It seems to me, though, that what won’t appear in our media is something along the lines of Alan Dawson’s ‘Missing Link’ mastermind in custody: Jose Maria Sison, now at last a prisoner and mass-murder suspect in Dutch custody, is the unrepentant and arguably last Maoist radical in east Asia, which appeared in the Bangkok Post:Authorities in the Netherlands, where he was arrested on Monday, believe he ordered the deaths of two senior communist leaders in Manila in 2003 and 2004.Although the case is still developing, it appears Mr Sison may escape prosecution for ordering the murders of hundreds of followers in the 1980s, a purification campaign that earned Mr Sison and his closest CPP advisers a Time magazine cover story titled, ”The New Khmer Rouge.”(For anyone who has a couple of US Dollars to spare, the article mentioned above can be found here: The New Khmer Rouge, by Ross H….  However, a similar article is available on line, see Inside the Communist Insurgency, an engrossing look at the initial attractiveness of revolutionary justice, and how, having established its credentials by liquidating class enemies, proceeds to clamp down on those liberated).Dawson is no fan of Sison:Sison was last seen in public in Southeast Asia while receiving the 1986 SeaWrite Award for essay writing and poetry….  Do they honestly believe that this exile and political refugee who still cannot speak Dutch can actually direct and manage the NPA in the Philippines direct from Utrecht?On the other hand, Miron sa Amerika (who has not had the good fortune of being personally charmed by Joma) argues that Sison is a political dinosaur:Letters from “Armando Guerrero” — I always thought Joma chose an apt pseudonym — provided a glimpse about his totalitarian mindset.

Bluffing By Manuel L. Quezon III Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Richard Gordon are prepared to go to the Supreme Court to ask for a temporary restraining order, or TRO. That is, if the Garci tapes end up being played in the Senate. The unsinkable Santiago warned her colleagues that they’d be liable for violating RA 4200, [...]

Blogger Philippine Commentary generally expressing admiration for Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s arguments in a privilege speech yesterday, while accepting that Tortured analysis’–Santiago to Escudero on ‘Hello Garci’ was perhaps more out of Santiago’s pique over Escudero’s making a good legal point.And about the ZTE deal, Lawmaker sues officials in broadband deal.Manuel Buencamino pens this gem:One day every member of the Senate votes to investigate the illegal phone-taps, the next day four legal beagles of Gloria turn around and start barking, “You can’t use those tapes….  The Inquirer editorial takes a different view of things: obstructionism, then and now, remains the President’s game, it says.Blogger Center Sight(originally mentioned above) took an interesting look at Philippine Government Faces Pressure from Several Directions, advocating continued American support for the country:But it is indeed vital that our government continue to support, advise and provide funding to assist Manila in coping with the ideological equivalent of a two-front war against democracy….  And meanwhile, the Islamist subversion is becoming more ambitious, sophisticated and dangerous.Instead of the usual “bomb ‘em all back into the Stone Age” hawkism we usually hear, though, this American blogger takes a more balanced view of things:The United States should be deeply involved in stimulating reform as well, as emphasized by the continued involvement of police and military forces in “disappearances” and torture involving legitimate political opposition members, and the scandal of politicians in the recent election handing out guns to warlords in exchange for votes.

But even if he was obliging to reporters, a little background check (and Wikipedia, for all its limitations, is pretty handy-dandy and useful as a preliminary step in this direction) would have tipped off reporters that the guy is something of a joke.The other Democrat members of the Congressional party weren’t very much more impressive, either: Gregory Meeks (D) is a lightweight; Charles A….  If most of the junketeers were members of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Reyes is the chairman, Meeks, Ruppersberger, Wilson are members), then you know their visit was more about US interests than anything RP-US related: specifically, are American troops getting adequate intelligence, or the means (including equipment) to secure it?…  whatever anyone says, the real issue is that the White House has lowered its intended allocations for Philippine-related programs and the only way that can be countered is through earmarks.The idea of how Earmarking works goes to the heart of what Uniffors pointed out: just because our political system resembles that of the United States, direct correlations shouldn’t be made.

THE LONG VIEW Impotent reassurances By Manuel L. Quezon III A US congressman, Silvestre Reyes, says there would be no cut in US military assistance to the Philippines. The AFP turned cartwheels in delight. The blog Uniffors (www.uniffors.com) says that the celebration is mistaken. Uniffors says the two committees that count the most in the [...]

“1968: The Year That Rocked the World” (Mark Kurlansky)

Tan was a clear break in the ethnically more mixed and integrated Philippines because he represented the so-called ‘one-syllable Chinese’ – those who had not assimilated and adopted local surnames.The promotion of new outsiders achieved two useful things for the dictators: it provided ultra-dependent, ultra-loyal sources of future finance for them and their families; and it served as a warning to the established, more integrated economic élite that it was not indispensable.In the pre-Marcos Philippines, businessmen of every ethnic make-up had been increasingly successful in overrunning and manipulating a weak parliamentary system and thereby obviating the need to make deals with ultimate political power….  After Marcos fled to Hawaii in 1986, Tan wrote an open letter to new president Cory Aquino in which he asserted: ‘We can proudly say that we have never depended on dole-outs, government assistance or monopoly protection throughout our history.’…The crudeness of the monopolies handed out by Marcos and Suharto tends to obscure the almost universal presence of monopolies, cartels and controlled Asian markets in Southeast Asia.Of course these things aren’t new to Filipinos; but what will be new to Filipino readers is how similar things are in neighboring countries.Elsewhere, relevant reading in terms of ongoing debates on the the Japan-RP free trade agreement: Indonesia-Japan EPA: Who’s getting the best deal?…  clarifies the circumstances under which soldiers can criticize their government.On a lighter note, Vanity Fair on how Ralph Lauren captured the public imagination.Amando Doronila’s column today, is somewhat related to the above, in terms of the role coercion plays in politics (and by extension, business).From Patricio Diaz of Mindanews, a two part series, Metamorphosis 1 and Metamorphosis 2, on the evolution of Filipino Muslim political thought.In his column, Dan Mariano discusses Roberto Verzola’s suggestions for a more productive approach to election automation.

Which castigates the first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives, for saying something along the lines of our local politicians: no impeachment, not now, not before the next elections, which means, not ever (see Opposition not rushing to file new impeach case vs Arroyo).There’s this great passage from the article, which looks not only at American public opinion at present, but which also explains why public opinion is crucial when it comes to proposals for impeachment:According to public opinion polling, the percentage of voters supporting the impeachments of both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are now approximately 45 and 54 percent, respectively….  If she had, she never would have emboldened President Bush and Vice President Cheney to intensify their assaults on congressional power by pronouncing that “impeachment is off the table.”If you still don’t get it, here’s the clincher, the similarity that’s so relevant:Not surprisingly, after receiving that reassurance that there would be no consequences for their misconduct, the White House swiftly choked off the authority of Congress to expose executive lawlessness or maladministration by instructing current or former White House officials, including Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and Joshua Bolton, to refuse to appear for testimony.  And despite the recent enactment of the Protect America Act of 2007—which amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 for the ninth time since 9/11 to suit the administration’s fancy—President Bush continues to claim constitutional authority to ignore the law at will and in secret.Now the President, herself, of course has come out swinging, as Jove Francisco recounts:She was even wearing a powder blue number, her color of choice during the biggest political storm that hit her administration ever.

Incidentally, baratillo@cubao points to another writer in trouble.The language debates has a thoughtful piece by A Nagueno in the Blogosphere (who thinks regions should be allowed to formulate their own education policies, an advocacy I strongly support, and this means greater latitude when it comes to language policies), and Demosthenes’ Game (who does make a good point that there are probably those who oppose English instruction because it goes against the interests of the politburo, which is interested in filtering ideologically-inconvenient information) making an observation I find curious:Which is something we’ve been doing here for ages, voting with our feet I mean….  In some areas, it’s because substantial investments have been made by local authorities in the public school system, which then becomes competitive, but in other areas, the public school system has been expanded, is mediocre at best, but exists, and that’s all that matters; in these areas, parents move their kids from private to public school because it’s much less expensive for the parents, regardless of the quality (or lack of it) of the education being provided….  Whether public or private, school administrators face pressure from parents to pass the kids, regardless of whether they’re qualified to move on to the next level or not; for private schools, the pressure is to keep moving kids along from one level to the next, to keep parents happy; in public schools, it’s because so many kids are entering school, no one can be made to stay behind: the quota system at its worst.Red’s Herring reflects on Nick Joaquin and Rizal; Philippine Commentary reflects on Ninoy Aquino and takes Conrado de Quiros to task for not exploring Jovito Salonga’s assertion that the Plaza Miranda bombing was ordered by Jose Ma.

As I reported previously to Your Excellency after a visit to Tawi-tawi, in Bongao town a bridge donated by the US remains to be built even though the materials for it – valued at several hundred million pesos — have been there since seven years ago. This infrastructure will not happen unless there is direct intervention and assistance from the national government.Simply stated, consistency, accountability and follow-through leadership in ARMM and government agencies must be committed to peace and progress in the region….  On the economic front: this is a potentially highly significant story: Fewer OFWs leave, but flow of funds steady:The remittances of overseas Filipinos have flowed at a rate of more than a billion dollars a month for 13months in a series thus far, totaling $7.03 billion in the first half.What is not apparent, however, is that the deployment of sea-based Pinoy workers fell by 11.1 percent to just 123,950 while land-based workers fell 3.2 percent to 422,262 during the period.The declining pace of deployment has caught the eye of relevant government agency heads who noted the annual remittances account for 11 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product and at least half the country’s foreign exchange reserves at the moment.The sustained flow of worker remittances helped fuel consumer spending that in turn pushed the GDP higher to 6.9 percent in the second quarter.According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, deployment in the period contracted by 5.1 percent to only 546.212, making more imperative the pursuit of the training and skills development programs undertaken earlier by both government and private employment agencies.Elsewhere, March of the mines sees islanders facing loss of ancestral homeland:The Philippines archipelago of more than 7,200 islands is among the world’s most mineral-rich countries, with gold, silver, bauxite, nickel and coal mines….  Her perceived involvement in the Garcillano scandal started the current skid on a slope with no acceptable end in sight.There are, I think, only two good options open for her: One, to gracefully exit in 2010, patch things up, and try to make good during her remaining days in office; and two, to negotiate with (a) winnable presidentiable(s) on political protection in the post-GMA period.A third option, to remain in power beyond 2010–as some in her Cabinet proposes–is a political minefield.