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Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. ******************************~ Abraham Lincoln

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Things got worse from the last time I was here. Uglier and nastier sides of the issues on national negligence and sell outs and buy outs have become the subject that pervades the air. Why on earth do we let this bunch of childish, self-indulged, selfish, et cetera (on the negatives) people lead us when they only think of their pockets to fill? They only think of their futures to secure, their wealth to grow, and their names to behold! They even sold this country to the big-footed chinkies and our souls to the bow-legged domos!

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This country is in the middle of a chain of stinking crises and despite massive media campaign on the blatant lie called “Dama ko ang pag-asenso (I can feel the progess),” dressing up its outer visage would not help a bit. That blatant lie alone cost millions but the true score was not addressed, let alone any positive outcome on the ad achieved. Eight out of 10 Filipinos doubt government claim of improving economy.

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From the national broadband scandal everyone knew only months after it was already signed for execution (I wonder why even the lawmakers did not thoroughly investigate on its merits before it was set to motion. We know many were willing accomplices, but what about the rest? This is too much slack in conscience among our leaders! What a shame!) down to all the other scandals that cropped up afterwards, we can see a pattern of strings of scams that come out one after the other because of misuse and abuse of power and influence.

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Strings, as they always come in series ― successive-compulsive; persistent-consistent ― that once is not a done deal, albeit questionable, illegal, and unconstitutional; there is something hideous that previously made it possible and something in the future that will keep the wheels of greed grinding. And the mother of all scams, to our unanimous national chagrin, is that we would wake up one day and see the Red Army marching along our streets while our national conscience is under contract with JPEPA (this link provides tons of information on what each Filipino needs to know).

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How daring of a hope must one muster in order to see beyond all the ugliness painted on our faces as a people made corrupt by the outright corrupt practices of our conscience-deprived leaders? How daring of a voice can one have when in mid-sentence one will be slapped with charges on libel or be viciously warned or scared?

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Save for a few good men and women (are there still some left after the walkout?), the people in government are exceptionally good liars. They are justly paid for lies to stand out as truths.

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This country is sinking midway into an ocean of ugliness, pretension, betrayal, bribery, and dishonesty. When the people have lost faith in the very institutions set up to protect them; when bribery is the standard operating procedure for a Filipino to start his small business; when skinny children and wobbly folks aimlessly roam the streets, begging for anything that will clink in their plastic glasses; when students on their way home, on a stroll, will be dragged by a speeding car loaded with snatchers; when former cops rob banks or seek ransom for the son or daughter of some rich clan; when pensioners do not receive their pensions for six months, and so on … These are all injustices taking place like they are part of our culture.

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Our silence strengthens them. Our passivity makes them confident all the more. Our hubris revives their rage for greed. By the minute.

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We must go back to being the keepers of each one. We cannot allow daily injustices to take us over. We cannot allow our conscience to just sit by and wait. We are the brave breed, we must act so. This government is not for the few; but for the people. It is not by the moneyed few who decides on what deals to make. The government is of the people who fear God and respect the motherland, not its opposite.

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The passing of 2007 was for most of us a glad time to be over with; except that whatever decisions, good or not-so good, sealed last year will still find their results getting through this 2008. We can only hope this year will turn out right for most of us.

On New Year’s Eve, fireworks from where I live did not as much get me from the television set to watch the fare, unlike last year’s, when starting from 8pm, one would hear pockets of firecrackers and see mushrooms of fireworks paint the sky from almost everywhere until 4am. Just by the smoke coming from all around, the tips of our noses turned black.

This time, the bangs started at 11:30pm and promptly ended by 12:00 midnight. Elsewhere, it could have been different — or maybe just the same as more and more people are not so sure as to what the new year will bring to each one.

If you have noticed, even as shops and other establishments extended their hours on December 25 and January 1 (which was not a usual thing), there were not much people going in them, not much excitement among the shoppers, not the same jolly air was in the air. My friend who waited until the last minute before Christmas day to have her property leased to a new lessee, just wanted to get over the holidays with great haste. Ironically, the days dragged by but luckily for her, the new lessee signed up on the 26th.

We may be a people of great resilience but where spending, as we know it, gets the better of us, we tend to be reluctant to dip to our pockets and we wait until the air clears. We save spending for better days.

There is no need to list and compare what the best days and bad days were last year. You know you have them, I have them, everyone has them in memory. The only thing in order to get by, really, is for us to not to repeat the same mistakes we did, and be positive about whatever and however prospects look at first glance then work on them for the better.

I received a message from someone not listed in my phonebook and staring at the 11-digit numbers did not help me track who the sender was. Couldn’t text back and ask for it might ruin the sender’s day to even introduce himself or herself. But I was so grateful of the message sent: THANK GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW.

So I sat and contemplated on the message for a while. It somehow changed my attitude that moment. Oftentimes we see too much and then ask “why?” when we do not understand things. Then we rant. A spirit of thankfulness is a better suit to don as it will also keep our perspectives on track. That, I believe. 

There may be no loud bangs around here during the entrance of the new year but that doesn’t mean we will let it affect us. We can be above the situation for we know how to get around by being thankful. One virture at a time.

 Happy New Year to all!

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The holidays may have placed too much pressure on politician-convicts who, while serving their sentences had to spend the yuletide out of their cells, either “by force” or with “poise”.

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 “I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me”

Commuted sentence on the bases of old age and unspecified illness, Romeo Jalosjos (Zamboanga del Norte), convicted child rapist and former congressman who has only served 11 years of his double life sentence, made his escape before Christmas. Although there had been earlier talks on his alleged release early this month, where in one TV news item he was even heard of holding on to that promised release, after his escape no one from the higher ups now say they know anything about any release regarding the child rapist. GMANews has that earlier story dated Dec. 6.

From double life terms of 80 years,  Jalosjos’ sentence was commuted to a minimum of 22 years to a maximum of 27 years by the Board of Pardons and Parole; it was commuted further by PGMA down to 16 years after the recent congressional elections. His supposed released is in April 2009.

This time, after grilling and dismissing the Bureau of Corrections Chief Ricardo Dapat, who stated that Jalosjos do not have the release order yet, both Malacañan and the Department of Justice (DOJ) say they do not know of a Jalosjos release. ABS-CBN has a follow-up story.

Does a release order mean Jalosjos will not serve the remaining life sentence anymore? What of his unspecified illness? A life sentence or reclusion perpetua requires that the convict should rot in jail for his crime. Jalosjos was sentenced with two reclusion perpetua. What could be the ground for his release order?

It is worth to note that the child rapist belongs to a dynasty in the south that has propelled a winning streak for PGMA in the last presidential elections.

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 Blue Christmas

Another convicted murderer with a death sentence commuted to life, as the death penalty had been abolished, also a former congressman, Jose Villarosa (Mindoro) left his cell in the New Bilibid Prison to stay in a private hospital for alleged hypertension and pneumonia at the Makati Medical Center before Christmastime and is to spend the New Year’s Eve with his family in a private room at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City, this time for a medical check-up.

The convicted murderer is the husband of House Deputy Majority Leader Amelita Villarosa, the same person who headed the congressional trip of more than 40 lawmakers who went with PGMA to Europe early this month. She was also the one who claimed the “cash gifts” distributed to lawmakers and local chief executives came from the Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino) group. Full story on ABS-CBN Interactive.

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A spade is a spade

The regular criminal who serves his sentence does not have the amenities of leaving his cell for a check up, let alone visits by his love ones on a regular basis. How can these lawmakers-turned-criminals enjoy their stay in a place where they should be stripped of all they used to enjoy? They must be treated just the same as the other guy in the other cell.

Seemingly, some lawmakers do not understand the value and merits of the people’s mandate that they use it more for their pleasure than for what they are expected to achieve for their community. These people took an oath to serve their office the best way they can, but they do the opposite. There must be a watchdog that checks on the ratio of lawmakers turning into criminals and lawmakers really doing their jobs or this nation will go to the dogs. On second thought, is it not yet?

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When your city or part of your city is under siege where would you be if you were its chief executive officer? Like a father or a mother at work, who, after knowing that their kitchen is on fire, would he or she not rush to the house to at least make sure that the children are moved to a safe place? Any parent won’t just keep still and wait for developments to transpire before he could think of something to stop the fire quickly, keep the children safe, and make sure no more such incidence will occur in the future.

Where then was Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay? Why was he not visible during that six-hour stretch — of what is now called the Makati Standoff (see 360-degree photo renditions by the Philippine Daily Inquirer) staged by political-suicidal Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV — that despite the news picked up by local channels on television, he simply stayed put wherever he was, expecting his police force to do its job? Oddly, the city’s force did not do well. Not enough show of force for a small band, I guess. Oddly, Binay did not show up. And, man, for six long hours! Not until he was hounded by the media. All because he felt he wasn’t needed at the scene.

The Manila Pen might not be paying its city taxes if Binay can afford to look elsewhere while some disturbance was going on there! Was that why he initially offered that the city will shoulder all the expenses to cover for all the damages at the Manila Pen, so as to redeem himself from the utter shame of not being there? I’m sure he’d think twice now that the hotel’s resident manager, Matthias Al-Amiry, reported losses and damages in his suite amounting to millions.

And that wigged guy who kept himself busy, posing around Trillanes? He was with Trillanes during the Oakwood mutiny in 2003. He now belongs to Binay’s security detail (but not for long) and was absent from duty that day. Hmmm, why am I not surprised at all? That only proved that Trillanes’ network is so active even as he is serving time, that former comrades get to know details of the uprising brewing in their master’s mind. Also, a number of Makati city hall employees joined Trillanes’ march to the Manila Pen. Will they still keep their jobs for cutting time? for joining the show? Or will they be jailed altogether?

So now a little less than 30 policemen, including the city’s O-I-C Police Chief Angel Sumulong, were dismissed from service for just letting Trillanes and his band parade on the streets of Makati. And, yes, Binay earned anew the ire of Malacañan. He used to arm himself to the teeth (remember when then PTV4 was surrounded by elements who wanted to take over the station?) way back during Tita Cory’s time. Aw, but that was then. The tables had turned; he is now president of the United Opposition. No one can blame him if he isn’t active at circumventing any coup attempts against the government. Child’s play is so not for him anymore! But the word wars have begun. Binay has a lot to say here. Are we in for a face-off between Binay and Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon?

Meanwhile, the inmates of the New Bilibid Prison declared they don’t want anymore trouble — they don’t want Trillanes anywhere near them. Yeeouch!

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As the sad affair at the Manila Peninsula last Friday was moving to an end, the authorities turned their eyes to the press and the media. They were held in a holding area, “treated like rebels or criminals”, and some, if not all, of their equipment and media paraphernalia were confiscated. The ABS-CBN news crew and reporters were the first ones to be subjected to this treatment, as reported by Pinky Webb on live camera that night.

Some, despite presenting their ID’s and showing their other stuff to prove they were members of the press, were cuffed and were sent to Camp Bagong Diwa for questioning. Of course all the media and press outfits reacted against this act. Even some members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) were not spared the treatment, as they were there.

The government’s defense: it was the only way to sort out the legitimate members of the press and the media against those who were just posing as one. In DILG Sec. Puno’s statement, he even went to as far as blaming the media for obstructing the flow of justice.

“Where was the obstruction?” asks National Press Club President Roy Mabasa. “The press and the media were already there even when there were no police lines set up to keep them apart from what was going on.”

Ramon Tulfo has also a mouthful to say about the incident in Marcos and GMA regimes similar. Media lawyers also defended the integrity of the media person’s job in bringing in the news so the public can be informed and that they do not get in the way of justice. They were just following a lead and that in so doing, they are risking their lives in order to get a clear coverage of what’s happening.

Expect the authorities to throw in other issues at the press and the media, as: national security threat; critical information; cuddling a rebel; prevalence of the law over anything else, etc. They know that this is a defining moment for the media and the press. If media and the press get away with this, without yet ‘invoking’ the fourth estate context, the authorities know that it would take major precedence in how all affairs in news gathering and releases will be done from hereon.

I believe the Philippine press and media have come a long way in terms of maturity and responsibility in news handling. They always present both sides. It is not news if only one side is presented — that is purely PR, if one could read between the lines — and that has been the ‘norm’. And most of the time, the media and the press are not ‘sympathetic’ to authorities for doing so would greatly jeopardize their calling. But that doesn’t mean they are sympathetic to rebels or anti-government elements.

They are just there to cover what is going on, to bring to the public the news as it happens. That is why press and media members and organizations smirk at the idea of airing or printing only good news about the government (if there is any) when Public Information Committee Chair Bienvenido Abante Jr. engages them to do so through a regular meeting (seminar-type, actually, as if the media and the press are told how to do their job) with press and media outfits until its culmination to a press/media conference at the PICC (?) this December (?) where they [media practitioners, press people, news orgs, pubic affairs associations, media bureaus, etc] will be asked to sign up to a (hold your breath!) “covenant on presenting only the good news”. A hu-what ? Censorship !

My die-hard, to-the-bones idealistic journalist friend was so enraged and disgusted when he attended that first meeting.

“If people like Abante in the government are only doing their jobs well, then this government will not have bad news coming out from everywhere,” my already red-faced friend said. “The news is not shoved to us for us to take it. We go there to where it happens and report it as it is. What his [Abante] covenant is offering is so insulting, not only to us but to the nation in general !”

“You know what a good news sounds like?” my friend continued, “returning all the cash gifts they got in a paper bag will be a good start.”

Meanwhile, as ABS-CBN’s footages of the Nov. 29 court walk-out could still be in the hands of the authorities, I will share some photos from the time the SWATs arrived that I have grabbed from ABS-CBN and ANC27 . Note: these photos are chronologically arranged; you may even see the timestamps on ANC27′s Breaking News.

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November 29 — It was just like any other day for Sen. Antonio Trillanes, who had to face the Makati Regional Trial Court at 9:00 a.m. for the Oakwood mutiny case, the previous one he had masterminded some years ago.

While a lawyer was questioning co-plotter Brig. Gen. Danny Lim during court proceedings (there are two versions of this report), he was nudged by Layug and everything started to get out of the ordinary courtroom semblance. The MPs (military police) assigned to Trillanes did not heed the judge’s call to order and since they were armed, what happened next prevailed.

At around 10:15 a.m., he walked out and marched towards the Manila Peninsula Hotel (Pen). With him were former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Trillanes’ bodyguards and some members of the Magdalo group that took Oakwood with him some years ago. Trillanes started calling for civilian support, which he had none in his Oakwood dry run, as he marched from the court towards the Pen. A considerable number of the press and the media went along to cover the event.

By 1 p.m. or so, the marchers were at the Pen and were settled in a room on the second floor. Media and the press were restricted to go beyond midway of the second floor alley.

Seemingly, the Pen detour was planned, as other anti-government personalities, who, later on appeared, were already there. Not by chance. ‘Running priest’ Robert Reyes, Bishop Labayen, movie actor/screenwriter Bibeth Orteza and former UP President Dodong Nemenzo were there. Trillanes’ lawyers, Argee Guevarra and JV Bautista also proceeded there.

The Makati RTC immediately released Trillanes’ warrant of arrest for contempt.

By 2 p.m., NCRPO Chief Geary Barias arrived at the Pen but some members of the Magdalo tried to hold him back. He declared a 3 p.m. deadline for all to vacate the Pen premises. For the duration of Barias’ stay at the Pen’s lobby, he attempted to gain more ground but was ushered towards the door while those within applauded to see him leave.

As “authority emanates only from the people in a democratic and republican government,” Trillanes’ group calls on the public anew as they let in the media in a conference room at the Pen. Under an assumed ‘political act,’ which is remotely related to his Oakwood mutiny case, Trillanes and his group leveled the following challenges against the PGMA administration: an illegitimate government devoid of ethical considerations; no sense of decency; slack in public accountability; a senate that cannot function well as it blocks all efforts at it; a congress where representatives are paid. The group believed their action is legitimate under democratic laws.

Their demands are valid and we know it; but in the end, Trillanes and company decided to move out of the Pen. Fumes from tear gas cans already filled the lobby up to the second floor. Some members of the media and the press were handcuffed and held in an area by the hotel entrance. Later on, they were told to proceed to Bicutan (Camp Bagong Diwa) for ‘interrogation’. Media paraphernalia and equipment were confiscated.

Before he gave himself away, though, Trillanes spoke. Between fumblings and seeming unsure words, he said: what was started is not finished yet.

But what viable and legal alternatives to the present government did he provide, if any? He can’t just drive a president from her office with nothing else to offer, can he? Could the personalities he was with at the Pen promised him the mass base he was calling for?

Or, did he know from the beginning that it was a lost cause? On second thought, was it really a lost cause? It cannot be counted out that the guy is brilliant. His parting words bear something else. Could it be that the walk-out from the courtroom detonated something we don’t know yet?  Was that a signal for something big to come later?

From the courtroom to the Pen was a long way for a stroll and there had been no intervention from the government’s side at all. It was shown on national television that he could not be touched during that stroll. Could he be protected from the sidewalks by some other elements that holing him up at the Pen was the only way to catch him? What if he just stayed on Makati Avenue so he could have a good view of what was happening outside and freely call on the mass base he so needed for his plot to make it to first base? He has a cellular phone with him; he has links to just anyone!

And what breed of men makes up his MP’s and bodyguards? For all we know, they could have escaped early on even before reaching the court for his scheduled hearing; but no, he had to show his rebel side again. Who designs his schedules? Even from his cell, the government doesn’t have that much grip on him if he can do anything whenever he steps out. Is he just playing along?

Who else could be behind him in this act? For the former Vice President Guingona to be joining him, there must still be others who don’t want to surface yet until such time there is certainty in that move.

There is, obviously, something bigger than what we perceive here or what we are made to believe. For one, Trillanes’ rebel days are not yet over and, apparently, he knows he is always steps ahead of the government.

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The Erap clemency was not planned in good faith for a lot of varied reasons. And I believe that I am not the only one harboring all these ideas all along.

First reason: It was aimed to quiet down the growing National Broadcasting Network (NBN) scam that has been filling the airwaves for too long. The PGMA administration is practically off its wits with this scam as one truth led to another and another and before everyone else would be found to have dipped his or her fingers in the loot, better give Erap his clemency.

And, of course, the long-suffering enlightened people of the Philippines (I’ll call it the LSEPP) did not just buy that sudden gush of empathy coming from the PGMA administration. “What could be behind the move?” was the unanimous question hanging on each one’s head.

As you know it, the ‘hidden moves’ are now in the open. All of Erap’s properties will be confiscated and he cannot seek public office anymore, it is one of the conditions to his pardon, to get them back. Well, that is so good, provided that everything is done in an air-tight manner and properly sealed with authenticity, truth and honesty, and, most of all, monitored so that NOT ONE DOT of greed befell the skins of those who are manning these operations and divide the spoils among themselves, as is ALWAYS the case. And who will benefit from this?

First to go are the funds of the Muslim Youth Foundation. There are others more. Now, where will all that go once it gets to government coffers. Well, PGMA has a lot of unsuccessful 10-point agenda; she might use them for those. Oh, and Mike Arroyo’s health is not so good whenever the Senate sends him summons on some misshapen deals he gets himself into again and again. Question: Shouldn’t he be in the kitchen of the palace preparing some good dinner for palace guests instead of getting his hands tied in some fuzzy government deals that will always be found out anyway in the end? Do you think some congressmen and governors will be sent out some bags of cold cash again? Just asking. You see, we are in that season of gift-giving and a show of hospitality from a beleaguered leader would be a nice gesture.

Second reason: It tried to hold down the impact of another impeachment proceeding, which was eventually thwarted for lack of substance. The cash gifts worked! But what imprint does that leave on the minds of our young?

The PGMA administration still denies that the million-peso cash gifts pro-administration congressmen (This is the site to check them out: the pro-admins are either Lakas, CMD, KAMPI and their coalitions and we don’t have to re-elect them anymore!) and other local executives, governors and mayors (you know who they are) received last October 11 even after Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio showed the public the thousands bundle through the media. Still a priest, Panlilio said: “because as a priest and a public officer, I should not lie. I believe that since the money came from Malacañang, I also believe it is public money. So I should be accountable for it and [be] transparent about it.”

The calling of the priest is surely higher than the sight and scent of money; but how shameless and un-God-fearing is that to bribe a priest! Besides, the guy has honor, a worthy title to the post he holds. Money is not his religion. I question the rest who call themselves honorable but are a major disgrace and you know what else.

Bulacan Governor Joselito Mendoza also made his disclosure.

Do congressmen and local executives from time to time just receive cash gifts out of the blue without knowing what the intentions of the giver are or what for are the cash gifts, at least? Let me re-phrase that: Do congressmen and local executives receive regular bribes and the promise of fatter pork barrels? Come to think of it, shouldn’t the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG) also look into this bribery issue as its name claims that great responsibility to at least ensure good government as nothing good is really being done right now?

They could’ve been used to build more classrooms where they are needed, or provide houses for those who do not have roofs on their heads and, yes, create jobs for those who have none. Mind you, this is not just a PhP500 thing in an envelop for one to take personal discretion of on how to expend the cash gift.

If your boss hands you a bag full of cash without a word, what would your initial reaction be? I know you are imagining it. And I know you would, at least, ask “why?”. Here are other possible questions: “what’s the catch?,” “what do you want me to do?,” “do you want to sleep with my wife?,” “what do you want from me?,” “what did I do to deserve this?,” “are you out of your little mind?”.

Oh, but why did the other governors and congressmen stay quiet about it for awhile? Media caught it on camera within palace grounds so there is no use denying it happened because it happened right there. And there was even this one forgettable congressman who even boasted that the cash gifts, after admitting they came from their KAMPPI group, was the accumulation of their monthly salary deduction! Hu-what???!!! That is the long-suffering enlightened people’s money you are giving away and for what! So you could keep this country in the gutters! You fool! And you did not even think of what you’d say?! DILG Sec. Ricardo Puno did not even know there is such a thing going on in their political party. A matter of the right hand not knowing what the wrong hand does, is that it?

And then Glorietta 2 exploded.

Now these congressmen and local executives want to come out clean after the media found them out. If there are dirty cops and hoodlums in robes, this time it is confirmed that, there are crooked congressmen and greedy governors masked as the good guys. They said they are not being bribed. (Well, hello, we weren’t born yesterday.) They don’t want to call it bribery because they know that the intentions of bribery are always dishonest and illegal. By merely receiving the bribe, they have partaken of its intents. They could’ve refused it, could’ve been offended by the act or simply returned it if they believed they do not want to be at all a part of it; but they did not. The sight of cold cash was too strong to repudiate. Randy David says it better with style and backed by his analyses.

The recent bombing of the Batasang Pambansa was a blast on all fronts of what this government obviously stands for. Speaker Jose de Venecia called the person or group behind it as anarchist, terrorist, extremist; but he or they surely made a political statement there, didn’t they? It was a major affront to an institution of government.

Third reason: Economists have warned everyone since the end part of this year’s second quarter that the coming year will be a really bad one. The falling US dollar and the hiking up of oil prices are not a good combination. A sorry time for the peso when it was beginning to get strong, despite massive complaints from exporters and those with bad debts. What groundwork has the PGMA administration prepared for this scenario? Yeah, there is no point asking. This government operates on a “we’ll see it when we get there” or “let’s see what the media has done for us today” modus operandi.

So there you see the Erap clemency was not planned. It was not in the agenda of the PGMA administration at all, until it was needed for whatever cockeyed purpose it served.

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Reference:

Photo from GMA 7′s 24 Oras

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Six years and a half in detention and convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan (court that tries public officials) to serve for life, though under appeal, Erap’s pardon is now being endorsed by the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ). (Well, what do you know? What other surprises are there a-waiting the Filipinos?)

It is up to Erap to take it or leave it.

To drop the offer and wait for the Supreme Court to consider his appeal would take a day, a month, a year, or even a decade before he could finally be declared “not guilty,” his only plea, which would be a reversal of last month’s verdict, or he could continually serve his sentence, depending on the Supreme Court’s final decision.

To ignore the DOJ’s endorsement would distance him from his ailing mother, who, at the age of 102, has not that much time to wait for his son’s release, if ever. And all that Erap needs now is to be beside her.

To withstand this voluntary act of pardon so he could cling on to his truth, that he did not plunder the government nor the Filipino people, and wait for the highest court to decide on his fate would prove everyone wrong about him. And Erap is a very principled man. Alas, this is the same Supreme Court that recognized and confirmed the Macapagal-Arroyo government in 2001 when he was, according to lawyer Rene Saguisag during his interview at ANC, also Erap’s staunchest ally and legal counsel, “illegally removed from the presidency”!

To take the offer, on the other hand, will finally unite him with his mother, his family, and friends in a snap. He could play with his grandchildren again without any constraints on time and space.

To consider the government’s bargain would loosen up his worries about the people who mean a great deal to him. He could travel with ease, at will, and live his life as he used to.

To prefer the government’s forgiveness, he will be free again.

But Erap is a principled man. Will he compromise that principle for his pardon and live every waking day of the rest of his life in shame? Accepting that forgiveness would only mean the previous conviction was true.

According to Saguisag, [seemingly] the government is, in this instance, taking corrective responsibility in this country’s legal history by offering pardon to he who was unlawfully unseated from the presidency almost seven years ago. Not Saguisag’s exact words but to that effect. He went on to enumerate all the other legal impediments of establishing the 2001 de facto government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It wasn’t easy to leave behind an unfinished term, especially in the presidency. Even the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos held on to that office until he was rescued by American choppers before an angry mob opened wide the palace doors and ransacked its interiors. Erap did not wait to be forced out of the palace.

The de facto government immortalized in legal tender. Click on the bill to find out what the images mean, BSP version.

The seeming reluctance in proclaiming then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new chief executive created a vacuum in the executive branch of government for a while. Eventually, she was installed in that EDSA II event.

What followed, as you know it, was a witch-hunt on all of Erap’s dealings in government where money, large sums of money were involved. Some lawmakers termed it the new McCarthyism. And compelling evidences produced by witnesses led to Erap’s arrest.

His lawyers fought their hardest but, in the end, they were beaten. “The government was programmed to convict [Erap] no matter what,” Saguisag said.

The pardon is a worthy undertaking that Erap could consider, as Saguisag had acknowledged in a few words. But Erap is a principled man. His truth is his name.

His only plea was and still is, “not guilty”.

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Reference:

Photos of Erap Estrada and Rene Saguisag grabbed from ANC ch 27

Photo of 200 peso bill from Answers.com

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There is nothing more pleasant than a diversion when one finds himself cornered, squeezed, or roasted. That is true of someone who really is in deep trouble. A way of escape is the ultimate end, but for a moment.

I believe the same is true with governments and enemies of state. With nothing to explain or without need to explain, planned or calculated disasters go off  during the most trying times so as to divert the people’s mind from the current problems pressing a nation and its people.

The people are not dumb to not perceive what is behind what’s going on.

When a bomb —unofficial reports say nothing yet about how many bombs exploded but witnesses said they heard two blasts— blew off inside the Glorietta 2 mall in the heart of the Makati Business District last Friday afternoon, 11 persons died and almost 200 were injured as of last count. It was a field day for some men in uniform who rushed to the site to be interviewed. 

Ironically, there were no bomb squads on the scene to confirm if the explosion(s) was caused by a bomb. According to the rescuers, they were only able to get the victims out after almost half an hour. The police line cordoned around the blast scene also prevented the rescuers from moving fast.

One senator immediately blamed the government for the disaster and called the blast a diversionary tactic while three bishops joined the others’ call for the Philippine president to resign.

Edit: From Tilde, I got the photo of Sen. Trillanes. (Thanks Tilde.) See some grabbed footages in ‘Red Alert’.