Ace's Entry: Long Session, Short Entry

Ace's Entry
LONG SESSION, SHORT ENTRY
19 April 2005 Saturday

I attended the session "The National Territory: UNCLOS or Treaty of Paris" at UP Diliman, Quezon City with Mr. Leo Santiago. (He will cover this to serve as the headline of the May issue of "Buhay Marino.") The session started at 8:30 AM and ended at 5:30 PM. Quite longer than my previous assignments isn't it? But don't worry. This entry would be shorter than the other two. Ironic. That length of time in a shorter entry? Yes. Because I believe that one must not write extensivlely about something he does not know sufficiently. And I'm not a historian. (Although that's one of my fantasies). Second, I am sure you won't want to read these topics in a blog…or I'll bore you to tears.

Well basically, the round table discussion is about the discrepancy or inconsistency between the Treaty of Paris and the UN Convention on the Laws of the Seas. The seminar featured talks from experts that discussed concepts like baseline, continental shelf, archipelagic principle, national security, and some territories that the Philippines has lost or is currently claiming (though abandoned by Congress…and that afternoon, the Congress is the most bugbog sarado in the government).

Speakers were Prof. Merlin Magallona, (UP COL professor), Justice Jorge Coquia (Former Justice of the Court of Appeals), Dr. Teodoro Santos (former Director of UP's institute on Geology), Ret. Commodore Renato Feir , Ret. BGen Samuel Soriano and Prof. Harry Roque, (Director, UP International Legal Studies). (Ang titindi di ba?). Guests include Cong. Satur Ocampo, representatives of other congressmen, (including that of former VP Guingona's son…my seatmate), representatives of government agencies, Law professors, Marine experts and scholars. The room has 2 long tables and 2 shorter ones joined to form a rectangular shape…and we were seated around these. It's like what we see in TV during a senate investigation (sans the microphones). As I looked around I noticed that I was the youngest person who attended the discussion…and most of the people there are experts...and then there I was seated with them! (Wow…parang ka-level ko sila!)

I must confess the sight and the topics gave me the impression that it would be a very boring afternoon…It's like trapping myself trapped in a classroom where Prof. *BLEEP* or Prof. *BLEEP* is lecturing…and I was anticipating that the whole event is six times the lecture of Prof. *BLEEP*! Aaaaaaah!

But in fairness, they were not as boring as I expected. (perhaps because I have interest in history). The lectures were informative and sometimes even comical. (Although I caught some persons drowsing during the lectures). I also noticed some occasional laughing during the course of the lecture (although I cannot relate with that. Perhaps that's what they call "scholarly humor"). I took notes for my archives. (Mr. Santiago might need more details for his article. I would be very happy to supply them to him. Hehehe). It's what I call studying during vacation!

As usual, there was the lunch and some breaks in between sessions. That was the opportunity for me and Mr. Santiago to loosen up and talk about lighter topics like some Marine issues, the entertainment section of the Buhay Marino magazines, my hairstyle, and even love. ("Wala ka bang girlfriend…Huwag ganoon…isa yan sa mga challenges ng buhay" I remember my mentor saying.) Curiously, I heard some of the topics discussed by other participants…and wow! Even in breaks they are talking about the political implications of the discrepancies in national territory! (Perhaps they have a different notion of the word "break"). But overall, I found the delegates intelligent, critical and attentive.
But unfortunately, these intelligent individuals can't voice out their concerns because the Congress often don't pay attention to important issues such as this. "There seem to be hesitation on their part", to quote Bgen. Soriano.

During one of the breaks, I called the office of Cong. Zialcita (via payphone) to notify them that Mr. Santiago cannot attend the hearing on Zialcita's expose (Mr. Santiago said it's about the excess tariffs charged to goods at the expense of
consumers) and that I am coming in his behalf. But the man on the other line said it was postponed indefinitely. When I told Mr. Santiago this, he said he will just notify me of the next events that we will cover. He told me to finish my newspaper articles and to develop further the concepts of the stories I am planning to submit to the OFW Journalism Consortium. (He gave me a deadline: Thursday, April 21, 2005). Indeed, these are the wise things to do while there are no events to cover.

Before I end, here are some fast facts about the roundtable discussion

PHRASE OF THE DAY: "We are not in the position to address that" (by representatives of government agencies whenever the issue about the negligence of the Congress to address the RP territory problem was brought up)
MOST USED WORDS OF THE DAY: territory, treaty, baseline, constitution
FOOD OF THE DAY: Ensaymada
MISTAKE OF THE DAY: getting what I thought is pork chop during lunch only to find out that it is made of fish. (Sorry. I'm not fond of seafoods).
ADDRESS OF THE DAY: Compaòero/Comaòera
HOT OBJECTS OF THE DAY: Microphone, hand outs prepared by speakers
BESTSELLER OF THE DAY: Prof. Merlin Magallona's book on International Law
(I saw many participants buying it after his lecture!)
DISCOVERY OF THE DAY: Close pala si Mr. Santiago at si Satur Ocampo. Si Satur pa ang bumati sa kanya!

I look forward to the next event.