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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| What If Gloria Resigns�. By Antonio C. Abaya August 20, 2003 The expose of Sen. Panfilo Lacson during a privileged speech on the Senate floor last August 18 grabbed a lot of front page headlines and TV sound bytes that evening and the following day. But on closer examination, it did not add up to a pile of beans. Lacson had charged that more than P270 million in campaign contributions which 1998 vice-presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had received from her supporters had not been spent but had been deposited instead into several accounts, including one in the name of one Jose Pidal, who, Lacson surmised, was really First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. As of July 30 this year, the Pidal account showed a balance of P36.6 million. Lacson also accused three associates of Arroyo, all Filipino-Chinese and related by blood or affinity to each other, of having conspired to launder that money. All five � Arroyo, Pidal and the three Chinoys � all used the same business address in their accounts with different banks: 118 Perea Street, Makati City, the location of Arroyo�s LTA Building.. The initial reaction to all this and more was, Wow! But after some reflection, the more sober reaction has to be So what? As Cong. Raul Gonzalez has correctly pointed out, there has been no crime committed. Campaign contributions are private funds and remain so even in the hands of the recipient politicians, who are free to spend it all or to keep some of it for their own private use, as they wish. Lacson taunted �Jose Pidal aka Jose Miguel Arroyo to (better) get a copy of the Anti-Money Laundering Act or, better still, get his lawyers now.� But as Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida has also correctly pointed, that law specifically states the predicate crimes covered by it: smuggling, drug-trafficking, corruption, etc. The use or misuse of campaign contributions is not punishable under the AMLA. It is Lacson who should get and read a copy that Act. So Lacson�s bombshell is a dud. He only succeeded in diverting public attention from revelations regarding the Oakwood Mutiny and aborted coup, from Gringo Honasan�s TNT activities, from the Swiss Government�s investigation of the suspicious $2 million deposit of former Justice Secretary Hernani Perez, and � most telling of all � from the forthcoming release of the Senate�s report of its investigation into Lacson�s own alleged involvement in drug-trafficking, smuggling and money laundering, which are far worse offenses than the misuse of political campaign contributions (which is not even a crime or a felony.). If anything, Lacson�s expose seems to be just a smokescreen to try to hide his own problems with the law, which, former ISAFP Chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus is confident, will put him (Lacson) in jail before the end of 2003. ***** But as I write this piece, another bombshell is being flashed around by the tireless political meddler Pastor �Boy� Saycon, partner with Peping Cojuangco in the Congress of Philippine Affairs (COPA), whose disenchantment with President Arroyo stemmed from their failure to land plum positions in the Arroyo Cabinet. Saycon announced to media today, August 20, that the P500 million alleged overprice in the construction of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard was deposited into the account of the now famous Jose Pidal. He claims that Ernest Villareal, erstwhile chair of the Public Estates Authority (the government agency which had bidded out the contract for that boulevard) �deposited an amount� into the account of Jose Pidal, who, everyone seems to be convinced now, is none other than Jose Miguel Arroyo. Note that Saycon was careful to say �an amount�, not �P500 million�. That is probably the key phrase in this expose. He has promised to show documentary proof of that deposit in due time. If the documents show a large deposit, in the tens of million of pesos or more, then President Arroyo has a problem. If the deposit is small, in the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of pesos, then Saycon�s bombshell would also be a dud, but someone must still explain why the invisible Jose Pidal was able to open bank accounts totalling millions of pesos in several banks apparently without submitting any ID. And someone must still explain how Jose Pidal became a tenant of Mike Arroyo�s LTA Building without having to prove that he actually existed. There supposedly is no record in the National Statistics Office that Jose Pidal was ever born, was ever married or ever died. He never applied for a driver�s license or a passport or an NBI clearance or a bank loan or a credit card or a voter�s ID. He was never a member of the SSS or the GSIS and never filed an income tax return, despite his deposit amounting to millions of pesos. And there is apparently no existing photograph of Jose Pidal. (Parenthetically, this validates my proposal, going back to the time of President Aquino, that we should have an electronic national ID card, precisely to prevent such fraud, but the proposal was blocked by the communists and the usual bleeding heart liberals out of fears for their individual privacy; for the communists, privacy to plot and execute the overthrow of the bourgeois state. See my article October 10, 2001: National ID � Why Not?) But someone named Jose Pidal did exist in these lugubrious islands, sometime in the early decades of the 20th century. The Philippine Daily Inquirer of August 20 reports that a �Maria Pidal was the mother of the paternal grandfather of Jose Miguel Arroyo, the late Sen. Jose Ma. Pidal who served three terms from 1919 to 1928,� according to a supposed resolution in July 11, 1985 of the Supreme Court. And there are said to be wooden plaques hanging in the halls of the Senate bearing the names of senators since the time of the first legislature, and Jose Ma. Pidal is one of them. The Man Who Never Was was the title of a 1955 film by British director Ronald Neame about how British military intelligence dropped an anonymous dead man into the Mediterranean, in officer�s uniform and bearing phony military plans and documents, to mislead the Germans about the Allied strategy for the invasion of Europe in 1944. In 2003, the man who never was may have been parachuted from heaven into several bank accounts on Perea St. to safe-keep some very material wealth of dubious origins. In the worst case scenario, if tens or hundreds of millions of pesos are shown to have been deposited into the account of Jose Pidal, we may see the unraveling of the Arroyo Government. Public opinion may sour irreversibly towards her and she may have no option but to resign in disgrace. That development is bound to trigger a potentially catastrophic chain of events. Vice-President Tito Guingona is the constitutional successor, but he may have a difficult time holding on to power. Certainly, Gringo Honasan and his Oakwood mutineers (many of whom are not in detention because they failed to make it to Makati) are likely to press their campaign to grab power, with the help of Erap�s toothless denizens from the swamp, led by Ronald Lumbao and Boy Morales. The communist movement will likely support Guingona because of his nationalist positions on globalization and terrorism. But by the same token, the Americans will not likely do anything to help him stay in power. A President Guingona would be required by the Constitution to hold elections for a new vice-president within 60 days. In the scheduled presidential elections in May 2004, assuming they are held despite the predictable chaos, the US will look for someone else to support and that someone else could be Panfilo Lacson, not Honasan who, together with Enrile, became born-again nationalists when two US Navy Phantom jets ruined their power-grab in December 1989. About four months ago, the Far East Economic Review ran a glowing article on Lacson, and recently The Washington Times has been very friendly towards him. Both publications represent the conservative sector in US business and political circles. With the pre-eminence of the neo-cons or neo-conservative intellectuals in US foreign policy, Lacson would find many supporters in the Bush Government. In essence, a premature downfall of President Arroyo may lead to an armed power-grab confrontation between Gringo Honasan and Ping Lacson (who both have armed followers, which Guingona and Roco do not have) because both are in a desperate hurry to become president (to stay out of jail) and neither one is likely to yield to the other. ***** |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �What If Gloria Resigns� (Copy furnished) Political spinning is like cherry-picking:, first you taste...then after you eat, you spit the pit... I took a break today and with some time on my hand, I read thru Tony's latest column. For the most part, I really agree with his "political spinning." He impresses me as a journalist who researches first, what he writes, before he analyzes it and gives it his own spin. I have inserted my own comments, digs, wise cracks and cynicisms and skepticisms and intermittently interrupted the flow of Tony's article and for which I apologize. There are some points, I do not share with him, and where appropriate, I have so indicated for clarity. On the whole, I am really beginning to like this guy and his column, more and more. He really impresses me as "sorry, bud, this here is not for sale." I hope he keeps it up...and keeps raising the bar of journalism...tell it like it is, or look for another day job. WR, Pepeton J�anton, [email protected] August 24, 2003 ----------------------------------- Subj: If Gloria Resigns Date: 8/23/03 10:09:47 AM Pacific Daylight Time From: [email protected] (Antonio C. Abaya) To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; What If Gloria Resigns�. By Antonio C. Abaya August 20, 2003 The expose of Sen. Panfilo Lacson during a privileged speech on the Senate floor last August 18 grabbed a lot of front page headlines and TV sound bytes that evening and the following day. But on closer examination, it did not add up to a pile of beans. Lacson had charged that more than P270 million in campaign contributions which 1998 vice-presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had received from her supporters had not been spent but had been deposited instead into several accounts, including one in the name of one Jose Pidal, who, Lacson surmised, was really First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. As of July 30 this year, the Pidal account showed a balance of P36.6 million. Lacson also accused three associates of Arroyo, all Filipino-Chinese and related by blood or affinity to each other, of having conspired to launder that money. All five � Arroyo, Pidal and the three Chinoys � all used the same business address in their accounts with different banks: 118 Perea Street, Makati City, the location of Arroyo�s LTA Building.. The initial reaction to all this and more was, Wow! But after some reflection, the more sober reaction has to be So what? As Cong. Raul Gonzalez has correctly pointed out, there has been no crime committed. Campaign contributions are private funds and remain so even in the hands of the recipient politicians, who are free to spend it all or to keep some of it for their own private use, as they wish. Lacson taunted �Jose Pidal aka Jose Miguel Arroyo to (better) get a copy of the Anti-Money Laundering Act or, better still, get his lawyers now.� But as Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida has also correctly pointed, that law specifically states the predicate crimes covered by it: smuggling, drug-trafficking, corruption, etc. The use or misuse of campaign contributions is not punishable under the AMLA. It is Lacson who should get and read a copy that Act. So Lacson�s bombshell is a dud. ================= Pepeton's "spin": A big DUD indeed ready to explode in his putty little face. Just like his MUD-lawyer, who caused the un-FORTUNate misFORTUNe Lacson must now settle in the US court in the county of Alameda, Oakland, California, because as Sig Fortun admitted on camera in Strictly Politics, on January 20, 2003: "My problem is I am not knowledgeable and familiar with California Law." =============== ASIDE: My dumb assistant said: "Ganoon pala, Sig, eh bakit pasok ka ng pasok, at dakdak ka ng dakdak? Kung dumb ka (about a situation), tumahimik ka. Because, kung hindi, chances are you will say something dumber." =============== Let me add a bit of insight into one of the often misunderstood concept about the AMLA and the power of the AMLC. Even in the global sense, (based on the 40 Recommendations [Rules and Guidelines on Money Laundering to be observed by all member countries] of the FATF [Financial Action Task Force], it was never intended in principle or in concept, that an FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) would have JUDICIAL POWERS. The FIU equivalent in the Philippines is the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Commission). Its main role is FACT FINDING, NOT POLICING. NOT LEGISLATING. During the "rushed" deliberations on the AMLA, and in the government's feverish attempt to "meet the deadline, end of September, or else" - that is, to avoid "boycott sanctions" from FATF, our legislators put scissor and paste work together. Just like most of us when we were students...trying to beat a term paper deadline..."It doesn't matter what you say or put on the paper, so long as you meet the deadline. You don't meet it, you flunk. You meet it, you have a chance (to filibuster-negotiate.). And, also, it's better to submit more pages than less. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance...baffle them with bullshit. (pinoy style...sabay kamot ng ulo)." Later on you can always explain to the teacher - "Sir, sorry sir, I forgot to take out the drafts. I was so in hurry to clean it up and beat YOUR deadline, sir. Here is the final version which I finished on time. I just forgot to take out the rough draft, sir." This is a fair characterization of what and how Paeng Buenaventura and the legislators in the HR and the Senate went about "beating the deadline...then belatedly, refining and fining the *rough version*, when the FATF was unimpressed and refused to budge and remove the Philippines from the list of "non-cooperating countries on anti-money laundering". It is within this ambiant setting that Ping Lacson got away with his "chameleon leapfrog jockeying and positioning." First he took the radical-liberal position: "I agree, let's lower the threshold, $80,000 is too high. The FATF wants only $10,000, like the USA. Let's meet halfway or comply. And let's empower the AMLC to open bank accounts that are suspect fronts for money laundering operations. Let's do that. I am in favor of that. Walang kapatid. Walang Kaibigan. Walang intsik. Walang Chinoy..." Next, he switched to the ultra-moderate conservative view that: "Wait. If we empower the AMLC to open bank accounts, are we not in effect opening our innocent citizens to harrassment and abuse by potential unscrupulous officials of the AMLC? Plus, why do we have to follow the threshold of other countries? We should determine for ourselves what our threshold should be. We are an independent and sovereign country with a will, intelligence and spirit to determine our own destiny....and yes, I am seriously thinking about running for president in 2004." --------------------- ASIDE: Joder, conyo...30 years a cop. Barely two years a legislator. Most of which time he spent defending himself from all kinds of indictments ranging from business tort to murder, salvaging, extra-judicial killings, torture, narco-related and other heinous crimes and illegal syndications...AND NOW this son of a bitch wants to become PRESIDENT???? I don't think so. Back a few years, in the USA there was a "shoe-in" presidential candidate who lost it all, when the rumor hit the papers of his philandering activities - Gary Hart. To avoid further negative exposure into his private life...he quit the race...at the time when he was the front runner, and it looked like he was a sure winner. That's how sensitive American politics is to public opinion. So the chances that the USA will "endorse" Ping Lacson...I DONT THINK SO....this is not just a crap shoot...IT'S A LOTTO TICKET. I don't deny he might have a pocket of potential endorsers here and there...but...I wouldn't hold my breath on expecting these to come forward openly to support his bid...EVEN IF BY SOME FREAK CHANCE, he pulls up in the survey. LACSON'S BID FOR THE PRESIDENCY IS A HOAX. ---------------------- So much for Lacson-switchblading - a character trait that has not quite caught the attention of media, and therefore not exposed to the public. This guy is the biggest "well-disguised turncoat" in the political history of the Philippines. BALIMBING na LOYALISTA. ------------------------end of Pepeton Spin-------------- What if Gloria resigns, by Abaya, continues... He only succeeded in diverting public attention from revelations regarding the Oakwood Mutiny and aborted coup, from Gringo Honasan�s TNT activities, from the Swiss Government�s investigation of the suspicious $2 million deposit of former Justice Secretary Hernani Perez, and � most telling of all � from the forthcoming release of the Senate�s report of its investigation into Lacson�s own alleged involvement in drug-trafficking, smuggling and money laundering, which are far worse offenses than the misuse of political campaign contributions (which is not even a crime or a felony.). If anything, Lacson�s expose seems to be just a smokescreen to try to hide his own problems with the law, which, former ISAFP Chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus is confident, will put him (Lacson) in jail before the end of 2003. ================= PEPETON SPIN: We all know a spin when we read one, don't we? This one, about Vic Corpus "feeling of confidence" clearly is. I chastised ABS-CBN and wrote a critique on their coverage of the ruling of Judge Richman on the civil case against Lacson, the other day and sent it to Pia Hontiveros with specific request for her to take up with ABS-CBN, pertinent portions. Basically, I said: "The MUD - i.e., Misinformed-Uninformed-Denying/Deceitful - lawyer of Lacson was dismissed from the case on the ground that he actually incriminated himself with an open admission that "My problem is I am not familiar nor knowledgeable about California Law." And ABS-CBN uses the "drop-out" lawyer to interpret, explain and extrapolate the meaning of the decision of a US Superior Court Judge on issues invoking California law and the rulings of the US Supreme Court. Thus, leaving the public, completely misinformed...and therefore, too, uninformed as to the real meaning and significance of the ruling in the USA. I like Vic Corpus. I know him personally. I will support Vic Corpus. But I will not use him (ever) again as a "resource" person on matters particularly concerning the fate of Lacson. Remember, Vic Corpus is not...stress that not a politician. But what the hey, it 's a good spin, on Vic. So, I am biased here. =============== \ What if Gloria resigns continues... ***** But as I write this piece, another bombshell is being flashed around by the tireless political meddler Pastor �Boy� Saycon, partner with Peping Cojuangco in the Congress of Philippine Affairs (COPA), whose disenchantment with President Arroyo stemmed from their failure to land plum positions in the Arroyo Cabinet. Saycon announced to media today, August 20, that the P500 million alleged overprice in the construction of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard was deposited into the account of the now famous Jose Pidal. He claims that Ernest Villareal, erstwhile chair of the Public Estates Authority (the government agency which had bidded out the contract for that boulevard) �deposited an amount� into the account of Jose Pidal, who, everyone seems to be convinced now, is none other than Jose Miguel Arroyo. Note that Saycon was careful to say �an amount�, not �P500 million�. That is probably the key phrase in this expose. He has promised to show documentary proof of that deposit in due time. ==================== PEPETON WARNING SPIN: And now...heeeerre's Saycon.... Perception is 100% truth in the mind to suffer. No spin out there. Nobody is (ever) given a second chance to make a (good) first impression. This is truism that only the most experienced and accomplished advertising and marketing gurus know and understand, and are able to integrate into an effective and successful campaign. If my "first impression" about somebody is "negative"...it would take heaven and earth for me to change my "second" and succeeding impressions about that somebody to "positive". As a matter of fact I don't think I am capable of changing my negative first impression into a positive second chance impression. As honest as I can put it. So am I an "impressionist?" Truth to tell, I guess I am. Let me take a few examples. Marcos. Now that is a good way to start it. I never trusted the son of a bitch, ever. I still don't trust him, his cadaver or his ghost, even his relatives and in-laws, legitimate or otherwise, and I have met quite a few. My first impression about him was that he killed Nalundasan. I go from there. So, it was not hard for me to believe that he had something to do (maybe less, maybe more than I attribute) with the assassination of Ninoy. Let me do a quantum leap backward in history. Emilio Aguinaldo. Believe it or not, I actually met this man several times as I visited him while he was confined and practically bed-ridden in the Veterans Memorial in Quezon City, in the late 50's. His relatives - the Macatangays -from Batangas (his in laws) were once upon a time neighbors and friends and I tagged along with them on a number of occasions for a hospital visit to "Lolo" (not sure, but I think they called him "Mentong" or "Milyong") My first impression of Emilio Aguinaldo was formed when I first encountered him in history books as the leader of the Katipunan, who was responsible for the execution of Andres Bonifacio, and probably had something to do with the death of Juan Luna, also. I did not like him either. And as I read more and more accounts about his "wheeling-n-dealing" for arms with the Americans, I became more and more easily convinced of the reasons why I trusted and stuck to my first impression about him. Maybe, it's just me. But that's the way I perceive things, people and events. As for Boy Saycon's involvement in "civil society"...whatever his personal motivations are...regardless of his practical value to whoever and whatever...my first recollections of Boy is his association with FVR, who BTW, I knew - "a un primera vista" - as the cousin of the asshole dictator, and who propped up the son of a bitch, by establishing and empowering the "fists of oppressions and suppressions and human rights violators during martial regime - the MISG-CSU 5 (Metrocom Intelligence Security Guards- Constabulary Security Unit #5) - and got away with tail between his legs, frothing from fear but feigning and pretending to act like a hero for EDSA ONE...and my impression about FVR as a TRAPO has not changed one bit either. But that is my first recollection of who Boy Saycon is...and as I got to learn more and more about him...I became somewhat ambivalent at first about my first impression...then as the pendulum kept on swinging, I started to notice how it would gravitate back within the same arc of my first impression. Quo vadis, Saycon? An inspired social activist? An influence peddler with a cause? A kingmaking-power grabbing ego? He once boasted: "I have Cayman Islands deposits showing Ping Lacson had stashed away, plunderable amounts....and I will expose the details, in due time." That was at least a year ago. Of course, nothing came out of it. And not to be daunted, Boy had all kinds of spin on "confidentiality", timing of divulging secret information and all that kind of malarkey. Then, it was Ping. Now, it's Pong? Same game. Same tune. Different lyrics. I heard it all before. I doubted it then. Why should I believe it now? Am I a doubting Thomas, who dare to be shown proofs before I accept what I should believe. Yes, that too. You can call me a doubting Thomas. And in this particular instance, you may add, a doubting and cynical Thomas. So, I am not impressed. But again, that's me. ----------------------- Continuation.... When Gloria resigns If the documents show a large deposit, in the tens of million of pesos or more, then President Arroyo has a problem. If the deposit is small, in the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of pesos, then Saycon�s bombshell would also be a dud, but someone must still explain why the invisible Jose Pidal was able to open bank accounts totalling millions of pesos in several banks apparently without submitting any ID. And someone must still explain how Jose Pidal became a tenant of Mike Arroyo�s LTA Building without having to prove that he actually existed. PEPETON SPINNING CYNICALLY: Who has corroborating, verifiable hard evidence about all of these "chatters"???? I was able to open several accounts in the Philippines in the name of people abroad, when none of them resided in the Philippines at that time. Come on. So, if there are, in fact, these documents you have cited, I can suggest another theory as to their existence. These were planted there. For the obvious purpose of perpecting a set-up, a frame up, or to give a "suspicious prima facie evidence", that something is not right, that there is something wrong with the picture. Of course there is. Why? Because if I am the perpetrator or schemer of the misdeed - i.e., to frame somebody, I will make sure that this is the impression that this somewhat 'disconnected and unexplainable "facts" will create. Back to first impression. Because of many "previous first impressions" from media Philippines, I have become a chronic cynic of what I read. --------------------- When Gloria resigns....continuation.. There supposedly is no record in the National Statistics Office that Jose Pidal was ever born, was ever married or ever died. He never applied for a driver�s license or a passport or an NBI clearance or a bank loan or a credit card or a voter�s ID. He was never a member of the SSS or the GSIS and never filed an income tax return, despite his deposit amounting to millions of pesos. And there is apparently no existing photograph of Jose Pidal. PEPETON IS UNIMPRESSED Helllowwww? When was the last time anybody bothered to check what statistics the NSO compiles? What is their charter? Anybody? I had a chance to exchange emails with NSO recently (during the heated deliberations on the Absentee Voting Bill). I tasked Ed Angara's office to show me corroborative statistical justifications and validations of the estimated figure he used for pushing the bill. Everybody was using it...AT LEAST 7 MILLIONS, MAYBE EVEN 8 MILLIONS FILIPINOS ABROAD....The Angara Commission stipulated. So I asked, where did you get the figures? The answer - "The NSO, and besides, it's common knowledge. Why, just look at the dollar remittances. Those $7 billions annual remittances from abroad came from OFWs and millions and millions of Pilipinos abroad." The NSO denied ever having compiled such statistics for the purpose that Angara was trying to convince me and whoever else. Media, blindly, unmindfully used the same sets of figures then...and many I am afraid are still under the impression that those figures were accurately validated. Recently, Ople expressed a disappointing concern that the response from Pilipinos abroad about registration for voting has been less than mediocre and lackluster...not even close to a million...so Ople doubts that there will even be a million votes from abroad....so??? So what happened to all the 7 or 8 millions potential voters used to intimidate and justify - "can't afford to disenfranchise so many voters and citizens, especially those who help prop up the economy with their dollar remittances." You want to talk Driver's License in the Philippines? I have an international driver's license from the Philippines, in my name...Pepeton J'anton....look for it. See if you can find it. When you accept the deception, dishonesty and inefficiency in this simple bureaucracy, you should not be surprised why certain things, hell, a lot of things don't make sense, don't add up, and are all so screwed up. And that being the truth, or a reasonable characterization of this bureaucracy, I am not surprised why there is no record of a Jose Pidal. So, what is so surprising here? -------------------------- When Gloria resigns, continuation (Parenthetically, this validates my proposal, going back to the time of President Aquino, that we should have an electronic national ID card, precisely to prevent such fraud, but the proposal was blocked by the communists and the usual bleeding heart liberals out of fears for their individual privacy; for the communists, privacy to plot and execute the overthrow of the bourgeois state. See my article October 10, 2001: National ID � Why Not?) PEPETON KIBITZES, AGAIN: I believe I have read the idea of a National ID, also, before, from Lacson's proposal. His take was - FOR SECURITY, ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW, EASE OF APPREHENDING CRIMINALS AND LAWBREAKERS and all that bullshit. My take on whenever, in the USA, big brother FEDERATES, as in the Federal Government, proposes some form of "control and supervision, for efficiency, effectiveness and prosperity", I swing, immediately way out of center...all the way to the LEFT...and I mean, EXTREME LEFT, poised with my claws and pangs ready to pounce. NATIONAL ID? No way, Jose (Pidal, Velarde, Estrada or Lacson). Beware, if we do not participate actively in government, we shall be governed by assholes worst than ourselves. My sentiments exactly. Since the assholes in the government got there, elected or installed or appointed before I could be active in participative governance, I know and must live with the fact that I am now, and will continue to be governed by assholes worst than me. And I simply cannot trust these "well-meaning, sweet-talking" assholes to exercise bigger, greater, broader, deeper control over my life. I am a firm believer of what Pope John XXIII espoused (from Pope Leo, or whoever wrote Rerum Novarum)...THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY IN SOCIETY MUST PREVAIL AS IN GOVERNMENT. And the principle of subsidiarity, simply put articulates that: "WHATEVER PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS OR CITIZENS CAN DO....THE STATE OUGHT NOT TO DO...." Unless I can be guaranteed that the "Caesars and governors" in my country are at least NOT AS BAD AS ME, that they are, preferably BETTER THAN ME, the "betterer" the better...I cannot endorse or support a concept, law or rule that will empower those in government MORE ACCESS INTO MY PRIVACY AND PRIVATE LIFE. My way of capitulating...I am not against the idea of a national identification system, per se....but I will be my own son of a bitch if I were to endorse it with the likes of Ping Lacson, Gringo, Enrile, the Eleven Craven, the remnants of marcosian regime, and that whole slew and band of politicized and opportunistice military and armed forces. BTW, has our armed forces ever won a war? If we have external aggression, from any enemy, any, will they be able to defend our shores and people? Right. I didn't think so, either...so what the hell don't we start there. Let's abolish those "mother-effers." Since they don't serve the main purpose for their existence...abolish and divest, and divert our resources somewhere else, like GAWAD KALINGA...Then put up a CIVILIAN-VIGILANT ARMY OF CONCERNED AND CARING CITIZENS....Yes. Let's abolish the military. The PNP. And the school that produced so many of those assholes. Close the PMA. This way, too, we will all rest better knowing that at least we will no longer have CROOKS IN MILITARY OR POLICE UNIFORMS ----------------------- When Gloria resigns.... But someone named Jose Pidal did exist in these lugubrious islands, sometime in the early decades of the 20th century. The Philippine Daily Inquirer of August 20 reports that a �Maria Pidal was the mother of the paternal grandfather of Jose Miguel Arroyo, the late Sen. Jose Ma. Pidal who served three terms from 1919 to 1928,� according to a supposed resolution in July 11, 1985 of the Supreme Court. And there are said to be wooden plaques hanging in the halls of the Senate bearing the names of senators since the time of the first legislature, and Jose Ma. Pidal is one of them. The Man Who Never Was was the title of a 1955 film by British director Ronald Neame about how British military intelligence dropped an anonymous dead man into the Mediterranean, in officer�s uniform and bearing phony military plans and documents, to mislead the Germans about the Allied strategy for the invasion of Europe in 1944. In 2003, the man who never was may have been parachuted from heaven into several bank accounts on Perea St. to safe-keep some very material wealth of dubious origins. ------- PEPETON PUTS METAL TO THE PEDAL This is the kind of spin that is fun to joke around with...but never to be used in a serious analysis of problemmatic social or political situation. This is purely a disguised fishing expedition "with a touch of academic class". But whether the research into history can be linked into anything that even remotely resembles whatever Lacson has inveigled the media to publicize and entice the public to read and focus on for the moment...is a crap shoot. Rule of Fishing Expedition 101: "You can't cook, what you can't catch...and you can't catch what you can't see, hear, smell or feel...and if you can't cook it...just stuff it." This way, you can at least brag about it. As for Lacson's spin? Same as Saycon's. Same as Corpus'. Same as Mark Jimenez...Anytime somebody takes on the "privileged speech" cloak of immunity you should know what to expect. Let's get our heads out of this box, re-view the scenery and our surrounding, and move on and away from here. This is sheer waste of spinning time. We can waste and squander our time better somewhere. --------------------------------- When Gloria runs.... In the worst case scenario, if tens or hundreds of millions of pesos are shown to have been deposited into the account of Jose Pidal, we may see the unraveling of the Arroyo Government. Public opinion may sour irreversibly towards her and she may have no option but to resign in disgrace. That development is bound to trigger a potentially catastrophic chain of events. Vice-President Tito Guingona is the constitutional successor, but he may have a difficult time holding on to power. Certainly, Gringo Honasan and his Oakwood mutineers (many of whom are not in detention because they failed to make it to Makati) are likely to press their campaign to grab power, with the help of Erap�s toothless denizens from the swamp, led by Ronald Lumbao and Boy Morales. The communist movement will likely support Guingona because of his nationalist positions on globalization and terrorism. But by the same token, the Americans will not likely do anything to help him stay in power. A President Guingona would be required by the Constitution to hold elections for a new vice-president within 60 days. In the scheduled presidential elections in May 2004, assuming they are held despite the predictable chaos, the US will look for someone else to support and that someone else could be Panfilo Lacson, not Honasan who, together with Enrile, became born-again nationalists when two US Navy Phantom jets ruined their power-grab in December 1989. About four months ago, the Far East Economic Review ran a glowing article on Lacson, and recently The Washington Times has been very friendly towards him. Both publications represent the conservative sector in US business and political circles. With the pre-eminence of the neo-cons or neo-conservative intellectuals in US foreign policy, Lacson would find many supporters in the Bush Government. In essence, a premature downfall of President Arroyo may lead to an armed power-grab confrontation between Gringo Honasan and Ping Lacson (who both have armed followers, which Guingona and Roco do not have) because both are in a desperate hurry to become president (to stay out of jail) and neither one is likely to yield to the other. PEPETON'S SPIN ENDS HERE Now that's quite a spin. If this happens, this will probably happen. And then, we go from playing chess war games, of strategies and counter-stratagems, to playing dominoes... watching the tiles fall one of top of the other, then move on to grabbing sticks, and picking up jackstones, one at a time. But that is the fun behind a spin. If all of my uncles lost all of their balls, then I will have nothing but aunties???? Correct? No. Of course not. I will have uncles who are all eunuchs - all ball-less. Caponized-Tios, como se dice. If you will permit the mixed metaphors. Personally, I don't see it the same way. Whether it is true that Mike did this or that is inconsequential, in the interest of justice. It is not even relevant to our earlier discussion on the importance of "first impression". This attack on the character of Mike is not a FIRST. This is simply a recycle. Call it a re-run. It comes in the heels of a "double-program" - just like in the movie houses. The first movie was the "low-budget" action-packed thriller - "Foiled-Aborted Coup- No. 8" or its acronym "FAC-ate." Rated as a 7-day sleeper. Couldn't sustain its opening days box office hit when the script writer-director-producer "El Gringo" failed to show up to sign autographs and pictures. Whereabouts unknown, and many creditors and co-producers who plunked in some dineros into its production are anxious to see him again... WHICH REMINDS ME...HELLOWWW MEDIA, WHERE THE HELL IS THIS FUGITIVE???? WHY DOESN'T MEDIA FOLLOW THROUGH AND GIVE HIM THE LIMELIGHT MORE SO NOW, THAT HE HOLDS THE WORLD RECORD FOR "NON-VIAGRA" FACS, EIGHT TIMES.? Look at the timing of the "unplanned coup" - July 27, 2003, authored by Gringo. Who "refuses" to come out in the open, unless he is guaranteed, fairness and safe passage??? No stop looking for Gringo. Go see Enrile. Ask around for Willy H. He knows. Don't know if he will tell, much. But he knows. If you don't get to Gringo right away, the real Guardians will, maybe. Look at the timing of the privileged spit (sic) of Lacson. I have compiled quite a data base on this guy's bio-data and career history. And his selected "cameo appearances" and "memorable one-liners". And it is quite an eye-opener, after a while. I can almost predict what he will say and do next. Look at the timing of the release of the decision of Judge Richman on the case of Lacson and follow-thru on what his media assets and MUD lawyer will continue to spin off. Watch out for a "denial" from the Cardoza law firm: "there is no truth to the rumors that Lacson has not paid the legal fees due us, nor to that unfounded chatter about our law firm pulling out as his defense team...far from it...etc...etc..." To be quickly followed up by the Lacson MUD spin masters..."this rumor about our private and confidential relationship - privileged communication between lawyer and client has been abused by Malacan~ang...now they are exposed for being nothing but a bunch of liars...etc." Don't you just get sick of this kind of shit, after such a long, long time, over and over and over again, and again???? Really. Look at the forthcoming decision of the Philippine Supreme Court to remand the Kuratong Baleleng case to the RTC in Quezon City, Branch 31. Just before this decision comes out: WATCH OUT FOR PING AND HIS CRUSADING BOYS PROTECTING HIM - HUMAN BLANKET - HUMAN BARRICADE..TO PREVENT HIS ARREST... AND IN THE ENSUING CONFUSION AND EXCITEMENT...LACSON DISAPPEARS....ALONG WITH THE WELL-TONED, WELL-TIMED PRESS RELEASE: "LACSON, KIDNAPPED FOR RANSOM" ....About 3,257 volunteers wasted no time to sign up to put a posse together to track down Lacson and his kidnappers, who identified themselves as a left-wing-terrorist- linked with the "Al-isin Lun der Land Kidnap4Ransom Funding Group." ---------------------- See what happens when you have so much time to squander? ���������������������������� Tony -- Good piece. Got me to reread and think your comments over. Much appreciated. Johnny Mercado, [email protected] August 24, 2003 ������������������������������ Dear Mr. Abaya: Yes sir, how are you doing? Do you still remember me? This is Offie Bakker, ex-MTRCB early 90's/FVR time. I do not know if you will remember but I still want to thank you for always coming to my defense in those days. I am happy to read your article {�If Gloria Resigns�) especially about establishing the National ID system in our country. I hard it was thrown into the basket by Congress, how come? How do we convince die-hard nationalists here about the merits of the national ID? Aren't these people aware about countries with this system? They who say this will infringe on the human rights of people, etc. This is the height of false and hypocritical nationalism, we need the ID system because Filipinos are an unruly lot. We have here democracy but it is actually anarchy. I do not know about the US but just look at small countries like Singapore, the Netherlands, small but they use the ID system, this is why they hardly have squatters and criminality is very controlled. I live in both countries where the ID system is used. The Netherlands, almost all of Europe, Singapore, even Indonesia (where I also lived in the early 70's) and Malaysia uses this system. Very, very effective in catching crooks and culprits.... Such is a citizen's passport for everything, apply and secure jobs, residency, quick systematized identification, quick tax implementation, etc. etc. what is so wrong with that? I feel hopeful now knowing that at last someone advocates the ID system in the Philippines, this is what we need. How come FVR stopped promoting this? We must try to gather support for the system in the OFW communities. This will solve a lot of problems in our country; the squatting problem in the cities and specifically rampant criminality. Please let us hear more about this Mr. Abaya. Let me know what we should do to promote the system. Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, with best regards, Offie M. Bakker, [email protected] Singapore, August 24, 2003 MY REPLY. Opposition to a national ID system comes from two quarters: the communist movement, which fears that it will be used to ferret out their militants who are trying to overthrow the bourgeois state, and from the usual bleeding heart liberals (see the reaction of Pepeton J�anton above) who fear a Big Brother scenario in which the state pries into the affairs of everyone. The communists and the liberals are united in their opposition to the national ID idea. The communists, because they know it was instrumental in breaking the back of the communist movements in Malaysia and Singapore. The liberals, because they have inherited the American glorification of individual rights over the rights of the community as a whole. How to succeed in pushing for the national ID? Simple. Elect a leader who is not afraid of the communists or the liberals, a leader who knows how to communicate with the broad majority and explain to them why a national ID system will benefit society as a whole, over and above the narrow concerns of both the communists and the liberals. ��������������������������� Isn't the Washington Times (not to be confused with the venerable Post) owned by Sung moon Yung, the Korean cultist? Nah. If Lacson had the goods he would have unloaded them, especially the assertion that kickback from the Cong Dadong Highway went to Mike. Instead Lacson went berserk and named respectable columnists like Alex Magno amd Jarius Bondoc among the (Transmission was cut.) Ross Tipon, [email protected] Baguio City, August 25, 2003 ������������������������������� (Thru CebuPolitics egroup) How silly could our supposed leaders get! Just a few months before national elections, our dancing queen is calling for a snap election. When can they ever put self-interest aside and work towards straightening the economic mess as they are supposed to do. Constant bickering and hurling of accusations is not going to solve the country's problems. It is so frustrating watching these "leaders" destroy the foundations of the country in their desire to advance their own political ambitions. It would have been alright if only the people who voted for the likes of Honasan, Lacson, Jaworski, Sotto, Oreta, etc. were the only ones to suffer from their actions or lack thereof. Unfortunately it is the whole country that suffers. Haaay, Pilipinas, when can your people rise from this quagmire.... Eli C. Perez, [email protected] August 29, 2003 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |