Cory Aquino will receive David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership award

From Dean Jorge Bocobo:

The following full page Announcement appeared in the major Manila newspapers today, in regards to former President Corazon Aquino's being awarded the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award. Below, list of signatories is significant because of who is on it publicly backing Cory Aquino, who is leading a veritable MORAL CRUSADE against the regime of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. (It is being posted here at Philippine Comnmentary because it may not be available online...)

Go check out his site at tignan nyo kung sino yung nasa listahan ng signatories.

Remembering Theo Van Gogh

-- Francis Fukuyama: Remember Theo van Gogh, and shudder for the future

-- And Belmont Club comments on Fukuyama's article.

The events in France may turn out to have a greater strategic impact than September 11. French policies, however maddening, had the virtue of serving as the control case to the American experiment of attempting to reform the Islamic world. The latter acknowledged, however shyly, that it was facing an aggression which had to be met at the root; which had to be resolved by building viable societies in Islamic homelands. The former, and France in particular, maintained there was nothing that temporizing and appeasement, in one form or another, could not solve. What events in France have done is discredit the liberal recipe so badly that even those who are not prepared to admit that American policy may have been right must now root around for an alternative theory. Fukuyama's essay is a good step in that direction. Faster please.

More on Van Gogh here.

And this is a must-read too: The Suicide Bombers Among Us by Theodore Dalrymple.

Michelle Malkin on Pajamas Media

Her bio's here.

Michelle began her career in 1992 with the Los Angeles Daily News. Today, her syndicated column appears in over 200 newspapers and she is a contributor to Fox News. She was born in Philadelphia, grew up in the Tri-State area, and met her husband at Oberlin College in Ohio. They live in Washington with their two children, ages five and two.

Ito naman ang blog nya.

UPDATE: An anonymous commenter said:

i've been aware of her for about a year now, and she is good.
The PC crowd won't like her tho.

Ya think? ;)

Man, this Malkin girl has many unhinged detractors. ;)

Eto pa.

Steal now, disappear later

From Lito Banayo:

Virgilio Garcillano, the phone pal of Doña Gloria who tells the nation, "I am sorry" she talked to him, quietly disappears from the scene. First he hies off to Tagaytay to cool his heels. There he has a rendezvous with a top Comelec official, mismo, who probably tells him to consult the public works secretary, a former top police official, to provide for his personal security.

The beleaguered Comelec commissioner flies to his beloved Cagayan de Oro and then motors to his farm in Bukidnon, again to cool his heels. Three days later, the public works secretary flies to the City of Golden Friendship and that same afternoon, Garcillano leaves Lumbia Airport via a chartered Subic Air jet that eventually lands in Clark, far from prying eyes and nosey newsmen. That was June 18, 2005, twelve days since Malacañang, through its presidential spokesperson, mismo, explodes the bunyeta of garcification that involves no less than Glorietta, misma.

The Philippines has never been the same since then.

Congress and media have been looking for Garci since, but neither the ISAFP, nor NICA, nor the PNP, nor the NBI could provide any answers. Easier to kill Abu Sabaya, or hunt down terrorist bombers than to locate a Comelec commissioner. Then, sometime in August, ANC senior reporter Ricky Carandang, through his sources, tells the nation that Garcillano left the country on July 14 via a Subic Air Learjet, which landed at Seletar airfield in Singapore. From there, he boarded a plane to London, perhaps to visit the genuine Queen.

Congress was riled, and called the Immigration office to explain. The immigration officials were clueless. Everybody denied they knew anything about Garci.

Later, the chair of five committees of the House looking for Garci to testify on Hello Garci, got an official confirmation that what Carandang reported was indeed true. Again, denials of any complicity, from BID to DFA to the NBI and the police. Garci simply flew the coop, and Bunye lamely explains that since he is now a private person, and there is no formal case in court filed against him, then there is absolutely nothing the Dona’s government can do about it. Bunyeta!

It is now almost five months since Garci’s voice on the tapes was exposed by Malacañang to the entire nation. He was caught on tape talking about kidnapping a woman election officer, in order to ensure the Doña got the votes she wanted and he promised. He was caught talking to the Dona, misma, not once, not twice, but as many as fifteen times over a short period of time. Talking about a million-vote margin, about missing ballot boxes, about generals in the know and on the cheating loop, even about "dagdag…yung dagdag". And nobody in this God-awful nation can tell 84 million God-forsaken souls where the hell Garci is, dead or alive. Bunyeta talaga!

***

A man named Joc Joc, whom the Doña appointed the most powerful agriculture undersecretary ever, converts a budgeted 729 million pesos of liquid fertilizer, at least as discovered, into cash for electoral use, by a feat of financial legerdemain that would put another Garci, Carlos F. Garcia, major general in the armed services, to shame. He does this with his immediate boss, then Agriculture Secretary Luis "Cito" Lorenzo, either closing his eyes to the shenanigan, or was duped by his underling the sneaky Joc Joc. Such a "bolantic" caper.

During the elections, the opposition already blew the whistle on the bolantic fastbreak of public funds, but nobody listened. A few months after Hello Garci brought the elections of 2004 back into focus, the Senate investigates the bolantic undertaking. By now, of course, both Bolante and his secretary, Cito, have left government service. Both have returned to the private sector, and in the case of JocJoc, has become an officer of Rotary International, that world-wide organization of men and women whose first test of uprightness is to ask themselves whether they speak and act the truth. Rotary, of course, has been quite fortuitous in the life of Joc Joc. It was through Rotary in Makati that he met the man who was to become the second most powerful man in all of the islands, el esposo mismo de Doña Gloria misma.

The Senate invited them to shed light on the matter. But before that, Doña Gloria forbids anybody in the executive branch to ever dignify any investigation called by Congress, without her express permission.

This effectively castrated Congress, defied the constitutional principle of checks and balances, and insured that all truth would remain under her cover. But Joc-joc and Cito are now private citizens, no longer covered by her EO 464.

So what to do? Why, fly out to unknown hide-outs, just like Garci. When things get garcified, it’s time to turn bolantic, ne c’est pas?

And so on the day Bolante and Lorenzo were to appear before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, they surreptitiously left through the NAIA. Without a hold-order issued by the courts, without any look-out by immigration officials, without even a by-your-leave, they simply vanish.

Asked to explain, the presidential spokesperson simply shrugs his shoulders and says he is not his brother’s keeper. They have left the warm embrace of the brotherhood of the Dona’s faithful, and are now private citizens, so don’t look at us in the palace, says the spokesperson.

There is an amoral lesson here to be learned. Steal now, fly later. Just do as the Doña bids, the Doña wants, the Doña expects of you as a public official completely devoted to her and her ministrations.

Never mind if in so doing, you have to steal, cheat or lie. Anyway, she will protect you through EO 464, which tells you to speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil, about her, her family, her government, and most of all, her election to office.

And if perchance the noose gets too close when you’re no longer in government service, not to worry. Just fly, be gone, disappear, and that’s the end of your woes. Just make sure you made enough of a pile when you were in her glorific service. Make sure you made subi for yourself. Baka naman lahat na hinatag mo sa kanila? How else could you fend for yourself in Los Angeles, or San Francisco, London, Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, or heaven forbid, even in Labuan in the wilds of North Borneo? Of course, if you’re now somewhere 20,000 leagues under the surface of the Celebes, what would you need the kickbacks and commissions for? Ah! The Palace backs legislated wage hike of the deep, no matter how garcified the truth could be.

Life in these islands Philippine, in the reign of criminals who steal and fly, cheaters who garcify and fly after saying sorry, and liars who keep hiding the truth. And if one may add, bishops and religious leaders who have their standards of morality selective, their concept of the moral and immoral all confused. Woe unto us all.

People's Court = Truth Commission?

From Ducky Paredes:

I am really not enamored at the convening of a People’s Court or even, in the present form into which the idea has morphed – the Citizen’s Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA).

The CCTA, just as everything else that have been going on around us are all just various aspects of the same falsehood. All of us already know the truth. Even those who would still give her a hearing know the truth. GMA, much more than any of us, knows the painful truth about what evil she has done us.

Gloria gov’t peace nego useless amid poll fraud raps, scams — UN report

From the Tribune:

Allegations of poll fraud and other scandals rocking President Arroyo's administration have not only cast doubts on the reliability and value of peace negotiations between the government and local insurgent groups, but have also placed in focus whether the system is capable of reform, a United Nations report stated.

“No genuine solution to the insurgency can be proposed without ensuring the equality, fairness and integrity of electoral contests as a precondition as the “Hello Garci” wiretapping scandal surrounding the political crisis in the country,” the UN Development Program (UNDP) report said.

In its 2005 Philippine Human Development Report, it took note of the massive electoral fraud in past elections and the wiretapping scandal involving President Arroyo and former Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Such allegations, the report pointed out, have cast serious doubts on the integrity and sincerity of the government in pursuing peace with rebel groups such as the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).

“With the massive electoral fraud that marks Philippines electoral exercises, the radical Left are skeptical to join the mainstream political life to advocate its aims armed with nothing more than the weapons of criticism rather than resorting to criticism by weapons.”

“On top of this,” the report added, “is the profound crisis engulfing the country's political system - underscored by the 'Garci' wiretapping scandal where even mainstream participants themselves consider the current electoral process a mockery of a genuine democracy and question its capacity to deliver fair and honest results,” it added.

Because the conduct of elections is central to the entire issue of insurgency, the report said the sharpest question is whether this system is capable of reform.

“Can it reach a level of maturity comparable to that in industrial democracies, where parties can advocate widely diverging ideologies and alternate in power or share it without risking loss of human life and catastrophic disruptions of social existence?” the report said.

Despite the President's public apology and her admission to committing a “lapse of judgement” for calling up an election official at the height of vote counting, the public and Mrs. Arroyo's political opponents were not pacified as demands for her resignation continue to increase and coup rumors are becoming more persistent.

“It should be clear that any real solution of the communist-led armed conflict must involve an acceptance by at least the bulk of the rebel movement's followers that the present political system, for all its obvious imperfections, is at bottom a democratic system open to reform,” the UN said.

The report noted that history and the current operation of the existing political system give ample basis for skepticism.

Historically, it explained, candidates of the Democratic Alliance, which included a number of communists, were legitimately elected to Congress in 1946 but expelled through the machinations of the dominant vested interests.

The UN observed that even today, the constraints of the party-list system militate against the success of ideology-based parties.

Obstacles range from the rules themselves like limitations on seats, the wide discretion givento the Comelec in applying the rules to unwritten realities such as the harassment and assassination of candidates and political workers of Left-leaning parties, the report said.

“And even if the GRP-NDF peace negotiations never reach the agenda item of political and constitutional reforms, it would still be a step in the path to peace to pursue the electoral and other reforms addressing the root causes of internal armed conflicts and social unrest,”the report said.

Despite the Congress' dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo, which had, as part of the charge, the poll rigging engaged in by the administration and Comelec officials, the issue has not died down with more and more Filipinos questioning the legitimacy of the President

.

Arroyo's ultra-conservative and retarded policy on family planning

Is Rina Jimenez-David saying na medyo "Talibanic" ang approach ni Ate Glue pagdating sa reproductive and women's rights? ;)

CREATING RIPPLES THROUGH THE reproductive health community, but surprisingly causing no big waves elsewhere, was the speech delivered by President Macapagal-Arroyo at the General Assembly of the United Nations last Sept. 15 as part of a "high-level" summit of world leaders to review the Millennium Development Goals.

The controversy I'm referring to has to do with the portion of the speech on the government's family planning policy, which I'm reprinting below:

"We expect the United Nations to respect the deep Catholicism of the vast majority of the Filipino people. The funding given by the United Nations to our national government for reproductive health shall be dedicated to train married couples in a natural family planning technology which the World Health Organization has found effective compared to artificial contraceptives. The Population Council of New York has found that artificial contraception contributes only 2 percent to the decline of birth rates while the combination of improving the economic condition of the family, urbanization and breastfeeding contributes 98 percent."

The statement is startling, comical and scandalous on many levels--but mainly because it holds up the President, as well as our government, to ridicule on a global level. It's bad enough that the President would deliver a speech, at the UN General Assembly no less, that violates the most basic tenets of human rights and the progress made in re-thinking and responding to the sexual and reproductive health and rights needs of people everywhere. But to be caught lying outright--or making misstatements at best--on such an important occasion where the world's experts on health and population concerns are present? Whoever wrote the speech (and then approved it) must be fired--or made to resign!

* * *

FOR starters, it turns out that the President and/or her speechwriter appear to have misread, if they did not deliberately distort, WHO data on the effectiveness of natural family planning methods compared to other modern contraceptive methods.

Dr. Jean Marc Olive, WHO representative in the Asian region, clarifies that most studies done on the failure rate of various contraceptive methods show that "the failure rate of natural family planning is much higher than other modern contraceptives. Many studies exist and the results are very similar." One such study, published in "Epigee Birth Control Guide" and cited by Olive, shows that NFP methods based on fertility awareness and periodic abstinence have a combined "perfect use failure rate" of 12.5 percent, compared to other modern contraceptives such as oral contraceptives (0.3 percent), injectables (0.3 percent), and the IUD (0.8 percent).

"Perfect use failure rate," by the way, refers to the percentage of pregnancies which occur if the method is used perfectly and consistently.

* * *

AS for the assertion the President made that contraception or family planning using modern methods contributes "only 2 percent" to the decline of birth rates, the Population Council, to which she attributed this "fact," itself clarifies, in a letter to Philippine Ambassador to the UN Lauro Baja, that the "claim rests on a misunderstanding" and that "no study conducted by the Population Council has reached this conclusion."

Population Council president Peter Donaldson writes that "although there is some disagreement among scholars about the contribution of family planning to the decline of fertility, the consensus is that its role is much higher than 2 percent."

There are other disturbing aspects to the President's statement, to my mind. For one, her insistence on dedicating the bulk of funding for reproductive health to "train married couples in a natural family planning technology" violates the right of individuals to information and counseling on all safe and effective methods of family planning so they can make informed and responsible decisions. For another, does this policy mean that NFP training will be given only to married couples? What of single men and women in need of family planning counseling and services?

Does this signal the opening salvo in a concerted attack on our reproductive rights? Well, I have news for you: The battle has long been joined, and the President has shown no qualms about using whatever weapons are at her disposal, including lies and deception.

Napaka-backward naman ang pagiisip nitong si GMA. Gusto nya yatang ibalik tayo sa panahon ng mga Prayle. LOL!

Late Roundup

-- De Quiros talks about blogs.

-- Neal Cruz has some advice for Ate Glue. I hope she listens.

-- Lito Banayo: "Nakaw muna, sunod lipad"

-- From Ernie Maceda:

Malversation. Three Metro Manila Congressman, Federico Sandoval of Malabon-Navotas, Nanette Castelo Daza of Quezon City and Edgardo Zialcita of Parañaque City, all Lakas members, have formally admitted they received their share from the fertilizer funds before the May, 2004 elections. Five million pesos for Zialcita and P3 million each for Sandoval and Daza.

Sandoval said he used the money to buy an expensive shredder for garbage. Daza also bought a shredding machine. Zialcita said the P5 million was used for training for livestock dispersal and modern fishing. These explanations are unacceptable. These are fertilizer funds to be used to purchase and distribute fertilizers for farmers. Some of the recipient congressmen and mayors accepted liquid fertilizers as a matter of fact. The budgetary title is specific — fertilizer funds.

A shredder is not fertilizer. Training for livestock dispersal or modern fishing methods is not fertilizer. There are other budgetary items in the Department of Agriculture budget for those specific activities.

There is technical malversation here. The Ombudsman should look into this. And why should a simple shredder cost P3 million? Only 10 percent of Parañaque are fishermen, why P5 million for training of fishermen? Definitely something is wrong here.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., should also invite Representatives Sandoval, Daza and Zialcita to his next hearing.

"Has President George W. Bush been so damaged by scandals and public disapproval that he has no choice but to appoint qualified, principled people...

... to important positions?"

-- from Paul Krugman of the NYT, commenting on Bush appointee to the Federal Rererve Chairmanship, Ben Bernanke.

I'm scared of EVAT, mommie...

Huwag nang maghugas kamay sa EVAT

Maliban sa paggunita ng buong mundo sa Todos Los Santos, ang araw na ito, Nobyembre 1 ay hindi makakalimutang petsa sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas sa ilalim ng administrayon ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bunsod ng implementasyon ng dagdag buwis o ang Republic Act 9337 o ang Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT).

Ayon sa Malacañang, wala nang atrasan ang pagpapatupad sa EVAT dahil wala silang nakikitang rason para hindi ituloy ang pagpapataw nito sa mga piling produkto.

Nilinaw ni Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye na matagal na pinag-aralan ng Kongreso ang mga implementing rules ang regulations ng batas bago ipinasa kaya walang political pressure na makakapaglambot sa posisyon ng gobyernong ituloy ang implementasyon.

Parang kuwestiyonable ang pahayag na ito ng Malacañang, dahil naghahabol ngayon sina Senador Manuel Roxas at Congressman Joey Salceda na repasuhin ang RA 9337.

Iginigiit ng dalawang mambabatas na i-exempt sa panibagong dagdag-buwis ang mga produktong petrolyo at kuryente.

Hindi ba’t lantarang panggogoyo sa sambayanang Pilipino ang ginagawang ito nina Roxas at Salceda dahil kabilang sila sa mga nagpasimuno para isulong ang nasabing batas tapos ngayon bumabawi?

Nakakagalit talaga itong ating mga lawmakers, laging atrasado kung kumilos.

Kung noong una pa lamang ay ipinaglaban na nila ang probisyong huwag isama ang produktong petrolyo at kuryente sa EVAT ‘di dapat hindi na sila umaatungal ngayon.

Lalo na’t batid nilang matinding kahirapan ang pinagdaraanan ng bansa ngayon bunsod ng krisis sa langis na dinaranas ng buong mundo.

Anumang pag-atungal ang inyong gawin, wala rin iyang silbi. Natanim na sa isipan ng publiko na kabilang kayo sa nagsulong para maging ganap na batas ang EVAT upang lalo pang pahirapan ang mamamayang Pilipino. Huwag na kayong maghugas-kamay.

Kapag nagbagsakan at nagsara ang mga businesses at factories dahil sa mataas na buwis, we can thank Arroyo for that.

But as long as may perang panggastos ang Arroyo admin at ang mga congressman na kaalyado nito para sa kung saan-saang katarantaduhan, masaya na sila.

Anyway, first sign of EVAT's effect. I was buying a snack sa SM supermarket yesterday, and napansin ko tumaas na ng dalawang piso yung item na yon--from P16.50 (3 days ago, Oct. 30) to P18.50 yesterday, or roughly a 12% increase. Nice.

More here: EVAT = Mass Layoffs?

Nag-iimbak na ang mga tao ng pagkain dahil sa EVAT. this is interesting too:

Lata out, karton in

Samantala, pinapayuhan ang publiko na ihanda na ang sarili sa unti-unting pagkawala ng mga de-latang produkto dahil sisimulan nang i-repack ang mga ito sa karton o tetra pack at foil pouch.

Ito ay bunga ng pagmamahal ng tin products ngayong inilarga na ang EVAT.

Related:

-- GMA naghugas kamay, E-VAT isinisi sa Hyatt 10
-- Gas, Power prices to surge on Nov. 1
-- Largest Pork Barrel in RP history
-- Now, I know where my taxes are going, Thanks Mrs. Arroyo

GMA boy Mike Defensor to defend Arroyo in People's Court

This is going to be interesting. He will bring documents pa raw to show na Mrs. Arroyo did not steal the elections and she is the real winner.

Good luck defending your fake president, Mike.

President Arroyo will not take sitting down the prospect of putting her under a “kangaroo court” as she is poised to send Environment Secretary Michael Defensor to defend her before the “People's Court.”

In an interview over ANC, Defensor said he is prepared to bring “voluminous” documents in the scheduled hearing by the Citizens Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) on Nov. 8, 9, 15 and 16 to prove that Mrs. Arroyo won fair and square in the May 2004 presidential elections.

Defensor stressed that he would personally grill former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and most of the CCTA's 400 delegates during its hearings, saying the former Arroyo allies after having enjoyed positions in Mrs. Arroyo's Cabinet, suddenly defected to the opposition and joined the clamor for the Chief Executive's resignation for alleged electoral fraud.

“I will still go to their kangaroo court, not because I recognize it as a legitimate court that will try the President, but rather because if this is a media ploy, I need to be there to share my views and defend our President from all their allegations,” he said.

Defensor said he will not stay silent while the Chief Executive is being hit left and right in the media by the CCTA.

“I will be there because I was a campaign person at that time for the President. I know some of the issues and I don't want a kangaroo court to be used as a media ploy to turn loose a forum where our President would be hit left and right without any of her aides defending her,” he said.

Defensor added the case failed to reach conclusion at the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, the agency that handled the election complaint of the late movie icon and opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. which dismissed the case after his untimely death in Dec. 14, 2004.

More here.

Manhunt kay Garci pinigil ng DFA

From Abante-Tonite:

Mismong ang mga tauhan ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang gumagawa na ng paraan upang hindi mapabalik sa bansa si dating Commission on Election (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano para hindi na magkaroon ng kumpirmasyon ang alegasyong nandaya ang Pangulo noong nakaraang eleksyon.

Ito ang malungkot na pahayag ni Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla sa kanyang press conference kahapon matapos makarating sa kanyang kaalaman na mismong si Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alberto Romulo ang pumipigil na maghain ng request sa Argentina at Brazil para hanapin si Garcillano.

Ayon kay Remulla, unang ipinangako ni Romulo sa mga miyembro ng Kongreso noong nakasalang ang kanyang departmento sa budget hearing na kikilos ang DFA para hanapin si Garcillano.

Gayunpaman, lumalabas na hindi sineryoso ni Romulo ang kanyang pangako matapos makumpirma umano ng kongresista sa kanyang impormante sa loob ng DFA na mismong ang kalihim ang ayaw maghain ng request.

"Nakakalungkot dahil hindi nila ginagawa ang kanilang trabaho at pangako sa bayan," pahayag ni Remulla kaya lumalabas na nagkakaroon na umano ng sabwatan at takipan sa administrasyon para hindi mapauwi si Garcillano.

Pero buhay pa ba si Garci?

CTV NBA schedule on Sundays

NBA Premiere week starts tomorrow. Spurs v Nuggets. Mavericks v Suns.

At ito naman ang NBA skeds ng CTV (taiwan) using google translator.

200.5/11/6 million Spurs VS dallas
2.005/11/13 billion Rockets VS nets
2.005/11/2 billion suns V S spurs
2.005/11/27 billion heat VS magic
200.5/12/4 million grizzlies VS rockets
2.005/12/11 billion Lakers VS twolf
2.005/12/18 billion Rockets VS clippers
2.005/12/25 billion indiana v cleveland?
20.06/1/1 million 76 person of jazz
20.06/1/8 million celtics VS wizard
200.6/1/15 million Hornet VS rocket
200.6/1/22 million King VS magic
200.6/1/29 million twolf VS spurs
20.06/2/5 million Piston VS pacers
200.6/2/12 million utah VS rocket
200.6/2/18 million Three minute balls & fill the basket big game
200.6/2/19 million All Star star match
200.6/2/26 million Supersonic VS miami
20.06/3/5 million portland VS spurs
200.6/3/12 million Piston VS wizard
200.6/3/19 million miami VS bulls
200.6/3/26 million dallas VS atlanta
20.06/4/2 million miami VS cleveland
20.06/4/9 million cavs VS nets
200.6/4/16 million grizz VS rockets

And here's BS1 NBA schedules. Just click on the blue numbers in the calendar.

Pekeng pangulo

Young Radicals blog is calling for anti-Arroyo forces to google bomb "pekeng pangulo" with Mrs. Arroyo's official website, www.KGMA.org.

(hat tip: Max Limpag)

"My Precious... Philippines."

Tito Guingona does his best Gollum imitiation here. LOL!!!!

Btw, I saw the interview sa TOTOO TV, and Maverick and Ariel were very respectful naman. But that "my precioous" comment by Guingona with his eyes bugging out was just laugh out loud funny!

Related: Former VP Tito Guingona, ginulo ng dalawang komedyante

Ellen Tordesillas is now a blogger!

Go check her new site out.

Commenting on B&W's post-Arroyo reform agenda

Ito ang post-Arroyo reform agenda ng Black and White movement:

On Electoral Reforms

Acknowledging that there will be no credible elections without electoral reforms, the group calls for the adoption of the following measures:

- Appointment of new Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners who are competent and fair
- Adoption of modern and transparent systems with meaningful citizen participation in voter registration, vote casting, counting, and canvassing
- Convening of a truth commission to uncover electoral fraud in the 2004 elections

I think ito ang pinaka-importante sa lahat. If we don't learn from GLORIAGATE and take the necessary steps to correct the problem, may posibilidad na mauulit itong ganitong klaseng dayaan sa 2007 elections and beyond.

In order for Filipinos to feel confident na they can make a difference (and punish incompetent politicians), our elections need to be credible. Kung hindi, idadaan ulit ng taongbayan sa people power ang pagpapatalsik ng mga illegitimate, corrupt at mandarayang politicians.

Except for GMA, who I would be glad to pardon (para mapabilis ang pag-heal ng GLORIAGATE wounds), all those who are responsible for GLORIAGATE needs to be identified and punished.

On Reforms in the Justice System

In order to hasten judicial processes and make these more transparent and accessible to all citizens, the group proposes to:

- Enhance alternative dispute settlement and develop paralegal systems
- Strengthen Court of Tax Appeals and the Office of the Ombudsman
- Set up special courts for settling business disputes
- Ensure their adequate independent budget

As long as we appoint competent and impartial judges (and not cronies like Arroyo's laywer Antonio Carpio or GMA's former chief-of-staff Renato Corona), I think we'll do fine.

Isa pa, I want Supreme Court justices and RTC judges to be confirmed by the Senate. At dapat, pwedeng mag-filibuster ang minority kung sa tingin nila ay hindi maganda ang qualifications ng isang judge o kung partisan ito, para naman hindi na lang idadaan ng majority sa numero ang pag-confirm ng mga judges (whether competent or incompetent sila). To break the filibuster, you need 60% of the Senate voting for the nominee.

I'm in favor of term limits for SC justices too.

On Financial and Economic Reforms

- Restore government revenues to 1990s level in proportion to national income
- Run after tax cheats (especially those who owe the government P25 billion)
- Collect proper income taxes from businesses, professionals (doctors, lawyers, entertainers and others)
- Legislate and collect higher sin taxes
- Exercise fiscal restraint
- Reduce debt by creative non-arbitrary means
- Ensure a level playing field and curb rent-seeking

Cut unnecessary spending. Reduce or Abolish Pork Barrel funds.

On Peace Efforts

- Stop discredited purely military tactics that have not worked and will not work, and only create new enemies for our system
- Step up negotiations with MILF, NDF-CPP-NPA, RPMP-PRA, and RPMM-RPA
- Respect peace agreements

Work with the US gov't on providing financial aid and assistance to the Muslim-dominated areas in Mindanao. I hope the Philippines will fully qualify next year for the Millennium Challenge Account, so that the next president can declare na all the US/MCA aid money (or most of it anyways) will be used to develop Mindanao.

On Bureaucratic and Military Reforms

- Uphold transparency, accountability, citizen participation, responsiveness, efficiency, and predictability as key elements of good governance
- Use competence, integrity, and commitment to good governance as basic values in setting criteria for recruitment and promotion
- Restore promotions and rewards systems in the AFP and PNP
- Develop effective strategies for defeating state enemies, preventing the rise of international terrorism in the country, and winning the peace

No complaints here.

I'll comment on the other parts later.

Gloriagate Roundup: FVR wala ring isang salita

-- FVR camp says admin behind US report leak:

A HIGH administration official was behind the leak of an alleged United Embassy report linking President Fidel Ramos to an alleged power grab against President Arroyo, a spokesman of Ramos said yesterday.

The spokesman, Ed Malay, said claims by Palace officials that the opposition was behind the leak was intended to sow confusion.

"Basta hindi talaga opposition ang nagkakalat nito. Siguro ang taong yan gusto lang mag-away away ang lahat," he said.

When pressed to identify the administration official, Malay declined.

"Kung sino yun, mag-deny siya na yun" Malay said in a text message.

He said the timing of the leak was also suspicious.

Ano ba yan?!?!?

A visibly irritated Ramos dared the US Embassy to clarify its report which stated that he was plotting a coup d'etat to unseat Mrs. Arroyo.

“I challenge the US Embassy to disclose the content of its report to determine the truth,” Ramos stressed during the press conference he called upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 from China.

Without categorically denying the US Embassy report, Ramos said the US Embassy report was apparently baseless as he asked why it only appeared in just one one newspaper.

He decried the report as being nothing but a report to destroy the good relations between the US and the Philippines, adding that the relations between the two countries are solid.

Also this from Raymond Burgos: Walang isang salita si Tabako, katulad ni GMA.

More here.

-- JB Baylon has a good idea:

Just as there is a Freedom Fund to raise money in support of the honorable General Gudani and his aide, why don’t we raise a Truth Fund that will be used to buy a one page ad in, say, four or five of the world’s top newspapers on one single day?

The ad will state that "we, the Filipino people, having been denied at every turn in our search for the truth, now seek the help of the international community in locating the whereabouts of this man" (here is where we insert the picture of Virgilio Garcillano). The ad can continue that "we seek Garcillano’s return to the Philippines – alive – because he holds the key to the truth behind the "Hello Garci" conversations that appear to show the President of the Philippines in numerous, possibly criminal, conversations with an election official, with some conversations even making reference to kidnapping!

Finally, we will state that "any information provided that leads to the location of Garcillano and his safe return to the Philippines will be rewarded with the undying gratefulness of a people yearning for the truth". Then we can give the telephone numbers, fax number and email addresses of the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the chair of the Commission on Human Rights and the incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

Cool!

-- Former VP Tito Guingona, ginulo ng dalawang komedyante sa Totoo TV (Oct. 31, ABC-5). Uhh... kagaya ba ito ng Ali G show sa UK?

-- Flaver and Loi tandem ini-rerekomenda para labanan ang bird flu

-- Ellen Tordesillas says there is no escaping Pinoy Big Brother these days.

More information leaks out

From the Tribune:

US dissatisfied with GMA, stresses need for new leader
CLASSIFIED REPORT: GLORIA ‘PLANTED SEEDS OF DISORDER AND AT WORST, SOCIAL UPHEAVAL’

By Gerry Baldo
Monday, 10 31, 2005


While United States Embassy officials downplay alleged reports that they had prepared about the Arroyo administration, a political counselor at the American mission in Manila notes that “a discouraging (President Gloria) Macapagal-Arroyo” is a problem for the Bush administration.

A classified report dated Nov. 11, 2004, slammed Mrs. Arroyo for the economic mismanagement, vindictive judiciary, homegrown graft and investors' mistrust, among other serious ills, that resulted from the President's failure to show the skills of a strong leader and to face the challenges after ousting sitting President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

The report said these grave problems, not the alleged destabilzation moves of the political minority, cost Mrs. Arroyo dearly her vain attempt to move the country within distance of its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

In an apparent message that the US government wants the Philippine President out sooner than later, it talked of the need for a new leader.

The report indicated that the replacement of Mrs. Arroyo must stress that the justice system at present cannot be trusted and that her administration “has planted the seed of disorder and at worst, social upheaval.”

In the classified report, the US Embassy political adviser said prospects for a “bright and prosperous future” will not materialize under the Arroyo administration.

“Trained as an economist, who promised to bring about an economic recovery, before Estrada's ouster, the Philippines, recovering from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, was considered to be having a bright and prosperous future,” the political counselor added.

But the US official said “reality has been different after Estrada's ouster” more than four years ago.

“Rather than moving ahead, the Philippines has lagged behind, not just behind Indonesia or Vietnam, but many of its Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors,” the classified report said.

According to the report, the per capita growth of the Philippines has averaged less than one percent annually.

It said the failure of Mrs. Arroyo to move the country forward was not due to alleged destabilization attempts by the political opposition but because of many factors, including “weakness of the rule of law - resulting in both a poor peace and order situation and endemic corruption.”

The President's “lack of mandate and sharp memories in the powers of the masa (masses) have made her tread carefully and eschew bold, possibly unpopular measures,” the report added.

“She has exhibited weak leadership skills and simply has not consistently risen to the challenges,” the political officer said.

The US Embassy report also talked of massive corruption even as the political counselor said foreign investors have been shunning the country due to massive corruption in the government.

“The corruption trail is long and shadowy, and appears to include family-contolled companies which do not shoulder their share of the tax burden, underpaid civil servants in revenue agencies who siphon off what money they collect, and members of Congress who expect to be paid for their support for legislation,” the report said.

It also noted that even the judiciary, the police and the military are also infested with corruption.

“Corruption also infests the judiciary, the police and the military, with direct economic effects: Businessmen and investors already here (in the Philippines) avoid the court system at all costs, and prefer to make their own arrangements for personal and corporate security, rather than rely on or call on the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” the political counselor said.

American investors, the report stated, routinely cite frivolous legal maneuverings as a major impediment to doing business in the country.

It said the US Embassy in the Philippines “regularly emphasizes the importance the USG (United States Government) places on the rule of law to high-level GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) officials.”

The report added reform efforts have begun but are inching along at a snail's pace and are hampered by Philippine cultural factors.

It said the state of the country's judicial system concerns Washington for three reasons because the US “(has) a stake in the game.”

“US businesses in the Philippines can be subject to harassment under a justice system in which they generally lack confidence,” the report cited the first of the three concerns.

The second concern stated in the report says “any of the estimated 120,000 American citizens or tourists here could be caught in the tangled web of the Philippine justice system,” which could possibly result in “unwarranted detention, outright extortion and/or miscarriage of justice altogether.”

For the third concern, the report said “a reliable justice system and respect for the rule of law are prerequisites for a stable and peaceful society which can act as a strong partner in the region.”

“The lack of judicial reform is one of the several factors that fuels public resentment - as in the case of ongoing trial of (ousted) President Joseph Estrada,” it pointed out.

“In considering the prospects for true reform, reality dictates that significant change must occur,” the report said.

It added “paternalistic and favor-trading” ways, which are inherent in the Filipino culture, could be blamed for current mess in the judiciary.

The last paragraph of the report talked of the need for a new leader.

It said the problem has reached the “highest levels of the GRP” and that reform would not be implemented or completed in the near term unless the new leader brings everyone (judiciary, Congress, the executive, the citizens, non-government organizations and international donors) to the table.

The report added the new leader “must emphasize that there is a mistrust in the justice system and that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has planted the seed of disorder and at worst, social upheaval.”

“The international community, as well, as the USG would need to see a major, long-term reshuffling, before anyone would have confidence in the integrity of the game,” it concluded.

A post-Arroyo reform agenda

From the Black and White Movement. Looks good. I'll comment on it later.