 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| �Stinking Capitalist� By Antonio C. Abaya Written Jan. 01 2006 For the Standard Today, January 03 issue It was, at least, an honest � if belated � reaction to the changed geopolitical situation. When asked why the NPA torched the heavy equipment of a Chinese-owned road construction company � the Beijing-based China Road and Bridge Corp. or China Road - after it refused to pay the revolutionary taxes demanded by the NPA, communist spokesman Gregorio �Ka Roger� Rosal testily replied: �So what if it�s Chinese-owned. What�s the difference? For the Communist Party of the Philippines, China � like Russia before it � is no longer considered communist but �revisionist� and �stinking capitalist.� �After the death of Comrade Mao, China has abandoned the communist cause and shamefully embraced capitalism. What they now have is a revisionist political party and a capitalist socio-economic system.� (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Dec. 28, 2005.) Ka Roger recalled how representatives of China Road had sought a meeting with the NPA. �When the Chinese finally met the emissary of the Red fighters, they asked that they be exempted from the payment of revolutionary tax on the grounds that they are also communists, that they are also comrades.� �What did the Chinese hear in return? That they are no longer comrades, and that they also have to pay the revolutionary tax. The Chinese eventually paid.� How much? The NPA had originally demanded P80 million. It is said to have been bargained down to P30 million. After their equipment had been torched in Sta. Catalina, Negros Occidental in January 2004, and then in San Andres, Catanduanes in April 2005, the Chinese were forced to suspend their operations in two other places, until they paid up. It was an extortion operation worthy of the Sicilian Mafia. If the NPA now thinks the People�s Republic of China is now �stinking capitalist,� what would the Chinese now think of their erstwhile Filipino comrades? Perhaps somewhere between �malodorous extortionists� and �smelly bandits.� But at least Ka Roger was brutally candid about it. Which is more than one can say for those in Philippine media � like Argee Guevara, Luis Teodoro and Conrado de Quiros, and some editors in the Inquirer � who for years gave their unstinting support to the socialist revolution of the NPA, misleading thousands of young minds down that path, a path that led in many cases to the grave�.and yet offered neither excuse nor apology when the Chinese re-embraced capitalism and the profit motive, starting in 1979, when the Berlin Wall was symbolically and actually breached by millions of ordinary folks in 1989, and when the Soviet Union imploded from the weight of its failures in 1991. Since the Chinese are now �stinking capitalists� and the Vietnamese not too far behind, who can Filipino communists and their allies in media and the clergy look up to as role models? There are only two �socialist� states left in the world: North Korea and Cuba. Neither is particularly attractive. North Korea is a hermetically sealed kingdom ruled by the Kim dynasty since it was founded in 1948 by Kim Il Sung. When the elder Kim died in 1994, he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il, who is now grooming his own son, Kim Jong Nam, to succeed him when he dies. Dynastic rule and the divine right of kings are not part of Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy and are in fact directly contradictory to its pretensions to egalitarianism and proletarian rule. But excuses can always be manufactured � by Luis or Argee or Conrad - especially when Joma Sison is finally expelled from Utrecht in the Netherlands as an undesirable alien fomenting terrorism in a friendly, if stupid, country, and must choose between North Korea and Cuba as his next place of exile. My bet is that Joma will choose North Korea. Cuba is now very dicey. The 79-year old Fidel Castro is in his twilight years. Although he is said to be grooming his younger brother Raul to succeed him � another putative socialist dynasty � it is more likely that when Fidel dies, the Cuban exiles in Miami will invade Cuba to recover their seized property, with or without � but more likely, with - the help of the neo-conservatives in Washington. North Korea is more secure from American invasion, even if its Taepoding-1 missile has a range of 1,000 miles and its (under development) Taepodong-2 missile will have a range of 6,000 miles, and even if it is known to have bacteriological and chemical weapons, and is believed to already have several nuclear warheads in its arsenal. By contrast, Saddam Hussein�s Al-Samoud missiles had a range of only 150 miles, and yet the Americans invaded Iraq twice. North Korea�s immunity from imminent American attack rests on two factors in its favor: a) it is not a threat to Israel, as Iraq was and Iran is; and b) there is not a drop of oil in it, while there are substantial amounts of it in Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and Saudi Arabia, which attract American invasion in the name of defending �freedom.� For Joma Sison, North Korea is also more attractive because of previous ties of solidarity. Pyongyang used to supply arms for the NPA and even trained NPA Sparrows or assassins, until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resultant loss of cheap Soviet oil devastated its economy (as it did Cuba�s also). In North Korea, Joma will have to endure chronic food shortage and suffer the effects of drought and famine. But as an honored guest, Joma will not be forced to eat grass and tree bark, as millions of North Koreans now do, whenever food aid from South Korea, Japan and the US is inadequate or is late in arriving. Best of all, Joma can reasonably expect that North Korea will not become �stinking capitalist:� anytime soon. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Stinking Capitalist� Dear Mr. Abaya, Communist turned capitalist is another proof that money can change the face of any hardened ideologist, evangelist, communist or whatever it is. Money which is the life-blood of commerce makes the world go around and it is better to take the money and run, go on a cruise or starve to death like a stupid communist. Even Cuba is now slowly morphing into a one "revisionist" state and when Fidel becomes part of written history, I can bet my stinking underwear that Cuba will turn capitalist. The process of transformation is happening by the infusion of Canadian and European dollars into Cuba. To tell you the truth, nowadays, the Cubans are more into rhumba and salsa all night with the tourists than re-defining the communist dogma to changing economic times. Mastercard and Visa are both accepted as long as transactions are made through Canadian and European banks. The Cuban cigar is famous worldwide, no second guessing about it, and people like to display it. Even one very famous ex-government official of the Philippines named "Tabako" cannot leave his house without it. North Korea will continue to carry the communist banner as long as the succession of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Nam is maintained. Kim Chee anyone? The clock is ticking but not for the stinking capitalist but more so for the half-wit communist who has passed his importance in the pages of history. Emil Diaz, Jr., [email protected] Vancouver, B.C., Canada wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Hi Mr. Abaya. I hope you explore the angle that Argee Guevarra and Luis Teodoro are really pseudo communist, and are actually voracious consumerists ready to sell themselves and enjoy all the luxuries provided by the capitalist market. That is the truth. Ruth Enriquez, [email protected] Jan. 06, 2006 MY REPLY. I do not know about Argee Guevara. But Luis Teodoro was my colleague in the Kabataang Makabayan in the 1960s. I understand that he remains one the most loyal followers of our Great Leader, Joma Sison wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww IT is true, Teodoro is a good friend of Joema. But it is just a pose on the part of Teodoro. When he was asked to sign a petition condemning the U.S. for declaring Joema and the CPP as terrorists, he did not sign for a long time, afraid it may lose him grants and connections with the powers-that-be. Those in the know simply laughed��. He accepts editing jobs from the university and demands payment, even if he has not read the manuscript. He has an incredible need for money because he dates his students. I was also a member of the KM in the 80s, Teodoro was my teacher, and he was dating my classmates.. When he was editor of the magazine Midweek, the staff hated him for not working. He tells his neo-liberal friends that the Left will always be a failure in this country. We can say that Ka Roger is a dinosaur who will bring this country back to the stone age, but we cannot say that his dedication is not real. With Teodoro, what gets me, is that it is just a pose. In some of the egroups where your column is circulating, like plaridel (forwarded by Boo Chanco), the tone of the admiring responses is to praise your analysis but to point out that these people you call communists will be flattered, because they are frauds. As for Argee Guevara, Teddy Casino (a real true believing dinosaur) wrote about how Guevara talks about the poor yet shows off his genuine Rolex watch. Guevara used to edit magazines of the PNP, and as a student he was rejected by the KM in Ateneo, was rejected by Bisig in Ateneo. The man is a publicity-hungry nut. Ruth Enriquez, [email protected] Jan. 08, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear ACA, I have read you booklet "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Communism" this morning with much gusto. I guess your expanded expanded version of it are now in the TAPATT articles. I still need five copies of it and please tell me how much it will cost me. Also, if you have those other articles: Europe by Scooter, The Other Face of Imperialism, The Future of Marxism��. Just tell me how can I get it. In a way, your article refreshed me on my view/s about Marxism-Leninism, and capitalism too (that revolution started by the bourgoisie). When I was 18 years old I was reading Joma�s �Philippine Society and Revolution, as if it were a correct grasp of reality. What do you expect from a youthful person like me at that time. Trying to seek answers and here you have PSR and Mao Zedong's thoughts. And all this have wrong assumptions. Why does capitalism survive? What form of socialism is fit for the Philippines? Have a nice day. AL Jose Leonidas, [email protected] Jan. 05, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi! If you just want the ranking of all countries in this index of Economic Freedom, I just copied the ranking. Take note that Philippines is number 98 and even lowr than Sri Lanka. We are grouped with the Mostly Unfree Countries. Pepot Viado, [email protected] Jan. 05, 2005 Countries CountryRank[Score] Hong Kong 1 [1.28] Croatia 55 [2.78] Zambia 111 [3.34] Singapore 2 [1.56] Greece 57 [2.80] China 111 [3.34] Ireland 3 [1.58] Jordan 57 [2.80] Kazakhstan 113 [3.35] Luxembourg 4 [1.60] Macedonia 57 [2.80] Mozambique 113 [3.35] United Kingdom 5 [1.74] Mexico 60 [2.83] Niger 115 [3.38] Iceland 5 [1.74] Mongolia 60 [2.83] Dominican Republic 116 [3.39] Estonia 7 [1.75] Saudi Arabia 62 [2.84] Benin 117 [3.40] Denmark 8 [1.78] Peru 63 [2.86] Central African Republic 118 [3.41] United States 9 [1.84] Bulgaria 64 [2.88] Algeria 119 [3.46] Australia 9 [1.84] United Arab Emirates 65 [2.93] Cameroon 119 [3.46] New Zealand 9 [1.84] Uganda 66 [2.95] India 121 [3.49] Canada 12 [1.85] Bolivia 67 [2.96] Russia 122 [3.50] Finland 12 [1.85] Cambodia 68 [2.98] Azerbaijan 123 [3.51] Chile 14 [1.88] Georgia 68 [2.98] Gambia, The 123 [3.51] Switzerland 15 [1.89] Malaysia 68 [2.98] Rwanda 125 [3.53] Cyprus 16 [1.90] Thailand 71 [2.99] Nepal 125 [3.53] Netherlands 16 [1.90] Kyrgyz Republic, The 71 [2.99] Guinea 127 [3.55] Austria 18 [1.95] Lebanon 73 [3.00] Egypt 128 [3.59] Sweden 19 [1.96] Bosnia and Herzegovina 74 [3.01] Suriname 129 [3.60] Germany 19 [1.96] Guatemala 74 [3.01] Malawi 130 [3.63] Czech Republic 21 [2.10] Oman 74 [3.01] Guinea Bissau 131 [3.65] Belgium 22 [2.11] Mauritius 77 [3.03] Burundi 132 [3.69] Lithuania 23 [2.14] Qatar 78 [3.04] Ethiopia 133 [3.70] Malta 24 [2.16] Swaziland 78 [3.04] Togo 134 [3.71] Bahrain 25 [2.23] Nicaragua 80 [3.05] Indonesia 134 [3.71] Barbados 26 [2.25] Brazil 81 [3.08] Equatorial Guinea 136 [3.74] Armenia 27 [2.26] Mauritania 81 [3.08] Sierra Leone 137 [3.76] Bahamas 27 [2.26] Senegal 83 [3.10] Tajikistan 137 [3.76] Japan 27 [2.26] Moldova 83 [3.10] Yemen 139 [3.84] Portugal 30 [2.29] Turkey 85 [3.11] Angola 139 [3.84] Botswana 30 [2.29] Guyana 85 [3.11] Bangladesh 141 [3.88] Norway 30 [2.29] Namibia 85 [3.11] Vietnam 142 [3.89] Spain 33 [2.33] Ivory Coast 88 [3.14] Congo, Republic of 143 [3.90] Slovak Republic, The 34 [2.35] Mali 88 [3.14] Uzbekistan 144 [3.91] El Salvador 34 [2.35] Fiji 90 [3.15] Syria 145 [3.93] Israel 36 [2.36] Colombia 91 [3.16] Nigeria 146 [4.00] Taiwan 37 [2.38] Romania 92 [3.19] Haiti 147 [4.03] Slovenia 38 [2.41] Sri Lanka 92 [3.19] Turkmenistan 148 [4.04] Latvia 39 [2.43] Tanzania 94 [3.20] Laos 149 [4.08] Hungary 40 [2.44] Djibouti 94 [3.20] Cuba 150 [4.10] Poland 41 [2.49] Kenya 94 [3.20] Belarus 151 [4.11] Trinidad and Tobago 42 [2.50] Morocco 97 [3.21] Venezuela 152 [4.16] Italy 42 [2.50] Philippines, The 98 [3.23] Libya 152 [4.16] France 44 [2.51] Tunisia 99 [3.24] Zimbabwe 154 [4.23] Korea, South 45 [2.63] Ukraine 99 [3.24] Burma 155 [4.46] Uruguay 46 [2.69] Lesotho 99 [3.24] Iran 156 [4.51] Cape Verde 46 [2.69] Burkina Faso 102 [3.28] Korea, North 157 [5.00] Costa Rica 46 [2.69] Gabon 102 [3.28] Serbia and Montenegro - Not Graded Panama 49 [2.70] Honduras 102 [3.28] Sudan - Not Graded South Africa 50 [2.74] Chad 105 [3.29] Congo, Dem. Republic of - Not Graded Kuwait 50 [2.74] Ghana 105 [3.29] Iraq - Not Graded Albania 52 [2.75] Argentina 107 [3.30] Madagascar 52 [2.75] Ecuador 107 [3.30] Jamaica 54 [2.76] Paraguay 109 [3.31] Belize 55 [2.78] Pakistan 110 [3.33] The Heritage Foundation is committed to building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity and civil society flourish. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reaction to �Missing Out in Tourism� (Dec. 11, 2005) Sir, I agree with your assessment of the government and tourism outlook in the Philippines. One can walk into any tourist office in the United States and not see one picture, one slogan, or the word PHILIPPINES visible. Why is that? Also, the once gorgeous Manila Hotel has gone to the dogs. The person or persons at its helm seems uninterested, dispassionate and blatantly uncaring whether it lives or dies. A one-time magnificent and gracious, elegant lady of the Orient is slowly suffocating. How can that be allowed? Did not the Philippine government have a say so in its future during the court hearings some years ago? I am an American who was born in the Philippines years ago and was interned by the Japanese during the war. I now live in the United States but take groups of military POWS and civilian expats back each year. I have been doing this for ten years and have always stayed at the Manila Hotel with my tours. This coming year, however, I have made other hotel plans, much to my sadness. After my last Manila trip this year I took my group to Saigon. The people there are excited and eager, making great strides in tourism and business. It is gaining pride, strength and momentum and will do well. I consider the Philippines my home as well as the United States. I also take great pride and joy by standing by this statement. It pains me to see an otherwise important and beautiful country not keeping in step. Happy New Year, Jean Jansen, [email protected] Jan. 04, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Emailed to Tapatt by Carlos Esteban, [email protected] The Curse of Our Time By: Frank R. Zindler Just as Hitler would have been extolled as a 'pro-life hero' had he been successful in his career - even though in fact he was profoundly anti-life - so too the late Karol Wojtyla, aka Pope John Paul II, is being praised for his 'culture of life,' even though his every action has redounded to the renunciation of life and a welcoming embrace of death. There is hardly a problem facing humankind today that is not either caused by overpopulation or exacerbated by it. The fuel shortage, the water shortage, the food shortage, the depletion of fisheries, the clear-cutting and burning of the rain forests and boreal forests, the nearly ubiquitous pollution of our environment, global warming, wide-scale flooding and droughts: all can be shown to be the result of too many people altering a too-little world. The Catholic doctrine that every sexual act must 'be open to life' thus leads inexorably to death. It seems hardly arguable that with overpopulation the value of individual lives becomes correspondingly less. Overpopulation is everywhere and always the enemy of liberty and freedom. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Worst Times at the Department of National Defense This is the first time in the history of the DND that the secretary (Nonong Cruz) and his close "associates" (members of the Firm) undersecretaries and assistant secretaries of the DND went on leave for the entire holidays without telling anybody. Not even the most senior official left behind at the department knew that all of them pala were out and, mind you, out of the country (together with their families and with their aides and alalays). They were seen and heard (one of his aide confirmed their whereabouts on the same day through the roaming cell-phone) gallivanting in Disneyland Hong Kong. How much did this cost them? Don't tell us it all came from their pockets. A lot of bull...Tell that to the marines. We know that the SND had his confidential fund increased from P10 million every quarter to P33 million... and everybody in and out of DND knows that nothing has been accomplished by DND through these "associates" for the whole year 200 5... In fact, that is in fact they have not, that is they have not done anything, even the most menial things for the DND as a whole...they (from Sec. Nonong Cruz to his close "associates") for all the time of their stay at the DND... are what we call fat cows and white elephants...lazy bones!!! and sycophants!!! (Puro pera lang ang habol, kung ano at ilan ang maibulsa wala namang nagagawa - mas marami pang nagagawa ang mga dyanitor namin dito kaysa sa kanila, combine)...more worst things.... Last 29 December in the afternoon (the last working day of the year) the casuals at DND (they were not even personally informed - relayed lang through a representative of every office) were "told" - "directed" not to report for work anymore by January. What a way of managing people, the casuals, hundreds of them, were at a loss. Nobody knew till the last minute that all of them will have no work anymore and don�t have the time to look for other work for them to ge t through "difficult" times ahead. (Any managers-leaders should know by heart to care for their people. In this case, the casuals should have been officially told of their status, at least man lang a month before, for them to be able to prepare properly). One of them, Cathy Mortera, died because, as alleged by her husband and daughters who are all casuals at DND, she was down-hearted, frustrated and disappointed because of what happened to them. What a way of caring for people!!! This is typically the management style of Sec Nonong Cruz and his close "associates" at DND... Tapos, the secretary of DND and his close "associates" (na mga walang alam ---idiots, stupids and morons with regards to defense and security matters) have the guts pa of calling the civilian personnel of DND (who were trained and have worked hard for Defense for a very long time already--- tested, skilled, learned and knowledgeable sa defense and security matters) "mga swapang" daw, for asking some kakapiranggot na additional bonus?!? Anong klaseng mga managers yan --- Mga gago.... mind you We also saw and heard how frustrated, disappointed and angry the soldiers are (wala lang gusto magsalita, dahil pag-iinitan ng mga nasa powers - isama nyo na dyan si Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Pare-pareho lang sila lahat --- SHIT!!!) Ricardo de la Rosa, [email protected] Jan.04, 2006 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |