The Republic

Media

Part of The Republic

Title: The Republic
Issue Date: Volume I (No. 2) 1-15 October 1975
Year: 1975
Language: English
Rights
extracted text: THE REPUBLIC Isang bansa, Isang diwa For Peopli Public Servici 1-15 October. 1975 President Marcos announces massive housecleaning of the government bureaucracy during the celebration of the third anniversary of martial law (September 19). Outithe unfit and the corrupt NEW APPOINTEES PRESIDENT MARCOS has appointed several replacements for those whose resignations were accepted: □ National Administration Ad ministrator Alfredo Juinio as secretary of the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications; □ Finance Undersecretary Alfredo Pio de Roda as acting commissioner of Customs; □ Dean Jaime S. Lay a as Budget Commissioner; □ Associate Justice Francisco S. Tantuico of the Court of Appeals as chairman of the Commission on Audit; □ Associate Justice Efren 1. Plana as acting commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; □ Godofredo Asuncion as officer in-charge of the Board of Transportation; □ Ceferino Carreon as acting direc tor of the Bureau of Telecommunica tions; and □ Joven Villanos as officer-incharge of the Board of Power and Waterworks. THE MOMENT OF TRUTH came to 2,000 government officials and men, including six cabinet members, one un dersecretary and 10 other ranking offi cials on Sept. 19, two days before the third anniversary of the New Society. In his Report to the Nation at the Rizal Park, President Marcos announced a sweeping overhaul of the government machinery. It was the second big purge since martial law was declared on Sep tember 21, 1972. The current revamp in the govern ment was not a spur-of-the-moment de cision. It took its initial toll in the re lief of 99 city and municipal judges last month. And on Sept. 11, his 58th birthday, the President had announced the renewed drive against venalities and backsliding among government officials and employees. In a strongly-worded Letter of Ins tructions, he said that no less than a broad sweep was needed to check mis conduct in the government and to re store the declining public confidence in public office.Targets of the Presidential directive were those guilty of conspicu ous spending, unexplained wealth, in competence and those involved in graft and corruption. A Presidential commit tee had been created to receive recom mendations from the bureaucracy, on behalf of the President. Based on the rec ommendations, cases of those guilty were thoroughly evaluated. To start off the massive house cleaning, the President accepted the re signations of the following: Audit Commissioner Ismael Mathay Sr. and his three sons; Revenue Com missioner Misael Vera; Customs Commis sioner Rolando Geotina; Defense Under secretary Manuel Salientes and other ranking officials under his command; Public Works, Transportation and Com munications Secretary David M. Consunji; Public Works Director Desiderio Anolin; the whole force of the Board of Transportation which includes BOT Chairman Cesar S. de Guzman; Land Transportation Commissioner Romeo Edu; Bureau of Telecommunications Director Pedro Villasenor; Public High ways Secretary Baltazar Aquino; all commissioners of the Civil Service Com mission, with the exception of the new ly-appointed CSC Chairman Jacobo Clave; and Securities and Exchange Com missioner Arcadio Yabyabin. (Con’t. on page 16) Focus on land reform 2 Justice for the poor 3 New decrees 4 Free industrial skills 5 The bloodless revolution 6 How to keep prices down 7 Special section 8 Peace in the Middle East 9 Primer: RP-US relations 10 Artists in government 11 Work of a manager 12 Interview 13 Viewpoints 14 2 1-15 October, 1975 THE REPUBLIC EFFORTS to institute land reform be fore the declaration of martial law had been mainly ineffective or merely palliative. Technical difficulties, stiff opposition from landlords and an in different Congress conspired to make land reform a convenient political slogan rather than a reality. Despite the passage of the Agrarian Reform Code, no qualitative change took place in the landlord-tenant rela tionship. Rental was credited as amorti zation only in cases where the land was expropriated or redeemed by the lessee. Full implementation of land reform was further hindered by lack of financial backing and by legal obstruction from big landowners who controlled political and economic power. At one fell swoop, these obstacles were removed by the declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972. In proclaiming it, the President pointed <■; that for “martial law to be of any to*the* people and the nation, to justify the national discipline, [it] should inaugurate a movement for great, perhaps even drastic reforms in all spheres of national life.” President Marcos made land reform the “cornerstone of the New Society.” The first decrees he issued were amend ments to the Agrarian Reform Code. Presidential Decree No. 2, issued five days after martial law, proclaimed the entire country a land-reform area and committed the entire government machinery to its speedy implementation. (In the past, land reform was applied only to selected areas, depending on the urgency of the needs of each local ity.) The decree stressed the importance of accelerating the Agrarian Reform Program and the need to achieve “dig nified existence for the small farmers free from pernicious institutional re straints and practices which have not only retarded the agricultural develop ment of the country but have also produced widespread discontent and unrest among our farmers.” The Tenant Emancipation Decree (Presidential Decree No. 27) was signed on October 21, 1972. Written in the President’s own hand, it liberated the tenants from bondage to the soil by transferring to them the ownership of the land they till and it provided for the instruments and mechanics for their acquisition. The tenant suddenly became land owner. The decree allows him to acquire five hectares of agricultural (rice and corn) land if the area is not irrigated and three hectares if irrigated. The farmer pays the cost of the land with a predetermined portion of his farm yield. The amortization extends up to 15 years in 15 equal installments, including a yearly interest of six percent. The right to buy is extended to all sharecroppers in privately owned farmland devoted primarily to rice and corn, whether classified as landed estate or not. The value of the land (the amount the tenant would pay) is equivalent to two-and-a-half times the average harvest of three normal crop years immediately before the promulgation of the decree. To get his land title, the tenant must first become a full-fledged member of a recognized farmers’ cooperative. Unless he meets this requirement, no title will be issued. This is important because if the tenant fails to pay the amortizations, these shall be assumed by his cooperative, which shall have a right of recourse against him. The tenant may not sell the land he acquires. He cannot transfer the title of ownership except by hereditary succession or to the government. In short, the onl^ persons who.can gaip or, inherit ownership of the land are tljq tenant’s heirs. Benefits extended to landowners Although land reform is basically for the benefit of the landless farmer, the landowner has also been given full consideration. The emancipation decree allows the landowner to retain an area of not more than seven hectares if he has been cultivating such an area or will cultivate it. Government financing is also extended to landowners who wish to go into other lines of business. To insure that the landlord gets paid for the land he has sold to his tenant, the government guarantees the tenant’s amortizations with shares of stock in government-owned or controlled cor porations. “OPERATION LAND TRANSFER” Land reform is directed to the transfer of landownership to tenant tillers as envisaged by Presidential Decree No. 27. This aspect of the program covers tenanted areas, landed estates, old settlements and proposed settle ments. To realize the objective of the decree, an implementation program has been launched by the Department of Agrarian Reform. Called “Operation Land Transfer,” it transfers ownership of land from the landlord to the tenant tiller. It is programmed in such a way that Certificates of Land Transfer, show ing the change of status of the farmer from tenant-leaseholder to that of an amortizing landowner, shall have been issued to all tenant-tillers-some one million of them covering 1,767 million hectares of palay and corn lands-by the end of Fiscal Year 1977. In November 1972 a pilot “Opera tion Land Transfer” was launched in Nueva Ecija, and thereafter in selected towns in Isabela, Bulacan, Laguna, Camarines Sur and Iloilo. The operation was first directed at landed estates of 100 hectares and above, then at estates of 50 hectares. On October 3, 1973, estates of 24 hectares and above were also covered. And on November 16, 1974, the President authorized the breaking up of landholdings of more than seven hectares up to 24 hectares. The President’s decision to begin with the big landholdings gave time to small landowners to make economic adjustments before their lands are trans ferred to their tenants. This strategy humanizes the impact of the Land Transfer Program on those who may be adversely affected and thus prevents another social tension like the one that provoked the agrarian unrest. Seventynine percent of the landowners own seven hectares or less, and they accoui|t for 32 percent or the total farm area. MAJOR REFORM PROGRAMS The objectives of agrarian reform are embodied in major programs that provide the tenant-farmer beneficiaries with support facilities, institutions and services. These programs are: land-tenure development, institutional development, physical development, farm manage ment, and training. Land-tenure development. This legal process converts the farmer’s land-tenure status from tenant to owner. The process includes legal service, farmer identifica tion, sketching of farmholdings, land allocation and titling. In addition, the Bureau of Farm Management of the Department of Agrarian Reform is involved in the establishment of farm organizations to facilitate increased productivity and modernize agriculture. This shall be undertaken in four stages: □ Family farm. Under the leasehold relationship, the farmer is assisted within the scope of individual holdings, enabling him to pay the lease rental due the landowner. □ Compact farming. This is the stage where the spirit of bayanihan, or working together and know-how in production are ingrained among the farmers. The farmers are encouraged to pool their lands with adjoining farmers and treat the resultant merger as a single unit. A single farm plan is drawn up and the farmers continue to work on their holdings individually, although when feasible, farm work is done col lectively. By 1975 some 4,000 compact farms, each covering an area of twoand-a-half hectares, are scheduled to be set up in Central Luzon. □ Cooperative farm. After the farm er has become full owner, it may be effective toconsolidate his farm into a cooperative, thus expanding the scope of the farming operation and making the enterprise viable. The cooperative be comes a plantation-type of agriculture under a single management, although the farmers continue to retain ownership of their landholdings. Farm mechaniza tion and crop specialization are the major features of a cooperative farm. □ Agro-industrial estate. As the cooperative farmers acquire technological skill and managerial capabilities, proces sing facilities for farm products are introduced. This transforms the coope rative farm into an integrated agro industrial estate, with the tenant-tiller retaining full control of the enterprise. If necessary, professional management is engaged. Institutional development. To en able the farmer, (now owner) t£ in crease his income, rural-based institu tions are established and developed to serve and protect his interest as producer, businessman and consumer. These institutions are: □ Cooperatives, which serve as conduits for services needed by the farmers, foremost of which are farm credit, marketing service and extension services. These services even guarantee the farmer’s amortizations on the land should it suffer crop damage by force majeure. The Department of Local Gov ernment and Community Development. (DLGCD) implements the cooperatives development program. The base of the cooperatives system is the barrio association (samahang nayon), organized at the barrio level. The barrio association is a nonstock or ganization registered with the DLGCD’s Bureau of Cooperatives. □ Farm credit enables the fanners to procure inputs needed in agricultural production. Loans are made available to them both by the private sector through the rural banks and by the government through the Agricultural Credit Administration. The Philippine National Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines provide supple mentary credit for other agricultural purposes. Physical development. The program provides for the infrastructures to im prove the fanner’s productivity. These include building of farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems, water supply, housing, electrification, schoolbuildings, bridges and other farm facilities. The Depart ment of Agrarian Reform coordinates with the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communication and the armed forces through its engineering battalions. THE REPUBLIC The Nati< 1-15 October, 1975 3 A SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD man suddenly found himself being driven out of the land where he has spent most of his life. He claims that a “rich and in fluential person” had accused him of trespassing. Now, the only recourse is for him to leave the property or face prosecution. "Hindi ko naiintindihan," the old man grumbled as he presented his plight before Attorney Pedro Dinglasan of the Citizens' Legal Aid Off ice (CLAO) "Aug a lam ko akin a ng lupangyaon na namana ko pa sa aking magulang," lie explained with tears streaming down his face. He truly believes he has a right to the property but he said he could not fight it out: he could not afford to file a legal suit. In another case, a 17-year old Cebuano claims he has been framed in a rape case and would be jailed if he cannot prove his innocence. How can he, he said, when he hardly can buy a single meal? Both men represent the typical poor of the country, and arc illiterates besides. “They do not know much of the law. much less their right to free access to the courts.” says CLAO’s Officer-in-charge. Oscar Ontimare. CLAO observes its third anniversary on October 23, marked with solid ac complishments that in the words of Ontimare himself means “legal service that is not one of charity but is one where clients were made to know they are entitled to the services as a matter of constitutional right.” CLAO was organized by the Depart ment of Justice in 1972 under the integrated rcorganizuition plan of the government in its effort “to maximize its assistance to the poor and needy.” In liis message to CLAO on its first anniversary. President Marcos himself explained it was his principal motivation in signing Letter of Implementation no. 4 to give substance to the mandate that the “free access to the courts shall not be denied to any person for reason of poverty.” To avail of the services of CLAO lawyers, the prospective litigants must be legally declared an indigent through a certification of indigency by the social welfare office. Otherwise, lie must show a valid income tax return from the revenue commission. His indigency is determined by Republic Act (>035 passed by the defunct Congress which stated: “lndigents are anyone who have no visible means of support, or whose income do not exceed P300 a month or even if in excess of P300 is in sufficient to the subsistence of their family.” The number of an indigent's dependents is also taken into account. According to Ontimare, CLAO lawyers handle all kinds of cases except labor and agrarian problems which go to the labor and agrarian reform departments. Ontimare emphasized that CLAO lawyers handle their cases like any non government lawyer, “with the same passion and involvement” even if they arc not retained by the clients but paid by the government on a salary basis. CLAO lawyers do not get attorney's fees. “They do not get special considera tions from the courts,” he said. “I gi with the presumption that a CLAO lawyer can do a better job than a counsel de officio.” “Perhaps CLAO lawyers do even more. We encourage them to be more emotionally involved with the cases to the extent that the law allows,” avers Dinglasan, who is the chief of CLAO’S field services division. This division supervises personnel activities in CLAO’S regional offices and 46 districts for the proper implementation of legal assist ance. Elucidating, Dinglasan says that emotional involvement means “more patience than what ordinary lawyers would demonstrate if he were not with CLAO. CLAO lawyers generally have a soft spot in their hearts for the poor. They have a personality that must be service-oriented. CLAO cannot afford highly sophisticated lawyers. You know, those who arc rich generally cannot un derstand the poor. That's how we get in volved ... in a very special way.” he explained. Dinglasan notes with satisfaction that his lawyers realize they are in the job out of a sense of duty “though (hey The gavel of justice: speaking out for the poor. Bringing justice to the poor may not he as highly paid as other lawyers.” A CLAO lawyer’s pay range is from P700 to P900 monthly, often without transportation and food allow ances attendant to handling a case. “But championing the cause of the poor is enough gratification for, them,” lie said. The concept of free legal aid is not new. Some private groups initialed it long before CLAO did. But the govern ment realizes there is a disparity in the concept of social justice in theory and practice. That a man cannot even exercise his right of counsel is not social justice, Ontimare said. “Our purpose is not so much to acquit or prosecute but to protect one of man's most important rights: the right to counsel.” Bringing this concept down to the people inspired the creation of CLAO, according to Ontimare. “It is a fact that while our courts are open to all in theory, they arc. in reality, virtually closed to the people who do not have the .money to pay for the services of a competent counsel and are often victimized by unscrupulous shysters,” according to Ontimare. “Consequently, many people, es pecially in the rural areas, believe that justice is only for the rich and woe unto the poor man.” CLAO is the first official govern ment body to venture into fulltime, free legal aid. There are other govern ment units such as the Manila City hall, the assistance units of the Depart ment of Public Information (Malacanang), and the military. CLAO has gone into arrangement with the Commission on Elections in which COMELEC law yers, in areas where there are no CLAO citizen's attorneys, would handle cases referred by CLAO. A similar arrange ment has been made with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. CLAO’s 97 lawyers face an average of 1,200 cases monthly. Of these, only about 800 or 60 percent is terminated, causing a considerable backlog. Dinglasan noted that CLAO needs more lawyers. CLAO has regional offices in Manila; San Hernando, La union; Tugucgarao, Cagayan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Pasig. Rizal; Legaspi, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Davao cities, and district offices scat tered all over the country. The best way to get in touch with CLAO lawyers is to write the regional offices listed as follows: 1. Central Office/Oscar Ontimare. Officer in Charge/Annex.Depl— Justice, Padre Faura St., Manila 2. Regional Office I/Director Consejo Lagmay-Nalupta/Room 313 Mar cos Building, San Fernando. La Union 3. Regional Office 2/Jose Halili, Acting Regional Director/C.ourts Com pound. Tuguegarao, Cagayan 4. Regional Office 3/Lu/ Paguio. Regional Direc tor/Diocese of San Fer nando Bldg., Hizon St.. San Fernando. Pampanga 5. Regional Office 4/Ramon Gabo). Acting Regional Dircctor/Groundllixn. E. Rodrigue/. Jr. Bldg. Provincial Capitol. Pasig, Rizal 6. Regional Office 5/Quirino Cas telo, Acting Regional Dircctor/Provincial Capitol, Legaspi City 7. Regional Office 6/Napoleon Pagtanac. Acting Regional Director/Aurora Apts.. Aurora Subdivision. Gen. Luna St.. Iloilo City 8. Regional Office 7/lsaac dcla Vic toria, . Acting Regional Director,'3rd Floor,J.B. Ibanez Bldg., Osmena Blvd.. Cebu City 9. Regional Office 8/Antonio Ro que, Acting Regional Dircctor/2nd Floor, DBP Bldg.,Tacloban City 10. Regional Office 9/Juanito Fausto, Acting Regional Director/Fort Pilar, Zamboanga City 11. Regional Office 10/Amado Cas tano. Regional Director/Provincial Health Bldg., Cagayan de Oro City 12. Regional Office 11/lsaac A. Alagaban, Regional Director/Magallanes Bldg., F. Inigo St., Davao City DPI continues to have the largest number of referrals to CLAO. Other government agencies referring problems to CLAO arc the Supreme Court, the National Media Production Center, and the Departments of Defense and Social Welfare. -GLORIA JANE BAYLON 4 1-15 October, 1975 The N; THE REPUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM Presidential Decree (PD) 759 ap propriates Pl 8.3 billion for the develop ment of infrastructure projects all over the country. A sustained financial sup port is needed to make the national development program more effective. President Marcos has directed in the decree that in the execution and con struction of any public works project, labor requirements shall be filled by laborers from the locality where the project is being undertaken. However, skilled labor may be procured else where within the province and special ized skilled labor outside of the prov ince where the project is located. ONE HOUSING AGENCY In order to organize a mass hous ing development program, PD 757 dis solves all existing housing agencies (PHHC, PAHRA, Tondo Foreshore De velopment Authority, TEDA, CITRUS, PRECHUR) and creates the National Housing Authority (NHA) to provide and maintain adequate housing for the greatest number of people. This housing program under the new decree shall specify the priorities and targets in accordance with the in tegrated iiational human settlements plan prepared by the Human Settle ments Commission. The NHA shall un dertake housing developmen resettle ment and other activities that would provide housing for every Filipino; and harness and promote private participa tion in housing ventures in terms of cap ital expenditures, land, expertise, finan cing and other facilities for the sus tained growth of the housing industry. FREE LAND FOR INDUSTRY PD, 763 amends Section 121 of the Public Land Act, removing the restric tion that public lands acquired under the free patent, homestead or individual sale provisions can only be used for educational, charitable, religious or right of way purposes. This decree allows qualified juridical entities to acquire lands for commercial and industrial purposes. PD 763 says that “such restriction has been an obstacle to the efforts of the private sector to accelerate econo mic development”. NATIONAL POLICY ON WATER PD 198 declared as national policy the local operation and control of water systems. It authorized the formation of local water districts and chartered a national administration to facilitate im provement of local water facilities. PD 768 now amends certain provi sions of PD 198 to hasten and make more effective the implementation and administration of the program of total development and expansion of domes tic water systems. An orderly and effec tive system of local water utilities par ticularly in the area of water supply and sewerage services is a primary con cern of the government. SUB-REGIONS IN MINDANAO The system of creating administra tive regions brings the government closer to the people and encourages the participation of the people in the devel opment of their areas. Presidential De cree 742 restructured the regional or ganization of Mindanao and divided Region IX into 2 sub-regions. Amending PD 742, PD 773 dated August 21 clearly defines the composi tion and division of Region IX as fol lows: a) Region JX shall be composed of the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, TawiTawi, Zamboanga del Norte and Zam boanga del Sur, and the cities of Dapitan, Dipolog, Pagadian and Zamboanga, with Jolo as Regional Center. b) Region IX being divided into 2 sub-regions, Sub-Region IX-A will be composed of the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi. Under Sub-Region IXB are the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, the cities of Dapitan, Dipolog, Pagadian and Zam boanga. The center for Sub-Region IXB is Zamboanga City. Assistant Regional Commissioners shall be appointed for each sub-regions to assist the Regional Commissioner of Region IX. CRACK DOWN ON GAMBLING President Marcos, by issuing Presi dential Decree 771 dated August 20, declares null and void from the begin ning all permits, licenses and franchises issued by local governments on gam bling operations. The directive revokes all powers and authority of these local governments to grant franchise, license or permit and at the same time regulates wagers or betting by the public of horse and dog races, Jai-Alai, Basque pelota and other forms of gambling. Any person who will engage in these activities illegally will be prosecuted under the Revised Penal Code. BNFI photo New budget for infrastructures (Pl& 3 billion) means more farm-to-market roads. CAPITAL GAINS TAX The President has ordered, through Presidential Decree 779, the slapping of a capital gains tax on investments in stocks. The decree also revises the rates of taxes on profits made from invest ments in local stocks. The new tax rates, which follow a graduated scale, will take1 effect in January next year. This decree aims to encourage more capital investment, so that persons in vesting in shares of stock would be subjected to a lesser rate of capital gains tax. FISCAL YEAR IS REVISED Through Presidential Decree 777 dated August 24, President Marcos re vised the official fiscal year July 1 to June 30 to the calendar year January 1 to December 31. The President has found it necessary to modify the pres ent fiscal year to better synchronize the preparation, submission, authoriza tion and execution of the socio-econom ic development plans and programs and the annual budget. The decree shall take effect January 1, 1977. The Fiscal Year which begins July 1, 1975 and ends June 30, 1976 is extended to include 6 months from July 1 to December 31,1976. For an uncrowded future Sorry, Teroy... But my kids like this better... it's more durable! IT IS KNOWN by many names: Family Planning, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control; but whatever the name, it only boils down to one thing: the proper spac ing of births in a family. It is a continuing program the government has not taken for granted. At this moment, probably, in some areas of the country, there arc doctors and motivators explaining to the people the advantages or disadvan tages of the different contraceptive measures, the best method, and how to avail of it. Family planning, as a campaign in both rural and urban areas, has been steadily gaining ground. And if the current number of acceptors (those who resort to using the pill, IUD, condom, diaphragm, etc.) would increase as it has been consistently increasing through the years, then the Philippines, in the future, might cease as contributor (with 2.8 percent population growth rate) to Asia’s “baby boom.” Consider these: In 1972, there was marked increase of 52 percent over the 1972 levels when some 613,240 women acceptors registered all over the country. In 1973, no less than 740,123 accepted one form of contraception or the other. And last year, the program attracted 1,023,790 acceptors. With these findings, the Population Commission Board has adopted a battery of projects and at the same time sets more realistic targets for the next four years. By 1977, the Philippines hopes to slice its birth rate from an estimated 43.2 births per thousand of the pop ulation in 1970 to 35.9 in 1977. By that time a total of 3.5 million women representing 58 percent of the eligible population will have accepted a method of population control, according to estimates. In effect, this means the gov ernment hopes to cut present population growth, which at 2.8 percent is one of the highest in the world, to 2.47 percent in 1977. To achieve this objective, the gov ernment, aside from a continuing in formation campaign especially among rural folks, has adopted a series of policy options: □ It rewrote the Woman and Child Labor law to limit maternity leave benefits to four deliveries only. From the fifth child onwards, the family is on its own. Free family planning services for establishments employing 300 or more are now required. The law also calls for incentive bonus schemes for family planning acceptors, and removal of discrimination against unmarried female employees. □ A total of 3,838 family planning motivators have been fielded to provide information to potential acceptors. Eleven teams, equipped with projectors, films and printed literature are traveling from village to village organizing com munity assemblies. In 1973,about 1.610 barrios in 655 municipalities located in 36 provinces were covered. □ Schools have come into the picture. Last year, 152 supervisors who will train school principals and teachers in the field underwent training. In turn, they taught 3,450. district supervisors, principals, teachers and 80 college instructors. □ More effective evaluation systems arc being installed. Contraceptive req uirements of clinics and the payroll of personnel are now computerized. □ Research is continuing and 75 additional hospitals have been harnessed to provide support service for rural health units. —JUANITA G. TRINIDAD Industrial skills (or free at NMYC As our national economy industrializes, the demand for skilled workers and technicians becomes tighter and tighter. Consequently too, the pay for skilled workers grows higher. The National Manpower and Youth Council trains for free, unemployed adults and out-of-schbol youths in various trade skills. Be low, its major course offerings are listed. Take ad vantage of this free training. For particulars, go to the National Manpower Skills located along South Superhighway, Taguig, Rizal. Get started now! BNFI photo AUTOMOTIVE MECHANICS THE COURSE deals with the basic principles, processes and operations in volved in the automotive industry. It includes intensive training in repair, ser vice and maintenance of both gasoline and diesel engines. It also provides in structions on the principles of the fuel system and engine tune-up, power train, steering system and suspension. The course seeks to develop the manipulative skills of the trainees on body repair, general overhauling and trouble shoot ing under varying conditions. It is in tended to prepare the trainees for in teresting and well-paid jobs in the .field of automotive. Opportunities THE PRODUCTION and importation of more cars and engine-powered ma chines require a big number of trained service and repair men. Job opportuni ties are many for an automotive me chanic. To be an automechanic is a stepping stone to greater things. From there, the mechanic can move up to become service manager, parts manager, or sales manager of an automotive shop or dealer agency. He may someday be able to open a shop of his own and have other people work for him. Or if he has a good knowledge of automo biles, plus the desire to meet people, he may became an automotive salesman or a field representative of parjs manu facturers. He might move up to be a representative of an automotive manu facturer either within the factory or in a region. And he might even be invited to come into the factory where he would have the opportunity to work his way up through the offices or produc tion departments. Working conditions AS A CLASSIC trade since man mas tered the use of motorized vehicles to A * working’ THE IMPLEMENTATION of the workoriented high school curriculum, as di rected by President Marcos, will start on October 4 this year in t^e 2,000 public and private schools throughout the country. Under the new system, high school education will be a whole day affair and transport his goods and himself from place to place, cutting long-distance, travels to short pleasurable journeys, an automechanic could not be glamour ously dressed at work. With greasy coveralls, he has to crawl under chassis or open the hoods of vehicles to tinker with oily engines. He has to operate a set of mechanical tools, hydraulic presses or at times climb mammoth equipment stalled at working site. But the mechanic derives pleasure from .the thought that he can run vehicles to mOve man, money and material from stagnation that may put the nation’s economy to a stand still. Today auto mechanics are well paid in big service shops. ELECTRICAL TRADE THE COURSE in electricity deals with basic principles, installation, mainte nance and repair of light and power circuits. It involves the installation and repair of motor driven equipment like appliances and machineries. A trainee is required to concentrate in any special ization to enable him to get a job after completing the training requirements. Opportunities NUMEROUS FIELDS in electricity sprout out as a result of our growing agro-industrial economy. In addition, the government has launched a massive rural electrification program which will eventually create opportunities for elec triciansand electro-mechanics. This gives rise to different training schemes which are offered in various centers. On completion of his theoretical and practical training in any field of specialization, the trainee may become an electrical serviceman. Residential and industrial building wiring installer, fac tory electrician, appliance repairman, switch board and instrument mechanic; curriculum the current electives being offered as replacement for subjects that require work will be abolished. Among the new subjects to be offered next semester are agriculture, industrial, fishery, business, trade, au tomotive and other vocational subjects that will help instill love of work motor, transformer and generator re winder are some of the job opportuni ties awaiting the trainee. Working conditions ELECTRICITY is the modern-day genie doing numerous things to make the life of man enjoyable and comfortable. Care lessly handled, however, it is hazardous and dangerous. In its uncontrolled state, electricity has claimed lives and in most cases, through defective wiring, the source of conflagrations. To tame the power of electricity, to make it turn the wheels of industry, for the benefit of mankind and nations, there is a great need for electricians and electromechanics who consider the prac tice of safety a primary concern of thenjobs. This requires intelligence, presence of mind while at work, following the rules and regulations and adhering to standards in electrical works. ELECTRONICS THE COURSE prepares the trainees for entrance into the electronics indus try as radio and television servicemen, and other specialized fields like business machines, electronic computers and communication systems. The course provides for a thorough study of the fundamentals and principles of electronics, and the application and practices of the same in the operation and servicing of radio and television receivers. It also involves the use of test instruments and trainers in experiments and practical operation. It includes the fabrication of radio receivers, tube and semiconductor devices, plus actual ser vicing of radio and television sets. Opportunities A RADIO and television servicing trainee, after obtaining practical work experience can service any kind of radio and television sets, either vacuum tube type or transistorized. He can be employ ed as serviceman in medium shops or servicing outlets of manufacturers, or establish his own service shop. In indus try, he may become a designer of radio sets, a quality control technician,or aa assembler-operator of TV sets. He is ready for entrance to other related field in electronics such as a business machine operator/technician and communication equipment operator/technician. As a proprietor, he can eventually engage in assembling radio and TV parts or sets on his own or by sub-contracting with manufacturing firms. Working conditions Trainees in Electronics use basic trainer apparatuses and test instruments in laboratory experiments or exercises in probing electronic fundamentals. Ac tual radio and television receivers and a complete set of hand tools and power equipment are available for efficient servicing and fabrication works. The trainees work on laboratory tables equipped with complete set of test instruments which they actually use in the analysis and operation of components, circuits, stages and sys tems in electronics. MACHINE FITTING THE COURSE is designed to prepare the student in metal fabrication of ma chine parts with special emphasis on metal machinery, heat treatment and material testing. It gives him the neces sary knowledge in related theory and develops his manipulative skills in the use of the lathe, milling machine, shaper, surface grinder, drill press and other ma chine shop tools and equipment. The trainee is acquainted with the proper operations, safety and maintenance of metal working machines Opportunities A MACHINIST’S trade has many oppornities for promotion. Every machine shop foreman must have been promoted from the ranks. Practically, every su perintendent and every master mechanic of any industry manufacturing metal goods of any description is a machinist. Many draftsmen and successful manu facturers were once machinists. Working Conditions THE HAZARDOUS nature of industrial machine tools has long been recognized. So, from the very beginning of his ap prenticeship, the young man must learn to work safely. He must understand that working with other people in the shop is his business and that to keep himself as well as those working with him from accidents is also part of his attitude toward safety. Masagana 99: The bloodless revolution The RICE INDUSTRY is a doubleedged sword hanging over most of the developing countries. Its supply is crucial for sustaining the populace and its cultivation is the primary source of income for the great majority of the labor force. But in the headlong rush for development, which is often equated with industrialization, the agricultural sector with the rice industry has been left behind. The Philippines is no exception to this pattern. Government policy since 1946 has stipulated help to the rice in dustry. In actuality, the little capital that the country had been able to gener ate was siphoned off into doubtful im port-substitution schemes to engender quick industrialization. Smokestacks, af ter all, are the new status symbols for the economically underprivileged na tions, instead of the green ricefields that evoke an agriculture-based economy. A benchmark period for the rice industry was the first term of President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1965. For the first time in the short history of the republic, self-sufficiency in rice was at tained, and a little surplus was even eked out for export. The country was fortunate then that the newly established (1962) Inter national Rice Research Institute in Los Bartos, Laguna, about 40 miles east of Manila, came out with the first batch of the “miracle rice” seed varieties! A more significant factor, as later studies showed, was the increase in farm hectarage. But the 3.1 per cent population growth of the country, one of the high est in the world, has made the “land frontier” much close now. The source of growth in rice production will soon have to come from increased yields— the Filipino farmer producing only about 30 cavans per hectare, one of the lowest in Southeast Asia. Since the introduction of wet-rice culture by the first wave of Malay im migrants to the Philippines between 300 and 200 B.C., much of the rice farming has remained the same. The only laborsaving device in many parts of the coun try is still the carabao (water-buffalo). A significant number of farmers still depend on the providential rains. Oneseason planting still prevails in many parts of the country. Starting in late 1972, a series of natural calamities brought the problem of rice supply again into sharp focus. Five typhoons came in succession and leveled thousands of rice farms in Cen tral Luzon. As the floodwaters receded, a long drought followed and continued until April 1973. What made matters worse was the same gloomy weather conditions that pre vailed in other rice-producing countries. This produced a tight rice market' in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. As the former sources of rice imports went dry, the Philippines was confront ed with an estimated rice-supply gap of about 700,000 metric tons. The most optimistic statistics of the government showed in June 1973 that the rice stocks would be “barely enough for 30 days.” Martial law was proclaimed in Sep tember 1972 amid the worsening rice crisis. To many Filipinos, this was the supreme test for the workability of the new authoritarian government. President Marcos moved in with stopgap measures. First, he told his eco nomic ministers to contract as much rice as they can get in the world market, to stabilize the skyrocketing rice prices. Profiteering and hoarding were severely punished. Com grit, as one official said later, was “virtually commandeered” in Mindanao to be transported to Manila and be mixed with rice to extend its bare supply. In this mass of almost desperate measures, President Marcos evolved a long-term, and uniquely innovative rice production assistance scheme-the Masa gana 99 program. Masagana means “abun dant” and 99 stands for the target of 99 cavans per hectare. The President aptly called it “a program of survival.” Initially, the program covered an estimated 600,000 hectares of rice lands in 43 provinces, covering most of those inundated by the 1972 floods. To dis courage bureaucratic foot-dragging and interagency conflicts that have blocked the success of past rice programs, Presi dent Marcos created the National Food and Agricultural Council (NFAC) to coordinate the many government agen cies involved in the rice program. A “technology package” was drawn up in volving the active use of fertilizer, highyielding seed varieties, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals and modern rice planting and growing techniques. The key to the success of the Masa gana 99 was the extension of adequate credit. The new technology would ob viously bring drastic increases in farm cpsts which the low-income farmers can hardly raise. In a mpve that shocked the generally conservative banking sector, the Philippine government made avail able some P420 million in no-collateral credit to the participating farmers. The Philippine National Bank, the Agricul tural Credit Administration, and the ru ral banks were used in bringing in the loans to the farmers. Some 397,000 farmers throughout the country availed themselves of the credit through the efforts of 3,200 gov ernment field technicians. The exten sion of credit to the farmers, formerly shunned as not credit-worthy by the, banking community, showed the faith of the President in the ability of the Fili pino fanners to increase production and repay credit obligations. An innovative feature of the Masa gana 99 program that has contributed significantly to its success was the or ganization of seldas or damayans, as they are variously called in different parts of the country. The seldas are coop erative associations of ten farmers or more. How do they work? An individual farmer with his low income and small assets is not credit worthy. But if a group of ten or more band together in seeking loans, they stand better chances. Moreover, they have better chances of paying. Selda members are “jointly and severally” liable for any loans contracted by any of the members. If one member is lazy or fails to take in the new farming meth ods, the selda takes over his farm to make it more productive. Among themselves, the selda mem bers elect a leader. He is in charge of seeing to it that the loans are used pro ductively. Loans have to be paid imme diately after the sale of the harvests. The barrio captain, meanwhile, takes charge of all the seldas in his community. To make the whole cooperative system more than just a paper scheme, the Philippine government through the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Bu reau of Agricultural Extension provides production technicians for each selda. Now a familiar sight in the outbacks, these motorcycling technicians make thorough surveys of individual farms to determine the kind and the quantity of inputs needed. Then, they prepare the individual farm plan and budgets. These are then submitted to the rural bank for official approbation. The first two phases of the Masagana 99 program overshot the performance projects of the government planners. Originally, the target coverage was about a million hectares but popular clamor by other farmers has induced the govern ment to extend it to 1.2 million hectares. As of June 30, 1974, 981,700 hec tares have already been harvested with a total production of 76.4 million cavans or a very high average yield of 78 cavans per hectare, As the encouraging results were being tallied, President Mar cos observed: "Masagana 99 was a blood less revolution. It produced radical change. Where production and income used to be concentrated in the industrial elite in the cities, Masagana 99 brought increased production and income to the common farmer.” The three years of Masagana 99 have changed many farmers’ lives. Narciso Cabalquinto, 42-year-old barrio captain of Manatai, Pandi, Bulacan, said: “We used to harvest only as much as 40 cavans a hectare and we were thriving on a hand-to-mouth existence. That was be cause tungro (rice disease) has been with us ever since. Masagana 99, however, changed all that. Our production tech nician introduced us to rwngro-control, fertilizer application, and our harvests have become bigger.” Some rice-farming communities are now exhibiting signs of more than threadbare existence. Tel evision antennas on hollow-block houses are becoming more and more common sights in the barrios. President Marcos recently called on government financial and planning in stitutions to come up with a plan to de velop small-and medium-scale industries in the rural areas. He told them to make full use of the “lesson that we have learned from Masagana 99’to industrial ize the countryside.” What has started as a program for survival now turns up to be a long-term pattern for economic development. — LUIS V. OPLE 1-15 October. 1975 7 The Economy Tightening the lid on prices A COMBINATION of public discon tent and Presidential action initiated this month decreases in the prices of edible oil and infant food. In the case of infant food, a hike in the price ceil ings a few weeks ago raised public crit icisms and a Presidential order for the lowering of the ceilings. In the case of edible oil, the ex pressed public wish for lowering of prices stimulated a study of the costs of packaging oil. It was found out that under the system of canning oil, the cost of containers (tinplates) amounted to 50% of the edible oil’s price as sold. The “dip-out” system was finally adopted to rid the customer of con tainer costs. In this system, the buyers bring their own containers. The oil is measured out from drum containers which, by an order of the Price Stabili zation Council (PSC), are provided by all coconut oil refiners, with domestic sales, for all public and private markets all over the Philippines. For a kilo of edible oil, the highest retail prices are: 1) for the Greater Manila area, P3.20; 2) for Northern Luzon, Bicol, Visayas (Group I), P3.38; 3) for all Mindanao provinces (Group II), P3.44. For oil weighing less than one kilo, the PSC has price ceilings for what certain ties, like soft-drink bottles, can hold. For the decrease of the price ceil ings of infant dietetics, the manufac turers and importers had to sacrifice a little. The ihanufacturers petitioned for price increases because of the increase of tinplate (container) costs and the rise of the exchange rate. But by Presi dential order the PSC restudied the pe tition and asked the manufacturers not to charge to buyers the costs of return ed or defective goods. Such costs, the PSC maintained, could be minimized by more efficient production and distribu tion. The PSC also limited promotional expenses to cover only directly related events, ‘and the giving out of samples was limited to nurseries and hospitals. Will there be further decreases in the prices of milk? Luis Suzara of the PSC says that further decreases are im probable since prices are at a minimum. On the other hand, the cost of tinplates (which is 12 percent of the price of pow der dietetics and 25 percent of liquid . dietetics) and the foreign exchange rate may cause increases. How can consumers report violators of the price standards? Violators can be reported to the local Price Stabiliza tion Council which is empowered to temporarily close the establishments of offenders; or he can send a telegram to the National Price Stabilization Council, Department of Trade, Quezon City. Every province and city should have a prize stabilization council. That of a province is chairmanned by the provin cial governor and that of a city, by the mayor. For municipalities, mayors are encouraged to form stabilization coun cils, especially if their towns are active commercial centers. According to Suza ra of the PSC, the existence of a mun icipal price control council is a sign of the mayor’s depth of involvement in the community’s welfare. How much are the maximum pro fits allowed by the Price Stabilization Council? In the lease of locally manu factured items, producers may sell at production cost plus a mark-up of ten percent; wholesalers may sell at the net cost of acquisition from the producer plus a mark-up of five percent; the re tailer may sell at the net cost of acquisi tion from the producer or the manufac turer plus a mark-up of ten percent. In the case of imported articles, the maxi mum price of the importer shall be land ed cost plus five percent; the maximum price of the retailer shall be the net cost of acquisition plus ten percent. Besides retailers, wholesalers may jack up their prices unreasonably. In thi/ case, a retailer can report the anom aly to the local or national prize stabil ization council. -MARCOS AG AYO Bumper harvest: winning the race between rice and men. NO RICE SHORTAGE; GOV'T EXPANDS AGRI AID THE PHILIPPINES has ample amount of rice reserves this year totalling more than 3.3 million bags, National Grains Administrator Jesus Tanchanco Jr. said today. He said this year’s rice reserves increased by 6.68 percent over last year’s buffer stock of some 3.1 million bags. According to Tanchanco, in fiscal year 1974-75, cereal supply and prices were stabilized. As a result of this stability, he said, rice and corn were continuously avail able to consumers at prices within their reach. He added that fanners’ interest was enhanced by way of the govern ment’s price support program which as sured them of a ready market for their produce and a fair return on their in vestment. This year, Tanchanco added, also marked the expansion of the cor porate farming program, warehousing projects, the establishment of adequate post-harvest facilities, and the extension of technology throughout the country. THE GOLDEN LEAF GROWS PRESIDENT Marcos has announced a series of actions intended to increase Virginia tobacco production in the north and at the same time -improve its posi tion in the export market. He directed the Central Bank to make available to the Virginia tobacco growers an initial amount of P20 mil lion, through the rural banks to help the farmers increase their production and enable them to construct more flue curing barns. Trading centers in Ilocos Norte, llocos Sur, La Union and Abra reported a trade volume from March to July of 33,359,001.1 kilos which are valued at P297,246,211.90. Prices have signifi cantly risen from P5.86 per kilo in 1974 to P8.09 today. The President expressed satisfaction over the policy enunciated by the gov ernment removing the subsidy on to bacco. Looking at the performance of the tobacco industry following the re moval of that subsidy, the President de scribed the pplicy a “success”. TARGET: SELF-SUFFICIENCY PRESIDENT Marcos has urged the peo ple to utilize wisely and efficiently the country’s abundant natural resources “so that the country can not only feed its population, but also produce enough to help meet the needs of others.” The President said “it is with this objective in mind that we have conceived and are implementing our total food production program.” The President made the remarks at the inaugural ceremonies of the country’s first national food factory exposition at the Philamlife pavilion at United Nations Avenue in Manila. He added that the significance of the food exposition borders on the antici pation of broader and sustained public and private support for the national food production program. While “we are a country often de scribed in economic books as food de ficit country,” the President said, “we cannot completely deny its truth.” “Despite significant advances in re cent years,” the President said, “our production has not reached a level of stability that allows the economy to feed the entire population at all times. FISCAL INCENTIVES REVIEW Presidential Decree 776 creates the Fiscal Incentives Review Board with the power to review all subsidies and tax exemptions and to determine which of them should be modified, withdrawn, revoked or suspended in the light of in ternatioqal and local developments. Ac cording to President Marcos, it is deemed imperative to harmonize incentives with the ability to manufacture goods domestically and to conserve govern ment foreign exchange reserves. NEWSYSTEM FOR SEAMEN THE National Seamen Board (NSB) said it has adopted a simplified clear ance system for the travel abroad of Filipino seamen. NSB Executive Director Cresencio M. Siddayao said the procedure makes possible the issuance of a passport to a seaman within 24 hours. Before this, the issuance of travel clearances to seamen was a time-consuming process. The clearance procedure used to start only after all hiring and place ment processes were completed. 1-15 October, 1975 Special Confronting old habits that refuse to die W ITH OR WITHOUT the anniversary that we mark today, the time has come once more for the Filipino people to look across the years and assess the State of the Nation. Two days from today, we enter the fourth year of the New Society, our program of national transformation. This is bound to be a decisive phase of that program, one that will require the utmost resiliency and fortitude of both our government and our people. But before we can even begin to think of leading our people into a new period of that struggle, we must answer some questions. Have we, in govern ment, kept our covenant by serving faithfully the genuine hopes of our people? Have we matched their sac rifices with dedication, their expecta tions with competence and virtue, their trust with a zeal for high ideals, honest labor and genuine achievement? Have we carried' the right to continue to demand from them unwavering confi dence and trust in us, harder work, and possibly more sacrifice? Unless we can confidently answer these questions, we dare not proceed. In three years, we have demonstrat ed a capacity for recovery and growth, but like in other countries the gainshowever dramatic-have not brought us complete fulfillment. We are no longer the paralyzed nation, of course, wliich we were at the start of our program in September, 1972, but still, if we ask ourselves frankly, have wc attained the nation we had wanted to be after breaking with our past? w E ARE WONT to hear that we the Philippines, are a nation that has made a dramatic comeback from disaster, and begun a strong surge towards growth. Even the most critical foreign experts say so. The national economy, for many years a deficit spender of resources, ex hibits both vigor and resiliency in the face of crisis. Economic activity of all kinds is never more pronounced than at any other time in our history. Inter national investors, and no less than the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, continue to manifest their faith in our economy. There is order where there used to be none; anarchy is only a memory of the past; and growth and change seem to be everywhere around us. And when we look at the individual citizen, there is reason to feel that his rights and liberties are on the whole much better secure today than they were before the intervention of con stitutional authoritarianism. Let us look at the farmers. The emancipation of the Filipino farmer from economic and political bondage: this has been the all-consuming obses sion of government since that fateful day of September 21, 1972 when it began the arduous task of bringing about lasting reforms in the society. Comprising 70 percent of the pop ulation and more than half of the labor force, Filipino farmers have been, and will continue to be. the main benefi ciaries of the major government pro grams launched over the first 1,000 days of the New Society. ( Today, we find unprecedented prosperity in the rural areas, an obvious upsurge in the -purchasing power of the Filipino farmer, and a general air of confidence and optimism in the country side. Paradoxically, martial law, the instrument of the colonizer to preserve the status quo, has brought true freedom to the countryside for the first time in centuries. With respect to labor, the pace of employment opportunities has risen, generally speaking, in keeping with the growth in gross national product (GNP). Compared to the employment levels before martial law, new jobs have been created at an average of five percent annually. In spite of a worldwide recession, we succeeded in cutting down unem ployment to only 4.1 percent this year, the lowest in our postwar history. In other words, out of a labor force of 14 million, only 570,000 workers are now openly unemployed. This is significant since in the United States, four percent unemployment is considered normal. At the same time, we have sought to safeguard the security-both internal and external-of our country. Internally, we had the leaders of the leftist and rightist rebellion that threatened the stability of our Republic, as well as the secessionist movement and the Moro National Liberation Front. Now, the open-handed and generous policy to ward the rebels in Mindanao is begin ning to bear fruit. And we see in the immediate future the termination of all hostilities-in Mindanao, in Central Luzon-all over the Philippines. But the world continues to be faced with problems of security. After the Vietnam War, the Philippines has had to reassess its security arrangements with the United States. We are in the middle of negotiations, but we have adopted the policy of self-reliance. 1 have had to visit the People’s Republic of China to show to the whole world that our windows are open to those who would be friends with us, and in so doing, we seek to secure our country from any . untoward aggression from outside. As we strive to bring the govern ment closer to the people, we must take the parallel step of bringing the people closer to the government. The morato rium on elections in our political life— however infrequent and inequitable our electoral processes were-requires a re placement so that the people may inter vene successfully in national decision^ making. The people must never be made to accept that the government, no matter how wise and dedicated, is master of their destiny; rather, they must be continuously reinforced in their faith that they are the master of government. At the start of our program of reform, we saw that if our political life is not to arrive at an impasse between an anarchic order and a despotic one, we must create new mechanisms for the individual to make his voice heard on public issues. And that mechanism must be politics at community level, where citizens can shape their lives and together act to move the town, the city, the province, and the nation to action. This is the fundamental rationale and the reason behind the creation of the barangay. This is what will make it a viable and dynamic institution. 'J/ HE REFORM of our political system Is in essence a call to discipline and order. This was the theme with which we began the building of our New Society, and this is the theme that we must continue. Today we know the •dangers of relaxing disciplinary controls, before reform has fully seeped into our social life. The dangers of decay which we see in government are magnified in various ways in the other sectors of society. Sadly, we note the dramatic gains of the past three years-with their at tendant effects on the life in metro politan Manila and the bastions of in dustry in other urban centers. They have ironically intensified natural ap petites for finery and show, for lavish parties, flashy cars, mansions, big homes, expensive travel and other counter productive activities that dissipate the ethics of work, sacrifice and discipline that is the meaning of the New Society. Because Manila is the hub of economic and international life in the country, it is not difficult to find the simplest amenities of life among the rich in creasingly feeding on the bitterness, the frustration and exploitation of the very poor. This implies a special obligation on the rich to find purpose and vision in the use of wealth; on those who hold positions of power and authority to be austere in their lifestyle and be discrimi nate in the exercise of anything that might be construed as special privilege. Here, there is a hierarchical distribu tion of responsibility: those who hold more either of wealth or of authority must bear mord responsibility. Central to our economic policies is the sharing of the increments of growth. We cannot speak of growth un less we can distribute such growth to the people and we cannot spedk of growth unless we first manage an entire spectrum of issues and problems that bedevil the economies of the industrialized as well as the non-industrialized world. The EXPERIENCE of the past three years provides statistical evidence that our economy has fared creditably well. Whoever takes the measure of the level of economic effort, whether for, or against, or neutral to the New Society about constitutional authoritarianism, cannot fail to admit that government intervention is the most significant factor in the acceleration of economic activity and growth by the injection of nationalization into such economic activity. The growth of our gross national product averages seven percent. In FY 1973, it was 6.3; in FY 1974, it shot up to 8-10 percent; in FY 1975, it registered a growth rate of 6 percent. The figures for the year indicate the recovery phase of the economy from the recessionary pressures that persisted Section THE REPUBLIC 9 Celebration of the third anniversary of the New Society held last September 19. BNFI photo Cooperative float: farmers are main beneficiaries of government aid. particularly during the first half of this fiscal year. As of September this year, our international reserves stood at US$1,170 billion, compared to about $200 million to $300 million at the start of the New Society, manifesting the strength of the national economy in spite of the world wide economic crisis. But the external sector, however, was characterized by a drastic decline in the country’s balance of payments posi tion from the FY 1974 surplus of $437 million to a deficit of $352 million at the end of FY 1975. Contributing mainly to the decline was a shift from a merchandise trade surplus of $95 million to a deficit of $801 million in FY 1975. Despite the drastic decline in the prices of the country’s major exports, receipts from merchandise trade grew by 11 percent. More significant increases were registered in nori-merchandise trade and transfer receipts of 26 percent and 12 percent, respectively. These move ments, coupled with larger credit availments, halted the decline of the overall deficit position. Export shipments amounted to $2,544 million, as against an import bill of $3,345 million that has consisted mostly of crude oil and durable equip ment imports. But despite the dampening of ex pectations in most sectors of the econ omy as a consequence of inflation and recession, investments remained on an uptrend in FY 1975. Expenditures for gross domestic capital formation in real terms recorded a growth of 22.3 per cent, in comparison to the 7.9 percent growth level in FY.1974. In millions of pesos this is domestic capital formation amounting to Pl 0.336 billion. Paid-in capital of newly registered corporations and partnerships expanded by about 30 percent to a level of Pl ,020 million at the end of the fiscal year, with the construction sector showing the biggest growth of 145 percent. Likewise, investments in firms registered with the Board of Investments grew by 34 percent, mainly as a result of the 192 percent increase in investments poured in by local businessmen. From 1972 to July 1975, the Securities and Exchange Commission registered a total of 13,300 new corporations with a total paid-up capital of P2.014 billion. Foreign investments have also grown at dramatic rates during the three-year period of martial law in the New Society. From January 1973 to the end of FY 1975, foreign investments now total P2.25 billion. From the total amount of investment applications for the first semester of 1975, the Board of Invest ments has approved foreign investments totaling P50 million. Now, we come to the problem of inflation that confronts the whole world. Inflation, among all the economic in dicators, has exerted the most pressure on the level of economic performance in this country and in all other countries of the world. But from the high 26 percent rise in consumer prices in FY 1974, the rate of inflation has come down, possibly to 22 percent, although in July of this year, in one month alone, the inflation rate was 4.2 percent. by PRES. FERDINAND E. MARCOS The income of government lias in creased four times and our budget, accordingly. Government receipts have expanded more rapidly than government expenditures, resulting in significant ac cumulations of budgetary surpluses. While other countries have suffered deficits since 1973, our country has always had a budgetary surplus, even as we increased government spending in essential services and economic activ ity. As of 1974, we had a budgetary surplus of P646 million. Overall, economic performance dur ing the third year of the program of the New Society has been creditable. We must acknowledge serious problems, however, shadowing our economic life. We cannot escape the feeling here of being perpetually engaged in a race with problems and crises, regardless of our response at any given period. WHILE our policies decree sweep ing changes in our institutions and programs, we have lagged behind in the fundamental change on which the New Society is truly to be forged. This is the change within us, in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls-the internal revolution, which our nation from the time of our forebears has passionately craved for. Many have already strayed away from the struggle, and forgotten the revolution we have mounted, choos ing to reap benefits they did not sow, and so bold as to assume that others will do their work for them. The massive cleanup of government offices that followed the proclamation of martial law has failed to keep the slate clean. Worse, there are new sores that are clearly emerging, inflicted by the wrong belief that the leadership is too preoccupied with other problems that the people will be intimidated, or too complacent, or that they can take any liberties they please with our people, our Republic and reforms. Clearly, we face here the danger that our New Society is giving birth to a new government elite, who resurrect in our midst the privileges we fought in the past, who employ the powers of high of fice for their personal enrichment, as well as of their business colleagues, rela tives and friends. TODAY, therefore, I hereby announce the beginning of a sweeping, com plete and exhaustive reorganization of the government. This means the elimination of those who have violated the trust we had reposed in them and the reward for those who have performed their task with exemplary and outstanding distinc tion, courage and dedication. Accordingly, as a first step to be followed later on by a broader sweep in the lower ranks of the civil service and in other parts of the government including the military organization, a sweep which as of today includes a listing of 2,000 undesirables in the national government, 1 have decided to announce today the acceptance of the resignation of high-ranking officials in the government who have something to do with the procurement of govern ment supplies and material and the administration of valuable resources of the Republic of the Philippines. (Please turn to page 1 for the list of officials "retired” from the government.) We are not limiting ourselves in this general cleanup to the ranks of the government. There are lawyers, account ants, doctors and other professionals who, because of certain claims of blood kinship, affinity, personal closeness, friendship to, or business affiliation with supposedly high-ranking officials of the government, arrogantly utilize or wield influence not only in corrupting public officials or in coercing them, but also in securing for themselves or their associates personal advantages denied to others, and in obtaining favors, privileges and preferential treatment in derogation of fairness and justice. Now it is time -to cut off the infected parts of the society from active public life before they pnripng?r 14^, entire body politic._ So let this be a new warning to friend and foe alike. There are those who have thought that we had shared the burden and responsibility of meting punishment upon the guilty We will be generous and forgiving with respect to momentary lapses, for we are all human, provided there is a sincere desire to reform and to rectify error. But when there is pernicious and malicious persistence in doing wrong, then 1 will risk the displeasure of friends and the enmity even of relatives and avowed principled men to impose severe and just punishment. I HAVE SAID that this new danger that confronts out Republic compels us now to do battle all over again with the same old courage, selflessness and dedi cation that we can draw from our minds, our hearts, our souls. I have asked our people to pledge here and now not to allow the gains of the New Society to be lost because of the weaknesses, the viciousness and the evil intentions of those on whom we have reposed the public trust. These men who have committed the highest form of treachery against our country and would turn traitors to our principles must be punished and, I swear to you, will be punished. But the battle which we now join is continuing and an arduous one. We will be confronted by the grave danger of complacency and reaction, the old habits that refuse to die, the claims of ancient legacy, the exacting demands of daily and routinqry living and survival in a world crushed by crisis and emergency. But so long as we are united, we shall overcome all of this. 10 1-15 October. 1975 The World THE REPUBLIC A lasting peace? There is an interim peace in the Middle East. Egypt and Israel, main protagonists in the world’s most volatile region, signed on September 5 a peace agreement that says, among others, that the “conflict between them and in the Middle East shall not be resolved by military force but by peaceful means...not to resort to the threat or use of force of military blockade against each other.” War is hell, and the absence of tran quility anywhere is a matter of concern for the Philippines. Due to the closeness of relations the Philippines has with such Middle East countries as Egypt, the in terim disengagement, though viewed with cynicism by some sectors, is there fore a welcome development for the Philippines. In December 1974, President Marcos said the Philippines will continue to sup port the October 1974 resolution of the United Nations Security Council seeking the return of lands occupied by Israel. Talking to Saudi Arabian Deputy For eign Minister Sheik Ibrahim Al Sultan, President Marcos assured the Arab leader of the Philippines’ abiding belief in the right of peoples to self-determination. He reiterated that the Philippines re nounces war as an instrument of nation al policy^ At the 28th and 29th regular ses sions of the UJ4. General Assembly, foreign Secretary Carlos P. Romulo, ort Presidential instructions, carried out the Philippine stand on the Middle East question. This was listed as instruction no. 8 to Romulo, head of the delegation which stated: “On the Middle East question, the delegation shall be guided by Resolution 242 of the Security Coun cil which calls for the withdrawal of Is rael from all Arab territories occupied in the 1967 war and the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people as well as the rejection of the principle of occupation of territory by force.” “We in the Philippines hope more than ever that the scourge of war will be banished in the Middle East, and that a just peace will follow, and allow all peo ple in the Middle East to pursue the creative endeavor of building even more stable societies and to realize fully the genius of their race.” It will be recalled that as early as 1947, Secretary Romulo, then UJM. President, said that the Middle East issue was primarily moral and that the en forcement of the partition policy was “repugnant to the valid nationalist as pirations of the people of Palestine.” Several Middle East leaders have visited the Philippines in the past years. The foreign ministers of Somalia, Lib ya, Senegal and Saudi Arabia came here in 1973. The past wars and recent tension in the Middle East had resulted in eco nomic dislocation for the people in the area and elsewhere. The 1972 “October War” between Israel and Egypt/Syria af fected the Philippines in form of ihe quadrupling of oil prices in 1972-1973. As a gesture of support to Egypt and Syria, other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq declared unprecedented increases in the prices of crude oil. Egyptian line Israeli/ Egyptian j early-warning I , station J ' GIFGAFA, Air base HASHIBA arly-warning Mt/on _ MEDITERRANEAN SEA ISRAEI Tel Aviv | Analyzing the September agreement, John Chadwick of Reuters said the Is raelis are under, no illusion that the pact with Egypt marks the end of the troupes. Chadwick says the settlement merely diffused tensions. Israel is reported to have served notice that it has not decided whether to conduct interim peace talks with Syria though a government source says negotiations may begin in several months. The U.N. mandate guarding the ceasefire line on the Golan Heights ex pires on November 30. The maneuver on the Golan Heights, involving Syria, is a highly sensitive issue in Israel. The Golan escarpment and Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos and Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo listen to a speech during the proceedings of the UN General Assembly. The First Lady in a speech before the Assembly called for an international “code of ethics. "(UPJ) I -Nahal Yam' U.N. butter zone Abu Rudeis! U.S. observation, posts plateau were wrested from the Syrians in 1967 after fierce fighting. For years, earlier Israeli farm settlements in the Huleh Valley had been shelled by Syrians guns from the top. The Third Arab-Israeli war broke out on June 5, 1967 and the following day Egypt closed the Strategic Suez Canal. For the current interim, the canal has been reopened and Israel was re ported to be looking for a ship not flying its own flag but bound for an Is raeli port for a test run through the Suez to see if Egypt will honor one of the concessions granted in the recent peace pact. -GLORIA JANE BAYLON Around, tneWorld HELP FROM THE NORTH Tokyo (UPI) - Japan will promote de velopment of oil resources in Southeast Asia and South America to help reduce its heavy dependence on the Middle East, government sources said last week. They said the government will also try to increase its crude imports from China and Indonesia. Japan’s imports of crude oil and refined products for the current fiscal year ending March 31 amount to 1.655 billion barrels, according to a government forecast. Crude oil from the Middle East accounts for nearly 77 per cent of the imports. The ministers pre sent agreed to diversify oil import sources and step up efforts to develop untapped resources in Southeast Asia and Latin America. ASEAN SUMMIT SOON Singapore (UPI) - Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Na tions (ASEAN) concluded recently a meeting to prepare the way for a sum mit among heads of government of mem ber countries within the next six months. A brief joint press statement issued at the end of the closed-door meeting said the officials agreed to refer proposals for greater ASEAN economic coopera tion to the ASEAN planning senior of ficials’ meeting scheduled in Jakarta in October. The proposals will then be sub mitted to a meeting of ASEAN minis ters for economic planning. Sources said the proposals included the establishment of free trade zones leading ultimately to a common market. A'NOMINAL' INCREASE? Vienna (UPI) - The minister of Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter, wants a freeze on oil prices or, at most, a nominal increase of less than 10 per cent. Other oil producers have spoken of boosting prices to as much as 35 percent. The 13-nation oil cartel, which has boosted prices 500 percent in the past five years, decided in Gabon last June to readjust' prices at the Vienna meeting to offset losses in their earnings that re sulted from Western inflation and reces sion. Since then, OPEC members have become increasingly divided as to the wisdom of a price increase at this time. THE END OF SEATO United Nations (UPI) - The Council of Ministers of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) has decided to phase out the alliance within two years. US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger representing the United States agreed to the termination of SEATO, whose other members are Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines. Diplomatic sources said the council decided to phase out SEATO since it has become obsolete and is no longer needed in view of the establishment of diplomat ic relations between the SEATO nations and the People’s Republic of China, and the US-China rapprochement. Foreign Secretary Carlos Romulo made a brief statement at the meeting where he re called he once suggested to phase out SEATO three years ago in Canberra, Australia. fHE REPUBLIC The World I! 1-15 October, 1975 11 Primer: RP-US relations I What is the present policy of the Phil ippines toward the United States? The Philippines maintains friendly relations and economic ties with the United States. In an effort to strengthen ties for mutual benefit, a review of existing treaties between the Philippines and the United States is underway. What is the nature of Philippine security arrangements with the United States? There are three basic agreements between the Philippines and the United States. These are: (1) the Military Bases Agreement (signed on 14 March 1947); (2) the Military Assistance Agreement (signed on 21 March 1947); and (3) the Mutual Defense Treaty (signed on 30 August 1951). As a colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines completely depended on the United States for protection. In turn the United States used the Philippines as a place to station military forces to protect its political and commercial interests not only in this country but also in the whole of the Asian region. Thus, American mil itary bases were established in the Phil ippines while it was still a colony under the United States. When the Philippines regained in dependence in 1946, the Filipino lead ers of the Philippine Government be lieved that because of the destruction of the country during World War II, the Philippines would not be able to defend itself against any enemy and, therefore, had to continue under the old military arrangements with the United States. This time it was necessary to sign the three treaties stated above be cause the Philippines was already a sov ereign state. What does the Military Bases Agree ment provide for? This agreement allowed the United States to establish, operate and main tain military, naval and air bases in the Philippines. The number and area of the bases have been reduced gradually over the years. Originally, the use of the bases was for a period of 99 years. This was later reduced to 25 years. The agreement will end in 1991, unless revised earlier. At present, are the military bases still necessary for the protection of the Philippines? The Philippine government is re viewing its stand on the further need for the bases, in consultation with the United States in the light of new devel opments in Asia. Some arguments against the con tinued presence of US bases in the Phil ippines are as follows: □ The Philippines is not in danger of external aggression; and □ US bases may provoke nuclear aggression by enemies of the United States who are not enemies of the Philippines. Is there actual harm done to the Phil ippines at present by the presence of military bases? Yes. Irritants have been created between Filipinos and Americans in the matter of jurisdiction over persons in volved in crimes committed inside and outside of the bases. Many Filipinos have been killed in such incidents. For example, a Filipino was killed while allegedly trying to steal a bicycle. Two Filipino fishermen were shot while fishing within the off-limits area of the Subic Naval Base. Another Filipino was killed in broad daylight by an American serviceman who claimed that he mistook the Filipino for a wild boar. In most of these cases, the Philippine Government filed protests with the American Govern ment with no result. The Americans in volved were either acquitted by the US court martial or were taken out of the Philippines by the US authorities while the criminal cases against them were still pending in court. Why does this happen? Are there no provisions on criminal jurisdiction in the Military Bases Agreement? There are provisions on criminal jurisdiction in the Agreement but these provisions are favorable only to the Americans. US bases: protection or nuclear magnets? First, the Philippine government has no jurisdiction over an American service man who commits an offense while in the performance of his military duty. It is the base commander who determines whether or not the soldier is on duty, and the commander issues a certification to this effect. The Philippine Govern ment could disagree with the certifica tion of the base commander, but the final decision is made through diploma tic negotiation and not by law. Second, when an American service man is accused of committing an offense over which the Philippine Government has jurisdiction, the American authori ties keep custody of the serviceman. For this reason, many accused Amer icans have been taken out of the Phil ippines even before hearing of their cases have been completed. In other countries, where there are American bases, the custody of an accused Amer ican serviceman rests with the host government. Has the Philippine government done anything to change the provisions of the Military Bases Agreement which are harmful to the Philippines? Changes in the agreement can be made only with the consent of the two governments. The Philippines has been negotiating with the United States over pany years at technical level. Pres ident Marcos is known to favor meetings at policy level where decisions could be reached more quickly. In its recent meeting on the military bases, assistance, and mutual defense agreement, the Foreign Policy Council recommended that changes be made in the agreements, that national survival demands their urgent review and the adoption of alternatives that best serve the national interest. What changes or gains have so far been made by negotiations? □ The lease period of the agree ment has been greatly reduced from 99 to 25 years. □ There were originally 23 bases and reservations held by the US. These have been reduced to only two major ones, Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base. □ All titles to base lands were turned over to the Philippines in 1956. The US Government used to claim ownership of these lands. □ The US Government has agreed to consult the Philippine Government whenever it needs the bases for military combat operations, for stockpiling of nuclear weapons and for installation of long-range missiles. What is the Military Assistance Agree ment? This Agreement provides for a pro gram of assistance by the United States to the Philippines in the form of military equipment. It also provides for the send ing of a US military advisory board to the Philippines. This is the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG). It provides advice and assis tance to the Philippine Government on military and naval matters. Its expenses are paid by the Philippine Government. What kind of military assistance do we receive from the United States? Under this Agreement, the United States is committed to supply the Phil ippines certain initial equipment, sup plies and maintenance items. Additional equipment and supplies other than those surplus to the needs of the United States are furnished by the US but sub ject to reimbursement by the Philippine Government, which means that the Phil ippines has to pay for them or they remain properties of the United States. What is the Mutual Defense Treaty? This treaty provides that an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either the Philippines or the US or on the island territories under US jurisdic tion in the Pacific Ocean would be dangerous to its peace and safety and that each party would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes. What guarantee has America given for the national security of the Philippines? None. The terms of the Mutual Defense Treaty do not ensure the secur ity of the Philippines. There is no pro vision whatsoever for an automatic dec laration of war or immediate retaliation by the American government in case the Philippines is attacked. Would the United States come to the assistance of the Philippines if a foreign power attacks the country but not the American bases? At the hearings held by the Syming ton Committee of the US Senate, it came out that the United States is obligated to repel an attack only if the American bases in the Philippines were directly attacked. That is, there is no obligation on the part of the United States to repel an attack on the Philip pines if such an attack does not en danger the US bases. That was also the gist of assurances by past American Presidents (Eisenhower and Johnson): that the deployment of American forces in the Philippines was such that an attack on the Philippines would neces sarily involve an attack on American forces and hence would be instantly repelled. On July 4,1946, the Philippines entered into an Executive Agreement with the United States. This is the Philippine Trade Act of 1946. Why did we enter in to this Agreement? Our badly shattered economy after World War II forced the Philippines to seek economic assistance from the Unit ed States for the rehabilitation of the country. The Constitution was amended to include a provision in the Philippine Trade Act of 1946 which gave United States citizens equal rights with Filipinos in the development, disposition, exploi tation and utilization of all agricultural, timber, mineral lands and other natural resources of the Philippines. The amend ment came to be known as Parity. The Trade Agreement was later revised due to provisions which discrim inated in favor of American citizens. It became known as Laurel-Langley Agreement which took effect on July 1, 1956 and expired on July 3, 1974. How does the Philippines conduct its economic relations with the United States after the termination of the Lau rel-Langley Agreement? There is no trade agreement between the Philippines and the United States at the moment. The Philippines now conducts normal commercial transac tions with the United States as with any other country. 12 1-15 October. 1975 ____________ ______ I The Government I THE REPUBLIC Awards: Artists in government A ng kahusayan ng sining sa isang kabayanan ay isang tunay na salamin ng karanasan at kasaysayan ng isang bansa. Nasa himig. nasa tula, nasa eskultura. arkitektura, la hat ng sutatin ng ating mga alagad ng sining ang tunay na kaluluwa ng ating lahi. These are excerpts from the extem poraneous remarks delivered by President Ferdinand E. Marcos at the conferment ceremonies of the National Artist Awards at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last June l 2, 1974. Continuing in the same spirit but on a different distinct aspect from the National Artist Awards, the Cultural Achievement Awards spon sored by the Cultural Center of the Phil ippines (CCP) and the Philippine Gov ernment Cultural Association (PGCA) conferred honors on those in the service of the government whose works in the field of arts and letters contribute to cultural development in the New Society. The first conferment ceremony was held last September 17 at the CCP Theater for the Performing Arts. Ac cording to Roman A. Cruz Jr., GSIS Manager and President of the PGCA and Director Lucrecia A. Kasilag of the CCP, the Cultural Achievement Awards was initiated to commemorate the New So ciety’s third anniversary. Recipients of the awards are Presidential Assistant Dr. Guillermo C. de Vega, painter and art director Mauro Malang Sant os, composer What is Filipino music? PROFESSOR Felipe Padilla de Leon’s compositions symbolize the music of the new order. The Bagong Lipunan Hymn, Bagong Pagsilang March, Tayo ’y Magtanim and so many others of his works reflect the spirit of the timesdiscipline, optimism, social change, in dustry and progress. But he is known all over the country not only because of his marches but also because of his sym phonic works, operas (Noli Me Tangere) and several concertos. In all these musical works, Prof, de Leon awakens Filipino culture con sciousness. He is one nationalist-artist who literally lives, breathes, creates for, by and of his culture. His profound com mitment to his country is shown by his promotion of Filipino music and Fili pino culture through radio programs and lecture demonstration recitals. His radio program “Mga Himig Ng Ating Lahi” aired every Saturday at 8:00 P.M. over DPI Radio 2 features the works of Filipino composers performed by Filipino musicians and singers. The program aims to acquaint our people with the beauty and lustre of Filipino music. Our culture consists of different types of music-Southeast Asian, folk song, Western classical and jazz, rock and beat. Prof, de Leon, when asked which GSIS Manager Roman Cruz congratulates Secretary Guillermo de Vega as other awardees, Felipe de Leon and Mauro ‘Malang’ Santos applaud. Felipe P. de Leon and musical director and popular song composer Miguel Ve larde Jr. Pioneering in a massive dynamic movement of gathering all the different government offices into one cohesive cultural group, the PGCA’s main ob jective is the re-awakening and activa tion of cultural consciousness among government officials and employees whose creative instincts are mostly stifled by a workaday world of routine and stereotyped bureaucratic functions. The association started with the merging of the choral groups from different mem ber-agencies of the Government Cor poration Athletic Association. The joint chorus was called Koro ng Kakakap or Kapisanang Kalinangan ng mga Kawani ng Pamahalaan. In 1965, a council on of these musical forms is the truly Fili pino music, states that “the national identity in music lies not in the form but in the feeling. The feeling that expresses the Filipino in you.” “People abroad, surrounded by in ternational sounds and musical patterns, easily recognizes Filipino music, the music which they can identify with and to which they can spontaneously say ‘Atin Yan’,” Prof, de Leon emphatically pointed out. Is it the music composed by a Fili pino? Or the song with the Filipino lyrics? Not being able yet to grasp what he means, I further insisted on being clarified. He in turn said that music composed by a Filipino cannot necessarily be called Filipino music. He illustrated this with the example of George Bizet who com posed a Spanish opera characterized by Spanish musical nuances. The end pro duct is genuine Spanish music. But the surprising thing is, Bizet is a full-blooded Frenchman! “It follows^then that any composer of any nationality can create the music of other nations by using the form and musical idioms of those countries,” Prof, de Leon explained. “What about songs with Pilipino lyrics? Can they be categorized as truly Filipino songs? ” On this query, Prof, de Leon re cultural affairs was created under the Office of the Economic Coordination (OEC) General Circular No. 49. In the OEC Cultural Conference in Baguio City in the same year, cultural policies for member-agencies were conceptualized. A cultural festival followed in 1966 which featured Philippine music, dance and drama. In 1970, active members of the council Atty. Jose S. Relunia and Prof. Vicente M. Sales of GSIS and Cesar U. Sevilla of the National Power Cor poration (NPC) envisioned an even wider organization which would include as many offices as possible. A meeting of representatives from different offices was held on October 1, 1970' during which time the Constitution of the as sociation was approved. The occasion marked the birth of the PGCA or the torted that Filipino lyrics can be easily written for any local or foreign song. But Filipino lyrics alone cannot suffice for a Filipino musical identity. As art, according to Ernst Casirer, “is a positive translation of human exper ience,” the translation process results in a new form, a new organism. Translation of the whole gamut of the Filipino ex perience may result in a truly Filipino music. Prof, de Leon propounded further on this point. The Asian musical roots found in our tagulaylay, kumintang, awit and various tribal airs, the EastWest assimilated kundiman, balitaw, danza and the American jazz with its Amer ican sounds which is still groping for na tional identification, are the basic com ponents for reconciling East-West in fluences. In the process of development, musicians envision a Filipino jazz, with a native terminology combining the native indigenous instruments and tonal pat terns of the different tribes with the elements of American jazz. Only then can there be a jazz and rock music with a Filipino sound and character. And in the long run, the truly Fili pino music will evolve, out of a con glomeration of influences, music that Filipinos can identify with. One can be certain that in this evolvement, Prof, de Leon will have a hand, directly or indirectly. -ROSALINDA G. ROXAS Samahang Pangkalinangan ng Pamaha laan ng Pilipinas. From these beginnings came forth the renaissance of culture in the civil service. With 181 member-agencies to day. the PGCA has become a major cul tural force in the country. A positive force Although nationalism comes in ma ny forms, its manifestations through artistic endeavors become a positive force that elicits an instantaneous aes thetic and patriotic response. The artist becomes a patriot not only by dying for his country but also by adopting a policy of intense dedica tion to its cultural origin and history. Through creation, teaching and promo tion, he achieves results of tremendous impact in the tradition of heroes and statesmen This impact becomes doubly so when the artist is in the public service because his name wields more influence and his area of operation becomes na tionwide reaching the greatest number of people. The four awardees Heading the list of the awardees. Presidential Assistant Dr. Guillermo C. de Vega was cited for his two books, Ferdinand E. Marcos: An Epic and Film and Freedom which is about movie cen sorship. Secretary de Vega is chairman of the Board of Censors. Prof. Felipe P. de Leon whose music reflects his deep patriotic sentiments is President of the Filipino Society of Composers and Publishers (FILSCAP) and Technical Assistant on Cultural Af fairs in the Office of the President. He has composed music for the New Society such as the Bagong Lipunan Hymn, Bagong Ptigsilang March, Tayo 'y Magta nim, A wit ng Magsasaka, A lay ng Puso and A lay ng Kabalaan. Mauro Malang Santos is painter, graphic art designer and member of the Textbook Board. He was cited for his designs of New Society posters “which effectively carry the message of change;” layouts and designs for special publications of the Office of the Pres ident and the First Lady and most es pecially for his design of the significant New Society symbol-the Philippine flag waving a new day. Mike Velarde, popular song com poser, member of the Games and Amuse ments Board and musical director for stage and movies was cited for his numer ous song compositions such as Ikaw, Minamahal Kita, Gabi at Araw, Ikaw ay akin, Magpakailanman and most especial ly for Dahil Sa Iyo which has become identified with the Philippines. His initia tive for acquainting the Filipino audience with the Zarzuela afad its revival through such presentations as Walang Sugat and Minda Mora adapted to contemporary events endeared him to the hearts of Zarzuela aficionados. The awardees were given scrolls and cash prizes of P2,000.00 each on the awarding night. But more than that, they have attained the distinction of being the “firsts” among government personnel to represent artistic excellence in the public service. -R.G.R. THE REPUBLIC The Government 1-15 October, 1975 13 Manager must lead. But how? Here, Peter Drucker, a major management theorist and adviser to several top cor porations, expounds on the subject. (From his book. Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices.) TO BE A MANAGER requires more than a title, a big office, and other out ward symbols of rank. It requires com petence and performance of a high or der. But does the job demand genius'.’ Is it done by intuition or by method? I low does the manager do his work? A manager has two specific tasks. The first is creation of a true whole that is larger than the sum of its parts, a pro ductive entity that turns out more than the sum of the resources put into it. One analogy is the conductor of a symphony orchestra, through whose effort,vision, and leadership individual instrumental parts become the living whole of a musical performance. But the conductor has the composer’s score; he is only in terpreter. The manager is both compos er and conductor. This task requires the manager to make effective whatever strength there is in his resources-above all, in the hu man resources-and neutralize whatever there is of weakness. This is the only way in which a genuine whole can be created. It requires the manager to balance and harmonize major functions of the business enterprise: managing a business; managing worker and work; and man aging the enterprise in community and society. A decision or action that satis fies a need in one of these functions by weakening performance in another weak ens the whole enterprise. A decision must always be sound in all three areas. The second specific task of the manager is to harmonize in every deci sion and action the requirements of immediate and long-range future. He cannot sacrifice cither without endan gering the enterprise. He must, so to speak, keep his nose to the grindstone while lifting his eyes to the hills-which is quite an acrobatic feat. Or, to vary the metaphor, he can afford to say neither “We will cross this bridge when we come to it,” nor “It’s the next hundred years that count.” He not only has to prepare for crossing distant bridges-he has to build them long before he gets there. And if he does not take care of the next hundred days, there will be no next hundred years-thcre may not even be a next five years. Whatever the manager does should be sound in expediency as well as in basic long-range objective and principle. And where he cannot harm onize the two time dimensions, he must at least balance them. He must calculate the sacrifice he imposes on the longrange future of the enterprise to protect its immediate interests, or the sacrifice he makes today for the sake of tomor row. He must limit either sacrifice as much as possible. And he must repair as soon as possible the damage it inflicts. He lives and acts in two time dimensions, and he is responsible for the performance of the whole enterprise and of his own component in it. ^^OST MANAGERS spend most of their time on things that are not “manag ing.” A sales manager makes a statistical analysis or placates an important cus tomer. A foreman repairs a tool or fills out a production report. A manufacWhat does a manager do? Peter Drucker Lucio Martinez, Lonely Duke, 1969. turing manager designs a new plant lay out or tests new materials. A company president works through the details of a bank loan or negotiates a big contract or spends hours presiding at a dinner in honor of long-servicc employees. All these things pertain to a particular func tion. All are necessary and have to be done well. There are five basic operations in the work of the manager. Together they result in the integration of resources into a viable growing organism. A manager, in the first place, sets objectives. He determines what the ob jectives should be. He determines what the goals in each area of objectives should be. He decides what has to be done to reach these objectives. He makes the objectives effective by communica ting them to the people whose perfor mance is needed to attain them. Second, a manager organizes. He analyzes the activities, decisions, and re lations needed. He classifies the work. He divides it into manageable activities and further divides the activities into manageable jobs. He groups these units and jobs into an organization structure. He selects people for the management of these units and for jobs to be done. Next, a manager motivates and com municates. He makes a team out of the people that arc responsible for various jobs. He does that through the practices with which he works. He docs it in his own relations to the men with whom he works. He does it through his “people decisions" on pay, placement, and pro motion. And he does it through constant communication, to and from his subor dinates, and to and from his superior. and to and from his colleagues. The fourth basic element in the work of the manager is measurement. The manager establishes yardsticks-and few factors are as important to the per formance of the organization and of eve ry man it it. He sees to it that each man hasmcasurementsavailable to him which arc focused on the performance of the whole organization and which, at the same time, focus on the work of the in dividual and help him do it. He'analyzes, appraises, and interprets performance. As in all other areas of his work, he commynicates the meaning of the measurements and their findings to his subordinates, to his superiors, and to colleagues. Finally, a manager develops people, including himself. Every one of these categories can be divided further into subcategories, and each of the subcategories could be dis cussed in a book of its own. Moreover, every category requires differentqualities and qualifications. Setting objectives, for instance, is a problem of balances: a balance between business results and the realization of the principles one believes in; a balance between the immediate needs of the business and those of the future; a bal ance between desirable ends and avail able means. Setting objectives clearly needs analytical and synthesizing ability. Organizing, too, requires analytical ability. For it demands the most econo mical use of scarce resources. But it deals with human beings, and therefore stands under the principle of justice and re quires integrity. Analytical ability and integrity are similarly required for the development of people. The skill needed for motivating and communicating is primarily social. Ins tead of analysis, integration and syn thesis are needed. Justice dominates as the principle, economy is secondary. And integrity is of much greater im portance than analytical ability. Measuring requires, first and fore most, analytical ability. But it also de mands that measurement be used to make self-control possible rather than abused to control people from the out side and above-that is, to dominate them. It is the common violation of this principle that largely explains why measurement is the weakest area in the work of the manager today. As long as measurements are abused as a tool of control (for instance, as when measure ments are used as a weapon of an in ternal secret police that supplies audits and critical appraisals of a manager’s performance to the boss without even sending a carbon copy to the manager himself) measuring will remain the weak est area in the manager's performance. Setting objectives, organizing, moti vating and communicating, measuring, and developing people are formal, clas sifying categories. Only a manager’s ex perience can bring them to life, concrete and meaningful. But because they arc formal, they apply to every manager and to everything he does as a manager. They can therefore be used by every manager to appraise his own skill and performance and to work systematically on improving himself and his perfor mance as a manager. J. HE MANAGER works with a specific resource: man. And the human being is a unique resource requiring peculiar qualities in whoever attempts to work with it. “Working” the human being always means developing him. The direction which this development takes decides whetherthc human being-bothas a man and as a resource-will become more pro ductive or cease, ultimately, to be pro ductive at all. This applies, as cannot be emphasized too strongly, not alone to the man who is being managed but also to' the manager. Whether he develops his subordinates in the right direction, helps them to grow and become bigger and richer persons, will directly determine whether he himself will develop, will grow or wither, become richer or become impoverished, improve or deteriorate. One can learn certain skills in man aging people-for instance, the skill to lead a conference or to conduct an in terview. One can set down practices that are conducive to development—in the structure of the relationship between manager and subordinate, in a promo tion system, in the rewards and incen tives of an organization. But when all is said and done, developing men ft ill re quires a basic quality in the manager which cannot be created by supplying skills or by emphasizing the importance of the task. It requires integrity of character. There is tremendous stress these days on liking people, helping’ people, getting along with people, as qualifica tions for a manager. These alone are never enough. In every successful or ganization there is one boss who docs not like people, who does not help them, and who docs not get along with them. Cold, unpleasant, demanding, he often teaches and develops more men than anyone else. He commands more respect than the most likable man ever could. He demands exacting workman ship of himself as well as of his men. He sets high standards and expects that they will be lived up to. He considers only what is right and never who is right. And though often himself a man of bril liance, he never rates intellectual bril liance above integrity in others. The manager1 who lacks these qualities of character-no matter how likable, help ful; or amiable, no matter even how competent or brilliant-is a menace and should be adjudged “unfit to be a man ager and a gentleman." What a manager does can be anal yzed systematically. What a manager has to be able to do can be learned (though perhaps not always taught). But one quality cannot be learned, one qualifica tion that the manager cannot acquire but must bring with him. It is not gen ius; it is character. 14 1-15 October, 1975 Viewpoi [ THE REPUBLIC 66 Mr. President, how would you describe the situation in Mindanao now? How soon do you think peace will come to the region? We are at the stage of what one can refer to as the beginning of the end of secessionism. We must be conscious about making any exaggerated claims about stopping all the fighting knowing the capability of a couple or even a single, individual to cause disruption of negotiations and even cause the break out again of hostilities. Ambuscades, sabotage, even raids can be conducted by small groups and there are any num ber of rebels or supposed rebels who are not actually ideological, meaning, they are not fighting for a cause. Many of them are outright outlaws who have been wanted by the law since many decades back. We intend to go after these people. How muchautonomy has been promised to the rebel surrenderees in terms of application of the Islamic laws to their territory and control of natural re sources? Application of Islamic laws and con trol of natural resources. What we have proposed is that they now sit down and tell the national government, which must issue a decree through me, as to what part of Islamic law they want to apply to the Muslim areas. Right now, for in stance, if you will remember I extended the applicability which terminated the laws on marriage and divorce which they consider very sensitive. Initially, they want the recognition of their laws on family relations, inheritance and the like. They also would like the decisions of their religious course to be given some kind of validity, to what extent is still doubtful. In a state of doubt because even the scholars themselves seem to disagree among the Muslim religious. Then the customs, traditions, practices, communal ownership of land and the like plus the privileges of rank, title, all these will have to be decided. It is not going to be an easy decision to make, but there is definitely good will on both sides and an agreement in principle that those sensitive por tions of Islamic law which cannot in any manner prejudice the Christian pop ulation, should by all means, by decree be made law applicable to the Muslims. Mr. President, in the light of the dis mantling of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEA TO) as a security or ganization, do you foresee the introduc tion of the idea of security or collective security system as future field of co operation between ASEAN nations? Well, as you know, we think in terms not of military measures but in terms of a proclamation of a zone of peace, free dom and neutrality which, of course, as you know has been interpreted to mean that nobody engages in military activity. Although as the scholars put it, there is no such thing as a zone of peace, freeFrom Foreign Correspondents Associa tion of the Philippines recent interview. An interview with President Marcos dom and neutrality unless it is protect ed, guaranteed. And this again is some thing which disturbs the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). There is an agreement be tween Indonesia and the Philippines for common border patrols, exchange of in telligence and exchange of officer train ing. Where this will lead to, nobody knows. When are we really seriously sitting down with the United States to talk over bilateral security arrangements? We are sitting down with the United States now. We are in the middle of negotiations. I met with Ambassador Sullivan and we set the framework of the negotiations when he arrived from the United States about a month back, last month. And after that, there have been continuous meetings. Probably, I can reveal the fact, on the record, that at the luncheon for Senator Mansfield, we gave a briefing of what we expected to come out of the negotiations. Mr. President, I understand we are also intending to "normalize” relations with the United States. Actually when I used the term “normal ize” there are certain carry-over provi sions in tariff acts, immigration and others which do not jibe with our pres ent state of independence and its a mark of inequality. Let's say, for in stance, our coconut oil pays a 1 cent per pound duty. Palm oil and other oils are exempt. Then our wood products, our Philippine mahogany is classified as special class and it pays a 20% duty while all other hard woods pay only 10%. This is an oversight of some sort. It is not a deliberate attempt to pre judice the Philippines. It was a carry over from the period when we had not acceded to GATT and other multila teral arrangements. But we already have and the United States has not yet de fined its position on this particular matter. Then on visa fees and the like, immigration plus of course the trade agreement, military bases, all of these require a more detailed study. May we turn to our local problems, Mr. President. There are a few problems, Mr. President, facing local businessmen now and these problems are now reflected in the behavior of our stock market and these are tight credit; second, fear of higher taxes and then of course the fear of higher oil price in view of the threat of the Arab countries to raise again the price of oil. Are there any steps which we are thinking of taking just to meet these problems ? Who knows what moves the stock mar ket? I understand there are experts who spend their lifetime diagnosing the movements of stocks. But one thing is 99 definite. Investments are coming in and have come in. They are continuing. I just met with Kennecot, the biggest copper producer in the world. Dr. Stearn who is the vice president executive di rector, tells me that they are happy about the situation here and there is a cautious study of the investment possi bilities here in the Philippines. He as sures us that it seems to be better than other countries. But the profitability and visibility of investment depend upon the factors beyond our control, the recession in the world, inflation and price of oil, things beyond our capabil ities. So I guess you and I had better keep on praying. In the meantime we’ll do everything we can within our power. Sir, what is the status of the US bases in the Philippines? Are we going to take over them or will the US continue to operate them but the jurisdiction will be under the Philippine go vernment ? Well, suppose we put it this way We don’t know what will come out of these negotiations but if we had our way we would control the military bases. They would become Philippine military bases. Facilities needed by the United States air force and navy to maintain its pre sent position in the Western Pacific, sea arid air lanes, would be extended vol untarily by the Philippines after the ne gotiations with the American govern ment in order that we can maintain the present equilibrium of power which is the foundation for peace and stability in the region. You have decided to go on deficit spending to be able to counteract the pressures of recession. The question that is uppermost in our mind is taxa tion. So aside from the tax that has al ready been imposed on cigarette and the tax that will be imposed on liquor, do you have in mind any new tax measure this year? Right now, no. Actually the Secretary of Finance has anticipated to me the need to eliminate subsidies. That’s why I moved to eliminate the subsidy on Virginia tobacco. We have completely a subsidy which amounted to about anywhere from P200 to P300 million annually. Do we expect any steps, political steps, ap proaching more to the lifting of martial law especially in the political system in your country? First of all, there is gaining momentum the idea of replacement of local offi cials not necessarily by appointment, possibly by election. Now there is no decision on this matter. All the advisers are moving around and making all kinds of audits and studies and the local barangay leaders are also participating in these studies. Then there is also my own proposal for the setting up of a leg islative Council. Again, not necessarily appointive. All these proposals are under study. This would bring about a shift towards the classical representative form of government. THE REPUBLIC 1-15 October. 1975 15 ■ THE REPUBLIC < sang Bansa, Isang Diwa Board of Editors Chairman: FRANCISCO S. TataD Editorial Staff: JUANITA G. TRINIDAD I Vice-Chairman: REUBEN R. CaNOY MaRCOS D. ACAYO | Members: LORENZO J. CRUZ GLORIA J/ne BAYLON I FLORENTINO S. DAUZ ROSALINDA G. ROXAS I ROWENA M. LUMEN i Managing Editor: LUIS V. OPLE Production Manager: MARCELINO N. PALISOC I Art Director: MIC AELITA C. ALMENDRAL Production Assistant: CESAR B. TABLASON I THE REPUBLIC is published fortnightly by the Department of Public Information, | Malacanang, Manila. Manuscripts and photographs should be sent to THE REPUBLIC, Tuazon-Gonzales Bldg., Intramuros, Manila. While they will take reasonable care, the Editors assume no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts. Editorial WHEN martial law was proclaimed three years ago, it seemed that the cancer of corruption within the gov ernment has been severed by the massive overhaul of public agencies by President Marcos. But like un wanted weeds, corruption and inefficiency in the public service have proved resilient. During the celebration of the third anniversary of the New Society last September 19, President Marcos announced a massive cleanup of the govern ment with his firing of more than 2,000 officials, including several Cabinet members. The President said that the progress of the New Society has been tarnished by the rise of a “new government elite” PANANAW Babati ang Wikang Pilipino sa saklong na ito na taglay ang maaanghang na pagpuna sa mga gawang hindi mabuti, subalit may nakalaan namang laurel sa mga mamamayan, kasama ang mga nagseserbisyo sa Gobyerno,na mangunguna sa mga kilusang magagamit na huwaran sa itinitindig na Bagong Lipunan. **** Gumawa na ng aksiyon ang Presidente. Ibinase niya sa gusto ng mga mamamayan. Pinatalsik na ang mga hindi karapatdapat sa Gobyerno. Ukol dito, naghihintay rin ang Gobyerno ng tulong ng publiko. Lumantad sila at sabihin kung sino ang mga dapat pang alisin, ngunit kailangang may matitibay na kadahilanan. . . na base sa katarungan ♦**# Kailangan ng bansa ang sapat na panustos upang maagapayanan ang papalaking populasyon... kaya kai langan ang malaki at patuloy na produksiyon. Ka ilangan ang malawak na lupang magagawang sakahan... ng maraming industriya at pagawaan... pagpapaunlad ng teknolohiya sa lahat ng larangan ng ekonomiya. Kailangan din ang epektibong pa ma maha la, laluna sa programa ng family planning. Ang ibig sabihin, ang lahat ng babae at lalaki na may karapatan nang “gumawa” ng mga pandagdag sa populasyon ay dapat munang magkaroon ng kamalayan sa panganib na sisipot sa paglaki ng populasyon... alang-alang sa pagsasakit ng Gobyerno sa kaunlarang pambansa... ngunit hindi sa kaunlaran ng populasyon. Napapanahon ang panawagan kamakailan ni Mahistrado Felix B. Makasiar ng Korte Suprema sa mga huwes sa Nueva Ecija. Maglinis ng mga kahon at huwag patagalin ang pagpapasiya sa maraming asunto na sangkot ang mga dukhang mamamayan. Ang pagthat has shaken the people’s faith in the government. What lessons can we learn from the revamp? First, we can never be complacent for the country’s development we aspire for is always a continuing struggle. Next, we must keep an eye on ourselves. Corruption and inefficiency thrive only when others keep their eyes shut. Fair warnings and vigilance will go a long way in preventing the misguided government employee from seeking quick profits at government’s expense. Perhaps, the President can propose a code of ethics for all government em ployees to continuously guide them in the per formance of their duties. LAD1SLAO SUBANG balam saalinmang usapinay pagbalam sa pagpapakilos ng katarungan. Alam kong sa maraming hukuman sa buong bansa ay inaamag ang maraming usapin. Hindi na uso ngayon sa Bagong Lipunan ang palakasan. Aksiyon at katarungan ang kailangan ng mga mamamayan... at sa madaling panahon. **** Maramina ang kabutihang nagagawa ng reporma sa bagong lipunan. Ang hindi lamang nagkakaroon ng epektibong resulta ay ang ugali ng maraming kabataang lalaki, karamihan ay estudyantc, sa mga sasakyang pampasahero. Nagtutulug-tulugan sila sa pagbibigay njg kanilang upuan sa mga babae, laluna sa matatanda. Sa bagong lipunan. ang kagandahang asal na minana sa ating mgi ninuno ay binubuhay. Ngunit mayroon pa ring labi ng panahon ng makapangyarihang pulitiko. Hindi ba ito isang inatinding sampal sa kagandahang-asal na itinitindig sa kasalukuyang panahon? **** Nakasabay kong magkape kamakailan ang isang may katandaan nang lalaking balik-bayan. Nanunuluyan siya sa isang malaking otel sa Sta. Cruz, Maynila, ngunit sa isang tersera klaseng restawran nagkape nang umagang yaon. Nabatid ko sa aming balitaan, na kinusa niya iyon upang alamin ang kumakalat na balita sa San Francisco, California , na mataas ang halaga ng pagkain sa Maynila. Ngayon ay batid na niya ang katotohanan. Sa pagbabalik niya sa Estados Unidos ay pabubulaanan niya ang pinakakalat na balita ng ilang Pilipino roon na magulo at magastos ang dumalaw sa Pilipinas. Alam ba ninyo ang kanyang kirtain? Isang pritong itlog, isang pinggang sinangag at isang tasang kape sa halagang P2. Sa “States,” ang P2 ay hindi pa makakabili ng “soft drinks.” ♦♦♦♦ Another Cup Teodoro F. Valencia W Who is 'Malakas' now? The word is out. The President means business this time. He has stopped waiting for his men to change. He’s changing them. This time, the changes will be allembracing. With public support, he can go on cleaning up the government. Without public support, this will look like a purge-that’s an ugly word. Fortunately, public reaction has been nothing less than joy. *** There’s nothing unusual about the extent of the cleanup drive. The only thing that has elicited praise is that it ever happened. People had been waiting for these changes to take place, separately or slowly. But not altogether in one blow. News that there will be more is welcome too. Of course, there will be errors of judgement. Some injustices will happen. That can’t be helped. Out of 2,000, perhaps even 20 would be unfairly treated. Some mechanism must be found to find out the errors and to have them corrected. These errors detract from the merit of the main action. The idea is to deal justice, not injustice. *** The retirement of so many of the unretireablc, untouchable and reputedly mulatakas was a shock to many, a pleasant surprise to even more. In a way, we have been given a preview of what kind of changes we may expect when the President starts to touch the military and the local officialdom. The same stern measure of acceptability is surely going to be applied. How else can he do it? *** Why don’t we go down the line and revamp the Barangays? As in the national scene, there will be the need to force into the service the people who would not otherwise volunteer. “No time,” most of the deserving would say. Then, we have pleaded with them, failing in which, we must compel them to serve. There’s no other way if we must achieve in shorter time the objectives of the new society. *** One way to assure responsibility for dishonesty in office is to make the bureau or department head responsible for anything that happens in his domain. Give the office head the freedom to spend funds but give him the primary responsibility. The trouble with our auditing system today, our procurement system too, is that the head of the office is never responsible. Or nobody is ever responsible. Too many technicalities to free everybody from responsibility, yet the funds arc gone and there’s nothing to show. The safeguards have been reversed-they’re now safeguards against prosecution. *** It might help improve the public service if the President will now spell out what kind of performance he expects those who will stay in office must produce. They are a nervous lot. If they knew what to do, what is expected of them, they’ll feel better. For instance, the President might tell them to be more civil to the public who do buaness with them, to act like servants of the people instead of new masters, to try and be useful instead of waiting for orders. It’s the President who must tell them. Yes, tell them what they already know, what they have known for years. *** Not So Funny Larry Alcala 16 1-15 October. 1975 The Nati THE REPUBLIC Letter From A Region □ Bongao, Tawi-Tawi (PNA) - He is a full-fledged colonel and once slept in the quarters of a rebel leader. It was a risky thing to do, considering the bitterness and hostility that hung heavy in the air at that time in Tawi-Tawi. Nonetheless, Col. Teofisto L. Gaurano, deputy com mander of the Sulu Sea Frontier Com mand (SUSEFCOM), went through with it,' if only to demonstrate that the gov ernment is sincere in accepting the re turn of insurgents to the fold of the law. Nothing happened that night. But something did happen afterwards. Gerry Matba, alias Commander Gercy of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), surrendered shortly after the “sleep in” of Gaurano, along with his 250 fullyarmed followers. With Matba command ing the biggest following in TawiProgress comes to Tawi-Tawi Tawi, his surrender was followed suit by almost 1,500 rebels. The surrender of Matba, a former school teacher who joined the MNLF to dramatize the clamor for reforms and more government attention to the less developed Muslim areas, created a chain of positive reactions. Paramount of these was the clearing away of the doubts among Muslims over the sincerity of the government. “We came here not to add fire to the root causes of insurgency, but to build a viable and strong develop ment foundation," said Gaurano. Restoring peace and order, he ad ded, was principally a goal of “peace negotiation tactical operation." In addition to Matba, other prom inent rebel commanders who had sur rendered were Roxas Sali and Muham mad Sali Bahauddin. No less than Pres ident Marcos commissioned them recent ly as second lieutenants in the Philip pine Army. Some 15 other rebel leaders are currently undergoing military train ing in Manila. While SUSEFCOM placed priority on its pacification offensive it was not however remiss in its other mission. To date, at least 64 development projects, most of them completed, are gradually changing the outlook of some 200,000 residents in the island who had rarely experienced government response to their problems before. A total of 2.7 million have been poured into a wide ar ray of investments ranging from the construction of prefab school buildings to the cultivation of agar-agar. One such project is the opening of a 10-kilometer road starting from the poblacion of Bongao going up to Bahut where a bridge is undergoing construction. Designed as farm-to-market road, it was finished with only picks and shovels. The newly-created province of TawiTawi has shown a tremendous capacity to surge toward the goal of social and economic development launched by SU SEFCOM. Tawi-Tawi used to be a part of the Sulu Province. By virtue of Pres idential Decree No. 302 issued on Sep tember 1 1 this year, it became a province. Among the reasons behind the pro mulgation of the decree was that the cluster of islands comprising the TawiTawi group are distant from the seat of the provincial government of Sulu, and communications were so difficult. (Cont’d. from page 1) The second batch included one each from the Immigration Commis sion, Special Security Commission, Of fice of the President, National Economic and Development Authority, Citizens Legal Assistance Office, Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Public Works, Bureau of Telecommunications, Department of Health, Department of Trade,Department of Local Government and Community Development, Home Financing Commission, State University; 14 from the Department of Justice; 18, Land Registration Commission; 5, Department of Agriculture; 3, Bureau of Fisheries; 6, Bureau of Forest Devel opment; 5, Bureau of Posts; 31, Land Transportation Commission; 85, Depart ment of Public Highways; and 81, Com mission on Audit. The resigned officials also included 12 judges of the Court of First Instance; three from the city fiscal’s office, three assistant city fiscals, six provincial fis cals; five municipal judges and 17 regis trars of deeds. The President also announced the retirement of Education and Culture Secretary Juan Manuel, Health Secre tary Clemente Gatmaitan and Budget Commissioner Faustino Sy-Changco, and at the same time praised them for their “unblemished and dedicated services to the Republic long after they had reached the retirement age of 65 and had served with distinction the goals of re form and change of our New Society.” In a similar move, the President elevated to cabinet status Solicitor Gen eral Estelito Mendoza “in view of his exemplary service to the Philippine Re public not only in the conduct of legal defense of the Republic in our courts but also in legal conferences and forums outside the Philippines,” However, those who have gotten the presidential ax comprise only a part of a massive overhaul in the government which will eventually see a total change in public service. The lower ranks of the civil service will not be spared ; replace ments for the corrupt and backsliders will be announced in due time. In justifying his course of action, the President said:' “I have warned, scolded, cajoled, reprimanded. “Now it is time to cut off the in fected parts of the society from active public life before they endanger the en tire body politic. “This has been my painful duty as the head of the government and of the state. For the last three years, I have been watching the conduct of officers and employees in the national as well as the local governments. It is my duty as President of the Republic of the Philip pines to reward what is proper, dedica ted, devoted service by our public ser vants, and by the sarpe token, to punish any violation of the sacred trust by a public official.” To those who have been found to have committed inequities or corruption in public office, the President said that not only were all their resignations approved but they would also face charges before the military court and would therefore be subsequently arrested and detained. Already, he has directed Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile to probe the Office of the Undersec retary of Munitions which allegedly has misused the procurement of government materials. As the big purge continues, other government departments, bureaus, agen cies and offices would be affected, in cluding the military organization. What has been started during the Rizal Park rite is only the beginning. —JUANITA G. TRINIDAD