Poor Conrado de Quiros. He’s so disappointed with the flaccidity of the “outrage” he was expecting in the aftermath of the arrest of our “hero” Jun Lozada that he resorts to that tired pill of guilt that generations of political “experts” have shoved down Filipinos’ throats:
I’ve said it before: You don’t have to like Jun Lozada to be alarmed and angry at the way he is being harassed and persecuted. I’ve heard people, including some friends, complain that he calls attention to himself a little too much. Well, even if true, what of it? I still challenge people to see if they can ever do what he did in this life or the next. If they can turn their backs on fortune (this regime has been known to liberally reward the tractable and rotten) and risk life and limb (this regime has been known to implacably hound the unyielding and decent) just to be able to say his piece. If they can put their spouses and kids on the line, compelling them to live the life of refugees in their own land, opening them up to threats and deprivation, because conscience knocked so loudly it couldn’t be ignored anymore.
One can see above, he even fancies himself as some kind of authority on how virtuous an individual human life is based on:
:D How much or how little people do that is of “value” to society:
I still challenge people to see if they can ever do what he did in this life or the next.
:D How they choose to manage and dispose of their personal resources:
If they can turn their backs on fortune (this regime has been known to liberally reward the tractable and rotten) [...]
:D How much personal risk to life and limb one needs to face:
[...] and risk life and limb (this regime has been known to implacably hound the unyielding and decent) just to be able to say his piece.
Worst of all he also presumes to be an authority on how much danger, inconvenience, and sacrifice we might be inclined to put our family and children through to live up to his idea of what a worthy individual is:
If they can put their spouses and kids on the line, compelling them to live the life of refugees in their own land, opening them up to threats and deprivation, because conscience knocked so loudly it couldn’t be ignored anymore.
The part about the kids thing really gets to me. Judge me on how brave, courageous or, yes, “heroic” I am — or not. Judge me even on how much value I am adding to Filipino society by what I do in my personal time (which is none of anyone’s business to begin with). But leave the children out of it asshole. Conrado de Quiros speaks as if there is some kind of noble fight left in the Philippines worth the lives of one’s family and kids. I’ve got news for you, dude: There is no fight. There is no fight worth MY life in the Philippines, and certainly there is no fight worth MY KIDs’ lives.
As I wrote a while back:
Indeed, there is nothing to be “won” — only something to be implemented.
Our “experts” will have us believe that there is a “fight” to be “won” and that “people power” is our “weapon”. Being the collective fools that we are, we’ve lapped up that laughable tagline for the last quarter-century — in the process losing sight of (I dare say deliberately ignoring) what essentially is the real job at hand.
We don’t need “heroes”, magicians, or magical artefacts to move forward. All we need are (1) people who think and (2) people who mount actions that are robustly underpinned by said thinking.
I believe Jun Lozada either made a serious miscalculation in sticking his neck out in this whole affair, or seriously mis-managed his PR machine and squandered the goodwill he had established with the public back when he was still the kind of rockstar “hero” that the hollow-headed Filipino public is predisposed to create for their consumption every couple of years or so.
I don’t think any father and husband worth his salt would deliberately put his family at risk unnecessarily. If Lozada did so unwittingly, then that just simply makes him an even bigger dimwit, doesn’t it? Either way, de Quiros is the kind of bozo that turns morons into accidental heroes and uses the even more accidental “sacrifices” of the families of said morons as bonus capital to pitch their proposition.
The fact is, the current plight of Jun Lozada’s family and kids come across as mere collateral damage in his dimwitted bid to become the Greatest Filipino Hero of our recent history.
What an unfortunate circumstance for children to be the victims of their father’s misguided sense of self-importance.
But then to subject children and hapless spouses to conscription (even in the conceptual way that a newspaper column allows) in some deluded war being waged is just plain faggotry, “Mister” de Quiros. At least Hitler was in the middle of a real war when he scraped the bottom of the barrel puting young boys in the service of the Wehrmacht in the closing days of that Great War.
Indeed, as I wrote back in 2003: Heroes, when will we get over them??
The most notable achievements of the country have always been our quick fixes — “revolutions” here and there, a smattering of go-go boom-boom periods, Magnificent Sevens riding in from the horizon, grandiose roll-outs of off-the-shelf solutions (democracy is one of them), etc. etc. We as a people are not known for quiet diligence and industry but for our *fiesta* achievements.
Our prospects for prosperity, however, lie within ourselves — not in a messianic bunch of leaders and exceptional few who are yet to come and not in the altruism of the more fortunate. What we need is the courage and open-mindedness to understand clearly what we need to do to re-tool our culture, mindsets and thought processes, and approach to doing things so that a nation-building machine that is truly able to compete could emerge out of the collective and quiet achievement of the majority.
Let’s change these medieval beliefs in salvation through heroic deeds and focus more on the more mundane aspects of nation-building.
Let’s allow everyone to do their jobs properly without being burdened by expectations that accompany heroic labels.
Let’s change our self-righteous penchant for calling one another to heroic and extraordinary deeds and instead find value in the collective effect of each individual doing their ordinary jobs properly and quietly.
We as a people need to grow up and do real work for a change instead of aspiring to get what we want by throwing tantrums every now and then.
============
Join us on Facebook!
Popularity: 1% [?]
HA!HA!HA!HA1Ha! Benign0, you still read the column, dude? HA!HA!HA!HA! I stopped sometimed ago. I buy newspaper to wipe my ass with. It’s cheaper than toilet paper ….
HA!HA!HA!HA!
Benign0, Flips cannot grow up. They can only follow rule-of-law abroad but no here. Flips cannot even grow abroad. They are still 5’4″ Their children grow talleer, though. But just the same, though they graduate from Ivy Schools, they still troll for bankruptcies in Balita, Philippine Journals, Manla Bulletin and other traash papers … HA!HA!HA!HA!HA
Benign0, cut the serious crap. There’s nothing serious about Flips! I’m having a ball, dude! The more the Flips are corrupt the better for my FOREX!!!! HA!HA1HA1Ha!
MAGKANO NA BA ANG FOREX? HA!HA!HA1H!
wow. i liked your last post, but this one is a step backward…
logical problem:
what quiros is saying is “What is the value of SACRIFICE?” Answer: its the value of what you give up.
by giving up alot, it is EQUIVALENT to saying, i value alot what i am sacrificing for.
this is uncontroversial point. its obvious. quiros doesn’t have to be an authority in sacrifice. this is the VERY DEFINITION of what sacrifice is.
in fact, you mocked earthday for exactly the same argument: a sacrifice of 1 hour is no sacrifice at all! if you castigate quiros for his ‘judgement’ (which follows directly from what the word sacrifice means), then you should castigate yourself…
note that this is true, REGARDLESS of your personal feelings about the philippines: ” There is no fight worth MY life in the Philippines, and certainly there is no fight worth MY KIDs’ lives.”
clearly, you don’t care about the country. equally as clear: others do!
(in fact, since you don’t care about RP, i wonder why you bother writing about it. but i’ll leave that logical slip to the side for now)
your other problem is your link to 2003:
“Our “experts” will have us believe that there is a “fight” to be “won” and that “people power” is our “weapon”. ”
is quiros talking about people power? nothing there says or even HINTS at people power caused by the arrest…
this is NOT the only kind of FIGHTING one can do for one’s country. in other words FIGHTING is NOT equal to PEOPLE POWER.
(caps for emphasis only)
PEOPLE POWER is a farce. There can only be real PEOPLE POWER is they come on their own volition without sardines and kilo of rice and free bus ride. REAL people power is giving up one day of work day to go to EDSA.
AS OF TODAY, People Power is a farce and an accident whose heroes, the cigarette vendors, tsismosos, tsismosas, iced-candy vendors, unempployables and unemployed were not venerated…
PEOPLE POWER to put a thief into power?
This is absurd.
There is a constitutional process that needs to be adhered to.
Eh kung PEOPLE POWER lang pala, WHAT’S THE POINT in having elections?
We elect thieves so we can investigate, and have them give us ethics seminars.?????.. WWWWWWWHHHHHAAAATTTTT???????
“There is no fight worth MY life in the Philippines, and certainly there is no fight worth MY KIDs’ lives.”—GabbyD
Goes to show that we are not revolutionaries. I’m a proud non-revolutionary. I’m a peaceful person.
MAGKANO NA BA ANG FOREX?/???”
I’ve got news for you, dude: There is no fight. There is no fight worth MY life in the Philippines, and certainly there is no fight worth MY KIDs’ lives.
Hahahahaha. You crack me up dude! Very well said.
you agree? the country is not worth fighting for (in any sense)?
fight for the country? been there done that. paid my dues.
why will I fight for the corrupt? hell no, they can go to hell.
Gabby, that’s called idol-atry, heheh.
BongV, you are not very consistent. You bash people for criticising the government and government officials for their corrupt acts. Isn’t that like you are fighting for the corrupt having acted as their defender?
Why, pray tell, is it fighting for your own country (which you said you’ve done already)fighting for the corrupt?
<BongV, you are not very consistent. You bash people for criticising the government and government officials for their corrupt acts. Isn’t that like you are fighting for the corrupt having acted as their defender?
Why, pray tell, is it fighting for your own country (which you said you’ve done already)fighting for the corrupt?
Bert:
When I refer to country, I refer to the Philippine government, as a representative of the entire country. It’s a rhetorical thingie.
I criticize the government as well – that’s a given, a constant. Been there done that. Got tired doing it. Looked for other solutions. Found something better – grassroots empowerment, direct engagement by citizens, reshape from the ground upwards.
The government isn’t the only thing that has to be held accountable. After all, if government emanates from the people, then, the people, too, being the source of the power of government, need to be held accountable as well.
Ayon nga ke batman – “It’s not who I am underneath, it’s what I do that defines me”. What I do as a person defines me. What we do as a nation defines us. Individually, we have many individuals who are world-class. As a nation, we limp from one-screw up to another.
Does this mean that I will not call the attention of government to the screw-up? A Categorical NO. The government is full of incompetent and corrupt people who need to be FIRED, REPLACED, and SENT TO JAIL.
However, beyond bashing government, I will ask the people, to replace the current government with a government that is not prone to screwing up – the power resides in the people to replace said government. Be proactive.
Just because you have appointing powers does not mean you can appoint a chimp to be Mayor or Persident just because you can – that’s irresponsible.
Now, as an individual, would I like to work with people who support and vote for the corrupt? Some might, I don’t. I don’t support the corrupt – I want them in jail. I will not vote for the corrupt – I want them in jail.
Why fight if you can create the conditions for not having a fight in the first place? As Sun Tzu says “The acme of generalship is winning a war without firing a shot.”
i think its safe to say when we “fight for the country”, NO one ever means just government.
from your other reply, “fighting” means more than revolution.
then there IS a fight worth fighting eh?
then there IS a fight worth fighting eh?
GabbyD:
Let me qualify my answer.
I will fight for/advocate for/support that group of marginalized people who help themselves.
For that group of people who do not help themselves – I don’t have to fight for them – they can all go to hell wherever that is.
GabbyD:
If you say fighting in the sense of armed violent conflict resulting to bodily harm – f*ck NO – the Philippines is NOT WORTH risking life and limb for – mine and and that of my family :)
been there done that. NEVER AGAIN.
Jun Lozada was in a bind. He took the 500k money and ran. REalizing too late that 500k cannot give him a lifestyle he has had FOREVER. Lozada took the 500k money and ran (so the pekeng-peryodistas deep analysts so claimed) thinking GMA will rout all the Senators. Lozada took the 500k money and ran thinking the Seantors will loose interest.
So he came back becaue all of the above did not come to fruitation. He got no choice. Playing hero was never on his mind. Playing hero was collateral to his coming. He’s an accidental heero.
The bad calculation by PSG for “fetching” him and later sprung by La Sallite skinny mal-nourished Ninjas in priests habit clinched the deal that GMA was not on his side….
So he switched sides … He switched religion, too … He conffessed to his personal shennanigans including his corrupt wife and corrupt lifestyles … FLIPS FORGAVE HIM FOR IT AS LONG AS FLIPS GET THE HEAD OF GMA …. HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!
It was not bad calculation by Jun Lozada … He’s caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. But fortunately for him there was none except the gung-gongness of Flips who bought his story …
HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! AND THE PEKENG-PERYODISTAS’ DEEP CRITICAL ANALYSIS CONVVENIENTLY FAILED AND PEDDLED HIS STORY …. HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!
Lozada is a CEO, Lozada should know how far 500k would have taken him. Was he actually on a special mission to go to HK? kneel and beg for more ZtE bribery money? He was rebuffed! So he came back … and the rest is history … Who he called there we will never know … who he entertained there in HK we will never know because our foreign-educated ivy-school idiot graduates Senantors never subpoenaned those records from the hotel … aside they cannot subpoena it becauee ZTE is government owned by Chineses …. HA!HA!HA!HA! So the pekeng-peryodistas didn’t even conjure this scenarios because pekeng-peryodistas are SO LOW IQ!!!! SO LOW IQ THAT IT WENT THRU THE TIMBA!!!! BWESIT!!!! GANITO BA KA GUNG-GONG AND PEKENG-PERYODISTAS NATIN … from Quiros to Quezon de numero from Aparri to Jolo …. GANITO BA SILA KA GUNG-GONG?????
hHUY? MARIA ELENA? HUH? MARIA ELENA! Arent’ they credentialed???? HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! This credential thing is stupidfying !!!!! HA!HA!HA!HA!HA
As I said nga GabbyD, and as also explained quite comprehensively by BongV, lumang tugtugin na yan. Your belief that there is a fight to be fought is just a legacy of what was ingrained in your head for years by these bozo politicians and the Media spindoctors who are under the payroll of these powerbrokers.
Try to think independently of these influences and try not to be a victim of clever marketing.
so i guess what i want to know is that whether you think the philippines is worth the/any effort.
undoubtedly, lozada believes so (agree?). regardless of how stupid you think his decision is, or his past is, its clear that he feels strongly about it.
since you agree with BongV, we all agree that the philippines is worth fighting for, since we all do.
because the philippines is an idea and people, not just the government.
yes?
oOOoops! Foot in my mouth! That is why I blog because PHILIPPINES IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR!
PHILIPPINES IS WORTH A CHANGE!
Philippines is where we all came from!
Philippines is our sole identity no matter what!
Philippines is our lupang hinirang!
PHILIPPINES IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR regardless Filipinos cannot change!
Can we change PHilippines to something else that sounds very Filipino …. the name PHilippines is soooo westernize … they think Philippines are inhabited by white people because of the name that came from Phillip and they call the inhabitants as Flips for short ….
i’m not sure you and BongV actually hold the same position here, if you read his clarification….
also, i’m not sure how to argue against your “its all a conspiracy”, other than to say: how DOES one know if someone is brainwashed?
i don’t think i am. i’m not sure if i can prove it…
but i do think the notion of fighting for one’s principles is real.
do you NOT believe in standing up for one’s principles? i don’t think so.
GabbyD:
perhaps, you should define what the fight is all about.
who am I fighting against?
who are the protagonists?
who are the antagonists?
what exactly is “IT” that I am fighting for?
if I can’t make a determination of what “IT” is exactly I am fighting for – then NO, I am not fighting.
it will be irresponsible to go into battle without knowing who my enemy is, what the terrain is, what resources are available to me, who are my allies. i will not deploy nor plan for deployment until I have an actionable “IT” to fight for.
If you say fighting in the sense of armed violent conflict resulting to bodily harm – f*ck NO. been there done that. NEVER AGAIN.
i’ll fight fire with fire if my FAMILY and MY LIFE were threatened by violence.
the status quo Philippines, in its current incarnation, is NOT WORTH risking life and limb for – mine and and that of my family
The vision of a kinder, gentler Philippines, with personally responsible citizens – that’s worth “fighting” for.
bong, i don’t think anyone (quiros for starters) was talking about actual fighting with guns, fists, etc…
we are all “fighting” about making RP a better place (i think you agree, correct me if i am wrong).
also, benig’s original point is that lozada’s actions were, uhm, “weird”, to put it mildly, and that quiros was, uhm, ‘nuts’ to agree.
so, if you want to debate specifics, we can talk about quiros’ orig article.
we COULD, but i argue we don’t have to debate specifics.
we all want to fight to make the country a better place. lozada, did his thing, thanks to his being party to a particular transaction. we can all agree that lozada has sacrificed alot, dont you think? (when he could have easily just SHUT UP).
no one is asking for people to kill themselves (thats the false analogy put up by benign0 — lets not go there…).
But working to make a better country DOES IMPLY alot of EFFORT or SACRIFICE even, akin to fighting. do you agree?
Gabbyd:
I would prefer to know the specifics and the context of the discussion so as to have clarity – and we are both on the same page.
candidly, I think Lozada WAS STUPID not to establish a paper trail that would prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. he put his life and his family in jeopardy WITHOUT considering the fact that he lacked the evidence.
I think JLo came out too premature. Lozada should have kept it to himself, kept on collecting the material evidence, and so that when it was time to sing – he can sing like a canary and throw eggs straight at Mike Defensor’s office – but that’s a big IF HE HAS IRREFUTABLE MATERIAL EVIDENCE.
if you say that what JLo did was fight for a better country; I am not sure about that – he could have kept mum if he closed the deal for himself; but he didn’t close the deal – so, his motivations are suspect. as far as I’m concerned. he is another Nicole in the making.
“The government isn’t the only thing that has to be held accountable. After all, if government emanates from the people, then, the people, too, being the source of the power of government, need to be held accountable as well.”-BongV
BongV,
You are being both a Darwinist and a Catholic…the offspring carrying the genes of the parents; and/or, the sins carried on to the next generation of the sinner.
Let’s take on Renato’s favorite attribute…logical reasoning:
One example lang muna:
Before we elected her president, GMA has a long history in government service, right? Hers were good records of governance; and she was clean, right?
Because of that clean records, we elected her president of the Republic of the Philippines. From then on…what? You know what.
Her negative 135 percent popularity and approval ratings, given by her own people, has a cause. Can you tell us your version why that is so?
No, don’t! Let me hazard three guesses:
1. It’s the people’s fault.
2. It’s media’s fault.
3. It’s the prolifiration of the internet media
Am I wrong?
define “clean”.
did we do checks on the people around her? Mike Arroyo for instance? WE DID NOT.
“If they can turn their backs on fortune (this regime has been known to liberally reward the tractable and rotten”.
From another perspective, he turned away from his “fortune” dilluted so much by the “overgreed” of another. Its a question of one expecting a “bonanza” but his expectation has been frustrated because of the $145 million payoff allegedly being asked by Mr. Abalos, which would leave JLO and his team with some loose change. He sulked and went to Honkong and came back to try to turn the tables against the very person, whom he had initially promised a “moderate sum of $65M…
hahahahah, many Pinoys cannot read between the lines…
do you mean he only became witness coz he was stiffed a larger amount?
even if this is true, why does that make it less courageous?
if he had cooperated, he would have gotten some money.
if he didn’t cooperate, not only would he lose all of it, he would also guarantee a life where he would have to face legal conflicts, a reduced standard of living, etc…