Shipping Complex at Sangley Point?

There was an item in the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday that could give a clue to the future of Cavite City.

The news article was titled "Chinese Shipping Firm to Build $3-B Complex in Sangley." It talked about how a giant Chinese company plans to transform Sangley into a transshipment point.

Here's part of that story:

A Chinese shipping giant will build a $3-billion shipping complex at Sangley Point in Cavite City, outside Manila, to serve as its main hub in Southeast Asia, Malacañang announced Monday.

China Ocean Shipping Group Co. (Cosco) chief executive officer Wei Jia Fu informed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the investment plan during a courtesy call Monday.

Ambassador Francis Chua, special Philippine envoy on China trade and investments, said the Cosco investment would generate 100,000 jobs, particularly for Filipino seamen.

Sangley Point is being developed as an international transshipment point through the creation of a special economic zone.

A Malacañang statement described Cosco, founded in 1961 as the pioneer international shipping carrier in China, as a $17-billion global company that operates 600 types of ships that call at 1,300 ports in more than 160 countries.

I wonder how this ties in with earlier reports that Arroyo had "given" Sangley point to former Senator Ramon Revilla as a birthday gift , for building into a major port. How many Sangley Points are there for her to give away? When I last checked, there was only one Sangley point, currently the home of the Philippine Naval Base in Cavite City.

Obviously, Sangley is a much sought-after piece of real estate and one strategically located in terms of shipping and transport. In the early 1990s, there were plans by the country's biggest taipans to build the International Airport in Sangley as well, but the plan was shot down by former President Fidel Ramos.

But I couldn't help notice in the story how this company comes into the picture with apparent absolute certainty that it will get Sangley. Have they consulted the people of Cavite City at all in this, and have they conducted studies regarding the environmental effects of such a project?

I can almost imagine Sangley as a container port, maybe something like the North and South Harbors in Manila, container vans crowding narrow streets, dark fumes filling the skies, stevedores and their families squatting in narrow alleys, crime and poverty infesting the city. Is it the End of Days for Cavite City?

Elections in Cavite-4

Events in the Philippines, including Cavite City, seem so distant to me at this point, now that I'm out of the country for a short trip (to Canada and the U.S.).

At any rate, just before I left, it seems that Caviteños were talking about the Dino Chua debacle. Chua lost the vice mayoralty race to opponent Romeo Ramos in the May 14 elections.

My uncle said it was the topic of conversation at a family gathering last Sunday, and talk had it that "nagtipid daw (si Chua). Nagalit ang mga watchers. Bumaligtad. (Chua scrimped on funds. The watchers got angry and turned against him).

Another version from family friend Bong has it that Chua may have been too complacent and sure of himself. It seems there were allegations of vote buying as well, and the military had to step in.

The real story behind this issue may never surface, because it could mean exposing not just the candidate but also poll watchers, who are supposed to be paid for giving their undivided attention in elections.

But I wonder. Pera pera lang ba talaga ang eleksyon sa Pilipinas (Are Philippine elections just a matter of money)? Can Philippine elections ever reflect popular will if this is the case?

(Photo at right shows ballot boxes stacked inside the Cavite City Hall in the aftermath of the elections. Photo by Kris).

Elections In Cavite-2

As of this writing, the canvassing of votes is still underway at the Cavite City Hall but it seems that it's a foregone conclusion that the Kampi-Magdalo Party, headed by incumbent mayor Totie Paredes and vice-mayor Dino Chua, is headed for a return.


The electoral contest in Cavite City wasn't really a very hot one, and unlike in other towns and cities in the province and throughout the country, was mostly uneventful.

Anyway, we were at the Garita Elementary School in Cavite City when voting centers closed at 3 pm on election day. Garita is near where our family used to live when we were kids. It was also near where my maternal grandmother grew up.










Posted near the Garita gate was the table of the volunteers from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voters.



There were not as many people as there were in the morning, but there was evidence of an earlier crowd, pamphlets and sample ballots strewn all over the school grounds.


Candidates and their supporters were warned against posting campaign materials within the school premises and it looked like candidates did heed the warning.










We saw election posters near the house of our old neighor, Ñora Lily, on Zulueta street, as well as on the wall in front of what used to be Cine Perla. These images are now a memory, what with a clean up surely underway in Cavite City.

Elections In Cavite-1 (Or Conversations with my Grandmother)

My grandmother has always voted in Cavite City, even if she no longer lives there. Each election day, she wakes up early to be among the first to cast her vote at the Garita Elementary School (photo at right) in what is known as Cavite's Rosario district.

She makes the effort although she is 94 going on 95, and her arthritic hands can barely fill in all the blanks.

I asked her how election day was for her, and of course, her replies were mostly in Chabacano:

My Grandmother (MG): Temprano yo ya anda na Cavite. Ya kumbida Lauring con niso alla ya lang daw almusa. Al llegando alla, que mucho genti. Mucho ya atraca comigo, hija daw de si quien. No ma yo ta conoci. Muchong mucho genti, kalat na kalat, ta lluvi de papel. Pobre naman ilo si no gana (I went to Cavite early. Lauring [my niece] invited me to have breakfast at her place. There were so many people approaching me, children of whoever, I don't know them anymore. There were so many people, so much trash everywhere, it rained paper. What a waste if they didn't win).

Me: Ya escribi tu plojo (You wrote slowly)?

MG: Plojong plojo yo. Ya haci yo claro para pudi ilo le (Very slowly. I tried to make it clear so they could read it).

Me: Con quien tu ya vota (Whom did you vote for)?

MG: Con Aquino siyempre Diyes nombre lang. No hay kasi ta habla comigo si quien pa (For Aquino, of course. Just ten names. No one told me who else to vote for).

Me: Con quien pa tu ya vota (Who else did you vote for)?

MG: Con Lacson din. De Imus aquel. El tata no se de Imus. Paredes pa rin di gana. Recio pa rin no se eli alla. Pero bueno kaya quel? (For Lacson also. He's from Imus. I think his father is from Imus. Paredes [mayoralty candidate] will win. He's still strong. Is he a good mayor?)

Me: Ewan ko (I don't know).

Fiesta Style Philippine Elections-2

Again, I'm interrupting regular Chabacano blogging to give way to election stories.

There are three first-time voters in our family, and they took this duty very seriously. Last night, on the even of elections, they sat down and carefully read the official list of candidates mailed to them by the Commission on Elections.








Then they highlighted the names of their chosen candidates, discussing with each other the pros and cons of every candidate on their list. They did not impose their candidates on others and made it a point to say they respected each others' choices. They consulted me on some of their choices and I must say they had names on their list that weren't on mine.

They looked forward to today with eager anticipation. After all, it was a feat just to have been able to register last December, when they braved the heat, the crowds and the notorious inefficiency of the Commission on Election just to get their names on the voters' list.

Today's exercise was supposed to have been, in their eyes, something like an exam, something they prepared for and mulled over for weeks, if not months. Before they went to bed, they had their stack of pens and Comelec list ready for the big day.

And so I imagine it must have come as a shock to them that the solemn duty they were to fulfill was to take place in an area that like this:

And all along the street leading to the public school where they were to vote, campaigners for various candidates were handing out sample ballots and leaflets, causing a veritable carpet of campaign materials around the voting areas that looked like this: But then again, these scenes are not surprising considering that this place happens to be one of Quezon City's most densely populated districts.



I know my three first time voters must have had some mild shock at the voting scenes they witnesses, but then again, the atmosphere was festive, the teachers and volunteers were all working hard at it, and somehow everyone connected with each other and with the bigger citizenry as a whole, which made the experience fulfilling enough for them.

Fiesta Style Philippine Elections-1

We interrupt regular Chabacano blogging to give way to Philippine elections.

I have just taken part in what is one of my most important duties as a citizen and that is to vote. The significance of the act, however, has always been diluted by Filipinos' tendency to treat it no different from a fiesta.

At the school where I vote in Quezon City, the atmosphere was relatively subdued, the place being more or less a middle class community where the debris and the din made by campaigners, kibitzers, and vendors stayed outside the school gates (which is not the case where my children voted, which is one of the most populous districts in QC).

Blame that on the fact that the Philippines has yet to implement the automated system of voting which was supposed to have been partially implemented in this election, but has not been which means it's still a totally manual voting system. Everything has to be done by long hand, ballots filled out with names of candidates, hence the need for candidates to have supporters to distribute sample ballots near voting areas.

The impending abolition of this manual system is one reason I think the stakes will be very high this time around. It's the last time for cheaters to cheat using the old system of padding and shaving, and there will be many hotly contested races all over the country.

It was relatively hassle-free where I voted, though. Church-based groups like the Catholic Women's League and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting helped voters locate their names and voting precincts in the Comelec list of voters, then they directed voters to the classroom the precincts were located.

It couldn't be avoided that there were complaints with the way teachers manning the precinct handled the voting process itself. In my precinct, I had to line up to have my name verified as a voter, sign my name, get my ballot, fill it up and then go through the process all over again, this time affixing my thumb mark and having indelible ink poured over my forefnger.

But the line where voters queued up was also the line that those who finished could butt into, because the teachers were using only one set of documents for everyone. Oh well. I just hope my vote will be counted properly, which I'm sure will happen because I live in Quezon City. Pity those who live in places away from the limelight, where warlords rule and voters have limited choices.

Cavite City politics-2

I just got a text message from a friend saying that the May 2007 elections in Cavite City is shaping up as a fight between, on one hand, the incumbent Mayor Totie Paredes and Vice-Mayor Dino Chua, and on the other Ezon Medina and Omie Ramos. I was told Medina is the brother of the late Julian Medina who was Cavite City mayor in the early 1980s. Paredes is going on his third term.

I wonder, though, what Chua's plans really are. He is one of the politicians behind the formation of the party-list group Partido or Pwersa ng mga Bayaning Atleta (PBA). Yup, you guessed it. It will have basketball stars and other athletes as members. Similar acronym as Philippine Basketball Assocation, popular basketball league in the country.

The PBA (the party, not the league) has plans of penetrating the House of Representatives through the party-list system which was originally intended for the impoverished and marginalized sectors of Philippine society whose voices aren't heard by policy makers. The party chooses nominees, who become members of Congress depending on the number of votes they get.

Perhaps Filipino athletes, including stars of the PBA (the league, not the party), believe the public and the government aren't paying them enough attention, outside the three or four nights a week the public watches the PBA (the league, not the party) on TV. Hence, the run for Congress.

Cavite City's Dino Chua is the first nominee, while the second is basketball star Jerry Codiñera.

Will they win? Next to movie stars, count athletes as among those who automatically have a passport to elective office because of fame and name recall. Some names: Freddie Webb, Robert Jaworski, Philip Cesar, etc. That's why Manny Pacquiao is also reportedly in the running for the position of South Cotabato governor.

Filipinos, and Caviteños, will know for sure on March 29, the deadline for filiing certificates of candidacy for local posts.

Smugglers' Paradise?

That piece below got me agitated enough to set aside my deadlines and sundry commitments to start blogging again.

Years ago, Cavite province was known throughout the country as smugglers' paradise, one that thrived through the protection of assorted goons and toughies in the mold of the late Nardong Putik, who became a legend allegedly because he ate bullets for breakfast and never got felled by them. Yep, Caviteños pride themselves on being tough as nails but they've also been known to use this grit and tenacity for not-so-legal endeavors.

And the news that they're turning Cavite City into a container port somehow brings back the ghosts of Cavite's smuggling past.

Yet when you talk of the bad that was associated with Cavite, you never imagined Cavite City embroiled in all that. That was the work of de afuera, as my uncle wrote sometime back. These de afuera were Caviteños from elsewhere in the province whom my uncle described as "people who were looked down upon because of their boorish behavior and lack of culture and aesthetics." And because they couldn't speak and understand Chabacano, they took no offense at being called de afuera and considered loco.

I remember my grandmother talking about the rest of Cavite as being the badlands (she singled out places like Imus with a reputation of being a town where the lawless reside), and Cavite City being somehow above and detached from all that, a civilized place where children spoke English, grew up to be professionals, played baseball and learned to rollerskate (according to my mother, she and her siblings rollerskated when they were children, proof of American influence that came in through Sangley Point).

Okay, okay, I may be unfairly romanticizing the past and harsh on de afuera but I couldn't help but recall biases of old and feel dread and impending doom after reading this morning's paper and seeing what they wanted to do with Cavite City. Que horror! Cosa ya di pasa con niso? Quilaya ya el mga genti na Cavite? Di intra ya todo el mga loco. Pobre naman niso todo!

Sa 'yo ang Tondo, Akin ang Cavite!

I nearly fell off my chair when I read the Philippine Daily Inquirer's front page article entittled "Arroyo’s birthday ‘gift’ to Revilla: Sangley Point." The gist of the story is that Gloria Arroyo "gave" Sangley to ex-Sen. Ramon Revilla to turn into a container terminal and special economic zone as a present on Revilla's 80th birthday.

What the......!!!!! Totally unbelievable! What has our nation come to? What has become of our leaders? Does being president allow you to choose any piece of real estate in the Philippines and give it as a birthday gift to a favored friend? Aren't there supposed to be laws and procedures for doing these things? Aren't there supposed to be plans discussed and drawn up first before you do these things?

Revilla, self-proclaimed womanizer and has-been action star, happened to be a former senator from Cavite whose son is an incumbent senator. His family, including 30 of his 50 or so children (I kid you not!), showed up to greet their father.

The president dropped by and took part in the celebration. According to the Inquirer: "President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a special guest of Revilla’s during his birthday bash on Wednesday night, told the former senator and action star to prepare the executive order that would make his birthday wish come true."

So all Revilla has to do is write an executive order, leave it at the president's desk at Malacanang, and voila! Sangley Point becomes Ramon Revilla kingdom. Oh my god!!!! I wonder what he plans to do with it? Make it a loading dock for all the fighting cocks that he imports from God knows where? Yes, he was once a customs agent or something in the government, but exactly what interest and expertise does he have in turning Sangley Point into a container terminal and economic zone? What does he know of those things? What the hell is happening?

Yes it sort of reminds me of that movie starring Fernando Poe Jr and Ramon Revilla himself--"Iyo ang Tondo, Akin ang Cavite (Tondo is Yours, Cavite is Mine). I wonder what gifts the president gave herself and close family members, if she can give Sangley Point someone who is not even an incumbent senator, whose intellectual capabilities failed to manifest themselves when he was in the Senate, and who spent his time at the Senate session hall doodling away on sheets of bond paper!

Read the story here and weep.

Cavite City politics

Local elections are coming up (in May), and although I don't vote in Cavite, it's interesting to know who's going to run against whom for mayor.

It's probably just a rumor but I heard that award-winning movie director Joel Lamangan, a son of Cavite City, is considering running for the position. Imagine all those movie and TV stars invading the city and campaigning for him! In a country as starstruck as ours, that would be an unbeatable campaign machine. Of course Mayor Bernardo (Toti) Paredes is running for a third term.

I hope that whoever becomes mayor (or continues to become mayor) solves Cavite's garbage problem. Such an eyesore. This photo was taken along M. Gregorio St. The uncollected garbage was a big problem years ago, when a mountain of trash grew somewhere behind the Cavite municipal cemetery and emitted a stench that spread over San Antonio. A cemetery is not a place for trash, which is supposed to go a landfill or something.

Anyway, the uncollected garbage disappeared for sometime but is now back. Poor Caviteños. No wonder many of them want to leave the city.