The ironic ‘Trillion Peso March’

By Herbert Vego

THE “Trillion Peso March” — unfolding nationwide on Sunday to condemn graft and corruption in the implementation of the government’s flood-control projects — coincides with the 53^rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. on September 21, 1972.

If he were not the sitting president, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr would join.  He said so in a press conference to support the public’s right to voice frustration over graft and corruption in government. Of course, his sincerity could be doubted.

However, the fact that he encouraged listeners to participate seems to indicate that he does not care about the possibility of rally participants converting the event into a venue for denouncing his late father as a “dictator” who ruled with an iron hand from 1972 to 1981.

The “baby” Marcos probably hopes to atone for the “sins of the father” by projecting himself as an architect of political reforms through good governance. After all, it was he who vowed in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 to run after government officials involved in anomalous flood mitigation, where P1.9 trillion had reportedly been misspent for flawed flood-control projects over the past 15 years.

And so, organized church groups, civil society organizations, labor unions, and political coalitions, are responding to the challenge that is intended to gather rally participants at the Epifanio de los Santos (Edsa) People Power Monument in Quezon City. Several mass movements will unfold elsewhere, including Iloilo City.

As reported by Rjay Zuriaga Castor for the Daily Guardian, at least five city councilors have confirmed their participation in the protest: Sedfrey Cabaluna, Nene Dela Llana, Rex Marcus Sarabia, Miguel Treñas, and Sangguniang Kabataan Federation President Jelma Crystel Implica.

Being now old at 75, I can’t help but recall the hard times we journalists suffered during the elder Marcos’ declaration of martial law in 1972. I was 22. Being already a married journalist in Manila in that year, I momentarily lost my job.  But that’s another story.

-oOo-

THE NATIONAL TEACHERS’ MONTH 

THE World Teachers’ Day is celebrated annually on October 5^th.  But here in the Philippines, we celebrate the National Teachers’ Month from September 5 to October 5 to highlight the importance of education in nation building.

In a small book, “Teacher Talk,” a compilation of teachers’ reflections on the job, 17 active and retired teachers share their profound thoughts on “shaping the minds that shape the nation” — as Chancellor Leo Malagar of UP-Cebu says in its foreword.

One of the retired Math and Chemistry professors with an article in the book is our good friend Aurora Alerta-Lim of Central Philippine University (CPU). Let me quote a portion of his article, “Teaching Chemistry and Beyond”:

“Equally, mathematics teachers not only share principles but give extra time to those students who need more help to understand and appreciate the relevance of numbers to actual life. Mathematics becomes interesting and easy to learn when the teacher uses relevant examples. A student from a family of lawyers, businessmen or doctors will react readily to math problems relevant to their home environment.”

I am not so good at math, unfortunately.  But I turned that disadvantage into advantage by studying journalism.  It has paid off in the thousands of news stories, editorials, features and columns that I have written in my 55 long years as a full-time journalist.

-oOo-

POWER PRICE HIKE UNAVOIDABLE

POWER consumers have to contend with higher electricity rates this September in response to the decision of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to raise multiple yellow alert advisories due to tight power supply in the Visayas grid.

This means that customers of MORE Power in Iloilo City will be billed ₱12.44 per kilowatt-hour, or an increase of ₱1.56.

Yellow alerts are triggered when the supply margin falls below the capacity of the largest generating unit in the grid.

Therefore, Panay Island has to source power from Luzon, Negros, and Mindanao.

Nevertheless, among power distributors in Western Visayas, MORE Power has maintained the lowest residential electricity rate.