In thy mother’s name
Angelita Peredo with her daughters Etta and Tina
(For 2013 Mother’s Day celebration, http://philippinehistory.ph opts to honor the mothers of Martial Law heroes and martyrs. These mothers had helped us survive Martial Law period that goes down as one of the darkest sagas in the country’s history.)
The fruit does not fall far from the tree. Martial Law heroes and martyrs have mothers whose political beliefs and personalities may differ from their children but whose virtues and guidance have made them to be the upright and principled Filipino citizens they ought to be.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Loretta Ann Pargas Rosales, endearingly called Etta in the education and human rights communities, got her feisty personality from her mother Angelita Peredo. Married to Navy Commodore Rafael Pargas, she raised her children by herself as an insurance sales person when she was widowed.
Twice incarcerated in 1972 and 1976, Etta’s harrowing experience of torture and abuse in military safehouses before being brought to Camp Crame was halted when her mother summoned heaven and earth to save her daughter. Her being married to a military intelligence officer had somehow helped. Etta’s whereabouts were traced; she was saved in the nick of time.
Her mother’s courage and resourcefulness were put to test once again when Etta’s younger sister Maria Cristina Pargas Bawagan, also a teacher, was imprisoned in 1981. Demure and soft-spoken Tina was finally released after her mother’s knocking on doors of military officials, one is an uncle who was with the National Intelligence Security Authority.
She had connections she can seek help for her daughters’ welfare. She was able to have a direct line with then General Fidel Ramos. Ramos was once again asked for help for the release of Tina’s would-be husband Ishmael Quimpo Jr. Exasperated, the General asked the mother: “Who is it this time?”
Freed at last from Camp Olivas in Pampanga after one month in captivity, Tina’s ecstatic mother, with Etta’s two high school daughters in tow, drove her back to the camp to get her clothes and things back. Only to find out a great surprise of her life: Tina will be imprisoned again! Camp Commander Vicente Eduardo cited then President Ferdinand Marcos’ signed Presidential Order of Commitment that binds political prisoners to indefinite detention.
Hell hath fury like a mother scorned. Etta’s and Tina’s mother told the Camp Commander: “No, I will not leave my daughter until she is released!” Tina remembers that their mother had been arguing with the military official endlessly for almost the whole day. Etta’s daughters also stood by their aunt’s side holding both of her hands tightly.
Commander Eduardo must have pitied the sight of Tina and her nieces seated on a sofa holding on to each other and their mother’s bravado who finally warned: “Don’t let me call the President. I have a direct hotline to Marcos.”
Tina was released again the same day. On their way home, Tina asked her mother: “Ma, do you really have a hotline to Marcos?” To which her mother replied: “Nah, that was only a bluff.”
The mother had been leading the Catholic Women’s League in political rallies that call for the ouster of Marcos eventually. It was not only the call of the times. She is a mother imbuing the virtues of courage, tenacity and patriotism.
Tina describes their mother as a woman who laughed loudly and who danced gracefully. “She loved the tango,” Tina recalls her mother’s last few years spending her time with the family. She died at 81 years old.
(More stories about mothers of Martial Law heroes and martyrs coming up.)-Gloria Esguerra Melencio
Cheese and Combat
Florentina Lagasca, 1946 Miss Camay
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
My father’s penchant for corned beef, cheese and the television series Combat can be traced to his experiences while growing up as a boy at the time Manila was liberated from Japanese Occupation in March 1945.
Opening a can of corned beef without using an opener was so easy for him; same with slicing cheese thinly as he drunk his bottle of beer while watching Combat. It was a television series in the 70s with spiels that opened like this: “(Music) Combat! Starring Vic Morrow, Ric Jason…,” with exploding grenades, hand-to-hand combat of helmeted and wounded American soldiers who always won against their enemies in the end.
For a sheltered boy who wanted to survive with his other orphaned siblings, Tatay scoured the then devastated Intramuros for food amid “dog fights” of warring US and Japanese airplanes. He barely survived a bomb explosion that uprooted trees in front of Manila Cathedral and buried my father under thick layers of soil. If not for the compassion of some men who dug the ground with their bare hands and pulled him up, I will not be able to write his story now.
Making Intramuros and Fort Santiago their last stronghold, the Japanese made the men and boys like my father carry their bullets and ammunition to their armory in exchange for food. After too much bloodshed that killed more than a 100,000 Filipinos, the Japanese later surrendered with some of its officers committing suicide or hara-kiri rather than face defeat.
General Douglas McArthur’s famous “I shall return” promise bolstered the US forces attacking Manila as they inched their way to the cornered Japanese who, in retaliation, made hostage thousands of Filipinos in the end.
Down town, Shirley Licdan-Gegabalen, 77, my father’s cousin, recalled it had been pitch dark in the evenings in Bambang while people ply their wares of “genuine” clothes (the ukay-ukay version of today) and imported cigarettes with “blue seals” at daylight. Tatay had learned to smoke cigarette at 10 to ease the hunger pangs.
“Peace time” came with the US promise of 800 million dollars of rehabilitation money. Being small amid towering Americans and adult Filipinos, Tatay had queued for hours for a trickle of said amount. He cannot remember how much; it was plenty for a boy who had not seen crisp paper bills in his life. A stranger in white suit offered him his hat where he excitedly put all the money in – plenty to buy food for a few months and send himself and his siblings back to school for a year.
Along with rehabilitation came chocolates, candies, corned beef, cheese, milk, Marilyn Monroe and everything American. Devastated Manila had been trying to rise. Commercial establishments, schools, churches and residential houses were repaired or rebuilt. America’s image of benevolence and knight-in-shining armor had to be restored.
My grandmother’s sister, Florentina Lagasca, was adjudged Miss Camay in Manila. Her other sister, Narcisa, had put up Golden Hands Fashion School that schooled future fashion designers, dressmakers and tailors in the rising city.
In a span of 68 years after the battle that history books called Battle of Manila in 1945 to differentiate it from the Mock Battle of Manila in 1898, Tatay had been ambivalent. He had never voted in his lifetime, fought tooth-and-nail to send us his seven children to school and became a union president in a telecommunications company that closed shop during a strike.
He had high hopes that his children’s and grandchildren’s life will be better.
The state of our democracy and its prospects (3)
The Bohol Chronicle
17 March 2013
Filipino Democracy is an Oligarchy. It is the rule of very rich families, many of whom are known as “political dynasties.” Many, but not all, political or family dynasties are known to abuse their power and authority to protect their political dominance amid widespread poverty, landlessness, homelessness, unemployment, and injustice. Consequently, a large proportion of our insecure citizens continue to be dependents on their wealthy and powerful political patrons in our patron-client democracy. They are un-empowered citizens of a democratizing polity.
Realizing this, the 1987 Constitution provides: “The State shall guarantee equal opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be provided by law. Twenty-six years after the adoption of the Constitution, Congress has not passed a law to implement the constitutional guarantee. If the framers of the Constitution had been serious and discerning, they would have defined what they meant by “political dynasties.” They should not have left it to the legislators to do so.
Many legislators belong to “political dynasties,” commonly understood as “political families” whose members occupy various elected positions in their communities, or in Congress. They enjoy a virtual monopoly of political power vis-à-vis their rivals where wealth is very unevenly shared and our oligarchy has too much control of our resources. “Despite wide-ranging reforms since 1981, big chunks of the market remain effective oligopolies or cartels,” according to a paper of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
According to Louie Montemayor, political scientist at De LaSalle University, “little has been done at the top to impact on the dominance of the elite. “There’s some sense to the argument that we’ve never had a real democracy because only a few have controlled economic power. The country dances to the tune of the tiny elite.”
As the economist Cielito Habito explained: “the growth in the aggregate wealth of our 40 richest families in 2011, which Forbes Asia reported to have risen by $13 billion in 2010-2011—was equivalent (in value) to 76.5 percent of the growth in our total GDP at the time, which official data show to have risen nominally then by P732 billion, or around $17 billion. I found that this ratio was only 33.7 percent in Thailand, 5.6 percent in Malaysia, and 2.8 percent in Japan—suggesting that our income inequality is much worse than in our neighbors. Relative to rise in total incomes, the wealth gain of our billionaires that year dwarfed those in our neighbors…, suggesting much more skewed distribution in our country. xxx The clear imperative is to pursue more inclusive growth. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 11, 2013)
How are we, Filipinos, to achieve “inclusive growth”? Dr. Habito explains: “In a democratic society, then, pursuing inclusive growth is not about redistributing wealth and income to equalize it; rather, it’s about providing genuinely equal opportunities for all. xxx This entails ensuring quality education and health services for all; correcting historically lopsided access to land and natural assets; equitable access to credit by small and large borrowers alike; a justice system that is blind to people’s social and economic status; and a competition policy that levels the playing field for big and small enterprises so that the latter can thrive along with the former. In other words, it calls for correcting our social, political and institutional flaws, in all their obviousand subtle forms, that perpetuate unequal access to economic and political power.”
Analysts say it is helpful that the government is spending more than P40 billion on its conditional transfer program to the poorest people, in exchange for their children going to school and getting proper health care. The analysts say that “the most direct path out of poverty is improving workers’ skills, using higher tax revenues to boost spending on infrastructure, and rebuilding the country’s manufacturing sector.” So they endorse the cash transfer program and K plus 12 educational reform of President Aquino.
We have an “Unconsolidated Democracy.” From theend of World War II in 1945 and our independence in 1946 through the 1960s, when our population was around 50 million, we made progress as a democratic and developing nation. But our youth, especially, should be reminded that in September 1972 President Ferdinand Marcos, the only Filipino president to be reelected since independence, became a dictator and molded the 1973 Constitution to serve his perverse personal agenda.
By destroying our fledgling democratic institutions, he was able to extend his powers as an authoritarian president from the maximum of eight years to over 20 years, until he was overthrown by the people at the EDSA Revolt in February 1986. Meanwhile, he had plundered the government and the economy, enriched his family and cronies, reversed our economic development, corrupted politics and society, and politicized the military as his partner in power. Our democratization suffered a traumatic reversal.
But through patriotic resistance by many militants and committed leaders, by Ninoy Aquino’s long imprisonment and martyrdom, by Corazon Aquino’s heroic challenge to Marcos in the 1986 “snap elections,” by the militancy of the underground press, and by the spontaneous, spirited “people power” revolt at EDSA, we finally ended the Marcos regime and “restored our democracy” in February 1986 and under the 1987 Constitution.
However, under President Cory Aquino and her successors, the old oligarchy and traditional politicians, including those who had collaborated with Marcos, quickly recovered their power. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is a senator, Mrs. Imelda Marcos is again a representative, and Ms. Imee Marcos is governor of Ilocos Norte.
And, despite its laudable vision of “a just and humane society” and a democracy and its ideals of public office and good governance, under this Constitution we have not been able to reform and transform our weakened and ineffective political institutions.
To this day, 27 years after the EDSA “People Power” Revolt in February 1986, we have not “consolidated” our democracy. “Democracy is consolidated when…a particular system of institutions becomes the only game in town, and when no-one can imagine acting outside the democratic institutions” (A. Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. 1991.p. 26).
In contrast, we have played various undemocratic “political games.” Rebel soldiers sought to remove President Aquino in at least seven disruptive coup attempts that fortunately failed. In the course of his impeachment trial President Joseph Estrada was removed in an extra-constitutional “people power revolt” with the resignation of Cabinet members and the withdrawal of his support by the military and the national police. President Gloria Arroyo became the target of intended “people power” revolts, coup attempts, an aborted rebellion, and proposed “snap elections.”
To date the killers and torturers of the Marcos regime have not been brought to justice, and have been practically ignored by succeeding post-EDSA regimes. But at last Congress has passed a law to indemnify the victims of human rights violations under Marcos. Despite public outcry, various human rights are still violated with apparent impunity. Corruption and betrayal of public office are still rampant. Our indigenous peoples bear the brunt of non-inclusive development.
As we have observed, rebels, warlords and private armies exist in their own territories. The military and the police under civilian rule do not have the monopoly of the use of armed force expected in a democracy. The judiciary continues to be too slow in doing its work and is often unable to dispense justice especially to the poor. The trial of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre of 58 men and women, including journalists, by the ruling Ampatuan clan is now on its 4th year.
Lately, in Sabah, Malaysia more than 30 Filipino members of the Royal Army of the Sultan of Sulu were killed in encounters with Malaysian military and police who also suffered casualties. The crisis has yet to be resolved. Meanwhile, hundreds of Filipino residents in Sabah have evacuated to Sulu and Tawi Tawi, with more to follow, creating a socio-economic crisis.
On the other hand, elections have been generally free, fair, peaceful, and credible since 1987. Following his ouster as president in 2001, Joseph Estrada was charged with plunder and detained in his suburban rest house. After a seven-year trial he was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Only to be pardoned about a month afterward by President Gloria M. Arroyo. After 40 days of impeachment trial by the Senate, Chief Justice Renato Corona was removed from office after he was found guilty of betrayal of the public trust for failing to report and pay his true income. Former President Arroyo was charged with electoral sabotage and placed under hospital and then house arrest. In October 2012, after years of conflict the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front finally signed a framework base agreement for establishing a Bangsamoro political entity to replace the failed Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
But overall our democracy continues to be at risk.We should therefore take to heart the warning that we must deepen and strengthen democracy, or we risk its failure if widening poverty and unbearable social inequality should cause serious civil unrest that will trigger a military rebellion and another authoritarian rule.
“Emerging democracies must demonstrate that they can solve their governance problems and meet their citizens’ expectations for freedom, justice, a better life, and a fairer society. If democracies do not more effectively contain crime and corruption, generate economic growth, relieve economic inequality, and secure freedom and the rule of law, people will eventually lose faith and turn to authoritarian alternatives. Struggling democracies must be consolidated so that all levels of society become enduringly committed to democracy as the best form of government and to their country’s constitutional norms and constraints.” (Larry Diamond, “The Democratic Rollback: The Resurgence of the Predatory State.” Foreign Affairs, March-April 2008.)
The state of our democracy and its prospects (2)
The Bohol Chronicle
March 10, 2013
Last Sunday we dealt with our subject from various viewpoints: (1) our ongoing modernization as a nation; (2) democratization under American colonial rule; (3) authoritarian rule during the Japanese occupation; (3) re-democratization after independence in 1946; (4) authoritarian rule under the Marcos dictatorship; and (5) re-democratization after the EDSA Revolt and under the 1987 Constitution. We highlighted our constitutional vision of building “a just and humane society” and our ideals for democracy. We also elaborated our concept of “good governance.”
Our strengths as a people and an aspiring democracy. Despite our many problems and weaknesses as a developing nation and an aspiring democracy, that we shall highlight below, as a whole Filipinos are hopeful and resilient. Having suffered long under the Marcos dictatorship, we value our freedom and democracy. And we do hope to develop our country.
We have outstanding national and local political leaders among our more numerous politicians who tend to be self-seeking and corrupt. Our vibrant civil society organizations and our free and outspoken media interact with political leaders and government officials who respond to them as accountable public servants in a democracy. To bind us as a nation we can recall a shared history, our heroes of the past and the present, and our common challenges and struggle. Filipinos are supposedly “happy” compared to other nations. And “It’s more fun the Philippines.”
But we are still a weak nation. Despite more than a century of nation-building and democratization, our political leaders have failed to unite, empower, and inspire our diverse peoples as a nation. Too many of our leaders do not transcend their personal and family interests when called upon to lead, to enforce and obey the laws, to support change and reforms, and to sacrifice in order to promote our common good and national interest.
As a people, we tend to emphasize our rights and privileges and minimize our duties and responsibilities. Our “social capital” in terms of social and political trust in each other is low. The poverty, joblessness, and insecurity of many our citizens make them vulnerable and dependent on their political patrons who offer them patronage, financial assistance, and protection, in exchange for their votes, allegiance, and loyalty.
We sense our predicament when we observe the national unity, determination, sense of urgency, and progress of the Japanese, Chinese, South Koreans, Taiwanese, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Vietnamese, and the Thais.
Many Muslims resent their poverty, exclusion and underdevelopment, and the political and cultural dominance of the Christians; thus the perennial Moro struggle for political, economic, and cultural autonomy, and the Moro rebellions since the early 1970s. Indigenous Filipinos (the lumads) also feel discriminated and excluded in our national development. The Maoist Communist rebellion dates back to 1968, succeeding the earlier Soviet-oriented Communism that began in the 1930s.
In a nation of ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity, and social inequality, there are varying degrees of resentment towards a highly centralized and Manila-centric governance expressed in the pejorative term “Imperial Manila.” This fuels the legitimate demand for far greater regional and local autonomy and federalism.
Given the advantages of our having a global lingua franca and a national language, there is a reaction to the dominance of English and Filipino—the supposedly evolving national language which is largely Tagalog—in our language policy and official communication. Such centralized structures, and language policies and practices are prejudicial to the people in the outlying provinces, and especially the poor, whose languages are not used in official communication. The predominant use of English and legalese in court trials is at the expense of many people who do not understand the language. As a consequence, many Filipinos are being alienated from their own languages, cultures, and institutions.
We have a “Soft State.” The political reality in our oligarchic society is marked by the dominance of the rich and powerful, and by widespread poverty, landlessness, homelessness, insecurity, injustice, and a weakened “rule of law.” In Gunnar Myrdal’s Asian Drama, he describes “Soft States” as having the following characteristics that seem to apply to the Philippines to some degree (Asian Drama, 1969. pp.66, and 277).
(1)“Soft States are dominated by powerful interests that exploit the power of the State or government to serve their own interests rather than the interests of their citizens. (2) “Policies decided on are often not enforced, if they are enacted at all, and in that the authorities, even when framing policies are reluctant to place obligations on people. (3) “Governments require extraordinarily little of their citizens [and] even those obligations that do exist are enforced inadequately, if at all….. (4) “There is an unwillingness among the rulers to impose obligations on the governed and a corresponding unwillingness on their part to obey rules laid down by democratic procedures.
Who are the exploiters of our “SoftState?” I would include (1) “rent-seeking” oligarchs or rich and powerful politicians and their families who exploit the State to serve their selfish interests; (2) “warlords” who use violence to gain and protect their power and political position; (3) politicians who use force, fraud, or buy votes to win elections and stay in power; (4) “rent-seeking” businessmen; (5) “rent-seeking” public administrators; (5) gambling lords, drug lords, and smuggling lords; (6) tax evaders; (7) rebels who collect “revolutionary taxes”; (8) terrorists; (9) and even poor “informal settlers,” maybe for sheer survival as migrants in the big cities, and “squatter syndicates,” who occupy private or public land and use their votes to buy the protection of politicians.
Our weak nation and “SoftState” are clearly related to our leaders who use their power and authority more to serve their private and political interests, rather than to promote the common good. Entrenched in their power bases, they lack the spirit of nationalism and the sense of urgency and accountability to the citizens who are the constitutional source of the nation-state’s sovereignty. On the whole our political leaders have failed to lead us towards our vision, ideals and goals through “good governance” as defined earlier.
As Prof. Francisco Nemenzo sees it: “We need a State that is strong to implement fundamental reforms, to break elite resistance, and to withstand imperialist pressure.” (“Beyond the Classroom: UP’s Responsibility in Helping Rebuild a Damaged Nation,” U.P. Centennial Lecture, February 15, 2008.) I would say that without a strong, democratic State we cannot have “the rule of law” and “good governance” as we have defined it.
The Republic of the Philippines has some features of “a failing State.” A “failing State” is one in which: (1) the government does not have effective control of its territory; (2) it is not perceived as legitimate by a significant portion of its population (erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions); (3) it does not provide domestic security or basic services to its citizens (inability to provide reasonable public services); (4) it lacks a monopoly on the use of force [there are rebels and warlords who control their territories]; (5) it may experience active violence or simply be vulnerable to violence; (6) it has a high perception of corruption.” (“Failing States and Failed States,” Foreign Policy, January 7, 2006.)
The state of our democracy and its prospects (1)
by Jose Abueva
The Bohol Chronicle
March 3, 2013
This week I took part in a public forum at the Pimentel Center on Local Governance and Leadership, University of Makati, where we were asked to diagnose the present state of Philippine democracy and governance and how it might be in the near future, say the 2020s. Although our time was very limited I suggested that we discuss the subject in the context of our experience in: (1) nation-building and modernization; (2) democratization and re-democratization after experiencing authoritarian rule; and (3) development. In this way we would appreciate the complexity of improving our democracy and governance.
Modernization. In our prolonged transition from “a traditional society” to “a modern society” many among us find it difficult to shift from “personalism” (personal favors, palusot) vs. “universalism” (the impersonal “rule of law”); from “Filipino time” and lack of urgency, to valuing time as a limited and precious resource (“industrial time”); from “pwede na” to striving for excellence in what we do. We are slow in internalizing our faith and our laws and in learning from other countries. We are still a slow learning society in a fast changing world, and we are falling behind our more progressive neighbors.
Over a century of democratization, authoritarianism, and re-democratization. Under Spanish colonization our forebears learned to build the Filipino nation, free themselves from Spanish rule, and set up a de facto democratic republic; only to be re-colonized by America and to fight the Filipino-American War. From 1900 to 1946, we learned to build and operate our democratic institutions as an American colony. But we had to endure over three years of tyranny and destruction under the Japanese occupation before we regained our independence in July 1946. Our 1935 Constitution would remain in effect until 1972.
Authoritarian rule under Marcos. In September 1972 President Marcos declared martial law. He justified his self-serving act: (1) to save our Republic from the rebellions of the extreme left—the Communist rebellion and the MNLF rebellion—and the rebellion of the extreme right, “the oligarchs;” and (2) to build a “New Society”—“Ang Bagong Lipunan.” In fact Marcos destroyed our democratic institutions. He set up a corrupt and self-serving authoritarian regime, politicized the military and police as his partners in governance, worsened the rebellions, and set back our political, economic and social development. With his political enemies imprisoned or eliminated, Marcos and company remained as the oligarchs in charge.
Some ill effects of the Marcos dictatorship endure. The Marcos heirs and former allies have long returned to power. Most of our people quickly forgive and forget the transgressions of our leaders, confirming the conventional wisdom that we get the leaders and the government we deserve.
Our authoritative vision for the Philippines in our 1987 Constitution. Under this Constitution adopted under President Corazon Aquino, the Filipino people shall endeavor “to build a just and humane society” and “establish …a democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace…” (Preamble). Then in Section 1, Article II, our Constitution declares: “The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.” Many more constitutional provisions define our ideals, principles and design our major institutions in pursuance of our national vision.
What is the state of our nation and democracy 27 years since the EDSA “People Power” Revolt and 26 years under our 1987 Constitution? This has been a turbulent period of re-democratization and development. With a population of 97 million in the homeland, the Philippines has become the 12th most populous nation in the world, although some 12 million Filipinos have left the country as OFWs since the 1970s. At a high personal cost to their separated families, their remittances do make up a sizeable share of our GNP.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Aquino administration there is more transparency in governance. We are also achieving higher economic growth. But it is not inclusive; it does not create enough jobs for our many unemployed. The urban poor multiply as the rural, jobless poor flock to the cities and many live in the ghettos. Poverty and inequality remain high in the midst of visible wealth and affluent life-styles. This is a worrisome situation. High poverty and human insecurity make citizens dependent on their political patrons who in turn are tempted to misuse public funds and abuse their office to remain in power. Desperation of the poor and corruption of the powerful may lead to more criminality and venality. Governance suffers and costs more, resulting in inadequate public services.
What about our middle class? As we have observed, in the industrialized democratic countries the large numbers in the middle class are seen to be the bedrock of their democracy. They are educated, gainfully employed, well informed, and critical of poor governance. They participate in politics as members of political parties and business or civil society organizations.
In the Philippines our middle classes are not much larger than our lower income classes. While some middle class members are active in civil society, they do not join political parties that are regarded as loose, opportunistic, and unaccountable alliances of politicians without serious political platforms for governance and reform. Except for their votes our numerous poor citizens are not empowered to participate effectively in politics and governance.
“Good Governance.” This concept and ideal of Filipino democracy has emerged after over 13 years of authoritarian rule under President Ferdinand Marcos. Blending Filipino and international ideals, we understand “good governance” as manifesting these features:
(1) people’s participation in free and fair elections and in policy and decision-making made possible by an open and accessible government in a free society with vigilant, competent and responsible media; (2) responsiveness of the government to the needs and demands of the people who are informed, empowered and enabled to express their will to their political leaders and civil servants;
3) transparency and accountability of public servants in response to the citizens’ will and their right to know (“the truth” in governance) as the sovereign in a democracy; (4) honesty and fidelity of public servants and the certain punishment of those who are abusive and corrupt;
5) efficiency and a sense of urgency in the exercise of power and authority to make the best use of scarce resources, including time especially; (6) effectiveness in providing the needed public services, solving problems, and achieving goals, all for the common good;
(7) the protection and enhancement of human rights and the fulfillment of social justice; (8) achieving ecological integrity and sustainable development; and
(9) realizing “Pamathalaan,” the indigenous Filipino vision of governance: “dedicated to the enhancement of man’s true spiritual and material worth”…”through leadership by example, reasonable management, unity (pagkakaisa) between the governors and governed, and social harmony based on love (pagmamahalan) and compassion (pagdadamayan).(Pablo S. Trillana III. The Loves of Rizal, 2000. p. 179.)
Many Filipinos assume and therefore lament that as a people and nation we have no vision, common purpose or goals. It is true that our leaders rarely point out to the people our national vision, purpose, or goals embodied in the Constitution. And our students are not learning about the Constitution as they should. For these reasons, among others, we cannot fault many among our people for assuming that they do not exist at all.
Comments are welcomed at pepevabueva@gmail.com
Jose Rizal and Gregorio Sancianco
By Hernan Melencio
Today is another important day in Philippine history.
As a former expat myself, I can relate somewhat to the travails of Filipinos abroad during Rizal’s days in Europe. The only difference is that Filipinos then went abroad mostly to study while Filipinos now go away to work. When I went to Saudi Arabia in 1993, the “in” thing was the pager and it was alien in the Kingdom. We communicated to our loved ones at home through snail mail. The lines at the post office went all the way outside the building.
For emergencies, we fell in line in government-operated “call cabins” and the lines also spilled out to the streets. It was just a matter of time when some enterprising Saudis cashed in on the matter and soon private call cabins sprung up like mushrooms – or McDonald’s or SM.
Funny, Ambeth quoted Rizal as mentioning Gregorio Sancianco (after whom an old high school in Malabon was named). I studied in that school and all the while his name – I mean the guy, not the school – was never mentioned (or maybe I was absent or was listening too fast.) It’s only recently that I learned he was a colleague of Rizal in the propaganda movement. What a shame.
A love story in bloodiest February
Color it red not because it is hearts month. February is the bloodiest month in Philippine history.
Mamang and Papang had lived in Manila while raising their young brood of seven. Life had been good for the family until one day, they got separated. The family had to scamper to safety. Papang died while working for the United Press International. Mamang did not know the exact date in February 1945. All she remembered was a terrible dream had awoken her and that Papang was bidding her goodbye. I never saw my stoic grandmother cry, but I caught her off guard remembering Papang one February 14.
Mamang (Filipinas Lagasca) and Papang (Salvador Esguerra Sr.) in an undated photo
The month-long Battle of Manila had begun on 3 February and lasted until 3 March 1945. It was the bloodiest battle in the Asia-Pacific region among Filipino, American and Japanese forces. Incessant pounding of mortars, staccato of gun fire, endless falling bombs from the sky and hand-to-hand combats with bayonets and knives had killed a rough estimate of 100,000 Filipino civilians. The US military forces reported 1,010 American soldiers dead and 5,565 wounded; 6,665 bodies of Japanese soldiers were found in the Intramuros rubbles; more were found in other parts of Manila.
Dead bodies were found under the ruins, left strewn on the streets, floating in the Pasig River, left inside homes to be dumped in scurrying rush in unmarked grounds, or burnt beyond recognition under planks of wooden structures.
Manila as the scene of urban fighting was leveled to the ground. Its death toll and devastation was comparable to US bombing of Hiroshima, political analysts say: its ire and vengeance Japan took against the Philippines, the nearest US colony in the Pacific.
Mamang huddled her small children into a wooden cariton and pushed them with all her might to safety – out of Manila and trekked on foot toward Pangasinan, Papang’s province. Two of her older children, Donald and Estrella, died of hunger, thirst and exhaustion along the way. She buried them wrapped in a banig in a shallow grave she and my father Orlino, her third child, dug in a rice field in Balagtas.
Some 4,000 Filipinos were not as lucky. Back in Manila, they were hostaged inside Intramuros and Fort Santiago from February 23 to 28. Bodies of some 1,000 women and children were found under the Intramuros ruins after the US forces shelled bombs in an attempt to extricate the Japanese forces out and had them surrender. The Japanese preferred to die fighting rather than surrender.
Today, a historical commemoration known as Memorare Manila Monument at the Plaza de Santa Isabel, also known as the Plaza Sinampalukan, located at the corner of General Luna and Anda Streets in Intramuros, Manila reads:
Manila after the battle in February 1945
“This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or even never knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.”
“Let this monument be the gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation, February 3 – March 3, 1945. We have not forgotten them, nor shall we ever forget.”
“May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city: the Manila of our affections.”
Thank you, Mamang and Papang. My daughter and her boyfriend, and my son and his girlfriend, will be celebrating the hearts month in UP Diliman sunken garden on 14 February 2013. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)
Bakit buhay pa ang babaylan at laging babae ang aswang
Ni Gloria Esguerra Melencio
Nawala ang salitang babaylan sa pang-araw-araw na wika ng mga Waray sa Leyte at Samar. Ngunit nanatili ang salitang katuuran, nangangahulugang katotohanan ngayong ika-21 dantaon. Noong ika-17 dantaon, katuuran ang tawag sa pinakamataas na babaylan, ayon sa paring si Ignacio Alcina na nanirahan sa Samar nang matagal na panahon.
Guhit ni James Liwanagan
Naging magsingkahulugan ang mga salitang katuuran at babaylan. Banta sila sa pagtatanim ng Katolisismo sa Kabisayaan. Ang mga babaylan ang nagbabala sa mga taong “bubunutin” ng mga dayuhan ang ugat ng kanilang paniniwala sa mga diwata, anito at sa mga namatay na ninuno. Maaari ring paaalisin sila sa lupaing kinagisnan (na siyang ginawa ng mga dayuhan nang ipatupad ang reduccion, encomienda at hacienda).
Makapangyarihan at iginagalang ang mga babaylan dahil sila ang pinaniniwalaang tagapag-ugnay sa pisikal na daigdig at ispiritwal na mundong hindi nakikita ng dalawang mata. Sila ang nakapagsasabi kung ano ang mangyayari sa hinaharap.
Bukod sa pamumuno sa mga ritwal, pagdarasal at pagluluksa, nagiging tambalan (tagagamot) rin ang mga babaylan. Sa pamamagitan ng ritwal na tinatawag na agaw-tawag-bawi – na isinasagawa noong ika-16 na dantaon at isinasagawa pa rin hanggang ngayon – inaagaw ng babaylan ang kalag (kaluluwa) ng maysakit sa pamamagitan ng pagtawag sa mga ispiritu ng ninuno at pagbawi sa kaluluwa ng maysakit upang gumaling ito.
Sa tangan nilang kapangyarihan sa lipunang Waray, kailangang lipulin ng mga conquistador at frayle ang mga babaylan. Tinawag nila ang mga itong bruja katulad ng pagtawag nila sa mga witches sa mga babae sa Europa sa panahong ipinatutupad ng Espanya ang Inquisition. Marami silang ipinagbawal. Isa rito ang pagdarasal tuwing kabilugan ng buwan. Makapangyarihan ang buwan para sa mga sinaunang Bisaya. Sa katunayan, may 50 itong yugtong dinaraanan bago ang kabilugan nitong tinatawag sa wikang Waray na dayaw. Dito nagmumula ang Katolikong dasal na gindadayaw ka namon (sinasamba ka namin).
Kinukuha ng mga Bisaya ang pangalan ng mga babaylan sa 50 yugtong ito ng buwan bago magdayaw. Kung ipinagbawal ang pagdarasal sa kabilugan ng buwan, ipinagbawal rin ang 50 pangalang ito ng mga babaylan. Ipinagbawal rin ang pagtataas ng patay na katuuran sa malalaking puno, kabilang ang punong balite. Noong ika-16 na dantaon, may seremonyang isinasagawa ang mga babaylan sa paglilibing sa kanilang katuuran: Itinataas ito sa malaking puno (tinatawag na pagpasaka sa Waray, pagpapaakyat sa Tagalog) hanggang sa maagnas ang bangkay. Pagkatapos ng ilang buwan, ibababa ang kalansay, lilinisan at ibabaon sa tabi ng punong sinasambahan ng katuuran noong nabubuhay pa siya.
Sa pagpasok ng kalendaryong Gregoryanong nakabatay sa araw (solar), pinahina nito ang kapangyarihan ng buwan (lunar); pinahina rin ang imahe ng mga babaeng babaylang humuhugot ng lakas sa buwan.
Sa gitna ng mga pagbabawal ng mga frayle, palihim pa ring lumalabas ng bahay ang mga Bisaya sa gabi. Hindi umubra ang mga parusa sa kanila upang sugpuin ang mga paniniwala ng mga tao sa pamumuno ng mga babaylan. Dito na pumasok ang pananakot ng mga pari sa iba’t ibang anyo: may aswang raw sa puno ng balite. Sa isang dokumento sa Biblioteca de Madrid na nasusulat sa wikang Espanyol, isang diwata si Asuang at hindi ang kinatatakutang aswang sa kasalukuyang panahon.
Matindi ang labanan ng mga pari at babaylan noong ika-17 dantaon. Kailangang magtulong ang mga datu at babaylan upang maigupo ang mga armadong Espanyol. Nagtayo si Bangkaw ng sambahan sa kabundukan ng Carigara sa Leyte katuwang ang babaylang si Pagali. Ngunit kinanyon ito ng mga dayuhan, sinunog at pinugutan ng ulo sina Bangkaw at Pagali. Sa Samar naman, tinadtad ng mga Lutao sa utos ng mga Espanyol ang katawan ng ina ni Sumuroy. Anak si Sumuroy ng isang babaylan at namuno sa paglaban upang maitigil ang sapilitang pagpapagawa sa mga lalaking Bisaya ng mga barko sa daungan ng Cavite. Pinugutan ng ulo si Sumuroy.
Gayundin sa Capiz, may babaylang dumukot sa isang frayle. Dinala niya ang frayle sa kuweba, sinaksak ang dibdib at dinukot ang kanyang puso.
Habang isinasagawa ang tahasang paglipol sa mga babaylan sa pamamagitan ng dahas, patuloy naman ang mga pari sa pananakot sa mga tao sa kanilang mga pulpito sa nakapangingilabot na pagkain umano ng aswang sa atay (ito ang karaniwang kuwento sa mga Bisaya) ng sinumang maging biktima nito. Naging aswang ang larawan ng babaylan, mga babae sa karamihan, na lumilipad sa may punong balite tuwing kabilugan ng buwan.
Pinaghalawan:
Alcina, Ignacio Francisco S.J. Translated, edited and annotated by Cantius J. Kobak, O.F.M. and Lucio Gutierrez, O.P. History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands, Volume I. UST Publishing House, Manila, Philippines, 2002.
Ambrosio, Dante L. Balatik: Etnoastronomiya, Kalangitan sa Kabihasnang Pilipino. The University of the Philippines Press, Diliman, Quezon City, 2010.
Arens, Richard. The Tambalan and his Medical Practices in Leyte and Samar, Part VI. Folk Practices and Beliefs of Leyte and Samar. Leyte-Samar Studies. Divine Word University of Tacloban, Vol. V Nos. 1 and 2, 1971
Brewer, Carolyn. Shamanism, Catholicism and Gender Relations in Colonial Philippines, 1521-1685. Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2004.
Cruikshank, Bruce. Pilgrimage and Rebellion on Samar (1884-1886). Wisconsin Papers on Southeast Asia Center for Southeast Asian Studies. University of Wisconsin-Madison, September 1979.
Guerrero, Milagros C.The Babaylan in Colonial Times: Bodies Desecrated. In Gender/Bodies/Religions, Sylvia Marcos (Editor). Mexico: ALER Publication, 2000.
Salazar, Zeus. Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Lungsod Quezon: Palimbagan ng Lahi, 1999.
Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
The babaylan lives in her story
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
The Molo Church in Iloilo. Photo by Gloria Esguerra Melencio
The word had been hushed to silence and was erased in the everyday lingua franca of the Filipino, but the babaylan tradition – through war and peace – has persisted and its legacy passed on through time.
Babaylan is a Bisayan word that evolved from proto-Austronesian words in Southeast Asia such as belian, balian, balyan, baylan and bagdan. The Subanons call them balian, balean and balayan, women who lead the religious and death rituals in Mindanao. Its literal translation to English is ancient priestess or shaman.
The Cebuano word babay, recorded in 18th century Spanish-Bisayan dictionary, refers to a married woman. From up north up to down south, an elderly woman is respectfully called Bai followed by the woman’s Christian name: It is Ba-i in Ilocos and Bayi followed by the word Gurang to mean an elderly woman in Mindanao epics. The Leyte-Samar Waray word babayi means a woman; kababayin-an is its plural form.
While the word babaylan connotes a woman, there had also been male babaylans who were called asog in the Bisayan society during the 17th century. These male babaylans had to wear women’s clothing and pretend to be women so that the Diwatas may hear their prayers. Spanish friars described them as barren, incapable of procreating because they remain unmarried till old age, but the Bisayan society accepted them as they were, nevertheless.
The word had made a strong imprint in Dr. Jose Rizal that he had studied it as indicated in his letters to Ferdinand Blumentritt in the 19th century. In fact, he passed by the Molo Church in Iloilo on his way to his exile in Dapitan in 1896. He had known that this church has 16 female saints, standing tall on the left and right sides leading to its massive altar, a proof of strong babaylan tradition in the Bisayan region.
Spiritual leaders as they were, the babaylans had been the first to intuit and warn the Bisayans that the foreign colonizers will “uproot” them , will change their belief in the paganito, the ancient ritual worship of the ancestors, and their way of life.
Threat to the new Christian religion, the Spanish friars tried to win the babaylans with the Cross and exterminate them with the Sword. They made some of them, the maestras of datu’s children, to teach catechism; many of those who refused were chopped to pieces, thrown to the crocodiles, beheaded or burned at the stake like they did with the so-called witches in Europe during the Inquisition.
The Spanish colonizers failed to eradicate the babaylans. While the Bisayans never say the word babaylan out of fear, they continue the rituals just the same. They continued to recite repetitively gindadayaw ka namon (we praise you) despite the friars’ banning the early morning-till-noon praying and the healing tambals conducted during the cholera outbreak in the 19th century.
There arose a “political sect of women” the Spaniards called Babaylanes even after the time of Pagali, Bangkaw’s babaylan who erected their own native church in Carigara, Leyte but was pulverized with canons and burned to ashes.
Suspected Babaylanes had been imprisoned and thrown en masse with their families to Palawan, an island down south of Luzon that still bears the name Bangkaw-bangkaw as one of its localities to this day. These Babaylanes were women who were caught praying, clandestinely meeting in abaca farms, wearing white cloaks and distributing prayer booklets they called libro secreto to the consternation of the Spaniards who called them libro de peste.
The agaw-tawag-bawi, one of the healing rituals of the ancient babaylans, continues to this day in Luzon, Bisayas and Mindanao. William Henry Scott calls them “female shamans” in Bicol, who conduct religious ceremonies while wearing a small gold jewelry on the forehead, call the dead ancestors and spirits, chant and sing alternately.
The Babaylanes eventually transformed to Dios-Dios and the Pulahanes. This time they were bolo-wielding men who believed they will gain spiritual strength in the power of prayers and continued to dream of independence and self-reliance against foreign oppressors. What cannot be faced head-on due to lack of weapons is tackled with a slow and non-confrontational strategy that saves and delivers the people to a common goal just the same.
The babaylan tradition remains to be the thread that weaves us all into one cohesive personhood in times of need. This is the reason why Filipino women remain to be one of the strongest peoples in Southeast Asia.
Sources:
Alcina, Ignacio Francisco S.J. Translated, edited and annotated by Cantius J. Kobak, O.F.M. and Lucio Gutierrez, O.P. History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands, Volume I. UST Publishing House, Manila, Philippines, 2002.
Salazar, Zeus. Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Lungsod Quezon: Palimbagan ng Lahi, 1999.
Brewer, Carolyn. Shamanism, Catholicism and Gender Relations in Colonial Philippines, 1521-1685. Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2004.
Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
Cruikshank, Bruce. Pilgrimage and Rebellion on Samar (1884-1886). Wisconsin Papers on Southeast Asia Center for Southeast Asian Studies. University of Wisconsin-Madison, September 1979.
Arens, Richard. The Tambalan and his Medical Practices in Leyte and Samar, Part VI. Folk Practices and Beliefs of Leyte and Samar. Leyte-Samar Studies. Divine Word University of Tacloban, Vol. V Nos. 1 and 2, 1971
Deportados (1872-1897). Leyte SDS 14268.
Varias Provincias, Carolinas, 1864-1895, Spanish Document Sections (SDS) 494
Some highlights of 2012: A Boholano’s View
by Jose “Pepe” Abueva (The Bohol Chronicle)
(Website http://philippinehistory.ph reprints this blog with permission from the author.)
As a social scientist and political activist, I pick the following highlights of the year that just ended.
Defending our national territory. With all our serious social, economic, and political problems as a weak nation and a “soft state” with an unconsolidated democracy, we had to deal with the People’s Republic of China, the world’s second richest economy and a neighboring country that has been aggressively claiming ownership and intruding into parts of our national territory as defined by international law and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas. The ASEAN failed to unite in defense of its members whose territorial rights China is violating. We have to defend our national territory as a sovereign state with the help of the international community.
We lost Jesse Robredo. His death in the plane crash in Masbate revealed his greatness as a humble local and national leader—as Mayor of Naga and Secretary of Interior and Local government. Knowing Jesse more fully because of the revelations after his passing reminds us of Ramon Magsaysay who likewise perished in a plane crash, in 1957. Last November my book on RM was launched. It is entitled Ramon Magsaysay: “Servant Leader” With a Vision of Hope.”
Robredo was likewise “a servant leader.”
Super-typhoon “Pablo” brought massive death and devastation to Mindanao. Until then we had assumed that Mindanao was always spared from such natural disaster. But, of course, the year before we had Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. We have to learn much more how to cope with such killing and destructive typhoons. Global warming and climate change are all too real in their impact on us.
The 40th anniversary of martial law. In September we summoned our history and memories and forgetfulness of the Marcos dictatorship. Those who remembered recalled its wholesale abuse of human rights, the wanton killings and enforced disappearances, the unprecedented plunder of Marcos and his cronies, the spread of the communist rebellion nationwide, the Moro rebellion, the politicization of the military, the huge economic setback, and the demoralization of the nation. We ponder how it is that so many of our youth did not learn about these. And how many have long forgotten and forgiven the Marcoses and their accomplices who want Marcos to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The immediate heirs of Marcos have long regained power and one of them aims to become president. These are continuing signs of our political backwardness and weak nationhood, our being a pre-modern nation-state.
The impeachment and removal of Chief Justice Renato Corona. Initiatedby President P-Noy himself, the House voted to impeach the Chief Justice and the Senate removed him from office after four months of a riveting public trial. He was found him guilty of betrayal of the public trust by concealing his true assets and net worth. This was the first ever removal of a Chief Justice by impeachment. The President replaced Corona with the youngest associate justice, Maria Lourdes Sereno, breaking the seniority tradition in the Supreme Court.
The Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro. The FAB signed October 15 brought the
highest leaders of the MILF to Malacanang to celebrate a breakthrough in the peace talks. Hopes are high that a just and enduring end to the prolonged conflict is within reach. It is expected that a new Bangsamoro will replace the ARRM by 2016. Bangsamoro promises to achieve genuine regional and local autonomy for the Moros and lumads that can be the model for extending the new structure nationwide through a constitutional amendment. If achieved it will promise a Federal Republic of the Philippines in the foreseeable furure.
The Communist Party and NPA are defiant. Ahead of its 44th year anniversary on December 26, CPP Central Committee called on its New People’s Army to “Seize the initiative in all forms of struggle and intensify the offensive against the enemy”, the unchanged situation in the country is perfect breeding ground for the growth of the NPA, even as the government claims success in its ‘Oplan Bayanihan’ lowering down their number to only 5,000. The CPP absolutely controls and leads the NPA.”
The RH Bill becomes R.A. 10354. The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 took some 14 years to enact because it was very controversial and the nation was divided over it. The Catholic Church used the pulpit to campaign against the bill and threatened politicians who favored it. But the Philippines has one of Asia’s highest birth rates, with the United Nations estimating that half of the country’s 3.4 million pregnancies each year are unplanned. The government’s Commission on Women says that maternal mortality also remains high, with 162 deaths for every 100,000 live births, while 10 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. The landmark law will make sex education and contraceptives more widely available to the poor.
Rappler’s editor at large, Marites Vitug, says “the victory of the Reproductive Health bill signals the decline of Church influence on national affairs. “This is the beginning of the decline of the Catholic Church’s influence on affairs of the Philippine state. The victory of the reproductive health bill will stand as a landmark in the history of church-state relations. It demystified the Catholic Church and its supposed iron grip on our country’s politicians.
“The bishops flagrantly intruded on the shaping of the RH policy. They harangued us from the pulpit, read fire-and-brimstone pastoral statements claiming religious dogma and using faith to fuel opposition. Yet the public did not listen. The surveys showed majority favored the RH bill. How could congressmen and senators ignore the voice of the people? In this one shining moment, they looked out for the larger good and passed the RH bill. Surely, the Catholic Church can continue its mission for social justice, to be a church of the poor. But it should learn from this experience and not overreach. In future policy debates, the bishops will no longer enjoy a favored status. They will be like any other advocate, claiming our leaders’ attention.”
P-Noy high trust and approval. With the removal of Chief Justice Corona, the passage of the RH Law, the improvement of the economy, the approval of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro, President Aquino III has kept his high popular standing. Investments poured in, the roads and bridges and services went up, and the poor hoped for uplift. By using Filipino in his SONAs and other speeches he is reaching out to more citizens who also approve of his drive against corruption and abuse of power. But the people’s continuing poverty, unemployment, and hardships dented the President’s trust and approval rating as the year ended.
The Centrist Democratic Party is born: Partido ng Tunay na Demokrasya. Unlike most Filipino political parties that are personal factions of our oligarchy of family dynasties organized mainly to win elections, CDP recruits members all over the Philippines. Its members
pay annual dues, abide by the party’s rules, elect leaders, and select candidates for public office. All members are committed to the party’s core principles and program of governance and reform. CDP is committed to change our political system: to a parliamentary government and a federal republic.
On September 12, 2012 the Commission on Elections approved our CDP as a duly accredited and registered national political party. On September 29, we held our second National Congress where we elected Lito Monico Lorenzana as CDP Chairman, and Representative Rufus Rodriguez (2nd district of Cagayan de Oro) as our CDP President.
Manny Pacquiao lost but Donaire won. To our great disappointment our national boxing hero was knocked down by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. We were however consoled by Donaire’s victory….
Pumanaw na sila. Gone separately from the hundreds who perished in the wake of our super typhoons were some notables: Dolphy the Great Comedian, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Celso Ad. Castillo, and Annabelle Abaya.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The Archbishop of Manila was named a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. It is speculated that in the Archbishop we have our best hope for a Filipino to become the Pope’s successor. “And as one of the Pope’s favorites, he has one foot in the door.”