Observation

Can issues be separated from personalities? Should they? In politics? I don’t think they can, and I don’t think they should. To do so is to be susceptible to the kind of mental dishonesty that would permit a bigger crime to continue unpunished, because the conditions for proving a more minor one do not exist. It is a lawyer’s argument of the worst kind -that makes lawyers repugnant in the manner people find politicians reprehensible people.

My column for today, Seductive reasoning, rather haphazardly suggests Garci is trying to wriggle his way out on a technicality. He’s not a lawyer for nothin’. PCIJ does a roundup of yesterday’s interrogations and makes the audio of the entire proceedings available online. Miron comes out of hibernation with his take on the hearings (quite witty compared to my efforts yesterday: he has an account of the Zamora questioning I was unable to blog). Philippine Commentary’s fearless forecast is in light of what’s at stake, the Supreme Court will give Garci what he wants. RG Cruz gives a reporter’s view of the excitement behind the story and linked stories. RG’s scuttlebutt: 1. the long-rumored videos or audio recordings of the President and various officials in compromising positions or activities, might finally surface; 2. the exploding bomblets yesterday may be a prelude to a “light” martial law before the holidays. Willie Galang is convinced the bomblets aren’t making an impact because media is conspiring with the opposition to downplay events.

Vincula (Atty. Teddy Te) wonders why the Ombuswoman isn’t just taking things into her hands, and charging Garci. Anyway,  Madame Chiang summarizes the hearings as follows:

I have to say that reading the proceedings so far…it all sounds a bit like the proceedings at the court presided over by the King and Queen of Hearts with Alice on the stand and the White Rabbit doing his stuff…

In other news:

The Inquirer editorial says corruption shouldn’t be treated as a public relations problem; Ana Marie Pamintuan gives an insider’s account of the reasons for US intelligence chief John Negroponte’s visit to Manila ; Connie Veneracion details how the masses are spoiled by politicians.

Two highly interesting columns:

Juan Mercado analyzes the findings of the Philippine Human Development Report which analyzed the quality of life in 77 Philippine provinces, as if “they were countries unto themselves.” The report uses “human development indicators” such as ife expectancy, functional literacy, health services, adjusted incomes, to track quality of life. Among its comparisons: Manila approximates life in Thailand and Samoa; Cavite is like Lebanon, Bataan is like the Maldives, life in Davao del Sur Iloilo and Tarlac  approximates Kyrgyztan. Cebu trails Georgia and Azerbaijan. Misamis Oriental, Ilocos Norte and Nueva Vizcaya resemble  El Salvador and Vietnam. “Bukidnon resembles Honduras, and Palawan is more like Tajikistan”. Misamis Occidental and Ilocos Sur compare to Mongolia. “Leyte resembles Moldova, but Southern Leyte… is more like South Africa”. Davao Oriental resembles Gabon. Among the provinces examined, Maguindanao was the worst, approximating Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Alex Magno argues that dynastic control of political districts is due to single-member representation. Anti-dynasty bills are not the solution; eliminating single-member districts is.

All of us in Asiapundit have been fired. But there’s hope we will be rehired. We will work harder!

Ph3-120705President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shares a light moment with former President Fidel V. Ramos during the 24th Annual National Prayer Breakfast organized by the Philippine National Prayer Breakfast Foundation (PNPBF) at Manila Hotel’s Centennial Hall Wednesday (Dec. 7). The PNPBF is a 30-year-old prayerful organization which envisions the gathering of a group of national and local elected and appointed leaders committed to come together in the spirit of Christ; to share their lives according to the will of God; and to work towards actualizing the reign of God in the Philippines. This year’s National Prayer Breakfast theme is “Transforming the Nation Through Servant Leadership.” (Michael Rey Baniquet-OPS-NIB Photo)

That’s the formal caption. But why not add your own caption?

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

35 thoughts on “Observation

  1. I think we must insted condem those cowards & traitors for the bomblets!!!!MLQ3, Riding on the issue to to push the martial law scenario I think is an attitude that does not have the interest of the Nation first.
    We just came from a great SEA games where our atheletes Heros went for the Gold & Won it!!!
    Don’t understand why settle for the “tin can” award that makes the most noise pag walamg laman.
    Pls. don’t take it personaly.I’m just asking

  2. i dont understand you anymore. First you blame the midget when garci disappeared. Now that garci is here you still blame her for making garci appear? do something different for a change it is becoming too boring

  3. Not to pick at them but gosh we all had seen the evidence only now they see it…

    The Sandiganbayan said it had enough evidence for an ill-gotten wealth case against former first lady Imelda Marcos following a P200 billion lawsuit filed by the government, abs-cbnNEWS.com learned Thursday.

  4. joey, you have to separate the strafing of the first gentleman’s building, from the bomblets. the bomblets have all the hallmark of the kind of distraction the usual experienced types do, when they want to confuse the issue. the strafing was obviously really violent; the bomblets were simply too tiny to be serious. the strafing is a sign, perhaps, the military is getting divided again. we don’t know.

    emilie, because garci’s disappearance and appearance clearly helped the midget, and continue to help the midget.

  5. Concerning to yesterday and today(hearings)

    Yesterday were sweet nothings

    Today i saw a testimony from a brave lady and a guy who set himself up by making a fool of himself

    the most important part was the Chairman of Comelec willing to coperate with namfrel (where I sense sincerity)

  6. We will not allow a matrtitial law scenario….

    I think its about time not to be Apathetic

    lets all get involved…. blogs made us aware of personalities beyond our nation like Dick Lugar and Negroponte….how they made the world their playground…

    Our exchanges especially the intelligent ones help build the nation..we just not know it or feel it yet…..

  7. Re: Alex Magno

    I think he wants a streamlined constitution as to how I do not know……

    About dynasty his point about sibling rivalry makes sense
    We have sen brother go against brother father against son and ex wife vs ex husband

    kidding aside all loopholes exploited some dated

    I think we better know what our problem is..

    the argument betweem Biazon and abalos re knowing that there is a problem (re:electoral process)with abalos seem to be in denial and passing the problem back to the opposition re:automation

    was a great watch for me….

  8. MLQ3,

    You are right about the bombings – not quite as serious as the strafing. They’d been set up in such a way as not to injure or cause physical damage to anyone but the strafing must be taken seriously because it was indiscriminate firing.

    But again we don’t know! Mike Arroyo, Gloria’s Special Ops man might just be behind this – after all, it’s his wife who has anything to gain if or when martial law is declared.

    I just don’t trust the couple. I bet majority of Filipinos don’t trust them either.

    They’ve transformed the country into a Zimbabwe where there’s no longer any Rule of Law.

    Filipinos are a very tolerant lot but sometimes, too much tolerance is negative (flexing in negotiations is alright but too much can be counterproductive, that’s what Myer says!).

    Just hang the goddamn crooks from the highest lamposts (by their ears, toes, “bananas”, etc.) and be done with them.

    They had their chance to do good and didn’t perform.

    Even God send baddies to hell so, let’s send them to where they belong!

  9. There are two kinds of people in our country today, and the two groups are at the moment mutually exclusive:
    1. the people who have the power
    2. the people who have the heart

    its a relatively simplistic way of explaining our situation. but it explains a lot about whats happening. seems like we couldnt quite vote people from (2) into (1) without taking them away from (2). (and the constitution is NOT to blame!)

  10. My observation is that Gloria of midget morals is turning the country into a low class circus ring for midget flying crooks.

    Hang Garci now!

  11. Oh gee.

    How can you say our country has lost the rule of law and ask for someone’s hanging in the same breath? Sounds like the mob is on its way…

    Let’s not get emotional and all illogical, please. Do you really think the people will stand for another martial law after our experience with Marcos? I don’t think so.

  12. The people woould not want a mob rule…….

    Am appealing not for mob rule and anarchy but empathy instead of apathy

    blogs are great tools for nation building

    we must tell our policy makers that they should not second guess our national diagnosis with out a checkup

    like a doctor preparing a set of medicines and prescriptions just by asking :ano po ang narararamdaman nyo?….

    God! umangal ako ke doc 600 pesos for that single question?

    parang ganyan ang ginagawa ng policy makers,at proponents

    their way or the high way ….

    with second guessing what we need with out asking what we want….

  13. Karl December 9, 2005 | 5:12 am
    I appreciate what the First Gentleman did and what he plans for our athletes….

    BUT dear FG
    WE will not forget that easily how you are a smooth operator asking for campaign contributions from the top 1000 companies during the 2004 elections

    if each gave 1 million then that was instant 1 billion

    People time not to be apathetic we all know those open secrets!!!!

    Yeterday if it were not that boy who cried wolf type who testified in the senate I would want to believe every single word…

  14. It was Nixon’s lawyer who went to the Supreme Court to argue the absolute power of executive privelege as akin to the then absolute power of King Louis IV as the rationale why then President Nixon would not release the tapes of his recordings in the oval office during the Wateragte controversy.

    The Court stuck down this argument and figuratvely cut off the head of the pretending King. It was a lowly judge, John Sirica who challenged the premise of the three separate but equal branches of government and ultimately it fell to the representatives of the people the U.S. Congress to execute the King through the articles of impeachment. Nixon resigned. From Prince John raising taxes for the crusades of his brother King Richard that was the proximate cause of Runnymeade and first Bill of Rights (Elite rights) and thence to Cromwell literally cutting off the Kings head and to the French Revolution. Almost 800 years have transpired since the first stirrings of representative government evolving from the divine right to rule.

    The Philippine judicial system is based on Anglo Saxon common law (empirical history)). Which process will prevail, the physical beheading of figurative beheading of the King and Queen?

    Our systemn of govenment is not the same as the Federal Constitutional Representaive Republic that the U.S. is. The Congress of the U.S. has legislative and oversight functions over the executive and judiciary. The excutive is elceted into offcie not by popular vote. All appointments to the Supreme Court have to pass Congressional oversight. The “representatives” of the people are Supreme in theory. Over time it has worked so far. The basic essence of free speech, press, freedom of assembly and religion all deeply embedded foundations of this system.

    Who said that the Philippines form of unitary government is the same. It is a throwback to the colonial times. A lot of people in the Philippines still believe that the heads of government have been given by God the right to rule. Now we should all prepare to become the emerging provinces of Greater China and eventually China itself. We have the superficial three branches of government but the economic power of the purse rules the system.

  15. here are my two cents contribution to nation building through the blogosphere my views may be different from yours but variety is the spice of life:

    Karl
    December 5th, 2005 12:04 7Agree the public shopuld now what the future chief justice thinks…
    Going of topic…
    I realized the Con Com’s deadline is next week
    I forgot I received a reply from Carmen Pedrosa about Con Com
    Here it goes
    Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 10:54:52 +0800
    From: “carmen navarro-pedrosa” Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
    To: “[email protected]”
    Subject: Re: Questions regarding federalism
    Thank you for your comments. I will forward it to the Commission as part of our consultations with citizens. Carmen N. Pedrosa
    On 10/16/05, [email protected] wrote:
    Dear Ma’am,
    I am a reader of your column.
    I also read what Mr.Alex Magno (Star)and and Mr.
    Honesto General(Inquirer)
    They say that a federal system adds another layer to
    the bureacracy and is very costly.
    Mr. Magno even says that many confuse Federalsim to
    decentralization.
    Now I am more confused. Speaker De Venecia and PGMA
    advertises federalsm as something that will move focus
    away from Metro Manila, if they do not mean
    decentralization then what do they mean?
    As to each state having its own layer of bureaucracy
    like own assembly,plus other layers.
    Aren’t they basing it on some kind of model maybe the
    Canadian model; If so then why not propose something
    different from the Canadian model or whatever model
    they base their “fears” on.
    They said their piece.(Isn’t Mr.Magno a member of the
    CONCOM )Do they need more convincing that the purpose
    of the commission is to cover all bases.
    It is unfortunate that most Filipinos have not even
    read the constitution. To be honest the only time I
    read it was during College, because it is a
    requirement. The only chance I get to read about
    constitution is to the so called “unconstitutionality”
    of certain laws and executive orders.
    How can surveys say that filipinos do not want charter
    change, when do not know what it is all about?
    Would you allow me to have my own inputs as well?
    Pardon my ignorance(which might show as you read
    on…)
    If they worry about more bureacratic layers why not
    lesson the suggeted number of states from 12 to 9
    like say in Luzon (3)the Norhern, the central and the
    Southern.In Visayas 2(eatern and Western) and in and
    the rest in Mindanao where it is more difficult
    because I do not know if the MNLF and the MILF would
    want to be in the same state.
    About the layers then lesssen it by limiting
    representation to the national assembly and reatin or
    even reduce the current local bureacratic layers from
    the governor to the barangays, the only way I can see
    this to merge the council and the barangay.
    And the so called additional districts because of
    rising population is BS(oardon me). I live in
    paranaque and they added a district just to accomodate
    Mr. Goplez so that Mr. Zialcita would not have any
    problems at all.
    They say that there would be more offices, more
    staff,more and more.
    One more is the poor states will become poorer because
    they will be left alone.They say that there would be
    more taxes, and the national debt would worsen and
    all.
    Again, that is why you have your commission so
    everything will be addressed.
    I wish you good luck and I hope your commission will
    remain.
    First thing first, I hope you get a consensus on the
    parliamentary from.
    God speed!
    Karl M. Garcia
    97 Champaca Tahanan Village Paranaque
    1. karl
    November 15th, 2005 18:31
    45
    Well will anybody tell us first about Ricky will no news means good news…
    Since he’s still online he’s alright?
    taxes
    Those links by hvrds makes me wonder if the evat net can catch even the informal sector….
    The squatting mentioned in another space can be injected here….
    They say they must pay taxes before they vote
    but some say they buy stuff caught under the evat net so they are tax payers…
    But are they?
    smuggling,underground econ and yes corruption will always be there so how to get around with that?
    Sec Teves father suggests interoperability of databases from LTO,SEC,BIR,BOC DTI
    and implement the long shelved IT project endorsed per admin
    But with the interoperability of databases will they still capture the infromal sector..
    just look at the trial run of comeleccomouterization which again is stalled(whatelseisnew?
    now how do we get around that?
    By Karl said…
    I would want to join your cause
    but certain circumstances prevent me re:I should stay out of politics as per parents(if they know my blogging activity Hell would unleash)

    Brother Armin was my Highschool religion teacher,Manolo is (pardon me)my favorite blog host

    But the way I se my fathers balancing act as a consultant to senator Biazon (although not claiming to be opposition)he still works part time for the NDCP which no matter how you look at it is a government office

    even during the coup, Isaw presure from both sides
    and leaving the navy village was abig kapal ng mukha basta tama na move ginawa namin ..yet many stayed..

    Basically my respect for my father is one reason why i can’t join BWM
    Although I’d love to..When push comes to shove i would be running to you….for now I know that you know what you are doing….

    By Karl said…
    I won’t repeat my drama accidentally unleashed In Ricky’s blog….

    All I want is for the man/woman to just do it….

    there are ways in tackling cases by not blaming the system

    The case I was mentioning that they blamed the entire navy higherups in a certain scam instead of focusing on a limitted few….

    maybe they were protecting the most guilty..I don’t know
    but that is just one example as the way to go

    Stop blaming System failure or
    system error lang po

  16. a de brux… This is not Zimbabwe, don’t even try to draw parallels with this country and that..

    We have a free Press.. To start with.. We do not evict people because they did not vote.. We do not distribute food for the poor only to the areas that agree with the president. We don’t send out gangs to beat farmers White and black, because we want the land..

    We are in the philippines where these thing do not happen..

    You are very biased against GMA.. Yes i am the other way. but where the law starts is with you.. And your ability to face the law and know it is for all not just the ones you want.

    If the tapes are real then the law has been broken.. We all agree to that 4200..

    Comming up with some shit on ABS about taping the lines across the air due to Cell Phone.. It does not matter the law says any device or equipment..

    Face it all the politicians rang a commissioner either Garci or Abalos or others, during the election period..

    Call the kettle Black.. They are trying to make a law? HA HA.. Which they will not follow no matter what. Because they dont follow them now…

    Buying Votes, You telling me that the Opposition did not buy any votes.. We all know they did…

    Just take a Big breath and realize that she has done more for this country than your friends could have ever done there.. Estrada sent this country into a downward spin, and she has made this country improve this year beating Thailand not only in Sports but in the economy..

    Dont believe me go to http://www.OANDA.com and look a the last 10 years of currency and also note where the currency drops and by what percentage..

    Look up the news every time the Opposition trys something it drops, other wise we are on an upward trend..

    Tell the opposition to shut up and get on the bandwagon to improve this countries out look for the future..

  17. karl,
    i don’t think its apathy. i really believe the majority have taken politics as nothing more than conversation piece. why? here’s what you have:
    – this country has taken the notion of “invisible hand of economics” to a different level. people learn that government, is only but a hindrance to economic development.
    – for empathy to happen, people must look for someone to lead them. who? rez cortez? alan peter cayetano? joel villaneuva? dinky? the israelites needed a moses to deliver them from apathy too.
    – for a lack of a better option, i truly believe the majority- the real silent majority (not the registered group of exorciser robert reyes of the same name) has decided to move on with their lives, which i also believe is the way it should be! for too long, people has looked at government as someone that is obligated to provide them with what they do not have.
    – in short, politics has become but a sideshow to the people who are otherwise too busy with their real lives.

  18. MLQ3,

    One of your readers, MitaMS seems to be a Garci partisan and is offended (I hope she isn’t the one heard on the phone asking Garci for a cell phone load) by my suggestion that Garci and the other crooks should be hanged from a lamppost.

    If you noticed, I asked for Garci’s (and the other crooks’) hanging from a lamp post by the ears, his “banana”, or whatever and NOT by his neck. Crook Garci is very lucky because I’m only advocating for his being hanged from a lamp post. ‘Sadly’, I’m not a proponent of the capital punishment but frankly, Garci deserves the guillotine.

    And MitaMS is wrong – that’s not mob rule – there’s only me in the first place & one person can’t very well constitute a “mob”! However, punishing wicked, crook, criminal Garci is the Rule of Law. Why? Because there are enough very strong, undeniable circumstancial evidences proving that crook Garci committed a crime, enough to convict goddamn crook Garci (along with Mistress Crook Gloria) that even Chief Injustice Davide will be hard put not to consider those circumstancial evidences. Rule of Law!

    Mita must also remember that even God send baddies to hell and hanging Garci from a lamp post is not hell. A malevolent creature is usually put to sleep in other countries yet Garci who has done the Philippines more harm than the members of Kuratong Baleleng put together is being treated like royalty – when he is supposed to be treated like a ‘mass murderer’ because he’s breached everything that’s sacred in the Constitutiion of the Republic when he willfully, wittingly, illegally, rigged the elections thus depriving millions of the country’s voters their rights and the country’s right to a legitimate president. Now if that isn’t a crime, tell me what is?

    Perhaps, the Law in the Philippines does not consider strong circumstancial evidences. Hey, but wait, didn’t the country strip Estrada of the presidency based on circumstancial evidences?

    The Rule of Law in any civilized country is that it must be upheld to protect the citizens of a republic.

    It’s sad to say this but this is the honest truth – people like MitaMS deserve the government you have today – a government of crooks, liars, cheats, thieves, criminals…Speaking of mob rule, who is the country’s mob rule ring leader in the Philippines? Gloria and her husband with their friends so please, could MitaMS spare me the crap?

    While we are at it, MitaMS is sounding so terribly Belgian too (and this is not a compliment). You see, Belgians have a nasty habit of punctuating every sentence they utter with ‘C’est logique, non?’ a word of which they have absolutely no notion of (that’s why they are the laughingstock of Europe and are called the 3rd World people of Europe). It’s amazing really because except for the color of the skin, it may come as a surprise to many but the Belgians and the Filipinos have many things in common…

  19. Even criminals have their day in court and Garci is rightfully entitled to that. Garci knew what he is doing.

    It is pathetic to see these congressmen chose to conduct these moro-moro hearing instead sending Garci to court.

    A lot of hulabalos, good for the new year.

  20. Agree with acidboy up to a point. As stated in Hirschman’s ‘Exit, Voice & Loyalty’ on the finding that “citizens do not normally use more than a fraction of their political resources…a degree of apathy was found to have some compensating advantages in as much as it contributes to the stability and flexibility of a political system and provides for ‘reserves’ of political resources which can be thrown into battle in crisis situations.”

    It’s of course an ongoing debate whether Filipinos are taking this political slack too far in one direction, but we as a people have shown ourselves to be instinctively pragmatic. That we don’t take it upon ourselves to send even those who are deemed deserving to hell may be good or bad depending a given situation but it’s certainly not a national trait to be ashamed of.

    Where i find middle class apathy inexcusable and shortsighted is in its acceptance of inequality. Whatever empathy we manage to express could be better put to use in trying to figure out how Maguindanao HDI’s (which is about 50 ‘countries’ down in ranking compared to Manila) can be improved. This is the real issue and not the
    fact that we might be someone else’s laughingstock.

  21. acidboy,

    you said it best. given their propensity to keep the circus going on and on forever, we have to do our best to make sure government is as irrelevant as possible to our real lives. i saw this phrase in a comment thread once — “low-maintenance government” — and i think it captures what the majority really wants. besides, try picturing alan peter cayetano, villanueva or dinky in moses’ robes. ugh.

    i think the fact that most people are now treating politics as just one part of their lives and not the be-all and end-all of existence in this country is a welcome development. they have passed judgment on the issues, and the verdict is it is not worth their attention and energy. they would rather concentrate on economically productive activities.

    some would call this apathy. if so, then hurray for apathy, and a pox on all the houses of the chattering classes that keep these zombie issues alive. you want to know the truth? the truth is… we’re too busy, we don’t care!

  22. we get the government we deserve because we keep electing jokers like escudero, custodio, lacson, and god knows who else to represent us. we get the government we deserve because we keep on underestimating the power of stupid people in large numbers. we get the government we deserve because we did not have the nerve to hang erap from a lamp post when we had the chance. yes, a de brux, we definitely get the government we deserve.

  23. a de brux, please elaborate about the belgian-filipino comparison. i’ve heard italians marvel at filipinos, saying they’re like southern italians, etc. but never heard us compared to belgians!

  24. acidboy, footvoter, cjv: i thank the interweb for bringing you to this corner of the blogosphere. but i’d like to posit a view i’ve been nurturing for some time: since we’ve been pawning generations of filipinos by sending them abroad (and fostering the desire to leave by having such a dead-end system here at home), what we really have are two countries. one dependent on those who have left, but dependent in a bad way, to put it bluntly, parasites feeding off the remittances of filipinos abroad while not producing anything for those abroad to come home to, and those who can;t be parasites off ofw’s, and who thus increasingly desperately depend on frantic leaders incapable of feeding off the productive ofw’s -which means increased competition for a dwindling pie.

  25. MLQ3, your blog continues to be a hub of useful information.

    I wouldn’t confine the pattern of dependence you describe as limited to OFW’s as this is also applicable to those providers who work hard back home. I wouldn’t fixate on the existence of dependents as these ‘parasites’ are often either tomorrow’s providers or were in fact yesterday’s providers who don’t have any other safety net. We may have our share of deadbeats, but this is a matter left for the individual or their families to handle. What is troubling is that our ratio of breadwinners to dependents is chronically lopsided. That this is so is a topic all on its own, but is in no small way due to the unfortunate curse in our history of spoilers arriving in a timely fashion every five years or so (Martial Law in the 70’s, coups in the 80’s, Asian Crisis in the 90’s, kidnap syndicates today etc. etc.)

    That the government is not able to provide for the people is a separate issue that can be attributed to tax collection being largely confined to salarymen (and -women) or indirect taxes. Too many professionals and businessmen take a conveniently self-righteous attitude towards this matter, wilfully oblivious to the reality of their underpayment being a huge part of the systemic problem.

    I agree with footvoter’s take on OFW’s above (as well as with a similar point made by Dodong a few posts back). Together with DJB, i take offense to De Quiros’ characterizating us as ‘toilet bowl cleaners of the world’, not so much for the designation itself but for the elitist insinuation that this kind of thing is somehow beneath one’s dignity.

  26. Footvoter, a de brux, I wouldn’t be dismissive of the electorate in general as we had to make do with the choices presented to us given the available information. The masses were probably ‘stupid’ to put their hopes in Erap but, at least, their intentions clean compared to the 30 prominent businessmen who supported his candidacy just because he is the ‘sure thing’. I may also have been ‘stupid’ to queue up for hours in the Philippine Embassy to register & vote for GMA, but what needs to be condemned is the betrayal by our respective leaders. (It’s not much comfort, but as far as stupidity goes, i would attribute a greater per capita share to the American electorate in reelecting GWB. They did not lack in opportunities for education, so what’s their excuse?) Instead of dwelling on our past errors, we just have to take care that we are able to make more mature choices as citizens.

  27. Thank You intelligent bloggers of MLQ3 for your acceptance to my invitation of expressing your 2 cents

    which is way more than a penny for your thoughts…….

    I know MLQ3 is always a good read
    with the ibnfor that I learn that DATING DAAN is the most visited site
    I would want to dispute that…IT is quezon.ph/blog

  28. footvoter, cjv, thanks for the important clarifications. but here’s another problem: business owners are getting extremely worried over the deterioration in the quality of graduates. there are two things at work: a deterioration in their skills, the other is a sort of fog of indifference and even hostility that seems to hang over them.

  29. Hard to tell unless there is a study that quantifies the alleged deterioration over time. Granted, for the sake of argument, that Batch ’87 is on the average 5 points ‘smarter’ than Batch ’05, this would still mean that there is still a good deal of overlap between the bell curves of the two pools of talent. And since the latter batch is a larger population, then the quantity at a given intelligence level would not be reduced by much if at all.

    Specific skill sets are another matter. If the problem has to do with English Language proficiency, then this could probably be addressed by reemphasizing English as the medium of instruction in schools. For other job-related skills, there may also be a mismatch in what is taught in school and what is needed for the job. For that, the business owners may need to coordinate better with their counterpart business owners of schools.

    I’m sorry but i don’t understand what you mean by “a sort of fog of indifference and even hostility that seems to hang over them”. By ‘them’ do you mean the graduates directing indifference & hostility towards the owners? If so, i would not be able to contribute anything in this except to speculate that since the business owners are getting older relative to their new hires, maybe it’s partly the effect of a generation gap.

  30. cjv, i’m just recounting what is essentially anecdotal evidence. the ones i hear from are people in their 30s who have been managers or in management positions for a few years now, and one constant complaint is “it’s increasingly difficult to find people who have qualifications for secretarial positions, much more anything else.”

    one business owner i talked to was puzzled by what he said was a vast number of people saying theyre willing to take a job, any job, but who then react to having jobs by showing a desire to do a minimum of work for a maximum of pay, and who, the manager said, don’t derive any satisfaction from doing their work. i don’t know if it’s a generational gap, although you can’t discount that (someone twenty years older than i bewailed the lack of interest, that person felt, my generation had in climbing the corporate ladder, people were too impatient and had no espit de corps).

    interesting point though that these things have to be quantified.

  31. My vantage point is of someone who has worked in the same IT firm for 17 years, most of them in the Manila office. From the younger hires i’ve worked with over this time period, I haven’t noticed any decrease in overall talent, dedication or work ethic, but their average duration of employment has significantly shortened. Five years in the same company would now be considered a long time. Those who do technical work often leave for Canada or some similar place. Sales and marketing types often jump to other local companies in the same industry (whether competitors or business partners). My employer has long ago stopped hiring secretaries directly and have relied on staffing firms to populate the secretarial pool. Same things have happened in our offices across the region so it’s obviously not a strictly local phenomenon.

    If the managers and business people think this is a big enough problem, maybe they can commission an outfit like SWS or some social scientist to study the matter to help provide some insights on how local businesses can cope with the changes in the labor environment.

    Unless proven otherwise, i would maintain that we occupy an ordinary place and that there is no change in the average inherent quality compared with either our elders or juniors.

  32. i want to know the conditions of the phill. ofw’s in lebanon right now sls reply imeddiately

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