I Smell Impeachment...

In Ellen Tordesillas' latest column, she wrote:

 

Pimentel said: "The President has lost the moral ascendancy to assert that power after squandering billions of pesos of taxpayers' money on her election campaign which has almost rendered the national treasury empty."

To make sure that the public does not forget it, Pimentel once again talks about funds diverted to free health insurance, emergency employment for road repairmen and sweepers, student loan program and Patubig sa Barangay, "all intended to promote Arroyo's candidacy" and for which she is now facing a string of plunder charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.

We should add the P728 million agriculture funds that bought votes instead of fertilizers and the road users tax that were used to produce Arroyo's roadside campaign materials.

 

Pimentel also questioned how Arroyo uses and is using her P500 million intelligence funds, P500 million in social funds from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, not to mention billions of pesos in discretionary and contingent fund.

 

Well, isn't the diversion of government funds to her own political campaign illegal? Isn't this criminal misuse of our hardearned tax money for personal use an impeachable offense? Isn't this corrupt practice by Mrs. Arroyo one of the main reasons why we are currently in a financial crisis?

 

Why aren't more people asking how we got into this mess? Why aren't more people looking into this and holding Mrs. Arroyo accountable for it? Why do we have to accept everything she says as gospel truth without question?

 

Why aren't more people questioning the questionable way our 2004 budget was passed by Malacanang stooges Joe De Venecia and Franklin Drilon? This is how former PDI columnist Dean Jorge Bocobo explained it back in Feb. 5, 2004:

 

Sen. Edgardo Angara warned today that the GMA administration would end up controlling the entire 2004 national budget as a giant Pork Barrel fund for the coming elections, if House Speaker Jose de Venecia has his way and merely re-enacts the 2003 budget. How does that happen. Well, if you think about it, the 2003 budget contains a large number of funded projects that have already been completed, right? What happens to the funds in that 2003 budget that find their way into the 2004 budget by the magic means of re-enactment. Well, they certainly shouldn't be spent on those projects again -- but then the President will have the right to "re-align" such funds. Get it? That's what Angara means by a giant pork barrel for the elections. Sen. Serge Osmena told media he estimated a total of some P100 billion that would thus become available to GMA's probably losing bid for a full six year term.

What no one said is the thought that immediately struck me. In losing, GMA will blow that whole wad and sink the economy with inflation, just as Marcos did in 1969, when he similarly spent a huge fortune to cheat and win the elections. GMa -- the economist -- could start a conflagration of devastating INFLATION with election spending.

 

Mr. Bocobo got it right. It's too bad that we chose to ignore his warnings back then, because we Filipinos are going to pay the price for GMA's corrupt and incompetent ways in the near future.

 

Ellen Tordesillas responds

After reading her previous article, na ni-link ko dito, I wrote her an email to comment.

And here's Ellen's response. I especiallly liked the last paragraph of her article on this topic. Toot-toot my own horn. Heh heh...

And read this too from Ducky Paredes on why it would be insane to trust GMA on spending our taxpayer money wisely.

Similarities between Arroyo and Kerry

I see many similarities between GMA and John Kerry on the flip-flopping issue. And Arroyo and Kerry (along with Zapatero and Chirac) are more politically alike than Bush.

Arroyo pretended to be strong against terrorism to get US and the Filipino people's support, but showed her true colors after the 2004 election.

After getting the proclamation from congress, nag-iba na ang foreign policy niya... in the sense na it's more like zapatero's (troop withdrawal and appeasement) and chirac's (french oil interests with dictators and rouge countries must be protected).

Kerry is also pretending to be hawkish and strong on defense (but continues to give evasive and conflicting statements) because he knows his previous liberal pacifist stance will not get him elected in November.

Iran buys Arroyo support

So what does the the new friendlier relations between RP and Iran means?

Well, the Philippines is one of the newest members of the UN Security Council, right?

We also know that Iran recently broke it's commitment to france, germany and britain and has already re-started it’s nuclear program. There's increasing pressure from the US to refer Iran's violations to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

After GMA got a generous oil deal from Iran, guess which side the Philippines wlll be supporting in the UNSC from now on?

Goodbye Mindanao

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Ellen Tordesillas nails it

Key point from her must read article:

DURING the election campaign, just more than three months ago, President Arroyo was boasting about the great things that she has done during her three years of an unelected presidency.

Now, after getting a six-year term albeit under questionable circumstances, she says that the country is in "the midst of a fiscal crisis" and she is calling on the people to sacrifice. It's adding insult to injury.

She has a lot to do with the fiscal crisis that we are in with her mismanagement of the economy during her first three years in Malacañang by not practicing austerity because she was thinking of 2004.

Why did her administration go on a borrowing spree knowing fully well that it would compound our debt burden? We know, of course, that it was all to keep the illusion that everything was fine with her in Malacañang which was their campaign line.

Malacañang flooded the country with money with all the propaganda materials for Arroyo's election. We all know how the road users tax and the agricultural fund were diverted to her campaign. We all saw how money from Pagcor and the PCSO were used to finance Arroyo's continued stay in Malacañang.

Now, she is asking the people to sacrifice.

She should direct the call to herself, to her officials, and to her friends. Not to the public, especially the masses, who have long been sacrificing.

Read the whole article.

Iran congratulates Philippines after troop pullout, will forge stronger ties with Arroyo gov't

Ewan ko ba... dapat ba tayong matuwa dito o hindi?

Iran said RP did the right thing daw for recalling troop contingent.

Islamic Iran, RP forge stronger ties after pullout
By Michaela P. del Callar and Sherwin C. Olaes
Friday, 08 27, 2004

Iran, the Islamic state branded by US President George W. Bush as a member of the "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea, for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction, yesterday rallied behind the Arroyo administration's decision on the untimely withdrawal of its small contingent from Iraq in exchange for the freedom of a Filipino hostage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the "Philippine government did the right thing."

After falling from the graces of the United States, President Arroyo has been moving to strengthen the country's bilateral ties with the Islamic international community.

Only last month, Mrs. Arroyo, in delivering her major foreign policy speech during the 106th anniversary rites of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), reiterated the importance of Philippine relations with the Islamic countries.

"The international Islamic community would become more and more important to the Philippines. We saw that in this last crisis," the President had said, referring to the 17-day hostage situation involving Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, who was released by his Iraqi captors after a reported ransom payoff of $6 million and a capitulation of the Arroyo government by beating a hasty retreat of the Philippine troops in the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

The government's decision, which had angered Washington and its major foreign allies in the war against terrorism, was "correct, courageous and timely," Kharrazi told reporters after a meeting with his Filipino counterpart, Alberto Romulo. "It was the right decision in the interest of the nation."

Iran is a key source of oil for the Philippines and serves as a trans-shipment hub to Central Asia.

In Malacanang, Kharrazi, who paid a courtesy call to Mrs. Arroyo, has conveyed Tehran's invitation to her for a state visit on Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's request.

During a one-on-one meeting, the President and Kharazzi explored several areas of bilateral cooperation, notably in oil supply, exploration and development of natural gas and construction of new power plants.

"This is very promising. Our countries could be complementary," she said.

Iran supplies 60,000 to 70,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Philippines, representing about 25 percent of the country's fuel requirements. It is considered the world's second largest producer of oil and natural gas.

(Check this out too, from Malaya, for additional news on same subject matter)

Contrast that to the threatening tone of Iran towards Australia just two weeks ago (from Junkyardblog):

Hm. An interesting side battle may be brewing in the war:

Australia is a bigger terrorist target and its reputation in the Middle East has been harmed by its participation in the invasion of Iraq, according to Iran's top security official.

After talks with Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Hassan Rowhani suggested Australia's standing could be improved by following Spain in withdrawing from Iraq. The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the occupation of Iraq was provoking terrorism and the United States should withdraw.

This looks like a very thinly veiled threat to me. If it is, Iran is unmasking itself as being exactly what the US has long accused it of being, which is the world's leading terror sponsor. Australia's next election will probably be in October. It looks like Iran could be making ready for a Madrid-style election eve party.

I guess, in the end, Arroyo is doing the right thing, huh? At least, hindi na tayo magiging "terrorist target" at mas lalong hindi na tayo magiging "buffer" ng Australia (according to Joker Arroyo).

Here's one of the reasons why we are in dire financial straits

Here's Dean Bocobo warning the public back in Feb 5, 2004 about GMA and Drilon and JDV's plan to turn the 2004 budget into a giant pork barrel for GMA's re-election campaign and waste tons of our taxpayer money:

Sen. Edgardo Angara warned today that the GMA administration would end up controlling the entire 2004 national budget as a giant Pork Barrel fund for the coming elections, if House Speaker Jose de Venecia has his way and merely re-enacts the 2003 budget. How does that happen. Well, if you think about it, the 2003 budget contains a large number of funded projects that have already been completed, right? What happens to the funds in that 2003 budget that find their way into the 2004 budget by the magic means of re-enactment. Well, they certainly shouldn't be spent on those projects again -- but then the President will have the right to "re-align" such funds. Get it? That's what Angara means by a giant pork barrel for the elections. Sen. Serge Osmena told media he estimated a total of some P100 billion that would thus become available to GMA's probably losing bid for a full six year term.

What no one said is the thought that immediately struck me. In losing, GMA will blow that whole wad and sink the economy with inflation, just as Marcos did in 1969, when he similarly spent a huge fortune to cheat and win the elections. GMa -- the economist -- could start a conflagration of devastating INFLATION with election spending.

Prescient, no?

Things are looking grim on RP's economy; Power crisis looming

Hmmm... during the 2004 election campaign, GMA and her surrogates claimed na the voters should elect her because she was doing a good job in improving the economy -- even though we were worse off under GMA than we were 3.5 years ago, during Erap's time.

She lied of course, but she wouldn't have gotten away with it without the help of the Mainstream Media like the Inquirer-GMA7 combo and ABS-CBN (VP Noli's station). These media giants aka "gatekeepers of information" help foist the canard that we are on the right track and that the economy is doing very well with "millions of jobs created" (and not explaining that most of it is from the agricultural sector, meaning inflated ang numbers ng jobs created) during GMA's 3 year term.

So now GMA has admitted that our financial situation is in a much more critical condition than previously claimed by her and the admin's media surrogates.

GMA's brilliant solution of course is to raise more taxes.

Uh-huh. Sorry you never mentioned anything about raising our taxes sa campaign pledges mo. Bakit ngayon mo lang sinasabi sa amin yan?

And why would most people support this new tax measures when we saw how this corrupt GMA admin wasted and misused our taxpayer money (via the 2003 re-enacted budget, giving her P100 Billion for discretionary spending) on her presidential candidacy?

Napunta ito sa mga "walking ads", TV ads, bribe money para sa mga pro-GMA local officials at mga talent fees ng mga bayaran na artista.

And what happened to the Philhealth cards na pinapamigay mo sa mga campaign sorties mo? Hindi ko na nakikita ang mga Philhealth commercials na yan. Are the health insurance cards still valid? O ginamit mo lang yan para lokohin ang mga masa voters?

But if they are still valid, then saan natin kukunin ang pambayad para diyan? OH YES, I REMEMBER, TATAASAN PALA NI GMA ANG BUWIS NATIN.

After CODENGO, Telecoms scam, PIATCO, PCSO scam, Jose Pidal, and the recent elections, bakit pa matutuwa ang mga tao sa balitang tax increase kung mapupunta lang ito sa mga kurakot sa Malacanang?

And with a power crisis looming, it's possible na babalik na naman ang 6-12 hour brownouts:

The days of gas rationing, power outages, abbreviated work hours may be making their return soon.

This was hinted at by Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, who was quoted yesterday by the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) as saying the Philippines may limit the use of private vehicles in a package this week of energy-conservation measures.

Perez, however, refused to comment on these measures, or on his quote in the AWSJ, saying he does not want to preempt President Arroyo, who he said is scheduled to unveil the energy conservation measures.

Siguro gustong lampasan ni GMA si Cory for being the most incompetent Malacanang occupant ever.

FPJ should form his own Shadow Government.

Just in case something happens to GMA, o bigla na lang siyang natanggal sa pwesto.

Read the Rudy Romero's article for more details.

UPDATE: Sorry, the link doesn't work anymore, so here's the article in full.

FPJ should form shadow Cabinet

Monday, 08 23, 2004

The feature of the parliamentary form of government that its partisans find most attractive is the possibility it offers for removing a substandard government before the end of its term. The prospect of being stuck with a bad government for four or five or six years is a source of dread and doubt for those who otherwise prefer the presidential form of government.

The key to the flexibility of the parliamentary system of government is the procedure known as the no-confidence motion. When the opposition in the legislature is able to muster enough votes to carry such motion, the government falls and, if the ruling party cannot put together a new coalition, new elections are scheduled. The passage of the motion does away with the need to suffer a bumbling or corrupt government for many years.

The concomitant of the parliamentary system's ability to bring down an administration at any time during its term is the opposition's need to be ready at all times to take over the reins of government. The opposition must have in place a set of people who will be ready to assume, on short notice, the portfolios that make up the Executive branch of the government.

The leader of the opposition must have in place what is known as a shadow Cabinet.

For every number of a regular Cabinet there is a counterpart in the shadow Cabinet. Thus, there is a shadow secretary (or minister) of Foreign Affairs, a shadow secretary of National Defense, a shadow secretary of Finance, and so forth. A shadow Cabinet must be complete.

The function of a member of a shadow Cabinet is to monitor and critique the performance - the acts and the utterances - of his counterpart in the Cabinet of the day. Thus, the shadow secretary of Justice will monitor the sayings and doings of the regular secretary of Justice and he is expected to speak for the opposition in all matters relating to the government department to which he is assigned. If a tax matter came before the legislature, the shadow secretary of Finance would be expected to speak for the opposition and if a defense issue were to be raised there, the shadow secretary of National Defense would be the person to carry the ball for the opposition.

It is a great system. In fact, the shadow Cabinet concept is one of the most attractive features of the parliamentary system of government.

Although this country's system of government is the presidential type, the idea of a shadow Cabinet can be borrowed and employed to great advantage. Since Cabinets are formed by the leader of the opposition - the Prime Minister or, in the French or Egyptian model, the President - a shadow Cabinet in this country should be formed by the titular head of the opposition. That is Fernando Poe Jr., who led the opposition to victory (denied him by Congress and the Commission on Elections) in the last May 10, 2004 polls.

It is difficult to say when the Presidential Electoral Tribunal will issue its decision declaring FPJ as the winner of the last May elections. It could well take a long time. But the opposition needs to be ready to take over the administration of the nation when that day comes. The way to bring that about is the formation by FPJ of a shadow Cabinet. In the absence of a parliament-type governmental structure, the shadow Cabinet will work in close coordination with Sen. Edgardo Angara, Rep. Francis Escudero and the rest of the opposition leadership in Congress.

With a shadow Cabinet in place, there will be structure and order in the activities of the opposition. FPJ will be kept informed at all times of developments in Finance, National Defense, Foreign Affairs and the other areas of governmental operations. In monitoring the actions and statements of the members of the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the opposition will convey to the Filipino people an image of ability and preparedness to perform the key functions of government it will provide the Filipino people with a good picture of the kind of national administration they can expect when the day of FPJ's assumption of office comes.

Who should FPJ appoint to his shadow Cabinet? That's a matter for consultations with both the congressional and non-congressional elements of the opposition. The accent should be on quality and individual worth.

My new blog...

It's http://johnmarzan.blogspot.com

Baka itigil ko na itong luma. Paki bookmark na lang yung bagong blogsite ko.

Pakistani intelligence official and the NYT who outed Khan

It was a pakistani intelligence official and the NYT who outed Khan.

Here's an email I sent to Juan Cole today.

======

First you have to understand that the NYT was the first newspaper to break the news about Khan's arrest. Every other newspaper picked up on what the NYT story.

Here's google news on Noor Khan on August 1 (Philippine time):

you may have to adjust the setting to August 2 in the US.

Here is the original New York Times article:

"The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials.

The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages.

A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture led to the information."

There you have it professor, the original leaker outing Khan was a Pakistani Intelligence officer, not Tom Ridge or DHS. The U.S. official wouldn't even confirm the existence of Noor Khan until after his name was published on the effing NYT.

More:

A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture led to the information. But the official said "documentary evidence" found after the capture had demonstrated in extraordinary detail that Qaeda members had for years conducted sophisticated and extensive reconnaissance of the financial institutions cited in the warnings on Sunday.

One senior American intelligence official said the information was more detailed and precise than any he had seen during his 24-year career in intelligence work. A second senior American official said it had provided a new window into the methods, content and distribution of Qaeda communications.

"This, for us, is a potential treasure trove," said a third senior American official, an intelligence expert, at a briefing for reporters on Sunday afternoon.

Notice anything? These US officials only wanted to talk about intelligence information... probably because of pressure from the media to justify raising the terror alert to orange based on "outdated" (4 years old) info by releasing new details and to counter the charges that they were playing politics with the terror warnings. As far as I can see, NONE of them gave any names before the first NYT article on Khan came out.

And this Reuters article backs up that claim:

The New York Times obtained Khan's name independently, and U.S. officials confirmed it when it appeared in the paper the next morning.

Once that name is out in the public and in drudge's website, the damage has been done and whether US officials should have confirmed the name or not, most of the blame should go to the NYT (and the unnamed Pakistani official) for setting us back on the WOT.

Yes, Rice did admit that they confirmed the name on background, but that was after the Khan's name was already released publicly.

Horse. Barn. Door.

Here's more from the original NYT article:

The American officials would say only that the Qaeda figure whose capture had led to the discovery of the documentary evidence had been captured with the help of the C.I.A. Though Pakistan announced the arrest last week of a Qaeda member, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in connection with the bombings of American embassies in East Africa in 1998, the American officials suggested that he had not been the source of the new threat information.

An account provided by a Pakistani intelligence official made clear that the crucial capture in recent weeks had been that of Mr. Khan, who is also known as Abu Talha. The intelligence official provided information describing Mr. Khan as having assisted in evaluating potential American and Western targets for terrorist attacks, and as being representative of a "new Al Qaeda."

The Pakistani official described Mr. Khan as a fluent English speaker who had told investigators that he had visited the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries. Mr. Khan was one of thousands of Pakistani militants who trained in Afghanistan under the Taliban in the 1990's, the Pakistani official said.

If indeed Mr. Khan was the man whose arrest led the C.I.A. to new evidence, his role as a kind of clearinghouse of Qaeda communications, as described by the Pakistani intelligence official, could have made him a vital source of information. Since his arrest, Mr. Khan has described an elaborate communications system that involves the use of high and low technology, the Pakistani official said.

2 points:

1) Notice that the American official would only describe the man as an "Al Queda figure", but the NYT describes Pakistani officials naming and describing Khan in detail.

2) The NYT is not even sure if Khan's arrest is what led the US to new evidence because the American officials did not name Khan at that time.

As for this news:

The Pakistani officials said that after Khan's arrest, other al-Qaida suspects abruptly changed their hide-outs and moved to unknown places.

The first official described the publication of the news of Khan's arrest as "very disturbing."

"We have checked. No Pakistani official made this intelligence leak," he said.

I think this is just CYA for the Pakistani government.

Again, I would like the NYT to explain themselves on this in the editorial. We've heard the US admin side through Condi Rice, now the NYT will have to come clean on this.

I hope they do it soon because it is unfair for the Bush admin to take all the false blame for outing Khan. Their editors should clearly state the facts and not using "Clintonian" words to confuse readers.

BTW, I have set google news up for you so you can monitor the NYT if and when they come out with an editorial on the noor khan issue.

So far, they have not weighed in on this and their silence is DEAFENING.