Korakora Discussion Group Digests 56 to 60 Mar 9, 2005 to Mar 15, 2005

Korakora Discussion Group Digests from: <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/korakora/ This discussion list has moved to: Kurokuro – Korakora Discussion Group <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://kurokuro.korakora.org/ There are 3 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. 2005 Fellowships From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 2. Tanaw 3/4 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 3. LANKA: Denial of education to marginalised students From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph>

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 19:53:22 -0000 From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: 2005 Fellowships

Forwarded from Al at the Plaridel list, could be of interest Fatima --- ANNOUNCEMENT: 2005 FELLOWSHIPS FOR THREATENED SCHOLARS Please respond directly to IIE

========== Dear IIE Colleagues, Please see the following announcement of new fellowship deadlines which may be of interest. We would appreciate your help in circulating it to any colleagues who may interested. We also welcome direct nominations of any individuals you know who may qualify. Sincerely, Robert Quinn Executive Director IIE Scholar Rescue Fund www.iie.org/SRF Dear Friends, Queridos Amigos, Chers Amis, Following please find an announcement concerning new fellowships for threatened scholars. Scholars from any country and any field may qualify. We invite you to nominate suitable candidates, and ask for your help in forwarding the announcement to any academic colleagues who may be interested. We are especially eager to identify candidates still facing threats in their home country/region, who may not be aware of the program. At the same time, we invite participation from universities and colleges that might be willing to host fellowship recipients. We are especially eager to identify universities and colleges outside of the US, especially French, Spanish and Russian language institutions. Adjunto se encuentra usted un anuncio de becas para académicos en riesgo. Los académicos de cualquier país o área de especialización pueden solicitar. Los invitamos a nominar candidatos y les pedimos compartir este anuncio con colegas interesados. Estamos interesados en identificar candidatos que se encuentren en riesgo actual en su país de origen y que no están enterados del programa. A la vez, invitamos la participación de las instituciones académicas dispuestas a recibir a los becarios de este programa. Estamos especialmente interesados en identificar universidades fuera de los Estados Unidos en instituciones superiores donde el idioma de enseñanza esta en español, francés y ruso. Veuillez trouver ci-dessous une annonce concernant les bourses destinées aux professeurs, chercheurs et intellectuels indépendants dont la vie et le travail sont menacés. Les intellectuels de tous pays et do tous niveaux d'études peuvent être qualifiés. Nous vous invitons à nominer plusieurs candidats et à diffuser cette annonce à vos collèges susceptibles d'être intéressés. Nous souhaitons plus particulièrement identifier des candidats qui subissent toujours les menaces et qui ignorent l'existence de notre programme. Aussi, nous sollicitons la participation des établissements universitaires qui seraient disposés à accueillir les boursiers menacés, et en particulier les établissements en dehors des États Unis dont la langue d'enseignement est le français, l'espagnol ou le russe.

Thanks for your help, Gracias por su ayuda, Merci pour votre aide, Rob Quinn Executive Director ----------------------------------------------------------------- ANNOUNCEMENT: 2005 FELLOWSHIPS FOR THREATENED SCHOLARS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Scholar Rescue Fund Fellowships The Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund provides fellowships for scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit scholars to find temporary refuge at universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues, and the community at large. When conditions improve, these scholars will return home to help rebuild universities and societies ravaged by fear, conflict and repression. How the Scholar Rescue Fund Works: * Academics, researchers and independent scholars from any country, field or discipline may qualify. Preference is given to scholars with a Ph.D. or other highest degree in their field; who have been employed in scholarly activities at a university, college or other institution of higher learning during the last four years (excluding displacement or prohibition); who demonstrate superior academic accomplishment or promise; and whose selection is likely to benefit the academic community in the home and/or host country or region. Applications from female scholars and under-represented groups are strongly encouraged. * Universities, colleges and research centers in any country may apply to serve as hosts. * Applications and nominations should be made to the Fund's Selection Committee. Institutions interested in hosting a particular scholar should submit a letter with the scholar's application. Fellowships are awarded to institutions for support of specific individuals, to be matched in most cases by the institution or third-party. Fellowship recipients are expected to continue their work in safety at the host institution-teaching, lecturing, conducting research, writing and publishing. Fellowships from 3 months to one calendar year will be considered with up to 25 fellowships awarded annually. The maximum award is US $20,000. * Applications are accepted at any time. Emergency applications receive urgent consideration. Non-emergency applications will be considered according to the following schedule: Spring 2005: Applications received by April 1; decision by June 1. Fall 2005: Applications received by September 1; decision by November

1. To apply, please download the information and application materials from: www.iie.org/srf/home For additional information and to learn how your institution might host an SRF scholar, contact: IIE Scholar Rescue Fund Fellowships 809 U.N. Plaza, Second Floor New York, New York 10017 Tel: (USA) 1-212-984-5472 Fax: (USA) 1-212-984-5401 E-mail: SRF@iie.org Web: www.iie.org/SRF ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Message: 2 Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:17:35 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Tanaw 3/4

3/4 Tanáw Fatima Lasay Investigating Space, Place, Language in the Landscape “In the first distance, where the figure or saint is to be placed, the largest trees and rocks are made, keeping them in proportion to the figure. In the second distance, the trees and houses are made smaller, and in the third distance they are still smaller. In the fourth distance, where the ridges of land join the sky, everything is carried to the greatest degree of diminution.” “How to compose a landscape” in “Arte de la Pintura” by Francisco Pacheco, 1649.

In the articulation of distances in landscape painting, objects and their relative sizes in space are viewed in relation to one another. By dividing the picture plane into three or four distances or grounds, a systematic creation of pictorial depth is made possible. In the earlier definition of landscape in the pictorial aspect, the representation of real or fancied natural scenery is assumed as the task of the artist. This entails the development and use of constructional principles to transpose the three dimensions of natural space onto a two dimensional picture surface. However, it is also possible that even in paintings of real scenery the concern of the artist could be more symbolic than spatial; it is possible that not all landscape paintings are about places as fixed spaces but of places as fluid picture languages. In our investigation of space, place and language in the depiction of landscapes, it is necessary that we look into their constructional

principles the systems of representation that artists use to express concepts of navigation, identity and negotiation in landscape. One of the most persuasive of these constructional principles is the principle of perspective. Perspective is a projection system used in representing spatial extension into depth on a flat or shallow surface, utilizing such optical phenomena as the apparent diminution in size of objects. There are a few main types of perspective systems: linear perspective, isometric perspective and inversed perspective. In linear perspective, parallel lines coming from objects in the scene converge as they recede from the observer; in isometric perspective, the lines do not converge but remain parallel and only intersect the picture plane at oblique or right angles; in inversed perspective the lines diverge. Inversed perspective is also described in terms of linear perspective in that the lines of inversed perspective meet at a vanishing point situated in front of the picture plane instead of behind the picture plane as in the case of linear perspective.

Linear perspective is the projection of lines of space and of objects onto a plane with the lines crossing in infinity at a vanishing point. Linear perspective is a branch of applied geometry that deals with the apparent directions and dimensions of objects as seen from a certain station or observation point. The simplest form of linear perspective is parallel or one-point perspective, in which the principal lines of the picture are either parallel or perpendicular to the picture plane. In angular or two-point perspective, some of these lines are oblique and some are not, while in oblique or three-point perspective, all the principal lines are oblique. The sketch attributed to Andres Luna is an example of space expressed in one-point perspective. “Carabao on a Country Road” by Victor Cabisada and an anonymous artist’s painting of the street of Sta. Ana less explicitly demonstrate the employment of one-point perspective. Even less structured is the fluid color modeling of space expressed in one-point perspective in Victorio Edades’ “Montalban Woods.” The narrowing of the road and the diminution of the size of trees with distance all create the illusion of pictorial depth. The drawing of Intramuros by Rafael Asuncion is an example of space expressed in precise two-point perspective. Rather than a single point of convergence, this drawing uses two vanishing points in the horizon located to the left and to the right outside the picture plane. In “Landscape” by Vicente Alvarez Dizon, a two-point construction is implied by the position of the huts and the direction of the road leading towards the right and then to the left where it bends. In “Valley” by Carlos V. Francisco, two-point perspective is used not only as a constructional but as also as an expressive principle. The hut is positioned at an angle to the picture plane with its two sides leading to two vanishing points and the shape of the mountain imply points in the two directions found on a horizon line established at the ground level in the painting. This results to an upward view that emphasizes the depth of a valley created by the majestic proportion of the mountain and the low position of the clouds.

In “Antipolo” by Fernando Amorsolo, it is the dominating majesty of the church that is expressed in what appears to be an underlying three-point perspective. Two vanishing points towards both sides of the painting are suggested by the direction of lines of the bamboo poles, the position of the caravan and the direction of shadows cast on the ground. A third vertical vanishing point is suggested by the vertical lines of the church building that gently slant inward and converge at a single point above it outside the picture plane. Through linear perspective, the canvas is transformed into an open window to the represented external world. In Pablo Amorsolo’s “Tobacco Harvesting”, the lines of the bamboo floor, wall and ceiling imply the direction of the vanishing point into the horizon, the continuity from interior to exterior defined by the lines found in the carabao-drawn cart, the shadows and the pathway in the tobacco field. The perspectival lines generate the illusion of depth; the lines also provide structural and narrative focus because they are used to direct the gaze of the observer from the flowers in the foreground to the cart and the mountain out into the open field. A more explicit effect is made in the use of perspectival lines in Carvajal Kiamko’s “Pintuan.” The wood slats of the house’s interior and exterior walls establish the position of the observer and direct the gaze out into the external world. It is along this perspectival axis that we are subjected into a way of seeing as distant and detached observers of an ordered and controlled reality. “Intramuros Circa 1700” by Rodolfo Ragodon uses two-point perspective in reconstructing the landmarks of the old walled city before the great earthquakes and the destruction of war in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Here, the artist exploits the certainty of the geometry of linear perspective as a constructional principle of space to render nostalgia with historical truth. The development of linear perspective goes back to the experience of the ancient Greeks, in particular the fourth century BC to a scene painter for Aeschylus demonstrating a realistic depiction of depth by size reduction in the spatial layout of buildings. This passed on to the Roman Empire as shown in the employment of central vanishing points in the wall paintings of Pompeii. But it was only in the period of the High Renaissance that linear perspective was codified and began a revolution of spatial apprehension and in ways of seeing in Western art. The codification of perspective spurred the development of devices and measuring instruments that extended the scope of optics and served as drawing aids for artists. Because these artists’ tools were also exploited in the verification of sight, it long remained unchallenged and unexamined that linear perspective defined no clear conceptual distinctions between ways of seeing and methods of representation; the Western visual tradition and especially the criteria for veritable vision became dominated by this single convention of space representation until the nineteenth century. By the twentieth-century, because of the predominance of linear perspective in Western painting and the realism of the photographic image, we were conditioned to believe that drawings and paintings were necessarily derived from views. The belief also became reinforced that those pictures providing the most convincing illusion via the geometric

certainty of linear perspective were better than those diverting from this ideal. Physical optics, which was first codified into perspective in the Renaissance, and finally “naturalized” in photography, became determinants for the “proper” depiction of objects in space; “natural perspective” became the dominant (Western) cultural canon, and pictorial representation could only be described in terms of possible views. In modern photography and the mechanism of the camera obscura, the image is created by light rays from objects in a scene and their intersections with the picture plane. It is upon this primary geometry that perspective and the optical arrangement in a camera are said to be the same. So, what else could possibly be more natural than a picture derived from the image painted on the retina itself? However, the analogy between linear perspective and the mechanism of vision is not this simple. But the visual ideology derived from the simplification of this relationship could not be easily questioned over the centuries that optics and perspective were concepts interchangeably used. And because optical theory cannot account for pictures whose geometries do not correspond to “natural perspective” or possible views, such pictures have been explained away as curious aberrations or a result of lack of skill of the artist or a particular culture, and placed in the category of “naïve” and “folk” painting. Sometimes, those pictures that cannot be explained in terms of the fixed viewpoint and converging lines of linear perspective were described by art historians as “more intuitive systems of representing spatial recession.” The use of diverging orthogonals in Orthodox Christian art, for example, was characterized as being more convincing in practice than in theory. However, it is not only the function of art to present convincing illusions of depth, and the different systems of representation used by artists should not be explained only in these terms. So how do we explain from a single viewer-centered representation system the depiction of the Deposition of Christ by an anonymous artist or the paintings of Taal Church and Caysasay Church by Pedro Salazar or the painting of Laguna de Bay and Angono by José Honorato Lozano? In the lines superimposed on the painting of the Deposition of Christ and “Vista Parcial del Pueblo de Angono y Laguna de Bay” by Lozano show that the projection systems used in these paintings cannot be explained in terms of the projection of light rays from objects in the scene to the eye of the observer. The possible constructional principle used in both paintings can only be explained in terms of the two-dimensional geometry of the picture plane obtained without recourse to the idea of the projection of light rays to the eye of the observer. In the “Fourteenth Station: the Deposition of Christ”, the orthogonals of the tomb where Christ is being lowered appear to diverge indicating a form of perspective known as inversed perspective. The orthogonals of the lid of the tomb also demonstrate this construction. The same construction can also be described as orthogonals meeting at a vanishing point found at the front of the picture plane rather than behind the picture plane as is evident in linear perspective. However, the orthogonals of the tomb and its lid do not suggest a single coherent convergence point. Shrubs and weeds growing on the ground also indicate no clear progressive change in size with distance. The position of the

two crosses in relation to Christ’s cross in the center is also uncertain because of the rounding off of the ends of the horizontal beams. However, if we consider the different objects in the painting as having their own projection systems then it becomes more understandable that the painting was composed not merely in terms of view but also in terms of the intrinsic coordinate system of each object. In the anonymous artist’s painting of Sta. Barbara, the size of the figures in the middle distance and those farther behind are the same although there is considerable distance between them. It appears that the figures behind the main saint figure were rendered in at least two parallel baselines to depict two different episodes in the saint’s martyrdom, with Sta. Barbara herself placed on the main baseline in the foreground. The positioning of figures in the painting indicate a top right to bottom left reading in sequential order rather than an emphasis on the creation of the illusion of depth. A similar explanation may be made of the Deposition of Christ where a stacked perspective exists with one above to tell that Christ has been taken down from the cross and the one below to tell that Christ is being lowered into his tomb. In these instances, the narrative focus is more important than pictorial realism. “Bahay Kubo” by Villadolid presents a similar case of a layered perspective. It is possible to read the painting as having as many as six layers: the first and topmost is the horizon where the golden fields end into a pale green row of trees in the distance; the second is the row of figures in the fenced area; the third is the fence itself which aligns with another fenced area on the left behind the tree; the fourth is the woman, the basket, chickens and the farmer resting on his plough; the fifth is the group of chickens feeding under the shade of the tree; and the sixth is the hut, the two figures beside it and a portion of the tree across them. These layers tell the story of life in the countryside depicted with a flatness that seems more expressive with its anomaly. Another articulation of the denunciation of the perspective of the normal pictorial array is found in the “Third Station: Jesus Falls for the First Time,” the “Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus,” and the “Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments.” In these paintings, the normal rules of optical occlusion are denied in the interest of the narrative and it is the denial of these rules that give the paintings their expressive qualities. In the Third Station, the soldier on the left throws the whip towards the back of the soldier in the center rather than towards Jesus. In the Sixth Station, Veronica’s position in relation to Jesus in the foreground would have concealed part of her face with the cross. In the Tenth Station, the basket of hammer and nails is kept from being covered by Jesus’ garments and the cross behind the figures has cut away the leg of the soldier on the left side of the painting. In José Honorato Lozano’s “Vista Parcial del Pueblo de Angono y Laguna de Bay”, the title indicates that the painting is intended to present a view of actual scenery. It is also worth noting that two partial views are offered in the painting that of Laguna de Bay and the town of Angono and if both views were to be considered as having their own separate observation points then it makes sense that the horizon line is oblique rather than parallel to the picture plane. The shadows of

figures in the foreground indicate a single light source but the precise projections of these shadows are not consistent. This suggests that each group of figures in the painting have their own space and are not governed by a single frame and point fixed by the rays of a sovereign eye. It is within these constructional principles that “Vista Parcial del Pueblo de Angono y de Laguna de Bay” may be explained. To try to explain the painting in terms of linear perspective or of a projection system with a fixed observation point would mean interpreting the painting as a series of errors in linear perspective. The painting of the Church of Caysasay by Pedro Salazar is shown here with superimposed lines to indicate the direction of the main orthogonals, which converge as in linear perspective, but not to single consistent vanishing point. The orthogonal line of the walled grounds of the church on the left side is drawn upwards to the right, and the orthogonal on the right side is drawn upwards to the left. The church building was drawn using the rule: “Draw the front face parallel to the picture plane so it is represented as a true shape and depict the side faces as oblique lines.” Applying this rule, the portico façade of the church is represented in oblique projection; however, the extended building on the right is represented in almost pure isometric projection. The calesa in the foreground, the huts in the background and the goats in the middle distance all have their own internal projection systems. The constructional principle used in the painting “Church of Taal” also by Pedro Salazar may be explained in similar terms. The face of the church is represented as a true shape and the sides represented as parallel oblique lines sloping upwards. The roof of the convent building is also depicted as a true shape. The stairs in the foreground, however, is drawn in perspective with the orthogonals converging towards a vanishing point in the picture plane. So it appears that the church building was painted with no reference to views and logically so because the church could not have been viewed from such a height. The stairs however appears to have been derived from a view-centered description. In both paintings by Salazar, because it is unlikely that they were entirely painted directly from a scene viewed at such a height, it is possible that various sections of the church and other surrounding objects were drawn from views and their other parts drawn using rules applied to an object-centered description. To a way of seeing conditioned by the dominance of projection systems found in realistic Western painting, photographs and video images, these paintings are often described as “naïve” or “folk.” But it is also possible that the artists were rejecting the rules of linear perspective or even the limits of the human visual system for aesthetical and technical reasons, as well as for reasons of accuracy which linear perspective also attempts to achieve. In fact, the paintings of Salazar are accurate in terms of their topological properties even if the projective properties are not. It is also possible that in the representation of space, the artist’s compositional principles are driven by economical use of the picture plane as might be assumed of the occlusion anomalies in the paintings of the Stations of the Cross discussed above. It is also possible that

representation systems are used by artists in response to constraints encountered during the act of painting. The setting in the painting attributed to Juan Arceo of San Bonifacio in soldier’s uniform shows interesting problems and the artist’s response to these problems in representing spatial depth, optical occlusion and edge: the arched doorway became depicted as an “impossible” object because of the difficulty of ascertaining the direction of the depth of the occluding edge against the environment. Abrupt changes of gradient normally occur where changes of slant of surfaces occur. Because “corners” or the occluding edge is usually projected as a discontinuity in the gradient of binocular disparity, the apparent reversal of a solid object can take place when seeing is made with one eye. The painting can therefore be more satisfactorily explained in terms of rules applied to object-centered descriptions rather than from views. Explaining paintings within the terms of realism set by view-centered descriptions such as linear perspective and photography can limit our ability to account for a large number of paintings that do not conform to these terms. It is often assumed that the mechanism and psychology of vision is replicated and explained by the geometrical certainty of perspective or the apparent similarity between the visual world and the images fixed on film by a camera or projected on the wall by the camera obscura. But all these devices are intended to overcome constancy effects of human vision they omit the internal introspection and the experience of the visual world that takes place in the human image processing. Constancy of the shape and size of objects as seen through the human visual system means that we always see things larger than they would have been presented in photographs, thus, physical optics presents to the mind less information about the objects than would our memories of these objects allow. Therefore, the relationships being made between the human visual system and photography may be said to have been oversimplified. The expressive qualities of the paintings by Perfecto Moneda and Gregorio Moneda may thus be explained in terms of a representation of the artists’ experience of the visual world rather than attempts at overcoming the effects of this experience. The scale and orientation of objects in “Country Scene” by Perfecto Moneda correspond to the artist’s experience of seeing these objects nearer to their true sizes and shapes rather than to their projected sizes and shapes. The faces of the hut, the carabao and the human figures were all drawn in their true shapes. In “Philippine Country Scene (Liliw)” and “Gathering Coconuts” by Gregorio Moneda these constancy effects were more or less overcome by the use of atmospheric perspective and tonal modeling. In tonal modeling, shape representation is more effectively achieved through shading or adjusting the saturation of pigments. So the saturation of green changes progressively in the light and shade areas of “Philippine Country Scene (Liliw)” whereas in Perfecto Moneda’s “Country Scene”, the saturation of greens between the grass in the foreground and the trees in the background is less explicit. The change in hue and the diminution of tonal contrast with distance are also more explicit in “Gathering Coconuts” although the size of objects in the painting are painted closer to their true sizes than to their projected sizes. This is exploited aesthetically because the constancy effect expresses the

experience of the height of the coconut trees in the visual world and not merely in the flat visual field. From the end of the nineteenth century towards the beginning of the twentieth century, modern artists started to consciously eliminate and challenge the convention of projected spaces in their paintings. Artists also investigated new methods of dealing with constancy effects without simply replicating the arrangement of light around us or the optic array. Most of these approaches, which called attention to the flatness of the picture plane rather than attempt to create the illusion of three-dimensional space, were a response to photographic realism. Artists started to consciously assert their creativity against the pictorial accuracy of photography by questioning and investigating the nature of depiction itself. Vicente Manansala’s “Buildings, Watertank and Clouds” discard the rules of perspective and the principles of optical occlusion. Galo B. Ocampo’s “Penitents (Flagelantes)” exploit our conditioning by linear perspective through the drawing of two projection lines and therefore establishing two vanishing points across an otherwise coherent projection. In an untitled painting by Nena Saguil the distance to the horizon is denied and the flatness of the picture plane is emphasized through the use of swirling lines that correspond more to the limits of the picture plane than to the rules of perspective. “Non-Objective” by Cenon de Rivera diminishes the perspective effect of the road narrowing with distance through the use of the same saturated colors on the foreground and on the buildings in the background. The lack of perspectival diminution in the sizes of windows implies that the buildings are of the same depth. In “Raon, Estero, Quiapo” by Romeo Jocson, lines are used to effectively convey shape and depth through occlusion but this is destroyed by the overlap of the calesa with the ground line, emphasizing the use of line as lines on the picture surface rather than using line to create the illusion of depth. The earth in Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s “Afternoon” is represented with large and obstrusive marks to draw attention to the picture surface. So inasmuch as we desire for the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface, artists have used landscape painting for purposes other than to create such a convincing illusion. In fact, if we look closely, even those landscape paintings that look and feel convincingly real can use pictorial devices that articulate the flatness of the picture surface. As can be achieved in depictions of reflected river scenes, “Sunrise” by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo is nearly symmetrical about a horizontal axis, thereby aligning with the horizontal axis of the picture plane. Such a pictorial device can shift our experience of seeing the landscape from pictorial representation to an awareness of the flatness of the picture plane. However, seeing “Sunrise” from the domain of a scene towards the domain of a picture surface may be difficult because of the exploitation of spatial relationships in color, value and texture that tends toward the illusion of depth. The uncertainty of space in “Scenery” by Nestor Leynes is accentuated by what appears to be a road converging before it reaches an ambiguous horizon. Although the illusion of space is rendered by the blurring of

trees towards the background of the scene, tonal contrast in the immediate foreground does not diminish with distance as expected. The evocative mood in “Scenery” is due largely to its attempt to offer a glimpse of the real world and yet at once denying the illusion of it. This demonstrates that expression may be derived not only from subject matter but also from the formal properties of the picture as particularly highlighted in landscapes that show geometries that do not correspond to possible views. “Scenery” crosses the distance between the visual world and the visual field. As in actual scenery, the sizes of objects diminish with distance, and saturation and tonal differences are reduced. Color can also contribute to the illusion of space, as the mountains and hills in the distance are rendered in hues that tend toward the blue end of the color spectrum. Dominador Castaneda’s “Lake Taal” employs such techniques of atmospheric or aerial perspective to effectively serve as depth cues. The distribution and depiction of landforms in the picture plane create a progression of space, although the element of facture in “Lake Taal” the physical texture or the painterly quality of the artist’s brush marks and gestures is such that it calls attention to the surface of the painting, rendering the pictorial illusion incomplete. Pictorial devices such as atmospheric perspective appear to correspond with actual atmospheric conditions in actual scenes but artists can employ such techniques in ways that do not simply attempt to replicate the optic array. Such tendencies can be interpreted as the artists’ response to the technical and chemical innovations of photographic realism that threatened their genius and creativity. In contrast with the use of tonal modeling to create pictorial depth in Hidalgo’s “Sunrise” and Leynes’ “Scenery”, is the use of color modeling to create a similar effect as shown in Nena Saguil’s “Under the Shade.” Although the method of modeling forms in light and shade can provide a cue to three-dimensional shapes, it can present problems when dealing with areas of different colors. In “Under the Shade” three-dimensional shape was created without simply reducing color saturation but by exploiting the fact that in the optic array, hue changes with distance. As a general rule, warm colors appear to come forward and cool colors recede, so although the tonal value of patches of color in “Under the Shade” are the same, the effect of three-dimensional shape is still achieved. Color, rather than tone, as a major determinant of pictorial space is also demonstrated in Alfredo Roces’ “Bakawan Grove” and Diosdado Lorenzo’s “Farm Houses.” Dabs of saturated color without need for fine detail or tonal modeling can render the shapes and distances of objects in “Farm Houses.” We can recognize the shapes in the picture and identify the objects without need for much detail. The same is true in “Bakawan Grove” and we can see that cool blue color causes the background to recede into the distance and separate itself from the warmer hues of the foreground. But a deliberate reversal in the use of the spatial action of warm and cool colors is demonstrated in Juvenal Sanso’s “Day Vibration” and “Watery Distance.” As backgrounds are rendered in warmer colors and in

close tonal value and saturation as the cooler foreground colors, the effect is a flattening of the picture surface and the creation of ambiguous space. In all these works, the artists emphasize the role of painting as a means of expression that does not necessarily involve the creation of an illusion that could be replicated by processes that captured light from a scene and fixed it on a passive surface. Another response to technological innovations in image making is the attempt by artists to represent the kinetic structure of ambient light and the motions in the optic array that are more easily represented by video technology. The use of multiple baselines in “Marshy Coast” by Juvenal Sanso and “After His Last Season” by Baltazar Magallona represent the motions and transformations that take place in our experience of the world as we move through it. “Lunar Landscape” by Ang Kiukok presents an even more powerful psychological intent in the assertion of the artist as a creative being by representing an imagined landscape anticipating photographs of the earth seen rising above the moon’s horizon. While photographs and videos can provide convincing images of the real world, they do not serve as convincing models of the human visual system in the processing of images. Art is a way of questioning the links being made everyday by mass media between intellectual and visual realism. The Mabini artists may likewise be said to have taken an aesthetical response to photographic renditions of the Philippine landscape. Originating physically or conceptually from the Manila district that was born out of the struggle to survive the demoralization of Hispano-Filipino heritage when the Americans sat as the country’s new colonial masters, self-taught Mabini artists produced paintings within commodity markets. Landscapes were among the staples. If a painting is a representation of ideas and not merely a facsimile of nature, then the cosmetic flamboyant colors of the Mabini artists could as well be social and aesthetical responses to the muted colors of the academia and the threat of photography, posters and postcards to their livelihood. An economic incentive for art is an authentic expression. In Francisco Buenaventura’s “Sunset”, the sea is rendered in the fiercest of greens complete with the touristic icons of the archipelago: mountain, sunset, huts, boats, fish pens and the glimmering reflection on the water. In Ricardo Enriquez’s “Bahay Kubo on Moonlit Night”, the greens are taken further in the sky in an idealized nocturnal scene set with sails in the horizon, lilies and an unoccupied banca adrift in the middle of the waters. Similar elements appear in an anonymous artist’s depiction of a river scene the water is as green as a field of grass, the sunset yellows and oranges are now taken to the autumnal trees, and salmon tones float across the horizon. Without a revolution in terms of content or point of view, these landscapes sought a revolution in the use of color. In these landscapes, color appears to be used purely for decorative and aesthetic purposes, but the selections are not capricious because within the commodity market, the constructional principle of landscape painting is consensus and evaluation. The negotiations that take place between artists, merchants, tourists, pop culture and the local passersby make up the set of mutual appropriations and discourses

that continually define the identity and iconography of a highly socialized visual tradition. So in the representation of scenery, spatial recession is not always the purpose of the artist nor should it be our sole interpretation. Describing landscape painting in terms of object-centered and view-centered systems and the spontaneous systems that artists conjure in negotiating between object, view and social stimulus enables us to appreciate and understand landscape as rich and dynamic articulations of space. With knowledge of space conjured in a variety of ways not limited to vision or a singular point of view, we may become more empowered in our reception of images. Pictures that appear to be views of scenes are not necessarily derived from views, and actual scenes are not necessarily expressed in terms of view-centered representation systems such as linear perspective. Perspective is a construction and a myth, an aid to representation that has become both a practical and limiting aid to vision, altering and shaping our view of the world and of ourselves insofar as we have allowed ourselves to believe that it is a persuasive model of how we see and how we come to know. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Message: 3 Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 23:40:32 -0000 From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: LANKA: Denial of education to marginalised students URGENT APPEAL - URGENT APPEAL - URGENT APPEAL - URGENT APPEAL ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME 9 March 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UA-38-2005: SRI LANKA: Denial of education to marginalised students affected by the tsunami and the issue of the right to adequate housing SRI LANKA: Right to education; Adequate housing; Government inaction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to inform you of a situation regarding the denial of education to marginalised students affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka. The Egoda-Uyana Junior School at Moratuwa in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka is situated in an area that was devastated by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Since that day, displaced locals have been living in temporarily erected tents on the premises of the school. As a result of this occupation, all of school's students have been denied their right to education, for a period now exceeding two months, as the government has failed to locate suitable and permanent accommodation for those living on the school grounds. It is noteworthy that students of this school are those from marginalised families.

In a statement issued by the AHRC on 5 January 2005 (see AS-02-2005 {http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2005statements/248/}), we called for urgent measures to be taken so that schools could reopen and children return to their learning. While many of the schools did indeed reopen only weeks after the tragedy of the tsunami, due in large part to the laudable efforts of Unicef, this case demonstrates that not all students have returned to school and are therefore being denied their right to education. We ask that you write to the Government of Sri Lanka urging it to take immediate steps so that Egoda-Uyana Junior School can be reopened. To achieve this, the government must locate an alternative place of residence for those people living on the school grounds, and in doing so, ensure that this is both suitable and permanent. Urgent Appeals Desk The Asian Human Rights Commission ------------------------------------------------------------- *DETAILED INFORMATION: * *The victims:* 1. 522 students of the Egoda-Uyana Junior School at Moratuwa in Colombo District 2. Displaced people due to tsunami who are temperately staying at Egoda-Uyana Junior School *Period of the incident*: from 26 December 2004 up to now *Case status:* Denial of right to education to 522 students of the Egoda-Uyana Junior School and the government's inaction of rehabilitate the tsunami victims in the area The Egoda-Uyana Junior School at Moratuwa (within the Colombo District), is situated in an area that was devastated by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Since that fateful day, displaced people of the area have been living in temporarily erected tents on the premises of the school. As a result of this occupation, the children of the school have been unable to attend classes and are thus being denied their right to education. It is also noteworthy that students of this school are those from marginalised families. Prior to the tsunami, the school conducted classes for students from year one to year eleven. It has eight classrooms, an assembly hall and a small science laboratory. There are 522 children (270 girls and 252 boys) enrolled at the school, with 22 teachers and two non-academic staff. Additionally, there are 19 candidates intending to sit the Ordinary Level Examination at the end of this year, of which 17 are female. At the start of the current academic year, there were 36 students who gained admission to year one. To date the Government of Sri Lanka has been unable or unwilling to find suitable and permanent accommodation for the tsunami displaced people in the area. While the inaction by the government has caused inconvenience to the children and their families, it has also violated their rights in regards to education and adequate housing.

As a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and in accordance with Article 28 in particular (States Parties recognise the right of the child to education), the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure that these children return to school and receive their right to education. Furthermore, the government must also recognise the right to adequate housing as mentioned in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and article 27, number 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. *SUGGESTED ACTION: *Please send a letter, fax or email to the Government of Sri Lanka and express your concern about this matter. Sample letter: Dear___________, *SRI LANKA: Denial of education to marginalised students affected by the tsunami and the issue of the right to adequate housing *I write to express my extreme disappointment at the inaction of the Government of Sri Lanka in returning students to school and ensuring adequate housing for them and their families. According to the information I have received, 522 students from Egoda-Uyana Junior School at Moratuwa (within the Colombo District), are currently being denied their right to education as the government has failed to located alternative accommodation for displaced locals who have taken up residence in temporarily erected tents on the school grounds. It is noteworthy that students of this school are those from marginalised families. While I acknowledge that many of Sri Lanka's schools did reopen shortly after the tragedy of the tsunami, due in large part to the laudable efforts of Unicef, it is every child's right to a school education, and thus Egoda-Uyana Junior School must be reopened. I write to you, therefore, urging the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps so that Egoda-Uyana Junior School can be reopened. To achieve this, the government must locate an alternative place of residence for those people living on the school grounds, and in doing so, ensure that this is both suitable and permanent. As a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and in accordance with Article 28 in particular (States Parties recognise the right of the child to education), the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure that these children return to school and receive their right to education.

Furthermore, the government must also recognise the Right to Adequate Housing as mentioned in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 14 of the Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and article 27, number 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yours sincerely, ---------------------- SEND A LETTER TO: 1. Minister for Education Ministry of Education SRI LANKA Tel: + 94 11 2 785 617 Fax: + 94 11 2 784 846 PLEASE SEND A COPY TO: 1. Hon. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse Prime Minister Cambridge Place, Colombo 7 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454 2. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy Chairperson National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8 SRI LANKA Tel: +94-11 2 694 925 / 673 806 Fax: +94-11 2 694 924 / 696 470 3. Prof. Harendra De Silva National Child Protection Authority 330, Thalawathgoda Road Madiwella SRI LANKA Tel: + 94 11 2 778912/13/14 Fax: + 94 11 2 778915 E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk {ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk} 4. Mr Vernot Munoz Villalobos Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Education OHCHR-UNOG Palais Wilson, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Fax: + 41 22 917 9006 5. Mr. Miloon Kothari Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Room 4-066 OHCHR-UNOG Palais Wilson, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND

Fax: +41 22 917 90 10 Thank you. Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Asian Human Rights Commission 19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hongkong S.A.R. Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367

There are 7 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Re: Digest Number 56 From: Bobby Nuestro <bbby_nuestro@yahoo.com> 2. Mass burial for Bohol kids From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 3. FW: Human Rights Education From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 4. Tanaw 4/4 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 5. URLs to Tanaw PDFs From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 6. Fwd: Cajipe Endaya and Walong Filipina at Liongoren Gallery From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 7. Advanced Symptoms of Advanced Degrees From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph>

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:12:28 -0800 (PST) From: Bobby Nuestro <bbby_nuestro@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Digest Number 56 Dear Fat, Tanaw or Tanawin , Landscape , Landscape Paintings , Paguhit at pagpinta ng tanawin ang Paguhit ay kaakibat ng wikang tagalog ang Pagpinta , Pinta, to paint galing sa salitang Kastila Paguhit ng Tanawin , doon ang mga ninuno ay may mga simbolong ginagamit , parang mga Pictographs , may halong ritwal at may kamalayan ukol sa lipunan maaring itong isang Lugar na sagrado o Dambana na maaring yaon ay pinaniniwalang tirahan ng mga yumaong ninuno , kaya Paguhit ng tanawin dati walang Perspective , more as a symbol a spiritual symbol and sacred. I am very grateful on what you have written , ang galing , sa mga Painting Major dapat malaman at maintindihan , sa mga marami ngayong nag papaintings dapat , malaman yan , sana mapublish ko yan , Im planning to have a gallery , I wanted to sell works of art with historical, social and scholarly perspective not on selling detached Walls painted transformed into canvases , Kasi Kawawa na ang ating Buying Public mga collector , bumibili ng mga paintings na walang sinimulan o kung san man lang nangaling na forms and only forms without content. Thank you, god bless! Bobby Nuestro ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:44:39 -0000 From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Mass burial for Bohol kids

Some 26 young students died after eating cassava at their school in a small village in Bohol. I remember when I was in Bohol someone told me that cassava becomes poisonous if it was planted the wrong way (I think there was supposed to a part of the tuber that should be placed into the ground otherwise it would become poisonous). Others say cassava becomes poisonous if it was stored too long (it produces cyanide) and prepared the wrong way (it must be cleaned well to remove the cyanide). But people there have always known how to plant and prepare cassava, perhaps the investigation will let us know what really happened. It's really heartbreaking how something like this could happen... Fatima --- http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=30082 Mass burial for Bohol kids Posted 11:48pm (Mla time) Mar 10, 2005 By Chito Fuentes Inquirer News Service The whole town wept as it started to bury its angels. "There is no one among us here who is happy," Mayor Stephen Rances declared in his brief eulogy before 12 coffins inside the tiny chapel of Barangay San Jose, a tightly knit farming community of 316 households. Anisita Luyong stared with bloodshot eyes at a makeshift white coffin adorned with pink flowers as it was being carried to the chapel. Inside the plywood box was a friend of her 7-year-old son Wilfredo Luyong, himself one of the 26 pupils at the tiny San Jose Elementary School who died after eating sugarcoated cassava fries on Wednesday. Earlier, authorities had erroneously placed the death toll at 28. Government officials said 105 other victims were recovering in hospitals on the island of Bohol. "They will never be able to play again, except maybe in heaven," Luyong told Agence France-Presse, fighting to hold back her tears while she held her other child, a curly haired, 4-year-old girl who kept asking, "Where is brother?" "He didn't even know what hit him. He just ate `balanghoy' [cassava] and he died," Luyong said. "Sometimes, it just isn't fair." Wilfredo, she said, would not be buried until Sunday because his father, Wilfredo Sr., was out of town looking for work. The boy's undecorated coffin waited forlornly in a corner of the family's small house cobbled together from cinder blocks. The family had pinned their hopes for a better life on Wilfredo, who

had wanted to become a policeman or an artist when he grew up. "He had wanted to finish school and become successful for us," Luyong said. 5 candles Two houses down, Prexides Vallente lit five white candles on the coffin of her grandson, Noel Isidore, another victim of the poisoned cassava. His parents were at a nearby hospital where Noel's brother was recovering. "This tragedy could not be explained," Vallente said, her face illuminated by the faint yellowish glow of the candlelight. Men from the village had carried 10 other coffins, some covered with pink and red paper flowers, to the chapel while a throng of villagers stood silently in the courtyard. "I love you so much my dear one, my dear one," cried Lorenza Nasas as the coffin of her 7-year-old son, Sherwin, was brought into the chapel. Relatives gave her a swig of a local brew to keep her from fainting. Old men and women wept and hugged each other, while soldiers armed with rifles strained not to show any emotion. The troops were in the town to augment security for a brief visit by President Macapagal-Arroyo to offer her condolences. President's visit President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo flew to the area by helicopter from Cebu City. She ordered the release of relief funds as she declared a state of calamity in Mabini. Under such a state, the mayor could use five percent of his calamity funds to meet the needs of San Jose residents. Ms Arroyo also ordered some of the stricken children still recovering in ill-equipped medical facilities in Bohol be airlifted to better hospitals. "I want the police to work with health authorities to give me a detailed report on why and how this unfortunate incident happened," Ms Arroyo said in a statement. "Let us get to the root cause of this tragedy." Yesterday, neighbors consoled parents who lost their children, while classmates of those who had died milled around a plaza whispering to one another. Residents chanted prayers to soothe those left behind and a pall of gloom hung thick in the dusty air. "This is an unspeakable tragedy that can't be blamed on anyone. We

have lost our angels," said Vice Mayor Ester Tabigue as she made the rounds of households holding wakes. "School has been cancelled for the rest of the week while we try to make sense of what happened," she said. Funeral Mass It was no ordinary funeral rite that drew more than 250 villagers. Fr. Julian Asucan, the parish priest of San Roque that covers San Jose, and 11 other priests took part in the concelebrated Mass. Education Secretary Florencio Abad spoke briefly to express solidarity with the victims' families, along with Rances. The coffins were roughly done and hurriedly painted in white. A provincial official said each coffin cost only P1,500. Only two of the coffins sported wreaths of cheap colored paper and plastic flowers placed in mackerel cans. The names etched on the uniformly constructed wooden crosses were hardly readable. To the families of the first batch of victims of Wednesday's mass poisoning, however, the moment of goodbye was too painful that they were oblivious to the presence of important guests. It did not matter that their humbleness was evident in the clothes that they wore. Procession Except for one mother, most wore faded dresses while one father only had on a torn sleeveless shirt. One mother fainted repeatedly while another could not prevent herself from sobbing on top of her child's coffin while replacing the candle that had burned out. As if on cue, the muffled sobs turned into shrieks and shouts when the solemn procession started out of the packed little chapel for the cemetery less than a kilometer away. Barangay chair Donato Busbus said he was happy that an incumbent President had visited his barangay but he was sad it was under such conditions. Head teacher Aprodicio Boyles disclosed that he still did not know when classes would resume in the school, which only has a population of 276 pupils. ©2005 www.inq7.net all rights reserved.

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:55:30 -0000 From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: FW: Human Rights Education

Article 26 Human Rights Education Amnesty International - USA March 9, 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Educator Activists, The new year is just on 2 months in and we have already seen a number of really amazing efforts to educate folks about human rights - through a range of mediums and messaging, the work of human rights awareness and education is off to a good start in 2005. A few examples of these efforts: -- From Somers, NY where the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joanne Marien, has been working to engage the entire school community in a process of identifying and articulating where and how human rights will have a place in the school district. -- The Western Region Educators held their annual meeting. During an agenda packed weekend, the participants developed a solid plan of action for the upcoming year with a strong focus on the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign and peer education. -- To Atlanta where events around Speak Truth to Power, over the MLK weekend, met with great success, outstanding awareness building and an emotional evening where activists, human rights defenders, celebrities, youth, and many other community members celebrated the importance of Speaking Truth to Power. -- ACTIVATE, in both the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic regions, kicked off the year with training for the project facilitators. Thanks to the efforts of the staff and volunteer facilitators, 100s of young people are being introduced to and challenged by the human rights issues facing our local and global communities. This represents a glimpse of the human rights educational efforts underway within AIUSA. With so much good work happening, one can afford to believe that the arch will start bending towards justice. However, our papers continue to be filled with stories and articles of

atrocious actions and abuses... I know that for me, there are many issues that spark a desire to take action: violence against women - particularly in war torn and conflict situations, abuse of a child - in all manners, denying people access to food and other basic necessities, to name a few. But in the end, one issue has risen to the top for me and I am so very sad and angry to say that today, my country, the United States of America is at the front and center of this human rights issue - Torture. Under the cover of the War on Terror, this country has engaged in actions and activities that are reminiscent of some of the worst known to human kind. My anger hits on many fronts but let me share with you the three main sources: -- I know too many survivors of torture. I know how difficult every day can be for them. I cannot sit back as my country adds to the ranks of people who can call themselves survivors or worse yet, are tortured to the point of eternal silence. -- As Bob Herbert wrote in a New York Times op-ed, we recently had an election in which "morals" and "values" were identified as the reasons why people voted for who they did - where are the 50+ million now? How can they not be outraged at what their moral/value driven government is doing? -- Torture is never justified - bottom line. We must take action and I believe that we can do this in a way that is consistent with who we are as educators and who we are as activists. I note this because of the very important exchange happening on the HREA listserv regarding education and neutrality. I feel that there is too much complacency now. We are willing to accept actions and behaviors because we are scared, we don't know any better, or we do not think we can change anything. In the end, who wants to believe that their government tortures people, period. So, my request to you is for you to share with us any work that you have done in this area: educating your students or community on the issue of torture, actions you have taken and found to be successful in your community, ideas for how we can educate and mobilize folks...strategies for how we can change the course that we, as a country, are taking. We need to play a positive role in engaging people in dialogue about this issue, we need to take what we hear and learn and figure out how to shift the attitudes and behaviors that are allowing this to happen, and finally, we need express our outrage...this is not a time for silence. Peace, Karen - - - - - - - - - - - - UPDATE

The HRE program is extremely excited about our new, formal partnership with the National Education Association. While the two organizations have worked together on various project in the past, this year we seek to formalize this partnership though co-branded efforts, participating in each others conferences and appropriate meetings, and mobilizing our members to take action on behalf of educators and the right to education world wide. It is important to us that this partnership provides members from both organizations with tools and resources to engage in the work of educating and the work of human rights in a way that is consistent with the missions of both organizations. To that end, please share with us what you think regarding this partnership. How can it support you in your work as an educator? What do you need for yourself and your students? Is there something new and groundbreaking that you would love to see us take on? CONTACT HRE (subject line: NEA and AIUSA) krobinson@aiusa.org - - - - - - - - - - - ACTION Reform US Policy and Stop Torture Over three years since Amnesty International brought attention to allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in US custody in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, and almost a year since the pictures of torture and ill treatment in Abu Ghraib were publicized, there is little indication of meaningful action by the US government to remedy the situation and prevent further abuse. ACT NOW! http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12214 - - - - - - - - - - - LESSONS MAKING A KILLING: AN ARMS DEAL SIMULATION AND TRAINING Help students understand the role of the arms trade in facilitating human rights abuses and the multidimensional complexity of bringing the trade under control. READ MORE http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12215 - - - - AMANDLA! Students either read and discuss in groups or sing along with South African song and fill in blank words. Then students form groups and draw the images that the song evokes. READ MORE

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12216 - - - - - - - - - - - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS The AIUSA Human Rights Education program is seeking volunteer leaders to serve on the national steering committee. Candidates that are selected for review by the current committee will be notified by 28 March. Final selections will be completed by 10 April. SEND COVER LETTER & RESUME krobinson@aiusa.org MORE ABOUT HRE http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12217 - - - - - - - - - - - OPPORTUNITIES WOMEN & LITERACY...STRENGTHENING THE WEB: MARCH 11 - 12, 2005 WE LEARN 2nd Annual (Net)Working Conference on Women & Literacy (Providence, RI) Keynote Speakers: Silja Kallenbach & Andy Nash Panelists: Mary Belenky, Klaudia Rivera, Ujwala Samant, Klare Allen Pre-registration deadline is February 28. Accepting on-site reservations as well. READ MORE http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12218 - - - - WORLD REFUGEE DAY POSTER CONTEST 2005 UNHCR is pleased to announce the fifth annual World Refugee Day poster contest, under the patronage of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie. READ MORE http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=707166&l=12222 - - - - STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN POETRY EVENT Every day, women and girls around the world are threatened, abused, raped, mutilated and killed with impunity. Violence against women is a global human rights scandal that affects us all. Across the world, students can unite to write poems on the human rights of women and ending the violence. The power of poetry is unique. Poetry empowers, heals, educates, transforms, cleanses, and brings people together! Poetry is Word Power! It requires no special talent, skills or experience -- only a willingness to explore moments in women's lives, their suffering, and their right to be safe! The Stop Violence Against Women Campaign was launched on International Women's Day March 8th, 2003 and will continue through the year 2010.

One of the overarching goals of the campaign is to break the silence about violence against women. -- In the US, a woman is raped every 6 minutes -- 6,000 North African women experience genital cutting each day -- This year more than 15,000 women will be sold into sexual slavery in China. -- 200 women in Bangladesh will be horribly disfigured when infuriated husbands or suitors burn them with acids -- Over 7,000 women in India will be murdered by their families and in-laws in disputes over dowries -- Nearly 1 in 4 women experiences sexual violence by an intimate partner during her lifetime -- An estimated 135 million women have been victims of female genital cutting. -- Only 27 countries have laws against marital rape -- By December 2002, 42 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS; 19.2 million were women aged 15-49 -- In every armed conflict investigated by Amnesty International in 1999 and 2000, the torture of women was reported, most often in the form of sexual violence OBJECTIVES: -- Raising awareness about violence against women -- Mobilize people and groups to actively participate in AI Stop Violence Against Women Campaign -- Fundraising may be achieved by creating a publication of the poems ACTION STEPS: -- Creative Writing: Ask students to compose poems on the Violence Against Women Readings: Organize School Assemblies to take the form of readings of poetry (maybe also inviting the media) -- Publication: Compile the poetry in an official "Stop Violence Against Women Poetry Collection". -- Curriculum: Work with your teachers to integrate human rights issues across the curriculum. In your language arts classes, explore the role of the written word in social movements, change and actions. Scheduled to be launched at the World Poetry Day, March 21st, 2005 to last until the end of this school year and the next academic semester. CONTACT HRE krobinson@aiusa.org

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________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 09:44:30 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Tanaw 4/4 4/4 Tanáw Fatima Lasay Cultivating Realities: Memory, Illusion and Change Tayo na sa Antipolo At doon maligo tayo Sa batis na kung tawagin Ay hi… hi… Hinulugang Taktak! At doon tayo kumain Ng mangga, suman, kasoy at balimbing. Kaya’t magmadali ka At tayo’y tutuloy na sa Antipolo. - “Tayo na sa Antipolo” Philippine Folk Song “Recuerdos de Antipolo” by Felix Martinez is a vivid portrayal of the various day-to-day activities of settlers around a brook. The stark contrast in the painting, the harshness of light cast directly on the ground and the crispness of distant objects imbue the remembrance of Antipolo with permanence and certainty. It is also possible that the contrasting values used in the painting is a response to early black and white photographs especially that “Recuerdos de Antipolo” pertains to the idea of a souvenir of a visit to the place. In more historical terms, “Recuerdos de Antipolo” may be said to depict the rios poblados the villages along rivers and by the seas that were later urbanized and transformed into orderly perspectival landscapes composed of the plaza, church, town hall and the school. Sixty years later, the scene is portrayed as an idyllic pastoral picture in “Antipolo” by Fernando Amorsolo folk dances taking the place of labor, the church taking the place of nipa huts and a technique of painting that conveys a greater degree of visual realism. Between this and “Recuerdos de Antipolo”, the identity of Antipolo consists of a constructed nationalism, one that appears to be defined by the actions and attitudes of its inhabitants and administrators. Both paintings of Antipolo present us with different levels of illusion and social construction, but one might ask whether there are pre-determined meanings that persist in the geography perhaps the flood of sunlight, the cloud formation or the varieties of vegetation that give identity to the landscape. Landscape painting is a way of seeing and remembering just as song and poetry are instruments of memory.

Before landscape, our attitudes towards the use and value of land seemed different; human activity was carved out of the environment, and not the other way around. This is implied in rupestrine art such as the ancient petroglyphs of Angono just seven kilometers away from Antipolo. The petroglyphs are the remains of a social action related to a belief system that no longer exists. Art is all that remains of that belief system and art asks if we remember. According to Filipino anthropologist Jesus T. Peralta, “The complete disappearance of making rock engravings in Angono points to a drastic change in behavioral patterns which suggests the incursion of a different and dominant culture into the area. If anything at all, the petroglyphs of Angono add the value of symbolism by way of abstraction from an internalized reality, as against direct representation of reality commonly attempted during the previous centuries.” It seems that human domination over the environment and over one another has changed the nature of representation as much as it has transfigured our actions and beliefs. When illusion overcomes memory, most of our memory can only be shaped and subverted by illusion. What might be considered as racial memory disappears under visual sedimentation. We might attempt to recall them from their material remains. But what memories are invoked by our perception of landscape as depiction, design and appropriation of land? Are we empowered by rather than subjected to the world of constructed images? In the old lithographic map showing the Philippines and what was then known as the East India Islands, the illusory power of imaging technology is demonstrated. Like the utilization of geometric certainty in linear perspective, the systematic creation of maps and the employment of coordinates formalize if not anticipate political control and territorial claims. Maps are crucial to the propaganda in expansionism and the rise of nation states, just as depictions of landscape are instrumental to ownership and control. “Discovery” is supported by accuracy and accuracy is rewarded by claims to ownership of territory. In Reynaldo Zipagan’s mural painting of Ferdinand Marcos, the extent of the former president’s power is “inscribed in stone” so to speak, reminiscent of rupestrine art but, through a pictorial array of the landmarks of that power, as if the landmarks by themselves would not be enough. Like an expansionist map, this landscapes represents a power that may not be gleamed from the physical distances in the environment. Our minds comprehend the enormous breadth of domination, and we are forced to accept the representations because they are both accurate and sublime. Like the naming of new discoveries on maps, “Marcos” is rendered in the painting, but this time in the tradition of the letras y figuras, which ascribes the ideology of the representation with the license of tradition. Landscape painting reflects the dialectic between natural features and artifacts of human habitation and domination, isolating us from the environment in its Cartesian division of subject and object. Landscape painting segregates the gaze of the observer from the observed, the ruling elite from the working class, spiritual meditation from

distracting labor. The nature/culture dialectic extends to the struggle for ideological hegemony between people and the state, and other forms of social inequality such as gender and ethnicity. Painting may be perceived as a visual manifestation of these relations and struggles. In “Rice Field” by Galo B. Ocampo and “Bahay Kubo” by Sapnu Melencio Jr. the depiction of scenery is painstakingly cultivated. Plant growth, overlapping mountains, valleys and hills, and the progression of sky and cloud formation are carefully manicured. In Melencio’s “Bahay Kubo”, cultivation is idealized via the gently curving pathways, hedges, the grazing carabao, its domesticator, and the thatched roof of the hut. In Ocampo’s “Rice Field”, the interactions between the forces of cultivation and naturalization are rendered via bundled grain, the plowed and cultivated fields and the ubiquitous nipa hut in the distance. In the absence of labor itself which might intervene in spiritual meditation, the scene is pastoral, cultivated yet paradisiac, and the presence of the divine is suggested with the opening up of the heavens. In Jorge Pineda’s “Rice Fields at the Beginning of the Rainy Season” the dependency of cultivation to the forces of nature is depicted in swidden farming that demands sensitivity to the weather. There is no view of human and animal labor in the painting but we are presented with the manifestations of it without shifting into pastoral portrayals. In “Forest Edge” by Francisco Verano the distance between nature and culture is not visually represented but is demonstrated by our gaze. Are we at the center gazing towards the edge of our civilization or are we at the periphery unable to gaze into the interior of a life undisturbed by human incursion? It seems that while landscape painting brings the outdoors indoors, the fact that we are at the same time detached from the depicted scenes is being emphasized. Nature is merely one of the dimensions of a worldview that makes up culture and an emphasis on the nature/culture binary in an understanding of landscape may render the experience static. But although this appears to be the limit of the nature/culture dialectic in the representation and interpretation of landscape, there are other conceptual devices in landscape painting that may be used to extend this view. These conceptual devices are the mountain, the church, and the bridge, which may be seen to serve three fundamental functions that have just been discussed: the function of memory represented by the mountain, the function of illusion represented by the church, and function of change represented by the bridge. These key visual concepts may then be interpreted in relation to each other in order to make more visible the new meanings and aesthetic experiences derived from the understanding and appreciation of a wide variety of landscapes. In the extension of the nature/culture dialectic into the memory/illusion/change triad, we utilize landscape paintings as visible language for bearing and shaping our culture. Between the mountain and the church, that is, between memory and illusion, or between “Valley” by Carlos V. Francisco and “Antipolo” by Fernando Amorsolo, it is the mountain that portrays permanence whilst the church portrays the illusion of divine power. In “Valley”, the clouds are placed low and remind viewers of the ancient Filipino belief

that the mountains are stairways to the heavens. In “Antipolo”, the church replaces the spiritual memory of the mountain and depicts the illusive power of monastic supremacy, as one friar boasted: “If the king sends troops here, the Indians will return to the mountains and forests. But if I shut the church doors, I shall have them all at my feet in twenty-four hours.”

The matter of land tenancy in Philippine history has not fundamentally changed in its role of being the system underlying the struggles and hardships of the granjero, the magsasaka, the salt of the earth. “Planting Rice” by Antonio Escuin and “Marikina Landscape” by Antonio Ko, Jr. make visible the labors of agriculture with the mountains as their patient witness. A simple shift in the use of icons from mountain to church, from memory to illusion forever removes the innocence of the gaze. In “Afternoon in April” by Elmer Gernale and the anonymous artist’s “Intramuros Squatters”, institutional exploitation is implicated in the poverty and alienation that has ensued since the usurpation of native lands. In Manuel D. Baldemor’s “Church in Pila” institutional organization is placed in the center of a vibrant life in a town where people are redeemed from the labors of agriculture because there are others who do that kind of work. In Arsenio Entienza’s “Quiapo Church” the fruits of labor are efficiently peddled through the exploitation of the ensuing social organization. In the articulation of landscape painting as vernaculars, we are less detached from them and lose our conditioned roles as passive viewers of art. The images become incriminating evidences of our involvement in the social dimensions of their formation. Within this social context, Victor Diores’ “Coconut Harvest” becomes an enigma labor is playfully portrayed. The smoke in the distance, the fallen coconut tree and the lone grazing carabao append a touch of mystery. Here, the artist’s imagination invokes ours and we experience a different level of detachment, not like that of the observer to the observed or that of domestication to naturalization, but a detachment from the fixed ideologies upon which our own realities and imaginations were constructed. The harvest also takes place between two bodies of water and functions as a bridge between the viewer’s reality and the artist’s imagination. Compared to solid ground, a conceptual entry into the scene is made more accessible through water, raising the collective memory of seafaring life as central to Philippine society. This entry and the realism of rendering details make it difficult to question the norm of the authored landscape not so much because the image looks so real but because it gives so much pleasure to believe that it is real. Like the mountain, water contains collective memory. But water flows and shapes its paths. The power of water is depicted as brawn in Juvenal Sanso’s “In its Crest” and as calm shaping force in Nestor Leynes’ “Inukit sa Tubig.” We have learned to harness this power to sustain life in our riverine communities as depicted in Paz Paterno’s “River Scene with Banca” and Augusto Fuster’s “Balut Seascape.” We have also managed considerable industrial sedimentation to supplant old memories of water as evidenced in the 78-year distance between Felix Martinez and Roberto Balajadia’s “Pasig River.” It has also become necessary to limit the

flow of water or cross them with greater efficiency to accommodate the demands of civilization from the building of warships to assert our domination over the seas in Alfredo Carmelo’s “Encounter of the Nuestra Señora de Cavadonga and the Centurion” to the makeshift “Estero in Old Manila” by Jorge Pineda and “The Connection Bridge” by Gitano Abad to the concretized and memorial “Jones Bridge (Puente de España)” by Victor Diores and “View of Manila” by S. Mendoza. It seems that in these paintings, the greater and less desirable human domination over nature becomes, the less human presence is portrayed. Perhaps this is because in the Filipino worldview, human beings are perceived as part of nature, and thus we are simply reflecting, but without implicating ourselves, how internally unbearable and alienating our built environment has become. The presence of bridges in these paintings may also be interpreted to portend change, because bridges like the one depicted in Teodoro Buenaventura’s “Banana Peddler on Wooden Bridge”, provide connections, trade, and allow people to extend their influence over distant places. In Ramon Peralta’s “Balcony Scene” there is a bridge in the distance that connects to a location that we cannot see but is visible from the viewpoint of those in the balcony. The bridge also forms an arch through which a man in his boat is visible. As bridges are transformed into arches, breadth becomes depth and another view of change from here to yonder is made possible. In Leonardo Hidalgo’s “Old Paco Cemetery” we are offered a hazy view of the burial niches with the arched doorway marking the reserve between the living and the dead. Pictorially, arches create depths that can become meaningful spaces. Isidro Ancheta’s “Intramuros Gate” uses this depth to portray an entry into a different time in the past, into the old walled Spanish fortress in Manila. The arch can also transform into a window and become a frame through which we view things. In Nestor Leynes’ “Batingaw”, the viewing position is reversed it is no longer the church looking down upon us, but us looking down into the fields from the church’s bell tower. The window can suggest a change in perspective a change in space or a change in time. In Juan Arellano’s “Fiesta,” the window can suggest two levels of reality occurring simultaneously, and it is in the gloomy interior of a hut through which we witness the bright sun-drenched festivities. Likewise, in José Blanco’s “Harana” we find ourselves staged with the cast of the serenade and are offered only a glimpse of time via the moonlit landscape under the nipa hut. Renato Habulan’s “Ang Dalaga” can be interpreted to depict specific objects and it can be interpreted to investigate the nature of depiction itself. “Ang Dalaga” presents the situation of studio portraiture, a visual phenomenon in the modern world the human subject set against a backdrop of the outdoors in the comfort and amenities of an indoor studio. As a symbol system consisting of the “picture within a picture”, “Ang Dalaga” offers a commentary on the nature of depiction and how such devices like the window may present two or more levels of reality. Mountain, church and bridge can be interpreted in abstract terms to examine relationships between the cultural dimension and ourselves. Memory, illusion and change, which are represented by these visual

devices, serve as powerful inter-dependent concepts found in our negotiations with the external world. In the Filipino worldview, panahón or “time” functions as the link between nature and man. Memory, illusion and change are all occurrences in time and space. The use of these visual devices highlights the idea of difference and discontinuity in our collective and individual constructs of reality. Knowing that landscapes are products of our relationship with the environment, and that landscape paintings are the picture languages of that relationship, we may begin to conceive of a more dynamic and metabolic image. With playful imagination, artists have questioned the spaces of that language, as well as the conventions of its symbols. In Victor Diores’ “Laguna de Bay with Bi-Planes, Nipa Hut and Ship”, we see the Laguna lake world transformed into a “multi-reality playground.” Philosophical balance governs a culture’s picture of the universe; it is an aesthetic concept of “disequilibrium.” Art’s ritual value is its capacity to disturb us from our comfort zones in the face of such imbalance: the guhit-tagpuan that is never actually visible, the punto de vista that is never fixed, the panahón that becomes tangible through art. Embedded in these ideas are the elements of the Filipino sansinukob, the encompassing universe. We cultivate realities in this vernacular, and new landscapes take shape through tanáw, an “expectation of satisfaction or advantage in the future.” Landscapes are more than external views or picture windows on the wall. They are ways of seeing and ways of shaping the world from within. As the horizon has shown us, art can make the invisible visible. Would that this serve as an inspiration for charting new prospects today.

References: Arcilla, Jesus S., S.J. 1992. The Fine Print of Philippine History. Makati, Metro Manila: St. Paul Publications. Constantino, Renato. 1975. The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Quezon City: Renato Constantino. Constantino, Renato and Letizia R. Constantino. 1978. The Philippines: The Continuing Past. Quezon City: The Foundation for Nationalist Studies. Jocano, F. Landa. 2001. Filipino Worldview: Ethnography and Local Knowledge. Metro Manila: Punlad Research House, Inc. ________. (1973). 2003. Folk Medicine in a Philippine Municipality. Metro Manila: Punlad Research House, Inc. Peralta, Jesus T. 2000. The Tinge of Red: Prehistory of Art in the Philippines. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Scott, William Henry. (1994). 1999. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Loyola heights, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. ________. 1982. Cracks in the Parchment Curtain and Other Essays in Philippine History. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. Sendler, Egon, S.J. (Steven Bigham, trans.). (1981). 1988. The Icon, Image of the Invisible: Elements of Theology, Aesthetics and Technique. California: Oakwood Publications.

Veliz, Zahira (ed. & trans.). 1986. Artists’ Techniques in Golden Age Spain: Six Treatises in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willats, John. 1997. Art and Representation: New Principles in the Analysis of Pictures. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 5 Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 04:34:47 -0000 From: "Imaginero" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: URLs to Tanaw PDFs

The texts with images of works discussed are in the PDF files temporarily placed here: http://www.geocities.com/imaginero/Lasay_Tanaw_1.pdf (324KB) http://www.geocities.com/imaginero/Lasay_Tanaw_2.pdf (721KB) http://www.geocities.com/imaginero/Lasay_Tanaw_3.pdf (565KB) Regards, Fatima

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 6 Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 14:21:18 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Fwd: Cajipe Endaya and Walong Filipina at Liongoren Gallery

--- Imelda Cajipe Endaya <icajipeendaya@yahoo.com> wrote: > Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:16:22 -0800 (PST) > From: Imelda Cajipe Endaya <icajipeendaya@yahoo.com> > Subject: Cajipe Endaya and Walong Filipina at > Liongoren Gallery > > > PRESS RELEASE > > Imelda Cajipe Endaya and Walong Filipina Exhibits > open at > > Liongoren Gallery and the Gateway Mall >

> Please come to the (soft opening) preview of > > Imelda Cajipe Endaya’s "Conversations on Juan Luna > and Walong Filipina. ” at 4 pm, Saturday, March 19, > 2005 at the Liongoren Gallery 111 New York corner > Stanford St., Cubao, Quezon City, where it will be > on view until April 7. > > > > and the public opening at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April > 10, 2005, at the Activity Center. Level 1 of the new > Gateway Mall beside the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, > where it will be on view until April 17. > > > > This is Liongoren Gallery’s contribution to the > celebration of the Centennial of Philippine > Feminism. 1905 marks the year the Asosacion > Feminista Filipina, which would lobby for women's > voting rights, was convened in Quiapo, Manila. > > > > The solo show runs alongside the gallery’s > traditional “Walong Filipina” group show featuring > works by Agnes Arellano, Sister Ida Bugayong, > Araceli Limcaco-Dans, Brenda Fajardo, Anna Fer, > Gilda Cordero Fernando, Julie Lluch, and Alma > Quinto, all accomplished artists and cultural > leaders, who are the subjects of Endaya's new works. > Works in the group show are the eight artists’ > response to Endaya’s latest collages where she > juxtaposed torn images of Juan Luna’s Spoliarium > with her re-interpretations of the art and > personalities of her selected Walong Filipina. This > is Endaya’s way of contributing to the discourse of > feminism and art: her own visual narratives of how > Filipina women artists have continually strove to > create testimonies of struggle and engagement in the > primarily male-dominated discipline of Philippine > art. She dedicates her solo show to Pacita Abad > (1947-2004), a colleague of unsurpassed energy who > projected the Philippines in the world map of > contemporary art; > and Paz Paterno (1867-1914), to date the first > Filipina painter to be given art historical > recognition. > > > > For inquiries, call Tina of Liongoren Gallery at > 912-4319. >

> > > > > Imelda Cajipe Endaya > Visual Artist, Philippines > telfax : 632-823-1973 > Emails: ice@exultrade.com > icajipendaya@yahoo.com > net search: Imelda Cajipe Endaya > http://www.freespeech.org/cajipe-endaya > http:/www.hiraya.com > > ---------------------------------

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 7 Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 14:32:06 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Advanced Symptoms of Advanced Degrees

from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Advanced Symptoms of Advanced Degrees By LAWRENCE DOUGLAS and ALEXANDER GEORGE It is hardly news that graduate students are often not the happiest of campers. Only recently, however, have scientists, psychologists, and discourse pathologists come to appreciate and diagnose the full range of maladies afflicting the graduate-student population. Now the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Graduate Students (DSMGS-1), the first book ever dedicated specifically to disorders of those pursuing advanced degrees, promises relief to this long-suffering population. An excerpt follows: Global Irony Syndrome (GIS) Indications: GIS is an affective disorder most commonly characterized by the following symptoms: an erosion of belief in Enlightenment values; snideness toward the concepts of truth, objectivity, and universal ethical codes; cynicism about the two-party system and the wealth-leveling effects of global capitalism; an ironic stance toward all physical laws and reality itself. The onset of GIS is often signaled in the sufferer by the replacement of easygoing laughter with sarcastic smirks, and by the refusal to debate any issue except through

indirection, punning, and sneering banter. Prevalence: GIS has been largely concentrated in humanities departments, with occasional outbreaks in the "softer" social sciences, such as sociology, anthropology, government, and politics. Treatment: Intensive viewing of It's a Wonderful Life has proved salutary. Failing that, a semester's leave spent in a hard-labor camp of a despotic regime is effective in more than 75 percent of reported cases. Hyper-Theory Disorder (HTD) Indications: HTD is a cognitive disorder distinguished by an increasingly abstract frame of mind. Sufferers gradually lose the ability to speak in a manner unmediated by poststructuralist theory. In extreme cases, sufferers come to view all aspects of popular culture (e.g., SpongeBob reruns, Oprah, the National Football League) through the filter of Heideggerian metaphysics or Lacanian psychoanalysis. HTD is often misdiagnosed as Tunnel Visionitis (TV), a similar, though etiologically distinct, malady marked by a gradually escalating inability to communicate with anyone -- including friends, family, spouses, and domestic pets -- who does not share all of one's theoretical presuppositions. Prevalence: HTD is endemic to literature departments. TV, by contrast, is rampant throughout all disciplines, often hitting the natural sciences hardest. Treatment: Complete abstinence from all French and German texts remains a controversial treatment for HTD. Until further therapeutic remedies have been discovered, a travel advisory for Continental Europe has been issued to all humanities students. Sycophancy-Authority Malady (SAM) Indications: SAM is considered a speech pathology increasingly common among advanced graduate students. It is marked by a tendency to speak in flattering, fawning, ingratiating, and even idolatrous terms to persons in positions of authority such as full professors, conference organizers, and powerful department secretaries. Oddly, sufferers of SAM, when conversing privately, tend to speak of these authorities in only the most derisive, disdainful, and even violent terms. (This syndrome is not to be confused with Manic Mentor Mimesis; see below.) Prevalence: Cases of SAM have been reported in most graduate centers, though serious outbreaks tend to be concentrated in the lobbies, conference rooms, and bars of hotels hosting annual meetings of professional associations at which job interviewing is taking place. Treatment: Tenure-track appointments were once considered effective in curing SAM, but recent studies challenge that

conclusion. Those studies also suggest that tenure itself provides less relief than previously assumed. Researchers now believe that retirement constitutes the only fully effective treatment for this complex and poorly understood malady. Manic Mentor Mimesis (MMM) Indications: The disease, difficult to diagnose in its earliest stages, first manifests itself in the sufferer's subtle mimicry of an adviser's hand gestures. Gradually, the mimetic tendencies deepen and spread to include head movements and distinctive eye rolls of the adviser, as well as slouches, gaits, and even, if opportunity presents itself, dancing styles. As MMM becomes more systemic, tones of voice, sighs, vocal tics, and even idiosyncratic expectorations come to be included within the ambit of imitation. In its final and most humiliating stages, sufferers find themselves mimicking the dress of their advisers and adopting their hair styles. Typically, Acute Adornment Ataxia then sets in as the sufferer finds movement restricted by all the laser pens, cellphones, soda cans, backpacks, and assorted pedagogical props used by the adviser. Prevalence: MMM is especially prevalent in departments, such as philosophy and mathematics, with high concentrations of eccentric faculty members. Treatment: Extreme ridicule from peers outside academe, such as siblings and attractive baristas, has been known to abate the condition. Terminal Graduate Paralysis (TGP) Indications: This chronic, debilitating, and sometimes fatal condition represents the most serious and widespread of the many behavioral disorders facing the graduate-student population. Symptoms often appear in the fourth year of graduate study, though this can vary from discipline to discipline. Early signs are typically mild and therefore easily overlooked or ignored. These often include a subtle shift in media-consumption habits, from National Public Radio to South Park, and from professional journals to extreme-makeover television. More serious symptoms include compulsive retitling of the dissertation; a pathological overinvestment of time in TA-ing; a tendency to misplace routinely or otherwise lose or obliterate thousands of hours of work as a result of alleged computer failures (clinicians investigating these mishaps frequently find suspiciously mutilated hard drives). Advanced symptoms include substantially impaired performance on all cognitive tasks; hyperanxiety and night sweats; bibliophobia; comma-shifting mania; and a marked adviser-avoidance response. At its most extreme, sufferers display a deer-in-the-headlights appearance; epistemological aphasia (the conviction that one no longer knows anything); morbid feelings of lack of self-worth often accompanied by paranoiac delusions of victimization; a deepening of syntactic torpidity (the loss of the ability to write clearly, simply, and, ultimately, at all); a resurgence of teenage acne; even renewed thumb-sucking

and bed-wetting. Failure to File (F2F) represents a particularly heartbreaking, and dimly understood, form of TGP, in which the sufferer mysteriously disappears on the eve of filing the completed dissertation, or otherwise inexplicably decides to "tighten" the argument. Prevalence: Cases of TGP have been reported in every state and in every graduate department. The Morningside Heights district of Manhattan has produced rates suggesting a veritable epidemic that is matched only by certain areas in Berkeley, Calif. Treatment: In its advanced stages, TGP is considered untreatable. For early-stage sufferers, long walks in open farmland accompanied by a complete termination of parental financial support has proved effective. Application to law school has also been known to offer relief. Lawrence Douglas is an associate professor of law, jurisprudence, and social thought, and Alexander George a professor of philosophy, at Amherst College. A book of their humorous essays, Sense and Nonsensibility: Lampoons of Learning and Literature, was recently published by Simon & Schuster. -------------------------------------------------------------------

There is 1 message in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. request From: Tilman Baumgärtel <mail@tilmanbaumgaertel.net>

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2005 14:44:45 +0800 From: Tilman Baumgärtel <mail@tilmanbaumgaertel.net> Subject: request Hi! A German friend of mine, who publishes the art fanzine "Starship", has asked me to find possible "advertisers" for Starship in the region. Yours, Tilman ----------------SCHNAPP!------------------------------------ Hello, we would like to invite you to participate in the coming issue of Starship magazine, number 8. For issue #8, we would like people and institutions to contribute by placing an advertisement, which would turn the issue into some sort of subjective Yellow Pages. Ads would come from initiatives and people we are interested in, that we would like to know more about, or that have worked with us, that we have always liked, that we have lost out of sight or who had supported us by recently placing an advertisement. We have set a special prize offer for a one-page advert, which is: 9 EURO 99 CENT The general focus of this issue is "The year where we have been nowhere." Issue #8 is planned to be a 280 pages issue, printed in 1000 copies and distributed in Berlin, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Brussels, Antwerp, Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and via Revolver distribution. We would be very happy to have a broad selection of these adverts, that may hint on a special product, recently produced or simply planned, like a book or a film, as well as activities, campaigns or exhibitions for which people invited would like to have attention drawn to, or a project for which you need sponsors. Single persons or institutions should only place up to two pages of advertisement.

We are very much looking forward to whatever comes in jpeg format and preferably prepaid. Ads may as well be simply in the form of a text or of a picture. *Deadline*: 24th March 2005 please let us know within the next week, if you plan to put an ad. Publishing date is first week of may 2005 > > Hans-Christian Dany, Martin Ebner, Jean-Francois Lecrenier, Ariane Müller > > > More Details: http://www.starship-magazine.org > > *Attached* : Details for the ad and the cover of STARSHIP #6 > > *Bank account info* Postbank Leipzig BLZ 860 100 90 KtoNr. 0607 378 907 IBAN DE08 8601 0090 0607 3789 07 BIC PBNKDEFF

There are 5 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Cultural fusions and confusions From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 2. Public Risk Assesment From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 3. Supervolcano From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 4. New words From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 5. Invitation to "Cultural Diversity" - actions and discussions From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph>

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 17:59:41 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Cultural fusions and confusions Cultural fusions and confusions:

-Typing error causes nuclear scare: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4338835.stm> The Sudanese government had a nasty shock this week, when it read on a US Congress website that the Americans had conducted nuclear tests in the country. A House of Representatives committee report mentioned tests conducted in Sudan between 1962 and 1970. However, when alarmed Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail raised it with US officials in Khartoum, it turned out to be a typing error. The report should have said Sedan, a test site in the US state of Nevada.....

-NHL exiles bring ice show to Russia: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4343701.stm> Russian sports fans are currently enjoying a rare treat, thanks to a bitter wage dispute in North America. The decision by the North American ice hockey league, the NHL, to cancel its entire season following a lockout left hundreds of highly paid sporting superstars out of work. But rather than hang up their skates, more than 70 are now playing in Russia. They are a huge success with the public, but conditions for the stars are not quite what they are used to........

-How China is changing Hollywood: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4332841.stm> Hollywood films are increasingly showing the influences of Chinese cinema, says director Zhang Yimou. Thanks to his two international hits, Hero and House Of Flying Daggers, Zhang is one of China's most high-profile directors. The particular style of martial art in these pictures, termed wushu, has cropped up in a number of US movies - most notably in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, he says. "Because of the influence of Chinese martial arts films, Hollywood movies are changing," Zhang told the BBC's The Culture Show. "The actions in the films are more beautiful, more rhythmic, and use some enhanced special effects. I think it's a great thing." .................

-Hollywood inspires fitness craze: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/4187871.stm> When Uma Thurman, Tom Cruise and Madonna start brandishing blades, it seems the world takes notice. Recent films such as the Kill Bill series, The Last Samurai and The House of Flying Daggers have generated increased interest in swords. Nottingham fitness expert Ian Fox has cashed in on the craze by devising a new work-out involving replica, foam-coated samurai swords. And fencing clubs report greater demand than ever for beginner classes. Lindsay Watkiss, captain of the Nottingham Cavaliers fencing club, says the biggest problem has become a lack of qualified instructors...............

-Tarantino defends Kill Bill violence: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3157596.stm> Director Quentin Tarantino and actress Uma Thurman arrived in London on Thursday for the UK premi?re of Kill Bill: Volume 1. They joined the film's co-stars Julie Dreyfus, Darryl Hannah and Michael Madsen for the British opening of Tarantino's controversial martial arts movie. The director defended the film against accusations of graphic violence, saying it was so outlandish and bloody that it was obviously set in "fantasy land". "This is definitely not taking place on planet Earth," he said.........

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 18:53:06 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Public Risk Assesment Public Risk Assesment:

-The Deepcut investigations: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4215635.stm> The Ministry of Defence is braced for renewed scrutiny of its practices as a flurry of probes triggered by the deaths of four recruits at the Deepcut training base prepare to report within days of each other. With ministers still under pressure to hold a full public inquiry into the deaths, which occurred separately between 1995 and 2002, the MoD is preparing to deal with the fallout from at least four other investigations.....

-Scientist attacks bird flu plans: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4345079.stm> Government plans to tackle a predicted bird flu pandemic have been attacked by a scientist who fears an outbreak could kill two million people in the UK. Professor Hugh Pennington, president of the Society for General Microbiology, criticised ministers' "optimism" and said a vaccine needs to be ordered now. Experts predict bird flu will mutate with human flu leading to a pandemic. The government says its plans to tackle an outbreak - which include stockpiling antiviral drugs - are comprehensive. Bird flu has killed at least 47 people in South East Asia over 15 months and there are suspected cases of the virus being passed between humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) fears 100 million people could be killed worldwide - the 1918 pandemic killed 50 million, including more than 200,000 in the UK...........

-Hundreds arrested, few convicted: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3290383.stm> Since the 9/11 attacks hundreds of people have been arrested in the UK under anti-terror laws, but fewer than 20 have been convicted. Between 11 September 2001 and 31 December 2004, were 701 arrests in the UK under the Terrorism Act. But only 119 of these had faced charges under this legislation, with 45 of them also being charged for other offences.

A further 135 people were charged under other legislation - including terrorist offences covered in other criminal law, such as the use of explosives. Only 17 have been convicted of offences under the Act...........

-Police force's murder 'struggle': <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4344595.stm> A police force is "struggling to cope" with a wave of murders because officers have too many clerical duties, its chief constable, Steve Green, has said. Nottinghamshire Constabulary is dealing with 30 murders and has had to "borrow" officers from other forces, he said. Nottingham had the fifth highest level of gun crime per head of population in England and Wales last year. But the Home Office insisted reforms meant red-tape was being cut and that police funding was increasing.

-Prisons 'bursting at the seams': <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4343677.stm> Prisons in England and Wales are "bursting at the seams" with more than half suffering overcrowding, the Howard League for Penal Reform has claimed. A report by the organisation says the prison population has reached an all-time high of 75,479 inmates. Leicester Prison is the most overcrowded with 90% more inmates than it has places for, followed by Preston which has 80% and Shrewsbury at 73%. The Home Office said projects were in place to increase prison capacities.......

-Law 'could create more terrorism': <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4345303.stm> Labour's approach to the war on terror is destroying the British way of life, Liberal Democrat MP Lembit ?pik claims. He said Labour's "hopeless prejudice" had led to laws which could be a "recruiting sergeant for terrorism".....

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 19:22:29 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Supervolcano

Programme Information Supervolcano BBC One Sun 13 Mar, 21:00 - 22:00 60 mins Part One

Supervolcano is a drama imagining the consequences for the world in the wake of one of nature's most cataclysmic events - a supervolcanic eruption. There are only about 40 super-volcanoes around the world. But the one with the most lethal potential lies beneath Yellowstone Park in North America, a country home to 300 million people. Scientists know that one day the molten lava that's bulging against the Earth's crust, causing Yellowstone's world famous geysers, mud pots and hot pools, will explode through with devastating consequences - its just a question of when. Based on the predictions of top volcano experts and scientists, the detailed planning and evacuation scenarios of government agencies and the forecasts of top futurologists, Supervolcano combines the latest scientific knowledge with high drama and stunning visual effects to deliver a television event that will change the way we view the world forever. Part two of Supervolcano is on BBC ONE on Monday at 9.00pm. Supervolcano is accompanied by a two-part documentary, The Truth About Yellowstone, which begins tonight on BBC TWO at 10.00pm. Subtitles Widescreen Stereo Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/supervolcano Subject: Entertainment; Drama & Stories Factual; Science & Technology

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 20:06:15 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: New words

Subject: The Washington Post Style Invitational The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners... Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) Karmageddon (n): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. Glibido (v): All talk and no action. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of the literature... Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid AND an asshole.

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 10:35:05 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Invitation to "Cultural Diversity" - actions and discussions Dear friends on Korakora, Please find below the call for articles for the cultural diversity issue of Women in Action (WIA) magazine which I am guest-editing. I'd like to invite women on the list to submit articles for WIA especially those that discuss practical approaches to the various issues and concerns that we face in our work and advocacies in our own communities and in relation to the international community. Later, we will also be having an on-line discussion on selected topics

related to the cultural diversity debates - and I'd like to hear from you all what topics of urgency and interest you'd like us to take up. The on-line discussions will also be included in WIA - it's a very special issue of the magazine which will also include an audio CD of music by women from the Pacific. To learn more about Isis and WIA, just follow the URL below. Hope to hear from you soon! Warm regards, Fatima

================ Women in Action Call for Articles for Women in Action (WIA) NO. 1-2005 Women in Action, a magazine published by Isis International-Manila, covers a broad range of issues affecting women globally, but focuses on the particular needs and concerns of women in the Global South. For its next issue (1, 2005), Women in Action will feature the theme "Cultural Diversity." We welcome articles that discuss how women of the South address issues pertaining to cultural diversity in relation to the various aspects of ICT and media. We especially invite you to contribute articles that bridge theoretical elaboration with practical implementation on the following topics: Culture in relation to Identity, Development and Democracy: - How has the concept of cultural pluralism evolved from post-war reconstruction to the rise of newly independent states to satisfy the processes of globalization? - What kinds of dialogues between state and societal mechanisms do cultural policies reflect towards constructive pluralism? - Do cultural policies and implementations for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions reaffirm or deny the rights and the full participation of women at all levels? The accelerating interdependence between Culture and Economies: - Are cultural goods becoming consumer goods in the guise of promoting cultural diversity? - Have the events of 11 September 2001 and the resulting conflicts between cultural relativism and fundamentalism, secularism and religion affected the production, dissemination and function of culturally diverse goods and services? - Is the need for developing countries to participate in globalization affecting our tangible and intangible heritage as a result of the ambiguity/dialectic between cultural and economic value? - How can a balance be made between the rights of the owners of cultural expressions and the rights of all people to access, enjoy, and participate in culture? - Who are the owners of "cultural expressions" and to which "culture" do they belong?

The growth of Multicultural Societies and how they redefine Cultural Identity: - How are issues of marginalization, social exclusion, economic and cultural rights being addressed within societies themselves and in relation to others? - How do we balance cultural specificities and identities with more universal obligations? - How do the debates and practices surrounding international relief and aid affect cultural approaches to natural disasters, HIV/AIDS, and armed conflict? - How do differing state conceptions on citizenship and sexual diversity affect the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples? We encourage you to submit photos, graphics or comic strips that may be used for your article or for the issue in general. We provide a modest honorarium for articles and photos or graphics that get published. Photos or artwork should be in TIFF format, scanned at 300 dpi. Please zip the file before e-mailing it. You may also send it by post. Articles should be within 1,500 - 2,000 word range. Deadline for submission is 31 March 2005. When submitting an article, please indicate on the Subject line: <Women in Action: Cultural Diversity>. Please write the article in Times New Roman font, 10 pts font size, double space, and letter size (8 ½" x 11") paper. You may send the article by post or by e-mail. Isis International-Manila 3 Marunong St., Barangay Central, Quezon City, Philippines 1100 Telephone: +632 928-1956 Fax: +632 924-1065 Email: communications@isiswomen.org http://www.isiswomen.org/

There are 11 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Global North, Global South From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 2. Viewpoints: Should borders be open? From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 3. Philippine poison 'was pesticide' From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 4. Human rights body under scrutiny From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 5. Women 'too meek' over men snoring From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 6. Cambodia's 'tenth dancer' on stage From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> 7. Tanaw - Digest Number 57 From: "Fatima Lasay" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 8. Cultural revolution through institutional rhetorical exercises From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 9. PHILIPPINES: Killing of a labor rights activist From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 10. Cultural agenda: rescue, elevate, eradicate, praise release! From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> 11. Rape of the Philippines - Mining firm sees US$22B profit From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph>

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 22:11:00 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Global North, Global South

Dear friends on Korakora, Our issue coordinator for Women in Action is Libay Linsangan-Cantor, and you can send submissions to the "Cultural Diversity" issue to her thru email: libay@isiswomen.org. We have also just been discussing some revisions to the call for articles and (especially as the feminist movement is re-examining itself and within the context of social development movements) it is important to stress that the Cultural Diversity issue of WIA also looks into problems and issues facing the North. Thus we make a few significant revisions: --- Women in Action, a magazine published by Isis International-Manila, covers a broad range of issues affecting women globally, with focus on the particular needs and concerns of women in the Global South as well as the problems of under-represented social groups in the Global North.

For its next issue (1, 2005), Women in Action will feature the theme "Cultural Diversity." We welcome articles that discuss how women from the South and from the North address problems pertaining to cultural diversity in relation to the various aspects of ICT and media. We especially invite you to contribute articles that bridge theoretical elaboration with practical implementation on the following topics. --- I was just reading Ewa Charkiewicz's article from the previous WIA issue (Examining Feminist and Social Movements - see http://www.isiswomen.org/pub/wia/wia2-04/ewa.htm) and I like how she problematizes the naming and visibility that underly how power actually works - and of course, her re-examination of North-South binaries.* While there do not seem to be clarifications as to specific alternatives, perhaps as we try to steer the WIA issue into more practical approaches, we may be able to see how women are already actually developing and fleshing out the alternatives in their own work and advocacies. Also, the problems of the North need to be made visible and discussed as well if we are keen on structural changes to the global power systems. After all, the history of Isis itself is a dialogue between North-South: Isis International was formed in 1974 to: create opportunities for women’s voices to be heard, strengthen feminist analyses through information exchange, promote solidarity and support feminist movements across the globe. Starting in Rome, Italy, and Geneva, Switzerland, today Isis International has three independent offices in Asia (Manila, Philippines), Africa (Kampala, Uganda) and Latin America (Santiago, Chile), reflecting a commitment towards South-South cooperation and South-North linkages. The office in Rome moved to Manila in 1991.

Regards, Fatima

* Among the key instruments of global governance is the division of the world into North versus South (and previously, into the three worlds). The North (actually North West) are rich and developed, the South (and post-socialist countries) are poor, victims of history and in need of rescue. The governance of environment and women in the subaltern regions is constructed precisely on these metaphors. These governing metaphors of globalisation perpetuate structural inequalities. Some of their origins are with the founding UN Declaration, which took western standards of living (and the American Dream), human rights, and western institutions as the yardsticks of development. The adoption of this framework by the UN facilitated bio-political management of populations and environments, and as Foucault put it, took away the liberties of societies in countries that were gaining independence after colonisation. The same can be said of Eastern Europe after the symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall. - http://www.isiswomen.org/pub/wia/wia2-04/ewa.htm

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 16:20:08 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Viewpoints: Should borders be open?

Viewpoints: Should borders be open? (Tuesday, 13 April, 2004,) <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3512992.stm>

The issue of migration is high on the political agenda for governments around the world. Western governments are often under pressure to restrict the entry of migrants. Developing countries find themselves losing highly-skilled professionals while at the same time receiving important revenues from emigrants. BBC News Online asked eight commentators to give their views on the economic arguments for and against migration, asking them to outline their views on whether countries should operate an open border policy. - "The movement of people is essential in today's world" Brunson McKinley, International Organization for Migration - "The movement of goods and people are linked" Binod Khadria, author - "We can be more progressive and liberal than we have been" Jagdish Bhagwati, economics professor - "I cannot endorse mass migration for personal reasons alone" Dr P N Govender, South African medical doctor - "Open borders would lead to massive flows of people from the third world" Sir Andrew Green, MigrationWatch UK - "The free movement of persons is a fundamental freedom" Mary Harney, Irish Deputy PM - "Borders are the line between 'us' and 'them'" Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, US - "Laws should allow immigrants to find employment permanently" Hector Flores, US-Latino group LULAC

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 15:58:26 +0100

From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Philippine poison 'was pesticide'

Philippine poison 'was pesticide': <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4346799.stm>

Pesticide was the most likely cause of death in 27 school children in the Philippines, the country's health ministry has said. The children died last week after eating a mid-morning snack of cassava roots at a school in the town of Mabini, southern Bohol province. Officials earlier said the children could have been killed by naturally occurring cyanide in the roots. But tests indicated pesticide may have contaminated the cassava. "It is very much possible that the food was prepared in an environment that was highly toxic and contaminated with chemical poisons and bacteria," said Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit in a written statement. "Dehydration secondary to pesticide poisoning was the main cause of death," he added. One of the vendors who sold the snacks was among dozens of casualties admitted to hospital after eating the roots. The other is in police custody. Cassava root is traditionally boiled as a substitute for rice in some poorer areas of the Philippines, but in this case appears to have been fried and processed into snacks. Victims suffered severe stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 16:08:01 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Human rights body under scrutiny

Human rights body under scrutiny <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4346433.stm>

The United Nations Human Rights Commission is beginning its annual six-week session in Geneva amid widespread calls for reform. The commission's role is to uphold human rights, but its image has been tarnished by charges it has become a haven for countries that abuse rights. Current members include Sudan, Zimbabwe, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia - all accused of rights abuses. Activists want the US to be condemned for its treatment of prisoners. Washington has been strongly criticised for the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and allegations of mistreatment of prisoners at in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Last year a vote against Sudan was abandoned, despite evidence of atrocities being committed in its western Darfur region.

Call for change UN spokesman Mark Malloch Brown told US television that Secretary General Kofi Annan will soon propose changes in the way countries are elected to the commission. A high-level panel looking into the workings of the UN, at the request of Mr Annan, concluded the commission's credibility had been eroded because members were more concerned with protecting themselves from criticism than exposing violations. Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said the commission's practice of naming and shaming countries had become a victim of its own success. "Twenty-five years ago it never condemned a country and it was irrelevant," he said. "Over the last 25 years, though, it has begun condemning governments and its stigma is so powerful that we've seen the odd phenomenon of highly abusive governments flocking to join the commission to protect themselves from condemnation." Peter Splinter of Amnesty International said: "How are these governments elected to the commission? Why are they elected? "This goes to the reform question - there is a need to start asking some fundamental questions not just about what happens during the six weeks in Geneva, but why that happens and what can be done about it." The commission was launched in 1946 to uphold human rights worldwide. It has 53 members.

SEE ALSO: Alarm over Nepal disappearances 30 Aug 04 | South Asia Sudan denies atrocities in Darfur 25 Apr 04 | Africa China halts rights talks with US 23 Mar 04 | Asia-Pacific RELATED INTERNET LINKS: UN Human Rights Commission <http://www.ohchr.org/english/> The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

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________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 15:52:51 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Women 'too meek' over men snoring

Perhaps this should be added to the Women-in-Action list :) -Although, I seem to remember that if explaining one's right to sleep is difficult with one's partner then it is impossible with one's baby....... Nevertheless, it's a seeminbgly trivial but important problem. Sleep deprivation is concidered as torture which is illegal under the Genva Convention.

Women 'too meek' over men snoring: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4341199.stm> Women should stand up for their right to have a full night's sleep - even if their partner snores, researchers say. Those who listen passively to the dulcet tones of their soundly-sleeping partner may be missing out on up to five hour's sleep a week, they say.........

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 6 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 16:43:09 +0100 From: tbatt <tebatt@chello.nl> Subject: Cambodia's 'tenth dancer' on stage Cambodia's 'tenth dancer' on stage (Thursday, 24 February, 2005) <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4291873.stm> The story of a Cambodian royal dancer who is the only member of her troupe to survive the Khmer Rouge is set to be staged in London. The life of 75-year-old Em Theay - who was just 15 when she first became one of the most important singers and dancers at Cambodia's royal palace - forms the basis of The Continuum: Beyond the Killing Fields, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts........

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Message: 7 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 00:57:18 -0000 From: "Fatima Lasay" <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Tanaw - Digest Number 57 Hi Bobby, Maraming salamat - also, we're still simplifying the Tanaw texts, what I sent are the raw texts, ika nga. Kailangan kasi for general audience. Good luck with your plan to set up a gallery - it's good to see more artist-run spaces coming up. Later on the list we can probably discuss various models of artists' spaces. For now we're going to focus on cultural diversity in relation to social development issues. Please also invite your friends who might be interested to join us in the discussions. Regards, Fats > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:12:28 -0800 (PST) > From: Bobby Nuestro <bbby_nuestro@yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: Digest Number 56 > > Dear Fat, > > Tanaw or Tanawin , Landscape , Landscape Paintings , Paguhit at pagpinta ng tanawin ang Paguhit ay kaakibat ng wikang tagalog ang Pagpinta , Pinta, to paint galing sa salitang Kastila > Paguhit ng Tanawin , doon ang mga ninuno ay may mga simbolong ginagamit , parang mga Pictographs , may halong ritwal at may kamalayan ukol sa lipunan maaring itong isang Lugar na sagrado o Dambana na maaring yaon ay pinaniniwalang tirahan ng mga yumaong ninuno , > kaya Paguhit ng tanawin dati walang Perspective , more as a symbol a spiritual symbol and sacred. > > I am very grateful on what you have written , ang galing , sa mga Painting Major dapat malaman at maintindihan , sa mga marami ngayong nag papaintings dapat , malaman yan , sana mapublish ko yan , Im planning to have a gallery , I wanted to sell works of art with historical, social and scholarly perspective not on selling detached Walls painted transformed into canvases , Kasi Kawawa na ang ating Buying Public mga collector , bumibili ng mga paintings na walang sinimulan o kung san man lang nangaling na forms and only forms without content. > > Thank you, god bless! > > Bobby Nuestro

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 8 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:09:32 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Cultural revolution through institutional rhetorical exercises /For inquiries, please contact the Public Affairs and Information Division at (T) 527-5529, (F) 527-2191, or email at info@ncca.gov.ph <mailto:info@ncca.gov.ph>. / *PAVING THE PATH FOR CULTURAL REVOLUTION: ADDRESSING THE CRISIS THROUGH CULTURE * President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, underscoring the importance of culture as a catalyst for values formation and human rights education to promote a culture of peace, social justice, and sustainable development, has ordered a separate full chapter on culture as an essential ingredient for poverty alleviation as well as for fighting pollution and corruption as we forge our national identity with cultural diversity. Current Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez announces that the seven thrusts of the current Medium Term Philippine Development Plan for Culture and the Arts 2004-201- (MTPDP-CA) will be the basis for the priority projects of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts since these thrusts respond to the national goal of human and economic development, and contribute to the realization of the President�10-point Agenda of poverty reduction, education for all, and the assurance of nationwide peace particularly in conflict-affected areas with a focus on Mindanao. For the next six years, efforts will be directed to the following priority strategies: 1. Mainstream Culture and Development in plans, policies, programs, and projects, providing KALAHI services for the poor, particularly the marginalized, the minorities, and the migrants; and addressing the social rehabilitation needs of abused women and youths, especially those with disabilities and out-of-school through free arts training towards employment expansion. 2. Institutionalize culture in education, media, and in good governance, specifically focusing on the formation of patriotic values for moral reform, and to fight crime and corruption, poverty and pollution, drugs and depravity, ignorance and injustice, and tyranny and terrorism. 3. Continue the implementation of programs for the promotion of cultural liberty and excellence in artistic development that forges the identity, memory, vision, and conscience of our nation.

4. Promote sustainable heritage conservation approaches to nurture historicity and to preserve our patrimony of bio-cultural diversity, which will serve as a safety net against globalization and homogenization. 5. Create special cultural programs in line with national peace and unification initiatives to help end violence against mankind and Mother Earth, and to promote conflict resolution through multicultural dialogues. 6. Encourage the generation of jobs or livelihood through the animation and growth of cultural industries, and eco-tourism highlighting the wealth of indigenous heritage and new routes of artistic expressions rooted in traditional cultures, merged with creative, modern experiments that push the execution of the UN Millennium Development Goals. 7. Expand exchanges and agreements with other countries for international understanding, and tolerance through underscoring cultural pluralism twinned with the artistic genius of our people, which will be harvested and manifested in the Philippines� hosting of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute Congress and the Theatre Olympics of Nations from May 25 to June 5, 2006. Guidote-Alvarez further states that special cooperative undertakings will be worked out through ASEAN, APEC, ASEM, OAS, and other allied institutions and agencies.

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 9 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:21:17 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: PHILIPPINES: Killing of a labor rights activist UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Update on Urgent Appeal 14 March 2005 [RE: UA-34-2005: PHILIPPINES: Killing of a labor rights activist for the Hacienda Luisita farm workers in Tarlac City] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UP-26-2005: PHILIPPINES: Priest supporting for the Hacienda Luisita farm workers in La Paz, Tarlac killed and two others wounded

PHILIPPINES: Human rights defenders; Rule of law --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear friends, Further to our previous appeal (UA-34-2005 {http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/978/}) regarding the killings of human rights defenders and workers in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac, Philippines, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) about another killing of a priest who supported workers on strike in Hacienda Luisita. Fr. William Tadena of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) is the tenth victim to be killed since the bloody crackdown by the police and military on the workers demanding their rights on 16 November 2004. Fr. Tadena's killing occurred 13 March 2005 just nine days after the murder of Abelardo Ladera, Tarlac City Councilor and vocal supporter of the striking workers. Your urgent action is required to pressure the Government of Philippines to intervene and stop the ongoing killings and harassment of the workers in Hacienda Luisita. Please ask the local authorities to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators who were involved in the killings of Fr. Tadena, Councilor Ladera and Marcing Beltran. Please also urge them to provide immediate protection to the workers and human rights defenders who are supporting the workers' strike. Urgent Appeals Desk AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme ----------------------------------------------- DETAILED INFORMATION: *Name of the victim/s*: *Killed*: Fr. William Tadena (37), a priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) and a human rights defender *Wounded*: Carlos Barsolaso (38) and Charlie Gabriel (24) *Date of the incident*: 13 March 2004 *Place of the incident*: IFI church, Brgy. Guevarra, La Paz, Tarlac *Alleged perpetrators*: two unidentified men Fr. William Tadena (37), a priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), was shot dead by two unidentified armed men who were riding on a motorcycle in IFI church, Brgy. Guevarra, La Paz, Tarlac on 13 March 2005. Fr. Tadena died of multiple gun shot wounds on his head and torso. He was in a jeep with his three companions at the time of the incident. Two of them, Carlos Barsolaso (38) and Charlie Gabriel (24), were wounded. Barsolaso was hit on the head by a bullet and is in critical condition while Gabriel was inquired on his right leg. The third companion, Ervina Domingo (20), was unharmed. According to the victims, they were attacked by gunmen on their way home to Victoria town after finishing a mass at a plaza in Barangay Guevarra.

Fr. William Tadena of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) is the tenth victim to be killed since the bloody crackdown by the police and military on the workers demanding their rights on 16 November 2004. Fr. Tadena's killing occurred just nine days after the murder of Abelardo Ladera, Tarlac City Councilor and outspoken supporter of the striking workers in Hacienda Luisita, on 4 March 2005. On 8 December 2004, a farm workers' leader, Marcing Beltran, was also assassinated. The AHRC is deeply concerned by the ongoing killings and harassment against the workers in Hacienda Luisita and human rights defenders who are fighting for their labour and land rights. We strongly urge the Government of Philippines to take immediate action to prevent further killings related to this matter and provide urgent protection to the workers and concerned human rights defenders. The AHRC particularly urges the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately take action by conducting a thorough and impartial investigation in this matter. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in particular the Northern Luzon Command (NolCom), must be investigated by independent government agency to find whether they had any involvement in these cases. SUGGESTED ACTION: Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the following authorities and express your concern about this case. Sample Letter: Dear ______________, Re: PHILIPPINES: Priest supporting for the Hacienda Luisita farm workers in La Paz, Tarlac killed and two others wounded *Name of the Victim/s*: *Killed*: Fr. William Tadena (37), a priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) and a human rights defender *Wounded*: Carlos Barsolaso (38) and Charlie Gabriel (24) *Date of the incident*: 13 March 2004 *Place of the incident*: IFI Church, Brgy. Guevarra, La Paz, Tarlac *Alleged perpetrators*: two unidentified men I am writing to bring to your attention on the killing of Fr. William Tadena who supported workers on strike in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac. He is the tenth victim to be killed since the bloody crackdown by the police and military on the workers demanding their rights on 16 November 2004. The killing of Fr. Tadena is yet another threat to the workers who are fighting for their rights and land ownership in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac. The killing of Tadena is another blow to peoples’ enjoyment of the rights in a democratic country ‘not to be deprived of life, liberty or property without the due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of laws' as provided in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article III.

I urge you to order an immediate and impartial investigation into this incident, including the killings of Councilor Abelardo Ladera and Marcing Beltran who were earlier killed related to this matter. I also urge you to use your authority to ensure the identification, arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators without delay. Appropriate protection must be provided to the workers and human rights defenders working for the workers' rights in order to prevent further killing and violence against them. Further I urge you to provide medical assistance and protection to Carlos Barsolaso (38), Charlie Gabriel (24) and Ervina Domingo (20), who are the witnesses of the incident. Providing a venue for a dialogue among the striking workers and the owners of Hacienda Luisita for an immediate settlement of the conflict will also be useful in preventing further violence and protecting the rights of the workers. Respectfully yours, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SEND A LETTER TO: 1. Hon. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo President Malacanang Palace J.P. Laurel St., San Miguel Manila, NCR 1005 PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2929 3968 2. Hon. Purificacion Quisumbing Commissioner Commission on Human Rights SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue U.P. Complex, Diliman, Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2929 0101/928 0848 Email: drpvq@chr.gov.ph {mailto:drpvq@chr.gov.ph} 3. Hon. Avelino J. Cruz Jr. Secretary, Department of National Defense Room 301 DND Bldg., Camp Emilio Aguinaldo E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2911 6213 Email: osnd@philonline.com {mailto:osnd@philonline.com} 4. P/DIR Gen. Arturo Lumibao Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP) Camp Crame, Quezon City PHILIPPINES Tel: +63 2726 4361/4366/8763

Fax: +63 2724 8763 5. Atty. Jasmin N. Regino Regional Director Commission on Human Rights (CHR III) 3/F, Kehyeng Bldg., Mc Arthur Highway, Dolores San Fernando, Pampanga Philippines Tel: +63 45 961 4830/ 963 5311 Telefax: +63 45 961 4475 6. Ms. Hina Jilani Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders Att: Ben Majekodunmi Room 1-040, c/o OHCHR-UNOG 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Tel: +41 22 917 93 88 Fax: +41 22 917 9006 E-mail: bmajekodunmi@ohchr.org {mailto:bmajekodunmi@ohchr.org} 7. Mr. Philip Alston Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions Atten: Lydie Ventre Room 3-016, c/o OHCHR-UNOG 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Tel: +41 22 917 9155 Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general) E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org {http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/976/urgent-action@ohchr.org}

Thank you. Urgent Appeals Desk AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission 19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hongkong S.A.R. Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367

________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 10 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:37:14 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Cultural agenda: rescue, elevate, eradicate, praise release!

For inquiries, please contact the Public Affairs and Information Division at (T) 527-5529, (F) 527-2191, or email at info@ncca.gov.ph.

NCCA Introduces PGMA’s Cultural Agenda The weekly "Balitaan sa Rembrandt" press luncheon at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City was graced this week by Presidential Adviser on Culture and newly appointed NCCA Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who both expressed a united stand on the pivotal role of Philippine indigenous culture and arts in the government’s fight to eradicate poverty and corruption in the country. The luncheon served to formally introduce Ms. Alvarez in her new role at the helm of the NCCA, and to inform the public of the agency’s programs and directives in line with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s policy of promoting cultural education as a means of countering the “culture of corruption” that is perceived to be plaguing public offices. Ms. Alvarez stressed the importance of cultural education in the formation of positive values towards uplifting the lives of Filipinos. “Corruption is bred by all of our bad habits, like kasinungalingan, palusutan, etc. So we are going to provide values transmission from all of the art forms,” she said. She said that the NCCA is gearing up to provide free arts education for disabled and disadvantaged children. In addition, she highlighted the key role that the Philippines is set to play in 2006, when the country will be host to the 31st UNESCO International Theater Institute Congress. “Culture should be given importance because it constitutes our national identity; we cannot be always looked upon as ‘little brown Americans’,” rejoined Sen. Pimentel. He pointed out that the NCCA deserves to be elevated from the status of a Commission to a full-fledged Department of government because of the weight and importance of its mandate. When asked about the steps being undertaken by the NCCA with regards to the reclamation of the Balangiga bells which were claimed as spoils of war during the Philippine-American War and are currently on display at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA Ms. Alvarez said that coordination is already underway with international agencies in an effort to secure the safe return of the artifacts. “The Balangiga bells are national treasures taken illicitly during the occupation of the Philippines,” she stressed. Sen. Pimentel, on his part, called for the preservation and restoration of historical artifacts and national heritage sites as important reminders of our cultural identity. Ms. Alvarez is not new to the culture and arts scene. She is a widely recognized figure in the field of theater, having received the

Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service for her pioneering work in the development of Philippine theater. She is also the founder of the respected and highly-acclaimed Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Sen. Pimentel praised the decision to elevate Ms. Alvarez to the Executive Directorship of the NCCA. “She is the best choice,” Sen. Pimentel said.

PS. In less than three years, the Arroyo regime has committed 3,339 cases of human rights violation with 188,013 victims; 18,535 families; 81communities; and 540 households... There are 3,339 cases of human rights violation with 188,013 victims; 18,535 families; 81communities; and 540 households. Compiled by KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights. As of July 2004, there are 248 political detainees all over the country. PPS. In 1995 the Philippines, acting under instruction and support from the World Bank, UNDP and Asian Development Bank, liberalised its Mining Code to better attract foreign investment. The 1995 Mining Code was described in the financial press at the time as among the most favourable to miners anywhere in the world. The Mining Code promises companies speedy processing of mining claims and the right to remove impediments to mining including settlements and people. It also promises 100 % foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profit, tax holidays, cuts in duties and many more incentives. Since 1994 the Subanon Indigenous peoples of Canatuan in the Southern Philippines have been struggling to defend their land from encroachment and destruction by a Canadian mining company. They accuse the company, TVI Pacific of Calgary, of committing serious Human rights violations and of a total disregard of local wishes. In the latest incidents during 2001 company guards confiscated goods belonging to local residents and shot at residents when they resisted this theft. In a separate incident the house and farm of a family near the company compound were destroyed. Despite such incidents the company has continued to receive backing from the Philippines and Canadian Governments. PPPS: Baclayon's Cultural Heritage under Threat IJsselstein, Sunday, 06 February 2005 20:55:20 Plans to widen and resurface the coastal ring-road of Bohol pose a threat to a number of one century old houses, as well as to one of the best known historical landmarks of Bohol, the church of Baclayon. Although Bohol governor Enrico Aumentado assured the concerned citizens that the crucial two-kilometer will be spared, the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) and its contractor, Hanjin Construction, plan to push ahead with road repairs and reconstruction that will damage a number of one century old ancestral houses, and may even mean the destruction of some of the them. Also the belfry of Baclayon's church may be affected. GMA to inspect P1.73 billion Bohol road network TAGBILARAN, Bohol President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will inspect tomorrow Package 1 of the 260.7-kilometer, Pl.73 billion Bohol

Circumferential Road (BCR) improvement project that is expected to help accelerate the economic development of Central Visayas and enhance the delivery of government services in the area. In her fourth visit to Bohol this year, the President will also inspect the ongoing construction of the 124.4-km. Phase 2 of the BCR. The circumferential road project, the main trunk route covering the island province, is also part of the government’s National Arterial Road Network (NARN). Divided into two phases, the BCR system will provide the basic infrastructure support badly needed to hasten the economic development of Bohol, notably its agri-business sector. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Message: 11 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:47:56 +0800 From: Fatima Lasay <digiteer@ispx.com.ph> Subject: Rape of the Philippines - Mining firm sees US$22B profit

"The weekly "Balitaan sa Rembrandt" press luncheon at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City was graced this week by Presidential Adviser on Culture and newly appointed NCCA Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who both expressed a united stand on the pivotal role of Philippine indigenous culture and arts in the government’s fight to eradicate poverty and corruption in the country." - Yes, we need to remove the indigenous communities from the mining areas and dig up the whole place for gold so that "By simple mathematics, the firm stands to earn at least US$22 billion after recouping the US$607.5 investment." "Sen. Pimentel, on his part, called for the preservation and restoration of historical artifacts and national heritage sites as important reminders of our cultural identity." - We should also turn the natural environment and the tribal communities into historical artifacts and place them in musuems so that we will remember our cultural identity. Regards, Fatima ---- With outlay of US$607.5M, mining firm sees US$22B profit Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews / 14 March 2005 KORONADAL CITY -- Sow little, reap tremendously. That aptly describes the copper and gold venture Sur of the

Australian-backed mining firm Sagittarius Mines, Inc., in areas straddling the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur. For a capital outlay of about US$607.5 million in a span of six years starting in 2004, SMI will ultimately rake in an estimated total mineral deposit amounting to a staggering US$23 billion, documents obtained by MindaNews showed. Tony Robbins, managing director of Indophil Resources NL, the foreign stakeholder that owns 40 percent of SMI, detailed the cost of the mining venture in a 25-page presentation last month. He said that for SMI's scoping study in 2004, US$7.5 million was spent; US$15 million will be utilized for the pre-feasibility study this year until 2006; US$35 million is allocated for 2007 for the full feasibility study; and approximately US$550 million by 2008 to 2009 for construction and full-scale mining operations. On the other hand, the annual report issued by SMI in December last year said the estimated amount of copper and gold deposits are a staggering US$23 billion. By simple mathematics, the firm stands to earn at least US$22 billion after recouping the US$607.5 investment. According to Robbins, some 7.7 million tons of copper and 10.1 million ounces of gold sit at the mines development site in the three towns. "[The] Tampakan copper-gold project [is] the largest undeveloped copper-gold resource in Southeast Asia," Robbins stressed. Damien Nihill, SMI technical consultant, said in an earlier briefing that the company is fast- tracking its drilling campaign this year to cover at least 40 drill holes with an aggregate length of 15,000 meters.

According to Nihill, the project's resources "can fully be extracted in 58 years," or more than half a century. Once full blast mining operations start by 2009, Robbins said 3,500 people will be hired, mostly locals to do the hard labor. In the same 25-page presentation, Robbins said SMI will have no other recourse, for now, but to resort to open pit mining to extract gold and copper deposits in the area once it will go full blast operation by 2009. Yearly, Robbins projected a production volume of 140,000 tons of copper and 145,000 ounces of gold for the firm using the open pit mining method. Robbins, however, said that changes in the mining method could "occur," stressing: "Actual future events may vary materially from the forward-looking statement and the assumptions on which the forward-looking statement is based."

Groups backed by the local Catholic Church opposing the project have repeatedly warned that the proponents would employ open pit mining, a situation, they say, will cause irreparable damage to the environment. They have formed a broad alliance, SOCCSKSARGENDS AGENDA, to consolidate efforts in opposing the mining venture. SOCCSKSARGENDS AGENDA stands for South Cotabato, [North] Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City, Davao del Sur Alliance for Genuine Development. Eliezer Billanes, SOCCSKSARGENDS AGENDA chair, said last week that among the groups under the organization are the dioceses of Marbel, Digos and Kidapawan and five tribal communities in the mines development site. Billanes said the mining venture "would not be to the great benefit of the communities, claiming that the minerals will be taken out of the country." ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Korakora Discussion Group Digests from: <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/korakora/ This discussion list has moved to: Kurokuro – Korakora Discussion Group <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://kurokuro.korakora.org/