Senator Ralph Recto “concedes” defeat, has accepted the people’s will, and bows out of the Senate. A rather tragic end to an otherwise ______ (fill in the blank) career.

However, he is intransigent to the end. He believes that creating and passing the 12% E-VAT law is the right thing to do, despite the issue being unpopular to the people. Let me quote his speech (with my annotations in italics):

[QUOTE]
It is a verdict I accept without rancor or bitterness. Really.

I will go gently out of this institution, comforted in the thought, that in every waking day that I had served out my mandate, I did it to the best of my ability, and always with the best interest of the country in mind. Really.

And this is what gives me the optimism to hope that after passions of the moment have become distant echoes of the past, history’s judgment of my work here will be kind. Sana nga, since the judgement of the majority of the people is not.

If I shall end up as a footnote in history, I shall be blissfully content of being remembered as one who chose principles over popularity and did what was right rather than what was expedient. Take THAT, Kiko and Manny.

That I shall be remembered as one who did not hide in safe harbors but who sailed in open seas, sometimes against the gale of public opinion, out of the belief, like sailors of yore, that one can only make progress if he loses sight of the land. E-VAT is right and you people are wrong.

The duty of a member of this chamber is not to pander to what is popular but to uphold what is right, a senator who came before us said. Yeah right. And that senator was no believer in land reform, too. Was he right then?
[ENDQUOTE]

In several sentences, he managed to hit his co-Wednesday group members Senators-elect Francisco Pangilinan and Manuel Villar, the opposition, the people who voted against him, and the people who were against E-VAT. He really is intransigent.

The problem with the E-VAT is that it is just a temporary fix. The first quarter’s deficit showed that E-VAT is not the answer. All it did it just add to that tank called tax collection, and that law did not fix the leaks. With the leaks untended, they will grow large soon. And raising corporate income taxes while adding millions of reasons for tax deductions is somewhat ironic (see here, here, and here). Besides, the biggest loser in the E-VAT is not the big companies anyway, it is the people, the very same people that voted Recto out of the Senate.

Recto wanted to end (temporarily) his political career as a tragic hero who stood up for what is right. Unfortunately, for those who are burdened with the additional taxes, it is more a tragic end to someone who is probably not right.

But on a brighter note, he called on the Senate to hold the fort, since the Chacha Choochoo Train needs to be derailed again.

Masakit marahil para sa isang kampeon ang matalo. Ganyan kaya ang nararamdaman ni Emmanuel Pacquiao nang siya ay magapi sa nakaraang halalan?

Ayon sa mga marurunong, dapat alamin ng isang kawal kung kaya ba niyang lampasan ang isang gawain. Dapat alamin ng isang manlalaro kung sapat ba ang kanyang kakayahan upang magwagi sa isang timpalak pampalakasan. Dapat alamin ng isang pulitiko kung sapat na ba ang kanyang karanasan upang sumabak sa isang halalan. Hindi ito inisip ni Manny Pacquiao.

Marahil ay isang mabait na tao si Manny Pacquiao. Madaling makita ang sinseridad ng kampeon. Ngunit ito ang kanyang matinding kahinaan. Nagpagamit siya sa mga taong walang hinangad kung hindi ang magapi ang isang kasapi ng oposisyon.

Nakakalungkot basahin ang mga balita tungkol sa kanya pagkatapos ng halalan. Tulad na lamang ng balita na gumastos siya ng mahigit 140 milyong piso para sa kanyang kampanya. Pinangakuan siya ng mga taong nagpatakbo sa kanya na babayaran ang anumang gastusin nya sa kampanya; ngayon, hindi na niya mahagilap ang mga ito. Tapos, may dalawang tao ang nangakong tutulungan siya sa pagkampanya, at nanghingi ng kalahating milyong piso bilang paunang bayad. Ayun, naloko siya.

At eto pa, niloko rin yata siya ng mismong campaign manager niya.

Makikilala ang mga tunay na kaibigan sa panahon ng kabiguan at pangangailangan.

Isang masakit at napakamahal na aral ito para kay Pacquiao. Nawa ay matuto siyang kilalanin kung sino ang tunay na kaibigan at sino ang manggagamit lamang. Tama iyong mag-aral siya sa kolehiyo bilang paghahanda sa kanyang muling pagpasok sa pulitika. Sana nga lang ay huwag mawala ang kanyang kabaitan at pagiging matulungin sa kapwa.

It seems that Richard Gordon is angling for the 2010 presidential elections.

Have you seen his political advertisement? In case you don’t, he highlights the fact that he authored the Fair Elections Act of 2007, and lambasted Senators Aquilino Pimentel and Serge Osmeña for delaying the passage of the said law.

Sorry, Dick. I won’t vote for you (if you will run in 2010).

Aside from premature campaigning (and that goes the same to you, Mar Roxas), your advertisement leaves a bad taste to the mouth. And it sounds eerily similar to the “Gago ang oposisyon” ad made by Heaven knows who.

Second, the implementation of your pet law does not necessarily mean that cheating will be eliminated. On the contrary, all a determined cheater will do is to look at holes in whatever system that will be implemented, and exploit that hole to his advantage (and we have talent who can do those things).

Third, elections being a system, concentrating on automations per se is wrong. People is part of the system, and it is the weakest link in the system.

You are very much qualified, yes. But this advertisement is below the belt, foul, cheap, and handiwork of a trapo. Sorry. Your ad doesn’t work.

Sometimes, you wanted to write something, yet nothing comes to mind. Someone said that there are ways to get over the block; it is really a challenge to write when you can’t think of something.

As I end this trilogy of posts, I realized that the writer’s block is just a state of mind. You can always think of something to write. All you have to do is to think hard. Look around you. Type/write whatever comes to your mind. Read other’s works. Read stupid comments. Look at your ex’s picture. Remember the most shameful thing that you did in high school. Listen to cheesy love songs.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Sometimes, exchanging comments can be harrowing. Your intention is to engage people into an intelligent exchange of opinion; instead, you are barraged with unintelligent, blatantly fallacious attacks on your person.

Yet we have to tolerate them, since their fallacious, unintelligent opinions are guaranteed by the Constitution. We just hope that we do not stoop down to their level. It seems ignore mode doesn’t work anymore; it only makes these people more fired up and fire more unintelligent comments. It’s a never ending cycle.

Have you ever engaged in a flame war? What’s the feeling of having your person maligned? How do you deal with them?

Sometimes, we all wish that we can just forget about politics and get on with our life. In fact, it is easy, and some of us just tuned out of politics altogether. I can’t blame them.

This is a dangerous sentiment. This sentiment is actually a disguised form of indolence. Indolence that can lead to apathy. Apathy that is dangerous to democracy.

Alright, Mam Janette is already gawking over my shoulders.

I only have three blogs for consideration as of this moment for the project, so here we go.

FireEyedBoy – While his blog tends to be more on the personal side, Jeff V is also a techie. I consider his blog as influential because (1) he really writes well; (2) knows what he is talking about; and (3) he seems to be an affable man. His previous blog is unfortunately not very reader friendly due to the choice of colors; unfortunately, this blog is really tech-heavy, and I have to press Ctrl-A just to read them comfortably. Anyway he likes his Xbox 360 (while I am stuck at PS2 and GameCube). Recently, he seems to be busy in his other blogging gigs, and this blog is idle for a while.

Be Seen | Be Heard – Michael Gregg is a blogger at New Zealand, and his credentials are solid: former CEO of a telecommunications technology company, and now the director of a large advertising agency; he is an avid bowler, too. He blogs about the life in New Zealand and technology, plus he sponsors blog competitions from time to time. Curious about New Zealand? Go read.

Past Lives – I read Art Ilano’s recollections of his past because (1) it’s very entertaining; (2) a history lesson; (3) the way he uses words; and (4) his style is very simple yet effective. I really wanted to emulate the way he relates his experiences, although it can be unnerving for those he names nonchalantly.

I don’t have a top ten yet. I really need a lot of blogs to read and choose from. (I do read a lot of blogs, but most of them fail the date criteria). Again, you can nominate your blog (or someone else’s), as long as (1) the blog is not in existence prior to August 2006 and (2) you have the iron-clad rep to be considered influential. Number two’s a joke, of course. Leave the URL at the comments.

There’s a troubling pattern in Lintang Bedol’s non-appearance in the National Board of Canvassers. Maybe he’s really looking forward for a declaration of failure of elections in Maguindanao?

Maybe to make sure that the cheating will not be caught this time around?

It is really hard to take on an entire system by yourself.

Ask Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

Hailed by almost everyone as a good appointment to the discredited Commission on Elections, everyone expects him to bring credibility to an organization that has none (the same is said of Brawner and Ferrer – oh boy we are wrong).

At first I was afraid that he was appointed just for that – to bring credibility. The actions of that commission, however, show us that it is too much for one man to take on a bureacracy.

The warning signs were there. First, he was assigned to be in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao a month before the elections. Second, the Garci lieutenants were in place even before he could say “Bulaga”. Then, when charges of fraud in Maguindanao were raised, he was made head of the task force that will investigate the matter. And there’s the special elections in Lanao del Sur.

He should have seen the sandbags falling. He was given a loaded gun, and he didn’t know the bullet was for him.

Now, to “cap” his stint, he threw himself in the mud with his sad reaction to a news footage by ABS-CBN News showing blank election returns being transported to a hotel 1.5 kilometers away from Marawi City. By denying and then changing his mind, Sarmiento has tarnished his reputation.

Was everything a setup? Based on his initial reaction, he doesn’t know what’s going on. But the next one was pathetic. He knew by then that the system is working against him; instead of footing his foot down, he crumbled.

It can be said that it is a good thing he doesn’t know; at least, when he retires, he can say that he is not part of it. Unfortunately, ignorance is never a great excuse.

I cannot help but feel sorry for Sarmiento. Here is probably one good man defeated by a well-entrenched system. It is really hard for one man to take against an entire system.

—

We learned a lot of things from this episode. It seems that what happened in Lanao del Sur (the failure of elections in 13 towns, the special elections) happened for a reason. Whether it is to discredit one man (highly unlikely) or to make cheating possible (highly likely), the solution to the problem resides in the people in Mindanao.

MNLF and MILF people are clamoring for independence from the Philippines. The reason they failed is that they are barking at the wrong tree. They should free themselves from the culture and the warlords instead.

Also, it seems that Mindanao is not politically ready for autonomy. The political culture is not conducive for democracy.

We (here in Luzon) cannot do anything about the problem in Mindanao. What we can do is to tell our leaders here in Luzon to stop exploiting the kinks in Mindanao’s culture.

The real reason why I have decided to blog out-of-cycle is this news.

When I arrived home last night, my brother informed me that Team Unity seeks to have the votes in some cities and towns (including several cities and towns in Metro Manila) recanvassed. And earlier today I saw the report on TV, with Tonypet Albano, the eager-to-go-to-war senatorial candidate Miguel Zubiri, and Reli German in a press conference.

All I can say is this: Tonypet Albano is Rabadash the Ridiculous of the Philippines; he is making a donkey out of himself.

This statement from the news report states it all: Albano said a retabulation of CoCs would further delay the proclamation of winners.

Let’s dissect his ridiculous statements:

* “We’re just doing to them what they are doing to us. They are questioning how we swept Maguindanao. So we will also question them how they swept us in their bailiwicks like Makati and General Santos City.” Heck, Mr. Albano, the opposition has questioned the sweep in Maguindanao a week ago, when the “canvassing” in that province was “completed”. But you and your team, Mr. Albano, why now, only now, when the CoCs for these areas were already canvassed by Comelec? Unless, of course, the only goal is to delay the inevitable.

Besides, Namfrel has counted the votes in the areas Rabadash has mentioned, and there were no reported discrepancies.

* “If the Comelec granted the GO’s appeal, I don’t see why we should not be granted the same.” What appeal? The CoC in Maguindano was deferred because (1) Lintang Bedol failed to appear, and (2) the problems pointed out were too grave. The comment made by Bedol regarding allowing minors to vote does not help matters to your favor, Mr. Albano. Besides, even Namfrel has doubts about Maguindanao, so doubtful are the results that they have decided not to include Maguindanao in their quickcount. Again, the only obvious goal is to delay the impending victory of the opposition in the Senate race.

The petition for declaring a failure of elections in several cities and towns in Metro Manila is ridiculous. If Comelec grants the ridiculous petition, it should also declare a failure of elections in Maguindanao, in Lanao del Sur, in Davao. We might as well call for another, nationwide elections. That’s how ridiculous Albano is.

To anwer MLQ3‘s question, it is a delaying tactic. Maybe they are not yet finished tinkering down south.