Controlling radicalisation

The Swedish non-socialist alliance government plans to establish state-financed schools for future Imams and the objective behind this, is to put a brake on radicalisation. The media articles in the Swedish dailies reporting on Education Minister Lars Leijonborg's proposal indicate that, this would be a move not only to equalize one's opportunity towards priesthood, whether catholic or islam, but neutralise the inflow of radicalisation from outside.

I reserve my opinion on this plan for later. When I was in the lower education in the Philippines, catholicism was part of the curriculum but the protestant pupils were allowed to leave the room, if they wanted to. Philippines is a 85 percent Catholic nation since Portuguese discoverer Ferdinand Magellan planted the Cross upon his arrival in the southern city of Cebu in the 15th century. Since then, various religious orders came to the unnamed archipelago, settled in and begun its task of putting social and political order. The Philippines became a colony of Spain for the next 400 years.

Catholicism in the Philippines has its supporters and opponents, especially in politics. But it holds the heart of a nation where the Catholic religion has become "the opium of the people".While it preaches on moral order and decency, it also opposes liberal reforms to control an exploding population growth. I remember however, a glorious period in the long reign of Catholicism in the Philippines. It was during the Marcos dictatorship era - from 1972 to 1986, to be exact. The whole Filipino population cowered in fear as Marcos and his military henchmen ravaged the countrysides in particular, in a war against communists and Muslim separatist guerillas. In the absence of a free press, members of various religious orders - priests and nuns started an underground press to monitor human rights abuses. Many of these reports reached the international press through investigative journalists.

The theology of liberation which began in Latin-America came to the Philippines and inspired the creation of the Church of the Poor. While the official church ( the Catholic bureaucracy managed from Vatican) tried to balance its relationship with the Marcos regime through its policy of "constructive criticism", the Church of the Poor was nurtured by the priests and nuns who stood by the side of human rights victims. Through all my travels in near and far interiors of the country, poor and innocent victims of state terrorism had only the Church of the Poor for support and consolation. Justice was hard to find in Philippine courts where judges were political appointees.

What I am driving at in this article is that, radicalisation and fanaticism are both bred in poverty and injustice. For as long as these two factors - and all their unentended consequences are not addressed, no amount of moderating influence can come from education through government-sponsored schools. The peasants in the countrysides, the urban poor, the displaced ethnic groups will build their own schools, wherever... and whenever, the system of equality and justice fail to function.

FOCAP launches Dateline Manila

The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines or FOCAP for short has successfully launched its book - a collection of stories by journalists working for the foreign media over a period of 30 years. FOCAP was a child of necessity, born at a very difficult period when Philippine press freedom was silenced to submission by the dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Its birth and nurture is owed to Filipino media pioneers - the late AFP's Teodoro "Teddy" Benigno and CBS News Gabby Tabunar.

I quote the contents of the book: "The essays and photographs in this volume are meant to provide snapshots of events over the last 33 years - from the declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, through the assasination of Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983, the "People Power Revolution of 1986, the ouster of President Joseph Estrada in 2001 and the travails of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at present."

I contributed an article on "Covering the Marcos Insurgency War", a long story but not quite enough to cram in five and a- half years of political reporting on Marcos - his wars with the communist insurgents, the Muslim secessionists, the political oppositionists and even the United States and its overbearing presence through its two giant military bases in the country.

When Oliver Teves sent me an email, requesting me to write on the topic, I was overwhelmed. It meant I would travel back in memory to the turmoils of the Marcos era, recount the fears and dangers that faced me - and others, in the name of journalism. I considered these journalistic years to be the most significant in my life because each day of being alive and working, constituted the limits of a lifetime. There was no future as close as tomorrow. That was how uncertain I was of my existence.

I am not exaggerating about the dangers of news reporting during Marcos era. A year after the declaration of martial law in 1972, and four years before I accidentally became a foreign correspondent, a jeepney-load of plainclothes men arrived in my house on BF Paranaque. I was issued a warrant of arrest and taken to a military camp in Laguna. I was the 13th of women detainees held in the military clubhouse. (I suppose they have run out of space in the real prisons, considering the thousands of Marcos' political opponents jailed since a year earlier.)

Even if my incarceration lasted only for 31 days - and that's not due to the benevolence of Marcos' military henchmen, it was nonetheless the most traumatic life and death moment for me. During these days, life was extremely cheap and "salvaging while in captivity" was a daily sport for the military. It was even worst that my arrest was not on the prison record, indicating in all possibility that I could "disappear". Why I was miraculously released after a month, I owed to a dear friend who is related to a former Philippine foreign minister and who is a friend of the head of the Philippine Constabulary. (Family connections in the Philippines are important, and so is the debt of gratitude.)

When I read Alice C. Villadolid's account of Benigno Aquino's assassination in Manila International Airport last Aug. 21, 1983, I had flashbacks of events that happened shortly before. Less than a month ago, around mid-July of the same year, I left the country with my husband, the Swedish Ambassador Bo Kälfors and my two young sons. He had finished his tour of assignment as Chief of Mission Manila, but our departure for his next assignment in Africa was hindered by a warrant of arrrest issued by the military against me, which they were supposed to deliver at the Swedish residence. But that could not be done. It was Swedish territory. So we waited, deep in anxiety- along with the FOCAP people camped at the Ambassador's residence, for the ban to be lifted.

The Director of Protocol came after a few days with a letter signed by Marcos himself stating "... for humanitarian reasons and compassionate justice..." I was allowed to leave the country. What a mess it was ignoring the Geneva protocol for departing chiefs of mission. The Swedish Foreign Ministry granted me a Swedish citizenship without my asking for it. Enroute to Stockholm via New York, I phoned Ninoy Aquino in Boston. I interviewed him about his plan to return home and he told me, jokingly: " So...they they want to lock you in and to lock me out". We were in Stockholm on the fateful August 21, 1983, when I saw news of the shooting - some blurred pictures of the Manila airport and unintelligible conversations. I lost my breath, unable to fathom the bottomless abyss in which Marcos had thrown himself. It was the end of all beginnings.

Sexy Meatballs on Sundays

There are many ways to prepare meatballs as there are many countries and cultures. In Sweden, meatballs is integral to the Swedish identity. The more one eats meatballs (and herrings) on very special and not so special days, the more one becomes a Swede, so goes the joke among immigrants. There's meatballs for the sumptuous Christmas table and there's meatballs for the mid-summer feast. There's ready-made meatballs for the harassed housewife and meatball sandwiches for the hurried executives. That is how staple meatballs are in the Swedish diet, just like sex in marriage.

But one can have sexy meatballs on special Sundays. Think of Spanish tapas, ripened red paprikas, olive oil, tomato sauce, lentils, chili,cumin and latin music. I have gone low on red meats for fear of heart and high blood pressure anomalies, and more lately due to some ICA -the biggest Swedish food chain- store's meatball expiry date scandal. But the allure of preparing meatballs wafts in my kitchen, like Bulgari perfume in the bedroom.

Here's a sexy meatball recipe inspired by Spanish tapas. Do it on a weekend when you have the time, the inspiration and the desired guests to share with. For 1 to 1 and 1/2 kilo ground beef, add two beaten eggs, 2 tbs soja sauce, 1 tbs cumin (spiskumin), 1 tps mineral salt, pepper, 2 tbs olive oil, 1/2 tsp chili oil, chopped onions and garlic and 3 tbs tomato sauce. (I'm calculating. You need to taste!). Mix very well. When you are ready to fry, heat oil in a frying pan and test the meatball mixture by frying a small piece. Guess what's missing- salt? chili? cumin? And simply improve by adding what's missing to your taste. Form the the meatballs and fry direct. Don't over-fry!

In a casserole, prepare the bed for the meatballs with the following: Buy one of Findus latest green deli - one with chick peas, spinach, paprika and lentils and fry gently using olive oil. Pour one can of tomato sauce and stir carefully. If you can't find Findus outside of Sweden, just use the same ingredients plus olive oil and tomato sauce. Add chili oil according to your endurance ability. Add a can of big white lentils. And lastly, add the hot sexy meatballs. Careful not to stir hard. Gently.

For starters, I have a special preference for diced mango with Swedish shrimps and chopped chili arranged on a bed of lettuce. If you are allergic to shrimps, make a green salad with chunky tuna fish, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. The desert is a personal choice. I hope this helps in spicing up the Swedish meatball identity.