It's final: the world has called for the Philippine organization who is behind the Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant that it should once and for all abolish this non-sense contest as it has brought more shame to the Filipino people than any scandalous event in the known history of the Philippine republic.
To add salt to the injury, the YouTube videos of the Bibibining Pilipinas are posted in millions of blogs and websites and forum sites around the world.
As if the injury is not enough, Google has disclosed in its search trend statistics that the term "Binibining Pilipinas" is now one of the most popular search keywords this month.
Based from blogs, forums and personal comments of both foreign and Filipino-oriented web sites, the consensus is so clear that there is no need to reconsider of the bold recommendation: abolish the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant once and for all.
One blog comment says that the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant will bring horrible effect to the multi-billion dollar outsourcing industry in the Philippines.
The Philippines has been recipient of thousands of outsourced jobs from multi-national corporations who believe and trust the English proficiency of the Filipino people.
That kind of reputation of being "excellent in English" is now put in question. The recent Bb Pilipinas has hurt so much the country's economy that its organizers must start packing up their office files and padlock its headquarter for good.
Gone are the days of Charlene Gonzales and Gloria Diaz. Who could follow their illustrious record?
One forum commentator suggests that if the organizers of the Binibining Pilipinas cannot abolish the now shameful stage parade, it should at least provide a basic English grammar tutorial to candidates, or better yet, give the girls a hardbound book entitled: "OMG, How is my English?"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Change the Philippine Government?
Changing government overnight? No way, say Bohol mayors.
Rushing in to rescue the beleaguered President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA), members of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Bohol Chapter took a progressive stand and said said no way will Manila be deciding for the whole country.
The same calls have been the gist of the League of Cities of the Philippines statement as they stood to defend the President against the vicious attacks by her detractors.
As calls for the president to resign resound, the local LMP, in a meeting held in Jagna, Bohol March 5, Wednesday, resolved to show their open statement of support to the beleaguered president through a public statement on a national daily.
The decision, which the local organization made in a closed-door conference during an out-of-town meeting was leaked to the press by a key LMP official, a few minutes after the conference.
Citing that the President deserves the constitutional processes she is entitled, LMP Bohol executive Vice President Roberto Salinas in a separate interview said, "we just can not keep just fence-sit while others are circling like vultures on a prey."
Salinas added he was just as glad that the group made a real solid stand, one accordingly did not expect.
"I just told them [mayors] we have to make a stand, no matter what it is, just as long as we say what we want," he told reporters.
The statement, which the LMP said would be published in a national paper would appear before protest organizers in Manila boasted to mobilize another rally to force the President to vacate the Palace, sources close to LMP Chair Exuperio Lloren said.
By that, at least Manila people would know that not the whole of the country is willing to join them on their noisy protests, they added.
Moreover, Salinas said at present, he does not believe there is anyone more capable of leading the country other than President Arroyo.
"Why can't they wait until 2010?" he asked.
Over the argument that the Ombudsman is the home-base of the President, he said it is a vary "it is a dangerous proposition."
"We can not besmirch the office [of the Ombudsman] just because the man sitting there is a presidential appointee, he bared, because if we say so, then all the courts may also be questioned, another Bohol mayor said.
As the debates ripple on to the countryside, President Arroyo recently said "until that day [in 2010], I will continue to push for reforms so I can hand over a strong nation to the next leader," she said in Filipino.
"I will be true to the Constitution and to myself who has been mandated to leave the post when my term ends in 2010," she said.
Executive Order Number 464
Subay sa sugyot sa mga Obispo, gipapas na ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang kontrobersyal nga Executive Order No. 464 samtang iyang gi-aghat ang mga opisyales sa pagsubay sa Konstitusyon ug sa mga kasandigang balaod kon dapiton sila sa mga imbestigasyon sa Kongreso.
Tungod niini, wala nay rason pa ang mga opisyales sa pagpalta sa mga panuku-duki sa mga magbabalaod.
Hinuon, ang mga ma-imbetahan sa mga imbestigasyon mahimong mogamit sa ilang mga katungod subay sa Konstitusyon ug sa mga balaod nga napanday na kon matawag sa mga inquiries, dason sa Presidente.
Didto sa usa ka espesyal nga tigum sa Malakanyang uban sa nahulma nga legal team ug sa mga sakop sa Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, gibutyag ni Presidente ang kalambuan kabahin sa pagtukas sa EC 464.
Kahinumduman nga mipahulma si Presidente Arroyo og legal team aron tun-an ang sugyot sa mga Obispo sa pag-papas sa natumbok nga EO.
Una nga gimugna sa Presidente and EO 464 aron kuno panalipdan ang katungod ug dignidad sa mga opisyales gikan sa pang-insulto atul sa mga hearings.
Niini, matud ni Presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye, "Sama kanatong tanan, ang Presidente usab buot nga mogawas na ang kamatuoran, sama nga siya nangandoy usab nga mopatigbabaw na ang hustisya ug kaangayan alang sa nasud," hinungdan sa pagpapas sa EO 464. (rachiu/PIA)
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City Mayors, Governors Behind President GMA?
77 sa 119 ka mga city mayors ang mipadayag sa ilang makabungog nga suporta sa Administrasyon ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, sa Konstitusyon ug sa pagpatuman sa balaod.
Ang League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) pinangulohan ni Ilo-ilo City Mayor Jerry Trenias mipagawas sa ilang hinugpong mga barug samtang mibutyag nga ang kagubot nga politikanhon sa nasud naa lamang sa Manila.
Matud nila ang politikanhong kasaba anaa lamang sa Metro Manila ug wala kini magrepresentar sa tinud-anay nga sentimento sa katawhan sa tibuok Pilipinas.
Sa ilang pahayag, matud nila samtang may ubang katawhan nga nagsyagit sa kadalanan aron agnihon ang suporta sa tanan, mas daghan pa ang katawhan nga misalig sa pagtamud sa balaod ug sa tukmang paagi sa pagpalutaw sa kamatuoran nga subay sa Konstitusyon.
Ang League of Cities of the Philippines uban ning baga nga katawhan nga buot magmabugnaw nga giniyahan sa kahiusahan.
Sumpay sa mga city mayors, gikapoyan na ang katawhan sa politikanhong kasaba ug dili an sila buot nga matigaw pa ang pagdagan sa nasud ngadto sa kaugmaran pinaagi sa hanas nga pagdumala sa Presidente sa ekonomiya.
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NBN Investigation: Performative Contradiction
Nagduwa sa "performative contradiction", ang mga senador nga kunohay nangita sa kamatuoran apan sa samang paagi, nanawagan sa pagluwat sa katungdanan sa Presidente.
Kini maoy ideya sa usa ka dean sa San Beda College nga si Fr. Ranhillio Callangan Aquino samtang iyang gisaway ang mga senador kinsa mipatuo nga walay gidapigan sa ilang imbestigasyon sa NBN.
Si Aquino, kinsa dean sa Graduate School of Law sa San Beda College mibutyag nga ang mga senador nga nag-imbestigar sa kontrobersya sa National Broadband Network (NBN) unta magpadayag sa mga detalye sa walay pagdapig kay sila may maghukom niiini.
Matud niya sa iyang position paper nga gi-ulohan og Why I Cannot and Will Not Support Calls for the President's Resignation, kon nanawagan ka sa pagkaplag sa kamatuoran ug sa samang paagi, gisyagit mo ang pagluwat sa katungdanan sa Presidente, dili ka na katuohan pa.
Pasabot niya, kon sa imong pagpangita sa kamatuoran, wala ka pay kasayuran kon may sad-an ba, may rason ka ba nga manawagan sa pagluwat?
Giangkon niya nga ang testimonya ni Rodolfo Lozada sa Senado puno sa mga detalye, apan wala kini bisan gamay nga pahayag nga nagtumbok batok sa Presidente.
Kon may palabtik nga may kalabutan ang Malakanyang sa kasabutan, ang palabtik dili madawat isip ebidensya.
Sumpay niya, ang panawagan sa mga senador sa pagluwat sa Presidente kinahanglan ngagsukad sa usa ka moral nga kasegurohan.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Philippine Corruption: A Fearless Analysis
Corruption… Anyway we envision it either during Marcos time or before Marcos time, it is the same, because since man started counting time there was already corruption. We cannot avoid it because government is only governed by humans. A government that is clean and incorruptible is the government of angels.
I think there is no need to question sympathizers, relatives, friends or supporters who get the best position in government whenever the politician they're supporting wins in an election because that is normal in politics. You don't appoint your political adversary to a very sensitive position in government, but you have to appoint a trusted man coming from your own political party. In the case of JFK, when he was elected president of the US he appointed his own brother as the US Attorney-General.
The awarding of contracts of whatever kind to the politician's financial supporters is normal as long as it is not against the law. There is nothing to be against it. All of these they got it through political patronage…. Of course!
In an ideal political election campaign each opposing political party has its own economic platform presented to the people. They have financial supporters and also advisers to advice them on economic issues. Whoever will win after the elections, political advisers especially those who are dealing with the party's economic platform will get the juicy position in government, like the position of governor of the Central Bank or Secretary of Finance or BIR commissioner or Chief in the Bureau of Custom. Political supporters who cannot be accommodated in government positions will become lobbyists in the private sector. Sweet and juicy contracts in government are always cornered by these lobbyists.
This is where the issue of corruption emanates. Most of the times the issues are tainted with envy. For Filipino politicians one week is too long for the next election. That is how greedy they are in the pursuit of political power. In today's political skirmish in our country oppositionists device plans and political manoeuvres to fuel the anger of the people and oust a sitting president before his or her term ends. The conduit of this political manoeuvres is the media. The media is the one responsible in demonizing and spinning issues against a sitting president. The media is the one pretending to be the voice of the people.
Filipino intellectuals have the habit of glorifying the media as part of our system of living in a democratic society and most of them tend to believe and listen to the media as the voice of truth that, whatever is written in the press can be considered as if it is the truth in the gospel. But in a democracy the last bulwark is a court of law. This is where the other side of the truth is heard.
There is a lot of difference between the US media, our model of freedom of the press, and the press in the Philippines. In the US, I think there is mutual respect for both parties whoever wins the election by restraining each party and the media in the issue of corruption. For example is Halliburton Inc. which was chaired by Vice president Cheney… When he was elected vice president of the US he transferred the chairmanship of the company to his wife. Ever since G.W. Bush Jr. was elected president of the US, Halliburton Inc. is cornering all the government contracts in the Middle East especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is the US press shouting to high heavens of corruption between the government and Halliburton Inc.? I think not! Are government officials not reaping commissions from government contractors like Halliburton Inc.? Of course they are reaping commissions. Is receiving commission a form of corruption? The answer is…. No!
The two Filipino presidents demonized by the Philippine press as corrupt presidents are Erap and Marcos. They even landed in the Guinness Book of World Records as corrupt leaders. On records the book says that Marcos amassed a whooping 10 billion dollars during his term as president. Aside stashing away billions of dollars Marcos also connived with Westinghouse Inc. in a corruption scandal in the contract of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant or BNPP. The Cory government discovered in Malacanang left by the Marcoses documents purportedly to be bribe receipts worth $10 million from Westinghouse Inc.. As I've said before that; "The last bulwark of democracy is the court of law"… So Atty. Rene Saguisag representing the Philippine government and Napocor went to Seattle to file the case against Westinghouse Inc. of corruption and bribery. Lawyer from Westinghouse Inc. testified that the 10 million dollars was a commission not a bribe that even without Marcos anybody in his government will receive that amount. Atty. Rene Saguisag went home empty handed because the Seattle court rendered the decision in favor of Westinghouse Inc.. The court believes Westinghouse Inc. that it is not a bribe but a commission.
I think there is an ocean of difference in definition of commission earned in government contract from corruption or bribery even in Philippine jurisprudence. I think we are only blinded by the press not to know the right definition.
People in our country like the students, the politicians and the business elite, people in the academe, the Philippine bishops and clergies, members of the media and the Filipino intellectuals… These are the people we can clearly classify with superior intelligent minds that can influence the political thinking of a nation… compared to the people who labored as maids, drivers, factory workers, blue collars OFW's, farmers, fishermen, basket and nipa weavers in the rural areas, quarrymen and the "coconut pilot" or the tuba gatherer… These are the people who are silent and uninfluencial and they cannot even understand the implication of a political issue yet, I believe they comprise the majority of the Filipino people. They are the one that holds the power through the ballot and not those minority that formed as a mob in Edsa.
In the constitution it is provided the people's participation. Is this mob people power or the power of the people through the ballot?
Daghang salamat!
R.A. Matig-a
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Philippine Agriculture Has Lost Its Focus?
Farmers and stakeholders in the agriculture sector should always be focused on their responsibilities to feed the country.
Bohol Vice Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera said he does not see any reason why the crisis spawned by the revelations of whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada will have any negative effect on the agriculture sector.
"Farmers should remember at all times that they have a responsibility to feed the nation," he declared.
The vice-governor chairs the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) committee on agriculture.
Herrera said he is saddened whenever he learns about farmers abandoning their farms for whatever reason.
He clarified that he is not against farmers expressing their outrage over irregularities in the government.
"That is their right to protest and denounce anomalies just like any other citizen," the vice governor noted.
Herrera said what is lamentable is when they abandon their farms and focus on demonstrations and rallies.
"Who will raise the food that will feed our people if they spend all their time in the demonstrations?" he asked.
National Broadband Network An Unfair Deal?
Even a routinary visit by a senator to fulfill an election promise was laced with insinuations.
That proved how contagious the issue about the supposed scam that generated out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal and escalating into a full blown battle cry for Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down from office.
The reaction from some polluted quarters about the visit yesterday of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri was swift and spontaneous. He is the secretary-general of the President's party Lakas-CMD.
Nothing was further than the truth as the Zubiri visit indicated.
According to the text message, Zuriri was giving mayors P1 million each to buy their loyalty to prop up GMA's sinking popularity.
The Post lost no time in verifying the report.
Through their Bohol contact, the couple former mayor Jose "Boy" Jumamoy and Board Member Socorro Josephine Jumamoy, the Post was able to arrange an airport interview.
Asked about his reaction of the circulated text messages, the senator from Bukidnon dismissed the insinuation as pure fabrication.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Stop The Hate
http://internetshock.blogspot.com has just uncovered a shameful attack against the loving Filipino people and the Philippines itself.
There is nothing more hurting than being misunderstood as a Filipino or a Filipina wherever you are now in the world. We all know that many economies of other countries will collapse without the dirty hands and loving hearts of the Filipino workers who work day and night from hospitals, caregiver homes, construction sites, and in almost all sectors and industries of society in any country of the globe.
Sad to say that a British novelist, who was born in Hong Kong, by the name of Timothy Mo, has totally disregarded human sensitivity and lambasted the very core of Filipino patriotism by calling the Filipinos, in a way, garbage race, useless people in the world.
In the 2007 edition of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, the editors of Microsoft Encyclopedia unabashedly quoted Timothy Mo in the encyclopedia edition and in subsequent editions.
We appeal to Bill Gates of Microsoft Encyclopedia to remove this quote, which, to the minds and hearts of the Filipino people, an unthinkable, horrible, terrifying insult to the Philippine government and to our Filipino citizens.
We appeal to Timothy Mo to issue a public apology for saying that the Philippines's major source of income is "exporting prostitutes to Japan and Lagos." We have no idea where Lagos is, Mr. Mo.
If you are a Filipino or an expat in the Philippines or a human being reading this message, please help restore the image of the Filipino people all over the world by FORWARDING this message to all your e-mail contacts now. Here's the statement of Mo.
"Their major commodity was...people. They exported people—domestic servants to Kuwait, prostitutes to Japan and Lagos, nurses to Dubai, tailors to Jeddah, construction workers to Iraq." Timothy Mo (1950 - )
If you really care about the Philippines and the Filipino people, you will FORWARD this email to all your e-mail contacts. Thank you for saving the Philippines from great shame.
There is nothing more hurting than being misunderstood as a Filipino or a Filipina wherever you are now in the world. We all know that many economies of other countries will collapse without the dirty hands and loving hearts of the Filipino workers who work day and night from hospitals, caregiver homes, construction sites, and in almost all sectors and industries of society in any country of the globe.
Sad to say that a British novelist, who was born in Hong Kong, by the name of Timothy Mo, has totally disregarded human sensitivity and lambasted the very core of Filipino patriotism by calling the Filipinos, in a way, garbage race, useless people in the world.
In the 2007 edition of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, the editors of Microsoft Encyclopedia unabashedly quoted Timothy Mo in the encyclopedia edition and in subsequent editions.
We appeal to Bill Gates of Microsoft Encyclopedia to remove this quote, which, to the minds and hearts of the Filipino people, an unthinkable, horrible, terrifying insult to the Philippine government and to our Filipino citizens.
We appeal to Timothy Mo to issue a public apology for saying that the Philippines's major source of income is "exporting prostitutes to Japan and Lagos." We have no idea where Lagos is, Mr. Mo.
If you are a Filipino or an expat in the Philippines or a human being reading this message, please help restore the image of the Filipino people all over the world by FORWARDING this message to all your e-mail contacts now. Here's the statement of Mo.
"Their major commodity was...people. They exported people—domestic servants to Kuwait, prostitutes to Japan and Lagos, nurses to Dubai, tailors to Jeddah, construction workers to Iraq." Timothy Mo (1950 - )
If you really care about the Philippines and the Filipino people, you will FORWARD this email to all your e-mail contacts. Thank you for saving the Philippines from great shame.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Latest update on ZTE scandal
Malacanang will stop the Department of Justice (DOJ) from pursuing its investigation of the cancelled national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE project since the Office of the Ombudsman is already conducting a probe of the matter.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita made this announcement during a press conference.
According to Ermita, the Ombudsman as an independent body, should be the proper forum to investigate the case.
Before the President's directive to the DOJ, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said that "if there is any clear evidence of wrongdoing, the appropriate forum would be the courts, particularly the Sandiganbayan or the Ombudsman."
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was reported to have created a panel to investigate several cases filed with her office concerning the NBN-ZTE deal.
Gutierrez was quoted to have said that the panel she created will begin holding public hearings on the ZTE contract next week.
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Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita made this announcement during a press conference.
According to Ermita, the Ombudsman as an independent body, should be the proper forum to investigate the case.
Before the President's directive to the DOJ, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said that "if there is any clear evidence of wrongdoing, the appropriate forum would be the courts, particularly the Sandiganbayan or the Ombudsman."
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was reported to have created a panel to investigate several cases filed with her office concerning the NBN-ZTE deal.
Gutierrez was quoted to have said that the panel she created will begin holding public hearings on the ZTE contract next week.
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