Ham and Eggs
November 8th, 2009 by cocoy
Can Light and Dark Co-Exist? Choose a side.
I once thought that election day must be the day we decide who we we vote for. That the lines ought to be drawn by then. Seriously, it is a good plan as any, right?
I’m pretty sure some of you reading this have no idea who to vote for. You’re thinking the Aquino Camp hasn’t launched its platform. Noynoy for you is not a leader. He is too timid and “walang alam.” And the fear is, what is the guy going to do?
Then there is the rest of the circus. Villar is the haven for the tired and the cynical. Escudero has been dancing, he is or isn’t he, like a woman who can’t decide what to wear in the morning. Teodoro is weighted down by Gloria. Estrada is well, like Villar, but more ancient.
Beware we must and forget not that the question of Gloria of course, remain an open one. Will power she still have post election day?
The waters become muddy as we put our own perceptions into play. Pat Evangelista for example sees Jesus in Yellow. And yes, the law on agrarian reform allows for land to be converted to stock shares so Luicita isn’t actually violating the law, and yes, twenty years of CARP was such a success story. Not that the reds see Agrarian Reform that way, preferring the rowdy way of violence over changing the law.
@bigenya gives a good point “It is precisely our failure to learn from the past that has doomed us, mho.”
If you remember yellow, what doomed Filipinos was the idea that Cory, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo were the answer for all our prayers. That it was more about opposing power than helping it ensure it grew properly from the inside. That after EDSA people left government to be run by others. That the battle for democracy is an everyday affair that must be nurtured.
For the sake of argument let us say that indeed we’ve left with choices some say are lacking. That everyone is now called on to look at our politicians and find who gives the best plan for action. We will be making the same tried mistake of our past.
The time for examining our conscience is over.
We should take what is given. We should do what we must.
No matter how imperfect it is. It is time to choose sides.
Aquino is not Messiah. The Aquino campaign is about honesty, integrity, transparency and good governance. Join them and ensure Aquino does just that. Not just before election day. Not just guaranteeing he wins on Election Day, but more importantly be part of the team, after election day, and until his term ends. He is after all, human with all the trappings that go with it.
Though I think that Villar is the camp of the tired and the cynical, If you strongly believe in Villar’s rag to riches story, his pragmatism and his “entrepreneurship” then go and join his camp. Make sure he gets into the Palace.
Escudero subscribes to the “youth” vote. I think he is reading the tea leaves wrongly. Noynoy did the undecided route and failed in it. It doesn’t work for Escudero too. But hey, I have a friend who is for the guy. So if you believe passionately in Chiz, go join his team. Be part of his never-ending struggle! Be part of the Chiz!
As a matter of disclosure: this pig is committed.
I urge Filipinos not stay neutral.
This is how we prevent Evil from winning. As Burke said: “The good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” So I urge you. Choose a side. Help shape that side to win in however way you can.
We can debate all day, or for a thousand years the imperfection of each of these clowns in our circus. One is bald and timid. One man is “experienced”. The other is “too young”. Another is fat. Then there is the puppet. What man is perfect?
Forgive my bias: “Honesty. Integrity. Transparency. Good Governance.”
We take what is given. We do what we must.
It is a leap of faith, I know, but you must choose a side now and don’t stop on election day. When you do decide, it is best, I think, to remember these immortal words especially post election day: “For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
This is what we each must do for our country. Election day, after all is just the beginning of a new day. And the new day and the challenges it offers, my friends, is the battle we must win. Maybe then we can win the war against cynicism, through hope and willpower. Maybe then we bind our nation’s wounds. Tomorrow must be less about who made a mistake. Tomorrow must be about what can we do to fix it. This is what ham and eggs is all about.
November 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm
“This is how we prevent Evil from winning. As Burke said: “The good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” So I urge you. Choose a side. Help shape that side to win in however way you can.”
Another great article cocoy! Salamat!
November 8, 2009 at 3:35 pm
We will labor the day, toil our understanding for a certain individual. We will try to grasp the true nature of that being. But in the end, one to behold the true nature of its character upon the people. Whether it a beast, or just an ordinary man who is dress in sheeps clothing.
We the Filipinos, must set aside our arrogance and stupidity. Confront ourselves to make rightful judgement accordingly, so that certain individual would be chosen, and can play a part in ourlives.
Ham and Eggs, sounds good!
November 8, 2009 at 3:39 pm
How do citizens make government accountable? The whole basis for broad based participatory democracy is the the idea that we as the people can make government accountable.
Without that you are talking about an empty system.
Where in this hoopla concerning the candidates is the question of accountability?
No accountability means you have tyranny. That tyranny keeps most people enslaved by ignorance and poverty.
November 9, 2009 at 12:21 am
If there is little accountability, then a good next-best-thing is to choose well. Choose well (to me) is to choose without being a romantic about it. Choose the candidate based on what you seriously believe that they would do. Leopards do not change their stripes. Choose based on what they would do, not what you want you would do if you were them and you were president, not what your candidate because you can send text messages to your candidate and you want to believe that he will listen to you instead of four-hundred thirty-thousand others.
Six-years for next president. You are normal if you say that you don’t know what
evilthe next president brings in years 4, 5 and 6, but you are a gambler if you don’t at least try to figure out the 2 priorities that the candidate wants towork onaccomplish in year one.November 9, 2009 at 11:33 pm
A nice gauge. simple yet effective.
November 8, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Tomorrow must be less about who made a mistake. Tomorrow must be about what can we do to fix it.
–Cocoy
I hope there are not many Pinoys-in-Pinas who are going with “Puwede Na Iyong Kandidato Ko!!”, anyway we can remedy things anyway later if he becomes a disappointment.
Iba-iba ang pag-iisip ng iba-ibang tao, I hope there are many Pinoys who are tamping down on emotionalism and who prefer to learn more about NoyNoy or Gibo — will they pursue GMA and Mike Arroyo for graft/corruption? what do they do with rice self-sufficiency and farmers? Mindanao, what? For jobs — which candidate has an approach other than the OFW-as-jobs-creation-policy of Cory/Ramos/Erap/GMA? Deciding now for a May2010 action is okay for some but is rushed for others. Remember — things happen. Only weeks ago, the internet blogworld was gung-ho sure that Noynoy Aquino is strongly pro-reproductive health. A few weeks passed, and now we know that Noynoy is straddling the fence with this bill.
Of course in the end, maybe these candidates really are all the same (except one has been convicted already). Already, all of them say that they will not actively pursue graft/corruption charges against GMA and Miguel when June2010 arrives. Only possible exception : Erap — he has not been interviewed yet.
Maybe the candidates, or if not them, then their kamag-anak’s and cronies are all the same. Then why bother to convince your barber that he is wrong to want to vote for Erap? If the next president is a disappointment, then Metro-Manila can coup d’etat later with democracy in the streets orchestrated by a few from the military or business sectors.
That, or maybe, the bongV message — choose well who to vote for — really is important.
November 8, 2009 at 11:49 pm
What a way to twist Cocoy’s message.
November 9, 2009 at 12:24 am
you/cvj, not cocoy, would be the one more inclined to to say “… can coup d’etat later”.
November 9, 2009 at 8:38 am
You’re such a hack.
November 9, 2009 at 4:27 am
“Will power she still have post election day?” Like Yoda you speak and laugh do I.
I wobble and find myself with three limbs. On one hand, I see little hope that things will change because the President is a pawn of his financial backers. Furthermore, a clean president may not have much congressional support if he does not continue the practice of enriching legislators, or allowing them to enrich themselves. On the other hand, major strides forward can be done with very simple steps, like allowing the ombudsman to operate independently and from the top down, mandating more efficiency from the judiciary, prudent and transparent fiscal management including disciplined taxation of the rich, or instituting a proper disaster preparation plan. On the third hand, I don’t see much change taking place in ending the practice of hiring and promoting friends and family (the concept of careers for young people will never be established as a counter to corruption), slowing the flood of babies, or cutting debt.
The best one can probably hope for is avoiding riots and collapse, and muddling along doing a little bit better at this and that. Who really has the power and moxie to make a silk purse out of the existing tattered rice sack that is government practices?
Joe
November 9, 2009 at 7:08 am
Hey Dollar Joe all you are asking is for government to actually work. That would infer that government is failing and failing badly.
I am looking for one who has that moxie to organize a broad based community based on policies to act on retribution.
GMA, her husband, Abalos, JDV and son, Joc Joc, Arthur Yap, Cojuangco Pangilinan, Lucio Tan and the Lopez group etc.
I would look for one who has to gall to initiate a bankruptcy law for the country. I would look for one top expose the shenanigans at the BSP. Guys like Peter Favila and de los Angeles should be executed. Favila presided over the last failure of PNB. He has no business running the DTI. Taxpayers bailed PNB out and handed it to Lucio tan.
I would look for one to challenge the SC to discipline its ranks by exposing the endemic corruption within tis own circles.
There are many other policies I am looking for like immediately increasing the pay for the MTC, RTC judges together with the prosecutorial services of the state. I want the guys who fight crime to be the best paid group. The cops included.
Unless a system of credible accountability returns there will be no change.
ABS-CBN has become the main publicist for the Noynoy camp. Boy Abunda and Kris now handle a large part of the campaign for our New Messiah.
It will fail…
November 9, 2009 at 3:49 pm
J_ag,
Government is failing badly. No inference intended. Direct statement made and intended.
When justice is unjust (Ombudsman and Courts), that is failure. The first and most important step of a forthright new President should be, as you say, to make the courts efficient and fair. Until there is a real avenue of justice, laws might as well be bathroom tissue. When the courts are open, honest, and quick to render justice, social change can be litigated into place.
ABS/CBN is one oily media machine. Quite horrible, actually, it’s mixing up entertainment, news and real life.
Joe
November 9, 2009 at 7:22 am
Joe,
glad you liked it :D
November 9, 2009 at 6:25 am
The trouble with us, Filipinos, is :we dont learn from the past
elections and past leaders. We look for personalities. We believe
out of this world promises. We dont look carefully about the records,
political agendas, and the accomplishments of the candidates. They
promise us false hopes. We bite, then we are taken. The felow is a
rascal. Time for EDSAs.
Look at Villar. He has an integrity baggages. That had made him a
billionaire, using his position as a Senator. We still believe in
him. Or Erap Estrada, who plundered the nation. Convicted and served
his sentence. He is still there running. Some people still believe
him. Other candidates should be looked upon carefully. There is a
good Russian proverb that says:TRUST BUT VERIFY. We trust easily.
and we never verify. We deserve what we get!
November 9, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Voting on election day may well be just a favorite national past time, come to think of it.
The have-nots love to be transported free, meals free, and the P500 bill for the day’s work.
Do they think if they were to vote wisely or not? Sure they don’t have to since life is so hard and trading their votes for a few bucks of money is not just economical but in itself, it is moral.
Yes, you heard me.
November 10, 2009 at 2:16 am
Primer,
Voting day should not be considered as past time. It is our rights to do so. “And I would not allow anybody to take that away from me.” Now that i got that out of my system!
Who is the culprit?
Which candidate, is generously giving P500 pesos for a days work?
Oh! are they also giving them free shower?
Is this government funded for the less fortunate?
If so, can you provide us a link.
Living from day to day is everyone’s business, or issue(s) for that matter.
Is there any morality by accepting bribe, No!
This is where you raised the flag.
Yes Primer, off to work I go.
Have to earn that Honest money!
November 10, 2009 at 5:58 am
Mario: When Loren Legarda declared that she was definitely running for vice-president and her platform included to really fight corruption), Loren Legarda in her Luneta rally provided free medical checkups and free long-distance calls to relatives overseas.
Three weeks ago, Ellen Tordesillas blogsite reported of flying voters getting registered in ARMM, and apparently these voters were to get P1,000. The flying voters received two hundred after they get registered — the balance, they get on May2010 election-day. [The scheme hit the news because of a grenade blast at a voter registration station.]
November 9, 2009 at 5:31 pm
“The religious reading this would know the story. There was a War in heaven and Lucifer lost and was cast out. What if it was the other way around? What if Evil won? What if on Election Day, the wrong man won? What if on election day, the right man won, but failed to deliver?”
What if it was the other way around? What a dilemma! If that happened, maybe things could be different.
The world for so long already is not a heaven by any stretch of imagination, some even called life on this earth hell, everything happening under the watchful eyes and administration of the ONE who casted Lucifer out.
Is the world any different from what is happening to us?
I think our political problem has nothing to do with God. My opinion on this is that this has something to do with people’s attitudes. One reason could be that the onlookers far outnumbered the few good men who want to make the difference.
In our young history, everything, fair and foul, in our political system has been tried by all sectors within our society to stamp out evil, in pursuit of the ideal administration that our country and people deserve. Sometimes we succeeded, but the evil persists. And so, there is a continuing necessity to keep the ball rolling, and indeed we tried maintaining the volition, to keep the ball rolling. We failed!
We failed because, even if we wanted to “surge-the-gates” after everything else failed to defeat evil, there are those who will just standby and murmur, “let’s move on.”
November 9, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I believe that if we, the people, stand solid and firm with our vigilance, applying consistent pressure on those evil politicians who hold the reign of power of governance, we’ll be able to get out of this rut we’re in.
November 10, 2009 at 2:27 am
Bert,
Niceeeee!
Didn’t realize you had it in you.
Hehehehehe—yehaaa
November 10, 2009 at 3:10 am
Vigilance is part of the deal – and is a given.
But it’s not enough – you also have to scrutinize the people you consider for an elective position.
Otherwise, your vigilance on status and rate of accomplishments – morphs into vigilance if the crook you voted for has been at it again.
Learn to be proactive, so you can reduce your “surge-the-gates” and increase “we are the world”.
November 10, 2009 at 12:38 pm
mario,
it’s in the heart, always in the heart. and in what little I’d read you in such short time you’re here in FV, I have that feeling that you’ve got it in your heart too. treat my people, the Filipino people, well, and we will be friends forever.
November 10, 2009 at 2:12 pm
and, mario, be anti-pinoy, be anti-yourself..that’s anti-Bert too. you have the right.
it’s alright of you to be a genius but, pls., don’t bash my people, because, if you do…pffftt goes your ham and eggs.
November 11, 2009 at 2:44 am
BongV,
“Vigilance is part of the deal – and is a given.” per BongV
“But it’s not enough – you also have to scrutinize the people you consider for an elective position.” per BongV
As a Central Scrutinizer we are, or at least I am. These is where I put my palate into. The Presidentiable Electives.
One must come to an understanding, that these Cronis deserves our utmost scrutiny.
I will not overlook each one of them, balance those objectives, and do Diligence on our part.
I will not be influence by others, by means of great punditry towards a Presidentiable Candidate. My objective is to choose an “Honest Being” or worthy of my decision for the Filipinos. Who will serve the Philippines, move forward, and surpass other neighboring countries. (“and Vietnamese are above us, no pun intended…WTF!”)
That’s who I will, and scrutinize we shall…!
November 11, 2009 at 2:50 am
Bert,
Your such a Ham. And don’t worry, I keep my Eggs ove reasy!
November 10, 2009 at 12:40 am
It is the way we think. The way our leaders think is
the problem. Most people think that elections are some sort of
“fiestas”. Whereby we elect the best looking leaders. The
elected Leaders think that government positions are CASH COWS
to have good pay, good allowances, rights for self importance and OPPORTUNITY TO STEAL to provide for their family’s future.
Our thinking are just “baluktot”.
November 9, 2009 at 6:09 pm
@Joe America: muddling (root word: mud) along, haha, describes government, pinoy style.
@cocoy: “…prevent Evil from winning … Honesty. Integrity. Transparency. Good Governance.” so never mind where he stands on specific issues? as long as he’s honest and transparent? the issue halimbawa of the rh bill. he can’t even be honest and transparent about it right now, read montalvo sa inquirer today. noynoy vacillates, hesitates too long, and everyday he does so, takes away from the claim of integrity and the promise of good governance.
and what about his anti-farmer (because anti-left) response to the hacienda lusita problem. they’re not a major shareholder daw, 4 % na lang… meaning what? he has no influence on the family? but what if he becomes president? what could he do? what would he like to see happen? segue to, how does he hope to address the poverty, the huge gap between rich and poor? fighting and ending corruption won’t be enough.
November 9, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Angela, i don’t expect that if Senator Aquino becomes president, the day after or even after six years, the Philippines will “defeat” poverty or settle the gap between the rich and poor.
To be honest, my personal benchmark to say that an Aquino presidency is successful is that if he can bring corruption down. I’m basing this on his webpage which is saying that his priority is corruption. I’m basing it on his stance that his government would be about honesty, integrity, transparency and good governance. I’m basing this on the pressing problem that corruption is the root cause why our government can not deliver social services. Our government is highly inefficient. Corruption isn’t just on top, it goes down to the local governments and spreads across every strata of society. Money is scarce.
With regard to CARP, I point you a previous post here on Filipino Voices: “The Opportunity of Solomon and the Luisita Connection“.
Is agrarian reform, evil? No it isn’t. As @cvj here on FV has time and again mentioned: it was agrarian reform that jump started our neighbors in asia’s rise. Is agrarian reform in the Philippines broken? Yes, it is because our country doesn’t have food security and our farm lands have for the last 20 years been converted to residential and commercial zones.
I do not know how much share the Aquino family have with Luisita and 4% is not a majority holding and therefore he has no executive control over it. To sell those shares or not is a business decision that only the owners of those shares ought to make.
This is the big picture. Corruption is the biggest problem facing the Philippines. If there is only one thing that the next president should do, it is to face it. If it is the /only/ thing that the next president will accomplish, I believe it would be a presidency worthy of acclaim. I believe Corruption is such a priority that everything— education, health care, poverty and everything else must take a back seat.
Hong Kong faced corruption in the 1970s and they successfully conquered it. With political will, I believe the Philippines can turn it around too.
November 9, 2009 at 8:17 pm
“corruption is the root cause why our government can not deliver social services.”
corruption is just one of the reasons why govt does not deliver on social services.
November 9, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Angela, i used to believe like you do that corruption is one of many reasons why the Philippines is the way it is.
If you look at Philippines’ economy, we are continuously borrowing money. In 2010, the country will be buying two billion dollars of debt to finance the country’s operation.
If you look at our economic numbers, the government can not afford to maintain investing in infrastructure development to match GDP growth. It can’t because we’ve reached the point that it can no longer finance the growth of the past.
Is cocoy lying? I blogged about it right after the President’s state of the nation. The world bank asked the question why is the Philippines making 6% GDP, for the past couple of years and /yet/ it seem the country isn’t progressing. It seems the poor isn’t feeling the benefit of this so called growth. You can read my post: the State of the Filipino Nation. The conclusion of that study says this: the government can’t sustain GDP and the private sector isn’t interested in growing their businesses simply because they don’t need to.
This is why if you will notice the activities of the government has been to raise tax revenue. The government is so obsessed by it that it is taxing text messages. books are being taxed in violation of UN Treaty. The lowly employee is paying 12% evat, withholding taxes, not to mention SSS/GSIS, pag-ibig contributions.
Now you’re going to say, Cocoy is saying Arroyo is evil for doing this. I say it is /prudent/ of Arroyo to do this. If Arroyo didn’t do this, we will lose our Credit Rating which gives the country access to credit line, which in turn is allowing the government to function. It is no different from a person drowning in Credit Card debt. You have to keep paying so that your credit continues to be ok.
So the president has to raise taxes because there are only two things you can do when you’re out of money: slash your budget or raise revenue. We can’t slash the budget because there is 1) nothing more to slash and 2) the government is so inefficient in its expenditure.
Now this is the chicken and egg problem. At present tax levels coupled by the lack of infrastructure— roads, telecoms, etc., high electric cost and a rowdy labor, business becomes uninterested to invest. How then can the private sector be encouraged to invest when at their current investment they are profiting? How then can we get new entrepreneurs when startup cost becomes too high?
Let us go back to inefficiency in government. The inefficiency is coming from corruption. We need revenue and if we can fix the flow of money, if we can fix our leaking pipes, then we’ll have more money to finance social services. Business will see that the law becomes a level playing field and will be interested in investing.
This is why I believe it is prudent that it ought to be the highest priority of the next president whoever he may be to face corruption. At this point it will take at least fifteen years to right the ship of state. I am of the opinion that it will take an entire presidency just to get the ball rolling. If we do not do this now, in twenty years, the Philippines might find itself at par with the poorest of African nations. Already Vietnam is overtaking us. Vietnam!!! Can you believe that?
November 9, 2009 at 9:01 pm
And oh, I haven’t even included that the Philippines gained at least 25 billion pesos worth of damage from Ondoy and Pepeng. The threats of the horizon also include what will Arroyo do once she’s no longer president. Will she be the torn in the new administration’s side? Political instability will cost us again. What if next year we’ll get more powerful storms?
I’m not a doomsayer. I’m just saying the country needs to face these realities. Let’s get serious.
November 9, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Isn’t “…being against graft/corruption” and “…being a president of high integrity” also among what Manny Villar promises? [Now, I wish I can tell you what Manny Villar's program for rice self-sufficiency is, but I don't think I've seen him address it. Manny Villar, though, has more clearly stated his stance with the RH bill.]
As for Hacienda Luisita, NoyNoy seems to keep suggesting that he can’t make a good decision on farmers and farming because of his Hacienda Luisita part-ownership (and, I suppose, the ties to his business partners and his relatives).
November 9, 2009 at 9:58 pm
UPnGrad, doesn’t matter what the next president’s plan is for anything else. Not rice production. not education. not health care. not poverty. I tell you this: it doesn’t matter if it is Aquino, Villar, Escudero Teodoro or anyone else. If Corruption is not addressed, we will at best keep the status quo. The universe is a changing state so don’t expect the status quo to be the same. We could be at par with the poorest of African nations in twenty years.
November 9, 2009 at 10:03 pm
This was the line pushed by Cory’s handlers. Not buying that line anymore.
The next President will not only need to address corruption but it will need to address the economy, the environment, education, health care among others.
If handling corruption is the only thing the President can do, I’d say the Philippines made a really bad choice.
November 9, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Obviously, I disagree with your stance that only one criterion is needed when choosing the GMA replacement. Three of the candidates all say that they will fight graft/corruption (and a vice-president wannabe has also said that the time has come to r-e-a-l-l-y fight corruption) so it makes sense to me that a few Pinoys want to evaluate the candidates on other criteria (like stance re RH bill or approach to Mindanao peace) before they decide who gets their May-2010 vote.
And even evaluating a candidate regarding “graft/corruption” gets clouded by the need to know if a candidate can all or some of his proposals passed by Congress into laws. There is also the matter about who the candidate’s brain- and financial-trusts are. The track-record is important, too, e.g. (1) Manny Villar’s response to C5-inquiries, (2) NoyNoy’s response pointing to “provocateurs and radical left” as he explained what happened in Hacienda Luisita many years ago; (3) Erap.
November 10, 2009 at 12:14 am
BongV, UPngrad: look at the economics, and not the handlers. If the bleed does not stop, this country can’t feed its people. It can not educate the young. It can not progress. who will trust a country where the laws can be bent at the whim of those in power?
It isn’t a question of whether it is a noynoy thing. in fact, it doesn’t matter who does the cleaning. the point remains that that is the key-code to unlock our troubles.
current gdp growth is unsustainable. private sector remains uninterested to invest because it doesn’t profit them to invest. and if you look at the global competitive index, our problem with labor and infrastructure are there.
November 10, 2009 at 12:45 am
Cocoy:
The economics is linked to the handlers.
Specifically, the oligarchs’ anti-foreign investments stance, as embedded in the 1986 Cory Constitution – ensured that while the rest of ASEAN benefited from the FDI bonanza, the Philippines had to be content with crumbs – whoever was willing to go in bed with the oligarchs – with oligarchs owning 60%.
The oligarch-backed aquino campaign raises the bogeyman of Filipinos no longer being able to own land with the entry of foreign investments. Before we even get there, it should be pointed out that, filipinos are already landless under the oligarchs’ policy regime.
November 12, 2009 at 10:23 am
So, what are we saying here? We all are saying all the right things to say, being all pundits of the highest caliber (me not included).
And yet, here we are in FV, displaying our biases for our own manoks, endorsing candidates of differing persuasion, all in the name of country and people, and, on May 2010 ends with one winner of a president, who might will deliver the same results as before, and we, the pundits of the highest caliber will again blame the people for their choice, WHEN IT WAS OUR CHOICE TOO. ahayhehehe.
Might as well we just cross our fingers. And spare us the callouses on our fingers, heheh.
November 9, 2009 at 7:21 pm
sorry, montalvan pala (antonio j. II)
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20091108-235087/Conversations-with-Noynoy
November 9, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Montalvan is a Catholic stooge.
One possible reason why Noynoy vacillates on his stand on RH bill is that a Catholic dinosaur from Bohol who calls himself a monsignor threatened Noynoy with this :
With people like these exercizing power and authority and clout, the Philippines will remain a basket case for many decades to come. Time to move to Vietnam.
November 9, 2009 at 9:50 pm
“Vacillate” is not too nice a term to describe a candidate who has described clearly what his plan of action is should he get elected into Malacanang.
November 11, 2009 at 3:59 am
apanfilo,
“As my old lady friend once told me, age doesn’t matter, it’s the performance.”
“The Tagalog equivalent would be “Kalabaw lang ang tumatanda,” which perhaps explain why this country is stuck in mud. Hehehe.” per apanfilo
Easy ka lang sa mga matanda dito.
As Dollar Joe stated, you Youngems think you know it all.
Anyway, your thoughts are pretty sublime.
Galing! galing.
Just a reminder, you still have to “Manopo” sa amin. LoL
November 10, 2009 at 6:01 am
how is this vacillating angela?
the quote: “The nun relates to me that conversation by summing up what Noynoy had said on the same issue of reproductive health: that he is against abortion, that he is against the legislation of artificial contraception and that couples cannot be coerced into contradicting their faith.”
1) he is against abortion — that was clear
2) againt the legislation of artificial contraception — this is super vague. this might mean that he is against the govt making the use of artificial contra mandatory. the bill isnt about MANDATORY birth control, and noynoy agrees.
3) couples cannot be coerced –again this is exactly what the bill is about, FREE CHOICE.
November 10, 2009 at 7:49 am
People are now slapping the “Vacillating”-verb onto NoyNoy because only a few weeks ago, NoyNoy gave people the impression that he was so much in support of the RH bill that sparks and others concluded that NoyNoy was one of the RH bill’s authors. After a Bishop raised the possibility of two or more dioceses campaigning against candidates who are for the RH-bill, NoyNoy’s re-stated his position. For one, he now states that he was never an author of the bill. He also avoids any mention that he is FOR the RH bill as he states that he can’t be for a RH bill that will coerce couples or that will legislate abortion.
However, Noynoy is not saradong-Katoliko as his mom. Noynoy did say this (interview with Cheche):
November 10, 2009 at 10:07 am
Up n grad,
I agree with your assessment. Noynoy appears to be vacillating but I think what he’s doing is calibrating his responses to isolate the Catholic fundamentalists and win over to his side the Catholic moderates, who constitute the overwhelming majority.
Your wider perspective that this issue is generational is I think essentially correct. I watched a couple of ANC shows the past week or so and that is exactly the impression I got. One of the shows was a debate between two prospective candidates for congressman in one of Manila’s districts. There was actually not much of a debate as the two old geezers had the same views on almost anything, including RH which they both opposed. On another show, RH was the topic of discussion and on the pro-choice side was a young congresswoman from the provinces and on the pro-life side was an old congressman from Manila (?). (So perhaps there is also a gender divide here on top of the generational one).
BTW, the pro-life congressman said Manny Villar, who’s about to become a senior citizen, belonged to the pro-life coalition, which if true further bolsters the view that RH is indeed generational.
Dinosaurs in our midst will continue to fight the march of progress. It’s time to put them where they really belong–in museums.
November 10, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Apanfilo,
Uhhh, I heartily resent the reference to my fellow wise wizened old-timers as geezers or dinosaurs, as if you young whippersnappers had the market for brains cornered. The real problem with youth today is that they think they know it all, but they actually have no idea how to get anything done, which is why the old geezers are still in office stealing the ohhh so smart youth blind and the country, populated mainly by people younger than 40, is stuck in ummmm . . . mud.
Joe
November 10, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Joe,
As my old lady friend once told me, age doesn’t matter, it’s the performance.
The Tagalog equivalent would be “Kalabaw lang ang tumatanda,” which perhaps explain why this country is stuck in mud. Hehehe.
Seriously, don’t resent the demographic rabble-rousing from yours truly. I gather you grew up in the 60s, so it’s your generation actually who invented the term “generation gap.” But it’s not fair of course to blame the flower power generation because I have a nagging suspicion that the RH opponents never took part in the counterculture movement and thus never enjoyed its attendant benefits, e.g., sexual revolution. They think the Pill refers to innocuous M&Ms.
One of the geezers I mentioned said the public money that would be spent for contraceptives under the RH bill could be better spent on more urgent needs for housing, etc., inconveniently forgetting that those needs have become urgent in the first place because we’ve been multiplying like rabbits. He even had the gall to say that there was no overpopulation problem, offering the brilliant factoid that all 6 billion humans can be put inside the borders of Texas and the resulting density would still be even less than that of Paris.
Whoever said the problem was about density? The problem is the immense strain humans are putting on the planet’s resources and on the capability of societies to sustainably and equitably distribute those resources. The problem is the lack of freedom women have at a time when we have a wonderful technology that can liberate her from biological constraints that have chained her since the beginning of time.
Of course, better management of resources and better mechanisms for dsitrubuting wealth could also conceivably solve the problem of sustainability and equity. What I find appalling is the medieval thinking of ossified people who willingly limit the choices of other people in the name of their God.
November 10, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Apanfilo,
Well, for a young whippersnapper who had the misfortune of missing the free-love era, you think quite well, so I have no complaints at all. I agree with all you’ve said, and think the Catholic Church needs a gong rung in the Pope’s ear, you know, wake that old geezer up to the reality of his 1500’s Doctrine . . .
Joe
November 10, 2009 at 8:12 pm
apanfilo,
pls. don’t misquote your old lady friend, I was there, she said, “size….”, not age, ahayhehehe.
November 11, 2009 at 4:06 am
apanfilo,
“As my old lady friend once told me, age doesn’t matter, it’s the performance.”
“The Tagalog equivalent would be “Kalabaw lang ang tumatanda,” which perhaps explain why this country is stuck in mud. Hehehe.” per apanfilo
Easy ka lang sa mga matanda dito.
As Dollar Joe stated, you Youngems think you know it all.
Anyway, your thoughts are pretty sublime.
Galing! galing.
Just a reminder, you still have to “Manopo” sa amin. LoL
November 11, 2009 at 7:07 am
apanfilo: your friend has his numbers all screwed-up, probably from breathing the air of and drinking the water of a high-density city like metro-Manila. If the entire world population of 6.8-billion were to live inside the borders of Texas, you do not get Paris, France. What you get is Saigon or Djakarta. You don’t even get Singapore, definitely not a Sydney. You get metro-Manila.
November 10, 2009 at 11:20 am
cocoy, yes look at the economics. it’s not just corruption that leads to lack of money for sevices. it’s also the development programs as designed and imposed by imf-world bank (in exchange for debts); programs that are supposed to benefit the poor through the trickle-down effect, which hasn’t happened over decades and decades of so-called development. so look at the economic policies too…
November 10, 2009 at 12:21 pm
what policy specifically are you thinking, angela, that sucks money out of services? the only thing i can think of debt service. if so, if i remember right, noynoy mentioned on tape that he’ll pursue to debt re-negotiation.
November 10, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Evidence suggests that Pilipinas has only one large-scale program — large-scale, massive scale — that there is only one large-scale program designed to help the poor. That program is taxation.
The next best thing is micro-lending.
Then all else are trickle-down. The trickle-down comes in two ways. Taxation is the first. The second is jobs creation.
November 10, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Pilipinas can put a freeze on rationalization and return to underemployment as policy for government civil service. The under-employment will increase the number of employed by splitting a full-time job into three in order to hire three people. [Usually the salary of the three under-employed will be half of a salary of a fully-employed.] Then you hire a supervisor to manage the 3 employees.
November 10, 2009 at 1:13 pm
globalization liberalization privatization
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52
http://tribune.net.ph/commentary/20090924com3.html
November 10, 2009 at 2:30 pm
i c. thanks for the links. i think its important to talk specifics.
1) for the first article, it seems to accept that specialization, industry creates wealth (as it should!), but the concern is equity.
“The example of SOCSARGEN concretely illustrates that growth can occur without equity. Perhaps this is why, despite the glowing 7.7% GNP that had been posted earlier even before the Asian economic crisis, many Filipinos felt they were worse off now than before”
i have no problem with that — trade does not say there is equitable wealth creation, only that it is on NET wealth creating.
2) the second article contradicts the first via some specific examples of hacienda luisita.
“Explaining Luisita’s economic plight, the management said that commitments under the WTO and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), notably low tariffs, “caused the flooding of the local market with imported cheap sugar.”"
hence, unemployment. however, one must recognize that SOMEONE must gain from having cheap sugar. and one recognizes that, its possible to understand that on NET there must be a gain.
therefore, angela, your political philosophy is heavily in favor of equity, vs wealth creation.
nothing wrong with that — but i would like to point out that paying for fraudulent loans destroys WEALTH on net. if a dictator borrows money and invest in a loss making project based only on a bribe, then said dictator shouldnt have borrowed that money at all and investing is a wealth destroying project.
November 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm
it is both about economic growth and equity.
In socasrgen where multinationals abound in areas like agri biz,tuna export and mining resulted to economic growth,but the unemployment rate is still high.
(Like what I am reading about,the end of recession in the US)
In the case of Tarlac, the local sugar millers can not cope with the flood of cheap imports, so the local companies close shop.
Yes it is about growth vs. equity,
but, it is more than meets the eye.
If the cost of doing busines here is cheap then the problem of competing with the rest can have a fighting chance.
to illustrate my point, consider this;
when you get vegies from benguet to manila the costs of fuel,farm prices and the whole nine yards makes those veggies from China cheaper, and tarifs and additional barriers of entry to important veggies won’t make the price of veggies from benguet cheap.So we must refocus our anger to efficiency and productivity then competitiveness lastly,and forget about the world being unfair(it is a given). If we think we cannot be competitive without considering other factors, then we will not go anywhere.
and that part of corruption.It is time to be world class be competitive and productive even with corruption.
but it seems that we are the masters of solving something by creating more problems.
we have to many layers of check and balances just to make sure that everything is not above board,but what happened, even with those checks and balances lalo pa yata lumala ang corruption.
November 11, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Our neighbors have shown that the focus should first be on equity. That will give market forces a chance to jumpstart economic growth.
November 11, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Actually, SOCSARGEN was a recipient of the Philippine Aid Plan to the tune of $100M. It also received substantial assistance from USAID via the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM Project).
November 11, 2009 at 11:40 pm
And their focus on equity was to become more investor friendly – unlike the rent capture protectionist 1987 Philippine constitution, courtesy of the oligarchs.
November 10, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Noynoy, who wants to follow on his father’s footsteps, would do well to read the book. And so should all those with an eye on the presidency and the poverty question.
Wow this is very interesting indeed. I didn’t think these ideas have cropped up before. Why isn’t this being exposed by the mainstream media more? Its more about the personality of Ninoy Aquino and Martial Law instead of what he fought for.
Christian democratic socialism. I would like to see this kind of system. But seeing Noynoy, he is far away from having this as an advocacy/platform. He is ignorantly on the right. Ironic.
November 13, 2009 at 3:48 pm
here are some excerpts from ninoy’s Testament From A Prison Cell:
http://www.stuartsantiago.com/ninoys-politics-the-filipino-as-dissident/
http://www.stuartsantiago.com/ninoys-politics-a-christian-democratic-vision/
http://www.stuartsantiago.com/ninoys-politics-manifesto-for-a-free-society/
November 12, 2009 at 4:58 am
Did we not think that so-called Christian democratic socialism has long been abandoned precisely because the door for a free market economy is constantly open in all ‘hitherto’ existing capitalist societies?
Socialism or communism is such a system that no longer gather adherents in these more contemporary times. Maybe, it is time to get hold of that book “Testament from a Prison Cell” to diagnose what may be in the head of Ninoy that Noynoy now may want to ‘echo’ as his own advocacy.
November 12, 2009 at 8:13 am
BongV,
thanks for the info re:gem. (made me dig deeper)
http://www.bergerphilippines.com/gem2_show.pdf
November 12, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Not a biggie Karl.
To say that there was no equity in Socsargen’s is misleading and incorrect.
Equity was poured into Socsargen in phases:
Phase 1 – Pump priming (Stimulus-type intervention; ODA-driven) – $100M under the Philippine Aid Plan under DILG Sec Luis Santos; Infrastructure development – Socsargen Road Network; Socsargen Airport – all funded from the Official Development Aid (ODA) raised during the PAP pledging sessions.
Phase 2 – Investor-driven – Investments on the Ground. This is direct equity.
All of this ODA equity+Private sector equity fueled the economic growth in Socsargen. Thus, the statement that there was growth without equity is kinda… HUH? WHAT? ANO DAW? WTF? :)
November 12, 2009 at 8:20 am
CVJ,BONGV
“Our neighbors have shown that the focus should first be on equity. That will give market forces a chance to jumpstart economic growth.” CVJ
“And their focus on equity was to become more investor friendly – unlike the rent capture protectionist 1987 Philippine constitution, courtesy of the oligarchs.” BongV
CVJ, has been saying exactly that(for years), the problems are courtesy of the oligarchs.
November 12, 2009 at 12:45 pm
And they can likewise be the solution.
November 12, 2009 at 6:20 pm
yes, they can be the solution.
I still keep on coming back to your post:
http://cvjugo.blogspot.com/2008/08/framework-for-making-food-subsidies.html
we need something like that proposal of yours.
November 12, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Karl, thanks for remembering.
November 13, 2009 at 12:16 pm
No problem chuck!
November 12, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Why do Noynoy supporters use the light and dark scenario? Then using Noynoy as tacitly implying that he is on the light side? Is this something to counter rich vs. poor? Or oligarchy vs. democracy. Landowner vs. farmers?
Let us not forget the power of Darth Insidious (fitting name) that he can impersonate the light to confuse the people that he is fighting for the light.
The force may be strong in Noynoy, but discern whether he is of the dark we must.
Well, as long as Agrarian Reform will not be opposed or mutilated by oligarchs I guess desperation will be apparent. These people are fighting for their lives as opposed to landowners fighting for mere profit.
Violence can be attributed to the extreme right-wing as well. Luisita Hacienda owners openly shooting at protesters, harassing farmers. Government officials initiating extra-judicial-killings, torture, and kidnappings to defenseless people.