A picture is worth a thousand words, the time-worn statement goes.
This is exactly what Jose De Venecia is banking on as he publishes his “authorized biography” that’s written by a former editor of the Wall Street Journal.
The 5-time House Speaker is presenting his version of contemporary history with readers’ interests surely to be piqued by his revelations about the inner workings of the administration he most recently served with lapdog gusto.
De Venecia’s political life has been a storied one indeed tracing its roots to ‘JDV’ starting out as a humble journalist from Pangasinan and moving on to see his political star rise as close ally of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos with never a day out of the political spotlight with an almost Rasputin-like presence in the administrations of Ramos, Estrada, and until several months ago, with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
His biography is JDV’s message to Filipinos that history is not done with him yet and rather than go down in the history books as a villain trapo, De Venecia iws serving up not just testimony like the one this morning before the House Committee on Justice.
On page 148 of ‘Global Filipino’ is one of the many ‘family photos’ JDV has posed for.
But the photo reportedly taken in Shenzhen in Southern China on November 2, 2006 is serving as Exhibit ‘A’ in JDV’s charge that GMA and husband Jose Miguel Arroyo were “actively involved” in the fraudulent ZTE-NBN scandal.
De Venecia trying to “give substance” to the examination of the 4th impeachment complaint against the sitting president.
The First Gentleman is saying JDV is a bare-faced liar while JDV’s retort is simply that pictures cannot lie.
As ‘family pictures’ do go, one can infer volumes from the relaxed smiles and the mood of those in the image, along with many questions begging for answers.
- Is that Chinese gentleman in the photograph with the Philippine First Couple indeed a top official of the Chinese telecoms giant ZTE?
- What is former COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos doing with the presidential party?
- How and why did it happen that after the previously undisclosed trip to Shenzhen the proposed ZTE-NBN project became a government-to-government deal with Manila contracting a huge loan from China instead of the Philippines not having to spend a centavo to build a national broadband network?
- What is Jose De Venecia up to and why has it taken all this time for his avowed patriotism to rise to the surface?
JDV says he is “telling all for God and country.”
Where does that put the accused?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Isn’t De Venecia’s book the first Pinoy kiss and tell book where “Jesus” was still in power? We know that many wrote “kiss and tell” books on Ferdie and Imeldific but that was after February 1986.
Also, I have serious reservations that Yoda’s kiss and tell book will be a best seller (unless the ones betrayed buy all the copies!). We ordinary citizens can’t sense some “good faith” in him. Not worth my money to buy it at National Bookstore (if it comes in paperback, baka pwedena rin)
But kiss and tell may be a sweeter revenge for being stabbed in the back.
Pictures don’t lie? Not in the age of photoshop and other graphics editing software. In fact image authentication is an accepted part in fraud forensics.
Chinese gent in the photo? Could be the caddie!
Blackshama,
Your “Pictures don’t lie? Not in the age of photoshop and other graphics editing software. In fact image authentication is an accepted part in fraud forensics.”
Mismo… and surely this will be among the doubts Malacanang will cast on the photo. Technology has indeed advanced that today more than ever before things are almost never what they appear to be.
Kani-kanyang antas ng kredibilidad. Sa dulo, taumbayan poa rin ang huhusga, di ba?
Joe De Venecia:Too Late The Hero
“In The Philippines, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the journalists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a journalist;
And they came for Jonas Burgos,And I kept quiet because Jonas wasn’t my son:
And they grilled Joey on ZTE in the Senate,And I remained silent because I wasn’t as brave as my son;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
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why has it taken all this time for his avowed patriotism to rise to the surface?
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Patriotism? What patriotism?
Naalala ko tuloy yung pagtalak ni Miriam:
“Pinag away awayan nyo lang ang mga Kickback ninyo!”
Kung nagkasundo nga naman sa kickback, baka hindi lumitaw ang “patriotism” ni JDV.
Wika nga… sa pulitikang Pinoy, sarili muna bago Bayan, kahit pa ang pamumustura ay kuno para sa
I’ve never understood the mentality above. eh kung ganun de bali wala ang testimony ng mafia kontra sa mafia. which is how mafiosi networks get exposed and rolled back.
This is one of the Filipino culture’s great tragedies… lessons we must overcome — that mentality prevails because our leaders fail us… while Filipino voters themselves see elections as time for seasonal employment…masakit isipin, unawain, at tanggapin nguni’t tutoo.
You raised a very interesting question. What is the Comelec chairman doing with Gloria Mike and JDV?
Socializing on the eve of an election year? Made me remember the testimony that Abalos bragged to ZTE that come January 2007 he would be the most powerful man in the Philippines.
at some point, ding and manolo, it may be even hard to determine who really is to be blamed.
should it be the politicians who does the corruption when they are in the office? or the people who have asked for money to these politicians prior to voting them?
as pointed, this is our culture’s great tragedy.
sana’y may lunas pa.
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You raised a very interesting question. What is the Comelec chairman doing with Gloria Mike and JDV?
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manuel:
perhaps the man is doing some taste tests for his “burjers”.
manuelbuencamino,
My take as the revelations were trickling in months ago was that nagkadidalan sina Abalos at De Venecia. Miriam whatever else her faults are said it succinctly: kickback lang ang pinag-aawayan.Pero ang nakakasuka ay ang pagkakasangkot ng ‘Mag-Asawa’.
for all our intellectualizing, maybe we need to think and say that this issue is very simple–can we ever fake the faces of PGMA, FGMA, JDV and Benhur Abalos?
Whatever we say, that’s it’s too late a hero or something, have we asked ourselves, what’s too late about what JDV did? What’s late? Late because it’s just 1 and a half years come 2010? Are we still thinking like kid observers here?
mlq3 @ 3:15 pm, hindi bale wala ang testimony ng isang mafiosi laban sa kapuwa mafiosi, but it’s ordinarily taken with utmost caution. it’s a matter of reliability and credibility. crooks are usually not the best witnesses. in the case of jdv and his son, they also have very strong motivation to lie.
we can take the mafiosi words against another mafiosi but bencard is right, it boils down to credibility issue.
the reason why the people are not so fired up about these allegations of bribery in the highest office of the land because the “messengers” are suspects themselves.
it is a question of over enthusiasm and half-enthusiasm. the jdv-lozada team up only creates half-enthusiasm. nothing more and nothing less. :)
btw, i subscribe to the idea that if jdv’s personal involvement constitutes a crime, he should be prosecuted. his senate testimony concerning his participation could be treated as a confession or, at least, a declaration against interest.
aha, bencard, so now you want jdv prosecuted but leave the other party to the crime alone? did i get you right?
not quite art, it’s different when an accused says “i did it” from when he says “joe blow did it”. there’s no reason not to believe a voluntary confession, but to implicate somebody else is problematic if you are not credible.
so now do you really believe atty. bencard that gloria arroyo has no culpability whatsoever in light of jdv’s testimony and should not, in any way, be subjected to formal investigation, inquiry, impeachment?
i didn’t say that. do as you please and good luck.
hahaha, your selective justice slip is showing atty. bencard.
i don’t personally know you atty. bencard and so i have no idea why you so tenaciously defend the brazen ethical and legal violations of gloria arroyo’s usurped presidency.
your mantra of “bring it to court” and yet, deriding the efforts of those who actually go through the process of doing exactly that is, to say the least, revolting.
if you have no vested personal interests whatsoever in defending gloria arroyo, your postings on this site and that of mlq3 reveals a very twisted frame of ethical standard and behavior.
would you care to explain why?
what has my ethical standard got to do with my belief? you seem to have already made your own judgment against the arroyos. if you want to bring them to court, what do i care? i’m not deriding you just because i don’t think you don’t have a strong case. then again, who knows? maybe you’ll win.
i should say, “i don’t think you have a strong case”.
blam! you are engaging in verbal calisthenics here atty. bencurd.
your ethical standard and your belief is one and the same dinuguan…hahaha.
if i believe you are not too smart, what has my ethics got to do with it?
bencard, you are not making any legal, or ethical sense…
you are just polluting this site with your “legal” bullshit.you do not even bother to explain your tenacious defense of gloria arroyo’s appaling impunity at violating basic decency as a public official.
are you perhaps a business associate of jose pidal? a co-owner of his san fransisco apartment buildings? a contract supplier of diarrhea pills to malacanang? what?
no? then please explain your horrible doggone loyalty to the pidals.