The President’s fury at inept underlings made the evening news and was blogged extensively (one of the first to do so was Ang sa Wari Ko; while A Filipina Mom Blogger used it as a take off point for a discussion on stress management).
But it was Palace reporter Jove Francisco who put the exhibition of presidential temper in its proper context:
She’s naturally stern and “mataray” and I believe she’s been using this trait so that she’ll get things running and will make her officials more responsible and quick moving. Sabi nga nung sassy reporter di ba, being mataray isn’t really a bad thing.
But seeing her actions this noon.
The outburst?
The overflow of emotions?
I couldn’t help but compare it with past incidents.
Before, her taray ways surfaced for a reason, for an aim.
Today?
What happened, sadly, showed that she wasn’t able to control her emotions.
Sure, the outburst was borne out of frustration because of the inefficiency of her staff. (Pareho lang kapag pinapagalitan ang mga opisyales niya nuon di ba?)
BUT, it can’t be denied that this time, she looked like she was whining.
She knew that the media was there to see and cover the whole thing, but she continued with the histrionics. The drama escalated, it didn’t taper down.
She didn’t appear like she was in control.
I can even dare say that she appeared like she’s gone ROCK BOTTOM. (Just look at her resigned but angry look when she finally emerged to deliver her statement.)
And that is quite telling.
I agree with him. A president with a temper is nothing new, and it could even be argued that Filipino-style management seems to require a volcanic fury to get underlings to get things done. In itself, it is neither unpresidential or unseemly. She’s displayed her temper before. But what was different was that the President displayed a different kind of anger altogether.
Tempers are flaring. See The Geisha Diaries, and in Dumaguete, see village idiot savant. Though mercifully, the initial heat has given way to more sober reflection (see Techniquement, c’est art who responds to a previous entry of his).
One blogger, the cat is out, simply puts forward her grim personal experience in the past:
years back – as i kid i had witnessed and live through the horror of war in mindanao. i have been a refugee in my own country. not everyone is lucky enough to live through it . but there will always be the scar: physical and emotional that will keep on reminding me/us..of the pain we have suffered.
mindanao – the land of promise..or should i say broken promises..we are the bread basket of the phillipines, yet our people are hungry.. we are the only contiguous island the philippines has.. yet within, we are so divided in hearts and minds..year after year of conlficts have only produced military generals but not concrete resolutions to peace and development. not even a signed moa can end this violence i tell you..
i did not know how the war started back then…i do not know how it will end.
Today’s Inquirer editorial looks at the recent conduct of MILF troops and raises a question: if the violence in Mindanao was perpetrated by rogue or lost commands of the MILF, how, then, can it be deemed capable of administering the proposed BJE?
The editorial also points to this press statement by the MILF, while over at The PCIJ blog, Soliman Santos suggests the further radicalization of Moros if hostilities continue. He points to this commentary (“Reality Check” by Ibrahim Canana) that appeared on the MILF website (incidentally also validating my opinion concerning the importance of signing the agreement in the presence of representatives of foreign powers, including the OIC representative): it is a concise and lucid articulation of the Moro interpretation of their history and of the MILF position vis a vis the Philippine state. And it is uncompromising in its conclusion:
The political opposition to the MOA-AD that spurred the nationwide reaction against the MILF and the Bangsamoro people has dangerously transformed a peace process that is supposed to bring reconciliation to two peoples at war with each other into a grim scenario that allows no space for the Moros to have a breathing spell.
Through the MNLF, the Moros asked for a meaningful political autonomy in 1976. Instead they were granted a fake one by the GRP under the Marcos regime using the 1976 Tripoli Agreement which allowed constitutional processes to shortchange the Moros. In 1996, the Moros again under the MNLF demanded for meaningful political autonomy; and again what they were given in the so-called MNLF-GRP Final Peace Agreement (FPA) was the ARMM, which was created before the FPA and whose autonomy was clipped by the Philippine constitution. Inevitably, the ARMM ended up reduced to merely being an extension of the Office of the Philippine President. Later, it was even taken out of MNLF hands and became a political prize awarded to the Moro warlord most loyal and subservient to the sitting regime.
Now, under the MILF, the Moros want to recover whatever little is left of their ancestral domain and be given the chance to govern themselves as a sub-state entity within the larger Philippine nation-state. Peace on the basis of justice is about to be achieved under this formula. But even this does not sit well with the Filipino elite, the politicians, the Church and the Filipino colons in Mindanao. They have sabotaged the efforts of their own government. All, including those who claimed to be sympathetic to the plight of the Bangsamoro people like Senator Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel, Jr., have ganged up against the Bangsamoro people to prevent them from even reclaiming areas which they now actually occupy and where they are the majority. The result: back to square one. Mindanao again is on the edge of an all-out war.The selfishness of the Filipino ruling elite in general and the Filipino politicians in particular is dumbfounding. Their lack of sense of justice is appalling. They and their drumbeaters in the Philippine media can lie through their teeth and still have a nice sleep at night. Imagine telling the public the fantastic spin that Malaysia is arming the MILF and the Americans are behind the Moros’ desire to be an “independent Islamic State”. Why, they can’t even make sense of their allegations and lies! You can never find any mention of an “independent Islamic state” in the MOA-AD even if the pages were turned upside down. To even say that the Americans are behind the attempt by the MILF to create a “Bangsamoro Islamic State” is absurd. What fantasy! What ignorance! Hollywood hogwash has taken grip of the Filipino mind that it no longer knows what is real and what is imaginary. No wonder why the Philippine nation-state is moribund.
No wonder why tens of thousands of Filipinos are leaving this country for good. Now I can better appreciate the context of what Ustadz Salamat Hashim, the late MILF Amir, said when he stated that we should not believe the Filipino unbelievers even when they say that the crow is black!
What needs to be stated here for the record is that we Moros are not inclined to abandon our homeland to these vultures. We will fight for it as our ancestors fought for it. The mestizo leftovers of the Spaniards such as the likes of Teddy Locsin and Lobregat, and Filipino colons in Mindanao like Piñol as well as their capitalist patrons ensconced in Makati can go hang themselves from nearest lamp post for all we care. The Moros will fight. MILF Base Commander Ustadz Amirul Ombra Cato will not be alone. A war in Mindanao will drag down this pathetic, artificial country and its government to perdition. Perhaps this time we will no longer settle for a sub-state or a federative arrangement with the Filipinos. It’s useless anyway because they would never grant it. They would always insist this is ‘secession’ even if we do not have the intention to secede. So let’s give them a dose of their own medicine. Let’s aim for independence this time. For real. Like what the Algerians did when their clamor for autonomous rule was repeatedly and violently denied by the French colons. Given the Filipinos’ hostile attitude to anything Moro and Muslim, there is no other option left. This is now the reality facing us.
The mention of Algeria is signficant. It had been considered an integral part of France; de Gaulle, faced with a nationalist uprising, decided to abandon the French settlers and recognize Algeria’s independence; at one point, the French armed forces tried to mount a coup against de Gaulle. Yet independence hasn’t prevented the rise of Islamic extremism in Algeria. The problem is Arroyo is no de Gaulle.
The frustration of the writer quoted above with suggestions the Americans are in league with the MILF (or that the MILF is being armed by the Malaysians, when obviously political and even financial support is plenty of help and there are many AFP members willing to sell arms to the MILF anyway) isn’t about to change the mind of say, Tony Abaya (who says it boils down to the MILF being, in American eyes, more dependable than Christian leaders) or blogger Philippine Politics 04.
And the thing is, if one presents a narrative, even a counter-narrative, it will never end (if Moros can assert they achieved a “higher plane” of political existence with the sultanates, then by any measure a republic trumps any hereditary principality in terms of political evolution) and be trumped, always by what wars always end up being about: real estate.
In his column today, Manuel Buencamino points to the problem on focusing too much on the past as a justification for the present:
Why did the Arroyo administration agree to the MILF’s self-serving historical timeline?
Islam is no more indigenous than Christianity. The Spaniards were not our first colonizers. Luwaran, the MILF web site, does not deny that Moros are products of an earlier colonization:
“Ameen [secretary general of the MILF Central Committee] recalled that the history of the Moros and IPs [indigenous peoples] is one and inseparable, but noted that the former were always the ‘bigger brother’ while the latter [was] the ‘younger brother.’ ” Moros “have developed a higher plane of political existence” than lumads because they converted to Islam and adopted the sultanate system.
In that same Sona, Gloria Arroyo lamented that although Mindanao was a food basket, “it has some of the highest hunger in our nation.” For this sad state of affairs, she blamed “the endless Mindanao conflict.” Her solution to ending the endless conflict was to capitulate to the MILF.
Arroyo knows the BJE does not fit into the 1987 Constitution, so she asked Congress “to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.”
Unfortunately, a “just and lasting peace” through a refitting of the BJE into our Constitution won’t be possible during or after her term of office.
There will be conflicts between the lumads and the MILF, between Christians and the MILF, between Manila and the MILF over jurisdiction, ownership of lands, mineral rights, natural resources and a host of other irritants that come from drawing lines on a map without regard for its inhabitants.
There will be power struggles among self-appointed Moro leaders – the Maranao-dominated MILF, the Tausog-dominated MNLF and the traditional politicians of Mindanao – over control of the BJE.
“Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost,” counseled Gloria Arroyo in her Sona.
Unfortunately, talking nonsense will lead to loss not only of sovereign value but also, and more important, of property. And for that, most people will fight to the death.
For the Christian (Ilonggo) side, HabagatCentral Republic offers up a personal reflection buttressing Buencamino’s insight:
There were cases of outright land grabbing from the ancestral domains of the Moros and Lumads who were then ignorant about the Western concept of “private property” as the lands were considered “communal” and for all people to share. Land grabbing that lead to land conflicts. Land conflicts that lead to bloodshed, my grandfather himself was a victim of this trechery.
I have relatives in Mindanao who have hated the Moros. They are backward, backstabbers and barbarian. Di daw dapat sila pagkakatiwalaan. Di ko rin sila masisisi. They’ve seen their love ones slaughtered by the Moro raids of the towns especially during the 1970’s. The very foundation of Ilaga, a vigilante group composed of mostly Kristyanos and some Lumads, was borne out of reaction against the Moros. They sow terrorism in the hearts of the Moros as they kill them with reported cannibal activities. As a reaction, the Moros established their own vigilante group known as the Blackshirts/Barracudas. So the question, is terrorism a Moro problem?
MNLF/MILF & AFP has instigated a somewhat revolutionary violence. The former is for the seperation of the Mindanao that they claim is rightfully theirs, and I understand them. They weren’t subjugated by the Spaniards and was never converted to Christianity as what they define as “Filipino.” They are fiercely independent and will fight for what is right. The latter on the other hand defends the Philippines and its sovereignity. Their causes are noble yet the effects to ordinary civilians were catastrophic. Casualties have reached over a hundred thousand for years of war with each other in Mindanao. No matter how noble their causes are, it is still somewhat politically-culturaly motivated. In the end, the civilians still suffer.
In my opinion, I would still uphold MILF as a revolutionary movement still. Abu Sayyaff on the other hand is just pure banditry using Islam as an excuse to their savagery. The latter in my belief is the salot. The former on the other hand has still a handful of options to sit and talk what is necessary. For the betterment of their own peoples.
Ewan ko lang pero parang hindi ko maiwasan na ibuntong ang sisi sa Pamahalaang Arroyo sa mga pangyayaring ito ngayon na muling gumigimbala sa kapayapaan ng Mindanao at Pilipinas. I went there several years ago and I was seeing optimism that finally, Mindanao can move on towards peace and progress. That the government is seating alongside with the rebels. But because of the sudden declaration of the signing of the Memo of Agreement for the Bangsamoro Judirical Entity, Mindanao was thrown into state of panic, may it be the Kristyanos, the Moros and even the Lumads.
I’ve restrained myself from looking into other blogs of the Kristyanos and even of the Moros… Its really frustrating. Parang sumulpot muli ang inate hatred towards each other. I got frustrated with this notion but I couldn’t blame them why. I understand them. But is violence or war really the solution to ever-lasting peace in this island or in this country? Care to look at Palestine perhaps? You may have crushed the rebels but you haven’t ceased yet the root of struggle. Hanggang dahon at sanga lang… pero yung ugat di pa napapatay. Purging Moro ideals to the point of genocide is of murder, that is outright savagery! So what do we do then? How can we help to stop the vicious cycle.
I was thinking then that this animosity of ours will be brought towards the end of human civilization.
Ano kaya ang tamang solusyon sa Mindanao/Bangsamoro Problem? Ridu rin ba kaya o ubusan ng lahi?
As far as making sense of events, As blogger smoke asks what many are asking: was the President even thinking?
The thing is this – the President’s men (and therefore the President herself) dangled the idea of the BJE in front of the bandits and sold themselves on the idea that it would work. This played them right into the bandit’s hands: by putting all their eggs in the BJE basket, the President’s men gave the bandits the opportunity to set up an ultimatum – give us the BJE or we start shooting again.
When the BJE was scuttled the bandits got their casus belli. Now admittedly its a flimsy rationale for the resumption of hostilities, but it is just solid enough to rile up the cannon-fodder and convince them that they’ve been shafted and therefore need to avenge their slighted pride. It’s Moro psychology 101, if anyone had bothered to check.
And that’s the point: the Commander-in-Chief is supposed to be able to take in the whole picture; to understand how various factors all contribute to the outcome. In this case, because the President’s men were allowed – perhaps even encouraged – to formulate a do-or-die solution, it is clear that there were critical factors that were ignored, not the least of which is the very well known tendency of Moros to exaggerate insults to their pride.
In hostage negotiation, one of the most basic lessons is to never say no to the hostage taker. But then again, this also covers situations where saying ‘yes’ sets you up to say ‘no’ later. Let me clarify: by saying yes to the idea of a BJE, the President’s men were committing to an outcome that was not in their control. It was stupid for them to imagine that the BJE would slip through unnoticed. More to the point, the President’s men simply failed to anticipate a negative outcome, i.e., the BJE would be challenged and stopped. So, by saying yes, to the BJE, they were blindly rushing into a future where – when the Supreme Court invalidates the MOA for instance – they would have no choice but to say no to the BJE. And there you go, they said NO to the hostage taker.
This turn of events led the hostage taker – the bandits – to now feel backed into a corner. The only way out of that corner would have been a MOA for the BJE. But with no MOA forthcoming, and the additional insult of the ARMM elections being conducted, the bandits embraced the belief that there would be no other solution than to come out with their guns blazing. No solutions. War.
But using Occam’s razon, blogger Tongue In, Anew returns to the blogosphere and puts forward this thought-provoking analysis of the situation: it was all, and remains, simple, really. According to the blogger (who, while anonymous, has had very interesting entries in the past, suggesting an individual who is plugged-in), it’s all a charade:
Assperon’s appointment to the Peace portfolio was suspect way back… Not to mention the Ass was then joiningGen. Boogie Mendoza, a former Razon protege, and an “acclaimed anti-terrorist expert”…
On the other side of the fence, a separatist front of freedom fighters on Mondays, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers on Tuesdays, Jemaah Islamiya trainees on Wednesdays, lost command on Thursdays, devout Muslims on Fridays, and plain farmers and merchants on weekends. Overseen by their provisions suppliers from Malaysia.
Now what do we have? A highly volatile cocktail made up of an administration struggling for perpetual survival, high-profile GWOT freaks looking for an opportunity to expand their military control and a wayward army of bandits all of them intelligent enough to know that peace was doomed in the first place but insist that they might just be able to pull it through.
No, Gloria didn’t plan to dismember the country via the MOA-AD, she knows it’s unconstitutional, luckily, the legit opposition saw through her, she even had to use her allies to petition for a TRO which her SC appointees readily obliged to. She was expecting widespread retaliation but the MILF hierarchy surprisingly held back, her emergency rule cannot be imposed! No martial law, no chacha either. Doom! The Ass’ loyal generals immediately had to scramble for the “Lost Commanders” Kato and Bravo who have been burning villages left and right in the past yet no sincere effort to bring them to justice was ever taken (You now have an idea why Kabalu insists these commanders were not ordered by MILF to do so). They needed them to jump start this stage of the war to put Plan B into action. Funny but Eid Kabalu hasn’t announced an all-out offensive yet. Nor has Puno and Teodoro. Who wants to really finish the war after all? Even Misuari’s MNLF are now wearing their old uniforms to defend their own territory. Against whom? The gov’t? MILF? Or the Lost Command?
Gloria’s “Defend every inch of the territory” spiel was predictably looking for just the right moment to be announced so she blew her top after finding out her staff had not even prepared the teleprompter.
This view puts forward the possibility that the administration wanted to maneuver the country into a situation permitting a state of emergency, while others in the military hierarchy quite possibly, refrained from cooperating fully, and the MILF command declined to do the government any favors. Offering a reward, accompanied by statements that only individuals, and not the entire MILF movement, will be deemed outlaws, provides an opening for tensions to subside. And all the while, the jitters continue. Blogging from Iligan City, preMEDitated recounted, yesterday:
Panic struck the city center earlier this night. People flocked to the City Hall for protection by military forces stationed there. Text messages soon followed warning of imminent MILF attacks.
Much of the rest of the populace is now in anticipatory mood.
General Luna of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has issued his statement for the populace to remain calm and to trust in them. He has also appealed to the citizens not to forward these messages as they only bring more harm than good.PS I just heard this piece of news. It seems that this incident was sparked by a drunk who shouted,”M-I*.”
*A word used around here for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) terrorists.
See also My Life, also writing on Tuesday:
Early tonight many people got panic because of that rumors that there were sightings of MILF in Iligan City. My family and neighbors freak out because they said that MILF are already in the near barangay Abuno and a lot of jeepneys from the City went back when they reached Tubod Bridge, going to south because they said that MILF is on the way. Many people were on the city streets because they wanted to evacuate. And this is confirm as a false alarm by our city mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz, that is was just the soldiers that was seen and they thought that they are MILF. He said that there are many soldiers around the city that some mistaken them as MILF already maybe its because of the happenings in Lanao del Norte. He just stated on a news break at ABS – CBN that Iligan City is still safe from MILF and asking those who left their homes to go back already. I hope all this conflict will stop soon.
From Dipolog City, jOnAviE’s Site writes (today),
M.I.L.F or Moro Islamic Liberation Front is on war against Arm Forces of Philippines..As a girl who lives Mindanao (a place where there are many Muslim, but I am not one of them) it’s usual to hear news that Mindanao was that, was this, but you know August 2008 War was the only war that makes my province Zamboanga del Norte and my City, Dipolog to be afraid… Afraid because the whole Mindanao was really involve, the MILF want all the regions in Mindanao to be included in MOA or ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) to expand their teritory… Everybody was really panicking.. Even in my city, we receive Bomb Treats and War Rumors, and what did we did..? We packed up our things then really really get ready for what would happen. Last night we sleep at 1 a.m. because of it..
Returning to Tongue in Anew’s suggestion that the Palace was operating on simple assumptions -that it’s hands would be tied by predictable behavior on the part of the opposition and the MILF, which didn’t pan out as the former was caught napping and the latter more subtle and cunning than expected.
So it strikes me as possible there was a clumsy effort to promote war jitters to try to get the country to rally around the President: because it explains why the Palace proved so tolerant of the demagoguery of Pinol, etc. who, considering the administration’s intolerance for dissent, could easily have been slapped down, taken aside, or simply bribed to pipe down at a delicate time when the administration was claiming to be seriously behind the RP-MILF agreement.
What complicates the situation is that the public, unaware of the plots-within-plots on both sides, or the factions that exist within the ranks of the leadership of both sides, or that the leaders either do not believe their own propaganda, or worse, believe it- has its passions inflamed by the increasingly martial rhetoric of leaders who know the game of posturing quite well and who can therefore discount it.
Certainly this seems too quick a surrender: MOA deal off, SolGen tells high tribunal.
And it may be that this time, the MILF leadership, beholden to Malaysia, etc., is being more responsible and trying to defuse the situation while saber-rattling, than the government: we forget that the MILF command had a choice to fully endorse the attacks but it did not, equivocating its official response might have been (but even equivocation is understandable in terms of the factional dynamics of any revolutionary organization). And other groups are trying to restore the momentum to reestablish at least the semblance of a brittle peace.
At the heart of these efforts are three simple ideas:
1. That if one side will insist that it is negotiating sincerely for peace, there must be a corresponding assumption the other side is also negotiating sincerely. That furthermore, national interests aside, it is in the regional interest of foreign countries to help foster peace in Mindanao.
2. That all lose when fighting resumes and all sides gain so long as discussions are ongoing, which provides a venue for differences to be threshed out, compromises arrived at, and a consensus reached.
3. That both sides have extremists who not only do not represent the majority view, but who have also figured out how their constituencies can be agitated by withholding information and an overall lack of confidence in the authorities.
As Earthly Explorations puts it (who is not for a separate Moro homeland),
The government is trying to make it appear as it was the Moro rebels fault that they hit the first strike but if you hear other sources especially the locals they were just protecting their properties. Who was taking what from whom? Or someone is maneuvering into something to make it appear as a religious war diverting the people’s attention?
Mon Casiple warned of the administration “playing the emergency card”:
The scenario is one where a justification for a state of emergency happens. Violent incidents increasingly happen and spread. The AFP is increasingly forced to defend towns and villages. The MILF, in turn, increasingly turn to its own offensives in order to defend Moro communities. In no time at all, we are into a deepened conflict until the military is convinced to agree to a declaration of a state of emergency.
For a national state of emergency to happen, there has to be demonstrated to exist a credible threat to the national seat of power in the National Capital Region, a nationwide state of war or terror, or attacks on national political leaders. The level of the resurgent conflict in Mindanao — even if it spreads to other areas in Mindanao — cannot yet justify this drastic option.
However, the next days or weeks bear watching because of the political scenario of charter change that requires neutralizing the opposition and terrorizing the people. With the recent show of widespread opposition to Malacañang’s charter change plans, only the emergency card is left to play.
Let us hope that desperate people do not cross the line of sanity.
Beyond hoping, this is a time to add your voice, not in endorsement of one particular proposal or another, but to voices opposed to conflict. Charo Logarta, a military wife, puts it this way:
Whatever it is, there’s gotta be a better option to this. The majority must be allowed peace and harmony. We have to end decades of strife and conflict. We, the majority, deserve better. Military wives and kids do not have to endure loss. Soldiers don’t have to die for causes that don’t even matter to many average Filipinos who simply want a better life.
Just think how optimistic most people were in Mindanao a year ago. And how, now, plans involving Mindanao are all on hold. See Stacy Nelson.
Thanks for the link Karl, since you’re closer to military circles, it would be interesting to know the current National Security threat assessment concerning the scenario where the Philippine state dissolves into a collection of warlord enclaves. Non-confidential info of course.
grd,
Whether by their renegade or lost commands, the MILF pushed it to the edge:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/115456/Arming-civilians-in-Mindanao-would-be-disastrous—AI
“Local political leaders in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato led efforts to form civilian militias after the MILF attacks that killed at least 30 people in Lanao del Norte alone, said Amnesty International. ”
“A militia group called “God Save Iligan City” has been set up by 300 licensed gun owners, politicians and local government officials in Iligan City, said Amnesty International.”
“Meanwhile, North Cotabato local patrons reportedly supplied guns and ammunitions to Civil Volunteer Organization (CVO) forces despite local security officials’ alleged rejection of Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol’s request to provide ammunition for civilian militia. ”
Do you now know have similar CVOs in Davao?
Condoleeza Rice just gave McCain a soft push towards the White House. Obama’s big-issue (when US troops leave Iraq) has been muddled up. US State Dept and Iraqi-leadership agrees on 2011 troop withdrawal date (one year (not 7 years nor a hundred years) longer than Obama’s wiishful target).
the strategy is quite obvious. since the gloriagate days, we’ve embraced jove’s insider pov and his knack for reading the body language of officials. suddenly, some people here are criticizing him for continuing to do the same. when he exposed the supposed cabinet coup in his blog (doves and hawks), during the heady days of the i am sorry scandal, nobody cried foul. maybe because in a way the story benefited the queen? it is very obvious, these people just want him out of the way and irrelevant, so their queen will continue with her crimes. tsk tsk, di naman kami tanga para di iyan mahalata.
Exactly! And now they want Jove, FIRED??? Whoa! Apektado talaga sila sa supposed common reporter from a third rated network ah?
very obvious in the clip… way too many underlings to fix a very simple problem — a prompter and prepare the La Gloria’s media set
just one or two staff could have taken care of the glitch… but we see a dozen or so dazed and scared puppies moving hither and dither terrorized by Gloria’s tantrum
gma i think knowingly throwed a temper tantrum for effect…. and to deflect the seriousness of the problem in mindanao…
i diagreed with jove francisco.. the troll bitch was in full control of the medium and the subtle message… this is how propaganda works…
some manipulative gaslighting going on in the anger display… i.e. “not my fault on what’s going on in mindanao… it’s the fault of my underlings..”.
RE: guyito mascot… i wonder where we can buy the cute teddy carabao..
anthony scalia:
“the only reasons for airing that is it will grab viewers and ‘we have to air it ahead of the other stations!”
“oh really? you doubt? if Jove aired the clip the following day, an eternity has passed. obviously you’re not in media”
Uh, you do know that other stations have an earlier newscast than tv5 right? So the point being, regardless of how much Jove wanted to air his story first, he’ll never be able to do so since their news is at 10:30pm. Get your mind out of the gutter and review your statements because you are starting to lose all sense in what you’re saying.
Obviously you’re not in media. If you are, you probably don’t deserve to be there.
“Right. The ‘holy grail’ of journalism, “the right of the public to know.†Actually it really means “i think the public would want to know this and i’d be given a bonus if my outfit will be the first to air it! Imagine the number of viewership!—
I was talking about whatever the public thinks of a story, you can never generalize. Try reading and understanding the post.
First to air it? Tapos ang tinitira mo si Jove from tv5? Hahaha. If you have so little faith in journalists…why bother argue? If you’re losing sleep over this, then go and make a “Jove Resign!” poster and do a rally in front of their station. Sheeesh.
“my friend, we are talking about the reporting/coverage the outburst of the President on mundane things. not on the right of the President to be upset and let out an outburst per se (in short, the right of the President to be human) Hmmmmmmm”
Don’t you think that’s what is wrong? You see it plainly as someone showing the public the president’s wrath and yet you do not interest yourself in knowing or considering why. You shoot a reporter down because you did not read between the lines? Per se…Hmmmmmmm
“in case you have not noticed, a considerable time elapsed from the ‘outbursts’ to the actual announcement of gloria. the ‘outburst’ was given a separate treatment. it would have been different if the ‘outburst’ took place during the conduct of a presscon (something which took place in the past a few times)”
Yes, it would have been different, but she was taping a statement to the public. The only difference is that it was not made live. If you’re thinking this is an issue of personal space…this isn’t like the media not allowed to go into FG’s room in St. Luke’s. The president was there on official business, thus, the reporters and their teams did their jobs.
You know, if you were a palace official, you could’ve used her anger for her benefit. Strategic lang na angulo and it would seem that the president was that passionate and concerned about what’s happening in Mindanao. Being overzealous in shooting reporters down with doing their jobs won’t get you anywhere.
I applaud those teams who were still at the president’s face amidst her wrath. Imagine if journalists/reporters simply cowered and played it safe.
Madonna:
“i diagreed with jove francisco.. the troll bitch was in full control of the medium and the subtle message… this is how propaganda works…
some manipulative gaslighting going on in the anger display… i.e. “not my fault on what’s going on in mindanao… it’s the fault of my underlings..â€Â.”
You know what, that is a very interesting observation. If that were really the case, the whole act would become a beautiful figure of speech, a display of subtle yet passionate semiotics. I like it! Good one!
UP n student:
“Today, I learned something new. Who would have thought there are Jove groupies????
So will TNT do a Ninoy on Jove and start selling tShirts? I’ll donate the expression By Jove, I got it!!! to the business-idea.”
Talaga bang student ka from UP? Using Ninoy to mock someone else is just wrong. You’re making UP students look bad.
GMA is HUMAN it’s OK to throw a tantrum sometimes.
Even despotic rulers suffer a burn out (Qadafi mellowed, Musharaff quit, Saddam lived in a cave).
It’s obvious naman that the alalays were incompetent. (Maybe they have Ateneo degrees)
Anyways, I hope GMA will take more time outdoors. Playing Golf while Mindanao burns is a good way to relieve the stress.
Also, it’s quite obvious that GMA isn’t getting any these days, Mike Arroyo probably read the new CBCP manual on sex and applied the withdrawal method.
Justice Scalia drinks frappucino while lecturing on journalism ethics?
Wala bang BBC sa lugar mo? This sort of footage will be all over the British media if it happened to their PM. I guess the Brits are just as unethical as Jove.
another gloria propaganda. she’s getting predictable.
J,
it is normal and natural for three to 6 year olds to throw temper tantrums…because they don’t know any better to get what they want…. but..
for an adult to throw a temper tantrum… whoa… it is almost always for effect… not merely an expression of anger or frustration… such adults are called bullies…
a million more whoas when a politician do a temper tantrum in full view of the cameras and the public ….like what GMA is always doing… sometimes she does it with her cabinet or her staff… same thing…
the palace spinmeisters always say that Gloria’s temper displays s due to her strong concern and passion for her work… DUH!!!!!! LOL. Eto pa si Migs Zubiri, motherly lang daw si GMA. LOL again.
Crazy eh? Glaringly bad, obnoxious behavior, but it’s suppose to reflect good on the person?
For John Marzan:
Goyito pic -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/flubber_meets_clara/1435370623/in/set-72157601405275031/
Madonna:
“Crazy eh? Glaringly bad, obnoxious behavior, but it’s suppose to reflect good on the person?”
I think it only works in movies. Haha. But they could’ve made a good come back on the incident to the effect that she’s THAT angry at what’s happening in Mindanao. That she’s affected so. Could’ve made it seem like a betrayal of trust rather than a sign of weakness.
But, hey, that’s just how I see it. Hehe, at least masnatural ang itsura ni GMA with her statement compared dun sa “I’m sorry” one. =P
She must have had a really hard day…I heard she was rudely lambasted earlier in the El Shaddai rally but that’s another story, then the escalation of the mindanao conflict which was not supposed to happen…and so what happens when the big boss arrives and everything plus everyone was not ready? (I presuppose that they knew she was coming and should have been prepared) I am not a big fan of GMA but I am also a manager and based on my limited personal experience with her when she came to visit our province, she is a person of order. Her staff was there a week before to see that everything was in place…she likes to follow a schedule but surprisingly she was not rigid because when it came to her personal needs (aka bladder break), she actually proceeded to the public restroom (although an office restroom was earlier reserved for her). One of my staff had to frantically ran after her and her guards to direct her to another restroom. Looking at the video, I think she showed admirable temperance after all the flack she has been through the whole day…I would have reacted very similarly in her place, ibang cuss words lang and maybe lesser decibels…but I know the feeling, I have asked my people several times after a frustrating day tapos may dagdag pa…why are you doing this to me??? but nobody really answers…and frankly I really don’t want to know.
At least if there is one thing about her that is consistent…
CVJ,
gotta pass on the last question, all I can give you are my opinions.
First sa tingin ko tama ka,militias and arming every afffected citizen won’t help.
If what I read above were true, The Ilagas were responsible for unleashing the beast within of the moros in the seventies. If what I read is they resorted to cannibalism, and they were even responsible for the death of favali.Manero was released recently right?
Now an alleged Ilaga Pinol wants the disarming of the MILF; I think all politicians’ private armies should also disarm, well malabo mangyari yun.
as for a weak central government di sana ito mangyari kahit na dumating ang panahon na mag federalism tayo.
Buti na lang CVj, notwithstanding the goings on in Mindanao malayo pa ang Somalia scenario.
speaking of normal
dito lang yata sa pinas walang nagsusuntukan na congressman o senador
sa mga neighboring countries pati yata babae na parlimentarian di sinasanto
me naalala ako muntik na magsuntukan yung sgt at arms ng congress at isang congressman nung erap impeachment.if you watch the news halos every week me nakita ka nagsuntukan sa kanya kanyang parliament.
if nash says it is normal in the UK,sa US news kasi puro blooper ni george bush ang pinapakita,as for their congress tulad yata natin sila hanggang sigawan na lang.
Anrhony Scalia,
“Ot’s called infotainment and there’s nothing wrong with covering what is called the lighter side.â€Â
“yeah, there’s nothing wrong, but the reporter is not obliged to print/air it.”
“yeah and neither is he obligated not to print/air it.”
Agree?
Last month ko yata nadinig si Mirriam na nagsabi na walng surgical solution ang short fuse nya (matapos makipagtalo ke Escudero)
natural di kaya ng surgeon yan, electrician pwede pa siguro.
“arpeelazaro : take your homophobia and hate elsewhere.
August 20th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Stereotypical and tactless my comment might be, but it’s hardly homophobic and hateful. Typical hyperbolic comment from a Filipino with the brain capacity of an indio.
“BrianB : It’s homophobic because it’s well-known that teddy bears are the accessory du juour of gay intellectuals and hateful because you had to mention it.
August 20th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Another indio bobo. I suggest you reread your post and laugh at the absurdity of it. Gay intellectuals don’t have an “accesory du jour”, though gays may have (anything pink, teddy bears, tight fitting shirts, being dressed impeccably ala queer eye, you get the drill). And just because I mention Manolo’s sexual orientation doesn’t make me hateful. It’s you who is homo-mongering.
“nash : Teddy Bears unprofessional??? Hmmm, I have two (but they are dogs) and they have been around. ..obviously pampangeno cares more about looks than substance…are you part of the central committee who said the 6-year old girl singer was too ugly to be the face of the olympics?
August 20th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
You gives a flying F if you have a houseful of plushies? You can keep all your infantile desires as long as it’s in your freakin’ home. Don’t bring it to a professional television show, which you don’t have by the way. If I were as dumb as you I’d be bringing my toy truck and GI Joe’s on the office meeting. And why couldn’t I care for both looks AND substance? ‘Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets. -Baltasar Gracian’ And oh yes, I’m the headmaster of the chinese communist party who handpicked the cute girl over the ugly one. Yeah…
“Imang : @ Pampangueno, Feeling ko inggit lang yang namamayani sayo. Gusto mo din ng sariling show, ano?What a coward. Pakilala ka kaya ng maayos if you really feel that you have a point.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
No, I admire Manolo’s show though I am not a suck-up like some of you here who kiss Manolo’s ass at every opportunity. I give constructive criticims-it’s up to Manolo if he accepts it. And no, I’d like to keep my anonymity – aren’t I just like you?
“jcc :Not too fast Pampangueno. You assumed wrongly that all muslims live by the Koran code. Look around you, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bin Ladin, Abbu Sayyaf. They kill people if you spouse a religion other than theirs. And you expect your Philippine muslims to respect the Christians? Wake up sir or Madam! ! !
August 20th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Not so fast JCC. It’s actually slow, you’re brain that is. It’s not official government policy of Iraq, Iran, or Saudi to kill Christians. You’re lumping of terrorist organizations (Bin laden, Abu Sayaf) with nations/governments speaks of your simple-mindedness. I was talking about future potential Islaming government in Mindanao. They’ll probably go the way of homophobic legislative environment of even the most moderate Muslim government, that is, they will discriminate against homosexuals. With the exception of maybe Afghanistan (which is a terrorist state), Islamic government won’t “kill Christians” by policy.
“manuelbuencamino :Now when you start seeing gay symbols and other signs of gayness in mascots where there are actually none, it makes me wonder whether you are obsessed with gays and why.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Do you groove to Cher while playing with your barbies? Is “Strangers in the Night†a song about casual gay encounters?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I only mentioned it because I knew Manolo is gay. Nice work, on your gay-baiting diatribes – trying to lump me with homosexuals like it would be an insult if I were, like it’s a disease or something. You’re conveniently forgetting that your idol Manolo is gay. Imagine how he feels right now reading you’re homophobic comments.
Geisha : bka may madugong homo experience yang si pampangueno. share mo naman sa blog ko! heheheh
August 20th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Gusto mong dugo? Dugong aso lang ang mahihigop sa Kapampangan na to ‘dre. I don’t go to a blog because of the blogger’s sexual orientation. I won’t discriminate either just because the blogger is day. I’ll read a blog if it feeds my intellect, meaning I won’t be visiting your blog anytime soon.
arpeelazaro : di kaya muslim extremist si pampangueno? so we will stop the speculation, pakilala ka. oh and by the way, if manolo hasn’t thanked you yet, your homophobia, hatred or whatever it is that you call it is generating wonderful hits for the website. thank you. your hate has done something good after all.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Manolo is gonna get hits irregardless because he writes brillian articles, though his television program needs some work.
For your benefit I’ll introduce myself – I’m the descendant of Kapampangan warriors who fought along side the Spaniards when they pacified Nueva Viscaya in 1591, Mindanao in 1596, Cagayan, Negros, Leyte and the Moluccas in the 1600’s. The same brave warriors who pacified the Chinese revolt and Koxinga invasion in 1662, Limahong in 1574, the British in 1764 and the Dutch in the 17th century. The same Kapampangans who equalled the Spanish soldiers in bravery (ever heard of the saying ‘one Spaniard and three Pampangans are the equal of four Spaniards?) and were handpicked by the Americans to pacify Mindanao (ever heard of the notorious Macabebe Scouts?).
Pakilala ka naman dudung.
number cruncher :
hmm, i wonder if pampangueno’s part of the plot to draw us away from the real issue at hand by baiting us into this whole carabao business….
August 21st, 2008 at 12:59 am
Like the government gives a flying fuc k about a few dumb conspiracy theorist on a semi-inglorious blog.
nash : mga klasmeyt, tinakot niyo naman si pampangueno…
August 21st, 2008 at 3:24 am
Just because I disappeared don’t mean I’m afraid of your Igorot ass. Unlike you I have a girlfriend and don’t have to spend most of my off-time taking snipes at random strangers in the interwebitube.
Pampangueno;
you wrote:
Not so fast JCC. It’s actually slow, you’re brain that is. It’s not official government policy of Iraq, Iran, or Saudi to kill Christians. You’re lumping of terrorist organizations (Bin laden, Abu Sayaf) with nations/governments speaks of your simple-mindedness. I was talking about future potential Islaming government in Mindanao. They’ll probably go the way of homophobic legislative environment of even the most moderate Muslim government, that is, they will discriminate against homosexuals. With the exception of maybe Afghanistan (which is a terrorist state), Islamic government won’t “kill Christians†by policy.
It is apparent that you do not read your newspapers and history…. “not as a matter of policy, but christian persecutons are tacilty approved in these regimes”.
i won’t answer your “ad hominem argument” because the best response to a cheap shot is silence and won’t elevate the discussion of my brain to your level.
guyito…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/cyril/guyito.jpg
@ Pampangueno,
Why don’t you like me???
to J: … who commented Using Ninoy to mock someone else is just wrong. You’re making UP students look bad.
So What Will J </b< Do?
to J: … who commented Using Ninoy to mock someone else is just wrong. You’re making UP students look bad.
So What Will J Do?
UP n student:
“to J: … who commented Using Ninoy to mock someone else is just wrong. You’re making UP students look bad.
So What Will J Do?”
Think you’re dumb.
Whoa! The militia group think has infected the blog.
Or is it GMA taray way creep?
(For what it is worth depending on the sincerity and/or credibility of its reports) an entry in luwaran-dot-com states:
August 31, 2008 represents an important deadline (which luwaran-dot-com reports that the MILF leadership wants):
The IMT is the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team.
——————–
Luwaran-dot-com itself reports that MILF commanders take civilian hostages.
‘ever heard of the notorious Macabebe Scouts?’
The Macabebe Scouts who betrayed Aguinaldo?
I hope they’re in hell now.
Even the wicked commits bloopers that we enjoy.
‘Using Ninoy to mock someone else is just wrong’
I agree. It’s insulting to the guy being ridiculed..
jcc :It is apparent that you do not read your newspapers and history…. “not as a matter of policy, but christian persecutons are tacilty approved in these regimesâ€Â. i won’t answer your “ad hominem argument†because the best response to a cheap shot is silence and won’t elevate the discussion of my brain to your level.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Oh I read the newspapers. I just don’t believe everything in it, unlike some gullible twats like yourself who buy into Fox’s and Rupert Murdoch’s neo-con anti-Islamic propaganda horseshit.
Question : WWJD?
Answer : think you’re dumb.
—————
hey, J, which Dead Sea Scroll gospel did you get that? Let me know so I can quote it, too.
‘Only way to peace is to sign MOA-AD’–MILF chief negotiator – INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080822-156251/Only-way-to-peace-is-to-sign-MOA-AD–MILF-chief-negotiator
Too late the hero. Its poker talk, while themselves are preparing for war knowing that civilian militias in Lanao Del Norte, North Cotabato, and Zambonga have mobilized. Now, if the MILF leadership fail in Bravo and Cato,
Considering the other news reports,
Charter change clause in MOA ‘unconstitutional’–SC justice
Palace: No signing of MOA in present form
how can the MILF be that Banking on the doves Dureza and Esperon to save the day for them.?
It has been said that the war in Mindanao was a joint venture between the local warlords-politicians (Moro and Chrisitan), the AFP generals, and arms suplliers, (including the U.S. as well as local producer of Armalite automatic rifles). War is big business.
But its said that professional soldier, no-nonsense AFP COS Yano thinks and will act differently from his predecessor and mistah, PA Peace Adviser Esperon. While PGMA was still holding her taray presscon, the AFP started mop up operations, that’s why they have now quartered the area where the two commanders of the MILF renegade groups have retreated.
With Gen. Yano’s chairmanship , is it now time for a stockholder split ?
UP n student:
“hey, J, which Dead Sea Scroll gospel did you get that? Let me know so I can quote it, too.”
Uh…that is a really weak come back. Try again.
Scratch that, I’ve decided you to be a waste of my time.
If you still feel it imperative to reply…just imagine me laughing at you. Don’t lose sleep on this.
….a weak
come backcomebackPampangueno said:
“I give constructive criticims”
*Your efforts to appear to run a professional television program (suit, LCD display, use of English, great script) is marred by a prop that his its place on a little girl’s bedroom.
*Typical hyperbolic comment from a Filipino with the brain capacity of an indio.
*Another indio bobo.
*Like the government gives a flying fuc k about a few dumb conspiracy theorist on a semi-inglorious blog.
*Just because I disappeared don’t mean I’m afraid of your Igorot ass.
—
yeah! i think i’ll have what he’s smoking.
Pampangueno:
you say to-mah-toh, we say it’s a myopic, detestable, biased, thoughtless attack.
a reckless disregard for the welfare of your fellow netizens does not make you an intellectual. it makes you a creep.
suck it up.
p.s. is there any chance you’re from lubao? ‘cos it will definitely explain a lot.
manolo please rein in your blog. much like the gloria’s enchanted kingdom, we’re going nowhere fast.
Pampangueno,
atleast I know now where you stand. you belong that group of peope who believe that the 911 incident that killed thousands of americans, jews, muslims and christians on those two towers were perpetrated by the CIA-Bush.
We can end our discussion, because apparently were are not on the same page. but i will not call you slow-put or hare-brained. we just have different outlook, and it is as simple as that. For all we know, your outlook is the best one. 🙂
not the macabebe troopers only. observe the 2010 elections. chairman melo is a kapampangan, but the macabebe blood could still linger, hope Pampangueno does not have their blood. 🙂
Pampangueno said:
“I only mentioned it because I knew Manolo is gay. …..You’re conveniently forgetting that your idol Manolo is gay….
WTF Pampangueno? So what if he is? What’s your point?
This is the live-in partner of guyito, the carabao teddy mascot (August 22nd, 2008 at 8:33 pm).
Imang, its still not not WTF. Pampagueno is still on topic. Berserkers!
Pampagueno hates teddy guyito because he has the hots for me. Can’t blame him. He says he has a girlfriend, but we are different. Especially gay carabaos.
And always, intellectual snobbery equals a small dick. All proteins and amino acids went to your brain and nothing was left for what really counts in a man.
Look down and tell me, am I right Pampangueno,?
So you will just have to blabber about the conquests of your great ancestors the blue-blooded Kapampangans. What a loser!
“ever heard of the notorious Macabebe Scouts?”….Pampangueno
Yes, all Filipinos remember the Macabebes in Tirad Pass and in Palanan, Isabela.
Pilipinoparin did not spell it out:
Macabebes = traydor = dugong aso.
And Pampagueno is still proud of his dugong aso. What a triple loser you are!!!
Thanks Karl (at 5:56 pm). I think as far as the local militias are concerned, the choice would either be to incorporate them to the regular armed forces chain of command or treat them like any other lost command. I agree the warlord situation in the Philippines is not yet at Somalia’s level but i think we’re nearer to them today than yesterday.
Arming civilians will not solve the problems in Mindanao or anywhere else on earth. Better to ban all firearms, they were made to kill people, that’s the only purpose of guns. All guns should be in the hands of AFP or any government recognized security entity. Disband all local private armies, political/Muslims /Christians including MNLF and MILF. Kris, pana, balisong or tabak won’t do much damage among warring parties.
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
–
ARTICLE 10:
Islam is the religion of unspoiled nature. It is prohibited to exercise any form of compulsion on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order to convert him to another religion or to atheism.
ARTICLE 23:
(b) Everyone shall have the right to participate, directly or indirectly in the administration of his country’s public affairs. He shall also have the right to assume public office in accordance with the provisions of Shari’ah.
ARTICLE 24:
All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’ah.
ARTICLE 25:
The Islamic Shari’ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration.
<blockquote “not as a matter of policy, but christian persecutons are tacilty approved in these regimesâ€Â. jcc
jcc, I beg to disagree with your above statement. I don’t know what newspaper are you reading but what you’re talking must be part of history now. the killing of christians are not happening anymore much more tacitly approved in those regimes you mentioned.