This was released today by the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines:
VP Noli’s statement re issue of impeachment proceedings and rallies:
Let me reiterate my support for the search for the truth through peaceful, legal & constitutional means. With the present communications technology, the people have actually become witnesses to a constitutional proceeding to determine the truth. As the ultimate repository of the nation’s sovereign will, the people will themselves be the final judges if the cause of truth has been justly served.
I call for sobriety & prayerful discernment as the people exercise their democratic rights. I believe that the free and proper exercise of one’s constitutional rights will only serve to strengthen our democracy.
just as predicted nothing happened…maybe its the weather (someone suggested it on an earlier comment post) or maybe the voting itself (like what pro-admin “BURROS” admit) was a farce and had really no substance to…as lamented by our VeePee we are living today in a world almost based on technology or quasi-mechanical et digital – POINT TAKEN! – those robots in the house really did a technical on all of us…by the way they should have done their explanations in writing – tutal ganun din naman mangyayari eh…oo nga pala, kuya manolo did you notice the speaker always barging on pro-impeachment reps after the 3-minute declamations limit passed…and why the hell did marcoleta vote no whilst the anti-impeachment crowd yelled no foul…fishy isnt it?…
Pls ask the good Veep to explain in his own words. If he is to be considered as a viable alternative, he must show he is capable of explaining his own press release, kahit Tagalog, ok lang. Magsalita lang siya, so we may know what he thinks, and how he thinks. The people have a right to know, di ba? On the other hand, who am I kidding?
All that sound and fury in Congress, and yet,what choices do we have to replace GMA? Noli, Susan, Loren, Ping, Bro. Eddie, Gen Abat, Gen. Rene and the Transitions or Satur and His Revolutions?
Choy,
I’ve heard it said once too often that the argument of having no viable replacement for GMA is not a valid argument. I do not agree with that. This is an issue we really should be debating. It’s too important to just ignore. Do we really want another limbo for the next few years? Whoever replaces her after a successful coup will be in the same position GMA was after Erap – with all the monkeys on their back waiting for handouts. Then, it’s back to square one for our country. One step forward and two steps back.
Manolo,
Is Noli hedging?
What’s with “…the people will themselves be the final judges if the cause of truth has been justly served.”?
and
“… I believe that the free and proper exercise of one’s constitutional rights will only serve to strengthen our democracy.”?
The party line is : The impeachment is over time to unite behind Gloria and not “I call for sobriety & prayerful discernment as the people exercise their democratic rights.”
Why is he breaking ranks?
What the hell is going on here?
Great sign. Noli is aware that this regime’s days are numbered…
Haunted by Marcos’ ghost
by Abe N. Margallo
Marcos, as many Filipinos may still recall, employed every means possible to fabricate a semblance of public acceptance of his regime which he claimed, until his expulsion, to be constitutional and democratic. As an astute politician, Marcos was quite aware that governments, regardless of forms, must exert every effort to gain popular consent; and if only to secure a modicum of public acquiescence, he did not hesitate to corrupt everyone and the established order.
The people’s consent is therefore of the essence in any government that purports to be a democracy. For, at least theoretically, there can be no democracy that is not firmly based on the will of the governed. The powers that be are thus highly sensitive to the fundamental requirement of popular consent, whether the government being run is in fact democratic, oligarchic or despotic.
With about 80 percent of the Filipinos today wishing President Arroyo to leave office, how could she possibly secure the consent and support of the people without being repressive and manipulative in the way leaders of tyrannical disposition are prone to?
What is more, the technological wonders of speed and connectivity are now allowing citizens (the better-informed and well-meaning ones, in particular), in concert with people of like persuasions, to affect state decisions. And these are occurring in ways that are proving to be discomforting to the abilities of power holders to control public opinion through the traditional media outlets.
For instance, Malacañang has had to let loose two officials of cabinet rank (Ricardo Saludo and Rigoberto Tiglao) to post rejoinders in Newsstand as certain topics in the blog and comments thereon turned to be quite too disturbing to ignore. What could reasonably be suspected as a Palace-inspired blog, Rational Sphere, has actually been created for the coziness of the presidential bloggers barraged as they have been in not-so-neutral exchange zones. Yet, Newsstand owner John Nery was still gracious to quip: this can be the beginning of a truly meaningful deliberative democracy.
But, whether deliberative democracy can be justified, if the public is yet incapable of making appropriate political decisions in the pursuit of the common good, is still problematic. The answer of course is education, i.e., to increase the salience of politics in people’s lives. This means more, not less, politics and, hence, greater involvement by the people in the political processes. Simply voting for representatives (ah, yes, those people’s representatives some of whom burnt their midnight candles and themselves during the impeachment vote) is therefore not enough for purposes of true empowerment. But appreciating the real issues is participation in the political sense.
For now, there would be no good, long drink for mlq3 (if he is not a teetotaler). But if for the foregoing reasons alone, the quixotic campaigns of the grandson of the illustrious MLQ as well as the valiant efforts of the investigative reporters of PCIJ during the failed impeachment against President Arroyo are priceless in this educative process. Their salutary contributions are unmistakable in the face of the mainstream Philippine media’s phlegmatic performance of its duty to inform the people and of its supposed role as a public trust.
Thus, from the “circus atmosphere,†one expects more unintended consequences such as in the form of continuing “living room†and “street†political tutoring of the populace could be headed for some concrete fulfillment. For one thing, enough lessons from the past (from the unfulfilled expectations of People Power I and People Power II) might have been learned by now. And, and . . . lo, is there ample awareness this time of how to go about delivering the people’s true interests from the usual elitist rationale for economic growth (for the elites’ shake) without economic democracy?
Indeed, democracy also means the right to earn a decent living in the very place one calls home. Unfortunately, unlike Marcos who openly brandished dictatorial powers to have his untrammeled ways, Arroyo is practically a lame duck president hostage today to keep political IOUs as one of the bitter pills produced by the impeachment saga. So, even if willing to make amends for her “lapses,†Arroyo, as a matter of political convenience, will have no choice but to relegate once again this long-standing people’s aspiration to the trenches of oblivion. This translates into less food on the table of nearly half of the country’s population as long as Arroyo is president.
Now, will people power sustain its potency and go beyond the political theatrics that the first two upheavals have unfortunately become? Or, in the days ahead, should Filipinos in fact expect to see an Iron Lady cast in the lengthened ghost of Marcos ready and willing to wage a war of attrition, at all costs, against the Great beast?
Makikiraan lang…
Napakahirap magkaminsan pag-usapan ang katotohanan.
Ang dumadagundong na isyu ngayon (ilang buwan na)ay ang pagpapatalsik ng liderato ni GMA.
Subalit para sa aking mangmang na pang-unawa, ano nga ba ang pinakamahalagang isyu na dapat pag-usapan? Kapag napalitan kaya si GMA magbabago ng direksyon ang ating ekonomiya? panahon lang ang makapagsasabi — ngunit malakas ang kutob ko ganun parin ang magiging kalakaran. sapagkat habang hindi nababago ang sistema at direksyon ng ating pamahalaan ay maihahambing tayo sa isang pampasaherong sasakyan na papalit-palit ng ‘driver’ — at dahil doon at doon (underdeveloped country)lang ang ating alam na puntahan,pabalik-balik lang tayo doon.
Hindi ko rin sinasabi na pabayaan nalang si GMA — dapat lang na patalsikin ang isang inutil na lider. At lubos akong naniniwala na sa henerasyon ngayon ng mga Pilipino hindi na basta mauulit ang sistemang ‘rehimeng Marcos'(diktadurya na halos 20 yrs walang ginawa /nagawa kundi isangla ang bansa sa dayuhang interes).
Ngunit DAPAT sa kabila ng sala-salakot at halo-halong mga isyu na bumabalot sa bayan kong hinirang, huwag dapat kalimutan ng bagong henerasyon ang pinakamahalagang isyu, ang isyu ng dayuhang interes vis a vis interes ng sambayanan(nakararami o nasyunalismo)
…huwag kalilimutan na ang dayuhang interes at ilang Pilipino na nakikinabang sa kasalukuyang sistema ay hindi basta-basta isusuko na lamang ang kanilang pamamayagpag at maliligayang araw — napakalaki ng kanilang pondo(financial resources),puwersa,impluwensya,info. gathering(intel),propaganda machinery,etc. etc. samantalang ang mga pangkaraniwang Pinoy na kagaya ay ga-tungaw lang halos ang pondo(ni wala pang sariling computer), ang kaibhan lang marahil mas makapangyarihan ang nasa likod ko (ngiti-persistence & determination)!
Si Kabayan has been hedging since day one. This type of statement has been his standard MO ever since this Garci tape/impeachment brouhaha came about. Look back at his previous statements and you’ll see. He’s an opportunist, a chameleon, and the worse kind of politico: the balimbing. I have more respect for the Hyatt 10 as they came out in the open and turned their backs on GMA without any clear prospect of political gain. Any moves by Noli to be the next Prez should be quashed immediately. His name should’ve been with GMA’s in the impeachment, as that may have gotten the opposition another 5-6 votes.
Noli is a politician. Is he good at this game? You decide.
words…words…wala na bang iba? i know the administration is grooming VeePee Noli to be their “head war-horse” in the next PSEUDOSENTIAL elections but by GOD i dont think he is presidential material – yet…never will a good leader be always a great politician and vice-versa…pero if i had to choose between Ka Noli and Speaker Tenga, id choose Sen. Big Bear (hehehe…naturally after the pres and veepee he is the next logical choice)
I agree our people have to be educated, but not in politics. We need more technicians, mechanics, agriculturists, engineers. Not lawyers. Sobra-sobra na ang mga pilosopo dito. Furthermore, we need more stakeholders, people who have something to lose with the system. While the majority are mired in poverty and have nothing to lose, we will always have instability because the majority couldn’t give a damn about the system. That is what Singapore and Malaysia have done. They concentrated first on uplifting the economic status of their citizens. This is what China is trying to do.
Carl, I agree. And so we definitely need more foreign investments, especially through j-v and partnerships, to get the capital and know-how we need. No developing country has boosted its economy over the long-term without substantial foreign investments.
However, here’s the problem. Ang gulo-gulo dito. Too much politics. It’s obvious that the educated class, especially the young, has too much time in their hands and not much work to do. If most of us are gainfully employed and earning a good living, I don’t think we’ll find enough time to be ralehistas, bloggistas and mall rats. Just look at the OFWs and the many Filipinos who found work abroad. They could hardly concern themselves with this amount of politics.
Foreign investors and expats who are fond of our country often shake their heads when they look at our constant political turmoil. Yet, they still come as there’s so much potential and so many bright people here. I can’t forget the letter written to PDI by an American living here and in the U.S.: “Do the people of the Philippines enjoy beating themselves up? Oh, Philippines… so much potential, so many wonderful, brilliant, beautiful people. Yet you kick yourself again and again, the endless author of your own endless misery. Sigh.”
I hope we learn to control our political libido and focus more on creating work and getting work.
hmmmm. . . kabayan’s statement is quite interesting to say the least – maybe the fellow knows what timing is all about. we just might have underestimated that chap
Too much politics but I think like tsismis, it’s been part of our daily lives. We can really talk about politics until thy kingdom come but should we also focus more on our means of living, improving ourselves and be more productive. Can this kind of informative blogs discuss also on other issues??????aside from politics??????
Great phrase, “political libido”. Sobra talaga ang libog ng Pinoy sa pulitika. And nothing like an election or an impeachment to pander to our prurient interests. How will any worthwhile work ever get done in this country?
Kulas, I don’t know about Noli’s timing or people underestimating him. For so long as he keeps hiding behind statements obviously crafted for him and issued at the discretion of his handlers, he will remain what he is…an over-rated news reader and not much else. Oh yeah, Vice-President of the Republic of the Philippines. Ouch!
charlez, how about punditry and history?
i think”politics” as a description of this blog merits political libido. hehehe.
noli boy or his political strategist are weighing in all options possible. afraid to be compromised and haunted by his own first gentlemen–the lopezes. whispering on rent-seeking again.
🙂
you know why we’re so fascinated with politics? it’s because we have always been in the sidelines when decisions on how to run our lives are made, a function of politics. and the only way one can have a semblance of “empowerment” is by writing, talking and kibbitzing about politics.
choy, i tend to believe the source was originally in tagalog and then translated to english.
anyway, IMHO that statement was made for the benefit of his patrons the lopezes who are obviously pro-impeachment.
noli is playing it safe, ika nga.
WHOEVER believes in the forked tongues of our ‘honorable’ leaders are doomed.
If it was mlq3 talking, I will believe;
…. but noli, gloria, and their ilks? uh=uh…no way!
When all else {constitutional means} have failed, I never look at people power as an outmoded possibility in determining whether the present occupant of malacanang is the right choice of the people, that she did not cheat her way to power.
the senators are pisseddddddddd!!!!
they are so dissapointed that the lower house deprived them of their moment of glory of humiliating PGMA.
their egos are thristing for her blood!!!!
proof of their disgust is they will open “investigation in aid of bringing PGMA down”
they are now ready to burn down the entire house to get rid of PGMA!!!!!!!!!!!
all the bs about truth is nothing but dirty politics at it’s worst!!!!!!!!!
now it’s the turn of the senators to do their evelist best!!!!!
Katulad ng dinidaming bise-presidente sa mundo. Wala siyang nagagawa kung hindi maging sunud-sunuran. Ginagawa na lang niya ang lahat ng tungkulin niya pero nawawala ang pagsagot ng matibay at totoo ukol sa mga isyu na sangkot ang pangulo.
Maybe it’s time we demand that the Senate get on their asses and start working on things that will make a difference in our lives instead of holding these useless hearings “in aid of legislation” (my big brown ass!) which never lead to anything but trouble.
Tapos na ang impeachment this year, next year ulit. And if the opposition still doesn’t have their act together, let’s make sure they are not going back for a next term.
Impeachment next year? MitaMS you gotta be kidding. If the interpretation of the GMA allies prevail, wala kang aasahan dahil sisiguruhin lang yang hindi sila mauunahan kahit na ano pa’ng mangyari. My worry is how will the next election look like? Every candidate could take a lesson or two from GMA with all the vulgarity and brazenness. And so who would be sane enough to cast his vote?
ricelander, i can imagine that: on jan. 2, 2006, 1st working day of the year, some bloke will walk up congress and file an impeachment complaint that has no form and substance, tapos nanaman ang boxing
yes mitaMS we must demand that the senators buckle down to work and really be at the service of the people and not use their positions for what they like.
i voted for a congresman to represent m y district and a president to lead the nation,never quit understood what the senators are. all i see is a bunch of egos who are neither here nor there but for sure are causing a lot of gridlocks!!!!!!!!!
they certainly are ambious too and that’s dangerous.
m.i.c.e.
money, ideology, compromise, ego
GMA got lots of money to warp the ideology of most of our elected officials, GMA got lots of money to compromise that instead of at least getting 73 votes for impeachment cong. imee marcos does a disappearing act congressmen allied w/ erap vote yessss, GMA got lots of money to build, soothe the already bloated ego’s of our elected officials thy’ve all been bought for judas price.
enter noli our veep, nice try, lying thru one’s teeth is the game of the year 2005 and you get paid a lot for it.not discounting the media mileage you get for your pogi points.
mitaMS, about the issue that there is no viable replacment to PGMA.
if there really is a viable replacement to PGMA i’m 100% sure that she has been long gone already.
i’m sure that whoever that person maybe would have been noticed by the public already.
but my poit is also that PGMA is not the problem here.
it’s about our dirty politics that has degenerated to unimaginable levels.
i’m sure PGMA is hanging on tough so as to break this cycle of national tantrums.
I would like the parlamentary uni cameral system to succed because it will simplify a lot of matters.
i think that we have potential good leaders in congress that than will become parlament.
i think that we must hurry-up to change the system because under the present system and w/ the kind of electoral system that we have and the cost of running for the presidency, it’s impossible that one person will not be beholden to the people who gave him the money, invested in him.
when i voted for GMA it was because she would provide continuity and also because she was the less evil of the others.
today insted all the lossers are ganging up on her.
Let me just say, about those whining about a lack of alternatives, is that the President herself moved heaven and earth to personally persuade Noli de Castro to run for Vice President and that they campaigned together as a team.
A person chosen by a presidential candidate, to be his or her vice-presidential candidate, is the person the presidential candidate considers the best qualified to be president at any moment.
The President’s choice was Noli de Castro. The President knows that we have had three presidents die in office, to be succeeded by the vice president.
Everyone proclaiming the rule of law, respect for the constitution, moving on with our lives, etc. knows full well the Constitution and our laws propose only one possible successor to a president, and that’s the vice-president.
Those who supported the President 100% voted for Noli (for full disclosure, I supported her 50%, I voted for Aquino for Vice-President because history reminds us how important a vice-presidency can be).
Opposition or no opposition, if fate, in it’s inscrutable way, suddenly decreed the President have a stroke, or downs her chopper, or subjects her to a nasty fall down the Palace staircase, and so on, the country would have Noli de Castro and would be because of the President’s doing.
So if you support the President, if Noli’s good enough for her, why isn’t he good enough for you? Even many in the opposition have said they’re ok with Noli.
mlq3, I respect your position but I don’t think the others in Bukluran do. I just heard Binay and Louie Sison say this noon that they do not support a constitutional succession and that they will push for a revolutionary or junta type of government. Bro. Luistro of La Salle also seemed lost in the argument, as he apparently has misgivings about non-constitutional succession, but he just went along and said that getting rid of GMA was the first task at hand and the rest is still to be discussed and agreed upon. This reminds me of the lambs going along with the wolves, on the promise of being led to greener pastures. Or of the fox who gave the scorpion a ride across the river and got stung for his efforts. Scorpions can’t help being scorpions. This is the danger when groups of differing agenda converge for mutual convenience. The do-gooders who ride the tiger are eventually swallowed up.
mlq3. Just for fun, I’d take a stab at guessing that GMA picked Noli as running mate for the simple reason that he would deliver votes. In some of the polls held before the election, Noli led every one including GMA and FPJ even in a presidential race. His popularity in the vast C and D market, the core audience of his radio and TV programs, is solid. And his ability to turn mere popularity to actual votes is proven, as he won his senate post without a party machinery nor a huge personal fortune. Oh, and by the way, he was a neophyte in politics!
Given such a formidable personality, I could only guess that many were drooling to have him as running mate.
Anyway, I do believe that Noli, regardless of his ideology, if he decides to go after GMA’s job, would be the toughest challenge ever to GMA. And if Noli secures the backing of the military…
Alex,
I guess anybody could guess that; I mean, the person who doesn’t realize that (why GMA picked Noli her VP) is probably not living in the Philippines and doesn’t know how politics run in this country and the Filipino’s criteria for whom to choose; I once heard a lawyer joked had he known how winnable one becomes when running for public office if he or she is an artista, dapat daw pala, nag-artista na lang siya at hindi na nagpakahirap sa law school.
Manolo: “if fate, in it’s inscrutable way, suddenly decreed the President have a stroke, or downs her chopper, or subjects her to a nasty fall down the Palace staircase, and so on, the country would have Noli de Castro and would be because of the President’s doing.”
Yeah, but do we really think any of that ever crossed her mind when she decided to field Noli as her VP? I guess, what was foremost on her mind then was Noli can deliver votes. Did it ever cross her mind somebody would wire tap her when she helloed Garci? Nah, she was more bent to lead by more than 1M. Right now, there are those who are out in the streets, demanding for the truth, calling her to resign, while the VP releases a statement which clearly says: “ewan ko sa inyo, basta ako, wait and see lang..”
Hindi kaya kinuha rin ni Arroyo si de Castro para kahit anong kalokohan ang gawin niya, di siya papatalsikin dahil sa takot ang marami na maupo si Noli? 😀
ederic, “keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.” 😛
Carl, Alex, Har, I just get irritated with those defending the President “for lack of an alternative,” and pointing to Noli when they should realize supporting her means supporting her constitutional successor.
And of course there isn’t a total consensus on the question of who should replace the president. But more have gotten over their reservations over constitutional succession than before. And of course, constitutional succession includes oh, let’s see, hmmm… Whoever happens to be President of the Senate in case both President and VP resign….
mlq3, so that guy will be drilon and just as he can be a sucsesor so will he also be booted out since his hands too are not clean!!!!infact he is known to have the ambition too.
the system is just so rotten that it’s useless to pretend to get anything good out of it!!
better than lossing our time & energies on it, just like a car that is so broken that it’s useless to be good money into it, why dont we work insted to changing the system to a parlamentary one.
in a parlament there will be more choices for leaders unlike now it is so hard to see anyone who can change pgma, not to mention that whoever that person may be may suffer her same faith too.
let’s not lose more time than we have already! we can’t be fighting forever!! we can’t be marching in the streets forever!!!!
we seem to demand so much truth but don’t have the courage to face it really!!!!!
let’s stop bring our country down!!!
because when it goes down if it’s not so much down already, we too go down w/ it!!!!!!!
if noli is smart enough i don’t think he should look forward to be president of this divided country.
i’m almost sure the opposition has the “goods” against noli na.
he has more to gain to support pgma
I agree with MitaMs – who will take over matters very much to a lot of people.
Has the opposition bothered to take a survey and ask: Do you juan want a caretaker gov’t? the answers to these questions may yet surprise them.
GMA won because she knows what she wants and set out to keep her seat.
e’ sila, do they know? wala, kalat!
It’s not Noli per se. Noli is more shrewd a politician than he’s letting on.
It’s the possibility that he will gain the presidency through people power and be ingratiated to those who put him there – AGAIN. And if, for some reason, there is one or two of those padrinos who are unsatisfied with the pickings will turn their back on him and call for another coup.
You have to ask yourselves, why those who are soooo supportive of the constitutional successor (to the point of rushing his taking over the presidency through people power) cannot wait 11 months to file another impeachment complaint to constitutionally get rid of the sitting duck, este, president. It took us more than a year after the elections to realize GMA cheated. If you tell me the impeachment if impossible because of the numbers, that’s BS. The Erap complaint went thru BP and got to the Senate. This is politics and it’s a game won by the fastest, the wiliest. Naisahan ang opposition and we pay for it? Someone did not do their homework and got us all screwed this time. Remember too, before impeachment the focus was “RESIGN” – faster, quicker, better? But the opposition played the game of impeachment anyway…sinakyan lang nila, obviously. The walk out proved it. Wouldn’t you play your wiliest self if you wanted something from your fellow congressmen? Like a lovesick swain courting his muse? What did they do, they had a temper tantrum!
So someone please tell me why does the good VP have so many GOOD friends these days?
Noli will not even have warmed his seat as president when the whistleblowers and the power-grabbers start coming out of the woodwork. Already there is a pending protest against him by Loren … and who’s next in line? Franklin Drilon, long known as a Cory protege. Do you think the opposition or whoever wants to grab power will rest until he’s gone? I don’t think so. Given the fact that he was solidly behind Gloria all this time, ewan ko lang kung bibigyan pa siya ng requisite honeymoon.
Where does that leave us people? And what will that do to our economy?
I am truly against a caretaker government, because that will truly make us the laughingstock of the whole world. Diyos ko, that pitiful excuse of a government will not last a week … eh iba-iba ang interests ng mga kasama sa Solidarity Forces. Para silang buwitre lahat, mag-aagawan sa posisyon.
No one from the opposition, pro-impeachment groups have even presented a concrete, achievable economic, financial, political plan of action should they succeed in booting GMA. Basta mapatalsik lang si Gloria, okay na. BAHALA NA. Anong klaseng action plan iyan? Eh parang pinakain na rin natin yung bansa natin sa mga wolves.
Again, how can these solidarity forces presume that the 5,000 of them or thereabouts speak for 75 million Filipinos? Go ahead, take a survey. In fact, napaiisip nga ako eh, siguro rin kasalanan natin ito, sumuporta din ako sa pagpapatalsik kay Erap. Pero kung iisipin, para na rin natin sinubvert ang democracy when Erap was the only president in recent times to win by a clear majority. Sana pala we just swallowed our pride and endured him just so we can drive home the point that democracy is the victory of the majority and even if we don’t agree, we must respect that. We have over-used EDSA and sullied its meaning.
We cannot have perfect presidents, or perfect institutions. Was the impeachment important to resolve the issue? Yes. Should Gloria have allowed the impeachment process to continue? Yes. Did the majority bloc have the right to stop the impeachment from proceeding to the Senate? Unfortunately, yes. Did they cover-up the truth? Possibly, but how do we know and how can we make judgements. Everything was done in accordance to the law and to the rules of the House, despite rumors of behind the scenes wheeling and dealing. We know this, we are outraged but that doesn’t give us the right to undermine our institutions. The opposition should take their defeat like men, they lost fair and square, now they should go to work. We cannot take to the streets everytime the government does something we do not like.