Protracted process in the making

I was hoping that the opposition’s war of attrition against the president would not fizzle out, that there will be a sustained, mounting campaign that will culminate in the inevitable ouster of the usurper. It seems that I am just nurturing false hopes.
The opposition’s effort was as pathetic as our military’s capability to secure the Spratly’s and as flimsy as our archbishops’ repugnance to anything immoral.

True to her surname, Macapagal, the usurper appears to weather out her foes in the political battlefield. Now that she has the strategic high ground in Congress, expect anything thrown by the opposition to be foiled one after another.

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pedro said:
July 29, 2005 @ 2:21 am

If you’re still unwilling to do this, I would issue you this dare. Come up with a business plan where you will operationalize your prescriptions into a real enterprise, and I will have my venture capital firm fund it. We are always on the look out for great new workable ideas. But beware, any idea must be solidly argued and extensively researched. Or else, the wolves in my evaluating team would just eat you for breakfast.
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Cool. Since every venture starts with a concept (sometimes even one scribbled at the back of an envelope), I’d like to invite you to take a look at my framework for now — a work in progress because I only do this web activism thing on my spare time (I’ve got a day job):

http://www.getrealphilippines.com/solution/framework.html

Obviously your “wolves” will be looking for something “well researched” and will probably “eat me for breakfast”. But that depends on how open a mind one takes when a CONCEPT is first evaluated. Any accountant or statistician can take apart numerical data and empirical results. But truly insightful and creative minds work with CONCEPTS and then throw it to the bean counters and number crunchers to chew on.

Keep in mind that this is just a FRAMEWORK to progressively build things around. I believe you called me a young impatient guy earlier in your post. Fair enough. But you will see that I am taking my sweet time with this particular aspect of my sideline (maybe because I have the benefit of working from a really comfy place). It’s just unfortunate that most Pinoys would rather dick around with political issues instead of immerse themselves in DEVELOPMENT issues. Can’t do it alone, dude, because I am working alone and don’t have the benefit of having attack analysts churn out the detail for me unlike some people here.

Quite surprising that other Think Tank members who hang around this blog are not as composed as you are in the face of in-your-face discussion. I would have thought that people like these would have been above the usual Pinoy approach to coming to terms with to-the-point insight that bypasses the usual political noise. 😉

By the way, you DID get me there. I guess I was referring to some other guy who is fond of posting reading lists in blogs like these. 😉

Benign0 wrote:

See? May silbi naman ako dito e.

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Certainly to few users but to many, luma na yang sinasabi mo. Even on where the garci tapes could be downloaded from there are few that still ask for it.

Alam mo baka maging fan mo pa ako lumabas ka lang sa lungga mo at makitagay ka o kung hindi mo man kayanin ay makisalo ka man lang sana sa diwang Pilipino, as you claim to be one. Marami ang mataas ang pinag aralan dito dapat mapansin mo yan pero hindi sila nanlilibak ng mga maliliit sapagkat alam nila na walang pinanganak na nakapag aral na at may kakambal na kayamanan. Kung pinanganak kang mayaman ang mga magulang mo at nakamana ng karunungan o katalinuhan?, maging mapagpasalamat ka, pero huwag mong gamitin para manlibak ng kapwa. Pinahiram lang naman sa iyo yang kung ano ka man ngayon pero baka bawiin sa iyo yan halimbawa masiraan ka ng ulo, ikaw rin!

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pedro said:

Fate is the roadmap and character may be a guide. But all these mean nothing once destiny takes charge. Benign0 sees the weak side of the Filipino character and mistakes this as character, fate, and destiny combined! Such imbecility!
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Tsk tsk. Only time will tell who is the wiser, dude. No point in counting chickens before they hatch.

So far and 50 years of track record at hand, it seems that it is really MY prognosis that seems to make sense. Any poetic claim about what the future MIGHT hold for the Philippines stays as so until we actually see RESULTS. So far there AREN’T ANY.

Consider this:

We all know of a handful of exceptional people who started out poor and ended up self-made success stories. But if you check the statistics, you will find that MOST people who are born poor remain poor.

What sets apart those exceptional people who managed to hurdle poverty? Here it is: CHARACTER. My favourite character in the show *Desperate Housewives* once said: “poverty is a state of mind”. I believe those who successully hurdled poverty had the strength of character and capacity for INSTROSPECTION to re-tool their state of mind from one that is ravaged by VICTIM MENTALITIES into one that has the resolve to take PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY for one’s success.

So here’s the tough question: Do Pinoy possess that strength of character and penchant for INTROSPECTION to hurlde poverty?

Tough luck, dude. 😀

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Many are learned and from rich families but chose the peasant’s life in their desire to help this neglected class of people alleviate their plight while other people….
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Wow! Real modern day heroes!

Hmmm. I wonder…

By going there and living as peasants, one rich kid could help something like, say, about 2 to 10-odd families.

But if these same rich kids just went to university and maybe even got an MBA (thereby putting their parents’ wealth to good use), then he could have contributed the following to the economy:

(1) Got a high-paying job pay lots of taxes to the government to contribute to reducing the budget deficit;

(2) Because he/she will have been in a high paying job, he/she will have been able to save a large portion of his/her income deposit it in a bank thereby contributing to the investible funds to the financial system which would re-channel these funds to funding other small businesses and borrowers;

(3) In a few years, withdraw some of his/her savings, invest it in a small business and (a) contribute more tax to the national treasury, (b) create some employment, and (c) stimulate commercial activity by creating more markets for his/her suppliers;

How many hundreds of lives would these “rich kids” impact positively by the simple and unpretentious act of looking out for Number One?

This hero mentality looks laudable at first — until one sees it for what it really is: an inefficient use of human capital.

Food for thought, dude. 😉

If the impeachment is killed by the pro-arroyo congressmen, who will kill the killers? (joke lang)

Peo it is not ajoke anymore should nothing happens to the effort at impeachment. Mrs. Arroyo better make her promise good that she is willing to meet her accusers at the proper forum, and the pro-arroyo congressmen should not even try to deny her that opportunity. It’s the only way she can prove her innocence (if she indeed is innocent). As of now, in the eyes of the public, she is already guilty no matter what her defenders say about the illegitimacy or inadmissibility of the Garci tapes. Only the pro-Arroyo people are saying these conversations are inadmissible because they are illegaly obtained. People who do not try to look for information ifdependently might believe this and that situation will condition them on the decision of the justice committee. should this happen, there will be more sentiments expressed on the streets.

I disagree with Mrs. Arroyo’s statement that every president after her will suffer the same fate as the previos ones with our present system. It shall always depend on the performance. Saying so would mean one has lost even an inherent Fate in the Maker who ultiamtely shapes all our destinies.
Those who yield to the pressures of the world has failed the test meant to bring out the best in ones person.

political cleansing… so that values may be returned.

its the people comprising our political systems making the problems… not the system.

if these are poeple intending to really serve, would they give everything they have and eveything they own to the country? (kaya ok sa japan…)

kung inapply kay erap dapat pwede rin kay gma(creeping impeacement) bakit talaga bang double standard justice dito sa pinas? walang mangyayari sa impeacement kung ganito. may “deal” daw si gma at fvr/jdv. kaya pumayag si gma sa chaha kapalit ng pagpigil ni jdv sa impeacehement. kaya mga pipol of the phillipines hanggat ajan si jdv and majority tongressman walang impeachement na magaganap. dismissed as per deal of gma & fvr/jdv. maliwanag di ba? kawawa na naman tayo. magtitiis tayo till 2010. payag ba kayo? syempre hinde. anong gagawin? gloria resign! gloria resign! now.

Hope former Gov. D?????. would find the courage to attend the senate hearing on Juetenggate. . Magdasal po tayo na hindi ma soft touch si Gov. at isiwalat ang katotohanan

‘When a man is hungry, he is angry’. This is what is happening now. We look for chizmiz-style theories to pin down GMA, and blow it out of proportion to pin her more.

The fact is, we wouldn’t know what’s next for GMA as an aftereffects of the shift of our government to a Parliamentary-Federal type of government. Even if we maintain a status quo of the present government. One thing is sure though, we are going on the verge of chaos. And changing presidents after presidents, is very much inevitable foresight. One would ask why I suddenly have a change of heart? My personal spectrum have gone to being optimistic to becoming pessimistic with IMF all around. However, I still firmly believe that there is no other president that has better credentials to handle the present predicament that we have, except GMA. Credentials that deals with economics.

Want to know why?

Because of our $69.9 billion debt that is haunting us forever. The austerity measures brought with it are the main reason why the $25 Billion Marcos induced debt, consequently becomes humongous and our lives miserable more than ever. And the debt-servicing alone is something unimaginably very hard to deal with.

IQuestions like, Why are we always blaming our government and presidents after Marcos era for our current plight now? I have done this little research to get the commonality of all third world countries like us. What I have discovered is that everything about our situation are more or less the same with them. All third world countries owe IMF and World bank big sum of money. Attach with it are horrendous austerity measures that affects our political and economic structures.

The following are some of the IMF imposed austerity measures for having the loans.
1. Active privatization of state-run industries.- leading to massive lay-offs with no social security provision and the loss of inefficient services to remote or poor Areas.
2.Reducing government expenditure, by making public-sector redundancies, freezing salaries, and making cuts in health, education and social welfare Services.
3. Currency devaluation and export promotion- leading to the soaring cost of imports, land use changed for cash crops, and reliance on international commodity markets.
4. Raising interest rates to tackle inflation- putting small companies out of Business.
5. Removal of price controls- leading to rapid price rises for basic goods and services.

These are some of the terms and conditions any government couldn’t just ignore. One could just imagine that there is no other position in the land that is very intricate and perilous as the presidency itself. GMA’s basic pay of P50,000 is not commensurate to the external pressures she is handling now. We have not even mentioned yet the internal pressures, to wit:
1. Her constant weighing of the common interests of 85 million Filipinos.
2. The government’s pursuit to neutralize insurgency problems brought about by NPA, MILF, MNLF et al.
3. Terrorism threat brought about by JEMAAH ISLAMIYA, and ABU SAYAF.
4. Left and right street protests brought about by BAYAN MUNA, GABRIELA, MIGRANTE, THE OPPOSITIONS and the like.
5. The rising world price in oil ( Which is beyond government control ).

These are the things GMA have to deal with on the daily basis more than just the GARCI tape controversy. I COMMEND GMA FOR STICKING FIRMLY NOT TO RESIGN. Based on my research, I could not categorically, give adequate solution to the forthcoming perilous events, except to give our unconditional support for the government whether how small it is. I know everything is hanging by the thread, one false move and there, PUFF! We could become politically and economically in shambles.

ITS SO SAD, WE PUT OUR BLAME SOLELY TO THE PRESIDENT, and never notice IMFs Austerity measures as the main culprit for political and economic damage that we have now. The following are the common denominators of other third world countries for the troubles we have now.

ARGENTINA – IMF approves a US$7.2 billion three-year stand-by credit on the condition that the Government continues with key fiscal and structural reforms.

RESULTS: Constant change of Presidents from Pres.Raul Alfonsin, Fernando de la Rua to the current President Nestor Kirchner. Same result, political and Economic turmoil. Social chaos was imminent; exemplified by setting of Fire in public offices, violent clashes with the police, 24-hour general strike is supported by more than 7.2 million workers, teachers and scientists go on a one-day strike to protest against a 12 per cent cut in Wages, et al.

Bolivia – Received a successive loans of US$138 million in September 1998, which set out “plans to privatise all remaining public enterprises”, including the water industry. In February 2000, the IMF grants another US$46.1
million PRGF loan in addition to US$1.3 billion.

RESULTS: an alliance of factory workers, farmers, students and environmentalists protest against the continued high price of water in the city and shutting down of the city for four days, More than 1,000 protesters take to the streets and are confronted by a similar number of riot police and soldiers, who disperse them with baton charges and tear gas, protesters block roads and demonstrations explode into violence-the town hall is stormed, Et al.

Brazil – In November 1998, the IMF offers Brazil a US$18 billion stand-by loan. Conducting their fifth review of the agreement the IMF “noted with satisfaction” the success of the Brazilian economy, although it “encouraged the Brazilian authorities to press ahead with their privatization efforts and the further liberalization of external trade”.

RESULTS: thousands of protesters crammed the cities of Brazil.

Colombia – In September 1999, the IMF approves a three-year credit worth US$2.7 billion in support of “the government’s structural reform agenda” and Includes the policies to “downsize the public sector, mainly through
privatization, and reduce public sector spending”.

RESULTS: 15,000 workers go on a 24-hour general strike and the rest of the Negative events follows….

Costa Rica – In 1995, Costa Rica was granted an IMF stand-by credit for US$78 million on the condition that “private sector participation in areas previously reserved for the public sector is increased” and “a far greater role by foreign investors in areas such as electricity generation, insurance and banking”

RESULTS: 16 March, one person is killed in Ochomogo, five are wounded, and several injured, including 30 police officers, as riot police clash with demonstrators. At least 50 student protesters are arrested, San Jose suburb, police beat demonstrators and arrest 52 students, et al.

The same happened with Equador, Honduras, Kenya, Nigeria, Paraguay, South Africa, and Zambia. What is interesting to note is that the people of these countries Blamed everything about their economic and political turmoil to their presidents. I believe the Garci tape controversy and the Jueteng payolas are skin deep issues blown out of proportion to put the ultimate blame to our hardworking President GMA.

We have seen the same problems with other third world countries accompanied by the same results. Why cant we scrutinize the real root cause of our problem? The problem with most of the Filipinos is that they don’t know how to decipher the root cause of our problems. Everytime something goes wrong with our economy, we always find time to blame it to the PRESIDENT.

So long as the $69.9 Billion debt is there, no matter how many times we change presidents, we really are a hopeless case. I wonder why Imee Marcos is very noisy about GMA? She must have forgotten that her family were the instigator to this debt successions, and now pull us down to our knees, groping in the dark and not knowing of any possibility to stand back again. GOD HELP US!

please check current issues of media today. the topic seems to be more on focusing in chaha than impeachement complaint. they gave more importance to chaha. halatang halata na kayo. i guess gma may succeed in her intention to divert impeachement to chaha. pls calling the attention of these giant networks and publications of leading broadsheets & tabloids as well as the radio stations. please do your job with all honesty & sincerity .patunayan nyo na wala kayong kinikilingan at hinde kayo bias. fair lang sana kayo. please do your duty as a true blooded journalist and credible broadcasters. thank you for your compliance soonest the better for the benefit of all.
by the way i read one blog saying that gma 4th most powerful woman by forbes was done before the crisis happened. matagal na pala. wala pang “hello garci”. kaya si bunye ay huwag munang magmalaki. it is not vindication for gma. yumabang na naman si gma dahil dito. kapal mo talaga. basahin nyo muna. check website of forbes. writer said gma like megawati ay mawawala din sa list. kaya bunye huwag ka muna magbunyi.
isa pa si boncodin ay humihingi daw ng asylum to canada for her family in connection to impeachement complaint. magwiwitness kasi sya. gusto nya safe family nya. very good. sec. boncodin we filipino people will support you and the rest of the hyatt 10. Good luck po sa inyong lahat. God bless!

Michael zuce – witness to alledged la vista payoff!
here are some of zuce’s accusations & testimonies sa press conference;
– grand design project to win gma in mindanao.
– 2004 comelec caucus meeting in la vista resident of gma with pineda make an appeal to support the bid to president and gave envelope with money to regional comelec directors and provincial supervisors in the presence of garci, rufino gov dy. the money possibly from jueteng payola. sad fact ay alam daw lahat ni gma ito.
– may mga supporting documents sa affidavit at pinagreresign nya si gma at humingi ng tawad sa sambayanan nang nagawang kasalanan & make a repentance. (never gagawin ni gma ito by hook or by crook)
– totoo daw yung garci tape at participant sya. siya yung “louie” sa tape.
– pamangkin ni garci runner and messenger for 5 years. sya din ang nagcoordinate para sa meeting ng mga regional directors sa la vista resident of gma.
-panahon na para malaman ang katotohanan. pinaalam nya kay garci ang paglantad nya. ang alam nya nasa london na si garci. ang sagot daw sa kanya ay “bahala ka sa buhay mo”
-alam daw nya na mabigat ang kanyang mga accusations againts the president pero natatakot sya sa karma gaya ng mga nagyayari daw sa ibang nakakaalam ng issue . may threat na rin from ebdabe. hinahanap na daw sya.

* submit all affidavits to congress for investigation. mahalaga sa impeachement proceedings itong mga pagbubunyag ni zuce. sana minority congressmen investigate agad dahil this time ang mga majoriy congressmen are blocking the impeachement proceedings to the fullest.

To the Metro Manila bloggers:
1. Bakit kaya ang mga kongressman ng inyong lugar ay hindi pumirma sa Impeachment complaint?
2. Kung tunay na lumalabas sa survey (SWS, Pulse) na 70% wants GMA impeached, bakit hindi yata naririning ng inyong mga ibinoto sa Kongreso ang inyong kahilingan?
3. Sabi ng karamihan sa Kongreso, ang kanilang constituency ang pakikinggan. Parang hindi nila kayo naririnig. Ano ang dahilan? Nagbibingihan? or Nagiintay ng kabayaran?
4. Hahayaan ng lang ba ninyo na ganito ang mga pangyayari?

Ako ay taga Pasig, sumulat na ako kay Dudot Jaworksi. Kayo, ano pa ang hinihintay ninyo? Dati taga Makati ako. Buti na lang ang hindi ko ibinotong congressman, si Butz Aquino, pro-impeachment. Muntik ng sumigaw ‘Ibalik ako sa Makati!!’.

Per record, lima lang ang pro-impeachment Metro Manila congressmen.
1. Biazon, Rozzano Rufino Bunoan ng Muntinlupa City
2. Aquino, Agapito Aguino ng Makati City
3. Zamora, Ronaldo Bayan ng San Juan
4. Golez, Roilo Solis ng Paranaque City
5. Cayetano, Allan Peter ng Pateros-Taguig.

PCIJ, pwede bang ipublish ang address ng mga Kongresista?