Madmen on the loose: Binay and Roque
I’m not a psychiatrist, but I’ve watched movies. One of my favorite is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest“, starring Jack Nicholson as the leader of that particular madhouse gang. It is a comedy, and a tragedy, and it is uplifting.
I’ve also worked in downtown Los Angeles and met the babbling bums there and the street corner preachers preaching at the light posts, “Repent sinners!”
So I know nut cases.
I can also read the papers, and a favorite of mine there is the good Representative from Caloocan, Edgar Erice. He is decidedly NOT a nut case. He may be one of the sanest people around. He often does the heavy lifting for the Liberal Party when President Aquino or party members can’t speak out because they are busy working for the nation Philippines. Rep. Erice is impeccably logical, blunt and quote-worthy. I hope he runs for Senate so we can have a straight-talking non-lawyer in the pack to communicate better with the common man and woman.
Rep. Erice recently described Vice President Binay and his spokesmen as being ethically challenged for the deceits they spread in attacking the Aquino Administration, and a few weeks ago he made headlines in reaction to VP Binay’s statement that, when he is President, his spokesman Toby Tiangco will be Speaker of the House.
Rep. Erice:
“When God wants to destroy, he makes you mad. VP Binay’s recent pronouncements sound like those of a madman.”
[Photo credit: gmanews.tv]
However, I for sure have noticed that Jejomar Binay, through his spokesmen, seems to be living a separate reality. More than that, he is trying to paint us a new one that has the Vice President and his son as the victims and everyone from the President to the Ombudsman as villains. I believe the Binays actually live their reality, that the Binay family is entitled to all the riches it has been able to accumulate. And that other people are bad for not leaving them alone to prosper and rule. Senator Nancy and Representative Abigail are like sock puppets issuing forth their high-born entitlements, pronouncing those of us of lesser station as impudent.
We learned at the Blue Ribbon Subcommittee hearing the other day that, at the confrontation with security guards at the Dasmarinas Village gate, Senator Nancy stepped from the car with a gun in her hand. Fully prepared to shoot the security guards, it would seem.
It is a reality that seems a tad . . . well . . . unbalanced . . . to me. Not to mention a bit scary.
I’ve also noticed a certain convergence of madness with the tossing into the political asylum the hat of Atty Harry Roque as a senatorial candidate representing UNA. Well, Roque has seemed a tad ethically loopy to me since he encouraged the German to climb over over the jailhouse fence to deliver a message to the accused (and therefore innocent, pending trial) Pemberton that he was a murderer. That got Roque a disbarment complaint. Then, recently, I read that Roque is proposing the filing of cases against the police who were sent to Makati to protect the DILG person delivering the suspension order ousting Mayor Binay. I observed in a tweet:
Roque has never met a case he couldn’t twist inside out and rationalize. He creates his own realities like a madman.
[Photo credit: Rappler]
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’
Oh, my bad!
It’s “Professor Roque” . . . I’m sorry. I did not introduce him properly. He likes to be referred to as Professor Roque because he teaches law at UP Diliman.
Well, cynical me, I tend to think that is all a part of the reality he is establishing. That his views are academically high falootin’ and not suitable for challenge by those of us who are under-educated and beneath his station. This is the tried and true technique of the culture of impunity, where the powerful claim righteousness of station and everyone else is supposed to bow with due reverence and awe.
Oh, yes, he fits with the Binays like icing on a donut.
Never mind the hole in the middle . . .where kindness, compassion and fairness are supposed to reside.
Words, after all, are just words, and are detached from any context until we use them. If we use them to concoct new truths detached from sense or civility, then that is a form of crazy. When people start to BELIEVE the new truths, that is unfettered lunacy.
It seems to me that both Jejomar Binay and Harry Roque have attached their sense of self, and their ambitions, to the words they utter, and the words they utter are grossly manipulative and missing both sense and civility.
Civility is sane.
Incivility is mad.
Sense is forthright and true.
Nonsense plays the world for fools.
Now, I’m not calling them madmen.
Let’s be perfectly clear on that point.
They define themselves.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
First, the attacks (i.e. deceits) on the Aquino administration is of recent memory, quite logically resulting from Binay’s irrevocable resignation from the Cabinet. Such act, if it created ripples at all, is not of the scope and magnitude of damage (i.e. demolition or character assassination) wrought upon VP Binay and his tribe, with no fault of their own. VP Binay could have done better but anyone already placed on the defensive cannot pushed his luck to far, can he? Second,in every political sense, the Binays become the victims and of course the villains were the President and his appointees – or how else must it read for any ordinary student of political science or law? In fact, it is characteristically an act of madness ‘from above’ to have launched an attack on Binay in a manner so rabid, so overkill and to borrow your term, possibly so “mad”. It costs an awesome ton of public funds to launch such an over-fixated campaign, if you even care to imagine. Sadly, it now plays on the ‘underdog mentality’ of a possibly sizeable segment of body polity or our average voting population. And in that real sense, the attacks launched against Binay and his tribe might even backfire, it might boomerang. If that happens, the Aquino administration, too righteous that it is but with companion general ineptitude to govern, might have even done Binay et a favor than a disservice. That seems to me where we can move the needle? I will listen to your take, Mr. Joe America!
My take is that the Blue Ribbon Subcommittee did a fine job of getting the facts onto the table, and anyone who buys the idea that Binay is a victim has either bought into the mad proclamations of the Binay spokespeople, as amplified through the ethically challenged tabloid media, or has some gain to get from aligning with Binay (e.g, Roque). I disagree heartily with the idea that the Aquino government displays “general ineptitude”, and the results speak for themselves in terms of growth and financial well-being. The achievements would be even greater if there were not so many people with an agenda to take down the government, everybody from crooks to political opportunists to leftists to crabs who are still bitter than their candidate lost in 2010.
The Aquino government is capable, is installing new disciplines of measured performance, openness and accountability, and has the nation climbing about every global chart known to mankind.
DIVERSION ROAD, DIGRESSION THOUGHTS
Having read it before I picked this somewhere –a pleasant diamond
reading for sochonors people:
On Jul 7, 2015, at 3:32 PM, Loog KLeinbussink wrote:
Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made
as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as
any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his
greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.
The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in,
which was in Independence , Missouri . His wife had inherited
the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the
White House, they lived their entire lives there.
When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army
pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that
he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an
‘allowance’ and later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove
home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined,
stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and
that doesn’t belong to me.. It belongs to the American people and it’s
not for sale.”
Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award
him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it,
writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason
For any award, Congressional or otherwise.”
As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.
Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in
on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, too many in
Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of
their offices. Political offices are now for sale.
Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My
choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a
politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!
We ought to have cloned him for telling it like it is and being
frugal with our tax dollars!
The US has certainly had some characters as president, of which Harry Truman, a straight talker, straight dealer, is one. You know, presidents are SUPPOSED to have distinct personalities and character. Otherwise they’d just be dead logs. I think Filipinos by and large have no idea what a great president they have because they get lost over irrelevant matters of girl friends and decisions they disagree with. When will Filipinos find some real pride, I’m wondering, in the high quality of the leader they have put into office.
When will Filipinos find some real pride . . . ? When them Filipinos you mentioned as instigators of nonsense thinking and bad attitudes to the clueless masses are behind bars, that’s when.
You know, that’s the thing. If Binay were behind bars, the nation would take a huge step toward integrity and self love. Until then, it is still at the mercy of the merciless.
Agreed Joe Am…he he he any corrupt persons has no right to rule Philippine…you know what I mean, and those that defense VP Binay are so corrupt as well…may they be punished by Allah in Hell, burn in everlasting fire…amen…
“Second,in every political sense, the Binays become the victims and of course the villains were the President and his appointees –……”—-Primer C. Pagunuran
This is unbelievable. When did the President ever attacked Vice-President Binay, a good friend of his family? Or his appointees? It’s the administration who is reeling from the attacks perpetrated by the vice president in the aftermath of his resignation from the cabinet, a complete turn around from his previous stand, and the administration is only forced to defend itself from those attacks.
************************
“In fact, it is characteristically an act of madness ‘from above’ to have launched an attack on Binay in a manner so rabid, so overkill and to borrow your term, possibly so “mad”. It costs an awesome ton of public funds to launch such an over-fixated campaign, if you even care to imagine.”—Primer C. Pagunuran
Wrong again. The attack did not come “from above”. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee doing an investigation of Vice-President Binay is not the administration, Senators Guingona, Cayetano, Trillanes, et al are not members of the Liberal Party, whistleblowers Bondal and Mercado are not of the administration party.
So, what ‘boomerang’ are you talking about, Primer?
@Bert, @Mary Grace Gonzales.
This would help you understand Mr Pagunuran: he was chief of staff of Congressmen Prospero Pichay and Augusto Syjuco, plus others in Gloria’s Lakas.
Thanks a lot for that note. I was wondering. I am not anymore.
@Andrew.
Bert knows Primer, we have been dealing with Primer since Filipino Voices days.Back when he still engages.
Hahahaha, he didn’t seem as troublesome back then . . . Filipino Voices was my entry to blogging and it is somehow satisfying to have old friends about.
Even if they are a tad argumentative now and then. 🙂
JCC,Primer …If bencard shows up that will be the day.
thanks for the heads up!
pechay and syjuco are two of the most crooked lieutenants of gma. it amazes me these crooks are still out of jail!!! is harry roque their lawyer? or jv bautista!?
I hope you also listen to my take, Mr. Primer C. Pagunuran.
…”demolition or character assassination wrought upon VP Binay and his tribe, with no fault of their own”
….it is characteristically an act of madness ‘from above’ to have launched an attack on Binay in a manner so rabid, so overkill and to borrow your term, possibly so “mad”. It costs an awesome ton of public funds to launch such an over-fixated campaign, if you even care to imagine.
My take:
My understanding is that the sub-committee of the BRC was the one who initiated and is continuing the investigation of the Binay “tribe” as you call them.
My understanding is that the Senate (as part of the Legislative body) is separate and distinct from the Executive, supposedly independent. The VP and the mayor was invited numerous times so they will have the chance to face their accusers, to refute the evidences offered in the hearing and to offer evidences of their own.
To my recollection, the Senator daughter had said that her father, the Honorable VP of the Philippines will not stoop down to a lower level by honoring their invitation. Pimentel, Cayetano and Trillanes – do they belong to the LP? I have not heard to this day that they have switched parties, have they now? And funded by the Pnoy admin? Hello?
Their repeated defense is political persecution, which the people feel is not enough given the strong evidences presented, the freeze order from the Ombusman based on AMLA records, the disappearance of Baloloy and LImlingan, why can’t those be explained?
Those were revealed long before the VP’s resignation which happened after he was informed that all PNOY can offer is a clean, and fair election and not his endorsement he is seeking for.
I have more to say, but it’s already 6:07 PM, I heard the number coding is suspended so I have to go.
To be continued.
@Mary
pls see my note to Bert above.
Yep, seen it…in that case, I will just ignore him…waste of words they will be to Primer and his group (he was chief of staff of Congressmen Prospero Pichay and Augusto Syjuco, plus others in Gloria’s Lakas). So Binay’s coalition with Gloria is a done deal now… no wonder he posted this kind of opinion…but he is no longer responding, i wonder why…I remember a time when another of Gloria’s apologist (can’t remember his name) he was also the first to comment in one of Joe’s blog article then… one post and then …gone!
Gary Olivar. He still gets after me on Facebook, but we don’t have a hostile relationship. We just jab one another, each recognizing the other has a job to do, nothing personal.
Oh, yes… thanks.
Why do I have a problem with remembering names? TMI? Right now I’m browsing a series of articles in Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative…My brain needs a rest, surely, too much information (TMI) is taking it’s toll. It’s making me addled….hahaha
Thing is, I so wanted to understand more about the case we have filed in the Hague.
Any supporters of VP Binay are sinners as well, if I am powerful as the mangkukulam, I already did kulam these corrupt people, but God Almighty don’t allow us (people) to work with black magic…so, I just patiently wait for their failure to win seat in Government Election…I pray earnestly to Allah to help good people like PNOY to succeed in developing Philippines and jail all corrupt politician…how could they do that to be rich by corruptions??? They have no souls at all…
Arguably Binay would have not been in his current situation if he had faced the Senate hearings from the start. There was still the chance he would be caught, but if he had only adequately explained his side, perhaps his current self-destruction would have been less extreme.
Primer,
I know you have been chief of staff of many congressmen,so you know how congress runs,having said that,even if it is the senate brc doing the action,it would be an educated guess for you to say that it has that it has a go signal from malacanang.No matter how educated your guess might be,your guess is still as good as mine or anybody, it is not worth squat.
I remember you rooting for Bayani Fernando for VP,how come you are very pro Binay nowadays,is it because of your past associations with JPE (a provincemate)?
I wish they were truly madmen or stupid but the truth is they are intelligent calculating unscrupulous men who are out to get what they can get with whatever means necessary. They are nobody’s sock puppets. And that’s what makes them dangerous.
If civility is sane, they are truly madmen. Unscrupulous is crazy, in the scheme of bettering humankind through good works. I agree they are calculating and crafty and skilled. So is Satan.
And so we need all the skills we can muster to defeat Satan
Agree. That would be a good message to push out broadly, that on one hand we adore the Pope, on the other hand we . . . adore . . . whom, exactly?
THANKS to PC Pagunuran for giving us a written response to JoeAm’s little piece. It gave more insights to a current national issue. I like to point to him and all readers here the international import of the issue. It is for him and those maligned by unrefuted lies to really rectify for example what Wikipedia glowingly wrote about the Vice President and then later on tsunami them away with an enumeration of negative items. It is what PC Pagunuran might call a demolition job. Here below are the wrecking balls from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jejomar_Binay
Corruption Allegations (2014-present)[edit]
(N.B. Lies or Factual, the office of the Vice President must asked this section to be deleted immediately. It dishonors the country.)
1. Makati City Hall Building II
2. The following are corruption allegations against Binay dating from 2014–present:
3. A 400-hectare farm in Rosario, Batangas [35]
4. A 40-hectare farm in Bauan, Batangas [36]
5. A 10-hectare mango orchard [37]
6. Two condominium units in Rockwell worth PhP 30 million not mentioned in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) [38]
7. Three story mansion with elevator in Banuyo Street, San Antonio Village not mentioned in his SALN [39][40]
8. House and lot on Orbit Street, Bel-Air II Village not mentioned in his SALN [40][41]
9. House and lot in Palm Village, Guadalupe Viejo not mentioned in his SALN [40][41]
10. Rest House in Tali Beach, Batangas [40]
11. Rest House in Puerto Azul, Cavite [40]
12. Rest House in Tagaytay, Highlands [40]
13. Rest House in Alfonso, Cavite [40]
14. Rest House in Zambales [40]
15. Rest House in Pangasinan [40]
16. More houses in Parañaque, Pasig, Mandaluyong, and Muntinlupa Cities [40]
17. 600 ghost employees worth PhP 3 million a month authorized by wife, Elenita Binay and Amigas [40][42]
18. Wife Elenita’s link to alleged deception in the public bidding for a PhP 72.06 million supply contract awarded to the Makati City government back in 2001 [40][40]
19. PhP 40 million bogus charity project for sister city [40]
20. PhP 27 million bogus charity project for calamity fund for other provinces [40]
21. PhP 22 million bogus charity project Project Aral Package [40]
22. PhP 20 million bogus charity project to send ambulances to other cities [40]
23. Use of Makati Foundation Day funds for a PhP 230 million infomercial being shown since 2009–present [40]
24. Use of PhP 15 million for the Komiks for Vice President Campaign [40]
25. Illegal canteen businesses in the University of Makati and the Makati City Hall [40]
26. Contract with Triforce Security Agency, owned by son-in-law, for the Makati City Hall [40]
27. Contract with maintenance service, Red Hammer Construction and Services, owned by other son-in-law [40]
Thanks, neo. Indeed, the allegations are awe inspiring. Now the correcting could begin with a simple explanation of why taxpayers paid P2.3 billion for a P900 million building (the garage). The reasons given previously were shown to be inaccurate by testimony (World Class, Green, special foundations). It ought to be very easy to explain, for an honest man. As the Vice President has been counseled by various senators and officials, lacking explanation, the only conclusion we can draw is corruption.
Just as a side comment, I personally know the structural engineer and he was asked to alter his drawings to show deeper bored biles in order to justify the cost. Their reasoning was that it would be difficult to check anyways.
Astounding. Thanks for that inside info, Miguel. The Subcommittee testimony wrung the truth out of the architect and builders. Nothing special at all. It was really good television. You have put an exclamation point to it.
Not guilty until proven otherwise.
The Binays are Guilty by Perception.
A show of LAZINESS of Filipinos to gather evidence.
“commentators have echoed the principle; Benjamin Franklin stated it as, “it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer” ” ….. NOW NO MORE …….
That is why FLIP is appropriate derogatory word for Filipinos because they do the flipside.
IT IS A FACT. IN THE CASE OF THE BINAYS. And so many others.
Please be reminded I am not pro-Binay. I am pro-Justice.
But you keep intimating that no facts have been set forth proving his guilt. The facts are on the table, so it is not just perception. The investigating agencies are being particularly cautious because this IS the Vice President, and this IS the Philippines, where the legal morass is impossibly complex and often favors the accused. There is a reason AMLC froze some 400 banking accounts, and the reason was not perception. The most simple fact to grasp is this: testimony showed that a P900 million building was sold to taxpayers for P2.3 billion, and the explanations given were lies. If you missed the drama of the Hillmarc’s people perspiring blood as they were forced to acknowledge that the building was neither green nor world class, then you missed what the rest of us saw. So please understand that your database may be missing a few bytes on this.
“There is a reason AMLC froze some 400 banking accounts, and the reason was not perception.”
The Binay camp has repeatedly claimed that these (including the AMLC report) are all “politically motivated”.
My son, who works as BSA/AML investigator for a bank in the U.S., says that it is highly improbable that AMLC would participate in manufacturing evidence. First, it would erode the credibility of the entire PH banking system if the very body created to ensure compliance with international anti-money laundering laws can itself be manipulated; and second, it is very difficult to concoct evidence if it doesn’t exist. You would have to involve a whole lot of people in the bank or banks, auditors, and in AMLC.
He believes that the AMLC report carries a lot of weight.
Thanks to you and your son for the sense attached to that evaluation.
The truth we are seeking is about the malicious and illegal release of report by the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) charging the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines and his kin and friends about billions of pesos deposited in 242 bank accounts.
Please allow us to explain the plain truth:
As we all know, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)is mandated to protect and preserve the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts and to ensure that the Philippines shall not be used as a money laundering site for the proceeds of any unlawful activity. The Council acts unanimously in the discharge of its functions.This is covered by Republic Act No. 9160 – Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001.
AMLC Report should be treated as private in nature and deemed classified to protect the name and reputation of concerned parties. AMLC Report should be covered by a resolution, signed unanimously by its Council composed of the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as Chairman and the Commissioner of the Insurance Commission (IC) and the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as members.
At present, the Vice President and his siblings concerned have yet received a copy of the said Report, thus, they cannot explain or clarify our sides pertaining to the alleged charges.
The Court of Appeals recently issued a freeze order on 242 bank accounts, investments, and insurance policies being investigated by the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLAC) without giving opportunity to respondents to be heard. As per congressional deliberations, ex Parte Freeze order must be strictly confidential to protect the name and reputation of concerned parties. We noted how AMLAC “misled the Court of Appeals” by deliberately omitting and concealing several details about VP BINAY’s bank accounts.
AMLAC omitted facts involvingP231 million pesos campaign contribution funds and P218 million expenses incurred during 2010 elections, all were duly reported in VP Binay’s Statement of Campaign Contributions and Expenses filed with the COMELEC.
In addition, AMLAC deliberately concealed the fact that VP BINAY and his wife were earning additional income from their respective businesses and salary, all information were duly reported in VP BINAY’s Income Tax Returns that span for almost three decades and filed with the Internal Revenue. This means that they religiously paid their taxes to the government.
The concerned Filipinos are still puzzled and mistrusted the people who leaked the said AMLAC Report to media organizations particularly The Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN in the absence of due process. What is the role of Julia C. Bacay-Abad (relative of Florencio “Butch” Abad, Secretary of Department of Budget Management and member of Liberal Party) Executive Director II Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat in the said AMLAC Report?
It is an outright lie to report or make it appear that the undersigned has 242 bank accounts as reported in media. Even based on the purported copy of the Freeze Order being circulated by ex- Vice Mayor of Makati Ernesto Mercado, there are only five accounts that mentioned the name of the undersigned.
VP BINAY has only five (5) bank accounts.
Office of the Vice President have received reports as early as April 2015, key personalities of the Liberal Party already got copies of the AMLAC Report. The LP has fingerprints and DNA all over the AMLAC probe. This is trickery and deceitful.
It is noteworthy to mention that several days prior to media exposure, some of the people working in the Office of the Vice President had received indecent proposals asking for P40M in exchange of a draft of AMLAC Report. They had the gall to advise them that the said drafts would place us in a better position to respond to it.
From day one, when VP BINAY announced his noble intention to “serve the people,” there are orchestrated efforts concocted by political opponents to thwart his destiny as President of the Republic of the Philippines in 2016.
The political oligarchs in this country are trying everything, including using and ruining government institutions, to perpetuate its rule beyond 2016. The Liberal Party is obviously destroying its most formidable rival in the 2016 election. With its mediocre bets and lackluster performance record, they see no other recourse but to resort to demolition and wanton manipulation of state agencies for its narrow interest.
Let us all hope this whimsical use of regulatory powers is stopped sooner or nearer. It creates a chilling effect on confidence in business and banking system that is detrimental to our economy and development.
You are evidently an attorney, and I appreciate the legal perspective and the various intrigues involving the Abads, but these legalisms and political shenanigans – which all sides play – to me miss the point. They are just the rat’s nest that makes justice so difficult to find.
I’m more interested in an explanation, for starters, of how it came to pass that a building valued at a current price of P900 million was sold to taxpayers for P2.3 billion. The reasons offered up so far have been shown to be untrue. Let’s set the political and legal gameplaying aside and get to the real issue.
*******
Re isidro c. valencia’s post and the claim that Binay has only 5 bank accounts, here is a link to winnie monsod’s analysis:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/84935/53-accounts-in-4-banks
*****
Very true Joe …you dont have to be an engineer to calculate the cost of Makati City Hall building 2..common sense 2.3 billion compare it to the Ayala’s The Residences 57 flrs world class cost 2.8billion…fyi I am from Batangas we all know that the Hacienda is owned by Binay’s …even trycicle drivers and vendors knows…
Yep. But the Binay family creates a new reality for us, them as victims, much like the poor people, picked on for political reasons. The distortion is so huge as to be laughable . . . except it is not funny.
Come on Neo, that’s not all….hehehhe
1. Brgy. Liyang, Pilar, Bataan (lot) T-146413- 1,206 sq. m.
2. Brgy. Liyang, Pilar, Bataan (lot) T-144458- 1,021 sq. m.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/02/18/15/8-properties-not-vp-binays-2013-saln
thanks for the addenda Sup. .. Wikipedia is asking for corrections and additional info. Guys send yours info to Wikipedia. Whispers and smoke gets around that even alikabok and every pirma begets money in Makati if it will cost Makati taxpayers one centavo, it must be shared. Audit the cost of office forms, new street signs, lamp post and every single t-shirt give-aways, meron kotong diyan. Look at, look up the offices of Makati Barangays taxpayers money paid for every inch of those buildings should be accounted for.
Reminds me of what the corrupt and evil mayor in “Sin City” tells the cop played by Bruce Willis: “power is not based on violence, power is based on lies”. And of course better to believe them.
Pimps tell prostitutes – I protect you against the rich pervy assholes, we both come from the poor. You are not good at taking care of your money, I take care of it for you. You forget its business and get to like a guy, well it’s my job to make sure you stay disciplined, all for your own good baby.
Binay, Roque, the other mayor from Sin City and pimps ain’t mad – they are evil that’s the word.
Evil is a better word. I should have used that in stead of madmen.
Yes evil is the word
Demolition Job and Demonizing Job : The Two Index Fingers of Nincompoops:
When a politician or any common man in the street raises and points an index finger to any one and angrily claims he is being demonized or being demolished, his three fingers pointing back at him are all shouting he is so damn right: he is a demon and should be demolished. No one absolutely no one much most a public official should invoke as defense those two swords of words. Hello? How Come with these politicians’ and their friendly journalists’ two favorite words?
As probably Sherlock Holmes will tell his friend: “Very elementary my dear Watson. Nothing that are not dangerous and very harmful to man and his environment are being demolished. To claim he is or his reputation is being demolished tells a lot about himself. Derelict buildings, poorly designed new ones, old bridges, and even statues (Stalin’s , Saddam Hussein’s etc.) and other structures considered menace to man and society are being demolished everywhere. The more wrecking balls are used, the greater the danger and menace foisted on society. It’s counterpart however, the heritage buildings and structures, the statues and monuments of national heroes like Rizal and Bonifacio; and good people like Ramon Magsaysay Sr. and Cory Aquino are protected and preserved.
As probably the murdered Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani) will tell his Curia: “We can not demonized the innocents or demons; only those who acts and speaks like them.” To suggest or even deny that a person is demoniacal is to admit that person is something close to it. Not even paid columnists will and can demonize Lorenzo Ruiz or Cardinal Tagle. Please pardon the presumptuousness of parts of this piece.
*******
So Binay is a pimp. It seems he is also a pampam. That’s the official label from the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) for candidates who campaign early.
“A play on the Filipino word “papansin” (attention seeker), pampam also means prostitute.”
Binay has been distributing giveaways and pumping the flesh since 2010. He has been seen in the flesh by hundreds of voters each day.
I don’t know about you, but catching sight of a candidate creates an indelible impression in the mind. If he has shaken your hand or bussed you on the cheeks, a memory is created in the muscles. And if he gives you something (anything really), a memory is created in the heart. Those memories — mind, muscle, heart — are sure to arise as you fill up the ballot on election day.
Binay knows this… and this is why he has been tirelessly campaigning in every nook and cranny of the archipelago.
No other candidate has been as highly visible in the flesh and for so long as he has been. We may lambast him in the blogosphere… but the odds are still in his favor… unless something dramatic happens to taint or erase those memories.
It would be a mistake to underestimate the prime pampam.
*****
would never wish bad things on anyone.
FPJ’s body wasn’t able to take the campaign.
Grace should really just run for VP.
So what I’ll wish for is keep pushing yourself VP Binay. Campaign, travel, and stress about the surveys.
You are so right. I’m inserting a blog Sunday evening that zeroes in on Grace as VP.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday stressed that Vice President Jejomar Binay is not immune from criminal suit.
De Lima made the remark to deny a news report that indicated she has taken back an earlier statement on the possibility of Binay being charged in court despite being an impeachable official.
The facts on the case are pretty convincing. I don’t know what is taking so long.
Yet rather than call Marcos out on his misleading statement, reporters seem to be doing nothing more than just reprinting his press releases. How I wish my fellow reporters would be more aggressive in asking senators and other power-players to explain in detail what they really mean. In short, to grill them and ask them to flesh out their general, unsubstantiated statements. Raissa Robles
Check.
Joe, it seems narcissism is at play here. See definition below.
Narcissism is a less extreme version of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Narcissism involves cockiness, manipulativeness, selfishness, power motives, and vanity-a love of mirrors. Related personality traits include: Psychopathy, Machiavellianism. Narcissists tend to have high self-esteem.
Fits perfectly.
I don’t get this; more likely I won’t buy this. Seems to me sinister and way off comment. Why? this comment pardon the way of speaking; this is messenger -focused not the message: a shrink perspective . I prefer to hear or read that what is at play here is Richard Hofstadter’s refinement of what is intelligence in contrast to what is intellect. What happens here (pros and cons, doesn’t matter) is the demonstration of intelligence (ability to evaluate) and intelllect (ability to evaluate evaluations).
to clarify it further in tune with THE SINGER NOT THE SONG refrain, it’s the song dude: the evaluation and the evaluation of evaluations is what we read here in JoeAm’s website. Also read Abraham Maslow’s Theory where high self-esteem is the highest rung of the ladder of human motivation.
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THOUGHTS ON ESTEEM
1. Esteem is the second highest rung in Maslow’s hierarchy. The highest being self-actualization.
2. Esteem is a strange need. According to Wiki, Maslow posited two versions of esteem: “a ‘lower’ version and a ‘higher’ version. The ‘lower’ version of esteem is the need for respect from others… The ‘higher’ version manifests itself as the need for self-respect… This ‘higher’ version takes precedence over the ‘lower’ version because it relies on an inner competence established through experience.”
2.1. The self-esteem of narcissists is of the higher version. They have a high respect for themselves, and they think they are unique. Isn’t this Binay?
2.2. However, narcissists also expect the lower version. They require respect from others. “Require” might be the wrong word. “Demand” is more likely. They demand respect, if not adulation, from others. Isn’t this Binay? (“Ladies and gentlement, I am the vice-president of the Republic of the Philippines.”)
3. The other enumerated attributes of a narcissist — cockiness, manipulativeness, selfishness, power motives and vanity — all seem to fit Binay as well except perhaps the last one, vanity.
4. Do I think Binay is a narcissist? I’m not sure.
4.1. Narcissists, like the original Narcissus, are supposed to be possessed of extraordinary beauty.
4.1.1.. But, like me, Binay is short. Like me, he is unprepossessing in appearance.
4.2. Narcissists are supposed to use their extraordinary beauty, charm or charisma to seduce and manipulate people.
4.2.1. Like me, Binay seems to be bereft of these. Unlike the essential lovable me, he seems to need to use giveaways, treats, threats, money, and promises to seduce and manipulate.
5. Binay appears to have a resemblance with Enrile in the lack of belongingness to a normal nuclear family. And both seem to be impelled in their insatiable drive for power by the initial sense of rejection in their abnormal childhood. It’s called compensation.
6. One last point about Maslow’s concept of esteem.
6.1. The lack of esteem — self or other — is foreign to early Buddhism. It is told that when the Dalai Lama was young he met with a group of Westerners and the talk turned to the lack of self-esteem. The Dalai Lama could not understand the concept. The people in the group tried to explain it, but he could not grasp it. He went around and asked each, “Do you have this?” Most answered, “Yes” and the Dalai Lama muttered, “Oh, very strange, self-esteem.”
6.2. Self-esteem requires us to see ourselves as objects, as separate selves. In our head, we hold an image of ourselves — just like Narcissus gazing at himself in the mirror of the pool — and that image can be a poor one or a good one. It usually depends on how we see ourselves in comparison to others. That the Dalai Lama had no inkling of the concept means he does not compare. (It might also mean he is the perfect narcissist: Hey ho, hey ho, I am incomparable, nonpareil!)
6.3. On the other hand, we have Binay. The VP compared himself to a leper, which is what he felt like when he attended cabinet meetings. He also compared himself to a punching bag, which is what he felt like with the many charges leveled against him. We see the other side of him in his manhandling of police personnel in the recent scuffle at Makati. Insecurity and physical aggression. Very unvice-presidential feelings and behavior.
6.4. Hmm. Passive-aggressive disorder?
7. The intimations of a candidate having a mental disorder is, in certain ways, hitting below the belt. The strategy was used against PNoy in the campaign and lately again in the Mamasapano incident.
7.1. So why have I gone on and on? Well, you see, this post is about madness and it behooves me to stay on topic. And it is only hitting below the belt if the intimations are untrue?
7.2. And, for the life of me, I still can’t figure out what Neo means when he says it is the song and not the singer.
7.3. As to Richard Hofstadter’s distinctions, shouldn’t the emphasis in blogs be on intellect rather than intelligence? Or on both?
7.3.1. Binay can be said to be intelligent (practical, as in gaining the world) but he is not intellectual (contemplative, as in why lose his soul).
7.3.2. Whereas we bloggers are not concerned about gaining the world (thus contemplative) but only in improving our intellect and the world (thus practical)… in this instance, by convincing voters not to allow Binay the opportunity to misrule the beloved country.
*****
4.2.1 . . . spilt my coffee . . .
Joe Am here’s a paper towel to wipe the spilt coffee.
Appreciate it. Edgar seems to have the knack of causing that to happen. You’ve caused one or two yourself.
To Primer C. Pagunuran and Binay apologists, I’ll simply advise the wise words of Confucius –
“Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.”
Simply put, the wise sage taught us to accept personal responsibility for our misdeeds and actions, rather than play the role of victim and blaming others.
(I go with Irineo and Joe’s Evil over Madmen)
If Binay were in another country, he would have resigned the moment the Parking Building issue first came out. At least his dignity would have been kept intact and, perhaps the Filipino people would have not heard of his other antics, which would have been good for him (but not for us). What we are watching is the long and painful self-destruction of not just VP Binay but his whole family and even his allies.
As a UP student, I am ashamed that among the institution’s professors is Harry Roque, who I think is the king of double standards who makes even the extreme left look sane (the militants are generally at best fencesitters when it comes to Binay whereas Roque is openly pro-Binay). UP is widely considered to be the premier educational institution in the country, but the students studying in it will not be properly equipped to help the country if whacko professors like Roque exist. His antics are putting the university to shame.
I know I keep talking about the extremist left a lot here, but reading this article reminds me what kind of nutcases they are. They are trapped in an outdated reality (like 1960’s reality) where the Philippines is still an American neocolony and where they want to overthrow the government without much of a solid plan afterwards. They have several good points (it is true that, despite the Philippines’ outstanding economic growth, much of the population remains in poverty), but I like to think of them as the people with the right ideas but the wrong solutions. Rather than rallying, I would rather have them focus on more practical applications, like helping farmers get better equipment. If I were a member of the KMU (Kilusang Mayo Uno or the May 1st Movement, a labor union), rather than asking the government to resign because of the country’s problems, I would do the complete opposite: ask for the government’s help. Lobby for more rights for the workers. Ask for more programs. Asking for resignation is a lost cause, and it might not be worth it in the long run. Unfortunately, Maoist dogma appears to trump logic and reason when it comes to the extreme left. I can understand the extreme poor (workers, farmers, etc.) on why they become militants, since they are so desperate just to survive, but groups like Kabataan and LFS?
However, not all “madmen” come from the opposition. There are members of the administration who need to be re-educated. #1 is DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya, who has mishandled issues ranging from the MRT, NAIA, to more recently the PNR. While he isn’t exactly a madman like the two described in this article, he shows that just because you’re pro-PNoy doesn’t mean you should be left off the hook. Heck, when it comes to “accomplishments” Abaya is down there with Binay. He should have been shown the door a long time ago, and it worries me how P-Noy seems reluctant to replace him.
Finally, Roque isn’t even the worst of Binay-allied “madmen”. You still have other whackos like JV Bautista, Quicho, Mon Ilagan, and the worst of them all, Binay’s own daughter, Sen. Nancy. Nancy is arguably the worst performing incumbent senator, and her statements make me and others wonder if she is qualified to be even a barangay chairman, let alone a senator. Bam Aquino and Cynthia Villar, though part of dynasties, at least are qualified either from previous legislative experience (Villar) or from a business background (Aquino and Villar; note that this doesn’t mean I support either of them, I’m just giving examples). But an “OJT” like Nancy should have never been elected in any position, and her statements in the media and in the Senate only prove that.
Thing is, Binay and his family and cohorts are pretty clearly greedy, beyond any sort of self-imposed need to conceal what they are doing. They’re losing it, bit by bit, and you can sense the underlying panic. The truly dangerous people are those like Roque, the extremely competent, silver-tongued lawyers who play all sides. Binay is entitled to a fair trial, they say, he can’t be tried in the court of public opinion, he should have decent legal representation as per the UN Declaration of Human Rights, blah blah blah. They’re a peculiar U.P. chameleon type, who cynically make use of their supposed humble beginnings, distant aktibista past and/or shiny academic credentials and old boy / fraternity networks to amass power–preferably behind the scenes, as they like to make puppets dance. (Much worse, for example, than Ateneo types, who tend to cluster in the corporate world and are, well, rather obvious.) Roque’s bio is impressive, and if you read his columns without knowing who his big client is, he would appear to be lucid, balanced and well-informed. I’ve seen fellow lawyers comment online: Yes, he’s Binay guy–but such an outstanding professor and legal mind. There’s always that “but.” Yes. But one can be a monster and still appear lucid and charming and brilliant. And end up leading everyone over a moral cliff without their knowing it. Possibly Binay will go under; but people like Roque, they always bob up smiling, whatever dark well they’re thrown into.
I’m inclined to wonder if Roque has many friends in the legal community. I sense that he is a little like Bainay, not someone people want to get too close to lest the condition be contagious.
Ask yourself, if you have no padrino, even with a UP undergrad degree will you be accepted as a clerk in the Philippine Senate? Not anybody can be employed as casual or janitor in the Senate and you are talking about senators of certain calibers who can’t qualify as clerks much more a senate administrative staff. Some senators won’t and can’t even pass the Civil Service Clerical Exams.
MKL, I would prefer that the ombudsman go ahead and charge Abaya,so he could defend himself. What’s good for the goose,must be good for the gander. But of course the omb must find probable cause.
I think the timing has everything to do with it. As I understand it, Abaya had been Secretary for two days when he signed the agreement. Now one can argue he could have spent time to know all the ins and outs of that contract. But if he has to do EVERYTHING, what’s the point of having subordinates? In office for two days, it is unlikely that he could have been involved in any shady dealings. He relied on the recommendation of an experienced official. That is not a crime.
So very true, I have very capable subordinates, I don’t have to do everything. Am just there so they consult me for things they were not so sure of, even then, I keep saying that when in doubt, they can and should access the BIR website. I want them to be resourceful and confident in doing their day to day tasks.
what your basically saying for the extreme left is that they go the rout of akbayan. That ship has sailed and I think only the deaths of the old guard will make them rethink their course,
HI MKL young as you are listen; you’re now a villager of what they call global villager even just because of the internet. In USA and Canada, dirty mayors get jailed on or before their second term, no one resigns after their nth term. THEY ARE IMPRISONED. But never but onli in da Pilipins.
Facts: google the 5 mayors of New Jersey in one swoop accused of graft; three Canada Senators accused of pittance graft in their traveling and housing allowances. In these and other countries, dirty mayors’ resigning does not happen; they go to jail even before a chance for a second term.
Joe,
We are actually seeing in Binay an ambitious manipulator whose lust for power seems unquenchable and becomes more inflamed with each passing day. Is that characteristic true in all the madmen who brought ruin and misery to their country, like Adolf Hitler?
.
His actions at Makati confronting Col. Jamias and uttering words that a person with a sane mind would not speak defined his true personality. He was there to defend his son because he is not a good father. He is, as the Spanish say it, kunsintidor.
The real persona we are seeing right now is actually an immature human who must not be trusted with the highest office of the land.
The confrontation with police . . . I asked myself, THIS is presidential material. Indeed, I think his obsession has gotten the better of his mental capacity. He simply cannot deal with the idea that he can’t get what he wants.
If an entire system of belief is congruent, then there is no madness in believing in anything that is congruent within the system, Assume for the moment that the system that Binay believes in includes the principle that whatever puts money in his pocket is good, moral and just. Assume also that the system includes the principle that anything that promotes the continuation of the status quo is also good, moral and just. Thus, it is laudable that he extorts money from businessmen, increasing the end cost paid by the consumer, the ultimate victim. It is laudable that he overcharges for buildings built with public funds and pockets the excess. The ultimate victims are the taxpayers and probably the users of the buildings as well, who cover the excessive cost of the structure and probably for needed repairs to correct deficits left by the contractors to compensate for the money spent on bribes. It is laudable to require “gifts” of rental units in private buildings. The victims are the other users of these spaces, who pay the increased cost of the unit or increased rent, both necessitated by the extra expense.of the bribes. And it is laudable that he spends a portion of this income on gifts for the poor, either directly or through allies throughout the nation who use the money, after taking an appropriate amount for their own benefit, to influence voters with trivial amounts of food or money. Lying, delaying of justice, hiding of witnesses potentially damaging to his defense, false accusations are all laudable activities because they are congruent with the basic belief that whatever is profitable and assures future profit is laudable. There is no madness here.
Some of us might have different systems which incorporate other concepts, such as public service over personal benefit, honesty, integrity, truth, fairness and other intangible and inconvenient beliefs that are not congruent with the basic belief. Adhering to these beliefs requires personal sacrifice and commitment to the good of others, especially the good of the people one is elected or appointed to serve. Perhaps those of us who subscribe to or aspire to these concepts are the madmen. It is only when we look outside of these systems for the ultimate results that we can justify our sanity in choosing sacrifice and service to others.
I can see why those who are very poor might subscribe to the first set of principles. The odd thing is that, in my experience, it is here among these people that I have found the most genuine generosity and charity in this country. It is only among the very wealthy and those who aspire to become one of them that the first set of beliefs or something very similar seems to be a primary guiding principle. It is only among the highest elected and appointed officials that it assumes the status of a prime directive.
Perhaps, indeed, we are the madmen, if Satan is the straight path, and we are off it.
I always thought that doing charitable work is not waiting for anything in return. And that any item given as charity should come from clean sources, not from anything that connotes graft and corruption or the benefit of the act simply ends up politically motivated.
Had we gone down to that level where anything given as a charitable gift would be considered to be campaign paraphernalia or tool to earn votes from the unwitting masses?
Sadly, that is exactly what our politicians have done, gone down that level. I would like to quote you on that, to be posted in my FB status. I like your take on current issues.
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Interesting angle.
Congruency: if everybody agrees on the same thing then it must be right, right?
So when everybody believed that the earth was flat, it was so? Subjectively, it was; objectively, it wasn’t. But there was no madness involved.
A better example might be North Korea. Every North Korean believes the Supreme Leaders are without blemish. Thus it is true, at least internally within the country, that there is no madness here.
From the outside, it is not necessarily madness that we see but delusion. The people are deluded… but they are not aware they are deluded. They perceive the Kim dynasty to be magnificent and they do not feel oppressed in any way.
Most people in Makati view the Binay dynasty in the same way. They believe the dynasty is benevolence personified.
o Nationwide, surveys attest that many people outside of Makati also believe this because they have been beneficiaries of giveaways.
o Many politicians and their advisers are held in thrall because of the munificence of past and promised giveaways.
People do not see that the benevolence comes from malevolence.
o The Binays are malevolent because they take what rightfully belongs to others.
o They are malevolent because they use powers — extended to them by the people to be used for the people’s benefit — for the benefit of the dynasty and their hangers-on.
o They are malevolent because their services are incongruent with the ideals of public service, which is the social consensus that services should be available to all, more or less, equally… regardless of status. If the government gifts a birthday cake to one, then each and every citizen deserves one.
The services of the dynasty have been primarily for and to themselves. They surround themselves with opulence. Consequently, they display an arrogance they have come to believe their opulence entitles them to. And having been so deluded, they want more… and more.
Congruence can be delusion. And delusion is harmful. The Binay delusion especially so.
*****
Food for thought which is both positive and negative can swing both ways and can be mistaken as insinuations like it takes an insiders to explain the beauty of what is not seen by outsiders. Like the beauty of evil as claimed by some philosophers: Evil causes good, period. To elaborate is to deceive.
Upcoming blog is the last on 2016 elections? But,why?
I’ll explain that.
Joe Am that’s a sign the society is aware and respectful of Ph election law and to stay bound by it. There are a lot of other concerns the society can tackle like THE CONSTITUTION, THE GAY EQUATION, EARTHQUAKE FAULTS and ECONOMICS FAULTS; THE SHORTCOMINGS OF PNOY ADMINISTRATION, THE DIS-AMERICANIZATION OR DE-AMERICANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES. If the Society can do that, BLOGGING with the society might even get a citation from St. Peter.
in grade school I learned and believed that during retreats even just for a day not opening one’s mouth except for praying is good for the soul.
Wonderful topics. I agree there is no shortage of them, if politics is set aside, and I’m wondering when you are going to do a guest blog. 🙂
@Joe America
x-
“I’ve also worked in downtown Los Angeles and met the babbling bums there and the street corner preachers preaching at the light posts, “Repent sinners!”
So I know nut cases.
-x
Believe it or not, I came across this street preacher (on YouTube) shorty after
I had quickly browsed through your article.
http://j.mp/i7lp-01
I told my Lukewarm Mega Church to Repent – Street Preachingstree
http://j.mp/i7lp-02
Playlist
Do you think he’s a nut?
You have called Justice Scalia (in another article) “rabid,” no?
Am trying to figure you out.
I think there is a distinction between street preachers who are doing missionary work and those who have lost their minds. There are both on the streets of Los Angeles. I can’t recall what I called Justice Scalia. Rabid does not seem right. He is ultra-conservative, rather like Rush Limbaugh in a cloak, and he is unkind to fellow justices who interpret the law differently than he does. So I don’t think he is very close to Jesus in that kind of behavior.
What Benigno is afraid of Binay? Benigno doesn’t have the gusto like he had with Corona? Why is Benigno silent on Binay? Benigno hated Corona so much of his drop-in-the-bucket corruption compared to Binay. Why? What is Benigno afraid of? Something is not right here. Something is wrong.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/704223/palace-washes-hands-of-binay-graft-charges
Family ties. President Aquino is highly loyal to those who are (or were) his friends, and very vindictive against those who cross him. In that regard, he is Filipino, eh? I don’t see that he is much different from anyone anywhere. So your complaint ought not be against the President, but against the absence of disciplines within the Philippines to principles that promote fairness.
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1. There is “method in madness.”
2. The madness is the overweening ambition to become Numero Uno.
3. The methods are varied and seemingly endless. Binay will stop at nothing… including, as we saw recently, the unholy use of that which is holy and the personal infliction of bodily harm.
4. Madness is communicable. It has infected his family, his political and business associates, and a large part of the body politic.
4.1. The agents of infection even attempt to invade this blog, this oasis of sanity, with their lies and distortions.
5. I truly believe that a Binay presidency will be far worst than the Marcos dictatorship, during which billions were stolen and thousands were tortured, incarcerated, killed. Compared to Binay, Marcos was a pussy. As a fledgeling, Binay and his family have already stolen billions and mastered the art of looting.
6. If Binay will stop at nothing… he must be stopped.
7. #STOPBINAY!
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A very overweening candidate.
4.1 …like Primer and Olivar, who, after injecting their poison here, depart in haste and refuse to engage us….
7.0 To Cynthia Patag, Paredes and company, good luck to all of you, May God keep you well and safe. Since I cannot join you in person due to health reasons, I just share your FB postings in my wall, among other commentaries here and there that are worth sharing.
I used to admire Atty. Roque, but somehow, he seems to have lost the way. He is mouthing motherhood statements that contradict his actions. How can you be for the welfare of the country if you are supporting the likes of Binay?
It’s either he is angling for an appointment in the judiciary department or to head DOJ as secretary.
Probably believing the surveys, ignoring the mountain of evidences, and trusting Binay’s masa pull to catapult them in the seat of power by way of his billions still in their possession as they have anticipated the freezing of their accounts. I wonder how much were actually frozen, just the minimum maintaining balances? Probably thinking, too, that China will secretly fund his campaign. My mind is actually capable of thinking the unthinkable, the ultimate betrayal of our country, mindful that Atty. Roque is left leaning, same with Binay.
Mad, and evil as they are, if I may add…
I think you have that pegged perfectly. His idealism of the past got him a reputation, but now he has turned into one of those publicity hounds, an ambulance chaser with skills at getting the media to show up at his briefings. He is small, but seems large.
“…..he is trying to paint us a new one that has the Vice President and his son as the victims…..”
========
I do not take it against the Binay supporters/followers in exercising their right to take sides and feel that the Binays are worth following and defending for. Their main problem though is how to make credible what they want the Binays to appear like to be liked.
If the objective is to portray the family as victims it should not just be an ordinary kind of victim for being a Binay is no ordinary. To have a vice president, a senator, a mayor, a congresswoman and a stand-by mother ready to become a mayor again or first lady defending on which comes first is not a desirable feature of an oppressed family. If ever, it is a picture of a family who succeeded in monopolizing and twisting local and national politics in their favor. Some sort of a the Sopranos. In that scenario, it’s very clear who the real and proper victim is. They can protest and decry being singled out, why not, but definitely not as victims but as alleged oppressors that up to this day refuses to face and question their accusers and take advantage of the opportunity to prove their innocence. I have not seen a ‘victim’ afforded so much option and choices to fight back within the purview of the legal right they have in our system and refuse to use it. 😎
Seriously, what they should aspire for is to present themselves as a credible, genuine and true victims of a government witchunt. A task that I have to admit is next to impossible. Right now only those rabid followers and supporters and their rabid henchmen will claim and denounce the existence of victimization of the Binays. To be fair, they were not the first to resort to such an antic. The Marcoses, the Arroyos, the Estradas, among others have also done it. The Binays are really in good company and just like their predecessors they will have a ready and willing believers to believe their own version of the story.
Now to sell that drama nationwide is another matter. 👀
The VP is selling that drama as he hops from province to province, market to market, while ignoring the invitations of the Blue Ribbon sub-committee hearings. While we anti Binay speak to the choir, while Pimentel, Trillanes and the informed are enraged at his manipulation to land grab the Comembo property, they are on the move, prematurely campaigning, giving “personal contributions” to victims of the boat tragedy, storms, of old age (the senior citizens). He never runs out of places to go to sell his drama and to distribute his plundered loot, to prove that he loves the poor, he is the Robin Hood of the Philippines as well as her Lee Kuan Yew.
He can no longer use the housing department as excuse to roam the entire country in the guise of doing his work, but he is still the life time president of the BSP, the current VP doing his work to “listen to the pulse of the people” while donating money, gifts, wheelchairs and rosaries.
He is on a mission since June 30, 2010.
Admirably, NOYNOY thought to build a straight path but he did not draw the line for those under him. If he did draw the bold lines that from the VP down the line to janitors can not cross without pain of dismissal or jail. there will be no rascals and cannibals in his administration. The LAW IS THE LINE. More than the ten commandments, the line is as effective as the simple rule: NO SMOKING, if you must smoke then do it somewhere else or be in jail.
If only “little presidents” will tell others the President is not amuse they have no choice but to desist then it could be like public servants in Davao City they probably know what things do not amuse Duterte who even does not know he has somehow de-politicized politics of its criminal content.
Sense common and things simple are not really what they are; they are not only lost in translation but buried by greed masquerading as compassion.
Drunk by euphoria in the advent of his presidency Erap drew the line: powerful lines never uttered before by any President when he said WALANG KAIBIGAN, WALANG KAMAGANAK which brought the happy populace into an unexpected stupor. BUT he drew those lines in the dark velvet waters of the vastness of the Pacific Ocean; lines instantly vanished from his directionless compass of his morality.
I wonder how much staying power the Vice Presidents local visits have. For example, he was in my town a month ago. That raised a splash, the “wow, we are important” rush of pleasure. I somehow think it won’t hold for 8 months against the nightly news. He’s working very hard to present himself across the nation. I relish the idea that his tongue is dragging from exhaustion, but he’s still going down.
The next couple of surveys will be interesting to look at.
land grabbing is commonplace in the Philippines. hopefully Trillanes can help those that ate victims domestically. also sure this china-Philippines arbitration will echo loudly in the Philippine supreme court of justice. most especially in Boracay, where well connected politicians are land grabbing properties in the billions.
I feel a blog coming on. “It’s the land, Stupid! It’s the land!” You have inspired the article, because what you say is true. The condition of land management in the Philippines is horrid, and the entitled game that for their great advantage. Thanks.
I Have Joe to thank for getting to know more about Roque and Binay.Before, I have nothing bad to say about them.Roque was the lawyer of my dad and his PMA classmates when they tried to do a taxpayers suit against the DPWH,well they lost that one.Thanks to this blog, I get to read about him and resaearch more about him.Now as to Binay,before senator Trillanes started his expose on him, I thought he was a good guy,I also thought his consultant Tatad was good too,but after everything that happened,I have nothing good to say anymore.
You join many of us in the boat of the unaware. It’s much larger than the ark. I thought Roque was a fighter for principle and justice, for the little guy. No. He’s an opportunist. I thought Binay was a skilled mayor and manager. No. He’s a crook and liar.
Next up to bite the dust of of disillusionment is Senator Escudero.
I was a former admirer of the members of the Mabini group of lawyers who stood up against Marcos. – Joker Arroyo, Rene Saguisag to name a few. Then they said Binay belonged to that group too, so I thought, ok, Makati is in good hands. When disillusion comes, it is a big let down. I keep asking, what happened to to their former principles…will it always be proven that the victims of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? I hope not.
“I keep asking, what happened to to their former principles…” re-phrase the bible: “tell me who carry your brief cases and I’ll tell you who you are.”
When I first came to Phils and landed up in Makati, and as I surveyed the landscape, I felt Makati was pretty much the premier city. And thus I had respect for Binay then. My business friends, foreigners here, told me differently. They said Binday takes one unit or even one floor of almost every building project in Makati. The only ones he does not touch are the projects of Ayala. I never believed my friends. How could that be possible?
My respect for Binay took a U-turn in one incident. In the 2010 Phil Bar Exam a law student who lobbed a grenade at students gatthered near Tau Gamma Phi members . The culprit was a member of Alpha Phi Omega. He went into hiding and eventually surrendered to Binay who handed him to the police. Binay said then he was confident of the student’s innocence. Asked how? He said one look into his eyes I know (simply because he is a fellow frat member!!!). That is the way he judges.
If what businessmen talks are true, the AMLC disclosure is just the tip of the iceberg. and Neo’s list of properties is chicken feed.
And now I realise why Binay left Ayala’s projects alone ….. cos Roxas family has shareholdings there. See Joe, ain’t no madman there. There’s a limitation to impunity after all.
That’s a good micro-example of limits reached. Hopefully macro is also being reached, all the evidence comes fairly forth, and such judgment that he has earned will be passed.
Binays camp I believe takes its lesson from the ex-Pampanga Governor Fr. Ed Panlilio experience wherein the corrupt was able to hoodwinked the gullible and vote sellers of Among Ed’s “incompetency” for failing to play ball with corrupt elected officials in Pampanga. Despite his success in Lahar Collection exposing the plunder of the past administration of the Lapids, Baby Pineda of the Jueteng political party won handily over Panlilio……… The question now is will the general voting public repeat the anomalous election results in Pampanga?
Or can Binay be portrayed as the scheming user that he is, widely? The connected class has figured him out. Now we’ll find out how thoroughly connected the nation is.
The general voting public knows. It’s the whole nation that is thoroughly connected and not only the connected class. The latest surveys will attest to that. The Binays has been undressed and the people now know them for what they are.
It’s now only a matter of who to pit against that evil one in 2016. And the general voting public knows who.
Let’s not err on this one. The nation’s survival depends on it.
there should be a rule or law that when you are an elected or appointed official, you can not come for the defense of your kin like the Binays are doing. its very obvious that they are using their positions to defend/protect each other.
theres a big difference when Kris Aquino defends her brother President and the way the Binays come to defend their accused father/brother. the former is not being paid by the public whereas the Binays are elected and paid by the public/government to serve the common good and not to promote their own self interest.
cant they just depend on the UNA spokesperson or their own personal lawyers to do the talking instead of themselves? its very obvious that they are throwing their weight around
Yes, the anti-dynasty law must have a section called “independence of function” that makes it illegal for family members to cross outside their own government positions when a family member is involved. Sort of an automatic recusal. Good idea.
*******
The anti-dynasty law, in general, should never permit members of a family to occupy positions in government at the same time.
Family members may occupy different positions at different (i.e. non-concurrent) times.
Family members may not occupy the same position sequentially without an intervening term.
*****
Israel used to suffer untold numbers of suicide bombings. You can’t prosecute a bomber who is dead. If he survived, it makes no difference if they prosecute him. There is no end to another Palestinian willing to blow himself up. Finally, the Isrealis came up with a policy that worked. If a Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up, the Isrealis go after his family. The family will be moved safely out of their house, then the IAF move in and destroy the building. That is the only way Palestinian would-be bombers think twice. Is it fair? It worked well.
This policy can be adapted here in Phils. If a politician plunders (or whatever lesser crimes against the people), his whole family holding political officies should be barred. This is the only way to stop them dead in their tracks preemptively.
chempo, you’re joking right?
About Isreal’s experience, it’s a fact.
Family members holding elected office to be kicked out of office for crimes against the state of one deliquent member of the family ? — guess only Duterte will go for that.
In Imperial China in days of yore, that’s how things got done. If the emperor is kind, the family is exiled, but mostly, it’s heads off. It was effective. Michaevelli vouched for that..
Philippines has too much laws, decency, forgiveness, sense of fair-play for this. Oops did I say fair-play?
But what they have are terrorists or suicide bombers. Those people are not in it for the money. Anyway, I get your point, that we should be harsh against corrupt politicians. 👀
Joe, looks like there’s a madman who wants to give Binay a run for his money. Read this, it will enlighten you in preparation for Tuesday’s post.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/704460/duterte-defends-allowing-heros-burial-for-slain-npa-leader
Thanks for the link, MKL. Most interesting. It seems to me that Duterte is a madman in the sense that he doesn’t conform to traditional concepts, or their limitations. So he is about three standard deviations from the mean on ideas like respecting opposing views even if they are murderous. In some respects I think he is more evolved than the norm, and falls closer to Jesus in his thinking than we do. Unrelenting compassion for murderers (like himself?) If murder is a normal human condition, Duterte is sane, even “evolved”. If it is an aberration, he is insane.
The DOJ Sec de Lima is busy in Hague helping in our case against China in the West Phil Sea. Who else can initiate a review on the land grab done by Binay on the Comembo property?. I hope the senate BR sub committee can do that, the earlier the better if only for the mainstream media, the press and TV to focus more on this manipulations of Bnay that had somehow escaped the public’s attention in the 90s. Binay’s evil machinations should be thoroughly exposed to the masa.
It was said that since no one was indicted (OMB Aniano Disierto ruled to dismiss the case filed) so a review must be in order. The Binay’s wealth and his chances to buy votes locally and nationally were sourced from these manipulations, as we are now discovering.
Benigno to Mar and Grace: “Go tour the country (honeymoon), leave your husbands behind”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/704554/aquino-to-poe-go-around-the-country-with-mar-roxas
Benigno wants Grace to divorce Escudero. Grace is uncomfortable with Mar, Grace said. She’s not uncomfortable with Mar. She is uncomfortable with the future Little Mrs. Muppet.
See this evening’s blog. “It’s all about Escudero”.
What isidro valencia just expounded on has legs that some degree of polarization that engulfed most (i.e. echo chamber) caused it not to be noticed. In short, there was not a rejoinder now would there had been any need? That is astonishing.
Roque should be disbarred for prdloducing false informatiob about the criminal system to the public and to the Laudes
This dude has been complaining about the “special treatment” of Pemberton in Camp Aguinaldo rather than Olongapo jail even when there is NOT any warrant issued yet. If he were a civilian, he would be free and detained by the US Navy or Embassy. If ever, Pemberton was denied many of his righta guaranteed by the constitution simply because of the VFA provisions
Roque is a wordsmith who runs around creating new realities. Some of them, as you suggest, are unethical.