Every embassy has some sort of political officer, or section, charged with the duty of compiling information on the local scene and key players, and transmitting that information to the home office. The question of how we should treat an associate of Sen. Lacson engaging the assistance of a Filipino-American working for the U.S. government, to leak what the US government knows about Philippine officials, is a case of two levels of interest. The first is purely an American concern -a case of one of their own government people betraying his country, or at the very least, violating security protocols. The second, is that it is a national security concern if we presume that the information shared with the opposition is first, solely harmful to the administration (because either only about the administration, or only contains items harmful to it) and second, only received by the opposition and not the administration. What the Americans decide to do with their official is their concern. What our officials decide to do with fellow Filipino officials is our concern. The proper disposition of the case depends both on the kind of information that was shared, what inducements, if any, resulted in the information, and the purpose for which the information was gathered. If, for example, as sometimes is the case, a set of press clippings was sent from Manila to Washington, stamped “confidential” or “secret,” and in turn, the information was collated in a report, also stamped “secret,” and sent then by the agent to Manila, the information is virtually worthless, and the only issue was that American security was breached: the information itself, while worthless, would only be useful in that it would show either how weak, or strong, American data-gathering is, and that Filipinos would know just what, exactly, engages the interest of Americans.
I’ll say this though: as it stands, the case being filed by American authorities against one of their own (and his accomplices) may hurt the political opposition (the Lacson and Estrada camps) and thereby help the administration, but it helps the opposition more, in that the factors that have been hurting the opposition have been, precisely, the presence of Marcos, Lacson, Estrada and the Communists in the opposition. Imee Marcos already self-destructed. Let us presume both Lacson and Estrada are now self-destructing. This will tend to shift the balance in favor of the so-called “Middle Forces.” That’s not good for the administration (which may have been in the list of people receiving leaked information, anyway).
Another emerging story is the lobbying contract signed by a member of the cabinet, which seems to have taken the rest of the administration by surprise. Why would you lobby the Americans for charter change? Because you can dangle it as an opportunity to help achieve certain strategic objectives for the Americans. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Philippine government funds aren’t being used for the contract, but instead, other funds, possibly of foreign origin, meant as assistance precisely to accomplish objectives favorable to the United States. Emil Jurado correctly points out that hiring American lobbyists has been a practice adopted by all Philippine presidents (PCIJ focuses on the lobbying undertaken by the present administration and also on consultants for image-handling), and so the question should be, as Dan Mariano asks, what does the Philippines have to gain by engaging a lobbyist for charter change? To be more specific, let’s ask, who has been the most adamant in pushing for charter change, and who is said to enjoy American support for his espousal for charter change? American support is never given merely for idealistic reasons, but rather, to further American strategic and economic interests. (The Star actually has an interesting editorial on the difficulties that confront foreign investment).
Newsboy has scuttlebutt on both the spying and lobbying issues. His scuttlebutt links old scuttlebutt to the new. The result is quite a lurid conspiracy theory.
A third story to watch is the request of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting made to the Comelec, to investigate fraud during the last national elections. I think the groundwork is being made for the Catholic bishops to become more combative come January, when the leadership of the CBCP changes (Bishop Capalla’s vow to prevent the issuance of a statement highly critical of the administration, not merely because he is favorably inclined to the President, but because provincial bishops remain concerned over the issues being Manila-centric, have given the President an additional lease on life but things may hit high gear come January).
Ricky Carandang, in a two part series, Game Over Part 1 and Game Over Part 2, dissects the pillars of support necessary for political survival, and why the President retains, at least on paper, most of them. He then goes on to dissect the reluctance of the middle class, which he says is on the whole, not happy with the President, to come out against her. This is a very subtle, and nuanced, dissection, and makes for provocative reading. In particular, in Part 1, he suggests:
After all, whoever leaked the Garci tapes and set off the worst political crisis in her presidency was obviously following another agenda, not hers. And he’s certainly not a civilian.
Whatever does he mean? Elementary, dear Watson. The biggest question of all remains, who released the Hello, Garci tapes, and why. To know who and why, is to know a lot of things, and will clarify much that is keeping the middle forces on the sidelines. Good deductive work, however, would indicate that Carandang suggests: whoever leaked the tapes was not a civilian, and it was certainly with an objective in mind inimical to the President’s interests. But I would add one thing: one advantage the President has, as far as those who may be critical of her now, or who don’t have a high opinion of her, is that there were simply too many witting (in contrast to unwitting) accomplices to the effort to ensure an administration victory by whatever means, to prevent the possibility of an FPJ victory: in other words, the dedication of many who actually worked hard and even sacrificed during Edsa I and II to restore democracy, willingly subverted it in 2004: and are stuck with the consequences of their actions. I have a simple explanation for it: class bias to the extent that it trumps any appeal to conscience or ethics. Why, for example, was Clarissa Ocampo a hero, and say, Dinky Soliman is a traitor or Michaelangelo Zuce a fraud? All three, objectively, turned their backs on their employers and revealed what they were duty-bound not to reveal. Chinese account holders in the bank Ocampo worked for, it seems, were more consistent than civil society people who continue to praise Ocampo while condemning Soliman and Zuce on often superficial, aesthetic, grounds.
There’s an interesting difference of opinion between Edwin Lacierda and Newsstand on the question of how the military should respond to the President’s prerogatives as commander-in-chief. Newsstand, incidentally, has interesting pieces on the public’s devotion to processes, and asking whether Archbishop Oscar Cruz has become too much the politician. Also note his personal preference not to quote “net” ratings.
BuzzMachine thinks all newspapers should shift to “tabloid” format and that newspapers are being too cautious when they’re already risking going extinct.
Finally, a poignant observation about Philippine society from Madame Chiang.
Addendum: Last Wednesday, I heard that the Ateneo-La Salle Game would feature both sides unfurling “We want the truth!” banners or something like that. Yesterday I heard the protest action, apparently planned as a joint effort of the Ateneo and La Salle alumni (imagine that!) didn’t push through because it was vetoed by the Araneta Coliseum management.
classic spy-game powerplay…
this needs due reference – i suggest the film SUM OF ALL FEARS perhaps
lacson in an interview refered to michael aquino & aragoncilio as patriots. how is it possible if aragoncilio has sworn alegiance to the american flag w/c than makes him a traitor and aquino is filipino only by citizenship but his loyalty is to lacson.
if i never gave it a second thought to listen to the opposition is because i have always known that those accusing pgma are equally as dirty if not dirtier and are just using well meaning people as their cover.
archbishop cruz is one frustrated person who is pretending that he can get rid of sin.i’m really curious what achivents he has if any in his own diosces.
correction, clarissa ocampo was in the right place in the right time, she did not work under the president.
dinky soliman is a plain and simple “snitch” and always presentada to testify.
credibility of witneses has a lot to do where they are coming from.
clarissa was a professional banker who happened to witness something irregular.
I think anyone who has dirty hands too will always be questioned. If anyone w/ dirty hands wants to go stright he must do so cause it’s the right thing to do.but to present himself as a witness to show his conversion is pretending to much.
i just wounder how would you feel if a trusted friends turns on you and spreads stories.
clarissa ocampo saw something that was ok with the banks, and maybe even ok with the law, but definitely improper -which is why people with accounts in the bank pulled out their accounts, because if bank employees start judging clients, then who knows what will happen (so they move their money to foreign banks which are beyond the reach of our laws). I think what she did was a good thing, but from a banker’s point of view, it was an unforgivable sin. in other words, she broke banking practice to help the public.
I’d also say: when the president is the main controversy, the cleanliness of those against the president is beside the point. the president, not the accusers, are the issue. the only problem is, if the president reflects the values of the upper and middle class, and the accusers do not, then this criteria will be ignored. I’ll put it another way: in any political fight, you must have an issue; an issue only sticks if its a genuine issue; an issue is only genuine if it matters and is worthy of attention. the accusations of the president is a genuine issue, and of course those always against her will be the first to use it; those who were once with her, can ignore the issue, or reflect if the issue means the president no longer deserves support.
and i wonder about archbishop cruz. isn’t it a bishop’s job to fight sin? is the problem cruz, or that too few bishops are like cruz? perhaps cruz takes christ’s example of hanging out with tax collectors and prosecutors too seriously. the times, after all, have changed.
my view is the only problem with soliman and company is that they’re not willing to tell all, now, and risk the consequences.
Good Point there re: ocampo, dinky and zuce.
Why people say ‘magkaiba’ sila is something
my mind cannot fathom.
why can’t other ‘holier-than-thou’ pinoys look at dinky and zuce, or even
sandra in the same light?
mas credible [kaya] sila?
may discrimination din ba sa pagtingin sa tao
sa loob ng sariling bansa?
tanong lang po….
The dilemma for Ping Lacson is that his constituency is the upper and middle classes. They are attracted to his competent, no-nonsense, strongman image. This FBI squeeze play shows that Ping Lacson is not on the shortlist of the U.S.A.’s fair-haired boys. What’s more, it gives the impression that he’s on the U.S. shitlist. That is a turn-off for the middle class.
The Leftists will not accept that it matters whom the U.S. is perceived to support, but the Leftists are not attuned to reality. The Communist front, Migrante, called for the OFW’s to withhold remittances to the Philippines. Lo and behold, OFW remittances went up by a whopping 25.7% in July and 22% for the whole of this year! The Leftists can’t get it that the middle class abhors them. Fronts like Migrante make a lot of noise but are in fact just Communist fronts. Unwittingly, the Left are Gloria Arroyo’s best allies.
because Dinky worked with GMA and she shouted wolf
only when she thought that the house was going to be down by huff and puff of the foxes when she left the straw house and seek a possible lodging with another possible leader.
because she resorted to crying to the media every time her position is in jeopardy.
why do i remember the late haydee yorac? because when she could not stomach what she observed, she tendered her resignation without much fanfare.
re: self-destruction of Imee
in one of the articles, here, I wrote the possible reason of Imee’s disappearing act during the voting for impeachment was the tiff between the family.
Somebody countered that it is impossible since she and noynoy are not only civil to each other but are also in the same fence right now.
The latest news said that she was warned by her mother to join Cory.
If this is really the reason, one might consider the factor in the political clan, that in decision-making that would affect the family, the matriarch has still the last word.
Carl, very true. I guess there goes the rumor that Lacson has US support. I remember frankly telling someone supporting Migrante’s call for withholding remittances that it was a wrong move, and counterproductive and pretty much economic sabotage. They were shocked and rather irritated with me.
Your implication that the funds for the U.S. lobbying contract may very well have come from U.S. sources is so plausible that it should be the presumptive explanation till shown otherwise.
I’ve been in the Philippine energy business for some time and I know firsthand that most (almost all?) of the consulting funds to analyze energy issues comes from the U.S. (and U.K. and Japan). [To top it off, the Filipino people end of paying for in loan repayments]
I’ve long felt that the Filipino people should pony up some of their own funds for these advisory services (and decide who gets it) – just to get rid of the prejudicial viewpoints of (often unsuspecting) hired guns that have interests other than those of the Philippine people.
Come on how can you look kindly at Dinky? She campaigns with GMA and says so many nice things about si “Maam” si “Maam”, then cries when her job is being taken away and then goes back when it is restored back, then convinces her boss to admit the tape and then pakanta kanta pa and then turns her back and says so many nasty things.pinagreresign pa boss niya…..Buti pa si Judas nagpakamatay sa hiya niya. There is no class bias here…when you accuse you must have clean hands.
I don’t think Lacson was ever a US boy. He’s too “dark” a figure making him unpredictable and a hard read…
Whoever was behind the Garci tapes has a good “squeeze” on GMA now. Boy, did she ever displease someone is all I can say…
credibility of witnesses comes a lot from what they have said before; from a reputation of telling the truth.
black is black regardless of who calls it black. there’s evidence vs gma. if you have evidence against the opposition, go ahead and present it. let’s make them all accountable. question away those who have unclean hands but it doesnt remove the humungus mound of dirt covering gloria.
imelda convinced imee out of voting no to the committee resn because she is pro-gma which comes from trying to finagle a burial for fm in bonifacio.
aquino might get off as the requisites for spying in the us do not seem to be all there in his case.
this may also be an implied u.s. ditching of gma. the complaint (pp7-8) hints on fbi discussions/conclusions re: gma’s imminent downfall.
the talk is the palace is fearful of what dinky might say for she knows a damagingly great deal. that is why malacanang is goimg all out to discredit her. i have a problem with her reticence, too. just talk, will you, dinky?!! what are you holding out for?
I agree with you Manolo. There is some amount of class bias going on here.
And I don’t agree that you must have clean hands in order to accuse anybody. Ultimately, an accusation must be considered on its merits more than the cleanliness of the accuser.
It seems to many people, Dinky’s “sin”of betraying her boss outweighs the sin of her boss’ betrayal of the public trust. Must be a catholic thing. But hey , that’s just me and my screwed up values.
I’m not surprised that the other cabinet officials were not aware of the Venable contract. This administration has consistently shown that its left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Funds are either going to come from the President’s discretionary funds (Pagcor?) or from private sources. If the latter, does anyone know if this “gift” has to be reported? It would be interesting to know who would be generous enough to donate roughly P50 million during these times of crises. I seem to recall that the FVR and Erap administrations had the same type of arrangement when they retained Patton Boggs as their lobbyists. Some things never change . . . The charter change excuse is as lame an excuse as I’ve ever seen.
BTW, looks like fallout against those who opposed GMA has already started. See Cebu’s Sun Star Daily headline today regarding the filing of charges against Rep. Clavel Martinez of Cebu. Great timing and a clear warning to those who seek to challenge GMA.
truth is only the truth when it is complete. in search for the truth about gma, all the connected facts should come out, our history included. amongst our more senior political analysts, i think i only heard randy david talk about this seriously. i hope scholars would volunteer their collaborate with him. he may be one of our brightest, but he can’t do it alone. and if his ship sails, i hope they start from the birth of the republic.
many truths found in text books, nonetheless, are already incontrovertible. perhaps the more relevant, as regard’s this day’s topic, is that the u.s. govt has taken away so much from us in return for so little. i do not trust them. the recent turn of events only raises my suspicions on their intentions. so they are maintaining a dossier on our activities here? openly it has also been announced that they had observers come over for the 2004 elections. what was the purpose of that? tell me, where is the list of the local officials who helped them in gathering data? that too must be put in the open.
for the picky: excuse the “volunteer their collaborate with him.” part…tao lang po
…brightest…regard’s…hehehe
the rivalry between cory and imelda was even way back before ninoy married cory. imelda felt she was rejected by ninoy in favor of a rich girl.
she could dance with the devil but not with cory.
read pedrosa.
JB, politics is a rough-and-tumble world. Clavel Martinex knows that. She and her husband are trapos who have been playing the game for years. She succeeded her husband in congress while the husband ran for governor. The son is a mayor. As a matter of fact, they are so bent in forming their own political dynasty in northern Cebu that they initiated the breakup of Cebu province. She sucked up to GMA during the elections and was one of her staunchest defenders. The fallout only came because she found out that GMA was actually giving more support to the Martinez’ political foes, the Garcias. No amount of tearful dramatics will erase the fact that Clavel is a hardened trapo who is aware of how the dirty game is played. It is purely pragmatic politics that drives Martinez, no higher ideals whatsoever. No need to feel sorry for their kind.
To a degree, that is also the reason why there is no sympathy for Dinky Soliman. She was a very active player in the dirty game of politics. She was a very visible campaigner and apologist for GMA. She even did the whole “kapit tuko” thing. The public is not stupid, they know a political animal when they see one. In the case of Clarissa Ocampo, she was never involved in politics. And, unlike Dinky Soliman and Sandra Cam, she shunned the limelight.
JB, politics is a rough-and-tumble world. Clavel Martinex knows that. She and her husband are trapos who have been playing the game for years. She succeeded her husband in congress while the husband ran for governor. The son is a mayor. As a matter of fact, they are so bent in forming their own political dynasty in northern Cebu that they initiated the breakup of Cebu province. She sucked up to GMA during the elections and was one of her staunchest defenders. The fallout only came because she found out that GMA was actually giving more support to the Martinez’ political foes, the Garcias. No amount of tearful dramatics will erase the fact that Clavel is a hardened trapo who is aware of how the dirty game is played. It is purely pragmatic politics that drives Martinez, no higher ideals whatsoever. No need to feel sorry for their kind.
To a degree, that is also the reason why there is no sympathy for Dinky Soliman. She was a very active player in the dirty game of politics. She was a very visible campaigner and apologist for GMA. She even did the whole “kapit tuko” thing. The public is not stupid, they know a political animal when they see one. In the case of Clarissa Ocampo, she was never involved in politics. And, unlike Dinky Soliman and Sandra Cam, she shunned the limelight.
Discrimination is not the reason why people would prefer to believe Ocampo than Cam and Suze.
Class does not come with the degree that a person profess. It’s the way they handled their appearance in public.
Analysts should take note that the people are very much sensitive to the body language.
Ocampo handled herself very well. Poised and calm and no histrionics compared to Cam and Suze.
As regards Soliman, if I were an employer, I would not hire her even if she is willing to sign several papers of confidentiality clause.
now roy golez is aaallll preachy with his fire and brimstone about why is the united states spying on the philippines. hay naku, these politicos talaga and their convenient rhetorics! ewan ko lang, but i think this is normal for developed countries to have a dossier on countires where they have interests, diba? hell, the united states have arrested chinese spies in their weapons testing lab a few years ago diba? and where do they think these travel advisories and country analyses come from? sa bagay, its not as if roy golez used to head the national security council…. wait a minute!!!!
now the HONORABLE congressman satur ocampo will initiate a congressional investigation on the intrusion of america to our internal affairs… and there goes their chakra: “ibagsak ang us-marcos, oops, auino, oops, ramos, oops, estrada, oops arroyo dictatorship at ang imperyalismo!”
darlene custodio was right, nawawalan na rin ako ng pag-asa sa bulok na politiko. and she should also include the people egging her on. the good people who joined the bukluran because they really want change should know enough to clean their ranks of the users and their agendas… because being raped in the @$$ is not fun at all.
hi.
dinky and the rest of the hyatt 10 were/are discredited by their pa-self-important attitudes.
without fanfare, they should have just resigned, explained themselves individually, and let the people decide.
instead, they trumped themselves up as ‘heroes’. we need heroes like them like we need the plague.
Wait a minute. Ocampo is as much guilty as hell as dinky soliman. THEY ARE ALL SNITCHES. but Dinky Soliman DIDNT THE BROKE THE LAW when she snitched, Ocampo DID. Manolo is right the accusation is the ISSUE not the ACCUSER. by the way did you know the consequences of that Ocampo’s betrayal? ask those bank employees who got axed because of the bank’s meltdown. pathetic. obviously a classic class bias bullshit.
That Veneble Contract is dangerous and can be considered Treason. Imagine asking for money from the americans for our Constition’s amendmends? if they give in whats the catch? syempre they are going to insert some provisions that are one sided to their interest. Thats how the americans work. thats going to happen. dont kid yourself that someone will shell out money for your house remodeling with out asking something in return except if they are from a good foundation. but america isnt a good foundation and they dont give anything with out getting a bigger return of investment.
wake up and wonder what the hell is going on.
the amazing thing about pinoymasa (and politicos specifically) is its (it as a collective reference of numbers) ability to be superbly resourceful and skilled when it comes to info gathering and burying their fiends…now if only that can used in a constructive way…say finding the lost philippine wealth? or pinpointing criminal big fish (fishes perhaps)…di ako magdadalawang isip “magbayong sa ulo” kung ganung klaseng tao ang ituturo…
by the way…
what clarissa ocampo broke was public trust…too bad she worked for a bank…too bad for the bank and its customers…
what dinky soliman broke was a friend’s trust…something personal but nonetheless hurts more than being trampled upon by a great number of people…too bad for GMA she became an opponent…too bad for us Dinky still harbors a feeling of guilt and loyalty to GMA (or else she had spilled all the beans already)…
now what hurts more and what matters most???
thanks manolo, i really appreciate your point of view.
i think if it’s only because of pulling out of money, that moeny will eventually come back as it already did.
i think have much to do about being honest also but because they are a business they look the other way.
honestly manolo do you really believe jueteng will ever be history or sin will never excsist?
i think we are lossing time in particulars.
i think we should be more concerned to looking for better economic conditions.
hagedorns campign to get rid of jueteng has displaced many dependent on it.but if they do not find a honest livelyhood soon they will be back at it again.
that is why my line of thinking is to squeez our brains to find solutions to problems.
lets go to the roots of the problem.
exposing scandals & digging for goverments faults provides only material for newspapers and media but the problems are never solved as they have never been through the decades.
i think the church should provide society w/ food for the soul.they must help us to have deep religious roots so that we may not be carried away by the winds wherever it blows.
religion in the philippines has been about rituals and filling-up churches on sundays but it has never really been accepted as a spirit that is relevant to our actions & behavior.
lets face it.tragicaly society is really rotten to the bone.lets makes things clear that if anyone wants to reform, he must do it.he to must make
acts of reparations to society.but never go to the senate or use media.it’s a curse one will have forever for haveing been stupid.lets not fool ourselves that those characters can help.
pls. naman lets have higher standards and better ingredients.becasue if not, the tipping will never happen and we just dig ourselves a deeper hole.
3 months has passed & i think this crisis was based on so many “maling akala”
lets put and end to it,
taipan88, it’s not about the holier-than-thou or even descrimanation.
maybe it’s about our “puwede na” attitude
if we are really serious about what we want we must be careful about the materials and ingredients.
i think that if we want to bring the debate to a higher level we must have higher standards.
maybe this is the division that exsist in society today. between those who will accept just about anything and those who are not easely carried-away.
if you where a good salesman u would think harder of the quality of the product your selling.
No one will hear you if you dont go to the media. Youre a nobody if you are not in the senate. Nobody will know what you want to change with out those 2 you mentioned. I watched last night that korina sanchez show about the solution of something. the dude with a harvard education proposed like 12 little things to do. maybe if people follow that things will dramatically change. but no one will hear it if he didint go to media. (btw manolo you look good in that interview bt i noticed you have a smoker lips. You smoke?)
Hagedorn’s praise release was just a praise for himself. I asked my friend if jueteng stopped inour province and he said no. It is still on going ( if you must know the labas ngayon tanghali its 3/17). you cannot stop it. and if you want to stop it by the way then stop betting on it.
napanood ko din yung sa ANC kaninang madaling araw…kuya manolo is the book (The Tipping Point) a great read? inputs anyone?
Ed, that guy has been going around quietly pitching his book. he seems actually rather shy about the media. what are smoker’s lips? i do smoke pero ano yun?
jay, interesting siya, pero to to get the main points, you don’t have to buy it, do a search in my blog, you’ll find an earlier entry of mine where I link to a website that has a summary of the book.
thanks…by the way…yung smokers lip ata eh parang namamaga yung labi or something hehehe…i have it too panigurado for the reasons that i smoke like hell…i did a short search and it came out as a condition where the lower lip seems to protrude a tad…nothing serious
manolo, smoker lips medyo maitim yung labi. 😀 (ive been trying to stop chain smoking and now I only smokes 5 sticks a day).
Did you get the dude’s name? medyo parang naiiyak sya dun sa interview nyang yun. the guy’s idea isnt bad no? nabigyan ka ng complimentary copy? hihihi share naman jan!
kuya manolo just in case…if you find the time please visit the one.org site (i think its the umbrella org of our local white-band.org and endpoverty-philippines)…they have a cool banner wrapper ( a white band flash code that can be inserted in the blog body )…and i suggest that you put a chat box on the side just in case…
The dude who wrote about the 12 simple rules is Atty. Alexander Ledesma Lacson. He attended PMA but dropped out to take up law. I’m not sure if he attended Harvard. Yes, if everyone follows his 12 simple rules, we could have a better Philippines. People have always had a short attention span. Like the 10 Commandments, it’s best to keep things simple.
Regarding Clarissa Ocampo’s breach of trust, that may be so by the unwritten rules of banking. However, before she testified, her bank was also experiencing a bank run. As a matter of fact, the bank’s management encouraged her to testify to prevent the run. In the end, the bank run stopped and it has since become one of the biggest and more profitable banks. So much so that no less than Henry Sy of SM wants to take it over.
“One must not only avoid evil, but the appearance of evil itself.” wala sanang masyadong gulo or pagdududa…
The Ca t is right. clarissa ocampo handled hersilf w/ composure and carried herself very well. classy lady.
i also agree with Carl. pci bank already had a run because it was too closely identified w/ erap. dick romulo and the other members of the bank’s board urged clarissa ocampo to testify to prevent the bank from going under. so clarissa ocampo actually saved a lot of jobs, not caused them to be lost.
can’t argue about class bias. but dinky soliman looks trying too hard. even those fake native outfits she wears and the colorful streaks on her hair. it’s all so tacky. hindi sya natural. sorry to say, but she’s not classy.
Ed, but lets not pretend that media is the proper channel. bottom line is that what ever you say will stand in a court of justice.
the pro impeachment congressmen used media to the hilt. did it get them anywhere?
media can be used for good or make make a fool of yoursel.
i admire atty. lacson, his a wise man, he thinks of what he can contribute.
yes carl i agree, clarissa actions saved the bank.
whereas, the “kiss & tell 10” further brough down the economy!
the pathetic thing about it they are still “trying hard” to be understood and accepted.
the book “tipping point” is very timely. if you really want a chnage and not just a substitution of one personality to another, quality ingredients are fundamental.but if you settle for chip staff you get garbage.
ed, hagedorn can be judged in all possible ways,but the bottom line is always of looking for other means of living for those involved in jueteng.it’s about looking for better alternatives.
i think a parlamentary system will help insolate our politics from major dity money.
we must really work hard for solutions and not faults.
maybe thats the reason why equitable and pci merged together! and with that merger comes the axe. great way to put it. sorry r. dela Torre because of the merger you dont have a job anymore.
Thats also the reason why millions of dollars went abroad instead of keeping it on our banks.
Ed, the Gokongweis and the Lopezes sold out their majority ownership in PCI. I believe the money the Gokongweis got was invested back into their other companies like Cebu Pacific, Jack N Jill and the Robinsons malls. In the case of the Lopezes, they took a big black-eye with Maynilad Water. So maybe the proceeds of PCI Bank partly went to cover their loses there. I’m not sure if that much of the money went abroad.
But the guy who made a huge bundle of money on the PCI and Equitable Bank merger was Erap. He actually forced his friend George Go, the owner of Equitable, to buy PCI. Equitable was a much smaller bank and didn’t have the resources to buy PCI. But Erap got GSIS and SSS to invest in PCI and assign the shares to Equitable. He used people’s money. And on top of that, he received over 1 billion pesos as commission for arranging the purchase. Erap’s capital was literally “laway”. So if your friend lost his job, blame Erap. Unfortunately, we never prosecute big-time crooks in this country. The Marcoses are still enjoying their wealth. Now, Erap still has his loot. And he is using some of it to pay those who attend rallies and to pay off spies like Aragoncillo. It was Erap money that paid Sgt. Doble the P2 million he asked for the “Garci tapes”. It’s money vs. money. Crooks vs. crooks.
Have to disagree with your point that it does not matter how dirty the opposition people are..
That is why you have not been able to get people on to the streets, Because everyone would like a partially corrupt person than a fully corrupt person.
Lacson is the issue here with his cohorts not the president, and we all know the dirt is there it is just getting someone who will not get killed to open their mouth.
This is also why we have other people talking behind glorias back even if it is not true she is not going to seed gun toting people around to their houses. Whereas with Lascon everyone is scared shittless as they see the courts as an extension of his corruption…
Look at the comentarties and other blogs he is portrayed as a very dangerous person, where as Glorisa is just portrayed as Corupt.
Corupt is much easier to live with than blood on your hands..
And Cruz is not really chasing after sin he is running his own witch hunt which we all know will not end untill the legalization of the numbers game. Look at drugs and other illegal activites even in the most oppressive countries it still exists, so untill you lock everyone up it will continue, and then it will occur in the jail system.
He should take up a cause on life and death and mistreatment of people such as Prostitution and GRO’s in bars. Look in Angeles city, Do the figures more lives “conception” are lost there than in the entire country with Jueting.
And also it is degrading to the women in our society like the midday TV now days. Much better causes there than the gambling..
In the ten comandments it never mentions betting as a sin.. but it does have this… READ IT LOUD CRUZ….
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”
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