The unraveling of a cabinet

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Here’s an extract from the book of the week, Crossover Leadership in Asia: Staying Whole in Two Halves, From Civil Society to Government, published by InciteGov.

From pp. 175-184:

The Garci Tapes and Hyatt 10 Resignation

Indications of payback continued to mount, and the issues surrounding the presidency would only take a turn for the worse. In June 2005, tapes of the conversations between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garciliano surfaced, causing widespread public fury and outrage. It was the worst crisis ever faced by the Arroyo administration, which inevitably drove Juliano-Soliman and nine (9) other Cabinet members to the edge and eventually, out the door.

Initially, the revelation by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye on June 6, 2005 of the two tapes that would implicate the president did not seriously bother Juliano-Soliman. “I was in the States on vacation when the tapes came out. I was really surprised when I learned about it. But I dismissed the issue because I knew such a thing was impossible and that it was just part of the dirty workings of the opposition.”

But her friends and colleagues from civil society were furious. “They were telling me ‘Dinky, your president manipulated the elections.’ I still did not believe them, until I heard the tapes and read the transcripts.”

Songco says that this perception of the president was brought up in a meeting with civil society leaders. “I had a meeting with civil society leaders after June 12, and in the that meeting we decided, this is the permanent line in the sand. It cannot be moved the way the line was moved for the Ople and VFA issues. Actually, I pushed that decision because I believed that Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in the elections.” In the same meeting, civil society leaders planned their next steps. “It was no longer a question of the reforms that we will ask for. It is already a question of whether we still believe in the president’s integrity and her legitimacy. Because if we would still push for reforms, although we believe that she is no longer legitimate, then that is just selfish. That is selling out.” Songco added that it was critical at the time to confront the fundamentals first. “I urged everyone to ask the question, ‘Do we still believe in her?’ Because if the answer is no, then that should dictate everything else. So our decision was based on that, which I volunteered to relay to Dinky.”

When Songco told Juliano-Soliman about the results of the meeting, she was in complete denial. This surprised Songco. “Dinky told me, ‘Hindi naman talaga kayo sigurado na siya yun eh (you are not really sure that it was her).’ That was still her position at the time. So I told her ‘Dinky, I want you to know that your allies in civil society are taking a different view, and that we no longer support your president.'” Songco thinks that in a way, this compelled Juliano-Soliman to re-evaluate her point of view on the issue, on which she was still dilly-dallying on within the the very short period of time leading to the Hyatt 10 resignation.

In fact, what Juliano-Soliman heard in the tapes made her suspicious. “I had the sinking feeling that it was the president’s voice. She calls me all the time so I should know. And I thought it was really her.” She expected a Cabinet meeting discussing the tapes right after the Independence Day celebration that year, but no such meeting took place. “When we went back to Malacañang, I found out that there had been no discussion with her, and that there was to be no discussion with her about the tapes. It was not discussed in the Cabinet, but was discussed with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. He was instructed to give the same explanation as Bunye gave. For me, not discussing the issue with the rest of the Cabinet was unacceptable.”

When Juliano-Soliman became convinced that it was the president in the tapes, she was immediately confronted with two questions that she needed President Arroyo to address. “First, I wanted to know what the tapes were about. Why did she do it? And second, I needed to know what we should do.” However, the president did not want to talk to the Cabinet members, including Juliano-Soliman, about the situation at the time.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet pursued their own discussions to resolve the issue. “Every week, the Cabinet would meet as a whole. There was also a crisis committee which met regularly composed of Ermita, (former Secretary of Defense) Avelino Cruz, (Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary) Angelo Reyes, (Presidential Political Adviser) Gabriel Claudio, (Vice President) Noli de Castro, (Communications Director) Silvestre Afable and myself. It was Ermita who was chairing the meetings, but it was actually Cruz who was facilitating the whole process. In these meetings, we were discussing two things.: that the president should explain the tape and that we should do credible action to regain public trust. But I was not part of all the meetings. There was a smaller group that met because there were also private sector people who wanted to help.”

To restore the positive image of the president, the entire Cabinet agreed that the first order of the day was Mike Arroyo’s exodus from Philippine politics. This was the first recommendation presented to the president by de Castro, Ermita, Claudio, (Department of Finance Secretary) Cesar Purisima, (Department of Trade and Industry Secretary) Juan Santos, (Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers) Rodolfo del Rosario and Juliano-Soliman. “The decision of the Cabinet to let Mike Arroyo go was unanimous. We felt that to gain back credibility, the first thing to do is to ask the First Gentleman to leave. And we told the president that everybody thinks that the malaise in the administration has to do with him. If he hibernates, that will lessen the public distrust.” The president said that she would discuss the matter with the First Gentleman, but already expressed her support to the recommendation.

The second recommendation of the group was to ensure that the people associated with the First Gentleman, who were appointed in revenue generating institutions in government, would also leave. Three prominent names emerged in the discussions: Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Chairman Ephraim Genuino, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso Cusi and Former Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante. Since the president had not been attending the Cabinet meetings since June 27, 2005, seven officials were assigned to deliver the message to President Arroyo. They were de Castro, Ermita, Claudio, Purisima, Santos, del Rosario and Juliano-Soliman.

When the president asked who these people were that they wanted leave, the group mentioned the name of Genuino. “The president responded by saying, ‘Ah you know, he’s the one who takes care of the media and bishops for me. You think he’s Mike’s person, but he’s been with me for a long time. I need these people. Of course you know you’re all important but these people have been with me and they get things done.’ I felt my jaw drop after she said that. It’s like she was telling us that Mike can go but these people cannot go because they help her in her survival.”

After the meeting, Juliano-Soliman approached Ermita and Cruz to tell them that the crisis was not going to go away, and that the president should do more to resolve it. “I told them that we need to convince her to explain to the people because nagmumukha na tayong tanga dito (we are already looking like idiots here) and that it was becoming more and more difficult to explain the situation to our constituencies. We were also losing the middle forces like the church, which had already articulated its disappointment.”

The Cabinet then started convening to strategize on how to convince the president that a public statement was necessary. Three (3) draft statements for the president’s speech explaining the tapes were prepared by the Cabinet. With legal advice from the four lawyers within the Cabinet, it was agreed that the speech would not indicate any admission that the voices in the tapes was the president’s. On the other hand, one Cabinet secretary suggested that the president should tell the truth and say she was willing to accept the consequences of her mistake. “If she admits her fault, then there is sincerity and genuine remorse for what she has done. Eventually, people will understand and forgive her. That was our premise, that’s why we prepared several drafts.”

Juliano-Soliman, who, according to her fellow Cabinet members had a ‘calming’ effect on the president, was elected decoy in the meeting where President Arroyo would be asked to make a statement. Right after Juliano-Soliman made their case, the president blew her top. “She was shouting at us. She said, ‘Dinky, hindi mo ba alam na magkakaroon tayo ng destabilization? Kaya tayo nagkakaganito. Wag kayong papayag na magsalita ako, kasi may destabilization. (Didn’t you know that there will be a destabilization? That’s why we are in this situation. Do not allow anything that will force me to make a statement because there will be a destabilization.)’ Then she added ‘(National Capital Region Police Director Vidal) Quirol, (Philippine National Police Chief, General Arturo) Lomibao, they were supposed to come out with that, why didn’t you notice?’ Then somebody in the group said, ‘Ma’am we did not know that there will be a destabilization.’ So the President said ‘No, no, no I thought you knew this, don’t you know that all of these are supposed to be planned?’ Then someone said, ‘But ma’am that’s part of the problem, we don’t know these things. What we are getting are the sentiments of the people.’ Then the president said, ‘There is someone who’s doing this. The ground commander for this is (Department of the Interior and Local Governments Secretary) Ronnie Puno.’ So when she said that, nobody spoke for almost two seconds. Then it occurred to me that there was a ground commander who was doing all of these actions to mitigate the crisis; that there was really no point for us to discuss any longer because someone else was in charge.”

Then Juliano-Soliman got wind of the news that Archbishop Rosales’s position was that the president should resign, while Bishop Soc Villegas had expressed the need for her to explain to the people. “So I told the president that she should really make an explanation because we were losing even the bishops’ support.”

Juliano-Soliman shared this information with Ermita and Cruz. Their take on it was that the president was just anxious because those tapes could be spliced, but for Juliano-Soliman, whatever it was that was causing her anxiety, the president should still explain the truth. When she re-convened with the rest of the Cabinet, it became clear to Juliano-Soliman that they were now the ones who were visibly agitated. “Most of us were asking why Puno was intervening. We thought that his dealings were not part of our operation. Second, there was no conscious effort from the president to explain the tapes. We expressed this to Nonong (Cruz), that it would be very difficult for us to stay if this situation would go on.”

Another meeting was held at the president’s residence in Forbes, and this time everyone, not just Juliano-Soliman, was talking. “The basic message was that there had to be an explanation to all these and that the people should know. We said that it was very hard to convince people that there is nothing wrong and that we need to do credible action for reforms as suggested by the coconut levy and all the other actions that were already communicated to the public before the crisis erupted.” the coconut levy issue is an example of a credible action on the reforms because there was already a court decision that the coconut levy is a public fund. “By citing this issue, we will be able to persuade the people that the Arroyo administration can implement a positive resolution and make them see that we mean reforms. So Mike Arroyo’s departure, his people’s departure and actions of reform such as the coconut levy would be packaged to communicate to the public and demonstrate that whatever the explanation was for the tapes, we would continue to govern.”

The effort to convince the president to speak up continued. “Our third meeting at Cambridge (Circle in Forbes Park, referring to the President’s residence) was specifically organized by Cruz because he knew the majority of those in that meeting, if not all of us, were not willing to stay if that tape was not explained. So in that meeting, we were directly telling the president what our constituencies were telling us, and what we thought she should do. We told her that the people will not buy the alibi that she did not know she was being taped, because she is the president of the land. We also told her that even if she did not know that she was being taped, people would ask why she is not doing anything to find out who did it to her. But in the end, she still insisted on not talking because according to her, that was the advice of her legal advisers.” After that meeting, the Cabinet members proceeded to Cruz’s residence to go over the issue many more times. The agreement, which they only reached after the meeting ended at 3:00 a.m., was that Cruz would help ensure that their recommendations will be implemented.

One of the president’s closest aides advised Juliano-Soliman that the president requested a meeting with then Archbishop (now Cardinal) Rosales. Cardinal Rosales invited former President Cory Aquino to accompany him qhile President Arroyo invited Drilon. The meeting took place on Sunday, June 26, 2005. “In the meeting, Cardinal Rosales told the president that the truth should come out and that she should confess. President Aquino urged her to do the same. I think that meeting was the meeting that pushed her to speak because in the morning of the following day, we were advised by the Cabinet secretary that there will be a cabinet meeting in the evening and that the president will be making an announcement.”

Everyone was hoping that the announcement was the public apology they were waiting for. It was, according to Cruz and Ermita. When Juliano-Soliman and other arrived in Malacañang, they asked what the message was, which they believed was in the speech drafted by Cruz and Santos. It turns out that the speech that would be read by the president was prepared by a public relations and a legal group.

Juliano-Soliman felt that making that public statement took a lot from the president, and that they should affirm her for agreeing to do it. But when she heard the speech, she was surprised that it left out certain commitments that they had agreed on in the meetings. “The speech lacked an important point to assure the public that she was willing to face the consequences and an explanation of what the tapes were really about. But at that moment, I already had a bouquet of roses for her. At first, I thought that we should sing, but the other Cabinet members did not want to do it. So we dropped the idea even though we had already prepared a song, which was ‘If We Hold On Together’. When the president entered the guest house after the speech, (Vice President) Noli (de Castro) handed her the flowers and congratulated her. She stayed for a while then we ushered her to the corridor. That’s when (Government Media Secretary) Cerge Remonde told everyone to sing. I was making ‘no’ signals at him, but he insisted we would sing it. So we started singing, and that sincere gesture, unfortunately, is now marked in history as my infamous ‘IF We Hold On Together’ act.”

It was also in that corridor where Juliano-Soliman overheard Claudio telling the President that (Atty. Oliver) Lozano had already filed an impeachment complaint. “I heard the President instructing Gabby Claudio to talk to Congressman Marcoleta to endorse the impeachment complaint.”

In the days that followed, Juliano-Soliman was waiting for the President to respond to the issues being raised by their constituents, civil society groups and some members of the church. “We assured these people that the president will speak about her commitment to the reforms that we agreed upon. We followed up with Cruz and Ermita, and they also assured us that the president will address these matters.” But after the president made the statement on June 29, 2005 that Mike Arroyo will be leaving the country, she made no other public statements that pertained to the reforms.

On July 5, 2005, there was a Cabinet meeting, the first part of which was not attended by the president. “Ermita presided over the meeting. The first item in the agenda was a communications plan that was presented by Mai Jimenez. The objective of this communication plan was to bring back the trustworthiness of the president through the Cabinet members, who will be asked to say something everyday on television, radio and in the newspapers on why the president is trustworthy. And she was delivering her presentation to the three people who were supposed to be in charge of communications: Bunye, Remonde, and Afable. And Cerge (Remonde) was giving me an ‘I-do-not-know-what-she-is-talking-about’ look. So our first reaction was, why is the president dealing with Jimenez? And why are we focusing on communication?”

Juliano-Soliman adds, “When Jimenez finished her presentation, the President came in and it was obvious there was resistance in the group. She felt the resistance so she pulled Jimenez aside and told her that perhaps the communications plan can be better executed if she worked with me and Ging first and not involve the entire cabinet.”

Then the President delivered her presentation. “She started by saying ‘From now on, the framework for governance is national security. We should bring out the fear factor. Let’s invite (Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward) Hagedorn and (Davao City Mayor Rodrigo) Duterte to come in and show that we can take care of the situation.’ Then Rene Villa said, ‘Ma’am, Duterte called for secession because according to him, there’s chaos in Manila. That’s unconstitutional so perhaps we may not want to be associated with him.’ Then the president said ‘No no no, I just want him and his fear factor, his muscle factor. I don’t think he was really serious about the cessation.'”

“She also said, ‘We will increase the budget of DSWD so the poor will be with us.’ Then (TESDA Secretary) Syjuco said ‘Yes, because if they are buying the PhilHealth cards at Php 200.00, we will get their loyalty.’ And there I said, ‘But delivering these services is the responsibility of government and it is the right of the people to avail of these services,’ but I was rebuffed by one of the Cabinet members who said ‘Not anymore. What we need to focus on now is survival.'”

That was the tipping point for Juliano-Soliman. “That’s the point when I told myself that I can no longer stay. There was already a plan to use DSWD, and I will be given money to buy the loyalty of the poor. And I already did that during the elections. I did not want to do it again, especially because at that point, I already had a feeling that the Garci tapes were true and that there was a manipulation of the elections which we were not aware of.”

Other Cabinet members held similar views. So on July 8, 2005, (Department of Education Secretary) Florencio Abad, (Department of Trade and Industry Secretary) Juan Santos, (Department of Finance Secretary) Cesar Purisima, (Department of Budget and Management Secretary) Emilia Boncodin, (National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary General) Imelda Nicolas, (Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) Ging Quintos-Deles, (Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary) Rene Villa, (Bureau of Customs Commissioner) Alberto Lina, (Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner) Guillermo Parayno and Juliano-Soliman, all members of the Arroyo Cabinet, resigned from office.

The only person mentioned in the book to complain is Cardinal Rosales; here is Dinky Soliman’s response: STATEMENTOFCLARIFICATIONBYDINKYJULIANOeditedHDS.pdf

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

81 thoughts on “The unraveling of a cabinet

  1. Let those paid hacks of GMA defend her now. Not even GMA’s own staff can stomach her for too long!

  2. Bayani, What is there to defend? Politics in our country is a non zero sum game. They left her and thats fair enough as they lost confidence on her. Did this in anyway prove anything against the president?

  3. to anybody still romanticized by people power removing another sitting president:

    gloria will just hang on till 2010. any people power attempt will just go pffft.

    just concentrate on working on your congressman to vote for impeachment this year, tutal around 84 votes lang are needed. baka maunahan na naman kayo

    mas sigurado ang impeachment kaysa another people power

    and aside from working on congressmen – instead of attending/organizing countless rallies/people power attempts, better heed Mike Hanopol’s advice:

    mabuti pa kung magtanim ka ng kamote (kamote!)
    makakatulong pa ito sa yong sarili (sarili!)

    (pero kung mag micro people power na lang kaya in front of each congressman’s house….)

  4. When I first seen GMA during her first appearance with George W. after 9/11 at the Oval Office and delivered that inspiring speech, I said to myself, here is the President who can stand alongside the Great Leaders of the world and hold her own. Little I had known (now I knew) she too has a battery of great speech writers and can pick one in several drafts. Never heard of her before she ousted her President and got involved only after the Garci Scandal, a very extra-ordinary event in a life of a Politician. But sometimes, no matter how you dislike her as a person due to her alleged sins, you can not help but to admire her Stubbornness and steadfastness on holding on to Power despite all the odds, where lesser Leaders could have crumbled long time ago. Well, a child raised spoiled could grew up stubborn the wrong way..

  5. and I thought there is something new about Madam jinky.

    They left out something. Boncodin came back to the fold. She never knew they will be resigning. Now she’s back as a board member of a gocc.

    One more thing, they could have done it more effectively by getting documentations. We all know that we need “hard evidences” these days. Rule of law must be upheld and they should have brought it to the proper authorities!!!!!

    Oh I forgot, Madam’s people are the one WHO CONTROLS WHAT THE LAW MEANS.

    so that means THE LAW IS USELESS WHEN YOU USE IT AGAINST THE ONE WHO WIELD IT.

    Only a sucker will believe that the laws applies to Madam and her people now.

  6. Then the President delivered her presentation. “She started by saying ‘From now on, the framework for governance is national security. We should bring out the fear factor. Let’s invite (Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward) Hagedorn and (Davao City Mayor Rodrigo) Duterte to come in and show that we can take care of the situation.’ Then Rene Villa said, ‘Ma’am, Duterte called for secession because according to him, there’s chaos in Manila. That’s unconstitutional so perhaps we may not want to be associated with him.’ Then the president said ‘No no no, I just want him and his fear factor, his muscle factor. I don’t think he was really serious about the cessation.’”

    “She also said, ‘We will increase the budget of DSWD so the poor will be with us.’ Then (TESDA Secretary) Syjuco said ‘Yes, because if they are buying the PhilHealth cards at Php 200.00, we will get their loyalty.’ And there I said, ‘But delivering these services is the responsibility of government and it is the right of the people to avail of these services,’ but I was rebuffed by one of the Cabinet members who said ‘Not anymore. What we need to focus on now is survival.’”

    That was the tipping point for Juliano-Soliman. “That’s the point when I told myself that I can no longer stay. There was already a plan to use DSWD, and I will be given money to buy the loyalty of the poor. And I already did that during the elections. I did not want to do it again, especially because at that point, I already had a feeling that the Garci tapes were true and that there was a manipulation of the elections which we were not aware of.”

    So an attempt was to create atmosphere of fear (fear factor) in order to rule AND the focus would be on survival rather than honest service. Most foul indeed.

  7. Tonio,

    Just got it from above topic 🙂

    Bold highlights are my own, last sentence is mine. The blockquote feature won’t work.

  8. “Let those paid hacks of GMA defend her now. Not even GMA’s own staff can stomach her for too long! “

    Countdown continues. DAY 10

  9. “…To restore the positive image of the president, the entire Cabinet agreed that the first order of the day was Mike Arroyo’s exodus from Philippine politics…”

    They pretty much failed with this since Mike just sought out other politicians he can have under-the-table dealings with. Or perhaps he was sought out himself.

  10. The EQ Polls:Feeling The Public Pulse on National Concerns.Make a Stand.Cast Your Vote Now!
    Current EQ Polls:

    1)Do you believe Gloria’s promise to step down in 2010?

    2)Which TV News do you Trust the most?

    3)Which Philippine Newspaper do you Trust the most?

    4)Who is the most Credible Filipino Leader today?

    5)Who should be the NEXT President of the Philippines?

    6)Which are the most Trusted Philippine Institutions?

    7)Who are the Ten Best Senators?

    8) Are you willing to join a “Boycott China” action in protest against ZTE?

    9)What is the public pulse on the “Jun Lozada” expose?

    10)What is the best way to resolve the current political crisis of Gloria Arroyo?

    11)What is the legacy of Gloria Arroyo after 7 years in office?

    12)If and when GMA resigns,what kind of New Leader must we have?

    13)What is the EXTENT of the current “SEARCH FOR TRUTH”?

    14)Have reached the “THE TIPPING POINT” in the current political crisis?

    15)Kayo,ramdam ba ninyo ang pag-asenso pagkaraan ng pitong taon?

    16)Are you in favor of Gloria’s Charter change(CHA-CHA) again?

  11. “are you willing to make a count till day 872?”

    scalia,

    yes, that’s actually my target. someone made a bet that gloria’s days are numbered right after that interfaith rally in makati. i’m actually doing some people here a favor.

  12. grd,

    ah ok. got your point.

    in one sense, that someone is correct. gloria has 872 days na lang

  13. “After the meeting, Juliano-Soliman approached Ermita and Cruz to tell them that the crisis was not going to go away, and that the president should do more to resolve it. “I told them that we need to convince her to explain to the people because nagmumukha na tayong tanga dito (we are already looking like idiots here) and that it was becoming more and more difficult to explain the situation to our constituencies. We were also losing the middle forces like the church, which had already articulated its disappointment.””

    And the mishandling of Mike Arroyo once more led into this situation only in worse form.

  14. …”In the days that followed, Juliano-Soliman was waiting for the President to respond to the issues being raised by their constituents, civil society groups and some members of the church. “We assured these people that the president will speak about her commitment to the reforms that we agreed upon. We followed up with Cruz and Ermita, and they also assured us that the president will address these matters.” But after the president made the statement on June 29, 2005 that Mike Arroyo will be leaving the country, she made no other public statements that pertained to the reforms….

    So in effect she really has no intention for reforms in the first place. Her preferred solution was to use the Duterte and Hagedorn “fear factor” technique. This also gives rise to the high probability that she is part of the dealings of Mike. Mike seems to be the one doing the dirty work while she waits for manna to fall.

    Gloria also repeated the same strategy after the Lozada expose in the ZTE corruption scandal, this time however the protest was more intense and the anti-corruption movement grew in an astonishing rate. A grave miscalculation on her part. Her dishonest heart is actually the source of her growing troubles and the troubles of the Filipino people.

  15. Replies to the EQ Poll:

    1. teka, wala naman syang sinabing ganyan ah?
    2. Jon Stewart’s News Program
    3. Daily Express
    4. Rodrigo Duterte
    5. Anyone of the following – Duterte, Bayani Fernando, Roxas, Lacson
    6. Judiciary
    7. Di nga ako maka 5, ten pa!
    8. even if i did, i unknowingly consume made in china products daily!
    9. the more he talks the less credible he becomes. he’d better shut up now
    10. hang on till 2010
    11. good numbers according to her
    12. dream on
    13. ampaw
    14. jus ko day. EDSA tres pa lang, tipping point na
    15. yes
    16. yes. she and all the incumbents cannot benefit from any term extensions granted

  16. Si GMA hanggang 2010 ang Termino, ang Problema pagkatapos nang Termino na wala na siyang immunidad at privileheyo, yon and e countdown, lalo na pang si Ping Lacson ang nasa Poder.

  17. “…It was also in that corridor where Juliano-Soliman overheard Claudio telling the President that (Atty. Oliver) Lozano had already filed an impeachment complaint. “I heard the President instructing Gabby Claudio to talk to Congressman Marcoleta to endorse the impeachment complaint.”

    Atty. Lozano will then become and up to now is the reliable hack of Gloria to immunize her from being impeached.

  18. Most surely, GMA and her advisers are already planning their strategy for the soon-to-happen “open period” to file an impeachment.

    I cannot help but think that the Opposition plan is to let GMA repeat the maneuver she had done prior and then for the Opposition to fan the outrage. The CBCP stance on “immunization” is already known — “immunization” as allowed by the constitution is valid.

  19. to Kabayan:
    Your #12 question is: 12)If and when GMA resigns,what kind of New Leader must we have?

    should be re-worded into planning and and action-taking:
    12a)After GMA, what kind of New Leader will the Philippines have?
    12b)After GMA, what kind of New Leader should the Philippines have?
    12c)Why is there a difference?
    12d) What’s the action?

  20. “blockquote>
    4. Rodrigo Duterte
    5. Anyone of the following – Duterte, Bayani Fernando, Roxas, Lacson

    anthony,

    good choice. anyone of the four above will be fine with me. but i would prefer duterte of course… not just because i’m a davao resident. 🙂

  21. 4. Rodrigo Duterte
    5. Anyone of the following – Duterte, Bayani Fernando, Roxas, Lacson

    anthony,

    good choice. any of the 4 above will be fine with me though i would prefer duterte… not just because i’m a davao resident. 🙂

  22. Isn’t duterte a fascits? Kind of like Alfredo Lim but worst.

    Kabayan, Like I said before, gaya-gaya sa U.S. George Bush got away with lying by cultivating a culture of fear. Same thing here. Erap didn’t get away because there is no precedent from the U.S.

  23. Let me make my argument absolutely clear, because there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about unseating Gloria:

    First, another people power will not give us a choice on who we put as head executive. Noli is VP. Even in the Middle Ages, there was never any choice but to follow the order of succession.

    Second, Gloria cheated and she has brought criminality to Malacanang. That’s the reason for her to go. It’s not the economic reasons and it’s not any other reason. residents do not make or break economies. That would be stupid and would make a country very weak. Whatever Solita Monsod is trying to suggest, the Philippines will survive and may even prosper without Gloria.

    Third, it’s actually ideal that she only has less than two years in office. This will give Noli no room for last minute changes that can jeopardize our economy. What is of utmost importance however, is the act of unseating a corrupt president. Even if we have done this a hundred times, it is necessary to do. The alternative is worse: a culture that gives impunity to all powerful men and women.

    Fourth, taking to the streets is not taking the law in our hands. Killing a OJ Simpson is. Beating up Michael ackson is. Presidents are immune to normal persecution via our courts. And unseating her isn’t the same as putting her in jail.

  24. “We felt that to gain back credibility, the first thing to do is to ask the First Gentleman to leave. And we told the president that everybody thinks that the malaise in the administration has to do with him. If he hibernates, that will lessen the public distrust.”

    “When the president asked who these people were that they wanted leave, the group mentioned the name of Genuino. “The president responded by saying, ‘Ah you know, he’s the one who takes care of the media and bishops for me. You think he’s Mike’s person, but he’s been with me for a long time. I need these people. Of course you know you’re all important but these people have been with me and they get things done.’ I felt my jaw drop after she said that. It’s like she was telling us that Mike can go but these people cannot go because they help her in her survival.”

    No wonder Gloria left her dying husband at the hospital just to ‘witness’ the signing of the ZTE-NBN deal in China.

  25. UP n student Says:

    “12a)After GMA, what kind of New Leader will the Philippines have?
    12b)After GMA, what kind of New Leader should the Philippines have?
    12c)Why is there a difference?
    12d) What’s the action?”

    ========

    Ah finally, the questions are improving in this forum. To answers these in brief:

    12a)After GMA, what kind of New Leader will the Philippines have?
    The New Leader of the Philippines after Gloria (assuming that she would step down in the first
    place) would be either:
    a.1 Be decided by the people
    a.2 Be decided by influential people controlling the COMELEC

    12b)After GMA, what kind of New Leader should the Philippines have?
    The New Leader of the Philippines should have:
    b.1 A moral leader, primarily an anti-corruption fighter
    b.2 A caring leader, who would look at the interest of the people with the order of priority
    starting from the poorest of the poor and up.
    b.3 A creative leader, where the leader should find creative ways to at the very least produce
    a vibrant economy that INVOLVES people who have less in life, to pump prime the economy. If
    they become rich, those above in the economic totem pole benefit as well since they will be
    the future consumers
    b.4 A leader who leads by example
    b.5 A leader who delegate duties to people who are both moral and competent in their field
    b.6 A leader who would fire subordinates if proven to be abusive and corrupt in his or her
    position
    b.7 A leader who looks after the interest of the nation as a whole, NOT the interest of another
    nation, not an elite clique, not herself or himself, not the coterie of relatives and
    sycophants, not to a powerful but corrupt few
    b.8 A leader who harnesses the power of the people and not a clique
    b.9 A leader who would bring back proper checks and balance in the nation
    b.10 A leader who cares for our resources and environment, caring for nature which blesses and
    sustains us

    12c) Why is there a difference?
    The difference in a future leadership would be dependent on willingness and actions of people
    and organizations who truly want a better future for our nation. Assuming that there will be
    future elections, it is up to the efforts and awareness of people who not only wish for a
    better nation but also willing to fight and be continually vigilant of the evils pervading in
    our society today

    12d) What’s the action?
    The proper question is, what is yours?
    Effective action can be done effectively only as a group united to stamp out evil,
    mismanagement, corruption, and abuse in governance. The answer lies within each and everyone
    of us who wants a better nation and our desire NOT to give our service to those who are
    obviously wantonly corrupt and morally bankrupt, whatever the reason may be.

    ========

    Do not take your eyes off the ball however; there is still the ever-present danger of term extensions and sudden Constitutional “coups” through forcing Charter Change and the like. Year 2010 is not the end-all to the ills of what is happening in our nation right now.

  26. Kabayan,

    I agree with you. The legacy of GMA as a president will probably be creating a poisonous political atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and doubt. I hope that we take this moment in our political affairs as an opportunity to enlist the necessary constituency to build the leader with the characteristics you espouse.

    Joining protests, NGOs and civil society groups would go a long way towards making this sort of constituency.

  27. SURVIVAL is the key word. Fear Factor is the havoc any destab will do to the economy. The BIG lie is: the economy did not improve at all but was only massaged to keep everyone at bay. (see article of 29 February, TIME TO FACE FACTS, published by Manila Standard Today).

  28. In my book, Dinky Soliman is still a rat who deserted and betrayed her boss, and friend. I guess most Filipinos consider betrayal one of the monumental sins.

    What Dinky failed to include in her account was their plan to oust GMA via a Cabinet coup, with the participation of Senate President Franklin Drilon. Why, Dinky and the rest of civil society wanted at that time was to prop up de Castro as President and make a puppet of him. Height of hubris after Edsa Dos!

    Too bad, GMA was simply smarter and always a step ahead, her nose for conspiracy doesn’t fail her, being herself one so adept in its very practice.

  29. Let us stop mouthing that replacing GMA will unravel the growing economy. That is the FEAR FACTOR to keep her in SURVIVAL MODE. Read Feb 29, 2008 “Let’s Face the Facts” of Manila Standard Today about the big lie foisted on us about our growing economy.

  30. Thanks, Manolo.

    Madonna, Yep. Saw her at Megamall a few days after their Hyatt announcement. Gave her the “eye.”

    I’ve always thought that group was too manipulative in their actions. The public would’ve preferred more sincerity. Yes, when they make it a battle of smarts they will lose to this “Evil” president.

  31. b: i don’t know if more sincerity is what would have done it, but instead, more testimony that went beyond “trust us, she’s bad.” dinky et al. told what they had to say but it wasn’t enough: the really damning stuff must have been known by boncodin and purisima, for example, and they never talked. that’s my criticism of the h10.

  32. WHITE LIE,

    When priests lie for the betterment of the flock, this is called a white lie, not technically a “lie” but a means to fend off the misguided curiosity of the doubting public. A loophole in other words. Catholics who believe that priests do not lie regularly is naive and know nothing about the Catholic faith.

  33. JMCastro,

    Exactly, that is why organizations sick and tired of this poisoned, corrupt and abusive traditional politics should take the bull by the horns right now… not later… Now.

  34. BrianB,

    Yes, after the group’s press announcement of withdrawal of support, it went downhill because apparently their cover had been blown and that’s the time they made the drama of presenting themselves as heroes, so that they will get the sympathy of the public. They were arrogant elitists who thought of the exercise as a powerplay first and foremost, although their words proclaimed otherwise. Again, they were no different from GMA who think of power first and only about the people, last.

    Manolo, Purisima is one of those of those hot-shot private sector execs, strutting like a peacock, who thinks of a Cabinet appointment as a cherry to his resume and who doesn’t give a damn about public service. Typical. Now Boncodin is different, because like Neri, she serves and serves, but who is simply too powerless and scared because there are no guarantees in the system that truth will prevail over crass powerplay.

  35. Kabayan: Here are my same questions, but with my answers:
    12a)After GMA, what kind of New Leadership will the Philippines have?
    — Prez will be from the existing pool of leaders, e.g. either Noli, Mar, Villar or
    Lacson, or one of the generals. JdV or Colonel so-and-so has a better chance
    of being next-Prez than MLQ3.
    Makeup of Congress and Senate — no real change.
    12b)After GMA, what kind of New Leadership should the Philippines have?
    — better than those in contention to be next
    12c)Why is there a difference?
    — the “bad” have consistently bubbled to the top. The “bad (mediocre-at-best)”
    get elected to congressman-or-better from where, because of name-recognition plus
    enhanced access to the power-corridors, they are much much harder to topple.
    — the ability of NGO’s, the pro-small-business and pro-poor to affect voting
    patterns remain abysmally negligible
    that the legislative power-seekers
    (and court system) consistently get swayed by traditional power-brokers
    (Tommy Alcantara, Lucio Tan, the Ayalas, the Cojuangcos, the religious-obstructionists))
    12d) What’s the action?
    Go figure, but if “12c” persists, then expect “more-of-the-same”.
    In the meanwhile :
    (i) the vote-counting mechanism has to be improved (in accuracy, timeliness, integrity);
    (ii) strengthen the integrity of the judiciary (at minimum, increase their salaries);
    (iii) commerce. A population better-fed, better-moneyed have more time to vet the
    processes which shape which people get elected.

  36. told what they had to say but it wasn’t enough: the really damning stuff must have been known by boncodin and purisima, for example, and they never talked. that’s my criticism of the h10 — mlq3

    mlq3, may I ask a really naive question?

    When you say “they never talked”, what venue exactly should this “talking” have taken place?

    (a) With the press?

    (b) With yet another Congressional committee?

    (c) On the street in front of an anti-Gloria lynch mob?

    or… (now here’s a leap of innovation here)…

    (d) With the ombudsman?

    Just wondering…

  37. Hyatt 10 are a joke; talk about wolves in sheeps’ clothing.

    Dinky and now Drillon have been shown to be bald liars. The only ones who give them the time of day are media outlets like ANC and the Inquirer — who have a bad habit of publishing/broadcasting erroneous or false stories (that, amazingly, they don’t even retract properly!).

  38. UP n student said,

    “the ability of NGO’s, the pro-small-business and pro-poor to affect voting patterns remain abysmally negligible”

    Yes, that is why this situation should be improved.

  39. i think we give too much credit to president GMA as a clever and cunning politician. I mean how can a group of civil society types can outsmart the faction of secretary ermita and company who are grizzled veterans of the power game.

  40. Dinky and now Drillon have been shown to be bald liars. The only ones who give them the time of day are media outlets like ANC and the Inquirer…

    elitists supporting their own, i wonder…

  41. Suggest the next concrete steps to take post GMA and Noli:

    1. Clean the padded voters’ lists at the barangay levels;
    2. Clean all reports, NEDA’s, DBM’s, DA’s and all the other GOCCs of fudged data;
    3. Make all those responsible for keeping information away from the public, destroying public documents or tweaking reports accountable. False reporting of data is after all criminal;

    Items 1-3 can be done immediately

  42. UP n student said,

    (iii) commerce. A population better-fed, better-moneyed have more time to vet the
    processes which shape which people get elected.

    Unlikely situation for the present especially for those in the bottom rung of society. These elitist clique despise the masses of hard up people but at the same time blame them when they vote for a “maka-masa” president. Now these corrupt men and women in power haughtily dismiss their worth but shouts to the high heavens for not voting “correctly” during election time. Now whose fault is it?

    Right now billions of corruption money are being funneled to this greedy group already rich and high up in the economic totem pole. Now whose fault is this?

    If we know who really are in fault, what are we going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?

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