An OFW Living in Hong Kong points to picture proof of election fraud: Caught in the act? Photos show poll “cheating” (Malaya) PCIJ has more: Evidence of 2004 poll fraud captured in photos? Ellen Tordesillas puts the photos online here, and here, and here.
Random Thoughts points to recent articles in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Now it can be told: Why ‘withdrawal’ plot failed
Now it can be told: Who’s who in civilian council
Now it can be told: Esperon was the key
A fellow columnist responded to the articles with these comments via e-mail:
This [referring to why “withdrawal” failed] is almost 100% accurate, comparing it to what I’ve heard from my own sources. What is clear is that there was no coup plot, no tie-up with the Reds.
[Referring to the civilian council story] I think there were two groups that were forming two different transition councils… The CPP-NPA has no role in both councils.
Update: Amando Doronila praises the Inquirer reports and can’t resist taking a potshot at Newsbreak and the PCIJ, saying “the series was a product of no-frills and unpretentious enterprise reporting, not one churned out by corporate-funded investigative journalism.” And yet, the armed forces are angry over the stories.
Oddly enough, just when the President seemed more relaxed, the Vice-President chimes in: De Castro: Arroyo must explain -VP advises boss it’s time to clear air on ‘Garci’. The Palace response has been frosty. Today, Bunye: Gloria done with Garci (Manila Times). While Threats remain — GMA (Manila Standard-Today).
In Thailand, the Nation editorializes in favor of a fact-finding commission. Sounds familiar?
There’s a great epigraph in Lewis Lapham’s essay, The Case for Impeachment: Why we can no longer afford George W. Bush. The epigraph is this:
A country is not only what it does – it is also what it puts up with, what it tolerates. –Kurt Tucholsky
In the punditocracy:
My column for today is Managing expectations. I propose that what defenders of the President or defenders of keeping her where she is, are defending Civilization As We Know It. Appearances are everything; and unless the President suddenly develops leprosy, she will appeal to the keep up appearances mentality.
Billy Esposo on why the Palace fears unnamed news sources:
Inside scoops are the most damaging kind of information. EO 464 is all about the prevention of classified or top secret information being transmitted to those in the senate who can use it against the regime. It is easier to debunk the claim of an outsider than a charge that is supported by insider testimony and actual documents.
The Telecom scandal emanated from a Malacanang source – the late Bing Rodrigo, one of Madame Gloria M. Arroyo’s closest friends. The President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard graft case that is now in the Ombudsman was the result of the information that was provided by one of the directors of the Public Estates Authority. The extent of corruption in the military was first exposed by the Oakwood mutineers, young officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Department of Agriculture employees were the ones who provided the senate with the documents that served as basis for investigating the Fertilizer Scam.
The current national crisis from whence all these troubles pertaining to PP 1017 are rooted resulted from what are believed are the voices of Madame Arroyo and Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano discussing the manipulation of 2004 election results – the Garci tapes. Who were the sources of the Garci tapes? They were none other than the military personnel who were tasked to do it.
Carlos Conde in Davao Today speaks of blind bishops.
Dan Mariano says Senator Angara believes the country only has two choices: Charter change, or a junta.
The situation? Sylvia Mayuga expresses it best: we’re in dangerous hour.
In the blogosphere:
thirtysomething questions the economic claims of the administration.
Stepping on poop has an entry responding to a comment I made, and presenting his own view: discernment, not fence-sitting, is what he’s undertaking; strengthening institutions is his ultimate objective.
My responses are simple:
1. when the child yelled, “the Emperor has not clothes,” the fairy tale did not end with the child being hauled off to jail for sedition. The child opened the eyes of the adults. Suffer the little children -and oppositionists.
2. I find it impossible to strengthen any public institution when the head of state and head of government represents everything institutions ought not to stand for.
3. I find it a bit puzzling that the loudest denunciations against self-righteousness have such a shrill self-righteous element to them (and I am not referring to anyone in particular, just a general, noticeable, trend in argumentation). It is to be assumed all people are sinners, and yet it should not be a matter of consequence who is doing the denouncing -just as, to use an analogy from religion, it would seem illogical to prevent any kind of redemption for the reason that all human beings are marked with Adam and Eve’s original sin. Yet that seems to me much of the basis for present arguments. Though I’m not religious, the imagery of scripture remains powerful: Christ kept company with tax collectors and prostitutes and publicans; it was the “rule of law” and “don’t bother the established order” types who crucified him; it was Jesus who lost his temper in the Temple; and it was the Christ’s mission to redeem humanity despite the obvious flaws of his disciples: they denied him, abandoned him, misunderstood him, betrayed him, etc., Adam & Eve started the whole mess, theologically speaking. Yet redemption had to take place. So does denouncing a crime, presuming one’s a sinner, make one self-righteous? Only if one does not believe in sin, or if one denies the possibility either of redemption or that the flawed are not only capable of improvement, but must constantly seek perfection. This is not self-righteousness; it is the pilgrim’s progress.
this is as much a response to this comment by Roy Choco, which asks if opposition by its very nature doesn’t demand total subservience to a cause. My reply to the question is that in this blog and in my writings, I try to spend as much time explaining why I think certain things to be so, as I espousing and actively defending what I think needs to be done. All I have are my words to either convince you, antagonize you, or best of all, simply make you think so your own advocacies are thought through. I reserve a particular kind of scorn for the official defenders of the side I oppose; but then again I tend to be skeptical of whoever is in officialdom, whether I support them at the time or not. I am surer about what needs to be fixed, than as to the specifics of how to fix it: it only takes one person to know a machine is broken, but often a team of mechanics is required to get the motor running again. And I have always advocated here, and elsewhere, that efforts geared towards achieving consensus should be supported. Though we don’t always have the luxury of debating the finer points when the full armaments of the state are brought out to menace the other-minded. I ask you consider the position I adhere to, one of many; if you agree, fine; if you don’t, I’d very much like to understand why not -who knows, it could help me improve my position and possibly lead me to accepting yours. That is, if you want to debate and discuss.
There continue to be epistolary responses to the open letter by (a further response to the reactions to his letter, titled How That Letter Came to Be, was commented on by Rina Jimenez-David in her column):
Manuel Buencamino pens a peppery riposte.
Coffee with Amee has been pondering on the letter (eventually disputing it, point by point), and ponders the author’s response to criticism and debate.
[email protected] reflects on what M. Scott Peck calls “the people of the lie.”
Baratillo books cinema @ cubao replies to Ausero’s critics with a fable.
Demosthenes’ Game questions assumptions that democracy good, fascism bad; he espouses a utilitarian attitude towards democracy.
Three day student sit-in in France, dispersed with tear gas. What a Filipino turn of events.
Blurry Brain reads Horacio de la Costa, SJ. A great entry-
Heraclitus once said that “character is destiny”. We are most likely in this rut because our character dictated it so. I’ve had enough of pundits who write endlessly about what needs to be done for this country. Everybody knows in his heart what has to be done. The question is if we have the stomach for it. We are too self-indulgent, too forgiving of offenses done to us, too quick to allow others to put one up over us, too content or laidback to have the obssession needed to do whatever it takes to nail down an objective, and too quick to sacrifice the good of the nation for shallow compassion for individuals.
National Democrat meets Capitalist Boss.
Errata: JV Rufino emailed me to correct something I wrote about editorial procedures at Inq7.net: As a rule we don’t use anonymous sources. There have been exceptions, but in in those cases, the desk know who the source is, the information is corroborated through other means (and I don’t mean another anonymous source), and there is an overriding public interest in the information.
A reader of this blog (number cruncher, in a comment) notes I got the translation of “tolle, lege” used in my column last Thursday, wrong; I remembered it to mean, “listen, read”; it actually means “pick up, and read.”
Recent linkers: iN tHe GrAoEViNe, My Two Centavus, keep the spirit!, Exciting Existence.
Technorati Tags: CBCP, constitution, Edsa, Gloriagate, Hello Garci, journalism, media, military, people power, Philippines, politics, state of emergency
And Mike Arroyo succeeds to convince everybody that he and his wife plotted, conspired, attempted and launched a coup d’état that toppled a Constitutional government:
“Our group there was a back-up strike force. In fact, it was our group that won over to our side the PNP first. If Panfilo Lacson had resisted, he and his men would have been repelled: there would have been bloodshed, but not on EDSA.
In every place where Erap loyalists had a force, we had a counter-force to face it, with orders to shoot. And not only in Metro Manila. Carillo had already been sent to the provinces; and in Nueva Ecija, for instance, we had Rabosa. This was a fight to the finish. That’s why those five days that Erap was demanding were so important. He was counting on counter-coups and baliktaran.
“I was negotiating with Pardo up to three o’clock in the morning: niloloko lang pala kami. But I told him point-blank: “If by six o’clock this morning you haven’t given us the resignation letter, we will storm the gates of Malacañang!’ But they insisted on more talk: with De Villa up front, and my back channel debate with Pardo, which even became a three-way contest, with Buboy Virata pitching in.
“But the threat to march to Malacañang was for real. And so was the danger of bloodshed. I wasn’t telling Gloria everything: I didn’t want her alarmed. So she didn’t know about the orders to shoot.”
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=68994
The Inquirer report says, “The plan, as had been previously reported, was for members of the Scout Rangers and the Marines to walk out of their camps to join the Feb. 24 marches to celebrate the 20th Edsa I anniversary. They would be wearing their uniforms and with two distinct markingsâ€â€white patches and their long firearms with their muzzles down.
“It was a plan rich in theatrics, but definitely wanting in firepower, said the Inquirer sources.”
And Gloria claims there was a foiled coup d’etat? Without firepower? Without a physical attempt to deal a violent blow on the government and overthrow it by force?
The foiled act was technically an ACT OF SUBORDINATION…
Gloria lied about a foiled coup d’état, an attempted coup d’état, a coup d’état conspiracy between communists and the AFP or whatever coup d’état her deranged mind has been formulating …
Ellen Tordesillas wrote on March 10 “There’s no way that Gloria Arroyo would allow military officials involved in the rigging of the 2004 elections to be punished as being demanded by reform-minded members of the military to address the restiveness in the armed forces.” http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=160#comments
I agree with Ellen. Vice-Admiral Mayuga, Flag-Officer-In-Command PN is a Gloria general. It will be hard for him to be straightforward. I suspect his report will present a few minor facts but overall the report will have been sanitized.
What will be factual will be the various investigation reports that the investigating officers drafted and filed by these officers – they are the ones that contain FACTS. It will be interesting to get hold of those initial and separate findings (notes, records, drafts), they will constitute the TRUTH behind Gloria Macapagal’s manipulations of the presidential elections in 2004.
The Mayuga report will contain a compilation of those reports but in pure military sanitized version.
So, the Mayuga report will be a hard, difficult, tough read, an exercise in futility if you ask me…
In his Inquirer column, The Long View titled “Managing Expectations”, Manuel L. Quezon III, says “I believe there is a broader consensus-one which crosses socio-economic lines-on a solution to the present problem. That is, a presidential election of some kind. The Inquirer has proposed a referendum; many others have called for a snap election, whether involving the President or not, but aimed at one thing: to finally achieve an indisputable mandate for whoever the country sees fit to have as chief executive.”
Absolutely fair. And I add to finally achieve and indisputable mandate for whoever should be the rightful, moral and legal commander in chief….
So that the likes of then Commodore Virgilio Marcelo, in his capacity as then Camp Commander, Camp Aguinaldo wouldnt have to fight against disloyal officers and men of the military like Gringo Honasan and his followers by proclaiming “I am a Constitutional soldier, I shall defend my President (Cory Aquino) and the Republic…”
The legitimacy issue should be resolved with finality – Gloria Arroyo, the commander in chief illegitimus must surrender now. More elegantly put, she must “step down” and allow a snap election to save the republic’s military from fighting their own and the spare the civilian population from a potential bloodshed.
Even two of the greatest heroes of WWII, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle submitted themselves to a plebiscite and put their gallant record at risk by calling for a general elections and a national referendum when their capacity (not their legitimacy) to govern their respective nations were put in the line of public ire!
Now, Gloria Arroyo has nothing remotely to present that would come close to the honorable record of those two national leaders to back her up save perhaps for a political victory: a coup d’état in 2001 that she and her busband led and backed to overthrow a Constitutional government.
THE PHOTO’S RELEASE WAS FABRICATED – BUNYE
LOOK WHO’S TALKING !!!
I have 2 CD’s … The LEFT and the RIGHT …
At the END of the DAY, the TRUTH WILL FINALLY COMES OUT
I am SORRY, I CHEATED, I LIED and I STOLE your VOTES !!!
Manolo, in reaction to your column, do you have a theory on how Filipinos got to be that way? When did their standards for what is acceptable behavior start slipping? Did it start in Martial Law? I am one of those who believe that the President’s behavior (not explaining and wantonly covering up) is unacceptable for someone who is the leader of a country.
Your column fills me with despair and frustration. For as long as I believe that most Filipinos want to correct the flaws in their society (calling out when there is an obvious wrong and holding their leaders to a higher standard), I can deal with the everyday inefficiencies because there is always hope that we can work on ridding these flaws. But if your column is correct — and I am beginning to believe it is, then working against ridding corruption and improving the system is like working against your fellow countrymen, most of whom may just be satisfied with looking the other way when things are wrong.
It harks back to your column that referred to Locsin’s column of whether the Filipino is worth dying for. Really, if we are okay with the behavior of our current president (and I am not referring to the supposed cheating but to her obvious cover-up and failure to explain when she could have avoided all this if she did), then are we really worth dying for?
Julie,
A frustrated friend also wrote something similar to what you said:
” You know I am saddened by the impression I got tonight from some returning retiring Fil-American friends as well as some well established local Filipino friends. They do not seem to care about what she did, her cheating, the funds that disappeared before elections, the scandals of her husband and his role in jueteng, bribing, corruption, etc. etc…..just as long as the country moves forward, never mind about the continuing misdeeds, etc.. never mind about all the moneys that disappeared before the elections … what happened and what do we do about such mentality in people who used to be correct and
above board in their integrity?
People I used to know who were highly moral people have changed suddenly , everything is acceptable to them now just as long as they can go on with their lives and with their lucrative businesses, etc. etc. even people I
know who were highly moral and who are in government
now seem to have changed. What happened to friends I used to admire? The excuse is always, who will replace her?”
My reply: I refuse to believe that the country is bereft of morality or that there is no other moral leader anymore.
The lines “But there’s no alternative!” or “What happens next?” are pure Palace spins and a load of frogshit!
On on December 19th, 2005 at 8:17 pm I posted this on MLQ3’s blogsite. I feel that today or 3 months after I posted it, it is still true:
“The (Philippine version of) ‘Jacobins’ are in power today; when the government’s exercise of all-out corruption has become intolerable, ‘Robespierre’ will fall. Remember that the latter lost his head after 4 years of continuing corruption.
“As in any society in crisis and in search of identity, it is inevitable that people (particularly those with a little more than others to lose) become subjective. In my opinion, one must be able to make tough decisions; subjectives have never made a difference – they will blow the way of the wind and in the French Revolution, the ’subjectives’ lost their heads too.
“In the scheme of things today, a citizen of this country must be able to say, ‘Right! I believe Gloria is right and I shall support her whatever it takes.’ or “I believe Gloria is evil and I shall withdraw my support.â€Â
“Sounds simplistic but in the scheme of things, it’s all about Right versus Wrong. There are tough decisions to be made but these are tough times. The country’s own sanity is in peril and we cannot just sit on the side, undecided.”
INQ7.net reports at 05:02pm (Mla time) Mar 13, 2006 “DOJ PRELIMINARY PROBE ON COUP PLOT
Police witness details conspiracy to oust Arroyo
Militants dispute claims of hooded witness
The updated Inquirer reports says that the PNP “presented at a Department of Justice preliminary investigation on alleged coup plotters Monday a witness who they said confirmed the existence of an alleged conspiracy to topple President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“In his testimony in Filipino, Jaime Beltran-Fuentes who identified himself as the chief security of Vicente Ladlad, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, named his boss, six party-list lawmakers, the Black and White Movement, an anti-Arroyo group, and former social welfare secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman as among those involved in the plot.”
The PNP witness was apparently hooded to prevent his identification.
Well, seems like Gloria Mandaraya is hell bent on fabricating evidences against a vast array of anti-Arroyo citizens over Gloria’s charges that there’s still a supposed “plot” (what plot is it this time?) to unseat her.
Be careful MLQ3, the Palace has gone bonkers!
re #29: sleeping, thanks for quoting me. has it not become a pyrhhic victory for her? it no longer matters if she actually won or not. remember, i do not question the assertion, on the whole, that she won. her victory, whether one believes it or not, has simply become irrelevant. a leader’s mandate is never written in stone; it can evaporate overnight. Read my columns leading to and after the election, when I was already troubled by the disenfranchisement of people, and pointed to how the opposition self-destructed, which shouldn’t mean the president should get credit for that; furthermore, I was troubled by the manner in which they handled the proclamation; then the President rebounded, but her handling of the Garci issue left no room for any other interpretation, on my part, at least, other than that she must go.
re#60, julie, if you talk to our elders they will point to two events: the japanese occupation and martial law. our national solidarity was shattered after WW2, there was only partial closure on the question of collaboration, but worse, the heroism of the war was tarnished by the refusal of the USA to recognize veteran’s rights. Martial law also brought the “let’s move on” attitude to its first and most harmful flowering, like what we’re seeing today.
The Inquirer reporte at 01:01pm (Mla time) Mar 13, 2006 that “Arroyo had said that the February 24 foiled coup was a conspiracy among the extreme right composed of misguided elements in the military, the communist New People’s Army, and some members of the political opposition.”
Arroyo is dreaming a morbid dream; she is haunted by her past (her own 2001 coup d’état); she has gone mad. How could one FOIL a coup d’état that never took place?
She is in serious trouble with herself…
sleeping, there is a whole universe outside mlq3’s blog. if you’d care enough to read newspaper articles (you need not buy any, most are also online) you wouldn’t need to ask why the photos showed up only now.
the activities shown in the photos are supposed to be of a follow-up of sort or a cover-up for a potential opening of ERs at the house.
nothing was changed, only more facts coming out.
Outside of Gloria’s coup imaginings, the item below is real and not just a Gloria dream – it is a real coup (blow):
An Agence France Presse report posted by the Philippine Star in MANILA at 03/13 4:19:17 PM reveals that RV gov’t’s “outstanding debt reached 3.89 trillion pesos (75.9 billion dollars) at the end of last year, up 2.0 percent from end-2004, the Treasury bureau said Monday. “
A Philippine Star news flash today at 5:33:58 PM reports Gloria’s thank you statement:
Philstar reports Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saying, “I thank Vice President Noli de Castro, General Senga and the whole military for their loyalty to the flag, the Constitution and the commander-in-chief”.
She also said, “I also thank all those who refuse to join destabilization moves, our soldiers and our policemen. We are here together to work for a bright future. We will not surrender to those who want to destroy our future.”
So, why on earth did she PRETEND/CLAIM/LIE that there was a coup d’état conspiracy, an alliance between a component of the AFP and the NPA to overthrow her illegitimate presidency, a FOILED coup d’état to boot if the “whole military” was loyal to her?
Gloria is the greatest recruiter of all “seditious” Filipinos raring to oust her. Gloria refuses to accept that she is the cause of all our political. economic and military problem today.
Gloria’s suppressive actions are panic reactions characteristic of governments wanting in legtimacy. She is hounded by her own shadows of political insecurity and her inordinate desire to stay in power. Her time could be running out as she does not know her enemies in her own military structure and she will just self-destruct because she is her own enemy. She is the cause and the answer to her own problem which she and her group do not realize. They thought the problem lies with the opposition or the left or the enlightened segment of the military establishment. They failed to see that Gloria is the problem and in the course of failing to comprehend the problem, they are destroying all democratic institutions in the country… the electoral system, the checks and balances in a democratic government, the independence of the judiciary, the bill of rights of the people, the professionalism of the military and the freedom of the press.
After Gloria has practically bastardized our fledgling democratic institutions and trampled upon our civil liberties and freedom as a people, the realization will one day dawn in the mind of every decent Filipino… to alter or abolish the existing government and to institute a new government that will give meaning to democracy and freedom.
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to insitute new government laying its foundation on such principles and otganizing its powers in such form, as to them shall most likely to effect their safety and happiness… All experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer (governments), while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right , it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their security….â€Â(Democracy’s Declaration of Independence)
Gloria, for all her greed and hypocrisy, could be the final catalyst to ignite a genuine change in our society. The Filipino people and society have suffered for so long from corrupt politicians now epitomized by Gloria, who though beleaguered is still politically surviving aided by her misguided and selfish political and military herd. It’s a matter of time for the Filipino people to rise up to institute a new government led by the conscientious group in the armed forces.
Max Soliven in his Philstar column for tomorrow 03/14/2006
( http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200603142602.htm
) says that we should stop playing word games – he asks “What else is a “withdrawal of support” by officers and men who are under military discipline except mutiny?”
I agree with Max Soliven that we should stop playing word games and call a spade a spade.
We must therefore go back to the two major stars in this Gloria-styled “tragedy”. Let’s do away with charges of a coup d’état attempt after all, the elements that constitute a coup d’état are not present.
Let’s tackle MUTINY!
In British and French military law (both nations’ Constitutional governments – Wilson’s and de Gaulle’s governments respectively – were almost toppled by a coup d’etat by their respective militaries as recently as some 40 years ago), and unless Philippine military law says otherwise, the act which was commited by BGen Danny Lim was merely an act of insubordination.
1st spade: the man did not commit mutiny because he did not leave the military fort in a bid to rouse his collegues’ support to withdraw against a government. Unless Senga confirms that Lim was accompanied by a minimum of 2 military officers or men in his demand to Senga to withdraw the latter’s support for a sitting government, Lim CANNOT be accused of mutiny.
2nd Spade: ONE PERSON ALONE cannot commit a mutiny. Lim’s military offence is clear cut – INSUBORDINATION! But maybe Gloria has other aces up her sleeves to show that Lim committed MUTINY.
The act of Colonel Querubin is a bit more delicate – he could technically be accused of attempted mutiny. Had he not backed down and had he not returned to barracks and continued to treck towards Edsa with his men in a show to force other military collegues to withdraw support for a government, he could be charged with not only with a an atempted MUTINY but FULL MUTINY for which the British military law, obscure as it may seem prescribes death.
Even if Gloria’s mandate is questionable, I am prepared to accept MUTINY even if this commander in chief illegitimus justified her EMERGENCY proclamation on the bases of a foiled coup d’état and a coup d’état conspiracy between an AFP military component and the NPAs.
Following that and if we are to follow the logic of Gloria’s major media ally, Mr Soliven, that a mutiny by any other name is still a mutiny, Gloria must order a court martial convened so that the appropriate punishment may be applied: DEATH to the MUTINEERS as military law warrants.
The case of MUTINY is clear cut… There are no ifs and buts. Military law is specific rendering a Court Martial virtually a formality.
If the accused military officers who are charged with MUTINY should be meted the death penalty as punishment should be under military law, former CSAFP Angie Reyes and his major service commanders (Army, Air Force, Navy and all other major commanding generals – Nolcom, Solcom, Wescom, Southcom, Central Viscom) should also be tried in a Court Martial for their act of MUTINY in 2001 and should be meted DEATH as the law warrants.
Let’s see HOW serious Gloria Macapagal really is!
Demosthenes’ post is a good mini-collection of current thoughts on democracy on the Philippine setting. As a self-confessed fascist, it provides a good specimen for further study.
A. His first annotation on Torn’s article critiques the latter’s belief that an involved person i.e. someone with a ’cause’ to fight for, must be given a greater share in political decision making than an uninvolved individual. He defends elections as practiced in the Western democracies as the “time honored way for the majority to participate”.
B. In the second annotation of one of my comments, he turns around and (unironically) says “what’s wrong with fascism?” as an apologia for the proposal to allocate a greater share of political power to middle-class at the expense of the lower classes. As long as fascism is calibrated, as in no holocausts, foreign invasions and all that, he justifies the Filipino middle class role as a surrogate master race with the truism “what’s good for the middle class is good for the country”.
C. His third annotation of some of mlq3’s own statements on democracy builds on the above and argues against democracy “for its own sake”. He views democracy as a tool for progress, to be discarded if it fails to serve this overriding purpose. In this, he echoes Bong Austero’s words “we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward”. Citing the case of Marcos, he suggests that the best use of democracy is to remove incompetent leaders, in order words, dictators who have outlived their competence.
D. His last annotation is a commendation to micketymoc’s refreshing presence in mlq3’s weblog as an antidote to ‘groupthink’. (Apparently, unlike in the real world, diversity of views is to be commended in weblogs where they would presumably not ‘hinder economic progress’.)
As seen above, one of the key attributes of fascism is an element of irrationality and inconsistency which is easily evident in simultaneous existence in one posts of ‘A’ side by side with ‘B’ as well as ‘C’ together with ‘D’. This, as well the evident lack of regard at the cost in terms of lives in struggling against a dictatorship to restore a democracy, is made possible because fascism, at its core, follows only one form of logic – the logic of power.
We can be thankful to Demosthenes for giving voice and form to the 21st century Filipino middle class variant of fascism.
mlq3,
I may have missed it. What is the way forward for you?
Sleeping is putting too much credence on the ABS CBN commissioned SWS exit poll showed GMA as the winner.
GMA did the same way during June 27, 2005 public apology justifying herself a winner as predicted by every major public opinion poll considered free and fair by international observer.
But the impact of those numbers is nothing comforting to Ate Glue being the winner even more if we try to look at how they vary.
There are 3 numbers worth looking at, namely [1] SWS 45% GMA to 34% FPJ, [2] the official count of 12.9 million (40%) GMA to 11.8 million (37%) FPJ or the 1.1 million votes difference, and the [3] Namfrel half million votes difference.
1. SWS data was taken on May10, 2004 when the voters voluntarily filled up exit poll questioners like who they voted and why and asking the their age, race, religion, etc. The data is useful in trending but the percentage could be overblown like in its 11% difference compared to official 3% GMA-FPJ difference. The data is inherently flawed because there are voters who refused to fill up the exit polls. In fact, 15% of Iglesia ni Cristo refused the exit polls. The overwhelming majority of 74% voted for GMA were more eager to fill up the questioner to support their church stand while the remaining 15% were more likely apprehensive of church position and anti-GMA.
2. The official count done by National Board of Canvasser (Congress, Senate and Comelec) was released on June 20, 2004. This is 40 days after the election. About 5 days were spent arguing on rules by pro-GMA to allow hotly contested COCs (certificate of canvass) which is the summarized statement per candidate. Padding is made possible to project a bigger than usual difference.
3. Namfrel stopped its quick count result on June 5, 2004 with GMA leading only by 515,598 votes with over 70% precints reported (but less than 52% precints in Mindanao where most of the padding done). Namfrel collected the 6th copy of the election return from the voting places which is the basis of its quick count operation.
The final tally by Namfrel issued on June 21, 2004 showed a smaller difference of only 354,084 votes. The official count is over by 743,853 when compared to Namfrel’s final tally with half of the votes coming from the hotly contested Mindanao ARMM.
http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/jun/21/letter_3-1.htm
The small difference could easily be coming from the Western and Central Visayas Regions who were overwhelmingly pro-GMA and have shown unbelievable election returns at provincial level having no FPJ votes at certain precints even when there were credible FPJ voters.
The small difference was unacceptable to GMA who authorized Bolante to distribute millions of Agrarian Reform money prior to 2004 presidential election to secure her interest.
The truth is that we really do not know the real winner. But we knew of the reprehensible acts committed by Arroyo when she apologized to the public and admitted to call an election official. Commissioner Garcilliano has made it possible to increase the GMA’s lead in the delayed election returns and COCs from Mindanao regions to emphasize her lead.
Another reprehensible act is the distribution of millions of pork barrel funds the night before her congressmen killed the impeachment.
Yes, GMA was the winner of corrupted election result beginning from the disbursement of agrarian reform money to killing of impeachment.
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=69284&col=84
The Inquirer Editorial titled “Sound advice” posted at 11:07pm (Mla time) Mar 13, 2006 quotes Thai Prime Minister Thaksin saying, “I am ready to quit, but only through a democratic process.â€Â
Why can’t Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo muster enough personal honor and say the same statement? What is she afraid of?
The Inquirer editorial rightly points to a national sentiment prevailing today: “We believe that our nation could also resolve the question that is rocking our political and economic stability through the democratic process of a snap election. But first, of course, the Augean stable that is the Commission on Elections has to be cleaned up to insure that the one who wins the snap presidential election wins it fair and square.”
It describes the volatile situation in the Philippines quite rightly when it argues that “The current restiveness of various sectors of society, not the least of which is the military, will not end until the question of the legitimacy of Ms Arroyo’s presidency is answered to the satisfaction of the entire nation. Band-aid solutions — such as dialogues with military officers and men, and salary raises for government employees — will not do the trick. The President will be forced time and again to declare a state of emergency to meet real or imagined challenges to her staying in power. Meanwhile, political and economic instability will be exacerbated.”
The Inquirer concludes its editorial with a sound advice: “For the good of the country, we urge President Arroyo to heed the good advice of her Vice President: she should come clean, tell the complete truth about the “Hello Garci†matter and settle, once and for all, the question about the legitimacy of her stay in Malacañang.”
AMEN!
On the NAMFREL count, the reason why they were not able to finish their count reliably is because they were trying to execute a mobile phone, SMS-based means of tallying votes. They were unsuccessful, since the software development group who volunteered to make the program did not make the software on time. NAMFREL had to revert back to manual means of counting at a later date. I think they eventually finished the counting.
Ate Glue was so disappointed with the paltry result of very close count (Namfrel)against FPJ in the last 2004 presidential election even after she disbursed millions of Agrarian Reform money.
Commissioner Garcilliano’s role was to secure a big lead through the padded COCs and election returns in the ARMM region.
Ate Glue corrupted the election with:
1. millions of Agrarian Reform money right before election.
2. through Garci, padded the COCs in the delayed Mindanao returns to project a bigger lead.
3. military involvement to carry out her election numbers.
4. killed impeachment to bury electoral fraud.
5. eo464 to clamp down on any information regarding the use of military and agrarian reform money during presidential election.
J Castro,
Yes, the Namfrel count was stopped on 6/5/04 with 515,000 votes GMA lead but was completed on 6/21/04 with only 354,000 votes lead. That is less than 1 percent of the registered voter and highly contestable.
Thus, the involvement of magical expertise of Comissioner Garcilliano to project an insurmountable lead to 1.1 million votes.
jon just like the tapes where sold for a fee, talked about the so called truth having a price.
same w/ the so called vedios/pics.they where offered to people for a price, talked about the truth having a price.
it’s about money.
it’s about power.
where has for god & country gone too?
now a days it’s for money & power.
and it goes w/ matching belever of the cause.
MLQ you are correct that has been a hard time for her and her administration, and you were correct on your idea back then..
But the only president that did not have a really hard time here since Marcos was Ramos..
I gather ADB was having a bad day yesterday… Hope your feeling better today ADB..
If you focus on money and forget about what’s behind the tapes and the pictures/videos, then you’re missing the point.
Even if it was not offered for money if it doesn’t prove anything, it doesn’t matter. Even if money changed hands but if proves that cheating and coverup happened, it still matters a lot.
Piece of advice…
When you are being interrogated or cross-examined by Gloria stooges in the military or in the Justice Department in an investigation or in courts (of law or martial), just invoke JOSE PIDAL’S absurd line (I INVOKE MY Jose Pidal’s RIGHT TO PRIVACY OR MY RIGHT AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION!) OR Gloria’s notorious “Hello Garci” line (IT’S A LAPSE IN JUDGMENT! as in Gloria-Garci case) but don’t say I’m sorry.
Those two lines should acquit you in time as it freed the conjugal thieves from the long arms of the law. Let’s learn from these shameless conjugal thieves. They are exhibiting brilliant legal defenses that have lulled even certain decent Filipinos into fans of theirs joining their hypocritical chants for the “rule of law” to be allowed to take its course knowing fully well that they have already installed all their legal stooges in strategic legal positions which means in short… They will/can never lose cases strategic to their political survival.
If someone sold you a cd of your wife having sex with someone else, does the selling change or mitigate the fact? Should the “greed” of the seller count?
In addition to that, not only do you charge the lover of your spouse with bigamy, you ought to start talking to your wife.
You always have to take into account of where and who producted the tape, photos, CD..
The greed does come into the factor of where, when, and the motives behind the person who took the “Evidence” at the time..
This is why private investigators get paid of a positive or negative result..
In the case of the photos it looks nicely setup, too nicely if you would ask me.. If you were dealing with lots of paper why would you do it on the balcony, when inside you would have better light day and night, no wind gusts, and much harder for anyone to see what you are up to.
The photos show people not able to tell who they are but exactly what they are doing. If i was taking photos with my Phone I would also have a group of photos of the people..
If you get a rain storm came through during the night all the paper would get wet?
They mentioned it would take months for all this to have been performed for like a dozen people at the same time, So once again the time line does not fit… Especially since these sheets were meant to have been produced weeks before the election.. Now they say months after..
What were the mitigating circumstances that had you in this situation where the video was taken?..
Remember the Presidental Count was done by congress not the Comelec. On the COCs So why would they be making up more of them after congress had counted and checked them.
Ok they did not look at them all but all the ones that were meant to be wrong and contested were checked at the time.
Then Loren said they were fake and she wanted a recount of the actual votes to the COC then she said no, she could not afford to count them, then later she said yes she wants them counted again.
Now if anyone would like to see the numbers be different it would be Loren Legarda, then She could claim VP then say the President was wrong so therefore her be president..
So it is more in the interest of Loren, who was only running for VP to fake the documents because she could get to be president with out ever being voted in..
Now her first saying no don’t open the boxes yet.. could mean she had not got her plan finished yet..
(OK i am thinking out loud.. I know you will all disagree, its ok..)
Now Noli has not cared at all much, Why because he knows they were correct or he thinks his team will do a better job of making the returns his way than loren, So why did she drop the case then come back much later and reopen the case.. (She now has the boxes changed over??) If they think the GMA changed the boxes why would it not be Loren…
Who was thought to have been in the toilet before the Documents were found.
http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pe/pe003343.htm
Was out to discredit the elections from the start?
Therefore make it seem like it was not GMA the correct President..
Anyhow im finished thinking out loud..
Have a good day everyone..
whoah! ang tindi na ng usapan dito, siguro dapat maglagay na rin ng forums si sir manolo.
Sa nakikita ko kasi, this blog is already an on-line forum, 😀
observer, i tend to prefer plebiscatory democracy, a plebiscite, or referendum, as proposed by some, would help clarify matters. a constitutional convention, would, too; so would a snap election. of course resignation would be great, too.
If Gloria does resign (and it would be infinitely more preferable to a coup-slash-constitutional-cough-rescue), Noli as the constitutional successor, will take over. How long do you think will he last til a new call for “People Power” takes place to try topple him? (And he gets to appoint a VP, too, you know.) Are we doomed to a succession of coups?
I think Doronila is referring to PCIJ, Kuya MLQ3. Hindi pa rin mapatawad ni Ambassador Dorony yung PCIJ for the embargo thing back in 2000.
jeg, that’s a misleading assumption. it all depends on the person’s performance, once president.
it all depends on the person’s performance, once president.
Indeed it does, MLQ3. Indeed it does. But I have this impression that the ‘intellectual elite’ have pre-judged the VP already. The B&W’s website call for his ouster as well based on–what? His association with the Glue? Guilt by association? Im not too optimistic about a Noli presidency either, but he is the legal and constitutional successor and deserves the benefit of the doubt, if not the backing of a law-abiding people if ever he does get to be the prez.
except when it’s not.
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2004/jul/11/nat_2-1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_general_election,_2004#Events_after_the_elections
This is an effing exit poll, right? How could SWS fuck this one up?
John, excellent observation. Lately, the credibility of exit polls around the world seems to have taken a beating given the divergence with actual election results in places like the US, Iran and Palestine. On the other hand, maybe that discrepancy can be spun as proof of ‘massive cheating’ in Metro Manila by the FPJ camp:-)
agree with jeg, the call for the VP to resign looks like a conceptual albatross.
The call for the VP to resign started when he did not heed the call to abandon Gloria. It’s different because he appeared to have just rode the Gloria wagon. There was no analysis whether he actually bring some votes for Gloria. Only Loren is actually accusing him of cheating. He’s the best fencesitter there is right now, but more inclined on the admin’s side.
jon, it seems that the weakness of your argument is in “it does not matter even if there was money involved”
nothing that is for God & Country has a price tag.
maybe you know it already but just a reminder. money is the root of all evil.
in real life you have to focus on bothe,contents & source.
if you will use it to judge a person.you better be sure your evidence has all the characteristics that are not tainted w/ selfish intensions.
Is de Castro still a fencesitter? Hasn’t he made his position clear that he is with the administration?
Remember how the SWS screwed up on it’s exit polls sa NCR. Sabi ni Mahar Mangahas at ni Mercy Abad na “nanalo raw” si GMA by “half a million votes.”
But the truth came out later na si FPJ PALA ang nanalo sa NCR by a landslide of 500,000 votes!
In stepping on poop’s blog, I had an interesting exchange with Micketymoc, which prompted me to propose the following option, hoping that it is legally feasible under our present constitution: