Dauphin's Doltish Discussion

In addition to defending his mother's actions, he also wants to flaunt his analysis:

Mikey said the criticisms that came Ms Arroyo’s way after declaring martial law in Maguindanao were typical of her opponents’ obsession to dwell on the negative aspect of every issue facing the administration.

He cited the case of the recent Pulse Asia survey, which claimed that eight out of 10 Filipinos would not vote for the administration-backed candidate.

``Why did they not present it as 20 percent of the Filipinos are still willing to vote for the administration-backed candidate? Apparently, they don’t want to present it that way because it would show that the administration-backed candidate is only two percent shy of Noynoy Aquino’s rating of 22 percent as per Ibon survey results,’’ said Arroyo. `` These people just want to vilify this administration in the furtherance of their political ambition.’’

Ok, why compare the Pulse Asia results versus the Ibon results? Classic apples and oranges... I guess the good thing of his mother running for Congress is him not running anymore, sheesh...

Liberal Line Limit

The Liberal Party of Noynoy Aquino put itself into a corner when they took in Ralph Recto (for Vilma Santos probably), with the ensuing backlash from Serge Osmena. Before this, Cesar Montano was fielded as Bohol's gubernatorial candidate. Now, Richard Gomez has been fielded and Noynoy is talking to Chiz Escudero to become his campaign manager.

I'd like to think I have a healthy dose of pragmatism when observing political horsedeals like these, but Noynoy is running on the wings of change. Although mlq3 has written about redemption for those Lakas-Kampi people as an option, I have yet to see Cesar Montano, Ralph Recto, and Richard Gomez express not only support for the Liberal Party cause, but also a mea culpa of sorts for serving the current dispensation.

I don't think we're asking for them to air the entire dirty laundry, but to express regret at serving this government and what they could have done, plus what they plan to do to rectify it, hopefully within the scope of the Liberal Party vision.

Unfortunately, my impression is that these former loyalists are just jumping ship because Noynoy's popular; there seems to be no effort to express remorse for what they have done or even alignment towards the party's goals.

I still want to believe. I still want to hope. Is our hope misplaced?

Confounding Conass

With all the talk of the failure of our representatives to represent us in the recently-held Conass vote, why does there seem to be a wide disconnect between what the survey says (disapproving Charter Change, promoting Reproductive Health, etc.) and what our representatives do (shove Con-ass down our throats)?

On the local level, do we actually know what our congressmen are doing in Congress? Do we really care how our representatives represent us in the national forum?

Or are we just waiting for what he does in his own district, which is to dole out goods & monies (which was actually sourced from my taxes, dammit!)? Are we willing to gloss over our inconsistencies over issues as long as he shows us the money? Are we that hard up that we don't care if he's selling our souls, just so he can shower us with a pittance of a donation, and then we also have to be thankful to him for giving back money (which he got from my taxes, whether income or VAT)??

And for us who feel getting shortchanged, does our number matter to these representatives? Or have most of us who used to feel outrage flown the coop? And for us who are left behind, doesn't it feel tiring that we exert outrage and be laughed at in our faces by these representatives?

Then when the protests come around, why are these actions then hijacked by other politicians and has-beens?

This is where around three months of my salary goes: the pot-holed streets, the crazy u-turn slots, the salaries and humongous allowances of these representatives. And when they can't get enough money, they ask for loans, which I also eventually have to pay, not them.

Not enough of my salary goes to the schools, good roads, government hospitals, or the arts.

But the thing is, how can we get involved with our souls being kept intact? How can we change the system if the system doesn't listen and is too arrogant to listen to us?

Causes of City Conventions

As the republic emerges from another Ayala rally last Friday, a few questions have been tossed around the blogosphere and the atmosphere on the nature of Philippine rallies.

As a disclaimer, I have not (yet) been an active participant of a rally; the closest was this Ayala rally earlier this year when I was lounging around the area and I thought I saw a bomb (see lower part of the post). In addition, I do not wholly support rallies as a whole or rallies in particular where the drive is more politically-motivated than most (of course, there’s always a degree of political motivation, but I can only tolerate a certain extent). In general, I believe that rallies are expressions of freedom of speech.

At any rate, I want to answer the questions being asked around that seems to be particular to the republic of bagoong, bandurians, and bananaques.

• Why hold the rally at Ayala Avenue, Makati?

Why Makati? Well, Makati has been relatively liberal in allowing various sorts of rallies, even dating back to 1985. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the mayor nowadays is against the empress and he’s willing to allow any chance for an aggrieved citizenry to display their displeasure against her. In addition, Makati is still currently the center of high-profile business in the country (sorry Ortigas and Eastwood). Thus, any rally here would always bring national and international exposure.

• Why not hold the rally at Plaza Miranda?

As to why not Plaza Miranda (the pre-Martial Law choice of rallies), I don’t think the current design of Plaza Miranda is conducive to holding rallies anymore. If I’m not mistaken, it’s been taken over by vendors wishing to sell their wares in front of the Quiapo church. It’s right smack in the middle of a rather congested Manila where it’s not accessible easily to both rallyists and media.

• Why not hold the rally at Congress / Malacanang?

This questions why the rallies are not brought forth in the center of power, the aforementioned Congress and Malacanang. True, other rallies have been brought to Congress and Malacanang on occasion, but for the maximum impact and convergence of goals, Makati is one of the best places to bring the rally forward.

• Why hold a coup-de-etat at a hotel in Makati?

This is related to the Oakwood & Peninsula capers led by now-Senator Trillanes. One does wonder, what is the military significance of a hotel? Arms-wise, none at all. Strategic and publicity-wise, a whole lot. Barricading a hotel breaks the secure sanctity of the nation’s elite by bringing the threat at the threshold. Similar to assaulting Makati, surrounding a hotel hits the elite where it hurts. This wasn’t an original plan; Col. Honasan & then-Capt. Danny Lim have done this already in the December 1989 coup.

In comparison, the Thais blockaded their airports recently because they knew that foreigners used these airports as gateways to their holiday destinations. I guess for all the visitors that travel to Manila, at one point or another one would have to visit Makati to keep in touch with the metropolis. Attacking the symbol of the metropolis tend to highlight whatever message a nonconformist is bringing.

• Why did the normally-reserved Mar Roxas let out a string of expletives?

What else for? For maximum exposure! Mar Roxas has cultivated an air of reserved intellectualism; to be shown in public expressing what most Pinoys are feeling in their gut connects him to the Pinoy voter. In addition, the hapless administration flunkies are falling all over themselves denouncing his “ungentlemnlike” behavior. But it has the intended effect that people are talking about it and keeping him and the issue in the news cycle. Heck, I’m still blogging about it and I haven’t even seen it.

• Why aren’t the crowds bigger than expected?

This is since the government has learned to control both the actual and the perceived number of crowds in two ways.

To control the actual number of crowds, the police block of the entry points into the main Metro Manila region from the Mega Manila areas (Calabarzon and Bulacan northwards). This is done by blocking the main highways leading up to the metro: North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, and Coastal Road. For the life of me, I don’t know why the rallyists can’t think of more creative ways to bypass these checkpoints. Rallies like these are known days, if not weeks in advance; can’t they work a system of trickling the participants slowly in without creating undue attention? Or if they decide to hold their rallies at the choke points, make sure they’re covered and organized so that the media will take notice.

As to controlling the perceived number, this is where the other side gets more creative. Air traffic control is restricted so aerial shots from media helicopters cannot show a panoramic view of the crowd congregating at the corners of Ayala & Paseo de Roxas. Sometimes, a cloud-seeding operation may be started to let nature disperse the crowd. In addition, crowd estimates are downplayed to try to reduce the impact of events (the organizers in turn try to inflate the numbers for the opposite effect).

• Are these rallies effective?

If the rally reflects what the significant portion of the population feels (e.g. not just the public driving sector or the marginalized farmers or the bused in crowds), then policy / strategy are delayed and deferred until the situation cools down. The House is currently back-tracking from the cha-cha charge; time will tell if this is enough to delay the initiative enough to render the initiative ineffectual, or if this will force the empire into more forceful and desperate actions.

Non-impeachment non-coverage

I was reading on the latest impeachment reports online when I saw that the voting was ongoing as of posting time. I checked out ANC and they’re still showing Shop Talk. The major networks are still showing normal TV. Only TV DZMM is showing a video of the ongoing exhortations, not even the video anymore.

It’s a bit of a relief not to listen to the long-winded and fake reasons why our so-called representatives are voting to junk the impeachment complaint. I know showing it won’t rouse anybody; it’s simply bad TV. It was good TV when the pro-impeachment representatives walked out, but other than that, it’s the expected lies that will just make people throw stuff at the TV.

I just wish there was a real choice of district representatives when the elections come around so I don’t have to vote for these losers and blatant liars again.

(Yep, watching West Wing reruns makes me despair about this republic.)

Republic's Root Regulation Ratification Relegated? Really?

Hmm, is this press release a trial balloon meant to lull us into complacency, only to find out that our beloved representatives will spring on us a cha-cha surprise? And suggested by no less than bicol's finest, Luis Villafuerte? Really?

Frickin' "Flip-Flop"

Posted on Inquirer.net: Flip-flopping senators over should explain to public--Palace

My knee-jerk reaction:

Do you actually think we're idiots??? You have the gall to say that the Senate's resolution meant to extend the empress's reign? WTF???

Shameless Shoo-Li

While reading about the quirks and quandary that besets our society, I try to latch on some public figures that feed my idealist tendencies. Unfortunately, these figures eventually succumb to the dark side.

I still remember back in the late 80s that a certain Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation would eat death threats for breakfast and take congressmen to task (whom she would lovingly call “fungus-faced”). Now, she’s at the beck and call of the Empress and when she was caught reneging on her promise to jump off an airplane, she just says she lied (cue in the maniacal laughter).

Or how about our local Dirty Harry who launched a shame campaign against drug dealers and was the darling of the Yellow Queen, but clung on to the Action Hero and did his bidding even when it was against public trust?

The latest one to break my heart was Mr. Shoo-Li of Mongolian Barbecue fame. He used to host a talk show (Mongolian Barbecue) and invited government officials (fake and eventually real ones). He pretended to be a Mongolian and talked with an ethnic Ongpin Chinoy accent. He would discuss issues at hand and make fun of the crassness that passes for our politics. He would be the outsider to the system (like most of us actually) who would make us think why things are what they are.

Mr. Shoo-Li was ably played by Jun Urbano, a noted director. (He based his character on his father’s portrayal of Genghis/Kublai Khan, I forget which.)

I feel betrayed now because there’s a commercial of him saying that change should begin from ground up, since rallies and any complaining against the system is counterproductive. (And then he ends up going to the rally after his sidekick tells him that there’s P500 for him if he joins.)

This is just parroting the Empire’s line, since this absolves the Empire from any responsibility, when in fact, we disobey the rules because we see that our leaders have that much respect for it in the first place. Our leaders’ degree of influence is indicative of how much they follow what is right (oops, please watch out for dripping sarcasm). So the lesson here is that if you want to improve your lot in life like what our leaders have done, either play the game or ship out (the latter of which is a more appealing option to most of us).

Government Gridlock & Gloom

Reading about Senator Pimentel’s proposed federalism change seemed like a good idea at first (as most ideas are), then I noticed something that wasn’t brought up in other forums. He was proposing seven senators per federal state to represent the Federal Senate, which would bring the total number of senators from 24 to 75 (by the way, 75 is not a number divisible by 7, so please clarify where I went wrong with my assumption). At any case, this would bring more chiefs to the table, more politicians messing around with our lives, with all the Indians (pardon the term) running abroad to escape this malady.

It’s crazy enough as it is that there are tons of barangay tanods (neighborhood watchers) in the village level and yet crime is rampant (or at least, not abated). We have the provincial elite wanting to test their chops in the capital and give scraps to their constituents as a token of their magnanimity.

On a related note, we seem to have a shortage of professionals due to these professionals flocking out of the country, skilled professionals which includes accountants, engineers, computer specialists, teachers, construction workers, managers, marketers, researchers, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, etc. But we can’t seem to export what we have in abundance: lawyers &/or politicians. I guess they already have it made here (fair or foul), that’s why they won’t leave. Unfortunately, having a system that extols form over substance creates an environment which also emphasizes legality over propriety, and I think this is where lawyers would thrive. We are exporting the talent needed to build a country, yet we cultivate the talent used to create chaos in the country.

Substituted Speculation

I’m currently watching The Explainer rerun right now where Ricky Carandang’s explaining how speculating works on the worldwide market. I think a better local example on how speculation works is when people buy & sell US dollars. In a similar scenario, people with funds would buy US dollars from the Forex stores at the mall or from travelers or OFWs in the hopes of waiting for the US rate to go up. Increasing buying of US dollars would also bring up the price of US dollars since the US dollars demand would go up, creating a bandwagon effect.

Loopy Linking

Something seems to be screwy with mlq3's site for the past couple of days (borrowing mlq3's phrase). Everytime you go to the main blog site, then click on the link to read the full article for the day, you still see the main page (thus preventing you from reading the entire article and even the comments).

Here's what happens normally when you go to www.quezon.ph:




Here's what happens when you click on the "continue reading" link:



Here's what happens when you click on the "comments" link:



Don't take my word for it. Go to the links (or type them independently if you want) and see for yourselves...

Defective DSL

Just came from work today, but during the day I was listening to the radio to check up on the rally and how it was going. Today I’m checking the online news to see what happened.

We have a DSL connection at home, but it keeps on conking out. I’m reduced to using the dial-up, just to catch up.

Hmm, maybe we *do* need a National Broadband Network. Seeing how faulty our current telecoms industry is doing their work, I’m quite sure that this administration, in all its wisdom, can more than outperform our engineers. They were able to find a way to solve the classroom shortage, right? By just changing the denominator to modify the rates?

I’m waiting for virtual tomatoes to be hurled at me any moment now… Hehehe!

Twice for Two Hundred

The President has recently released P200 million to help flood victims in Eastern Samar. That's the same price as the proposed bribe to Secretary Neri. That's 3% of P6.5 billion. P6.5 billion at P50=$1 is $130 million...

To think P200 million can already go a long way into helping those in need, while a whopping 97% goes to the pockets of our esteemed officials??

Coats and Cravats, Caucus at the CBD, and a Could-be Caveat

I remember watching Jun Lozada’s Harapan episode the other night with my dad & sister and saw the latter part. There were some aspects that looks like it may have been staged, like his shirt for example, or the witticisms (i.e. buti pa sila naka-amerikana, ako hindi). Being a businessman and a founder of several businesses, he could afford to wear suits (or in his case, since he now had contact with the outside world but unable to move in it, he could’ve have a nice suit sent over). But I guess someone advised him not to do so (I wouldn’t call them handlers, but more like image advisors).

Regardless of that possible stunt, it did not derail him from veering away from his story one bit. Almost ten high-level leaders fell all over themselves trying to refute his statement (and even getting sucked into the suit argument) but his core story stood firm.

Dad was a bit turned off by those possible stunts, saying he should’ve just stuck to the issue. But I think those possible stunts with his quips even endeared him to more normal folk, since they can relate better to his situation (like a common worker wearing a shirt considered as an undershirt by the upper class and speaking to the suited aristocrat). Although Dad & I both agreed that Jun Lozada’s main story on the commissions was the truth.

Furthermore, General Razon’s excuse that he had to leave a function and his wife underscored the difference between him and Jun Lozada (and the rest of the people). At least Gen. Razon got to attend a function, in a suit, and still leave his wife in a nice place. Jun Lozada (and a whole lot of other people) are forcibly separated from his family, and can’t even attend formal functions in formal suits.

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

I went to the Makati rally out of curiosity and proximity to the new office. I got there when it was around 7pm, so it was winding down. I walked from the Paseo de Roxas side, and I was surprised that the Makati cops didn’t stop me from walking all the way to the stage! I was able to see people I only saw on the paper/TV/internet. I almost bumped elbows with Fr. Robert Reyes, JDV3, Argee Guevarra, Renato Constantino Jr. (he was thinner than I imagined), and saw Conrado de Quiros walking along the Enterprise Center. Unfortunately, I also saw some people trucked in to pad the crowd a bit (they were in a white dump truck eating from the standard white Styrofoam meal packs).

As I headed back to parking (I had to leave early), I was texting my sister that I was around. The cops suddenly asked me to walk to the side (“Boss, patabi lang po”). I thought a car was going to pass through. Then, I saw one of the K-9 cops with a brown Labrador (a common sight in Makati) walking towards an unattended big, black bag near the corner of Dela Rosa & Paseo de Roxas. Thinking it might be a bomb, I walked briskly until I reached the Sycip Salazar building. I looked back to see what happened, and the K-9 was still sniffing it. I guess it wasn’t a bomb since no news came out of it until now.

I wonder if that was part of the administration’s dirty tricks department, trying to scare everyone to throw them off. Or maybe it was just a plain black bag somebody forgot.

Missing Mike (Not)

With Team Unity losing big time this last election and the media having an easier time reporting (i.e. lesser libel suits being filed or being withdrawn all together), I'm wondering if this has something to do with Big Mike's absence? Is he the greedy one the empress cannot control previously, causing the derailment of her programs? Is he the Madame to her Macoy? (Not that I'm praising Macoy, but he showed less caprices than Madame.)

Now that with Big Mike indefinitely out of the picture (and will take time to rebuild his clout once he reemerges), can this administration be a bit more open-minded and have more political will to get beneficial projects done?

Too bad he wasn't out of the picture earlier, way before the elections or TU wouldn't have had the kicking it received in the polls. Or if he was still active, the TU would've come out better, but at the expense of more Maguindanaos, probably even Cebu.

City Constituency and Council Chairs

With the increasing urbanization (and globalization) and mobility of the middle-class Pinoy, the traditional method of representation is becoming less significant. A simple case may be an employee going to work at Makati but actually lives in Pasig. In my case, I work in Manila but I’m registered in Batangas. I even have a friend who works in Manila, lives in Alabang (Muntinlupa), but registered in Tuguegarao. And so on, and so forth.

Of course, working where we’re registered is not a currently viable option. Why don’t we just re-register to where we now work/live? Because it’s such a hassle to do so. In an age where it’s a feat just to gather an official birth certificate or to renew a passport, going to the local level on a working day to re-register isn’t worth the day’s work lost. And for what? Councilors & local officials who would have nothing to do with you, since their policies only affect you indirectly through the business owners; more basic things like social security, medical aid, food are taken cared of by your job; infrastructure spans beyond the terms of these local officials. Besides, you really can’t tell the difference between all these candidates with generic photoshopped faces.

In addition, the current political reality is skewed such that the middle class aren’t the target market for local races. Local officials go for the volume vote, which translates to the CDE vote. The candidates would promise filling the needs of these voters, needs that we have somewhat met (with difficulty, but not as difficult as our less-fortunate brethren). These candidates don’t need our support for the numbers or “moral ascendancy”. So they don’t reach out to us. It’s also partly our fault that we don’t try to dig deeper to what they’re saying so that we know what these candidates are promising (forecasting), so we can hold them accountable to their promises (forecasts).

Then we all complain when we say they don’t represent us. And we have an even greater motive to bolt out of the nation.

Hmm. Since I don’t have a net link at work at the moment, I’ll see if Comelec has guidelines on how to re-register at a new locale when I get home.

[at home]

The Comelec website’s taking a while to load… Here's the site where it answers the FAQ on transferring where you were registered and here's the site where it quotes the relevant law.

Wait a minute... So the Election Registration Board has to approve my request? Then the Election Officer from the original area must know that the approval has been processed? Then I have to wait for the snail mail telling me that I can vote there now? What's the processing time in all of these approval & waiting? What if the Election Officer from the original area doesn't get the approval on time, would someone usurp my right there? And how long does snail mail get around these parts; will it get to me on time, especially since the election's 19 days away?

And all these questions and effort to elect councilors and congressmen who do not address my concerns directly? Of course, if I register where I live now, the councilors & congressmen will have a more direct role in my daily life, but only very, very marginally.

Is it worth all the effort?

irritating initiatives

(another one of my forgotten posts; this was written at the height of the cha-cha initiative)

The House of Representatives is hell-bent on ramming the Con-Ass initiative down our throats. If the Supreme Court (with the new composition) does say that Congress votes as a whole and disregarding the Senate votes as separate, I wonder what will happen next? After the postponement of the vote, the new Constitution would inevitably be ratified, what happens with the ratification?

[as it turned out, the Supreme Court turned it down]

People don’t like being removed of their privileges unless there’s a price involved and it’ll take a lot of convincing for the people not to elect the President. The usual more-jobs-more-food-more-roads-more-education tack is standard and unfulfilled, so what else do these would-be parliamentarians have to offer to ratify the change?

With this scenario, these congressmen may be left with no choice but to advance the initiative further by falsifying the results of a massive disapproval of the plebiscite; or not invite the people all together in deciding for the future.

Either alienation will definitely create a bigger disjoint between the people and the government. We’ll see less involvement in the public sector and more in the OFW sector.

[sadly, I see the disjoint even without this initiative coming through]

conrado's charm of circumstance

i really wonder how conrado de quiros gets away with ranting against the empress & big mike almost everyday, like this time. i mean, i do agree with him most of the time, especially his rants against the empress & big mike, not always his desired actions, but i do share his sentiments.

is it because of the miranda connection? that his daughter covers the empress? i doubt that the father exerts undue pressure on the daughter by using his daughter as a protective shield, inasmuch as the daughter requests the father to back down due to her job security. i'm sure the empress also has asked the daughter numerous times for her father to back down, but to no avail.

(i guess the daughter has as much power in stopping her father's ranting as much as the empress has in stopping her consort's actions).

but for how much longer, i wonder (if indeed this is de quiros's agimat)?

Cashless Congressmen???

I was enjoying my breakfast of leftover sandwiches, when this headline scrolled at ABS-CBN crawler: Congress is raising P1 million in donations for the family of the slain congressman.

WHAT???????????????

So they’re so friggin’ greedy that they even want to raise P1 million from other people for their own kind? I mean, I do send out my condolences to the family, but come on! Congress can reallocate millions of pesos at a whim for their own ends easily! And yet they manage to piss off people by releasing this insane press release.

These are my representatives?

And the rightists wonder why more leftists are being elected to congress; the rightists don’t realize that they have a wide disconnect with the voters, unlike the leftists. Not that I like the leftists, they’re stuck with an old paradigm, but they relate to the pro-poor program very well.

Ugh.