“Anybody but Gibo…anybody but him.”

The hurting statement above was emphatically uttered by Mrs. Gretchen Oppen Cojuangco, when asked who her husband, business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, would support between Gibo Teodoro and their other nephew, Liberal Party standard bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“I feel bad for my husband because Gibo left without saying a word to his uncle, who helped and supported him (in his political career) for nine years. My husband had big plans for him (Teodoro),” Mrs. Cojuangco lamented.

If this doesn’t tell you anything about Gibo’s loyalty, I don’t know what will?

This negative perception has been further exacerbated when Gibo acknowledged, during the Inquirer-organized presidential debate at a packed UP Theater, that he valued his mother-in-law more than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and his uncle Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.

If to have the daughter for a wife makes a mother-in-law priceless, what would it make of his father-in-law, who sired a daughter to become Gibo’ wife? Would there be a Nikki Prieto-Teodoro without his father-in-law?

But, that is neither here nor there.

The question now is: Can we trust Gibo not to turn his back on us after we shall have assured him the presidency or will his loyalty to the people ends where his loyalty to his mother-in-law-begins also?

Will Gibo be doing more for the greater number of people or shall he be cowed to serve and give special consideration only to those closest to him?

There is no denying the expression of seething anger and disappointment in Mrs. Cojuanco’s face when she said, “Anybody but Gibo…”

This has made Gibo an ungrateful person and a pariah to the Cojuangco clan.

Perhaps Gibo has gotten too big for his britches when he was chosen by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to serve her government as her Secretary of National Defense. With this position, he was feeling high and mighty and his arrogance got the best of him by forgetting his indebtedness to the man who nurtured his political career.

“Galing at talino” is good if you also know how to show recognition and gratitude to the people who have helped you on your way up. It’s a bane when intertwine with greed and lust for power.

Good pm Dr. Sugon, Mr. Rameses,

Congratulations on your new TLM group which I heard about. I immediately opened your blogspot which came to my attention.

I am not a student, but being a former Protestant instantaneously converted by Mary, I seek the Latin Mass and was instrumental in moving it forward in some ways.

With two seminarians, I assisted in establishing TLM in Bacoor, Cavite doing liaison for its approval by Bishop Tagle. TLM continued there for a year only.

Having formed many choirs in Las Pinas, In December 2009, I formed an all-female Latin Chorale and we have been practicing once a week for a year now. However, I have not taught them responses, which is why we do not service any Latin Mass as yet. But should I do so, it will be the Missa de Angelis.

I have been spreading devotion to Holy Mary of Good Success of Quito, Ecuador since 2004 till today, the Patroness of Catholic Tradition, which includes the saying of the Latin Rosary with sung Litany. Thus, the name of our female Latin Choir is the HOLY MARY OF GOOD SUCCESS LATIN CHORALE. We are seven regular members that can stretch to ten, three being irregular. Our choir is an Apostolate, our aim being to spread the Latin Rosary, Latin Liturgical Music and the devotion to Holy Mary of Good Success.. I have been in touch with your Jesuit recording in the hope of someday getting our music recorded.

Together with the seminarian who introduced us to Holy Mary of Good Success, we were able to celebrate the Feast Day of Holy Mary of Good Success in February, 2005 in Malacanang Palace with TLM attended by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. We were able to ‘borrow’ a priest who knew Latin Mass who flew in from Butuan, Fr. Josilo Amallah, and received permission to say the Mass from the priest who baptized me, Msgr. Josefino Ramirez of Quiapo Church (who by the way sponsored TLM in Binondo Church early on, which I used to attend way back).

Should there be an organist to accompany us in the future (since I join the choir singing the tenor part), we would be happy to sing at some special Mass as a guest choir free of charge so long as we are informed well in advance so we can prepare our repertoire. We can rehearse with the organist a few hours before the Mass.

My speciality is voice. I took a masteral in voice workshop under Madame Raquel Adonaylo at the CCP. Adonaylo is faculty at the Curtis School of Music and trainor of the Boston Opera. I took some informal lessons on the reading and interpretation of chant, enough to teach the choir.

Music is only an avocation. I am a journalist (editor level) and coffeetable book author.
In 2009, I was more into music and semi-retired from my writing. I am currently producing a musical idiom for the Musika Filipina Foundation, a project of former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor.

Again, congratulations. Thanks be to God that Catholic Tradition moves forward more and more.

Jane Stangle

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde is doing his job – and more. He is sanctimoniously, if not, ingratiatingly, defending her presidency, as if President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, like “Caesar’s wife,” is beyond reproach.

Being voted to be president of the country and leader of the over 90 million Filipinos, her role in government is not just about implementing and accomplishing infrastructure projects.

To say that these are fitting legacies, for the nation and its people to be impressed and electrified into remembering her fondly, is being at the height of false sophistication and in the realm of hypocrisy.

“Long after she is gone, President Arroyo will still be remembered, and all because of the infrastructure projects she has left behind,” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

Further on, Remonde had this to say in a statement: “Now, did President Arroyo get the thanks she so richly deserves? Not on your life. I bring up the point, to illustrate how this administration must endure unfair criticism at every turn.”

There is no doubt Sec. Remonde has been superfluous in his admiration of President Arroyo and, in fact, has gone “heads over heels” in his defense of her. The people understand his position and won’t blame him for placing her boss on the highest pedestal of esteem and approbation.

The problem, however, is that Remonde sees one thing and majority of the people sees another.

If the people don’t see the importance of the infrastructure projects as unmistakable imprints of her presidency and a fitting legacy to be left behind when she is gone, it is simply because these projects and structures are intrinsic responsibilities of any head of state to ensure that it is built so that the nation could start progressing.

What is deemed more important to the people, that President Arroyo utterly failed to demonstrate,  has been her moral leadership.

Moral leadership is a spirited service not just to ones family and party mates, but most importantly, to the community and nation. It is a leadership centered on respect for and service to others.

A presidency which would emerge from a service-centered leadership would promote the well-being of the people and preserve the human honor which every Filipino deeply values.

Scams and scandals that hounded President Arroyo herself, her immediate family, and her allies and sycophants, all throughout her stint in power did not make good for a moral leadership.

Sec. Remonde, therefore, has no right to be preachy to the Filipino people and lamenting for their lack of appreciation on what the sitting president has done.

The Pulse Asia survey for the first week of December 2009 results: Aquino (45%), Villar (23%), Estrada (19%), and Teodoro (5%). (balita.ph)

Estrada and Villar has the same message: they appeal to the poor, the masa.  Thus, we expect that their ratings will roughly be the same: 23% vs 19%.

Aquino and Teodoro has a lopsided discrepancy: 45% vs 5%.  The reason for this that Aquino has positioned himself as a man of character and this character is defined as being anti-Gloria.  It is true that being the son of two Philippine national heroes Ninoy and Cory Aquino helps, but being anti-Gloria takes away the votes of people who would have admired Gibo for his Galing (competence) and Talino (Intelligence), for Gibo would not disown President Gloria who gave him the chance to run for presidency.  If people will not vote for Gibo because of Gloria, and they don’t like the pro-masa message of Villar and Estrada, the only person that they will vote for is Noynoy.

Thus, to win the presidency, Gibo should focus on Noynoy and forget about Villar and Estrada.

It would be fatal for Gibo to be ingratitude to Gloria: he would lose his political machinery.  This is what happened to Escudero when he despised the NPC; he was left out cold.

To defeat Noynoy, Gibo must redefine the meaning of the word “character” from being “anti-Gloria” to something else.  This would  hopefully reposition Gibo vs Noynoy and the tide shall turn.

Noynoy Aquino is not as competent and intelligent as Gibo.  This is how Gibo is currently packaged.  But only 5% will accept this as sufficient to become president.

Noynoy Aquino is supported by diverse pressure groups with their own individual interests.  Noynoy’s ideas and government platform are made not by Noynoy but by these pressure groups.  He is their mouthpiece.  Gibo, on the other hand, has his own ideas and platform of government.  His political party will support him regardless of whatever he thinks is good for the country, because Gibo is perceived to be intelligent and competent.

To defeat Noynoy, Gibo must divide Noynoy’s supporters.

Noynoy’s Achilles’ heel is his support to the Reproductive Health bill.  The Catholic Church is very concerned about this.  The Church tried to talk to Noynoy about this several times, but Noynoy is adamant.

Gibo was also vocal in his support to the Reproductive Health bill.  Then he wavered together with his wife.  He will not anymore support the bill as it is; he wants to have certain punitive restrictions removed.  What is the effect of this decision on his ratings?  None.  Because Gibo is seen as competent and intelligent.  This wavering is only a sign of his intelligence.  Gibo’s political machinery is still intact.

Gibo has the support of the military, because he was once the Secretary of National Defense.  Gibo has the political machinery; he inherited it from Gloria.  If Gibo can win the Catholic Church to his side, the scales may tip in his favor.

The Western Civilization is built on three pillars: Roman administration, Greek philosophy, and Jewish morals as represented by Christianity.  Gibo has the administrative competence and the philosophical intelligence.  But his presidential campaign would not stand without a moral pillar.

To defeat Noynoy, Gibo must, like Constantine, mark the shield of his legions with the sign of Christ and cross the Milvian bridge.  To waver is to fall.  To delay is to lose.  Gibo must give up trying to hold to opposites using nuances: Gibo must abandon the Reproductive Health Bill, not because of its punitive provisions, but because of its contraceptive mentality itself.  Gibo must stop thinking of the new born child as a national liability but as a human resource, a manpower.  The national contraception program espoused by the bill will, as Pope Paul VI prophesied in his Humanae Vitae,  only weaken the family by promoting pre-marital sex and marital infidelity.  Gibo makes it clear that he does not support abortion, but what is abortion but the last recourse when artificial contraception fails?

If Gibo will campaign against the contraceptive mentality itself, he will have the bishops behind his back.  By doing so, Gibo will have redefined the meaning of “character” from being “anti-Gloria” to being “pro-life, pro-family, pro-morality”.  Character is never defined with respect to a person but with respect to unchangeable truths about man.  It is a scandal for the faithful to see a Catholic Presidential candidate receive holy communion when his beliefs on artificial contraception is against the explicit teachings of the Catholic Church as taught by Pope Paul VI in his Humanae Vitae.

When the bishops make the list of candidates not to vote because of their support to the Reproductive Health Bill, Noynoy would top the list: Noynoy is running for the highest position of President and his surname starts with letter A.  The pro-life supporters of Noynoy will then see the folly of supporting a presidential candidate who is not pro-life when there is another one who is: Gibo.  And Gibo is more competent and more intelligent than Noynoy.

By campaigning against contraceptive mentality, Gibo would cut Noynoy’s voter base into two and the presidential campaign would be evenly matched at about 20% rating for each candidate.  When this happens, Gibo can sprint ahead by emphasizing his Galing at Talino, and thereby win the presidency.

The recent allegation by Gov. Ed Panlilio’s lawyer that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been using funds coming from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Social Security System, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Board for election purposes is a very serious accusation, as much as it is disturbing.

The fact that the lawyer, Atty. Ernesto Francisco, claims that he has in his possession documents from the Commission on Audit (COA) allegedly showing that she benefitted from this public funds for her own political drive makes it all the more profound and thought-provoking.

In a statement given to a leading national newspaper, Atty. Francisco said, “Prior to formalizing her candidacy, GMA (Mrs. Arroyo’s initials) has been using public funds for her political advertisements.”

“Such brazen use of public funds, including funds of the PCSO and SSS —which otherwise should have been used for the sick and poor in our midst —to bolster the image and promote the candidacy of GMA should be stopped,” he said.

These were just among the many accusing statements the lawyer made.

Atty. Francisco further added that the fund transfers were coursed through the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to the President’s office.

Since the allegations involve huge amount of money to be expended alone by GMA for her own political advertisement, especially now that she has declared her candidacy for the House of Representatives, could these funds be channeled also to her political allies in Congress to continue having a hold on their loyalty?

What could be President Arroyo’s ultimate ambition this time?

This is an example of what an insatiable greed can do: it makes the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

Let us prevent GMA from running and controlling Congress before she ruins this country.

It used to be that when one joins a political entity in government, it is with the honest intention of serving the nation and becoming a true public servant of the people.

There was no other consideration, for in fact politics is also defined as the art or science of guiding and influencing government actions, practices, and policies to benefit, at all times, the nation and its people.

Thus, politics is a personal commitment that goes beyond being responsible to ones own family.

To enter politics is to enter the realm of governance where one works for the preservation of the integrity, respect, safety, peace, and prosperity of the nation while at the same time protecting the rights of the citizens by keeping the nation strong through the use of its vast resources.

Alas, politics in this country has evolved into something that has tremendously deteriorated the morals of the politicians – the nation’s public servants.

Through the years, politics have become more and more a window of opportunity for a superb business prospect.

Through the years, we have seen that our national legislative bodies are no longer the monopoly of brilliant lawyers to formulate and enact laws, but include now a gamut of other professions like businessmen, military men, showbiz personalities, media personalities, etc.

Through the years, running for Congress has become a lucrative business that not only has it  corrupted the minds of some legislators, but greed seem to have conquered them, that in the process chances for others to run and serve the country have been nil, for they don’t want their influence, power and wealth to go out of the family circle.

Thus, political dynasties have been established.

Many have clamored for this political system that is becoming to be the norm in Philippine politics, to be prohibited. But, only a foolish member of Congress will have an anti-dynasty law passed and approved.

To be a member of an august body that is the Congress is like heading your own corporation. You can’t seem to trust other people outside of your kinship. You simply have to play the merry-go-round among yourselves, strengthening and controlling the areas you are representing for it is the only way power can remain in the family.

Even the incumbent president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has already reached the zenith of her political career, has ignored all calls from the different sectors of society to give up her political ambition to run for Congress and instead become an active stateswoman or an unofficial adviser of government.

Congress is just so attractive to turn your back on!

We have always been made to believe that man is a rational being; that he is sane and endowed with the capacity to reason or use logic when thinking out a problem.

Thus, when a man is sick in the head, is insane, inconsistent with reason or logic and no longer in control of his thinking faculties, then we always view the man as becoming an irrational being – an animal or a monster, depending on how absurd his thoughts have become or how bizarre his actions have resulted to be.

Irrational people live in a different reality than the rest of us. They hear things differently, see things differently, and deduce things differently.

This has what has seemingly become of the matured, male Ampatuans of Maguindanao who are allegedly suspects in the brutal and unforgiving slaying that cut short the lives of 57 innocent people – mostly women and journalists, who simply wanted to witness the filing of certificate of candidacy by the wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Datu Ismael “Toto” Mangunadadatu, on behalf of her husband who intended to run for governor against the son of incumbent Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. The wife was not spared, either.

As if it was not enough killing them mercilessly, the victims were herded to a place where they were still made to suffer the grave cruelty of the murderers by mutilating their bodies – perhaps even before the bodies were left lifeless.

That there was a backhoe in the area which has dug a huge burial chamber for the victims and their vehicles is a testimony that the crime was premeditated and would have concealed all evidences of the transgression, as if the convoy of journalists, aides and relatives of the Mangudadatus just disappeared in thin air.

Fortunately, time was not on the side of the perpetrators and the tortuous job of covering up the crime scene remained unfinished.

Had the criminals succeeded in completing the cover-up, who, among the relatives, would have gone near the area asking and verifying where the missing persons were? No body and not even the Mangudadatus, for this is the much dreaded Ampatuan country!

If, indeed, it is the Ampatuans that masterminded this deplorable and heinous crime, as it is alleged, what could possibly have made them get to the height of their irrationality?

Can nobody challenge them politically anymore? Is their existence being threatened?

Is the Ampatuan bailiwick that bears their name, exclusively for the Ampatuans?

Is their strong connection with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo given them a false sense of power and dominion over the area making them feel they are above the law in an autonomous region?

For sure there are many more questions to be asked as to what has driven the Ampatuans to the height of their irrationality.

But for now, we can only hope that in the twilight of President Arroyo’s term, swift and decisive action against the alleged criminals will be relentless pursued, if only to make the families of the victims feel that they are not wanting in justice under an administration beholden to the criminals.

The Philippines has a long way to go in weather forecasting.  For a long time, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or popularly known as PAGASA has been waiting for its order of at least ten S-band Doppler Radars.  The first delivery being half of the lot.  This has not happened.

PAGASA has been relying in part on the steady stream of free inputs with its membership in the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).  Certain quarters suggested the creation of a Philippine space agency in 2007 and a data communications (satellite) based agency as early as 1988.  No one listened to the proposals.  If the former Sec. Emilia Boncodin of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) even singlehandedly torpedoed down the creation of the Congress-legislated National Transport Safety Board, much more a space agency. And because of Boncodin’s single act, the whole situation is so fucked up that tragic disasters and crises involving mishaps at sea have been happening left and right and can’t be stopped from happening in the future. There were those who unnecessarily criticized and lambasted the proponent of a Philippine space agency, a retiring engineer at PAGASA, as foolish.

The project proposed to create a functional data communication agency, the Philippine Satellite Communication Operation, Research and Development Council (PSCRDC) in 1988, at the diminishing level of euphoria over EDSA I was probably just thrown in the garbage can.  If real and pseudo scholars will check at the Records Office in Malacañang, there is heavy doubt if the document was even registered as received by the Office of the President, even under the heading of Classified matter.  The project paper had a stamp of SECRET all over it.

The PSCRDC was clearly envisioned to be a Philippine space agency and it preceded the idea submitted by Engr. Bernardo Soriano.  Soriano appears to be an admin man, although he should be equipped with a doctorate after serving more than 30 years in PAGASA.  Why he submitted the idea for PASA could be due to his years of experiencing faulty detection and forecasting at PAGASA.

The Philippine Government should review the PAGASA proposal now and not at any other later time.  S-band Radars are all right.  But is it state-of-the-art in storm detection radars (SDR)?  If the investment to buy 10 radars will not cover the entire archipelago, what is the use of having the Dopplers?

Will it not pay more to have a stronger space agency and to invest more inputs for a mechanism to generate more data from outer space than is available today for the country?  After all, how many end-users are there for satellite data?  Nearly everyone has a use for information from outer space, not the least of which are those in the field of environment management, business, civil and military aviation, shipping, land transport, logistics, defense, law enforcement and just about any Googler and ArcGIS map user out there that includes many students, teachers, professionals who know how to.  And if you count them all, the number runs to millions.

That in itself is already a huge market.  Considering that the Philippine business traffic overlaps with those of many other countries, there is also revenue potential in this area.

For this reason, Cyberpark Telecom, our company has extended its sights towards business that relies on outer space data and possibly to generate a positive relationship with Smart Communications in this regard.

While there is only one Philippine satellite, see data from SatNews below, there is also great good that will come about if the satellite were boosted and fully equipped with new components and gadgetry to increase its sensing capabilities and other functions.  And that is where we come in.  If the Agila II Satellite people will not accept our offer, we can go shopping for other partners.  There are hundreds of satellites, real and artificial orbiting in outer space. India alone has ten satellites.  Or we could opt to launch our own satellites in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology in the near future.

By then, government must have renamed the PAGASA into a Philippine Space Agency as Soriano dreamed of.  But today we urge the administration of HE  PGMA to start pushing its cluster of agencies to map out the strengthening of RP’s capacities for using outer space as a valuable resource in many of its concerns.

As we are advocating in Resource Recovery Movement, there is a need for policy regime change in the area of mapping as it relates to environment, to global warming, to its many applications in engineering, architectural township planning, urban development, agriculture, etc.

The link to information on the Agila II Satellite: SatNews

There’s a revolt, a political storm, over at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

But it’s a storm that’s not going to dissipate when it makes landfall.

Am referring to the letter-complaint written two weeks ago by the Union of Foreign Service Officers addressed to Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and signed by UNIFORS  President, Ambassador Victoria S. Bataclan,

The letter is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21136235/Unifors-Letter-complaint-to-Pgma

As the letter indicates, the lady envoy has served as the Philippines representative to eight countries: Hong Kong and Ambassador to Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, apart from being Philippine Consul-General in Hong Kong.

The focus of the complaint is former labor undersecretary for migrant workers concerns Esteban Conejos, who as the UNIFORS letter reveals, was recently appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

The complaint’s highlights:

1.    This appointment of Mr. Conejos not only brings the level of non-career ambassadors to its highest level in Philippine history, it places your Excellency in imminent breach of the statutory limit set by Section 17 of Republic Act No. 7157, otherwise known as the Foreign Service Act of 1991.

As of 28 September 2009, there are 29 non-career ambassadors and 36 career ambassadors.  Of the latter group, about eight (8) have ended their tour of duty (and are on short-term extensions) or about to end their tour of duty within sixty (60) days.

Thus, if all these 8 career ambassadors return home, your Excellency will have breached the statutory limits even without the appointment of Mr. Conejos.

4.    There is no transparency in the appointment of non-career ambassadors.  The career corps  is deeply disappointed and disheartened over the fact that it has not been informed nor consulted prior to the issuance of such appointments.

In the instant appointment of Mr. Conejos, dated 3 September 2009, the corresponding document, which appears patently flawed on its face and its process, was seen only about 3 weeks after said date.

5.    Finally, though not squarely attending the appointment of Mr. Conejos, the career corps also takes issue over the issuance of appointments to persons beyond the age of 65.

There are at least fourteen (14) non-career ambassadors beyond 65 years old in violation of both the letter and spirit of Section 23 of the Foreign Service Act.

Equally important, my colleagues in the foreign service hope that your term as President will have a legacy that strengthened the drive towards professionalizing the Foreign Service.

A constitutionally mandated career service is a true pillar of a strong Republic. This was the legacy of your great father who authored the first Philippine Foreign Service Act.

We trust it is yours too.

The assertions cannot be more pointed.

It is telling that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo himself does not appear to havebeen given the courtesy of a copy of the letter complaint.

My sources, however, clarified that Romulo was, in fact, given a copy of the document.

(Sec. Romulo with the UNIFORS officers warlier this year.)

There is no indication that if Malacanang has responded to the UNIFORS complaint.

The President is the architect of the country’s foreign policy and certainly has full executive prerogative to appoint whomever she sees fit to represent the Republic in the United Nations and its other instrumentalities.

Former labor undersecretary and now ambassador-designate Conejos certainly has the requisite experience and credentials to serve in the post. He is also a lawyer.

The gentleman is also a known ally of former Senator Orlando S, Mercado who was named Philippine Ambassador to ASEAN several months ago.

I’ll be updating this post.

1st Update:

Press Secretary Cerge, according to a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, asserted that “Conejos was not appointed.”

The PDI report is here:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091012-229612/Envoys-protest-appointment-of-non-career-diplomat

“But what really is disconcerting and demoralizing,” a member of UNIFORS told me, “is the glaring fact of how other countries treat their diplomatic service where the overwhelming majority, including in the US, are career diplomats and not political
appointees.”

Here’s the current roster of Philippine envoys:

2nd Update:

Pres. Arroyo has now withdrawn the appointment of former labor undersecretary ffor migrant affairs Esteban Conejos as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

But over at the DFA, Ambassador Bataclan herself was axed as Assistant Secretary.

The revolt has exacted its toll both ways.

Here’s a link to Vera Files latest report on the scandal:

http://www.verafiles.org/index.php/focus/372-arroyo-withdraws-conejos-appointment-dfa-union-head-loses-post-too

One of my classmates Hency Barbaza Marquez, now a really fine doctor in the US (this is inevitably an ad), invited me to this social net. It was a good thing. Over that site, I invited those who would get interested in joining a resource recovery movement that was inspired by the Finnish Government’s functional unit in the 1970s called FinKonsult. I think that it’s defunct now. The main reason probably why the concept of resource recovery was propagated by Finland and by many other European nations, is that specifically Finland, is a heavy user of pulp. And chemicals.

A Finnish friend over a few glasses of alak impressed me with his job in the main industry of his country: paper. No, no, no not just plain paper. Paper for banks. Security paper, that is, that is used for bank notes, certificates of stock, whatever. Basta that kind of paper.

It was a main export of Finland, he said, paper. The only other country that heavily exported the same commodity and stiffly competed with Finland, was Sweden.  So they (meaning him, my friend and the Swedish) must be falling a lot of trees, I asked him. A lot! he said.

Many of us use a lot of paper and wood products and like my friend’s country, we also cut a lot of trees.  But many of those that do the cutting, don’t necessarily consider just how much paper and wood we need. They just cut and cut and sell and sell, never mind if they violate or environmental laws.

And so the need for resource recovery.  The concept is just simple, anyway.  Create savings in our resources, meaning use the limited resources of our environment wisely, albeit not sparingly, but wisely.  Save the lot that can be saved. And avoid usage that could be harmful to others or to the environment itself.

When you save, you have something for the rainy day right? That’s added income, added profit.

When you care, you are more careful, correct? Then less harm, less hazard to the surroundings.

When you do something wisely, you do it efficiently and effectively, correct class?  That’s increased productivity.  Now increased productivity, translates to more income, more profit for less effort and lower levels of waste.

Now about our title, going local, it comes from the blog post of girbaudz that specifically asks for the government to do the following:

1.   Stop talking about and blaming global warming
2.   Create a specific super body to study and manage a Calamity Monitoring and Public Warning System that will be either an adjunct of, or co-equal with the NDCC
3.  Increase the capability of NDCC to provide early response during disaster
4.   Create local structures and response capability to confront calamities. (In China, communities near rivers set up a system of ropes and handles from bank to bank to prevent people from drowning and dying during heavy flooding and provide access from one side of the river to the other.)
5.   Restore the Flood Control Project fund and create funding for additional flood control systems not only in Metro Manila but also in many other vulnerable areas
6.   Resettle many of Metro Manila’s squatters living in major or minor bridges, and completely relocate all of the human rat peoples inside Sewers everywhere in Metro Manila and open up the entire sewerage system to let surface run-off water seep into the sewers (and desilt, dredge those damned rivers, for God’s sake!) — insertion mine
7.    Stop the forest denudation by recreating a fully armed, heavily weaponized Forest Ranger Brigade from a composite of AFP, Coast Guard, PNP and other armed services. No DENR employee shall be allowed to enter any Forest Ranger facility except to cooperate with them
8.   Conduct behind-schedule damage control from the following — Baguio killer earthquake and Mt. Pinatubo eruption damage by reconstructing the landscape destroyed by eroded ash from Caraballo and other ranges and greening of these ranges (among other activities) to prevent further flash flooding, erosion, avalanches and landslides (insertion mine)
9.   Heavily sanction all the illegal logging and indiscriminate dumping of toxins from mining operations from north to south and stop the syndicates that are willing and fully determined to kill their enemies and detractors by putting them in jail for life
10. Stop the killing of Manila Bay by providing solutions to the erosion, toxic dumping from point Agno down to Pasig River.

I guess girbaudz is right.  It really is more expensive to undertake damage control than to make proactive moves.  And here is the clincher, calling on Sec. Jose L. Atienza of the DENR:

11.  Legislate new rules and regulations, acts and statutes for protecting the ecology including maximized penalties for all violators (illegal loggers, miners, dumpers of toxic waster in internal or territorial waters) and then Codify all ecology laws into the Environmental Code of the Philippines that provides the vision of a cleaner environment fifty to one hundred years hence. (all mine)

12.  Educate the youth on the importance of the ecology.  DECs and CHED will issue circulars to create more subjects and more inclusions of the topic of the environment into school curricula. (all mine)

Government needs to arrest the destruction of our ecosystem.  That’s right Sec. Atienza, government. The NGOs can’t do anything unless they really put their minds to not just making a living, making a little money out of the damned ecology racket, creating positions and jobs for this or that person and giving huge salaries and perks.  Just for doing nothing.

But more so, the government should actually be more focused on creating a mechanism by which managing disaster assistance could be more “localized” – which is what is now being done in Pasig where the NDCC set up a local Command Center.  This might be a derivative of the girbaudz “localizing disaster assistance management” doctrine, but it will do just the same.  In the end, it will turn out to be a highly successful decision.

Synchronicity?  Or a positive and favorable acceptance of girbaudz’s suggestion?

The administration deserves credit for initiating such a solution similar to the one offered by blogger girbaudz about going local.

The recent experience in Sulu Province, for example, giving all out support to the local players in solving the ICRC crisis proved that going local, with national officials merely providing a modicum of support, made the rescue and recovery efforts of Lacaba, Notter and Vagni, very successful.

There is hope that even with bigger calamities, many more lives will be spared, many more properties saved.

However, this will still hinge upon having very good typhoon forecasting equipment.  Good typhoon, earthquake or fire detection mechanisms will already have solved half of the problem of responders in a disaster situation. In the first place, the effort needed for rescue, recovery and relief will only be at least a half of what is required as in the case of Typhoon Ondoy.

The president and the secretary of national defense, are going to be most well-advised listening to the suggestion in girbaudz’s blog.

As pointed out in that blog, in places like China, there are devices employed in places like river banks such as a network of ropes tied from bank to bank to allow people to have a handhold in case the rivers are heavily inundated with flood waters.

This is only one example.  There are other creative measures that could be formulated, each unique to the specific setting.  I wish the government good luck in laying out a blueprint for disaster response that will make events typical of Hurricane Katrina more manageable and less damaging.

As a postscript, I reiterate my invitation to everyone to join Facebook Cause Resource Recovery Movement.  It is in the stage of organization but will soon grow to become a functional network that could possibly make modest contributions to saving our environment from wholescale destruction that causes catastrophies like Typhoon Ondoy. Ondoy as we know now from the media reports, left behind more than 100 dead, hundreds of thousands of people victims, nearly a billion in crop and other losses.  Such a huge waste.  A simple natural calamity shouldn’t be allowed to go on a rampage just like that with many in the government feeling helpless about what to do next.

Today is the Feast of the Birth of Our Lady, but here in Ateneo de Manila University we are having classes. The reason is because there are already too many class hours missed because of government imposed holidays:

MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared September 7 and 21 as non-working holidays, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Friday night. Arroyo declared Monday next week a national day of mourning for Iglesia ni Cristo Executive Minister Eraño “Ka Erdy” Manalo, who will be buried that day, Remonde said. “All flags will be flown at half-mast,” he said in a text message to reporters.

On September 21, the Muslim Filipinos will be marking Eid’l Fitr, or the end of holy month of fasting, Ramadan, according to Remonde.(Philippine Daily Inquirer)

I think it is time to put some quantifiable measures on determining whether a day should be a national holiday or not.  I shall propose the following two parameters:

1. The number of those celebrating the holy day is 50 percent or greater of the national population
2. Those celebrating the holy day must leave their work/school offices.

I propose that these two parameters must hold in order for the Government to make a reasonable declaration of a holy day as a holiday.

Catholics in the Philippines comprise about 80 % of the national population.  Members of Iglesia ni Cristo are 2.3 % and Muslims are 5%.  So the only possible national holidays in the Philippines are those of Catholics.  Some may call this unfair.  But look at it this way: if Muslims or INC leave their work to celebrate their holy days, the Philippine government can still function. But if Catholics leave their work to celebrate their holy days, the Philippine government grinds to a halt. So the government has no choice but to declare a holiday.

Rules 1 and 2 are applicable to any country.  For countries with Muslim majority like Indonesia or Saudi Arabia, the government should not declare Catholic holy days as holidays but only those of Muslims. For countries with Orthodox majority like Russia, the government should not declare Catholic holy days as holidays but only those of Orthodox, e.g. Catholics and Orthodox Christians does not celebrate Easter at the same day because Catholics use the Gregorian Calendar while the Orthodox use the Julian Calendar.  (The INC is still a minority in any country.)  Otherwise, if we try to accommodate all holy days of minority religions in a country or city as legal holidays, it would arrive at a point where most days of the year are holidays. This is not good for business or for education.

Christmas, Holy Week, and All Saints Day are legitimate Philippine holidays by force of tradition after centuries of Spanish Colonial Government.  By tradition, each person goes to his or her family during these days, even if the person works in Manila and his or her family is in the province.  Today, September 8, the Birthday of Our Lady, there is no tradition of leaving work during this day, so the government may not declare it as a holiday, though all Catholic schools may call it a holiday.

So what should be a reasonable government position regarding holy days of Muslims and Iglesia ni Cristo.  Adherents to these religions may be allowed to celebrate their holy days with work pay; if they choose to work during their holy days, they will be given double their work pay for that day, which is the standard rule for Philippine holidays.  But in no way must the government impose these holy days as holidays for the pre-dominantly Catholic Philippines.  This is simply not just.  If the NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) revoked the Sep 7 and 21 holidays for BPO and Electronics sectors for economic reasons, then why can not the government revoke these holidays also for the Catholic sector for religious reasons?

Catholic institutions, like the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University, will have added number of holidays: secular holidays and Catholic Feast days.  If the government imposes additional holidays which are properly celebrated by other religions, the first reaction by Catholic institutions is to scale down the number of their own holidays.  Thus, for example, today, the Birthday of Our Lady, should be a school-wide holiday and no classes should be made during this day, like all Catholic schools in the Philippines.  But because of these new holidays, we have to make Sep 8 a working holiday.

I think Mama Mary is very sad.  What do we call the Ateneo Basketball Team?  It is the Hail Mary Squad.  What is Ateneo Alma Mater Song?  The Song for Mary:

We stand on a hill between the earth and sky.
Now all is still where Loyola’s colors fly.
Our course is run and the setting sun ends Ateneo’s day.
Eyes are dry at the last goodbye; this is the Ateneo way.

Mary for you! For your white and blue!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!

Down from the hill, down to the world go I;
rememb’ring still, how the bright Blue Eagles fly.
Through joys and tears, through the laughing years,
we sing our battle song:
Win or lose, it’s the school we choose;
this is the place where we belong!

Mary for you! For your white and blue!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!

This is very sad.  This is very, very sad.

The photograoh is missing a caption

The photograph which appears to have been taken fairly recently was emailed, and then twitted to this writer with the query: “can anybody please tell me where and when this image was taken?”

Was this a dinner in the Philippines ore abroad?

Could this be connected to the controversy in involving the New York Post report on President Arroyo and friend having dinner at Le Cirque Restaurant in New York?

All that I can make out from the image is there appear to be 8 other person in the main table with the 9th personality who looks like President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,

Standing behind the dinner group on the far right side is someone who looks like a female security officer.

Six other unidentifiable persons in the next table are partly visible.

Those who may have information that can provude an accurate caption for the dinner event phograph are requests to send in a comment to At Mifield.

FUTURE U.S. BASE SITES?

The United States is moving to implement a modified version of its Cold Ware-era forward deployment of its land, sea, and air forces to serve the dual purpose of improving its “protective umbrella” for its Asia-Pacific allies in the war on terror while also “addressing the heightened threat posed by rogue states like North Korea.”

Informed sources requesting anonymity told me “the strategic revolves around the  need for America to respond effectively to major regional contingencies (MRCs).”

Writing  for the influential think tank Rand Corporation, Professor Richard L. Kugler of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy had pointed out just several years ago:

The collapse of the Soviet Union forced the United States to redesign its military strategy for the first time in decades. It responded by developing the so-called Regional Strategy. The Regional Strategy has as its hallmarks a commitment to continuing alliances, maintenance of a forward presence, and a focus on regional rather than global conflicts. It posits a need to fight two nearly simultaneous major regional contingencies (MRCs) and designs a Base Force to provide that capability. The process of designing a military strategy is particularly difficult today because of the enormous international and domestic changes under way.
Needed in these turbulent times is a reinvigoration of the strategy analysis process that served the United States so well at the beginning of the Cold War. In his book U.S. Military Strategy and Force Posture for the 21st Century: Capabilities and Requirements, Richard L. Kugler proposes a new approach to a military strategy for the nation. Kugler argues that the Regional Strategy, even if modified to reflect the priorities of the current administration, can endure only if the international situation remains substantially unchanged. Five ongoing revolutionary transformations make such stability unlikely. They are
•    changes in the nation-state system
•    the shift from bipolarity to multipolarity
•    ideological change such as the triumph of democracy over communism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and ethno- nationalism
•    worldwide economic upheaval
•    spreading modern military technology. “
While Prof. Kruger cited the foregoing before the election of Barack Obama as the first US President of Afro American heritage he goes on to stress the need for a “new strategy” where the United States “accepts the need to be able to deal with two roughly concurrent MRCs and a force the approximate size of the Base Force. But it proposes different strategic foundations. Casting aside the focus on deterrence and containment, it seeks a new set of regional security mechanisms that balance military power, promote a sense of community, and discourage aggression and competitive multipolar rivalries. Nuclear forces will decline in importance as conventional forces assume larger roles in U.S. military strategy. But these forces will have to be capable of a wide range of missions, both combat and noncombat.”

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB7403/index1.html

http://www.rand.org/about/

My sources told me how “along the lines of Prof. Kruger’s analysis and those currently in the Obama White House, there is a felt need for the United States to gain access to new surface military bases endowed with deep water ports capable of accommodating our nuclear powered submarines while also servicing our aircraft carrier battle armadas.”

Hearing those words, four Philippine locations, past and present came to mind: the former Clark and Subic (include Cubi naval station) bases, and Sarangani and Gen. Santos City areas which have fully developed ports and high capacity airports built with generous U.S. financial support.

Could it be that the Americans are eying GenSan and Sarangani?

My sources refused to speculate but this writer can’t help to think that given communist North Korea’s nuclear sabre rattling and China’s  massive military forces buildup in recent years fuelled by it economic boom, the United States cannot but look to its regional allies for help in preventing a lopsided military imbalance favouring China and North Korea.

I am sure no official admissions will be forthcoming but it is surely in the realm of possibilities that visits to the region of personalities like US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and CIA Director Leon Panetta have direct relation to the reshaping of American military defense strategy in this part of the world.

US troops pulled out of Thailand at the close of the Viietnam war half a generation ago but the United Stated still does maintain military bases in Japan and South Korea with just under 40,000 American GIs in Japan and another 30,000 along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, apart from vital air assets in Guam.

Filipinos aware of the constitutional ban on the foreign military bases will be thinking about this as President Arroyo goes to the White House at the end of the month.

POSTSCRIPT

In the flush of the People Power revolt that installed a revolutionary government Pres. Cory Aquino immediately convoked a Constitutional Commission which (apart from mandating the notorious private armies) also took heed of nationalist activism against the coontinued presence of US military bases.

So it was that this provision was written into the 1987 fundamental law:

ARTICLE XVIII
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
Section 25. After the expiration in 1991 of the Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America concerning military bases, foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State.

So after the new Philippine constitution went into force in 1987 a 4-year period was set for the Philippine and US government to try to craft a treaty covering Clark and Subic bases which at the time were the largest American military enclaves outside the US mainland.

Having held and developed the two ‘assets’ since the turn of the 20th century, both Clark and Subic had full capability to service all American forward military deployment, and logistics storage and resupply.

The two bases’ high capacity runways and Subic’s deep sea port that even had a submarine base plus the Subic-Cubi Point station’s runway allowing aircraft carriers to dock right at its runway’s edge for US fishters to be easilu rolled on and rolled off ship!

The US Naval Shipyard for its 7th Fleet was right in Subid with warship drydocking capability.

Surrounding the to bases were Olongapo ang Angeles cities – the preferred R & R points of American servicemen. (This ‘entertainment’ side industry was also heavily denounced by Filipino activists for the toll they exacted on the moral fiber: the proliferation of prostitution and  hundreds if not thousands of ‘Amerasian’ children fathered, and then abandoned by US soldiers. The other social cost: scores of rape cases and scattered incudent of Filipino ‘natives’ being “mistaken” as ‘boars’ and shot near the bases or ijured ib ‘live firing’ exercises.)

In l991, absent a new military bases treaty, the Philippine Senate held the historic vote that shut down Clark and Subic bases.

Turned into economic assets, Clark and Subic freeports are now flourishing as magnets for foreign investments and economic growth. Former weapons of war turned into plowshares for progress.

POSTSCRIPT

Former Air Force Chief and retired Maj. Gen. Ramon Farolan, who also served as Customs Commissioner is perhaps one if not the most respected ex militsary men in the country.

His calm, fatherly demeanor never fails to impress and inspire, along with his unassailed integrity.

I make this prefatory note in light of Mr. Farolan’s column today in the Inquirer where he gave a reading of what message the CIA chief bore when he met Pres. Arroyo:

After the amenities and briefings were done with, Panetta and Arroyo retired to another room for private talks.
Panetta: President Obama sends his best wishes. He extends an invitation for you to visit Washington. You will be the first leader from Southeast Asia to be so honored. The date has been set for July 30. The President’s schedule is quite full and we hope that you will be able to adjust, considering the short notice. It will be a “no frills” type of visit—an Oval Office meeting and possibly, coffee with Mrs. Obama. Our economy is in bad shape and we are operating under austerity conditions.
Arroyo: I’ll be there.
Panetta: President Obama has also asked me to convey to you his concerns about the future of the Philippines. (Does that sound familiar?) It is important that elections next year push through as scheduled, and we see no need for the imposition of any kind of emergency rule. We are aware of the sudden and unexplained changes in the AFP leadership (a reference to the sacking of Generals Yano and Luna, AFP chief of staff and vice chief of staff, respectively). We hope that the military remains focused on the insurgency and terror threats and not get involved in politics.
Also, Madam President, any changes in the Constitution can wait until after the elections. In the meantime, it is best to observe term limits.
Arroyo: You leave me few options.
Panetta: As someone once said, we should cut, and cut cleanly.
Just as Panetta is about to leave the room, he turns toward Mrs. Arroyo and says: President Obama is concerned about the delicate health of Mr. Arroyo. Perhaps he should stay home.

While Mr. Farolan’s essay is rendered in tongue-in-cheek fashion it certainly is full of insight.

His end reference to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is full of meaning given persistent rumors that US authorities have been investigating Mr. Arroyo’s financial activities.

In fairness to Atty. Arroyo such scuttlebutt has not been confirmed by US authorities.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090720-216309/What-the-CIAs-Panetta-told-President-Arroyo

R. M. Nolasco

The first and last time Dr. Ricardo Ma. Nolasco and I actually had an exchange of opinion was when he invited comments to a draft of his article, What Philippine Ergativity Really Means, during the latter half of 2006.  I emailed my comments and to my surprise, he emailed me back his honest reply. The quick, polite and professional response told me something about the man.

Then Ariel Agcaoili, Assistant Professor/Coordinator, Dept. of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, emailed me early in 2007 that Dr. Nolasco was invited as the keynote speaker for the NAKEM Conference held at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, on May 23, 2007.  And there Dr. Nolasco dropped what I thought was a bomb or sang what I suspected was his swan song. What’s remarkable was that his audience didn’t even realize he dropped the MLE bomb.  Either that or in the usual Ilocano easier-to-appease-than-rock-the-boat disposition, they found it more politically convenient to do the ostrich thing.  Except for the NAKEM stirring, haven’t heard of an Ilocano-based MLE initiative thus far.  [Ariel Agcaoili assures me he's going back home middle of the month to do something about it.]

The title of Nolasco’s keynote speech at the NAKEM Conference was in itself provocative:  “Maraming Wika, Matatag Na Bansa.”  In his capacity as Chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), Dr. Nolasco went on to articulate on the advantages of a mother tongue-based multilingual education–which is the antithesis of our current bilingual education system.  As KWF Chairman, the man was actually espousing and promoting the parallel development of the so-called local or regional languages for cultural diversity instead of following the long held Lope K. Santos-instigated establishment position of promoting Filipino as the unifying national language.  The vehicle to achieve this, he said, is a mother tongue-based multilingual education program or MLE.  This MLE concept is essentially in contravention to Exec. Order 210 (2003) issued by Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo.  That, I thought, would be adequate reason for Dr. Nolasco’s employer to sack him as sworn guardian of Filipino, the Wikang Pambansa.

But no such thing.  On Feb. 12, 2008, Dr. Nolasco issued a press statement, “LANGUAGES DO MATTER!“, in which he reiterated the major points enunciated in his NAKEM keynote speech. “For multilingual based education to work,” he emphasized, “I can think of four (4) conditions that must be met (although there may be more). One, good curricula (i.e., cognitively demanding). Two, good teachers (i.e. competent in the required languages, content and methods). Three, good teaching materials (i.e. error free). And four, community support and empowerment (i.e. the community is allowed to make decisions on school matters).”

That Dr. Nolasco has survived, even thrived, in a milieu that he himself influenced to put some separation from that cultivated by the late Lope K. Santos and other predecessors at KWF is a testament to the man’s courage and his guts to uphold the validity of his convictions.

Among the many articles he has written pertaining to multilingual education are:

• A Primer on Mother Tongue Based Multiligual Education & Other Issues
• The Prospects of Multilingual Education and Literacy in the Philippines
• Language Martyrs

Dr.  Ricardo Ma. Nolasco is an associate professor of the Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines, Diliman; former board member of the Linguistics Society of the Philippines; an adviser for multilingual education (MLE) initiatives of the Foundation for Worldwide People Power; and Acting Chair of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.  His specialization includes: Bicol Syntax, Sorsoganon language, Southern Philippine Languages Morphosyntax, Theoretical and Structural Linguistics, Sociolinguistics.

FILIPINO FIRST

It is time like this when, amid looming global recession and food scare from China, we feel helpless as both frustrating events affect the very core of our existence as a family man – our pocketbooks and the health of our children.

It seems like we are caught between a solid wall and a hard rock, immobilized, knowing that what is happening are beyond our individual control.

While it is reassuring to hear from some quarters in government that we will be less hit by the global financial crisis because of our “sound economic fundamentals”, the fact remains that this upheaval is global in nature, such that when the industrialized nations get the hiccups, the poor nations suffer, even more.

It is comforting to know, however, that the finance officials of the world’s top economic powers are taking decisive actions to halt the crisis and, with relentless effort, put the world’s economy back on track.

On the local front, it is encouraging to note that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, herself, is proactively spearheading the effort to stave off an economic slump in the country, like her proposal to set up both Asian and domestic financial support mechanism.

But government should not stop there. Now, more than ever, is the best time also to revive, encourage and pursue insistently the adoption of the banner cry, “ Filipino First”, which was espoused by then President Carlos P. Garcia during his incumbency in the 1950s.

Uncertain of the commodities importers are bringing in from China and to prevent the country from being flooded with inferior quality products, our government should come up anew with a feasible program or policy that will rally round and support our local investors in manufacturing products that are good and inexpensive to be patronized by the Filipino people.

The technology now is far so advanced than what it used to be and we have so many capable and competent people in our midst that could operate and manage agricultural farms, production plants and other facilities efficiently, productively and competitively.

The “Filipino First” policy is not only a sound strategy that will be beneficial for the country in the long run, but is the most logical course of action that the government should take today. Continue attracting foreign investors with business-friendly policies but, most importantly, government must encourage entrepreneurial interest and give support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is only in the boom of domestic market that we will see this country rise slowly to prosperity.

The China food and other product quality problem have afforded us a window of opportunity that must be earnestly seized now.

Implementing properly the “Filipino First” policy will not only give us the impetus of creating and providing jobs but, most importantly, will minimize the brain and skills drain the country has to bear when citizens leave searching for jobs overseas

jess sievert

November 8, 2008

]]> http://dayuhangkayumanggi.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/tandaan-mo-mga-mukha-ng-kapalmuks-nito-sa-susunod-ng-eleksyon/ Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:02:14 +0000 emperorbananaketchup http://dayuhangkayumanggi.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/tandaan-mo-mga-mukha-ng-kapalmuks-nito-sa-susunod-ng-eleksyon/

Hinango ko ito sa post ni Arnold Tarrobago sa forum ng WORDPRESS PINOYS.

Aba, nagpasarap na naman si PGMA at ang ka-tropa niya habang sinalanta ang bansa natin ng Typhoon “Frank”!! Kunwari’y manood sila sa laban ni Manny Pacquiao, pero kita naman:

Magkalagpas ng isang MILYON dolyar na ginasta ng entourage ng Pambansang Pandakekak roon…na kung dapat ipinagugol sa pagbibili ng relief goods para sa naapektuhan.

30 ang na-book na rooms sa Willard Hotel sa Las Vegas, NV (bagay na bagay, kapangalan ng isang sikat na daga sa sine). Kita mo, bawat kuwarto rito, tiga-$300/$5000 ang patak nito.

Bawat kain rito, tiga-$400/$500 ang patak rin (habang kaydaming gumugutom sa Aklan)

30 rin ang na-renta ng kotse

250 ang napahamak na mga taga-consulado.

Sila ang mga bumitbit sa junket na ito…

• Rep. Narciso Santiago III (Alliance for Rural Unconcern “party” list group )
• Rep. Monico Puentevella (Bacolod)
• Rep. Albert Garcia (Bataan)
• Reps. Mark Llandro R. Mendoza & Hermilando Mandanas (Batangas)
• Rep. William Irwin Tieng (Patay….este, Buhay “party” list group)
• Reps. Jose Zubiri III & Lorna Silverio (Bulacan)
• Rep. Mitzi Cajayon (Caloocan)
• Rep. Diosdado “Dado” Macapagal Arroyo (Camarines Sur…de epol doesn’t fall far from da tri)
• Rep. Joseph Santiago (Catanduanes)
• Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (Cavite)
• Reps. Antonio Cuenco & Eduardo Gullas (Cebu)
• Deputy Speaker Raul Del Mar (Cebu City)
• Rep. Rommel Amatong (Compostela Valley)
• Speaker Prospero Nograles (Davao City)
• Rep. Antonio Lagdameo (Davao Del Norte)
• Rep. Marc Cagas (Davao Del Sur)
• Rep. Nelson Dayanghirang (Davao Oriental)
• Rep. Teodolo Coquilla (Eastern Samar)
• Reps. Andres Salvacion, Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez & Trinidad Apostol (Leyte)
• Reps. Ma. Zenaida Angping, Amado S. Bagatsing & Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Manila)
• Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete (Masbate)
• Reps. Herminia Ramiro & Yevgeny Emano (Misamis Oriental)
• Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon (Muntinlupa)
• Rep. Joseph Gilbert Violago (Nueva Ecija)
• Deputy Speaker Ma. Amelita C. Villarosa (Occidental Mindoro)
• Reps. Anna York Bondoc, Aurelio Gonzales Jr. & Juan Miguel Macapagal Arroyo (Pampanga…isa rin iyon, de bulok na epol dat doesn’t fall far from da tri na lanta)
• Reps. Conrado Estrella III & Ma. Rachel Arenas (Pangasinan…si Rachel, talaga manang-mana sa ina niya)
• Rep. Eduardo C. Zialcita (Parañaque)
• Rep. Roman Romulo (Pasig City)
• Reps. Mary Ann Susano & Nanette C. Castelo-Daza (Quezon City)
• Rep. Danilo Suarez (Quezon Province)
• Rep. Junie Cua (Quirino)
• Rep. Arturo B. Robes (San Jose Del Monte)
• Rep. Roger Mercado (Southern Leyte)
• Rep. Munir Arbison (Sulu)
• Rep. Rex Gatchalian (Valenzuela City)
• Rep. Antonio Diaz (Zambales)
• Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago
• Sen. Richard Gordon (bakit Red Cross Chairman pa rin itong damuhong nito????? Sayang…isino-shortlist ko siya bilang susunod na presidential candidate sa pagbuwag ni PGMA pero…ah, ayun)
• Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap
• Budget Sec. Rolando Andaya (Andaya…talaga!!!)
• Central Bank Sec. Gov. Amando Tetangco
• Defense Sec. Gilberto Teodoro (sayang…ang ganda naman ng misis mo….)
• DILG Sec. Ronaldo Puno
• (Mis)Education Sec. Jesli Lapus
• Environment Sec. Lito Atienza
• Finance Sec. Margarito Teves
• Foreign Affairs Sec. Alberto Romulo
• Acting Labor Sec. Marianito Roque
• Presidential Lapdog…este, Spokesman Sec. Ignacio Bunye
• Press Sec. Jesus Dureza
• Trade Sec. Peter Favila

Bawat sumama, me Php 100,000.00 travel allowance, me Php 1,620.00 Travel Tax Exemption pa!!!

Oo nga, aaminin ko, wala talaga akong hilig sa boksing, pero kung ako’y ikaw, Manny, huwag ka na masyadong magdidikit sa mga linta katulad ng mga alipores ni PGMA. Eh, kung balang araw mapatalsik si GMA, gusto mo mabahiran ba ng tae ang pagpapanalo mo dahil sa pagsasama sa kasalukuyang administrasyon.

Aaminin ko…sa umpisa, balak kong dasalin na sana matalo si Pac-Man para mapahiya na talaga si PGMA at ang kanyang tropa. Pero, anong magagawa ko, eh tapos na ang boksing, magsama na lang na paanga- anga na lang sa victory parade.

Oo nga Manny, aba saludo na rin ako sa iyo, pero mag-iingat ka sa mga sandamutak na bolero’t mga mafia-mafiahan roon sa larangan ng boksing. Kayraming mga boksingero di marunong umingat, nadapuan pa sila ng mga buwitre nasa industriya – mapa-boksing naman o kahit sa showbiz o pulitika (pls. naman, tigilan mo na ang pangarap mo na maging isang singer….pls. naman!!!)

Basta…tandaan mo na nga ang listahan ninyo lalo na pagpalapit na ang susunod na paghahalal para sa kung sinong ipapalit kay PGMA!!!

Philippine politics

Nang pauwi ako sa bahay noong Huwebes, nabigla na nga ako sa balita na napanood ko sa ANC tungkol sa katarantaduhang ginawa ni Sen. Antonio Trillanes, Gen. Danny Lim & dating bise-presidenteng Teofisto Guingona (Balak ko sana tuluyan ang panonood ko ng Ugly Betty Season 1 sa Star World). 

http://sundalo.bravehost.com/

Pinapaulit ang kanyang hiling na sana bumaba sa pakapangulo si Pres. Arroyo. O ayan, sumagot si Pangulo – linusob ang lobby ng Manila Peninsula ng isang APC.  Akala ko isang Jerry Bruckheimer production sa pagpapasok ng militar – mistulang SWAT o Miami Vice.  Kulang na lang si Colin Farrell.   

Kita mo nga di lang nakikipagsawsaw si Archbishop Oscar Cruz at si Bishop Labayin…a este, Labayen,  aba e sumulpot pa ang Fr. Robert Reyes!  Ang akala ko nagtuturo na lang siya ng Ingles sa mga kabataan sa Tsina,  umapir ang kanyang byuti na mistulang kabuteng inuulanan.     

Bagong magdilim naman, napatapos na ng lahat, mga bida’y isa’t isang pinapasok sa police van, pati mga TV reporters na umulat tungkol sa kabalbalan ni “Senator”  Trillanes (na dapat paluan sa puwet ni Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago).  Eh mabuti na doon nga maraming mga taga-media, sila mismo ang nagiging sagabal  sa paghuhuli kay “Triller” ng puwersang AFP .  Sana naman kung sinong mga ilang-ilyong tanga na bumoto kay “Triller” bakit maski isa sa inyo nakikipagtulong sa idolo ninyo noong nahahalata na di na siya makakagalaw kung walang mga “human shield” sa paligid niya?    

Sa susunod ng araw, bilang paggunita ng National Heroes Day, dapat magkikilusan na mga ang mga iba’t ibang anti-Arroyo na ek-ek brigades.  Puwera nga, ‘yung mga ringleader rito, wala isa sa kanila nagsirating…yung mga tatlong duwag na de-sutana pa, palibhasa’t wala ang sundalo nilang fafa, tinamad na nga!

Noong pumasok ako ng Huwebes na gabi (buti na nga, ligtas sa curfew), nagusap kami mga ka-opisina ko tungkol sa nangyari noong araw na iyon…o ayun, naiintidihan ko na kung gaanong kalakas ang sigaw mo laban sa kasalukuyang administrasyon, di gaanong kadali matumba si GMA.  Pandak naman siya, isang Assumptionista, pero mautak talaga siya…parang si dating pangulong Ramos (marami daw simisitsit na si Ramos ang totoong kagagalingan ng lakas ni GMA) .  Di mo madaling paikutin o pabilugin ang ulo (eh matagal kasi bilog e).  Alam ni GMA na watak-watak na ang oposisyon, suko na nga si Erap (dahil sa sobrang inom ng alak at pag-se-sex)…walang maituturing matinong puwedeng ipalit sa kaniya kahit sukang-suka na ang mamamayan sa kanya.

Eh pati rin ako…kaya nga di na ako sumisimba.  Ang suspetsa ko kayraming mga pari ngayon sa Simbahang Katoliko, me ambisyong mamumulitika.  Eh kundi mga taga-CBCP noon panahon ni Cardinal Sin (SLN) na lumuklok kay Pangulong Arroyo,  me mga ilan rin ngayon na sumasawsaw sa mga rally’t kilos-protesta na kapit-bisig nila mga komunista pa (Kawawa naman ang kaluluwa ni pareng Karl Marx) at mga Erap loyalists!     

 Eh aber…balik sa programang palaging kong sinubaybay….

Philippine politics

Nang pauwi ako sa bahay noong Huwebes, nabigla na nga ako sa balita na napanood ko sa ANC tungkol sa katarantaduhang ginawa ni Sen. Antonio Trillanes, Gen. Danny Lim & dating bise-presidenteng Teofisto Guingona (Balak ko sana tuluyan ang panonood ko ng Ugly Betty Season 1 sa Star World). 

http://sundalo.bravehost.com/

Pinapaulit ang kanyang hiling na sana bumaba sa pakapangulo si Pres. Arroyo. O ayan, sumagot si Pangulo – linusob ang lobby ng Manila Peninsula ng isang APC.  Akala ko isang Jerry Bruckheimer production sa pagpapasok ng militar – mistulang SWAT o Miami Vice.  Kulang na lang si Colin Farrell.   

Kita mo nga di lang nakikipagsawsaw si Archbishop Oscar Cruz at si Bishop Labayin…a este, Labayen,  aba e sumulpot pa ang Fr. Robert Reyes!  Ang akala ko nagtuturo na lang siya ng Ingles sa mga kabataan sa Tsina,  umapir ang kanyang byuti na mistulang kabuteng inuulanan.     

Bagong magdilim naman, napatapos na ng lahat, mga bida’y isa’t isang pinapasok sa police van, pati mga TV reporters na umulat tungkol sa kabalbalan ni “Senator”  Trillanes (na dapat paluan sa puwet ni Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago).  Eh mabuti na doon nga maraming mga taga-media, sila mismo ang nagiging sagabal  sa paghuhuli kay “Triller” ng puwersang AFP .  Sana naman kung sinong mga ilang-ilyong tanga na bumoto kay “Triller” bakit maski isa sa inyo nakikipagtulong sa idolo ninyo noong nahahalata na di na siya makakagalaw kung walang mga “human shield” sa paligid niya?    

Sa susunod ng araw, bilang paggunita ng National Heroes Day, dapat magkikilusan na mga ang mga iba’t ibang anti-Arroyo na ek-ek brigades.  Puwera nga, ‘yung mga ringleader rito, wala isa sa kanila nagsirating…yung mga tatlong duwag na de-sutana pa, palibhasa’t wala ang sundalo nilang fafa, tinamad na nga!

Noong pumasok ako ng Huwebes na gabi (buti na nga, ligtas sa curfew), nagusap kami mga ka-opisina ko tungkol sa nangyari noong araw na iyon…o ayun, naiintidihan ko na kung gaanong kalakas ang sigaw mo laban sa kasalukuyang administrasyon, di gaanong kadali matumba si GMA.  Pandak naman siya, isang Assumptionista, pero mautak talaga siya…parang si dating pangulong Ramos (marami daw simisitsit na si Ramos ang totoong kagagalingan ng lakas ni GMA) .  Di mo madaling paikutin o pabilugin ang ulo (eh matagal kasi bilog e).  Alam ni GMA na watak-watak na ang oposisyon, suko na nga si Erap (dahil sa sobrang inom ng alak at pag-se-sex)…walang maituturing matinong puwedeng ipalit sa kaniya kahit sukang-suka na ang mamamayan sa kanya.

Eh pati rin ako…kaya nga di na ako sumisimba.  Ang suspetsa ko kayraming mga pari ngayon sa Simbahang Katoliko, me ambisyong mamumulitika.  Eh kundi mga taga-CBCP noon panahon ni Cardinal Sin (SLN) na lumuklok kay Pangulong Arroyo,  me mga ilan rin ngayon na sumasawsaw sa mga rally’t kilos-protesta na kapit-bisig nila mga komunista pa (Kawawa naman ang kaluluwa ni pareng Karl Marx) at mga Erap loyalists!     

 Eh aber…balik sa programang palaging kong sinubaybay….

I overheard my mom and my aunt complain about the price increase of pandesal. One peso has always been what was needed to buy one pandesal. But now, time’s changed. Now you need P2 to avail of one pandesal.

I overheard mom and the delivery guy talk about the sure price increase of gas next month. P30 more when the current price as for mom is ALREADY very high at P480. My aunt said in their place it’s already P515.

We had paksiw na galunggong for lunch. Galunggong is known as the poor man’s fish but guess what? It costs P120/kilo. So then it doesn’t really sound like it’s fish for the poor because it’s about the same price with chicken and pork. I don’t eat galunggong and this was a rare occasion that mom didn’t prepare a viand that matches my preference so I was about to complain (I’m used to chicken and pork) but when I heard the price I changed my mind. I reminded myself that someday in Africa, I may be eating grass anyway.

Amidst all the political controversies in this beloved country of mine, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo boasts of the country’s economic growth. She said, that’s all that matters.

I was beginning to believe that and defend to my family that eventhough the peso to dollar is low (P44=$1, which technically is high), this means that the economy is doing well. Of course, for OFW-dependent families like mine, we are usually happy when the value of the peso to the dollar is higher (which technically is lower). But I told my mom that in some ways or another eventhough our income is decreading because of the value of the dollar, we are still benefiting because the Philippine economy is doing good.

Apparently I was wrong. Yeah, contrary to my “book knowledge” as I’ve taken some Economics subjects in college, the value of peso apreciation (instead of its usual depreciation) has nothing to do with what the government claims as the “economy is doing good”. According to my Economist friend, the only reason that the peso’s value is increasing is because of the money that the Filipino people themselves put into such as the EVAT.

My mom said she ironically preferred it during Former President Estrada’s time, when the peso to dollar was in its historical high of P50 and above. We had more income then eventhough relatively inflation rate was high as critics said the government was bad and corrupt and this the economy was not doing well. Now however, we have less income and more expenses. Contrary to what the government claims as the economy is doing well, the prices are higher and our basic expenses are soaring.

So I’m thinking, what the hell is the government talking about the economy doing good? When your average Filipino and moreso those who are below the poverty line would now have to pay double for their pandesal in the morning and a soaring P120/kilo for their galunggong na ulam (viand) for dinner.

“The economy is doing well” — for who? For those who are doing business? Same old same old. That is not what your usual average Filipino wants.

*to be continued: needs to be updated with recent changes and add’l knowledge gained