#Eduardo Cojuangco

[indizombie]

Adani’s trajectory instead seems to follow the kind of capitalism that prevailed under Marcos, Suharto, and Mahathir. In these cases, the ruling strongmen had extremely close ties with select businesses. Marcos had Antonio Floirendo, the banana king, and Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, the coconut king. Suharto had Liem Sioe Liong, Mohamad “Bob” Hasan, and other tycoons who formed business relationships with his children, making the partnerships mutually beneficial. Mahathir had Tajudin Ramli. These businessmen prospered while the going was good and supported the long political reign of their patrons. As a result of their closeness to the ruling governments of the time, these Southeast Asian tycoons often received contracts that created monopolies through patronage.

Salil Tripathi, ‘Gautam Adani and the New Indian Capitalism’, Foreign Policy

[phgq]

Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85

#PHnews: Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85

A cousin of one president and a friend to others, the chairman of the San Miguel Corporation built up a billion-dollar fortune with the help of his political ties.

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References:

* Richard C. Paddock. "Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85." New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/business/eduardo-cojuangco-dead.html?partner=IFTTT (accessed June 17, 2020 at 07:14PM).

[trustideas]

Chinese taipan

#Chinese taipan full#

#Chinese taipan verification#

The company went public in September 2011. Last year, Puregold Price Club bought ownership in the premier S&R membership shopping club. In less than a decade, it became the second largest retailer in the Philippines, and now has over 70 supermarkets, hypermarkets, and discount stores across the country. History: Co put up a small hypermarket, Puregold, in 1998, which then catered to the low-income market. The Empire: The chain of hypermarts is the family’s crown jewel, but Co has stakes in other industries as well: Alcorn Gold Resources, the wine and distribution businesses Montosco, Meritus Prime Distributions, Premier Wine and Spirits, leisure developer Puregold Properties, and Pure Petroleum. The Taipan: Lucio Co, chairman, Puregold Price Club The vice president for business development, Bryan was behind bringing brands such as Aldo, Charles & Keith, La Senza, Mothercare, and the Face Shop into the Philippines, with most of them represented in nearly every shopping mall in Metro Manila. History: Bench started out in 1987 as a men’s brand at the SM department store, and has since expanded to market nearly every product in the industry spectrum-from beauty, underwear, to women’s and children’s wear, and even snacks.Įducation: Industrial Engineering, De La Salle UniversityĬurrent Role: Bryan is the son of Ben Chan’s sister, Nenita Lim (Suyen VP for finance), and her husband Virgilio (president). Bench, the flagship brand, is currently the only Filipino clothing brand sold in China, the U.S., and the Middle East. It is also the distributor of over a dozen global brands which include Aldo, Celio, Charles & Keith, La Senza, The Face Shop, Pedro, Dimensione, and Patchi. The Empire: Suyen Corporation, parent company of the country’s largest retail clothing chain, Bench, and seven other local brands. The Taipan: Ben Chan, founder and chairman of BenchĮducation: Marketing Studies, University of California, Berkeley fashion design, Pacific Fashion School in San Francisco She’s in charge of broadening the market for Diamond Hotel’s Cake Club.

#Chinese taipan full#

In mid-2012 Ang was awarded full control of SMC following a deal with Danding Cojuangco, who sold his stakes to his former protégé.Įducation: AB European Studies, Ateneo de Manila UniversityĬurrent Role: Cecilia, the second of Ang’s eight children, is the president of Diamond Hotel and local franchisee of upscale chocolate brand Royce’. (from 1984 onward), and now, to Ramon Ang. San Miguel began exporting to neighboring Asian countries in 1914, and has since had its reins passed on from the Roxases, Zobels, and Sorianos, to Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. History: Founded in 1890 as La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel, the first brewery in Southeast Asia. It has recently ventured into a slew of corporate acquisitions: property and infrastructure (San Miguel Properties, SLEX, Boracay airport), fuel and oil (Petron), airlines (Philippine Airlines and budget carrier Airphil Express), telecommunications, mining, and power generation. The Empire: SMC is rooted in its food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and packing industries.

#Chinese taipan verification#

Support activities for corporate control include the verification by the company of the objectives set by investors.The Taipan : Ramon Ang, president and chief operating officer of San Miguel CorporationĮducation: BS Mechanical Engineering, Far Eastern University The administration services of an existing company include activities such as opening and managing bank accounts, carrying out the bureaucracy required by the regulations in force, and when necessary, also hiring interim corporate positions. Taipan also assists all the bureaucratic aspects to undertake and finalize the establishment of a Chinese company with foreign capital. Taipan provides support to assess the various aspects related to Chinese regulations in order to constitute the vehicle useful for the investor’s purposes. The opening of a legal entity in China in its various forms must be evaluated according to the objectives and methodologies that are necessary to start the business activities according to local rules. Taipan provides support and advice for different types of administration activities of a Chinese company.Ī Chinese company can be opened and held 100% by foreign investors, except for particular protected sectors.

[unbiasedph]

Coconut Industry and Danding Cojuangco

Many people asked: How did Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, Jr. turned out to be so fabulously rich? A lot of people thought of him as a business wizard. I just smile. Danding was one of the original supporters of Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos when he ran for president of the country in 1965 for the first time under the Nacionalista Party. Danding belonged to the wealthy landed Cojuangco family of Tarlac province. His father, I was told, was an old Nacionalista Party politician in that province. Danding actively campaigned for FEM in 1965. I first met Danding in 1966. I was then already in the government. President Marcos and his First Lady invited me and my family to be with them at the Mansion House in Baguio City. Danding and his wife, Gretchen, were also there. One morning, before breakfast, Danding asked me what I thought was a good business to have. I told him to put up a cement plant. This was from my experience as a lawyer of Lone Star Cement Corporation of New York. Not long after that, Danding built a cement factory in Sison town in Pangasinan. After that first personal contact we had in Baguio City, I never saw Danding again. Then, around August or September 1974, Danding saw me at my office in Camp Aguinaldo. He asked for my help. He said President Marcos wanted to replace the old and almost barren coconut trees of the country with a new variety of coconut trees. The new variety was called MAWA. It was developed, according to Danding, in the Ivory Coast in Africa. It was a cross between a Malaysian dwarf coconut tree and an African tall coconut tree. Danding said his family owned a big island in the town of Balabac in Palawan province. President Marcos wanted that island to be a seed garden for the new variety of coconut tree that could produce nearly five (5) tons of copra per hectare per year. Danding also said that he had been pushing the project for more than three (3) years already, but nothing so far had been achieved. It turned out President Marcos assigned the project to Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor. But Secretary Melchor was too busy to attend to it. Danding pleaded for my help. I told Danding that I would help him, but I needed the permission of the President. Right then and there Danding called President Marcos. The President talked to me and instructed me to help Danding.

At that time, I was concurrently the Chairman of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and its subsidiary, the National Investment and Development Corporation (NIDC). I created a NIDC Task Force to study the project. The head of the Task Force was Arturo "Toots" Trinidad. He was the President of NIDC. After a month or so, the Task Force submitted a report. I sent the report to the President. The President issued PD No. 582 that amended PD No. 232 - the law that created the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). It broadened the powers of the PCA. When President Marcos issued PD No. 582, he defined the coconut replanting program. He also expressed his impatience. He said that unlike other copra producing countries, the Philippines had remained backward. It had not adopted a concrete and concerted effort to modernize the coconut industry of the country. It was time, he said, for us to use for our cocnut industry fast-growing, fast-fruiting, and high-yielding coconut trees that could produce nearly five (5) tons of copra per hectare per year to replace the old coconut trees of the country whose average annual yield was hardly a ton of copra per hectare per year. He stressed that the Philippines with its old and inefficient coconut trees could not compete with other nations in foreign markets for vegetable fats and oils. Apart from that, the government could not provide adequate and stable incomes for its coconut farmers. It was urgent, he said, to replace all existing coconut trees in the country with precocious coconut seed nuts so that our coconut farmers would have a better and more decent life. That was the imperative of the coconut seed garden in Bugsuk island as envisioned by President Marcos: Produce fast-growing, early-fruiting, and high-yielding coconut seed nuts and replace the old, slow-growing, slow-fruiting, and low-yielding coconut trees of the country to improve the lives of coconut farmers of the land. The precocious seed nuts from Bugsuk seed garden were to be distributed without cost to the coconut farmers. The cost of producing the seed nuts and the cost of cutting and replacing the old coconut trees, including the cost of planting suitable idle public lands with precocious seed nuts were to come from a new Coconut Industry Development Fund (CIDF) that was established in PD No. 582. The Philippine Coconut Authority was authorized to allocate twenty centavos (P0.20) per kilogram of copra resecada or its equivalent out of the amounts collected for the Coconut Consumer Stabilization Fund under PD No. 276 in order to raise the money for the Coconut Industry Development Fund (CIDF). Thus, a major and essential national project that languished idly for years in the dark shelves of the bureaucracy was resuscitated and given life in less than two months. A thousand hectares coconut seed garden was carved out from the more than six thousand hectares Bugsuk island of the Danding Cojuangco family. While the seed garden project was being implemented, President Marcos, without telling me, appointed me as concurrent acting Chairman of PCA in 1975. Thus, he added another work to my already heavy burden and responsibility. He directed me to oversee the coconut industry, the coconut replanting program, and the planting of new areas with the precocious seed nuts. It was at this time that I got closer to Danding Cojuangco. It was also at this time that I got acquainted with the coconut industry and the coconut farmers of the country. President Marcos sincerely wanted to help the coconut farmers and the coconut industry. His coconut seed garden program was a sound policy. It was adopted to modernize the coconut industry and to improve the lot of the coconut farmers of the country. But, unfortunately, the project was technically a failure. The seed nuts from the Ivory Coast grew very well in Bugsuk island. They produced tremendous number of seed nuts. But, the fruits did not grow well in the country. They could not stand the strong winds we have in the country. They became stunted, and they hardly bore fruits. The seed garden project was abandoned. The seed garden was a failure for the country. But, it was a success for Danding Cojuangco. His link with the coconut industry made him very rich, very influential, and also very powerful. It brought him a universal bank - the United Coconut Planters Bank. He built a life insurance company (COCOLIFE) for the coconut farmers. He controlled the coconut oil mills in the country. He ended up controlling also San Miguel Corporation. And because of all these, he was able to consolidate and to build a strong and potent political power base that nearly made him president of the country in the national election of 1992. All along Danding considered himself - and was reputed to be - the political kingpin of Tarlac. His only rival and mortal political adversary in that province was his cousin-in-law, Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino, Jr - husband of his first cousin Cory Cojuangco Aquino -. Another outcome was Danding established and maintained a strong friendship and personal bond with powerful military leaders, like General Fabian Ver and his men in the Armed Forces, General Tomas "Tom" Diaz, General Romeo "Romy" Gatan, General Alfredo "Fred" Montoya, General Alfonso E. Alcoseba, and several key junior officers, especially in the Philippine Constabulary. Some truly admired him, but many feared him as well. Source: JPE with Image from Daily Tribune Read the full article

[melisasalvador]

GRETCHEN BARRETTO AT ALICE EDUARDO’S BIRTHDAY BASH

Alice Eduardo with Gretchen Barretto, Korina Sanchez, and Small Laude

Some of the country’s who’s who in Alta Sociedad passed other invites so they could make it to Alice Eduardo’s surprise birthday celebration. Alice Eduardo, a construction magnate, has always been low-profile. But there is nothing lowkey with the said birthday celebration.

The list of A-listers who attended the celebration proves our point. Among the attendees are Gretchen Barretto with partner Tonyboy Cojuangco, Ruffa Gutierrez, Marjorie Barretto, Lucy Torres and husband Richard Gomez, Mons Romulo, Mimi Que, April Nery, Charmane Lagman, Kaye Tiñga, Alelee Aguilar, Cris Albert, and Patrick Rosas. Joy Ortega, Korina Sanchez, Karen Davila, who came with his sons David and Lucas, Ben Chan, Miguel Pastor, and Edu Manzano also graced the celebration.

It was indeed a successful surprise. Little did Alice Eduardo know that her sisters Small Laude and Melba Solidum planned a surprise party for their beloved sister with the help of Nicole Ortega. Alice Eduardo was told there would be an intimate family dinner with their parents and children. Her parents and her children welcome Alice’s well-wishers. Clad in a stunning Escada outfit, Alice Eduardo entered the venue to her family and friends’ joyful singing of ��Happy birthday to you!’ Imagine the shock on her face when she saw familiar faces in the crowd. 

Meanwhile, it took the sisters and Nicole four days to organize the party. While the night started off with delicious cocktails, Gaita Fores’s Cibo prepared an excellent Thai buffet dinner and desserts to everyone’s delight. Bands Mulatto and Sauce provided live entertainment. The party was remarkably beguiling because of the music, which began with sweet melodies during dinner and turned to danceable tunes afterward. Singers Pops Fernandez and Franco Laurel also gave a heartfelt performance. From Gretchen Barretto to Alice Eduardo’s children, everybody enjoyed the night. Alice Eduardo herself sang and danced the night away. Indeed, a touching sight at the latter’s birthday bash.

The party was held at the eponymous Patriarch Building in Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City. 

A generous gift giver

It may be her special day, but Alice Eduardo is more known as the lavish gifter in her clique. Indeed, her love language is gift-giving, and dare we say, not just ordinary gifts but luxury items. In some instances, she favored giving meaningful presents that the receiver would genuinely appreciate.

For one, she once gave Gretchen Baretto a statue and flowers for her 45th birthday. She also gave Kris Aquino luxury bags, shoes, and clothes. The most opulent of the gifts was the Php2 million worth Cartier watch. Aside from being long-time friends, Alice Eduardo and Kris Aquino are both godmothers to creative director and columnist Tim Yap. She also gifted social media darling Scarlet Snow Belo dresses, accessories, and a Gucci bag. 

Indeed, only a woman of impeccable taste would know not to receive, but to give, give, and give without expecting anything in return.

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[Image ID: Two photos, side by side, of two Filipino men. Jorge Coronacion is on the left; Arnold Buri is on the right. End ID.]

Two coconut farmers were reportedly killed by the Philippine military on Nov. 17, a report of a human rights group read.

Jorge Coronacion, 64, and Arnold Buri, 43, were killed while on their way home to Taquico village in Sampaloc, Quezon, a province south of Manila. The Philippine Army has since claimed it was an “armed encounter” with members of the New People’s Army but human rights group Karapatan-Southern Tagalog was told by local residents that there was no exchange of fire heard in the neighborhood.

The group also noted signs of torture in the remains of the two farmers – one of them a senior citizen and with a  disability due to his sight problems.

Local government officials such as the town’s vice mayor and village chief, have said in their respective pronouncements that the people should be vigilant on the possible spate of killings even claiming that both were farmers and not NPA members.

In a statement, farmers group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) condemned the killings of the two farmers and the red-tagging of the two even after their death.

“This is a clear case of extrajudicial killing justified as a fake encounter by state forces. It puts the number of peasant victims of EJKs under the Duterte regime at 344,” KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos said.

KMP said that the 59th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, who said that the two were killed in an encounter, is also the same group behind the forced and fake surrenderees in Quezon province, using coconut farmers.

More lies and more search for truth

The military claimed to have recovered what Karapatan found to be an overwhelming number of items for two people. These purportedly include one .45 caliber pistol, seven rifle grenades, two fragmentation grenades, seven commercial radios, two M14 magazines, medical kits, foods, a sack of rice, a flag of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and even personal belongings.

The military, in a statement, also thanked the Barangay Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for its collaboration. The BTF-ELCAC is the village-level formation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“The NTF-ELCAC blatantly tags unarmed civilians and their organizations as armed combatants. They are essentially urging military action against civilians. This further begs the question, how many innocent civilians have died helplessly in the thousands of so-called encounters the army has claimed to have occurred?” Ramos asked, demanding the defunding and abolition of the government’s counterinsurgency arm... 

Spate in attacks against coconut farmers

The seeming spate of attacks against coconut farmers came following the dismissal of six civil charges against the late Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. over the coco levy funds... 

“Red and terror tagging has been an easy excuse for the military to cover for its many atrocities. While the military focuses its most vicious attacks against us farmers who build organizations to defend our rights, those unorganized become its victims too,” said Ramos.

It can be recalled that the 2020 report of Global Witness revealed that the Philippines is still among the worst countries for environmental and land defenders, consisting mainly of farmers, indigenous groups, and rural people. The dangers were recognized to come from violent crackdowns from state forces such as police and military.

-- “2 coconut farmers killed” by Dominic Gutoman for Bulatlat, 20 Nov 2021

[oculis-grp]

Alexis’ Work I

The Darkest Chapter of the Philippines

Former President Ferdinand Marcos announced that he had placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972 at 7:17 pm.

There are some who justified Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law as a way to instill discipline and quell the communist rebellion. A presidential spokesperson once said in a statement  that martial law “ instilled discipline among the citizenry at its inception” and reaped “ success in dismanting the then spreading communist insurgency in the country”. These people are who agreed to what Marcos considered the best years of the Philippines. Among the myths: that the Philippines enjoyed a golden age under the Marcoses. Various reports and historical accounts debunk this; while it may be true that infrastructure spending increased during that period, it also came at a staggering cost: plunging the Philippines in billions of dollars in debt.

Through martial law Marcos has put the entire power of governance over the country under his ruling. He sent armed forces all over the country to suppress all acts of rebellion. He enforced curfews, banned group assemblies and shuttered media facilities. The media became a threat to Marcos which is why he shut it down, arrested those who were a threat and spoke ill of him and his ruling. Many Filipinos were enslaved, about 70,000 people were imprisoned and 34,000 were tortured. According to Amnesty International, while 3,240 were killed from 1972 to 1981. These people were subjected to various forms of torture such as: electrocution among prisoners, beaten up, strangled, there are some that was burned with flat iron or cigarettes, water poured down their throats, women were stripped naked and raped, various objects forced inside their genitals. Aside from physically harming his people Marcos also put the Filipinos under psychological torture and humiliation. Those that have been under these forms of torture still haven’t recovered from the torture and pain Marcos has put under the Filipinos.

Control over media was one of the first that was established when Marcos declared Martial Law. Editors and journalists were one of the first that was arrested and incarcerated in military prison camps. Media became a threat to Marcos as it can reach, connect and inform millions of viewers, listeners, readers, and audiences in a small period of time. Under Marcos’ governance, he manipulated the media, made a different image, made every appear neutral, that nothings wrong with the government, only showed what was appealing for him making the people ignorant to the real situation of the country, pure deception.

 We may haven’t been around during the darkest period of the Philippines and for that we are thankful, although we would like to address the Martial Law as a crutiating period of the Philippines, through the experiences of those before us that was able to experience Martial Law. We strongly disagree to Pro-Marcos demonstrators of addressing the Martial Law period as our country’s Golden years. As stated above some may believe that it really was Philippines Golden years because the media was manipulated. We know people have opinions, and expressing them is not a crime, although ignorance over the pain and torture many Filipinos faced during Marcos’ regime might as well be. After reading many articles of the experiences of Filipinos during the Marcos regime we have come to say that there is no way moving past that traumatic period. To all the youth believing that Philippines was at its finest during the era, do your research. We once believed that it was the Philippines’ years but those golden years caused us in deep debts. The discipline you say Filipinos were during that period was caused by fear. There was no freedom of speech, resources was limited to the people, Filipinos were enslaved to work hard not to earn but to survive and to live, they work hard for their lives because their lives were their debt to the government. Filipinos were tortured, imprisoned and worst killed without any reason to be punished for. No justice was served to all those that were traumatized. And now youth are protesting upon transferring Marcos’ body in the grave for heroes.

The country exists with parallel histories at odds with each other as number of youths are yearning for a glorious throwback to an age of discipline and supporting Marcos’ son who was nearly elected to the vice-presidency. This reality of Ignorance among the youth are almost as scary as the days leading up to Martial Law.

People snatched from their homes in the dead of the night and battalions of armed men pierced through once busy districts. Curfews were enforced, all media content was screened by the state, all opposition organization were criminalized, publication companies were shut down, anyone who posed as a threat to the government was rounded up and tossed in jails with no warrant of arrests that eventually became a norm over the regime. Even the slightest violation of any sort of regulation could merit the harshest of punishments from the authorities. The entire bureaucracy and military force and absolute bending upon Marcos’ will.

There was growing repression of political opponents, rampant corruption, and a surge in the prices of basic necessities. Protests had also reached unprecedented numbers and militancy in the two years prior.

The Aquino assassination, Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr. is a former Philippine senator who was considered as one of the opponents of the then president Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino was one of the first individuals arrested after Marcos’ proclamation of Martial Law. Aquino was placed under a military trial after he was accused of murder, illegal possession of firearms, and subversion. He protested to the charges against him by going on a hunger strike for 40 days from April 4 to May 13, 1975. After 2 years the military tribunal sentenced him to die which was never carried out. Marcos allowed Aquino to have bypass surgery in the United States after 7 years of imprisonment. The family of Aquino then settled in Boston after his operation. Before he flew back to the country using a passport name under “Marcial Bonifacio”, he quoted “ I cannot allow myself to be petrified by the fear of assassination and spend my life in a corner”.  On August 21, 1983 he arrived at the Manila International Airport which is now known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He was escorted by soldiers from his seat to a waiting military vehicle that was supposed to take him to Fort Bonifacio. Only few seconds after he exited the airplane, gunshots were heard. Moments after the firing a bloodied Aquino was lying on the ground along with another body that was later identified as Rolando Galman.  Aquino’s death sparked outrage from his supporters throughout the Philippines. The convicts of the assassination  filed an appeal to have their sentences reduced after 22 years, claiming that the assassination was ordered by Marcos crony and business partner Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. This is one part of the Philippines dark chapter that we should remember and reflect on as a man who stood up against the dictator former president Marcos was assassinated without proper reason.

The Manila Film Center. First lady, Imelda Marcos wanted to stage an annual film festival that would rival Cannes and put Manila on the International cultural map. There was a grand plan for the building, but iwa was eventually redesigned to house only an auditorium, a film lab, and film archives. The scheduled event was only 3 months away with a budget of 25million. Around 4,000 laborers were hired and they rotated among three shifts across 24 hours. With only a small amount of time, the grand lobby needed six weeks to finish. For the center, a thousand workers finished it in 72 hours. At around 3 a.m. on November 17, 1981 a scaffolding on the fourth floor collapsed and workers were trapped in the quick-drying cement. The start of the problem was when quick drying cements were poured on each floor without waiting for the layers to dry first. Because of the rush and endless hours of working, too much cements were poured which resulted to the disaster. Nena Benigno was a public relation officer at that time who was sent by her father, Teddy Benign to the site as he wanted to write a story about the incident. In an interview she said  “ from a distance I could see people in stretchers being carried out, frozen in cement. When o got there, they were still digging out people; the cement was not completely hard. And there was a guy that they were trying to keep from going into shock” she added with “ Half of his body was buried. He was alive, but half buried. I don’t know what it was, but to keep him awake, alert, not go into coma or shock, they kept him singing Christmas songs. I was watching this”. There was a media blackout for fear that the accident would cause a scandal. Nine hours after the incident the only ones that were allowed to access the site was the responders. NINE HOURS??!?!?!?! After the accident, to all the youth who justified the Marcoses’ actions, they only allowed respondents and for your information there were at least 168 workers that were already dead and if not, buried under the hardened cement. And a few more hours later they employed jackhammers. There was a gruesome view of bodies sticking out of the pavement. The exposed parts had to be tampered off and built over. The rule was they had to meet the deadline, no matter what happened. They let the construction go on as if nothing has happened, as if there were no workers that died in the making of the film center, there were no justice served for those who died as there were too many workers and they weren’t able to keep track of the 4000 construction workers names because most were poor labourers from the provinces and there weren’t able to keep records of their names. The centre was completed in 1982, some say with still the dead workers entombed inside. My question to those pro-Marcoses how are you able to sleep at night knowing the people you support initiated these mass deaths? How are you able to justifies their doings? If discipline is what you look for then why not do it by yourself, within yourself, discipline among oneself needs to leader. Why participate in supporting one who took part in this many death of your fellow Filipinos? Couldn’t all of you just teach and impose upon your fellow Filipinos discipline? Does protesting and making rally’s to support a son of a dictator really show discipline?

To those who supports the Marcoses are we to forget the amount of Human Rights violation during the Martial Law?

Some of you may ask, “What is wrong with having a dictator’s son as a vice president?”. Many. All of us treasure our freedom. So let us remember how freedom was very limited during the Marcos reign. Many died, Many sacrificed to achieve the freedom we have today. Filipinos who fought for their freedom during the martial law died, tortured not only physically but also mentally in the most gruesome and unspeakable ways, women were raped.

Have you ever considered our ancestors sacrifices in order for us to be free? Shouldn’t we, as the future of our country, cherish, live and improve within the lessons our ancestors taught us? Yet, instead of learning from our past mistakes here we are fighting against each other over a history that brought doom over our country. Here we are still continually electing people who plunder our wealth and stifle dissent.

Some of you may say, “ why dwell upon pasts remorse?”. Recalling history is a way to teach us a lesson, a lesson we must live by.

As discussed above during the Marcos regime Human Rights Violation in the Philippines increased. Some of the violations are: Death in evacuations, Violent Dispersals, Salvaging, Physical assault, Massacres, Harassment, Hamletting, Faked or forced surrender, Disappearances and many more.

Indeed we must all move on and forgive. There are some of the victims or the people that were traumatized during the Marcos regime that have been able to find it in their hearts to forgive Marcos and move on with their lives. But acknowledging Marcos as a hero is a whole different story to some.

Years of torment for the Filipinos. Years of suffering under the hand of the Marcoses. It is heart breaking to see them back in power. Many years may have passed since the torment, many may have forgiven them, but the Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos inflicted our history deeply. Why do we younger generations fight for those who inflicted such deep tragic history of slavery and suffering support those who once was part of inflicting scars among our people, our ancestors when first of all none of us has experienced it, we weren’t there to justify such horrifying journey like our ancestors have.

To remind us the torment our people has endured, here is one of the experiences among the many that suffered: Roberto Verzola was imprisoned for years. “ Then they brought in the machine. Two lengths of wire extended from it, both ending with wire, the insulation stripped. One end was tied around the handle of a spoon. The machine is a field telephone generator. It has a wheel with a handle. The wheel turns a dynamo, which generates electricity that causes a distant telephone ring. The field generator probably generates forty to sixty volts and is turned really fast may give as high as ninety volts or more. My interrogators tied the end of one wire around my right index finger and inserted the spoon into my pants, on my right waist, until it rested where the leg meets the lower abdomen near the crotch. When I was young, I used to watch my uncle and older cousins whenever they slaughtered a pig. As soon as the pig realized something bad was going to happen, it would shriek for dear life. It was a grating shriek of helplessness, desperation and terror… it was that kind of scream that issued from my throat every time my torturers spun the wheel around.”  There are one of the reason that no matter how much we forgive them the scar of what they have done among our people is and will be hard to be forgotten.

Those stories weve seen floating or roaming around online about the discipline and peace of the Philippines during the martial law. There are many misleading lies or fake news roaming online. Do you honestly think Marcos did the Philippines, the Filipinos a favor by proclaiming Martial law? Then let us be aware of the truth. The Philippines has been in depth during that time. Infrastructures? The economy rising? Have you ever thought of it as greed? Look at the riches the Marcoses are still swimming deep in until now.

Let us consider our selves lucky we werent born during that era. Let us be considerate of those that was able to experience the torment under the ruling of the dictator Marcos. We ourselves have seen our parents argue about the son of Marcos setting their foot upon power again. In their eyes we see them reliving the kind of life they lived back then, during the era. Upon hearing our parents, grandparents talk about their life during the marcos regime our hearts are breaking. They are the symbol of strength, sleeping at night with fear and waking up with wonder if anybody you know have disappeared. If your family is safe or thinking more ways to keep your family safe.

President Ferdinand Marcos could’ve been a great leader as he brought our country somewhat good. During his time there was almost no crime. He was able to establish the Philippines as the top exporter of rice in the whole world. If only he wasn’t too power hungry, driven by greed and steal from the country. Under his command the military arrested opposition figures, journalists, student and labor activist, and criminal elements. About 30,000 detainees were kept at military compounds run by the army and the Philippine Constabulary. Weapons were confiscated, and “private armies” connected with prominent politicians and other figures were broken up. Newspapers were shut down, and the mass media were brought under tight control. With a stroke of  a pen, he was able to close the Philippine congress and assumed its legislative responsibilities. Like much else connected with him, the declaration of martial law had a theatrical, smoke and mirrors quality. The incident that precipitated the Proclamation of Martial Law was an attempt, allegedly by communists, to assassinate Minister of National Defense Enrile. As Enrile himself admitted after Marcos’ downfall in 1986, his unoccupied car had been riddled by machinegun bullets fired by his own men on the night that the Proclamation of Martial Law was signed. After the proclamation Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating a “ New Society’ based on new social and political values. He argued that certain aspects of personal behavior, attributed to a colonial mentality, were obstacles to an effective modernization. These included the primacy of personal connections, as reflected in the ethic of utang na loob, and the importance of maintaining in-group harmony and coherence, even at the cost to the national community. Despite Marcos’ often perceptive criticisms of the old society, him, his wife, and a small circle of close associates, the crony group, now felt free to practice corruption on an awe-inspiring scale. The Marcos self proclaimed “ revolution from the top” deprived significant portions of the old elite of power and patronage. For example, the powerful Lopez family, who had fallen out of Marcos’ favor, was stripped of most of its political and economic assets. Although always influential, during the martial law years, Imelda Marcos built her own power base, with her husbands support. Under the provisions of martial law, Marcos shut down Congress and most newspaper, jailed his major political opponents, assumed dictatotial powers, and ruled by presidential decree. During this era, the Philippines had one Asia’s worst human rights records. The army and police were notorious for their use of torture. Victims which included political dissidents and suspected drug dealers were beaten, flogged, given electric shocks. He also muzzled the press, and banned strikes.

EDSA People Power Revolution. The Philippines was praised worldwide in 1986 when the so called bloodless revolution erupted. February 25, 1986 marked a significant national event that has been engraved in the hearts and minds of every Filipino. This part of Philippine history gives us a strong sense of pride especially that other nations had attempted to emulate what we have shown the world of the true power of democracy. he true empowerment of democracy was exhibited in EDSA by its successful efforts to oust a tyrant by a demonstration without tolerance for violence and bloodshed. Prayers and rosaries strengthened by faith were the only weapons that the Filipinos used to recover their freedom from President Ferdinand Marcos’s iron hands. The Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) stretches 54 kilometers, where the peaceful demonstration was held on that fateful day. It was a day that gathered all Filipinos in unity with courage and faith to prevail democracy in the country. It was the power of the people, who assembled in EDSA, that restored the democratic Philippines, ending the oppressive Marcos regime. Hence, it came to be known as the EDSA People Power’s Revolution.

 Former President Ferdinand Marcos & Imelda Romualdez-MarcosThe revolution was a result of the long oppressed freedom and the life threatening abuses executed by the Marcos government to cite several events like human rights violation since the tyrannical Martial Law Proclamation in 1972. Former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.In the years that followed Martial Law started the suppressive and abusive years–incidents of assassination were rampant, particularly those who opposed the government, individuals and companies alike were subdued. The Filipinos reached the height of their patience when former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Sr. was shot and killed at the airport in August 21, 1983, upon his return to the Philippines from exile in the United States. Aquino’s death marked the day that Filipinos learned to fight. His grieving wife, Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino showed the Filipinos and the world the strength and courage to claim back the democracy that Ferdinand Marcos arrested for his personal caprice. Considering the depressing economy of the country, Ninoy’s death further intensified the contained resentment of the Filipinos. In the efforts to win back his popularity among the people, Marcos held a snap presidential election in February 7, 1986, where he was confronted with a strong and potent opposition, Corazon Aquino. It was the most corrupt and deceitful election held in the Philippine history. There was an evident trace of electoral fraud as the tally of votes were declared with discrepancy between the official count by the COMELEC (Commission on Elections) and the count of NAMFREL (National Movement for Free Elections). Such blatant corruption in that election was the final straw of tolerance by the Filipinos of the Marcos regime. Former Defense Minister Juan Ponce EnrileThe Fidel V. Ramosdemonstration started to break in the cry for democracy and the demand to oust Marcos from his seat at Malacañang Palace. The revolt commenced when Marcos' Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and the Armed Forces Vice-Chief of Staff command of Fidel V. Ramos, both withdrew their support from the government and called upon the resignation of then President Marcos. They responsibly barricaded Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo and had their troops ready to combat against possible armed attack organized by Marcos and his troops. The Catholic Church represented by Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin along with the priests and nuns called for the support of all Filipinos who believed in democracy. Radyo Veritas aired the message of Cardinal Sin that summoned thousands of Filipinos to march the street of EDSA. It was an empowering demonstration that aimed to succeed peacefully with the intervention of faith. Nuns kneeled in front of tanks with rosaries in their hands and uttering their prayers.

 Former President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. With the power of prayers, the armed marine troops under the command of Marcos withdrew from the site. Celebrities expressed their support putting up a presentation to showcase the injustices and the anomalies carried out by the Marcos administration. Finally, in the morning of February 25, 1986, Corazon Aquino took the presidential oath of office, administered by the Supreme Court Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee at Club Filipino located in San Juan. Aquino was proclaimed as the 11th President of the Republic of the Philippines. She was the first lady president of the country. People rejoiced over their victory proving the success of the EDSA People’s Power Revolution, the historic peaceful demonstration. Although in 2001, there was an attempt to revive People Power in the efforts to oust then President Joseph Estrada, it was not as strong as the glorifying demonstration in 1986. The bloodless, People Power Revolution in EDSA renewed the power of the people, strengthened the meaning of democracy and restored the democratic institutions of government. Continue to the 5th Republic (1986) up to the Present Time.

The people power revolution not only became a great impact on us Filipinos but also to the rest of the world.

 “The triumph of EDSA people power revolution has been a manifestation of how peaceful protest can change the status quo. For 20 years of enduring the autocratic regime of Ferdinand Marcos it has finally come to an end. After the successful revolution many social changes has prospered, most especially the restoration of democracy where Filipinos are not anymore reprimanded and can fully exercise their freedom of expression. And it is something we, the millennials, should continuously embody. As we commemorate the 34th anniversary of the EDSA revolution we may continue to be critical thinkers to challenge the current administration. Let us always remember that the fight our fellow Filipinos has started and it should not end in ousting the dictator Marcos but should always continue to protect the welfare of the people and of the generations to come.” – Marnell Sularan, Editor-in-Chief, Pagbutlak, Official Student Publication of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas

“EDSA will always be a reminder to us that dictatorship and leaders who don’t deserve to be in their position will not always stay long in power as long as we always make noise, criticize, and voice out our disdain towards evil regimes. The same revolution may not happen again but there will always be other ways to stand up against an oppressive leadership. Now that we are seeing again an impending threat to our freedom, we must remember that EDSA revolution was not only an uprising on streets. It was sparked by songs, poems, films, and artworks that spoke for people who can’t speak for themselves, and who were hungry for peace. As artists and writers today, it is always our responsibility to safeguard our freedom from oppressive regimes and EDSA will always be our inspiration.” – Michael Caesar Tubal, Instructor, College of Education, West Visayas State University

May all these serve as a lesson to all of us, especially the young people. Through this paper may we realize  and think of ourselves to be in the shoes of those people who shared their experiences during the Marcos regime. Let us rethink our decisions.

Sources for this paper are:

· https://www.panaynews.net/an-ageless-encounter-edsa-people-power-revolution-remembered/

·  https://www.philippine-history.org/edsa-people-power-revolution.htm?fbclid=IwAR38rmSdvm7fvESWWeO7y1WwOXb-Spn851wZCCIg24rjN76LjMgogPTXPNE

· https://www.bworldonline.com/tales-of-the-dark-days/?fbclid=IwAR17aQiZeU0k4Uvoi_WQdLrn4qRfXk57LOlYfxe6TfWDCxkhkpgbM8DmKFE

· https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/02/remembering-the-violence-and-horror-of-the-marcos-dictatorial-rule/?fbclid=IwAR09ebVAzIWC4C9kvSiucOJRuq4hr4KL9AVBzeukz8me_YoP7reIgKCvUrk

· https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/manila-film-center-haunted-a1729-20191107-lfrm2?fbclid=IwAR3oHdgS93v62TYyg_1Df-zDZcKWOOHcQu347gJRES-6z3LB9Bdz1EjfcF4

· https://prezi.com/775g4onbsdso/philippine-media-during-martial-law/?fbclid=IwAR2wwIA763iNTgF3Ll1k0dKw8eC2YGV7hrOkWlXECxr-toTZqN-mEo6Z0H4

https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/24/archives/mass-arrests-and-curfew-announced-in-philippines-mass-arrests.html?fbclid=IwAR0MYdI3hECBW9TpXAt8-RB0EqdOd7_OGis9ueG2KxZdTUF0GZty_hdVZcc

[phgq]

Philippine Beer Tycoon Allied With Late Dictator Dies

#PHnews: Philippine Beer Tycoon Allied With Late Dictator Dies

Philippine tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., a key ally of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a low-key businessman who led a food and beverage empire that produced San Miguel beer, has died. He was 85.

***

References:

* The Associated Press. "Philippine Beer Tycoon Allied With Late Dictator Dies." New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/17/business/ap-as-philippines-obit-eduardo-cojuangco.html?partner=IFTTT (accessed June 17, 2020 at 05:43PM).

[trendingph]

Congressman Charlie Cojuangco, China Jocson hold betrothal ceremony in Tarlac  Nagkaroon ng formal engagement sa pagitan nina Tarlac First District Representative Carlos "Charlie" Cojuangco at kanyang kasintahang si China Jocson. Si Charlie ay bunsong anak ng yumaong negosyanteng si Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. Si China ay ... https://trendingph.net/congressman-charlie-cojuangco-china-jocson-hold-betrothal-ceremony-in-tarlac/?feed_id=65052&_unique_id=5ff3054bae991 #ceremony #charlie #china #cojuangco #congressman #holdbetrothal #jocson #philippinenews #philippinesnews #tarlac #trendingph

[linda888]

US News 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🆙 Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85 👁 ❓ 18 June, 2020 http://dlvr.it/RYsn3r

[iammichaelerik23]

Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, Jr. 1935-2020. Thank You Po👌🙌🙏☝️🙂

[javierpenadea]

"Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85" by BY RICHARD C. PADDOCK via NYT Business https://ift.tt/2Y7SiJl

[todaynewsjournal]

Eduardo Cojuangco, Philippine Tycoon and Marcos Ally, Dies at 85 Eduardo Cojuangco, an ally of the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos who fled with him into exile and then returned to take control of the San Miguel Corporation and build a billion-dollar fortune, died on Tuesday.

[casorasi]

Philippine beer tycoon allied with late dictator dies

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., a key ally of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a low-key businessman who led a food and beverage empire that produced San Miguel beer, has died. He was 85. Philippine beer tycoon allied with late dictator dies

[ericfruits]

Why personalities trump parties in Philippine politics

TO WHICH political party does the president belong? In most countries, the question would have a straightforward answer, but not in the Philippines. Rodrigo Duterte won the job in 2016 as the candidate of PDP-Laban, which was founded by democrats campaigning against the despotic rule of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 1980s. He had previously headed two regional outfits based in the city of Davao, where he used to be mayor. But his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, the current mayor of Davao, recently founded a party called Hugpong ng Pagbabago (“Faction for Change” or HNP), which Mr Duterte’s supporters are joining in droves, even though the president himself remains head of PDP-Laban.

Mr Duterte is not the only politician to flit from party to party. Filipinos love a winner: most of PDP-Laban’s 114 members of the House of Representatives belonged to other parties when they were elected, but defected after Mr Duterte became president. Nor is he the only one to have created a party (or three). Three former presidents, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo, all had personal vehicles.

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There are no restrictions on switching parties. “People don’t vote for me because of my party, they vote for me because of my character and my ability to deliver,” says Miro Quimbo, a congressman who has served only the Liberal party. Politicians flock to a new president’s party because that increases their chances of getting funding for projects in their districts included in the budget. Passage of next year’s budget was delayed recently after 55bn pesos ($1bn) of pork was found hidden within it.

Ideology and tribal loyalty—so vital in America, Britain and elsewhere—do not play much part in politics. Thus Mr Duterte, who heaps praise on Marcos, is leading a party that was founded to oppose him. In elections next year HNP plans to support the Senate campaign of Marcos’s daughter, Imee (pictured on the right, with Ms Duterte-Caprio).

Parties are weak partly for historical reasons. Soon after Marcos’s fall in 1986, Congress devolved greater powers to provincial and local authorities, as a reaction to the former dictator’s strongly centralised regime. That strengthened local power brokers and weakened national institutions of all sorts, including political parties.

The government provides no financial support for parties, and it is hard to build a mass membership when you do not stand for much, so candidates must either fund their own campaigns or seek backing from tycoons. Celebrities and members of political dynasties have a head start, both because they tend to be rich and well-connected and because they are already household names—something it is otherwise costly to become in a country of 104m. To survive beyond the term of a supportive president, parties must secure a wealthy backer. Manuel Villar, a billionaire businessman, is the president of the Nacionalista Party while Eduardo Cojuangco Jr, the chairman of the giant San Miguel beer-to-banking corporation, sits at the helm of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

But even if money allows some parties to survive (the Nacionalistas have been around since 1907), the main organising principle of Philippine politics is family. “I think a large part of the reason why I won is because of my family name,” concedes Senator Bam Aquino, a member of the Liberal party whose aunt and cousin have both been president. A study published in 2014 found that fully 70% of representatives were dynasts.

Another study, published in 2016, found that beyond the island of Luzon, home to the capital, Manila, a greater prevalence of political dynasties is associated with greater poverty. Despite his background, Mr Aquino champions legislation to break the hold of families on elections. Recent reform at the lowest level of government, barangays, which are akin to wards, has barred the children of barangay captains from senior posts in local youth councils. Mr Aquino would like to apply similar restrictions higher up the political hierarchy. The constitution, after all, explicitly endorses laws to limit dynasticism.

Another proposal that would bolster parties is to bar politicians from switching between them within a year of an election. More radically, Mr Duterte, like many presidents before him, has talked about amending the constitution to adopt a parliamentary system of government, in which party discipline is needed to form a government. But incumbents are unlikely to change a system which works in their favour.

“I don’t foresee any major change in the political party system in the next elections,” says Mrs Arroyo, the former president, who is now speaker of the House. Nonetheless, she argues, “There can only be advantages in strengthening party politics in the Philippines.” She should know: in addition to founding her own outfit, she has also been a member of three other parties. The latest, naturally, is PDP-Laban, which she joined last year, when the president was still firmly in it.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Post-partisan"

[phgq]

House honors lawmakers, staff who died amid Covid-19 pandemic

#PHnews: House honors lawmakers, staff who died amid Covid-19 pandemic

MANILA – The House of Representatives on Friday paid tribute to its incumbent and former members and employees who passed away in the midst of the coronavirus disease-19 (Covid-19) pandemic this year.

The memorial service, led by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, was held for Benguet Rep. Nestor Fongwan, Camarines Sur Rep. Marissa Andaya, Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Francisco Datol Jr., Sorsogon Rep. Maria Bernardita Ramos, who were not accorded the traditional necrological services due to safety and health restrictions stemming from the pandemic.

Velasco expressed gratitude to the deceased legislators and employees for their contributions to the country and dedication to service even amid the pandemic.

“At kung mayroon mang katangian ang bawat isang pinararangalan ngayon, ito po ay ang kagustuhan nilang patuloy na maglingkod sa ating bayan hanggang sa kanilang huling hininga. Pinili nilang maging mandirigma. Pinagpipitaganang mambabatas man, o empleyado ng Kamara, bawat isa ay piniling maglingkod sa bayan ng dalisay at walang pag-iimbot (If there is one common trait among those who are being honored today, it is their desire to serve the country until their last breath. They chose to be warriors. Whether they are revered lawmakers, or House employees, each one of them chose to serve the country genuinely and unselfishly),” Velasco said.

The chamber also paid its respects to 19 former House members, including former Speaker Arnulfo “Noli” P. Fuentebella, Jr., former senators and representatives Heherson Alvarez of Isabela, Maria Teresa Aquino-Oreta of Malabon-Navotas, and Edgardo Ilarde of Rizal.

Also included were Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. of Tarlac, Romulo Lumauig of Ifugao, Amadeo Perez, Jr. of Pangasinan, Milagrosa Tan of Samar, Edgar Mendoza of Batangas, Martin Isidro of Manila, Antonio Cuenco of Cebu, Arcadio Gorriceta of Iloilo, Jose Ping-ay of the COOP NATCCO Party-list, Alfredo Marañon Jr. of Negros Occidental, Augusto Syjuco Jr. of Iloilo, Zenaida De Castro-Maranan of 1-UTAK Party-list, Elnorita Tugung of Basilan, Pacifico Fajardo of Nueva Ecija, and Yusop Jikiri of Sulu.

Velasco also honored the 21 House employees who passed away this year, describing them as “unsung heroes” who deserve as much recognition for their contribution in strengthening and maintaining the integrity of Congress.

Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, for his part, expressed gratitude to the lawmakers for choosing to continue performing their duties as “representatives of our people” despite the Covid-19 threat.

“It pains us to see their empty chairs in the plenary hall, but we are comforted by the fact that they fought valiantly against their illness in order to carry on with their unselfish devotion to public service,” Romualdez said. “Our fallen comrades may be gone, but I am sure that their memories will linger on forever in the hearts and minds of those whose lives they had touched.”

Romualdez also lauded the 21 House employees from the secretariat and congressional staff who succumbed to various illnesses directly or indirectly related to Covid-19, stressing that the services and sacrifices of the employees will never be forgotten.

“[They] had worked with us in the trenches, regularly reporting for work at the height of the coronavirus spread in the country. They are the unsung heroes of the 18th Congress,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez said the House of Representatives continues to implement strict health and safety protocols to fight the spread of the Covid-19 on its premises. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "House honors lawmakers, staff who died amid Covid-19 pandemic." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1120245 (accessed October 30, 2020 at 11:22PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "House honors lawmakers, staff who died amid Covid-19 pandemic." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1120245 (archived).