Welcome President Obama to the Philippines, we need more investments & trade, not just arms & alms

Welcome Pres. Obama, we need more investments & trade, not just arms & alms

I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency…They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. --- Barack Obama

            Welcome to the intellectually brilliant, eloquent and well-intentioned U.S. President Barack Obama to Asia’s most fun-loving country the Philippines. I urge Obama to please prioritize promoting more American investments, trade and tourism here, not just rosy speeches and effusive photo-ops, not just free U.S. military access to our archipelago, not just aid, not just more sales of military weapons.

It is sad that not many of our politicians realize that the true bulwark of national security and the best foundation for our democracy is a vibrant, self-reliant and globally-competitive Philippine economy, not just more new warplanes or ships.

Image above of President Barack Obama sourced from en.wikipedia.org

            President Obama’s desire for a strategic pivot (or “rebalance”, as the White House has seemingly renamed it after supposed panic and complaints from close allies in the Middle East and Europe) to Asia should hopefully be more vigorous economically, not just on the diplomatic, military and political aspects.

Help nudge our leaders to push economic democracy

I hope pro-poor President Obama can nudge our political leaders to push more decisive socio-economic reforms such as a Theodore Roosevelt-style anti-trust law and Senator Grace Poe’s Freedom of Information (FOI) bill. How can our economy be truly dynamic if it is agriculturally semi-feudal and industrially oligopolistic?

Also, on April 22---Earth Day, ecological champion Senator Loren Legarda and director Brillante Mendoza launched a riveting documentary on the destruction of the priceless marine biodiversity in our many coastal areas where millions of the rural poor live. I urge Obama to give technological and financial aid to our environmental projects, especially since logging, mining and other huge extraction of our natural resources grew under U.S. colonial rule and mostly by the multinationals.

Despite the gitzy malls and many new condominiums in our cities, we in Philippine society still have a long way to go economically. True, we’re politically an American-style constitutional democracy, but not yet an economic democracy.

In fact, it was a tragedy that U.S. colonizers had failed to implement agrarian reform and end feudalism in the Philippines the same way they did in postwar Japan under General Douglas MacArthur. I recall reading that MacArthur once even said that if he were a Filipino, he’d most likely have been a Huk rebel in the 1950s.

True, we’ve enjoyed investment-grade ratings upgrades and high economic growth rates, but the benefits have not yet trickled down fast enough. The small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) are still not yet very energized. I hope the civil libertarian Obama can nudge our leaders to push inclusive economic growth and help make the Philippines a true economic democracy with a broad-based middle-class.

U.S. once helped build up Philippine economy to No. 2 in Asia

Image above of USA and Philippine flags sourced from finestflags.com

Before at the residence of then U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney, I told her that in our ethnic Chinese family’s over two centuries here in the Philippines---including the Spanish colonial era, the brief interlude of Japanese military occupation and the post-war decades of independence---family elders say that the half-century American colonial period witnessed the rise of the Philippines into Asia’s second richest and most developed economy. Can the U.S. again more vigorously support the Philippine economy with preferential import tariffs, more investments and tourism?

            This need for stronger U.S. economic engagement with Asia should hopefully be uppermost in the agenda and priorities of Obama during his trip. We in the Philippines have received the least amount of economic aid, investments and trade from the U.S. compared to the three Asian countries Obama is visiting such as America’s former World War II foe Japan, South Korea and even Malaysia which used to be led by harsh U.S. critic ex-Prime Minister Mahathir.

More USA investments & trade with ex-foe Vietnam than ally Philippines

Image above of overlapping USA and Vietnam flags sourced from flamenkitaviajera.com

Even Vietnam, another war foe which even dealt the United States its first ever military defeat in history, has in recent years amazingly received more American investments, aid, trade and tourists than we here in the Philippines despite our “special relations”, our being the only former U.S. colony in Asia, our being staunchest U.S. ally since World War II, our fluency in American-style English as well as our having better U.S.-style legal and accounting systems here.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Manila: “The United States is among the Philippines’ top trading partners, and it traditionally has been the Philippines’ largest foreign investor… The stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in the Philippines exceeded $5 billion.”

In January this year, a firm identified with America’s prominent Rockefeller family announced a massive new investment in Vietnam. Rose Rock Group, a Rockefeller family-backed alternative investment management firm, said it shall help develop a $2.5 billion residential and hotel project in on the south-central coast of Vietnam.

This Vung Ro Bay development shall cover 200,000 square meters (2.15 million square feet) and to be developed with Vung Ro Petroleum Co. This huge undertaking will include 350 marina berths, hotels of over 760 rooms, 4,300 residential apartments, 100 townhouses and retail shops.

            On bilateral trade, the U.S. Embassy in Manila said: “The Philippines was the United States’ 33rd largest export market in 2012 and its 35th largest supplier. Goods exports totalled $8.1 billion; goods imports totalled $9.6 billion.” Two-way trade between theU.S. and the Philippines totalled US$17.6 billion. In comparison, bilateral trade volume between former enemies U.S. and Vietnam in the same year 2012 totalled US$ 24.890 billion dollars.

            President Barack Obama, let us substantially expand bilateral economic relations between the Philippines and the U.S. and help in our war against poverty.

Let us honor 93-year-old former Senate President Jovito "Jovy" Salonga of the Philippines

One of the rare great and humble leaders of the Philippines is former Senate President Jovito "Jovy" Salonga. He is today 93 years old and ailing, I believe we should honor him and emulate his example.

Image below of Jovy Salonga, sourced from pcij.org

In my Philippine Star column yesterday on August 11, 2013 entitled "A slice of history in Jove Salonga's rest house", I wrote: "I admire Jovy Salonga as an exceptionally humble, honest, compassionate, gutsy, hardworking, intellectually gifted, prayerful and wise leader."

He was a true nationalist similar to Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo  Tañada, Jose Diokno and Renato Constantino.

Here is the Internet link to my column... http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2013/08/11/1074851/slice-history-jovy-salongas-rest-house... If you find this interesting and worthwhile, I suggest you SHARE it via Facebook or Twitter to others? Thanks!

I had recently bought his beautiful, historic yet simple country house in Pansol, Laguna.

Jovy Salonga image below sourced from moralheroes.org





Image below of former Senate Jovy Salonga, sourced from www.bantayog.org




Image below sourced from philstar.com, (from left) Senator Lorenzo Tañada, Senator Ninoy Aquino, Senator Soc Rodrigo (far behind at the back), Senator Jovy Salonga, Senator Gerry Roxas, (right photo) Senator Jose Diokno.

Good News! Vice-President Jojo Binay calls for revisit of the economic provisions of Philippine Constitution.

Good news! Philippine Vice-President Jejomar "Jojo" Binay is correct, his views similar to that of Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte, Jr. on the urgent need for reforming the restrictive economic provisions of the Philippine Constitution which have so far discouraged huge inflows of foreign investments.

Image below of Vice-President Jojo Binay, sourced from affordablecebu.com





Image below of Speaker Sonny Belmonte, sourced from en.wikipedia.com




Vice-President Binay voiced these progressive, pro-people and reformist views to media at the sidelines of a meeting of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

Let all of us citizens voice our support for these proposed reforms, which shall hopefully make our Philippine economy globally-competitive compared to our Asean and Asian neighbors!

We need more foreign direct investments (FDIs) for more new factories and big enterprises, so we can create more jobs in the Philippines, instead of restricting entry of foreign investments which causes our perennially high unemployment problem and which forces millions of hardworking Filipnos to go abroad for work.

Image below of Metro Manila, sourced from business.asiaone.com



Image below, sourced from maquilafind.com



I am sharing this latest news report from philstar.com and Xinhua News Agency:

Binay calls for revisit of restrictive policies to economic growth

(philstar.com) | Updated July 29, 2013 - 9:00pm

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Vice President Jejomar Binay today called for a revisit of the Southeast Asian country's restrictive policies that hinders economic growth.

At the sidelines of the Joint Membership Meeting of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines, Binay underscored the need to liberalize laws with economic provisions in pursuance of the government mantra of inclusive growth.

"I have taken the position that we should at least, for starters, revisit measures that gets in the way of inclusive growth. We can start with the economic provisions of the constitution," he told reporters during the regular forum of businessmen.

He added that the required legislative changes are not imperative on President Aquino's term but would certainly need the push of national government. 

"Though it the fastest route, let me express my concern that the Congress itself may insert provisions that are not of economic orientation at all. That is as scenario that I am truly afraid might happen," he said.

He also expressed concern that alleged path to liberalization should be able to prepare Philippine businesses and the economy for global competitiveness.

 

Earlier, a group of local businessmen also urged the national government to soften the restrictive policies under the nationalistic provisions of the constitution.

The group of businessmen is seeking for an amendment of the economic provisions in the constitution to allow the entry of more foreign direct investments and a leeway for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to grow and develop.

The group is apprehensive over the seeming reluctance of foreign companies to invest in the Philippines despite improved credit and investments ratings.

Businessmen are citing inconsistencies on policies and "disrespect of contracts" as several of the more obvious reasons for slow investments.  

Shameless & continuous corruption! Archbishop Soc Villegas correct in criticizing immoral, corrupt mis-use of "pork barrel" by our many politicians in the Philippines!

I admire Archbishop Socrates "Soc" B. Villegas and his courageous stand against the shameless misuse of the "pork barrel" by many of our politicians in the Philippines, not only now, but ever since before.

When will systemic, institutional, cultural and far-reaching reforms happen beyond rhetoric, nice speeches?

Image below of Arhbishop Soc Villegas, sourced from lingayen-dagupan.org

 

Let us read the public statement issues by Archbishop Villegas just today, July 29, 2013 and share to others via social media?

PORK BARREL, STEWARDSHIP AND THE POOR
The Morality of the Pork Barrel

Many of you, our Catholic faithful, have come to us your pastors seeking our moral guidance on the issue of the pork barrel. It is the object of an ongoing investigation due to accusations of corruption being hurled against some of our public officials. But even before the recent expose, the pork barrel has long had a bad reputation. How many traditional politicians have run and overspent and even killed for the sake of millions they will get as pork barrel once elected?

We your Church pastors are not politicians. We are not lawyers. We are not socio-economic planners and strategists. Our realm is religious and the arena where we operate is spiritual and moral. From the ethical and moral perspectives, therefore, we offer you these guidelines.

The separation of Church and State does not prohibit moral ethical values from influencing public policies. If governance were conducted from a platform that disregards ethics and morality, we only expose our nation to greater peril. We have only ourselves to blame and we make ourselves the victims of our own amoral conduct.

PRO POOR OR PRO POLITICIAN…

In theory, the Priority Development Assistance Fund is an attempt to make government projects available to the poor and the marginalized sectors of society who are not sufficiently attended to when the national priorities are defined. In theory it is pro-poor and pro-marginalized. Its goal is to alleviate poverty and to bring about a redistribution of public money for the benefit of the poor. And we would like to affirm those who have indeed used every peso entrusted to them to support genuine projects for the poor, even to the point of spending their own money to respond to the needy. 

In reality, however, the pork barrel has been used by some elected representatives in Congress to prove to their constituents that they are concretely doing something for their welfare. In fact, it is not uncommon to refer to projects funded from the pork barrel fund as “Projects of Congressman X” giving the impression that this is personal money and not public fund. Epal has become so common that some of us are not disturbed by those billboards anymore.  

In many instances, the pork barrel has become like a “discretionary fund” of elected Representatives. In theory, it is for the development of the poor and the far. In reality, it has served to strengthen the clutch of politicians to power. 

But before we rush to pass judgment on our legislators who avail of the pork barrel, it would be opportune for us citizens to search our souls and ask “What have I done to contribute to this?”

In reality, we ordinary citizens partake of the bounty of the “discretionary funds” by asking our government officials to help our personal needs, family concerns, barangay projects or even Church fiestas.

Let us make it our rule of life when we relate to politicians “Walang hihingi!” Every time we ask our politicians for monetary help, we tempt them to dig into the pork barrel coffers or jueteng chests to accommodate our request.

STEWARDSHIP NOT PATRONAGE…

Public service is public trust. When we elect our Representatives in Congress, we elect them to make laws to make our nation a better nation. The task that we entrust to the legislators is clearly legislation. They are trustees of the citizens for lawmaking. 

The task of building infrastructure and providing social services is the responsibility of the executive branch of government. Its stewardship function is infrastructure building and social services. In theory, the Chief Executive has control of the disposition of these funds. In law and practice, the Chief Executive controls the release of the pork barrel to legislators. The consequence is the President can put pressure on legislators to toe his political line. The independence of Congress is compromised. 

Filipino voters become “grateful” beneficiaries of legislators whom they expect to give them something when they need. Legislators in turn become “thankful” recipients of the largess of pork barrel whose release the Executive has control. Politics of patronage not stewardship cascades from top to bottom.

Public governance is stewardship but the pork barrel has made public governance a system of patronage. Stewardship liberates and uplifts. Patronage enslaves and insults.

One of the basic rules that make stewardship functional is transparency and accountability. Under no circumstances must transparency be excused and accountability ignored.
OUR MORAL OPTIONS…

For the Church… Church based organizations and institutions must make it our mantra in relation to politicians “Walang hihingi!” 

We in Church can contribute to the corruption by grabbing a piece of the pie through our solicitations from government officials—from candles to basketball uniforms to bags of cement to government bulldozers. We tempt the public officials to get money from jueteng or the pork barrel in order to accommodate us. Walang hihingi!

We who are stewards of the materials goods of the Church must be transparent in our fund raising projects. We must prepare our accounting reports of how Church funds are disbursed insuring all the time that the principle of accountability is observed. When we are less than transparent in our accounting, we hurt the truth. Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw.

For the Government…

On the part of government, for the sake of sound stewardship of public money, it is imperative that those who approve the budget are distinct and separate from those who implement the projects. The present system is very vulnerable to conflict of interest, parochialism and corruption in the selection of suppliers and the bidding of contracts.

Let the legislators legislate and the executives execute. 

In order to protect the national and local executives from the temptation of corrupting public money, the Commission on Audit must do its mandated duty with strength of will, vigilance and diligence. This is ethical public service.

On its part, the legislators must strengthen their oversight, monitoring and evaluation functions with the public participation of the Church, business and civil society groups like what PPCRV and Namfrel do together during elections. 

Man does not live on bread alone, the good Lord taught us; but man does not need pork to go with bread.  It is integrity that must go with bread. Let integrity flow in our beloved land for “He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out (Proverbs 10:9).
From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, July 29, 2013 Memorial Day of Saint Martha 

 +SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS 
Archbishop  of Lingayen Dagupan


Archbishop Soc Villegas image below, sourced from flickr.com

Hard truths, not politician's speech: My hopes for 2013 State of the Nation (SONA) speech of Philippine President Noynoy C. Aquino

Hard Truths Please, not Politician's Speech: My hopes for 2013 State of the Nation (SONA) speech of Philippine President Noynoy C. Aquino:

Image below of President Noynoy Aquino---nicknamed "P-Noy"---sourced from thephilippineisland.com




1. A shorter speech is the best, straight to the point, less political theater please.

Image below of President Aquino delivering a speech, sourced from philstar.com




2. Less combative or adversarial against political enemies past or present, but be more inclusive and statesman-like in his politics now.

I hope his speech will show that he is leader of all Filipinos, not only of the Yellows or his ideological or political allies. I hope he isn't manipulated by his political allies who might just be obssessed with the next elections, his concern should be over-all national progress and not just parochial political interests.

Image below of President Aquino surrounded by his political color yellow and with the "L" or "laban" (fight) sign, sourced from planetphilippines.com



3. In foreign policy, I hope P-Noy can uphold an independent foreign policy which shall make the Philippines the friend and ally of all nations and not be unnecessarily entangled into bitter and complex superpower rivalries inimical to our economic self-interests, becoming more like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or other Asean neighbors who are friends to all and courted by all powers.

A truly independent foreign policy shall make our traditional ally the United States give us the Philippines more importance and not take us for granted in terms of more aid and investments, while making other powers to woo us too with economic and other concessions advantageous to our own national self-interests.

Image below of President Aquino with USA President Barack Obama, sourced from asianweek.com




4. A call to action, because good governance or anti-corruption stance doesn't mean inertia or fear of making decisions. Prove to the world that honest government doesn't mean indecisive or slow leadership. Why not so much infrastructure projects or Public-Private Partnership projects in the past three years?

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) named in memory of President Aquino's late father Senator Ninoy Aquino, had in recent years been listed as the world's No. 1 worst airport, and no dramatic changes in the past three years. Image below of NAIA sourced from getrealphiippines.com





5. I hope he unveils plans and reaffirms his promise to promote more inclusive economic growth, not just let the big businesses, the rich and politically well-connected thrive while the middle-class, the small & medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and the masses feel so left behind or harassed.

The super-high prices of the Philippine Stock Exchange index or the rise of many luxury condominiums do not accurately reflect the true state of the Philippine economy, especially the impact of high economic growth

This shocking disparity between the rich and the poor in the Philippines, this image below of the rich-poor gap sourced from bbc.co.uk of the British Broadcasting Corporation





6.  I hope P-Noy becomes more open-minded to charter change or constitutional reforms to change economic provisions which are so restrictive against foreign investments. I hope his government shall not allow politicians and bureaucrats to seem so anti-business, but to encourage and support businesses and entrepreneurs beyond just the big business groups.

We need more long-term foreign direct investments for new factories and farms, not just rely on overseas Filiino workers (OFWs), call centers and business process outsource (BPOs) to shore up our Philippine economic growth.

7. I hope President Noynoy Aquino shall be honest enough to admit the failures and even errors of his government officials, while trumpheting his government's many well-deserved accomplishments too. Will his government ever fire and scold close political allies for anomalies, mediocrity and sheer incompetence?

I hope to hear President Noynoy Aquino give us a stark, unimbellished and objective assessment of the true state of the nation to move us all towards action and reforms, not a politician's campaign speech. He has nothing more to prove, he is not running for future re-election, be more than just a successful politician or boss of the Liberal Party, rise to the occasion as outstanding statesman and leader!

Stark black-and-white image of President Aquino below, sourced from time.com

Why changing “Philippines” to “Filipinas” is silly waste of time & resources!

Why changing “Philippines” to “Filipinas” is silly waste of time & resources!

What's in a name?  That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.

---William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

If names are not correct, language will not be in accordance with the truth of things.         --- Confucius

            Holy carabao! Have you read the news that a resolution dated April 12 by the government’s Komisyong ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) or the Commission for the Filipino Language urging the use of “Filipinas” instead of “Philippines” or “Pilipinas” as the country’s official name?

I highly respect the KWF officials and concede that they have sincere intentions, but I oppose this idea which I think is a silly waste of time, energy and resources!

Image above sourced from wika.pbworks.com

            Why do many of our politicos and bureaucrats have this penchant for the useless exercise of changing historic and also culturally important names, often with no strongly logical and overwhelmingly advantageous reasons? Are they too just so bored with their lives, or lacking more important tasks to do?

Manila street used to honor Spain’s only Prime Minister of Filipino descent

            Not all name changes are bad, but I wish to cite some which I disagree with and lament. One example was our politicos’ changing of Manila’s Azcarraga Street to Claro M. Recto Avenue in the 1960s. By the way, hope Manila Mayor Joseph "Erap" Estrada and Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno will clean and decongest this thoroughfare.

First of all, let me clarify that I admire the anti-colonial Senator Recto as a courageous nationalist and he surely more than deserves a major street to be named after him. In fact, I believe he was worthy to be president, similar to other nationalists like ex-Senate President Jovito Salonga, Senator Jose W. Diokno and Senator Lorenzo Tañada, Sr. 

The nationalist Senator Claro M. Reto, image above sourced from hitoriles.com

However, Azcarraga Avenue used to honor a unique leader too which reflected the colorful Philippine past, and I believe it was unnecessary to change that name especially since there are many other new boulevards or streets.

Image of Marcelo de Azcarraga y Palmero, sourced from latinamericanstudies.org

Once known in the Spanish and American colonial eras as Calle Azcarragaza, this street traverses historic Binondo, Santa Cruz and Quiapo districts. In the 1990 book by the late National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin entitled Manila, My Manila, he wrote about the very important person the street was named after---the soldier and political leader Marcelo Azcárraga y Palmero, 3-term prime minister of Spain (1897-1900) and the only Spanish prime minister of Filipino descent. He was once field marshal.

            Azcárraga was born in 1832, in Manila in the what was then called the “Spanish East Indies” (modern-day Philippines plus other Spanish colonies in the east like Guam and the Marianas), to Basque Spanish former general José de Azcárraga y Ugarte and to María Palmero Versosa.

Azcarraga’s father Jose was a bookshop owner in Manila’s Escolta (which has luckily survived the name-changing habit of our politicos) and the mother Maria was a mestiza from Albay province.

            Marcelo Palmero Azcarraga also studied law in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He became multi-awarded for government service and served as prime minister three times. On his mother's side, Azcárraga was descendant of the Filipino mestizo Lizarragas, heirs of the fallen Conde de Lizarraga. His maternal Palmero uncles were also active in pre-war Philippine politics. Prime Minister Azcarraga was an uncle to the self-styled Conde de Albay, also known as Señor Pedro Govantes.

Not all name changes by our politicos were inane. One name change by politicos which I agree with was that of Plaza Leon XIII (Trece) in front of the Tondo church of Manila. It was renamed as Plaza Hernandez in honor of the writer, labor leader, anti-Japanese guerrilla during World War II and the country’s first National Artist for Literature Amado V. Hernandez.           

Writer and labor leader Amado V. Hernandez image above, sourced from voiceseducation.org

Why not the Philippine Islands for automatic tourism promotion?

           

            If our government leaders really feel the itch to change the name of the Philippines, why not revert back to the pre-war American colonial era’s use of the more exotic-sounding “Philippine Islands” which shall definitely be advantageous for tourism promotion?

I am serious, if we only just continued using the Philippine Islands, that name could automatically evoke images of tropical isles similar to the Carribean, Hawaii, Bali, etc. and subliminally tell the rest of the world that “It’s more fun in the Philippines”.  By the way, “It’s more fun in Filipinas” would sound awkward too?

Apart from the huge economic resources needed to change every government or private sector electronic, metal and other signages as well as numerous printed materials, or my not liking the idea of the country’s premier state university being called University of Filipinas (UF), I believe the world is already so used to calling our archipelago “The Philippines” so there’s no need to confuse them. Why fix something that isn’t broken?

There are 1,001 more important things in the Philippines which we should expend  energies on to change, such as the mismanagement of Metro Manila’s traffic flow, the wide chasm between the few who are well-off vis-à-vis the small middle-class and majority the poor masses, our colonial mindset or mentality, the still continuing corruption in lower-ranking government leaders and the need for structural reforms, etc. Another thing we need to change? Please change the irritating, epal and seemingly useless name-changing habit of our politicos!

I wish to pay tribute to an outstanding political leader, a courageous and principled man, a brash and decisive reformer---the late three-term New York City Mayor Edward Koch who died at age 88.

Ed Koch had demonstrated through his life and sterling public service record that one could be proud of ethnic heritage and still be a patriot of one's adopted country---having been Jewish and also American.

Read the two eulogies by a Bloomberg News columnist and another by the New York Times below.


(This image below sourced from wtsp.com)






(Image below sourced from nytimes.com)




(Image below of New York City sourced from blogs.villagevoice.com)




(Image below of New York City sourced from everaftermiami.com)





Here is an eloquent eulogy by Jeffrey Goldberg, a columnist of Bloomberg News:

Ed Koch, Proudest of Jews

By Jeffrey Goldberg Feb 2, 2013 12:14 AM GMT+0800

One of the reasons I adored Ed Koch (with eyes open -- I knew that his last term as mayor was a sad one, beset by corruption and hubris, and that he could have tried much harder to create a functional relationship with the city's black community) is that he reviewed movies like my grandmother reviewed movies. People may not remember this, but Koch had a long and illustrious post-Gracie Mansion career as a very bad movie reviewer. (A characteristic teaser Tweet: "Drive, don't run, to see Ryan Gosling in 'Drive.'")

My grandmother, who died several years ago and who also adored Koch -- even though Koch, unlike my grandmother, betrayed the city by living outside of it for parts of his life (my grandmother rarely ever budged from Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn) -- devoured movies, too, and her reviews had Koch's same slashing forthrightness and practical outer-borough sensibility. When I asked her what she thought of "Titanic," she answered, "Enough with the water already."

Many years ago, I gave my grandmother a moment of real joy when I told her that Koch had driven me home the night before from a dinner (his very loyal NYPD protective detail did the actual driving).
"Did you tell him I love him?" she asked. Actually, no. "Did you say thank you for saving us?" This was her unshakable view, and the view of many hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers: Ed Koch saved us. The city was in seemingly permanent decline when he took over City Hall, and he lifted up New York through sheer will, irrepressible optimism and hot air. He didn't make it perfect. But he did, in fact, save it.

There was one other aspect of Koch's gargantuan personality that moved New Yorkers like my grandmother. He was the proudest of Jews. He was just saturated with ethnic feeling, and rambunctious in his pride. His devotion to Israel was total, and he despised what he saw as an Upper West Side tendency to cringe and wring hands. He felt about the Jewish people, and their reborn homeland, the way he felt about New York.

Koch will be buried in Manhattan, of course -- he wouldn't have had it any other way. And on his gravestone, he decided several years ago, will be the words of the "Hear, O Israel" prayer, and these lines: "My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.” These words are not his own; they were the last words spoken by Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

Even in death, Koch will be celebrating the two most important aspects of his epic life: his city, and his people.

(Image below sourced from courant.com)




Below is an eloquent obituary of the New York Times on this remarkable mayor:

Remembering Ed Koch

By THE NEW YORK TIMES 

 

Paul Hosefros/The New York Times On the brink of power: Ed Koch on primary day in 1977, two months before he was elected to his first term as mayor.

With the death on Friday of Edward I. Koch , the “little Jewish kid from the Bronx” who grew up to govern New York City through 12 of its most memorably turbulent years, remembrances of the man, his deeds, his words and his 88 years flowed in from all over the world in every possible form.

Today on City Room we are curating moments from Mr. Koch’s seemingly infinite public life, and the reaction to his passing.

12:58 P.M. | On Koch's Tombstone, Daniel Pearl's Last Words (Image below sourced from hfba.blogspot.com)

The last words of journalist Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan while investigating al Qaeda in 2002 for the Wall Street Journal, are inscribed on Mayor Koch’s tombstone.

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Daniel Pearl

“My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”

Mr. Pearl, as the journalism blog Poynter points out, died 11 years ago today.

In a 2008 interview with the Associated Press, Mr. Koch said he was moved that Mr. Pearl had chosen to affirm his faith as his last words.

He also said in the interview that he bought his plot at the Trinity Church Cemetery because it was the only graveyard left in Manhattan with room. “I don’t want to leave Manhattan, even when I’m gone,” he said. “This is my home. The thought of having to go to New Jersey was so distressing to me.”

On the tombstone, Mr. Koch also included a Jewish prayer. And there’s no “How’m I doin’? ” inscribed. Instead, he wrote:

He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith. He fiercely defended the City of New York, and he fiercely loved its people. Above all, he loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II.

— Jennifer Preston

12:22 P.M. |The Mayor of the Underground

Tyrone Dukes/The New York Times Where the action was: Mr. Koch handing out leaflets outside a subway station in 1975, when he was a Congressman.

Mayor Edward I. Koch ventured underground in his jacket and tie, spoiling for someone, anyone, to tell him how he was doing. When graffiti-addled subway cars presented an eyesore, he proposed dispatching dogs — or better yet, wild wolves — to patrol the yards where trains were often vandalized. And as he prepared for the moment that arrived Friday morning, when Mr. Koch died at age 88, the three-term mayor took care to ensure that the city’s transit riders were properly considered.

“He wanted to be buried near a subway,” said Richard Ravitch, who led the Metropolitan Transportation Authority during Mr. Koch’s first term and became a close friend, “so that people could come to his grave easily.”

His plot at Trinity Church Cemetery is a short walk from the No. 1 train.

There are few figures in the city’s history so synonymous with its signature mode of transportation, and few who took such an active interest in its finer details. On Friday, transit advocates credited Mr. Koch with cajoling the transportation authority to improve announcements, doubling the city’s commitment to an agency rebuilding program, and securing over $1 billion for city subways and buses in 1985.

But perhaps most memorable was Mr. Koch’s campaign against subway graffiti, even if his most imaginative plan never quite came to fruition.

His proposal was simple: build a fence, perhaps two fences, around the perimeter of the train yards, and place dogs inside to dissuade marauding vandals.

In an interview released by La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Mr. Koch recalled his detractors’ concerns: “Oh dogs, they’ll bite,” they would say. “I said, ‘well, that’s what dogs are supposed to do.’”

Then he had another idea.

“Instead of dogs, put in wolves,” he told them. “There is no recorded case of a wolf in the wild state ever attacking a human being in North America. It’s happened elsewhere, but not in North America.”

Alas, wild wolves never came to protect New York City’s subways. But some dogs were recruited. In 1981, days after he announced the use of German shepherds at a yard in Corona, Queens, the mayor was informed that one of the guard dogs had given birth to four puppies.

“Now that’s productivity,” he said.

Mr. Ravitch said Friday that the reduction in graffiti had more to do with the purchase of stainless steel cars, which were easier to clean, than with menacing animals. But Mr. Ravitch recalled Mr. Koch as a sparring partner and a friend, an occasional cheerleader for the system but a man who “often used to say on television, ‘If you don’t like the subways, don’t blame me, blame Ravitch.’”

Once, Mr. Ravitch recalled, Mr. Koch called the city’s transit workers “loungers and loafers.” After Mr. Ravitch defended the workers — and the city’s editorial boards defended Mr. Ravitch — the two decided to call a truce. Mr. Ravitch invited the mayor to his home on a Sunday night, for Chinese food. “We ordered spare ribs and egg rolls,” Mr. Ravitch recalled.

Mr. Koch also waded into other corners of transportation policy. Decades before Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s bike lanes sprouted along the city’s thoroughfares, Mr. Koch installed experimental lanes of his own — inspired by a trip to Beijing, where he admired the bicycle’s prevalence. Mr. Koch later reversed course, and in 1987 moved to ban bicycle use on sections of Park, Madison, and Fifth Avenues during many weekday business hours.

But the subway always remained near to his heart. In a recent interview, Mr. Koch marveled at how cordial riders had become since his administration ended, recalling a crime-riddled age when “the rule was, avert your eyes because eye contact meant battle. Like two animals.”

In recent years, he said, even pregnant women had begun offering him seats.
“I always say no,” he said.

— Matt Flegenheimer

(This old photo of Ed Koch below sourced from globalgrind.com)

Congratulations to former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza for the successful launching of his memoirs tonight 6 pm upwards at the Maynila Ballroom of the Manila Hotel in Manila City, the Philippines tonight with guests led by former Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada (now running for mayor of Manila) and Philippine Vice-President Jejomar "Jojo" Binay.

It was also the birthday celebration of the ex-mayor's son and ABS-CBN 2 television host Kim Atienza.

Mayor Lito Atienza is now a congressional candidate of the Buhay partylist in the May election.

I believe Lito Atienza is a good man, a dynamic and decisive leader whom we should vote for.



Congratulations, best wishes!

More political leaders should write their memoirs in order to give historians and students of politics more reference materials, as well as to promote publishing and reading of books in the Philippines!

P.S. Thanks very much to Manila Hotel doorman Steven (I forgot to get his surname), who surprisingly greeted me by my full name "Good evening Mr. Wilson Lee Flores" because he reads my columns in the Philippine Star. Thanks, best regards Steven!

First of all, I am not close to any of the two legislators Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, nor am I knowledgeable about the legal and even financial intricacies of their budget and political debate regarding the controversial Christmas bonuses. However, I strongly believe that dragging the Senate debates to personalistic attacks and even dredging up criticisms of deceased persons are unbecoming of any legislator.

I urge Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to not criticize dead people in public, especially over personal animosities which have no direct bearing or even relevance to Philippine political issues. Enrile is a wise and experienced political giant, there is no need for him to attack a deceased person and who reportedly was hid former colleague or even once a close ally.


(This image sourced from gmanetwork.com)





(This image sourced from interaksyon.com)

Thanks goodness, this will NEVER (?) happen here in the Philippines! For better for for worse, we have freedom of expression here in the Philippines as one of the foundations of our vibrant political democracy. I'm not taking any sides and do not know the truth behind this particular case, but a Thai comedian Yossawaris Chuklom being punished for criticizing the alleged political act of an unnamed powerful person, allegedly alluding to their monarch? This can, thankfully, never happen in our truly democratic society of the Philippines!

Here in the Philippines, a lot of us openly criticize even the bishops and primates of the Roman Catholic Church! No sacred cows here in our society, especially if you're yourselves delving into the temporal field of politics!

Pardon my lack of understanding on this issue, but sometimes I recall the words of Joker in the Batman films from Hollywood: "Why so serious?"

Our former queen---my former Ateneo economics professor and ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo---was often parodied by me in my newspaper columns. I also poked fun at then President Joseph "Erap" Estrada and also then President Fidel V. Ramos during their terms in power. Now, with our new king, the more innocuous President Noynoy C. Aquino, I've done a few humor pieces at his expense but not too much (yet).

(Images below of Thai comedian Yossawaris Chuklom sourced from bangkokpost.com)











Here's the news report I just read:

Thai Government Adviser Jailed for Two Years for Insulting King

By Daniel Ten Kate & Anuchit Nguyen - Jan 17, 2013 1:56 PM GMT+0800 Bloomberg News

A Thai court today sentenced a ministerial adviser, who helped lead protests in 2010 against former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, to two years in prison for insulting the royal family.

Yossawaris Chuklom, a comedian who goes by the name Jeng Dokjik, received the sentence for comments made in a speech to protesters that implied King Bhumibol Adulyadej influenced Abhisit’s decision not to dissolve the parliament, according to a court statement. Yossawaris is seeking bail and plans to appeal, his lawyer Thamrong Lakdaen said.

“His statement falsely accused the king of political interference and opposing the defendant and his group,” the court said. “His statement that his speech didn’t mean he was referring to the king is groundless.”

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who replaced Abhisit in 2011 after her party won a parliamentary majority, appointed Yossawaris in November as an adviser to the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry. Yossawaris helped lead protests by the Red Shirts, a group calling for an election that was backed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother.

Yossawaris joins at least seven others detained in Thailand under the lese-majeste law, which mandates jail sentences as long as 15 years for defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent. The United Nations has criticized the law for curbing free speech as calls grow within Thailand to amend the statute.

Bhumibol, 85, assumed the throne in 1946 and serves as head of state. Thailand’s Constitution says the king “shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated.”

Yossawaris told Red Shirt protesters that Abhisit refused to dissolve parliament in 2010 on the orders of an unidentified person with more power than both him and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda, the king’s top adviser, according to the court. The speech apparently made people believe that Yossawaris was referring to the king, the court said.

More than 90 people died in the 2010 protests, which spanned 10 weeks and ended with a military crackdown. Abhisit, now the opposition leader after his party lost an election the following year, faces murder charges for his role in the dispersal.

I got this email from the White House in the U.S., through the office of President Barack Obama, a letter from his Vice-President Joe Biden on their bold and positive actions to try curbing the crazy gun culture in America. I salute them for their gun control and reform efforts!

What about us in the Philippines, when will our political and other leaders curb widespread gun ownership as well as reform our police and military, decisively crack down on lawless elements with a lot of illegal firearms?


(This image of Joe Biden below sourced from biography.com)




(This image of Barack Obama sourced from washingtonpost.com)




(Image below of recent spate of USA gun violence crimes sourced from nydailynews.com)



Hello --

Today President Obama announced a plan to help protect our kids and communities from gun violence. You're going to hear a lot about it, but I wanted to make sure you got a chance to get the facts, straight from me.

After hearing from Americans from across the political spectrum, we decided to focus on some key priorities: closing background check loopholes, banning military-style assault weapons, making our schools safer, and increasing access to mental health services.

The ideas we sent to President Obama are straightforward. Each of them honors the rights of law-abiding, responsible Americans to bear arms. Some of them will require action from Congress; the President is acting on others immediately. But they're all commonsense and will help make us a little safer.

Now is the time for all of us to act.

Read about the events that brought us to this point, learn about the plan we've proposed to help protect our kids, and then add your name in support to help build momentum for this plan.
Here's what we've put together:

We're calling for requiring background checks for all gun sales and closing the loopholes that allow dangerous individuals to make their purchase without going through one of these checks.

We're asking for a new, stronger ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that allow a shooter to fire dozens of bullets as quickly as he can pull a trigger. And we're asking Congress to help protect law enforcement by make it illegal for members of the public to possess armor-piercing bullets.

We're going to give law enforcement more tools and resources to prevent and prosecute gun crimes, and we're going to end the freeze on gun violence research that prevents the Center from Disease Control from looking at the causes of gun violence.

We're calling on Congress to help make schools safer by putting up to 1,000 school resource officers and mental health professionals in schools and ensuring they have comprehensive emergency management plans in place.

And we're going to increase coverage so that students and young adults can get access to the mental health treatment they may need.

We know that no policy we enact or law we enforce can prevent every senseless act of violence in our country. But if we can save the life of even one child, we have a deep responsibility to act.
Now is the time to come together to protect our kids. Learn about the plan, then add your name alongside mine:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/now-is-the-time

Thanks,
Vice President Joe Biden