This is the #NeverForget Diary, a weekly summary of what’s happening in the Philippines under Marcos II. In a time of mangled histories and fragile memories, it’s crucial never to forget. (Note: this post may be clipped in your email inbox. Photo above from Reuters/Lisa Marie David.)
A multitude of problems greeted children and their parents on Monday, August 22, when the Department of Education (DepEd) officially started classes and reopened its schools for face-to-face classes nationwide.
This is big news since the Philippines is one of the last countries in the world to reopen its schools since the pandemic struck.
On August 22, there was extremely heavy traffic in some areas of Metro Manila like Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
Commuting got a lot worse for the riding public:
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) rather inanely implored parents to avoid bringing their kids to school “too early” to reduce the risk of road accidents involving kids. Huh?
The overdue return to school—pushed to help abate the country’s enormous “learning losses”—has brought to light old problems of the education system, including the chronic lack of facilities like armchairs and tables:
In response to this specific scene reported by Inquirer’s Jane Bautista, DepEd NCR and the Manila Public Information Office released a statement calling the journalist’s report “fake news.”
Inquirer stood by its story. Thankfully, the school’s teachers and staff also corroborated the report:
Meanwhile, at Macabebe town in Pampanga province, students had to be ferried on boats and waded through floods in their very classrooms on the first day of classes:
One comic joked that the lesson might be about leptospirosis…
Floods also hampered school opening in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where one parent likened the rising waters to her daughter’s growth spurt:
A fish was seen in one of the classrooms there:
To be fair, floods are nothing new in Hagonoy; at least one tricycle driver has adapted to this long-standing problem by making his vehicle a lot taller.
In other areas, some classrooms still include plastic barriers, which engineers have long argued are quite useless and stupid:
Some netizens lamented the government’s lack of preparation in certain areas:
The frustration of many students was captured by these kids:
By the way, where’s DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte in all this?
She visited the Dinalupihan Elementary School in Bataan province, where she was greeted by a huge tarpaulin with her name and face on it…
…and even serenaded by a youth orchestra.
The classrooms VP Duterte visited were as nice as can be.
Despite several troubles, VP Sarah and the police declared the school opening “smooth.” Really?
Such a statement makes this placing of photos in one classroom rather ironic:
Speaking of Sara Duterte, for 2023 the Office of the VP is asking for a whopping P2.3 billion budget. That’s more than thrice the 2022 budget of the OVP under ex-VP Leni Robredo. Of the P2.3 billion, P91.4 million is for “general administration and support” while the great bulk of it (P2.2 billion) will be spent on an ambiguous “Good Governance Program.”
Here’s a quick explainer on it:
On August 25, the Senate conducted a blue ribbon committee hearing on the Procurement Service’s purchase of overpriced but outdated laptops for DepEd:
Senator Francis Tolentino pointed out hasty errors in the procurement contract:
Ex-DepEd secretary Leonor Briones faced the hearing, but was rushed on a wheelchair to the Senate clinic in the middle of the proceedings:
Senator Alan Cayetano absolved Briones from any liability, and called the anomalous laptop deal “honest corruption.” What?
PARTY PA MORE
On Sunday, August 21, the First Family threw a surprise party for First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos:
Pres. Marcos Jr. was seen singing “Never Let Her Slip Away” at the event.
This was just a day after the disastrous distribution of aid by the Department of Social Welfare and Development nationwide:
It’s bad enough that the DSWD’s distribution was disastrous. But 4Ps beneficiaries who got money from last week are being told to return the money they got:
SALT SHORTAGE, TOO
This week, some Coca-Cola plants have suspended operations “as a result of the ongoing sugar crisis.” Tarps were hung in front of their factories:
The Office of the Press Secretary posted a card on Facebook with the following text: “Consumers now enjoying price-drop of sugar to P70 per kilo — PBBM.” But official data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed that as of August 22 average prices of refined sugar rose further in past weeks.
The situation is so bad that some consumers have asked vendors to sell sugar per spoon at a cost of P1 per sugar (that’s all they can afford):
In a Senate hearing, it was revealed that Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez had sanctioned the signing of Sugar Order 4 by Department of Agriculture (DA) ex-undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian:
Usec. Sebastian had sought the president’s comments on the sugar crisis, but ES Rodriguez intentionally did not respond.
Here’s a witty summary of the Senate hearing on the rice importation debacle:
ES Rodriguez could’ve done a better job managing the president. Here are some thoughts of Raf Ignacio, a former close-in aide of the late president Noynoy Aquino:
Apparently, ES Rodriguez has also been “leading the raids on supposed untapped stocks of sugar in Metro Manila and other provinces.” Why is he doing that at all?
In some raids, warehouses were visited by inspectors who later left the warehouses untouched. What gives?
Apart from sugar, salt is also in short supply these days.
Yet government seems to be of two minds on this:
Here’s a rundown of shortages in the country now:
In light of food inflation and shortages, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) asked people to consider buying noche buena items as early as now, in time for Christmas 2022:
A food protest erupted in Iloilo’s District Jail, where prisoners complained about insufficient food rations, among other things. Are they also victims of the food shortages?
MISCELLANY
On Friday, August 26, President Marcos Jr.’s economic managers briefed lawmakers on the proposed P5.268 trillion budget for 2023. House Speaker Martin Romualdez—a nephew of Imelda Marcos said that: “We will make sure that each bit of spending will contribute to our goal of reigniting the fires of our economic forges and at least propel the country to reach economic growth at pre-pandemic levels.”
But there are problems with such a statement:
A pause in the merger of ABS-CBN and TV5, owing to issues arising from Congress:
Senator Alan Cayetano is pressuring the University of the Philippines to bring back the UPCAT or UP College Admission Test. He says—without any evidence—that “Without UPCAT, we are killing the dreams of these highly qualified students without giving them a chance.”
Government is reportedly not allocating any money for service contracting and Libreng Sakay (free public transpo rides) next year, 2023:
Unfortunate, since service contracting is being advocated by some urban planners:
There’s also this exchange on Twitter:
I contributed a bit to this DW piece written by journalist Ana Santos:
Ex-VP Leni Robredo obtained an honorary doctorate in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday, August 27:
#NEVERFORGET #HOLDTHELINE
True to form, some lawmakers are proposing to abolish the PCGG or Presidential Commission on Good Government, the government office tasked to go after the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth:
Commission on Higher Education chair Prospero de Vera distanced himself from the recent arrest of his sister, a martial law victim:
The Palace released a list of official holidays in 2023. The EDSA anniversary (Feb 25) and Ninoy Aquino Day (August 21) are still on it.
But there are noticeable changes in the way this memo was written:
Podcast network Pumapodcast tells the story of the AVSECOM van:
Hopefully, Malaysia learns from the Philippines and never forgets:
A number of prominent people, including economist Winnie Monsod, were denied access to ex-senator Leila de Lima on her 63rd birthday:
Here are data on political prisoners in the Philippines:
Another instance of media repression:
GRAPHS OF NOTE
So many countries are raising interest rates amid rising inflation:
Some economists feared that the spell of high global inflation could set off wage-price spirals. But there’s no evidence of that, at least in the eurozone:
A case for vaccine mandates:
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommended explainer video: “Paano magkahawig ang Sri Lanka crisis at Martial Law sa Pilipinas?” by Rappler, featuring moi.
Recommended documentary: “Marcos New York tour: Mga gusaling nabili ng nakaw na yaman” by Rappler, featuring former PCGG head Ruben Carranza.
Recommended music video: “Pop Off Ate (Flexbomb Girls Version)” from Drag Race Philippines.
Recommended series: Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon on HBO. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Episode 1 was the bomb, even if too serious compared to GOT. Very promising start.
Recommended series: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Light, fun series. But not at the level of Loki or WandaVision.
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