Antonio Trillanes, failed mutineer turned Senator of the Republic, has decided to play for all the marbles. After holing up in the Manila Peninsula with about 30 soldiers, he has asked the public to choose between him and the President.
I get the sense that this pseudo-mutiny or quasi-coup will not end peacefully.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
you mean there was an earthquake bec. of the news re our being in the top 10 where bribery is prevalent? i thought everyone knows about our being in the ring of fire :-))
re corruption, bribery, influence-peddling…what else is new?
of course we feel bad we are in the headlines again and not due to some positive developments but the opposite.
to feel good, just remember what is happening here is not unique, whether it be korea, japan, india, albania, peru, even palestine, people are the same, they are weak and always subject to temptations.
to those who keep on looking at corrupt politicians, do not look far….just ask the policeman, how many car owners have offered him money for the day to avoid hassles at lto?
next, ask your revenue examiner why he has lots of money? taxpayers pay him dirty money to avoid paying the legal tax base. isn’t that corruption too? you will say, its not big deal. i say to you, corruption big or small is the same thing.
but even if we know govt officials are corrupt, must we do the same?
you have no right to accuse and blame anyone if you are guilty of the offense yourselves.
if the peso is strong, you complain bec. the ofw’s $$ becomes small. but if the $$ is strong, peso weak, you complain just the same. ano ba talaga kuya?
self-proclaimed economists….tell us what the solution is.
sec. teves or favila might be reading your blogs…
now, to those who want gma out before 2010, do you propose snap elections? what is the legal basis? mabuti kong mag-vacate yan.
granting you sacked gma. what next? noli takes over? do you want that? or you are rooting for erap, binay, trillanes or even jinggoy…
don’t use terms such as “go to hell or let the gma people be burned at stake”….bec. as jossher has said, it just goes to show one is running out of arguments!
re the present presidential system… candidates spend 300M just to win, bec. that amount is needed to lodge his campaign. and what happens if he wins? of course he will recoup that and more? how? shady deals, contracts to favor his supporters, etc. it will never end. our system is not like in the usa where its electoral college. here, you have to campaign all over the country, pay too many people so your votes will be counted, etc.
if that is the system you want, do not whine if the winning candidate will resort to corruption.
there is no such thing as free lunch….a new set of cronies will emerge to recoup their investments.
tell me if i’m wrong!
note: to berudandii…welcome, re cj’s thanks.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
“jossher….natros has a point, i assume you read the scandals in the usa involving the cath. priests, they paid billions of $$ in settlement re sex scandals. they must concentrate on cleaning their ranks first before they try to accuse people of corruption.”
And the connection between priests in accused of sexual abuse in the U.S. and Filipino priests in the Philippines calling for GMA’s resignation is….?
Sorry, I have ceased to be Catholic so I’m not privy to the connection.
If we wait for them to clean their ranks (or not speak until we clean ourselves up) then we might wait for a million years for that to happen (unless everyone falls down on their knees repent of their sins and turn to Christ). You think there is enough time for the Philippines?
Meanwhile, do you want your children to grow up in a country whose economy is deteriorating as fast as Bangladesh with a confused culture where what is against the law is ok for certain people? Let them grow up in a place where we jail people for stealing a few hundred pesos to feed their families while allowing public officials who steal billions to go scott free? Is that justice or “just ti-is”?
If the French people waited to clean their ranks before making the monarchy accountable in 1789 then they would still be under the oppression of the corrupt monarchy.
If the Americans waited to clean their ranks in 1763 then they’d still be under British rule.
If the Allied forces waited to clean their ranks and did not drive the Axis powers in WWII, Europe would still be under the Nazis and the Philippines would still be under Imperial Japan.
If Nelson Mandela waited for his family to clean up their ranks, there would still be apartheid in South Africa.
If Filipinos waited to clean their ranks before they made Marcos accountable in 1986, where would we be now?
“unlike these wanna-be priests and trying hard, pilit na pilit to be like sin, wala silang k, hindi bagay sa kanila! nag-iisa lang ang card. sin..sige nga, what homilies have they written for us to learn from it? nada….”
I don’t think you need a priest to tell you what’s right and wrong. Faith is learned from God’s word (the Bible) not necessarily from priests. I have learned that a long time ago.
But, as long as they are Filipino citizens especially those who pay taxes, they can question their leaders (meron K). Government officials are not gods. They are mere mortals that can be questioned, prosecuted, tried and jailed if they commit crimes (in some countries even shot).
I don’t undertand why there is such awe, such resilience, such “steal from me…oppress me some more” mascohistic defeatist attitude, such fear of those people whose sworn duty is to uphold the law who instead stab us at the back by selling our future to the highest bidders. Forcing people in droves to leave their families behind to find decent work because they can’t stop the itch from pinching the national coffers and bleed the country dry.
And what is that forgotten law they took an oath to uphold?…”Salus populi est suprema lex” (”The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law”). With all these defeatist attitude, it makes me think whether the Philippines desrve the leaders they have. I don’t want to bellieve in that. I believe that Filipinos, if they put thier minds together, can rise above that “go along…get along conquered people” mentality. (walang K magsalita laban sa mga tiwaling opisyal….bakit mas may K ba ang mga tiwaling opisyal na magnakaw sa kaban ng bayan?)
The Philippines has been under Spanish monarchial rule for 400 hundred years, the Americans for almost 50, the Japense for 5 and Marcos for 20 where suppression of rights were tolerated dahil “walang k” ang mga tao. I’m sure you pay your taxes. Aren’t aghast at how they spend the taxpayer’s money?
I believe that the Filipino people are way better than that.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Skepik
I agree to clipmaster and natros
because they are Rational!
I disagree to stepp, jeri and salina
because they are IRRAtIONAL!
***************
Too bad, You don’t agree with me. I’m not going to loss sleep over it. Thank god! for that.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Kabayan
Philippines, is now recognized top ten in the world in terms of prevalence of bribery. Yet the administration simply ignores this and go their merry corrupt ways.
Meanwhile an intensity 2 earthquake shook Manila.
****************
My goodness! Top Ten, Only. I hope the Malacanyang Palace shake the foundation off to the ground. Enough to get rid of this Corrupt regime of Gloria Arroyo. Manhid na talaga!
December 7th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Philippines, is now recognized top ten in the world in terms of prevalence of bribery. Yet the administration simply ignores this and go their merry corrupt ways.
Meanwhile an intensity 2 earthquake shook Manila.