Online Struggle

To those gathered at the ongoing extrajudicial killing powwow, an attempt at a clarion call from the Chief Justice: Puno: Time to use power of judiciary . There’s more in Newbreak’s Chief Justice: Don’t Expect Elected Officials to Address HR Cases. This, as Rogue soldiers rubbing out leftists, Melo says -under the inspiration of a rogue Acting Secretary of National Defense? Meanwhile, Communist leaders reject Esperon’s ceasefire proposal -or is it, that Reds list conditions for talks resumption… ?

But as all this takes place on a national level, is anyone connecting the dots locally? What of news like this: In war vs youth offenders, Duterte reaches for the shotgun. Just recently, in Cebu, I met a Davao City resident, a young person, who was all praises for Duterte’s methods. And if that’s a sign of public attitudes, that should make us pause and think.

As Antiterror law takes early flak in SC, House, A cautionary note is being sounded in Thailand: Security bill reads like a list of broken promises (for additional background, see Thailand on Spin Cycle: As Thailand’s constitutional referendum campaign kicks off, the military rulers are doing all they can to make sure it passes).

Reuters has a story that Manila still a bulls market but John Mangun warns that,

…it is important to look at certain factors that may make stock investing a bit more precarious than it has been in the last six months.

The Bangko Sentral’s action is causing some worrisome signals on the interest-rate front. Yes, the BSP recently lowered the interest rates it charges for banks to borrow from the central depository.

Having said that, the market this week felt that the interest rate the government was willing to pay on its new borrowings was too low. While the banks probably welcomed the fact that it would cost them less to source funds through the BSP, they also felt that they deserved more in interest when lending money to the national government.

Further, a reduction in interest rates is going to cause additional appreciation of the peso. While an appreciating peso is not a great concern in this corner, at some point the peso strength is going to force some dislocation, and it could show up in the stock market.

An appreciating peso is good for existing foreign buyers who previously converted their dollars into pesos to buy shares. However, a much stronger peso may discourage further investment from overseas from the large fund managers.

When I see a news story touting the fact that portfolio investment from abroad is hitting record levels almost on a monthly basis, I tend to get a little worried. In addition, the question arises: have share-price increases moved too far (and too quickly) ahead of company profits?

Mangun’s column is related to the news that while Philippine peso hits 7-year high, there is an undercurrent of concern: GDP targets are firm amid peso fears.

On the political front, De Venecia allies belittle Kampi’s quest for power although columnist Julius Fortuna points out, or rather, reminds us, that Broadband row tied to JdV fate. In his column, economist Cielito Habito warns that controversies like the broadband deal are a return to Marcos economics:

In all three cases, good economics appears to have taken the back seat in favor of other considerations, in matters that profoundly affect the general public welfare. One would hope that the President, being the Ph.D. economist that she is, and having the last word in public policy in the country, would come to the rescue of good economics in the face of moves that fly in the face of the most fundamental principles of the discipline. Among the foremost of those principles is the one that says more competition is better as it promotes more efficient, effective and equitable outcomes, whereas monopoly tends to be inimical to public welfare.

One senses here a disturbing return to Marcos-era economics. Those of us who were around then know that government-sanctioned, government-supported, and even government-owned monopolies or cartels became the order of the day for crucial industries in the country–in media, telecommunications, domestic air services, and even in coconut oil milling. The disastrous results of such economic policy orientation continue to haunt us to this day–and yet we’re now drifting back toward the same trap. Will we ever learn the lessons of our history?

On a related note, John Nery inaugurates his new column in the Inquirer:

What is at stake in the struggle for leadership of the administration majority in the House of Representatives? The President’s post-Malacañang insurance policy.

Both Speaker Jose de Venecia and Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu have said they will not rely on the President’s support to win the vote, when the chamber decides the leadership issue on the morning of July 23.

Garcia recounted that, after De Venecia brought over a hundred congressmen to the Palace in a show of force last June 1, the President sent for him. “After that meeting, I was called to Malacañang at 3 p.m. The President told me: ‘I won’t endorse anyone publicly.'”

Garcia said his response was: “That’s good enough for us. We fight our own battles.”

De Venecia also told us he did not expect the President to get involved, precisely because he already has enough votes for reelection. (Before the first party-list groups were proclaimed, De Venecia reckoned that 124 votes were needed to win.)

He also recounted that, in the 1992 race for the speakership, President Fidel Ramos did not intervene. It was only when the Lakas minority had been transformed into the nucleus of an administration coalition, he said, that Ramos declared his support.

(This is an assertion we can understand, but not credit; surely Ramos, who famously worked the phones during Edsa People Power I in 1986, did not look on passively when his party-mate and chief campaigner threw his Pangasinan-sized hat into the ring.)

Diplomatic fracas: South Korean envoy says sorry for visa suspension, but the apology will not affect South Korea’s visa tit for tat: Korean embassy hints at action vs 15,000 undocumented OFWs.

Since my book for last week was “Mao’s Last Revolution” (Roderick MacFarquhar, Michael Schoenhals) it seems appropriate to introduce a helpful idea the Maoists had, which was “self-criticism”. Along the way, the interaction between bloggers and their commenters (and individuals can be both, blogging in their own blogs and commenting in others) is a kind of Struggle session. (Check out Morning Sun for a chilling look at the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”, a period the Chinese themselves have now firmly rejected but which continues to enthuse the Jose Ma. Sisons of this world).

Whenever I give talks in schools I always bring up the concept of “fraternal correction,” as something that should be a defining characteristic of any organization. This is why we have the constitutional guarantee of freedom of assembly to petition government to redress our grievances; and it is what entries like Tingog.com’s latest points to: a form of fraternal correction, but also, a demonstration of the importance of debate:

Integrity is the key point here. This is something that all public officials must possess in order to serve with the true intent of helping the citizenry and not just themselves. If he can’t even have the decency to concede defeat and thus end the machinations that we saw in Maguindanao, then what guarantee will we have when he has to again choose between sacrificing his political career against that of the well being of The Filipino people?

Manuel seems to be putting more emphasis on the words that come out of our Fake Senator Zubiri rather than the actions that he makes. Talk is good, but a man’s actions is truly the only way we can judge him. And if his actions are for closing his eyes to the obvious cheating in Maguindanao, then how can we even start to trust him in helping lead our country.

What can I say?

Oh, I know. Noted. Just kidding.

You are are right, and this reminds me of something I’ve been urging for two years now, which is to be consistent. Though an entry in smoke (and the debate in the comments), perhaps no different from thoughts and exchanges regularly featured here, also serves to underscore a point I’ve also come to believe in strongly: we can stand to benefit from recognizing the limits public opinion has imposed, on the kind of political action the public’s willing to tolerate and support.

On an unrelated note, just to vent…

“Migz” has to be the most Jologs (in the standard, and apparently, objectionable definition of the word often used; a definition that Paolo Manalo dissected and disproved in a famous blog entry, and which was dissected to death in an online original research parody by Nino Gonzalez, which, bristling as it is with genuine citations, ends up an interesting disquisition on class in Philippine society and which points out how Jologs has taken on a counter-cultural aspect) political nickname ever (a political nickname is a manufactured nickname for ballot-writing purposes, often not the nickname the candidate’s circle of friends uses), just as his front-page picture recently in the Philippine Star had to be the tackiest attempt at political P.R. in an overwhelmingly tacky industry (“Migz” was photographed in pekpek shorts -yes, “there are pekpek shorts for men,” as Orange Pixie Girl presents once pointed out- with bare toes displayed to the world:I can understand some of the exasperated criticism of our media as hopelessly superficial, because, on one popular AM political talk show, the hosts spent close to half an hour commenting on how “pink” Zubiri’s toes were and how clean, apparently, the soles of his feet were, with a debate, at one point, on whether he got pedicures or not thrown in to boot; the biggest waste of air time in an industry that wastes much of its airtime as it is).

Rant over.

Inquirer Current republished a Black & White Movement statement that Rina Jimenez-David comments on; Conrado de Quiros, on the other hand, says the movement had inflated expectations concerning the opposition in the Senate.
Rasheed Abou-Alsamh on grass fires in Brasilia.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Caffeine Sparks discusses her misgivings about the Anti-Terror Law and recounts a debate with another blogger, on her wondering if the Marine beheadings wasn’t politically convenient.

YugaTech asks why Michelle Malkin doesn’t appear on the list of widely-read Filipino bloggers. Rickey and sparks answer.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

73 thoughts on “Online Struggle

  1. “YugaTech asks why Michelle Malkin doesn’t appear on the list of widely-read Filipino bloggers.”

    Because, like someone we know here, she doesn’t think she is Filipino, but a true blooded American–extravenous, ultravenous, cavernous, inside and out–despite what her nose tells her. That’s as far (or is it near? Kung matangos, far siguro, no?) as her affiliation goes.

  2. Well, if you think about it, the Jologs do outnumber our more “well-bred” compatriots 10-to-0.1.

    So to be fair to the Jologs, the Philippines is in fact THEIR nation. People like you and me simply are not representative of the average Juan de la Cruz.

    So though we may deride the Jologs, they, in fact, are the true Filipinos around here — if there is, in fact such a thing. And just drawing on that last clause, since we are forever scratching our heads about what exactly constitutes a “Filipino”, I think we may have hit on the closest thing there is to a single-word concept of what it means to be Pinoy — and it’s spelled J-O-L-O-G. 😉

  3. MLQ3,

    I’ve just read Caffeine Sparks posts on his/her cyber exchange with another blogger about whether govt troops mutilated their own or not.

    Caffeine Sparks cannot be faulted for his/her arguments re possibility that such a gruesome act may well be the act of some troops from our official army (PMC) but I refuse to believe Caffeine’s theory:

    1) Very difficult to believe that elements of the Marines could inflict such dastardly act on their own even if for the sake of argument we could attribute a higher IQ than what they generally possess (assuming they’d done it to make it appear that the MILF were responsible for the more than pernicious act).

    2) I tend to believe that in the heat of a battle in enemy stronghold or even afterwards, elements of the Philippine Marines couldn’t have had the material time to go on a beheading spree, not even if the encounter “lasted” 6 hours – after all there’s the rear and front flanks to still worry about – remember they are supposed to be in an enemy stronghold.

    Having said that, I must admit that I’m a bit sceptical about the length of the fight, i.e., 6 hours? let alone “day long fight” that a PDI report stated, or 9 hours continuous battle that Philstar said in one of its reports?

    That’s a very long, nay extremely long fight… To put minds at rest, it is of utmost importance for the AFP to conduct a board of inquiry and investigate every single element of the PMC platoons (2 I reckon based on my reading) involved in the battle that day and make a detailed, blow by blow account of the battle. It can be done. All it takes is a strong military will. (There must have been a lull in fighting… find out what happened during the lull!)

    Three or 4 of the PMC elements who died were sergeants; in the Marines, a sergeant is usually considered one of the bravest of the brave – 4 dead sergeants among 14 casualties is a lot by any military standard. This alone should get the AFP going.

  4. Correction: 5 sergeants from among the 14 casualties (1 of them is a technical sgt who could have beens detailed to the ‘highest’ ranking officer. Where is that ‘highest’ ranking officer?

  5. Esperon said, ”While we have the mandate to crush the insurgency by 2010 through the force of arms, there is another way of doing it _ it is through the force of peace negotiations”

    If only only one could trust Esperon! Has he become a disciple of General Templar all of a sudden? I don’t believe that he means what he says – the man is full of shit in his head.

    He wants to sign a 3-year truce with the NPAs not because he believes it’s the best way forward but because he knows the AFP cannot fight on all fronts – the man is preparing for an all out war with the South! You cannot have a peace process when protagonists are in bad faith. The other party sees through to Esperon’s bs right away. Did he think the NPA would believe him? He’s merely shown that government’s hand is weak. He might as well recruit the NPA, offer them amnesty, promise them each a business, give them lodgings to fight the MILF with him.

    Been saying this for a long time: Esperon’s and Gloria’s tack of dealing with Louie Jalandoni and JoMa Sison in Utrecht is utterly wrong. These has/have beens should be relegated to a museum – Esperon and Gloria should talk to Ka Roger – he’s the guy that matters in today’s battle orbit.

  6. what’s the similarity/difference between jologs and jeproks? Are the terms interchangeable?

  7. Jeproks means cool in a rebellious/outcast sort of way.
    Jologs means cool because it flaunts its ‘unwellbredness.’

  8. re michelle malkin, i used to read her blog. pero tinigil ko na siya 2 yrs. ago. hindi ko na rin mahanap ang link nya sa blog ko.

    siguro nawalan na ako ng gana sa kanya nung lumabas yung “In defense of internment” book nya defending the US gov’ts action of putting japanese americans in prison camps during WW2. I mean, even Glenn Reynolds wasn’t that gungho re defending malkin’s book or ideas.

    almost everybody i read daily tried to distance themselves from malkin’s book at that time.

    btw manuel, taga pajamasmedia yang si maglalang. dahan dahan lang.

  9. I’m just curious,

    As a member of the mass media and in the context of the current trendiness of extra judicial killings do you ever fear for your personal safety?

    and why? or why not?

  10. Until now it is not clear who started the “art of Scalping” during the early years of American History, the natives or the colonizers? just the point to ponder about the event in Basilan, could this be just the cycle of what has been going on as being rumored and claimed by both sides, not exactly the beheading, but other humiliating and gross inhuman acts against each other?

    Just the other day, a newly retired PNP officer, a former PC told me that he himself did a tit for tat against the enemy. And I tend to believe him.

  11. mlq3, it doesn’t bother me when sore losers, who obviously don’t know any better, call high officials in our government “fake” just because some groups are contesting their election. but when a person of your current stature as a journalist/historian leads the way, with nothing but conjectures and “composite pictures” of alleged “massive” cheating, and despite contrary official findings, it’s so tragic, if not downright annoying.

    conclusory name calling and ad hominems do not contribute anything useful in a public discourse. you and other like-minded people have been calling the president of the republic fake. without rehashing this debate, just be reminded that her legitimacy has been put to rest many a time. now you are calling senator zubiri a “fake” senator despite official proclamation and implied concurrence by the supreme court.

    “fake” is a favorite word in the media. maybe because there are too much fakery in the industry, including fake journalists who entertain the illusion of “moral ascendancy” in their mind simply by calling themselves “journalists”.

  12. Bencard,

    I’m not sure if the legitimacy of GMA has been put to rest. Perhaps you have referring to her asencion as a result of EDSA Dos. That was an act of faith by the people on the Constitution.

    But not 2004. Her victory on the 2004 polls was her desperate means to perpetuate herself in power. If questions on her legitimacy lingers, it is not due to a dearth of debate which the opposition can fence and parry, it is the cowardice of this administration to confront its own devils knowing that at the end of the tunnel is not a shining light of redemption but a deep dark abyss of lies, damned lies, and fudged statistics.

    And if Migz Zubiri is called a fake, it is certainly because he insists on counting the Maguindanao votes knowing fully well the wealth of evidence proving election fraud.

    And incidentally, when the SC denied the TRO of Pimentel, it was not decision based on merit, it was reached on the basis of procedural technicalities.

    I agree with you that fake journalists have no moral ascendancy to call anyone fake but I also contend that those who are blind and indifferent to the truth have no moral ascendancy to accuse anyone of being fake.

    It is equally annoying to listen to someone insist on the cleanness of the elections when people are killed for standing for truth and refusal to execute a false statement.

    Just like one of my students who was a Team Unity worker when asked if she believed that the killing of Dumasidsing was perpetrated by personalities identified with the administration, she said that the murder of Dumasidsing was a figment of the opposition’s imagination.

    Even murder in Maguindanao is myopically masked as mental mayhem! Must have been fake too ha?

  13. mlq3, i just realize that you were just quoting an entry from another blog which describes senator zubiri as “fake” senator. i’m sorry for erroneously ascribing it to you. mea culpa!

  14. elac, PGMA’s legitimacy questions have been LEGALLY and OFFICIALLY put to rest. The never-ending noises of her enemies are just that – noises. They don’t matter, never did, never will.

    Zubiri is not a judge of what was alleged to have happened in Maguindanao. Why blame him for what Comelec found or did not find there, or for being declared the winner? In the Philippines, cheating is spread out in the entire country and it evens out in the end. The only way to ascertain 100% accuracy of the election is to scrutinize each and every ballot in each and every precinct by competent examiners whose integrity is beyond reproach. Is that what you people want? Should we wait indefinitely and not proclaim anyone until each ballot is determined to be genuine and accurately counted, nothing more, nothing less?

    While the SC decisions were not based on the merits, the Comelec’s action was based on its own findings of fact. If you people know any better, why don’t you come forward and ventilate your suspicions in a proper forum, not the media or the blogosphere? If any one among you has any indubitable proof, do you think koko would not have been aware of it and used it to advance his cause?

    I think your student makes sense. Perception is a very dangerous and unreliable thing. Even this so-called “extra-judicial killing” is always blamed on the military or the administration. How can anyone be certain that the killers are not outlaws disguised as military personnel, and the killing a ‘rub-out’ of an undesirable former colleague that could be blamed on the military? That doesn’t happen only in the movies, you know.

  15. Oh Bencard, if you weren’t too busy typing, you would realize that The COMELEC ignored the oppositions right to speak during the re-canvass… of which, you would also know, that KOKO isn’t the only one pushing for the exclusion of the Maguindanao votes.

    The President’s legitimacy factor you speak about was not put to rest, it was shot down by administration Senators. It was buried, and is still unfinished. Please don’t change history.

    I love it that you also want us to keep silent in the blogosphere… again, silence is your solution to everything.

    “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.” or in your case, “to keep silent”

    Again, Statistics, Lintang Bedol, missing documents, The Pagalungan votes, percentage voter share, no witnesses to the Provincial canvass, Opposition not allowed to question the recanvass… as well as first person media account, are all things that the COMELEC refused to hear…

    The proper forum? It seems that the proper forum is closing its doors…

    If you do not believe that it is part of media and the citizenry to do its part in a democracy, and voicing their opinions, then don’t come crying when your rights are directly affected… because, as you want us to do, we shall keep silent…

  16. parallelism:

    Listen, er, Migz. (Ew. How jologs.) Read the papers and news blogs. A lot of people already think you’re a joke. This cover photo just confirms it. If you wish to gain any semblance of respectability, win the approval of the public you wish to serve, and (oh, yes, honey, I am going there) quash the gay rumors, you may want to start with your image. You want masa appeal? Reclining on a couch whose tag price can feed a hundred 20-member poor families for a month and wearing micro-shorts in front of photographers is not a good idea.
    – setsuna, lucy-felldotlivejournaldotcomslash56687dothtml, 28 june 2007

    —–

    the 12th senator-elect (read se-ney-tor-e-lect) gets in line with some China goods – tainted and fake. just like the cardboard-laden siopao…

  17. Again, this is not about Koko or even Migz, this is about the Maguindanao votes.

    This is not about who’s complaining, but what has happened.

    What has happened is that 95 to 100% of voters in Maguindanao turned out for Migz Zubiri,

    No witnesses to the provincial canvassing as mandated by COMELEC’s own directive, and yet, Bedol was not punished for this, instead they are doing a public relation’s contempt charge, in which Bedol still has yet to be charged…

    The initial canvass showed 19 Senators with zero votes, and Chavit as topnotcher,

    The re-canvass conveniently showed Migz Zubiri as the topnotcher,

    Pagalungan where Musa Dimasidsing died went only 42.15% for Migz…

    Some towns in Maguindanao had ballots filled up with an average of more than 12 Senators,

    As early as Mid May, anomalies were already being reported in Maguindanao, and yet COMELEC did nothing…

    These are not allegations, these things, all these things, and then some — happened.

    Again, these are concrete, no bull, real, and specific parts of The 2007 Maguindanao Elections…

  18. Bencard, you have to get out somehow from your judicial straightjacket. Judges or the courts have no monopoly of the regimes of truth. How many innocent people have been sent to the scaffold because of false judicial truth? If you are an eyewitness to an intruder raping your wife, why wait for a judge or the majority of the Supreme Court to rule it was indeed a rape in order for you to make a sigh of relief and say ultimately: “I now realized what happened and I’m right my beloved did not dishonor me.”

  19. The Extra Judicial killings may NOT have been “actually” done by the Military or the Power in the government or with their implied nod, but they always get the blame for the reason that they are both mandated and empowered to Stop, investigate, and resolve the cases instead of resorting to blaming the other side also without putting forward convincing evidence and thus far a tiny insignificant number of cases had been cleared or resolve and the rest are left to further speculations.

    Simply meant an impotent Administration or Government or Military or lump them together get Blame for everything, unless they prove convincingly otherwise.

  20. bencard

    there will be no fake journalist because if you work as one, you are a journalist. perhaps you are referring to paid hacks. still they are journalists.

    because journalist, whatever color he wears, is not given public mandate to be one. he is paid or employed.

    but “elected” public officials? some could be fake really. courtesy of a stolen mandate.

  21. Baycas,

    RE: “If you wish to gain any semblance of respectability, win the approval of the public you wish to serve, and (oh, yes, honey, I am going there) quash the gay rumors, you may want to start with your image.”

    Daya-na Zubiri did penetrate the Senate using the back door.

    “Reclining on a couch whose tag price can feed a hundred 20-member poor families for a month and wearing micro-shorts in front of photographers is not a good idea.”

    Only Diana Zubiri, not Daya-na, can recline on any couch and pull it off.

  22. The thing is he couldve won fair and square. He’s a pretty popular guy and much better known than Pimentel outside Mindanao I think. It’s unfortunate that he seemed willing to benefit from the Maguindanao scam.

  23. frombelow, you got a point there, my own journalism professor at ust along time ago told me (perhaps jokingly) that journalism is not a profession in the context of a discipline, but a free vocation where any one needing a ‘titulo’ can have one. he has neither public mandate nor a license to work as, and call himself, “journalist”.

    nick, you’re still at it, don’t you? where are you getting all these “facts”. are you an eyewitness to all these, or did you get them from the media, or from a source only you know? if it’s you own knowledge, why don’t you present yourself as a witness and really serve justice instead of just paying lip service to it?

    watchful eye, whether we like it or not “judicial truth” is the closest thing to TRUTH on earth because it is arrived at through evidence presented by the adversaries according to pre-set rules evolved through human experience. do you have an alternative? do you think the media or the clergy can do a better job? btw, your hypothetical is nasty because, i don’t know about you but if it was me, i would not just watch by but would either try to snuff out the life of the would-be rapist before he could do the act, or get killed in the process. Only a person who (a) is a gutless coward; (b) doesn’t care about his wife (c) values his own life more than anything else; or (d) is just a plain and simple moron, would live to tell the sordid episode.

  24. Yup once the legal institution says it is so it is legally so. It has nothing to do with findings of truth but findings of what was presented or based on what was allowed to be presented or existing statutes. In the process of formal en-banc deliberations the Comelec Commissioners are absolute in their rulings.

    The “hanging chad” recount controversy which put Bush II over Gore in the Florida election which gave Bush II the Presidency based on electoral votes was resolved not on the recount but on the power of state authorities to put a limit of time on the recount. The SC of the U.S. ruled that the Secretary of State of Florida had the power to order the recount stopped.

    Legal remedies are not about justice but about the rule of laws.

    Zubiri is in good company. JFK went over the top over Nixon courtesy of Sam Giancana and his band of Wise Guys. Nixon thought it best not to contest.

    The same with GMA. No one will ever know for sure with absolute certainty whether she lost or won. But almost everyone is generally satisfied that her election was tainted.

    That accounts for the ascendancy of the AFP as a de-facto policy maker and weapon in the present government. The present AFP hierarchy has made Big Mike and GMA tandem analogous to the state security. They have turned the rule of laws to the rule by laws. A dangerous transformation.

    The recent summit of sponsored by the SC was so obviously a direct counterbalance to the rapidly rising influence of the military in purely civilian affairs.

    The only legal weapon of choice of the judiciary is pinpointing and defining command responsibility. It falls on Big Mike and GMA.

  25. Do I have an alternative to judicial truth? Plenty. One is a freewheeling debate like this. Another is science and technology such as scientific truth provided by DNA, or GMA/Garci conversation captured by tape-recordings, or video of bundles of election returns being hauled to a hotel in Iligan or Parish Hilton having sex on YouTube.

    The clergy as source of truth? The idea of judicial truth is sometimes traced to judges as “ministers of truth” but that would be another topic as Condrad di Queros used to excuse himself.

    And my hypothetical nasty? Bencard you still don’t get it. You are perpetually trapped in your ambulance-chasing mentality. Try donning some other hats – like that of a journalist for example since you seemed to have taken up some journalism, haven’t you? – in order for you to fathom the depth of symbolism.

    See, some Filipinos are like you. They will dare to rise up and die defending an honor or an idea – like democracy, for instance. Still many more will not take your route or Musa Dimasidsing’s but will just watch by as their loves are violated or the ideas and ideals they believe are abused, raped with impunity. Some people are indeed “gutless coward,” selfish or are “plain and simple moron.” I’m glad there are Bencards and Musa who will not sit by and simply choose to “live to tell the sordid episode.”

    Can you also entrust the search for judicial truth in those justices pretending to condemn extra-judicial killings as they watch by while the rape and murder of democracy in Maguindanao are taking place?

  26. watchful eye, a free wheeling debate with no rules, civilized or otherwise? i’ll tell you, man, that kind of debate can only be settled in favor of him who has the most lethal kiling machine. would you like that?

    judicial truth is determined by law, and rules with force of law, not by judges who are only supposed to interpret and apply the law to facts as ascertained by those rules.

    i don’t know where you’re coming from with “ambulance chasing mentality”. are you sure you know what you’re talking about or the meaning of the term you’re using?
    do you know anything about how i practice law, or the principles i live by in the practice of my profession. i don’t know what you do for a living but however it may be, it seems you are not governed by principles, if any, with real sanctions for their violation. are you?

    i knew you were trying to portray a “symbolism” and my response to it was also a symbolism of a miserable guy who could have done something to prevent or stop the “rape” of his own wife but chose not to do anything. i am referring to individuals or entities who are full of conclusions as to what happened in Maguindanao but would not testify under pain of perjury, or of being exposed as false witnesses.

    what do you want the justices to do – march on the streets, carry red banners and shout: “down with the rapists and murderers of democracy in Maguindanao”. you don’t know what supreme court justices are all about, do you?

  27. Ben,

    You know I have taken a liking to debating you but you are really making it very difficult for me. Hahaha. Good point, by the way.

  28. jaxius, thanks. debating with you is always on an intellectual plane, seldom emotional, and devoid of below-the-belt insults and ad hominems. i look forward to the exercise. you, among others, are quite a challenge too.

  29. BENCARD

    “…if it was me, i would not just watch by but would either try to snuff out the life of the would-be rapist before he could do the act, or get killed in the process. Only a person who (a) is a gutless coward; (b) doesn’t care about his wife (c) values his own life more than anything else; or (d) is just a plain and simple moron, would live to tell the sordid episode.”

    This is just hypothetical Bencard but let’s just use the same story, and continue: Someone comes out to say you plotted to murder the man using wife as a prop. Then someone comes forward the corroborate the story. Then cops who come to investigate tell the fiscal it is murder committed by you. And the judge, believing them all say you are guilty beyond reasonable doubt… How would it be?

    Btw, if you were Koko’s lawyer paid handsomely, how would you look at his loss?

  30. Caffeine Sparks must have had either an overdose of caffeine or Robert Ludlum. Marines decapitating and mutilating their own comrades? C’mon! Those guys are the most closely-knit group on the face of the Earth. Conspiracy ala-Wag the Dog? C’mon! With all due respect, the Marines are not that imaginative.

  31. Caffeine Sparks must have had either an overdose of coffee or novels by Robert Ludlum. Marines decapitating and mutilating their own comrades? C’mon! Those guys are the most closely-knit group on the face of the Earth. Conspiracy ala-Wag the Dog? C’mon! With all due respect, the Marines are not that imaginative.

  32. watchfuleye:you know of course that a vidclip of paris hilton fucking only proves that she was fucking. similarly, a vidclip of returns being carried into a hotel only proves that returns were carried into a hotel; it supports no other conclusion. it does not answer the question “why were they being carried into the hotel?” or “what will they be used for.” these questions can only be answered by an investigation into the facts, with the accused being given the opportunity to defend himself, before an impartial judge.

    similarly a picture of you holding an upside down book doesn’t mean you’re stupid; it just means that when the picture was taken, you happened to be holding the book upside down; it supports no other conclusion.

  33. Rom.

    “a vidclip of returns being carried into a hotel only proves that returns were carried into a hotel; it supports no other conclusion. ”

    Correct EXCEPT there are specific rules about where returms should be kept.

    And so some other conclusion can be made : rules were broken.

  34. Bencard, again, it’s as if you live in a vacuum, and all of a sudden just turn on your laptop and type away.

    These facts, and I’ll list them again for you, you should already know about, but since I must do everything for you, here it is again along with sources…

    What has happened is that 95 to 100% of voters in Maguindanao turned out for Migz Zubiri, (COMELEC COUNT)

    No witnesses to the provincial canvassing as mandated by COMELEC’s own directive, and yet, Bedol was not punished for this, instead they are doing a public relation’s contempt charge, in which Bedol still has yet to be charged… (PPCRV, LENTE, and Bedol’s own statements)

    The initial canvass showed 19 Senators with zero votes, and Chavit as topnotcher, (COMELEC, PPCRV, LENTE, OPPOSITION)

    The re-canvass conveniently showed Migz Zubiri as the topnotcher, (COMELEC)

    Pagalungan where Musa Dimasidsing died went only 42.15% for Migz… (COMELEC)

    Some towns in Maguindanao had ballots filled up with an average of more than 12 Senators, (COMELEC)

    As early as Mid May, anomalies were already being reported in Maguindanao, and yet COMELEC did nothing… (PPCRV, LENTE, KONTRA DAYA, COMELEC)

    Again, if you can’t bother to know these things before hand, maybe you should abstain from the debate altogether…

    And because these are the circumstances that happened during the Maguindanao Canvass which resulted in the win for Zubiri, these are the points that should be focused on…

    I don’t give a damn about Koko or Migz, what is important is the true will of the vote in Maguindanao, and another thing that is important is that if you wish to legitimize the Maguindanao Canvass, then these points should be addressed, but in each and every reply, you neither mention it nor maybe even know about the specifics..

    Which in the end is sad, because you are pushing forth an agenda which is purely rhetoric, without substance.

  35. very short and sweet, mike. i don’t have much time to waste on this. is there anything in your list of “facts” that directly supports your inference that koko won or zubiri lost? i suggest you take a cue from rom at 3:40 above. btw, i am not debating with you whether or not there had been “cheating” in maguindanao or at any other place (as i said, evidence of cheating abound all around, from either side).

  36. Bencard,

    Are you not reading? I’ve just listed them… The most important is the Pagalungan canvass, because the count was based on Election Returns that were saved from being “lost” by Bedol.

    Does 42.15% for Migz in Pagalungan not register with you???

    Doesn’t having an average ballot fill up rate of more than 12 register in your mind as being anomalous???

    With respect to Maguindanao, I don’t think you can say that the overwhelming result was cheating from both sides, I think if you look at the individual points that I’ve made, each and every one of them benefited Migz Zubiri.

    These are enough, if I may use your language, to indict in the court of law, reasonable doubt in The Maguindanao Canvass. The role of COMELEC is to push forward the true will of the people, of which it did not do.

    Of course, I could disregard all of this, if I were to throw logic aside..

    But if you can’t make the connections from these specific points, and the overall result of the Zubiri win, then I can’t do more for you Bencard, you are deeply embedded in your view that The Miraculous Maguindanao Votes were indeed a Miracle.

  37. a vidclip of returns being carried into a hotel only proves that returns were carried into a hotel; it supports no other conclusion.

    Aside from that act being irregular (as pointed out by MB above), there were also some very highly-anomalous events that transpired, and we can put the pieces together. Kung gagamitin lang natin ng konti ang utak natin at hindi tayo magtatanga-tangahan, we can see a clearer picture of what really happened.

  38. Bencard,

    Many American lawyers are ambulance chasers. Check again the yellow pages in the U.S. and you will not need the rules of evidence to prove that fact. At least on this aspect of legal ethics Filipino lawyers is more admirable. Which one are you Bencard?

    Read up first on “judicial truth” and come back again when you are ready. Don’t be like Mr. Pimentel going to argue before the SC emotionally prepared but tactically unequipped.

    If instead of being encapsulated in the mentality of an ambulance chaser, you allow your grey matter to be more supple (or “kung gagamitin lang natin ng konti ang utak natin at hindi tayo magtatanga-tangahan” sabi ni ay-naku), you’ll probably have a better chance like mb, nick and cvj arguing on firmer grounds and possibly help unearth the truth in the process. I can see that readers of mlq3’s website are not “plain and simple morons.” That’s why we meet here very often (on my part, I check out the site – and others – before brushing my teeth in the morning and you know why … I trust the deliberations here more than those in the COMELEC for example.)

    Let’s try to more be imaginative and explore the path toward truth.

    In the hypothetical, did you ever speculate that the SC could be the “intruder” or a least a conspirator in the dastard act? Have you ever thought the hypothetical could also be alluding to an incest rape, the justices being “system insiders”? Think of Javellana at this point … how the “gutless cowards” in the SC then had allowed Marcos to perpetuate his tyranny. Outside of your straightjacket legalese, I’m hoping you are now beginning to see some light at this stage (so with Jaxius).

    As you start to connect the dots … the cvj’s stats, nick’s recaps and mb’s quick wits, a regime of truth commences to unravel: ZUBIRI CAN BE THE UNFORTUNATE ISSUE OF AN INCEST RAPE (he may not be a fake person as mlq3 would wish, but he is definitely a BASTARD). The 7/7-vote that resulted in the failure to hold temporarily the proclamation of a bastard senator is not an exercise in judicial statesmanship. It is a political act, plain and simple.

    Now, do I know “what supreme court justices are all about”? Grow up Bencard. Chief Justice Marshall, the inventor of judicial review was first and foremost a politician. Read up buddy. So are the US justices who voted Dubya as the “decider.”

    The Parish Hilton vidclip is also proof that she is no longer a virgin.

    The GMA/Garci tapes are corroborative proof of “lapse in judgment.”

    The video of ERs … thanks mb, with a free wheeling debate, we somehow could get closer and closer to the truth, with or without “judicial truth.”

  39. Bencard,

    Many American lawyers are ambulance chasers. Check again the yellow pages in the U.S. and you will not need the rules of evidence to prove that fact. At least on this aspect of legal ethics Filipino lawyers is more admirable. Which one are you Bencard?

    Read up first on “judicial truth” and come back again when you are ready. Don’t be like Mr. Pimentel going to argue before the SC emotionally prepared but tactically unequipped.

    If instead of being encapsulated in the mentality of an ambulance chaser, you allow your grey matter to be more supple (or “kung gagamitin lang natin ng konti ang utak natin at hindi tayo magtatanga-tangahan” sabi ni ay-naku), you’ll probably have a better chance like mb, nick and cvj arguing on firmer grounds and possibly help unearth the truth in the process. I can see that readers of mlq3’s website are not “plain and simple morons.” That’s why we meet here very often (on my part, I check out the site – and others – before brushing my teeth in the morning and you know why … I trust the deliberations here more than those in the COMELEC for example.)

    Let’s try to more be imaginative and explore the path toward truth.

    In the hypothetical, did you ever speculate that the SC could be the “intruder” or a least a conspirator in the dastard act? Have you ever thought the hypothetical could also be alluding to an incest rape, the justices being “system insiders”? Think of Javellana at this point … how the “gutless cowards” in the SC then had allowed Marcos to perpetuate his tyranny. Outside of your straightjacket legalese, I’m hoping you are now beginning to see some light at this stage (so with Jaxius).

    As you start to connect the dots … the cvj’s stats, nick’s recaps and mb’s quick wits, a regime of truth commences to unravel: ZUBIRI CAN BE THE UNFORTUNATE ISSUE OF AN INCEST RAPE (he may not be fake as mlq3 would wish, but he is definitely a BASTARD). The 7/7-vote that resulted in the failure to hold temporarily the proclamation of a bastard senator is not an exercise in judicial statesmanship. It is a political act, plain and simple.

    Now, do I know “what supreme court justices are all about”? Grow up Bencard. Chief Justice Marshall, the inventor of judicial review was first and foremost a politician. Read up buddy. So are the US justices who voted Dubya as the “decider.”

    The Parish Hilton vidclip is also proof that she is no longer a virgin.

    The GMA/Garci tapes are corroborative proof of “lapse in judgment.”

    The video of ERs … thanks mb, with a free wheeling debate, we somehow could get closer and closer to the truth, with or without “judicial truth.”

  40. let’s just leave it at that, shall we guys? our arguments don’t matter, never did, never will. zubiri won and koko lost. that’s the ultimate fact.

  41. Zubiri cheated (or at the very least knowingly benefited from cheating) and Koko was cheated. Injustice again prevails. We leave it that way again, and it will be the same story in 2010 and beyond. Really, when will we ever learn. Or more appropriately perhaps, when will we finally grow some balls and say enough is enough, and try to set things right.

  42. mlq3, where’s my post? I’ve submitted it twice and it’s not even under moderation. anything wrong?

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