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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Sorry Is Not Enough By Antonio C. Abaya Written June 28, 2005 For the Manila Standard Today, June 30 issue (This column was rejected for publication by the CEO of Manila Standard Today on the grounds that it ran counter to the editorial stand of the newspaper as articulated by its owner, Enrique Razon. I have consequently resigned as columnist in that newspaper. I will, however, continue to write a Thursday column which, as usual, will be distributed by email and then archived in www.tapatt.org. I continue to write a Saturday column for the Philippines Free Press.) President Arroyo is to be commended for finally admitting, on June 27, that she did have �conversations with many people, including a Comelec official��..because �I was anxious to protect my votes.� �I recognize that any such call was a lapse in judgment. I�m sorry. I also regret taking so long to speak before you on this matter. I take full responsibility for my actions, and to you and to all those good citizens who may have had their faith shaken by these events�..� Well, that at least clears the air about who that female person was who was eavesdropped talking to someone who sounded like Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. So it was she, after all, as tens of millions of Filipinos have been convinced all along, even before her admission and apology. (If she were now to split hairs and insist that she had not admitted to being the woman in the �Hello, Garci� tapes, her credibility would drop back to zero.) The efforts of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, later joined by the na�ve Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, to muddle the issue by insisting that there was no incontrovertible proof that it was indeed she, have now been rendered worthless by her own admission and apology. If they have any sense of delicadeza, Ermita, Gonzalez and Bunye should now resign their Cabinet positions, for scheming to help her lie her way out of the mess. But President Arroyo�s admission and apology lack the gravitas of genuine contrition. She seems to be sorry that she got caught, not that she did what she did. For example, she tried to dilute the seriousness of her action by admitting that she had �conversations with many people, including a Comelec official.� No one is begrudging her the right to talk to �many people.� What the public is concerned about is that she was recorded talking with, not a mere �Comelec official,� but a Comelec commissioner, whom she herself had appointed a few weeks before Election Day, over the objections of many people aware of the notoriety of this person in previous fraudulent elections, especially in Mindanao. That alone suggests that President Arroyo had malice aforethought in appointing Garcillano. And why did President Arroyo pointedly refrain from naming this �Comelec official?� Is she trying to protect him because of what he knows about the May 10 elections? How many officials are there in Comelec whose voices sound like that of Garcillano? Will Ermita, Gonzalez and Bunye now demand incontrovertible proof that it was indeed Garcillano that President Arroyo was talking to? And where on earth is Garcillano? He seems to have conveniently disappeared or been made to disappear. In his sole statement to media, weeks ago, he denied that it was he in the �Hello, Garci� tapes. Now that President Arroyo has admitted and apologized for her end of the conversations, will Garci do the same? Or have his lips been sealed forever? If Garci surfaces and sings, to save his own skin, the effect on the Arroyo presidency will be devastating. If Garci disappears completely and forever, the Arroyo presidency may even be more devastated as the tangled web that they then would have to weave may involve more serious crimes. The transcripts of more than 120 snippets of eavesdropped conversations that are in my possession cover the period from May 17 to June 18. Those conversations involving President Arroyo and �Garci� make up only about eight and are dated (by the low-ranking military person operating the bugging machine) May 26, 28, 29 and 31, and June 1, 2, and 6, 2004. (�Military� because he uses the military way of noting the time: e.g 17:37, instead of 5:37 pm. �Low-ranking� because he has a pronounced provincial accent. Probably a sergeant. And let�s be clear about this. These conversations were not wiretapped from landlines. They were eavesdropped electronically from cellphone transmissions.). In the earliest of these conversations (May 26), as well as in the subsequent conversations involving President Arroyo and �Garci,� there is an air of familiarity between the two, as if they had known each other and had talked to each other, by phone or face-to-face, even before May 26, and had come to an understanding on what was expected of each other. They talked in a kind of verbal shorthand that assumed that each was understood by the other without having to spell out all the details, like two conspirators discussing a hush-hush project that had been agreed upon in detail much earlier. For example, when PGMA asks, in the May 29 conversation, �So I will still lead by more than one M overall?� the other party understands she means �one million votes,� not one letter M as in a Macdonald burger sign. And when �Garci� replies that �Pipilitin ho natin yan. Pero as of the other day, 982,� PGMA understands that �Garci� promises to deliver those one million votes, but that the other day her lead was �only� 982,000 votes, not 982 hamburgers. Her final lead, as per the dubious Comelec tally, was 1,097,937 votes. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. President Arroyo claims in her apology that when she had conversations with �a Comelec official,� �the election had already been decided and the votes counted..� Not true at all. At the time of her first eavesdropped conversation with �Garci,� (May 26), Namfrel had tabulated only 20,854,000 votes, based on election returns from only 66.26% of the precincts. And at the time of her last eavesdropped conversation with �Garci� (June 06), Namfrel had stopped its public tabulation the previous day, having counted 24,777,000 votes based on election returns from 79.21% of the precincts. The two houses of Congress, sitting as the national canvassing board for the presidential and vice-presidential elections, did not convene until several days after Namfrel stopped publicly tabulating the results, and did not proclaim the winners until about June 13. So, it is not true, as she claims in her apology, that her conversations with �a Comelec official,� from May 26 to June 6, did not �influence the outcome of the election.� They did. These conversations took place while Namfrel was still tabulating the election returns from the precincts. The Namfrel data of June 05 showed her lead over FPJ narrowing to only 2.08% of the votes cast, or about 515,000 votes. Roberto Verzola extrapolated from the Namfrel data, as perhaps �Garci� also did, that GMA�s lead would drop to only 350,000 votes or 1.1% of the total, which may have given �Garci� a good idea of how many extra votes had to be padded into the certificates of canvass of four Mindanao regions to reach the one-million-votes winning margin that Lola wanted and that Lola eventually got. Let me repeat, for the fourth time, the findings of Verzola. Comparing the extrapolated totals of the Namfrel tally (based on election returns from the precincts) and the totals of Comelec (based on easily faked COCs), Verzola found �huge� discrepancies in Western Mindanao (396.85%), the ARRM (310.07%), and Northern Mindanao (128.33%), and a �major� discrepancy in Central Mindanao (62.79%), all in favor of GMA. In the eavesdropped conversations between PGMA and �Garci� of June 02 and June 06, the two discussed the vote tabulations in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi Tawi and Maguindanao, all of which are located in the above regions where the discrepancies were either �huge� or �major.� While Verzola and I, working independently of each other, came to the same conclusion in May-June 2004, that President Arroyo would likely have come out the winner even in an honest count, but only by a slim margin, not by a million votes, COC-padding was only half of the cheating process. The other half involved the apparently deliberate disenfranchisement of substantial numbers of voters (including myself and members of my family), whose names were dropped from the precincts� voters lists and the Comelec master list, even before the voting began. How substantial? The Comelec estimated it at 900,000. In its Terminal Report, Namfrel put it at two million. A Catholic bishop, whose name I cannot recall, said it was more like four million. I talked last week to Antonio G. Ventosa, national chairman of the Catholic Church�s Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), which monitored the voting process nationwide in May 2004. He also put the number of disenfranchised voters at four million, and he made the additional claim that 60% of the cheating in 2004 occurred in the preparation of the Citizens� Voters List (CVL) or the master list of Comelec, even before the voting began. Voters� names dropping from the CVL would seem at first to be a random event that would affect all candidates pro rata and thus would not favor any one candidate. But if a pre-election survey had been taken to pinpoint the towns and cities where a particular candidate was very strong, then deliberately dropping, say, four million voters� names from those towns and cities in the CVL would be a surreptitious and effective way of reducing the votes for that candidate, without leaving a paper trail like those easily faked COCs. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (whom I supported in 1992) would probably stop defending President Arroyo if she were to realize that the master magician who orchestrated the cheating in 2004 against FPJ was the same master magician who orchestrated the cheating in 1992 against her. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Sorry Is Not Enough� Tony -- First Max, now Enrique, OK. We wait for the email version. Johnny Mercado, [email protected] Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Bravo! Who was it who said "freedom of the press depends on who owns the printing press"? Even the Grey Lady publishes only what's (to them) "fit to print" BG: The Grey Lady ran a country-wide contest for a good "motto" and decided the winner. But the Grey Lady who owns the printing press decided to use her own: "All the News That's Fit to Print." And She did just that. Bert Florentino, [email protected] New York, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony: I applaud your decision to resign and have the upmost respect for you and the difficulty of that decision. Former secretary of tourism Gemma Cruz-Araneta and I do a daily radio program from seven to eight in the evening on DZRJ in English for the AB and foreigner audience. Ii would like you to be a guest sometime, anytime at your convenience�. If you can appear next week, please email or better yet text me. Power to the press and the legitimate and honest journalists John Mangun, [email protected] Philippine Graphic, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Really? You quit? That�s wild. But this thing will blow over, I�m sure. People will realize that they ALL cheated anyway and that there is NO alternative to La Gloria. I can�t stand her either but I truly think any alternative would be worse. Just listening to Susan Roces gripe and exploit her grandson for media attention made me sick. It made a lot of people sick. I actually met people today (ok. Granted. they were really young. Like 22 years old) who did not even realize this was going on. I give the Filipino attention span three months. Once the typhoons settle in and most rallies rain out, this will fade like many other issues before... Looking forward to reading you on tapatt though. Carlos Celdran, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I cannot believe the country is in this mess. Namfrel, who believes in Namfrel? I have completely lost trust in this organization. Luz speaks for the businessman and forgets there is a whole lot of hungry human beings ..... Now she announces her big "sacrifice" to send her familyabroad. Sacrifice? I call it "The Great Escape". Easier for her to pick up whatever and go, knowing that family is safe and waiting for her somewhere. Marilu Soriano, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony: It's pretty clear that GMA's "admission" and "apology" do not mean the same things that we understand in our everyday discourse. As such, I wouldn't be surprised if Sec. Bunye will go on TV soon to deny that it was GMA who actually made the "admission" and "apology" last Monday. Congratulations on your leaving Manila Standard after they censored your article. When the junta takes over, I think the qualifications of that paper to publish anything will need to be seriously reviewed. Tito Osias, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I salute you, Tony. Mahar Mangahas, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya Thank you for regularly forwarding your articles to my address. Though most of these alongside the news in other Pilipino broadsheets on the internet are predominantly gloomy and conducive to giving up altogether one's hope for our country, the prime thoughts behind all these articles still seem to long for achieving a better, far glorious Philippines than what our politicians and leaders are deliberately avoiding with all their might. Your leaving Manila Standard Today is not at all a surprise. I have been omitting paging through this paper when I gradually 'discovered' reading behind the lines its trendy pro-administration stand. Being pro-admin is not bad at all but you can't stick to it without losing your face when the happenings are really bad so that backing the administration would be grossly ineffective if not scandalous. This one piece that caused your quitting the Standard has nothing to justify its CEO's refusing to print it. There's nothing in it that is not substantiated. It's certainly a piece of investigative analysis that is naturally logical in its presentation. Somebody at the CEO�s office must be pale in the face when you tendered your resignation. What a loss for the company, what a loss for the community of the politically caring Pilipino readership. Virgilio Bernate, [email protected] Landquart, Switzerland, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony I too resigned from the Manila Standard when my column criticizing GMA was censored. It's worth noting that Ricky Razon's company just got an extension to operate its container port terminal for, if I recall right, another ten years, without any bidding. Toti V. Chikiamco, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thank goodness, Enrique Razon doesn't seem to support a takeover by Susan Roces or Loi Ejercito. Faced with this choice, if I was President, I wouldn�t resign either!...even if I wanted to! I find it really difficult to get excited over a revolution that proposes nothing but a return to the worse .I think the rest of the population feels the same way. Peter Capotosto, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Don't worry, my friend, we know very well that you can tide over any difficulties in life, including unreasonable editors and CEOs. We understand you have been there before and you've always come out OK, in fact much better. "It's the national interest that I am privy of, Mr. Abaya," says the CEO, "sorry, I can't tell you why, nor can I convince you." Perhaps the CEO's rejection was the good Lord's way of telling you to resign, take up the sword [literally] and fulfill you mission to help give your beloved Philippines the Susan Roces-Ed Villanueva that it needs. Good luck, Tony. Good luck to all of us. We hope we come out OK in a very short time. Tony, we give you our understanding, sympathy, prayers and love. What else we can do for you is look around for a respectable protesting opposition group we can join. You would be happy about that, won't you? Paz and Ogie Reyes, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thanks for your analyses. Accomplices have conveniently disappeared, as in the cases of suspects in the slaying of Dacer , unavailability of Bong Pineda to testify on the jueteng scandals, and lately the nonappearance of Garcillano. Dante G. Simbulan Jr., [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Yes, more will come out from this issue and hopefully innovative solution will be found to correct the present economic and political problems of our nation. Jesse Alto, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sad to note about the Manila Standard Today decision, but still hopeful that you will continue writing your fearless observation of the political scene in the Philippines. Renato Perdon, [email protected] Sydney, Australia, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Firstly, let me congratulate you for standing on your principles. This is the kind of moral standard we need today. Let me go to the main topic. A president is supposed to be the paragon of patriotism and morality. She should not only lead but also serve as model for our children. As it stands now, President Arroyo has committed acts that disqualified her from being this model and perhaps, as president of this country. COMELEC is an independent body which the executive department represented by the president is bound to respect under the constitution, the very same constitution that president GMA had sworn to uphold and protect. When GMA made the call to the unnamed COMELEC official she willfully committed an act that undermined the COMELEC's integrity, thus compromising its independence. For this action, president GMA deserves to be impeached. Virgilio Leynes, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Animo Abaya! Enrique Razon, a name that was familiar to me as a child, was Papa's boss back then when my father was working as cashier at Manila Port Terminal in the late thirties. If you read my book SIMPLE GLORIES I recalled pleasant peacetime memories of the South Manila Piers and Ateneo Intramuros. Due to my Dad's overtime work at the Terminal office, I would walk after grade school classes the length of Anda street from the same spot where Rizal pursued his studies at the Ateneo in his youth, cross Bonifacio Blvd, through the intervening Port Area streets all the way to Pier 7's gate fronting Papa's office. where cargo stood cast asunder after having been unloaded from oceangoing ships Today Razon Jr is a ...publisher? Hmmm. I admire your principles, Tony. Oh how I wish other journalists can emulate what you stand for in your profession. Fly high. And I will be reading you and your wisdom-filled columns anywhere in or out of cyberspace. Tony Joaquin, an admirer, [email protected] Daly City, California, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Bravo, Tony. Please include my husband and I in your e.mailing list. Thanks. Linda Nietes, [email protected] Robert J. Little, Jr. Philippine Expressions Bookshop Rancho Palos Verdes, California, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww To [email protected] (Copy furnished) Regrettably, there is no other side on this particular forum. It would seem that Kompil2, like Namfrel, has taken the position that GMA is the lesser evil - and is prepared to go along with the lie rather than accept a return to power by the Erap camp. I am appalled that members of 'civil' society are prepared to let her off easy, the one person whose integrity matters the most, after she has admitted to very serious wrongdoing. If someone kidnapped their child, would they applaud him for saying he was sorry and just let it pass? Our country needs a third option - but what? Tonton Mapa, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Whatever findings they have in the election, clean or not clean election, please look at the accomplishments of all the past three Presidents had done compared to the Arroyo administration. Was poverty alleviated during any of the past administrations? Erap, ninakaw ang kaban ng bayan!!!! Ramos anong accomplishments niya? Corruption was still going on! Who are to be blamed of the wetteng scandals? Erap sino pa. If the Gloria steps down, what happens to the country? Who will lead? Of course, those people who wants to corrupt the government and steal the kaban of the country. I for one, is still in favor of Gloria, clean or not clean election, because she can lead the country intelligently and she is dedicated to clean the dirty politicians in the government. I hate the oppositions who are trying to destroy the country. They want to inject corruption in the country. If that happens, less people from abroad will be going home because corruptions will again reign in the country. Intelligent countrymen still are in favor of Gloria Arroyo as president of the Philippines. Amen. Genny Ferrer, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Judging from what is happening in the country today, principle is no longer a desirable value. My hat is off to you for painfully taking such a principled and strong stand. Sincerely, Toti Villalon, [email protected] Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I read this column with sadness for another step to clipping our freedom of speech .. but with greater admiration for your courage and thoroughness. I am looking forward to your future articles and I hope they will find a home in a better newspaper .. and in a better country. Mabuhay. Roger Olivares, [email protected] Atlanta, Georgia, June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya; Most of the time, I would be considered apolitical without strong leanings one way or the other. I also read all your email articles on this subject. You are claiming that GMA and her side cheated 1) through the roster of voters and 2) through the canvassing process. The argumentation on the second instance seems much stronger than the first. I would not repeat, personally, issue (1) in public. It is weak. I was also stricken out of the voters list several elections ago (Ramos time) and never voted again. The most important consideration for me is the consequence of forcing GMA to leave without giving her a chance to stabilize the situation and prepare for an orderly transition--assuming she indeed would be convinced or forced to vacate the office. If GMA decides not to resign, I would be supportive. If she decides to resign, she should be given the chance to transfer power to the VEEP in an orderly manner. There is no other acceptable way. It is not confidence inspiring to hear that both the ever noisy left and the opposition want also the VEEP to resign. This reveals the hidden agenda. It would then be a mere power grab. The VEEP might not last long in the position. Given such misgivings, I'd rather retain GMA. Election cheating or getting caught doing it are not major issues for me given our past and current political context. Bannering ethical behaviour and moralist stances do not come close to addressing what we need as a country. Such positions are half-baked and irresponsible. When citing moral and/or legal reasons for asking a president to resign, one must have a better alternative or else one is irresponsible. Find a Park Chung Hee and I will support him and a revolutionary gov't. GMA is not a bad administrator at all. Ramos was lucky because the Phils.,Asia, and most of the world, at the time, were in an economic, real estate, and financial assets boom. GMA has run the country during the secular downturn or correction of the preceding boom. The next several years would still worsen whatever our president does. The approaching crisis is beyond our capabilities to address because it would be triggered by the decline, if not a disorderly plunge, of the US economy, world trade and the current world reserve currency. The US economy is being window dressed by excessive monetary inflation and debt creation while borrowing $2 billion a day to square its current accounts. This is not sustainable. US profligacy, continued denial of economic reality, and its imperial hubris would bring all of us down. I do not know of any Filipino leader right now who could be our helmsman for the next several years. Antonio Anciano, [email protected] June 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww PGMA has indeed cheated in the presidential elections last year. However, even if she did not cheat, she would still have won by a small margin, not that 1 macdonald bugoys. So, she needed that big margin to claim at least a degree of respectable mandate. Now her family is on the run. FG Mike Arroyo fled to HK and from there, together with sonomagun Mikee, proceed to the US later. He claims this is to spare Gloria from further stress and scandal. But the truth of the matter is, they already know their glorious days in the palace are numbered! Didn't Iggy escape to Singapore when the "Hello Garci" expose came out? He claimed it was vacation. But he and his wife did not have advanced booking, and only bought their ticket just before escaping, er, leaving. Nobody will ever go on a vacation without prior plans, especially transportation and accommodation. They returned only after the smoke cleared (so they thought) and there was a semblance of normalcy, that Gloria already has things under control! Had he not fled earlier, he will also go "Mikee-way", that is, take a leave from congress and join brod FG in the US (to make it not obvious). That is their scheme, and for sure, they are preparing everything for the coming tsunami that will sweep them away (either by another good-for-nothing "EDSA 1 copycat" or by a coup). That includes stashing their jueteng kickbacks. Now what would be the likely scenario? When Director Ong came out, there were speculations that Susan Roces would be placed by the opposition to the presidency. But she politely and publicly said "not another lady president!" Now, she claims she would, if she must. I don't know if she realized she might be aping Gloria who said she will not run for election, only to back-out from her own words. PLEASE, NOT ANOTHER SHOWBIZ PRESIDENT! She might not know it, but she is already being eaten up alive by dirty politics being served by the same Trapos who don't seem to get enough. Another likely outcome would be the military taking advantage of the situation. They will surely (at first) have the support of disgruntled citizenry and perhaps some nuts in the opposition. A junta might be an appealing option. But this will not be enough to bring stability and normalcy. Various church leaders (from the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations) as well as the international community will not support it. Perhaps, if things get rougher, Gloria might declare a state of emergency, or even martial law. She controls Congress which will ratify such option. By then she can order a crackdown of her so-called "destabilizers" and "terrorists." That is, if she can beat the military to the gun. Or perhaps (heaven forbid), a foreign intervention courtesy of Uncle Sam to rescue Gloria, or put someone else whom they feel can deliver the goods better. Things doesn't look bright, not in the immediate future, not in the distant future. We will only have the same crooked freaks from both sides of the same rotten political game. If I may dream, let them all resign from office... from the President to the Senate and Congress, including the COMELEC. Ban them all (or perhaps the most rotten 90%) from election and have the UN take over for a maximum of one year, until a new election is held. But then again, just dreaming. Martinez Felipe Rommel, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, Ok I have this article up on Iskandalo.com top left column...Iskandalo Caf� does not believe in censorship and is behind freedom of the Press, you may submit anything you wish to us and we will not censor you. Dee Limjoco, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I salute you, Sir. Capt. (Ret.) Chris Mesias, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww If HALF the number of disenfranchised voters you mention were added to the numbers against GMA before the padding, GMA lost big. Roces is right on that the elections in the RP were stolen TWICE. Can't help musing though that it is exactly the same way a lot of us feel about the presidential election in the US: stolen TWICE. GMA and Bush have much in common, don't they? Angie Collas-Dean, [email protected] Portland, Oregon, July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Alas! Evil and crime are everywhere in varying shades: the institutions of government, ngos, "civil society", businessmen, the middle class, the church, the intelligentsia, who by their silence, quiet acquiecence and even active participation are actually the ones who have caused the country's downfall vis-a-vis our neighbors. The masa, especially if not well educated, are hardly to blame, rather it is the privileged class who have access and the means to institute and maintain a good system of governance, who have consistently failed terribly and are the root causes of the country's problems. PGMA's situation is not a solitary one - all of us are in the same situation of being born and cultured in this dysfunctional society, which is being perpetuated by us, by Namfrel even, albeit perhaps unwittingly. If we judge PGMA guilty, so is everyone else in one way or another guilty...the purge and punishment and demands for proper governance should cover the judiciary, the congress, constitutional bodies, the corporate world and the Philippine educated classes who have helped perpetuate and worsen the system. Nonoy Yulo, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The bottom line is obvious and very simple to understand. We don't need Congress or the Senate to debate on the issue because the circumstances that put her in Malacanang is undebatable. Congress and Senate skirmishes are useless, in the end, she will still be there because of Numbers. Then, next on line is the Judiciary, who always protects her on technicalities. Our judges and members of the supreme court has always been GMA stamp pad. This is the reason why they are confident to bring the issues to court. All people in the number games region knows the game exist- real- and a part of their life, still they are looking for tangible evidence. All Filipinos knows who and what are on the Garci- tape, yet the comedy in congress is real and nauseating, hours are spent debating whether to hear it or not when all Filipinos in the metropolis heard it and even put it on their cellphones. Regret to say, we are undergoing a cultural change, a culture of corruptors and thieves. There are few good men/woman in this country who does something about it, the rest don't, that is why evil will strive now and hopefully not forever. R .A. Reyes, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww MESSAGE FOR MR. ABAYA: BRAVO! YOU HAVE TAKEN A MOST COURAGEOUS AND MORAL STAND. I HAVE BEEN SKIPPING MANILA STANDARD BECAUSE THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH PRO-ADMINISTRATION REEKING IN THAT PAPER SO I JUST GO THRU THE NET TO TRIBUNE, MALAYA, INQUIRER AND I ALSO RARELY TUNE IN TO STAR AFTER TEDDY BENIGNO PASSED AWAY. I AM OUT OF THE COUNTRY BUT I HAVE ASKED THE OFFICE TO PASS THIS ON TO MY DAUGHTER DANIELLE WHO HAS BECOME QUITE AN ACTIVIST AND TO PASS ON A COPY TO MY BROTHER IN LAW JOE CON AND TO MANOLO QUEZON WHO HAS BEEN A FRIEND SINCE HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR STAND ON TRUTH AND JUSTICE. I WROTE TO INQUIRER YESTERDAY-saying sorry means saying goodbye. ....when the poor steal and cheat we send them to prison, there they languish in inhuman conditions, when the rich steal and cheat, we turn a blind eye. Why? Because we socialize with them, because they help us get rich or feed our egos? What kind of society do we want? Saying I'm sorry includes, contrition, repentance, restitution, and being ready to face the consequences. Saying sorry means saying goodbye. Lina Araneta Santiago, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Congratulations for the bold move you made in resigning from the newspaper. Just like Sec. Golez, whose bolting out of the majority and resigning his powerful position form the House, you have shown that you are not willing to compromise your principles. Maybe Tessa Toreon should have included you as one of those who should comprise the Revolutionary Government that she proposed as a replacement of this deceitful and power-greedy President. More power to you and to the upright citizens of this country. God bless and protect us all always. Michael Guardia, [email protected] July 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Yes, sorry is not enough! More and more people now realize that the 2004 Election was just like if not worse than the 1986 Snap Elections. In 1986, Marcos' KBL together with the Comelec cheated the election. In 2004, GMA together with Comelec, PNP, AFP, and even Namfrel were party to the cheating. If in 1986 the Filipino people were able to kick out Marcos out of Malacanang, then there's no more reason GMA could stay any longer. What are we waiting for? Are we also having a "lapse in judgment'? Be not afraid! Isigaw natin, GLORIA RESIGN!!! Choi Opetina, [email protected] July 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Don Antonio, Sorry to hear about your resignation from the Manila Standard. I don't buy any newspaper any more since most of their "juicy news" are harbinger of doom by intriguers, inciters, etc.. This is my perception.. If you were the father confessor of PGMA, but short of your excommunicating her, what penance would you tell her? PGMA and the Pinoys will weather these crises. Weather weather lang yan, to quote former Pres Erap. Look at the Marcoses who victimized more than 10,000 Pinoys as decided by the foreign court. They are back with the Pinoys they had victimized. And what have the Pinoys done after they came back? That�s our way of life. PGMA did not confess to a mere priest but to the entire Filipino people. That was a greater gesture. God forgives the sinners seven times seventy times as the Good Book says. Why can't the minority, inciter Pinoys forgive? I think there is some tendency of de-Christianization among Pinoys now. I hope they don't suffer bad Karma. In short you have not recommended any of what should be done in answer to your subject. God Bless the Philippines! Roger L. Madrigal, [email protected] July 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, There are two major things that bother me: (1) Was the conversation with a COMELEC official really influenced the outcome of the election? (2) Was the admission that a conversation did occur an impeachable act that forgiveness must be denied and blood must be drawn? Politicians have their own foot soldiers and field people who could assess their candidate's strengths and make reasonable predictions of their candidate's lead over their rivals long before voters have cast their votes in every local and national elections. .9 out of 10 their forecasts hit their targets. Why are these politicians making a big thing about cheating and articulating about "high moral grounds" when cheating and immorality are part of the country's political scene. Tell me of any election that has been won sans cheating and vote buying! Since when have politicians and newspaper men become living saints and righteous mortals overnight? Born again Christians or a destabilizing force? Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected] New York, July 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Remember me? I know it's been years since we've seen or talked to each other but I have always been a keen reader of your articles and admirer of your incisive thoughts on things and events. I just read your article I got through Poch Robles and to say that I am more incensed than ever at everything that's going on in this country is an understatement! Everything in your commentary just reinforces my belief that Gloria Arroyo has just got to go! People, even friends, ask "But who's going to replace her? There's no one in sight." I can't buy that line. Just because there's no one in sight does not make any of her sins right. The bottom line for me is that she has lost all moral ascendancy to govern. How could we ever trust a person who has gone back on her word (she said she wouldn't run for the Presidency), connived (with a Comelec Commissioner at that) and engaged in double talk (in her "Sorry" address) just to cover up for all the wheeling and dealing and cheating. To my mind, what this country needs is Moral Regeneration a complete overhauling and uprooting of a flawed value system that has become a way of life for many Filipinos. And if we let her get away with this again, we are no better than abettors of this flawed value system. So what if we give up the few "economic" gains that have started to come in. As the Chinese say, "One step backward, two steps forward." Besides, only Big Business will actually feel the real pinch. Millions of Filipinos who live in poverty and dire situations won't even know the difference. When have the benefits of 'economic' prosperity ever trickled down to them anyway? Somebody or some bodies up there always seem to get them into their pockets first, n'cest pas? Anyway, I did enjoy reading your 'unpublished' article. Could you keep me in your mail list, too? Thanks. More power! Jo Hilado Guevara, [email protected] July 02, 2005 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |