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
agree. that was really stupid. i don’t know if i’ll laugh or cry with what happened. another comedy or tele-novela phil style.
and yes, equally, funny is the interview with BW leah navarro. she has no clue at all what’s happened.
i agree too with silent waters on her take about this whole brouhaha.
We need a revolution if only to prevent the next generation of Filipinos from being total cowards. This generation is an embarrassment. The last generation was merely pathetic. We simply do not take anyting seriously. Let me ask you a question: what is so wrong about people dying for a cause? A lot of people have died for money and still are dying for money. Soldiers who fight communists and moros died not for the nation but for money (their officers were making tons of money selling arms to rebels, I personally know a brigadier general who do(did?) this. One of his illegitimate sons was a friend of mine from high school). So answer this: what is wrong with dyng for a cause? If we had killed Imelda and Ferdy, none of this would be happening now. Less corruption. I’m not talking murder here; I’m talking execution. We are getttig pettier and pettier. We will kill for cellphone but we refuse to lay a hand on billionaire thieves. We’ll kill people who insult us, but we refuse to do anything to people who rape our wives and sisters, pillage our villages and piss on our beds. Just because they are rich and powerful. What does this spell to you? Does this spell democracy? Hell, it doesn’t even sound human. Filipinos are mice.
We need a revolution if only to prevent the next generation of Filipinos from being total cowards. This generation is an embarrassment. The last generation was merely pathetic. We simply do not take anyting seriously. Let me ask you a question: what is so wrong about people dying for a cause? A lot of people have died for money and still are dying for money. Soldiers who fight communists and moros died not for the nation but for money (their officers were making tons of money selling arms to rebels, I personally know a brigadier general who do(did?) this. One of his illegitimate sons was a friend of mine from high school). So answer this: what is wrong with dyng for a cause? If we had ke11d Imelda and Ferdy, none of this would be happening now. Less corruption. I’m not talking murder here; I’m talking execution. We are getttig pettier and pettier. We will kell for cellphone but we refuse to lay a hand on billionaire thieves. We’ll kell people who insult us, but we refuse to do anything to people who rope our wives and sisters, pillage our villages and piss on our beds. Just because they are rich and powerful. What does this spell to you? Does this spell democracy? Hell, it doesn’t even sound human. Filipinos are mice.
damn, moderated three times! Filipinos are mice. They’d kill for a cellphone but forgive Imelda and all her shoes.
what the!
amn, moderated three times! Filipinos are mice. They’d k311 for a cellphone but forgive Im3lda and all her shoes.
dave llorito says it right:
i wished trillanes could’ve put his blood on gloria’s hand with the new attempt of his “5-star-revolt.” that’s the way to end such folly.
the Pen was just Oakwood…a repeat of failure! he will again face justice to which he will again walk out…
Dapat nabasa mo ang news na ipinagmamalaki ni Trillanes na marami a siyang supporters sa labas. Ang siste, natakot lahat, di na lumabas.
Yes, wala ngang danger dahil nagkakape lang naman sila doon pagkatapos takutin ng ng isang renegae soldier ng M16 yong Manila Pen Guards.
Shees. Mga Duwag Nagtatago na sa saya ng mga obispo, gusto pa premium service ang agkain habang naghihintay sila ng
people power.
Sheesh.
Is she really clueless or she was just making an alibi or she was surprised na naunahan sila pagpapel sa paghingi ng resignation ni GMA.
Unahan naman sila. Wala rin.
devils, namimilosopo ka ba sa sinasabi mo? if you’ll set aside your biases, where in the world can you find a govt that will just simply stand idly and allow (to their heart’s content) a group of destabilizers to keep on giving press conferences enticing and calling the whole populace to turn against that govt? you think it’s a harmless exercise and dragging it on? never mind that those people are fugitives too when they ran away from their court hearing and occupied another luxury hotel (where’s next?). you think other govts will simply watch and not issue shoot to kill orders against accused coup plotters? i think senator trillanes and those who rushed inside (including the journalists) are very lucky they were not shot. but only in the phils.
another stupid act of our “honorable†senator trillanes. just another grandstanding with the same result as what baycass wrote – Failure. and again, the people has to bear the brunt for this stupid act.
who is ces drillon and pinky Amador?
Ibon mang may layang lumipad
Kulungin mo at umiiyak
Bayan pa kayang sakdal dilag
Ang di magnasang makaalpas!
Pilipinas kong minumutya
Pugad ng luha ko’t dalita
Aking adhika,
Makita kang sakdal laya!
bakit magnenegotiate ang gobyerno?
Kamot-ulo.
Buting hindi pinatagal kung hindi marami na namang magraride sa media niya na mga pulitiko. Magbibigay ng mga statements, nauna na si Roxas at si Aquino.
sheesh.
Nasabihan pa namang military strategist, wla namang binatbat kahit sa pagsalita.
sobra naman ang bilib niya sa sarili niya na makakahakot siya ng peoople power. Sinabing patay na ang people power. Matagal na.
Silent Waters – “Two times, EDSA I and II, people accorded [the military] the crdit for breaking the camel’s back on these regimes so now they think they have to do it again. Is this what we want?”
cvj – “yes.”
question for cvj – why would you want that? Can you imagine any scenario where military adventurism at this point would end well?
Although a cherished right of the people, freedom of the press is different from other liberties of the people in that it is both individual and institutional. It applies not just to a single person’s right to publish ideas, but also to the right of print and broadcast media to express political views and to cover and publish news. A free press is, therefore, one of the foundations of a democratic society, and as Walter Lippmann, the 20th-century American columnist, wrote, “A free press is not a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society.” Indeed, as society has grown increasingly complex, people rely more and more on newspapers, radio, and television to keep abreast with world news, opinion, and political ideas. One sign of the importance of a free press is that when autocratic forces take over a country, their first act is often to muzzle the press.
There is no martial law. The press continues to be the freest in Asia. Some rebels were caught after changing into civilian clothes.
If there is a bank robbery, do you think it is OK for the journalists to walk into the bank so that “they can get a better story and get better coverage…in order to prevent the authorities from being too heavy-handed”?
What a BS argument.
BTW, cvj — I took that test a week or so ago. I was 0 on the left/right and a slight minus on the authority scale. Seems I’m about as “middle” as one can get.
“Technically that is not an arrest(i.e.,the mass arrest of the journalists). That is a processing,†Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.
What is so wrong with the New Society? With “Year Zero”? The idea is attractive, even if Marcos botched it. And it is very Asian. Mahathir and Lee did something extraordinary with that sort of leadership. The sort of liberal democracy much desired in this page is not working and does not work in Asia. Is this the result of American brainwashing? Filipinos were taught that American-style democracy was the way to go, and, hah, look where it brought us. You give democracy to people who want another thing and they’ll twist it to suit their purposes, with disastrous results, owing to the conflict between what people are taught to value and what we inwardly value. Funny, Uncle Sam doesn’t mind as long as he gets to exploit the land. Let’s stop this charade and think from our core, informed by our national experience, rather than the foreign ideologies we expertly grasp at because we lost our homegrown political compass.
“What a BS argument.”
Pardon me, not just BS but stupid. They think they have more right than everybody else.
Cherished? Dmn, anyone can be a journalist. Doesn’t take much. I can do a better reporting than Ces Drilon. And tell me why she did her hair that way? It’s so Tessa Prieto.
Suicide
In the same way that a sinner finds there is a pattern to his sins, ex-coup plotters or former mutinous soldiers end up repeating old battle plans, even those that failed to work the first time. On Thursday, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the leader of the Magdalo mutineers who took over the Oakwood apartment building in 2003, was once again at the forefront of a mutiny of sorts. He led a small group of soldiers and civilians — initially estimated at around 30 or so — in a forced takeover of a luxury hotel in the middle of the Makati Central Business District. His objective was to force President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.
He was joined by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, a respected soldier who has taken part in previous coup attempts and was implicated in the Fort Bonifacio “standoff†that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in February 2006. In that standoff, mutinous military leaders called on the Catholic bishops to come to their aid. Only two of the country’s hundred or so bishops responded favorably to this latest act of adventurism, with one of them saying he just happened to be at the hotel when Trillanes and company arrived in force.
In other words, this armed undertaking had failure written all over it. It had the DNA of the ineptly executed Oakwood mutiny and the inadequately prepared-for standoff. The idea that a commander-in-chief can be forced out of office by taking over a secluded building in Makati was ridiculous in 2003; it is only pathetic now. The idea that a mass of supporters, the possible nucleus of a People Power uprising, will throng to an inaccessible camp was preposterous in 2003; it remains risible today.
Let us be clear. The Arroyo administration, and especially the heavy-handed leadership of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, is responsible for deepening the frustration of the officers and soldiers facing various charges related to the mutiny and the standoff. They have not received the kind of respectful treatment they may have expected from their brother-soldiers; they have reason to feel sorely aggrieved, even deliberately humiliated.
At the same time, there is no excuse for what Trillanes and company have done.
The intellectual dishonesty of lawyer JV Bautista, calling the armed entry into the Manila Peninsula hotel a “political act†and not an action contemptuous of the very court Trillanes and Lim had walked out of, is self-evident. The arrest warrants newly issued against Trillanes and Lim were signed by the same judge they had disrespected.
But worse than Bautista’s attempt at spin was Trillanes’ own political arrogance or rank ignorance (it is hard to tell which), where he all but offered himself, a newly elected senator, as an alternative to an “illegitimate†president. Any hope of the young radical reaching out to the millions of Filipinos who are deeply unhappy over President Arroyo’s performance died the moment he said that: It was incredible hubris — and the very opposite of the issue-oriented politics he says he advocates.
Before surrendering, Trillanes explained Thursday’s bizarre caper as a logical outcome of his “moral obligation†as a public official and ex-soldier. This is, we are afraid, a deeply misguided reading of his duties. He cynically put people in harm’s way, exploited the reporters and cameramen who covered him as his own protective shield, deliberately harmed the country’s image — and for what? To prove to the nation that his alternative to the “ruthlessness†of the Arroyo presidency was his own brand of incompetence.
It seems Trillanes’ victory in the May 2007 polls made him forget the lasting lessons of the July 2003 mutiny: As the public opinion polls showed soon afterwards, the people sympathized with them and their cause, but vigorously condemned the violent path they had chosen.
“Dissent without action is consent,†Lim told the nation. He could be right, but even if we were to take him at his word, we still need to ask: Is “action†necessarily defined in terms of violence? That way lies mass suicide.
– Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial
the procedure of keeping these defendant-detainees in handcuffs whenever they go out of their cells should be seriously observed. there should be no compromise. these are dangerous respondents, accused of crimes against public order, if not national interest. dereliction and laxity of the “escorts” guarding them should be dealt with severely, and loyalty and devotion to the rule of law be checked and re-checked.
i think it is also necessary that these accused’s feet be shackled while attending court proceedings until they are safely backed into their jail cells. the arrogant defiance and contempt of the law and the court by these rabble rousers are becoming habitual and bolder with each repetition. it’s time they should learn that “freedom” does not include liberty to violate the law. and this is true whether the accused is a “senator” or not.
if martial law is re-instituted, these people have only themselves, and their misguided followers (which include many in the media), to blame.
politicians making gratuitous double talk to gain political attention only underscore their insincerity and hypocrisy. it would be better for them to just shut up and let justice takes its course.
Alfredo
Careful…somebody might just pounce on you with your argument…
Bencard
They say human rights kasi is absolute..so even murdereres, rapists, putschists, seditious persons, all on trial, shouldn’t be handcuffede and shackled…..
What a joke! ANd they wonder why this country is going bananas…
Am just waiting for somebody to make the argument that GMA allowed Trillanes to take over the hotel so that she will have the pretext to declare martial law….
silent waters, in new york criminal courts (a place, i would say, is no less civilized or democratic than pinas), accused felons are handcuffed and shackled when appearing before the courts. that is s.o.p. and not without good reasons.
btw, re argument that gma staged the “caper” as excuse for martial law, i wouldn’t be too surprised, although probably not in this blog. however, there are frequent visitors here from ellen tordesillias’ blog. we can always count on them to do it (lol).
“Technically that is not an arrest(i.e.,mass arrests and handcuffing of journalists covering the Trillanes story). That is a processing,” Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.
“Oh Mortal Man, is there nothing you cannot be made to believe?Josef Goebbel, Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
Bencard
Did you read that article where the lawyer Argee Guevara of Sanlakas was saying that they were just holding a press conference? and that the people who supported Sen. Trillanes should not have been treated like criminals because they’re priests? Huh? WTF?
AKala ko ba dapat walang double standard sa bansa natin? They decided to be accomplices to criminals and then they expect to be treated with kid’s gloves? What’s this world coming to?
Yan ang nakakainis…when the going gets tough, they start to shout that their rights are being violated. They forget that they also trampled on the rights of other entities in the process…taking over the hotel, scaring away hotel guests and hotel security with their M16s.
In fact, up to now, I am wondering how come Trileleng was even able to go to Manila Pen. Nasaan mga security escorts niya? I didn’t realize that as somebody on trial and in custody, he can request to go to the Manila Pen to have coffee.
“devils, namimilosopo ka ba sa sinasabi mo? if you’ll set aside your biases, where in the world can you find a govt that will just simply stand idly and allow (to their heart’s content) a group of destabilizers to keep on giving press conferences enticing and calling the whole populace to turn against that govt?”
is trying to negotiate idly standing by?
i will reiterate this point: what is wrong with the govt is that its FIRST OPTION was FORCE. not its last – but FIRST. you should always be wary abt govts like that. whose always first thoughts to resolve conflicts is to use force.
now, as to where i can i find a govt like that, the answer is Thailand. Thaksin allowed King Bhumibol and all the generals to speak out against him and call on the people to depose him.
well, he was deposed. but was he right?
i think Thaksin was magnanimous enough to know that if he had tried to resolve it through force, bloodshed would’ve occurred.
now, Gloria on the other hand, professed it wants to protect its citizens, yet chooses FORCE over negotiations even though FORCE had the high likelihood of bloodshed.
the point i am trying to make is: Gloria is not averse to bloodshed so long as she protects her ass.
the only reason bloodshed did not occur was that Trillanes and company was too coward to stand firm. if they had let out all people in that hotel and awaited the assault bravely, they would’ve been heroes.
of course we now know how fake Trillanes is.
but that doesn’t change the fact. this admin preferred FORCE over other peaceful means. it says a lot of why we have the extrajudicial killings, journalists slays, and the mindanao mess.
For the blind, dumb and deaf. Agitate, organize and mobilize and then strike. The center is fast disappearing before everyones eyes.
ProVoke the beast to react again and again AND IT WILL SHOW ITS FANGS. There continues to be a lot of unfinished business. Let history determine the outcome.
There continue to be a lot of angry young men with guns. Some are simply guns for hire but some are imbued with something else.
The road to instituional frames for addressing grievances looks to be behind us. It is simply a fact of historical change. More provocations will come from the state and from who knows where.
“If there is a bank robbery, do you think it is OK for the journalists to walk into the bank so that “they can get a better story and get better coverage…in order to prevent the authorities from being too heavy-handedâ€Â?”
was Manila Pen a bank robbery? were hostages taken? did anybody threaten to kill someone?
did the journalists walk into the hotel before the takeover or where they those who were already at the hearing who just walked and accompanied the group as it took over PEN?
in bank robberies, do authorities rush to assault the bank and go commando? with total disregard for those inside? can police blatantly demand that those who are trapped w/d robbers come out voluntarily for if they stay they will be arrested?
it was not a bank robbery, and again, no clear and present danger against civilians. yes, clear and present danger agst the Arroyo admin, but to the people?
if ever there was danger for those inside, it was coming from the military and police. atat mag commando. we should always be wary agst happy-trigger minds.
“Two times, EDSA I and II, people accorded them the crdit for breaking the camel’s back on these regimes so now they think they have to do it again. Is this what we want? – Silent Waters”
——————————————————
Big NO for me!
What makes the media sacred cows? They are not above the law. Freedom of the press is easily abused but hardly punished. The press is also easily manipulated and bought. Everyday we have to sift from the half-truths and lies incompetent media persons throw at us. These people don’t deserve special treatment at the scene of a crime.
What makes the media sacred cows? They are not above the law. Freedom of the press is easily abused but when media persons go overboard, they are hardly punished. The press is also easily manipulated and bought. Everyday we have to sift from the half-truths and lies incompetent and corrupt media persons throw at us. These people don’t deserve special treatment at the scene of a crime. If media can dish it, they should be able to take it. Cowards!
Media thinks they’re sacred cows because they believe so much in the concept of absolute freedom without the requisite responsibilities attached to it. Sila lang naman ang santo. Obviously, the State cannot protect itself kasi they might trample on media’s rights.
Nobody said media cannot report the goings-on. Problem is when they behave irresponsibly in doing the said reporting. Was it responsible for them to stay put knowing that they leave no leverage for government to have a swifter resolution? And it has nothing to do with the use of force. Remember, if media was not there to protect Trillanes, he would have just surrendered earlier knowing that the government has the upper hand. He USED media to make sure he’s protected.
Once he lost media due to the tear gas canisters, eh di natapos di ba?
Understand this, it’s not about not being able to report, it’s reporting responsibly. The problem is that your definition of responsibility is different from mine. For you, it means as long as news is broadcasted out even if harm comes in the way. For me, responsibility means allowing the authorities to do their jobs. They can still report anyway out of harm’s way.
Advc8 —
No, it wasn’t a bank heist. But it was against all the laws of every country in the world. It was a pack of criminals with guns who took over private property, scared hundreds of innocent hotel guests and called for a rebellion. And virtually nobody supported them.
The media had all the opportunity to not act as a shield for the criminals. Many walked out. Those who did not put EVERYONE at mortal risk. Those who stayed were stupid, egomaniacs or purposefully abetting criminals.
The anti-anti-GMA crowd continues to grow. A few loudmouths have stepped way over the line and are damaging the country.
Agree with Silent Waters.
Good thing we have blogs now that can be use as a check and balance to the media. Before blogs, media can control what will be news. At least now, everyone can broadcast their opinion to the whole world (or at least the WWW) and voice their opinion againts the media itself.
Sergio Apostol, Presidential Legal Counsel, said the Philippine National Police (PNP), which sent an armored personnel carrier crashing into the hotel lobby, bears no responsibility because it was implementing a court order.
He was referring to the arrest order issued by a Makati court against Trillanes for contempt, when he and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim walked out and proceeded to The Peninsula Manila.
“The police had to ram the APC into the hotel because it was serving an arrest order. “GMA News
Manolo:haven’t heard from you.Hope you are OK.
Two things i’d like to share.
In youtube, search for “The Chasers and Today Tonight”.
Today Tonight is a current affairs shows or Tabloid TV here in Australia and the Chasers (or The Chasers War on Everything) everyone is fair game.
Its a media used to point out the manipulation of another media.
There is also another show in ABC Australia called Media Watch wherein the show questions what is being reported by the media (whether print or broadcast) and pinpoint the discrepancies/manipulation/biased of the media and the show interviews or ask for feedbacks of journalists themselves who made the report.
And now the spin begins….can you believe Mr Argee Guevara has the gall to file counter charges against the police and the military for illegal detention???? WTF?
Up till now, nobody can give me a justification for Trileleng to decide to take over a hotel and make his statements? If he really wanted to just make a press conference, ang dami daming lugar diyan…ang dami daming open plaza sa tabi tabi….
Now I know why the country is so f**ked up? It’s the lawyers !
I know that Trillanes was foolish and deserves some of the brickbrats being thrown at him, but given how things have deterioriated so much in this goddamn country, to me, what he did actually seemed like THE sane and reasonable action. I know I’m sounding pretty foolish as well here. But really, sobrang absurd na ng situation natin, daig pa natin ang Orwellian 1984 scenario. And the curious thing is, a lot of people actually consider it pretty normal and see nothing wrong with things. Oh the times we live in. Sobrang distorted na, maybe we’re the ones with tililing, and Trillanes et al are the sane ones.
HIndi Ako Botante
Thanks for the info. Are there sites available for the second show you mentioned? I have been saying all along that media will always have their own agenda and fit their news slant based on such agenda. (look at the Daily Tribune).
Well isn’t that part of the “rule of law” that everybody keeps harping about? He’s going to court to settle things the legal way, isn’t that supposed to be good? Kung wala syang case, eh di talo sya sa korte.
Silent Waters,
Here’s the link:
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/
Trillanes is a fake, fake revolutionary — he’s a trapo, not even a soldier! No balls as usual as when he staged Oakwood 5 years ago. I lost my respect this guy way back in Oakwood — had he the courage of his words!, by golly if he stood up to gloria’s 24-hour deadline!, i would have been his disciple. But then, like Honasan, he turned out to be really useless and pathetic. A true revolutionary is willing to die for his cause, for what he believes in. Natear-gas lang, suko na! Shame, shame.
But then on another note, GMA is also to blame for how Trillanes turned out — had he been allowed to exercise his mandate as a senator — he probably would not have resorted to this. Probably.
I still contend though that GMA should resign. The fact that my opinion is not making dent on my hoped for resignation is beside the point. Heck, GMA is just lucky there are no alteratives to her. But that does not mean that people are for her. Like Ramos who said that his “support for GMA is incidental” — i think most filipinos take the same view.
also, it did’t help that Trillanes is surrounded by mga pilosopong abogado katulad ni Argee Guevarra at Jayvee Bautista — these people are not even legitimate leftists, mga anarkista talaga. argee gueverra since way back in college — his style is manggulo lang talaga
though i respect guingona, bishop tobias, father robert reyes, even general lim (now he’s a soldier unlike trillanes, just an idealistic one with fortunes turning out badly) for being there
“President Arroyo on Friday said the six-hour standoff between police and a group, led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City was not an act of heroism.
“What happened yesterday (Thursday) was not an act of heroes. It was plain defiance of the rule of lawâ€â€from the walkout in the courtroom to the forced entry into a prestigious hotel,” the President said.
The pronouncement of the President coincided with the celebration of National Heroes Day.”ABS-CBN News On-Line
Gloria:Are these Acts of a Hero?
Credibility Gap: No previous president appears to have squandered the public’s trust more than Gloria has. After being installed as President after a popular “People Power†uprising in 2001, Gloria has gained a reputation for deviousness in her many political decisions. People consider her untrustworthy as evidenced by her plummeting public trust ratings.
Presidential Misconduct: The “Hello Garci†tapes clearly indicated her intervention in the election process to ensure her “victory†versus the popular FPJ. The recent bribery attempts of Governors and Congressmen demonstrate the brazen use of “cash power†in the highest corridors of power.
Abuse of Presidential Power: History may ultimately hold Gloria in the greatest contempt for expanding the powers of the presidency (like a Marcos’ cheap copycat). Her EO No.464 is a deliberate derogation of the legislative power to investigate. The extra-judicial killings remain unabated under her administration.
Litany of Scandals: Since the start of the GMA administration in January 2001, it has been one scandal after another…. the National Power Corp. (Napocor) -CPK-Kalayaan rehabilitation project , the race horse importation fiasco,the overpriced Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard exposé, misuse of the fertilizer funds, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. scandals,the jueteng scandals and many more. And now the ZTE-NBN scandal(“Buck off!”).
My two cents: Gloria Arroyo should be thankful. Antonio Trillanes, the savior of 11 million Filipinos, is a blithering idiot and a coward. An idiot because, as implied by the Inquirer editorial, taking over a hotel is not the way to go about it (what the hell was he thinking?) and a coward because he did not have the balls to finish what he started. He did not even put up a fight for the lofty principles he claims to stand for. What an utter disappointment!
This is better than a pure military rebellion without a people power component. It’s also cleaner than having rigged elections.
Yes, but the military acting with the people has more probability of ending well than the military acting alone.
Many people who criticize Trillanes and Lim (whether pro- or anti-Arroyo) do so because they lost. These people are probably the same bunch who will praise them to high heavens if ever, as a result of their actions, they succeeded in taking over Malacanang. As far as that aspect (i.e. losing or winning) is concerned, i’d react in the same way. That’s the Balimbing culture for you.
While Trillanes (and Lim) should be criticized for their Andres Bonifacio style rashness, i salute what they stand for and the fact that they took action on our behalf. That’s more than can be said for the vast majority who would have enjoyed the fruits of their victory. I just hope they’d pay more attention to the execution aspect next time.