PLAK! Pera lang ang katapat.

Questions: Why would a Comelec Commissioner and a Shariah Court judge allow themselves to be ridiculed by a neophyte senator who himself has been accused of graft? Why would people lie outright on national TV? What self-respect will be left to those who are caught lying and continue to prevaricate? Why are they willing to be subjected to public humiliation because they are caught cheating, lying and abusing their given authority? Why do they continue to cover-up for a cheater, liar, stealer? Why would people decry the present government, only to make a complete turn-around? Remember Mahusay? Mahusay ang pagkagawa!

One simple answer: PLAK. Pera Lang ang Katapat. Some other people have discovered how much the Commissioner and Judge cost, and have paid them accordingly. Everybody in Philippine politics can be labeled as either "sold" or "for sale". Almost no exception, especially those 50 years and above. We see bright, articulate young men on TV, but it's easy to label them as "sold". Mike Defensor comes to mind. Chiz Escudero? Hmm, let's all groom him as "not for sale".

Let’s get it on!

GMA is clearly in denial. At her SONA, she made no mention of the political crisis she caused on herself and on the country. She said she will continue her economic reforms regardless of the costs. Coming from one with an MS, that means More of the Same programs that she has been imposing on us for five years. And the lady has a PhD too, that means we’ll be buried under programs Piled higher and Deeper. There’s no escape for the Filipino people.

Meanwhile, she is opening the ChaCha debate to escape from the rut she is in. She took the JDV and FVR bait on the parliamentary system. JDV has been ranting on the benefits of the parliamentary system in Europe, and why the Filipinos go there for jobs. Somebody has to remind him of the US model. The point is the system did not drag us down. It’s the people that run the system that caused all this. Even if we shift to any other system, if it’s led by people like GMA, JDV, Erap, and FVR, we’ll still be in this hellhole. Did the present system make all those loans? Did the present system sign the EPIRA? Did the system make them accept jueteng payoff and call Garci? Did the system overprice public works projects? I don't think so!

If they can convince the people that the new system will replace the greedy, patronage politics that we have, then the people will gladly embrace change. But not if it's clearly to distract us from the real issues. And certainly not before uncovering the truth about Gloria. So, are you ready GMA? Are you ready impeachment/truth commission? Let’s get it on!

GMA has to go now

GMA has to go now before the people drives her out of office. Filipinos are very patient. We put up with Marcos for a long time. During martial law, many rallies and protests called for FM's ouster. But even with Ninoy's murder, it still took quite a while before protests reached a critical mass. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was election related. We remember Enrile admitting that he was ordered to produce votes in his province. We remember the walk-out of data-entry volunteers. Filipinos can bear with lots of government abuses, but not electoral fraud because we believe that election is the only way we can remove an unpopular leader.

The Filipinos patience was once again evident with the way we put up with Erap. The news of his drinking binges, lavish lifestyle and extramarital activities were not enough to anger most of the people. But with the jueteng controversy, the people believed it's his time to go. Maybe we didn't like the idea that the small change (a small fortune to most bettors) we bet being skimmed off. 'Munting pangarap na nga, kinukupitan pa'.

But what could have been GMA thinking? She has committed the two crimes that caused FM's and Erap's downfalls. Electoral fraud and jueteng. That shows how bad a leader she is, and how greedy she is. It won't be long before we, the people show her what we do with such leaders.

No alternative? Only for simple minds

Secretary Ignacio Bunye says there is no alternative to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. That's true only to his simple mind, and it doesn't take away the fact that she isn't fit to run this country anymore.

The country cannot rise again with Ms Arroyo at the helm. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel is right in demanding Ms Arroyo's resignation to pave the way for a snap election. But a snap election will take too long and will be costly, divisive and prone to controversy and manipulation just as the 2004 elections were.

If Ms Arroyo resigns now, she will be treated more kindly by the people and later by history. Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada had come to know this. But if Ms Arroyo insists on hanging on to power and dragging us deeper into the mess, she'll be booted out of office, literally, by an angry mob.

The smoothest way to Philippine recovery is Ms Arroyo's resignation. Not coups, not people power, not US intervention, not a snap election. I'm not a fan of Vice President Noli de Castro, but he gets to inherit the post. He needs all the help he can get. Everybody who wants anybody but Ms Arroyo should help. He should be acceptable to civil society because it invested in him, and he should be acceptable to the masses because of his roots. He has no bad record yet. I just wish there is no tape of his alleged "AC/DC operations" while he was with the media. Page A14, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 21, 2004

Dagdag-bawas

Prof. Ben Lim wrote: "The SWS exit poll showed that 31.4% of NCR voters voted for GMA while only 22.9% voted for FPJ. GMA appears to be 4.4% ahead of FPJ. But NCR COCs showed that FPJ garnered 35.9% while GMA garnered only 27.3% or FPJ is 8.6% ahead of GMA. In Region XII the SWS exit poll showed that GMA garnered 45.8% while FPJ only 36.9%. But Region XII COCs showed GMA to have garnered only 25.4% while FPJ received a massive 44.7%. FPJ is 19.3 percent ahead."

Wow, does KNP's own quick count show the same pattern? Why does the press praise SWS quick count given these discrepancies?

The Today editorial hit it right again. The votes of those who conceded this early is prey for dagdag-bawas. It's Roco's right to concede, but he and everybody else should watch his votes and make sure it's not added to whom he has conceded.

My vote goes to ...

On Monday, we’ll have the chance to elect a new president. I’m sure most Filipinos are not satisfied with GMA. Who is, anyway? Jose Pidal fans and cohorts, maybe. But it may be that many Filipinos are afraid of change, preferring what they think is lesser evil. To them I say let’s not forget the time when we wanted the untested Cory over Marcos. We are in similar straits now. We have to change GMA. We must all vote solidly for her nearest rival. We should not split and waste our votes.

My senators are the following:
1. Heherson Alvarez. Tops the list because of his principled independent stand after being dumped by his party.
2. Bong Coo. On the list because of the maltreatment she got from the Comelec and the other Bong.
3. Nene Pimentel. This guy should always be on the Senate.
4. Enrile. Let him do his thing on the PPA.
5. Padilla. For sticking by Ping through thick and thin.
6. Jamby Madrigal. She spent a lot for 2 elections. Maybe she’s got what it takes to be a senator.
7. Gordon.
8. Chavez. We all could use his legal mind in the Senate
9. Yasay.
10. Flavier. He’s not a candidate now, but whenever I hear his pitch for Jawo, it’s Flavier's Senate record that I remember.

Here's a suggestion to the opposition

All opposition presidential candidates run because they think that GMA should be replaced and that they will be better presidents and they can do much with the flowing campaign funds. All these reasons are true, but there will only be one winner. So i suggest that they pool all their resources and withdraw in favor of just one candidate. That candidate would be the one with the biggest chance to win, FPJ. It will then be just a one-on-one fight. The others who withdraw now will not be covered by the one year ban on appointments. They can be immediately appointed to cabinet positions in an FPJ presidency. Roco can retake his Education portfolio or the Justice department or the COA. Ping can return to the Senate or better still be a very effective DILG secretary. Eddie V. can work at the DSWD. We must remember that the whole point is we should not allow GMA to have another 6 years.

It's time to look for her replacement

GMA promises 6 more years of the 3 years that she already imposed upon us. Kaya pa ba ng Pilipinas yon? It's time to look for her replacement. Let's look at the other candidates one by one.

With GMA supposedly gaining on his early lead, FPJ now turns to some populist campaign lines like anti-globalization and debt restructuring. Maybe his handlers realize that they can't solely rely on his popularity, and that they must bare a semblance of a platform. But what's this? With his new campaign tack, FPJ will further distance himself with the lending powers and their campaign contributions. But this is really the right track for us. The debt burden is almost 3/4 of the budget. To get the international lending institutions' support, FPJ must impress upon them that he is not at all repudiating the onerous loans GMA incurred (1/4 of our total debt is because of GMA). He should ask for a relief (1-2 years) until we are better off.

to be continued.

Politics to my 7-yr old son

The highly political atmosphere has rubbed on to my 7 year old son, Vito. He is grade 2 in a catholic run school. Lately when he sees FPJ in the news, he blurts out - "Hindi naman Pilipino yan e, wala pang pinag-aralan." When he sees Ping Lacson, he comments "lagot tayo pag binoto yan, e lason yan e." Then I asked him, "e sino dapat ang iboboto natin". He replied "Si Roco". "Bakit yun", I prodded. "Kasi Roco-roco rin yun!". Then he sped off laughing.

Why I am not voting for GMA

Why I am not voting for GMA, or why I urge you to vote for anybody but her:
1) She is supposedly with a PhD from where I, too, studied Economics, but the peso is at its lowest while our Asean neighbors are now recovering; 2) We have the highest power rates because of her EPIRA law; 3) Fuel prices zoomed to their highest; 4) She did not stop Jueteng, it even expanded operations; 5) We have well-dressed GNP (?accuracy, hmm), but at what cost to the budget deficit; 6) We are constantly downgraded by international rating firms, we are the 4th most corrupt in Asia; 7) Hypocrisy prevails in this kapalmuks government, uneven application of standards in all aspects of governance.