Typhoon Haiyan, Some Stories of Courage

I am speechless watching the photos, reading stories, of death and destruction in several provinces in central Philippines when typhoon Haiyan hit them last Friday, November 8. Facebook and twitter are sizzling with various stories and opinions. I can't add much on these. I will just repost this opinion from an anonymous person, shared in facebook today by several friends. I just added photos from various online sources.
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(Personal account of a person who survived the Typhoon and does not want his name posted, made today)

I wont be posting my whole experience as there's always some people who think they know better. But i do want to make things clear so you would have an idea what its really like being there.

1. Tacloban prepared for Yolanda, to say that they didn't because of the their casualty number is a bit disappointing. They had families already relocated in designated evacuation centers even before the storm it was just sad that those places were destroyed as well.

2. Don't go on thinking you know better by saying they should have left the seaside. Im not enitrely sure but even near the heart of the city there are sandwiched cars my guess is the water went as far as there when it hit.

3. Step down your high horse from time to time. Dont be so quick to judge looters, i was looter. I looted medecine for the red cross, milk and food for the children. Walked 4 hours and dug into 2 foot empty plastic bottles to get at least something to drink and bring back some. The people who took flat screen tv's were the same people who offered to give me a drink and some lugaw. Those who looked like ex-convicts offered me something to eat. Almost all the time they are willing to lend a hand when you said you really need something. What they didnt show on the news was how people were helping each other amidst the catastrophe.

4. These tv personalities and politicians majority are a piece of shit. Mar Roxas and his body guards never helped us retrieve families trapped on the cottages on the hotel that we were staying or assisted in helping the wounded. They just walked around clean tidy as if they couldnt be bothered. Ted Failon ate a hearty meal while some children barely had anything to eat and slept in comfy beds while children slept on marble floors. Love Anover panicked and asked us to go downtown to get military assistance like they were someone special. You dont hear those on the news do you? its all about what was recorded on the shot.

5. It might look like chaos i guess that's what they want to show you, but there are police patrols, i personally went to the police station and ask about the rumors of hostility, they told us that its not true as they have not received any news about it. dont think for once that they are not doing their jobs, their manpower is spread so thin why? Because some of them are dead.

6. Dont for once think that everyone hungry is hostile. Dont you dare think like "oh im trained, oh i have seen this happen somewhere, oh its going to happen here" its not a movie. People just want someone to talk to, hear their story ask them how they are, i found out that listening to what they have to say helps them and it helps you.

7. There are no zombies. You can talk to the people sometimes you would be surprised as to how they can help and how much they are willing to help.

8. No one is special. You might have the best training, equipment, plans or what have you. At the end of the day youre one of them, you are in the same situation as them, to think otherwise. Is i think quite foolish.

9. To think its always going to be this way is foolish as well. Im counting 3 to 4 days if relief and resources cant make it, it will be chaotic.

10. Ego is useless.

The more you find, the less you lose... find something in each person that you meet.

I am no expert, again theres going to be someone here who has tons of things to say because of his knowledge or expertise. This is what i experienced, im not a victim nor a survivor, but for 5 days i was a citizen of Tacloban.

This will be my last post about what happened.

Freedom Flame Awards 2013

Last Sunday night, November 10, I was one of the 14 individuals who were given the “Freedom Flame Awards” by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Philippine office. It was a great honor for me. The citation why I was given the award was for “for his staunch advocacy for economic freedom and for his continuous support to the work of FNF.”

Thank you very much to Jules Maaten, Country Director of FNF for the Philippines, for his trust and recognition of my modest contribution to spreading the ideas of economic freedom, rule of law and limited government in this part of the planet.

As an awardee, I was allowed to bring a few guests. I brought my wife Ella, and Dr. Epictetus Patalinghug, left, MG Thinkers adviser, also one of our wedding godfathers. Dr. Peter Lee U of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) and the Philippine Economic Society (PES) was also there.

Venue was San Diego Gardens, Intramuros, Manila. The event was attended by a number of international delegates, like Dr Jürgen Morlok, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FNF, Hans van Baalen, President of the Liberal International (LI), Rainer Adam, FNF Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia, Siegfried Herzog, FNF Regional Director for South Asia, some officials of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE), Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), FNF Potsdam headquarters and FNF country directors for some Asian countries.

I was seated in the front table with Cong. Kit Belmonte, singer Noel Cabangon, Atty. Arpee Santiago of the Ateneo Human Rights Center, wife of Chuchoy Medina, Jules and his family.

The "Freedom Speech" was given by Senator Bam Aquino. He talked about empowering the Filipinos towards more self reliance.

The 13 other awardees were:

1. Congw. Henedina Abad, Batanes Representative, for her steadfast support for innovative liberal initiatives.

2. Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, for his inspiring leadership that encourages communities especially the youth to follow the straight path

3. Feliciano Belmonte, House Speaker Jr, for the passage of landmark reform laws like the RH Bill during the 15th Congress. He was not able to come, his nephew, Cong. Kit Belmonte, came to receive the award. Kit is also a friend way back in UP Diliman in the mid-80s.

4. Ma. Isabelle Climaco, Mayor of Zamboanga City, for her leadership in handling the recent security crisis in Mindanao

5. Patricia Evangelista, Rappler multimedia reporter, for her "insightful video documentaries and news reporting on issues on freedom and human rights."

Pol. Ideology 53: Zero Government, Zero Taxes, Then What?

Zero government, zero taxes, then what?

This is a question posed by a physician friend, DiVa, in one facebook group, the “University of the Philippines Libertarians”. There was no direct reply from the person being asked.  I responded with the following.

Hi Divs, I'm a minarchist and never a fan of anarchy or zero government. Your questions are straightforward -- zero govt, zero tax, now what will you do if you are the person that the community looks up to? 

Coercion and taxation is inevitable. You abolish any form of government today, you create one tomorrow. Why?

I support the citizens' right to bear and own guns, for their own protection, for a hobby,  other reasons. Getting a gun is ok, allowed, with only one condition – a person must belongs to a gun club. There may be many gun clubs in the area, so there is choice where and whom to join. The purpose of requiring people to join a gun club is to instill discipline and accountability.

A shoots B because he got drunk, or B's videoke is too loud too often, or B has been spreading rumor about A’s wife and so on. Then A flees. Who will haunt him? Not a government police or army, but his gun club mates, the people who know him well, know where he lives, works, takes vacation, know his other friends, etc. The prospect of his own gun cub mates haunting him if he does something stupid will instill discipline among gun owners. 

Now a gun club, a voluntary organization, must have some by-laws, system of reward and punishment within, like kicking out members who do not pay their annual dues, or who spread rumors and cause disunity among members, etc. So there are (a) elected officials with term limits, (b) support staff doing full time work for big gun clubs, call them appointed bureaucrats as club officers are busy with their work or business, and (c) mandatory, forcible collection of dues and other fees. Non-payment of which will merit some penalties like being kicked out of the club.

See the pattern? The minimum characteristics of a government, points (a) to (c) are already there. A gun club is a “micro government”.

Now suppose person A from gun club 1 (A1) shoots and seriously wounds or kills person X from gun club 2 (X2). From the investigations, club 1 says A1 is correct in his action as a form of “self defense” while club 2 says X2 is innocent as he did not provoke a fight and A1 should be prosecuted. Gun clubs 1 and 2 are ready to shoot each other to defend and protect A1 and X2 respectively. Wild west type of shooting? No way.

Hundreds of gun clubs will put up a federation of clubs, say average of 100 clubs per federaton, and clubs 1 and 2 belong to Federation Y. Officers of Y will be the judges or referees in this dispute between 2 gun clubs and settle the dispute peacefully so that they don’t shoot each other in endless vengeance of “ubusan ng lahi”.

Now each federation again will have (a) elected officials with term limits from among the officials of different gun clubs, (b) appointed staff or bureaucrats who will provide full time admin and secretariat work for the elected officers , and (c) require annual dues on top of club dues that must be paid by force and coercion to sustain (b) and logistical support and even modest honorarium for (a) as they go around each club to sustain camaraderie and harmony.

Again, the three minimum components of government, points (a) to (c) are present, and we might call it “small size government”, a federation of micro-governments.

Climate Tricks 22: Typhoon Haiyan due to Man-Made CC?

The strongest typhoon this year in the planet, storm "Haiyan" (renamed as "Yolanda" by PAGASA) has left the country after it rammed through central Philippines, affecting many provinces like Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Palawan. As of this morning, casualties have topped 100 dead people, mostly in Taclocan, Leyte.

Some groups naturally seize on this story to say that "man-made climate change" is to blame. When there are less rain and less storms, it's due to "man-made global warming" or "man-made CC". When there are lots of rains, more storms, it's also due to "man-made GW/CC". So the public must send more money to the UN -- IPCC, FCCC, UNEP, WMO, UNDP, etc. The public should also donate more money to Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other big international environmentalist groups.

A friend posted today that "Dr. CP David (UP National Institute of Geological Sciences or NIGS) goes against Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists and remains a climate change skeptic on GMA News TV today."

I commented that he's a real David, son of my former boss, Prof. Randy David also of UP. CP has shown independence of mind and not swallowed by a corrupt UN, at least in climate and energy policies. 

CC is true, global warming was true. CC is purely cyclical and natural, warming-cooling-warming-cooling, with or without humans and their SUVs or bicycles. Nothing to be alarmed except alarmism itself. It is wrong to say that there is only global warming and there is no global cooling.

The head of UP Biology Department, Dr. Perry Ong, delivered a "centennial lecture" in UP in 2008, attacking AGW and "man-made GW/CC" by the UN IPCC. Another friend, Fidel Nemenzo of UP Math Department, once told me that there are many UP natural scientists who are laughing at the IPCC reports. Problem is that they don't get oodles of UN money, also WB, ADB, USAID, etc. money to "save the planet."

When people say Haiyan is the "strongest storm in RECORDED HISTORY", when did they start counting with such history? 20 yrs ago? 50? 100? 1,000, 1 million yrs ago? Chances are they don't know. Just a sound bite, to keep climate alarmism remain alarmist.

And UN IPCC is NOT a scientific body. It is a government and political body. That is why it is "Inter-governmental Panel on CC" and not "Inter-scientists Panel on CC".  The head of IPCC was never a scientist. Its head for many years now, Rajendra Pachauri, is a an Indian transport economist or engineer.  

The Sun-GCRs-climate link theory is a harder nut to crack, than CO2-climate hypothesis. Like Henryk Svensmark (Denmark) theory,
Svensmark’s Cosmic Jackpot: “Evidence of nearby supernovae affecting life on Earth", April 24, 2012.

A recent critique of IPCC 2013 report, 

Scientific Critique of IPCC’s 2013 ‘Summary for Policymakers’

by Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, S. Fred Singer, and Willie Soon*, October 19, 2013

Anthropogenic GW (AGW) is religion. In religion, people do not need hard graphs, charts, satellite photos. Ok, they need graphs too, but only those that cater to the belief. If certain scientfic graphs stare them in the face and these data say the allegation is wrong, well, people close their eyes to contrary data and keep believing. That is why it is religion and faith-based. 

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2013/06/still-epic-fail-73-climate-models-vs-measurements-running-5-year-means/

That's why Dr. CP David, Dr. Perry Ong, others from UP natural science community have more sence and independence of mind than the UN paid hacks, plus Greenpeace, WWF, other treehuggers. But another friend suggested that skepticism is "crackpotism". Hehehe, product of emotionalism and religionism courtesy of UN's decades-long deception.

Freedom Run 2013, I will Run the 10K

Tomorrow, I will join the Freedom Run 2013 to be held in Quezon City. Like the Freedom Run 2012, I will run the 10K, even if did not join any other run this year. So my legs, be ready to be hammered tomorrow. That means terrible pain in the legs 2-3 days after November 10 :-)

At the Freedom Run facebook page, there was one discussion last Sunday, November 02, if this "freedom from corruption" run is pro-abolition of pork barrel, or simply keep but reform pork barrel. I joined that thread.

I said that the organizer of the Freedom Run is the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Manila office. That FNF is one of the German political foundation with an office in the country, along with Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF), Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FEF) Hans Seidel Foundation (HSF), etc. 

FNF I think does not take any position on the pork barrel debate, whether to reform it or abolish it. And I don't think any foreign political foundation should take that position. It is funded by German taxpayers, not Filipino taxpayers, and the goal of each political foundations is to propagate their respective  philosophy at the general level, not taking into specific details of policy debates in the country where they have an office.

So if people feel so strongly about a particular stand, that pork barrel should be scrapped, or be reformed, then they might be disappointed that FNF will not take a specific position. If your participation in the Freedom Run is pre-conditioned on such scrap or reform pork, black or white position, then they might be disappointed as FNF has no stand.

I suggested that they join the run and get a running shirt which says at the back, "We believe in the power of freedom and the responsibility of citizens, and a strong commitment to the strengthening of democratic institutions, human rights, transparency,…”

The shirt in Freedom Run 2011 has this message, “We support the liberal values of freedom and individual responsibility, democracy and the rule of law, respect for human rights and tolerance."

All the German political foundations -- FNF, FEF, KAF, HSF, etc. -- do not display their pol philosophy in each of their activities. KAF is affiliated with CDU-CSU of Angela Merkel, FNF is affiliated with FDP (Free democratic party), FEF is affiliated with the Social Democrats. These foundations do not always advertise their party affiliation in Germany. They just focus on their pol philosophy. So FNF is focused on individual freedom and personal responsibility, rule of law, economic freedom, human rights.

So the Freedom Run is under one of its philosophies -- to promote more individual freedom, apart from collective or national freedom.

So join the Run and set aside the debate on abolish or reform the pork barrel as it won't be tackled there. It is not a symposium or seminar, it is a run but there are a few speakers and performers after the run who will discuss what "freedom" means to them. We may agree or disagree with their own definitions of what freedom is, but overall, the event is to celebrate, or advance and insist, that we people should advance our individual freedom. We may have been too engrossed with the politicians, whether they are pro-abolish or pro-reform the pork. Some of us may define freedom as less politics, less government, less interventionism, like I do.

I join the annual Freedom Run because as one of the local friends of the FNF, my personal philosophy of less government, more free market, is consistent with the FNF philosophy more than KAF, FEF, etc.

Some people may insist and accuse that "FNF is supportive of the Liberal Party. Hence, it is supportive of the administration and 'reform the pork' side."

The first sentence is correct because FDP, the party affiliation of FNF, is sort of the "liberal party" of Germany, its philosophy is liberalism. So LP Philippines and Free (liberal) Democratic Party Germany are ideological allies. Beyond that, similarities may end. Thus, the second sentence is wrong. FNF takes no side on whether to abolish or keep/reform the pork barrel. FNF works not only with pol parties and politicians, it also works with civil society and non-politicians, like us in Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc.

I know the FNF Manila people, they are very professional, they know their mandate and their limit. They are accountable to the FDP and German taxpayers, not to the LP or UNA or any other Filipino pol parties and politicians, or the Filipino taxpayers. They are here to help advance the ideas of liberalism and individual freedom, rule of law, tolerance of social diversity and respect of human rights. So they are selling an idea, not politicians or a political party.

Freedom Run. It is the only run in this country with clear political message printed on the running shirt itself like “individual/citizen freedom and responsibility”, “human rights and rule of law.” Beyond the nation, beyond the collective, there is need to remind ourselves the value and primacy of the individual.

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See also:
Freedom Run 2011, November 28, 2011 
Freedom Run 2011 and 2012, November 03, 2013

EFN Asia 32: Day 2 of Conference 2013 in Bangkok

* This is my article yesterday at the EFN website. Karthik Chandra of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms and Lok Satta (People Power), India, helped in filling up some gaps in my original article. Thanks Karthik.
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Day 2 of the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia 2013 Conference started with a presentation by Fred McMahon of Fraser Institute in Canada, of the results of the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) 2013 Report. Before presenting the numbers, he reiterated the definition of “economic freedom” as fundamental rights. Without these basic rights, no political or civil freedom can prosper.

The results of the latest EFW report showed once again, that more freedom means, more growth, less poverty. It also means less corruption, higher life satisfaction, life expectancy, more prosperity. For Asia, Economic freedom has been following global average or trend. The full EFW Report can be accessed at  http://www.freetheworld.com , http://fraserinstitute.org .

FNF Regional Director for SouthEast and East Asia, Rainer Adam discussed the work of FNF in Asia, then explained that they invited some Thai incumbent government officials, they all declined, so they invited the opposition, former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva. (Photo from left: Rainer, Abhisit, Fred.) 

Hon. Vejajiva said that Thailand’s high growth in past decades was due to dynamic private sector subject to competition. Government’s monetary policy helped without compromising inflationary pressure. The administration is buying Thai farmers’ rice at 50 percent higher than market rice. The farmers are richer but public finance suffered, also global rice prices rose.

He added that low wages, natural resources extraction can not sustain growth. Needed are more innovations to escape middle income trap. It is not how small or how big the government is, but to properly identify the sectors that government should come and support, and which sectors the government should get out. When markets are distorted, corruption goes up.

Economic freedom can be improved, Abhisit added, by identifying sectors where government can engage and solve inequality. Populist policies and authoritarian government feed each other, but .they can be tackled with democratic and good Governance. Thailand is successful In attracting various car producers and has no national car. An economy improves its competitiveness by gradual opening up.

Discussions in Panel 4 followed with 6 speakers from 6 countries, to talk about different experiences in dealing with middle income trap. Adinda Muchtar from the Indonesian Institute moderated the panel. Photo below, from left: Adinda (Indonesia), Wan saiful (Malaysia), Xingyuan (China), Set (Myanmar), Nguyen (Vietnam), Barun (India), and Hiroshi (Japan).

EFN Asia 31. Friends in the Asian Free Market Movement

* Note: this is a revised and expanded version of my posting last November 04. I added two photos, me and Barun, 2004 vs. 2013. Also expanded some stories.

During the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia 2013 conference in Bangkok last October 21-22, two friends from the Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR) came, Marc Abela and Hiroshi Yoshida. A third and young participant from JTR joined them.

Hiroshi is a long time friend since 2005, during the Atlas-FNF round table discussion on Hayek's “The Constitution of Liberty”. Hiroshi came with Mr. You then, the President of JTR. After that one-day event, the EFN Asia 2005 conference started, same hotel in Phuket, Thailand.  

It was my first time to meet Marc, who has been a friend since several years ago in facebook and ARBM Phuket yahoogroups.  I had a debate with him before re anarchy vs monarchy, friendly debate. I didn’t know that he’s a cool, always smiling guy.

Marc is also the convenor of the Mises Study Group in Tokyo. He's Canadian but has been working in Japan for about two decades now. And good news, he's planning to help organize a regional or international forum of free marketers in Tokyo soon.

Our photo, with (from left) Yo Kwong, formerly VP for Institute Relations of Atlas, Mr. You and Hiroshi Yoshida of JTR. During the Atlas Liberty Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, May 2008.

I miss Jo, really cool, warm and friendly lady. Last time I saw her was in November 2009, during the Atlas celebration of 20 years collapse of the Berlin Wall. She raised the funds for my trips during Atlas events in the US. She has resigned from Atlas in 2010.

In China, I have several friends there, from the Unirule Institute of Economics and CIPA in Beijing. Like Feng Xingyuan, Mao Shoulong, Liu Junning, Zhao Xu, others.

In India, many friends there too but the more prominent ones are Barun Mitra and Mohit Satyanand of the Liberty Institute in Delhi. Then Parth Shah of the Center for Civil Society (CCS), Bibek Debroy.

From S. Korea, great and cool friend, Chung-ho Kim, of the newly-formed Freedom Factory Ltd., a new think tank, came. He teaches Economics at Yonsei Univ. in Seoul. He used to be the President of the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE).

Photo, LRI Reading Club Salon 2013, October 19, Hong Kong.

After the farewell dinner of the Reading Salon, I have a photo with Andrew Work, the first Exec Director of the  Lion Rock Institute. Andrew and I were friends way back in 2004, first met him at the Mackinac Center in Michigan, leadership conference with Larry Reed. I was sponsored by Atlas then, along with Ellen Cain of FEF. Parth Shah and his wife, Mana Shah was also in that Mackinac conference.

Then we went to Chicago for the Heritage conference, then the Atlas conference.

First time I met Barun Mitra, April 2004 -- in my hotel room. We were roommates then. I did not have any idea who Barun Mitra was, only at the Atlas conference did I realize that he was a giant in the Asian free market movement. He has been in the free market movement for 2+ decades already, while I was in the international movement for only 1 month then.

So Andrew and Barun were among my early friends in the free market movement. I met them again that year in Hong Kong during the EFN Asia 2004 Conference. We are still around until now. The way we manage our life, it seems we are stuck in this passion until we grow old, for the long haul :-)

Now compare our faces, October 2013, at the Hong Kong airport. I told Madhu, Barun's wife and my friend in facebook, that I saw him 3x in 3 countries this year, she laughed and said all she saw were photos.

Barun and Xingyuan also have their own photo. In Asia, perhaps the oldest or the pioneer in the movement is Barun Mitra. Followed perhaps by Xingyuan, who started working with FNF Beijing under Rainer Adam, for about 7 years in the 90s. So Barun has been around for 3+ decades, Xingyuan for 2+ decades, me and Andrew and Simon Lee, LRI co-founder, for almost 1 decade.

I know that Parth Shah, Bibek Debroy, have been around ahead of us, maybe contemporary with Xingyuan. I miss Mohit Satyanand, a tall guy, frank and no-nonsense speaker and moderator. He was a panel moderator of EFN conferences from 2004-2006. I also saw him in 2005 during the IPN’s “Global Development Network” conference in London.

I met Feng and Barun 3x this year in 3 countries. First in S. Korea last May, in Seoul then Jeju, for the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity where EFN Asia was a panel sponsor. Then I met them in Hong Kong last Oct 18-19, for the Reading Club Salon 2013 by the Lion Rock Institute. Then met them again in Bangkok, for the 3rd time this year.

Photo, Barun, me, Xingyuan, and Shoulong, inside the taxi from our hotel in HK to the HK Airport, to take our flight to Bangkok.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan is "new" in the Asia free market movement because he just moved in about 3 or 4 years ago from London where he worked for almost 18 years and was involved with the Conservative movement there. But IDEAS is the biggest, most dynamic free market think tank in the whole ASEAN. Or perhaps comparable in size with Freedom Institute in Jakarta, though I think IDEAS is more known globally than Freedom Institute.

I saw Wan 3x this year too. First in Korea along with Barun and Xingyuan, then in Manila two months ago when he attended a conference at De La Salle University (DLSU) and I dragged him to give an evening talk at my rotary club, where 4 other free marketers here in Manila came. Then met him again in Bangkok.

I am glad that Tricia Yeoh has migrated to IDEAS too, from Rakyat Institut. Tricia is a very articulate and intelligent lady, so IDEAS is being packed with more brains. Young and dynamic brains.

Another good friend from Pakistan is Zubair Malik whom I met in Hong Kong during the EFN Asia 2004 Conference. I would see him in all EFN conferences that I have attended. Zubair is also the President of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, elected last year. He travels a lot internationally, also within Pakistan, 

Another good friend from Pakistan is Khalil Ahmad of the Alternate Solutions Institute, a free market think tank based in Lahore. After the EFN 2006 conference in KL, I did not see him in other EFN conferences. Last time I saw him was in 2010 in Sydney, during the 4th Pacific Rim Policy Exchange sponsored by the Americans for Tax Reforms (ATR), PRA, IPA and IPN. 

There are many other friends from Asia that I did not mention above. I did mention about them in my previous articles on EFN Asia.

Meanwhile, I will see Rainer Adam and other key FNF officials next week here in Manila. FNF has lots of big, high profile events from November 7 to 11. I will join in some of these, including the Freedom Run on Nov. 10 morning, then the Freedom Awards that evening.

FNF has done a great job in spreading freedom in Asia. For many of us in the movement, if we look back a decade or so from now, FNF will appear as the great partner to many of us.  Also the LRI. Thanks again to Peter Wong, Exec. Director of LRI, for inviting me to the two Reading Club Salon of LRI, last year and this year.

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See also:

EFN Asia 27: Escaping Middle Income Trap via Economic Freedom, October 08, 2013

Business 360 11: Avoiding Middle Income Trap, September 19, 2013 

EFN Asia 28: Program of the 2013 Conference in Bangkok, October 17, 2013 

EFN Asia 29: Speakers in Day 1, Conference 2013 in Bangkok, October 21, 2013 

EFN Asia 30: Conference 2013, Day 1, October 23, 2013

Freedom Run 2011 and 2012

This coming November 10, 2013, an estimated 4,000 people will participate in Freedom Run 2013 to be held at Quezon Circle, Quezon City. The annual event that was started in the Freedom Run 2011 at UP Diliman, is principally sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Philippine Office.

The first run in 2011 was composed of only two categories, 3K and 6K. I ran the 6K despite not having run for the past 10 or 12 years before that. My legs were hellish for the next 5 days then.

I like the political message of the running shirt that year. It summarizes the political philosophy being championed by the FNF in its many offices worldwide.

FNF Country Director, Jules Maaten, took this photo that day, Thanks Jules.

Last year, I joined Freedom Run 2012, Start-Finish at the municpality of Taytay, Rizal, passing through one side of Laguna Lake. I ran the 10K and covered the distance in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The municipal government of Taytay, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) were among the co-sponsors of the event.

A big number of participants in last year's run in Taytay. FNF also held a Freedom Run last year in Bicol, Naga City, I think, then another one in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.

The two rubber bracelets that I have collected in the Freedom Run 2011 and 2012.  Next week, I will collect my 3rd bracelet.

I agree with this statement.

See also FNF Freedom Run 2011, November 28, 2011