Here’s the official incense and the actual independence day address. A statement by Catholic bishops isn’t quite on the same page. The Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Manila Standard-Today report both focus on the same belligerent phrase: “day of reckoning,” which suggests the President is going to go for broke -conventional wisdom had it that she had, at one point, decided to set aside Constitutional change until after the 2007 elections. Apparently not (and a recent entry on Iloilo City politics I pointed out some days ago may explain why). The upbeat official mood is back.
On June 8th I’d blogged that after initially stalling, the “people’s initiative” was being revved up once more. The usual suspects have announced they are poised to file a petition asking for a referendum. If San Juan and Makati City remain uncooperative, the stage is set for some kind of intervention, which could then artificially -or who knows, even really- snowball into a kind of people power revolt, Palace style.
But here’s a moral dilemma we all have to face: if, and I mean if, a referendum was held, and it proved to be an honestly-run one, and if, by virtue of a credible referendum, the public says it wants the Palace proposals, lock stock and barrel -what then? We would have to abide with the will of the people.
But let’s not forget that the President relies on the media planning and political advice of the same people who advise the Republicans in the United States. And that the Republican strategy has been, under George Bush, Jr., to prove that in a democracy, what matters today is that a determined minority can always thwart the majority. Read Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s examination of how the 2004 American elections could have been stolen.
In other news, House of Representatives is delighted with the upcoming new Senate President. And government wants to redefine what work is (but it’s not true, yet, that living and breathing will become the new definitions of work, to make possible a 100% employment rate in the country).
In the punditocracy: Patricio Diaz shows the real score in the budget brouhaha; the Inquirer editorial takes up the cudgels for the embattled Senate. Manuel Buencamino points out the neglect of the Lumad of Mindanao. Read Fred Kaplan, too. My essay, A complex achievement is online at the Arab News.
In the blogosphere, I appreciate, very much, the white flower of truce from Achieving Happiness. Read Red’s Herring, who summarizes the danger in the present political situation: the victory of a reactionary mentality. Go Figure tackles the economics of independence. Blurry Brain feels loathing for the past. Out of my mind is upset over how the flag is treated. Market Manila on independence day cuisine.
Gigi Goes Gaga visited Malacañan Palace to attend the conferment of the insignia of National Artist on her father (whom I met recently at a Rotary Club of Makati luncheon where I was asked to speak on Charter Change -a very nice and jolly man!). McVie Show Season 4 reviews the soundtrack of his life (something I’ve been mulling over, recently, too).
Technorati Tags: constitution, Philippines, politics
Off topic, but has anybody read Philstar’s article entitled “Palace: Time to Abolish Senate” by Aurea Calica? kung meron kayong kopya, paki post naman o.
kasi interesado ako sa laman nung article na yun. at hindi na siya accessible sa philstar archives.
at wala na rin siya sa google news, even though i thought i saw it listed there yestereday.
sino kaya sila? si karl rove? si dick morris? can you name names, manuel? do you know the GOP consulting firm that’s helping arroyo?
hindi naman pwede sila james carville, paul begala, donna brazile at stan greenberg, dahil consultants sila ng democrats.
On stealing elections and going to war based on lies. The American people were stanmpeded by a well crafted media and political machinery to sell a War on Islam. GMA is using the same tactics of smoke and mirrors using the entire machinery of government and probably stolen monies. Getting a peoples intitiative through would seem like a piece of cake. The apathetic will soon find out how it feels to be sodomized.
“People forget that in every country and time, there’s a standard distribution of sociopaths and misdirected losers. In normal times, they seem like normal people. But when the time is right, they show their colors, and they love to get jobs with the government, where they can lord it over their betters.†Doug Casey, financial analyst.
With Samuel Huntington’s opus “Clash of Civilizations as the guiding philosophy, The Empire is on the move.
The separate fiefdoms in the Philippines are all slowly exerting their powers in light of the weak leadership and utter helplessness of the populace. GMA either wittingly or unwittingly has unleashed forces she will find hard to control down the road.
The most obvious targets are the most vocal and direct enemies of the government – the left and nosy journalists.
GMA would be foolish to come out directly and challenge Islam. One of her prominent advisers Max Soliven notwithstanding.
There are over a million Filipino sitting ducks in the Middle East. Al Qaeda would love a proxy target for the Americans and British. Like Bush’s gay and Islam bashing he needs to divert Americans from the serious economic situtation at home. No different from GMA.
Nothing like a war to keep people’s minds occupied. Here the left has become a handy scapegoat for her weaknesses.
A fiercely anti-communist U.S. would only be too happy to help out.
The U.S. war mongers cannot move openly against their real enemies, the Chinese so the Philippine left will have to do for now. They have numerous models to draw from their experiences in Vietnam and Latin America. It appears that the GMA government is only too happy to carry it out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/06/08/DI2006060800699.html?nav=nsc
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/06/is_al_qaeda_dead.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201282.html
http://www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?sec=Documents&pg=article&DocID=1994&T2=Article
HVRDS,
Well said and well done!
“On stealing elections and going to war based on lies. The American people were stanmpeded by a well crafted media and political machinery to sell a War on Islam. GMA is using the same tactics of smoke and mirrors using the entire machinery of government and probably stolen monies. Getting a peoples intitiative through would seem like a piece of cake. The apathetic will soon find out how it feels to be sodomized. “
John,
Your request of a copy is now posted on your blog.I saw your request at Ellen’s.I googled it and fortunaetly it is still cached.
HVRDs,
I also think that GMA is only waiting for the yanks to unleah their wrath on the leftistz …like manuelbuencamino(?) said the training in subic for whitewater applicants might not be for deployment outside the philippines but rather inside.
On my wish that Lugar will ask GMA to cut clean,that will remain a wish.
And what is this news that the Yanks would go after Janjalani next? Hvrds it is already happening,and we are not even talking about the left.
Oplan Sigaw ng Bayan is to GMA what Oplan Sagitarius was to Marcos. All she needs is for some batallions to move and the rest to remain neutral and she can crown herself queen of the Enchanted Kingdom.
Unto the Breach
Of Faith
On the Day
of Reckoning
“…But it is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in, and settleth in it, that doth the hurt …
Surely the wickedness of falsehood, and breach of faith, cannot possibly be so highly expressed, as in that it shall be the last peal, to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men; it being foretold, that when Christ cometh, he shall not find faith upon the earth.â€Â
Of Truth, The Essays by Bacon, Sir Francis
hvrds,
next thing you’ll be believing that 9/11 was a staged massacre. kinda reminds me of the Watchmen. 🙂
To be fair and before everybody reading it decides that RFKjr’s claims are gospel truth, it would be good to get a more comprehensive and well-rounded look at this issue (coming from not-too-friendly-to-GOP Salon and a Democratic pollster) on this site and the links embedded thereat:
http://volokh.com/posts/1149682281.shtml
RFKjr shares a great name and a great family, but on past occasions he has been aptly shown to misstate and mischaracterize issues relating to politics and most especially relating to his avid passion, the environment. Learn also how he and Uncle Ted practiced NIMBY when proposals were made to erect windmills off the coast of Hyannis Port, the family’s estate.
thanks karl.
Moe,
How silly of the ignorant world!
Why, it wasn’t at all Osama bin Laden who organized the 9/11 massacre! Of course, it was Saddam! Didn’t he send his stockpile of WMDs to America on 9/11? Didn’t Saddam represent the entire muslim world and Islam? Wasn’t Saddam the leader of Al Qaeda and Iraq its bedrock? Therefore, it is only right that the war of attrition must continue against the muslims and against Islam …
How extraordinary that something so obvious cannot be appreciated by the rest of the world…
Yes, Moe, America is right – America must obliterate the entire Iraqi nation and shouldn’t stop at that – America must annihilate the muslims anywhere, everywhere for Saddam’s crimes on 9/11!!!! Dubya Bush and non-xenophobic Cheney and Rumsefeld know best!
(OMG! Next thing we will be told is that bin Laden is IRAQI!)
Sorry, MLQ3, you may obliterate the above comment before or after Moe reads it.
I realize the above comment is in “bad taste” but so are warmongers and proponents of a war of attrition against Iraq!
Rest assured, I don’t give a hoot what happens to Saddam and I’m mighty glad he’s out of the way but I’m not too sure that an entire nation and its hapless citizens should be made to suffer for the sins of one psychopath.
Americans who continue to deny that the invasion of Iraq was all about a self-serving, self-agrandizing purpose first and foremost in order to emphasize that America is THE MOST POWERFUL and THE MIGHTIEST OF NATIONS must be reminded of what another American said, “You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” – Malcolm X
I guess with America’s continued assertions, World War III wouldn’t be too far away. With Bush at the helm of the “POLICE OF THE WORLD”, who knows what he’ll do next. The wedge between Islam and the Christian world has been driven. For now, we all must endure the threat of a terrorist attack. From whose side, your guess is as good as mine.
No problem John!
see, yan ang problema eh. all arroyo needed was to get the presidency para maging all powerful at untouchable siya, so ninakaw niya yan. At ngayon na nasa pwesto na siya, she has all the resources of the gov’t at her disposal, pati yung mga gov’t controlled and influenced na tv, radio stations at newspapers. she either has a 1 trillion budget or a re-enacted one. so malaki ang advantage ng arroyo admin para itulak ang cha cha. pero nakikita mo pa lang sa “people’s initiative” ni gloria, halatang napaka-irregular at ginagamit yung pera ng gobierno para dito. para na rin yang yung iskadalo ng road users tax at fertilizer fund na ginamit rin para sa kampanya ng iilang admin allies sa election. napaka-marcossian talaga ng PIG na yan.
but you know what, people back in 1973 also accepted Marcos 1973 constitution, dahil “na approve” yan ng mamamayan, diba kuya manuel?
so if cha cha passed, i guess we’ll have to “accept” that too, won’t we?
but the minute marcos… este arroyo pala is thrown out of power, we immediately scrap arroyo’s constitution and use the 1987 constitution. If it’s REALLY necessary to rewrite the 1987 constitution, then we’ll have to do it the right way, NOT the arroyo way.
having said that though, i don’t think papasa ang constitution ni arroyo without some dirty tricks involved.
anna, i read it and i’m glad MLQ3 didn’t delete it. i agree with you about the war in iraq. everyone knows it was about oil and halliburton profits. i also dislike the americans – including bolton. i especially dislike the americans who come over here and try to tell us how to run our house when their own backyard is a disaster. and no, i am not chastened by your reply because you simply misread me. and that is the problem with letting passions run too high, especially around the blogosphere. we sometimes forget that we don’t know where everyone is coming from with their statements.
Moe,
Sorry if I got you wrong but your comment led me to believe that you were proposing that 9/11 was committed by Iraq… hence the ‘quid pro quo’ (French term for ‘misunderstanding’).
Anyway, allow me to return the compliment – I NOT dislike Americans! It’s not because Bush and his cabinet of the absurd committed America as a nation that we should hate Americans, no! I dislike Bush and his clique… There’s a difference – that they happen to be Americans is incidental. While I may refer to their nationality which unfortunately, may lead to generalization, I only do it for the sake of national identification. But don’t get me wrong – it would be absolutely wrong to “dislike, hate Americans” for the sins of a few American psychopaths…It’s as if because I dislike, nay I hate Gloria and her minions that I should hate Filipinos too. Would be absurd in the extreme!
hey anna. my dislike of americans stems from personal experience, I’m afraid. bush and company have nothing to do with that. and yes, that may be a bigoted sweeping generalization but, there you have it. There are exceptions, of course, but on the whole, i’d rather they leave us alone. I see what you mean about returning the compliment, of course. I have to admit I misread you too. But, in both our cases, I guess, a l’oeuvre on reconnaît l’artisan.
I don’t think that iraq had anything to do with 9/11. I don’t even think Saddam and Osama liked each other.
Quid pro quo … that’s latin. Or maybe I misunderstand again. malentendu, n’est-ce pas?
Absolument, mon chèr moe… mais t’es ou exactement? aux Philippines?
oui, Anna. Manille
Ah, àManille? ! Eh ben! D’accord…