Filipino expats weigh, find Grace Poe wanting
[Photo credit: The Filipino Channel, via ABS-CBN, via Facebook]
By Roly E. Eclevia
Overseas Filipinos do not hold Sen. Grace Llamanzares Poe in very high esteem. It’s easy to know why.
An online survey conducted by The Filipino Channel (TPC) on presidential candidates and their running mates shows Ms. Poe and Sen. Chiz Escudero are endorsed by 13 percent of the viewers. Ex-DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Rep. Leni Robredo receive an 84 percent approval rating. It is 3 percent, if you really want to know, for Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Gregorio Honasan.
A subsidiary of ABS-CBN, TFC provides news and entertainment for Filipinos in the United States and Canada. TFC doesn’t say how many of its three million subscribers have participated in the survey. Nor does it explain why the participants steer clear from one of their own, a former American.
A conclusion can be drawn though. Here we think we’re perfectly on solid ground.
Ms. Poe at one time in her life took up US citizenship. That is an issue being raised against her. That is not the reason for the apparent disdain, though. Nearly all those who have made their preference known are US or Canadian or Australian citizens, or are in the process of becoming citizens.
No, not that. It is ingratitude that turned them off. The US gave Grace Poe the opportunity to begin life anew, but she left without pause when President Aquino asked her to become MTRCB chair in Manila, a more lucrative job than herding preschoolers in Boston. Nothing’s wrong with that, really, but then she turned around and kicked her adopted country in the teeth. She’s been saying in interviews to the media that the oath of allegiance she took before a US magistrate was only for show, a requirement in the naturalization process. It has been the Philippines she loves and wants to serve all along.
Now American and Canadian Filipinos understand that Ms. Poe believes their own sacrifices are not such a big deal.
That irritates a lot of expats and probably OFW’s who also struggle to have a life in two nations.
Citizenship, says Ruby Clemmons, a former Filipino now an American, is something to cherish, especially when you give up another to obtain it, “a painful, gut-wrenching process.” Ms. Clemmons, writing for Rappler, a popular online magazine, notes, with revulsion, the senator “ditched her US passport like a pair of sneakers that have already outlived their usefulness into the trash bin. . . .” [“My issue with Grace Poe” by Ruby Clemmons, Rappler].
How many times have we heard relatives and friends announce they’re leaving for another country, “for the future of the children.” It’s so sad to see them go. We terribly miss them. We’re proud of them. We give them a place of honor at the banquet table every time they come around for a visit.
But not when they become snooty. In the case of Ms. Poe she proposes to rule over us. Didn’t she give up on us once upon a time? The gumption!
Ms. Poe is facing disqualification suits before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and cases are likely to eventually reach the Supreme Court. One argument is that she is a naturalized rather than a natural born citizen. That makes her unfit to sit as senator or run for president.
The senator is a foundling adopted by a Filipino couple, actor Fernando Poe Jr. and wife Susan Roces, but adoption does not confer citizenship. In this country blood rules. Only children born of Filipino parents are natural born citizens. You know, jus sanguinis and all that.
Now comes the defense. The baby was found in church with the umbilical cord still intact. Foreigners don’t come to the country to give birth and then abandon the baby. It is thus safe to assume that the baby’s parents are Filipinos, in all probability residents of the city.
However, the law does not operate on assumption but on evidence.
But forget for a while the naturalized-versus-natural-born-citizen debate. The judges will settle that in accordance with the Constitution and the law — or their interpretation of the Constitution and the law. There is another, more important aspect of the case, and we can make the determination ourselves: the question of character.
No one controls the circumstances of his birth. Everybody is accountable for the choices he makes as an adult.
Ms. Poe changed citizenship twice, the first time out of love for her husband and children, who are all US citizens, the second time because she loved the Filipino people so much.
That’s the narrative.
Who are we to question filial duty and obedience? We can accept that. It’s a choice many of us made. But the homecoming is different. We do not buy the reason given for it.
No love of country is involved here. Only rank opportunism.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
What happened to her DNA result by the way? I doubt the disqualification case against her will pursue once she is proven a real Filipino.
I am not as updated as others on the DNA test issue. How can that prove that she is natural-born? I understand she got samples not from her purported biological parents but from other alleged blood relations. Is the DNA test conclusive in that regard? How do we establish certainty with that DNA test?
DNA can show to some level of certainty whether Ms Grace Poe and whoever she has presented to be the other subject of the test have descended from some common ancestor (maybe a common parent, grandparent, or greatgrandparent). Depending on the tested degree of consanguinity, certain statistical thresholds must be surpassed by such a test, with greater thresholds to support closer relations. The main premise in the case of Ms Poe is that having been found as a young girl on Philippine soil, she must have been born from Filipino parents (not necessarily true, but let’s give ger the benefit of the doubt in this case).
The weakness of Ms Poe’s premise, however, comes from the way our constitution defines natural-born citizenship. For the vast majority, it rests on the principle on jus sanguinis, meaning being born from Filipino parents regardless of where in the world the birth took place. This is in contrast with the primary consideration the US constitution gives to the principle of jus soli, meaning being born on American soil. In the US, only citizens born within its states and territories may be elected President or Vice President.
Ms Poe is trying to argue that because she was found as young girl in the Philippines, she must have been born in the Philippines, and by extension, she must have been born from Filipino parents. This simply does not follow logic.
i heard from dzmm, poe’s camp ask for dna submission extension. i was half asleep when i heard, i did not get all the details. anyway i was expecting for the extension as is she does not know who her relatives are. if she knows then it is moot and academic, dna would be easy. if she knows who her relatives but they were not used as sample, there must be a bigger reason for secrecy. she is caught between truth and secrecy. truth she is filipino, secrecry goodbye respect and trust.
She asked for a deadline extension according to the news.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/10/22/1513491/poe-seeks-more-time-dna-test-result-submission
I’d posit that because OFWs and Migrants are separated from the day to day grind of living here they can be more objective with the current administrations achievements and failures. Wish they could all vote.
http://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/overseas-voting-registration-2/
Every Embassy has circulars like this on the Internet:
The basic requirements for any Filipino citizen to register as a voter are simple: he must be at least 18 years old, and a resident of the Post which has jurisdiction over his/her residence wherein he/she intends to vote for the upcoming overseas voters.
The filing of applications for registration shall be conducted at the Philippine Embassy, Singapore, 20 Nassim Road, SG 258395, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm (closed for lunch from 12:00nn-1:00pm) , and other mobile registration sites to be announced by the Philippine Embassy.
For the May 2016 Elections, overseas voters registration is from 06 May 2014 to 31 October 2015.
THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR OVERSEAS VOTERS WORLDWIDE IS OCTOBER 31ST – IN JUST 10 DAYS TIME! All who would like to vote should contact their respective Philippine Embassies asap.
Joe could you please put this in your notes from the editor. I think we have a large overseas Filipino voter audience here.
The info also reached me just via Facebook from US friends – not Inquirer etc.
Flying voters they are! They should not be allowed to vote, like, they did not want Grace Poe to run because she is an American like these Flying Voters.
WATCH OUT! Philippine Embassy and Consular staff don’t know how to count. They’ll cook the numbers in favor of their patron saint, Benigno Aquino.
No need to cook the results because they are voting for Benigno Aquino’s bet.
Managalog ka nga kung Pilipino ka talaga.
It takes one to know one, MRP.
Juana Pilipinas,nagkakamali ka, SA mga nasa labas ng Pinas,marami Ang Hindi boboto SA mga manok ni Noynoy.Ang SA Amin na Lang Ay Sana maging malinis Ang bilangan ng resulta SA botohan, para naman may pagbabago talaga SA atin,Dahil aminin natin o Hindi,Ang gobyerno natin o kaya Ang mga nasa gobyerno natin karamihan Ay makasarili at wala ng self respect kaya lantaran na Ang Pagnanakaw sa kaban ng Bayan.
I look at the Philippines receiving commendations across the world for her economic progress and achievements, and, yet, her own citizens are so frustrated by the struggles they can’t see the path ahead, and take it, head up and happy about being on it.
Pacita, nakita mo ba ang litrato sa artikulong ito? Iyan ang survey ng TFC/Balitang America. Iyan ang pinag-uusapan dito. Kung iboboto ng mga expats si Roxas.
Malaki ang lamang ni Roxas sa ibang kandidato. Ewan ko kung saan ka nakatira, pero dito sa Southern US, halos lahat ng kakilala ko boboto kay Roxas.
I will guess that Mr.MRP has experienced frustration – Philippine style election. Yes flying voters were so popular before and it started during the Marcos years – rampant manipulation of voters just to win, but it never happens during the time of Cory Aquino and PNoy. I still believe that the Aquinos are honest and have run an honest government. The pork barrel were rampant during the term of Gloria Arroyo. But I disagree with MR. MRP for generalising that Filipino Americans are flying voters. This you have to google and look for the meaning of flying voters. I am a Filipino Canadian and I believe most Filipino Americans are not flying voters.
The term “flying voter” is apropos in this case. To have become a Fil-Am they would have had to have previously flown to the US, dibs? (Well okay, except maybe for my one crazy friend who came on a sailboat back in the ’80s). And now their ballots will be flown back to the PH. 😛
The gumption of these left-behind Filipinos accepting OFW and fake-American citizen Filipino remittances to prop up their economy. The gumption ! The Gumption !
How dare these left-behind relatives accept remittances from 5,000,000 fake American citizens. How dare these 5,000,000 fake American citizen Filipinos vote in Philippine election. They dumped their Filipino citizens in favor of American citizenship so Americans can rule their lives like heaven to apply for Filipino dual citizenship! Traitors! Traitors! TRaitors!
They are traitors to Philippines for prefering America
They are traitors to America for applying citizenship to Philippines
They are traitors to America for voting in PHilippine election in the comfort of America
Filipinos are naturally traitors.
GRACE IS A TRAITOR, TOO!
FILIPINOS ARE TRAITORS for prefering Nike made in America.
Shirts made in America
Food made in China and in AMerica
IN FACT FILIPINOS HATE PRODUCTS MADE-IN-THE-PHILIPPINES !!!
Let us not talk about Traitors. Because all Filipinos are Traitors. If given the chance to go to America THEY WOULD IN A BLINK OF AN EYE.
Filipinos are traitors like Grace Poe who is originally a traitor.
Filipinos prefer to import half-bred half-white ex-colonist mestizo class Englishtzes snob beauty queen from America to represent traditional looking nog-nog negro Filipinos in Miss universe beauty contests.
Filipinos are traitors. They are traitor to their indegenous traditional nog-nog looks.
They are traitors to their Visayan, talagog, Ilocos language.
Filipinos hate their faces
Filipinos hate their looks
Filipinos hate their skin color
Filipinos hate anything Filipinos
That is why Filipinos do not have dignity and love of country BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THE U.P.-JOURNALISM-GRADUATES PUBLISH IN THE PAPERS.
PREEN MAGAZINE run by Inquirer promotes WHITE-IS-RIGHT! WHITE-IS-BEAUTIFUL! IF YOU ARE NOG-NOG TRADITIONAL LOOKING FILIPINO DO NOT SEND YOUR PHOTO PORTFOLIO. YOU WILL LIKELY BE DECLINED 100%
FILIPINOS ARE TRAITORS TO THEMSELVES. NOT ONLY GRACE POE !!!!
FILIPINOS ARE TRAITOR TO THEIR CONSTITUTION because they do not follow the law. It took United Nations Human Rights for Philippine Supreme Court that Ate Glo’s human rights has been violated.
IT TAKES A WHITE FOR FILIPIONS TO KNOW THEY ARE WRONG.
WHITES AND MESTIZO CLASS ARE HONEST AND NEVER GO WRONG.
Senatos and congressmen only go after nog-nog negro dark-skinned colored Filipinos
Families of the mestizo colonist class from ABOITIZ to ZOBELS never involved in shenanigans. Because they are honest. Because they are carrier of COLONIAL MENTALITY.
COLONIAL MENTALITY IS GOOT. IT IS NOT BAD. EXPATS ARE GOOD. LOCALS ARE NOT.
All crookery in the Philippines are done by Filipinos. NOt the Spaniards. Because Spaniards practice COLONIAL MENTALITY.
Blaming Colonial Mentality for what Filipinos are are made by UP Historians and those UP graduates that style themselves as “professors”.
THOSE FILIPINOS WHO WENT ABROAD TO “STUDY” are traitors like Grace Poe. They “study” what is good abroad and come back home apply the BAD.
Those Filipinos who speak Englischtzes are traitors like Grace Poe. Englischtzes is not talagog or Ilocano. It is a foreign Language.
I CAN ENUMERATE ALL THE THINGS THAT FILIPINOS ARE TRAITORS LIKE GRACE POE.
Philippines need traitors. TRAITORS ARE GOOD PEOPLE LIKE SPANISH CONQUISTADORES THAT BROUGHT COLONIAL MENTALITY.
#TRAITORSAREGOOD
#COLONIALMENTALITYISGOOD
Hindi naman lahat,G.Pacifico,ako nga matagal na ako dito SA UK,residente na ako,pwedi na akong mag apply ng citizenship pero Hindi ko ginawa dahil para SA akin para na akong nagtaksil SA sarili Kong Bayan,sabi nga ng mga kapwa Pinoy na nagpalit ng citizenship,bakit daw Hindi ako magBritish,sagot ko Mahal ko Ang Pilipinas,sabi Nila ulit pwedi daw mag dual citizen,sagot ko Lalong ayoko Dahil parang namamangka SA dalawang ilog,pero naman,SA kalagayan ng gobyerno natin…is it worth being loyal?
It is worth it and more, Pacita…don’t give on your countrymen, on us. I admire your loyalty and steadfast concern.
Right on the dot!
I had expected the outcry would be “don’t put an American in the Palace” and found surprising the outcry expressed in this article,”what a lousy American!” Well, it is easy, in the lack of any contrary information, for one to ask, “what kind of Filipino is she, then?” and the ending thought “opportunistic!”
I tend to agree with this line of thinking. I think Grace Poe has made some horrendous decisions. Aligning with Escudero. Siding with INC over DOJ. Saying the BBL should be killed (then reversing course, the next day, via Escudero). But the biggest to me . . . the deal killer for me, in terms of finally giving up hope . . . was when she declined President Aquino’s offer to be Vice President.
What a statement it would have made had she accepted, demonstrating a willingness to learn and GIVE to the nation for six years . . . and being assured of backing for the presidency in 2022.
So if she is accused of being a lousy Filipino citizen, I tend to be sympathetic to the argument. Ambition over knowledge, patriotic sacrifice and skill. Seems opportunistic to me.
BENIGNO AQUINO IS A TRAITOR !!! He allowed the Chinese to trample on the sovereignty of the traitorous Filipinos.
Chinese told Benigno to hand them over the result of their findings on the massacre of Chinese tourists, BENIGNO DID
Chinese told Benigno do not publish NBI result until Chinese gave an approval, BENIGNO DID
Chinese told Benigno they will send CSI to investigate Chinese tourists massacre, BENIGNO DID
BENIGNO REPORTS TO CHINA. PHILIPPINES REPORT TO CHINA. THEY JUST DO NOT KNOW IT. BENIGNO IS PROXY PRESIDENT. THE HONEST MESTIZO CLASS IS LAUGHING. So is Obama. University of the Philippines cannot even do simple DNA test on Marwan. They have to send it to California for testing.
SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES IS A TRAITOR JUST LIKE GRACE POE. When United Nations told Philippines to release Ate Glo, they released her.
BY THE WAY, WHO IS REALLY RUNNING THE PHILIPPINES? FILIPINOS OR FOREIGN GOVERNMENT?
GRACE POE IS A SHOO-IN BY THE C.I.A. Because she is an American, a Filipino traitor so are those 5,000,000 who style themselves as American that will vote in coming PHilippine election.
WHO REALLY IS RUNNING THE PHILIPPINES? WHY DO THEY ALLOW 5,000,000 AMERICANS TO VOTE?
5M FilAms do you mean? What is the existing law, those with dual citizenship can vote or those just there as Filipino citizens based in the US because that’s where their jobs are?
I think those who took their oath of allegiance to the US can no longer vote via the absentee voting procedure. We need to do a research before we rant.
Supporting does not mean voting for a particular candidate they favor. There’s a difference.
“those with dual citizenship can vote” Yes. All Filipino citizens overseas, anywhere.
Overseas Filipino voter registration is ongoing at the moment. Saw it on Facebook.
We also have the matter of, okay, what right to Expats have to meddle in Philippine elections? Those who voted are Americans or Canadians, and, by protesting Poe, are actually proving the point that it IS possible for one person to have a foot (or piece of heart) in two nations. Therefore, they should not be so harsh on Senator Poe.
Can an honest blog, sans loaded self-interest be like a woman,
like a Josephine to Pepe Rizal or to John Keats’s woman
who walks in beauty like the night? This is one of ’em, Joeam.
Many good ones die young by their own hands, a pity.
Others do it because of depression, in stupor or euphoria.
Or what Shake a spear really said: Cowards don’t die
many times before their death. But seppuku
is the noblest deterrent commandment of them all
DON’T do it : Any DEED of SHAME to you and many others
Lest seppuku open the door on your way to the ether.
The Philippine World War II Veterans are confused people !!! They march and waived their Philippine flag in Washington D.C. forcing the American Government to accept them as Americans because they fought alongside Americans in the Phiippines.
These World War II Veterans calls on Malacanang to tell White House they should be given a parth to citizenship !!!
IT IS LIKE ASKING YOUR PARENTS TO HAVE OTHER PARENTS TO ADOPT THEM. STRANGE! WEIRD! Common Filipinos get real !!! I know Filipinos are confused lot. They cannot really know who they are. COMELEC do not audit SALN before issuing Certificate of Candidacy AS A PRE-REQUISITE TO RUN THE COUNTRY.
ALL CANDIDATES ARE SILENT ON SALN PRE-REQUISITE. Why? Because losing Candidate will use SALN to sling mud at the winning candidates !!!! WE WILL HAVE ISSUE AFTER ELECTION. I blame them all !! From COMELEC. Media. Government. Candidates. DO NOT BLAME ME. I ALREADY WARNED THEM.
This is the life of the Philippines run by U.P. graduates. UP cannot even know that UPCAT review is like going to school. U.P. might as well make going to school ILLEGAL !!!!! JESUS MARY MOTHER OF GOD HELP THE FILIPINOS.
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE THINKING?
AHA! HA! HA! This just crossed my mind …
*** JOSE RIZAL WAS A TRAITOR ***
Jose Rizal was a traitor who became a Hero
Emilio Aguinaldo who styled himself as General was a Traitor and became a President
Honasan, Ramos and Enrile the trio that propped up the REgime of Marcos became Senators and President
Trillanes coup’ed against Cory also became a Senator.
Children of crooks Estrada became Senator
Bonb-Bong became a Senator and running for VICE president for Murdering Duterte
There are plenty of crooks out there.
When Filipinos apply for employment they are asked for Barangay clearance, Police clearance and NBI clearance …. THESE CROOKS RUNNING FOR ELECTED OFFICE WERE NEVER ASKED OF POLICE and NBI CLEARANCE MORE SO SALNs.
COMMON PEOPLE! THINK! THINK! THINK!
Here is my adivce to Grace Poe.
Grace, Philippines has a constitution. You must respect the Philippine constitution. Show us your DNA. Show us your residency qualification. No! No! No! Do not show us your DNA. Your parentage has nothing to do with running the country. BE TRUTHFUL WITH YOUR RESIDENCY QUALIFICATION. Do not fool the Filipinos. If you do not have residency qualification, PLEASE QUIT THE PRESIDENCY. Cut it clean. Leave. Go back to America. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE PRE-OCCUPIED with your residency status when in Malacanang. Of course, you look like a Pinay. Your English totally sucks. Your talagog is goot. Yes, you are a Pinay. You WERE A PINAY now no more. Respect the constitution respect the people who do not respect the constitution like that ignoramus Trillanes and American Cayetano.
And here is to you 5,000,000 fake American Filipinos. DO NOT VOTE IN PHILIPPINE ELECTION! I repeat! Do not vote in Philippine election. OK?
And to you Philippine lawmakers, stop issuing dual citizenship. DUAL CITIZENSHIP is a legalized form of TRAITOR-ing !!! If you lawmakers cannot allow an american to own property in the PHilippines, you should not allow fake American Filipinos to own property in the PHilippines.
And to you Bloggy. It took you time to marinate in your head that foreigners should be allowed to blog? Of course, if it took centuries for UP to realize that “UPCAT Review” is like going to school, it should take Bloggy more than a century to learn that it is OK for American to be nominated in Bloggy Award.
So, let’s call it even. Grace Poe quits the Presidency. Binay should also quit. 5,000,000 fake-American Filipinos should not vote.
Mar&Benigno were wrong for not making due deligence in courting Grace as his VP. Mar&Benigno should make heads roll for failing background check on Grace.
WorldWarII “Filipino” Veterans-turned-Americans and 5,000,000 fake-Americans Filipinos, KEEP OFF PHILIPPINE ELECTION !!!! You are not worthy and you are not welcome. OUT! OUT! OUT! STAY THERE IN AMERICA. …. errrr …. keeep the remittances coming I need iPhone6+s. You are not welcome but your remittances are.
Also, please, Fake-American Filipinos when you come to my country, The Philippines, show us just one passport. Please do not make YABANG waiving two passports (Philippines and American) and have our malnourished immigration clerk to pick which ones is to be stamped. OK? And do not talk Englsichtzes to our immigration clerk TAGALOG IS FINE. TAGALOG IS UNDERSTOOD IN METRO MANILA. Thank you.
Here is a direct quote of what Bongbong Marcos said when I asked him to confirm that he was a named beneficiary of multi-million dollar accounts in Switzerland:
“I cannot confirm because I haven’t seen or read them. We – I don’t know. I cannot – I cannot say that I know. Definitely the Swiss money were there. Or are there now. It’s for us – again this constant – that people are saying – more and more participating in that –”
Raissa Robles
How in the world the Marcses maintain their luxurious lifestyle? Why are they not checking Bongbong’s SALN? Where did they get the money from. Source of money? All Raissa does is clickety-clack clickety-clack her keyboard. Where is the government? Where is Benigno? Why is he not directing his people to check on Bongbong’s money trail?
Where was Cory then? What did she do? She did not order her men to check Marcoses Lifestyles. What did Ramos do? What did Erap do? What did Ate Glo do?
They have life. They have styles. They have the moves. Why are they not checking?
wHy is the selective justice? Why are they afraid of the Marcoses still? MYUSTERIOUS !!!! VERY MYSTERIOUS !!!!
https://joeam.com/2015/10/20/the-dna-of-honor-for-the-comelec-another-mar-roxas-legacy/#comment-142133 – read this and the following postings… I was becoming an insider to the top levels but I made some mistakes and had to leave the country when I was 17.
Fortunately I made those mistakes, because if you are not very strong like Jessica Zafra and keep your distance from all the stuff happening – you become dirty or you die like the journalist I mentioned in one of the postings. It is like one big clan with a lot of infighting.
Or like carabaos that are all wading in the same mud, some are able to stay a bit cleaner but most no, so even if you want to change things how will you find allies? The others might know something about you. And since Filipinos are judgemental about small mistakes but totally forgiving of big mistakes, better be careful. Technicalities like DAP are attacked while wholesale stealing like Marcos Sr. is forgiven. The priorities are very wrong.
I can afford to throw dirt, even on myself I am not completely clean, because I am abroad.
In the Philippines the penalty for that is you are shut out – and that is bad in a country where who you know is still more important than objectivity. So those who want to clean things must go very slowly, step by step. And avoid the horns of the other carabaos.
I cannot refute what the author has put forth because it is logical and believable. We Filipinos love to read minds and we become so convinced that that is the truth. At the end of the day, it is the Comelec and perhaps the Supreme Court that will determine the truth insofar as Poe’s constitutional qualifications to run for President. As for the morality of her decision to run for the highest office, I guess that is left up to the court of public opinion and eventually the history books to decide. I am a Fil-Am and my survey vote would mirror the approval ratings of the TFC viewers. However, my not voting for Poe would not have anything to do with her constitutional qualifications nor the morality of her running. It would boil down to a basic simple question — what does she have in her resume that tells me she would make a good President? I’ve been looking hard the past few months but I am sorry to say I do not see anything. What I see is a junior senator trying hard to make her presence known and learning the ropes. I’d give her an “A: for effort… but not my vote.
Yes, good assessment, I think. Poor judgement and self awareness, if you ask me. I think she has no idea about the demands of the Presidency. If she did understand the job, she would not have conducted that Mamasapano witch hunt that basically tagged the President with responsibility for a failed military mission. As if she could lead us to battle . . .
I think these are also the sentiments of the the silent majority. From experience, one May say that Our country and countrymen are very hard to lead, manage and rule. Does Ms. Poe know what she is getting into? I don’t think so. Choosing to become a US citizen for family and economic reasons is fine. Millions of us do the same and I am sure most of us did not dream to be President of our “conflicted” country. Kaya nga tayo nag migrate di ba? We looked for a much better opportunity for ourselves and our families. Ms. Poe is luckier than most of us, she found the best opportunity in the Philippines by running for Senator and now for President. But how do you call a person like that? Oppoe-tunist like most of us but luckier, I think….tsk tsk…
I think her opportunism is a series of misjudgments and calculations. We’ll see. Maybe she can pull it off, and the Philippines will have one very green president. Not ready, I think.
I beg to offer another view Joeam; it takes intellect, lots of guts, and sinews of steel and a Kevlar face to be a magnum opportunist.
Yes. Angela Merkel aka Angie the Snake is German Chancellor now. She tore down her godfather Helmut Kohl – but she did it thoroughly and finished him completely, Grace Poe’s attack on Noynoy was amateurish compared to Angie’s turning on Kohl on anonymous campaign donations – and even cost Germany seven years of Gerhard Schröder, ranked together with Erap among the Top 10 most useless global politicians. She even shot down Bavaria’s Stoiber, let him run first in 2002 and end his career.
But she never let any man run her show, Angie Merkel from East Germany, unlike Grace. She helped Obama deal with Putin while helping Vladimir save face – after all Germany depends on Russian natural gas and oil, I do not want to freeze in winter over here. Merkel is East German meaning she speaks Russian, was a member of the Communist youth movement but is Christian Democratic now – right-wing. But she used her knowing how KGB folks like Putin think to help Barack. Who had her mobile phone tapped BTW. Merkel only cares for power, but she does everything for her voter base, making sure Germany withstands the storms now rocking the entire EU. She plays with Russia, but will not sell out to them. Poe – I wonder how she would deal with China. And the US alliance.
A most fascinating nutshell note on Merkel. Thanks Irineo.
Welcome. She was very much underestimated – and had a public image problem similar to that which Mar Roxas has now. She is Dr. of Chemistry and has the typical female scientist image – little sex appeal – but won against popular, macho Gerhard Schröder in 2005.
She however always did what Joe says Mar should do – she stayed herself and outplayed everybody. She did get a better hairstylist for her campaign, but not much more really.
Hahaha!
No need for a hairstylist for Mar, though. His hair is straight enough, going up. We don’t want him to look like Erap with a mustache. Or a Joker Arroyo with hair made to look like a Roman Senator.
I think Mar got a different hair stylist, too. He’s into the light and fluffy look. Maybe he’s actually been reading some of the books in his library.
You mean she will turn on Chiz? I am still figuring out why have Trillanes as spare VP
Is he her spare VP? I did not know that until now. If she does, my second semester grade for her will go up from 3-, maybe 3+, 2- if she proves real competence and strength. 3 is passing, anything under you have to take removal exams. In her case, remove Chiz.
https://joeam.com/2015/10/20/the-dna-of-honor-for-the-comelec-another-mar-roxas-legacy/#comment-142269 – that would be good because she with Trillanes would be a credible alternative for center-right to democratic right-wing voters, and eat into the base of BBM which would be reduced to some democratic right-wingers and lunatic fringe right-wingers. Without competing too much for the center which is Mar’s territory. Plus Mar has some people from center-left due to Leni (social-democratic aspect), eating Binay’s votes which would be confined to the democratic left (social programs), leftist lunatic fringe (destabilizers and wannabe revolutionaries) and handout people. So no problem. If she wins with Trillanes, Trillanes will watch her like the aggressive attack dog that he is.
And dogs that don’t bark but stare at you like Trillanes does are the dangerous ones.
Trillanes as VP will not stab Poe in the back if she becomes President and makes mistakes – possibly he will do it constructively by making it look like he is helping her, and then go for the kill when he files his candidacy in 2021. He has real killer instinct.
And if ever Marcos Jr. goes to far, drunk with power, Trillanes might surprise us all. He was young when he made his coup ATTEMPT. I think the next time, it will not be TRY anymore. The conclusion being that Mar-Leni is still the best thing for stability. But they have to have their eyes everywhere, stand back-to-back with their arms interlocked at all times. And do good work for the economy and for the masses. BBM and Trillanes are waiting.
Trillanes as outside opposition – perfect. To have checks and balances. Watchdog.
But as VP? He still has to learn some humility, so it is better if he is outside first.
Magdalo’s network is not to be underestimated Grace knows that,.When Trillanes proclaimed himself as VP I was there for the food, I could not clap my hands when Brian Llamanzarez showed up to represent Grace,everybody was clapping except me,can’t even fake it.
I don’t blame you for not clapping… it is not easy to do while holding a plate full of food on one hand and a drink on the other. 😛
I wonder how the rest were able to manage. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I think the idea is he has a certain following (military) and will bring them to her. The problem is, however, that Trillanes will draw votes from Escudero. I agree it makes no sense. Maybe she should add Cayetano, too.
Maybe she wants Leni to win and is just using the network of Chiz and Magdalo
Haha, I think the two women don’t really like each other that much. Different foundations altogether, one fluid, the other solid.
You know, that’s true, isn’t it? Unless one is delusional. Then it is probably nothing special. Thanks for the tap on the shoulder.
Demeanor. Look at her proclamation pics. No glow. Like an actor thinking of what next to say, searching her memory, unconvincing, no oomph. Now compare her pics to those of Leni Robredo. Sparkling eyes. Speaks from the heart. Sheath your swords. Grace isn’t a threat to Mar. A voter contemplating Grace will see the difference between the two women and say, hey I like Leni, but why vote for someone she hasn’t partnered with?
What surprises me is that the media don’t seem to recognize that, about Poe, that she is a stick puppet talking machine with no depth of understanding about anything. She can’t speak from the heart because she is winging it all the time, making stuff up. That’s why she got nailed on INC. Now Poe/Escudero is descending into the blame game on the various challenges, ala Binay. They think they should be adored all the way through, because it was the adoration that made them decide not to accept the LP offer. It must be hard for them to grasp that people actually hunt you during a campaign. Just as they are hunting Binay and Roxas and Santiago.
Clearly, Leni Robredo is a special kind of person . . . as President Aquino said, a lot like Cory Aquino in terms of being sincere.
GPL was invited by the Comelec to appear on Nov 3 to respond to submit her affidavit and respond to the disqualification cases filed against her. By now, she may be realizing that the campaign for the presidency is not a walk in the park.
Senator Trillanes who is running for VP, said that the people should decide if she is fit to run for the presidency. If that is his view, then we can just burn the Constitution and abolish the whole judiciary.
https://joeam.com/2015/10/20/the-dna-of-honor-for-the-comelec-another-mar-roxas-legacy/#comment-142103 – my opinion on the Constitution. It does not reflect reality at all.
It is like describing your house as a mansion when it fact it is a makeshift structure.
American Constitution is set in stone. Their Constitutionalizers are forward looking.
Whereas, Philippine Constitution is a weder-weder constitution. It is designed by the sitting president. They call it DESIGNER CONSTITUTION known by its strung out 3-letter word Con-Con and Cha-Cha.
may people people power lang yan, tapos may weder weder lang, ang sison itinumba si weder weder lang. ngayon tuloy pa rin ang season season lang. may seasoned magnanakaw at overpricer, may seasoned opportunista at seasoned magpalit ng citizenship niya, pero di naman seasoned sa politica at sa constitution at arithmetica, may seasoned bungangera at seasoned parang laging may tama kung umasta lalo na sa abogasia, at meroon din seasoned sa pamamahala at seasoned as in subok na. sinong seasoned ang walang chavit ?
Trillanes does disappoint from time to time, I agree. I’ve marked him off my (totally fictional because I can’t vote) list of possibilities.
Someone should start a move in Congress to make JoeAm an honorary and honorable Filipino, if both parties agree. It’ll need a Congressional act.
Let’s see, I’ve called the Senate clowns and do-nothings, berated them for having no ethical bearing, and you want . . . what . . . exactly? Hahaha. I greatly appreciate the kind thought, though.
Hey, if peter Wallace can do it, why not Joe?
I can’t come up with an answer to that. Peter Wallace worked 40 years at a real job, and he is a gentleman and diplomat. On the other end of the spectrum, some guys just run around in shorts playing basketball and are made citizens. I think I’d be more controversial than either, and don’t really care to be.
BREAKTIME
Here is an interesting coincidence or “consistency” if you like.
Top of the Blog by Roly E. Eclevia is a screenshot of the online survey by The Filipino Channel (TFC) which gives,
Roxas-Robredo — 84%
Poe-Escudero —–13%
Binay-Honasan —- 3%
Now take a look AT ONLY THE NUMBERS of Robredo, Escudero and Honasan in the Philstar online survey,
http://www.philstar.com/online-polls/2015/10/08/1508505/who-your-vp-bet-among-those-who-declared-run-2016
and we have
Robredo 47
Escudero 7
Honasan 1
TOTAL — 55
Now “normalize” the respective numbers by the Total of 55; and lo and behold, we have the following rounded results:
Robredo 85%
Escudero 13%
Honasan 2%
Isn’t that interesting? Draw from this whatever you like to. I have to note though that these online surveys are not random surveys over the “population class” they represent. Call it coincidence if you like.
Polls done by professional polling agencies in Western countries usually take random samples, but based on sociological analyses of people from different social environments or milieus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_environment – and what percentage of the population they represent. People from the same milieu will usually have a similar mindset, so a random sample taken from people from one social environment will be representative.
Are there any sociological analyses of social environments or milieus in the Philippines? And what percentage of the population they approximately represent? I don’t think so.
Polls for the 1998 German elections were totally off-tangent BTW because from 1990 onwards due to MTV and the effects of globalization, milieus totally changed in structure. Gerhard Schröder was strong among “modern hedonists” – I think that was the name, the group that was the first to have cellphones, enjoy mall consumerism, watch TV shows like Big Brother starting 2000 and be the first in chatrooms. Polling agencies – after being publicly challenged for their being inaccurate – reviewed their models and were very close in predicting the outcome of the 2002 elections accurately. What I suspect though is that Philippine milieus are very fluid and changing – and hard to grasp fully for an outsider.
The situation is fluid, I agree. What is probably interesting is that the ONLINE readers answering these surveys at a “period” in time seem to have a common wave or mindset. I hope this phenomenon gives a hint to the potential force of the social media as we go from here to May 9, 2016. Goodnight from the Philippines, Irineo.
Good night nherrera and irineo.
Too late to say goodnight to you Karl. But goodnight or shall I say good day to you. Turned off the laptop before you posted that.
Buenas Diaz
I picked Leni! She got 47%
What surprised me is Bong-Bong got 37%
Mar&Leni is a winner AMONG WHO HAS ACCESS TO INTERNET AND KNOWS HOW TO OPERATE IT !!! As to the fish vendors and coconut climbers, WE CANNOT KNOW.
Remember that Kariton Teacher that became a CNN sensation? It was a scam. Filifinos texted their vote that made Kariton Teacher CNN-man-of-the-year.
Remember that American Idol that was claimed as Filipino despite her saying she is not a Filipino? Filipino text other Filipinos to text American Idol she is a winner.
So, do not rely on scientific coincedences because Filipinos are not scientific. They cannot even do Forensic Science. They still rely on witness accounts.
Even if they are not statistically irrelevant, they are certainly meaningful figures. If just for jerking one’s head up.
*******
Ii is synchronicity and serendipity combined.
1. Syncroncity: “the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.”
2. Serendipity: “the act of finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it.”
It is a “synchrodipity.”
*****
Hey, I may have done a “synchrodipity” thing. That’s what we old folks get by exercising the fingers on the keyboard of that old laptop.
🙂
Synchrotupidity – when a certain someone runs for the highest office in a country with a clown as a VP.
🙂 🙂 🙂
if Poe can convince her family to renounce American citizenship, just like she did, to erase any doubt that the occupants of Malacanang have no divided loyalty..then maybe she is really sincere
I think the cynics would say that is an opportunistic move on her part. I don’t think she can escape the issue. The only way would have been to accept the VP to Roxas and earn her way into favor.
Hey, Joe! There is that possibility considering Filipinos have GAYA-GAYA mentalty. Meaning, they love to COPY! Here is a great example:
When Bill was impeached, Filipino lawmakers realized it is possible to impeach a President. Filipinos just needed an exampe. Thereafter, they impeached ERAP, CORONA, ATE GLO. These impeachenators have set their eyes on The Binays
BIDEN IS NOT RUNNING ! Grace read glowing obituary of Biden. Grace will grab this opportunity that she be remembered as truly PATRIOTIC and NATIONALISTIC despite her being an American. She will not run for President. She will give it to Mar&Leni. She doesn’t want the Filipinos fragmented.
(psssst! Actualy she doesn’t want her American Citizenship questioned. Her family is more important than mudslinging politics. With her husband’s counsel, Grace will back down. She will be looked at as PATRIOTIC than MAR&KORINA who is eager , willing and wanting to be Cinderella of the Philippines)
Grace will go back to Boston herding children to ecome upright citizens and leave Philippines to witnesses devices.
Grace will have the last laugh wagging her finger “I TOLD YOU SO” then copies Biden’s speech that his family is first.
I’d say the odds of that happening are next to zilch. Joe Biden is the consummate patriot. He’d jump on a grenade to save his buddies, and he’d tell a good Irish joke whilst going down. Grace Poe would ask “What’s a grenade”?
That would not prove loyalty… it will only prove they know what forms to fill out. 😂
LOL
DAgimat, Poe will only do that if she get elected. She’s smarter than what you think or cunning if you may say… he hehe.
Filipino expats in the US also chose Leni Robredo over Grace Poe to be Mar’s VP:
http://www.balitangamerica.tv/isyu-results-aug-13-2015/
Too bad, we can not export bad Filipino voters to America for voters’ education and training. Then again, Grace Poe used to be a FilAm so one assumes better judgement is a given. Anyare, Grace?
OFF TOPIC:
Why is it when you want a job in the Philippines, you need Barangay, Police, NBI and other clearances; letters and references that you are of good moral character; and a complete medical exam with full body X-ray films yet none of these seem to be required of those running for public office?
I think this is the reason why we have crooked government officials with questionable morals who ask for hospital arrest when the book is thrown at them.
My guess would be because we copied the US constitution and didn’t even try to question things like that.
I know now is not the time but the next or the next next president need to have his/our
The switch in time saves nine moment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_switch_in_time_that_saved_nine
Our SC justices and Lawmakers need to make saving our nation from ruin their priority or we will make them useless.
Actually, the next president should be full of wisdom, integrity, probity and good judgement as he/she needs to choose and appoint 11 SC justices. He/she can turn the country around in no time with his/her choices.
It is time for the Philippines to be delivered from those who choose themselves and their cronies over the common good.
The constitution in the Philippines is only valid on paper. The other definition that it is the fundamental law APPLIED to the country is not really what the constitution is now. Not even the preamble of a JUST and HUMANE society is applied. I stopped my analysis because just the preamble is already a sham, taken apart word for word, I can imagine going through the rest would show that the country is like the dirty kitchen while the constitution is the clean kitchen shown to guests – or like “split-level Christianity” which is they way most Catholic Filipinos live their lives, pray on Sundays after having been with GROs on Saturday evening, like Latin words in mass sung as an empty ritual, applied when convenient to use as a technicality against enemies, not applied to oneself first.
Constitution can also mean the physical make-up of something. If applied to the house of the people that the Philippines is, it is described as a mansion but is something different.
Constitution can also mean the state of physical and mental health of a person. The constitution of Philippine politics and government in reality is more like the physical and mental health of Senator Miriam Santiago than what it is on paper. Stage 5 and bonkers.
The government contains remnants of authoritarianism that need to be weeded out one law at a time. Like criminalized libel, with guilt presumed upon being charged. The weak job qualification requirements for the highest positions in the land are another one. “Have you ever been charged with a felony?” seems like a pretty important question to ask. They asked me for my medical records to get a visa, fer cryin’ out loud, voters can’t assure themselves that a presidential aspirant is healthy?
Common sense does not run strong in a culture of impunity.
Santiago says its against doctor-patient confidentiality…i remember Raul Rocco who was unable to finish doing his campaign sorties in 2004, it turned out his prostate cancer had undergone metastasis, Wouldn’t want to wish that on her but I echo your question – “voters can’t assure themselves that a presidential aspirant is healthy?”
That confidentiality is imposed by the patient upon the doctor, and the patient can release the doctor from the agreement at any time. Miriam is being disingenuous. That is, she is hiding something. I’m guessing she never had stage 4 cancer in the first place. Whatever, it is easy to solve. If she can’t provide assurances of health and honor, don’t vote for her.
Almost every medical confidentiality law contains exemption like this: “a patient’s privacy is paramount, in some circumstances, including where maintaining a patient’s privacy could put the public at risk, health care professionals will not be bound by these restrictions, and may, in fact, be obliged by statute to to disclose information regarding a patient’s health status.”
We are talking about the future of a country and its citizens, for Christ’s sake!
This is the true country the Philippine has been ever since the datus that decided to collaborate with the Spanish, becoming the principalia, have run it: https://joeam.com/2015/10/21/filipino-expats-weigh-find-grace-poe-wanting/#comment-142385
Who cares about ordinary people? The Beatles were told “we treat you like ordinary person” when they were about to be beaten up and exiled. Miriam Santiago is not ordinary person. She is entitled. Refer to Article 5 of the True Philippine Constitution. I quote MRP:
#TRAITORSAREGOOD
#COLONIALMENTALITYISGOOD
There you go. It is not an ironclad secret. That said, I don’t think a doctor would release a senator’s health records, even for the sake of the nation. The pressure should be applied on Senator Santiago, I think, and not the doctor.
Ssssh……. Manong Joe, I am whispering,lest someone might hear me. There are “factual rumors” that Senator Santiago indeed has Stage IV Lung Ca. She is NOT in remission as she is claiming.
Ah, well, if that is true, the whole situation is rather sad, both for her condition, and her insistence upon imposing her grief on us.
Ah yes, this is what the author Carolyn Myss coined as “woundology” — a behavior or language used by some to manipulate others with their wounds (hurts, traumas, etc.) to elicit sympathy, gain power or ask for leeway for their actions. Their biology becomes their biography and their clinging to their wounds is the reason they don’t heal. For more insight on this very interesting social behavior, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzVyNoFA9Es
A constitution that describes the true state of the Philippines would be more like the Code of Kalantiaw: do not steal from the headman. Do not deny your daughters to him…
True Philippine Constitution
PREAMBLE: We, the entitled of the Philippines, have for centuries run an unjust and inhuman society. We have decided to drop all pretenses and hypocrisy, and by virtue of our own Entitlement, we hereby promulgate the True Constitution of the Philippines:
Article 1. Laws only apply to ordinary people and to our political enemies, not to us.
Article 2. Those who support us will be given food and drinks, and smiled upon.
Article 3. Those who do not know who we are shall be punished arbitrarily.
Article 4. Business opportunities are for us and our own group, not for ordinary people.
Article 5. Ordinary people and our political enemies are suspect, we are beyond doubt.
This constitution is binding upon all matters in the Philippines, and is above the written law we have pretended to follow for all these centuries.
This constitution is valid for all time and may not be amended.
That fairly well states it, from the standpoint of history and predominance, even today. But I would not be inclined to believe it will hold true for 12 or 18 more years. There are forces at work to recognize and change the model to have more transparency and less entitlement. If one swears to that constitution, then one goes directly to GRP for advocacy. If one holds hope, one sticks with The Society of Honor.
We should start by thinking of the Constitution of the Philippines WE want.
My humble proposal could be a start, something like a pentalogue for all:
PREAMBLE. We, the people of the Islands called the Philippines, of all racial and cultural mixtures, of all religions, income groups and educational attainments, strive to make our lives better after centuries of oppressing each other. This is the Constitution by which we shall live every aspect of our lives from this point onward, and make sure each and every one of us, from now on to be called Free Filipinos, lives by from this day:
Art. 1) We shall be honorable in all our dealings towards other human beings.
Art. 2) We shall adhere to the laws we have pretended to live by from now on, and adjust these laws in order to make our society as free, humane and just as possible. We shall make sure that these laws are followed by each and every one of us as legal equals.
Art. 3) We shall make that our country, the Free Philippines, is free of hunger, fear and unrest. We shall strive to give opportunities to all willing to work for them.
Art. 4) We shall make sure that we think about what we are doing, and promote thinking instead of unreflected belief. Religion and conviction is each person’s private matter.
Art. 5) We shall build a state that reflects the principles of this Constitution. In the meantime, we shall support the state that we already have, and rebuild it step by step.
This Constitution may be extended by the will of 2/3 majority of the Free Filipino people. The first five articles are valid for all time and shall never be amended.
May the aspirations embodied in this Constitution give us the strength to fullfill it.
Leni Robredo, from what I have seen, already lives by this Constitution.
I call it the Philippine Liberation Constitution.
It is EVOLUTIONARY, not revolutionary that never works.
The foundations of the national house need to be rebuilt – without removing the residents.
Everything else will follow if the core principles are understood and adhered to by all.
Of course there must be a consensus by the majority for such a foundation to be solid.
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/reconstitute-the-philippines/ – new article. 🙂
Joe feel free to peer it, or syndicate it honorably – even if we are not an Syndicate.
Let my feature article run for a day and then I’ll put yours in the feature space.
Thx… 🙂 please peer it the same way you did for my internet article, with a preview and a link to the rest of the text…
National ID and fair tax for a simpler life.
In that campaign of PNoy of recodification of laws,that can still happen when Mar wins.
A group of lawyers dissecting the laws would be great.
There is already a DOJ project for a new penal code, the draft is already there for years. It is a project supported by Munich’s Hanns-Seidel Foundation. But from what you told me about Congress, that place is probably the bottleneck.
http://doj.gov.ph/news.html?title=DOJ%20completes%20New%20Criminal%20Code&newsid=304
I agree. A group of high quality lawmakers in the Congress/Senate and a gaggle of upright and honest SC justices will do wonders.
Everytime I write something these days, I want to prefix it with: Hey, Filipino voters! Please stop voting against your own best interests! You vote for a crook, you will not get the infrastructures and services you badly want and need! You are perpetuating poverty, misery and oppression and leaving it as your legacy for future generations of Filipinos! (Yes, I am screaming all that).
I am a follower. I love your writings. I am so engrossed reading your blogs that I forgot my books. Thank you also for the praises you gave Mar Roxas. For me, I think he is the only candidate that I didn’t see any hidden agenda, but only to serve the people, with an UNTAINTED name. Thanks.
Good of you to visit and offer some kind words, Lani. I agree with your assessment.
Duterte – Marcos or Marcos – Duterte either way will be a Smart Votets Choice.
For the So Needed Change,
For the Grandest Refom.
For Philippine’s Future.
A Brighter Future that is!!!!!!!
VOTE WISELY MY FRIENDS.
The issue will still persist. The citizenship and residency issues of Sen. Grace Poe doesn’t end with SET but will leapfrog to Comelec and ultimately it will be decided by the high court and whatever bashing amazing Grace is facing now is not necessarily because these self righteous patriotic voices are indeed patriotic but limited the qualification for those candidates who have not left this country and lived to become a citizen of the world. Yes it is true that Sen. Grace Poe renounced her Filipino citizenship and became a US citizen out of expediency that her family were all living in the US. Yes, Sen. Grace Poe will not be a hypocrite to say that she enjoyed the American life with all the sufferings she has to endure in order to live the American dreams but she went back to the Phil. with a sole purpose to serve the govt. and fight for the people who believed in the crusade of an FPJ who was not able to attain it in his lifetime. What is important is the intensity for this woman to have come back leaving all the dreams and what the good life could have afforded her and her family in the the land of honey and embarked herself in her quest to be a game changer and be a future leader of this benighted land of ours. Who will be in her right mind to leave the US when our countrymen are everyday leaving this country and going to the US not knowing what life will bring to them as immigrants? The journey to the to the top will not indeed be that easy and she steadfastly accepted that challenge. Now it will be the Filipino people who will have to decide if they wanted a Grace Poe presidency come 2016 not unless the court decision will cut short and stymied her claim for that aspiration sometimes called as DESTINY. We have noticed that most netizens in facebook who maligned Sen. Grace Poe are either FilAm or those living in Canada and with ingrained crab mentalities discredited Sen. Grace Poe’s candidacy as having been a US citizen at one stage of her life. The real reason is these hypocrites cannot accept the fact that a FilAm returnee have come back to her motherland wanted to serve the country as an outsider, as she saw it from the US when she was still there while she have seen the degree of unabated corruption and political mayhem which pervade this benighted land of ours. Hindi sila maka paniwala na ang isang pamilya na supposed to be ay namumuhay ng matiwasay sa or otherwise US ay uuwi para mag silbi sa bayan? Can you believe that! This is none sense according to them since hey cannot accept the fact that inspite of all their sufferings in the land of honey which they hid from their relatives in the Phil. they cannot disengaged from their true lives than fiction kaya ganoon na lang ang kanilang galit at muhi na mayroong makita na dating kakosa na umuwi para mag silbi sa bayan. If you watch “On the Wings of Love, an ABS-CBN teleserye na napapanood din sa US at Canada at sa buong mundo through TFC, marami sa ating mga kababayan na nag renounced ng Filipino citizenship at ngayon ay mga masugid na kapanalig ni Uncle Sam ay makakapag relate kay Clark at Lea aminin man nila o hindi at ngayon ay nakikisawsaw pa sa problema dito sa Pinas ngunit ni hindi mo makita o mabasa sa kanilang thread sa facebook kung ano ang kanilang mga stand sa kanilang mga political issue sa US na mas dapat nlang tuunan ng pansin kasi ito ay direktang maka apekto sa kanilang mga kabuhayan at pamumuhay ? Donald Trump pa pa more!! Magising kayo sa katutuhanana na hindi na kayo Filipino maski nag papadala kayo ng blikbayan boxes sa inyong mga kamag anak dito sa Pilipinas. Hindi ko kayo nilalahat ngunit alam nyo kung sino kayo!!
Her original purpose of returning to the Philippines was to pursue her late father’s claim to having won the election in 2004. Then she was offered the job of heading the movie and television Review Board, and stayed on. She ran for senate as an independent tied closely to LP and clearly demonstrated popular appeal. I have a hard time discerning whether she is running to give of herself to the nation and its people, or to ride the waves of adulation to power and success. Her rejecting the Vice President candidacy offered to her by President Aquino led me to believe she was not really interested in sacrificing for the nation.
You do raise some interesting angles about overseas Filipinos, and I’m afraid I have to leave that to them to address.
Grace Poe has a clear intention of what she wanted for the Filipino people and as vice president for Mar Roxas, she knows that the same team that will steer the course of the Phil. after 6 years of the Matuwid na Daang mantra have saturated themselves with different issues for themselves that delayed the ideals of an honest sitting president surrounded by a coterie of humongous closed friends, carpetbaggers and hangers-on whose lame excuse when caught in the red ” I served under the pleasure of the president?” Can we believe these hunyangos, buwaya and balimbings which a concerned independent blogger F. Lustre Jr. , has to say the least??
Democracy will fail in countries where it does not coincide with preexisting cultural dispositions and economic circumstances. Democracy cannot function in a country where most of the population is in a daily struggle for survival. The votes of the poor and unemployed just become another commodity for sale. Democracy also cannot work if voters think of themselves as Ilocanos, Pampanguenos, Batanguenos, Cavitenos, Bicolanos, Cebuanos, etc. instead of Filipinos and vote for their “kababayan” accordingly. Democracy works in the United States because they have the material resources to break apart domestic and immigrant “tribes” using an accreted system of rewards. Democracy is a luxury whose maintenance requires the ready availability to the general population of surplus, or enhancement, resources: otherwise, the electorate votes not wisely, but hungrily. The less developed the economy, the greater the tendency to block vote along clan, tribal, ethnic, or religious lines.
Electorates lose interest in elections very quickly when the results fail to bring swift, positive change, and economic crises can polarize the population until democracy becomes dysfunctional. Democracy has been oversold as a wonder drug for ailing societies and cultures. Present day Russia is exemplary. Voter participation diminishes, and those who do vote use democracy to emplace nondemocratic figures. In the end, democracy is not a utopian state of being, but simply a tool that can be terribly misused. Given the proper conditions, democracy remains by far the most attractive form of government. Under the wrong circumstances, democracy can be the wrong system at the wrong place at the wrong time—and with utterly wrong results. In the right cultural and economic environment, democracy is an inexhaustible treasure; in an unprepared environment, it is Pandora’s box.
However, when Westerners insist that democracy is always the only answer, they risk harming those whom they seek to help. Democracy along ethnic lines brings you civil war-torn Yugoslavia. Democracy amid religious confrontations brings you Nigeria. Democracy in a collapsing economy brings you Algeria. Democracy under all three conditions brings you the clot of states that spilled from the former Soviet Union.
We expect impoverished Filipinos to perform and behave at the same level of political maturity as the British or United States systems, and when the poor, the uneducated and the hungry vote for the likes of Joseph Ejercito Estrada we are shocked and dismayed.
Yep. That explains the condition of the condition in the Philippines. But you also have the problem that authoritarianism also doesn’t go down well here, because people feed off it. Rather like Poe is feeding off of popularity or Marcos going excessive. Or local Mayors ruling like kings (Duterte). The success of the Philippines, I think, will be tied to how well the next president or two can move further down the line of replacing poverty with opportunity. If that is done, there will be great success ahead. If not, there will be a continuation of the incredible illogical dysfunctional nation.
WANTED IN 2016
Medium-sized republic with a population of 80 million is looking for a Chief Executive Officer to manage a bureaucracy with an annual budget of 800 billion pesos. Prospective candidates must have a strong political, financial, operational, philosophical and psychological background.
A track record in restructuring and reengineering oversized organizations will be an advantage. Must have the ability to analyze problems and look beyond the obvious in the search for root causes. An innovative leader, he or she should always be looking for ways to motivate subordinates and to preempt potential problems before they can occur.
Must be a student of human nature, in order to understand why subordinates make mistakes—not in order to rebuke them, but to find ways to change the environment that has led to previous failures. Prospective candidates must be eccentric, fastidious about personal appearances, tireless in the search for and pursuit of excellence, and as demanding of himself/herself as he or she is of others. Every candidate must be rated in terms of his or her moral and financial integrity.
Actors and actresses need not apply.
🙂 100 million, but I like the idea. I once did a blog recommending a corporate structure as the solution to problems you have so clearly identified. It was so long ago, I think it has rusted by now. There’s a lot to be said for it, the ideal blend of focused management and catering to customers (citizens). Use corporate incentives for employees that correctly match rewards to performance.
No matter how you allocate it, the government’s 800 billion peso (USD15 billion) annual budget cannot provide enough resources to uplift the 80 million citizens of this country.
The traditional “shotgun” approach, which is portioning out the budget among the different regions nationwide, will never be sufficient to allow the country to attain meaningful, sustainable growth.
Political leaders almost always allocate state funds and resources to insure their continued success at the polls. To say that politicians are not the most efficient investment decision-makers is an understatement. Huge investments for business capital and infrastructure are necessary if the Philippines wants to catch up and compete with the rest of the world. How and where do we source these funds and how do we maximize it?
Countries are increasingly relying on the world’s more successful model cities such as Manhattan, Munich, Vancouver, Seoul and Shanghai. Cities have become the new centers of gravity.
Compare the above-mentioned boom cities with deteriorating, reservoir cities such as Bombay, Calcutta, Cairo, Johannesburg, Karachi and Manila, where humanity’s surplus and discards are accumulating. Many of these reservoir cities are characterized by anarchy, magnified by apathy. The danger is that the apathy of the masses can transform very quickly into violence.
The world investment community increasingly judges a country by the success of its cities and their immediate environs instead of concerning themselves with the entire countryside. In other words, who cares about the rest of Egypt if Cairo itself is calm? We don’t have to deal with Indonesia—we deal with Jakarta.
North Korea is attempting to revive its ailing economy by attracting foreign investment and improving ties with Japan and South Korea, among other countries. It desperately needs international help to recover from decades of economic mismanagement. North Korea’s government officially set up the Sinuiju administrative region and pledged to keep its legal system unchanged for 50 years and allow its administration to issue passports and appoint the chief prosecutor. “The state will allow the region to be turned into an international financial, trade, commercial, industrial, up-to-date science, amusement and tourist center.” North Korea will run the area along capitalist lines, with a legal system possibly based on European law, and would include elections to a legislature and administrators and judges hired from foreign countries.
The Philippines should do likewise. Establish new city-states with their own autonomous administrative, legal, financial and legislative systems patterned after Singapore and Hong Kong. The former US military bases in Subic and Clark can serve as the foundation for a new city-state that can attract our share of foreign investments and serve as the center of economic activity for Central Luzon. Cebu City can assume that role for the Visayas and so can Davao City for Mindanao.
A new century requires new, innovative solutions to the problems confronting us. Who will show us what Filipinos are capable of achieving? Who will help create an environment where failure will not be a factor? Who will give us back the pride we have lost and given away in the turmoil created by Western political and social models that have failed to work in our own unique environment?
“No matter how you allocate it, the government’s 800 billion peso (USD15 billion) annual budget cannot provide enough resources to uplift the 80 million citizens of this country.”
Let’s not forget the $billions of additional funds that are donated and/or loaned by foreign governments and NGOs to help build infrastructure and help victims of calamities.
The trick is to inject liquidity into the economic sectors that need it most so they can keep up thereby creating a greater multiplier effect. But vested interests who already have enough get in the way and they end up with the money. They then spend it on foreign travel and imported luxuries with limited domestic multiplier effect. Full implementation of agrarian reform for instance is an ideal expenditure item that would result to an extended multiplier effect boosting other sectors of the economy. P-Noy has promised to complete implementation of agrarian reform but he’s yet to start and his presidential term ends in seven months. So much for promises from politicians.
“replacing poverty with opportunity. If that is done, there will be great success ahead. If not, there will be a continuation of the incredible illogical dysfunctional nation”
Our population has reached 80 million and is steadily increasing which leads to greater urbanization as the countryside and traditional structures cannot support the additional offspring and the cities appear to offer better economic opportunity and a more attractive lifestyle. But our economy cannot create jobs as quickly as we are creating job seekers. Our cities will continue to see an increase in the unemployed and underemployed masses. This will result in an even further breakdown in traditional structures and values. In the end, the eventual outlet for a lifetime of frustration and unemployment is rage and violence.
A typical Filipino who graduates from school expects to find a good job that would allow his family security and reasonably increasing prosperity. For many such unemployed or underemployed Filipinos, their world is collapsing, even as the media teases them with images of an ever-richer, brighter, fun world from which they are excluded. These discarded citizens sense that the government is helpless to uplift them from their plight. Many will seek their own version of the Promised Land by migrating and working abroad, as five million other Filipinos have done before them. Of those that remain, the majority will accept their lot in life and seek solace with God and religion. Most will remain law-abiding, hard-working citizens. Some of them however, will not.
We see them everyday, but we are blind to the implications of demographic trends. To cite as an example, the railway tracks running parallel to the South Luzon expressway have long, parallel rows of multi-level squatter shanties, stretching much farther than the eye can see. These squatter colonies are the postmodern equivalent of jungles—citadels of the dispossessed and irreconcilable. Metro Manila has become an archipelago of wealth enclaves, islands of upper and middle-income residential communities that are increasingly surrounded by a sea of squatter colonies. Slum dwellers greatly outnumber legitimate Metro Manila homeowners.
They represent a hybrid form of social organization and we are witnessing the birth of new tribes.
The young generations growing up in the slums and squatter colonies know nothing about acceptable norms of behavior. They have no interest in government or society beyond what they can beg, solicit or steal from it. They reject values, forms of government, laws, modes of social interaction and are only interested in the means to acquire material goods. Violence will be their only collective outlet, the only validation of their existence. For some of them, violence will become a cause in itself.
Theirs will be the violence of the failure, by the failure and for the failure. For these barbarians, violence is the ultimate expression of existence, a scream of “I AM!” that is more powerful than any religious expression. It is anarchic to a degree that many of us have never imagined. Anyone who wants a preview of what these barbarians are capable of need only recall the mob that attacked the gates of Malacanang and the other events that transpired during EDSA 3.
The typical barbarian we will encounter is a male who comes from the underclass, who has no stake in peace, a loser with little or no education, no legal earning power and no future. With gun or knife in hand, today’s barbarian will kill those who may have slighted him, seize the women who avoid him, and plunder that which he could never otherwise possess. As society’s preparatory structures such as schools, churches, communities and families increasingly become inadequate, young males who might otherwise have led productive lives will be drawn to crime.
Young people today know what they want and what they believe they deserve, but they are impatient with the legitimate means of acquiring it. The problem is simply that they disassociate the concept of “having” from that of “earning”. Every major religion warns its adherents of the danger of vanity, insisting that only humility can lead to enlightenment. The younger generation no longer bothers with these fundamental insights. Everyone, everywhere wants more, usually in the most vulgar material sense, because the display of possessions seems to verify the worth of self—”I have, therefore I am.” Young teenagers willingly risk jail if not their lives just to acquire illicit drugs, an expensive cellular phone or even just the latest model of athletic shoes.
Paul: your analysis is most interesting. I think you should write a guest article about this all with sources to bolster your analysis. This is the aspect I have been looking for and which most here have answered with silence – there is a wall of denial among the crowd here from Metro Manila which is mostly Makati and Fort office workers, people not rich but OK, caught in the daily grind “working for a rich girl, staying just a poor girl, never stopped to wonder why” to quote from one of Katie Melua’s songs. Some who made it to relative affluence (Will) during the period after Martial Law I gather, lives in a subdivision.. These people see the huge squatter colonies – one can see them in the movies of Brillante Mendoza like “Tirador”, “Kinatay” or “Lola”, or in the English movie “Metro Manila” where John Arcilla from “Heneral Luna” plays a very temperamental and corrupt ex-cop working as a money transporter. There are studies that people always feel poor in relation to others – almost everybody today is RICH compared to people in the 19th century but people are by nature envious of others. I would think that the whole mess started in the Marcos period – widespread migration from rural to urban environments due to the peace and order situation in the countryside. U.P. Balara was relatively idyllic in the late 1960s, still partly rural with pigs and chickens and some Visayan migrant families as the core. Old Balara was rough already and burgeoned in the 1970s – empirical observation – while U.P. Balara has grown enormously if one is to judge from one of Mendoza’s movies – the name of the barangay captain, from the same family as in our time, betrays where the film plays.
You mentioned Munich. Urban planners there successively defused social flash points by social housing policies that distributed the economically less able crowd – there will always be these kinds of people in any country – across the city – to avoid flashpoints. The three areas created by mistaken urban planning in the postwar period – Hasenbergl, Neuperlach Süd and Fürstenried West – were flashpoints for quite a while. Long-term police methods like containment and observation helped defuse major gangs. In the first and the third are they were native gypsy clans whose surnames are long-faded legends by now, only the old folks can tell one like old Han Solo in Star Wars 7 “yes, it’s all real…” while Neuperlach was still like 10-15 years ago the migrant crowd. Once the areas became less scary housing projects for somewhat moderately affluent were placed nearby to mingle population and defuse concentration of too many poor and discontented in one place – of course social programs helped educate and give jobs to many of their kids who are now working class but at least not total outcasts anymore like their parents. This is just from stories that I have heard so it may not be fully scientifically accurate but I think you will get the idea.
A young man will want status. That is a constant anywhere. If you don’t give a young man the opportunity to rise up via education, he will try to find status by other means. “City of God” which is about Brazilian slums shows how it works in favelas = slum areas. It is about a young man from the slums who makes it out to become a photographer, a rare story. Anyway in such areas only the smart and ruthless have the highest status. These areas are a recruiting ground for neofascist groups like the new Marcos loyalists, obviously. What you are writing here is disturbing, because as a former communist youth group member I would know how to mobilize a crowd like that into redshirts or brownshirts, no problem. Hitler’s SA which he disbanded after he came into power, his street fighters, were basically the EDSA 3 crowd of his day given brown uniforms and status they could not get in the areas were they came from. Communist street fighters from the same period who later became the core of East Germanys security apparatus came from the same areas in Weimar Germany – similar to the present Philippines in the divergence between rich and poor people. The hate towards the rich was directed unto the Jews who owned retail empires while Christian German industrialists were left untouched because the Nazis co-opted them. Anyway, if Joe is not interested in a guest article, I will gladly accept a guest article in my own blog – just click on my name to see it. But Joe as the blog owner here has first priority and it is just fair that I give him courtesy. The invitation stands though – thanks!
I don’t believe this, OFW’s will not vote for LP sorry !!
NO TO LP – Libog party
Care to say why, GANDA OFW?
Edit pa admin. Magkano arawan mo galing sa Liberated Party aka Libog Party ni abnoy?
may message si roxas sayo sa oras ng sakuna “Bahala kayo sa buhay nyo!”
#miriam_bong2 for 2016! This nation can be great again!
Sabi ni MDS
“Do you want a government of by and for academic excellence? If that’s the case, do you want me to run”
Ako naman => “Umm MDS BBM is not a degree holder. ”
I advocate a sanity test for senators.
San kaya kumuha ng figure ang mga nag survey na ito? Sumubra sa 100% ang bilang..
84+13+3=100
As a Filipino Canadian myself, I don’t understand the brouhaha about grace poe’s Citizenship and allegiance. So far, she has shown grace, courage, intelligence and concern on a lot of important issues confronting our country. Unlike duterte and his ass-licking and opportunistic hordes.!
Many who watch her work in the Senate disagree. She is a populist player, not a principled supporter of democracy and human rights.