Your taxes at work: Barangay assemblies on Saturday and Sunday! (updated)

The scuttlebutt today, concerns NGO sources confirm the gearing-up of the Palace effort to push forward Constitutional amendments. The preparations are being done stealthily, which is why no concrete confirmation can be obtained. But what is being said is disturbing enough but not so stealthily that a plausible explanation can’t be made later on: for example, in Makati, a banner was spotted announcing a “barangay meeting” for Saturday, but no information on the banner as to what the meeting’s about.

A. On Saturday, it is expected that the President will announce that she is calling for synchronized, nationwide, Barangay assemblies to approve Charter change -and that those assemblies will instantly convene and pass whatever resolutions are required. The questions to be propounded or resolutions to be asked for might include support for unicameralism. The Department of the Interior and Local Government will take charge of the effort. I have received from one person in Quezon City that in the case of their barangay, the assembly will be on Sunday, March 26, at 9 am (as noted above, the sign in Makati says Saturday, so it seems its a weekend affair for the various barangays). Another barangay in Las Piñas, when called, said the assembly for March 25 has been reset to April 8 -Charter change though, according to that barangay, is not on the agenda. A barangay in QC has also confirmed their assembly is on April 8.

B. Provincial officials are already busy collecting signatures. A variation says provincial governors are undertaking the task of gathering signatures. The logistics involve 40 to 400 signature-gatherers per town.

An NGO describes the efforts as follows:

[W]e’ve also received info from Southern Tagalog and Panay that the DILG is in an all-out campaign for signatures for their cha-cha… they’ve assigned barangay coordinators and signature solicitors who are given the quota of 40 signatures each. Depending on the number of voters, they have anywhere from 40 to 400 signature solicitors.

the copy of the petition to the comelec that they are circulating calls for a shift to a unicameral-parliamentary government with:

-the incumbent president (gma) and vp continuing to exercise their powers until 2010,
-the formation of an interim parliament to be composed of the incumbent vp, senators, congresspersons and members of the Cabinet who are heads of executive departments,
-no set date for the election of the regular parliament; instead it merely states that “the interim parliament shall provide for the election of the members of Parliament”, and
-the interim Parliament convening within 45 days from the ratification of the amendments “to propose amendments to, or revisions of, this Constitution consistent with the principles of local autonomy, decentralization and a strong bureaucracy”.

The purpose of course, is to be able to argue that there is public support in the provinces for Charter change on the administration’s terms. There will be no debate. Only a parade of steamrollers. And the Constitution envisioned, as the loopholes above show, will ensure that the present third-termers in the House will have term limits lifted, and no one for the administration will have to face the public at the polls in the near or medium term future.

Update: a source says a foreign visitor in a meeting was supposedly told by DILG Sec. Ronaldo Puno that actually, what could be proposed in the assemblies is something as radical as abolishing the Philippine Senate. Then the by now unicameral Philippine legislature could modify the Constitution further at its own pace and pleasure.

Anyway, in the news….

Yesterday’s administration trial balloon -to establish a government monopoly on jueteng- resulted in a blood-curdling story by the Inquirer:
Interior chief to run gov’t ‘jueteng’ . Blood-curdling because, as the Interior Secretary is poised to lead the campaign for Charter Change, arming him with almost inexhaustible supply of funds sourced from gambling would simply have been too conveniently-timed. Other papers say the government’s backpedaled: Puno: DILG will not operate STL and Palace heeds anti-govt-jueteng calls so that Govt stops local lotteries.

Now this is the kind of story that gives media critics ammunition with which to take pot-shots at the press: Dress code used to browbeat press. The question isn’t why the Presidential Guards have to remind the press about the dress code, it’s why the press doesn’t have enough respect for the President and the Palace to obey the dress code. That dress code has been in force for years. And rightly so. Jove Francisco, part of the Palace Press Corps, blogs about it.

In Thailand: the other day, Thai protesters pour into Bangkok’s business district although Number of anti-Thaksin demonstrators “exaggerated.” In the Nation, this commentary: Premier is pushing for a late goal to take it into extra time. And this amusing story: Thaksin era beset by evil omens.

And just a sampling of Filipinos who have been charged with sedition in the past. Among other reasons, this is why I seriously believe sedition is a crime that’s incompatible with our present circumstances:

Fr. Jacinto Zamora
Fr. Jose Burgos
Jose Rizal
Andres Bonifacio
Aurelio Tolentino
Crisanto Evangelista
Diosdado Macapagal
Felixberto Olalia
Raquel Edralin-Tiglao
Rigoberto Tiglao

In the punditocracy, my Arab News column for this week is Black T-Shirts and the Political Controversy. In his column, Lito Banayo suggests everyone just wear blue.

Patricio Diaz argues that the role of media is unappreciated.

Greg Macabenta appeals to overseas Filipinos to follow the debate on Charter change, and warns that Filipinos abroad are about to be deprived of their hard-won ability to participate in elections from overseas.

Amando Doronila wonders why more people aren’t marching against the President.

Tony Abaya concludes his views on revolutionary governments -apparently, so long as they’re not Communist-led, or participated in by unreprentant socialists, they’re good and even necessary. Personally, at this point, I think the real question is not whether the country needs Socialism, but rather, how much.

The Inquirer editorial tackles the killing of dissidents; the Manila Times editorial tackles the raid on the 168 mall.

In the blogosphere and online, Pajamas Media points to an article by Stephen Hayes, Saddam’s Philippines Terror Connection. This is the latest round in justifications for the Iraqi invasion (and essentially, an indictment of the President’s pulling the Philippine contingent out of Iraq). An interesting article in Slate is Christopher Hitchen’s My Ideal War: How the international community should have responded to Bush’s September 2002 U.N. speech.

PCIJ covers former president Estrada’s appearance in court: Estrada takes the stand and Estrada denies receiving kickbacks.

Ellen Tordesillas discusses the new US Ambassador and reduced American assistance to the Philippines. She quotes extensively from a report in Manila Mail DC Online.

A splendid exchange of views on press freedom is taking place at Sassy Lawyer’s. Highly illuminating.

maetrics points to the forum Libertas, which in turn points to the fears of Warner Brothers that the film “V for Vendetta” might cause trouble among American youth.

Quote of the day:

During the debate on the Executive Power it was the almost unanimous opinion that we had invested the Executive with rather extraordinary prerogatives. There is much truth in this assertion. But it is because we cannot be insensible to the events that are transpiring around us, events which, when all is said and done, are nothing but history repeating itself. In fact, we have seen how dictatorships, whether black or red, capitalistic or proletarian, fascistic or communistic, ancient or modern, have served as the last refuge of peoples when their parliaments fail and they are already powerless to save themselves from misgovernment and chaos. Learning our lesson from the truth of history, and determined to spare our people the evils of dictatorship and anarchy, we have thought it prudent to establish an executive power which, subject to the fiscalization of the Assembly, and of public opinion, will not only know how to govern, but will actually govern, with a firm and steady hand, unembarrassed by vexations, interferences by other departments, or by unholy alliances with this and that social group. Thus, possessed with the necessary gifts of honesty and competence, this Executive will be able to give his people an orderly and progressive government, without need of usurping or abdicating powers, and cunning subterfuges will not avail to extenuate his failures before the bar of public opinion.
-Claro M. Recto
Valedictory address before the Constitutional Convention, 1935
[The Philippine Constitution Sources, Making, Meaning, and Application, the Philippine Lawyers’ Association, p. 540].

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

89 thoughts on “Your taxes at work: Barangay assemblies on Saturday and Sunday! (updated)

  1. The preparations are being done stealthily, which is why no concrete confirmation can be obtained.

    The logistics involve 40 to 400 signature-gatherers per town.

    How can you get 40 people in every town to do this with out everyone knowing? Let alone 400 people..

    The Governors in some places have been gathering signatures for a change months ago.. To come out and say this is a big secret is to say that you did not watch ANC months ago..

    Just because no one is gathering signatures opposing it means that the opposition is once again on the back foot and not united in their actions..OR do not have support…

  2. MGA PUTANGINA NYO, NO TO CHA CHA !!!

    THE HOUSE IS INFESTED BY GLORIA ALLIES AND

    IT WILL BE A DOG-POUND WITH TOO MUCH GMA PUPPIES …

    LET’S ADMIT IT MAJORITY OF THE MEMBER OF THE HOUSE

    ARE NOT MAN OF PRINCIPLES, THEY DECIDES FOR THE PARTY

    AND NOT FOR THE COUNTRY, SUCH MEMBERS ARE NOT FIT

    IN A PARLIAMENTARY. OUST GMA FIRST AND HER ALLIES

    COME ELECTION 2007.

  3. We may have not seen the last of the attempts at power grab,” Senga said in a speech before members of the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa).

    “They [anti-government forces] will always find allies in opportunist personalities who will not hesitate to bankroll violence and wreck the gains we have achieved thus far,” he said. – GEN SENGA

    – THE GENERALS ARE THE ONES THAT SHOULD BE OUSTED TOGETHER
    WITH THEIR FAKE COMMANDER IN CHEAT !!!

    WE DON’T NEED SOLDIERS WHO TOLERATES A CHEAT A LIAR
    AND A CORRUPT LEADER… WHO HAS NO COURAGE, INTEGRITY
    AND MOST SPECIALLY HONESTY !!!

  4. dwarf, trudis, ALL CAPS is the equivalent of shouting.

    masakit sa tenga at sa mata.

    at nababastusan ang ibang reader sa pagmumura ninyo.

  5. Marcos led the first successful coup d’etat since the new republic was granted independence from the US when he shut down the co-equal branches of government and arrested his political opponents. He was no longer eligible for re-election when he instigated that coup in 1972 against our institutions.

    Maybe GMA is hatching up a coup of her own.

  6. “A splendid exchange of views on press freedom is taking place at Sassy Lawyer’s. Highly illuminating.”

    –Sassy views it quite differently. She would no longer take the time to answer my queries because for her, I only want to impose my opinions so that people will not support the government.

    Anyway, this was supposed to be my answer to her last comment which until now, is still AWAITING HER MODERATION:

    SASSY RE#17:

    1. “Bystander, I gave you categorical answers. ON MY TERMS. If you expected me to say this-or-that is the answer and NOT support that with reasons, you’re out of your mind.”

    –Okay then. I will not force you to make categorical answers. Just like acts committed under PP 1017, it’s really hard to defend the indefensible. I will just have to accept your answers ON MY OWN TERMS too.

    2. “Unlike other bloggers and writers, I give answers that lead to more questions and discussion with the goal of going deeper into the issue more deeply rather than merely impose my opinion so that people will or will not support the government or the opposition or the LEFT.”

    –There you go again. Just because I am anti-GMA (and I’m proud of that), you tend to dismiss my opinions and compare me to other bloggers you regard as superior because they toe your line of reasoning. Worse, you resort to labelling by indirectly accusing me as part of the LEFT (otherwise, why capitalize (emphasize) only the “left” and not the “opposition”?). Besides, I was not imposing only my opinions, I was asking you QUESTIONS, which, to me, you miserably failed to answer.

    3. “Nice quotes from famous men. But famous men are never infallible in their reasoning. Mental exercise is better.”

    –The last time I checked your entry, you also QUOTED your definition of “yellow” journalism from the WIKIPEDIA, “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit”. If that’s what you call “mental exercise”, I’d rather not. I’d rather rely on the tried and tested principles of a former US President than quote from an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

    …just posting this here in case sassy decides not to post my latest comment. Thank you.

  7. That interesting article by Christopher HHitchens can be summed up in one sentence – “If only the whole world followed Bush, then he wouldn’t be in the quagmire he’s in.”

    And typically, Hitchens, like his neo-con buddies, has all the right answers to questions that Iraqis themselves probably never asked.

    And it can all be credited to what Edward Said described as the “liberty to visit their fantasies and philantrophies upon a mind-deadened Third World..”.

    It’s an ugly Kipilingesque or manifest destiny view.

    Hitchen’s is America’s equivalent of Alex Magno. They are both former leftists and their view of where they came from and their adaptation to their new politics is no different from a recovering alcoholic or a born-again Christian.

  8. MLQ3,

    After reading Bystander’s report, I went bloghopping and visited Sassy’s site.

    I posted the following comment:

    25a de brux
    Mar 22nd, 2006 at 6:32 PM

    “I don’t often agree with Sassy’s opinion but she is spot on when she says, “…under the law. There is freedom of the press because there is public interest involved. The press enjoys protection so it can remain free to serve the public. And when it violates the public trust, it has no right to hide under the cloak of press freedom.”

    “I adhere to the principle that a free press guarantees the ordinary man’s freedom of expression but a freedom must come with responsibility.

    “A licentious press is not synonymous to a responsible media. And I agree with Sassy that such abuse of “power” must not be tolerated.

    “We have witnessed what havoc biased reportings and licentious journalism could do. In the past (and even perhaps today), the CIA used the press to rouse support from a credulous international and American public for its operations, eg. the toppling of Allende. We also have witnessed the damage that irresponsible press could inflict on people and their right to privacy, eg. Princess Diana’s Death, the private diaries of Prince Charles stolen and published, etc.

    “Whether we like it or not, we must accept that with freedom comes duties and responsibilities and a price to pay when that freedom is abused.

    “I’m all for the freedom of the press because it serves as guarantor of my right to express my thoughts freely but I am aware that if abuse that right, I must also face the consequence.

    “I therefore agree with Sassy that a RIGHT is NOT absolute…”

  9. ADB Re#8,

    I suggest you read Sassy’s original entry entitled “technorati connection”. The ones you quoted may seem valid on its face but you should relate them in the context of what we discussed in said earlier post.

    She made this proposition: “Freeedom of the press belongs to a responsible media and not to a licentious one.”

    To which I retorted by asking the following questions:

    1. How do you distinguish between a responsible media from a licentious one? The demarcation line is very thin and smacks of subjectivity.

    2. In the context of the current political crisis, who determines what a licentious media is and what a responsible media should be? Gloria Arroyo? Bunye? Gonzalez? Defensor? Puno? Lomibao?

    3. Which is more licentious, media that parrots government propaganda masquerading as news or media perceived as anti-GMA?

    Which was why she proceeded to answer me by posting a column in Manila Standard Today entitled “Yellow Journalism”.

  10. Oh, begging your pardon then, Bystander.

    I didn’t read Sassy’s technorati connection; my comments were based solely on her yellow journalism piece.

    But even without reading the other Sassy piece, I believe that even on their own, your questions deserve serious ponderings and honest answers.

    Thanks.

  11. Garcillano’s tampered passport is now exposed! See, walang kasinungalingang hindi nabubunyag.

  12. Bystander,
    I too would want to ask Sassy pero she said it herself na nakukulitan sya Bystander…What’s the use, then…

    pero

    siguro ihahalintulod nya sa when you have a license to drive that does not mean you are a reponsible driver…

    maybe its a matter of rights and privileges again..Ewan ko din…
    kung privilege na naman yan then …..
    Freedom is for members only parang ganun ba yun??? ……..

  13. Karl,

    Ya, she’s pissed off by my insistence in asking those questions. But that is usually the escape goat of someone who cannot seem to defend her own proposition.

    Instead of answering the questions squarely, she resorts to questioning my motives for asking them.

    I admit that I am anti-GMA — but for the right reasons.

    I heard about what happened to DJB in her blog. Hope I won’t suffer the same fate.

  14. Bystander,

    I don’t think you will suffer the same fate as DJB because she allowed your post to go through.

    As to a Sassy reply, I don’t know whether one is forthcoming. But frankly if I were you, I wouldn’t care. The fact that your opinion is read, circulated and heard is far more important than receiving a blasé reply.

    Of course, if you could get her to muster enough courage to argue and defend her cause, so much the better for one and all concerned.

    You know naman there are so many pinoys and pinay who are mainit ang ulo or terribly pikon and there are those who feign courage but in reality, don’t have the courage of their convictions, etc …

  15. The Bystander,

    Iam not aware of what happened to DJB, but I am sure he can take it.

    Isipin mo na lang ang situation ni Joselu at ni Sleeping dito sa blog na ito..

    Tuloy pa din kahit na two of them against the world…

  16. Karl,

    Nakakatawa ka naman!

    “Tuloy pa din kahit na two of them against the world… ”

    Sila na nga ang itong mga kontravida, ginawa mo pa silang heroes!

  17. Re #11. Now that Garcillano’s passport is proven to be tampered, what does it prove? I won’t harp on it yet because they still have room to wiggle out (I can hear Garci saying, “wala akong kinalaman diyan, nag-apply lang ako, iyan ang ibinigay sa akin ng DFA!”.)

  18. Jon,

    Everytime I hear this bastard friggin sonavb’s name “Garci”, I get angry…

    How could Fililpinos ALLOW ONE BASTARD like this sonovab to spit on the rights of the ordinary citizens, to tamper with their right to vote?

    Others may continue to believe what they want to believe but I insist, there are far more than just circumstancial evidences to prove that this corrupt of the corrupt deserves a fair punishment. After all, Garci’s crime has been investigated by the Senate and the case against him is much more solid than in the Erap case who was stripped of his presidency without a trial and based only on circumstancial evidences.

    Garci can no longer claim that his RIGHT – the right to LIVE – is absolute! He must be guillotined.

  19. POLITICS BREEDS IMMORALITY ….

    Ganito na ba talaga KASAMA ang PULITIKA sa
    bansa natin ? Bakit MARAMING naghahangad KUMANDIDATO
    at Nahuhumaling sa pulitika ? Dahil ba sa KAPANGYARIHAN
    dulot nito sa isang taong nasa POSISYON ?
    DAHIL ba sa BINIBIGAY ng taongbayang “pagpapahalaga”
    sa mga PULITIKO. Bakit sila ginagawang Ninong at
    kinukumpare ? Pero kung tutuusin pareho lamang sila ng
    ibang propesyon.

    Public Servants- They are there to SERVE and it’s NOT the
    OTHER WAY around. They are merely the CARETAKER of
    PUBLIC FUNDS so it can be UTILIZED and
    put into “GOOD USE”. We should NOT think and give
    them “SO MUCH” – POWER as if our LIVES depended on them.
    WE can live with or without them.
    WE GIVE TOO MUCH ATTENTION to our POLITICIANS when in
    TRUTH they are JUST the SAME as OTHER PROFESSIONALS who
    is CONTRIBUTING their fair share in day to day NATION
    building. I just dream that one day
    most people won’t give a damn holding a public position.
    Today, POLITICS breeds IMMORALITY, maybe it’s ONE REASON
    why many are obssessed with power.

    With POWER comes GREAT responsibility.

  20. long live johnmarzan …

    i’m pro-arroyo,
    i’m proud to be a GMA fan
    just like her i’m a LIAR.

  21. ***what could be proposed in the assemblies is something as radical as abolishing the Philippine Senate. Then the by now unicameral Philippine legislature could modify the Constitution further at its own pace and pleasure.***

    Señor MLQ, Honorable Ladies & Gents..

  22. Concerned citizens that we are, what do we now do to oppose this brazen railroading of the chacha?

  23. Sorry, Ms Anna.

    (-Experimenting with html tags..)

    It’s up there in MLQ’s article..

  24. Re #18. Now that Garcillano’s passport is proven to be tampered, what does it prove? — it was the BSP (the maker of valid passports) who reported that Garci’s passport doesn’t conform to BSP standards (size, paper & ink). In other words, Garci’s passport is FAKE! Let’s see how the DFA, which had been so silent about it, reacts. I’m inclined to believe that DFA’s silence about this case last year is an indication that it connived with Garci. There are many things to be revealed. Subaybayan!! But at least, with this development, the truth seekers feel vindicated. We can see how this filthy government of Arroyo is destroying the state’s institutions.

  25. GMA’s Charter Change initiative and Tony Abaya’s revolutionary government are both steamrollers of one form or the other. The worst outcomes tend to happen when initiatives are implemented by a self-appointed elite without the benefit of open debate. This can be seen even in the case of the Iraq War which went ahead without the UN Security Council’s explicit approval. That is why Patricio Diaz is right and Sassy’s framing the matter as a choice between a responsible and licentious press bypasses the main issue. The role of the press is to maintain openness and the quality of dialog by reporting the truth as they perceive it, and by not pandering to any target audience, including popular opinion. Only the people in general, and not any particular watchdog, certainly not the government appointed authorities, is capable of ensuring this.

    Bystander, kudos to you, Vger and MarkM for bringing up excellent points in Sassy’s thread – definitely one for the archives.

  26. Anti-johnmarzan wrote on March 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 pm

    long live johnmarzan …

    i’m pro-arroyo,
    i’m proud to be a GMA fan
    just like her i’m a LIAR.

    don’t you have more important things to attend to, connie?

  27. ADB Re#15:

    I probably suffered the same fate as DJB. A few minutes ago, I tried to post comments to her blog but it never came through. I tried for the second and third time but still to no avail. Yeah, she has enabled her “comment moderation” but my comment which was awaiting her moderation entirely went blank. Of course, she has every right to ban or prohibit me from commenting in her exclusive blog.

    I tried to be as subtle as I could in my counter arguments but her replies were full of ad hominems, attacking the credibility of the messenger instead of the message.

    I know Manolo wouldn’t mind if I ventilate here how disgusted I am to the treatment accorded to a fellow blogger.

    In between her arguments, she would always throw potshots against my person and against my mental capability — this — despite the fact that she doesn’t have any idea of who I really am.

    In between her arguments, she would always insert pretending-to-be-subtle-but-highly-cheap-personal attacks against my person, probably hoping to divert attention from the issue under consideration.

    Here are some examples of the potshots:

    1. “Is there really a need to repeat the statement to make it appear that the idea originated from you?”

    2. “…you’re out of your mind”

    3. “You give yourself too much credit. You were never lumped into the category of writers and bloggers.”

    4. “I wonder now why (I) ever wasted my time answering you. You’re a troll, nothing more.”

    Well, this is what we call free speech in the blogosphere. Despite my rather humiliating experience, I will not take it against her person. She’s entitled to say whatever she wants to say. Let the people decide.

  28. KARL Re#16:

    Hahaha!

    That’s the beauty of Manolo’s blog. Everyone here has equal democratic space whether bordering on pro, anti, absurd, illogical, outrageous arguments.

    Unlike the others..

  29. Bystander, Wow!

    Sassy, a LAWYER couldn’t present her case better than that? Geez…

    Ehhh biennng!!!! M’enfennng!!!!

    (That’s the phonetic and accentuated expression of people from Marseilles when they are dismayed)

    I must admit those Sassy lines you reported aren’t the kind of repartee one would expect from a lawyer; quite telling, aint it?

    I also read DJB’s ripost and I didn’t think it warranted the kind of reply that she threw at him. “BAM! YOU’RE EXILED TO OBLIVION!”

    Well, as I have said in the past, we have all sorts of freedom, even the freedom to sound foolish or pikon…

  30. Oh Bystander, I don’t believe you should consider it a humiliating experience at all… it was as MLQ3 said, ILLUMINATING. Quite an illuminating experience indeed.

    After having re-read your riposts, I am all the more convinced that your questions were totally valid and warranted clear replies.

    I think napikon lang si Sassy.

    And you know what we say “Ang pikon talo!” So, in that context, you won the round.

  31. Expect GLORIA and her cohorts to intensify the campaign for Cha Cha, just as many of us had expected the promulgation and issuance CPR and Proclamation 1017, though we were caught flat footed by an unprecedented EO 464 (neither are we surprised), not that we have inside information, but simply because those were the instruments employed by desperate despots preoccupied with survival before her. I am not bothered by cha cha, but what worries me is our seeming reluctance to stand our ground and risk including our constituency being truncheoned, water hosed, and arrested. I firmly believe that we already have a critical mass. What we lacked is the militancy of the leadership exhibited before, without which, we don’t a chance in the battles ahead of us – losing by default. Cha cha is a mere distraction. The debate on cha cha should be anchored on the issue of legitimacy of GLORIA. For it is completely possible for me to agree on all of the provisions in the proposed charter except perhaps on the transitory provisions, and yet opposed it completely for the simple reason the cha cha it is meant to legitimize the illegitimate. As I see it, cha cha is even an opportunity to pursue our goals. First things first.

  32. I read in the papers that this small town lottery may be used as GMA’s cash cow for funding charter change. The stall where I buy my newspaper everyday also doubles as an STL “booth”. I asked the guy about it and from what I’ve heard, the extent of its “regulation” by the government is to pay a fee and get an ID. That’s it and off you go. I wonder how they can keep track of the revenues from the operation…

  33. Thanks, Pingkian, for replying to my question; comment #25.
    ~~

    You say in your reply that: “Cha cha is a mere distraction.”?

    -But I thought that chacha was precisely her way of legitimizing her illegitimacy so that she can continue on, post chacha, as prime minister?

    How is this a mere distraction and not the crux of her strategy to stay in power?

  34. It is a mere distraction for us and GLORIA’s way of legitimizing her illegitimacy.

  35. ADB,

    Thank you so much ADB.

    That’s not the way the other commenter George described me. In no uncertain terms, he called me a loser. I retorted back, but I could not connect to her blog anymore.

    I’m still hopeful though that she will allow me to make one last comment for George and then I will stop.

    If not, then I’ll just let it be. Dito nalang ako mag-iistambay sa blog ng apo ni dating presidente Manuel Quezon, hehe. Ang kulit ko kasi e.

    Dun, masi-CPR ka.

    Again, thanks ADB.

  36. Bystander,

    Agree with you on stambaying here na lang at MLQ3’s. I’ve been stambaying and following MLQ3’s newspaper writings since way back when he was still with the Manila Times (and boy that’s aaaaaages ago).

    Pity! Sassy has put me too on awaiting moderation mode. Probably didn’t like my confirming that I am anti-Arroyo.

    Some 2 or 3 years or so ago (anyway, i mean a long time ago), I used to access her blog for Pinoy recipes. They were neat although a bit confusing at times.

    Cooking and cooks are a bit like politics, the mixer and the mixture of ingredients sometimes don’t quite meet the demands and the standards of one’s palate.

  37. Gloria apologized for talking to Garci and cheating her way to the presidency!

    Gloria regretted after conspiring with the Left to oust Estrada (and succeeding in the power grab)!

    Ibang klase itong si Gloria! An evil woman incarnate! Could be worse thaN Marcos! And on schedule to surpass Marcos in conscienceless greed and notoriety (sans Marcos visible infrastucture projects-his consolation to the Filipinos) . She deserves Jose Pidal. Without doubt, they deserve each other.

    Why is our country damned and condemned to corrupt and morally bankrupt leaders? I know, we don’t deserve them! But corrupt leaders appear to grow geometrically in numbers like the gremlins! Everyone Gloria touches, she indiscriminately corrupts. Generals who used to be honorable cadets forget their HONOR and idealist activists of old like Defensor, Magno, Tiglao, etc. no longer see the STAR pointing to the TRUE North.

  38. Did Gloria say God placed her on top for a reason (or to that effect)?

    In the line of the Devil and Judas perhaps whom God allowed also to exist!

    As a precursor to the coming and rise of the TRUE redeemer in our midst who, by heart, genuinely loves this country and its suffering people.

  39. Taxes are not enough for the cha-cha stampede…they are accomplishing the initiative STLthily…mobilizing the underground underlings in the process.

  40. MLQ3,

    With your permission, am calling John Marzan’s attention to a comment I posted yesterday in his blog entry dated Monday, January 30, 2006 (on the PCIJ/Happy Vergara affair).

    Also, to say that if “connie” (whom I presume is the same as the sassy lawyer) is really behind the “antijohn” prank in John’s no.30 post, it’s kinda worrisome… a lawyer who behaves like that? yuck! weirdo, weird and weird. oh well, never mind.

    Thanks.

  41. This is just to inform ADB that in his hillblogger blog

    the comment moderation is also activated

    Hey Anna, check your comment moderations…or if you have your reasons,I respect that!

  42. Bystander, her url ‘houseonahill’ says it all, it’s her house so she is well within her right to moderate or ban anyone for any reason, as does any weblog owner. What i sense over there though is that subtext matters just as much as context which may explain DJB’s fate. IMHO, coming back for George is not worth the time since his comments come off as juvenile.

    In practice, the government should have less powers than weblog owners. For the State authorities, comment moderation must always be turned off.

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