RedBlueThoughts

Since this 2pm, I’ve been fortunate to listen to the broadcast of what’s happening in the Peninsula. It seems that the Patriots are fully determined to bring this government down. This is reminiscent of EDSA 1 strategy wherein there was also a walkout, symbolizing the “Enough is enough” message. A walkout means that the people involved are already fed up with what’s happening with them and they already made up their minds to create history.

May history be kind to them.

The patriots have stood up. They heard our pleas, the people’s pleas for justice and concrete action against this immoral and inept government. With this, I salute those patriots! I salute you sirs.

It is up to God if something new will happen. We will wait for 48 hours on what will happen to these patriots. Only God knows what.

PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) positions itself as a global company. Yet, its services are really glamourized local services. In fact, I really, really doubt if PLDT could really compete with the world’s best.

Consider this: Since last July, I’ve been nagging PLDT for my telephone bill. Being a dutiful citizen, I want to pay my bills immediately. Yet, “customer services” of PLDT have been promising, promising to send me the bill. After a few months, in fact, only this month, did I received the bill. And, its not only a bill, mind you. It’s a notice of disconnection. What’s so surprising–they already pulled out my outgoing calls services and my broadband, when in fact, it’s not my fault!!!

If they would only review their tapes, it’s full of my voice, nagging them, pleading for that bill. And now that it came, it came with a shocker.

I am now thinking of shifting to another telecom and telling my friends about this stupid PLDT SERVICES, if you can call it thus.

Check out my other blog: its at opendemocrat.rsfblog.org. You’ll find something interesting there also. Open Democracy is something which I espouse right now. Having studied Marx, socialism, capitalism, philosophy and all the other “isms”, I find Open Democracy principles to be a distillation of these pre-IT industrialized age that it’s a concept that should be applied here in this country.

In a flat world like ours, Open Democracy aims to create open societies. What’s the concept of being “open”, check it out yourself. What I do like about this concept is its ability to marry the beneficial elements of global capitalism with the somewhat social effects of socialism. If you remember, Marx predicted the eventual state of Man beyond socialism, which others misinterpreted as Communism. If you re-study his writings, you’ll find that Marx actually left the concept nebulous or not entirely clear. Why? Because, dialectical materialism presupposes that the future creation of man depends on the objective conditions of his environment. No one can really say what form of governance we will have in the future because that’s precisely what dia-mat or Marxism aims to achieve. Ergo, based on current objective conditions, the elements of Open Democracy seems to reflect the direction the objective conditions would go in the future.

Surfers throughout the world know how beautiful the beaches of La Union. I’ve seen it. I’ve been there. And I fully agree that La Union seems to have the best beaches that side of the Philippines. If you want to just while the time away by surfing, then, La Union is the place to be.

I thought that driving there will take about five to six hours. I was mistaken. I drove there for just 3 hours. When there, La Union or any other place in Ilocos seems to have a mystical hold of me. Truly, the Ilocos region is somewhat a magical place. Its like you’re in another country. The weather is great. The people, fantastic. The food, wonderful. Everyone seems to be happy.

I’m not saying though that La Union’s beaches are the best there is here. I’ve seen more beautiful places in this country. Basilan and Jolo’s beaches rival those of Bora. Palawan, Cam Sur, Guimaras and even Surigao’s beaches are the best of the best. These places evoke sweet memories. They’re obviously superior than La Union’s beaches, but surely, if you want a cost-effective trip, its best to enjoy the Northern provinces.

I heard in the news that Mira has now become a super typhoon and could wreck havoc to these provinces in the North. I hope God spare La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. These places don’t deserve God’s wrath.

I hope Mina finds a way to just concentrate pouring out those tons of water in just one place. You guessed right–I hope Mina teaches Gloria a thing or two about beauty. More about beauty in future entries.

The OFWs are to blame for the current state we are in. The brightest and the most patriotic of our race opted to leave for abroad, leaving us here with nincoompoops and idiots as leaders. Its time for the enlightened to take hold of government and kick these useless pseudo-intellectuals from power.

This is the only country with a leadership so stupid and so callous that they even blame the World Bank for pointing three road projects tainted with corruption. This government always blame others for its own sins. And I am ashamed of Andaya.

We are the only country with a leadership so corrupt, its making things worse so that everybody leaves this land, work abroad so that the remitted monies flow right to the public coffers for them to steal.

OFWs sweat it out abroad so that government officials will have something to steal. Look, the dollars being remitted here helps keep it afloat. Taxes paid are being stolen by these assholes.

Our exorbitant taxes pay for shoddy government services, cratered roads, dirty air, high prices, zero health care, corrupt cops and idiots for leaders.

People i’ve talked with says its a hopeless case. The Philippines is a hopeless case study. People are feeling hopeless simply because those whom they pinned their hopes for, Trillianes, Magdalo, idealistic soldiers, Cheez and Cayetano are now part of the system which the people despised. These people just used the people to get what they want–power and prestige. I can’t blame Cheez and Cayetano. They are political scions. What I’m most disappointed is Trillianes. Why? Because he postured himself as an idealist. Now, where is that idealism which brought you to power as a senator? Where, Lt. Senior Grade? Where?

You said during the elections that you will wait for a signal from the people, on what they want. Now, the people have spoken. The people are tired of their leaders and they want change.

WHERE ARE THE ENLIGHTENED FORCES? WHERE ARE YOU, O PATRIOTS?

Senator Roxas described it as a monumental embarrassment. The World Bank has rejected us before, says Senator Pimentel, but it was because of over-borrowing–not corruption. How will international borrowing agencies look at the Philippines now? Surely, says Pimentel, the World Bank and the ADB will never allow us to borrow funds from them simply because they don’t trust this current administration because, as they say, its tainted with graft and corruption.

This is NOT a subtle message to this administration. This is an overt display of how foreign lending institutions view the current government. The amount, US$ 232 million, is not to be scrimped at. It is a huge amount. If the WB can’t entrust Mrs. Arroyo of US$ 232 million, how then, will government be able to secure other loans of lesser amounts?

Effects

As I wrote here, aside from being an embarrassment, this incident shows how discredited this administration is in the eyes of foreign governments. First, this government is a disgrace to its people. More than half of the Filipino population wants Mrs. Arroyo and her whole cabinet to resign from their posts. With this incident, even foreign governments want her to resign. Now, nobody in his right mind would want Mrs. Arroyo to finish her term.

Its only Mrs. Arroyo and her lapdogs who want her to continue mismanaging the country. Why?

Mrs. Arroyo and her advisers have very low personal standards and ethics. They think that their performances are satisfactory enough for the people, when the people are telling them that they suck. I can’t fault them, simply because if you look at the qualifications of these cabinet members and even Mrs. Arroyo herself, you’ll find nothing substantial enough to justify why they are there in the first place. All of them are followers, not leaders. Mrs. Arroyo simply does not have the capability to lead because, net of discussion, she does’nt have the vision nor the will to lead. Same goes to her men. What they are are goons, glorified goons at that.

So, what have we to do now? Survey says the people don’t want an EDSA and they don’t want a coup. I think that the only solution is a combination of both these means just to attain the singular objective—force her and her government to resign.

If we, as a people don’t unite now, we will suffer a double embarrassment. The whole world will laugh at us because of being totally masochists.

Senator Roxas described it as a monumental embarrassment. The World Bank has rejected us before, says Senator Pimentel, but it was because of over-borrowing–not corruption. How will international borrowing agencies look at the Philippines now? Surely, says Pimentel, the World Bank and the ADB will never allow us to borrow funds from them simply because they don’t trust this current administration because, as they say, its tainted with graft and corruption.

This is NOT a subtle message to this administration. This is an overt display of how foreign lending institutions view the current government. The amount, US$ 232 million, is not to be scrimped at. It is a huge amount. If the WB can’t entrust Mrs. Arroyo of US$ 232 million, how then, will government be able to secure other loans of lesser amounts?

Effects

As I wrote here, aside from being an embarrassment, this incident shows how discredited this administration is in the eyes of foreign governments. First, this government is a disgrace to its people. More than half of the Filipino population wants Mrs. Arroyo and her whole cabinet to resign from their posts. With this incident, even foreign governments want her to resign. Now, nobody in his right mind would want Mrs. Arroyo to finish her term.

Its only Mrs. Arroyo and her lapdogs who want her to continue mismanaging the country. Why?

Mrs. Arroyo and her advisers have very low personal standards and ethics. They think that their performances are satisfactory enough for the people, when the people are telling them that they suck. I can’t fault them, simply because if you look at the qualifications of these cabinet members and even Mrs. Arroyo herself, you’ll find nothing substantial enough to justify why they are there in the first place. All of them are followers, not leaders. Mrs. Arroyo simply does not have the capability to lead because, net of discussion, she does’nt have the vision nor the will to lead. Same goes to her men. What they are are goons, glorified goons at that.

So, what have we to do now? Survey says the people don’t want an EDSA and they don’t want a coup. I think that the only solution is a combination of both these means just to attain the singular objective—force her and her government to resign.

If we, as a people don’t unite now, we will suffer a double embarrassment. The whole world will laugh at us because of being totally masochists.

I believe in the integrity of the PNP investigation regarding the blast in Congress. The blast could be the handiwork of a group of former Abu Sayyaf members. What I do want to hear from them though is:

a. Is it possible for them to consider the possibility of the bomb being planted deliberately in that motorcycle owned by the driver of Salapuddin to obfuscate police investigation?

b. Is it possible for them to consider the possibility that the blast was “hitting two birds with one stone”? Meaning, the perpetuators thought of killing Akbar in the hopes of further destabilizing government? That the plan was not purely revenge or rido; rather it could be more than this?

Studying the way police handled the investigation, I can say that the probe was credible. And I commend PNP Chief Razon for solving this investigation in a speedy manner.

However, this incident exposed a raw nerve–security of this country is vulnerable. If ASG members can bomb the third pillar of the state, what could prevent them from doing the same thing in Malacanan? Political or monetary concessions, I believe. If this is the only ones saving our country from anarchists, terrorists or extremists, then, we, the people, must do the saving ourselves.

Government must admit that we are really the weakest link in the region against terrorism. I can’t blame the police. The PNP under Razon right now is doing the right thing. The main problem is the people’s lack of trust to the top government executive. This lack of trust is affecting peace negotiations with dissident groups.

I predict that national security will further weaken if Mrs. Arroyo continues to maintain a callous stance for calls for her to resign. I correct myself, the weakest link in the fight against terrorism is not the PNP–it is Mrs. Arroyo and her gang of ravenous wolves. Misgovernance is affecting national security. The vulnerability of the state is becoming worse by the day.

The World Bank just cancelled a US$ 230 million loan to our government due to corruption. More than half of the population hate their leader and want her to resign immediately, again, because of corruption. And what is the response of the government? Surveys are sham affairs, the people’s voice is not important and government will form a group that would scrutinize government deals.

For Mrs. Arroyo, the message to the people is clear–I am immune to your voice. I will do what I think is right and will not heed your clamor for me to resign. What callousness.

I remember that at the onset of this government, Mrs. Arroyo tapped a Hongkong anti-graft consultancy group to look at the system to combat graft and corruption. Seven years had past and corruption seems to have evolved more quickly and transformed to a more lethal form. Institutions of government have slowly disintegrated due to corruption. As I wrote here, the state has already contracted and nearing implosion because the power center has weakened considerably. This weakness has lead to an increase in transactional patronage politics that opens the power center to more corruption.

The lost of trust, the weakness of the state leadership and its vulnerability to threats are directly affecting the very survival of this country. The viability of the Philippines as an investment site is eroding and it might affect the economic survival of the Philippines in the coming years.

Congress, especially the Speaker should realize this. The onus of saving this country from total ruin depends on Congress now. If, as expected, they kill the supplemental impeachment complaint today or in the coming days, it should be a signal to the idealistic soldiers and civil society groups to move and do what is necessary to save our country from this callous calamity.