To the victims of the World Trade Center Tragedy in New York, 9/11/2001

Requiescat in pace.

Mr. De Venecia and members-of-parliament-in-waiting-who-cannot-wait-to-be-MPs, Mr. Lambino et al in the Sigaw ng Malacanang, Bel Cunanan and members of the Fourth and a Half Estate, passengers of the Chacha Choochoo Train, ladies and gentlemen:

Since the dance craze right now is Chacha in the Choochoo Train, I might as well contribute my one centavo suggestions on what changes to the Charter should be made. Sigaw insists that 6 million Filipinos are for Chacha; I am not in that 6 million (but who knows? If the dead can sign, how much more to use some people’s name?), but I am invoking my right to express my opinion. And since I am not under the Executive Order 464 (or its replacement MO whatever), I will not invoke executive privilege and instead air my sentiments in the Internet.

The Sigaw PI calls for a unicameral parliamentary government. I will diverge a bit from that and instead suggest a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. We all know why Lambino et al are pushing for a unicameral parliament setup: to remove from the masses the power to elect the leader of this country. In short, to prevent an Estrada-like candidate from being elected the leader of this nation.

Lambino et al are being too bastos. I call for magnanimity. If you don’t like them, give them something so that they will do less damage and at the same time will make them happy. And what makes the masa happy? Why, telenovelas and reality shows! The giant TV stations always harp about the ratings of their offerings. Pinoys are fascinated with showbiz celebrities and the private lives of people with good looks. So, Mr. Lambino, please be magnanimous, be humble, and hear out my suggestion.

Let us change the Charter and adopt a constitutional monarchy. The monarch, whether king or emperor or prince or whatever we wish to call him, shall be selected from a pool of candidates, preferably twelve, who are to reside in Big Brother’s House for 100 days. Big Brother (I suggest Willie Revillame as Big Brother) shall nominate housemates for eviction, and the people will vote via SMS, and whoever gets the least votes shall be evicted from the house. The survivor shall reign as monarch of this country for as long as he lives, performing nominal duties that the Charter shall designate.

When the elected monarch dies, the parliament shall select another pool of candidates, and the process stated earlier is repeated. The TV station that shall carry the process shall be rotated amongst TV stations, in spirit of fair play.

I also suggest a bicameral parliament. Hear me out, Mr. Lambino, you will see why I suggest a bicameral parliament. Despite having a monarch, the masses will not be content electing a monarch. They will want more celebrities as leaders, and that’s where the bicameral setup begins. The parliament shall be divided into two houses, the Lowest House and the Nowhere House. The members of the Nowhere House shall be elected by the people for a 5-year term, elected at large, subject to reelection and without term limits. The only qualified people to be elected to the Nowhere House shall be movie stars, TV personalities, singers and dancers, announcers, basketball players, members of the Left and progressive groups, and rejects of reality TV shows. Their only duty is to attend the monarch’s court, pass resolutions granting titles of nobility to members of the Lowest House, assenting to the bills passed by the Lowest House, gives speeches condemning everyone, and other ceremonial duties.

The main legislative function shall be under the Lowest House. Upon ratification of the proposed amendments, the members of the House of Reprehensibles shall be automatically members of the Lowest House. The members shall have 5-year terms, elected by districts, without term limits, and campaign funds subsidized by the state.

The Lowest House shall elect amongst themselves the Prime Minister, who shall be the head of Government. He shall act as such unless removed by reason of death, incapacitation, or by a vote of no-confidence by the members of the Lowest House. The Prime Minister shall select the members of the Cabinet from anywhere, but preference should be given to the members of the Lowest House, members of the local fiefdoms, the local warlords and political lords, jueteng operators, from the middle class allied with the current dispensation, loyal military officers, and loyal business leaders.

I hope, Mr. Lambino, that you see the wisdom in these suggestions. They are win-win suggestions that will surely satisfy you and your like, and at the same time will not disenfranchise the masa. Surely, with everyone satisfied and minding their own business, the country will leapfrog into a prosperous, preposterous nation. And the masa will be happy with the monarch and members of the Nowhere House and make them apathetic enough, leaving us with the running of the government. The middle class should not be disgusted by these suggestions, either.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are my humble suggestions, and I am hoping you will adopt them. Thank you.

How the SC Should Decide on PI, IMO

In a comment that I had posted in the Dean’s blog entry, here’s my take on amendment and revision:

I agree with the Dean that in between Con-Ass and PI, the SC will probably side with PI.

Now with regards to amendments and revisions – the US Constitution was amended several times, but there was never a fundamental change in the form of government nor the way the US is governed (except that it safeguarded the rights of its citizens).

The words REVISE and AMEND are synonyms. I like these definitions (taken from Answers.com):

Amend – To prepare a new version of.

Revise – To prepare a new version of.

Those two are based on Answers.com’s take from the thesaurus provided by Houghton Mifflin Company.

The distinction, for me, is this:

If the changes made to the Constitution will greatly affect the way things are done or the country is governed, these are REVISIONS.

If the changes made are corrective in nature, additions to the provisions, and in the whole will not be drastic in nature, these are AMENDMENTS.

And hopefully the SC will see it that way too. The Sigaw PI should never see the light of day. It is never the initiative of the people.

Cayetano v. Arroyo – Proxy Battle for 2007?

In Schumey’s blog post for today, I commented:

Forum shopping! Forum shopping!

But wait! Maybe it was a trap! Maybe the fools called Arroyos fell into a well-conceived trap!

Now Cayetano has two possible fora to present his “evidence”. Strike the Ethics Committee and the entire House of Reprehensibles out. It will just railroad the process as we had seen the Bastusang Pambansa did three times in two years.

Now, about the libel case. I am also pessimistic about it. Remember Jinggoy’s libel case that was slapped by Mike Arroyo? The judge in that case ISSUED A FREAKING WARRANT OF ARREST! Congress is in session, and the judge dared having a senator arrested! For libel! Either that judge is STUPID, or that judge is friendly to Arroyo (that’s saying it nicely, I could have said “paid by Arroyo”).

Now, I will not be surprised if an arrest warrant is also issued against Cayetano. And De Venecia will probably never do a Villar.

The House is probably afraid of 2007. Probably not. They can always do a Garci, comelecAko notwithstanding.

And I will not be surprised if after May 2007, we will see the same idiots in the Bastusang Pambansa.

Strong Republic That Never Was

Today’s Inquirer headline speaks about three murders yesterday. But there’s more to that.

Remember the Strong Republic gimmick? Back when Gloria Arroyo was almost booted out of the Fortress by the Pasig, she tried to show that she had everything in control. Her Propaganda Department led by Herr Toting Bunye even produced a video showing how a wide spectrum of society (from the left to the right to the middle) conspired to overthrow Arroyo. She paraded every supporter that she could get just to show who’s in power.

That Strong Republic was belied by a systemic failure in protecting the citizens of this country. Imagine: “317th activist among 748 civilians killed since 2001 by suspected security forces”, as Inquirer reported. That doesn’t include citizens killed by random acts of violence and crime. You call that a Strong Republic, Herr Bunye? Or maybe it is an undeclared State Policy, Herr Bunye?

At least, Hitler and Goebbels were honest to state their intentions, no? What about your leader, Herr Bunye?

It also shows that Gloria Arroyo, CEO of the Strong Republic, has failed in the fulfillment of her duties. She has failed the stockholders who appointed her – the citizens who voted for her. Or was she elected at all?

If she cannot protect the citizens, she has failed in her duty. She has betrayed the trust of the people. Her minions in the House of Reprehensibles cannot see that.

An Opposition Senate in the Offing – Not?

The reasons for all the efforts to amend/revise the Charter, either via PI or Con-Ass (the era of Macapagal-Arroyo is really into funny acronyms), is to ensure that Arroyo remains in the Fortress until (at least) 2010, if not forever. The current Con-Ass/PI is custom-tailored to (1) ensure that a pro-Gloria proxy will be Prime Minister after her; (2) ensure that her allies in the House of Reprehensibles and in the gullible LGUs remain in the posts; and (3) to prevent an opposition-led Senate.

It is important for her that her allies remain in the House; it is important to prevent an opposition shutout of her candidates in the 2007 senatorial elections. Failure in both cases will ensure that she will be booted out of the Fortress by the Pasig.

In a blog post, John Nery highlighted a Pulse Asia survey on Pinoy’s senatorial preferences. The results had probably scared Arroyo so much. I would have been.

Currently, the following individuals end up within the winning circle of 12 senators: (1) former Senator Legarda (48.6%); (2) Senator Francis N. Pangilinan (39.0%); (3) Senator Panfilo M. Lacson (34.9%); (4) Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr. (34.2%); (5) Senator Ralph G. Recto (33.1%); (6) former Senator Vicente C. Sotto III (31.0%); (7) Atty. Aquilino Pimentel III (29.9%); (8) Taguig-Pateros Representative Alan Peter S. Cayetano (29.5%); (9) former Senator Greogorio B. Honasan (27.7%); (10) San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito-Estrada (23.8%); (11) Ilocos Norte Representative Imee R. Marcos (23.1%); and (12) former Senator John Henry Osmeña (22.7%).

Given the survey’s margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, the following probable senatorial candidates also have a statistical chance of winning: (1) Tarlac Representative Benigno C. Aquino III (21.8%); (2) Senator Luisa P. Estrada (21.7%); (3) Senator Joker P. Arroyo (21.0%); (4) Senator Edgardo J. Angara (20.9%); (5) House Minority Floor Leader Francis G. Escudero (20.2%); (6) former Senator Francisco S. Tatad (18.9%); (7) Presidential Chief of Staff Michael T. Defensor (18.7%); and (8) Muntinlupa Representative Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon (18.5%).

No wonder Gloria and her henchmen wanted the Senate abolished so badly.

Yeah, I know, these issues are stale already, but I have time only now to comment on them:

• A friend from Tacloban sent me a text message one day, asking to check if the news that there was a leak in the Nursing board exams was true. He sounded sad; afterall, he passed the exams, and is in the top twenty.

  A lot of people wanted a lot of different things to happen – invalidate part of or the entire exams, retake, rolling of heads – to the point that the real issue was buried. My personal take on the issue is simple – no retake. Retaking is punishing the innocent, which is unjust. The best course of action is to find out who leaked what to whom, and heads of those found guilty should roll.

  And ironic that a person accused of lying acts on the issue – no retake. No recount, too.

• The House of Reprehensibles – a conglomeration of Gloria Arroyo’s defenders – finally got served by the way the Fortress by the Pasig treats a co-equal branch. Their own investigation was snubbed the Fortress’ own people. Imagine, their benefactor snubbing them! Serves them right!

  The Senate should feel smug and tell those fools at the Bastusang Pambansa: told you so.

• The Legion that is Sigaw ni Gloria at mga Kampon has finally cast the die, filed their container van-full of questionable signatures at the questionable Commission on Selection, er, Elections. The opponents of the stupid Cha-cha called for the junking of the obviously-fake initiative. Comelec is taking its sweet time on the issue.

  Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House recently announced that he was two signatures shy, and based on his view on the matter, Congress will be convened as a Constituent Assembly real soon. Arroyo and her minions are really hell-bent on changing the form of government.

  Some people had already commented on this, and I agree. The game plan, really, is to throw away the 2007 elections. In the ideal world, both houses of Congress will turn opposition, and that will be detrimental to Arroyo’s stay at the Fortress. So to prevent that eventuality, the elections should be scrapped, and the only way to do that is to tinker with the Constitution.

  The scary thought is that what if the moves to alter the Charter fail? The elections will push through, and that will be checkmate. But knowing Arroyo’s ability to foresee everything, I think she will not hesitate to do a Garci, again.

  And the fact that the PNP’s war against jueteng is taking the backseat (as speculated by John Nery, Arroyo is prepared for any eventuality. Even satisfying the jueteng lords is not out of her playbook. She will really do everything to save her stay at the Fortress.

• So, impeachment is dead. While One Voice and other orgs are busy stopping the Chacha Choochoo Train, I hope some groups will stand up and start the grueling campaign to have the people (or their proxy) at my Wall of Shame defeated in next year’s elections. Also, to ensure that the elections is clean. Namfrel, sadly, is in tatters, its reputation damaged (beyond repair, if you ask me, unless it makes amends). Who will guard the elections?
• The Guimaras oil spill only shows how poor we are in the enforcement of laws and safety standards. While there is a law disallowing the use of single-hulled vessels in transporting oil, here we have a single-hulled vessel hired by Petron (ironically, the government has a minority stake in the oil company) to transport oil.

  After the cleanup (which should be jointly funded by the owner of the vessel and Petron), criminal liabilities should be acted upon, those guilty should be punished according to law, and single-hulled oil carriers should be banned forever. But knowing the way law works here (and having a senile and insane Secretary of inJustice), these are just dreams.

For their shameful deeds the last week, their names are in my own Wall of Shame.

See them here. If you’re congressman is on this list, please boot them out next year.

As expected (and as blogged before in this space), this year’s impeachment was dead even before it was conceived. We saw it murdered and autopsied. Now, we are witnessing the pre-burial ceremonies at the Bastusang Pambansa – the House of Reprehensibles are in plenary session to decided on the Committee on Injustice’s report on the 2006 impeachment complaint.

MLQ3 is live-blogging the event, using a variety of sources (radio, TV, even text messaging!). Based on the 6:05PM entry, it is an exciting scene, with the usual hakot crowds, and even free sandwiches for the audience (and seed money is at Php40,000!).

I will try to make comments tomorrow. By then, the grave’s been filled with soil, and the wake begins, which is a great time to talk about the dead complaint.

Long live the rule of law!

I did not see the so-called State of the Nation Address of Gloria Arroyo. My time was better spent on reading, and besides, bloggers would surely pounce on it. An excellent representative is, as always, MLQ3, in a post here and here. The second post links to other blog entries, so you might want to check it out.

I’d rather post here a SONA that a certain someone might have delivered if he was President (heaven forbid!):

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Senate President, Mr. Speaker of the House, Mr. Chief Justice, members of Congress, Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corp, honored guests:

I will not express my thanks to anybody since I believe all of you are part of the problem of this nation. But I’d rather concentrate on has-beens who are just making noises.

This nation does not want to hear from destabilizers. The people are tired of your shenanigans, and the silent majority will rather move on and work towards progress. You are just noisy has-beens, and this nation will be greatly relieved if you are silenced. Therefore, I am directing the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police to investigate, prosecute, and jail destabilizers and enemies of the country. For this purpose, I am allocating two billion pesos.

I also call on Congress to pass a bill that will waive the Bill of Rights, specifically those that apply on arrests, so that these destabilizers and noisemakers can be brought to justice. But since the Senate will rather impede progress, I’d rather issue an executive order for this purpose.

I am issuing this warning to the enemies of the State: I will not hesitate in using the full force of the law to crush you. You have long been destabilizing my government, and it is time to end your reign of terror. The silent majority is already exasperated and will only be glad to get rid of you.

I am putting into high priority the change in the form of government, so that the obstructionist Senate will be forever eradicated. This will also empower the true representatives of the people, which are derogatively designated as members of the Lower House. I commend the House for its efficiency in passing laws. The House has passed a total of 100 bills out of 1000000 bills filed, and I congratulate the House leadership for expediting the passage of crucial bills, such as the increase in taxes to fund pork barrel allocations and renaming streets, schools, and airports using names of my family members.

I am also allowing an increase in pork barrel allocations. This is to make the representatives of the people happy. If they are happy, then the people that they represent are happy, too. I will never impede the happiness of the people, who have suffered for a long time from elitists and the so-called civil society.

This government will no longer pursue the automation of our election system, for two reasons. First, there is no allocation for it, since the obstructionist Senate had derailed the budget that this government had submitted. Second, there is nothing wrong with the system, since I won the elections fair and square. The system works, and thus no change is needed.

We are on the fast track to progress, destabilizers notwithstanding. This is all because of the steadfastness of this government, and the apathy of the people. Now, I will outline the steps that this government will take to continue our path towards progress.

For a long time, Imperial Manila have the hegemony over the affairs of the State. It is time for this hegemony to end. I am therefore dividing the country into five fiefdoms, each having more powers and free from the control of Imperial Manila. I will remain as President, and the heads of these fiefdoms will report and will be responsible to me directly.

Also, this government will concentrate on fund-generating projects, such as building bridges that lead to nowhere, roads that are overpriced, fertilizer to highly-urbanized cities, and other such activities.

I will ask Congress to increase the RVAT from 12% to 15%. Together with congressmen, we have planned a lot of projects, and these will need funds. The increase in RVAT will be enough to cover for all the projects. I ask the Filipino to sacrifice once more for the greater good. Afterall, the people will benefit in the long term.

I will not tackle issues regarding education and health, since there are no fundamental problems in these areas.

I have brought home the displace OFWs from Lebanon. But don’t worry, the unemployment rate will not increase, since these OFWs don’t fall on the definition of unemployment. Besides, there are jobs awaiting for them at Libya, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. The Departments of Labor and Foreign Affairs will see to it that the unemployment rate stays that way.

We will continue to develop our primary export – our citizens as cheap labor. I am ordering the concerned agencies to research on the labor needs of foreign countries, and train our citizens so that we can export them to these countries. I am proud of our OFWs, those who work as caregivers, domestic helpers, and the like.

I am also directing CHED and TESDA to phase out non-performing courses such as liberal arts and law, and instead compel schools to offer in-demand courses, specially those that will cater to call centers and business process outsourcing companies. These companies generate most jobs. We need to fill in these vacancies. We need to be competitive. I want this country to be known as the support capital of the world.

And to my political enemies: pick the fight, and Manny Pacquiao is game to face all of you. But why waste time? I know you cannot afford Manny’s prize purse, so forget it. Why not join me instead? I promise you that your districts/constituencies will benefit.

I have defeated my enemies, which are the enemies of this country. We are now a nation that is prosperous and united. Thank you.

The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, damaged as it was in history, is one of the institutional casualties of Gloria Arroyo’s War To Keep Herself in Power. The Fortress by the Pasig has done well, using classic tactics to damage whatever reputation is left out of the Church.

The relationship between Arroyo and the Church started amiable enough. One of the pillars of EDSA 2 and she the recipient of that premeditated and premature action (legally), the crack began showing in the tumultous year that is 2004. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines at that time concluded that the elections were clean and peaceful, contrary to the popular belief. By being implicitly complicit with Arroyo, the Church’s reputation has somehow been tarnished.

The impeachment fiasco of 2005 showed no improvement on the outlook of the Church. While the CBCP called for a search for the truth, many felt that the pastoral statement issued back then fell short of what it was expected to say. Then there was a change in leadership of CBCP. The outgoing president of that group was seen to be an Arroyo apologist, and there was hope that the new president would be a better replacement. Also in this year, Arroyo and the Church were drifting away from each other.

This year, which is fast becoming a repeat of last year, the Fortress has utilized a two-prong approach on how to neutralize the Church’s influence on the public. Basically, the Fortress’ aim is to further reduce the public’s trust on the Church as an institution. The attacks are either subtle or brazen, or both.

First, it courted the support of the bishops by doling out cash and other help in the runup to the CBCP plenary this month. Many bishops came out in the open, decried the obvious bribery ploy, and condemned such a foul attempt. Many bishops also saw nothing wrong with the doleouts. Thus, the plenary was divided on how to come up with a pastoral statement. The idea of a consensus, to me, is more of a compromise than a true consensus. And we will probably never know the effect of the doleouts in the voting at the CBCP plenary. You know what happened next.

Second, those who refused the doleouts and seen as against Arroyo are painted as destabilizers. The instruments of these attacks – the NBI, Raul Gonzalez, Lawrence San Juan, disgruntled jueteng witnesses – claim that several bishops are in cahoots with destabilizers. While most of the bishops deny the accusations, the damage has been done.

The disunity of the princes of the Church reflects the division of our society, and the evolution of our social norms and values. And the net effect of the two-prong approach is the tarnishing of the reputation of the Church as an institution. The Fortress has shown that if it cannot coopt an institution, it will rather reduce it to disrespute. It has coopted the Congress, the Comelec, the military, the civil society. And while it has coopted some members of the CBCP, it cannot stifle the opposition. Thus the attack on the reputation of the Church as a whole.

Joc-joc Bolante was arrested in LA. When he asked the Fortress by the Pasig to help him with the bail bond, the Fortress refused. Uh oh.

Talk of the town is the newest pastoral statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Most of the documents were expected, but what had sent people speculating and gesticulating is the part on the impeachment. The controversial part is this:

We are undoubtedly for the search for truth. (But) we are not inclined at the present moment to favor the impeachment process as the means for establishing the truth. For unless the process and its rules as well as the mindsets of all participating parties, pro and con, are guided by no other motive than genuine concern for the common good, impeachment will once again serve as an unproductive political exercise, dismaying every citizen, and deepening the citizen’s negative perception of politicians, left, right and center. (as quoted from PCIJ blog)

This has been misread, and the CBCP had to do a press conference just to clarify the message. So almost all news bannered “CBCP not supporting impeachment”.

I have only two comments on this matter. One, the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, as represented by the CBCP, is a skeptical Church, untrusting the political institutions that could have brought about the truth behind the uncertainties of our times. It is somehow a representation of how the majority (how big is this majority I do not know) views our political institutions, which is also expounded by One Voice. But the wording of its statement, instead of clarifying has instead left a lot of people in confusion. Many thought that the bishops were trying to please everybody, but ended up pushing nothing on the table. Its members were even accused of being bought off by the Fortress by the Pasig.

So to clarify: the Church is not inclined to support the impeachment given the same circumstances that had brought the impeachment to the garbage bin last year still exists; thus the truth will never come out in such an activity.

Which leads me to my second comment: the statement is a BIG implied insult against the House of Representatives and the Congress as a whole. For if it was a credible and trustworthy body, the Church would have not said it that way. But it is there, represented by the clause “For unless the process and its rules as well as the mindsets of all participating parties, pro and con, are guided by no other motive than genuine concern for the common good“. Very, very clear. Very, very clever.

In a previous post, I had speculated that the current impeachment will end up like last year, and pragmatically called for anti-Arroyo groups to campaign for an impeachment Congress in the elections next year. Nothing will come up with the current Congress, and it seems that the CBCP shares this view.

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I failed to see Manolo Quezon’s The Explainer. I was watching the reformatted ANC yesterday, and I was wondering about that show. When I arrived at the office, I found out through a blog post about the show. And the fact that the Dean was a guest, I was very disappointed. And since I slept here in the office today, I failed to see the replay.

MLQ3 presented the links to the materials shown in the show in a blog post, and I think it was a very good play on convergence between a TV show and a blog. In a reply to a comment, he expressed reservations about the legal exposure of ABS-CBN about The Explainer blog. I think what he means is that what information can he post on the blog that will not conflict with ABS-CBN’s copyright. But I think what he did with that blog post is the right thing to do: post the links to the materials used, and let the user read them as they please.