They lied to us

In Max Soliven's show, GMA finally admitted that the Jose Pidal accounts had campaign contributions for vice presidential campaign in 1998. That it's all private contributions not government funds, and that it was all right to use aliases when the accounts were opened, and that they closed them when she came to power, these are not the issues. All she's saying now does not hide the fact that they lied to us before.

Then Ping was right all along. Will GMA now admit Vicky Toh, the US homes and accounts, etc?

The pattern of deceit

I'm afraid the new round of jeepney fare adjustments (they prefer to call it that, instead of fare increase) will bring in more confusion than necessary. First, they say the base is shortened from 5 to 4 kilometers. I don't remember who made it 5 km again. Marcos (or Cory) brought the base down to 4 km years ago. So it's a trick. Then the LTFRB chief says the fare is only 63 centavos but won't mind if drivers round it up to 75 centavos as long as the passengers agree. Whaaat? That's allowing the jeepney operators to raise fare if we agree. If we don't then 'bahala kayo mag-away!' The new fare adjustment means that the minimum is still P4.00 for the first 4 kms. Pero dati na yun. Inuuto lang nila ang drivers. Pag-aawayin lang nila ang mga driver at pasajero

The government is buying time before it really acts on the fare issue. It does not want to allow any fare increase before the elections, but at the same time it does not want to antagonize the whole jeepney sector, knowing that it can only pay off some leaders but not the whole force. Again we see the pattern of deceit in its dealings.

Ping should give way

I am sure Ping Lacson would be a nice Philippine president. He's tough. And appears to have that single-minded, purposeful attitude. Among all the candidates, he offers doable, sensible, practical solutions. He even has a timetable to effect his programs. GMA cannot claim to be our best, last hope. She doesn't seem to realize that she got us into this. But poor Ping! He cannot win. Not yet at this time, anyway. He still has too much baggage dragging him down. His ratings indicate that his base has not increased over the past months.

Why Ping still clings to the hope that he'll pole-vault over Roco, GMA, and FPJ to win in May reflects again his single-minded, purposeful attitude. But will somebody knock some sense into the guy. He can use that spirit come 2010. Meanwhile, all efforts should be directed to unseating GMA. Perhaps Ping can be a very good DILG secretary in an FPJ presidency. That should be a good vehicle for his own presidency later.

In his dogged effort to win, Ping is torpedoing FPJ's campaign. He has stopped his attacks against Jose Pidal and instead renewed his war against FPJ's group. GMA should be smiling these days, maybe she and Ping know something that we don't.

Are the Ayalas better than the Lopezes?

This morning people from Manila Water (the Ayala-controlled water service company) came to my door offering free septic tank excavation. Sayang, I just had ours done last month by Malabanan to the tune of PhP5,000. This must be what's Bayani Fernando's been saying last year, that the water utility companies will do it for free as what the old NAWASA should have been doing. But I didn't believe BF on that until this morning.

This reinforced my thought the the Ayalas are better at business than the Lopezes. Or at least they provide better service. The Ayala utility companies that come to mind do well and provide good service. They have Globe telecoms and the Manila Water, both of which I am a fortunate client. I hear that both BayanTel and Maynilad have unsatisfactory service. And both incur heavy losses, too, along with Meralco. Maybe ABS-CBN earns, but many say that Channel 7 has better programming. The Lopezes should not be in the public utility business. In many instances they resort to the government to fix their quandary. And whoever wins the presidency this year, they will have a truly Lopez-controlled president by 2010 in either Loren or Kabayan. Kawawa na talaga tayo.

Why I am not voting for GMA part III.

I've been away for a while to help Vito review for his finals. Like I said in a previous post, FPJ should explain what he meant by his debt restructuring posturings. GMA pounced on this, but her plans are not any better. Which brings me to my earlier message - that we should not allow GMA to stay beyond May. We must remember that GMA did us in. She had the chance to turn things around but instead she brought us Jose Pidal, worsening conditions, and uneven governance. So, whom am I voting for? My premise is that Filipinos should elect anybody else but her. And the more candidates against her, the lesser the opposition's chances. That is why I am voting for the opposition candidate with the best chance of winning. FPJ is not necessarily the best candidate, but he has the best chance of beating GMA. So I am for FPJ.