| Squaring FPJ�s Circle By Antonio C. Abaya December 17, 2003 He was supposed to speak before the gathering in UP Diliman between 9:00 and 9:30 am, but he arrived at 8:45, stayed for a few minutes, exchanged a few words with the organizers, then left, supposedly because he had an appointment somewhere else at 9:30. This seems to be a variation of his no-show minimalist style of political campaigning. You know, don�t show up at all if it means having to speak before an assembled audience for longer than three minutes, as in the Philippine Business Conference, and at his formal proclamation as the official candidate of the opposition. A court jester or a tape-recorded message will do instead, if the heebie-jeebies are really uncontrollable.. Or, if it cannot be avoided, take some pills to shore up the knocking knees, step into the lions� den, and make some macho noises with the gibbering natives, then get the hell out before the effect of the pills wears out, and let the compliant media make a monumental mountain out of a pathetic molehill. As in the Pasay City Astrodome rally of his masa supporters. And as in the Diliman gathering last Dec. 12. FPJ had been invited to speak on free trade and globalization in a UP Diliman forum organized by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, a communist front organization whose position on the issue is predictable. I doubt very much if FPJ knows enough about the subject to be for or against it, much less to be able to field questions about it in the open forum that usually follows in these gatherings. So rather than submit himself to 30 minutes of torture, during which his total ignorance of the subject would have been exposed, Da King chose instead to arrive ahead of his time slot and just exchanged harmless pleasantries with the organizers for a few minutes, then got the hell out before��� But, as the reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Dec. 13) wrote, �Both Ramos and Mariano (leaders of the KMP) said that �Poe listened intently to the KMP�s position against trade liberalization and the need for food security and self-sufficiency. He was listening and nodding every now and then. We take it that he didn�t differ greatly with our position���� This was enough to inspire the Inquirer headline writer-editor to banner the insignificant news with the earth-shaking headline: FPJ TAKES STAND VS GLOBALIZATION. Now I am as against free trade and globalization as my communist friends in the KMP and in the Inquirer, but my common sense tells me that nodding one�s head every now and then is not tantamount to taking a firm stand for or against anything. Perhaps FPJ was just sleepy. Perhaps he was just politely making conversation without talking. Perhaps he had an obstruction in his carotid artery. Perhaps he was stealing a glance at his shaking knees. Perhaps he wanted to check if his fly was open. If FPJ were indeed in agreement with the position of the KMP against free trade and globalization, then how would he now square that circle with the appointments he � or more accurately, his manipulators � have leaked to media, in an obvious attempt to win the confidence of the cynical business community. .. to wit, that in a Poe administration, Jose Pardo will be trade and industry secretary, and Bernardo Villegas will be economic planning secretary? FPJ should know that Titoy Pardo and Bernie Villegas are free traders and globalists whose views are irreconcilably and diametrically opposed to those of the KMP before whose leaders he nodded his head now and then. Villegas and his ideological twin Jess Estanislao are the high priests of free trade and globalization in this country and are credited (or blamed) for having convinced President Fidel V. Ramos, not only to embrace free trade and globalization without question, but to even accelerate the immersion of the Philippines in it. How do you now square this circle, FPJ? You know, a circle is round, while a square has four equal sides and� oh�what the hell! Columnist Raul Rodrigo beat me to it, in his column in Today (Dec. 16) titled �Being There,� referring to the KMP�s and the Inquirer�s interpretation of FPJ�s nodding of his head now and then, and its similarity to a 70s comedic film.. �Being There� is the title of a 1979 film (based on a novel by Jerzy Kosinski) by the American director Hal Ashby, about a dim-witted gardener named Chance (played with impeccable understatement by Peter Sellers) who has been cooped up all his life in a Washington DC townhouse with only a TV set as a companion. Not even the sudden death of his aged guardian registers in his marshmallow brain. When he is evicted from the townhouse, he wanders aimlessly, until he is accidentally hit, ever so mildly, by the limousine of a prominent DC woman. This encounter draws him into the power circle of Republican politicians, including the President of the USA, among whom his most innocent remarks about his plants and trees are interpreted as insightful comments on the economy and the state of the nation. He becomes an instant celebrity, a cocktail party trophy, and a possible presidential entry in the next elections, interviewed by the Washington Post and the Financial Times, even if the CIA and the FBI cannot find any clue as to who he really is. No passport, no social security number, no driver�s license, no credit card, no bank account, no library card, no military service, no high school or college records. Their slimmest of leads, after rummaging through his clothes closet: his suits (hand-me-downs from his guardian) were made in 1928 by a New York tailor who, they find out, committed suicide in 1933. It is Louise, the black nurse of the now-dead guardian, who recognizes Chance the Gardener (now gentrified as Chauncey Gardiner) when he guests in a network TV talk show. �Lawd,� she tells her kaffeeklatsch, �Ah raised that boy since he was this small. He never learned to read or write. Ain�t got no brains at all. His head�s stuffed with rice pudding �tween the ears. He was shortchanged by the Lawd and he be dumb as a jackass. But look at him now. For shore, this here�s a white man�s world in America�� Just keep nodding your head now and then, FPJ, all the way to Malacanang. ***** The bulk of this article appears in the December 27, 2003 issue of the Philippines Free Press magazine. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Squaring FPJ�s Circle� (Through the CebuPolitics egroup) Very insightful commentary. How long can FPJ dodge public forums where his mental mettle can be tested? This must be an agonizing quandary that handlers Sotto and Angara are vainly searching answers to. Surely they didn't expect da King to go through the whole election process without undergoing some sort of heavy duty interview where his views and capacity to run our country can be judged. On the other hand, maybe they did believe that they could get away with evasive tactics throughout the campaign period without having to show the people just what is or what is missing in between FPJ's ears. I could just hear Sotto's comforting words to allay da King's concerns: "Relaks ka lang. If I can do it, surely you can too". Of course he didn't mention the fact that he hasn't done anything worthwhile in the senate. What will be FPJ's excuse to avoid a televised debate between his other presidential rivals? How can he campaign without having to answer pesky reporters? Angara must have a plan already. Here's where his experiences in bonding with the likes of Marcos and Erap will come in handy. Is a crash course in local and international economics on the agenda? Are they teaching FPJ the methods of governance? How about dealing with foreign leaders? Can da King comprehend and digest all that information in time to show that he is indeed capable of becoming president of our beloved country? If all else fails, there are always deceptive tactics that Angara will have no qualms to pursue. Maybe Angara could mime da King during interviews. If they practice the scheme well enough, they might just get away with it. They could also have a phalanx of bought reporters and columnists surrounding FPJ all the time thus preventing the authentic ones from asking questions. Or how about putting an FPJ mask on Miriam Santiago ala Mrs Doubtfire during presidential debates? That would really impress the voters! Hey, this is showbiz where the hero always wins at the end. Eli C. Perez, [email protected] December 18, 2003 ......................................................................... you know what you are like a chicken to much bla bla bka if you are smart just shut up and wait for the result if you don't want FPJ then don't vote for him, you want a smart in corruption like jose pidal?(arroyo), a smart like roco which is he only want to be a president, he already lost once he still have the guts to run, what his accomplishment when he was a decs sec. i have here a teacher from phil. And she told me that roco have a lot of proposals promise but it did not materialized because he is always thinking about running for president in fact he already have a foster even when he is still at decs. don't you know that by history those intelligent men are more corrupt, see what happen to jose pidal even here in the us a very intelligent politician like gov. gray davis was ousted by a new face in politics because people now are smarter how to select the good one. Look at the gov. of minnesota he is only a wrestler but he is a good governor now. You know I grew up in a town that our mayor is only grade 4, when a lawyer comes and run for elections he won but after his term the grade 4 mayor was back because people realized that we don't need a lawyer to run our town because lawyers are liars, that's all mr. abaya hope you have a good holidays, and share your love not hate. Hermogenes Ramos Jr., junex [email protected] December 19, 2003 ...................................................................................... Dear Mr Abaya, Many thanks for the copy of those articles on FPJ candidacy. Obviuosly you are waging a campaign against electing FPJ as President of our pathetic nation. May I remind you, however, Filipinos generally tend to gravitate to the side of the ina-api. My feeling is that the more we attack FPJ, the masses tend to harden more their stance for FPJ such that we are only shouting to deaf ears. After all, it is not to FPJ design that he is being thrusted to Presidency. It is to the design of the Linta sa Paligid ni FPJ. I really hope you could write about the pathetic attitude of the masses that those Leeches are exploiting. Consider the most popular arguments of the masses for supporting FPJ. We have already tried the learned and the experienced and still we are poor. Susubukin naman natin ngayon ang walang pinag-aralan at walang karanasan. Is this not pathetic? Another argument I heard is that FPJ is a true and honest man and not a politician, and this is what we need. Obviuosly they formed that image of FPJ based on the characters that he portrayed in the movies. What they failed to recognized is that the characters that FPJ portrayed is someone who has to be forced to act to depend himself and his family from some wrongdoing of villains. He was always a reacting type never a visionary that a leader is supposed to be. He was never a go-getter nor leader of men and of movement. Another thing that the masses failed to recognize is the period of instability that always come whenever there is a new man at the helm. More so for a new inexperienced man, a man who is unschooled in the exercise of power such as those of the President. Definitely a new man at the helm must undergo some learning on the job. It is the height of naivete to expect him to hit the ground running. Depending on the amount of matter between his ears is the lenght of that learning period which those Leeches will exploit. A vote for FPJ is not a vote for him but for Angara, Sotto, Enrile and etc. It will be a great disappointment again of the masses.Heaven forbid I hope we are not expecting a repea! t of EDSA II. I really hope that you could write something about our defect as a nation, those defects that made us vote for ERAP to the Presidency, the same defect that will make us vote again an ERAP-alike to the Presidency. When will we ever learn. Jorge Matanguihan, [email protected] December 19, 2003 ..................................................................................... The sad thing about all this is that THE JOKE'S ON US! Raffy Garcia III, [email protected] December 20, 2003 ........................................................................ Dear Tony, As usual, your piece on FPJ is a classic. I took the liberty to forward this to three friends, namely, Messrs. Tony Elicano and Ben Belen. The latter having a question which you might care to reply. Techie is the former Teresita Ysmael now Mrs. Mike Bilbao who resides in Connecticut. Ben calls Calgary, Canada home while Tony and I have to sweat it out for 6 years should Da King make it in 2004. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. Archie Lacson, [email protected] December 19, 2003 ................................................................................. Very insightful piece on FPJ. He may actually be a nice person (as I gleaned from my brief chance encounter with him a few years ago), his very, very close association with the Estradas and the Marcoses is a bother to no end. On the other hand, I hear persistent talk that Roco is a wife-beater. What do you think of that? Otherwise, I might just go for Bro. Eddie Villanueva, though I am a Catholic. :) Regards and Merry Christmas. Maria Cecilia S. Abis, [email protected] Writer/Editor/Graphic Designer December 19, 2003 MY REPLY. Some of my best friends are wife-beaters. Stay with Roco. ................................................................................... (Through the kompil2 egroup) Based on his performance so far, we can derive the following: The FPJ Postulates on Speaking, Silence and Knowing: Better to be absent than to appear and be found out; Better to be silent and appear to know nothing, than to speak up and remove all doubts; Better to nod and appear to know a great thing than to open one's mouth to reveal nothing; The fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one thing and it is a great thing, FPJ knows something only he and God know and God also isn't telling. Vicente C. de Jesus, [email protected] December 19, 2003 ............................................................................... Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones, Tony. What a delightful surprise and x'mas present for me. I've wondered many times in my old age about you and some of the classmates in the old ADM. Tony, I was very impressed by the one and only article of yours that I have read and my curiosity got the better of me so I started maKING some not so discreet inquiries and voila! it paid handsome dividends. Tony, I was I was very impressed with your article, not only because of it's literary style (which of course is a given being fron ADM) but because of what you wrote about who you were writing about I remember you as gutsy when we were students But now I see, and I admire you a lot for it, that you have also developed a fiestiness but coupled with grace and polish that I assume can only come from a deep personal conviction and courage. More power to you, Tony. Make sure you watch your backside. Will keep you in my prayers. Warmest regards. Ben P. Belen, [email protected] December 22, 2003 MY REPLY. Thank you for your kind words, Ben. And Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. ......................................................................... Mr. Abaya, Can you please forward this leter of mine to President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal. This is regarding her proposal for general amnesty. There is a way to this to succed on it, with the exchange of strong peso. Our currency is so week. How she can do that? Kailangan dito ibalik lahat ng mga ito ang kanilang mga nilabas na kayaman sa ibang bansa or lahat ng investment nila sa labas ipasok nila lahat sa pilipinas whether it is in the form of currency stocks or golds. Anyway all those political foes said that they love the Philippines, kailangan patunayan nila yon. Hindi ko sinasabing babawiin pa yon sa kanila ang kailangan lang instead na ibang bansa ang na papasasa ng supposed to be e reserve natin di sa atin na lang nila iinvest o ipasok sa banko. Siguro papayag na rin rin ang mga kababayan natin anyway malabo ng mabawi lahat yon especially kung magpapalit na sila ng generation na hahawak ng kayaman na yon. People will say that impossible if these people are greedy how they will do that, greedy people doesnt know tha life is so short, but if they realize that the life span is only average of 65 years hindi yan mga magdadamot. And one more thing i push niya ang family planning. This is one major cause of poverty. Anyway majority naman sa maraming anak hindi na marunong magsimba so hindi na question ang religion dito. This is family planning not abortion so wala dapat questionin ang ang catholic church. Isa pa marami na ring isyu sila lalo na sa paring may mga anak. Alexander Carranceja, [email protected] December 22, 2003 MY REPLY. You can easily send your messages to President Arroyo, Malacanang, Manila. I do not have a direct line to her. .............................................................................................. Great article! Did you write anything current on terrorism? Would like to post it on a site I work on. Thanks! Jose Custodio, [email protected] December 23, 2003 MY REPLY. I suggest you access the website www.tapatt.org and see for yourself if there is anything there that fits your requirement. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
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