Elpidio de la Victoria, Earth Day martyr

Things were beginning to grind to a halt on Wednesday of Holy Week when the murderer struck. He chose the time when media coverage would be minimal, government offices would be closed and most people would be in their homes and in church or away somewhere.

In fact, news about the murder didn’t come out in the national print media until four days later on Easter Sunday. The Cebu media gave it major treatment though. The Inquirer had a brief account on page 20, part of which read:

``One of the city’s leading crusaders against illegal fishing died Thursday, a day after he was shot four times by an unidentified assailant while he was about to enter his house in Barangay Dauis, Talisay City.

``Elpidio de la Victoria, 46, program director of Cebu City’s Bantay Dagat Commission and the city’s market administrator, was shot in the back and arm and twice in the buttocks at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. He died at the Chong Chua Hospital at 8:50 a.m. the next day.’’

Four shots in all. The killer wanted to be sure his prey died right there and then. (A suspect, a policeman, has been tagged.)



De la Victoria was also an officer of the Philippine National Association of Fish Wardens and an active member of the Visayan Sea Squadron.

I didn’t know de la Victoria (Jojo to his friends) personally but I know the advocacy he was involved in which could be a reason why he was marked for elimination.

A few weeks before he was murdered I did write about the threatened Visayan Sea (3/23/06) that de la Victoria and his colleagues have been trying to defend. Once so rich with seemingly limitless abundance of marine life, the Visayan Sea was described as the Alaska of the Philippines. Alas, massive, unregulated and destructive fishing has since degraded the ecological richness and diversity of this area. Some species of fish are supposedly facing extinction.

What de la Victoria and his fellow guardians of the sea were trying to do was simply to get the government to implement the laws (and there are a good many). But because the government has not been up to it, NGOs, and local officials, mainly from Iloilo, Negros and Cebu, wrote a petition asking higher authorities to give the Visayan Sea time to rest and recuperate. These advocates pledged to participate and cooperate with one another in self-assessment for environmental compliance audit, total eradication of illegal and destructive fishing, as well as identifying main areas of interest. They also asked that a Philippine Navy gunboat be permanently assigned in the Visayan Marine Triangle (at the apex of which lies the Visayan Sea).

Well, this is one sure way of making fierce and murderous enemies. They kill the sea, why can’t they kill you?

There is another angle to this murder. De la Victoria’s death could have been related to his job as market administrator. Whatever be the motive, the killing of de la Victoria was certainly a blow to the Visayan Sea campaign.

One week before de la Victoria was killed, he wrote a piece titled ``Speak Out: Protecting small fisherfolk’’ that came out in Cebu’s Sun-Star. He must have angered the giants. Here are excerpts:

``Most, if not all, giant fishing outfits do not limit their operations to the open sea, (they) also fish near the shores and compete with marginal fishermen.

``Since commercial fishing ventures destroy near-shore fishing grounds, local government units should do something about it and take steps to protect small fishermen who could be deprived of their means of livelihood.

``The fisheries code or Republic Act 8550 aims to reduce the over-exploitation of municipal waters by providing alternative livelihood resources and beefing up environment friendly aquaculture activities that would encourage a shift from fish hunting to fish husbandry.’’

De la Victoria argued that the ``the rights of fisherfolk will also be protected because they are given `preferential use’ of the municipal waters’’ that is not enjoyed by commercial fishers.

He noted however that many fisherfolk think that RA 8550 is not working to their advantage because while the commercial fishers are given access to the richer fishing grounds (10 to 15 kms. from the shoreline), the small ones could not go farther out. Worse, the commercial fishers destroy the fishing areas not meant for them (1 to 7 kms. form the shoreline).

According to de la Victoria, the Fisheries Law of 1998 has allowed the entry of fishing vessels weighing 3.1 tons to 150 tons into municipal waters. However, he said, the local government, through the chief executive, and acting pursuant to an appropriate ordinance, may authorize or permit small and medium fishing vessels to operate within 10.1 to 15 kms. from the shoreline provided that no commercial fishing is allowed in municipal waters with a depth of less than 7 fathoms.

In this set up, de la Victoria said, small fishermen should organize themselves into cooperatives to be able to engage in deep sea or offshore fishing which is ideal and environmentally sound.

One shouldn’t get killed for saying these. De la Vega’s life and death fit right into Earth Day meditations.

****

Earth lovers are invited to celebrate Earth Day (Saturday, April 22) beginning with a 6:30 a.m. Mass on Smokey Mountain which is a garbage dump no more. In its place has risen a new community. Main celebrant is Manila archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. Mother Earth mover Odette Alcantara promises a meaningful liturgy and related activities. To go there, take Roxas Blvd., go toward del Pan Bridge, then go further on.

Psalm 69 for our times

For this Holy Thursday, here is a variation on the theme of Psalm 69 that I had written for Holy Week in 1992. With a few changes here and there, it still applies 14 years later.

Save me, O God, for their diarrhea of words has come up to my chin. I am drowning in their slimy saliva and I slip everywhere I step. Into this depths I have been pushed and I am engulfed by the torrent of true lies and half-truths. I am weary from pleading that they shut up for a while and give my ears a rest. My throat is hoarse and dry.

More than the hair in their armpits and pubis are the dirt they have spread about one another. Oh, how they hate those who attack them. How they fight over the people’s loyalty. They strut about like angels and yet people know they have stolen, they have lied, they have killed, they have fornicated.

O God, you know I am not faultless but also know that I do not covet a government position.

Do not allow me to become too cynical and do not allow me to be dazzled either. Oh Lord, help me keep my conscience and my actions pure, equip me with the power to smell the rotten a kilometer away.



Some of them now sound like strangers to me. I recognize some of them only by their looks. How they have been transformed by this political frenzy, how they have been changed by their desire ``for the truth'' when it is actually their desire for power that makes them froth in the mouth. They think their mouths drip with sweetness, but I can only smell the malodorous emission of a septic tank.

When we screamed for relief from the pollution and the traffic jam of their accusations, alibis and cover-ups, they pretended not to hear. When we accused them of neglecting their jobs, they threw back the ball and said yes they are, and that we have to do our part.

They rouse us from sleep with their antics, they wreck our schedules to make announcements and declare that danger stalks the land. Even those who call themselves holy are partaking in these exercises to take sides, to make their power felt, to convince themselves that they still matter.

During election season, oh how they try to look like the working man, how they try to eat like the peasant. They wear faded clothes and lousy T-shirts hoping to look like the poor when in fact they only want to use the poor as footstools. Liars, Lord, they are nothing but a bunch of liars. They do cartwheels to get our attention and, oh, how they love to look into the TV cameras and preen at anything that moves.

God of the weak and weakened, I pray for strength to resist their packaged lies. Give me the spontaneity to shut my eyes and ears every once in a while. Give me the quickness in deleting their lies in texted messages and junk email. Give me the daring to spit on their eyes and throw urine on their scalps even if it’s only in my mind.

Rescue me from the new faces. Rescue me from the newcomers who flaunt their facility with language. Rescue me from those who think serving means stealing a little for themselves to make up for what they have spent to get to where they are. Rescue me from those who think everybody steals, cheats and lies except them. Rescue me too from those who really stole, cheated and lied. You know who they are, you know who helped them.

Make them blind so they will not see themselves on TV, let their loins be stricken with palsy. Pour out your fury upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. Make their camp desolate and let no one dwell in their tents.

I myself am wounded and weak. Let your mercy envelop me so that I may be protected from the wolves in signature clothing.

I will praise your name, O God, with songs and poems and prose. I will glorify your goodness with my honest vote and decisions. This will please you, O Yahweh Sabbaoth, more than the hundreds of charity projects that bear their names.

For you, Lord, hear the confused and the needy and the faint of heart.

Let the heavens be glad, the earth bloom, the seas dance. All the living creatures praise you. For you will save us, you will rebuild our cities and villages. You will provide jobs and just wages to the unemployed. You will give the landless a piece of this planet and the wretched of the earth a share of the earth's bounty.

You will help your people survive all this insanity. The just and honest will triumph and those who hearken to your word and obey your laws will inherit the land.
****
Sr. Esperanza Quirino of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, known from north to south as Sr. Parang, was laid to rest last Tuesday. She was 79. She was the older sister of the famous late TV host and entertainment writer JQ, by the way, and, oh, what disparate worlds they moved in. Beloved by so many, this peripatetic ``bag lady’’ (as Bishop Chito Tagle fondly called her) indeed died with her sandals on. I had thought she might go in that manner, pupulutin na lang sa lupa ng kung sino (picked up from the ground by strangers) and I did worry about what people might find in her tattered bag.

Well, Sr. Parang did suddenly slump to the ground while walking home alone last Friday. Her beloved earth caught her and gave her a loving embrace. It was right and fitting for she was into environmental work, justice for the poor and 101 other concerns. The poor she loved and worked with in Cavite found her and carried her in their arms. They ministered to her until, several hours later, she breathed her last and rendezvoused with her Shepherd God.

From aviation to nursing

The previous column piece ``Mayday! Mayday! for the aviation industry’’ tried to bring to the fore the brain drain problem in the aviation industry which is becoming more acute because of foreign recruiters’ poaching expedition in the country. It is so easy for the foreign poachers to entice our highly trained aviation experts with high pay because the foreign aviation industry did not have to invest in long and expensive training.

That is what the locals are complaining about. It takes 10 years and more than P10 million in training investment to produce an airline captain. Aviation engineers aren’t simply plucked out of an aviation school, their skills are honed over the years. Now they are being snapped up faster than the local industry could produce their replacement.

I had spoken with very worried industry players who wanted to see some kind of moratorium on recruitment. But who can legislate against a person’s right to seek higher pay? Doctors-turned-nurses as well as educators might soon become a vanishing breed as they go away in droves. And now aviation experts who are sorely needed locally are flying away to seek bluer skies. Some are even shifting to nursing.

Here are some letters from those who know first-hand what’s ailing the aviation industry. They give us another view of what’s on the ground and in the sky.


From Luchi Lopez: ``PAL pilots, including cabin crew are not happy with their jobs that is why they are leaving. It is as simple as that. Since Lucio Tan took over, the pilots have been demoralized, degraded, most especially after losing their union, and treated like jeepney drivers. Mind you, that is exactly what Mr. Tan said some time ago, `Bakit laki sueldo driver lang naman’ (Why big pay when they’re just drivers).

(Jeez, he said that?)

``Domestic cabin crew are transferring not only because of the big pay difference but also because PAL now retires even the newly hired who turn 35 years old (just when you are starting your life). As of now, around 120 cabin crew in PAL’s international and domestic flights are taking up nursing on their free time just so they can have a better future…

``It’s getting harder to recruit cabin crew (for the country’s airlines) because other airlines can pay as much as $3,000 a month as compared to PAL’s basic salary of P10,000 in domestic flights.’’

From Victor Edgar M Carrillo III, president and CEO of Asian Aeronautics Services, an aircraft maintenance and repair facility and service provider based in Manila and Clark in Pampanga: ``We are not spared from this brain drain…We spent so much time, money and effort to train our mechanics and technicians only to suffer their loss to overseas work. Should this exodus continue unabated, I can only paint a bleak picture of our aviation industry in the next few years. The industry is virtually going into a nosedive and may soon crash if not given support by our government.

``While your article focused more on our local airlines and service providers, we who compose the general aviation sector of the aviation industry share the same sentiments…General Aviation (GenAv) is largely concentrated at the Manila Domestic Airport and international airports in the country. GenAv includes corporate aircraft owners and operators, air taxi and charter companies, aircraft dealers and distributors, maintenance and repair facilities, aeronautical and flying schools, avionics shops, freight forwarding companies who own and operate cargo aircraft and small air cargo operators who daily fly farm-to-market produce.

``All of the above players in GenAv are in so many ways vital contributors to the economic growth of our country. We are a nation of 7,100 islands and our mission is to provide fast and safe transportation of people, tourists and cargo…And we who are directly involved in aircraft maintenance and repair have to ensure and keep our planes flying safely at all times.

``Just imagine the time when none of our highly skilled airmen are nowhere available. The economy would further suffer and decline drastically. We were numero uno in Asia and the Pacific way back in the 70s and 80…Many foreign airlines sent their pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers to train in the Philippines…’’

But the letter from Eunice Lacson paints a different picture of the ``flight’’ of aviation personnel to distance skies. ``I am a graduate of PATTS College of Aeronautics and have been working for nearly four years. My fiance, who also graduated from PATTS, finished BS in Avionics Technology. Thank goodness he was off recently to Singapore to work as aircraft technician/technical planner for Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. Sad to say, a lot from my batch have no work yet until this time. I could feel their frustration and agony. The airlines here won’t hire them because they lack experience, they’re new graduates, etc.

``Every year, hundreds—from airline mechanics engineers to airline personnel—graduate from PATTS. They are very eager to get a job in our domestic airlines but they are rejected again and again. I know that because my fiance and I had once been through that. I know someone who finished an engineering course in my school and who had a hard time landing a job so he just took up another course. And you can guess—it’s nursing. He told me that he might get lucky this time.

(Flying nurses, anyone?)

``So airline executives here really can’t blame these individuals if their talents are leaving…There’s a new trend now. International airlines are very willing to train people because this would be a good investment for them. I am writing so that the airline executives may know…’’
Again, Mayday!Mayday!

Mayday! Mayday! for the aviation industry

The local aviation industry could crash if the exodus of aviation experts does not slow down. The industry is composed of two sectors: the airlines and the service providers.

``Poaching at the highest level’’ was how a Filipino airline executive called the aggressive recruitment by foreign airlines. These ``poachers’’ have been reportedly coming to make choice pickings from the Philippines’ pool of highly trained experts. They could offer higher pay because they had not spent money and time to train their own.

More than 100 hundred Filipino pilots to go. This was what the Indian air industry was reportedly in search of during its recent recruitment foray in the Philippines. That’s too many considering that the Philippines’ has about only 700 commercial pilots to go around.

Singapore reportedly has an active order for 50 pilots pending at the Philippine Overseas and Employment Association.

From 2004 to 2005, more than 200 aircraft mechanics and aviation support staff have left the country according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) figures. Philippine Airlines (PAL) has lost 75 pilots in the last three years to different airlines in the Middle East and Asia.



``We could lose more and we are feeling the pinch,’’ said PAL vice president for human resources Cesar Lamberte. ``India will be needing 3,500 pilots in the next four to five years.’’ The projected number is about 10,000 pilots for China in the next 20 years.

The good news is that Filipino airplane pilots, mechanics, engineers, technicians, airline crew, etc. are so good that they are in such great demand abroad. The bad news is that they are being snapped up by foreign recruiters faster than the local aviation industry could produce trained ones and replenish their pool.

The foreign air industries’ gain is certainly the Philippine’s loss. The dollar remittances that are supposed to result from this phenomenon would not be enough to repair the damage to the Philippine industry that serves both local and foreign airline needs.

Key players in the aviation industry have written Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas to stress that ``(i)f the current exodus of these highly skilled mission critical staff continues, the impact on the operations of the local aviation industry as well as the subsequent loss of the sector’s contribution to the national economy would be severe and irreparable.’’

``It takes about P14 million to produce a full-fledged pilot,’’ Lamberte told the Inquirer. PAL has 419 pilots and runs an aviation training school.

Lamberte explained why foreign airlines could offer Filipino recruits higher pay. ``First, they don’t have to spend for training. Second, they don’t have to wait seven to 10 years to produce a pilot. You need so many flying hours to become a captain or co-captain.’’

In other words, the making of an airline captain cannot be fast-tracked. Flying is a highly regulated profession. A pilot should fly only up to 1,000 hours a year.

Lufthansa Technik Philippines consultant Enzo Ziga said that aircraft mechanics would also be in demand. It takes five to six years and P3 million to train an aircraft mechanic A.``There are about 1,700 aircraft mechanics in the industry and this number is not enough,’’ Ziga added.

The Philippine State College of Aeronautics, supposedly the country’s training ground for aviation needs upgrading. It is the private aviation industry that has so far been carrying the costly burden of training.

According to air industry statistics, the industry provides employment for about 27,000 Filipinos. It serves 31 international and 21 domestic destinations and another 200 routes for non-scheduled carriers. It flies 22,500 passengers and around 500 tons of cargo everyday.

Among the key players that have made the Philippines the regional hub for maintenance and repair are Lufthansa Technik Phils., Aviation Plus and Miascor. At least 15,000 are employed in this sector.

With global passenger traffic increasing at five percent yearly until 2023, the projected number of new aircraft would be 16,601 worldwide.

Singapore is in need of 767 airline mechanics and 50 junior mechanics. Saudi Arabia needs 73. These are active job orders with the POEA. Also being hired are painters, planners, ticketers and airport representatives. Cabin crew hiring is also increasing. A Middle East airline is said to be hiring 1,000 per year and the target is 12,000 by 2012.

Here at home, the air transport industry will be requiring more planes for the local carriers in the next five years.

Although there is a glut in pilots in the US, Lamberte said the airlines of the Middle East are not likely to look in that direction. Filipinos are a top choice. When proficiency in English becomes an enforced prerequisite in 2008, there will be an increased demand for Filipinos.

So what does the industry propose? That the government ``consider a ban on the overseas deployment of the said occupations and skills in pursuit of the national interest for a period of three to five years, effective immediately.’’

The ban will give the domestic aviation industry ``a breathing space that should allow current interventions…such as aggressive manpower training programs to provide a buffer when the time to lift the deployment ban comes.’’

At present, the industry players said, ``the exodus far outpaces whatever efforts are taken by the industry both in training replacements since there is a long lead time involved.’’

Last January, Rep. Roseller Barinaga filed a resolution asking both the executive and legislative departments to support the proposed temporary ban.

Mayday! Mayday!

Rest for the Visayan Sea

While politicians are talking about restiveness, restlessness and unrest in the political front, those concerned about the environment are talking rest.

A group that calls itself the Visayan Sea Squadron is asking the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to give the Visayan Sea a rest, declare a closed season and determine areas available only for certain types of fishing.

Mayors have also petitioned the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to declare the entire area closed to commercial fishing vessels (three tons and above). These local officials also asked the DENR to work for the declaration of the Visayan Sea as a Unesco World Heritage Site for marine biodiveristy.

According to the Visayan Sea Squadron, an outreach program of the Law of Nature Foundation, the Visayan Sea has an area of about one million hectares. It is ``at the apex of the fabled Visayan Marine Triangle which lies at the very heart of the Sulu-Sulawesi Eco-region.’’

The way this triangle is being described makes one imagine a fantastic water wonderland that exists only in tales of yore. But no, this region is still alive, even if now threatened by depletion and destruction.

The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Triangle, which covers a wide swath from the Philippines to Indonesia, is supposed to be the richest marine eco-region in the world and is home to the largest variety of marine life—fishes, coral, sea grasses, etc., in the whole world.



In the bosom of the Sulu-Sulawesi Triangle is the Visayan Marine Triangle found in Central Philippines. It is ``the center of the center, the beating heart of marine biodiversity on Earth. At the apex (of this Visayan triangle) is the Visayan Sea, once so rich and seemingly limitless in marine life abundance it was described as the Alaska of the Philippines. If carefully managed, the Visayan Sea alone can feed the entire Filipino people the whole year round.’’

There are 12 eco-regions within this Sulu-Sulawesi area. Two are in Indonesia, 1 is in Malaysia, but according to environment lawyer Tony Oposa, God blessed the Philippines with the balance of nine of the richest marine waters in the world. A scientific finding, he said, identified the Philippine Sea as the ``epicenter’’ of marine bioversity on Earth.

According to Oposa, the Philippine Sea is home to the greatest number and variety of coral reefs and underwater forests. Of the 700 or so coral species found in the whole world, 500 are in the Philippines. A single coral garden dive site in Anilao, Batangas and a single marine sanctuary in Bantayan Island in Cebu, both with a total area of 10 hectares have more variety of corals than what could be found in the entire Carribean put together.

The Visayan Sea has undergone massive, unregulated, destructive fishing activities that degraded its ecological richness. Some species of fish are supposedly facing extinction.

And so the plea from the NGOs and local officials mainly from Iloilo, Negros and Cebu. Those who signed the petition and resolution pledged to participate and cooperate with one another in self-assessment for environmental compliance audit, total eradication of illegal and destructive fishing and identify main areas of interest. They also asked that a Philippine Navy gunboat be permanently assigned in the triangle.

The letter of the Visayan Sea Squadron legal enforcement team headed by Gloria Estenzo Ramos to DENR and the Department of Agriculture said that because of the Visayan Sea’s degraded condition, it should be made to ``rest’’ and ``recuperate’’ from intensive fishing activities, especially by vessels weighing more than three gross tons (as cited in the Fisheries Code or Republic Act 8550).

The plea is based on the legal provision which states that ``The Secretary may declare a closed season in any Philippine waters (lying) outside the boundary of municipal waters for conservation and ecological purposes.

During this closed season, these government agencies should determine the maximum sustainable yield of the Visayan Sea and determine areas available for certain types of fishing. Fishing permits should then be issued based on area and on maximum sustainable yield pursuant to the Fisheries Code.

The Code clearly states that ``The Department of Agriculture shall issue such number of licenses and permits for fishery activities subject to the limits of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Preference shall be given to resource users in the local communities adjacent or nearest to the municipal waters.’’

This provision, Oposa said, seems to have languished in the sickbed of non-compliance, and it is time to tickle it into action.

From March 19 to June 24 this year, the Visayan Sea Squadron will do a marine survey of municipal waters. BFAR directors of Regions 5, 6 and 7 have reportedly cooperated.

Here on dry land, we await with eagerness the Earth Day celebration that has the participation of newly installed cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila. Rosales has distanced himself from the political arena to which a number of his fellow bishops have been drawn. This ``greenie’’ red hat who is not exactly a greenhorn, would rather concentrate on resurrecting the earth than be drawn into politics.

Earth Day is on April 22, the Saturday after Easter. The theme ``Mea Culpa: A Call for Repentance and Atonement’’ sounds lenten to me but Odette Alcantara of Mother Earth-Philippines explained that it leads to hope and resurrection. What better venue for the celebration than Smokey Mountain, a garbage dump no more.

PCIJ under siege

At the senate hearing last Tuesday Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) executive director Sheila Coronel and Daily Tribune editor Ninez Cacho Olivarez gave testimonies on harassment and curtailment of media freedom that media organizations have experienced in the past days.

Sen. Arroyo, woefully paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin, said, ``Those who want to destroy the freedom of nations will have to start with the freedom of the press.’’

Clashing with the generals during the martial law years wasn’t so bad after all, I said to Sheila and she agreed. At least we knew the enemy then, we knew their names and their faces. But tangling now with those who operate in the shadows is something else. You have to watch your back.

So many media practitioners have died in the hands of such elements in the past couple of years. The recent government attempts to threaten and harass the media serve to embolden those with shady intentions.

Excerpts from Sheila’s opening statement at the Senate illustrate this.

``Late (last Monday afternoon), three members of the Central Police District, accompanied by sound engineer Jonathan Tiongco, asked a Quezon City judge to issue a warrant that will allow the police to search the office of the PCIJ, apparently in connection with a charge of inciting to sedition.



``The PCIJ received confirmation of the application from well-placed sources in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Quezon City Police. Court and police sources say that an earlier application for a search warrant was turned down last Friday by another Quezon City judge. This apparently prompted the police and Tiongco to apply today for a search warrant with another judge, Alan Balot of RTC Branch 76.

``Alerted by the PCIJ, journalists from various media organizations waited outside Balot’s office while the hearing for the search warrant, which began at about 4:30 p.m., lasted past office closing hours… The judge emerged from his office at about 5:30 p.m., but refused to talk to reporters. Interviewed by GMA-7 reporter Sandra Aguinaldo, Tiongco only said that the hearing had been cancelled. The clerk of court, meanwhile, told Aguinaldo that there was no hearing, only an application for a search warrant…

``The PCIJ was unable to get a copy of the charge sheet, but its lawyers believe that the case is linked to the one filed by Tiongco against the PCIJ late last year. In that case, filed before the Department of Justice, Tiongco said that the PCIJ should be charged with “inciting to sedition” for posting on (its) blog the “Hello, Garci” recording containing the allegedly wiretapped conversations between former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and several officials, including possibly President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

``In that petition, which was ignored by the justice department, Tiongco alleged that the posting of the audio recordings led the opposition to call for the president’s resignation and impeachment and encouraged civil society groups to hold rallies against the president.

``Since the last quarter of 2005, Tiongco and his wife Rona have filed two libel cases against the PCIJ for publishing on (the PCIJ) blog extracts of a police dossier that lists a string of criminal cases filed against him. Rona Tiongco has also sued the PCIJ for violation of her right to privacy. In addition, Jonathan Tiongco has filed a falsification charge against the Center. He also asked, but failed, to get the Supreme Court to issue an injunction against the posting of the “Hello, Garci” recording on the PCIJ blog. Tiongco has also sued ABS-CBN for libel, wiretapping and falsification.

``On Nov. 4, Quezon City Judge Ralph S. Lee issued a 20-day temporary restraining order on the PCIJ blog on the request of Rona Tiongco, who said that the Aug. 12, 2005 post on her husband violated her privacy and that of her children. Mrs. Tiongco, however, was never mentioned by name in that post.

``Jonathan Tiongco has been linked to Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, who presented the sound engineer in a press conference last Aug. 12, in a bid to question the authenticity of the “Hello, Garci” recording. In a telephone interview with the PCIJ (last Monday), Defensor denied any knowledge of the search warrant against PCIJ.

```There are certain media personalities against whom cases of inciting to sedition will be filed,” he said, but “PCIJ is not one of them.” He said that the only relationship he had with Tiongco was that press conference last year. “I want this clear, we’re not together politically,” he said. “He is more aligned with the opposition. He even filed cases against (former police chief Hermogenes) Ebdane and (former Cabinet secretary and chief of staff Angelo) Reyes.”

``When asked whether an inciting to sedition charge ought to be filed against the PCIJ for posting the wiretapped recordings, Defensor said, “I was the one who said it’s no use stopping the release of the Garci tape.”

``In an Oct. 11, 2005 ruling, the Supreme Court threw out Tiongco’s petition demanding that the PCIJ take down the "Hello, Garci" recording from (its) blog. The high tribunal asserted that the constitutional right to free expression was paramount. "Free expression is guaranteed by the Constitution," the Supreme Court said. " Any deviation from this rule through judicial restraint can only be had after a proper trial of facts."

``The Supreme Court also described Tiongco’s petition as "barely comprehensible" and "bereft of merit…’’’

When the search warrant is served (today?) and the search is carried out I will be present as a member of the PCIJ board. But what is it that the searchers hope to find?

OFW: From belly of the ship to top deck

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

FROM BOILER room to ballroom, from stage to spa, from poolside to pantry, from bar to fine dining. From the belly of the luxury ship to the topmost deck where one could see forever and behold the azure sea and sky of the Mediterranean.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) rule the roost, so to speak, aboard the cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas because of their sheer number and also because of their skills, talent, dependability and graciousness. Filipinos comprise about 60 percent of the 853-strong crew that is composed of 51 nationalities.

"Here I earn the combined salaries of four teachers and three security guards in the Philippines," reveals Jerry Dioneo, 36, who works in the dining section. Dioneo who hails from Silay City in Negros Occidental has been on the ship for about three years and is on his fourth contract. Only the Filipino nationals, Dioneo adds, are compelled to allot and remit 20 percent of their earnings to their folks back home. This is stipulated in their contracts.

And what is work like on cruise days? "Every day here is a Monday," Dioneo chirps as he replenishes the cornucopia of food for the guests.

Victoriano Camacho, 46, of Calamba, Laguna, has been with the cruise company for 16 years and is now the sous chef (assistant of the executive chef). He started out at the Nikko Hotel in Makati. Now he earns $2,600 a month.

$1.7 billion of the total $10.8 billion remitted by OFWs in 2005 came from the sea-based OFWs. The number of Filipino seafarers working abroad as of 2005, is about 250,000 or approximately 20 percent of the world's total.

White List

The rise in the number could be attributed to the inclusion of the Philippines in the International Maritime Organization?s ?White List? of 72 accredited countries. Being on the list means the country has continuously complied with the standards required for competent seafarers.

Being a Filipino seaman or seafarer does not necessarily mean working in cargo ships sailing drearily on a gray sea and being cooped up, fighting ennui until land appears on the horizon. A good number of the sea-based OFWs work in cruise ships. These luxury liners cater to vacation-bound, fun-loving, adventure-seeking humans, people who work hard and play hard, or who just want to be out of reach and listen to the music of the ocean, heeding the cruise logo catchphrase that says, "Get out there." One could also choose to get holed up in the ship?s library.

The three-year-old German-built Brilliance of the Seas belongs to a fleet of cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean International (RCI) that sails in Europe, North America and the Caribbean. It has a passenger capacity of 2,500.

The Filipino seamen and women working on board are there to help make good things happen. The job is demanding as cruises involve service, hospitality, food, fun, travel, safety and, most of all, people.

Earning from tips

Bar server Vergie Mompil, an education course graduate, has spent eight years working on several cruise ships. Her husband, Edwin Vicero also works in another cruise ship, Jewels of the Sea.

Those in food service are not paid the fixed salary rate that workers in other sections receive. Food and drink servers like Vergie receive only $50 per 12-day cruise but the tips (provided for in the bill) earn her about $1,000. Two cruises per month or more than ten cruises in a six-month contract mean a lot when remitted to the Philippines. ?After six months, we go on a two-month break,? Vergie adds.

Vergie is stationed at the bar in the main lobby ballroom at the foot of a luminous stairway where guests in formal wear linger to chat or dance to music provided mainly by?you guessed it?Filipino musicians.

Vergie and her husband have a three-year-old child who is being cared for by two aunts. The couple is building a home south of Manila and planning for a hardware store.

Not everyone is in the direct employ of RCI. Hoffman Roscano, 27, married, works as a photographer of a photo agency that operates aboard the ship. He and several photographers have their hands full during formal dinners and evening activities as well as land tours. During special occasions, they set up a mini studio where guests in their glittering ?Titanic? finery could go for a formal shoot. Guests snap up the photos the morning after. Roscano also receives commissions from the sales.

Better than 5-star salary

Karen del Carmen, in her 20s, works as a beauty therapist in the Brilliance Day Spa operated by an agency. A tourism graduate of a college in Bacolod, she had a work stint in a hotel in the Philippines after which she applied in a maritime agency. The spa company hired her and sent her to London for training.

"Better than a five-star salary," is how del Carmen describes what she earns. After every 12-day cruise she gets two days off. ?It?s fun working here,? she says as she looks up from her desk in the spa?s lavender-scented receiving area.

Nights are busy for the musicians who play in different venues aboard the ship. John Neri, 24, regales the night owls with violin music. As a child he studied music under a scholarship program for the musically gifted.

Neri met his wife in another cruise ship. Married for four years now, the couple is building a house in Kalookan City.

Oye como va

Although now US-based, Vicky Gallarde of Vicky and The Holding Company band still calls the Philippines home. It?s a rollicking night when the band plays for a crowd with itchy feet.

Vicky switches without a hitch from lusty "Amor, amor, amor" to a staccato "Oye como va" while husband Chris and the rest segue from rumba to disco beat. The band is a ship mainstay.

The couple has a room for two of their own at the crew quarters. The standard rooms for two for the crew have TVs and computers with e-mail capabilities. The Filipinos also have a daily two-page news digest called "Philippines Today." There is a bar as well as games and exercise facilities.

Edgardo Villarino, 42, studied music in the University of the Philippines and sang with the UP Concert Chorus. He is married with three kids. The Inquirer chanced upon Villarino playing soothing classic guitar music by the poolside.

He was in the Caribbean several months earlier and he remembers the day a hurricane blew around there. There are less "sea days" in the Mediterranean, he says, meaning, the ship docks often in tourist havens.

Selling the Philippines

On his fifth contract now, Villarino says their own families could enjoy cruise privileges when there is space available. And could the entertainers have some fun during the day? "If there are less than five guests using the pool, we could take a dip," Villarino says.

He dreams of cruises on Philippine waters that could rival those elsewhere. "We try to advertise the Philippines. Subic is so beautiful." He talks of an island in Haiti that Royal Caribbean had developed.

Great workers

Bill Brunkhorst, American cruise director who makes sure entertainment is at its peak, has only good words for the Filipinos. "They are so talented and they learn very quickly," he says. "They're great workers."

The Greek ship captain Michael Lachtaridis, a seasoned sea voyager who has been sailing the seas for 33 years says he has been working with Filipinos since the 1980s. "They get along well with other nationalities," he says. "They are very educated and they are a happy lot."

Whether it is instructing on wine tasting, giving beauty massages, serving at formal dinners, making omelets at the buffet breakfast, playing music, snapping photos amidst the Greek ruins, ensuring security and swiping cards at entry and exit points, disposing garbage or keeping staterooms clean, Filipino seamen and women are doing their best. And why not a Filipino guest chaplain or morgue attendant?

The least seen

The least seen but perhaps the most important because they make the ship sail the distances are those who work in the belly of the ship or the engine room. The lives of those on board are practically in the hands of these experts in ship engineering.

The Inquirer descended to the grime-free hard hat area and met some of the Filipinos there. Jessie Hervilla, Estefanio Joel, Steve Flores, Ramon Cerio, Percival Dilag and so many more. Chief Junior Engineer Rasmus Norling of Sweden has only high praises for the men who are seldom seen on deck.

But life for the OFWs on board these cruise ships is surely not problem-free, as life anywhere is not. Are the OFWs on these so-called floating four-star, five-star hotels better off than their counterparts in cargo ships and oil tankers? What lies beyond those glittering nights and sunny days at sea? What awaits them in their homeland? What awaits Edward Pampis, Joselito Benito, Cipertino Apil, Arlene Salon, Susan Gatmaitan, Arthur Pernia, Julius, Mijares, Juanito Embolori, Edwin Miranda, Enrico Sabido, Victor Amuyang, Ronaldo Carreon, Ernita Villanueva, George Tardo, Joselito Benito?

Don't they feel resentful when they see food and drink flowing endlessly, people having so much fun and spending so much money for this kind of voyage, while they work so hard to keep these people thrilled and while the pine for home?

"Oh no," says a food server without a tinge of resentment. "Many of them have worked hard too. And because of them we have our jobs. Someday we too could enjoy something like this."

This Inquirer reporter was a regular paying guest on this cruise. The ship sailed from Barcelona and back and stopped in several key places on the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.