by MLC | Sep 21, 2012 | News
By Amanda Lago
Source: GMA News
The man that faced the crowd at the launch of the Martial Law memorial exhibit, “Himagsik at Protesta,” last Sept. 14 was charismatic and jovial, beaming with an easy, inviting kind of confidence that befits a man of his position.
It didn’t register then that Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, the cheery man who captivated the crowd from the moment, was the same man who underwent torture and imprisonment in the time of Martial Law, which he himself described as the “darkest, most horrible and bloodiest chapter in Philippine history.”
Colmenares began his story light-heartedly enough, quipping that he was only a baby when Martial Law was declared.
“Bakit ako magsasabi ng totoo, hindi naman ako tino-torture?” he joked as the audience—composed of activists young and old—erupted in laughter.
In fact, Colmenares was in Grade 6 and only concerned about not having anything to watch on TV when Martial Law was declared. It was only when he entered high school that he gravitated towards activism. Influenced by then-Negros Bishop Antonio Fortich, one of Ferdinand Marcos’ vocal challengers, he joined the fight for human rights.
The congressman’s story turned grave when he shared that at 18 years old, he was arrested and tortured by members of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary.
“Gusto ipadakip siguro nina Marcos si Bishop Fortich, hindi naman kaya, so lahat ng mga subordinates niya , hinuli. Isa na ako dun,” Colmenares shared at the the launch of Karapatan’s “Himagsik at Protesta” exhibit.
“The first thing I noticed…they wanted to humiliate me,” he said, explaining that when he was first caught, he was made to strip naked and beaten with a ruler.
The audience, composed of young and old activists, listen to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares as he narrates why he considers the Martial Law years as “the darkest, most horrible and bloodiest chapter in Philippine history.”
The torture was worse at night, he said.
“To think na on the third and the fourth day, they were not even trying to extract information from me kasi lahat that they wanted to know, nakuha na nila sa iba kong kasamahan,” Colmenares added, saying that when he wrote his confession, his torturers didn’t like it, so they made him eat the paper.
Colmenares said the torture went on for days, but worse than the physical abuse was the mental torture. He said the body goes numb after a few days, but the mind remains receptive.
Colmenares recalled how one of the torturers would make the prisoners squat while he carried a .45 pistol and kicked them randomly from behind.
“Ang nangyayari pala, ‘pag ginagawa sa ‘yo yan, every time he’s in front of you, magre-relax ka, ‘pag nasa likod siya, d’un ka kabahan. In the end, gusto mo tadyakan ka para lang ma-relieve ‘yung tension,” he said.
In another instance, the guard brought him and another detainee to a room, where they made him watch as they inserted wire into the other man’s genitals and electrocuted him.
“Sabi sa ‘kin, upo ka muna Neri ikaw sunod ah…siyempre nakikita ko dumudugo, tsaka ako ‘yung sunod ‘di ba…Grabe talaga ang feeling ko d’un,” Colmenares shared.
“Pero alam mo ang torture nakakapagod din…three hours ‘yung torture, mga ala-una ng umaga, napagod sila. Sabi nila, o Neri, bukas ka na, matulog ka muna. Siyempre, ‘di ako makatulog sa gabi…siyempre, ako ‘yung sunod the next day pero ‘di nila ginawa sa akin,” he added.
“The first thing I noticed…they wanted to humiliate me,” Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares shares as he recalls the torture he suffered during the Martial Law years.
Instead, they transferred him to what he called the “headquarters”.
“Grabe yung impunity nung Martial Law. Headquarters eh, tino-torture ka sa gabi, makikita ka nila sa umaga sa mga rooms, mga tao, alam nilang tino-torture ka, pero walang sinasabi,” he said.
Russian roulette
He then shared how one of the guards engaged him in a game of Russian roulette, putting his gun into Colmenares’ mouth. At that point, the crowd had fallen dead silent, gripped by the story.
“Ang lamig ng baril pala pag nasa loob ng bunganga mo,” Colmenares said, his voice echoing across the hall.
According to him, the guard appeared to be drunk and asked him if he felt lucky. The guard then instructed Colmenares to say “Mao” while the gun was inside his mouth.
“Pagsabi kong ‘Mao,’ pinitik niya yung gatilyo. Pag nasa loob ‘yung baril ng bunganga mo, ang lakas ng tunog. Akala ko pumutok ‘yung baril eh. I could see my brain splattered there,” he said.
The guard then pulled the trigger a second time.
“‘Buenas ka talaga, Neri,’ sabi niya, you’re destined to live. Pwede ka na tumakas, umuwi ka na,” Colmenares recalled.
He knew, however, that if he left, he would have been killed. “Tinutulak niya ko palabas, ‘yung sofa na hawak-hawak ko, ‘di ko talaga binitawan. In the end, napagod din siya.”
Colmenares also shared how the guards became frustrated with one of his companions who did not crack even after four days of torture. According to him, they put him inside a drum and buried him alive.
“They could have shot them, they could have killed him, but no, they had to bury him alive for no purpose at all and for years alam mo ‘yung nanay niya, every time she sees me cries. ‘Yan ang problema sa desaparecido pala. Walang closure,” he said.
Pure luck
Why Colmenares survived the ordeal with his life was a matter of pure luck. According to him, the warden chose to keep him alive because his father worked in a bank and had endorsed the warden’s loan.
At that point, Colmenares had just been strangled by an officer so that his tonsils were damaged and he couldn’t breathe.
“In the end, dinaan ako sa bahay. Shocked ang mother ko to see her 18-year-old kid sa isang army truck, nakahiga. Dinala ako sa ospital, ‘yun na, the end of my torture,” he said.
After sharing his story, Colmenares enjoined the audience and especially the youth to continue the struggle against Martial Law, which he believes still exists somehow even today.
“Yung lesson dito, simple… the struggle has not ended…up to this time, 385 people languish in jail for their political beliefs… ‘yan ang isang di siguro dapat natin kalimutan,” Colmenares said.
He added, “I think the running thread today is Martial Law is still enforced in a way and that we have to continue the struggle to make sure that the darkest, most horrible and bloodiest chapter in Philippine history will never happen again.”
by MLC | Sep 21, 2012 | News
By Andrei Medina and Veronica Palumbarit
Source: GMA News
First of two parts
For decades, the Philippine government has claimed it does not have a labor export policy, even as the country has become one of the world’s top sources of foreign workers.
As of last year, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) says there were 1.32 million land-based and 330,424 sea-based Filipinos deployed in 190 countries. The number does not include workers that are not registered but are employed through various means abroad.
The phenomenon traces its roots to the years shortly after Martial Law, when strongman Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree 442 or the 1974 Labor Code. The legislation formally adopted a recruitment and placement program “to ensure the careful selection of Filipino workers for the overseas labor market to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad.”
In an email to GMA News Online, the office of POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac explained, “The overseas employment phenomena at that time was a short-term employment program which the DOLE was tasked to manage and to provide OFWs maximum protection possible.”
The POEA is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
“There was no labor export policy during the Martial Law. There is none at present,” the Labor Communications Office of DOLE told GMA News Online.
The DOLE acknowledges however, that the overseas employment program during Martial Law “sought to temporarily address the unemployment program and, at the same time, ease the country’s need for foreign exchange.”
Marcos created three government agencies to attend to the needs of what were then called Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs):
(1) the National Seamen Board (NSB) – tasked to “develop and maintain a comprehensive program for Filipino seamen employed overseas”
(2) the Overseas Employment Development Board (OEDB) – mandated to “promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market and development program,” and
(3) the Bureau of Employment Services (BES) – responsible for the regulation of “private sector participation in the recruitment of (local and overseas) workers.”
In 1978, Marcos issued Presidential Decree 1412 to “strengthen the network of public employment offices and rationalize the participation of the private sector in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally and overseas.”
Four years later, he merged the three government agencies into what is now the POEA. On Labor Day in 1982, Marcos also issued Executive Order No. 797 that created the Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers to provide insurance coverage, legal and placement assistance, and remittance services, among others.
Origin of Filipino labor migration
Even before Martial Law formalized export labor, however, DOLE said the migration of Filipino laborers had begun much earlier, as early as the 1900s “when Filipino agricultural workers were recruited to Hawaii to fill temporary labor needs in the agricultural sector.”
Filipino laborers later moved to other parts of the US “to work in downtown hotels and restaurants, sawmills and railroads construction, in California’s agricultural plantations, and in Alaska’s canning industry,” DOLE said.
When the Second World War ended in 1945, some Filipino military servicemen became American citizens after serving in the US Army. Many medical professionals, nurses, accountants, engineers, and other technical workers also began migrating to the US after the war, DOLE said.
“In the 1950’s to the 60’s, non-professional contract workers went to neighboring Asian countries as artists, barbers, and musicians in East Asia and loggers in Kalimantan, Indonesia,” according to DOLE.
“However, the active and systematic migration of Filipinos for temporary work came in the 60’s when the US government and contractors of US military and civilian agencies recruited Filipinos to work for construction and service-related jobs in certain areas of the Pacific and Southeast Asia such as in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Wake Island, and Guam,” the agency added.
Later, more Filipino medical workers, physicians, and nurses sought employment in the US, Canada, and Australia, prompting the Philippine government to issue the new labor code in 1974 that covered Filipinos working overseas.
“Filipino engineers and skilled construction workers were recruited by multinational companies with projects in the oil-rich countries in the Middle East which experienced an economic boom at that time. This organized system for migration of Filipino workers paved the way for the deployment of millions of Filipinos all over the world up to the present time,” the DOLE reported.
Cheap Filipino labor
However, the migrant workers advocacy group Migrante believes that Marcos pushed for the labor export policy for two reasons: to quell dissent brought about by massive domestic unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from remittances.
“During Marcos’ time, labor outmigration of Filipinos took on a new dimension. The Marcos dictatorship made the deployment of Filipino workers more systematic, ushering in the transformation of Filipino cheap labor into an exportable commodity through the labor export policy,” said Connie Bragas Regalado, Migrante sectoral partylist chairperson.
“The country was in disarray both economically and politically. The move was mainly to appease growing dissent brought about by unemployment, landlessness and growing poverty, and to systematize earnings from remittances,” Regalado told GMA News Online.
“Exportation of cheap labor was the way to go without requiring much capital from the government (all charges were collected from OCWs themselves or their foreign employers) and profit was sure-proof through remittances and foreign exchange,” she added.
From OCWs to OFWs
After Marcos was ousted during the 1986 People Power revolution, President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order No. 126 renaming the Welfare Fund into the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
“The term OFW was adopted after the enactment of RA 8042, also known as Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. Following this, the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers adopted the term Overseas or Migrant Filipino workers,” according to DOLE.
The POEA said the Philippine government “frowns upon the tendency to regard OFWs as commodities, which results to undocumented workers going abroad at a great peril to themselves, in terms of human trafficking, maltreatment, and abuse.”
Under President Benigno Aquino III, the agency “gives the priority and weight in strengthening the local industries to promote and sustain local employment so that overseas employment shall only be an option for the Filipino workers.”
As of 2010, over 10 million Filipinos were residing abroad, based on the stock estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. The number includes the 1.65 million OFWS registered with the POEA.
by MLC | Jan 30, 2012 | News
By Ayee Macaraig
Source: Rappler.com
His mother voted against the impeachment of Corona
MARCOS
Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr
Honoring the Supreme Court
MANILA, Philippines – The neophyte senator is a staunch critic of both the Arroyo and Aquino administrations. Ironically, the son of former President Marcos describes President Aquino’s anti-Corona campaign as a form of dictatorship.
While Marcos has not voiced explicit views on the accusations against the impeached Chief Justice, his mother, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, voted against the impeachment complaint filed against him.
The only son of former President Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos, Sen. Marcos continues to defend his father’s imposition of martial law.
He has told reporters that indicators like poverty rate, the Philippines’ international status, and the government’s financial situation during his father’s regime show that the country had better days then.
Marcos said his father’s name helps him in politics. “I have been benefiting from the good will of my father …. I am so lucky that many still remember and love him.”
The solicitor general under the Marcos regime is Estelito Mendoza. A former lawyer of the Marcoses, Mendoza is the legal counsel of the Philippine Airlines and the 16 municipalities whose conversion into cityhood was criticized as unconstitutional.
Mendoza wrote the SC to have both cases reopened even after the high court ruled on these with finality. These cases are cited in the impeachment complaint against Corona.
Age: 54
Education: BA Political Science, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford University; Masters in Business Administration, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
Professional background: His career has been in politics. He served as representative of Ilocos Norte’s district for 9 years and then governor of the province for another 9 years. He ran for the Senate in 1995 but lost.
Current term: 2010-2016
Eligible for reelection? Yes, in 2016. He is currently serving his first Senate term.
Political party: Nacionalista Party (NP)
Senate bloc:
Sen. Marcos is part of the NP bloc of Villar, which include senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Joker Arroyo, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano.
Position aired or published on Corona or on issues related to the Articles of Impeachment:
Marcos criticized the Aquino administration for defying the TRO that the SC issued favoring Mrs Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was quoted as saying, “It is a dismay to see that orders of the Supreme Court are no longer respected or followed.
This strikes at the very heart of our legal system and if the president and his alter ego … choose not to follow the SC then that is a very serious blow to the separation and equality of the different departments of government.”
Marcos also disagreed with the administration’s decision to bar Arroyo from traveling abroad, saying there are legal remedies to bring her back to the country if she escapes.
He called the administration’s handling of the Arroyo case “a bit of a mess” and said it should have filed cases against her early on. “The administration is and has been getting very personal. Kasama na rin kami doon (That also applies to our family).”
Marcos slammed President Aquino’s criticism of the Supreme Court, calling it “the flavor of the month excuse for the shortcomings of this administration.”
He told GMA News, “The problem with blaming or needing scapegoats is if say, the CJ is successfully removed from his office, does that make this administration any more competent than it is?”
Asked about Corona’s criticism of Aquino as a dictator, Marcos said, “I don’t know what the definition of dictatorship is but it would seem to be an attempt of the President to remove the co-equal status of the branches of government and make the executive more equal than others, which violates all the democratic principles we enshrined in our constitution.”
by MLC | Apr 12, 2011 | News
By Amita O. Legaspi
Source: GMA News
As far as Malacañang was concerned, the inclusion of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s Hall of Heroes was a non-issue.
In a press statement, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte noted that Marcos was given the military recognition even before he became the chief executive
She even enumerated the awards conferred to the former president.
“These awards continue to be on the official roster of awards of the AFP. Until otherwise revoked, the awardees continue to receive appropriate recognition,” she said, adding that the AFP recognizes awardees for the specific deed that put them on the roster.
She said “subsequent actions” of the recipient are excluded in the AFP’s recognition.
Marcos, president for 20 years, ruled the country with an iron fist when he declared martial law in 1972. Scores of people were arrested, tortured and killed during that period. Marcos and his family were also accused of abusing their power and using government resources to advance their interest.
Marcos was dethroned in 1986 at the height of the historic People Power Revolution. He was replaced by Corazon Aquino, mother of incumbent President Benigno Aquino III.
Among the awards given to Marcos was a Medal of Valor citation issued on October 16, 1958, during the administration of President Carlos Garcia, when the former was still a representative of the first district of Ilocos Norte.
The citation was by order of the Secretary of National Defense and signed by then Armed Force chief of staff Lt. Gen. Alfonso Arellano.
Valte said the Medal of Valor is conferred by authority of the President of the Philippines and the regulations concerning its conferment are stated in AFP Regulations G131-053 issued on July 1, 1986.
She added the controversies concerning Marcos’ awards as researched by historian Al McCoy and the late Bonifacio Gillego concern, mainly, the former President’s US awards.
“Philippine awards remain post-war conferments during the time Marcos began his public life up to his being a Senate President,” Valte said.
Marcos was also conferred a Gold Cross medal in 1947 when he was a technical assistant to then President Manuel Roxas; Distinguished Conduct Star in 1948; Philippine Legion of Honor by President Elpidio Quirino in 1950; First Bronze Anahaw Leaf to the Distinguished Conduct Star, the Distinguished Service Star; First, Second and Third Bronze Anahaw Leaves to the Gold Cross from October to December 1963 by President Diosdado Macapagal.
Only the Second Bronze Anahaw Leaf to the Distinguished Conduct Star was awarded while Marcos was a President in 1983, Valte said.
“While there is public interest in the conferment of AFP awards, we should note these awards are generally viewed as nonpartisan and non-political in the recognition open to all recipients given the Medal of Valor as established by law,” Valte said.
She added the proposals on the possible burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani remain at the hands of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
“The Vice President has been tasked to study the issue and decide the matter,” she said.
by MLC | Mar 1, 2011 | News
By Mark D. Meruenas
Source: GMA News
Veteran journalist Ma. Ceres Doyo admits that the $1,000 compensation awarded to her and each of the more than 7,000 martial law victims was small, considering the abuses they endured more than two decades ago during the Marcos regime.
Just the same, the Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist still decided to treat herself, if only to reaffirm what she thought was a long delayed but much deserved justice for victims of Marcos’ crimes.
“I’m having a hearty lunch with a fellow claimant,” said a delighted Doyo, clutching her check after emerging from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office in Quezon City, where victims residing in Metro Manila can claim their checks until Friday.
PDI columnist Ma. Ceres Doyo after receiving her check: “I’m having a hearty lunch with a fellow claimant.” Mark D. Merueñas
The CHR had also offered their regional offices to become venues where lawyers Robert Swift and Rod Domingo Jr. could accommodate the 7,526 claimants.
Doyo said she had originally planned to just claim her check, cover the first day of distribution for her paper, then leave.
But recognizing her as being a human rights victim, other journalists covering the distribution started swarming to her, with photojournalists asking her to pose for the camera while showing her check.
“Nagku-cover lang ako. Ayan, ngayon ako na rin ang kino-cover (I came here to cover this, now I’m the one being covered),” she said in jest, before finally giving in to requests to be interviewed.
Doyo, during the martial law, was a staff writer for the Philippine Panorama. She was invited for interrogation and placed under military custody before she was sent behind bars.
Doyo told GMA News Online she considers the awarding of $1,000 to her and other martial law victims as “symbolic,” adding that she hopes the monetary compensation would not be the last of it.
“Sana may susunod pa. Umaasa akong may susunod pa dito kasi malaki ang perang pinag-uusapan dito (I hope there’s more because I heard there’s a lot of money involved in this),” she said.
In a ruling in 1995 by a US federal jury, the Marcos family were ordered to pay the victims $2 billion in damages, but up until this month, the victims never received a single centavo because the Marcos’ properties are still being disputed.
In January, US District Court of Hawaii Judge Manuel Real awarded the $10 million that came from a settlement with owners of supposed Marcos properties in Texas and Colorado to 7,526 claimants.
Other journalists
Shortly before Doyo arrived at the venue, Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc, another martial law victim, also came to claim his check. Pat Roque, a photojournalist from the Associated Press who was also a martial law victim, also showed up at the CHR to take snapshots of the victims claiming their checks.
“Ikaw, kailan ka magke-claim (When will you claim your check)?” Doyo beamed at Roque after noticing that he, too, was covering the event. Roque said he wouldn’t be getting his until Friday.
For an orderly distribution, the claimants’ lawyers divided their clients alphabetically with those with surnames starting with A to E being the first to claim on Tuesday.
Those with surnames beginning with F, G, H, I, and J can claim their checks on Wednesday. Thursday is reserved for those with surnames starting with K to O; and Friday for P to T. Those with surnames starting with U to Z can get theirs on March 7.
Claimants to the Marcos properties in the United States originally numbered to more than 9,000, but as years went by without the court arriving at a decision, the number dwindled to just over 7,000 after others got disqualified for failing to meet some requirements.
Doyo lamented how past administrations seemed to have “blocked” their chances at being properly compensated. “Buti ngayon, walang humaharang (The current administration is not getting in the way]),” she said.
Doyo said there had been suggestions that the money from the settlement be turned over to the national treasury since it was the government’s money that the Marcoses supposedly stole.
But Doyo was opposed to the idea, insisting it is better for the human rights victims themselves to decide where and how to use the money, rather than run the risk of the money getting in the hands of corrupt officials.
“At least hindi mapupunta sa kamay ng iba, kasi kapag sa amin iikot sa ekonomiya ang pera (At least with us, the money will be spent wisely),” she said.
Rodolfo Benosa, who was tortured during the martial law years: “I will buy construction materials for the repair of my house.” Mark D. Merueñas
Rodolfo Benosa
And that is exactly what 62-year-old Rodolfo Benosa would be doing to his P43,200 —buy construction materials for the repair of his humble abode in Baesa, Quezon City.
Benosa was a factory worker for Sensory Container Corp when he and two dozens of other blue-collar workers in his neighborhood were arrested by authorities in the wee hours of February 25, 1982 for alleged subversion.
The men were taken to Camp Crame, still in Quezon City, where Benosa said he was tortured for more than a week.
“Binugbog ako. Hindi ako pinatulog. Pinahiga ako sa aircon nang nakahubad at sinako ako (I was beaten up. I was not allowed to sleep. I was made to lie naked on an airconditioner. I was placed inside a sack),” he told GMA News Online.
After being provided with lawyers, Benosa was later transferred to Bicutan where he would spend three more years in jail.
“Natuwa kami at nakatanggap kami. At least, napatunayan namin na may human rights violations ang mga Marcos dati (We are glad for this. At least we were able to prove that the Marcoses committed human rights violations),” he said.
He said he considers himself lucky for even living to see their case against the Marcoses prosper and reap its benefits.
“Iyong iba kong kasama, namatay na lang nang hindi inabutan ito. Karamihan dahil sa katandaan at atake (Other claimants I know had already died without being compensated at all. Most died of old age or due to heart attack),” he said.
Like Doyo, Benosa thought the money they got was too small. He said it was not even enough to have his cataract, which has already damaged his right eye, treated.
Benosa said he would just put the money to some other use like having his house repaired. “At least kahit mga apo ko man lang makinabang kapag maayos na ang bahay namin (At least even my grandchildren can benefit from this),” said the grandfather of nine.
by MLC | Nov 17, 2010 | News
By: KBK
Source: GMA News
Victims of human rights violations during the martial law period will receive their compensation under the present administration, President Benigno Aquino III said on Wednesday.
In an ambush interview, Aquino said there had been a proposed bill to amend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Law to include human rights victims in the list of beneficiaries, but this measure did not get the nod of lawmakers.
Aquino told reporters that he and incumbent Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Loretta Ann Rosales both supported the bill when they were still members of the House of Representatives.
“Sa panahon ko po, sisiguraduhin na natin ganoon ang mangyayari. Siguro una muna diyan, ika-klaro natin iyung lahat nga ng mga victim,” he said.
(I’ll make sure that that will happen under my administration. But first, we have to clarify who really are the victims.)
Aquino is the son of the late President Corazon Aquino, who, 1986, ended the rule of the man who declared the martial law, Ferdinand Marcos.
Aquino said the law states that all ill-gotten wealth that would be recovered from the Marcos family would go to the CARP program.
“When both Etta Rosales and I were Congress people, we were in support of their advocacies to have their (victims’) compensation up to and including amending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law that states basically that all the proceeds go them. I will be supporting that,” he said.
Lawyer Robert Swift, who represented the close to 10,000 human rights victims in a class suit, said there had been no Philippine president who had been “interested in justice for the victims.”
Swift said he sent a letter to Aquino but has yet to receive a response from him.
