Who do we trust?

A survey says Villar is the most trusted presidential bet. We have to take into account that the (Villar commissioned?) survey was held just before the C5 controversy boiled over. I'm sure his trust ranking plummeted after that cowardly denial of his wrongdoing. I'm curious how his trust rating stands now after Winnie Monsod exposed his culpability in clear and simple terms.

Meanwhile, Noynoy is among the most trusted Filipino in an independent survey by the Reader's Digest. He was bested only by non-politicians Rosa Rosal, Lea Salonga, Jessica Soho and Tony Meloto. Noynoy is the top politician in the survey done late last year. Villar is in 60th place in the list of 80 influential Filipino personalities ranked based upon the public’s perceived trustworthiness. Rounding out the bottom are GMA, Erap, and Hayden Kho.

Many different survey results are being flaunted by the different camps. Who among the survey firms do we trust? One statistic I trust is that 83% of all statistics is made up, including this one.

But who among the candidates do we trust, really? I don't trust the unnaturally-jet-black hair and the botox-filled face of the one with C5 at taga.

Sinful and shameless

At yesterday's mass, the homily touched on confession as a powerful sacrament. The priest said fewer Filipinos are going to confession. True. Filipinos seem to never ever make mistakes. Filipinos almost never admit anything, even when caught red-handed. We don't have politicians like Clinton, Sanford, or Spitzer, and sports stars like Kobe or Tiger who come out in the media confessing their sins. We don't have the Japanese politicians who commit seppuku in shame. Instead, Filipino sports stars defiantly plead for their privacy while politicians who amassed wealth though their public office try to perpetuate themselves in power.

Presidential quotable quotes

From the web:

Noynoy Aquino: "Hindi ako magnanakaw".

Gibo Teodoro: "Hindi ko kelangan magnakaw"

Dick Gordon/Bayani Fernando: "Bawal magnakaw, Nakamamatay"

Manny Villar: (paulit-ulit, pero walang maniwala)
"Hindi ako nagnakaw."

Erap Estrada: "Kelangan ko ulit magnakaw"

PGMA: "Wala na kayo mananakaw!

Villar has spent over half a billion pesos on ads so far

BusinessWorld Online reported that presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel B. Villar was at 14th place in the list of top 20 advertisers in the last quarter of 2009. Villar spent P543 million from October to December 2009, a 551% increase from last year. That probably does not include those ads paid for his "friends". And it's not even the start of  "official" campaign period.

There is no reason to doubt the validity of the report given that Villar's ads are really all over the media. Perhaps the figure is even understated. That figure could easily go up if we factor in the production costs of the ads.

What the voters should realize is how a politician can manage to amass a fabulous fortune by influencing the public works projects around his properties. First, make the public works department construct roads for your properties even if there are on-going road projects for that. Then, make the government pay top money for your properties even if adjacent properties are not as expensive. The politician cuts it both ways - by kickbacks on the road project and by getting paid premium price for the properties. But wait, there's more. The properties now are valued much, much more because of the road improvements.

Don't wonder why more than half a billion on advertising in just three months is peanuts, and he's not even officially campaigning yet.

Don't vote for Man, Evil, Liar

Proverbs 17:4 A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.
(image found in the Internet)

The coward from Tondo walks ater the talk

Sen. Villar tried to defend himself from his colleagues' accusations over the C5 controversy. He proudly said "walang pong duwag na taga-Tondo". The senator from Las Pinas could not be referring to himself because he quickly left the hall and refused to be interpellated. He did not walk the talk. He walked after the talk.

Villar denied the charges and refused to recognize the committee that handles the case. He presented data that obfuscate the issues already made clear and simple by Monsod. He could have salvaged some public sympathy had he answered questions credibly. Perhaps he simply doesn't have the answers.

"You can have all the facts and figures, all the supporting evidence, all the endorsement that you want, but if you don't command trust, you won't get anywhere", said Niall FitzGerald, former chairman of Unilever, as quoted by Stephen Covey in his book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything.  This is what Villar has been reduced to - an untrusted candidate that won't go anywhere. As Gandhi once said, "the moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted."

The people will not vote for the beneficiary of the C-5 anomaly

Nakaligo ka na ba sa gitna ng basura

Nagpasko ka na ba sa gitna ng kalsada

yan ang tanong namin

tunay ka bang isa sa amin

 Si Money Bili-yar dapat lang ibasura

Dinoble niya ang budget sa iisang kalsada

yan ang alam namin

ayaw lang niyang aminin

Villar benefited tremendously from C5

Prof. Winnie Monsod's Inquirer column last Jan. 30 objectively looks at the C5 anomaly using official documents available. Her conclusion:

"Villar benefited tremendously from the second project."

In a Q&A form, the column asks what is the involvement of Villar in CX-5 and LPPLP? Sen. Villar conceptualized and funded the CX-5 Project. Villar also had insertions and amendments to his pork barrel CX-5 and LPPLP. He also proposed amendments to the 2008 budget, including a P400-million appropriation for the CX-5.

She also asks were the Villar properties bought for road right-of-way overpriced? Her findings: The Villar/related properties has weighted average of P7,168/sqm while non-Villar properties cost P1,880/sqm.

So why is Dolphy vouching for Villar's integrity? He is a comedian. He is joking, right?

Why it should not be Villar

Aside from the C-5 anomaly, there’s another reason why many will NOT vote Villar in the coming elections - his soft stand against GMA.

In a forum last night, Villar and other candidates were asked if they will prosecute GMA for her misdeeds. Gibo being the administration candidate gave a non-categorical answer. But Villar was evasive too. All he said was his party led the investigation of the anomalies and that he will not lift a finger to defend GMA.

To many that answer was not a yes answer to the simple question. Gibo's and Villar's answers glared in contrast to the responses of the other candidates. While Gibo's stance was understandable, Villar's was not. After all, Villar is not the administration candidate. But come to think of it, while his party may have led the investigation against GMA, Villar himself hasn't been very critical of GMA lately. Villar may be the true administration candidate in this election. Gibo is just the token one.

Arroyo's privilege speech on Villar's corruption

Twelve years ago then Cong. Joker Arroyo delivered a privilege speech on his fellow congressman Manny Villar's business deals. They are both senators now and are on the same side despite the new charges against Villar. Here is the privilege speech delivered on August 17, 1998. Pera lang ang katapat. PLAK!

I rise on a question of collective privilege on a constitutional issue that affects the integrity of the House and it is very ripe to continue existing.
     In the course of the fight for the speakership, Rep. Agapito Aquino, chairman of the reform bloc, raised questions regarding the fitness of Rep. Villar to seek the speakership. Rep. Villar chose to answer the charges but he was overwhelmingly elected Speaker by this House.
     Successful election, however, does not answer the questions nor lay to rest charges of wrongdoing, not in government of laws.
     We had a colleague, we still have a colleague in the person of Congressman Jalosjos. He was elected by his district but that did not erase his conviction. So, drawing a parallel election does not wipe out the offense.
     The questions raised, nay, the charges against Speaker Villar are constitutional in character. And our duty as members of the legislature is peremptory and clear. We took oath to support and defend the Constitution and uphold the laws.
     The Constitution has been violated, laws have been broken. If we are to continue in the capacity of public officials, if this Chamber is to continue in its very character as legislature, an indispensable pillar in the system of checks and balances, then we must come to the Constitution’ s defense and the vindication of the laws.
     I hesitated long and pondered hard whether to raise these questions for fear of being accused of sour-graping and being a poor sport. But this has nothing to do with sports. Our duty is clear, there are charges of illegalities, the charges must be heard and answered. I am reminded of the case of Speaker Newt Gingrich of the United States House of Representatives. He was investigated by the United States House of Representatives for I think collecting some fees of books he wrote while Speaker (I am not too sure of the facts). But one thing I am sure of is this, the House after hearing censured its own Speaker and penalized him with a penalty was meted out. In other words, there are precedents and we must not hesitate to do our duty.
     Article XI of the Constitution is titled “Accountability of Public Officers” it proscribes in Section 16 that:
“No loan, guaranty, or other form of financial accommodation for any business purpose may be granted, directly or indirectly, by any government or controlled bank or financial institution to the President, the Vice President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Commission, the Ombudsman, or to any firm or entity in which they have controlling interest, during their term."
     Charge I. Low cost housing is totally dependent on government agencies such as PAG-IBIG, National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), SSS, GSIS, and other government financial institutions.
Speaker Villar and the companies of which he is President or Chairman, or where he has a controlling interest, are the biggest low-cost housing developers in the country. To be more specific, it is the Camella and Palmera Homes and its principal subsidiaries, the Household Development Corporation and Palmera and Communities Philippines.
     In violation of the constitutional injunction, these companies were given financial accommodations by government banks or financial institutions, among them, PAG-IBIG and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation among others, during Speaker Villar’s term as Representative from 1992 to 1998 to finance their business purposes.
     Charge II. Representative Villar, from 1992 to 1998 did not divest himself of his interests in, nor did he sever his connections with, the companies aforestated. They obtained financial accommodations from the above government financial institutions while he was a Member of Congress. Since he did not, therefore, such companies were forbidden from entering into such financial arrangements.
     Because of our Constitution, Republic Act No. 6713 known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials” states in Section 9:
     “Divestment. – A public official or employee should avoid conflicts of interest at all times. When a conflict of interest arises, he shall resign from his position in any private business enterprise within thirty (30) days from his assumption of office and/or divest himself of his shareholdings or interest within sixty (60) days from such assumption.. .”
     Charge III. Nor has Speaker Villar, up to now, I am saying up to now, divested himself of his interests in, nor has he severed his connections with, the companies aforestated. Speaker Villar is in no hurry to divest because he has declared that he is under no obligation to do so. A continuing violation.
     Charge IV. Speaker Villar controls the Capitol Bank. Mrs. Villar is the chief executive officer. The Capitol Bank received loans, financial accommodations and guarantees from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from 1992 to 1998 while he was a Representative. That is constitutionally forbidden.
     To sum it up, the constitutional prohibition is very simple. If a Representative has a controlling interest in a firm or entity, that firm or entity cannot be extended a loan, a guaranty, or a financial accommodation for any business purpose from any government financial institution.
     If that firm or entity would like to obtain a loan, a guaranty or a financial accommodation from a government financial institution, that firm or entity must first relieve itself of the controlling interest of the Representative.
     It is my humble submission that Speaker Villar did not do either.
     Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, provides in Section 6 therefore as follows:
     “Sec. 6. Prohibition on Members of Congress. – It shall be unlawful hereafter for any Member of the Congress during the term for which he has been elected, to acquire or to receive any personal or pecuniary interest in any specific business enterprise which will be directly and particularly favoured or benefited by any law or resolution authored by him previously approved or adopted by the Congress during the same term.
     The provision of this section shall apply to any other public officer who recommended that initiation in Congress of the enactment or adoption of any law or resolution, and acquires any such interest during his incumbency.”
     In other words, even if he was not the principal author, if he did ask or initiated the enactment of such a law, he is covered by the prohibition.
     Simply put, during our term of office, each one of us, it shall be unlawful for us to author any law or resolution that would benefit or favor us. The above prohibition shall apply even to that representative who just recommended, not even authored, the enactment of such law that benefited him.
     Charge V. Representative Villar, in his bid for the speakership, prepared a propaganda kit that he distributed to Congressmen and media. I think you were given copies of the one. It is entitled “Manny B. Villar, Jr., Achiever and Visionary Leader,” and [in] the “Legislative Performance of Congressman Manny B. Villar, Jr.” Representative Villar unequivocally said that he “incorporated in the landmark Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act, Republic
     Act No. 7835, the recapitalization of the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation and the amendment to the Agri-Aqua Law to include housing investment.”
     Speaker Villar’s companies are engaged in housing. He thereby violated the Anti-Graft Law.
The aforementioned Act, which incorporates H.B. No. 6145, co-authored by then Representative Villar mandates “banks to extend to housing loans not utilized for agriculture and agrarian reform credit.” In other words, loanable funds for agriculture and agrarian credit are to be re-channeled to housing, Speaker Villar’s business.
     Representative Villar co-authored H.B. No. 11005 which “increased the capital of the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation” and is the main source of funding of Speaker Villar’s companies. President Estrada admitted that the National Home Mortgage and Finance Coporation is presently bankrupt. He said that to the following: LAMP President Edgardo Angara, Congressman Agapito Aquino, Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer Jimmy Policarpio, former Congresman Miguel Romero and myself. The President no less said that it is bankrupt. Increasing the capitalization of a bankrupt GFI benefited Representative Villar’s housing companies.
     In the same propaganda kit of Speaker Villar, it states that “also passed by the House were Villar’s measures to make Pag-ibig Find contributions compulsory and to increase housing investments with the SSS.” Pag-ibig is a main source of funding of Speaker Villar’s companies.
     In a word, Representative Villar’s legslation from 1992 to 1998 were designed to benefit his business, a violation of the Anti-Graft Law.
     Now, the same provision of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, provides in the third paragraph of Section 6 thereof, as follows:
     It shall likewise be unlawful for such member of Congress or other public officer, who, having such interest prior to the approval of such law or resolution authored or recommended by him, continues for thirty days after such approval to retain such interest.
     Charge VI. When those bills that Representative Villar introduced or co-authored were enacted into law, he did not divest himself of his interest in his companies that benefited therefrom.
Now, Republic Act 6713, known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials provides in Section 3 (j):
     Section 3 (j) “Divestment” is the transfer of title or disposal of interest in property by voluntarily, completely and actually depriving or dispossessing oneself of his right or title to it in favour of a person or persons other than his spouse and relatives as defined in this Act.
     Charge VII. Manuela Corporation applied for and was granted a loan of P1 billion by the SSS, a government financial institution. Another P2 billion loan would be syndicated with another government financial institution, the GSIS. Total syndicated loan from the two GFIs: P3 billion.
     Manuela Corporation, a housing and realty corporation, is owned by the family of the wife of Speaker Villar. An indirect financial accommodation. Again, the same Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials states in Section 3 (k) thereof:
     Section 3 (k) “Relatives” refers to any and all persons related to a public official or employee within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, including bilas, inso, or balae.
     SSS, historically and as a matter of public policy does not extend direct loans to any company. It extends loans to banks or to public or private financial institutions but not directly to business enterprises. The direct loan to Manuela Corporation is a first in SSS history.
     Charge VIII. Manuela Corporation owes the Capitol Bank, which also owned by Speaker Villar, P150 million. There may be nothing wrong with that because both are private entities. However, out of the P3 billion earmarked to liquidate the P150 million Capitol Bank loan to the failing Manuela Corporation. In other words, it is a financial accommodation extended by GFIs to relieve Capitol Bank, owned by Speaker Villar, of the P150 million loan. Another indirect financial accommodation.
     Charge IX. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) is being undertaken in obedience to a constitutional mandate. All lands covered by CARP cannot be used for residential, agricultural, industrial or other uses unless a clearance, conversion, or exemption for a particular property is first issued by DAR.
Speaker Villar’s companies are developing or have developed 5,950 hectares or almost 60,000,000 square meters of CARP lands into residential subdivision without the appropriate DAR issuances that would authorize such lands to be used for residential purposes. A traducement of the constitutionally directed CARP law.
     Article XIII of the Constitution, in Sections 4,5,6,7 and 8 states with clarity what the agrarian reform program is all about.
     Just to give you an idea about how big 60,000,000 square meters is – my constituency of Makati is only one-third of that size. It is only roughly 21,000,000 square meters. If you add the entire area of Las Piñas and Makati, that is the residential subdivisions covered by the companies of Speaker Villar.
     The House cannot reform itself, much less even operate effectively if a cloud of doubt hangs over the Speaker of the House. It is to the interest of the Speaker and the Members no less if these concerns are addressed frontally and resolved forthwith to clear the path for meaningful reforms.
     Public office is a public trust. We, the representatives of the people pay a price for getting elected to public office. The Constitution imposes on us certain constraints which we must follow to the letter.
     Let me allude to the Members of Congress who are barristers – the Constitution forbids us, lawyers, from appearing in court. In my case, for instance, I was a practitioner up to 1992. I got elected to the House so I stopped practicing, or in other words, I no longer appear in court. That is the price I have to pay. I think I was earning adequately in the practice of law, but I have to make a choice. Do I want to be a lawyer or I want to be a Congressman? If I want to continue being a lawyer, then I must not be a Congressman. If I have to be a Congressman then I must stop lawyering. That is what the Constitution says.
     So in the case of Speaker Villar, it is simple. If he wants to go/continue in business and deal with government financial institutions, he can do so but he cannot also be a Congressman. If he wants to be a Congressman, then he must not be in business which deals with the government. We have to pay a price.
     So, this case is a learning experience for us all. Whatever the outcome, it will show the things we can do, the things we cannot do, and the things we must do.
     I would propose that the House of Representatives constitute itself into a Committee of the Whole to hear the charges and the Speaker’s defense.
     He will have a trial that is more than fair to him for he will be judged by the very peers who elevated him to be the first among equals, only this time they will judge him according to the law.
     I will never seek the speakership again nor in any manner challenge the leadership of Speaker Villar except on this specific issue of constitutional breach that calls into question the rule of law.
     This is how important it is. So I rest my cause.

PLAK! Pera lang ang katapat 2

Why does Senator Alan Cayetano, erstwhile accuser of graft, now defend a senator accused of graft?

Why does Senator Joker Arroyo, a long time fighter of power abusers, now defend a senator who used his power to benefit his companies? Why does he now defend the very same man he accused of similar charges when they were in congress?

Why does Senator Nene Pimentel, a respected lawmaker, resort to name-calling and irrelevant comments about marriage "insertions" just to deflect the heat off someone accused of budget insertions?

PLAK!

That's why many people believe that the senator is guilty as charged.

Why Noynoy?

Noynoy's critics say he has "done nothing" to deserve our votes except inheriting the legacy of his parents.

But what have the others done, really?

What's in a name?

The campaign is on full-blast. Each candidate sounds very optimistic of winning. It is often said that no Filipino candidate ever loses, they just get cheated of victory. At the moment everyone has a catchy nickname that ensures name recall. How will they be called in the event they lose? Here's how.

Noynoy Aquino - "NGOYNGOY" (sobs)
JC de los Reyes - JC "the LOST REYES"
Erap Estrada - "HERAP" Estrada (poor)
Dick Gordon - "FLUSHED" Gordon
Nick Perlas - Nick "PERLAST"
Gibo Teodoro - "BIGO" Teodoro (fail)
Manny Villar - Manny "BELAT" (jeers)

Except for Noynoy, the rest better start getting comfy with their new names.

Noynoy na!

A new blog featuring an open letter to former president Fidel V. Ramos from his niece made a buzz at the political scene this week. In it, she asks FVR to endorse Noynoy. She sums up the argument for Noynoy/Mar - "...he (Noynoy) is now the one candidate with the potential to unite the opposition against the ruling party. For his part, Mar is no slouch, moreover, and the Liberal Party appears to have some progressive elements."

Philippine politics is characterized by a weak party system. Political butterflies abound. That is why many different configurations or tandems for president/vice president are floated around. The situation is very fluid. You can hear possibilities of a Villar/Loren, Villar/Chiz, Chiz/Loren, Chiz/Ping, Gibo/Loren, Chiz/Dick, etc. Any of which is a real possibility. Now that Chiz decided to bolt from the NPC, the possibility of a Gibo/Chiz may not be far-fetched despite the previous anti-GMA stand of Chiz. The administration says it is open to a Gibo/Chiz team.

Consider this: Chiz's tweet last night indicated that he might be supporting the gerrymandering bill that gives Dato Arroyo a congressional district. With that tweet, Chiz hints of an alliance with an Arroyo son and at the same time takes a potshot at Noynoy. Noynoy is opposing the bill.

Chiz portrays himself as a follower of the Quezonian "my loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins". It is not immediately clear what party stand he is against. Why Chiz would shun party politics this time after doing so in all his political life gives credence to rumors that the NPC boss, Danding Cojuangco, would finance only a fraction of his campaign.

By now, it is clear that only the Noynoy/Mar tandem stands squarely against the current administration. All the rest can be seen to offer to or gain some accommodation from the administration. All the others do not consider the interests of the country. They all belong to the parte-parte party. With them, patronage politics will still be in place.

Eraptions

It is again time for Eraptions, now that Erap has declared his intention to run again for the presidency.
==================================
Erap to Cardinal:  Hanggang ngayon galit pa ang simbahan sa akin.  This is unfair.
Cardinal:  Why did you say that?
Erap:  Mayroong Sabado de GLORIA, Sagrado de CORAZON, at Domingo de RAMOS.  Bakit ako wala??? Eh, I was also a President!
Cardinal (after a careful thought):  OK, from now on, yours is ASS Wednesday!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erap dreamed that he died and went to heaven. St. Peter gave him Ai-ai delas Alas as partner, saying, 'Kung mabait ka sana , mas maganda ang partner mo.'

Erap saw Chavit with Gretchen Barretto and said, 'Bakit si Chavit, mas madaming kasalanan, si Gretchen ang partner?'

St. Peter: Hijo, parusa yan kay Gretchen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why did Erap shoot his wife when he bought a house?
Because the contract reads: 'Execute all 3 copies together with your wife...'

The Age of Stupid 5

When Ondoy flooded San Juan last September, our small city did not get any media attention at all. I just thought that other areas are worse hit, that's why. In fact, other places that never experienced flooding before were suddenly under water. Some places will be under water for months. Indeed, Ondoy swathed a wide area of destruction.

But still, San Juan itself suffered the worst flooding ever. The Youtube video of cars swept away by the flood currents was taken at the UERM hospital, just across the San Juan river. So why is San Juan not in the news? Not that we are kulang sa pansin, we just want to say that "hey we were victims too". Fortunately, despite the lack of press notice, aid still poured in.

It was also noticeable that during the floods, rescue operations were nowhere in sight. Again, I attributed that to the many people that needed rescuing. But after the water subsided, victims were in unison in saying that no help from the city officials arrived. The rescue efforts that saved hundreds were all initiated by friends and families from higher grounds.

Days after the flood, giant banners were put up by the mayor to exhort San Juanenos to be strong, to work together to make the city rise again from its own efforts, to work together to enliven the people's spirit. Good idea, only if people did not learn that the good mayor sneaked out of the country in the morning of the floods for Singapore to watch(?) the races. Surely, he could not have foretold the great flood. Definitely, he has the right to watch horse races. Absolutely, he is the son of his father.

But talks are rife that his people asked the media to be out of San Juan so people won't notice his absence. Without the media coverage of the people's pleas, help did not come. With the mayor absent, his men were clueless in the rescue operations. He did the wrong thing in going to the races. He did the wrong thing in isolating the city from the media. He is wrong to think that the people does not know any better.

This is the age of stupid.

The Age of Stupid 3 - Ironies of the Times

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink - Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

The scenes at the aftermath of Ondoy and Pepeng are replete with ironies.We all know that non-biodegradable plastic bags and bottles contribute largely to the environmental problem we now face. But given their practicality and with the lack of alternatives, they are widely used now in the distribution of relief goods. We use them to pack the goods, keep our dry clothes from the mud and flood, and as trash bins. These plastics will eventually find their way to clog the waterways and fill the landfills; which will cause further floodings and environmental degradation.

 The recent floods brought us more water than ever, but people trapped on their roofs are thirsty. The evacuation centers do not have access to clean water, even if it was water that forced them there.

At the clean up operations when mud started to cake, I wished for more rains even if it was rains that caused the floods, so I can easily sweep away the sludge.

At the evacuation centers, hapless people were happy to see politicians pretending to care even if it were the leaders' ineffectivity contributed to the people's misery.

I remember Heber's song:

At kung tayo'y nanahimik/ Huwag kayong magalit/ Ang dapat sa atin ay tawagin/ Mga gago!/ Subalit hindi ganyan/ Hindi tayo dapat ganyan/ Marami nang nahihirapan/ Marami nang sumisigaw/ Marami nang namimilipit/ Maging ako'y nahihirapan/ Kaya ako'y sumisigaw/ Sumisigaw! - - Heber Bartolome's "Hoy Utol, Buto't Balat Ka Na'y Natutulog Ka Pa"

White Hair Chronicles VIII - Ganito kami noon, ganito pa rin ngayon?

This week marks the 37th year of imposition of martial law. I was a frail, skinny kid then in a public elementary school and this weekend I will be meeting again with some classmates from those days, some I have not seen in 35 years. They will find me still frail and skinny and still a kid at heart.

I remember waking up and being told that were no classes that day, September 23, 1972, a Friday I think. We were not allowed to go out and check with our schoolmates/ neighbors. The streets were deserted anyway. No one knew what was going on. There were bombings and rallies going on the past weeks. Talks were rife that classes will be suspended until the end of the schoolyear. We were initially overjoyed but got immediately terrified when told that we may have to repeat the grade when school reopens.

The TV channels were cut off. When Marcos appeared on-screen with his "I hereby declare" speech, people confirmed what was whispered in hush-hush tones. After which, only one channel operated and all it showed was Maribeth Bichara gyrating in skimpy clothes, alternating with Sahlee Quizon and Sonny Cortez singing something about sugar.

I'm sure my classmates can fill up my fading memories of how things were. These days we also have insurgency, bombings, journalists/activists missing/getting killed, corruption, military in the bureaucracy, poverty, efforts to change the charter, and more recently spying on the academe. Jun Cruz Reyes was my Filipino literature instructor in high school while Bien Lumbera was my professor in Pilipino 41 (an elective course - Critical Thinking) in college.

Alex Magno refuses to see the parallels between the situation then and now. But Winnie Monsod believes we are still haunted by Marcos' martial law, enumerating the problems that hound us up to this day.

While Alex Magno insists that dictatorship is impossible at this time, it is not dictatorship per se that bothers us. It is the damage being done to the institutions just to perpetuate oneself in power. It is to that that we say never again.

Bayan muna bago sarili

I would have voted for Mar Roxas.

I believe he is the only candidate that puts the nation's interests above his own. Not many can say that with Villar, Erap, and the others. I also think that despite his sputtering start, he is beginning to pick up momentum to figure prominently in succeeding surveys. He leads all other presidential contenders in an online poll at abs-cbnnews.com.

He has long been groomed by elder Liberal party leaders as the standard bearer, although others within the party demand a caucus. In a supreme display of statesmanship and in a class act worthy of emulation by all other oppposition candidates, Mar stepped aside to give way to the popular clamor for Noynoy to run. This move further marginalizes Liberal Party noisemakers led by GMA lapdog Lito Atienza. This morning on radio Atienza still insists on party consultations. I'm sure he will soon realize the small band of Liberals he leads shares the same thoughts of many Filipinos about Noynoy's candidacy.

With this great step, sacrificing his own ambition, I hope other opposition candidates likewise step aside to make a truly formidable opposition in the 2010 elections.

See also my new criteria for choosing the next president.

GMA to insist on Cha-cha

NBN-4 televised yesterday CNBC's interview with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I caught a portion of it and from what I heard it seems that she will definitely push for Cha-cha. The interviewer, Maria Bartiromo, asked if she would want to continue as prime minister. GMA's reply was not a categorical no, but she insisted that fundamental reforms in the political system is necessary.

Our dysfunctional political institutions became that way because of GMA herself, and now she has the gall to declare that amendments are necessary. Fortunately, many now see through her devious plans. Definitely she will not succeed.

Here is the transcript from 7:26 to 8:42. In the video, you may slide the progress bar to around 7:26. Or click here to open a new window.


Maria Bartiromo - ...So it sounds like you are not done yet. You still have a lot left on your plate

GMA - YES!(grins and nods)
MB - Let me ask you this - would you like a constitutional amendment to a parliamentary system where perhaps you can serve as prime minsiter?

GMA - Well, I've always been saying there are two Philippines. One is where the economy is working again and moving forward. The other one is where the policitcal system is still broken. We've done many fundamental reforms in the economy and it's time to begin to do fundamental reforms in the political system. Now where that will go, what the specific reforms will be, that will be up to those who are in charge of doing such amendments.

MB - I guess there was a vote recently and a third of the people said that they do not expect PGMA to step down.

GMA - (chuckles) Oh well (unintelligible) that's only a third and that's not true and I've said it over and over again, my term ends in 2010 but until the last day I'm going to continue to work hard for our economy, our environment, and our education,

MB -  Sounds like the people likes you to be there beyond 2010 which I'm sure is a very nice feeling for you.

GMA - The important thing is what we must do within this next year.