The letter
JDV3 on phone; Lacson as early bird
Nuns in the gallery; more senators arrive
Villar surveys his domain; reporters around JDV3
Atty. Princesa, Lozada’s lawyer, schmoozes; the two Manuels in a huddle
Roxas talks to reporters; Lozada enters the Session Hall
Lozada greets nuns; sits down
Joint meetings called to order; Lozada prepares
Lozada takes oath; Enrile during the lunch break
Enrile rushes off; Lozada returns from lunch
Lozada talks to Roxas and Cayetano; Bro. Armin of La Salle joins the huddle
Huddle; Cayetano resumes hearing
Lozada looks at photos of his abduction
Estrada enjoying his moment with the photos; Lozada peers at the photos
Enrile attempts cross-examination
The Inquirer editorial today, ‘Hacenderos’, quotes a portion of Randy David’s Saturday column, Greed in a changing landscape. A lengthier extract makes for instructive reading:
Like the feudal socioeconomic base in which it is rooted, traditional politics is authoritarian and arbitrary. Official power is but an extension of the private interests of the patron. Yet the relationship between the patron and his followers has a moral dimension. In exchange for the support and protection that the patron gives to his dependents, he claims their allegiance and undying gratitude. That is why the greatest sins in traditional society are treachery and ingratitude. This was the principal motif of De Venecia’s speech as he bowed to the rudeness of market politics.
This is a point I have tried to develop in previous columns: that the terms of traditional politics are changing right under the nose of its doomed players. The old values that used to mitigate the oppressiveness of feudal power — self-restraint, the value of friendship, loyalty, word of honor, etc. — are fading away. What is replacing the grip of old-world politics, however, is not the ethical professionalism of modern politics but the sheer rapaciousness of the parvenus of present-day Philippine politics. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency is emblematic of this kind of transitional politics, still traditional and oppressive in every way but shorn of any redeeming qualities. No qualms, no shame, no conscience, no limit.
A society can get indefinitely stuck in this half-way stage between the old and the new. In this ambiguous state, the stench of decadence is sensed everywhere, acting as an incitement to corrosive cynicism or to moral conservatism. The passage to the new is finally cleared only after a wrenching effort is forced upon the society by the imperatives of system survival in a changed environment.
That wrenching moment is brought about by perturbations that occur with increasing frequency. The pressure for change is felt at the individual and societal levels. The reluctant and terrified whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. exemplifies the personal insecurity that an individual, caught in this transition, experiences as he comes face to face with the ugly side of a gangster regime. He sees how defenseless he is as he unburdens himself of the guilt of an entire system.
As for the administration falling over itself trying to extract itself from a mess of its own making, as far as its culpability is concerned, why even Solita Monsod says it’s Obvious!
Today, Vicente Romano III, co-convenor of the Black & White Movement, released an article Jun Lozada wrote back in October, 2007. It first appeared on line in PinoyPress at 7:53 pm. The Senate is expected to grill Lozada on this. The version here is unedited.
Here is Enteng Romano’s introductory note:
Dear Friends,
Here’s a short write-up that Jun Lozada wrote sometime in October. He wanted me to disseminate it without attribution. I believe he was motivated both by his genuine concern for a beleaguered friend who was being maligned no end, and his desire, even then, for the truth to somehow surface. He left it up to me as to how and when to disseminate it.
I did not find any compelling reason to get it out then. But now that Jun has told it all, and Neri is being invited back to testify, I believe the public deserves to know what was (and maybe still is) in the mind of Neri – at least from the point of view of a friend. I’m sure Jun will not mind.Let’s get this out in the open.
God bless,
Enteng
And here is Jun Lozada’s article:
What is Neri afraid to say and Why?
Many speculations have been made as to what Neri knows about the ZTE-NBN most particularly the direct involvement of Pres. Gloria Arroyo in this abominable affair. After his damaging “Sec. May 200 ka dito†demolition of Abalos, the discredited former Comelec Chairman, many were left disappointed when Neri suddenly clamped up when the Senators started asking him about the nature of his conversation with Arroyo, no amount of coaxing, cajoling and threats was enough to break his Code of Omerta. The question on many people’s mind was, What was Neri trying to protect when he repeatedly invoked “Executive Priviledge†during that gruelling 12 hour Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on live television?
We have known the Truth all along as one of the few people that Neri confided his predicament during those fateful days of April 2006, and how he wanted to resign his post of NEDA Director General and Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning over this incident where he lost all his moral respect for Pres. Gloria Arroyo.
We are doing this document to give the public an understanding of this predicament.
What is Neri afraid to tell the public? He is afraid to tell the public that after he reported the Abalos P200 million peso bribe offer, Arroyo casually told him to ignore it and work for its recommendation for approval anyway. That when he protested that it is too controversial and may attract the wrong kind of attention from media, Arroyo retorted back “Pakulo lang ni Joey yan and his fatherâ€Â. When he tried to reason that it may not be accommodated in the Chinese ODA package because it has been filled up with a list of projects already, Arroyo again ordered him to remove the low cost housing project and some water project to accommodate the ZTE-NBN deal in the ODA loan. That when he attempted to reason that it may not be approved in time for the Boao Forum which was only two days to go from that fateful April day, Arroyo with raised voice told him to include the ZTE-NBN project in the agenda of the following day’s meeting of a combined NEDA Board and Cabinet Committee, who as expected promptly approved the project paving the way for the contract signing between ZTE and DOTC in China the next day. Neri is afraid to tell the public that this conversation took place between him and Arroyo because it might spark another impeachment complaint against Arroyo.
Why is Neri afraid to tell the public about this conversation with Arroyo? He is afraid that another impeachment will simply result to more expenses of public funds similar to the Hyatt 10 impeachment crisis, because as DBM Secretary who replaced Boncodin, he was entrusted with the large scale DBM payola operation of Arroyo to Congressmen, Senators and Governors not quite similar to the crude Panlilio incident that the public is witnessing now. He is afraid with a more partisan Andaya at the helm of DBM, more public funds will be spent to buy the silence and favour of these greedy legislators and local executives. He is afraid that with Arroyo’s firm control of public funds she can buy all the necessary support from most sectors of society to keep her in power.
He is afraid that even if the opposition knows about this conversation with Arroyo, he is afraid that the opposition will not pursue a serious impeachment proceedings against Arroyo, because it is not to their political interest that Noli de Castro becomes President in case Arroyo is impeached and becomes a more formidable political opponent in 2010. This insincere and unpatriotic goal of the opposition is already being manifested by the malicious speed that the Erap pardon is being cooked by Ronnie Puno together with the Erap camp to hastily put a united front of “Birds of the same corrupt feather†coalition against the emerging JDV led political opposition.
He is afraid that even if the Church knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, the Church will still not call for her resignation due to the closeness of Arroyo’s trusted lady liason to the Cardinal of Manila who was very effective during the “Hello Garci†crisis. That Arroyo’s Religious Affairs Operators have the Bishops firmly in their “donation†graces, as again manifested by the quick rebuttal of the Mindanao Bishops’ of the call of their fellow bishops in Luzon who where calling for the resignation of Arroyo just after Arroyo gave them a visit in Mindanao.
He is afraid that even if the military knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the fraudulent ZTE-NBN deal, the AFP brass is much to indebted to Arroyo for their position and the perks that goes with their position, that they have demonstrated this twisted loyalty with their willingness to detain, remove from the service and even shoot their own men for voicing out their legitimate concerns regarding the corruption and moral authority of their Commander in Chief. It is a sad spectacle to see the respected warriors of the Marines & Special Forces rot in jail with their ideals, while their men are dying even without receiving the measly P150 per day combat pay that was promised to them by Arroyo due to lack of funds & generals gets a gift bag similar to those given to the governors and congressmen just for having dinner with Arroyo the day after that infamous breakfast & lunch meeting where bribe money flowed scandalously free.
He is afraid that even if the Media knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN scam, Media will simply wither in the torrents of cash and favors similar to how the Hyatt 10, Hello Garci crisis were killed in the media headlines and Radio& TV coverages. Although he believes in the integrity of a handful of Journalist, he believes that a handful of these mavericks cannot withstand the hordes of paid lackeys of Malacanang. Especially that the Arroyo crisis team is now being handled by the best mercenary money can buy, from Ramos Sulo Operation, Erap’s DILG and now Arroyo’s troubleshooter, Ronnie Puno. Ably supported by the Media and PR money from PAGCOR being handled by Cerge Remonte to buy positive airtime, headlines and editorials.
He is afraid that even if the Business Sector knows about the truth of Arroyo’s direct involvement to defraud the coffers of the taxes they are paying, the businessmen will be reluctant to rock the boat of the current economic uptrend, especially with the very close personal and business relationship of the so called leaders of the big business like Ricky Razon of ICTSI, Donald Dee of PCCI and Francis Chua of the Filipino-Chinese Federation to Arroyo herself. He is afraid that the hard earned remittances of Filipino OFWs that is keeping the economy booming and that can keep the economy afloat even under any administration is being wasted under this unholy alliance of Arroyo and her favoured businessmen.
He is afraid that even if the Civil Society knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, that the Civil Society is now tired of mass actions after witnessing two failed EDSA revolutions, that Civil Society is now afflicted with a “Rally Fatigue†and cannot muster enough public outrage to denounce Arroyo’s “corruption with impunityâ€Â. He is afraid that the middle class is now indifferent to the corruption that goes around them, not realising that the middle class are the ones mainly carrying the burden of the loan payments for these corrupt deals. He is afraid that the middle class are more interested to become an OFW & to leave this country leaving their family and children behind, and may not care anymore about the crimes being committed against their country by its own President.
He is afraid that even if the Masa, the students, the workers knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal to steal precious resources from public funds, that they are now too poor and impoverished to be able to afford the time to join mass actions against the abuses of the Arroyo administration, that these former vanguards of mass actions in the country are now completely dependent on financial resources of professional organizers and have turned themselves into a “Rally for hire†groups rather than a true and genuine political gathering shouting for reforms.
He is afraid that the public may not know the extent of corruption in this country and may wrongly believe that they can cure corruption by simply replacing Arroyo with another person. He is afraid that the public may overlook the systemic and institutionalized nature of the source of corruption in this country, he is afraid that the people will again opt for a regime change without concern or a plan to correct the root causes of corruption in the country. He is afraid that people may not realize that it is not bringing Arroyo down that is difficult, it is establishing a new order that is the difficult task.
This is the predicament of Neri which I want people to realize especially to those who are asking Neri to tell the truth.
A critical reading of the above, together with the statements of Lozada in public late last week, as well as his conversations off-camera, so to speak, but which he said could be quoted, will, I think, illuminate in the public’s mind how Lozada sees himself and his past principals. I went over this in a previous entry, which in amended form is my column for today, Hold the line.
Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ discusses how officials go about Shielding the President .
Something’s gotta give.
Dealing with Dragons
Once upon a time there was a city nestled in a valley filled with fertile fields and bountiful orchards. The people were generally hardworking and as a result, the city grew large and prospered. Then one day, a fearsome dragon appeared and threatened to destroy the city if the people refused to give in to its demands. The beast’s demand was this: that in return for the safety of the city, the people should offer the dragon a human sacrifice each new moon.
After long hours of discussion, the leading citizens of the city decided to accept the dragon’s terms. To the delight of the people, the arrangement actually seemed to work in their favor, for the human sacrifices were gleaned from among the city’s burgeoning population of thieves, bandits, beggars, whores and rebels. As a result, peace and order reigned and the city continued to prosper.
But with the passage of time, the dragon grew larger, and so did it’s appetite. Within a year, the dragon had begun demanding two victims a month. Then sacrifices on a weekly basis. Pretty soon, the number of victims rose to five a week, so that within the space of three years, there were no undesirables left in the city. So the leading citizens met once again to discuss a system for choosing victims. To make things fair, they set up a weekly lottery to determine who the sacrifices would be.
Once in a while, some brave soul would urge the citizens to band together and slay the dragon. However, terrified of reprisals, most city dwellers shunned these calls.The few who dared pit themselves against the monster were easily defeated. Soon, the dragon was demanding ten victims a week.
Ending 1:
At some point, the leaders of the city thought to themselves, “Enough is enough! This can’t go on. The dragon must go!†So the remaining citizens armed themselves with swords and spears and marched out of the city gates to drive out their oppressor.
Unfortunately for them, the beast had by then grown too huge and powerful to be defeated by so small an army. Within minutes the dragon devoured every single one and had flown off to find a new city to plague.
Ending 2:
Now there was a wizard among the people who was well-versed in dragon lore. “Don’t worry,†he said. “A dragon’s lifespan is six years. We can wait this one out. We only have a year or two to go.†And so the people decided to keep the status quo.
The wizard was right of course. One summer day, the dragon keeled over in the middle of its supper and died. When news of its demise reached the city, you can imagine how the survivors cheered and rejoiced!
That is until they heard a deafening roar resounding through the valley and realized too late. . . Dragons lay eggs.
The hubris of the coward Neri to assume he can decide by himself what’s best for the nation. Does he fancy himself to be some sort of a seer that he can foretell the course of events if he tells the truth?
So he preferred lying and cover-up of massive anomalies over the truth? He preferred continued enormous pillage and misrule by the administration over the chance to change things, however small he thinks this chance is? Surely a glimmer of hope is superior to giving in to the suffocating darkness of the Arroyo regime? And isn’t public office a public trust, and he owes the people the truth?
It’s appropriate that many of the sentences in the letter begins with “He is afraid that…” because Neri has proven himself to be a pathetic coward. He should be afraid for his soul.
@ bmv, me like the dragon story. Can there still be an ending 3, a happy ending perhaps?
@bmv: I saw that story, too, but in the version I saw, the village asked the bishop for advice, and the bishop called in the United Nations for help. It took 8 years for the United Nations to act, first, because China says “…wrong for outsiders to meddle in internal affairs of other villages”, then later so they can accumulute the troops and helicopters and artillery. By then, the eggs had multiplied. The war rages.
then…N.earing E.xpectation, R.omy I.nhibited.
now…he has to face his F.alse E.xpectations A.ppearing R.eal.
I took pains in reading the Lozada testimony and there was nothing that I found incriminating. He might be telling the truth but he will have to at least substantiate these allegations before he can convince a lot of us on the sidelines to believe him. The senate, media, parts of the catholic church are being used by certain quarters to malign the government. They should at least done their homework before putting him on the stand to look credible. The way it stand right now is that there is too much accusations but lacking in evidence. People are not that naive to believe him. Peace.
Me too, I read a similar story, with a bit of a variation. In the story I read, the dragon’s eggs hatched already and partaking of the sacrifices. But the dragon, herself, has everlasting life because the hatched eggs has some minions that change the charter to extend the dragon’s life forever. The greed that followed, not having been moderated, consumed the land, conflagration followed, and the people perished, so did the dragon and the hatched eggs.
talaga? pati si Neri?
reminded me of this Heroes quote from character Nathan Petrelli
“$200 M makes me a politician in your pocket, $400 M makes me a governor.”
naisip ko kay Neri
threatening my family makes me a silent technocrat in your pocket, cultivating my hubris makes me yours for free.
Kung matutulungan sana nang Senate si (financially and in getting more evidence) Lozada ma prosecute ang PNP sa pag abduct sa kanya, it would be a good start sa pag bawas sa mga DRAGON.
yung pag kidnap kasi ke Lozada merong mga ebidensya at knowledge of PNP chief.
Sana ang next scenario is find the PNP guilty and have the PNP chief sacked.
Self-crimination 13. A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.
Like to address the above Provision of our Charter to Justice League if it is also one of the Provisions in the Philippines Charter. A Mechanism to discourage witnesses from perjuring themselves for fear that their testimonies maybe used against them in other proceedings..
“He is afraid that even if the Media knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN scam, Media will simply wither in the torrents of cash and favors…”
Cases in point, the frontpage of PDI where Arroyo is displayed prominently with Archbishop Rosales at her side. A picture indeed is worth more than a thousand words. Moreover, the preponderance of articles which aim either to “humanize” Arroyo or to downplay the effect of the Lozada testimony(e.g. “the President is in pains” article and a rejoinder in the concluding paragraph of a PDI news article which is based on the conclusions of unnamed political analysts.)
Broadshit bs.
I don’t normally follow politics, Philippine or otherwise, other than my fixation with the OBAMA-NATION(not the candidate), but this is one intriguing drama that just keeps on giving! I yawned and fell into deep comatose when this saga first appeared in Mr. Quezon, III’s blog some months ago, and stayed in that state whenever it reappeared again and again and again in this blog. Then this seemingly insignificant government employee supposedly gets kidnapped and is thrust into the limelight, deer in the headlights look and all. Now I’m intrigued, not because this may develop into more chaos, but because of the human element involved.
Well, don’t we know this already? The massive disillusionment of our people, the CRIMINAL cynicism of our elite. The bishops are accessories, these Generals are accessories, these Congressmen are accessories to the crimes perpetrated by the leader of this nation.
People, look at what you’re asking Neri to do. You’re asking him to act as leader to the tectonic change that we say we wish to happen, and we don’t even want it enough.
ALL,
Do you agree i Neri’s and Lozada’s analyses?
Mike Defensor to Jun Lozada:
“Dada-anin lang naman namin yan sa media”
We as Filipinos are systematically being destroyed because of the lies, all the never ending spins, and we must strongly oppose this oppression
Hannah Arendt wrote “It has frequently been noticed that the surest long term result of brainwashing is a peculiar kind of cynicism, a refusal to believe in the truth of anything no matter how well this truth may be established. In other words, the result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lies will now be accepted as truth and the truth be defamed as lies but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world – and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end – is being destroyed.
neri need not fear the darkness…
neri, go near the light jun (lozada) has followed…
@ay_naku
The ending really depends on us, doesn’t it?
enough with this instigation of communal action! dating tuloy nito parang communism!
best solution nito pumili po tayo ng politikong may respeto sa sarili!
kala nyo kong magreresign ang isang presidente matatahimik na ang pilipinas!
hindi ah!
let her end her term. bahala syang manigas sa kahihiyan.
para yong susunod na presidente magiging maaliwalas ang pag-serve ng bansa at hindi galing sa gulo!
avoid being our nation a banana republic!
The examples of Neri, Bolante, Lorenzo, et al should be a warning that working for this government is dangerous to your health. It’s like trying to wrestle Brer Rabbit’s tar baby.
Ya know…Lozada’s letter would’ve been effective..WOULD HAVE BEEN. Every time he mentions corruption I can’t help but remember that he himself was a perpetrator of corruption in government. He may be small fry and his deals were small fry in comparison – but shit, man! The hypocrisy raises my bile.
Chavit was different. He was an insider like Lozada but he never presented himself as a saint or protector of the country’s morality.
==========
Francis,
How can he prosecute the PNP…he said himself he contacted Atienza to help him out upon his arrival. That’s the time Atienza called the PNP. That’s why the word “misunderstanding” was used by Lozada himself when he described this “abduction” is because without his REQUEST for assistance, brought about by his fear of being under the Senate’s custody – the PNP would not have gotten involved. If things turned out differently, we’ll never know now, will we?
Ginagalit lang ng media ang mga tao para isabong sa Feb. 25.
Pork barrel politics, crony capitalism are embedded in the practice of state capitalism.
Monetary nationalism has been the boon and the bane of the 20th century. The role of the U.S. in utilizing monetary imperialism in maintaining the status quo that is primary responsible for keeping countries subservient an dependent.
The support given to autocratic governments who are more corrupt than they are not is key to keeping control of emerging economies. THE IMF-WB are premier proponents of pork barrel for economies. They will loan funds for projects that will directly benefit foreign capital rather than domestic capital. Their own.
The Chinese government pork barrel projects for weak economies is no different.
The Filipino people should be made more aware that the domestic budget covers primarily pork barrel projects. However the multilateral, bilateral agreements cover internationl pork barrel projects that are done with almost no oversight. They almost always will work themselves into the budget in debt payments.
The Ramos years gave us an example of this fiasco with the IPP’s in the energy industry.
The payoff in billions of dollars makes Ferdinand and Imelda (our failed monarchs)look like shoplifters. The ten year projected supply of dollars from OFW’s at a constant $15 Billion x 10 = $150 billion. That can pay for a lot of foreign initiated and foreign built infrastructure for the Philippines. Marcos left the country with a foreign debt of $25 billion. Thanks to the OFW’s for now the old bane of a balance of payments problem has been solved. We can keep runing merchandise trade deficts long into the future.
Neri has had a long stretch working within the system. He has prospered with the rest of them. This is the system.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020802557.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
to mang_isko :
As to “respeto sa sarili”, I would think anyone who doesn’t stand up an act when basic human rights are violated (not just referring to Lozada’s abduction but the wiretapping of senators’ phones, garci, fertilizer scam, etc.)has no “respeto sa sarili.” Character is not just about what you believe, it is about what you do. As to which ending you picked in my story (see above), it’s kinda obvious where you stand. Why should the next president fear or respect the will of the people when they don’t stand up for truth, justice, etc.?
to Mita:
Obviously you haven’t been following the news (or are distorting it?). Lozada went out of his way to claim he wasn’t a hero or a saint and readily admitted there were things in the past that would make people lose their respect for him.he said “mea culpa” to some of Miriam’s charges.
Also, it’s very easy to verify who’s telling the truth on the kidnapping issue. This is why the government is trying to avoid it.They’ve gotten caught in so many lies and inconistencies, haha.
Gloria’s fans are unsettled. They’re everywhere. In every blog, radio show, TV talk show, text-in chat, web forum, they all sound the same. They sound just like the lapdogs in Malacañang.
The more they discredit Lozada, the more they show their panic. The more they panic, the more credible Lozada becomes.
Attention and Interest has been captured. Desire and Action follows.
What Lozada says about Neri:
“He is afraid that the public may overlook the systemic and institutionalized nature of the source of corruption in this country, he is afraid that the people will again opt for a regime change without concern or a plan to correct the root causes of corruption in the country. He is afraid that people may not realize that it is not bringing Arroyo down that is difficult, it is establishing a new order that is the difficult task.”
Aren’t those valid apprehensions? I thought Lozada himself shared them, that’s why he was very emphatic at first about doing something regarding the dysfunction in government (and I would add, in Philippine society itself). I thought that Lozada brought up a very good point there.
What I don’t buy is Lozada’s doublespeak about “permissible” levels of corruption. Corruption is corruption and there should be no tolerance for “permissible” levels of it, otherwise, like the proverbial dragon, it grows and grows and even lays eggs.
I don’t know why the pro-GMA defenders would be panicking — there’s absolutely no threat to her. Even the FG can’t be touched by all of this “testimony”.
Certainly, the anti-GMA crowd is rabidly excited…perhaps they think people will take to the streets or that an impeachment will be inevitable (in about a year).
I think some people are like me — I am anti-anti-GMA because all of this noise and BS is threatening the economic health and momentum of the country. In fact, I see this as a threat to my children’s future.
And it pisses me off because facts seem to be of little importance and emotional partisanship is the game of the day.
And yes, when the anti-GMA crowd says I’m the admin’s lackey, it just proves (to me) that these accusers are blinded by hate.
The anti-GMA crowd continues to completely misunderstand why their words do not resonate with the vast majority.
to jude:
Agreed. I further think good governance is about supporting people in their efforts to live good lives. Trouble is, that’s not the kind of governance we have. This government makes it harder for people to do what is right, to act with virtue. It would be nice if we each had a little island to retreat to avoid all this mess (and maybe some do). It would be nice if we were all lived comfortably enough not to have to dirty our hands dealing with this systemic evil. But some people have little choice in the matter. That’s the nature of “social sin.”
BrianB, agree with the letter’s message? medyo oo, pero duda ako na si Neri may sulat nito eh. parang PR writer ang sumulat eh. structured yun letter para sa emotional provocation eh. saka inilabas pa yung letter ngayon lang. masyadong stage-managed.
@mlwnag, bakit ano ba meron sa feb.25?
@mita, looking past through the hypocrisy, and swallowing your bile, do you accept lozada’s testimony as true?
people may be piqued by lozada’s apparent holier-than-thou attitude, but it doesn’t change the fact that his testimony is true.
Nice story in “Dealing with Dragons”, bmv. It reminds me of another poem which I re-encountered in Equalizer’s blog…
“There Was Nobody Left…
When they came for the communists and the so-called leftists, I turned away
When they came for the human rights activists and the radicals and the street protesters, I turned away
When they came for the political opposition, and the critical civic society groups, and the journalists, and the independent thinkers, I turned away
And when they came for me, I turned around and around, and there was nobody left…”
… I read a similar story months before and little did I know that it would apply to JDV when his Speakership career was “summarily executed” by what he thought of as his allies and was left out to dry.
During the vote for a new Speaker, he was probably thinking that “If only I listened and supported the opposition more…”(Yes he was forewarned but he primly said “Yes, I’m always watching my back”.) Ironically in the end it was the opposition, in their strategic move to choose the lesser evil, ended up trying to protect JDV. JDVs ears probably probed for more “No” votes but as the “Yes” votes piled up, his heart began to sink and in his mind was likely desperately asking, “Is there no one else rooting for me? Is there no one else?” His shriveled conscience could have whispered to him “But Mr. Former Speaker, there is no one left!”
Thanks to his own thick faced maneuvering, he succeeded in limiting the opposition and protected his Liege Queen. He also set the stage for his own demise. Then a periodically quoted word resurfaced … Karma.
Now he has to prove to the Filipino people that he has changed, is remorseful and start spilling the rotten beans accumulated during his stay as Speaker under her Liege Queen.
As such, people should now take serious heed in the story “Dealing with Dragons”, for this could easily apply to the Filipino populace (yes including the Tongressmen wallowing in their hole) as well.
este, si lozada pala. duda ako na si lozada sumulat.
In the article, Neri is portrayed as someone who’s afraid of some of the things that can POSSIBLY happen. But as bmv responded above, “The ending really depends on us, doesn’t it?” I still want to hold on to that belief (despite occasionial feelings of frustration and resignation), that cliche and corny as this may sound, the future’s still (somehow) in our hands. That we can do something. I’d still choose to hold on to a glimmer of hope –that we can still change things for the better– because really, for me personally, the alternative is worse (apathy and resignation.)
So no, I can’t say that I necessarily share Neri’s fears.
BrianB:
I agree with Neri’s analysis, provided I accept his premises as fact. He paints a frightening picture:
1. how to coopt the leaders of the church, military, business, politicians and police
2. how to exploit poor people, the middle class, common military men
3. how to marginalize leftist students and labor
DevilsAdvc8, this is the typical way that the bright boys in NEDA write. The one time that I met some of ‘em, I felt like I was in the middle of a nerd convention.
The fact is we never had a government that was supportive of people in their efforts to live good lives. Certainly not as far as I can recall, which is way back to the 1980′s.
The point that Lozada (speaking for Neri) makes in that letter is that, unless there is systemic change, it will only be a game of musical chairs. Perhaps until a self-proclaimed liberator, or liberators, decide to take matters into their hands. This is a situation which has happened many times in different countries.
Interesting article by Randy David, indeed the administration is getting “Medieval” on us.
Devil’s Advocate,
Yes I do believe him, which doesn’t make it FACTUAL or TRUTHFUL – and that’s the sad part. He himself said in the first press con, “This is a recounting of events regarding the NBN deal, as I experienced it.” His testimony is his PERCEPTION of how things went down. Everything else he said regards other people he did not directly speak to regarding this deal is legally just hearsay.
Whether I, or anyone else for that matter, believe him or not doesn’t matter though, because whatever he says has to be supported by documents and another person, especially someone – JUST ONE- actually directly involved.
Why you might ask – because if anyone is going to hang for Lozada’s words, we better make sure there are no ifs or buts…dapat full-proof because that is what LAW requires. But more importantly, because we’ve been there before…we have to learn our lesson.
As for those going for the “Gloria fan” attack – before you make unfounded accusations and open your mouths, read what is being said because it just might make a difference.
I think the problems mentioned by Lozada are present, they are all over the mass media. Most Filipinos will agree with what he said. However, some have five senses but those senses are not correctly wired to their brains and hearts.
The biggest problem is …we don’t know how to solve them or we know the solutions we just don’t have the backbones, everyone or most of us seem to have osteomalacia
Mita:
So what evidence will make you accept Lozada’s testimony as true? What is your test of truth?
Mita:
Just to elaborate, some legal cases tried in court, admittedly only some, are won only on the merit of truthfully delivered testimonies.
Grabe, GMA is so cold! Tanggalin ang low cost housing at iba pa para maipasok lang NBN deal…reminds me the movie “Dave” (Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline).
este, si lozada pala. duda ako na si lozada sumulat…DevilsAdvc8
mukhang mas angkop sabihing sulat ni enteng romano o di kaya ni de quiros.
Senate hearings are the convenient refuge of whistleblowers who, after being involved in anomalous transactions in government, spin tall tales and implicate persons in authority because of personal vendetta. We have had Mahusay, Ong, Zuce, Cam, etcetera before, and now, Lozada. His brother was killed in a botched police operation and I understand his rage to settle the score. Yet he enriched himself and his kin by using his position in government by distributing thousands of hectares of public lands to relatives and influential families. He maintains a fleet of luxury cars; multi-million peso transactions brokered by his wife and he admits to being a practitioner of government’s “dysfunctional procurement system.†He sought the help of Senator Lacson, who in turn conveniently used Lozada for his political ends, before turning into a supposed whistleblower. If Lozada’s case is “pot calling the kettle black,†I say let the courts decide.
Neri, for heaven’s sake, your friend’s taking the heat for you. Don’t hang him out to try. Not you, of all people.
Oh no, Lozada’s dirty linen are coming out! Who must have uncovered them? Will tainting this witness discredit his testimony?
Plunder pala ang mangyayari. Wow according to Sen. Lacson, kahit na na cancel eh kung may advance na. plunder na yun!
130 million dollars! Plunder nga!
Jon:
My Philo teacher in college said something about tests of truth, and I’ve always remembered it –
1. coherence
2. correspondence with reality
Following Lozada’s testimonies so far, it has been coherent and consistent.
neri’s still a cowardly, presumptuous bastard.
and lozada is his geeky friend who turns crying to Senate after being complicit to government wrongdoing.
what will become of this? who knows? the important question to ask now is who’s writing the script to this drama. that’s where things are going to go ultimately.
There’s no script. The administratiion hopes and that this is scripted by someone but its not. This is a real nightmare for them.
If ever somebody is to blame why this issue has blown out of proportion its because of their abduction of Lozada.
here’s no script. The administratiion hopes and wish that this is scripted by someone but its not. This is a real nightmare for them.
If ever somebody is to blame why this issue has blown out of proportion its because of their abduction of Lozada.
sabi ni j-lo hindi daw sila nagkausap ni dacer, este ni lacson. pero si lacson na mismo nagsabi na nag-usap silang dalawa. alam pa nga ni lacson ang sinabi ni mike.
hayyyyyyyyy naku!
ang labo at ang gulo pala ni j-lo!
I think that Lozada is a very credible witness.
I’ve been following the lozada saga since last week. I’m watching the senate hearing as I write this. I believe Lozada, and I think, all the government witnesses testifying in the Senate right now are liars. I remember Razon groping for words last week. Poor guy. He had a hard time lying. I believe Razon is not use to lying. It showed in his interviews last week. Pa utal utal and wasn’t so sure about what he is saying. Parang napilitan lang. I noticed how different his statements now compared to his statements last week. So many conflicting statements. If only someone could give us a comparative analysis on the statements made by these government officials last week and the statements they are giving now. I hope we can give this analysis to our senators so they can ask better questions and confront the liars.
Telling God’s honest truth is easy-its the one story you never have to think about. [Richard North Patterson]
For mang_isko above, actually it was the lawyer, Atty. Bautista, who said that sinabi daw sa kanya ni Lozada that he never spoke to Lacson. Hindi si Lozada ang nagsabi nun. Just to clarify.
Was just watching NBN hearing and I have to say, Jun Lozada sounds even more of an arrogant prick than MLQ3 described here…
“His is the dilemma of a proud, perhaps overconfident man who has had to realize he is nowhere as clever, nimble, and important as he thought he was.”
- if that is not your definition of a prick…okay, let’s revise that…that sounds more like a sorry prick, but a prick nonetheless. I hadn’t seen that side of him till this morning.
In any case, from people whose name came up as a result of recent events and somehow got connected to the NBN hearings….names dragged in by no less than “The Witness”….they are all singing the same tune. The tune Lozada himself started “I am afraid to be under Senate custody – HELP ME wiggle my scrawny little ass out of appearing there.” I saw him say that at his first press con.
The drama surrounding Lozada’s appearance in the Senate appears to be self-inflicted. The “misunderstanding” as he initially called it is now a kidnapping! I also saw him say that in his press con.
It’s very distracting and serves no purpose but to sensationalize events. I’m sorry to say, he is not sensational in and of himself…resorting to this DRAMA doesn’t give him more credibility nor merits my sympathy. Not that it should matter! In the whole scheme of things, we don’t have to like or dislike the guy so someone please tell this guy to quit the drama!
I’m starting to think there was more to my initial perception of the guy merely needing sleep and rest….I think his ego and feelings of self-importance, and his fear of losing it all has led to paranoia, to a point where he needs to see a professional. (Someone give him not just a valium but prozac too!!!)
Either way, na-implicate na si Abalos ng 3 tao…puede na bang kasuhan yung isang yon? And then if the president’s husband is also implicated by the testimony, go after them once and for all so we’re done with this. Forget the president, you have to wait till she steps down from office.
Then there’s stupid senators like Jamby Madrigal reading statements from the CBCP and making crude remarks like “Sana hindi lumiyab ang inuupuan mo” – is it obvious she has come to her own conclusion about this whole mess? What happens to seeking out the truth when you are so obviously showing your biases during what was supposedly your time to question witnesses.
I’m sorry, I gave this Senate a chance, on the hopes I am missing something but actions like these – what can the people hope to be achieved here when the truth is muddled by biases and innuendos from the Senators themselves. Pang-gulo lang – to a point na talagang sasabihin ng tao na may bahid pulitika na naman ang conclusion. This is like feeding, not just adding, fuel to the fire.
Now the question of corruption as he testified…what is the Senate going to do about it? Can the Senate do anything to change this, to eliminate and not just minimize it to “acceptable” levels? Or are legislators too chicken shit to eliminate this “source of income” which really fuels political activity in this country?
What do we really want out of this whole mess? Who is supposed to do something about it? Are we waiting for anyone to start something? Do we let our emotions get the better of us and go out on the street AGAIN so we can regret it later and say to ourselves, “We should have let it all play out to the end…” like we did with Estrada?
You know what Senate hearings do to ordinary people? They will make people want to leave the country to live in peace!
Ahhh….now we get to the reason for the country’s brain drain….and the reason why the Senate is what it is!
JM Castro: I already said documents and another witness who can corroborate his statements. This is my opinion as a non-lawyer. If there are cases won on the basis of truthful testimonies ALONE, as you say, I’m not privy to the details of each individual case nor do I follow court records so your pointing that out is lost on me.
tingnan mo nga naman yong ini-insist ni escudero!
hahahahahahah
makukuyente yata siya!
hahahahahahahaha
At least the Senate investigation that government officials are a bunch of liars!
At least this Senate investigation showed that government officials are a bunch of liars!
bala, kala mo ba mga senador mga santo?
hayyyyy
Bakit kailangan bang perfect ang isang tao para magsiwalat ng katotohanan.
Eh si Chavit Singson nga pinaniwalaan ninyo kahit inamin nya kasabwat niya si Erap?
Anong pagkakaiba ngayon? Ba’t kailangan maging santo?
someone mentioned earlier about how people seem to be changing their statements… i wish someone had access to that footage and puts together a comparison they can post on youtube or something.
can’t follow this inquiry because i’m at work… is anythnig good coming out of the Drama King?
balutacan’s comment is just a motherhood statement
malakas ang dating, pero walang laman
if you’re really serious in deposing someone or something.. charge them in the proper forum.. present evidence and prove them in court..
hearsay will get us nowhere..
Pare-pareho lang sila. Lozada and Neri were moles working for the De Venecias in that NBN deal. Both of them don’t hide the fact that they were in constant contact with Joey De Venecia and were advising him. Obviously, they were aboard on Joey De Venecia’s part of the deal and they tried their best to skew the deal toward the De Venecias.
That’s why I think that song-and-dance about “permissible” levels of corruption is a lot of B.S. Lozada could be conditioning minds in order to mitigate his petty corruption in his petty corner of the government. Or he could be trying to justify that the De Venecias’ NBN proposal involved a more “permissible” amount of corruption. However the coin is tossed, it’s always corruption that comes out.
It was an attempt between two corrupt and influential groups to corner a corrupt contract. Buti lang nothing came of it. Now, nagkapikonan at naggagantihan na. Lozada may be enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, but he is a petty thief who is just being used. In the end, he will get his 15 minutes but I don’t buy any of the hyperbole about him.
I was first impressed by his statements regarding the dysfunctional system. But I think his new-found fame has gone to his head.
ah but liam, motherhood statements, dancing girls, and measly handouts are what got those politicians in power anyway… never underestimate them.
Sayang talaga! Hindi nakapanood ng live.
Sigh. When will Neri show up?
It seems to me that Lozada is about to crack. I think some holes in his kidnapping story are coming out and he can’t hide them.
The only charge he ever had a chance to prove was the kidnap thing. But I woundered why he didn’t press. Well, if he was NOT “kidnapped” , now we know why he didn’t press. And the rest of his stories lose credence.
Lozada may confess any minute now; he seems trapped.
Hmm… right around the time hell freezes over. Or, a more unlikely event, when he grows balls.
Geo:
You mean it’s nothing further pontification and tears can’t fix? Maybe he needs hug some nuns or something.
all i can really say is this Lozada has gotten the peoples’ hopes up yet again. but seriously, what are we all wanting here? where is the will of the people?
back then people ate up chavit’s crap because the people wanted to oust Erap. Heck, Satan could’ve been the star witness at the trial and we would’ve bought whatever the Lord of Lies said just to further the common agenda.
i don’t know how it is now. and a big part of is because i can’t see what’s going on.
Lozada seems to me to be just another joe in a long line of teases that promise much yet deliver nothing.
at least JDV3, combover and all, showed some documents.
tingnan nyo mga guys…noong friday nagdeny si j-lo na hindi nya nakakausap si lacson ni minsan. pero ngayon si lacson mismo ang nagsasabi.
all along talagang pakana ito ni dacer, este lacson!
kala nyo ba yong nagdi-death treath sa kanya ay mga galamay ni lacson!
hahahahahahaha
…..madaling takutin si j-lo ng mga galamay ni lacson….
….pasimle-simple yata si lacson
hehehehehehe
sabi niya ayaw niyng mamulitika kaya sa mga madre at pari sya nagpahatid.
eh, no. 1 na namumulitika ang mga pari!
namention na nya naman si dacer!
ang suspect nandiyan lang. nakakatunganga!
Hay,
Wala talagang kwenta si Cayetano as head inquisitor of the the Blue Ribbon Committee.
Buti nalang wala doon si Chiz Escudero and Loren Legarda (two people who love hearing the sound of their voices)
Otherwise, we’ll have the Senators na Pulpol speaking more than the witnesses.
Lentek. Sigh. And we thought it was a slam dunk shut case.
hahahahahahahaha!!
nash, nandiyan sila!
@man isko,
ganun po ba. ay wala na, manood nalang tayo ng telenobela kung andiyan nga ang dalawang media hogs. paikot-ikot na naman ang mga tanong.
nash, hindi talaga pinapakita ang face ni lacson kapag nami-mention ang pangalan ni lacson.
este dacer….
hehehehehehehe
ang galing naman ni lozada…..pahinga muna sa holding room.
samantala yong ibang witnesses naka-onhold pa rin.
hahahahahaha
Can these pro GMA have better things to do. Ang ingay ingay nyo dito palibhasa kasi hindi kayo nanonood sa tv.
Hindi nyo ba masikmura ang kasinungalingan ng mga alipures nyo?
bala, mubuti at naririnig mo boses nila!
hehehehehe
That is the way the government manipulators work, they make sure that their paper trail is covered, make sure they have Lozada sign papers (which Malacanang’s lawyer made) before they release him. Beware too much trust in paperworks, that is the way they work, through tons of paper. They can get anyone to sign documents in whatever way they can, may it be through intimidation, threats, torture, forgery or what not. It seems the whole experience of Lozada with the praetor’s goons is a restrictive and intimidating one; limiting his freedom as such he was unable to go back to his family of his own free will. That in itself is truly telling.
alam nyo ‘yong paulit-ulit na claim ni j-lo siya ay under threat. tine-text sya na papatayin daw siya.
hindi nyo ba naiisip na pwede rin si lacson o mga galamay niya ‘yong nananakot sa kanya? na parang sina-sy-war lang sya?
magaling si lacson niyan. beware…..
hehehehehehehe
‘yong napapabintangan nya ‘yong daw nagagalit sa kanya si abalos. hindi nya alam yong takot nya ginagamit ni lacson o mga galamay niya.
ngayon lang nabisto na nakikipag-usap si lacson sa kanya noong december. deny nang deny pa sya sa puntong ito.
kalokohan!
Hohum … bumping up piece by piece … wonder why
The Current Scandal is obviously allegations of Criminality and should have been handled Firstly by the Criminal Justice and only after the case have been thoroughly investigated by the whichever Police Authorities were mandated and whatever the outcome, then the Senate may do their Aid of Legislation based on the Criminal Investigation or can Conduct a “Blameless Inquiry” itself where evidence given in the Inquiry can not be used to prosecute the witnesses in any other proceedings, except for Lying or giving contradictory testimonies..That’s the only way to get the Facts or the Truth as most would call as the hard evidence…
The way the investigation is conducted, and the Record of the Senate in doing Such..tra la laa…
nandoon si smart guy escudero. nagkainisan pa nga sila ni joker arroyo tungkol sa legal meaning ng word na “abductionâ€Â. but jamby is really entertaining.
this whole brouhaha is just another tele-nobela in the senate. i doubt if something significant will come out of this investigation. nothing in lozano’s disclosure can directly link gloria to the “anomalous†transaction and pin her down specially when the contract is already shelved.
the hearings may drag on for months but at the end gloria will still be there standing and this will make some people very angry for once again they were outsmarted by pandak.
@grd, hindi rin. iba istilo ni de quiros. mahilig sa hyperboles na malulutong. ewan ko si enteng romano. never heard of him nor read anything he wrote.
basta, im still not convinced with this letter.
with lozada’s testimony, yes. but this letter? it just smacks of scripting.
btw, mita pointed out something important. Abalos has already been implicated by 3 diff people. JDV3, Neri, and Lozada. bakit nga hanggang ngayon wala pa ring hinahandang kaso sa kanya?
at nakaka disappoint naman. akala ko dadalo na si Neri. eh mukhang palabas lang yung pagdalo ng ibang mga opisyal ng gobyerno sa senado. eh lahat ng pinadala nila doon eh dati ng mga sinungaling. yung mga unggoy na yun eh walang pakialam kung i-perjure man nila sarili nila.
si Neri ang susi.
sabi ni j-lo ngayon sa kanilang daw ang commission.
…..hay tell it to the marines.
hanggang palunch-lunch at dinner lang sya sabi nya noong friday.
The CBCP is calling for communal action aka people power siguro. iba pang ginamit na term.
Ang mga militante ay aali-aligid hoping that if there is people power, they are there first.
They don’t realize that many people are turned off by their presence.
The senators claimed that the investigation is conducted in aid of legislation. Anong law ang prinopropose nila?
So that means there will be no prosecutions, no charges to the accused people.
They’re hoping that people will go to the streets after the revelation. For what?
May reaction na ba?
Very telling indeed, Lozada no free will at all while being “escorted” by Praetors. The praetors said that Lozada was said to be under threat, but they did not know from who the threat is coming from and in what nature. A dead giveaway that they are not really there to protect but rather to control Lozada’s movements. Imagine, alleged police protectors not knowing who they are protecting their “client” from. Ridiculous situation for the praetors at best.
He was then made to sign documents by Malacanang’s lawyer where there were no witnesses except for the goons of administration. No lawyer to represent Lozada except those forced to him by Malacanang who ALSO represents Malacanang at the same time! When studying the documents in the Senate hearing that Lozada allegedly signed, surprisingly or unsurprisingly Lozada even discovered signatures which are not his. Tsk, tsk, not only did they intimidate Lozada to sign, they even forged more of his signatures.
It starting to shape up that Lozada did not ask for these “escorts” at all. What does that make them then?
Documents, papers, more documents, more papers — puro retoke
cat, parang di mabuti ang dating sa akin yong communal action ng cbcp.
parang communism…..
Let face there were and are corruptions going on, the only problem most of them, even the Senators pretending to expose them are all in the Game, otherwise Estrada would have not been convicted for Plunder..Marcos would have not been designated as the Top Ten among the Most Corrupt Leaders of the World and Joc-Joc is still somewhere in the U.S. and nobody wants him home, because he too knows too much and those that had already put their shares in some safe places would rather see rot somewhere and by the Way somehow was really Indebted to Mr. Abalos for a very coveted Post of the Land and people still wondering why he was involved in the NBN deal..just circumstantial evidence that means squat in the Philippines that even a rock solid “hard†evidence easily melted by a handful of brown envelop or boxes of milk cartoons..saw that picture of Mike D. getting back his 50 grand..El Chepo…If it’s 50 millions he won’t be seeing it back..
akala ba ng mga paring ito na kung magkagulo at mapalitan ang presidente, eh gaganda na ba ang pilipinas?
why we always long for this people power to emerge again when in the future we will again end in chaos.
how sure are we that we will not end up being governed by communists. ‘tong mga senators na ito una pa yang babaliktad or fly away to u.s.
or sila din ang magpapatayan makamit lang ang leadership. mas may advantage yata dito si dacer, este si lacson.
hehehehehehe
Poor Lozada, as the details in the Senate hearing unfolds, he was being manipulated like a puppet on a string, with a puppet police directing his every move. This administration is turning out to be worse than the former Soviet Union’s Politburo!
akala nyo ba walang ding corruption sa kaparian sa cbcp?
akala nyo ba walang corruption sa senate?
hayyyyyy.
mga guys, sabi ni j-lo takot daw talaga sya kay abalos. di nya batid na si lacson dapat niyang katakutan din. kung gawan sya ng kalokohan sa buhay nya para mai-blame sa gov’t.
hindi rin ba nya naisip yon?
According to Praetor Razon, the Senate Sgt-at-Arms cannot effect any arrest outside the Senate premises. HOWEVER,after added grilling, Praetor Razon admitted that an ordinary citizen CAN do a Citizen’s arrest or a Sheriff can effect his duties even WITHOUT police assistance.
Nagkakabukuhan na, galing mismo sa bibig ni Praetor talagang lumalabas na may isa lang silang kinikilingan, ang Reyna na nakaupo sa tasa.
why does this ‘communism’ word keep propping up? ka-batch niyo ba si mang joma?
i don’t see any communists, dumb senators messing up what could have been a good case against Abalos, yes. prelates with selective amnesia, yes.
sana ang ANC, kapag na mention yong pangalan ni DACER, dapat i-focus yong canera kay LACSON…
hehehehehehe
nash, sino ba yong nagrarally sa labas ng senado. di ba mga leftists?
do not tell me na wala silang connection sa mga communists.
mlq3,
Hi Manolo.
Perhaps we can open a thread for Lacson. It would do someone a service, he seem to love discussing about Lacson. Who knows, perhaps some bloggers here wish to discuss about him, maybe a separate thread will do him and the rest of us a lot of good.
good! thanks.
hehehehehehe
According to Lozada’s police “escorts”, they were supposed to follow Lozada’s bidding, however the reverse was true. Lozada’s request to be returned to his family was summarily denied. He was also sternly said to stop using his cellphone and in so many words warned that he was monitored.
The way it looks, if it were not for the media pressure, Lozada may still be missing to this day and if ordered by the corrupt powers that be, will be missing permanently.
(kabayan)? noli de castro is that you?
No mang_isko, Noli lost his nerve quite a long time ago.
Abalos may have been recruited by ZTE so that they’d be preferred over their #1 competitor, Huawei.
Joey and JDV may have tried to leverage their strengths to corral a lucrative deal.
Neri and Lozada might have padded their earnings in exchange for favors.
The admin might have pushed the envelope in “protecting” Lozada while also trying to control the output of information…because they are protecting bigger fish.
All I know is that I don’t know. Like politicians and beaureaucrats everywhere, there are plenty of rotten apples spoiling the whole damn bunch here. But there are good people mixed in there, too.
Ay naku, what can ya do? Step by painfully slow step, we improve and move in the right direction…..
Can you imagine the pressure of this single man by the administration? That is why darkness is upon the Philippines, honest men in government cannot testify against corruption especially if the one involved is a big fish. Evil and corruption is firmly entrenched and protected. Our government is now largely, if I may be allowed to coin the word, an Oligarchic Syndicracy. A government ruled by the rich and the criminal syndicates.
@mang isko,
basta naman nag-rally ka “leftist” ka na. yan ang ating definition :d
tingnan mo naman nash kung sino-sino ang nagli-lead.
wag tayong mag-maangmaangan.
FINALLY!!!!!
“Officials of China’s ZTE Corp., the winner of the bidding for the scrapped national broadband network (NBN) project, advanced at least $1 million to resigned poll chief Benjamin Abalos, businessman Jose De Venecia III told the Senate inquiry into the scandal-tainted deal on Monday”
NOW THIS CAN BE VERIFIED FROM ZTE! (Well, if we force them…)
$1M is still a big amount of money. Given that ZTE is listed in HK Stock Exchange…..they’d have to write off this amount somewhere….
unless of course Arthur Andersen is their external auditor…:D
@mang-isko,
wala namang support yung mga staunch ‘commies’. they are a spent force. in the end, the vast majority of civil society are hardly sympathetic to them.
Cusi, the airport mgr. testified that there were no phycical force applied through the “escort” duration, but he didn’t mentione that the men failed to Identify themselves, and the Mental Force, of Just “follow us we’ll take care of you” was more than the no force claim..Of cource you don’t have to wrestle the man to the concrete to amount to unnecessary force..
Anyway, bottom line is that this was another big show with no bang. Nothing gained; much lost. Circus.
This is the worst possible way to tackle corruption.
But I guess it was good PR and photo ops for the Presidentiables…..
…and for Cayetano, the only proven liar of the bunch.
Ahhh, the drama of reality TV.
nash said:
“FINALLY!!!!!
“Officials of China’s ZTE Corp., the winner of the bidding for the scrapped national broadband network (NBN) project, advanced at least $1 million to resigned poll chief Benjamin Abalos, businessman Jose De Venecia III told the Senate inquiry into the scandal-tainted deal on Mondayâ€Â
NOW THIS CAN BE VERIFIED FROM ZTE! (Well, if we force them…)…”
—
Hmmm, if true, then this development is something worth looking into.
vic,
They left the guy in a bathroom for 10 minutes and with his cellphone. If these men were supposed to be controlling Lozada, they are the stupidest, lamest, most Keystone Kops ever.
Then they take him to an Outback restaurant where he could just get up and walk away. And he didn’t. I guess the only one more stupid than the guards was the prisoner…..
Sheesh
hayyyyy…natapos na din. pansamantala.
The Senate hearing on Lozada issue, is very revealing of the corrupt darkness that this administration upholds. The police praetors contradict themselves. They allow Citizen’s arrest and Sheriffs to function independently but NOT the Senate Sgt-at-Arms. They claimed the police escorted Lozada but he had no free will. He was pressured to sign documents that he requested for Police protection when he was not. He did not have lawyer representation except for what Malacanang forced upon them. Many of the signatures of Lozada was forged. The whole administration pounced upon a single man wanting to divulge a multi-billion peso corrupt transaction. The Praetorian Police were lying through their teeth.
The big fish criminals are strenuously protected by hook or by crook.
Incredible … only someone who intentionally blinds himself from what is happening in this nation would fail to see the travesty of it all.
Ang dating naman sa akin parang toilet. hehehe
they want to call a duck by another name. but it will walk like a duck, quack like a duck so it is still a duck.
Para original naman sila at hindi sabihing abused people power.
quack quack.
The opposition would like us to connect the dots from Lozada to Neri to GMA but without Neri’s testimony, I still say no way I’m going out to call for GMA’s resignation.
The planned rally for GMA’s resignation this Friday — again the opposition headed by Binay’s camp is hoping to use current public perception to win public support for toppling this government. But it will be a tough sell because judging from the threads here, the opposition is also suffering from the same public distrust as the administration.
Kabayan…ano kamo…praetor? syndicrazy? phooey! utang na loob, come back down to earth and stop with the drama…malapit na ko sa punto na aalis na naman ng bansa!
nagpalito ka naman sa ka-dramahan na to….di mo ba napansin na nabaling na yung attention ng hearing mula sa NBN?? why? because it’s not enough to get FG and the president! pahahabain lang to pampogi points para sa 2010.
Lozada is not pressing charges against the government about the “kidnapping” – bakit? mapapahiya lahat kung makita nila ang unang press con ni Lozada.
paulit-ulit tinanong yung mga pulis (damned if they do, damned if they don’t and royally screwed pulis) kung bakit hindi sinabihan ang asawa ni Lozada na hawak nila. Eh bakit nga ba eh may cellphone nga si Lozada…WHY DIDN’T HE CALL HIS WIFE? kung gwapo sya sasabihin ko nang may plano ata syang mag-showbiz pagkatapos ng gulong to!
kahit ano pang sabihin nya sa Senado…una nyang sinabing misunderstanding ang lahat pati yung writ of habeas corpus at amparo…dinahilan nya sa iba’t ibang temperament ng mga kapatid nya.
The real travesty is the Pinoy attention deficit disorder that makes us LOSE focus on the important things!
As for the Church, malapit na malapit na ko mag Buddhist o Evangelical Christian!!! Nasaan ang separation of church and state???
This is explosive? This gives us hope? Phooey!
Has anyone noticed how nervous and tense the Atutubo guy? Like all his answers sounded canned and formulaic and he couldn’t even answer a simple yes or no question. No spontaniety whatsoever in his answers!
Was it just me who heard it or did I hear Atutubo (or was it CUSI?) say that the party that met Lozada from the plane had no weapons and no RADIOS (with which to be told to divert in order to avoid the media etc ) then later in the hearing, Col Mascarinas said something to the effect that he was advised BY RADIO that the party was on the way down on the elevator? Does anyone know where one can access the transcripts of the marathon hearing today?
The Neri to GMA path is the document supposedly written by Lozada in October 2007. But man, it sounds like it was written by someone who has knowledge of the events unfolding now, rather than someone in October last year.
Would Lozada own up to writing it? Because if we were to believe that Lozada supposedly wrote it to gain sympathy for my-hands-are-tied Neri, the article’s message only serves to paint Neri as a jellyfish. No sympathies here.
All in all, the article just leaves a feeling of discomfort after reading it: that while it’s obvious that we have the Executive branch’s contaminating the crime scene that is the NBN deal, we may also have other forces not allied with the government contaminating the same for their own ends.
Case in point: why did Lozada’s wife signed the amparo petition even after she was reunited with him?
At the rate all the players in the Game (as Vic puts it) are being denigrated, just about the only people I unreservedly like in the Senate hearing earlier are the RGS sisters.
Putting my own spin to what Carl said, I’m all for knowing the truth, but can we handle the consequences of Lozada’s testimony?
why am i being moderated when i haven’t called for heads to roll? I won’t swear anymore – promise!
MIKE DEFENSOR, wtf!
“SHOPPING MONEY.’ Former Cabinet member Michael Defensor shows the Senate inquiry into the controversial NBN deal the P50,000 he admitted giving to witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. when they met at La Salle Greenhills. Lozada returned the money later.”
SAAN NAMAN HINUGOT NG BATANG ITO ANG P50K?? Bakit siya nagpapamigay ng shopping money? Lintek, buti pa itong mokong na ito, he can draw public funds and yet walang sweldo mga guro at walang gamot sa hospital.
Malalala na talaga ang Mike Defensor-GMA love affair.
Mita said (among many things):
“Kabayan…ano kamo…praetor? syndicrazy? phooey! utang na loob, come back down to earth and stop with the drama…malapit na ko sa punto na aalis na naman ng bansa!”
Yep, Praetors. Malapit ka na sa punto na aalis na naman ng bansa? Bon voyage. Happy trip.
Tungkol sa iba mong katanungan, panoorin mo uli ang Senate hearing para maliwanagan ka.
What is the important thing? For the darkness that this administration has done to our nation be lifted and removed.
Mag-bu-Buddhist or Evangelical Christian ka? Your choice of religion is not really my concern. I hope you will be happy in your new religion if ever you decide to transfer to another one.
For JUN LOZADA:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”Psalm23:4
kabayan, nabaling na nga ang attention mo sa drama…
Hohum Mita, as I’ve said before, I do not entertain baiters. Good luck and good night
because of the word c..l ph…
@Kabayan:
You don’t have to ask anyone to open a thread for Lacson. Just go to pinglacson’s bl ogsp ot com site and post your comments where he can see it.
Ang slogan ng pinglacson bl ogsp ot c-om site,
@Kabayan: See lacson site for some items about
his proposal — Senate Bill 2040.
“It is high time we encourage whistleblowers to expose corruption through this bill. This may well be a challenge to Malacañang as well. If it is as serious in fighting corruption as it claims to be, it should certify the bill as urgent,†Lacson said.
— bill is a rewards-and-benefits system aimed at ensuring the livelihood and welfare of whistleblowers.
– the bill provides for a reward system ranging from P50,000 to P5 million.
– whistleblowers who will be admitted must make a disclosure that is voluntary, in writing and under oath, with the disclosure not yet subject of a complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman or investigated by any other investigating agency.
– the information given by the whistleblower can be corroborated and that the information leads to a successful gathering of evidence and/or investigation.
— the bill seeks to penalize retaliatory acts against whistleblowers with a P100,000 fine or six years’ imprisonment, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office in case of a public officer or employee.
— any person who deliberately and voluntarily gives false or misleading information faces a jail term of up to 12 years and perpetual absolute disqualification from holding public office.
Such tough requirements:
—make a disclosure that is voluntary, in writing and under oath;
—the information given can be corroborated
—the information leads to a successful gathering of evidence and/or investigation
Corruption prevention lesson l01: about 5 years of so ago, a corruption scandal erupted in Toronto City Hall..An IT lease agreement of $43 millions ballooned to $80 millions without the Council approval..allegations of lobbyists dining and wining Public Officials were exposed. Police was not able to prove probable cause, but the no “Blame Inquiry†called later headed by the ever Patient and Motherly Justice Bellamy who eventually cost the city taxpayers $17 millions found out who were dining who and who were meeting at the underground parking lot exchanging a measly amount of $25 grand (to his everlasting regrets) and after telling everyone who they were in her report, came up with numerous recommendations as she implied that she no longer wants to see Grown Men and Women Noses grow bigger before the court, even after they have taken an oath, and one of them is the ONLINE Lobbyists Registry and Today it is On line…
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/302331
Aftermath: the Principal: a prospective mayor that everyone expects to someday becomes the country’s PM faded in shame and just recently was again involve in civil scandal in his private business..what on earth made him do it?..he was already a multimillionaire??Greed (for $25 thousands?, a hockey game ticket; the agent is a brother of a Hockey Star), that my friends is a Man’s nature very hard to understand…
After listening the whole day to the Senate hearing today,I have arrived at the conclusion that the kidnapping of Jun Lozada at the airport was intended for one simple reason:TO PREVENT ANOTHER DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ZTE SCANDAL AND “BIG BOY ARROYO”.
The operation had a vary sinister objective:silence Jun Lozada at ALL COSTS.
The whole caboodle of government officials (Atienza, Razon,Gaite,Defensor)brazenly lied in front of nationwide TV.
This clearly indicates that the whole government apparatus is protecting the Big Fish who orchestrated the whole kidnapping operation.
How much lies of Gloria and Jose Pidal can the Filipino people stomach???
UPn, The Lacson’s Proposals for protection of whistle blowers is somewhat similar to the Plans of Action of our conservative party which was now part of the New Federal Accountability Law as the Result of the Sponsorship Scandal…
Finally, Part 3 amends the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act to
(a) establish the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal and empower it to make remedial orders in favour of victims of reprisal and to order disciplinary action against the person or persons who took the reprisal;
(b) provide for the protection of all Canadians, not just public servants, who report government wrongdoings to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner;
(c) remove the Governor in Council’s ability to delete the name of Crown corporations and other public bodies from the schedule to the Act;
(d) require the prompt public reporting by chief executives and the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of cases of wrongdoing;
(e) permit the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner to provide access to legal advice relating to the Act;
and
(f) authorize the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner to make awards to persons who have shown courage in defending the public interest by reporting wrongdoings.
There were approximately 100 amendments that were enacted to further strengthened the Accountability including some in electoral funding and expenditures..as per recommendations by the Justice Gomery Inquiry and some from the campaign promises..
and even with the Conservatives in a minority government, the oppositions parties were all very co-operative in expediting passing of the amendments and adding their own inputs..
lozada can write all the articles he wants about what neri has in mind, or feel, or want; say things in the senate that the anti-arroyo senators want to hear and “expose” to the public; re-cast his involvement in the issue as an innocent bystander caught, involuntarily, in the maelstrom of intrigue; make innuendoes and subtle hints concerning the first couple’s participation, at the blatant urgings of some of the inquisitors; but he cannot sway the unbiased mind to accept his words as “truth”.
as exposed by sen. santiago’s examination, lozada has admitted to committing acts of moral turpitude while holding public office. his confessed acceptance of corruption, as a way of life, makes him an unconvincing source of truth. his whole demeanor, while testifying (despite copious tears and the nuns and brothers around him) and listening to rebuttal testimonies of the other witnesses, displayed lack of candor and sincerity.
the ineptness of some of the senators are revealing. roxas (the presidential wannabee), was vigorously insisting that the reason lozada was afraid of the senate was that he might be made to implicate high officials in the government – a plausible scenario reminiscent of sabio, norberto gonzalez, et al. roxas, however, failed to mention lozada’s fear for his life as testified to by sec. atienza and make defensor, and previously by lozada who made reference to the tragic fate of bubby dacer.
jamby madrigal never ceases to make a fool of herself. while atienza was recounting what lozada told him about being spat on by someone, jamby objected because the subject was gross (nakakadiri). instead of leaving the hearing, the good senator wanted the testimony stopped because she did not like what she was hearing.
loren legarda’s valuable contribution was to ask for “cope-py” of every document, at least one she specifically asked for turned out to be already in the file before her.
sen. biazon belabors the point that lozada did not pass the immigration lane even though it was explained that, as part of the “security” measures being taken, the passport stamping was done by an operative. apparently, the senator did not like the explanation.
jinggoy was in his usual arrogant, condescending, and hostile persona. the guy was obviously overcompensating.
what a spectacular show to give the filipino people an idea how their tax pesos work!
Guys,
Mike Defensor gave Lozada 50K, right. from his wife, he says. Did she pull that amount out of her purse or was it just lying around their car. Who carries that much in cash? Maybe 20 years ago, you’ll find a rich person with that amount but nowadays?
“Malalala na talaga ang Mike Defensor-GMA love affair.-nash
Maling term, nash, hindi pede ang malalala bilang pang-uri sa isang love affair. ‘Di rin pede ang malala, ito ang mga pede: mainit, malalim, matamis, maromansa, magastos.
“as exposed by sen. santiago’s examination, lozada has admitted to committing acts of moral turpitude while holding public office. his confessed acceptance of corruption, as a way of life, makes him an unconvincing source of truth.”
so what? On the contrary, the fact that he did made his testimony all the more convincing. All politicians will deny that they partake of corruption, and Lozada isn’t one. Even the MArcoses to this day have never admitted to their grand larceny. And no, Lozada did not say that corruption is his way of life. It is apparently a way of life in government though. There’s a diff.
Miriam is the attact dog of Gloria (her husband got an appointment, even her son), together with Enrile (now his wife is ambassador to the Vatican). While the administration wants to paint Lozada as a missile from the likes of Lacson, they are failing miserably because Lozada is a very, very credible witness. See how Lozada rebutted Joker’s allegation that he (Lozada) was acting in bad faith by talking to many people. Well, there you go Joker, whatever happened to you? Tsk, tsk, tumanda ng paurong.
at hwag mong ibu-bulgar ang love affair, seloso si FG, baka ma-back-off ka. o’ ma-lozada. wink, wink (‘di ko alam ilagay si smiley, heheh)
@ Madonna
iyo gnani, an gurang na’an, taga duman baga an sato, garo pig uli-an na.
May explanation na ba kung bakit (at kelan) kinausap ng asawa ni Joker Arroyo si Lozada, at sa bahay pa mismo ni Joker nag-usap? At bakit nanggalaiti sa galit si Joker nung nabuking na kinausap din nila si Lozada?
Nyek, eh diba sya mismo (Neri) ang nag-kwento sa Senate hearing dati about the P200M bribe offer from Abalos? Paanong “he does not know where Lozada got information”, eh di malamang sa kanya.
devilsadc8, in the preceding thread, you reproduced mlq3′s presentation of the marcos’ diary chronicling the state of affairs around the time just before his declaration of martial law. although i was no longer in the country in the months prior to September, 1972, i lived through the instability and political unrest, among other problems, the country was undergoing at the time. the leftists/communists were gaining strength day by day; corruption and graft in government have become “a way of life”; criminality, both the petty and heinous kinds, was pandemic; poverty in urban centers and the countrysides were burgeoning; media abuses and irresponsibility remain unchecked, unable or unwilling to police itself; politician-statesmen were being displaced by overambitious and predatory demagogues, using “guns, goons and golds”. it seemed that the “democracy” we venerate, the principle that our fathers died for, were failing us.
in the aftermath of marcos’ infamous reign, it was easy to dismiss his account as false propaganda, the ranting of an evil man obsessed with power, wealth and the perpetual adulation of his countrymen. viewed with a jaundiced eye, we take for granted the reasons why he had to impose martial rule, as though they were all fraudulently contrived.
what was happening in the philippines in the period preceding September 18, 1972 is strikingly similar to what is now transpiring before our very eyes – except that now, the economy is finally showing signs of life.
i shudder at the thought of another dictatorship becoming the ONLY option to fix our nation.
Ay_naku,
Di ba si Abalos mismo ang nagsabi niyan kay Lozada? At sabi naman niya kay Abalos, makiki balato na lang siya dun sa partihan?
Talaga naman itong si Neri, nagkakalat ng husto. Sabi ng isang kaibigan kong Cebuano na taga Cagayan de Oro: “Oi, bayot, pakaulaw lang ka diha!”
Another friend also gave this advice: “Maayo pa motug-an na lang ka ug tinuod Mr. Neri, basin ma libre pa imong kalag kang Luci.” (sorry, just between him and Neri)
Bert,
Bikolano ba si Joker? Baka hindi niya maintindihan yung sinabi mo kay Madonna.
Vic,
“Corruption prevention lesson l01: about 5 years of so ago, a corruption scandal erupted in Toronto City Hall..An IT lease agreement of $43 millions ballooned to $80 millions without the Council approval..allegations of lobbyists dining and wining Public Officials were exposed. Police was not able to prove probable cause…”
This is a very good attempt to make govt transactions transparent for lobbyists, and for others to check what’s going on in govt projects.
Problem is: Will a govt like the Philippines subject itself to such transparency? or allot resources to make it happen? or how could govt agencies be independent enough to resist a call from the president saying, “aprubahan mo na ito.â€Â
Even the Canadian case you cited is hampered by internal difficulties, like not having enough resources and personnel to monitor the process.
Assuming that it does, the bidding procedures can be circumvented subtly by some govt crooks who seem to have mastered the art of corruption, or made inutile by reluctant participants because the system has “eaten” them up, in cahoots with particular contractors.
A very good example of this “cleverness,” or dysfunctional system, is the anomalous P1.3 billion computerization project of Comelec, under Abalos, the same guy that Lozada is accusing of a huge $130 million kickback. If there is any use for this case, it’s just for the archives so law students may study and ponder about it.
A couple of questions for the Senate, possibly in aid of legislation (rather than what Gloria and her protectors say “in aid of destabilization”):
1) How could projects go, even for those govt-to-govt negotiations (loans), that make people adequately informed of the process?
2) How should those agencies directly under the president gain enough autonomy to make judicious, transparent, accountable decisions?
Ah yeah. I missed that part when I was watching the hearing on TV last friday. Di ko din agad napansin sa papers. Pero kakabasa ko lang ngayon about it, John Nery mentioned it in his Inquirer column. To quote from that column:
Consider Lozada’s confirmation of the P200-million bribe Benjamin Abalos, then the chairman of the Commission on Elections, reportedly offered Romulo Neri, then the socioeconomic planning secretary. Answering a question from Sen. Loren Legarda, Lozada took pains to note that his knowledge of the bribe was not based on Neri’s recollection of the offer. (It goes without saying that Neri must have told him, some time after it happened.)
His knowledge was personal, Lozada said. It was based on a personal encounter with Abalos, at the Wack-Wack Golf Club, on the way to the locker room. With his arm around him, an ebullient Abalos told him he would release the P200 million for Neri as soon as the advances cleared. This is confirmation, not speculation.
Ay_naku,
Bulls eye!
@bencard
“lozada has admitted to committing acts of moral turpitude while holding public office.”
and yet by your standards GMA’s admission to influence peddling during the last election is ok lang. being selective are we?
@Bert,
Pasensiya na po, Igorot kasi ako, eh hindi po malalim na Tagalog lingua franca namin sa bundok.
Hindi ko naman masisisi si GMA, dahil may pangangailangan siya at sa mala-baboy na hitsura ni FG Mike Arroyo, eh talagang pamatay libog. Buti nalang andiyan si Mike Defensor.
I realized, after watching the hearing in the Senate yesterday, the value of a “blameless inquiry” (as Vic puts it). In my opinion, the very set-up of the inquiry, where Atienza, Razon, Bautista and Defensor is pitted against Lozada, is calculated to maximize the drama and controversy between all the personalities involved.
I expect more statesman-like behavior from our senators. If the senators are primarily interested in uncovering the truth, Lozada really should not have been there.
For crying out loud, Senator Lacson even asked about an alleged sexual harassment case against Atty. Bautista! Is there a better way for everyone concerned to find the truth? preferably one where the participants are not forced to take gladiatorial stances for the benefit of an anxious public?
BrianB,
Mike D. said he, together with his family and some nephews were in a resto to have dinner. It was his daughter’s birthday.
I wonder if they were planning to order one roasted calf for each person that’s why they were carrying so much cash, aside from credit cards I’m sure he and his wife have plenty of.
Whaddayathaink?
Bert, Madonna,
Piguli-an nang tolos. The old fool let out a spittle on Lozada with Lacson as the collateral target. He played along Atienza’s suggetion that Lozada was doble-kara. He did it twice. And both times Lacson blew the saliva back to Joker’s face.
The first time, Lacson said it was because “Mas masipag siguro yung iba.” The secong time Lacson said, “Baka mas interesado sa katotohan yung iba.” Not the exact words, but it’s almost there.
Both times, Joker’s face turned red. Buti nga!
JMCastro,
You do not know the prior details. Did you hear what Bautista said on nationwide radio (maybe TV, too) against Lacson? If not, I can understand where you’re coming from.
Yeah, right. Especially when the poor man’s taxes are used to pay for Billion Dollar loans that end up lining the backpockets of kleptomaniac presidents and their spouses, brokers, and cronies.
Anoyone wants to discuss shootings in the U.S. I think it is UNPROCESSED GUILT from Iraq.
good am. guys!
tongue, and senators too!
“Whaddayathaink?”
Tongue, what I think is that there are a bunch of lawyers among the Senators and they missed an opportunity. I think Lozada tried to feed them that opportunity, but no one bit.
TonGuE-tWisTeD:
Oh, I agree with you — turnabout is fair play. Only Lozada, I think, was telling the truth to the point that it hurt. Everybody else (the senators included) were engaged in political intramurals.
My primary concern is that the dramatics yesterday might play into the administration’s favor. It’s clear to me that the politicians on both sides of the aisle are playing out a media war, a battle of perceptions on nationwide radio (maybe TV, too). Looking at how smart the government operators are (one of which was Lozada before this issue broke out), that might actually be a battle the administration is confident of winning.
o mga guys mayroon ng niluluto na rally sa friday to be headed by satur ocampo, et al.
red banners na naman ‘yan.
mind you may mga pari at madre naman yan na sasali.
Equalizer,
Could the reason you came to that conclusion possibly be because of Mar Roxas’ statement that “nagkatugma-tugma ang mga kagustuhan ng 3 tao na wag magpunta si Lozada sa Senado” and other references he and other senators openly made during the hearings yesterday?
Could it be based on the answers to hypothetical questions thrown at the witnesses by our good senators?
UP n student,
Thanks for the link
Forget EDSA, let’s go KATIPUNAN… er, but give me directions as I am not from Cosmo Manille.
I mean KALAYAAN, not katipunan.
Well they certainly looked like bumbling fools amidst the whole Lozada abduction saga.
I really don’t think they’re that smart. Lagi nga silang nabibisto eh (sa suhulan, dayaan, pangungurakot, etc.) Lagi pang talo sa korte (EO 464, PP 1017, Batasan 5, People’s Initiative, even their failed attempts to suspend Makati mayor Binay, etc.) Lagi pang naki-criticize at napapahiya sa international community (political killings, pagpuna ng World Bank “because of strong signs of collusion and excessive pricing” linked to government procurement, Philippines now the most corrupt country in Asia according to a survey of expatriate businessmen in the region, etc.)
I think they’re more lucky than smart. Lucky because a large number of Filipinos seem to have lost their moral mooring, not to mention their balls (and for some, even their minds.) And I think “tuso” is the more appropriate adjective rather than smart. Not to mention walanghiya, garapal at makapal ang mukha. I think those last three traits have served them well in their efforts to hold on to power.
ay_naku:
“… a large number of Filipinos seem to have lost their moral mooring, not to mention their balls (and for some, even their minds.) …”
I agree with your sentiments in the sense that all the political participants know how to operate the system.
But if there is going to be a decent way out of this, I certainly hope there are enough Filipinos who haven’t lost their moral moorings. Otherwise, it’ll be the same circus all over again.
A witness willing to reveal wrongdoings that he himself has committed (willing to incriminate himself) becomes a reliable one (like a state witness). Now if Lozada’s story is really coherent and realistic, then it must be truthful.
So far Lozada’s story is very consistent.
Nag-explain na pala si Lozada: Joker’s Arroyo’s wife tried to dissuade him from testifying. Ayaw pang mag-comment ni Joker, natameme pa yata. Shame, shame.
ay_, ipatawag kaya ng senado yong asawa ni joker.
heheheheheh
hirap dito baka ma-mention pa ni j-lo pangalan ko at mapunta pa ko sa senado…baka matalo ko pa sa sa iyakan!
hahahaha
Jon Mariano:
“… Now if Lozada’s story is really coherent and realistic, then it must be truthful. …”
Not so fast. Since it is coherent, it’s Lozada’s truth. Now, it has to correspond to facts, after which it becomes realistic.
i agree. paid hacks aside, i think it’s largely the upper and middle class types who tend to get distracted by the Admin’s tactics. The common folk are more straightforward about these matters which is why they have their instincts for who’s speaking the truth largely intact.
hawaiianguy,
the Registry is just one among one the measures, dozens of them reccomended by Madame Justice Belammy. As usual there will be critisism, but most of the measures recommended by Impartial Bodies usually work. Thats is why for a while now, not even a whimper or irregularities are happening in the Government of all levels..
Si Gen. Razon daw is a good man. He is in the wrong company then, and when in Rome do what the Romans do.
And Joker went crazy when Lozada mentioned that he also spoke to his wife at sa bahay pa nila. Joker did not deny this ha… fishy…
What’s painfully disturbing about the litany of polity-wrecking scandals that have visited the Arroyo regime where none, by the regime’s own playbook, seems poised to be held accountable is that it has the effect of “normalizing†breaches, however manifest, of the basic definition of a good order.
Parallel excesses during Marcos rule, it should be recalled, were at least seen for what they were – aberrations as outgrowths of the supposed “abnormal†times. Yet, expectations then that public decency would prevail when normalcy returns were not dashed altogether.
Today, frightening telltale signs of a dysfunctional or collapsing system are cascading in the ordinary course of the business of governance: plunder of the national coffer are prima facie traceable to the First Family; documented incidences of extra-judicial killings and other forms of political repressions have been reported by reputable international organizations; flight of the middle class, professionals and intellectuals continue to drain the nation’s human capital; election fraud and machinations implicate the very governmental agencies(the Commission on Elections and the military establishment) charged with protecting the sanctity of the electoral process; emasculation of the constitutional checks and balances mechanism is simply taken for granted by those members of Congress entrusted to enforce them; unfettered and autonomous yet primitive pursuit of self-interest by the economic elites sustains uneven economic development and gaping inequality.
The harsh reality appears inevitable: the longer President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo holds on to power, the sooner she (or even her immediate predecessor, if at all) will preside over a failed Philippine state in which life for the unfortunate majority of the Filipinos, so entrapped, will be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.â€Â
There’s another “option to fix our nation†than dictatorship or window of opportunity to abort the slide of the country into Hobbesian anarchy: Like Marcos, Arroyo must cut and cut cleanly – now, not later.
Whereupon, following a voluntary transfer of power, Vice President Noli de Castro must proceed to assume the presidency pursuant to the Constitution. At a minimum, obeisance to the constitutional succession process will restore a modicum of popular confidence in the legal order but therefrom the momentum could be built to experience the long-overdue national catharsis.
However, to begin at once the healing process and reconciliation, de Castro must be unhampered in the exercise of presidential prerogative of deciding whether to condone Arroyo and others by the executive grant of general amnesty.
On the other hand, as a matter of reciprocal self-abnegation on the part of de Castro himself, he must commit to the nation not to vie for the office of the president in 2010, the next scheduled presidential election.
This retreat into the arena of legalism just shows that the retreating party has lost the political debate. It is in legalism that their position is strongest and most defensible. “Where’s the evidence? Where’s the proof? Where are those sacred pieces of paper?” A lot of document waving is going on probably counting on their perception that Pinoys respect official-looking documents. Well, Pinoys are learning that documents, especially coming from powerful persons they dont trust, can be faked, manipulated, or coerced into existence and are most likely not even good enough to wipe poop with.
I also saw the ‘pot calling the kettle black’ defense. But if that were true one would think that a pot would be in the best position call a kettle black since the pot would be familiar with both the milieu and the levels of blackness that can stick to both pot and kettle. That’s why mafia soldati are the best witnesses against their capos.
I’d like to see a highly respected moral authority who can pass judgment and say that what has been said by Lozada is true.
So far, the current administration’s PR strategy seems to be “calling all the kettles black”. It has worked before, so it’s not really surprising that they keep on doing it.
Is there a single shiny kettle who we can rally to?
jeg,
those who want documentary evidences to uphold the rule-of-law thingy can get them easily. Start with Atty. Bautista, then go to Atienza, Atutubo or Razon.
Is that the “hard evidence” these airheads want Lozada to produce?
bencard, dictatorship is not the only option in fixing our country. abe mentioned another way. also, as i have predicted, events are coming along nicely for my failed state and revolution theory.
that one, brain drain would happen so fast that the philippines, literally, would be an intellectual wasteland. two, GMA would cling to power until 2010, morphing congress into parliament somewehere along the way (prolly this year). and of course, three, what can you expect a hungry citizenry would do?
GMA’s end would prolly be a helicopter crash or a mob lynching reminiscent of mussolini.
Hm. That’s interesting. Lacson met with Lozada SIX times before?
“Is there a single shiny kettle who we can rally to?”
Castro,
I’ll be heading to Mega in about an hour, maybe I can pick one up.
JEQ
“This retreat into the arena of legalism just shows that the retreating party has lost the political debate.”
It’s not a retreat, they’ve been doing it since Raul Gonzales became Secretary. It’s called, I think, “dilatory.” A lawyer term.
Jegz…
I totally agree…. Sad to say. It is in the Rules of evidence one finds justice (or injustice) as the case may be. If a person is well connected.. he can have access to documents to support his case. It is the passe now that documents now are more credible than the word of mouth. This may be due to numerous distortions one can do in the art of speaking. TAke a look at our Senators. A lot words are said less the content. They distort the facts in pursuit of Grandstanding. (why else would we call them senators anyhow). That may be the reason why the legal rules observed in court are not followed in a senate hearing. To avoid the stringent Rules of Evidence that can and may be tampered with especially as you said, the more powerful personas can manipulate and coerce documents into existence without neccesarily manifesting the true facts underlying these documents.
JMCastro:
on “coherence, and its correspondence with reality.”
I like those tests. Incidentally, it’s something I learned outside of philosophy – in social science. Something of those concepts are also acknowledged in that field, called by other names: (1) reliability, and (2) validity.
Reliability is pretty close to coherence. It comes with other related terms or morphs: consistency, dependability, agreement, consensus. Validity is when something (a claim or instrument) comes close to hitting the bull’s eye, it is what you want to say is “correct†or have truly measured. It’s “reality†from a particular paradigm.
Problem is, something can be reliable but not valid, or valid but not reliable. In the face of this dilemma, it’s better to be valid than unreliable. The ideal, of course, is to be both reliable and valid.
Applying two tests (reliability and validity) to the Senate hearing of Lozada, I see Razon, Atienza, Bautista, Atutubo, Miriam, Enrile (even Joker), and other crews of Arroyo gave a fairly consistent (I say reliable,) stand – they tried to demolish Lozada’s testimony by attacking his person, integrity, and experience, that almost everything he said about the NBN deal was false, a fabrication, a lie.
From what I see (which many also believe), the reliability of the gang would pale in comparison with one man’s (Lozada’s) credibility. His testimony is more internally consistent, judging from his spontaneous, non-scripted recital of what happened (e.g., Abalos’s $130 million, his “kidnapping†or being prevented from testifying, etc.). Compare this to Razon and others, who were reading their scripts so they would appear coherent.
Lozada’s claim on Abalos is further bolstered by two other independent testimonies, those of Joey and Neri himself. I would look at this as confirmatory or an act of validation, although it requires further substantiation.
That brings us now to the second and final test, whether Lozada’s testimony is valid. Did it really happen as he claimed? (e.g., that Abalos is a $130 million “commissioner,†and that Lozada was prevented from testifying, made to sign affidavits or documents under duress, etc.).
I’d like to give Lozada the benefit of the doubt. He presented something that, if not factual by itself, can be verified to confirm “reality.â€Â
(Tongue has suggested where to get those things.)
Atty. Bautista maybe be disbarred– Newsbreak. The guy is 70 years old, I actually feel sorry for him.
At least, for once in a bluemoon. the Puppyface has succeded over the minions of the Arroyo Government. Despite calling the kettle black, a mild mannered “puppy-face” (less the facial hairs) has reigned supreme in telling the people what transpired with the ZTE deal. Lozada’s demeanor has proven that the long time observance that oral testimony can still be credible over documents.
tess,
his being disbarred would’nt really matter to him since he is 70 years old. He would’nt be able to practice his profession anyway since he is getting out na rin. What will suffer the most is his reputation which only his long time in the practice had established for him. I’d feel sorry for him, but….. what the heck was he doing in the middle of fray anyway? He is an old timer in the practice of law, he of all lawyers should know when to stay away and when to jump in with the sharks.
JMCastro: I’d like to see a highly respected moral authority who can pass judgment and say that what has been said by Lozada is true.
You dont need an authority other than what your conscience and perception is telling you. That and the collective moral compass of those around you, people whose perceptions you trust. Forget about the requirements of legalism. They are easily manipulated by those in power. (Does a plunderer ask for a receipt?) All the evidence is in the care the accused parties, such as (if they exist) the records of transfer of funds and the illegally obtained wire-taps of phone conversations, and you can bet that they have already covered their tracks. And whatever Neri is willing to disclose in an executive session with the senators was ruined by an overzealous newspaper who breached its confidentiality, so forget about Neri risking his neck as Lozada is doing.
Search yourself and whether you find Lozada credible or not should inform your actions on this issue. This is politics. The legalistic requirements are for the courts. This is not where we’re fighting. Yet.
JMCastro: I’d like to see a highly respected moral authority who can pass judgment and say that what has been said by Lozada is true.
You dont need an authority other than what your conscience and perception is telling you. That and the collective moral compass of those around you, people whose perceptions you trust. Forget about the requirements of legalism. They are easily manipulated by those in power. (Does a plunderer ask for a receipt?) All the evidence is in the care the accused parties, such as (if they exist) the records of transfer of funds and the illegally obtained wire-taps of fone conversations, and you can bet that they have already covered their tracks. And whatever Neri is willing to disclose in an executive session with the senators was ruined by an overzealous newspaper who breached its confidentiality, so forget about Neri risking his neck as Lozada is doing.
Search yourself and whether you find Lozada credible or not should inform your actions on this issue. This is politics. The legalistic requirements are for the courts. This is not where we’re fighting. Yet.
The fact that Lozada was reaching to both sides before he appeared so dramatically into the public arena makes things even more muddled. He was corrected by Lacson about their meetings in the past…well, reminded is what is now being said. There’s Madrigal hosting dinner for him, and also Joker Arroyo’s wife inviting him for “cheese and wine” – how very civilized…
What was going on during all this time I have to ask? Was there an exchange of information? Where there any offers made by either party? Was there an acceptance from the highest bidder? We will never really know, will we? One party will say one thing and the other party will reply in direct opposition….we were not privy to what went down…so we will never KNOW. All we can do is come to a CONCLUSION.
On the very predictable conclusion that a particular Senate inquiry’s findings can be called TAINTED or PREJUDICED – why are senators meeting and wining and dining witnesses they summon to the Senate? WHY?
Is this just all a joke they are playing on US, the lowly, miserable minimum wage earners dutifully paying taxes before we even get a hold of our earnings? Are we going to accept this insult, time and time again, from exalted and esteemed members of the Senate?
JMCastro, i think Miriam’s line of attack is designed to elicit the kind of doubts that you’re having. Along with legalism aka ‘where is the evidence’ (which Jeg already discussed above) and there is no alternative (the final fallback position), pare-pareho lang sila has so far proven to be an effective strategy for those who want to maintain the status-quo.
Precisely, Jeg, even if I believe something to be true, there is still the question of what others believe.
These are extraordinary times indeed if we cannot rely on strict requirements of what is true, and what are lies. It isn’t a question of what is legalistic, it’s a question of what all of us can agree on. This is the reason why someone with strong moral and ethical standards that all of us can accept has to get behind this.
The power struggle between FVR/JDV vs GMA (and between and within the Lakas and Kampi ruling factions) has been going on for some time.
One reasonable theory is that the ZTE issue is just a part of that tug of war.
One might think there was a fight over ZTE money…and the fight spilled over into the political arena. It’s also possible that a tactic used in the political struggle is to link the other party with some allegedly anomalous transaction. We, the public, can’t tell.
Certainly, JDV (and Joey) is on one side of this ZTE “expose” and GMA (and FG) is on the other. Abalos, Neri and Lozada are somewhere in-between…and ultimately worried how they will come out of this battle.
The Senate and the non-gov owned media are, for the most part, anti-GMA. And there are some very noisy groups who have been vociferously anti-GMA for years. On the other side are very powerful people who dominate the executive branch, both on national and local levels. Both sides have a lot of money.
Then there’s the rest of us. Some of us don’t automatically and emotionally go against GMA (or for GMA) without some thought and some investigation. We’re the ones who want an emphasis on facts. We’re the ones who want to see this stuff go to the real courts.
Did GMA and the FG set up a royal scam and skim plot? Or did JDV and Joey try to finnaggle a lucrative deal for themselves? Or neither? Or both? What were Abalos, Neri and Lozada’s roles in all of this?
We don’t know the truth. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to uncover the truth. Trial in the Senate and media is almost assuredly the wrong way…especially with all the emotional fuel that is added to a hot issue.
Sorry if some of you find this kind of thinking to be dastardly, treacherous or pro-admin. For me, I think respecting laws, institutions and procedures is part of a mature democracy. In contrast is what happened during Erap’s ouster…which we are all still paying for to this day.
Take all of this to the courts.
Take it to the courts … perhaps to the Ombudsman … or maybe the DOI, oh wait there’s something better … take it for a Congressional investigation and make Noggie the head (***guffaw***)
Geo:
If we respect laws, institutions and procedures, shouldn’t we respect the oversight function of the Senate? And this includes specialized investigations by select committees.
Does the endorsement of the nuns and La Salle Brothers count?
cvj:
The RGS sisters? Oh, most definitely. I also like the La Salle brothers.
How about for everyone else?
Abe N. Margallo:
“The harsh reality appears inevitable: the longer President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo holds on to power, the sooner she (or even her immediate predecessor, if at all) will preside over a failed Philippine state in which life for the unfortunate majority of the Filipinos, so entrapped, will be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.â€Â
Fact is, she is now presiding a similar state – a “flawed democratic” system (The Economist, on “democracy” 2007). Failed or flawed, does it make a significant difference? Both stink, don’t they?
Take all of this to the courts. – Geo.
At the height of the Hello Garci episodes, the power of all agencies of government were focused to ensure the ball remained in the opponent’s backcourt. The police, DOJ, NBI, Ombudsman, were suddenly unaccessible or at least, uncooperative on matters that normally were well within their AORs. EO464, PP1017, and CPR were issued one after the other to coverup for the wrongdoings and prevent the massing of critics in the streets.
Investigations? Nada. Except of course, the Senate’s.
Even a lowly administrator of radio frequencies such as the NTC even issued the media a threat of franchise cancelation should the radio/tv companies play the tapes on air. Media took it to court. That was 2005.
Three years later, the Supreme court is yet to announce its decision. But what do you know, the SC is finally coming out with one. TODAY! Just yesterday, the Ombudsman held their own presscon where they claimed the wiretapping/cheating case is not comatose as many have suspected. They are, well, 3 years after, INVESTIGATING! Hypocrites and liars all.
And the procrastination goes on.
When all democratic institutions, especially those which are mandated with checks and balance cease to function, the sham of a democracy does not deserve a day longer. Real democracy will have to defend itself and assert its right to survive. This fight does not happen in the courts.
There are two sets of laws Gloria cannot repeal, laws she cannot circumvent, laws she cannot twist. Physical laws of the universe and divine law.
Either one will catch her soon.
This is so lowlife a discussion.
This is far…very far away…from being a failed state. It is certainly not a failed democracy. Flawed? Sure…like most democracies that are less than 25 yrs old.
Which courts? Yes, all of them. And yes, the Senate DOES have oversight and investigative functions…but it should send cases to the courts if it finds something.
Missed potentially the most important and powerful court, The Court of the People.
geO,
Which courts? Yes, all of them. And yes, the Senate DOES have oversight and investigative functions…but it should send cases to the courts if it finds something.
Sorry for interupting… but the senate could never be a proper party to send these things to court. The courts still have thess doctrine of Proper party to file these cases in court. Even on the premise of being a senator and filing a case in court for the people would still be under scrutiny so that it would be a valid case in court. Paradox is that after all the investigations the senate can not still initiate a court action against all these minions of the current government. All these investigations will lead to and supposed to lead to is a legislation to avoid further abuses of power and influence.
TAke the ZTE case, the ending should be and should be done by the senators is make a legislation that would streamline procurement procedures by the state to protect the procurement from anomalous abalos and the like.
What should not be in the current issue is to take the investigations as a venue for the senators to make political grandstanding and gain media mileage for further political careers.
But those are the what should and should not be….. the ending is and I hope I’m wrong… that the investigations will lead to nothing but expose’ and media mileage for the very young chairman of the BLUE RIBBON COMMITEE. He still has what? 2 terms to go? He needs the media mileage to retain his seat in the senate.
What I do hope is…. That a legislation will come out from all this and put the dysfunctional procurement process in its proper order and protect it from the 22% commissions.
TongueTwist,
Funny you mention the Garci Tapes. Because, yes, that’s where the trouble started.
The reaction to the tapes was led by politicians who screamed for an immediate ousting. People were called to go to the streets for Truth and Justice. High emotion and even violence became the norm.
Imagine if the opposition had just calmly and intelligently put together their game plan and implemented it.
But that’s not what happened. The volume and heat were turned up so high that the nation became threatened by collapse, powerful forces became polarized and the state went into a fortress defense.
Since that time we’ve had to deal with an unpleasant political battle which threatens the concurrent dynamic economic growth.
And the battle continues to be waged in the wrong fora. And many of us are sick of it. Yes, there are certainly problems which are systemic. And yes, there are some bad apples running around. But this has not been (and still is not) the right way to manage these conflicts and problems.
The general population continues to disregard the calls for overturning the establishment. It’s not because people are lazy or stupid or selfish. It’s because — in their aggragate wisdom — they know the difference between approaching these problems and conflicts the right way and the wrong way. They have alread seen how trying to short-cut things just ends up making things worse.
Do The Right Thing = Do It The Right Way
‘Missed potentially the most important and powerful court, The Court of the People.’ – kabayan
parang tunog KOMYUNISTA. okey let them try to hold this government. and see if we will survive for another with all the opinions we could have today!
kabayan? JOMA is that you?
Kabayan,
There is no Court of the People. The sooner that is realized, the sooner we can all try to make things better.
Unfortunately, there are still political leaders selling that BS. Very few citizens are following them, though.
mang_isko,
Joma who? Hmm, mang_isko … Joseph McCarthy is that you?
—
Geo,
Oho, your idol Gloria was installed by the Court of the People.
The legislative is not the institution people can rely on to fight corruption. Politicians are direct beneficiaries of corruption in government. Once in a position of power, it’s payback time and they are expected to appoint anyone and everyone who helped them along the way. And that’s why the strongest allies who risked the most get the most lucrative posts. Need I cite examples through the different administrations?
Let’s just ask ourselves why corruption is still a problem 22 years after EDSA 1. The only answer would be, “It pays and it pays damn well to feed this dysfunctional political system.”
Even if the courts do a fantastically great and unbiased job of prosecuting perpetrators of corruption in government….as it did with Erap…what does it matter if an executive pardon awaits the convicted felon in the end?
Do we really have checks and balance in government if one branch of government only has to wink at the other branch in order to maintain that culture of corruption that feeds the machinery and all is well?
Remember once in power, those waiting in the wings will want to get their share of the pie – nevermind if some of us consider it unfair – to them who ruled/rule/will rule, it’s their share and that is all that matters.
This is a failed state. It needs a complete overhaul and it needs a total and indiscriminate change of names and faces running it – with a totally different mindset about SERVICE in government.
Geo,
“Flawed democracy” is an expert rendition of how RP stands, along with some countries in Africa and Latin America (courtesy of The Economist, UK). Far from failed? Maybe yes, maybe no. Depending on someone’s definition or situation. One who fails can still pass a test later on, right? (Like a bar examinee taking it for the second or third time).
But flawed, can it be corrected and restored to a normal state? Maybe a little bit, by minor surgical means. But the defect is still there, almost intact. Like flawed design of a house, which is already built, later corrected.
Ouch! It really hurts.
RP is also rated on democracy by another group of experts, Freedom House (from USA). During 2002-2005 (under Gloria), the country was a FREE democracy. Then in 2006 and 2007 it retrogressed to PARTLY FREE.
Incidentally, our neighbor Indonesia (during post-Suharto) agonized as PARTLY FREE, and joined the league of FREE democracies in 2007.
The Economist and Freedom House defined democracies somewhat differently. To one’s surprise, their measurements of democracy are highly synonymous or correlated. (For Southeast/South Asian countries, the r is.94; where r = 1.0 is perfect correlation.)
media mileage?
Cayetano – negative perception during all the hearings he’s presided ever since
Jamby – mas lalo lang lumabas na bobo
Legarda – di nagbabasa ng mga records na binigay na sa kanya
Joker – wala na. ipinagbili na ni tanda ang integridad nya
Miriam – pwede nang ipasok sa mental ang isang ‘to
Enrile – naknamputsa, pagkatapos ng martial law at lahat-lahat, ewan ko ba kung ba’t andito ka pa rin para i-torture ang taong bayan
Villar – we caught you sleeping with both sides!
Roxas – konting acting pa mr. palengke. halatang puro ka lang pa pogi eh
may na miss ba akong senador?
yung iba dekorasyon na lang. kahit isa sa sino mang nakaupo sa senado ngayon dapat perpetually disqualified na from any public office.
mas lalo naman yung nasa lower house!
dapat don isa-isa nang…
Geo,
I’m not going to debate that with you. Under normal circumstances, or under decent rulers, if you wish, what you say is applicable. But you totally missed the point. It’s not even a case against Gloria, it’s the NTC case that took all of three years and suddenly, when the heat has been turned up again, they rush and say it’s about time they decided. We have been complaining of the Senate’s 8-hours long hearings, look at the REAL courts! Three years for declaring an NTC order valid or invalid!
I won’t fall into that trap that now seems, the only card left for Gloria’s apologists (I know you are not one) to play – take it to the courts.
My God, since when was it the imbecile Ombudsbitch’s job to hold a presscon three years after an issue was first raised just to say , “Hey, we are investigating!”
And btw, those who keep complaining about what good will come out of these Senate hearings, there you go. The sloth of a Supreme Court and the comatose Ombudsman are up on their feet.
If I may borrow Benign0 – get real!
kaya kung media mileage lang ang habol ng mga senador sa mga hearing na ito, aba-aba, dapat siguro tumigil na sila at mas lalo lang silang nagmumukhang: tanga, biased, at corrupt.
so wait tayo dun sa legislation na gagawin nila. baka sakaling may patunguhan.
ay oo nga pala, babanga rin iyon sa mababang kapulungan. kung san mas grabe ang kababuyan.
ang sarap talagang…
andon lang ang listahan sa newsbreak..
ano duterte? di ba osmena?
I will agree with this one. But if I may add, what’s the use of legislating when the implementors don’t even respect it? The laws are there and have been there for a long, long time. But look, whenever convenient, the implementor just disregards them totally. There is absolutely no legislative action now that is more urgent than oversight. I find it amazing people are complaining of the 8-hours “wasted time” in investigations when crimes have been continuing for SEVEN YEARS!
Legislation has become a secondary function of the Senate as dictated by the need to stop the runaway corruption in all agencies. And it is doing so by its lonesome.
We will start making laws again when we are sure these laws will be followed.
so Tounge, Bayani Fernando for president?
at least we’ll be sure he’ll make sure the laws are followed, kahit sino man ang masagasaan.
hawaiianguy,
Yes, I am aware of those ratings/classifications. That’s why I said it is flawed, not failed…and that it is in a similar situation as many young democracies.
Mita,
That’s still not a definition of a failed state. But I agree that what exist now ain’t pretty. That’s one reason I’ve been for Cha-Cha for a long time…but I agree that it probably must be done once GMA is out of the picture.
Kabayan,
You wrote: “Oho, your idol Gloria was installed by the Court of the People.” Sheesh. You are beyond the reach of reasonable discourse.
TonGuE-tWisTeD said:
“I will agree with this one. But if I may add, what’s the use of legislating when the implementors don’t even respect it? The laws are there and have been there for a long, long time. But look, whenever convenient, the implementor just disregards them totally. There is absolutely no legislative action now that is more urgent than oversight. I find it amazing people are complaining of the 8-hours “wasted time†in investigations when crimes have been continuing for SEVEN YEARS!
We will start making laws again when we are sure these laws will be followed.”
I agree Tongue, the real problem now is that the normal check and balance that a democracy is supposed to have has been compromised. Through the use of cheating, money, and strong arm tactics, the Lower House is influenced, the Executive Branch run like a Gestapo (E.O.464 precludes any active whistleblowers in this branch) while the Judiciary is already heavily infiltrated by the Executive Branch’s tentacles. The current zombie like control of the AFP and PNP held by the Executive is so severe that Praetor Razon even had to lamely give an excuse that Citizen’s arrest and the powers of the Sheriff is valid without police assistance while a Senate Sgt-at-Arms cannot carry out its duty to arrest anyone. That is the main reason that trust in governance is almost gone as it is we are now categorized as Partly-Free.
Take all of this to the courts.
How about an impeachment court, Geo? Would that be acceptable? Or is that court too political?
@cat cat
yes, I need that scam fr. suarez (bili na, mura lang rosaryo) to heal my lowlife brain.
As you can gather, I’m not condemning GMA for her personal life, rather, her incompetence. Sadly, her lover boy is running all over the place as if he were still a government official, getting access to state funds…
Impeachment court is fine by me. And if GMA gets booted, so be it.
All courts. That’s their function, after all.
Geo,
I’m for Charter change too. Ramos tried it, JDV tried it and so did GMA – the problem is mainly distrust.
If we can just get over the paranoia that every president who tries to make change has only one thing in mind – perpetuate themselves in office – maybe it can start things going.
Our big problem is, the politicians who will rule this government will still be the same….which then takes us to the people who vote these leeches into office. How can we change the faces when majority of people are still hooked on personalities and not parties (let’s not even talk about party principles)…they are still believers of padrinos who will throw them a little cash every now and then.
I’m hopeful for the people though. The brain drain is not so bad if you think about it. The kids left here will get better educated than their parents and that is the key to empowering the masa. Some people might say it’s sad – but that’s our reality and we just have to suck it up.
It’s really up to the people to decide our future. Before we let media do that for us, I just want to remind everyone that most media companies in the country – big and small – are run by powerful individuals/families with their own interests to guard.
We have to learn how to think independent of media and the most dazzling politico who gets the most airtime…
Geo:
I honestly think, despite the sensationalist tendencies of the opposition senators, the Senate as a collective still made it all work. Everyone, including the administration senators, got their pitch in.
The problems with courts the way it is conducted in the Philippines today is that judgment relies too much on the discretion of a single personality, the judge. This is the most important reason why a court is the most vulnerable when it comes to back-room manipulations. This, and the fact that legalese is too technical for educated non-lawyers to appreciate.
In the light of the fact that we are trying to grasp a reality regarding the conduct of high government officials, legislative oversight over executive functions — don’t you think that a court (with the exception of an impeachment court) is precisely the wrong place to find it?
JMCAstro,
I totally agree. conduct of high govrnment officials would be very difficult to bring to court. especially corrupt ones. They will do everything to cover their tracks. Even if its fairly obvious that their acts are already in the limelight yet proving them in court is another thing. The stringent legal procedures and rules will more likely prove to be in the favor of the affluently connected and well placed government official. Only the extremely naive and “stupid” officials will get caught with their pants down in court… others? They will most likely get away with it on legal technicalities by way of the brilliance of the legal luminaries paid for in millions of pesos.
True, the courts is precisely the wrong place to find the justice for the people. Plainly said….to indict corrupt officials put them in the NPA courts. hehehehe!
JM Castro, When we say “Blameless Inquiry” it simply means that there will be no Criminal Prosecutions to result as the uncovering of any kind of evidence in the conduct of Inquiry except for Perjury and Contradictory testimonies..It is usually conducted after all Criminal Investigation were wrapped up and the intentions for such inquiry is to find out the causes, the loopholes and the defects in the administrative and the bureaucracy and also the effectiveness of the current law to deal with such wrongdoings and to find measures to remedy them so the chance of Repeats will be minimized if not completely eliminated..so far it works just fine in our settings.. its very expensive..it is very exhaustive more than some traditional trials, and a large contingent of staffing needed to support the Inquiry, including Forensic and counsels available to all parties of interest at government expense..some may hire their own private lawyers for advice..But for aid of Legislation, I believe it is the best Process….
It is also not done for Political wrongdoings, but also for man-made disasters, and one very good example was the contamination of the water supply of the town of Walkerton where scores of townsfolk died of Ecoli contaminations and thousands got sick..This one Justice O’Connor was able to pinpoint the exact causes and the individuals Responsible and a very rare case where the responsbible parties were charged for Criminal Negligence..and also the Good Justice advise the Government to work out the finacial settlement with all the victims.. Out of that Inquest the whole province water supply is now much, much safer..
<blockquote.@cat cat
yes, I need that scam fr. suarez (bili na, mura lang rosaryo) to heal my lowlife brain.
another irrelevant and immaterial issue.
if it is a scam, then all churches selling rosaries in their church stores is a scam.
Have you been to Lourdes, France?
The way, i read you have never left your comfort zone, where hearsay is the order of the day.
Don’t reply. i hope you never get the chance to be like the me and others who need the faith to get healed.
btw, did you read my testimoniala about my healing from cancer. it was father fernando suarez who did it. and i never paid a single cent.
dear cat,
i apologise. i wish you good health and a good recovery.
on another note, i don’t think it has anything to do with fr. suarez.
in fact i challenge fr. suarez to a voodoo match at the DOJ. let’s see who among us can raise Gonzalez’ brain from the dead.
i have been to lourdes and yes it is full of nutters.
Hi Ca t,
From what you have written, I believe that God healed your cancer.
I hope you don’t take your detractors’ lack of experience with regards to miracles against them.
apology accepted nash.
jm,
noted.
@JM
I hope all the ills of the world will be healed.
I just don’t believe in miracles in the ‘religious sense’ the same way that prayers alone will not save our country.
“The stringent legal procedures and rules will more likely prove to be in the favor of the affluently connected and well placed government official. Only the extremely naive and “stupid†officials will get caught with their pants down in court… others? They will most likely get away with it on legal technicalities by way of the brilliance of the legal luminaries paid for in millions of pesos.–Cehz
Cehz, you forgot they also do a lozada to get away with it, or a dimasidsing if you are far from de la salle. In this present dispensation, the legal technicalities come after the fact.
@nash, is this true or tsismis? that’s a very strong statement.
“I just don’t believe in miracles in the ‘religious sense’ the same way that prayers alone will not save our country.–nash
Oh, yes, nash, the cat is praying to damn lozada to save gloria to save the country. Might just work.
cat, I wish you well, prayers included. Even if you are well already.