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Orly Mercado
Orlando "Orly" Mercado PhD is currently President and CEO of RPN Channel 9 and is designate Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. Orly is also a professor at the Graduate School of Business of De La Salle University. Previously he was a member of the faculty of Kobe College in Japan, teaching Global Communication courses. Aside from being a professor and television personality in the Philippines, he was a Senator (1987-1998) and Secretary/Minister of National Defense (1998-2001). He also does consultancy work on governance, specifically disaster risk management.
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"Radyo Patrol" is forty years old
Orly Mercado
“It’s been forty years since we first aired Radyo Patrol” was a reminder broadcast executive Jake Almeda-Lopez scribbled in a greeting card I received some months ago. I remembered the note as I was reading about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the 40th anniversary of the durable children’s television program, “Sesame Street.”
1969 was a year of political unrest especially in the Philippines. I was a correspondent in ABS-CBN News when I was transferred back to the Radio Production Department to start “Radyo Patrol” together with a veteran radioman Barr Samson, who had a reputation for unbridled ingenuity in reportage that at times was at the fringes of what was permissible. In the beginning the anchorpersons in the studio of DZAQ were basically entertainment personalities and considered our news reports sort of a nuisance to their mix of music and entertainment gossip. I stuck it out because I knew we were about to launch an entirely new format in broadcasting. “Radyo Patrol” was to be the country’s first all-talk and all-news radio station on the air twenty four hours a day. Barr faded away and a new set of reporters made up my team. Jun Ricafrente, Cris Daluz, Ysmael Reyes and Mario Garcia were not all newsmen. Some were former radio drama talents. With the entry of a talented newcomer by the name of Joe Taruc, my first team was complete. I set up a continuing training program as I hired more reporters. The line up of anchorpersons was changed. Former senator Eddie Ilarde, Johnny Midnight, Bobby Guanzon, Ernie Baron, and others filled the airtime with commentaries as well as phoned in comments from listeners.
Whenever possible the reporters and some anchormen attended a teach-in with experts from various fields that included the likes of Satur Ocampo. As a former student leader from the leftist group Kabataang Makabayan (Nationalist Youth) I was an activist who had a powerful platform. It was fine for me because the Lopezes, who owned the network, were at odds with the administration of President Marcos. As we covered student demonstrations and riots in the streets, and aired stinging commentaries, I knew that we were treading dangerous grounds. It was only a matter of time. It came on August 21, 1971 with the bombing of the Liberal Party political rally in Plaza Miranda. An attempt to arrest me in the studios of ABS CBN was foiled. Having been tipped off by reporter Boo Changco who overheard First Lady Imelda Marcos mention my name as one of those who will be arrested, I decided to leave the studios by the back door. To be sure, I had nothing to do with the bombing, but Marcos used the incident to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and charge the so called leaders of the “rebellion.” I found myself indicted in the case People of the Philippines versus Luzvimindo David et. al. There were 63 of us charged with violation of the Anti-Subversion Act (RA1700). The next year Marcos declared martial law and closed ABS-CBN. “Radyo Patrol” was silenced, temporarily. Today, most have already forgotten the voices that permeated the airwaves from 1969 to 1972 in a pioneering format that was needed by the times. “Radyo Patrol has been back in the airwaves since EDSA I (1986). What we went through forty years helped ensure what it is now.
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Posted
11/14/2009 7:39:43 PM |
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Live in Jakarta and feel the change
Orly Mercado
Every time I am out of Jakarta where I now reside, I still encounter friends and acquaintances that still have an outdated perception of life in Indonesia. We have all accepted the mind-boggling changes China has gone through in just four decades. Those whose memories of Jakarta, are as recent as a decade ago, are in for a surprise.
Most of us are familiar with the statistics. Its GDP growth for the first half of 2009 is the third highest in the G20, after China and India. It is proving itself to be a stable democracy with great economic potential. Rich in natural resources, the future of its export of commodities looks even brighter as the global economy recovers.
Whether in a high-end mall or a farmer’s market, one can feel that domestic consumption drives the economy. To be sure, much needs to be done in the area of infrastructure development. Jakarta’s traffic jams continue to drive home this point daily.
For me, the brightest spot is in Public governance. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s anti corruption credentials are most appreciated by locals and foreigners alike. It is still easy to encounter petty corruption on a day to day basis, but there is a palpable consciousness of the consequences of bribe-taking. It is a good start.
Unlike China or even Vietnam that shifted to a market economy from a more egalitarian socialist system Indonesia’s biggest challenge is income inequality. It is obvious that the fruits of economic growth are being enjoyed mostly by the middle and upper middle classes. Indonesia is still far from realizing its full potential, but it is getting there. It is certainly not boring to witness these changes first hand.
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Posted
9/23/2009 6:18:51 PM |
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Cory to Marcos: "All it takes is one ballot"
Orly Mercado
In the Philippines, after the assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino in August 21, 1983, most began to feel that this was the beginning of the end of the Marcos dictatorship. The funeral procession for the slain opposition leader was unlike any in our history. Marcos appeared to have recovered from his kidney transplant, but was on the ropes, politically.
The opposition did not seem to be able to get its act together. It was divided. In 1984, there was a scheduled election in May, for the regular Batasang Pambansa (parliament). There was a lively debate about whether those opposing Marcos should participate or boycott the elections. The left was leading the movement to boycott what was feared to be yet another election to be stolen from the people. There were those of us who believed that the election by itself was to be a critical catalyst in ending the Marcos regime. It was 1984, and George Orwell’s omnipresent big brother of a government, was to receive a blow that would stagger it, and prepare it for the final round: Marcos versus Cory.
Cory Aquino was a true believer in non violence and in the power of the ballot. In 1984, although the assemblymen were to be elected locally, the issues were national. And her role in the campaign ensured the victory of a credible opposition that would keep the struggle for democracy alive. I was unsure whether my votes in Quezon City would be counted. The turnout was overwhelming. I was a political novice, but was honored to lead our team, together with Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma, and Bert Romulo to victory. We could not have done it without Cory Aquino.
In the Batasang Pambansa where we took to our task of fiscalizing with gusto, I met Assemblyman Jhalmar Quintana. He was one of the four elected assemblymen from the opposition who made a clean sweep of Quezon province. He was quite a character who seemed to more adept at delivering a campaign speech in a public plaza than in the halls of Congress. But he had a great line. During his campaign, he borrowed a line from a Fernando Poe movie whose title was: “Isang bala ka lang” (all it takes is a single bullet). Jhalmar modified it into a nonviolent threat to Marcos: “Isang balota ka lang”
In the 1986 presidential campaign, Cory adopted the line. It was one of the most effective campaign lines that embodied what she stood for. The inexperienced housewife challenged the dictator who ruled the Philippines for too long with the non-violent threat “Isang balota ka lag” and the Filipino people went to the polls.
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Posted
8/2/2009 6:59:28 PM |
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A not-so-boring forum
Orly Mercado
Normally, attending a foreign policy forum can be as boring as diplomacy itself, much like watching paint dry. The recent ASEAN Secretariat Policy forum, organized by its brilliant and articulate SecGen, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, proved to be as lively as it was stimulating.
It was the comments of Dr. Rizal Sukma of the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies that stirred up some interesting reactions. He has called for a “post ASEAN foreign policy” for Indonesia. He has written a piece in the Jakarta Post advocating a hard line on human rights. ASEAN has been struggling to negotiate the terms of reference for its nascent Human Rights Body. After hard bargaining, nine nations have come to some agreement accommodating concerns of human rights advocates. The high level panel working on the terms of reference (TOR) feels it essentially includes Indonesia’s concerns. It is admittedly a product of compromise. Such negotiations rarely produce a clear “winner”. The HRB is obviously being built one block at a time. Indonesia’s position may result in no TOR at all, and no Human Rights Body formed.
Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar of the Habibie Center in Jaakarta cited the changes ASEAN has undergone during various crises. She said that for Indonesia to capitalize on its gains, it must bring up its neighbors with it. She cited historical examples in Japan and Germany and warned against the “hubris” that makes a nation ignore such lessons. Truly, when one feels he is doing better than others, he becomes predisposed to lecturing others The holier than thou attitude..
Most agree that ASEAN is a work in progress. The regional organization has come a long way. It has actually changed a lot of recent. It has ensured stability for more than four decades. In fact, as Dr. Pitsuwan explains, many nations are rooting for ASEAN’s success because they feel it would be one region less to worry about.
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Posted
7/15/2009 1:38:57 AM |
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Keeping Activism Alive
Orly Mercado
It was a clear sunny morning here in Jakarta. I was on my way to the office, when I received a text message from Manila. Julius Fortuna, a fellow journalist died of a heart attack. Way back in the sixties, we were dyed-in-wool Marxists student leaders. In the 70s we were detained as subversives by the Marcos regime. We could not have known then, that socialism was “the long road from capitalism to capitalism”. I will always remember Julius as an activist. Even as we aged, he always had causes to fight for. I do not have any regrets about that period of my life. It is about the passion that comes with activism that sometimes makes me wonder. How long can one keep it?
Later in the day, I had lunch with Von Hernandez, another activist. As Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia he is a poster boy for environmental activism in the region. Von belongs to another generation of activists. He started out as an environmentalist as a member of my staff. As a senator, I had taken up the issue of environmental protection by pushing for a total ban on logging in the Philippines. It was a tough fight. He reminded me that when I was calling for a log ban, we were fighting to save 18% of the country’s remaining first growth forests. He said that now there is only 3% left.
We talked about forest destruction, climate change and palm oil expansion, here in Indonesia. A staggering 72% of Indonesia’s intact forest landscapes have either disappeared or been severely degraded due to decades of industrial and illegal logging. Indonesia is currently losing its forests faster than any other major forested country. I agreed with him that it is imperative to stop deforestation globally, at the same time requiring industrialized countries to purchase a portion of their Kyoto emission permits to generate funds to halt deforestation. This would require regional action. I knew where the conversation was going. I was getting animated. Even as my comrade-in-arms during the sixties are now “buying the farm” it is not difficult to keep activism alive. I can already feel my adrenalin pains.
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Posted
6/23/2009 10:37:21 PM |
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Jeju's sex and green growth exhibits
Orly Mercado
We were in a van, on our way to the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit venue, in the resort island of Jeju. One of the delegates from the business sector said he had an interesting afternoon the day before. His Korean business contacts brought him to a permanent exhibit in a sex museum. When asked how it was, he said it was huge. The museum, that is. No one picked up the conversation. I surmised that like me, the others were in the category of men, whose testosterone levels were no longer raging.
As we entered the convention center, we were ushered into the Green Growth Exhibition. Korea was unveiling its green growth strategy. Its research and development plan calls for a two-fold increase in R&D spending. In 2008 it stood at 769 million USD. President Lee Myung-bak declared that he wants his country to be a key partner of ASEAN in developing technologies. The exhibit was impressive. As expected, there was an abundance of slim LED TVs. My impression was that in a short period, Korea has gained ground in power generation, water treatment, seawater desalination and photo voltaic energy. To be sure, the hydrogen fuel cell-powered car was not about to warm my loins, but the message was clear. Green was cool, if not sexy.
Many years ago, I read about a huge sex exhibit in Europe. I remember the author’s comment after going through booths upon booths of pornographic material. He said that after a while, it was boring, because creativity was limited by the biological realities of human genitalia. There is no limit to the creativity in green technology. And for Korea, a country that was able to market ginseng to the world, it may keep us thinking green even without going to its sex museum.
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Posted
6/6/2009 9:17:59 PM |
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