Electing someone to public office is like hiring a plumber.
You pick one to call relying mainly on an ad (the campaign, so to speak) they place, say, on the Yellow Pages. But then you agree on some form of Statement of Work (the platform) before you give him the green light to proceed.
The metaphorical question we need to ask ourselves this coming election is this:
Do you hire a plumber on the basis of a vague promise to “get your plumbing situation sorted out”?
Of course not.
So apply how we regard such a ridiculous notion to the way we receive the traditional way our politicians make their pitch to a people too lazy to think:
“Hey kabayans! Vote for me and I promise to get our governance situation sorted out!”
Ok, Mr. Politician. Let’s see exactly how you propose to do that.
Sounds like a reasonable dialogue, doesn’t it?
So how come we as a people seem so utterly incapable of even considering what is, in principle, not only the reasonable thing to do, but the right way to perform one of the most fundamental exercises that underpin real democratic societies — select our candidates on the basis of what they specifically plan to do once elected?
The venerable Mr. Abe Margallo once presumed to challenge my brilliant sensibilities in this way:
Please do your homework, benigs.
On cue, the esteemed Mr. Manuel Buencamino followed suit with this gem:
Magresearch ka bago ka magsalita
(which roughly translates to what Margallo said earlier)
Funny how two men known for such pompous verbosity in the styles they apply in their writings are reduced to coming up with such succinct one-liners when the hard questions come to light.
So I come up with a like-for-like response:
I did [do my homework]. But I came up with zilch.
Simply put, gents, I want to know what positions the candidates take along seven fields of endeavour:
- Economy
- Culture
- Human capital
- Foreign affairs
- Infrastructure
- National Security
- Governance
And because I apply world-class standards in the way I go about just about anything, I lay them out in a coherent form in a way that makes it transparent and accessible. It is all in this little document:
Philippine Presidential Elections 2010
Tabulation of known positions taken by candidates on selected areas of national concern
Last updated: 30 Aug 2009
Now true to their predictable form, my insightful anti-fans will be quick to point out that Noynoy Aquino, or whatever the hell other bozo politician they endorse, are way better on many counts than humble little moi.
So here’s the deal:
If they are, indeed, way better than me, then wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect them to come up with something better than what “benign0” can come up with?
You would suppose so, wouldn’t you? Specially when all it takes is a resolve to follow four easy steps.
To the Filipino Voter:
Are you sick of being served the kind of horsemanure our politicians have been at liberty to serve over the last 50 years?
The solution is quite simple:
Demand that you be shown a MENU.
Otherwise, go about things the same way and expect the same results over the next six years following 2010.
============
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Popularity: 3% [?]
Surely, the analogy or parallelism is highly superfluous.
A plumber is hired for a day’s work, too menial a task while a president takes all of six years, too crucial to suffer from lapse in judgment.
When a writer choose to dramatize his point, this is what really happens to oversimplify a whole notion of “menu” as if people don’t easily understand.
And the style is itself self-deprecating – benigno cannot curse people without him in the details.
All the more that we should demand for a clear work specs because it’s not as simple as a plumbing job.
Electing someone to public office IS LIKE hiring a plumber.
Electing someone to public office IS hiring a plumber.
BIG DIFFERENCE, AIN’T IT?
Benigno,
I’ve seen your platform making framework.
You used it on the situation of “widespread poverty” and ended up with a solution of using contraceptives.
Some contraceptives are touted to have an abortifacient factor so unless you are careful in what to promote; it might not survive a Constitutional challenge.
So where is the rest of your platform that you came up with along seven fields of endeavour?
If it’s good it may even be recommended to the candidates.
justice_league: benign0 is not running for office.
but don’t you see the usefulness to hear who, if any, of presidentiables endorse abortificents for solution to “widespread poverty”?
Makes you wonder about what the presidentiables think about Mindanao, right?
UP n grad,
And that means what?
Haven’t you read his challenge with his “deal”?
It depends on whether the presidentiables know what things are abortifacients. Does Benigno know?
“I did [do my homework]. But I came up with zilch.”
What a sloppy kind of doing such a simple task!
Very far from being world-class standard.
Bert: You (and Abe and ManuelB) make it sound like you already found the platform documents.
Don’t forget that the candidates are supposed to make life easier for you, the voters.
The “out”, though, is what MLQ3 had posited. Nov30 -filing of candidacy papers is a logical date when the platform documents get provided.
Bert: Abe (and ManuelB) had a recent update about where to find the Noy platform for 2010:
http://filipinovoices.com/noynoy-politics-is-pro-poor-and-anti-elitist/comment-page-1#comment-96365
UP n,
Of course we did (or I did), they’re in blogsites, on TV or radios, on newspapers, everywhere, candidate’s platforms are everywhere. If you really are looking for them you only need to open your eyes, and ears, to see it, or hear it. If you kept on asking for them here in FV, expecting some bloggers, or commenters, to do the posting all of them here for you, then that’s what I called sloppy job…not world-class.
Now, benigs, being a prolific and resourceful dude that I know him to be, I’m sure had found those platforms already but refuse to read them, or hear them, because he has an agenda…to promote his ‘Platform Plez’ advocacy. He reads, or hears those platform he found, then his advocacy would have no legs to stand on here in FV so would be forced to resort back to his old flame…the bashing of the Filipino people. And then BongV, and some others, would be crooning the tsewari-warewap again, heheh.
I agree with you and with mlq3 that benigs should wait a little longer more until Nov.30, maybe some bloggers or commenters who has no social life feed him with all the platforms he wants to read by that time. Or, benigs can just return to Pinas for a while, if he can still stand the “stench”, to go/attend the ‘miting de avances’ of the candidates.
But, this is not an “OUT”.
Bert:
Compared to the tsuwariwap of the vacuous – BongV’s tsuwariwap pales in comparison. :)
Guess again, dude. When (or if) the platforms do come out, that’s when the real fun begins — because the debate then gets focused on the detail of what’s been written there rather than on the traditional haka-haka that the old-timers seem to prefer.
And then there is the “influence-peddling” of the politics-of-politics sort. The anti-church anti-business programs that Abe saw in Noy’s Senate campaign webpages may be “modified slightly” come January-2010 after the wheeling-and-dealing gets complete. As mlq3 states:
in noynoy’s particular case we might see the lp platform under pressure or even superseded . . . it could be an opportunity to follow the practice one commonly sees in the west, where the various groups that gravitate towards a candidate push for the insertion of specific planks designed to appeal to their constituencies. . . .
I am reminded of the time my auntie Mildred decided to get her girdle tightened. There were those who said she looked fine and should not put such unbearable pressure on her innards. There were those so said she would look really hot, even though she was 52 and had mothered 4 kids, leaving her muscles a little wanting in grasp.
She asked me what I thought, and I said, well, Benign0 would go for the simple approach. “Maybe you should go jog.”
Joe
hey did anyone here see the “platform” presentation of gibo and bayani?
i think bayani has some ideas but he just can’t say it well enough. or maybe, not.
gibo well he was more articulate but what he basically offered were standard motherhood statements.
all in all, both aspirants didn’t offer much in terms of concrete, specific plans… which leads me to wonder: what real basis are all those lakas-kampi-cmd members using to determine who they standard bearer will be?
the whole “platform” presentation was just another gimmick, one that should have been called a “motherhood statement” presentation to begin with.
@bert… spare us your inanities will you please.
so it’s gibo for lakas. too bad for bayani.
Benigno
You absolutely have no idea how plumbers work. This reflects your un-Australian and unenlightened disdain for so called “blue collar” professions. In Australia where you pontificate against the flaws of the Filipino, you need to be licensed by the state to be first a general plumber and then a master plumber. The Master Plumbers Association of Australia http://www.masterplumber.com.au/ sets the criteria that is adopted by the state associations. Then you have to through a lengthy training and apprenticeship and take a trades test.
Now you hire a plumber because he/she is a professional and you defer to his/her judgment on why your tap spews no water.
You tell the plumber what your problem is. If you don’t then he/she will charge you more! Professional plumbers don’t make vague promises. They tell you what’s wrong. If your plumber is barmy, then lodge a complaint with your state professional board.
I should know. I’ve hired a plumber in Australia once. The plumber was one of our undergraduates.
By patronizingly writing
“Do you hire a plumber on the basis of a vague promise to “get your plumbing situation sorted out”?
You exhibit a typical Conyo, elitist Pinoy attitude to the trades, eh mate?!
None of the Australian regard for the battling worker has ever rubbed on ‘ya!
Dude, I live in a house and have had my fair share of hiring plumbers. Whether in Australia or in the Philippines, the procedure is the same:
You look up a plumber on the yellow pages (or get a referral).
You call the plumber.
He comes over.
You tell him the problem.
He sizes up the problem and proposes an approach to fixing it.
He provides an estimate based on said approach.
You thank him and tell him you will call when you decide to proceed.
What’s this got to do about whether the above is done in Australia or wherever the hell you say you’ve hired someone?
Or is it all about you seizing every opportunity to display in this forum your prowess with talking in the Australian vernacular and parroting their idioms and isms and making an all around demonstration of how so immersed in the society you ONCE were. It seems to be an obssession on your part such that you so consistently miss the overall point of just about everything you comment about.
Tough luck, dude. I’ve lived here long enough to out-Strain you twice over but, guess what, you’ll hardly see in any five articles of mine one tenth of the number of Australianisms you use in a single comment. And here’s the rub: I notice in the Pinoy community here that those who have acquired the thickest pseudo-Aussie accents and those who make the most use of Australianisms tend to be the ones who earned their English-speaking stripes in Australia. Those who have maintained their pre-Australian English (the native American accents learned, say, in our excellent Catholic schools in Manila) are those who had established their fluency in English LONG before they set foot in their new adopted country. Guess what, mate, I am amongst the LATTER.
So I have no qualms about being labelled a “typical elitist Pinoy” because in case you haven’t noticed yet: I AM ONE and PROUD of it.
Better elite, than jologs anytime, mate.
Benigno,
Quite a member of the elite you happen to be.
Not even a single buck for all the plumber’s trouble.
jl:
if plumbers and similar tradesmen charge a fee for submitting a quotation – they will not be in business for long :)
Hehehe, kuripot si benigs, mahilig sa TY.
bert:
you are looking for a computer.
you request for a quote from the computer vendor.
by your logic, and jl’s logic – you should pay the computer vendor because he gave you a quote, if not you are kuripot? … hehehehehe
BongV,
Well did you go to the computer vendor’s shop or did you summon the computer vendor to your house?
Well that was indeed a lot of trouble for the plumber but I would understand your stance if you do not believe that people should find no shame in expecting a buck for their trouble.
So again; don’t you believe that people should find no shame in expecting a buck for their trouble?
JL:
the expense incurred in preparing a quote is part of the cost of doing business.
moreover, if the vendor thinks, he will lose money by going to the house of the customer who requested the quote, then he should tell the customer that he will charge a fee for preparing a quote.
the vendor’s full disclosure allows the customer to not waste his time with said vendor and find someone else. if you want the business, or if you think the transaction has a value, then you shell out a value to get a future return – otherwise, don’t go into business.
BongV,
Obviously your thinking is that people may or may not expect a buck for their trouble.
So this discussion really doesn’t affect you.
But those who believe/preach that they should find no shame in expecting a buck for their trouble should expect that others should also find no shame in expecting a buck for theirs.
If you want to understand, best you watch this video on youtube. Please do add http:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xSTha2Y6X0
I understand its a teaser for GetRealPhilippines.com ! It has a nice tune.
In case you came into this discussion to help Benigno; does it surprise you that Benigno is already discussing with others without even pressing a single finger on a single key to type a single letter to help you help him?
Now in case you didn’t come into this discussion to help Benigno; then go ahead and let’s continue discussing this.
jl:
if you consider marketing expense as “trouble”, i’d say your business is in trouble.
BongV,
Bert,
Cheers.
Joe liked what I said below so I’m pasting this here too (for your benefit):
The behaviour of some people here in FV is a microcosm of the behaviour of the Philippine society in general.
There are three things I noticed about most Filipinos and they are represented here in FV:
1. Most Filipinos resent Filipinos who live overseas who voice out and make suggestions about the Filipino culture.
2. Most Filipinos resent foreigners or the non-Filipinos who are permanent residents of the Phils who voice out and make suggestions about the Filipino culture.
3. Most Filipinos take things too personally and cannot see beyond the perception that Filipinos are being publicly shamed when people point out some facts even when the evidence is staring them straight in the face.
It is plain obvious that most Filipinos resort to name calling and snide remarks when they cannot address the relevant issues anymore. They just attack the messenger when they cannot respond to the message.
Hi Ilda.
I have observed how a fairly constant number of commenters here show such refusal to cooperate, consistent disdain and utter disrespect without paying any attention to the merits of the article. This isn’t just credentialism; it’s plain old dogged antagonism that surely has its place somewhere else.
What’s more baffling is how the counterproductive remarks of the same people are retained in light of the comment policy supposedly enforced while the comments of those who willingly argue with them on sound reasoning are increasingly getting edited or removed altogether. Your comment that Joe liked is spot on, but remember that it is so because it is allowed to be the way it is.
Thanks. I agree with you. Some comments here like the “hehehe” are just too annoying already. Some people who comment here on a regular basis just don’t contribute anything significant, really – just “hehehe”…gees. Ano ba yon, para lang may masabi? And this guy keeps saying he’s a true pinoy. Does that mean the average Pinoy can only say, “hehehe”?
Some people don’t even address the hard questions anymore and totally ignore it. The problem is, they keep saying the same thing over and over. Classic example: People over emphasizing that some bloggers live overseas. What’s that got to do with what the blogger is saying?? We could all be living on Mars but the problem in the Philippines will still be there.
Guess what else. Your observation on the exchange we read over and over as a microcosm of Pinoy society, is true on another very important level: enforcement of law. You can see the similarities. Since behavior like that is tolerated, it keeps happening again and again and again. So much for “policy.”
It’s just sad that as the inanity continues the lesson is completely lost on those who could benefit the most from the underlying message.
I don’t think Benign0 was writing an article about how to become a plumber. You are taking it too literally – the use of the word plumber was a metaphor you know.
very confusing to non-elite such as me, this penchant by bright boys to use high falluting words, will any one explain to me if ‘elite’ and ‘elitist’ have the same meaning?
bert, elite is a noun. elitist is an adjective. if abe is an elite, his views are elitist.
Bert,
Is English great, or what? Bencard is halfway correct, which is a higher percentage than usual. “Elitist” can also be a noun, defining someone who believes a society should be structured according to class. “Joe was an elitist, believing he walked on water whereas others merely drank from the pond.”
The people who believe this are usually high fallutin’ snobs, members of an elite class. Ah, and so, as you see, elite can also be an adjective.
Now “high fallutin’” is a term that originated during the US gold rush, about 1849, around Sutter’s Mill outside Sacramento, California. Them old prospectors what found gold first became a tad snobby — elitist, if you will – running around in fine frilly clothes and new Stetson cowboy hats; those still struggling with their pans and pick-axes got a little perturbed and enviously called them “high fallutin” asses. “Fallutin’” is vernacular for falluting, which is not really a word, but possibly derives from the word “fluting”, or the playing of the musical instrument, the flute. Now it is unknown whether “high” derives from the pitch of the musical instrument, or the snobby dude wheezing into it believed he was high class, or, frankly, maybe the guy was puffed up on marijuana – weed grows rambunctiously in the hills of California, as any ancient hippie such as me can tell you.
“Rambunctious” also came out of the Wild West in the 1800′s and is also vernacular pertaining to the tendency of kids to act like little high fallutin’ asses as they run around the house screaming happily whilst breaking grandma’s pottery . . . etc. etc.
Trust me, English should be the national language of the Philippines, for entertainment value alone . . .
Joe
joe american (kuno), i can beat you in english grammar and usage contest anytime, anywhere any place. those who know correct english don’t say “members of the elitist” in place of “members of the elite”. uneducated or poorly educated americans don’t usually use either word, so they don’t usually know the words’ meaning or difference.
an if in the remotest possibility that i don’t beat you in english, i’m sure i’ll clobber you in tagalog or bicol, mr. america.
bencard,
So let me guess. That would mean you are more intelligent than me? Or more manly? Or a better student? Or what, exactly.
My daughters are better than me at English, French, German, Latin, and Spanish, and I am confident any one of the three could whip your butt in any intellectual exercise you chose. They are, respectively, ages 23, 19 and 17.
I long ago recognized that millions of people on the planet are better at things than me. You, too, undoubtedly.
Makes no difference to me.
Life is good.
Joe
joe, not to dwell on this childish exchange but i’m just curious. are your daughters all lawyers? can they all beat me in philippine or american law? or is this is just one of your miscalculated, hyperbolic generalizations. btw, how often do you have to apologize for your reckless verbal ejaculations, replete with abuses of the english language, here at FV?
Bencard,
The tools of the intolerant are deceit, intimidation, misrepresentation and name-calling. You are indeed a highly skilled man.
Joe
cite an example of each instance in which i employed deceit, intimidation, misrepresentation, and name-calling (except in a tit-for-tat situation)?
@Bencard
Your emphasis of one’s minor grammatical errors on a MB (of all places) and pimping of the visayan dialect as a gauge of intelligence reveal the sad limits of your conceptive capacity.
If you insist on using that typical fallback presentation, do so at home with your family. Don’t embarrass yourself in public.
One of the things that is evident by all the blog-comment crossfire of the past weeks is this. Different folks, different strokes. The manner by which Abe decided (first on Mar then on Noy) is different from the way that BongV chooses, or the way benign0 believes or the way that manuelB believes that folks should choose.
What is also evident is that Abe is not some lone-wolf weirdo (others believe in Abe’s choice; there are also others who believe not only in Abe’s choice but in Abe’s way of making choices). The same can be said about bongV, benign0, Primer, many others who have their own particular ways (different from Abe’s) for evaluating and deciding.
What is also true are making trade-off’s and choosing a candidate even if the candidate has chinks in their armor, or worse, even if there are serious philosophical differences. If it is not Abe, then it definitely is Governor Panlilio – the trade-off of choosing a candidate even if said candidate is opposed to a personal belief about farmer-rights, Hugo Cnavez’isms or about reproductive health and religion.
What above tells me (especially because 37% is enough to win) is that machinery and those ocho-ocho fiesta meetings will do their magic.
Fun stuff!!!
excellent points.. well said..
test
In the U.S.; the Plumbing profession is a specialized field.
You got to be licensed, certified and properly trained to be in the
profession.
Here are the various stages of the Plumbing Trade:
1. Apprentice Plumber – on the job trainee Plumber. “Peon” as we call
it in the Philippines.
2. Journeyman Plumber – schooled, certified and licensed. Has already
passed the Journeyman Licensure Plumbing Test. Moderate Plumbing
experience.
3. Master Plumber – Most have Associate in Plumbing Technology Degree. From a recognized Plumbing college. Has passed the Master
Plumber Licensure Test. Wide experience in the Plumbing field.
If you hire a good Plumber. Ask his Certifications and Licensures.
Check the documents in the Plumbing Board of your State. Ask for
references of his works. Check the references. Then, check the
Better Business Bureau of your State. If there are complaints on
his works.
We hire Presidents and Leaders based on their WORDS OF MOUTHS only.
So, we get SCAMMERS, CON PEOPLE, MANANANSO, FRAUDSTERS and all kinds
of BAD CHARACTERS. IT IS ALSO OUR FAULTS !
who shall stop us from electing a plumber into presidency, if plumbing is all that is in his platform? none. because the constitution is silent on the statement of work of what a president (and not a plumber) ought to do, to begin with. only the supreme court has the sole authority to question a candidate’s qualification. so where’s the agreed form in this process when the statement is not a necessary condition? or am i misreading the constitution? and if so, please help me find the answer in the yellow page.
If you elect your carabao to be Predsdent of our country.
Nobody can stop you from doing it.
We are looking for the relevance of a good Leadership. To bring
good leadership in our country. To heal the political polarization on all sides. And to lead us to where we want
to go.
THIS LEADER CAN COME FROM ANY PARTY WHO IS INTERESTED,REGARDLESS
OF PARTY AFFILIATION…
indeed. but is the statement of form a necessary condition? sufficient maybe, but not necessary.
there’s too much stretching in this article’s metaphor. pilit.
statement of work, rather.
I think it is, Joe. Our Laws are written in English. That fact alone would be considered bizarre if only we hadn’t been so disensitised to stupidity.
But rather than being used as a tool for acquiring knowledge, it us used more as a tool for polarising the society further.
It depends on what side of the tracks you happen to be born. If you’re lucky enough to be born on the side where excellent Jesuit schools are accessible (in case somebody here pipes up unarmed with enough wits, “side of the tracks” is not meant to be taken literally as a geographical situation), you get educated, groomed, and conditioned to leapfrog 99% of the population in that race to get the kind of work that affords you a comfy living from work performed in a comfy airconditioned office.
This reality seems to escape the sensibilities of a vacuous society whose most “nationalistic” minds continue to write poetry about the merits of adhering to a no-results “national language” even as one that has an undisputed track record for opening doors to its speakers stares them in the face.
But then our sour grapin’ about our lost supremacy over command over the English language in the region is now the least of our problems.
I found this comment sitting in the pending approval queue (on account of the absolute bizarreness that the moderation/filtering regime of FV has degenerated to):
Indeed, in itself as an amusing microcosm of the national “debate”, it kinda captures the essence of the fundamental collective character of Pinoys that go a bit of a way in explaining why we remain the primitivist basketcase in a region known for exceptional achievement.
Some of what I picked up so far in this thread alone:
Consistent missing of the point.
This one is a classic. It harks back to that renowned observation made by a noted economist based in New York on the character of the national “debate” who famously described it as “droll and unintelligent, focused on the trivial or the irrelevant“:
Metaphorically-challenged.
People seize upon and dissect the literal to merits and demerits of the technical and lexiconic detail and seem unable to step back and regard the full context of the message within which said metaphor itself was but a mere tool used to support said message.
As such, we routinely lose sight of the overall plot or, worse, never caught sight of it to begin with. It explains why forward-looking questions such as the following remain so strikingly unanswered despite all the chatter around us:
- What’s next?
- “Hope” in what exactly?
- Where are we headed?
True to our renowned Heritage of Smallness, there is no large-scale undertaking or epic venture in the minds of Pinoys. Only a tingi approach to looking out into the unknown…
Metaphors are literary devices from which can be deduced grand ideas. But Pinoys seem to find a poignant comfort in regarding the proverbial bumpiness of a ballbearing at the atomic level that causes nanometric variances in its radius along its surface thus preventing them from regarding its spherical nature at a macro level.
An aversion to stepping up to real challenges.
Preferring instead the comfy zone of that accidental collective heroism that happened in 1986 (that owes nothing to any form of deliberate ingenuity in Da Pinoy), we ignore the NEW call to duty for the 2010 elections: Platform, plez™.
Instead we come up with excuses when pressed, and proxies when cornered (requiring brilliant minds like mine to clarify the difference between a forward-looking platform and the backward-looking CV’s and backgrounds thus far presented).
Sad indeed is a society that is so deeply mired in a national character that has loser written all over it.
We either wallow in the mire or extricate ourselves out of it.
The choice is clear — that is, for those equipped with the right wits.
:-D
provide scientific and pragmatic proofs that as a tool, the use of english has been effective in a multilingual environment, where public schools abound.
Benigno,
It has been pointed out before that other people had risk aversion too. http://filipinovoices.com/triumphing-over-evil/comment-page-1#comment-66542
Show the link to the platform that you made already.
the difference being – the wider incidence of risk aversion versus the narrow incidence of risk aversion.
BongV,
It’s not hard to think that decisions made in the past could have wide effects in the present and/or future.
Btw, are you interested like I am in viewing your friend Benigno’s platform already? Surely we have to view his platform too for comparison to see if the candidates can do something better than what Benigno can come up with, right?
gagawa sya ng platform? aba, lets see! :)
benigno’s platform is a compilation from all the feedbacks we have provided in this forum. otherwise, i don’t think he can be original . just help the poor BO, will you?
GabbyD, Leytenian,
Yeah he brought that idea up. Though with a challenge like that, one would think that he was finished already.
But given some time he’s probably going to finish it sooner or later. BenK beat him to one though.
jl:
when benign0 runs for president – i’ll review his platform. but since he is not running for president – i’d rather review the platform of a presidential candidate – or point out the candidate’s lack of one – or the irrelevance, or the sloppiness, or even the lousiness.
BongV,
Since you won’t be reviewing Benigno’s platform when it comes out; then you won’t be knowing the answer to Benigno’s challenge below even if the chance arise that candidates do bring out their platform of government, now would you?
jl:
like i said the first time, and am saying it for the second time.
if b0 runs as presidential candidate i will review his platform and compare it against the candidates.
since he is not running, then there is no need for me to review his platform.
BongV,
Well the first time, your only qualifier was that Benigno run for President.
So you better work on what you’ll say on the third because I already read your comments on someone’s platform (who isn’t running) on the FV article “Quezon’s Php 1 Billion Biomass Bid”.
Either Ben Kritz is indeed running for the Presidency or you like to make comments on things you don’t even read/review.
For me the problem is so obvious. It’s not really the language that’s the issue. It’s the fact that not everyone has access to good education.
Dito na lang sa FV hindi na magka-intindihan dahil not everyone knows the concept of a metaphor; not everyone can recognise a sarcasm from a fact; not everyone talks in the same level of English or tagalog; and more importantly, not everyone has the patience to understand what others are trying to say.
baygad, you got it, ilda. sala sa ingles, sala sa tagalog. palagay ko, nasa utak ang dipirensya.
Justice, cheers! but pls. go slow on BongV, nangangamote sa’yo ang tao, wawa naman, heheh.
Two deadweights are hanging from Gilberto Teodoro’s neck :
- Danding Cojuangco the switek
- Gloria Arroyo the thief
Oh wait, there’s another one….
- Ronaldo Puno the veep
Tough doing the plumbing job lunging and jerking around with deadweights.
The switek, the thief, and the veep.
but still teodoro was not involve with any corruption himself. his relatives and associates are but not himself . the same way that Nonoy has kamag anak inc. I still believe that teodoro is much better than Nonoy. He is a bar topnocher, and he has legislative and executive experience.
rego ego,
dyan ako bilib sa ‘yo. rubbing elbows–then with villar, now with teodoro. naks, so close, yet so far–off.
ano ngayon kung bar topnotcher? since when has law been the benchmark for academic excellence? which, by the way, is sooooooooo pinoy: naka-top lang ng bar exam, nagpipista na ang bansa.
law is NOT the benchmark for academic excellence.
the exam results of the law board exam IS the benchmark.
e anong gusto mo, magpipista ang bansa sa kabobohan :D
engot,
are you talking of summative or normative measures, because any benchmark can be normed even when you have a cluster of bobo lawyers-wanna be, and a top notcher can still lead the pack.
read again the context of my reaction, mrP.
Nick once deleted a comment of mine because it contained the word “gramps”.
Go figure out the trouble with Pinoys from there.
@B0
why did u call him gramps? is he your grandfather?
is it ok to call anyone who seems 60+ as gramps? can i walk to a stranger, call him gramps, and he’d like it?
summative or normative – a bar topnotcher is a bar topnotcher.
not only has the topnotcher shown mastery of the content provided in law school – but he has also bested students from other law schools from all over the country.
perhaps, you can qualify as academic excellence in law – but zilch in management, or statistics. inasmuch as you can claim academic excellence in statistics, but zilch in law.
within his field of special expertise – hell yeah. it’s a plus – but, it’s not enough. Prospero Nograles is a bar topnotcher, too – but he ain’t running for prexy :D
Platform, plez.
Why not Platform, please or Platform, pleeze!
Plez!?!?
Para kang engot.
hehehehe.
What’s wrong with “plez”?
Explain plez.
:-D
Hmmm, benigs, Plez seems French and too elitist-sounding.
I know you don’t mind being a disheartened elite, but ples is more plessing to us nouveau riche. Bisaya ini, kami ni Manny Pacquiao.
ha ha! Goes to show how people like you can’t get past their narrow perceptions of what I am all about.
I got “plez” from what I used to routinely hear over the public address system in an SM Department Store:
“Juana dela Cruz, prossedde to kawnter 2, plez.”
French, indeed. :-D
Oh, sa PA system ng SM ka lang pala nadadala!
Tagalog pala ka… pareho pala ta.. :D
You have thought-provoking, astute ideas but you’re a big turnoff. You call attention to your unfitness to be the bearer of those. Have you heard of a salesman of perfume who smells like durian?
ricelander:
An old lady goes to the doctor and says, “I have this problem with frequent gas. Fortunately, the farts never smell and are always silent. As a matter of fact, I’ve farted at least 10 times since I’ve been here, and I bet you didn’t even notice!”
The doctor says, “I see. Take these pills and come back next week.”
The next week the old lady returns. “Doctor,” she says, “I don’t know what the hell you gave me, but now my silent farts stink like the dickens.”
The doctor says, “Good! Now that we’ve cleared up your sinuses, let’s work on your hearing.”
rego,
What do you need a bar topnotcher for in Congress? Ano ka ba naman, they are voted upon not because they are lawyers, they just happen to be lawyers when people voted them?
Shakespeare were he alive today would have all the lawyers in Congress killed. Do you know what an ordinary day is like in a committee of lawyers?
do you know what happens if all lawyers get killed? who you gonna call when the storm troopers barge into your house, pick you up and throw you in jail because somebody accuses you of rape? since judges are lawyers too, who’s gonna hear your case before you rot in jail? btw, shakespeare didn’t advocate getting rid of lawyers. it was a character in a play he wrote and it was supposed to be joke.
back to old topic: My Aunt Paula, who was a UP English professor, once while the topic of elitism was being discussed over a bowl of caldereta chidingly remarked that an ‘elitist’ is one who is not an elite but trying very hard to be one. She was not referring to me because she knows I’m not one.
ican very agree withyour aunt
i think you think you are an ‘elite’, rego. do you think you belong to this rare specimen of brilliant human beings comparable to our benignO here? if ‘yes’, i envy you.
Well you better get another UP Sociology Professor give the UP English Professor and UP Science Professor an introduction to the concept of Cultural Capital. :)
Sa public address system lang pala ng SM ka nadadala!
The culture of saying plez, sus, beginning from, of all people, you!
The sequence, aww, whatever happened… I am out!
And btw, you made fun of de Quiroz saying we need a janitor. Now you say a plumber is all we need!?
well benigs, great blog again.. one solution is to implement specific requirements on what a plumber should follow before he can advertise and practice as a plumber. Just like in any profession, there’s a licensing body acting as a regulator. It means there are certain requirements , like a job description. Therefore it must be legislated and followed according to the rule of law. For exmaple:
1. no candidate is allowed to run for office if any of his/her relatives are already in office on the same province or region.
2. no political candidates are allowed to employ nor hire their close relatives.
3. no candidates must be allowed to engage and be employed as a CEO or a stockholder of a private company in any event during office and 4 years after his/her term ends.
4. no political candidates are allowed to advertise nor campaign without full disclosure of where the funds are coming.
5. no political candidates are allowed to buy the people’s votes. this will be grounds for automatic disqualification.
6. no political candidates are allowed to flaunt their guns and use intimidation during campaign.
7. no political candidates are allowed to hire any actors or actresses during campaign. endorsement is allowed but should not be used for campaign..
These are legislative actions that must be done and enforced with penalty. What’s weak in our country is the lack of solid policymaking and legislation. Rules are broken because the job description are not fully described according to what is needed and demanded by the common tao. Now, which department should demand legislative action to improve governance. What is the purpose of comelec. Is this department not capable of making things better for this country? Or its the people’s fault?
when these rules are implemented and fully described as requirements then we may eliminate conflicting interest and corruption.
She’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ack!!!
hi joe,
yes i’m back but while reading everybody here, i have noticed that still an ordinary pinoy style of debate. i am hoping that members here at FV should focus on legislations, laws ( rules and regulations) and which department is responsible for implementation and which department is accountable.
In my travel, i have always noticed that many of the experts are questioning legislations and demanding a stronger policymaking. That means , follow the rule of law. People want their representatives to be accountable and responsible.
In the Phlippines, even if the people demands good governance, still policymakers and representatives are not performing and cannot perform.. you know why… they are under the influence of TUBA.. LOL
quality legislation is a chain of processes.
Step 1. voters elect legislators
Step 2. legislators craft legislation
Step 3. legislation is enforced
Lousy legislation is a product of Step 2.
The defects in Step 2 can either be process or people.
A process defect results when legislation is skewed due to vested interests (i.e. bungled CARP). In which case the remedy is to review and improve the process.
A people defect results when legislation is not available or is defective due to incompetent legislators. In this case, the reactive remedy is to replace the defective legislator. The proactive remedy is not to vote for incompetent candidates in the first place, which ties to Step 1.
When incompetent legislators are vested with authority. Then, the defect lies either in the process or in people in Step 1.
Defective Process in Step 1 would mean the results are skewed due to a defect in registration, counting of votes, etc.
Defect in People in Step 1 would mean the people’s choices were skewed toward voting for an incompetent candidate. In this case, the defect can either be the people do not use their coconuts – or they are totally vacuous.
Step 1. voters elect legislators is a function. the people must be educated NOT BOUGHT to elect the best legislators. educating the public should be the number one priority ( who’s job is that) including educating private corporations not to BUY candidates to influence policymaking. ( who’s job is that)
it seems to me that you and BO always fault the people for not electing the right candidates. To me, this is an excuse from inability to govern people. Meaning, if you happen to become a mayor, you will blame the people for choosing the wrong senator? how do you empower people to vote for the right candidates in your won hometown?
The media will play a great role to bridge the gap between people and governing bodies, I hope.
and bong, even if you don’t become a mayor os just a pinoy citizen, do you really see that the people is at fault? Blaming them for picking the wrong person in office? what is then your civic duty? to blame or to guide?
this country does not need people who blames their own people as at fault or vacuous. To me that is an excuse. It is a lack of judgement and lack of management experience to govern people.
By the time a citizen is of the age to vote, there is a presumption that the citizen has learned the rudiments of citizenship. After stepping out of the four walls of the classroom, the ball is in the citizen’s s the citizen’s job to educate himself on the goings-on of government. He snoozes, he looses.
the civic duty you refer to in this case is not a mutually exclusive proposition – it is not an either/or – it is both. thus, while you single out the inappropriate behavior, you make your case (in contrast to dictating) on why a certain behavior is more appropriate.
Did I do the picking? They did the picking – not me. Ignorance can be remedied with education, but there’s no remedy for morons.
As to civic duty – that’s exactly why the 4 yr old 501(c)3 I incorporated has been going stronger in its operations in sending educational resources to remote and economically advantaged schools in the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. I’d even say, wanna match your talk with the walk – blogging is just one channel, volunteer work is another channel – which I think, is the Achilles heel of most Pinoys in the blogosphere – when it comes to putting money where their mouth is – all one gets are alibis.
exactly bong… education .. but who’s job is that. what’s the purpose of officials?
stop your plumber debate. you guys are acting like boys. be a hero… hahaha
“What above tells me (especially because 37% is enough to win) is that machinery and those ocho-ocho fiesta meetings will do their magic.”-UP n
Not if Noynoy maintains a nationwide survey results of 55% while the other wannabees 17%, 16%, 14%-lower.