| The Orgy of the Trapos By Antonio C. Abaya January 07, 2004 Not since the dying, decadent days of the Roman Empire has there been such a shameless public display of perversions. Political perversions, I hasten to add. That means we could not even enjoy the titillation provided by a sexual perversion, but perforce have had to witness the political perversions of men and women who, save one, are no longer a sight to behold, if they ever were, in the first place. Nonetheless, the inhabitants of this unfortunate country have had to look on with anything from undisguised contempt to dumb-struck indifference as the political perverts, who claim to be the leaders of this nation, engaged in promiscuous partner-swapping and fellatio-ed and cunnilingus-ed each other politically with reckless abandon while the squealing masang tanga jerked off collectively in the stands And adding to the surreal air of deranged depravity, as in a Bunuel pastiche, one of the leading perverts is a mute who keeps nodding his head, another cannot stop talking even when no one is listening, while a third one is a dwarf! The Emperor Caligula�s stallion could not have matched, in quantity or quality, the horse manure excreted by the political perverts as they tried to justify their shameless behavior. The question has to be asked. May pag-asa pa ba? Is there any hope? And the answer is no. Political turn-coatism has always been a problem in Philippine politics. But the recent explosion of political perversion at the turn of the year � almost coinciding with the decadent Saturnalia pig-out of Ancient Rome, which is the historical basis for the Christian season of Christmas � this explosion has set a record for political depravity and amorality and has opened the floodgates for even more perverse behavior in our politics for decades to come. The trapos have crossed the line of acceptable behavior into the wild blue yonder of political perversions, and there is no turning back. Unless this downward spiral is arrested by a revolutionary government, every electoral season from now on will be occasion for more and more political orgies of the most depraved kind as the trapos indulge in wild frenzies of self-gratification. And these are the perverts who will chart for us a change to the parliamentary system of government. More like a chart for the rise to the prime ministership of SuperTrapo Jose de Venecia or SuperWarlord Danding Cojuangco, neither of whom could win in the presidential system.. Without an intervening revolutionary government, this country is truly doomed. I cannot imagine anything like this happening in any other country. Certainly, not in South Korea or Taiwan or China or Vietnam or Singapore or Malaysia or Indonesia or Thailand or anywhere else in Asia. Perhaps in some remote tribal corners of Haiti or Paraguay or New Guinea or Madagascar, but not in the main cities of even those countries. On second thought, that would be an insult to the tribals, who have a more clearly defined concept of right and wrong than our amoral trapos do. This is a uniquely Filipino phenomenon, occurring in the open in the most metropolitan parts of the country, covered by tri-media in all its disgusting details, transmitted by satellite TV to all corners of the planet to be lapped up by Filipino communities abroad eager for the cloying little dramas, the mewling insincerities, the endless backstabbing that they miss in their boringly correct or inescapably feudal foreign places of exile. It is a concoction of several social and historical influences: an American-style electoral process that requires so much money to take part in that candidates look on public office as a business investment, to be recovered many times over once the office is won, the system�s built-in corruption DNA; a bad copy of the American two-party system in which personalities, not programs of government, predominate, thus making it easy for trapos to change parties as often as they change their underwear, and just as blithely; a Spanish form of Roman Catholicism that focuses more on rituals and idolatry rather than on ethical behavior, so no remorse, no contrition for transgression as long as one goes to Mass on Sundays and attends the hooplas of the El Shaddai and the INK; a bilingual and schizophrenic tri-media, with the small English-language part (for the upper classes) reasonably proper and cosmopolitan, but with the much larger vernacular part (for the broad mass) pandering to the lowest tastes, idiotizing the masa and trivializing our problems, thus making it easy for showbiz fornicators to intrude into our politics; Malay permissiveness and laxity and reluctance (because it is too much work) to enforce, for example, electoral rules (on the part of the Comelec), or to obey them (on the part of the trapos and the public); misplaced liberalism that favors �forgiveness� and �reconciliation,� if the price is right, rather than the strict and consistent prosecution of law-breakers; and general stupidity which, for some unknown reason, there is frightfully a high level of in this country. When you have a die-hard communist like labor leader Crispin Beltran publicly favoring FPJ just because FPJ played a labor leader in a film called �Asedillo�, then you know the stupidity factor is at work. And who will save us from the trapos? Ping Lacson? Who will save us from Ping Lacson? Can Raul Roco save us? Can Raul Roco save himself? What about Brother Eddie? He says he wants to start a social and cultural revolution. To be convincing, he has to start that revolution way before May 2004. I was hoping that Nandy Pacheco and his Kapatiran would at least try. But he has given up even before he could start. What hope is there left? ***** The bulk of this article appears in the January 17, 2004 issue of the Philippines Free Press magazine. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �The Orgy of the Trapos� touche. just hang on and enjoy the ride...time will come when we will all know what we must do.. time to say what we must say...time to act as our conscience dictates. whatever you may say about the masses, it was not them who led this country to where it is...there was no stupid masa..only the stupid elite. the evil elite? one man, one vote.. still one of the best systems, though not the only one. leadership? from the look of things, gma could not lead.... roco? lost the elections..it was his to lose and it looks like he did. can he get it back? that will require a lot of work and self awareness that he has at times exhibited... and heroics which at times, he has also exhibited... fpj? no matter what, he has a huge following... thus he has leadership... but can he be the hero or will he be the contrabida like enrile? sabi ni peping, hero daw siya.. sabi teddy man, there may be a third force....baka supot. abangan.... happy new year. Eros Kaw, [email protected] January 09, 2004 ...................................................................... At 11:45 AM 1/9/04 +0800, you wrote: >What hope is there left? By campaigning hard against the barbarians and by exposing their most ghoulish deeds. By demonstrating their unfitness with the hope of reducing or eliminating them from policy making bodies Leaving the field to the barbarians by default is not only cowardly but stupid and practically every other negative word in the dictionary. Freedom has to be defended all the time. No one is doing that for us. If we want a better country - we have to work for it. Sadly your article sounds very resigned. Hope to hear nothing but the attack bugle from now on. Peter J. Ritter, [email protected] January 09, 2004 �������������������. (Through the kompil2 egroup) I'm tempted to agree with the guy who said, "All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy." But H.L. Mencken roundly negated that dicta with his argument, "The doctrine that the cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy is like saying that the cure of crime is more crime." It's hopeless. I only pray the junta that takes over will have a Lee Kwan Yew in it. Vicente de Jesus, [email protected] January 10, 2004 ....................................................................... Not orgy but the eternal childhood of Filipinos. Albert Schweizer thought of the Africans as children. Maybe that applies to Filipinos. Leonard Wood was right and PROPHETIC: Filipinos are not prepared for self-government. Ross Tipon, [email protected] January 10, 2004 ����������������.. (Through the Talsik egroup) Sorry , Mr. Abaya, but is it really that hopeless ? When did all these political perversions begin ? Our heroes must be spinning in their graves. Right now, I'm having a difficult time taking in what you just wrote here. [email protected] January 09, 2004 �����������������������. Tony, Bravo! What can I say? Piercingly perspicacious. One of the reasons I moved to Negros is to be less affected by the national politics in imperial Manila. Here, I am not as aghast, nauseated, etc. as I would have been if I live there in Metro Manila. I have virtually given up on the Philippines years ago in 2001 after my last trip to Thailand. With what they have achieved in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure and tourism, I concluded that we, as a people, are hopeless. EJ and I travelled extensively using air, sea, rail and land travel from North (Chaing Mai to Chaing Rai) to South (Phuket, Pa Nga, Krabi). However, I am still the incurable optimistic - Positive Thinking - that the "Orgy of the Trapos" will eventually be good for us. At the rate it is going (as you described it graphically), something has to give or come to a head ( not blowjob!). Meron mangyayaring mabuti. And this will be OUR LAST CHANCE. Rick B. Ramos, [email protected] January 10, 2004 .......................................................... Dear Tony, The way you described Philippine politics and politicians put me in stitches. It's really an extremely serious issue We claim to be a unique people with our enduring family values, being the only Christian country in Asia, and being the second largest English-speaking country in the world (having a bigger population than G. Britain), but our politics is unparalleled in the corruption scale. All our candidates are in it for the money, fame, and power. Can't we have an intelligent candidate who has no personal agenda and who sincerely wants to serve the country? There are so many parties that I can't even remember them, especially since most of them are coined in Tagalog and I'm Visayan. I was listening to Loren Legarda being interview in "Strictly Politics" on the ANC Channel, and she was asked if she favors turncoatism. She said she's not against it, but of course since she's a turncoat herself. All the candidates are disgustingly self-centered. I'm not a Dolphy fan, but I admired him when he said that the presidency is a great responsibility, and not just anybody can fill the post, when he advised FPJ to seriously mull over the issue of running. Nandy Pacheco is my friend, and I would have wanted to vote him into office, but he'll never win with the strength of popularity and pocket in the Filipino's mindset. The election is still months away, but we are already getting exasperated with the behavior of our dirty politicians. We need to pray very hard for our country. Best, Yett Montalvan Aguado, [email protected] January 11, 2004 MY REPLY. I�m afraid we�ll have to do much more than pray. No one prayed as much as Cory Aquino did during her watch, but look what happened to her presidency. ������������������ Hi Tony, Here's your cyber friend again, with her unshakeable [Pollyanistic?] faith in the Filipinos' ability to get themselves out of any rut [usually one they dug themselves into, in the first place!]... no matter what the odds may be. I admit that the situation is pretty bad. But it's not yet hopeless. In fact, no situation can ever be hopeless on its own. It's PEOPLE who decide whether a situation is hopeless or not. And while we can all play a part in preventing the situation from indeed deteriorating into one that's totally hopeless, people like YOU have so much more influence than the average Pinoy-on-the-street [or in cyber-space, as the case may be] than I ever would. So, even as you lament the Orgy of the Trapos - and other similar abominations - can you please, pretty please, end your column with a note of hope? If that's too much to ask, maybe just a shred.... a bit... an iota... ? Whatever may be the smallest unit of measure, let that be the amount of HOPE that you inject into your column. Please? Here's to a wonderful, loving, and fun-filled Philippines! Michelle Alba Lim, [email protected] January 11, 2004 �����������������.. (Copy furnished) Hi Rheesa, Hi Antonio, Happy New Year to you! Rheesa, thank you for circulating the article by Antonio Abaya. I found it to be a thought-provoking piece, regardless of the political persuasions or beliefs one holds. I may hasten to add, though, that those of us that are abroad don't necessarily miss the "cloying little dramas, the mewling insincerities and the endless backstabbing", and in one respect feel lucky that we've escaped it for ourselves. On the other hand, there are some of us whose hearts would always bleed for the endless suffering of our countrymen, for what our country could have been, and wonder how perhaps our destinies and that of our children could have been different had things been better back home. The longer that I stay abroad the more inclined I am to be convinced that Antonio may be right in his view that our country's problems are rooted in a truly "unique Filipino phenomenon". Yours sincerely -- Paz Estrella Tolentino, [email protected] January 12, 2004 Lecturer in International Business School of Management and Organizational Psychology Birkbeck College, University of London ������������������.. u did not mention the arch-trapo GMA herself embracing trapos in the orgy! C'mon, are you not part of this, too? Ferdinand C. Llanes, [email protected] January 13, 2004 MY REPLY. I mentioned that one of the perverts was a dwarf. Do I have to spell out everything for you. No, I am not �part of this, too.� You may be mistaking me for the other Tony Abaya who is. �����������������.. Thank you so much for writing this article, and sending it to me. Would articles like this shame our political candidates, or are they walang hiya? Perhaps more articles like this would get more citizens angry. Would a Filipino version of this appear in newspapers read by the masa? I hope many media folks who write or speak in Filipino share this view! Please tell us what we can do! I have many friends who don't want to give up till we see the election results. Unfortunately, we belong to the group Erap has described as "sila" when talking to his masa. (I know this is not politically correct, but I wish taxpayers would be the only ones allowed to vote.) Keep writing like this, but give us ideas on what we can do as a group. Lolita Delgado Fansler, [email protected] January 12, 2004 MY REPLY. To answer your questions, our politicians have no shame, so they will not be affected at all by articles like mine. Nor would a Filipino version of it make it to a paper read by the masa. Many media folks writing in Filipino probably share my opinions but would not be as blunt. And what to do? Right now, I don�t know. As I wrote, I was hoping that Nandy Pacheco and his Kapatiran would assert themselves and be a vehicle for a protest movement. But, as I wrote, he seems to have given up before he could get started. He called me up to deny that they had given up. He said they will continue to do what they are doing, whatever it is. He said they are waiting for the Comelec to approve their registration of Kapatiran as a political party. Why not be like Brother Eddie, who filed his COC while the Comelec was still processing their papers? Nandy replied that they want to do things one step at a time. Which means the earliest they will field a presidential candidate as a protest candidate will be 2010, when most of the septuagenarians in their group will be dead. Do you see why I feel so pessimistic? For the moment, there is nothing we can do. But by mid or end of February, the surveys will show who are leading and who are dropping, and by how much. We will also see if the elections will indeed be held at all. The non-trapo, non-GMA middle class should be preparing right now in anticipation of that day and strategizing some options before events take place. But don�t ask me to organize these pow-wows as I do not know how to organize. ������������������.. Someone forwarded "Orgy of the Trapos" and then I visited your website. Impressive and what you write is so true. Congratulations to you, Josie and Nandy. Nandy came to Lipa with his Kapatiran movement and was guest in my weekly talk show PULONG FORUM. Like many, I look for heroes and for something to cling on. But to my despair do not find them in the candidates. Please continue the good you are doing. You are gifted and sharing your gift is your best ministry. Rafe S Donato FSC, [email protected] January 13, 2004 De La Salle Lipa 1962 JP Laurel Highway Lipa City, Batangas 4217 ............................................................. |
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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Is Tapatt Foundation, Inc. open for public membership? I am interested and would even campaign for membership - if it indeed welcomes members (or supporters, perhaps?). Thanks, Jose Elizes, Jr., [email protected] Daet, Camarines Norte January 13, 2004 MY REPLY. Tapatt welcomes supporters everywhere, especially those who can help widen the viewership of our website. Tell us what you can do. �����������������������. Hi. I couldn't help but agree to ur comments regarding the political situation. Do you think the "revolution" should start with our children's education? Eugene Earle, [email protected] January 14, 2004 LSGH '93 MY REPLY. Any revolution or �revolution� has to be multi-generational and all-encompassing. If you attend only to the education of our children and grandchildren, without taking into account the social and political environment in which they grow up, then it will all be for naught. All the �revolutionary� values that you may impart to them at school will be negated and overwhelmed by the values they will pick up from media and society in general. ��������������������.. ACTUALLY, it doesn't matter who wins what in May. Even if we resurrect Rizal and Mabini and put them in Malaca�ang, pack 12 archangels into the Senate, sit the gnomes and elves of China, Japan, Switzerland and Denmark in our congress, Rudy Giuliani and Lee Kwan Yew in the capitols and city halls, we're not going to get out of the misery hole we're in, if the rest of us remain the clueless, selfish, irresponsible stumble-bums we've been for a long time. The quality and nature of a country's population is at least as important, if not more so, than the qualifications and stratagems of its elected leaders. If we really want to lift ourselves and our nation and become a rich, respectable, enviable country, there are things each one of us must do. For instance: * Be on time always, but specially at the workplace. A famous visiting economist once observed that if Filipinos could learn to be punctual, they would increase their country's GNP by at least 10 percent. We waste millions of man-hours every day, waiting around for people who're late. The largest, most successful economies in the world, like the US, Japan and Germany, are fanatics about punctuality and deadlines. * Do your work, whatever it is, faster, better, cleaner, neater, more attractively, with the most efficiency and the least fuss and expenditure of resources than anyone else. Make excellence a habit. Be the top-of-the-line in any line. * Place the national interest next only to God. Identify with your country, its land and people. Seek their good. Every act, decision, policy, choice must be made with an eye on the welfare of the nation and every intention to keep it out of harm's way. Buy local, patronize Philippine art, music, films, fashions, literature. The most successful nations, Japan and South Korea for example, have practiced economic protectionism and still do. * Obey the smallest and apparently unimportant rules and regulations and the big ones will be easy. Queuing up, obeying traffic lights, instruction manuals, warning signals should be scrupulously observed. Avoid seeking and using privileges, exemptions, family connections and special arrangements to get out of following cumbersome rules. The law applies to all. Be inflexible about both obeying and enforcing laws. We Filipinos are too relaxed about law and order and then complain about things being chaotic. * Be aware of the consequences of every act. The runaway birth rate, which has doubled our population in two decades and is ruining the country, is the consequence of numerous, single individual acts of irresponsibility. So is the ruinous capital flight by Filipinos hoarding dollars abroad, lack of investments, denuded forests, extreme poverty of the majority - these are all traceable to individual selfishness and greed. Our troubles are not acts of God but our own. * Pay taxes without having two sets of ledgers, bribing BIR men or using other legal and illegal forms of accounting. The countries that have the smooth roads, massive infrastructure, excellent educational facilities and health care also pay much higher taxes scrupulously. Bad government is the result of individual and personal dishonesty. * Waste not, want not. Our cities are littered with derelict buildings, the countryside ravaged by floods and drought because most Filipinos observe the culture of waste, piling food on their plates to leave it uneaten, throwing away still usable goods, neglecting to maintain houses and buildings, make fortunes cutting trees for sale to the rich countries who preserve their own forests. Save as much as humanly possible. The countries around us, whom we envy with so much weeping and gnashing of teeth, have always had a much higher rate of savings. What we should envy is their discipline. Forget the much-extolled Filipino trait of pakikisama. It only means trying to please everybody by doing what you know is wrong and destructive because you want to buy friends. On the contrary point out wrongdoing, speak up against lawlessness. We Filipinos need more integrity and less charm. Vincent T. Tiong, [email protected] January 14, 2004 MY REPLY. These are good values that would serve us in good stead in our development as a nation. But if they are preached and practiced only by you and I, no one will pay much attention, because we are both nobodies. These and other positive values must be embodied by the leader for the rest of the nation to absorb and internalize them, assuming that leader has the credibility and the charisma that good leadership requires. That is why I do not agree with you that it does not matter who gets elected. It goes matter. ����������������. Mr. Abaya, I read with great interest your article regarding the so-called politicians of our country. I really wonder if our country will ever live up to any potential we supposedly ever had. As a people, we are one of the most intelligent the world. However, as a country we seem to be one of the most inutile. This year was the first year that I actually considered, or thought about migrating. I have always been an optimist and I always tell people that if you're not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem (in reference to migration vs. staying home and contributing to the country). But then, i think, is this a country I want my children to grow up in (I am to be married, no children yet) The utter lack of any morals, values or convictions by the politicians and their lionization in the press (not all of the press, mind you) is the reason why we never progress. The people see presidents making promises for the sake of unity and progress, only to see her renege on that promise several months later. We see people of integrity in the senate, flip-flopping parties for the sake of votes (and money?!!). Role models for toilet paper, that� what they are good for (they think they can wipe everything clean). Where to from here? I write this letter to you Mr. Abaya, because I am one of the many frustrated souls in the country who have done nothing but work hard in the hopes of a brighter future for ourselves and our country. I realize that nationalism is a foreign idea to these politicians when all they see is green. I guess the question is, where do we draw our sense of national pride, hope and future from? Is there still a well of hope in this country? Am I truly one of the last optimists (or sucker) in this country? Or should I just be pragmatic like many others, and essentially, be cynical of our future? The future has always been uncertain, but the crop/crap of politicians running our country makes the future more certain of being a disaster. Nostradamus, one need not be. Well, thanks for reading (sorry, if its a bit long). Raul Bantug Tan, [email protected] January 14, 2004 MY REPLY. I sympathize with you in your despair and your frustration. You are one among millions in the middle class whose future has been put at risk by decades of misrule by the trapos. And I am shamed that my generation will be turning over to your generation (which includes my own three children) a country once so rich in human and natural resources, and yet now so destitute in its ability to create a brighter future. Would that events in the next few months will provide us with the hope that we all want for our country. ��������������.. Dear Tony - Joey Yujuico passed on your Orgy of the Trapos which I would have enjoyed reading if it did not make me cry. Rats. Anyway, I was glad to read something by you... The Phil Free Press is not part of my reading fare. Maybe I will now buy it. Am fed up with the Inquirer. Running out of newspapers to read. POCH ROBLES, [email protected] January 15, 2004 ������������� Greetings, I just have a question. Is the Philippines a liberal democratic country? To what extent? .. I would greatly appreciate your reply sir. Thank you Anna, [email protected] January 15, 2004 MY REPLY. By normal standards, the Philippines is a liberal democratic country: its leaders are elected by the people, it has an elected legislature and a reasonably independent judiciary; it has a free press and enjoys other freedoms as well: religion, assembly, etc. But largely because of poor leadership from the trapos, it is a SHITTY liberal democratic country. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |