Yesterday, the Inquirer editorial asked if People Power represents An immoderate threat in the face of unmoderated greed. Besides Fidel V. Ramos’s stinging rebuke to the President last Friday, on Saturday, GMA News broke the following story: Arroyo: I know ZTE contract tainted but can’t cancel deal (see also Arroyo admits NBN deal was flawed ), which has raised more questions than it’s answered: not least, because in one fell swoop, the President’s own statement proves her officials have been lying all along.
The question remains whether it will temper the “reply or resign” call made by people like Martin Bautista. In her blog, smoke makes a decision flow chart and, well, the best that could be said was a negligent President (but maybe enough to keep the loyalists stouthearted).
Atty. Edwin Lacierda, in an email to me, put it this way:
The difference I think between the Garci tapes and the ZTE confession is that in the Garci tapes, there was this legal grey area of the admissibility of the wiretapped tapes. And so, GMA could legally wiggle out of it even if we know that the accent and inflections were distinctly GMA. In the ZTE deal however, her admission opens up more cans of worms.
In the first place, she lied as to when she knew of the irregularities. I think the first documentary proof of her knowledge of the irregularity would have been when NEDA changed the investments that could avail of the loans from the People’s Republic [of China] when the [military] housing units and the Angat water project were removed from the list and the NBN deal was inserted. I may be wrong but [isn’t it that the] President [alone] can change the Neda policy.
Orally, the testimony of Romy Neri informing the president that Abalos offered him a Php200 million bribe would also constitute knowledge of wrongdoing. Inspite of that information, the president told Neri to approve the project. So, I think we know she lied when she admitted she knew of wrongdoing only on the eve.
But be that as it may, her admission runs counter to the many pronouncements of those who defended the ZTE deal, as pointed out in the Inquirer editorial. Laglagan na is the order of the day just to save the president. I dont know how long will the factotums continue to defend her at the risk to their own life and liberty. But this strategy will have unintended consequences and I am not sure the president’s men thought this out well. It started out with releasing the Jun-Joey conversations in YouTube. We dont know what Abalos is thinking but I am sure he was not pleased with the revelation. His credibility has been further eroded, if there is any ounce of credibility left in that man.
Her admission also puts into question the statements of Formoso who the government has constantly paraded as the point man in the ZTE deal. I would love to see him wiggle his way out of this mess.
The lies and the cover-up continue and it is getting harder and harder to put out a credible yarn.
And so, as Mon Casiple points out, it’s a case of the fortress showing cracks in its walls even as the administration recycling its old scripts:
Within the Malacañang fortress, there are rumors of the heightening suspicions among the key players — with the First Couple directly handling all tactical decisions, trusting no one. Whispers of last-ditch plans for a “palace coup” keep on leaking out as well as the opening of succession negotiations with the vice-president. The FG unscheduled trip to Hongkong is being interpreted as either a cover-up for a major palace counter-offensive this week or the preparation for the GMA exile to Spain.
GMA’s admission of knowing the ZTE-NBN contract problems is reminiscent of her famous “I’m sorry” speech. It may have been directed to the bishops but it only added more fuel to the fire of disenchantment with her regime. It may be the last argument to convince the fence-sitters.
The President’s people accelerated something most people didn’t want to think about, just yet: the post-Arroyo maneuvering that most people continued hoping would take place, as scheduled in 2010. Now the maneuvering has taken on greater urgency as the President’s own people have bungled things so badly. The scandal just keeps getting wider and wider and people have started to think the previously unthinkable.
And so, my column for today is When our representatives fail. It makes reference to some of my past pieces, including my Manifesto on the Tapes, and my columns,Redemption and ‘Half a People Power’. Also, it’s a response to Solita Monsod’s People Power IV? No, thank you! and, in a way, Randy David’s Bonfire of institutions (which reminded me of my column, Scorched-earth governance from 2005):
The damage to government institutions has been the most extensive. Far from being a neutral arbiter of disputes and a source of normative stability, the justice system has become a weapon to intimidate those who stand up to power. Far from being a pillar of public security, the military and the police have become the private army of a gangster regime. Instead of serving as an objective referee in electoral contests, the Commission on Elections has become a haven for fixers who deliver fictitious votes to the moneyed and the powerful. Instead of serving as the steady backbone of public service through successive changes in administration, the government bureaucracy has been turned into a halfway house for political lackeys, misfits and the corrupt. Instead of serving as a check on presidential power, the House of Representatives has become its hired cheering squad.
The erosion of these institutions, no doubt, has been going on for a long time. But their destruction in the last seven years under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency has been the most comprehensive since 1986. This is due not only to the particular gifts of Ms Arroyo as a politician – her survival instincts, her callousness, her readiness to set aside higher goals and principles for short-term personal gains. It is also due to the peculiar confluence of events that attended her rise to the presidency…
…But the damage is not confined to government; it has fanned out like a shock wave from the epicenter to the periphery. We have thus far only seen the debris of government institutions that have lost their standing in the public esteem. Now we are seeing how the tension is passed on and threatens other institutions. This happens when issues that are left unresolved by the institutions of law, politics and government spill over to other spheres of society.
The tremor spreads out and tests the strength of the remaining credible pillars of our society: the churches, the media, the universities, the business community, the family. Each one of these institutional spheres has their own unique operational system, code and medium. They are not organized, nor are they suited, for the processing of legal and political questions. Yet, they are compelled by the developing situation to address these questions from their own specific standpoints. Their members are called upon to lend their minds, their voices, and their bodies to a movement whose trajectory is still uncertain.
It is this uncertainty that needs to be addressed. And so, returning to today’s column, I’d like to start by reproducing, in full, the reflection by Bishop Francisco Claver, S.J. that I quoted in my column (sent to me by Billy Esposo):
An Infinite Series of EDSAs
(Ramblings of a retired bishop)
Is it possible to avoid firming up an extremely dangerous, if still inchoate, tradition?EDSA I was about restoring a system which had been destroyed by the introduction of a dictatorial system of governance. That is why most of us bishops had no qualms about taking part in putting an end to President Marcos’ stolen power.
EDSA II was the momentary failure of the restored system–it carried a sense of desperation that the system wasn’t working as it should. (The dancing lady senator was a perfect metaphor of its dysfunctional operation.) The Supreme Court’s act in confirming GMA, for all its disputed constitutionality, was basically aimed at stabilizing a dangerous situation?
EDSA III, if it happens, promises to be the institutionalization of an infinite series of EDSAs. This is what is scary about the present situation and I’m wondering if a vague fear of it is behind the apparent unconcern of most of our people today about all the agitation to come up with yet another EDSA rebellion.
_______________________________________________
Is the question a “purely” political one? Or precisely because the danger is there that, with another EDSA ousting of an incumbent President, we help firm up a tradition of unstable governments, the question becomes a deeply moral one?
For bishops in regard to this development: Is it a moral duty incumbent on them to see to it that we do not go the way of institutionalized instability? Or at least to speak on the problem and show how we must be aware of the possibly deleterious implications of whatever option we make in the solution people give it? As one of Philippine society’s basic institutions, is the Church being called today to be the–or at least a–stabilizing force in our society?
In a very true sense then, our problem comes down to this: how to correct the aberration that is the present administration without destroying the stabilizing structure that is our democratic system of government? We keep the structure but correct the aberration? But if the correcting destroys the structure–or weakens it immensely–what then?
People power was born to bring back stability. I think it should be used now to protect it, not to destroy or weaken it. The way things are now, it is being invoked again in the effort to correct what I called above an aberration, but I’m afraid its repetition in the present crisis will only lead to that unwanted world-without-end-series of EDSAs.If we do not go the way then of that infinite series, we still are left with what I call the aberration. We haven’t put our heads together yet to see how we go about correcting it without bringing the whole house crushing down on us. This is what we should be doing now?
____________________________________________
I wonder if the system of four-year terms for presidents and the possibility of another four is not after all the best for us. Suffering through six years of a bad presidency (more, if he/she comes in to fill the term of an ousted one–as we have now) is intolerable, and that is why it is easy for people to succumb to the temptation of using extra-constitutional means to end the present one. This is an argument for charter change?
In more established and mature democracies: In the United States, for instance, the Bush presidency is bad enough and highly unpopular, but somehow nobody there is thinking of doing something like an EDSA uprising.
__________________________________________
For some reason some folk proverbs keep intruding on my thoughts as I write this thing–like the one about lying on nests that one has feathered? (We tolerate corruption–and rigged elections–but we do not blame ourselves for their consequences too?) Or changing horses in mid-stream? (It’s akin to the principle in spiritual life: “In desolation, don’t change” — but that’s what we do with every EDSA?) I guess we haven’t really learnt yet what these homely proverbs mean!
Francisco Claver, S.J.
February 19, 2008
Esposo says the piece is an attempt to clarify what the Catholic hierarchy meant by “communal action”. It is a reflection that to my mind reflects the unease with which people view the escalation of political tensions. However at this point, it leaves a lot, perhaps everything, in the hands of the President who has gambled on the fear of the unpredictable consequences of People Power vetoing any widespread support for it as the instrument of last resort.
But the best-laid plans of mice and men… they also tend to go unexpectedly awry. The most unexpected development is how young people have decided, in increasing numbers, to get engaged.
Inday Espina-Varona tackled this development in her blog, scaRRedcat:
Dirty tricks unleashed in airports are embedded in our collective psyche. With apologies to that once great human rights champion, Joker Arroyo, there are some things you do not mess around with.
It’s a bit sad really but then all great lessons of history often come with a certain sadness. Barely a month ago, I wrote of how young Filipinos would rather roll up their sleeves to solve a problem than break out into song and prayers as is their elders’ wont. They’d still rather do that. But, as did good men and women when the Nazis were on the ascendance, Filipinos now see what they missed when they looked away as hundreds of activists were murdered or “disappeared” or when they accepted that cheating at the polls is preferable to getting another actor elected to the Presidency: Wait too long and there may be no one around to hear your cries for help. Now, Everyman is faced with the barrel of a gun…
…Ousting a corrupt and despotic leader is a right of every people as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights underscores. Revolutions are not, in the strict sense, short cuts. They take time to wage and often come with messy results; that is why they are seen as a people’s last recourse.
But if we are to revolt in the name of democracy then there is no other way but to hew as closely as possible to constitutional change, as we did at EDSA 2. The fact that Mrs. Arroyo has grievously betrayed our trust is no excuse to shortchange ourselves more by anointing leaders outside of constitutional succession terms.
I do not know Vice President Noli de Castro. But he was elected by vast numbers of our people to that post, which comes with the responsibility to take over the Presidency if and when the incumbent Chief Executive can no longer fulfill the duties of that office. Whatever we may think of De Castro’s capabilities or lack thereof, we cannot simply sweep away a mandate conferred by the people.
If we can’t stomach him then we take our lumps and just give Mrs. Arroyo hell until her term runs out or until she institutes a belated regime of reforms, whichever comes first. We cannot decry corruption and officialdom’s penchant for playing fast and loose with the laws of this land and yet do the same in the name of democracy.
Agree! By the way, see another entry, He Said, They Said, a piece of Inday’s originally published in the Philippine Graphic, for a brilliant summary of why the government’s gotten itself into so much hot water. Well done, as well, is Patricia Evangelista’s She said. Over at Placeholder, you can see the La Salle Brothers’ chronology of the Lozadas seeking sanctuary in their school.
And indeed, that was the gist of my column for today: a last-ditch effort to kick-start our institutions into functioning properly might require the threat of People Power.
But people are wracking their brains (and searching their hearts) for ways not to have to resort to it, yet. Though there are those, as reproduced by onomatopoeia, who don’t think the threat should be invoked at all. Disagree!
While the threat of revolution that makes possible a return to the way things ought to be, such a threat, once made, risks having officials call the public’s bluff.
Which means the coming days and weeks requires even more soul-searching to take place.
How far will you go? Should we go? Even Business divided on another ‘People Power’ revolt.
tatsquiblat has some useful advice on what to do: or rather, a prudent approach to take. And review the emerging consensus on concrete steps to take, and the debate on the things that remain unresolved, in Sylvia Mayuga’s Firm Steps to the Light.
One proposal that’s gained wide currency, is for the President to immediately revoke her own Executive Order 464, but as one of many conditions; however,what Joaquin Bernas, S.J. proposes is that revoking the order is enough and all he really wants:
What do I support therefore? I favor attempting a rehabilitation of the presidency. To start with, I favor the complete dismantling of EO 464, the notorious gag which the President has clamped on the mouths of executive officers who are in a position to reveal incriminating truth.
True it is that the objectionable portions of EO 464 (Sections 2b and 3) have been declared unconstitutional. But the executive department continues to behave as if Senate v. Ermita never happened. You will notice that, whenever executive officers are called to testify in an investigation, rarely do such officers claim the lame excuse of executive privilege. They simply say that they are prevented by EO 464. EO 464, although constitutionally dead, remains the biggest obstacle to the discovery of truth. Its dark spirit remains.
How dismantle EO 464? The most efficient way would be for the President and the executive secretary to forget it. Easy, no; difficult, yes. Nevertheless this is a more viable goal than trying to persuade the President to resign and effectively jump into the fire. Moreover, the total abandonment of EO 464 can be the beginning of the rehabilitation of her ailing presidency. E.g., she should now allow the exposure of those who were involved in the corruption that caused her to cancel the ZTE contract. It would be a very concrete way of substantiating her loud cries against corruption. With political will, between now and 2010, much can be achieved toward rehabilitation of the presidency.
The kinds of minds he’s molded are best exemplified by this Ateneo blog. The Arroyo Presidential Library planned for the Ateneo will definitely be a suitable monument.
But what’s at stake and why, despite attempts by the good Jesuit to focus attention on asking for rehabilitation, or even the Senate President’s trying to propose an eventual impeachment, things seem to be coming gingerly to a point of no return, is best explained by Writer’s Block:
In light of all this, we are still obliged to be vigilant. Many people would ask: why continue? The elections are two years away; like her counterpart George W. Bush, she has only this one term left. But remember that we are talking about an “Arroyo government”. How are we to know that Czarina Arroyo would not control the Philippine government from the sidelines, the same way Lee Kuan Yew did in Singapore? There are also the earnest efforts among elements of her government to push through “Charter Reform”, to ensure their continued tenure in power. The point is, two years is two years away, and a lot can still happen in that span.
That’s why the Opposition continues to resist her, and find ways to overthrow her. Not only for the sake of vindication; it is also to ensure that they could sooner dismantle the “Arroyo government” and make sure that the next elections would indeed represent the people’s voice. No one can get her to quit. She, like Hitler before her, can always claim “divine appointment”.
The D Spot worries about her kids, what happens if they decide to join rallies. But Noralyn Mustafa puts the choice in stark terms:
We fail to do this now, the wages of our apathy will be Charter change forced down our throats; we will never see an election ever again in our lives; and we will have the Arroyos and Pidals and Abaloses holding our souls in their hands to the end of our days. And even beyond.
This is the ultimate danger of trying to ease the pressure. It won’t strengthen institutions. It will give the President a second wind. Liling Briones says the economy shouldn’t be an excuse for inaction. Cielito Habito reviews economic prospects for 2008.
As for today’s commemoration, I’ll be at Baclaran, where the Comelec computer operators found refuge after their historic walkout from the PICC. Review The Road to Edsa I, and the events in The Edsa Revolution Website. And do some Reading up on Edsa. And looking back, a mere year ago, to Edsa at 21. And doing his own looking back is Lito Banayo.
And Life’s a Beach has that video that will make all the small-minded mean and sour people angry. Interesting tidbit, too, from One Hundred Eighty Degrees, on an attempt to censor the video.
Postcard Headlines says the real challenge of Edsa is sustaining public vigiliance. Philippine Commentary insists on impeachment or nothing. It will take at the very least a national strike to get that past the House. JB Baylon waxes eloquent:
As I type this while once in a while peering out of my Hong Kong hotel window to watch a gathered mass of Filipinas outside, I feel a rollercoaster of emotions as memories of Edsa 1 flash before me interspersed with images of a weeping Lozada, a grinning Estrada and a still-missing Joc Joc Bolante. I think of Francisco Tatad and how he went public with the declaration of martial law; then I think of Ignacio Bunye and how he went public with his “I have two discs” spin. I focus on how Enrile was “forgiven” his sins in recognition of his key role in Edsa 1, and wonder whether Chavit has been forgiven, too. I think of Clarissa Ocampo and remember Jun Lozada and then I think of Mike Defensor and Mawanay, Garcillano and Bedol. I think of Macapagal Avenue, and then I remember the Centennial Expo scam. I muse about Imelda’s glamor and greed, and think of FG and wonder where the glamor went. I remember Manny Villar’s maneuverings on the impeachment, then recall JDV’s maneuverings and also the maneuverings that led to his own ouster. I think of Fabian Ver and I wonder about Hermogenes Esperon; I think of Fidel Ramos and his relationship with Ver, and wonder who is the Ramos to Esperon. I recall a young and idealistic Gringo, and I imagine a new crop of young officers replacing the ideals of Trillanes and Company. And all of these come to a dead stop like a roller coaster car does when I think of the Filipinas outside my window, huddling under open umbrellas in the cold drizzle that is gripping Hong Kong, and I wonder how their lives will ever change if, at home, years go by and yet everything but the faces of power and greed stay the same?
And good news for all people who like to read: Pete Lacaba has a blog! He has an article on names derived from Martial Law, Edsa, etc. (hat tip to my lil’ red book for noticing that particular article). Another blog to check out is Republic of Pundits.
Street protests asking GMA to resign nevertheless must continue to sustain pressure on her to tell the truth (the whole truth please complete with all the juicy details) and it will, unless a confluence of factors move the bozos in power, our so called respresentatives to jeez, finally listen to the will of their constituents.
I think each single congressman should sit in class called Representative Democracy 101 and those who fail to get a mark of 2.0 should not be allowed to claim their mandate. These clowns sit in their asses doing nothing substantial for the country (heck, prep school and kindergarten kids work harder than these clowns) who basically facilitate deals to line their pockets and look forward to another election.
Haay, mga congressmen (you know who you are) who have been nothing but prostitutes of Malacanang for the past three years, you better clean your ears, pray for discernment (yeah, the bishops’ call for “communal action” are basically for you boneheads, for the people have long known what is right or honorable) or you will have your Bastille moment right at the footsteps of Batasan.
â€ÂThe world celebrated EDSA 1. The world tolerated EDSA 2. The world will not forgive an EDSA 3. — Ate Glo
OUTRAGEOUS! She’s concerned about what the world thinks — but she doesn’t care a bit for what her countrymen thinks. That’s loyalty for her.
Heck, if these were the middle ages, she should have been tried for TREASON — she was more concerned with what China would think on the eve of the contract signing that she said she discovered there was an anomaly in the NBN deal, prostituting the welfare of the country for a single company, ZTE. OUTRAGEOUS!!!!
Gloria still believes that she can solve the country’s problems. She’s not going to step down voluntarily.
UP n,
Business grad? You have got to be kidding. The closest thing I came to an ME or Meco (they have new majors now, which I have no idea about) is dating someone from MECO freshman year.
UP n, my congressman is the son of Raul Gonzalez, same name, too. But I think he voted for.
Madonna. Solita is under the illusion that the masses understand her street-version economics. She just sounds like a bully. I don’t dislike her at all. I’m really one of those people who respect opponents who make more sense than I do. I prefer people who outrank me to be more responsible than I am. It’s only when I sense they are being irresponsible, abandoning rationally thinking, that I panic.
Jon,
Gloria is not going to step down because she KNOWS that if Erap fought all the way during the impeachment and the street protests, he wouldn’t have been unseated.
Brian, I agree. She also believes that she has all government institutions behind her; the House, the Police, the Military, the Judiciary, except the Senate (which is powerless anyway). So she’s just going to weather the storm.
The only way she’s going to be removed is by force. There’s no such force at the moment.
He, he. I made a mess of the english language there but you know what I mean.
“Haay, mga congressmen (you know who you are) who have been nothing but prostitutes of Malacanang for the past three years, you better clean your ears, pray for discernment (yeah, the bishops’ call for “communal action†are basically for you boneheads, for the people have long known what is right or honorable) or you will have your Bastille moment right at the footsteps of Batasan.” — Madonna
Hmmmm…
Sino nga ba bumoto sa mga Congressman na ito.
Sino nga ba…
Hmmmm…
Madonna, who’s going to call her kettle black when intellectuals, academics, writers, priests are of the same intellectual mold.
It is easy to say that you have verified it with somebody else.
I have read it from a book and now here it is from the internet link.
Sundalo Tagapagtanggol ng Pilipino – Senga Waited for two hours
The concentration of military units around Red strongholds could also keep the …. led by RAM officer Kapunan’s wife, who walked out of the Marcos election .
http://www.sundalo.bravehost.com/The%20Struggle%20for%20Change.htm – 117k – Cached – Similar pages – Note this
The degree of emotion varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts-the less you know, the hotter (or shall I say more emotional) you get.–Betrand Russell
Benigno,
Opps, there you go again with your reductionist mindset. But I now basically get your drift. Of course you are right that people are responsible for who they vote into office. It doesn’t mean you have to leave the analysis at that. Our representative democracy is a flawed one, patterned artificially from the United States (a society with the middle classes as the great majority, in complete opposite to our soceital makeup) and superimposed over a society that is still basically feudal in terms of social and power relationships.
But a political system, including ours could be dynamic and not be paralzed by a gridlock of social forces. Look at it from another viewpoint or theoretical perspective, a political system will also work when say, the elites take the initiative to crank up the institutions to work (assuming they really are committed to representative democracy) and addresses the cause for equality through economic policies. This viewpoint derives from the fact that power and resources are with them, not with the majority of masses who are poor and powerless.
We have elites who most often think that they are liberals (freedom, rights, all that jazz), but who are not democrats (stress on equality with their fellow men) in essence and in practice.
Personally, I think we could mix some aspects of socialism (where the state basically adresses the general welfare of society like in European countries; besides, we are Asians and Asians are communal people) as well as aspects of representative democracy, Philippine style (I think we have already a rich history that can serve as our bedrock — i.e. Edsa I and to a lesser extent Edsa II; of course they are not perfect but they are symbols of our development as a nation, just as the French Revolution had its excesses, but its lasting legacy to democracy remains).
The trouble with analyzing political situations is the tendency to think that a particular (curent) situation will be the same as what has happened before or will be different from form that point of reference.
No two situations are exactly the same and exactly different.
Each one political sitution or development will have a residue of what has happened before without being it a carbon copy of the same.
PEOPLE POWER, if demanded by history and the tide of events, will unfold before our eyes in whatever form, whether we like it or not (in this blog).
If the situation is not properly handled by the GMA forces, People Power will come. The same is true with people pushing for his ouster, if they failed to use the current political turmoil, then GMA will rule this country for a very,very long time.
honestly, i want gloria to stay in the presidency. why??? before anyone else would start bitchin’ about that first statement. i am just wondering who will be replacing her. WHAT USE IS REPLACING A THIEF WITH ANOTHER THIEF??? at least this one can still keep the economy afloat.
biankita,
are you advocating that GMA run the country until her death? If that is a good advocacy, you can start enlisting supporters
SUPPORT GLORIA FOREVER, TILL HER DEATH. SHE IS CORRUPT BUT AT LEAST SHE CAN KEEP THE ECONOMY AFLOAT. WHY REPLACE AN EFFICIENT CORRUPT WITH AN INEPT CORRUPT.
GOOD IDEA. “Until the thougt of mortality comes into my mind.”
Teach EDSA to the youth- Cory.
Ironically, an online buddy pointed out to me, Corazon Aquino was never present in EDSA 1.
She was in Cebu when the uprising broke out where was hidden by supporters in the Carmelites Monastery.
She returned to Manila at the peak of the protests but was barred from joining the mass action by her kin and family who feared for her safety.
Wonderful insight! Reminds of a previous quote of the day from my blog by the French academic Regis Debray:
“We are never completely contemporaneous with our present. History advances in disguise; it appears on stage wearing the mask of the preceding scene, and we tend to lose the meaning of the play. Each time the curtain rises, continuity has to be reestablished. The blame, of course is not history’s, but lies in our vision, encumbered with memory and images learned in the past. We see the past superimposed on the present…â€Â
Erap did fight to the last minute. It was the withdrawal of the support from the military which made him leave malacanan.
Obviously, the march of the PNP and military officers yesterday showed the support for GMA. Chess game.
Where are the thousands expected to join the demonstration? I read one blogger who is known to be militant wrote, tinatamad daw siya sa layo. Is this the attitude of patriotic Filipinos, layo lang tinatamad na.
Or they are turned off by the same old faces that emerged in masses and in rallies.
If I remember it right, in an interview with the media, a BAYAN official said they will mobilize only 2,000 for todays’s affair in Mendiola.
Here in Cebu, aorund 500 people joined the mainstream Left’s protest action.
CaT, sinabayan kasi ng Oscars…
but seriously, with some members of the opposition poised to run for 2010, i don’t think this effort will gather steam. for one, they won’t want to find themselves in the same place as the current president.
.
hahaha. akala ko ako lang ang nanood.
GLORIA RESIGN!
hi, mlq3, why is my latest comment, posted two hours ago still awaiting moderation?
“WHAT USE IS REPLACING A THIEF WITH ANOTHER THIEF??? at least this one can still keep the economy afloat.” – biankita
Can’t we raise the bar higher? Why can’t we choose one that is not a THIEF?
Any other leader faced with such scandals and censure would resign, out of Honor or Delikadeza or “kung ayaw nyo sa akin, ayaw ko na rin sa inyo” to give way to someone who can do a better job. Why does Gloria stay on? Either she’s a glutton for punishment or she’s the most patriotic person in the country. Eventually history will be the judge.
Mendiola? Today? Why choose this day when its highly anticipated and all choke points set up to prevent critical mass? It has to be unexpected. Us spectators and leisuretime know-it-all bloggers will just have to wait while watching our favorite shows on cable TV.
Kasi nga me mga check points.
Alangan naman makapag rally ng malaki kung haharangan din sa expressway at kung san san ang mga mag rarally.
Hmmm maganda siguro kung hindi matapos yung concert sa ateneo ngayong gabi at dun na lang mag converge. Samahan pa ng mga madaming artista at merong mga free drinks at sandwich kahit paano (paging mga sponsors) tiyak dadami ng dadami ang mga tao dun pero parang hindi papayag mga taga ateneo kasi mga elite mga tao dun eh hindi katulad ng pananerong berde (animo!!) kung me lasalle lang nung panahon ni rizal malamang dun nagaral si loverboy.
Pero seriously, mahirap mag sustain ng rally. Kahit malaki pwera na lang talaga kung mag umpisa ang mga text brigade na nag uudyok sa mga kaibigan nang nag po forward ng message na sumali. I suggest sa mga me load diyan na gumawa nang message tulad nito:
Lagi na lang ba tayong manonood na ninanakawan tayo? Lagi na lang ba tayong hindi kikibo pag me namamatay, Paano na tayo kung tayo na ang maapektuhan? Walang tutulong sa atin kundi tayo lang. Make a stand now, sama ka sa rally bukas ha? 😀
tapos forward sa mga butihing mga kaibigan.
Ano bang magandang pang hikayat para magkaroon ng buto ang ating mga kilala para manindigan?
Reposting…
Benigno,
Opps, there you go again with your reductionist mindset. But I now basically get your drift. Of course you are right that people are responsible for who they vote into office. It doesn’t mean you have to leave the analysis at that. Our representative democracy is a flawed one, patterned artificially from the United States (a society with the middle classes as the great majority, in complete opposite to our soceital makeup) and superimposed over a society that is still basically feudal in terms of social and power relationships.
But a political system, including ours could be dynamic and not be paralzed by a gridlock of social forces. Look at it from another viewpoint or theoretical perspective, a political system will also work when say, the elites take the initiative to crank up the institutions to work (assuming they really are committed to representative democracy) and addresses the cause for equality through economic policies. This viewpoint derives from the fact that power and resources are with them, not with the majority of masses who are poor and powerless.
We have elites who most often think that they are liberals (freedom, rights, all that jazz), but who are not democrats (stress on equality with their fellow men) in essence and in practice.
Personally, I think we could mix some aspects of socialism (where the state basically adresses the general welfare of society like in European countries; besides, we are Asians and Asians are communal people) as well as aspects of representative democracy, Philippine style (I think we have already a rich history that can serve as our bedrock  i.e. Edsa I and to a lesser extent Edsa II; of course they are not perfect but they are symbols of our development as a nation, just as the French Revolution had its excesses, but its lasting legacy to democracy remains).
what’s happening manolo? I reposted and again, awaiting moderation.
kamote,
Shhhhh. Dapat nga surprise. Quiet ka na lang.
Madonna, sometimes the automated spam filter is like that because it doesn’t like certain keywords.
Madonna,
Baka ngalagay ka ng link with http:// in it?
Madonna,
Baka naglagay ka ng link?
ramrod,
The anti-corruption protesters punched through all the areas we wanted, even through the No-permit/No-rally zones; something that have not happened for a long time now. Mendiola, Ortigas People Power Monument, Redemptorist Church, Katipunan and Ateneo.
The “hakot” crowd of the administration at Liwasang Bonifacio dispersed when it rained at around 4pm while the anti-corruption protesters, stood fast. The steely conviction of the protesters carried them through while the pro-admin “hakot” crowd ran and went home early because they were afraid of getting wet 🙂
All can say to fellow protesters, well done, but as Hans Solo would say … Don’t get cocky, let’s keep it up and aim for slow steady sustained growth.
yung pro-arroyo rally, isa sa mga artista eh si Andre E.
Kaya siguro kay GMA siya dahil ayon sa kanyang hit song “humanap ka ng pangit”
Tama ka nash, “Humanap ka ng Pangit (na ugali)” siguro ang pinagpipilitan ni Andrew E. sa hakot crowd, pero ganun pa rin, di talaga kaya nila ang Pangit dahil konting ulan lang takbo at uwian na sila… hahaha 😀
Kabayan,
Tuloy ang laban!
Ang pinakitang show of force ng army at police kanina, at ng anti-GMA at pro-GMA rally ay nagpapakita lamang na talagang nagkakaroon na ng confusion at chaos sa ating bansa. Lumalabas na ang mga tao, kanya kanya ng panig. Wala ng pagkakaisa. Papunta na kaya tayo sa giyera sibil? Sana’y maisip ng mga politikong nagtatampisaw sa kayamanan na kapag nangyari ang giyera sibil, BALE WALA NA ANG PERA.
MLQ3 and Other Shareholders of Philippines Inc.
Should We Fire The CEO of Philippines Inc.?
The Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland had a simple solution for anyone who displeased her: “Off with his head,” she would shout. The growing trend to fire CEOs quickly raises the question of when they should be let go. Should a chief executive be removed at the first hint of a difficulty, or should boards stand behind him or her, even if the CEO is responsible for a bad decision or an egregious error in judgment?
If we were the Board of Directors of Philippines Inc., is it right for us to ask for the head of Gloria Arroyo, the CEO of the Company?
Let’s review her performance:
A)One of the key responsibilities of a CEO is to drive growth, increase operational efficiency, and enhance profitability of the Company.
The Malacanang Argument: “2007 was the best year for the Philippine economy in over 30 years. Economic growth was 7.3 percent, as we have seen and you all know; a million new jobs were created; unemployment is down, poverty is down; the stock market is up; the peso is at its highest level in many, many years.â€Â
B) CEO is responsible for maintaining relations with employees, major customers, shareholders, stock analysts, congressmen, heads of governments, regulators, union officials, and, not the least, the media.
The “standard answer†of Malacanang during a Scandal: President Gloria Arroyo remains focused on the job of improving the economy and won’t be sidetracked by current political challenges. Ignacio R. Bunye said “The President’s schedule is consistently driven by her economic plan.”
In the same interview, Bunye reiterated his call on the Filipino people to unite and work together in improving the country’s economy.
“Disunity and political instability in the country would only send negative signals to potential investors…it is important that investors have confidence in our economy and we can only achieve that confidence if we unite,” he said. (July2005,at the height of the Hello Garci Scandal).
C)But the MOST IMPORTANT JOB of a CEO is to build the moral and ethical tone of a company and cultivate a culture of transparency. The CEO must be the role model .He or she must ensure that the Company will NOT tolerate an employee who will cut corners and jeopardize the company’s reputation or create enormous losses such as the rogue trader at Société Générale .
There is a difference between good CEOs who make mistakes and CEOs who commit REPEATED BLUNDERS particularly on the ETHICAL side.
If were the Board of Directors of Philippines Inc., we should initiate the ouster of Gloria Arroyo for a long litany of “Conjugal Greed†SCANDALS in 7 years as CEO of Philippines Inc.
The Equalizer
Ramrod asks: Why does Gloria stay on?
She doesnt want to stay on, but the generals and the trapos she fenced around her wants her to stay on. She now realizes that the monies she accumulated wont buy her a good long sleep or a nice sunday afternoon siesta. She did a MARCOS but will end up a HITLER.
Hi ramrod,
Kakapagod lang, meron na naman uli sa mga darating na araw, di ko pa alam kung kailan. Ang magandang basahin niyo sa mga balita ngayon ang kamalasan ng EDSA 1 celebration ng mga “sikat” na tao sa may shrine. Kaya siguro malas dahil nandoon ang karamihan ang karamihan sa mga alipores ng administrasyon at mga balimbing. Doon si Esperon, Ermita, FVR, at iba pa. Medyo matino lang doon si Butch Aquino.
Una yung flag raising, sumabit ang flag rope, ayaw umakyat, ewan ko kung naputol o ano dahil dami na nilang humihila eh, pero may ginamit na backup pero patapos na ang Lupang Hinirang.
Sunod nationalistic song nila na kinanta ng soloist, nasira ang background recorder, halos nag-acapela nang kumakanta, naawa ang mga nasa stage na karmihan e makakakapal mukhang Praetors ni Gloria kaya napilitan silang sabayan kumanta.
Tapos naghulog ng confetti yung helicopter. Yung una, hindi tumama, napalid ng hanging, humagikhik ang mga tao. Ang ikalawa hulog, nagkabuhol-buhol ang confetti at may bumabagsak na animo mo eh parang telephone book kalaki. Parang tinamaan yata ang isang network camera.
Maraming bulilyaso, tapos deploy na ang mga anti-corruption groups, binalak sirain ng alipores ni Gloria. Halos lahat ng lugar pinareserba o pinagbawalan pumasok ang rallyista. Tinuloy pa rin, hirap humabol yung ibang pulis dahil mabilis ang martsa at deployment ng mga anak mahirap. Yung pulis hirap bumitbit ng riot shield, baton, helmet, at kung ano pang dala nila.
Yung pinareserba ng Malacanang ang Redemptorist Church para masira ang mass for Truth, palpak rin at pinuno ng mga tao ang simbahan na galit na rin sa kurapsyon. Di ko alam kung kinansela o di pinayagan ang Malacanang na kunin ang Redemptorist church para sa aktibidad kuno nila, wala kasi sila doon. Konti lang nga pulis sa area at karamihan yata naka deploy sa Mendiola.
Naku marami pang nangyayari hanggang ngayon. Concert nga sa Ateneo. Umuwi ako bago mag-gabi at may ginawa pa akong brief account na rine-request sa akin. 🙂
Naku, my comment is under moderation, antayin niyo na lang yung kwento ko hehehe na-suspense tuloy 🙂
Why does Gloria stay on?
That is like the question why did the chicken cross the road, to which Aristotle answered: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
I think I used too much Pilipino language in a long storyline, that’s why my comment is under moderation. Oh well, what can we do but wait and hohum… it was a long day and I’m getting sleepy. One of the more fulfilling “vacations” I had in a long time. 😉
If we think that GMA will soon resign, we might be in for a big wait. Remember, she is one shrewd, lucky bee. She knows that in any political debate, only 5% of the population are active participants and 15% interested public. The rest, 80%, are mere uninterested lookers. Even the Church, the lead in civil society, is divided. We should not have allowed Edsa Dos to happen. Now, people power, like religion, has become an opium. A narcotic or a cure-all. The heads of AFP and PNP are watching how big the crowds swell, before casting their lot. Let’s remember that in Edsa I and II, there was the military card. Unless, we could accelerate the process through civil disobedience, non-payment of taxes, etc.
cvj, keywords? spamtrap? that post was in reply to Benigno (hehe, could Benigno be the keyword?) hey benigs, just kidding
ramrod, no links in my post
Why does Gloria stay on?
People condemn corruption but what they want are reforms.
The rallyists have only one objective –to oust GMA, nothing more.
Kumusta, meron bang mga sumamang marami? So what message does it give you?
Lozada’s tearjerking testimony is not enough to make the people unite as a group to make any change in the government leadership at this time.
The Opposition has used him. The Anti-GMA has used him.
After this, what happens to Lozada? Did you hear any legislation that concerns whistleblowers? nothing. They were busy parading Lozada as hero and icon for communal action. Sheesh.
The rallies in the last few days by elite schools will never attract common tao. Nandoon pa rin ang elitism. Ang labanan ng mga pangalan ng mga iskuwela.
Did I forget to say I told ya so about red flag carrying militant groups. People will shy away from them.
jakcast wrote:
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Better than waiting, steadily work for it in a measured pace. Excessive waiting for some “divine grace” to happen without working leads to laziness. We want it? Then we have to go out and reach for it. Does it take long? Doesn’t matter just as long as the effort is sustained. How should we do it? Steadily work towards what we want … namely, in fulfillment of eventually having an honest government geared towards good governance.