Nothing Personal
March 3,2017 The Diversity times
http://thediversitytimes.ca/2017/03/03/new-nothing-personal/

Levy Abad

On the Peace process in the Philippines. “The National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” the Government’s counterpart in the failed peace talks, has expressed optimism that the Duterte administration would return to the negotiating table and work for “All Out Peace” despite the President’s termination of peace talks with communist rebels.  Indeed, what a wasted opportunity to resolve the roots of the civil strife in the Philippines through peaceful means. Even former President Fidel V. Ramos and retired Brigadier Gen. Victor Corpus of the Philippine Army who defected to the NPA back in the 1970’s and author of the book “Silent War,” expressed their support for the continuance of the peace talks. Just as the negotiation is entering the crucial phase of addressing the social and economic roots of belligerency, the President terminated the talks and declared All Out War on a movement that fights for “nationalist industrialization and genuine agrarian reform,”  free health care and free education,  to mention a few. If the President declares All Out War on the left, where does the President stand? Is he taking the rightward drift?

On Total War. During the time of Cory Aquino as President of the Philippines, there were a lot of left wing progressive leaders in the bureaucracy working for genuine change for the people. Even the 1986 Constitution contains progressive provisions that, if implemented with patriotism, will lead to some progressive changes. In the midst of these, the militarist wing launched a series of coups to pressure the Aquino regime to the right and consolidate foreign domination leading to globalization. Out of fear, the regime succumbed and betrayed the people’s agenda by declaring total war against the people's movement.  Funny that a Lady President has to be hounded with several coup attempts to turn right, while in the case of the present regime, mere gossip of a coup led to an “All Out War” declaration.

Shock Doctrine. In a short period of time, the Duterte regime is “allegedly  involved in 7,000 drug related killings” (Philippines: The Police’s murderous war on the poor) of  pushers and addicts who mostly come from the poor. These extra-judicial killings bring a chilling effect into the psyche of the people, inspiring fear and serves as a symbol of supposedly “radical change,” while the social system remains intact and integrated with neo-liberalism. Is this a case of “shock the people” so that they will never resist and instead embrace a neo-liberal agenda?

Anti-American Rhetoric. The President of the Philippines has projected an image of standing up against the United States’ policies verbally while on the other hand, expressed that he needs the military that is oriented towards the US to help him in governance.  Where is the stand on independent foreign policy and national sovereignty? I hope this won’t lead to killing more nationalist and patriotic activist.

A SONG FOR YOU by Leon Russell. The passing of Leon Russell before Christmas reminded me of the song “A Song for You,” one of my favourites.  From the time I heard it being sung by Chikoy Pura of the Jerks at Mayric’s in España St., Manila, I  was drawn to it right away and had ever since learned and performed it at gigs and special occasions, both in the old country and here in Canada.  “I’ve been through many places in my life and time, I’ve sung a lot songs  and I made some bad rhymes, I’ve acted out my life in stages , with ten thousand people watching , but we’re  alone now and I am singing this song for you.”  Leon is a legendary artist whom I never met but has impacted my youthful soul back in the 90s to embrace the life of a songwriter.

4-in, 4-out rule for Temporary Foreign Workers is no longer in place, effective immediately. Honorable John McCallum, former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honorable MaryAnne Mihychuk, former Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour made this announcement  on December 13, 2016. According to Ethel Tungohan, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, York University, “Here’s my take on the removal of the four year in four year out rule. It is through the tenacious efforts of Migrant activists that the rule was removed. This is a testament to the importance of activism in eliciting change.  The fight for landed status for all TFW, of course continues” (Source: pinoy-canada.com).  Long live migrant activism!  Unfortunately, for the two Ministers, after announcing the good news, they were replaced.  Why?

Two Richest Canadians have as much wealth as poorest 30 per cent, report says. According to an article by Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press, “Oxpam report says the wealth of billionaire businessmen David Thompson and Galen Weston Sr., equals that of about 11 million Canadians.” Is this for real?  Is this happening in so called “Socialist Canada?”

“No one can stop me declaring martial law,” Duterte warns amid escalating drug epidemic (Published time 15 Jan 2017 Reuters).  “While earlier the President said that, we had martial law before, what happened? Did it improve our lives now? Not at all.”  These conflicting statements are coming from the President of the Philippines, who is a lawyer by profession. During the time of Marcos, the insurgency was still weak that the dictatorship had to fabricate the reason for its declaration. Nowadays, could it be possible that the drug war is only an alibi for attacking the people’s movement, which has already matured and has grown stronger in almost 5 decades of resistance?

On the MPNP.  I was discussing the policy changes that the sitting government is planning to implement, like the $500 increase in fees for the MPNP, and somebody told me that I am being political because I mentioned the Premier, as if silence isn’t? Policies implemented by a government reflect the decisions approved by the leadership of the province. How come mentioning the name or naming who’s who, is partisan? How come attacking a policy isn’t? As if policies are ideology free. Is there such a thing as political neutrality when silence can be the ultimate political act?

(Levy Abad is a freelance writer and also a singer songwriter/recording artist and a member of Migrante Canada-Mb chapter and also a founding member/ program coordinator of Winnipeg Multicultural Human Rights Forum, Levy has released three albums , Canadian Experience Vol. 1 (iTunes ), Never Give Up and Rhythms of Compassion CanEx 3. Levy is soon to release a his fourth album by fall titled "I Love Canada". You can reach Levy Abad through , lev67.abad@yahoo.ca or on Facebook.).