The Civic Duties of Ateneans

THE CIVIC DUTIES OF ATENEANS
Commencement Address to the Class of 2009
Ateneo de Davao University
March 21, 2009
Justice Antonio T. Carpio

Father Antonio Samson, President of the Ateneo de Davao University, Mr. Paul Dominguez, Chair of the Board of Trustees, other members of the Board of Trustees, the Deans of the Colleges, members of the Faculty, other officials of the University, Father Robert Hogan, the Class of 2009, parents and relatives of the graduates, my fellow alumni of this distinguished University, my colleague in the Supreme Court Justice Conchita Morales, Atty. J Castro of the Judicial and Bar Council, Attys. Nonong and Charito Cruz, my wife Ruth and my daughter Audrey, my fellow Davaoeños, friends -- good morning to all.

Allow me to thank the Board of Trustees for conferring on me this honorary Doctorate of Laws. I am deeply honored with this award bestowed by my own alma mater. And I am of course extremely pleased to address the Class of 2009 this morning.

I welcome this privilege to give you, the Class of 2009, some parting advice before you receive your diplomas and walk out of the gates of this University. As a life-long student of the law, I can tell you about your rights as citizens of our country. But this morning, I will tell you about your civic duties.

The real world you are about to face is now in turmoil -- economically, socially and politically -- largely because people are obsessed with their rights and have forgotten their civic duties to society and country.

Our Constitution enumerates our rights as citizens, but you cannot find in our Constitution an enumeration of our civic duties. Congress has not passed a law enumerating the civic duties of citizens, not even the law that established the Civic Welfare Training Service. There is no decision of the Supreme Court enumerating, or discussing, the civic duties of citizens. In the curriculum of most schools, civics is taught as part of other subjects.

I believe that revisiting your civic duties as citizens is a fitting send-off as you start your exciting journey in the real world.

I shall bring you to my Latin class forty plus years ago in Ateneo de Davao High School where Father John Hogan taught us the origin of civics, from the Latin word civitas or city. The early Romans had the duty to defend their city, and this took the form of service as a foot soldier in the Roman army. And so the farmer-soldier was born -- the average Roman citizen tilled his farm, but when his city came under threat, he would take up arms as a soldier. He made or bought his own uniform, sword and shield. He armed himself using his own resources. That was how Rome became a strong Republic – through the unselfish and patriotic efforts of all its citizens.

Today, what is the equivalent of the farmer-soldier in the Republic of the Philippines? What are the civic duties of every Filipino citizen to maintain and support a strong Republic -- to insure good governance, development and justice in our country?

The first civic duty of a citizen is to seek the truth, and to stick to the truth. There can be no good governance without the truth. A government policy that allows suppression of the truth breeds suspicion of governmental acts, and destroys public trust in government itself.

During the Senate impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, the suppression of the contents of the envelope triggered within 24 hours a public outrage that led to EDSA II and the ouster of the President. Ironically, the prosecution did not even present during the trial the contents of the envelope to secure the conviction of President Estrada for plunder. It turned out the contents of the envelope were not that important. And yet the mere suppression of the contents of the envelope was enough to cause the sudden downfall of the President. Indeed, suppressing the truth could be more fatal than disclosing the truth.

The second civic duty of a citizen is to participate in the governance of our country. At the minimum, this duty means voting in every election, and voting only those you can trust to run the government honestly and efficiently. About twenty-five percent of our electorate do not vote largely because of apathy -- a neglect or refusal to participate in the governance of our country. This 25% is more than enough to change the outcome of any election.

The election of Barack Obama to the U.S. Presidency proves that ordinary people, when organized and motivated, can beat well-oiled political machineries. The Obama phenomenon required one essential thing – the participation of the citizenry by registering to vote in the elections. Obama’s campaign workers registered millions of new voters, changing the voting map of the United States. This made the big difference on election day. The lesson is clear: even those who in the past never voted in the elections can elect the president they want and deserve, if they exercise their duty to vote. In the coming elections in 2010, and in succeeding elections, be sure to exercise your duty to vote, and to vote only honest and competent candidates to public office.

The third civic duty of a citizen is to oppose oppressive or corrupt acts of those who hold public office. Public office is a public trust. If that trust is breached, the citizenry must demand an accounting because history has shown that only a vigilant citizenry can prevent abuse of public trust. An abuse of public trust that goes unchecked will repeat itself, and will become widespread and even more vicious.

When I was still in the private practice of law, I was one of those who filed the first plunder case against a sitting President. My law partners and I fielded a battery of lawyers in the first impeachment trial of a President. And these private lawyers assisted the public prosecutors in the plunder trial. The idea that we wanted to convey is that every citizen, within his or her means and competence, must prevent abuses especially by the highest public official. If we do not, then no one else will and we will truly deserve the government we get.

The fourth civic duty of a citizen is to respect the fundamental rights of his or her fellow citizens. We live in a pluralistic society of different religions, traditions and ethnic origins. We can only survive if we live in harmony with our fellow citizens.

As technology shrinks our 7,100 islands, and as a growing population consumes more of our diminishing resources, there will be greater competition not only among Filipinos in general, but also among Filipinos of different backgrounds. We need to be more tolerant than ever of those who do not share our own background or world-view.

The fifth civic duty of a citizen is to be fair in all his or her dealings with others. Whether you work in the public or private sector, you ultimately serve as trustees -- trustees of the public, and trustees of the stockholders or members you serve. Never abuse such trust. The root of the problem in the government and corporate world today is abuse of trust motivated by greed. Public officials entrusted with public funds treat those funds as their personal assets. Executives entrusted with corporate funds pay themselves huge bonuses even if their companies lose money.

Such abuse of trust has caused untold misery to taxpayers who continue to suffer from lack of basic services. Such abuse of trust has impoverished ordinary investors, like retired schoolteachers, who have lost their lifetime savings. It boils down to a failure by those who hold public or private office to exercise the civic duty to act with fairness in all their actions.

The sixth civic duty of a citizen is to leave his or her country a better place than he or she found it. Our country was built on the blood, toil, tears and sweat of every generation of Filipinos that lived in this country. A country does not develop in just one generation. A sustained development over several generations is required to lay the foundation for a country to take off, although the actual take off or turn-around can take place in just 15 to 20 years, as what happened in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and China.

The development of our country broke down during the martial law years. An analysis of UNESCO’s motion chart of development indexes shows that for one entire decade, the Philippines did not progress because its GDP in 1976 was roughly the same as its GDP in 1986. In the same period, the GDP of our neighboring countries rapidly increased, and this accounts in part for how far they have developed, and how far we have lagged behind, today. We cannot afford a repeat of those stagnant years. It is your civic duty to insure that the country keeps on developing in your generation.

I have explained the civic duties of every citizen. But you, the Class of 2009, you have received a far better education in Ateneo than the rest of the 1.4 million young Filipinos who are entering the labor force this year. To you who have received a far better education, more is expected of you. You have a seventh special civic duty to the country as graduates of the Ateneo.

Your Ateneo education has taught you to ask questions, to think and analyze, and to dare to act on your convictions. In life, these are the essential tools to solve problems, to remove bottlenecks, to improve efficiencies, to make new discoveries, and to create new products. Your Ateneo education has taught you to question old ways of doing things, why they were hailed as solutions when they first appeared, and why they are now the intractable problems that must be overcome at all cost. The contemporary thinker Matt Miller calls these old ways that weigh us down The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. Dead Ideas can be laid to rest only by asking questions, by thinking and analyzing, and by daring to act to put the Dead Ideas to their grave.

In 1992, it took from 3 to 15 years to get a telephone line in Metro Manila. In the provinces, most people did not even expect to get a telephone in their lifetime. The problem was the telephone industry was a monopoly. When the modern telephone system was first introduced in this country, a monopoly franchise was necessary to entice the private sector to raise the huge capital for the telephone system. The monopoly was the solution then. From the 1960s onwards, the demand for telephones skyrocketed. But the telephone monopoly, secure in its franchise, took its sweet time in meeting the huge demand. Facing no competition, the monopoly also became inefficient. The telephone monopoly had become the problem, and no longer the solution.

As Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of President Fidel Ramos, I recommended the issuance of an Executive Order mandating the telephone monopoly to interconnect with all new cellular phone companies. No new cellular phone company would enter the industry if its subscribers could not call the subscribers of the telephone monopoly. I argued that the telephone monopoly franchise applied only to landlines, and not to cellular lines. The President signed the Executive Order. Suddenly, new cellular companies rushed to enter the industry. Competition blossomed. In less than two years, any one could get a cellular phone on demand with no waiting time.

The same thing happened in the shipping industry. A Dead Idea, the prior operator rule, prevented for several decades competition in inter-island shipping. Under the prior operator rule, existing shipping lines had a veto power over new companies that wanted to operate in the same routes. The prior operator rule was invented by administrative agencies to encourage investments in the shipping industry. But after several decades, the prior operator rule became an obstacle to the modernization of the shipping industry. Upon my recommendation, President Ramos issued an administrative order abolishing the prior operator rule. Soon thereafter, new roll-on, roll-off vessels plied the sea-lanes, making possible the nautical highways that connect our islands today.

When I joined the Supreme Court in 2001, I noticed that it took three to five years before the Philippine Reports – the book bound copies of decisions of the Supreme Court - reached trial court judges in the provinces. Printing the Philippine Reports took years, and shipping them to the provinces was expensive. Disseminating Supreme Court decisions in this way was another Dead Idea. So in 2004 I set-up the Supreme Court E-Library, the first web-based, full text search and retrieval electronic library in the Philippines.

Decisions of the Supreme Court are uploaded to the E-Library within 72 hours from promulgation. What took several years to reach trial court judges in the provinces now takes only a few days. And with the search engine of the E-Library, what took weeks to research now takes only a few minutes by simply typing key words or phrases. Judges without internet connection access the Supreme Court decisions thru the compact disc version of the E-Library, which we simply send by mail to trial judges.

Dead Ideas can block the progress and development of our nation for years or even decades. Once we throw away these Dead Ideas, the nation’s development will accelerate rapidly. In the telecommunications industry, analysts estimate that for every 10% cellular phone penetration of the population, the economy on the average gains a 1.5% one-time increase in GDP. Today, more than 50% of our population have cellular phones compared to almost zero percent when President Ramos issued the Executive Order in 1993.

As graduates of the Ateneo, you have the skills to identify Dead Ideas, to question old ways, to analyze problems, and to think of new solutions. You also have the confidence to dare to implement your solutions. The Ateneo has equipped you with the sword and shield to slay the dragons of Dead Ideas. As full-fledged Blue Knights, you are now ready to fulfill your special civic duty as Ateneans -- to do battle with the Dead Ideas in the real world as you leave the gates of this University.

To the Class of 2009, in your journey through life, you will now and then be faced with choices -- either to follow through, or to turn your back, on your civic duties to our country. Like the Roman farmer-soldiers of old, face bravely your civic duties as citizens of our country. And like true Ateneans, dare to question, to think, to analyze, and to act on your convictions. In honoring your civic duties as citizens and as Ateneans, you become men and women for others in the Ignatian Spirit in our own time and age.

To the Class of 2009, my fellow alumni of this distinguished University we are all proud of, congratulations and Godspeed!

Case No. 2008-C-00147

I was at LTFRB this afternoon to attend a summon for the case I filed against a taxi company whose driver was rude and arrogant. The case was filed last December 2008. I was on my way home from the airport, as soon as the taxi exited the gates of the airport, the driver asked me to pay him beyond what would be in the taximeter.

I argued with him that such practice was not allowed. He gave me a barrage of reason why I should give him extra -- first, my home was too far, second, he might not have a passenger on his way back, third, it's Christmas time, fourth, there is nothing wrong with asking for a little extra.

Well, I just came from Manila and the taxi drivers there had the same attitude - so this davao cabbie driver even fueled my right to complain.

So there I was in the hearing. I met the operator, I met the driver, I met the LTFRB Presiding Officer. I was asked to take an oath for the first time in my life on a witness stand .... "nothing but the truth". I was asked to explain my complaint.

Afterwhich, the operator opined that the company had not been remiss in its reminders to its drivers regarding the use of taximeter and the prohibition of "pakyaw", "asking for extra beyond the taximeter, etc. The driver admitted it was his fault, although with a hint of protest.

Then the presiding officer confiscated his driver's license and asked him to pay P3,000 fine in violation of a certain provision under LTFRB rules.

Oh my, I thought a reprimand or a warning for a first offense was in order.

So, I gave my piece of mind. I told the presiding officer it was reassuring for me that the company was not remiss in reminding and training its drivers regarding courtesy and parameters of its Certificate of Public Convenience. I also told the driver that I would be willing to accept his apology -- but he would have a record in the agency for such violation, and subsequent violation would merit the full penalty of P3,000 fine and suspension of his license.

So ordered, said the presiding officer.

The hearing was finished in 45 minutes. I found out the taxi operator was an Ateneo graduate.

So if you have complaints with taxi drivers and operators, file them at:

Atty. Abdulgafar A. Mohammad, CESO V
Regional Director
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board
Regional Office XI
Balusong Avenue, Davao City
Fax (82) 297-2525

Barack Hussein Obama Inaugural Address

Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared
for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you
have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I
thank President
Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and
cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have
been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace.
Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging
storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the
skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have
remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding
documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at
war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is
badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of
some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the
nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.
Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day
brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our
adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less
measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land —
a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next
generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious
and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.
But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of
purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have
strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come
to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring
spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift,
that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given
promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue
their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is
never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of
shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the
faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the
pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the
doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women
obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards
prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across
oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of
the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg;
Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till
their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America
as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the
differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous,
powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this
crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no
less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our
capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting
narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions that time has surely
passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and
begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy
calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act not only to create new
jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and
bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and
bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield
technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We
will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our
factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities
to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will
do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions who suggest
that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are
short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free
men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and
necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath
them that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long
no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is
too big or too small, but whether it works whether it helps families find
jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no,
programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be
held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in
the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between
a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill.
Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this
crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out
of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the
prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the
size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on
our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of
charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety
and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely
imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man,
a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the
world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all
other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest
capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is
a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future
of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just
with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle
us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its
prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force
of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we
can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater
cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly
leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With
old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear
threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize
for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who
seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we
say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot
outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We
are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers.
We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this
Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and
segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we
cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the
lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our
common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in
ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and
mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict,
or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge
you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power
through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you
are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are
willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your
farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed
hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we
say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders;
nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the
world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble
gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off
deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as
the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor
them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they
embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something
greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define
a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and
determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is
the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness
of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job
which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to
storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to
nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be
new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and
honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and
patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the
quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a
return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of
responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have
duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not
grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there
is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than
giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to
shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and
children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this
magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might
not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take
a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have
traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small
band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river.
The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained
with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in
doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when
nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country,
alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship,
let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave
once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said
by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this
journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes
fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great
gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

PRESS RELEASE: Timor-Leste President Ramos-Horta Speaks at the Ateneo

Professor José Ramos-Horta

Professor José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste and 1996 Nobel Laureate for Peace, will give a Lecture on "Is Long Lasting Peace an Attainable Dream?" at the Ateneo de Davao University at two-thirty in the afternoon, 14 January 2009.

President Horta's talk, hosted by the Ateneo de Davao University in cooperation with Bridges: Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace and the International Peace Foundation in Bangkok, Thailand, is part of a program to bring Nobel laureates to the Philippines. Its topic of peace is most timely for Mindanao.

The lecture will be held at the 7/F Finster Hall Auditorium, Jacinto Campus. It is open to the general public and admission is free.

For a reserved seat, please contact Venus at (82) 221.2411 local 8201 or send an e-mail to pres@addu.edu.ph ; or fax to (82) 226.4116 or send SMS thru SMART: key in OP [space] FEEDBACK [space] YOUR MESSAGE and send to 700ADDU.

For more information about the lecture, please click here.

Lecture-Visit of H.E. Prof Jose Ramos-Horta

Is Lasting Peace an Attainable Dream?
H.E. Prof. Jose Ramos-Horta
President of Timor-Leste
1996 Nobel Laureate for Peace

14 January 2009; 2:00 PM
Auditorium, Finster Hall
Ateneo de Davao University
Jacinto St., Davao City

Open to General Public
RSVP: (82) 221.2411 local 8201
e-Mail: pres@addu.edu.ph

This Lecture-Visit is part of a program to bring Nobel Laureates to the Philippines, coordinated by Bridges: Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace and International Peace Foundation based in Bangkok, Thailand.

H.E. Prof. Jose Ramos-Horta is a 1996 Nobel Laureate for Peace, the President of Timor-Leste and a Patron of the International Peace Foundation.

Jose Ramos-Horta was born in Dili, the capital of East Timor, to a Timorese mother and a Portuguese father who had been exiled to what was then Portuguese Timor by the Salazar dictatorship. He was educated in a Catholic mission in the small village of Soibada. Of his eleven brothers and sisters, four were allegedly killed during the struggle between Fretilin and Indonesian military.

A moderate in the emerging Timorese nationalist leadership, Jose Ramos-Horta was appointed Foreign Minister in the "Democratic Republic of East Timor" government proclaimed by the pro-independence parties in November 1975. When appointed minister, Jose Ramos Horta was only 25 years old. He left East Timor three days before the Indonesian troops invaded to plead the Timorese case before the United Nations.

Jose Ramos Horta arrived in New York to address the UN Security Council and urge them to take action in the face of the Indonesian military onslaught which would result in over 200,000 East Timorese deaths between 1976 and 1981. During the 24 years of the occupation of East Timor José Ramos-Horta was the international voice of the Timorese people. In exile from his country from 1975 to 1999, he was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Timorese independence movement. The youngest UN diplomat in history and an international human rights figure, he is one of the three central figures in the country's struggle for independence.

In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo, the religious leader of East Timor, "to honour their sustained and self-sacrificing contributions for a small but oppressed people". A portion of the funds received from the Nobel Prize were used to establish the José Ramos-Horta Microcredit Fund for the Poor, which is in full operation today, with a payback rate of 97%.

In 1999, under the umbrella of the United Nations, East Timor held a referendum allowing the Timorese to vote on independence. When the referendum results showed more than 85% favoring independence, Indonesia-backed militia were unleashed across the country. They killed thousands in the streets, displaced hundreds of thousands and burned 85% of the buildings in the country. After the entry of a UN peacekeeping force, Jose Ramos-Horta returned to his homeland to help rebuild the country from the devastation. Working closely with the UN and Sergio Vierra de Mello, the head of the UN Adminstration in East Timor until 2002, he helped to bring about peaceful elections of the country's President and Parliament, who in turn drafted the country's constitution.

After serving for seven years as the new country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, when turmoil and civil war threatened the new country, he stepped into the shoes of Prime Minister and immediately set about restoring calm to the country.

Before his appointment as Prime Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta was considered a possible candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as United Nations Secretary-General.[9] He dropped out of the race in order to serve as East Timor's Prime Minister, but he has indicated that he might run for the UN position at some time in the future. In May 2007 Jose Ramos-Horta was elected President of Timor-Leste.

José Ramos Horta studied Public International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law and at Antioch University where he completed a Master of Arts degree in Peace Studies. He was trained in Human Rights Law at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg and attended Post-Graduate courses in American Foreign Policy at Columbia University in New York. He is a Senior Associate Member of the University of Oxford's St Antony's College and until today continues in his role as the international voice of East Timor.

Partners

Yuchengco Group of Companies
Presidential Assistant for the Peace Process
City Mayor of Davao City
University of the Immaculate Conception, Davao City

If You Forget Me

Kung Kalimutan Mo Ako
Pablo Neruda
(Salin ni Bong Eliab)

Alam mo kung papaano ito:
Kung masulyapan ko
ang malakristal na buwan,
ang mapupulang sanga ng taglagas sa aking durungawan,
Kung dumampi sa akin
malapit sa apoy
ang malamultong abo
o ang kulubot na katawan na kahoy,
dinadala ako, lahat patungo sa 'yo
kung baga lahat ng bagay,
bango, ilaw, metal,
mga bangkang maliliit
naglalayag
tungo sa mga isla mong naghihintay sa akin.

Kung sakali ngayon
unti-unting ayaw mo na akong mahalin
`Di na rin kita mamahalin dahan-dahan.

Kung sakaling
bigla mo akong kinalimutan.
Huwag mo na akong hanapin,
Sapagkat matagal na kitang kinalimutan.

Kung pagnilayan mo ng matagal,
ang ihip ng mga bandilang
dumadaan sa buhay ko,
at nagpasya kang lisanin
ang dalampasigan ng aking puso
na aking kinaugatan,
alalahanin
sa araw ding iyon,
sa sandaling yaon,
Bibitaw ang aking mga kamay
at hahayo ang aking mga ugat
maghanap ng lupang madapuan.

Ngunit
kung sakaling sa bawat araw,
sa bawat sandali,
nararanasan mong ikaw ang aking kapalaran
ng may katamisang dumadaloy,
kung sakaling sa bawat araw
umaakyat ang isang bulaklak
sa iyong mga labi
tungo sa akin
Ah, irog ko, ah akin lamang,
sa loob ko bumabalik ang apoy,
sa loob ko walang nanamlay o nakalimutan,
buhay ng aking pag-ibig ang iyong pag-ibig, irog,
at habang buhay, iyong haplos
mananatili sa aking haplos. 

Pagbabago@Pilipinas Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE

We at Pagbabago@Pilipinas, together with the rest of the nation believe that the truth about the ZTE project must be allowed to surface that justice may be served. For too long and too often, the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been contemptuous of any attempts at arriving at the truth on important matters that have robbed the nation of its wealth and wounded its spirit. The latest kidnapping attempt of witness Jun Lozada is another blatant attempt at truth suppression, among many other actions that have attempted to muddle every investigation dating all the way back to the Jose Pidal scandal and including the Hello Garci scandal, the Fertilizer scam, the Southrail projects, the Macapagal highway among many others.

We stand steadfast behind all efforts to arrive at the truth about the ZTE kickback scandal. Let everyone involved testify freely and let justice move swiftly and charge the guilty regardless of who they are.

We say with one voice that anyone who stands in the way of the quest for truth, including GMA and members of her administration, should immediately resign. Politicians who lie, cheat and thwart justice should have no place in the governance of this nation. Enough is enough. The Philippines deserves better-- and our people should settle for nothing less.


pagbabago@pilipinas Foundation
pagbabago.tripod.com