My Arab News column for this week, The Ploy to Keep the Speaker Loyal, further refines an earlier blog entry on the revival of the constitutional amendments plan. The point of my column is that while many observers think the revived Federalism scheme is the same old script reused for the same old purposes, a larger purpose may be in the Palace’s mind. Constitutional change is being dangled to entice the Speaker to patch things up with the Palace. The Speaker himself, like the old pro that he is, is non-commital to keep his options open: De Venecia welcomes Charter change talk but not this year. In his blog, Mon Casiple says the Charter Change revival could be all talk -or a sign of darker things to come.
The column was written before I had a chance to interview Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. on my show last night. He’d already spent the day sounding fairly belligerent: JdV: End govt corruption: Statements hint at possible split with President. His son was certainly doing his best to foster the impression his father wasn’t in the chirpiest of moods: Arroyo admin won’t change, says Speaker’s son.
On my show, he waved a document at the camera and said, he was preparing a letter to the President, urging her to purge her cabinet of corrupt officials, curb smuggling, and, if the peek I got was correct, somehow reform the pork barrel system. JDV talking of reform and fighting corruption at the very least will probably have people rolling in the aisles, but like most things, there’s an element of self-preservation at work, too. He pointed out that he was quite appalled, during the last election, to see how mercenary both candidates and the electorate had become. And he went into a rather lengthy description of how, unless the spiraling costs of campaigning weren’t reduced, officials would have to raid the public treasury and break rules just to be able to run for, and keep, office.
To be sure, this limited awareness had its origins in his facing an unusual situation, for him, last May. He normally runs unopposed. The Palace is said to have strongly backed the candidacy of his rival who spent oodles and which led to JDV having to spend oodles, too, to be re-elected. And so, the Speaker said, “I have committed my share of sins” but this all getting too much, already. What JDV has come to realize is the same kind of realization the older generation of premartial law politicians came to realize when faced with Ferdinand Marcos. By golly, the guy recognizes no limits. The Speaker, it seems to me, is increasingly frightened by the prospects of a President he strongly supported, giving him the treatment she formerly used to to dish out only to their mutual opponents.
He is a man in search of a mission, because his old career as the Fella Who Gets All Folks to Get Along is obviously facing a dead end. His choice is a stark one: total surrender, which means maintaining his position but without power, in effect becoming a decoration, or fighting it out, and risking it all, when his problem is, he may have lost the means (the numbers) without which he can’t expect to put up a good fight.
The Great Consensus-builder is, I think, ill-equipped to fight it out, mano-a-mano, with a President, much less the present incumbent. Alone of his contemporaries, among his political peers, de Venecia by all accounts, has no personal enemies. His fellow politicians on all sides of the political fence all think he’s a nice guy. And that, precisely, is his problem. Whatever his other defects, having a mean streak is not one of them.
He is not a fighter, by instinct, he’s a consensus-builder and what’s more, in the traditional mold, who lacks the imagination to think that certain political behavior is even possible (a liability many traditional politicians of the old school suffer from, with regards to the President: up to now I keep hearing some of these leaders express shock and horror at the President’s habit of dropping in on the wakes of her deceased critics, which leaves old-fashioned oppositionists at a loss on what to do or say, except, well, express shock and dismay after the fact -I think the President derives a kind of malicious satisfaction from doing such things because it’s a reminder of the residual awe in which even her critics continue hold her office).
So one moment he sounds like he’s fed up, has had enough; the next moment he’s literally pleading for the President to seize the day and become a crusader for good government; then the Speaker’s mood deflates again as he says he has to give her this last chance but… but… What? I don’t think he knows, or to be more precise, he doesn’t want to have to reach the point of no return. Or admit that point was reached last week, when the President showed she had 180 congressmen in her pocket and forced to pick between her and him, JDV’s fellow congressmen would pick her and not him (though being on the whole, not cut out for battle, either, they’d like to keep them both).
John Nery in Inquirer Current, says the Speaker’s headed for a fall. In this light, the above could be his Swan Song.
Meanwhile, is the inoculation in danger of failing? An article in the Inquirer two days ago –House to pursue rules vs bogus impeach rap–majority leader– gives a hint:
Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said on Monday the lower chamber would proceed with key amendments to the impeachment rules, essentially to keep lawmakers from having to deal with apparently bogus complaints.
The changes — which would allow the consolidation of two or more complaints before they reached the committee on rules and included in the order of business — was scheduled for plenary deliberations last week.
But Defensor, the main author of the revision, withdrew the schedule to avoid being accused of trying to influence the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Roel Pulido against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo…
..The amendments created a stir at the plenary hall among legislators loyal to the President on Monday night last week, another senior member of the majority told the Inquirer in a separate interview.
Amid the suspense on whether Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. would refer the Pulido complaint to the House committee on justice, the Arroyo allies asked the majority leadership to withdraw the amendments from the order of business.
“They thought we were going to change the rules so a stronger impeachment complaint could be consolidated with the Pulido complaint,” the congressman said. “They even wanted us to adjourn the session at the height of the budget deliberations.”
This account was confirmed by another administration lawmaker who played a major role during the plenary deliberations on the proposed 2008 national budget. Both lawmakers asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of their positions.
When the opposition says it will file a new, improved complaint, the odds still favor the original Pulido complaint; but an opposition impeachment complaint would open up the opportunity for the House to amend its rules on impeachment (going beyond what Defensor’s proposed) or the filing of a case in the Supreme Court.
RG Cruz points out the Palace is not helping itself by stonewalling reporter’s questions. The cabinet officials who do speak up aren’t helping matters any more than the President’s Congressional allies: Atienza says ‘cash gifts’ are normal fare in Arroyo Palace.
The Palace’s stonewalling, as RG Cruz puts it, comes at a time when economic developments seem to have slipped under the radar, to emerge as threats to the Palace propaganda line that the economy is super duper and the Peso’s appreciation is fantastic. RP balance of payments slips into deficit in September, comes the news, and there is a concern over the prices of basic commodities: Yap orders SRA to release sugar reserves to stabilize prices so that the administration has had to admit there are problems beyond back-biting within its own coalition (and squabbles that keep requiring presidential intervention). As the news yesterday put it, Cabinet tackles ‘major risks’:
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) acting Director General Augusto Santos said an emergency Cabinet meeting has been called by the President to discuss the possible measures government may undertake to mitigate the ill effects of these threats.
Santos said three threats–rising oil prices, decreasing value of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) dollar remittances that may crimp the spending of beneficiaries, and reduced exports–may be attributed to the strength of the peso.
Santos said a stronger peso is good for the economy, however, in terms of making imports cheaper, decreasing the amount to be paid for debt service, and increasing investor confidence.
The Neda has already prepared economic simulations and recommendations, but the documents were not yet available to journalists as of press time.
He added that some of these measures may include the reduction of tariffs for oil imports, but the trigger price will still be determined by the Cabinet after today’s meeting.
This news coming during the opening of the Christmas season, is not politically-beneficial for the Palace. In its editorial, the Business Mirror editorial explains why:
As the peso strayed into historic territory last week, reaching seven-year highs and flirting with the 43 level, the exchange continued to dismay even more overseas-based workers: in one case that found echoes in many households, a minor construction project, projected to cost P25,000 two months ago, suddenly became too expensive for an OFW’s $500 remittance, budgeted way back. As a result of the project’s deferment, the worker found his $500 merely stood at over P21,000 when it reached Manila. And so on and on, similar tales of financial woe can be heard from the OFW sector (workers and beneficiaries) as the robust local unit continues to hold its own.
Meanwhile, the other sector hardest-hit by the strong peso, the exporters, have not stopped complaining about how the impact of a steady appreciation has gouged their pocketbooks, forcing dozens to either close shop temporarily in hopes of regaining their bearing after some time, or downscale operations and thus put thousands out of job.
To be sure, the executive has lined up a series of remedial measures to blunt the impact on the badly hit sectors, but still the “massacre” continues. To underscore the gravity of the situation, Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting was set solely on the major economic risks faced by the nation in light of recent developments, and as this paper’s banner story on Tuesday underscored, three of these risks–rising oil prices, declining value of the OFW remittances even as their volumes surge, and export cuts–were all somehow tied to the peso, albeit in varying ways.
A few months back the Bangko Sentral warned exporters to brace for a stronger peso and counseled them to seek shelter in hedge facilities that had long been there, while Malacañang directed state financial institutions to seek ways to prop up their sector.
The situation of exporters could get even more challenging, meanwhile, because as Trade Secretary Peter Favila reminds, they’re bound to come up against stricter regulations in the global markets arising from the creation of exclusive trade blocs.
Certainly there’s no way the “hurting” sectors of the economy, such as the OFWs and the exporters, can be separated by some firewall from the rest. One consequence of OFW families getting less for their dollars is that they will spend less, thus crimping the other productive sectors of the economy. As for exporters closing shop, imagine the impact of that on jobs and on the overall GDP projections.
Of course any administration has to do a balancing act handling the economy; but the timing is bad, if only because the holidays might be a little less cheery and it comes at the heels of a new round of scandals that won’t go away. As Manuel Buencamino points out in his column, one reason the scandals have political traction, is that with 2010 in mind, both politicians and the public aren’t inclined to be left holding the bag. Since Buencamino tackles why China’s government-owned corporations are being courted by the administration, it would do well to keep up to speed with developments in the Middle Kingdom: High stakes for China as party congress begins and Missing the barefoot doctors.
The Inquirer editorial tackles Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio’s taking the money -and why he should return it, even if no one will accept it.
big mango explains why the revived Charter Change proposal doesn’t leave him thrilled.
Technorati Tags: Charter Change, constitution, House of Representatives, impeachment, media, philippines, politics, president
MLQ3,
thanks for the encouragement…
ramrod, sometimes in old manila (they have branches in megamall, etc.) they have copies of the old philacor books for young children, those were fantastic books for kids on our culture and history. also long out of print are nick joaquin’s pop stories for groovy kinds. his retelling of our ancient legends. i’m sure they’re prohibitively priced at old manila but keep an eye out for them and maybe you can bargain them down.
“If we look around the garbage dumps, we see an emergence of a different species, one that subsists on the garbage of others, leftover, thrown away food from the local fastfood restaurants.ramrod”
I have seen stray dogs avoid the food that these street children will eventually pick up and eat.It tears you apart.
Here is the government talking about placing priority on ZTE/NBN and CyberEd deals with China.
What can you expect from a very callous person whose definition of hunger( “Even I have missed one meal in the last three months” ) sounds like Marie Antionette’s quote “Well let them eat cake.”
Shaman,
What I meant for all those metrics is that in some sectors of our society, there are people with more than enough. Businesses are doing quite well combined with low interest rates, this is not supposed to be a time for hardship. Just look at Burma, we have a colleague there that we could not contact until now, he has no internet access, we don’t know whats happened to him.
Its not to admonish the hungry, its to assure ourselves that we are not helpless to do something about it.
“By the way, we are planning to join, I forgot the name of the organization, the one that Karen Davila is promoting, I will look for the brochure…” – qwert
Is this the one where you can send a child to school or something? I believe scholarships would have a more long term impact.
“sometimes in old manila (they have branches in megamall, etc.) they have copies of the old philacor books for young children, those were fantastic books for kids on our culture and history. also long out of print are nick joaquin’s pop stories for groovy kinds.” – mlq3
I passed by this store in Megamall several times already, the one on the 5th floor right? I’ll try to drop by and take a look. Thanks…
Ram,
It’s World Vision,this is the website: http://www.worldvision.org/
MLQ3: if you are still on line,do you think the speaker is willing to be the “speaker FOR the people”? like son /like father?views pls
Ram,
It’s World Vision, I pasted the website on my first submission but it’s awaiting moderation.
qwert, I assure you that it’s perfectly all right to be charitable towards the less fortunate. You have nothing to apologize for. But let us keep in mind that charity is only a stop-gap measure, a first-aid treatment, so to speak, and it cannot be the permanent solution to the problem.
Let me cite just one thing that people can do, if only they want to, to have a more lasting effect on the well-being of others.
Businessmen can share profits with their employees. How many businessmen rake in profits that they won’t be able to spend in ten lifetimes while paying their employees just the minimum wage, nothing more?
I’m fortunate enough to belong to a group of companies whose core values include compassion. This value of compassion assures that every employee to the lowest messenger gets an equitable share of the profits.
But many of our neighboring countries have taught us that the one thing that can have a wide-ranging radical effect on the economic welfare of a people is the quality of political leadership.
QWERT:Excellent idea! thanks!
qwert,
This is it, World Vision, do they have Filipino recipients? Thanks for the link.
Well, Ramrod, it’s not enough that there are businesses that do well. It’s what they do with the profits that matters. If all the profits simply go to the owners, their “success” is empty.
JdV and GMA are of the same mold. I really hope that they fall by the wayside together.
Shaman,
Yes. I noticed that one American company here practices some sort of profit sharing like Timex in Cebu. But most labor intensive, family owned, Chinese businesses will probably never entertain the thought.
Shaman,
I concur with your point especially this one:
“the one thing that can have a wide-ranging radical effect on the economic welfare of a people is the quality of political leadership.”
“the one thing that can have a wide-ranging radical effect on the economic welfare of a people is the quality of political leadership.â€Â
Me too. We have at least three years to look for these leaders.
ram,
that I also would like to know, the brochure was handed to me by my sister-in-law… I would also prefer Filipino recipients and beneficiaries.
equalizer, it may not matter, it may be too late for him, politically. A while ago on DZBB, JDV said he’s writing a letter to the president in the coming days and he will ask from her the cleansing of the government by undertaking a revamp in cabinet and gov’t financial institutions.
politically, even if that’s his intent, it makes no political sense to telegraph his moves. also, even if we assume he’s come to realize he should fight, it may be too late for him to fight. she already showed him last week she has 180 congressmen and he doesn’t.
What a reprieve to know that we can do something in our own little way to alleviate the plight of the poor. So, whenever I criticize our leaders and that includes GMA,I’m sure that it is not personal, it is, more than anything else about the poor.
“politically, even if that’s his intent, it makes no political sense to telegraph his moves. also, even if we assume he’s come to realize he should fight, it may be too late for him to fight. she already showed him last week she has 180 congressmen and he doesn’t.” – mlq3
So he has nothing to lose and nothing to gain…What are the chances he will do a “Chavit Singson?” He certainly knows how the insided of the administration looks like.
MLQ3:thanks for views!
JDV :You can forget those 180 Tongressmen!GMA can have all of them.
You may be goner politically.
But if YOU decide to be the Speaker for the People:
1)You will redeem the “De Venecia” name.
2)You will honor your brave son.
3)Most importantly will earn the gratitude of the suffering Filipino people.
Speaker De Venecia:You can do it.Expose the corruption of your ex-partner in C…….You KNOW all the stink of the Gloriagate chapter of our sad history.
Transform from a tradpol to a statesman.
It just takes one man to create the tipping point.Remember
Lech Walesa,Poland’s brash union organizer.He stood up to the Kremlin and dealt the Eastern bloc a fatal blow.
I hope JDV will not miss this defining moment in his life.
So what are the chances that we’ll have a new President before Christmas?
ramrod:I starting to think that the idea of an “Interim” President Noli De Castro may not be bad at all.At least he feels the pulse of the Masa.
Alam ni Noli na talagang gutom ang tao!
I hope he never says ““Even I have missed one meal in the last three monthsâ€Â
What do my fellow bloggers think?
All I Want for Christmas Is A New President
(Sung to the tune of All I Want for Christmas
Is My Two Front Teeth)
All I want for Christmas is a new President,
A new President, a new President.
Gee, if I could only have a new President,
Then I could wish you “Merry Christmas.”
It seems so long since I have seen,
“Juan de la Cruz with hope on his face.”
Gosh, oh gee, how happy I’d be
If all trapos would be gone without a trace.
All I want for Christmas is a new President.
a new President, a new President.
Gee, if I could only have my new President,
Then I could wish you “Merry Christmas.”
* Just for laughs
ramrod, chavit thought his life was stake. no one thinks jdv faces such a risk. chavit was always, to put it mildly, a brawler. jdv has built a career on trying to make everybody happy.
ramrod:if you have been a good boy Santa might just give you your Christmas wish.But you didn’t say which Christmas? 2010?
mlq3:what is the influence of the brave son on the father?
Arroyo will not step down(yet)!
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/64827/Arroyo-wont-step-down—Palace
mlq3,
So JDV takes the “win/win” option all the time? This will mean he will try to look for a third option always. The question that comes to mind is, “is it going to be win/win for JDV and GMA? Or win/win JDV and Filipino people?”
ramrod,
Id still dont see it. Or I dont want it.
I would still go for impeachment. I wanted to see Gloria recapping his governance by facing the impeachment court and defend herself of all teh accusation that were thrown at her during her “reign”. And with Full TV coverage. That way everything is settled before the new admin comes in.
I belive the impeachment process should really be given a chance to happen and be institutioalized as a way of removing any president or higher official in power.
to Ramrod
Re your comment : Yes. I noticed that one American company here practices some sort of profit sharing like Timex in Cebu. But most labor intensive, family owned, Chinese businesses will probably never entertain the thought.
Please do not assume that just because someone is chinese, one is not charitable or is unwilling to share. That is the implication of statement above. The CHinese in the Philippines have been contributing a lot to the economy by providing jobs when there are NO jobs available from abroad. Also, there are a lot of Chinese charities which DO NOT advertise themselves unlike your socialites and politicians who seems to love to have their pictures taken as they distribute their goods.
The real problem in the economy is not that the people are paid a measly wage, it is that there are too many people chasing too few jobs…and do you know why??? Because we always shoot ourselves in the foot by having all these liberal rules on labor…nobody wants to invest in the country despite the fact that Filipinos are the most hardworking and ingenious people in the world. Businesses are in it for profit. If there are too many demnands from labor, jobs move elsewhere. Lots of manufacturing jobs have been closing down and settling elsewhere because of that. It has nothing at all to do with race but with economics.
You may have a point that some businesses do not want to share their profits but you have to be sure it’s really because of greed and not because there is no profits in the first place. It’s hard to be profitable now in the Philippines if you really follow the rules to the letter. Magsasara na lang ang mga kumpanya. Just because there are lots of sales does not equate to profitability, given all the rules and regulations, as well as the inefficiencies in the country.
Yes, you may argue why there are still companies existing. Check out the prices they command for their products or services. They are probably a lot hire than what is affordable to the masses. Most businesses in the Philippines (except for telecoms, property, banks and maybe food services) are in a very bad situation.
I suddenly remember the template thing that Bencard mentioned before. In a negative way though.
I believe there shoudl be some kind of a template that peopel will just fill up everytime they see a misbehaving higher officials. Make the process easier.
Equalizer,
I don’t think its a matter of influence of the brave son on his father, JDV has no choice, he has to stand by his son. All things considered, through his arrogance, his son cost him his political career. That is if all this is not a big script with a more complicated plot.
“That is if all this is not a big script with a more complicated plot.Ramrod”
“God writes straight with crooked linesâ€Â
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgQgzKVX9jc&mode=related&search=
Proud to be Tsinoy,
I didn’t say these Chinese companies don’t want to engage in profit sharing, I just said they will not entertain the thought. Profit sharing is not an indigenous practice, so you just see this in Multinationals, we may have other similar practices. Basically, labor intensive family owned Chinese companies are not that profitable, some, if not most, exist because of the people they employ, the people that are dependent on the jobs that these businesses provide. They simply cannot afford profit sharing.
Tsinoy, i think Ramrod is just sharing a widely held perception (which i think is true). You complain about negative perceptions towards Chinese compared to American companies but even in your post, you make clear your desire to rid the country of its ‘liberal’ labor laws. That, of course, would further reinforce people’s perception that Chinese businessmen only seek profit at the expense of labor’s welfare.
“I believe there shoudl be some kind of a template that peopel will just fill up everytime they see a misbehaving higher officials. Make the process easier.”
There should be one, how are the people expected to react? Give an erring public official a pat on the back and say “thats okay, we understand, don’t do it again ha?”
equalizer, to the best of my knowledge the son was estranged from the father for a very long time, the present situation has brought them closer than they used to be. perhaps the one with more influence on jdv would be gina de venecia.
and in general, a lot of political momentum was lost when the senate went on vacation so let’s not jump to conclusions about tipping points yet again.
“Yes, you may argue why there are still companies existing. Check out the prices they command for their products or services. They are probably a lot hire than what is affordable to the masses. Most businesses in the Philippines (except for telecoms, property, banks and maybe food services) are in a very bad situation.”
Yes, sadly this is true also. Its all a matter of efficiencies of scale, those companies that are more efficient, large scale production infrastructures that reduce costs of operations significantly while radically improving the quality of their products, speed, and services. These companies can swallow smaller, less efficient companies, they can reduce their prices without hurting the bottomline. They have leverage against strong suppliers and leverage against strong buyers.
On hunger, feeding program is good actually very good. But I find this is just a temporary corrective action.
It would be better if in every feeding center there would be something like a an informal interview to really find out what the is cause of hunger to really understand teh problem. Then there should some lecture to teach these people on how to ” hunt for food themselves. They may have to look for a job etc etc.
I remember my growing up years in Masbate. We are constantly viisited by workers or katiwala in our house in the town proper. And thes peopel will see my father to get cash advance to buy food.
my father would readily give cash but with out failing t to deliver some kind of lecture. It woudl always be like, “you have my land ( 70 hectares) . and I dont take anything from the secondary products ( Our primary producst are Copra, rice and corn, peanuts and bamboo and cattle) so you can plant anything you need that can feed you and your family.That way you dont have to cash advance.
Take note they also have a share of the rice and corn so there should be know problem on this. They have cash shares for any proceed of of copra and all teh primary products. Camote and cassava are all theirs Ang problema na lang sana nila ulam. They can plant vegatables and raise animals for that. Pero nawawalan pa rin sila ng rice an corn aside from cash. Why? they sell their share of rice and corn and some of them goes is used to finance their vices like gambling and alcohol.
Rego,
That is normally the case with lifestyles based on agricultural cycles. For charities, I’m leaning towards scholarchips from now on, you know the website qwert came up with? worldvision. Who knows, one of these kids could grow up to be a senator years from now?
So you are our resident haciendero? 70 hectares, wow! My mother has a farm in Lagao, Gen. Santos, its only 12 hectares and I thought that was big already.
i know the gloria-haters here despise this guy but since he is now proclaiming himself a gma enemy, the club (in desperation) has to embrace him as a “messiahâ€Â
————————
On the other hand, Bencard I see it as a good development for the Gloria haters. I used to believe that they will not emebrace and welcome to their fold anybody that were not with them from the very beginning. Like the way they isolated Bong Austero.
I believe everybody is entitled for self redemption. If that is JDVs way of redeeming himself. Thats fine. We just can hope that soemthing positive for the country and the peopel can come out of it.
“I believe everybody is entitled to self redemption. If that is JDV’s way of redeeming himself. That’s fine. We just hope that something positive for the country and the people can come out of it.REGO”
AMEN
“God writes straight with crooked linesâ€Â
Ram,
update on world vision, there is a philippine website http://www.worldvision.org.ph, and you’ll see smiling Filipino children that needs help for them to go to school.
On the other hand, the recent events could even redeem GMA? All these bribery issues coming out, unorthodox disbursements of funds of the cash kind, JDV’s admission of what candidates have to contend with just to mount a decent campaign and the payback after. All these are happening under the watchful eye of the media and we get the news almost “real time.” She can say “see what I have to contend with?” What a President must do to get things done around here? …and you wanted the truth?! you can’t handle the truth!
That would be scary.
Rego, by admitting his mistake, i think Bong Austero is also on the way to redeeming himself.
“On hunger, feeding program is good actually very good. But I find this is just a temporary corrective action.” – rego
I agree,there must be a holistic approach to this problem, feeding them is a good start but it is not enough…
qwert,
Thanks, I bookmarked it already. I even showed it to my wife just now, we’re sponsoring a girl. At least this is one thing we agree on. She’s says she’s glad I’ll stop sponsoring those “other girls not deserving,” whatever does she mean?