Yisrā'el

i am bothered by the events happening around the gaza strip. it appears that civilians while bringing food and medical aid to the gaza strip have been killed by israeli commandos. it also appears that the commandos fought back pipes and knives with automatic weapons and said that they "defended themselves". well, it seems to me that they wouldn't have defended themselves and killed civilians if they didn't board the ship, would they?

you can label worldwide criticism for your actions as "hypocrisy" all you can but all these people cannot be wrong. in case the fact escaped you, different governments and different religions did not look kindly to you your attack and are saying one thing. you are being scolded and you should listen.

you are doing something wrong. find another way.

clip their wings already

i think its time to clip their wings. this is going overboard already. do they think that just because her term is about to end that they can get away with it?

this is a photo of mikey arroyo buying liquor while katipunan is flooding. is this really just what a congressman does? then why is he still in office if he doesn't even help?!?! the photo was from facebook.

gma used P800-million emergency fund for foreign trips
maybe this is the reason why she suddenly setup a disaster command post in marikina--to cover this up.

clip their wings already. they're just making things worse.

mikey and the cookie jar

apparently mikey "sumi" arroyo is suddenly in the limelight. that's not exactly a bad thing if you're an up and coming movie star but its not exactly good if you're a politician trying to hide a suddenly growing portfolio of assets--php 50,000 to 156 million in 16 years according to raissa.

my, it certainly appears that being a congressman is like winning the lotto.

by now, and this is just my assumption, sumi has been given a lecture by his mommy and daddy. public speaking 101. by now, and this is just my assumption, sumi's lawyers are formulating or have already finished a damage control plan.

its a shame really. "...so sue me..." is not something one would expect from a grandson of diosdado and its not something anyone would expect especially from an "educated" elected official. it is something i would expect from a child caught with one hand inside the cookie jar.

so, sumi, with all this publicity you're getting it doesn't really matter if you get sued or not--although i imagine someone eventually would. people already saw how you reacted when caught in a tight spot and they think you are already guilty.

how to make millions and get away with it

5 million pesos to more than 75 million pesos within a span of four years. how does one make that kind money in that amount of time?

this has corruption written all over it.

and i'll say it again. we're not stupid. don't even try thinking that we are.

you should be ashamed of yourself mikey. didn't your mother teach you anything?

wait a minute. that wasn't the right question, was it?

sidecars with motors

 

they are popularly known as the sidecar. but this one is different from the more common pedicab. it doesn't have pedals so you can't exactly call it a pedicab. this is different. this breed has a motor making it a motorized vehicle.

now, unless i am mistaken, all motorized vehicles should be registered with the land tranportation office (lto). properly registered vehicles would then be issued the appropriate vehicle plate number.

these sidecars have a motor installed and they are no plate numbers from the lto indicating that they are not registered. why is that, lto? these things are all over the streets dodging and weaving and doing anything they please. as far as i can remember they popped up on the streets a couple of years ago as a way of transporting vegetables around neighborhoods. and now the metro streets are peppered with them.

what irritates me is that the lto is doing absolutely nothing to regulate these sidecars. were they tested for safety? do the 'drivers' of these things licensed? you can really put blame on the local police (or the mmda) because the lto hasn't said anything regarding sidecars. maybe the lto officers are too ensconced in their air-conditioned offices or their heavily tinted, air-conditioned vehicles to notice or care.

dudes, we are not stupid. stop trying to make us look like we are.

somebody in government is not doing their job (typical). and they're getting paid for it (shameful, really). you'll know its them because they are always the first to deny it.

if the intelligent powers that be are reading this, replace that guy in lto with one that can do the job properly.

classrooms or dinner?

we don't have enough money for classrooms because somebody is too busy spending a million pesos on dinner.

hmmm... how many classrooms do you think we can make from one or two million pesos? (they had two dinners, right?)

bayani's flooding improvement

it rained heavily this early morning for about two hours. there was loud thunder and lightning. the skies poured a lot of water onto manila and left more than 12 inches on the streets. this is the second time it happened this year. in the previous years, if my observations are correct, the flood levels would reach 9 to 10 inches. and this was after bayani fernando of the metro manila development authority (mmda) was tasked to improve the flooding in metro manila. and this task has a huge budget attached to it.

now i am asking what happened to all that money and if it was wasted on bayani. i'd like to know, if no one else does. he should be accountable for spending the people's money--as is everyone else who does.

if bayani calls the more than two-inches increase in flood waters and "improvement" then i shudder to think what would happen to the country if gets elected to office. he should be replaced already.

p.s. i saw a couple of guys pass by in front of the house paddling in a yellow kayak. the flood waters are that bad

update: its been 12 hours since the skies poured its axiety and there's still about six inches of floodwaters on the streets. did bayani really do his job? it doesn't appear like it. do you think he will do his job when he gets elected for office? i certainly don't think so.

Reading books is Educational, Stupid.

The treaty (1950 Florence Agreement) has provided for duty-free importation of books to guarantee the free flow of “educational, scientific, and cultural materials” between countries and declared that imported books should be duty-free.

But Finance Undersecretary Espele Sales reportedly brushed off this argument, saying novels and reading books are “not educational.”

Stupid.

“Novels and reading books are not eductional.” Simply stupid.

Who the hell hired this person?!? Shameful, really.

Doesn't s/he realize that there are still people who think in this country?!?

Don't make us stupid because we Filipinos are not.

Books are educational. Or didn't you read about it in school?

Get this person out of that office and out of government! Shame on you for hiring someone that stupid.

This is what the fuss is all about.
Time line here.
Robin Hemley

pangandaman lies

from a local forum:

At this point, Hussein said the situation became violent. Delfin, Hussein said, went to Nasser Pangandaman Jr. and shouted “P_____ i__ m_, hindi mo ba ako kilala? Member ka ba dito? (Don't you know who I am? Are you a member here?)”

“Dela Paz hit the mayor with his umbrella. The mayor’s older brother got the umbrella from Dela Paz. Dela Paz punched the mayor’s brother. Bino Dela Paz grabbed a golf club and hit the mayor. The Pangandamans wanted to leave the golf club when another Dela Paz group attacked the Pangandamans with bats and ice picks at the main clubhouse,” Hussein said.

ugh. i'll tell you what i think. the loca politicians has always been good at making up stories. imagine, a 56-year old guy and a 14-year old boy beating up young and apparently stronger pangandaman, jr. with the latter's body guards around. would you believe this crap? i certainly don't.

and like the politician that he is, he uses the phrase "hindi mo ba ako kilala?". it wasn't used by dela paz. to be honest, i do not care who you are. wala akong pakialam kung sino ka man. meron kang maling ginawa.

and what's this crap about bats and ice picks in the main clubhouse? there were only hand guns from pangandaman's party.

nagsisinungaling yang mga yan.

tatamaan din yan ng lintik. kita mo.

expunge pangandaman

a friend of mine gave me a link to a blog entry where it describes a politician and his friends physically beating up a 56-year old man and a 14-year old boy. from the blog entry, it appears that the mayor of masiu city, lanao del sur -- mayor nasser pangandaman, jr., -- over an altercation on which group of golfers goes ahead of the other, threw the first punch towards a 56-year old man.

a government official throwing the first punch.

and the father of the puncher, the secretary of the department of agrarian reform, who was present at the scene, didn't anything.

does that look like the actions of government officials to you? to anyone?

one was punching out an older man while the father of the one throwing the punches just looked on.

as far as i can tell, these actions doesn't fit any official of the philippine government. these people do not deserve to be in government and therefore i call for these people to be expunged from government.

that is, unless the philippine government actually condones this kind of behavior from its officials. then that would be truly unjust and tragic.

nakakahiya. people actually voted for this guy. by hitting an elder he disrespected the people who voted for him. he broke their trust. is this what your father taught you?

and to the father who just looked, how can i trust your judgment when i know that you were witness to an injustice and you didn't do anything about it? how many other injustices have you witnessed that you kept to yourself. nakakahiya. you do not belong in the cabinet. you and your son do not belong in this country.

know it all?

"I think we should do everything not to allow it to be shown," Ermita told reporters in a news briefing Wednesday.

ugh. here we go again. we have a pinoy here deciding for me if i can or cannot see a movie. this time its the da vinci code.

who are you to decide for me? who died?

i'm of legal age. i think i can decide for myself if this movie is really blasphemous or not. and unlike you, i have read the book. twice. and i'm still a practicing catholic by choice.

"I don't see how we as a Catholic nation or as practicing Catholics would ever tolerate such a plot to be propagated in the name of freedom of expression," he said.

in case you haven't guessed yet. you're too late. the book has been printed and a movie has been made. the material the movie was based on has been readily available for years.

i have read holy blood, holy grail. and, by my choice, i'm still a practicing catholic.

Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, a senior leader of the dominant Roman Catholic church in the Philippines has already launched a campaign to have the film banned, ahead of its planned opening across Asia on May 18.

well, someone thought that the idea of the world not being the center of the universe was blasphenous and deemed it necessary to excomunicate the person who thought about it. it took the roman catholic church more than a thousand years to realize its mistake and offer an apology. do you really want to make another stupid mistake?

again. i am of age. i can decide for myself. i did not vote for you to decide for me.

mind your place.

a different view

a friend of mine forwarded this to me and i'm posting it in full. it pretty long but very valid. i share his views.

Jojo Robles
Manila Standard Today
03 March 2006

A different view

From a reader, who refuses to be identified, comes this compelling e-mail. It presents a fresh viewpoint on the current situation and deserves to see print:

Dear Tita Cory, senators, congressmen, businessmen, media people, leftists, and all bleeding hearts out there, I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos.

I feel like screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours. You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made. In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.

I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear -- we chose not to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even more. Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward. You may think that is not correct, you can tell me all the dire warnings about the evils of authoritarian rule, but quite frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts to prop up your cause. You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights, but who told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that my rights and my freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and fight for them myself.

You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including you), I may have become jaded. But you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative, while GMA has bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way. From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective.

You say she is the problem. I say, we are the problem; more to the point, I think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right, you!

While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the elections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her. Yes, my dear bishops, I have done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral thing to do: forgive. Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be defiant, continuing to insult us every day with his protestations. Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard, after
all.

I know you think that GMA's apology was not enough, or that she was insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral fiber of society. The real reason is because you smell blood and want to go for the kill.

Well, I have news for you. I do not like her, too. I did not even vote for her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you even more. I may not trust her, but guess what: I do not trust you even more.

You know why? Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country. You belittle every little progress we make; conveniently forgetting that it is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them.

Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard every day in our jobs. Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the eyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakingly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause. Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven and earth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core. For all your effort, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I say enough.

Don't get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you have tried to prove your accusations all this time and you have not succeeded, so it is time to let things be. Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists -- the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses.

So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than scheming power-hungry fools who cannot even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest.

Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only underscored what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people whose only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse does not work. You are like bullies who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task for your cruelty.

I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us.

Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the government when that is the one and only thing you have been trying to do in the last many months?

We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not give a f**k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our share to make things work. If you only do your jobs, the ones that we elected you to do, things would be a lot simpler and easier for every one.

The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more dangerous and a serious threat to this country than GMA is. We have seen what you are capable of doing -- you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need protection from, it is protection from you.



(E-mail: jojo.robles@manilastandardtoday.com)
Friday, March 03, 2006

my thanks

in case no one mentions it, i'd like to thank the taiwanese, malaysians, americans and people who are helping/helped in the rescue efforts in samar. you make your country proud.

respect

i took a peek at the headlines today. i saw american soldiers helping out looking/digging for survivors in the landslide in southern leyte. many, many thanks for your help. i, for one, am very appreciative. edit: a big thank you to the malaysians as well.

i also read that a "warning" bomb went off inside the malacanang compound where the president holds office. it was planted by philippine rebel soldiers.

as a pinoy, who do you think i would respect more? the american soldiers helping out filipinos in samar or the philippine rebel soldiers who wants arroyo out by planting and setting off a bomb?

is this how you rebel soldiers will govern when or if you take over the government? "ay. there's something wrong in that area. let's set off a bomb." duh. nakakahiya kayo.

its stupid as stupid can get. why don't you guys be more useful and help in samar? people will look up to you. as of now, you jerks are just a bunch of power-grabbing dirt.

mali.