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
silent waters,
matagal na yung middle class hang-up ni cvj, wag mo na pansinin. HE has to work it out himself and no one else. that came about from his being at EDSA dos that put GMA into power….
agree with you on what people want, etc. it pains me every time someone comes on here declaring war, calling for blood and heads to roll (literally ha) cause it’s all drama that prevents the individual from thinking logically…and so we find ourselves where we are.
Mita
Ako ba si Magdalo defector? Just wanted to check…
Pinoys love drama kasi…spice of life daw….
Personally, we should all just get back to work and do what is most productive. Move the country forward. With or without government’s help. Eh sila kasi, ang mentality, di nila akalain, feudal din. Everything has to come from the top. The top banana is the problem, so we should change the top banana para manna from heaven will come. Eh di ba ganun sa feudal society, lahat inaasa sa datu?
Imbes na puro politika ang inaatupag, sana negosyo na lang na magbibigay trabaho sa mga kapwa nating pinoy. They keep accusing the government of dragging the country down…eh sila, ganun din naman. They keep trying to jumpstart people power,eh laos na nga. The mechanism doesn’t really work. It failed us twice already and why? because the legitimacy question will always hang on the head of the anoited one. One false move and these self proclaimed little messiahs of the republic comes out of the woodwork to shoo them away, forgetting that they were the ones who installed the person in the first place.
dunno who’s calling himself magdalo_defector here…but he’s too nasty and petty for any blog.
yup, there’s more sense in making our individual lives better and help out who we can, pay our taxes, vote, get involved in our community….but politics and all that….armchair muna… until the next dictator comes along anyway.
In effect, I’m also saying I don’t consider this president a dictator.
“dissent without action is consent.” yes, true…get it already Magdalo!
I see the Magdalo Defector comment now…that is so uncalled for. Just disregard his comment mlq3. This is supposed to be a forum for ideas, not personality bashing…
Not necessarily. It means imprisoning the corrupt, the tax evaders, smugglers and other economic saboteurs among them and channeling the efforts of the rest to productive instead of rent-seeking enterprises. Ideally, the Philippine elite should be made to police each other so that none of them will engage in cronyism.
Yes, that’s part of it.
Wealth redistribution is not only done by the Communists. Capitalist countries like Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan also implemented this.
What is ‘fair’ is something our Society (which includes you and me) has to work out. By any civilized society’s standards, the cheating of Gloria Arroyo is clearly not fair.
That’s correct. If i could, i’d want nothing more than to come home but i have my obligations.
You are the one who keeps saying that we should ‘educate’ the masa and yet i’m the one you accuse of having such a ‘running assumption’?
As i blogged about and commented before, my first preference is for popular democracy (not an elitist one). However, if it is a choice between an elitist democracy and a popular dictatorship, i.e. a dictatorship whose purpose is to dismantle the oligarchs (i.e. Alfred’s ‘Year Zero’ above), then i have to settle for the latter. The worst would be an elitist dictatorship which is where Gloria Arroyo is trying to set-up.
As for Mao-Tse Tung, he did China a great favor by eliminating their own oligarchs and warlords. His own ‘spring cleaning’ laid the foundation for Deng’s market oriented reforms.
so you say.
of course. whether its still a life worth living for the Filipinos or not remains to be seen.
history will be the judge of all the things we’re debating here. for what its worth, the events happening here in the Phils are puny compared to what’s happening in the US and Middle East.
*plays song* we’re on the eve of destruction…
I refer to reeducating the masses with respect to discipline and responsibleness….you, on the other hand, seem to think they can’t think for themselves, ergo, they’re blameless…
Silent Waters, i’ve already told you above (at 5:56pm) that i don’t think the masa are ‘blameless’ so i don’t know why you keep repeating that.
So, as you say, Mao was right to just eliminate the oligarchs (your use of this word already gave you away)…eh kasama ka rin diyan ano…the communists don’t believe in the middle class..so I guess you’d like to be shot also para sa ikabubuti ng masa….
CVJ
You really have to realize that popular dictatorship (a.k.a. communism) is a dead ideology. Even Deng and the most rabid communist party members have all but given up on it. ANd mind new, new oligarchs (as you term them) are now springing up in China…so do we kill them also?
Also, honestly speaking, isn’t that an oxymoron? I never realized until now that a dictator could be popular.
You’re just so full of contradictions, man.
OK…let me rephrase..you think the masa is the least to blame for their sorry state…as if it’s all the elitistas and middle class’ fault. Pare ko, it’s really the attitude of the masa that’s part of the problem. They accept their lot in life. Mind you not all of them, but a lot of them. Then the ones who fight are really fighting for a place on the table, maniwala ka.
Ikaw nga, nasa Singapore, bakit? kasi you’re working for it to improve your lot in life. But look at the attitude of the masa back home, especially the ones who have OFWs as spouses. Tignan mo na lang how they behave. A lot of them don’t even bother looking for a job anymore or start a small business to augment whatever income is sent by their spouses. Instead, they splurge them on the latest gadgets and luxuries.
What is my point? The masa is not bobo. But on the other hand, they themselves are to blame for their sorry state. They prefer the good life NOW instead of saving up for a rainy day. And when that day comes, they immediately go to politicos for their expected doleouts. So, ano akala mo, walang kapalit ang doleouts na iyan.
Now what you want is to redistribute the wealth, as if kasalanan ng mga may abilidad na kumita sila ng malaki (except of course the tax evaders and smugglers, ibang kategorya iyun.) Eh kung gawin na lang natin sa iyo iyun? Tignan na lang natin kung di ka rin umangal.
Look at what land reform did…the farmers just sold them back to whoever used to own the land. O sige, alam ko na sasabihin mo, dapat gobyerno na naman ang magbigay ng pampataba, dapat gobyerno na naman ang magturo ng makabagong techniques. Lahat, gobyerno gobyerno, gobyerno. Isn’t it about time the pinoy do things themselves?
SInce redistribution of wealth ang feel mo…bakit di ikaw ang mauna?
You’re ‘a.k.a.’ is wrong. ‘Popular Dictatorship’ does not necessarily mean communism. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are not communist states after all. Also, as shown by Vietnam and China, the two step combination of (1) addressing social and economic inequality and then (2) introducing market reforms does work. So in that sense, communism did not fail because it paved the way for the economic takeoff of both countries. In our case, we went directly to Step 2 (‘market reforms’) without first taking Step 1 which is to address inequality.
That’s for the Chinese to decide. I’d rather focus on the Filipino (or Philippine-based) oligarchs.
‘Popular’ means catering to the welfare of the majority and not the minority elite. That was Marcos’ main advertising point, but he just botched the execution.
The equivalent to an OFW like me is the urban poor who came from the provinces to seek a better life in the cities. If you go to Urbano de la Cruz’ blog (‘hundredyearshence dot blogspot dot com’), you will see a quote that says:
The constant influx of migrants from the provinces is proof that the masa are not content with their lot and are actively looking for a better life. This parallels the OFW phenomenon. The only difference is that there are more jobs here in Singapore than in Manila. The reason for that is because our economic elite have concentrated in rent-seeking activities instead of genuine productive enterprises. More importantly, our government has not implemented policies that would encourage home-grown industrialization that was followed by our more successful East Asian neighbors (and by India).
I agree with you that the masa is not bobo. In fact, i believe that the distribution of intelligence is about the same across the social classes. That means that, in terms of absolute numbers, the greatest reservoir of intelligence (80% to 90%) lies with the masses. That’s why redistribution of wealth is an important element of economic development because this will help us unlock and harness the brainpower that is wasted because of poverty.
Your selective viewing of the lifestyle choices of the masa reflects a typical elitist viewpoint, what you term as ‘armchair quarterbacking’. Every class has its share of deadbeats but that does not explain why there is inequality in the first place and why it has persisted for much of our history.
Here’s the link to Urbano de la Cruz’ blog:
http://www.hundredyearshence.blogspot.com/2007/11/something-to-think-about.html
I was of course referring to the time when they were dictatorships. Though capitalist in nature, these countries implemented policies that addressed social and economic inequality at the early phases of their industrialization. They put their respective dictatorships to good use.
hope you’ve fully recovered manolo.
cjv, maybe we need someone the likes of hugo chavez to lead the country. i would support it if there’s somebody out there who’s truly for the masa. of course he should win the election first.
as what silent waters wrote above, “a blend of socialism and democracy is what would be ideal for us”. i fully agree with this.
i know something important is amiss. hope you are feeling better, mlq3. for a moment i thought you were at manila pen witnessing the action blow by blow (lol).
cvj, my biggest problem with your whole premise regarding class relations ,i.e. middle/elite class vs. the masa is that you seem to regard both groups like separate herds of cattle that you can control one way or the other by a mere flick of your whip. you are forgetting that each member of both classes have a mind of his/her own, possessing inalienable rights under a democratic system and the rule of law. unless you have absolute power over them made possible through their own consent, or by force, terrorism or intimidation, you cannot impose your will on them.
your idea of reconstituting society along the lines you envision is at best impractical and at worst dangerous. you know it can’t be done without gutting every democratic ideals upon which our society was founded. the last thing filipinos need is a political cleansing (“spring cleaning”, you say) or purges in massive scale. i know we have a little bit of over population problem but i don’t think large-scale slaughter of people is the answer.
i’m sure there’s a number of hitler, mao zedong, kim il jong, stalin, castro, milosovich, pol pot, idi amin, sadam, khomeini, etc. wannabees in the philippines waiting in the wings.
btw, there you go again with your mantra of gma’s “cheating”. i bet you came to “know” that from the philippine media, right? tell me, did you personally witness the cheating such that you are speaking of your own knowledge?
“equalizer, i’ve been sick since nov. 19. was in hospital 22nd to 26th and have only begun normal activities today.MLQ”
Manolo:Rest.take care.lots of vitamins.Thank GOD you are ok now!
mlq3,
get well.
di naman ako praning,pero kung ako yung tinatawag na magdalo defector;then fine.
Your opinions are as good as mine.
Di ko nga alm kung bakit pa ko sumawsaw sa topic.
Trillanes is a family friend, and is close to one of my fam’s members.(not me).
a lot has been said wise and unwise (bernas)
as a common worker at makatii during that day,sinasabi ko din na ano bang gusto palabasin nito as an initial reaction,maybe ngayon ganun pa din.
I stick to what i said,tuloy buhay,tuloy tuloy ang learning.
But my personal opinion here;only two or more years left.
huwag naman natin isipin na hindi pa pinapanganak ang mahusay na magpapatakbo ng bansa.
if you label me as a wait and see fence sitter,I can do the same.let us not judge each other sorry kung guilty ako minsan.
per silent waters,stick to the ideas.
yun lang.
The Wig was mightier at The Pen…
the guy who’s wearing it eluded arrest.
re Magdalo_defector.
If you’re going to ban him t will make this blog just a tad less relevant than it is currently. But I wonder what his IP address is. I think Manolo knows.
Di ko nakita na meron ngang entry from a certain magdalo_defector.
akala ko wala dahil tinanong ni silent kung sya….
too much coffee.
well kahit di ko pala nabasa
tama pa din ang sinabi ko na
stick to the ideas,pero kung gusto natin sya patigilin..ako na sana ang last na mag comment tungkol sa kanya.
Karl
Tama ka…stick to the ideas…minsan kasi some personalities here think they have a monopoly of moral ascendancy kaya I had to to take down a few notch. Sorry.
Bencard, i agree with what you say about the elite, middle class and masa being composed of individuals, However, these individuals also belong to larger categories such as family, race, nationality and class. A Social System is much more than the sum total of individual actions which is why you have conflicts that are based on these larger categories.
As i said above, i prefer our society’s conflicts to be resolved democratically which means taking the ways of democracy more seriously. However, if we have to go down the authoritarian road, then we might as well go about it in a manner that would benefit the greatest number and not just the same few who have been doing so for much of our history. (By contrast, Silent Waters wants to preserve the existing framework where the elite “protect their own interests” and the middle class are “expedient”.)
In your case, your defense of democratic values would have been more credible if you did not deny the reality of Gloria’s cheating. Unfortunately, not accepting such reality means that what you are defending is not the substance of democracy, but rather its appearance. Of course your legalistic worldview which values order over and above justice has conditioned you to accept such an arrangement.
See what I mean Karl?
“possessing inalienable rights under a democratic system and the rule of law”
Then why are the majority of the people in the Philippines poor and miserable in their state in life if there is a system that is built on the foundation of so called natural rights under a democratic system.
Natural rights presuppose equal opportunities in an economy of the commons. The state first and foremost recognizes and guarantees the means to life. What is the use of the so called natural rights (inalienable rights)right to life without the means to attain it?
Why use such high faluting ideas when most people do not understand the implications of what the words much less the ideas mean in scheme of things.
Do men have natural rights? Everyone starts mouthing slogans on this blog about democracy, equality etc but the reality is simple. There is no free ride.
Trillanes and Lim took their shot at a few hours of fame and look at the blog responses here since then.
Almost everyone is regurgitating slogans and words they do no understand.
Human existence is plainly about physical struggle for existence on a physical plane. Natural rights presuppose a higher plane
Power defines the reality as most are simply the worker bees.
Transcending the physical plane into the realm of ideals and principles based on sacrificing for the idea of a common good is rare in a country of simple worker bees.
That is why the pinoy is backward and miserable.
The government plainly wanted to terminate the problem with extreme prejudice last Thursday.
That is as it should be. The stakes are being raised in a poker game.
Esperon will almost undoubtedly run for President in 2010. The table is being set.
CVJ
Just because the masa has aspirations of a better life does not translate into a productive life. Too many times, when I visit other countries and get to meet the poor OFWs toiling there, their main complaint is basically the same, the spouse left behind is too lazy, umaasa lang sa kanila, nambababae, etc etc. ANd when I get back to Manila, that’s the reality I see.
Maybe you live in such an isolated world where the streets are clean, there’s no trash on the ground and everything works efficient, that’s why these realities don’t hit you as much.
Again, you espouse revolution since you want to destroy the present framework and yet, you are there far away safely esconsced in case it backfires. Para ka palang si Joma Sison, waging a revolution from far away. Trillanes has been accused of doing some other politicos’ bidding, maybe you’re doing that too? Asking your minions to do the dirty work?
Ako kasi, I believe in changing the framework through peaceful means. I can see each generation changing, albeit slowly, for the better.
All the countries you mentioned that were able to use your version of popular dictatorship has one thing in common, a monolithic confucian based culture with a very healthy respect for authority. We don’t have that, so how do you think you’ll be able to pull it off?
I am still bothered with your redistribution of wealth scenario. How do you define then who has too much? How do you define who gets to keep their land and who doesn’t? Madali sabihin yung we can set a standard. Do you set a standard on who gets more or less depending on their needs? Or is this an equal distribution scenario. Sorry na lang yung taong mas nangangailangan dahil dapat equal eh.
And how come you don’t want to address my question regarding the new oligarchs in China? Bakit..it doesn’t fit your model of how the Philippines should be? You keep saying we should try to follow their model….destroy the oligarchs and start from scratch…so that economic reforms can take place….eto na…may bago na naman…do we get China to do a purge again and start from scratch? It’s crucial because this is the model you espouse also for the Philippines. Do we reset it to zero again every time there’s a new set of oligarchs in place?
Up to now, you don’t realize that people ARE people with their specific levels of aspirations. Some are easily contented and others aren’t. We shouldn’t be setting maximum quotas on who gets what as you seem to be espousing (correct me if I am wrong.)
I always believed that rewards commensurate to a person’s ability and effort is one of the cornerstones of a democratic life.
Now, if you feel that the elites and the middle class has somehow perverted that belief, then you should correct it. Hindi yung you destroy the very system that nurtures these creativities.
j_ag
In a sense, tama ka….the masses do not really understand what democracy is all about. It’s not just about elections, it’s also about good citizenship. And mind you, I am not talking just about goo citizenship in the sense that they should be continuously vigilant regarding graft and corruption. It should also be good citizenship instilled in themselves in the form of doing what is common sense. Don’t jaywalk. Don’t throw garbage into the street. drive safely.
Just because other people are doing the wrong thing does not mean you do them yourself.
Silent Waters, i’m an OFW and i experience first hand what other OFW’s say about the ratio of breadwinners to dependents. There are many reasons for such dependency not having to do with laziness, e.g. retired parents, laid-off siblings, struggling siblings etc. Focusing on the laziness aspect gives an incomplete picture.
I thought you no longer believed in People Power? Also, by defending ‘expedience’, it appears that you also don’t take the electoral process seriously. So what ‘peaceful means’ is left for those who want to change the system for the better?
The model that China followed is this:
Step 0: Warlords and oligarchs dominated Chinese Society.
Step 1: Warlords and oligarchs eliminated by the communists revolution.
Step 2: Market reforms introduced leading to economic takeoff.
Nasa ‘step 0’ pa tayo, bakit mo pinoproblema ang kinalabasan ng ‘step 2’?
The resulting ‘new generation of oligarchs’ is a product of China’s economic success that also benefitted the larger portion of Chinese society. What to do with them is their concern and in any case, they are really not ‘starting from scratch’ because their economy is already at a higher level with an industrial base.
In our case, we are still in Step 0 where the oligarchs are a burden to society. As shown by the experience of these countries, clearing the deck of oligarchs (‘Step 1’) will give us runway for the rest to develop (‘Step 2’).
‘Step 1’ does not have to be because of a communist revolution. In the case Taiwan, one of the first things the defeated oligarchs from the mainland did upon landing in the island was to implement genuine land reform. This was to prevent a repeat of what happened to them in the mainland.
Scroll up and you will see that i was not the one who said that we are not ready for ‘American style’ democracy. It was someone else who said that (at November 30th, 2007, 8:55 pm).
In a highly unequal society such as ours, we can only do that if we take democracy seriously and not give in to ‘expedience’.
No point in arguing this….I just have two simple question then. Are you willing to give away your wealth and properties in the Philippines for your concept of wealth redristribution then? As I said, walk the talk.
Secondly, I again say, it’s easy to talk about these concepts when you’re safely in Singapore. All theory. Parang JOMA SISON nga, masarap ang buhay habang pinahihirapan ang bansa. Umuwi ka na dito para maipatupad mo ang hinahangad mong rebolusyon. HU\uwag ka maging tulad ng iba na glory lang ang gusto, pero yung hard work to get there, di naman ginagawa. Tutal, isa naman ako sa makikinabang kung matupad ang hangarin mo, as you yourself say.
at saka CVJ, American style democracy di tayo ready…a socialist democracy…baka puwede pa. Hinding hindi ako papayag sa dictatorship na iniisip mo. Dapat pala mag OFW ka sa North Korea para malaman mo kung ano ba talaga ang pakiramdam na manatili sa isang diktadura.
What Sen. Trillanes and Gen. Lim did was an act of rebellion against the bogus and illegitimate regime of Gloria Arroyo. It was not act act of rebellion against the State.
They did not call for the dismantling of the state, they did call for the resignation of Gloria Arroyo.
Just for clarification because there’s a hell of a lot of difference between rebellion against a bogus regime and rebellion against the State.
Gloria Arroyo is not the State and/or vice versa.
Silent Waters, you have to be able to learn to defend your opinions and ideas on their own merits. Use logic, reasoning and facts to back up your case. Don’t be like grd who when running out of things to say, resorts to asking me to give up my day job so that he can be my ‘disciple’. What kind of exchange of ideas is that?
When i discuss the idea of wealth distribution, it is in the context of having most of the wealth is in the hands of a few hundred families. Fortunately (or unfortunately), i don’t belong to any of those families. Before you imagine that i’m a communist who believes in complete equality, you’re free to go to my blog and read about what i have said about these things.
In my opinion, it is too early to judge the actuations of Gen.Lim and Sen. Trillanes regarding the Manila Peninsula event though anyone is free to pass judgment on them, hopefully they do it responsibly. I will use a phrase so popular today – “the rule of law”.
A lot of people from both sides of the fence acrimoniously shot them from the hip without any consideration about the rule of law:
“No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.”
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved..”
The government prosecutors(state prosecutors) does not even have a resolution yet regarding the appreciation of evidences presented to them if there is/was probable cause.It will help our democracy a lot if we will all be reasonably patient and vigilant about the issues that beset our country.
If the rule of law applies to GMA, it must also apply to Lim and Trillanes.
“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
So, let us all be circumspect in our judgments,deliberate in our criticisms and faithful to our duties and responsibilities as citizens. We owe it to the next generation that will come after us, GMA and Trillanes will have their own political sunsets.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.â€Â- Native American Proverb
CVJ
Well, my problem kasi with your argument is that you keep envisioning this concept of spring cleaning the elites and reeducating the masses. You’re so hung up on that. It’s like it’s their fault that they became wealthy. Maybe I’m just a more of a republican and you’re more of a democrat. We certainly have different ideas on how a democracy should work.
Also, it’s really a challenge to you who seems to have quite an interesting idea on how democracy must work in our country vis a vis how it is now. We both agree that it’s broken and perverted, but we have two different solution for it My solution is to let it evolve slowly, yours is more radical.
So the issue for me is that your theory must be tested and the one who must test it is the one who understands it the most (who seems to be you). Don’t let others do the dirty job for you. If you really believe in your version of Philippine utopia, come home and spread the word. Useless ang internet. Not everybody is like you and me with access online. It’s not about not having enough arguments, it’s really is about walking the talk.
qwert,
I certainly agree with your statement. But the facts speak for themselves. He broke the door of the Peninsula to get access into the building despite the protestation of the security guards. He commandered the building and made it his fortress. DI na bale yung nagtawag siya ng people power (na hindi dumating). Those two acts alone, with witnesses, is enough to get people to condemn him anyway. For me, the trial is mainly a formality.
As for his Oakwood escapade. Obvious din ba anong ginawa niya? Point is, you don’t right a wrong with another wrong. As everybody says, he lost any moral ascendancy over GMA and became a thug overnight.
No quarrel with the message….it’s the method.
Tent Tackle,
Even if he’s calling for the resignation of GMA, does not make him less liable for his criminal acts? Eh di, he is also of the same ilk as the one you hate. Let’s just run roughshod over other people’s rights and properties. Anyway, our cause is just. Ganun ba yun?
CVJ
If it’s any consolation to you…I am really a centrist…I took your political/economic test and I am almost near the center of the page but in the fourth quadrant(between 270-360 degrees)…so expected na malayo talaga tayo ng pananaw. I have never been left leaning because I always think that the communist ideals can never work in this world. (not to say this isn’t a good idea but People ARE People). I always think a blend of socialist and democratic concepts would really be better for our country like the Philippines.
What my former comrade tonio did was ‘as clear as daylight’ illegal and contempt of court. of course, we would go again to the motions of trying him in court but i wouldn’t want to be identified with a fugitive and a wimpy rascal who’s amor proprio is just incredible.
Timeline of events
-walking out of court while hearing is on-going (violation of rule 71, rules of civil procedure)
-overpowering the security personnel of the manila pen (trespassing under the rpc)
-by compelling the present president to resign while brandishing high powered firearms (rebellion for the principal and sedition and inciting to sedition on those saling pusa)
-the warrant of arrest was served by the makati police but he resisted it (resisting arrest)
-the crime of stupidity and air-headedness
He thought that people would rally behind him (naive!). what makes me laugh is the fact that he was afraid to be killed (while proclaiming that he’s ready to die at the manila pen). when push came to shove, he made media as his personal human shield.his only reason why he gave up was because he didn’t want the media to get caught in the crossfire? what a blooper logic. i would have thought of other excuses but i’ve seen the fear in his eyes when teargas was already creeping thru the rooms of the manila pen.
I would even go on to say that what the pnp and afp did was an underkill. next time, when media personnel are asked to clear the way for an imminent police operation, please comply and don’t act like heroes when in the end when you are made to account for your actions, you complain and readily say that you’re part of media.
What Trillanes, Lim and their cohorts did in Manila Pen, I think, is indefensible. That much is certain. Despite efforts to spin what happened, focusing on their “desperation” and sidestepping what they did, is utter bullshit. It’s like telling we should ignore people who rob because they did it to feed their kids.
What I am more afraid of is the seeming complicity of a big media outfit to this latest bout of military adventurism. For one, the reporting ABS-CBN, especially of its cable subsidiary ANC, was very spotty I suspect it was almost deliberate. While it had correspondents in Malacanang, it failed to get interviews from the AFP’s top brass. So, while B/Gen. Lim and Sen. Trillanes were broadcasting to the whole country that different units of the military are joining them, for a long lull, there was no response from the AFP leadership, at least on TV. It was almost like “decapitation” by failing to get an interview. This is very apparent especially after commentators doing the post mortem kept citing this lull as a sign that for a while there, everybody in the AFP was fencesitting. Evidently, if one gets his news only from the TV and cable TV, he’d get that impression.
However, Gen. Esperon was on the radio being interviewed by rival radio stations. He even said that most of those who joined Trillanes (those who were in civilian clothes and later changed to fatigues) were former soldiers who were already discharged from the service.Truly, information and disinformation are potent tools of war in the hands of those who know how to use them.
Our media must be able to draw the line between responsible media coverage and being used unwittingly as tools of psy-war. In fact, it was very clear that Trillanes and company were using them as shields. After the PNP issued an ultimatum and advised the media to vacate the hotel, the Magdalo officers kept telling them not to leave because “something big is going to happen at the end of the day”.
Trillanes apparently thinks that the 11 million votes he had, which he believes came mostly from the AFP, automatically translates to support for whatever he does. By being elected, he was given a chance to work and make a reality out of his supposed ideals and convictions within the bounds of the law. Now, he throws it all away in one petulant act. What a waste.
I suppose you meant to say the concept of ‘reeducating the middle class‘. (I did not advocate ‘reeducating the masses’.) What is wrong with educating the middle class? Why don’t you have a similar problem when someone suggests educating the masses?
I have nothing against personal wealth itself even if it’s acquired through luck (like in winning the lottery), but if that wealth is used to subvert democracy or prevent the rest from developing their own capabilities, as the oligarchs have done, that’s another matter. That kind of concentration of wealth is harmful to society, and the opposite, which is removal of inequality is beneficial. Proof is the economic takeoff of both communists and non-communist countries once market reforms are put in place after the issue of social equality was addressed. Here, we went straight to market reforms without addressing the issue of equality the result being the rich just got richer and many Filipinos have to go abroad to earn a decent living.
The fact that we are having this discussion while i’m in Singapore and you are somewhere else means that the Internet is not entirely ‘useless’. Don’t worry, word will eventually get around. Anyway, if my theory must be tested, it is irrelevant to test it on me because i am not an oligarch.
I agree that pure communist ideas, i.e. equality without market reforms, will result in countries like North Korea. However, we are seeing right before us the economic success of China and Vietnam which implemented socialism first followed by market reforms. So that combination seems to work.
If you give me your scores on the Political Compass quiz, i’ll add it to my blog.
Jaxius, i’m surprised that you did not wait for a court of law to make that determination. I suppose you think Trillanes’ and Lim’s act of petulance is more indefensible than stealing the Presidency.
Silent waters…
CVJ is a blogging friend and I too asked once about his elite/midle class concept ……
tama visit his blog,baka medyo makuha mo din.
at naintindihan ko din ang walk the talk mo.
At paano naman natin malalaman na walang ginagawa ang isang commenter dito,outside this blog unless,he or she is famous.
and walk the talk…..ginawa lang yan last thursday
the result of our opinions about people who walk the talk can be seen,by simply scrolling up.
I said wait two years,but I did not say that I agree with this government,what the afp and police are doing.
About the media..ganito lang ang pumasok sa isipan ko,what if it is a bank robbery ba natin kunan sa loob ng banko yon.
Nangyari na ang bus hostage taking na puro bata,with the hostage taker making a demand so extra ordinary,sabihin na natin gusto natin interviewhin ang hostage taker at di pnayagan beyond the tape,susunod ang reporter.
at pano naman sila sabihan lumabas kayo wala naman inasign na negotiator,dahil wala naman kasi tayo alam sa crisis management.
I know what I am talking about I have a cousin,shot by SWAT because of lacking of a crisis negotiator.
In basic hostage taking wala tayong magaling na crisis negotaitor pano pa kaya kung nationwide crisis na.,but sabihin ni magadalo defective na underkill yon,bakit isa lang ba ang pintuan ng pen.
About police brutality,di lang dito yan,yung nakikita natin sa TV,even abroad it happens.I know a few of those deatained and I asked their kids if there were signs of torture,but so far so good if there is ,then ibang storya na yan.
Walking the talk,silent mas gusto ko na yung tipong tulad ng alias mo na silent waters;behind the scenes lang kung dumiskarte.I am not talking about myself but my dad.
Hi Karl, good to hear from you again. If you have time, i’d like to invite you to take the Political Compass quiz as well:
http://www.politicalcompass.org
I’ll post your scores in my blog.
cvj,
i am speaking from my own point of view. I do not have the power to punish them, that is up to the courts. However, i think i have the right to express my opinion.
CVJ,
I am doing it as of this writing in another window.
ty.
Jaxius,
thanks for saying more about what happened,based on our previous albeit short exchanges before,you know why I was hoping to hear your opinion.Thanks.
Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.97
Cvj,
This was the result.
So I am almost a leftist;intersting,being raised inside a military camp.practically almost all my life after being discharged from the hospital(birth),till college.
Kagalit ‘tong statement na ‘to. Sisihin ang tao kung bakit sila nagpadaya, pero hindi ang mga nandaraya, in fact even making excuses for the cheaters. Ganito na ba talaga kabaluktot mag-isip ang ibang pilipino?