This National ID scheme is a terrible idea

I think this National ID scheme (via Executive Order) is a terrible idea, especially if we have a paranoid and vindictive administration that considers the media, the CBCP, and the political opposition as "enemies of the state."

In his statements to the press yesterday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita let the cat out of the bag -- that indeed the military has been conducting surveillance not only on sectoral groups critical of the government but also on media groups such as the NUJP and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

Ermita's disclosure, as well as his justification for the military's act of spying on these groups and considering them as "enemies of the state" in its internal briefing documents, is significant because it brings this issue all the way to his boss, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In other words, "Knowing the Enemy," the PowerPoint presentation the military has been using as a briefing material, is not just the product of some over-active imagination in the military's intelligence service – it is, in fact, policy.

Damn! If the Arroyo admin has no qualms about screwing the privacy rights of journalists, the CBCP, and the political opposition, what more kung ordinary citizen ka lang who at isa ka ring kritiko ng adminstration ni Pandak?

Kung kaya ni Rey Berroya, Victor Corpus, Wycoco, Nani Perez, at Matillano na abusohin ang kanilang kapangyarihan at siraan ang isang senador na katulad ni Ping Lacson -- paano na kung isang ordinaryong citizen ka lang? Paano ka pa makakapalag kung ginawa rin nila sa iyo ito?

The problem with this National ID scheme is that it makes it easier and "legal" for bad guys like Berroya and Wycoco to surveille, track down, and harass their political enemies, members of the critical media and ordinary people who disagree with this corrupt admin -- with little or no restrictions.

I mean, kung si Ramos nga eh hindi niya maipasa itong "National ID" scheme na ito dahil malaking invasion of privacy at mabilis abusohin -- why should we pass it now kung alam nating corrupt at maduming maglaro itong si GMA?

Related:
Read the PDI spin
Dan Mariano's Subverting the Media

I know this is late na but...

I realized na in one fell swoop, ABS-CBN has damaged the future political career of Korina Sanchez and indirectly her boyfriend (current?) Sen. Mar Roxas, by removing Korina from TV Patrol and putting her in a frickin desk job.

Hooo Brother!!! Do you think ambitious Mar is still interested in Korina now that her influence and power is clipped by lack of exposure on TV?

LOL!!! ABS-CBN can make or break you talaga.

There's a reason why many Filipinos are reluctant to pay higher taxes

Hindi ba dahil sa heavy borrowing ni GMA to publicly finance her presidential campaign, ay lumaki ang foreign debt natin at lumala ang financial situation ng ating bansa?

And IIRC before the election, GMA was giving away free Philhealth cards to buy the votes of the poor (saan natin makukuha ang pambayad diyan?). We also have the "walking ads" program ni GMA, using gov't money to political advertisements.

Then, nandyan pa yung pera na ginamit ni pandak para panggastos sa mga million-peso talent fees ng mga artista endorsers niya katulad nina Nora "adik" Aunor, Kris Aquino, Boy Abunda and Ai Ai delas Alas.

She claims na she doesn't care re the opinion surveys because she's trying to institute painful reforms raw to improve the economy. But why initiate reforms only now and not earlier in 2001 like she originally promised?

If we have a serious economic crisis, bakit hindi niya inayos ito while it was still managable back in 2001? Wasn't economic reforms one of the reasons why she was installed as "president" after edsa dos?

Is it because during 2001-2004, ang priority ni GMA ay hindi ekonomiya at reporma kundi siraan ang opposition (like ping lacson) at asikasuhin ang presidential election run ni pandak for 2004?

Or maybe wala pang serious financial crisis after erap was removed from office and it is only after the reckless borrowing of foreign money by GMA to fund her re-election campaign in 2004 atsaka lang tayo nagkaroon ng financial crisis at dapat na raw taasan ang buwis natin?

So in short, ang gustong mangyari ni GMA ay: tayo ang magbabayad sa mga pinang-gastos niya sa nakaraan na halalan at yung mga million peso talent fees nina nora adik at kris aquino.

fuck pikachu.

Mindanao the new Afghanistan?

From the Malaya newspaper:

JOSEPH Mussomeli, US Embassy chargé d'affaires, has raised the possibility of Mindanao becoming the next Afghanistan because of the continued presence of terrorists in the South.

In a recent interview with SBS TV-Australia, Mussomeli said links between the Jemaah Islamiah and the Abu Sayyaf and factions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front seemed to be growing stronger.

"Mindanao is almost, forgive the poor religious pun, the new 'Mecca' for terrorism," he said.
"Personally, I'm worried that we're not worried enough. I think the real danger here, and the danger that has been here since the mid-90s, is that we're not focused enough on the threat here," Mussomeli said.

The transcript of the interview, which was aired April 5, was monitored yesterday on the US Embassy website.

"It's not the sort of threat that should be worried about coming here on a day-to-day basis. The threat is more long-term: that Mindanao is such a lawless - certain portions of Mindanao - are so lawless, so porous (at) the borders that you run the risk of it becoming like an Afghanistan situation," he said.

Mussomeli said apart from Jemaah Islamiya (JI) operatives who have been tracked in Mindanao, Saudi nationals are also constant "visitors" to that part of the country.

"Whether they're legitimate or not is open to dispute," Mussomeli said.
the transcript of the interview is worth reading in its entirety.

The transcript of the interview is worth reading in it's entirety.