(For the full transcript, go to Gelo Lopez’s blog.)

First of all, let’s state the obvious. Revillame had every right to say whatever he felt he should say to defend himself. No problem there. We are all just exercising our rights to speak out.

On the matter of whether or not Revillame’s rant held valid points, well, that would entail a bit more analysis. If we are to listen carefully to his statement what he said can be broken down as follows:

• I have done nothing wrong.
• This is the handiwork of those who want to put me down specifically ABS-CBN.
• I can afford to retire from the industry. It is my followers and my staff in the show who stand to lose if I go off the air.
• I have been doing a lot of charitable works. Have my detractors done the same?

Let’s dissect these one by one.

I have done nothing wrong.

It really is debatable if Revillame did or did not commit child abuse. As far as I’m concerned that is an issue best left sorted out in a court of law. In case you want an intelligent argument against the accusation, you can find one over at Indolent Indio.

I can understand Revillame’s insistence that he committed nothing wrong. The main accusation, which has become the major basis for the current indignation bandwagon, is child abuse. It would be utterly stupid of him not to react to that.

However, I feel Revillame is deliberately avoiding one other issue, for which he is clearly guilty without question. I suspect he himself knows this. I’m talking about his apparent lack of good judgment and responsibility as an influential media personality. As was pointed out in my first blogpost about this issue:

It could have passed off as nothing serious, but Revillame’s misplaced thinking that it was cute of him to have the little boy repeat the performance over and over again clearly showed an absence of good judgment on his part.

As it is, Revillame seems to be glossing over this particular issue. It’s simply not correct of him to say that he did nothing wrong.

This is the handiwork of those who want to put me down specifically ABS-CBN.

I don’t know if this whole thing was started by ABS-CBN or any specific group that has for its main goal the downfall of Willie Revillame. What I do know that I’m very sure of is that not everyone who expressed indignation over this issue is affiliated with ABS-CBN or any anti-Willie group.

I can only speak for myself. As a blogger, one of my advocacies has always been to get media to shape up. In fact, as early as the May 2010 elections, I have been writing about what I believe to be Philippine media’s tendency to make dumb people out of Filipinos.

It is actually quite dishonest of Revillame to make this out as nothing more than a concerted effort by groups with vested interests to bring him down. It is not.

Now in fairness to Revillame, it is possible that ABS-CBN is now riding on the issue. Well, I think Revillame shouldn’t worry about that too much. If ABS-CBN wants to get involved then so be it. The truth is ABS-CBN does have a lot to do with this issue considering the kind of crap programming it has been serving the Filipino people for some time now. Let’s not forget also that Revillame is largely an ABS-CBN creation.

Again, this issue is not just about the alleged child abuse. It is also about media responsibility, a fact that even TV5′s president Ray Espinosa and consumer goods company Unilever acknowledged.

1) To temporarily suspend effective Monday, April 11, 2011, our participation in all reality-based live game shows across all networks. This measure will be in place until we observe stricter and objective self-regulatory guidelines across networks and proper enforcement by the relevant government agencies of existing content regulations.

I think Revillame said it perfectly.

Kung sususpindihin niyo kami, suspindihin ninyong lahat yan.

I can afford to retire from the industry. It is my followers and my staff in the show who stand to lose if I go off the air.

There’s no denying the fact that Revillame is a very rich man. I can imagine that he can very well not do anything related to work anymore yet he’d still be comfortable many times over.

He does have a point when he said it is those in his production staff who stand to lose in case his show is taken off the air. I can’t say the same about his viewers though.

Contrary to what Revillame has been saying all these years, his program is not a public service endeavor. Just think about it. Of the hundreds if not thousands of people who line up to be part of his program’s live studio audience, how many of them really get money from Revillame? How much on average do they get? Is money distributed to them automatically or does it happen under some random or whimsical selection process?

Let’s acknowledge the fact that for the poor, the demographic which Revillame claims to be the main “beneficiary” of his program, a few thousand pesos is a big deal. Still, are they really being helped by this dole-out set up being promoted by Revillame?

Now assuming that Revillame is indeed doing a lot of good for his staff and his followers, doesn’t it then become more important for him to be more responsible and to keep out of trouble so he can continue his good deeds?

Revillame shouldn’t be blaming anyone for putting his program in danger of being taken off the air temporarily or permanently. He could have avoided this.

I have been doing a lot of charitable works. Have my detractors done the same?

It might seem a distasteful assertion to some, including myself, but it cannot be denied that Revillame raised a valid point. But what Revillame failed to realize is that if being charitable comes to him naturally then it shouldn’t matter whether or not his program exists. If he has the means and he feels like doing it then he can continue using his wealth to help others. It’s as simple as that.

Well, okay, let’s acknowledge that fact that Revillame was just so offended he felt compelled to get back at his detractors specifically those among his colleagues in the industry. Again that is his right.

I now wonder what Jim Paredes, Aiza Seguerra, Agot Isidro and the others that Revillame identified have to say about that.

PinoyBuzz wrote something interesting in his article Willing Revillame Goes On Leave After Advertisers Pull-Out.

But, what I do hope for is that the outrage movement that was sparked by the sexually suggestive dancing of a six year old didn’t come to be just because of a shared hatred for Willy Revillame.

Indeed, this whole indignation bandwagon should be motivated by something bigger than mere contempt for Revillame. The television host is just one person. There are much bigger fish to fry such as the whole broadcasting industry.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Revillame continue his work as a television host as long as he makes some major adjustments. I sincerely hope he would spend the next two weeks in serious reflection. He already has the influence. He might as well use that for something that would benefit an even bigger number of people in ways that go beyond providing a diversion and a few thousand pesos that wouldn’t even last a week.

Here’s a portion of Willy Revillame’s monologue:

Ngayon po, nakipagusap po ako sa presidente ng  TV5, Atty Rey Espinosa. Nagusap kami na hanggang ngayon na lang po ako sa Willing Willie. Magpapahinga na muna po ako, hindi po ako magpapaalam. Starting po today ang live namin , bukas ho nakatape na po kami. Lalabas ho yon mapapanood niyo. Starting ho ng Monday hanggang Holy Week, pagiisipan ko ho kung ako po ay babalik pa sa industriyang ito. Bigyan niyo lang po muna ako ngpagkakataon sa sarili ko. Masyado ho akong binintangan ng binintangan ng wala ho akong ginawang masama sa akin. Sa mga tao hong gumawa niyan sa aki, ang isipin niyo yung mga matanda na nasa labas, mga bata, mga mahihirap sa labas. Wag ako. Instrumento lang ako ng mga tao. Wag niyo akong kainggitan dahil hindi ako lumalabas ng ibang lugar. Lagi lang ako nandito sa studio na to sa bahay ko o nakikipagpaligsahan sa inyo. Kung kayo ang magaling, magaling kayo. Basta ang puso ko, nandito sa mga mahihirap.

Willy Revillame goes on leave after advertiser pull-out

Somewhere in the monologue, Willy Revillame threatened to sue all those who bashed him on twitter.

Tsaka yung mga tumitira sa akin sa twitter., kung idedemanda ka ng TV5, idedemanda rin kita. Magdedemandahan tayo. Idedemanda ko lahat ng tumira sa akin sa Twitter, lahat ng personal. Tandaan nyo yan.

The monologue, or rant, came after more advertisers announced that they would be suspending advertising on the program.

There’s some rah-rahing going on because it would seem that the movement to chastise Willy Revillame has succeeded in certain respects.

I don’t know if anybody has started printing a shirt that says “In my country, everyone is a hero” (a reference to the hurrah-for-me-I-am-a-hero-for-tweeting-blogging about Ondoy).  But I do hope no one attempts to “brand” the movement as his or hers and then tries to sell his expertise at creating massive online movements (a reference to Big Bad Bloggers and fake digital PR God-men/shamans).

Then again, if we are to take the point of view that the online campaign sparked by the sexually suggestive dancing of a six year old on Willing Willy has succeeded, I’d like to ask: How exactly did it succeed?

Is it because the letter writing campaign to advertisers and government agencies resulted in the advertising pull out?  Is it because Willy Revillame, in a way, acknowledged that he is vulnerable to an advertising pull-out?  Is it because, also, that advertisers have responded in the way that they have?

I really have no way to gauge if any of the answers we can give to these questions are going to be right or wrong.

But, what I do hope for is that the outrage movement that was sparked by the sexually suggestive dancing of a six year old didn’t come to be just because of a shared hatred for Willy Revillame.

I hope that, finally, those who know better are actually going out of their way and teaching those who don’t know better that it isn’t all right to be treated crudely in exchange for a few thousand pesos… that decency should be a hallmark of all TV shows… that pandering to base and vulgar tastes shouldn’t be the norm for marketing TV shows…

More importantly, that the media industry here in the Philippines should LIFT people up, rather than, as Willy Revillame says, dragging them down.

Two or three weeks ago, I caught the beginnings of what would turnout to be a fairly large online outrage movement over the sexually suggestive dance number of a six year old in the TV Show “Willing Willy”.  Even at this early stage, there were already suggestions to write the advertisers of Willing Willie to express disgust over what would later be alleged as child abuse and lack of media responsibility.

Having been in touch with Mr. Macapagal since last year, I sent him a text message about the incident on Willing Willy and he responded saying that Unielver was already acting on the matter.

Yesterday Mr. Macapagal asked me to come over to Unilever Philippines to sit in a special briefing with members of Para Kay Jan-Jan (Shame on You Willie) Peachy and Froilan. In that special briefing, Mr. Macapagal appraised us of Unilever’s statement on its sponsorship on Live Game Shows.

Below is the full text of Unilever’s Statement:

8th April 2011

Press Release: Unilever’s Sponsorship on Live Game Shows

This is to make public a set of actions taken by Unilever Philippines after an incident in a popular TV show a few weeks ago.  The incident features a 6 year old boy doing a dance number as part of a reality game show.

We recognized that this incident has drawn mixed reactions from different sectors in the society.

In Unilever Philippines’ view, it was a serious incident and as a result, we actred by immediately engaging the network authorities, expressing our serious concern and demanded assurance that similar incidents would not happen again.

TV 5, the network, has apologized to us and committed to a series of “self-regulation” measures including the appointment of an internal ombudsman to supervise stricter program guidelines and impose a moratorium on the presence of kids in their live reality shows until a complete investigation is finished.  This seems to have been validated by MTRCB as per article published in Philippine Daily Inquirer on April 6, 2011, Page F3.

We see all these actiosn as positive steps, but we also look forward with great interest to the prospect of MTRCB strengthening regulations on content across all live game shows and making clear the potential sanctions for erring programs.

In support of the above, Unilever Philippines has decided:

1) To temporarily suspend effective Monday, April 11, 2011, our participation in all reality-based live game shows across all networks.  This measure will be in place until we observe stricter and objective self-regulatory guidelines across networks and proper enforcement by the relevant government agencies of existing content regulations.

2. We actively seek for PANA’s (Philippine Association of National Advertisers) involvement and leadership to help the networks develop a strict and consistent self-regulatory framework. We expect this to be in place no later than on month.

3. In all these, Unilever Philippines’ actions are oriented to:

a. protect the rights of contestants (especially women and children),

b. provide responsible content for TV viewers, and

c. ensure a safe communication environment for sponsors and brands.

With these actions, we expect something good will come out of this incident.

Unilever Philippines will continue to positively influence the media landscape and work on strengthening our long-standing successful partnership with all TV networks.

Chito Macapagal

VP for Corporate Affairs

There are some companies actively targeting the youth market. Visit their offices and you will see that most of the people attending their seminars are kids as young as 16 years old.

Starting kids early in business is good but there’s a problem in this particular situation. What if the companies I described above are actually engaged in an unethical and possibly illegal scheme?

On the surface, the marketing approach of these companies seem harmless. They market to kids specifically college students because they see this demographic as “hyperactive.” According to their analysis of the market, college-level kids are the best group to market to because they spread information fast and they are very interested in making extra money.

I’m not buying it. I can see there’s something devious going on here. In my opinion, these companies are actually exploiting the fact that kids are much easier to convince with promises of easy cash. In short, these companies are out to dupe these kids.

I would suggest that the parents of these kids find time to help their children figure out what’s going on.

I’ve checked out these companies and I saw a number of red flags. For starters, their products are overpriced and their starter kits are padded to compensate for headhunting fees.

I’m confident an honest-to-goodness review of these companies’ operations would support my assessment. Unfortunately, until such a review is conducted these companies would just continue to operate.

A CALL TO MY FELLOW ARTISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
by Monique Wilson on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:12am

The debate is no longer whether it was child abuse or not. The facts are plain to see. No one with a sense of respect for another human being can dispute that. The discourse now is how we, as Filipinos, as artists involved in the same industry that created Willy and shows like his, could have allowed this to go on for as long as it has. And what is our individual and collective participation in it?

Let’s talk honestly about our TV networks. The culprit now is TV5 – with its’ blatant lack of decency by even hiring someone like Willy Revillame – a callous, insensitive individual who preys on the needs of poor, uneducated Filipinos. They hired him for ratings and money at the expense of the integrity, dignity and self-respect of the most vulnerable in our society. Now wasn’t channel 2 guilty of the very same thing? Let’s observe very closely many other game shows and reality shows across all the networks – can we not deduce very overt similarities? That networks are propelled by greed – ratings, money? Is there really, in all honesty, a local network, that can claim they put human values above all that? I don’t think so. I turn on the television to watch local shows and I feel uncomfortable. We have news reports that are horrifyingly biased and sensationalist, we have noon- time variety shows that exploit women and insult our intelligence, we have talk shows that are intrusive, subjective and tasteless – the list goes on and on. I am not saying, of course, that all shows fall beneath our standards of human decency – there are some TV shows that go against the grain, break the boundaries and give us quality – but they are so few. Even how the networks create the demarcation lines – A and B for middle and upper class, C and D for lower class? What kind of senseless segregating is that? It’s like saying, depending on what “class” you belong to, you cannot “appreciate” certain kinds of shows. This insults me as it should insult everybody. This is one of the roots of the problem. ALL our TV networks dumb down audiences in one way or the other. They keep the lines segregated. TV, like any other cultural form – and let’s face it, TV has become our common culture in the Philippines – should be used to EDUCATE, EMPOWER, INSPIRE, AWAKEN. But when you see shows like “Willing Willie” – and many other similar shows – they do the opposite. They dumb down audiences. They disempower them by creating a mendicant society with game shows that promise “quick money”. They keep them dependent on hand- outs, instead of creating opportunities for them to build skills. There is nothing inspiring about this.

And now, we can all rant and rave, but unless we do something concrete about our rage – we will just be passive bystanders. Sometimes it does seem insurmountable and overwhelming because the problem is huge. But we can play our part. We can do just ONE thing. That is better than doing nothing at all. Whether that be creating an online petition to deliver to TV5, CRH or DSWD, or whether we boycott the sponsors of the show/s, or write letters to all our newspapers, or make your voices heard with your local congress representatives and let them know this is unacceptable to you. I think we all need to take a good, long, hard look at our local shows – and if we feel they exploit our fellow Filipinos, whether they be children or women – then we MUST boycott the sponsors that enable them. Boycotts are effective. They hit where it has a tangible monetary, economic effect. That is how apartheid South Africa crumbled. That is what is supporting the Palestinians right to self-determination with the BDS campaign now. In the process we need to look at what we ourselves value. If we expect people to treat us with respect, decency, integrity and dignity – we must INSIST and DEMAND that everyone else should be treated in the same way. And as artists, our responsibility is GREATER. We are part of this problem. When we remain silent, we allow this to continue. When we turn a blind eye, our apathy also abuses the vulnerable in our society. When we don’t demand artistic excellence in our fields and settle for mediocre entertainment, we are just as bad as the networks who just do things for profit. As artists, we must REFUSE to play. We must DEMAND more from our industry.

So this is a call to my fellow artists from television, film and theatre. Please let your voices be heard. Don’t sit on the fence because you fear you won’t be given work. It is this fear that networks also rely on to keep their machineries in place – machineries that not only lack some very basic human values, but also aesthetics. We keep saying Filipinos artists are world class – well let’s prove it now. There are international standards we must insist on when it comes to our local entertainment industry – film, theatre, tv, etc – why should we settle for anything less? We are part of the creation of our artistic culture – we must protect it and demand more for it. We must not allow it to be used for the continued exploitation of our fellow Filipinos.

Art and culture have value in our society.

They awaken minds

They nurture thought

They inspire courage

They open up compassion

They give us possibilities

They excavate the texture of humanity

They teach us humility and love

They open paths

They give us freedom to explore

They teach us how to listen

They keep us connected

They allow us to take in

They teach us to be involved

to defy

to demand

to be full

to live

to stay awake

to be present…..in the moment.

But most of all

They demand that we SERVE.

So please don’t waste these possibilities with your silence.

That’s how you get out of trouble when you’re in a country where STUPID rules. Just appeal to the lowest sensibilities. That’s what Willie Revillame did, no doubt about it. And as before, he depicted himself again as a victim.

What Willie clearly did — probably on the advice of some crisis management expert — was to let the blame shift from himself to the father.

The sad thing is a lot of people bought this sorry excuse for an apology.

It’s clear now. Willie is God. The god of a clueless nation.

It may be difficult to establish a clear correlation between many of our country’s ills and the influence of broadcast media especially television, but it’s quite clear even to the casual observer that most TV programs today do not promote proper values and that can certainly pose a problem down the road.

Take the case of the ever-popular show of Willie Revillame. What does it provide its viewers, really? Obviously, it’s all entertainment.

Now the problem isn’t so much that Willing Willie showcases nothing but entertainment. People do need the occasional diversion from life’s more serious aspects. The problem really is the crassness of it all.

Of course, those who enjoy this type of entertainment could easily argue that there are all kinds of entertainment. There’s high brow like ballet, theater and classical music and there’s the more pedestrian ones like game shows, reality shows, and showbiz gossip programs. Different products for different markets. Fair enough.

The problem really is when the medium becomes dominated — in terms of number and prominence — by programs that offer no real value to the public. Just check how many educational programs there are compared with the number of Willing Willie-style variety shows, telenovelas and showbiz talk shows. The difference is quite glaring. Consider too that even local TV news and so-called current affairs and public service shows are also becoming more showbizy by the minute as special emphasis is now being given more to sob stories and feel-good dramatics rather than real, useful information.

The concerned TV networks should really take a step back and reassess their purpose and role in our society. Are they here to turn us into smarter, thinking people or are they here to make us dumb? Are they going to raise the bar or are they going to lower it even further?

The answer to that last question is actually quite obvious. Just consider the latest booboo involving the 6-year old boy named Jan-Jan who was repeatedly made to perform a dance that is quite questionable as a talent showcase for a child.

It could have passed off as nothing serious, but Revillame’s misplaced thinking that it was cute of him to have the little boy repeat the performance over and over again clearly showed an absence of good judgment on his part. As expected, not a few people were compelled to raise a howl over the whole thing.

It can be assumed that the local TV industry is made up of adults so there’s probably no more need to elaborate on why this Jan-Jan controversy should prompt its executives to rethink what they’re doing. In case they still fail to realize what’s wrong, the following video should help them figure it out.

(There was an embedded video here, but the one who uploaded it on YouTube has changed the settings to private. The video showed an adult teaching two children how to gyrate like Jan-Jan. That video was embedded here to stress the point that unacceptable behavior shown on TV are emulated by some people, both by children and adults.)

Now, do we even need to wonder why even Jan-Jan’s family didn’t feel offended by any of this?

(Update: Willie Revillame issued an “apology” last night. Click on the link to see the video.)

Support Zonta Club of Makati Ayala and The Visayan Forum THE RUN AGAINST TRAFFICKING Race Sunday, 13 MARCH 2011 1K, 3K, 5K, 10K McKinley Hill, Taguig City Assembly 5:00 AM Gun Start 5:50AM Registration Sites: R.O.X and Chris Sports For more info call: Ida Ayesa 0916-418-7257

Over the past year, I’ve seen all sorts of races being run for all sorts of causes and while I generally brush off these events as gimmickry or as a poor substitute to direct action.

I am not a big fan of big showy, celebrity driven calls for mass actions that get blasted on TV, Radio, and Print.  It’s the Holden Caulfield in me that gets me snarking about such ‘events’.

However my almost automatic prejudgment of  ’events for a cause’ was challenged last week after meeting Vicki Abaraham, President of Zonta Club of Makati Ayala.

A mutual friend introduced me to Vicki  at a coffee shop at Rockwell and that’s when she started telling me about “The Run Against Trafficking” race being organized by the Zonta Club of Makati Ayala and Visayan Foundation Forum.

One of the things she told me that kinda struck me is this, “It seems a lot of people don’t give a second thought about saving whales or saving rain forests, but few people are raising a fuss about saving people.”

Right now, thousands of Filipinos are caught in a bad jam in Libya and the government is straining to find ways of evacuating them from the terrible mess.

The thing is, in other parts of the world, there are Filipinos that are suffering as unwilling workers in the sex trade, abused domestic and factory workers, or unsuspecting pawns in the drug trade.

Before I could blurt out that most of the Filipinos who leave the country under dubious circumstances probably deserve what they are getting, Vicki told me of the story of a three year old Filipina child who was recovered from Africa where she was made into a sex slave.

A three year old child!  I mean, how could a three year old kid even know under what circumstances she was being taken out of the country?!!

That really got me riled up and what is even more shocking are the statistics: “at least 400,000 women and at least 100,000 children victims of exploitation”

Anyway, all things considered, what Vicki told me was enough to get me to sign up for “The Zonta Rat Race” and help in building up awareness as well as encourage more action against the $32 Billion illegal trade.

Organic municipal waste converted into organic fertilizer

One common problem that all cities and towns in the Philippines has is how to dispose of the waste its people generate.  While there seems to be no end to the amount of garbage generated by cities and towns, there are only a very few places where people will welcome the endless stream of city and town waste.  New landfills around Metro Manila are filling up and once filled up, there will be a need to look for new areas to turn into landfills.

Information from the National Solid Waste Management Commission indicates that the entire Philippines generates some 35,000 tons of waste every day, and some 8,400 tons come from Metro Manila.

Of the yearly national waste generation of 12,775,000 tons, some 40 to 70 per cent are collected and thrown in 1,205 waste disposal facilities.  Around 55 of the waste facilities are “sanitary” landfills and 1,172 are open or controlled dumpsites long outlawed by Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Finding new places to dump city and municipal waste is getting much more difficult and most probably, costlier too.

Quezon City, the largest city in Metro Manila, is now beset with the problem of looking for a new dumpsite.  Recently elected Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, according to some journalists, is currently being criticized for a looming garbage disposal problem after RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act made the operation of the Payatas Dumpsite in Quezon City.

In the face of a mounting garbage problem and the need to comply with RA 9003 lest the Quezon City government face sanction, a blame game has erupted between the Quezon City government, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Put simply, the Quezon City government basically points out that its duty under the law is to dispose of its garbage but the duty of providing garbage dumpsites belongs to the MMDA and the DENR.

According to Philippine Star columnist Mary Anne Ll. Reyes, the Supreme Court rendered a decision where it “underscored that the MMDA is the entity primarily responsible for the implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act and that the MMDA ‘has the duty to put up and maintain adequate sanitary landfills.’”

Further more, according to Reyes, “Non-government organizations keeping watch on Payatas allegedly have photos to prove that the dumpsite remains in operation despite the announcement of the December 31, 2010 closure. They also allege that the new landfill promised by the QC government is a facility being built over the old pile of garbage in the existing dumpsite.”

In all likelihood, the MMDA might not have found an RA9003 compliant dumpsite that could accommodate Quezon City or if it did find one for Quezon City, perhaps its cost as well as capacity might have been a problem.

Quezon City and its looming garbage problem, however, is not hopeless.  Perhaps, if ever it does mount into a crisis, it might just force its local government and residents to find suitable solutions.

One such solution being espoused by Unilever Philippines is a “Zero Waste” program for every barangay.

Chito Macapagal, Unilever Philippines’ Corporate Affairs or Corporate Planning General Manager, had given me and other members of the Alliance for a Cleaner Earth a briefing on its corporate social responsibility projects.  Among those projects is the “Zero Waste” program where in communities are basically taught how to reduce the waste they generate through segregation, reuse and recycling.  The goal of the program is to enable communities to be so efficient in reducing the waste they generate that, eventually, they don’t throw away anything.

The impact of such a program being done in all 43,000 barangays around the country could be spectacular.  But getting all or even just a third of Filipino communities to reduce the waste they create to zero seems still quite far from actually happening.

Smaller companies such as the Agricultural Inoculants Corporation (AIC), a company engaged in providing rapid composting agents, has stepped up with its own solution in the form of a low-cost program that can be adopted by city and municipal governments.

Citing the fact that 50 to 60 percent of all household waste from urban centers are bio-degradable or organic in nature, the AIC created a basic business model for making organic waste conversion into a potentially lucrative venture.

It has offered this model for low-cost organic fertilizer production for free and the study can be re-scaled or adapted to suit various scenarios and scales.

AIC President Gene Gregorio points out that if properly implemented, any organic waste to organic fertilizer production with a business model could result in:

- a 50 to 60 percent reduction at municipal levelof organic waste being thrown into landfills

- production of an ample supply of organic fertilizer which can be used to supplement or substitute chemical fertilizers, thereby decreasing the farmer’s cost of production and widening his profit margin.  This could even possibly keep food prices from fluctuating with the rise in cost of petro-chemical derived fertilizers as well as aid in further decreasing dependence on non-renewable resources.

- additional revenue for city and municipal government or additional off season earnings for farmers who undertake organic fertilizer production as either a revenue generating or income generating project.

AIC’s organic waste to organic fertilizer production was actually designed for small-scale or even micro-entrepreneurs.  With training and an initial supply of rapid composting agents worth P50,000, the small-scale entrepreneur could produce 3,000 bags of ready to use organic fertilizer at a cost of just P87.40 per bag and retail it at P250.00 per bag.  Within an eight month period, the successful small scale entrepreneur could realize a gross earning of P750,000 or possible high net profit of some P487,800.

One important question that crops up with any business model is whether there is any market for the product or, to put it bluntly, whether there is actually anyone who will buy the organic fertilizer.

The answer isn’t a simple yes or no, according to Gregorio.

The AIC President points out that with the enactment of the Organic Farming Act of 2010 and the publication of the Department of Agriculture’s Implementing Rules and Regulations for the Organic Farming Act, there is a bright prospect for the propagation of organic farming practices.  Such practices include the use of organic fertilizer made from composted material and other organic wastes.

AIC’s organic fertilizer production method has been approved by the Dept. of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research 4 years ago and complies with the standards set by the Organic Farming Act.  Moreover, when compared to other methods of composting — such as ordinary composting or vermiculture composting — AIC’s method was found by the BAR to be faster (21 days production time) and of a more consistent quality when it comes to its nutrient composition.

Gregorio says that with the DA plunking down 2 percent of its budget or almost a billion pesos to support the growth of organic farming, there seems to be enough basis to believe that there will be a sizeable demand for organic fertilizer — a key input in making organic farms productive and feasible.

Discounting what could be a still latent demand for organic fertilizer, Gregorio pointed out that organic fertilizer is just as effective and even cheaper than chemical fertilizers.

Chemical fertilizers such as Urea, Triple 14, and others can cost farmers P1,200 to P1,800 per bag.  Organic fertilizers, if produced on-site in farms, could cost the farmer just P87.40 per bag to produce.

With such a proposition, it could seem that organic fertilizer production would be a great solution to a number of things including rising food prices, meager farm incomes, and the burgeoning garbage crisis of urban centers in the country.

However, just recently, I was told that municipalities around the country were being given free chemical fertilizers by the Department of Agriculture.  Most likely, such a free fertilizer program would most likely be supported by the suppliers and manufacturers of fertilizers.

Of course, Mayors and Vice Mayors of every municipality would be quick to support such a program that endowed them with free fertilizers to give to their constituents.  The supply of free fertilizer from the national government is limited, but for Mayors with a term of just 3 years, the prospect of immediate and ready political capital for the next elections in 2013 will seem much more desirable.

On one hand, we have organic farming practices that could deliver multiple solutions and on the other, big chemical fertilizer businesses aiming to ensure that Philippine agriculture will remain dependent on their products.

Faced with this uneven competition and with the still incipient organic farming program, AIC says that all it can really do is to continue informing and educating people about the possible solutions offered by organic farming.

“The solution to healthier food, less organic waste, climate change adaptation, and providing our farmers with additional income is here and it’s ready for the taking. We think that by just continuing in a drive to communicate with people about the benefits of what we are doing, we can make small shifts in the way people think and that shift could lead to just enough change that could make a difference.” said Gregorio.

I’m really concerned that this administration will get us into bigger trouble one of these days. The probability of that happening is big mind you. Just consider the fact that this administration is not even a year old and yet we’ve seen quite a number of missteps and outright foolishness committed by its top officials including the president himself.

A lot of things have happened in recent weeks that clearly warrant serious attention. One is the apparent escalation of violent crime, a good number of which allegedly involve police officers. Another is the allegations of corruption in the military. And there’s more.

"Ikaw naman kasi. Bumoto ka pa. La ka naman brains."

Well, shit happens, that’s a fact of life. Other countries have their own share of problems. But what makes our situation different is we have a president who can’t seem to show he is on top of the situation. It doesn’t help that some of his decisions and actions tend to cement the perception that he is just coasting along, enjoying himself, unmindful of what’s happening around him.

Mr. Aquino’s recent purchase of a Porsche certainly did not help dispel that notion. The same is true for his recent visit to Palawan to personally see the province’s famous underground river. The Palace line is that the president wanted to help promote the campaign to get the river listed as one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World.” Apparently, there’s an ongoing search. I checked and I found this bit of information about it:

(from Wikipedia; highlights mine)

New Seven Wonders of the World was a project that attempted to update the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a modern list of wonders. A popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber[1] and organized by the Swiss-based, government-controlled New7Wonders Foundation,[2] with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon.[3]

The New7Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Nothing prevented multiple votes, so the poll was considered “decidedly unscientific”.[4] According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New7Wonders Foundation drove “the largest poll on record”.[3]

The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest.[3][3][4] After supporting the New7Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distanced itself from the undertaking in 2007.[5][6]

As we can see, this search is not even of any great significance. Sure, it can be said that the President is helping promote local tourism, but did he really need to visit Palawan while there are other more important things begging for his attention? In the first place, no amount of promotion will help boost local tourism if problems like rising criminality are left to persist.

It’s no big wonder some people think that whole Palawan trip was nothing more than a sight-seeing excursion taken at a time when there are a lot more pressing matters that need attention.

Unfortunately, there are also those who think there’s nothing wrong with all this. In spite of all the obvious failings and failures of this administration, there are still many who would insist that Noynoy Aquino getting elected as President is the best thing that happened to this country. Just check the latest Social Weather Stations survey. It shows that 74% of respondents are satisfied with how Mr. Aquino is running things. SWS says that translates to a record-high, very good net satisfaction rating of +64. We’re of course assuming that this survey is for real.

For the love of halo-halo, is this not undeniable proof that this country is screwed either way? It demands a stretch of the imagination to understand how anyone would feel satisfied with this administration’s performance at this point in time. What significant result has it achieved anyway? Raise the people’s hopes? ROFL!!! WTF!!! Hope on what? Ah, of course, the mythical yellow whatever.

There’s no denying a lot of people still fall for this sham, a fact this Aquino administration is all too willing to exploit. Just this week, Malacanang issued a memorandum circular enjoining “government officials and employees to display People-Power-themed décor, including yellow buntings, stickers and tarpaulins, to mark the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1986 EDSA revolt.”

Furthermore, a gmanews.tv report said:

The Palace pointed out the EDSA-1 revolt from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986 “restored democratic institutions and ushered in meaningful political, social, and economic reforms in the country.”

“It was a moment in our history when millions of Filipinos bravely united for democratic reforms through peaceful means which earned our country the respect and admiration of the world,” it said.

Tsige na nga. Let’s commemorate this momentous event, but let’s not forget about our responsibilities, okay? Uh-oh, too late for such wishful thinking. In the same memorandum circular, Malacanang “also urged government officials and employees in particular to join related activities such as fora, lectures, film showing, and tree-planting.”

C’mon, what’s so special about Edsa Fiesta 1 that state workers — who, as we all know are paid using taxpayers’ money — should stop doing productive work in favor of something leisurely as watching a film? Talk about setting a bad example.