Outright war, parting of ways, or strategic retreat? Malaya Reports the Firm’s fair share of legal beagles in the administration will be quitting, too. Amando Doronila thinks this is a sign of an alliance that’s collapsed. Executive Secretary Ermita suggests the loyalty of “the Firm” is in doubt. And loyalty is the only litmus test that now counts.
Loyalty will count, as government workers are soon going to find out: for every layoff, a new position will be opened up for patronage as government gears up for elections.
The costs of revolutionary taxation revealed.
“Theirs but to do and die…” Singaw slithers to Supreme Court. On the other hand, LP leadership resorts to administration-style legalistic maneuvering to keep itself in power.
It’s official: Democrats gain the US Senate. It didn’t take too long for Filipino politicians to want to ape everything American -most-overused word to come: “bushwhacked“. But still, the drum beating has begun. Even Jarius Bondoc, as loyal a government minion as can be found, suggests it’s too crude to keep pushing for the cancellation of elections as a bribe for the fractious House.
Last night a conversation at a dinner party reminded me of “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” (Doris Kearns Goodwin). Wasn’t Lincoln’s party the reform-oriented one, I was asked. Sure. And yet today, the Republicans of Lincoln are big money people. What happened? I said it seemed to me, William McKinley (of whom every Filipino should have a non-glowing opinion) is what happened to the Republicans and William Jennings Bryan (for whom Filipinos should always bear thankful thoughts) happened to the Democrats. It’s long been said that the McKinley clique (or at least part of his claque), specifically political boss Mark Hannah, was idolized by Carl Rove, who wanted to copy the formidable alliance between money and politics and imperial expansion that redefined the Republican party. (See Jonathan Alter’s satire).
David Greenberg says that gerrymandering, microtargeting, and polarization may end up upsetting hard-and-fast rules on analyzing midterm elections. Also, of course, Republican dirty tricks which keep Democrats in a perpetually shocked condition. Democrat senior congressmen John Dingell and others call for an investigation into robocalling. You can see CNN coverage of what robocalling is, through Crooks and Liars. See the blog of a Rochester, New York local TV station for video and their report on robocalling that took place in their area. See The Daily Politics and Talking Points Memo for a thorough report on the issue. The Republican tactic (the robocalls were all for Republican purposes) was to have a prerecorded message inform people that they were unregistered or registered elsewhere and that if they showed up at their voting precinct, they could face arrest; other calls apparently told voters that only natural-born Americans were entitled to vote. Or sending them on a wild goose chase on election day. See Stolen Moments. And Notes from the Underdog. Oh, and cases being reported of voter intimidation and misleading voter registrations sound a bit familiar.
So perhaps this is the decline and fall of American Conservatism after all? Peter Trubowitz thinks not. blurry brain takes a Yoda-esque look at the election results -and consequences, for the Philippines. Worried, he is.
Mahathir’s heart flutters.
Rene Saguisag dishes it out to the Firm -a good start, perhaps, he says, but don’t unfurl the welcome banners yet.
Much as I, too, favor increased attention and resources given to the promotion of English, it’s notions like those peddled by Peter Wallace that help discredit the proponents of the language.
Newsstand on incivility in public discourse, on the authoritarian instincts of those who snipe at their conservative elders, etc.
RG Cruz on everything you wanted to know about TV ratings, but might have been afraid to ask.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, philippines, politics, president, Washington DC
iniduro ni emilie said this on November 10th, 2006 at 10:01 am:
“there goes again the argument for the promotion of english: turning pinoys into word class servants.
i’d rather we have barok speakers but can think like rocket scientists. so yes, let’s relearn our science and mathematics by teaching these subjects in the language we understand best: our mother tongue…
as to global reach, why require all students to learn english, mandating it even to be the medium of instruction? wallace flashes back to the 50s and 60s. question: where did their english bring us, if our forebears were damn so good at it?
the irony is, peter comes a multicultural nation down under that values and promotes various mother tongues. and here he is, asking filipinos to answer phone calls for him.”
——
That is so true, iniduro ni emilie. English must only be taught as a foreign language, or even as a second language, and must not be instituted as a medium of instruction. In context, job opportunities requiring a high-degree of skill in English are already being addressed by specialized courses in universities, colleges and other academic establishments. For instance, IT is now a college degree at MAPUA and there’s already a Call Center Academy (CCA).
As for the sciences, I think it’s a misconception that English is needed to understand them. Given that fundamental concepts were and technological advances are formalized in Western languages, these can be explained by using our languages. Concept names may be borrowed since these are the standard terms used. Just borrow the concept names and explain what they mean and how they work in Tagalog, Ilokano, Cebuano, or any of our languages. The processes in the natural world are universal. The molecular composition of water is still H2O whether you’re in London, Madrid, Guimaras or even Mars. Kaya ang tubig ay binubuo ng mga kemikal na hydrogen at oxygen. Sa pagsasama ng dalawang molecule ng hydrogen sa isang molecule ng oxygen ay meron kang tubig.
Now, isn’t this much better to be understood by our gradeschool students than dishing them out an explanation in a foreign language? When English is used, you do not only lose comprehension of key concept terms but the whole concept itself since gradeschool students, whose mother tongue is not English, simply can’t associate any word you are saying in the realm of their limited experience or existence even. However, when Tagalog is used as in our example, you only have to worry about explaining key concept terms but the concept itself has already been understood. This applies to all the sciences. As I’ve said, the processes in the natural world are universal. 6×2 is always 12. But by saying, anim na tig-dadalawa, the fundamental process of multiplication is made clear to a Tagalog kid.
U.P. Student, You know a lot more than I do. You did your homework.
I voted in the recent election (Democrat of course). Just to summarise, Liberalism is represented by the Democratic Party, while conservatrism, by the Republican. One other issue is the Death Penalty, the Liberal stance is against, and the Republican is for. Also, the Wikipedia article on Filipino Americans cite Asian Americans mostly vote for Democrats except for Fil-Ams who vote for more conservative candidates (I think it’s because of the abortion issue. most Filipinos are catholics)
“Panganiban flipped flopped, justifying EDSA but ignoring 6.5 M people wanting to be heard. Carpio dealt with conjectures rather than being factual. Justice Puno’s consistency should ean him the chief justice position. –james”
You cannot compare EDSA to the supposed 6.3M signatures. The former, especially the first one, was manifested by a sea of warm bodies who resisted attempts by the dictator to continue his despotic reign. The latter, I’m sorry to say, are just that — signatures — written on a blank piece of paper by unsuspecting citizens who could not have known what they were signing for.
Based on the value of gold today based on DJB’s piece on the cost of building Kennon Road today would be $2.6 billion. Gold costing between $650-$700 an ounce.
It is surprising that most people do not see the evolution of the original Jeffersonian Democrats to today and the evolution of the Hamiltonian Republicans to today’s Republicans. Hamilton was also a banker. The bank that he established still exists today in New York City. He set the foundation for the industrialists of the U.S. The Civil War was more about trade than slavery. The rapidly industrializing North versus the agricultural South. The industrialists funded Lincoln’s war. Lincoln’s first act was to prevent trade between the South and England and Europe. He imposed a blockade in New Orleans and all ports. Confederate money soon became worthless. No trade no gold. He continued the dirigist policy set up by Hamilton. Mercantilism and industrial policy guided by a national monetary system separate from Europe and England. It was Hamiltons idea of a national central bank that was formally initiated by Wilson in 1913. And strengthened by FDR in 1934 making it part of his government’s semi-command of the U.S. economy.
Most people debate about capitalism without realizing that capitalism is a social format like feudalism before it. Adam Smith saw the benefits of free land and free farmers in America. Everyone could have land. That was the basis of the agricultural revolution that propelled the U.S. to becoming number 1. Then the timing could not have been more perfect. Technological inventions started with the cotton gin in America then the steam engine in England then trains then the mass production of iron into steel through the Bessemer process. America actually never went through a feudal system. That is why they hate kings. America was democracy only for those farmers, tradesman and traders who were white and owned property. Everyone else had to fight for the right to vote. From being the farmers the sons and daughters later on became the labor force with the immigrants for the industrializing America. It was that labor force that later became the mass base for Jefferson’s Democrat. FDR institutionalized the union movement and till today there are many Republicans including the Bush’s who insider FDR to be a commie. LBJ finally freed all blacks with the signing of the Civil Rights Act and moved FDR’s ideas even more left with his Great Society policies. The biggest battle upcoming will be about universal healthcare and access to higher education by the vast majority in the U.S.
Keynesian though actually saved capitalism from collapsing. It actually requires a nation state to accomplish this. But it still does not solve the inherent aspect of capitalism – overcapcity.
It is so funny that many people point to Marxists who they believe are against capitalism. It actually is a social format that will occur when an economy evovles from agriculture to the industiralization process that will eventually even industrialize the agricultural process. Marx did not like the capitalists. But he liked the industrial revolution as this was going to free man from the toils of physical labor. His greatest error was in not realizing that the means of production is the human being. The amazing capacity of humans to create and change the universe. It brought with it the dangers also of destroying the world as we know it.
The basic problem that remains with command economies is simple. Initiative and innovation for the common good. Is technology for all humanity to benefit from or do we leave it to natural selection. Power can always be abused as when rtechnology is used to destroy human life on a scale unseen before. Hitler’s Germany industrialized the genocide of people. His brand of national democratic socialism. Stalin did it too and so did Mao. The white man did it on every continent including the Philippines to educate the savage.
Unfortunately there will be more commas and stuff that happens under the different brands for rationalizing (realativism). “Operation Iraqi Freedom” is one such brand. “Globalization” is another. Competitiveness another.
The genuis Intengan recently complained that the Philippines is a ‘dysfunctional patriarchal liberal democracy.’ A feudal liberal democracy is a contradiction in terms and in substance. It is oxymoronic. Morons would not know the difference. He takes great pains to avoid using Marxist sociological terms like feudalism. The present Pope had to be corrected when he related the Theology of Liberation to Marxist dogma. Marx was never an economist and should not be seen as one.His field was sociology and his ideas on that are most compelling as with Darwin. Darwin was about natures food chain and evolution being dependent on factor endowments and Marx was about the human food chain and the effects of technological advances on the food chain. Please note that when food becomes scarce even humans will eat each other.
Today so far two economists in the person of Robert Samuelson and Brain Arthur with the former Marxist Alvin Toffler say that we are seeing a new stage of development apart and substantially different that started with the industrial revolution. Toffler calls it the Third Wave. Samuelson simply calls it the next stage of capitalism.
BTW, just in case anyone is interested in how harsh the Supreme Court can be; take a look at their ruling in the Party list case.
“The assertion of the OSG that the party-list system is not exclusive to the marginalized and underrepresented disregards the clear statutory policy. Its claim that even the super-rich and overrepresented can participate desecrates the spirit of the party-list system.”
——–
“This Court, therefore, cannot allow the party-list system to be sullied and prostituted by those who are neither marginalized nor underrepresented. It cannot let that flicker of hope be snuffed out. The clear state policy must permeate every discussion of the qualification of political parties and other organizations under the party-list system.”
——-
“Clearly, therefore, the Court cannot accept the submissions of the Comelec and the other respondents that the party-list system is, without any qualification, open to all. Such position does not only weaken the electoral chances of the marginalized and underrepresented; it also prejudices them. It would gut the substance of the party-list system. Instead of generating hope, it would create a mirage. Instead of enabling the marginalized, it would further weaken them and aggravate their marginalization.
In effect, the Comelec would have us believe that the party-list provisions of the Constitution and RA 7941 are nothing more than a play on dubious words, a mockery of noble intentions, and an empty offering on the altar of people empowerment. Surely, this could not have been the intention of the framers of the Constitution and the makers of RA 7941.”
————
And that was in 2001.
The emotional and bombastic phrases — “sullied and prostituted”, “offering on the altar of people empowerment” — makes me imagine that conradoDeQuiros was the ghostwriter.
(This party-list feature of the Philippine Constitution truly identifies Filipinos to prefer government intervention to “enable the marginalized”.)
hvrds… that is tricky writing to pose that ‘The present Pope had to be corrected when he related the Theology of Liberation to Marxist dogma.” The Pope will not stand-corrected; it was/is the Pope who is correcting the mistake of liberation theologists. Below are the words of then-Cardinal Ratzinger (with his special warning about propaganda-truths embedded in lies):
” An analysis of the phenomenon of liberation theology reveals that it constitutes a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church. At the same time it must be borne in mind that no error could persist unless it contained a grain of truth. Indeed, an error is all the more dangerous, the greater that grain of truth is, for then the temptation it exerts is all the greater.”
hvrds… who Intengan, the founder of The Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP, Filipino Social Democratic Party)? Is this Intengan the buddy of Norberto Gonzales?
Tony,
Can’t really say if a ghost writer was involved but officially the ponente is none other than the present CJ Panganiban.
And what is primarily interesting in the decision is that Justice Puno concurred with the decision penned by then Justice Panganiban.
And that Assoc. Justice Puno did not bother to issue a separate concurring opinion. That means he totally agrees with everything written in the decision!
ZDNet reported “Wikipedia used to spread malicious code.â€Â
Sophos last Nov. 3 announced “Hijackers hijack Wikipedia page to spread malware.â€Â
Beware.
If we don’t believe in signatures then that invalidates all electoral processes. Surveys should also be discarded . So how should we search for the real pulse of the people? Should we be completely dependent on who shouts or who shouts the loudest. Precisely the issue of signature verification should have been allowed to continue and not cut in bud by mere conjecture on the veracity of the signatures.
Justice Puno wanted the case tossed back to the Comelec for the Comelec to decide on whether the Constitutional requirements of the required signatures were met by the proponents. Puno wanted a broader interpretation of amendment to include substantive ion to the SC.changes to the Constitution that would alter certain bedrock principles of checks and balances embedded in a bicameral system of Congress under the separate but equal system we have in Republican democratic government.
I think Father Bernas gave a very good explanation of what the words Republican mean. People give up some of their natural rights to this representative government. That is so basic a fundamental fact. That is why all bills in Congress are voted on by our re-presentatives. Modern societies have grown more complex than tribal communties. That is what Re-public means
For anyone who has not particpated in the system of adjudication of laws in the country. The most basic thing in going to court is the issue of parties in interest and cause of action. Are you qualified to file the case and what is the cause that precipates your action.
That is where Carpio caught the proponents without any clothes on. First the plaintiffs in the case are the 6.3 million signatories. At the barest of minimums all of them must have the knowledge to form a belief of what they signed. When you file a petition in any court in this country you have to sign a document that verifies that you have knowledge of the facts your are presenting to form a belief. It is called a Verification Certificate.Every lawyer knows that phrase by heart – ‘Knowledge to form a belief.’
Even if 1% of the 6.3M people who signed did not see the actual petition that means that they do not have the knowledge to form a belief about what the petition was all about. That means that the petition presented to the SC was legally flawed and was done with the clear intent to deceive the court that the petitioners all 6.3m have knowledge to form a belief about the petition (the complete one).
That is so so basic in the legal process and Puno wrote his dissertation in dissent on other matters and did not challenge that. That is why PI’s are for simple and direct amendments that are clear cut whose cause and effect are clearly known by all. That is where the issue of log rolling comes in. The issue of term limits is not on the signature sheets of the petitioners. So much subterfuge.
Basic rules of court are simple – Parties in Interest and Cause of Action. That means the required signatures (6.3M) which represents the required signatures must all have knowledge to form a belief about what they signed. Even if only 10% did not see the complete petition then they cannot claim a knowledge to from a belief. The proponenets admitted as much that not all signatories saw the actual petition. It is like filing a court case and the judge asks the plaintiff if he had read his claims in his petition and he says no.
That is why the process of PI is for simple amendments. Example:
Do you agree to extend the term limits of all senators and Congressman by five years? Yes or No? In the past U.S. mid-term election there were hundreds of PI’s in all the States. But when the issue of making it a criminal offense to burn the flag came up, it had to be as a Constitutional amendment because this would challenge the basic freedom of speech and expression and both the Senate and House of the U.S. had to vote separately for the 2/3rds vote. The amendment was killed by one vote in the Senate. So you see the difference in issues of flag burning cannot be decided alone by a PI in individual States in the U.S. You would have to make it an amendment to the U.S. Constituion because the effects of criminalizing the flag burning would violate the freedom of expression and speech.
Knowledge of the meaning of words and becoming aware or understand when words are used like amendment and revision as tools depend on the cause and effect that such actions would effectuate. That is why we have two sides to our brain. It takes practice to use it effectively.
Sometimes people refuse to think with both sides of the brain.
“Opposition girding to bushwhack Arroyoâ€Â
I doubt it so much if they can accomplish that.
They should just put up or shut up….
rego said this on November 11th, 2006 at 10:03 am
YES with your SUPPORT REGO – WE CAN WIN BOTH SENATE AND THE HOUSE … LET US VOTE AND SUPPORT ALL THE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE THIS 2007 AND SHOW GMA WHAT WE TRULY FEEL !!!
LETS END HER FAKE REGIME ONCE AND FOR ALL !!!
james,
wow…i didn’t know you needed signatures for surveys or elections.
James,
When votes (the veracity of which were never questioned) that involve special water mark papers, thumbmarks, indelible ink, and yes signatures can be discarded: why must your signatures be given more credence over votes?
jumper
please don’t jump into conclusion right away. Surveys be discarded only because there are no warm bodies to support it as demaded by bystander.
justice league- just following the argument of bystander.
yes, because edsa has the warm bodies and signature campaign and electoral processes are not warm enough.
some people unfortunately would like to pretend to know just about anything under the sun. worse, they would presume the rest should follow their way of thinking.
the brain –
the cerebral hemispheres of the brain may grossly look alike but their hemispherial function up to now is still obscure to neurophysiologists. handedness and brain lateralization can not be overshadowed by mere practice.
james,
some people, unfortunately, when they’ve run out of arguments, resort to belittling the other person, and going off on random tangents (e.g. brain lateralization).
Filibustero – Can you be less political in your thinking?