THEN AND NOW

Yesterday we had MARTIAL LAW.
Today we have MAR SHALLOW.

LACIER DUH

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda says, "Former Senator Francisco Tatad a liar, source a fishball vendor."

And I am reminded of what George Burns once said: "Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair."

Get my point?

Well, in three years time, Lacierda will be busy driving a forklift and cutting grass.

I WONDER WHICH MOVIE?

I agree with Korina. And, would that be Woody Allen's 1969 movie "Take The Money And Run" or his 1989 movie "Crimes And Misdemeanors"?

MAR SHALLOW

The photos on left remind me of Martial Law, while the photos on right remind me of Mar Shallow. Ugh.

Photo credits: Mosquito Press

THE TROUBLE WITH BATTOLOGERS

The Superior Person's Book of Words by Peter Bowler defines 'Battology' as "the continual reiteration of the same words or phrases in speech or in writing. A battologer is one who battologizes. One of those words whose lack of  wider currency seems undeserved and puzzling in the light of its wide potential for application to television commercials, sales pitches by car and encyclopedia vendors, spouse's homilies, etc." Time and again, we hear the President's mouthpieces a.k.a. battologers come to his defense. That's expected and could be tolerated up to a certain extent, as long as the speech does not turn into a fantastic fib. But what if the latter's own quickly defends his sister and hints of her immunity from a lawsuit? Isn't that stretching it a bit too far? But it doesn't end there.

Hence, recently we have witnessed that Noynoy Aquino speaks for Malaysia. Mar Roxas speaks for Ayala. Abigail Valte speaks for Ballsy. Edwin Lacierda speaks to the dead. Miriam Defensor-Santiago speaks to herself (and she answers back).

We're all copulated!

ROBERT REYES, A WOLF IN WOLVES' CLOTHING / AKBAYAN.GOV

The yellow bunch is on it again and this time they hired a python-hugging, media-hogging priest to do the dirty job for them.

Fr. Robert Reyes has been living in silence for years and suddenly, barely a month before the national elections, he is once again "out" trying to revive an issue that has been long answered. He has been residing at the Juan de Plasencia Franciscan Novitiate in Liliw, Laguna, after deciding to take a break from public life in 2011.

And methinks he runs selectively.

Robert Reyes (I refuse to call him "father" too often) has Social Democrat leanings. But he sure knows his politics. Politics of opportunism. He has worked closely with Risa Hontiveros' Akbayan party-list which is composed of activists linked to socialists and social democrats.

It is easy to put the pieces together. Reyes was the head of GOMBURZA, a cause-oriented organization of priests, nuns, brothers and the laity, and of course a well-known ally-organization of Akbayan.

Akbayan is now tagged as the administration party-list with several key positions in government occupied by no less than its officials and members. They include Presidential Political Adviser Ronald Llamas, National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) head Joel Rocamora (who was in hot water recently), and Commission on Human Rights chair Loretta Ann 'Etta' Rosales. Other Akbayan members in government include Barry Gutierrez, Llamas' deputy; Mario Agujo, member of the board of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS) Commissioner Daniel Edralin, National Youth Commission (NYC) Commissioner Percival Cendaña, and Angelina Ludovice-Katoh, commissioner in the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor. The Comelec also disclosed that the President's sisters donated P14 million to Akbayan in the 2010 elections.

This is clearly a desperate smear campaign orchestrated by the yellows through a former selective-running priest who sneaked out of his own hunger strike in 2005 and was kicked out of his diocese by parishioners who complained about his pet python which he allowed to wander around the altar while saying mass. Shades of Father Tropa, perhaps?

Robert Reyes says he has witnesses. I challenge him to bring them out in the open. Otherwise, his case is based on hearsay I say. Hearsay. Nothing more.

EDUCATION SHOULD BE WITHIN REACH, NOT JUST FOR THE RICH

"College education should be within reach, not out of reach," says Sonny Angara in reaction to an incident involving a UP student who committed suicide.

Wow. So convincing but wait -- isn't Sonny Angara an ex-officio member of the UP Board of Regents? The same board that implemented the "No Late Payment Policy" which drove Kristel Tejada to take her own life? All UP policies are approved by the board, isn't it?

Yes, Sonny Angara is a board regent being the Chair of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education. And as the administration candidate who champions education, Angara also brings Coco Martin to his campus tours. This must cost a lot of money.

Because if we believe what ABS-CBN reporter and PM tabloid writer Gretchen Fullido, Pilipino Star Ngayon showbiz editor Veronica Samio and Bulgar entertainment writer Vinia Vivar wrote in their March 20 columns respectively that Coco Martin's fee is P35 million to endorse a candidate, then we must also take note that the tuition in UP is around P30,000 per semester. Thus, Angara could have sent 1,700 'Iskolar Ng Bayan' to school.

Obviously, the son did not even consider the fact that his father was a former UP President.

No more 'trapos' in the sacred halls of the academe. Please.

SABAH, PHILIPPINES

Sabah or North Borneo and the island of Palawan were bestowed as gifts to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 in gratitude for the assistance of the Sultan of Sulu to avert a civil war in Borneo. Thus, since that time, Sabah became a property of the Sultan of Sulu and the Sultanate of Sulu. Sabah's problems is that its tenant Malaysia is not paying the right amount of rent to the Lessor Landlord (Sultan of Sulu).

In 1878, HM Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram, the legitimate owner, leased Sabah to a British company headed by Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent for their use and their heirs, but the Lease disallows the transfer of Sabah to any nation, company or persons without the consent of His Majesty's Government ("Government of the Sultanate of Sulu"). The transfer of Sabah by Great Britain to malaysia in 1963 constituted a breach of the provisions of the 1878 Lease as the Government of the Sultan of Sulu did NOT consent to the transfer to Malaysia. As a point in law, Sabah MUST and SHOULD be returned to the Lessor as owners (the Sultan of Sulu and the Sultanate of Sulu).

In 1906 and in 1920, the United States formally reminded Great Britain that Sabah did not belong to the latter and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu but Great Britain ignored and did not listen to the reminder of the US and transferred Sabah to Malaysia in 1963. This transfer is prohibited under the Sabah Lease of 1878.

The continued occupation of Sabah by Malaysia is illegal and must certainly end. Malaysia pays the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu a very small annual rent of PhP77,442.36 or a measly US$1,500 for Sabah a real estate property with a land area of 73,711 square meters. This tiny annual rent is unjust and unfair and is unacceptable and indefensible how Malaysia can stay in Sabah by paying so little an amount of rent per year.

Sabah contributes US$30 billion GDP to the Malaysian economy annually and looking at fair commercial rental property transactions, the Lessor can expect to receive a rental payment of at least 10% to 12% of US$3 billion to US$3.6 billion per year from Tenant. But the Lessor only receives a measly US$ 1,500 per year so the Malaysian rent needs further discussion and a renegotiation must take place for the satisfaction of everyone concerned. For the Tausugs and for the Filipino nation.

Due to the unfair and unjust treatment of Malaysia which the Tausugs of Sabah regard as un-Islamic and Haram and the lack of economic development in the Sultanate of Sulu and also in Sabah, several pro-independence groups advocate Sabah's freedom from a foreign power. It's high time we give the due recognition to our Tausug brother over their rightful ownership of Sabah. Sabah must be returned to the Tausugs and the Kiram family. Sabah must be returned to His Majesty Sultan Fuad A. Kiram I.

The Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah, HM Sultan Fuad A. Kiram I (current Lessor/Landlord) expounds that if Malaysia wants to stay in Sabah lawfully, then Malaysia must pay the correct rent of US$ 3 Billion to US$3.6 Billion per year. But if the rental payment is unacceptable, he proposes a "Joint Administration" between the Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah and Malaysia to administer Sabah and all incomes are split co-equally, similar to the joint administration or "Condominium of France and Great Britain in Vanuatu"  prior to Vanuatu's independence.

Income to be derived from the Sabah rent or the Joint Administration will be utilized to develop Sulu to uplift the well-being of the Sulu people such as roads, hospitals, schools, education, peace and order, etc. The correct rent payment by Malaysia to the Sultanate of Sulu and/or the Joint Administration of Sabah will be the solution to the Sabah issue. In any Joint Administration, the Sultanate of Sulu must insist that 50% of the earnings will be for the Sabah people's social and economic developments and 25% each for Malaysia and the Sultanate of Sulu.

If the rental payment or Joint Administration is not acceptable, then Malaysia MUST vacate Sabah and return Sabah to her lawful owners -- the people of the Sultanate of Sulu. These are the three (3) options available to resolve Malaysia's illegal occupation of Sabah.

PEEP HOLE POWER

Filipinos are still looking from the outside hoping to get a better glimpse inside of what has been promised to them twenty-six years ago.

It's Peep Hole Power in the millions.

D & D

If justice is blind, the Prosecution must be deaf and dumb.

JUST GO WITH THE FLAW

They complain about "trial by technicalities" in the Senate, but they approve of "trial by publicity" on the streets. Hypocrites.

And now they plan to present 100 witnesses before the Senate impeachment court? In the very words of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile: "Kung malakas ang ebidensya ng prosekusyon, hindi kailangan ng napakaraming testigo." (If the evidence of the Prosecution is strong, there is no need for too many witnesses)

Hence, my unsolicited advice to the Prosecution: just go with the FLAW.

(Image from www.ph.news.yahoo.com)

FR. ROBERT REYES THE RUNNING HYPOCRITE

This man blessed me too, and I'm not even a Catholic. So why would you complain if he blessed the Chief Justice - a Catholic, huh, Fr. Robert Reyes?

"SUPREME" VS "OFFICE"

Just a thought: The Supreme Court is "Supreme" while the Office of the President is only an "Office"

A golden comment (no, not from Midas' touch) by Filipino Thinker:

"We must all accept that under the Constitution, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the law. Not the President, not the Department of Justice, not the Congressmen, and especially, not activist movements. Citizens of a country must learn to abide by the High Court's decisions. Otherwise, our system of laws will break down. If the system of laws is not followed, our courts will no longer be able to protect our rights as individuals. Every disagreement will be settled based on the whims of whoever is in control of state power at the moment, and our individual freedoms will be sacrificed. But what if the Supreme Court is wrong? Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court decides what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, the Supreme Court is always right. Our system of laws was designed this way so there can be a final resolution to disagreements. Without the High Court as the final arbiter, disputes can go on forever, and there could be chaos in society. The Constitution provides impeachment as a check-and-balance on the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is not infallible. However, impeachment must be based on solid evidence and due process must be followed. Railroading an impeachment complaint is not due process."

(Image from www.en.wikipedia.org)

DARK HORSE NO MORE

Latest survey says Vice-President Jejomar Binay is the most trusted top national official.

I guess the respondents read the fine print below the question saying: "Binays To Me Or Else!"

(Image from www.en.wikipedia.org)

KUNG WALANG CORONA, MAY HACIENDA

So, if the political allies of President Aquino II in Congress succeed in impeaching Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, and then the former appoints a new Chief Justice of his personal choice from the yellow stable, then what difference and change will this bring now? Won't that new CJ be soon branded as an "Aquino Chief Justice" and the High Court an "Aquino Court?" That will certainly be the sure death of check and balance by the Supreme Court to the Office of the President - and that is really what this administration wants to happen for many obvious reasons. And now, a tall order burns ever so bright like yellow Christmas lights at the Palace: Impeach the Chief Justice at all costs!

Hence, this new slogan must be in place: Kung Walang Corona, May Hacienda.

Agree?

(Image from www.tribuneonline.org)

RULE OF LOW

DELIMAGOGUE: a person who disregards the rule of law and appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people in order to gain political power.

(Image from www.ph.news.yahoo.com)

SMOKE SIGNALS

I heard the President recently changed his cigarette brand.

(Image from www.cigarettespedia.com)

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Remembering a boyhood friend of mine named Jose Luis "Jolu" Bitoon. I think he has since migrated to the US.

Do you think he changed his name to "Louie" ... Bitoon?

(Image from www.wallpapers-place.com)

A BREACH

I didn't know a President can assign a proxy for an OFFICIAL photo session such as this.

I believe it's either you're in it or you're NOT.

Not this way. It's time to stop looking at the big picture with a small frame of mind.

(Image from www.upi.com)

WAY OFF THE MARK

Some people, you give them an INCH and they think they're the RULER.

Here's another legal gem from Prof. Alan Paguia:

"The Office of the President, the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections are covering up for their mistake in filing a case versus Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with a Regional Trial Court (RTC) by ignoring Sec. 5, Art. XIII of the 1973 Constitution, and Sec. 4, Art. XI of the 1987 Constitution which puts electoral sabotage under the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. In other words, the OP, DoJ and Comelec are following the Omnibus Election Code passed by Congress by VIOLATING the Constitution which was directly ratified by the SOVEREIGN Filipino people."

Bull's eye? No.

Bull's hit? Yes.

(Image from www.gmanetwork.com)

COURTING ANARCHY

Some people think they know more about the law than our Justices, disregarding and disrespecting the Rule of Law and our judicial institutions.

If they can't respect those Justices, they should at least respect the institution they represent.

It's just like meeting a General you loathe so much on the field. You don't salute the man.

You salute the rank.

(Image from www.en.wikipedia.org)

PRESIDENTIAL ACCESSORIES

Yesterday: Erap's wristband.

Today: Gloria's neckbrace.

Tomorrow: Noynoy's straightjacket.

(Images from www.sosyalera.net / www.mxshoponline.com / www.monkeydungeon.com)

DILAW OR THE LAW?

The yellow ribbon's new look hates JEW process.

A STINKY FISH CALLED FISHY GG

Shouldn't an investigation be conducted soon on the activities of former officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) since its creation a few days after former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino came to power in 1986? But wait, is the PCGG still in existence? Looks like they've all packed up and left only fishbones for the new vultures.

This will certainly clear up all tales and speculations about the so-called Marcos wealth and expose grand-scale looting of the same by cronies of the Aquino family appointed then to the PCGG. The looting today is the same as it was then. These PCGG officials then and now are living in silent contented opulence from the hundreds of millions they plundered in their short stints at the PCGG.

Included in this batch of post-EDSA crooks are member of the notorious Kamaganak Inc. who were among the very first to venture grabbing the Marcos family wealth. Bantay-salakay.

I'd like to see the current regime under Aquino II order the Sandiganbayan to require the PCGG to submit a thorough accounting and inventory of its activities and sequestrations since its creation, and furnish publicly an accounting of the method on how these new "acquisitions" were disposed of and also, what offices and banks they were deposited in and who were responsible for administering them.

You see, many of these former PCGG officials are now living bountiful lives with enough illegally-acquired wealth to last them several lifetimes. I know of several Marcos cronies who have escaped persecution and sequestration of their assets by simply handing over half of their assets to well-placed lawyer-relatives. One such kin concerned former Ambassador Benjamin 'Kokoy' Romualdez in a lightning raid then on such firms a few weeks right after EDSA. This relative has since passed away but his loot has been distributed to his heirs who still cling to them and enjoy its fruits.

Investigate these PCGG officials once and for all and compel them to show records of their sequestration activities.

(Image from www.en.wikipilipinas.org/)

BRACE YOURSELVES FOLKS

The recent Department of Justice (DoJ) order isn't really any pain in the neck for former President Gloria Arroyo (pun unintended). You see, she knows that the executive department CANNOT usurp the judicial power to issue hold-departure orders under the principle of separation of powers. Arroyo knows that the Supreme Court will shortly uphold her constitutional right to travel abroad.

So it looks like it's going to be a happy Christmas for the Arroyos after all while President Aquino's whisper to Santa this Christmas is his wish for all his critics to shut up.

(Image from www.ph.news.yahoo.com/)

DRESSED TO KILL

"Moro guerrillas have graduated from being a ragtag army of separatists to a well-equipped force ready to give government soldiers a good fight. These are Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels inside their camp in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao." - Patricia Laurel

They are well-equipped indeed, arms and thread. Thanks to President Noynoy Aquino for the P5 million.

As for their clothing, OURMONEY EXCHANGE (O/X).

(Image from Patricia Laurel)

GET RICH PRONTO

Do you want to make a quick several million bucks from the government? Gather your friends and form a rebel/separatist group.

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY

I knew it. MERALCO has an akyat-bahay gang member as shown in this electric bill, robbing Filipino homes in broad daylight, in disguise as a repairman.

It makes one wonder what our authorities are doing about this.

COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY

Dear Mr. Commander-in-Chief:

Didn't you just give P5 million to the MILF, the same people responsible for the recent deaths of these young and brave Filipino soldiers?

(Image from www.article.wn.com)

TELL THAT TO THE MARINES

"People helping Ligots evade authorities have criminal liabilities." - Malacanang

Okay. What about people giving money to enemies of the Republic like the MILF?

That's five million times more criminal, isn't it?

(Image from www.asianews.it)

A VERY WRONG MESSAGE

I absolutely abhor this billboard of Gretchen Barretto promoting a whitening cream saying KUTIS MAYAMAN by GlutaMAX. So what is wrong with having dark skin? Does it make one impoverished? To the company, the advertising agency and endorsers of this product, I ask you, are you now equating dark skin with poverty? You people send very wrong messages to the public. In this case, a disturbing message to Ms. Barretto's legions of fans. Shame on you all for doing such.

(Image from http://angelesdesign.multiply.com/)

CHOKER

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

(Image from Jerry Navarro)

STEVE JOBS, 56

RIP Steve Jobs. Thank you for turning my tech world from a lemon to an Apple.

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

"HANDS-ON" MY FOOT

Malacanang is absolutely correct in saying that President Aquino is a "HANDS-ON" president.

(Image from http://faxiamen.com)

2,000

2,000 "missing" container vans from the pier.

2,000 "missing" vehicles from Subic.

Welcome to the yellow regime's version of PHILIPPINES 2000.

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

JOKER KNOWS HIS POKER

News: "Senator Joker Arroyo to skip today's SONA." Joker indeed knows his poker. There can NEVER be two JOKERS in a full HOUSE.

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

SONA-TA IN F (FAIL) MAJOR

A peek at President Aquino's entire SONA speech: "Vice-President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Chief Justice Renato Corona, members of Congress and the AFP, your excellencies of the diplomatic corps, Kris, Joshua, ladies and gentlemen: The legacy my parents left me is alive and well in every Filipino today, and at the end of the day, pinag-isipan ko itong lahat, it's Gloria Arroyo's fault. Mabuhay tayong lahat!" (Applause)

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

IS MALACANANG AT WAR?

Indeed, some people in the Palace need to go back to elementary school because that is where I learned to display the flag correctly, properly and respectfully.

You're just in time for enrollment, boys.

(Image from www.president.gov.ph/)

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/)

BUHAY'S MIDNIGHT PROCLAMATION

Velarde. Very Large Deceit. Public opinion is strongly against the accreditation of Mikey Arroyo, Angelo Reyes and Mike Velarde as party-list nominees. Mikey's return to Congress as a representative of security guards and tricycle drivers was met with widespread condemnation. Angie Reyes, although favored by the Comelec, wasn't able to get a seat in the House of Representatives after his own party-mates decided to junk him. Perhaps unable to withstand another wave of criticisms, the Comelec chose to proclaim Mike Velarde's party-list in secret.

The petition against Buhay was filed by AM radio broadcaster Rolando Layug. Buhay had already been disqualified by the Comelec in 2001 for allegedly being connected with the El Shaddai and this is prohibited by the Constitution and the Party-List Law, but was reversed by the Supreme Court in 2003 because of lack of evidence linking Buhay to El Shaddai. The photo right here isn't enough evidence? Hence, in 2010, the evidence had become so overwhelming and Rolando Layug as well as other taxpayers submitted to the Comelec the campaign materials of Buhay with the picture of Mike Velarde.

Nonetheless, the Comelec decided in favor of Mike Velarde in a resolution allegedly promulgated on June 15, 2010, but this was not announced to the media as they usually do in highly controversial cases. Neither Layug nor any of his lawyers were sent a notice of promulgation as required by law. The Comelec's resolution denying the petition of the other complainants against Buhay was released on July 28, 2010. Under the Comelec's own rules, the complainants should have been given 5 days to file a motion for reconsideration, but the Comelec still went ahead and proclaimed the Buhay nominees on July 30, 2010. Money talks, Buhay walks.

Do Velarde and the Comelec expect this abuse of power to go unchallenged? Layug has gone to the Supreme Court asking for the nullification of Buhay's proclamation. This has been done before, in the case of Joselito Mendoza vs. Obet Pagdanganan. the Court found Pagdanganan's proclamation as Governor of Bulacan to be void and issued a Status Quo Ante Order which pulled the plug on his attempt to claim Mendoza's throne.

With the Comelec's blatant disregard for its own rules and their very obvious railroading of the complaints against Buhay, the Supreme Court must crack down and order Velarde's nominees to cease and desist from usurping, assuming and performing the functions of party-list representative. Considering the salaries, emoluments, benefits and pork barrel that every congresman is entitled to, the damage it has done to the party-list system and to taxpayers of this country being done by the illegal Buhay congressmen are unthinkable.

(Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/)

A DAZZLE BY ADAZA

Do you remember that stinging pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) entitled "Thou Shalt Not Steal," and how it has come and gone like wafts of perfectly-shaped smoke rings?

Opposition firebrand Homobono 'Bono' Adaza assailed that pastoral letter as mere ningas cogon and challenged church leaders to follow up on the message to give meaning to their avowals to fight graft and corruption in government.

Adaza said the church could institute the following to supply essence and determination to the pastoral letter.

1. Reject Pagcor and Malacanang money said to be regularly flowing to church coffers;

2. Refuse enrolment in Catholic schools to children of known crooked officials and private citizens;

3. Read in all parishes and cause to be published in newspapers names of officials accused or otherwise openly known as crooks and grafters and;

4. Deny church sacraments to such crooks and grafters.

The combative Bono, to whom the Cory regime owes much for its defeat of the Marcos forces but who was later junked for his refusal to be a mere "yes man," volunteered his legal services to church leaders and other persons who could be charged with libel for that proposed public listing of suspected crooked officials.

He also wondered why the late Cardinal Sin did not publicly endorse the pastoral letter. Bono asked if this was because the Pagcor contributions to the church were being sent through the Cardinal's office. He noted that Sin, who had been vociferous in his attacks against gambling casinos even during the Marcos years, suddenly reversed himself when the late President Corazon Aquino took over and justified gambling if done only as entertainment (like mah-jong?). Bono said that justification came coincidental to the start of church contributions from Pagcor.

Bad habits are hard to break, and already we should keep an eye on the movements of Pagcor which contributes millions a month to the President's Social Fund. A lot of sosyalan for P-Noy and his peons there.

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

ABAD PRECEDENT MAKES A BAD PRESIDENT

Twenty years ago in the time of the late President Corazon Aquino, the Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed the confirmation of then Agrarian Reform Secretary Florencio 'Butch' Abad. Leaders of his own Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino party-list wanted him to swear he would be "fair" in his decisions on land disputes. Read "fair" to mean in favor of landlords and vested interests making a mockery of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), touted as the cornerstone of the Cory administration's supposedly people-oriented platform.

Butch Abad's woes came after he fought a plan backed by powerful politicians in partnership with giant Japanese corporations to convert a huge chunk of agricultural land in Cavite into an industrial estate. He was forced into a situation where he had to swallow his pride and principles and obey the commands of his tormentors or quit in disgust and keep intact his self-respect and conscience. After his mutiliation, no scintilla of doubt lingered anymore about the power of landlords and vested interests in that administration.

These powerful groups did not even turn tail before a strong-willed Miriam Defensor-Santiago. So, no upstart like Butch could scare them even a bit. Even former Representative Lorna Verano-Yap could not do anything to his defense but sulk and pout in one corner. She didn't count with those powerful groups in the executive and the legislative departments.

And then, that deep disappointment over the results of a press conference called by beleaguered Secretary Abad where everybody thought he would resign because of the successful drive by landlords to have his nomination blocked by the CA? Butch announced he would stick it out and work for the approval of his case and that he even ran to Tita Cory to help him with his confirmation.

Abad missed the chance for greatness. If he had resigned as a matter of principle and to keep his self-respect and pride, as many had expected, he would have been one of the very few upright officials of the Cory regime. His much-admired late father who was an exemplary government official would have been proud of him. That was then.

Well, maybe Butch thought he should hang on tough and stay on so that he could serve his people better in government service, especially those poor farmers who had looked up to him as one of their remaining defenders against the landlords and vested interests infesting our institutions.

And then there was also President Cory Aquino's vow to use her "persuasive powers" to push through Abad's nomination in the CA. That was better read as to use her "coercive powers."

President Cory felt she owed Abad so much since she convinced him to give up his elective post as a member of Congress and could not leave him to the vultures to pick on his flesh and bones.

The much-ballyhooed CARP under the Cory regime ended in the gutter.

Today, Butch is back as a cabineteer but not at the Department of Agrarian Reform again but instead at the Department of Budget and Management. His daughter heads the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) while two other members of his family hold influential positions in government. He has learned well and knows that whoever holds the gold (budget) makes the rules.

But methinks they're just like the four Arroyos now in Congress. Just too many of them. This certainly sets a bad precedent and a slap on a presidency calling for "change."

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

TOO MANY CHEF-CHEFS SPOIL THE BRAT

Within the mammoth government information and propaganda organization in the days of President Cory Aquino, then Press Secretary Tomas 'Buddy' Gomez III and radio-TV section czarina and presidential niece (now cousin) Maria V. Montelibano were conducting early probing sorties preparatory for a bitter clash of control for the information and propaganda turf with its gargantuan budget.

Many people in media and in Malacanang were looking forward to the coming Buddy-Mary fight. The wise money was on the latter but not only because she is Cory's niece but also because she has been known as a battler with extensive knowledge on media, especially radio and television. She was fiercely loyal to her aunt.

And although Buddy was one tough character, he was still wet behind his ears as far as his new job as Press Secretary was concerned. He had a so-so background as a part-time radio technician and public relations runner for the late industrialist and tycoon Don Enrique Zobel.

He earned his spurs under the Aquino administration as the 'Peeping Tom' in Hawaii's Makiki Heights who hounded the late President Marcos.

That expected clash with Mary was just one test. Buddy had to contend with the "shadows" in Malacanang which drove veteran newsman Teddy Benigno out as Press Secretary. And of course, there were those numerous media people who didn't buy Buddy's confrontational style.

Media had already fired its first salvo against Buddy: the hitherto little-known fact that he has been married thrice and divorced twice. That immediately put him on the defensive, since he had to act as chief defender of a supposedly moral government. But he showed he could take it as well as dish it out. He took it on the chin and offered no alibis, saying he just wanted to "do it my way," like Sinatra.

Well, as he had said on his first day in office, he was looking forward to some "fun and excitement."

Not so much of the present set-up wherein we now have three men running the same office, a.k.a. the Office of the Press Secretary. They now call it the Presidential Communications Group manned by former FarEast Bank executive Sonny Coloma, blogger Edwin Lacierda, ABS-CBN hotshots Ricky Carandang and Manolo Quezon. But to date, I yet have to see Manolo assert his self in the Palace. If he does, he may be doing a lot of explaining. As for Ricky, many believe (and I share their sentiments) that his ego is bigger than 'The Big Picture.' And where is Mary Montelibano in all these? Perhaps she's keeping a distance this time as it doesn't look so smooth as they begin to fumble while communicating the President's programs and intentions to the public. As the saying goes, "too many cooks spoil the broth." In this case, jockeying for turf and influence as "too many chef-chefs may spoil the brat in office."

Talk is that one giant network gets a big advantage over another giant network simply because the new bosses in the Palace are their top anchors on leave.

We shall all see how they handle their jobs. Will it contribute to a steady acceptance rating (for now) for P-Noy, or will their egos all self-destruct, pulling down their "accidental president?"

(Image from http://www.greatnews.ph/)

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/)

BAK 2 SKUL

It's plain Jejemoniacal, these fraternity initiations. For they nullify the true message of scholarly conduct. Today's stude, tomorrow's tyrant?

Whatever happened then to a clamor to ban fraternity initiations in colleges and universities in the country? With the opening of schools come the waxing of paddles in college fraternity homes. Or are we just too quick to forget that some years ago, a hazing ritual (among several others) led to the death of Lenny Villa, the only son of former Internal Revenue Commissioner Romulo Villa. Lenny was a neophyte of the Aquila Legis society of the Ateneo Law School. The same prestigious Jesuit school which boasts of turning out the nation's brightest and the best? Now, it has since been included in the list with the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, the Far Eastern University, the FEATI, and other colleges for barbarism, sadism and carnage in fraternity hazings. How many other parents have lost sons in the past because of this?

These college societies with impressive Greek names and logos are no better than the underworld's notorious gangs like the O-X-O, the Sigue-Sigue, BCJ and the Bahala Na groups.

No wonder, many of these college kids grow up to become crooked and blood-thirsty political warlords, unscrupulous business tycoons and corrupt military officers.

(Image from http://tsikot.yehey.com/)

FAMILY

Did I hear over the radio today Speaker Prospero 'Boy' Nograles ask Comelec Executive Director Jose 'Jun' Tolentino Jr. if he has any relative or relatives working in Comelec? I failed to monitor his reply.

But of course the Speaker knows for a fact that the answer to his question is in the affirmative, and perhaps Nograles was pressured to ask the question to Tolentino because there are people out there like me who know that Nograles and Tolentino are "family."

The Speaker's first cousin is married to Tolentino's sister. The same lawyer-cousin was Nograles' chief of staff when he was a neophyte congressman. I wouldn't know if subject cousin has returned since Nograles' elevation to the fourth highest office in the land. Perhaps or perhaps not, since he is anyway a successful lawyer by his own merits. Draw your own suspicions then, even as I can already hear them claim that a man can choose his friends, but not his family members.

But admirable that Speaker Nograles would not let this pass. He has indeed risen to political maturity which has earned for him enough credibility and respect from many people, in spite of his canine loyalty to outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and for his "betrayal" to former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. As for Director Tolentino, I happen to know him personally too and quite close to believe him to be a man of his word, to which I have the highest respect for him. Jun Tolentino's father, Captain Jose 'Pepe' Tolentino Sr. was a harbor pilot who served the country well with loyalty and honor. They belong to a "buena familia" from Davao City. In short, he is a good man as Boy Nograles is a fair and gentle man.

You may or may not agree with me, but I know these two gentlemen well and I can vouch for their integrity, even as I anticipate negative comments with this blogpost.

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

REMINDING NOYNOY

President-elect Noynoy Aquino's early stubbornness and arrogance of not wanting to take his oath before a sitting Chief Justice whose appointment he questions smells worse than his cigarette smoke. But I'm glad he's flip-flopping on this.

He should be reminded though that in 1990, his mother President Corazon Aquino's inherited stubbornness drove some 29 Court of Appeals justices to write a letter to her excellency questioning the appointment to the Supreme Court of Flerida Ruth Romero, Cory's speechwriter and personal friend.

When told that the justices were threatening to go on mass leave to protest Romero's appointment, the President reportedly instructed her aides to tell the justices to drop their objections or else she would throw the book at them. She could accuse them of dereliction of duty and on this basis cause them to lose their jobs.

Many Supreme Court justices had expressed reservations about the qualifications of Romero, who has never been a judge and has not distinguished herself in private practice. Romero herself, gracious as she has always been, kept silent throughout the controversy. The criticisms against her, however, were bound to make people scrutinize very closely whatever decisions she would be making in the Supreme Court. Similarly, lawyers were waiting to see whether the criticisms directed against Romero's appointment made President Cory act differently when she filled the remaining vacancy in the SC. It was widely believed then that she would pick another person close to her, either Deputy Executive Secretary Magdangal Elma or Adolf Azcuna, her former legal adviser.

In doing so, President Cory didn't give a hoot about traditions governing appointments to the Supreme Court and preferred to use personal loyalty as her main criterion.

Sounds familiar?

(Image from http://en.wikinews.org/)

THE SUITS DON'T SUIT

SLEEPLESS IN MY SHUTTLE. When communist leader Jose Maria 'Joma' Sison exiled himself to the Netherlands and started wearing suits, he made himself irrelevant to the leftists here in the Philippines.

Mao Tse Tung to his dying day never gave up on his collar-less Mao jacket in favor of a Western suit. North Korea's Kim Jong Il wears an olive green military outfit. Even Cuba's Fidel Castro wore a similar outfit for the longest time, and only later in his life was he seen occasionally wearing an athletic terno.

Even his 'tocayo' and fellow-cigar chomper former President Fidel Ramos did not quite recognize Joma as the leader of the Philippine communist movement - or so it appeared then from FVR's announcements that the government recognize instead Luis Jalandoni as the leftists' representative in peace talks. Local leftists then were debating on how they were to respond to the government's peace initiatives during the Ramos regime. Sison had disowned many of the local leaders whom he had accused of selling out to FVR's administration.

(Image from http://volkskrant.nl/)