Retake? Recount!

Extra! Extra! North Korea performs first nuclear test. As early as September Kuro5hin was already suspicious over reports of the time of a mushroom cloud in North Korea. Duck and cover time for our part of the world… And the Republicans, thanks to the Dear Leader of North Korea, now have a chance to bury the Tom Foley news cycle and keep the Senate and House of Representatives.

News here at home:

Someone told me they recently saw a sign held up by an angry nursing graduate: “Retake? Recount!” A slow burn but headed toward a powder keg nonetheless: and the end result, as the Inquirer editorial puts it, is Alienation. Not to mention angry text messages.

The Palace is expecting an investigative report, and was supposed to meet tomorrow on the question of a retake –but has changed its mind. Columnist Fel Maragay says things aren’t being helped by infighting in the Palace:

That the administration is determined to resolve the leakage scandal is beyond doubt. The problem is that the people around President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can’t agree on the final course of action.

A group of Cabinet members and other executive officials led by Labor Secretary Arturo Brion has held their ground that there should be a retake of the nursing board exams held last June in which some 17,000 of more than 40,000 examinees passed. They believe that the exams need not wait for the ruling of the Court of Appeals on a pending case on the issue. They have also taken the position that the retake should apply to all examinees, and that it should cover only Tests 3 and 5 where cheating was confirmed to have occurred. Backing Brion’s position is presidential adviser on overseas Filipinos Dante Ang, who headed a presidential task force looking into the leakage scandal.

Perhaps, the retake would have already gone full speed were it not for the strong reservations expressed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who wanted to wait first for the ruling of the Court of Appeals. Ironically, it was Brion who called the Palace’s attention to the pending case in the Court of Appeals where he served as associate justice before joining the Cabinet. Brion had opined that the initial decision by the President and the Cabinet in favor of retake has rendered the court case moot and academic.

As a Mindanao group of concerned graduates shows, this is one issue truly national in scope and character. The article says that so far, the fallout from cheating allegations has spilled over from Manila to the Visayas -but not Mindanao (an initial allegation about Davao has been withdrawn). Two review centers have been implicated and they have multiple branches.

Even as Donald Dee and Francis Chua continue to put on a happy face about the so-called “people’s initative” case, the lawyers of One Voice have been busy. Atty. Carlos Medina, Jr. has detailed some of their findings, including an election officer in Jose Abad Santos, Davao del Sur certifying “most signatures are fabricated,” while Romblon and Leyte documents revealed anomalies even as no certifications were made in Davao and Cavite; evidence that makes it clear the process was tainted.

My column for today is Barangay inspectors. I went to the Comelec office in the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros to take a look-see, and lend moral support to the young law students and lawyers there.

I’ve uploaded a Flickr album with some photos I took at the Comelec last Saturday. You can browse through the photos and take a look at some observations I’ve made for each picture. Move your mouse around each picture in the photo album and you’ll see the notes I added (or click the note link for each photo).

Pundit roundup:

Amando Doronila’s freaked out by the internet.

For the first time, Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k) presents a video rant -with an interesting story behind it:

In an interesting turn, several video hosting services refused to post this video because they felt it constituted “hate speech.” These same services still harbor rampant casual homophobia in their videos and forums. Funny little world, i’n’it?

And this is simply too unbelievable: Lee Hsien-Loong lectures journalists on the demise of democracy in Thailand! But then again, perhaps not; Thaksin was a protege of Lee Kwan Yew. As even I’ve argued several times in the past, the face of Asian-style democracy, from the point of view of the professional politicians, is the one party state.

Finally, a revisionist look at Harry Potter.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

57 thoughts on “Retake? Recount!

  1. MLQ,

    Like you said the process is tainted. Now expect Sigaw to say that “sure it is somewhat tainted but in the end even if you discount the tainted signatures we still meet the 3 and 12 percent requirements. ”

    That’s like one argument used for the 2004 victory of Gloria. It’s the old Palace line – “even if you take away the dagdag-bawas, she would have won anyway ”

    But consider this. If someone were to piss on your coke or shit on your pancit, would you throw away the entire can or plate or would you agree to drink or eat them if you can separate those parts that are not tainted? To put it in another way, if there’s a fly in your soup, do you ask the waiter to scoop out the fly or do you tell him to take away the soup and replace it ?

    If the process is tainted, throw it away. Unless you are a masochist who enjoys eating shit served up by sadists like Gloria and her Sigaw.

  2. The best way to deal with “taints” and cheating and frauds and all the shits is to find the perpetrator and eliminate the source. But if the finder and the perpetrator are one and the same, how do we go about it? Another dilemma ..

  3. GMA may have realized that she doesn’t have the moral authority to order the retake so the reason for passing the buck to the labor secretary. Just like MB’s illustration in the tainting of the processes, tainted products must be eliminated. Too bad for the honest examinees, but they’ve been tainted by the few who did cheat.

  4. I just realized after going over some of the photos of the petition and signatures with the COMELEC that it was truly a major physical process to get these signatures. Part of my work in analzing business processes or forensic audits of business are joining the dots to come to a validation of the monetary resources expended in the whole enterprise. Labot hours spent with costs plus materials plus the distribution and collection and delivery costs.

    Anybody in the logistics business will attest that you have to have a nationwide infrastructure in place to use. This was no grass roots endeavor. It was too well organized and laid out. It is too bad that our forensic audit institutions are non-existent in the Philippines.

    The utter gall to pass this off as the people’s voice is truly amazing.

    But it shows a deep seated belief system with the power holders that they know and believe that in a weak state you can institutionalize deception and call it democracy. This is truly a superb case study of a massive crime being committed in full view of everyone.

  5. hvrds,

    that’s one great “lead” you posted there. yeah, please do tell us more about forensic audits.

    perhaps it would be a good thing for one voice to have forensic auditors on the team to come up with a report as to how government had organized PI and claimed it as grassroots initiative.

    it will be very educational for all of us Filipinos.

  6. I browsed over some of the pics in detail (finally got tired coz the file kept on crashing) but I noticed in one document with code P1150174.JPG, signatures by William Dansan and Mariano Dansan are strikingly similar.

    Anyway, after looking at the pics, I’m starting to see the gist of what hvrds is saying – extremely organized (and sophisticated) the whole things seems to be – one is bound to ask, “sino ang nag finance ng set up na iyan?”

  7. Filipinos knew that before, even without any futher investigations, “we” all know “something happened”. The problem is “Matagal ng nabubuhay ang mga pinoy sa Sardines” kaya siguro sanay na ang karamihan and wala ng pakialam. Thank you for your efforts siguro bukas makakatikim naman tayo ng bagong lasa.

  8. And the Republicans, thanks to the Dear Leader of North Korea, now have a chance to bury the Tom Foley news cycle and keep the Senate and House of Representatives.

    Mark Foley? btw, what’s your opinion re that, MLQ3?

    What do you think of David Corn’s GOP List and the outing campaign against gay republicans? And did you know that Roger L. Simon, your Pajamasmedia boss, recently outed himself?

    http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2006/10/outing_myself.php

  9. I went to the Comelec office in the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros to take a look-see, and lend moral support to the young law students and lawyers there.

    God bless them. Mahirap at matrabaho ang ginagawa nila.

  10. Do we really need a forensic edit just prove that the peopel initiative is a big hoax? I dont think so… Sa totoo lang i totally ignore this issue of peopel inititive because my system can not really take it in what ever . I was tempted before to go to their website when that claims of ” million clicks” occurred. But my gut feeling was that , heck di mapapasama na ako doon sa number. wag na lang.

    But it is also good that this peopel initiative continued all teh way to the Supreme court. Thats how I wanted it to be. Issues shoudl be resolves in the proper forum not just in an informal forum. That way all the evils is exposed, and well documented with courts seal pa! di ba? That way the sissue is properly closed and therefore we will not be bothered again by the same issue by the next president.

    But I still wanted to know more about forensic audit from hvdrs…

    I woudl want to know more about forensic audit from hvrds.

  11. On nursing retake…..I believe this is a really big problem for for leaders like Gloria who has big problem with credibility. It just to hard for her to continue ruling the country.

  12. on Doronillas, paranoia on internet….

    I been thinking about this for quiete sometime now. pano nag pala kikita ang siang news paper kung yung mga tao eh sa net na nagbabsa ng news?. Is the ads in net enough?

  13. john, my opinion re foley is pretty simple. they should abolish the congressional pages practice, young teenagers shouldn’t be spending their summers acting as political gophers. boy and girl pages have been sexually harrassed in the past, foley is just the latest to be caught and what makes his case particularly reprehensible is that he was pretending to be morally concerned about the youth.

  14. ano ba ang kinakatakutan ng mga estudaynte sa retake? eh kung sa ganoong paraan malilinis ang pangalan mo at makalakad ka ng tuwid at taas noo! na walang taong makapagsabi na baka nakinabang ka lang sa leakage. dapat lang i-demand sa PRC na walang bayad ang retake dahil sila naman ang may kapapabayaan. di kailangan pa na mag-review ulit, dahin kailan lang yun na nagreview kayo. negosyo lang yan ng mga review centers…ano ang nangyari sa apat na taon na pag-aaral sa classroom at nursing school na nakakalimutan agad! ano ang kapakanan kung nakapasa nga pero walang kukuha sa yo? pag-ispan nyo…kung papipiliin ka ng nars na kakapasa na walang hinala na may leakage o yung isa na mayroong hinala ka, sino ang pipiliin mo? at saka kung naipasa mo yung una walang dahilan na di maipasa ang retake, indi ako naniniwala sa “tsamba lang”. dahin ang mga tanong ay ganun parin, pinagbali-balikatad lang. mga narses, pag-isipan nyo.

  15. rego: a gigantic expense for newspapers is printing and newsprint. i think it’s quite possible to support an online newspaper on advertising alone.

  16. If the reaction pattern of the Bush Admin holds, they will use the North Korea nuke test as justification for attacking Iran in the same way that they used the Al Qaeda attacks on 9/11 to justify the invasion or Iraq.

    According to blogger-journalist Josh Marshall, the North Korean nuclear test for the US represents a ‘strategic failure of the first order’.

    “The origins of the failure are ones anyone familiar with the last six years in this country will readily recognize: chest-thumping followed by failure followed by cover-up and denial. The same story as Iraq. Even the same story as Foley”

    Read the rest here:

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010275.php

  17. Although I am in favor of a retake, ang hirap din talaga para sa mga pumasa (honestly). I would have suggested na magkaroon na lang ng validation exam kumbaga, mapatunayan na lang na pasado talaga sila. Bahala na ang PRC kung paano ifoformulate yun. O kaya they just have to pass and the higher score will prevail.

    Ang mahirap kasi para sa mga pumasa at mag re-retake pa ay ang motivation, pasado ka na maghihirap ka pa uli. Dahil dito mas malamang na bumagsak ka sa kawalan ng interes o motivation, di gaya ng unang try mo masigasig ka at nandoon lahat ang attention at enthusiasm mo. Sana isa alang-alang ng mga kinauukulan ang mga bagay na ito.

  18. cvj,

    the fear is there because we don’t know if Bush will cast aside his “attack” rhetoric in favor of a “kill them with kidness” stance.

    from what I’ve been reading and hearing, there is indeed a prevailing general aprehension that Bush will stay the Bush admin course just as you pointed out, : “If the reaction pattern of the Bush Admin holds, they will use the North Korea nuke test as justification for attacking Iran in the same way that they used the Al Qaeda attacks on 9/11 to justify the invasion or Iraq.”

    As Richard Lloyd-Parry, Asia Editor of The Times, argues, “the world will now have to engage in dialogue with North Korea, as it has few other options that will work…”

    Reason must prevail! because if not, heaven forbid, we might face the ultimate disaster.

  19. bokyo, kung ako ang examinee, higit akong magiging motivated na mag-aral at makapasa. bakit? dahil sa ang nakasalalay ngayon ay ang aking INTEGRITY na ako ay hindi mandaraya sa exam, na ako ay talagang nag-aral at may kakayahang maging nurse, sa exam man o sa tunay na trabaho, na kung ako’y tunay na qualified, kahit saan, kahit kailan, papasa ako sa exam.

    iyon ay aking opinon lamang, marahil iba ang opinion ng karamihan sa pinas dahil iba na ang kalakaran ng buhay, iba na ang pananaw sa buhay ng tao gawa nga ng mga kaguluhang nangyayari at masamang ehemplo ng mga pinuno. kung ano ang puno….siya ang bunga.

  20. mlq3, cvj,

    re US-NK Nuclear confrontation,

    “Will Congress allow the Philippines to be used as US’s forward base in nuclear confrontation with North Korea?”

    Above is a question among a page-full of questions included in a petition signed by hundreds in our barangay I personally delivered at our Rep’s office at Batasan at the height of protest against GMA’s ‘moral and political support’ for Bush’s war on Iraq. I questioned why Congress allowed GMA to UNILATERALLY declare support for on illegal and immoral war, without exercising it’s mandate on this major and crucial foreign policy matter? Now, again, will Congress allow GMA to commit the Philippines to be USA’s forward base in a nuclear confrontation against another ‘axis of evil’?

    I had hoped that GMA be made to account for her UNILATERAL declaration of support for Bush’s war on Iraq. After Saddam’s fall, she had claimed she was vindicated. Was she really? Is she now? A nation ruined, a people massacred, no WMD’s. She’s accountable, and we all share it collectively as a people specially if we allow her to continue destroying us and others.

    My concluding question then:
    “If Congress fails, can it blame the people if it chooses ‘some other ways’?”

  21. JM, call me paranoid but my worry is that the United States, when faced with a Philippine government unfriendly to forward military bases, will then encourage secession in Mindanao so a friendlier government over there will agree to establish a US Base in General Santos. That is partly the reason why i am allergic to all this talk of federalization as our disunity can easily be exploited by the big players. (I don’t think the forward base will be driven by confrontation with North Korea, i think it will be needed because of confrontation with China over Taiwan.)

    Regarding your question, the dilemma with that ‘some other way’ is that it might require the support of precisely the party who is interested in the above mentioned forward base.

  22. cvj,

    I agree with you on all points.

    The safe assumption is that US’s strategic deployment is in place and ready for any eventuality, but no assumption is safe about what NK is or isn’t capable of doing.

    The Philippines should have strengthened its supportNon-Aligned Movement in the region.

  23. Ang flip-flop ni ate glo:

    Alam niyo naman na maraming bugaw si ate glo. Sa mga bugaw na yan may marunong at may taga-oo lang. Ate glo with the then current infortation before her, made a disisyon. Retake!

    Now because ate glo keeps an open mind, she goes on the reverse, just like the ombudsgirl and says, time out, mukhang mas maigi na hintayin ang disisyon ng court of appeals. Baka naman lumabas na I am marginalizing the courts. So, just a minute muna!

    Para sa akin, mahirap kumuha ng test ulit, nandaya o hinde, me bayad o wala. Pero pag sinabe ng hukom na retake, then retake. Bakit kailangan pang pahabain ang istorya. Okay, may nanlabag ng batas. Morally wrong, etc. I agree! So idimanda at parusahan ang ma sala and lets move on. Kailangan ni ate glo at ng bayan ang remitances!

    Eto ang masasabi ko ukol kay ate glo: she has to work on her management style. Masyado siyang hands on. Lahat na lang ng bagay e nakasubsob ang ilong niya. Pati na mismong pamasahe sa dyip e nakikialam pa. Kailangan deligate, deligate, deligate.

  24. Foley
    The Republicans were snickering with glee at the Lewinsky affair…Noww it’s the Democrats’ turn. ..teeheehee.

    Delegate, delegate, delegate
    I-dinelegate din ba ni Ate Glo ang Garci Tape Affair?

  25. Ito ang tamang analysis kay ate glo, pakialamera. Presidente ka ng Pilipinas, ba’t nakialam ka pati sa board exams?hehehe. Store manager lang namin dito di nakialam sa manga kuwento kotsero, ‘ika nga. Kong may problema na kayang ayosin ng manga ordinaryong empleyado, ba’t maksya ng panahon yung manager, may mas importanteng bagay pa sya dapat gagawin. Eh sabi ko nga, yon nursing profession at iba pa dapat sa katiwala-an mismo ng manga nurses ‘yon. Sabi ko pareho ng manga narinig nating “college of nurses in so on so’ ,sila mismo ang nag-regulate nang sariling profession, ibig sabihin walang tiwala sa gobyerno na di na man alam yong diperensya ng butas sa damuhan at butas ng puwit nila…

  26. makaglo, good. hindi niya dinelegate. Kung gayon, ipapaliwanag na niya ang side niya sa buong bansa? ganoon baga?

  27. mlq3 re :noretake
    ang mahirap sa pinoy dakdak ng dakdak na puro daw dawan at raw rawan naman. Ang mapanlansi na argumento lalo na karamihan sa media ay “Yes I understand how you feel, kawawa ka naman, but you have to sacrifice because there is a stigma on you.Foreign hospitals will not hire you, etc..etc” Anong klaseng reasoning ba ‘to. Oo wala kang kasalanan, di ka nandaya pero alam mo marami daw ngsasabi mandaraya kayo, kaya magtiis na lang kayo”.Ang mga ganitong pananaw ang nakakapagpainit ng dugo eh.Bakit ayaw bigyan ng due process ang mga board passer. Bakit di sila ang pagpiliin natin. May ganito ng paraan ang PRC. Yong ayaw ng stigma, kuha uli. Yong di takot sa stigma go ahead.Bakit wala pang sampu and nagregister ng retake. Ano ba ang anngulo ng retake.Ang iba malinaw, UST mababa passing rate, dennis bautista di nakapasa, etc. Bakit di hintayin ang korte?bakit marami atat na atat sa retake? Bakit pinangungunahan ang board passer? Bakit?

  28. Melvin, as you can see people do think differently! Your preference is certainly an option, but who’s to say it is the best?

    Whatever the final decision of concerned agencies will be (in this case, the department of labor), all those concerned still have to make their decisions and reap good or bad consequences. If you’re saying that there is a precedencent case (in the PRC), the right question I think would be, “Why did they not use it?”.

    If you were a board passer and you applied for a job, then the hospital asked you whether you cheated or not, what would you say? If you did not retake the exam and the hospital don’t employ you because of it, what would you do? Even if the government directs these hospitals to employ board passers (where this leakage issue happened), what if the hospitals still won’t employ you? That is a consequence that each passer has to deal with.

  29. off topic,
    just would like to thank mlq3 and anna de brux for the support to pyro.The latest is that jessica soho has already interviewed the boy and is going to be referred to the Kapuso Foundation. The wife of Batista is also a cancer survivor and she is arranging that her husband could meet pyro.

    Get the message of pyro from my blog.

    http://cathcath.com/?p=2535

  30. Jon, if I passed the board fair and square I would not take the test again, if given the option not to do so. If a prospective employer ask if I did the retake, I’ll tell them no and say they can test me if they have any doubts about my qualifications.

    If the hospital does not employ me just by mere suspicion, I’ll sue, if there are legal grounds to do so. Besides one would not like to work for such an employer anyway. Of course, any employer can trash any application for any reason, including those who retook the test. Why there are still employers who trashes applicants just because of their color, religion, political affiliation, etc., etc., etc.

  31. bakit ipagliban sa mga ahensya ng pamahalaan ang desisyon ng retake? dapat nasa tao yan mismo. ang integridad ng isang tao ay hindi nakasalalay sa kahit kaninong ibang tao o gobyerno. ganyan na ba talaga tayo mga pilipino? maging si GMA ayaw bitawan ang posisyon o tumawag man lang ng reelection. kung ganito na lang tayo parati na bahala na yung ibang tao kung ano man ang iispin, wala man lang pride sa sarili. sana nasa isa’t isa man lang na sikapin gawin kung ano ang wasto at tamang paraan, dahil may bahid ng dayaan ang nakaraang nursing board, ang tama at wastong sulosyun ay lahat magretake. mahirap ba yun. wala na iba pang dahilan, dahil iyun ang tama at wasto. at ang mapatunayang may kagagawan na may-ari ng review centers at baord of nursing members at PRC at dapat parusahan! kailangan turu-an natin ang mga kabataan dahil ang mga mali nagiging tama sa mata ng mga bata kung ang mga matatanda hindi gumagawa ng tama! and sa mga nurses, you want to start your career as nurse on right step not with a cloud of doubt forever hanging over your head.

  32. Jon, maybe so. Your scenario just sounded biased towards retaking the test, if given a choice. I am however suggesting a way to handle a scenario you suggested.

    Clearly, there are no winners in this fiasco. The big question that begs an answer is why leak the test questions? We can speculate on motive, but who is really behind it?

  33. I do not know whether many of you guys were around during the early seventies. I was in Washington during the outbreak of the Watergate Crisis. Till today I remember the name of the man that actually caused the downfall of Nixon. Judge John Sirica. He did not believe that the men were ordinary burglars.
    Please remember that everything one does is a physical process. It is a physical division of labor. The ties that bind that physical labor is the alien abstract of labor – money. In accounting you get the quantity of money spent for a particular period. There are two parts of the audit – quantity and quality.

    Judge Sirica and the police and the FBI found new cash on the burglars and the phone number of an individual in the White House. News cash has a serial number and the Federal Reserve can tell you what bank in what state (even internationally) the cash was delivered to and to whom it was given to. It was traced all the way from the source – the printer (federal reserve to a bank in Mexico to individuals who were connected to CREEP (Committe to Reelect the President) in the White House – Jeg Magruder and thence to Attorny General John Mitchell. I could assess anyone’s lifestyle by merely studying your credit card purchases, your assets where you work what you eat etc. Everyone leaves a physical trail. Larger groups like Sigaw would leave a trail as wide as a highway. In modern societies follow the money trail. North Korea is complaining today because the U.S. found their source of hard currency in Macau and shut it down. In the United States and Europe every resident human or legal human has a tax number and every resident or corporation deposits are registered with the treasury department by sss or tax ID number. Remember Al Capone. All internationl money transactions in dollars or euros or pounds or whatever go through governments. It leaves a physical trail. Trade and finance are all recorded down to the cartons, paper and pencils they used in the PI.

    The Philippines could solve its fiscal deficit overnight if the government were trusted by the people and the state had the right to know exactly who owns the funds deposited in the banking system. This is part of the institutional framework in advanced economies. You could solve the smuggling problem overnite because everything that is shipped on ships or air are recorded for (bank) cost and insurance (Lloyds). Banks, governments and corporations have access to that information. In major industrialized economies the government and private corporations have access to that information. With computerization and more powerful computers algorithms are being formulated every day for every conceivable purpose to create software to sort data.

    The reason is simple – the physical process of doing things always leave a trail (the information of the supply chain). If monies can be traced to have come from a govermental source even to purchase the food to feed the people who signed or to buy the Jollibee or even the jeepney to transport the signatures then it is proof positive with physical evidence that government funds were used.

    Even the number of hours on government owned TV that was allocated to advocating this project. Who paid for it? The announcers who are on government payroll who brazenly advocated it. They are state employees.

    Remember what Greenspan said –
    The guiding mechanism of a free market economy is the Bill of Rights and an impartial judicial system. (Due process)

    Today everyone who surfs using their personal computer is monitored and a personality profile is created as to ones personality and probable psychology.

    Thats is what the fun is about when it comes to the bill of rights vs. strong and effective states.

    Many people forget or are unaware that technology is the abstract and the mechanical device (physical) or software electronic digit) are the the physcial manifestation and physical process or tools that make life simpler. The human brain simply follows the physical process to define the realities scientifically.

    Sigaw said that they are a private people’s organization. Raul Lambino works for the government advocacy commission. What is his contract with the state. Is he paid daily, or monthly. If so his ass belongs to us collectively. We all pay for his time. The same for that hot Momma Bengzon. Her ass belongs to all of us since she is drawing a paycheck paid for by the state. Her labor is paid for by the state.

    If a person paid by the state is part of an independent private political action committee. That is a big no no.

    How could they blatantly lie in everyone’s face.

  34. from alex magno today..

    “I do not know if the institutional ego of the Supreme Court could accept the idea that, as an institution of delegated authority, it cannot be superior to the revolutionary right of popular initiative that the Constitution awards to the people. That Constitution is itself a product of the people’s exercise of their revolutionary prerogative”.

    fact is there is this 6 million verified signatures..
    why should the decision be left to 15 justices…why not let the people decide thru referendum?

    check magno’s column today . splendid!

  35. james, first of all, the fact you attest is not a fact, and can’t be a fact, without further scrutiny.

    second, the so-called people’s initative is not and cannot be a “revolutionary right,” as it makes use and only exists by appeal to the constitution and the law. it is, at best, a evolutionary advocacy.

    there is nothing revolutionary in establishing a one-party unicameral parliament thoroughly in the hands of the same people manning the present setup.

    finally, magno obviously thinks the supreme court will decide against sigaw -and is thus setting the stage for discrediting the supreme court, yet he and others like him have been preaching “rule of law” so who isn’t practicing what they once preached, now?

  36. mlq3,

    They just want cha-cha, whichever way. They’ll push it via PI, Conass, Concon and, well, MLI — ‘Martial Law Initiative’ or maybe via a ‘Revolution’. GMA declares a revolutionary government, adapts the new constitution, forms a transition government, promises an electtion at the soonest time possible — after 2010++.

  37. hvrds, that was quite informative. Since 9/11, i’ve been kicking around an (as yet ill-formed) idea in my head that people should no longer have the right to anonymity , but at the same time, a person’s right to privacy must be strengthened. what do you think? (i confided this idea to a Brit and he was apalled.)

  38. Makaglo, yes I’m favoring a re-take (that’s my opinion). My reason being (to me) it is better for all concerned in the long run. Yes, if you go to some details, like the feeling of helplessness like that of someone being robbed for those who passed the board exams fairly/honestly, then you will see the painful effects of that decision/choice.

    I have the impression that the main reason for the leakage is for monetary gains if not payment for utang-na-loob. People in the PRC who leaked the questions got some money in return from schools or review centers, or they gave the questions to the same people because they’re “friends” or “compadre”. There might be other reasons that the NBI can give (unfortunately, they haven’t released their findings yet).

    My view is that these leakage problem has been going on for a long time and not just for the nursing board. I would have preferred for the PRC to have handled the situation very early (catching the leakers and the recipient, ordering the re-take, etc.), if you do this everytime, the process will become unbearably costly to all concerned that all of them will then be policing themselves so that none of the same thing can happen again. As I’ve said, that is my view and as we have seen, there are many other opinions out there.

  39. To ricelander’s “Gloria should order a retake and run after the cheats… BUT HOW? Hahaha!”

    Eh, uhm, well, ah… why not have the Melo Commission run after them – cheats?

  40. hvrds,

    That was impressive.

    However if my actions online are indeed being monitored then I’m in big trouble!

    Anyway, some local officials have admitted before that they indeed used local funds for the signature drive. Not that anyone of them would admit that any of the money was used for bribery but they indeed admitted that local government money was used for the so called “people’s initiative”. Governor Petilla stated for the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he released local funds for the signature drive.

    re: Alex magno

    He once stated that the People’s Initiative was a special gift of Philippine democracy to the world or words to that effect. He even uses the term “POPULAR INITIATIVE”.

    Heck. This is the actual term for this process in Switzerland! The swiss has been using their POPULAR INITIATIVE for over a hundred years.

    Magno is just like Abueva.

    Their words seem impressive but if you analyze what they say, many have statement have nothing to stand on. (Hey I’m not saying that all statements are that way.)

    One of the great things with One Voice is that it has been keeping its cards to its chest. Very few know what they’ll submit before the SC but I know they already factored in arguments like Magno’s.

    All that can be said at this time is that the SC before and particularly the CJ has disregarded actual votes in elections to uphold the law.

    Pag bumoto ang mga tao ay sila ay maliligo, magbibihis, magmamaneho/sasakay para pumunta sa presinto ng botohan, pipila, etc….

    Tapos ang mga boto na iyon ay pwedeng isantabi ng Korte Suprema pag ang proseso ay mali, walang basihan, etc…

    Even if there is indeed 6 million verified signatures; the process and the basis for such must be on valid grounds.

    Pag bumoboto ang tao ay sila pa ang nagpapakahirap pumunta sa botohan. Sa pirmahan ay ano ba ang karaniwang nangyari? di ba sila and lumapit pa sa pipirma? Tapos ang gusto ng Alex Magno ay pahalagahan ang pirma dahil ito ay pirma at kesehoda na ang proseso “Or at least to leave its course unhampered.”

    Alex magno even has the gall to talk about the recall of bad officials!

    The minority group of the concom recommended that the power of recall be extended to the highest officials to include the President, Senate, etc… The minority group was of course for retention of the Presidential system.

    So what did Magno’s group recommend for the power of recall?

    Status quo! That the power of recall REMAIN JUST for local officials leaving members of parliament out of our grasp.

    If magno’s brilliance seems so bright; that may just mean that you are in a VERY DARK ROOM!

    re: retake of the nursing exam; its so hard to take a definite stand.

    But there is a common saying that I wish to counter. (But by no means do I hold a same stand for public officials. There are other sayings for that and one includes Caesar’s wife)

    “If you are not guilty, then you have nothing to fear!”

    THe SC here and practically everywhere has had to decide to overturn decisions of the lower courts with regards to the guilt of the imprisoned. For practical purposes, many were eventually deemed innocent. So when exactly do these people need to start being afraid even if they are not guilty?

    Re: forward military bases and Mindanao secession. that would be a stupid blunder of teh U.S. if they actually support it. Every Philippine head of state including Laurel with the exception of Aguinaldo were never antagonistic of America. Some were even patented Amboy or Amgirl. Their in for a big surprise if they expect a supportive Mindanoa head of state.

  41. jon at sa iba pa na gusto ng retake. Kanyakanya tayo ng opinyon at dapat itong igalang. Ang punto ko lang naman ay bakit hindi natin ibigay sa nakapasa ang pagpapasya kung gusto nila ng retake. Kung walang kumuha doon sa mga nakapasa na ayaw nila ng retake, harapin nila. Ang nakakainis lang talaga puro daw at raw lang ang basehan. Sabi ni Dante Ang wala ng kukuha “daw” ng nurse natin. Mga local hospital “daw” ayaw sa kanila. Sabi ni CDequiroz namasyal sya sa ‘tate at ayaw daw sa mga nurse.Pagkatapos ng halos apat na buwan wala man lang ospital o organisasyon except yong mga komokontra gaya ng UST, si Dennis Bautista, Dante Ang etc. ang nagsasabi na ayaw nila sa mga nurse na ito. May CA at NBI na, magiissue pa ng EO.Yong 100 % board passer na mga taga UP magsasakripisyo ba ‘yon. Bakit yong mga taga UST passers mismo ayaw ng retake.’Di maganda ‘to dahil naging inisan na eh.Puro sisihan ng sisihan. Sabagay, magandang media value at napapahaba ng napapahaba ang isyu. Ang kawawa ang board passers, talong-talo naman sila habang marami kantyaw ng kantyaw. Bakit ganyan tayo.Tama ba yong pusisyon, sige wala kang kasalanan pero magsakripisyo ka.Bakit kating kati sa retake?Bakit hindi hintayin ang NBI at CA. Haaaay!

  42. Mayron pang isang nakakainis na kantyaw! “Bakit ayaw mo retake, siguro nandaya ka” Bakit ayaw mo malinis ang pangalan mo? Isa pa, “alin mahalaga, individual rights o collective rights. Nasaan ang logic nito. Pag di kanagretake, natatakot ka. Pag nagretake ka in effect inaamin mo nandaya ka. Ganito ba tayo kababaw.Di naman niya napatunayan na nandaya ako pero kailangan na patunayan ko na di ako nandaya.Tama ba ‘to. Baligtad yata. Bakit ba puro shortcut tayo. Bakit di nila patunayan na nandaya ang 17,000 at saka nila alisin ang licensya. Bahala sila kung gusto pa nilang kumuha uli. Pero pwede pa ba kung napatunayan na nandaya sila. Dapat isaisahin natin.Kung nandaya sila lahat dapat wala ng retake. Kahiyahiya sila sa propesyon, Yon ang unahin, nandaya ba sila? Kung hindi bakit sila magreretake.Kung nandaya bakit sila papayagang magretake. Sa batas wala ka ng licensya may kulong at multa pa.
    Pangalawa, yong fallacy ng collective rights naguugat din sa tanong na nandaya ba ‘tong 17,000 na’to. Yong board passers sa leyte, 200 lang isa topnotcher,nagreview lang sa eskwela, sabi magretake ka kahit test 3 and 5 lang para malinis ang pangalan ng lahat. Ano ba’to. Ni walang kamalay malay tong mga batang ‘to. Ni hindi pa nakatuntong ng manila at baguio,sasabihan mo magsakripisyo ka sa bayan kasi may balita daw ng dayaan. Matatangap ba nila ‘to. Kung susundin natin ‘tong lohika na ‘to di dapat pa retake natin lahat ng na elect na pulitiko dahil mas maraming balita ng dayaan nong 2004. Ang sa akin lang naman hwag nating lamonin kutsara, tenedor at kutsilyo dahillamang sa haka-haka, dawdawan at rawrawan. Laliman naman natin ang ating pananaw.Haaaay!!!!!!

  43. Pang huli na lang, Puede?Isang tanong lang? Nandaya ba yong 17,000. Kung nandaya lahat sila walang karapatan sa retake. Kung hindi, dapat tanggapin sila. Kung 5 o 5000 ang nandaya ganun pa rin ang akyson. Wala sa kaugalian ng pinoy ang magsabi na ok, di ka nandaya pero kailangan patunayan mo na di ka nandaya dahil may nabalitaan na dayaan. Isa pa yong komento na pag binigyan ka ng sopas o coke at may dumi dapat tapon na at palitan. Sori pero di sopas ‘to.Ang coke sa bote o sopas sa manggkok ay di akmang halimbawa.Ang magandang halimbawa ay sa isang party nagserve ka ng 42,000 na coke o sopas sa buong Pilipinas.Pagkatapos mo maquality check 17,000 lang ang ok. Pero sinabotahe ng kalaban mo. Nabalitaan mo na may maruming coke o sopas sa Baguio, manila at iba pa. Itatapon mo ba lahat ng coke at sopas sa buong Pilipinas?OO? Naman naman. Hindi. Ang gagawin mo paiimbestigahan mo at aaksyonan dahil ikaw mismo hindi naniniwala na yong buong 17,000 ay sira. Di ba? Magandang talakayan’to. Uulitin ko lang. Nandaya ba? Kung hindi tuloy lang. Kung nandaya kulong o multa bukod sa walang lisensya. Pabayaan natin’tong mga batang ‘to kung may tatagngap sa kanila. Hwag natin silang pangunahan. Kung ayaw akong tanggapin problema ko na ‘yon?

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