On Lozada: The perils of being a snitch

The way of the warrior says I have no desires; I make seizing the opportunity my desire.

The way of the warrior says I have no principles; I make adaptability my principle.

This is how I follow the way of the warrior: seize the opportunity and the power.

-Tokugawa Ieyasu, first Shogun

From time to time, partly to document my trying to understand Eastern attitudes towards governance in contrast to my own heavily-Western orientation, I like to quote extracts from the Analects of Confucius, most recently in entry The Mandate of Heaven. Recently I read this article on Tokugawa Neo-Confucianism and then this one on Intellectual currents in Tokugawa Japan. This is of more than antiquarian interest because Bushido was seriously examined by Filipinos prior to World War II (during and after which, of course, Bushido became tainted by its being used to justify Japanese atrocities) in the effort to instill a stronger sense of citizenship (in terms of both freedoms and responsibilities) in a country preparing for independence.

Bushido was held up by by various Filipino leaders before and during the war as something to emulate. You still find echoes of this in proposals by people like Jose Abueva to have a Bill of Rights and Obligations (which hews to the provisions of the 1943 Constitution of the Puppet Republic) instead of a Bill of Rights.

It’s a stretch to suggest that Japanese Neo-Confucianism or Confucianism itself is precisely the kind of thinking expressed by Romulo Neri, Jr. and his one-time acolyte and factotum, Jun Lozada.There are elements of these philosophies, however, in their public and private (then publicly-reported) view concerning governance and reforms.

But it brings me to this weekend’s entry. From my computer’s handy-dandy built-in dictionary:

snitch |sni ch | informal

verb

1 [ trans. ] steal.

2 [ intrans. ] inform on someone : she wouldn’t tell who snitched on me.

noun

an informer.

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: of unknown origin.

Jun Lozada, as I write this, is in Dagupan. The prelude to his visit was this: Lozada streamers torn down before his Pangasinan trip.

There’s scuttlebutt going around that the Palace has imposed a deadline for neutralizing Jun Lozada: the deadline is June, by which time students go back to school. The studentry, of course, prior to Lozada’s emerging as whistleblower, was safely thought of to be unengaged in the current political crisis.

Which leads to the question: Is Jun Lozada self-destructing, or is he being destroyed? if Jun Lozada is self-destructing, either he is not self-destructing quickly enough, or he isn’t really self-destructing at all -he’s just being worn down by the immense resources of the state.

In previous Masses held for him, it seems that the Palace has taken to distributing anti-Lozada Komiks; there is even talk that people are being organized to fill up the churches and then walk out on cue, both to disrupt the proceedings when Lozada begins his talk, and to promote the idea to the media that he is losing support.

Jun Lozada is at it again: writing, that is.

Read the latest products of Lozada’s pen for yourself.

He’s written two pieces, one primarily addressed to members of the clergy, the other, to the public-at-large.

In Telling the Truth.doc ver1.1[1].pdf , he goes into “The Diamond Principle,” in detail, but then again, this is something he has been talking about for some time.

In My reflections on my 2nd month of Calvary[1].pdf , he addresses the public, reiterating the circumstances surrounding his abduction and how nothing has really happened since then, except that the administration factotums originally in hot water have had time to sort out their stories.

Both pieces are surely a response to Lozada recently getting into hot water with some clerics and to media. And surely, a way for him to fight back.

First impressions count. But there are continuing impressions, too, and they add up. Jun Lozada makes some people teary-eyed and other people want to scream, still others want to vomit. It goes every which way: some public figure is sure to get someone foaming at the mouth, somewhere

.The Warrior Lawyer is upfront about his antipathy (based on personal interaction with Lozada) and makes more sense overall:

I never hid my dislike for Jun Lozada, based on his character and what I know of him as an operator when he was still with the DENR. This was a guy who’d arrogantly call for supposedly official meetings outside his office, in bars and restaurants, dine and drink his fill while behaving like a lout, then stick you with the bill. He has no sense of personal loyalty and has been politely described as a “man on the make” (and on the take, as he has admitted). As a whistle-blower, and civil-society “hero”, his whining self-righteousness is extremely irritating. He so obviously enjoys the limelight and his public statements during his recent “road tour” are characteristically pompous and overblown.

But I tried to separate the message from the messenger and gave him credit for speaking up, however reluctantly, on the ZTE broadband corruption scandal.

Now events have conspired to push him on a long slide to irrelevancy. First, the Supreme Court decision in Neri vs. Senate Committee has effectively stymied the Senate proceedings, his most effective platform. Worse, it has deprived the Senate of access to vital witnesses who would corroborate the allegations of Lozada and company, most notably Romulo Neri, as well as other Cabinet members and functionaries. Without a stage and most of the major players, this show can’t go on.

Then Cory Aquino, arguably the most popular opposition draw, and Lozada’s supposed patron and mentor on the path to rectitude, was stricken ill with cancer. No more Tita Cory to cuddle Jun and bring in the crowds.

Finally, there’s Lozada’s own big mouth. He could use some of the advise on self-examination and reflection he so blithely foists on others. His wiseass and bombastic manner has turned off a lot of people, even from among his initially steadfast supporters.

Similar views are in Jingoistic Lamentations.

In my column, The aesthetics of redemption, I stated my personal views about Lozada; in particular, that we should consider the effect of nearly being liquidated can have on someone: at the very least, it explains why someone already temperamentally inclined to be full of himself (as most fixers tend to be), would then become a zealot. Near-death experiences do that to people. So there is no objective reason why Lozada should be writing manifestos that may do him as much harm as good, but what he’s gone through certainly goes a long way to explain his compulsion to crank out manifestos.

While Clarissa Ocampo did state at the time that she feared for her life, she didn’t undergo an abduction and was given witness protection; allegations have been made that she received board appointment from the President but I can’t find any record of this (nor is any government largesse reported in Witnesses reap ‘rewards’ for role in Erap trial).

I also tried to point out that much of the skepticism that greets Lozada has to do with nothing more than questions of taste: in particular, he rubs upper class sensibilities raw and tends to irritate a subset of the middle class. It is the reason some Filipinos believe no funeral is complete without hysterics while others believe good taste demands that one should maintain a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity.

So it’s all a question of taste: the aesthetic element of politics. Just as I’ve argued that there are many who support the President because she upholds the primacy of outward appearances being more important than virtue itself, there are those who, finding Lozada to be grating on their nerves, will then lash out at him.

Typical of the visceral loathing some people who are purely observers (not having encountered him during his fixer days) have for Lozada, is the incoherent, but scathing, contempt of an Antonio Montalvan II for Jun Lozada. I had to ask someone what on earth Montalvan was trying to say: “he’s suggesting a stop to all the school hopping etc. what i like is that he’s implying (well, it’s explicit to me at least) that lozada’s still a crook by definition and must be charged – not really the figure to lead a ‘truth’ crusade of sorts.”

Fair enough.In janEe’s bLog, there’s email from someone present at the controversial Cebu forum Lozada attended, and who wrote,

The Senate investigation only confines itself to factual matters. As a political body, its primordial concern is to fulfill its constitutional mandate of conducting inquiry in aid of legislation. It does not delve into what is in the heart of a witness testifying before it. It cannot be concern about matters of the spirit; personal discernment and insights; and personal conversion and renewal.

These, I believe, is the higher pursuit of Jun Lozada’s journey, both in the physical and spiritual sense.

Despite his being not welcome here in Cebu, he braved the spurn knowing that the TRUTH will shield him against any forms off rebuke and rejections.

Jun was simply not rejected, he was harassed and slurred.

I, and many others, who attended the forum yesterday, had witnessed how Jun Lozada was humiliated & insulted by a man named Po, who claimed to be there in order to be “enlightened” on the issue.

See also, the open letter written by a priest in Cebu, Fr. Jesus Dumaual, as republished in Happy Faith:

You ask why? It is because you have answered (partly) a question they must have been asking all these years: Where have all our graduates gone, the product of Catholic Education, the minds and consciences that we have molded according to the values of the Gospels? Thousands, perhaps even a million of you have joined government service. What have become of you? Have you all become “team players”, swallowed by the system which is now considered the most corrupt in Asia? You are luckier, and I saw your great elation that late in the day, two priests were found (I was one of them) who were willing to say Mass for you. But the poor Sisters, so far, after all these years, have only found one: you. (You see, while we priests may have our Parishes, Sisters have only their Catholic Schools.) Of course, they want to hear your story, to know whatever happened to all the nurturing, the sacrifices they have made for all of you, including the scolding if you just forget to say your prayer, etc. But that can wait. All they want to show you is how grateful and appreciative they are you have returned. The rest will be history.

Which, combined with the letter from the lady in Cebu, gives a pretty good justification as to why Lozada should be making the rounds: to submit himself to the scrutiny of his countrymen.The best advice was given matter-of-factly by JC’s Anatomy. Answer the criticisms. Going back to his recent visit to Cebu, you can’t get fiercer than Fighting Tofu who expressed loathing for Lozada. I myself delved into the whole controversy in The interdiction of a witness, but much of it seemed to me a case of conservative shock on the part of those unused to questioning prelates, and more attuned to the old obediences. A marvelous demonstration of this is that the expression of disgust with Lozada currently making the rounds was a captive protest: watch “Gloria” (Dancing Inmates – Protest Dance). Ordering prison inmates to engage in an obviously far-from-spontaneous dance number… well, the irony is as rich as it gets.

Still: for every person still firmly convinced of his good intentions, like on to a new beginning who ran into him during a graduation ceremony in La Salle Greenhills; nut there are those, like the priest Per Agrum ad Sacrum, hostile to him:

But what then explains the anger? What explains all the zeal and passion and the fury? I would assume they want something else, on account of the fact that they have found common cause with interesting individuals who really have little interest, and thus, can boast of little love lost for the finer nuances of moral theological thinking ( no matter how much they quote and endlessly misquote the Lord’s words, “the truth will set you free.”). I assume they want more than just the moral truth they ought already to know. I assume they want heads to roll. What else explains the “non sequitur” slogans and name-calling directed against the devil woman and her cohorts?

I would also assume that it is not really so much moral truth they want, as “teachings” that would ride along with what they want. How else explain their vociferous rantings against the bishops, who they claim “are not in touch with reality,” or who “are playing deaf, dumb, and blind” to all the shenanigans being perpetrated by this administration? After the Bishops talked about the moral truth of a “culture of corruption” that is found in all levels of society, after the Bishops took to task the President and called for the dismantling of all obstacles to truth, these self-proclaimed “guardians of morality” now declare the Bishops as hopelessly blind, deaf, and dumb, for their taste? How about venting your ire against some media outfits who have already decided what is true for them? Didn’t the Bishops also call the mass media to task? Didn’t the Bishops also call the so-called oppositionist politicians to set aside their ill concealed ambitions and personal agenda? Weren’t we all cautioned against subverting this and many other issues to our own sinister agenda?

There is something seriously amiss in this highly engaging telenovela. Abetted and supported by the so-called “media moment,” a whistle blower who was part of the system of corruption just a few months ago, has suddenly been catapulted to near-divine status, called a “hero” for modesty’s sake (thank you!). Mobbed and adulated everywhere by the supposed guardians of truth and objectivity, the very people on whom millions of young people depend on for their education, the self-proclaimed “crusader for truth” now inflames the passions of the young, idealistic, and easily manipulable students, who are being doled out daily lessons on how to be a “responsible, “law-abiding,” and “democratic” citizen without really trying hard to respect rule of law. In a clear example of collusion pushed to the extreme, with no parallels in recent history, the guardians and teachers of moral truth, legislators, educators, mass media purveyors, and executives in and out of government, have suddenly decided to become accuser, judge, and executioner all rolled into one.

And there are concerned parents like Couch Potato Corner, who says Lozada is a menace and should be evicted by the school.

Lozada compared his own abduction to the abduction and murder of Dacer, and there’s a reason the comparison resonated with the public.

By all accounts, Dacer was an asshole; by comparison, in comparing himself to Dacer, Lozada was admitting he was an asshole, too; but no one has ever said Dacer deserved to be rubbed out.

Dacer knew something, and had to die. Lozada knew something, and had to die.

But Lozada lived to tell his tale.

And so, he has to be destroyed.

Because the longer he sticks around and remains a pest, the more time people have to let the lesson of the last few years finally sink in. She’s as bad, and even worse, than the previous guy who got kicked out.

Avatar
Manuel L. Quezon III.

233 thoughts on “On Lozada: The perils of being a snitch

  1. anthony, there is no need to pit this blog vs. any other. i happen to admire ellen tordesillas, as a person and a journalist, she and i are closer in our political views than you and i, and her commenters and readers reflect public opinion better than this blog.

  2. say what?? what a strong statement you have there Mr Quezon. i strongly disagree with you.

    ellens blog does not in anyway reflect the pulse of the populace. to the contrary it is the view of the minority. people there preach to the choir, if you happen to disagree with them they will pounce on you to smithereens and ellen will banish you. they are into conspiracy theories and by the end of the day they actually believe their perception on things.

    your blog is much better as it tolerate a more diverse of opinions. posters here are also more rationale in their assumptions. please do not in anyway compare your blog to ellen, its not even comparable and far from it.

  3. mlq3,

    no im not pitting a blog against another blog, im just stating a factual difference

    besides, my observation is limited on the blog, not on the blog owner

    i may have to differ from your view that ellen’s blog reflects public opinion more. your blog does that best (reflect the public pulse more)

    ellen’s blog is more a ‘reflection of the noisiest minority of the anti-gloria school.’

    ellen’s 1 million hits come from just 30 people, one of whom accounts for 500,000 of the hits 🙂

  4. Thads Bentulan’s presentation placed the project cost at $129M. but this is about what joey de venecia said was the value of the original zte proposal which will cover 30% of the country. yet the total in his payoff structure is $329M, the amount of the contract covering 100% of the country. it seems, the figures are off.

  5. mindanaoan, review the ppt. again. the expansion of coerage is also noted together with the other ballooning costs.

  6. hehehe. anthony can’t believe the surveys that says gloria has negative popularity and approval ratings so downgrading so much ellentordesillas’ blog and bloggers.

    magdiwang is worse, he has the same mindset as anthony’s regards gloria surveys ratings and ellen’s but also want manolo not to believe what manolo believed. heheh.

  7. […]and [Tordesillas’s] commenters and readers reflect public opinion better than this blog – mlq3

    They certainly do, mlq3. They certainly do. 😀

  8. mlq3, the $129M tech cost stated in the pay-off structure is already for nbn-5, for which the contract amount is $329M and 100% coverage. this is inconsistent with joey dv3’s $130M cost for the zte proposal with 30% coverage.

  9. PM Harper said that He would not be attending the Opening Ceremonies of the Bejing Olympic, but will send a High Level Govt. Delegation for the Event. But further development of Events may further warrant more meaningful Protests from the Country and others, which will not compromise basic democratic principles just for fear of China’s Economic clout..China needs other countries as others need her and if she wants to showcase her coming of age, better behave accordingly…

    “My advice – and I know the government of China is not typically taking my advice – my strong advice would be to take these concerns seriously because I think they are likely to grow rather than diminish if we see a repetition of the current pattern,” Harper said.
    (Referring to the Violent Crackdown of Protesters in Tibet)

    “I would urge China … to respect human rights and peaceful protests, not just in Tibet but everywhere,” Harper said. “I would also encourage the government of China to understand that its growing wealth, its growing importance in the world, and of course the profile of the Olympics will put a greater and greater spotlight on its record in this regard.”

    Harper made headlines in 2006 for taking a firm line on China’s human rights record, saying he would not “sell out” basic democratic principles for fear of hampering trade ties with the economic giant.

    Canada’s highest profile beef with Beijing is the detention of Huseyin Celil, an ethnic Uighur with Canadian citizenship, on charges of terrorism. He was arrested in Uzbekistan in 2006 and deported to China, where the government refuses to recognize his dual citizenship.

  10. I agree with Manolo (and Benign0), the blog of Ellen more genuinely reflects the majority’s sentiments although it sometimes tends towards groupthink. This blog is more diverse, but more elitists (as well as refugees from Ellen’s blog) hang out here. There is enough room in the blogosphere to accommodate both.

  11. Here is an EllenT blog-entry that always shakes me up. US$500-a-month after-income is a big amount. One has to be well-paid AND scrimp on enjoying life in California or Melbourne to send $500-a-month after-income to Pinas.
    I think, so the people in Pinas has to have incentive to work, then the proper way is to do fifty-fifty at best, i.e. the OFW matches what the family earns in the Philippines. Unless, of course, the OFW is a dentist earning dentist-money or a doctor earning doctor-money.

    —————
    chi Says:

    April 4th, 2008 at 4:34 am

    That’s also the complaint of my relatives in San Diego. Exacto $200 they used to send parents in Pinas. Tapos ngayon, pulubi raw sila with $200 lang. $500 na rin ang padala nila ngayon sa Pinas. Patay-patayan sa trabaho ang mga OFWs at mga Pinoy na meron sustentado. And Gloria has the gall to say that very soon working abroad will be a choice and no longer a necessity.

    Kakaawa ang mga poors, they have to eat binlid. It’s better if they plant camote na lang to substitute minsan sa lugaw binlid.

    Imagine, 3 years daw ang rice shortage because Gloria, the tongessmen and Senatongs did not do their jobs. JdV said that “It is more lucrative to import rice than to produce it. There is no compulsion to make the country self-sufficient in rice.” Susmaryosep!

    Where did the P145-billion appropriated for a 10-year APMA program? This is in addition to the P44 billion operating budget of the Department of Agriculture. NAMADYIK!

  12. Bert,

    hehehe. anthony can’t believe the surveys that says gloria has negative popularity and approval ratings so downgrading so much ellentordesillas’ blog and bloggers

    hehehe. napakasablay na obserbasyon. ang pinaguusapan eh kung ang mob blog ni ellen ay kuha ang pulso ng nakararami, hindi ang reliability ng mga survey kay gloria. hehehe

    (wait, not unless yung mga 30 or so regulars sa ellen blog eh palaging part ng 1,200 respondents sa mga perception surveys kay gloria)

    nakupo, yang mga ganyang komento ang nakakahiyang isulat dito sa blog ni manolo!

    magdiwang is worse, he has the same mindset as anthony’s regards gloria surveys ratings and ellen’s but also want manolo not to believe what manolo believed. heheh.

    hehehe. isa pang sablay na obserbasyon. wala naman sa pinaguusapan ang mga survey kay gloria isisingit ba naman. hehehe

    pang ellen talaga ang mga komentong ganyan

    mahiya ka naman kay manolo

  13. cvj,

    im surprised you didn’t get the drift of benignO’s comment:

    ” They certainly do, mlq3. They certainly do. 😀 “

  14. ganito iyon, anthony. hindi pa ako nakadalaw kahit minsan kay ellen, pero, base sa usap-usapan dito mukhang anti-gloria rin ang mga kasama niya roon. siempre, lahat namang blogsites at labas ng mga blogsites karamihan ay anti-gloria. kaya ganoon, alam naman natin kung bakit kaya ganoon, kasi nga hindi naman tanga ang mga Pinoy, alam nila kung ano ang mga nangyayari sa paligid-ligid nila. at sa paligid ni gloria. iyan ang pinatunayan ng mga surveys.

    “..her commenters and readers reflect public opinion better than this blog.”-manolo

    totoo ang sinabi ni manolo! kasi, sa alin mang umpukan, ke mga elitista ‘o masa man, siguradong majority palagi ang mga anti-gloria, at iyan ang reflection na tinatawag nating public opinion.

    ngayon sasabihin ninyong mali iyang sinabi ni manolo? kaya ninyo sinabing mali kasi akala ninyo mali ang mga surveys.

    maliwanag ano?

    teka, teka, baka naman mali nga kami, baka naman love na love nga ng mga taongbayan si gloria, kung ganoon hindi nga reflection of public opinion ang mga commenters ni ellen.

    kailangan ma-survey ulit!

  15. I agree with some of the observations here that Ellen’s blog is more in tune with the public pulse regarding the govt, particularly in relation to the continuing and escalating crisis precipitated by corruption, lying, coverup, etc.

    I have yet to see a dedicated blog in the likes of mlq3’s that defends Gloria, except the govt’s blog and perhaps two or three others who espouse a ridiculously lost cause or infensible position.

    Back to Lozada, I think most Filipinos believe him as generally credible, esp. on his take about the NBN-ZTE corrupt deal, and his abduction. I do.

  16. claiming tordesillias’ blog is “in tune” with philippine public opinion is consistent with the mindset of some here that no one supports “gloria”, or that everyone “hates” her.
    in my early days in this blog, someone actually regarded me as non-existent and not to be counted because he could not believe anyone would see anything good about gma’s presidency. when they speak of “public” they mean all 90 million people of the philippines rather than just the 20 thousand or so anti-gloria rallyist at edsa.

  17. upn, it was me who posted that years ago $200 would be enough and now $500 is barely enough…consider this..gas is 45 pesos a liter…my brother and his wife medications 10 thou, household expense and food let say 10 thous..their pensions 10 thous..go figure…luckily my siblings are all in medical fields, nurses, med tech and doctor that we are able to support them and their children but it is very hard, very, very hard for average wage earners…

  18. claiming tordesillias’ blog is “in tune” with philippine public opinion is consistent with the mindset of some here that no one supports “gloria”, or that everyone “hates” her. – Bencard

    Hope the sarcastic irony that laces my last comment (“they certainly do, mlq3…”) was not missed (as Pinoys seem to have underdeveloped faculties for grasping irony).

    Tordesillas’s disciples not only seemingly represent public opinion, they also represent the typical Pinoy approach to thinking — that typical asal-aso mentality of propagating a barking frenzy even without knowing what ORIGINALLY caused the first bark.

    I described this trait way back in 2005 here:

    http://www.getrealphilippines.com/agr-disagr/18-4-calls.html

    What is laughable now is how everyone was made to believe that this whole Gloria circus was the most important issue in the land. TODAY, rice shortages and looming FOOD RIOTS dominate the news.

    Kung baga, at the end of the day, a fundamentally pathetic basic need where the Pinoy Nation fails — food security — is what turns out to be the REAL pressing issue.

    The Philippines is the only major southeast Asian country that stands to be the BIGGEST LOSER in this crisis.

    Queues for cheap government rice, food hording, starving people.

    It is those and not Gloria scandals, Pinoy-style “people power”, and Pinoy boxing champs that will be making headline news globally.

    – 😀

  19. … Pinoys seem to have underdeveloped faculties for grasping irony

    … they also represent the typical Pinoy approach to thinking — that typical asal-aso mentality of propagating a barking frenzy even without knowing what ORIGINALLY caused the first bark.

    benign0, your penchant of deploring a contrived trait and smearing it on filipinos in general, would be comfortably at home in ellentordisilla’s blog.

  20. Hawaiianguy, i think the closest to a pro-Arroyo blog would have been Sassy Lawyer (and Benign0’s website) but it is in the more contrived ‘anti-anti’ formulation. However, Sassy Lawyer seems to have deleted all her political entries. I sense that there is also more support for Arroyo among the elitists but they hide in their respective yahoogroups, facebook and other semi-private forums for understandable reasons.

  21. to whom it may concern:

    oh come on people! you just say that ellen’s mob blog reflects the public’s pulse all because ellen’s mob blog reflects yours!

    nakakita lang kayo ng katulad na prejudice, este opinyon, pulso na kaagad ng publiko!

    ano ba kayo? ellen’s mob blog is worth nothing more than being anti gloria. a glorified ranting board

    but anything to make the country forward? wala!

    kung ipagpipilitan nyong pulso ng publiko ang ellen’s mob blog, eh talagang the country is in deep shit. dahil hanggang pagsipa lang kay gloria ang nakikita

  22. Bert,

    ganito yan Bert

    “hindi pa ako nakadalaw kahit minsan kay ellen, pero, base sa usap-usapan dito mukhang anti-gloria rin ang mga kasama niya roon.”

    may tawag dyan, kaso the word eludes me at the moment

    “siempre, lahat namang blogsites at labas ng mga blogsites karamihan ay anti-gloria.”

    same as above. that word eludes me still

    “kaya ganoon, alam naman natin kung bakit kaya ganoon, kasi nga hindi naman tanga ang mga Pinoy, alam nila kung ano ang mga nangyayari sa paligid-ligid nila.”

    talagang hindi tanga ang pinoy! kaya nga di matuloy-tuloy ang people power, dahil di na tanga ang pinoy!

    “at sa paligid ni gloria. iyan ang pinatunayan ng mga surveys.”

    ****yawn**** kakainggit sina Miranda at Mahar. kliyente nila both sides. kakainggit talaga!

    “totoo ang sinabi ni manolo! kasi, sa alin mang umpukan, ke mga elitista ‘o masa man, siguradong majority palagi ang mga anti-gloria, at iyan ang reflection na tinatawag nating public opinion”

    my goodness! that word still eludes me….

    “ngayon sasabihin ninyong mali iyang sinabi ni manolo? kaya ninyo sinabing mali kasi akala ninyo mali ang mga surveys.”

    nakupo! isa pang napakasablay na komento!

    you are blinded already by your anti gloria rants. alam mo ba ang sinabi ko? ito –

    i may have to differ from your view that ellen’s blog reflects public opinion more. your blog does that best (reflect the public pulse more)

    itong blog ni manolo ang tutoong pulso ng bayan kaysa ellen’s mob blog! iyan ang sinasabi ko! ano ka ba! halatang di binabasa mabuti ang mga komento!

    “maliwanag ano?”

    susmaryosep! umasa pang maliwanag! right, as clear as mud.

    “teka, teka, baka naman mali nga kami, baka naman love na love nga ng mga taongbayan si gloria, kung ganoon hindi nga reflection of public opinion ang mga commenters ni ellen.

    kailangan ma-survey ulit!”

    wow! kwarta na naman kina mahar at felipe! kakainggit talaga! tapos the results will be gobbled as gospel truth by very naive people who want to read just what they want to read and by very naive media people who are more concerned with filling out front pages than validating the results!

    what a way to print money!!!!! way to go Mahar and Felipe!

    kakainggit kayo talaga!

  23. Hawaiianguy, i think the closest to a pro-Arroyo blog would have been Sassy Lawyer (and Benign0’s website) but it is in the more contrived ‘anti-anti’ formulation. However, Sassy Lawyer seems to have deleted all her political entries. I sense that there is also more support for Arroyo among the elitists but they hide in their respective yahoogroups, facebook and other semi-private forums for understandable reasons.

    you want to see pro GMA forums, go to skyscrapercity.com political threads. hehehe, if you are too much of a anti GMA you will get banned.

    http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=586

  24. wow! kwarta na naman kina mahar at felipe! kakainggit talaga! tapos the results will be gobbled as gospel truth by very naive people who want to read just what they want to read and by very naive media people who are more concerned with filling out front pages than validating the results! – scalia

    Daming pwedeng pagka-kitaan sa Pinas!

    Polling and surveying seems to be an all-year pot of gold.

    Pag panahon ng eleksyon, patok ang printing business.

    Kapag Fiesta “revolution” at “rally” ang usapan naman, patok ang bus service (pang-hakot, ba).

    Rice hording naman ang uso ngayon. Maybe it’s also a good time to start leasing out warehouses and garage space.

    Of course, guns would be in demand as well. Malapit na ma-uso ulit ang Chinese kidnapping.

    And da best business of all in these times of “crises”: Migration consulting (make sure you charge by the hour). 😀

    Sa isang bansa na puno ng walang hiya, one just need remember a simple truth:

    Di nakakakain ang hiya.

  25. Sa isang bansa na puno ng walang hiya…

    benignO, there you go again with your sweeping generalization. I think your statement is foul because there are more people who are decent (than those walang hiya) and playing it fair in this country undeterred by this chaotic state that’s being pictured now. just because all you see and read in the papers and different blogs are about controversies and anomalies, the whole country is a picture of negativity. there are more positive things happening and most of these are not printed on papers.

  26. if ellen’s blog reflects the sentiment of the majority, then the country has long exploded already. gloria and her family should be dead by now courtesy of the lynch mob. and the country is either now in a state of a civil war or being ran by a military junta led by trillanes, et al (based on ellen’s obsession with military adventurism and how commenters there glorify the military rebels and their lust for gloria’s blood).

  27. “benignO, there you go again with your sweeping generalization. I think your statement is foul because there are more people who are decent (than those walang hiya) and playing it fair in this country undeterred by this chaotic state that’s being pictured now. just because all you see and read in the papers and different blogs are about controversies and anomalies, the whole country is a picture of negativity. there are more positive things happening and most of these are not printed on papers.”

    That’s why I have high regard for grd’s opinions in this blogsite!

  28. Bert,

    thanks. hats off to you too. as passionate as you are with your opinions here where it may differ from mine, you showed your impartiality by respecting my views while others would readily suspect my motive. we maybe advocating different means of effecting changes but I believe we aim for the same end result just like the others here as far as the country is concerned.

  29. Is this accepted by the Tordesillas-blog group?

    ————-
    An sent by Dr. Arsenio Martin of Fort Arthur , Texas ..

    THE DIFFERENCE

    The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country:

    This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt , that are more than 2000 years old, but are poor.

    On the other hand, Canada , Australia & New Zealand , that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are rich.

    The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.

    Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an
    immense floating factory, importing raw materials from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

    Another example is Switzerland , which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate in the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality! It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world’s strongest, safest place.

    Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.

    Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.

    What is the difference then? The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture & flawed tradition.

    On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

    1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
    2. Integrity.
    3. Responsibility.
    4. Respect to the laws & rules.
    5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
    6. Work loving.
    7. Strive for savings & investment.
    8. Will of super action.
    9. Punctuality.
    10. and of course…Discipline

    In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.

    The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in natural resources.

    We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich & developed societies.
    __________________

  30. Is this accepted by the Tordesillas-blog group?

    UPn, I don’t think people in that blog are very accomodating of material that requires a bit of thinking to digest.

    – 😀

  31. @ cvj’s comment: “People like grd and Rob Ramos give Gloria Arroyo the benefit of the doubt in the big things but become self-righteous towards those who dare to oppose her. I guess that how they avoid having to defend her, and it’s been an effective tactic so far in part because we oblige them.”

    Mmm. Teka, explain lang sandali ako kung bakit ganito views ko:

    I have this concept of the “Information Elite.” Its based on my college education as a communications major, my growing up in an advertising family, and about 8 years or so of political communications work.

    From MY – my, ha, MY – experience, a lot of what goes on in today’s world can be traced to access to information. In conversations on politics and other issues with my friends or kids I train, I always ask them where they got their information, because what you know can color how you act and react to the situation you find yourself in.

    “Information Elite” are people with access to… more sources of information outside of the “usual channels”, i.e. mass media. From my observations of Jose Public, most of their opinions are based on a mish-mash of personal experiences, word-of-mouth, and news from mass media. The Info Elite are that, too, but they also have access to the sources of information themselves (as compared to Mass Media-fed information, which is either second- or third-hand information).

    In my case, I am (was?) part of that “Information Elite.” Working for a political party whose leaders were (once?) as deep into the corridors of power as anything gave you access to information that the public isn’t privy to, or that the Media itself is not aware of, chooses to gloss over, or omits outright.

    And then, since your work and associations involve you with the business of governance itself, you can’t avoid having firsthand experience and knowledge of the things Jose Public ordinarily just reads, hears or watches.

    This necessarily changes your viewpoint of an issue. For example: Gloria cheated in 2004. Two responses, based on my experiences and information, would be the following:

    1. So what? They all did (or attempted to, anyway; wala daw funds si FPJ to do so, or match the level or operations of the Palace).

    2. Oh? If so, di ba complicit tayo diyan kasi, the LP – under Drilon, no less – insisted that we were “Senior Partner” in the 2004 campaign and not “Junior” to Lakas? It was even we Liberals who defended Gloria on the Tribunal – remember Kiko’s “Noted” thingy? – and even before she did the “I’m Sorry” bit, it was already the talk in LP HQ (then also under Drilon’s control) that she “might” do a “Clinton.” So if cheating happened, parang weird naman kung walang idea yung isa sa “Senior Partners” na something was happening, di ba?

    I’m not EXACTLY defending Gloria. I just have something about means being used to justify ends. If a communist was the one doing it, ok lang siguro kasi, sabi nga sa LFS website dati, “everything for the revolution.” In fact, through all of this, mas me respeto pa tuloy ako sa mga ND, kasi at least sila alam mo where they’re coming from.

    But when you use standards of morality to justify removing a supposedly immoral leader – that for the longest time your own leaders coddled, anyway – then you’d better have the high ground to do so. I’m no saint either, but I don’t believe in calling on people to subscribe to values one isn’t prepared to practice.

    Like I said before, in my book, you do NOT remove a (supposed) liar, cheat and oppressor with people YOU KNOW lied, cheated and oppressed. Notice the conditionals: “supposed”, and “know.”

    To me, the former accusation is still largely speculative because my own leaders, back when they were supportive of Gloria, protected her like wolfhounds against all her “predators.” But when they came out against her, they did it not only with surprising swiftness – one week before, Drilon was even feteing Gloria in Iloilo – but under something the KGB would have called a maskirovka. We were set up, we were deceived, and when we challenged their actions based on the Party rules, we were oppressed.

    So, cvj, hindi naman po sa giving the Little Girl “the benefit of the doubt on the big things” and being “self-righteous” when faced with criticisms. The former I’ve explained already, and I have to say that I feel a little miffed at being accused of doing the latter.

    Self righteous? Me? Kelan? Indignant siguro, kasi ang feeling ko yung kumalaban sakin yung naging self-righteous. Kung ako man eh naging self-righteous sa response ko sa criticism, my apologies, pero I can’t recall doing that.

    I prefer debates where we argue on the merits of the data presented, not ad hominem. Minsan kasi, pansin ko lang ha, when someone goes against the anti-gloria line, ang unang banat against them is that they’re blind, apathetic or paid hacks from the Palace. Ang sakin that cheapens the discussion eh.

    Makikita naman kung paid hack, di ba? Or kung bulag o walang paki? But even then, a simple issue-centered rebuttal will show if the person is any of the above or actually is coming from somewhere.

    Kaya nga hanga ko ke Manolo when he debated with me on libel eh, kasi it was on the issue. It was wonderful to engage in something like that and he actually managed to change my views on the situation. At the very least, MLQ3 made me seriously consider modifying my stand on the issue.

    cvj, this is a democracy last time I looked. Probably dysfunctional in many ways, but functional still, IMHO. And in a democracy, there will be people with opinions contrary to the supposed majority view.

    You have to respect people based on the merits of that view, at least initially. Continued discourse naman will show whether who your talking to is genuine or is a different kind of animal eh, and not immediately cast aspersions on what they say.

    It’s hard, pero we have to try, di ba? I’m actually ashamed about how rabid I’ve been with my views, but interactions in this blog and my debate with Manolo have hammered into me why I’m a card-carrying Liberal in the first place.

    Otherwise, lipat na lang tayo lahat either sa ellentordisillas, or sa rabidly pro-pandak na blogs and forums.

    Pag ganun, eh di civil war na lang tayo. Kasi wala nang room for civilized discourse sa ganun eh.

  32. rob’s comment reminds me of a running debate i have with the lp group rob is so critical of, but with whom i’m quite friendly. in a sense it’s along lines parallel to rob’s criticism of the current party leadership. my objections to the way the leadership issue has been handled is that it smacks of the admin’s legalistic but unjust strategy: the lp leadership keeps bringing things to court and having the courts resolve the leadership issue, when at the heart of the debate is how should a party’s leadership be determined? the lawyers can argue over the fine print of the party constitution but a political party is about more than the fine print -it’s about the party’s composition, the card-carrying members and the local leaders.

    i’ve long advocated that the only way to resolve a party dispute is to have a showdown, not by lawyers, but the party leaders in an open convention. bring all the lp members -not just leaders- into a venue and throw the question of leadership to the floor. if one side wins, good; if one loses, too bad. if you lose according to foul circumstances, then by all means bolt the party and set up a new one. but trust the members to hear both sides and then vote: the results after all may vindicate one side or the other or surprisingly offer a way for the party to reunite.

  33. Rob, i wonder how you can reconcile your belief in democracy with your ‘so what’ attitude when it comes to Goria’s cheating. As to your being part of the ‘information elite’, who appointed you and by what criteria? BTW, are you from Ateneo?

  34. Reply To CVJ.

    I was in a Gated Community(Activist Group) before, during my college days. I always used to look, listen and investigate on one side only. I don’t have the time to get the points of other and i never will. That’s why I understand your stand. But for me, if i become realistic (not idealistic) during my college days, Siguro ay mas may kabuluhan ang pagiging Activista ko noon.

    So, CVJ with your last reply with Rob, it shows one thing. You are living in a gated community. Aren’t you?

  35. PCESM

    Because everything is Black and White in CVJ’s eyes. Para sa kanya, walang shades of gray.

    It doesn’t take someone to live in a gated community to live in an ivory tower.

  36. Rob

    I so agree with you. Napagod din ako sa kaka debate sa mga anti-GMA na yan. Basta opposed sa views nila, tanga na yung nag oppose. I dread the day THEY will be the ones who runs the country It’s those self righteous do gooders that usually brings down the country.

  37. UP n Student

    Agree with the article you posted. I have been saying that all along. Marami lang dito na nag oopose kasi anti GMA sila. As if kicking out the lady will cure the ills of the country

  38. Guys

    remember, the ones who have access to the blogs are the ones who can afford to either buy and computer or go to an internet cafe..both of which are expensive. So guess what…it’s just different factions of the elites trying to get at each others’ throats….meanwhile, the poor goes poorer in our country. Kawawang madlang people

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