Firenze, 9 maggio 2022 - “La vaccinazione in Toscana
ha dato ottimi risultati, sono evidenti. I nuovi casi positivi sono in
diminuzione. Il tasso di positività è, però, in crescita. Se la tendenza
sarà questa, sono persuaso che tra settembre-ottobre sarà necessario il richiamo con una quarta dose, partendo dai più fragili per estenderla poi a tutta la popolazione”.
Lo
ha detto il presidente della Regione, Eugenio Giani, intervenuto
stamani a Pisa a un'iniziativa promossa dall'Ateneo pisano, a cui ha
preso parte anche il sottosegretario di Stato alla Salute Andrea Costa.
“Ringrazio medici, infermieri, operatori sanitari e volontari che hanno
contribuito a creare in Toscana una macchina organizzativa da quasi 9
milioni di dosi somministrate”, ha proseguito il presidente, che
nell’occasione ha incontrato gli studenti dei corsi di Laurea triennali e
Magistrali dell’Area di Medicina e Farmacia, nell’ambito dell’evento
dedicato a ‘L’esperienza Covid e le sfide del futuro: il ruolo dei
giovani nel Servizio Sanitario Nazionale’. “Siamo pronti ad affrontare
le nuove sfide che ci attendono. La pandemia è stata una grande lezione
di consapevolezza e senso di responsabilità”.
Toscana, Giani chiede il lockdown per i non vaccinati
L'ordinanza
del presidente della Regione: da domani 29 dicembre il tampone
antigenico positivo sarà sufficiente per porre una persona in
isolamento, quello negativo per stabilirne la fine o terminare una
quarantena
ANSA
"La vera protezione è la terza dose", sottolinea il governatore Eugenio Giani
"L'ordinanza
che ho firmato questo pomeriggio precisa le nuove modalità di diagnosi
dei casi positivi e dei contatti stretti, le metodiche di tracciamento
ed i criteri di fine isolamento e fine quarantena. In particolare, nel
caso di positività del tampone antigenico rapido non si dovrà ricorrere alla successiva verifica col tampone molecolare:
questo ridurrà drasticamente il numero di tamponi richiesti, oltre a
semplificare alcuni passaggi burocratici, legati per esempio al lavoro".
Lo ha annunciato il presidente della Regione Toscana, Eugenio Giani.
Le nuove indicazioni in dettaglio
Il provvedimento sarà in vigore già da domani 29 dicembre.
Il test antigenico rapido dovrà essere esteso ai contatti stretti ad
alto rischio, che saranno posti in quarantena. Le centrali di
tracciamento dovranno seguire il seguente ordine di priorità di tracciamento:
prima i casi positivi non vaccinati, poi i positivi vaccinati, infine i
contatti stretti nelle 48 ore precedenti. Per quanto riguarda la fine della quarantena,
in relazione ai soggetti vaccinati, nel caso di contatti con casi di
Covid-19 confermati, i contatti stretti devono rimanere sette giorni in
quarantena ed avere al termine di essa il test antigenico negativo
oppure devono lasciar trascorrere 14 giorni di quarantena anche in
assenza di test diagnostico. I soggetti a basso rischio, per i quali non
è necessaria la quarantena, devono mantenere le comuni precauzioni igienico-sanitarie
(mascherina, distanziamento e igiene). Invece, per quanto riguarda i
non vaccinati, sempre nel caso di contatti con casi di Covid-19, sia i
soggetti ad alto che quelli a basso rischio devono rimanere 10 giorni di
quarantena ed avere esito negativo al test antigenico oppure lasciar
trascorrere 14 giorni di quarantena anche in assenza di test
diagnostico.
Il governatore: "La vera protezione è la terza dose"
"È
evidente - ha detto inoltre Giani - che coloro che risultano negativi
al test antigenico rapido, ma sentono la necessità di una verifica
ulteriore, dovranno rivolgersi al proprio medico curante che prenderà le
misure più opportune di intervento. La Regione sta aumentando in maniera consistente il numero di addetti al tracciamento,
in modo da far fronte ad un numero altissimo di verifiche di
positività, sia delle persone potenzialmente colpite dal virus, sia dei
contatti stretti. In ultimo aggiungo che tutto questo non deve far
perder d'occhio l'importanza fondamentale della vaccinazione,
dal momento che tutti coloro che hanno completato il ciclo con la terza
dose stanno presentando un livello di difesa immunitaria dalla variante
Omicron molto elevato. L'invito che rivolgo quindi a tutti i cittadini
toscani è di prenotare la terza dose del vaccino, che è la vera e più
importante protezione contro il Covid-19 e le sue varianti".
Appello al Governo: obbligo vaccinale o lockdown per non vaccinati
Poi
Giani, alla vigilia della cabina di regia del Comitato tecnico
scientifico che si riunirà domani, lancia una richiesta all'esecutivo:
"Faccio appello al Governo, in vista delle decisioni che prenderà
domani, affinché vada verso quello che per il contrasto al Covid è ormai
necessario: l'obbligo vaccinale o il lockdown per i non vaccinati, sul
modello di quanto fatto in Austria e Germania".
Giudice ridà lavoro a psicologa no vax, obbligo inutile e lesivo della dignità
di FRANCESCO BORGONOVO – La Verità di oggi
La decisione presa dal giudice Susanna Zanda riguarda una psicologa che nell’ottobre del 2021 è stata sospesa dall’ordine della Toscana
in quanto non vaccinata. Ebbene, da lunedì questa dottoressa, dopo
oltre otto mesi trascorsi senza stipendio, ha potuto riprendere a
lavorare. Il cautelare del tribunale fiorentino, infatti, stabilisce che
la psicologa possa riprendere l’attività professionale anche senza
sottoporsi «al trattamento iniettivo» e che possa operare «in qualunque
modalità (sia in presenza che da remoto) alla stessa stregua dei
colleghi vaccinati »
Il fatto che si debba specificare la modalità di lavoro la dice lunga
sull’assurdità dei vincoli imposti finora agli psicologi: che un non
vaccinato non p o s s a l av o r a r e nemmeno da remoto tramite sedute
online non può in alcun modo passare per una misura sanitaria, si tratta
di accanimento puro e semplice. In ogni caso, a differenza di altri
professionisti che ancora oggi sono costretti a restare inattivi, la
psicologa toscana, almeno per ora, ha diritto a riprendere le sedute.
E l’aspetto più importante dell’ordinanza che la riguarda sta,
probabilmente, proprio nella speranza che essa offre ad altre persone
che si trovano da troppo tempo nella medesima condizione. A questo
proposito, le parole del giudice sono di granito. Nell’ordinanza si
spiega che il diritto al lavoro «viene acquisito per nascita in base
all’articolo 4 della Costituzione» e che «in questo caso viene
inammissibilmente “c o n c es s o” da l l ’Ordine di appartenenza previa
sottoposizione a un trattamento iniettivo».
Insomma, non è accettabile che una persona venga privata della
possibilità di lavorare e sostentarsi qualora scelga di non vaccinarsi.
Il passaggio più pregnante del testo, tuttavia, è forse quello che
richiama i dati ufficiali sui contagi.
Il giudice di Firenze fa notare infatti che il dl 44/21 che
istituisce l’obbligo di vaccino «si propone lo scopo di impedire la
malattia e assicurare condizioni di sicurezza in ambito sanitario».
Ed è esattamente qui il punto nevralgico: «I report di Aifa sia coevi
alla sospensione della dottoressa che quelli più recenti di gennaio e
maggio 2022 […] riportano un fenomeno opposto a quello che si voleva
raggiunge con la vaccinazione», continua il giudice, «ovvero un dilagare
del contagio con la formazione di molteplici varianti virali e il
prevalere numerico delle infezioni e decessi proprio tra i soggetti
vaccinati». Tradotto: visto che il vaccino non protegge dal contagio e
non esclude totalmente nemmeno il ricovero e il decesso, non ha alcun
senso continuare a penalizzare chi ha deciso di non sottoporsi alla
puntura, proseguendo a ritenerlo pericoloso per la collettività oltre
che per sé s te s s o.
Più le righe dell’ordinanza scorrono, più i contenuti si fanno
robusti. Il giudice nota che la Costituzione «dopo l’esperienza del
nazifascismo, non consente di sacrificare il singolo individuo per un
interesse collettivo vero o supposto». Poi aggiunge che le iniezioni
hanno causato «migliaia di decessi e eventi avversi gravi». A un certo
punto si spinge a definire il vaccino «trattamento iniettivo
sperimentale» e ribadisce che l’articolo 32 della Costituzione e varie
convenzioni firmate dall’Italia vietano «l ’imposizione di trattamenti
sanitari senza il consenso de ll’interessato, perché ne verrebbe lesa la
sua dignità, valore che sta alla base delle molteplici norme della
nostra Costituzione rigida».
Per tutti questi motivi, il giudice ha deciso di restituire alla
dottoressa toscana il diritto al lavoro, anche perché «la sospensione
dell’esercizio della professione rischia di compromettere beni primari
dell’individuo quale il diritto al proprio sostentamento e il diritto al
lavoro di cui all’articolo 4, inteso come espressione della libertà
della persona e della sua dignità, garantita appunto dalla libertà dal
bisogno». Leggere parole simili in un provvedimento del tribunale sembra
incredibile. Eppure è accaduto e magari, chissà, accadrà nuovamente in
un altro tribunale che non sia quello di Firenze.
Intanto resta il fatto che alla psicologa di Piombino sia stata, come
scrive il giudice, restituita la dignità, almeno per ora. «A partire
dall’11 luglio», spiega l’avvocato Raul Benassi, «l’Ordine degli
psicologi ha venti giorni di tempo per presentare reclamo al tribunale.
Vedremo come decideranno di agire». Chiaro: l’esito del reclamo potrebbe
pure essere deludente, e cancellare il provvedimento appena emesso. Ma
perché ciò possa avvenire, i giudici dovranno provvedere a smontare le
evidenze elencate nell’o rd i n a n za della loro collega Susanna Zanda.
Può anche darsi che ci riescano, ma non sarà facilissimo. Nel
frattempo, possiamo compiacerci del fatto che, in Italia, almeno per una
ventina di giorni, verrà discriminata e vessata una persona in meno.
Visti i tempi, è un ottimo risultato.
“I vaccini sono pericolosi”, Speranza commenta la sentenza del giudice di Firenze: “vergognosa!”
A
Firenze il giudice civile Susanna Zanda ha deciso di reintegrare al
lavoro una psicologa che non in regola con l’obbligo vaccinale
anti-Covid: “gli effetti di questi farmaci ad oggi non sono prevedibili
per la vita e la salute”
Una psicologa toscana sospesa dall’Ordine professionale perché non in regola con l’obbligo vaccinale anti-Covid imposto per legge alle professioni sanitarie “deve tornare a lavorare”. E’ questa la decisione a Firenze del giudice civile Susanna Zanda
che ha addotto le seguenti motivazioni per revocare la sospensione
della professionista disposta dall’Ordine: secondo la giudice “i vaccini alterano il Dna e sono pericolosi”. Le ragioni stanno facendo discutere l’opinione pubblica ed è per questo che l’Ordine degli Psicologi della Toscana ha già annunciato ricorso in tutte le sedi. “Non può essere costretta” a sottoporsi a vaccini “sperimentali
talmente invasivi da insinuarsi nel Dna, alterandolo in modo che
potrebbe risultare irreversibile con effetti ad oggi non prevedibili per
la vita e la salute”, spiega la giudice in un provvedimento d’urgenza.
La legge sull’obbligo vaccinale poi si propone di “impedire la malattia e assicurare condizioni di sicurezza in ambito sanitario”, ma il giudice rileva che “questo scopo è irraggiungibile perché sono gli stessi report di Aifa ad affermarlo”. E poi si fa riferimento ad un “fenomeno
opposto a quello che si voleva raggiungere con la vaccinazione, ovvero
un dilagare del contagio con la formazione di molteplici varianti virali
e il prevalere numerico delle infezioni e decessi proprio tra i
soggetti vaccinati con tre dosi”. Nominato anche l’art. 32 della Costituzione: “dopo
l’esperienza del nazi-fascismo non consente di sacrificare il singolo
individuo per un interesse collettivo vero o supposto e tantomeno
consente di sottoporlo a sperimentazioni mediche invasive della persona,
senza il suo consenso libero e informato”. Il giudice rileva anche “un’innegabile
discriminazione rispetto ai colleghi vaccinati che possono continuare a
lavorare pur avendo le stesse possibilità di infettarsi e trasmettere
il virus”.
“Per cultura politica sono molto rispettoso
del lavoro dei magistrati, ma questa sentenza è irricevibile, non ha
fondamento scientifico ed è in contrasto con tutta la comunità
internazionale. E’ una sentenza di cui, sinceramente, dobbiamo
vergognarci”, sono state le dure parole del ministro Roberto Speranza,
che ha commentato nel corso di un’intervista rilasciata al programma In
Onda su La7. Nel frattempo, comunque, la psicologa di Pistoia è stata
reintegrata dal giudice nel suo posto di lavoro e potrà esercitare “in qualunque modalità (sia in presenza che da remoto) alla stessa stregua dei colleghi vaccinati”.
Alle
critiche del ministro Speranza si aggiungono anche quelle dell’Ordine
dei Medici, Chirurghi e Odontoiatri di Firenze esprime “totale solidarietà” agli psicologi toscani. “Tutti gli ordini delle professioni sanitarie – ricorda il consiglio dell’Ordine dei Medici – devono rispettare il decreto legge 44 del 2021. E la vaccinazione e un obbligo morale degli esercenti le professioni sanitarie”. “Non ci sono e non ci devono essere eccezioni – continua l’Ordine dei Medici – .
Oltre al necessario rispetto della legge c’è un tema di salute
pubblica. Dopo ciò che è accaduto col Covid non possiamo permettere
deroghe a comportamenti irresponsabili”.
Ruth Pollard
is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Previously she was South and Southeast
Asia government team leader at Bloomberg News and Middle East
correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald. @rpollard
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High
school teacher S. Jeeva has spent two days in the baking sun lining up
for cooking gas in the north of Sri Lanka’s capital. He’s been standing
with thousands of others waiting for a delivery that, so far, hasn’t
come. Meanwhile, many of his students, who will sit for important
national exams Monday, have joined protests against the government
at the waterfront along Colombo’s iconic Galle Face Green.
Both are symbols of the economic and political crisis gripping the nation — the result of decades of corruption and financial mismanagement that pushed the country to default on May 19.
It is, Jeeva says, his students’ democratic right
to protest and demand a better government. Daily life has become such a
struggle that it is impossible for them to study. “How can they
memorize their material if they have no lights, no power, no fuel to get
to school,” the 32-year-old language teacher told me. An endless row of
empty blue LPG gas cylinders lines the street next to him. These
teenagers should be thinking about their future and preparing for
university — instead they are worrying about how the island nation will
ever emerge from under its pile of debt.
What
happens in Sri Lanka matters way beyond its borders. Global markets see
it as a bellwether for a raft of potential defaults across the
developing world as countries face a growing, post-pandemic debt
burden.
So what does a country in default look like in 2022?
Armed soldiers are on the streets and there’s
days-long queues for gasoline and cooking gas. Harvests are down by 50%
because farmers either cannot afford to cultivate crops, or they’re only
growing enough for themselves because there’s no fuel to transport what
they’ve produced.
Pharmacies are running out of medicine; and hospitals are dangerously short
of lifesaving drugs and devices. Incomes are shrinking and inflation is
accelerating above 30%. Parents are eating just one meal a day so their
children can have three, while doctors report that patients are
rationing essential medicines for serious conditions like heart disease
and diabetes.
There’s also growing unrest — protesters may not be burning down
the family homes of the ruling Rajapaksa clan as they did on May 9
— but there are daily demonstrations throughout the country calling for
the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (his brother
Mahinda stepped down as prime minister on May 10 after that deadly
violence.) Police and security forces are pushing back with water
cannons and tear gas. It’s a tactic that risks tipping the country
further toward a broader rebellion.
How did Sri Lanka go from being named by Lonely Planet the world’s best
travel destination for 2019 to nearly running out of foreign reserves
and defaulting on its debts? The warning signs were there from the
moment the powerful Rajapaksa clan retook control of the country
following a sweeping election victory
in November 2019. Their divisive dynastic politics, combined with
questionable financial decisions — including heavy capital-market
borrowing that now accounts for some 38% of the debt — go a long way to
explaining its path to ruin.
Yes, the pandemic was a disaster for the tourism-reliant economy, and so too were the deadly Easter Sunday bombings
in 2019 that ushered in a return of the Rajapaksa dynasty, but the rot
had set in well before that. Sri Lanka’s interest payments on decades of
borrowing are now almost equal to the principal, as political economist
and senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, Ahilan Kadirgamar,
noted.
Importantly, Sri Lanka has lost its agency
— with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and its bilateral
lenders, China, India and Japan — if it ever had any to begin with.
Kadirgamar says the country has never set its own terms for its
development: It has always been at the mercy of external powers. There
have been 16 IMF agreements since 1965. “This time it is much more
desperate,” he told me. “We cannot even pay for the next shipment of fuel even though the ship is sitting outside our port.”
There are many other emerging-market economies with similarly unsustainable debt
that are facing the possibility of default, says Kadirgamar. “Things
are unraveling across the globe, with the disruptions from Ukraine and
Russia on a scale we have not seen in recent history.” The international
community is watching the situation and wondering: Can Sri Lanka’s
crisis be solved via a framework applicable to other countries?
In South Asia, Pakistan is teetering on the edge
economic peril. If the government doesn’t increase fuel prices, it is
in danger of defaulting in just three months. It needs an IMF program to
avoid this eventuality. The World Bank
noted in March as many as a dozen developing economies may be unable to
service their debt in the next year. The biggest challenge for these
nations, it says, is sovereign debt restructuring, just like Sri Lanka.
The Group of Seven economic powers announced their support for debt relief efforts
for Sri Lanka on May 19. Assistance may also come up at the Quad
meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, where the leaders of the US, Japan, India
and Australia will hold talks on issues of regional concern. In the
meantime, Sri Lanka is negotiating with the IMF for a bailout that will
help it negotiate debt restructuring with its creditors. The country has
previously said it needs between $3 billion and $4 billion this year to pull itself out of crisis, but the true extent of its debt has yet to be exposed.
Only
last week, new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (in his sixth time
serving in this role) revealed a previously undisclosed debt of $105 million to a Chinese bank
that had also fallen due. That means, as Lakshini Fernando, the senior
vice president and economist of Asia Securities, told me, Sri Lanka
actually defaulted on $183 million, not $78 million as previously
thought.
In
the short term, Fernando said, the situation is only going to get
worse, especially for daily wage earners who are most vulnerable to
inflationary pressures. “The only way the entire population is going to
simmer down is when there is gasoline available and no more food
shortages, and that is not going to happen any time soon,” she said. But
because Sri Lanka is such a small economy, a large and immediate
infusion of US dollar aid could quickly stabilize the situation.
Then it will be up to the government to ensure
the structural reforms are in place to ensure Sri Lanka does not find
itself back at the IMF for the 18th time. And on a global scale, the
international community will need to step in to try and stop the domino
effect of the nation’s default rippling through any more emerging
economies.
The inaugural speech
of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tackled several crucial
issues affecting the country, including food security and the climate
crisis; but it is also instructive for what it didn’t mention: the peace
process, human rights, and media censorship.
Attacks on the free press escalated in June, which coincided
with the last 30 days of the Rodrigo Duterte presidency. Journalists
were among those arrested for covering an agrarian reform dispute, two
independent news websites were blocked by authorities for allegedly
supporting terrorism, a local court affirmed the decision of the
Securities and Exchange Commission revoking the papers of social news
site Rappler, and Duterte finally admitted in public that he had used his presidential powers to force the closure of the country’s biggest media broadcaster.
It
is unlikely that Marcos was not informed about these incidents because
they were prominently reported by the local media. After his
inauguration, another court affirmed
the cyber libel conviction of Rappler editor and Nobel laureate Maria
Ressa. Again, Marcos and his government failed to comment on these
developments and their possible chilling effect on society. Either
Marcos is oblivious about the decline of press freedom or he doesn’t
consider the website blocking, media shutdown, and court conviction of
journalists as constituting an alarming trend intended to undermine the
constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of expression.
One
way to determine the policies that Marcos will pursue related to
upholding the people’s right to information is to review the way he
handled the media during the three-month campaign period early this
year. His behavior towards the media was, to put it mildly,
condescending. He was notorious for avoiding media-sponsored debates,
ignoring reporters on the campaign trail, and refusing to be interviewed
by journalists whom he considered biased against him and his family.
Instead, Marcos chose to attend a presidential forum organized by a
media company owned by a controversial pastor who had endorsed his
candidacy. A Human Rights Watch researcher warned that Marcos’ “contempt for the media could pose serious risks for democracy in the Philippines.”
After sidelining the media, Marcos
relied on his social media followers and video bloggers, or vloggers, to
reach out to Filipino netizens. His press secretary
is a vlogger who was suspended by the Supreme Court in 2016 for three
years for violating the lawyer’s code of conduct. The proposal of the
new press secretary to accredit vloggers during the president’s press
briefings drew mixed reactions. The National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP) thinks it could legitimize the work of pro-Marcos
vloggers known for spreading disinformation.
“Wider
access is good, but must not be at the expense of institutional media,
which has been sidelined during the campaign as false information spread
rapidly online, many of which have been traced to the same network,”
the NUJP said in a statement.
Indeed,
Marcos benefited from a massive and long-running disinformation
campaign that featured the online dissemination of videos and other
promotional materials containing dubious narratives about his family.
Since his inauguration as president, his supporters have expanded their
aim by insisting that history is mere gossip.
As pro-Marcos forces seem poised to revise documented narratives about
the president’s father, who was the country’s dictator for two decades
until his ouster in 1986, the role of an independent media in
scrutinizing this potentially sinister state-backed operation is now
more crucial than ever.
During the dictatorship, media outlets
were closed down and critical editors were sent to prison. Media
repression is a Martial Law legacy that the incumbent president may not
wish to acknowledge. This could partly explain his decision to refrain
from commenting on the restrictive policies imposed by the previous
government against the media.
But his indifference did not stop journalists from fulfilling their work. It was the media that fact-checked his inaugural speech for containing several lies, misleading assertions, and historical inaccuracies. Independent media challenged
the blocking of their websites by seeking an injunction from the court.
Meanwhile, Rappler and Ressa said they will appeal their case all the
way to the Supreme Court.
As a candidate, Marcos could afford to
ignore the media as his supporters bombarded the public with
disinformation content. But as president, he cannot simply walk away
from public events and ban the media from interviewing him for the next
six years. Otherwise, he risks further antagonizing an institution that
played an important part in popularizing the democracy movement that led
to the eventual downfall of his father.
President-elect
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. raises hands with Senate President
Vicente Sotto III, left, and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco during his
proclamation at the House of Representatives, Quezon City, Philippines
on May 25, 2022.
Credit: AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File
The German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel once claimed that “all
great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice.”
For his radical pupil, Karl Marx, the repetition comes with a twist,
namely “the first time as tragedy, [and] the second time as farce.”
Almost 50 years after Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire Philippines
under Martial Law, his namesake son has become the country’s 17th
president.
In fact, Ferdinand
“Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who garnered as many as 31 million votes in the
May 9 election, became the first Filipino president in recent memory to
win a majority of votes in the Philippines’ uniquely bizarre
single-round electoral system. (In 1992, Fidel Ramos became the
Philippine president with barely a quarter of the total votes.)
Throughout
the campaign, Marcos Jr. largely shunned political debates, including
those organized by the Commission on Elections, in favor of well-curated
videos on social media platforms, especially TikTok and YouTube, as
well as glitzy interviews with trusted journalists and prominent talk
show hosts. At once, Marcos Jr. combined elements of authoritarian
nostalgia and populist antics: He vowed to bring about “unity” through
decisive leadership, law and order, rapid economic growth and massive
infrastructure projects, and affordable food for a majority of
Filipinos. Soft-spoken and charming, he projected a reassuring image of
self-confident leadership, adamantly refusing to directly engage any of
his rivals. His campaign shunted aside any criticism of the Marcoses’
checkered record as nothing but a smear campaign (“paninira”), while doling out a healthy stream of toxic positivity via a torrent of revisionist vlogs and social media posts.
In the Catholic-majority country, the Marcos campaign even deployed a
“messianic motif” to portray him as a secular savior. Exploiting the
Philippines’ completely unregulated social media landscape, his army of
impresarios and influencers recast the dark days of the Marcos
dictatorship as a long-lost “golden era” in Philippine history. In the
words of sociologist Randy David, the Marcos campaign construed a
denialist-revisionist narrative, which appropriated “the messianic
motif” in order to project the ex-dictator’s son as “a unifying figure”
who would fulfill whatever “promise that his father left unfulfilled.” Ultimately,
his notoriously vague promises and heavily-sanitized image struck a
chord among a majority of voters from all major demographics, especially
the youth, but also those from the middle and upper classes of society.
Make no mistake: This was not just another election, but instead a full-fledged counterrevolution.
How will Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte rule Philippines?
Wed, May 11, 2022 - 8:59 AM
Ahead of his landslide election win on Monday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr
gave few specifics on how he'd govern the Philippines.
PHOTO: AFP
AHEAD of his landslide election win on Monday (May 9), Ferdinand
Marcos Jr gave few specifics on how he'd govern the Philippines. But a
private dinner he attended soon after entering the race last October may
provide clues on his priorities - and to whom he's beholden.
Joined by Sara Duterte, the president's daughter who would later
become his running mate, Marcos Jr sat down with the powerful family
that controls most key positions in the tourist hotspot of Cebu, which
has more voters than any of the nation's 81 provinces outside the
capital. Sharing laughs over wine, Governor Gwen Garcia - known as the Iron Woman of Cebu - came away impressed with the only son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
For Garcia, 66, endorsing the man known as Bongbong wasn't an easy
decision. Her father was an opposition lawyer who stood up against his
father's regime before it ended abruptly in 1986. The clan didn't back
Marcos Jr, 64, when he ran for vice-president 6 years ago - a decision
that cost him the election.
But this time around Garcia saw Marcos Jr as the candidate most
likely to deliver 2 benefits in particular that were more valuable than
settling old scores: More money for infrastructure projects, and
greater autonomy from the political class in Manila. And on Monday, Cebu
was among the places that helped Marcos Jr win with the presidency with
the biggest share of the vote since his father won a boycotted election
in 1981.
"He will certainly be helping us insofar as tourism
infrastructure is concerned," Garcia said in an interview days before
the election at her office in Cebu City, when asked what she expected
from Marcos Jr. "But I would really be very, very appreciative if we
could finally get ahead on federalism," she added. "We would wish for
that kind of autonomy."
Marcos Jr's resounding victory shows just
how powerful family dynasties like the Garcias remain in a nation with a
front-row seat to tensions between the US and China. The former
American colony has had a mutual defence treaty with the US since the
1950s and sits on the doorstep to Taiwan, making it a crucial player in
any potential conflict with China.
Yet most elections in the Philippines are decided by local fiefdoms
with narrow interests. Although runner-up Leni Robredo, 57, drew
historic crowds in the final weeks of a campaign focused on fighting
corruption, ultimately it proved no match Marcos Jr's patchwork of
alliances with local leaders in the South-east Asian nation of 110
million people.
The question now is how much Marcos Jr will give
back to the clans that supported him. While the Philippines is forecast
to be among South-east Asia's best-growing economies this year, one of
Asia's fastest inflation rates threatens to further hurt households that
saw incomes decline with the pandemic. A quarter of the population
lives in poverty, and the World Bank warned that number could jump as
food prices rise.
Running on a broad slogan of “unity”, Marcos Jr
has said he’ll keep most of President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic
policies, which for the most part we’re left to technocrats to design
and implement. The Philippines maintained the investment-grade credit
rating it won in 2013 even as Duterte announced a “Build! Build! Build!”
programme that more than doubled infrastructure spending to upwards of
US$20 billion per year.
The problem for the next administration,
however, is finding more revenue to keep the programme growing without
blowing out the budget, according to Christian de Guzman, senior
vice-president of the Sovereign Risk Group at Moody's Investors Service.
"I'm not sure if there's any low-hanging fruit just because of
the situation that we find ourselves in," he said. "There is indeed a
need to narrow the fiscal deficits and stabilise the debt."
Marcos Jr's attention has been primarily focused on building the
political alliances he needed to pull off Monday's victory. After
sealing a deal with the Dutertes, who remain the most popular political
figures in the Philippines, Marcos Jr also secured endorsements from
parties affiliated with other former presidents, including Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and Joseph Estrada - both of whom faced plunder charges
after leaving office.
Marcos Jr can also thank his dad for some help. The elder Marcos
appointed the father of Victor Remulla, governor of vote-rich Cavite
province south of Manila, back in 1979 - and the family is still loyal
to this day.
Speaking by phone, Remulla said he became convinced Marcos Jr had
a firm grasp on policy and economic management during conversations
between the pair that lasted up to 90 minutes. The 54-year-old
politician also defended the country's dynastic politics, saying it
ultimately comes down to delivering for voters.
"Fat dynasties are hindered by the complacency of leadership," he
said. "But it's really up to the people, and up to the people who serve
to make things better for their constituents."
Following street protests that ousted Marcos Sr in 1986, the
Philippines introduced congressional term limits and a constitutional
provision banning political dynasties from government.
But clans have become even more entrenched since then: a 2019
study found that dynasties held 4 in 5 governor posts after mid-term
elections that year, compared with 57 per cent in 2004. They also
controlled two-thirds of seats in congress, up from just under half
during the same period, a phenomenon scholars blame for contributing to
one of the highest income inequality rates in Asia.
Marcos Jr opponents see his victory as the culmination of a
disinformation campaign on social media that had followers believing his
father's dictatorship was a golden age for the Philippines. And they
fear he'll use his power to sort out his own legal troubles, including
ending the official search for some US$10 billion allegedly siphoned
during his father's 2-decade rule, clearing up a US$4 billion estate-tax
dispute and keeping Imelda Marcos, his 92-year-old mother, from serving
jail time.
Down in Cebu, Garcia is hopeful that Marcos Jr will
give her family and others more power, even as leaders around the world
often back away from such promises when entering office. She expressed
disappointment in Rodrigo Duterte, who dropped proposals to implement a
US-style federal structure where regions can impose taxes and make
decisions on things like movement restrictions during the pandemic.
Marcos Jr has so far remained non-committal on the topic.
"Choose
some bright spots, start with 3 or 4 that have already shown their
capability in handling affairs on their own," Garcia said, adding that
Cebu was ready to be a federal state. "Suggestions are welcome, but we
know the situation on the ground."
In a small Cebu fishing village, Marcos Jr supporter Rene
Casqueso has much more modest expectations: The construction of
community hospitals and more doctors in small towns. The 43-year-old
carpenter has struggled to maintain work during the pandemic, and his
family has largely subsisted on whatever they catch.
"I'm not sure if he understands the plight of the poor, but what I
saw was he would meet with the labourers," Casqueso said about Marcos
Jr, as he perched in shallow coastal waters near his home. "I think he
has a new way for the Philippines to recover and rise again." BLOOMBERG
Philippines’ Duterte signs law boosting central bank’s powers
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE
PHOTO - President Rodrigo Duterte rings a Balangiga bell during a
ceremony marking the return of three Balangiga bells taken by the U.S.
military as war booty 117 years ago, at Balangiga, Eastern Samar in
central Philippines December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
MANILA
(Reuters) - - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law
that boosts the central bank’s ability to rein in inflation and
increases its capital at a time of volatility in financial markets, the
bank said.
The
new law restores the central bank’s authority to issue debt paper as
part of its regular operations, giving it greater flexibility in
determining their timing and scale.
It also allows an increase in the central bank’s capitalization to 200 billion pesos ($3.82 billion) from 50 billion pesos.
“These
reforms place the BSP (central bank) in a stronger position to pursue
its price and financial stability mandate amidst a growing economy and
the increasing sophistication of the financial system,” the bank said in
a statement on Saturday.
The
new law also widens the range of institutions under central bank
supervision to include money service businesses, credit granting
businesses and payment system operators.
Another
law signed by Duterte late on Friday removes the cap on rice imports
and replaces it with tariffs. This could further tame inflation that hit
a near-decade high of 6.7 percent in September and October last year.
The
central bank paused its monetary tightening cycle in December and
February to allow its five straight previous rate hikes, totaling 175
basis points, to work their way into the economy.
Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Gareth Jones
Prolonged economic stagnation seen among top risks faced by PHL
PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter
PROLONGED ECONOMIC stagnation is seen as
one of the top risks faced by the Philippines in the next two years,
according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
In its Global Risks Report, WEF said Philippine respondents for its Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) identified the top five
risks facing the country: prolonged economic stagnation, digital
inequality, extreme weather events, employment and livelihood crises,
and failure of public infrastructure.
The EOS was conducted among 12,000
leaders across 124 economies between May and September 2021. Respondents
were asked to pick the five risks that will pose a “critical threat to
your country in the next two years.”
Economic stagnation means “near-zero or slow growth
lasting for many years.” The Philippine economy exited recession in the
second quarter of 2021, ending five consecutive quarters of contraction. Economic managers expected the economy to have grown by 5-5.5% in 2021.
The country faced strict lockdowns to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
Sought for industry comment, British Chamber of Commerce
Philippines Executive Director Chris Nelson said the country can avoid
stagnation by “further liberalizing the economy” particularly with
economic reforms such as amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization
Act, Foreign Investments Act, and Public Service Act.
“I think prolonged economic stagnation
can be avoided. Growth can return if the right actions are taken.
There’s always a risk but there is also always an opportunity.
Everything can be mitigated and managed with the right action,” Mr.
Nelson said via mobile phone interview.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte recently signed Republic Act
(RA) No. 11595 that amended RA No. 8762 or the Retail Trade
Liberalization Act, which reduced the required paid-up capital for
foreign retailers setting up shop in the country.
“The key is if the Philippines continues to take the right
actions, certifying these bills, passing legislations, signing to the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), it will greatly
assist the economy and mitigate these risks,” Mr. Nelson said.
Danilo C. Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and
Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc., said via mobile phone
message that the biggest factor to consider in terms of the risks faced
by the country is the results of the May elections.
“The biggest factor to consider is how the elections will
turn out. That could be the biggest risk if the wrong person is voted.
If an honest and competent president is elected, then economic recovery
and regaining global credibility will happen sooner,” Mr. Lachica said.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)
President George T. Barcelon said via mobile phone message that the
other risks are already being worked on by the government and the
private sector.
“Out of the five risks, natural calamity is beyond our control but resiliency and continuity are human endeavors,” Mr. Barcelon said.
Makati Business Club Executive Director
Francisco “Coco” Alcuaz, Jr. said in mobile phone message that the risks
identified in the survey can be mitigated by accelerating vaccination
and booster shots against COVID-19.
“The risk can be mitigated by speeding up
vaccination and boosters, in large part by allowing the vaccination of
five to 11 year olds and allowing boosters for 12 to 17 year olds. Also,
by keeping people employed or ‘whole’ by giving businesses breaks or
wage support to keep paying workers who can’t work,” Mr. Alcuaz said.
“For the Philippines, we still have a
large, young population and our overseas workers, but recovery and catch
up will need massive investment, including investment from abroad,” he
added.
Mr. Alcuaz also said the country needs to fix its healthcare system to address COVID-19 surges and other future emergencies.
Meanwhile, WEF’s Global Risks Report
showed that 84% of respondents were either concerned or worried about
the global outlook amid the pandemic.
“With another spike in COVID-19 cases towards the end of
2021, the pandemic continues to stifle countries’ ability to facilitate a
sustained recovery,” WEF said in the report.
Most respondentsalso
see the next three years to be characterized by either “consistent
volatility and multiple surprises or fractured trajectories that will
separate relative winners and losers.”
“Economic challenges flowing from the
pandemic persist. The outlook remains weak: at the time of writing, the
global economy was expected to be 2.3% smaller by 2024 than it would
have been without the pandemic,” WEF said.
This file photo shows Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte speaking during the annual state of the nation
address at the House of Representatives in Manila. (AFP Photo)
Filipino citizens were once again let down with disheartening news.
On 30 December 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the funding of a
Human Rights Institute in the Philippines. It is one of the five items
rejected by Duterte in the PHP 5.024-trillion 2022 national budget.
In an interview with CHR Commissioner Karen Dumpit, she expressed her
shock and disappointment towards Duterte’s action, stating that it was
the first time for the CHR to experience such a direct veto like this.
In Duterte’s veto message, he states that no “specific appropriation
is provided for the purpose” in the creation of a human rights
institute. He further claims that it requires a more comprehensive
review. In defence of his statement, the HRI, being a flagship program
that the CHR has been working on for many years, has already gone
through rigorous and inclusive planning. As Dumpit pointed out, “The HRI
program had undergone a comprehensive study and review, which entailed
consultations within the CHR, the broader human rights community, and
other similar educational institutes and offices in government.”
In line with the commemoration of International Human Rights Day last
10 December 2021, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the
Philippines launched the Human Rights Institute (HRI). The establishment
of an HRI serves as the flagship program of the CHR; it is lauded and
supported by key partners, such as universities, organizations, CSOs,
and international representatives.
Establishing a formal institution that will widely promote and
provide Human Rights education for the Filipinos has been a lifelong
goal of the CHR. Educating the citizens about human rights is an
important and integral part to understand and be able to provide a
remedy to various contemporary and deeply rooted socioeconomic and
socio-political problems in the country.
As CHR Spokesperson Jacquieline de Guia said, “Learning human rights
is one of the most pressing needs of our country and the world today. We
need to know what human rights are and make them know. Human rights
education is relevant in solving and addressing modern-day challenges
such as impunity, climate change, inequality, and persisting human
rights violation.”
Upholding Human Rights In The Philippines
The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines stipulated the state’s
obligation to promote, uphold and protect the human rights of every
Filipino citizen. Provisions in the 1987 Constitution are guided by
international human rights law. The same Constitution also mandates the
CHR to be an independent human rights institution to uphold human
rights. The Philippines is a signatory to several crucial United Nations
treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (CCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) - to name a few. The Philippines is also the first ASEAN member to
establish its own National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and is one
of the oldest democratic nations in Asia.
Despite this, the Philippines has been notoriously known for having
rampant human rights violations and a weak justice and protection system
to mitigate the issue. Under Duterte’s administration, human rights and
the rule of law are significantly neglected and vilified as arbitrary,
illegal, and extrajudicial killings loom the country.
Last year, Global Finance released a report of the World’s Safest
Countries with the Philippines ranking at the bottom of the list. The
sources, as claimed, were collectively garnered from the World Economic
Forum and The Global Institute for Peace. The report instantly became
controversial with questions of its credibility and methodology.
Contestable or not, it is however undeniable that a multitude of
unresolved socio-economic and political problems in the country do
exist, primarily corruption, poverty, environmental degradation, and
human rights abuses.
Moreover, the incompetency of the Duterte administration in handling
the COVID-19 pandemic crisis worsen the living conditions of millions of
Filipinos. The Philippines is one of the countries with the longest
lockdown in the world. It is also known for ‘militarizing’ its COVID-19
response and for implementing ineffective protocols such as mandating a
“Face shield” which was deemed by many Filipinos as an “icon of
corruption.”
Unfortunately, the essence of human rights as inherent and as a
fundamental right of every Filipino is oftentimes abused,
misinterpreted, and taken advantage of. In several of his speeches,
Duterte would devaluate human rights in defence of the widespread
killings caused by his war on drugs.
He said that he does not care about human rights and claims that the
operations would yield a safer drug-free environment and provide
protection for innocent Filipinos. The ironic part is, the innocent
Filipinos, the very people he had sworn to protect, were the ones killed
and affected by his anti-drug campaigns. It targets the poor and the
most vulnerable citizens who do not have access to a proper justice
system. Duterte and his administration receives backlash from
international organizations, the press, human rights advocates, and
recently faced investigation calls from the ICC.
The Sidestepped Opportunity On Human Rights Education
Learning about human rights is of vital importance. Education awakens
the humane sense in us to respect human rights, seek freedom and
equality, and advocate for justice. With his power, Duterte could have
given the country its HRI, a harmless and completely beneficial
institution to empower Human Rights Education.
The veto against the HRI symbolises the appalling neglect of human
rights under the Duterte administration. As Duterte’s term reaches its
final months, his adamant and irreconcilable offence against human
rights will undoubtedly be one of the things he will be remembered for.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The ASEAN Post.
Loren Bustos is
a PhD researcher and a DAAD scholarship recipient at the
Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU), Germany. Her research focuses on
the EU-ASEAN Business and Human Rights relations. She earned her
master’s degree in International Relations with business and legal
aspects from the University of Szeged, Hungary and was a Stipendium
Hungaricum scholarship holder.
President
Duterte’s economic team on Thursday has laid out at the World Economic
Forum (WEF) the administration’s plan for the Philippines, highlighting
the ambitious infrastructure projects it intends to roll out in the next
six years.
Speaking at a group of local and foreign reporters, the President’s
economic team began their presentation with confidence, reiterating what
they already unveiled during the Dutertenomics Forum mid-April.
Duterte’s most trusted aides, however, had to explain at length how
the administration intends to carry out its infrastructure program. The
President’s economic team was first asked about updates on the
infrastructure projects being implemented by the new administration.
This was raised by Adrian Monck, head of public and social management of
the WEF.
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the administration is
really focused on developing existent airports than establishing new
ones, citing feasibility studies point to the former than the latter.
Tugade said the administration is dead set on enhancing the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport. “We really
want to develop the terminals at Clark International Airport and
develop two state-of-the-art runways there.”
He said this will be complimented by a railway project, which would
lessen travel time from Clark to Manila by more than two hours.
Tugade revealed there are two proposals to open new airports, which
have reached their office recently: first was to establish one in
Bulacan, where the proponent pitched to build an airport with four
runways; and second was to establish one in former US military base
Sangley, where proponents aim to build not just an airport but a city,
as well.
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Participants had also wanted to know whether or not the “massive” infrastructure effort is environment-friendly.
Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the administration has
allotted P150 billion for disaster-mitigation programs, which he claimed
to be enough to support the Philippines should it be hit by another
calamity.
The administration was given the opportunity to present its so-called
Dutertenomics at the WEF after organizers agreed to give the
Philippines the chance to persuade international businessmen to invest
in Manila’s infrastructure projects.
President Rodrigo Duterte at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2017
President Rodrigo Duterte at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2017
16
May 2017 - President Rody Duterte attended the World Economic Forum
(WEF) on the (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ASEAN 2017 at the
Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 11, 2017.
The
President was joined by his fellow ASEAN leaders from the host country
Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao People’s Democratic Republic Prime
Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
In
his speech during the plenary session, the President, who is currently
the chair of the ASEAN this year, pointed out the different goals that
the regional organization aims to accomplish for the next fifty years
which includes the promotion of 'Inclusive, Innovation-led Growth',
extensive support for the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs),
the pursuance of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025,
investment on human capital and youth empowerment.
The President also urged the ASEAN member countries to reaffirm their commitment to make ASEAN an illegal drug-free community.
He
then ended his speech by encouraging ASEAN member countries to work
hand in hand in bringing positive change for the region and the world.
END
