Tambuling Batangas Publication February 20-26, 2019 Issue | Page 4

OPINYON February 20-26, 2019 Lingguhang Pahayagan ng Lalawigan ng Batangas na inilalathala tuwing Miyerkules / PRINTING PLANT: Sinag Publishing & Printing Services, National Highway, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City, Laguna. Tel nos. [phone] & [phone] / Subscription fee: One year P360.00 Six Months: P180.00 / Commercial Advertising rate: P160 per column cm / MEMBER: Publisher’s Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) / Raia Jennifer E. Dela Peña Managing Editor / P.L. Villa, RC Asa Contributing Editors / Shara Jane Falceso, Rachelle Joy Aquino, Jacquilou Lirio, Maria Carlyn Ureta staff writers / Ruel T. Landicho Lay-out Artist/ Ms. Corazon D.P. Marcial, Amber D.C Vitto Legal Consultant. email add: [email protected] & [email protected] Damned Dengvaxia lies Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli differentiated the three kinds of lie, saying there are, “Lies, damned lies and statistics.” For a person clearly neither an Einstein nor an Oppenheimer with facts, data and the significance of quantitative input/output analysis, Benigno Aquino III has been casually citing Dengvaxia numbers and statistics in connection with his involvement in what is now known as the deadliest medical scam inflicted on our most vulnerable. His accountability runs far and deep where presidential influence not only forced through premature approvals and bypassed critical safeguards but also compelled an eleventh-hour fund malversation right on the eve of the 2016 campaign to peddle his successor to a wary public. Aquino’s candidate, the direct beneficiary of any government-sponsored campaign in 2016, had just emerged slimed, soiled, if not scarred from a knotted string of controversies that questioned not simply his leadership abilities but also his competence. In 2011, as Transportation secretary, Aquino’s chosen spawned the continuing deterioration of the Metropolitan Railway Transit system by nullifying its maintenance contract. In 2012, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo perished in a plane crash that should have been preventable had transportation officials overseeing civil aviation ensured compliance with licensing and safety protocols. In 2013, two crises, the Yolanda Tragedy and the Zamboanga Siege, were ineptly handled by the same Cabinet factotum. In 2015, a year before his failed presidential candidacy, Manuel Roxas was implicated in various degrees in both the Mamasapano Massacre and the P1.89 billion Mahindra scandal. Serial incompetence and failures seemed to have attended nearly every task assigned to Aquino’s successor. Since establishing a decidedly dismal record inundated with ineptitude and a visible lack of empathy for the electorate, Aquino and his Liberal Party needed a booster shot for their fledgling presidential bet given far more formidable, attuned and competent candidates that included Rodrigo Duterte, Grace Llamanzares and Jejomar Binay. An anti-dengue mass vaccination scheme employed in vote-rich areas fit the bill. It conjured the imagery of a politico empathetic and caring of our youngest constituencies. Conducted on the eve of presidential campaigning, it made for a timely publicity stunt. But there needed to be an epidemic as “a-tail-that-wags-the-dog” to justify tanking safety protocols and injecting helpless children en masse absent informed consent requisites. Fast forward to today. After unquantifiable deaths and over a hundred Dengvaxia-related autopsies, to protect his fat and precious posterior from attracting fellow inmates should he eventually be jailed, Aquino in a Facebook post early this month claimed, at the time he pushed for Dengvaxia, there were 1 million dengue infections yearly. This implied a runaway plague of biblical proportions enough to justify his Dengvaxia scheme. On page 362 in a section captioned “Disease Burden of Dengue” from a study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, entitled “Economic Cost and Burden of Dengue in the Philippines” covering the years 2008 to 2012, medical experts determined the adjustment or expansion factor applied on the number of dengue infections that would measure, not just clinically diagnosed dengue incidences, but would account for under-reporting whether from private or public sector sources. Factoring in aggregate direct costs, researchers computed a factor of 7.2 from a matrix reflecting ambulatory and hospitalized cases on one axis against public and private on another. This means for each reported case there are 7.2 actual cases. To determine the actual incidences and accounting for under-reporting, simply multiply the reported number by 7.2. In November 2014 when Aquino met with Sanofi officials, the number of reported dengue cases by the Department of Health was 121,580, down by 83,326 from the previous year. The 2014 data multiplied by 7.2 is 875,376 — a far cry from the 1,000,000 Aquino used to justify his actions. Aquino’s bloated statistics fall under Disraeli’s definition of a lie. Against the Philippine population of 100.1 million in 2014, the actual number of dengue incidences was only 0.87 percent. That’s hardly a compelling reason to be reckless and cause the deaths of innocent children for generations to come. Ni Teo S. Marasigan Corporate Social Responsibility: Business as Usual Bago pumutok ang kasalukuyang krisis pampinansya at pang- ekonomiya, may isang praseng sikat at patok sa negosyo, akademya at midya: ang Corporate Social Responsibility o CSR. Ito ang pagkakawanggawa ng mga korporasyon at negosyante, na kadalasang malalaki, sa lipunan. Minsan, nagtanong si Angela Stuart-Santiago, kilalang blogger, kaugnay ng CSR ng ABS-CBN: Bakit, aniya, hindi na lang nito ibalik at paramihin ang mga programang nagbibigay sa publiko ng impormasyon at opinyon hinggil sa maiinit na isyung pambansa? Naalala ko nga, noon, kahit ang dating Mel and Jay ay tumalakay sa isyu ng mga base-militar ng US sa Pinas. Sa ganitong tanong, itinuturo niya ang mahalagang batayang materyal o pang-ekonomiya ng CSR: Kailangan, kitang- kita ang kita o go na go ang negosyo ng mga korporasyon at negosyante. Kailangan, halimbawa, na manatiling kaunti ang mga programang makabuluhan ng ABS-CBN para makapaglunsad ito ng maliit na programang pang- CSR na gaya ng ipinapakita ni Gng. Santiago ay kwestyonable o maliit lang ang pakinabang sa publiko. Katugma ito sa kritika ni Slavoj Zizek, pilosopong Slovenian, sa ”CSR” ng mga sikat na malaking negosyante sa US na tinawag niyang ”mga komunistang liberal.” Aniya, ”Pwedeng nilalabanan nila ang suhetibong karahasan, pero ang mga komunistang liberal ang mga ahente ng istruktural na karahasan na lumilikha ng mga kalagayan para sa suhetibong karahasan. Ang [George] Soros na nagbibigay ng bilyun- bilyon para pondohan ang edukasyon ay nakawasak sa buhay ng libu-libong tao salamat sa kanyang mga ispekulasyong pampinansya at sa gayon ay lumikha ng mga kalagayan para sa pag-usbong ng kawalang- pagkilala (intolerance) na kanyang kinokondena.” Sa hirap ng buhay sa bansa, maipagpapasalamat na ng iba ang CSR ng mga korporasyon at negosyante. Pero mahalaga pa ring mailantad ang materyal o pang-ekonomiyang batayan nito – na posible ngang napagtatakpan o napapaliit sa mata ng publiko ng mga hakbanging pang-CSR. Hindi ko alam kung may CSR si Henry Sy, halimbawa, ang sikat na may-ari ng mga mall na SM. Kung mayroon man, katas ito ng pagsasamantala niya sa napakaraming kontraktwal na kababaihang manggagawa sa SM, pagbarat sa sahod nila at paglaban sa pag-uunyon nila sa pagtanggap sa nakakaraming manggagawang miyembro ng Iglesia ni Cristo – na kung bakit naman nagbabawal sa mga miyembro nito na mag- unyon. Tila aktibo ang Shell sa Gawad Kalinga. Mabuti na rin sa isang banda. Pero bistado na ang modus operandi ng kartel ng langis sa bansa: Mabilis magtaas ng presyo kapag may palusot na pwedeng idahilan, pero mabagal at barya-barya lang magbaba kapag alam na ng mga mapagbantay na dapat magbaba ito ng presyo. Sinasabi pa sa publikong nalulugi gayung ang ibig lang sabihin ay hindi nakakamit ang target nitong tubo sa isang panahon. Sa isang artikulong tila tumutuldok sa ”CSR” ng mga kompanya at negosyante sa US dahil sa kasalukuyang krisis, nagdagdag pa ng punto si Katha Pollitt laban sa ”pamimilantropo” nila: ”Sinabayan – at tinulungang bigyang-katwiran – ng paglakas ng pamimilantropo ang mga kaltas sa buwis, lumiit na mga serbisyo ng gobyerno at tumitinding kawalan ng pagkakapantay- pantay.” Noong kasikatan ng CSR, binihisan ito ng mga teorista at publisista nito ng unibersal o panghabang- panahong pilosopiya – tulad ng din ng ginawa noon sa ”globalisasyong neoliberal.” Ngayon, sa pagputok ng malubha at matagalang krisis pampinansya at pang- ekonomiya sa buong mundo, huhulas ang pilosopiyang ito na parang kolorete sa mukha ng agnas nang bangkay. Hindi ito ubra kapag ”business unusual” tulad ngayon. Ubra lang ito kapag ”business as usual” – na masama rin, o napakasama, para sa marami nating kababayan. ”Ang kailangan talaga natin,” ani Pollitt, ”ay hindi ang pabugsu-bugsong mga hakbangin ng kabutihan kundi ang tuluy-tuloy na mga hakbangin ng pagkakaisa.” Pwedeng idagdag: hindi para manlimos ng mumo ng mga mayaman at makapangyarihan o magpasalamat dito, kundi para agawin at angkinin ang pag-aari at kapangyarihan nila. 26 Marso 2009