From General Order No. 5, by the President of the Philippines has been born the following criteria for an acceptable press in this country:
Lomibao said news reports “should not hurt the Philippine state by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country.”
I think I shall call the policy the New Strength Through Joy Movement.
Late last night I watched the Manila Overseas Press Club Philippine National Police night. It was quite an unpleasant experience. Every time the media had Lomibao flat on his back, Tony Lopez would step in and apply the press conference equivalent of mouth-to-mouth. His most chilling line that night: “I’m used to holding a gun, not talking.” Or something to that effect.
I’ve been thinking, if Director-General Lomibao was a surgeon and not chief of police, he’d probably handle things this way:
“Hello. Well, last December I thought you might have a tumor, but I well, studied it, and well, put it under surveillance, and you know, thought about it, it seemed big and dangerous and then by January, it looked dangerous again but I was qorried that if I did anything about it the tumor might start spreading, so I well, talked to your tumor in a soothing voice and gambled on the tumor behaving and well… in February your tumor, not as seriously as in December and January but still, seriously, started causing trouble so, that being the case, we have to chop off your head now. Sorry.
“But it’s not that serious. If you don’t want us to chop off your head, I recommend self-medication. Though if you self-medicate, I’ll still watch your tumor because if it grows, it will be your fault and I’ll chop off your head anyway. In the meanwhile, let me write you this prescription…
“Ok, here’s the prescription. Here’s how to keep healthy and happy. 1. Don’t move while we do our tests or we’ll cut off your toes, then your fingers and finally, your head. 2. Don’t miss an appointment because it costs me money and if you do, I’ll cut off your genitals. 3. Don’t ask for a second opinion or bother to try understanding what we’re doing, and even if you’re terminal, you have to say, in a very loud voice, you feel as healthy as an ox or we will chop off your head.
“And while you’re under treatment, presuming you survive, we reserve the right to camp out in your house and if you don’t behave, we will take over your house. So now, whether you like it or not, your treatment for your tumor will begin. This is a medical emergency, you know.
“What? Surgery for your tumor? I’m a butcher, not a surgeon!”
My Arab News column for this week is basically based on this blog. The Inquirer editorial basically calls for a referendum on the President’s rule. Why not? Let the people be heard. It’s one of the things people can do next, as Rina Jimenez-David points out, people are thinking up all sorts of things. Greg Macabenta says the martial law generation has its own thinking to do.
The best opinion piece of the day: Alex Magno, you maggot! by Manuel Buencamino.
Punzi has a point about those challenging Proclamation 1017: it may be a trap to get discussion banned on the basis of its being sub judice.
Newsstand makes a fearless forecast: if it looks like the Supreme Court will overturn the proclamation, the President will declare the emergency over.
Finally, AsiaPundit compares and contrasts Thaksin and Arroyo.
Technorati Tags: military, Philippines, state of emergency
Ah you missed your friend Korina and Miriam..
With in the first second Miriam had Korina Squirming for breath.
The Law as she put it is Lawfull and There is no point in arguing that point…
An Emergency Existed and it is being handled.. Thats the Facts..
I am sure you want the NPA running the Government in Manila now……..
And then they asked the Journo’s which lived and worked through Martial Law and they said that they fear nothing and that it is just HYPE pushed by the media to help sales and anti sentiment… and that they continue to work with no restrictions..
Where is the 200-2000 on the List that korina mentioned in the Preface which you wrote with her?
Where are the Facts scan you show us some or is this down to who pays you.. ABS??
If a Revolutionary Transition Government will eventually succeed, among the first things that must be done is to dissolved the PNP. Or at least, purge it from “bad eggs”, as what one Magdalo soldier pointed out.
The PNP today still has the mentality of the Martial Law era. This is the reason why they can’t think beyond their “bakal”. The Cost to Benefit Ratio of maintaining such a corrupt armed organization would give as a clearer picture of why it must be disbanded.
In the meantime, the Marines, being more polite, could be tapped to perform police functions.
“Policing” the media by an organization which can’t police itself, even being the police itself, is absolutely preposterous. Notwithstanding it’s academic qualification to do so.
What about the news of the ABS Executives that have to appear before the NBI today and give their account on the events around the ULTRA Disaster..
An event that could have been avoided but was not, and then the President avoids a bigger disaster and you all yell and scream she is wrong,,,, WHY..
ABS wants to show more dead bodies on the TV Channel and boost their ratings..
That is the Only reason why i can see that people would want the NPA and the Madgalo group to be together..
The more death and destruction we can push the better is that not what the networks want.. The best Photo for the Front page?
One ABS Executive has left after the tragedy how many more will realise that the money is not worth the death and destruction pushed by them..
Sleeping….time to wake up!
Charlie Chaplin, in “The Little Dictator”:
“Dictators free themselves by ENSLAVING others. They work not for your benefit, but their OWN.”
To sleeping:
Michael Parenti, “Inventing Reality” (1986):
“If Big Brother comes to America, he will not be a fearsome, foreboding figure with a heart-chilling, omnipresent glare as in 1984. He will come with a smile on his face, a quip on his lips, a wave to the crowd, and a press that
(a) dutifully reports the suppressive measures he is taking to save the nation from internal chaos and foreign threat; and
(b) gingerly questions whether he will be able to succeed.”
Thaksin and Gloria…
Thailand Opposition
opposition in thailand would not want snap election because Thaksin might manipulate election so he must resign…
Philippine opposition
Some want electoral reforms but with comelec out first
some want computerized ..some nmanual
some don’t want chacha..some do but with gloria out first
and last points na lang…
Some want snap election and some simply just want her to resign
Just an opinion,not claiming gospel truth!
It looks like there’s a pattern in Gloria’s methods. Look at EO 464, it was challenged in the Supreme Court. The SC took it’s time before discussing it and when it did, it ruled that it was moot because Gloria has already allowed her secretaries to attend senate hearings. Now look at PP 1017, it is being challenged in the Supreme Court. The SC heard it fast but it still bought some time because it said the palace’s side needs to be heard too and then sets another date to hear it. I’ll bet that before that time the proclamation is already rescinded!
As you said.. Before Karl.. No Win Situation..
Any thing she does it is wrong…
Maybe if they worked toward an actual common goal of improving the country they would be amazed that the differences only lie in the implementation of the changes for growth. Some of their ideas and some of their ideas..
Without dialog and working together we just get a fractured economy with some getting what they want and the others getting nothing..
I would like to see 1 Policy made and thought through and then submitted to the Public by the opposition which then could be used by the president to help their people..
Yelling and screaming get no one anywhere..
Maybe too much work for them to do because they are yelling and crying too much..
You can’t blame GMA for acting that way; it’s her nature, and she’s being cornered. But in fighting back she is aggrieving the land’s cream of the crop, it’s heroes and thinkers, as she has to increasingly rely on those with whom she shares her amoral values. At the bottom of these is the issue of electoral scandal and subsequent cover up. People can see through with their collective instinct that GMA is a fake President. The social contract with which they are collectively bound has been violated.
sleeping, your arguments have some validity but only on the presumption that GMA is the legitimate president. also, please don’t assume that those who are ‘yelling and screaming’ are automatically also not working. that’s not an accurate characterization. GMA, for her part, gives the impression of ‘working’ but most of her effective actions are actually ‘politicking’.
First a historical note.
This has to be read with Wagner being played in the background.
The rationale for the Iraq invasion by Bush & company was clear. They were going to change the history of the Middle East. The policy framework was pure Marxist- Leninist. Destroy the old state and build a new one by force of arms. Iraq is now in the throes of civil conflict that would make war lovers blush with joy at the prospect of brutality unseen in a long time. It comes to our living rooms everyday. There are internet web sites for those that would like to see the gore and blood.
Hitler went after the Reds but he established a nationalist socialist policy framework that made it easy for him to gas Jews and commies.
He also attempted to change German history to conform with his vision of the Aryan race. He wanted this vision also for Europe.
Now we have it clear that the old contradiction of Fukuyama between the left and the right it still to be fought. Fukuyama himself apologized. Read up on Huntington.
Now we have this idea of the strong republic by GMA to transform the Philippines as it becomes clear she wants a strong state (authoritarian) approach to pave the way for the economy to develop.
Her basic policy framework still relies on the Washington Consensus. A dogmatic approach to the liberal economic paradigm.
The line is being drawn. General order No. 5 says it all.
In a world that is questioning and fighting that very paradigm, she is raming it through to save herself as higher interest rates are on the way – price inflation is on the way and you have deflation in the physical markets. A recipe for disaster for an import dependent economy solely and strategically dependent on OFW’s.
An economy with a minisclue amount of capital investments in productive capacities solely dependent on consumption while domestic forces see their incomes contract and hunger stalks the land. That is the destabilizing force created by the very economic conditions imposed by her and her like. Take heed the lessons in Latin America. In Argentina when confronted by an economic crisis they went through five Presadents in a few months until they found one who declared a debt repudiation and broke away from the Washington Consensus that worked and they are back on their feet. Their total debt load was lower than ours. Even in Mexico the present President is being challenged by the left view of anti-globalization. The Washington Consensus is dead except here in the Philippines.
That is the line in the sand.
Now on Alex Magno being a maggot. We are after all part of the natural world. Maggots serve a useful purpose in the physical world.
However Magno is something else. He pretends he knows what he talks about. He gets paid for it by the present couple in the Palace as he ratifies their position. Sort of the blind leading the blind.
He pretends at times to be a libertarian, a believer in the dogmatic theological primacy of the free markets. Absolute faith he says in the theology of the free markets. Yet he receives his stipend from a development bank of the country.
The anti-thesis of his pronounced faith. He is on the public dime. He is a director of DBP.
A development bank that acts as an intermediary of directed sovereign foreign funding to support foreign industries to enable them to sell their goods with an explicit and implicit subsidy from our government in the form of a sovereign guarantee. An audit of our present debt structure will confirm a large part of it came from this very bank in the past. We continue with the practice today. Recent casualties was Victorias and Negros Navigation which got a debt haircut courtesy of Joe Public. Please note that Negros Navigation was part of Manny Pangilinan’s projects with Metro Pacific. Negros Navigations got a judge to cut their debts to DBP. The DBP had no choice as those funds were guaranteed to foreign states. I believe one the officers (DBP) now is undergoing an audit for his personal abuse of his postion. (Small Potatoes)
All this in the name of the free markets he says. But when his favorite boys get into trouble guess who pays the bills?
Noble prize winner in Economics J. Stiglitz described this type of arrangements as common in the mercantilist club that is the G-7 countries. The developing world subsidize production and consumption of the rich countries.
We the collective republic subsidize the sales of foreign transnational corporations to ourselves by removing or reducing their risk premiums. Then they call it free trade.
Alex Magno calls it economic freedom. His it appears. It appears to be plain and simple corruption of the highest degree. They call it booty capitalism or crony capitalism.
The man appears to simply be corrupt and a crook.
HVRDS,
You blow my mind!
You defended the maggots well btw.
Imagine Magno being linked to them.
I think Magno writes fairly & objectivly. I never get the impression he writes for popularity or writes from perceptions or takes advantage of popular issues.It seems that for one writer to critisize a fellow writer is not good.
I guess Buencamino must be in a bad mood.
I guess Buencamino was just bankrupt of better things to say.
I think in reality it was only “santa cory & her gang of mga manggagatong” who went home dissapointed kasi di sila naka score!!!!!
talk about voltures!!!!!
Anyway, I guess Buencamino is trying to prove something.
What it is?
maybe it’s not important
Karl,
I read that article two between the Thai PM & PGMA.
The writer did not factor in the Pride of Thailand never being a conquered country w/c also makes the thai people a proud & nationalistic people.
something us pinoys have either lil of or nothing.
Their being a Buddist & us being Catholics of sorts.
I leaved there & I swa how better Buddist they are then we are Catholics.
BTW, maggots are used for medical reserch.they are also used to eat up dead tissues.
maggots serve a purpose.
If you think hard about it they are part of the cycle of life.
Maybe, it’s better if we give the Leyte tragedy more respect then just using it getting back at others.
sleeping, mike defensor says theres a list. a small list has already been released. the pnp says theres more to the list, but they don’t want to release names. you can check reports by the various papers, including pro-administration ones, it was palace sources leaking there are lists. and neither korina nor i said categorically, there are lists, but that there are reports of lists. of course, one can shut up and not mention lists until they actually are released -but then that’s too late, if one thinks there shouldn’t be lists in the first place. besides which, there were two kinds of journalists who lived and worked through martial law. those out of a job, and those who had jobs because they played ball with marcos. if you played ball with marcos then, of course you won’t fear anything today.
How can Newsstand make a fearless forcast about how the SC would judge 1017 that only states a fact.
Sen. Santiago said that it’s out of the SC reach per se.The SC can say something about it’s implementation though.
Chances are that before the SC’s proces ends 1017 will be lifted already also.
It seems to me the majority of people can only be so frustrated due to the latest events.
I know I am.Because certain groups just don’t know when to stop.
They could not care less if the majority of the people supported them or not.
They would just brand those people who just wanna have a life as “indifferent”.
In reality it is the majority of the people whom 1017 protects.
Obviously, it is to those who want to exploit our problems that 1017 is a threat.
The same ol people making noise since last year & since forever.
I think the press freedom thing is being magnified.
Because I beleave that there are still good & professional people in media who are still capable of reasoning & being objective.
Those same people are well aware that among their ranks are also ah’s that use the press for ulterior motives.
But because human relationships are based not on truth but in “walang pakialaman, pakisama” or a kind of fraternity where they just play dumb & deaft or you will be disowned.So those matatapang are not really matatapang after all.
Media knows it.The press people know it.That among their ranks there are those who ruin their credibility.
irony of it that they will never judge themselves but they will insted go futher by playing judge & jury on others.
Freedom of the press is not the issue. It’s how the freedom is being used.
Just like how the Senate uses it’s freedom.
Just like how everybody uses their freedom.
Freedon can never be taken away.
It can only be lost when used recklessly.
When one handel it like an absolute & w/o limits.
maybe it’s because we are a young democracy (that never seems to grow-up).
Freedom is equated w/ “power”.
Open Letter to Our Leaders
Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Media people, Leftists,
and all Bleeding Hearts Out There:
I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I
am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of
all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos. I feel like
screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my
rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours. You tell me that
the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his
or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves
do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made. In
other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and
your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.
I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already
responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear – we chose not
to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not
love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we
love our country even more. Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose
our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward. You may think
that is not correct, you can tell me all the dire warnings about the evils
of authoritarian rule, but quite frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts
to prop up your cause. You tell me that you are simply protecting my
freedoms and my rights, but who told you to do that? I assure you that when
I feel that my rights and my freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and
fight for them myself.
You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because
she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed
wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you
do), I may have become jaded. But you have not been able to offer me any
viable alternative, while GMA has bent over backwards many times to
accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and
the brickbats you have thrown her way. From where I sit, she is the one who
has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you
have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not
succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing
contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective.
You say she is the problem. I say, we are the problem, more to the point, I
think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of
the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right,
YOU!
While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the
elections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then
taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her. Yes my dear bishops, I have
done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the
Christian and moral thing to do: forgive. Especially since she has asked for
forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not
apologized and continues to be defiant, continuing to insult us everyday
with his protestations. Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we
have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after
all.
I know you do not think that GMA’s apology was not enough, or that she was
insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please
spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of
protecting the moral fiber of society. The real reason is because you smell
blood and wants to go for the kill.
Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for
her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like
you even more. I may not trust her, but guess what; I do not trust you even
more.
You know why? Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country. You
belittle every little progress we make; conveniently forgetting that it is
not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them. Every single day,
we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull
itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress
is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard everyday in our
jobs. Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the
eyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to
prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we
painstakingly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not
share your cause. Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of
your antics. You have moved heaven and earth to destroy her credibility, you
have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test
our patience to the core. For all your effort, you have only succeeded in
dragging us further down. I say enough.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or
that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you have tried
to prove your accusations all these time and you have not succeeded, so it
is time to let things be. Besides, you are doing something immoral as well
if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the
communists – the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for
years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses.
So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and
genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the
President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than
scheming power hungry fools who can not even stand up for their convictions
in the face of an impending arrest.
Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only
underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people
whose only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse do not work. You are
like bullies who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task
for your cruelty.
I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like
real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and
making lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all
these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing
to go to jail for us.
Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the
government when that is the one and only thing you have been trying to do in
the last many months?
We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not
give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our
share to make things work. If you only do your jobs, the ones that we
elected you to do, things would be a lot simpler and easier for every one.
The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more dangerous
and a serious threat to this country than GMA is. We have seen what you are
capable of doing – you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything
to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need
protection from, it is protection from you.
that’s nice, so why did raul roco, on his death bed, with no ambition to protect, call for her resignation?
I’m glad Gloria cheated in the last election because if not FPJ would have been president. And since FPJ died, he would have been replaced by Noli whom I don’t like.
Unfortunately the middle forces don’t see this. If Jose de Venecia could have cheated so that he can beat Erap in ’98, would the middle forces have tolerated it, seeing how Erap was as president? They would! Ask the same question about Gloria.
Point is democracy won’t work in our country because squatters will vote idiot candidates by the millions so let’s support machiavellian pygmy presidents who will deliver middle-class (who are in the minority) aspirations.
Am I wrong?
MLQ3,
I just noticed a disturbing feature in the scheme of things related to SOE:
The first foreign government to applaud Gloria and gave her official government backing right after her proclamation of State of Emergency was SPAIN which was coursed through the Spanish Embassy in Manila and announced by DFA Sec Romulo to the press accordingly on INQ7 25 Feb 06.
Now, lo and behold! Here’s a news report which is probably found in the inside pages of the Inquirer but is on the net: Spanish chamber wants no legal limit on foreign ownership
Posted: 8:01 AM | Mar. 01, 2006
http://money.inq7.net/breakingnews/view_breakingnews.php?yyyy=2006&mon=03&dd=01&file=5
I am not against foreign ownership of property but I find the plan with on one hand a beleaguered Gloria in the backdrop and on the other a lapdog Congress – the scheme is totally bizarre, partly because of the manner in which the ConCom had come up with their ammendments to the constitution and my lack of trust in the people behind them.
I just don’t trust Gloria – I think she would do anything to hold on to power even if it means selling parcels of the Consitution to any moneyed and influential BIDDER IN THE WORLD!
Now, what’s going on? Are the Ayalas, Zobels, Aboitiz in fact dealing with Gloria, i.e., “we will support you but you must do something for us too…”
If big business withdraws their support and sneeze in the direction of Gloria, US or no US support, she will go down, so, WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON?
The whole archipelago may demonstrate against Gloria and call for her ouster but if the Ayalas, the Aboitiz, the Zobels, the Tans, the Sys, the Tys are still behind her, she will not go down…
Is there some kind of double dealing going on here?
MLQ3,
Filipinos in Japan joins the call for Arroyo’s resignation.
The three biggest Filipino associations in Japan with more than thirty chapters combined all over the country have joined forces together for a series of protest actions against Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP), the Filipino Women’s League (FWL), and the Kaisahan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa
(KAFIN) are all against the Proclamation 1017 signed by Ms. Arroyo last Feb 25, 2006. To include in the protestation are reminiscent to martial law arrest of Rep. Crispin Beltran and the continuous threat of arrest to other opposition law makers of the Philippine Congress, the clamp down of the Tribune Newspaper and big threats to the freedom of the press, and the de facto dictatorial rule of Ms. Arroyo.
Demonstration and street parade is set on Sunday, March 5, 2006, along the busy district of Shibuya-ku to kick-off the series of protest actions planned by the Filipino associations. In the coming weeks groups will start the lobby work with the Japanese policy makers to withdraw Japan’s support to a president who has not cleared herself of election fraud that is causing her own destabilization. Filipino lobbyists will also bring to the attention of Japanese policy makers and public the disturbingly high record of politically motivated killings of activist and civilians opposed to government, record breaking human rights violation and currently the undemocratic and military dictatorship rule now governing the country.
The rally and parade organizers are inviting press and media for a press conference on March 5, 2006 from 11:30 to 12:15 at Ebisu Park. There will be speeches and presentations right after the press conference to be followed by the parade rally around 1:30pm. The parade rally will start from Ebisu Park going to Shibuya station.
Filipinos in Japan protest on a Sunday from 11:30 to 12:15. Tsk tsk tsk, guess they don’t want to use up the whole day-off from their amo‘s.
Inday: “Hoy Shirley, may prutista daw sa linggo. Sali tayo sawa naku sa palakad-lakad pag linggu. Maraming pinuy dun.”
Shirley: “O sige ‘day kita tayo.”
Totoy, go wash the toilette now!
no need-your mother’s already washing it for me.
Totoy, thanks for revealing your position so clearly. We are going to be living in ‘interesting times’ (in the Chinese proverb sense) watching the machiavellians (amateur & professional) fight it out.
is that so? you mean evangelina macapagal? she’s dead!
cvj, i think totoy is a member of Luli Macapagal’s internet brigade.
Joselu,
Magno is not a fellow writer, he is a paid hack.
Magno was appointed by GMA to the DBP and the Abueva Commission.
It was Magno, like Defensor and others belonging to the GMA press, who brought up Leyte. They molested the dead not me. That was the point of the article but I’m not surprised you didn’t get it. You seem incapable of getting a lot of other things besides.
Sama ko sa rally kontra GMA. Wala bang nag-oorganize sa Kobe-Osaka?
I see…well whoever he/she is, it’s useful to have these positions clarified. The reality is that there are a number in the middle class / middle forces who cannot stand the thought of being on an equal footing (at least during elections) with people they consider their inferiors. In a sense, it is like ‘we’ (as in we members of the ‘middle’) are looking in a mirror. They form the ‘silent’ force that sustains GMA. We can now compare them with their supposed ‘inferiors’ in Japan calling for GMA’s resignation , and that all the more should give us the sense of urgency to realize the value of equality regardless of economic status.
most of the poor are idiots. what kind of idiots would vote for fpj and erap? the poor! that’s why we can’t entrust the selection of leaders of this country in their hands-simple as that.
Growing disenchantment: Vicente T Paterno
Growing disenchantment–Please help circulate:
From: Vicente T. Paterno
Dear All,
Please send on this message to whoever in M-1 and M-2 you think would like to know. Thanks.
To Masicap alumni and friends,
Please know I’ve notified all former ConCom members I dissociated myself from every ConCom affiliation. I now urge you to oppose the government drive for charter change. Reason – ConCom draft Article 20, transitory provisions, would not only retain GMA in office, but install her as Head of Government and Head of State, like Marcos. Enclosed write-up discusses the relevant sections of Article 20.
Best wishes,
Ting Paterno
=====================================================
I have notified members of the former ConCom that I dissociate myself from all ConCom activities and will oppose charter change. For I am now fully convinced that Mrs. Arroyo seeks not only to retain her Presidency but to expand her powers through charter change. Article XX, the ConCom transitory provisions, clearly define the strong motivation for Mrs. Arroyo’s determined efforts to get chacha ratified.
Here enclosed are the texts of Secs. 7, 9, and 11 to 13 of Art. XX. Sec. 7, the NO-EL provision, assure that the *interim* Parliament (2007-2010) will be filled with tried and proven allies, ready to do Pres. GMA’s bidding. The other cited sections, not as widely known, are more disturbing.
In a normal parliamentary system, the head of Government is the Prime Minister. He is elected to that post by his peers, the members of Parliament. Members of the cabinet are MP’s elected by the people. The President’s duties are ceremonial – to open Parliament, dissolve it upon advice of the Prime Minister, greet new ambassadors, be the symbol of national unity as Head of State.
Compare those normal parliament’s features with the provisions in Secs. 9, and 11-13.
– Members of her cabinet will not be elected MP’s but appointed by the President. Per sec. 9, 1/3 of them shall become MP’s by her appointment. 30 other persons shall also be appointed MP’s by the President.
– The interim Parliament will elect an interim Prime Minister. But Sec 11 says he will not be the head of government but just a cabinet member. Sec. 12 makes clear he is a mere cabinet member, for the interim prime minister and the cabinet shall function “under the direction and
supervision of the incumbent President ”
– Sec. 13 states that “in the interim Parliament, *the incumbent President shall exercise the powers vested in the Head of State and the Head of government* under this Constitution”.
In my interpellation to oppose these provisions in ConCom, I asked if these were not the same powers that Marcos gave himself. Spontaneous answer by sponsor of the provision Raul Lambino – YES.
Secs. 9 and 11-13 should by now have been opposed by Congress, for downgrading the interim Parliament.. But they have not. Developments leave me no doubt GMA herself is pushing these provisions. In a new body to promote chacha, the co-chairs – Attys. Romela Bengzon and Raul Lambino – were main sponsors in ConCom of these onerous sections. The appointment of Cong Puno to DILG, given his well known dagdag bawas and other election distorting skills, further confirms to us that GMA will leave no stone unturned for chacha and Article XX to be ratified by any means.
Vicente T. Paterno
21 February 2006
AdB’s NOTE: The other Transitory Provisions in question are found by clicking on
http://hillblogger.blogspot.com/2006/03/growing-disenchantment-vicente-t.html
totoy, from the people i’ve met, each class upper, middle or lower has its share of idiots. if you define ‘intelligence’ or ‘education’ merely as schooling, then of course there are more unschooled people among the poor, but intelligence is more than that. It is also about knowing and adapting to your personal circumstances and on that matter, it is the individual who is his/her own best judge. you have to realize that the Philippines is not a meritocracy and people are where they are largely as an accident of birth.
erap may have provided false promises and the poor may have mistakenly fallen for them (only 33% mind you, it was the disunity of the middle that allowed him to win). But you have to remember that Erap is part of the upper class and his cronies and compadres who comprised the midnight cabinet were also part of the upper class. What did most of the middle forces harp on during the campaign – his broken english, his being an actor…all peripheral to the main issue of his being in reality just another traditional politician. Why was the middle not smart enought to see this at that time?
Anyway, thanks for your presence as you provide Exhibit A of the ‘fascist middle’ that i’ve seen developing over the years…
Totoy,
“what kind of idiots would vote for fpj and erap?”
Idiots who are a lot smarter than the morons enchanted with GMA.
Magno is a typical Gloria mouthpiece and perhaps a member of Luli Macapagal’s internet brigate.
I’m glad Gloria cheated in the last election because if not FPJ would have been president. And since FPJ died, he would have been replaced by Noli whom I don’t like.
Unfortunately the middle forces don’t see this. If Jose de Venecia could have cheated so that he can beat Erap in ‘98, would the middle forces have tolerated it, seeing how Erap was as president? They would! Ask the same question about Gloria.
Point is democracy won’t work in our country because squatters will vote idiot candidates by the millions so let’s support machiavellian pygmy presidents who will deliver middle-class (who are in the minority) aspirations.
Am I wrong?
Manuel Buencamino,
“Idiots who are a lot smarter than the morons enchanted with GMA.”
Explain to me what’s so smart about voting Erap or FPJ over GMA (or JDV or Roco)?
totoy, i don’t think manuel meant to include everyone who voted for GMA, but only those who continue to ‘be enchanted’. Anyway, that’s my preferred reading since i also voted for GMA.
cjv,
“erap may have provided false promises and the poor may have mistakenly fallen for them”
that’s why we can’t trust them with choosing our leaders because they’re gullible, non-thinking idiots.
G-o Out of the Palace
L-eave Malacanang
O-ust GMA
R-esign Now
I-mpeach GMA
A-ssasinate?
as a self-confessed voter of GMA, who am i to condemn another for being gullible?
MAGNO IS LIKE A “DUNG” THAT STINKS LIKE MIKE DEFENSOR
AND ARTURO LUMIBAO !!!
GENERAL SENGA LOSES THE OPPURTUNITY TO BE A HERO AND
CLEAN THEIR RANKS … HE’S NO DIFFERENT FROM
ANGELO REYES WHO CONSPIRED WITH GMA TO OUST ERAP !!!
WE JUST WANT A CLEAN ELECTION !!! SO INVESTIGATE
THE GARCI GENERALS !!!
aw c’mon. GMA’s not too bad compared to FPJ (who died-what good could have he been as president if he’s dead?) or ERAP. so pat yourself on the back for voting GMA. support her.
We better watch out, Malacanan will surely unleash their lapdogs to flood blogs critical to the regime with comments trumpeting the palace’s line and perhaps provoke replies that can then be considered, based on their stupid standards, as “seditious”. Your guess as to the consequence then is as good as mine.
Oh, and by the way, comparing Alex Magno to that of being a maggot would be a great insult to maggots.He’s a dead tissue that maggots would love to eat.
MLQ3,
Just wish to correct the petition address/link in an earlier posting:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/timetogo
Thanks a lot.
Marcial Bonifacio,
” WE JUST WANT A CLEAN ELECTION !!! SO INVESTIGATE THE GARCI GENERALS !!!”
I don’t want clean elections. If the right number of votes are counted the likes of FPJ and Erap would have won them. Because 1 vote to 1 person democracy won’t work in a country where the majority are idiot squatters.
hmmm…a de brux…you may be right.