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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Marching with the Communists By Antonio C. Abaya Written March 07, 2006 For the Standard Today, March 09 issue From information divulged in the mainstream media, there seems little doubt now that the Feb. 24-25 happenings were financed by no less than deposed President Joseph Estrada, with the thinly disguised intention of overthrowing the incumbent government. In its March 02 issue, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that �Deposed President Joseph Estrada has admitted giving a total of P8 million to soldiers belonging to the Scout Rangers Regiment, the Philippine Marines and the families of Magdalo soldiers in December last year � not to fund a coup d�etat, but to add cheer to their Christmas��.. �(Mike) Defensor (Malacanang chief-of-staff and negotiator with Estrada) said that based on Estrada�s account, representatives of the Scout Rangers, the Marines and families of the jailed Magdalo soldiers went to his Tanay rest-house asking for money for their Christmas parties and gift giving�..� According to the Inquirer, Erap agreed to give money but asked them to put their requests in writing so that he could give the money as a donation from his Saludo sa Kawal Pilipino Foundation, with checks and receipts to formalize the donation. But this looks like nothing but a disingenuous legal ruse to cloak the �donation� and its real purpose with a veneer of legality and noble intentions. Erap gave no donations to the military contingents assigned to the lonely outposts in the Spratly Islands, nor to the units locked in mortal combat with the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu, nor to the army and police detachments being ambushed by the NPA on a weekly basis in Quezon, Samar, Negros, Bicol and a dozen other places. If there were military or police units that needed Christmas cheer last December, it was these. But Erap did not give them a single peso. Instead he gave P8 million (and conceivably more) only to Scout Rangers and Marines and Magdalo warriors, all based in the relative comfort and safety of Bulacan and Metro Manila who, by astounding coincidence, turned out to be, with the PNP Special Forces, the only military and police units implicated in the Feb. 24-25 happenings. If this were a strong (and successful) republic like Malaysia or Singapore or South Korea or Taiwan or Thailand or Indonesia or Vietnam or China, these legalistic ruses would not be believed at all by the government, by the media or by the public. It is onli in da na-ib en wisi-wasi Pilipins that these alibis are accepted at face value, or even given at all. According to the March 03 issue of the Inquirer, the Scout Rangers (led by Gen. Danny Lim) �solicited and received P4 million from Estrada�s Saludo sa Kawal Pilipino Foundation last Dec. 24. The money remains intact in the bank account of the regiment�s multi-purpose cooperative�..The Marine Corps also solicited and received P3 million from Estrada�s foundation last January for their cooperative�.� The foundation�s manager, Erap�s son-in-law Manuel �Beaver� Lopez, admitted that the families of the Magdalo warriors �received P1 million through a law office.� But Beaver and the spokesmen of the military co-ops denied that the donations were for destabilization purposes, only for adding to the Christmas cheer of the soldiers and their families. The co-ops� spokesmen said they did not even know that the foundation was Erap�s. As the Americans would say, �Yeah, right.� But if they were indeed purely for Christmas cheer purposes, why are the funds still intact, as they themselves claim, in the co-ops� bank accounts as late as March 03. Were they thinking of Christmas 2006? In its March 05 issue, the Inquirer quoted Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as saying that the P8 million that the foundation gave to the rebellious soldiers may have come from �the P130 million that Erap�s daughter, Jacky Ejercito-Lopez, (wife of Beaver Lopez) reportedly withdrew from a bank last year� �Gonzalez said Jacky and her half-brother, San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, withdrew the money in two tranches � P100 million first and then P30 million � from the Metrobank main office last year.� If Secretary Gonzalez is correct, then the P8 million donated to multi-purpose cooperatives was a deliberate decoy to show the noble intentions of the donations � which is why the funds were left intact, for the compliant media to confirm - while the P122 million balance of the alleged P130 million withdrawal may have been the ones used for multi-purpose monkey business.. What has all this got to do with the communist movement? Erap himself does not understand ideology. But his chief political lieutenant, Boy Morales, does, having been a co-founder of the NDF, the political arm of Joma Sison�s CPP. As in the Oakwood Mutiny of July 2003, Erap�s sole interest is to be released from detention so that he can clear himself of the plunder charges pending against him. His recent eye surgery was deliberately timed to coincide with the Feb. 24-25 happening. On cue, hundreds of his followers surrounded the hospital in San Juan where the eye operation was done, to prevent his being returned to detention. Erap himself said he wanted to die there, or words to that effect. He clearly expected to be rescued from detention in San Juan. It must be terribly boring in Tanay. Morales has a more long-range view. Since July last year or even earlier, he has been putting together a �transition council� that is meant to take over the reins of government as soon President Arroyo is overthrown. Originally known as the Truth and Justice Coalition, it has since renamed itself Solidarity, shamelessly usurping the name of the anti-communist labor federation that helped collapse the communist regime in Poland in 1989. It is no secret that Solidarity is chaired by former AFP COS, etc Renato de Villa (Mr. Clean himself) and it is no secret that Morales invited some burgis personalities to join such as Susan Roces, Evangelist Eddie Vilanueva, Fortunato Abat, etc. But the core of the �transition council� are its communist and pro-communist members: Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, Dodong Nemenzo and Morales himself. The favored scenario seems to have been: use the Scout Rangers, Marines and PNP Special Forces to collapse the Arroyo government last Feb. 24-25, maneuver the Solidarity �transition council� to take over the reins of power, restore Erap to the presidency, with Solidarity�s communist and pro-communist members becoming its dominant ideological component. Two readers have written in that this was unlikely because the diverse members would, sooner or later, be fighting each other, because our Catholic religion militates against it, and because the Philippine military is basically anti-communist. In reply, I recalled Henry Kissinger�s warning that in that most Catholic country, Poland, only four cent of the population was communist and pro-communist, yet they wound up taking control of the entire country. Additionally, I would like to mention here that one of the first things that the Soviet Army did when it rolled into Poland in 1945, in pursuit of the retreating Wehrmacht and SS divisions, was to summarily execute 5,000 officers of the anti-communist Polish Army, in a place called Katyn Forest. Solidarity can be considered the Trojan Horse of the communist movement. No wonder even Joma Sison endorsed it. Do Gen. Danny Lim, Col. Ariel Querubin and the Magdalo warriors and their men realize who they were marching with? ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to �Marching with the Communists� Read your column re. Estrada's contributions/culpability. It sounds fantastic but to a half intelligent person, it rings true but yet seems like a passable excuse among some Pinoys. Sad and laughable at the same time. Mike Gonzalez, [email protected] March 08, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Mr. Abaya, In the first place, why is there a Magdalo group? It is my belief ng lahat ng ito ay asaran lamang ng 2 factions, GMA and Erap's. However, the Erap side seems to be winning. Don�t get me wrong, sir, I don�t belong to the millions of stupid voters of Erap, but GMA seems to lose in the propaganda war. I will always ask this, was GMA on the Garci tape or not? TAPOS. Remember, it was Mr. Bunye who divulged the tapes, not the opposition. Mike Delgado, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Another great article, Mr. Abaya! I wish I can shake your hands or personally ask your autograph for the articles that made deeper sense! Reading your articles makes me think of other journalists bit like mediocre:) He!he!he! You're the man! You wrote: �But this looks like nothing but a disingenuous legal ruse to cloak the "donation" and its real purpose with a veneer of legality and noble intentions. Erap gave no donations to the military contingents assigned to the lonely outposts in the Spratly Islands, nor to the units locked in mortal combat with the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu, nor to the army and police detachments being ambushed by the NPA on a weekly basis in Quezon, Samar, Negros, Bicol and a dozen other places. If there were military or police units that neededChristmas cheer last December, it was these��� (Correct! Those Filipinos, judges, intellectuals or even some media people who believed that it was a clean donation should have mandatory "brain check-up" ASAP"! "Brain check, Now Na!" Remember the Starbucks incident? Protest at the high-priced American coffee places. A "friendly to the US message" Here's my message to them: "brain check-up! Now Na!" he!he!he!he!) You wrote: �Solidarity can be considered the Trojan Horse of the communist movement. No wonder even Joma Sison endorsed it. Do Gen. Danny Lim, Col. Ariel Querubin and the Magdalo warriors and their men realize who they were marching with?� (He!he!he!he! You got it, Mr. Abaya! "Trojan horse" is the correct description of these stupid generals, military officials, Erap, Cory and other politicians linked in rally and coup! I told you, you are an intelligent journalist and great thinker! Where did General Lim and Col. Querubin graduate? I will stay away from those schools! he!he!he!he! Most of the generals in the Philippines are no match to the thoughts of the red king! This is like a chess "coup" game wherein both players, somehow, owned by Sison or he owned the chessboard. Coup was probably the short-term plan of the red king knowing that he's getting older. By the way, who implemented that the reds can take or be allowed to be congressmen/women? This is like putting "Hamas leaders who never lay their arms down" at Washington congress. One day in the distant future, the reds have chances to have more seats at congress and thus, will be in control. More "pork barrel" for the cause and arms while creating more political power. Sounds like a 2-pronged parallel power to me! Cutting one leg of the prong, the other is still remain powerful and will become more power each year! You know what I mean, the porky pesosesoses. Just genius! And that will be the long term winning plan:) Do we have genius and bravegenerals? Thanks again for the great article! LF, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The first thing the government should do is to wrap up the Estrada plunder case and implement whatever the verdict may be. If he is freed, so be it; if found guilty, then he goes to a real jail. Enough of this wishy-washy handling of the ex-president. This will go a long way towards showing that the law in this country also applies to the rich and powerful. The second thing is to declare an all-out war against communists and really mean it. They say that there can be no solution to the insurgency problem unless the root causes are solved first. I say that eliminate all members of the armed contingent of this insurgency first and with comparative peace, development will follow. Davao City was a hotbed of insurgency not too many years ago but with the forceful elimination of the communist threat in the area, the city is now the most competitive in the country. At any rate, the NPA have become a sanctuary of losers who like the thought of easy money from extortion and delight in destroying private properties such as Globe antennas. I, for one, will lose no sleep if the government declares war on these cretins. We are at war, make no mistake of this. In war, everyone has to make sacrifices in order to purchase the tools needed to defeat the enemy. We need more and better quality military equipment, more soldiers who are better disciplined. We should also discipline erring military officers and soldiers who are more interested in politics and in enriching themselves; in particular those who explain their failure to tame the NPA by saying that the insurgency is not a purely military problem. Right, but these officers have to competently handle the military aspect of this conflict and this they are not doing. Third, we must change our constitution pronto. We need a governmental structure that can meet the ever-changing needs of the times. The parliamentary system fuses the executive and the legislative and is therefore more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment. With the Cory Constitution, RP has no chance of catching up with its better neighbors and is likely to be overtaken by others with parliamentary governments such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, all former communist states which have embraced capitalist practices. So long and thanks for your time. Herminigildo Gutierrez, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww OH MY GOD, PLEASE SAVE AND PROTECT OUR COUNTRY THE PHILIPPINES FROM ALL THE EVILS OF THIS WORLD. IN JESUS'S NAME AMEN. MOTHER MARY, PLEASE INTERCEDE TO ALL OUR PETITIONS. AMEN Myrna Mateo, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Maybe what you say is true. Just a little correction. The Soviets executed the officer corps of the Polish Army in 1939 when they marched into eastern Poland in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Not 5,000 but 20,000, at a place called Katin. There was nothing more to execute in 1944. Ross Tipon, [email protected] Baguio City, March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Dear Mr. Abaya, Thank you for that incisive analysis of the recent fiasco surrounding the events of Proclamation 1017, the 20th anniversary of EDSA 1, and President Erap's possible involvement in all this. But one long sentence in your article caught my particular attention: "Two readers have written in that this was unlikely because the diverse members would, sooner or later, be fighting each other, because our Catholic religion militates against it, and because the Philippine military is basically anti-communist." I dare query, "For how long?" Will the traditional Filipino family still stand when our politicians introduce radical legislations to undermine it such as HB 3773 - a ruse to promote population control, wide-spread contraception use, and sex education and eventually open the doors to legal abortion; HB 5385 - a sugar-coated reproductive rights bill; HB 634, the so-called "Anti-Discrimination Act"- the much needed primer to push through with same-sex unions; and of course, HB 4016- The Divorce Bill. Pass all these, and the family will fall like a rotten apple. With raunchy and sultry and outright irreverent cable TV shows readily available to young viewers (Jack TV, MTV etc), our kids are ever vulnerable to moral corruption. Even the relatively benign reality TV show "StarStruck" on GMA-7 reveal that behind all that glitter, fame and adulation, are kids in pain and denial, potential stars struck by the reality that they come form broken families. Movies like "Million-Dollar Baby (euthanasia), Brokeback Mountain (homosexuality) and The Da Vinci Code (blasphemy) send morally questionable messages but the unthinking, mediocre and indifferent lot just takes them in like one gulping down a bottle of cola. It is no secret that educational standards have been declining in recent years. Well, recent reports disclose that our youth couldn't even hack a decent showing in Pilipino much more so in English. What do you expect when kids busy themselves with the latest fads, gizmos, video games and the Internet? Yes, the military is still anti-communist but it's also not free from corruption. If the present government doesn't address the brewing discontent among some of the military's rank and file, then sooner or later, it wouldn't be far-fetched to see them cross over to enemy lines. Meanwhile as the majority gazes in apathy and indifference, the vanguards of Communism, assisted by corrupt politicians, liberals and leftists, and useful idiots, cunningly lie in wait and use Hollywood and Coca-Cola to undermine what violent armed struggle and aggression has failed to crush. If concerned citizens and the Church slacken in their vigilance, then, it'll be a walk in the park for the Communists. And by the way, Communism never died with the fall of the Berlin Wall as some claim; it just metamorphosed into something more dangerous. Jose Maria P. Alcasid, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Aren't the Filipino Christian Brothers of De La Salle University also marching with the Communists under the aegis of "Liberation Theology" they perceived to be "divinely ordained" by Jesus Christ Himself? Frank Jimenez, [email protected] West Orange, New Jersey, March 09, 2006 MY REPLY. They certainly are, although, with Tita Cory, a more correct title for such an article would have been �Praying with the Communists.� wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear TONY. Good article. Keep on writing to expose these cabal who are going to destroy our way of life. Hope these na�ve burgis will read your article and wake up. These communists hijacked the Russian revolution and ruled with gusto; from capitalist perfume to dachas while the people starved. Hope our beautiful but gullible burgis will wake up to this. They need a little lecture on history. Please keep on writing and let us help protect and preserve the Philippine republic Jun Apolonio, [email protected] Singapore, March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, I just hope that your anti-communist hysteria and bashing does not contribute to the grave concern of amnesty international on the article below. (Amnesty International is notoriously one-sided. It never said anything about the 2000 of its own cadres summarily executed by the NPA itself in the early 1990s, to root out FIVE suspected military deep penetration agents. If it is alright for communists and pro-communists to bash capitalists and capitalism, why is it not alright for anti-communists to bash communists and communism? ACA) While I respect your opinion, I find most of your premise are not grounded on facts but purely on speculation and jumping to conclusions that I feel is a reflection of your hatred for the "commies". Don't get me wrong, anyone can have their favorite enemies imagined or otherwise but for a journalist I believe that it is not too much to ask for a more factual article grounded on verifiable facts with credible sources of information not mere deductions based on your hunch. I am wondering to borrow your speculative style of writing if your communist bashing was just a coincidence that the administration of La Gloria happens to be on the same page as you are in their communist boogeyman oppossitionist tactical alliance of destabilizers hysteria? (Is it speculation that Boy Morales was co-founder of the NDF? Is it speculation that four members of his Solidarity �transition council� (Ocampo, Beltran, Nemenzo and himself) are communists and pro-communists? Is it speculation that Joma Sison himself endorsed this �transition council�? To you who are so far away, this may be speculation, since you do not have access to much current and background information. But to us who are on ground zero, this is the real world. ACA) I am hoping that some of those unnecessarily getting killed or maimed was not influenced by your anti-comminist hysteria and it is sad that if some of those were being killed just for being different in their thinking that is oppossed to yours and the administration. I am no fan of the communist but I will not bring people to harms way just because they have a different point of view in seeing it our way. (You may not be aware that the communist movement was split into two quarrelling factions in 1991-1992, the pro-Joma Reaffirmists and the anti-Joma Rejectionists. They have been killing each other since then. The two top Rejectionists (Popoy Lagman and Rolly Kintanar) were assassinated in 2004, most certainly on orders of Jose Ma. Stalin. It is highly possible that some of the Reaffirmists who have been killed since were killed by the Rejectionists in revenge. It is na�ve to think that revolutionaries are knights in shining armor incapable of killing each other. ACA) I guess as an editorial commentator you have the right and freedom to express your own opinion but it also should be tempered with a sense of responsibility and accuracy and hopefully not bring others to harms way. Just my 2 cents worth more power to you, (Revolution is not a picnic. Those who choose to play at revolution should not complain when they are singed by counter-revolution. It is a law in physics: for every action, there is a reaction. ACA) Ren Arrieta, [email protected] California, March 10, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Oh, if only you could muster a real Filipino nationalist army, Tony...you could lead the charge against these phony "heroes" of the alleged revolution. How come other columnists do not even comment on observations as courageously as you do. Hmmm? Sometimes, Tony, whenever I read reports like this about a person who, not even in my wildest Pinoy dreams I would imagine occupying the highest position in the land, ..and think the rest of us are as stupid as he is. Tony Joaquin, [email protected] Tony Abaya supporter in California Daly City, California, March 10, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww 1. No, I dont' think Kissinger was naive. But that situation was a different milieu. A world war just ended. The Soviets WANTED Poland to be run by communists. For their own reasons, the Allies capitulated. The communist minority was able to run Catholic Poland because they had the Soviet Army to back them. Not so here. Again, it would be naive to think the communists can ever take over the Philippines. 2. Which really makes me wonder why you're pushing the idea, since you've implied, by comparison to Kissinger, that you're NOT naive. Hmmmm...what would a lingering communist threat justify�. Fernando Lapongga, [email protected] March 10, 2006 MY REPLY. Please reread what I wrote. Kissinger was NOT na�ve. Neither am I. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww My good friend, Inquirer columnist Juan Mercado, has sent me a copy of your article which I have read carefully. I am not at all surprised that deposed president Joseph E. Estrada is still trying his best to destabilize the government, obviously in the hope that he could regain what he has lost. This time, he has enlisted the help of some members of the military who, regrettably, are proving that vulnerable to the power of Estrada's ill-gotten money. With a highly politicized military and with opposition politicians continuing to engage in a conspiracy to topple the government, my sense is that one of these days Filipinos will wake up to the horror of a military-civilian junta finally gaining power and ruling their lives. A military-civilian junta is no longer a question of IF; it is a question of WHEN. Mariano Patalinjug, [email protected] Yonkers, New York, March 10, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. A. Abaya, Now that the political situation in the Philippines has become more stable and reached a sober state, it is time to assess the damage to the economy and the people responsible for the destabilization of the government should be made accountable for their misdeed. Remarkbly, in spite of the political crisis that just transpired, the Philippine economy showed resiliency and sustained adversity by gaining strength in the value of the Peso even during the declaration of the State of Emergency. Another show of confidence in the Philippine government to weather the storm is that three foreign credit rating agencies gave the country higher credit ratings which could translate to lower interest payments for foreign debt. The declaration of the State of Emergency is a smart move which should be construed as a pre-emptive strike on the power grabbers that the country was ready to handle any kind of adversity. Local businesses and foreign investors supported this action. Erap financing the Magdalo warriors was an operation similar to Al Queda being financed by rich corporations in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Former senator Gringo Honasan who is now known as the "King of Coup" should be jailed for life to prevent him from continuing his chosen career on present and future administrations. All these people who conspired to overthrow the government should be mandated to attend S.H.I.T.( special highly integrated tutorial) on political stability and the effect on the economy. These S.H.I.T. study sessions should also be mandated to all military officers to make sure that they understand the importance of internal security in relation to domestic and foreign investments. All members of congress and senate, nuns and priesthood should be required to take S.H.I.T. courses. Former president Cory Aquino should be given S.H.I.T.! Emil Diaz, Jr., [email protected] Vancouver, Canada, March 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reaction to �Brokeback Molehill� (Feb. 07, 2006) Dear Mr. Abaya, I agree with all your observations on "Brokeback Mountain." I thought I was the only one who had difficulties understanding the lines of Heath Ledger. I wonder if he was not properly taught to deliver his lines, or had he just taken to heart the role he was playing?!!! I wonder! Linda C. Baisa, [email protected] March 09, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (The following email was forwarded to us) From a Middleclass Filipino By Anonymous March 03, 2006 TAMA LAHAT NG SINABI!!!! Ako ay isang middle class Pinoy, isang officer sa isang malaking korporasyon at may asawa...dalawa anak. Di na importante pangalan ko kasi parepareho naman tayong mga middle-class....trabaho 9-5, inom konti tapos uwi sa pamilya, laruin si baby, itutor si ate/kuya tapos tulog na, pag wala na pera intay nalang ng sweldo. Sa nangyayari ngayon sa ating bansa, lahat nalang ng sector ay maingay at naririnig, tayo lang mga middle-class, tax paying at productive Pinoys ang di naririnig. Subalit, buwis natin ang nagpapaikot sa bansang ito. Pag may mga gulo na nangyayari, tayo ang tinatamaan. Kaya eto ang liham ko sa lahat ng maiingay na sector na sanamakagising sa inyong bulag na pag-iisip. Sa Mga Politiko: Diyos ko naman, sa dami na nang nakurakot ninyo di na ba kayo makuntento kelangan nyo pa ba manggulo. Sa Administrasyon: Hayan ayus na ha pinatawad na namin ang pandaraya nyo sa eleksyon, pruweba dito e di kami umaatend sa mga panawagan ng people power, kaya sana naman gantihan nyo kami ng magandang serbisyo at magaling na pamumuno at malaking bawas sa kurakot naman please para kahit papano maramdaman naman namin na may napupuntahan ang binabayad naming buwis. Saka Madam GMA, step down ka na pag parliamentary na tayo sa 2007, tignan mo, i-announce mo mag-step down ka kapag parliamentary na tayo, resounding YES yan sa plebiscite at tigil pa ang mga coup at people power laban sayo. Try mo lang......... Sa Oposisyon: Di nyo pa ba nakikita na dalawang klase lang ng tao ang nakikinig sa inyo....isa ay bayaran na mahihirap kungdi man ay tangang mga excited na reporter na parang naka-shabu lagi....mga praning e at naghahallucinate. Bago man lang kayo maglunsad ng kilos laban sa administrasyon, pumili muna kayo ng magiting at nararapat na ipapalit sa liderato ngayon. Hirap sa inyo paresign kayo ng paresign wala naman kayo ipapalit na maayos. Advise lang galing sa isang middle-class na syang tunay na puwersa sa likod ng lahat ng matagumpay na People Power, magpakita muna kayo ng galing bago nyo batuhin ang administrasyon. Wala na kaming narinig sa inyo kundi reklamo, e wala naman kayong ginagawa kundi magreklamo....para kayong batang lagi na lang naaagawan ng laruan.....GROW UP naman...sa isip sa salita at sa gawa. Please lang gasgas na rin ang pagrarally nyo na katabi nyo ay mga bayaran na mahihirap, magtayo nalang kayo ng negosyo at iempleyo ang mga rallyista para maging productive silang mamamayan. Sige nga, pag nagrarally kayo yakapin nyo nga at halikan yang mga kasama nyong nagrarally!! Nung People Power namin nagyayakapan kami lahat nuon. Wala naman mangyayari sa mga rally nyo nakakatraffic lang, kami pang middle-class ang napeperwisyo. Di nyo kayang paghintayin ng 3 araw ang mga rallyista nyo kasi kelangan nyo pakainin at swelduhan ang mga yan. Kung gusto nyo tagumpay na People Power kami ang isama nyo....pero pagod na kami e, sori ha. Sa Military: Alam nyo lahat tayo may problema, pati US Army may problema, 2,000 plus na patay sa kanila sa Iraq na parang walang rason naman, pero nakita nyo ba sila nagreklamo? Wala diba kasi professional sila na sundalo.....yan dapat ang sundalo di nagtatanong sumusunod lang. Kasi may mga bagay na di kayang maintindihan ng indibidwal lamang, at ang mga nakatataas lang ang nakakaintindi ng kabuuan, kaya ito ang panuntunan ng lahat ng military ng lahat ng bansa. Pero parang military natin yata ang pinaka-mareklamo. Sabi nga sa Spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility".....kaya maging spiderman kayo lahat at protektahan ang mamamayan. Sa totoo lang natatakot kami kapag nagrereklamo kayo, kasi may baril kayo at tangke, kami wala. Wala ako comment sa mga mahihirap, di naman kasi sila maingay na kusa e, may bayad ang ingay nila. Saka wala rin naman silang email. Kaya paano na tayong mga middle-class?? Eto hanggang email nalang tayo kaya ikalat nyo na ito at magdasal tayo na umabot ito sa mga dapat makabasa nito at makiliti naman ang kanilang mga konsyensya. Signed, Isang Middle-Class Pinoy na walang puknat na binabawasan ang sweldo ng Buwis wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (The following open letter was emailed to us) Open Letter to Our Leaders By Anonymous March 03, 2006 Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Media people, Leftists, and all Bleeding Hearts Out There: I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos. I feel like screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours. You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made. In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours. I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear - we chose not to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio, not because we do not love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even more. Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward. You may think that is not correct, you can tell me all the dire warnings about the evils of authoritarian rule, but quite frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts to prop up your cause. You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights, but who told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that my rights and my freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and fight for them myself. You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you do), I may have become jaded. But you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative, while GMA has bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way. From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective. You say she is the problem. I say, we are the problem, more to the point, I think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right, YOU! While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the elections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her. Yes my dear bishops, I have done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral thing to do: forgive. Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be defiant, continuing to insult us everyday with his protestations. Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after all. I know you do not think that GMA's apology was not enough, or that she was insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral fiber of society. The real reason is because you smell blood and want to go for the kill. Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you even more. I may not trust her, but guess what; I do not trust you even more. You know why? Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country. You belittle every little progress we make; conveniently forgetting that it is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them. Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard everyday in our jobs. Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the eyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakingly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause. Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven and earth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core. For all your effort, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I say enough. Don't get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you have tried to prove your accusations all these time and you have not succeeded, so it is time to let things be. Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists - the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses. So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than scheming power hungry fools who can not even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest. Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people whose only defense is to cry suppression when your ruses do not work. You are like bullies who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to taskfor your cruelty. I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us. Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the government when that is the one and only thing you have been trying to do in the last many months? We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our share to make things work. If you only do your jobs, the ones that we elected you to do, things would be a lot simpler and easier for every one. The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more dangerous and a serious threat to this country than GMA is. We have seen what you are capable of doing - you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need protection from, it is protection from you. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Not a Clash of Civilizations By Wafa Sultan, Arab-American Psychologist February 21, 2006, Al Jazeera TV The following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21,2006 Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete. Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims? Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean. Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind... Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this _expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels. My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others? I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic? Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural... Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran.. Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you. [...] Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs. [...] Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them ***** wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww RP TO GET 122,000 JOBS FOR MEDICAL TRANSCRIBERS By Ernesto Herrera, gen-sec of the TUCP March 10, 2006 The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expects jobs growth in outsourced medical transcription services to outpace considerably the 25-percent annual employment expansion in the country�s booming call centers. Former senator and TUCP general secretary Ernesto Herrera said medical transcription jobs are projected to surge at an average annual rate of 90 percent this year through 2010. At this rate, he said the country would have up to 122,000 fully engaged medical transcribers in four years. "The growth of medical transcription services is guaranteed, as long as we have enough professional transcribers readily available," Herrera pointed out. He said the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Labor and Employment should encourage graduates of nursing, pharmacy, medical technology, public health and allied medical courses to consider medical transcription work. "Nursing fresh graduates, for instance, can work part-time or full-time as medical transcribers while reviewing for the licensure examination, while awaiting the test results, or pending an overseas job contract," Herrera said. "It does not matter if they eventually go abroad, as long as our labor market has a steady supply of potential substitute transcribers," he added. Herrera also prodded tertiary schools to link up with medical transcription firms so that the potential skills of students could be tested prior to possible training-recruitment. Meanwhile, the former senator urged the agencies concerned to develop a responsive certification program for medical transcribers. The local medical transcription industry expects $126 million in revenues this year, up 80 percent from $70 million in 2005. Revenues are anticipated to hit $238 million in 2007, $476 million in 2008, $952 million in 2009 and $1.71 billion by 2010, according to the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc. As of December 2005, business process outsourcing contractors that specialize in medical transcription employed 5,000 Filipinos. This is seen to increase to 9,000 by the end of this year; 17,000 by 2007; 34,000 by 2008; 68,000 by 2009; and 122,000 by 2010. Medical transcription is the process of transforming voice-recorded or hand-written medical reports, such as dictation of physicians and hospital records, to text matter that may be stored as printed or electronic data. In developed countries, electronic medical records are the preferred means of data storage, giving medical professionals access to information regardless of location. Herrera said the U.S. medical transcription services market alone is worth $25 billion, and more jobs there are being offshored to the Philippines, where cost-effective labor is ample. ***** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |