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I would like to comment on the Letter to the Editor regarding the SSS ID machine in SSS Binan.

Why is it that almost all branches of SSS have defective ID machines? Is it not a project of the department and should be prioritized as they know that a lot of filipinos will be applying for the card? I feel it is ningas kugon on the part of SSS to present this project and then not be able to follow through on it.

JDV is a credible witness. First hand, he admitted receiving bribe from Malacanang. His statement supports the undeniable truth as shown in the Television of Congressmen, Governors, etc who were seen carrying a small bag while boarding their vehicles. It subsantiate the statement of Governor Ed Panlilio, Representatives Bienvenido Abante of Manila and Antonio Cuenco of Cebu that the bribe money was distributed in Malacanang last October 11, 2007.

JDV is a credible witness when he stated and shown a picture taken in the NBN-ZTE compound during a golf session together with the Ben Abalos, the First Gentlemen, PGMA, and some top officials of NBN-ZTE. What more proof do we need? As JDV said, “Pictures don’t lie.”

JDV can avail as “State Witness” to strengthen the charges against PGMA.

When DOJ Secretary “Old man” made mention that, he is aware that JDV also bribes his contemporaries whenever their vote is needed. I say, “So be it!” In short DOJ Secretary “Old man” Raul Gonzales is also guilty of dereliction of duty because he is aware of the violation yet telerates it. Poor “Old man”, he throw a bait and hooked himself…..” He and his big mouth.” I am not a lawyer but I know what is right and wrong.

The problem with us is that we have so many Lawyers in the country that uses their intelligence in the wrong venue. Just go and visit Batasan during session hour. You cannot but admire the fluency and articulacy of our Congreesmen, yet sad to say, they are but prostitutes to the powers in be. They twist the law, they misinterpret it, they distorte it, to protect their master in Malacanang. In short, there is no longer a separation of power, they do away with the check and balance inherent to a democratic form of government.

This is the reason our economy, together with the 80 million of Filipinos are in dire subsistence.

Let us not engages on technicallity and threat. Let the truth prevail.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of CBCP, BAAACK OFF!

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, should stay away from making irresponsible statement favoring Charter Change “ with additional statement “ provided no elected public officials is allowed to extend their term and/or perpetuate themselves in power.”

I have lost hope with this derelict Bishop considering that he is the President of CBCP.

I say, leave our laws by themselves. Let as not revise it to favor vested groups. Our Bishop is either an ethnic Chinese or he is traitor. In the provision proposed on the Charter Change, there is a clause that favors 100% foreign capitalization on local businesses.

Just imagine the magnitued of disadvantage as consequence of this provision if it becames a law. It means that ethnic Filipinos will just be a by-stander while foreigners will have a free hand plundering our natural resources. It means the sufferings of millions of indeginous brothers who will be displace from their ancestral land. It means, just like what is happening now, that toxic materials are poisoning our land and coastal waters. It also mean the irrevocable distruction of our forest. It means we will become marginalized in our own country.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president should stay away from entertaining this Charter Change because there is a provision that if it becames a law, will give rights to foreigners (Chinese) to own land, thousands of lands, both agricultural and urban lands to the detriment of the ethnic Filipinos. The ethnic Filipinos, particularly the peasant, has insurmountible problems having their own land, and now you, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, wants to endorse the Charter Change?

Why is the need for revising our laws? We have so many safe guards already inplace in our laws like prohibition of political dynasty, plunders, bribery, human rights, perjury, and conspiracy. Yet, the problem is not the law, but the political will to implement it.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, I really feel disappointed with you. You are supposed to be the epitome of a good sheperd who is supposing to succrifice his life for his flock. Yet, you have shake hands with the devil. You tolerated the involuntary disappearance, the corruption in the government, you are playing blind to the over pricing of lamp post in Cebu, the smuggling, the proliferation of prohibited drugs, the human degradation, you are so silent to the widespread killings and salvaging of poor Cebuanos; is this why PGMA built a replica of Malacanang Palace in Cebu because you gave your allegians to her? Your deafening silence over these abuses reveals your loyalty?

The alibi of separation between the Church and the States does not apply when the lives of your flock is being abused, degraded, and summarily executed. Are you a CHARLATAN or plain dumb?

THAT CHARTER CHANCE IS A TROJAN HORSE WHICH WILL AFFECT THE ETHNIC FILIPINOS NOW, AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME………….

HOW ABOUT OUR SPORTS STARS WHO ARE PAID MILLIONS TO PLAY, ADOPT A LIBRARY. THIS WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO HELP THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE HELPED THEM.

Comment on Mixed Media article from Juan Luna to Agnes Arellano.

Sylvia Mayuga in her opening line said and I quote;

“As worldwide enthusiasm for Barack Obama contrasted with the racism of Filipino-Americans and home-based Pinoys in a Gallup poll that lodged our very brown countrymen in the very white Republican camp…..”

I do not actually know what Gallup Poll she is referring to but I believe and took offense on how she loosely categorized the Filipino-Americans and even home-based Pinoys as racist or in her exact words, our racism.

Such strong words being used for somebody who does not actually live in a country where racism has been a chronic disease that destroyed so many lives.

Well, she may be right. But let facts judge us not how you think we are. Let us not jump into hasty conclusions especially that we also influence the reading public’s perception.

In short, I do not mind you giving an opinion that we are indeed. But try to put it as such, your opinion, not state it as a fact.

I do strongly believe that not enough data is available for us to make an informed opinion over our being racist. Surely, our personal experience has given us enough to make a very solid argument for our personal opinion.

But stating it as a fact is a different matter altogether.

Being in a Republican Camp does not in itself mean that Fil-Americans are racist. In fact, the allegation speaks so much about the writer than the Republican Fil-Americans.

Please be responsible Ms. Mayuga.

TALE OF TWO WHISTLEBLOWERS

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081126-174390/Tale-of-two-whistleblowers

Doronila makes a comparison between Chavit Singson and JDV. Singson’s disclosures led to Erap’s downfall. He’s hoping JDV’s demolition job on GMA would end the same way. But will it?

Hardly. Singson was taken seriously when he presented documentary evidence against Erap. But what has JDV presented? His newly launched autobiography is his evidence.

What do they have in common? They’re both closely allied and hand-in-glove partners in many dubious schemes with the president but broke up when one failed to get what he wanted.

Singson confessed he was Erap’s partner in crime. JDV is not prepared to do any such thing to deface his political image. He’d rather do the finger pointing that GMA-FG alone are the crooks and not he. Now, that’s stretching anyone’s imagination a bit too far.

The impeachment won’t sell because the people won’t buy.

jorge apostol Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
November 27th, 2008 at 11:01 am
In your editorial today, 27 November 2008, you want us to believe that Joey De Venecia’s unsolicited proposal for the national broadband network was the most viable proposition. You also mentioned that his proposal would not cost the government any since it was a build-operate-transfer scheme. These statements, however, explicitly show how your organization has made conclusions without first doing some research on the implementing rules and guidelines of the BOT Law (R.A. 7718) and without doing some financial analysis on Joey De Venecia’s unsolicited proposal.

Firstly, the revised IRG of the BOT Law explicitly forbids the acceptance of any unsolicited proposal for a project that is included in any development plan of any government agency and/or local government unit. This is stated in Section 10.3 - Projects Ineligible for Unsolicited Proposals - of the said Implementing Rules and Guidelines. This section states that projects included in the “List of Priority Projects”, as defined under Section 2.3, shall not be accepted as Unsolicited Proposals. The National Broadband Network project is included the DOTC’s list of priority projects under the Medium Term Development Plan of the National Government. Thus, Joey De Venecia’s unsolicited proposal could not be accepted. This is the reason why his father, the former speaker of the House of Representative had to forcefully endorse to Sec. Mendoza the said unsolicited proposal.

Secondly, by doing some financial analysis on the viability, profitability and over-all economic soundness of Joey De Venecia’s unsolicited proposal, you or your financial experts should be able to conclude that his proposal would have an Return on Total Assets (ROTA) of more than 1500% in five (5) years and a Return on Equity (ROE) of more than 6,000% in the same period. His proposal would cost the government more than US$1.5B in 10 years, at the interest rate of more than 25% per annum, while his company, Amsterdam Holdings, would be earning more than US$900M in less than 5 years.

With these in mind, it would then be better if the government would have, either, a solicited proposal from a qualified proponent under the Procurement Law, or, a negotiated contract with the best-qualified proponent, under the BOT Law.

I hope your organization would do some real research and financial studies before you make conclusions.

Best regards.

Jorge Apostol

BISHOPS COME TO THEIR SENSES ON RH BILL

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20081129-175094/Bishops-come-to-their-senses-on-RH-bill

I am a pro-lifer myself and a devout Catholic and recognize the urgent need to control the rampaging population that could result in global starvation in the face of diminishing food supply. I also recognize the personal or individual problems of those whose pregnancies are life threatening or women who are victims of rape and incest and want to terminate pregnancy. What I do not believe in is aborting an unwanted pregnancy that is neither the cause of rape nor incest. Incest is despicable and not accepted in our society but for the sake of the unborn child who could manifest physical aberration that option to abort the pregnancy should be allowed.

Each individual has the right to live the life he or she wants. There are laws of man and there are laws of God.

God’s laws are more compassionate and forgiving than the laws written by man. That compassion is shown in the act of confession where a thief who violates the 7th Commandment of God may be pardoned by a priest for his crime by reciting the act of Contrition or some Hail Mary’s. But in the laws of man, that thief may have to spend some years behind bars.

My point is God is so merciful and forgiving why can’t the Church forgive those who have committed mortal sins for practicing artificial means for reproduction other than what the Church prescribes? If a person repeats the sin a hundred times, why can’t he be forgiven a hundred times too? This reminds me of St. Peter, who, according to St. Mathew, came to Jesus to ask, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

JDV and Jun Lozada are two competent witnesses together with the 10 Cabinet Secretaries that made a resignation en mass. All of them belong to the inner circle of the Executive Branch. They know first-hand what is happenning inside that evil empire led by PGMA. No one else can substutue on their first hand knowledge.

It is not the ethnic Filipino fault. Blame it to the Chinese owned local media such as T.V., radios, and Local newspapers. We have been brain washed for almost 4 dacades of hog-wash programs. Just look at our T.V. programs such as the original “Student Canteen”, the Deal or no Deal, and others. In the ABS-CBN “Wow wowee” and GMA 7’s “it it bulaga” are very detrimental to our national mentality. Old women as well as young girls with skinty dress are made to dance in licentous and debauchery. “Binastos na ang ating kababaehan.” These programs encourage medicancy and moral degeneration.

Mr. Pablo Garcia has gone too far. Even the devil can cite passages in the bible like he did. And there are many devils in our Congress.

Just look what his son in the GSIS did. First, he bought a Juan Luna painting for so many millions of dollar from Hongkong. How do we know if it is ginuine? Then he sold billions of GSIS share in MERALCO. Why would he do that? Any Tom Dick and Hurry knows that MERALCO share is a solid investment. Yearly, the GSIS gets millions if not billions of pesos in dividend. Yet, he divested the member’s GSIS investment for superficial reason. What would he do with the cash?

Then he has a Mayor daughter in Cebu who was in-charge of the construction of the Ministerial Convention Center. Part of the expenses is the infamous plastic lamppost with a buying price of 1,200 pesos and was sold to the government on a whooping 210,000 pesos each! Another anomaly, the original price of that construction was only 350 million pesos. Afterwards it went up to 850 million of pesos. With one of the Mactan bridges costing only 400 million, with 80 per cent of materials made of solid, high quality, anti corrusion iron, costing only 400 million; why would a building like the Ministerial Convention Center cost the people twice the price of a solid bridge?

JDV’s Waterloo

By not mentioning the names of those congressmen that sold their souls, JDV is just trying desperately to see if he can still threaten and blackmail some of his colleagues. He should not beat around the bush but come out, instead, with all his guns blazing. If he cannot present real incriminating evidence, he should have kept his silence; or, is it because he is the guiltiest of them all and simply trying to shield himself from unpleasant repercussions?

As for his son, his corporation has been accused of being just a shell company and, up to now, he has not come out and put the money where his mouth is. Many dismissed him as a two-bit hustler just beginning to learn the tricks of the trade. Obviously, his old man who is a better player did not teach him well. The old fox managed to “present” 500,000 Pesos in a paper bag that he claimed to have kept for one whole year and expects the Senate and the whole world to applaud him for his honesty.

On the broadband deal, Abalos allegedly offered Joey 5 million U.S. Dollars to stay out; but somebody in NEDA persuaded Joey to ask for the sky. While moderating the greed on one side, that wheeler-dealer was stoking the greed on the other. Finally, the battle over ZTE/NBN involving Abalos, Lozada and Joey turned out, unexpectedly, to be JDV’s Waterloo.

The Bush Legacy.

After destroying millions of innocent civilian lives, sacrificing tens of thousands of U.S. and allied military troops, squandering hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayers’ money and dragging down the nation’s economy into an almost bottomless pit; President Bush told ABC television: “The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq.” And he followed with: “I wish the intelligence had been different.” Mr. Bush should have wished that he has within him just an iota of mental intelligence.

The people that suffered under the holocaust perpetrated by Bush, Cheney and Blair will never forgive their total disregard for innocent human lives. Kidnapping, torturing, maiming or killing innocent people is not war against terrorism — it is terrorism per se.

The legacy of George W. Bush will be encapsulated to one or two infamous pages of American history that majority of his countrymen would want to skip and forget for generations to come.

Breaking the Walls
By: Bob Ocio, DMD,

People Power and Change

“The worst of the Filipino today is an opportunity to bring the best in us.”

We said at EDSA, “people power”. Twice we invoked that. Yet, nothing is left of us today but our faith not in ourselves as a people but in what we still can believe in. It is in the belief in ourselves that we thought we won at EDSA. Yet, it was the faith of Ninoy and the rest of the millions at EDSA that won it for us. Yet, we kept the faith only to our own selfish ways. Hence, the stupor, the indifference and the loss of our self respect as a nation. But God is good. He left us now with nothing but an opportunity to see Him as our strength not only by a mere declaration of faith but by the act of our faith. He left us with nothing but to see the difference between truth and fiction; between truth and lies, between truth and the poverty of the spirit.
The truth is, it will not be “people power” which can humanize us. It will not be us who can keep us together. It will never only be about us because without the faith that Ninoy kept, nor the sense of sacrifice that Ninoy had shown, we can never get there. Now, we got no other choice but to realize to make use of that faith to work because “faith without work is dead.” This is a journey and the road ahead is rough but faith we can keep. Faith we can hold on to. Faith, we can work on. Faith only in “people’s power” is not enough. But faith in Gods power can move us. Faith in Gods Power can make us move mountains. Faith can make us powerful against the GMAs and the Congressmen and the Bolante’s of our times. Faith make us tell these leaders that they can take our lives but they cannot take our souls. They cannot take our spirits.
They cannot take us away from our God. Faith can make us different to make the difference the way Fr. Panlilio did in Pampanga. Faith can make us believe that we are capable of change the way Obama did in America. But faith we must keep, we must keep it for the love of God and our country. Let us keep that faith burning. We must not waiver, we must not falter. We can tell the evils in our society that their power is nothing. We can tell all the GMA’s of the world that like Marcos, their powers are meaningless and the darkness that they bring us will not stop us from seing the light.
There is hope, there is light. I have been through with these fights all of my life.
Change did not come, until I realized that change must come from within. Do we mean we can tell them its alright for them to continue running this country like hell? The answer is no. The answer is that we must keep hell out of our inner lives. That will be like a candle illuminated in the dark. And when the right time comes, we will win this race.

The walls of Jericho fall when the seeds of faith and sacrifice surrounded its walls by the long and rugged march around it and when the people cried out for Gods mercy. We, Filipinos too, can break the walls of our own communities, barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces ; and the callous walls of Congress and the Presidency, but first, let us break the walls of their own selfishness. We cannot sell our votes and expect God to take care of our own misery. We cannot accuse the President of cheating and corruption without condemning the dishonesty in our own ways. We cannot exorcise demons from those who are possessed if we also harbor legions in our own souls. We have to have the heart of righteousness as a nation to break the walls of our hunger, apathy and greed.

Waking up from our denial and blindness, we can believe and hope that the worst that we have today will only bring us to realize that what is left is the best in us….. which they cannot take from us…. our faith in God and our love for our family and country.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of CBCP, BAAACK OFF!

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, should stay away from making irresponsible statement favoring Charter Change “ with additional statement “ provided no elected public officials is allowed to extend their term and/or perpetuate themselves in power.”

I have lost hope with this derelict Bishop considering that he is the President of CBCP.

I say, leave our laws by themselves. Let as not revise it to favor vested groups. Our Bishop is either an ethnic Chinese or he is traitor. In the provision proposed on the Charter Change, there is a clause that favors 100% foreign capitalization on local businesses.

Just imagine the magnitued of disadvantage as consequence of this provision if it becames a law. It means that ethnic Filipinos will just be a by-stander while foreigners will have a free hand plundering our natural resources. It means the sufferings of millions of indeginous brothers who will be displace from their ancestral land. It means, just like what is happening now, that toxic materials are poisoning our land and coastal waters. It also mean the irrevocable distruction of our forest. It means we will become marginalized in our own country.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president should stay away from entertaining this Charter Change because there is a provision that if it becames a law, will give rights to foreigners (Chinese) to own land, thousands of lands, both agricultural and urban lands to the detriment of the ethnic Filipinos. The ethnic Filipinos, particularly the peasant, has insurmountible problems having their own land, and now you, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, wants to endorse the Charter Change?

Why is the need for revising our laws? We have so many safe guards already inplace in our laws like prohibition of political dynasty, plunders, bribery, human rights, perjury, and conspiracy. Yet, the problem is not the law, but the political will to implement it.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, I really feel disappointed with you. You are supposed to be the epitome of a good sheperd who is suppose to succrifice your life for flock. Yet, you have shake hands with the devil. You tolerated the involuntary disappearance, the corruption in the government, you are playing blind to the over pricing of lamp post in Cebu, the smuggling, the proliferation of prohibited drugs, the human degradation, you are so silent to the widespread killings and salvaging of poor Cebuanos; is this why PGMA built a replica of Malacanang Palace in Cebu because you gave your allegians to her? Your deafening silence over these abuses reveals your loyalty?

The alibi of separation between the Church and the States does not apply when the lives of your flock is at risk, degraded, and summarily executed. Are you a CHARLATAN or plain dumb?

THAT CHARTER CHANCE IS A TROJAN HORSE WHICH WILL AFFECT THE ETHNIC FILIPINOS NOW, AND GENERATIONS TO COME………….

In the headline today “Velarde threatens march vs Cha-cha”, I have but full admiration with Velarde to rally his flocks if PGMA or her alter ego congressmen will push through with their mischievious Cha-Cha.

I am a Catholic but I really feel that Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president is becoming a lame duck or was bribed by PGMA in a form of donation. He has no balls voicing out his objections. And I believe that he no longer deserve to be Archbishop or President of CBCP. He might as well be a valet to the President.

Golez and Gordon’s Immaturity?

No matter how we looked at it, the political “immaturity” of the Thais was implied in the Golez and Gordon statements. Just because it was not expressed explicitly does not mean that a political comparison was not made between the Filipinos and the Thais.

Chinese in Congress is hindrance to Comprehensive Land Reform

The root cause of our peasant farmers is that majority of our affluent Legislature are landed Ethnic Chinese. Let us accept the reality that our country is no longer in the hands of ethnic Filipinos.

So many decades ago, ethnic Filipino enterprenuers were inch out of business by unscrupulous Chinese businessman. So many sad stories how through unfair compitition from the Chinese who has unlimited financial resources, the ethnic Filipino businessmen just fold up. There is the disparity of wholesale price wherein whenever ethnic Filipinos buys from the Chinese wholesaler, the price is much higher, than when a Chinese retailer buys from the same outlet.

The Chinese modus operandi is to put up a store beside the Filipino counterpart and bring all the commodity prices almost to the level of the wholesale price and when the ethnic Filipino gives up the unprofitable business, then the price of commodity goes unreasonably up.

It goes with our agricultural lands. Our corrupt government except during the time of Marcos, has never been serious implementing the land reform. So many alibi, so many excuses, and moving on snail pace, putting technicallities on every steps; the poor tenant farmers will be fighting an up hill battle to get their land. And their obstacle is almost next to impossible. Billions were wasted yearly in the CARP budget, yet, none ever goes to the benefit of ethnic Filipino tenants who were clamoring for time immemorial to have their legal share. The law says; convert all agricultural lands that are occupied by tenant farmers. However, who obeys the law in the first place? Not the Legislative, not the Judiciary, not the executive, all these branches are now in the hands of ethnic Chinese.

When a petty thief is persued, if he is an ethnic Filipino which majority are, they are gunned down like a dog. For a couple of pesos, they pay with their life. On the other hand, these Chinee government officials, when they commit fraud by the billions of peoples hard earned tax money, they go scatch free. No lawsuit, no nothing.

The danger to the ethnic Filipinos is that, the implementation of these Charter Change persued by the Chinese dominate Congress will curtail almost all the ethnic Filipinos rights to the land and business. No country on earth ever gives away their patrimonial rights, yet, since our government is no longer representing the will of the people as it should be, the our Chinese dominated government can just violate almost anything without accountability.

The Chinese dominated government will definitely give rights to foreigners (Chinese and no one else) 100% ownership to our natural resources. It will also give rights to foreigners (Chinese and no one else) the right to own our land. These policy of making Foreigners as land owners to our agricultural land is a paradox because we already have problems on land distribution to our ethnic Filipino tenant farmers, yet, because we have a Chinese dominated government, they will allow there citizens to dominate the ownership of our land?

On the other hand, scheme of Federalism will tightly control the freedom of ethnic Filipinos. The policy of “Ako na ang bahala sa terretoryo ko at ikaw naman giyan”, ( I will take charge of my territory and you do yours. Let us get rid all forms of NATIONALISM). This is exactly the policy of our Chinese dominated government. Presidential Security Advicer Norberto Gonzales and Ex General Palparan subject all opposition to a “blood bath.” The harassment of the so called “leftist Congressmen” like Satur Ocampo, Lisa Masa, etc, the hospital arrest of the late Congressman Crispin Beltran, are just few example how these Chinese dominated government is implementing the second stages of conquering these country. Ethnic Filipinos will eventually go the way of the ethnic Hawaiians. They are marginalize in their prosperous land.

RP centavo ‘almost meaningless’

May not be meaningless at all because we are still using it, not all Filipino citizens buy items in bulk. I don’t know if Rep. Golez had observed it well, but looks like 1 and 50 cents was not really existing anymore. But There are still a lot of things wherein we need our 5, 10 and 25 cents. One there would be the fare on some PUV’s having fare like 7.50 clothes costing like 99.75.
If this sent will be faced-out what will happen to prices of goods?… will they truncate it to the lowest peso? i dont think so.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president – TOO LITTLE TO LATE

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president as I have said before, and I am saying it again; he is a lame duck. Instead of being the Archbishop and president of CBCP he is better of being the valet of PGMA.

After Bro. Mike Velarde, leader of the El Shaddai made announcement denouncing the CHA-CHA last December 2, 2008, now, not to be out-done, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president spoke against it too.

These lame duck Archibishop was expected to speak against the insincere implementation of Land Reform (CARP), the murders and salvaging of political parties against the Administration, the cheating in the Presidential Election, the corruption, and etc; all he does is a mild comment against all this crime.

In fact, he cite the separation of Government and Religion as the reason for his inaction. But now, he is singing a different tune after Bro. Mike Velarde, leader of the El Shaddai jump start the protest.

Better, keep your mouth shut, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president. You are better of as the Valet of PGMA.

Anyway, is Lorelie Fajardo, the Malacanang spoke person, your niece?

Naluma ang kanilang Magna at Summa cum Laude. Minsan ay nag-session sa Judicial Committee ng kongreso. Pinagtalunan nila kung ang bibe (duck) na nasa kanilang harapan ay bibe nga. Halos lahat ay gigil na gigil. Ang tuka kasi ng naturan ay sa bibe. Kung maglakad ito ay parang bibe. Kung lumangoy ay parang bibe. Ang paa ay bibeng-bibe. Ang behind nito ay lalo nang bibeng-bibe. Ang sabi ng CBCP ay hindi naman ito manok. Hindi rin ito gansa. Hindi rin ito turkey. Lalo nang hindi ito kalapati. Hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin matukoy kung ito ay bibe. Wala raw substance ang alegasyon na ito ay bibe. Lalong lumabo ang usapin nang dalhin ito sa plenary ng kongreso. Napahiya kasi ang kanilang pagiging magna at summa cum laude sa technical question na: “Do you have proofs na ito ay bibe?”. Hmmmmm … Syanga naman.

The senators investigating Bolante, like Gordon and Pimentel, are behaving like petty tyrants; why can’t they act civilly and treat their witnesses with respect. If the witnesses lied, they should be charged with perjury. We have a complete arsenal of legal statutes that can be used on hostile witnesses and the court is the best avenue to prosecute those accused. Or is it because the senators have nothing to prove that Bolante was lying and they resorted to circumvent justice by detaining him in the Senate?

As I See It
Provincial buses out of city limits?

By Neal Cruz

1. if you will place provincial bus terminals in valenzuela, wouldn’t it cause additional traffic into the already congested MacArthur highway. remember you have all the slow moving trucks plying that area. besides, valenzuela is way too far for commuters going to the north considering the baggages they carry just to go back to caloocan and balintawak to finally exit NLEX.

not in 15 bus stops along busy Edsa. There are more than enough city buses—and the Metrorail and Light Rail Transit (LRT)—to take the passengers anywhere they want to go in the metropolis.

2. if you think removing the 15 bus stops in EDSA is the solution and offered the MRT and LRT as means for commuters to go to the terminals. your wrong there. alabang doesn’t have MRT. it doesnt even pass by it. second, do you even know that baggages wouldn’t be permitted on board those trains (security risks remember).

3. regarding the bus stops under our flyovers, im trying to imagine where in EDSA have you seen that. the bus stop in Quezon Avenue is not situated even under the flyover. its right after coming from cubao. and the bus stop is not occupying the precious lane your talking about. MMDA widened that area eating the shanties on the right. and trucks don’t ply EDSA during daytime and early evening (truck ban remember).

4. the concept of u turn slots is to keep traffic along EDSA flowing. that means removing those uncoordinated traffic lights. im guessing you’re not a commuter. you’re hardly familiar with things going on at EDSA and the commuting public.

i don’t know if you haven’t observed yet the improvement we now see at EDSA. at least there’s someone doing their job. and next time try to write something positive.

SENATE PANEL SETS PERJURY RAP VS BOLANTE By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:41:00 12/09/2008

. . . . . But Gordon confirmed that Bolante would be released by the Senate as soon as the charges would be filed against him.

“The moment we filed the case for false testimony, we will lose jurisdiction to punish him,” he said.
* * * * * *

Senator Dick Gordon must remember that the Senate is a legislative body and not a penological institution.

If we follow the logic that it takes a thief to catch a thief, then we can understand why many of the Senators are so good in catching liars.

With the Senators expertise in “lie detecting”, the government should dispense with those expensive Lie Detecting Machines along with the expert analyzers and request, instead, the services of some of those Senators to assist in NBI and PNP crime laboratories. It will save us a lot of time and money.

There is one difference between a lie detector and a senator. In a lie detector, the machine operates without political bias and produces a set of scribbles to be analyzed; the styli do not write or say: THE SUBJECT LIES.

i agree with wonderwoman. why only now…. archbishop lagdameo and briother mike? if you are both sincere, why dont you tell your malacanang appointed relatives to quit their posts and leave the portals of sin near the pasig river?

Re JocJoc Bolante:
What I’d like to know is, this ex-apppointed Undersecretary of Agriculture is just that—UNDERsecretary. How come this man was allowed to handle such a big
amount of money directly from the coffers of government treasury and no one seems to know, to this day, what the
hell really happened to it? If this is some kind of fanciful joke, then isn’t it time to stop wasting public money? The elected politicians interrogating this man seem to be applying kid gloves to an appointed once-appointed government employee when what he really needs is a pound-for-pound Manny P punches. But, then again, wouldn’t that be too cruel for Mr Bolanted who happens to be a tearjerker anyway. First, he comes back pretending to be very ill—”oh, look at me, I’m not well…”then when he appears infront of his interrogators, he wipes his forehead, his face, his eyes, but he doesn’t wipe off the shame he has brought to himself, his family and country. Do we need to be insulted more?

Because Senate has concluded that Mr Bolante lied, that he’s a liar, then it must recommend filing case in court. It should finish the fight or its them who will be judged [as grandstanders].

Assuming that Mr Bolante is a wrongdoer it should be expected that he would also lie.

Many criminals until they were hanged were known to have maintained their innocence. Court does not need a confession from him.

Only hard evidences are needed. The Senators must have them for the prosecution or else everything from them about Mr Bolante is a joke.

On Mr. de Quiros “Shoe Story”

I think all sort of things have been thrown at the President, including the kitchen sink so to speak. But she remained unperturbed, talaga lang makapal na ang mukha! She won’t lament any bad thing said or done to her as she keeps on continue doing it. She’s so arrogant as what the Hyatt 10 have said before. Remember how she publicly berated the PPA officer in Batangas over the allegedly smuggled rice? When Mar Roxas expressed his outburst, it is his reputation that he put at risk so I presumed he thought well over before doing it. But there is more brutal way of doing it, put that middle finger in her face in a middle of a press conference, but beware as her guards will not think twice shooting the offender right there and then. Another suggestion will be, since she has been sh__ing the hell out of us, might as well throw the s__t back to her.

G.W. Bush’s legacy is a pair of old shoes, so sad for a president of the world’s No. 1 super-power.

Bush is still considered fortunate because a number of Iraqis would want to execute him for his atrocious acts and hang him by the feet like what the Italians did to Benito Mussolini.

Outgoing president G.W. Bush was called a dog and another soon to be outgoing president was called a bitch.

Are we really going to the dogs or simply living in a world of dogs?

Estrada still wants to run for president

By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:37:00 12/20/2008

……. “I don’t believe in parties. I told the people they should not believe in parties since they are only good during elections. After the elections, they (party members) will divide the (loot) among themselves, and the citizens are left out.”

…… “She has brains and beauty,” said Estrada, stressing that his bosom buddy, the late opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., had personally handpicked Legarda in 2004 because of her immense popularity and political experience.

* * * * * * * * *

If Estrada does not believe in parties, did he hoodwink his followers into joining Partido ng Masang Pilipino or Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino? Were PMP members taken for a ride and ended up without sharing the “loot” with him.

Estrada is taking too much for granted. What makes him think that the Filipinos will elect an ex-convict as president who has less brains and looks than his vice-presidential candidate?

The moment Estrada joins the presidential race, the administrative coalition has to unite to shut him out and majority of the opposition has no other recourse but to shift to the administrative coalition or face inevitable collapse.

Remote, as it may seem, but a victory for Estrada will signify beginning of a new political dynasty.

Aquino says sorry to Estrada

Aquino thinks that the ouster of Estrada is wrong because GMA is more corrupt; but if the ouster of GMA results in a more corrupt administration will Aquino apologize to GMA? Somehow, something is very wrong here, is it Corazon Aquino herself that is at fault or is it the Filipino people?

Perhaps, Corazon Aquino should also forgive people behind the killing of her husband and also apologize to the Marcoses for ousting them from power since there is no evidence to prove that they were involved in the assassination.

It is true that Corazon Aquino actively participated in EDSA II but even without her involvement, the people’s determination will still bring down the Estrada administration. If Aquino wants to change our history to suit to her political inclinations then we should not blame the young generations for their disinterest in the country’s political history.

26dec2008
lasvegasnv
1410

dear fellow bloggers,

it worries me a lot to read a blog without substance. what i mean is the usual incoherent ranting from many of us against a certain issue or so called news bit.

i propose a pact. all bloggers in pdi must read the ff. pdi columnists’ posting(just to get more bang on the issues); before hitting the keyboard.

pls. read the opus of these fellows;

walden bello, john nery,da cruzes,jo-ma montelibano,r.david,mlqlll,dequiros,guazon,rasheed,b.o.cunanan,monsod,evangelista,
j.mercado,doyo,m.tan et.al.

the above aforementioned names have eyes,ears and nose that matters most to juan dela cruz, and usually in the knows.

it(their thoughts) may give us bloggers a ray of hope for an intelligent cyberspace discourse.

any takers?

kayana2 sends,,,
lasvegasnv

On Neal Cruz’s Santa

Columnist Neal Cruz apparently considers it his duty to defend the American Santa Claus against ‘German activists’ who want to introduce Saint Nicholas. (PDI, December 26, 2008.) I do not know who these activists are. But as a 77 year old Dutch, I want to bear witness to our centuries old belief regarding Saint Nicholas.

I and my countrymen fondly hold that the saint together with his helper Black Peter, traveling all the way from Spain on board a steamship, lands every November at Amsterdam harbor. Every night thereafter Saint Nicholas on horseback would fly over the rooftops of all the houses in the Dutch villages. Black Peter would then visit each house by coming down through the chimneys. I remember as children we would place our wooden shoes near the hearth, leaving as well hew and carrots for the horse of Saint Nicholas.

Black Peter also worked as the secretary of Saint Nicholas. He kept the books for the Saint as well as the records on all the good and especially the bad deeds of the children. When children behaved well, Peter would leave little gifts for them which they would find early morning.

But that was all only in preparation for the big night of December 5, Saint Nicholas’ Eve. This is the night when the bishop would come himself together with his helpers. He’d knock on every door and have all the children gather around him and upbraid those who have been naughty kids. Then he’d distribute his many gifts, taking them from the big bag that Black Peter carries with him. Everyone would then sing the many songs they knew for the holy man.

After the Saint Nicholas Day we’d prepare for the end of Advent and for the celebration of Christmas wherein for Catholics the Eucharistic celebration of the night mass was at the center of the life of the family. The Protestants as well had their own church service on Christmas Day.

I agree with Mr. Cruz that it is naive to fight popular beliefs. But to believe that Saint Nicolas is an invention of some German activists is more than naive. Mr. Cruz would meanwhile do well, even during this time of financial crisis, to be a bit more critical about the consumerist culture that is overtaking not only our simple beliefs but more so the genuine Christian faith in Jesus Christ.

Ton Danenberg
Tagaytay City
ahdanenberg@yahoo.com.ph

hi

hope you could comment on this link: http://vicissitude-decidido.blogspot.com/2008/12/world-is-fucked-up.html.

damn politicians.

Pangandamned : The Newest Term for “Terror In the Golf Course”

I think that Manila Boy Spanky (http://spankyenriquez.blogspot.com) coined the best swear term (”PANGANDAMNYOU”) to get back at what the Pangandaman officials and bodyguards did to the Dela Paz family last 26 December at Valley Golf in Antipolo.

Bambee wrote on her blog Vicissitudes (http://vicissitude-decidido.blogspot.com) how they (her father Delfin, brother Bino and herself) got Pangandamned (read: punched, kicked, clobbered, beaten up, bloodied, threatened) in the golf course and the club house a day after Christmas.

Granted that, IF what the companion of the Pangandamans said was true, that they in fact, did not violate golf etiquette and did not start the fight, I could not comprehend how at least five grown men (with firearms to boot) could act like warlords in a golf course by manhandling with sheer brute force a family of three aged 56, 18 and 14, and yet have the gall to claim that they were actually the aggrieved party in the incident.

Raps have already been filed with the Antipolo police against Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. and his cohorts. Reports have been published in and aired by various news agencies, and hundreds, like myself, have blogged about the incident.

Like thousands of people, I am now praying for the safety of the family; praying that all the others who are involved won’t stonewall the on-going investigation of the case; praying that the Pangandamans will be enlightened that the power they wield as top officials has been entrusted to them, and that the power is to be used responsibly in uplifting the lives of the people.

I also think that DAR Chief Pangandaman should heed Senator Kiko Pangilinan’s advise to let his son and namesake be man enough to answer to his and his bodyguards’ actions.

Sen. Pangilinan also remarked that “Secretary Pangandaman is an alter ego of the President, and therefore any move he makes to intercede can be suspected as exerting undue pressure to whitewash the case. Public officials are men and women of probity and therefore should exercise utmost restraint even in the face of provocation. Abusive public officials, especially those with bodyguards cannot just be allowed to roam in public brandishing their firearms and using it to intimidate ordinary citizens.”

So true.

The Bullies of Valley Golf Country Club
ABUSE OF POWER

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081231-180726/Abuse-of-power

If I recall, DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman is the same person whose armed bodyguards beat up someone inside the lavatory of a Makati hotel some months ago. According to news reports, the DAR boss took offense because he did not like the way the stranger stared at him. He left the scene as if that was the signal for his goons to work on the poor guy then blamed the incident to the man exactly as he did to the De la Paz. For these goons they are always the innocent victims and never the antagonists. That poor victim in the hotel lavatory mauling was beaten up by Pangandaman’s goons so badly he was brought to the hospital on a stretcher unconscious. Last I heard of the man he was comatose. I don‘t know if the man was able to recover from that mauling.

These war freaks turn to violence at a drop of a coin. They probably think Valley Golf is part of their hometown where a slight provocation will bring out guns blazing and blood spilling all over the place. The fact that Pangandaman is a member of the President’s cabinet, he should have exercised prudence in such scandalous situation. But obviously he is too drunk with power that he could not resist saying to the De la Paz the usual remarks of those in power, “Hindi mo ba ako kilala?” (Don’t you know who I am?)

Re: Abuse of Power and the Alliance for the Common Good

You may add your name to the growing list of persons calling for the resignation of the Pangandamans that can be found at http://angkapatiranparty.org/ under Petitions.
I first heard of the party AngKapatiran (Alliance for the Common Good) in February 2007. I was in-between jobs then and all I could do when I joined the groups was share some teeny-weeny ideas. I had applied online after reading the party platform and principles. When the party campaigned in Sampaloc, I had just been hired by a company and could only go after office hours so I went but the affair was over when I arrived.

Pimentel’s message to Arroyo: Resign

When will Pimentel stop his endless sourgraping? He claims that the President cannot cope with the present economic meltdown but has he ever provided a solution of his own? Or has any of the President’s “opponents” presented their independent solutions to solve the country’s economic problems? The answer is a big NO.

People that benefited from her social and infrastructure programs think that the President is credible. She may be low on popularity but credibility and popularity are two very different things.

Pimentel suggested that his proposal for the President to step down “must be articulated by people she respects,” or those who have integrity or no political agenda. Obviously, he is not one of those that the President respects; is it because he is short of integrity or is he harboring a hidden political agenda?

Pimentel is approaching the twilight of his political career and he is dreaming that the people will remember him as someone who talked a President into exile. Actually, he should not worry about GMA because Erap will be throwing in his hat for the 2010 presidential race and should come in very strong.

kayana2 Says:
1410
dear fellow bloggers,
it worries me a lot to read a blog without substance. what i mean is the usual incoherent ranting from many of us against a certain issue or so called news bit.
****************************
Well, I do not need to go deeper in my thought. My mind is limited. And I don’t know whether my blog has substance or not.
As long as I express my feeling is enough for me.
As long as I say what I think is right is right for me.
Why do I have to be in renaissance english with thesaurus in one hand, that is good only in literature.

Sincerity and candidness is the key to expression… not deep throat.

ERAP’S SPOKESPERSON SAYS: AQUINO APOLOGY IS IN PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20090103-181152/Aquino-apology-and-pursuit-of-democracy

Of course, that is the spin that Erap wants to impart over Cory’s apology to him and her claim Edsa 2 was a mistake. Both of them had found a common ground to twist history in order hit back at GMA the person they both dislike.

This is obviously Cory’s revenge at GMA for not lifting a finger to help save the Cojuangco estate Hacienda Luisita from being dismantled and distributed to the farmer tenants. And Erap had to capitalize on Cory’s apology as vindication that he did not deserve to be removed from Malacanang and as a consequence the country inherited a perceived more corrupt president.

One thing is clear though. You cannot trust a politician. From a simple housewife to a timid president, with the sudden turn-around, Cory has become a typical hypocritical politician. She ignored the fact that Edsa 2 had to happen because Erap’s allies in the Senate had turned the impeachment trial into a farce by their refusal to accept the evidence presented against Erap, which angered the people to rise and remove an incompetent and corrupt president. True, that uprising was unconstitutional but the main issue against Erap’s culpability as corrupt was proven in the court of law as he was summarily convicted for the crime of plunder. Erap’s conviction would have been enough to vindicate the people for their unconstitutional action so what is there that Cory should be sorry for? She would still be right for demanding GMA’s resignation without saying a word of apology to Erap and calling Edsa 2 a mistake. But having said that, she turned herself into a typically ordinary politician. She might as well have said Edsa 1 was a big mistake because the country is worse off today than it was during Marcos time.

bullies ! then it’s true, that wealth and power does not necessarily bring forth educated people nor culture or a little refinement in behaviour. unfortunately, the home is the most important place where real education and growing up begins and has the greatest influence on the youth. so sad that in families with supposedly respectable names in society, the true colors are revealed in even the least stressful conditions such as in an exclusive club.
i think things will be washed, and the victims will just have to bear it and charge it all to experience - because this is how the wealthy and more powerful handle our country. who knows, things may end up that the pangandaman’s were the victims and they only defended themselves……

in re: english the filipino way (aboitiz)

bravo zulo for a job well done mr. aboitiz. if i could add a comment or two to the subject above, it would be in the realm of the ability and attribute of every pinoy to learn a new language.

filipino has this great ability to learn and absorb new language he/she never heard before in his life, like a sea sponge. i have met thousands of them overseas, be it in germany, italy, spain, israel, japan, saudi arabia and to other far flung nation around the world.

who else in this world other than a pinoy, with majority of them having a 10th grade education who can learn a new language in 6 mos. and be able to converse to most of the population of their host country with ease. i have witnessed this phenomenom hundred times before in every country i have visited during my many years of service in the u.s. govt. job. overseas.

there are many americans, brits, aussies, and french nationals i have met during my tenure living for many years overseas other than our own country that can not even come close to the pinoy’s ability to learn a new language so fast and quick.

case in point, talk to any ofw returning back to patria adorada from their deployment overseas, and you will be suprise that he/she have already mastered their host country’s language.

from the past, countless numbers of my foreign friends gave me many compliments on behalf of my fellow pinoys for their ability that enabled them as a personal interpreter for my friends during their personal experience.

in summary, the english pronounciation issue is a very small hindrance to affect the pinoys’ attributes in their linguistics’ forte.

kayana2 sends
lasvegasnv

To conduct a “massacre” during Christmas and New Year is unthinkable even for the Nazis under Hitler but the Israelis did it in Gaza, killing hundreds and injuring thousands of innocent Palestinians in the holiest season of the year.

It looks like the objective of Israel in this latest invasion is to destroy Hamas and drive the Palestinians permanently out of Gaza. Their real ambition is to annex Gaza and other areas into Israel territory.

With U.S. economy on the rocks, Israel does not expect the Obama administration to be overly enthusiastic in another war in the Middle East. The target of the Israelis is to complete the occupation of Gaza before Obama sits in as President.

Obama has made clear his policy is to change the international image of U.S.A. and he will be receptive to proposals to negotiate with so-called “enemies” in order to attain global peace and harmony. Evidently, the Obama policy does not dovetail with the plans of the expansionists in Israel.

It looks like Holocaust II is now in the making; this time perpetrated by Israelis.
The Nazis gassed and incinerated the Jews, but the Jews this time will bomb the Palestinians to kingdom come.

11jan2009
lasvegasnv
0546

in re: king’s english,

the above subject pdi’s editorial opinion do really strikes some chords, i mean in the real crux of the matter of all education system. may it be here in good ol’ usa or back there at home.

the whole problem of the system is explain in its entirety in the last paragraph of your newspaper’s editorial.

here in my adopted country, the educational system seems to be out of order too. especially in the k12 level. the arguements and issues of administration’s leadership, professional efficiency of the faculties and the lack of parents participation in their kid’s early start childhood education are all being debated constantly.

bi-lingualism issues is not the problem in our education system,it is how its implemented, manage, and refined to its proper use.

like they said in techies world–(gigo)garbage in garbage out. the best students deserve the best instructor, and not those incompetent tenured wannabe educators.

kayana2 sends,
lasvegasnv.

Flash Floods in Northern Mindanao and “The Man Who Planted Trees”

Ten years ago, I was in the City Council of Cagayan de Oro shouting
and “elbowing” my friend, then City Councilor Ed Cabanlas from the Rostrum of the City Council in session so that I can continue with my passionate confrontation with a DENR 10 Regional director who claimed that as far as he was concerned, Besigan, the farthest barangay of Cagayan de Oro was a part of Lanao province. I protested that clearly, the objective was to prevent the DENR and the City from touching the loggers who were cutting the trees in our forests. My thoughts then was that doing the right thing would have prevented the thousands of families from being dislocated, kept the people from dying, and the disaster that was and the disasters that are still coming to our city and region. It was a lonely fight at the City Council. It may still be lonely now to do the same. However, the lonelier are those who are victims of these man-made calamities. The loneliest, are the consciences of those who are responsible, we the people who failed to do our part.

The people of Cagayan de Oro and the Region may be reminded that protecting our forests and the lives of our children is a God given responsibility. During those times, I joined the Task Force Macajalar led by their leader, Orlan Ravanera to try to make road blocks near the Xavier University Aggie compound. I understood that those people with me were willing to lie and die on the street if only to save lives in the future. I feared of death but I would have tried to lay down my life too, if the trucks would dare its ways. It would be a shame on me if they died on the street and I would keep myself standing or running away.

Then, the worst thing happened early this year, the floods reached roof top deep in my own backyard in Tibasak, Macasandig, in our City including the area of my friend, Edgar. Some of our neighbors died. Properties were destroyed. My children had to sleep in neighboring barangay Nazareth in order to be safe. The Northern Mindanao Region was reported to have hundreds of dislocated families and scores of people dead.

Today and everyday, my hairs grow thicker when I am threatened with news that the clouds are reported to go thicker, because the forests are getting bald and thinner; and the next flash floods could make the waters stay higher and higher. My kids who now thinks of Nazareth as their safety haven during flashfloods are not really safe because reports of the floods swelling from the rivers to Nazareth in due time were predicted a long time ago. Who is afraid of death? Maybe, no one if the dead is none of our own. Yet, our eyes becomes wide and clear only when the eye of the storm will hit us, fatally.

The people of Cagayan de Oro, need not lie on the street like what I would have done for my kids and for all ourselves. All we need to do is cause meaningful reforestration and forest conservation efforts if only to save our lives and that of our children. In my own little way, I thought that the City Council would not give me victory over my cause in that forum. I started planting trees 15 years ago and I committed to do so for life. I decided to do my thing by example, because I am afraid that “ elbowing” my friend Edgar in the City Council would not matter nor insulting people at the DENR. In the hills where I planted those trees, I hope to keep my family safe in the future. However, it is a very difficult thing to build a new house. Who knows, I may never even be able to build that house, or GOD FORBID, it might not save my kids today. However, I am comforted with the thought that in my lifetime, I planted the seed of a lesson that we can resist the temptation to accept money and bribes to prevent government regulations from being enforced; that we can share a lesson that there is a need to vote for honest leaders, and that we too can plant our own trees. The most comforting though, is that I have learned to trust God and I thought that faith and the work is here to keep and to do.

I am inspired by the story of the “Man who Planted Trees” in the hills for decades all by himself. The last time he was seen was when he was already about 15 kilometers far from his house where he started to plant the first tree. He then was already able to build another house from far away. Yet, during those times, he was not affected by a war which broke out nor by the debates and politics of the City. All he did was plant and plant until a new generation benefitted from his love and foresight because when he died, springs of water were seen flowing, vegetation was returned, birds flew and flowers bloomed, and thousands of families and children lived and played on the hills he prepared for them. This man touched me because while I fought like hell in the City Council, on the streets and on the airwaves, he by contrast , never said a word. I am shamed because this man never even owned an inch of the land where he did his work.

Cagayan de Oro, my fellow Filipinos, you can be the men who planted trees for the next generation. You can be the men who planted men and women in the government who will lead you in the way you should go. Let the seed of the righteousness of God be in our hearts for the sake of your children, for the sake of our souls and for God’s sake. This is my prayer and peace too for all the people I “elbowed” along the way. And though I am thousands of miles away, let this prayer yet break another stone of a wall that kept us from thinking for the common good.

OUR INDIFFERENCE TO GAZA
By H. Harry L. Roque Jr.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090114-183178/Our-indifference-to-Gaza

Before Roque attempts to put the blame on Israel he should first justify by what right the Hamas have in institutionalizing the absolute destruction of Israel as the principal objective of their organization and to prove their profound hatred for Israel have continuously attacked Israel with rocket bombs. Is Roque suggesting Israel should not do anything about it?

How can the UN protect a militant political group that is not even a state; a small group that rules on violence and terrorism and shows determined hostility by its provocative acts against a member that is a sovereign state?

There was relatively some peace with Israel in the Palestine Autonomy under Yasser Arafat until the Palestinian people chose terrorist Hamas to take over. Now they are suffering the consequences of their action.

Bigotry is the end result of all conflicts in the Middle East.

Youngblood
‘Kolgirl’

It is true that a ‘kolperson’ lifestyle is indeed stressful and it deprives them most of the luxuries that people who work during the day have.

But to say that they are underpaid,that I have to disagree.There are a lot of professions who prefer to be CSRs/TSRs rather than pursuing their real line of work.Why would some teachers choose the haggard lifestyle of a call center agent?It is because the moolah is good in that field of enterprise.

And what is more annoying than hearing these people talking ‘conio’ english outside their workplace?Just because they can speak perfect english doenst make them ‘real’ professionals.

In signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. within the last remaining hours of the Bush administration, Israel is trying desperately to tie down Obama to the things that George Bush committed to Livni before he steps down. The contents of the MOA were not made public but does Obama have to honor those commitments?

This is a case of a small bully that ran to the big bully for help after receiving an international diplomatic black-eye; and just before the cowboy retires to his Texas ranch.

Everybody think that “cheap politics” is only practiced in small countries like ours but Israel shows us that big countries hide no shame in doing the same.

SHAKY RP-US TIES AHEAD OF INAUGURAL
Amando Doronila’s analysis

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=184159

The problem with the writer is he has over analyzed the issue. He quotes US writer Guy Rundle who is full of optimism and hope which is shared by countless people in the US and around the world that Obama cannot do any worse than Bush. America is at the pits right now financially, economically, and politically, but with every effort of the next government concentrated on reestablishing and revitalizing America today, where else can it go but up.

On the other hand, Doronila’s analysis of things to come with respect to RP-US ties is full of biased speculation as he gives meaning to every event or incident behind what he calls a snub when GMA tried to communicate with Obama. And even if later Obama returned the call when GMA was back home, Doronila still feels slighted by that belated call. Did Doronila think Obama should have GMA in his priority list of callers? Did it ever cross his mind that Obama probably had hundreds of other important things to do than get excited over returning GMA’s call? And because of that silly incident Doronila concludes the RP-US ties are on shaky grounds.

This much Doronila should know. In present day diplomacy it is not always the fair-haired boy that gets treated well. One can be the world’s outcast and still get good treatment from America so long as that outcast can be useful to America. America went to war against Japan and nearly wiped that country from the face of the earth. But knowing that Japan would resurrect one day to reclaim dominance in Asia and be useful to America, the US did everything it could to rebuild Japan and make it a friendly nation forever grateful to and supportive of the US. Consequently, the US was allowed the use of Okinawa as military base. Now, what can the US expect from the so-called friendly ally which drove away their military base in Clark and Subic?

Harry, (51) that’s good speculation whether or not Obama will honor whatever agreement Telaviv and Washington have had but I think he would and I’m quite sure it favors Israel and it is for peace settlement. It cannot be otherwise. I cannot agree Israel is bullying anyone. Those people are fighting for their survival while their enemies are fighting for their total destruction.

Obama cannot afford not to support Israel without risking it to the Arab wolves in the Middle East who are just waiting to gobble it up. It is also for the reason that Jordan and Egypt came to terms with Israel because of US influence to live and let live in peace. Only the war freaks and hot heads in Iran and Syria who support Hamas after Arafat was gone that are left scrimmaging with Israel.

Mr. De los Reyes (53):

The tone and nature of Obama’s inaugural speech revealed how he is going to deal with his enemies, i.e., with “mutual interest and mutual respect”. Even if he does disagree with the terms of the MOA he has very few options; he simply cannot ignore the powerful political influence of the Jews at home. However, the present US economy will provide him a very good excuse for shelving the issues but if a peaceful solution is within reach at this moment I think Obama would certainly welcome it without any hesitations. Now that Obama is in office, we can see how he will stage his Middle East policy and navigate through those very rough waters.

The concrete walls surrounding Gaza are really prison walls confining the entire population in one a giant concentration camp. Blockades were setup under the pretext of preventing arms smuggling; the real intention is to cut off the transport of food, medical and other basic supplies into Gaza. After the Gaza strip is completely sealed off and the people within are starved and sick, the Israelis can now execute the Final Solution – extermination of the Palestinian population and the annexing of Gaza. The tiny enclave was bombed non-stop from the air, tanks with guns blazing rolled in with the ground troops to kill at will and naval ships shelled the city from the sea. In three short weeks, 1,300 Palestinians were killed with tens of thousands wounded and 20,000 buildings reduced to rubbles. One and half million Palestinians hopelessly trapped in a narrow strip of land with no corridors for escape.

All those atrocities were committed against an innocent population defended by small group of Hamas which, except for their primitive rockets, is no better equipped than the Muslim insurgents in our Mindanao. The bombing targets included U.N. facilities, mosques, schools, shelters and even graveyards. Were it not for the international opinions and outcry against the overkill, the Israelis could have easily turn the lopsided conflict into a genocide. The bully here is Israel, not Hamas.

It is totally impossible for the Arab countries to gobble up Israel with its nuclear capability. The military might of Israel together with U.K.-U.S. material assistance is capable of destroying the entire oil production facilities in that region and send those oil-producing nations back to poverty as in the case of Iraq.

Bush was also unfair in his dealings with the Palestinians. He presented his road map for the peaceful creation of a Palestinian State but when the Hamas won in the elections and assumed power, Bush turned his back and led the Israelis into dealing with Mahmoud Abbas; their sole intention was to further split up the Palestinian Arabs. This, of course, angered the Hamas and made them more hostile to all peace negotiations. We must admit that the U.S. and Israel acted in bad faith and violated the principles of democracy.

Had the U.S. under Bush recognize the authority of Hamas and persuaded the Israelis to negotiate with the duly elected Palestinian authority, the picture in the Middle East would be more optimistic than what is now going on there.

We can not blame the Palestinians because for centuries they have considered Palestine as their own, after the Jews had long wandered off and settled all over the world with little dream of returning to set up a country of their own. This is no different from a case wherein the descendants are trying to claim the land that their forefathers abandoned a thousand years ago. It is also for this very same reason why most Filipinos rejected the Muslims’ claim for ancestral domains in Mindanao.

Re Mr. Bartolome C. Fernandez article entitled “Better (Bitter?) truth about Greed.” He said that the love of money is the root of all evil. I have heard this phrase many times but now I would like to comment. The Bible in 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” It is (a) root but not (the) root of all kinds of evil. There are many roots! Money is just one of the many roots. Thank you and I hope that this will enlighten people who quote the Bible without reading it.

Illegal Drugs, Lawmakers and Human Rights

The Nation’s battle against illegal drugs would come out successful if lawmakers ensure that the laws they enact are actually followed. They have the power to create new offices that can tackle the problem as well as withhold funds from offices that compound the problem.

It would only do the traffickers good to have the current infighting continue and the human rights side of the problem questioned by politicians seeking media mileage.

Surely no parent nor any well meaning organization such as the CHR seeks to block drug testing initiatives just to protect the traffickers and pushers or to condone the use of drugs by the users. As we have already committed to recognizing the users as victims, it would be foolish to have them victimized anew by politicians, law enforcement or special interest groups who will use the drug testing issue for public face-time and thus subject the victims to public ridicule, harassment, mulcting or worse-yet make them unwilling bait in police operations.

The re-shuffling and revamp of the Cabinet is the President’s prerogative and is of no business to the legislators; they can just shut up. The legislators will have their final say on the cabinet appointees when the time comes.

Marcos, GMA and Bush.

During the inauguration of Obama’ presidency, George W. Bush remained quiet almost unnoticed by the public but cameras caught Bush looking wistful, almost pathetic. Before him was an enormous sea of people from all walks of life, exuding renewed enthusiasm and confidence, waving and applauding the speech of their new President.

Bush’s thoughts seemed to have strayed away while waiting anxiously for the rites to end so that he can retire to Texas immediately. Many, I am sure, wanted to know what passed through his mind during those moments of national joy and celebration.

Personally, to Bush the inauguration is not a happy day at all for it brings back many unpleasant memories that will bother him for a very long time.

His thoughts during those hours must be a painful recollection of his eight years of non-achievement. Not many presidents had the opportunity to govern America that long but, for Bush, he wasted those eight long years fighting a quixotic battle against imaginary international terrorism and led that great country to its present disastrous economic nadir. A strong nation with an undisputed image for democracy and limitless opportunities was reduced to economic and political shambles during his watch.

Except for Marcos and GMA, no president has ruled the Philippines for more than eight years. EDSA People Power brought down Marcos and buried his twenty years of limited achievements. GMA after ten year of controversial and lackluster rule, like Bush, will probably walk away in 2010 leaving behind a nation also in economic and political chaos.

On the “urge” or “initiated” plan for Gov’t Bail Out, HHMMMMM . . . .FISHY! or should I say PORKY! As if the increased PORK BARREL BUDGET is not enough, those wiz-politicos are at it again to find means of getting taxpayers money.

Gov’t do not directly create jobs. They facilitate. Gov’t reduce tax or provide incentives for businessmen or multinationals to invest money. Gov’t builds infrastructure to have better means of transportation (and that is DPWH budget should be). So why have a fund for BAILOUTS?

aaahh 2010. its big business already

of course the palace will back any corrupt activities ab arroyo is involved in. proven to be the most corrupt family ever in the philippines far surpassing even marcos.

‘LOREN-CHIZ A RUNAWAY’

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090129-186180/Loren-Chiz-a-runaway

A runaway? No kidding!! I wonder what makes the writer of this article say that?

That’s an attempt at hard-sell whoever wrote that.

Loren is trying to be coy about running for president. She makes you think she has put the plan in the back burner for now for reasons of economic crisis daw but actually has not stopped a minute campaigning. Just listen to her tri-media commercial ads everyday and wonder if she is not lying even for this.

Chiz Escudero must be hallucinating making it to Malacanang. He’s too green around the ears, has not warmed up his senate seat long enough to push his ambition, never had executive experience or even a modest understanding of economic matters. All he has to show is his gift of gab. He is long on rhetoric and very short on experience.

This country is in such a tremendous mess that needs to be overhauled morally, politically and economically. And the worst thing to make the mess enormous is to put in office anyone without experience and who do not have the credentials to lead.

Then there are also the brain-dead who never learn from the past and still want Erap to be president. They claim Gloria made a mess of the country when she took over from Erap in 2001, but voted her back in office in 2004. Now Gloria has made things worse they say. This is like GWB being reelected the second time in spite of the not too popular first term. Now every body’s blaming GWB for making a huge mess of the country but not blaming themselves who voted him back.

So to the Erap lovers who want him back, think hard if you want to be robbed of your taxes again and take over the jueteng lordship by this convicted plunderer. When will you ever learn?

Harry, looking back at hindsight, George W. Bush did well in his first term, but his misfortune was his involvement in the search for Iraq’s WMD which led to the invasion of that country. The faulty intel they had on Iraq’s alleged WMD was the single blow that ruined Bush’s credibility everywhere. And it could have also been his greatest triumph against terrorists had they discovered the WMD. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end for GWB.

TO STOP ILLIGAL DRUGS IS VERY SIMPLE! CUT THE SOURCE.

All PGMA has to do is SENT a diplomatic protest against Mainland China and Taipei to stop smuggling the drugs to our shore.

With suffisticated X-ray machines in both these two countries, it is next to impossible to transport these items without detection.

That is, if they want to COOPERATE.

I am a regular reader of the Inquirer newspaper as the company that I work for subscribe to it. I just want to express my predilection for Conrado de Quiros’ column There’s the Rub. It’s the first thing I look for everytime I get hold of your paper. I like the way he tackles serious topics especially his typical satirical humor. Even though our opinions sometimes differ, I still hold his articles in high regard. I hope he gets to read this, just want you to know Mr. de Quiros that I always look forward to reading your articles. It enlightens and somewhat stirs the oftentimes passive state of my mind.
And by the way, I’m just a 21 yr-old high school grad who is still hoping for a brighter future for the Philippines.

This morning, I invited myself in to attend the inauguration of the Kaliraya Bridge joining Roxas, District and Tatalon Estate at Q.C.

The guest speaker was Mayor Feliciano Belmonte. I wanted to have an open forum( on holds bar) with the Mayor.

On a schedule inaugaration at 9:00 a.m., the Mayor arrived at 10:30.

First, I approach the local priest to get his assistance to help accomodated me to the program. “I can not help you, better if you speak with the EMCEE.” He said.

Second, when I approach the EMCEE and ask him if I can be given a few minutes speech address to Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, in the presence of the public, to aire my grivances. He, too, was not of any help. He said, the program was already prepared and cannot be reviced.

So, patiently, I went along with the program but has not yet given up. While the opening Prayer, and National Anthem was being sang, I plan my next move to get his attention. I told myself that perhaps, just after his speech, if I raise my hands, I might get his attention and be given a chance to speak.

And that I deed. Right after his speech, I raised my hand, but unfortunately, he thought, I was cheering him as everyone is clapping.

Undaunted, while Mayor Feliciano Belmonte was shaking hands with Congresswoman Nanette Daza, the Council members of Quezon City, I went in and shake hands with him.

I said, “ Mayor! With due respect, may I request your presence on an open forum at our Barangay Hall, but, without the presence of the Barangay Officials? For these people Barangay Council members will always use the “cordone sannitaire” to prevent you from listening to unpleasant elsewirl important matters?

And he said, “yes”. Unfortunately, few seconds later, he said, “Why don’t you join us at the City Hall, we have a people’s meeting every Monday and Wednesday at the third floor?”

I accept the invitation of the good Mayor, but I have reservation. I have misgiving accepting his invitation at the City Hall because, even at that Kaliraya bridge ceremonny, all sorts of security personels like the PNP, the Mayor’s Security Guards, the Tanods, and plain Cloth agents were swarming all over the inauguration cite. What would be my chance to have an open discussion with him, and to listen to legitimate grievances, when he has so many followers? Would he take you seriously?

Actually, there were more government security agents than the public audience present at the ceremony.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I have three subjects that I want to address to him;

1. Why did he spent billions of pesos of Local tax payers money of Quezon City on the National Roads project.
2. Why did Business and Real Estate Tax of 2009 been raise amids economic downturn.

3. Why is the Book of Accounts of Quezon City so messy and violates the Commission on Audit’s rules and regulation. A few of C.O.A. violation are as follows;

a. Employees who are decease, commits Absence without Leave, retired, and etc, received compensation in the year CY 2006 and CY2007, and previous year. In short, there are ghost employees in Quezon City local government.

b. About the 1.2 billion pesos expenses which cannot be traced because of missing, absent, and spurious reciepts, and is next to impossible to reconstruct because failure of Quezon City Government to follow the C.O.A. rules and regulation.

c. Why is the Real Estate Tax collection violates the C.O.A. rules and regulation wherein there should be destinction between a cash payment and a check payment wherein the check paid should have its check number recorded, name of Bank, date of issue and name of payee. (This was not followed, making it possible to encash check payments infavor of the Local government, deverted to a personal account.)

d. Why is the high officials of Quezon City Local government who were given brand new cars still collects their gasoline allowance in violation to the COA rules and regulation?

These are but a few of the violations committed by the Local Government of Quezon City.

George W. Bush was fortunate because Bill Clinton left behind a huge budget surplus of USD 4,000B and the Gross National Product of the country at that period was USD 10,000B while the unemployment was only 4 per cent. Clinton focused on debt reduction instead of tax cuts to generate growth; but Bush, in his term, squandered the surplus on tax cuts for the very rich leaving behind the middle class Americans. Even his first term ended without any real achievements; in those four years, Bush was simply basking in the economic success of his predecessor — Bill Clinton.

His first election victory was shrouded by the doubts over the Florida ballots and by the time of his re-election, his administration had used the war in Iraq in “terrorizing” the American population into submission. We can safely say that George W. Bush will go down in the American history as one of the most unpopular president.

WILL OTHER ASPIRANTS DO A LACSON?

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20090206-187688/Will-other-aspirants-do-a-Lacson

It was easy for Sen. Lacson to give way to SC chief justice Puno and why not? Lacson has been lagging way, way behind the presidential wannabes in all public surveys for many months now and is not seen as a real contender. So, what is there to lose? If he were among the top three like Noli, Villar and Loren, I doubt very much if Lacson, ambitious that he is to attempt to win the presidency once more, would be that generous.

Lacson’s ploy makes a good talking point that he could even be aspiring to be chosen as running mate as VP for the Chief Justice. Better a VP than none at all.

Friend Harry writes, “…George W. Bush will go down in the American history as one of the most unpopular president.”

Tragic isn’t it? Here’s a president whose popularity rose as a result of 9/11 and which helped him win a second term only to become the most unpopular and villified president ever because of what turned out to be an unlawful invasion of Iraq in search for WMD that was never there.

The consciousness of America was so focused on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that the developing problems of financial institutions were overlooked which ended in a catastrophic financial collapse. We used to say when America catches cold the rest of the world suffers more. And that’s exactly what is happening in the world today.

Here is an excerpt about extra-judicial killing posted in Daily INquirer as proof that Military has a big participation on these heinous activities.

3rd general confirms talks of extrajudicial killings at AFP

By Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer
First Posted 06:29pm (Mla time) 06/24/2007

Filed Under: political killings

MANILA — A third Armed Forces general has come forward to confirm that killings of political activists were discussed “openly” in a top-level military conference about two years ago.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officer said he was present when two other generals discussed the military’s course of action in the wake of the communist threat in key areas in Luzon.

One of the two generals, then with some 3,000 soldiers at his disposal, was assigned the topic “extrajudicial killings,” according to the Inquirer informant.

He said the general assigned to the topic tackled the idea of liquidating suspected communist insurgents and sympathizers even in places outside of his jurisdiction.

The revelations coincided with statements by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno that the high court planned to call a multisectoral summit next month to discuss what role the judiciary could play in stemming the tide of political killings in the country.

Puno said the summit might redefine the concept of “command responsibility” to curb incidents of human rights abuses.

The Inquirer source those present at the conference were at least 100 soldiers, including the support staff of individual brigades and battalions.

“It’s very abnormal,” he said in an interview late Friday night, referring to the idea of military-initiated assassinations being openly discussed in a military conference “as if there’s nothing wrong about them.”

“Extrajudicial killing has never been a government policy even during the Marcos regime,” the commander said.

The meeting, which dragged on for about two hours, later prompted another incredulous general to phone then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga and complain, according to the source.

Senga, who retired in July last year, supposedly promised to talk to one of the two generals who presided over the meeting.

The Inquirer tried, but failed to contact Senga.

Details about this “extraordinary” military conference were first made available to the Inquirer by two generals, who vowed to help senator-elect Antonio Trillanes IV in investigating political killings under the Arroyo administration. They promised to load the former Navy officer with “ammunition” for privilege speeches and committee inquiries.

The third Inquirer source did not say if he, too, was willing to provide information to the military rebel-turned-senator. But he was clearly, although silently, against what appeared as an emerging policy of political killings carried out by a particular section in the Armed Forces.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The crime committed by our Arm Forces are direct violation of the Philippine Constitution of 1987, Bills of Rights which are as follows:

BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

Section 18. (1) No person shall be detained solely by reason of his political beliefs and aspirations.

I suggest that these misguided Generals in the Arm Forces reorient themselves on their real role. And MURDER I am sure is never a part of their functions.

I say, those who perpetrate Murder as solution to insugencies is using a coward’s tool.

We have seen in movies wherein a galant and honorable men would give his protoganist enough time and chance to protect his life when challenge.

In our country, murders committed by military and law officers are doing these activities at the most ackward manner. They use the element of surprise, overwhelming superiority in men and arms, and they target their helpless victims with treachery.

The Alston Report, U.N. REPRESENTATIVE, on Judicial killings in the Philippines clearly discribe how these crimes are done.

Students on their way home are kidnapped on isolated locations devoid of witnesses, and are brought to military safehouse, and are subsequently interrogated and summarily executed.

Fisherfolks, officers of progressive organization are forwarned, some are befreind by military, then subsequently gunned down in the dark right after they answer the call from someone outside.

There are endless list of kidnappings and murder that goes unabated even up to the present.

Let us rally behind Judjes Puno of Supreme Court who vehemently objects to the role of para-military, military, and PNPs who perpetuate these dastardly crime.

How many times did PGMA gone abroad? Your guess is good as mine. But one thing is sure, she has been globe trotting so many times, and from East to West, North to South of these earth.

No THIRD WORLD President (POOR AMONG THE POOREST COUNTRY) can beat our president when it comes to foreign travel. In addition, no THIRD WORLD President (POOR AMONG THE POORESSST COUNTRY) has ever carried in-tow as many hangers-on (sabit!) as our president.

The attitude of PGMA regarding our national problem seems like she is treating it just like an ordinary one.

She is not perturb, disturb, or scared that our foreign as well as domestic debt is ballooning to unpresidented scale. We borrow and borrow and borrow, almost from any source, even to the point of cheating the SSS members of their hard-earned contribution by using her con man Romulo Neri to divert 12.5 billion pesos SSS FUNDS to the National Treasury. Such words as Suvoreign guarantee is meaningless when the one borrowing has gone beyond his limit.

The financial state of our government is on the red. It cannot survive anymore without borrowing. The problem is that with so much corruption, this government has lost its chance to recover during the good times. The budget such as last year which amounts to 1 trillion and 2 hundred billion pesos was all lost or wasted, and majority went to corruption.

Now, our little president is busy travelling abroad, partly to take her role as international member, and partly, looking for lenders. The World Bank, the International Monetory Funds, the European Union Creditor banks, and many other lendors are hesitant to shell out loans to these corrupt government. For them, sovoreign guarantee is meaningless.

These lendors knows only too well that once the country would not be able to pay their loans, the Legislative (who are beholden to the President), would just pass a law to limit or put a cap to the repayment of loans. On the other hand, these Congressmen will just restructure the loans to be paid on a longer term of repayment.

For Juan de la Cruz, it would be more appropriate if our little president would just board a commercial jet to her destination, and limit her group to the barest essential. At least, she owes Juan de la Cruz this much, just to show her sincererity during these hard times. The problem with her is that, she never intends to free Juan de la Cruz to the bondages of indebtedness. How can PGMA justify terminating thousands of government employees in the pretext that we are on a financial fix, while she keeps on travelling abroad on a big Chartered Commercial Jet.

In one hour flight, the jet consumes fifteen tons of fuel, the owner pays for the salary of flight crew, the insurance, the commissaries, the overfly fee to the country it aircraft passes, the navigational expenses, the owner also pays the parking fee, the maintenance, and other expenses.

It does not take one to study postgraduate in Harvard University to know what I am talking about. It is all about saving and getting the most out of our resources, either financial or what not. This is not the time to splurges our resources.

Madam president, you will not be around after 2010, and you left a ligacy as the most corrupt, the most murderous, and the most inefficient president in the history of Philippine governance! You will leave behind so much financial obligation for Juan de la Cruz to pay, in his time, and the generations to come.

Despite a few hiccups with Vox Populi, I still enjoy reading other people’s comments. This paper has been useful, if not sometimes a contradiction. Still, all the best and good wishes to the writers, columnists of PDI.
Anyway, I would just like to say that too many opinions have already been written and said about Cha-Cha. It has become tiring and uninspiring. My thought is this: does the country need it or not? For me, it’s a resounding No. Why? If it ain’t broke, why fix it, to quote R Reagan. I mean, we do not need more of the same. What we need in that beautiful country is competent, unselfish, highly-educated, hard-working, honest and even beguiling people to run the country. It will be extremely costly and for what? Also, this is only paper-changing. IF the same politicians—elected or not—are running the show, then what the hell is the change for? Too much money, too much talk, too much crap for this thing to go on. The change we need is basic: attitude and a host of other virtues, values and time along the way to make our country what it should have been 20years ago> First World. So, please, I call on all politicos, elected or not, to please stop sniping, griping, biting. Filipinos are tired of being pushed around.

de Quiroz failed to analyze that Lozada made the fatal mistake of of seeking redress from the wrong guys: rabid anti-Arroyo politicians who gave Lozada’s quest and heroic “singing” an unworthy political color. With the Sisters and the Church behind him, JLo should have gone straight to the courts all the way to the highest court and formally filed whatever charges he had with a team of lawyer’s.. The Senate hearings proved to be a losing venue because such hearings only muddled the issues. The senate hearing blew it. Lozada lost what could have been a winning combination to spell the doom of the guilty who must be laughing at him all the way to the spa.

MIKE ARROYO NEED NOT SHOW UP

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=188170

“… Press Secretary Cerge Remonde … asked critics of Mike Arroyo to present solid evidence.

“These are nothing until they are able to present evidence that are admissible in court,” Remonde said. “This belongs to the realm of nothing but political black propaganda.”

This is where Remonde is wrong. Mike Arroyo has been consistently accused of wrong doing. Name a high-profile criminal activity and Arroyo’s name is likely to be in there.

His nemesis Ping Lacson may not be the epitome of integrity and his allegations may be taken as politically motivated, but this time it’s the World Bank making the accusation.

The WB may have no interest in taking criminal action against those accused of bidding collusion, but as husband of the president it behooves him even more to clear his name or he will go down with his wife to be perceived as truly corrupt.

Remonde’s claim that the unsubstantiated accusation is part of black propaganda will not stand. It is the World Bank that’s accusing and not Lacson.
And this time the Senate is obligated to investigate to the fullest and expose everything publicly before endorsing the case to the Ombudsman for prosecution. Having done this, the DOJ and the Ombudsman can no longer claim lack of merit to presecute if the Senate investigating committee has done a thorough job and clearly established prima facie evidence.

La Gloria: “Pathetic (?)

First of all, I am neither a fan nor a supporter of the President. I left that beautiful country almost three decades ago but with the internet, I am able to follow developments there. Of course, I cannot put my hand on y heart and say I know everything what’s going on—that would be too boring, too arrogant and too naive. Instead, I will concentrate on my own human instinct(s) as to why we, the Filipinos in general hates our politicians. No one blames us for that. However, there are times when we must understand that the likes of the president has to travel. And believe me, it is no joke—that travelling thing. Tiring, tiring, tiring. You get up early, have a bath, breakfast, make yourself tidy and ready for the trip to the airport, the hassle of catching taxis, trains and the like. No doubt, by the time you sit down after being frisked by airport women security, you are either sick of them or plain tired to bother about anything. Sorry to digress but travelling is indeed verrrry tiring. I should know.l I travel a lot. Just a few days ago, I was in London for a brief holiday with my English husband and the rigmarole of preparing one suitcase for both, and the routine of catching a taxi to the bus station (it costs a fortune to go to the airport) then queue which takes in the form of snakes and ladders—mile-long non-stop, gruelling queues can really put off even the most frequent travellers.
Now back to Gloria. She travels because it is part of her job. People talk easy about how much mileage she uses. But, if you come to think of it, by the time Gloria reaches her destination, she, like the rest of the millions of travellers, are dead tired. Do you really think she even has the time to relax? I mean, the first thing she would look for is the CR. The second is to get to her room quickly. By the time she relaxes, I doubt if she can carry herself to the appointment. I am not saying that she doesn’t have her own entourage, but, por favor, she is the president of the country. She needs to broker deals, appear pleasant and tidy and smart in front of these people. It is not easy to smile knowing you haven’t put up your feet after that long long travel. As for the frequency of her travel, let’s remember that there are more businesses nowadays than in the time of F Ramos, Estrada or Cory. That there are many more OFWs abroad, that travelling is a necessity. From Europe to the USA, it’s at least 8 hours., From the Philippines to the USA, that’s 24 hours, practically. What time does she have to think of other things like shopping, or having her hair done, look her best? There are just too many things she has to do, for heaven’s sake. Give her a break. She is not there to have a manicure. It is hard work, damn hard work, to represent her country, and for some members of the media to keep on and on about her frequent travels is just too much, even for some readers who do understand different time zones when travelling. I am very well travelled and it is damn tiring. I think there comes a point when enough is enough. Gloria is not doing it for her benefit. I’m sure many will agree with me on that.

If any smart Alec nominates Lozada for President, I will name either Willie Revillame or Joey de Leon to fight him. If he names, PDEA Marcelino, I will put up Atty. Resado. If anyone campaigns for the candidacy of Loren Legarda, I will suggest Korina Sanchez to match her. If any Showbiz fan wants Bong Revilla, I will ask Kuya Germs to oppose him. If Pacquiao runs for President, Efren Bata Reyes or Django Bustamante might run against him. If Manong Ed Panlilio, or JIL Villanueva run for President, I will propose the name of Cardinal Rozales or Bishop Cruz. And if Senator Lacson joins the elction, a getleman b y the name of Mikle will surely go against him. Philippine election have always been fun.

Filipinos will Fight for the TRUTH ???

Hmmm…Indeed, fight for the truth. What truth, if I may ask? Filipinos have already folded their arms and said, “oh, well, if they do it, why can’t we, ordinary folks…” The truth is, in the Philippines, truth is distorted. It now has become too distorted that truth is already unbelievably untruthful. Lies have become half-truths, and half-truths have become tainted with semi-lies. Confused? Why should we be confused? We Filipinos are great at mocking one another without any basis for finding out the real truth. If truth be told, the third of the country are either liars, economical with the truth or dowright truthful. In which case, who is the best person to tell the truth in that beautiful country of ours? Elected politicians? Unelected appointed ones? The Philippine Media|?| Or those whose only chance of speaking out in forums or online sites? Is there an iota of truth in news reporting? Is there an iota of truth in what the elected politicians are saying? I mean, if we have to define truth, then truth being truth, has long been gone, from top to bottom. Whether we like it or not, half-truths, exaggeration and lies will forever be the daily norm in every qualified station in life.Finding out the so-called “real truth” is a dead-end thing and a waste of time. No country’s politicians tell the truth, nor do the media there nor in foreign shores. Twisting words, opinions, side-remarks, whispers and backbites are all part and parcel of telling the “truth”. How trustworthy are those “whistle-blowers”?Check them out, too. They probably have skeletons in their closets as much as those they are accusing of lies and corruption. Even the Catholic Church there and abroad are not immune to their culture of moral corruption—and that’s a fact. How many priests have gone to jail for behind-the-scenes misdoings? No one is spared from turth—or lies. The sooner we get that in our coconut heads, the quicker we can resolve the immediate ills of our country. There’s just too much bickering, sniping, angry words, post mortem ideas. Filipinos, in general, are as much to blame for the culture of corruption since these voters put them there. As for the clever media, well, they, too, need to look in themselves why negative images of our country suffer. Don;t ask why. The Philippine media has a lot to answer for, too. They are the ones putting the negative spotlight abroad by showing unpleasant images on a daily basis. We all succumb to celebrities and celebrity news but somehow, news reporting on hunger always form the basis of their reporting. In the Philippines, we normally eat five to seven courses, as Filipinos that’s rather common. So, when households begin to realise that they can now only afford three-four courses, they instantly say, they are impoverished! Food has always been a byword for Filipinos and that’s understandable. But to always exaggerate that there is food crisis is tantamount to saying the supermarkets aren’t well-stocked with imports. I mean, the last twelve months, the media kept pointing out about the “food crisis”. Oh, really? Perhaps, they should say, money crisis? Not food crisis. There is food everywhere: markets, supermarkets, streets, flea markets, wet markets. It is the affordability that was lacking, even today, by people. But to do blanket assessment, “Food Crisis” is panicking the whole country.It is this headlines and bylines by the Filipino reporters that makes reading a matter of life and death. The words used—or the failure to use words correctly. So then, their own news becomes a lie, or half-truth, or plain gobbledegook.

People for all reasons blow whistle. Whatever reason they have, I think they are understandable. I think WHAT people are saying, is all that matters and should matter.

I remember my greatest hero. He knock on my bedroom one early morning when I was ten. I remember that first and only time he beat me up.

I came home late that evening, entered my room through the window, too tired to even wash myself.

Hero just grabbed my hands [that I made efforts to hide] and without a word gave me some beatings I never forgot. I got it in the corner, I got it under the bed, I got it in the bathroom, everywhere I ran.

I’d been with a gang of children pilfering brass bearings from parked traincars and I had grease all over my hands.

And I saw my brother grinning from ear to ear at me beaten to pulp. The whistle blower! I knew it! Me and my gang made his mouth to water before that, and he was just jealous of everything! Damn whistle blower but he was telling the truth!

hill roberts Says:
February 11th, 2009 at 1:48 am
La Gloria, TRAVEL.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hundred one percent, I agree with you Hill Roberts.

I drive from home to work and I am dead tired to watch tv.
Imagine, it is only 6miles drive back and forth and yet no more time to relax except sleep.

Now, people were saying she’s the most traveled president. Who cares?
Gloria travels not to shop. Gloria travels not for a cruise. Gloria travels not for a vacation. Gloria travels to work unlike Imelda she traveled with shopping.

Gloria travels because she has to.
It is an obligation, it is a duty because she is the President of the Philippines.
Gloria travels because like a mother, she’s looking for something to her children like job, etc, etc and etc.

For sure, Gloria hates travel from country to country.
Imagine, she is globetroting by air, if you know what I mean, danger.
The hassle of sitting in one cramped seat in an airplane makes one feet swollen, with butt tired and if one has hemorroid, getting in and out of seat is a hassle.
At Gloria’s age, she cannot cope up anymore the long air travel but what she can’t do. She is the President of the Philippines.

To those who only see the beauty and expenses of Gloria’s travel, why not switch places and see what you got.
To travel is hassle dazzle tiring boring job.

You are right, Hll Roberts.

“Gloria travels because she has to.
It is an obligation, it is a duty because she is the President of the Philippines.
Gloria travels because like a mother, she’s looking for something to her children like job, etc, etc and etc.”

- which I think is a myth that perhaps some of them truly believe.

Investors, meaning people who have money, always break their brows on what or in where to make more money. They need little invitation. Some of them will even break doors open, or come in the back door, where they smell money and where they are not welcome.

The Philippines simply have many negatives. Like between the Philippines and China for example, same cheap labor, investorss would opt China - a big market with less cost of transport.

Labor export-import agents, they are everywhere because there’s fortune for them. They have been in the trade even before government noticed what we called then as ‘brain drain’ now ‘labor export’.

Mula pa Kay Presidente Marcos, Cory, FVR [one thing good with Erap] and now, puro junkets lang yon. Look at what each said of each junket, puro tagumpay, but where are we today. What do we see?

It takes more than junkets to bring in investors. Junkets are needless for that.

Thank you, Mang Goding. Hello! it’s been quite a while. Glad to see you a gain here on this exciting site. This fantastic technology makes me feel I am there with you and my kapwa Pinoy—in an instant.
Indeed, there is nothing glamourous about travelling. Even foreign travel. It’s hard work; too much walking walking, walking.

As for La Gloria, I think she still manages to look great and refreshed after that long travel. Sure, she has clocked up miles, but Mang Goding, there’s a lot of business out there to broker, right? During the time of previous presidents, there were hardly any foreign investments. La Gloria may not be popular, because the constituents of that beautiful country of ours refuse to see her better, very hard-working side, but she has in fact, opened a lot of doors during her short time as president. Just look at al the new infrastructure, the countless urban developmments, those posh new business districts, those airports now open for international business. Let’s give credit where credit is due. She is not perfect,but who is? Certainly not those presidents before them. They, too had their detractors. For once, let’s look at her performance in black and white. Write down all her solid achievements under the four years that she has ruled our country. Many Filipinos are amiss in recognising her many efforts to get business on track there. As I said, I am not a fan but I can see how good she is at making things going for our country to be better, in economic terms. For once, let’s see the bright side of things.

Mang Goding, at least you acknowledge that the 6-mile ride there and back, is rather tiring! Of course it is, especially when traffic isn’t moving and the seat becomes hard as rock! Regards and best wishes. Hill

sorry, in my last comment, I meant to say the word, “…detractors…”

A president is not an empress or a pharoah who only sits on a throne and rules with a atroke of the hand. These days, when modern communication and transportation have shrunk the globe, a president needs to move out of his throne and visit other countries to perform her mandate: diplomacy, bi-lateral business talks, get feedbacks from her expatriates (OFWs), assist in their problems (plead for prisoners), inspire hardwork and nationalism from them Of course, for her own personal growth as a government leader. A president can not please everybody. If she doesn’t travel, she is damned as a lazy, do-nothing armchair leader; if she goes overseas, she is also damned as a globetrotting expensive splurging President. You must be wondering if this so, why do politicians still want to be President. That’s for you to anayze. my friend.

The Liberal Party need not scout far and wide for a compatible vice-presidential teammate for Mar Roxas. That partner is right beside him, heart and soul - KORINA SANCHEZ. Korina’s celebrity dovetails Roxas’ political clout. And Korina’s credentials and track record as a well-rounded broadcaster are insuperable, even by her former colleagues Kabayan Noli and Loren Legarda. While she has no political experience to speak of, which makes her a non-Trapo, Korina’s life (even when she was an active college student) and work have brought her directly to the masses whose blood, sweat, and tears she knows only too well, and even better than Noli and Loren did during their time. Korina’s programs have little to do with rumour-mongering, and petty celebrity scandals, but with socially-relevant issues that affect the lives of the less fortunate and the ignored in society. Moreover, this vice-presidential potential is a feisty, charismatic, and a smart communicator of both English, Tagalog, or Taglish. Given two separate venues where Loren and Korina will speak simulataneously to reach out to the masses, I wager that the people will flock and listen to Korina. Unlike, Loren who can’t erase her elite stigma, Korina does not exude any air of arrogance or double-talk, but a down to earth touch. A Roxas-Sanchez, or ROX-SAN, duo in the Palace will be a unified, well-coordinated governance between two people who not only trust and need but also love each other. Finally, Korina is the genuine Rated-K: KAPAMILYA, KAPUSO, KABISIG.

58 trips in six years is just too much. That means, on the average, almost 10 trips outside the Philippines.

What has she achieve when she went to the U.S., concidentally, during the PAQUIO’s fight. She spent 67 million pesos of Juan de la Cruz money.

When she talked with the American business Chamber, was she able to convince them to invest in our country?

We should accept it that her trip to attend to speaking engagement with American investors is not necessary. As I have said before, Vietnam President never travels abroad, yet it got a $40 billion investment last year (before the Leaman Brothers fiasco).

Why would PGMA bring so many hangers-on who has nothing to do with her trip?

Why charter a very big commercial aircraft for her trip? We all know that our government is sinking ever deeper every minute with our domestic and foreign debt, yet, here is madam little president, still living on her velvet make-believe, that she can still squander a little bit of Juan de la Cruz money.

Is the 67 million pesos on the PAQUIOA fight, and the 128 million pesos on a nine day trip to Europe which side-trip to U.S. from Dubai CHEAP?

On a trip from Frankfurt, Germany onward to the Philippines, I sat beside an I.M.F. delegates who were suppose to loan out money to our government during the time of F.V.R.

I told the head of the team if it is possible to just forget the mission. During that time, F.V.R. has the penchant of spending his presidency traveling abroad, making stupid speeches. What has he achieved? NOTHING!

Develop countries offen time get feedbacks from their own investors on foreign lands before they go any further investing their capital.

Japan has its JETRO. It makes surveys, it even makes studies on the shape of feet we got before they produce the shoes for us. It also studies our preferences. And it does this by making their own surveys from foreign lands. They neer relly on stupid speeches.

In short, PGMA does not need to travel at all just to attract investors. What happen to her Spain trip? Do you see any new Spanish investment established here after her travel? Nada!

It all turns out nothing but pledges. The foreign government just forget what has been talked about right after she bids them goodbye. Nothing!

During a Asian Ministerial Meeting here, so many decades ago, Lim Kuwan Yu, the founding father of Singapore, boarded Philippine Airlines as passenger, from Tokyo, Japan with just two bodyguards.

How prudent is Singapore founding Father. Yet, in the case of PGMA, terrible! She brings so many hangers-on, even press people, who has nothing to do with her mission.

“Son of the gun”, when will she realize that it is the money of Juan de la Cruz she is squandering.

Why not travel as passenger on a commercial jet, instead of chartering the whole aircraft.

In one day (24 hours), a big commercial aircraft can get revenue in hundreds of millions. Yet, our Airline, because it is too scared to be intimidated by a crazy govenment unwillingly surrender its aircraft at the discretion of the president.

Is that morally right?

FOR YOU PEOPLE WHO CAN STILL TOLERATE PGMA’s ECCENTRIC BEHAVIOUR, just you wait.

I’ll bet my last centavoe; the value of our peso will slide down the abyss sometime in June.

We will be the next ARGENTINA, who default in servicing its foreign and domestic debt.

In four months, the value of peso is only worth on its paper weight!

We will be bankrupt.

Imagine, Miriam Santiago lambasted W.B. for implicating F.G. when the latter was just trying to safeguard the loan, lease it goes somewhere else other than the project it was intended for!

Every poor country is now scampering where to get loans to stabilize their economy, and here we are, antagonizing a pristine institution like W.B.? Who does Senator Miriam Defensor think she is.

Miriam is nothing but a spoiled brat, a megalomaniac, and protector of a corrupt administration.

She is a doberman of the corrupt administration, just like Enrile, and Jocker Arroyo.

How dare you risk the lives of millions of Filipinos because of your inappropriate allegations against the W.B. representative.

Can we survive without the W.B. and I.M.F. loans?

Let us accept it, our country became a beggar or pauper the moment PGMA became our President.

By antagonizing W.B., can Madam Senator tell us how we can survive now?

PNP PERCEIVE TO HAVE COMMITTED A ROB-OUT.

i do not see any reason why the PNP Generals still has to investigate the latest encounter against the carnapping incident.

Does it not suffice to see what has transpired?

Eleven shots (after the carnappers has been disabled, bleeding and dieing inside the car) was fired at methodical time interval. No hurry, no hesitation; it was a deliverate shot only a cold blooded killer can commit.

It is at the height of absurdity for the Chief of PNP to include the element of mindset (state of mind) of the law officers while they were shooting the dieing or already dead suspects.

If it was survival instinct that prompt them behave that way, why in the first place did they brave to open the bullet riddent vehicle.

Is it not also the height of absurbdity to reason out that there was an encounter, when all the carnapped windows are all close? Who would be crazy enough to open your door instead of the window on a shoot out?

Also, the bullet ridden carnapped vehicle was cleaned up, wiping out the critical evidences, by suppose PNP investigators.
Don’t they know the SOPs?

How then can the Commission on Human Rights be able to get the facts if the PNP people who were also assigned to investigate, wipeout all the tell-tales?

Given the interdepartment courtesy, should it not be prudent for the forensic investigators of PNP to wait for the other investigating party to avoid being suspected of white-wash, or removing evidences from the scene of the crime?

Why did the forensic of PNP jumpstart the investigator of CHR (commission of Human Rights), considering the people involve belongs to their Department?

If it is not moronic, imbacile, or plain stupidity; this whole investigation affair is quite a circus, wherein the investigating body are making a clown of themselves.

How about it Generals of PNP. Is the criteria for promotion based on how many Himan rights Violation through summary executions your men commits?

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! BAng! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

(eleven shots after the suspects where already disabled.)

Yesterday, I mentioned of consequences because of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiagos lambasting the World Bank Representative who submitted a report regarding FIRST GENTLEMENT’s involvement on the overpricing and the cartelization of biddings of projects in DPWH.

I mentioned about what will happen if I.M.F. and W.B. will gang up on us and refuse to grant anymore loans.

I said, by June, our money will just be valued on its paper weight.

Now, today, February 21, 2009, my prediction (I hope it wouldn’t be true) seems to be getting sooner than I expect.

Just about last month, our exchange rate was around 47 pesos. By mid February, it was 47.50 pesos to a U.S. dollar.

Now, the exchange rate deteriorated to 48.30 pesos. A jump of about 80 centavos less to the U.S. dollar.

Are we approaching the ghost of ARGENTINA?

kORINA must take the cue. Mar Roxas, for all his latest ideas to show that he is pro-poor and pro-people just would not work.

Better if he donates his Presidential election on 2010 to charity.

People just would not forget how stagnant and non involve Mar Roxas was during the first 4 years of being a Senator.

He never participates on important issues, neither would he takes side.

He just sits there mooning and whilling, as time pass by.

It is too obious that he plans to run. But, for me, he is already doomed to failure.

This is just my opinion. To hell I care who he is.

wonderwoman, you never stop critizing GMA including her trips, you always smell blood everytime she move her butt, what a waste of time, you have to thank her for the hard work she is doing to your country,looking for investment,she works hard for the economy no matter how much she was critizise, she is the only president that never stop working,and I can see it in your life in the Philippines unlike us here in the US. everyday were worried that the next day you loose your job or your house and migth end up in the streets, you have to appreciate what Gloria has done to your country,coz you dont feel the financial meltdown right now, your economy is still stable, I always call my friends there, and they are living in a very easy life,Pamahjong-mahjong lang sila, o kaya sa sabungan sila habang ang kanilang kabuhayan ay hindi naman kagandahan they even tell me that a lot of people there always shop to the mall unlike here malls are empty and only in the philippines that youcan read in the news attacking the Govt. everyday,your democracy is really alive, everyday I read the inquirer in the internet always negative that is why the percetion of the readers around the world is that filipinos are hypocrite people, they cant accept the fact that their leaders are doing good, they always say the negative, too much politics,you can never be united and this is the root problem, tribalism, look at the americans,after Obama won the election, they set aside politics and work hand in hand to move forward, how I wish the philippines to be like this when all the citizens work hand in hand and move the country forward,Philipiines is still a good place to live in, it is my dream to retire and live back to this beautiful country,I hope soon it will be a peaceful and a loving country just like the time when my parents raised me up
and like the elementary days I experienced in this beautiful country,God Bless this country.

PDI Columnist Neal Cruz should be commended for exposing the schem to increase to 50 more the number of white elephants in congress. Sus Mariano Ka Indo! If these animals persist in their avaricious plan, a violent people’s revolution is the only way to stop them. Non-poliitical leaders from the business,the media, academic, religious, and the masses must organize themselves and march to Congress - the PNP and the military should lay off - and allow the people to get in the hall, get the microphone and address the body. Allow the people to talk to congress in their own turf. Let the congressmen listen to voices of agony, despair, hunger, and anger of the people. If these animals to listen to the people’s legitimatepleadings and demands, the last recourse will be for the people to use their only weapon: their number and drive those animals out of congress halls. The international press should be there to broadcast and witness allo this. If the Thais can do it, we Filipinos can do it better.

Doronila’s Analysis: To Obama, RP no longer a key US ally

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090223-190460/To-Obama-RP-no-longer-a-key-US-ally

It is Doronila who is giving too much importance to the Philippines in its relationship with the US. He dwells too much on the snub GMA got from Obama and Hillary who did not bother to drop by to have a chat with Gloria.

Hillary’s mission in Asia is strictly to have talks with leaders of those four countries that are significantly involved and in direct path of the political and economic affairs of the US and which the Philippines has no direct play in any of these.

The significance of the Indonesia visit is firstly, Obama is hugely popular there where he spent his boyhood years. And being the largest Muslim population in the world, Obama is enlisting Indonesia’s assistance to help him get his message across to the Arab Muslim world. Japan is America’s No. 1 ally in the Far East that can help the US promote their joint economic and political interests in the region. South Korea is the US second best ally and watch dog to keep watch of what North Korea is doing with its nuclear program. And China to allay it of its fears that the US is not going towards economic protectionism as part of economic build up in the US.

So, where does the Philippines play in all this? Nothing. But if the Philippines want to play first fiddle again, ask Gloria to invite Bin Ladin to make a state visit and the White House phone will be ringing the Malacanang phone in no time. Heheh

DENTAL MISSIONS HIDE BALIKATAN OBJECTIVE

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20090225-190846/Dental-missions-hide-Balikatan-objective

I totally disagree with the opinion writer’s call to ban Balikatan because she thinks it has done more harm to the country than anything else. She and her group is going on a nationwide caravan to promote their sentiments. This is a free country and she can do that.

Nonetheless, I appreciate her concern to do what she thinks is good for the country and since she’s there already may I suggest that she also go nationwide and call for the ban on so-called party list groups of leftists that front for the communist NPAs? Start with Bayan and Gabriela. Both began as nationalist civic groups during Marcos regime and became communists when infiltrated by Maoist communists of the Joma Sison kind.

There is no organized group today besides the Abu Sayyaf that has done more harm and violence in the countryside than them. The Abus and NPAs are bandits and cannot be categorized like the political group of the MNLF which is fighting for self-rule.

90
sonnyboy Says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 am

Sir’

Thanks for your sympathy for our President, but no thanks. You have the wrong notion about her.

She is wicked as any President can be. Just take note of the following events in his administration;

1. The waste of 2.3 billion pesos on the socalled computerize election committed by Abalos, Chairman of Comelec. Remember, Abalos is a close associate of the First couple.
2. In her tenure as president, in 6 years she has travelled 58 times abroad. Mind you, two great nations in the world, Russia and China’s president never travelled to other countries as much as she deed. Take into account that our couintry is a pauper, a beggar, a third world country.

In just two trips, the Paquiao trip cost Juan de la Cruz 67 million pesos.

In the latest trip (9 days) to Europe, and the side trip to America ( hoping that President Obama would still have symphathy to a corrupt government), it cost another 132 million pesos from the pocket of Juan de la Cruz.

How much more of the 56 trips! How much did Juan de la Cruz spent? We all know that from point of origin (Philippines), she went to Davos to attend the economic forum, then to Spain (just to rob shoulder with Spain president), she went to the Vatican (She thinks the Vatican Pope doesn’t know the widespread murders committed by her Administration), then she went to South America over flying America.

On her all her trips, “trapos”, sip-sip, Politicians belonging to her administration and their wives, military generals; all sorts of hangers-on joint her flight. People who has nothing to do with her mission were onboard, at the expense of Juan de la Cruz.

How much do you think did Juan de la Cruz spend to these non-benificial and non-productive trips abroad.

Remember, she charters a big big commercial jet (the airlline owner is just too scared to refuse least he may be harass), and the aircraft stays on the airport ramp instead of earnng revenue for the Airline owner.

The great founding father of Singapore boarded Philippine Airlines aircraft with two bodyguards AS PASSENGER. A prosperous country like Singapore, and a very prudent, decent, and foreright PRESIDENT. WHAT DO YOU CALL OUR PRESIDENT COMPARED TO LIM KUAN YU of Singapore.

I may run out of space if I cite to you all the short comings of this corrupt administration.

Have a good day!

PNP GENRALS INVOLVE IN THE COOLED BLOODED MURDER investigation, in the latest EDZA “shootout?” with suspected carnappers is considering slapping those involve with mere misdemeanor offense!

By Gus! What is happening to our country!

90
sonnyboy Says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 am

Vietnam got 40 billion dollar investment without its President travelling abroad. Can you tell cite the investments made by Spain to our country after her travel?

Please do not take offense. But, foreign investors who deals in millions of dollar makes their own marketing survey and strategy of potential market. They also get information from their embassy or consulate, to the political stability, economic status of the intended country, potential market (which is the most important), the cost of operation (labor, utilities like electric, transportation, and infrastructures like roads, etc), and crime rate of that country. They will also consider the corruption index, and the government policies and incentives for potential investors. There are many factors they will consider which they can get from their foreign affairs.

PGMA has wasted her time and effort going abroad making stupid and empty rhetorics. Her high profile speeches does not work because the whole world knows that we are the most corrupt nation in Asia, and the second most corrupt in the world!

President Barak Obama snubs our little president, does it gives you the messages?

She did not even showed up in the EDZA I anniversary (People Power) because her conscience (if she has any) is bothering her to all the abuses her administration has committed.

The BLOOD OF INNOCENT VICTIMS is in her hands!

Just yesterday, 3 victims of summary execution happened; did you ever hear her make any statement that she abhor summary execution.

What does she thinks of our lives, comparable to chickens?

With billions and billions of pesos geared for INTELLIGENCE, why can she not stop all these killings?

Sonny boy, you better not cross my line. He he he!

90
sonnyboy Says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 am

Here is something for you to read

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The compleat political butterfly
February 21, 2009 02:36:00
Philippine Daily Inquirer

This is a reaction to the news item titled “Enrile now open to Charter change.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2/5/09)

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile has yet again proven that he is the compleat political butterfly. He backtracks on his word whenever it suits him best. He did it under Ferdinand Marcos and he is still doing it to this day — this time for the benefit of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, to keep it in power and, at the same time, allow foreigners 100-percent ownership of real estate in the Philippines.

Enrile says that he wants Charter change just to amend the economic provisions, not the political provisions, of the Constitution. But this is all a ploy. When the Charter-change train ever gets to start off, anything goes; and considering the number of unscrupulous legislators we have, we could end up with our worst Constitution ever.

Pursuing Charter change now, in whatever form, will only worsen the adverse impact of the global financial and economic crisis on the Philippines. It will displace more peasants in the countryside, so much so that the Filipino farmer may become extinct. Thousands more will become jobless. In the Bicol region alone two out of three farmers do not own the land they till. In the whole country, seven out of 10 farmers are landless. The price of rice is again increasing. Just last week, a sack of commercial rice was selling at P2,000 and more. It looks like the rice crisis will be felt again this year.

Instead of engaging themselves in Charter change, our legislators should concentrate on passing the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) or House Bill 3059 to protect the Filipino peasants’ right to land and ensure our country’s food self-sufficiency. The enactment of this bill will also ensure that our land will be used for the benefit of the majority of the Filipino people and not just the few moneyed elite.

Enact GARB! Junk Charter change!

FELIX PAZ, chair, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Bikol (KMP-Bikol), Barangay Alcala, Daraga, Albay

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sir! I buy your idea!

In their stands on the Right of Reply bill, Chiz Escudero is showing that he has more horse-sense than veteran senator Aquilino Pimentel.

Pimentel has the bad habit of verbally abusing witnesses in Senate hearings, obviously, he hates to be subjected to the same treatment; hence, the passage of the unpopular Right of Reply bill that seriously threatens the freedom of speech. The media can and should also seek for the passage of a bill on the Right of Refusal to protect their business.

If Pimentel can not stand the heat, he should not be in the kitchen.

Isagani A. Cruz (PDI - Separate Opinion, 03/01/20009)

In his column, Citizen Cruz:

Took liberty to disagree with the
President’s dismissal of the EDSA
demos;

Took liberty of assuming that Erap
would steal less even if he was not
ousted and continued to sit in
Malacanang for 6 years instead of 2;

Took liberty of accusing the President,
like Richard Nixon the unnamed
principal behind the Watergate
cover-ups, to be the principal behind
all the embezzlements and plunders;

Took liberty in believing the unreliable
story of Jun Lozada, accusing the
government of kidnapping but
forgetting how deep Lozada was
involved in the moderation of greed
and Lozada’s possible participation in
the event that Venecia won the deal;

Took liberty in insinuating that the
President’s husband was receiving
substantial commissions for brokering
World Bank deals and expecting that
the President to explain.

Citizen Cruz, himself, must have done a good deal of honest favors for his friends, and even relatives, but how would he feel if he is now being accused of receiving commissions for those good deeds?

As another ordinary citizen, I am similarly alarmed at all kinds of liberties that many citizens are taking and the daily accusations mounting against the Chief of the administration without filing charges against Romulo Neri, Rodolfo Lozada, Miguel Arroyo, de Venecia and all other suspect individuals involved. If Citizen Cruz can contribute his share towards the prosecution of those individuals and once all those characters are indicted and proven guilty; then the President, without another EDSA, like Richard Nixon has to quietly resign.

Citing Milton, Citizen Cruz should comment on the Right to Reply law rather applying it to EDSA I, II, and III.

Re: Balikbayan in Batanes: This should be tagged under “Tourism” but somehow the list does not include this important category. No wonder, tourism in this online paper is not really promoted much–unlike Philstar, which makes it a point to create as much passion as possible. It is this reason that I am back expressing my opinion about the lack of interest in promoting tourism in the Philippines. I know that there is a couple of Filipino reporters working for foreign news/TV media. This particular female reporter is full of doom and gloom that she really turns me off completely. I do not know why she has to suck up to her foreign bosses—because all her reports are all about the downtrodden, murder, kidnapping, abuse, informal settlers, and nothing nice about her country of birth. Can you now guess who she is? She is oblivious to the fact that her lack of desire to go travel up and downthe country when she is assigned in the capital is short of laziness, perhaps, or she doesn’t have an iota of interest in reporting things positive. The minute I see her face reporting in the capital, I simply switch to another channel. The DOT must be cringeing in embarrassment or they haven’t noticed that this particlar female reporter is one of their tourism enemies. I believe in balanced reporting. I believe in telling the truth. But this one goes down well in producing unpleasant reports about the country. She seems to love dwelling on the doom and gloom, she always has that “pabitin”—after a pretentious positive report on the country, and I quote…”…and this for a country that earns two dollars a day…”she repeats it so well that it is like a daily prayer! Does she have to keep repeating it each time she reports something in the capital? I mean, is it her belief that the Philippines is so low that she enjoys demeaning it more than other reporters? If her intention is to be truthful, then of course we already got it. But,hey, we are not that stupid or forgetful to ignore it. But my of my, she really gets my goat because she loves to talk down the country and its people—she who loves sucking up to her foreign bosses. I think myself she has no voice. When they tell her to report on the misery of the Pinoys, she is like a ragdoll nodding without protestation. We have a lovely country with beautiful tourist spots. But does she bother to do a sidestrip to report the wondrous places that that country has to offer? I rest my case…for now…until I see her again and she makes me choke. Mabuhay!

I have mentioned of peso depreciation same time back. I said, in January our peso exchange rate to a dollar was about 37 pesos. In February, the exhange rate went to 38 pesos to a dollar. Now, today, March 3, 2009, our exchange rate is 49.03 to a dollar.

If you do not yet know what repercussion or effect this would be to your daily life; listen very well. It occurance of fast devaluation means that our government is going bankrupt. It can no longer sustain or defend our pesos. It means that the devaluation of our pesos is going into a fast phase. It means more money to buy for the same comodity few years ago. It means HUNGER.

And this HUNGER will not affect just a few but it will became so widespread, it will affect millions and millions of Filipinos who are at present below the poverty lines.

Unfortunately, no one can help us. Our corrupt government who in the first place squandered and robbed our treasury while the going is good, is now in itself getting bankrupt.

Multinationals in our country is fast withdrawing their investment portfolio because of deteriorating economic condition vis a vis with stability of our government.

It would be next to impossible how our bankrkupt government will be able to pay its obligation to its creditor.

Worst, our self appointed experts and politicians has antagonized the W.B. and other lending institutions when two Senators, Miriam Santiago Defensor lambasted the W.B. and Juan Ponce Enrile castigated the foreign investors on the electric power generation for collecting 100% charges inspite of not utilizing the full capacity of the electric plant.

Also, there is the effect of perceive corruption and human rights violations that our government has brazenly committed over the years that PGMA acted as our President.

Last, there is the question of baseline territory pertaining to our economic zone which agitated Mainland China.

In short, with all these problems, and the inability to get more taxes will bring about a catastrophic effect on our country.

Juan de la Cruz, who is already so much problem surviving will further suffer because of factors that is beyond his control.

A sleepwalking society

2010 election is in the offing and still our country is reeling in economic crisis. The government boasts that our economy is improving because it grounded on sound economic principles and that ours is comparatively better than those of our Asean neighbors. This presumptuousness of the government is belied by widespread unemployment, skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, and the sight of poverty along the country side, among others. Our national leaders, instead of focusing themselves on how to address these national concerns, they embroil themselves in politics of mudslinging, finger-pointing, and popularity contest. Instead of getting a national consensus of pooling ourselves together and collectively seek solutions to these crises, we wallow in a national shame of unending scandals of graft and corruption and immorality which make life in this country hard and almost unbearable.

The government cannot alleviate social poverty by handing out a measly amount of money to those who could hardly afford to pay their electric bills or to the needy senior citizens. This only creates a culture of mendicancy and a society of parasites and far from being a solution to resuscitate our dying economy. These palliative steps are cheap political ploys and gimmicks which were poorly worked out to create an image of a compassionate national leadership and to boost its popularity.

We are likened to sleepwalkers and sleeptalkers. Sleepwalkers and sleeptalkers are difficult to awaken. However, once awakened, they are often confused and disoriented. In 1986, we were awakened and we overthrew a dictator. After that historical awakening, nowadays our confusion and disorientation are recurrent. Like the sleepwalkers and sleeptalkers, we are being awakened by our prophetic church and some well-meaning members of the political opposition but we seem to be in our deep sleep that we do not get up amidst our screaming with terror.

When shall we wake up? I contend that people who are sleep dislike having their sleep disturbed. But this is an emergency case. It is high time that we open our eyes wide. It is time for us to be awakened and realize that many political crooks and clowns are fooling us and flooding our consciousness with their mean and shameful political games. We should wake up not soon but now. Unless we still have to wait for a worse thing to happen, that is, for us to experience bedwetting in our slumbers.

I’m glad Ms. Patriciia Evangelista sensed the political posturing of Loren Legarda’s “second thought” to withdraw her support for the proposed Right of Reply” bill. Loren is a shreud but sometimes careless politicians “Right of Reply” sounds too good for her to add more ganda points to her ambition, why not” so she signed it. But when the balloon is being shot at by media, she quickly chaned her stand. She realized that (on second thought), she will win more votes if she doesn’t have anything to do with the bill.
That is the kind of leader she is; flip flop.

Are cops afflicted with arrogance?

The letter sender said that there was a disregard of the RULE of the Law.

Who was violating the ruel of the law anyway?

Is it legal enough to operate a business without a business permit in the first place?
Men! I don’t understand your Logic of Due Process when the owner of the business did not do the DUE PROCESS of getting the Business Permit FIRST before
operating the said business.
SINO ba ang PROTECTOR nito?
Men! What a MONKEY Business!

I do not always buy what Conrado de writes: his consistent bias against GMA and what she represents, the dark and depressing tone of his column, and his search for political perfection.

But I am nuts about the waY he writes. He is master of his craft. He has command of of the various figures of speech that only a Shakepeare major might appreciate. His paragraphs, if you care to know, are an example of what a creative writing teacher would tell his students, sentences that vary in lenght; sometimes kilometric, other times choppy, at times
so brief that an editor or a grammarian will mark as fragment. but the message is there between and even after the lines. His metaphors, similes, and understatements can’t be missed. Reading de Quiroz is like reading Shakepeare. He is one of a kind. I am so focused to and amazed with his figurative and metaphorical style that sometimes I miss the despair, anger, and frustration in his work.

16Mar2009
Las vegas NV

The following text was sent to this media on 03Jan2007 and like with the other comment I had posted before, I had predicted since the early court proceedings surrounding the case that the Nicole vs. Smith would end up in out of court-settlement. And that Nicole will accept some monetary compensation and would drop the case against Smith. I am no lawyer but logic only dictates that the Nicole case could have been manage properly if the media, the trapos and many wannabe prosecutors/ lawyers and constitutional expert et al DID NOT put their dirty paws on it and managed to muddle the whole case. Anyway, she left the country and looking for a better life for herself. And to put closure to this zarzuelas, I would like once more to echoes my unbiased observation, please read on. To Nicole, God speed and following sea.

Nicole vs. Smith

My heart goes to Nicole who was hoping to get some justice serve on her behalf after the long year of trial and tribulation, but instead again she became a victim of another political expediency. To Nicole, I hope this message reaches you and will help to shed some light that will illuminates the dark side of the fiasco you went through.

The Philippines judicial system which is supposedly an equitable decision making branch of the government and likewise its department of law enforcement authority have earned a reputation and perceived by the Western nations as a corrupt and a prime example of en-masse cronyism practice in the Philippines political system. Enough reason for some diplomats to raise some question about the usual kangaroo court proceedings in our judicial system. Many of our inept trapos have put our country’s sovereignty and the inherent rights of her inhabitant to govern themselves into perpetual quagmire. This curse is the result of self-serving agendas of our past and present political dynasties that have been conniving with oligarchs since the formative years of our beloved Patria Adorada. This age-old misery is also the by- product of Juana and Juan dela Cruz propensity to muddle their right of suffrage with name recognition and instant self-gratification. The Philippines’ political system caught the world’s attentions that label us untrustworthy and lawless bunch of people fitting to our own making by patronizing the endemic institutionalized corruption by all class of our society.

Juana and Juan dela Cruz sometime can’t handle the truth especially if she / he can’t understand why there is a double standard about how she / he should be afforded to exercise their constitutional rights. Constitutional rights that their government supposedly guaranteed to every Philippines national and had enacted laws for the protection of their alienable rights now have gone to the dogs. The same constitutional rights they now had all witnessed are only afforded for the ruling government officials and the oligarchs.

I have been following “Nicole” case for some time now since its politically hyped first court proceedings in Olongapo city magistrate and the wide OpEd’s mass media coverage by the Philippines dailies and the T.V networks talks show. The crux to the matter is, only the common “tao” who are really making all the noises on behalf of “Nicole’s” case. Lately, there are sporadic public and formal official dissents in writing by the Philippines’ trapos expressing their dissatisfaction to the U.S State Dept., U.S Embassy and the Philippines’ administration in handling of Cpl. Smith, USMC custody issues and tried to link the case to VFA issues.. Now there were some old hands that manage to get involve this very late minute into the ball game. I wonder what their ulterior motives are. Where are they during the early hearing days of Nicole’s case? It appears to be that only elected government officials from Olongapo, and the city merchants seems to made some noise about Nicole’s case because they all worry about their bottom line, and also their counter part from Pampanga areas after the Balikatan exercise was cancelled by the U.S State Dept. and military officials.

Let us be honest with ourselves just for an hour or so. Ask each other on how do we want our alienable rights to be protected in accordance with the law of the land that is guaranteed by the country’s constitutional law, and to where and to some extent we have to allow our aforementioned rights can be trampled for the sake and preservation of our country’s official pact or treaty with foreign nation is another argument or debate that need to be address. But first we have to address the pressing issue that haunt every Filipino today, and should be the yardstick to be use for their own gut’s self-check on where she/he should stand in reference to patronizing the endemic institutionalized Juana and Juan dela Cruz have been involved and have roles in the nation’s demise, be it political, economical and spiritual. Juana and Juan dela Cruz brought this sorry situation upon them. She/ He have been electing the trapos that helps to perpetuate the on-going vicious cycle of the marriage of convenience between political dynasties and the oligarchs.

My past experience and like some other individual from the western nation can attest to the patronization on this endemic institutionalized corruption by many Filipinos, and can made up a long list of untrustworthy government office in our country. This open display of patronizing the endemic institutionalized corruption by the Filipino society made us to lose the confidence of many foreigners to the integrity of Philippines’ political and judicial system.

To those who are bashing the VFA, my challenge to all of you is simple. Are you all willing to open your eyes and to see the real cause of the Juana and Juan dela Cruz miseries? The Nicole’s case from the start was politically motivated and the prosecution and judicial court have known this first hand that no matter what the outcome is of the court proceeding about the case, the Philippines official pact, treaty or written agreement signed by the government officials will take precedence and will be honored by both side. The prosecutorial team on-court showmanship made them earned the coveted fifteen minutes of fame at the expense of Nicole’s demise, and the men from the judicial court system have found the fame and name recognition they were craving for which is necessary and pre-requisite for future political ambition. The VFA stipulated in one of its article clearly state that the custodial duty for the visiting force personnel involves in the law infraction in host country and when the case is still on trial or while awaiting completion of judicial proceedings – i.e. appellate or supreme court’s decision - in the host country, all custodial duty will be exercise by the visiting force (USA) until the final decision of the highest court have been reach.
As soon as the Makati trial court initiated a custody possession or incarceration of Cpl. Smith after the sentencing and arrogantly set aside the appellate court’s pending decision, the Makati trial court actually convey and send signal to the Philippines government administration to act and enforce the VFA provision on which the Makati trial court and the prosecution knew beforehand has precedence above and beyond to some laws of the land. VFA is not just what it means literally. It has the same credence like any official accord, pact or treaty between two states. It is a blanket cover for all kind of immunities afforded to both side of the signatory body.

World is a stage, Shakespeare says: Nicole, the prosecutorial team, the criminal trial court, the Philippines government administration officials, and poor Juana and Juan dela Cruz had played their role according to the script and maybe without mal intent, but acted instead to different personal agendas that each party have planned for her/himself.
But what happen to Nicole’s case? Does it really made precedence and gave progress to way forward thinking of every Juana and Juan dela Cruz? Or history will only tell the truth from the past that Nicole was only a pawn in Philippines’ political chessboard and her demise was not the real concern of all parties involved.

Kayana2
Las Vegas, NV
03 Jan 2007

I am disappointed that many opinion makers are very quick to judge the culpability of Mr. Manuel Gaite on his role in the Lozada case. Everyone deserves his day in court. If there is strong evidence of wrong doing against Mr. Gaite, then why can’t anyone pin him down? Accusations don’t mean anything unless guilt can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

How can Chiz represent himself as the other side of the collision of worlds, of the struggle between Light and Dark, of the battle between Good and Evil? A vote for him is not a vote for Good, it is a vote for Danding Cojuangco.

As much as I love your “batikos” to those politicos!..better shut up Mr. Conrado de Quiros..
I dont want to comment regarding this issue but I think its too much!..
Mr. Chiz Escudero (my beloved senator)
is not what you think!.A vote for him will make a change.It is truly biased that your stereotyping and claiming the media hegemony!.
Though I idolized you for being so much adversarial I think your stepping the boarder line..Hope you understand!..God bless!..

Mr Neal Cruz

It is about time that the watchdog of the society went back to its original mission;reporting not just a clutter of sensational controversies but dissecting the meaning and PURPOSE OF ORDINARY EVENTS THAT AFFECTS OUR LIVES. newspapers and television will remain instrument for trivialization as long as they flounder to distinguish what will sell and what is true.

The Asian Development Bank is openly concern at the rate our government is borrowing.

What is so stupendous is that these loans goes to the wrong hands. It never reaches the projects that it was intended.

Everyone watch out! Our government has entered an above the board deal on the NORTH AND SOUTH RAIL PROJECT.

At the rate these project is going, I am sure, the funds will dry up and only a measly 30% of the project will be finished.

With the over pricing of these project, we could have almost an ultra modern train system, like the Bullet Train of Japan, or the “Ice” train of Frunkfort, Germany, that travels at no less than 300 and up to 550 kilometers per hour. What happened, correct me if I am wrong, is that, we have a single track railway! In short, the train Station will be the interchange between two opposite train. One waits until the opposit train vacates the rail. And it has just an average speed comparable to the technology of, say, 30 years ago or the era of STEAM ENGINES. By the time it is finished, the train technology would be very obsolete. Yet, the price will be very expensive.

I do not know what is in the mind of Noli de Castro, who is in-charge of these project.

bY THE WAY, I just passed by in SLEX (SOUTH DIVERSION ROAD), and I observed that they have resume the continuation of the SKY WAY project.

The budget of Sky Way, which should have ended up to Muntinlupa (because that is where “TABAKO” (FVR) is staying were all spent during his time, yet, only 30% has been finished.

In short, aside from spending a very high price per government projects, the budget for those were already spent while only 30 per cent has been accomplished. By the time the whole project is completed, Juan de la Cruz would be paying a wooping 500%.

kayana2
lasvegasnv.
19mar2009

in re: Batanes.Hill Roberts,

it must be nice for ms hill to do the armchair op-ed in the comfort of her cozy pad. ms. hill, what is there to cover about the tourism issues in our homeland when there is no direct benefit for the poor juan dela cruz from the lage revenues generated by the tourism industry? most of our tourist spot revenues helps to finance the national govt official corrupt practice and adds more fuel to the misery of the whole countrysides.

tourist spots now only desecrates the once pristine and clean beaches of guimaras island, palawan, mindoro, batanes and so forth and so on. can you define exploitation?

you ms.hill have seen the forest,but what kind of trees are there in the forest.

our country does not have the adequate infrastructures, policies, regulations and laws to properly and safely manage the indirect cause and effect of tourist havens to guard against the eco-system degradation of what made a tourist spots an attraction for the tourist like you ms.hill.

it is not the negative reporting about the motherland that bothers you, it is the real truth that you can not handle about the motherland. denial is not a river in egypt, ms. hill.

blog on,,,,
kayana2
lasvegasnv…

Dear Editor, I just read today (3/20/09) Leandro V. Coronel’s article in the commentary section. Mr. Coronel isn’t only a brilliant and patriotic opinion writer but also the author of “The Invisible Americans” published in the States years ago. I wonder why Inquirer doesn’t get Mr. Coronel to write on a regular column. I am sure his ideas and insights on the various issues of today (as his article proves so) will be appreciated. I hope to see his PDI column soon. THANK YOU!

I’m an OFW and will support Fr. Panlilio for presidency. We have tried all types of so-called geniuses from economist to lawyers etc., but still no luck our condition is getting worse. Patriotism doesn’t exists on their vocabulary.

We need leaders who have proven themselves. We need a kind of a knight with a shining armor. Our country is getting worse. We have still another chance this coming election or else this disease in the society will no longer be healed…

Since the editorial ‘Failure of Trapos’ was both a criticism of trapos and “almost” an endorsement of Among Ed, it would have been great if the definition of trapos was further expounded. At first reading, it almost seems that ALL the other ‘obvious’ would-be candidates fall in the category of trapo.

I remember very well my own euphoria during EDSA I, which stayed with me for a long time after Marcos left. Perhaps owing to my relative youth then (I was 23), I did not see any limits whatsoever to what we, as a country, could accomplish then. We overthrew a dictator! – and in a relatively bloodless manner, to boot.

Now, of course, I can only mainly recall the disappointment – nay, the heartache – of a promise unfulfilled.

While Cory Aquino should forever have our gratitude as a nation, I never forgot the lesson that I learned from that experience: being a good leader just was not her forte, and that being honest and decent wasn’t enough.

I recall that now because I am getting the feeling of déjà vu: the country is in the grip of a heartless, morally bankrupt kleptocracy, people in power craving more power, government leaders feeling immortal – and worse, smug. We are all crying for a new brand of leadership.

But will it turn out to be just an innocent dream? An impossible dream? No, not innocent. No, not impossible. But surely, one fraught with its own set of potentially avoidable set of problems.

I can relate to what Among Ed stands for: he is the best in all of us when it comes to honesty and integrity. I congratulate the people of Pampanga for making the right choice for themselves – and fighting to make it come to fruition.

But the Philippines is not Pampanga: perhaps – and here I am only guessing – there are places in the country being run by honest and decent folks but who lack the needed leadership skills to see things through to its end. Will Among Ed prove to be the right guy at the right time for these places?

One term as a governor does not a leader make.

After the disappointment of EDSA I, I no longer wish to elect leaders ONLY for their symbolic value: give me a leader who, besides being honest and decent, has been forged in the fires of trials and tribulations. Someone who, based on a measurable and validated track record, has actually led something – a barangay, a province, a private corporation – and steered it to new heights based on his vision and effort.

I lived EDSA I: I answered the call for self-sacrifice; I gave and expected absolutely nothing in return; I made myself vulnerable knowing that the psychic return would benefit not only me, but everyone around me. And although I believe that one must never lose the ability to dream, is it so bad if we inject a dose of reality in our dreams?

Expecting a Filipino solution to a Filipino problem from a British called Tony Blair? Escudero must be out of his mind.

Pangilinan is looking for “new methods and approaches” that Tony Blair will provide from his experience with the Irish rebels. I am afraid there is none.

The American approach is set up casinos, resort hotels and amusement facilities inside the Indian reservations; the bottom line is to make the Indians wealthy and happy. The American Indians claimed that the white people invaded the continent and grabbed all the lands that formerly belong to them, this fact is undeniably true.

Mr. Tommy Manotoc recently wrote,”Pacquiao is a willing victim of an ugly sytem”. I beg to disagree. Pacquiao is a willing victim of an ugly Showbiz culture is more like it.

It is only in our country where icons, stars, athletes or what have we, are grabbed like cows, corralled, then instantly branded “Kapuso” or Kapamilya”.
“Si Pacquiao po ay mananatiling “Kapuso” boasted a top GMA official, as if such pronouncement will add luster to Pacman’s shining glory or perhaps a guarantee of a win over Hatton.

The Brits must be laughing at us. Our televiewers are addressed hypocritically as “Kapuso” or “Kapamilya” depending whether your TV is on 2 or 7. Whatever happened to good old “ladies and Gentlemen”, “Mga Kababayan” or “Friends”.? When did I ever become a political party member or a franternity brother? I just want to enjoy my leisure watching TV and Mike Enriquez calls me a Kapuso and Boy Abunda calls me a “Kapamilya” member of his the Buzz family? It’s a joke because there are no gays in my family. In my book, all this branding system is called “Kaplastikan”.

That brings us back to Manny Pacquiao. Because of this network brand war like he were rattled after each round and could not find his corner in the ring. His Lawyer must be sleeping on the job. Atty. Franklin Gacal failed to counsel his client, who is not exactly a smart businessman, early enough to have nip the national uproar in the bud. Good for this Johnny come lately lawyer that kind-hearted Manny didn’t fire him.

Philippines “Nation of Servants” by Chip Tsao!

I am abhore by the comment coming from a HK radio commentator Mr. Chip Tsao saying that Philippines has to no right to claim the spratlys just because a lot of our hard working some with college degree holders filipinas are working in HK as a Domestic helper not by choice but by economics.
I expect that the human activist group, specially the one championing the rights of woman, they should rise up with rampage against such statement.

i would like to point out to Mr. Chip also that once in history that chinese was compare to dogs by the colonial powers. i am a chinese, and i remember and read my history. it hurt and insult me even it was an event in history.

Mr. Chip, should be thankful that he has a Filipina helper at home taking care of his house and kids. if not he will not have the time to be a senseless commentator. i think he need to apologize not learn to appreciate the filipina helper.

They are our HEROES Mr. CHIP!!!!

AND Honestly SPRATLYS is ours!!!!

thank you mr mon tulfo for your comments about richard gordon. we do need more people like him in government. we have heard of his temper. but i think such observations are borne from employees who just want to have a nice time in office without pressures of standards of performance or concern for service. it is difficult to be honest, good, and efficient in the service. many get employed only to earn a salary and therefore catch a line to connect with a politician to get his appointment. this kind of employee would not want to have to work hard or be honest consistently. dick gordon has shown consistency in his work and honesty in achieving performance.

Since I did not find an option in your website where we can send something to the editor (just missed it I guess), I am relaying this email here:

To the Editor,

I am Doy Valbuena, an Ilocano who happens to love Davao City so much, the most livable city in our country and in the world (this is my humble opinion). I love this city so much that it pains me to see outsiders come and tell us what to do with our very own Davao City. Imperial Manilans, Americans and Europeans come here and lecture us about morality, about what is right and wrong before God, about human rights, what is right and wrong governance.

The power of Mayor Duterte emanates from the people who elected him. It is just but proper that the people of Davao City must have the first chance to judge him. But have we not judged him by electing him for the longest time as Mayor of this city for about two decades now? Is this not the best indication that the will and the voice of the people have spoken? That the people of Davao City approve of his way of governance? Why doesn’t the Commission on Human Rights conduct a survey or referendum whether we, the people of Davao City as a whole, like how the mayor conduct himself on the issue peace and order and even specifically on the issue on human rights? I am very sure that majority of Davaoenos will come out voting yes in affirmation that will shame people from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) or shall I say Commission on Hypocritical Rectitude (CHR) masquerading as saviors of the people of Davao City. To tell us that we do not approve how Mayor Duterte runs Davao City is a great insult to the intelligence and courage of Davaoenos. If the Mayor is truly abusive of his power and has no respect for the rule of law and the right to peace and decency, I should be one of those who should be on the streets leading a rally of protesters as we wont to do during the First Quarter Storm when we fought the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos whom we thought then was the worst president this country ever had, only to find out that the worst were still to follow. (I led several street protests when we complained against the DPWH and the Union Cement when I was president of the Davao Constructors Association Center Inc.)

I heard the Mayor mentioned many times over, that Davao City is a city for peace loving citizens. If you are not a peace loving citizen, this place is not for you because you will not last long to enjoy living in our city. His paradigm of drug pushers and drug addicts are people who can rape their sister or mother or an 18 month old baby girl or kill their father or brother or friend or neighbor in wild abandon. Now, I myself ask the question, why do these people who have no regard for the life of others continue to live or how can these so called human rights advocates even favor their existence over that of peace loving citizens? Am I saying that I favor summary executions? Of course not, this is against the commandment of God “Thou shall not kill”. How I wish we can all live in peace altogether living in pursuit of the summum bonum, the highest good for all. But alas, we are now left to choose by force of circumstance and select between lesser evils, whether to allow people who have no respect for life and the right of others to live and do it in wild abandon or to allow them to rest in peace forever and let peaceful loving citizens live happily ever after.. Now am I accusing the Mayor to be behind the killings? Of course not! That is for the court to determine. What I know is Davao City is the most peaceful and livable city I have seen on Planet Earth. (I have also traveled in several countries and continents of the world.) On the other hand, I am one among the many who believe that the Mayor is doing extremely and exceedingly well in the conduct of his duty in which he was elected for.

Madame Chairperson De Lima, you need not have traveled far. You should have looked around and you would have your hands full investigating cases of human rights violations in Manila. Aren’t you not the proverbial character in the bible that the Lord would have aptly put, “why can you see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the log in your own eye”. The truth of the matter is, you just wasted valuable public money by coming here to Davao City to investigate and tell us what is good for us… Is this not the height of self righteousness and presumptuousness? Is it not stealing from the budget of education and printing misspelled books resulting to higher rate of illiteracy and lack of good education, a higher form of violation of human rights? Is it not dipping one’s fingers on the coffers of government finances depriving people of food, medicines, basic necessities and other social services; teachers of their rightful pay and soldiers of their shoes, combat allowance and guns to fight insurgency, a higher form of human rights violation? Is it not the inability of government to provide employment for its people and allowing Filipinos to work abroad as slaves of the first world countries who often times maltreat them and who sacrifice their own well being, just so they can provide for the needs of their loved ones, resulting in the breakdown and disintegration of the basic unit of society - the family an institution we value so dearly, a higher form of violation of human rights? Is it not the promotion of government officials with dubious and proven record of malfeasance and wrongdoing because of loyalty and subservience, so that they can deliver the goods to the powers that be, a higher form of human rights violation?

For a young man who grew up and seen almost daily killings during my elementary years in Badoc, Ilocos Norte and having witnessed blood flowing down in my direction and with dead people all around during a town fiesta at a very young age of 11 when somebody sprayed 3 banana type magazines of his carbine rifle and emptying them all at the people in the auditorium…For a college student during the First Quarter Storm to have witnessed summary killings like that of my fraternity brod Billy Begg riddled with bullets from one whole Armalite magazine emptied in his lifeless body and street demonstrations from 1969 to 1973, culminating in the so called BARIKADA in 1971….. For a new college graduate to have worked in the hinterlands and logging areas of Mindanao in the 1970’s at the height of the operations of the MNLF, Ilagas and Bangsamoro Movement and having experienced being attacked from land and sea, and knowing a life of killing and being killed almost on a daily basis….. For an executive having seen Davao City during the time when Agdao was called Nicaragdao, during the height of NPA operations when policemen were killed in broad daylight and when a grenade was thrown at the inner sanctum of the San Pedro Cathedral wreaking havoc and causing the city populace to cower in fear… to name a few…..Madame Chair de Lima, I know from whence I speak. I know the difference between war and peace, between death and bliss. To consider Davao City as barbaric and a dangerous place to live in, is farthest from the truth. Davaoenos would be the first one to know. Leave us alone in peace in this place you abhor for I repeat it again, Davao City is the most livable and peaceful city in the world. To us, this is a place closest to paradise. A Paradise in the East.

–
Salvador “Doy” Valbuena
doyval@gmail.com
salvador.valbuena@yahoo.com
(63)9175485473
(63)823031611
http://www.delta4realty.com (website)

People here in Davao city were challenged by the CHR about the “vigilante killings”. Oh ‘cmon!!!! Why now? 2010 election is coming and Nograles’ son is hoping to be the next city mayor (Duterte’s archrival). Davaoeños will stand for our mayor…We will stand for Mayor Duterte. In this world of lawlessness let’s accept it that it is better to see criminals being persecuted and eliminated or allow them to rape innocent children in the city, push drugs and pollute the youth. Our mayor is not perfect! Are you?

I may not always agree with what de Quiroz writes in his column, especially his politics and bias against the President, but I like the way he writes. He is a master of figurative writing, of metaphors, and satire. Unless the reader is well-read and has a wide vocabulary, he might misconstrue the punches in his opinions. Read his “Chip on the Shoulder (4/5/09) and check your BP after you read his usual parting shot which reads, “We are not only a nation of servants, we have become also a nation of illiterates”.

Re: Commentary
Servants or cosmopolitans?

What’s wrong with being a maid? What’s wrong w/ being a nation that produces and deploy domestic workers? Being a maid or a domestic worker is an honest job and our OFWs who go abroad sacrifices a lot to earn money w/c they can use for their families back home.
Because of that I honor them and I am not ashamed of coming from a country who deploys domestic workers.

Look we are a developing country and that’s the reality. No matter how much we wish otherwise…many people are poor and they must earn a living in some way. If they go abroad to become a domestic workers, then fine! There is nothing wrong with that. WHAT IS WRONG IS BEING ASHAMED OF THEM…OF BEING ASHAMED OF BEING A DOMESTIC WORKER…OF COMING FROM A COUNTRY WHO ACTIVELY DEPLOYS DOMESTIC WORKERS SO THAT FILIPINOS WHO WANT TO EARN A BETTER LIVING CAN HAVE THEIR CHANCE TO DO SO. BEING ASHAMED SMACKS OF SUPERIORITY AND PRIDE…w/c my friend you should be ashamed of.

the MRT should not be turned over to the government. government should support the needs of the MRT only in times when things do not go as well as planned. the private company and government are partners in providing service to the people. i’m sure that the private company made its bright boys come out with detailed studies on how they would break even, and then make money - like how much passenger volumes would they need to achieve those stages and how much should be their fixed and variable costs . but perhaps the “tongpats” was too much that the capital outlay from the very beginning already made the project stink and then die with losses. but of course, there is always government to stand by its partner ( hopefully not partners in crime) and absorb losses. afterall, the taxpayers will be the one to pay for everything. meanwhile, all the private company would need is some smooth talking politician with enough credibility to get citizens approval.
turn over the MRT to government and you wil; see more corruption and a speedy deterioration of services. MRT will be unsafe. only some people’s pockets will be secure.

Tony Blair!!! You are old and nameless from your post in Britain. Because you are trying to reveal GMA about HM, King Anthony Santiago Martin that Instructed to Remove Communism in China and in all Asian Region using his Authenticated Accounts there. But frankly, we voiced out that he’d been ordered by United Nation not to Open all his Fiduciary Accounts assigned to him in China and other Communist Countries. That’s not your problem and concern but UN.

Reaction to Conrado de Quiros article calling Pinoys “A Nation of Illiterates”

Mr. de Quiros:

I tried to laugh at the article of Chip Tsao in an effort to appear intelligent, but its like being called a nigger even though it was a joke.

Pinoys discriminate against their maids, but calling me a maid too, no way.

That’s the essence why so many people are offended. And coming from a chink with a small dick whose spoken english you can hardly understand? No way, you apologize Chong Ching Tsao.

So I hope you get it why some people are so offended, in the end its not about defending maids, and not about being a “new patriot”, it’s about how the joke ain’t funny at all.

In reaction to mayhope “What’s wrong with being a maid” - I say plenty! It’s a huge shame when people with college degrees go to other countries to clean up after other people’s filth. Being a maid is an honest job, that is true. But it is also a reflection of a dysfunctional country and culture. It’s a reflection of mediocrity. It’s a reflection of not reaching your full potential. Imagine a great and talented people reduced to wiping foreign asses when they can be engineers, teachers, scientists. Therein lies the shame. Therein lies the embarrassment. To be proud and “honored” with this situation only shows the depths of which mediocrity and lack of vision has seeped into the national psyche.
A country with no pride has no hope.

If you are offended by the phrase “A nation of servants”, it shows your own prejudice against your own servants at home. Maybe, you don’t treat them as your equal by letting the servant(s) eat left-overs, assigning them dirty quarters, and don’t even give them to have a day off. Worst, they are objects of your crankiness and hypertension. In other words, would you also feel insulted that that “Nation of Servants” phrase were written by a Filipino columnist? This is Filipino idiosyncrasy:You don’t mind if a fellow Pinoy says that our country is a nation of criminals. But when a foreigner makes the same comment, you want to kill him.

“124
wonderwoman3 Says:
April 7th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Tony Blair!!! You are old and nameless from your post in Britain. Because you are trying to reveal GMA about HM, King Anthony Santiago Martin that Instructed to Remove Communism in China and in all Asian Region using his Authenticated Accounts there. But frankly, we voiced out that he’d been ordered by United Nation not to Open all his Fiduciary Accounts assigned to him in China and other Communist Countries. That’s not your problem and concern but UN.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ma’m,

Why did you choose wonderwoman3? Are you a Malacanang agent? Some readers may mistake my pen name wonderwoman with your wonderwoman3. Anyway, if you insist of using that pen-name, perhaps, it is time for me to choose “Darna”, as someone suggested to sound more patriotic.

O.K.?

serve,serve,…to be useful,serve.

Our Villar and Thaksin of Thailand have similarity. They are both successfull businessmen. If Villar will become president of the Philippines what will happen to Thailand now might happen also to Philippines in the future. I admire Sen. Madrigal for she is very courageous person. We need more of her in the Senate.

Some Morons and Barbaric from QCPD and a Confused NCRPO Chief
Makes a Sad Philippine Society

By: Edison Gatioan
April 18, 2009

In the midst of the circus going around the alleged suicide of Ted Failon’s wife, the QCPD policemen suddenly let out of its moron and barbaric members to teach us a good lesson on warrant less arrest and police brutality. The shameless show of force and wanton disregard of human rights only exposed how pig-headed some of our police officers can be. The arrest of the victim’s relatives and the house helpers without warrant is deplorable and unacceptable in a civilized and democratic society.

If the police involved in the series of warrant less arrests that followed the alleged suicide incident can justify their action as constitutional, then I will say to the professors of Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure that shame on them for not knowing their law better than those thugs in uniform.

Equally distressful is the confusion shown by the NCRPO Chief, when he lamented that ABS CBN highlighted more on the abuses of the police instead of the case involving the suspicious “suicide incident”. Let me remind the good officer that while the effort of the police to investigate the truth behind the incident deserves commendation, the issue has been overshadowed by a more important issue, RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS and RULE OF LAW.

Assuming for the sake of argument that ABS CBN is more interested in protecting Mr. Failon (which my malicious mind also suspect), or even if Mr. Failon may be guilty as the police appears to suspect, the issue is too insignificant compared to the SERIOUS INJURY inflicted against the public with the shameless and wanton disregard of human rights and rule of law by the police officers concern. This is not to say that we should let Mr. Failon off the hook, for God’s sake, if he is guilty, he should be thrown to jail. But due process must be afforded him not because he is a TV personality, but because a civilized society ought to observe due process to the mighty as well as to the weak. This is expressly mandated by the Filipino people in our Constitution. To add insult to injury not only to the more than 90 million Filipinos, but to humanity itself, they did it in front of news cameras.

Hah! If human rights violation committed by our very “protector”, in front of TV cameras at that, does not deserve more attention than the interest of running after a possible suspect, then the priority of the good officer must be fundamentally defective. It is very unfortunate for this writer to criticize a good and well respected officer in the person of Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, but this is not about his character. This is about his bias favoring professional achievement against the more fundamental issue of respect for human rights. If this represents the general manner by which our police officers think, oh Holy God, please bless us by blessing our Police officers with the ability to think and act right.

Brothers and sisters in this sad Philippine society, I urge you then to be mindful of your rights, and express it in unequivocal term, lest we wake up one day without it.

The best way to discourage the police from conducting investigation on a case is to meddle and interfere in their work like what the media and the politicians did in the cases of Manila Pen, Ted Failon, etc.

After the police gives in to the adverse publicity and slows down in their duties, then the media uses the public to accuse the police of incompetence and whitewash.

After the police abandons the case in frustration then, the coup de grace, accuse the government for the absence of Justice in this country.

THE TRAGEDY OF TED FAILON

Losing a loved one, especially a wife, is painful enough, how much more if the loss was deliberate and could have been prevented. Could Ted have saved his wife Trina? In my honest opinion, yes. Whatever led Trina to commit suicide must have been a huge burden that troubled Trina so much and for so long.

Committing suicide is not something that is decided instantly right then and there. Committing suicide is the culmination of a series of events from the time a serious problem develops up to the time a sense of helplessness occurs. When this happens a strong sense of guilt sets in which leads to hopeless desperation that finally drives one to commit suicide.

Recalling the days prior to Trina’s suicide, all we know is that Ted knew his wife was besieged by a financial problem since a week before that fateful day. As he also admitted, he had a long argument on the issue with Trina that lasted till past midnight the previous night. Was Ted a bit harsh using strong words on her perhaps in blaming her for losing the family savings or for her poor judgment in investing the family savings, etc., (assuming the issue was about family investments Ted was talking about). Above all this, did Ted take notice of the deepening apprehensions and anxieties his wife was going through? Did he not notice the change in his wife’s attitude that she was slowly falling into depression that usually precedes suicidal tendencies? Was Ted angered so much by his wife’s mistakes that he ignored the signs that his wife was headed to self destruction? There has got to be signs of depression and change in attitude all over Trina for days that Ted cannot unmistakably take for anything else.

I am of the opinion that if Ted did not ignore the signs and had immediately comforted Trina with soothing assurances; if she were told not to worry about it, all is forgiven, and words of comfort and understanding were given, that the family will overcome whatever financial problems it faces, all this would have calming and reassuring effect on Trina. This would have cheered her up, restore her confidence, and bring relief from the apprehensions and anxieties that she must have felt for days before she took her life. In an interview, Ted said he told the wife “it’s only money, after all they were once poor, they’ll get it back”. I think the issue that it’s only money they’ll get it back easily is more the line used by people who are born wealthy and accustomed to losing and getting their fortune back. But not to the poor who has done a lifetime of hard work to be rich and then lose it instantly. This is a situation that most people will find it difficult to accept. Let’s say for the sake of argument Ted said that to assuage Trina’s feelings, but obviously those were not enough comforting words to stop Trina from taking her life. At hindsight, I am sure Ted must be asking himself why he did not do enough to save Trina. And the thought would hound him for the rest of his life.

Sad, very sad indeed.

Ted Failon must have very strong reasons to believe that his wife is suicidal; otherwise, a different individual would want the police to investigate and make sure that his wife was not killed by somebody else using his pistol. Nobody heard the shot or saw the wife killed herself.

“Media critics score ABS-CBN coverage”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090424-201120/Media-critics-score-ABS-CBN-coverage

ABS CBN’s Maria Ressa says, “she did not think her network went overboard with the coverage.”

Oh yes, you guys did. I was watching that fateful morning when Ted Failon was onboard DZMM radio on ANC TV and left to answer a distress call from home which turned out to be his wife. Korina Sanchez took over and when it came out Ted’s wife was shot (suicide was not yet talked about as motive), Korina immediately went on a rampage going after the cops who went to Ted’s house to investigate. She even warned the cops of planting evidence, etc., etc., called on everybody to be alert on what the cops might possibly do, and even called PAO chief Acosta for help. Every one of the ABS CBN broadcast staffers took the cue and were on the cops’ back all day. They were overbearing, questioning everything the cops did every step of the way.

Funny, ABS CBN kept reminding other media practitioners to give Failon some privacy and yet ABS CBN had a field day keeping the investigation and exclusive interviews to themselves and left competition out. The Failon tragedy became an exclusive news for Kapamilya. If Failon does not know it yet, the death of his wife was exploited by his own network. Expect the rating of ABS CBN for this week will be higher than GMA Kapuso. Yes, Maria Ressa, it’s all about ratings.

“WE NEED LESS, NOT MORE CONGRESSMEN” - Perfectly and politically correct, Mr. Neal Cruz…but grammatically wrong. The headline should read, “We need FEWER, not more congressmen”. The noun “Congressmen” is a count noun that should be modified by a “fewer” (Congressmen).

Maria Ressa should seek help from a dermatologist when she stated that her network, ABS-CBN, did not go overboard with the coverage of Ted Failon.

Granting that I agree with Mr. Quiroz, what he wrote also means he is also an illiterate.

Just a vignette of information to note in Dr. Ambeth Ocampo’s “Names Can be Fun” column: the Filipino historical figure whose penname was “Platanos” was Isabelo de los Reyes, founder of the Philippine Independent Church together with Fr. Gregorio Aglipay. He himself mentioned it in his out-of-print book “Mabini’s Ghost.”

MIKE DEFENSOR AND ARROYO’S FAMILY SHOULD BE THE ONE TO PUT BEHIND BARS COZ THEY ARE THE BIG BIG CROOKS IN THIS COUNTRY.

JUN MABUHAY KA , WE OFW ARE MOBILIZING OUR EFFORT TO SUPPORT YOU ALL THE WAY.

GOD BLESS U AND YOUR FAMILY

jun

to de los reyes…that was a very good incisive analysis of the failon incident.
psychiatrists often remind people to look for the signs, to be observant and not to ignore these signs, because these is a cry for help!
and to ted…be kinder to people, esp. to police and the military. you never know when you need them.
bawsan mo ang BRAVADO Ted! oftentimes, it’s irritating us.

It’s not fair to compare Manny Pacquiao with Casius Clay alias Muhammad Ali.
Ali pave the way to Obama with Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mendela and some others.
Pacmann is paving the way to Trapos.

Dont blame him, he study probably with fake text books, maybe brest feeding with an anemic mother, feed with junk food and could have leaded blood like most Visayans.

All those harm the brain.

Add on that the heavy propaganda from “elites and churches” runing an hopeless system.

He belongs to Philippines TRAGEDY,
in fact he is a tragedic herro.

There is an alternative :
In every brain there is a sleeping genius who most of the time never wake up.

Charles Rochat
Geneva/Switzerland

N-B : Begg your pardon for my english learned while roaming around your charming beautifull country i love.

I read the letter to the editor entitled “It is Rodolfo Lozada’s Fault why he is in jail” at the Philippine Daily Inquirer website. It seems that the writer took it adversely what Conrado De Quiros has been putting out and you chose to denounce it clearly in her letter.

It is a shame that she does not see the correctness and applicability of what De Quiros’ work on the present situation of our country. If one claims intelligence on should talk in tangible reasons and logic why he/she diagarees with a certain topic. All she did was to show disagreement in the level of the emotion. The intellect for me was not even appealed to.

I hope that she find it in her heart and mind to examine what De Quiros is expressing and in the level of the intellect consider its pros and cons. If you want merit on your claim of intelligence please consider the point of arguement of Mr. De Quiros.

Mt. Conrado de Quiros always enlightens with his perspective on issues. His article on the Martin Nievera brouhaha hits the nail on the head.

Sir Conrad, I’m wondering what you have to say about some people’s reaction to Manny Pacquiao’s political plans? Methinks if he can bring with him his dedication and hardwork before and after his fights, maybe we are better off with him than some congressmen who are not exactly that dedicated or harworking. And getting rich on a modest congressman’s salary!

Re: your editorial against pacquiao is an overreaction. Pacquiao is not being irresponsible when he chose to come back despite the DOH secretary’s publicity hugging plea for him to postpone his trip. The DOH chose to highlight the WHO local representative’s suggestion for Pac to delay his trip. Actually the WHO local rep also said Pac can go home but he is asked to observe social distancing. When airport authorities allowed the likes of Lito Atienza and others to mob Pacquiao upon his return, this is not Pac’s irresponsiblity. It is of the airport’s and DOH’s.

The WHO does not actually advise against travelling. It’s website clearly states that: “If you are feeling unwell or have symptoms of influenza, you should not travel. If you have any doubts about your health, you should check with your health care provider.” Pacman was not sick when he travelled. He could have gotten the virus if he stayed in the US longer because that’s where the virus is. Imagine lots of Americans also come ans see him there.

The WHO also has this to add in its website:

“The Although identifying signs and symptoms of influenza in travellers can help track the path of the outbreak, it will not reduce the spread of influenza, as the virus can be transmitted from person to person before the onset of symptoms.

Scientific research based on mathematical modelling shows that restricting travel would be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease. Historical records of previous influenza pandemics, as well as experience with SARS, validate this.

Does WHO recommend screenings at country entry and exit points to detect if ill people are travelling?

No. We do not believe entry and exit screenings would work to reduce the spread of this disease. However country-level measures to respond to a public health risk are the decision of national authorities, under the International Health Regulations 2005.

Countries that adopt measures that significantly interfere with international traffic (e.g. delaying an airplane passenger for more than 24 hours, or refusing country entry or departure to a traveller) must provide WHO with the public health reasoning and evidence for their actions. WHO will follow up with all of its Member countries on such matters.

Travellers should always be treated with dignity and respect for their human rights.”

What Pac has been showing this past few days is that he does not need Malacanan. It is Malacanan that needs him. First, he creates his own party, which means he is not running under Lakas/Kampi. Then he did not thank the president profusely after his win unlike in the previous ones. Then he does not grant the request to delay his trip. What does Malacanan do? Cancel the lunch/reception on Friday. They maybe afraid of the flu and they show that they are really vengeful.

As much as I respect Mr. de Quiros’ take in his “Footnote to a false note” entry, I cannot agree with the same. We can go on waxing philosophical ( and historical) about the matter - to include social and cultural liberation from the rigidity of ” societal form” but the point is, we have a law on the matter. Unless it is amended, we follow it. I understand the need for the law to be dynamic- for it to adapt to the changing needs of the times. But that is precisely why we have amendatory provisions and mechanisms.
Mr Nievera was not humanizing the anthem, he was violating a law. Plain and simple.

Japanese caught with 100 bodies or rather skeletal remains. Do they know where to dig, how about the Gold that was buried by the Japanese during their retreat and are they digging, ask Malacanang , that is where they get the permit, a few days seminar supposedly and there is supposedly a Government Representative on site to observe the excavation but the Japanese Nationals it seems are free to roam and take whatever they find. Jica, might as well give the Philippines to them, they do not need a war to take over, just MONEY.

Paul, I read your post (140) and can see you hate crooks like most of us. Many hate the Arroyos for allegations of corruption nonetheless you have no trouble in admiring and supporting Jun Lozada a self-confessed corrupt govt functionary who admitted to have taken part in corruption as head of the Philippine Forestry Corp and Romy Neri’s broker and moderator of greed in the ZTE NBN deal. As you said you support him all the way. Good for you. I heard there are plans to make Lozada a senator in 2010 and you’d like that for sure. That should make the Senate a refuge for scoundrels, murderers and self-confessed grafters turned whistleblowers.

If we must rid this government of grafters and corrupt officials then we should not be selective just because a self-confessed grafter has turned whistle blower against those we dislike. There is no loyalty among thieves. Like Judases, they sell you out when greed overwhelms them or turn on their partners to save their skin. Once a crook always a crook.

ARE THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE AFRAID OF MIKE VELARDE? Mon Tulfo asked without answering because he knows that the public know the answer: YES. tHEY ARE AFRIAD OF LOSING THE MILLIONS OF VOTES THAT VELARDO HAS UNDER HIS COMMAND.

The “Tampering” is a very mild word to describe Martin Nievera’s desecration of the national anthem “Lupang Hinirang.” He vandalized it.
In fact, he’s not the only one who has done that. Many of our so-called professional singers - trying to imitate Mariah Carey - have sung bastardized versions of the song. They all want to show the world that they can hit the high notes for 15 seconds or even longer. But by golly, don’t use the national anthem to display your skills . . . please.

A Nation of Idiots?

The May 16, 2009 Editorial of PDI carries a disturbing piece. It forces its arguments to the public consciousness that the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Customs are greedy and is (or has turned) turning the Philippines into a country of idiots. For what reason? By imposing duties on classes of imported books.

The editorial is a thinly veiled argument in favor of book smugglers and profiteers thus I am surprised why it landed as an Editorial piece in Inquirer. Let us consider the strongly worded but lame arguments.

But before coming into that let us discuss what the questioned Department Order No. 17-09 does. It properly classified books according to the purpose for which it is being imported.

For books covered by the Florence agreement or those cultural, scientific and educational books, there is still zero duty provided the reason for importing it is for non-profit purposes such as those purchased by libraries.

For cultural, scientific and educational books imported for commercial purposes such as for sale by National Bookstore, Powerbooks and the like, then a one (1%) percent is imposed.

For all kinds of books imported for publication purposes pursuant to Republic Act 8047 or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act of 1995, it is deemed exempted by law, so zero tariff.

If the imported books do not fall under the Florence Agreement or RA 8047, then a five (5%) duty rate is imposed.

So the editorial rants that the Department Order violates the Florence Agreement because the same agreement applies to all books and limiting it to cultural, scientific and educational materials violates the spirit of the agreement. See? The Editorial writer is disturbed by spirits. He or she is concerned about violating the spirit of the agreement but has nothing to say whether the questioned order violates any specific provision of the agreement.

As for RA 8047, the Editorial posits that it broadens the scope of the Florence Agreement. He or she is right but only insofar as publication is concerned. If there is violation here, it should be pointed out that RA 8047 is a legal mechanism to avoid intellectual property rights. Remember when it was very hard to get textbooks and there was this Presidential Decree that authorized its publication? Suddenly you can get cheap reprints? This is what they are talking here. A national law that violates intellectual property right but is deemed lawful because it is a domestic law. It is not broadening the Florence Agreement – it is broadening the commercial interests of publishers, paper importers and book sellers. That is why to keep it legal, it is confined to importation of books and raw materials for publication purposes.

Just imagine every book and magazine that is imported will benefit preferential import treatment. No duties. That’s good for the reading public generally, but not books and magazines are alike. I can relate to duty free importations of the Asia Foundation, UST and other universities. I can appreciate Scientific American, the Harvard Law Journal, and all science and computer books - they should be imported duty and tax free. But what about comic and anime books and magazines, flesh magazines, best seller books such as Angels and Demons, the Harry Potter series, the Lord of Rings series and similar books?

It is high time that these importers and sellers are taxed. They are just hiding behind some color of legality. When I was a Customs Officer at NAIA in the middle 1990’s I used to groan every time I was assigned to examine a consignment of books or magazines. You exert your best to perform your duty (no pun intended) but you end up extending tax and duty free privilege to an importation which you know is being sold for a handsome profit.

For all I know, those books are being sold at a very high profit margin. Value at Risk: The New Benchmark for Managing Financial Risk 3rd Ed by Philippe Jorion is selling at Amazon at US$53.35 or around PhP2,557 but a store in Manila is able to offer it at PhP2,158 only. See? Their profit margins are so high, these sellers can undercut the market. They are given distributors discount roughly between 30 to 50 percent off the retail prices, and they do not pay a single centavo of duties and taxes. They end up fattening their pockets so much that when government moves in to collect its rightful revenue, they are suddenly alarmed by the legal, educational and other repercussions of taxation. They say they are only after the public’s welfare.

But what do we expect? Importers, publishers, and book sellers are in the business to make profit. Can we honestly say that we can sacrifice government revenues just because those idiots do not want to acknowledge their social responsibility to be good citizens and tax payers?

Last week while the Philippines was still celebrating the glory that Pacman brought to the nation, the word Filipino was being broadcasted all over Canada in headlines that the boxing victory never did get, and in a totally unflatering circumstance.

The story was about a Member of Parliament was being acused of abusing the services of her live in caregivers. As you may have already guessed, the Filipinos in this drama being played out in the media are the caregivers(google: Dhalla caregivers). Aside from the airing their complains about how they were made to clean shoes and mop floors, one of the Filipinas gave a very emotional outburst begging the authorities not to send her home because she has 4 children and jobless husband that she can not feed if she is sent back.

It is important to let the Filipinos in our country to know that this is what’s out there so that the next time there is an offensive joke, article or comment that they find themselves protesting against they will not be suprised.

The concept of the Filipino in the rest of he world is associated with mail order brides, maids, nannies - servants. We still have the right to be angry when we are generalized in this way but I hope that aside from protesting we do something about it.

On Alec Baldwin’s comment…..

I guess truth hurts thats why we are overreacting. Theres a lot of Filipinas that are wanting to have a better life and the easiest way? Having their pictures taken, post an ad in a catalog or online and hopefully a foreigner will catch his attention and ask her to marry him. They want to escape the life in the Philippines and have a better life somewhere. The result, they end up marrying a guy that is twice as old as she is or worst, older than her dad. Its gross but its sad. Gold diggers? Taking advantage of the situation? Free ride? I don’t know, but its the truth, we have a lot of mail-order brides,

Can Erap run again as President?

We’ve been hearing a lot about presidentiables for the 2010 elections in the news lately. Just recently a Pulse Asia Survey showed was released and revealed the topnotchers as de Castro 19%, Senator Francis Escudero 17%, former President Joseph Estrada 16%, and Senator Manuel Villar Jr. 15%. Wait. Former President Estrada? Can he really run again?
The pertinent provision of the Constitution says: “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”
Now, is the ban absolute? I have read materials regarding the issue and found that if we are to look at the meaning of reelection, then we may find otherwise. Neal Cruz of The Philippine Daily Inquirer says that some believe that “Reelection refers to an official running for the same position during his incumbency.” So since former President Estrada is not our incumbent president, the ban does not apply.
The Supreme Court has not decided on the issue whether former presidents in general may run again for presidency so if Estrada decides to run again there is no legal impediment against it. The argument on the definition of reelection strongly supports the claim that it is constitutional.
As for the executive clemency granted by Gloria Macpagal Arroyo to Estrada after his conviction for plunder by the Sandiganbayan that says in its preamble that he is no longer to seek any elective position or office, Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, in a Jan. 19, 1999 decision held that the preamble or the whereas clauses of a law or any presidential issuance such as Arroyo’s executive clemency is “really not an integral part of a law … and cannot be the origin of rights and obligations … and can neither expand nor restrict the operation, much less prevail over its text”. Clearly, even this does not and cannot bar Estrada for running for any office, including the presidency for that matter.
So, can Estrada run again for President? Yes, absolutely.

Inquirer’s editorial on “Erap’s folly” regarding Erap’s intention to run again for president is Inquirer’s desperate attempt to influence public opinion, in-line with the Arroyo administration or civil society’s sinister plan, to dissuade and usurp the power and voice of the people - vox populi - to elect whoever they want to lead them, instead of their anointed presidential candidate who would do their bidding against the Filipino people’s aspirations for a just, incorruptible, and democratic republic! Filipinos - Vote for your good conscience that God has given you for your emancipation from the tyranny of the corrupt minority!

to karen:

yes i agree with you. in fact, the actor alec baldwin already apologized. im a filipino and im upset about the comment but considering the circumstances when the joke happened, i could understand him. i thought it was just a joke that didnt really intend to insult the nations entire women population. it was delivered in jest no less than most filipino entertainers and even politicians inject bad jokes and off context comments against other countries, their people and their culture just to look “kwela” in front of the camera or in front of a crowd. most americans in the entertainment industry are just the same. its in their culture as well as its in ours. especially comedy talk shows, most of the time they dont mean it or they dont take it seriously. they just say it on those occasions involving not so serious and not so in-depth interviews. what really makes this issue controversial is that we filipinos are more of the “pusong-mamon” kind of culture. “pag niyuyurakan ang ating dangal ay dapat lang na magalit tayo”. but the truth is these politicians and leftist groups who went brouhaha in this issue simply wants to earn “ganda” or “pogi” points by blaming the americans for all our troubles. this is their best strategy to get the sympathy or support from the “masa” who generally doesnt have clear and objective understanding of certain complex issues, and who generally hate the americans. well, to the politicians and fake nationalist or patriotics, you should get your acts together and be more rational, logical and objective. overall, get a life!

Sa issue nitong comment ni Alec Baldwin, ang talagang palpak na nakita ko ay ang pagiging one-sided ng ating mga journalist at ng media. Pati immigration ay pumapel na rin. Kung nagpaumanhin na yung tao eh di okay na at ipaliwanag natin sa mamamayan ng maayos ang side ni Baldwin. Lets put things in perspective ika nga. Para tayong mga “nana”. Pinalalaki ang issue na hindi naman dapat. Ang tunay na ugat nito ay ang mga pulitiko na walang alam gawin kundi magpa-cute at urutin ang uto-utong masa kapag may ganitong mga komento lalo na galing sa mga amerikano. Kung ang ginagawa ba nila ay lumikha ng mga programa para makalikha ng trabaho, edukasyon sa mahihirap, at tamang impormasyon na magbubukas sa isip ng ating mga kababaihan sa mga posibleng negatibong epekto ng pag-miyembro sa mga mail order bride sites. Kasama na ang mga paalala sa pag iingat sa pag-apply as entertainers sa abroad (ex. japan), or domestic helpers, at paglikha ng epektibong batas against illegal recruiters eh di mas katuwa-tuwa. Isa pang tingnan natin ay yun ding mismong motibo ng mga kababaihan natin na humahanap ng sarili nilang problema at nilalagay ang sarili nila sa ganitong delikadong sitwasyon tulad na lang ni Nicole. Hindi ko alam kung ito ay katangahan, kulang sa pansin, o dala ng kahirapan. Mamili kayo.

Our government and the military could learn a few lessons from the Sri Lankan government with the way they handled the Tamil Tigers.
First, they did not entertain peace negotiators from other countries. This could only complicate matters, which is exactly what is happening with our peace process involving Malaysia and the US.
Second, stop the flow of arms. And by this I mean stopping the flow of arms not only from the outside but also from the military itself.
Third, to destroy their military capablity, once and for all.

Finally, some soul came to the defense of Bong Revilla. DA WHO? hIS own publicist, Mr. F.Robert Moraleda, that’s who. Had Moraleda not been on the payroll of Senator Revilla, his Homily (that imperfect Revilla may fight for what is right) could have been more credible. Much of Barrameda’s arguments are hallow motherhood statements: that Revilla is one of the most respected institutions in the local film industry, helping the needy, that evil can only triumph when good men choose to do nothing, blah, blah, and blah - his words might as well have been Lani’s.
I am seventy and I do know that Bong is an action star, but I don’t know if such macho Rambo-like feats could make one an “institution”; but maybe so, because our movie industry rhymes with mediocrity. Thanks to Senator Revilla’s talent? or indifference to the plight of our fledgling film industry? There are Showbiz celebrities who have the heart but not the political power of a Senator to help. Bong has the celebrity and the power, but neither the will, the time, and the interest to help the industry that catapulted him to political power.Sso please Mr. Moraleda, will you kindly publish- since you are a professional PR man of Bong’s office - a list of Revilla’s congressional records so that those who criticize him as a do-nothing Senator will appreciate his work- not as a Sir Lancelot to Katrina Guinevere?
Sure, Bong is not the issue. Sure, let’ not shoot the messenger. The issue is the whole trivial affair of politicians scraping muck, and media spreading its nauseating stench.
Bong Revilla is an accident to the real issue.

I remember in the run-up to the 2004 Presidential election, PGMA was very, very unpopular that she even announced not to run at all. During the election period, she was not as active as FPJ in campaign rallies. In fact she remained in Malacanang during the final week.

Yet, the SWS and Pulse Asia surveys were slowly chainging to her favor. In the end, the surveys accurately predicted the 1-M vote differential over FPJ! (We’re led to remember Garci).

In 2010, she’s not qualified to run. Nowadays, PGMA is again quiet and do trips abroad (why Egypt and Russia?).

Isn’t there similarity in PGMA behavior for these two election sessions? She’s a survivor, very skillful in spotting the weakness of Philippine politics. She must be preparing a post-2010 scenario, although there is no way of knowing these until things become public.

Her congressmen allies just proved wrong the public insistence that they cannot mount cha-cha. I think this is just for show, and could even be diversionary.

Kampi and Lakas were merged (against the wishes of Ramos, Villafuerte and JDV). As Kampi cannot survive after 2010, so they position their members in the stronger Lakas.

What’s next? Probably, she’ll travel again and another development while she’s away. Let’s wait . . .

Con-ass rally….

Sabi nga sa kanta ” maraming nagmamarunong ,wala namang gustong magtanong”
Hindi lang sa kalye ang kasagutan ng suliranin ng Pilipinas…karamihan nga diyan binayaran lang at wala naman talagang pakialam sa mga kaganapan sa ating bansa at ang karamihan pumapapel para makapsok sa politika…marami na ang nalinlang sa inaakalang demokrasya….gising na mga kabayan!
Bulag lang naman tayo sa katotohonan kaya iilan lang ang nakikinabang! sigurado ako karamihan sa mga politikong dumalo sa rally na yan kakandidato ulit sa darating na halalan. Si Cory, putak ng putak! naging pangulo na ng Pilipinas pero di pa rin mahuli ang utak sa pagkamatay ng kanyang asawa…hindi ba ito isang palaisipan na nasa bakuran lang niya ang mga salarin at isang kahihiyan lamang kung lalabas ang katotohanan. Imulat lang natin ang ating mga mata at nasa harap lang natin ang katotohanan kaya lang bulag tayo sa pagpigil sanhi ng kawalan ng pagbabago sa ating bansa! Magtaka na lang kayo kung bakit sa Makati nagaganap ang ganitong mga rally….sa lugar pa lang huwad na ang mensahe!

FVR on Gloria….

Why not tell it to her face.
Not when she is up in the air or far, far way!
Or is that the idea!

Am updating the blog below. This time, PGMA travelled to Japan and the current issue now is her probably eyeing a Congressional seat in Pampanga. A congressional seat will give her immunity while the Congress is in session. Though this may serve some buffer from aggrieved anti-GMA partisans, this does not guarantee survival after 2010.

What’s next? Probably, she’ll travel again and another development. Let’s wait . . .

As of May 2009
I remember in the run-up to the 2004 Presidential election, PGMA was very, very unpopular that she even announced not to run at all. During the election period, she was not as active as FPJ in campaign rallies. In fact she remained in Malacanang during the final week.

Yet, the SWS and Pulse Asia surveys were slowly chainging to her favor. In the end, the surveys accurately predicted the 1-M vote differential over FPJ! (We’re led to remember Garci).

In 2010, she’s not qualified to run. Nowadays, PGMA is again quiet and do trips abroad (why Egypt and Russia?).

Isn’t there similarity in PGMA behavior for these two election sessions? She’s a survivor, very skillful in spotting the weakness of Philippine politics. She must be preparing a post-2010 scenario, although there is no way of knowing these until things become public.

Her congressmen allies just proved wrong the public insistence that they cannot mount cha-cha. I think this is just for show, and could even be diversionary.

Kampi and Lakas were merged (against the wishes of Ramos, Villafuerte and JDV). As Kampi cannot survive after 2010, so they position their members in the stronger Lakas.

What’s next? Probably, she’ll travel again and another development while she’s away. Let’s wait . . .

Am updating the blog below. This time, PGMA travelled to Japan and the current issue now is her probably eyeing a Congressional seat in Pampanga. She’s probably hoping to do a Vladimir Putin with Noli de Castro. Things are getting clearer.

What’s next? Probably, she’ll travel again and another development. Let’s wait . . .

As of May 2009
I remember in the run-up to the 2004 Presidential election, PGMA was very, very unpopular that she even announced not to run at all. During the election period, she was not as active as FPJ in campaign rallies. In fact she remained in Malacanang during the final week.

Yet, the SWS and Pulse Asia surveys were slowly chainging to her favor. In the end, the surveys accurately predicted the 1-M vote differential over FPJ! (We’re led to remember Garci).

In 2010, she’s not qualified to run. Nowadays, PGMA is again quiet and do trips abroad (why Egypt and Russia?).

Isn’t there similarity in PGMA behavior for these two election sessions? She’s a survivor, very skillful in spotting the weakness of Philippine politics. She must be preparing a post-2010 scenario, although there is no way of knowing these until things become public.

Her congressmen allies just proved wrong the public insistence that they cannot mount cha-cha. I think this is just for show, and could even be diversionary.

Kampi and Lakas were merged (against the wishes of Ramos, Villafuerte and JDV). As Kampi cannot survive after 2010, so they position their members in the stronger Lakas.

What’s next? Probably, she’ll travel again and another development while she’s away. Let’s wait . . .

gloria will adapt plan A, then shift to Plan C and then D and so on until she gets what she wants — immunity from being charged for Plunder ! and the only way to be immune is to be president again. her length of stay in power will be as long as there are congressmen who need her to press the “cash” button and the screens say “jackpot”.
the only other reason some people can think of is that she probably thinks that she is the only bright person (and everyone else is dumb) who can lead the country and shield us from any global crisis. the congressmen on the other hand may think that all the voters anyway are no more than pathetic morons so the congress will have to do the thinking for us. they want to screw us over and over and then expect us to thank them.

In relation to the article of Representative Walden Bello on the ‘Real Battle on Agrarian Reform’ supposedly after it will have been signed into law are, firstly, legal. Whether or not, taking a lower middle-class land or even small landholdings will pass the equal protection clause which centers on the retention rights of the middle-class. This issue has not been tackled by the Supreme Court, I believe, with the SC’s curiosity because it could not have been the issue in the case of Small landowners v. DAR case. Second, after distributing around 6 to 8 million hectares of land yet yielding failure in productivity as shown scarcity of foodstuffs, massive importation of traditional agricultural exports, high prices, and lack of agricultural investments in the rural areas leading to 78% poverty level with multiplier effects on the other poorer sectors of society, would pass the developmental, equity, and priority requirements of the agrarian provision of the Constitution on which CARP is supposedly based.
Clearly, land reforms’ record in the Philippines have actually utilized such matter as a political tool to gain political power irresponsibly and selfishly the past 36 years without regard to the supposedly strictly responsible balancing act of government functionaries. It was to culminate on the massive poverty and hopelessness of many Filipinos that would be hard to reverse, among other causes such as, widespread dysfunction and apathy, to the prejudice of government workers including unsalaried barangay police and health workers, needs to gain education, health needs of the sick including grossly inadequate medicall facilities in government hospitals including private ones where government can adequate help and prioritize, to name a few. These are things millions of Filipinos are expecting to prioritize. Would any upright person think this is more equitable as a test required by the Constitution? Do our lawmakers think they will vote against them because they were unjustly deprieved?
More importantly, will the P500-billion tax-payers money of every Juan de la Cruz to be spent for the ‘whim of the passing hour’ at the church’s dictation be not another dole-out, lands given the beneficiaries resold, and productivity still very low, to the prejudice of the entire nation? That was why the Constitution required phasing or priorities to test whether it will be successful before going wild.
Let us just be honest, never manipulate the figures just like how CARPer was passed without true consultation with the stakeholders as required by law, see who have intentions to run for Senator or what and make this a tool hidden agenda, and never mind its’ out-come to this poor and suffering nation.
Such divisive and massive issue needs to be democratically decided in the election for 2010 through a referendum and onwards just like other prime importance as a matter of practice.
These are expressed with justice to all and malice to none.

I’m an 18 year-old Journ student at UST, and would like to air my support on what the Iranian people are doing right now in Tehran, and in other parts of Iran where protests are being held against their Supreme Council and with the result of the Iranian elections.

what’s happening there is just terrible; why won’t their government give what their people wanted, and are now dying for to have? if they want democracy, give them democracy; the government exists for it’s people, and its people’s welfare, right? a considerably BIG amount (if not the majority as the international news networks would say) of the Iranian population are now taking it to the streets and getting at it with the Basij, and other guards of the government; it’s like the new 1972 martial law out there!

on behalf of those youth who are in support of the Iranian people’s struggle, WE SUPPORT THE IRANIAN PEOPLE WITH THEIR CAUSE.

The SONA of 2009 appears consistent with the persona-centric approach of the SONA in 2003 (what should/could have been Ms. Arroyo’s valedictory address). Considering that Ms. Arroyo’s presidency has been hounded with questions of legitimacy since she assumed power in 2001, it is not surprising that such is the case. While in 2003 she carved a combative modern leader under the frame of a ‘strong republic’ that complemented the ‘global war on terror,’ in 2009 Ms. Arroyo casts herself as a consistently persistent ‘working president’ while lacing her talk with arguably her most combative rhetoric before the Philippine Congress (yet).

Interesting is how such casting is realized in the national address.

At the onset, Ms. Arroyo boasted of ‘economic resilience.’ The term is an interesting evidence of lexical shift in post-Marcos Philippine presidential rhetoric. In the SONA, Ms. Arroyo sustained a discourse on ‘economic resilience’ (‘the story of the Philippines in 2008 is that the country weathered a succession of global crises in fuel, in food, then in finance and finally, economy in a global recession’; ‘Nakinabang ang sandaan libo sa emergency employment ng ating economic resiliency plan .’; ‘We have a strong economy and a strong fiscal position to withstand global shocks ’; ‘Today the Philippines is weathering well the storm that is raging around the world.’), a curious lexical as well as conceptual variation from the more familiar ‘economic recovery’ very much employed during the time of her predecessors. This, I hypothesize, is due to changes in context/s (national and global), how the national leader views herself as well as changing ways of constructing the national situation. In other words, as in any speech or written discourse, there is proof of the complex interplay of texts and contexts in this year’s President’s Report to the Nation.

It appears though that image building, specifically, the restoration of a perennially challenged presidency, is what instigates this lexical and conceptual shift. The incumbency, after all, has to carve an image distinct from its predecessors and that would help establish – at least discursively – its place in history. Considered the most unpopular president since the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Ms. Arroyo appears resolved to redeem her presidency by bolstering her image on the one hand, and denigrating her critics on the other.

Ms. Arroyo’s 2009 address employed very pronounced strategies of othering by lashing out at her critics – vilifying them, rendering them as delusional (‘And I have never done any of the things that have scared my worst critics so much. They are frightened by their own shadows.’), power hungry (‘Many of those who accuse me of it tried to cling like nails to their posts’), hypocritical (‘Many who accuse me have lifestyles and spending habits that make them walking proofs of that crime’), and failures (‘They had the chance to serve this good country and they blew it by serving themselves.), on the one hand, while bolstering her image as a working president who has achieved what her predecessors had failed to do (‘Those in the past administrations conjured the demon of foreign debt. We exorcised it’; ‘The average GDP growth from 2001 to the first quarter of 2009 is the highest in 43 years’), on the other.

She reinforced the rhetoric or should I say the political myth of ‘the working president’ (‘I did not become President to be popular. To work, to lead, to protect and preserve our country, our people, that is why I became President.’) by casting herself as governance-driven (‘Some say that after this SONA, it will be all politics. Sorry, but there’s more work.’), as a national interest-oriented adviser (‘As the campaign unfolds and the candidates take to the airwaves, I ask them to talk more about how they will build up the nation rather than tear down their opponents. Give the electorate real choices and not just sweet talk.’), as the captain of the ‘ship of state’ or direction setter (‘Meanwhile, I will keep a steady hand on the tiller, keeping the ship of state away from the shallows some prefer, and steering it straight on the course we set in 2001.’), as having exemplary work ethics (‘There isn’t a day I do not work at my job or a waking moment when I do not think through a work-related problem. Even my critics cannot begrudge the long hours I put in. Our people deserve-a-government that works just as hard as they do.’), and by denying that she is a lame duck president (‘At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage, but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of state—to the very last day.’).

She did the same by rendering her presidency as a do-gooder (‘Had we listened to the critics of those policies, had we not braced ourselves for the crisis that came, had we taken the easy road much preferred by politicians eyeing elections, this country would be flat on its back. It would take twice the effort just to get it back again on its feet—to where we are now because we took the responsibility and paid the political price of doing the right thing.’); a facilitator of development (‘Real government is about looking beyond the vested to the national interest, setting up the necessary conditions to enable the next, more enabled and more empowered generation to achieve a country as prosperous, a people as content, as ours deserve to be.’); and a resources generator/problem solver (‘We only know that we have generated more resources on which to draw, and thereby created options we could take.’), among others.

Quite notable in her strategy of othering is emphasizing certain national values while de-emphasizing others. For instance, she talked of defending democracy by strength (‘arms,’ ‘firmness,’ ‘law and order,’ ‘wise policies of economic progress’) which somehow contrasts with Ms. Aquino’s emphasis on strengthening democracy through ‘organized participation’ (1991). From the following extract, Ms. Arroyo appears to dismiss such rendering (democracy as participation) as nothing but ‘empty liberty’ as opposed to her definition of democracy as ‘a full life for all’ achieved in a ‘strong republic’: ‘As I have shown, I will defend democracy with arms when it is threatened by violence; with firmness when it is weakened by division; with law and order when it is subverted by anarchy; and always, I will try to sustain it by wise policies of economic progress, so that a democracy means not just an empty liberty but a full life for all.’

There is definitely more to the SONA than the formulaic responses we normally get from both the president’s staunch admirers and regular critics. What is crucial for those who dare listen/read the SONA is to tease out and make evident the often ‘naturalized’ conceptualizations that may or perhaps, will be transformed into such ‘non-negotiable materialities,’ into more ‘authoritative contexts,’ into what would later be long-standing public policies that have definite impact, positive or otherwise, on people’s lives.

National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera pointed out the significant effect of the inclusion of unqualified individuals to the elite circle of national artists: it cheapens the distinction.

The fact that apparently anyone whose face is thick enough to endure the embarrassment of lobbying for himself can make it to the order gives the public valid reason to doubt the artist in every national artist of this country. Imagine living with the possibility that Kris Aquino could be named national artist.

Legitimacy is characterized by public trust. Once this trust is lost, legitimacy is compromised. It is disgraceful enough that the legitimacy of the woman we call president is being questioned, that the process by which we elect our leaders is forever tainted with doubt; we do not need to give up the inspiration and pride that our national artists provide to dagdag-bawas.

May history, in its due course, erase the names of the artists who do not deserve to be in our roster of national artists. After all, they have been selected by a president who does not deserve to be president.

I’m very disturbed by what I’m seeing now. Is human traffing now legalized in the Philippines? We have so many laws against it but TV ads from shampoo to telenovelas are promoting it right under the very noses of MTRCB. The prizes are a dated with actors or actresses in remote islands or some classy restaurant.
You cannot post that on popular website eBay it will be remove immediately but here in the Philippines, anything can be done.

To say Noynoy is the president heir apparent is to bark up the wrong tree! Kris Aquino is the winnable horse if she decides to run. Proof: Erap, the actor, FPJ the actor- nadagdagbawas lang…Ramos, Edsa personality, even GMA (ginamit ang pangalan).
In our still to develop country where poverty, where minimal education is overwhelmed and supplemented by nationwide noontime shows, Kris Aquino has the votes of the populace. Ate Guy, Ate Vi, Kris Aquino. Take your pick.

Whatever else the political parties have in mind, or what the educated elite middle class want is beside the point when we see the majority of our electorate as unsophisticated. Sino kilala, sino popular. Yon na!

Is it a bad idea? If you see Kris as the tv personality, I will agree. If we can see Kris as Cory’s child tutored in her Christian morality and values, truant as she was, Kris rightly possesses the Cory legacy. Even if Cory did not annoint her, Kris will be better than all of the existing trapos. (Hyatt 10 excluded). God bless our country.

Bad Website Organization

I wanted to write a comment on an opinion column a while ago. Instead, I will have to comment on the blogging system you’re using here.

Sorry to compare you guys, but with other news blogs out there, if a reader wants to respond, he can easily post it below the article. The comment box is located in the same spot where the article is.

In your case, I had to navigate 3 to 4 pages and still not find the area where I could post a comment on the article I just read. This really sucks.

It seems like you want to put all comments in one area. What for? That’s so third-worldly… like a Letter to the Editor section of printed newspapers.

For now, you’ll have an “F” for bad website organization.

Re:Failing Nation.

It mentioned about the GMA government creating an atmosphere to render potentially restive troops having hands too full. This is against their potential to resist the GMA government atrocities. Indeed, if we are GMA, do we not benefit from keeping the hands of troops with history of resistance against anomalous governments, too full to focus on us?

However, there is an additional scenario where the Americans are shown to be benevolently concerned with the “failure” of a supposedly legitimate government of the Philippines to check terrorism. This supposedly benevolent concern warrants their presence. There is nothing wrong with this through out history except that:

1)If we are the Americans, have we not always been benefitted from “failures” of the Philippines to check military problems? Has not our presence if we are the Americans in the Filipino archipelago provided us with regional military and economic security?
2)Have we not the Filipinos always been the losers? Has not the American presence resulted in the atrophy (biological term for reduction in mass, strength and accomplishment capacity as a result of minimal utilization of potentials) of our defense, political, economic and value systems? Have we not failed in checking the Chinese invasion of our economy as well as other assets starting in the 1900s when the Americans provided them with security? Have we not been able also to check American rape with impunity of our Filipinas?

In fact, the Americans who invaded us in 1899 after we have already been born as a nation in 1898, deliberately replaced all those systems of ours with an apparently Filipino system. But it has been corrupted into developing us into failures in recognizing our national identity, in loving and defending that identity and in capacity to be productive as a result of love for that identity.

We have an inherited nation in possession of the Americans and the Chinese. It is a matter of us being aware of it. This is so, so that we can finally come home to recover it.

Today’s unsuccessful state of Philippine government and economy may well be rooted back to a failed and scandalous culture of Philippine Elections. Amidst historical repercussions conceived due to a malevolent voting tradition, the Philippines continued to have a popularity based elections. It is not to state, though, that popularity should never propel the selection of national leaders. Rather it must be deeply stipulated and emphasized to the voting public a popularity based elections founded on the criteria of good works.

The rise of Ramon Magsaysay as President of the Republic of the Philippines was a selection made on the principle of good works.

The primary causality of the assumption of power by Ferdinand Marcos’ progeny
was an electoral selection generally not founded on good accomplishments but the fact that they bear Marcos’ name.

Cory Aquino, becoming a president, was not based on popularity. It was driven by destiny. So was Gloria Arroyo’s first presidential term; her second term, being impelled by greed and selfishness.

The renaissance brought by Aquino was forced by the fact that she was not elected based on popularity, aside from her commendable humane and religious nature.

Her death led public’s clamor for Noynoy to run for president.

The ever great columnist CONRADO DE QUIROS, wrote couple of articles supporting the call for Noynoy to seek the highest political designation in the land. Cory is present in Noynoy’s personality.

But there is one lady that probably is the new Cory in the making. With proper encouragement and good breeding/developmental ground, this lady, Grace Padaca might well prove and derive another victorious feat in Philippine history. Should she run for president this coming 2010, that I ask Mr. De Quiros. I would like to hear more from him. It would be of greatest pleasure to this ignorant and humble “commenter” to learn about his opinion on this matter. If he would reply, this just proves that columnists like him value a commoner’s opinion. It will also serve testament that Inquirer treasures its reader’s opinion if this message be made known to one of the greatest columnist of our time (well i think he is the greatest of the greatest), Sir Conrado de Quiros

One letter-to-the-Editor writer wrote that Chiz is still young but already a Trapo. That’s on target. Despite his glib tongue and boyish looks, Chiz is no cheese but all gravy. Chiz is “Much Ado About Nothing”, “All Sound and Fury signifying Nothing”, all form, no substance. As a seventy-year-old teacher (for over forty years having handled a variety of young minds from all walks of life), I say that you are a convincing speaker and debater but a stinking politician.

Korina Sanchez……. parang balat sibuyas ka na. Ng ikaw ay nasa radyo pa, higit na masahol ang mga pananalita mo sa mga tao sa pamahalaan. Ngayon na ikaw ang nakikita ng publiko dahil bitbit ka ni Mar Roxas, tila pikon na pikon ka yata. Kung ayaw mong mapuna, huwag ka ng magsasama kay Mar. Balikan mo ang mga pananalita mo sa radyo, malalaman mo kung gaano kasakit ang mga salitang binigkas mo. Iba ang nasa likod ng mic at iba ang nasa likod ni Mar.