In today’s Inquirer editorial, the paper thinks the government’s trying to politicize the price of gas; this reflects the attitude of people like Norwegian Would who think we’ve moved forward since the days of subsidized oil:
It is now close to a decade since we finally smashed the old illusion that oil price subsidies were pro-poor, perpetuated for a long time by the middle and upper class leaders of so-called ‘people’s organizations.’ Note that at that time nominal prices were below 20 dollars per barrel. Now the high is about five times. But we don’t hear of any outrageous manifestos that the increase is caused by the local ruling class in conspiracy with foreign capitalists, do we?
Despite its moderate optimism, the Inquirer’s Sunday editorial proved prophetic, in a sense, as it warned of the consequences if politicking intruded into the Batasan bombing investigation too early. The news reported Ermita clears Salapuddin on Batasan blast which led to backpedaling on his part, today: Palace executive says he did not clear Salapuddin. But the damage has been done: as Senator Genaro Magsaysay famously said, “less talk, less mistake.” The dangers of higher-ups saying something were obvious to begin with.
Last Thursday I had a chance to run into Rep. Roilo Golez whose observations, however, made sense to me. He said that if assassination was the aim, then the opportunity presents itself in two places: where the target lives, and where the target works (incidentally, on Wahab Akbar, see Torn and Frayed and Sidetrip with Howie Severino).
Add to this, he said, the fact that we don’t have a suicide bomber culture, and that includes killers intent on killing themselves, too. So an assassin would make saving his own hide a high priority. This limits the opportunities, Golez said. Between home and work, the target’s convoy would make assassination difficult. You’d expect home to be well secured. But work -well, in the case of Akbar, the opportunity was there, particularly as he seemed to have suffered from a false sense of security while at the House, leaving by the same entrance like clockwork. An assassin, Golez observed, would run the risk of being gunned down after shooting his target, unless he was capable of making the 300 meter dash to the main entrance before anyone noticed what had happened. This means, if a getaway is important to the assassin, a bomb would be best. The other possibility, that the bombing was undertaken by a rogue element within the military, is a possibility Golez’s very uncomfortable with. No such inhibitions from Inner Sanctum.
Still, Amando Doronila says Blaming Abus was convenient for probers while Uniffors remains puzzled by the use of a bomb to do something small arms fire could have accomplished.
Scriptorium says the bombing raises three questions (read the whole entry, particularly his belief our society isn’t about to fall apart, just yet):
First, how could they think to do it? For while the legislators are not deemed epitomes of integrity–and in recent years, in fact, the Lower House has seemed lower still, a very expensive rubber stamp fit for a Queen–, they are legislators nonetheless, anointed with the ill-used but still real dignity of representing the nation in its districts and sectors; and an attack on them remains, by constitutional fiction, an attack on us. The bombing was therefore not only an attempt at mass murder–or perhaps at simple murder with multiple collateral casualties–but a national lese majeste, an brazen act of political sacrilege that makes us shudder for its confidence and contempt.
This takes us to the 2nd concern: Who then is safe? If our legislators with their security force and phalanxes of bodyguards can be attacked at the very center of their power, then what of us–who, when we ride the trains and enter the malls, have only private guards to keep us unharmed, searching our bags for bombs they would hardly recognize, shielding us more from comfort than from danger? The Glorietta “gas explosion” was bad enough; and even as we continue our daily routines, we know that we’ve gone back to the second lowest step of Maslow’s hierarchy (if, that is, we ever left it, or ever ascended from the first). One can hardly blame the tourists and investors for staying away, for they have a choice. We have none, and must go as before, though perhaps adding a prayer for safety to our morning rituals.
The 3rd concern proceeds from the foregoing: What next? Was this but the first ledge of a descending cascade of violence, unleashed by maybe Maoists, Islamists, Arroyoists, or random thugs? Will our government seize on it as an excuse to formally impose martial law, which it has proven all-too-willing to do for the most intangible reasons? In this light, though the intentions behind the attack are still uncertain, and its economic and social results remain to be seen, the needed policy response is already clear: For the sake of the nation and its people, the violence must be halted now, and its real perpetrators must be identified and prosecuted as soon as possible–but the means used must not, through excess, threaten to destroy the very ideals they seek to protect. More anon, perhaps, when more facts come to light.
More questions are raised by Postcard Headlines. But Mon Casiple asks the real question on everyone’s mind: are they Coincidences or real political moves? He’s a bit ambiguous on this score:
At the moment, the political situation points to the imperative on the president to make a decisive decision soon on which path she will take to ensure her own survival beyond 2010. The name of the game right now is called “transition management.”
She does not have much time left for her to decide (and make this public) since all the options require long and difficult preparations. All the interested political actors–within and outside her ruling coalition, local as well as foreign–know this. All are exerting pressure to push their own agenda and–the jackpot–to be the one to manage the transition.
Of course, GMA may not really leave the scene–witness her pronouncements on a charter change initiative. There are some in her coalition who wants to use the charter change to extend her term in power (and their own) and they are moving heaven and civil society to make this happen.
However, the chances for this are slim, unless her administration scatters the opposition and unleashes white terror on civil society. The desperate temptation to declare martial law or a state of emergency stem from the reality of a people’s resistance to charter change under GMA’s tutelage.
It is a coincidence that dramatic events such as the Batasan bombing, the Dalaig assassination, or the Glorietta incident occur one after the other in this moment of political conjuncture. Still-unfolding events will show whether these are real coincidences or planned moves in a game of political strategy.
Meanwhile, bureaucratic intramurals: Battle looms over control of Justice.
Overseas, see Malaysia Demos: Sound and Fury, Signifying Little in Asia Sentinel.
My column for today is The future’s bright (and thanks to the San Jose-Recoletos student publications editor-in-chief, who blogs at ~~peAceOuS viCioUs~~ for her kind words). On a Visayas-related note, see Boljoon Dig part 1 and Boljoon Dig part 2, in CAFFiend, on some remarkable archeological diggings there. Interesting entries, on provincial history, in Kanlaon and A Nagueño in the Blogosphere. Interesting notes, too, in The Magnificent Atty. Perez, referring to the Iloilo-Cebu connection.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, I failed to read Blackshama’s Blog’s reaction to my columns on Marcos. But now that I have, you know, I’m working on a theory. Marcos established a New Society as the dominant discourse: it justified the scrapping of the liberal-democratic order created in 1935; and it was,actually, the justification for Edsa 1 and even Edsa Dos -and explains the refusal of what was once Marcos’ strongest constituency, the middle and upper classes frightened by Communism, to be politically engaged since 2005. Neither Edsa created a New Society, so why bother?
Think of it. Sift through all the reasons people give for not being politically active since 2005 (never mind examples of extreme social alienation, as shown in , or of guilt, as expressed by Hello Tiger Kitty), sift through the things people enumerate as everything wrong with this country (oligarchy, etc.) and then sift through what they want -basically, a Year Zero- and where it might be headed (a swing to the Right, suggests Ren’s Public Notebook) what do you have?
Ang Bagong Lipunan!
Another idea to explore is described in History Unfolding’s entry on Politics and Fourth Turnings:
William Strauss and Neil Howe, who wrote Generations and The Fourth Turning, divided American history into periods of approximately 80 years, called saeculums (Latin for a long human life.) In turn they divided each such period into four “turnings,” a High, an Awakening, an Unraveling and a Crisis. After the civil war crisis, the High lasted approximately from 1867 to 1885, the Awakening from about 1885 to 1905, the Unraveling until 1929 or so, and the crisis through 1945. In our own time the High ran from 1945 to 1965, the Awakening from then until the mid-1980s, the Unraveling from about 1985 until. . .sometime in the last 8 years.
This is a concept that resonates with me, because I approached recent events along similar (though not as intricate) lines in.
The Marocharim Experiment on the sociology of dance moves. It’s sad to note Patsada Karajaw has vanished from the blogosphere.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, books, constitution, economy, Edsa, history, House of Representatives, Marcos, media, military, mindanao, philippines, politics, society
Ho,ho,ho,ho!
FYI, SW it was the armored personnel carrier of the PNP which destroyed the main entrance of the hotel. Where have you been all this time?
Tent Tackle — I guess you have not heard what the owners of the private property had to say about Trillanes et al forcing their way into the hotel, scaring guests, disrupting business and commandeering the floor with the function rooms. Trillanes and gang were very much NOT invited.
The reality is that one is not allowed to walk out of one’s own trial and then commit breaking and entering with a weapon. Duh.
The civilians, bishops and media who “holed up” with them (inside the room, as opposed to in the hallway) are potentially liable for aiding and abetting. If conspiracy to rebellion is upheld vs the leaders, then the holed-up civilians are also potentially liable for conspiracy. That’s the law, dude.
Those media types in the hallway are, at worst, liable for obstruction of justice. In every country in the world, the police — when surrounding criminals in a building — erect a police line and don’t allow anyone (including media) to pass. In this case, the media were already inside and didn’t come outside even when asked. So its more fuzzy. But in general, media are supposed to be recorders of events…not the actors.
ha ha ha…read up man. The hotel door was crashed into by th Trililing group way before the armoured carrier came into the picture…as in like 11:30 am in the morning after they marched from the Makati RTC???? Nasaan ka ba? Nandito ka ba sa Pilipinas????
Is your world crashing down now? Your idol is a plain thug.
Don’t let your hatred of GMA consume your reasoning. I also don’t like her but it doesn’t mean I won’t be fair to her.
The past two edsa people power incidents have shown that we have not chosen the right leaders to replace the ones we hate most rabidly such that we were willing to accept anybody, basta di lang yung nakaupo.
This lesson has not yet been learned by a lot of people.
“The hotel door was crashed into by th Trililing group way before the armoured carrier came into the picture”
SW,
Like they banged the door with their bodies and the door was smashed open and was destroyed? Ho,ho,ho,ho, you are really dreaming.
Silent Waters, feel free ro re-read my comments again. I didn’t attack your “opinion about the masa’s behavior and why the blame all falls on the elites and the middle class.” Maybe sa usapan nyo ni CVJ yun, I’m not sure, I haven’t read all your exchanges with him. In any case, labas ako sa discussions nyo.
What I reacted against was this statement from you: “It’s not the elites’ and middle classes’ fault that the masa could not protect their votes. Granted, the elites and middle class will always do their best to thwart the masa from their choice.”
Ang dating kasi sa akin, parang sinisisi mo pa ang tao (I never even used the term “masa”, since I believe this issue concerns the entire electorate) for being, what, not super-vigilant and “allowing” themselves to be cheated? Shouldn’t you instead castigate the persons who cheated? And demand accountability from them?
And what does this “”protecting of votes” you’re talking about really entail? Saan ba nagkulang o nagkamali ang electorate? Ano ba dapat ang ginawa nila? Kasalanan ba ng tao na nagkaroon ng “Hello Garci”? O nung pumutok ito at nadiskubre ang wholesale cheating na naganap, ano ba dapat ang ginawa ng mga tao?
I’m not even talking about the people’s choices for President back then. Kung gusto ng masa kay FPJ, eh di sige. Kung gusto ng middle class at ng elite kay GMA, eh di sige din. Iboto nila, ikampanya nila, o kahit magkampanya sila laban sa ibang kandidato (sa malinis na paraan syempre) eh walang kaso yun, those are all legitimate courses of action.
Pero ang mandaya, lalo na kung wholesale cheating, aba eh foul na foul na yun. The blame for that falls squarely on the cheaters. Huwag sisihin ang tao dahil “nakalusot” ang pandaraya.
We expect good faith and fair play from our government, especially from our highest public official. When it is exposed that they have committed grave wrongdoings, especially one as despicable as stealing the vote and undermining democracy, then it is only right that the people demand accountability and proper courses of action.
But instead of submitting herself to this process, GMA has steadfastly refused to hold herself accountable, not just for the the cheating but for other serious and credible allegations against her like massive corruption, bribery, etc (pwede nating isa-isahin ang mga ‘to kung gusto mo.) She has continuously subverted the proper channels and mechanisms that are designed to look into and settle such issues, even using unconstitutional and repressive measures (again, pwede nating isa-isahin ang mga ito.) She and her cohorts have placed themselves above the law, and through their actions (and non-actions) have reinforced the culture of impunity and the culture of corruption, even setting them to new highs (or rather, new lows.)
That’s not what i said. What i said above (at December 1st, 2007, 1:30 pm) was…
Notice the word ‘everyone’.
Gimme a break! no wonder when tonio panot was calling people in the streets to join him, nobody seemed to have heard something. ha ha ha ha ha.
He’s another spoiled brat from la salle who’s only aim was to enter the military so that their family business (with the afp) would be protected and could grow. No wonder his parents are one of those afp suppliers who are fond of overpricing. he he he he (note: these are mere allegations that i am inferring unlike other people who think that they hold the key to the gospel truth when it comes to gma)
ay naku
then you really took the sentence out of context then. You should have read the whole exchange to get what the sentence was driving at.
CVJ was saying it’s the elites’ and middle class’ responsibility to protect the masa’s vote. I AM SAYING that it is the masas’s responsibility to protect THEIR OWN votes. He keep letting the masa off the hook on responsibilities as good citizens just because masa sila.
It was only later that he said it’s everyone’s repsonsibility.
Well, they crashed into the glass door panel boy and then pointed firearms at the guards manning the door….so maybe for you that’s not enough criminality yet. Maybe somebody should point a gun at YOU for you to know it’s criminal already. You play too many counterstrike games.
Tent
Dalawa na nga kaming nagsasabi …di ka pa rin naniniwala. ha ha. Mukhang marami kang linalaro na counterstrike. Di pala criminal sa iyo ang tinututukan ka ng baril at binabasag yung glass door panel. Di pala kriminal yung takutin mo ang mga hotel guests. Di rin pala kriminal yung i take over mo ang lugar ng walang pahintulot ng may ari. Umalis siya, nagbayad ba siya? Di rin.
Di pa kasama yung nilugi ng hotel dahil sa takot ng mga hotel guests kaya tsumupi na. Hay…..di ko tuloy alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng criminal sa iyo.
ANg mali, di maitutuwid ng isa pang pagkakamali. Di mo pinag aralan iyan nung bata ka pa?
Mukhang ang napag aralan mo, iyung mga nakita mo sa counterstrike.
Perhaps the anti-gma club crowd are fond of playing combat grounds. counterstrike is a thing of the past, kids play combat grounds these days.
ay naku ka din…
Halata na ang edad ko…counterstrike pa alam ko…hehe
Again, not true. i mentioned this early on in our discussion…
…as a response to your remark…
ang gulo na nyan! the root of it all..even if we say we’re forward thinkers we can’t seem to get away from “personality politics”…
given GMA cheated, why did it take so long before anything was heard about it? namatay na nga yung opposition candidate. and then, given, talagang nandaya sya. what way could she be held liable that was according to law and the constitution and would not disrupt the whole country? we all have to admit, we have that option in place.
did we do it? any of it? no.
this may surprise a lot of you here…but for a large percentage of the population, the presidency is NOT JUST A PERSON…it’s an institution. at this point, it’s proving to be the strongest institution of government.
ask yourselves now, what do you really want for yourselves and your families? why do so many people leave the country at alarming numbers? how many of you with kids have thought of migrating to the west so your kids could have a safer, more stable life? answer that honestly.
is it so impossible then that some of us want these same things right here in our country…and have not given up hope – whoever is president?
ok….cvj…I stand corrected….
Mita
for the power hungry..yes, it will always be impossible to have the things we want in our country until they themselves sit at the levers of power…matagal na nilang gustong umupo diyan pero di nila kaya ang lokohin mamamayang pinoy….
Micketymoc, i think Mita answers your question best…
Thanks Mita.
hey wait a minute! if you are going to quote me – quote me in full! parang showbiz tabloid naman yan! twisted….
Mita, it is not my intent to twist your message. That’s why i normally include the timestamp so the reader can refer back to the original and validate for himself.
aww, bencard. i didn’t know you had that much confidence in me. 😀
but you see, my Bastille prophecy doesn’t need personalities like the ones you mentioned to explode. bec. it’ll explode on its own when the time is ripe. haven’t i said it before that revolutions cnt be forced?
besides, Gloria and her minions are doing their damn best ripening this brewing storm. you know that Bastille don’t need leaders. when a mob goes amok, it will go amok, leaders or not.
akala ko WarRock…
devils, was that a prophecy (of doom) or a wish? you don’t mind if you and your loved ones perished in it, do you? i say, let’s all try to prevent it, unless you believe there is life after dying in a revolution.
uy si cvj, smart aleck. comedian pa. 🙂 but to give you a clue, i’m not really referring to the betrayer. and guess what i really meant when i said “smart move” (you can scroll above and look for my previous comment about your idol).
and speaking about those who betrayed him, actually kasama kayo doon na mga alipores niya. hindi ba sabi nyo sa kabilang space “lead as sir and we will follow you”. eh, nagtatawag na ang leader nyo but ni anino nyo (maliban kay tordecillas) wala. you were the ones who betrayed him beause he was actually calling and begging you (his followers) to join him. nasaan ba kayo? kaya huwag mong isisi sa iba ang kapalpakan nyo.
grd
I second your comment re: “lead and we will follow” …
Silent Waters, again you are silent about the issue of cheating. That is what I keep pointing to, and you keep on just ignoring to even address it. Oh well, maybe we missed each other’s point.
What is it that the people should have done (but didn’t) to hold GMA liable in accordance with the law? The people tried calling for her resignation, which is perfectly legal, even staging mass actions and protests, which are valid democratic exercises. Then followed impeachment, which at first GMA hinted she wanted to clear her name in the proper forum, but then used the remunerative powers of her office to defeat it. (There were even allegations of outright bribery, with Rep. Magsaysay admitted being offered a bribe of 5M.) So to say that “we didn’t do any of it” is plain wrong.
So what else is it that the nation should have done but didn’t?
And Silent Waters, you also didn’t answer my previous question: “And what does this “protecting of votes†you’re talking about really entail? Saan ba nagkulang o nagkamali ang electorate? Ano ba dapat ang ginawa nila? Kasalanan ba ng tao na nagkaroon ng “Hello Garciâ€Â? O nung pumutok ito at nadiskubre ang wholesale cheating na naganap, ano ba dapat ang ginawa ng mga tao?”
You can refer to my previous comment at 6:50 pm for the full context if you want.
ay naku
With respect to cheating, we should go ahead and do all the protests, mass actions, etc. (is that what you want me to say para matahimik ka na lang?) that we can do. Disrupt the economy, disrupt everybody’s lives, let’s do EDSA PEOPLE POWER #, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10 …heck till Kingdom come until we get EXACTLY the right person that we want to sit there. Maybe I should get Pope Benedict to come para hanggang People Power 4 na lang. Siguro naman, wala ka nanag masabi kung pari na ang ilagay natin diyan. O baka may problem ka pa rin? OO nga ano…baka may shades pala of the Vatican Mafia. di pala siya puwede.
Meanwhile, maybe the population growth will stop. Galing. Kasi everybody by then has left the country. That would be a GREAT plan pala. Let’s just keep the country unstable para umalis na lahat.
SIge, sasama na ako sa pagprotesta mo. Tutal, masarap yung day off. No need to work. No need to be productive. reklamo na lang. Mas madali magreklamo kesa magtrabaho.
hmmm… through extra-constitutional means? people power NOW NA! remove the cheat!
ay naku Silent.
Silent Waters. so your response is… sarcasm and ad hominems? How… mature of you. You know what they, right? People just resort to sarcasm and ad hominems when they’re running out of things to say or when they’re losing an argument. And by the way, you still didn’t really answer the questions raised.
Thanks for showing your true character. At least now I know that I should probably just ignore your comments. I was trying to engage you sana in an honest-to-goodness discussion. Relaks lang parekoy, ang pikon talo.
FYI
I personally believe that GMA lost her moral leadership. Ang problem lang sa atin is the method really of removal. WIn most of the comments I see, I read two camps here, those who want PEOPLE POWER/REVOLUTION?QUICK OVERTHROW and the camp that says let’s keep trying to find ways and means to take her out LEGALLY.
Now, sorry guys, I belong to the second camp. I will never agree to the first scenario as that has always been the reason why we never had stability in our country. We keep wanting to change our leaders like we’re changing our underwear.
This is why I found the whole Peninsula episode absurd. The grievances were right on target but the means to reach the end was ALL WRONG (in my opinion).
I think a majority of the Pinoys have actually gotten tired of the whole political circus that we see day in and out. Granted, the Filipino people may have some issues withe GMA’s leadership but you know what, in the end, for around 5/6 of the population, imperial manila does not really have an impact in their daily lives and therefore, they snicker at the goings on in Manila. (I have relatives in Cebu, Bacolod and Davao; they found it so melodramatic the stuff they see happening in Manila).
Haha
Sarcasm has it’s place you know. I am trying to point out something when I used that method, and FYI, It’s how I think. (by the way, just to let you know, my sarcasm does not concern you, sobra ka namang into yourself).
Again, nobody has told you not to protest. It’s your right. I also do not believe she has the moral leadership to run the country. Your problem with ME is that I have a different reaction to this problem. And YOU CAN’T ACCEPT THAT. What you want is to convince me that YOUR course of action is better than mine. And I’ve already told you as much. I do not subscribe to what YOU want to happen.
I would rather do EVERYTHING LEGALLY possible. Of course, you would rather argue that EVRYTHING HAS BEEN DONE. Well, kulang pa obviously, my friend.
The impeachment process has always been a political exercise, not a court of law. ANg problem, dun kayo umaasa. Mali yun. Parang pornography lang yun, puro lurid details pero di magamit sa batas. ANg hanapin niyo, yung smoking gun, iyun ang hanapin. Yung magamit sa Court of Law.
Nasa laundry kasi ang costume ko kaya hindi ako makalipad from Singapore to Makati. Anyhow, that’s a fair observation. ‘Walking the talk’ is what sets apart Ellen (and Bibeth Orteza) from me (and you).
Micketymoc, to reinforce Mita’s comment (i.e. the fragment i referred to above), this statement by Silent Waters is another proof that what we are facing with respect to GMA is a long drawn hostage situation.
It is the responsibility of the people (i.e. the public sphere) to take collective action discipline their leaders and make them learn that there is a minimum set of criteria for one to be able to sit in Malacanang. This includes, first and foremost, legitimacy. Our politicians are not entitled to use institutional mechanisms to subvert those very institutions.
Silent Waters, your use of sarcasm didn’t concern me? You placed my handle in the beginning of your comment, clearly indicating that you were responding to me. Please don’t be dishonest. Read your comment again.
And where in my previous comments was I trying to “convince you that my course of action is better than yours?” What course of action did I advocate in my comments to you? Please point it out to me, I’d really appreciate it.
CVJ
This again proves my point. YOU think everybody is a hostage. Maybe you should ask the 80M Filipino if they are first.
I do agree with you that it’s the responsibility of the people to take collection action to discipline their leaders. But let me ask you this then, does this mean taking a person out even if by violent means or taking them out peacefully through the election process.
Now next question: the election process sucks. So what should we do? The Constitution is not set in stone, mi amigo. Maybe it’s time to fix the problem. It is a flawed document, done during the time when there’s a major backlash against the dictatorship. Fix the loopholes. Maybe the 6 years for a single term is really too long now that we’ve seen the results. Maybe we should elect people to the constitutional convention that would represent everybody, not just the politicians. I don’t know, but the process should at least start.
by the way, it’s because of that process called PEOPLE POWER that questions of legitimacy has been dogging the Presidency ever since. Look, even if C.A. Aquino was catapulted to power by that route, there were still elements in the populace who questioned her legitimacy. Same with GMA, when she came into power, questions of legitimacy came into play.
ay naku
maybe I used the sarcasm incorrectly…it was meant to point out how I think, so if it was misread, then am sorry.
as for your second point, you had been insisting for me to elaborate what I think on GMA’s cheating. Maybe I read too much into that as I know where you stand on things.
I have already said my piece on what I think on the cheating aspect. She lost her moral leadership. so there. ok ka na?
Ok na, Silent Waters. Pislabenrakenrol.
We cannot act against GMA even though you and i agree that she has lost moral leadership because of the risk of repercussions against our existing way of life. You, mlq3, and many others believe that given her determination to hold on to the office, it’s best to wait until 2010. That fits all the elements of a hostage situation.
well, maybe, just maybe, if what you believe is true that things will come to a boil sooner than you think, you’ll get your wish.
Only thing is, we won’t be at that party…;-)
A very revealing comment from another blog: An advice to Trililing
“He should now turn his back on all his political supporters and switch sides. It does give you a glimpse on what to expect if his side does win. A bunch of rats with no conviction, no balls and no word of honor.”
cvj, as you see, someone quoted me too – in full. you just didn’t want the question I posed repeated in this thread. frankly, i am quite disappointed in you for behaving like a two-peso tabloid that can’t even sell….
as for the question, did we do any of it? recall events of the first impeachment when the opposition grandstanded in front of the cameras then lagged behind in filing the complaint…they kept expecting people to amass wherever they went. they refused to believe that people were tired of people power. by doing this, they in effect let the people down.
even if i dislike the opposition for all they have NOT been able to do, they represent the BALANCE in government. they represent US, the man on the street who refuses to join the circus.
this is how democratic systems should work. there is no effort to squash the opposition or silence them. people see this and know this for a fact. there are new technologies available to us now, which can be powerful tools if only the opposition had taken advantage of it. none of these options were ever closed. they reverted to the same old, tired formula of people power. trillanes is making that same mistake.
And in the end, the Rule of Law is still, Every Individual is still Presumed Innocent until Proven Guilty in a Trial by a Competent Court in Fair and in A Reasonable Time.
innocent sure. but if you’re talking about crimes so blatantly public, covered step by step by media, don’t you think guilt is a foregone conclusion? those who will presume innocence in such a case has got to be dumb, deaf, blind or unbelievably biased.
“Democracy” is not the hostage taker, Gloria Arroyo is.
following your logic, madame mita, since allegations after allegations have been alleged against PGMA with plenty of circumstantial evidence, (not proven in court) with numerous testimonies including her own admission, remember her lapsed of judgement..the briberies in Malacanang…those monies didn’t just popped up somewhere out of goodness, the Chinese connections, oh yes the Chinese has l.3 trillion dollars in Surplus to tease the crocs around and they need to lend them away so they can keep producing the equivalent products to keep their economy going, you know…but since all of them are not even charged because the evidence, o yes the evidence, where are the evidence? funny I asked so we assumed that they are not guilty as yet…that is the principles behind the Justice system of the country, imperfect as it is, dysfunctional as it stands now, but it is the way I look at it, the way it is looked by everyone, dumb, smart, and even the intellectuals and so far nobody can do nothing about it, can you?
ahhh….monsieur coward…the thing is, in her case the evidence is all circumstantial. you used the term yourself “allegations” and not FACT. and in her case, as president, you cannot take her to court. she is the president and the commander in chief. that is just the way it is.
i’m not saying gloria is NOT GUILTY…never said that and not up to me to say. as for trillanes, anyone can say he is or not cause he let it all hang out there last thursday.
you know…who are we kidding anyway? what do you think it takes for any person to survive politics in this country? why do you think so many of them are antsy to get into the same seat Gloria has now…you’d think they know by now the high seat just puts you up there where you are an even easier target. there are opportunities in politics that you will never encounter in your life as a civilian. it’s not for those with a weak stomach and that’s why you and I are commenting on this blog and are not into politics.
a good heart alone will not take politicians very far….need I say more? our electoral system is a mess, the judiciary is lagging behind so far for lack of funds they probably don’t know how far behind they are, and there’s the legislature which is is even more of a mess especially after Thursday…
Thanks for providing direct evidence of the kind of middle class morality that sustains our current political system.