I was sitting all by myself, enjoying a double espresso, when I saw Phil at a table across me. I waved him over.
“Phil! What are you doing here in the Philippines?”
“2010 man, I want to be part of it,” he replied.
“You’re going to vote?”
“Yup, and campaign, too.”
“For whom?”
“Noynoy.”
“He’s the one,” I said.
“Yes he is. But I ran into my friend Beavis and he told me I’m making a big mistake,” Phil said.
“So who does Beavis support, the convicted plunderer, the ethically challenged billionaire senator, or the Cabinet secretary who promises more of the same?”
“He didn’t say. All he said was he didn’t like Noynoy. Anyway, he gave me a book he said would change my mind about Noynoy.”
“What’s in that book?”
“It’s supposed to be a well-documented account of the excesses of Cory Aquino.”
“Beavis thinks he can bring down Noynoy by promoting a book that slimes Cory?”
“He doesn’t see it that way. He says he’s doing his patriotic duty.”
“Pissing on Cory’s grave is patriotic? Show me the book.”
The book was written by Cecil Arillo, camp follower and chronicler of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, a cabal of soldiers that holds the all-time record for staging the most number of failed coups.
“Have you finished reading it?”
“No, I haven’t started, why?”
“Some passages are marked,”
“Beavis marked them for me.”
“Ah, okay. How about I read you the marked passages?”
“Sure,” he said.
And so I read.
“In many instances, President Aquino may have been worse than Marcos. She also ruled by decree [by virtue of a revolutionary government that was suddenly in place], abolished the 1973 Constitution, violated human rights and betrayed the Filipino people.”
I saw Phil’s eyes turn into saucers before coffee went shooting out of his nose and onto my shirt.
“May I continue?” I asked, pretending I didn’t mind the coffee stains on my new shirt.
“Please do,” he said.
“Aquino built a complex of overpasses in Metro Manila that only constricted some of the major arteries.”
Phil burst out laughing, “Stop fooling around, read from the book!”
“I am reading from the book! Here’s another gem.”
“When President Aquino addressed the US Congress in 1986, she missed a historic opportunity to ask the US government to write off the $26.3-billion indebtedness that the Marcos regime had bequeathed to her administration.”
“Marcos owed the US government $26.3 billion?”
“No. The US government didn’t lend $26.3 billion to the Marcos regime. ”
“Then why slam Cory for not asking the US Congress to forgive a $26.3 billion debt not owed it?”
“The next excerpt will answer your question,” I said.
“Other similarly distressed countries such as Poland and Egypt had asked for, and were granted, a write-off.”
Phil raised his voice, “But that’s entirely different! The US government was the creditor of Poland and Egypt, it was in a position to forgive their debts!”
“Hey, it’s my voice but it’s Arillo doing the talking!” I shouted back.
“Sorry buddy.”
“Here’s something that will amuse you.”
“…her regime left a paper trail that revealed its own scandals and corruption. Remember the ‘Rela-thieves’ and ‘Kamag-anaks Inc.’ exposed by Doy Laurel, then her own vice president?”
“Really?” Phil asked.
“The question is, kaya ba niyang panindigan ang sinabi niya? Can Arillo cite any congressional investigation, any complaint lodged with the Ombudsman, or any impeachment filed as a result of graft, corruption, extortion or plunder by Cory or any of her relatives?”
I added, “Sure, some of Cory’s relatives were trapo; but they were not plunderers. Were there scandals like Centennial Expo, BW Resources or ZTE-NBN during Cory’s time?”
“Well you know what they say, where there’s smoke there’s fire,” Phil teased.
“True, but in this case the smoke you see is blowing out of Arillo’s behind.”
I read another excerpt.
“…she threw out all the worthwhile infrastructure and economic programs of Marcos and branded them all as the handiwork of the devil. She mothballed the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant [BNPP], for example.”
“Be grateful,” said Phil.
“Why?”
“You can argue about the safety of nuclear power plants but there is no argument over radioactive waste disposal. Every country with a nuclear power plant is faced with that unsolvable problem. What are you going to do with BNPP’s spent radioactive fuel rods?”
“The rods can be sold to Ahmadinejad and Kim,” I joked.
“Or you can stick them up your rear end,” he retorted.
“Do you want to hear more excerpts?”
“No more crap for me today, thanks.”
Before we parted, I told Phil to remind his friend Beavis that it’s okay to be against Noynoy and to campaign against him, but it’s not okay to bring him down by sliming his dead mother.
“Tell Beavis anyone who does that is beneath contempt,” I said
Popularity: 4% [?]
MB,
You may tell Noynoy the good news now. Gloria’s people flocking to Villar’s camp, which means Villar is the annointed one. I mourn for Gibo, and Villar, too.
Gibo is also the scapegoat for GMA’s incompetence during the flood crisis.
Bert,
the good news is the latest poll by sws. it just came out! SWS
Noynoy 60%
Villar 37%
Erap 18%
Just asking.
When you add up those figures, they are more than 100 percent.
punona,
you’re correct. Noynoy’s name was written by 1080 out of 1800 resspondents. Villar got 666 out of 1080 and so forth and so on.
kasi SWS asked 1800 respondents to NAME 3 choices kaya yan ang lumabas. It will not total a hundred percent nga.
Read the results as 67% of 1800, 37% of 1800, 18% of 1800 and so forth and so on kasi there is no subtraction going on here
60% of 1,800 is 1,080
37% of 1,800 is 666
18% of 1,800 is 324
_____________________
That’s a total 2,070
If 1,080 people are for Noynoy
666 people are for Villar
324 people are for Erap
That’s a total of 2,070 people surveyed, not 1,800.
My turn to scratch my head.
Bert,
The way I read it is out of 1800, 1060 wrote Noynoy.
666 out of the same 1800 wrote villar. 324 out of the same 1800 wrote Erap and so forth. Noynoy did not appear in 720 ballots, Villar in 1134 and erap in 1476. In the same way that i didn’t total the votes for different candidates, i did not total the number of ballots were their names didn’t appear.
But I don’t know if that’s the way to make sense out of the numbers
MB, when the Pinas defaulted on her foreign debt and the Philippine debt was selling for .20 to .30 cents on the dollar in the secondary market already who were the geniuses who told Cory to declare that we would stand by all our debts?
Was it because a select few with Jobo had already been buying Philippine debt paper at those steep discounts? Those scoundrels who masterminded this scam should be exposed and shot.
That was the most egregious case of barbarism and plunder that this country had ever experienced.
You talk of kicking a gutting a person when he is down. Marcos was a man made calamity on this country.
Cory’s people placed a burden on this country to enrich themselves that we are paying for till today and will continue to pay for.
Now those same people have the gall to come out and rally around the clueless son.
How could you be so stupid!
J_AG,
Who do you rally behind?
Joe
Joe I only vote up to the level of city mayor. The rest of the bunch are useless.
Take a good look at those scammers at the BSP.
If they want to keep the peso weak do so with a long term plan for development. But to support consumption from OFW remittances is a sad excuse for intervention in the exchange markets.
Fiat currencies are creation of a nations state law. It is a major tool of mercantilist policy to keep ones currency weak. But to use it simply to promote consumption is nuts in a third world country.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20091013-229904/BSP-intervenes-in-forex-market-to-halt-peso-rise
BSP intervenes in forex market to halt peso rise
By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: October 13, 2009
MANILA, Philippines–The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been intervening in the foreign exchange market in the past few days to prevent a sharp appreciation of the peso, making sure the increase in consumption is maintained to help prop up the economy.
This was according to market sources, who said that without the BSP intervention, the peso could have been much stronger than its closing values since last week.
“Yes, the BSP has been intervening in the trading,” said one trader who asked not to be named.
A market analyst, who also talked on condition of anonymity, said the central bank was avoiding a sharp appreciation of the peso to encourage households dependent on remittances from family members working overseas to spend more.
“One-third of spending by Filipino households is supported by remittances. A weaker exchange rate will be beneficial to OFW families because this will increase their spending power,” the analyst said.
Jag,
I suppose the Philippines was in a position to repudiate its debt because its dollar reserves were overdflowing and it could afford to transactact business in cash.
It’s one thing to miss a debt payment because you were cash short when the due date came but it’s entirely different when you tell your creditors you won’t pay.
In the former, a creditor will cut you some slack. In the latter, who will lend money to someone who does not honor his debts?
Did you expect the Philippines to go to the Paris Club and tell them,
“We’re not paying Marcos’ debts; that’s a loss you have to absorb. Now let’s talk about you lending us more money so we can stand again.”
You’re saying MB, she was right when she told the US Congress, we’ll pay what we owed?
“Was it because a select few with Jobo had already been buying Philippine debt paper at those steep discounts? Those scoundrels who masterminded this scam should be exposed and shot.”
Is this true?
and please can someone approve my new gravatr, under Brian_B?
BrianB,
“Was it because a select few with Jobo had already been buying Philippine debt paper at those steep discounts? Those scoundrels who masterminded this scam should be exposed and shot.”
That has been bandied about. Funny thing is no one bothered to investigate it, not congress, not the ombudsman, not even investigative journalists.
If you have any info on the matter please share it with us.
MB, in case you forgot your economic history the U.S. banks recycled petro dollars to the then emerging markets during the late 70′s.
The Iran revoltuion happened and oil prices then hit $80 a barrel. Carter brought in Volker and during the early years of the 80′s he raised the overnite rate to 14% and prime lending rates in the U.S. hit 20% per anum.
He crushed inflation and with it the then emerging markets who borrowed money to fund export projects.
By 1982 till 83 the Philippines slowly saw a drop in export earnings and ran out of dollars. (Officially)
By that time bank paper on Philippine loans was worth .20 cents to .30 cents to the dollar. Philippine government then took over the Binondo Central bank (black market). Our local banks were busted. Did the country disappear during those years? Was there a major catastrophe?
Instead Jobo floated his bonds that paid 40% per anum to attract money back into the banking system.
Instead of allowing the then large private banks in the U.S. to go under we agreed to make the dollar our reserve currency even for our domestic credit markets.
The U.S. government then securtized those private bank loans by forcing us to borrow money and then buying U.S. treasuries to be used as security for those so called Brady bonds.
Do you realize that the Filipino taxpayer together with the taxpayers of the then emerging economies saved those same private banks that brought the world to the brink of another depression last year?
We dollarized our economy and liberalized our capital accounts. By 1990 that same debt paper had reached .80-.90 cents on the dollar.
You talk about believing in the market economy. Why did we not let those foreign banks go under?
You talk about being a sovereign country but once you give up the power to create your own currency you are no longer economically and politically sovereign.
If you do not trust your own government you give up sovereignty to correct that problem?
How insane is that?
Pariah nation,
alliteration,
The Philippines, the pariah of Asian,
not the Pearl of the Orient,
for sure,
with a sense of personal responsibility that says,
yeah,
okay, walk away from our promise to pay.
Promises mean nothing to a Filipino,
Always an excuse. Always.
eh?
Joe
J_AG,
I repeat the question that arises naturally from your statement:
“Now those same people have the gall to come out and rally around the clueless son.”
Who do you rally behind?
Or are you simply inclined to tear down others rather than put your own butt at risk?
Joe
Jag,
“By that time bank paper on Philippine loans was worth .20 cents to .30 cents to the dollar. Philippine government then took over the Binondo Central bank (black market). Our local banks were busted. Did the country disappear during those years? Was there a major catastrophe?”
No. The country limped along and then decided enough was enough and overthrew Marcos!
“Instead of allowing the then large private banks in the U.S. to go under we agreed to make the dollar our reserve currency even for our domestic credit markets.”
The US banking system would not have collapsed if we unilaterally repudiated our debts.
And by the way, are you not admitting not that the debts were owed to private banks and not the US government? So Cory was correct not to ask the US Government for debt forgiveness!
“Do you realize that the Filipino taxpayer together with the taxpayers of the then emerging economies saved those same private banks that brought the world to the brink of another depression last year?”
In a way, yes. Things would have been different if all those emerging economies were able to get together and formed a debtors’ block, spoke as one, and forced the banks to some sort of a mutually beneficial deal. But that didn’t happen. They couldn’t get together because everybody knew that the block would only be as strong as the weakest link and they knew the pressures and rewards that a breakaway country would be under and receive. Now will you also lay down blame for the failure to form a debtors’ bloc on Cory’s feet?
“Was it because a select few with Jobo had already been buying Philippine debt paper at those steep discounts? Those scoundrels who masterminded this scam should be exposed and shot.”
Where can I read more info regarding this, please?
When the Philippines issued Brady Bonds during the Aquino administration it opted for the bond type of PAR in exchange for a lower interest rate.
supremo,
Brady Bonds was a “debt or interest refief” program for the entire world. Low interest payments were what we needed
“Low interest rates were what Pinas needed.” Agreed!
As to what Cory could have done : Baratan was always an option. When all-or-nothing ain’t available, then refuse 100-on-the-dollar by offering 75-cents or 85-cents on the dollar. Now lenders don’t want to appear weak by forgiving principal owed — a common remedy was full-percent, half-percent or quarter-percent interest rate drops.
Asking for relief was available to Cory but history said it did not happen. Cory had a chance(in her first year in office) to ask USA government to be a guarantor-of-sorts to portions if not all the debt, then using such a guarantee to obtain half-percent or quarter-percent interest rate reduction. And for sure, the USA government could have leaned on the holders of the Bataaan-paper to give a discount (either on the principal or on the interest rate).
—————–
Hindsight and Monday morning quarterbacking. Fun stuff!
But Cory had options available to her.
UP n grad,
Argentina chose to have par and discount Brady bonds. The rest of Latin America chose discount.
The US did not guarantee Brady bonds. Read below.
‘The principal on some Brady bonds is collateralized by US Treasury zeros. This
means that when the Brady bond was issued, the issuing country purchased a US
Treasury zero that matures on the same date as the Brady obligation. The zero is
held in escrow at the Federal Reserve. The collateralized Brady bond holder knows
that at maturity, a third-party paying agent will receive a payment from the US
Government that will be used to pay back the principal on the Brady bond.’
One of the items that a few folks hold against Cory is her policy on agrarian reform. Here is a cut-and-paste from a December 2008 article by Carlos Conde, with title Cory Aquino’s Betrayal.
http://www.pinoypress.net/2008/12/24/cory-aquino%E2%80%99s-betrayal/
Noynoy (as well as Villar, Gibo and Erap) also have to be thoroughly questioned what their plans are regarding agrarian reform. To Noynoy, the questions are (1) can he leave behind his landlord-history, and (2) what he will do different from what Cory had done when she was president. To Gibo and Villar, the question is what, if any, will they do different from GMA’s agrarian policies.
Noynoy has also made “…recover Marcos wealth” a linchpin of his administration were he to be elected president. Cory, Erap, FVR, Erap and GMA all had “..recover Marcos wealth” as action items, and none of them were particularly effective. [Pinas brought suspicions and rumors; Pinas could not provide material required by banking and legal authorities of Switzerland and other countries.]
What will Noynoy do differently so that “…recover Marcos wealth” becomes other than a slogan for campaigning and getting votes?
UP n Grad,
The recovery process has to be done through the courts as you very well know. The court’s time is longer than ordinary time because the timekeepers are lawyers.
All that Noynoy can do to speed up recovery is to appoint honest and qualified people in the PCGG, the OSG, the Ombudsman, and the Sandigan.
UP n,
Perhaps Noynoy schooled under US conservative republicans, who believe the truth of what you say matters not, only winning matters.
Joe
“All that Noynoy can do to speed up recovery is to appoint honest and qualified people in the PCGG, the OSG, the Ombudsman, and the Sandigan.”
I believe Salonga is honest and qualified. Did this make a difference?
The CARP was not done through a presidential decree, it went through the House and the Senate. So the law that was passed was the handiwork of all not of one.
There was a Land Reform Law passed during Diosdado Macapagal’s time how did it fare? Marcos issued a land reform decree during martial law, how did that fare?
One of the biggest problems with land reform is compensation those whose lands are being taken away. No government, from the 60′s up to today, has the funds to pay for all those lands. Should government just confiscate lands and redeistribute them to tenants? If it were to do that, there would still be a problem, how will it finance all the farm inouts? The tenant owners will have land but, as everyone knows, they have no cash.
The Carp is flawed, granted. But under the circumstances, between the forces at play in Congress and in the administration itself and the impossibility of fully funding the program, it is still better than no CARP law at all.
MB,
Really superb point. Land has little value in the short term, but marvelous value over the long haul. CARP falls apart when it tries to fairly assign long term value to a near-term transaction. The government can’t carry it off, and give the landowners what the land is worth, long term. So the landowners balk.
Thanks for the light bulb on this point.
Joe
Where did you learn your financial economics MB?
No funds for inputs. Why do they call it asset reform. The creation of credit is a power given by the state to a financial institution against future production. It is simply a promise. Asset reform in the agricultural sector is part and parcel of a structural adjustment internally. It is part of a long term policy framework that should be integrated with the other critical sectors of the economy.
It is not simply giving land away.
Jag,
“Where did you learn your financial economics MB?”
Eh wot?
Reality is there are no funds available so how can they be made available?
The land-reformed land owner wants cash for his property immediately so he can reinvest it in another line of business.
The tenant who was awarded land wants cash to buy farm inputs so he can start planting. He is also relying on the government to provide irrigation canals and farm to market roads.
The needs of both the land reformed landowner and the newly landed tenant are immediate.
Did your textbooks tell you how a country whose currency is not the reserve currency of the world can create money out of thin air? Does the country simply pull cash out of its impoverished ass?
Where you playing hookie when the textbook discussed how exactly Japan, Korea, and Taiwan addressed the issue of cash – landlords were given stock options in government owned corporations – invest or perish.
Where you playing hookie when the textbook discussed how exactly Japan, Korea, and Taiwan addressed the issue of cash – farmers had SUPERVISED credit facilities. I disagree that there is no money. The money is there but your landlord and politico friends are still trying to figure out how to keep that money just to themselves – the farmers be damned.
“The CARP was not done through a presidential decree, it went through the House and the Senate. So the law that was passed was the handiwork of all not of one.”
May I ask who was the House Speaker during that time?
BongV,
like I said the landlord’s wanted cash not stock’s in gocc’s or bonds from gfis.
so your invest or perish copycat solution just don’t wash.
As to supervised credit facilities for farmers. Well you need to have money before you can lend it.
As to your contention that the money is there well that;s just an assertion from you.
As pointed out by Roalnd San Juan in http://rolandsanjuan.blogspot.com/2009/08/philippines-disgraceful-state-by-pepe.html
there are alibis for failure and there are alibis for success.
obviously, the philippines and its oligarch driven politics have all the alibis for failure – at the working man’s expense! and you have the gall to present ignoy as pro-poor – he is pro-poor in the sense that there will be more people the oligarchs can prey on if the ignoy gets into the seat. an oligarch’s stooge.
Cory is not entirely to blame. But she could have done something.
http://www.odiousdebts.org/
“Then why slam Cory for not asking the US Congress to forgive a $26.3 billion debt not owed it?”
Why not? She’s in charge. It was in her hands.
“I added, “Sure, some of Cory’s relatives were trapo; but they were not plunderers. Were there scandals like Centennial Expo, BW Resources or ZTE-NBN during Cory’s time?””
Yeah. They were good politicians… compared to feces. Not a good standard of good governance.
Edward,
“Why not? She’s in charge. It was in her hands.”
Like I said the 26.3 B was not owed to the US so how could the US forgive it? The US was not in charge and it was not in their habds to make decisions over the 26.3 B the Philippines owed the world.
And Cory was in charge of what to bargain with? She was in charge of a bankrupt government with a mountain of debt to pay, there were no investments coming in or being made domestically.
Egypt got their debts to the US Gov’t because they helped in the Persian Gulf crisis of the senior Bush and that was the paybac.
Poland got their debt to the USG forgiven because the US and the western world didn’t want Poland to stumble in the transition from socilaism to capitalism so they gave Poland all the help it needed.
Yup and she made sure it stays that way by writing a protectionist constitution that protects the rent capture interests of the landlord classes – WHOLESALE COP OUT.
BongV
she didn’t write the constitution. Besides the people ratified the constitution.
I wonder what sort of a constitution you would have written
Yes it was with the World Bank/IMF in which the U.S. were the main backers. They established it. They were in the Board. But the important thing is that the debt was odious meaning UNLAWFUL. They cannot impose a debt the people didn’t benefit or sign for. Its a basic law in lending. That’s her bargaining power. To have the debt cancelled wasn’t significant to be even explored upon by a president.
If a despotic power incurs a debt not for the needs or in the interest of the State, but to strengthen its despotic regime, to repress the population that fights against it, etc., this debt is odious for the population of all the State.
This debt is not an obligation for the nation; it is a regime’s debt, a personal debt of the power that has incurred it, consequently it falls with the fall of this power.
The reason these “odious” debts cannot be considered to encumber the territory of the State, is that such debts do not fulfill one of the conditions that determine the legality of the debts of the State, that is: the debts of the State must be incurred and the funds from it employed for the needs and in the interests of the State.
“Odious” debts, incurred and used for ends which, to the knowledge of the creditors, are contrary to the interests of the nation, do not compromise the latter � in the case that the nation succeeds in getting rid of the government which incurs them � except to the extent that real advantages were obtained from these debts. The creditors have committed a hostile act with regard to the people; they can’t therefore expect that a nation freed from a despotic power assume the “odious” debts, which are personal debts of that power.
Even when a despotic power is replaced by another, no less despotic or any more responsive to the will of the people, the “odious” debts of the eliminated power are not any less their personal debts and are not obligations for the new power….
One could also include in this category of debts the loans incurred by members of the government or by persons or groups associated with the government to serve interests manifestly personal � interests that are unrelated to the interests of the State.
from:
http://www.odiousdebts.org/
Edward,
“They cannot impose a debt the people didn’t benefit or sign for. Its a basic law in lending. That’s her bargaining power.”
A nation’s bargaining power comes from the perception that granting your wish is in their national interest.
A nation’s bargaining power comes from the perception that granting your wish is in their national interest.
Well I don’t think anyone being imposed upon with an odious debt is a national interest.
So its perception? or is it deception?
The late Pres. Cory Aquino failed in the land Reform Program. Would
you think the Hacienda Luisita? No way! Up to now, Land
Reform is not totally implemented. Most of our Senators and Congress
People are landowners, Hacienderos and Hacienderas. The one in Malacanang is married to an Haciendero family. All Philippine Presidents have their share of corruptions. Marcos was Roasted in the
Media. Because he stayed too long in Power. And was against the extension of the U.S. bases agreement. So, he has to go. We are also
to blame for voting these people in power. After we are scammed. We
complain.
hyden,
hacienda luisita does not belong to cory. she is a minority shareholder. so are her heirs
Yup and despite her minority position she still bungled CARP – which kinda favors her minority position.
Paano na lang kung naging majority?
BongV
“Paano na lang kung naging majority?”
Kung siya ang sole owner ng Luisita, nasa kamay na ng tenants yan. At sigurado ang sasabihn mo naman ay binigay ang hacienda pero hindi naman binigyan ng pera yun mga tenants. Kasi para sa iyo walang ginawang tama si Cory.
CARP was passed through a Congress controlled by people Cory Aquino approved of and campaigned for. The Constitution was written by a committee that she appointed — and don’t even tell me the people who ratified were smart enough or even cared to ‘discern’ what was in it, if Tita Cory supported it.
Cory outlived her usefulness when Marcos left the country. If she hadn’t been ambitious to impose her own rule and really wanted the country run well (or better than she could do, at any rate), she should have deferred to Laurel.
That’s the dangerous opportunism her son represents. If you truly believe that ‘smearing’ Cory is such a sin, then why is it acceptable for a son to use his own mother’s death for political gain?
In other words, why do you think Noynoy’s “the one”? An unjustified accolade is just as bad as an unjustified smear, after all — at this point, you’re just the other side of the same dirty coin.
Toro,
Marcos’ problem was – frankly speaking – not about staying too long in Power – but rather about “staying too long in Power, but not having any real economic gains to show for it.” His administration’s indebtedness (because of excessive borrowing) actually put the country into a major economic crisis that manifested itself as a massive currency devaluation.
Plus, Marcos wasn’t against the extension of the US Basis agreement. Marcos simply knew how to play his “nationalist card” when dealing with the USA re: the bases so that he could squeeze out special concessions when he presented the possibility of not extending it.
Similar to how some people, when playing office politics with their bosses, are able to bluff their way into getting a raise by getting their boss to believe that they’re indispensable to the company and that the company’s competitors are trying to pirate them. Marcos played that game very well: he made the US think that he was the only guy who could contain Communism, but he always made the US think that there was a possibility that he’d have to “give in to nationalist sentiments among the population” and not extend the bases agreements.
There are hints that Marcos never really sought to completely exterminate the CPP-NPA (he’d fight the commies just enough to make the USA believe he was really serious in eliminating them, but still chose never to completely finish them off) because doing so would have meant eliminating his bargaining chip with the USA.
Yes, she will not give the Hacienda Luisita away…my missing sentence.
Again, I’m in doubt whether the upper class vote (Noynoy) makes more sense than the lower class vote (Villar). Again, the lower classes may prove to be wiser voters. They know who they don’t want to trust.
My greatest fear about Noynoy is that he would disappoint again. You keep disappointing Filipinos and they’ll either become manic depressives or steeped in anomie. Right now we are on the brink of either possibilities, my opinion.
BrianB
Villar the ethics challenged billionaire is the poor man’s candidate? And all those parcels of CARP land that he illegally converted to subdivisions are going to win him votes from the tenants he displaced? BWAAHAHA!
Hey MB what about the Ayalas and the Lopez groups. Villar is simply copying the Ayala business model. He also learned from them about conversion. Most especially in Laguna.
Let us look at the Lopez clan. They institutionalized the faux privatization of natural monopolies in this country. They have been privatizing gains and socializing loses of the electric company for ages. They tried it with water. They tried it with roads.
They gave Danding the model to copy the same with Manny Pangilinan.
Tell me if the Lopez group, Danding, Salim and the Razon group are simply all birds of the same feather competing for political power?
These guys make Villar look like a shoplifter.
How can a Billion Peso man become a poor man’s candidate? We are either out of our mind, or out of
reality. The man made money on questionable circumstances while in office. Do you think my brown
striped cat can change its color? My ass…
Jag,
“These guys make Villar look like a shoplifter.”
Hey, they are not running for president.
Besides, if as a congressman and a senator he abused his position to make money, how much more if he becomes president when the DAR, the SSS, GSIS. PAG-IBIG and all those other agencies that fund land development and housing will be under his control?
Read about the billions he stole when he was a congressman. Read Joker Arroyo’s privilege speech delivered when he was a congressman asking for an ethics investigation of then Speaker Villar. You will see how he sponsored legislation to benefit his compnaies and to save his rural bank and how he ended up bankrupting a govt institution. Read how his converted CARO lands were done through approvals at the municipal level only and without the approval of DAR. He repeats the same modus operandi in the valuation of his C5 land.
Don;t excuse Villar’s crooked ways by sayong he was only following the example of others. Besides no one forced him to become a crook so he has no right to say, “see what you made me do?”
any links?
Btw, did Noynoy makes friends already with Honasan, his attempted murderer?
Brian,
They are colleagues. Friends would be an exagerration
Abused the position – how about this – abused the position to bungle the CARP. Then later issued SDOs in order to keep the lands (even as minority shareholder, paano na lang kung majority?)
They are not running for president? You can say the same thing about Jose Pidal – he did not run for President.
Villar had to manuever with his allies but does not come close to – the Aquino’s wholesale selling out of CARP – rendering farmers all across the country landless – beyond bankrupting institutions – the Aquinos stayed true to their landlord’s intersts and betrayed wider society.
Alang pinagkaiba.
BongV,
“They are not running for president? You can say the same thing about Jose Pidal – he did not run for President.”
Yes and Pidal would give Villar a run for his money.
“Villar had to manuever with his allies but does not come close to – the Aquino’s wholesale selling out of CARP – rendering farmers all across the country landless – beyond bankrupting institutions – the Aquinos stayed true to their landlord’s intersts and betrayed wider society.
Alang pinagkaiba.”
Did Cory put up a real esyaye company that aggregated housing loans for the government? Villar did. He collected from the government and then left the government to collect lans from borrowers who never paid. Read Joker’s pribilege speech on Villar’s modus operandi!
And wholesale sell-out of CARP? Did Cory pressure municipal officials to approve conversions anf start development even if those conversions didn’t get the necessary approval from DAR? Villar did.
But hey this is a free country, If you want to stand up for a crook, go ahead, They need all the friends they can get
Cory didn’t have to do that – she already had HLI. They got the loans with the understanding that the lands will be turned over to farmers. HLI received the money, HLI farmers did not receive the land. HLI bodyguards even shot the HLI rallyists.
Did Villar issue SDOs? Cory’s HLI did.
Under whose watch was the loophole-ridden CARP passed? It was duriung Aquino’s watch – to the cheers of HLI and Kamag-Anak Inc
You are already standing up for one – pedigreed crook pa. They sure need you.
BongV,
Were you absent when Villar was doing his magic? Or, have you lost your deligence already? Or, maybe your radar is lowbat na?
Or, baka naman natutulog ka sa pancitan, ahayhehehehe.
Villar meets the press
Nacionalista Party president Sen. Manny Villar, was asked at one point why he had chosen to remain silent on allegations of wrongdoing on the controversial C-5 road-extension project, which critics said would benefit his property firms.
The former Senate president clarified that he did not want to appear before the ethics committee and later the Senate as the committee of the whole because the rules of the hearings had been purposely made to pin him down, ostensibly for politically motivated reasons. On the contrary, he said, he had always explained his position directly to the people, through the media, that the ultimate beneficiaries of the road-extension project would be the residents of outlying areas and those using the C-5 highway.
Villar was also asked who could possibly be his running mate in next year’s polls. He declined to answer the query, saying that since there were no less than 20 presumed candidates for the presidency at this point, the situation is still very fluid and so many things can still happen before November 30, the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy.
With his consistent showing in popularity surveys, despite attempts to bring him down by raising charges of conflict of interest against him, Villar said popularity is not enough to win the presidency. Voters should vote for someone who’s not only popular but also with proven management expertise and leadership abilities. That was a clear pitch for the electorate to vote for him come May 2010. If his success in business is any gauge, Villar looks all set to conquer all obstacles on the road to Malacañang, that is, if he plays his cards right.
Exposing Money Villar
http://www.stuartsantiago.com/exposing-manny-villar/
“The good news is the latest poll by sws. it just came out! SWS”–MB
Noynoy 60%
Villar 37%
Erap 18%
Just asking.
When you add up those figures, they are more than 100 percent.
http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-sws-presidential-survey-does-not.html
punona, pls refer to the post i linked.
i hope it helps.
punona,
It’s because the question asked respondents to name three “candidates” whom they thought was best fit to replace PGMA.
Ah ok.
That makes it more confusing or illogical because come election time we will vote for only one presidential candidate
yup. and it doesn’t help that newsmedia was not clear on the matter. Although to be fair to SWS, their press release reads that Noynoy “took the top spot in the people’s three best successors to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010.”
“Although to be fair to SWS, their press release reads that Noynoy “took the top spot in the people’s three best successors to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010.” apanfilo
Still scratching my balding head.
The SWS can ask a respondent his preferred candidate and labelled the top three as “people’s three best successors to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010.
Why resort to three choices?
hehehe. just log on to the SWS site. yung link ni karl explained that the survey is done quarterly, and it’s not only on political succession but also includes hunger etc. I guess the original rationale of the political succession question (2007 yata umpisang tanungin) is matignan kung sino ang mga presidentiables sa tingin ng mga voters.
So, you’re right na medyo hindi akma na ngayon ang tanong dahil alam na natin kung sino ang mga presidentiables. Still, Noynoy’s 60% is pretty impressive, don’t you think?
That’s when the voters have the IQ of Beavis and Butthead – you get Noynoy on top. Not surprising, really.
BongV
And when erap and villar were scoring well in the polls, the voters were as smart as you?
@bongV, ayaw mo pa kasing aminin that you’re rooting for Villar, ikaw naman oo. it’s too obvious na. be a man and defend your choice like what MB is doing.
@leo:
villar has not shown a platform – just like noynoy.
nick perlas can bust all the other candidates’ chops.
So, it’s nick perlas for you this time? Good. Good luck!
Maybe a more accurate way of reporting the story is to say that 2010 at this point is seen by the electorate as a four-cornered fight among Noynoy, Villar, Erap and Chiz. The last “one-candidate-question” survey, by the way, had the ratings of those four persons in that order, if I recall correctly.
Maybe SWS should have reported in terms of actual numbers out of 1800 instead of pecentages kasi nga each respondent was allowed to write in three name.
Would it have made more sense if they said Noynoy 1000 something out of 1800, Villar 600 something out of 1800 and so forth?
and the media snapped out the nonsense – like tilapia.
BongV
I gather you don’t like the poll results.
MCB:
Poll results is good entertainment – it’s like watching Beavis and Butthead – you laugh at the stupidity, but it does not make them less stupid ;)
MB, BongV is for Villar, the annointed one.
Though there are more months to listen to the candidates, it is normal that some bloggers are already expecting great things from Bayani fernando, Erap, Villar. Only a few weeks back, Abe Margallo posted this about Noynoy:
Pinoys in Pinas and all over the world will be thankful if Noynoy’s inspiring leadership ends “…puwede na iyan”.
[There will be applause, too, when another fifty-million dollars "...Marcos wealth..." gets retrieved.]
Bert:
Speak for yourself.
I have not endorsed any candidate nor am I campaigning for one.
Would suggest that you don’t put your words into other people’s mouths.
Bert: Hindi ba the anointed one is Noynoy? Noynoy — the one who didn’t realize he wanted to be Malacanang-2010 candidate until he saw after Cory’s death that his popularity has soared. All the others — Gibo, Erap, Villar, Chiz, to include Mar though he bowed out and Bayani as well as Loren and a couple of others — had stated and had been taking steps since start-2009 to be the next Pinas president after GMA.
BongV,
And when erap and villar were scoring well in the polls, the voters were as smart as you?
“I have not endorsed any candidate…”
BongV,
To refresh you, here’s your statement:
“bencard:
i have the same observations. and if i may add,
manny villar appears to be a steady hand, deliberate, introspective, decisive, not-prone to rhetoric and pragmatic.”-BongV, Sept. 11, 2009 at 2:46 am under the title: “Aquino Brings Out Hope and Trepidation” by cocoy
BongV, here’s another one of your loyalty statement, from the same article of cocoy:
“Loyalty to the party ENDS where Loyalty to country begins.
Villar’s handling of the Estrada impeachment showed, Villar placed loyalty to country above loyalty to party.”-BongV
Bert:
An observation is different from an endorsement – not only in spelling, but also in definition.
ob·ser·va·tion –
en⋅dorse⋅ment -
Observing the behavior is a totally different from an endorsement of the candidacy. Should I bleat now? :)
Don’t bleat yet, BongV. If you’re right by your definition, then ManuelBuencamino is not for Noynoy, ahay again hehehehe.
UP n, no, not possibly Noynoy, what could be your bases for thinking Noynoy is the annointed one? I think Villar is it because Gloria’s minnions are now transfering to Villar’s Nationalista Party. If we see more of that in the coming days, then Villar’s goose is cooked.
This is the art of the story which should have gone… “He’s the one,” said Beavis.
BongV,
I sort of expected that comment from Butthead. You didn’t disappoint, as usual.
Hi Mr. Buencamino.
There’s really no need for name-calling.
Perhaps there’s a way to use metaphors without directing them at people.
Hmmm. I would think that the selection process in the minds of many people follow one of these possibilities:
1. Over-simplification – Noynoy Aquino comes to the race without any or too much political baggage, then “He’s the one.” And presumably, he was nurtured very well by his parents on integrity?
2. Over-generalization – Manny Villar is too much of a trapo and Gibo Teodoro is too much an administration man. Let’s look for a fresh chap, like Chiz Escudero?
3. Over-analysis – The most recent SWS poll of all presidentiables show that Candidate Erap is among the top three choices garnering 35 percent, with 3% margin of error. Ano daw?
THE REALITY: Sabi ni Kongressman, Kapitan, Kagawad, Kuya, at Kaka, kay Kabayan kami. Huh?
Phil,
Noli is a non-factor. He is played out. The public noticed too much hele-hele, one day very close and supportive of Gloria, another day distancing himself. Kabayan he is not anymore.
As to #1 – He was indeed nurtured well by his parents on integrity, accountability, and honesty.
#2 – I would have gone for Chiz over the others if Noynoy was not running. I just found Noynoy more trustworthy than Chiz.
#3 = Erap got 18% not 35%.
Is this article meant to promote Noynoy as candidate? Pardon me if I didn’t see that at once. ;)
“It’s not okay to bring him down by sliming his dead mother.” I agree. But it’s also not OK to bring him up by riding him on his dead mother. I agree with Phil, he’s got the least political baggage, and unfortunately this includes the least notable achievements here as far as all candidates are concerned. Unfortunately, when people vote for him, it is most likely because they associate him with his parents’ popularity. One can hope that all the voters’ experiences with voting popular figures has rubbed off on them.
i agree. most idiots este people will vote for noynoy because of his being the son of cory and noynoy.
i’m wondering if cory were still alive today would noynoy even consider going after the presidency?
Noynoy is the oligarch’s version of Erap – a stooge whose strings are pulled by oligarchs such as Lopez and Cojuangco.
Solita Monsod gets it:
Is it because Noynoy’s handlers want to milk the Cory magic and show that Noynoy is doing the same thing that Cory did—and not only that—but also time his “decision” to be made on the 40th day after Cory’s death? If that is the case, shame on them all. Because that not only reflects the cynicism of the ultimate, exploitative “trapo,” it is also a disservice to Cory’s memory, and all that she stood for, as well. Cory was truly a reluctant candidate, and she agonized and prayed before finally accepting the mantle. What is more, there was not a single, insincere, manipulative bone in her body.
Anyone who wants to assume the mantle of leadership and selflessness similar to that of Ninoy and Cory better make sure that it is deserved, and earned. It is not something that can be claimed merely because the same blood runs in one’s veins. Rather, it is a matter of character.
@ BongV,
I know you are from Davao.
How big a factor was Jesus”Chito” Ayala during Cory’s time and if he still is a factor for Noynoy.
I have anecdotes,but they are from relatives.Because he happens to be our relative (married to grand-aunt), I could only get one side of the coin.
I need your opinion for another perspective.
BongV,
Villar has strings, too, but he pulls them on his own behalf.
Erap is, to me, a stooge, period. To others I know he is a voice of the common man.
Aquino has strings, undoubtedly, a regular rat’s nest of them, connected to his mother’s legacy, his sisters, his moneyed sponsors, his God.
Teodoro’s strings are in tatters, and he is adrift on a missing rubber boat.
Still, there is something about fundamental goodness that gives one hope, and maybe he can become master of his strings. Of the three, Aquino is the only one unstained. Works for me, unless someone gives me an offset to the aforementioned flaws of the other lead candidates.
I keep asking people who they like. Only MB so far has the courage to cite a candidate and defend his choice. Everyone else is, ummmm . . . wishy washy.
Joe
Joe:
That was the premise of Cory Aquino. Honesty is good, but it is not enough. Honest and incompetent sucks! We had it in Cory – we don’t need a Cory 2.0 – sobra na tama na.
The candidate Aquino is being peddled as “good”. Really?
Where was the good when farmers were being shot in Hacienda Luisita. They were shot because they just wanted what was rightfully theirs. As pointed out in the terms of the loan which allowed the Cojuangcos to own Hacienda Luisita, the land was to be given to the farmers. Land – not shares of stock. That’s not good – that’s evil. If the Aquinos can’t even do good within Hacienda Luisita what makes you think they will do good for the entire country instead of running it like Hacienda Luisita.
My beef with Perlas is his position on wholesale rejection of 100% foreign ownership of real estate. Other than that, of all the candidates, he has the vision, the capability, the integrity, the honesty, and the platform to bring the Philippines to the 21st century. I have no qualms in stating that he will not win – because idiots would rather sell their vote or remain starstruck to the machinations of the oligarch-owned media.
joe,
i, for one, am not being wishy washy. i’m still trying to weigh my options. the only problem is no one has come out with a clear set of plans. will have to wait for that.
however, just like with mr. chizzy escudero, i can see no compelling reason why i should support noynoy’s candidacy. that much i can say at this point.
karl:
Chito is a big factor, he was Cory’s Regional Development Chair.
of course, he is a landlord with huge landholdings.
BongV,
Thanks.
Chino,
“I agree with Phil, he’s got the least political baggage, and unfortunately this includes the least notable achievements here as far as all candidates are concerned.”
Tell me about the achievements of all the other candidates pls
Bayani – created a disciplined Marikina and improved the traffic system of the metro. Bus stops became much better under him.
Mar Roxas – Botica ng Bayan, would have been a better bet for Pres.
Chiz – Received a lot of youth leadership and achievement awards
Gordon – Fixed up Subic into an international hub that can challenge Manila for capitaldom
Villar – OFW assistance, housing projects, small business support
Erap – 2nd Phil pres. to be voted out by people power! Oh yeah he’s the worst pala
I’ll admit, I was inaccurate. Noynoy’s not the least, but is comparable to other candidates without much platform or achievements. Probably on the level of Jamby or Kiko.
Chino F.,
Bayani – Marikina? you mean Waterworld? Yes in Edsa buses stop wherever and whenever they please.
Villar – as a congressman he made billions in government funded housing projects. Joker Arroyo outlined his modus operandi in a privilege sspeech delivered when they were both in the lower house.
Chiz – his legislative record pales in comparison to Noynoy’s.
Gordon – he’s called dick, isn’t he?
mr. buencamino,
can you please elaborate on how noynoy’s legislative record surpasses escudero’s. i am sincerely and seriously curious about this.
I may have missed the original intention of the article, but at least I didn’t miss the bias in this response. ;-)
Kaminsky,
That Marikina happens to be where it is located is not Bayani’s fault. And if anything, the MMDA under BF really has improved a lot of things. Noynoy cannot do the kinds of things that BF did.
Re: Gordon… So you’re into name-calling now, ha?
Both BF and Gordon have the experience and the interest in problem-solving and out-of-the-box thinking ability which allowed them to achieve a lot of the great things they achieved for their constituencies.
Noynoy does not have the personal interest or the kind of enthusiasm for looking for solutions to problems. Even his slogans don’t come from him. (Yes, I personally know who coined many of his slogans – I’m *ahem* kinda related) Noynoy CANNOT think for himself.
That’s a fact, Kaminsky.
All I can say is that you’re a typical Pinoy who’s big on mythology, little on reality and practicality. You want to believe in the Myth of Cory Magic. You want to believe that the Myth of Cory Magic has been transferred to Noynoy.
Sorry na lang to burst the bubble, Kaminsky, but Noynoy ain’t the man. Kung si Kris pa yun, maybe she’d be able to think on her toes.
But Noynoy? He’s more of a cinema addict and an audiophile, not a statesman. He doesn’t live and breathe “solving problems of the Philippines”, even hypothetical ones. The key to a person who can be a good Chief Executive (President) is one who always tries out hypothetical issues with hypothetical solutions while he’s relaxing or in his idle time.
BF and Gordon are those types. Even Ramos was like that. Lee Kuan-Yew and Mahathir Mohamad were like that. Always thinking about how to make things better and try them out. If it doesn’t work, then immediately change it and try something else. But never just let things be static.
Noynoy just doesn’t have the dynamism and interest in problem-solving, Kaminsky. That’s why he can’t even come up with a platform of his own!
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW!
The Cory Aquino administration was promoted and highlighted by the American World Media. As an American effort to remove authoritarian regimes thruout the World. They were also interested to continue the American bases agreement.
Unfortunately, they had no other choice. They know that the Aquinos
were NPA supporters. But, it does not matter. If the American got what they want. So, support for Cory Aquino was decided. It was
the same ineffective regime. As ineffective and as corrupt as Marcos. New cronies came in to get rich. It is a vicious cycle for the Filipino people. We are still where we are stuck. We cannot dig ourselves out from the hole.
Hyden,
You know the Americans could have supported Doy Laurel or any one of the leading opposition figures.
Also, notice how the early pronouncements of Reagan and the American observers were supportive of the results of the election. It was only when they saw the millions in EDSA that they asked Marcos to cut and cut cleanly. Please review the timeline.
“As ineffective and as corrupt as Marcos. New cronies came in to get rich.”
Please identify and tell us how much was stolen.
The Americans were not keen on supporting Doy.
The prevailing mood of Reagan’s advisers during that time was to transition the US support from Marcos to Ver.
As to US pronouncements, if it is in their national interest – they will support Saddam Hussein or Ayatollah Khomeini – then cut them off and leave em to hang dry. Those pronouncements don’t mean jacksh*t.
Isipin mo na lang, kakatapos lang ng EDSA nagpalusot na ng thoroughbred horses sa customs – they can’t even clean up their own backyard! :)
do we really need to identify each and every person who made money during cory’s time?
We dont need to identify them. They know they had profited from the Aquino Administration….Same
as other administrations. We are tired of pointing
to crooks. They are too many in the Philippines. As
numerous as the cockroaches in your house. Some were
my former classmates. They had grown rich , like the
Mafias of New York.
BongV,
What you’re saying is thoroughbred horsecrap. Unless you are referring to Mikey
Betterphilippines,
if you make an accusation you better identify who you are accusing
sorry mr. buencamino i don’t have to. in the first place i didn’t accuse anyone specifically. why? is it so wrong to state the general observation that to date all the administrations we’ve had were infested with parasites? are you seriously saying you don’t know that? or are you really convinced there was not a single parasite in the aquino administration?
MCBuencamino,
“Before we parted, I told Phil to remind his friend Beavis that it’s okay to be against Noynoy and to campaign against him, but it’s not okay to bring him down by sliming his dead mother.”
I think it is perfectly alright to talk about the failings of Cory’s administration, precisely because Noynoy’s campaign is completely premised on the idea of continuing his “parents’ legacy”, whatever that means. He has no real platform other than his “parents’ legacy”, after all.
Since his father never became president and his mother did, we must thus assume that Noynoy plans to do whatever it was that his mother did.
As his mother’s administration was, unfortunately, rather ineffectual in terms of really moving the country forward – as all it really did in a positive sense was to remove Marcos and reduce the influence of Marcos’ cronies – we can thus assume that when Noynoy says he will “continue his parents’ legacy, he will just do the same.
In other words, he will definitely continue his mother’s legacy of restoring the old Landowner class to the pre-Marcos period. Isn’t that also why Noynoy’s campaign is supported by ABS-CBN as well as supported by members of the old Landowner classes?
To put it bluntly, Cory was just supposed to have been a “rallying point” – a figurehead. I think BenK got it right when he mentioned that Cory should probably have just deferred to Laurel – who was trained to lead. But in the Philippine Presidential System, the Office of the President is not a ceremonial position. The President is an Executive position, and all so-called figureheads, such as Cory and Erap, never really deferred to whoever were supposed to help them run the country: they, the “presidents” relied on too many advisers, all having disparate opinions.
Noynoy unfortunately just does not have the brains for the job, but as soon as he becomes president, he will not defer to Mar (assuming Mar wins as VP in their tandem). He will think of himself as being “The One” as he is currently being brainwashed by his handlers including cousin Rapa Lopa, and will do exactly as his mother and Erap did: not defer to the brainier and better-trained leader (in Cory’s case, Doy Laurel; in Noynoy’s case, Mar Roxas) and maintain a huge pool of advisers all having disparate opinions and directions.
Noynoy will be a terrible and wishy-washy president, making decisions that will cancel out the effects of other decisions.
While Cory’s legacy was white-washed by her “positive role” in ridding the Philippines of the Marcoses and their cronies, Noynoy will have no such form of redemption.
Real Deal,
Nice assessment of Noynoy Aquino. The “wishy washy” leader strikes a chord, slightly unnerving. He seems to carry his mother’s legacy . . . as a housewife.
Who do you favor at this early stage, if it is not Mr. Aquino?
Joe
Joe,
Between Mr. Cojuangco-Aquino and Mr. Cojuangco-Teodoro, it’s the latter who’s got a better platform. Of course, the former has the popularity thanks to his name (he’s his dad’s namesake and he’s his mom’s son) and his sister’s hold on Showbiz.
These are the guys I prefer:
1. Bayani Fernando – based on how he re-did Marikina and ran the MMDA (what he did is a guide to what he’s going to do)
2. Richard Gordon – again, based on how he ran the SBMA and his out-of-the-box thinking vis-a-vis the Department of Tourism
3. Gilbert Teodoro – I think the administration chose him because it wanted to do a tit-for-tat with Noynoy. Aha, a Cojuangco? Ok, we’ll field our own Cojuangco too, one with a good platform and better credentials.
Seriously, Noynoy really has nothing. No platform, no credentials, no relevant experience, no flashes of brilliance here and there, no eloquence, and no ability to explain ideas and concepts or what-he-thinks-needs-to-be-done. Everything is just about his name and his “heritage.”
Real Deal,
Spoken like a true GMA buttboy.
(with apology to manuelbuencamino for quoting his words, with slight variation, without permission)
Butt!
Ay, *este* Bert, pala…
Actually, Mar Roxas might have been in my list had he not explicitly downgraded his bid from Prez to VP. Mar Roxas, despite all his trapoliticking and traipsing around with Noynoy’s ex-squeeze, actually does have a lot of good credentials backing him up. He worked in Corporate America and has the brains for attempting to solve economic problems. His original platform – save for his bias towards using Tagalog or whatever local language in education – was relatively solid.
The problem is he was intimidated by the so-called “winnability” of Noynoy so he caved in and gave up the fight.
Between Noynoy and Mar? Mar’s the guy with the brains, the experience, and the platform.
Notice how, when the two are together, Mar seems to always be the one prompting Noynoy on what to say whenever there’s a question from reporters.
Noynoy is really clueless. He just happens to have the name.
And as usual, the Pinoys go for this.
Remember “Distinguished Gentleman”, the Eddie Murphy movie?
THE NAME YOU KNOW!
That’s Noynoy’s campaign.
The Real Deal,
How did you reach the conclusion that he is wishy washy? He has not been in the limelight until recently so are you making that judgment based on personal contact with the man? Have you had any dealings with him?
Real Deal,
I remember who you are now. Like BongV you are not for anyone in particular, you are just anti-Aquino.
Man-up !
Kaminsky,
He is wishy-washy, Kaminsky.
I know his extended family (first cousins) and I know what they all think of him – well, especially before the sympathy for Cory exploded. Ever wonder why I hide behind an alias? (‘Coz I don’t want to be a persona non-grata in the parties they throw – where I am invited because – well, I’m kind of “in the family!” Bwahahaha! – nope, I’m not sharing details, Kaminsky!)
Long before Tita Cory’s Death and dramatic funeral coverage, and long before Noynoy announced he was running, the cousins never really thought much about Noynoy. Everyone in the fam says this: Of all of Tito Ninoy’s and Tita Cory’s kids, it’s Kris who inherited Ninoy’s brains, eloquence, charm, gift of gab, etc. Unanimously, everyone says that it was her foray into Showbiz that takes the blame for why she ended up with all the wrong men and the crabs. Or was it tulo?
By the way, Kaminsky, you and I haven’t dealt with each other before. So you really don’t know who I am.
(Unless you deal with certain members of the Cojuangco clan which I doubt, ‘coz I haven’t met any Manuel Buencaminos in any of our huge social gatherings. Mwahahaha!)
So, please read my other post where I mentioned who are the guys I’m likely to support. If anything, they have:
1. The Irrefutable Experience (Noynoy’s experience is lackluster, my manoks have great experience, executive branch pa.)
2. The Brains (Noynoy doesn’t show any flashes of brilliance even among his cousins – who aren’t really impressed by him. They’re impressed by Kris.)
3. The Platform (Noynoy has none!)
Kaminsky, kawawa kayong Noynoyistas because you really have no rebuttal against the above three. Mas grabe pa dito sa debate natin: TALO KA kasi I have first hand intra-clan info and connections. Ikaw, you’re just a starstruck FAN! Outsider ka lang. Mwahahaha!
Noynoy only does – AT THE MOMENT – have one thing going for him: Winnability. And that’s only because of his name: Benigno S. Aquino III and his “royal lineage” as the son of President Cory and National Hero Ninoy.
Once the debates on Platform start happening that guy is really going to fall flat on his face. He can’t articulate any plans and can’t discuss issues properly. Puro siya fairy tale “good-and-evil” and too much reliance on lofty platitudes. The Philippines needs practical solutions grounded in reality, stuff that creates jobs and puts food on the table. Noynoy can’t even talk about these things even if he was coached to dish out canned responses precisely because he just really isn’t into real-life problem-solving.
Notice that he even doctored his name to make it match his father’s… He should actually be using Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, because he’s a Cojuangco, but he used the initial for Simeon and dropped the C. just so that his name could match his dad’s.
Noynoy’s campaign, as mentioned in my other post, is like the campaign of Eddie Murphy’s candidate for Congressman character in “Distinguished Gentleman.”
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW!
noynoy has no achievements; has no clear plans; has no initiative; has no backbone. totally unfit for the position.
Real Deal,
Noynoy has a record. He has clear plans. He has initiative. He has a backbone. And not only is he totally fit, he is the only who has the integrity, honesty and character for the job.
Who are you for, Erap, Villar, Gibo?
A Senate record of nine bills, mostly co-authored, none of them having yet become law.
What plans? His own campaign says he doesn’t have any yet.
Initiative. Well, maybe. I don’t know the guy personally. Same goes for backbone, but on both counts the image he has presented (waffling for two weeks after his running mate deferred his candidacy in his favor, for instance) doesn’t really make those things clear, or suggest them as personal attributes he has.
Do YOU know him personally, well enough to make a judgment on his character? If so, then you certainly can back up your empty platitudes with some evidence, particular when it comes to record & plans, since those are what matter most.
Kaminsky,
Easy ka lang, Cheap *este* Chief pala… ;)
Totally fit? May bilbil yan. Nakasama ko yan paminsan mag-inuman dyan sa may Dencio’s Blue Wave, sometime before his mom, my “Tita” died.
Backbone?
Frankly, he’s a nice guy personally… But I wouldn’t have him running my companies. That’s what I can say. And if I won’t have him run my companies, I sure as hell am not going to let him run the Philippines. He’s nice, but we don’t need “nice people” to make hard decisions for the Philippines. I know, ‘coz I know him.
Integrity? Honesty?
But that’s not the only thing for running a country. If anything, what’s more important is having someone who knows how to make the hard decisions related to solving real problems that have a major impact on whether people are able to put food on the table. A so-called honest person who has “integrity” but has absolutely no knowledge of how to run a country and what to do (and this is evident in his lack of a platform and his inability to express any real plans) will do more harm than a person who might probably “reward himself for the hard work he does and the stress he goes through”, but is able to deliver the goods anyway.
That’s what the Philippines needs, Kaminsky. We need someone who’s like Machiavelli’s Prince. Was Marcos like that? No. Because he didn’t deliver the goods. Palpak ang economy under him – remember the currency devaluation he caused?
We don’t need a wimp. We don’t need a wuss. We need a real leader who knows what to do and knows how to quickly solve problems, not one who freezes and needs a long time for discernment in order to make a simple decision. We need someone who has already “thought it out long in advance”, not someone who’ll be constantly asking his numerous advisors on what to do.
Kaminsky, sorry na lang, but I know the guy, you don’t.
Noynoy has no record. He has NO PLANS. He has NO INITIATIVE. He has NO BACKBONE.
And no, he’s not totally fit, tomador yan: San Mig Light ang hilig niya while talking about 80′s New Wave at Dencio’s Blue Wave.
Now, if you’re curious to know who are my manoks, check out the post where I replied to Joe America dated October 15, 2009 at 6:29 pm…
Ikaw kasi Kaminsky, DI KA NAGBABASA! Husga ka lang, but you forget that I already mentioned my manoks.
Pa “man-up” “man-up” ka pa dyan. Bok, no dashes ang “man up”, ok?
Discussion board ‘to, ikaw kasi puro ka pagmumura eh. (aber? Nakita ko yung “putanginamo” mo kay benign0
Easy ka lang, Kaminsky. ;)
BenK,
Kaminsky doesn’t know Noynoy personally. I do – and am connected to him in a rather “solid way”… Actually, if Kaminsky knew Noynoy personally, he’d probably be in the same boat as I.
How do I know that Kaminsky is outside the circle?
Well, in all our social gatherings with the clan – where Kaminsky’s candidate often joins in – I’ve never ever heard the name “Manuel Buencamino” at all.
He’s an outsider, a starstruck fan. ;)
Sorry Manuel, I really disagree.
Just saying that Noynoy has a record, clear plans, initiative, and a backbone won’t make it so.
What is clear is that the people who support him are all avoiding these issues, refusing to take it up head on. I actually have to commend you because, apparently, you’re the first person I’ve seen who has taken these issues head on.
Do you know something that I don’t?
Perhaps a lot of what Noynoy Aquino has in terms of a record, clear plans, initiative, and a backbone have been kept a secret from us. If you know about it, please do tell us.
You owe us that much because the most recent survey says he will win by a landslide and I am afraid that the country will be run by someone who has no idea of what to do with the immense powers that will be given to him.
He is already surrounded by people who are in a good position to dictate what he will do and I doubt he will have the ability to see their real agenda for supporting him.
We dont need to identify them. We, them and the walls know they had
profited from the Aquino regime. Same as other succeeding administrations. We are tired of pointing to crooks. They are as
numerous as the cockroachees in your house. Some were my former classmates. They had grown rich like the Mafias of New York. With
only a government employee salary.
i agree. maybe mr. buencamino’s statement was just rhetorical. i’m sure he knows the cory government wasn’t really as clean as it is believed to be.
Maybe the least of the evils!
Hyden,
It is incumbent on you to out those you know about. How can we progress if we don’t put a bullseye on the forehead of crooks?
with all due respect mr. buencamino. i don’t think it is incumbent upon any of us to reveal such details in this forum. maybe if this were a courtroom.
i think you can agree that since our style of politics is transactional there will always be parasites in government regardless of who is president.
i think you shouldn’t insist on asking for such details unless you honestly believe not a single parasite too advantage of the aquino administration.
better philippines,
Huden, real deal, BongV et al place Cory in the same league as Macos, Erap, and Gloria. We can name the scandals and the characters involved in the scandals under those regimes. All I want is a list of scandals, the whos and the how much in Cory’s time. Why can’t you or they point to any scandal that even comes close to what those others were involved in?
Kaminsky,
I don’t put Cory in the same basket as Marcos and Erap. She’s my Tita. (Well, we all call her Tita Cory anyway)
However, I don’t think she was the best President. I don’t think she was really that effective in improving the Philippines. I think she did her job in getting rid of the Marcoses and the Marcos Cronies, but in terms of getting the Philippines off the ground economically? I don’t think so.
Personally, I think Tita Cory missed a lot of chances to really get the Philippines off the ground precisely because she wasn’t prepared to do the job properly and make the right decisions.
She was like a stewardess thrust into the cockpit after the pilots passed out for some weird reason, and needed a pilot from a nearby plane to tell her what to do via the radio. Thanks to the help, she doesn’t bump into other planes, crash into mountains, etc. Buti na lang the pilots later on wake up at the last minute to land the plane. Ok, so we were off-course, and we ended up not exactly at our destination, but at least we didn’t crash.
Tita Cory wasn’t trained for it, so ok, she’s forgiven.
But this time, there’s no Marcos (and no Marcos-era massive currency devaluation) to talk about, so what’s the big idea pushing someone who knows he’s not prepared (and isn’t really that interested) to be President?
It’s guys like you, Kaminsky, who clearly insist that Noynoy – who clearly isn’t meant for the post – is more than prepared to take on the reigns of the Presidency.
This time, we’re really going to crash.
Once again history changes depending on ones convenience. Israel, Indonesia, Poland and even Nigeria got debt forgiveness. Half of Poland’s $34 billion was written down to $15 billion. This included a huge portion of private sector debt holdings contrary to what MB had stated.
Contrary to what MB stated as to the power of the U.S. government over private banks. Untrue. Taxpayers are the ultimate guarantors of banks under a fiat currency system. The state replaced gold as the standard. The Brady package meant the American state taking over monetary/fiscal policy of the then emerging markets. The commercial banks securitized their loans into bonds and sold them to the financial markets at a discount. That gave emerging markets entry into the international bond markets.
However the dollars borrowed were to be lent to Uncle Sam’s treasury. We in effect agreed to borrow high and lend low. The Brady package then set the stage for the succeeding wave of financial blowouts during the 90′s (Mexico, Asia, Russia, Brazil, Argentina) and culminated in the mother of all blowouts wherein the excess dollars created all during those years came back and blew up the U.S. financial system.
The we have Dollar Joe who forgets what two American presidents had done during the course of financial history. First FDR. He repudiated Americas debt in gold payments when he refused to honor debt paper payable in gold. Then Nixon did the same thing in the early 70′s. FDR even made it illegal for the private sector to own gold bullion. Why why why Dollar Joe you think Pinoys are “balasubas” when it comes to not paying our debts. Your government has gotten away with it twice in history.
The agreement was clear. American dollars were redeemable in gold bullion. Both times during the last century America unilaterally repudiated their debt in gold.
The minute the U.S. unilaterally canceled the gold standard their domestic monetary policies took precedence over the emerging states own monetary policies.
Only two countries on this planet are free to manage their own domestic money supply without interference from the global financial system (U.S. and Europe). India and China.
It is sooooo funny that many people MB included see money as a commodity. It is not and never will be a commodity. It is simply an abstract tool for valuations for trade, accounting and storage purposes. A ledger entry.
And Dollar Joe wonders why I do not rally round our “national leaders.” They are simply fools playing a fools game. They know enough to keep our true masters happy.
The U.S. is projected to incur another $9 trillion in budget deficits till 2019. However the total GDP for the U.S. should hit $190 trillion total (10 years) GDP at an average growth rate of 2%. The rate the U.S. is paying in interest for the 10 year note is 3.24 %.
Naturally we Pinoys will do our share to keep earning dollars to fund the U.S. budget deficits.
J_AG,
Seems to me FDR and Nixon did not repudiate the debt, only the form of payment. True? I gather that this is when the US pushed its economic muscle to become the world’s dominant economic power, such power of which is now migrating steadily to China.
I wonder what would motivate the US, or any country, to do other than what is in its best interest? There is no sense of world community that would cause anyone to operate otherwise. The trick for the Philippines is to stop working AGAINST its own self-interest.
I understand why you don’t rally around Philippine national leaders. I don’t understand why you then criticize others who, maybe not liking the choices before them either, fulfil their patriotic responsibility and debate, then vote. Like, to me, it is foxhole logic. You would not even be in the foxhole beside me, as I worked patriotically to defend my country in a war I may not personally agree with. One is either committed to one’s country, or one is not. You seem to want it both ways, commit when it is convenient, not commit when it does not suit you.
We dollar guys appreciate you peso-sports funding our debt for a few years, so we can anchor the economy better, preserve US and Filipino jobs, and get things back on track after the destructive policies of one GW Bush. Our hero, Barak “Jesus” Obama, will get that debt stabilized in 3 years, in order to paint a rosy picture in time for re-election.
Joe
The US forgabe what Poland owed it and the Paris Club also forgave some of Poland;s debt. And you know why – to help Poland transition to capitalism.
If you recall your world history those were dangerous times. There were still a lot if Poles who were communist loyalists. The western world wanted to prevent an economic collapse that could return Poland to communism.
In terms of national interest, what could have possibly motivated the US to forgive the little we owed it and to spend political capital pressuring the Paris Club to forgive our debts when the US had bigger fish to fry?
Having said that, if Cory had begged the US for help in debt forgiveness, what would she have had to offer in exchange?
Having said that, if Cory had begged the US for help in debt forgiveness, what would she have had to offer in exchange?
I think you view it as a bargaining or exchange/barter. That’s why we don’t see eye to eye.
It’s not even “debt-forgiveness” as you term it because the U.S. obviously supported the debt lending out to Marcos with the knowledge that he would not use it for national interest. We were the ones wronged,oppressed and we still get the debt?
I see it more as fighting for a country’s rights and justice to be protected from such violations in odious lending. Laws are made to have fairness and equality not as bargaining tools and certainly not for exploitation.
Now it is about “achievements” but then earlier you make a case for the poll results. Ano nga ba talaga?
That’s the trouble with a candidate that stands for nothing other than a feudal pedigree. I think I mentioned this to you in the past, Mr. Buencamino, all candidates have “past achievements”. Even Erap has quite a lot of them, not to mention being one of the Philippines’ top action stars (which, last I heard, also counts as an achievement).
Given then that all these “achievements” are stuff you consider to be “proof” of a person’s ability to govern, you’d think that a person with a “proven” ability to govern wouldn’t mind proving it further by coming up with a platform and that those who support him wouldn’t mind either. What’s wrong with demanding MORE of our candidates when history has already shown that none of them had actually delivered satisfactorily in the past?
I think you simply recognise that most candidates simply lack the ability to come up with a plan and a vision much less articulate one in a coherent framework. Notice Noynoy’s newly revamped website. The only thing substantially new about his website is that his platform section disappeared (it is now an invalid URL as you will find if you click on that latter hyperlink).
So Noynoy’s “new” website may have moved forward in gloss but moved backwards in terms of substance.
Indeed Noynoy does indeed relfect the character of the Filipino people.
As I used to assert in the past about Pinoys:
Paatras ang asenso.
:-D
Benigno,
The platform will be announced at the right time not in your time.
So what’s wrong with a feudal pedigree? Have you turned into a class war advocate?
By the way, do you have a candidate or you just want to knock Noynoy?
Kaminsky,
The fact that the platform is – as of this time – still non-existent shows that Noynoy doesn’t think about the problems of the Philippines in his spare time. Fixing the Philippines is NOT HIS PASSION.
Kaya nga walang platform eh. ‘Coz he never thought about it before. (Ergo, he’s just not prepared to be President. Ever read Plato’s Republic? Preparation to be a leader takes a lifetime! Noynoy hasn’t been preparing at all!)
Aba, you’re asking benign0 what’s wrong with a Feudal Pedigree? Well, nothing is wrong if he can show a PLAN OF ACTION (aka “PLATFORM”) that shows that he’s not out to keep the Philippines feudalistic indefinitely, and instead, show that he totally intends to fully industrialize the Philippines, massively create new jobs that pay relatively well, and allow ordinary people to be upwardly mobile in terms of their economic state.
But since he has NO PLATFORM, and all he has has been touting has been his Feudal Pedigree (son of Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino – both having “Feudal Pedigrees”).
Notice that his campaign is FULLY PREMISED on his being the son of Cory and Ninoy.
Notice that he keeps saying “Ipapatuloy ko ang laban ng aking mga magulang!” as his slogan.
Other people are not using the term “Feudal Pedigree” but refer to Noynoy’s “Monarchial Heritage.” Meaning that Noynoy’s campaign is all about his being rightful “heir to the throne” all because President Cory (my Tita) is his mom.
(Gloria rode on that, by the way, but see, she used that IN ADDITION to her credentials as an Economics PhD, her experience in the DTI, and so much more. Sadly, Noynoy rides ONLY on that, and has nothing to show for credentials, brilliance and intelligence, specialized knowledge in topics relevant to fixing the Philippines, experience, etc.)
Personally, I don’t hate Noynoy. I like him as a person. I like the fact na nanlilibre yan sa inuman sa Gerry’s Grill Blue Wave (I think I mistakenly called it Dencio’s as I often confuse the two)… But this is my point: I don’t see him delivering on the job of fixing the country.
He can easily win the elections, no doubt. Pinoys are a little slow in the head and are sentiment-driven so he can ride on his mom’s Magic.
But will he deliver? Will he improve the Philippines?
OBVIOUSLY NOT.
And that, Kaminsky, is why despite being personally connected to Noynoy, I know he’s NOT the right one for the job.
Who needs a platform section when “…If your gut tells you Noynoy, go for it” just may carry the day?
[But I do expect the Noynoy campaign to eventually put up a platform page (by March 2010, if not earlier). Reason : Foreigners' interest in Pinas elections will make it inevitable .]
UP n,
A candidate needs a platform in order to converse with voters and interest groups. Ideally, a campaign is a dialogue, not a one-way pulpit of wisdom, and a platform provides the talking points. Even if Mr. Aquino is the holy anointed one, it behooves him to strike up a dialogue with the voters. If he wishes to speak to foreigners, he can also do so through his platform (stance on VFA).
Just because he is going to win does not mean he need not be constructive
Joe
Joe,
Noynoy is going around the country telling the people his vision for the country and he is listening to the people’s feedback. His platform will come from this dialogue. When the official campaign season starts, he will then present his platform to the people as the fruit of their dialogue.
Kaminsky,
I’m really sorry to tell you the truth…
Noynoy HAS NO PLATFORM because he never thinks about how to fix the Philippines.
Some people I know (including myself), keep on talking about finding out-of-the-box solutions to Philippine Problems in our spare time. I’ve shared my ideas with Noynoy, but did he listen? Was he interested?
He never really joined in such discussions over beer. Wala. Nada. Puro siya “let’s talk about something else like 80′s New Wave.”
I’ll tell you what seems to have happened to this guy: He probably felt so much pressure long ago from being Ninoy’s son, so that he realized he couldn’t live up to his Dad’s greatness, so he decided he’d be into “other things.” Ayun, naging audiophile na lang. Naging cinemaphile na rin. Why’d he join politics?
Because of his name: the perfect winnable name… THE NAME YOU KNOW.
But did he excel in politics? Did he excel as a congressman? Is he an excellent senator?
Lackluster career, Bok!
He should have really just pursued his interest in movies and as an audiophile, baka naging producer ng movies siya or internationally renowned DJ, and he’d probably make waves there. Pero napilitan siya ng pamilya to join politics because his name was and continues to be WINNABLE. Sayang kasi kung di niya gamitin ang winnability niya!
Benigno S. Aquino III — THE NAME YOU KNOW!
http://noypi-ako.com/noynoys-platform/
Dapat yata nag “nota bene” man lang sila.
yun yata ang ibig sabihin ni benigs, dahil sya ganon ang ginagawa nya pag me changes sa getreal philippines nya.
on another note @UPN that is a pssibility,but I doubt it wont wash for those that demand it so i will use this comment thread:
Attention Web Master of noynoy.ph:
Please update your website and put an explanation on the page that the platform written there before was for the senate elections.
and put an advisory that the page will be updated when the “official platform is ready” .
OR
say this page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
which ever works for you.
Comment threads work.
If I recall, I reminded the webmaster of a provocative website who blogs in a collaborative blog, that geocities will soon be kaput, and the following blog may nota bene na.
This is the Philippines. As a telecommuting friend of mine said, basta Philippine-based website, more often than not, either mabagal, may kulang or madalas na sira yan.
@karl, noypi-ako.com is not the official site of noynoy, it’s just one of the support sites online. thanks.
Yes Leo,
That is why I urged the web master of Noynoy’s website to follow your example on putting a note, that the platform will be updated once the Official Platform is ready.
Thanks.
The American poodle faction of the Pinoy elite would like to come back in full force. Ninoy is their “Trojan Horse.”
They were disappointed with GMA since she has brought the state to the stage of dysfunctionality that could lead to its failure.
China is there to fund her without conditions as long as they get what they want from us.
Land and resources.
So that’s China? Makes one think about political contributors. We’ll fund you without restrictions, as long as we get what we want.
JAG,
China isn’t after our land because they know we are not in any position to give them land. The Mainland Chinese know that our country is more densely-populated than theirs is.
Resources? Yes. We have raw materials their rapidly-growing economy needs and they can pay for it.
Here’s what they’re after: Access to our Resources (so they can buy ‘em) and Access to our Market (so they can sell goods & services to us)
I think the old rich landowner (mostly the land-based, non-industrialist sectors) of the Pinoy elite feels threatened by GMA because of her economic policies that sought to introduce more foreign investments and more competition to the uncompetitive companies that these old hacenderos owned. Noynoy (not the late Ninoy) is the guy who will act as their puppet to reinstate their old privileges and create a protectionist environment that shields their uncompetitive companies from competition.
real deal,
spoken like a true gloria buttboy.
Kaminsky,
Well, GMA does have a lot of economic achievements up her sleeves – which, by the way, is why no one could succeed in toppling her.
Ever wonder why Marcos was toppled? It wasn’t really all about corruption or martial law per se… It’s because ultimately, it was his actions (or his economic ineptitude) that caused the Philippine Peso to crash as a result of his general inability to pay his international creditors.
So maybe you don’t like GMA. I personally don’t like her katarayan, but hey, at least our peso is relatively stable thanks to her policies. And no, we can’t say that it’s all because of the OFW’s, because even Erap had lots of OFW’s sending money back during his time, yet his fiscal policies (and his own despicable habits of midnight drinking sprees) did not make investors feel confident that Erap’s ship was seaworthy, hence the not-so-good economic performance under his watch which ultimately brought about his ouster.
Sure, the “second envelope” thing just acted as the catalyst, but he wouldn’t have been in such trouble if only he kept his eye on the ball in economic matters.
So, Kaminsky, care to tell us how you think Noynoy is going to fix the Philippine economy, create jobs, and help Filipinos put food on the table without having to leave the country and become putas and tagapunas-ng-pwet?
Oh yeah, I remember, Noynoy still doesn’t have a platform.
How convenient an excuse, Kaminsky… ;)
Noynoy doesn’t have a PLATFORM because he never practiced thinking about solving Philippine problems ever since!
No platform = No Plan = No Roadmap for Achievement
= CLUELESS
I’m going to warn you now. Below i a below-the-belt question.
Noynoy and Mar — do they understand what it means to be a parent?
“Well, GMA does have a lot of economic achievements up her sleeves – which, by the way, is why no one could succeed in toppling her.”
Real Deal,
Do I have to quote Manuel again?
J_ag:
Exactly! It is not in the interest of the oligarchs to allow competition into the domestic market place. For one, the services and products peddled by the oligarch-owned companies are lousy and expensive. A competitor that provides excellent service at low rates will force the oligarch-owned companies to shape up or lose market share.
Fortunately (but unfortunate for the Philippines), the oligarchs have embedded a non-tariff barrier in the 1987 constitution – the prohibition against majority control or businesses and the foreign ownership of real estate. These items are among the necessary conditions which keep on cropping up on surveys about the attractiveness of an investment destination.
Noynoy, Mikey, based on what they did while Ondoy was at its peak – are same thoroughbred horseshit.
Gentlemen,
Man-up! Endorse your candidate and then criticize mine. Don’t hide behind the “i’m not endorsing anyone but I’n against Noynoy because….” closet door. Come out of the closet! Who will you vote for and why? Man-up!
Manuel,
I’m waiting for Noynoy to convince me yet, I will be keenly observing his moves from now on because I want to be sure of my vote.
My inclination though as of this time is for Noynoy because he’s the cleanest among the lot.
Hey, BongV! Forget Cory, forget Hacienda Luisita because Noynoy already said he’s ready to let go of the hacienda if necessary. Do you think Noynoy is clean? And, please, BongV, don’t sell me that crap about Villar, he has to come clean with that C-5 road expansion and his other ‘magic’. I’ll also be observing the movements of Gloria’s people if they will be shifting to Villar’s party. You see, I don’t want anything to do with Gloria’s people come election time. Teka, nasaan na ba ako? Ah, yes, BongV, do you think Noynoy is clean?
Bert,
My biggest reason for backing Noynoy and Mar is their honesty. How many billions will the country save if the two top officials of the land are honest?
The real massive graft happens only when a president is dishonest because the president is the principal player in all big transactions. At the end of the day, the president decides whether or not a project, deal, transaction, etc. goes through.
That’s why before all other qualities like competence, ability etc. which all the candidates possess in varying degrees, one looks at the candidate’s character. Is he honest?
For discussion purposes – let’s say Noynoy is clean – but, so is Mar Roxas, so is Gibo, so is Nick Perlas. At least Nick Perlas has a well thought-out platform. Gibo has more credentials, same as Mar.
Why settle for a Noynoy, kung may kasing honest naman at mas magaling pa? O di ba?
If your biggest reason is honesty – Nick Perlas is just as honest – even more!
Forgive and forget is only for a starstruck butthead.. este.. Bert – kung ganun – let’s forget that Noynoy is son of Cory and Ninoy – let him stand on his own merit – not from the shadows cast by his parents!
Asto movements of Gloria’s people – guess what, people cheered when the same thieves move to Noynoy – if they move to Villar – hindi na…. nakupow…
“Forgive and forget is only for a starstruck butthead.. este.. Bert – kung ganun – let’s forget that Noynoy is son of Cory and Ninoy – let him stand on his own merit – not from the shadows cast by his parents!”-BongV
Pighead..ehe..este, BongV, kung ganun, manuel can vote for noynoy, Real Deal Gibo, and you formerly Villar now nick perlas. Good luck to us all.
Well, I’ll not pan Noynoy anymore, but I’m still mooning BF or Gibo, since they’re the closest to what I like. BF with a hardline approach to shape up the Pinoy, or Gibo since a friend in PAF said that he doesn’t make promises to magically cure the country like other candidates do. But this can change when we get into the New Year.
Manuel,
I think many of us are engaging in a process-of-elimination, that is, we are still undecided.
By hitting, vetting if you may, your endorsed (?) candidate, we maybe in deep scrutiny. Remember, I laid down my initial preference for Richard Gordon. My choice you shoo-shooed with a ‘Dick’ comment.
Ang pikon, talo.
Phil,
then vet all the candidates.
Iy was just my way of telling what I thought of a senator I watched closely during the Doble testimony and the ZTE NBN hearing. His behavior during those hearings was low; it was not what I expected of a gentleman from the Ateneo. It revealed a streak that diminished him and made me forget all the good things he did for Olongapo and SBMA.
Yun nga ang sinasabi e – vet the candidates, wag yung padalos dalos.
man-up ka ngayon, syarap gusto mo?
eh kung sa hearing pa lang na turn off ka kay Dick Gordon, sa palagay mo yung circumstances ng pagkamatay ng mga taong dukha na ang hinihingi ay kapiranggot na lupang dapat naman talagang sa mapunta sa kanila – di ka naturn-off. substance my man… substance…
sa porma ka lang pala mabubuntis… :)
Executives don’t mind Bill Gates throw a fit here and there as long as he brings home the dough (enough dough to feed families and support a foundation that rescues the poor and ill worldwide.) With all those lawsuits they had to hurdle, Bill and Microsoft doesn’t strike me as a truly honest lot, but they surely know how to run their outfit well.
Apple’s Board of Directors, for a while, did mind Jobs doing the same, but eventually had to ask him back since Apple started losing it then. Jobs put Apple back on track.
BongV,
Sino kandidato mo?
Given I know their personal qualities, track record, performance, and credentials – Kung sino yung may credible platform that resonates with my values – yun ang iboboto ko.
Phil,
Pikon na talaga yan si Kaminsky, kasi nga obvious naman sa lahat (at pati sa kanya) na kulelat si Noynoy!
Buencamino’s reaction here in the comments section is the same reaction that a child who fervently believed in Santa Claus shows once it is revealed to him that those Santa Claus gifts he used to get were actually placed under the Christmas Tree by his own parents! Hahahaha!
His world has come crashing down, and he’s actually at a loss for words.
Look at his replies, mga puro butas at puno ng galit. hahaha!
Kaminsky!! Easy ka lang, Cheap!
Ikaw kasi, masyado kang die-hard Noynoyista, para kang tipong Al-Qaeda sa fervent extremist belief mo eh. You’re not open to scientific and objective facts.
Obvious naman sa lahat na kulelat si Noynoy eh. No platform, kulang sa brainpower, kulang sa speech-power, kulang sa problem-solving ability, kulang sa credentials, kulang sa experience.
But then again, Kaminsky, ALL OF US agree with you that Noynoy is WINNABLE.
Yun lang naman ang meron siya eh… He’s winnable. PERIOD.
But winnability will only get him to win the elections.
Winnability won’t make him a good president.
And knowing what kind of person Noynoy really is, it’s obvious that he will be a very weak and ineffectual president.
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW!
The Real Deal,
ino kandidato mo? Hindi mo masabi? Kinahihiya mo ba?
@MCB:
Because you couldn’t win the game, you now try to change the game? Sneaky you. :-P
I’m going to warn you now. The question below can be offensive to some.
Who of the presidentiables understand (and who do not understand) what it means to be a parent?
UP n,
Why is it offensive or even of interest? We all don’t know many many things. Which candidate knows what it is like to pull a trigger and kill someone? They will be sending troops off to fight. Which candidate has ever negotiated a contract? Met with a chief of state? Sat in on a zoning hearing? Filed a lawsuit or defended one? Sat in his house on a muddy river bank and cooked the evening meal in a makeshift dirty kitchen? Had an abortion? Knelt in a Mosque? Felt the pangs of hunger? Been without a job?
Joe
JoeAm: There is this expression said by practically all cultures. The expression is used to offer words of caution against jumping to conclusions. It is also used to put distances between economic classes (i.e. only one from the poor can really understand the needs of the poor).
Never judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.
The American Indian saying went like this : “In order to truly understand a person you must first walk a mile in their moccasins”.
And so, it is asked… how can they give reproductive-health advice when celibate bishops do not possibly understand why the poor need help in deciding the number of children in their household?
UP n,
I understood the point, and it is good to know everything, but highly impractical. The demands on a President are impossibly broad. So modern man would say, hire good people, delegate well, listen carefully or read what they write and reflect on it, then make an informed decision. To say someone is limited because they have not experienced something important first hand is to say NO ONE is qualified.
These old sayings are useful for teaching, but not always to live by. My wife gets on my case for stacking the dishes, because it means we are going to have another baby. Wives tales, folk wisdom, information. I’ll go with the latter . . .
Joe
As for the bishops, I rather think it is not a matter of not understanding. It is a matter of being glued to a principle of the faith, and not knowing how to tell people that God changed his mind on the matter.
Joe
Indeed: “winnability” — the choice campaign tagline fitting for a vacuous electorate. :-D
This aversion to the topic of “platforms” remains consistent with our character as a people.
Aversion to platforms may be among the things DingGagelonia also alluded to when he wrote:
Real Deal,
Hmmm, your inside info on BA III being audiophile is interesting.
What is he to do when presented options on eliminating the Abu Sayyaf?
Play “In the Navy” in his Marantz receiver…Priceless.
And Bert can go tsuwariwap with MCB on that one, Phil.
But alas, we see “Kaminsky” left all alone on this one with an indelible blush. Hehehe :P
Noynoy doesn’t have the backbone to baldly este boldly deal with the ASG. If anything, it will embolden the ASG because they know they’ll be able to bully him into submission in no time. But then, for Noy’s supporters and trunks, they’ll rally “Tuloy ang laban!!!” He can’t even tell his own people to stop overcommitting him into this heroic ideal he knows he’ll never live up to.
Many thanks to The Real Deal for clearing things up! You should come here more often, pare!
Filo,
Sino kandidato mo?
Secret! Hehehe
Filo, you’re right. Real Deal can very well clean up, ehe..este.. clear up everything for Gloria’s manok.
Filo,
Do you believe The Real Deal is close to his “Tita Cory” and the Aquinos? Pls. tell me the truth so I can shift my tsewarewarewaps from manuel and be The Real Deal’s tsewarewarewap like you are now, heheh.
No need, Bert.
You can stay just where this Real Deal new guy wants you. Hehe
Butt,
(That’s how the Brits pronounce your name anyway, so I’ll call you Butt)
I’m an insider, you’re an outsider. I’m invited to certain C (not A) parties, gatherings, baptisms, weddings, while you’re not and never will you ever be.
Mwahahaha!
How selfish naman you are, Filo. You won’t tell me the truth about the Real Deal’s relationship with his “Tita Cory” and the Aquinos because you don’t believe it, is that it?
Nakakaduda kasi, Filo, kasi, I’m also a frequenter of Dencio and all I saw there was Noynoy the watch-your-car boy, not Noynoy Aquino.
Real Deal,
I’m a habitat of C parties, too, but I’m humble. Nothing to brag about.
I can imagine your C parties are the types funded from the likes of ZTE DEals, the Pidal accounts, the fertilizer transactions, etc. Well, that’s something to brag about, and mighty proud you are of it too, heheh.
Would you believe I live in Malacanang, and so I’m an insider, too?
But me and Gibo have the same hang out, but not Dencio, we’re more classy than that.
I go to Dencio only to have my leak, but never with Gibo who is kind of a classy fellow.
Butt,
Filo can’t tell you anything about me or my relationship with the C’s, because FILO DOESN’T KNOW WHO I AM! (And he doesn’t need to know who I am: what matters is whether what I post here makes sense.)
Here’s the important question: Are you sure you want a watch-your-car boy to act as the pilot of the jumbo jet you ride in? Or would you want someone who’s been to flight school and clocked in more than the required hours of flight time?
Noynoy’s more like the former. And all his life, he hasn’t done anything to prepare for the presidency at all. He hasn’t shown any interest whatsoever in running the country and this is evident because he doesn’t really read books on history, public policy, and anything related to how to make a country better. Has he written articles in the papers to share any ideas about what to do? Sa number of bills na napass niya kulelat na siya eh.
Statecraft has never really been his primary interest. He’s more into Kurosawa and old hi-fi vacuum tube systems. Kapag yan ang pinag-usapan, I defer to him.
But “how to fix the Philippines?” He has absolutely no personal interest or slightest hint of enthusiasm for that topic.
Ok lang naman sa akin kung gusto niyo ni Kaminsky kay Noynoy eh. Basta ako, I ask you the question: Are you sure you really want a non-pilot to pilot your airplane?
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
Butt,
So you’re saying you think the Cojuangco family throws parties that are “funded from the likes of ZTE DEals, the Pidal accounts, the fertilizer transactions, etc”, now aren’t you?
When I said C parties, I was referring to the C that is supposed to be Noynoy’s REAL MIDDLE INITIAL.
Tanga ka rin yata, ano? Kasi medyo obvious what I meant by “C and not A”, but you didn’t get it, and then you decided to brag about your own parties.
Irrelevant, Butt. My connection to Noynoy is something I can’t do anything about because I’m “in the fam” – though I dare not share details lest I be turned into a persona-non-grata in all our clan gatherings.
Butt, you are Kaminsky’s buttboy. ;)
You’re a HABITAT of C parties pala, Bert.
Must be tough being a habitat.
I don’t know about the others, but me, I’ve never been a habitat. I’m too selfish to be a habitat.
Real Deal,
It’s getting clearer now. You don’t want Noynoy to become president because he’s not a “professional pilot to fly the plane”? Ok, quite fair.
So now you want Gibo who you think is one who can “fly the plane safely to its destination”. Considering that both Gibo and Noynoy have never “fly a plane” in their life, what is your bases for choosing Gibo?
Assuming that Gibo can indeed “fly the plane” as “nicely” as your Gloria did, your reckoning being that Gloria is an expert “pilot” in running the country, and that indeed Gibo had promise he’ll “fly the plane” just like his boss, my question now is this:
Do you want the president of your country to be as unpopular and detestable to the people due to very valid and logical reasons?
Thanks, Filo, my weakness, my grammar, sabi ko naman sa’yo mediocre lang to-its, heheh. What I mean by “habitat” is “inhabitant”, if this is still wrong, my apology, mahina ulo, eh. What’s important is, by muddling my grammar makes the elite FV inhabitants go crazy, ahayhehehehe.
“Tanga ka rin yata, ano?”
Real Deal, accepted. But not so much, pero mayroon naman akong pride, hindi ko papasukin ang trabaho na tagapunas ng puwit ni Gloria na gaya ng ginagawa mo.
Real Deal,
You’re still insisting that you’re “in the fam”? Then I’m afraid I will have to insist also that I live in Malacanang, heheh.
Filo, kahit paano naman siguro meron kang naintindihan sa mga sinasabi kong English, kung wala huwag mo na lang pansinin. Salamat ulit kasi marami talaga akong natututunan dito sa kagaya ninyong magagaling.
Real Deal, I’m not manuelbuencamino’s buttboy, hindi pa nga ako pumapayag na iboto ang “kamag-anak” mong si Noynoy, sabi ko kelangan kumbinsihin pa ako ni Noynoy.
Pero ikaw, tagpunas ka talaga ng puwit ni Gloria, kasi ang mga manok mo sa pagka presidente ay puro manok ni Gloria.
Hey Butt,
I don’t care if the leader of the country is “detestable” or “popular.”
I only care that the leader delivers the appropriate results in what I consider to be the most important aspect: The Economy. Why? Because everything else requires the economy.
Education? Where are you going to get the funding for that? The economy!
Defense? Funding comes from the economy!
Public Infrastructure? Funding comes from the economy!
Hey wait, yes, even the salaries of government workers comes from the economy!
Everything comes from the economy, Butt. So for me, I don’t care about the popularity of the leader. I only care about who can deliver the results.
Oh yeah, and you really are on the TANGA side, aren’t you? You can’t tell what an analogy is when you see one.
Between Gibo and Noynoy, it’s unfortunate that Gibo’s the ace and Noynoy is the non-Pilot (zero training, zero interest in flying, zero flight hours, etc), so my question is, would you want someone like that flying the plane you’re riding in? Obviously not.
We all know – as deep down you also know – that Noynoy just isn’t cut out for the job.
You think I’m for Gibo? Notice that he only ranks 3rd in my list. Honestly, it’s a toss-up between BF and Gordon (a little more for BF).
Anyway, all I know is that if you don’t believe my connections with the C’s, then it means I’m safe, and that means I will still continue to be invited to the parties. ;)
…you won’t.
*bleh!*
Real Deal,
If I’m tanga, then you too. Because you don’t know why Gloria is so detestable and unpopular to the people. And you still want to vote for her ‘clones”, heheh.
@Bert:
Awwww. (sniff sniff)
Good luck with your “C” party.
(tsuwari-wari-wap)
Real Deal,
I’m going to make you an offer you can’t resist. You can continue calling me Butt, I won’t mind. But every time you call me Butt, I will answer by calling you Ass-wiper. Now, Ass-wiper is not an inapriopriate name for you because it’s your job.
Deal?
Real deal and the circle jerk,
Meron akong klasmate panay ang kantiao dun sa mga syota ng mga kaibigan niya, Kesa pangit, kesa mataba, kesa ang sama ng ugali.
So sabi ko sa kanya, “Pare the best siguro ang syota mo, pakilala mo nga sa akin.”
Ang sagot niya, “Secret, pare. Hahaha!”
Nagtaka ako. Sinubaybayan ko siya nung sinabi niya may data daw siya.
Ayun, wala palang syota. Bumili lang ng dvd at nagkulong sa kwarto kasama ng grupo niya at sabay-sabay silang nagjakol.
I just love it when you show your real colors Manny! Hehehe
Annoyed much? :-P
Filo,
I’m not annoyed. Kakadiri lang when they don’t wipe the come around their mouths kasi.
Hahahha! You’re funny!
Try not to lock lips.
Kaminsky,
Tigas talaga ng ulo mo, ano, ha?
I already mentioned who my preferred choices are even before you asked me – kasi tinanong na ako ni Joe America.
Obviously, makulit ka at matigas ang ulo mo, so eto:
http://filipinovoices.com/beavis-and-butthead/comment-page-1#comment-104076
Now, in it, you will see who my choices are. That will narrow down to one after all candidacies are filed (and other candidates withdraw) with finality…
Gets mo na?
Bok, slow ka nga talaga sa utak… Kaya pala Noynoy ang gusto mong magpresidente, para isang katulad mong mahina ang nasa poder. Maybe you see it as the mahina protecting the interests of the mahina.
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
Real Deal,
Para kang babaeng di makadesisyon kung kanino sisiping
Kaminsky,
Medyo bastos na talaga ang language na ginagamit mo ha…
“tanginamo” (kay benign0)
“buttboy” (sa akin)
“jakol” (sa lahat)
“sisiping” (sa akin)
What’s with the potty-mouth, Manuel Buencamino? Have you not read my post? I already laid out my choices and still need to wait for the final deadline of filing of candidacy to find out who are really pushing through and who are withdrawing before I can make a final decision. At the very least, I already have 3 choices.
But looking at the three, it’s clear that they have the experience, the brains, the brilliance, the credentials, and most importantly, THE PLATFORM, and Noynoy has none of them: Pangalan lang ang meron siya. Winnability lang.
Para sa yo kasi, Kaminsky, winning the elections is the only thing. Pero wala kang pakialam as to “what next?”
You don’t care how the Philippines will be run. You don’t care that Noynoy, despite all the years he’s had the chance to learn how to be a leader, never took the time to hone his skills and instead “placeholder” lang siya. He can’t even articulate anything insightful on TV. Is that the kind of President you want? Someone who doesn’t have a single clue as to what to do or what decisions to make when a crisis happens?
Pano yan, puro advisers na naman, parang kay Erap??
Puro kasi kayo winnability eh…
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW!
@MCB:
Don’t you just love it when people see the true you?
Pottymouth.
Pottymouth pottymouth nyanyanya said Twinkle and his friend.
Are you sure it wasn’t you who was watching the DVD?
Anyway, I support Gordon for President.
He may be Dick to you and I really don’t know why you have a fondness for calling him that or for calling people ‘the circle jerk’. Maybe you need to relieve some stress or something.
But, anyway, I support Gordon for President because the guy has already delivered on two important pieces of legislation that has delivered change in the present.
The first one is the automated election law or RA 9369 which paves the way for the country’s first automated election, marking a departure for the certainly fraudulent manual elections.
The second one is the Tourism Law, which provides the policy base for making tourism a major industry in the Philippines. Unlike export processing zones and multi-billion dollar foreign investments which basically trickle down jobs and business opportunities, tourism brings a direct infusion of dollars from the hand of the foreign tourist to the hand of the tourism industry worker or businessman.
Gordon believes that leadership should be earned, it should not be inherited, bought, taken by force, or taken by trickery.
To earn the privilege of leadership, you must prepare for it by learning how to be a leader and the best way to learn how to be a leader is to lead.
Gordon has taken on the role of a leader from his early years in elementary and through out his adult life. He was a student leader, a mayor, the chairman of subic, the secretary of tourism, and the chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross.
To be a leader, also, you have to have a clear plan of where to lead your people and you have to have the competence that will enable you to realize that plan.
Gordon has a clear plan for Health and Education (read the HEAP BILL), he has a clear plan for dealing with disaster and climate change, he has a clear plan for infrastructure development (read his 3-2-1 bill)… etctetera…
Can he execute these plans? Of course and proof of his ability to execute plans is his past and current performance.
Gordon’s a good guy… Met him on a plane from the states many many years ago where I was seated next to his young son (in economy class), while he and his wife were in business class (using miles). Had a good conversation with the son, and the son introduced me to his dad during our lay-overs.
During the lay-overs (we were flying Northwest) we’d talk a lot and I observed a man who uses all his waking ours – even his idle time – thinking at the back of his head how to make things better for the Philippines. He was always coming up with ideas and what-if scenarios, and is a very observant guy, observing how more advanced countries do what they do for greater efficiency.
It’s people like Gordon (or BF or even Gibo) that we need up there, people who seriously think about how to make things better. For those people, thinking about how to make things better in the Philippines is their passion.
But Noynoy? His expertise and passion is in discussing vacuum tube hi-fi systems versus the modern digital-based sound systems, or why Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is far better than that Western Cowboy remake “The Magnificent Seven.” It really just tells you the level of performance that Noynoy is going to achieve if he wins as President. Winning the elections will be easy for him, sure. But running the show? Well, unless his job is President of a Sound System Rental company, he’s going to suck as President of the Philippines!
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
pinoybuzz,
congratulations for announcing your choice.
Assuming he doesn’t run, will you boycott the election?
By the way, Gordon is Dick to everyone. Who calls him Richard?
Kaminsky,
He sure as hell ain’t gonna vote for Noynoy, if that’s what you’re asking. ;)
Ikaw kasi puro ka WINNABILITY lang eh. That’s all Noynoy has to offer. After the elections are won, pano na? Puro hundreds of advisers na lang, same as Erap?
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
“Sino kandidato mo?”
That doesn’t sound too different from that quintessentially Pinoy “What have you done for your country?” — the way some people presume to be a judge of how much or how little one “does” for their country.
Is what somebody plans to vote for anybody’s business?
Kaya nga voting is done behind enclosed booths and ballots are considered to be secret and therefore kept under lock-and-key.
Not even the State has the right to demand that one of its citizens reveal who they plan to vote for.
Of course Pinoys, being the bozos that we are, cannot comprehend simple privacy issues like that in the same manner that we think nothing about the way the Media (with the police complicit) parade suspected criminals in front of the public eye even before they’ve had their day in court.
Mr. buencamino just because you choose to make your manok known does not entitle you to demand that those who criticise your choice reveal theirs.
But I’ve got a suggested path that you might take from here:
Keep on guessing.
The bottom line here, however, remains this:
Platform, plez™
Deal with it.
:-D
thats not MB’s point. his point is, if its not noynoy, then who would u vote for (assuming u can).
It’s not really any of his damn business, either. He chose to make public his advocacy and subject it to criticism. Instead of trying to change minds with reason to encourage people to see it his way, he resorts to name-calling and cursing. “Buttboy” and “tangina mo”, indeed. What is this, sixth grade now? If he really can’t handle the resistance, he should’ve come better prepared to deal with, or exercised his right as a voter in a democracy and kept his choice to himself.
really? i dont condone name calling at all, so i appeal to people not to do it.
privacy is inviolate, however, i think the question, “who is your candidate” is germane, in the context of this political blog.
if you tell people to support or not support a candidate for some reason X (hope, experience, platform, whatever), then isnt it incumbent upon u to tell us what your method/reason will end up favoring?
if you want to engage in the public sphere and say, “don’t vote for him coz of X”, then, the obvious, natural next question is: whom should we support then, if X is such a bad thing?
B0 is free to say, i wont say. but its also understandable for MB to ask since B0 has forwarded a method to pick a candidate.
BenK,
BongV accused me of being on the take from hacenderos. The proper response to that is tangina mo. If he had said that to my face then my response would have been a fist to his face. You can call me names but don’t accuse me of being a mercenary for anyone.
Now I am not out to change your mind because I know you’ve made your mind up. I am simply standing up for my choice and responding to your posts because I will not allow your allegations to go unanswered. As far as I’m concerned you made your bed so sleep on it.
So Kaminsky,
Your choice is simply to go with WINNABILITY, and not substance and competence.
We know why you chose Noynoy, and we know we can’t change your mind.
But stop fooling us as you have fooled yourself. Everyone knows – including yourself – that Noynoy doesn’t have the brains, doesn’t have the interest, doesn’t have the passion/enthusiasm, doesn’t have the leadership experience, and doesn’t have the ability to come up with a platform to be a good President.
All he has is the name “Benigno S. Aquino III” which can propel him to the Presidency. But after that, what next?
You, deep down, know that he can’t run the show, and I know that you know that he’s going to be relying on hundreds of different advisers all giving him different types of advice – just like Erap.
How do you wiggle out of this one, Manuel Buencamino?
You know, deep down, that Noynoy will make a lousy president, but you’re going for him only because he’s winnable. I take it you really don’t care about the country at all because you don’t care that a totally unprepared and clueless candidate like Noynoy will be unable to do anything as soon as he finds himself in Malacañang.
The advisers won’t help. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Noynoy needs to be his own man, but too bad, he never trained himself to be his own man.
So pano? Winnability lang? Pangalan lang? Oks na ba yan sa yo?
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
Well, Mr. Good Road, based on your slavishly holding to a bald assertion and refusal to offer any critical evidence to support it, even I suspect you’re a paid mouthpiece. So if you are not out to change someone’s mind, then what’s the point? Why did you even write this is the first place? You simply felt compelled to announce your appreciation for Noynoy? (or maybe you get paid based on volume – I don’t know, but that could be inferred, so you tell me)
That’s certainly your privilege to write about whatever you like, but the thing that bothers me about bloggers like you – and there are ones for every candidate, even candidates I don’t hold such a dim view of – is that you write expecting to be greeted by some sort of triumphalist love-in among your readers, then are hurt and act childish when someone offers some dissent.
You’re the one who needs to MAN UP, pal. You started it. You made your assertion, now back it up. Those who are making the assertion that Noynoy is NOT a good choice, guys like Bong and that Real Deal guy who seems to be somewhat connected to the Aquinos are backing up their assertion – not perfectly in all instances, maybe, but better than you. I suppose you’re entitled to ask them who their alternative is, but since their assertion is “Noynoy is not the one” and not, “This one is better than Noynoy”, strictly speaking, the naming of an alternative is not relevant to the argument, and not critical to refuting your position.
You will do your candidate, and yourself, a lot more good if you break the impression that he (and be association, his supporters) are shallow, slogan-heavy, opportunistic non-thinkers. So far, you are racing quickly in the other direction.
BenK,
Like Twinkle you seem to have a predilection for psychoanalysis.
It ain’t the way to go.
Two can play the game. Let’s see from what Twinkle and you say, you don’t like Noynoy because he lacks the qualities that you look for in a leader. But the qualities you and Twinkle are looking for are those of a strong man, a father figure as it were. See Twinkle’s list of heroes in another post comment.
So what does say about your preference, that you are looking for an absent father or that you like strong males?
Two can play the game and psychoanalysis is not a game you should be playing.
If I did have a predilection for psychoanalysis, I’d probably have a better guess as to what mental defect it is that you suffer, but that escapes me. Delusional, certainly – your mysterious interpretation of my and that other guy’s comments as ‘psychoanalysis’ indicates that – but why? I thought you were just stubborn, but you seem to imply there’s something else, so what? Bed-wetter? Oedipus complex? Your favorite uncle take just a little too much liking to you? What?
Dr. BenK,
Here’s you talking
“whatever you like, but the thing that bothers me about bloggers like you – and there are ones for every candidate, even candidates I don’t hold such a dim view of – is that you write expecting to be greeted by some sort of triumphalist love-in among your readers, then are hurt and act childish when someone offers some dissent.”
So you have answered by question is it the absent or the need for a strong male that makes you and Twinkle want a strong authoritarian ruler?
Please answer so we can begin treatment right away
Benigno,
There’s no law prohibiting you from revealing your sisiw. Only timidity prevents you from coming out of the closet.
And since you used manok to charcterize political choices then let’s extend your analogy. You want to participate in a sabong you bring a manok to the cockpit. Otherwise you remain a miron with a big mouth.
Usually the mirons have a better take on the state of play. That’s the reason there are coaches and there are players. If everyone wanted to play, there won’t be a strategy. And if everyone wanted to be a coach, obviously there won’t be a game. :-D
Kaminsky,
The problem really is that the deadline for the filing of candidacy isn’t done yet. So no one yet is sure who really is running and who isn’t.
But when Noynoy announced his candidacy, what was totally sure to everyone is that this guy doesn’t have what it takes to be a good president. All he has is what it takes to win in the Philippines: The Name You Know. ;)
For everyone to pester Noynoy about his lack of experience and his lack of a platform is fair. Noynoy should step up to the plate and show everyone that he can answer questions on TV smartly, without the need for advisers. And he should show that he has a plan of action or a platform, because that gives us an idea on what he wants to achieve after he wins.
But, as usual, we all know that you only care about winning the elections, right? You don’t really care that after Noynoy wins the elections, he’s going to foul up the Philippines because he doesn’t know what to do… ;)
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! ;P
benigno,
a coach is not a miron. he is an integral part of the game. haven’t you ever played team sports?
Twinkle,
“The problem really is that the deadline for the filing of candidacy isn’t done yet. So no one yet is sure who really is running and who isn’t.”
Erap, Villar, Gibo, Loren, Chiz, Gordon, Bayani, Ebdane, Perlas, have all announced their intention to run so don’t give me that line that you can’t announce your bet but you can attack Noynoy. Following your logic even Noynoy has not filed his candidacy yet so you have no cause to attack him.
Following the same logic, Noynoy hasn’t filed his candidacy yet so you have no cause to advocate him. Touche.
So, what’s it gonna be, Mr. Good Road? Candidate or not?
BenK you are right. That’s why you shouldn’t be ashamed to announce who your bet is even if he has not declared. I mean if he does not run then we can always write it off as shattered dreams.
I’m not a tilapia; bait makes little to no impression on me. I’m also not the one who advanced the advocacy of a particular candidate in the first place, so…nice try, but don’t change the subject.
Even those supporting Noynoy Aquino have a lot of questions that need answering.
Here’s a post from Equalizer
http://mav-equalizer.blogspot.com/2009/10/noynoy-aquinofacing-facts.html
Pinoyb,
That’s right there are seven questions that equalizer asks. But isn’t it amazing that despite those questions he remains firm in his support for Noynoy?
Maybe you could change his mind if only you would tell him why your choice is better. You have one, don’t you?
Kaminsky,
Equalizer is just being a typical Pinoy: Decide first before evaluating. Conclude first, before analyzing.
That’s the unfortunate fact. We are an emotional and sentimental people who are driven by impulse, emotions, sentimentality, and hormones. In fact, more often than not, after having made a decision with those as the basis, we only start using our brains in order to DEFEND THAT CHOICE. The result is pambobola. We justify our wrong and impulse-driven decisions by “analyzing” how to make up an excuse to explain why we decided the way we did.
Equalizer pre-decided that he’d go for Noynoy because of Sentimentality and Emotionalism, but I guess it became very clear to him that his “manok” has no platform at all other than the use of his name (“Benigno S. Aquino III”) and his lineage (anak ni Ninoy at ni Cory), so much so that it started becoming extremely embarrassing to support a candidate who doesn’t have a platform and can’t think for himself.
Equalizer is showing signs of doing what people from more advanced countries do: Use their brains. He’s a little late in the game ‘coz he made his decision to support Noynoy purely on the basis of sentiment and emotion (and his blog entry even ADMITS IT), but now he’s asking the right question.
I think Equalizer feels ashamed that his own manok, when objectively compared side-by-side with the other candidates, doesn’t show any real signs of competence and ability (and shows no plan of action: a platform) and that’s why his blog is pleading Noynoy to come up with one in order to shut the naysayers up.
In contrast to Equalizer who is asking the right questions, ikaw naman, Kaminsky, you are blindly touting Noynoy as “The One” despite the obective and irrefutable fact that until now, Noynoy still has no platform, and that Noynoy’s past experience or his intellectual ability is totally not up to par for the job.
Para sa yo kasi, Manuel Buencamino, WINNABILITY is all that matters:
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! :P
twinkle,
So you put EQ on a couch? And me too – Para sa yo kasi, Manuel Buencamino, WINNABILITY is all that matters:
No Twinkle, honesty, integrity, and character are what matters most.
Judging from your comments in another post, you like strong men, dictators I mean
Manuel Buencamino,
What you don’t know is that Benigno S. Aquino Jr, fondly remembered by everyone as Ninoy, the Martyr, liked strong men and looked up to them as his model for governance:
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/magazine/cory-aquino-s-downhill-slide.html?pagewanted=6
It’s the 6th page of an article written by Stanley Karnow, an American Journalist who was a personal friend of Tito Ninoy and Tita Cory, who also wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning book “In Our Image” which talks about the Philippines.
I directed you to the 6th page because in it, you will read there that Tito Ninoy’s idols were among the people I mentioned in my list, to wit:
1. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore
2. Park Chung Hee of South Korea
The sentences which are first hand accounts that Stanley Karnow himself gathered from his numerous meet-ups with his friend Benigno “NINOY” S. Aquino Jr. state the following:
“Neither was the martyred Ninoy Aquino an unalloyed champion of civil liberties. His models included Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and the South Korean General Park Chung Hee, neither of whom would qualify as democrats.”
Truth be told, both Tita Cory and Noynoy themselves didn’t fully understand NINOY’s real ideas for governance. Everyone (including his wife and children) mistakenly thought that Ninoy was a democratist. No he wasn’t. In the book “In Our Image”, Tito Ninoy’s friend Stanley Karnow in several places quotes Tito Ninoy verbatim as having mentioned in essence that if he (Ninoy) had been president, he too would have used dictatorial means in order to transform the Philippines… The problem that Tito Ninoy said Marcos had was simply that he wasn’t delivering on material and economic prosperity which would have justified the “supression of civil liberties.”
So I can sum up what your problems are, Manuel Buencamino:
1. You don’t really understand Ninoy Aquino’s political ideals: You think he was a solid pro-democracy advocate, but you are unaware of the fact that both General Park Chung Hee and Lee Kuan Yew are Tito Ninoys idols and models for governance.
2. You choose to go with your gut and forcefully reject all logic and reason to choose a candidate who shows no skills, no preparation, no abilities, no eloquence, no encyclopedic knowledge in history and economics, no ability to present flashes of brilliance, has no ability to present a platform of governance, and shows no real interest or inclination in topics related to improving a country.
3. You force everyone else to accept your own personal choice of candidate (never mind that you have no logical reasons backing up your choice and all you have are sentimentality, emotionalism, uncritical FAITH, and unfounded HOPE) as being the only choice.
4. The only thing you can really cite as a backing for your uncritical FAITH and unfounded HOPE that your candidate will magically transform the Philippines into a land of prosperity, progress, Freedom and Democracy is his name:
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! ;P
Cory had all that – but she was still incompetent.
Would recommend you expand your list to include – competence, track record, and vision.
A brain without a heart will be ruthless.
A heart without a brain will be clueless.
You need a heart with a brain, do not settle for anything less.
Real Deal,
If you are indeed a Cojuangco then you must be aware that everyone knows there is a Peping and a Danding faction in the clan and that there is fierce animosity between them. In which faction do you happen to belong? Judging from your posts, most likely you are with the Danding side of the fence?
In that case, your bias against Noynoy is understandable.
Tranquil,
I’m not a Cojuangco. I just happen to be “in the fam” – and there are many just like me. (sorry, not sharing any more details)
Now, which faction? I’m “related” to people on the Jose Cojuangco Jr. (father of Tita Cory and Tito Peping) side, not the Eduardo Cojuangco Sr. (Father of Gibo’s mom and Danding) So yes, I’m “related” to people on the same side where Noynoy is in the family tree.
By the way, the animosity has lots to do with Hacienda Luisita: Eduardo Sr. was cut out from the deal which brother Jose Jr. did in getting Luisita.
But since the C blood doesn’t run in my veins, I am free to make the right decision based on objective facts. The objective fact is: long before Tita Cory died, and long before Noynoy announced his candidacy, the clan generally did not see anything spectacular or exceptional in Noynoy especially in terms of leadership capability or intellectual or analytical ability.
So Tranquil, entiendes? I am not biased against Noynoy because of family ties. I just know from objective first hand observations that this is not the kind of guy I’d want running my own companies (unless it was a film rental store or a sound system rental company), and more importantly, wouldn’t want him running the country. He’s just not cut out for it.
Sad, but true. Judge me for being disloyal to a “clansman” if you will, but I can’t go against my conscience. I know what he can and can’t do: He CAN WIN the elections, but he CAN’T RUN the country.
off topic, real deal, but i’ve always wondered how it would feel like to befriend someone on a airplane trip. do you always make friends with your plane trip seat mates? has it ever backfired? (u have to talk to an arrogant person, etc…)
GabbyD,
The conversation starter was simple: “Hi, ikaw pala yung anak ni Chairman Gordon… Saw you with your parents at the airport…”
I normally don’t talk to my seatmates in an airplane, but this one was a different case. In a sea of Caucasian faces (We weren’t in LA or SF when we first boarded the plane), we were Pinoys seated next to each other, and this Pinoy happened to be with a recognizable person from the Philippines at the airport lounge.
Well, it’s good to know there are dissenters from within Noynoy’s relatives, at least mabawasan ang kamag-anak incorporated kung sakali man. But you are getting ahead of yourself here Real Deal. The obssession in depositing all our hopes for a better country in a single person is unhealthy for our brand of democracy. In the 1987 constitution, we clipped the power of the presidency for fear of Marcosian abuse and instituted the system of checks and balances. Something that Gloria circumvented by bastardizing and prostituting government institutions. But even for all her usurped presidential power, what has Gloria shown for it? Look at how she begs for donations. Point here is, in the business of nation building – as opposed to merely running a country – we must not be deluded to pin our hopes on a single person even if that person occupies a throne in the palace.
The dynamism (or rottenness) of the country and the balance of power rests on those who control the wealth.
to Real Deal: Has Cory ever spoken about NoyNoy as presidential material?
Up n Grad,
No she never mentioned anything like it while she was alive… And in fact, even the cousins – prior to Tita Cory’s death and her subsequent dramatic funeral, all unanimously felt that that Noynoy just wasn’t interested nor was he fit to be president.
However, Tita Cory’s Funeral changed all that. The outpouring of sympathy for Tita Cory made some of the cousins – many of whom are more intelligent and more *ahem* devious than Noynoy is – including first cousin Rapa Cojuangco Lopa, decided that the name recall of Noynoy AQUINO could be exploited by riding on the wave of popular support and sympathy exhibited during the Wake and the Funeral.
If anything, it is clear and widely accepted from within the clan that the decision to push Noynoy to run for President had nothing to do with any skill or attributes related to running government skillfully and achieving results because everyone in the clan knows that Noynoy has no such skills or abilities. Pushing Noynoy to run for President stemmed solely from Noynoy’s full name:
Benigno S. Aquino III: THE NAME YOU KNOW! ;P
Tranquil,
Like it or not, the proposal for Charter Change was supposed to totally remove this entire “dependence on one person” phenomenon, because inside the Charter Change proposal (among the numerous other ones, including a shift towards Federalism as well as major changes in economic laws such as taxation and foreign investments/ownership of land) was the Proposal for a shift to a Westminster Parliamentary System.
A Presidential System is one which focuses on a single person to “head” the country: The Presidential Candidate who will, if elected, become the PRESIDENT.
A Parliamentary System, on the other hand, focuses on having government RUN BY PARLIAMENT.
How does this work? The parliament will be BOTH the legislative AND EXECUTIVE branches fused into one, achieving greater efficiency because policies are formulated and implemented by the same entity. There is no finger-pointing between formulators and implementors because they’re one and the same.
Plus, the elections for a Parliamentary System are focused NOT ON A SINGLE TOP PERSON (as in a Presidential System) but rather in TEAMS, otherwise known as Political PARTIES or blocks of allied parties that group together into Coalitions.
As said earlier, Parliament (not a single person) runs the country. And Parliament is composed of the Majority (ruling party/coalition) and the Minority (opposition).
The Majority is formed by a party (or a coalition) gets a majority of seats in parliament (50% or more of all seats) and Minority are the remainder.
The Prime Minister or Chancellor or Premier is by default the leader of the ruling party/coalition, and acts SOLELY as a kind of facilitator or “First Among Equals.” The Prime Minister therefore does not have “Supremacy” but has only “Primacy” within Parliament.
The way the PM leads Parliament is by leading HIS OWN PARTY (or coalition), who in turn can influence how the entire Parliament makes decisions or runs government simply because his party or coalition holds the majority of seats.
It does not mean, however, that the minority voice will not be heard. In most parliamentary systems, if the opposition voices suggestions that members of the majority party think are actually helpful and cooperative and help advance the entire country’s overall interests, then even members of the majority ruling party or coalition MAY DECIDE TO SUPPORT the suggestions put forward by the opposition.
As you can see, the Parliamentary System is actually a much more efficient and streamlined system than the Presidential System is. Moreover, the Parliamentary System is an extremely TEAM BASED, cooperative, and consensus-based system, as opposed to the Presidential System which actually puts all executive prerogative in the Office held by A SINGLE PERSON.
Tranquil, I totally agree with you that we should never pin our hopes on just one person… And I submit to you that if you actually read more about the differences between the Parliamentary and the Presidential Systems, then you will objectively arrive at the conclusion that while the Presidential System focuses too much attention on a SINGLE PERSON, thereby making Presidential Campaigns extremely focused on the Presidential Candidates’ personalities, a Parliamentary System focuses primarily on PARTIES or COALITIONS, thereby forcing the electorate to focus primarily on the parties’ PLATFORMS.
Think about it… In a Presidential Election, what makes you choose a Presidential Candidate, since that candidate is a PERSON? Well, very often, as human beings, we always end up looking at the person’s PERSONALITY.
But in countries using the Parliamentary System, the focus is solely on PARTIES or COALITIONS. That being said, what is it that distinguishes one party/coalition from ANOTHER?
THE PLATFORM!
How then can the Philippines shift from our current infatuation with PERSONALITIES and our focus on SINGLE PERSONS TO RUN THE COUNTRY towards a more objective and platform-oriented, team-based approach?
Shift from the Presidential System to the cheaper, faster, more efficient, more platform-focused, more consensus-based PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM!
Let’s do away with all the wrong notions and baggage thrown by opponents of charter change – most of whom are ignoramuses anyway who hardly think. Let’s be objective and analyze which of the two systems is actually cheaper, faster, more efficient, and forces the electorate to focus more on PLATFORMS, POLICIES, and ISSUES as opposed to PERSONALITIES.
Hope this helps…
i’m just wondering why some people here can get away with using foul language while others cannot? hello moderators a little fairness please.
betterphil,
At last we agree on something. The blog should have no censors.
@MCB:
Just because you’ve thrown a pottymouth fit suddenly you want no censorship? How convenient.
Filo,
I have said so here and written to Nick about censorship from the earliest days of this blog.
I notice you use pottymouth. How old are you?
I know there are a few who disagree with “censorship”, but there has to be a line drawn, or else discussion gets out of control, out of hand, we lose our train of thought, and it becomes a slugging match.
I stand by the decision to stick to our comment policy.
We are very liberal with our comment moderation, those who violate will be moderated.
Unfortunately, for this current round of discussions, it seems it was hard to keep up.
Nick,
I don’t think editing is censorship as we agree to FV editorial policies when we sign on. There are lots of places to express our thinking if we don’t like your policies. I also think the goal of establishing a “higher-minded” blog environment, rather than a juvenile chat-room dialogue, is admirable.
Still, within that framework, there has to be room for edgy commentary and for challenges to convention. Benign0 pushes everyone’s buttons, but he generates more dialogue than anyone. If one dodges the bullets and grenades his blogs create, one can find excellent points being made.
I sometimes wonder if Filipinos think best from one end of the gun, or the other.
My personal commitment is to write steadily (and progressively better) on FV to try to help establish a solid blogging community that gains readership and contributions and becomes a force in Philippine political, social and economic development. I think it is that when apparent GMA minions join the discussion to try to set those of us who think wrong on the “true path”.
The country needs some constructive new forces, for sure.
Benign0 . . . well, he is willing to fly through shrapnel to drop his bombs, so hats off to him . . .
As for the descent into direct, one-on-one name-calling, that can be moderated away at no great loss. But Benign0′s Bevis and Butthead cartoon was actually rather clever . . . artistic name-calling. I’d like to think Bert and Manuel are strong enough to appreciate the cleverness of the point. (Hah, I missed it, until you pointed it out.)
I also think many contributors need to learn that disagreement can occur without the disagreeing parties losing respect for one another. It is a Kennedy legacy, eh?
Joe
Agreed,
Again, I don’t mind being the bad guy on both sides of this discussion here. I’ve moderated comments on both sides, I apologize that I cannot moderate all, or else this discussion would probably be reduced to only a handful of comments.
To Bert, my apologies, but I have moderated both sides today, and I will continue to do so, until the comment policy is adhered to. I think each and every person can convey their own ideas, solutions, challenges, etc. in a manner that does not have to devolve into name calling. Again, the other side in this discussion has also challenged me as to why they are being moderated. My simple answer can be found in the comment policy.
Thank you.
Nick, your apology accepted, though I think that’s not necessary and far from my mind. Still, that speaks very well of you, you’re not just very fair but very considerate as well.
To all the other guys affected by my rants, my apologies, too, including to The Real Deal who I think is actually a nice person. Well, benignO, he knows me way, way back in our mlq3 days. Inspite my occasional tirade against his anti-pinoy rants, I am his admirer. I learned so much from that brilliant dude.
This response is late because benignO’s thread “Noynoy Aquino: From Non-platform to Gone-platform” is too long already it’s taking all my time reading the commenters gems and nonsense. But, better late than never.
Ok, guys, ’til our next rumble.
Manuelbuencamino
If I can slip in between the various grenades and rockets being launched here, I would like to pose a question. I generally agree with your assessment of Aquino, strong candidate because of good character, around which policies would presumably be based. The others: Erap, convicted plunderer. Villar, a monster self-dealer. Teodoro, an “organization man”, which means same o same o. Gordon, good heart, but emotional and wobbly on logic.
We discussed Perlas once. You said he was rather like Nader, a spoiler who could not get elected, but who could prevent a good person from getting elected. So you would not waste your vote on him.
I would like to present a wild hypothetical. IF during the election period, Perlas came up with backing, got some media attention, and became a SERIOUS candidate, would you give him consideration? Or do you feel that substantively he is light or off-kilter, like Nader?
I’m thinking he is a worthy candidate, based mainly on his stated platform, but don’t understand why he is completely off the radar screen. Is it his own weakness that is keeping him off, or that he lacks the moneyed support of the power brokers.
Thanks.
Joe
Or, Nick Perlas is avoiding the moneyed support of the power brokers.
If he does accept the moneyed support of the power brokers, then he is no different from the frontrunner candidates – who are beholden to vested interests in one way or another.
Aquino/Roxas are bankrolled by oligarchs.
Villar is bankrolled by a wing of the oligarchs in alliance with the noveau-riche
Estrada is also bankrolled by a wing of the oligarchs in alliance with another wing of the noveau-riche.
Thanks for your thoughts Joe. Just a minor clarification, that B&B cartoon is Filo’s and BenK’s cutting-edge satire at work. As to that “cleverness” in their creating it and my posting it as part of my blog “From non-platform to gone-platform”, Nick has already wielded his editorial wand and penalised me for that “indiscretion”. So there it is. I do catch some of that shrapnel when flying in to drop those bombs. ;-)
Perhaps in a society where creativity and cleverness is penalised and mediocrity and tradition packaged as “civility” is rewarded, it is not surprising that results are often flaccid.
Dear nick,
my own problem is the lack of a recent comments section. could we add that please? so we know who’s commented where recently?