Miriam Defensor Santiago | News

Keynote speech at Go Negosyo’s 5^th Filipina Entrepreneurship Summit held on 1 March 2013 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City

I am happy to join you in this initial celebration of March as International Women’s Month.  According to the Philippine Commission on Women, the theme for the 2013 Women’s Month celebration is – “Kababaihan: Gabay sa Pagtutulak ng Tuwid na Daan.”

My speech will deal with three topics: the gender gap between men and women; the plight of female entrepreneurs; and the proliferation of political dynasties.

(more…)

Speech delivered at the UP Manila on 12 February 2013, at the symposium sponsored by the University Student Council

I have such a high opinion of the Student Council of the University of thePhilippines, my own alma mater, that I will have to beg your indulgence in addressing myself to two topics of national importance: the Tubbataha disaster; and weaponizing social media for the ongoing political campaign.

The Tubbataha Disaster

The Tubbataha Reef in Philippine territory has been proclaimed a UN World Heritage Site.  It is home to a spectacular, breathtaking panorama of marine life consisting of:

• 600 species of fish
• 360 species of corals
• 11 species of sharks
• 13 species of dolphins and whales, and
• 100 species of birds and sea turtles

This magical spot within Philippine territory is governed by R.A. No. 10067, or the Tubbataha Reef Park Act of 2009.

Last month, on January 17, the USS Guardian, a US Navy minesweeper passed by this marine sanctuary.  It is said that park rangers radioed the ship with the advice that it was nearing the Reef.  However, the ship captain allegedly insisted that the park rangers should instead raise their complaint with the US embassy.

According to the official statement of the Tubbataha Management Office, the US ship did not have a permit to enter the park, which is a marine protected area.  It was also found that the vessel did not inform the marine park rangers of its presence and situation.  When the rangers informed the Americans of their violations and announced the intention of the rangers to board the vessels, the radio contact was unanswered and the boarding protocol was aborted, specially since the Filipinos saw the Americans taking positions armed with weapons.

Under Philippine law, the American ship violated the provisions on unauthorized entry, damages to the Reef, nonpayment of conservation fees, destroying and disturbing resources, and obstruction of law-enforcement officers.

The American vessel directly caused environmental disaster over an area of some 4,000 square meters, which is the size of 10 basketball courts.  Under Philippine law, the US Navy has the duty to pay a fine of $300, or some P12,000 per square meter, plus another $300 per square meter for rehabilitation efforts.

The American crew were transferred to support vessels.  But the warship, which is 68 meters long, is still there.  Under the US Navy salvage operation plan, the ship will eventually be broken down into pieces and taken away.  But while it is there, it will continue to destroy marine life.

It was an unspeakable crime to inflict such damage on the Reef.  The only defense of the Americans is that they allegedly used a faulty map that misplaced the location of the Reef.  In other words, the Americans seem to admit that they were sloppy with their map, and that they were arrogant with the Filipino park rangers whose advice they disregarded.

On February 4, the American ambassador reiterated regrets over the incident and assured our foreign affairs secretary that the United States will provide appropriate compensation.  However, as a student of international law, I find that the statement issued by the US ambassador is disturbing, and amounts to doublespeak.  The statement calls the Tubbataha event an “accident.”  The word “accident” implies that the act of the US ship involved no negligence or fault.  Furthermore, the US government has offered other forms of assistance.  Thus, in my view, the statement issued by the US embassy makes American compensation and other activities look like foreign assistance, for which we Filipinos are expected to be grateful!

In other words, I am concerned that the American offer of compensation is made to appear, not as a dictate of legal obligation under international law, but as an indulgence in American magnanimity.  If the Philippine government resorts to the legal process to demand compensation, on record the Americans could have evaded any admission of guilt.  Instead, the Americans could oppose any complaint in an international law tribunal, by raising the defense of sovereign immunity from suit.

Allow me to make a simple analysis of the international law dimensions of the Tubbataha event.  There is no question that Tubbataha is part of Philippine territory, protected not only by Philippine law, but also by the UN declaration that it is a World Heritage Site.  When the American warship ran aground in the Reef, the US government committed what international law calls an “internationally wrongful act.”  As such, the Tubbataha event is a violation of the international law codified under the topic of “Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts” issued by the International Law Commission.

Under this topic, the Tubbataha event is covered by at least two articles.  Under Article 1: “Every internationally wrongful act of a State entails the international responsibility of that State.”

Under Article 2: “There is an internationally wrongful act of a State when conduct consisting of an action or omission: (a) Is attributable to the State under international law; and (b) Constitutes a breach of an international obligation of the State.”  Therefore, as provided by the International Law Commission, under the principle of attribution, the conduct of the officials and personnel of the USS Guardian is considered as an act of the US government under international law, and consequently, the US government bears responsibility.

The International Law Commission is one authority.  Let me state another authority: Sir Ian Brownlie, Oxford professor emeritus of public international law.  The latest seventh edition of his famous book, Principles of Public International Law, was published in 2008.  By 2009, Prof. Brownlie had passed away and the eighth edition of his book was issued by Professor James Crawford in 2012.

According to Brownlie: “In principle, an act or omission which is on its face a breach of legal obligation gives rise to responsibility in international law. . . The practice of states and jurisprudence of arbitral tribunals and the International Court have followed the theory of objective responsibility as a general principle.”  What this means is that under the principle of objective responsibility, a breach of international obligation occurs by result alone, even in the absence of negligence or fault.

Let me go on to my third authority, the time-honored decision in the 1927 case of Chorzow Factory.  In its decision, the Permanent Court of International Justice said: “It is a principle of international law that the breach of an international engagement involves an obligation to make reparation in an adequate form.  Reparation therefore is the indispensable complement of a failure to apply a convention. . . . It is a principle of international law . . . that any breach of an engagement involves an obligation to make reparation.”

Finally, let me cite one more authority: the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement, Article 2 on “Respect for Law.”  Article 2 provides: “It is the duty of the US personnel to respect the laws of the Republic of the Philippines . . . The government of the United States shall take all measures within its authority to ensure that this is done.”

In sum, international law is clear that whether or not there was negligence or fault on the part of the US warship, under the principle of state responsibility, the US government is responsible for the partial destruction of Tubbataha Reef, which some say will need 250 years to be fully restored.  Under the principle of objective responsibility, the basic test is whether there has been a breach of international obligation.  The US has accepted that it has committed such a breach.  Therefore, the US government should stop referring to the Tubbataha event as an “accident.”  Instead, the Tubattaha event should be called a “breach of international obligation.”

Weaponizing Social Media

The campaign period has begun.  All kinds of characters want to run for public office.  We, the 52 million Filipino voters, are bored with their antics.  We are aghast at their resumes.  Some of them are not even high school graduates.  They resort to all kinds of cheap gimmickry, hoping to provide entertainment for free.  They should not be called candidates; they should be called clowns.

In the Philippines, politics is dominated by two kinds of clowns: rich clowns; and poor clowns hoping to become rich.  Fortunately, we are at the cusp of a new ominous wave of change in the political beach.   This wave is called the social media.  In the Philippines, nobody knows how to control or manage social media.  Rich clowns used to bribe press and broadcast journalists so that they could gain added illegal advantage over their competitors.  But now, the rich clowns are beginning to discover that it is not possible to bribe the leaders, much less, all the netizens in cyberspace.

If the first Edsa revolution was a “Xerox revolution”, and if Edsa 2 was a “text revolution”, then the next revolution against political corruption should be called the “Net revolution”.

The ideal UP student always gives the world a shock.  I ask each one of you to give the mindless political candidates a shock, by demoting TV, which used to be the king of political advertising, and instead elevating as political campaign weapons the tablet and the smart phone.

In terms of social network use, the Philippines is ranked among the top countries.  This could be the precursor of the participatory democracy of the future.  Facebook is the premier social media service in the world.  Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service.  YouTube provides a forum for the distribution of video content, particularly eyewitness features of political protests.  Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the so-called big three social media services.  These services enable large numbers of people to be easily and inexpensively contacted via a variety of services.

Social media lowers traditional socio-economic barriers to commanding the spotlight.  The power of the rich politicians becomes more porous and the political warlords have less control.  It has been said that text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the Internet have given rise to a reservoir of political energy.  Digital technologies enforce the formation and activities of civil society groups: mobs, movements, and civil society organizations.

Challenge to UP Students

The ideal UP student is not interesting per se.  What is interesting is what the ideal student does with his life after graduation from UP.  As a rule, any UP graduate will always be characterized by academic excellence and by the courage to take social justice to the next level.  If you are to serve your nation, I am here to testify that it will be a rough, contentious, and spirit-crushing journey.

But as a true UP graduate, I insist that I have a role to perform.  This role is to stand as one of gazillion bricks in the cathedral of governance.  No one will remember me if I suddenly drop dead tomorrow.  But generations after you and me, would be able to put behind them the culture of corruption, and build a new shining nation with leaders who are neither dazzled by the material world, nor confused about their purpose in life.

Hence, I have risen from my sickbed to issue you this challenge: For God’s sake, save this country.  Use social media during this three-month campaign period to ensure that our people shall be led to choose deserving national leaders.  Allow me to make some recommendations on how to weaponize social media against the corrupt, the clueless, and the clowns.  I am paraphrasing from an article in the Net issued by Craft Media Digital and written by Brian Donahue.

• Weaponize social media during the campaign by providing content that not only informs, but also entertains and motivates.  You need to develop skills in creative design, emotionally riveting visuals, and content that inspires action.  We can not weaponize by simply issuing a statement, a newsletter, or a Facebook post.  We need to enlist the work of more graphic designers, creative writers, videographers, and musicians.
• Weaponize social media during the campaign by embracing targeted messaging strategies.  You cannot rely on single-issue national messaging.  You have to send custom messages to specific audiences online.  It is said that in today’s digital age, data is the most precious commodity.  Hook up with math students in the Diliman campus.  Ask our math scholars to build algorithms for matching data.  This will develop demographic models that will help you to identify valuable voter behavior.  For example, refer to Facebook OpenGraph.
• Weaponize social media during the political campaign by delivering content so engaging that individual netizens will be motivated to share it.  I see in the current campaign that the most egregious error of the candidates is that they treat social media as if it were TV or radio, where they simply transfer information to the masses.  The strength of the web is information sharing among social netizens.
• Weaponize social media in the political campaign by accepting that the future of political warfare will take place online.  For example, a comparative database that provides information on each candidate’s age, residence, highest academic degree, and highest professional achievement, would be a sufficient counterbalance to the tendency of the low middle-class voter to sell his vote or to vote for the cute personality.

Social media should be used as a showcase for intangible movement or energy, and a medium of information to motivate people to vote for or against a particular candidate.

Conclusion

I share one unbreakable linkage with you.  At one time I was your age and like all UP students, I wanted to change the world.  Maybe I have.  But the world also changed  me.  Now I am old enough to have seen the world and have all my illusions shattered.  Am I disillusioned?  No, because as the poet said:

      Though much is taken, much abides; and though

      We are not now that strength which in old days

      Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

      One equal temper of heroic hearts,

      Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

      To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

-o0o-

Speech at the Charter Change Symposium sponsored by the Social Sciences Society of Centro Escolar University, 11 January 2013

An important part of the menu of reflections society must occasionally undertake concerns the need to re-evaluate the basic terms of our social contract codified in our Constitution.  This meditation on social foundations assumes greater importance given that about half of our population today and, to be sure, the overwhelming members of the audience today – did not have the opportunity to ratify the current Constitution when it was submitted to the people in 1987.

(more…)

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s speech at the Far Eastern University Central Student Organization lecture series on 22 November 2012

Let me summarize the problem with Philippine elections:  Of the 50 million voters who will troop to the polls in May next year, the greater majority are not intelligent, they are not educated for voting, and the candidates they choose are not educated for serving.  This problem is the result of the fact that our Constitution provides that no literacy requirement shall be imposed on voters.  Furthermore, although the Constitution provides that a senator should be literate in that he should be able to read and write, the same Constitution does not require any educational attainment on the part of any candidate.

As I shall show a few minutes later, this is all very strange.  Under the Police Act, no person can be appointed a policeman, unless he has a college degree.  But any person can become president, vice-president, senator, or congressman of the country even without a college degree!

(more…)

First of a two-part keynote speech at the inter-university conference on business economics at the Adamson University Theatre on 6 October 2012.

CYBERCRIME LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL 

The prefix “cyber” relates to the culture of computers, information technology, the internet, and virtual reality.  The term “cybercrime” refers to criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the internet.

Just like any other human activity, the internet carries with it new avenues of illegal behavior.  The internet makes it easier to commit certain crimes, such as dissemination of pornography, copyright infringement, and defamation.  The internet also gives rise to crimes exclusive to the internet, such as computer hacking and misuse.  And the internet can make certain crimes complicated, because they could be illegal in some countries, but not in others.

Computer misuse was dramatically demonstrated in 2000, when a Filipino hacker attacked and destroyed data in 45 million computers.  He created a virus that the media called the “Love Bug,” because it used the subject line “I love you” in the emails that carried it.  The estimated cost in damages was $10 billion.  The Filipino was never punished, because the Philippines at that time had no law criminalizing computer misuse.

Accordingly, in 2001, the Council of Europe drafted the Cybercrime Convention in Budapest.  The Philippines is not yet a party to this treaty.  If we become a party, the Philippines would be duty-bound to adopt a Cybercrime Prevention Act.  But the Philippine Congress has already anticipated future global pressure to end computer abuse.

In the United States, there are several laws to protect the public from computer misuse, notably the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030) and the 1996 Telecommunications Act (Sec. 230).  Although the U.S. considers internet gambling to be illegal, this year three bills were filed to legalize internet gambling in America.

As economics and business students, you are already aware that cybercrime works to prejudice ecommerce.  Companies with online operations are subject to credit card fraud, identity theft, phishing, and intellectual property crimes.  Cybercriminals continue to negatively impact e-commerce.

In short, in today’s world, cybercrime prevention is a necessity.  This is why I was active during the interpellation and amendment periods of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.  Unfortunately, I was absent because of hypertension, during the voting period.

In my humble opinion, the law as presently worded is unconstitutional.

(more…)

Keynote speech by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Doctor of Juridical Science, Master of Arts in Religious Studies (cand.) at the program sponsored by the Catholics for Reproductive Health, on15 September 2012, at the UP College of Social Work and Community Development

REASON ONE

The Catholic Church Does Not Consider

Anti-RH Teaching as Infallible

Theology consists of critical reflection on faith.  St. Anselm of Canterbury gave to us the classic definition of theology as: “Faith seeking understanding.”  But theology is the result not only of faith, but also of certain normative rules which fall into two categories: doctrines and dogmas.  Doctrines consist of beliefs or teachings which receive the official approval of the Church.

But by contrast, dogmas, which literally mean “what is right,” are doctrines that are taught definitively and promulgated with the highest solemnity.  In other words, dogmas are the definitive rules of faith.  If you reject a dogma, you become a heretic.  Parenthetically, it is very strange that our Church has failed to enumerate what are the Catholic dogmas.

A teaching which is dogma is infallible; but a teaching which is mere doctrine is not infallible.  A doctrine can change over time.  Thus, the 1973 Mysterium Ecclesiae, a declaration issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states: “The expressions of revelation are historically conditioned, and therefore the meaning is not always self-evident to those in some other historical setting.  The meaning in dogmatic language may change from one historical period to another.  The truth itself may be expressed incompletely.”

In his classic bestseller, the 1994 revised edition of the book entitled Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien of the University of Notre Dame, said: “The Church has never explicitly claimed to such infallibility on a moral question.”  The RH issue is a moral question.  The Catholic Church has never claimed that any pronouncement on the RH issue is infallible.

And in the 1996 book Christ Among Us, Anthony Wilhelm said that on the question of contraception: “The large majority of theologians agree that no question of infallibility is involved.”

(more…)

Speech at the symposium sponsored by the Graduate School Student Council of the EARIST State College, Manila, on 8 September 2012.

In the past, under the law, it was an election offense for a candidate to engage in premature campaigning, meaning to say, electioneering conducted before the official campaign period.  However, in the highly controversial 2009 case of Penera v. Comelec, the Supreme Court, by a split vote of 8-7, ruled in effect that the offense of premature campaigning has already been repealed by the new Poll Automation Law.

Based on that notorious case, some senatoriables have already started taking out campaign advertising in the traditional media, meaning TV, radio, and print.  These early campaigners are not violating the law, but it appears that they are violating the sensibilities of Filipino voters, and creating a backlash of condemnation.

The ordinary voter is beginning to raise questions.  The first question is why these early campaigners are so rich that they can afford to take out expensive media advertisements ahead of all other candidates.  It is scandalously expensive to pay for media advertising.

(more…)

Over 3,000 nurses gave Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago a standing ovation when she declared that she will not resign from the Senate until she is called to duty in the International Criminal Court.

“I was elected in 2010 for a six-year term.  I am duty-bound to serve as long as I can.  The ICC itself advised me not to resign until I am called to The Hague,” she said.

Santiago was keynote speaker at the opening ceremonies of the two-day annual national convention of the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines (ORNAP), held last July 7, at the Manila Hotel Fiesta Pavilion.

Santiago being mobbed by nurses after her speech at the opening ceremonies of the two-day annual national convention of the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines (ORNAP), last July 7, at the Manila Hotel Fiesta Pavilion.

After her speech, Santiago tried to leave the ballroom, but she was mobbed by the hysterical crowd, and had to hold on to a security guard in order to keep her balance.

At a press conference, Santiago said that the developing alignment of political forces between the administration party led by President Benigno Aquino III, and the opposition party led by former President Joseph Estrada, “is totally predictable.”

She said that the reason for the shifting of political parties among candidates is the lack of an ideological or philosophical distinction between parties.

“We should have a two-party system which should give the Filipino voter a choice between conservatives and liberals on the role of government in society,” she said.

The senator said that the choice should be include on the one hand, a conservative party that will concentrate only on peace and order, and allow the free market to operate.

She said on the other hand, that a liberal party should advocate a more active role for government in society, including the economy.

“Normally, the result is that the rich gravitate to a conservative party, while the middle and lower classes gravitate to a liberal party,” she said.

The standing ovation for Santiago was a second, after the first ovation given to her at a ballet performance.

“I am happily surprised at this ovation.  I think the Filipinos are expressing their appreciation and wishing me well in my career abroad,” she said, in trying to explain the phenomenon.

(more…)

Speech at the induction of officers of the Credit Management Association of the Philippines, Inc., on 28 June 2012, at Shangri-la Makati Hotel.

Today, there is an economic crisis in Europe, because certain members of the European Union – namely, Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal – are bankrupt.  These bankrupt countries have two choices.  The first choice is to exit from the European Union, and possibly cause the downfall of the EU.  The second choice is to apply for loans from the International Monetary Fund, and accept such conditionalities as: reducing public spending, increasing collection of taxes, liberalizing their international economic relations, and even improving other areas of government.

            The IMF said that it will raise $456B for loans to those European countries.  As part of the European Union program, the IMF chair has requested the Philippines to lend money to its pool of funds.

(more…)

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago will be the inducting officer and guest speaker of the 1^st General Membership & Induction Meeting of the Credit Management Association of the Philippines, Inc. tomorrow, Thursday, 28 June 2012, at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel Quezon Ballroom, Ayala Center, Makati City. The program will start at 12:30 p.m.