Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Aquino's foot in mouth disease just keeps on getting worse. Remember that in his speech before the Makati Business Club Jan 2010 he promised no new taxes and no tax rates hike because curbing corruption will free up funds. Aquino didn't even wait for a year to flip flop and break his campaign promise of no new taxes and no new tax rate hikes. Before ... Full story

The Leftist-infiltrated organisation Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) throws in their two cents on the matter of the first visit of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to the United States. In its "Issue Analysis No. 09" on the subject, published on the 14th of August 2009, the group stated that it sees Noynoy's agenda in this coming visit as an affirmation ... Full story

There used to be a local version of "Sesame Street" in the Philippines called "Batibot" which had some of its muppets roughly corresponding to some of the original Sesame Street characters. Instead of Big Bird, there was Pong Pagong. But they also had a Tagalog version of the song "One of these things is not like ... Full story

Kamag-anak Incorporated’s plotting is obviously not limited just to politics. Even the latest Showbiz gossip surrounding presidential sister and mega-cougar Kris Aquino regarding her split with the much younger basketball player James Yap is emerging to be just another one of the many schemes set up by the family corporation. Let’s cut to the ... Full story

It's another vow from the AFP and PNP - AFP, PNP vow to strengthen fight vs private armies. How exactly are they going to do this? Are they proposing anything new? Too much attention is being given to end-game activities while focus on information gathering and distribution is lacking. Twentieth century approaches to law enforcement are not enough in the 21st century battleground. Pangako ... Full story

"My Way" is favorite karaoke/videoke classic for Filipinos. But it also illustrates very well the Filipino attitude in life... especially in politics. Full story

Yes, Noynoy, great job! Thanks to you, everything is proceeding according to my Simounistic prediction. If you recall, I had predicted last May that your winning the 2010 elections will pave the way for the rise of Bongbong Marcos to become president in 2016, and it is obvious right now ... Full story

So President Noynoy Aquino is popular. Okay, already. Frankly, his minions in the Inquirer.net are over-praising him for just being popular with the public and rating highly in a trust "survey". There are even newspaper columnists who give P.Noy too much credit on things he hasn't accomplished yet -- even without laying any kind of concrete plan of action for the future. They say ... Full story

After reading an English-translated transcript of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III's recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), it started to bug me that there was no easy way to verify the true financial position of the Government on the basis of what P.Noy said in his speech until this question is answered: What exactly is meant by a "depleted" national budget?... Full story

President Noynoy Aquino will be giving his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) soon. If his army of speechwriters will have their way, his speech will be all about giving people "hope". Hopefully, it will not be full of motherhood statements similar to his election platform and inauguration speech. Heaven forbid that Conrado de Quiros have his way in writing it lest ... Full story

Just before I published my recent essay that related the soccer versus basketball issue to the presidential versus parliamentary debate, a few statements made by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan which appeared in the July 3, 2010 Manila Standard caught my attention, and I quote the Manila Standard article as follows: “Personally, I ... Full story

Water supply has always been a problem in the Philippines. Since time immemorial, many Metro Manila residents have even had to rely on electric booster pumps to suck out the essential juice from city's decrepit mains and store as much of it in privately-owned storage tanks. In many suburbs, there is an arms race of booster pumps among residents. Households possessing the most sucking power ... Full story

At the time of this writing, millions of people around the world are obsessing about the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the noise of the annoying Vuvuzela horn. From every continent, people speaking almost every language, coming from practically every race, creed, and color are excitedly watching the game called “Association ... Full story

Word has it that when Noynoy Aquino was still a candidate, there was a group in his billionaire-backed campaign team that was assigned to handle international media relations. As a result, Aquino received positive coverage. That makes these two articles published by the Asian Wall Street Journal during Aquino's first two days in office all the more interesting to read. Full story

Was it a campaign pitch or an inauguration speech? Was it an inaugural or a Wowowee special? When one performer (Noel Cabangon, actually the least cloying in the cast of noontime show staples) wailed “Noynoy naaaaaaaahhhhh!” at the end of his song, people at home wondered–was this a celebration for the Filipino nation, or a prayer rally at the Church of Noynoy Aquino? Full story

I've always called politicians "bozos". And for the record I personally consider Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III a bozo's bozo. Add me to a box of "witchhunters" then, given this categorical declaration coming from me. Noynoy is in a class of politicians probably occupied by only two men -- him and former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada. Between the two of them, they embody 99% of ... Full story

It's two days before Gloria Arroyo steps down as President of the Philippines. ABS-CBN reporter RG Cruz, who covers the Malacanang beat, wrote an interesting piece on assessing Gloria's performance. A fresh take like this rarely makes it past the gatekeepers of the Aquino Broadcasting Network, so soak it up, folks. Full story

The Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Delfin Bangit retired on June 22, 2010 after occupying the top post at the AFP for just over 100 days. Bangit was not due for retirement until July 2011, but the president-elect Noynoy Aquino forced his hand. This is the first time in modern Philippine history that an incoming president has forced the removal of an ... Full story

I gotta hand it to out-going president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Despite the immense amount of energy expended by the Philippine Media over the last ten years to turn her from hero of the Edsa II "revolution" into the reviled cunning "evil" empress out to divest the hapless Filipino of his hard-"fought" freedom, she manages to consistently remain one step ahead of her detractors. ... Full story

Being realistic is a good trait. One of the upsides of being realistic is that you do not get disappointed with the result or at least have a Plan B prepared in case things do not go according to Plan A. You won't get disappointed with the result because you will have predicted the likely consequences of your actions by using your logic, and will ... Full story

The following are the words newly-minted President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III reported to the Media after having received a courtesy telephone call from outgoing President Gloria Arroyo who wished to congratulate him on his appointment to the Presidency: I have to give her the courtesies. She's the current President. She's older than me. She's a woman. I would be doing injustice to my parents if ... Full story

One of the great traditions of Philippine politics involves government officials extending their renowned family "values" out and into the fabric of governance. Indeed in the Philippines, governance, like success, is relative. Relatives and family friends (even clan "friendships" that go back a generation or two) making up the immediate officiating circles of everyone from lowly Barangay Captains to sitting presidents is pretty much a ... Full story

Kuryente, or electricity, is the term Filipino journalists use when reporters get “electrocuted” by wrong information. ABS-CBN, a sister company of kuryente firm Meralco until Manny Pangilinan’s recent takeover, is on its way to becoming a regular source of kuryente. Philippine Star columnist Federico Pascual tells how his name was falsely included by ABS-CBN in a report on Gloria Arroyo’s “midnight” appointments. Full story

In his latest hossana to People Power and Noynoy Aquino (yes, he's not over it), Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros claims Aquino will be able to stop corruption because "he will raise, like Aragorn who conscripted dead kings and their legions in 'Lord of the Rings,' an army mightier than any of his enemies can muster". What do you suppose he means by this? ... Full story

Did the photos of the giant sinkhole that suddenly appeared in Guatemala and swallowed a building two days ago remind you of something? Sounds like bad science fiction, but horrifically real. Something similar though a lot milder happened in Manila last year. So what does this have to do with Noynoy, who is holed up for the week at Hacienda ... Full story

"Jewelries" was a leading word on yellow Twitter timelines last week when soon-to-be ex-President Gloria Arroyo ordered the PCGG to halt its auction of Imelda Marcos’s jewels. Noynoy Aquino was quick to blame Arroyo for waiting nine years to hold the sale. But has he forgotten that Imelda Marcos accused one of his relatives of carting off her jewels in 1986? (P.S. ... Full story

Filipinos seem tired. For some reason they just want to move on from the election. Maybe the campaign jingles have proven too much to bear and any further exposure to them after the 10th of May just might make them go crazy. Despite reports of massive election fraud from members of the local and international community, majority of Filipinos don't seem inclined to do or ... Full story

Noted blogger Manuel L Quezon III provides us with a very informative piece on the rich traditions and symbolisms ingrained into the process of a new President assuming his office in Malacanang. In his recent piece Notes for the coming inaugural, Quezon highlights three rather interesting steps inherent to the traditional rites of transition of power in the highest office of the Philippine ... Full story

In a move that actually took many interested observers by surprise, recently-installed US Ambassador Harry Thomas and a coterie of Embassy officials paid a courtesy call to presumptive President Noynoy Aquino last Friday, prompted this bit of nausea-inducing “analysis” from his personal press agency, the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “The new US ambassador ... Full story

Political blogging is like a sport. Like any sport, you win some and you lose some. The idea is to play like Roger Federrer, stay cool, calm and composed even in defeat. Sometimes though, one can't help but act a little bit like John McEnroe and cry foul, especially when the opponent violates the rules of the game. As they say, he or she who ... Full story

Every day that's gone by since his "presumptive win" in this year's elections, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III turns into a bigger and bigger chump. As we follow the self-created drama that now embroils his first step into the Presidency -- the "big" issue of his oath taking (the bigness of this issue an ironic but laughable resullt of his and his media lackeys' own ... Full story

It's hard to lead a normal life when you are a Filipino. There are times when you just want to do the right thing but other people prevent you from doing so. Take voting during an election as an example. It should be a pretty straightforward exercise. You wake up, eat your meal, fix yourself up and then go out and vote. Sadly, in the ... Full story

Faster than anyone could say “President-elect Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III”, numerous Noynoy-Mar supporters from the burgis class and Liberal Party supporters were shell-shocked to see Makati Mayor and VP-candidate Jejomar Binay consistently dominate the polls over Mar Roxas. While these same people were primed to think that Mar Roxas originally had a strong ... Full story

This current brouhaha which is a chopseuy of competing vested interests is nothing new. Ngayon nyo lang nalaman? Or dati nyo nang alam at kayo ay bagbubulag-bulagan? O talagang sadyang tanga? Whatever reason people had to vote for Noynoy Aquno - there's no running away from the effect of their vote and the continuity of events leading to these endless soppy Hispanic telenovela called ... Full story

"Paninindigan ko ang desisyon ko!" These are the words of a Noynoy supporter named Willbryan. These are words that do not connote any kind of confidence in his chosen leader, Noynoy Aquino. You can tell that the person behind such words did not use critical analysis before going to the polls and is already accepting the worst from Noynoy. His words can also be ... Full story

Don't say we didn't warn you so - or no one warned you. ;) Naisahan nanaman ang Pilipinas. I know it's "wrong" in the sense na wag tadyakan ang tumadyak sa sarili niya - but I can’t help but gloat. Take a look at Aquino's bullcrap - political infighting, impeach a chief justice, noy-bi, the Firm, Kris – and he has not been ... Full story

All the drumbeating about Noynoy's "mandate" misses the fact - forty percent (40%) is not a majority - never was, never been, ever. And, it is a bit of a stretch, plain hype to call it a "landslide". *** An election is an election - and is not a referendum. To say that because the people participated in an election for a president therefore, they ... Full story

One of my favorite books is Dune by Frank Herbert and in it was a passage that went:....animal consciousness does not extend beyond the given moment nor into the idea that its victims may become extinct....the animal destroys and does not produce....Animal pleasures remain close to sensation levels and avoid the perceptual....the human requires a background grid through which to see his universe....focused consciousness by ... Full story

The difference between “Presidential or Parliamentary” systems, which we discussed in Part One of this exploration of ways to improve the way the Philippines is governed, and “Unitary or Federal” systems is that the former are systems of government, while the latter are systems of administration. In other words, both a presidential ... Full story

According to the Inquirer.net editor in his most recent Op-Ed, "President"-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III garnered "the most remarkable mandate since the present Constitution’s ratification in 1987". Dude. And I thought the Inquirer.net had behaved like such a pathetic lackey of the Yellow Army all through the last twelve to 24 months leading up to this ... Full story

There is a feeling of Deja vu. A feeling that we have been here before. And we are just repeating what we did before. We didn't learn our lesson, we voted for the oligarchy. Here's the lesson folks, when it comes to politics "in good faith" may just as well be "blind faith" - you have to do your due diligence, or your decision will ... Full story

The oligarchs are back. Thanks to the Pinoy dimwits who voted the very persons who robbed the poor of their economic birthright. In colonial times, the Spanish grabbed indio lands through pillage and conquest, in massive quantities at that. After killing the indios, the Spanish marauders declared the indio lands as theirs. Then the Spanish colonial ... Full story

Filipinos were in a hurry to get Gloria out, so much so that any schmoe who can convince the greatest number of ignorant voters that he is against Gloria more than anyone else, gets the job. That was quite efficient - a quick decision, boils down to gut, simple decision to make - yeah, right. But was that effective? Toink! "If pigs could vote, the man with the ... Full story