WHY HER RATING KEEPS DROPPING

Is it still a surprise to Malacanang why again President Gloria Arroyo's popularity and acceptance rating has now dropped further to an all-time low? Some of the reasons are as follows:

1. GMA flies to the US with a colossal entourage of 57 (un-named) congressmen, 1 senator, 10 cabinet members, and a hundred plus more government officials and security personnel, including the Macapagal-Arroyo family costing P75 million of taxpayers' money.

2. She continues to reward Romulo Neri - with a new appointment as President and CEO of SSS.

3. Instead of proceeding to typhoon-damaged provinces like Iloilo, Romblon and Aklan, she goes instead to Baler, Digos, Aurora and Davao del Sur for political meetings.

4. She refuses to give in to public clamor for the scrapping of the VAT on food and oil.

5. With millions of Filipinos suffering and dying of hunger, she attends an affair at the World Trade Center (WTC) flaunting $20,000 worth of pearl earrings and a necklace with a matching $3,000 dress.

6. The NFA continues to import rice at a very high price - 600,000 metric tons of rice was bought at $940 per metric ton when the going price is $790 per metric ton.

7. She and her family members and her cabinet men continue to use gas-guzzling 8-cylinder Expeditions, Escalades and Mercedes-Benzes (she uses a 12-cylinder Mercedes) and luxury SUVs tailed by the usual convoy of equally gas-guzzling back-up vehicles.

8. When Typhoon Frank hit the country, instead of cutting short her US trip, and after meeting with President George Bush on day 3 of her visit, she continued to make less important trips rather than coming back home immediately to be with the people.

9. She continues to utilize spokespersons and apologists who say nothing on TV but lies, lies and more lies.

10. To this day, she still refuses to address the illegitimacy issue hounding her presidency.

(Image from http://www.ctv.ca)

CHEAP SEATS BUT THEY DON'T EXIST

Philippine Air Lines, Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirit and Air Philippines have been fooling for some time now the public each time they advertise cheap fares. It really is nothing but a big joke and a dirty scheme to mislead us. When you call, they ALWAYS tell you that the cheap seats are all sold out, which then the person on the other end of the line starts to offer you higher fares. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should immediately stop this advertising scam, unless of course many of those cheaper seats are reserved for the big shots in government?

(Image from http://mindanao.com/)

FIFTY CENTAVOS PER TEXT MY FOOT!

President Gloria Arroyo dies, and as expected, goes straight to hell. There, she asks Satan if she could borrow his cellphone to send text messages to the 'first family,' anyway, thanks to her effort daw, fifty centavos na lang per text. Satan replies: "Ay anak, pag demon to demons and vice-versa, libre ang text!

(Image from http://www.chinadaily.com/)

THE STRENGTH OF A TRUE LEADER

Gloria Arroyo's apologists like Eduardo Ermita, Lorelei Fajardo and Anthony Golez keep on saying that their boss would "rather be right than popular." Fine. But even right, from the eyes of the citizenry she ain't. As confirmed from recent survey results on how the Filipino people view her as "their president," it speaks well from where her strength (or weakness) arises. Perhaps, it is as she wants it to be, not as the people feel her to be. To me, the strength of a true leader lies in a relationship: that is defined as the political bond between the leader and the led. The strength of a true leader lies in an investment of goodwill and compassion for the people. The strength of a true leader mirrors the social and moral conditions of the masses. The strength of a true leader comes from the dynamics of the working class and the peasants participating in the struggle of building a nation together. The strength of a true leader is in the collective identity of the citizens expressed by the eloquence of the heart and not the fine choice of words - as in the speech Gloria Arroyo delivered in yesterday's SONA. The strength of a true leader lies not in turning "the misfortunes of the masses into a joyous pageant." We witnessed the state of the nation from a leader who speaks of her strength alongside that of our country, but the programs of her pseudo-reign must have the countenance of a human face, else they cannot stand alone as the sole objects of our national destiny, nor of our shared strength. The strength of a true leader is in telling to the whole nation the true state of it. Yesterday's SONA was fiction with a touch of tragedy whose main characters are Gloria Arroyo and her cabal of self-serving lawbreakers in disguise as lawmakers in the House.

(Image form http://daylife.com/)

BOY NOGRALES' OVERPRICED KUBETAS AT THE BATASAN / CERGE REMONDE'S ELONGATED ILONG

Presidential Management Staff (PMS) head Secretary Cerge Remonde lied on national TV before the Filipino people when he said that President Gloria Arroyo will not be "making bola" on her 8th State Of The Nation Address (SONA). Indeed, nakakahawa na talaga ang pagsisinungaling sa Malacanang. On the other hand, Speaker Boy Nograles defended the beautification project of the Batasan Pambansa which cost taxpayers' money some PhP90 million. That much just to please one power-grabbing president? If it costs PhP700 thousand to refurbish each toilet in the Batasan, can you imagine how many toilets that amount could build for our public schools around the country, whose ratio is one toilet for every two thousand pupils? No wonder the PNP surrounded the Batasan today for GMA's SONA, that's because a majority of the criminals in our country were inside Congress today with their expensive jewellery and barongs. What twisted characters these people are. We really are a bunch of show-offs, and when it comes to pagalingan and pahabaan, 'di tayo patatalo. Imagine, we make a big deal of priding ourselves of having the longest puto bumbong, the longest Banana Q, the largest bibingka and the biggest boodle fight. How about the longest list of Pinoy congressmen and women with US green cards, or the longest list of lies by a sitting president?

(Image from http://www.elitechoice.org/)

INCH BY INCH, FIB BY FIB

The trouble with women like Gloria is: you give them an INCH, and they think they're the RULER.

(Image from http://bbc.co.uk/)