the crusader - january 26, 2011 (vol. 1, no. 6)

8/7/2019 The Crusader - January 26, 2011 (Vol. 1, No. 6)

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The Official Newsletter of the Ateneo Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA

January 26, 2011 Vol. 1 No

In this issue

Politics: Public Office Appointments 1

Economics: Sale of Military Camps 2

Ateneo: CRUSADA in Elections 2-3

Opinion: South Sudan Referendum 3

Theory & Politics: Cicero 3

Quotes of the Week 4

Mar Roxas, Aquino’s 2010 running-mate, shall be “chief troubleshooter”.

Source: philippineelection2010.blogspot.com

Political Appointments: Same Old NamesThis is the season for Malacañang to exercise its powers of appointment. The importance of this season is

unquestionable: the posts involved are crucial and almost deterministic of the policies and future trajectory of the Aquino III

administration in the following years ahead. Inclusive of the president’s power to appoint people into key government posts is

the power to create new government posts as provided in the 1987 Constitution stating that: “He shall also appoint all other

officers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law” . While the “power to appoint” provides

the “power to remove” the Constitution declares that “the President cannot remove officials appointed by him where the

Constitution prescribes certain methods for separation of such officers from public service, e.g., Chairmen and Commissioners of

Constitutional Commissions”.

Consequently, each appointment has a rationale that must be scrutinized and clarified as the reverberations of

appointments (and the subsequent appointments of the president’s appointees) are high. In addition, the president’s standards

of appointment become open for the public to examine vis-à-vis his appointments. In the case of Mar Roxas, for example, there

are apparent and hidden implications in his appointment as a dangerously-ambiguous “chief troubleshooter .” A curious note

also includes singer Ogie Alcasid and columnist Conrado de Quiros’ appointment to the EDSA People Power Commission.

While the candidates’ credentials and public experience are unquestioned, the question of patronage politics and

utang-na-loob mentality also comes into the picture. Civil society groups, ever-vigilant (and ever-suspicious), are itching to face

the administration regarding these new officials. Church-based and civil society organizations have Atty. Carlos Medina, known

as chairperson of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), as their top dog for COMELEC. Groups like KontraDaya are

against Atty. Romulo Macalintal for the same position owing, ironically, to his being Arroyo's defense in her Hello Garci scandal.

While these are not the only names, and even though the common Filipino has no direct influence on appointments, our

citizenry are still the ultimate stakeholders and should therefore keep an eye out and be critical with the decision of its leaders,

if only to hold PNoy accountable to his promise of "tuwid na landas."

Editorial Board: Miguel Calayag, Kristine Chy, Zarah

Domingo, Daniel Garingan, Joshua Lim, JA de Lima, Jules

Lo, Coco Navarro, James Roman, Miguel Rivera, Maria

Venturanza



Avoiding Another Fort Bonifacio: Ensuring

Camp Aguinaldo’s Sale Really Benefits AFPPresident Aquino expressed his interest in selling Camps Aguinaldo and Crame, the main headquarters of the Armed Forces

of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police respectively, to private developers. Ostensibly, it is believed that the bases

strategically stand on prime real estate, and that more benefits would be realized should the lands be sold and redeveloped as new

centers of business in Metro Manila. Profits are intended to go to the modernization program of the AFP, as well as the improvemen

of living conditions and quality of life for more than 100,000 soldiers currently in active duty. This arrangement would be similar to

the partial sale of Fort Bonifacio to private developers, where 32.5% of proceeds from that sale, according to Senator Joker Arroyo,would directly benefit the AFP.

The sale, though made with good intention, does raise a very pertinent question: will the AFP rank-and-file benefit from the

sale of its headquarters to private interests? Several lawmakers have expressed opposition to the proposed sale given the

government’s experience with Fort Bonifacio. For one, the AFP never benefited from the sale of the base to private interests, where

was claimed that half of funds generated by the sale were used to fund for the development of the Subic and Clark economic zones.

Senator Arroyo also further speculated that the money supposedly allocated for the AFP’s modernization was ultimately siphoned o

to become added perks for its generals. It’s depressing how government transactions have ultimately been sidelined by petty privat

interests, looking out for themselves rather than the common good.

Like all other transactions, accountability remains a shady aspect. If the privatization of the headquarters is really meant fo

military development, then it should be paid with tangible military development. Further scrutiny would actually benefit the AFP, as

the funds generated should be allocated for the intended purpose. Financing tossed into the support of our brave citizens in uniform

can and should ultimately trickle down to more needy factions of the AFP, and not merely to pamper its high-ranking officers.

LONG

SHADOWS:

Under St.

Thomas

More’s

monument

in the old

Rizal

Library,

Villanueva

vows to

restore

dynamic

politics in

the Ateneo

last Jan. 21.

Source:

Hansley

Juliano

CRUSADA gears up

for Downhill AssaultStudent politics in the Ateneo has become boring, that is, until

something new has attempted to make it more interesting. CRUSADA, the

new student-organized political party in the Loyola Schools, has made it a

point to revolutionize Ateneo student politics. "What differentiates

CRUSADA from the other parties is that it isn't just for the elections. It has

its own system to train students throughout the year, not only to win [in

the elections] but also to become leaders," said Miguel Rivera (III AB

Political Science), the party's premier.

Last year, the same year the party was founded by a group of

Political Science students with support from select faculty of the

Department of Political Science, CRUSADA made itself visible through

several activities and movements. The party assertively expressed concernagainst the proposed College Fair, taking an active role in the discourse on

the issue. Also, in commemoration of the Maguindanao Massacre,

CRUSADA held a prayer vigil outside the gates of Ateneo led by priests and

attended by students and professors. CRUSADA tackles issues in and

outside school not in a policy-oriented manner, but in a manner that

considers the whole picture. According to Ross Tugade, the party's

moderator, "If someone complains about parking in school as a problem in

the communication with the administration, CRUSADA views it in a

Christian Social Democratic perspective, which is structural, and analyzes

whether the structure is democratic enough or not." (continued on p. 3)

THE CRUSADER 2

“Financing [should]

not pamper high-

ranking officers.”



Last week, Bian Villanueva (III AB-MA Political Science)

filed candidacy to run for Sanggunian president in the coming2011 Sanggunian General Elections, a decision he admitted was

influenced by members of the party and other students who

believe in his capability. Though running independently, he is fully

supported by CRUSADA as its leading candidate. Bian believes that

the time has already come to bring back real politics within the

student body. When asked about how he envisions for politics in

the Ateneo de Manila University, Bian said he aims for

politicization within the school that gives way for more

engagement and discourse among Ateneans. It is a process that

may happen immediately, but it is important that we begin.

Bian sees that the only way the Sanggunian can be more

relevant to the student body is by molding a consciousnessacknowledging the fact that we can do something today,

beginning with knowing the issues and asking why these issues are

issues in the first place. "Why don't we pause and think for a

moment? At that point, I think we have politics."

CRUSADA gears up

( from p. 2)

THE CRUSADER 3

Opinion:The Southern Sudan National Imagination

There is an ongoing movement in Southern Sudan to become an independent nation from the standing state of

Sudan. For fifty years, civil war proliferated between the Muslim north and the Christian-animist south, leaving over two

million dead. In 2005, a peace treaty between the two conflicting sides was signed, stipulating an agreement that would

eventually allow the Southern Sudanese to vote on whether they would want to secede from the rest of the country. A

week-long election was held until January 15 wherein the 60% voter turn-out in favor of the secession, required for the

separation to take place, was achieved. Full results of the election shall be released around February; independence will be

finalized around July and the issues on borders, oil and water rights will be settled in the months that follow.

Now that eventual secession is drawing closer, Southern Sudanese are hoping for the best. Yet political analysts

say things may not go as smoothly as hoped. Considering that majority of Southern Sudan’s population is illiterate, it also

has “no solid institutions, scant medical and educational facilities, a fledgling judiciary, the skimpiest police,” and with its

history of corruption and tribalism, the separation could ultimately cause its fall as an aspiring democratic nation.

However, should Southern Sudan not push through with separation, conflict between religions will likely escalate; the

southern Sudanese, again falling victim to constant religious discrimination from the northern Muslims.

Southern Sudan now faces a question of priority between independence and survival; not in casualties, but in

ensuring the proper establishment of the future Southern Sudanese state – the survival of the southern Sudanese politics.

They are shouting for independence but they are not prepared to pay the price of achieving this goal. Indeed, Southern

Sudan’s quest for independence is commendable; yet, considering their inadequacies in terms of stable social and political

institutions, it is doubtful that they can properly function and survive as an independent state.

“Should Southern Sudan not push through

with separation, conflict will likely escalate.”



CICERO (106-43 B.C.)

Marcus Tullius Cicero, born to the equestrian class of Rome, rose toprominence as a legal luminary and Senator during the last days of the

Roman Republic. Committed to maintaining Rome's traditional institutions,

he strove to reconcile the realities of imperial expansion and its republican

apparatuses. Following classical Greek training, Cicero's analysis of the

constitution of law and social institutions in his own The Republic and The

Laws highlight Roman political values as based on pragmatic considerations

(predating Machiavelli in this respect). The deployment of values and

traditions (even religion) as a political tool is, for him, immensely useful,

seeing "how sacred a partnership of citizens is when the imortal gods are

admitted to that company as judges or witnesses" (Laws, 2.16). Civil unrestand popular dissatisfaction, however, would spark civil war between Julius

Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus. The former's establishment of a

dictatorship modified the Republic and gave way to Octavian's formalization

of the Roman Empire. Cicero would fall under the orders of Julius Caesar's

loyal general Mark Anthony, after assaulting him in the Philippics.

THEORY & POLITICS

“[The sage] ought to have

everything at his fingertips, for h

never knows when he may have

to use it.” – Cicero, Republic 1.11

Source: thornwillow.com

Quotes of the Week“We should have an investment policy that will protect not only the rich, but also the poor. We can

control the foreigners but not the rich Filipinos who control our politics, the judiciary, the executive

branch, and even the police and the military. While the present setup works to their advantage, the

nation suffers.”

- Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, arguing for the urgency of Charter Change and the shift to a unicameral

parliamentary system of legislation.

“The universe is not a result of chance, as some would want to make us believe.”

- Pope Benedict XVI, asserting divine agency to the Big Bang and other scientific theories of creation

and evolution.

“Essentially, we agreed to put a halt on excessive money benefits that has long been shocking to the

conscience.”

- Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, on Executive Order No. 7’s intent to rationalize and

reduce excessive perks enjoyed by state officials.

“As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it.”

- Late former president Corazon Aquino in her historic 1986 speech in the U.S. Congress, whose 78th

birthday was commemorated yesterday, Jan. 25.

THE CRUSADER 4

the crusader - january 26, 2011 (vol. 1, no. 6)

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