After Edsa Dos, I expressed the opinion, mainly in private, that having stepped down, and having avoided bloodshed, Joseph Estrada should be left alone in Greenhills and left to wallow in his riches. Ouster, under the circumstances, was enough. When Edsa Dos forces insisted he should be thrown in jail, again, I expressed reservations on the basis of the country remaining deeply divided, and on the principle that you do not kick a man when he is down. When the pressure to charge him and try him proved irresistible, I cautioned that pending the trial, he should still be allowed to stay in Greenhills, as humiliating him would not serve the interest of justice.
What happened of course was that he was clumsily arrested, and treated in such a manner as to provoke the Edsa Tres revolt. A revolt the forces salivating over his humiliation proved powerless to prevent or even counter. The reformist instincts of the President were swiftly abandoned at that point, when it proved her Civil Society allies couldn’t protect her; instead, the military and the operators shielded her and the inevitable slide to 2003 (her decision to run again), 2004 (the manner in which the campaign was conducted), 2005 (the divorce between the President and what remained of the reformists within her government) and 2006 began.
After having gone against her instincts and ordering the arrest of Estrada, the President always proved ambiguous about the trial and a conviction: from day one, she’d preferred exile as a solution. If that proved impossible, she would be persistent in offering a pardon. Meanwhile, she expressed no dissatisfaction with the trial being dragged out, since a quick resolution of the case wouldn’t do her any good (in the absence of a willingness, on Estrada’s part, to recognize her legitimacy by accepting a pardon from her), and while a drawn-out trial also served Estrada’s purposes (either postponing an inevitable conviction or keeping him in the limelight as some sort of self-styled prisoner of conscience), neither side seemed capable of figuring out what a possible compromise could be.
And so, earlier this year I proposed that Estrada cut the Gordian knot and run for office. It offered up a possibility for the public to resolve something the court was proving unable to do. Estrada preferred to continue posturing from his Tanay rest house. After the election, when it became clear Estrada’s endorsement was not as powerful as people had expected, and when the President for her part, saw the public mood (nationally-speaking) was completely against her, the trial began to move toward a resolution. On the day the verdict was handed down, both Estrada and Arroyo loyalists discovered they stood larger in their own minds than in the eyes of a public that shrugged off Estrada’s conviction. Both saw themselves in the mirror, and didn’t like what they saw: they saw themselves as sliding, inexorably, too, into the has-been column of the political divide.
With neither side having shown themselves as particularly devoted to the law, I felt that the whole thing should be done with, and Estrada pardoned. I did end up qualifying that opinion with a further opinion that a pardon shouldn’t include his taking home the loot. The opinion of Prof. Popoy de Vera struck me, which was, that the Filipino concept of justice is restitution and not retribution -as he later told me, besides that was the public view that Estrada shouldn’t keep his loot, and having been disgraced, he should bow out of politics.
The pardon, as it’s emerged, involves exactly that, and suggests at whom the pardon is aimed, in p.r. terms: the Estrada constituency among the masses. The pardon contains a pledge (whether meaningless or not) that Estrada will not seek elective office, and that he forfeits the properties and monies ordered confiscated by the court.
Estrada, for his part, had angled for nothing less than a full, sweeping pardon. the President, on the other hand, anxious as she was to grant that pardon, had to be able to throw some sort of bone to her constituents and so, made a counter-proposal: Estrada should accept a conditional pardon, the only condition being his being unable to keep the loot (which Estrada, after all, had unblinkingly claimed was never his). What seems to have finally clinched the deal was something personal and not political -the widely-held assumption that Estrada’s mother doesn’t have very much longer left to live.
Add to that the unappetizing prospects, for the Estrada, of continued detention (however pleasant it is, but from his perspective still an intolerable situation), his being unsure of whether he would secure the overturning of the verdict on appeal, and the chance that a future government might not be anxious to pander to him the way the President has, and you can well imagine why Estrada would want to settle things now, and forget any chance to achieve a proper vindication. Add to this, finally, the pending transfer of Estrada to New Bilibid prisons: being fingerprinted in an orange jumpsuit, shaved of his Elvis-style pompadour, having to endure a jail cell.
You can imagine, too, that the President, beset on all sides by problems of her own making, and who never wanted things to reach this point, anyway, would want to settle matters, too, and her willingness to take one more gamble by saying she’d allow his being sent to Bilibid.
And so, they sealed the deal.
I am not surprised by the pardon, and I’m generally inclined to look at it the way Torn & Frayed does (he opposed amnesty, though I think amnesty would have been more politically acceptable all around), but I think it does leave a little room for further interpretation.
It tells us that the President has more to gain in terms of good will from the Estrada constituency than she has to lose from Edsa Dos forces who will be angry, upset, and shocked, but who in the end lack what matters most to the President: numbers, in terms of votes, and a willingness to make those numbers count, whether in terms of public protests or going to the polls.That political math has been clear since May, 2001: and the losers here are the Edsa Dos veterans who are shocked and appalled, only now, not least because the folly of their support for the President has been exposed, not to the President but to themselves. As far as Estrada’s supporters are concerned he made the best out of a raw deal.
But it also tells us that Estrada is permanently incapable of saving anything beyond his own hide. In the end he had to kneel and beg for mercy from a President he’d never recognized as legitimate; he would not risk vindicating himself in the courts, the ultimate demonstration of his disbelieving his own rhetoric. He can always say what does it profit a man, if he is unable to bury his mother as a free man? As far as that goes, he’s right; but he would have been allowed to bury her anyway, but he could not allow himself to endure the prospects of the Supreme Court upholding his conviction, or worse, his being hauled off to Muntinlupa to endure the kind of imprisonment regularly endured by his constituents.
In the strange, because almost mystical, way our society manages to see rays of sunshine, public opinion had finally welcomed Estrada’s conviction as closure to the great divisions of 2001. His supporters could proclaim him a willing martyr; his critics could view it as vindication. Estrada and Arroyo both managed to deny that closure to both, and that’s the reason there’s public dissatisfaction. at least withing Edsa Dos and some Edsa Tres circles, with the deal.
One comment I heard, from some Edsa Dos veterans, was, “and he didn’t even spend a single day in jail.” I understand some Estrada supporters were upset, too, because their idol caved in and left them twisting in the wind, proclaiming the illegitimacy of an administration from which Estrada himself decided to seek a pardon only a legitimate president can grant.
What this has achieved is that it has simply reshuffled the deck chairs on the Titanic. The President removed the chains keeping steerage from joining the First Class passengers on the deck of the sinking ship. Those astute enough to realize the ship’s doomed long ago fired the distress rockets and clambered into lifeboats.
In a nation where symbolism trumps substance, Estrada never had to suffer for his rhetoric, the President never gave the legal process to reach its final conclusion; there wasn’t even a token effort at proving justice could be tempered with mercy; instead, mercenary calculations were passed off as executive mercy. But, as Amang Rodriguez so famously said, “in the long of time, we shall success.”
Much as everyone saw the pardon coming, what I don’t think anyone outside of official circles expected was for it to be used so crudely, so patently politically: a historic verdict required a historic demonstration of presidential statesmanship; instead, it was a tool used to blunt the effects of embarrassing headlines resulting from the Senate hearing; and it was a brusque dismissal of those who, all these eventful years, stubbornly insisted on giving the President the benefit of the doubt because she had to be, somehow, better than her predecessor.
What happens next? It remains to be seen whether Estrada will be grateful to Arroyo, and whether a new Arroyo-Estrada alliance is in the making. I can only hope so. It relieves the opposition of the burden of having to maintain an uneasy peace with the Estrada forces, and finally offers up the prospects for the veterans of Edsa 1 and 2 to reunite.
Then again, it may also give Estrada a new lease on political life. But the damage has been done; a free man, Estrada is free to return to engaging in his vices in full public view, and to prove himself ungrateful and incapable of doing anything for those who loyally stood by his side since his fall from power.
If Estrada were to run for the presidency again, he would lose. But he can begin investing, quite heavily, in the political futures of his sons. What that future is, remains to be seen. now he is just another ex-president. He has achieved his aims, and how minimal they turned out to be. There is nothing left for him to do, not least because who, now, will follow him after his kneeling before the President?
And as for the President, it’s back to the War Room because so many other fights still need to be fought, and any relief she obtains always proves increasingly temporary. Tuesday and Wednesday night, apparently, neophyte congressmen were brought to the Palace for their egos to be stroked. Last night, a larger meeting of all non-opposition congressmen was held at the Palace, ostensibly to survey the political situation, but possibly to consider the party line concerning the President’s cash gifts, since the governors already came up with their own excuse.
Jove Francisco chronicles how reporters found out about the pardon, which wasn’t expected to be announced until Friday. Reporters apparently take their cue from how the President color-codes her dresses: if she’s in blue, you know she’s in crisis mode. Also, Jove mentions a gathering of the Cabalens in the Palace, which made for a surreal scene:
I heard some people who witnessed the event comment that the event was a bad idea. That it won’t help their cabalen-PGMA any bit. Imagine, here’s a President who has been distancing herself from the payola issue, and then here are Mayors saying stuff like “they need the controversial cash gifts” … inside the palace mismo. In bad taste, at sino man daw nag isip, – malamang di nag iisip. Ill advised, ika nga.
As for the goings on in the Palace bunker, word is that Sec. Bunye’s assumption of the role of Acting Executive Secretary is in preparation for his assuming the role in a more permanent capacity, which is why two deputy presidential spokesmen have been appointed; Sec. Ermita, according to scuttlebutt has been given a one-way ticket to America, and before he left, he told his people to start packing their things.
The reason the announcement of the pardon was moved to Thursday, instead of Friday, when the Palace prefers to make big announcements so it has the weekend to survey the scene and gage public reaction, is chronicled in turn by Uniffors. It’s a great read. And explains why the Palace dispensed with its only make breaking news as the weekend starts rule of thumb.
For a roundup of blogger’s reactions to the pardon, see tonyocruz.com.
Technorati Tags: Edsa, philippines, politics, president
I have a lot to say against the pardon granted by GMA to ERAP, but I guess this issue is now water under the bridge. If what GMA did was wrong with regards to the pardon she gave to ERAP , was it legally wrong or morally wrong?
Legally wrong? I think not, what GMA did was within the purview of the Constitution:
ARTICLE VII-Section 19. “Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the President may grant reprieves,commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment.”
It did not say when should the pardon be granted, so it is the sole prerogative of the President, in this case GMA.
But was it morally wrong? Now, who can be the judge of that? I can only speak for myself and to be blunt about it, no, I cannot be the judge of that decision. I am not a judge of morality and even if I am, I’m not a moral judge,and besides, who can compel and force the President using morality as an argument?
But I think the innocent,the children,they will be the judge of this decision. One day this decision will be written in the pages of our history books, the innocent, the young, the next generation will study it. Will this decision strengthen the moral fiber of the youth or will it be the opposite?
Morality is not only a “code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong” , it is also the sense of being a good example to those who will come behind us. An immoral man is he, who destroys the bright and promising future of the young.
…and I quote:
“It may be perfectly legal, but it may not be best
and helpful.”-1 Cor 10:23 ,The Living Bible
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we
borrow it from our children.†Native American Proverb
mlq3, thanks. i’m clarified.
equalizer, from your long list, which is the “real” scandal and which are the diversionary? why don’t you cut to the chase and just call everything bad that happens in the philippines diversionary?
tagabukid, the way you talk, you seem to have a handle on truth. why don’t you be a witness and testify under oath, instead of yakkity-yakking about those “scandals” that you seem to know much about.
I wonder whether Gloria really believes that she can pull the wool over our eyes all the time?
What do you think?
bencard:to me, it all started with “GARCI “tapes.Btw, I was for Gloria until that infamous call to Garci.
quert, i’m fully in agreement with you. many in this blog have constituted themselves “judges” of morality, just like the biblical pharishees and self-righteous hypocrites. it could be that what pgma did was “the best and helpful” for finding a solution to the nation’s long-standing divisiveness and disunity. it that were so, then her act falls within the biblical criteria that you quoted.
Vic, I truly relate to this. Way back in college I joined the “no to tuition fee increase boycott classed”, “debt repudiation”, wherever my friends in LFS (League of Filipino Students) went, I would also go. Teargas and water cannons were always a part of the menu but hell we had all the energy, I was 24 years younger and 40lbs lighter. I always had Renato Costantino’s “Dissent and Counter Dissent” in my knapsack and at home I junked Marcos’ “Filipino Ideology.”
My father always reminded me that I will find it difficult to get a job if I’m labeled as an “activist” and that some policemen are secretly taking pictures of all those who joined the rallies. I disregarded his warnings thinking that he’s had too many skirmished with the KMU/labor union picketing/blocking the gates of his company. But one year later, as I went with my mother to the supermarket I saw a very active member of LFS bagging groceries, I didn’t approach her as I didn’t know what to say to her. My father’s warning ringed in my ears the whole day and all through the night. I stopped going to the rallies and instead took the PMA entrance exams, one, to wipe out all traces of activism, two, to run away from home and live independently from my father…sure enough after graduating from college I joined a multinational company…
qwert,
Hi there! I took the big plunge (with my wife) and sponsored a child just this afternoon, imagine for only 5,000Php or so you can send a child to school for one year. We chose a 6 year old girl living in Misamis. I talked to the staff of World Vision personally, and I found out that you can send birthday gifts, christmas gifts, and care packages through their office and you get updates on the child’s grades, etc. We even have a complete profile of the child and picture, one day Nemo (my son) will get to meet his new “ate.” If you’re going to their office next week (natuloy ba uwi mo?) I can drive you there, its just in Quezon Ave. The foundation has a target of 3,000 children sponsored for this year, so far they have only 500 sponsors currently, thanks for the link, I’ll send it to as many friends as I can…
mbw, how could you say “gloria” did it when everybody least suspected it, or that everybody was surprised, when it was all in the papers and on tv that puno went or talked to erap’s camp before and after the conviction to “negotiate” the pardon, going so far as to publicly predict that the deal would be completed before christmas. did the “blame & whine” movement give a hoot, let alone threaten their favorite solution – “people power”?
bencard,
I guess most of us (to include the B&W Movement) were aware of the negotiations for Erap’s pardon were ongoing because they (Puno et al) didn’t really hide this from us. We were just not expecting GMA would actually do it. If you followed the EDSA 2 events you could have seen/heard the indignant words GMA had for Erap and she looked/sounded really, exremely serious and sincere about it. So who would expect her to change her mind now?Even the special prosecutors didn’t expect it as the verdict was just announced.
I will forever look at people, B&W Movement, and others with respect, as these people at one time or another put their lives, careers, time, and efforts and acted on what they believed in and to a great extent benefited the majority of Filipinos living here. Not so many people will ever have the courage to do that…
bencard,
Here’s a link from youtube re GMA’s rise to power, please check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9bECSgfqk
bencard,
I sent you a youtube link re “Power Grab from President Joseph Estrada,” but its under moderation. Please try to check it out.
My father always reminded me that I will find it difficult to get a job if I’m labeled as an “activist†and that some policemen are secretly taking pictures of all those who joined the rallies.
Today this can affect your entry to the US and if you are already here woudl affect you application for citizenship. Coudl this be teh reason of some apathy among the students now.
In college, I was very much involved on the work Campus Crusade for Christ International , preaching the love of Christ every time I got the change. And I got into a lot of trouble with my father and my mother too ( They are both very devout catholic). There was even a time that I thought I have calling for partorship. And this really alarmed them.
In the end they won over me, But when I got too wild and my alcoholism became out of control. They pleaded that I go back to the Bible….
Oh why is that is not working again naktsamaba lang pala ako noon.
I guess most of us (to include the B&W Movement) were aware of the negotiations for Erap’s pardon were ongoing because they (Puno et al) didn’t really hide this from us. We were just not expecting GMA would actually do it
equalizer,
ramrod can correct me if i’m wrong, but usually the advantage is with the defender and not the attacker. so, in possession of the levers of power, the president still holds many cards. and when you are fighting for your political life, playing for high stakes means you will continue playing for big stakes…
the president’s weakness at this point is that she is a battle of attrition; her strategy has been to buy time every time a new offensive has been launched by her enemies. the breathing room allows her to marshal her forces, keep the faithful rallying to her cause, and every day she survives saps the strength of her critics, until the next time.
but attrition has taken its toll on her and those she relies on. if it’s true that ermita has been sent abroad, not just to lobby vs the alston report but as a way to ease him out of being executive secretary, and if its true bunye is not just acting but will be the next executive secretary, it shows how the president’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. there aren’t enough loyalists left to fill all the major positions that have vacancies.
attrition, too, has taken its toll on her critics. the opposition forces are now wondering who is still an oppositionist and who has made a deal with gma, whether to secure estrada’s pardon or to secure palace support in 2010 or in agreement with charter change to expand both gma’s and other personalities’ options in 2010. every crisis is an opportunity then, not just for individual groups in the opposition but for the president, too.
the resumption of congress on nov. 5 is one potential flash point; so is the prospect of impeachment (not yet fully killed in the house); so is the resumption of charter change; so is the resumption of senate hearings; so is oil reaching $100 a barrel by christmas. so are the vacancies in the civil service commission, the commission on audit, the supreme court, the position of afp chief of staff, the comelec, next year.
right now, the president’s core constituency in the middle and upper classes have been shaken by the estrada pardon. the opposition will be shaken by the inquirer’s headline tomorrow, where serge remonde is quoted as saying the palace is considering giving estrada an anti poverty position. politics and nature abhors a vacuum.
the president and the opposition, stuck in trench warfare, are both hoping they will come up with a way to break the logjam, the way the invention of the tank had such an impact on trench warfare in world war 1.
Re: “We were just not expecting GMA would actually do it”
That’s my thought too besides there were too many scandals that were blurring the Gloria-Erap scene.
Bencard,
Re: mbw, how could you say “gloria†did it when everybody least suspected it, or that everybody was surprised,”
My earlier post said the same thing Ramrod and Rego are saying now so I suppose, I could say it again:
“…few believed that Gloria would do it or be able to do it so quickly and be able to present it as a fait accomplit to the unsuspecting public” especially when scandals after scandals were blurring that pardon scene…
Ramrod,
I don’t know if World Vision will allow you to meet your adopted child (not sure). We have adopted 2 children so far through World Vision Brazil (we’ve been with the program for 10 years now).
My own children couldn’t send her more gifts than they would like to even on the birthdays of their adopted sisters due to the very strict rules.
Bencard,
No I did not Secretly wish Erap would be pardoned “but could not go public about it because of my ostentatious “outrage†regarding gma’s conjectural and speculative “corruption. now that the pardon has been done, you can shout from the highest mountain that you oppose the pardon. ain’t it so, dude?”
Why am I not surprised that the only way you could respond to me was to attribute secret motives to my course of action?
That’s so weak it’s unbelievable even from you.
I don’t attribute secret motives to discredit your belief that charges of corruption are conjectural and speculative. I take your assertion at face value, that you really believe she is good and honest, and then I feel sorry for you…after I’ve exhausted myself laughing at you how gullible you are.
Think about it. Practically the entire cabinet showed up to demonstrate Malacanan’s willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
And then the Senate asked for documents and testimony from the government to see if there was any basis to the allegations of bribery aired by Joey De Venecia and Neri.
And that’s when the government stopped cooperating.
Instead of presenting documents and testimony that would prove to the public that the ZTE deal was aboveboard, Malacanan invoked executive privilege and took to answering the bribery allegations through press releases that are not supported by facts.
Why did Malacanan choose to take the “He said, I say” route instead of letting documents speak for themselves?
If you have nothing to hide then you hide nothing.
How many brain cells does it take to figure that out, dude?
ramrod, mbw, so world vision isn’t some religious brainwashing thing?
haven’t been able to respond so much, folks, because have had a jolly debate with djb over at his blog:
http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2007/10/either-pdi-is-lying-or-four-anonymous.html
mlq3, equalizer,
I agree that a defensive position has the advantage over the offensive but in order to sustain this advantage the position must meet certain prerequisites: 1) high ground – it must be an “unassailable” position, the attacker faces tremendous loss of manpower and resources, 2) fortification , 3) resupply lines – the position defended must have access to supply re food, ammunition, etc. 4)reinforcement line – the defenders must have a clear and protected route for reinforcement of troops
5)communication line 6) morale of the defenders
Otherwise, the strength of the defender will whittle away over time (or rapidly depending on the strength of the attacker and prevailing circumstances), most especially if the morale is affected, if they start to lose sight of what they are defending or fighting for and start fighting amongst themselves. It is vital that the pressure from the attacker is sustained all throughout the campaign, not necessarily by direct assault but by harassment, attacking the 6 (it might be more) prerequisites…
BTW, I always use this when playing “Generals” (pc game) and it works…
mlq3,
Nope. World Vision is a foundation for child sponsorship.
ramrod, many thanks, as usual for youtube link. curiously, who produced this video, at whose expense? i think the source has to be considered. this subject has been debated unabatedly and will continue to be the subject of controversy in years to come. one thing we should avoid is seeing the tree but not the forest. it was kind of machiavellian, but hey, there are very few things, if any, in this world that are not controversial. as commenter buenavente above quipped, “pragmatism”. i think that’s the name of the game.
btw, this is not saying that erap was not guilty of personally plundering the wealth of the nation -a heinous crime that calls for extreme retribution, not just forceful deprivation of power by the people who have bestowed it, when no other option is available.
there are occasions when the “rule of law” is supplanted by mass action. ancient and contemporary history is replete with cases of complete change of government by revolution. legality becomes irrelevant when the overthrow succeeds and has the support of the majority of the people. but those are the keys. success and support. edsa i and 2 both had that. edsa 3 (if you can call it that) did not. all the recent agitations for gma’s ouster do not have the full support of enough people, ergo, no success.
ramrod, what’s the difference in layman’s terms, between strategy and tactics? is the president a strategic player or a tactical one?
and is there any relevance to the fact that her closest advisers now, are former police generals? even if some are from the pma, isn’t there a difference in the way someone with mainly constabulary/pnp experience would approach things?
Mlq3,
Re: “ramrod, mbw, so world vision isn’t some religious brainwashing thing?”
Funny you asked that. 10 years ago when my husband and I were considering participating in the World Vision child sponsoring project, we were ‘warned’ that it was a CIA-sponsored operation of some kind.
We just shrugged off the ‘warning’ and went ahead and joined.
Gloria, a great tactician but not an excellent strategist – heh!
My God, at this point she should all be tactical. If she thinks strategically, she must be some sort of mad President with King Jong Il-like mentality.
SCAM. forgot where i saw it, but i saw a documentary about these kind of charity scams. rule of thumb: don’t give money unless you can personally see where it’s going. in World Vision’s case, it’s so easy to concoct photos and reply letters, even sob stories. And isn’t it just convenient that they have very strict rules agst meeting your beneficiary?
if you’d like to help, help here. there’s a school Michael Tan wrote about, which he called “greenhouse schools,” which I think have a very good model, and rightly deserves help. There’s two other little heard-of foundations I chanced to read about which I’d like to recommend, having found it to be notable and not SCAMS, only that I forgot their names. The first one I read in a PDI article, and the other one I saw in a news segment.
devils, if you can find links, they’d be helpful.
i hope rego will weigh in, too, he has practical experience in helping provide scholarships.
Devils,
My thought was and continues to be that it’s will be difficult to do anything constructive if we continue to be suspicious of everything. I do realize the wise thing to do is to inspect, see for yourself, etc, etc. but not always easy to do so in the end, you make your choices and hope to God the choice you make are right. But thanks for the reminder.
Re RP: My family and I are also participating in similar efforts in the Philippines.
mlq3,
I got this from wikipedia:
A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often “winning”. Strategy is differentiated from tactics or immediate actions with resources at hand by its nature of being extensively premeditated, and often practically rehearsed.
Yes, circumstances tend to point the relevance of GMA’s advisers (former police generals) as her moves have been tactical (immediate actions) in nature, police are oriented to reacting as opposed to overall victory (overwhelming/complete annihilation/control of the enemy). Unless she has something else up her sleeve, but even bencard will agree that its been pretty much predictable. If we look at bencard’s comments he’s quite on the dot, just don’t mind the irritating extras. 🙂
(con’t… but not through World Vision)
devils,
Thanks for the heads up, I will try to follow up. I believe mbw had difficulty with meeting the beneficiary because its in Brazil, whereas the child we chose I know where the place is, I can drop by anytime. The foundation has a booth in megamall so it sort of lessens the chances of it being a scam (I hope). Anyway, remembering the old adage “a fool and his money are soon parted,” its best to make sure…
Ramrod, if I may translate that in business staff terms:
The managing director is usually the strategist while his salesmen are the tacticians.
But together they may formulate the winning strategy, and even devise the sales tactics together for meeting turnover forecast.
On the military operational ground right on the war front: the generals strategize (formulating concepts and principles for victory) while the ground commanders (usually the colonels and down the line) execute the tactics, to implement the strategy.
bencard,
The youtube video is probably produced by Erap sympathizers, but those video documentaries are hard to manipulate (it gets obvious).
It shows there the extreme measures (though one sided) to oust Estrada. Its also interesting the way GMA discussed the plots with the generals in public and Mike Arroyo admitting to newspaper interviews also. Thats why I was surprised when she pardoned Erap, after all they went through.
Megamall doesn’t have scammy booths?
Mlq3,
Re strategy and tactis, Karl von Clauswitz’ On War I think is a very good reference not only in time of war but even in peace time almost even for business or where groups of people are involved.
mbw,
Yes. Good comparison, you just summed up my job description as a salesman. Although in this age of global/regional organizations, the salesmen themselves are responsible for the regional areas of responsibilities for both strategy and tactics, the managing director will just make sure everything is in accordance with the overall strategy (having a healthy bottomline) and no one deviates, at least too far. Of course, this is due to so much advancements in technology and new fangled systems like shared resources, etc.
Ramrod,
Yep — re “salesmen themselves are responsible for the regional areas of responsibilities for both strategy and tactics,” that’s how it usually is in international business or for companies doing export sales.
“Megamall doesn’t have scammy booths?” – brianb
I sure hope so, because all I have to show is that I talked to the staff and they seemed nice and sincere, and this profile with a picture on it and a brochure with Christian Bautista, Miriam Quiambao, and Nikki Gil in it. Hmmmmmm……I would like to go with mbw and leave it all to God but someone once told me “trust in God but lock your car.”
Ramrod,
Are you Sales Manager for RP and another country or just RP?
Donating money to Charities is a “caveat emptor” proposition. But World Vision, Christian Children’s Fund are some of the many charitable orgs that have established their reputations as upstanding during years in operations. World Vision has been around since the 50s and was not rocked with substantial scandals during the time. And since donations to the charities are Tax Deductibles records are kept according to the Revenue Rules.
But experienced had shown us, that there are personalities that will and do try to beat the system and even the most watched and best guarded Nation’s Treasury is not safe with conniving and conspiring officials on the take and that is mostly the topics we are discussing (or arguing) on this site..still everyone bewares because like what is happening now, tomorrow your friend is your enemy and your enemy is your friend (means Erap said “let’s applaud Pres. Arroyo) see what I meant…
It has Family First. Scam shooting through a legal loophole.
MBW, don’t mind me. I’m naturally distrustful of anything I can’t see for myself I should trust. We all have our own ways of helping. As for me, I give my time and my own person. (I join medical missions and teaching stints). I hate dole-outs. Because I see it as a cop-out and guilt-absolving without the risks. In fact, sometime back in this blog, I had a lengthy post about my vision of a perfect foundation.
Oh, geez. I wish TDC were here. If you noticed, I’m terrible when it comes to links and exact quoting. My memory fails me when it comes to where I came across a certain information, only that I’m certain I must’ve read or seen it somewhere. I read and watch A LOT. And when I mean A LOT, boy, i really mean A LOT.
I remember I read about that first foundation on a PDI paper that was used as a paper wrap for daing. And that second one was actually a school featured in GMA news.
I guess this makes me a failure as a researcher. Will try to search for it. But Inquirer archives is not exactly friendly. It’s on the blink a lot, and only goes so far back. (in fact, I sent a suggestion that Inquirer make this a paid service to support having to add servers to support such a large, complete archive. i know many students and researchers will be thankful, and willing to pay for such service, including me)
As for that GMA segment, I don’t think I can find it anywhere.
ramrod, you’re welcome.
one link down.
blockquote>Yes. The key to “social mobility†is not really to flood the poor with money. Money can only get them so far. The key is to help open up opportunities for them. With opportunities, they themselves can do the work and lift themselves out of poverty. Sometimes I think charity should be more about giving one’s time and abilities rather than just a guilt-absolving trip of money giving. What if there’s a foundation that doesn’t accept cash, and only accepts those who are willing to part with a little of their time, and expertise? An NGO that is pure volunteer work. An NGO that facilitates volunteership. Welcomes anyone wanting to help, and identifies where these people can help the most, and then teach these people how. What I’m envisioning is an organization that is like just being middle-men for buyers and sellers. A well-to-do individual wants to help. He goes to this organization and signifies his intention to do so. He is not asked for cash. He is asked for his schedule. He is not asked for a check. He is asked for his skills and expertise. Perhaps the individual says he is a banker, or perhaps a businessman. He is then asked how long he intends to offer his help. Perhaps the man was just taken by a flight of fancy and says he’d just like to try it out for a few days. His schedule is taken and matched to a database. Somewhere near his area, a benificiary group is in need of his skills and expertise. This group have just finished classes equivalent to that of HS (also given by volunteer teachers) and are wanting to learn abt business. Perfect match. If the man decides to continue with his volunteer work, then its just another convert for this organization. If not, then the organization has set-up a system covering the relief of temporary volunteers with permanent ones. What we have is a one-stop-shop charity arbiter. Welfare is so outdated. And foundations who bank on them equally so.
my complete post is here:
http://www.quezon.ph/?p=1506#comment-580905
Ramrod, about Gloria strategy or tactic.
I’d be so afraid if she is thinking strategically right now. That means extension of her office. Most definitely, otherwise ad hoc crisis management principles should be enough to fend off the fat two-legged dogs of Philippine justice.
Boystown and Girlstown. Michael Tan’s greenhouse schools.
2 links down. (supply the missing http and ://)
opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=83948
Steven Covey may not agree with you entirely on this. War strategies and tactics can be applicable in business except one – its a win/lose proposition. Some business gurus nowadays are even saying that competition is out, in comes “coopetition” (competitors cooperate for the common good/big picture) come to think of it GMA must have read the book?
And lately military/PMA graduates are not a priority for PNP positions due to their body count mentality.
And yes, I’m sales manager for the Philippines, a trade off so I can stay here and not in Singapore, but there are rumors that Myanmar will be added to my responsibilities, I may have to jog again and practice ducking and crawling huh?