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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Erap�s Second Coming By Antonio C. Abaya Written Jan. 18, 2005 For the Manila Standard, January 20 issue Unlike the Second Coming of You-Know-Who, Erap�s will not happen even if he is crucified. Figuratively speaking. Trying to make himself into some kind of conquering hero come to rescue the suffering natives from an oppressive tyrant, Erap flew in from Hong Kong, after a celebrated knee surgery, to a rousing welcome by vast multitudes of his supporters numbering, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jan. 16), about 565. There were more security policemen (1,000) than welcomers, said the Inquirer (which could be biased). But the crowds did look thin even in the videoclips in the evening TV news (which could mean another OB van of ABS-CBN is up for torching.) During the pre-arrival hoopla generated by his spinmeisters, fears were floated that there might be an assassination attempt on Erap, in an obvious but cheap ploy to equate Erap in 2005 with Ninoy in 1983. Were his legions of admirers afraid that they might be felled by stray bullets and so stayed away from the airport? Or, my more likely hunch, is Erap stale news, as exciting and as portentous as the Y2K Millennium Bug five years after nothing? New Dawn Kuno In a written arrival statement distributed to media, Erap is said to have branded the Arroyo Government �corrupt� and an international pariah, and he is said to have pledged to lead the country to �a new dawn.� Corrupt? Well, fancy hearing that word from the expert on corrupt government himself, the only Filipino president ever to be impeached for corruption and the only Filipino government official, let alone president, to be accused of plunder; one of two Filipino presidents (the other: Ferdinand Marcos) who made it into Transparency International�s super exclusive club of the Ten Most Corrupt World Leaders. (See my article �Most Corrupt Leaders�, March 31, 2004.) It�s a case of the palayok calling the kaserola black. If the Philippines has become an international pariah, it may be because it is the only country on God�s earth with two names (out of ten) in TI�s corruption hit parade, and Erap himself is, therefore, responsible for at least 50% of that ignoble distinction. As for �a new dawn,� the last time the word �dawn� was used in connection with Erap was when his erstwhile chief-of-staff, Aprodicio Lacquian � the Loquacious Laquian - remarked to media that he was often the last person left sober in Malacanang as Erap and his midnight cabinet caroused all night and well into �dawn� the next day. And what company Erap liked to keep till dawn the next day: a Chinoy stock price manipulator wanted by Interpol in three continents; a Chinoy mega-gambling lord now detained in federal prison in Las Vegas while fighting deportation; a �corporate genius� (Erap�s own description, until they had a falling out) wanted by the FBI and now serving time in federal prison in Miami, for tax evasion, mail fraud and illegal contributions to the Democratic Party); a Cabinet nominee with seven pending estafa (swindling) cases against him in court; and various other shady characters more appropriate in a Mafia homecoming in Sicily than in the presidential palace of a self-respecting republic. A Moral Puzzlement Presumably to help bring about that �new dawn�, Erap has organized �a committee of 5�, made up of himself, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Rep.Chiz Escudero, former agrarian reform secretary Boy Morales and the world�s leading expert on failed coups, Gringo Honasan. Never mind Binay; he�s just another trapo. And never mind Honasan; he�s probably cooking up another coup using Erap�s money. But I am totally amazed that the young, articulate and presumably idealistic Chiz Escudero and the once-committed social activist Boy Morales (who had co-founded, with his sidekick and fellow socialist Ed de la Torre, the National Democratic Front, the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, in the 1970s).would ally themselves with someone who likes to associate with criminals and the criminally inclined. It is truly a moral puzzlement to me what Escudero and Morales see in this illiterate buffoon, aside from a lot of money (of questionable origin). Are they perhaps secretly doing some social research for a doctoral thesis on The Criminal Mind in Philippine Politics? Or perhaps a case study on The Stupidity of the Filipino Electorate?. Do not Escudero and Morales see any moral contradiction at all in the man who styles himself as Erap para sa Mahirap, yet thinks nothing of spending millions of pesos for a capricious surgery in Hong Kong while millions of the Mahirap are living on the edge of starvation? Where is Escudero�s sense of nationalism that he is not offended by the man�s refusal to have the surgery done by a Filipino surgeon in a Filipino hospital, at a fraction of the cost in Hong Kong? My friend Nandy also had his knees operated on, by a Filipino surgeon in the UST Hospital, only last month, and he can beat Erap anytime in the 100-meter dash for seniors. And where is Morales� sense of socialist justice that he finds nothing criminally obscene in the deliberate extravagance of Erap and his family? Four suites at the Parkview, at US$2,880 per suite per day. In 16 days, that amounted to $184,320 or P10,321,920. And that does not even include the operation, the hospital, the surgeons, the medicines, etc. Their total bill must have topped P40 million for 16 days in Hong Kong. With your experience as agrarian reform secretary, my dear Boy Morales, you must have a keen idea of how many hectares of land those P40 million would have bought for how many landless peasants. As one who was formerly involved with the welfare of street children, you must know how many meals and how many glasses of milk P40 million would have bought for how many undernourished street children. And yet you felt no revulsion at all at this family of moral retards as they flaunted their dubiously acquired wealth? With your Marxist sense of history, my dear Boy Morales, you must be aware, more than most, of the dialectical contradiction of the Romanovs living their lives of indecent excess (thesis) amidst the grinding poverty that surrounded them (antithesis), until they were swallowed by the Revolution (synthesis) of your former inspirational models, the Bolsheviks of Lenin. Do you not see any parallel here at all? Or is this your way of bringing about that Revolution to this unfortunate country, by encouraging the Romanovs of Polk Street to tease the gods of Revolution with their vulgar nouveau-rich proclivities? You have not only tacitly condoned his insensitive lifestyle, you are actually involved in planning the Second Coming of this fake nationalist, this counterfeit champion of the poor, this over-aged adolescent, this criminally inclined ignoramus. Shame on you, Boy Morales! Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Erap�s Second Coming� Dear Mr. Abaya My name is Kjell Sundberg and I am from Sweden but also permanent resident in the Philippines since 1992 I read your article called �Erap�s Second Coming� in to day�s issue of Manila Standard. Having followed Philippine politics (with a low profile) for the last 13 years I think your article is absolutely excellent as it in not too many words provides a clear expose of the nature of former President Estrada�s nature and performance. Well done! Would you be willing to e-mail it to me? I would be pleased to forward it to various of my friends who may not be readers of Manila Standard. Yours Sincerely Kjell Sundberg, [email protected] January 20, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Thank you for making me and perhaps many others feel good by your posting. I may not agree with your revolutionary government but you are a patriot just the same. Yes, shame on all self-proclaimed patriots around Erap. Some of them, Kit Tatad, Herman Laurel and others have just been here in Davao City drumming up support for the ouster of GMA. Gico Dayanghirang, [email protected] January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Kudos on this writeup. One thing I personally fail to see is how no one in the media bothered to mention how GMA gives in to Erap's every whim. Maybe unsurprising for others more politically savvy then I, but think of the money in terms of all the expenses, including the expense of posting 15,000 policemen all over the Metro (to contol Eraps 540 fans at his arrival?) Her tendency to give in to all of Estrada's requests, be it through the Sandigan or the anti-graft body (at this point i don't even know if there is indeed an investigation into this thief's crimes against 80 million Filipinos) but she sure is playing the role of his vice-president to the hilt, although she is supposed to be the president of all Filipinos, and not only Erapo the Trapo. He and his cadre of crazed followers seem to have something on her or maybe her prestigious husband. Warm Regards, Gerry Kaimo, [email protected] January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Right on Mr. Abaya! My feeling is that a number of those young idealistic member of the Left of the 60s and 70s have long ago abandoned their ideals. They mellowed and was swallowed by the very hated system they want to change. Some even made a pact with the devil. As for Chiz Escudero, I also don't understand why is he keeping such company. Auggie Surtida, [email protected] January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, You hit the nail on the head. I am waiting for someone to write this kind of commentary especially directed at supposedly �matitinong tao� like Chiz Escudero. Not even my favorite PDI columnist had ever done scathing remark directed at this kind of people like what you�ve done. I can even forget about Boy Morales since from time Erap was enshrined as a leading presidential candidate, I think Morales had already denounced his ideological affiliation to join the Erap bandwagon. However, just like anybody in his right frame of mind (like you and me), I couldn�t fathom the rationality of Escudero and his nerve to defend Erap and his ilk without feeling remorse or regret at all. You can see it on his face whenever he makes a statement, without emotion at all blurting words from his mouth spontaneously. What a waste of talent and intelligence. I believe he is afflicted with the same kind of malady affecting Angara, Jose Pardo and similar species. Well, probably, the old clich� �like father, like son� may have something to do with it. Their umbilical cord traverses all the way back since Marcos era. Thanks and more power. Rgds, Jerome Escobedo, [email protected] January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, There could be another explanation to the actions of Escudero and Morales and that is "power tripping". In the book of Robert Greene titled "48 Laws of Power", Law # 6 is "Court Attention at all Cost" - "Everything is judged by its appearance, what is unseen counts for nothing, never let yourself get lost in the crowd, or buried in oblivion, make yourself a magnet of attention....(sic)". Obviously, these two individuals have higher political ambitions and are doing everything possible (at any cost) so that their names are not forgotten. Best regards, Rey Abella, [email protected] Tarlac, January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Marvelous Tony. Tell it like it is. I am still chuckling. Alfredo �Ding� Roces, [email protected] Australia, January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I am just writing to tell you that I enjoy your articles and your straight forward opinions. I take the Standard mainly because of the Crossword Puzzles and Quotes as I am reaching the age where my mind needs challenging every day. I almost quit reading when they took back the Trapo writer who loved Erap so much and now he seems to love Gloria? Julie is okay and the Editorial is usual fine so keep up the good work and I will continue taking the Standard. Jack Gesner, [email protected] Baguio City, January 21, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Sent to nine egroups) The questions that Mr. Antonio Abaya asks on Horacio "Boy" Morales below can be addressed also to the NDF. (Saying "NDF" or even "Bayan Muna" seems to be much more preferable than saying "Communist Party of the Philippines" or even "New People's Army" or "The Consultant".) It is not only some people from Samar who are saying that they have lost that vision that they are pro-people, pro-hard work, pro-justice, pro-competence, pro-good men and women in oppressed and impoverished Philippines. They have been branded as "extortionists" and "bandits", unfairly perhaps, because many of them are sincere in offering their lives for Pilipinas. Their intense patriotism is unquestionable. Their loathing of a political and governmental system dominated by trapos has left them no other recourse but to pursue this alternative, the alternative of hardship, violence, pain, death, and martyrdom. And then we have Horacio "Boy" Morales (one of his cousins from Tarlac who is a good friend here in the US still talk about him with reverence), a UP alumnus, a hero when he went underground right after being chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men and Women during the time of the dictatorship, when he was Executive Vice President of the Development Academy of the Philippines where so many idealistic Filipinos who could not afford to go underground were huddling together under the dubious protection of OD Corpuz, the fraternity brother of you know who and hoping that they would not be picked up by a military who was propping up a corrupt system... There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to what is happening in the Philippines. We are muddling through. It is possible we will end up with warlord-dominated regions with drug money pouring into the Philippines. But the warlods would not dare antagonize America whose simple-minded leaders would not hesitate to use its array of weapons against anyone who do not agree with them to protect the Bible-quoting Americans in the rural areas. In the meantime, our poor Japayukis -- a niece of mine included -- are fighting to continue staying in Japan. They are no different from the Filipinos fighting among themselves so that they can stake out a piece of the garbage dump in Payatas. Our urban poor are sleeping on the streets in Metro Manila and rummaging through the garbage cans so that they can eat. Our peasants in the rural areas are caught between the Philippine Military and the New People Army. Our homeless children go home to the catacombs and burial grounds in Metro Manila and sniff shabu for lunch or dinner, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseaum. But frankly, I am proud of what we in Villareal, Samar are doing to repair and maintain that graft-riddled 9-kilometer provincial road. When I reflect on the thousands of unpaid men and women from all over the municipality and the island barangays, including very young girls and boys in the elementary grades, who are repairing that road, and peeved with Mayor Renator "Boy" Latorre -- perhaps he is a better "Boy" -- when they are prevented from doing their share of bayanihan manual work because they are stepping on each others unshod toes, there are just so many volunteers, when I reflect that we Villahanons all over the world are contributing our hard-earned money -- not the looted money from the Philippines -- for that bayanihan road, I feel cleanse of the moral corruption that afflicts the incompetent leadership of this benighted "Pearl of the Orient Seas". I feel that the evil in Philippine society is being exorcised by our simple folks in Villareal, in poor Samar, who do not have a Barong Tagalog, a coat and a tie or a Filipina dress. Why not! When the rest of Luzon and the Visayas had capitulated to the superior forces of America, our ancestors in Samar were being mowed down to their deaths, even boys 10 years old and older, making Samar a "Howling Wilderness". The battles in Balangiga and Catubig are etched in the annals of what is good to remember in Philippine history. Anyway, read Mr. Abaya's article, and ask yourself what happened to the once-proud, once-respected, once-progressive Philippines. Cesar Torres, [email protected] Gugma Han Samar Cyberspace Movement January 23, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Congratulations...you said it right!! Shame on you Boy Morales Shame on you Jojo Binay More shame on you, Honasan Enrile, Si Escudero, wala ng shame yan, Marcos boy yan talaga! SHIT on all of them....but anyway, they make me laugh...or hawllll Maryann O�Connor, [email protected] January 23, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, Very interesting article indeed! The main problem after Marcos is no one went to jail after his giant plunder. So, it is easy to follow plunder cases with others like Estrada. So, if only the small fish get fried and the big fish can get away, there will surely be other big fishes who will follow. How can we have restraint if there is no punishment for a crime? In So. Korea, death sentences were passed against erring Presidents. Although they were eventually pardoned, the fact that formal sentences were meted out, we can almost predict that it will put a brake on corruption and plunder by most if not all including the highest officials in the land. Unless an example is ever made to just one of these erring officials, this will be a cycle that will be repeated over and over. Orly Morabe, [email protected] January 25, 2005 PS. The Estrada episode is like a zarzuela. This almost feels like a joke when one of the more corrupt administrators can call another administration corrupt. Perhaps, only the experienced know better and are most qualified to judge what is considered corrupt. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |