The Mad Mad World of the Binays
[Photo Source: Inquirer]
No harm intended. No foul.
Trust me.
Every once in a while, we have rolling through our lives people who are larger than the rest of us, commanding a presence on a world stage that is front page, top line, full house. Some of these people are artists like Michelangelo and Bach, some are sports figures like Michael Jordan and Manny Pacquiao, some are scientists like Galileo and Einstein, some are performers like Elvis Presly and Celine Dion, some are warriors like Sargent York and the Magsaysay brothers of Zambales, and some are leaders like Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler. Well, Hitler went to the dark side, the side of Darth Vader and the Green Goblin, of schemes and manipulations and ego bigger than any rational container, bigger than what is emotionally healthy.
What are we to make of a woman who visits England, is enthralled by what she sees, and wants to emulate it in one of the poorest countries in Asia? Who wants her exotic dreamland to look like the Queen’s and smell like the Queen’s, of orchids from Hawaii and Thailand, and with a view of earth not much different than God’s.
Instead of shouting “off with her head” like the mad queen in Alice in Wonderland, she screams “get that stench of pig manure out of my garden . . . and those wretched flies, too!” And so the piggery is encapsulated in sweet air.
Meanwhile, the Lord of the Manor is with the people, dressed in native garb. “I’m just one of you!” he says, smiling softly. He pronounces his vision of the nation under his rule, “we’ll take care of you, you poor, poor abandoned people! We won’t be like the leaders you have now!” He behaves humbly, the loyal servant, showing his modest face and modest SALN to the whole world, and suggesting that anyone who would be so ridiculous as to criticize his Lordship must obviously have a political agenda. THEY are the bad people.
“We are here to serve. We are good people, the best . . . unfairly maligned by ambitious scoundrels like Senators Cayetano and Trillanes. And that biased Justice Secretary de Lima. Surely you must see that!”
Off to the right we hear a noisy clamor. Dressed in floppy shoes and pointy technicolor beanies, we see the red-nosed press, or perhaps it is brown, running breathlessly to the darling Princess Binay, a senator in disguise, to get a point of view. It matters not that this point of view is totally lacking of any information whatsoever. They cram it into a headline to provoke confrontation because there is no need to inform or help solve the problem. There is need to sell papers and make money.
We have tin soldier Ted Failon blaring his overblown expose’ of the Chief Cop’s tiny estate whilst not being able to find the giant Royal Palace on a hill. We have esteemed lawyer Harry Roque endorsing Lord Binay and letting his hard-won integrity lurch into the drain pipe out of loyalty to a family friend; right and wrong mean nothing to this lawyer. We have the Aquino sisters behaving like giggling go-go dolls, endorsing a man who has been good to them.
Never mind what happens to the rest of us, the un-privileged class.
To the left is another choir. But it is quiet, lips zipped. We see senators and representatives and mayors of sister cities of Makati. This is the choir of the mute, the people who dare not criticize. If the King is naked, they see clothes. The conductor waves an invisible wand and the choir raises empty voices toward the theft of a nation going down right before their very eyes. Senators Santiago and Escudero do murmur a gentle piece of advice, “visit the senate and explain”, they tell VP Binay. But there is no indignation. No anger.
It is a choir of the political, not the caretakers of the land. It contains some of the most esteemed people in that land, even those named Poe and Osmena and Bam Aquino and Sonny Angara and Loren Legarda and . . . well, there are lots of them. People who will aim their voice everywhere but where it matters.
Manny Pacquiao is not in that choir. He is in a different group.
The institutions and people going down in flames by attaching themselves to the Mad Mad Kingdom is legion. CDQ, wherefore art thy integrity? Sister cities and their breathless mayors have been enticed into the lair of the Mad Mad Kingdom like so many rats lurching blindly behind a money-draped piper. They know they will share the riches of their lavish patron if he is Lord of the Philippines. Right and wrong means nothing to these mayors.
And, down and dirty, in the cockfight pit of the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee, where Lords and Queens dare not tread, more and more people step forward to reveal their small part in the Mad Mad World of the Binays.
Their World is a world where decrees from the Lord’s jokers, his press people, pronounce the truth of things. It is from the Lord. It cannot be denied. This mad world is a place where civic buildings are declared world class . . . and green . . . and the building is expensive because of the foundations, trust us. The Commission on Audit has given its okay on the building, trust us. Attacks against us are politically motivated, trust us. The whistle-blowers are really the corrupt people here, trust us. The property in Batangas is not owned by the Binays, trust us. You are being given lies. Trust us.
And so those who are tagged as “Liars” by the Binays march forward before the Senate panel, cite their oath to tell the truth, and relate what they know. The weeks pass. Startling revelations are made. Jaws drop.
We discover the building is not world class. So admits the company that built it, the company that allegedly overpriced the building by a billion pesos in rigged bidding. So says the architect who was apparently “in on it”. So says an independent construction expert. The building is “average”. And so they, too, are added to the list of Liars. Nor is the building green. Liars.
As for that expensive foundation, we learn that no soil test was ever done. “The consulting engineer just used an assumption” says the architect, sweating mightily. Liar.
If attacks are political, there should be no evidence of wrongdoing, for the facts should bring forward only smoke, no fire. But we hear from former Makati City employees that bids were rigged, hear from a bidder trapped in an elevator to prevent him from submitting a legitimate bid, a COA official saying there were red flags about rigged bidding, an assessor who says today’s market value of the P2.3 billion building is less than P900 million, the architect who is artfully pinned down by Senator Cayetano and forced to acknowledge that the building is not worth P70,000 sq m, and we discover a trail of money that leads directly to the Mad Queen’s fairy land high on a hill in Rosario, Batangas.
“They are all Liars” says the Lord’s spokesman. “It’s all political.” Trust us.
And never, at any time, do we hear an explanation of why the taxpayers of Makati paid P2.3 billion for a building worth less than P900 million in today’s real estate market. We never find out why toilet bowls that cost P8,944 each today were purchased by Makati from Hilmarc’s vendors for P13,400 in 2010, P20,700 in 2011, and P32,400 in 2012. We are not told what has happened to dear friends of the Binay family, like the Chongs, who have suddenly disappeared to dodge their subpoenas. It would seem that bags are being hurriedly packed all across Makati.
Ahahahaha, and the body language! The body language of the witnesses, the liars and the truthtellers. It is a physical rendition of a world gone surreal! They don’t write scripts this good, this dramatic.
Vice Mayor Mercado’s testimony at first is given with reservations, with hesitation and a wish that this whole episode would just go away. The truth has to be coaxed out of him.
The truth does come out and the Binays call him a Liar and say that HE is the real scoundrel.
Ahhh, but that makes the Vice Mayor mad and he opens the floodgates of truth. Vengeance will be his. Out spills the deceits of the Binays, in loud, confident, even excited revelations. Three bags are thumped onto the table, the tools of a bagman delivering millions. Slides and videos of the Lord’s home, stocked full of valuable imports. Video of the Mad Queen’s estate, pigs and cocks and beautiful horses, and, ohhhh, those orchids. These revelations are brought to us by a man who participated in the scheme. He may go to jail if he is not named a witness for the State. He was made angry by the Lord of the Mad House who not only abandoned him, but tossed his reputation into the trash heap and tried to dump the crime on him.
A parade of whistle-blowers and “resource persons”, one after another, lean forward, push the microphone button, and set forth their testimony in forthright and earnest terms. Much of it is cross-confirmed by others. The Binays call them all Liars.
On the dark side of the table, where construction firm Hilmarc’s representatives sit, and the architect, and the Mayor of Makati – a Prince of the Mad Kingdom before he decides to flee the forum – people are hunkered down, tense, guarded in what they say, answering in generalities or pointing to others. They are illusive. Two Hilmarc’s executives flee and are remanded to the full committee for contempt citation. Admissions have to be extracted from the Dark Kingdom’s side with a ply bar, but it comes out: “the building is not world class, it is not green, it does not have special foundations, it is not worth P70,000 sq m”. This is a bunch of people who are very, very afraid, because the horror of being held accountable for what they have done just . . . will . . . not . . . go . . . away.
We see the dark eyes of ambitious Senator Trillanes glowing with delight as the Mad House is unveiled. We see the smiling, fast-talking, ambitious Senator Cayetano, smart, prepared, a scalpel at hand slicing through all the deceits and misdirections of people out to defend a huge collusion. He cuts through the madness and gives us a startlingly clear picture of funds brazenly stolen and delivered to the Lord and Queen of the Piggery for distribution to the entitled. Dissection of a crime. CSI Cayetano.
We see the body language of COA head Heidi Mendoza, tense, almost in tears. Put in a legalistic bind, she is required to relate what she knows about a case now before the courts. She shows her findings, that Makati previously used overpricing to siphon off taxpayer money for uses that are not known, but are certainly not legitimate. Why is she shook up? We learn that her house has been broken into two times, and that the morning of her testimony to the Senate she receives a threatening phone call.
This is the truth of the Mad Mad World of the Binays.
We can laugh about the comfortable pigs, but the real Mad Mad World is not nice. Ask a couple of security guards about that. Guys who were just doing their job but crossed the Prince and Princess of Binay. Every piece of evidence, every testimony, every revelation suggests this Mad House it is stock full of connivers and thieves and people who intimidate and threaten innocents.
It is a contorted world of schemes and manipulations, of using the poor as a tool. Of demeaning good people because it suits their purpose. Of buying the press and allegiances of sister cities and in 2016 perhaps a lot of votes. It is a place of entitlement and pronouncements that are not to be contested. It is a realm where money has been splashed around for the sole purpose of elevating a family to royal standing in their entitled place as King and Queen of the Philippines. With prince and princesses all dolled up and ready for the coronation ball.
For what?
For palaces and summer homes, horse ranches and air conditioned piggeries, tiaras and original artwork on the walls?
To be larger than life?
To find the Lord’s destiny to rule, to command. To make . . . and break . . . lives?
But there is an echo in my brain. A case of deja vu perhaps.
Haven’t we done this before?
Haven’t we learned?
Are we mad, too?
And the silent choir? Is there no patriot among them?
They direct their attention to the Chief of Police and demand he leave his post. They are indignant. Angry. Then they turn their eyes down. They look to the left and look to the right. They look at the ceiling. But they refuse to look at a man just one step from the presidency.
And they refuse to look at a people whose only power is what their elected representatives choose to do. Or not do.
They choose to pick on the the little people, and in that way, imitate the Binays.
They duck their heads, blind to the theft of a nation, deaf to the testimony of earnest people, mute to any call for accountability.
They are the maddest of them all, I think. They can find no compassion for the people they represent. No compassion at all for the nation they are blessed to serve.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Hear, hear!
Good evening, PP. Thanks.
Joe’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Something like that. Can’t figure if I’m supposed to eat the cake or mushroom.
maybe brownies.
haha, yes, a better choice, thanks . . .
A poignant analysis, Joe! Emphasis on poignant because for me, this is as close to complete deja vu that I have come across in a long time. Been there, seen that. I realize it is not ‘attractive or informative enough’ to hark back to former times. I will make this point anyway, FWIW.
This is the ‘deja’ part:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos
My ‘Vu’
@ Ms Dolly & Edgar & Joe
I know you only through the lenses that you bring to bear on the current state of affairs. I am part of your analytic choir. 🙂 Some of the historical shadows (my contemporaries) are still around and many are being rendered moot.
The narrative here, IMO, is the political configuration complex that prefigures what is to take hold for a post-Aquino administration. Should Mr Binay’s cabal and sister-city seedbed prevail, the probable landscape that is to be, come 2016, does not look promising. The reason for saying this is purely historical, i.e. my personal history, my lens. Mr Binay seems to be following, step by step, the ascendancy of Pres Marcos and really hopes to duplicate almost verbatim Marcos’s blueprint. Admittedly Mr Binay’s parallel has certainly marked differences in time, place and circumstance. But I’m afraid Mr Binay’s putative charisma and smarts will not be up to the challenges and complexities of the current Filipino population and human geography.
I included above the link above as a good timeline and trajectory to test Mr Binay’s timetable, drama and dramatis personae. Let us hope that his hubris will not be tragic to the Filipino people.
Poignant. I agree! Inspired article, Joe. 🙂 Melodious. Masterful.
Delightful and heartbreaking in equal measure.
Delightful for its lyrical embellishments,
heartbreaking for its incisive truth.
“I’m afraid Mr Binay’s putative charisma and smarts will not be up to the challenges and complexities of the current Filipino population and human geography.”
Yes, that is the danger. Animosity in politics, autocracy in action, riots in the streets.
Well done, sir. And thank you. My admiration of your work continues evermore.
Good of you to stop by Miguel. I’m glad you liked the article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Syjuco
What do you get when George Orwell meets Rachel Maddow?
Joe America.
Oink. Oink. 🙂
I would like to read Joe’s PI version of Animal Farm. 🙂
That version is actually writing itself, so to speak. The Binays couldn’t have picked a better animal to breed and raise. Pigs R Us, they live by. And as George Orwell concludes,
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
*******
Cha,
What an apt quote!
*****
Ahh, well, Rachel Maddow orients her sharp words around a political perspective, which I don’t wholly like. But I do admire her talent with words, which are not as sharp as a scalpel nor as heavy as a sledge, but more like a diamond tipped chain saw. hahaha Oink.
You’re welcome. 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Welcome everyone to the the Society of Mad Hatters! We all come in here because we are mad enough to believe that we can do something about PI’s situation. Is it mass hallucination? Is it mass delusion? Who cares? What matters is we are all care enough to give a darn.
Wonderful quote. If I had remembered that, it would have been the opening to the article.
We must be mad or we wouldn’t have come here! ahahahahaha, great! Some days I feel that way. 🙂
Society of Mad Hatters – I love it!
“Binay-Aquino rift” one Tabloid brandished! I am not saying there are non-tabloid, sensible Philippine media in thePhilippines. All of them would fail American Media standard except The Inquirer in the USA.
Binay has warned Aquino by firing a scud against Trillanes “Luxury Vehicles”. Binay knows scandal. He wakes up in scandal. Sniffs scandal. Binay knows how to play the scandal game like all his accusers that waited to nip Binay’s popularity. I am not saying I am a Binay fan.
Whenever I come in defense of Justice and Evidence which are missing in Binay’s case, brilliant Filipinos attack me as Binay Defender. Well, that is a show that Filipinos still have a lot of rice to eat till the end of the world to know how to practice and play Justice.
Aling Gloria was accused. People were led to believe. So far, all accusations has been struck down by DOJ. People are dismayed. Annoyed. Betrayed.
Another accused, Ampatuan. Languishing in jail. While the investigators and accusers are still planting evidence. Of course, Philippines is agricultural country. We all plant including evidinces.
Another accused, Napoles. They are afraid to touch this lady. They are all in her list. BenHur List. Inquirer List. It seems everybody have their own list. Binay has his own list, too.
Everybody here is a crook. As what the Bible says, “those who have not sinned cast the first stone”. So, everybody are casting the stone so they’d not be accused of having sinned. Doncha love the Bible. Filipinos learn a lot from the Bible in a very wicked way.
There is also another news about the address of a “management company” shared by a “carenderia”. Jesus, Mary, Mother of God help the sinners!!! If these “journalists” were worth their salt, all they have to do is go to SEC, pull out records of incorporation from any company or coporation which has “management” in their corporate name most of them maybe be sharing address with a residence or an apartment.
Can Filipinos learn? I doubt. It is 2015 nobody still knows how to do their legwork. Most of all, Binay has already denied in public that he does not own the Hacienda. By virtue of that statement, all the government has to do is sequester, garnish the property and relocate the Tondo citizens in the Hacienda.
Simple lang, nahirapan pa!
I don’t think everybody is a crook because values here accept theft as okay as long as one does not get caught. The only crooks are the ones that get caught, and there aren’t so very many of them. I’ll be commenting on these values in Friday’s blog.
Joe, can you not publish this blog (Friday’s) already? Pardon the eager-beaverness. You have managed to pick subjects and ruminations and a style that resonate with many blog-followers.
“… accept theft as okay as long as one does not get caught.” is one of them.
Ha. It will be out by the time you awaken, perhaps . . . as I generally pre-publish them. I never took you for an impatient man! Well, well!
ps. In my opnion, anyway 🙂 (note to me: there is right, there is wrong, there is mystery; the unenforceable law – what to do; Nature’s analog – dendrite formation, diamond cutting)
Joe,
After your brief indulgence in dreamland, I guess we better step back to reality.
Binay is hell-bent on becoming president but it seems he may be frustrated by the concerted efforts of the opposition, namely the Liberal and Nacionalista parties, and the bloggers and angry people who will not stop showing their disdain for his ‘sins’ to the nation in any way they can.
In case of a loss in the elections, he can still plan to be the ruler (rajah or the sultan) of the Bagobos and other tribes that may join them (he could also reunite with his old classmate, Nur Misuari) to build a city bigger than Makati with its main source of income to come from the biggest piggery he could ever build, much bigger than the one in Rosario, Batangas.
I just hope he will take notice of this suggestion and give it a serious thought. Yes, seriously!
The reality is it is about to get down and dirty. The Binays have no choice but to confront, because their lies (green building) have not worked. So a cabal of the moneyed is being put together which has VP Binay embracing every crook in the nation . . . which indicates the kind of government we are in for if he succeeds. The offset to that is he is insulting everyone who has high hopes for the Philippines. So we have a small core of good-thinking people going against a sizable core of well-moneyed people out to command the huge number of votes of the poor.
I think the VP is on a direct path to impeachment myself. He is offending too many people.
*******
1. This is a prose-poem. The words flow like a river.
2. Pity that such flights of language are inspired by a scoundrel.
2.1. But the words should inspire the people to ignore the scoundrel.
3. On the photo:
3.1. The expression on the Binay face is one of domineering and complacent arrogance.
3.2. The expression prematurely declares, “Yes, I am King, and you are my subjects.”
3.3. The expression belies the tourism motto on the t-shirt that says, “It’s more fun in the Philippines”.
3.4. The motto should more appropriately read, “There are more funds in the Philippines”.
3.5. The Veep wears many things:
3.5.1. A splendid Maranao (?) vest and a tasseled headdress, both of many colors.
3.5.2. A golden wedding band and a wristwatch on his raised left arm.
3.5.3. A couple of talismans on his right arm: one an ancient string of beads and the other a modern wrist cuff that monitors heart-rate, blood pressure, distance walked, and calories burned.
3.5.4. An honorary medal – Order of the Whatsis – and a decorative kris with a silver-plated buffalo-horn handle.
3.5.5. Let’s not forget the double pouches of moneybags under the eyes.
3.6. Subjects 1 and 2 on the right can hardly contain their glee.
3.7. They are counting their chickens before they are hatched.
3.8. But subject 3 on the left can hardly contain his shame. Although he raises the King’s arm, he looks down and his countenance plainly says, “I can hardly believe I am doing this. This… this guy is not a champion of the people.”
3.9. His apostasy is plain: his t-shirt says, “I heart Manila” and not “I heart Makati”.
3.10. He alone wears a white headdress and the beard of a prophet.
3.11. Let us listen and heed the warning of the prophet.
*****
The main aim of the blog is to inspire legislators to do something about the scoundrel.
Words are great fun, eh? I have great respect for them and dictionaries.
I also enjoyed studying the photo, for the same readings you suggest. Only I thought the guy on the left was in prayer . . . . your inclination might be to think these are rational people. 🙂
*******
There’s a third explanation for the lefty: he hasn’t been paid… or not paid enough. 🙂
*****
Ahahahaha, yes, maybe that’s it. Very good.
Uncle Joe,
Just one note: It’s sort of false to imply that those who want Purisima out or at least get a full-force beating from his boss are the same as those who are silent on the Binay issue. In my eyes, if both of them erred, then both of them can disappear. Surely, a lot must share that sentiment. Living with both these guys and treating them as “acceptable losses” or something like a budget depreciation expense is kind of silly. In a country of 100-million warm bodies, WE CAN DO BETTER.
I don’t know why you’re sort of implying that we should live with Purisima. Is he a little fish in your eyes? If he’s a dirty little fish, then he should go. OMG. Are you turning Filipino with “Puwede na yan”?
Say it with me, “WE CAN DO BETTER.”
Now, who’s available to take their place?
Stepping up to the plate is another issue. Hihi. I just like the idea of we can do better. Oh, well. We’ll eat what these people serve up. I mean, us ordinary folks.
Time to buy popcorn for the next hearing.
brianitus
I don’t excuse Purisima if he has broken laws, but there is a difference between a P3 million break on a Pajero, perhaps in exchange for a bid award, and billions ripped from taxpayers to fund a takeover of the Philippines. I also think some of the loudness of the attack on Purisima originates from the Binay camp. We ought not get distracted or diverted by less than primary interest. (It is a business principle I’ve followed; one who engages in secondary efforts ends up not accomplishing the primary goals). Focus, my young man, focus . . . on the really important goal.
Buying popcorn for the 23rd.
It’s a good thing we don’t come from either camp. Easy to get distracted if you support either one. Primary goal for this Pinoy is simply to get rid of those supposedly corrupt individuals in government.
Another week of waiting. Meanwhile, let us treat ourselves to the unfolding story of Oplan Stop Nognog. hahaha.
I don’t know. Maybe Binay should feel a bit flattered that his opponents think that the only way to stop him is to send him to jail.
And…it’s kind of disgusting to see Binay to try to woo the followers of GMA.
Is there a way of exposing corrupt media personnel?
Hard to do, I think. But one can hone in on blatant favoritism. The “shills” become clear, and they don’t usually do it for professional ethics, but for favoritism. Purchased or family ties or some other bias. Harry Roque, as an attorney with a wide public viewing, is of the same ilk. Family ties take precedence over right and wrong.
I love your writing and the truth it bears.
Thank you, dnfm. Writers who have influenced my writing style are Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons in real life; an ardent advocate for Philippine independence, by the way), Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens and Ambrose Bierce. They are, in turn, colloquial, satirical, humanist, and bitterly satirical. Kafka may be in there somewhere (absurdity), and probably Ayn Rand (pragmatism). Oh, forget it . . . . It is a royal mishmash. But I’m glad you appreciate the article.
Wow, Joe, I’m overwhelmed.
Hi John. The Binays are inspirational . . in a way . . .
Thank you sir. Your article expressed what many us also feel. Your are a true Filipino than many of us. You are more makabayan than most of the media people and politicians around. By the way, I now love how the Rappler carry the Binay corruption scandal. Hope that more media will be ‘enlightened’.
Thanks, Miguel. Yes, Rappler did adjust, didn’t they? Much less political now and more fact-based reporting. The “toilet bowl” figures used in this report originated in Rappler, and I believe were the basis for the Subcommittee’s queries about the matter. I suspect the Inquirer people also are at least aware that people are watching. I think the other papers don’t care much. You know, CNN is coming to the Philippines on Channel 9. That may encourage the two primary television networks to clean up their news coverage. I hope so. I watch 9 now, actually. Not the big networks.
Thank you sir! For your blog and the articles that continously remind us to be vigilant.
What I do not understand, is that the people who were shouting injustice because of DAP is suspiciously silent about Binay’s corruption issues.
Where is the outrage? Is someone organizing a million dollar march to force Binay to resign?
That is a very very interesting question, bauwow. Where is the outrage, compared to DAP? I can guess two possible reasons:
1) DAP was a lightning rod for political opponents of the President, including leftists, crooks, those hurt by his straight path, UNA and others. So they pounced. Many are organized, with press spokespeople. There is no such anti-Binay organization.
2) In the culture of the crab, the President’s straight path is viewed as an elitist “we are better than you” path, so the press and general public get very excited about a flaw in the perfection, and wants to scream at it “see, you are not so hot”! The straight path is viewed as a put-down by the many who don’t follow it.
Perhaps I’ll blog about this point, because my condemnation of the legislators for inaction could certainly be aimed at all the political leaders who like to shout their complaints. Like those people marching on Roxas about the VFA. “Excuse me”, we are talking about an imprisonment clause while a guy is trying to buy is way into the presidency by using stolen money!!!
For sure, the lack of outrage is strange, strange, strange.
Oh, well Joe – there is an outrage now…
Only, it’s on a different subject matter – outrage at the VFA because of a death of a transgender who is in the sex trade. And the “leftists” and Harry Roque & Ellen Tordesillas equate it as a “denigration of our sovereignty”.
But these people do not even raise a squeak on the wealth of Binay… perhaps they are blind to it? Or their faith in Binay is absolute that whatever he says is the truth? Or they really believe in Antonio Tiu who owns billions of properties & CEO of holding companies a few years after finishing his Masters degree?
Pity my country and the gullible Filipinos….
It’s interesting, I was just thinking on my way to the computer that there is no way to control some situations, especially when people have political agendas and go the “emotional” route. But I agree with you. Denigration of sovereignty occurs when you allow a man to use stolen money to capture the presidency. Not when you negotiate an agreement that keeps the Philippines safe and secure.
And, to be accurate, I think it is only a few who are worked up about this, but they get the press coverage. Senator Santiago likes it because it fits with her “anti-VFA stance”. I hope someone asks her how she would deal with China if she were President.
mr joe
l did write in a different thread – beware PHL, IMELDA II is a distinct possibility.
ben
Ben, yes it would appear to be so. Similar sense of personal entitlement.
Alegasyon lahat ang bintang kay Vp at hindi pa napatunayan sa corte. devious are the people behind the demolition campaign (composed of some elite, media owners Inquirer/bandera, yahoo news et al..) Ang 3 itlog gusto harapin sila sa senado pra bastusin murahin e kung may concretong ebidensya e ifile ang caso sa corte, palibhasa’y “hearsays” at aerial photos hindi
uubra in any court of law.Mga tao naniniwala kay mercado ay kagaya rin walanghiya at talunin…so far Vp has not malign anybody, siya’y maranggal at tunay na stateman. Greetings to all Binay supporters, admirers n sympathizers, Let us pray in unison everyday til election day, Let the mantle of protection b upon Vp Binay n Family. We defy the people behind the demolition campaign and cut its devious works off !! Our prayer wil prevail in Jesus name! I donot know Vp Binay neither seen him in person but by divine revelation in a time of infamy in the Halls of Congress etc….BINAY is the GUY who wil lead the nation to earn our national identity..”Proud to be Filipino.”
Yikes, well, good to know that you have recruited the Lord to your side, leaving me only with a brain and compassion for ordinary people. What would really be helpful is if you could find out why Makati paid P2.3 billion for a building that neutral (non-political) experts say is only worth P900 million. It is such a simple question, yet no one from your camp has figured out the answer. It is been, what, three months since the hearings began? When we get to the simple facts like that – that is, when we reach honest understandings – then we can stop throwing slanders at each other. Also, why did Makati pay P32,000 for each P8,000 toilet bowl in that (not) world class bulding?
You can rant and praise Binay all you want but what I just want is for him to respond to all the allegations against him. He can respond to any forum of his choice as long as he let himself be questioned in his responses,
@gretchen leonard
you and your ilk really scare me. no amount of rational argumentation and physical evidence will diminish your admiration for the binays. if you argue that the binays did so much for makati i can argue that he could have done so much more if he had not stolen so much.
we filipinos have to learn not to be contented with the scraps thrown our way by these uber corrupt politicians. i few pesos here, a few relief goods over there and we think that binay will be the best thing that ever happened to the philippines.
may kababayans in the dark side, please use your heads and remember that whatever binay gives out came from all of us tax paying citizens and not from his own pocket.
I think the whole, “If you are not with us, then you are against us” rhetoric from the Binay camp speaks volumes as to what sort of “governance” we can expect when he wins in 2016. I say “when he wins” because I have no doubt he will win despite all of this negative publicity against him now. “Masang Pilipino” have a very short memory when it comes to these things. A couple of variety shows here and there with their favorite artistas. An envelop or two filled with 100 pesos. Hell, threaten an entire squatters community that they will get evicted unless they vote for you… Erap shamelessly ran for mayor of Manila and won by a landslide despite a plunder conviction. What’s to stop Binay from doing the same?
Yes, he can indeed win.
what’s to stop Binay from winning? –
All of us, reading and commenting on this blog and that of Raissa’s and all other blogs –
the considered educated voters.
Let’s do our duty as citizens of the country by ensuring that our next President is not elected by the majority of “purchased voters”….Let’s start voter education – one at a time. Surely, it will produce a ripple then a BANG comes election time.
Had lots of laughs reading this blog, Joe. Very well written!
Thank you, Jose. It gave me an outlet for release of considerable frustration.
bang on when u said csi cayetano,i was thinking the same about him…a good criminal profiler…
🙂