Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
AUGUST 2016
VOL. 50 NO. 08
Is Isthere
there food
Food
in theDuterte
Duterte
in the
Revolution?
Revolution?
EDITOR'S NOTE
IMPACT
ISSN 0300-4155 / Asian Magazine for Human
Transformation Through Education, Social Advocacy and
Evangelization / P.O. Box 2481, 1099 Manila, Philippines
Cover Photo By
ROY LAGARDE
Editorial Office: Areopagus Communications, Holy
Face of Jesus Convent and Center, 1111 R. Hidalgo
St., Quiapo, Manila Tel (632) 404-2182 Telefax
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email us at: impactmagazine2012@gmail.com
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
CONTENTS
29 |
Editorial
16
quote in
the act
Cover story
Articles
11
21
26
13
News Features
23
Statements
28
30
Entertainment
31
Asia News
FEATURE ARTICLE
Of drugs and
fullness of life
A Pastoral Letter of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro issued on August
4, 2016, Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, Universal Patron of all Pastors
Fr. Arnold Abelardo addresses a group of drug addicts that will go through the PNPs rehabilitation program known as the "House of Hope" Reformatory Center in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Aug. 24, 2016. VINCENT GO
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
FEATURE ARTICLE
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
ARTICLES
Duterte administration
and poverty reduction
By Bernardo M. Villegas
ONE of the benefits of a President
coming from the island of Mindanao will
be the greater probability that poverty
reduction will be given the highest
priority by the Duterte Administration.
Whereas the national average of poverty
incidence is about 25 percent, in many
regions of Mindanao (especially the
Muslim Mindanao areas), poverty
incidence can be as high as 60 percent.
There is enough evidence that decades
of neglect by imperial Manila have led to
the impoverishment of this potentially
rich island that is well endowed with
natural resources.
From the early pronouncements of
President Rody Duterte, even before
he was elected, we can expect his
Government to break the cycle of poverty
and economic isolation, not only of
Mindanao, but in all the rural areas of the
Philippines, where 75 percent of the very
poor reside, by investing in countryside
infrastructures, rural education, health
and access to basic utilities, especially
potable water and electricity. At the
core of the fight against poverty in
the Duterte Administration will be a
shift form dole-outs to empowerment,
so that through private initiatives the
Filipino people can take responsibility for
their communitys development. After
all, this is the rationale for President
Dutertes preference for a federal form of
government.
From pronouncements of the key
members of the Cabinet, especially those
constituting the economic cluster, I
foresee the following areas of priorities:
1. Promote modern agribusiness
technologies and practices: There will
be emphasis on the cultivation and
production of high-value crops through
natural farming for local consumption.
IMPACT
ARTICLES
A homeless man sleeps on a pavement in Quiapo district in the City of Manila where the homeless population is reportedly one of the highest in the
world. ROY LAGARDE
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
ARTICLES
Scavengers collect recyclable waste materials from a dump in the district of Tondo in Manila. ROY LAGARDE
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
ARTICLES
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
ARTICLES
Girls pray at a shelter for abused women and children in Tacloban City. ROY LAGARDE FOR GOETHE-INSTITUT PHILIPPINEN
10
IMPACT
ARTICLES
Members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community join a pride parade in Manila, June 25, 2016. VINCENT GO
By Dale OLeary
THE USA is in the midst of what
has been called the bathroom
wars; however, access to
bathrooms and locker rooms of
the opposite sex for the so-called
transgendered is only a means
to an end. The real objective can
be discerned from ACLUs press
11
ARTICLES
12
AUGUST 2016
NEWS FEATURES
13
NEWS FEATURES
OFWs warned vs
joining Islamic State
Negotiating teams tackle several issues in the first round of talks, August 24, 2016. OPAPP
14
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
NEWS FEATURES
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, Caritas Philippines executive secretary, joins a "climate walk" in Manila to
call on the government to address climate change, October 4, 2015. FILE PHOTO
15
COVER
STORY
16
Irrigation
Piol hit the ground running with his
views on irrigation. He knows just how
important water is for agriculture. As
governor, Piol helped push the MalitubogMaridagao irrigation project in Cotabato
area. He knows that the probability of being
nonpoor for farmers increases when they
till irrigated land. Farmers who till irrigated
lands are thrice more likely to be nonpoor
than those who till non-irrigated lands.
As it is, 30% of all rice lands produce
60% of total domestic rice production. The
remaining 70% of rice lands produce only
40% of total national rice production. The
30% are irrigated and the 70% are not.
Therefore, quite simply, if we increased the
number of irrigated farms ASAP, we would
easily become exporters instead of remaining
importers of rice.
But, of course, irrigation costs. The Duterte
Revolutionary approach then would be
to make it free for rice farmers. The Free
Irrigation Program became part of the
Duterte campaign and Sec. Piol hastened
to implement it as soon as it was announced
he would head Agriculture. And who would
oppose such a scheme? Who? The National
Irrigation Administration, no less.
NIA, which is a government-owned and
controlled corporation (GOCC), collects
P1.8 billion to P2 billion in irrigation fees
annually60 percent of which it uses for
employees salaries and allowances, with the
rest going for operations and maintenance of
existing irrigation systems na-tionwide. At
the same time its mandate is very clearto
provide irrigation to produce food for the
people. Thus Piol instructed NIAs top guys
to think out of the boxto design a strategy
for free irrigation by next year. The stealthy
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AUGUST 2016
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
17
COVER
STORY
A farmer harvests crops in a rice field in Alabat Island, Quezon province. JP ACUA
18
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
19
COVER
STORY
File photo shows women farmers from Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, Negros Island
and Batangas march to Malacaang while carrying squash on their head to
press the then Aquino administration to pursue the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program with reforms. ROY LAGARDE
20
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
ARTICLES
Bystanders encircle
Jennelyn Olaires
and her husband
Michael Siaron, who
was shot dead by
an unidentified gunman and left with
a cardboard sign
with a message Im
a pusher along a
street in Manila, July
23, 2016. VINCENT GO
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
21
ARTICLES
22
IMPACT
AUGUST 2016
STATEMENTS
AMRSP
statement on
extrajudicial
killings
23
STATEMENTS
Students light candles as they call for an end to extrajudicial killings around the country in the wake
of war on drugs campaign by President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday evening, Aug. 31 outside the
Dominican-run Colegio de San Juan De Letran in Intramuros, Manila. ROY LAGARDE
24
As Christians, it is our
fundamental ethical, moral,
and religious duty to
promote and support human
life and human dignity. St.
Francis of Assisi sees every
human person as the image
and likeness of God. This
policy of extra-judicial killing
is very far from the spirit of
the liberating Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. It is an
obstacle to the realization
of the Gods kingdom. Our
faith tells us to treat the
vulnerable segments of
our society with mercy and
compassion. It is our mission
to promote justice and to
critique policies/structures
that are unjust (see PCP-II,
248). We uphold the value
of love, brotherhood and
peaceful solidarity (John Paul
II, To the People of Tondo,
Feb. 18, 1981, no. 7).
STATEMENTS
Activists lie on the ground outside the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City to protest the rampant summary executions in the country, Aug. 31, 2016. MARIA TAN
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
25
ARTICLES
Religious values
are not politically
incorrect
26
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AUGUST 2016
ARTICLES
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
27
28
A Catholic bishop prepares for a Mass inside the sacristy of a parish church in
Cavite. ROY LAGARDE
IMPACT
EDITORIAL
implication,
consequence
of the said
principle? Such
is the fundamental
feature and concrete
premise of democracy
in action. And when the said
reality is not merely set aside
but actually denied, such is a
marked demonstrative element of
dictatorship, authoritarianism and
the like. And from the start of
human history to the present times,
such dictatorial or authoritarian
denial of the Principle of
Participation is the eventual cause
of social unrest, violence, deaths
very well included. Needless to
say, said principle has a special
significance and relevance to the
Philippines during these perceived
uncertain times.
The truth is that the Principle of
Participation is but a consequence
of the Principle of Subsidiarity.
One without the other is falsity.
In other words, the very fact
that subsidiarity means not only
allowing but also urging the
able members of society to do
what they can do for their own
good as well as the welfare of
their country, and furthermore
means that the public authorities
concerned should not bar no less
that their sovereign constituents to
intervene, to promote and sustain
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 08
29
ENTERTAINMENT
CATHOLIC
INITIATIVE FOR
ENLIGHTENED
MOVIE
APPRECIATION
MORAL ASSESSMENT
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
FILMING LOCATIONS: USA, Italy
RUNNING TIME: 150 minutes
CINEMA RATING: PG 13
30
AUGUST 2016
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT
MTRCB RATING: PG
ASIA BRIEFING
31