Greenwich, Greater London

I was in Greenwich, London from 14-20 June for a meeting.

Visited the Royal Observatory, home of the prime meridian, although there's nothing much there than imagination :)

Among the Greenwich fare we tried were steak & ale pie, and fish (haddock) and chips.

Right to Information: Bridging Divides in Implementation

UNDP India and the Government of India organized a two-day international consulation on access to ifnormation in Bangalore. It was part of a capacity building effort on the implementation of their right to information act. It was attended by India government officials and CSO reps, and a number of international delegates. I made a presentation at the panel on bridging divides in right to information implementation. See the presentation at http://www.aer.ph/images/stories/projects/id/right%20to%20info%20-%20bridging%20divide.pdf

Can't help but notice: most of the participants were men, That's one visible divide.

Bangalore

Unfortunately my four days in Bangalore did not qualify me to write about the place. I spent three days cooped in the hotel, which for some reason did not even give a view of Bangalore sun. I ventured out on my fourth day, taking an auto rickshaw to Garruda Mall, a recommendation at the hotel reception. I would have gone to Mysore, but wasn't able to plan properly. Garruda turns out to be a modern mall, small by Philippine standards.

I decided to just visit a bookstore. It did not have an impressive collection though, unlike some bookstores in Delhi. Still I found myself Amartya Sen's latest book - The Idea of Justice.

I walked around the nearby streets. The weather was cool. However I did not find any place of particular interest. By 2 pm I decided to head back to the hotel getting another rickshaw.

This driver coming back happened to be one of the sort that gives a place a bad reputation. He asked for 200 rupees after I boarded. He reduced it to 120 after I asked to go down, although I know it was still overpriced (but I was not about to engage in extended haggling). It turns out he wasn't even familiar with the place I was coming back to, and I ended up having to call the hotel for directions. When I went down at the hotel, he was insisting to increase the fare again to 200 for the extended time spent looking for the hotel. I wouldn't haved minded, knowing the high cost of gas, but he was trying to sound threatening: "That's the last for you, sir!" Just the thing to set a batangueno off: "Are you threatening me?"

Coming back to the hotel I was prepared to just use up my remaining time doing internet and work at the lobby (I already checked out earlier, any my flight is midnight.) But the hotel offered to give me a room! That sure more than made up for the rickshaw incident.

The lesson as always: plan ahead on outside travel. Pity I was on such rush coming to Bangalore I didn't have time for that. Hope I can come back here some other time.

To Alecks, a gentle warrior.

Disaster

In Manila, either we were directly affected by the floods brought on by typhoon Ondoy, or it hit too close. For those of us who were fortunate to be on higher ground, there were friends or family that were not as fortunate.

Force majeure, or superior or irresistible force.

But there may have been part of it that would have been avoidable, or mitigated. And responses that would have been more prompt, or appropriate, or effective. Looking forward it cannot be business as usual. Similar events are bound to affect us all.

The analyses coming out in the aftermath are all instructive. Climate change is one context. The other is how urban development proceeded. Quoting from a news item with architect Felino Palafox Jr. as source:

"The Metro Manila Transport, Land Use and Development Planning Project (Metroplan), which was finalized by Hong Kong-based consulting firm Freeman Fox and Associates, has been used as a blueprint by urban planning developers and various government agencies and urban planners. Unfortunately, he said corruption and lack of planning has led to the shelving of some of the plan's recommendations.

"You see the irony here. National government agencies are aware that there is a flooding level of so many meters, then another national government agency would approve subdivision plans for only nine-meter high houses. There are about 32 signatures to obtain just to do a development project. It's like an obstacle course," he said in an ANC interview last Tuesday."

We can expect the private sector to avoid internalizing the costs of its negative externalities, to maximize profits. Private developers will narrow or block waterways, cut down trees, flatten hills, and fill valleys. And we will buy what they construct. As the incentive of private interests push to overbuild and destroy nature, we look to government to look after the public interest.

Unfortunately, in government private interests also rule. Every government project is a personal opportunity; the public good is secondary. To this misfortune, the response of our economists for the last two decades has been to demonize and tear down government; to let the market rule. Alas, this strategy has only suppressed the drive for institutional reform and made many of us passive citizens.

We need to reclaim government.