EDITORIAL - Rio+20
(The Philippine Star) Updated June 19, 2012 12:00 AM
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also called the 2012 Earth Summit and
Rio+20, opens this week in Rio de Janeiro with ambitious goals. The gathering, hosted by Brazil 20 years
after the first Earth Summit was held in the same city, seeks to commit governments to the
development of a “green economy” and to strike a balance between economic growth and
environmental protection.
Rio+20 also seeks to draw up sustainable development goals – the environmental protection equivalent
of the UN Millennium Development Goals – that governments can commit to achieve over a certain
period. A new way of classifying the progress and wealth of nations is also being considered. Beyond
gross domestic product, Rio+20 seeks to incorporate natural capital in a so-called Inclusive Wealth
Indicator.
As in previous years, the bone of contention is whether the heavier burden of saving the planet should
be borne by the developing world or the advanced economies. At the very least, developing countries
want green technology transfer and financial support from industrialized nations, apart from significant
cuts in the fossil fuel consumption of the richest countries led by the United States.
The response of the rich can be gleaned from the expected absence from the summit of US President
Barack Obama, who is sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Rio while he ostensibly concentrates
on his reelection campaign. Several members of the European Union, grappling with the continuing
financial crisis in the eurozone, are also cool to the position of developing countries.
Still, there can be some progress in any gathering of about 50,000 participants from 190 countries – the
largest ever for the UN – with 130 heads of government attending. For the first time, the head of the
International Monetary Fund is attending an Earth Summit, indicating the importance attached by
multilateral institutions to environmental issues and sustainable development.
President Aquino has sent a delegation led by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
World leaders who are skipping the summit probably feel that the summit topics are too broad and
unwieldy to be sufficiently tackled in three days. But the participation of a head of state or government
can speed up the implementation of the doables in sustainable development goals. There will be several
such doables that President Aquino, even with his absence from Rio+20, can commit his administration
to implement. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, the Earth Summit “is too important to fail.”
EDITORIAL - Challenges
(The Philippine Star) Updated September 14, 2012 12:00 AM
The attacks on US diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya show how arduous building a nation can be
after a revolution. In the Philippines over 26 years ago, it was called people power. In Tunisia in
December 2010, and then in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, authoritarian rulers were swept away in a wave of
mass protests, in what has been called the Arab Spring.
Even as autocratic ruler after ruler fell from power or came under siege across the Middle East and
North Africa, those who dared hope for free societies taking root in the Arab world wondered how long
the spring would last. In Syria today, the Arab Spring is stalled by fratricidal violence. The brutal end of
Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi at the hands of an angry mob raised concerns about what would
replace the autocratic regimes of the Arab world.
The other day in Libya, protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi, killing US Ambassador Chris
Stevens and three other Americans. In Cairo, Egyptians protesting against what they considered an anti-
Islamic movie made in the United States and promoted by US-based Egyptian Copts also attacked the US
embassy. Both attacks occurred as Americans commemorated the 11th anniversary of the terrorist
attacks on Sept. 11 in New York and Washington. The protests targeting US diplomatic missions spread
to Yemen yesterday.
US destroyers and Marines have been deployed to Libya as Washington explores the possibility that al-
Qaeda took advantage of mass protests to launch an attack on the anniversary of 9/11. Whether or not
al-Qaeda was responsible, the attacks highlight the challenges of bringing freedom and stability to a
region long controlled by autocrats. They also revive questions about what shape Islamic democracy will
take, or whether it is taking shape at all.
Editoryal - Tanggalin ang 'epal' signs
(Pilipino Star Ngayon) Updated September 14, 2012 12:00 AM
SIYAM na buwan na lang at midterm election na kaya marami nang “maeepal” na pulitiko ang
nagpaparamdam. Katunayan, nagkalat na ang mga posters ng “maeepal” na may kung anu-anong
nakasulat. Merong bumabati ng “Happy Fiesta” at “Happy Graduation” at meron ding naglalagay ng
posters nila sa mga poste kung saan ay may ginagawang proyekto ang Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH). Aakalain tuloy, sa bulsa nila galing ang pinagpagawa ng kalsada o tulay.
Bukod sa streamers, posters, banners na naka-sabit, kapuna-puna rin ang pagyayaot ng mga sasakyan na
may pangalan ng “maeepal” na pulitiko. Mayroong ambulansiya na mas malaki pa ang pa-ngalan ng
pulitiko kaysa sa salitang AMBULANCE. Nagkalat ngayon ang mga yellow multicab na nakasulat ang
pangalan ng mga kongresista at maski ang barangay chairman. Para bang sarili nila ang multicab gayung
iyon ay pag-aari ng taumbayan. Buwis na galing sa taumbayan ang pinambili ng sasakyan na kanilang
inaangkin.
Matindi rin naman ang ilang pulitiko na inilalagay ang kanilang inisyal sa ipinagawang proyekto. Sa
Makati unang nauso ang ganito. Nakaukit ang inisyal na JB sa mga proyekto. Mula 1987 may JB na at
hanggang ngayon makikita pa rin ang inisyal na ito. Walang makapagsasabi kung hanggang kailan ang JB
sa Makati.
Ginaya ito ng ilang pulitiko. Mabuti at si Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista ay mabilis masaling sa mga
batikos kaya agad niyang ipinatanggal ang mga inisyal niya. Nanawagan pa si Bautista sa mga katulad
niyang pulitiko na baklasin ang billboards, streamers, posters, banners na nakasabit o nakadikit sa mga
poste. Nararapat gayahin ang ginawa ni Bautista hindi lamang ng mga pulitiko sa QC kundi sa iba pang
bayan at lungsod.
Maski si President Aquino ay “anti-epal”. Ayaw niyang ilalagay ang kanyang pangalan at retrato sa
billboard at streamers. Noong nakaraang linggo, inatasan niya na baklasin ang billboard na kinaroroonan
ng kanyang larawan na inilagay ng dalawang opisyal ng pamahalaan.
Hindi kailangang “magpa-epal”. Huhusgahan ang pulitiko sa kanyang mga nagawa sa bayan. Matatalino
na ang mga botante ngayon kaya kuwidaw na ang “maeepal”.