Friday, August 27, 2010

Bagong P500 Bill

Iba talaga ang humor ng Pinoy ...


In fairness, magaling ang nag-photoshop nito ha!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Bogus Party Lists - BEWARE!

Got this from a forwarded email. Know more about the party lists before you vote.

1. Ang Galing Pinoy – supposed to represent security guards, tricycle drivers and vendors but its first nominee is Mikey Arroyo

2. 1-Utak – Angelo Reyes is supposed to represent the transport sector but he has been the drivers’ nemesis when he headed the Department of Energy. He often gave the impression that he was the “spokesperson” of the oil cartel in justifying oil price hikes

3. 1st Kabagis – an Ilocano party-list group that claims to advocate for “widening the segments of economic development.” Jose Singson, Jr., brother of National Security Adviser Chavit Singson, is its second nominee

4. Aangat Tayo (AT) – identified by Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales as one of the front organizations for the Arroyo Administration. President is Teddie Elson Rivera who is a PITC VP. PITC is a government-owned international trading company and was designated as the key agency in the implementation of GMA’s 10-point legacy, which includes the lowering of prices of essential medicines by 50% by 2010. Hmm, parang walang nangyari

5. Abono Partylist – claims to represent the agricultural sector. Its first two nominees are Robert Raymund Estrella and Franciso Ortega III, both hailing from prominent political clans allied with the administration. Its third nominee is Jacky Rowena Lomibao, wife of former PNP chief Arturo Lomibao

6. Abot Tanaw - first nominee is Gerwyn See, son-in-law of PAGCOR chair Efraim Genuino (see BIDA). Second nominee is Mario Cornista, chair of the board of directors of BIDA

7. Ahon Pinoy – backed by Dante Ang, Sr. (appointed by GMA as Chairman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and CEO of Manila Times) and nominee is his son, Dante Ang, Jr.

8. Akbay Pinoy – member of Sigaw ng Bayan. Was legally charged by Makati residents together with Sigaw ng Bayan for manufacturing signatures for the GMA administration’s People’s Initiative

9. Alliance of People’s Organizations (APO) – first nominee is Arroyo ally and former Ilocos representative Salacnib Baterina

10. Anak Mindanao – was suspected to be a part of the dagdag bawas scheme. It was discovered that some precincts had more votes for party list groups than the actual number of votes cast and Anak Mindanao was one of those that received the highest number of votes

11. Ang Kasangga – claims to represent micro-entrepreneurs . Current representative is FG’s sister, Marilou Arroyo who withdrew her nomination but that only means some other Arroyo crony will replace her. Other nominees are Teodoro Haresco (PNOC board member) and Eugenio Lacson (ranked as one of the top 100 stockholders in Fidelity Stock Transfers, Inc), both of whom are multimillionaires with links to the Arroyo Administration

12. APOI – first nominee is Major General Melchor Rosales, the administrator of the Office of Civil Defense and also a DILG undersecretary

14. Association of Labor and Employees (ALE) – supposed to represent workers but first nominee is Arroyo ally and Pampanga provincial board member Catalina Bagasin who owns a cargo forwarding company and second nominee is Erlinda de Leon, GMA’s first cousin who served as special assistant to the President

15. Babae Ka! – too many ties to GMA. Was also a member of MELCHORA (Malayang Babae para sa Cha Cha at Reporma)

16. BANTAY True Marcos Loyalists – claims to represent security guards and barangay tanods but is led by Marcos supporter, Cherry Cobarrubias. Current representative is Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan, accused of orchestrating numerous cases of extra-judicial killings during GMA’s reign and known as the “Butcher General” who, by the way, is running for Senator while nominee is his wife, Evangeline Palparan

17. Batang Iwas Droga (BIDA) – “brainchild” of Efraim Genuino, chair of PAGCOR. Nominees include his daughter, Sheryl Genuino-See and Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, a nominee for the position of SC Chief Justice

18. BIYAHENG PINOY – An association of tricycle operators but is run by Arsenio Abalos, brother of former COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos

19. Buhay – nominees are father and son Mike and Rene Velarde. Supported GMA in the last elections

20. Butil – One of the winners in the last elections. Representative Benjamin Cruz co-authored House Bill 3339 which, if passed, “will destroy the domestic rice industry by allowing unfair competition with countries with higher agricultural modernization and lower production costs – and displace some 2.4 million farmers”. This was recommended by a lobby group funded by USAID.

21. KABAYAN – claims to represent transport sector workers, farmers and fisherfolk, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, anticrime crusaders, and overseas Filipino workers, among others. Its nominees include Ron Salo, former subordinate of ex-Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita

22. KAKUSA – Chairman Emeritus is Romeo Jalosjos

23. PACYAW - claims to represent urban poor youth, has tourism assistant secretary Janet Rita Lazatin (member of LAKAS-CMD and hails from Pampanga) and former Los Angeles consul Reynaldo Pineda (based in Pampanga) as nominees

To find out more, Google “bogus party lists”, “dubious party lists”, “Arroyo party lists”.

VOTE WISELY FILIPINOS!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Wow, Papa!

Hindi lang pang-kurakot, pang isports pa!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Monday, April 5, 2010

Halik ni Hudas?

GMA: "Basbasan mo ako Madame. Gusto ko paglaki ko, maging kagaya mo."
IM: "Malala ka pa sa akin Ineng. Pero palagay ko, wala ka ng pag-asang lumaki pa."

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Friday, April 2, 2010

Gibo Teodoro: So Much to Answer For

Now that Gibo has relinquished his post as Chairman of Lakas-Kampi, some people say that it may gain him more votes. I hope not. Please read this enlightening essay that Peachy Paderna wrote in her Facebook notes:

My frustration with Gibo supporters lies in the fact that most of them are smart university students, academics, and professionals. We're talking about individuals who should have the ability to form insightful opinions, especially on matters of great national and political relevance.

What I notice, though, is that people who are inclined to vote for Gibo are people who are hypereducated. I'm coining this word to strike a contrast between them and Manny Villar's (mostly) uneducated followers. Do a quick survey of Gibo fans, and you'll find that an overwhelming number of them aren't merely intelligent. They're aware that they're intelligent, and their intellectual capacity is actually a great source of pride for them.

They support Gibo because at the very core of it, they see him as a peer. As intelligent people, it's only right that they vote for the intelligent candidate, correct? His professional achievements are enviable: bar topnotcher, Harvard Law graduate, political golden boy. The man even has a pretty wife. And no one will dispute that Gibo has been the most eloquent speaker so far, and in various debates, his wit and rhetoric trump everybody else's.

Gibo supporters place an inordinately high premium on academic achievement and -- I am getting tired of this word -- intelligence. There's nothing wrong with that: I would never vote for an inept candidate, someone whose intelligence I would seriously question.

However, people who believe in Gibo are forgetting one thing: eloquence, wit, and polished rhetoric does not a good President make. There is a huge crevasse of logic that stands between a man's intelligence and his ability to effect change in a country that needs it badly; in other words, the former doesn't necessarily give rise to the latter, despite all appearances.

I know it's been done countless times before, but I'm going to invoke history again: our most intelligent leaders -- Marcos and Arroyo -- were also the most reviled, because they did everything they could during their terms to plunder from us and keep themselves above the law. And why did they manage to get away with their thievery for so long? Remember that both Marcos and Arroyo served multiple terms. They were in power longer than they should have been. The reason? They were cunning and brilliant, and they knew exactly how to stay safely ensconced in Malacanang Palace.

Look, I'm not saying that we should conveniently vote for an idiot so we can easily boot him out when the situation calls for it. I'm also not saying that every intelligent candidate is a potential autocrat or a big-time crook. Instead, what I'm saying is that intelligence alone is a poor barometer for determining which presidential aspirant is most deserving of your vote.

So what about Gibo Teodoro? I think he's a tragic example, actually, because I do admire his purported intellect. In fact, let's throw in efficiency as well, since people have claimed that this man works well and has a great track record backing his candidacy. But you know what? None of these makes a difference to me. What completely ruins Gibo in my view is his utter inability to show us that he is a principled man.

Let's face it. Public office demands principled individuals, because it's a service-oriented job. You don't want McDonald's staff to drop their burger patties on the floor, only to pick them up later, dust them off, and bundle them up in buns and paper to serve to you. And when you pay a hundred pesos for that burger, it's only right that you receive your change before the receipt rolls out. We trust people in service jobs to go beyond the bare fulfillment of their tasks; we also want them to be transparent and honest about what they're giving us, and we want to know what goes on in every transaction that we enter with them.

Now let's say that Gibo is a service crew member in your nearest McDonald's, where he mops the floor and is in charge of tidying up the place. Nonetheless, this McDonald's is a crappy one, where dropping food and serving them anyway is par for the course, and you find yourself always shortchanged by a few pesos here and there. Despite all these, however, our dear Gibo doesn't decry the filthy practices of his colleagues. He doesn't stand up and say, "Wait a minute, guys. We picked those burgers off the floor, they’re dirty, and you shouldn’t be eating them. Oh, and please count your change, because you don’t usually get all of it if you do business here." He just mops away at the floor and does good work of it. That's all he does.

Let's imagine that this crappy McDonald's is the administration, and that the manager is GMA. In other words, Gibo is turning a blind eye to everything that the administration is guilty of. And what's his response when asked about what he'll do with Arroyo once her term is over? "I won't intervene."

He won't intervene? That's it?? It's a move that reeks of cowardice. It's inaction that betrays a lack of principle. He knows that Arroyo did something that she has to account for, but he won't even spearhead an investigation. The best he can do is "not intervene." Nice try, Gibo.

People have asked me why it's important for GMA to pay for her transgressions. Why waste time on such an endeavor? Why not focus on other matters? I'll tell you why: it's because we cannot keep on communicating to public officials that it's okay to steal. If we let Arroyo get away with offenses of astounding magnitude, what will our lesser public officials think? They'll think stealing from us again and again is fine, becausehey, we won't do anything about it, anyway, and we allowed bigger crimes to pass through the net before. By letting Arroyo off the hook, we further encourage an already flourishing culture of corruption that should have long been nipped in the bud.

I'd like to go back to that analogy I drew about a crappy McDonald's. Funny how, if you found out that the nearest branch habitually served dirty burgers, you would never go back to it again. If they always cheated you out of your change, you would protest and want your money, and you would never go back to that place again. But when it comes to our government, we're masochists and we're suckers: oh, you've been stealing from me? That's okay, I'll vote for you again. Oh, you've been trampling upon my human rights? That's okay, I'm used to it.

If you vote for Gibo, you're essentially the McDonald's customer who's happy to chew on burgers that have been dropped all over the place before they were finally served to you. You're okay with getting less change than you should, because the guy who's mopping the floor is doing a good job of it, and you think that a clean floor equals clean service. If this crew member were really doing a good job, he'd tell you to get out of there. He would hand in his resignation and find a better place where his principles don't have to be compromised.

In other words, it's not enough that a man be intelligent. It's not enough that his rhetoric can sweep you off your feet. It's not enough that he works efficiently. He must have principles, unyielding and certain. Principle is the scaffolding in true leadership, without which the whole structure of governance cannot sustain itself.

So think about that, Gibo supporters. I'm sure you can. You're intelligent, after all.

Why I'm Not Voting for Bro. Eddie

I have never believed in Bro. Eddie's claims that he is the anointed one to lead the Philippines. Not in the 2004 elections and more so, this 2010.

Watching the video that Arnold Gamboa uploaded on his blog and the explanations he gave only strengthened my belief. It is disgusting how some candidates would do and say anything just to convince people to vote for him ... even to the extent of compromising one's faith in God.

If you consider yourself to have an open mind, watch the video, read what Arnold Gamboa (a former staunch supporter of Eddie Villanueva, no less!) has to say and read all the comments below the blog entry.

At Dahil Byernes Santo ...

Kahit ilang taon na ang nakalipas simula ng ginawa ang report na ito, hanggang ngayon, ginagawa pa rin ito ng Malacanang ... mas malala pa malamang ngayon ...



Nakakaawa talaga ang Pilipinas kapag nagpatuloy pa ang pagkakaroon natin ng mapagsamantalang namumuno.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Remember that 5-part Hacienda Luisita Story?

Where GMA News Went Wrong 

The first time I saw links to that obviously biased report written by someone named Stephanie Dychiu for GMA News going around Facebook, my immediate thought was "I wonder how much was she paid to do this looooooong article that is obviously out to malign the name of Sen. Aquino?!"

If you have read that series of he said-she said type of (irresponsible) reporting, chances are, you were either convinced of Senator Aquino's guilt or your belief in him was strengthened. I was among the second group.

Please read this very enlightening analysis of that GMA-HL articles. If you are one of those Filipinos who is always saying you are open to see both sides of any story, then you better read this one!