Tinikling is the national folk dance of the Philippines. I'll let Wikipedia explain it: "The tinikling is an indigenous dance from the Philippines involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance." Having a hard time picturing that? Check out these videos. This is extremely cool:

SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST

Abinales, P. Making Mindanao.

Asian Development Bank. (2008). Development of Poor Urban Communities.(1)

Asian Development Bank. (2007). Philippines: Critical Development Constraints.(2)

Bagayaua-Mendoza, G. (2008). Global Integrity Scorecard: Philippines.(3)

Bello, W. e. (2004). The Anti-Development State: The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis in the Philippines. Quezon City: University of the Philippines.

Corpuz, O. (1997). An Economic History of the Philippines. Quezon City: University of the Philippines.

Gamalinda, E. Empire of the Memory.

Hedman, E.-L., & Sidel, J. T. (2000). Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge.

Iizuka, M., Botman, D., Ree, J. J., & Halikias, I. (2008). Selected Issues, Philippines.(4)

International Monetary Fund. (2008). Staff Report for the 2008 Article IV Consultation, Philippines.(5)

Karnow, S. In Our Image.

Koppel, B., & Kim, D. Y. (Eds.). (1994). Land Policy Problem in East Asia: Toward New Choices. Honolulu: East-West Center.

McCoy, A. (Ed.). An Anarchy of Families.

McCoy, A. Band of Brothers.

Medina, A. T. (1996). Asian Economic Tigers: A Philippine Comparison.

Ong, C. Banyaga.

Political & Economic Risk Consultancy LTD. (2009). Asian Intelligence.

Rizal, J. El Filibusterismo.

Rizal, J. Noli Mi Tangere.

Saulo-Adrano, L. (2009). A General Assessment of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Philippine Institute of Development Studies.(6)

Scott, W. H.

Sionil, F. Rosales Saga (books 5, 6 or 7).

Steinberg, D. The Philippines: A Singular and Plural Place.

Stephanson, N. Cryptonicrom.

The Lonely Planet Philippines.

Vos, R., & Yap, J. (1996). The Philippine Economy: East Asia’s Stray Cat? London: Institute of Social Studies.

Werve, J., & Integrity, G. (Eds.). (2008). The Corruption Notebooks.

Wignaraja, G. Foreign Direct Investment, Innovation, and Exports: Firm-Level Evidence from People’s Republic of China, Thailand, and Philippines. Asian Development Bank.(7)

World Bank. (2009). Philippines Quartely Economic Update.(8)

Yang, D., & Martinez, C. Remittances and Poverty in Migrants' Home Areas: Evidence from the Philippines. Working Papers, University of Michigan, Dept of Economics.(9)

The Philippines, Peacekeeping, and Port-au-Prince

Three Filipino peacekeepers in Haiti are believed trapped following Tuesday’s earthquake, caught when the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed. (1)

How many Filipino UN peacekeepers are there? (2)

Haiti: 172

• Police: 15
• Troops: 157

Worldwide: 1,062

• Police: 405
• Military Experts on Mission: 23
• Troops: 634

Among countries contributing UN peacekeeping personnel, the Philippines ranks 24th. The United States ranks 72nd (contributing 75 peacekeepers), just ahead of Albania but behind Mali. (3)

Where are Filipino UN peacekeepers deployed? (4)

MINUSTAH

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

Police: 15; Troops: 157

UNAMID

African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur

Police: 169

UNDOF

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (Israel-Syria)

Troops: 337

UNMIL

United Nations Mission in Liberia

Police: 26; Experts on Mission: 2; Troops: 137

UNMIS

United Nations Mission in the Sudan

Police: 42; Experts on Mission: 11

UNMIT

United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste

Police: 153; Experts on Mission: 3

UNMOGIP

United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan

Experts on Mission: 3

UNOCI

United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire

Experts on Mission: 4; Troops: 3

Turning Briefly from the Pacific

Although this blog is dedicated to the study of economic development in the Philippines, Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti and the dramatic humanitarian challenge it caused is a reminder of the urgency and complexity of an effective international disaster relief system. Instead of recapitulating one of the New York Times articles on the right in blogg-ier form, let's take a moment to identify the critical needs of Haitians and the opportunities available to contribute to the relief effort:

Partners in Health, with its long and famous history of providing health services in Haiti, is now at the forefront of the logistical challenge of providing disaster services. Contributions to Partners in Health can made here.

Partners in Health is especially in need of doctors, nurses, and medical personnel. From their website:

"As patients flood to our sites from Port-au-Prince, we're finding ourselves in need of both medical personnel and supplies. In particular, we need surgeons (especially trauma/ orthopedic surgeons), ER doctors and nurses, and full surgical teams (including anesthesiologists, scrub and post-op nurses, and nurse anesthetists).

If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an e-mail to volunteer@pih.org with information on your credentials, language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired), availability and contact information.

Doctors Without Borders is also in Port-au-Prince, struggling to treat hundreds of the injured. Donations can be made at their website.

Also, that "text 'HAITI' to 90999 to donate $10 American Red Cross relief for Haiti" message that you’ve been seeing everywhere for a full day is a savvy use of social networking technology and an innovation in philanthropy that's probably worth studying when the appropriate time comes.

The commentary to this post can serve as the IEDP team's repository of information on the relief effort. Please post any other information about organizations who are working in Port-au-Prince or other opportunities to help provide crucial services to the victims of this disaster.

Top Frontier Taking Over San Miguel

Business Week via Bloomberg reports that the board of the San Miguel Corporation has agreed to a takeover by Top Frontier Holdings Incorporated. Top Frontier will offer 75 pesos per share, which puts San Miguel at a market value of 171.7 billion pesos, or $3.75 billion. San Miguel is the largest food and beverage company in the Philippines. It owns San Miguel Beer, which dominates the local market and which is apparently one of the largest beer brands in the world.

Top Frontier is controlled by several members of the San Miguel board of directors. It is owned by Roberto Ongpin, a former trade minister, and Inigo Zobel, a member of one of the wealthiest families in the Philippines.

Part the motivation for the takeover may be a desire to reduce government influence over the company. The government owns a disputed block of San Miguel stock. It was acquired under the Aquino government, who seized it from Eduardo Conjuangco, Jr. on the grounds that he acquired it with public funds. An anti-graft court has apparently ruled that the government does not have a legitimate claim to the stock, but the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the government's appeal. Conjuangco, chairman and CEO of the San Miguel board, has nevertheless been permitted to vote his former shares.

On January 6, San Miguel Corporation announced that it would acquire a 49% stake of Top Frontier. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, this significant minority stake was assumed in order to expand San Miguel's access to bank loans. Under the single borrower's limit (SBL) rule, banks in the Philippines are limited in the amount of lending they can make to a company or its subsidiaries. However, corporate affiliates are exempt from the SBL cap.

San Miguel began operations as a brewer in 1890, during the waning days of Spanish colonization.

Policymakers cope with soaring sugar prices

The Dow Jones Wire Service reported earlier today that PH policy makers were convening to remove import duties on sugar, in order to tame soaring domestic prices. Apparently the result of rising global demand for cane and beet sugars, prices have been trending upwards. However, the recent volatility has been somewhat unusual.

Remarkably, the WHO publishes data on world sugar consumption by country. In 2005, PH consumed approximately 24 kg per capita. This is approximately equivalent to South Korea's consumption rate, 26 kg per capita, which is unusual given that ROK's per capita GDP is larger by a factor of 10.

Filipino Peacekeepers in Conflict Areas at All-Time High

A record number of Filipino peacekeepers are currently depolyed in various conflict areas worldwide: a total of 1,056 military and police peacekeepers are serving in 9 UN peacekeeping missions, as reported by the Philippines Mission to the United Nations.

656 are from the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and 415 are officers from the Philippin National Police (PNP).

Majority of the AFP officers and personnel deployed are part of the peacekeeping infantry battalion in Golan Heights, humanitarian troop in Darfur, military observer group in Kashmir, and the stabilization mission in Haiti. The rest are serving as military observers, liaison officers and staff officers in Sudan, Cote d’Ivore, Kashmir and Timor Leste.

The PNP officers are similarly deployed in Darfur, Liberia, Sudan, Timor Leste and Haiti, with a lone officer assigned in Afghanistan.

The Philippines is now in the 23rd position in the list of top troop and police contributing countries, a 40% increase in troop deployments from 2008.

Full article here.

Ferry Tragedy: Up to 25 Possibly Dead

A ferry sank in the waters south of Manila - near Batangas City - leaving at least 3 people dead and 22 missing.

The vessel was carrying 88 passengers and crew when it collided with a fishing boat. 60 people have been rescued.

Sea accidents are common in the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands. Full article here.

A musical interlude.

Okay, it isn't a policy issue, but when you're learning about a country, it's always a good idea to know what people are talking about on the streets. And just like in the US, Filipinos love competition reality shows. The Philippines have had two different versions of US favorite American Idol - first, Philippines Idol, and then Pinoy Idol. (And it looks like a third version will be coming next year.)

Check it out.

Season 1 winner Mau Marcelo:



And Season 2 winner Gretchen Espina.

A brief note on correct usage

This may be a naive post for those who - unlike myself - knew how to spell the Philippines before this project began (I thought there were two 'l's and one 'p', rather than the other way around). However, I for one have been unclear on the correct language to use when referring to the Philippines and its people and would like to provide a little clarification. It may seem picky and pedantic, but I always find it prudent to make these clarifications in advance of visiting and working in another land, especially where a colonial legacy exists that may have produced insensitive or derogatory terminology.

the Philippines: The original (if by "original" you mean, "first European") name of the Philippines was the Archipelago de San Lazaro, so named by Magellan in 1521. In 1543, the archipelago was renamed "Felipinas" by Capt. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos after the crown prince of Spain, who later became Phillip II. Because European colonialism is responsible for organizing the peoples of the archipelago under a single flag, there is no pre-existing indigenous name for the country. However, the revolutionary events of 1896 and 1897 produced two alternative names: The Tagalog Republic or the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.

"Ph" or "F"?: The disparity between use of "Ph" and "F" when referring to the country and its people is actually a disparity between English and Spanish. King Felipe II of Spain is King Phillip II in English (also, notice the number of 'l's). After the Treaty of Paris, when the United States bought the country, the name of the republic was anglicized, while the name of its people retained its original Spanish spelling.

Or is it "P"?: Another usage when referring to the people of the Philippines is "Pilipino". The origins of this usage lie in a contested attempt to institutionalize indigenous language, which privileged Tagalog over other native tongues and was rooted in ancient script called Baybayin. The term "Pilipino" is an attempt to appropriate the term "Philippines" into an alphabet that did not contain a letter for the sound of "F". However, a 1987 constitution restored the "F" to the word referring to both the native language and the people, designating a larger alphabet that includes foreign sounds.

Philippine: The term "philippine" is an adjective, and therefore should not be confused with "filipino" (or "filipina", retaining the the gender rules of old espanol). "Philippine" may be used to refer to a person, but only as a modifier of another personal identifier, such as "Philippine congresswoman" or "Philippine boxer". It is more commonly used to refer to objects or concepts, such as "Philippine culture" or "Philippine island".

Philippino: Just wrong.

So all of this is to say that the variant spellings and usages of Philippines, Filipino, Pilipino, et al are more or less safe to use since all usages that refer to the country necessarily invoke its colonial legacy for want of common indigenous terms.

With all that said, then... carry on.

Arroyo to Copenhagen

Business World reports that President Arroyo is attending the first three days of the 15th Conference of Parties on climate change, beginning today in Copenhagen, Denmark. Environment Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr., told the newspaper that "We need to be coordinated [with the G-77 group of developing nations] or our lone voice will not be heard". The current Philippines delegation is calling for deep and early cuts for developed countries. According to its own estimates, the Philippines accounts for ~0.0035 global greenhouse gas emissions.

Big Day for Pacquiao

It's been two big days for Manny Pacquiao, considered to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world (if not ever). A day after announcing his candidacy for the Presidency, it's been announced that he'll fight Floyd Mayweather, previously considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, on March 13. We won't be in the Philippines for the fight, but it'll be interesting to see how big his celebrity is while we're there -- and if it'll help his candidacy!

Journalism and Maguindanao

To date, much of the international attention in the Maguindanao massacre has focused on the deaths of the Mangudadatu family, especially since Mr. Mangudadatu had sent his family on his behalf to file his candidacy. However, as more information has surfaced, the attention and focus has expanded. Recently, it was determined that a large portion of the troupe was composed of journalists and media members, of which 30 journalists and media members were killed (a much higher number than originally thought).

While these numbers are startling, what may be even more disconcerting is the pattern of violence and hostility towards journalists and media members within the Philippines in recent years. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) highlights this trend:

“Under the current government the Philippines has become the most dangerous place in the world for media workers. At least 74 journalists have been killed during its eight-year tenure, yet the Government has not acted to end the culture of impunity. At last count, only four convictions had been secured.”

President Arroyo spent the day at the funerals of many of these journalists, but it seems that the real test for this government is if it will heed the recent calls of UN officials for a full investigation that leads to prosecutions.

Further Developments from Maguindanao

As the legal and political ramifications of last week's bloody election violence in the Maguindanao province begin to come to light, several new developments have been made by local officials and police. As noted in yesterday's post, the first charges have been brought against mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who is believed to have orchestrated the massacre. Today, Philippine police are reporting a forensic breakthrough in the case, linking shells found at the scene to the gun of one of the militia members controlled by Andal Ampatuan, Jr. Allegedly, 100 gunmen were involved in the killings, including militiamen and local police officers, several of whom are now in police custody.

Other details that have emerged in recent days highlight the grisly nature of the killings. The New York Times reports that "most or all" of the 22 female victims of the killings were sexually mutilated.

As officials continue to investigate the massacre, one interesting aspect of the case that's relevant to the IEDP Human Rights team is how successfully the Philippine government is able to frame the violence as originating from local criminal activity rather than a widespread human rights problem. President Arroyo's strong alliance with the Ampatuans in fending off Islamist and secessionist groups will complicate that effort, but the response of the international community may help determine the context in which the violence is perceived.

Arroyo planning to run for Congress

The WSJ is reporting here that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is planning to run for a seat in Congress. There is talk that the move is a prelude to a campaign by her party (the Lakas Kampi CMD Party) to turn the presidential system of the Phillipine government into a parliamentary system.

In other Philippine-related news, Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local mayor, has been charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the hilltop massacre of 57 people last week in Maguindanao. Ampatuan is the heir of a powerful family that has strong historical ties to President Arroyo. The Financial Times notes here that many of the victims were associates and relatives of the rival Mangudadatu family, which has also historically been strong allies of Arroyo. Ismael Mangudadatu was planning to challenge Andal Ampatuan in next year's election. Last week's surge of murderous violence might be construed as a clear signal that Arroyo is regarded as a lame duck. As noted in the FT:

"The Ampatuans and Mangudadatus are both political allies of President Arroyo, and the outbreak of violence means she is no longer able to mediate over the allocation of political posts," said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, an advocacy group.

President Arroyo is apparently facing growing criticism for her administration's policy of arming local potentates in an effort to supress Muslim insurgency. Last week's massacre, which occured in predominantly Christian areas of the island, will only heighten concerns about wisdom the policy.