333 thoughts on “Intervention for the Prosecution: Why the BJE-MOA is an impeachable offense”

1. “no my friend, if you really care about the country, you’d put job creation ahead of kicking her out”

   –and so my friend you must assume that all we do is shout and march in the street and that we do not contribute to the economy of this country? if that is what you believe then you are very wrong. we can do both at the same time, kick gma out and at the same time contribute to improve our economy.

2. mlq3,

   You wrote: “i think those who challenge others to present evidence pledge to do their bit and present their own evidence, too to assert their own claim.”

   Is that adressed to me? If so, sure I’ll pledge that. Is there some evidence that you want me to provide? For what argument?

   You also wrote:
   “while the president got credit for the e-vat, you have to look at the reasons she had to impose it, and it had less to do with rational economics and more to do with pandering in aid of election. namely, bloating the debt of napocor rather than let public irritation over electricity costs harm her election chances in 2004.”

   I’ve heard this one before. It’s called “spin”. However, the history of how this macro-economic landscape developed might put your claims in a better — and different — perspective.

   By the time Marcos was ousted, the economy was already in tatters. That’s the starting point. What happened in the energy sector after that is front and center in our story.

   Marcos’ Westinghouse nuclear reactor had been designed to provide for a huge portion of the country’s energy needs. Many of the old plants were ready to be closed, and they would not only be replaced by the reactor, but there would even be more power available.

   Problem is — the Aquino administration closed the reactor…and never addressed the oncoming energy crunch.

   That problem fell squarely on FVR’s lap. That was a horrible time, eh? Ramos had to get short and medium term solutions and that’s when the IPPs came in and got great deals. I think we are still paying for them now.

   Erap and GMA1’s term didn’t do much to solve the problem either.

   Then 2004 arrived. The energy sector had killed us by then. Borrowings were built high. The country’s balance sheet was screaming “disaster!” Do you remember when GMA stated that we were in an economic/financial crisis?

   Realistically, only two choices were available — repudiate the debts or attack/reduce them with vigor. EVat was a necessary evil. And it cost GMA dearly (it’s still being used against her to this day).

   Saying that EVat was simply a solution to GMA’s own, self-created problem is inaccurate at best.

3. “mukhang di mo pa na-notice, nobody has to defend gloria. nakaupo pa rin sya.”

   –what do you call all those tong-gressmen, defensors, kenkoygremen, SC jsutices kuno, general kapal at general kupit, at iba pang mga alipores nya. daig nya pa ang fort knox. masyadong syang fortified. tingnan mo nga naman ang magawa ng VAT oo.

4. istambay,

   You wrote: “–now the only reason civil war may happen is if gma insist to hang to her throne! and not otherwise.”

   Says who? You? You and who else? How many are there like you? Do you represent the majority in this country? Were you elected or something? Is there some reason why your version of truth is superior to other people’s versions of truth?

   Yes, much of the country does not like GMA. But it has been repeatedly shown that it rejects civil war, a coup or any unconstitutional removal of GMA from office.

   So because you “insist” her to leave, even though she “insists” not to…means we have to have a civil war? Started by who, you? Your personal desire does not overrule the laws, sorry. And even if you get all the other anti-GMAs together, it’s still not enough.

   Opinions are opinions. They do not warrant overthrowing the entire country’s system. No matter how convinced you are.

5. “–and so my friend you must assume that all we do is shout and march in the street and that we do not contribute to the economy of this country?”

   oh yes!

   may kasabihan sa tagalog – kung ayaw nyong matulog, magpatulog kayo!

   stated differently – kung ayaw nyong gumawa ng trabaho, hayaan nyo kaming gumawa ng trabaho!

   “if that is what you believe then you are very wrong.”

   no my friend. i am right. you’re in the wrong. pray tell me – how many jobs have been created by the bright boys of the opposition (di kasama ang rally attending ha)

   “we can do both at the same time, kick gma out and at the same time contribute to improve our economy.”

   no my friend. if you’re not doing job creation now, you won’t be doing it at all

   “–what do you call all those tong-gressmen, defensors, kenkoygremen, SC jsutices kuno, general kapal at general kupit, at iba pang mga alipores nya. daig nya pa ang fort knox. masyadong syang fortified. tingnan mo nga naman ang magawa ng VAT oo.”

   di ko alam.pero one thing for sure –

   ang ‘united’ opposition ay puro engot at bobo! gloria has to thank them for staying much longer than erap.

6. just like during the marcos years, no one thought it would end like it did. so many good and bright souls sacrificed themselves in figthing his evil regime. also, a lot of fellow filipinos benefitted from marcos’
   crimes, just like today.

   gma’s reign will end. she and company will dearly pay for their crimes and transgressions. it may not happen right away but still it no excuse not keep on fighting. laugh and insult all you want.

7. “gma’s reign will end”

   oh yes! in 2010

8. Impeachment should be an Olympic sport so that the Philippines will finally win Gold!

9. The Philippines sure is on a tear to go for gold. 😳

   Just look at the number of times that cadres inside metro-Manila have tried to kick out a Malacanang resident.

10. Anthony Scalia,

    Do you consider members of the Makati Business Club like the Ayala’s as opposition.

    Their Trinoma mall alone provides employment to thousands. Their Corporation is currently Constructing a large area in Sta. Cruz District of Manila that currently employs a large amount of laborers and once finished will provide employment thousands more.

    Do the Lopezes of ABS CBN count as opposition? I passed by their soon to be finished Rockwell business center in Ortigas. It currently employs a lot of laborers and will also provide employment to thousands when it is finished.

    Of course those are no match to when the government redefined those who are employed and unemployed in 2004. Literally hundreds of thousands of jobs were generated overnight.

11. Geo on, “The 5 Bishops, the left, the Hyatt, the BMW, the Man/Sundalo, etc, etc are launching a unified attack again, knowing that the only thing that can be accomplished is to muddy the waters and to cast Gloria — AND THE COUNTRY — in a bad light.”

    This is the typical Filipino nonsensical argument – the country is bad because of the government critics instead of the government itself.

    No wonder, there is no solution to myriads of Philippine problems because of the blind remedy other than cause itself.

    HeHe.

12. loy on, “Why don’t we follow the examples of the USA? Bush is extremely unpopular there, but they bided their time and waited for the elections. They have a very strong democratic system that’s why they’re able to wait until Bush ends his term.”

    Unpopularity of Bush stems from RESULTS of Iraq war. Bush is unimpeachable even for wrong WMD information because WMD is only one among other reasons listed and approved by both Democrats and Republican lawmakers. Approval of Iraq war is clear from the very beginning. No violation of constitutional duty.

    In the Philippines, GMA has repeatedly violated her constitutional mandate: Garci tape & public admission, Bolante-agrarian-fund election, china-for-tong, MOA-constitutional-violation, etc. GMA also ensures any impeachment bill is killed at the committee level for the last 4 years.

    It is apple and oranges as MLQ3 had repeatedly said.

    In the US, democracy is naturally respected. In the Philippines, GMA is the law and demands respect. Respect can only be earned not demanded.

    Hence, there is a lot of Filipinos like Geo barking at the wrong tree (the critics) as noises, circuses and wastes.

13. Bert on, “Geo, you are a very good lawyer”

    Geo on, “Impeachment is unconstitutional means.”

    A lawyer would not have a serious blunder that impeachment is unconstitutional. He does not even know his constitution.

14. ‘Marcos’ Westinghouse nuclear reactor had been designed to provide for a huge portion of the country’s energy needs.’

    The BNPP was designed to produce 600 MW at the most. The Sucat 1-4 power plants can generate 850 MW.

15. mlq3 on, “sneering argument marcos noted in his diary: “nothing succeds like success.””

    This is probably why democracy is not the right political model for Philippines. Success done through corruption and public expense is taken up as justification for continued existence. The general population is willing to embrace the status quo and shun the critics.

    For the politicians and lawmakers, this remove fear of accountability from constituents essential for democracy to work.

16. Well done, Manolo. I salute you and our blogger-friends.

    On the Leftist Congressmen’s rejection of endorsement, they are in favor of dismembering the country. They fantasize that the same thing will be offered them after Bangsamoro. Satur was probably toasting champagne with Kirstie Kenney on their flight to Malaysia I believe their party stand was the reason it was not included in the original complaint.

    I hope it will be included so we’ll see how the leftists will argue whether for or against the whole impeachment.

17. Supremo is right, it was not merely the mothballing of BNPP that brought us the energy crisis, it was the scrapping of Marcos’ energy policy as a whole and with it, the Min. of Energy.

    “stated differently – kung ayaw nyong gumawa ng trabaho, hayaan nyo kaming gumawa ng trabaho!”

    naks, malaki sigurong kumpanya ni scalia?

18. “naks, malaki sigurong kumpanya ni scalia?”

    di naman. almost as big as yours lang.

19. justice league:

    “Do you consider members of the Makati Business Club like the Ayala’s as opposition”

    no.

    “Their Trinoma mall alone provides employment to thousands. Their Corporation is currently Constructing a large area in Sta. Cruz District of Manila that currently employs a large amount of laborers and once finished will provide employment thousands more.”

    true. but Ayala is not MBC

    if you will notice, Jaime, Jaime Augusto, Fernando, and no one else from Ayala are enjoying the constitutional right of free speech. its always the MBC speaking its mind out. Bill Luz is now quiet, because he is now an employee of the Ayalas (he’s with the Ayala Foundation now)

    wait, there’s an issue whenever the MBC exercises the constitutional right to free speech, as the expression might be just the speaker’s (the executive director) own beliefs, and not necessarily the MBC’s.

    “Do the Lopezes of ABS CBN count as opposition?”

    no.

    same thing. did you ever hear Gabby or Oscar or any of the Lopezes say ‘patalsikin na now na’? i haven’t heard that lovely slogan from the lips of erap’s son-in-law

    (the Lopezes are surely coursing its expression through ABS-CBN)

    “I passed by their soon to be finished Rockwell business center in Ortigas. It currently employs a lot of laborers and will also provide employment to thousands when it is finished.”

    noted

    “Of course those are no match to when the government redefined those who are employed and unemployed in 2004. Literally hundreds of thousands of jobs were generated overnight.”

    noted. your point?

    now who is the opposition – those who call themselves the ‘united opposition.’ those good-for-nothing-beyond-anti-gloria, its-our-turn, worse-than-gloria, self-righteous, pompous, no-better-than-Mike-Arroyo politicians

    look no further than the UNO’s president – Jojo Binay – to see what kind of people they are

    there’s only one opposition group I truly respect – the likes of Satur and Casiño. because i am assured that these people are really after the nation’s interests

    ever wonder why no one from the likes of Satur and Casiño gets to be president of UNO or at least are influential in the oust gloria movement?

    The Ayalas and the Lopezes may be opposition at heart, but their main pre-occupation is still business.

    who do you think is doing the country more good? the job-creating opposition or the just-noisy opposition (UNO)?

    (side note – for cvj, the Ayalas, the Lopezes et al . are elites, oligarchs, people who stifle development)

    the country will not experience growth (new jobs, new businesses) if the growth is sourced only from the Ayalas’ and Lopezes’ expansions

    rich as they are, all the money of the Ayalas and the Lopezes (put it all the taipans as well) isn’t enough to cover the investments necessary to create millions of jobs.

    off-topic (lets have some light moments naman):

    who will win Superman vs. Thor?
    for me – without his hammer, Thor will lose

20. d0d0ng :

    “A lawyer would not have a serious blunder that impeachment is unconstitutional. He does not even know his constitution.”

    no my friend. a lawyer will legally find a way to have an impeachment complaint declared unconstitutional.

    its not impeachment per se that is unconstitutional.

21. “This is the typical Filipino nonsensical argument – the country is bad because of the government critics instead of the government itself.”

    an equally nonsensical argument. the zeal of government critics in enjoying their constitutional freedoms forces government to just focus on firefighting than on moving forward.

    always made by people who have not been in any form of governance

22. dodong,

    “GMA also ensures any impeachment bill is killed at the committee level for the last 4 years.”

    regardless of the committee decision, the final say is the plenary vote. a committee report of dismissal can be reversed by a vote of just 1/3 of the plenary and that suffices for impeachment

23. on my goodness: still stuck with impeachment ?

    It’s also Congress that is responsible for the biggest scam in the history of this country.

    Therefore, I am looking for citizens who have had enough of this current Congress and their inbred concern for their own interests. I am calling for impeachment of the body of Congress with a special election to be held within 60 days of that impeachment to limit the amount of Bullshit and Bias we will inevitably be subjected to in order to elect new Congress members.

    Hopefully, we can put in “real” people who have not sold out to the ruling elite and are a little more in touch with reality and the damage which was inflicted upon us.

    We can’t be apathetic any longer. If you don’t act now, you will have no right to complain about anything. 🙂

    think about it

24. Anthony Scalia,

    What the heck!

    So they not only have to be opposition by heart or simply opposition but card/placard carrying members of the opposition as well?

    If so, where does the distinction of “the job-creating opposition or the just-noisy opposition” come in?

    How about when the MBC shouldered a sizable part of the expenses on the interfaith rally in Makati sometime in March because of NBN ZTE deal?

    “noted. your point?”- What the heck again!

    You can stop your preccupation on who produces jobs for this and that because this government has shown that it can whiff it OUT OF THIN AIR!

    Off topic.

    Being a collector of comics back in the last century, I firmly believe that Superman would beat Thor even if the mighty Thor had his Mjolnir hammer.

    Because Thor would have a hard time beating the Incredible Hulk on his own and in the DC vs. Marvel comics; Superman beat the living crap out of the Hulk.

    DC would have won the war for the Universe if underdog Storm had not surprisingly beaten Wonder Woman.

25. geo, the origins of the power crisis is not the issue, the issue is, the president ordered napocor to lower its costs in 2003, in preparation for the elections, bloating the debt and making it one of the largest components of the deficit. but she could not afford to either put the squeeze on the lopezes because she was courting their support, and she could not keep rates high as it would antagonize the people. after the elections she could tighten things up and institute a bailout for napocor through e-vat. ironically gaining praise from domestic and foreign business for her political will.

    geo you also have to consider that perhaps those investors you speak of, if so skittish, aren’t the most suitable though every instance of a foreign investor being spooked is to be regretted. but the reports and studies of domestic economists also points to the collapse in morale that prevents domestic investments which is as much because of the unchecked mafiosi tendencies of our officials up and down the line and the general inability of the top to moderate the greed of anyone below.

    in the particular case of foreign advisories that is due to terrorist behavior that antedates even the president and is not within the ken of the oppo-admin dynamic. i can’t recall a travel advisory regarding metro manila.

26. leytenian,

    yung 8:33 am mo, kala ko pa naman original thoughts mo.

    wala ka pa ding kupas

    cut and paste na naman from a letter sender.

    kinalat mo pa pa,pati sa FV nabasa ko din yung comment.

    what is the point?
    you cannot impeach congress, at pinahaba mo pa snap; election din naman ang proposal mo.

27. Dodong,

    I never wrote “Impeachment is unconstitutional means.” You keep trying to say that I did, but I didn’t.

    I wrote “Impeachment is a dead end and unconstitutional means have been clearly rejected.”

    I took it that you were either prurposefully distorting my words…or you are just one more of the types who yells and screams but doesn’t listen, read or think.

    Either way, now you know why I don’t respond to you.

    And now…stop misquoting me, purposefully or otherwise.

28. KG,
    “you cannot impeach congress”

    that’s exactly my point. we don’t have a choice. akala ko hindi mo maintindihan. so who is most powerful? congress or the president?

29. only a third from the House of representative are required to approve the motion to impeach but we don’t have a third. even if the motion was approved by the house, the senate will still have to vote 2/3 for convictions.

30. Leytenian,

    depende eh.

    kung di nya hawak congress tanggal agad sya via impeachment.

    pero kung hawak nya lahat,ibang usapan na yan.

    sorry for those who are not fans of the senate, pero buti na lang di hawak ni gma ang senado,kahit na circus ang tingin nyo sa institution na ito.
    i too sometimes question lacson’s investigations dahil sablay ang mga witness nya at walang nagyayari,pero mas mabuti na may kumekwestyon,kesa wala.

    ==========

    about these cases,
    kung walang mangyari before 2010, sana naman meron pa din magfollow up after 2010 at wag pansinin kung pinardon si erap o hindi.

31. KG,

    SC is impeachable. we could have done that first but how?
    and we can impeach governors and congressmen thru federalism.

    it’s too corrupt. majority are sold out.

32. maybe the only way we can weaken the power of the Senate is to decentralize. the local people represented by majority of the House can impeach its representative. it’s probably the only route to democracy.

33. mlq3,

    Though I want to concede a point to you, let me first reiterate that the country’s debt burden was huge, was huge for a long time, was huge much because of a failed (nonexistent?) energy. This debt, left as is, was about to drown the Philippines. Hence the evat.

    EVAT was a method to reduce debt. Debt was not just due to any 2001~2003 policies.

    OK, that said, I agree that GMA was pretty weak about Napocor and the pricing…and that this definitely worsened the situation.

    Furthermore, I’ll concede that she probably made some political calculations in avoiding addressing the Napocor issue head on. The way I see it, she did what a lot of politicians worldwide do — pick and choose her fights.

    GMA was inherently weak after she replaced Erap as she could never claim a mandate. I wouldn’t be surprised if she calculated that she’d wait until she could win in 2004 before launching such a politically difficult program.

    One might find that distasteful, but that’s politics anywhere. Heck, look at the US and the unwillingness to address their Social Security timebomb head on. The issue is a political bomb as well and few want to attempt to defuse it.

34. Speaking of Senators….

    This hearing re the PNP Euros is being conducted much better by the Senators than the Bolante, ZTE, etc circuses. Why is that? Seriously.

35. Geo,

    At least the majority of the people in the US are in the middle income earner, compared to our Philippine majority of poor and unemployed.

    It will be wise to focus on our own affairs rather than comparing. it’s not the right solution nor even the best strategy for awareness.

    The ZTE and Jocjoc are both an inside crime committed by the most corrupt institution. The ball has never been on our side.

36. Geo, fair enough and as you pointed out par for the course. The complications then arise from her inability to finally govern with a mandate, though she was poised to do so from 2004-2005. though even then i’d pointed out that the way her proclamation was handled was inappropriate, no one could have known just how inappropriate until the bombshell of the garci tapes, which, the merits or demerits of their quality as evidence aside, certainly caused a perception problem -when in politics, sometimes perception is everything.

    but then this brings us to our disagreement on my view that from the time the bombshell exploded the president then undertook a nixon-style coverup that even were the bombshell to be proven fictitious, are enough grounds to deprive her of office. which then brings up the question also debated by us, whether it is a deprivation called for considering the other priorities of other people.

37. justice league,

    will you enlighten me what kind of needle and thread did superman’s foster mom used to sew his uniform, you know, the blue one with an S in front? as you know, it is still in use today and as invulnerable to canon shots as ever. thanks.

38. Geo, I think the depressing possibility is that there are too many people involved in the Bolante thing to probe too deeply or too thoroughly.

39. Geo you know what, I think part of it is that since cops and such are involved, everyone is trying to be polite so it makes for less posturing. which is one of my personal frustrations with senate investigations, they treat people like shit which is just plain wrong.

40. Before returning to the GMA discussion, mlq, I rather discuss this Senate probe that’s in front of me right now.

    Yeah, the Senators are being more composed, less dramatic, and definitely less rude. Ever Loren’s frustration was muted.

    Allow me to be cynical for a moment (borrowing from my usual opponents.) 🙂

    Maybe they are being “nicer” and more professional because:

    a) This is a lot easier for the Senators to understand (the process of getting and liquidating simple funds) compared to a much more complex system (DOA) or compared to a technical program (ZTE).

    b) This case cannot be traced back to GMA no matter what. So less reason to make drama.

    c) The PNP and AFP will be needed if one is to be a future Prez.

    d0 The PNP and AFP are needed if ever GMA can be ousted.

41. Geo, speaking of pragmatic politics, we have a meeting of the minds on this one.

42. Yes. Yes, we do. Must be because I was being temporarily cynical. 🙂 Juuust joking. I think we’re just looking at, as you said, a case of pragmatic politics.

    See? You were saying I’m single minded. I’m not. My own view of myself is that I can analyze without all the emotional baggage. I may be wrong about that…but I diligently try to be that way.

    That’s why my knee-jerk reaction to the fury and frothing mob during the Garci days was — “Stop it! Get a strong case together and do this right! Meanwhile, we better see the original tapes or this thing isn’t going to be easy.”

    In the ensuing weeks and months, it became obvious that rule of law was inconvenient to those leading the charge and that there was a clear decision(s) to whip up the frenzy and shortcut the system.

    After the huge mistake in the methodology of ousting Erap (I think it was unconstitutional, even though I was anti-Erap), I thought doing it again to Gloria would be national suicide.

    By then, you were probably already on the other side of the fence. As were many others. But my side was anti anti-GMA, not pro-GMA (though, admittedly, that was my choice in 2004…like many who post here).

    I believe the anti-GMA positions taken then, by (justifiably) angry people, have unfortunately hardened and have remained set in concrete since then. Everything is seen through that one prism. Facts are still secondary to the emotional anger initiated by the Garci Tapes.

    That’s why it’s notable that many still shout the “illegitimacy/cheating” slogans. They either have no idea about PET, refuse to believe it, or purposefully sweep the whole reality under the rug.

    As each of these “scandals” have come up, I’ve tried to look at all the evidence first. But the anti-GMAs just come in swinging from their heels…facts be damned.

    THAT’S my problem with the anti-GMAs — They made up their minds (based on faulty info) 4 years ago and fanatically stick to those views no matter what comes up. It’s frustrating. It scares me. It threatens my income and thus my family. Aaargh.

    Refreshingly, though, YOUR take is a new one to me.

    Is it: “OK, maybe she didn’t cheat, but her cover-up of her not cheating is reason enough”???

    Huh? Can you clarify, please?

43. “EVAT was a method to reduce debt. Debt was not just due to any 2001~2003 policies.”

    Clearly ignorant pundit…

    Big Mike and GMA have added more debt to the country than Marcos in all his years.

    The national debt which is a part of the public sector debt
    is larger than what Marcos had left the country saddled with. GMA has the dubious distinction also of incurring more debt (national government) than her three predecessors combined.

    It was the research paper done and released by the U.P. School of economics pointing out that the country was already at the point of having no more tax revenues to cover debt payments. (Primary surplus) Please note we have two yearly appropriations act – Automatic and the general Approriations Act..

    The financial markets took notice and that would mean a severe credit rating downgrade necessitating even higher interest rates.

    She was lucky that at that period in the world’s financial markets the Federal Reserve and other central banks were lowering interest rates to battle recession.

    That together with lax regulatory oversight of investment banks and mortgage banks have brought the world to this present financial crisis.

    For an emerging economy strategically dependent on debt finance the coming years will prove to be most interesting. Already GMA is lobbying our Asian neighbors for a quick response emergency funding scheme to help out without conditionalities.

    It does not take a genius to figure out why. A COUNTRY THAT HAS SIMPLY RELABELED DEBTS IN A PRIVATIZATION SCHEME will be hard pressed to fund projects that will be necessary to maintain sustainable growth that will have an effect on wide broad sectors of the economy instead of a very narrow and shallow front.

    She has been a disaster on the economic front. The economy is even more deeper in debt than at any time in its entire history.

    The G-20 meetings ongoing in Washington are groups of countries that the G-8 have labeled systemically important in the world today. Only one S.E. Asian country was invited, Indonesia. Even Singapore was not included for obvious reasons.

44. “Clearly ignorant pundit…”

    Clearly pompous and rude poster,

    Thanks for restating my point — there was a huge debt long before GMA…and EVAT was the solution.

    Thanks for also adding the part about how EVAT did that, in part, by demonstrating to global creditors the government’s resolve to take the actions (and getting the results) which they believed to be crucial…and beneficial.

    In turn, the country’s credit rating went up, the borrowing rates went down and more debt was paid down.

    Meanwhile, you are wrong — the Fed’s interest rates were going up rapidly by the time EVAT came around.

    You’re also way off base about lax bank regulations.

    The local banks, in fact, have been forced to clean up their books here. And have done quite well at doing so. It’s one of the reasons the present financial crisis hasn’t overwhelmed the country.

    The status of American investment banks vis-a-vis any lax regulations there, meanwhile, had zero impact on the Philippines, debts, ratings, or whatever.

    Sorry, hrvds, you ramble a lot and throw out sometimes-incorrect and usually-discombobulated bits and pieces of statements and predictions. I don’t much read your posts anymore.

    But, you know, just call me ignorant…..

45. Geo, let me try to review the points I’ve raised since 2005 (you can review this blog if you wish, particularly in the first months of the 2005 crisis). the crisis basically began when talk began to circulate that there was a pretty embarassing tape somewhere concerning the 2004 elections. what brought the rumor front and center was when the president’s own press guy presented two cd’s to the media, saying one was genuine, the other fake. the opposition, at the time pretty much moribund because it had lost (and its candidate was dead) came back to life and for the part of supporters of the president and others in neither camp, the question then became, if there’s smoke, is there fire?

    the palace presenting the tapes undercut its standing before the law, since it could not then say it was an aggrieved party under the anti-wiretapping law; applying the law without fear or favor would have scooped up admin and opposition figures alike; so instead, threats were used which only galvanized the public. for the pre-2004 opposition, the tapes were proof the 2004 election had been stolen. as for myself, i operated from the assumption the president had won, though now it was a question of whether she’d won by a slim margin or by a million votes as originally claimed.

    my main concern in those rollercoaster days and weeks was how the president could go about maintaining the confidence of those who’d campaigned and worked for her, and voted for her, in good faith. i felt that she had to react strongly, unequivocably asserting her innocence, and using the moral authority of her office to immediately resolve the issue, trusting in the public and her supporters to see how she’d been framed. instead, i felt that her reaction was shilly-shallying and worse, that what was obviously unfolding was a conspiracy to keep her from being exposed. she was trying to weasel her way out of it and i remarked on how her coming out fighting, after she learned her cabinet was divided and many of her most prominent backers had decided she should go, was what should have been her original and proper response, but it wasn’t the one she made -her “i am sorry” was, in fact, what made so many, including me, decide she should quit.

    the simplest solution, her quitting, having been taken off the table by a combination of factors, mistrust of the veep, FVR not having been consulted so sensing how he and JDV could save the President’s ass while extracting a commitment to essentially neutering her and instituting parliamentary (or essentially, Lakas) government in her stead, the gutlessness of the archbishop of Manila, the overconfidence of the Edsa Dos veterans who wanted the President out, the innate conservatism of the military, etc. meant she lived to fight another day and the round 2 of impeachment began.

    in the case of the first impeachment effort, i also pointed out i agreed with teddy boy locsin who sneered at the opposition for what he said was more of an obsession with “manufacturing a people power moment,” with the estrada impeachment in mind. according to him the opposition in the house was so overconfident, that they approved house rules that gave the majority a chance to reject the charges not on the basis of their merits, but on technicalities. this fatally hampered the effort and as the president gained breathing room, she marshaled her forces and stemmed the tide of desertions. she also had no compunctions utilizing the armed forces and when the armed forces looked like it was having second thoughts, using the police which made the armed forces and everyone else blanche at the thought of armed confrontation. add to that the division of the old edsa forces, who were split on the question of the veep, the pre 2004 opposition, and its identification with the relicts of the marcos era and you had the making of what we have had since: a war of attrition.

    but my main point, was that you do not have to look to 2004 specifically, to determine whether the president should remain in office. the whole handling of the crisis pointed to conspiracy, obstruction of justice, violations of human rights, and a whole slew of survival-related actions that were laying a bad precedent for accountabiluty of all future presidents, and so badly eroding the bureaucracy and out institutions that if we are to salvage anything she has to go.

    when the president tried to go back on the offensive after once more having her back to the wall in 06 (including the late 2005 visit of negroponte to tell the president washington wouldnt tolerate a martial law scenario), and when a state of emergency led to a public tug of war between one camp that wanted her to wield de facto martiallaw powers anyway and another that publicly thwarted that option, not to mention public opposition to her, the president’s counteroffensive included buying into the fr. intengan-and gonzalez scheme of liquidating civilians they considered part of the communist network of agitators, sympathizers, and fund raisers, etc. opposition in europe, the us and the un stopped it.

    at the same time in terms of evidence i felt the critics of the president were being held to too high a standard of evidence since impeachment etc are political processes and that what is required isn’t a standard of evidence required in courts of law where life, liberty, and property are at stake. all that was at stake is political office.

    for the determination of that fitness and whether the president had engaged in acts that made her unfit for office, i felt the evidence was ample, but only later, in late 06 and to 07, did i come to the conclusion, too, that a strong case for electoral fraud could be made regarding 2004, to made too.

    meanwhile the public and myself, too, had to mull why the war of attrition was taking place, why after the battleines were formed, they haven’t really budged. i’ve explored that often, ranging from the opposition having 50% give or take, but hopelessly divided among themselves, to the presdident having a failr solid 25% wityh only two divisions (the hard core loyalists and the conditional, only till 2010 or cha cha is achieved supporters, to another 25% mainly the middle class i think, who are paralyzed by the trauma of the urban insurrection of may 2001, to a fear of the unexpected and a lack of a qualified successor, and who thus essentially support the president by not casting their lot with the opposition, because you have a 50-50 parity in society.

    and there are many reasons for this, part of it laziness and double-dealing, a lack of imagination on the part of many oppositionists, to the economic climate allowing us to coast along, to demographic changes that simply made it irrelvant to many filipinos oriented abroad, already abroad, or living off the hard work of relatives abroad, to care one way or another. there are times the logjam has come close to being broke -in 06 by the military, the zte thing, cha-cha round 1- but from a combination of these factors and the president learning from experience how to home her defense and divide her critics, the great division remains.

    i added further that there might be wisdom in the public essentially sending the message that they wanted a peaceful resolution, an institutional arena, and for the opposition to get its act together even as they made no bones about most of them being appaled and disgusted by the president’s behavior and that of her people. and my personal belief that the logjam can’t be broken by giving up or letting things alone because if she, at a minimum, steps down on june 30 2010, the damage will be permanent to our institutions and the political culture. it would be a very clear underlining of the fundamental lessons from martial law: that nice guys finish last, it’s not how you play the game but winning that only matters, etc. while her leaving office prior to 2010 will at least provide the opportunity for a gradual though long term pushing back against the degenerate political system already degenerating before her, but whose degeneracy has accelerated because of her fight for survival and the advantage her supporters have taken from her weakness.

46. Actually, mlq3, I’m well aware of your views since the 2005 days. You’ve done a nice job in summarizing them in that last post…which meshes facts, astute observations and what I think are falsehoods and misinterpretations.

    I think I can’t post again for many hours, so let me ask you the same thing I asked you (and Ricky) back in 2005 — if you are wrong about the tapes being authentic and adequate…can you imagine how much damage will be done going forward?

    Take your story, mlq3 and now retell it from the perspective that GMA never cheated and that she and her entourage felt the attempts to oust her from power were unfair, illegal and connived. GMA and crew knew that the country was split 50-50, but that their own 50% contained many who could switch allegiances in a flash. They knew emotions were being stirred up to help get the job done…to get her booted.

    If that was the case, re-read history from that perspective. I have read yours (and similar ones) for months and years…please try to spend a long time with an open mind and go through the events. I wonder if you can appreciate the different perspective if you start with the premise that Garci was a doctored weapon meant to do exactly what it did.

47. sorry…that should have been “…authentic and *accurate*…”

48. Oh, I always try to consider things from the perspective of the President and also, what if she is the victim of a left-right conspiracy. Not least because I know genuinely good or sincere people who believe she has finally wielded strong executive authority as it ought to be wielded, that despite being misunderstood and blocked, she has exercised formidable political will and an astounding political dexterity, and that she has accomplished a lot more in her time of office than perhaps all her post-marcos predecessors combined. hence not every person supportive of the president does so because they were paid, or are a stooge, or are cynical or criminal.

    but the inability of anyone to persuasively make this case is as much due to the sheer impossibiliity of doing so, as it is to the central dictum of propaganda that at the heart of every lie lies a grain of truth. there is simply too much in the way of weaving a tale along the lines you desire. what i think is more logical and more possible is that she has had a shrewd appreciation of the powers, both legal and moral, both formal and informal, of her office, a keener grasp of detail, much more luck, than all those who thought they had her, the institutions at play, and the population, figured out.

    from a purely amoral perspective she is truly remarkable and accomplished. but even if i were to play devil’s advocate, the situation that unfolded was more a case of luck -and in history this is the true unponderable in the destinies of leaders and nations- than any rightness in her cause. you see, the tape, adopting the most generous interpretation, was selectively edited to leave out the culpability of the opposition and to retain only the things that would cast the president in the worst possible light. yet she failed, for whatever reason, to produce the full tape: either because it was in the hands of forces she could not influence (say, the united states), or because while indicting the opposition, it would still indict her.

    the best she could ever argue was that it was her voice but not her speaking; and that even though she introduced it into the public arena everyone would henceforth be forbidden from accessing it or introducing it into the political equation. there were so few cards in her hands that she was prepared to flee the country but the intervention of fvr and jdv is what saved her. then the bishops, who blanched at the idea of being responsible for a new government they didn’t want.

    there is no way this story can be told other than from the most basic level of a president who has lost the benefit of the doubt in a significant portion of the ruling class, of the institutional mandarins, and the population but who at least had more spine and gumption than an ailing marcos or a befuddled and in the end, timid estrada. but that’s it, in the end that was the position they were in in being discredited, fairly or not, in the eyes of the public; except she eventually refused to cut and cut cleanly, and summoned more spiritual, financial, and legal reserves than those two men.

    i’d love to see you lay the case for the president as persecuted, misunderstood, and utterly innocent of all the accusations, though, at your convenience and leisure. it’s beyond my imagination, however much i try.

49. justice league :

    “What the heck!”

    yeah what the heck

    “So they not only have to be opposition by heart or simply opposition but card/placard carrying members of the opposition as well?”

    i don’t know. i only look at who’s doing some good.

    “If so, where does the distinction of “the job-creating opposition or the just-noisy opposition” come in?”

    who’s doing the country some good – those who create the jobs and business (for suppliers which also create jobs) or those who strongly believe shouting ‘patalsikin na now na’ is the only patriotic thing to do?

    “How about when the MBC shouldered a sizable part of the expenses on the interfaith rally in Makati sometime in March because of NBN ZTE deal?”

    i don’t know. still MBC is not Ayala. it would be different if one of the Ayala brothers was there speaking at the interfaith rally

    ” “noted. your point?”- What the heck again!”

    to a big fan of the Distinguished Competition – i could not see the point why you wrote “Of course those are no match to when the government redefined those who are employed and unemployed in 2004. Literally hundreds of thousands of jobs were generated overnight” especially when you began your post with references to the Ayalas and the Lopezes

    “You can stop your preccupation on who produces jobs for this and that because this government has shown that it can whiff it OUT OF THIN AIR!”

    oh really? are you satisfied with that? im not. because as you stated, only hundreds of thousand of jobs are created by the whiffing. the country needs at least 10 million jobs.

    the government can only whiff out so much

    “Being a collector of comics back in the last century, I firmly believe that Superman would beat Thor even if the mighty Thor had his Mjolnir hammer.”

    but Thor can use enchantment, which is Superman’s biggest weakness

    “DC would have won the war for the Universe if underdog Storm had not surprisingly beaten Wonder Woman.”

    i thought that was not surprising. i expected DC will win 3-2. i never expected the mutants to lose due to their popularity (i can’t take Lobo losing to Wolverine). i correctly predicted that Superman and Batman will win. for me, the turning point was Spiderman’s win over Superboy

    btw try visiting

    http://www.comicboards.com/comicbattles

50. oh no that walang kamatayang ‘Hello Garci’ pa rin!

    there are soooo many reasons why ‘Hello Garci ‘ did not snowball into gloria’s removal

    1.premature disclosure – eager beaver Allan Paguia wanted a place in the history books like Chavit Singson so he went public with his adulterated version of the tapes

    erap’s lawyer coming out with a supposedly smoking gun vs gloria which is not even the tape as given to him! – who would believe that!

    sayang. Kit Tatad must be fuming mad at Paguia

    2. they’re “incredible” – those gung ho to remove gloria using “Hello Garci” are well-known to be “its-our-turn” politicians. a big huge turn-off to the people.

    back in 2001, the anti-erap forces are not perceived to be “kami naman!” politicians hence the public’s support for them

    the messenger is the message. what a terrifying message (of the “Hello Garci” proponents)

    that “pekeng presidente” was always uttered by people linked to erap and other “kami naman! pols really did not help the “Hello Garci” cause

    3. “Hello Garci” isnt enough. all it shows is that gloria talked to a COMELEC official. for dagdag-bawas evidence, actual proof of cheating that actually changed the outcome is essential.

    if you add up all the supposed documented instances of cheating and counted the votes in favor of FPJ, the result is still the same – GMA won, bolstering the view that all cheating is on the winning margin.

    one can say that gloria cheated. but its wrong to say that FPJ was cheated out of a win (votes for him changed into gloria votes). it wasn’t like Enrile’s win over Pimentel in the 1995 Senate elections.

    4. the ‘united’ opposition is still romanticized by people power it thought that its disclosure of “Hello Garci” will naturally result in people power.

    how presumptuous.

    maybe people power could have resulted if the neutral third party Kit Tatad had in mind did the disclosure of “Hello Garci”

    5. the ‘united’ opposition was sooo eager to prove cheating it forgot that mere talking to a COMELEC official is already an impeachable offense. even gloria admitted that! no need for “Hello Garci” to show that she talked to a COMELEC guy.

    6. the unity of the ‘united’ opposition ends with its name

    7. FPJ’s death. his protest died with him

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