Beyond Impeachment

At Large : Where do we go after impeachment?

Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service

FRIENDS connected with the Black & White Movement wish to correct reports that there were only about 100 participants at the recent founding assembly last Sunday. Organizers say that by their own count, there were more than 550 people who took part in the whole-day activity, representing more than 75 groups "with about as many different views" on what to do regarding the "Gloriagate" crisis and scenarios for the future.

Leah Navarro, who was part of the organizing committee, writes friends that a remarkable thing about the gathering was "there were no histrionics, and the key word of the day was 'listen.'"

In a report, Luz Rimban of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism wrote that "black and white is the new yellow," at least for the segment of the middle class, the erstwhile "Edsa forces," who gathered on the La Salle Greenhills campus near the Edsa highway. While impeachment seems to be the preferred option of many, said Rimban, leaders were worried that the impeachment case against the President seemed to be headed for an early demise.

"Saan tayo pupunta pagkatapos pag wala na yung impeachment complaint? [Where do we go if the impeachment complaint is voted down?]," Rimban quotes former Education Secretary and Liberal Party leader Florencio "Butch" Abad. "What path do people take once the impeachment option is slammed shut in their faces?"

Where to now, indeed?

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THE HUBBY and I, with our friend Ric Ramos and his daughter Bea, were in Mindoro Island over the weekend, to take a look at the accomplishments of the Calapan Waterworks Corp.

We had originally planned the trip for the other weekend, but a typhoon was passing through Northern Luzon and my husband thought it might be too dangerous to make the crossing from Batangas province. It turns out that he thought the crossing would still be made via those old wooden batels, which he took when he was a child, on the way to his father's ranch in Abra de Ilog. But our decision to postpone the trip was fortuitous, as the Coast Guard had indeed deemed sea travel too dangerous for passenger craft.

Last Saturday dawned clear as we drove from our Antipolo home to Ric's place in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. After breakfast prepared by Ric's wife EJ, we proceeded to Batangas City, making it in just over an hour. We raced on foot from the parking lot at the pier because Ric wanted to catch the 8 a.m. trip. Entering the terminal, we were assaulted by shouts from the folks at the counter, competing for passengers not just for Calapan City but also for Puerto Galera town. Why is it that we need to turn every public facility into a "palengke" [public market]?

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STILL, despite the aggravation, it was interesting watching the comings and goings of passengers and cargo. Ric says "ro-ro" (roll-on, roll-off) vessels make the crossing to and from Calapan every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day.

On the highway from the Calapan pier is a billboard pointing the way, on one side, to the city center, the provincial capitol and other local attractions. On the other side of the billboard, an arrow points to "Roxas, Boracay, Kalibo, Iloilo," a sign that the much-vaunted "Strong Republic Nautical Highway" is very much a reality.

If one wanted to, we were told, one could indeed drive all the way from Luzon to Mindanao, defying our archipelagic limitations. After the Roro docks in Calapan, one can drive southwards to Roxas town, catching another ro-ro ferry that will bring one to either Kalibo or Caticlan, the jump-off point for the vacationer's paradise of Boracay. If one wishes to follow the "nautical highway" to Mindanao, one can drive from Kalibo to Iloilo, board the Roro to Bacolod, motor on to San Carlos City and make the crossing to Cebu and thence board another ro-ro vessel to either Cagayan de Oro or Surigao.

Fascinated by tales of the "nautical highway," the hubby and I resolved to save up enough money to make the trip from Luzon to Mindanao -- in the not-too-distant future, we hope.

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FROM CALAPAN we made the rough and tumble drive through a road that was paved in parts, and dusty and pockmarked in others, to Puerto Galera.

We stayed overnight at a relatively new resort called Puerto Nirvana, near the town proper, which started out as a vacation home of owner Romy Roxas, until he decided to expand the facilities to include a hotel building and dormitory-type accommodations. We called it a night fairly early, after straightening out the kinks in our muscles from the long drive with a massage.

Puerto Galera may have lost much of its cachet among the leisure set, but it remains an attractive destination. Sea-going vessels, from small speedboats to breathtaking yachts, can still be found docked at the Puerto Galera Yacht Club. Resorts and dive centers -- from fairly high-end facilities to smaller places built helter-skelter to the very edge of the beach line -- were still doing brisk business even during this "low" season.

But I also think Puerto Galera has much to thank the family of the late National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, who was one of the first to discover the wonders of the place. Wishing to preserve the natural beauty and environment of Puerto Galera, the Locsins bought islands with some of the best beachfronts, if only to protect them from the sort of over-development that has blighted other islands. The public is still free to use the beaches on these private islands, and indeed there were many tourists going snorkeling off the Locsin-owned White Beach, where some of the best coral formations are found.

Indeed, where political will is too weak to fend off careless developers, the private sector will have to step in. Would that other similarly beautiful but endangered environments in our country had guardians like the Locsins!