Credit where credit is due: Aquino, Roxas and De Lima . . . Iglesia ni Cristo and the Cojuangcos
A late night’s work by cabinet officials; President Aquino, calm, steel-eyed and magnanimous [Photo credit: Rappler]
I was struck by how both qualities came into play during the recent Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) protest rally which threatened for a time to become a significant political confrontation, much along the lines of the “Aquino Resign” movement after the Mamasapano incident.
Definitions
Let’s start with a definition of the big word, as supplied by Wikipedia:
Magnanimity (derived from the Latin roots magna great, and animus, mind, literally means greatly generous) is the virtue of being great of mind and heart. It encompasses, usually, a refusal to be petty, a willingness to face danger, and actions for noble purposes. Its antithesis is pusillanimity.
Don’t worry too much about the pronunciation. I can’t do it either, as the m’s and n’s keep colliding. But it is the meaning we want to take forward, a particular kind of mature graciousness and consideration toward others. Among leaders, it is the distinction between a statesman and a politician.
At no time during the protest rally did the President seek to make the protest an issue of good guys versus bad guys, even though Iglesia ni Cristo certainly was confrontational toward Secretary De Lima, and the rally speakers tried to resurrect the “Fallen 44” anger to attack President Aquino. Indeed, a part of the Aquino/Roxas security plan was to protect the rallyists. And, of course, President Aquino could easily have made INC the “loser” of the confrontation when INC ended the demonstration. But he allowed them to make the final statement.
During this five-day protest, Mr. Aquino was the President of ALL the people . . . even the protesters.
As for steel-eyed calm during tense moments, we can walk through the INC incident to review how the President, Secretary Roxas, and Secretary De Lima handled the incident.
Background on INC
The background on INC is that it is a troubled institution at the top. The Manalo family that has headed the Church since its founding is fighting over the direction of the Church. One group is focused on the material and the other on the spiritual. The current leadership is under Eduardo Manalo, the grandson of the founder of the Church. His focus is on growing the power and wealth of the church. His mother and brother (Christina and Felix Manalo) want a return to the spiritual mission. They have been expelled from the Church, along with several ministers, for “sowing disunity” among the congregation. One of the ousted ministers, Isaias Samson, Jr., has claimed there is corruption within the financial area of the Church, and the Church responded with a libel suit against him. Samson then filed a charge of illegal detention (kidnapping) with the Department of Justice (DOJ). That brought Secretary De Lima into the case, and her high-level, personal engagement is what set off the protest rally.
INC leaders, joined by critics such as Manila’s Mayor Estrada, say Secretary De Lima is biased against the Church. The reason is said to be that this former Human Rights Commissioner and high-integrity executive is playing politics. (Specious is another big word, but I’ll let you look it up.) The Secretary’s involvement became necessary because the number of complaints against the church had grown in number and seriousness. She could hardly ignore them. It is striking to me that INC leaders seem to feel no need to account for their own radical acts which have became hostile and punitive. Clearly, it is an organization that believes it can act with a large degree of impunity.
The INC leaders called a rally to protest the DOJ’s infringement in their separate religious space.
Rally at its peak [Photo credit: Rappler]
The rally began in front of the Department of Justice and on Thursday (Aug 27), had reached about 1,500 people. They were well-behaved, mostly focused on separation of church and state, and mostly portraying Secretary De Lima as an unreasonable and biased prosecutor who didn’t even understand the Constitution. There were lots of signs and media attention.
I believe this is the protest INC members came to join. One protective of their faith and church. They did not come for an anti-Aquino political rally.
Unfortunately, later that day, the tenor and purpose of the rally changed. Word came in to top Administration officials that the rally was going to move to EDSA, and that some political characters had joined the protest. The principals of the political thrust were the architects of the failed “Resign Aquino” movement that cropped up after the Mamasapano incident. Key among them were President Aquino’s aunt and uncle, Tingting and Peping Cojuangco. The new goal of the protest was to generate a huge mass of protesters and eventually demand that . . . yes, Aquino resign . . . to be replaced by . . . yes, Vice President Jejomar Binay.
The protest could have been explosive had INC managed to attract the planned 500,000 protesters. One can imagine the political opportunists rushing in to add voice and violence to the demonstration. But the “cause” failed to excite large attendance by the INC membership. Members in droves failed to travel to Manila.
To me, the incident seemed to be another exercise in authoritarian justice, and poor judgment, by Church leadership. Find a culprit, and punish. Punish rebellious ministers. Punish De Lima. Punish people who confront from within the church. Punish people who confront from outside. With impunity.
A conscious effort was made by the political drivers of the rally to bring the Mamasapano “Fallen 44” into the picture to try to re-instate intense anger toward President Aquino. It is very peculiar to me that even Senator Poe, in her statement sympathetic to the INC protest, inserted the totally unrelated Mamasapano incident into her comments. Almost as if it were a talking point. There passed before my eyes this bizarre image that she, Senator Escudero and Vice President Binay – and the overthrow movement – were all on the same page.
On Friday (Aug 28), the rally moved to EDSA and received a permit to protest until Sunday evening at 12 midnight. The permit was issued to contain the crowd at the specific intersection of Shaw/EDSA. The crowd held at about 1,000 during the day, and preparations began for a bigger rally on the following day.
Earlier that evening, President Aquino had called a meeting with DILG Secretary Roxas to establish a plan of action, and to assure safety of all, including INC protesters. The National Capital Regional Police were placed on full alert. Police were assigned stations and control or blocking positions.
The following morning, Secretary Roxas issued a statement and responded to questions. He said the Government would practice maximum tolerance, but that it was important that the rule of law be respected. No criticisms of the rally sponsors were made. No warnings were issued.
Magnanimity.
As the police staged in the area, it was reminiscent of how precise the PNP protection of Pope Francis had been during his visit. That, too, was under the Roxas watch. Once again, lines were drawn and police handled things calmly and orderly. Non-confrontational. Protesters were sealed away from the EDSA shrine. Police wore no riot gear or shields.
“You have no permit here, just doing our job, sir”.
Social media had taken a great interest in the rally by this time. The main INC themes were “freedom of religion” and accusations that DOJ Secretary de Lima was out of line in investigating an “internal matter” of the church. These two arguments raised a great deal of ridicule on social media because: (a) people generally understood that the State has obligations to respond to crime complaints, and religion has nothing to do with it, and (b) the complaint was from a non-member, so it was not an internal matter. Furthermore, Manila residents were irate about the traffic jams that rolled through the city due to the EDSA blockage. The temperature index on social media during the whole protest was pegged by one observer to be about 25 percent in favor of INC and 75% against INC. On my Twitter feed, it was about 3% for and 97% against.
On Saturday (Aug 29), the crowd began to expand. A stage was set up and, in the evening, various speakers took the podium. Notable were Peping and Tingting Cojuangco and Atty Harry Roque. Pastor “Boy” Saycon presented a slide presentation of the “Fallen 44”.
“Where is the justice?” he asked. “Who will fight for them?”
Clearly, the original purpose of the rally was gone. The target had shifted.
Various church leaders from outlying areas joined the rally leadership. The Church sent out a call for more protesters to join the rally. People started busing in from outlying areas. The Saturday crowd had grown modestly to about 2,500 by 4:00 in the afternoon. INC wanted 500,000 people at the rally on Sunday.
Sunday (Aug 30) would prove to be the day of reckoning. The crowd was expanding but had still reached only 13,000 at 6:00 in the evening. That grew to 20,000 as the midnight deadline approached.
During the day, President Aquino declined to meet with INC leadership. Your guess is as good as mine as to why, but I suspect he did not want to empower them. He would remain the President, and they were one of many groups he was responsible for, including commuters, who also got no audience. Instead, a back channel line of communication with INC leaders was established. The gist of one of the messages that went from the Administration to INC was said by one observer to be very simple: “Don’t make us disperse you.”
The permit would expire at 12:00 midnight.
INC was also offered Luneta as a replacement rallying location, but leaders declined. Their small crowd would be dwarfed in that large park.
President Aquino led a meeting of Cabinet and security officials starting at 9:00 in the evening. They met to discuss dispersal and back channel talks. Secretary Roxas presented the dispersal plan. Secretary De Lima outlined the legal grounds: 1) Public Safety Act: no permit, no protest, and (2) Revised Highway Safety Act: unlawful to block a public highway in any manner
Observers say the President gave the order to prepare for dispersal. Rallyists would first receive a warning statement. Then they would be given notice to comply. Then dispersal would begin. The police were advised to continue to allow new protesters to join the throng overnight, so as not to give warning of planned action or cause for alarm. Mr. Aquino was evidently very aware that critics would pounce on any act deemed rash.
The “go” order on dispersal was withheld after a message was received through the back channel that INC would agree to disperse if they would be allowed to make a statement in the morning explaining why.
At 8:22 am on Monday (Aug 31), the INC spokesman delivered a statement citing “agreement with the government”, and taking credit for a successful protest. Withdrawal began.
The shame of it all
One can tote up the winners and the losers of the episode, even if the National Government, still being magnanimous, would decline to do so.
Winners were the people of the Philippines, the rule of law, the right to protest under a policy of maximum tolerance, President Aquino, Secretary Roxas, and Secretary De Lima. Secretary De Lima became a flash star on social media for being firmly behind the rule of law. Secretary Roxas earned commendation for police preparations, order and manner.
Losers were commuters, current Church leadership, and the politically crass pair of Conjuangcos who, unable to win at the ballot box, return repeatedly to the rule of riot to try to dictate what is best for the Philippines. One has to wonder about the scruples of people who have absolutely no respect for the Constitution and democratic elections. The elections are less than a year away.
Senator Poe was also a loser, receiving intense criticism for failing to advocate for the rule of law. Although Vice President Binay and Senators Escudero and Marcos also took that same position, the reaction was more “well, what would you expect from those trapos?” But Senator Poe clearly crossed a line, and a lot of people became angry about it. She became a trapo, too.
Caught in never-never land are the members of the Iglesia ni Cristo Church. They won in the sense that they did not get inspired to protest against the rule of law under a fabricated pretext of separation of church and state. INC members also did not allow themselves to be a stepping platform for the politically ambitious.
Members lost in the sense that their leadership behaved . . . and has been behaving . . . under a banner of authoritarian righteousness that is above any criticism. It does not present the Church well to outsiders.
I can only guess that the membership remains loyal and responsible, but confused and maybe even dismayed. I would imagine that as long as those leaders keep trying to find culprits outside their own group, rather than look inward at their own acts and decisions, the future of the Church is likely to be troubled.
Circling back: magnanimity and steel-eyed control
I find it instructional to try to discern how the possible presidential and vice presidential candidates would perform in office if faced with a similar uprising against THEIR administration. VP Binay; Senators Poe, Escudero and Marcos; Rep Robredo; Secs Roxas and De Lima; Mayor Duterte.
Here’s my scoring on two indexes, with “100” being high skill and competence, and “0” being low skill and competence. I would add, I think experience counts. And character counts.
Magnanimity requires a willingness to comprehend where others are coming from, and to respect them even if they hold a contrary view or position. It allows a President to serve the entire nation, even critics.
Steel-eyed control is the ability to think under pressure, and to isolate one’s decisions from others who do not have the same information or accountability. Decisions may be right or wrong, good or bad, but they will be made without equivocation.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Safe travel Joe!
specious= you maybe right but you are wrong.
I thought at first it that occupies space but that is another matter.
totally off-track; for your eyes only
🙂 Nephew, hindi ko na mapigilan sarili ko. Nasasabi ko lang, sana nag-aral ka ng Latin sa elem grades. Mahilig ka sa mga salita (words) na Ingles: playfully, I mean. Ako rin. Sina Joe, Irineo, Lance ay may kaalaman sa Latin, kaya lang most of the time serious sila. Parang tayo lang ang may paglalaro sa mga salita. Ewan ko si edgar, recluse ang tancha ko sa kanya.
example, gamboling with the word specious:
comes from Latin “species” meaning form, appearance; other words:
Special cpd word from species + suffix “-alis” meaning pertaining to, thus pertaining to a form
Specious cpd word of species + suffix “-otius” meaning full of, thus full of forms
Then we pun “species” with another Latin word “spatium” which is what we term space. And so on and on. 1 to sawa.
Found this article on learning Latin. Kaya pagdating ni Karl, Jr sa grade 6 sana mag-aral siya ng
Latin. 🙂
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-we-should-all-learn-to-speak-latin.html
kasali pa ba sa curriculum yan?
sa tagalog nga hirap ang anak ko eh.
fault of cartoon channels.
wives who want to give their hubbys a boner ay magaling salat in.
Yikes! ang tamang sulat “… magaling sa Latin” 🙂 ha ha!
konting pino, barok. 🙂
nung bata pa ako, madalas akong kurutin ng pinung pino.
“Sina Joe, Irineo, Lance ay may kaalaman sa Latin, kaya lang most of the time serious sila. Parang tayo lang ang may paglalaro sa mga salita. Ewan ko si edgar, recluse ang tancha ko sa kanya.”
sonny,
The rest didn’t translate on Google too well, but no I don’t know Latin. Just submitted Joe the article on church/state, I hope you guys comment, and get a lively talk going.
No matter, LC. All in all I recognize the indicators of an exposure to Western classics, at the least. My exposure is happenstance/acquired/retrofit. For some the predisposition seems a natural. An appreciation for the Greek is also another broad hint to the nuances of languages, the modalities of the parts of speech and into good communication. 🙂
Looking forward to your church-state article, LC.
Incidentally today is the feast of Saint-King Louis (IX) of France for whom the historic US city is named after.
Inalis ang Latin sa Ateneo sabay ng US sometime before ’59. May resurgence ngaun sa US pero sa home-schooling ng Catholic families. Ndi ko alam sa mga LaSalle Christian Schools tumigil. Sana push din sa mga Catholic schools sa PH.
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1. From Wikipedia: “A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin recludere, which means “shut up” or “sequester.”
2. From the Urban Dictionary: “Often times a person who rather than being crazy, is merely beyond tired of and fed up with the blatant narcissism, rudeness, ignorance, stupidity, cruelty, fakeness, hatred, etc. of the human race and chooses to detoxify themselves from the vices societies are swimming in to a greater extent than most. Often times recluses have been known to possess extraordinary genius, talent, and/or vision often mistaken as abnormality and eccentricity by the adherents of a culture’s status quo.”
*****
The clothes fit, I feel edgar. 🙂
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Ahaha!
*****
(Comma, don’t forget the comma!) s/b: “The clothes fit, I feel, edgar.”
The grammar,syntax master also caught the Mary bug. one big aaargh.now we are all infected, Let’s wait for i7sharp to notice his own mistake.
already happened in this thread, so we are all infected.
I see edgar more as a Barack Spinoza type recluse, one who’s been where the rubber meets the road, now desiring only to be left alone in his thoughts. But he knows his thoughts are too important not to be included so he writes. I can picture him grinding his lenses all day long, striving for clarity–sometimes those lenses are for microscopes, or for telescopes, or just regular spectacles for every day use. But the focus is on clarity always.
Our very own Spinoza.
It’s Baruch, LC. I would not like to think of Spinoza in the same association as a certain other Barack. 😦
LOL! Sorry for the typo, sonny!
If it’s any consolation, both Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages and those two names are essentially the same word– grace, or blessing.
I get you, LC. Spinoza’s Latin name is Benedict = blessing, among other things.
It’s Ting-ting and Peping. Joe. The President’s aunt & uncle. Anyhow, enjoy your break.
So that’s why “Ling Ling” didn’t ring a bell! Hahahhahahahaha!
Baka po Ti Li Ling 😀
😀
Joe forgives my typos all the time, so I just pretended I saw nothing. but it is like Peping calling her Ling.. Ling when Ting Ting is pretending not to hear him
So confu-Sing!
how do we Sing confu style?
for the comments
Yehey, Giancarlo is back!
🙂
A beautiful rendition amidst the political squabbles…concise, vivid and wishing I have a “martilyo” (hammer)…Why do these people see and talk evil?
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1. Remarkable.
2. This narration may well be the definitive interpretation and historical record of the INC blow-up in the last days of August 2015.
3. What is remarkable is the bird’s eye view of the events, the juxtaposition and interaction of the external happenings in the streets versus the internal strategies of the INC leadership, the President’s inner council, and the anti-PNoy forces.
4. The bird’s eye view may be more clear-eyed than steely-eyed, but it is magnanimous in its assessment of the national leadership and of what consolation INC members may take from this potentially schismatic event.
5. Whatever (a) the result of the DOJ investigation into the Samson complaint and (b) whether or not the case will be pursued to the full extent of the law… none of these should put into doubt the veracity of this record.
6. As to the political aspect of the event, it has made clearer — and starker — the presidential choices that face the voters. Poe was seen as the perfect antidote to the Binay poison; now she is seen as toxic as well.
7. There are other takeaways from this event.
7.1. There is now a clearer understanding of the separation doctrine. This is a lesson that the churches and their faithful should take to heart. The secular government is for ALL the people. (And, as an example, there should be no denomination-specific religious paraphernalia in government offices and buildings.)
7.2. And, more significantly to me, the lesson that power need not be showy. Conceived and executed properly, power can be silent and need not be epal… like an eagle that leaves no traces of its flight.
*****
I totally agree with your evaluation 1. – 6. of JoeAm’s article.
On 7.2, I’d look at it from another perspective: Symbols are a powerful reminder of the ethical and moral values and high standards of conduct which should prevail also in government. Rather than banning these symbols from government offices, why not think “inclusive” rather then “exclusive”?: the Christian Cross, the Islam Moon and Star, the judaic Star of David, the 12-Star Crown (12 Houses of David) on Mother Mary, could be placed side by side if that is the wish of government employees in a particular office. The only symbols that wouldn’t fit would be those of evil satanic cults.
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Thank you.
We agree that high standards of conduct should prevail in government.
We also agree that while the State is secular in nature, it is inclusive of all religions.
The difficulty with the suggestion is that there are many religions and, in order not to discriminate, we would need to allow all symbols.
There are religions that use the lingam and the yoni. While others might find these objectionable to have in government offices, I for one would be amused.
Then there are people who do not belong to any religion, the “nones” as they are now being called, who have no known symbol. I would suggest the unicorn.
*****
“Then there are people who do not belong to any religion, the “nones” as they are now being called, who have no known symbol.”
And that’s why these “nones” are the best bellwether for the doctrine of separation. Just submitted my article to Joe. Hope we’ll get a lively discussion from it.
I say you should be a blogger too, Mr. Lores. But Joe Am is a given.
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Teresa, thank you. I cannot think of a good palusot… so I won’t give any. Your feedback makes me warm all over and I revel in the feeling. Coincidentally, it is spring here in Oz. I wish you back the happiness you have given me.
*****
#6 I must thank the gods (fill in your favorite deity) for looking kindly on the Filipino people for this POEtic justice.
Edgar, as I was reading the article, 3 words immediately came to my mind. And there below in your comments you said it — bird’s eye view.
(7.1) “no denomination-specific religious paraphernalia in government offices and buildings”.
I agree with you totally. And if I may add, not in official uniforms as well, such as the police and Army.You know my country is multi-cultural and multi-religious. We tackled this issue many years ago in our country’s infant stages.
Some religions, especially the Muslims, tend to challenge this space I cannot recall the actual official stand on this but we defined what was allowed and what was’nt. Sikhs are allowed to wear their turbans in the police and army, but they are not allowed to wear their daggers. Muslim scarfs are not part of official uniforms. I believe some countries like UK has the same policy as us with these two specifics.
Insightful! Ensure the cerveza is cold. Cheers!
Joe, it is a very good idea to measure the leadership capabilities of possible presidents. However, Magnanimity and steely-eyed control are only two significant capabilities. Since Presidents must manage a country, I would include hands-on approach and communication with stakeholders.
For hands-on approach, Roxas, De Lima, Robredo and Duterte almost tie, with Robredo and Duterte a bit higher. The Trapo Gang of Four (Binescupoecos) all are very low on this aspect. Now I am not just considering the INC stuff here, I am looking at everything including Yolanda.
In communication with stakeholders, Binay and Poe score high, but not as high as De Lima, Robredo and Duterte, while Roxas is somewhere in the middle, Escudero and Marcos epic fail.
I have not heaped praises on your recent previous articles partly because our contributors have done that and I agree on the essence of those praises.
But this one, Joe, I have to be magnanimous in my praises. I enjoyed the reading and find myself nodding as I went along.
Using a numbers-man view of things, the bar chart graphics essentially portrays based on the twin-measure of magnanimity and steely-eyed control:
De Lima ~ Robredo ~ Roxas (ordered alphabetically) > Duterte >> Others
My definition of the symbol ~ is: substantially equal
Nice easy to grasp portrayal of the twin traits on the subject personalities without being caught in numbers, although the chart left axis shows the approximate numbers. A numbers-man agrees.
Nice story-telling too. Reads like some fast-paced novel thrillers I like.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Forget President Aquino, Roxas and De Lima for the purpose of this note and the instructions given to and steely-eyed control on PNP.
That aside, KUDOS to the Philippine National Police for the way they handled themselves. Reminiscent indeed of the way they handled themselves during the week visit of Pope Francis; and yes the way they handled themselves in the serving of the Second Suspension Order on Junjun Binay in spite of the mono-bloc chair throwing by Binay supporters — captured on live TV — on the obvious Binay instigation and kibitzing on the side by the usual political culprits against the PNP.
We salute you, PNP!
CALLING A SPADE A SPADE
In fairness to us here and JoeAm’s other readers (non-contributors), concerning the President’s handling of INC, in my opinion, the following Blogs of JoeAm should be read together:
– the present one, “Credit where credit is due: Aquino, Roxas and De Lima . . . Iglesia ni Cristo and the Cojuangcos”
– the previous one, “Are BOC and INC a crime syndicate? Why is Sen. Escudero so interested?”
I want to highlight the President’s handling of the INC recent rally in contrast to his handling of the Sevilla — the former BOC Commissioner: the former commendable; the latter not at all commendable
Boo Chanco’s article as linked by davidebebotski (with my thanks) below complements the topic concerning INC and refers to the previous blog.
I have a personal view of the high steel-eyed control quality of VP Binay. He normally excels in this category where money grabbing opportunities arise, like the Makati parking building, BSP, Makati Senior Citizens; benefits, Hacienda Binay, etc, etc, etc. Does the term specious apply? Like if not him, somebody else will seize the opportunities..
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Depending on how one views the mountain of evidence against him, Binay may indeed be said to be specious when he puts forward the argument that he is not corrupt because no court of law has pronounced him guilty as such. His claim “has the appearance of truth” but, given the preponderance of the evidence, his claim may be considered to be false and deceptive.
*****
As usual of your blogs Joe, this is another Very good dissertion of the event and characters and workings behind the scene. I wish this could be published in a national daily in Tagalog for majority of our kababayans to read, ponder on and consider come election time. Thanks Joe for your deep concern of your adopted country. Mabuhay ka!
In the U.S. we Americans vote on ISSUES !!! We cross party lines to vote president with issues that appeal to us.
In the Philippines where University graduates still wear pampers and brains are left in kindergarten, they vote if presidentibles had no history of cleptomanic violence oppressive personality. It is not about ISSUES, it is about how clean they were if they did not beat up some housemaids.
PLATFORM and ISSUES are not in the criteria of of Philippine voters. Are they tainted with PDAF, DAP, INC ?
GUATEMALA is more advance than the Philippines. If anyone here bothers to this morning All Things Considered, GUATEMALA FORCED THEIR VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT TO RESIGN because of CORRUPTION which is inherent in EVERY Roman Catholic countries in the world.
The people have sixty thousand wiretap records … to those word challenged Filipnos here it is, 60,000 WIRETAPS. No witnesses. JUST WIRETAPS, BABY. WIRETAPS !!! EVIDENCES. Whereas on Binays, they have PUNY WITNESSES WHO HAVE RAP SHEETS as far as Beijing and Filipinos consider them RELIABLE !!!!! Wheeeew !!!!
Solita still cannot connect overpriced money to Binay’s pocket. Solita graduated from Wharton. So is Kim Henares so is Harvard-graduate Filipino that plagiarized Switzerland’s “IT IS FUN IN THE ALPS” !!!
BASTA FILIPINOS ….
Hello Garci was evidence enough,but we had to rely on witnesses. I agree MRP.
Good thing that in rapes cases we don’t need 4 witnesses !
Sorry Mariano but I beg to disagree. If US voters select candidates based on issues, Obama would never have won the White House, much less twice. 😉 Majority of card carrying party members vote along party lines. I agree many Filipino voters also do not vote based on policy positions, but this method of selection is not unique to Filipinos.
Out of topic @Joeam, you are highlighted again in Philstar’s Boo Chanco
http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/09/07/1496718/vote-reverse-endorsement
A very nice read again, your hitting the nails at the center of your hammer, and it really digs deeper.
@davidebebotski, thanks for the link; nice read. I referred to you and the link in my note above, CALLING A SPADE A SPADE
davidebebotski, NHerrera,
This, I believe, is what you refer to:
x-
Even Joe America, P-Noy’s favorite blogger was despondent enough about corruption at Customs to write his first negative observations about this administration. His blog is entitled “Are BOC and INC a crime syndicate?” In Joe America’s words:
“What do I want? I want heads to roll… They anchor good government processes, perhaps while engaged in a bad one, a real stinkeroo. It is hard to terminate Lina given that Sevilla was pushed out to bring him in. So I don’t know whose head needs to roll.
“Mar Roxas will pay the price, and that’s a pity. He gets attached to a straight path that is decidedly bent.
“Mr. Aquino is in a box. I suspect his trust in subordinates has been misused, as it was with another guy named Purisima. If he does not cure this with firm and transparent acts, the straight path (Daang Matuwid) suffers a very heavy, heavy blow.”
-x
Apparently, Boo Chanco quoted from Joe America’s blog dated 09/03/2015.
Here is the shortcut to it:
http;//j.mp/ja-150903
Question:
“P-Noy”?
Or,
“PNoy”?
Which is correct and/or probably should be officially endorsed?
I prefer “PNoy” because it does away with the dash (-) which, in my opinion, is not really needed.
Sorry.
This is the correct shortcut:
http://j.mp/ja-150903
I changed the semi-colon to a colon.
“Little things mean a lot.”
Right — on the reference to the paragraphs of Chanco’s Philstar article as it pertains to JoeAm.
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Ahaha!
My answer would have been, “Let’s be magnanimous but not steely-eyed… and accept both spellings.”
*****
Hahaha. Didn’t know I used steely-eyed instead of steel-eyed of Joe’s Blog, until your note. You have the eagle eye — I am glad you accept both spellings, I presume, if I read you right. 🙂
In FB lingo, the big word you call magnanimity is translated as a simple click on the “Like”.
Click on this article.!
The article is so well-written and explains very clearly the background information. The tabulation at the conclusion of the article is so descriptive that there is no need for more words.
I cannot add more to the praises that JoeAm has been receiving from his readers. It seems that all the appropriate adjectives and adverbs have all been used up.
If only more of our kababayans, even the masses who are easily blinded by the lightning and thunder that Binay and other politicians are spouting, can read and analyze these blogs that JoeAm has been writing recently, they would be better educated in their choices and be able to vote wisely. I pray that such a wonder would descend upon the Philippines.
Nung isinalin sa tagalog ang isang blog ni Joe me isang nagsabi(si highfive) na sana pati sa AM radio daw.
sana nga pati sa radio at tabloid umabot ang mensahe ni joe.
sa mga broadsheet umabot na.
A volunteer translator is so welcome for joe’s message to reach the masa.
What were the different players dreaming to achieve? As individuals, politically, for the nation? Didn’t their action disclose something about their intentions? Apart from appreciating what’s in their personal toolkit, it is essential to know in what direction they want to go.
INC leadership. Get the national attention away from recent disclosures and sinful disunity. As I worked hard for the salvation of millions, we are entitled to some perks in this brief earthly existence, but let’s burry the real discussion under a cover of principles, church-state, internal affairs. Showing our power to mobilize millions will reinforce out political strength too. We need to be strong to fight for the salvation of the other 98 million Filipinos and the billions of other poor souls so they too can enjoy eternal happiness.
The government. This is an unfortunate but potential explosive event, we already have too much to do in the remaining month. Let’s stay calm, inside information told us about the divisiveness in the INC, prepare for two scenarios, the likely small attendance and the distant wet dream of some, an EDSA 4. Two million voters stuck in traffic might be equally important as the block vote of the INC. Nobody should be able to challenge the rule of law.
Presidential and VP candidates. Something important might be developing. This is an opportunity to collect political capital. Some just want to show their “character”, others want to use it as a trigger to mobilize all dissatisfied Filipinos bypass the upcoming elections and get rid of this administration. The nation will be better off with me in charge, for the right or the wrong reasons.
Your succinct observation is simple not wordy but hits the head of the nail accuratlely. No wonder, not one from the trapos, anals and like could respond.
In the winners circle are also the discerning Filipino voters. This INC issue brought to light the true colors of politicians — the statesmen, the a**lickers, and the uniters or peacemakers who by their very silence did not provoke the flames of discord. And that is one attribute I look for in a presidential candidate — one who unites the country and helps everyone along.
Ironically, the most magnanimous according to Joe Am is the person who said this right after a city and its people were almost wiped out in the planet, being struck by a deadly typhoon and storm surge …”You Are A Romualdez, and the President is an Aquino….”
I think you should put some context into what you are quoting, lest it be misinterpreted…
@ Jeffrey
You are either intentionally spreading lies.
Or you are one of those who believe in the edited youtube vid put up by Josemari Gonzalez who is the father of Tacloban City Councilor Cristina “Kring Kring” Gonzalez, who is none other than the wife of the city mayor A Ramuldez.
Do refer to the fuller version of what transpired in that meeting :
http://www.rappler.com/nation/45914-transcript-romualdez-roxas-meeting-yolanda
Nothing could be further from the truth. Mar Roxas acted gentlemanly and did’nt come across as too authorative even though the office of the mayor is supposed to be under the DILG.
You did’nt mention 2 important things :
– the mayor did not prepare the town well. He said it was difficult to explain to the town people what a sea-surge is.
– immediately after Yolanda strike, we flew to Manila to settle his kids/family. (He deserted the town, whilst other well-meaning first aiders rushed there to offer assistance)
The mayor’s flight to Manila reminds me of Roman Empror Nero playing his lyre while Rome was burning in AD 64.
In most disputes, a third party observation is the most helpful. Go and check out what Lacson had to say of Romualdez’s co-operation in the rehabilitation of Tacloban. The truth will set you free.
Right. Mayor A Ramuldez, a Nero indeed.
Once more, it takes a non-Filipino with an objective and a clear minded view of things to come up with a sensible and unemotional take on what truly transpired in that tragic period of the Filipino lives. When fellow Filipinos try to clarify things, we are labelled apologists or yellowtards, although even Joe here is not spared.
And once more, I thank you, chempo, for helping us to enlighten our countrymen.
Am not sure if they don’t really see clearly that the Romualdezes are taking them for fools or worse, if they are part of these families’ black propaganda against the current government with the ultimate aim of bringing back the Marcos/lRomualdez congugal dictator’s son to the seat of power – Malacanang Palace.
Thank you again.
All I am saying is what Joe Am thinks as the most magnanimous reflected the most unstatesmanlike behaviour in the face of a national catastrophe, regardless of whether they were ill-prepared or if he took his family to safety after the storm (which you call as deserting). I am sure you are one who will stay put and keep your family in harms way….
Jeffrey, what did Mar Roxas say or do that makes you describe it as “unstatesmanlike behaviour in the face of a national catastrophe”? I didn’t get it.
Obviously you simply refuse to read the full text of what transpired at that famous meeting and prefers to believe in snippets taken out of context. A conversation is meaningless if two contending text are placed before your eyes but you can’t read.
There is a difference between you and I running away to look after our family first, and that of a mayor. In times of catastrophe, the elected leadership should do what he is elected for. STEP UP AND BE THE LEADER. You can’t be a leader by running tail between your legs, family first and community last. Everybody can be a mayor, but a GREAT mayor knows when it is time to make a sacrifice.
Anymore comeback, Jeffrey?
STEP UP AND BE THE LEADER…why do I sense that this feels referring more to our President than the hapless mayor getting conditional support from the National Government and the DILG? The context was merely, why Joe Am thinks Mar Roxas is most magnanimous when he himself can’t be seen as helping Tacloban like any other city, but a city run afoul by a politician not belonging to his party….
Please refer to Lacson. He is not LP. I’m sure he has kind words to say of the mayor and of his contribution post Yolanda. I rest my case.
Brilliant! Bravo!
Saturday’s Inquirer Editorial — Law’s course — was published a day before the Society’s current Blog: “Credit where credit is due: Aquino, Roxas and De Lima . . . Iglesia ni Cristo and the Cojuangcos.” But the editorial is a nice complement to Joe’s current topic.
Excerpts:
—————————————————————————
A couple of days after Iglesia ni Cristo protesters vacated the intersection of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Shaw Boulevard, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said something extraordinary. Or, rather, something most ordinary—she assured the public that the illegal detention case filed by three former members of the influential Iglesia ni Cristo against eight high church officials would follow the regular process. This is, of course, only as it should be.
But because, on the one hand, she had been accused by the protesters of giving “extraordinary attention” to the case, and, on the other, she was feared to have been sidelined by the supposed agreement between the government and the INC which ended the protest, her simple, matter-of-fact statement assumed outsize importance. It was read as De Lima standing her ground, or even as the Iglesia ni Cristo losing the battle for control of the legal situation.
It was, however, only as it should be. The regular process means that the case would first undergo what is called a preliminary investigation, by a prosecutor or panel of prosecutors. As Sen. Koko Pimentel earlier pointed out, the alleged offense involves individual persons, not the Iglesia ni Cristo as an institution. There is a definite procedure for investigating crimes allegedly committed by individuals.
…
They wanted her to accept the preliminary National Bureau of Investigation recommendation, as though De Lima did not exercise full control and discretion over the NBI’s actions. They wanted her to ignore the petition filed by the Samson family (once privileged members of the Iglesia ni Cristo themselves), as though she did not have the ministerial duty to accept the complaint.
De Lima’s nemesis, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whom she had investigated when she was chair of the Commission on Human Rights for grave abuses allegedly committed by the Davao Death Squad, has had nothing good to say about her since that encounter; but at the height of the street protests Duterte (a former prosecutor) offered his sympathies to De Lima. He did suggest that perhaps De Lima did not have to be the one to act on the complaint, because it was a sensitive issue with political consequences.
But the riposte to that can be seen a kilometer away:
De Lima had to act on the complaint, precisely because it was sensitive and political. Else, what is a secretary of justice for?
—————————————————————————-
The link:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/88251/laws-course
Grace Poe is Biggest loser in INC rally.
Everyone, her prominent supporters, critics including gossipers in every nook of barangays and barber shops realized her indecisions were inherent and political personal opinions come from advice of dirty politicians most probably from Escudero. Chiz and Poe had similar response of bringing up Mamasapano incident to unrelated INC protest on De Lima.
Osmena said it succinctly, “attaching herself to Escudero like Teflon would bring more minus than plus”. This early, Osmena was right on the money on his observation of Grace’s political future.
Poe and Binay would be fighting for INC support which from all indications will be met with opposition votes in greater number than before. Coming election will be the first time that there be a “real christian vote” countering panderers of INC.
I’m one christian vote, are you?
This is something the Sangunian of INC apparently did not foresee. This seems to me a case of having essentially one narrow view of things which results in discussions quite unlike the varied or wide discussions here in Joe’s Blog — that is, before finalizing a strategy and its associated tactics. This is palpak big time by INC. Probably bred of the view that they have tentacles all over the Philippine body politic, and INC probably thought it is a walk in the park. WRONG.
INC did not count on the sufferings they have inflicted on the commuters, already up to their neck in “normal” times. That, and the political pandering of Binay, Poe and Excudero added to the mix raised the rage factor. A more potent negative synergistic mix could not have been concocted between INC on the one hand; and the three Panderers. Congrats INC and the Three Great Panderers — that was good work to your unfortunate dismay.
@NH
Grace and Binay could take your cue in their political rally their fighting song, Great Pretender.
He he he
It’s not a case of the Sangunian did not foresee the outcome, it’s a case of a group of people blinded by power. They though that one twit can launch a million followers into the street.
Poe is damaged goods.
I am
After all the praises this Joeam thread really deserves, allow me to point a minute detail that seems revealing. Maybe, Joeam could elucidate further after his now frequent travels since mentioned in PNoy SONA.
Joeam wrote:
“At 8:22 AM Monday(Aug 31) , the INC spokesman delivered a statement citing “an agreement with the government”
Having read quite so many blogs of Joeam, more often he mixed up his details and accuracy of events which in more than one occasion he was apologetic. This thread struck me with its accuracy on details in sequential format.
So detailed and accurate to the very minute: 8:22 AM(Monday).
If Joeam retrieved his facts from posters, news media, TV and radio like everyone else, the time setting would not be as exactly precise as 8:22 AM. Accurate time could only come direct from disseminating source, not from news reporting.
Was the thread written with guidance by something, a letter or email from an “Insider”? Use of the word “the INC spokesman” is pointing to a reference like a third person while if it were written originally(first person), Joeam would say ” an INC spokesman”. Seems Joeam wrote this particular detail as the third person. Easiest escape clause is”typo”, but is it?
I only speak in fairness of the truth from analysis. I could be wrong.
Is Joe an insider now?
Curiouser and curiouser. Joe, an insider man.
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I agree, Johnny.
JoeAm has said that he has informants. I agree that the concreteness of the details in this post indicates inside info. However, the cohesion of the piece — the bird’s eye view — would be JoeAm’s synthesis of the events.
JoeAm has been critical of the administration in the previous piece on the Bureau of Customs.
I trust that our bullshit sensors would sense anything out of alignment… if there was anything other than JoeAm’s honest perspective and opinions.
But more than our sensors, I believe you, Johnny, have your own reliable sources of info too. And my impression is that your analyses and prognostications have been on the mark… most, if not all, of the time. (One that was off the mark was your forecast of who the next pope would be. I don’t thing anyone could have foreseen the ascension of one Jorge Mario Bergoglio.)
*****
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I will do a Mary: that’s “think” not “thing”. Aaargh!
*****
At 7:57 PM Philippine standard time, I had this thought. Joe’s stock having gone up in contrast to the Shangai stocks plunging, and the associated readership going up correspondingly — especially the politically knowledgeable people — may have contributed to the acquisition of this Rated-A info of Joe from reliable sources.
Haha…and I will do the Filipinos telling Ninoy…”hindi ka nag-iisa”…yey!
Disclosure is best form of transparency.
We the readers/ commenters praising Joe should also be obliged to point the obvious to non observers, then we could not be construed as plain rah rah voices. If revelations come from his critics, we become damage goods too. Similar to INC members, Blind Followers!
Just a thought,
He he he!
@Johnny Lin
x-
Disclosure is best form of transparency.
We the readers/ commenters praising Joe should also be obliged to point the obvious to non observers, then we could not be construed as plain rah rah voices. If revelations come from his critics, we become damage goods too. Similar to INC members, Blind Followers!
Just a thought,
He he he!
-x
——-
I quoted Johnny Lin (with whom I probably have not had an exchange or dialogue) in full because I found his comment VERY interesting.
Especially, this part:
“Blind Followers!”
Prior to coming upon Johnny’s comment, I just happened to be browsing through a lengthy article about an author who has become very popular and his even more popular books.
Let me provide the link to it:
———-
http://j.mp/i7-jwch
———-
To help you remember the shortcut, think of “jwch” as “Jews and Christians.”
This is all I would humbly say – to all – for now:
In the article linked to the shortcut, you will find a mention of the term, “discernment,” dozens of times.
If one is discerning, he would see and not be a blind follower.
‘Di ba?
Salamat.
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The point is well taken: commenters should NOT be construed to be apologists for the Society of Honor.
I do not think specific and continuous disclosure in every post is necessary.
1. JoeAm has stated he receives info from many sources. Indeed, he has hinted, from high places.
2. He has also stated he does not write the Truth, with a capital T. Under the “Policy and Terms” tab, there is this:
Nothing in this blog should be taken as a truth. The articles are rife with satire, exaggeration and opinion compiled to produce certain meanings, meanings intended to advance the well-being of the Philippines. Many expressions are intentionally provocative to work through the armor of reader complacency; no malice is intended. It is impossible for the publisher to distinguish fact from fiction for every phrase written. Therefore readers are advised that they are required to take NONE of the statements literally, as truth. The only truth is the meaning readers gather for themselves, based on their own history, conditions and intellect. The Society cannot be responsible for extracted meanings that diverge from intent, where the intent is the well-being of the Philippines.
3. Continuous disclosure would detract from the verisimilitude of “fact” and the reality of “fiction” that JoeAm seeks to portray.
In my original post, I spoke of “interpretation” and “veracity”.
I subscribe to the Rashomon effect: an event happens and there can be no one true account of that one event from different observers. By our very nature (apophenia), we are forced, if we care, to overlay an event with our subjective interpretation of it. And the interpretation could be singular from one view or the synthesis of several views.
By our very nature, we have to make sense of things; we have to assign meaning. We cannot survive in chaos; otherwise we would all end up in the insane asylum. But even in madness, there is method.
The veracity of an interpretation can be measured by several criteria, the sum total of which is our level of discernment. One criterion would be consensus, another could be “feel” or intuition; another could be rational inference; still another could be empirical evidence. If an interpretation passes all through these filters, then one can say we have a true account… that is, until a new paradigm arises.
*****
That reminds me of the Indian parable of the Six Blind Men squabbling over what each one perceived what an elephant looked like. And Joe, knowing what’s the real score being the owner of the ‘elephant’, and in merriment, just observing all ‘blind men’ fighting…
This is one of the reasons I tune in to this blog. What sort of brain supplement do you take Edgar?
Aha, that led me to think of.. (off topic)
Ginkgo Biloba?
For thousands of years, leaves from the Ginkgo biloba tree have been a common treatment in Chinese medicine. In the U.S., many take ginkgo supplements in the belief that they will improve memory and sharpen thinking.
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No secrets. It’s just an open outlook on life. Perhaps like Edgar Cayce we do have access to the Akashic records?
*****
Your namesake is one of the most profound mysteries I have ever come across. He did not refer specifically to “Akashic” but his description fits the bill. Was he pulling our legs? The most interesting part is that everything he said was during his sleep trance he did not remember anything when he woke up.
He could seek out your records simply by knowing your name and your address. This is the same with the mediums in Chinese culture. They ask your name and address, then they go into a transce, and they seek the answers to your questions.Strange.
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Using Occam’s Razor, it may be posited that Cayce’s consciousness performed astral travel. This feature of consciousness could be a nascent human ability — although it has been rendered unnecessary by Google. 🙂
For Cayce to be able to do what he did before the advent of Google, it may be necessary to posit that geographical data is encoded somewhere. For him to remotely perform accurate diagnoses of patients, it may be necessary to posit that our biodata is encoded somewhere. For him to be able to prescribe unique and effective prescriptions, it is also necessary to posit that medical data is encoded somewhere. Hence, the Akashic records.
He claimed all of us had the same abilities he had.
Cayce’s “astral travel” ability has been replicated in “remote viewing” experiments… and could be the key to interplanetary exploration.
*****
There are a few souls that have this (Cayce’s) channel. One, Marilu Henner a Hollywood actress, can remember events in precise detail 30, 40 yrs in the past and not necessarily only her personal experiences. She was tested on public broadcast live and came through astoundingly. Our own version obviously is PiE, in my opinion.
Sonny,
Thanks.
My first reaction on reading your post was, “I bet Marilu has synesthesia.”
Her condition is known as hyperthymesia, which is extraordinary and full recall of daily events going many years back. Synesthesia is an accompanying phenomenon of the condition.
I would say Marilu’s case is different from Cayce’s. Marilu’s recall is autobiographical, sourced from her personal mind. Cayce’s is from what may be called the “universal mind.”
*****
Thanks back at you, edgar. (And I did a big Mary Grace aaaargh! I lost my long-winded reply on Cayce and theosophy due to trigger-QWERTY)
I will reconstruct and attach. If and when 😦
Does it matter if Joe is an insider? A member of an INC or a member of KKK? Does it really matter to be constrained of what you say because of who you are?
No,sir.
It depends. Ever since Joeam was mentioned in SONA, there has been speculations that he’s MLQ III or others allied with Aquino.
If everything written by him is his own opinion, then it does not matter whether he is getting insider info from Malacanang or not.
However if somebody dictated to him what chronological events to write verbatim without much input by Joeam yet he pretends to be the real writer of the blog, there lies the difference or significance of being an insider.
Imo, Accuracy and precise time of chronological events of this thread appear to be verbatim fed info. I don’t know how the others look at the precision and timing, I just want to share my observation. As I have said, I could be wrong.
If Joeam claimed in his disclosure that he is politicaly allied as an insider, I would always discern with skepticism his every thread since he might just be the ghost writer of his handler . Since In his disclosure he claimed he is apolitical, he’s expected writing his own interpretation of events even if some information came from insiders. If he has transformed into the former claim, we ought to be informed.
Journalists are supposed to understand the deontology of their profession. In many countries they have written down their ethical principles and standards. In my country they are expected e.g. to reveal the sources of information when feasible and when relevant. “Feasible” and “relevant” are two subjective terms.
“Feasible”: A source can be unknown, a moral dilemma can arise such as the safety of the source or the availability in the future.
“Relevant”: When the information is factual and the viewpoint is very objective, he source is less relevant.
Let’s presume that Joeam follows a set of ethical acceptable rules in deciding when he needs to mention the sources of information. A presumption valid until the contrary is proven.
Presumption is already given though doubt remains needing qualification. Or else we will no longer wait for clarification.
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The Dictionary.com definition of a blog is: “a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.”
Firstly, I would draw attention to the phrase “a writer’s or group of writers’.
Secondly, I would draw attention to the object list of “experiences, observations, opinions, etc.”
Questions are:
1. Is blogging a profession?
2. If it is, is JoeAm a professional blogger?
3. Is there a code of conduct for professional bloggers as for professional journalists?
My answers would be:
1. Yes, blogging can be a profession.
2. Yes and No. Yes in that JoeAm spends most of his time blogging. No in that he does not earn income from the activity. A profession is “a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.” If income is the criterion to define profession, we know the site carries no ads.
2.1. Is JoeAm being paid for his opinions otherwise? He has said No. So either we take him at his word or not.
3. No, but JoeAm has stated his code under “Policy and Terms”.
3.1. The last two sentences I quoted above are central. To repeat: “The only truth is the meaning readers gather for themselves, based on their own history, conditions and intellect. The Society cannot be responsible for extracted meanings that diverge from intent, where the intent is the well-being of the Philippines.”
Bottomline:
1. For me, the issue of disclosure is a non-issue. We do not even have to assume that JoeAm has informants, he has openly admitted it. But JoeAm has no obligation to us to make a disclosure, neither “professionally” nor ethically. His basic premise is: “Nothing in this blog should be taken as a truth.”
2. The choice is ours to read or not to read, to learn or not to learn, to contribute or not to contribute, to agree or disagree.
3. Our final choice is: to accept JoeAm’s “fiction” — or those of any pedagogue, politician, and priest — as truth. There are long-term consequences for this.
3.1. Our interpretations, our beliefs, are central to our lives. They supply the meaning of our existence.
3.2. We are free to choose our interpretations and our beliefs. As Sartre says, “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.”
3.3. Our responsibility is awesome: by our interpretations and beliefs, we fashion the world to our hearts’ desires.
3.3.1. Do you want to live in world dominated by Jejomar Binay or even Grace Poe?
*****
For my part, I choose to see Joe’s analysis of events – the information he gathers out of the data as well as the knowledge he derives out of the information – simply as a point of view.
Knowing where Joe stands – both physically and in terms of his life situation as well as in terms of his personality, political leanings and the culture he comes from – I can filter his point of view and with a dose of healthy skepticism use it to enhance and add to my own point of view.
Mar Roxas will most probably become President, now that Duterte is definitely not running. Serious voters will have no choice but him. The kind of President I would prefer does not exist – probably Cayetano could become that kind of person in six years time, after being Roxas’s VP.
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I agree. That is the proper attitude. We, each of us, are the ultimate arbiter.
It can happen though that, after filtering, JoeAm’s views and yours and mine might coincide.
I would add, belief is also a commitment to the world we want.
*****
There will of course be a large common ground of consensus between the beliefs and views of most regulars here at JoeAms blog – otherwise we would not be exchanging views so regularly.
Even among most Raissa’s regulars, there is a certain consensus, although it is somewhat broader. Of course you will have an MRP here or an M C there who diverge somewhat, but exactly the fact that everyone notices how they diverge makes it clear there is a consensus.
@Irineo, Raissa cannot handle my truths. Raissa, like, her husband, Alan are from University of the Philippines.
I grew up at UP, MRP, but who knows maybe it was a good thing I left just before college age?
UP is definitely a major group of its own in the Philippines, you are either outside or inside. Because I grew up there I am half-inside which is rare, Raissa knows me from childhood.
just watched 1983 EDUCATING RITA movie. Touched on the subject of literature as a device for looking for meaning on multi levels of truth, subjectivity, objectivity. Just made me reflect on the depth vs the speed of the same search in the age of internet. (My choice of medium, least difficult for me.)
That’s why I mentioned some time back, the study of humanistics more specifically literature, is essential if we are to mould young minds. On the issue of improving societal moral fibres, Philippine schools should have this in the curriculum. But please don’t use those locally written books full of grammatical errors.
Aren’t there 2 sides, the sender and the receiver? What you mentioned in “bottom line” has to do with the receiver, the discussion was about the sender. What to consider when you tell something. When you tell something adding the source of you information, thought can help or hinder the conversation, it can help or hinder your sources too. One should have some criteria explicit or implicit to decide.
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Joseph, that is partially true. I am talking about the receiver because I am one. And I am saying we — or rather I — cannot obligate JoeAm to make a disclosure. For the reasons I have given.
We can make the demand, sure, but I for one wouldn’t.
I cannot speak for JoeAm as the sender. That is up to him on how to respond.
Having said that, there could be more than 2 sides. For example, there could be third one, an observer looking at the two sides of this issue.
Now consider the outcome. Because people have put him on the spot, JoeAm can either confirm or deny.
If he confirms, how do you respond? Do you conclude he lacks integrity?
If he denies, how do you respond? Do you conclude he is a liar?
As always, there is a third path other than confirmation or denial. For example, he could say look at the Policy and Terms.
I guess what I am saying, along with Caliphman’s stance, is that no matter what happens, my estimation of JoeAm will not change on this single issue — which is not an issue for me.
*****
Or as I said somewhere before, we just trust he did use acceptable criteria to decide if he wants to emphasis his sources or not. So far nothing gave me a hint that he didn’t, never I saw any devious motives.
The nice thing of the discussion is that it made me think when I should disclose sources to avoid sounding as a “Soto” or as being used by a puppeteer. When is it relevant to do so and feasible?
I’m one with you Johnny.
It was’nt the timing that roused me, I missed that.
It was the various para describing those meetings. They seem to me much like soundbites from Coloma, Abigail Valte or Lacierda.
since I am outnumbered, I will change my answer to a yes.
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karl,
Look for the principle. Your initial intuition might be correct or wrong. If you have relied much on your intuition before, trust it.
When in doubt — either because of the complexity of an issue or because you are outnumbered — look for the principle.
Principles may differ and contradict each other.
In which case, you have to go meta. That is go to a higher level or higher level(s) of analysis.
It may be, at the meta level, that contradictions still exists. Then you have to decide which one to follow… or give up. Be aware that not all things are capable of resolution. It may be that contradictions can co-exist… as they do.
But the choice is yours. And you are responsible for your choices.
*****
edgar, am curious about term “meta” per your usage. seems to mean level of abstraction. yes?
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Sonny, yes. In one sense, meta refers to self-referentiality. In the sense I use it, it also means to bo “beyond”. So different and deeper level of abstraction, and different and deeper level of analysis.
*****
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Another aargh: “bo” should be “go”.
Will do,Edgar. thanks. 🙂
What do you mean, karl? Is your answer now ‘yes’, or still ‘no’? 🙂
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Ahaha! Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no.
*****
In that case, Edgar, it could be yen or nos.
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Ahaha! Perhaps that should be JoeAm’s response to the controversy of disclosure.
*****
leaning on maybe stil no 🙂
nos
could not let this go away.
My heart tells me that my answer is an emphatic NO.
empathic
I am in the dark about the soundbites you are referring to (am in the middle of a BIR audit, so maybe not that focused). The way I read the article, whoever is Joe’s source of info be it from the palace, from TV coverage by the government or INC TV or or from an actual video with the exact time, dates and numbers of people in the rally, if it is factual and true, is not important to me.
He is entitled to his opinions or interpretation of the events; this is not like a news reporting on TV or in newspapers wherein a reporter has to stick to factual events being described, ideally, he is not expected to insert his opinion or his feelings, let the viewers and readers interpret them based on the above by sir edgar. If he needs to offer an opinion, the reporter must do it in his newspaper column, a radio time block, or his blog, as Joe does here, but as long as he is a newscaster, he should stick to presenting the news as it happens and not introduce his analysis, opinion a slanted reporting the way some newscasters do.
I read this as a reiteration of our previous sentiments, who lost the most in that week-end rally, who shined and who emitted a bad stench (those who pandered, anything for the vote, they will say or do).
Thank you Francis Tolentino and to Jun Abaya for your fatal error, if not for you we would have been mad at the INC’s rallyists,escudero,marcos,poe and Binay.
Karl, ano ang tinutukoy mo tungkol kay Mr Francis at Mr Abaya? Anong ginawa nila?
traffic. Francis Tolentino manages traffic in metro Manila and Jun Abaya said traffic is not fatal. Kundi tayo galt sa traffic bago mag rally di baka di naging issue ang rally ng iglesia.
Ah, salamat nephew. May kilala kasi ako sa MMDA at alam kong matindi ang radar ng mga pinoy sa trapik, baha, sanitation sa MManila. Gone are the days na tuloy-tuloy sa mga cine ng Avenida Rizal kapag called off ang mga klase. Ngayon maraming mall mapupuntahan basta walang power outage at baha.
Sorry uncle, I am confusing you most of the time namumuro na ako.Kung di mo maintindihan eh,sino pa ang makaintindi? Anyways, I also ask if I think or presume that it is your area of expertise.
Ay naku, nephew, sunog na ang maraming brain cells. Basta pasensyahan mo na lang mga tanong ko – iyan ang dahilan.
hindi naman uncle, you still display sharpness. current events lang naman ang mga tanung mo.
i would love to hear your thoughts on how our present media handles major issues, our lofty opinion makers who do not see the bigger picture … and therefore not development oriented etc…make my day…
Since Joe is still travelling, pending his reply, I will point you to some links.
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: I will be travelling for a day or two and possibly unable to drop off comments
He! He! He! Ever since Joeam been mentioned by Benigno in his SONA, Joeam been busy “traveling” lately. Hmmmm …. to Malacanang. Top Secret !!!
Nah, saw one bearded mestiso guy with Mar Roxas in Biliran distributing checks and police cars.
aha, bert… tongue in cheek ha? Joe is campaigning too, the immigration people would not like that….hahaha!….I know that’s a joke..just riding along…haha!
sinubukan kong magsalita ng tongue in cheek .di ko maintindihan ang sinasabi ko.mas maintindihan ko pa ngongo.
Joe is celebrating his US Labor Day long weekend tradition 😀
Mary, according to LP sources, Mar is not campaigning but merely just doing his job. If that be so, that bearded mestiso guy has nothing to fear from the immigration people.
Another thought on the “seeming” insider info of Joe in writing the Blog.
The blog’s theme is magnanimity and steel-eyed control
Excerpts from Joe’s Magnum Opus:
————————————————
At no time during the protest rally did the President seek to make the protest an issue of good guys versus bad guys.
The following morning, Secretary Roxas issued a statement and responded to questions. He said the Government would practice maximum tolerance, but that it was important that the rule of law be respected. No criticisms of the rally sponsors were made. No warnings were issued.
Once again, lines were drawn and police handled things calmly and orderly. Non-confrontational. Protesters were sealed away from the EDSA shrine. Police wore no riot gear or shields.
… the INC spokesman delivered a statement citing “agreement with the government”, and taking credit for a successful protest. Withdrawal began.
—————————————————
In my view those paragraphs brings home the points of Joe’s theme. Excerpted para 1,2,4 are on magnanimity; para 3 is on steel-eyed control — because it can rightly be PRESUMED that the PNP acted under the guidance of a combination of the President, Roxas, and Cabinet (minus the former resigned Cabinet member-spy), most especially from the President. The above excerpts did not have to use “insider” info. But as is the wont of Joe, he writes, among others, to attract interest. Thus, the “seeming” factual insider info or interpolation/ extrapolation from available public info or use of Joe’s fertile imagination (poetic license?) adds nice dressing to the above extracts for nice story telling.
The concluding paragraphs on winners or losers are not earth-shaking to us in the Society, but Joe paints it in his interesting style. The interesting item to my mind are the bar charts of the wannabes measured in the twin scales of magnanimity and steel-eyed control were these wannabes at the helm during the crisis.
But I can accept insider info, if Joe confesses. 🙂
Dividing this blog into 5 parts
The firstpart includes words that could come only from a native English speaking tongue like specious. This is typical Joeam. This is introductory part
Focus on the contents of second part(Background of INC) and third part (Protest Rally).
Words used and construction of sentences are typical Filipino way of describing and phrasing especially the provenance of INC. This is atypical Joeam verbatim. These two parts are the body.
Fourth part(Shame of it all) is Joe mostly, this is the concluding part.
Fifth part(circling/graph) is primarily Joe, this is synopsis part complete with graph.
Comparing to a sexy woman, body is what matters in statistics, not the head and extremities😀😀
*******
Ah, so, an exotic Amerasian. 🙂
*****
More of International
face with Angelina Jolie pout
Body of Marian Rivera
Derrière of JLo
Legs of Nicole Kidman
Complexion of Sofia Loren
NH is daydreaming,
Edgar stay awake from the blues
He he he
Ah, daydreaming is the word. Joe was daydreaming with insider information. Joe, confess.
🙂
You mean he quoted somebody word for word but could not make the attribution due to confidentiality? Not even ” my confidential sources opined blah blah…” am poor in distinguishing styles and whatever. Could it be that Joe was able to adapt our Asian way of writing / speaking?…Joe what do you say?
He did attribute caliph an in previous thread.
Johnny or Holmes should I say? ha-ha. Very fine observations of apparent inconsistencies which are worth bringing out. The biggest inconsistencies in my mind is with the character,independence,and integrity of our host which I presume is not in question here. I would add that his account is very similar to a Rappler piece that came out prior to his, supposedly presenting the inside story of the event from the admin’s perspective. To which one would retort as you just posted, but why did he not attribute when he did with caliph? The Rappler piece should still be in their archives but I do not recall them divulging or mentioning or thanking their. sources either. My guess? It did not come from Rappler but perhaps from a common source inside the admin with a request not to be ‘transparent’ as you put it. I will leave it to Joe to respond as he wishes as tricky as that may be, if my guess is right. It’s hard to pursue a journalist’s craft as the highest principle that trumps all at times is not to disclose one’s sources specially when requested not to. Since you referred to my case, he was gracious enough to ask if I preferred to remain anonymous or not which I very much appreciate.
Philippine peso is falling ….. The Philippine Central Bank has no more money to PROP-UP PHILIPPINE PESO !!!
Where did the money go?
China is propping up yuan causing their international reserves to fall … causing further the yuan to fall …. it is a VICIOUS CYCLE !!!!!!
Don’t worry about Philippines, when Philippine economy falls, NOBODY TAKES NOTICE except FILIPINOS.
1997 crisis pwede pa. because we only fell from the first floor, while south korea fell from the penthouse.now maybe we reached the third floor, enough to be noticed.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima echoed the NEDA chief, saying that the 5.6% growth in the second quarter proves our mettle as a resilient haven in these turbulent times. Of 10 Asian economies, China’s economic slowdown will have the smallest impact on the Philippines. While trade with China has risen significantly in recent years, China’s share in our total trade with the world only accounts for 12%, reflecting a diversified trading position, Purisima said. He added that the country’s externally induced growth drivers such as remittances and business process outsourcing receipts have minimal links with China’s economy. In 2014 for example, remittances from China amounted to $31 million and accounted for only 0.1% of total remittances. Combined revenues from remittances and BPOs are projected to reach $47 billion this year, boding well for our growth prospects, the finance chief said. Purisima added that public spending is expected to play a bigger role in the performance of the Philippine economy in the second semester, citing ample fiscal space in the P2.6 trillion 2015 budget to fund growth-inducing investments. Aug 27, 2015
While on the subject of steel-eyed control of one’s action, I would like to write the following. Rene-Ipil at Raissa’s Blog wrote a note on the article by the elderly, experienced, nationalist former Congressman Edcel Lagman about Grace Poe’s shattered loyalty to the country — one who may run for the 2016 Presidency. To which I replied:
@Rene, that was a moving, well-written piece by the heavy-weight and experienced congressman, Edcel Lagman.
You already quoted some substantial portion of the article, but for balance, Lagman also has this to say about legality:
Although loyalty to the republic is not one of the enumerated minimum legal qualifications for the position of president, it permeates and is ascendant to all qualifications. It is said that loyalty is “an essential ingredient in any civilized and humane system of morals.”
It shows again the concept of legality — as against morality or virtue — that modern man seem to have the penchant for justifying behavior. Associated with this, I may even say, in the context of Lagman’s notes that the residency of 10 years required for the Presidency or Vice Presidency pales in comparison to loyalty. More pointedly, granting NBFC is not an issue and the candidate is only 1 day short of the 10 years requirement, my common sense, if I were to decide, is to pass that candidate. But the notion of loyalty strikes at the heart — that of virtue or moral orientation.
I would like to quote what Lagman himself quoted as the full text of the oath that Grace Poe took to acquire her American citizenship:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
BTW, if my recollection does not fail me, our very own able CPMer, @yvonne, herself commented early on about her great discomfort on a former American citizen — with an American spouse — being a President of the country.
Here is the link to the article of Edcel Lagman:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/88337/shattered-loyalty#ixzz3l7KyFn00
NH
I just wish Poe will not run anymore to higher office next year and remain as senator until 2019. She was elected to serve a 6-year term. She should do what she does best, legislating and chairing powerful committees in aid of legislation, – gain more experience and wisdom. Her inexperience and vulnerability to be swayed by the likes of Escudero and others with vested interest have been manifesting lately, to the disappointment of people who saw in her a breath of fresh air among the jaded but still corrupt politicians.
I will be jumping for joy when she does a Duterte and announce that she will not run and just remain in the Senate. That would be the day. The scion of a former king maker, Mark Cojuangco of NPC has been reported to have decided to support Binay, possibly to her shock and great disappointment.
I too will be glad if she does a Duterte and do more at what she has been praised in the Senate — superb handling of a Committee of which she is the Chairperson. And gain experience thereby: analyzing the politicians the likes of Escudero, the Binays; and in contrast those of the likes of Bam Aquino. Then when the time comes she will have proof positive of love of country and good sense. And no more of the blunders of the kind of the INC statement she made — balancing the concept of “politics is addition” with the great virtue of principles. And thus, shed the image of trapo which is attached to her currently.
Exactly, you expressed better what I’m thinking….thanks, NH.
@ karl
as chief librarian for the society, may I ask your assistance in tracking a comment made by chempo regarding a 770 billion in aids (if my memory serves me right) to the Cory government which did not materialize due to the country’s instability at that time brought about by the series of coups courtesy of Honasan allegedly supported and financed by Enrile. He said that the Filipinos should blame those two for the loss of that substantial aid which could have done wonders to the economy still recovering from the ravages of the Marcos dictatorship.
I really do envy you guys of your facility to find links of comments from previous blog articles.
Help!
@maryGrace
As chief librarian you must archive this thread/blog with an *asterisk, since there is already a new contributory thread posted by Joeam.
Notation is for singular distinction of this thread from the rest of all previous ones
He he he
@ johnny
haha…I think there was a dangling modifier there in my my request comment for karl….sorry, my bad.
Ok, let’s see, how should I have said that – “karl, as you are the chief librarian of the society, may I ask…………” there, I think that’s better.
sorry karl, am not attempting to take that title away from you, it is yours as you deserve it although I know you did get my drift. Your patience is awesome, digging from so many articles from September backwards. muchas gracias, mi amigo.
de nada mi amiga
estas bienvenido
I am still in August. I will Check July later.
but last august 19 you said…
” I can’t provide the appropriate link but chempo has shared in a previous blog article of Joe that the nation had lost a 770 billion worth of aid from a group of nations right after Cory took the helm of the government as president due to the destabilizations emanating from those series of coups. Their arrogance and macho image would not let a mere woman to succeed where they failed. He was able to get back to power after the Edsa revolution, was able to get his hands once more to untold riches and immense power, those not enough for you? Still whining in Enrile’s behalf?”
found it.
Great, karl….ang galing mo talagang librarian…I bow my head in deep gratitude and appreciation….I owe you…!
How do you find a link, I mean do you highlight the whole comment and the link appears in the tab? You guys are so high tech, you can provide a specific link to a comment to support a new comment….Shame on me, more at ease with excel where I can link one file to multiple files up to trial balance and FS.
the link to a comment is found on the date under the name of the commenter
like. click sept 9,2015 at 8:28 pm
you will find the comment you typed above.
Am I answering your question?
This time I did it one by one(from September backwards) and and ctrl f keywords like chempo, aid
Ha! I think I got it, Karl. Next question is, will I remember? sigh …
sonny, after you find the date under the name of the commenter, you right click it and choose copy link location, and there you go…ready to copy paste to another comment to direct us where you want us to go for reference……I learned a new thing today…woohooo!!..thanks again CL karl!
Ah, of course. Thank you Mary Grace.
@ chempo
I ever karl can track that comment of yours, may I ask your permission to post that in raissa’s blog in response to a comment there? With proper attribution, of course to you and to The Society of Honor by Joe America.
Thanks.
Hi Mary
If it helps you in anyway, please go ahead. In any case, My name is irrelevant for credit purposes, you should rightly attribute it to the Society as your source.
can’t find it, remember when you said it?
do you remember the whole comment?
found it.
Thanks, chempo….in case you are interested, you will find this particular comment of yours in raissa.com. Inside Philippine politics and beyond…Joe, karl, NH and most guys here also post comments there.
Now, here is a “Credit where credit is due” situation.It’s also where it counts! 🙂
http://news.yahoo.com/philippine-cooks-over-worlds-kitchens-075358949.html
Okay, it is impossible to respond to all the comments deserving response. The discussion went down the path of author’s integrity or credibility, and I’m sorry I was not here to address the question. I am politically aligned with no one, and don’t get paid for anything. The central plank of the blog is the well-being of the Philippines, and if I seem to be aligned with President Aquino or Mar Roxas, it is because I believe they are good for the Philippines. The blog is open to opposing comments or articles.
The writing in the articles is mine, all mine. If you will observe the writing style when I parse factual material (like infrastructure investments), it is very different than when I go “literate” or satirical. My professional background is actually the former, and my writing love is the latter. But I can do facts, and as Edgar knows, for he has clearly read the terms and other info, I hate the little buggers. They were important in this particular article because I wanted to convey the kind of drama the President and his people were facing as the protest marched along. The 8:22 time was like yanking the timer off a ticking bomb because the permit had expired at midnight and the “go” for dispersal was hanging over everyone . . . One word from the President is all it would have taken to make physical confrontation happen.
As for sources, indeed, I have them, and I had some information on this article that I originally entitled the “Wife, Butler, Housekeeper and Driver”, because it came from more than one person, informally. I also get contacts from others outside the Administration. I suppose I have to blame the President for that, too, although some existed before he plastered the blog on the big screen.
A journalist is an intermediary. Richard Nixon was brought down by the source “Deep Throat” and it was decades later before Bob Woodward revealed his source. The obligation to be transparent must be measured against other factors, one being the benefit of continuing to receive information that you, the reader, would appreciate. Integrity of the writer can be verified through his other writings and the respect he commands in the professional community. I’ve got 800 blogs in the can, and if people are still inclined to question my integrity or credibility, I’d say, “well, you can’t suit everyone”.
My purpose in being specific in this blog was to build up, not bring down. I think the President (any President/high official) gets criticized endlessly and praised seldom. Where do you hear praise of Roxas for the Pope’s visit, versus the Tacloban nightmare, always quoted out of context (thanks chempo, for putting that straight). Listen to the rage about President Aquino on Mamasapano and look for the “well dones!” on the Zambales seige or INC. Absolute silence.
The point that the President was president of ALL the people, even protesters, was (and is) so very, very striking. The Philippines is a land of natural confrontation, and for a President to have the ability to rise above that to serve the nation, is pretty astounding.
The last section was a bonus, that NHerrera picked up, that SHOULD have shouted “Binay is dangerous” because he has no magnanimity (compassion), but can make decisions easily. And Poe, Escudero and Marcos would be wishy-washy, puppet kinds of leaders.
So I’m sorry the discussion got side-tracked and those three points did not emerge as the lessons I wanted to get across.
I’ll consider doing a separate blog about sources and integrity.
I appreciate Edgar’s standing in as providing the intellectual defense, in my absence.
I apologize for even joking about a serious matter.
You and me both, nephew. My distance makes for a much attenuated perception of things.
Ok, Joe has fessed-up. My thoughts on insider info above is all wet. Also my saying — Joe is daydreaming with insider info, should be instead — Joe wrote a thriller with some insider info. Welcome back Joe.
Good way to put it. Good to be back, thanks. If the article were totally allegory, or daydream, I think the points would remain true.
The President and others rarely get compliments for a job well done. As a boss myself, I found that compliments are the best way to inspire. So as bosses ourselves, of the President, why do we seek always to bring him down? Beat with a stick, never feel good about . . . ? Peculiar.
He was the president of the protesters, interested in their well-being. That kind of magnanimity is rare, I think. Most of us would take switching from De Lima to us (as the President) personally. (Strange to have the speakers at a church rally climb on the dead to make a political point.)
The two graphs at the end are most instructional, as you recognized.
You know Joe, your feedback now and then somehow gives the blog the flow that is missing without your virtual presence. Am not myself begging for a massage of a feedback, good if it comes — negative or positive — but reading your feedback to the others, especially the newbies is enough for me and that seems to make the river flow of ideas moving along nicely. In other words nothing like the master chef’s touch.
I hope that two-day break was a refreshing one. 🙂
Joe has said that due to continuing popularity of this blog and the increasing number of commenters, he leaves the oldies alone (most of the time, that is) and respond to welcomt the newbies. I am with you in your reaction to that. Raissa has to attend to her tent making, unlike Joe who is a retiree, and seldom responds to commenters there.
Well that settles it for me, I think a lot of people are waiting for your reply.
I was looking for a bearded mestizo guy in the picture you provided, but it seems you took a break when the picture was taken.😃
bauwow, according to my deep-throat source, the bearded mestiso guy was the one who took the picture. 🙂
And, bauwow, my deep-throat source, unlike our Joe here, is a bonafide insider, ahahaha.
Ahaha, Bert it is always fun to heckle from the 4th Row.
Hope that Manong Joe will not mind the ribbing.
Joeam remains apolitical. I accept!
I’m the culprit that started the ball rolling, not to tarnish credibility of Joeam but to point certain phrases or many sentences not constructed by the vivid magination of Joeam, appearing more as verbatim info supplied by the the source.
I have parsed this blog into 5 portions, showing which parts were composed in usual fashion by Joe and have explained the relevance of an insider with political affiliation. I stand by my analysis that the accuracy of time and sequential cadence of events were not original knowledge but supplied to deliver a political message of indoctrination.
Always in the eye of the beholder whether what is read is substitute political message or opinion. Unfortunately, frankly speaking in my opinion the body of this blog is a political message from the administration while the rest is personal opinion of Joeam. I happen to believe from the start that INC was wrong without explanatory details or message from the administration.
Influencing JoeAm’s readers with accurate minute details of the events was unnecessary.
Bridge had been crossed by everybody including the pandererrs and their critics!
Bottom line, it does not matter what, where, who sourced or supplied info of the blog. Only one thing is certain, this is JoeAm’s blog with his avatar, written and financed by him and as he has said, everyone’s opinion is welcome. Likewise, blind followers are also welcome.
As long as not obnoxious like Primer?
He he he(my avatar)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitlers_Rede_vor_dem_deutschen_Reichstag_am_1._September_1939 – the classic example of using “accurate” time and sequence as political propaganda (Hitler’s Reichstag speech on September 1, 1939 – start of the Second World War):
“Polen hat heute nacht zum ersten Mal auf unserem eigenen Territorium auch mit bereits regulären Soldaten geschossen. Seit 5:45 Uhr wird jetzt zurückgeschossen!” – Poland started shooting on our territory for the first time tonight with regular soldiers. Since 5:45 we are shooting back!
also from Wikipedia: “Die Behauptung, dass der Angriff auf Polen um 5:45 Uhr begann, ist falsch. Tatsächlich beschoss bereits um 4:45 Uhr das Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein die polnische Garnison auf der Westerplatte.” – The claim, that the attack on Poland began at 5:45 is wrong. In reality the ship Schleswig-Holstein already shot at the polish garrison on the Westerplatte at 4:45.
Now a lot of people believed Hitler at the time he came with the statement that the Poles started it, even well-meaning journalists. I see what Johnny Lin is trying to get at. Not that my conclusion is the same as his or that I would like to compare Aquino with Hitler – that is definitely a very long shot just as Joe America is not Joe Goebbels, but it is useful to be careful knowing how propaganda works and to weigh one’s sources and be careful especially when a message fits your own personal bias. Normally a journalist will quote such information as coming from an unconfirmed or anonymous source, unless it comes from two independent sources – the typical criteria for stating something as a fact. But then again there is the disclaimer that Edgar pointed out, so it is up to the readers to weigh whatever they read…
“They were important in this particular article because I wanted to convey the kind of drama the President and his people were facing as the protest marched along. The 8:22 time was like yanking the timer off a ticking bomb because the permit had expired at midnight and the “go” for dispersal was hanging over everyone . . . One word from the President is all it would have taken to make physical confrontation happen.”
That is OK – we already had that discussion once about your use of dramatic devices and exaggerations, using them is your choice. Unlike Johnny Lin, I do not think you crossed the thin line between dramatizing and propaganda in this case or in any others so far. Even though your criticism of the Philippine Press and how it tabloidizes too much was a bit too much for me at one point – that is where I blew up and you sent me for a one-month commenter’s vacation.
I did mention an example of where the thin line into propaganda was crossed so that people can see what Johnny Lin is alluding to – and what all of us who write publicly should watch out for…
For us this was the Gulf of Tonkin and WMDs in Iraq. Sources and methods are a journalist’s bread and butter and should be kept hidden. This article was simply a summation of events–it’s an old SITREP basically. Whether it’s insider info or outsider stuff, is not so important because it’s simply a summary. The Customs article was something I was concerned with, unless you have the backing of a gov’t or a big newspaper, best to leave those type of stories to those who can take the risk.
Ireneo, have you seen “Kill the Messenger”? Also, are you guys over there getting any of this immigration problem? It appears they are staging in Hungary (also Greece). What’s your take on all this? Trump is popular because of this issue, but for us illegal immigration is actually on decline, for you guys over there this type of stuff will make or break nations. I know some Iraqis we worked with who assylumed to Sweden, and the Iraqi immigrants there are causing problems (I guess depends on who you talk to).
A big fan of this guy: http://www.zacharyshore.com/
Joe’s article is fine: I guess I just had to dramatize a bit myself to show that Johnny Lin’s insinuations are in my opinion off the mark. Hope Joe gets it the way I meant it… 🙂
As for migration, check out the discussion between Attila and myself in a side thread of how to do a proper blog in the Philippines. We went quickly from the difference between Hungarian and Philippine attitudes into a discussion on perceived Eastern European xenophobia.
Germany and Hungary are handling the refugee crisis very differently, even if the facts and the enormous surge of especially Syrian refugees are the same. Come to think of it, might be that Germany is just handling things more efficiently. There are no regular cops going after refugees over here in Munich, just friendly welcoming volunteers and regular cops directing people to where they have to go – and buses to take them to shelters all over Germany.
BUT what I did observe in the background – I live 15 minutes from where the action is at Munich Hauptbahnhof’s northern wing which has been basically sealed off including the parking lot and bus stop which now contain first-aid and supply tents – are black-dressed members of the USK, the Unterstützungskommando (support command) of the Bavarian State Police. Bad-ass guys, some of them trained SAF people I know, basically state troopers ready just in case.
So while Hungarian police are getting the bad publicity, Germany is handling the situation by making sure they all come in quickly while the weather is still good – possibly hoping not so many will come as soon as it gets colder soon – and before the Oktoberfest starts. Cynically speaking, one might say that this is German efficiency, especially the known efficiency in terms of people logistics they showed in World War 2, in its humane version, and avoiding the bad publicity of frustrated refugees fighting cops like in Budapest Eastern Station and elsewhere.
When the floor is slippery, the janitor places a sign, “watch your step, wet floor”
When there is road construction, workers put cones with the word “Caution, drive slowly road under repair”
Both situations are preventive to avoid injury.
Just for the sake of argument on my precautionary measure
Everybody is aware that Joeam thumbed down GracePoe about her desire to run for president.
Everybody accepts that it’s Joe’s personal opinion and deduction on the character of Poe
Everyone is also aware and accepts that Joeam is getting inside info or resources from the administration, quoted by Edgar and others in their comments.
Everyone agrees that Joeam is a foreigner while the probability that he had an inkling of the character Poe is nil until she ran for senator. Read comments the first time Poe’s name became news as a senatorial candidate. Joeam was still calling her Grace Llamanares. I’m typing from memory. But check it out if it’s true and call me a liar if it’s not.
does everyone believe that Joeam did not receive any negative info about Poe from administration sources?
Go back 2009 -2010 read the threads and comments written about Grace when she ran for senator. @MaryGrace and @Chemo are resourceful on this aspect. Then read this question again
Does everyone believe that Joeam did not receive info about Poe from administration sources?
Then think about my precautionary salvo!
Sorry the date should be 2012-2013 when Poe ran for senator
“Poe’s name became news as a senatorial candidate. Joeam was still calling her Grace Llamanares”
“◾Grace Poe will be elected President of the Philippines at some point in the future. What a jewel. Mature, capable, good of principle and heart. JoeAm spotted her special qualities months ago. The people spotted them during the election campaigning. Yes, the halo from her father helps. Look for good, rational judgments from her in the Senate, not the game-playing that is traditional.”
Johnny,as far as I can tell,last may 2013 elections,Joe called her Grace Poe. just saying.
2014 Joe’s assessment of Grace
“Grace Poe would win. People like her father’s movies and her work to push FOI. She’s a smart angel wearing six-shooter pistols and she is too new to have skeletons in her closet. Binay would get hammered as a trapos who would lead the nation back into corruption.
I am inclined to go along with the voting public.
The big question for me: Is Grace Poe for real, or is she an illusion? Other questions follow from that.
◾Would her naivete cause mistakes on big decisions or is her considerable intellect and willingness to listen to others going to keep her decision-making strong?
◾Would China push her around? Would crusty trapos push her around? Would the generals scoff at her?
◾Can she be the boss of veteran cabinet officials, generally male, generally about twice her age? Can she quickly gain their respect?
◾Can she get law enforcement working? Policing, investigating, and prosecuting? Can she jawbone the Judiciary into quicker decisions?
◾Can she get infrastructure projects and public/private initiatives moving?
◾Can she build manufacturing? Defense? A more intellectual school system?
Going with Poe is a risk. And of course, if not her, then who?
The challenges are enormous.
My next steps: (1) listen to what readers have to say, (2) dig deeper into Poe’s leadership at MTRCB (who did she interact with; what were the controversial issues she handled; what did she accomplish), and (3) watch her senatorial work carefully.”
next blog on poe was about Poe Files
next
then this is where the poe as trapo began
Slippery ba ang floor dito? Wala pa akong nakitang tsinelas sa sahig!
Joke aside, I did write to Joe in a comment once, remember McArthur who in my opinion was well-meaning but Roxas (grandfather) managed to drive him in a certain direction in 1945.
Now my tone at that time was very sarcastic and arrogant – Joe got mad at me, rightly so. What I believe by now is that Joe has different kinds of sources and will know how to weigh them. Also that readers here are smart enough to weigh as well, even more with your caveat.
I received absolutely no negative information from Grace Poe from administrative sources. My reservations first occurred during the hearings on chief Purisima (read that blog) and then the Mamasapano hearings (read the many blogs). I said in one comment early on that she was a political snake, a rather rash statement that I did not repeat. But her subsequent deeds just fell into place, a rash foray in to foreign policy with the American Ambassador, the tie-in with Escudero, the dissing of the BBL with Escudero (backtracked the following day) and then the INC comment, when the rest of the Philippines finally caught on.
Your implication is frankly very irritating. Read the
fuckingblogs to find out why I feel Grace Poe is a self-serving trapo. Search on Grace Poe, there are about a dozen. I don’t call Poe Llamanares because I have trouble spelling the name. Why not just accept that maybe I am an astute reader of people.And I did my
fuckinghomework . . .You said you are not interested in diminishing me, or the blog, but you persist with the smear campaign. Get off it in this thread. I am doing a blog about blogging and you can address the matter of credibility and sources there, as an issue, rather than continue the personal attack.
*******
Even before Purisima (September 2014), there was criticism of Poe’s low comprehension of issues in the DAP hearings (July 2014)… where she questioned a resource person from Finance regarding the payment of Bureau of Customs foreign obligations from DAP instead of directly from the Bureau’s own collections.
*****
Ahh, thanks. I missed those hearings. Truly, it does not take any information from the Administration to discover her true character.
Exactly, Joeam
The implication is you might have received negative info about Poe from administration with the simple facts of derision on Poe and admission of getting resource info from administration without revealing the source. If you Reread my post, I was asking question the way an ally of Poe might ask, did not accuse you, played a Devils advocate. My intention is that your good character to be stained by your admission of getting info from administration sources without disclosing them.
You are not a reporter but an apparent independent blogger, unbiased with personal ideas based on own conclusion without hidden input from anonymous politically affiliated sources.
undoubtedly to many, its all yours based on research but you have admitted that you are getting info from politically allied sources. Of course you have written derogatives on Binay and Poe many times and a couple on Aquino and Mar.
You have admitted you admire and will defend PNoy but you could not be deluded that you never received any negative news from your administration resources on Binay or Poe and everyone will believe you because of your integrity and honesty. inevitably, such would be questioned by disclosure of receiving info from administration sources without attribution, compared to others. Irritated, it comes with the season. You have been baptized by the nature of Philippine politics. You stayed in the kitchen for so long, inevitably the heat will feel uncomfortable.
In a similar way, administration doubted 8 SC justices when they bailed Enrile. They claimed their action was above board but since everyone knows that Enrile was well connected doubts exist. Of course justices will be irritated especially Bersamin, the ponente. Always, difficult to sail freely with an invisible cord attached to the rudder.
That’s the way politics work in the Philippines that’s why its always fun in the Philippines.
Posted many times: Disclosure is best form of transparency and Honesty is the best policy.
Walter Cronkite: And that’s the way it is!
He he he
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Illogical, Johnny.
What you are saying is that there can be no honest opinion without disclosure.
We all form opinions from different sources, some open, some “hidden.” You do not know my sources: therefore, they are “hidden” from you as I do not disclose them every time I publish an opinion.
This means, by your untenable logic, that my opinions are not “honest.” In which case, I might add, so are yours.
There is, as Irineo mentioned, a subjective filtering process when we form opinions. This filtering process is what makes an opinion our own and which makes it “honest”. Honest means “free of deceit; truthful and sincere.”
The dishonesty arises when we utter or publish an opinion that we do not “own”… especially when we do it for gain.
*****
P.S. thanks, I will check out “Kill the Messenger”. Regarding Iraqis, there were tabloid reports some years ago about Iraqi gangs asking for protection money from established Turkish and Arab kebab and tea shops in the Oriental zone of Munich just south of the Hauptbahnhof.
Seems these guys have gentrified a bit, there are Iraqi-owned shops in the Oriental zone now – seems that the unofficial policy (and this is what word on the street tells me) is that money that eventually becomes taxable revenue is tolerated to some extent over here, the thing that cops seem to go after more is when there is too much violence going on. Cynical but realistic, joints that had Caucasus people in black leather jackets and shiny Mercs have closed, but recently restaurants and bars have opened with yummy specialties from some of those countries… 🙂
Now I remember from the early 80s that Filipino migrants barkadas did take on Turks, but avoided Vietnamese refugees and knew why. People straight out of war zones are often traumatized and have a different relationship to violence than people in more peaceful areas. Munich in the 1990s and early noughties was flooded by refugees from the Balkan wars, lots of stuff apparently went on during those days, not only a brisk trade in illegal weapons and stuff. Somehow the efficient but realistic security apparatus over here seems to manage everything in such a way that it calms down after a while, don’t ask me how. Again the street here says they go after the worst guys and encourage business as long as it goes legit after some time, thus creating jobs and tax revenue – not to mention the BMWs, Mercs and apartments bought.
Thanks, Ireneo. That’s some good info right there, so goes too for you and Atilla‘s discussion: https://joeam.com/2015/09/04/how-to-run-a-proper-blog-in-the-philippines/#comment-135158
Now there’s talk of the US taking in these refugees, Trump hasn’t said anything yet, but I hope he does soon. This is the end result of the Arab Spring and of the coming collapse, why not divert them to Saudi Arabia? At the end of the day, they’re the ones who created the conditions for the Salafi rise (I know, the US provided the petro-dollars).
I hope we’ll talk more on the Church/State separate and Islam (as threat to Western institutions). I’ve already submitted the article to Joe, hopefully he’ll OK it for Sun. or Tues. Looking forward to your input.
Hear Ye Hear Ye Society of Happy Fools!
When everyone is on their toes, conversation is healthy
Lack of Awareness becomes inexcusable
O’ Ye Rise Ghosts and Dummies show
He he he
Welcome. Thanks also for Zachary Shore. I might buy his book about how the Prussian elite in the German Foreign Service and the German Military tried to survive during the Nazi regime. Two important examples are the father of illustrious West German President Weizsäcker who served as Foreign Minister under Hitler, and the traditional military elite that first served Hitler, then turned against him in 1994 – Stauffenberg of course, and Rommel who was closely linked and committed suicide, almost samurai-style, before falling into the hands of the Nazi cliques.
What I remember now is a story a friend of the family told us recently. My German grandmother opposed the Nazi commander of Wannsee in the last days of the war. That guy was not badass, he was simply an asshole, refused to surrender when the others already had in 1945. He even hung a 10-year old boy from a tree for refusing to man the flak cannons. My grandma, divorced and therefore without a man to back her (my grandpa was in jail in Holland for doing some monkey business with the Nazis) told the commander to not put his flak cannons in front of her house (which was what she had kept from the divorce) because she had 30 women and children in the basement. He backed down and put his flak cannons in front of the school – his cannons and the school fell to Russian artillery just a day later. Grandma spoke truth to power. An old friend of hers, a former GI, gave the best obituary after her funeral to me when we were both drunk on whisky – “she wouldn’t take bullshit from anyone” – after which we sung Sinatra…
His stuff on European Muslim youth going Jihad must be very interesting as well, something I can relate to more firsthand, knowing my share of Euro-Muslims. From some heads of Munichs Alevi Muslim community (Turkish Muslims who are more secular, no forcing women to wear the hijab there, but one of them did tell me when we were both drunk, brother I don’t know what I would have done if my wife had turned out not be a virgin on the first night – strange stuff!) to a Palestinian-Jordanian migrant kid who turned around when checked multiple times at JFK, telling Homeland Security in Dubya times I am not keen on visiting your country this is just for work – it was – to an Swedish citizen of Iranian origin who fled to Afghanistan on a donkey’s back to avoid draft during the Iran-Iraq war, and his brother, now a German citizen who served as a helicopter pilot during the very same war. Or my doctor who is a Palestinian, or my dentist who is Iranian. Lots of educated people from the Middle East who found their place in Germany, many of the Syrian refugees fit that profile, Germany is speculating on them.
Munich public hospitals would be in really bad shape without Arab medical tourism – they have special first-class wards for Arab patients with gourment food and Arab-speaking personnel and of course cash payment up front. Many Arabs like Germany for VERY wrong reasons – because “they” killed six million of those they don’t like – but if they come why not take advantage of the business they bring. Some Arab-German politicians have gotten bad press though for saying things about the Holocaust no “Native German” would ever dare say.
As for the youth going jihad, I have seen some former gang-banger types flocking around types who looked like former gang-bangers, only with the beard fully grown and reading the Koran to their very own “homeboys”. So like in France, recruitment for Islamic groups focuses on the marginalized. Actually the same group white Neonazis recruit from – young men without good jobs or good education and usually without women. You will definitely receive input from me regarding Church/State separation – how it only partially exists in Germany, and how it is being eroded in Turkey which I visited recently, which is a pity because Turkish progress was due to secularization. The crowd that votes Erdogan BTW is similar to the Binay constituency.
The neighborhood where I grew up, we had an Iraqi-Chaldean family and a Syrian-Alawi family (I played with their kids, so was closer with them). Aside from that, I’m not as close to Arab-Americans. So your input will be crucial, since Islam vis-a-vis Church/State doctrine should be top on our discussion list.
One thing that’s not covered in the news here is the up-tick of Muslim conversion in the state prison systems. When you get divine justification for violence and violent people together, it usually doesn’t end well. I know most of the Suras calling for violent action are justified as defense (ie. during the Prophet’s rule in Medina/Yathrib) and I know the Qur’an’s Rules of Engagement (ROEs) were pretty advance (humane) during its time,
all that becomes subject to interpretation, and I kinda echo Atilla‘s sentiments when it comes to Muslims (in general).
Alawi and Alevi are the same thing – Alevi is just the Turkish spelling.
As for Muslims in prisons, the 2009 movie “A Prophet” is the interesting story of a young illiterate French Arab who makes his way up in prison with the help of Muslim gangs – after serving as an enforcer for racist Corsicans. Full subtitled version is on youtube I think.
Now I happen to know more Muslims with professional careers, lots of them here in Europe, these people will be caught between frontlines if extremism similar to that in much of Eastern Europe (or Germany’s Pegida) becomes stronger as a reaction to Muslim extremism of various types. Now the bearded friendly guys who work at my barbershop are just as harmless as Amish people, they are simply religious and hardworking but one can of course never know, might be that I am indirectly financing ISIS by getting my hair shaved to 9mm on the side for €9.
The politically extreme Turkish groups that want to build mosques all over Germany, mainly financed by Erdogan’s people, are another matter altogether – some have openly said that what the Ottoman empire did not manage, their potent men and childbearing women will – to conquer Europe. In Berlin, there are ghetto areas basically run by Arab clans. In Northern Germany, there is a Kurdish-Lebanese clan that is known to be extremely dangerous.
Now why do you think German police are making sure all Syrian refugees arrive on the northern side of Munich train station and get bussed to refugee quarters asap? Because the southern side is the oriental quarter, certain refugees going straight there could mean trouble. Basically I do see the dangers, except that escalating things like in Hungary will drive even the ones who could be our allies to the extremists. The more MAGNANIMOUS approach coupled with caution which Germany is presently taking is probably better. Central Europe has large Muslim populations already, nobody wants Berlin and Paris turning into the West Bank soon. There is no easy solution to all of this. Anyway, I am awaiting your article and will give inputs. Those who have read me know, for example, that I am no fan at all of the original BBL draft.
To comment in this blog is a real BIG JOB because all the commenters seem to be occupying posts either in gov’t or big corps or are seasoned writers and journalists. A lot reside outside P.I. and also seem to be connected with politics in the Phils. before. As an ordinary citizen with great interest in Phil. politics, too, I find all the comments a great source of knowledge. When Johnny Lin observed and queried if Joe is an “insider,” I began to laugh quietly bec there’s no one in the house except me. I found Joe’s piece to be “very vivid,” actually, and I think you, Joe, were mimicking the format of the popular TV show, 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland. I was actually waiting for that time ticking and showing the actual HR. remaining in the day. As a blogger/writer, you AGAIN showed your creativity and superb marketing/journalistic skills. SALUDO AKO KAY JOE.
Thank you, OzyBoy, I’m glad you found the time-line reporting to be vivid. I’ve never watched that show, 24, so couldn’t be mimicking it, but I was mimicking a lot if “minutes”-writing that I did as a young corporate guy, proving my brain could organize chaos and line it up into something meaningful. 🙂
I took the article in the way it was meant to. I commented that you are not a newscaster reporting an event, it was factual and the analysis is superb, [ I read this as a reiteration of our previous sentiments, who lost the most in that week-end rally, who shined and who emitted a bad stench (those who pandered, anything for the vote, they will say or do)]….done in a blog and not in the from page of a newspaper or in the nightly news on TV – you are a blogger and not a newscaster and you have a right to have your sources, to protect them and to give your opinion.
Glad that you share our Asian way of writing although your satires and thought provoking articles are welcome and challenging, too.
Joe’s prose (form & substance) reminds me of my first attempt at writing for our school paper when I decided for feature writing rather than straight 5Ws. I didn’t realize then that one informs the other. This current piece should demonstrate to would-be writers/journalists/history-writers how to use facts and style in reporting. IMO.
Noting the backlash from the social media due to her pandering comments in support of the INC rally, Poe tried to talk herself out of trouble by saying she was just defending everyone’s right. Alas! Her backpedaling was not enough, majority of the 1,300 comments (@PDI) showed that they did not believe her, as exemplified by this one. (oh, man..this one is really fed up… sorry joe, I know you do not allow this kind of trollish remarks here, but just to illustrate my point)
the_voice
Everyone’s rights? That is the most idiotic statement. Ms. tra-Poe, you should seriously get help. Your pro-zombie statement cannot come more timely to show your true dirty self. There is a classification in the animal food chain for you : Opportunistic / Carrion Feeder / Vulture
Oh, “the voice” was using poetic license. Quite allowable . . . unless it persists as the main way of expressing objection. Or is aimed at me. 🙂
i think iglesya ni kristo ni ginoong manalo is fraternity not religiosly.
The gov’t. came into the picture not because it wants to meddle with the INC affair. A criminal case filed by an INC member against INC Sanggunian officials brought the gov’t., as represented by Sec. De Lima, to the case. The rally by INC members protesting the official attention given by the gov’t. on the complaint by an INC accuser is partly a bullying strategy and partly squid tactic. All for the purpose of squeezing and silencing the noises created by the simmering tension amongst INC personnel that includes prominent and high ranking officers about power struggle and corruption within the sect. The rallies and the so-called separation of Church and State mantra is just a smokescreen coming from an organization experiencing chaos and fissure that if remained unchecked could eventually sink it like the Titanic.
There are no winners in what happened only losers, the INC. They lost because instead of showing impartiality, truth and justice they opted to take the streets and denounce Sec. De Lima who was just doing her job. They lost because they dragged and used the Mamasapano victims to becloud the case brought against their officers. They lost because they allow people with an ax to grind against the gov’t. to come up the stage and speak on their behalf without realizing that these opportunists only highlighted the lost cause they were into. They lost because there was nothing in what they say makes sense.
Sen. Poe and VP Binay were not really losers but opportunists who saw the chance to ride on the issue and pander with the Manalo-followers fully aware of a possible political windfall from the block-voting INC. The gov’t. while not a loser is not a winner either because the INC did not allow it to become one when they “agreed” with it to put an end to the rally. The INC made it appear that they’re the ones calling the shots. Fortunately they don’t have a case hence the gov’t. maximum tolerance attracted positive response.
That episode is done and over with. What matters now is how the INC will proceed from here and conduct itself when the ball starts rolling on those cases filed against their officers. The introduction was full of hot air and swagger with no substance. The coming days will show whether the INC can talk the talk and the gov’t. can walk the walk. 👮
For the record
I did not attack your personal character because I don’t know you. You said on your side note that while on vacation we could write freely on our ideas.
I questioned the integrity of an apolitical, independent blog without disclosure or attribution of the name of sources to be a real free wheeling independent unbiased blog site.
Raissa blog often named her sources and a few times, names were in the title of the thread.
And I can say bluntly, I’m a Freelancer admiring true independent bloggers and opinionated columnists.
And that’s the way it is
He he he!
You are argumentative, quibbling and refuse to abide by the terms for contributing to the blog. One more comment on this subject and you will get the traditional 30 day suspension assigned to hard-heads who can’t grasp the point of an editor’s prerogative. I’ll be publishing a blog tomorrow (internet connection permitting) that discusses the point of ethical guidelines for commenters. You can unload there. Not on this thread, which you have effectively taken way off topic, diminishing the quality of the discussion.
“Globe internet service in my area has deteriorated steadily during recent weeks, I suspect due to increasing use and imposition of hidden bandwidth and speed caps. I am not able to access e-mail or blog comment threads during a great portion of the day, except sporadically. I regret not being able to be more responsive, but such is life in outlying areas where Globe evidently feels no compunction to invest.”
“(internet connection permitting)”
Joe,
Can you do a blog on internet service over there and wider plans to improve it– as necessary infrastructure to a nation on the rise?
I’ve wanted to do an article on Cyber security and dependability but have come up with negative results, most people I’ve talked to are mere soft IT-types, no hard engineers.
Maybe such an article will generate more in the discussions. Been asking Chivas on the other thread, to no avail. Thanks.
Excellent idea. I’ve put it on my “wall” for future blog ideas. Looks a lot like yellow stickum paper. Thanks.
I wonder if there is anything like that for the Philippines. Internet speed not only depends on the speed of the local connection, there are a lot of factors especially the “trunk lines” where the bulk traffic passes through. Doing a “tracert” instead of a “ping” in the command prompt can show you where the internet traffic passes through, there usually are a few critical places where it can be slowed down. The Internet crawled for half a day in Germany when a major junction point, I think it was in Frankfurt, broke down. Now I am not a network type but I am reasonably well-versed and can catch up easily. My minor topic in German university was Operations Research which is applicable not only to logistics (the original application in World War 2) but also to networks of any kind: traffic, internet etc. and is used for planning purposes.
As for Cyber security, I know you have wanted to do a blog on that for a long time re China. Germany upgraded is cyber security rules after major Chinese hacker attacks on ministries. Everyone responsible for critical infrastructures must have a security responsible who reports on measures taken and problems encountered to the BSI (Federal Information Security Office) which used to be part of the BND (German CIA equivalent) but was upgraded to an agency.
Google is the master of dependability – read an article in Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) by a google manager about the fire drills they conduct to make sure Google is always there, some simulated, some simulated for real like cutting off main connections to make sure the alternative connections work. Every weakness noted during such drills is taken as input to avoid them the next time – for example took 15 minutes to find router password, countermeasure – have a notebook in the safe for all critical passwords.
An example of a tracert query:
C:\Users\Irineo>tracert joeam.com
Routenverfolgung zu joeam.com [192.0.78.25]
über maximal 30 Hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 2 ms o2.box [192.168.1.1]
2 18 ms 18 ms 22 ms (*censored for privacy*)
3 24 ms 18 ms 19 ms bundle-ether13.0003.dbrx.01.muc.de.net.telefonic
a.de [62.53.13.38]
4 26 ms 26 ms 28 ms ae3-0.0001.corx.01.muc.de.net.telefonica.de [62.
53.13.66]
5 33 ms 24 ms 24 ms ae7-0.0001.corx.01.fra.de.net.telefonica.de [62.
53.13.62]
6 26 ms 27 ms 29 ms ae20-0.02.xd.0001-01.fra.de.net.telefonica.de [6
2.53.0.69]
7 24 ms 26 ms 24 ms et-7-1-0-0.0002.prrx.01.fra.de.net.telefonica.de
[62.53.11.231]
8 25 ms 28 ms 25 ms edge-a01.fra.automattic.net [80.81.193.69]
9 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms 192.0.78.25
Ablaufverfolgung beendet.
So I can see that most of the time it takes to reach joeam.com from my DSL router is taken up by the provider itself: O2/Telefonica. I can see that it passes by O2/Telefonica Munich, then goes to O2/Telefonica Frankfurt, then out to JoeAm via the international “EDGE” Frankfurt.
Wonder what a tracert from Joe’s Globe Connection would show, where the bottlenecks are. Tracert has to be done from the Windows command prompt or “cmd” Window.
Reminds me of EDSA just a few days ago.
🙂
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Raissa is first and foremost a professional journalist.
*****
Johnny, please stop it already. I’ll hate it to lose your wit and humor here but you are getting out of bound, a guest in a house questioning the integrity of the owner of the house.
Save it for the next blog, Johnny. Please Johnny.
Let me jump in on the on-going conversation. I noticed before posting on this blog that there were more than 20 initial posts put up as a reaction/comments that had nothing to do with the topic. Irrelevant comments that just occupy space without improving or pushing the narration introduce by the blog. I may sound taking sides here but I have to say this, some of us has been so free and careless in expressing our thoughts regardless whether it’s on topic or not. I’ve been here for quite a while now and has witnessed how this blog has created and maintained a certain standard that one cannot see in other blogs. That we can freely express ourselves without fear of censure while having people with different views engage us about the subject matter with the active participation of the blog administrator is what makes this blog tick. But unfortunately, I think such kind of liberty is being taken for granted by some by treating this blog as a mere sound wall that one can just throw/say anything irrespective if whether what was said make sense or not.
I think that’s the main culprit why a blog gets to be hijacked and drag in every direction. One says an off topic and another will hang on to it and expand and elaborate it until the main issue is lost and forgotten and the conversation turns to personal.
Whether one is an ‘insider’ or not is irrelevant if raise as a stand alone issue. If one is an ‘insider’ and there were lies and gossips in what he wrote, that’s fine, but you have to put emphasis on it. You cannot just imply or allude wrongdoing or fault or even raise suspicion merely because it’s an itch you want to scratch. Nope. You have to make a premise, a scenario why a doubt or suspicion or even curiosity tickles your fancy to drag the conversation out of the confines of what was presented.
I’m sure everyone reading this knows what I’m talking about. Guys, the rule is very clear, stay on topic. If you cannot control your self raising issues about the writer or his person, at least, frame it in a manner that connects the idea to the main topic. That way we can clearly see the relevance of the query to the main issue.
Control is the key word. 🙊
I think impertinence has its own life expectancy, especially in this blog and under its editor/owner.
“I think such kind of liberty is being taken for granted by some by treating this blog as a mere sound wall that one can just throw/say anything irrespective if whether what was said make sense or not.”
Although I appreciate the regular off topic banter, it’s the off the wall–to outer space–type topics by MRP and i7sharp that make my day brighter.
The insinuations and detective queries into personal stuff I’ve always likened to this quote,
“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”
Discipline. I’ll extend these thoughts in a blog for later today. What sense of “conscience” should commenters possess regarding the care of a blog? Or is it “anything goes”, like Inquirer threads? I’ve not had a lot of trouble with off-topic lines of discussion if they are themselves informative or thoughtful. And do, as you suggest, build something rather than tear it down. But I do believe this discussion was taken way off base and for sure does not reflect the kind of dialogue that raises the blog.
I appreciate the statement in favor of self-imposed restraint.
JOE AMERICA’S CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: AQUINO, . . . IGLESIA NI CRISTO….
Mr. Joe America, your post CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE… from your blog THE SOCIETY OF HONOR is a masterpiece and I want to thank you for enriching my words with that magnanimity (already stumbled to it once or twice, but it never settled in my brain until now) in relating the apparent virtues President Aquino showed. Quoting from your post: “There are two qualities in a President that I think are very important. One is a diplomatic skill, which I will sum up in the term “magnanimity” and the other, steel-eyed control during stressful conditions. I was struck by how both qualities came into play during the recent Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) protest rally which threatened for a time to become a significant political confrontation, much along the lines of the “Aquino Resign” movement after the Mamasapano incident.” You must be present during the meeting to notice this (Are you a cabinet member or Malacanang chronicler?).
Mr. Joe, you are a genius writer but you fumbled in overextended praises depicting that you are indeed an advertisement for this regime. Just a hint, I think your melodramatic description of Pinoy (Like A Beat Up Old Car), which the president himself quoted in the last SONA spilled the beans of who you are (Are you the speech writer?). Your posts of selective commentaries betrayed your identity, indicating you are a spinner not an unbiased writer-blogger. Perusing your articles, I find all are excellent but even the dim-witted will notice this glaring character: NOT A SINGLE ARTICLE THRASHED OUT ON THE MISADVENTURES AND SHAME OF THIS REGIME. Perhaps you could put true honor in your THE SOCIETY OF HONOR blog by making some articles on these conspicuous and mind-boggling issues: (1) Mamasapano Fallen 44 (NO JUSTICE UNTIL NOW!) and please widen your horizon to link it to the pushing of Bangsamoro Basic Law, the Malaysian intrusion (now among the causes of upheaval for Prime Minister Razak) and the Sabah issue (the traitorous Ninoy-Mahatir deal and Cory’s “clearest proof” highlighted in the “yellow” constitution which dropped the Sabah claim, the omission of key words from 1973 Constitution Art. I regarding territories, “…belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title…”); (2) DAF/PDAF Scam, other Napoleses and thieves allied to this regime; (3) Billion Yolanda Aid Robbery; (4) Billion Malampaya Fund Robbery; and the (5) Shameful Warning from the United Nations of ending membership for the Philippines if corruption will not be resolved; plus perhaps you may add (6) The most treacherous crime of deception against the Filipino people, the 1986 People’s Power. I am beginning to suspect your personal background: a retired American banker (WOW!), so you are in prime years during the 1986 treachery and I am thinking, maybe (please correct me) you are a contingent of the CIA hands (tasked with notorious global “business as usual” of crashing-down no-longer US friendly regimes) that instigated to topple Marcos with your craft as media master spinner. You may say these are baseless insinuations and of course you can negate with courageous unfurling of your true identity.
True and credible writers bare their real identity to affirm credence on what they write and stand for it with all valor. Undeniably, your blog is not as portrayed in your THE SOCIETY OF HONOR perspective: “…The Society is a group of people who seek intellectual enrichment and a greater understanding of the Philippines. The blog is a place to teach and inform, or to learn by striving to grasp where others are coming from, or to learn by challenge. It is not a place for insult, preening or waging win/lose esteem battles… Our goal is to observe, to think, to solve problems, and to grow…” (WOW!!!) Unmasking the blog, however reveals it is a high level spinner but in fairness, it is classy, stylish and sophisticated indeed, very clever, deeply cunning and calculating. The blog’s strategy and menu are clearly indicated in three spheres: (1) post superb comments on some neutral and trivial issues to camouflage the spraying of perfume and intended cross-hair targets; (2) MAGNANIMOUS PRAISES for this regime; and (3) discredit the ultimate targets, those perceived 2016 rivals and sweepingly, that includes the Iglesia ni Cristo. Obvious motive is to derail its unity vote [sensing that the admin’s bet will not be supported] by riding-on the INC controversies. The sad thing, all resources of lies, persons, machinery and some genius twisting to pursue goals of spinning are being utilized.
An unbiased writer should have bird’s eye view to behold the whole picture and come up with credible writings, not the eagle, neither the falcon’s eye that looks for prey, nor the vulture’s eye which scouts for rotting cadaver to gorge (exactly the lies that can be used for spinning). It is extremely repulsive, even with no knowledge of real-facts and events inside the INC, Mr. JoeAm maliciously assumed, concluded and judged twisted information, and intently shut his eyes to the lies which the expelled ministers themselves acknowledged. For Mr. JoeAm and everybody’s enlightenment, allow me to spell the whole plot of this drama: (1) The expelled former ministers were so unhappy and embittered when they were detached from their posts and assigned perked projects (i.e. INC’s GEMNET telecommunications). Disgruntled accurately fits the demoted ministers Angel Manalo, et al. who were removed from key positions due to non-compliance with church policies. (2) They began conspiring, using the social media thru Antonio Ebangelista’s blog to post criticism, allegations of corruption, later alleged abduction and torture, and were so desperate that even trivial and silly issues were heralded in their blog and social accounts. (3) The well-planned finale (intently posted in the social media a few days before 101st INC anniversary) is the professionally made You Tube video of Angel and Tenny Manalo pleading for help from INC brethren, alleging their lives including those abducted ministers are in danger. (4) The media swarmed-in the residence, police, NBI and representatives from CHR came to investigate. TV news clips showed cardboards written with “hostage kami” (we are hostage) being flashed to the media from the window of Manalo’s residence. (5) The video instigators were expelled from the INC for sowing disunity. (6) Isaias Samson, also a demoted minister created the blog Antonio Ebangelista and began posting criticism to the INC. Within the bounds of INC ministers’ code and ethics, Samson was suspended as minister and was ordered to stay in his residence in the INC compound while undergoing investigation. (7) Later, as declared by Samson himself, he and his family were able to leave the compound and then called media conference where he disclosed alleged corruption and abduction in the INC. (8) Samson and family were expelled and the INC sued Samson for libel. (9) Samson filed a complaint of serious illegal detention against the INC Sanggunian right in the office of DOJ Sec. De Lima. Tell-tale signs indicated mysterious motive for the very special overseeing of Samson’s complaint by the DOJ Chief. She handled/received the complaint by-passing the legal procedures and acted as lawyer/fiscal-prosecutor all wrap-up in one in-front of televised media. (WOW! As government agency, the DOJ’s actuations were tantamount to trampling the church-state separation with motive of media mileage and to embarrass the INC.) (10) The INC gathered-up protest rally to denounce the unfair, improper and prejudiced actuations of the DOJ.
I am not a lawyer (but can match a bar top-notch in court litigations), just a mere engineer but with good caliber in chess and can play it blindfolded, and therefore I am proud to say that I can make super, deep and sound analysis of complicated things. Take a look at this enlightening and undeniable reasoning and concluding logic: (1) If the allegations in the you tube video are true, police is the proper agency not the social media unless accusers are pursuing the obvious motive of a well primed rebellion against the leadership of the INC with attempt to draw sympathy from netizens, INC members and non-members. From the very mouth of Angel Manalo in TV news clips, statements in the You Tube video were invalidated. The cardboards written with “hostage kami” (we are hostage) being flashed to the media, later was declared by him as a child’s joke. The media, police, NBI and representatives from CHR who swarmed-in to the residence to investigate were disallowed entry and later found the video allegations unconvincing. (2) Out of 10 abducted ministers claimed by the accusers, only 4 were identified and this is the hardest slap on their faces: all of the 4 declared in the open that no abduction occurred. One of them, Arnel Tumanan who was heralded as among those abducted and tortured came out and exposed further the lies of the expelled rebels. (3) For Samson’s subject complaint, events that transpired clearly indicate that there are no elements that warrant serious illegal detention/abduction or kidnapping as provided in Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code. Samson is clever and cautious in his complaint against the Sanggunian, noticeably and intently excluded the INC Executive Minister (the Sanggunian is the extension or alter ego of the INC leader like a president to cabinet members) because he knew the whole Iglesia ni Cristo will rebuke and condemn him, and will diminish his sympathizers. (4) The protest rally condemned the unfair, improper and prejudiced actuations of the DOJ and has no intention of averting Samson’s complaint as claimed by some legal geniuses, commenting that the INC is trying to be above the law. The INC shall confront Samson’s complaint head-on in proper, legal and court procedures, and shall uphold the rule of law but the DOJ, the very agency for justice has actually committed injustice and disregarded the rule of law and proper procedures.
So, what is the real motive of DOJ Sec. De Lima to act like Super Wonder Woman in giving special attention (while old prominent cases like the Fallen 44 have piled-up and left unattended) to Samson’s baseless allegation of serious illegal detention? De Lima by-passed the legal procedures provided in Section 2, Rule 112 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure. She also took in DOJ care the other expelled ministers who had been attacking the INC with unsubstantiated accusations in the internet and declared the case of abducted ministers not closed, totally disregarding the findings of DOJ’s investigative arm, the NBI. (Is this not trampling of church-state demarcation? Is the motive not yet obvious?) All the allegations of the expelled INC rebels, at their own doing and statements boomeranged to their faces. Even Samson’s claim of evidences of corruption in the Antonio Ebangelista blog, not one will stand in court or even in layman’s scrutiny. In totality, this regime is playing orchestra to the same sintonado tune of lies from the expelled accusers — De Lima playing percussion-drums, Mr. JoeAm doing the lead guitar and some biased media entities (ABS-CBN, Rappler and some known yellow personalities) blowing the back-up trumpets and voices. The conductor’s Malacanang silhouette is clearly guiding the entire ensemble towards 2016. Clear as daylight, the yellow regime rode along the issues of the INC vs. expelled rebels. They know the lies but riding along with it is part of 2016 strategy and the real bottom-line is, is use the INC rebels, hoping to extract two ace cards, to derail INC unity vote or to bully the INC for support.
It would be good for you, Mr. JoeAm to familiarize yourself with facts about the Iglesia ni Cristo so you can have fully loaded references next time you compose your writing. Perhaps at the onset, I suggest you watch the movie Felix Manalo, to understand the church’s history and beginning, and better yet, listen to the 25- lesson doctrines so you can have basis for you to write credible comments or criticism to the INC. I will be waiting for that and I am just wondering if you have enough balls to allow the posting of this reply in your THE SOCIETY OF HONOR blog. In my next reply, I will dissect all your comments point by point.
Of course I would post this reply, which is extensive and obviously required a lot of effort. I’m not sure why you had to tack on the dare of “if you have enough balls” because it drops you into the category of confusing personal integrity with idea. It is such an undignified way to present a dignified argument.
You have taken the tack of emphasizing your perception of the bad deeds of the Aquino administration and skipped the progress the nation is making in many respects. So it is not an objective assessment, but one with a political intent. I have blogged extensively on many of these topics and don’t care to either go back over them or even compile links. You can find them by going to the home page and doing a search on any topic. On Mamasapano, I’ve written perhaps six or seven different blogs.
Clearly, one’s starting point defines how one looks at any of the incidents you have cited. On DAP/PDAF, you link them together to cast aspersions of corruption on DAP, which in fact is a common fallacy. PDAF was abused, for sure, and the abusers are being put in jail in sequence, from plunderers to thieves. DAP was an interesting program, actually. Let me ask you, if you were President following the Arroyo administration, and you came into office and saw that a number of major projects were either corrupt or wasteful (moving silt from one side of the lake to another), what would you have done: (1) continued with the programs, (2) cancelled the programs, returned the money to treasury, and let the economy sag, or (3) redirect the funds to a higher and better use, and keep the economy growing? The third option was DAP. Any corporate CEO would have done the same thing. I’ve never had anyone pick any of the other two choices.
I do appreciate the time you put into the comment, but I cannot possibly address the whole thing, and will just allow it to stand as your statement.
If you wish to enter into a discussion on any issue, we can pick that one and see where we agree and disagree, and possibly look for harmony – if that is your intent, versus, for instance, just throwing a lot of dung against the wall. But if dung is your method, throw away, just remove the derogatory personal remarks, as they are a violation of blog policy.
Manuel,
Can you please explain how the INC views and practices austerity? vis-a-vis my article here,
https://joeam.com/2015/09/15/salvation-by-austerity How did Felix Manalo live a life of austerity (like Jesus), and his progeny (are they Jesus-like in their lifestyle and practice).
Does the INC practice austerity? If not, where does austerity measure in the Church?
(Thanks!)