Useless appeal

I saw this from MLQ3's blog:

Last week I received this text message:

PLS patronize pirated DVD’s so that the Filipino movie industry will die & we will no longer have actors, actresses, nor their spouses running for public office. Pls pass.

And reacted negatively to it.

Pointless ang appeal cuz karamihan sa mga dating artista ay naging TV o telenovela stars na. At ang TV networks na ang nagbui-build up ng mga young stars ngayon (Starstruck? Star Circle Quest? Pinoy Big Brother?).

So in short, wag na matakot sa mga artista. Mas matakot kayo sa mga Telenovela stars, Noontime hosts o Newscasters na tatakbo (o papatakbuhin?) in the future by the GMA Kapuso Party or the ABS-CBN Kapamilya Party.

UPDATE: I have nothing against artistas or TV celebs running for office as long as their are qualified, knows the issues, and has good leadership potential. Kaya nga i am against the extremist idea (proposed by some quarters) of banning artistas--even those without college degrees--from running for public office.

MALAYA: Mindanao media men decry AFP surveillance

Intimidation tactics? From the Malaya:

On Feb. 14 in Salay, Misamis Oriental, soldiers reportedly belonging to the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion took full-face photos of five media men who were covering the burial of peasant leader Dalmacio Gandinao, the second militant leader slain in Misamis Oriental and in the Northern Mindanao region (Region 10).

Gandinao’s burial was also attended by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo and other regional and local leaders of Karapatan, Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and the Misamis Oriental Farmers Association.

Pictures showing the soldiers taking photos using cellphone cameras were published. But Maj. Gen. Jose Barbieto, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, denied his men were involved in the surveillance.

So yung mga uma-attend ng mga funeral ng mga pinatay na aktibista kinukunan ng photographs ng mga military? Methinks hindi lang mga mediamen ang target dito.

Warning Graphic Image Shaun Livingston dislocates knee

LA Clipper PG Shaun Livingston lands awkwardly and well... See it on youtube.

What a way to celebrate Edsa People Power

Rina Jimenez David reacts to Arroyo's self-serving speech:

What a way to celebrate the anniversary of an event that changed the nation!

First, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, herself a beneficiary of a replication in 2001 of the Edsa People Power I revolt, asks the nation to observe the event by vowing never to embark on a similar exercise again. Saying another display of “People Power” would merely derail the economic gains her administration has achieved, she warned that “the world will not tolerate another Edsa” and instead condemn the Philippines if people mass on the streets again.

We all know where she’s coming from, of course. If ever “People Power” does materialize in this country again, it will probably result in her ouster. She has come this close to it time and again, and it is only a matter of luck that, due to various factors, the “tipping point” to a restaging of Edsa I has not been reached.

Still, wasn’t it rather crass of her to discredit the very event that led to her ascension to power? Would she have said the same thing in 2001 when, due to the massing of People Power incensed by the goings-on at the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada, she found herself prematurely thrust into power? A little gratitude would seem to be in order, and some acknowledgement, at least, of the value of People Power, and the lessons those events taught us but which, sadly, we have failed to learn or take to heart.

And if Edsa I was such a big deal, then why should there not be -- depending on your historical valuation -- an Edsa III, IV, V and so on down the line?

A President, who is confident of her mandate, secure in her place in history, clean of conscience and knowing she owes no one, least of all the people, an apology, has no reason to fear a reenactment of Edsa I.

Agreed.

Eto naman ang reaction ng Tribune Editorial re Arroyo's claim na dapat wag na raw mag-People Power dahil maapektuhan ang economiya natin:

One certainly can’t call Joseph Estrada a tyrant or a dictator. He may have had his faults, but certainly dictatorial was never one or them, since he never tried to muzzle the freedoms of the Filipino people — even of those who were against him. He kept the Senate and the House independent, and before the coup plotters, among whom were the businessmen and the then political opposition and the leftists who are now suffering under Gloria’s rule, the economy was doing very well under Estrada, with foreign investments coming in, as even the official data show.

So did the Edsa dos types cared about our economy then when they tried to topple erap? IIRC, from the time erap inherited FVR’s broken economy in 1998 (mainly because of the Asian financial crisis) to the year Dec 2000, the economy grew from -0.6% in 1998 to 4.4% in 2000 (so the economy even then was headed in the right direction), but he still got “people powered” in 2001.

for all its faults, the erap admin still left behind a 4.4% GDP in 2000 for Arroyo when she took over in Jan. 2001. Buti pa si arroyo. During Arroyo’s first year though, the GDP rate fell to 3.2% in 2001. You can look that up.

Anyway, sabi ni Maam na wag na raw tayong mag-people power. Pero ito ang sinabi nya dati nung ginamit nya ang Edsa para patalsikin si Erap.

Sa innaugural speech ni Maam noong Jan. 20 2001:

“..I pray that we will all be one – one in our priorities, one in our values and commitments, and one because of Edsa 2001.

“People Power and the ‘oneness’ of will and vision have made a new beginning possible.

“As we break from the past in our quest for a new Philippines, the unity, the Filipino’s sense of history, and his unshakeable faith in the Almighty that prevailed in EDSA ’86 and EDSA 2001 will continue to guide and inspire us.

“I am certain that Filipinos of unborn generations will look back with pride to EDSA 2001, just as we look back with pride to Mactan, the Katipunan and other revolts, Bataan and Corregidor, and EDSA ’86.

“People Power has dramatized the Filipino’s capacity for greatness.

“People of People Power, I ask for your support and prayers. Together, we will light the healing and cleaning flame.”

Dec. 03, 2001

It is now more than ten months since edsa dos, when I assumed the
presidency through the process of constitutional succession and on the
shoulders of people power, spontaneous people power, not people power
mobilized by any one organized group. I stress this point because it was
my discernment on january 20th that god was speaking through the almost
one million people who were in edsa, saying, gloria macapagal-arroyo. For
many months, the organized protesters were frustrated in their efforts to
mobilize sustained people power. Then i, on january 16th, it was i, the
lord your god, who inspired my beloved filipino people in the hundreds of
thousands and also million to go to edsa and create the vacancy that
allowed you to ascend to the presidency. Therefore, this is my discernment.

God said to me that his expectation is that I will work constructively for
the benefit of the filipino people whom he love so much, the only catholic
nation in asia, the nation to whom he showed his love in an extraordinary
way in edsa one, and again in edsa two. And for my part, I hope that in
these last ten months, I have kept faith with what I perceived to be that
mandate from divine providence.

April 18, 2001:

The late chief justice teehankee said that "the rule of law is the basis of any civilized society -- and it is here -- a law that upholds human dignity and freedom and protects human rights." This is the essence of our democracy with a government which acknowledges that sovereignty resides in the people. And this principle of sovereignty residing in the people was the principle that was invoked when chief justice davide said that he would administer the oath of office of my position as president on that day january 20th. Indeed, nothing can be more demoralizing to the mass of the people than to see public officials uninhibited by old, conventional practices because they are left disconcertingly without a code of ethics to guide and restrain them.

The Issues for the 2007 Midterms

(UPDATE: Thanks, Manuel)

Gusto ko sanang ipagpatuloy ang pag discuss ng mga issues na dapat gamitin ng Opposition sa 2007 elections, but I was distracted by the delayed composition ng Senate slate (kasalanan ni Joker ito), and other issues that demanded immediate attention.

So continuation ito ng mga posts ko dito, dito at dito.

1) Make Arroyo and Garci accountable. I know it's difficult for some people, but it must be done. We need to do the right thing. If we let her get away with it, I see no end to the divisions and political instability even after 2010.

2) A Zero Tolerance Approach to Cheating. It's a two-step process. First, reform the COMELEC and do a thorough housecleaning within the Election commission of all those involved in the dagdag bawas operations of 2004, and those who helped lie and coverup for those guilty COMELEC officials. Second, automate our voting system. But we need to do the COMELEC housecleaning first.

3) Depoliticize the military and investigate and punish all personnel involved in:

- helping Arroyo and Garci conduct Dagdag bawas operations in 04.
- extra-judicial killings
- wiretapping/spying on opposition and admin officials
- Corruption (it aint just carlos garcia, folks)

Re sa extra-judicial killings, sayang si Randy David dito. His candidacy would have turned the spotlight on the issue of military assassinations against the activists and lefty critics of Arroyo.

I do believe that most in the military are honest and trustworthy, like Gudani and Balutan, but around 30% of them are corrupt, and most of them were high ranking military officers appointed by Arroyo after Edsa Dos. It's a joke na si Gen. Carlos Garcia lang ang nahuli (ng US).

(re Trillanes, I don't agree with his methods, but he was right on the issues. He was in a way, a whistleblower to the corruption that's going on within Arroyo's military, and I'm glad that he has chosen a different path by participating in the political process.)

Tungkol naman sa ISAFP. We may need to abolish this highly politicized spy organization and replace it with something less partisan.

4) Get tough on terrorism, without becoming monsters ourselves. We need to go after the bad guys, not our critics. Kasi kapag pinapatay mo naman yung mga student activists at mga party list critics mo sa Kaliwa, abe e, mali yan. The Military needs to be able to distinguish between the killing real terrorists (yes) and assassinating Arroyo's critics from the left (Big NO!).

5) Pursue strong and friendly US relations, but we must be willing to stand up and defend citizens against potential abuse from American personnel and officials. Hindi yung katulad ng nangyari kay Nicole, where our own Gov't even tried to sabotage her rape case.

to be continued tomorrow...

Tape justifies killings?

From the MLQ3:

The government’s response, besides the usual reflex call for “calm”, was to release a video of Jose Ma. Sison (a very interesting one, indeed, if genuine: as Tingog.com points out, Inquirer.net has put it up on YouTube for the viewer to judge; Tingog has a clip from GMA7, and he also states Sison’s reaction: “it’s a fake!”), and call the UN official “in denial.”

So to blunt the Alston report and sort of justify the targetted assassination of leftys, the Arroyo admin leaked a 20 year old video of JOMA sison that tells us what exactly? ("Pero hindi ba si Crispin Beltran ay ipinakulong rin ni Arroyo on a 22 year old rebellion charge filed during Marcos' time?" - Ed, Oo nga ano.)

Nag react ang mga party list groups sa video ng military:

IN what was described as a “crude attempt” to dispute the findings of the Melo Commission and of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston on the extrajudicial killings, the military released a 20-year-old video tagging certain party-list groups as “legal fronts” for the communist rebel movement.

Releasing the video, party-list groups Anakpawis and Sanlakas said, “strengthens the argument that the real target” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are the progressive party-lists and militant organizations.

“By releasing the tape, the propaganda line being peddled by Malacañang and the AFP is that they have the right to go after the unarmed left as ‘enemies of the state’ by association,” Wilson Fortaleza, Sanlakas national president, said in a statement.

Both Alston and the Melo Commission held certain rogue elements of the armed forces responsible for the political killings. Human rights organizations claim that more than 830 left-leaning activists had been killed since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001.

The said video shows Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison delivering a lecture in Brussels, Belgium in 1987. In the speech, which Sison said was “an old doctored film clip,” he allegedly identified legal mass organizations likeBagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Gabriela, and the League of Filipino Students as “front organizations” of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF).

Sison said the military conflated a passage of his speech enumerating the said organizations and another passage mentioning the NDF.

“What is the point of (Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes) Esperon in making all the foregoing false claims against me? To prove that I have identified legal organizations as belonging to the NDF and to ‘justify’ the military in threatening and murdering legal activists?” Sison said.

At sabi pa ng isa sa mga nakakita ng video, commenter Ruth:

have you seen that joma video? you know, i’ve see it when esperon played it during his presscon yesterday. Its pretty old video, 2 decades ago they say. Joma just mentioned that there are revolutionary organizations in the Philippines. Then he went on to say that there are also legal democratic forces in the country and mentioned organizations like Bayan, KMU, Gabriela, KMP LFS, kadena, (can’t remeber the others).

From that statemement, joma was only statinga fact about the existence of such organizations in the Phils. He never said anything that these orGANIZATIONS ARE UNDER cpp-npa?

guys, I haven’t heard that he mentioned Bayan Muna Partylist, GABRIELA Women’s Partlylist? or other partylists that they are saying as leftists. Besides guys, the video really looks very old (they say 2 decades ago), probably 80’s. But when was the partylist system became a law and implemented? Was it not in 1998? And when did Bayan Muna started to run and won 3 seats in congress? was it not only in 2001?

Guys, I think you are smart enough to discern . We don’t have to be activists to know these facts because the partylist sytem is still relatively new, only in 1998.

Tama.

And the point of these killings is not to weaken Communism or the NPAs (in fact, the opposite is what's happening), but to eliminate Arroyo's critics from the Left, and blame it on the Communist purge.

Previous admins had no problems with these lefty groups. Panahon ni Cory, Fidel Ramos, at ni Erap. Even during arroyo's time noong 2001-2005. I don't agree with most of their politics, but I don't consider these party list groups a threat to our way of life either, unlike some crazy right wing hawks and other arroyo sycophants. Naging problema lang sila kay arroyo nung sumabog ang gloriagate scandal at nasira ang legitimacy claim ni Arroyo. Rally kasi ng rally eh, hindi na natauhan sa CPR... kaya hayan, palparan and co. have been trying more "creative" ways to neutralize them.

NAPAKALUNGKOT KUYA EDDIE: And you know what's really sad? What's sad is that hindi naman magkaaway dati ang military at mga leftist groups eh. In fact, they joined forces in 2001 to oust Erap.

And if you believe ARroyo, there was a Communist-Military alliance to topple her gov't.

So naisipan ng admin at ni palparan na pagawayin ang military at mga maka-kaliwa, para wala na silang tiwala sa isa't isa.

UPDATE: Gen. Butch Palparan eyes seat in congress.

UPDATE: Conrad de Quiros comments:

But still more than that, there is the war that Arroyo has unleashed against the Reds, which is as criminal -- and cynical -- a war as you can get. What’s wrong with it isn’t just its boast about accomplishing its goal in a record two years, though that by itself guarantees a scale of mayhem that rivals that of martial law. As Philip Alston suggested when Raul Gonzalez boasted again about wiping out the enemy before you could say “idiot,” what did he propose to do, kill everyone?

What’s wrong with that war is that war itself. At least when Marcos (and later Cory Aquino) unleashed the sword of war against the insurgents, the insurgents were a threat to the country. Today, they are a spent force, lacking arms, lacking a flood of recruits, lacking an ideology that could attract the youth, lacking moral superiority (specifically because of the “killing fields”), lacking numbers.

The only purpose Arroyo’s war against them serves is to save Arroyo, not the country. That war turns public attention away from the real threat to the country, which is an illegitimate government, by trotting out the Reds as the bogeyman, the way Hitler trotted out the Jews in his time. Additionally, it strengthens the “Hello Garci” generals in the military by giving them the power to hound “subversives,” quite literally on pain of death, while neutralizing the rebellious junior officers who have been asking what in God’s, or Arroyo’s, name they are doing fighting (and killing) folk who, like them, have been driven to arms by poverty and injustice. It’s a cynical war -- with criminal consequences.

Like I've been saying before, the purpose of the killings is not to weaken or destroy the NPAs (the opposite is happening), but to take out Arroyo's critics from the left, one person at a time.

Mas malala ang Opposition... sa Belarus!

After the Belarusian Opposition got CPR'ed by the thugs of fake president Lukashenko, and failing on their attempt to remove him via people power, eto na ang mga latest headlines sa 2007 on the Opposition's effort oust the illegitimate Belarus president:

Belarus: Why Can't The Opposition Just Get Along?
By Jan Maksymiuk February 20, 2007

February 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The Belarusian opposition is planning a nationwide congress for March 17-18, one year after a flawed presidential election gave President Alyaksandr Lukashenka an unprecedented third term. But Lukashenka's main opposition challenger, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, says the congress will be nothing more than "internal squabbling" over leadership -- and that he doesn't intend to go.

Lukashenko attacks "corrupt" Belarus opposition
Tue Feb 6, 2007 3:43pm ET

Lukashenko offered olive branch
Web posted at: 2/2/2007 9:21:37

MINSK • Belarus's opposition, long the object of President Alexander Lukashenko's disdain, offered yesterday to help him in his bid to repair ties with the West after an energy row with Russia.

Vintsuk Vechorka, leader of the opposition Popular Front, urged Lukashenko to use a traditional rally next month to promote his new campaign to reach an understanding with European states that have accused him of crushing fundamental rights.

US State Department's Office meets with Belarusian opposition leaders
1/28/07

Belarus crackdown on opposition continues, more youth arrests
Feb 12, 2007, 14:07 GMT

Flawed Elections … and Parties
16:43, 21/02/2007, by Rodger Potocki, «Transitions Online»

How Belarus` opposition parties, already under attack from the governing regime, squandered their meager chances to score even symbolic gains in January`s local elections.

Two major conclusions can be drawn from the local elections held in Belarus on 14 January. The first is obvious: President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has engineered another manipulated and flawed contest. The refusal to include any real opposition representation on election commissions, spurious rejection of many democrats’ attempts to register as candidates, intimidation of campaign figures, routine denial of permission for opposition election events, the alteration of election laws, and the refusal to produce campaign materials, combined to insure that yet another election in Belarus would not be free, fair, or transparent. Germany, as holder of the European Union Presidency, and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, were quick to confirm this.

However, the regime’s violations of its own election laws, blatant repression and cynical ploys against democrats, as well as the pre-determined outcome of many of the contests, should not obscure what was also a striking failure of the opposition.

Read the whole thing.

Two Belarus opposition activists released

8 February 2007 | 01:38 | FOCUS News Agency

Minsk. The security services in Belarus released Wednesday from prison two young opposition activists arrested earlier this week, a spokeswoman from their group said, cited by AFP .
Oleg Korban, 22, and Zmiter Hvedaruk, 18, leading members of the Malady Front, are suspected of "illegal participation in an unregistered group" and may face up to two years in jail if convicted.
"They remain suspects, they were not formally charged, they must be charged within a week," lawyer Pavel Sapelka said.

Pero in our country, pinapatay na lang natin isa isa yung mga yan.

“Reporters Without Borders”: Difficult Situation of Press in Belarus Hasn’t Improved Yet
17:25, 01/02/2007

US State Department official warns EU against "going soft" on Belarus
09.02 // 21:59 // English

An official of the US State Department suggested at a conference held in Brussels on Thursday that the European Union should not "go soft" on Belarus despite Alyaksandr Lukashenka's statements about readiness to cooperate, BelaPAN reported.

Is dialogue between opposition and authorities feasible?
18:18, 13/02/2007

here's a classic oldie headline from last year.

Belarus opposition 'plans coup'

Where have we heard that accusation before, ay? But no matter, mga kapatid natin sila sa laban na ito to restore true democracy back to our respective countries.

Soc Villegas's role in hijacking Edsa

This is the brave churchman who once led the fight to oust Erap via Edsa Dos noong 2001. He was also the guy who helped this administration by backstabing whistleblower Vidal Doble by "releasing" him to his ISAFP superiors, who were after him because of the Garci tapes. Nagtago kasi sa seminary si Vidal eh, and this Villegas guy was the one who kicked him out.

Eniwey, nabasa ko itong post ni Ed Ching about the Church's role in selfishly hijacking Edsa for itself. Bida na naman dito si Soc Villegas, again! lol.

DENIAL is one big word dominating local news headlines nowadays. The big fact exposed recently by UN special rappoteur Philip Alston about military involvement in extra-judicial killings during the Arroyo administration, and the continuing arrogance displayed by people inside the Arroyo government in the midst of continuing hardship among the Filipino poor, is one reason why everything that the Filipino people did at EDSA 21 years ago has gone for naught.

What the proponents at the EDSA Shrine also need to know is that they too have a hand in the contribution of a "dying" EDSA spirit. In case Msgr. Soc Villegas had forgotten, he himself had told publicly some years ago, after the rowdy EDSA III staging by pro-Estrada supporters at the EDSA Shrine, that he had declared the EDSA Shrine as off limits to rallies and demonstrations, and had directed the PNP to make sure that the shrine premises will not be allowed to be used as a staging area for future rallies and demonstrations of any kind, except for religious activities.

Such stifling of freedom to use the Shrine, is in itself dampening the spirit of the EDSA celebrations of late. Especially now that the military and the police are buoyed up by President Arroyo's unconditional support for their ranks.

The short memory of Msgr. Villegas is clearly evident. He had forgotten the very purpose why the Shrine was put up in the first place. In case he forgot about the history of the Shrine, that very spot 21 years ago was just a grassy field when the nuns and priests came face to face with the tanks of the military and they prayed for the soldiers. According to those who have been there in 1986, they also claimed that Mama Mary had miraculously intervened in what would have become a bloody encounter had it not materialized.

The spirit of EDSA is at its strongest in that spot where the EDSA Shrine now stands. It is the spot that Msgr. Villegas some years back had decided that it would not be for the free use of any Filipino citizen for any rally or demonstration except for religious activities. It is also the same spot that President Arroyo was swept into power by a second people power revolution.

Msgr. Villegas must have forgotten that his own pronouncements on the use of the EDSA Shrine had in itself killed the public's enthusiasm for the EDSA celebrations itself. His forgetfulness of this fact I'm afraid, would not make the Filipino anymore think of celebrating this momentous event in our history. Most of them believe they will now only be there to serve as props for the Arroyo government's propaganda machine, not really to emphasize the call for reforms that the EDSA Revolution was known for.

Word.

Have "Conversations" and "Townhall meetings" instead of Rallies

UPDATED: Earlier, I suggested na each individual opposition candidate should do separate townhall meetings during the campaign. I think it's a better idea if they campaign in groups of three, at mag switch sila ng makakasama nilang candidates during the long campaign. pero okey rin kung mag-campaign sila ng solo pa-minsan minsan.

Ito ang suggestion ko after attending the GO! Opposition's rally sa Plaza Miranda kahapon.

The opposition should be holding more townhall meetings with it's supporters instead of outdoor rallies.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about -- from Hillary's "Conversation with America" or "Let the Conversation Begin" townhall meeting inside a high school gymnasium in Des Moines, Iowa accompanied by local Congressman Boswell. Watch it--especially you Nikki and Loren. The New York Times has more details on the event.

I don't like outdoor rallies, kasi minsan mainit sa labas at walang upuan. Depende talaga sa weather kung magiging maganda ang takbo ng rally o hindi. tapos yung sound system sa outdoor rallies minsan hindi talaga maganda. and you can't see the candidates kapag nasa malayo ka.

The solution of course is to hold these events indoors, with a Q and A portion later. Tawag sa ganito ay "townhall meetings." Sa isang malaking gymnasium o auditorium nyo gawin ito. Sure, sometimes mas maliit ang seating capacity and it may hold only 2,000-3,000 people, but that's okay.

The advantages of holding it in an auditorium or a gymnasium is that may upuan sa loob, para comfortable ang mga supporters mo, lalo na kung may Aircon. May ilaw rin sa loob. Kahit na maiinit o umuulan sa labas, tuloy pa rin ang event/usapan. At mas maganda ang sound sa loob ng auditorium, or at least it is easier to put up a good sound system para marining ng tao ang bawat salita ng speaker.

Kung papanoorin nyo yung video ng "Let the Conversation Begin" townhall meeting ni Hillary, they held their event inside a school gymnasium. The video was twenty minutes long. First four minutes of the video was about announcing hillary's arrival into the gymnasium with rep. Boswell and the school principal. Dumerecho sila sa stage which was located in the middle of the gym, a perfect place because it puts her at the center surrounded by supporters holding Hillary signs. they sang the national anthem (she was off key). At the four minute mark, rep. boswell gave a 3-and-a-half minute speech welcoming the crowd and introducing hillary. After that, it was hillary's turn to talk. her style was very conversational. she introduced herself to the adoring crowd. she made some jokes. she skewered bush and the admin failures in iraq. she got a lot of applause. she addressed the issues facing America today. Hillary didn't bore anybody, unlike Nikki Coseteng and Loren Legarda. She wrapped up her talk in 12 minutes, before doing a Q and A with supporters.

Sana ganyan rin ang gawin ng mga opposition candidates. Kasi usually sa rallies, yung kandidato lang ang nagsasalita eh. Dito sa townhall style meeting, pwedeng mag-participate ang mga supporters mo at tanungin ka tungkol sa iba't ibang issues. instead of giving us boring hour long speeches na may halong STUPID entertainment in between (like singing and dancing, UGH!), i think most people would rather have a "conversation" or a Q and A with their favorite candidates.. Kahit na umabot ng isang oras, okey lang dahil mas interesting ang "townhall" style meeting, where you get to interact with supporters, at mas less scripted ang Q and A, kaysa makinig ka lang ng speech. And if you have a guy like ping lacson, Manny Villar or Koko Pimentel doing the townhall meeting, it's even going to be more fun than usual, because they're good speakers and people are interested in what they have to say.

Katulad na nakita natin sa video, mas maganda kung isang kandidato lang ang mag-hold ng event na ito. Or at least up to three candidates ang magkakasama sa townhall meeting. pangit kung lahat sila nandodoon.

(isa pa, the opposition doesn't need to campaign together regularly. mas maganda pa kung hiwa-hiwalay sila, each candidate holding separate townhall meetings, para ma-maximize nila ang oras nila to reach out to the voters. at habang nasa townhall meeting sila, aside from campaigning for himself, each candidate also needs to remind the voters to vote for the other opposition candidates. each candidate needs to stump for the other candidates. tulong tulongan. Sa mga political banners at streamers na isasabit nila sa mga meetings na ito, aside from having his/her name in big bold letters, dapat nakalagay rin ang mga pangalan ng ibang opposition candidates. para reminder.)

Maganda sana at ideal kung puro supporters mo at mga "undecideds" (hmmm, meron pa ba non?) ang dadalo sa townhall meeting, pero minsan talaga, hindi maiiwasan na may mga administration plants sa audience na manggugulo, and the candidates need to be prepared for that. But that's the risk of having a Q and A townhall meeting with the public, ano?

At kung may ganitong "townhall meeting", maganda sana kung i-tape ito event nato at ilagay sa youtube. Kung may media coverage, even better.

More: One way to notify the public na may "townhall meeting" is thru GO's official website (hmmm... meron na ba sila non?) or the candidates' individual websites. The Opposition should invite the public to go to their websites, where they can subscribe and be a part of the opposition's email list to get the latest announcements on the Opposition candidate's activities and appearances. Or they can get the same announcement via text messaging in their cellphones, which i think everybody in the country has access to. lol.

UPDATE: Aside from a townhall-style meeting, another way to hold these events is to have a "moderator" do an interview with the candidates live on stage sa mga schools at auditoriums. The moderator could be a member of the media or a faculty member of the school. Also have the moderator ask the audience to write down their questions to the senatorial candidates for the Q and A. Tapos the moderator can choose kung ano ang relevant na questions na itanong sa kandidato.

Gloriagate and Political Assassinations

I believe majority of those in the military are not corrupt, like Gudani and Balutan, but around 30% are.

I don't believe most in the military engage in extra-judicial killings, but a few are, and they're being protected.

And I bet you that that some of those corrupt and crooked military officers who were involved in the dagdag bawas operations in 2004 are the same people involved in killing and assassinating Arroyo's leftist critics too.

Political bloggers fear publicists will infiltrate sites

Here's an article about political campaigns infiltrating the comments sections of blogs. Sabi ni Ann Althouse:

It shows the high standards of blogging, doesn't it? In normal life, there are plenty of places where you're for sounding like you're not being paid.

Where would the Celtics, Suns and Sonics have been without DJ?

DJ suddenly passed away at 52 because of a heart attack.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Dennis Johnson, the star NBA guard who was part of three championships and teamed with Larry Bird on one of the great postseason plays, died Thursday after collapsing at the end of his developmental team's practice. He was 52.

Johnson, coach of the Austin Toros, was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at Austin Convention Center, said Warren Hassinger, spokesman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.

I remember Dennis when he was playing for the Celtics. dj's more known as a streaky shooter. if you look at his shooting percentage, it was very low, especially during 80s era of higher shooting percentage.

but he's clutch, meaning he'll make the game-winning outside shot if bird's doubled.

btw, they used to make fun of him back in the old day, he's the only black guy with freckles raw... lol.

Anyway, here's what the 1988 The Complete Handbook of Pro basketball said about Dennis:

Rock steady... One of the all-time "big game" players... When Bird stole the ball, his cut to the basket and difficult reverse layup in Game 5 vs. Pistons was exclamation point to fantastic play... How many players would have had the sense to do that?... Where would the Celtics be without him?... How could the Suns and Sonics make such terrible deals, dumping DJ?... Hard to believe Lenny Wilkens once called him "a cancer."... Only Celtic to shine in Laker finale, rolling up 33 points... Ultimate team player... Born Sept. 18, 1954, in San Pedro, Cal.... Drafted 29th overall by Sonics in 1976, out of Pepperdine... Earns about $800,000 a season... Was MVP in 1978-79 playoffs... Big and durable, for nine straight years he has been named first- or seond-team All-Defense... If your life depended on one game, this guy would be on the team.

And on the 2000 writeup:

This season will be his last... bothered by sore Achilles early in season and averaged just 10.0 points, lowest since his rookie season... One of the greatest clutch playoff players in NBA history, has made countless big shots to win games... Led Sonics to their only title in 1979 and was named MVP of the playoffs... Spent three turbulent years in Phoenix before Celtics stole him for Rick Robey and two second-round picks in June 1983...

Great article on DJ by Bill Simmons of ESPN: DJ should have made Springfield while still alive

Previous: Remembering DJ's 1986 season:

Where would the Sonics have been without him?... Where would the Suns have been without him?... Where would the Celtics have been without him?... Lost in the expansive shadows of the Celtics' frontline, but DJ was neck-and-neck with Larry Bird for final-round MVP honors until subpar Game 4... Outlived his welcome in Seattle, where coach Lenny Wilkens called him "a cancer" and in Phoenix, where coach John MacLeod said he was disruptive... Hard to believe that about the DJ of today, who is quiet, confident and productive at both ends of the floor... Born Sept. 18, 1954, in San Pedro, Cal.... Drafted 29th overall by Sonics in 1976, out of Pepperdine... Earns $ 782,500 per season... One of 16 children... Was MVP in 1978-79 playoffs.

Esposo on Joker's TV ad

From Abs-Cbn:

Joker Arroyo’s TV spot stood on his defense of the Constitution, the Senate and the Bill of Rights. It’s absolutely senseless because he allied himself with the very person who assaulted the Constitution, Senate and Bill of Rights.

It doesn't make sense, does it?

If this happened during Marcos or Erap's time...

If this happened during Marcos or Erap's time... Joker Arroyo, the famed human rights lawyer, would be the first to speak up loudly and condemn it.

Or if the guy accused of masterminding it was somebody from the Opposition like Lacson, for example, instead of Palparan (who GMA praised in her SONA), Joker Arroyo and the Arroyo administration would be the first one to attack Lacson.

UN blames AFP for murders; GMA gov’t in total denial


02/22/2007

The United Nations, through its special rapporteur, Philip Alston, in a press conference held yesterday, placed the blame on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for many of the political murders that have rocked the country and pressed President Arroyo to rein in the bloodshedm stressing that the AFP and the Arroyo government are in almost “total denial’.

Wrapping up an investigation into what rights groups say are more than 800 political assassinations, UN special envoy Alston said many of the killings stemmed from the military’s campaign against left-wing guerrillas.

Alston stressed that the Arroyo government was responsible for a climate of impunity but said he did not have evidence to support allegations by the nation’s leading human rights group that Mrs. Arroyo had ordered the murders.

Earlier, Alston was said to have briefed several Philippine officials, among whom was presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol, whom sources told the Tribune reportedly asked of Alston if he could defer making public his findings after the May elections, to which Alston reportedly replied that he was not here to engage in politics.

Alston said “the increase in extra-judicial executions in recent years is attributable, at least in part, to a shift in the military’s counter-insurgency strategy,” adding that “in some instances, such intimidation escalates into extra-judicial executions,” he said, stressing that many of the killings had been “convincingly attributed” to the military, which he said was in “almost total denial” and has refused to cooperate in conducting fair investigation on the unabated executions.

Pero hindi eh. When maam Arroyo started her "War with the Left" last year, and lefty militants started from Bayan Muna, Akbayan and others started getting murdered one by one on a more regular basis by some elements in the military, and the body count kept piling up -- tahimik lang si Joker.

When Palparan last year openly advocated targetting "the enemy" (and he ain't just talking about the NPA's, if you know what I mean), tahimik lang si Joker.

Why is this guy, who we all know was a fighter and a human rights lawyer during the Marcos era, and was a vocal critic of Erap's "human rights violations" (he calls it Marcosian) whenever erap uses force to disperse the militant protests in Mendiola... bakit tahimik lang siya ngayon sa mga patayan na nangyayari during maam Arroyo's time? Aren't these the kind of issues the grandstanding Joker used to get all worked up during Marcos and Erap's time? Isn't that his forte? Wha happened? Cat got his tongue?

Joker's silence is truly DEAFENING.

More on the UN report here, here, here, and here.

Read this must-read Conrad de Quiros article on Joker ARroyo too. Money Quote:

How can anyone who has ever been a human rights lawyer possibly be confused about the direction in which this country has moved? It is not forward, it is downward. At the very least, it’s no small irony that a day before Joker said this, his boss had just walked out of a press conference because our reporter, Gil Cabacungan Jr., kept asking her why the effects of her touted economic growth had not reached the hungry. In fact, Gil didn’t just ask a perfectly legitimate question, he asked the only question worth asking. Growth that happens explosively in only one part of the body is not called progress, it is called cancer.

But far more than that, how can anyone who has ever been a human rights lawyer possibly not see the killings? Or, indeed, the mayhem that is happening right in a Bicolano’s own backyard? The deaths caused by the superstorms from the Pacific are nothing compared to the deaths wrought by the evil wind from Malacañang. One has yet to hear the opposition denounce the extra-constitutional plots of adventurous military officers? One has yet to hear Joker denounce the extrajudicial executions by murderous state-sponsored cutthroats. The killings are not just a vicious trespass against human rights and civil liberties, they are an abomination against any decent community, never mind democracy.

And still that is nothing. One has yet to hear the opposition denounce attempts by military adventurers to topple government and set up one outside the Constitution? One has yet to hear Joker denounce the actual act by a presidential aspirant of stealing the vote and setting up a government outside the Constitution. How can anyone, human rights lawyer or not, possibly ignore the “Hello Garci” tape? The fact that it was illegally obtained may only prevent us from using it to jail GMA. It may not prevent us from using it to not hail her as President. The only reason no one, opposition or not, is denouncing any attempt to oust this regime, by coup or by Cory, by military strike or by People Power, is that this regime is a coup regime. One wrought by ballots rather than by bullets, one wrought by Garci rather than by guns. It has been defended by guns ever since, which brings us back to the killings.

Indeedy.

I'm calling you out, JOKER!

Tukayo ni Cayetano, kargador sa pier?

Joselito "Peter" Cayetano, kargador sa pier?

Ibinulgar kahapon ni reelectionist Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson na isang estibador o kargador sa pier ng Davao City ang tukayo ni opposition senatorial candidate Alan Peter Cayetano, na si Joselito Cayetano, alyas Peter.

Ayon kay Lacson, kandidato ng Genuine Opposition (GO), malinaw sa impormasyong ibinigay ng kanyang asset sa Davao City na isang kargador umano sa pier si Alyas Peter Cayetano, ang kandidatong inampon ng Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), sa pamamagitan ni Atty. Oliver Lozano.

Isang lider ni Lacson sa Davao City ang nagkumpirmang isang kargador umano sa pier ang tukayo ni Cong. Cayetano, na nangangahulugan aniyang malaking kasinungalingan ang pagiging Marine engineer nito, katulad ng press releases ng kampo ni Lozano.

"Kilala siya ng isa sa mga lider ko sa Davao dahil ito raw iyong taong nagsanla sa kanila ng lupa sa may gawing Parola compound sa Davao," ani Lacson sa isang press conference sa Pampanga.

Aniya, hindi rin totoong Peter ang palayaw ng tukayo ni Cong. Cayetano at lalong hindi rin "Jojo" kundi ‘Visayan version’. "Ang tawag nga raw sa kanya ay Juju at hindi rin Jojo," ani Lacson.

Ang labis na ipinagtataka ni Lacson ay kung bakit nagtatago si Juju Cayetano gayong trabaho ng isang kandidato ang mangampanya para manalo, at hindi aniya ang magpakanlong kay Lozano o sa sinumang kampon ng administrasyon, katulad ng pagtatago sa isang safe house.

Juju pala ang palayaw niya, hindi "Peter."

On Cayetano's Citizenship issue: Gonzalez butata sa citizenship ni Alan

Butata kahapon si Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez matapos kumpirmahin ng Bureau of Immigration (BI) na Pinoy si Taguig-Pateros Representative Alan Peter Cayetano at hindi nila iniimbestigahan ang citizenship nito.

Sinabi ni Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez, si Cayetano ay nabigyan ng certificate of recognition bilang Filipino citizen noong taong 1992 sa panahon ni dating Commissioner Andrea Domingo. Ang naturang certificate ay kinatigan naman ni dating Vice President Teofisto Guingona na siyang tumatayong kalihim ng DOJ.

"In the 1972 and 1987 Constitutions, if either of your parents is a Filipino, you are a natural-born Filipino," pahayag ni Fernandez.

Itinanggi rin ni Fernandez na binubusisi ng BI ang citizenship ni Cayetano at sinabing ang mga tao na ideneklarang Pinoy, maging naturalized o natural-born Filipino man, ay hindi na iniimbestigahan pa ng kagawaran.

Ang kumpirmasyon ni Fernandez ay taliwas sa inihayag ni Gonzalez noong Lunes na inaalam nila ang rekord sa citizenship ng nasabing kongresista dahil umano sa sumbong na taglay pa rin nito ang alien certificate of registration.

Binigyan-diin pa ni Gonzalez na hinahanap nila ang mga dokumento ng nasabing pag-apruba ng DOJ dahil kung wala ito ay maaari pang madiskwalipika sa pagtakbo si Cayetano sa darating na eleksyon.

But Arroyo's COMELEC under Ben Abalos still seems to be in a fighting mode. Gimik lang raw yung pagku-kwestyon ni Alan Peter Cayetano yung desisyon ng COMELEC na tanggapin yung nuisance candidate na si Joselito "Juju" Cayetano.

“Gumigimik lang ni Congressman Peter Alan Cayetano nang kuwestiyunin nito ang kandidatura ng kaapelyido niyang si Jose Pepito Cayetano upang mapag-usapan,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. said during a press conference in his office yesterday.

Abalos said Cayetano’s action questioning the other Cayetano could have been his political strategy so that everybody could talk about him and that it could help him in the coming election.

Rolleyes.

Previous:

- BongBong and Imee exposes Joselito Cayetano as a sham KBL candidate

=====

In other news: Party-list na pinasisibak nangunguna sa survey

NANGUNA sa pinakabagong survey ng Pulse Asia sa party-list groups ang mga militanteng organisasyon na nais ng pamahalaan na ipasibak sa Commission on Elections (Comelec) dahil nagiging “front” umano ng New People’s Army (NPA).

Base sa isinagawang survey noong Enero 25 hanggang 29, nanguna ang Bayan Muna matapos makakuha ng 16.4 porsiyento habang sumegunda naman ang Akbayan sa pamamagitan ng 9.1 porsiyento at pumangatlo ang Gabriela na nakakuha ng 8.8 porsiyento.

Kabilang rin sa ilang nanguna ang Angat Antas Kabuhayan Filipino Movement (AANGAT KA FILIPINO), 8.1%; Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC), 3.5%; Adhikain at Kalusugan ng Ordinaryong Tao Para sa Lupa, Pabahay, Hanapbuhay at Kaunlaran (AKO), 3.4%; Association of the Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), 3.3%; at iba pa.

Hindi naman naisama sa survey ang grupo ng Anakpawis na kinakatawan ng bilanggong si Rep. Crispin Beltran.

=========

People's Journal: Richard Gomez appointment questioned

AN opposition lawmaker yesterday questioned the appointment of independent senatorial candidate Richard Gomez as special adviser on illegal drugs and narcotics of the House of Representatives.

Iloilo Rep. Rolex Suplico, in a statement, also urged the Commission on Elections to look into Gomez’s appointment.

Speaker Jose de Venecia, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Gomez as a partner of the Lower House in its campaign against illegal drugs.

According to Suplico, the law prohibits appointment of government officials and advisers during the election period.

“Hindi ko nakita ang appointment pero mukhang may sabit ‘yan kasi may ban na sa appointment nitong January pa lang,” Suplico said.

Gomez signed an agreement with De Venecia as consultant and adviser of the House committee on illegal Drugs chaired by Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan.

BongBong esposes Joselito "Peter" Cayetano as a sham KBL candidate

From the Tribune:

Lawyer Oliver Lozano and his nuisance senatorial candidate Joselito “Peter” Cayetano were yesterday exposed as a fraud by Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., after the late strongman’s son submitted a certification to the effect that one Joselito “Peter” Cayetano was not a member of the political party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), where Marcos sits as its president.

Lozano, interviewed on ANC cable TV’s Prime News last night, failed to explain satisfactorily his claim that his KBL-endorsed candidate from Davao, was rejected by Marcos, claiming later that Marcos was not the KBL president, but one Vicente Millora, whom he says is both president and chairman of the party.

He then claimed that the KBL he is aligned with is the Millora wing, not the Marcos wing, even as this was never stated before the issuance of the Marcos certification denying the membership of Joselito Cayetano which was shown by Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano to the media.

The congressman, who is running for a Senate seat under the Genuine Opposition (GO) ticket, showed the Marcos certification to the media, to prove that the other Cayetano perjured himself when he filed his senatorial candidacy at the Commission on Elections,.

Lozano went ballistic and accused the news anchor, Ces Orena-Drilon of bias and charged her with asking him leading questions, insisting that in the end, it will be the Comelec that will decide on whether Joselito Lozano would be disqualified.

More from Lito Banayo:

Some jerk from Davao happens to be a Cayetano, and he is whisked off to Manila to file his certificate of candidacy for senator of the realm. Mysteriously, he claims "Peter" as his nickname, even if his Christian name if Joselito. Por San Jose na por San Pedro pa? And the moribund KBL suddenly springs to life in the person of Oliver Lozano to embrace him as one of them.

Quite clearly, it is a brazen attempt to steal the votes of oppositionist Alan Peter Cayetano, whom the First Gentleman and his brood hate with utmost passion. Write "Cayetano" or write "Peter Cayetano" in the ballot, and your vote is null and void. "Stray" because it defines neither the real Cayetano you want elected, or the unknown impostor.

And just because the impostor Cayetano, who is called "Ju-ju" by his neighbors in Davao, belongs to "an established and registered political party", the Comelec chairman says there might be problems disqualifying the impostor. Is he laying the legal predicate for the most ridiculous of decisions? Huwag naman sana, or this early, we might as well give up on elections, and march in the streets.

UPDATE: Here's the interesting part. Yung isang nuisance candidate na si Teodoro Aquino, ay tinaggal na ng COMELEC.

Rodrguez stressed that there is a precedent, as the Comelec had thrown out the senatorial bid of one Teodoro Aquino, who also purportedly aims to muddle the electoral chance of opposition senatorial bet Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“If the Comelec junked the senatorial bid of this Teodoro Aquino, why not Joselito Cayetano’s? Between the two, (Noynoy) is much better since he has a following compared to Joselito, who has none,” he said.

Rodriguez appealed to Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. to prove true his vow that he wants to leave a “good legacy” to Filipinos when he retires from his position in January 2008.

But Rufus, they did not do it for Noynoy, but for Tessie Aquino.

And the Tribune Editorial continues to "undermine" the credibility of the COMELEC:

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. could have gained a bit of credibility for his election body, had he promptly disqualifed the nuisance bet Joselito “Peter” Cayetano, said to be running under the KBL party.

That he is a nuisance bet who has been fielded by another nuisance bet, lawyer Oliver Lozano, to sabotage the chances of Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano’s electoral victory is undeniable. That the Arroyo spouses want Cayetano out of Congress, due to his constant criticisms of the presidential couple, is just as undeniable. And that Abalos is toeing the presidential line is just as evident.

And as this issue is up, there goes Gloria’s attack dog, the Injustice secretary, coming up with a citizenship issue against the congressman, a move that is no different from Gloria’s ploy against FPJ, the opposition standard-bearer in 2004 whom Gloria cheated massively.

But there are enough legitimate reasons for the Comelec to disqualify this Joselito Cayetano.

It has been proved that this nuisance KBL bet from Davao has never been known to his friends and neighbors as “Peter” but as “Jojo.” Also, it has been found that he had falsified his certificate of candidacy with his claim that he is a marine engineering graduate of some school, when he is not.

Then too, Rep. Imee Marcos, who should know about the KBL party, has come out to state that this fake Peter Cayetano is not a member of the KBL.

Yet Abalos huffed and puffed at the congressman who was seeking the disqualification of the nuisance Cayetano, saying just because Alan Cayetano was ranking high in the surveys, or that he has the Cayetano name does not mean he has a monopoly over the Cayetano name, insisting that Joselito Cayetano cannot be disqualified since he belongs to a legitimate political party, the KBL.

What a justification Abalos comes up with. If that is the Comelec’s measure of approval or disapproval of a senatorial bet, then any crackpot named say, Recto, Arroyo, Escudero and Aquino running under a discredited party would have to be approved by the Comelec.

But then again, the Comelec, under Abalos, wouldn’t dare approve the candidacies of any “nuisance” bets with the same surnames of the Gloria bets, as evidently, the plan is to destroy the electoral chances of the opposition bets, never of the administration bets.

The Editorial ends with this parting shot:

What is also clear to the electorate is that the Comelec under Abalos appears more than willing to become an integral part of the Gloria cheating machine.

Yet Abalos is only one vote in any en banc decision. For the Comelec as a body to agree to approve the candidacy of the nuisance bet Joselito Cayetano means that even those so-called “independent” appointee-commissioners whom One Voice lauds, appear to be willing to participate in these cheating operations. There goes any hope for the Comelec to regain even a shred of credibility and respectability.

Siguro hindi fair yung criticism of One Voice, pero legit ang criticism laban sa mga COMELEC officials na ito.

Fake Sultan?

From Ernie Maceda:

Fake? Malacañang must explain if it is recognizing Jamalul Kiram as the Sultan of Sulu when GMA introduced him as such when the administration named him its 12th candidate for senator. Sultan Esmael Kiram II has taken out a full-page ad claiming to be the real Sultan of Sulu. Is Malacañang presenting a fake?

In Parañaque City, GMA even introduced Jamalul Kiram as the Sultan of Brunei. It looks like Team GMA is not taking Kiram’s candidacy seriously. He is just a filler to complete its slate. Imagine eight Cabinet members refused to run with Team GMA: Eduardo Ermita, Angelo Reyes, Joseph Ace Durano, Francis Duque III, Rolando Andaya Jr., Ignacio Bunye, Alberto Romulo and Heherson Alvarez.

MORE: He also had nice things to say about Sonia Roco:

Genuine educator. In the air-conditioned Cebu Coliseum, GMA proclaimed Tessie Oreta as “The Champion of Women and Education,” understandable because the erstwhile oppositionist is the only woman in the Team GMA senatorial slate. She served as chairman of the Senate committee on education.

Sen. Serge Osmeña said a look at her Senate record shows that the lack of classrooms and teachers worsened during her term as Senate education committee head. The long-standing formalization of pre-school or early childhood education was not passed. She does not have a bachelor’s degree much less a master’s degree in Education or related fields.

In contrast, the opposition is offering Sonia Roco as its Inang-guro, who will focus on the problems of education and women causes.

Sonia graduated from St. Joseph’s College with a bachelor’s degree in Education, magna cum laude. She earned a master’s degree in Communication Arts and Social Psychology from Ateneo de Manila University. She took post-graduate studies in speech and drama in London.

Roco founded our school, a center for early childhood education at the Ateneo. She established the Live and Learn Pre-school at Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

She is an active leader of civil society and NGOs. She is past president and founding member of WIN (Women in Nation Building). Her campaign slogan is education-focused: Bawat bata ay nag-aral, bawat pamilya ay may graduate.

Sonia’s track record in education and women’s causes is better and bigger than Oreta’s. She’s a genuine educator.

She is a fresh face in the political scene. A survivor of the Baguio earthquake, she is a woman of destiny.

I will strongly campaign for her.

Leftover Halo-halo

Galit raw si Arroyo kay Villar nung hindi siya sumama sa Team Unity ni Arroyo, according to Marichu Villanueva. Money quote:

The Arroyo administration must be desperate at this early to come up with muck to throw at a very strong candidate like Villar. But they must come up with more substantive issues than fussing over Villar’s status as "guest" candidate of the UNO. The Arroyo administration is obviously still smarting over Villar’s decision to ally with no less than ex-President Estrada. Villar calls it a cheap shot when the police security assigned at the rest house detention of Estrada in Tanay, Rizal barred him and his wife Rep. Cynthia Villar from visiting the deposed President last Saturday. This was the time the administration was still hoping to get Villar to join the unity ticket.

And this must have even made them more furious:

SENATE President Manny Villar yesterday vowed to deliver the votes of Las Piñas to candidates of the United Opposition in the May elections, ending questions as to where his loyalty lies.

"Kung saan kami, dun sila," Villar said, referring to the more than 400,000 registered voters of the city that he once represented in House.

In the May 2004 elections, President Arroyo won only in Las Piñas among the 17 cities and towns of Metro Manila.

Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party and an adopted candidate of UNO, said Las Piñas will deliver the votes to the UNO candidates as he said the city mayor down to the barangay captains are allies.

Las Piñas is considered a bailiwick of the Aguilars, to which Villar’s wife Rep. Cynthia Villar belongs. The mayor, Imelda Aguilar, is the sister-in-law of Rep. Villar.

Villar said Las Piñas did not go for Fernando Poe Jr. in the May 2004 elections because the opposition fielded a candidate against Rep. Villar.

He also said his colleagues in the opposition should stop doubting his political loyalty after he gave them a grand welcome to his city.

"Dapat wala ng doubts," he said.

The Villar couple hosted lunch for the UNO candidates also campaigned in Parañaque and Muntinlupa.

Villar said his group took three days to prepare the Las Piñas welcome.

He also said he intends to join UNO rallies if his schedule permits.

Thank god for Manny Villar.



There was even an attempt to bar Villar from attending the PMA rites by Arroyo acolytes. But the admin failed, and during the PMA rites, Villar slammed the Arroyo gov't.

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City — It was a double whammy for Malacañang and some members of the executive here yesterday, with both President Arroyo and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. getting a dose of their own medicine for their reported failed attempt to bar opposition senatorial candidate, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., from attending this year’s homecoming celebration of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

The lawmaker, who is seeking reelection in the May 14 polls as an adopted candidate of the opposition, took a dig at the executive’s continuing moves that tend to politicize the ranks of the military, both active and retired, to get back at its critics.

In his speech, Villar criticized the alleged continuing measure to shield government officials from Senate inquiries and the Palace-backed efforts to amend the Constitution, which, he said, was meant to abolish the Senate and stop the chamber from investigating alleged anomalies in the government.

He stressed that the Senate has been a “watchdog of the performance of the executive branch” and it crosses party lines when the issues at hand are a matter of “national interest.”

“Unfortunately, there are those who are not comfortable with the independence of the Senate. Our determination to expose what we honestly perceive as anomalies in governance is construed as the work of an obstructionist,” the Senate chief noted.

While some of those who graduated from PMA during the mid-1970s and beyond, resorted to “heckling” Esperon, aside from the apparent “cold treatment” they afforded him, for having been supposedly a “party” to the case involving Villar.

Syempre, hindi ito pinalampas ni Iggy Bunye, at binira rin niya si Villar.


============

Marcos at least allowed Ninoy media access when he was a prisoner-candidate - Noynoy Aquino

Comparing Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Arroyo in their treatment of prisoner-candidates, the son of slain Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., “Noynoy” who is running as an opposition senatorial candidate, yesterday said Marcos was a lot better and more humane than President Arroyo.

In calling for the administration to grant detained Oakwood rebel Navy Lt/SG Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes, also an opposition senatorial bet, access to media and interviews, Noynoy recalled that Marcos allowed his father, who was in a military jail but was also a candidate for the Marcos Parliament, to campaign via the media, granted this to his father, the late Senator Aquino Jr.

“He (Trillanes) should be given the opportunity to share his message through media interviews,” Aquino stressed adding that even his father was given the same opportunity even by Marcos even when Aquino was tagged as an enemy of the state.

“At least in this particular case, I urge the Arroyo government to do a Marcos,” Aquino said, adding that if Mrs. Arroyo doesn’t grant Trillanes that media access he asks for, then she is worse than Marcos.

Trillanes, who faces rebellion charges, is barred from joining the opposition on its campaign sorties. He was likewise was barred from granting media interviews to television and radio crews at his detention cell in the Marine Brigade, Fort Bonifacio.

“I hold no grudge toward the people caught in that situation. What I’m saying is that we should give these people a chance to return to the fold of the law,” he said.

What is more important now, he added, is that Trillanes has already demonstrated his resolve to go back to the system and embrace the Constitution by participating in the May 14 elections. And this must be acknowledged by the government, he added.

“Trillanes is opting for electoral reforms. We must encourage him for going within the system. The charges are not the issue. The issue here is that he returns to the system.”

More from Susan Ople on Trillanes:

I have this on good authority.

Detained Navy Lt. SG Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes was recently offered campaign funds amounting to P4-million by a known jueteng lord. Despite meager funds — certainly not enough to finance a full-blown TV ad campaign — the senatorial candidate of GO refused the offer.

That P4-M would have been enough to at least cover the expense of a few radio spots, campaign posters, and mobilization costs of his volunteers. That he turned it down speaks volumes about this young guy’s principles. I never agreed with the Magdalo’s mutiny, no matter how romantic or idyllic the notion behind it. But I believe in second chances, not just for him but for all of us as well.

Still, there is a cynical belief in the political world that honesty doesn’t get one elected. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to prove these cynics wrong?

============

Ernie Maceda reacting to Dodong Nemenzo's comment na puro trapo raw ang mga kandidato sa dalawang panig (Team Unity and GO!):

Nemenzo’s complaint. Former UP president Francisco Nemenzo said both administration and opposition senatorial tickets are full of trapos. Why? Because non-trapos refuse to run. Prof. Randy David, Prof. Adel Tamano, former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman and Leah Navarro among others were invited to run, but they refused.

Top lawyer Mario Ongkiko is running for senator as Kapatiran Party candidate together with resigned Usec Zosimo Paredes. Ok, President Nemenzo, you can go all-out and campaign for these two non-trapos.

It’s time to ask, weren’t non-trapos, a.k.a. civil society leaders, responsible for putting GMA in Malacañang? And these so-called trapos now, weren’t they civil society or non politicians before they ran?

Loren Legarda was a TV personality, Ping Lacson was a career police officer, Pong Biazon was a Marine general. So they become trapos just because they ran and won? There’s something not right in labeling all those who have won and served as “trapos.”

If I may use my own experience, sir, you call me a trapo too but didn’t you honor this trapo for being one of the magnificent 12 who voted against the extension of the US bases? Didn’t I join former Sen. Bobby Tañada in voting against the ratification of the GATT? Throw in more than 200 laws I have authored or sponsored and 200 exposés that saved billions of government funds. Remember the PEA Amari deal invalidated by the Supreme Court?

Yes sir, not all traditional politicians are bad. Every senator and congressman including those belonging to dynasties must be judged on his individual record. Just as each UP professor must be judged on his individual performance.

It’s not fair to brand all politicians as trapos just as it is not fair to brand all UP professors as communists.

Touche!

Sabi rin ni Lito Banayo:

Manong Ernie Maceda decries friend Dodong Nemenzo’s sweeping denunciation of all trapos, when the former UP president said both tickets reek of them.

There are good trapos and bad trapos, adopting the political pejorative at face value. But as Manong Ernie asks, where have the non-trapos gone? When the senatorial slate was being formed, why did non-trapos like Randy David and Dinky Soliman, and Leah Navarro reject the opposition’s repeated offers to stand up and be counted? They would have made highly attractive candidates to the middle class, and in a campaign, could likewise get the masa vote. Sonia Roco stands out for her courage, despite initially low survey ratings. That’s one candidate who I will not only vote for, but will campaign vigorously for.

Hehe... si Helga inalok na tumakbo bilang senador rin pala...

===========

Joker Arroyo: "GMA is the best protector of the Constitution."

But only true in the most cynical sense.

Besides, wasn't it a last december that the admin was trying to destroy the current Constitution and change it to benefit her and her allies (via Con Ass and the so-called "People's Initiative") and abolish the senate to remove the Checks and Balance?

Protector of the Constitution, my ass.

Lito Banayo to be Lim's Manila Vice Mayor pick?

Sabi raw ni Ernie Maceda.

If this is true, then I see a Lim-Lacson alliance here na ikatutuwa ng mga supporters ng dalawang tao sa MayniLA.

1-M Signature campaign niluluto sa pagtakbo ni Pacquiao

From the Abante-Tonite:

Maglulunsad ng signature campaign ang kampo ni People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao upang kontrahin ang kanyang mga kritiko na kontra sa pagtakbo sa Kongreso ng boksingerong idolo ng masa.

Ito ang impormasyong nakalap ng TONITE kung saan isang milyong signature umano ang balak na kalapin ng mga supporters ni Pacquiao na sisimulan anumang araw ngayon.

Layunin ng naturang signature campaign na ipakitang marami pa ang nagtutulak kay Pacquiao na tumakbo bilang congressman sa unang distrito ng South Cotobato.

Nabatid na isasagawa ang signature campaign sa Metro Manila at iba pang bahagi ng bansa dahil kung aasa lamang ito sa mga residente ng naturang distrito ay hindi aabot sa isang milyon ang makakalap na lagda.

Ayon kay South Cotobato Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio, umaabot lamang sa 250,000 ang botante sa kanyang distrito kaya malamang na hindi sa kanilang lugar mangangalap ng lagda ang mga supporters ni Pacquiao kundi sa ibang lugar tulad ng Manila.

"Wala akong ideya sa impormasyon na iyan pero kung sakali, baka hindi sa district ko sila mangangalap ng lagda dahil more or less two hundred fifty thousand lang ang botante sa amin," ayon kay Antonino-Custodio.

Ayon naman sa impormante, gagawin ng kampo ni Pacquiao ang signature drive dahil sa kaliwa’t kanang batikos na inaabot ng People’s Champ sa desisyon nitong kumandidato sa Kongreso.

Subalit naniniwala ang impormante na mahihirapan ang kampo ni Pacquiao na makakuha ng isang milyong lagda dahil lahat ng mga bumabatikos sa pagpasok nito sa pulitika ay ang kanya mismong mga tagahanga.

"Kung dadayain ang signature baka sobra sa isang milyon ang makukuha nila. Kung malinis, baka walang lalagda kasi nais pa ng kanyang mga fans na ipagpatuloy niya ang kanyang boxing career at naniniwala ang mga tao na wala siyang magagawa sa Kongreso," ayon sa impormante.

And the true fans of Manny Pacquiao could also launch a similar signature campaign to urge Manny not to run and ask him to continue concentrating on his boxing career instead of being used as a tool by the ARroyos, Lito Atienza and Chavit Singson.

I'm sure more than 3 to 5 times pa yung signatures na makukuha sa "Please don't go into Politics, Manny" signature campaign kaysa sa "Run, Manny, Run" sig campaign ng mga Atienzas at Malacanang.

Ang galing naman ng COMELEC natin!

From the Tribune: COMELEC justifies printing 4 million "excess" ballots for the May 2007 elections.

But Abalos’ move surprised another poll exec: Ballot/voter ratio has ‘always been 1:1’

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is reportedly printing four million “excess” or reserve ballots for the May 2007 mid-term polls.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. over the weekend argued that the four million ballots are “spare” in cases when voters need extra copies should they committ errors in filling up ballots or when some ballots get lost or damaged during transportation.

Abalos earlier told reporters that the Comelec is printing 49 million ballots when there are only 45 million registered voters estimated this year based on the country’s annual population growth rate of 2.36 percent.

Jose Pio Joson, Comelec executive director, admitted that the poll body is only expecting a stock of 45 million registered voters qualified to vote this coming May.

Joson confirmed that a realistic increase could only be within three to five percent for a national election, should there be growth in the voting population.

He expressed surprised at Abalos’ announcement regarding the printing of the additional ballots.

Joson said traditionally, the Comelec would print the exact number of ballots matching the total number of registered voters.

“In the past elections, the ratio has always been 1:1 because not all registered voters would vote anyway,” he noted.

“We are also avoiding the possibility of some of these ballots getting into the wrong hands,” Joson said during an interview.

According to Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), most election fraud or dagdag-bawas (vote-padding/vote-shaving) happens through the use of official ballots printed by the Comelec.

“As to how these ballots get into the wrong hands, I don’t know,” Casiple said.

Hmmm... bakit kaya 49 million ang na-print nila? Remember, the ratio for voter/ballot has always been 1:1. They usually don't print any "spare" or "excess" ballots.

Maybe the article below had something to do with how the COMELEC ended up printing 49 mil ballots. Basahin nyo yung article nung Tribune from last year:

Fraud ops on; 07 voters list bloated by 8 million

11/09/2006

Election fraud operations appear to have started this early, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) already bloating the voters’ list with an additional 8 million voters, an increase in just six months, which statistics senators found impossible and incredible.

Not only was the proposed national appropriations for next year found to bloated but that the number of Filipino voters expected to participate in the May 2007 senatorial and local polls, are also just as bloated. This early, the Comelec took the position that the numbers will swell by at least 8 million voters, in just a matter of six months.

Senators present at yesterday’s budget hearings discovered this, with the finance committee headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday morning unearthing what they detected as suspicious statistics and unjustifiable figures being presented by the Comelec under its proposed P6.2 billion 2007 budget.

While there is a difference of only P800 million compared to the current expenditures of the poll body, senators, immediately caught on to what they said were overstatements, noting that the increase in the proposed election budget is huge, and is by as much as P1.8 billion, compared to the last round of the electoral exercise two years ago that accommodated the present number of registered voters.

Senators were told by Comelec officials that the increase is based on their assumption on population where the current 41.7 million total voters are projected to reach 49 million by year-end due to the ongoing registration of new voters, whose deadline is on Dec. 31, 2006.

And because of the increase of 8 million in the electorate, the Comelec also told the senators that an additional 94,000 precincts will be created.

With a projection of 49 million voters, the Filipino voting population would be comprised of 57.6 percent, or well over half of the total population of 85 million, which is an incredible voters percentage.

“You cannot avoid the suspicion that the budget is being bloated to this extent. The budget is being increased for national and local elections to P792 million compared to 2004,” Drilon said.

“But more alarming is the proposed increase in the Sanggunian ang Barangay elections,” he stressed.

“In 2002, the budget for the barangay elections was P1.4 billion. For a similar exercise, five years later, the budget will be increased to P2.4 billion or an increase of P1 billion. So that the total increase for the electoral exercise by the Comelec for the national, local and barangay election, if you compare it with the years when a similar political exercise was done, the total increase is P1.7 billion.

“This cannot be justified...You cannot justify that. The total budget in 2004 of the Comelec is P5.4 billion for local and national elections. For 2007, the total proposed budget is P6.2 billion or an increase of nearly P800 million. In the SK and barangay elections, as I said, the budget in 2002 was P1.4 billion; the proposed budget for 2007 is P2.4 billion,” he said.

Drilon was quick in shooting down the assumption of the poll body on the projected number of voters by year end, pointing out that such a huge additional voters’ figure is just not feasible

“Unless they justify it, we will reduce the budget substantially,” he said, referring to the Comelec’s proposal to increase the number of precincts from 216,000 in 2004 to 310,000 for the coming mid-term elections.

“Under their (Comelec) proposal, they want to establish 94,000 more precincts compared to 2004. And yet, there is no substantial increase in the number of voters registered for 2007. As of the end of 2006, second quarter, there was approximately 41.7 million registered voters, which is almost the same as the 2004 number of voters. And yet, in the budget for 2007, there is a proposal to increase the number of precincts by 94,000 on a presumed number of registered voters of P49 million.

“It is certainly questionable to project that between June 30 or July 1 2006, and Dec. 31, 2006, another 7.5 million to 8 million voters will register to justify the increase of 94,000 precincts. This is very suspicious. We will closely scrutinize the budget at this point. The additional 94,000 precincts being established are suspicious,” Drilon said, adding that the initial impression gathered is one that says the budget of Comelec is bloated by about P1.8 billion.”

This was stated by Drilon to reporters in a briefing after the hearing, as he explained the contrast of figures presented to the senators in similar exercises done in the past.

“Moreover, the estimate of registered voters is overstated by, at this point, about nearly eight million,” he further pointed out, citing what he called an erroneous assumption arrived at by poll officials.

“It is not reasonable to accept the assumption that between July 1 and Dec.31, 2006, another eight million voters will register. Therefore, the assumption is erroneous on the basis of what actually transpired.

“They (Comelec officials) said this is their assumption based on population. But obviously, their assumption is totally erroneous. If you base it on the number of registered voters as of June 30. 2006, only 41.7 million registered and only six months remain for the registration period. It is not reasonable to assume that another eight million will vote unless you get (lawyer Raul) Lambino (of the Sigaw People’s Initiative move) to bring signatories to the Comelec,” he said.

The remark was an allusion to Sigaw’s ghost voters.

Last November 2006, 49 million raw ang voters natin, sabi ng COMELEC. They were criticized for coming up with that ridiculous number. Ngayon, naging 45 million na lang. May nagmi-milagro ba sa COMELEC? Are they using fuzzy math?

UPDATE: Whoa, nagbago na naman. Back to the original number 49 mil!

No extra ballots to be printed: Abalos
Says 49M figure based on projected number of voters

ELECTIONS Chairman Benjamin Abalos yesterday said the Comelec will print just exactly one ballot for every registered voter for the May 14 elections.

"We will stand by the one ballot per one voter policy," Abalos said. "There is no truth that there will be extra ballots in the elections."

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the pronouncement of Abalos that the poll body would print 49 million ballots, more million than the expected number of registered voters was taken out of context.

"Definitely, there will be no excess ballots," said Jimenez.

"It might be a case of confusion in the estimation of the number of registered voters on the part of the Chairman as the official number of voters has yet to be completed," Jimenez said.

Comelec Executive Director Jose Pio Joson earlier expressed surprise over Abalos’ statement, saying that in past elections the ratio was 1:1 since not all registered voters would vote anyway.

Jimenez said when Abalos said 49 million ballots would be printed, he meant to retain the 1:1 ratio of ballots to voters based on his expectation of the total number of voters after last year’s new registration.

49 million! WOWOWEE!

UPDATE: From Lito Banayo:

This early, you can smell it. Not the scent of flowers that preludes the break of spring , not the scent of perfume that a lady exudes, but the scent of cheating. Better yet, the stench of cheating.

Four million more ballots are being printed by the Comelec. As reserves, as contingency they justify. But even their career executive director, the highly respected Pio Joson, raises more than just an eyebrow. "Maybe a 3 to 5 % reserve, but 10 %?", he asks. Besides, not all the 45 million voters registered as of December 31, 2006 are going to vote. Historically, in mid-term elections, only three-fourths of the electorate cast their ballots. Why then the excess printing?

Is it because those in the woodwork will sell these extra ballots to mayoralty and congressional candidates who need to manufacture their victory? Is it because they need extra ballots to stuff contested precinct returns in pre-proclamation as well as post-proclamation proceedings? Or is it because, as in Garci, as in 2004, the cheating has been well-planned, well-laid out, and it’s all over but for another Hello Garci?

Looks like our friend Randy David has a point when in his PDI column he called for boycott. He has reasons other than manipulation, foremost of which is participation as a means of legitimizing the illegitimate.

The only way to make a difference in how the government and COMELEC is run is to throw the cheaters and the corrupt officials out and vote the reformers and the good guys in.

But how do you do that kung dadayain na naman tayo this election? When all of those involved in the COMELEC dagdag bawas operation remain unpunished (many were even promoted)?

Ang Kapatiran

I wonder if the opposition could include the group "Ang Kapatiran" into it's coalition for the local elections. "Ang Kapatiran" is a civil society group founded by Nandy Pacheco. Conrad de Quiros, and the PDI Editorial had good things to say about "Ang Kapatiran." While Raul Pangalanan offers praise and some criticism.

According to the COMELEC, hanggang March 29, 2007 pa yung last day for local candidates to file their certificates of candidacy.

SECTION 5. Period for filing certificate of candidacy. – The certificate of candidacy shall be filed on regular days during office hours except on the last day, which shall be up to midnight, as follows:

For Senator – January 15, 2007 to February 12, 2007; and

For Local Officials (including Members of the House of Representatives) – January 15, 2007 to March 29, 2007.

So there's still time pa to reach out to Ang Kapatiran. I don't know if the opposition has enough strong candidates at every local district to go up against the admin candidates and their pork barrel money. If Ang Kapatiran can provide better local candidates in certain areas, then the opposition might consider removing their weaker candidate and allow the Ang Kapatiran candidate to run against the admin's candidate.

This is what I like about Ang Kapatiran's platform:

The Kapatiran would abolish the pork barrel, give the highest priority to projects and programs for the underprivileged and other neglected sectors of society, speed up the administration of justice, ensure transparency and accountability in government transactions, and promote a safe, clean and healthy environment.

According to Lacson, around 50% percent of the pork barrel money is lost due to corruption. I written about pork barrel politics in the past. if you type "pork barrel" sa search box ng technorati, you'll find lots of my posts there.

Sa nakikita ko, ang problema ng Ang Kapatiran is that they are not that well known. And their leaders are not that well known either (Pacheco, Ongkiko). They don't have a charismatic leader that can attract people to it's party, like Raul Roco. Or a leader whose ideas (economic) drove many independents to sign up for the party, like Ross Perot. Or even a well known activist who attracts a lot of media and press coverage like Ralph Nader.

The PDI editorial said na Ang Kapatiran first made it's appearance during the 2004 Elections. If that is the case, then this is news to me cuz i've never heard of them before until now. Sorry Nandy.

In the 2004 elections, the Kapatiran offered an alternative, but like most quixotic ventures, it was noticed but made only a little headway in changing the nature of the nation’s politics. This year, it is again presenting itself as an alternative in the 2007 elections.

And I have no problems with their idealism, but they've got to be smart too in order to be taken more seriously.

One other thing, I don't recall Nandy being vocal about asking for Arroyo's resignation or impeachment nung sumabog ang Gloriagate scandal. We need for him to clarify where he stands on the issue.

But as long as they are pro-reform, and willing to impeach arroyo, then they're welcome.

Michelle Malkin profiled at the Washington Post

She used to be known as Michelle Maglalang of South Jersey, now she's one of the most popular conservative bloggers in the world.

PDI: The Opposition is being "Outlied"

Sabi ng PDI Editorial:

The supposed trump card of the administration is the economy. Reli German said statistics don’t lie -- and no oppositionist called his bluff by pointing out the repeated instances President Arroyo herself was caught wanting to fudge statistics for cosmetic effect. Never mind being “outgunned, outgooned and outgold” -- the opposition is even being “outlied.”

I've already posted some of Arroyo's re-jiggered stats on Unemployment and the Poverty.

And now, the admin even wants out of Transparency International's corruption survey, a clumsy attempt at damage control in order to remedy the dismal corruption perception issues under Arroyo.

But I'm not surprised by this. If the admin can manipulate the results of elections to suit it's boss, it can certainly manipulate some of the statistics too to make everything look rosier.

Erap will be free after the 2007 elections

Yes, you heard it right.

Nabasa ko kasi yung article ni Billy Esposo eh.

As far as most Filipinos are concerned, this coming May 14 election is also a proxy fight between Gloria and Erap. If the opposition is able to amass the critical number of votes in the House of Representatives, then that would propel the impeachment case forward to what will likely be a more opposition-dominated Senate. That will mean lights out for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a new dawn for Joseph Estrada. Erap will not be returning to Malacañang but he will likely regain his freedom and get a chance to rehabilitate his damaged reputation.

Actually, it was GMA who did more to rehabilitate Erap's reputation than anybody else I know of. Isa pa manong Billy: It is more likely na Arroyo will be the one to free Erap by pardoning him if she wins this midterm elections.

Here's why. I'm sure narinig mo na yung "free Erap" campaign ni Mike Defensor. Defensor even said na Arroyo supports this move. At kung may nagalit man sa civil society sa trial balloon na ito, hindi ko siya masyadong narinig.

The only reason kung bakit binawi ng Malacanang itong idea na ito for now is because ayaw nilang pakawalan si Erap before the elections. Dahil ayaw nilang magkampanya si Erap during the elections for some opposition candidates. Dahil makakatulong ang suporta ni erap sa mga kandidato na gusto nyang suportahan, and could cause Arroyo's team to lose big.. I'm sure kung sinabi ni erap na susuportahan niya ang candidacy ni Mike defensor, magiging topnotcher si Tol nyan.

The admin is so paranoid about the erap factor na they're even making it hard for people to visit erap in Tanay. jeez.

But eniwey, listen to the recent administration rhetoric re this election: "Reconciliation" and "Unity". Tignan mo kung sino yung candidates ng admin ngayon... people like Angara, Sotto, and Oreta (ASO). Listen to Mike Defensor and other Arroyo allies call for erap's release. They do this not only because they are pandering to the masa supporters, but because many of those who used to hate or dislike erap (from civil society to former edsa dos supporters) are now willing to see him free, for the sake of national unity and healing.

But Arroyo will pardon erap only after the elections, especially if her team wins. Because they really don't see erap as a threat anymore after the midterm polls. If she "prevails" in the so called referendum, she will get her "legitimacy" back, and no stinkin erap can take that away from her this time. And she'll look magnanimous when she pardons erap. her move will be considered a great humanitarian move by Arroyo supporters. Unity. Reconciliation. Heal the Land.

So here's how it will be done.

first, tatapusin na ng korte ang kaso ni erap, and they'll find him guilty.

then arroyo will pardon erap, and declare him a free man. of course kung may "ninakaw" man siyang pera sa gobierno, pagmamayari ng gobierno yan. (although i see no credible evidence na he stole gov't money while in Malacanang.)

at yung mga jueteng money na tinagggap niya, isoli kay chavit. (i believe guilty si erap dito)

only the most ardent erap haters will not like the pardon, but i suspect most people, including the CBCP, INC, El Shaddai, a sizable number of civil society people and the more moderate members of this admin (including Mike Defensor) will support such a move/gamble.

the move to hand a guilty verdict will appease the remaining extremist erap-haters in her admin and this verdict will be used as proof that edsa dos was indeed "justified."

here are signs na this will happen:

Despite its much publicized efforts to reconcile with the camp of deposed President Joseph Estrada, Malacañang yesterday refused to give any commitment on the proposed release of the ousted leader next year (2007) when he turns 70 years old.

This was the Palace’s reaction to the statement of lawyer Leonard de Vera, convenor of Equal Justice for All Movement, who said Estrada should be released once he turns 70 years old next year based on Memorandum Circular (MC) 155 issued by President Arroyo on Nov. 17, 2004, which granted executive clemency to convicts who are 70 years old and above.

If you'll recall, leonard de vera is one of those noted anti-eraps in 2000. but why is he asking for the devil erap to be released this year?

Here's another one:

Sunday, March 26 2006 @ 08:19 PM BST

National
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye on Sunday conceded that former president Joseph Estrada eventually might not land in jail because President Arroyo has always maintained Estrada should be treated humanely.

In a radio interview, Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo believes that Estrada should be accorded humane treatment because of his stature and age.

Estrada is turning 69 on April 19.

Bunye said the humane treatment for Estrada should be "within the bounds of the law."

He said he was not aware of Memorandum 155, which President Arroyo was supposed to have signed on November 17, granting parole to convicts who are more than 70 years old.

A lawyer, Leonard de Vera, over the weekend said that even if the Sandiganbayan convicts Estrada of plunder and perjury, he would still not land in jail because of the memorandum order.

Everything is in place na after the elections.

Sure, there's a possibility na the opposition might spring erap free if they were able to impeach arroyo, but it is highly unlikely. If a member of the opposition would dare even suggest na erap should be freed during the elections, you guys from the PHILSTAR and other civil society haters would pounce on him. Bawal mag-suggest ang opposition nyan, because they'll never hear the end of it from you people. Only the arroyo admin can get away with such a proposal. Double Standard? You bet.