Women and AIDS

It’s six days before World AIDS Day which falls on Dec. 1. This year’s theme is ``Women and AIDS’’. For the past two successive years (2002 and 2003) the theme was ``Stigma and Discrimination’’. That this ran for two years means that the problem took a lot of time and effort to address.

In 2001 the theme was ``I care, don’t you?’’ and in 2000 it was ``AIDS: Men make a difference.’’ There has been a variety of themes since 1988. Now it’s the women’s turn.

HIV-AIDS has been around for more than two decades, at least, and millions have died of it since it was identified in the early 1980s. How much do you know? Here’s a little quiz that might bring up a few hard facts. See how you fare.

1. Doctors in the US first became aware of HIV-AIDS in a)1974 b)1981 c)1984
2. Which part of the world has the greatest number of people with HIV-AIDS? a)Asia b)Africa c)North America
3. HIV is a)virus b)bacteria c)fungus
4. You can tell that a person has HIV because he/she a)looks tired or ill b)has a bad cough c)no way to tell
5. When was the first World AIDS Day? a)1984 b)1988 c)1994
6. If a pregnant woman is HIV positive and takes a special drug to prevent mother-to-child transmission, what are the chances that her baby will be HIV positive? a)2% b)40% c)100%
7. A woman who is breastfeeding can pass HIV to her baby through her milk. a)true b)false c)only if she has full-blown AIDS
8. Globally, the number of women living with HIV is a)1 million b)17 million c) 38 million
9. In heterosexual sex, who is more likely to become infected with HIV from an HIV positive partner? a)man b)woman c)both
10. A lesbian can be infected with HIV only if she has sex with a man a)true b)false
11. Globally, most women become infected with HIV through a)childbirth b)unprotected sex c)blood transfusion, d)injecting drugs
12. If a pregnant woman is HIV positive, what are the chances that her baby will be HIV positive? a)30% b)2% c)100%
13. What was the name of the first Filipino who came forward in 1992 to say she was suffering from AIDS, told her story and died shortly after? a)Dolzura b)Sara Jane c)Rachel
14. Who played her in the movie? a)Hilda Coronel b) Nora Aunor c)Vilma Santos
15. Approximately, how many people are living with HIV-AIDS today? a)10.2 million b)20.4M c)40M
16. Roughly, how many people are infected with HIV every day? a)15,000 b)16,000 c)8,000
17. Worldwide, what is the age range most infected with HIV? a)0-14 b)15-24 c)35-44
18. Roughly, how many people died of AIDS in 2003? a)1.7 million b)5M c)3M

Research has shown that there is no significant difference between women and men in their progress from being HIV-positive to having full-blown AIDS. However, it has been proven that women are more susceptible to HIV infection than men because of their genital configuration. Women--those who are victims of sexual violence especially--are more prone to bleeding and tearing, and this makes them more vulnerable to HIV infection.

The Global Movement for Microbicides is trying to address this problem of women through new prevention technologies while ensuring that as science proceeds, the public interest is protected and the rights of trial participants are respected.

Microbicides are not yet available, but when they are in five years or so, they are supposed to help protect women from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD). The word microbicides refers to ``a range of products that share one common characteristic: the ability to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other STDs when applied topically. A microbicide could be produced in many forms, including gels, creams, suppositories, films, or as a sponge or ring that releases the active ingredient over time.’’

Now let’s not think this is going to make more women promiscuous or give people a false sense of safety. While reading up on this I was not thinking about prostitution, I was thinking of the millions of HIV positive women in Sub-Saharan Africa and societies that are oppressive to women.

Most women in such cultures cannot say no to their infected husbands, they cannot require them to wear condoms. Microbicides would enable women to protect themselves without their partners knowing it.

Researchers have shown mathematically that if even a small proportion of women in lower income countries used a 60-percent efficacious microbicide in half the sexual encounters where condoms are not used, 2.5 million HIV infections could be averted over three years.

Not all microbicides prevent pregnancy. Non-contraceptive ones are also being developed. Women could get pregnant, if they want to, by their STD- or HIV-positive husbands while protecting themselves and their offspring from HIV.

Today’s prevention options(condom, mutual monogamy and STD treatment) may not be feasible for millions of women. Many poor women lack social and economic power to demand fidelity or condoms. They cannot leave partnerships that put their lives at risk. What option is left for them?

Though still years away from being available, microbicides are already being discussed by women’s groups. Microbicides could help break the chain of HIV transmission from men to women to babies.

Microbicides do not require the male partner’s cooperation thereby giving women the power to protect themselves and the sense that they have rights.

I hope no religious zealot will protest to defend the right of sperms swimming in HIV goo and deny women their right to live long for themselves and their offspring.

Answers to the quiz: 1(b) 2(b) 3(a) 4(c) 5(b) 6(a) 7(a) 8(b) 9(b) 10(b) 11(b) 12(a) 13(a) 14(c) 15(c) 16(a) 17(b) 18(c)

Media and hoaxes

If I came out with your story and found out later that there was no iota of truth to what you had told me, I am going to sue you, right?

I had said this a few times to interviewees who had told me stories that were either too good or too bad to be true and especially if it put certain persons in a bad light. Of course, this was said with a smile on my face and only after I had made the interviewees realize that I had given my time and heart and mind to hear them out. And so to remind and speak softly while carrying a big stick, so to speak.

I remember someone who broke into tears when I said this and my heart broke along with that storyteller’s but it had to be said even if there were supporters who stood by the veracity of the story and the credibility of the storyteller.

Nothing personal, I explained ever so gently. I’m just protecting my paper, I said. It helped a lot when the subject had a written account and all I had to do was for him or her to sign it. That is, if there was no sworn statement to begin with. One could always use tapes and videos. But there is nothing foolproof in this world.

Sometimes, because of security reasons the interviewee wants to hide behind an alias. But if the interviewee was the one who sought me out, I have reason to say, good for you, but what about me? Ako ang mapapatay dito. (I could get killed for this.) You have to help me prove that you’re real.

It’s bad enough to be taken for a ride, it’s worse than death for a journalist to be accused of fabricating a story and, worst of all, to be proven that one did.

I say these in the aftermath of the hoax that was spun by a mother-daughter team and who involved their pastor and church in the elaborate lie. The girl’s supposed against-all-odds triumph in an international science contest in Australia got a lot of media mileage even as it put in a bad light public officials they accused of having refused them help. Hearts bled. Doubters were harshly criticized.

Well, yesterday, the Bread of Life Ministries came out with a paid announcement apologizing to the media and parties put in a bad light and explaining how this all came about.

It was edifying to note that the media did not go all out to pillory the San Juans after their hoax was uncovered. Help should be on the way for mother and daughter.

I was curious about the legal implications of all these so I consulted a lawyer. Estafa does not apply because there did not seem to be a financial motive. Apologies have been made so libel is out. But this case could fall under the ``Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.’’ Faye is only 12 years old and she has been dragged into this by her own mother.

A diagnosis of emotional/mental disturbance could get Mrs. San Juan off the hook. I’m not saying the case should land in court, but this should be processed from all angles by parties concerned, and with compassion, especially for Faye, uppermost. Away from the media.

As for the media, the lawyer said, it is ``Buyers, beware.’’ Take it on the chin.

Do a Google search (``media+hoax’’) on the internet and you’ll find fantastic tales that the media have fallen for.

For example, there was this ``Dole Army’’, a group of masked anarchists who supposedly dwelled in the storm-water drains under Melbourne. This ``army’’ urged citizens to defraud the government of welfare benefits. TV channels fell for the story. The ``Dole Army’’, it turned out, was just a bunch of pranksters who later owned up to the hoax.

There was the case of Norma Khuori, best-selling author of ``Forbidden Love’’ who narrated the story of her friend Dalia, supposedly a victim of honor killing in Jordan. Honor killing is the practice of murdering women who have done dishonor to their families. Dalia, a Muslim, was supposed to have fallen in love with a Christian. Honor killings are still being practiced in some Muslim societies.

The book was an instant hit. Sure, it raised the level of aware about violence against women. But Dalia was pure invention and it was proven that Khouri, a long-time US citizen of Jordanian origin, couldn’t have known someone like Dalia.

Random House later withdrew the books from the bookstores. The huge success became a huge literary scandal. I thought, why didn’t Khuori just sell her book as fiction?

Now I am becoming skeptical of these confessional autobiographies that drip blood, tears and a lot of saliva.

Some years ago, a US journalist was discovered to have fabricated the Pulitzer Prize-winning story about a drug dependent, and last year, a US reporter was severely censured for having plagiarized or passed off a major story as his own work. I don’t remember the details now, but it was a bad day for journalism.

And then there is the reverse—the ``hoax theory’’ which puts the lie on what the world has accepted as the truth. That is, the truth being peddled as a hoax.

For example, there is a group that pushes the belief that the landing on the moon was a hoax. The proponents of this theory, shown in a TV documentary, were prepared with their scientific arguments and proofs.

There are those who propagate the ``no planes theory’’ that says the video footage of the planes that crashed on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York in 2001 was a hoax perpetuated by high-tech tricksters from the TV networks.

As to Faye and her mother, may they be rehabilitated. What is in store for Faye now? What is it like inside her? Be brave, girl, all is not lost.

Pearl of great price

``Dahil sa paniniwala ng mga Palawano na ang isang isda ay pinahahati sa lahat, nang dumating ang mga Cagayancillo tinanggap namin sila, nang dumating ang mga Muslim tinanggap namin sila, nang dumating ang mga Kristiyano tinanggap namin sila, nang dumating si Cojuangco ay pinaalis kaming lahat. Masakit ang nangyari.’’ (Because of the Palawanos’ belief that a fish is to be divided among all, when the Cagayancillo came we accepted them, when the Muslims came we accepted them, when the Christians came we accepted them, when Cojuangco came we were all driven out. This is painful for us.’’

Words of Pala’wan elder Upo Gariba in his narration about Apu, also known as Bugsok Island. He was quoted in Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel’s Nov. 8 privilege speech. The congresswoman condemned Jewelmer Inc. and the Philippine National Police’s blocking of Pandanan Channel, preventing fishermen and their supporters from entering what they claimed were their ancestral fishing grounds.

Jewelmer has filed a case against the groups involved.

Last week, this column came out with Jewelmer’s response to the NGOs and PO’s accusations that the pearl farm, owned by business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and partners, have displaced indigenous groups and barred them from fishing in their ancestral domain.

Sambilog and Task Force Bugsuk strongly belie Jewelmer’s claims point by point. Excerpts.

``Our struggle to fish in the waters currently prohibited by Jewelmer is a struggle to claim both our rights as indigenous peoples (IP) under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) and our rights as small municipal fishers under the Fisheries Code. We believe (Jewelmer has) violated our rights as fishers. We have learned about the case of Puyat Pearl Farms in Culion, Palawan. The local government ruled that the farm operator should open navigational routes because they were established traditional navigational routes…

``Our members come from barangays Puring, Tagnato and Buliluyan in Bataraza town; and barangays Sibaring, Pandanan and sitio Marihangin of barangay Bugsuk of Balabac town. We do not have members from barangay Bugsuk itself. The residents there now are workers of the corporations under Cojuangco. Many of them were from Tarlac and Negros, brought in in the 1970s to the early 80s to work in Cojuangco's farms and ranches. That barangay is known to residents in surrounding barangays as `the private barangay’.

``The Pala'wan and Molbog along with the settlers were forced to leave their land in Bugsuk and Pandanan. They were compensated for the trees, but not for their land. Many of them were relocated in areas which were not as productive…Remember this was martial law time. The people said that they were rounded up in a meeting by Danding Cojuangco himself, and soldiers with their guns surrounded them all. And during that meeting, they were given two options: to sell or to leave.

``What is full compensation (and being) willingly, properly, legally relocated? (Y)ou cleared the land, made it productive, loved it, built your dreams on it, then one day, you are told to sell or to leave…to sign blank documents, and under the gun, they tell you the price of your tree, instead of you naming your price.

``The proof that this happened? No legal document, of course. No pictures, of course. This was at the beginning of martial law. And Danding Cojuangco was good in hiding behind the cloak of legality by having those Deeds of Exchanges, using the Republic Act 926 (for the land swap), by forcing people to sign documents. But there are still living testimonies from Pala'wan, Molbog and settlers, on what happened during those fateful years.

``We will pursue and welcome a full and independent investigation on this gross historical injustice and for government to put a just closure by giving back the land and waters to the victims and to the small fishers and farmers who have been given rights over these resources by new legislations after the EDSA Revolution such as the Fisheries Code, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and IPRA.

``Records furnished us show that since the formation of SAMBILOG in 2000 no SAMBILOG members have been caught doing cyanide and dynamite fishing in these areas…We assert that these (accusations) are vain attempts of Jewelmer at harassing the small fishers and drawing attention from Jewelmer’s illegal operations, their use of brute force to govern over the area and their illegal closure of the traditional navigational passage of the channel between Bugsuk and Pandanan islands.

``We question Jewelmer’s authority in confirming whether members fall within the purview of indigenous peoples (IP). This process is under the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples…

``We learned that several groups, composed of Pala'wan and Molbog tribes, were being formed, allegedly through the help of Jewelmer to contest SAMBILOG's claim and to make their own ancestral claim. If Jewelmer does not believe that the area was inhabited by the indigenous peoples, why are they forming groups to also lay claim on ancestral domains? Some of their leaders said that Jewelmer promised them boats and fishing equipment, and allowed them to fish in their `prohibited areas’.

``On August 18, 2003, The Environmental Management Bureau of the DENR Region IV office filed a notice of violation to Jewelmer /Ecofarm Systems and Resources Inc. stating that their Pearl Farm Expansion project located in Balabac, Palawan was implemented without the required Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and in violation of Section 6. Article IX of DENR Administrative Order No. 96-37…’’

Jewelmer justifies

In the interest of fairness, I am running in full the response of Jewelmer to my Oct. 21 column piece ``Fishers, pearls and Jewelmer.’’ The news peg there was Sambilog and Task Force Bugsuk’s attempt to fish in waters claimed by some members of indigenous peoples (IP) of Palawan to be part of their ancestral domain and to cross the Pandanan channel, both of which are off limits because of the presence of Jewelmer’s pearl farm. They were joined by Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel. A congressional inquiry is being planned.

Sambilog and Task Force Bugsuk will have their chance next week to demolish some of Jewelmer’s claims.

Here is Jewelmer:

``We are constrained to address the points contained in the aforementioned article for the purpose of presenting the side of Jewelmer International Corp. (Jewelmer) and, at the same time, rectifying the apparent distortion of facts and misrepresentations made by parties associated with the Samahan ng mga Katutubo sa Dulo ng Timog Palawan (Sambilog).

``1. Jewelmer has been operating a marine concession in the municipality since 1979. Since the commencement of its operations, the corporation has complied with the relevant laws and regulations required for the pursuit of such business endeavor. Moreover, Jewelmer has actively participated in the conservation and preservation of all marine life and natural resources within the concession area. A verification with the municipality of Balabac, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development will confirm that: (i) the corporation has submitted all the requirements imposed by such government entities for the operation of the marine concession, (ii) such operations do not require the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate and (iii) no violations have been attributable to Jewelmer at any point in time.

``2. To the best of the knowledge of Jewelmer, and based on the relevant records in the custody of government agencies (e.g., DENR, the Bureau of Lands and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources), the islands of Bugsuk and Pandanan, inclusive of the adjoining marine concession area leased by the municipality of Balabac to Jewelmer, have not been inhabited by indigenous people. Neither has there been a displacement of supposed ethnic and indigenous fishermen from such areas considering:

a. The previous inhabitants of such areas were transients and settlers who did not belong to any indigenous tribes of Palawan.

b. b. Such inhabitants were willingly, properly and legally relocated to adjoining areas of their choice and fully compensated for their property rights.

``Taking into account the foregoing, the claim asserted by Sambilog that the aforestated areas form part of their `ancestral domain’ is bereft of any factual or legal basis.

``3. Perhaps, the author of the article (that’s me—CPD) has not been apprised of the underlying reasons for the request for assistance made by Jewelmer to the Philippine National Police headed by Supt. Rey Lañada. Recently, the operations of Jewelmer have been subject of intermittent harassment by parties who claim to be members of Sambilog. On numerous occasions, such parties have entered the concession area and resorted to illegal means of fishing through the use of cyanide and dynamite. In addition, the corporation suffered loss and damage to its facilities and equipment due to the unauthorized entry of such parties to the concession area. The local authorities of the municipality of Balabac will confirm the nature and extent of the unlawful acts perpetuated by the said parties within the concession area.

``Owing to the aforementioned acts, Jewelmer, as the aggrieved party, had no other recourse but to request the assistance of the PNP to protect the interests of the corporation. Being the lawful operator of an ongoing business concern, such request for assistance was necessary in the light of contemplated and unauthorized entry of Sambilog in the concession area. The assistance extended by the PNP to Jewelmer was in consonance with their mandated duty to protect any person from imminent threat to their proprietary rights.

``4. Without the benefit of prior inquiry and verification, the author may have been, unwittingly, misled by the purported leaders of Sambilog. We would like to take this opportunity to call your attention to the following points.

``a. Jewelmer, through its representatives, together with the DENR and the officials of the municipality of Balabac, has participated in discussions with the representatives of Task Force Bugsuk in discussions with the representatives of Task Force Bugsuk and Sambilog. During such discussions, Sambilog agreed to make available and provide the parties with a complete listing of its members for the purpose of confirming whether such members fall within the purview of `indigenous people’ as defined under the provisions of the Ipra Act of 1997. To date Sambilog has not complied with such agreement.

``b. The majority of Sambilog are not (and never have been) constituents of the municipality of Balabac. Most of Sambilog's purported members are transients and residents of the municipality of Batarraza.

c. Certain members of Sambilog, namely Oscar Pelayo, have been reported to the local authorities of both municipalities as the parties responsible for dynamite and cyanide fishing.

``Such illegal acts have led to the wanton destruction of coral reefs and other forms of marine life in the marine areas adjacent to the municipality of Batarraza.’’

Angela Poblador
Jewelmer chief communications officer
Rm. 701 National Life Insurance Bldg.
6762 Ayala Ave., Makati City

Limbo un-rocked

Today, Nov. 2, is All Souls Day, the day for our dear departed. But feast-loving Filipinos always do the feasting and remembering in advance as if there might be no more tomorrow. And so Nov. 1, All Saints Day, is what Filipinos consider araw ng mga patay.

We Filipinos have a way of advancing the calendar to suit our festive mood. Well, All Souls Day is the harbinger of the Christmas season. Tomorrow the Christmas season “officially” begins in these islands. It will last for two months.

But hold on awhile to the 11th month. We all have our early memories of this November feast that sends Filipino families in droves to their old hometowns. Celebrations in the provinces are so much more folksy and Pinoy, unlike those in Metro Manila where the feast has taken on an American macabre flavor that I find corny and TH.

On the solemn side of memory lane, some melodies refuse to die. I can still sing the first and last lines of the Latin Gregorian chant that the Benedictine sisters chanted during the Mass for the Dead in the beautiful neo-Romanesque chapel in school. “Dies irae, dies illa, solvet saeclum in favilla…” Translated as, “Nigher still, and still more nigh, Draws the day of prophecy…”

It ends with the soaring, “Lacrymosa dies illa, Qua resurget ex favilla…” “Full of tears and full of dread, is the day that wakes the dead…”

Oh, it soaked my soul and shook the ramparts of my young heart.

This being the season that makes us ponder life after death, there is now no reason to wonder where limbo is. The vacuous place has been erased from the afterlife. The Roman Catholic Church had created that place during the Middle Ages, last year the magisterium decided to delete it. (Will so-called plenary indulgences be the next to go?)

Blame the creation of the limbo hypothesis on the concept of the stamp of original sin and the outdated way that it was taught.

Last year Pope Benedict XVI abolished the concept of limbo, the place where, Catholics were made to believe, the souls of un-baptized children went. The year before he died, Pope John Paul II had created a commission to come up with a “more coherent and illuminating” doctrine on this neither-here-nor-there place in the Great Beyond.

Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Josep Ratzinger then) had presided over the first sessions before he became Pope. A report said that he is on record as saying that limbo has no place in modern Catholicism. In 1984 he was already quoted as saying that limbo had “never been a definitive truth of the faith”.

Limbo has been scrapped.

Limbo comes from the Latin word limbus that means edge or boundary. It was supposed to be the transit area for the souls of the people who lived good lives but died before the resurrection of Jesus two millennia ago. Only on the Last Judgment will they all move on to heaven. Neat arrangement.

Limbo was also supposed to be the permanent home of the babies who died in infancy (and the fetuses too) that didn’t get freed from original sin through baptism. There they were supposed to live in a state of natural happiness, whatever that means.

Here’s something I read: “In the Divine Comedy, Dante depicts limbo as the first circle of hell, located beyond the river of Acheron but before the judgment seat of Minos. The virtuous pagans of classical history and mythology inhabit a brightly lit and beautiful—but somber—castle which is seemingly a medievalized version of Elysium. (A) semi-infernal region, above limbo or the other side of Acheron, but inside the gate of Hell also exists—it is the vestibule of hell and houses so-called ‘neutralists’ or ‘opportunists’ who devoted their lives neither to good nor to evil…” A place for fence sitters and opportunists!

Now that limbo has been demolished, where did its occupants proceed? Or where were they all the time? In heaven, I presume.

Nowhere in the Bible is limbo mentioned, but it is supposed to be the “bosom of Abraham” which is twice mentioned in the Bible. This bosom is supposed to be a blissful state where the good and the righteous of the pre-Jesus era await their eternal reward. It is neither heaven nor hell, it is a transit lounge before entering paradise.

I read somewhere that the gospel story about the “good thief” who was crucified and died beside Jesus is a case that should tweak this limbo theory. Jesus promised him that they would be together “this day” in paradise. Right away?

Well the answer, some say, is in the punctuation mark, the comma. (The celebrated writer Pico Iyer has a great essay on the comma and what it can do.) Did Jesus say, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise” or “Truly I say to you today, you shall be with me in paradise”? The latter means that the thief had to wait in limbo until the resurrection made it possible for him to enter the Pearly Gates.

This is grist for biblical nitpickers. I bring this up only to say it is good that limbo has been deleted from the file folders, it has been erased from the landscape of the afterlife. But the word limbo will stay in colloquial lingo. It means neither here nor there.

The limbo of the afterlife had nothing to do with the limbo dance that originated in the Caribbean. Limbo rock comes from Jamaican English limba or to bend (from the English limber). Limbo rock we all know. It uses a stick below which dancers must bend backwards as they proceed. Limbo dancing is believed to have started from cramped and smelly slave ships that brought Africans to the Americas.

That was not limbo, that was hell. But the real hell is where slave traders—the modern-day ones, specially--should go.

'No al bloqueo'

Think of yourself as a citizen of a small island nation of 11 million floating near the armpit of the United States, a powerful nation where milk and honey flow profusely so many of its citizens are groaning under the weight of obesity and too much eating.

Think of yourself as a Cuban, deprived of many necessities and opportunities simply because your neighbor, a giant nation many times your size, has leaders who are fixated in the belief that your dot of a country is a ``threat’’ to their security.

The big one squeezes the small one to make it go down on its knees and cry ``Uncle!’’ But no way, Jorge. Porque no? Because no self-respecting nation, no matter how small, will capitulate to an immoral sanction. Because no sovereign nation that knows the meaning of pride would want to take tutorials on how to run its affairs.

Today, Oct. 28, a draft resolution calling for the ending of US economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba will again be deliberated and voted on at the UN.

For the past 13 consecutive years, Cuba has been submitting resolutions to the United Nations General Assembly, demanding the lifting of the US embargo against it. This embargo/blockade, this continuous crucifixion of the Cuban people is now on its 45th year. Nothing as sustained as this has been imposed by a powerful country against a poor, little one.

As Cuban ambassador to the Philippines Ramon Medina said, the US sanctions against Cuba are the harshest in the world, much harsher than the sanctions against Iraq. Even the Pope has pleaded against this cruelty.

Last year, 179 countries, including the Philippines (which shares a Spanish and American colonial past with Cuba), voted in favor of ending the embargo. Two countries abstained. Only three (the US, Israel and the Marshall Islands) voted to continue the cruel embargo.

The US loses its case with Cuba every time the embargo issue is voted on in the UN, so what’s the problem? The US is the problem. Because it rules the world.

What does this embargo/blockade mean?

Cuba cannot export to the US, it cannot engage in sales with US entrepreneurs. Cuba is capable of exporting to the US about 15,000 tons of nickel every year, no less than 1,000 tons of cobalt and more than two million tons of cement. But it can’t.

Cuba cannot import from the US. Food may be allowed but only under special circumstances and only on cash basis. Cuba cannot access financial credits, not even private ones.

US companies, on the other hand, have to go through a difficult bureaucratic process in the US if they are to sell to Cuba. Cuba cannot use its own maritime vessels in trading operations. Only US or third-party vessels can be used. Cuba is not allowed direct banking relations with the US, so it has to go through third-country banks.

US citizens and corporations could be fined or suffer imprisonment for setting foot on Cuba. Oh, but there are many US tourists and Hemingway wannabes in Cuba. Easy. They go through Mexico. In Cuba their passports are not stamped.

In the last 45 years, Cuba has not had any access to international financial agencies. No single credit. But in 2003, the Inter-American Development Bank is said to have pumped nearly US$9 billion in credits into Latin America while the World Bank forked out US$5 billion. Nada for Cuba.

The Torricelli Act of 1992 prohibits Cuba from trading with US companies present in third countries. And third-country vessels that call at Cuban ports must wait six months before docking in US ports.

The Helms-Burton Act allows for legal sanctions in the US against third-country businesses that deal with Cuba. Company officials found to have dealings with Cuba are prevented from entering the US. Wanna steal a Cuban brand name like Havana Club? In fact, someone has beaten you to it, thanks to the Helms-Burton Act.

The list is endless.

The geopolitical configurations in the world have changed, so what’s so threatening about Cuba?

The Bush administration has supposedly set aside big sums for radio broadcasts to Cuba and to finance opposition to the Castro regime. The objective: to overthrow the present dispensation and establish US control over Cuba. Remember Nicaragua?

But despite what Cuba has had to go through, it has made great strides in the field of medicine, medical technology and microbiology which could be the envy of more developed countries. As the Cuban ambassador said, Cuba had to look for a niche where it could excel and so the world will be better because of Cuba’s potent vaccines.

But the blockade is gravely affecting all this. Cuba cannot obtain diagnostic equipment and reagents from US companies. Cuba has to turn to Europe and this means added cost.

A recent case was that of Oxoid, a British firm supplying lab reagents and culture mediums. When Oxoid was partly taken over by a US company, Cuba’s requests were turned down.

US$79 billion--this is Cuba’s estimate of the economic damage caused by the US blockade. No al bloqueo! This is the cry of Cuba and the community of nations.

I read Resolution 58/7 which Cuba will present to the UN, I learned about Cuba’s crucifixion and I bled. It ends:

``Cuba will not cease from defending her independence and she knows that her resistance contributes to the struggle waged by many peoples in this world for a more dignified life, and for the right to develop in fairer and more sustainable conditions. Neither will she ever give up the hope of one day having smooth, respectful relations with the American people.’’

Learn more about Cuba and the Philippines’ shared past. Contact the Philippines-Cuba Cultural and Friendship Association at 9950849 to 50.

Fishers, pearls and Jewelmer

In 1996, Pres. Fidel Ramos issued presidential decree 905 recognizing the South Sea Pearl as the Philippines’ national gem. The local pearl industry, the PD said, has produced the world’s largest pearl known as the ``Pearl of Allah’’ or the ``Pearl of Lao Tze.’’

What’s in a pearl? Plenty, especially if it is a South Sea pearl produced by Jewelmer International Corporation, a Cojuangco-owned pearl farm in Palawan that will soon be the subject of a congressional inquiry.

Last Oct. 16, World Food Day, and in observance of indigenous people’s (IP) month, Palawan IP from the Pala’wan and Molbog tribes rowed out to sea to exercise their right to fish in waters that used to be part of their ancestral fishing grounds. These areas occupied by Jewelmer, the IP said, have been off-limits to them for more than 20 years.

It all began in 1974, during the time of Pres. Marcos. The fishermen became victims of a land swap between business magnate Eduardo Cojuangco and Marcos.

Last Saturday, more than 200 members of the Samahan ng mga Katutubo sa Dulo ng Timog Palawan (Sambilog), accompanied by Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and members of Task Force Bugsuk, who were trying to cross the Pandanan Channel, were blocked by the Philippine National Police led by provincial director Col. Rey Lanada who came in a Jewelmer helicopter. Wow.

Our Southern Luzon correspondent Donna Virola was there to cover the encounter and she shared with me her report. Virola quoted Sambilog leader Panglima Rudy Calo as saying, ``Our purpose is to fish again in our waters and pass through Pandanan Channel which is our shortcut to nearby islands.’’ I myself received text messages from the site. One said: ``We were not able to enter the Pandanan Channel because of a heavy cable and boat barricade. PNP Prov. Director Lanada and a dozen uniformed officers acted as Jewelmer security guards. But most of the hundred fishers were able to fish in their traditional fishing grounds even for a couple of hours!!!.’’ It added that Hontiveros-Baraquel plans to conduct a congressional inquiry. May it be soon.

I first wrote about the IP-Jewelmer case on Earth Day last April after the IP ``intruded’’ into what used to be theirs—the 57,000 hectares of ancestral land and waters much of which is occupied by Jewelmer. Sambilog was invoking the IP law and demanding a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) for the fishermen as well as a cease-and-desist order for Jewelmer.

In last Saturday’s encounter, Art Palatino from the province’s environmental office even brought a map to show to Lanada that Jewelmer has gone beyond its area of 4,597.19 hectares.

But this issue goes deeper than just the IP’s right to fish or Jewelmer’s right to produce pearls. Nobody is against pearls here. If you’ve ogled at those luscious pearls in Jewelmer stores and leafed through their expensive coffee-table book, you’d know why South Sea pearls are special. Go to their website (www.jewelmer.com) and you’d think you’re reading about paradise and pearls and a hardy deep sea-diving people called Badjao and a Frenchman named Jacques Brannelle who supposedly discovered the beautiful secret of the islands, the precious pearl oyster, the pinctada maxima. He then brought over the knowledge of perliculture from French Polynesia and partnered with the Cojuangcos. Great cinematic weaving and marketing.

I’ve visited Palawan four times but always for rugged coverage. I’ve never visited any of the great resorts there but one of these days I will. That is, if they will accept pesos. No daw?

The last time I was in Palawan was when I visited Culion, the former biggest leper colony in the world, now a regular municipality and trying to be in step with the rest of the world. I’ve seen a lot of floating boxes where pearl oysters grow. You could get shot if you went near, I was told.

Task Force Bugsuk which supports the displaced fishermen said it ``is not against the propagation of the pearl industry in the country. We are only against the Jewelmer Pearl Farm and its displacing the IP from the ancestral domain, depriving them of their main sources of livelihood, discriminating against them for their ethnicity and denying them their basic right to self-determination.’’

Jewelmer, the task force said, ``has illegally blocked off vital and traditional navigational routes (preventing) the passage of other maritime vessels except their own. It has prohibited marginalized and subsistence fisherfolk from the use of even the simple and harmless fishing methods such as the hook and line, within the waters it has allegedly leased from Balabac town, a clear violation of the alleged lease agreement.’’

Jewelmer has been allowed to operate within an environmentally-critical area and despite the absence of an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) and a clearance from the Palawan Council for sustainable Development which is a violation of the law. So far, Jewelmer has refused to dialogue with the affected groups, despite the urging of Presidential Task Force 63.

Jewelmer is not the only pearl farm in Palawan. Task Force Bugsuk says it has no issue with other pearl farms or with the entire pearl industry, but only with Jewelmer.

In its website, Jewelmer quotes, in English, the first stanza of Jose Rizal’s ``Mi Ultimo Adios’’ where the national hero speaks of the motherland as the ``pearl of the orient.’’ In the original Spanish: ``Perla del mar del oriente, Nuestro perdido eden.’’ Our Eden lost. It can’t get more poignant than that.

Ah, I would like to know how that translates in the language of the Pala’wan and the Molbog. Tell me, I beseech you.