The administration, including a photo finish for the last slot that was dangling, announces their list. The opposition announced their slate yesterday. The lists are (in alphabetic order):
Administration:
Edgardo Angara
Joker Arroyo
Michael Defensor
Jamalul Kiram III
Vicente Magsaysay
Tessie Aquino Oreta
Carlos Jericho Petilla
Prospero Pichay
Rafael Recto, Jr.
Vicente Sotto III
Juan Miguel Zubiri
Luis Singson
Opposition:
Benigno Aquino III
Allan Peter Cayetano
Anna Dominique Coseteng
Francis Escudero
Panfilo Lacson
Loren Legarda
John Osmeña
Francis Pangilinan
Aquilino Pimentel III
Sonia Roco
Antonio Trillanes IV
Manuel Villar, Jr.
My column for today is Team Bansot (who ever though life would imitate my column?). I know one thing, ahead of the elections. I am not going to vote for a single administration candidate. I will vote a straight opposition ticket. I only have one vote, but by golly, I intend to protest with it. I consider Osmeña the worst in the opposition lineup but even he is a fragrant flower when compared to say, Singson or Magsaysay.
Running the gamut of reactions, from piccio hailing the administration, to Manila Boy itemizing the weakness of the list, to Uniffors saying it’s plain useless; kamasupra just thinks the administration went slum book crazy Daily Musings handicaps the administration and the oppposition slates.. goddesstrish notices the “other” senate slates -including singer Victor Wood. unsleepable‘s mind is pretty much made up.
Technorati Tags: philippines, politics, satire, Senate
cvj, i think we are better than dubya about the taking sides business…”if you’re not for us, you are against us?”
why? because i wanted our institutions to work…because i wanted our system of government to work. sadly, the impeachment didn’t even make it to the senate unlike with the erap impeachment. i knew it was going to be this way just by reading about the goings-on in Manila. the oppostion kept talking until they were caught with their mouths wide open and *bleep bleep*. instead of preparing and digging, they were all over the place…that was their first mistake and it was grievous.
what good will it do if i side with the opposition or with the administration? my duty was to vote and i’ll say it again, I sincerely wanted to see our institutions working.
SHAMAN,politics yan eh…of course you’ll fight for your life. couldn’t anyone in the opposition try and decipher at least what the other side was thinking and planning? the sad fact and truth is the opposition was banking on the people to come out and support street protests which never happened. that was the easy way out which, like asking for her resignation (which I also said was never going to happen), was not enough because gloria is still there raising the hands of the next senatoriables ….and on and on it goes. that’s the truth and if anyone is going to be pikon about it, i suggest you get a hold of your emotions. i didn’t make up this scenario…it already happened!
also, because gloria is soooo evil, and the evidence was there then it would be easier to kick her out diba? so, tell me now….what happened?? she’s still there. i don’t mean to rub it in, and i’m certainly not making it up – she’s still in malacanang, isn’t she?
Have you ever weighed your brain?
Wow, this reminds me when I was a kid and involved in kid’s words war. “Yon bang mamatay ka na” sana thing.
Well I’ll be voting for the whole Team Unity with the exception of Chavit I’ll have D. Remoto. I’d rather stay with GMA than see the country I love so much go the the opposition. It would only invite further chaos, EDSA 2 has already weakened our institutions, we have relied so much on revolutions or the mob that we forgot that the only way the move forward is for us to help each other, we may have different issues with the current gov’t but can’t we sacrifice it just for now. Just this time let us fogive but let us not forget the lessons that we learned. as the cliche goes united we stand and divided we fall
Same banana, one still has the peeling, the other one is about to be eaten.
tagabukid, one voice will not endorse any candidate or ticket, what it has done is presented the need for the public to embrace the idea that the elections can serve as a referendum on the administration, and that provided the elections are credible, we should all accept the results. for a negative verdict on the admin, you would have to have an impeachment-strength minority in the house and an impeaching majority in the senate. anything short would mean more of the current impasse.
one voice has also asked that a credible comelec commissioner be appointed to the remaining vacancy in the comelec. that’s part of restoring the credibility of our institutions. of course individual members of one voice belong to other groups that have pro and anti admin positions (and neutral, too).
while personally i think a snap election would solve many problems, its not in the one voice list of positions taken by the group.
Mita, you say that you want our institutions to work, but when i asked you a straightforward question about your take on an event that undermines those very institutions (i.e. Hello Garci), you give a neither here nor there response. I find that reaction unnatural to say the least. It seems, though, that such a talking point is becoming more common of late (see comment by ‘Decided’ at 8:46 pm above).
cvj,
honestly man/woman/kid, you are starting to really bore me with your questioning and denseness.
You got a straight forward answer (which I now honestly feel you don’t deserve)…you just don’t want to see it….just like you read GMA into the comment I made about the emerging middle-class from the OFW’s. Have you seen that yet?
You know what, you seem to be good at it…make up an answer for me that will satisfy you. Seems inevitable anyway. You’re gonna make me out to be the explainer and someone already uses that monicker!
Even if you don’t like me, I’ll give you a serious warning:
Be careful with your words, this forum is for public consumption. Remember what some people are saying about the opposition? That they are only for the ouster of GMA and don’t really have anything to offer the country? Keep bringing up Garci in blogs and you will single-handedly undermine the opposition’s whole campaign. They won’t like that cause it’s not helping them any. You are pro-opposition, right? or maybe you’re not…
I also remember Bencard making a similar remark. You guys do react in the same way. Uncanny.
Coming from someone who wanted the impeachment process to work, I find that warning even stranger than your response above. Anyway, i believe that Hello Garci is the issue in this coming elections. Understandably of course, Gloria Arroyo prefers that this not be the case.
Mita,
So, in politics, survival is the only thing that matters. To survive, anything goes. To hell with principles, morality, decency, everything that civilizes the animal nature of man. To survive, it is justified to lie, cheat, deceive, dissemble, murder, obstruct justice, destroy institutions, rape the constitution, take away the people’s rights and freedoms, prostitute legal processes, plunder the national treasury.
So, what was that SONA speech about reforming the degenerate political system? Oh, but of course, just another grand deception, another vicious lie to ensure survival.
No, Mita, I cannot accept your and your ilk’s kind of politics. It’s demonic. So, don’t give me that crap about your wanting the institutions to work, your wanting the system of government to work. With your kind of politics, you’ll never get what you want.
Yes, GMA is still in Malacanang. But it’s only just a matter of time. Justice will catch up with her. Good will eventually thriumph. It always does.
Who ever thought Marcos would fall?
cause you haven’t changed your squid tactics CVJ which only proves you ARE boring and dense. this little tale of yours is more telling about YOU…and you still don’t get it! ROFLMAO!
i warned you anyway…if you allow your hubris to get the better of you, it’s your choice…just like the Opposition chose to believe the people will rally behind them to oust somebody whose name we shall not mention….
Mita, so why don’t you like to mention her name? Coincidentally, i think one of the admin’s tactics will be to make Gloria invisible for the duration of the campaign.
I find it amusing that Mita keeps calling cvj a bore and yet continues minding him/her (cvj, which is which?).
The lady protesteth too much.
Some people can’t really just be honest with themselves. But then, there are people who don’t have an iota of honesty in their persons. Like the illegitimate tenant of Malacanang. And her ilk.
Shaman, him.
looks like the overflowing U N O coalition that was never united ran out of candidates, which lead them to include “guest” candidates.
JM,
news.balita.ph
“21- Senate of two minds on privacy rights of witness”
“However, in the resolution issued by the blue ribbon committee, Senator Arroyo said Ignacio could invoke his right to privacy because the money in the Jose Pidal account had yet to be proven public in nature.”
“Those who signed were senators Joker Arroyo, Robert Barbers, Ramon Revilla, Robert Jaworski, Ramon Magsaysay, Ralph Recto, Francis Pangilinan, Manuel Villar, Noli de Castro, and Flavier.”
Iggy was still then a private person with no government position. (Though I wouldn’t necessarily agree on all privacy issues regarding private citizens)
“nung sumabog lang ang gloriagate atsaka lang siya naging less pro-arroyo. pero tahimik lang siya sa isyu na election rigging, unlike noong panahon ni erap re the corruption issues.”- During ex-pres. Estrada’s time, Joker belonged to a body that was to initiate impeachment. Now he belongs to a body that delivers a decision on it.
“so does that mean na payag na rin siya dito, para lang may access siya sa gov’t campaign funds at helicopter accomodations?” Nope, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he consents to the abolition of the Senate, etc…
I would like to ask everyone to vote for Jericho Petilla. I will vote for him this coming elections, although I started boycotting elections since 1990. He is knew,he is not popular, but he is good. I admired what he has done as Governor of Leyte, which are as follows:
1. The first to put up a mental hospital for the mentally handicapped in Region 8. He had given a home and treatment to all these guys, picked them up from the streets, and provided them care,and treatment sans politics.
2. Developed, promoted the e-industry in Leyte. Encourage technology development and internet computing in the Leyte – not very successful yet- but the roots were planted and are now growing.
3. Encourage technology transfer schemes for farmers benefits i.e. putting up pilots farms using modern technologies that farmers can replicate in their farms.
4. Not so..corrupt, and not a trapo, I guess.
5. Not to mention that Region 8 – has no representation in the Senate. But I guess, this is not so important. What really matters is that – this guy is a better option.
Let us support him.
Time out!!!!
Taga-basa lang ako rito ha, pero may request ako dun sa differing opinions….
I visited this site since its election season again to get different views and ito lang ang alam kong may balanced na comments na blog, except for Ricky Carandang na wala ng update (sayang).
This can be your medium to sway voters to your side, pero kung ang sagutan niyo eh medyo personalan na, aba wala na rin yata kayong pinagkaiba sa mga politiko…
game na ulit!!!
All I want to make you folks understand is that ‘people in glass houses ought not be throwing stones’. of course, i know what satire is all about, but the real satirist (not crude wannabees) never make fun of one’s physical imperfections or speech limitations. True satires are subtle rather than malevolently in-your-face. For example, hideous-looking people should not be calling others ugly and then laugh about it; pinoys with funny accents should not ridicule other pinoys who cannot speak English like Englishmen or Americans do, etc.
Moral dwarfism? And who is this “moral authority” to make this kind of judgment? Does he also judge himself to be a moral giant? Or had self-admiration gone into his big head? Judged that ye be not judged.
I also find all the Shsh’s a bit much. But only because it makes the piece difficult to read.
I also noticed the excessive Shsh’s and it made me laugh more. Anyway, crude or not, at least it got a reaction from the Arroyo family. By that measure, i consider it a success.
Bencard,
I think the quotation is “Do not judge that ye not be judged.”
But you have been judging, what with your “hideous-looking people”. It’s not appropriate to call people that even if you were the handsomest of people, which I’m certain you are not.
I’m not judging but stating a fact when I say that you’re a hypocrite.
And this: And who is this “moral authority†to make this kind of judgment?
This is the same moral authority that we agree to place ourselves under, under whose higher law we are all subject to:
“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…” and so forth and so on.
what’s with you bencard? if editorial cartoonist can come up with exagerrated comical parody of leaders, why not opinion makers who are merely expressing their own opinions. it’s up for you to either you buy them or dump them. if mlq depicted gloria’s speech in that manner, because she does speak that way. or would you rather mlq post an ipodcast with ate glow rereading his text? [ooh, that would be lotsa fun!]
thing is, i strongly suspect you do value mlq’s column more than the scent-coated bs that belinda writes about your president. which actually stench more badly than my inidoro.
chill out.
I cannot believe there are people who will vote for Trillanes, Escudero, Coseteng and Osmena!
Can you really stomach them MLQ3?
The wheel should move forward but there are people who keep on driving it backwards. As in the hands of the clock, turn it clockwise, will ya.
Both parties have people who have baggages with them Oreta danced while titosotto was quick in the draw covering up stinks made by the party members.
That’s politics you know. We are in the politics and not in the canonization of the saints.
Wake up boys.
obsessive/compulsiveness is a disease. repeating oneself too often is a sign. Heal yourself.
Mita,
when a few people of same opinion believe each other and believe that this is the opinion of the majority, I tell you, they are faced with a big disappointment in life.
Press releases, opinion columns do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the majority. That’s what I observed in the many months, I’ve been participating in this blog.
So I will sit and relax and see what’s going to happen.
Shall I prepare lots of kleenex for some? hehehe
The Ca t
“The wheel should move forward but there are people who keep on driving it backwards. As in the hands of the clock, turn it clockwise, will ya.”
The move forward was to press Iggy Arroyo to the wall about the Pidal account.
With an admission that would stand in court; Iggy was sure as nailed. They should have roasted him till he spilled his guts.
The new “development” was that he was now no longer a private citizen.
There is a saying that “to scare the monkey; kill the chicken!”
Monkey meat would surely have been exotic but if you can’t catch the monkey; they should have settled for the chicken!
Would have even scared a lot of chickens too!
Justice League,
Iggy Aroyo was not nailed because the acusser they not pushed for it. They did not pursue it becuase they did not the have the will to pursue it. Si Lacson pa, press release at media mileage lang ang gusto nyan para maging visible sya for his presidential ambition.
rego…. practically everyone will swear to their allegiance and “… respect for rule of law”, until they meet the rules of evidence, which, by the way, can be found here.
rego,
Like I stated; they should have settled for the chicken.
justice league, seems there are a lot of “shouldas” but if you look back, it really does go back to why didn’t they?
that’s the one single thing i cannot accept with this opposition – if you’re going to make an accusation against someone – make sure it’s airtight and crucify your target with everything you’ve got. we don’t want a show, we want a conviction! blaming it on some people’s perceived strength is not enough to excuse lame efforts. it only highlights YOUR weaknesses. Think about this, if we toppled a well-entrenched dictator without any guns or violence in 1986, anything is possible.
it’s the will and determination to see things through that separates the boys from the men.
CaT, there’s the pack mentality at work again, no? nice and warm and comfy in our little den…mmmm…
uwi ka na lang! masaya pa rin dito at wala pang blizzards!
Yes, Cat, I’m obsessed, if you will, about my desire to see GMA out of Malacanang, thank you.
“CaT, there’s the pack mentality at work again, no? nice and warm and comfy in our little den…mmmm…
“uwi ka na lang! masaya pa rin dito at wala pang blizzards!” – mita
Seeking comfort with your own pack?
Mita,
I’d agree to a point but I don’t see the need that it be airtight.
Many suspects get charged even if the cases against them are not airtight initially but they get rightfully convicted in the end.
justice league,
You’re quite correct. Only probable cause is needed to indict.
In the case of GMA, probable cause is so strong that she had to buy (and succeeded) the prosecution (the House).
So, if GMA was not indicted, it was not because of the opposition minority, but because of the bought majority.
justice league, charging is not the same as a conviction. and there was a charge, albeit in the legislative body of the senate and not in the independent court system.
in fact, why settle for just a charge that goes nowhere when we can shoot for a conviction? is it because we are resigned to the fact that in politics charges don’t go anywhere? is it because by the very nature of charges made in the name of politics, it is not pursued and doomed to die a slow death never seeing closure because the point has been made, which was nothing more than “I’m here, remember me in the next elections”….
Shaman,
I can’t comment on the strength the probable cause of against PGMA as I wasn’t able to see all the evidence.
Mita,
Like I stated, I agree to a point but you won’t get a conviction without the charge.
if iggy arroyo is the real pidal, then pigs fly too.
http://www.politicaljunkie.blogspot.com/2007/01/jose-pidal-and-morgan-stanley.html
justice league…understood naman na yon…
JM,
Pigs don’t have to fly but Iggy can be roasted and squeezed enough to squeal when he became a public figure.
i doubt it. kung si garci nga ay hindi maparusahan, si iggy pa. as long as maam arroyo and big mike are still in power, protektado yung mga yan.
you need to remove the corrupting influency of arroyo sa DOJ, military, COMELEC etc., or else walang mangyayari. puro stonewalling at coverups lang.
JM,
Then the more you should want it to be done as they’ll be too busy protecting him.
People who have too much on their minds make more mistakes.
yes, i want to see the real pidal (big mike) and his fall guy brother be punished. but i don’t expect to see them to get punished until arroyo is first removed from her office, to end her corrupting influence on the DOJ, COMELEC, Congress etc.
but i do expect the pidal issue to be raised during the election campaign.
for what it’s worth, lacson did try to revive the IMPSA scam investigation
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jan12/news4.htm
dahil mukhang lutong makaw ang ginagawa ng ombudsman by not accusing nani perez of plunder (even though lampas 50 mil ang ibinulsa niya) at limited lang kay nani ang imbestigation (even though there were other bribe recipients from higher up were involved).
14 mil ang bribe sa IMPSA, at 2 million lang ang napunta kay Nani. so where did the rest of the IMPSA money go? inamin dati ni mark jimenez na napunta sa “malacanang residents” yung iba, and some went “to the boys” (whatever that means). and half of it (7 mil) ibinulsa ni “corporate genius”.
but blue ribbon chair joker thumbed down the lacson investigation because it was a “waste of time” and money and because the obmudsman already has jurisdiction on the case.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/26646/Joker-bucks-probe-on-Impsa-payoff-scandal
uh… but didn’t joker arroyo initiate a 3-year investigation on corpus expose on lacson’s “hidden†billions and narcopolitics, per arroyo, corpus and rosebud’s request, even though the DOJ under Nani perez and the NBI under reynaldo wycoco were doing it’s own investigations similar to jokers?
but anyway, i believe the arroyo admin wanted the impsa issue to be off the table during the midterm election, kaya she tasked the ombudsgirl (after 6 frickin long years) to conduct an open investigation on nani perez. but it is done in a way to limit the scope of the damage against nani (hindi plunder ang kaso niya), and the others involved in the 14 mil IMPSA bribery scam. and the opposition can’t use the nani impsa issue because the arroyo admin can say na the nani “extortion case” (not IMPSA, mind you) is “currently under investigation” by the ombudsman (six years after the IMPSA scam was revealed). we don’t know when her investigation will end, but probably after the elections. and judging from ermita and defensor’s statements re nani perez and defending him, i’m pessimistic about the outcome of the so called investigation.
this is the same USEC of justice merceditas gutierrez who refused to cooperate with the swiss authorities when they asked for help noon 2003. sa matagal nang alam ni merceditas ito.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2003/09/05/news/serge.hits.doj.dfa.non.cooperation.in.swiss.probe.html
joker’s recent statements and his taking a more pro-active role in defending the admin while attacking her critics makes it easier for me not to have to vote for him.
And i wanted him to run with the opposition at the very beginning.
http://www.politicaljunkie.blogspot.com/2007/01/who-should-run-against-arroyos-12-and.html
the admin is smart to make joker the de facto spokesperson for the arroyo’s senators, because he’s articulate and has an “independent” reputation. he takes the heat and deflects it from maam arroyo.
but him now being an active and very vocal defender and advocate of arroyo makes it easier for me to not vote for him.
his “independence” (he kept his silence on the gloriagate issue) from the arroyo admin only started when the hello garci scandal blew up. from 2001- mid 2005, joker was one of GMA and pidal’s most dedicated defender in the senate (he being chair of the blue ribbon committee.)
now he’s back to his usual role.
this is classic stuff.
http://www.politicaljunkie.blogspot.com/2007/02/joker-arroyo-asks-public-to-take.html
Fill in two blanks:
(1) the election of __________________ to the Senate will result within 2 years or less of the court systems and the justice department to be more independent of the executive branch.
(2) ___________________ has the leadership skills that will result in improved human rights (with stronger oversight of the PNP and the military).
JM,
Well you probably read the reply at Ellen Tordesillas blog but I’ll copy-post it here anyway.
As to your statement that joker arroyo initiated a 3-year investigation on lacson even though the DOJ under Nani perez and the NBI under reynaldo wycoco were doing it’s own investigations similar to his; sometime in August 2003, the results of those investigations were to recommend to the DOJ to “pursue†their investigation and recommend to the Office of the Ombudsman that it “conduct†its own probe and file the appropriate charges if evidence warrants it.
With regards to the IMPSA case; Joker stated that:
“• It is a waste of time and taxpayers money as Congress is bound not to finish the probe because of the coming elections
• The Office of the Ombudsman has the jurisdiction of the case
• The findings might be in conflict with that of the Ombudsmanâ€Â
Based on the article linked; the Ombudsman has already issued it’s recommendations. Ergo, it’s even leaps and bounds already on such an investigation.
By your statement, it took years for the Senate to finish their probe. But let’s say that the Senate miraculously finished their own probe on the matter within the available months; their findings will also be sent to the Ombudsman(which is mandated to serve as the lead agency in the total war on graft and corruption) that has already issued their own recommendations.