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the year that was 2006

SPECIAL FEATURE

12/30/2006

It was a year of both conquests and losses for the country. While occasions

like the continuing political squabbles, the aftermath of natural disasters,

the evacuations amid interstate wars and other daunting domestic issues have done its share to dampen the nation’s outlook, world class achievements from Filipino figures have helped prove that people can continue to attain greatness despite hindrances.

As the end of the year also ushers in the beginning of a new year, here is a retrospect of the significant events that have happened in 2006.

February 24 coup attempt and declaration of state of emergency

At around the same time the country observed days leading to the anniversary of the first People Power Movement in 1986, the morning of Feb. 24, 2006 saw the country being placed under a state of emergency through Presidential Proclamation No. 1017.

A move was made by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo because of a “clear and present danger to our republic” posed by an alleged coup attempt plotted by 14 military officers on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The coup, according to the Arroyo camp, was part of a plot called Oplan Hackle which aims to overthrow the Arroyo administration.

By midnight of the 24th vehicles entered Fort Bonifacio at Taguig City. At around 2:00 a.m. vehicles were seen entering Camp Aguinaldo and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim of the Scout Rangers was put under the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). A few hours later large demonstrations were being held at Edsa Shrine.

The Proclamation effectively cancelled all rally permits everywhere, and according to interpretations by the Arroyo administration, legalized arrests without a warrant. U.P. protesters led by Professor Randy David were violently dispersed, the Department of Justice sued for rebellion former Sen. Gregorio Honasan. Anak-pawis Rep. Crispin Beltran was taken for questioning, and attempts to arrest Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Satur Ocampo were also made.

A day after the President’s proclamation, the Daily Tribune was raided by the PNP-CIDG. On February 27, 2006, PNP–CIDG filed cases against 51 suspected communists, including five party-list representatives—Satur Ocampo y Cunanan, Crispin Beltran, Teodoro Casiño, Joel Virador, and Liza Maza—later on referred to as Batasan 5.

Prior to placing the country under a “state of emergency” Mrs. Arroyo won critics by issuing Executive Order No. 464, which prevented government officials under the Executive branch from attending congressional hearings, and the Calibrated Preemptive Response, where street protests were disallowed without securing a rally permit.

It was not until more than a week after on March 3 that the state of emergency was lifted.

Peso at a four-year high

When the peso closed at 49.28 to the dollar it was at its strongest value in four-and-a-half years. According to reports posted in news wire AFP this high was due to the bearish sentiment toward the Thai baht following the imposition of capital controls.

Strong remittances from overseas workers brought by the holiday seasons are also being pegged as part of the factors responsible for the peso high.

With the peso continuing to strengthen against the US dollar, and the stock market on an upswing many, particularly President Arroyo, have expressed confidence that the government will attain its economic growth target for this year.

The second quarter report for 2006 by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said that the country’s economic growth target would range from 5.3 to 5.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), compared with the first quarter growth of 5.1 percent. The Gross National Product (GNP), which incidentally also includes income from overseas including remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), rose 6.6 percent from the year ago level.

A recent survey by the Social Weather Station (SWS) published in Dec. 19 however, conjures up a picture different from the expected result of positive indicators of a few ingredients of an economic upsurge.

According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report posted on Dec. 20, 2006 more Filipino families are going hungry. The SWS reports that the proportion of those experiencing “involuntary hunger” reached a new record-high of 19 percent in November. This translates to an estimated 3.3 million households in the country that went hungry at least once in the past three months. The PCIJ quoted Mar Mangahas, SWS chairman, as having observed “the emptiness of gross national product (GNP) as an indicator of economic well-being,”

Adding in his analysis was that “A great challenge to meaningful economic research is to determine why hunger actually worsened tremendously despite GNP growth of recent years,”

A Year of Natural Disasters

Natural disasters have made their presence felt in the country this year. In Feb. 17 the landslide that hit the village of Guinsaugon, Leyte left a sea of mud in what formerly served as a lush farming area. The calamity, according to the National and Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council upon the end of the 11-day search and rescue operations, left 139 dead, 973 people missing and presumed dead, and 580 survivors. About 3,272 people from Guinsaugon were evacuated among the five registered evacuation centers in St. Bernard Municipality.

About 3,850 families (18,862 people) have been affected by the preemptive evacuations in three other municipalities of Southern Keyte - Sogod, Liluan and San Francisco.

The country’s well-known Mayon Volcano, which has not spewed any sign of a possible eruption since 2001 made its presence known this year. Mayon began abnormal activities as early as February and began to emit lava flows on July 15. By Aug. 8, tens of thousand, approximately 34,276 people, were relocated from their homes faced with the prospect of an eruption. On Nov. 30, 2006 months after speculations of a violent eruption died down typhoon Durian created mudslides of volcanic ash and boulders rolled off Mayon Volcano which killed hundreds of residents and covered a large portion of the village of Padang in mud as high as house roofs.

Typhoons, a staple in the Philippine weather forecasts, also did its share of battering the country’s calamity door. More than 13 typhoons hit the country this year and Milenyo (internationally known as Xangsane) was the strongest typhoon to hit Metro Manila in 11 years practically putting a stop to everything in the metro. Leaving at least 18 dead, a Luzon-wide blackout, billboards and lampposts overturned, millions worth of properties were destroyed and thousands of travelers stranded at its wake.

Subic Rape Case

After a year of a much publicized trial of rape victim ‘Nicole’ the Makati City Regional Trial Court under Judge Benjamin Pozon ruled that Daniel Smith of the United States Marine Corps was guilty of rape and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Marines Chad Carpentier, Dominic Duplantis, and Keith Silkwood, however, were acquitted.

The victim, Suzette Nicolas, alleged that just before midnight of Nov. 1, 2005, Lance Cpl. Smith raped her inside a moving Starex van at Alava Pier in Subic. Nicole also said that Smith’s companions Silkwood, Duplantis and Carpentier were inside the van cheering Smith on as the incident happened.

The American servicemen denied the charges. Smith countered the charges saying what occurred between him and Nicole was consensual sex.

Early on when the Department of Justice took over the case, the Subic rape case took an even more important political significance as the issue over custody of the U.S. soldiers surfaced. Under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a 1999 agreement between the Philippines and the United States based the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries. Among the items detailed in the VFA is the treatment of personnel from one signatory who are accused of having committed crimes while visiting the territory of the other signatory.

Partly as a result of the controversy growing out of this case, the Philippine government has considered terminating the VFA. The Makati court refused to hand over Smith to the U.S. Embassy after the latter demanded his transfer when he was convicted. Brought before the Court of Appeals, the petition to have Smith transferred was merely noted.

As a result of the falling out over the dispute in the VFA provisions the U.S. cancelled the Balikatan Exercises, a joint-military exercise between the Philippines and the U.S., scheduled on February next year.

The Same Old Constitutional Dance

The media-heavy campaign of both proponents and opponents of another attempt to change our Constitution, particularly moving from a presidential form of government to a parliamentary one, is an indication of how this issue has played out in the public arena.

The People’s Initiative (PI) is a means of amending our Charter through procuring at least five million or 12 percent of the total voting population with three percent in every congressional district. Signatures gathered will then be submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for verification. Anomalies in the procurement of signatures have put this amendment process in public question early on. Similar to the 1996 People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization, and Action (Pirma) which was rejected by the Supreme Court (SC) because of the constitutional provision calling for it had no implementing rules and regulations.

The Comelec also dismissed petitions for constitutional amendments via the PI in the absence of an enabling law supporting such an exercise.

Another attempt was made by the pro-administration members of the House of Representatives when it passed House Resolution 1450 that would serve to convene itself as a Constituent Assembly, but strong opposition from the rivals in the House of Representatives and various concerned sectors have along with threats of street demonstrations killed the rash attempt to push through with the change. The Lower House’s attempt also led to the cancellation of the scheduled Association of South East Nations (Asean) Summit in Mactan, Cebu.