un necessary trepidations, forget ting perhaps that the “gun boat” diplomacy of yore is no longer possible in a mo dern world. Mexico and In donesia nationalized their oil industries without endan gering their respective poli tical sovereignties. And Egypt seized all foreign holdings without earning armed repri sals for the governments of foreign investors. In today’s world, investors place their bets at their own risks. Be cause it is so, investors have lately become very discrimi nating; they only invest their funds abroad when expecta tions of profits are great. So what happens? Having no funds of our own, and because we placed all hur dles on the entry of those that have funds with which to harness and develop our re sources, we are placed in a position where we could not even put up an industrial plant to meet our own na tional requirements, let alone export to earn foreign ex change. But the harm in that policy is far more insidious than what appears on the surface. With an exploding population that we have, our young people will soon be come a social risk unless they are given employment. — By E. D. Ilustre in Manila Times, Apr. 29, 1966. PRODIGALITY Prodigality is the devil’s steward and pursebearer, ministering to all sorts of vice; and it is hard, if not impossible, for a prodigal person to be guilty of no other vice but prodigality. For men generally are prodigal because they are first intemperate, luxu rious, or ambitious. And these, we know, are vices too costly to be kept and maintained at an easy rate; they must have large pensions, and be fed with both hands, though the man that feeds them starves for his pains. — South. 6 PANORAMA ■ Situated so near the Philippines, Hongkong is known as the — SMUGGLERS' PARADISE It might surprise you to know that a former fishing village which could barely support a handful of inhabi tants has become one of the most important trading ports of the world — all in less than a hundred years. When the treaty of Nan king ended the Opium War between England and China in 1842, Hong Kong was ceded to the British as a war indemnity. The place used to be a notorious haunt for pirates. This British Crown colony is ten miles long and about four miles wide. Kow loon and other leased areas are 1 included in the name Hong Kong with a total area of 391 square miles. It is one of the largest and most beautiful natural harbors in the world. Once known as the “Gibraltar of the Orient,” the Washington conference in 1921 stopped its military development when the Uni ted States, Japan, and Great Britain agreed not to fortify any military or naval base in the Pacific. It was occu pied by the Japanese in Dec ember, 1941 and reoccupied by the British late in 1945. A large number of natives live in sampans, a kind of one-room house boat. This indigenous water population, together with the farm folk, forms a distinct and stable element in what is, as a whole, a fluctuating and changing native population. Residential homes dot the hillsides. These are the homes mostly of well-to-do Chinese businessmen. An other group of residential homes are found on the Peak, a valuable sanatorium for the white population, be cause the place is generally about eight degrees Fahren heit cooler than sea level. Since the city is crowded, it has to expand upwards, giving rise to the skyscrapers. I was surprised to see water drops in the crowded down town Hong Kong on a hot May 1966 9 day only to discover that they came from wet clothes hang ing from poles sticking out of the windows of tall build ings. A tourist cannot find an empty lot for laundry lines. The situation is des cribed as "too many people, and too little earth.” Cable cars going up to Vic toria Peak, tram cars, and double-decked buses serve the commuters pretty well even in the rush hours. Coolies pull their rickshas for some people who like to be transported alone. Rizal did not like the idea when he saw the Chinese coolies in Hong Kong working like draft animals for the reason that it lowers the dignity of man. The floating restaurants in Aberdeen are wonderful tourist attractions. Fishermen bring their catch from the sea fresh and alive into the glass tanks of the restaurant. People can choose what they like to eat — fish, squid, lob ster, crab and what have you. Your choice is scooped alive, and in a few minutes you have it steaming hot on your table. The Tiger Balm gardens is one of Hong Kong’s beauty spots which tourists go for. Typical Chinese plants, build ings, and artwork are found inside its wide compound. The picturesque Hong Kong waterfront is one of the most beautiful in Asia. This Crown colony is ad ministered by a governor as sisted by executive and legis lative councils. As a center of British commerce in the Orient, it is the meeting point of East and West, where Oriental merchandise are displayed side by side with the latest Paris fashion. It is the point of tranship ment from the closed interior of the Orient to the outside world, the springboard of commerce of goods sold, stor ed, and reloaded. Since Hong Kong is a free port, it has become the shop ping center of the Far East aside from Singapore. In re cent yeaio it has become the principal center of rice dis tribution in the world. Next to Java, it is the chief sugardistributing center and after Singapore, the chief tin mar ket in the Far East. It is also the chief center of Far East passenger service. About a third of China’s export and 10 Panorama import pass through Hong Kong. With the influx of refugees from the mainland, the five British and ten Chinese high schools are hardly enough to absorb the students. The University of Hong Kong, the only British institution of higher learning in the Far East, offers advanced instruc tion in most forms of Western science and learning. There are some vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong. I was surprised to see finelooking and dignified people entering in these eateries. One of my students informed me that there are some Chi nese sects who are strictly vegetarian. I believe that dishonesty is not the monopoly of a coun try. There is not so much of it in Japan, we are told, because the culprit’s finger would be one joint less for every offense. The neatly wrapped and stapled pair of pants I orderd from a Chi nese Hong Kong tailor was, lo and behold, not the kind I carefully selected when I opened it up in Manila. The tailor instinctively knew I was so in a hurry to catch my Manila-bound PAL plane that I would have no time to look it over. I took him for granted and I decided I won’t be gypped again. Why is Hong Kong called “The Smugglers’ Paradise?’’ Regular Hong Kong-Manila “commuters” are in the know, or are supposed to know. Along with the enor mous bulk of trade goods passing through this beauti ful British Crown colony are undoubtedly u n d ervalued, undeclared, and misdeclared items that find their way to other countries, the Phil ippines included. There is now no legitimate movement of opium in the colony, and yet we have dope addicts here who seem to have a steady supply of nar cotic and its several relatives. I have reasons to believe that the government "junketeers and vacationers” have their own vignette of Hong Kong. — By S. G. Miraflores in Manila Bulletin. May 1966 11 ■ What Australia produces could largely be grown and developed by the Filipinos if they really dedicate themselves to constructive work. AUSTRALIA AS FOOD PRODUCER Australia traditionally is one of the world’s greatest exporters of food. It has ex ported food products for more than a century. Austra lian dairy foods, eggs, fruit, honey and wine, as well as many other fine foods, are found on meal tables all around the world. Recent instances of how Australian food has caught on in various countries throughout the world are: In 1957 West Germany took only 365 644 cases of Australian apples. In 1965 this figure reached 2 million cases. Following a trial shipment of 300 cases of Australian oranges to France in 1964, that country bought 119,000 cases in 1965. In the two years to June 30, 1965, Japan has doubled its imports of Australian beef and veal and increased its purchases of Australian mutton fivefold. Greece, in the five years to 1964, increased its imports of Australian products — mostly food — from $A1,600,000 (P7,024,000) $A11,400,000 (P50.046.000). This increasing worldwide demand for food from Aus tralia is built on confidence — confidence in the consis tently high quality of Aus tralian food products, and in the strict system of govern ment inspection which en sures that the foods for ex port maintain Australia’s re putation as a food producer. Whether he buys frozen meat by the ton, or a single can of sun-ripened Austra lian fruit, the overseas cus tomer can be sure that every stage in its production was carried out with care and skill, backed by constant scientific research. In Australia’s m o d er n meatworks, for example meat intended for export is killed and processed in accordance with the religious belief of customers in export coun tries. A Mohammedan is re tained on the staff of meat 12 Panorama works from which meat is ex ported to countries of the Middle East. All meat in tended for these countries is killed by a qualified member of the faith. Australian exports of meat to the Middle East rose by 1,821 tons to 4,687 tons in 1964. A large proportion of this was boned meat, espe cially retail cuts — meat ex ported as retail cuts keeps better, packs better and sim plifies handling on arrival. Australia exports a total of 300,000 tons of meat a year either frozen, chilled or canned. A nationwide sys tem of government inspec tion ensures high standards, and the animals themselves are specially bred for meat production. The Australian Department of Primary In dustry maintains constant su pervision over all the export operations. Department ins pectors, working under the supervision of qualified ve terinary officers, thorougly inspect all animals, both be fore and after slaughter. Australian fruit and other foods for canning are picked at the peak of ripeness and processed immediately. Can neries are situated in the cen ter of growing areas to keep the delay between harvesting and canning to a minimum. Only the best quality, sunripened fruit is selected, and many varieties are specially grown for their suitability for canning. Australian can ned peaches, pears and pine apple are famous the world over. Australia’s dairy industry also has a world-wide repu tation. Each year it produces more than one thousand mil lion gallons of milk — some of which is used to make 200,000 tons of butter and 56,000 tons of cheese. Aus tralia leads the world in ma ny aspects of the modern pro cessing techniques used in her dairy foods industry. Australian butter, made from low-acidity cream for good keeping qualities, is processed in huge automa tically controlled stainless steel churns, each of 5,000 lb. capacity. The processes of washing, salting, cooling and wrapping the butter are also mechanized — Australian butter is untouched by hand throughout processing. Cheese making is an im portant part of the Austra lian dairy industry. Austra May 1966 13 lia exported 28,000 tons of cheese in 1963-64. More than 40 types of cheese are now made in Australia, but cheddar is still the most im portant cheese type. Australian wines have won many awards in international competitions, and because of the scientific controls, Aus tralia is now producing uni formly excellent wines, judg ed highly by world standards. Almost every type of wine, as well as brandy, is pro duced — totalling 35 million gallons a year. Only the finest wines are permitted to be exported, and Australian wine can be found in the cellars of wine lovers through out the world. As well as the traditional wines, Australia produces wines with a character all their own — a definite Aus tralian personality. In this, the wine industry has some thing in common with an other Australian industry — honey producing. — From The Manila Times, April 26, 1966. PREJUDICE A man who thinks he is guarding himself against 'prejudices by resisting the authority of others, leaves open every avenue to singularity, vanity, self-conceit, obstinacy, and many other vices, all tending to wrap the judgment, and prevent the natural operation of his faculties. We are not satisfied with our own opinions, whatever we may pretend, till they are ra tified and confirmed hy suffrage of the rest of man kind. We dispute and wrangle forever; we endeavor to get men to come to us when we do not go to them. — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 14 Panorama ■ These are ideas of a careful and courageous Fili pino thinker who writes a daily column in a welledited newspaper. PUBLIC A prominent person wrote the other day that in order for this country to get mov ing the people should repose trust in our public officials, or something to that effect. Aside from the patent fact that the idea is very old and stupefyingly unimaginative — because everybody is saying it and its wisdom as a prin ciple has long been complete ly accepted — it leaves a bit ter taste in the mouth if re peated over and over, in the face of the kalokohans we see roundabout us. Of course, there ought to be public trust in our offi cials. A government without that public trust will just disintegrate. It is said that in Britain there is plenty of public trust because it is an honor to be a public official there. To be a British pub lic official means great in tegrity, competence, unques tioned private honor, dedica tion and loyalty to high prin ciples — in a word, genuine exemplariness. TRUST? Now it is easy to preach to us common people that we must trust our public of ficials. We are willing to give that trust any time, but before we give it we have a few questions to ask. We may be common, but we are not stupid. When we talk about trust — whether it be trust in gov ernment or trust in an indi vidual person — is it not that trust must first be deserv ed before it can be given? Is it not that if trust is forced because of pressure brought to bear, it is meaningless? Like other good things, trust must be earned and, when earned, the means of earn ing it must still be examined before it can be judged to be deserved. If we use this rationale and accept it as our guide, do many of our public of ficials deserve public trust? When we read everyday about public officials being investigated for the accumu lation of easy wealth, when May 1966 15 we use public office to pro mote the interests of our fa mily and friends, when we disguise our hollowness and lack of integrity through “public relations” and adroit publicity, when we can turn about face and change our political party on a mere per sonal peeve, when public funds are wasted like water and we squeezes the people to keep paying their taxes religiously to support extra vagance and other brazen forms of saturnalia, when we use authority to persecute and bamboozle and harass — when we do these things, and more, how can you in the world generate public trust? What I am saying and re peating is that if the govern ment desires public support — a,nd thereby public confi dence — it must go into ho nes t-to-goodness reforms. Its officials must be exemplary. Many of our public officials never had it so good. The life of self-denial and thrift and self-effacement is a life despised. In its place is held aloft a life of garish show, the stress on facade, cheap publicity, the cornering of unusual .privileges, the abuse of authority, the feathering of the nest, and wrong ap pointments for important offices. Yes, indeed, I agree that we common people must shore up our government and officials with our un qualified trust, but the first move to merit that trust is clearly on the part of the government and the officials themselves. — Manila Bulle tin, Apr. 18/ 1966 by Rex D. Drilon. 16 Panorama ■ Society today is here pictured as honeycombed with dishonesty and mendacity. NO LOVE OF HONESTY Many authorities today speak of a "new morality." A professor at Northwestern University spoke of it as "the wholly new standards of honesty" that the world of mankind have adopted. He meant, of course, the new standards of dishonesty. “It has become the fashion", columnist Walter Lippmann wrote, "to expect cheating and to excuse a certain amount of it. ... The popular standards of mo rality today allow for much more dishonesty than they did some time back.” Oh, yes, truthfulness and honesty are still honored by many as the best policies, but in ac tual practice one finds lying, stealing and all kinds of cheating. Cheating at school, for ins tance is widespread. In one survey, 90 percent of the students in a Toronto, Ca nada, grade nine classroom condoned cheating. A recent survey at the University of Pennsylvania showed that 40 percent of the undergraduates admit to frequent cheating. But, then, young persons are taught from an early age to be dishonest. How so? The father who thinks no thing of cheating on his in come tax should not be sur prised if his son cheats at school. What of the driver who purposely breaks the speed law and who urges his children to keep an eye out for a possible police car in the rear? When someone knocks at the door and the mother tells her daughter to say she is not at home, she teaches her daughter to lie. So also does the mother who pretends she has a headache, to escape some obligation. Not surprisingly, at a meet ing of police authorities from three Scandinavian countries, the chief of police in Norway said: “During hearings of children I have met with situations where parents were lying just as May 1966 17 fast as the children." Where parents do not show a love for integrity, the children are often accomplished liars before they enter their teens. Lying by adults has per meated the way of life of mankind so that it becomes acceptable and expected in some cultures; hence parents need to watch that they do not "pick up” any popular custom of lying, thereby in fecting their children. In France it is accepted that people “arrange” problems, cooking up a story that they do not really expect the other person to believe, but one that justifies persons in au thority for letting others do what they want. “Tell him that your-grandmother died," says the book Souvenirs de la France. “He will know it’s a lie, but he’ll let you leave anyhow.” The “new morality” has no love for integrity. Small wonder, then, that truth hunting has become a big business! One company of fering lie detector service charges $50 a test and reports a yearly gross income of $135,000. Such firms thrive because so many have no love for the truth. Especially when it comes to money and material things do we find that the world has no love for honesty. Writer C. P. Snow has said: "We are more dishonest about money than our grand fathers were.” At least 75 percent of auto insurance complaints in the United States are reported to involve fraud! In the same country a man who found a huge sum of money returned it to the owners and was severely criticized by many for not having kept it. In England a report says that “one per son in every five indulges in shoplifting.” So serious is employee dis honesty in Canada that the president of the Retail Sales Audit Systems, Ltd., asserted: “There is no such thing as an honest person. There are only some more honest than others.” The Toronto ma nager of Pinkerton’s national detective agency claims em ployee stealing has increased steadily in Canada until losses total “at least $100 mil lion a year.” He adds: “In our investigations we’ve found, as an average, that one out of every three employees is basically dis honest — which means he 18 Panorama will seek ways of stealing; that one out of every three employees will be disho nest if given the opportu nity and the third em ployee is the only one who deserves the full trust of his employer.” In the United States em ployees are reported to steal from employers an average of $150 per person per year. A manager of a firm that sells insurance to protect against employee dishonesty reports that he bonds em ployees who are not criminal types but who are respected citizens — yet every working day of his life his company must pay out, because of em ployee dishonesty, an average of $8,000! He found out in a survey of 65 bank embez zlers that virtually every one was ,a respected pillar in his community and that most of them thought they were honest, regarding their dis honest activities as “borrow ing.” “We live in a corrupt so ciety,” declares another au thority on the "new moral ity,” one Saul Astor, president of a firm called Management Safeguards.. Inc., which in vestigates dishonesty in busi ness. In one case he found a New York City auto dealer losing $75,000 a year. An employee was believed res ponsible. “An employee?” asked Astor. “This dealer employed eighty men. Sixty were stealing from him. I’d like to say that this was a particularly corrupt organiza tion. But it isn’t .” According to his investi gation, moreover, there is no difference in the rate of dis honesty of men and women. “They steal with equal aban don.” he claims. “But women are more devious. They lie better. It’s harder to get a confession from them.” Though we do not expect to find love for rectitude among thugs, hoodlums and teen-age delinquents, where is the love of honesty among the well-to-do hotel guests who, during the first ten months of operation of New York’s new Americana Hotel, made off with 38,000 demitasse spoons, 18,000 towels, 355 silver coffee pots and 1,500 silver finger bowls, and 100 Bibles? And customs inspectors have found that prominent people, wealthy people, world-famous people, insist upon playing the game may 1966 19 of cheating, lying to customs inspectors. Yes, the whole fabric of the world is thread ed through and through with hypocritical speech, half truths, outright falsehoods, stained by all manner of dis honesty, on all social levels. Perhaps there is hope that the rising generation will stem the tide of dishonesty, you may say. But what about the youth of today who will be the men, women and lea ders of tomorrow? As we ob serve the young people of our time what promise do we find of a better, a more stable tomorrow? — From Awake, Oct. 1964. PRESIDENT MARCOS ON UNIVERSITY EDUCATION While it is true that we need more scientists and other experts in the practical fields, to transform a university into a school primarily for specialists is to violate the traditional idea of a university. . . Our universities should encourage freedom of mind, idiosyncracy, and originality of perception. — From a speech in F.E.U., May 12, 1966. 20 Panorama ■ An internationally famous writer tells us why he is not a pessimist. CONFESSION OF AN OPTIMIST My wife, my children, my friends tell me that I am an optimist. “Too much of an optimist” is what they say. “If you fell off a cliff,” one of them told me, “you’d be thinking that the bottom was cushioned, and until you landed you’d be quite se rene.” I am, I admit, an optimist; but I do not believe, like Vol taire’s Pangloss, that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. I know the horrors and difficulties of life: I have had my share of them. But I refuse to re gard humanity’s condition as terrible. .True, we are spin ning on a lump of dirt in il limitable space, without be ing too sure why; true, we will surely die. To me this is a set of facts, a situation to be accepted courageously. The only problem is: What can we do, and what ought we to do, while we are here? I am optimistic in the sense that I believe it is possible to better our own lives and, in a general way, humanity’s life. I believe that tremen dous progress has been made in this direction. Man has, to a large extent, overcome nature. His command of things is far greater than it used to be. The Pessimist replies: “Yes, but these mar velous inventions are used only for war, and humanity is on the road to self destruc tion.” I do not believe that this is necessarily so. It depends upon ourselves, and my opti mism is largely a product of my faith in human nature. I know that human nature also has its greatnesses. My natural reaction to a circumstance is to seek what good there may be in it ra ther than what evil it may bring. For example, let us say that I am ill and condem ned to a month in bed. The Pessimist would think: “What a disaster!” I am more likely to think, “What May 1966 21 luck! Of course it’s a nui sance, interfering with my work, and it may be painful; but 30 days of peace! At last I’m going to have time to think as much as I like.” That is the nature of my optimism. I believe that it has its origin in a happy childhood. I had the finest parents a boy could have; they always treated me with love and justice; and that gave me, in those first forma tive years, a robust confi dence in human nature. School might have marred my innocent faith, because children are only too willing to give one another a fore taste of harshness. But it was there, in my philosophy class, that I had the good fortune of meeting Alain, the great est of my teachers. He too was, reproached by some, as I am, for his “blind confi dence.” Alain and I after him pledged ourselves to be opti mists because if one does not adopt invincible optimism as a standard, pessimism will be justified. For despair engen ders misfortune and failure. If I believe that I am going to fall, I will fall. If I believe that there is nothing I can do about my country’s affairs, then there is nothing I can do. In the human tribe I make the fair weather and the tempest, primarily within my self. Pessimism is contagious. If I believe my neighbor to be dishonest and show my distrust, I make him distrust ful and dishonest. “Look here,” says the Pes simist. “Do you really be lieve that this confidence in mankind, in life, is wisdom? Hasn't it brought you some frightful disappointments?” Yes, I confess that I have had some great disappointments. These past ten years — parti cularly with the horrors of Nazism, with exile, my fami ly arrested, my home pil laged, with the dangerous defection of certain friends — have given me strong reason for doubting the perfection of this universe and the peo ple in it. But after all, I have always known that wicked people existed; I have always known that in times of disaster crowds can become stupid and bestial. My optimism consisted, and still consists, solely in this: I believe that we can have a certain in fluence upon events, and that 22 PANORAMA even if we must suffer mis fortune we can overcome it by our manner of enduring it. To love the fine people about me, to avoid the wick ed, to rejoice in good, endure evil — and to remember to forget: this is my optimism. It has helped me to live. — Condensed from Your Life by Andre Maurois. LIE DETECTOR TELLS ALL Along towards the end of the war, workers in a big war plant were submitted to routine detector examinations. One of the crucial questions was: “Have you taken anything that doesn’t belong to you out of the plant?” Almost to a man, the employees answered “no.” But the lie detector said otherwise. It showed that about two out of three were lying. A little further questioning showed why. There was a- shortage of toilet paper and Kleenex at the time, and workers were making up their home defi ciencies in those products by pilfering from the plant supply. When the lie detector experts explained that the question was aimed at thefts of secret govern ment items, the lines on the lie detector charts straightened out and there was no more difficulty about answering. But during the following month, consumption of Kleenex and toilet paper in the plant fell off so sharply that the saving in cost almost equaled the expense of the security tests. — Des Moines Regis ter and Tribune. May 1966 23 ■ The writer is a progressive Filipino woman. THE ROLE OF WOMEN AS PROFESSIONALS In the past three decades since the Filipino women acquired the right of suffrage, we have been faced with in creasing burdens demanding from us resolute and positive action. Today women must not only manage the home but also help support it. And in the competitive world in which we find ourselves, we have become so engrossed cutting a path to success that many of our loveliest tradi tions are being trampled or at least ignored in the rush. Daily the signs are growing more ominous that if we don’t watch out and temper our acts with the family ideal of devotion to virtue and to home, the 20th century race might turn us women into cold and calculating effi ciency machines! There is the ever present threat for women today to compete with men as if they were men and not ladies — and many believe that this is the root of many problems in our society today. As co partners of men we, too, are entitled to lead just as men are. But we must lead as women, and not as men — for we may be coequals, but certainly we are not identical. In the old days, women were the anchor and men the seafaring wanderers. To day there arb probably as many women as men who must leave the threshold of home to assume a profes sional role. Where there are male doctors, there are lady doctors. Where there are male lawyers, there are al most as many women lawyers. Where there are male en gineers there are female enginees — and the same goes for architects, dentists, busi ness administrators, c o mmerce graduates, journalists, musicians and other profes sionals. 24 PANORAMA The economic demands are such that women have had to leave their homes to help share in the economic burdens of the family. This is something that we cannot help if we are to adequately feed, clothe and educate our children. This being the case, the challenge is greater than it has ever been before for the women to remain professional ladies despite all the grow ing demands foisted upon them by the modern age. To be a professional lady is to be<a gentle and charm ing person. To be so, it is imperative to be humble and not vain. The advice of a psychologist to women who would crusade for a cause is: “Stay in the group. Main tain your ideals firmly but unobtrusively. By and by youi* quiet, constructive example and your wholesome influence will win supporters to your banner!” To be wise, a professional must draw from her vast store of learned facts com bined with her experience. She must use science to guide her in decision-making. She must use management methods to produce wise ac tion. Above all, she must learn to develop a keen knowledge of psychology to enable her to anticipate re actions to the things she says, the things she does, and the decisions she makes. Tact and understanding follow when one has become a good psychologist. Add to humility and res traint a wise and tactful con cern for the reactions of other people and you have all the ingredients to charm and wisdom. Fortify them with a big dose of character and you have not only a wo man but a lady — a profes sional lady. A lady of character is one who can firmly decline wrong-doing. She may not say a loud “no” but her acts in repudiating any injustice or dishonesty will make her meaning clear. — Louise Orendain. May 1966 25 ■ The U.S. Supreme Court is the model of the Phil ippine Supreme Court and its decisions guide the latter. THE SUPREME COURT RULES THAT - Year by year new problems of economic organization and business relationships, new ideas of social welfare, new clashes between wealth and government reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The mem bership of a body with such great power over the dev elopment of American socie ty is, therefore, most impor tant; the appointment of a new justice is an outstanding event. 'On Jan. 11, 1932, Oliver Wendell Holmes, for twenty-nine years a justice of the United States Supreme Court and recognized as the foremost living judge in the English-speaking world, re tired from the court. Two months later his place was taken by Benjamin N. Car dozo, chief judge of New York State and long consi dered the ablest American judge outside the Supreme Court. Decisions which divide the court are naturally the most interesting, but they form only a small part of its work. During the 1931-32 session, in the cases which were of suf ficient importance to receive full judicial opinions, the court divided in 26, but was unanimous in 129. Of the unanimous deci sions two settled long-stand ing doubts concerning the relations between the Pres ident and Congress. United States v. George Otis Smith construes the Senate rule on reconsideration of its confir mation of a Presidential ap pointment and holds the Sen ate cannot withdraw its con firmation after the President has been notified thereof and has issued a commission to the appointee. The Senate cannot change its mind even though the appointee’s initial policies arouse regret that he was confirmed. It is interest ing that the opinion was written by Justice Brandeis, who hardly shares Mr. Smith’s views on water-power problems. Edwards v. Uni 26 Panorama ted States held that the President can approve an act of Congress after Con gress adjourns, thereby reliev ing him from the annoying necessity of remaining at the Capitol to sign last-minute legislation before the close of a session. The bill becomes law if "he signs it within ten days; if he does not there is a pocket veto. Another controversy relat ed to the structure of govern ment. The re-apportionment of the national House of Re presentatives after the 1930 census changed the number of Representatives from many States and required new Con gressional districts. By the Constitution, “the Legisla ture” of each State is to re district it. In Minnesota, Missouri and New York the two i hous.es of legislators as sumed that they were “the Legislature” and dispensed with the Governor’s approval of redistricting. The Sup reme Court took the opposite view. Chief Justice Hughes says the meaning of “the Le gislature” in the Constitu tion varies according to the particular action contemplat ed. Mere consent to Con gressional acts like the ratifi cation of a constitutional amendment needs only the two houses, but redistricting resembles lawmaking and is, therefore, subject to the Gov ernor’s veto. This invalida tion of the New York redis tricting bill leaves the old districts unchanged, with two added Representatives to be elected at large. But in Min nesota and Missouri, where the representation is decreas ed, all the Congressmen had to be elected at large on Nov. 8. Blackmer, head of an oil company involved in the Teapot Dome scandals, left for France to avoid testify ing. Consequently, Senator Walsh of Montana obtained a statute making an American citizen residing abroad guilty of contempt if he disregard ed a court order to become a witness, expenses paid. His American property can be seized to pay the fine. Blackmer’s attack on the constitu tionality of this law has fail ed. Chief Justice Hughes holds the duty to testify in his country’s courts remains one of the obligations of a citizen wherever he lives. The exemption from State income taxes on copyright May 1966 27 royalties, which authors have enjoyed for several years, was abruptly ended by Fox Film Corporation v. Doyal. Chief Justice Hughes declared that neither copyrights nor pa tents were instrumentalities of the Federal Government untaxable by the States. By overruling a 1928 5-to-4 de cision exempting patent ro yalties from State taxes, the entire court has now adopted the view expressed by Justice Holmes’s dissenting opinion in the 1928 case. Dissenting opinions thus sometimes fore case the' law of the future. Regulation of billboard advertising is considerably strengthened by Packer Cor poration v. Utah. This held valid a Utah statute forbid ding tobacco advertising on billboards, placards and in street car?. Justice Brandeis quoted approvingly the dis tinction drawn by Judge Fol land of Utah between bill boards and advertisements in newspapers and magazines, which the statute permitted: Billboards, street-car signs and placards, and such, are in a class themselves.*** Advertisements of this sort are constantly before the eyes of observers on the streets and in the street cars, to be seen without the exercise of choice or volition on their part. Other forms of adver tising are ordinary seen as a matter of choice on the part of the observer.*** In the case of newspapers and ma gazines, there must be some seeking by the one who is to see and read the advertise ment. The radio can be turn ed off, but not so the bill board or street-car placard. The most discussed case of last session, New State Ice Company v. Liebmann, held invalid an Oklahoma statute declaring the manufacture, sale and distribution of ice to be a public business which should be carried on without a license, and provided that a license could be refused to a new ice dealer in a commu nity where existing business afforded adequate services. Justice Sutherland for the majority said that the ice business was not a public utility but was essentially pri vate, and could not be sin gled out from other enter prises for this drastic regula tion which was designed to protect consumers by pre venting impurity or extortion. This statute does not prevent 28 Panorama monopoly, but tends to fos ter it, and no question of conservation of natural re-1 sources was involved. The States could not push expe rimental legislation to the length of depriving citizens of the privilege of engaging in ordinary trades. The Chief Justice, Justices Van Devanter, McReynolds But ler and Roberts concurred Justices Brandeis and Stone dissented. Justice Cardozo did not participate. The dissenting opinion of Justice Brandeis dealt much less with legal precedents than wifh conditions in the ice business. He showed that duplication of plants and de livery service is wasteful and ultimately burdensome to consumers. The business needs protection from des tructive competition. In con cluding he said: “The peo ple of the United States are now confronted with an emer gency more serious than war. Misery is widespread, in a time, not of scarcity, but of overabundance.” Many per sons think that a main cause of this disaster is unbridled competition and insist there must be some form of eco nomic control. The only way to prove if this view be sound is to permit experi ments to be tried. In the exercise of its power to pre vent experiments, the court must be on its guard lest pre judices be erected into legal principles. — By Zechariah Chafee Jr., abstracted from Current History, ’33. May 1966 29 ■ An interesting case of what may be called com munity specialization in the Philippines. BICOL DANCING GIRLS AND PRIESTS Anyone who have ever taken the trip by car will have to agree that the 115 kilometers between Naga City (Camarines Sur) and Legazpi City (Albay) are among the most fascinating in the Philippines. There’s never a dull spot along the route, but in my book the first prize goes to this unique town called Polangui. This is be cause Polangui’s chief “ex port” is women. Go into any of the plush night-spots along the strip on Roxas blvd. in Manila, and you’ll find that not a few young ladies hail from Polangui. In Angeles, Pampan£a, Polangui is amply re presented. At the “Acacia” Club in Naga-only the other night, purely in the interest of statistical research of course, we polled the demure denizens of the dance floor and discovered that about 70 per cent of them or more hailed from Polangui. Make no mistake about it. The dance hostesses and bailarinas sent out by Polangui to spread cheer throughout the country are not fly-bynights. Their profession is a time-honored tradition of this municipality that dates back to the Spanish regime. • * * Even more interesting is the fact that the main head quarters of this feminine cot tage industry is a barrio about half a kilometer from the poblacion called “Ponso.” On May 27, Ponso and Po langui will celebrate the an nual fiesta in typical slam bang fashion. Last year, about 400 hostesses from all over this farflung republic “came home” to literally kick up their heels for two nights. A top band was im ported from, Manila to liven up this sort of busman’s ho liday. Do the townsfolk of Polan gui resent their “fame”? Not at all, I’m told. The free enterprise of their adven turous sisters and daughters is one of the community’s 30 Panorama major sources of income, for the girls dutifully send the profits home and.save up the rest towards the inevitable day when the bloom fades from the rose. The only possible object of resentment is the town of Donsol, Sorsogon (still in the Bicol Re gion), which offers stiff com petition to Polangui in the profession. But it seems there’s still enough business to go around. Polangui, incidentally, is one of the five towns iri the Third District of Rep. Jose fina Duran. But the lady solon is definitely NOT from Polangui. « • * Four kilometers from Po langui, on the other hand, is the town- of Oas. The mu nicipality of Oas has a dis tinction of its own — it ex ports Priests. Scores of priests throughout Bicol and the rest of Luzon come from Oas. In fact, when a baby boy is born, he is jokingly referred to as “another prospective Seminarian.” Equally intriguing is the town of Nabua. This muni cipality has for decades sup plied the United States Navy with Filipino seamen. Many of these US Navy Pinoys have already retired and returned to their hometown. As one speeds along the highway, he can pick out the neat and well-appointed residences of these “pensioners.” More over, the retired Navymen enjoy PX privileges at US commissaries and go as far away as Sangley Point and Subic Bay to procure the ne cessities — and perhaps a few “extras.” This is reflected in the fact that a bottle of good Scotch sells at about P16 on the sly in Nabua. This is known as spreading the benefits around. — By Maximo V. Soliven, Manila T imes. May 1966 31 ■ The tragedy’ of adolescence. CRIMINALITY AMONG YOUNG FILIPINOS A few days ago, newspapers reported in screaming head lines the tragic killing of Joselito Zuzuarragi, 17-yearold scion of a real estate mag nate in Quezon City. The victim, a high school stu dent at the Lyceum of the Philippines, was allegedly pistol-whipped and gunned down by 19-year old Grego rio “Butch” Belgica, himself the scion of a prominent banker. What made the kill ing more tragic however is that the victim and the al leged gunwielder were both young men, not past their twenties and the senselessness of the motive that led to the killing. Belgica, it seems, had sus pected Zuzuarragi of being among those who mauled him in a Roxas Boulevard nightspot sometime ago. From then on, he had har bored bad feelings against Zuzuarragi. and his friends that finally resulted in the latter’s death. Yet, Belgica is but one of the many wayward youths, who have in recent years, ac quired some sort of noto riety. There was Boy Porcuna, who before he too was gunned down by a rival gang, was a notorious underworld character. In Belgica s case, how he managed to stay out of jail despite the string of cases against him in courts is still a puzzle to most citizens. Even girls, surprisingly, are increasingly involved in crimes — an alarming mani festation of the growing “wildness” that is gripping our young people today. In Bacolod, for instance, ten persons, including three girls, were accused of mur der before the local city court. All were members of the dreaded “Manong Gang” in that city which police authorities said was responsi ble for the murder of Celso 32 Panorama Tan. A radio commentator, Tan had denounced the acti vities of the gang over the airlanes. This incurred the gang’s ire and last May 1, in the presence of his wife Tan was shot. The murder scene, a mere fifteen meters away from a police station, showed how bold the youthful crimi nals were. When these wayward youths do not kill, they com mit other crimes and mis chiefs. Still in Quezon city, four unidentified teenagers reportedly raped a 15-yearold girl inside the Kamuning Elementary school. The girl, news accounts said, had just come from the Kamuning Theater when the four ac costed her and brought her to the school where she was abused. Also in Quezon city, opera tives of the local CRUS AC (Crusade Against Crime) ar rested several drunken teen agers who have been molest ing girls when they come out of school at night. These teenagers, it is said, would scamper away and disappear when the girls shout for help. The discovery of their cave hideout near a creek finally led to their arrest. Indeed there seems to be an increase of teenage crime and hooliganism all over the country. In Pasay city, Mrs. Leonor Munoz, principal of the Jose Rizal Elementary school in that city decried the rash of mischiefs done to her school by teenage gangs ters living near the premises of the school. These teenage gangsters were reportedly des troying plants, equipments and even painting the walls with unprintable remarks. ■Of late, wayward girls have also figured prominently in police blotters. Some, for no reason than plain boredom, leave their homes “in search of adventure.” There was that daughter of a well-todo family who fled from her home because she had no thing to do. When found, she was working as a wait ress in an Olongapo bar. Yet, she did not even display the slightest sigh of remorse when confronted by her pa rents. A 13-year-old lass from Bulacan also disappeared but for another reason. Her fa ther had scolded her when he found out that she was pregnant and to a married man. May 1966 33 Never indeed have our young people been as “wild” as they are now. Rebellious, they leave their homes for no apparent reason. Or else, they hang around and get involved in all sorts of crimes and mischief. Gangs are formed and their rivalries often lead to senseless kill ings and brawls. Who is to blame for all these? Authorities, seeming ly helpless to cope with the situation, point to such fac tors as poor family upbring ing and the corroding in fluence pf the radio, televi sion and the cinema. Yet, "merely blaming pa rents” a local daily editorial ized, “the school, or church, the environmental factor which used to suffice as an explanation for youthful crimes, has lost its former meaning.. Some of the most vicious forms of youthful crimes today are committed by teenagers who have had all the advantages that a young person could hope for or that any parent could wish for his offspring. The ultimate blame, the editorial continued, lies inthe inadequacies of the law in dealing with habitual of fenders. The suspect in the above-mentioned killing (re ferring to the Belgica case) has been charged before in at least ten criminal cases ranging from assault to mur der. All these cases are still pending except one in which he was convicted of homi cide and which is now on ap peal. Obviously, the daily be lieves the rise of teenage crimes is due to the leniency of our courts. Ordinarily, the widest, most criminal-conscious teen agers should come from poor families. It is not often the case however. Scions of rich, prominent families are more often equated with teenage crimes and hooliganism. Why? Writing in the Reader’s Digest, Geoffrey Lucy offers a plausible explanation. Short working hours, he said, give more leisure,, and even adults have not learned to use it. Better nourishment means earlier puberty, result ing in adult sexuality in children immaturity. Longer dependence -on parents be cause of the need for higher education, boys explode into violence to prove that they 34 Panorama are grown-up. Some, unable to succeed in school with to day’s higher academic re quirements, seek status through hooliganism. Young sters can afford to buy mo. bility, and in towns distant from their homes, they feel free to behave more boldly infront of their neighbors. Whatever maybe the rea son for the upsurge of teen age crimes, one fact stands out. The situation has reach ed alarming proportions that may get out of hand unless something is done — and fast! — By David B. Ramos tin Manila Bulletin. PROCRASTINATION Procrastination is the thief of time; year after years it steals, till all are fled, and to the mercies of a moment leaves the vast concern of an eternal state. At thirty, man suspects himself a fool; knows it at forty, and reforms his plan; at fifty chides his in famous delay, pushes his prudent purpose to resolve; in all the magnanimity of thought, resolves, and re resolves, then dies the same. — Young. May 1966 35 ■ He gave up success and security in a big company, bought a country hotel by going into debt. He’s done so well in four years that security is catching up .with him again. FROM BIG BUSINESS TO SMALL SUCCESS The average U.S. business man is proudest of his suc cess if he has fought his way to the top in the rags-toriches tradition of Horatio Alger. But Eugene J. Ken ney is one successful busi nessman who doesn’t share that dre^m. In fact, he walk ed out on his own Horatio Alger performance around the beginning of the third act because he found it too boring. Kenney, found the main weakness in his plot to be too much security. So in 1944 he voluntarily gave up a big job and a big future in a big company. With his small savings plus a loan, he bought the business of a small country hotel and started out on his own. Kenney is worried once more about security catching up with him. A quick look at his books showed that business at the 25-room Ber nards Inn in Bernardsville, N.J. (pop.: 3,500) had been 20 per cent better in the first eight months of last year than it had ever been before in its history. At the same time, business at many other New Jersey hotels had slumped 60 per cent below 1948. Kenney is naturally pleased that he has been able to make a success of his new venture. But it bothers him a little bit, too. “My greatest am bition is not to make as much money as possible, but to try to live on $300 or $400 or maybe $1,000 a year,” he says. Kenney was getting $13,500 a year when he quit Stand ard-Vacuum Oil Co. in 1944. Then 39, he was the com pany’s assistant treasurer, had been offered the job of trea surer, and was sure of get ting a good pension when he retired at 58. 36 Panorama But none of this seemed to make Kenney really happy, so he traded it all for almost nothing. He knew “not a damn thing” about running a hotel. He had a wife and four children to feed. His $15,000 savings were not even enough to start out in the hotel business; he had to borrow $10 000 more. To top it all, the hotel was all but on the rocks when he took over. It looked as if Kenney now had all the in security he could possibly ask for. But at this point, Kenney really began to spend money. He redecorated the hotel, im proved the food, raised all his employees’ salaries, gave them Christmas bonuses. The money was well spent. Three years later, Kenney was, able to take up his op tion to buy the hotel build ing for $65,000, giving $20,000 cash towards its purchase. Besides that, he had spent $22,000, on repairs and rede coration and paid off $4,000 on his original note. In four and a half short years, Kenney had really lifted the Bernards Inn off the floor. For January, 1945, Kenney’s first month on the job, the inn’s gross sales were $4,684. In May of last year, they stood at $20,300. Yet during the interval, he raised his food prices only 16 per cent — far below the national average — his liquor prices 2 per cent, and his room rates not at all. At the same time, he quadrupled the number of employees (there are now 42 on the staff). What accounts for this tremendous success? “That’s an embarrassing question,” says Kenneyi, “because I don’t know.” But there is an ob vious reason: Kenney is a highly intelligent, competent businessman. He was gra duated from high school in his native Canada at the age of 14. Too young to go to college, he got a job at the Canadian Bank of Commerce at a salary of $300 a year. Three years later he was making $600 and was a teller. At 17, he got a job with Imperial Oil Co. at $25 a week. A year and a half later, Kenney found out that the man at the next desk had been with the company for 20 years and was making only $35 a week. So he quit and went to Syracuse, N.Y., where he got a job at $40 a May 1966 37 week with the Crown Oil Co. and married a local girl. To his wife’s “loyalty and encou ragement” he attributes much of his success. While working at Crown, he studied accounting. Re sult: At the age of 22, Ken ney was treasurer of Crown Oil Co. And he was getting a salary of only about $70 a week. (“My age had always been against me when it came to making a big sala ry-”) When Standard Oil Co. of New York bought Crown Oil in 1928 Kenney moved to the comptroller’s office in New York City. In 1934, the formation of Standard-Vacuum Oil Co. brought together Socony and Standard "Oil Co. (N.J.), Im perial’s parent company, to handle foreign marketing and storage, kenney picked to go with the new company thus finally had a service credit from Imperial, Crown, and Socony — a total of 21 years. “In spite of trying to evade security all my life,” he says, “I wras a victim of vicious cir cumstances.” By the time he was 28, Kenney was assistant secre tary of Standard-Vacuum. His main job was to help perfect the company’s pen sion plan. He became an ex pert in pension plans, was sent abroad to set them up in the company’s foreign subsidiaries and branches. The more he became ac quainted with pension plans, the less Kenney liked them in general. “Pension plans have a certain enervating quality —your future is all set, so why worry? “Pension plans are a tool of management which some companies use for rather sub versive ends — to make em ployees docile, prevent turn over. Too many companies try to buy their employees’ loyalty with pension plans instead of giving them more of a feeling that they are an important part of the setup. “I really feel that busi ness should constantly stress the dignity of the individual worker. “Workers are the same as bosses as far as I can see; they both wear pants and have arms and legs.” Right now, Kenney is try ing to find someone to take over more of the responsibi lity of running the Bernards Inn because “I don’t want 38 Panorama to be an innkeeper all my life.” He is by no means ready to give up the Bernards Inn. But if it ever offers too much security, his next step would probably be to seek greater insecurity on his 63acre Bucks County, Pennsyl vania farm. The idea ap peals to him mainly because he doesn’t know any more about farming now than he used to know about running a hotel. — Condensed from Business Week. PROFANITY Profanity is both an unreasonable and an un manly sin, a violation alike of good taste and good morals; an offense against both man and God. — Some sins are productive of temporary profit or plea sure; but profaneness is productive of nothing unless 'it be1 shame on earth, and damnation in hell. It is the most gratuitous of all kinds of wickedness — a sort of pepper-corn acknowledgment of the sove reignty of the devil over those who indulge it. — Tryon Edwards. May 1966 39 ■ Will the problem be solved by this method? SMUGGLING IN CAIRO Smuggling is also a head ache to the Egyptian author ities. In an effort to stop the illegal flow of luxury goods into the country, the govern ment appropriated 600,000 Egyptian pounds (or about P5,200,000) to import the goods itself and drive black marketeers out of business. Along Cairo streets, smug gled items are openly sold at exorbitant prices. Exported toothpaste, for instance, sells at the Philippine equivalent of P5.00 for an economy-size tube. Toilet soap, drip-dry shirts and fancy cuff-links bear impossibly high price tags. Still, many Egyptians buy * therrt because no luxury item can be bought in as a result of a ban imposed by President Nasser. The government has dis covered that most of the goods came from Libya, Le banon and Goza, a customfree zone for Palestinian tra ders. Contraband from other countries are shipped in as personal effects of incoming travelers. * ♦ # Anti-smuggling efforts pro duced no results. When spe cial police squads chased the vendors off Cairo’s sidewalks, the latter carried their illicit business elsewhere. Check points at the airports, rail road stationsi, ports and the Goza highway halted contra band traffic in these places, all right. But the smugglers lost no time in setting up a new supply route by camel caravans, across the western desert from Libya, and through the Nubian desert from Sudan. Accepting defeat, the gov ernment threw up its hands in virtual despair and said, in effect, "If we can’t fight ’em let’s join ’em.” Advo cates of the new government policy believe that by import ing luxury goods itself, it can share in the profits in volved and force the smug glers out of business. * * * 40 PANORAMA Among the items that can be legally brought in are cameras, watches, women’s underwear, toys, neckties, ci garette-lighters, fishing and camping equipment, tape re corders, French perfumes. Be cause of the chronic lack of hard currency, Egypt hopes to be able to pay for these with Egyptian products — mainly textiles and handi crafts. Two delegations are leaving for Europe to nego tiate the deals. The government is confi dent that once his new move is implemented, the problem of smuggling will be licked. But in the meanwhile, Egypt’s smugglers are mak ing the most of what little time they have left. Trad ing on banned commodities continues at a brisk pace along Cairo’s Azhar and other side streets. Economic crisis or no, lu xury-loving Egyptians feel they have a right to enjoy only the best things that the piastre can buy. • « « Travel notes: Hongkong authorities handle the inter national airport with such efficiency that incoming vi sitors are cleared in a matter of minutes. The flow of pe destrian traffic is laid out so that you have to be aw ful stupid to get lost. The airport premises has a scrub bed look and makes every Filipino visitor ashamed of the Manila International Air port. . . . I had a talk with a friend ly ricksha man at the HK ferry landing, and found that he makes as much as a taxi driver. HK$20 for a day’s work. Although social re formers have depicted him as a poor, downtrodden crea ture, the ricksha man is com pletely happy and adjusted to his chosen vocation. I asked if he wasn’t bothered by the fact that he was do ing the work of a beast of burden. He turned to me with a wide, superior grin: “Nosir, nosir — everytime man rides, I think he is car go, like pig. ...” — By Reu ben R. Canoy in The Philip pine Herald, May 7, 1966. May 1966 41 MUSICAL EDUCATION THRU CHORAL SINGING Choral singing is the most readily accessible form of musical initiation and should be much more widely used among young people. This was the conclusion of three distinguished composers — Zoltan Kodaly (Hungary), Luigi Dallapiccola (Italy) and Andre Jolivet (France) — speaking at a Forum on the Mtisical Education of Youth held at Unesco House last month. The Forum, which received financial as sistance from Unesco, was organized by the Interna tional Federation of Jeunesses Musicales as the crowning event of its 20th Anniversary Congress. Kodaly, recalling the crea tion of early musical educa tion programs in Budapest after the 1st World War, pointed out that several hun dred Hungarian schools now offer daily instruction in cho ral singing. Choral singing, he said is the most wide spread method — and one of the most rewarding ways — of attracting young people away from “worthless and possibly even harmful pas times.” "Records,” said Mr. Dalla piccola, “are an invaluable source of information” for the young music-lover. But they may also be “dangerous by pandering to laziness,” for the tendency today is to “con fuse culture with mere infor mation.” Citing the case of Hamburg, where, with a po pulation of 1;700,000, there are some 400 permanent cho ral groups, he urged his young listeners to “partici pate actively in music,” in particular through choral singing. Pointing to the need for training and employing in creasing numbers of music teachers, Andre Jolivet said that many young people he sitate to embark on careers in this field because there 42 Panorama are not enough good posts available. Yet, he said, tech nological society is creating a "formidable vacuum of un occupied time and energy” which must be filled by worthwhile distractions and not just by "pin-tables and fruit-machines.” Like Koda ly and Dallapiccola he stress ed the “exaltation” of choral singing, though he warned that it must be done well if it is to be done at all. The International Federa tion of Jeunesses Musicales has member organizations in 26 countries including Po land and the United States of America whose national musical youth groups joined at the 20th Congress. The Federation was one of the founding member organiza tions, with Unesco, of the In ternational Music Council. POWER Justice without power is inefficient; power with out justice is tyranny. Justice without power is op posed, because there are always wicked men. Power without justice is soon questioned. Justice and power must therefore be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just. — Pascal. May 1966 43 ■ He is a consummate artist as well as a man of cul ture and business. A VERSATILE ITALIAN TROUBADOUR The world acclaims him as “the troubadour from Italy,” who sings beautiful love songs to everyone, but to Elio Mauro, the singer himself, he could be many things at the same time and be equally good at each one of them. For instance, besides travel ling around the world all the time singing before elite crowds, he is also known as a champion car racer in Italy, a composer, a movie star, a painter, a writer and at one time, newspapers in Italy ro mantically linked him to a celebrated singing fan of his, actress Ava Gardner. “She used to invite me to her apartment regularly to sing for her, but I was terri bly young and shy then,” this visiting Italian balladeer told us between songs at the Nile where he is now under contract. Elio, at 31, has reaped enough acclaim to rank him among the world’s entertain ment celebrities today. Possessed with very hand some Gaelic features, the most prominent of which are a pair of sleepy and soulful eyes, Mauro at once generates a personality full of tender ness and warmth, so peculiar of artists preoccupied with the painful search of elusive beauty. “I was very young when I started out in the entertain ment world,” he recalled to us in richly Latin-accented English. “The German des troyed all our properties so I had to work,” he added. His father, a violinist, had seen in Elio great promise. He encouraged the young man to pursue his musical career. Forthwith, Elio took up piano lessons as well as guitar lessons, and was soon transposing musical pieces to suit his voice. At a very tender age, he joined a roadshow but he was disgusted when women Panorama members of the show shower ed him with too much affec tion. "They kept kissing me and I was terribly young and shy then,” he naughtily winked. Somehow, everywhere he went — Spain, Portugal, Northern Europe and Africa — there were good reviews about him. He also got im pressive patronage, like the Queen of Afghanistan and later, the First Lady of Italy itself. When Vittorio Gassman, Italy’s leading actor-director, needed someone to do a role for his stage presentation of "Irma La Douce,” Elio tried for it and made it. This launched his movie career. He has appeared and sang in about ten films, including the award-winning "Cabirian NigAts.” ' He composed the song for the film, “Rocco and His Brothers” which was shown all over the world. A true Italian with Gallic taste for art, he thinks Anna Magnanni is the greatest liv ing actress today, and Vit torio Gassman, the best ac tor. He has worked with Vis conti and Fellini and Vitto rio de Sica, and he knew Sophia Loren before Carlo Ponti discovered her. In fact, he said, she was originally engaged to a friend of his, a singer. Elio told us that he is now divorced but “very much on the look-out for a wife.” He was married once before to a very pretty Italian so cialite, whose father was a prominent figure in the enter tainment world. They have three children, all of whom live with his wife in their fashionable home in Rome. Elio himself was born in the suburb of Abbruzzo, which gave birth to other en tertainment celebrities like Vic Damone, Perry Como, Mario Lanza and the parents of Connie Francis. “Mario Lanza did not only have a great voice, he was a great person. He would sing to anyone, including the humble streetfolk when they asked him to sing,” Elio spoke of the late singer. Of his affair I’amour with the fiery American actress, Ava Gardner he said, “she is very beautiful. I kept dream ing of her. I was simply overwhelmed by her atten tion. When she was seeing me a lot, Dominguin, the May 1966 45 bullfighter came into the scene. I could have fought it out with him and would have profited from the pub licity, but as I said, I was ter ribly young and shy then,” Elio reminisced. When he is in Rome, he dabbles in business too. He imports and exports the most expensive variety of caviar. He has about 300 RCA re cordings and in Italy, his best-sellers are his “Faro” (lamp) songs. Among these songs is the popular “Ciao, Ciao, Bambino.” Only re cently, ,he made another RCA recording in the States. The series are entitled “Ita lian Troubadour Nos. 1, 2, and 3” and these make up a series of albums. Whenever he has the time after racing his AlphaRomeo car, he paints. He does portraits although he said, he liked painting clowns the most. Elio, who likes to mingle with the intellectuals, can hold his own on discussions of art, literature and life. He thinks that the Church (he is a Catholic) should adopt a more liberal view on mo rality and sex ("It is bad to be involved in obscurantism 4& like you seem to have a ten dency here”), and while he does not categorically endorse what we have known here as Marriage, Italian style (Elio said this is called Mar riage, Scandinavian style, in his country), he said young people should be openly edu cated on sex so they knew what to expect and do. It is bad to make a taboo of it, he said. As a reader, he is partial to Malaparte “because he thinks a lot” and finds that after reading one Moravia, “you know the rest because he repeats himself.” Elio said he liked it here because in this country peopie let you know if they liked you or didn’t. He said it was difficult if one didn’t know where one stood in public regard. Elio speaks six major lan guages. He has not been out side Manila, but hopes to see more of the country be fore he leaves. He finds lo cal girls very pretty. He plans to proceed to Australia and back to the States, possi bly Las Vegas. — From the Manila Bulletin, May 8, 1966, by Amelita Reysio-Cruz. PANORAMA ■ Speech delivered at the commencement exercises of the University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City, on April 16, 1966. ARE FILIPINOS ANTI-AMERICAN? Perhaps the most contro versial issue now facing the Filipino people and our government is whether or not we should send troops to South Vietnam. Many countries have al ready sent aid to South Viet nam, but in none of them has there been as much de bate and* discussion as in the Philippines. Both in and out of Congress, in the news papers and over the radio and television the pros and cons of the matter are being ventilated. It is only here that it can be said that the sending of troops or any other form of aid to South Vietnam will be the result of democratic processes. Aid to US There has been a lot of opposition to the adminis tration’s recommendation to send an engineer-battalion with adequate security to South Vietnam. Much of this opposition is rooted in a belief that it is really the United States and not South Vietnam that is interested in our government sending this kind of aid. The influence of this thinking has gone to the ex tent of making some oppo nents of the proposal call those who favor it as “pup pets” of the United States. It is felt that we are being used by the United States to improve the image of the Johnson administration at home and abroad by making it appear that the Vietnam struggle is not an American adventure but an Asian-sup ported war. Deteriorating relations What is the basis of this subconscious resistance, amounting even to antipathy, towards the United States? The Philippines and the Filipinos have been the best friends of the United States in this part of the world. The relationship of the two countries has for a long time been characterized as ”spe May 1966 47 cial.” There can be no doubt, however, that in re cent years there has been a growing deterioration of this special relationship. On Jan. 12, 1959, over seven years ago, Mr. Albino Z. SyCip, one of our most respected Filipino civic lea ders and bankers, in the in troduction to an article en titled "US Aid and Philip pines Claims," stated: “The marked deterioration in Philippine-American re lations has become widely recognized this year. “Friends in both countries as well as elsewhere are rightly concerned that this ominous situation may have serious consequences in Asia and other regions. “It is tragic to see the si tuation worsen — apparently without the parties concern ed realizing the full implica tions of deteriorating rela tions between the two coun tries.” The New York Times, in an editorial on Jan. 11, 1959, sounded the following warn ing: "The mills of the Gods and of foreign aid may grind slowly, but there are times when it would be advanta geous to us and our friends to speed their process. "We cannot afford to sacri fice because of simple iner tia or even the suspicion of indifference, any part of the massive reservoir of goodwill that we have been able to build up.” That was in 1959, but the situation has not materially changed since then. As a matter of fact, the “massive reservoir of goodwill” to wards the United States seems to be drying up, not only in the Philippines but in many parts of the world as well. Worldwide decay As early as 1962 and even much earlier, Canada, the next-door neighbor of the United States, became suspi cious of American invest ments in that country. The nationalist fears of the Ca nadians had been aroused by the massiveness of such investment), and sanctions were sought to limit or con trol the further entry of Am erican capital. To this time, economic a n, t i-Americanism still exists in a thinly-dis guised form in Canada. In Europe, France has as sumed an anti-American eco nomic and political posture. 48 Panorama Among other things, she has dissociated herself from the American position in Viet nam and her stand in cur rent discussions on world monetary reform has caused repercussions that for a time tended to weaken the United States dollar. She has also decided to pull out of NA TO. In Central America, the Dominican Republic still smarts from American “inter vention.” In Africa, mem bers of the Organization of African Unity strongly re sent the treatment of Negroes in the United States. If we turn to Asia, we have Japan, a major bene ficiary of United States aid, which harbors large groups that are strongly and articu lately anti-American. Among theih are the Japanese So cialist Party, and the Soka Gakkai, a militant nationalis tic Buddhist sect which is rapidly increasing in num bers and in activity in poli tics. To cap it all, in South Vietnam where the United States is spending millions of dollars and shedding the blood of American fighting men for the Vietnamese, these same Vietnamese and not the Viet Cong are rioting against the United States today. US aid to RP In the Philippines, the growing resentment of some people against the United States must appear as ingra titude of the Filipinos to those who do not see the complete picture of FilipinoAmerican relations in recent years. They cannot under stand the antipathy of many Filipinos in the face of Am erican help that has been ex tended to them. This failure to understand, however, is due to miscon ceptions on the nature and extent of so-called American aid. The Philippines may have received some money from the United States, but not all of this is “aid.” Let me quote former US Ambassador Charles E. Boh len in his speech before the Manila Lions Club on Feb. 12. 1958: “In order to avoid any misconceptions, however, I wish to emphasize that with the exception of the ICA program and the Military Assistance Program, these dollar receipts I have listed do not properly come under May 1966 49 the heading of aid. For ex ample, payments to Philip pine veterans constitute an honorable fulfillment of an obligation which the United States assumed towards those Filipinos who fought in or with our Armed Forces dur ing World War II. The $50 million which enter the Philippine economy from the operation of the United States bases represent pay ment for value received in the form of services or goods.” In an AP report from New York dated March 23, 1966, which was published in the Manila Times of March 24. Mr. David T. Sternberg, an American who resided for 26 years in the Philippines, was quoted. The news item reads as follows: ’"He ‘(Sternberg) said in the early years of the Phil ippine-American relation ship there were few com plex problems. American assistance for Filipino needs and aspirations paid off in gratitude and friend ship, upon which Ameri cans draw to this day. “The problem is, Stern berg said that we continue to draw upon it with too little conscious effort to keep it replenished! “The Filipino who has reached maturity since World War II has person ally experienced little, if any of the benign Ameri can presence of early years, he noted.” It is unfortunate that Mr. Sternberg is just a private citizen who has seen Ameri can attitude change in the Philippines, and his sympa thetic and understanding voice may be lost in the wil derness. What is now heard are pronouncements of of ficials who may not have the sympathy and understanding. Facing problems During the PhilippineAmerican Assembly held in Davao, from Feb. 23 to 26 of this year, an assembly or ganized presumably because of fear for the future of Philippine-American r e 1 ations, and attended by some 75 Filipinos and American leaders in the government and private sectors, no less than William Bundy, assis tant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs, put the fol lowing on record: 50 Panorama “The United States be lieves that in our econo mic cooperation planning we should look into the future rather than remi nisce or fret about the past. We are not, accord ingly, disposed to reopen questions long since closed, and involving events of over twenty years ago, re garding which the United States — on both the exe cutive and legislative sides of the government — feels in good conscience that it has fulfilled its obligations. On the other hand, we are quite prepared to look in to the possibilities of a more equitable adminis tration of benefits to Fili pino veterans of the Second World War; and for this purpose a Joint Commis sion is ,soon to be created which will seek to make unified recommendations to the President of the United States for his en dorsement to the United States Congress.” If this statement of Mr. Bundy is an expression of irreversible American policy, then may I say that it can not contribute in any man ner to soothe the ruffled RP-US relations. We cannot just forget valid questions simply because the United States unilaterally declares them as closed. Financial claims In April, 1956, President Ramon Magsaysay presented an aide memoire to US Secre tary of State John Foster Dulles on Philippine finan cial claims against the Uni ted States of a military and non-military nature. Pres ident Magsaysay requested their early payment, stress ing the significance of such settlement on PhilippineAmerican relations at the same time pointing out how it would materially assist the Philippines in implementing its economic development program. In 1950, the Economic Sur vey Mission to the Philip pines, appointed by the Pres ident of the United States, known as the Bell mission, after completing its survey, made an extensive report which, contained, among others, the following recom mendation: “Any further financial aid from the United States to the Philippines should be preceded by a settle, ment of outstanding finan Mav 1966 51 cial claims and the funding of maturing obligations. Such a definite settlement is necessary to place the financial relations between the government of the United States and the gov ernment of the Philippines on a basis in which it is recognized that obligations must be met promptly and and in full.” X XX “There are a number of financial claims between the two governments, some antedating the war, others growing out of the war. It is not desirable to have these unsettled claims ham pering close financial col laboration between the two countries. A joint com mission should be set up promptly to negotiate an agreement to cover the claims of each government against the other and to provide for a final settle in e n t. The agreement should specifically state that no further financial claims will be made by either government against the other for any alleged obligations incurred prior to the date of the agree ment.” This recommendation of an official US government mission is now more than 15 years old, and our claims have not yet been settled. Fifteen years ago, the crea tion of a joint commission was recommended to nego tiate and agree on the final settlement of these claims. But the United States has dilly-dallied in the formation of this joint commission. Instead, in 1959 some of our claims were unilaterally turned down by the United States, amounting to almost one billion pesos. It was only in 1964 that the US Pres ident, in a joint communique with the Philippine Pres ident, agreed to establish the joint commission, which the Bell Mission had recom mended in 1950 (or 14 years back) to negotiate and settle our claims. But until now, no such joint commission has been established, Mr. Bundy of the US state department promised in the Davao con ference last February that such commission “is soon to be created”. When will it be constituted? I understand our government is ready, but no concrete move towards 52 Panorama this direction has been taken in the United States. But what is irritating to the Filipinos, is that the United States has unilateral ly and by its own act alone rejected almost a billion pe sos of our claims and now considers claims as forever closed. We have other claims, for veterans benefits amounting to some three billion dollars and for other legal liabilities of the United States amount ing to about half a billion pesos. Prompt settlement If these claims had been settled promptly as recom mended by the Bell Mission, the funds proceeding from them could have been utiliz ed to promote our economic development. But instead of immediately settling these claims and paying to us what is legally due us, the United States has preferred to make us look like beggars solicitiing loans or aid from Am erica. And yet, this aid to a friend who stood by her dur ing the war, is but a drop in the bucket compared to what has been given to Tapan, who was an enemy in the war. Is it any wonder then that many Filipinos resent this “aid” that we get from the United States? Why does not the United States prompt-, ly settle our claims so that we can get what is really due us? Prompt Settlement If there is good faith, to settle those claims promptly, the United States could come to a compromise settlement with the Philippines doing away with technicalities of evidence. Whatever the va riance between the amount we claim and the amount the United States would ac knowledge as due in our fa vor why can’t we finish this long-pending problem by fixing a compromise amount that could be ’paid to us in full nal settlement of all these claims? A careful study of this agreement, entered into be tween the Philippines and the United States in 1947, will reveal the fact that it is more onerous than similar agreements of the United States with other countries. Under this treaty, there is a May 1966 53 greater surrender of sove reignty and freedom of action by the Philippines than by other countries with which the United States has similar agreements. As a consequence, it was agreed in July, 1956, to hold formal negotiations for the revision of certain aspects of the agreement, among them hieing the exercise of Philip pine sovereignty in the bases, the correlation of mutual de fense arrangements, the mo dernization of the - military base system, and the opera tion of the bases. The nego tiations were commenced on Aug. 13, 1956, but were sud denly terminated on Dec. 5. of the same year, when the chairman- of the American panel unilaterally announced his decision to declare an in finite recess, without even consulting the Philippine panel. Informal talks were subse quently held, and these talks led to, among other things, the flying of the Philippine flag beginning in the morn ing of May 4, 1957 in place of honor alongside the Am erican flag on bases operated by the United States in the Philippines. They also led to the relinquishment to the Philippines of the Port of Manila Reservation, also known as Manila Air Station, including all permanent im provements thereon, and its deactivation as a United States air force installation. Sub sequent negotiations led to the relinquishment to the agreement from 1958 to 1960. Among them was one which provided that the United States relinquish to the Philippines any and all rights to the use of 17 bases comprising 117,075 hectares which the United States did not need anymore. Anothe? memorandum of agreement provided for consultation be fore bases operated by the United States in the Philip pines could be used for com bat operations other than those conducted in accord ance with the Mutual De fense Treaty and the South east Asia Collective Defense Treaty, and before longrange missile sites could be established on said bases. Unfortunately, this agree ment has all but been ignor ed by the United States. This same Memorandum of Agreement reduced the duration of the 1947 Bases 54 Panorama Agreement from 99 to 25 years, subject to renewal. This period of 25 years will commence from "the date of signature of the formal do cuments giving effect to the agreement reached.” A pe riod of almost seven years has already elapsed without any formal agreement being signed! Criminal jurisdiction As a result of serious in cidents at Clark air force base and at Subic naval base where American armed forces personnel had shot and kill ed Filipino citizens who had allegedly committed certain offenses, the question of ju risdiction over those offenses came into the limelight. An ti-American demonstrations erupted at this time in pro test at the loss of Filipino lives. Negotiations were there fore held to review and to revise not only the article on criminal jurisdiction but such other provisions as are sources of irritants in the relations between the two countries. After a series of confer ences the article on criminal jurisdiction was finally revis ed by an exchange of notes on Aug. 10, 1965. This new arrangement was patterned after the NATO Status of Forces Formula. It provides for United States primary ju risdiction over American ser vicemen present in the Phil ippines in connection with the United States bases in the following cases: 1. 'Offenses arising from acts and commissions done in performance of official duty; 2. Offenses solely against the property or security of the United States; and 3. Offenses solely against the person or property of the United States. The Philippines has pri mary jurisdiction in all other cases, including offenses com mitted in United States bases. Each country has ex clusive jurisdiction regarding offenses punish under its own laws but not able under its own laws of the other coun try. Other problems There are still some prolems in connection with the military bases which provide irritants. Among them are tax-exemp tions on personally-owned motor vehicles and other per May 1966 55 sonal effects enjoyed by Am erican contractors and their employes who are American citizens, the continued dis posal in the local market by the United States authorities of surplus property which are tax-free, hence competing with local traders and pack aging industries; and the lack of agreement between the two countries governing the recruitment of Filipino labor for employment at United States military bases. As a matter of fact, Fili pino workers labor under handicaps in wage rates, re tirement fringe benefits, over time pay, job security and other related matters, not only in the Philippines but also in - Okinawa, Guam, Wake, and the Marianas. Negotiations for this purpose hav£ bogged down. This pro blem is potentially explosive considering that nationals of former efaemy countries seem to be favored over Fili pino workers. Finally, the Philippines had to take the stand that nuclear-powered vessels are not covered by the Military Bases Agreement and that they may not be allowed en try into Philippine waters except upon prior clearance by the Philippine Govern ment. The United States, however, has continued to bring these vessels without prior clearance. Major irritant From all the different cir cumstances, events and situa tions that I have mentioned, it is clear that the major irri tant that must subconscious ly cause resentment in the mind of the average Filipino is the manner in which the United States has treated the Philippines. The United States does not seem to re gard and to treat the Philip pines as an equal sovereign nation. Not only have we been dis criminated against in rela tion to Americans themselves but even in comparison with other countries, including those who fought the United States during the war while we stood by her. But worse than this, is that in her behavior towards us, she tends to create the image of a vassal for the Philip pines and gives justification to others to call us an Am erican puppet when we take a position identical to that 56 Panorama of the United States, even when that position has been taken on the basis of our own independent judgment. For instance, why are those supporting of our engineer construction battalion to South Vietnam often labelled as “American puppets”? I submit this was caused by the visits to the Philippines of US Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, with the impression that they came to “convince” our President to send troops to South Viet nam. The picture created was that we were being sub jected to pressure by the United States. We had re ceived the request for assis tance directly from the gov ernment of South Vietnam. Why coujd not the United States have left us alone, without making it appear that she was influencing our decision? Is it any wonder that many Filipinos react sharply and consider that the approval of the administration’s Viet nam bill would be a surren der of our own independence and subservience to the Uni ted States? Reorientation We are not anti-Americans. On the whole, our rela tions with the United States have produced beneficial ef fects for us, politically, eco nomically, culturally, and even militarily. This is why there is still a vast reservoir of goodwill in the hearts of Filipinos towards the Am ericans. But this reservoir of good will may dry up if not re plenished, because the Fili pino mind can see behind material benefits and know when he is being treated as a mere dependent. And this affront to Philippine sove reignty and dignity, if not stopped, could really make us anti-American. If this happens, it would be by the fault of Americans them selves. A reorientation in Philippine-Americans relations is called for. American pres tige and influence among de veloping countries and in the society of free nations could rise or fall according to the improvement or deterioration of these relations. In many respects, the Phil ippines and the United States still need each other. But May 1966 57 the only stable foundation of their relationship must be equal sovereignty and mutual respect. Only on this basis can mutual goodwill and friendship subsist and en dure. — By Senate President Arturo M. Tolentino. ANTIQUITY OF VILLAGE LIFE Man lived in permanent settlements in the Middle East 5,000 years before Abra ham, said an archeologist. He said recent excavations indicate man resided in per manent settlements even while still existing by hunt ing and gathering wild crops. The archeologist, Maurits van Loon of the University of Chicago, dug at Tell Mureyb'at, a 'large mount on the Euphrates river in Syria 200 miles from Damascus. He began his National Science Foundation — supported pro ject in 1964 to salvage some of the ancient remains threat ened by the Syrian govern ment’s plans for a 4 million dollar irrigation dam. “The archaeological evi dence examined to date in dicates that the village’s in habitants subsisted entirely on hunting and the harvest ing on wild crops,’’ Van Loon said. “The remains indicate the ancient Euphrateans’ first shelters were huts with clay floors and walls built over a frame of wood or reeds on stone foundations,’’ he said. “The rooms had no door ways, but between two pairs of rooms there were tiny peep-holes,” he said. "The houses were entered through the roof.” Van Loon dated the vil lage at about 9,500 years, or 4,500 years before the start of the bronze age and 6,300 before the iron age. 58 Panorama THE PARITY AMENDMENT AND VESTED INTERESTS The amendment to the Constitution of the Phil ippines giving American citizens and corporations the same rights as those granted by the Constitution to Filipinos over the nation’s natural resources and the ownership and operation of public utilities be gan in 1947 and will end on July 3, 1974. The time between these dates may indicate the period when such rights shall be acquired and ended or it may refer only to the time such rights should be acquired. If it refers simply to the time of the acquisition of the rights under discussion, it is possible, if not al together certain, that once acquired they will re main in existence even after the stated date as long as they do not change hands. This condition is what some people consider as creating vested rights. If, on the other hand, the time between the two dates refers to the period within which the acquisi tion and enjoyment of the rights shall take place, then the occurrence of July 3, 1974, will have the effept of ending both the possession and exercise of the rights acquired before that date. No American, in this second case, may therefore lawfully claim continuance of the rights he has acquired before that date on the theory of acquired vested rights. The question then that arises is: Which of these two alternatives was contemplated by the Amend ment? The Amendment does not expressly state which one. This being the case, we need to look into the purpose and reason of the Amendment or to resort to analogous cases or similar situations MAY 1966 59 found in the Constitution and to legal principles ge nerally accepted in both countries, the United States and the Philippines. But before going further, it seems pertinent to determine the nature of what is understood as vested rights. The legal meaning of this term is stated in Webster’s New International Dictionary (2nd ed.) which is: A right “that has become a complete and consummated right; that has taken effect aS an im mediate right to present or future enjoyment.” One may ask if it was the intention of the Phil ippine Congress that approved the proposal of the so-called Parity Amendment and of the people who ratified it as part of the Constitution to give these extraordinary rights the quality of permanency once acquired during the period from March 11, 1947, to July 3, 1974. If so then those rights become vested rights to be enjoyed not only during that period but for all the years following July 3, 1974. The inten tion of the Congress acting as a constituent assembly in this case and of the Filipino people approving or ratifying the amendment, particularly the latter, are the controlling factors that serve as guides in determining the Amendment’s meaning and scope. No other party, government, or state has any right and business to insist that its voice be given supe rior authority in the solution of this particular prob lem. The concession of the so-called Parity rights to aliens (in this case the Americans) was no mpfe than an act of forced generosity exacted by a strtmg government from a people helpless and prostrate after over three years of enemy occupation — a peo ple under an administration so weak that it readi ly agreed to surrender the sovereign authority of the Republic over the nation’s Constitution because it was not willing to suffer standing on its own feet. 60 Panorama The Amendment was naturally and readily ac cepted by the American government without any condition other than the payment of a sum of mo ney which that government deemed sufficient to en able Filipinos to rebuild some homes and factories destroyed principally by its armed forces and to re deem the lost prestige of the United States in Asia. That is the reason and purpose of the Parity Amend ment. Professor Frank H. Golay of Cornell Univer sity referred to this amendment and the Philippine Trade Act as “blatant infringements on Philippine sovereignty.” And he added that the impact of American investments the Parity Amendment was expected to generate failed to materialize. He wrote this in 1961. The absurdity and unfairness of an interpreta tion that reads into rights acquired under the Amendment the character of vested rights becomes obvious when we consider that under it the acqui sition of natural resources or franchises by Ameri can citizens one day or one week before July 3, 1974, may become a vested right. As a matter of fact, the vested rights theory may start at this late hour — eight years before July 3, 1974 — the filing of many application^ for ownership of public land and other natural resources. If on the other hand, this theory is not upheld — as it surely should not be upheld — then some one will have to stand accused of misleading Americans into investing funds which they could have used for other purposes. Further more, the resulting situation may give rise to unne cessary misunderstandings between two good friends. This must, of course, be avoided. Let it not be forgotten that the so-called Parity Amendment is part of the Constitution and as such must be expected to follow the expression of other parts of that document affecting the maintenance of rights acquired before the occurence of certain May 1966 61 events. To illustrate this point, the following provi sions of Article XIII, parts of Sections 1 and 3, are here reproduced as follows: “Section 1. All agricultural, timber, and mine ral lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State, and their disposi tion, exploitation, development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to cor porations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any existing right, grant, lease, or con cession at the time of the inauguration of the Gov ernment established under this Constitution.” “Section 3. The Congress of the Philippines may determine by law the size of private agricultural land which individuals, corporations, or associations may acquire and hold, subject to rights existing prior to the enactment of such law.” The terms of the Parity Amendment do not in clude a reservation of rights acquired under it be fore Jyly 3, 1974. The amendment is completely silent on this subject. When Section 1 of Article XIII, as reproduced above, - declares that the disposition, exploitation, development or utilization of all lands of the public domain and all other natural resources as the ex clusive property of the state and that their use or enjoyment shall be limited to Philippine citizens and corporations, it expressly states that these provisions on these subjects shall be “subject to any existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time oythe inauguration oj the Government established/under this Constitution” These words express a recogni tion of rights vested before the effectivity of the Constitution and existing before the date of the inauguration of the new Government. 62 Panorama Again when Section 3 of Article XIII authorizes Congress to determine by law the size, of private agricultural land for individuals and corporations, it expressly adds “subject to rights existing prior to the enactment of such law.” This simply signifies that Congress may not change the size of private agricultural land as it existed before the passage of any law on the subject. This again shows that the recognition of vested rights must be expressed, not implied. But there are other difficulties that need to be overcome by the proponents of vested rights. They are raised by the following questions: Is the prin ciple of vested rights applicable in the relation be tween the state and private parties in the absence of any concession by the former? May private per sons bind the state to respect their claim to pro perty belonging to the state such as lands of the public domain and natural resources? These que ries call for a negative answer, otherwise prescrip tion against the state may be claimed. But thifi is not legally permissible. And vested rights have fun damentally similar effects as prescriptive rights. The rights granted to Americans by the Parity Amendment have a time limit. To continue the ex ploitation and utilization after the deadline of July 3*, 197'4, will be to ignore this limit. To consider these rights as vested ones is to change the plain intention of the law. It is to claim the operation of acquisitive prescription on the basis of their enjoy ment for various periods of time from one day to 28 years. It would also amount to a unilateral de cision on renewal of rights after the date of their expiration as originally agreed upon by the parties concerned. Any attempt in favor of such stand would be absurd and unfair for it could only be based on an erroneous conception of the scope of the Amendment extracted from a weak people, who May 1966 63 were made to part with a portion of their -sovereign rights and, consequently, their self-respect in their time of need. More than that, it would amount to a revival of colonialism, a condition which the Ame rican government has consistently claimed as abhor rent to its ideals and principles. — By V. G. Sinco PRESIDENT MARCOS ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS In his address before the Philconsa on May 14, 1966, President Marcos expressed himself in favor of a Constitutional convention to amend or revise the present Constitution. He said that the process of changing a constitution is more technical than political and so the choice of delegates should be on a non-partisan basis. President Marcos is right. It is therefore obvious that the delegates to the cons titutional convention should have the technical qua lifications to do the work of revising so important a document. The technical skill is not meant to be mere knowledge of our Constitution and cons titutional law of the superficial and uncritical kind. It is not confined to legal knowledge but should in clude a good acquaintance with the political be havior, the social attitudes, and the educational and economic problems of the Filipino nation. For the constitution is not just a purely legal plan: it is also a political, social, and economic charter of a basic character. — V. G. S. 64 Panorama Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Communications BUREAU OF POSTS Manila SWORN STATEMENT (Required by Act 2580) The undersigned, (Mr.) LOPE 'ARCEGA, business manager, of PANORAMA, published monthly, in English, at Community Publishers, Inc., Sta. Ana, Manila, after having been duly sworn in accord ance with law, hereby submits the following statement of ownership, management, circulation, etc., which is required by Act 2580, as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 201: Name Address Editor ARTURO G. SINCO .... Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, ManilaBusiness Manager LOPE ARCEGA .......................Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, Manila Owner Community Publishers, Inc. Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, Manila Publisher C. P. I............................... Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, Manila Printer C. P. I...................................Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, Manila Office of Publication C. P. I.........Invernes cor. A. de las Alas, Manila If publication is owned by a corporation, stockholders owning one per cent or more of the total amount of stocks: VICENTE G. SINCO SOFIA S. SINCO ARTURO G. SINCO LEANDRO G. SINCO SYLVIA G. SINCO Bondholders, mortgages, or other security holders owning one per cent or more of total amount of security: In case of daily publication, average number of copies printed and circulated of each issue during the preceding month of .............. 19... 1. Sent to paid subscribers ................................................ 21. Sent1 to others than paid subscribers ......................... T o t a 1 ........................................................... In case of publication other than daily, total number of copies printed and circulated of the last issue dated March 1966. 1. Sent to paid subscribers .................................... 500 cps. 2. Sent to others than paid subscribers ............. 200 cps. Total ............................................... 700 cps. LOPE ARCEGA Business Manager SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 5th day of April, 1966, at Manila, the affiant exhibiting his Residence Certificate No. A-234979 issued at Manila, on January 24, 1966. LUIS F. TOLENTINO {Officer Administering Oath) NOTE: This form is exempt from the payment of documentary stamp tax. ACT 2580 REQUIRES THAT THIS SWORN STATEMENT BE FILED WITH THE BUREAU OF POSTS ON APRIL 1 AND OCTOBER 1 OF EACH YEAR. Contents Maturity ..................................................................................... 1 The Filipino-American. Problem ................................................. 2 How to Help Vietnam ............................................................... 4 Prosperous Taiwan ......................................................................... 7 Smugglers' Paradise ....................................................................... 9 Australia as Food Producer ........................................................ 12 Public Trust? ................................................................................... 15 No Love of Honesty ............................................................... 17 Confession of an Optimist ................................... 21 The Role of Women as Professionals .................................. 24 The Supreme Court Rules That — . .................................. 26 Bicol Dancing Girls and Priests . ......................................... 30 Criminality Among Young Filipinos ....................................... 32 From Big Business to Small Success .................................... 36 Smuggling in Cairo .................................. 40 Musical Education Thru Choral Singing ............................. 4£ A Versatile Italian Troubadour .............................................. 44 Are Filipinos Anti-American? ................................... 47 Antiquity of Village Life ........................................................... 58 The Parity Amendment and Vested Interests....................... 69