DILAW OR THE LAW?

The yellow ribbon's new look hates JEW process.

CHOKER

Oh tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old RP, it's been twenty-five years, are you still happy ..

(Image from Jerry Navarro)

WISHFUL THINKING?

BINAY: "Mr. President, your 'daang matuwid' is now a zig-zag road. May I suggest you write a goodbye letter to the Filipino people?"

AQUINO: "Why, where are they going?"

(Image from http://article.wn.com/)

YESTERDAY'S PRAYER TODAY

Worth repeating is part of a prayer recited by Senator Aquilino 'Nene' Pimentel Jr. many years ago. Appropriately so, the same prayer can be directed at the current administration, President Noynoy Aquino and the Hacienda Luisita issue in particular.

"You partake of rich food even as I can only have the crumbs that I scrape from the bottom of garbage cans. But I do not begrudge you because food is not divine, it is only made by man. But when you have hundreds of hectares of land for your plantations and your cattle and I have none even for my bare subsistence, then I must take that against you, envy you and begrudge you for excluding me from my divine birth right. I must demand that you share with me, at least, a little of what land you possess, not in charity but in justice because land is God's gift to mankind. You did not create it. Land belongs to all of us. It is not only yours. But ours. Yours and mine. Give me then, o brother of mine, a just share of the land of our birth. For unless you do so, the ineffable wrath of the Almighty and the righteous anger of the dispossessed will likely fall, heaven forbid, upon your head of greed much sooner than you think."

Yes, he can direct the same prayer today to PCOS, "President Cory's Only Son."

(Image from http://pcij.org/)

ONE TRILLION

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once made a mind-boggling revelation that the Aquino government then had been given by Congress almost PhP 1 trillion since it took over from Ferdinand Marcos. He demanded to know where this amount went.

The mere mention of the amount is awesome, and yet under the Cory regime, the country remained one of the poorest nations in the world and has been referred to as the "basket case of Asia."

Enrile asked where the roads, bridges, schools, public markets, hospitals and other forms of infrastructure that should have been built from that staggering sum were.

And now, Noynoy Aquino has the nerve to ask this equally-inept administration where the so-called roads are.

Many say a big chunk of the outlay helped build those posh residences of certain officials in Makati, Alabang, and in Hillsborough and Atherton in the Bay Area, or are now safely deposited in US, Swiss or the Cayman Islands' secret bank accounts.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago had stressed in many speeches that at least 40 percent of government funds had gone into the pockets of corrupt officials. That should particularly answer JPE's query on how the trillion bucks had been spent.

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

HACIEN - DUH!

In 1990, the UP Law Center strongly criticized the stock dispersal program of the Hacienda Luisita as "patently unconstitutional." The report accused the Luisita formula as violative of the social justice and comprehensive agrarian reform programs of the Constitution.

It was forwarded to the Senate Committee on Agrarian Reform headed by then Senator Heherson 'Sonny' Alvarez. But few people believed the Alvarez committee would take the report seriously. Alvarez was known to be the most pro-Aquino member of the legislature, even more pro-Aquino than President Cory's own relatives in power.

The Comprehensive Agrararian Reform Program (CARP), supposedly the center of the Aquino regime, suffered a loss of credibility since the Hacienda Luisita was declared "outside the scope of CARP" because of its controversial stock dispersal scheme.

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

FULL OF IT

Once upon a time and not so long ago, Manny Villar, Gibo Teodoro and Noynoy Aquino wanted to show off to each other ...

... so they each bought a new toilet. Manny bought a wooden toilet, Gibo bought a marble toilet, and Noynoy bought a musical toilet.

The day after that, Villar came back to complain and said, "I want a refund. Every time I sit on the toilet, I get splinters in my bottom."

The next day, Teodoro came back to complain and said, "I want a refund. Every time I sit on the toilet, I slip off of it."

Still the next day, Aquino came back to complain and said, "I want a refund. Every time I sit down, I hear our national anthem and I have to stand up!"


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

LUISITA'S SIDE

The Tarlac Provincial Agrarian Reform Office writes to clarify certain points in my mounting attacks against the Hacienda Luisita, and why it was never subjected to land reform.

The letter says that in 1989, the hacienda was subjected to land reform through a Stock Distribution Option pursuant to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

Before its coverage under the system, management of the hacienda required all its seasonal workers to choose from physical distribution of the property or stock distribution option. This, I was told was done through a referendum conducted and supervised by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and witnessed by radio and print media representatives.

The 7,000 workers chose stock distribution and signed an agreement with management on this choice. The agreement was forwarded and approved by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) headed by none other than President Aquino as chairperson.

Furthermore, I was told that the tenants turned down physical distribution of the hacienda which would mean less than one (1) hectare each for them which is not enough to support a family and they would be deprived of benefits given them by management like free residential lots, educational assistance for their children and mobility assistance.

Well, critics had charged that Luisita management had supposedly coerced the tenants into accepting the stock option and reject land distribution.

In bringing up anew the Hacienda Luisita issue against Noynoy Aquino, he should not forget that among President Aquino's campaign promises when she ran in 1986 was to give the hacienda to tenants in line with an agreement her family signed with the government when they borrowed funds to buy the hacienda.

Other critics say that the biggest joke during the Aquino regime was its land reform program which applied only to lands of her political enemies which were forcibly taken over and given to tenants.

None of the former president and her choice relatives' estates were touched.

(Image from http://www.chrispforr.net/)

THE RETURN

A new church-backed "people's movement" is urging morality and scruples in government. Incidentally though, many leaders of this new group are identified with the regime of the late former President Corazon Aquino, and are now hovering around heir-apparent Noynoy Aquino and runningmate Mar Roxas.

Several of them are said not to be qualified to talk about morality because they themselves are open to attacks for hidden skeletons in their closets. Political motives have also been ascribed to the group. It was said the leaders are working for a return to power by appointive positions once Noynoy makes president. As it is, these people salivate and drool over their imaginations each time their man tops any given survey there is.

I had coffee recently with a relative of subject presidentiable and inevitably, our small talk drifted to the thorny issue of these relatives' supposed involvement in numerous cases of graft and corruption in government. And for the other side of the question, I got a brutal explanation.

He said they had suffered for 20 years under the Marcos regime. They had been persecuted and hounded and had their businesses and properties grabbed away from them by Marcos' henchmen. When President Cory took over, it was time for them to recover what had been stolen from them and rehabilitated themselves. And what was wrong with our trying to make a living under Cory? Are we going to be denied this just because we are her relatives?

And then it was time for some straight-shooting and honesty. He told me in a whisper that they knew Cory wouldn't be around long enough and that they had to feather their nests and prepare for the inevitable post-Cory era when they might again be subjected to persecution, and that is where money, lots of it, will come in handy to protect themselves. Look at some of the moneyed Marcos cronies, he said, many of them have escaped prosecution and even managed to worm their way into the inner circles of succeeding administrations because they knew how to buy off the right people in government and among close relatives.

I walked away from that coffee session in a daze, but properly given the low-down on the case of presidential relatives and their headaches.

And so, it does fall into place. They could be staging a comeback once Noynoy Aquino makes it to Malacanang. I guess some things never change. And among those that will always remain in the Filipino way of life is the "utang na loob" system and the meddling of relatives and cronies with the one who succeeds his way most to a high position. In this case the presidency. Brace yourselves, for the "holier than thou" para-clergy are back with a vengeance. This time more vicious and with a bigger appetite for power, backed by a younger generation of the Kamaganak II Inc.

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

HAUNTED BY THE HACIENDA

The media bureau of presidential bet Noynoy Aquino should blue-pencil a pertinent portion in an article in the Los Angeles Times written during President Corazon Aquino's term. I believe there are certain quarters out there who will be coming out with this article next year. The article by John Cavanagh and Robin Broad should also be of great interest to both supporters and critics of Noynoy. The Hacienda Luisita issue will always be around to haunt him.

The particular item in the article bluntly states:

"Corazon Aquino's promise of land to the tiller has degenerated into a program of almost comical scandals in which wealthy landlords sell their worst parcels of land to the government at ridiculously inflated prices which peasants-turned-landowners must repay in full. This may be the first land reform in history in which the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer."

As it is, a Noynoy Aquino administration may only continue this practice and attitude which he will inherit from his mother Cory. And what about the issue on his father Ninoy and the case of another "killing" inside the hacienda? I think it's time we unearth (pun unintended) this matter so the public may know what also happened there once upon a time way before the Hacienda Luisita massacre took place 5 years ago.

(Image from http://luisitamagsasaka.wordpress.com/)

STATURES AND STATUES

The Japanese really know how to deal with Filipinos. They know that most of our leaders and officials are scammers, free-loaders and, in the words of the late Chino Roces, "highwaymen."

I remember when a Japanese cigaret manufacturer contributed some 250,000 packs of cigarets - or 5 million sticks for distribution to a rally on EDSA (Quezon City side) many years ago. And to think that the same city was supposed to be under a smoking ban then. So how come those EDSA organizers accepted the donation?

Recently, another "donation" to Quezon City was consumated, perhaps coinciding with its honorable mayor's "balimbing act." This pertains to Mayor Sonny Belmonte's pledge of allegiance to the Liberal Party, announcing to the whole city his undying support for Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas. Of course, Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista wasn't far behind. He was on a yellow leash as well. And what better way to reinforce this partisan commitment than to erect yet another statue of Ninoy Aquino right in the heart of Quezon City. The structure now stands on the corner of sleazy Quezon Avenue and Timog. That corner happens to be a bottleneck too because unruly jeepney drivers load and unload their passengers right there causing traffic.

And perhaps, many still remember a donation to the province of Tarlac of a statue of Ninoy Aquino during President Cory's regime. This donation was made by one of the bidders of the Philippines Roppongi property in Japan - whose sale was (and still is) the object of question and controversy, not to mention the all-expenses paid junkets national and local officials then have made several times to Tokyo. Many of these Aquino officials even had the shamelessness to ask their hosts for "pocket money" to finance their spending sprees.

Do you still wonder why our former enemies still regard us as trash, abuse our women, and dump their toxic garbage on our piers, even to the extent of having our senators kiss the wooden sandals of the Yakuza in the country?

(Image from http://politicalarena.com/ and http://farm1.staticflickr.com/85/233597063_0a35788487.jpg)

MARTIAL LAW AND MAR SHALLOW

Nothing in particular. Just playing with words as I always love to, and these suddenly appeared like marquee lights in my mind: "Martial Law," and "Mar Shallow." Both subject matter are currently a daily read these days in practically every publication there is, which brought me to ask myself how long will Martial Law be implemented in Maguindanao and will it spill over to other areas like Metro Manila and then to the entire archipelago to, in the words of Rep. Teddy Casino, "end all other rebellions?" and then coming to mind too is the question how shallow really is Mar Roxas? As one reader puts it, "he's deeply shallow." But methinks Mar is shallowy deep, what ever that means. You be the judge.

Being a little "shallow" can be tolerable, especially from one whose organization tries hard to identify him with the masses or the hoi polloi with pseudonyms first like "Mister Palengke" and then a few years later "Padyak," when in fact he comes from the creme de la creme of such buena familias. In short, an upper crust, top-of-the-foodchain bourgeois. A capitalist who exploits the proletariat. The same thing can be said about his runningmate Noynoy Aquino and most of the presidentiables.

And since it looks like he's a sure winner for the second highest office in the land, I just hope he doesn't become another Sultan of Shallow like VP Noli de Castro.

As for Martial Law, that really is either tolerable or intolerable, depending on whose side you're on.

(Image from http://alegriasurigao.wordpress.com/)

A PASSING FEVER

Before selective amnesia kicks in for good to the many yellow fever-inflicted Pinoys who now have blindly shifted their support to Noynoy Aquino and party saying that their candidate comes from an untainted (presidential) legacy some of his ancestors have left the country, perhaps it would be apropos to draw attention to a book on the late former President Corazon Aquino by Lewis Gleeck Jr., a former US embassy official who has lived in the Philippines since his retirement from the US foreign service, and is considered one of the foremost experts on the Philippines and frequently consulted by US officials on Asian and Philippine affairs.

Entitled "President Aquino: Sainthood Postponed," the book is a sequel to his first book "President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture." It pulls no punches and carries withering criticisms about what he calls "Aquino's failed presidency."

In his preface, Gleeck admits he has written what some may find as too critical of Aquino for which he says he makes no apologies. He further writes in the preface:

"Finally, I am firmly convinced that a government cannot perform adequately if its basic raison d'etre is revenge. I am not so Christian to believe that such sentiment is never justified, but revenge, as a basis of government covers up flaws in both the policies and performance of government. Hatred can so deform thinking that what the dethroned monster has done must be seen to be evil and its opposite, good. This was the rationale of Palace policies for the entire six years of the Aquino government."

"In summary, I regard the presidential term of Corazon Aquino as not only a failure, but at the end, a regression comparable to the worst days of the Marcos regime."

In a special message to American readers, he wrote:

"Cory Aquino, choreographed in 1986 by the world media and championed by the American government, flashed like a meteor through the heavens for two years, but failing to capture the coveted Nobel Prize, quickly sputtered to Earth."

"During the next four years, she was sustained in office largely through the efforts of the US which fell victim to its own delusion that it was supporting a saint who would lead the authoritarian-oppressed nations of the world to American-style democracy."

"Mrs. Aquino was not only inexperienced but untalented, a victim of grossly-simplified view of democracy, which in her mind seemed to consist of anything that ran counter to the acts of the Marcos government, some of whose policies were sound and effective."

"Since Marcos had been a strong leader, Cory abdicated leadership in favor of playing, first, chairman of a mediocre Board which could never agree, and then reached kaffeeklatsch decisions among her own cronies whose husbands occupied official positions which they constantly mismanaged. Mrs. Aquino tolerated total incompetence or corruption in her ministries and through repeatedly promising to correct anomalies, just as repeatedly reneged, blindly clinging to cronies and relatives."

So, if you believe "kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga," well, here you have it.

(Image from http://www.due-east.org/)

POLITICAL FLIES

'Tis the nippy month of November. It is also the season for some exotic fruits like the balimbing and the unique genus of the Lepidoptera species developed in the Philippines called political butterflies. I'd rather call them political flies, hopping from one dung to another.

Expect the mighty Lakas to semi-disintegrate with many of its officials preparing to make a mass migration to the opposition parties such as the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party whose members and their fantasizing fanatics believe that their bets Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas have already won even way before the 2010 elections. What arrogance. What buffoonery.

'Tis the merry month of November and 'tis also the season for cult members who worship Brutus, Quisling, Judas and Benedict Arnold and other assorted characters notorious for being opportunists, rats jumping from a sinking ship, and pettifoggers.

With such kind of politicians and leaders, no wonder this country is in such a mess. Even our church leaders, who are supposed to be our guides are equally guilty of such deception and deceit and should be lined up against a wall and whipped ahead of those dirty politicians.

If we stop voting, will they ever go away?

(image from http://fohn.net/)

DYNASTIC DUO

SLEEPLESS IN MY SHUTTLE. Filipinos have become the largest Asian immigrant population. In the US alone, it is a fact that every state has at least one Pinoy family cooking adobo and pancit.

But this is not at all flattering. During the Marcos years, Pinoys fled mostly to the US as political refugees. Many came back after Aquino came to power. But soon, they started leaving again because of extreme economic difficulties and government incompetence. During the Aquino years, Pinoys swarmed to other countries to look for employment since they had no job opportunities in the Philippines. When a vengeful, inutile government comes to power, the citizens are the first ones to suffer. Such was the case during the Aquino years.

People leave their homeland when things become desperate and when they can no longer feed their families, very much like the Irish who fled Ireland in the thousands during the potato famine.

With Noynoy Aquino and his runningmate what's his name topping surveys for now, having no clear plataporma but all puro porma, this dynastic duo may have an excellent chance at greatness, that is - solving the country's over-population problem.

(Image from http://zamoracartoons.blogspot.com/)

WALK YOUR TALK

Perhaps Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III should initiate talks with the Cojuangco family to ask for the immediate opening of their sprawling 6,400 - hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac City, Tarlac for the thousands of flood victims in neighboring Pangasinan province. After all, during President Corazon Aquino's term, much government funds were reported to have been utilized to build protective dikes and other forms of infrastructure to save the hacienda from being buried in lahar once upon a time right after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

The flood victims need not stay in the hacienda permanently. The place could serve as a temporary halfway house until the homeless folks from Pangasinan can return to their devastated areas or to some allocated government land.

This should be one of several true tests for Noynoy's sincerity in his desire to help his kababayans. This should prove to be a chance at greatness for Noynoy. Otherwise, it could be another campaign promise meant to be broken, just like an old promise to bring down the price of - galunggong.

(Image from http://www.chrispforr.net/)

FROM THE CEO

As your CEO of this company, I have resigned myself to the fact that Noynoy Aquino could be our next president, if elections materialize in 2010, and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a big way. To compensate for these increases, our prices will have to go up by about 10%.

And since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, thanks to the Arroyo administration, we will have to lay-off six of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I firmly believe we are a family here, and couldn't quite determine who among you would have to go.

So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lot and found six 'AQUINO-ROXAS 2010 FOR CHANGE' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these are the ones who will have to go. I can't think of a better way to approach this problem.

They were asking for CHANGE. I gave it to them.

I will see the rest of you at the annual company outing.

(Image from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2312/2328879637_c0d2e376ff.jpg/)

FUTURE NOYNOY VS BONGBONG?

Back in the early 90s, when Rep. Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. of Ilocos Norte went to Malacanang to take his oath as a member of the Northern Alliance, Rep. Rodolfo 'Rudy' Albano told everybody there that Bongbong will return to Malacanang someday as President.

This prediction aroused concern among the Cojuangcos and the Aquinos, with some wanting to groom Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino as Ninoy and Cory's political heir. They wanted Noynoy to run for Congress in Tarlac in 1995 - and thwart any attempt by the Marcoses to return to Malacanang.

According to the scenario some political observers envision, the Aquino-Marcos political feud will endure into the next century, with Noynoy and Bongbong running against each other for the presidency.

This may be true, or not, with Bongbong "missing" still. However, it's still premature to count Bongbong out for good. After all, he is only 51 and the so-called 'Solid North' is still behind him 100 percent, not to mention the Eastern Visayas block of Imelda Marcos.

But yes, his silence is deafening, especially after Noynoy had recently mentioned at Club Filipino that if ever he wins the presidency, his administration will look into the ill-gotten wealth issues hurled against the Marcoses. That to me is like testing the waters for future warfare. Bongbong can always retaliate by demanding an accounting of the wealth the Aquino government "sequestered" via the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which I think is a misnomer - the PCGG being known for having officials taking advantage of their positions to enrich themselves as well. A case of "ill-gotten wealth from ill-gotten wealth?"

Including the gold hoard.

Hence, stories from many quarters seem to bolster reports from officials of the PCGG that the Marcoses really possessed gold bullions amounting to some US$ 25 billion, the bulk of which came from the Yamashita treasure.

The late Ambassador Emmanuel Pelaez was reported as having attested to the existence of the gold. He was believed to be privy to efforts by certain relatives of President Aquino to have President Marcos agree to share the gold hoard in exchange for his freedom from prosecution. The relatives allegedly demanded that Marcos turn over 80 percent of the gold to them, and not to the Philippine government.

Let the negative comments on this post begin.

(Image from http://wikimedia.org/)

MY OCTOGENARIAN AUNT

I will never forget that frantic call in 1991 from my octogenarian aunt from Gerona, Tarlac, expressing worry that the family's ancestral home there might get buried in mud if government engineers were determined as ordered them to divert the mudflow from Mount Pinatubo toward towns in Northern Tarlac namely Gerona, Moncada, Paniqui and San Miguel in order to save Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by Noynoy Aquino's family.

All these northern towns are inhabited by Ilocanos, who strongly support Danding Cojuangco, Cory Aquino's estranged cousin. Danding, who hails from Paniqui and Moncada, is still loyal to the family of the late Jose Roy, a Nationalista Party stalwart and Marcos leader.

I could only advise my aunt to pray. When she asked why nothing could be done, I told her that the President, of course must come first, ahead of the common people.

But what really hurt her was that she had bucked her Ilocano relatives and voted for President Aquino in 1986. She went on to say that she would pack up her belongings and evacuate to her relatives in Santa or Sinait towns in Ilocos Sur, and leave the ancestral home to the diverted mudflows.

I could only think of my great-grandfather Lolo Tranque (Jorge's father) and the other revolutionaries who met several times in that ancestral abode to plan their fight against the colonizers - and my heart ached.

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

CHINOYS Y TORNATRAS

President-not-so-wannabe Noynoy Aquino, who had recently crushed the dreams of president-so-much-wannabe Mar Roxas and first lady-extremely-wannabe Korina Sanchez to a pulp, will have to look back someday soon to trace his roots, and focus perhaps once again, just like what his late mother President Corazon Aquino did some years ago, proving an extensive and pervasive influence of the Chinese in the Philippines.

Cory indeed said she was proud of her Chinese heritage and believed that many Filipinos share her pride. Hence, Noynoy's family on his mother's side (Cojuangco) descended from the Koh family of China whose members settled in the Philippines in the 19th century.

The Chinese influence seeps down into almost every facet of Philippine life and more so in the economic aspect. This strong influence has extended to the political life of Cory Aquino who, during her term, appointed many with Chinese lineage to high government positions and helped several get elected to local and legislative seats. To name a few: Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee, Undersecretary Manuel Lim, Police General Alfredo Lim, Representatives Jose Yap, Jose Cojuangco, Emigdio Tanjuatco, Renato Yap, Orlando Pua, Jose Ong and Nikki Coseteng. Also, NFA Administrator Emil Ong, Ambassadors Alfonso Yuchengco and Domingo Lee, and BIR Commissioner Bienvenido Tan. If and when Noynoy makes it to the presidency, he could very well appoint Chinoys to his administration, as some old habits are really hard to break, good and bad alike.

Even our very own national hero Jose Rizal was part Chinese. The first Filipino Catholic saint Lorenzo Ruiz of Binondo was half-Chinese.

Contributions of Chinese businessmen spell the difference between victory and defeat especially in local elections. No self-respecting politico would be caught without at least one Chinese millionaire as his compadre.

The first Chinese immigrants to the Philippines came as early as 200 A.D. as traders. Many remained in the country and intermarried with the natives. Their descendants contributed much to the country's economic growth. Dr. H. Otley Beyer says that the first considerable trade between the Philippines and China was initiated by the hardy and venturesome traders who went through the route of the Malacca Straits after they fled South China which was then in turmoil. Dr. Andres V. Castillo writes, "Chinese industry, patience and skill have been demonstrated time and again in practically every phase of human endeavor they have chosen to undertake - in the arts, crafts and trade, the processing and manufacture of commodities from indigenous raw materials, the distribution and marketing of produce, the mining of ores and the use of metals."
The effects of their activities have permeated nearly every social and economic stratum in the Philippines. Chinese blood flows in Filipino veins.

(Image from http://17.media.tumblr.com/)