“Gulag: A History” (Anne Applebaum)

I’m off to Bacolod, so no blogging for the next few days, I must confess, good riddance to Manila for now.Yesterday, the crackdown in Burma began.  The Guardian published an eyewitness account by a young protester, ‘The middle class are now poor, the poor are destitute’….  A Guardian reporter has been blogging updates, see Burma Protests.And see the online paper by Burmese exiles, The Irrawaddy News, for updates on the goings-on in Burma.

See Attack of the Romulan.

We should cover all bases and with this in mind, let me reiterate the points I raised on June 7, 2007 in A way forward:1.  Creation of a Special Independent Prosecutor’s office to undertake preliminary investigation for possible cases of impeachment.2.  For the House of Representatives to junk the flawed 13th Congress’ rules on impeachment and adopt the more traditional, and fairer ones, of past Congresses.

The missiles are fueled and primed, the launch codes have been brought out and authorized, but neither side has pressed the launch button.In his blog, Ricky Carandang Wednesday’s Senate hearing showed every sign of being the launch-button-pressing event….  In the face of increased public interest, it seemed that the President’s only option would be to invoke EO 464 and forbid executive officials from appearing.But that would solidify negative public perceptions of the President.  But there seemed no other option: better people coming to sinister conclusions rather than solid testimony made under oath.Then, this pretty breathtaking example of Marcosian jujitsu.The President leaves for New York tomorrow, and it’s being widely discussed that among her entourage will be Romulo Neri.

THE LONG VIEW Heroic leadership By Manuel L. Quezon III Inquirer The dilemma Romulo Neri faces today is no laughing matter. His inability to appear at the Senate last week only makes public interest in his Wednesday appearance even more intense. In the rumor-infested uncertainty that surrounds the whole investigation, one bit of scuttlebutt glitters [...]

“When Britain Ruled the Philippines 1762-1764: The Story of the 18th Century British” (Shirley Fish)

13, Wednesday, at 11:00 pm:…So I met with Johnny Ponce Enrile, Gen. Tom Diaz, Col. Montoya, Col. Romy Gatan, and Danding Cojuangco this evening at Pangarap and we agreed to set the 21st of this month as the deadline.In the meantime Sen. Aquino in a privilege speech, today, claims we have an OPLAN Sagitarrius, which allegedly includes placing Greater Manila under PC Control preparatory to proclaiming martial law.This is nothing but the contingency plan for the coordination of the local police forces and the Armed Forces in case of insurgency.It is ridiculous to ascribe it to the plan of martial law since it referts to calling out the troops to quell a disorder.But of course the media will give it all kind of meaning.But, again, perhaps it is best that the political opposition start a debate that will get the people used to the idea of emergency powers.Sept.  14, 1972, Thursday, at 11:50 pm:After golf, at 9:00 amat my room at Pangarap while taking breakfast, I told the SND, C of S, Major Service Commanders (Gen. Ramos, PC, Gen. Zagala, PA, Romando, PAF and Commodore Ruiz, PN) Gen. Ver and Gen. Paranis that I intend to declare martial law to liquidate the communist apparatus, reform our government and society, then have the Concon ratify our acts and the people can confirm it by plebiscite and return to constitutional processes; but that I needed at least one year and two months; that this would be a legitimate exercise of my emergency powers under the constitution as clarified by the Habeas Corpus case by the Supreme Court last January; that we need to cure the ills of our society by radical means (I mentioned corruption, tax evasion, criminality, smuggling, lack of discipline, unequal opportunities) so we must keep our moves clean and submerge self-interest.I asked for any objection to the plan and there was none except for the observation of Gen. Ramos that the closing of the media should be done by a civilian minister supported by the military, and Gen. Gen. Romando who wanted missions definitely assigned to each branch of the service.Sep….  Ponce Enrile of Sept. 8, 1972 where he reported that Sen. Aquino had met with Jose Maria Sison of the Communist Party and had talked about a link-up of the Liberal Party and the Communist Party….So since I invited Sen. Pres. Puyat, Speaker Villareal… I explained to the media which was covering us that when I invited the leaders of the Liberal Party I had wanted a private conference where we could, as Filipinos and for the welfare of our people, agree that neither party (Nacionalista or Liberal) would “link-up” with the Communist Party but their refusal to attend indicated that the Liberals were in on the deal to “link-up” with the Communists through Sen. Aquino…Sept..

THE LONG VIEW Marcos in retrospect (2)    By Manuel L. Quezon III Inquirer First Posted 01:54am (Mla time) 09/20/2007   Martial law was a time when, to borrow a phrase made popular today, many were prepared to give up some of their freedoms to move the country forward. Never mind that a conservative estimate [...]

I will liveblog the Senate ZTE hearing over at Inquirer Current starting at 2:30 pm.