Marcos revisionism – (Part II) Half-truths and fallacies of Marcos
Marcos, Jr. [Photo credit: filipinostarnews]
__________
by Chempo
Most of those who subscribe to the transgressions of the Marcos family come from personalities or organizations of high esteem, with irrefutable evidence, and have no hidden agendas. Those that refute the evidence fall into one of these categories – connected by relation, die-hard loyalists, fellow cronies, people who had benefited off Marcos, people blinded by their hatred of the Aquino administration, and mindless supporters. A name that comes to mind is Kit Tatad – what manner of man is this who has nothing but praise for Marcos’ misdeeds and scorn for Pnoy’s good deeds?
1. Indigenious spoliation:
The term “plunder” cannot adequately invoke the sense of magnitude of what Marcos stole from the nation. Such a pillage it was that surely shocks and outrages the conscience of not just clear thinking Filipinos, but people everywhere. The decent world has a new term for this — “indigenous spoliation”. It is the organized and systematic plundering of national treasuries by political and military elites of such a magnitude that it ravages the country, exacerbating poverty and undermining economic and social development.
Marcos, Sr. [Photo credit: Time, Inc]
1 – Mohamed Suharto, President of Indonesia (1967-1998) – looted US$15-35 billion.
2 – Ferdinand Marcos, President of Philippines (1965-1986) – looted US5-10 billion
3 – Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire (1965-1997) – looted US$5 billion
4 – Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria (1993-1998) – looted2-5 billion
5 – Slobodan Milosevic, President of Serbia (1989-2000) – looted US$1 billion
6 – Jean Claude Duvalier, President of Haiti (1971-1986) – looted 300-800 million
7 – Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru (1971-1986) – looted 600 million
8 – Pavlo Lazarenko, President of Ukraine (1996-1997) – looted 114-200 million
9 – Armoldo Aleman, President of Nicaragua (1997-2002) – looted US$100 million
10- President Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) – looted US$78-80 million
Not bad, Philippines, we have 2 in the top 10 world rankings. VPJejomar Binay will most likely be up there soon, probably in 5th or 6th position.
THE TRUTH : Marcos is one of the greatest thieves in the world
2. P500 billion or more blue chip stocks:
“We practically own everything in the Philippines, from electricity, telecommunications, airlines, banking, beer and tobacco, newspaper publishing, television stations, shipping, oil and mining, hotels and beach resorts, down to coconut milling, small farms, real estate and insurance”. Imelda Marcos (admissive or boastful mode)
“They were paid well, supported and allowed to live the lives of the rich and famous and look what we’ve got? A betrayal. They were tapped by Ferdinand, supposedly to guard his interests in those companies. But look what happened, they wanted everything” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9/12/98) . . . Imelda Marcos (I’m-a-victim mode)
There you are, right from the horse’s mouth. Eye-popping. The Marcoses practically owned the whole Philippines! Towards the end of 1998, Imelda Marcos gave an exclusive interview to Christine Herrera of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI). A lurid Imelda personally confirmed the open secret that Marcos arm-twisted many share-holders of blue chip conglomerates to sell out to him cheap. Cronies were used to front the ownership. She denied the arm-twisting part, and insisted the acquisitions were all paid for out of their own family funds. She never explained how a lowly-paid president was able to amass that wealth. The PDI was supposed to run a 9 part series, all front-page explosives. Part 1 was out on 5 Dec 1998 but the series stopped at Part 5 as Imelda claimed she received death threats to her family.
Was she mad? Not at all, on the contrary, it was a wise strategic move. She had just won the racketeering case in New York and the Philippines had a new Marcos-friendly president in Joseph Estrada. It was the perfect time to put things in the open and go after cronies like Danding Cojuanco, Lucio Tan, and Disini, who claimed rightful ownership of those companies. There are some who estimated the values could be in trillions – we’re talking about PLDT, San Miguel and others.
For trillions, it’s worthwhile to tip-toe back to the country.
Too late, Imelda learnt there was no honor among thieves after all. I wonder if Binay has better luck with Gerry Limlingan et al.
THE TRUTH: Marcos stole more than anyone can ever imagine.
3. Bongbong and the POA:
“I cannot confirm (the Swiss bank accounts) 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 — “ Bongbong, speaking to blogger Raissa in 2012 (Squirming mode)
On 21 Mar 1986, Bongbong handed over Marcos’ power of attorney (POA) to Mike de Guzman at a hotel in Honolulu. This POA was to enable US$213 mm to be moved out of a Marcos account with Credit Swisse, Zurich to a Philippine Govt’s designated account in Exportfinanzierungsbank, Vienna. The transfer was eventually frustrated due to Filipino infighting (Mike de Guzman, a Filipino banker free-lancing agent to retrieve stolen money for Cory, and PCGG.)
The intrigue is worthy of a Grisham novel, complete with code name “Operation Big Bird”. (You can read about it at Wikipedia’s “Operation Big Bird” , bearing in mind that’s only de Guzman’s version).
Intrigue aside, this clearly demonstrates Bongbong’s active participation and knowledge of stolen wealth.
So as not to leave readers hanging in the air, here’s a bit more follow through. This episode exposed Filipinos’ penchant for palace intrigue and bumbling teamwork. Had it been properly executed, the funds would have been retrieved in 1986 and it could have led on to uncover other Swiss bank accounts of billions of dollars. Legal complexities came into play and it was not until 1998 that the Swiss remitted the funds (US$540mm with interest) to Sandibangan’s account at PNB, but in escrow, meaning it cannot be touched due to some unclear legal issues. There it rested until 2004 (by now it’s US$683mm) when it was finally free and transferred to the Bureau of Treasury’s account to be utilized as dictated under the Agrarian Reform Act – partly for agrarian reform and partly for compensation to human rights victims under martial law. It was from this fund that President Gloria Arroyo diverted money illegally in what became known as the Fertilizer scam. The balance is still there.
THE TRUTH : Bongbong confirmed that the Marcoses have lots of stolen money stashed away.
4. Imee Marcos and a trust fund:
Imee Marcos [Photo credit: Wikipedia]
Investigative journalists unearthed some documents that link Sintra Trust to some accounts with Overseas Union Bank, Singapore and HSBC. That stands to reason because during those years of exile, Imee apparently spent some years in Singapore. I owned a small company that did some interior work at her condominium apartment. Despite having billions, she tried to dishonor a debt of S$2,500. The Marcoses run roughshod over little people.
When the Marcoses fled Malacanang, they left behind expensive art treasures and banking documents . . . and of course Imelda’s 3,000 pairs of shoes. That was how Cory’s people got hold of the fictitious names of William Saunders and Jane Ryan in the Swiss banks. During Marcos’ time they were probably untidy in the way they concealed their loot. In more recent times, concealing ill-gotten wealth has become very sophisticated, making it much more difficult for aggrieved governments to locate the funds. There are even companies that specialize in this field and the selling tool of their trade is impeccable professionalism and sealed lips. The funds may be illegal, but the work they do, the way the trusts and nominees that are set up, are perfectly legal. The objective is to conceal the actual fund beneficiaries and to minimize taxation. Places where these proliferate are tax heavens like the Virgin Islands, Labuan, Hongkong, Singapore, Luxemburg, Austria, etc. Rings a bell, does it not, the fact that Imee lived in Singapore for a while and Disini chose to stay in Austria?
There is no doubt the Princeton and so-called Oxford-educated children of Marcos have moved with the times. They are more savvy now to the way of hiding stolen wealth.
Interestingly, Estrada and Binay also visited Singapore for unknown purposes in 2011.
THE TRUTH : Imee is the one managing their stolen wealth
5. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant:
“Will I say sorry for the power generation (that his father built)?” Bongbong
Let’s leave the corruption issue aside. Up till today, there are Marcos’ loyalists who want to put the blame on Cory, and even Pnoy, for refusing to repair and commission the BNPP which, according to them, would have solved the country’s power shortage problems. They simply refuse to believe that it is not feasible financially, and pay no heed to safety concerns.
Filipino experts, Westinghouse, and other involved contractors, down-played defects that were raised. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported thousands of small defects which individually could have led to a snowball effect if things were to go wrong. Most of these had to do with shoddy soldering work, courtesy of Disini’s inexperienced workers. Soldering looks like a simple task, but, if done incorrectly, it is a weakness that collapses whole structures. There is also a big problem with the foundation itself, which was supposedly rectified but not to the satisfaction of IAEA. Above it all, only in Philippines would one chose a site for a nuclear plant that is just five miles from an active volcano and within 25 miles of three geologic fault lines. It begets the question why? One reason, unverified, but has credence, is that the Marcos and Romualdez (Imelda’s) families had built up large land banks in the Bataan region. The BNPP was expected to benefit that region.
THE TRUTH : Marcos milked BNPP dry. Marcos does not value the lives of Filipinos.
6. From “The Pearl of Asia” to “The Sick Man of Asia”:
“But will I say sorry for the thousands and thousands of kilometers that were built (by his father)?” . . . Bongbong Marcos (classical half-truth mode)
It is very true. Marcos built lots of roads, schools, bridges, etc. But was it for love of the Filipinos, or love of money? It is very difficult to see where the line of national interest begins and where personal interest ends. The operating credo was “more missions, more commissions”. Overpricing, kick-backs, rigged bidding – all these modus-operandi, still in practice today – were institutionalized during Marcos’ time. Bankers during those days were all too familiar with Mrs 10% in Indonesia (Tien Suharto) and Mrs 15% in the Philippines. Same bankers used to skip town whenever they received an invitation from Imelda to a function where, after her crooning routine, it was donation time.
There was a frenzy of projects. Filipinos need to ask where the money came from. Marcos borrowed extensively from the international capital markets. There is nothing wrong with borrowing. We all do that sometimes to buy big ticket items like cars and houses. What is important is responsible borrowing, meaning you spend on worthwhile projects and you can service the repayment. Marcos borrowed like crazy. When Marcos took power in Dec 1965, the national debt was US$500 mm; when he fled the country in 1986, it had ballooned to US$28 billion. Yes, there were roads etc, but just look at the BNPP – a single white elephant project that made up 10% of the entire external debt. How wild can that be?
Let’s take a bit of a worldview of the US$ during Marcos’ time to have a better understanding.
Since the beginning of 20th century up to 1972, the price of crude oil was stable at around US$2 per barrel (prices here all not adjusted for inflation). From 1973, it begun to shoot north wildly, peaking at US$36 in 1982. This was triggered by Saudi Arabia’s oil embargo in retaliation to the Yom Kippur War. That was the time when the oil cartel OPEC was at its most powerful. By controlling the supply side, prices inevitably shot up. The price of oil was never the same again after that. Oil is traded in US$ and with the dramatic price increase, OPEC countries sucked up all the currency. The middle east became the noveau riche and deserts suddenly began to turn into gleaming cities. These countries sucked in more money than can be pumped into their small economies, so the excess had to be deposited with banks. The oil money, loosely termed petrol dollars, were mostly deposited in banks in European cities. As US$ are settled in US, invariably most find its way into banks in the US. All these money had to be invested somewhere. The banks were flushed with petro dollars and not enough first tier borrowers to lend to. European countries were in recessionary state at the time, so most of these petrol dollars were invested in 2nd and 3rd tier developing countries like Turkey, Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American countries, and then there was Philippines. These borrower countries became blue-eyed boys of all these international bankers. They came knocking on Marcos’ and Philippine bankers’ doors everyday. That explains why there was a building frenzy by Marcos – the borrowing part was easy. As operations head of a bank in Singapore, I personally authorized telegraphic transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars for loan draw-downs by Philippine entities. Those were wild wild west days.
The external debt of US28 billion on its own cannot give you a proper perspective of the roof crashing down on Philippines in the early 1980’s. The Debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio is a proper gauge. In 1970 it was 33.2% and in 1986 it was 95.2%. The GDP is basically the sum of all goods and services produced in the year. Comparing this to total debt provides a yardstick as to a country’s capability to service its debt. Creditors monitor this figure all the time. There is no hard and fast rule, but generally when it reaches the 70% it spells trouble for the country. (There are exceptions). At 70% the country will find it more difficult and expensive to borrow. Statistics did not lie in this case. Reality caught up with Marcos from 1980. The casino had ran out of chips. I saw the Philippines struggle with debt re-structuring, begging for moratoriums and going bowl in hand to the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and the IMF. Once, in order to meet interest payments, Marcos sent Bobby Ongpin to Singapore to ask for a loan of US$300-500 mm which Lee Kuan Yew refused because he could not gamble with taxpayers’ money. Restructuring is a frightening word in financial markets. It usually means insolvency. Marcos had bankrupted the Philippines. It was a most shameful period of Philippine history. Still, it was better for Marcos to have a bankrupted the Philippines than repatriate the stolen money in his Swiss bank accounts to pay off the loans.
A second whammy – high interest rates. Back to the petrol dollars to understand why. As the petrol dollars re-circulated back into the US, the liquidity caused prices to increase. To make it worse, the Vietnam War too added to the inflationary pressure. President Lyndon Johnson did not want to increase Fed interest rates to tackle the inflation for political reasons. When Paul Volcker became chairman of the Fed, he started to raise interest rates. The Fed rate increased from 11.2% in 1979 to 20% in June of 1981, almost reaching its usury limit. With loan spreads of 125 basis points over 3/6 months LIBOR, Marcos’ loans were paying at 21.25% per annum. and with 10-15 years maturity, he could barely service the interest let alone make repayments. New loans were taken just to pay off interest. Capitalizing interest just made the loans grow larger in succeeding administrations.
The third whammy – shrinking value of peso. Because of the high oil prices, all currencies including the peso weakened against the US$. This was accentuated by a weakening Philippine economy. In 1970 it was 6 pesos to a US$, 21 in 1986 and 45 currently. This meant that the US$28 billion of debt that Marcos left behind in 1986 required more and more pesos to repay. In peso terms, it has more than doubled!
The fourth whammy — When the price of oil shot up in the 70’s/80’s, a country’s economy may still be the same, but it requires more dollars for the same level of oil import. With poor fiscal and monetary management under Marcos, the Philippines had zero US$ reserves and almost no US$ revenue. A big chunk of the budget went into purchasing the dollar for oil imports. The economy basically collapsed.
The recycling of the petro dollars brought the Philippines to its knees and left Marcos shell-shocked. If there is any consolation, the same set of uncontrollable external events left Latin American countries with equally huge national debts. That does not exonerate Marcos. Other net-oil importing countries faced similar problems, but they managed. Taiwan, South Korea, Hongkong and Singapore were well on their way to becoming Asian Tigers. No, Filipinos, it was thievery and mis-management of the economy plain and simple. It’s always the economy, stupid. Borrowed till broke, economy down, massive un-employment and poverty up . . . discontent set in, strong arm tactics were used to combat civil unrest, foreign investors left in a hurry, capital flight followed, more youths turned military and went underground or into the mountains, communists took the opportunity to destabilize the government, and martial law was implemented with its attendant atrocities. That’s how Marcos led the Philippines from “The Pearl of Asia” to “The Sick Man of Asia”.
Are we to forget this painful lesson of Marcos history? Thank God today we have a good man in Governor Tetengco running the Bangko Sentral. Thank God we have an administration that manages the nation’s money purse better. We now have better leaders who understand the need for delayed gratification, that it is not yet time to reduce taxes (while we are still struggling to pay off Marcos’ debts). It is so easy to simply give in to populist demands and score political points. Bongbong would like to reduce taxes . . . as long as we do not use their stolen wealth to replace the loss in revenue from tax reduction.
THE TRUTH : Marcos bankrupted the Philippines
7. Marcos agrarian land reform
”Will I say sorry for the agricultural policy (of Marcos) that brought us to self-sufficiency in rice?” Bongbong Marcos (Deceptive mode)
Marcos agri policy and rice self-sufficiency were separate issues. The former was a disastrous failure and the latter was a matter of luck that had nothing to do with Marcos.
To be fair, the reform concept was good, but the execution failed miserably due to difficulties of land valuation and a bureacracy that thrived on patronage and corruption. The agri reform called for re-distribution of certain agrarian land to landless farmers. Over 14 years, Marcos distributed only 2.27% of all land titles by 1986. This took care of a miserable 0.17% of the total landless farmers. Bongbong has a lot to apologize for to the tens of millions of landless farmers out there. The Marcoses measure of success sure is damn low. To them, a face-saving “special diploma” is equivalent to an Oxford University degree.
As to the rice, the luck was that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was headquartered in the Philippines. In the mid 1960’s, the IRRI came up with the ‘wonder rice’ IR8 that promised better yields. It was so promising that Marcos visited the IRRI to see for himself and quickly declared that the Philippines would be self-sufficient in rice production during his first term in office. The IR8 strain and further enhancements enabled 2 crops per year and by 1972, the Philippines became a net-exporter of rice. We should be thankful to the IRRI and the good folks that supported the institute – the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation. The Marcoses take credit for the hard work done by others.
THE TRUTH : Marcos did nothing for land reform and rice self-sufficiency.
8. Education:
“Will I say sorry for the highest literacy rate in Asia (during his father’s time)?” Bong Marcos (Half-truth mode)
In his first term, this was true. DepEd got a 28% highest share of budget. In his second term, DepEd got only 11.6% and school enrollment was up only 2.4% yearly. Why the difference? Because under the martial law years, an educated population is not a good thing. Dictators are not great fans of educated people who are viewed as a threat to them. Do we forget the history of UP campus residents being hauled up by the military?
The truth is the amount of classrooms put up by Marcos in his 20 years rule pales in comparison to the thousands put up by Pnoy in his 5 years.
THE TRUTH : Marcos was not a fan of education
9. OFWs:
Let’s be fair, Marcos did not create OFWs. Long before Marcos there were already many Filipinos working overseas. The professionals, contract laborers and seamen mostly. Previously, they were know as overseas contract workers. However, Marcos’ abysmal handling of the economy led to massive unemployment, forcing many to go overseas to seek menial jobs. From the late 70’s, the Philippines became a popular source of supply for domestic maids. At the human level, these pinays make great sacrifices to bring food to the table for their families. But it created a stigma on Filipinas overseas as they are all assumed to be maids. The Marcoses gave OFWs a stigma that is still there to this day.
Well, Marcos actually did something good. He created the Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers. He further facilitated the labor export by improving the process for outplacement and the remittance system. That was not for love of Filipinos. Firstly, it was to ease the massive unemployment which was generating dis-content and, secondly, he saw the cash cow in the remittances which helped in boosting the peso value.
THE TRUTH : Marcos gave Pinays the “maids” stigma. Marcos made use of the lowest level of working Pinays to help him prop up the country’s damaged economy.
10. Human rights abuses:
“ I will always say sorry but what I’ve been guilty of to apologize about? We have constantly said, if during that time of my father, merong mga nasagasaan or meron sinasabing hindi natulungan (if there were those who were hit or not given assistance) or they were victimized in some way or another, of course we’re sorry that that happened. Nobody wants that to have happened,” Bongbong (Insincere mode)
In a ABS-CBN interview, Bongbong said those words in reply to a question about atrocities during martial law. All media reported “Bongbong apologizes to victims of Marcos regime”. The media were all taken for fools.
Here’s how an apology should be:
1. It is spoken directly and personally to the aggrieved, not to a reporter.
2. It must clearly communicate the following –
- regret
- understanding of the problem
- acceptance of responsibility (his father’s)
- willingness to do better (he will not do what his father did)
What’s not an apology :
- An apology with an “if” is not an apology (see the “if there were those” – he was saying it’s only a perception, maybe there were no victims)
- An apology with “I’m sorry but . . .” is not an apology – because it says that he does not understand why he is sorry. IN this case, he actually went on to say “but what I’ve been guilty of to apologize about”.
He still does not understand that we want him to apologize for his father’s deeds. We know he was not the perpetrator, but it’s the moral apology we want. Why are so many countries still requesting Japanese Prime Ministers since the end of WW2 to make a formal apology? Some PMs have done so, even Emperor Hirohito, but we are not satisfied because the Japanese wording was not tantamount to a proper apology.
Apart from the apology, do the right thing Bongbong. release some stolen wealth to the victims.
THE TRUTH : The Marcoses are not sincere in apologizing. The Marcoses will not use their stolen wealth to help victims of martial law atrocities.
11. The good old days:
Filipinos exasperated with the high crime rate always casually say ‘at least during Marcos martial law years, there was less crime’. If you do not mind the curfews, no Friday night gimmicks, no malling at nights, military personnel frisking you for the slightest reasons, your children participating in student riots, seeing your neighbors or classmates go missing. There was even less crime during the Japanese occupation.
After a societal change, when people get dis-enfranchised with the new way, they tend to long for the good old ways, forgetting the lessons of their history. Many Iraqis prefer the days under dictator Saddam Hussein, many Japanese would love the days of the Samurais, many Southerners in the USA would love the cotton fields of old when they had slaves.
Certainly, the high crime rate is a big problem today. The right way to go is to beef up the police and eradicate poverty. Make the PNP more effective by raising professionalism and reducing corruption in the rank and file. So who in the 2016 polls is most likely to meet this challenge – those with experience in stealing, those who are good in keeping stolen wealth, those we are not too sure about, or those with modern management skills?
I am a Soldier I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song . . .
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
Lies are easy to refute, it’s the half-truths that are the most dangerous. Well meaning Filipinos should do the necessary every time they see the Marcoses and loyalists espousing them. Challenge them!
To paraphrase Churchill, “We shall fight them in the media, we shall fight them in the internet, we shall fight them in public spheres, we shall fight them in the polls.”
It is really amazing how the Marcoses can slap the Filipinos, steal from them under their noses, kill off some of them, impoverish them, and yet make the people love them and forgive them their travesties. All we can say to Marcos loyalists and mindless supporters is this:
“ Envision Baron Herminio Disini sitting on a Queen Antoinette chair, legs raised resting on a Napoleon III table, holding in his hand a crystal glass of Chateau Margaux 2009 as he gazed through the stained glass castle window defined by gold-gilded frames, dreaming of his beloved Philippines, then raising his glass as his lips curled into a smile, and said — SUCKERS!!!”.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
To the Marcos loyalists – SUCKERS!!!”
Kilusang Gagong Lipunan instead of Bagong Lipunan.
Not a new society will be the result – it will be a society of dumbasses and assholes.
or more like “Kilusang Bagoong Lipunan”.
I will make a posting for every point I comment…
8. Education. Used to be the Philippines HAD K-12 already. Seven years of elementary school. Five years of high school. Even Philippine science had that in the 1960s. Twelve years of solid education is the norm in developed countries, Germany has 13 in some more traditional states.
Yes, Marcos started dumbing down the Philippines. It was not a good thing to be seen as too smart in those days. Many of us pretended to be stupid, fled into mindless consumerism, hung out at Ali Mall, the first mall in the Philippines. Or played video games, Space Invaders, Galaxians.
The Constabulary confiscated my father’s Analects of Confucius as “Maoist literature” when they came to arrest him. Can you imagine what that spirit of ignorance did to intellectuality as a whole?
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH was one of the mottos of George Orwell’s novel 1984…
Which may be the reason why even to this day, authentic Filipino intellectuals are despised by the know-it-all Peenoise, who in turn are despised by our SEA neighbors for being noisy and toxic.
Curious, are you referring to specific incidents? If so, what? I’d not heard this take before.
9. OFWs. POEA was introduced in the 1970s. Many people left the countryside because of the civil war and the repression raging in many parts. Direct democracy a la Robredo, even if it was democratic, was seen as Communist. After a while only communists were left because of that.
You either went to the city, some were lucky, some landed in the slums which became BIGGER during the time of Marcos. Others went abroad, but what was the result. Forced remittances at the official exchange rate. The exchange rate on the black market was higher. The OFWs were overseas slaves that helped prop up the regime which was printing money like crazy. The new Central Bank complex along East Avenue corner EDSA was built to print and mint money. Before Filipino money was made in England. Dollars coming from OFWs helped finance this madness.
And yes, OFWs and migrants still had to pay overseas taxes to the Philippines at that time. You did not get your passport renewed if you could not show your BIR stuff. That is also forgotten.
OFW migration and slums destroyed the fabric of traditional Philippine society, villages and families. Values still embodied by the old generation eroded. Amorsolo paintings show a lost age…
Yes, there were already OFWs and slums (started after the war) before Marcos. But society started to disintegrate even more during his time. The Republic after him could not stop it. At least Roxas got BPO which helps people STAY in the country, stopping the bleeding. Good thing.
“the regime which was printing money like crazy” —- this ties in with what Juana mentioned — when the Marcoses landed at Honolulu, the US officials confiscated hundreds of boxes of stuff, including lots newly-printed pesos of very high denominations, many of which bore the same serial numbers.
5. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant: a country that is hardly able to run an MRT system properly wants to run a nuclear power plant? With all the attendant risks? Project NOAH and other initiatives show that the proactive attitude necessary for a technological nation is developing, but only now.
I have worked with Southern Europeans, Eastern Europeans, Turks and have seen how the attitude necessary to maintain technology is not yet fully part of the cultural DNA there, unlike in Central Europe which has been industrialized for quite a while. It takes a while for that to take root.
During those time when I was making those telegraphic transfers to Napocor I was worried sick as I had in mind the corruption and low level technical capabilities of Philippines to operate a nuclear plant. When Pinatubo exploded and the winds carried the ashes all the way to Singapore it brought shivers down my spine of what it could have been. No one in Singapore saw the dangers of BNPP so far away.
EDSA 1 was a model for democracy loving citizens of the world and as the Pinatubo explosion has shown, a blessing as well in relation to the dangers of that BNPP which the Cory government had mothballed due to ireversible construction deficiency and poor choice of location, so near active volcanic and earthquake zones.
6. From “The Pearl of Asia” to “The Sick Man of Asia”: a lot of prestige projects. Many projects that were begun and then left to rot after they had fulfilled their propaganda purposes.
Projects that went over people’s dead bodies like the Manila Film Center, cement poured over dead and living workers. Projects that uprooted entire communities like the Tiwi Geothermal Plant, where agricultural land was destroyed by carelessness, sulfuric water entered the fresh water cycle and many rice fields went dead, plus security guards of the plant terrorized the population. Many in such affected places went to the NPA as a result, not because they were Communists but because they had not more land to till and because impunity terrorized and/or hurt their families.
Projects that were done hastily and badly like the Manila Film Center again. No durability…
7. Marcos agrarian land reform: IRRI miracle rice made farmers dependent on buying seedlings, that was the downside of the new rice. This was a prelude to what Monsanto is doing today.
Agrarian reform also led many landowners to sell their land to have subdivisions built on them. This enhanced the trend towards gated communities – something slums also encouraged since the middle class did not feel safe anymore. So Philippine society atomized even more as a result.
Of course agricultural land became scarcer as a result, finally causing the present problems.
Nod.
agrarian reform? sure,then leave the farmers burried in arrears like the way the nation was burried.
korek… which is why many went abroad to work because their small farms failed.
Agrarian land reform is always a double-edged sword. The re-distribution of land into small parcels to the poor is a policy to placate the Left. But by doing so, farming efficiency goes downhill. There is no efficiency of scale, there is much duplicity of efforts, there is no capital for mechanisation, farms are not large enough for increased technology.
The Left lured many overwhelmed small farmers into the NPA with their promise of more efficiency by collectivization. So there are many dynamics that started during that time.
Agrarian reform should not just be about land distribution. After distribution, there should be support services to the farmers.
Marcos loyalists always bring up the Mendiola massacre during Cory’s time when faced with accusations of human rights violations of the Marcos era (I really don’t understand their logic). If Marcos was such a great president, he should have successfully implemented agrarian reform with all the dictatorial powers he had then there would be no farmers marching to Mendiola in the first place.
I think many mistakes were made in Mendiola incident, but we will never know the true details.
Marcos has been called out many times for making grand plans and suck in the publicity and document signing charade. But never interested in rolling up the sleeves and get the real tough work done. For him, signing off the reform policy papers is job accomplished.
11. The good old days: Violent crime was less, but thievery became a lot more common. The old values of the 1950s were very much against stealing, most Filipinos had a moral core back then.
The middle class either left, or barricaded themselves. Urban homes got much higher walls then.
Subdivisions – often built on land that landowners sold to avoid land reform – helped in making society even more fragmented, the results are seen today. Growing slums were the cause of thievery and a hotbed of drug use, something which has only gotten worse in the decades after.
“O tempora! O mores! … ” — Cicero
Don’t know much tagalog, but I can guess what they meant hehe.
She says, “remember this, we practically own the whole Philippines”
To focus on the stealing alone is not enough. Many in this blog go by their middle-class sensibilities which most Filipinos I fear do NOT have – they care about their survival.
Many think OK Marcos stole but the people benefitted. The reality is that it is NOT true.
My postings above prove that Philippine society started to disintegrate during that time. Could be material for an article on its own, but I will have to research more to buttress the stuff I know and have posted here. These aspects are still not looked at enough IMHO.
That’s pretty good, Grace.
Are you with the Never Again group on facebook? There are plenty of memes posted there that you can also already use,
If you’re not in the group and would like to be, pkease let me know.
Am probably a member. too, cha. I am automatically being included in so many groups, to my pleasant surprise. Will check to confirm, if am not in the group yet, yes, I would like to be, thanks.
concentrating on meme generation…has created 6 so far..can’t find the appropriate pics for the gems found in your article, chempo, found only one pic of Imelda so far, (above) it has to be in the meme generation apps…not techie enough, yours truly is.
can someone please teach me how to enlarge a meme photo?
I think the meme idea is great. Was it Gian’s idea.
I don’t know anything about meme generation apps.
But I can do my own pics, just cut and paste and use photoshop or microsoft paint, then save the pic somewhere like FB so u have a pic url. Guess I just made is sound more complicated haha
my problem is how to download a particular pic in the meme generation app, tried it with the BNPP pic…negative..and the memes generated are too small. gian tried to resize one but the pic got blurred… the NETCAB group are so good at it…after posting bits of your article (10 of them) i just resorted to sharing to my FB wall the NETCAB’S memes
NETCAB – Netizens Coalition Against Binay
http://www.amazon.de/Marcos-Philippines-Spence-Hartzell/dp/B0007ASYCE – this Marcos hagiography BTW was written by an American who recently died at the age of 93…
Many Americans in the USA and in the Philippines supported Marcos propaganda, directly and indirectly. Imelda hobnobbed with American movie stars, Napoles was only Imelda’s vulgar version.
People thinking Joe is paid by LP have this kind of Marcos-era stuff in the back of their heads, can’t blame them. Not everybody really takes the time to look deeper and see Joe’s sincerity.
While Joe is most definitely not being paid by the LP, I’m a bit worried that recently he has been nothing but praise for Roxas and Robredo, without even acknowledging the two’s weaknesses (such as Roxas’ inability to connect with the masses; his “Mr. Palengke” personally seems shallow given how it’s a well-known fact that he was born with a silver spoon on his mouth). Personally, as much as Robredo has a lot of experience in the private sector, I don’t think she is ready for a high-profile national position like being the Vice President. Sure she had a long history of being a lawyer of the people, but for me I don’t think such experience is enough for the Vice Presidency: maybe at most being a Senator.
There is an article by me scheduled for Friday which will go into pros and cons of each candidate, thanks for the hint to include the VP partner as an important aspect.
Joe will peer the article, it will be grading candidates for President for their capability. People skills are one dimension I am grading an Roxas is barely passing there, but his weighted average is still the highest of all candidates. More on that this coming Friday.
*”Mr. Palengke personality”
What you say is very correct. But I think its simply a case of what are the alternatives out there.
I’m wondering if you’ve had the chance to see any of the media interviews with Roxas, or read his economics presentation side-by-side with Poe and Binay (right column)? If you have, I don’t see how you can cast him as shallow or overlay superficial observations like “silver spoon” on someone who knows government and what it is like, inside out. Cast that against the shallowness and nonsense of Poe and the political diatribe of Binay, and what’s there not to like in Roxas? I’ve recited numerous times his bouts of temper and the photos, and I consider those to be in part “allowable personality”, as Jesus is not running, and the photos in large part are due to media sensationalism.
Understand my grounding here. What is best for the Philippines? If UNA had the platform and made sense, I’d praise that. If Poe made any sense at all, and were not just a popularity hound, I’d support her. If I can see clearly what is in the best interest of the Philippines, why would I not say so?
As for Robredo, I’ve voiced the same concerns, but you have to make a choice. Cayetano, Escudero, Marcos, Trillanes, Honasan, or Robredo. It is multiple choice, not an essay question. Who would you advocate if you were a blogger?
Jesus is not running
and Mabini couldn’t even walk.
And when Rizal went to Bagumbayan (Luneta), it was not to take a paseo (walk) along the shore (used to be, Roxas aka Dewey Boulevard was reclaimed land by the USA) like the Spaniards from Intramuros used to do – he was taking his final walk to become a statue.
Recently I’ve been leaning towards Roxas rather than Poe but it doesn’t mean that I wholeheartedly support him. If anything, I’m what you would call a “reluctant supporter” in that I think Roxas is mediocre and lacks the charisma of P-Noy but compared to the other choices he seems to be the lesser evil. As for the Vice Presidency, right now I’m thinking of leaving my vote blank. Initially I was thinking of choosing between Robredo and Cayetano, but I remembered that Cayetano is part of the dynasty while I feel that Robredo is too inexperienced (same reason why I don’t like Poe anymore).
Robredo will help Mar with her common touch and direct democracy approaches while learning the stuff she needs for a future Presidency. They complement each other well.
Well, perhaps our way of going about it differ. My support for the Philippines is 110%, no equivocation. So if it is clear to me who is best for the Philippines, then I will go 110% for that person, accepting the flaws, understanding there will be mistakes, and looking for the WHYS of the reason someone would think and do things differently than I would. When I do that, there are usually legitimate reasons for THEIR decisions, those who have better information and must answer for their decisions to the people and their God, if they are of faith.
If there were two worthy candidates, as I thought there were when Poe first announced her consideration of the presidency, I’d say “the Philippines is blessed with two winning choices”. Because the Philippines would be okay either way. Then she started making decisions, a Mamasapano witch hunt, tying in with Escudero (Ongpin), playing issues for popularity (ripping on the BBL, siding with INC), and it was clear whom I ought to be excited about . . . for the Philippines.
As for Robredo, I’d suggest you tune into an interview or two. You will see she has a political maturity and grasp of issues in a “big picture” way that is missing with Poe. She wants to work on poverty as VP, and I think Roxas would agree to that assignment. That is the single most important issue to the nation’s future, and she wants to be engaged.
Agree to that 110%.
I’ve watched one interview of Leni Robredo by Pia on CNN, I am really suprised the way she handles herself in the interview, she was cool, articulate and held her ground, She is running for VP and I cant believe most of the questions seems like she is the one gunning for the presidency. I really hope and pray she win 🙂
Yes, exactly. Well grounded on values and priorities, mature and smart.
We don’t mind….we are now concentrating on the campaign..nobody is perfect, compared to the other candidates, RORO team is the wisest choice. The others are all seemingly for the return of the Marcos era… Poe with the people around her and the rest, very obvious plunderers and manipulators. The important thing is the continuity of the 6 years good governance of the current admin, which is way better than the previous admins, not perfect but good enough for us. We will strive for improvement but not stepping backward.
Robredo is the spare tire, not lacking in experience, and much more qualified than the others. We need a team to work together for continuity.
Aside from Leni Robredo’s experience in her community and as a Congresswoman already cited in JoeAm’s blog and elsewhere, I find very useful for the country, her being prepared in terms of academics — being a graduate of both economics and law. These academic disciplines and her current experience gives her a broad scope and a mind ready to grasp the complexities of governance in another six years as a Vice President, especially if teamed with Roxas as President.
And may I add: the phrase “lesser evil” was used on Roxas. I will not debate that matter, although I find it curious to be used with Roxas. Certainly in the case of Leni Robredo that phrase cannot be used at all. Especially when compared with the Escudero of Noy-Bi fame; the putchist Honasan; and the present topic of condemnation, Marcos.
I prefer to say best choice… my article on Friday will illustrate exactly why IMHO.
Duterte with whom I used to sympathize is also part of the analysis just in case he runs.
I will look forward to that.
Yes I agree the term in my opinion is not appropriate for Roxas. Maybe for Poe compared to Binay if Roxas wasn’t a candidate at all.
Excellent deconstructions of Marcos revisionist arguments. Perhaps the statement “THE TRUTH : Marcos was not a fan of education” can also apply to the revisionists and those who fall for the trap. It seems the revisionists want to dumb down the Filipinos and make them believe that authoritarianism is much better to live in than democracy. Sure there were some bright authoritarian spots such as Singapore and South Korea, but those are exceptions and not the rule.
I had an exchange with NHerrera about why Atatürk worked for Turkey in another thread… one reason being that Atatürk himself, his supporting institutions like the military and civil service were disciplined and well-organized to begin with and did not abuse their power but used it to found democracy and rule of law – like what was done in Singapore and South Korea finally, which have become strict democracies similar to modern Germany. American democracy is not the only possible mode, in fact it has become very chaotic recently…
Thanks Mami.
I think authoritarianism is never good. It stands only on the very weak legs of a virtuous ruler. Rulers like that are so rare to come by.Whilst Singapore had been lucky with Lee Kuan Yew, I have always been wary of the government institutionalising anything which may put us in harms way when oppressive leadership comes to power.
This.
>I have always been wary of the government institutionalising anything which may put us in harms way when oppressive leadership comes to power.
This is also the same reason why I do not support Duterte and wish that his supporters could use their critical analytic skills and realize that his platform is very short-sighted and unlikely to work on a large-scale (i.e. the whole country rather than just one city).
Correct.
Off-topic, but I think my recent research on the Lumad issue will interest the readers of this blog. From reading around and taking to people on both sides of the Lumad issue, it seems that both sides are guilty of double standards (pro-military-lumad people condemning killings by the NPA but not by their own, and pro-NPA-lumad people condemning killings by the military but not by the NPA). However, this problem seems to be more acute when it comes to the left: the left are the ones most vocal about their “Stop Lumad Killings” campaign, and yet, from talking to them and reading their statements online, it seems that they actually condoned the killing of a lumad mayor in Mindanao on the grounds that he was “allying himself with the state and others with interests in the region”. While I understand that the lumads want to protect their homeland, it just doesn’t seem right that those who are most vocal about wanting to end Lumad Killings are so obviously one-sided on the issue, as if their condemning of the killings are more for political reasons than genuine sympathy for the lumads.
If you’d care to write up your research in a blog article, I’m thinking we could find space for it. I’m not that well-versed in the subject, but it is something we definitely should all understand.
By the way, that Anonymous comment was by me, I was just scared to post it under my usual handle.
Hahahaha, well, thank you for raising the issue, and I understand your not wanting to get involved in a political situation.
(this comment is an addendum to the above)
I could write another article about that, but given that my old article put me under the radar of the progressives in UP Manila and the fact that I don’t want to bring too much attention to myself, I don’t really want to go through that again, and instead I want to have a quiet life in university.
That is exactly the reason why many things are not mentioned in the Philippines.
Ideas similar to my present ones had half of UP Diliman up against me, even badgering me when I was abroad. I understand your situation – and am happy I am not at home…
I’m just really concerned that both sides of the lumad issue aren’t keeping a consistent standard. I for one condemn all abuses against and by the lumads regardless of ideology. Why couldn’t they just reach a ceasefire? The lumads have suffered enough already and the last thing they need is a fracturing of their community based on their political viewpoints.
Kind of sad and ironic right? The progressives are well-known for their criticisms of the government (sometimes legitimate and sometimes unreasonable) but they seem to be intolerant of criticism of their criticisms.
The Filipino mentality of sabong is very common in nearly all circles. Well it made me leave in 1982, with both the dictatorship and the KM mad at me. In most groups you are expected to be 100% pro, so you have Marcostards, Noytards, Dutertetards and more.
Differentiated thought does not preclude loyalty as Joe has shown. Democrats and Republicans in the US have hotly contested primaries to determine their Presidential candidates, then each unite to support them. If they were Filipinos they would fragment.
submit an article,but change your name to mami kawada hater…they would not know it was from you. or use the name of irineo, he would not mind.
email it to irineo to publish in his blog if it is ok with him..irineo dont tell us it was from him.
Nah that would be too obvious. A better idea would be to contact Irineo, give him my ideas, then let him write.
ok that is much better.
Yep, feel free to send me sources of information, links, documents… for me to write stuff.
My business mail address is mail (at) (Firstname).eu – I don’t write it, risk of spambots.
that I would definitely mind… my name is my name..
and you are luckily not Ian Karl Garcia…
Joke only, yes that reminded me the days I hid from my friends asking for a cut from the loot of general Carlos Garcia.
https://joeam.com/2015/10/31/the-chinese-challenge/#comment-144535 – well if I spin forth my positive view of Philippine Back to the Future shown here, you become President in 2034, after President Bam Aquino implements his anti-dynasty law. There are some questions as to whether you are related to President Carlos P. Garcia that are shown to be unfounded. Boy Bastos who becomes President in 2046 is your right-hand man…
Political rivals refer to you two as Boy Bastos and Karl Corny, but you both don’t care.
if you are boy bastos you would be 80 by the time you become president.
I am an Old Bastos, not Boy Bastos.
yeah old by the time you will be president
Doesn’t make sense for someone who has been away for so long to become President.
People who have been away 5 years, maximum 10 are still OK, in fact gaining experience abroad is a very good thing. But a real national leader needs sense of the home ground.
*******
Chempo, thank you very much.
This is one for the ages.
*****
Glad u like it Edgar. Awaiting your homilies on the topic.
*******
I have nothing to add. You have said it all.
Your forensic economic analysis gives as clear an outline of the second greatest Asian robbery. And it shows that the Marcos children are accomplices in the recovery, concealment and management of the loot. I think you have correctly identified the spider at the center of the web.
Bongbong’s acquisition of the second highest position in the land is mere prelude… Should that happen, God help the winner of the presidency. God help the nation.
*****
As usual Edgar, you are so sharp in identifying the core of the message. That was precisely what I tried to do. To get into the details and lay bare the logics.
Indeed 2016 is a dangerous moment for Philippines as far as VP is concerned. I think Raissa pointed this out, just imagine BB wins the VP and Pre is (1) Binay — gets impeached, (2) Santiago — resigns for health reasons and (3) Poe — Comelec disqualification.
I have to chime in my appreciation as well. A concise history of the Marcos regime and for all our failings as a country the BSP managed to steer us across the different regimes and even improved our credit standing. With our history its really a miracle that we just technically defaulted in 1983 and regained the trust of the international capital markets.
Thank you, Chempo.
“Challenge them!”
And challenge them we will.
One thing working to our advantage is that unlike the youth of the 60s and 70s who were willing to get hurt or die for a cause they believed was worth their lives, these neo-Marcos loyalists will disperse at the slightest inconvenience or pain. There are no ideals to fight for, only delusions.
So inflict them pain and inconvenience! No millenial is willing to suffer them both! Fight lies with truth! Fight demagoguery with actual history!
It was pretty disappointing how the Marcos loyalists who did comment here in that older article didn’t come back when they were being asked more information. This is unlike Facebook where Marcos loyalists were willing to debate with people who were on the other side.
My hunch is that due to the flak Bongbong has received in recent weeks from various quarters, their strategy is to lie low on blogs like this and Raissa’s.
When the facts are laid out in detail the way Chempo did, there is really no way they can refute it except to talk about other things or brush it off as propaganda.
Facebook is a personal channel, so they allow that. There is not much room for detail there, so it favors them.
One reader on Twitter said the article made him drop his Marcos loyalty.
It might just be one reader but for me this is a big win already for Chempo’s article.
Indeed. If the article gets pushed about, there will be more, for sure.
andrew — “challenge” is the moniker for your last line. We are’nt the ones asking for those bullets at the airports.
Chempo,
Many thanks for monitoring the Philippines from afar.(Not that far). Those who are just here still deny things that actually happened.
Gian,
This blog is heavy artillery for the loyalists.
Thanks Karl.
Pre-Marcos time, as a little kid back home, I was watching Filipino made movies on the big screen. Fell in love with those magandang babaes. Those were your pearl of asia days. Those were the real good-old-days.
Yes those Were the good old days
Charito Solis
Is that you trying to tickle my memory haha
Maggie dela Riva
Relatives and acquaintances say my late mother was a Charito Solis look alike. I see a resemblance except the eyes, Mother has soul full eyes, not chinita like Charito. My aunt, the one now in the US, is a Gloria Romero look alike with her more aquiline nose which she got from my grandpa.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjXzuAqDpI2CaLT-dUXwU0NwRFGyNV41Ix3AYSVJyMnMhTunIE
failed to post Gloria Diaz
Chempo,
Pinakamagandang babae sa balat ng lupa.
The most beautiful women in the skin of the soil,belay that …in all the world.
not going to argue that. i can still remember dela Riva not the name but the looks.
Great taste.
Good job putting all this together in one place! What are the chances loyalists will zero in on the S$2500 Imee debt and shout “Axe to grind!”?
Thanks et.
You got a point haha, but then without the 2,500 there will always be something else to cry foul. INcidently, I got my money back and it was because of the media. A local media ran a short actually minor story about how some people mentioned Marcos children were living in Singapore but they did’nt know where she was staying. Immediately few days after that, we got our check in the mail.
All the small stories together make one big picture of the Marcoses and it isn’t good. Which is why each story must be collected. Something that started in Germany with regards to the Nazis around 1968, now the big picture is fully documented and irrefutable.
Yes, and during Nazis times most people lived OK who were not involved. But the damage to society was huge, same thing with the Marcos era. This is the big picture of the regime.
I was 6 years old when Marcos Sr. won his first election (1967). He,accordingly, was good thanks to IRRI but then after his re-election in 1969,things got dirty. In 1971, he assumed emergency powers and suspended Human Rights(Writ of Habeas Corpus) after the infamous Plaza Miranda bombing. Despite this, the youth continued marching in the streets, even in provinces. Only when Martial Law was declared that some of them went hiding in the mountains and became militaristic. Thousands of intelligent,progressive and patriotic leaders were murdered. If they did not die, do you think we will have the same people in the government? An apology is not enough. Life can’t be replaced nor given back(decent countries treat atrocities with death penalty). What Marcos did is eliminate potential leaders. He did it successfully. These youth should have aged 50-65 years by now. Ripe to lead. Don’t we notice? We have aging or inexperience people out there vying for positions? Aren’t we craving for a leader now? Someone asked me:” Whom are you going to vote anyway? ” My answer is: “Patay na.” The economic devastation designed by Marcoses had immediate aftermath which can be resolved by good management. But do we have leaders to make that work?
To Marcos Loyalists. Your place is not in the Philippines. Go to North Korea!!!
There they can sing like these kids did on Marcos’ 95th Birthday on September 11, 2015, in Batac, Ilocos Norte. Maybe the North Koreans or Chinese can send a ship to get them.
September 11, 2012…
Really? 2012? Poor kids. They must have practiced under the rain and sun. And for what end?
http://verafiles.org/ilocanos-celebrate-marcos-birthday-while-other-filipinos-recall-martial-law/ – this is an article about that celebration, just found it…
The Marcos birthday festivities started Saturday with the President Marcos cup (shootfest) at the Plaza Del Norte, awarding and oath-taking of about 16,000 Barangay Peace-keeping Action teams from the various municipalities and cities in Ilocos Norte.
Townsfolk are looking forward to concert titled “Da Real Macoy” featuring showbiz personalities from Manila. There will be a special dance number by the Mayors’ league of Ilocos Norte.
In the succeeding days, there will be a thanksgiving mass at the Sta. Monica Church in Marcos’ birthplace in Sarrat and distribution of land titles to selected beneficiaries.
There will also be a literary arts contest consisting of a quiz on Marcos life, poster making, extemporaneous speech, film showing, storytelling, charcoal rendering.
Highlight will be a Little Ferdie and Imelda duet contest.
Three books about Ferdinand Marcos will be launched and the new Malacañang museum in Suba, Paoay, Ilocos Ilocos Norte will be opened.
…a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Irineo — that’s so appropriate. Ozymandias is one of my fab poems.
Is this in (or near) Suba?
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/RP-BINPYSU/photos/photostream/lightbox/1372962096
Just testing if it will work in WordPress.
I intend to add a bit more info, fwiw – later today.
“Maybe the North Koreans or Chinese can send a ship to get them.”
LOL!
At the end of that video, the kids say, “Happy Birthday, ….. ….. !!!” How did they address him?
As for the group number, hey, any excuse to get the kids moving about with glow sticks is productive enough. FREE shirts to boot!
Apo Lakay… it is a term of reverence in Ilokano.
Manong Sonny and Edgar are Ilokanos so one of them could tell us what it exactly means.
Apo Lakay –> masc., deferential address to elder, grandfather; Apo Baket (fem)
apo lakay (figurative) reference to young who exhibits precocity. My dad referred to my 3-yr-old son as apo lakay, means precocious kid.
Thanks, apo lakay sonny!
Thea you are one of those Filipinos who understand the situation well and what revisionism is all about.
But I think Marcos loyalist, as fellow Filipinos, they too have a right to the land, they too have a right to their opinions however flawed we think that may be.
I view it as a battle of darkness vs light. Just do your bit to shine more light. Right will always have its way. Nelson Mandela is our greatest example.
Well, chempo, that’s only a battle cry. I still keep my Marcos loyalists friends in my fb friends list. Trying hard as i could to show them the dark(isn’t Martial Law dark?).
That’s the spirit.
“Will I say sorry for the highest literacy rate in Asia(during his father’s time?”
Bongbong must be really 2(BO – NG) + ANG. Literacy is nothing short of saying, Filipinos know how to read and write but incapable of judgement and thinking.
Like “Pedro” in this article: https://joeam.com/2015/10/23/reconstitute-the-philippines/ 🙂
That is coming from someone who keeps defending that he got a degree from Oxford.
I am fully aware of what his parents had done to the country and I was willing to give him some respect as a statesman, but the denial regarding his education is cringe inducing.
There are those innocents who thought wow “special diploma” , must be for really something extraordinary. It’s a face-saving concoction for heaven sake. It was meant to save the reputation of Oxford u.
Common in Filipino houses to find diplomas hanging in the living rooms (while the “Last Supper” in the dining rooms) for visitors to take notice and praise. In one far flung barrio,a proud parent hung his son’s diploma from Recto University(sorry chempo and Joe,ask Irineo pls) and invited his folks to see it. Everybody was so amazed and congratulated the father. One said “Your son must be so intelligent,let us make him the captain of the barrio!”. And so the short story goes of the intelligent son who became a character in a comics book.
Some commenters on FB where I shared this article – especially in RoRo and Robredo supporter groups – have asked for a Tagalog translation. Already told them this article is written by a Singaporean, and that it has to be long because there are a lot of details that are significant.
All readers, commenters and Society members are hereby enjoined to ask their parents, grandparents, all who witnessed the times to finally open up. There is a wall of silence about the stuff that really happened during the Marcos years, a deadly wall of silence.
Unrest in the countryside, slums growing, people going abroad, OFWs and migrants milked for dollars, peasants giving up their farms and either going abroad or joining the NPA, civic organizations suspected of Communism, destroying civic society in the process, urban houses growing taller walls because thievery grew even if violent crime was less, landed people selling their land to have subdivisions built on them, further fragmenting society into those behind gated communities and slum dwellers, schooling reduced to 10 years from 12.
Because to some the stuff I have detailed above in postings may seem like madness, but this madness was for real. Get the older people to bear witness before they are gone… because Philippine society started losing its way during Marcos times, our greatest loss! 😦
Not to mention the brutality, haste and later negligence manifested in many projects like the Manila Film Center, or the displacement and ruin caused to simple people by projects like Tiwi Geothermal plant – and in Tiwi people still paid more for electricity than in Manila!
How ill-conceived projects like Tiwi Geothermal plant and reckless subdivision building decreased available agricultural land, leading to the present lack of self-sufficiency? That nearly everything the dictatorship did was for short-term effect with long-term problems? That the country was basically broke starting 1983, from what some people have told me. Most people only started waking up because of their bad personal economic situation, formerly lulled into contentment by the consumerism the dictatorship encouraged to dumb down the population. And that thinking and even more speaking too smartly was something that one did not do for fear of the dragnet? That people even ratted on one another then? Maybe that is the reason many folks from 50 onward talk too little. And much is forgotten.
I may have to make a follow-up to this article on the Marcos period… to cover the different aspects… but this is a summary and frames the whole thing for now:
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/philippine-history-part-iii-nation-section-2-marcos-period/
I remember as a kid I read stuff of things going on here, bits and pieces of what u mentioned. I remember vividly Ver’s face in some magazine or newspaper and it scared the shit outa me.
As I promised yesterday, here is the piece that I’d like to share to others:
There were so many unknown minor players during those dark days of the dictatorship who did not feel shame or guilt about the excesses they were committing because they knew that the major players did not have any sense or feeling of shame or guilt at all. They were in a mad frenzy to make the most while they were in power and Fabian Ver saw to it that he was not left behind holding an empty bag.
It was a small group of PAL employees who loaded the money to be smuggled out of the country. They were not so secretive about those illegal activities as if they were not committing any wrongdoing or maybe they have that false sense of pride in having worked for a man known for his dreadful acts of violence to left leaning groups out to destabilize the government.
It was the early 80s. My compadre used to call me up every Friday afternoon to remind me of our meeting with the group at a beer house in Roxas Boulevard to spend the night drinking beer or wine or spirits that literally flowed and some extra activities for some who were interested in worldly pleasures.from young girls who were so impressed with their generosity.
My compadre and I declined offers to join them. We were only in their company for those happy hours.They were all my friends so I learned from them that they each received 6k a week for their respective roles in the smuggling activities. Not bad for lowly employees who were earning less than half of the monthly total of that easy money.
There was no thought of those happy days ever coming to an end until a shipment of around US$7 million in different currencies was lost. The whole crew assigned to a McDonnell Douglas DC10 on the 1630-000 shift was picked up by the operatives of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAPF) and brought to Fort Bonifacio.
They underwent various forms of torture to extract information about the loss. One showed me the wounds from lighted cigarettes on the knuckles of his hands. Another demonstrated how .45 caliber bullets were placed between the fingers of his hands and squeezed thereafter.
It was an unlucky day for an unwitting aircraft inspector who was totally clueless about his inclusion in the group because he really was not one of the players. He tearfully recounted how two soldiers held an empty tire interior on his chest while others delivered blows that jarred not only his body but his brain as well They left no tell tale marks on the skin but fractured two of his ribs.
The wives of the 2 supervisors were at the Manager’s office daily for more than 2 weeks waiting for news of their husband’s fates. They were eventually released after more than 3 weeks.
One of them told us in a private conversation that he was stripped naked on the day they arrived at the camp. He thought he was going to be sterile forever because he was repeatedly made to sit down on a block of ice while electricity ran through his body.
A raid in our locker room soon followed. An aircraft mechanic tried to run away but was shot in the back.
The money was never recovered. The one who took it was not assigned on the aircraft when the money was loaded. His name did not appear on the list of the security personnel so he was not picked up for interrogation. He went AWOL after two months and flew to Canada to join his family.
A rough estimate given to me by one of the players ran to hundreds of millions of dollars in more than four years of operation. He said that the shipment was almost on a daily basis and only stopped after the late former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr was assassinated.
The amounts could be considered paltry compared to the billions smuggled by the major players but it was his only way to get a share in the looting spree. He did not have the brains of Marcos and the connections of Disini so he just contented himself with crumbs that he was ready to kill for should anybody dared cross his way.
And we could see that even members of his family are now enjoying the fruits of the dirty labor of the patriarch who was accorded full military honors by one of their ilk as if he was the cleanest among them.
Thanks for sharing, gerverg1885. It’s a good story if not for the tragedy that it really was. Count yourself lucky that you drew the line in your gimmicks with your pals. One shudders to think how many various versions of these sort of things must have been going on those days — count the number of generals, secretaries, etc
Stories abound in PAL not just about money smuggling but gold reserves from the Central Bank being smuggled out of the country through PAL flights. It is believed that former employees from Engineering and Maintenance Dept. have information about these things. Let’s hope it’s about time they share what they knew or experienced.
My mom used to tell me stories when I was a kid that every time they lose power in their work building they get know what it means. The Central Bank building beside them is scheduled to be emptied of their gold reserves under the cloak of darkness.
Bet you if back then we had these celphones we have now we would be seeing on youtube guys working at central bank at night.
@gerverg1885
x-
It was the early 80s. My compadre used to call me up every Friday afternoon to remind me of our meeting with the group at a beer house in Roxas Boulevard to spend the night drinking beer or wine or spirits that literally flowed and some extra activities for some who were interested in worldly pleasures.from young girls who were so impressed with their generosity.
…
There was no thought of those happy days ever coming to an end until a shipment of around US$7 million in different currencies was lost. The whole crew assigned to a McDonnell Douglas DC10 on the 1630-000 shift was picked up by the operatives of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAPF) and brought to Fort Bonifacio.
-x
I came across your comment just now.
My memory can be very poor.
I had thought only Lufthansa operated the DC10 in Manila in the early ’80s.
I knew almost every nook and cranny of the aircraft. I would even at the last minute offload suspect checked-in baggage while the engines were running – the plane having already started and ready to taxi out.
Salamat.
ps I can probably say I was the very first local employee of Lufthansa in the Philippines.
A comprehensive, useful two-part blog on Marcos. The wide-readership of the Society of Honor, especially after the President’s last SONA, we hope, will reach those towards which the blog is intended aside from those of us regular readers here who appreciate it. Thanks, chempo.
Salamat NHerrera. I’ll share my motivation here. First, like Joe, I wish the Philippines well, you deserve better. Second — I’m a true blue Libra and we are great suckers against injustices, it’s in our system, we get worked up when we see the strong going against the weak. That’s why I asked, does Binay know the significance of the Scout’s salute, the thumb over the pinky.
“I’m a true blue Libra and we are great suckers against injustices, it’s in our system.”
LOL! That makes sense now, I wonder if Juana is one too. I’m aquarius, hence the tendency to go with the flow: https://joeam.com/2015/11/03/marcos-revisionism-time-to-sound-the-alarm/#comment-145194
Gemini, so I can’t decide which side of the argument is right . . .
No, I am not a Libra. I just have a strong moral and civic compass. FYI: I talk to people with respect and I am not a screamer. You paint me like I am an in-your-face Feminazi, a crazed TP mad hatter, and a Bible banging zealot. I am none of the above. Haters gonna hate but I have maintained my decorum so far.
Had been in any brawl, LCpl?
Never w/ a girl. LOL! *slowly backing away*
FWIW, I’ve not painted you as anything, Juana. I’m just offering what I’ve seen, I don’t know how you corrected those Japanese tourists, I’m just sharing my assessment of similar events I’ve seen– I wasn’t there to see how you and your husband handled the situation, and that’s not the point of my commentary.
I’d rather match wits than brawn.
The point of your commentary has been lost in your preachy diatribe, IMHO.
BTW, I probably have 2 decades of mileage more than you do so lessons learned are not strange to me.
“The point of your commentary has been lost”
Then, I humbly bow out. I give you the gold eagle award.
Thank you, thank you! You really love me! 🙂
My proof reader caught napping again. See the “marshal” law in item (10) haha. I think the township under Wyatt Earp had very low crimes after the gunfight at OK corral.
Don’t worry Americans, YOUR LANGUAGE IS SAFE IN THE PHILIPPINES !!! Only Filipinos are highly critical of english grammar and spelling. They protect America’s Language. They do not care about their Talagog. Filipinos cannot even know if their Talagog is grammatically correct !!! BUT SURE THEY CAN KNOW AN ERRORNEOUS ENGLISHTZES GRAMMAR AND SPELLING.
That is how English-snob Filipinos are. They thoughtinig that perfection of English Grammar make their comments and blog correct.
Blog is supposed to be about content not English Grammar Class.
Only Filipinos in America correct English. Real Americans do not correct English from Indian, Mexicans, Hispanics, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipinos …. ONLY FILIPINOS CORRECT ENGLISH USAGE.
Filipinos are HIGHLY CRITICAL of Englishtzes usage.
I’D RATHER SPEAK TO REAL AMERICANS than citizenship-card-carrying fake American Filipinos hand down because I am not self-conscious. Americans are more forgiving. FILIPINOS ARE NOT.
Get over Englishtzes Snobbery. STUDY MATHAMETICS INSTEAD ENGLISHTZES.
Here is why Englischtzes-speaking Filipinos are boring to covnerse. They measure their englischtzes slow cadences with perfection of englischtzes usage but not in accuracy of word usage.
I’d rather talk to a English-challenged Italians and Argentinian than a Filipino. Yes, Argentyinian. Goot I mentioned that. I spend two weeks of Summer in Martha’s Vineyard. Restaurants at Martha’s Vineyard hire seasonal Argentinian girls fior their wait staff. I love their rolling of the “R”s. I do not know why they prefer Argentinians and I do not know how Argentinian girls knew Martha’s Vineyard prefers Argentinians.
Well, summertime, they got full of Argentinain girls that Filipinos would thought they were tourists. Thankfully, every summer, my family are the only Filipnios who get lost at Martha’s.
Filipinos are goot writers. It is inculcated from prep-schol till death. They even practice English on their dogs and their children. That is why 2nd gen Filipinos in America do not udnerstand or speak local dialect. 2nd-Gen Hispanics and non-Filipino Asians speak dual-language. I am the only born-in-American that speaks fluent talagog.
When my parents treated me to Jollibee in New YOrk, parents would ask my parents “when we arrived in the U.S.” because we speak very goot talagog. Until I spoke with Irish accent that put shivers up their timbers.
I am proud Talagog-speaker. I am proud of my Filipino heritage. what I am not proud of is my looks. YES, MY LOOKS. My looks does not need Becky Velo intereference. I am white. I speak like white. I act like white because I do not redicule minorities struggle with english. What I am proud of these minorities, is they speak. And they can be understood. That is the whole point.
Restaurants at Martha’s Vineyard hire seasonal Argentinian girls fior their wait staff. I love their rolling of the “R”s.
Post pictures of them, MRP!
“Until I spoke with Irish accent that put shivers up their timbers.”
See, I KNEW there was a good reason to read your schtick. I’m dyin’ laughing here . . .
“I am the only born-in-American that speaks fluent talagog.”
I think this one goes here: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/rulings/pants-fire/
6. From “The Pearl of Asia” to “The Sick Man of Asia”:
“It is very true. Marcos built lots of roads, schools, bridges, etc. But was it for love of the Filipinos, or love of money?”
Lately here, this is the news:
This is how money is made if you’re in gov’t, no matter where you are.
chempo, this article I liked a lot. All 11 nails should send this coffin on, but we know it won’t.
My question is, if the Philippine gov’t is still actively looking for this disappearing money. I know after WWII the state of Israel and private entities, persistently went out and found people (Nazis) and stolen wealth from Jews.
In the news, recently, is China’s Operation Fox Hunt, where the gov’t goes out and retrieves people and money.
Is there anything being done now to retrieve all this money? Thanks, man.
” I owned a small company that did some interior work at her condominium apartment. Despite having billions, she tried to dishonor a debt of S$2,500. The Marcoses run roughshod over little people.”
I hope you set Imee’s place up with cameras and listening devices– especially in her boudoir, she’s HOT, why didn’t she run for higher office. She’d probably have been more successful than her brother.
There is the old rumor that she is NOT really Marcos’s daughter but the daughter of former Manila mayor Arsenio Lacson who gave Imelda the honorary title of “Muse of Manila” when she did not get the Miss Manila title.. well Ferdie courted Imelda in 11 days, and from what I know Imee was born shortly after, so maybe he rescued her from that… Imelda was a bit of an outsider in the Romualdez family, the poorer cousin who made her way up very much like Evita Peron they say – EVITA musical was banned back in the days.
http://junbriosolawandbehold.blogspot.de/2012/03/arsenio-h-lacson-profile.html
While in Congress, Lacson’s irreverence was inimitable. Ferdinand Marcos was one of the unfortunate recipients of the Arsenic ridicule. It happened while they were engaged in a heated debate involving the executive act of President Elpidio Quirino who suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Marcos, a freshman legislator just like Lacson, kept flashing his finger, in a gun-trigger fashion, pointing it in the direction of Lacson. “Mr. Speaker,” Lacson called out. “What is the pleasure of the gentleman from the second district of Manila?” asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Mr. Speaker,” repeated Lacson, “I demand protection from the chair!” Dumbfounded, the Speaker asked, “The gentleman from Manila should explain his demand for protection.” Lacson then replied, “Mr. Speaker, I demand protection from the gentleman from Ilocos Norte who reminds me, every time he points his trigger finger at me, of the murder of Nalundasan.” Before he knew it, Marcos had shouted, “You son of a …”—to the delight of the people inside the august hall which was instantly filled with guffaws.…
This softness in his heart was again put in display when a young beautiful lady came to his office for help. This lady, who would later become the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, was able to secure a spot in the mayor’s busy schedule. Imelda Romualdez wanted Lacson to intervene in the beauty contest which had been manipulated (so Imelda had claimed), resulting in the Imelda’s non-selection as the Miss Manila who would join the Miss Philippines tiff. Not one to ignore the ravishing beauty of the young lady seeking his help, Lacson gave audience to Imelda’s complaint. The next day, news came out in one of the city’s newspapers saying that Lacson had overruled the contest’s board’s decision due to the board’s violation of some rules in arriving at its choice. And because of this, Lacson, in his capacity as the city mayor, had chosen Imelda Romualdez as the city’s official representative for the Miss Philippine competition. Lacson’s decision, however, was ignored by the outraged board which claimed that the mayor had no right to arrogate unto himself the board’s power. There was talk that surfaced during that time that could be Lacson was seduced by Imelda in attempting to override the choice for Miss Manila—and the gossip was stretched even further to the point that Imelda’s first child with Marcos, Imee, might have been the result of a brief liaison between Imelda and Lacson.
Is this Lacson, related to one Panfilo Lacson? This is great stuff, man. Kinda like the Khloé Kardashian mystery (OJ Simpson & Kris, then still married to Robert Kardashian). So Kris Jenner and Imelda are cut from the same cloth– they got around.
Don’t think Ping is related to Arsenic, look too different, usually Filipino clans have this typical look about them you can recognize. Check this album out: http://www.davidbyrne.com/archive/here_lies_love/ about Imelda. The songs truly capture the spirit of what Imelda was about, only small criticism I have is that they pronounce Proclamation 1081 (Martial Law) wrong, they say one-oh-81, not ten-81 like Makoy.
Within a pulsating dance club atmosphere, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim deconstruct the astonishing journey of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos retracing her meteoric rise to power and subsequent descent into infamy and disgrace at the end of the People Power Revolution. HERE LIES LOVE is neither a period piece nor a biography, neither a play nor a traditional musical but an immersive theatrical event combining songs influenced by four decades of dance music, adrenaline-fueled choreography, and a remarkable 360-degree scenic and video environment to go beyond Imelda’s near-mythic obsession with shoes and explore the tragic consequences of the abuse of power.
This is awesome, man!!! LOL!
Has this? or will this play in the Philippines?
The musical is totally new – 2014. I only have the LP that was the seed for the musical.
So we have to ask those in the Philippines if it is planned. I can imagine Mary Grace though among the women with yellow in the musical. She was part of the 86 thing.
Mary Grace is one in whom the spirit of the 86ers (in Germany the movement that finally shook off the rests of Nazism were the 68ers, same generation as Flower Power & Joe) is still truly alive. Where is the spirit of freedom that resonated through the streets then?
Similar to the 1974 revolution in Portugal where the military and the people shook off the Salazar dictatorship. Yes, I get funny looks when I go there and tell them my last name… This song is about the 1974 revolution, which was very much like 1986 – the original:
Sim, foi assim que a minha mao
surgiu de entre o silencio obscuro
e com cuidado, guardou lugar
a flor da primavera e a tudo
Manha de Abril
e um gesto puro
coincidiu com a multidao
que tudo esperava e descobriu
que a razao de um povo inteiro
leva tempo a construir
Ficamos nos
so a pensar
se o gesto fora bem seguro
Ficamos nos
a hesitar
por entre as brumas do futuro
A outra accao prudente
que termo dava
a solidao da gente
que desesperava
na calada e fria noite
de uma terra inconsolavel
Adormeci
com a sensacao
que tinhamos mudado o mundo
na madrugada
a multidao
gritava os sonhos mais profundos
Mas alem disso
um outro breve inicio
deixou palavras de ordem
nos muros da cidade
quebrando as leis do medo
foi mostrando os caminhos
e a cada um a voz
que a voz de cada era
a sua voz
a sua voz
Translation:
Yes, that’s how my hand
emerged from a deep obscure silence
and carefully saved a place on Earth
for a Spring flower and everything
An April morning
A pure gesture matched
The expectations of a multitude,
Which was placing all their hopes on it,
So as to later find out that the meaning
That leads a whole nation
Takes time to be built
And there we were left
Deeply thinking about whether
That gesture was something secure
And there we were left
With our hesitations
To enter the mists of the future
With what word would
the next prudent gesture call
the loneliness in us
Which was driving us to despair
In the middle of the night, cold and still,
In a land without any consolation?
And so I fell alseep
Believing that
We had changed the world.
And late in the night
We could hear the crowd
Screaming our deepest dreams
But furthermore
One more gesture,
Opening doors to a new beginning
Left words of order
Written in the walls of the city
The laws of fear were broken
Bit a bit, It showed to us the way to go
and showed to each one the voice of the whole
And showed that the whole’s voice is the voice of each one
This is the Ponte 25 de Abril – formerly Ponte Salazar…
LOL! At first glance, I was like, that’s the Golden Gate bridge,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25_de_Abril_Bridge
http://www.topten.ph/2014/04/03/top-10-politician-sex-scandals/ – more mysteries:
This beautiful young actress was rumored to be making love to the mayor from Manila in a hotel suite. In the heat of all the humping and pumping the mayor allegedly had a heart attack and died. Timeline: April 15, 1962 Involved: Charito Solis and Mayor Arsenio Lacson – Charito Solis’ picture I posted a bit further upstairs…
Ireneo,
Khloé Kardashian sticks out as not the same as the others, but Imee looks to have similar features– though her beauty is legendary, I wonder why she didn’t play the int’l media. I’d be interested of more stories about her in her 20s and 30s.
Ireneo, et. al,
That little girl to Imelda’s right is Aimee Marcos, right? I can find a lot of stuff on the three siblings, but not so much on Aimee– she doesn’ t have her own wiki page, like her other siblings.
Is it true that shes adopted? This is her on LinkedIn: https://ph.linkedin.com/in/aimeemarcos1 When was she born? How old is she?
Is this her? Because if this is her, anti-Marcos folks should reach out to her, she seems to me like the thread sticking out that if pulled can undo the whole Marcos brand– hell, even find all the billions hidden,
found a longer interview.
http://www.philstar.com/feature/371173/chasing-aimee
I think she was adopted….from the wiki page of Imee
Maria Imelda Josefa Romualdez Marcos is the first child of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, former president of the Philippines (1917-1989) and his wife, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. Both parents ruled the Philippines together from 1965 to 1985. She was born on November 12, 1955 in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila.[1] She has a younger brother, Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos, Jr., currently a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, and two younger sisters, Irene Marcos-Araneta,[2] a socialite, and Aimee Marcos, who was adopted and works as an entrepreneur and musician.[3]
Thanks, karl. Yeah, I read that too. Did you notice the lack of info on her in Google, either she’s very private, or people just don’t care about her– which I think is a mistake, she’s the one.
Yeah, very little info.
she looks young but she is already in her 30s. I think she was born on 1979 or early 80s.I saw a picture if her in the years before The Edsa revolution.
Lance and Karl, little Aimee is rumored to be the daughter of Imee and Tommy Manotoc.
oh kapatid ni borgy
She was KB Chairwoman and had that throny issue with the Archimedes Trajano murder case. Imee is a bigger target than BBM.
Somebody pls make a meme of this and put it out there
How about setting up a website dedicated toe “never again” memes like this? It will also be a way to honour those poor young ones.
This picture sent shivers down my spine.
A few years back near the Immigration Counter in MNL, I saw Imee. Of course everyone was busy minding their own thing but I don’t think anyone paid attention to her much less acknowledge her presence. Nobody took a selfie. Then around 2 -3 meters, by accident, our eyes met. I felt it lingered for a few seconds and I could not exactly describe if she looked surprised or she felt incredulous that an ordinary person like me would dare look at her – with a stony face as such.
I wonder if it happened long time ago. Seguro yari ako.
Yes, it not too late to do the “never again” memes.
If that happened pre 1986 maybe it’s good-bye waray.
Fire and politics — bad mix
@ Lcpl — recovery of stolen wealth
I think the PCGG was the one tasked by Cory to recover Marcos stolen. Read somewhere some time ago there was talk of decommissioning PCGG because it function dried up.
Don’t really know what they have done. The very first job involving de Guzman, they fumbled. There’s this thing about Philippines always. In public, seems they fumbled, in private who knows the squabbles, trade-offs, betrayals, jostling that went on to line personal pockets.
In my opinion, all is not lost. World govt are moving more towards a harder stand on banking secrecy that protects ill-gotten wealth. Under heavy pressure, especially from UN and US, the Swiss are loosening up and co-operating with aggrieved govts. It’s a question of whether the PCGG are making attempts seeking assistance on a govt-to-govt level. Take for instance Indonesia. One of the oil ministers had a US$40mm deposit in a Singapore bank. After his death, his wife or widow was challenged by Indon govt and the bank froze the a/c. The case was heard in Spore courts, Indo govt won, we released the funds. I think Indon Govt recently got some money back from another country – think its Vietnam. So I don’t know if the govt is doing anything.
China does it a different way. Some under-cover means to track down the looters.
The thing about banking secrecy laws — In Spore, because we are an inter’l financial centre, banking secrecy is very important. But where criminality is involved, it over-rides banking secrecy. Investigating arm of govt can ask for depositors’ info. So if PCGG has some suspicion and info, they can always ask for assistance.
And one more important thing in differentiating banking secrecy. It’s to respect fiduciary responsibilities, not to assist in concealed wealth. In Spore, we do not allow opening of numbered a/cs (the Swiss do) or fictitious name a/cs (Swiss and Philippines do). For the life of me, I can’t understand why PCGG cannot get hold of the money in the a/c “Jose Velarde” that was used by Estrada.
Even the Swiss system can be circumvented. The German spy agency paid a lot of money to find moles in Swiss banks and pay them for confidential bank data. These moles of course were jailed by the Swiss when found out, but the so-called “tax evader CDs” were already in Germany, caused a diplomatic ruckus of course. The tax auditors who ordered the spy action cannot set foot on Swiss soil because warrants of arrest are open on them.
Numerous tax evaders turned themselves in – there is a tax amnesty law that you can turn yourself in and do not have to fear jail sentence, but have to pay back taxes that you owe – when the news hit the papers that thousands of names had been found by authorities.
Come to think of it, that may be a good trick to lure them out.
Yeah, according to that ICIJ article, the Trust Funds were not in Imee’s SALNs.
This looks like a job for… Ombudsman!
OFF TOPIC:
Bad news: Justice Villarama is asking for early retirement. He is part of the Trinity that will not back out in Junjun Binay’s case. Sereno and Carpio complete the trio.
Good news: Pnoy will be able to appoint a replacement for him.
I like the composition of the US Supreme Court Justices: 4 liberals, 4 conservatives and 1 swing vote. I wonder when the PH SC will get to that point…
“So I don’t know if the govt is doing anything.”
Would be a great article. Hope you’ll have time to look into this, or others (to pick up right where you left off), chempo</b.
we are in the sequel – Part 2 – article now, the trilogy must be completed.
First, thank you and bravo, Chempo. Your essay provides excellent talking points for refuting many of the common pro-Marcos/ martial law arguments.
Re: “Imee is the one managing their wealth.”
I also suspect that she is actually the brains behind what now looks like a well-orchestrated campaign and long term plan to rehabilitate the Marcos name and reinvent the story of martial law. She is the best educated of the Marcos siblings, had more access to and experience in wielding political power during her father’s time as the national youth group, Kabataang Batangay, Chairman.
Way back then, she already had shown an aptitude and interest in molding the minds of the young. She co-created and produced educational tv programs, Filipino versions of Sesame Street, such as Kulit Bulilit and Kaluskos Musmos.
If you look at the youth oriented programs she has been implementing as Ilocos governor, you would see the template for what you now see happening on a national scale.
Just the other day, I was reading an in-depth interview she had with one of the major dailies from a a few years back and I found that a lot of what she said then about what her father and martial law has done for the country are the same arguments you now hear from their young defenders. (Will post link to that interview, when I find it again).
Those intent on halting this seemingly growing enchantment of the young with the Marcoses will do well to first examine and understand what has been and is being done for the brand and then work-out a counter strategy to win back the minds and hearts of that demographic.
Here’s one of those interviews. (This one was written in 2011)
https://jojosilvestre.wordpress.com/author/jojosilvestre/
Here’s what she said about the EDSA revolution, which is now one of the go-to arguments of the pro-Marcos youth :
“I always say the same thing. At the end of the day, the value really is how it transformed the people and if it really changed lives. Have we improved our lot? Is the country today prouder? Is our country today stronger than before? Those are the questions. If in the end we can answer yes to all these questions, nakaahon tayo sa kahirapan, mas pantay angplaying field, more just and less poor country, okay na, medyo tatanggapin mo. Ang masaklap, parang hindi. That’s really the problem. On a certain level, it really doesn’t matter what happened to the Marcos family. Tanggap mo na, eh. Talagang ganiyan ang buhay eh. But ang hindi ko matanggap ay hindi talaga tayong umunlad, hind talagang bumuti. Of course, things have changed, and many things have been improved, pero over all, wala. It’s a little bit malungkot, di ba? I hope that for all the heartbreak, for all the sacrifice on all sides na nangyari mula nuong EDSA, sana natuto na tayo. The usual history repeats itself. Sana naman, we should study it so we are not condemned to repeat it again and again and again. That’s all. It’s not personal anymore, eh. It’s long gone, marami nang nangyari since then. Sabi nga nila, the unsinkable nga kami. Okay lang yun, that’s personal lang naman. The bigger concern is the country. We should learn. You really have to touch people’s lives, that’s the only measure, that’s the final measure and in the end, the only truthful one.”
Yep… I remember Imee quite well now… propaganda machine… leader of the KB (Barangay Youth) which was formed to counter the KM (Maoist youth)… always knew the pulse of young people very well… married basketball coach Manotoc… now separated.
The bigger concern is the country. I definitely see the accomplishments of Daang Matuwid now… but I am asking here now – why is this all being noticed only now? Was nobody watching what was going on in the country? Not in touch with the people?
You really have to touch people’s lives This is where I see Robredo, Salceda, Duterte as being stronger than Roxas and Aquino. They seem to listen to the people more and seem to be more aware of people’s concerns. Poe, Bongbong NO. The perception that Roxas and Aquino are elitists who do not care and do not really know what is happening on the ground is the major weakness of the Mar Roxas campaign and can cause the election of a President who will dismantle what already has been achieved.
I was shocked that Duterte seems to consider K-12 mainly nonsense. And that he seems to want friendship with China. Because even if I do not like his extremes, I do like his very decisive manner and his feel for what the people’s concerns are. Government offices in Davao are forced to respond to citizen requests within 3 days from what I have gathered. This is what matters to people, the citizen service they get. If there is service to citizens in the laglag-bala matter, I do not see how it was communicated by the Aquino administration.
The “user interface” of the government, seeing it as software and the citizen as users, is what matters. I can make a very nice program, if the interface is not usable, my users will not like it. Or is the interface there and its use not being properly communicated to folks?
https://www.facebook.com/filipinogermanlearning/posts/960772880661055 – this link is about Philippine progress – the World bank sees the Philippines as very STRONG now!
https://www.facebook.com/filipinogermanlearning/posts/961524637252546 – this is something that points to the laglag-bala scheme being there already in 2012 – TripAdvisor.
Trying to deflect and make it look like a political maneuver by rivals is a minus point for the present administration, does not make the other choices better, but is very unnecessary.
my experience in Philippine reality is that the lower and middle charges often LIE to their superiors and the upper charges will often not be bothered with the nitty-gritty.
Generals who have soldiers carry them over the water are an example of not wanting to get dirty, and the denial of street reality among Filipino higher-ups is an old disease.
The airport stuff is serious because it is about a zone that should be very well secured, and it is overseas Filipinos affected – a crowd that will not shut up, having learned freedom.
My constructive suggestion to the Palace – one social media specialist should join all OFW and migrant FB groups and be there to communicate what citizens should do to avoid this issue and what they should do if they fall into the trap. Or involve the leaders of these FB groups and have them share the bulletins that the government issues on these matters. Social media is the place where things are happening now and I do not see anything yet.
These groups are like virtual barangays. At least utilize their “captains” for communication. In both directions. To disseminate information. To voice out concerns, give back answers to their respective communities so that there is no unrest. A “cyber-Robredo” approach.
“You really have to touch people’s lives This is where I see Robredo, Salceda, Duterte as being stronger than Roxas and Aquino. They seem to listen to the people more and seem to be more aware of people’s concerns. Poe, Bongbong NO. The perception that Roxas and Aquino are elitists who do not care and do not really know what is happening on the ground is the major weakness of the Mar Roxas campaign and can cause the election of a President who will dismantle what already has been achieved.”
It’s differences in personality. The first 3, Robredo et. al. Seem more comfortable being around other people. Aquino and Roxas are classic introverts, they need to be coaxed out of their shells and are prone to making social mistakes not often committted by those who have had more socialization from an early age. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are not listening or not interested in people’s concerns, methinks, they just have a different approach to doing it. If the basis would be what they have actually done for their constituents, as opposed to their awkwardness in public and some poor choices in wording some of their statements, I think the record will show that they’ve been listening. PNoy’s high popularity ratings to this day will attest to this.
Now, how to help Mar…
The problem I think is threefold:
a) endemic distrust of the government by Filipinos – which I am not surprised about given what has happened in the past.
b) immature attitude of many Filipinos what to expect of the country’s leader. There are places in Berlin full of drug dealers. It can happen that trains break down here as well. Nobody would blame Angela Merkel for it. Maybe because they have trust already there?
c) rapid modernization without attitudes catching up with the requirements of modernity. This I think is a major stress factor for many Filipinos who still have the barrio mentality. They expect personal approach. Aquino and Mar have the modern, functional approach.
I don’t really care about Mar or the LP. But objectively they are the best choice for now. Anything else will bring the country down again. So the approach I suggest now is:
1) strengthen government communication in social media, use all channels – this is about partly filling the need for the personal approach without too much effort, but using groups in FB and elsewhere that are willing to cooperate as intermediaries for communication.
2) audit citizen service in sensitive areas and install metrics and evaluation systems so that complaints by citizens are reduced. What I mean is to go TQM on these areas.
3) create an online application where citizens can give feedback, disseminate it.
If there is anything already done in this direction, it should be disseminated better.
Create an App: Sumbong sa Palasyo. Citizens can select the agency or area they want to give feedback about, have a multiple choice based on common issues or can choose to enter a free text – but that option should be hard to access.
So the government has a quick view of what matters are commonly complained about and can address them with high priority. Even a web page to show success statistics.
So the complaint “wala naman silang ginagawa” can be defused effectively.
Please check this out:
http://bantay.ph
It’s an initiative supported by the Makati Business Club, the goal is to educate citizens on their rights to good government service and enable them to avail of the services due thrm without resorting to bribes. Their initial efforts were focused on students but lately they have been going grassroots.
This is one effort that deserves our support. I have mentioned them in this forum several times already and I do it again now and hope that you can all help to promote this group and get them more advocates and supporters. This is one way to positively shape the minds of the young that, as we have seen, are being lured to very dangerous ways of thinking about the political dynamics existing in the country.
Please spread the word about them, encourage your young friends, relatives etc to join and participate in their activities. There should be a link in their website to their facebook page, please like the page so those involved in this effort can at least be encouraged by the attention. You would then also get regular updates to their activities. Thank you.
The Official Gazette is published and promoted on Twitter and Facebook by MLQ3. Citizens have to take the initiative to follow his works, which are substantial. It is awkward for officials in government to “play” in social media fora such as this blog or Facebook because they are often partisan or contentious, and government officials must give both the appearance and fact of objectivity and non-partisanship. Senator Marcos, like VP Binay, is an official of government and due all consideration allowed under the laws and good faith dealings.
There is also this to call and text complaints:
” Bad Government Service?
Text 09088816565Call 16565
at http://www.contactcenterngbayan.gov.ph“
Thanks Joe&Juana… I am collecting significant infos for fellow migrants and OFWs…
@ Irineo Go back to Joe’s articles on amoral news people in the Philippines.
That is why I ask these questions here… because Filipinos abroad have no way of knowing this… my press clippings in FB are only of articles that are ethical and reliable.
Paying my learning curve forward to possible readers in overseas Filipino communities.
as an aside ireneo : from rappler Roxas issued the clarification a day after he got flak over statements he made during a chance interview with reporters in Isabela on Wednesday, November 4. In that interview, Roxas called on the public to wait for the results of a government-led investigation while emphasizing that any attempts at extortion were inconsistent with the administration’s Daang Matuwid (Straight Path) policy.
Tama hinala ko. Misquote from the clickbait experts of Rappler. Alam naman natin na default answer ni Mar is study, wait for the investigation, kaya nakakapagtaka yung sagot niya na pinasikat ng rappler.
Thanks. And if one considers that Rappler is one of the better media around, it is very much disheartening. My article on Presidential candidates will have an aside on that…
Nobody here is connected to LP I’ll just use this as a shoutbox.
sa rappler article:
When pressed on who should “take responsibility” for the issue, Roxas said: “Kung nagpasok ka ng contraband sa airport, paano naging problema ng gobyerno ‘yon (If you bring contraband items into airports, how is that the government’s problem)?”
The proper answer here if you don’t want to weasel your way out would be.
I’ve read my statement I have no further comments pending the results of the investigation.
Nobody or at least most people don’t read the news articles and try to find the “truth”. Because we tend to think you mean well we can interpret Mar’s answer to mean. the knee jerk response “Kung sinong may dala ng bala di siya may kasalanan” which I interpret to mean the people who planted the bullets if there was bullet planting or the people who brought the bullets to the airport if there was no bullet planting.
“I’ve read my statement I have no further comments pending the results of the investigation.” correct, this is the truly professional way to handle it.
Well, at least Noynoy and Mar are sincere, which is one step ahead of the insincerity of many others – and the sincere but archaic statements of Rody Duterte.
The next step is true media professionalism, like in more advance countries.
Putting this here so people can make up their own minds:
“After the war, there was a GI bill that encouraged Filipinos to study abroad but he was not able to use his privilege.”
Is this the American G.I. Bill? I didn’t know Filipinos were also privy of this. I know officially those in the Philippine military then were under the US military, but I had no idea they qualified for the G.I. Bill.
How many Filipino vets actually got this, apo lakays, karl and sonny? And was this as significant over there, as it was in the US post — WWII?
Hitlerian rhetoric. Broad statements that fire up the patriotic juices, detached from any “how”. I would note that Poe tends that way, too.
Hitlerian is the right term. Marcos studied Hitler’s methods.
I once knew a former KB member. He was tellilng me the Chinese – he meant Chinoys – are a serious problem for the country. So the “Andrew Lim comment” did not surprise me.
Shall we suggest another candidate for DNA matching then? If she hasn’t already given a sample, that is. 🙂
That’s sample. Geez, why does the society blog have that effect on my keyboard?
“samole”? ahaha I thought that was like a bribe or something payed to the SET . . .
Don’t worry, I trail along after regular readers picking up the wayward letters I find . . . just keep typing! That’s all I’m worried about.
Thks Cha.
This particular thread contains some good stuff on the politcal-sociol and physco aspects, not me area of competence. I hate all this kind of stuff where the powers that be try to get into the minds of the masses. You see it everywhere repeated over and over again. Hitler’s youths , Mussolini, Peron, Lenin, Moa, etc here Marcos via Imee, INC.
There’s got to be some sort of laws against this sort of things. In the same vein is Binay’s sisterhood cities.
I think one of Pnoy’s greatest achievement is the stability we now have in the PAF and PNP where civilian authority has been asserted.
off-topic: good news:
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, or BMBF) announced the 27 winners of this year’s Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development competition.
Out of 550 applicants from 90 countries, 27 scientists from 20 countries received awards from Wilfried Kraus, Head of the BMBF Directorate “Sustainability, Climate, Energy.” Filipino Dr. Joey D. Ocon, who has a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering, was one of the awardees.
Ocon was cited for his research into chemistry that may lead to more efficient and environment-friendly batteries.
One of the best article that explains why marcos should be blame for most of the problems are country is facing today and Marcos is the reason for why every filipino has to pay higher taxes. We need to pay for what marcos had stolen from the government. Chempo Ikaw Na!
“Chempo Ikaw Na!” (Chempo, you’re DA MAN!)
I can’t agree more, Dodong.
Thks Dodong.
Actually, all the facts are out there. I just assembled them and put them in context and throw in some personal perspectives.
Congrats to the Society of Honor for the honor of being invited to the Bloggy Awards. I am elated that we will be represented by Wil, grateful for what has been achieved, and excited for what is yet to come.
Mabuhay!
Thank you, andrew. And thanks for being with us over the years . . . working, thinking, writing . . .
Congratz, everyone!
But I thought we were sending MRP to accept the award & do his anti– UP, Korina… “preachy diatribe” in goot proper American-English?
After party’s still at Joe’s, right? Juana, owes me a drink.
Congratz, Joe!!!
You”ll get over it, LCpl.
Semper Fi!
Will gladly buy you a San Mig.
Litro. 😉
I second the joy and jubilation.
Congrats Joe and to the good people of the Society of Honor! I am very proud of all of you.
Salamat po Mang Willy at Aling Baby for representing the brood.
Selfie-selfie lang pag may time and please post some here.
Can we get gian and/or Mami to tag along so they can live tweet for us?
Hahaha!
LCpl: I am afraid…
Juana: Don’t be a wuss.
LCpl: Them are fighting words!
Juana: Take a chill pill, will yah?
🙂
Goodnight, LCpl. You’ve been a worthy verbal skirmish opponent. Thank you.
Night night.
He knows this might happen:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/thehungergames/images/3/35/Katniss_fighting_Cato.png/revision/latest?cb=20120514231952
No no. Best to leave it at this time.
i7’s been hittin’ me up for a Round 2 as well. But that was a real bout, I think this was just a big misunderstand on your part, JP. You thought I was attacking you personally (hence your skewed mischaracterization of the discussion, which is cool), when I wasn’t– just sharing some hard lessons learned (“take it or leave it”).
The irony below, is people are also misunderstanding jameboy, and I’m the one the gets his point. Similarities to our discussion.
However the Marcoses create a teflon shield around them (money, etc.), we know that attacking their Dad’s legacy has done the opposite. Inclusive vs. exclusive ideas, when the spirit of jameboy’s comments were one of inclusivity (same with my “right”/”offense” criticism, ask how many times MRP has “offended” you, and that’s my point, but that’s between you and MRP).
Inclusivity means you can do both, just sharing the other side of the coin given situation.
I agree with jameboy, attack from all angles.
If it helps bury the hatchet, you are the Winner, JP. Wanna talk giants? i7, left me hanging yesterday. 😉 Don’t worry there will always be a next time.
p.s. Women beating up their husbands is an actual trend– MMA & Crossfit, produces testosterone, women didn’t evolve to deal with lots of testosterone.
Jameboy is not saying attack from all angles. He is saying stop telling people about what it was like under Marcos, Sr. because that is irrelevant and gives the loyalists ammo to strut their stuff.
Joe,
You’re up early. It’s still the day shift on the floor. 🙂
I think jameboy thinks that the angle of attack is weak (maybe futile), but I don’t think he’s saying don’t do. He’s saying open up another angle of attack– and I think gian chimed in to say that it’s being done, the Bong-Bong specific attacks.
And I’m simply asking jameboy to list out his plan of attack, ie. incompetence & untrustworthiness. Usually jameboy is simply content w/ being a contrarian, now he’s actually got a strategy/solution to the subject at hand– let’s not shoot him down, let’s explore it.
What this angle of attack is (and comparing angles of attack), is less important than how he plans to go about it, that’s what I want to know– focus on jameboy’s strategy, let’s flush it out (I’m hoping he’ll convert it to an article).
I’d disagree. He is actively encouraging people not to engage the Marcos loyalists, arguing that it gives the loyalists a larger platform from which to speak. Read the exchange with giancarlo. And he has argued that chempo’s piece harms the anti-marcos effort by essentially promoting the Marcos brand. He clearly does not advocate attacking from all angles, but from one: that Marcos is incompetent.
By the way, two of the elements of incompetence I would cite, if that were the tack to be taken, are (1) a failure to recognize the healthy practice of transparency, and (2) a failure to recognize the healing properties of expressed accountability.
I also think incompetence is easy to argue against, as he can cite his stance on the BBL, Mamasapano and other issues as examples of his willingngess to stand up to those whom HE views as incompetent, and for which there is popular appeal (using the half-truth approach again). Which makes him appear impeccably competent.
Ooppss, I just checked Philippine time– I didn’t account for Fall back (1 hour). Good morning!
OK, we’re reading jameboy differently then, Joe. I hope he can chime in to clear his position up.
” Let them make their own platform without using people like you as props. “
That’s kind of a similar possibility to what I told Juana of her interaction with the Japanese tourists, ie. in Hawaii locals call non-locals haole (though reserved for White mainlanders), they too have “sacred” sites and get “offended” and express their “rights”, especially towards military.
Similarly, the a-hole Hawaiians (usually hopped up on Meth) are looking for “props” to bounce off their own expressions of entitlement/injustice or defiance, or both.
As chempo recognized (in the Part I thread) both action & in-action are both valid responses. I do too. And I think jameboy also. That sometimes inaction is a better strategy (compared to more action, when evidence shows the opposite effect–
jameboy’s Marcos family gaining more traction and mine, of escalating violence all around in the U.S., that can usually be attributed to people expressing their “offense”/”rights”).
I’m trying to merge two threads together in attempting to explain how I’m reading jameboy, and why I think you guys are mis-understanding him. We’ll see what jameboy has to say.
“I also think incompetence is easy to argue against”
I agree, especially in the Philippines– like throwing stones from a house of glass. Same as untrustworthiness. That’s why I’m interested in what jameboy has planned. I’m sure he’s thought of the quid-pro-quo element to this line of attack.
“I think jameboy thinks that the angle of attack is weak (maybe futile), but I don’t think he’s saying don’t do. He’s saying open up another angle of attack…” – LCpl_X (@LCpl_X)
========
Precisely!
I’m beginning to either doubt I’m not connecting with people because I’m seeing something they don’t see or people just don’t want second opinions because of doubt or fear of failing or something until you said the above.
No one is stopping, much less yours truly, to do what people wants to do to discredit, attack, criticize, etc. the Marcoses. If one feels that the current strategy works like clockwork, fine, continue doing it. I’m just trying to make people aware that there are other options they can explore to get a different result than the one they’re having.
Anyone here who are happy because BB got elected as senator? Anyone here who will be ready to celebrate if he bags the VP title? I mean, the guy came from being a pariah to becoming a senator and now may even get the second highest office in the land with a partner (Miriam) that has a chance to win and also a chance to die anytime! Am I the only one looking at the scenario or I’m just so out of it I don’t know what I’m talking about?
Why am I getting a feeling that people refuses to see that their strategy is not producing the results they want? Why isn’t anyone here even acknowledges that what they are doing is not even producing a dent in the effort to combat the attempt against the Marcoses’ come back? Worse, there are people who are taking a reverse position by focusing on the loyalists and engaging them as if everything largely defends on defeating the family’s blind followers. You defeat and embarrass a loyalist, you prevent BB from scaling the gates of Malacanang. You out argue a loyalist you stop BB from imagining to come back in the Palace. You dig all the dirts against Macoy and people will realize that BB is as bad as his father. If that kind of thinking continues to prevail among those who sincerely believe that another Marcos is bad for the country, we’re going to get another Marcos. For sure.
Anyone who wants to have a cat fight against a loyalist, who am I to stop them? My personal stand about it is I’d rather reserve my energy and strength engaging those who are focus on the present (BB’s camp) because they’re interested in the future which I disagree with and feel will bring back what we have rejected before. For me, arguing against the accomplishments of Macoy or how good or intelligent he is, etc. is falling on the trap the loyalists has set up. A trap they set up for the benefit of BB. Not gonna fall of that.
Anyone who wants to tackle issues of the past about somebody who presents no threat because he’s already dead, go ahead. Nothing’s wrong with it. Only thing is, you get the same result every time. A result you despise and hate.
Lastly, there is a prevailing thinking here and in some blogs about “educating the youth” on the issue of the Marcoses. Really? As if there is a secret way of discovering and learning how bad things were under Marcos. As if there is a degree of difficulty one has to overcome to be able to understand why the Marcoses got kicked out of the country. As if there is a scant of information contributing to the youth being ignorant about the Marcoses. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
What we have right now is a status quo that presents no obstacle to the Marcoses. A strategy that has been completely inutile and irrelevant. As it is right now, for BB, today the Senate, tomorrow the Coconut Palace (VP) and after the swearing in of Miriam (or whoever it doesn’t matter), it will be the Palace by the Pasig river.
Happy days are here again, are here again, are here again, lalalalalala…! 💂
Well, I think the problem of personalizing the matter cuts both ways, and really originated with your suggestion that Chempo’s work, although admirable for “effort”, is a waste of time. I find that kind of approach divisive and certainly not encouraging of others who are working the unfriendly fields of Marcos loyalists, or who take the admirable step of putting their ideas on the line. Who wants to write here when members of the Society call their work into question? Chempo says he does not take offense, but I did, as I am protective of those who – in the face of a pretty broad and imposing readership – put themselves and their ideas on the line.
You can advance your proposal of challenging Marcos on competence while recognizing that others here are engaged in other efforts that they think are helpful. The goal, after all, is the same, and all should be accorded respect. Even if their idea of solution differs from yours.
Well, I think the problem of personalizing the matter cuts both ways, and really originated with your suggestion that Chempo’s work, although admirable for “effort”, is a waste of time.
==========
That is your interpretation or understanding of what I said and not what I actually said and honestly meant. My first (November 5, 2015 at 12:27 pm) response to this blog stands and I invite anyone to read it back and see how even commended the writer for the effort to share the info and even admitted that I did not disagree with it.
Accusing me of “suggesting that this blog is a waste of time” is farther from the truth. I understand where you’re coming from Joe but I hate to say it, you are wrong on this one. In fact, in the first part of this article I even wrote this, “As was mentioned in Part 2 of this series, the abuses and excesses has made the country the sick man of Asia.”
I understand your reaction. You shifted to defensive mode because, unlike those who posted before me, mine was not really in a congratulatory mode. It’s actually sharing some insight and suggesting a view that I thought was missing in the article. In short, I was trying to expound and widen the conversation by adding more relevant input to the narrative instead of just patting Chempo in the back. And to his credit, I think he understand what I meant. 👀
I was really looking forward to read about Joe receiving the awards in his batman outfit….Wil, thanks for representing the society, Aldubin natin yan!
JP, why is your meme so big, …the one I was able to generate is so tiny…
Thanks, Karl, for your appreciation. Yes, a-AlDubin natin ang Society of Honor for intellect dispersion. Thanks, chempo for your humdinger of an article. W00t! W00t!
Thanks, JoeAm and Society of Honor for having me. Club of Rome, new La Solidaridad. What an honor to represent you all. Head bowed. Have to review points of servant leadership.
My take on goings-on:
The real battle is in vice presidency. Bongbong is really gunning for president because Miriam cannot last (Stage 4) or cannot undergo the rigors of the job if both of them are elected. Binay and Poe are a spent force and if either of them are elected—a remote possibility—they can easily be dislodged by court cases. But the country will go haywire if Miriam/Bongbong are elected owing to a rejuvenated Solid North, think civil war. So, let’s strengthen Leni. Even those who are non-Mar but pro-Leni will have to go Mar because what’s the use of Leni without Mar?
Re-view the video of the children chanting Ang Bagong Lipunan—the most chilling, horrendous, stultifying vision I have ever experienced, next only to the corpses on Real Street in Tacloban.
Reading the article and finding its contents, I would say, it is not anymore surprising because more or less those ‘crimes’ mentioned have already been written, spoken about and practically analyzed by a lot of people in the past. Some of them I suspect were included in the deposition of someone in some cases filed against the Marcoses. Some were allegations and hypothesis as to the how, why and what Marcos did to benefit and enrich himself. Most have basis and some somewhat. In other words, I don’t feel we’re moving forward talking about the wrongful deeds of Marcos that has already been talked and exposed in the past. But having said that let me commend the writer for the effort to collect the information and share it with the readers.
Which brings me to what really is my comment all about. If I’m not mistaken this piece was made to remind everyone of what happened during the reign of Pres. Marcos. And it was so because there is a thinking, which I share, at present that there is danger that another Marcos (Bongbong) might come back to power and lord it all over on all of us. Again. There is a looming possibility of a second coming of Ferdinand Sr. in the person of his Junior. And I don’t disagree with such notion. The son seeking the second highest office in the land will really present a nightmare to most people who have witnessed what life is under Marcos Sr.
Because of that I take this article as one targeting Bongbong to stop him on his tracks to purposely, gradually and slowly slip under the radar and make a backroom move to eventually co-opt the highest office of the land. Again, I don’t disagree with it. The only thing I can raise is my observation regarding the materials vis-à-vis its subject.
Here goes:
1. It is true, Macoy is one of the greatest thieves in the world if not the greatest. But what does that got to do with Bongbong? Unless we can find a list of top ten thieves in the world where his name is on it, I don’t think condemnation by identification will work.
2. Even if Bongbong confirms about ‘having lots of money stashed away’ he still can get away with it by justifying that those were hard-earned ones. A product of careful investment and by the sheer stinginess of his father.
3. Because he was not even privy to the negotiations and dealings of his father he can always claim innocence about all those things. Even the ‘truth’ on who manages the loot cannot be hold against him because Imee was specifically named to be the manager of it.
4. All in all, the acts/crimes mentioned has nothing to do personally with Bongbong. The father did all the works with his wife and cronies.
5. His election to national office as a senator only proves the information herein has not really affected his popularity or whatever you call it among the people.
6. If it’s up to me, I’ll raise the issue of incompetence and untrustworthiness. Bongbong is not Macoy. He doesn’t have the intellectual acuity of his father. He maybe shrewd, like him, but he is not intelligent. He is more of an Imelda than a Macoy. He’s merely projecting his father’s actuations and mannerisms to gain sympathy to the reminiscing public of the good old days in his father’s watch. all form and no substance.
7. He’s riding on the ‘Marcos’ name because aside from the faithful loyalists and Ilocano diehards he also wants to get the nod of those who have been disappointed and frustrated by the corrupt leaders who took over after EDSA.
9. In short, the focus should be on the issue that Bongbong has nothing really to offer except a glimpse of what his father was when he was younger: cunning and manipulative. He also have his parents’ hallucinatory manner in theorizing about how good and beautiful the Philippines will be if he is at the helm and in control of the government.
10. Finally, the attack should be all about him and not his father. All about he’s incapability and not the capability of his father to con us. The strategy to attack the Marcoses as a group or family had been a failure. It’s time to focus on them as individuals, separated from Ferdinand because the old man, while his character and reputation are in tatters, still hold some weight among a segment of the population which his family is trying to exploit and capitalize on for political expediency.
I think you are over-intellectualizing it. The Marcos youth bandy about simplistic arguments left and right, and they are influential because they are half-truths, and people latch onto the half they like. Chempo is hitting them between the eyes with the other half in one convenient article that those who face the inane Marcos arguments, and are exhausted by them, can use to counter the diatribe. The son is connected to the father if the son cannot be candid about what happened during his father’s reign, and if he himself only deals in half the truth. He ought not be allowed to do that. It is a horrid representation of values by someone running for high office.
Now your point that Marcos is also incompetent is also good. But that is perhaps a different blog.
The Marcos children is in a better position in saying what they are saying, truth or not, because they enjoy some sort of a cushion: they were not Macoy. They were NOT responsible for the dictatorship. They maybe recipients of the windfall from their father’s nefarious activity but that doesn’t make them criminals. We have to pass years of grueling legal combat to prove their guilt on that and we don’t have the time for it.
We can romanticize about how the children benefitted from the wrongdoings of their parents but we cannot do that with a straight face knowing that the Jinggoys, the Junjun’s, the Bongs, etc. are hugging the headlines with impunity.
I’ve read a lot of worst reports, write-ups, criticisms, official statements, insults and more insults against the Marcoses. The PCCG reports, cases filed abroad enumerating and exposing the Marcos machination with matching depositions of a lot of witnesses that bedeviled the family and painted them as evil incarnates. Their integrity and reputation blown into smithereens and they deserved it.
But where are they now? Imelda is a congresswoman, Imee, a governor and Bongbong a senator.
The game is rigged in their favor. If people will continue the same kind of attack and focus, hands down, Bongbong will be the next president come 2022.
This one’s a Rocker, not a Politician, focus on her.
I’m inclined to think that there are voters committed to Marcos, and voters who hate him, and a few who have not thought about it. I agree that your approach to isolate Bongbong and show that he is incompetent is worthy. But if a guy on Twitter tells me that Chempo’s article made him stand down from supporting Marcos, then I’d be hesitant to say Chempo is the reason Marcos might be in power in 2022. He has demonstrably helped the cause. I think it is not wise to divide the anti-Marcos folk into buckets and say one is right and one is wrong. That, to me, is destructive and will assure that Marcos is in power in 2022.
The present strategy against the Marcoses, strangely, enabled them to reap some rewards. I have yet to read here the significance or otherwise of Bongbong becoming a senator in the face of “mounting” anti-movement against him and his family.
Now he is aiming for the vice presidency. Something’s wrong somewhere I’m sure.
I’m just a casual observer. I don’t belong to any anti-Marcos group even though I sympathize with their cause. I share my thoughts on issues and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a contrarian. I’m advancing no particular cause or exclusive agenda. I’m on my own. I’m open and have expressed my support for Mar Roxas. Only.
👳
Jameboy
Expressing support for Roxas is one thing, walking the talk is another. Those pro-BBM youth are Marcos loyalist are attacking Mar left and right, they do not know the truth of what really transpired during the conjugal dictatorship. We, with the able help of chempo and the others here, we are on the defense mode, answering their lies and propaganda with the truth which are enumerated here. The target audience of this article are not people like you who already know the history, and who has already decided for Mar.
Listen to BBM, what comes out of his mouth are lies, half truth and propaganda. their social media, youTube and groups are all praises for the old Marcos and so are supporting BBM and Santiago, you say we let them? This election will probably be won by the one who can convince the still undecided, those are still wavering, those who are for Marcos but has an open mind to listen.
We all know that Binay has his own core supporters, about 20 to 30%, he is actively in boodle fights, in distributing campaign materials, money and everything else he could think of, Poe is also targeting the masa and the star struck voters, Duterte the impatient, those searching for an iron fist leader, the vigilante enthusiasts, and now here comes Santiago and Marcos with their unthinking loyalists who idolize the old Marcos and will do everything to derail Mar’s candidacy in their desire to restore the dictator as a hero worth the Libingan ng mga bayani burial.
These are all in our mind, we want to help Mar win the election, we want to support him in any little way we can.
We do not want to listen to talks about how Bongbong is to be judged by his own merits, because his target voters and supporters are those who treat Marcos as almost a god, a hero, the best president ever, so they will vote for the son – if that happens and he succeeds in occupying Malacanang thru the VP position, then let’s say goodbye to the complete return of the ill gotten wealth still in their possession and the return of all their plundering ways.
Good point Mary Grace about the youth of today. Let us start with the premise that they don’t know nothing. They’re being fed biased information favoring the Marcoses and they swallow it hook, line and sinker. In these day and age where information is on everybody’s fingertips only the dumb and the lazy will be ignorant of the past. Sure they can believe what they want to believe but if you’re going to ask me, I’m not going to lecture them about what happened in the past and be accused of inserting my personal political agenda on the matter. What I’ll do instead is redirect them to independent, credible and open sources of information and that means hitting history books, journals and essays that talks about the Marcos years. I’ll point out to them online or Internet sites that deals with the horrors and excesses under the dictatorship. Lots and lots of information resources that will enable them to look closely, comprehend and determine for themselves what really happened in the past and why those who are telling them the contrary now should be made to explain of why things ended up the way it did if they are correct in what they say.
I appreciate the likes of chempo and you and others in unearthing the evils of Marcos every time a loyalist or pro-Marcos make a go for it. But I’m over that kind of approach (telling others what they’re supposed to know). Information nowadays come in handy. If those youth are too lazy and dumb to care for their country they deserved to be conned again.
If there will be a loyalist who will post and debate here about how good Marcos is, I’ll not touch the guy with a ten-foot pole. What for? They were wrong and they lost big time. I’m not going to deal with the ghost of the past which is being used by those who are trying to get back the glory they’ve lost in 1986.
As for Bongbong Marcos, the lies and half-truths he peddle is expected. It’s called self-defense or self-preservation. But what people like you should be focusing on is to take him to task to convince people that HE IS DIFFERENT FROM HIS FATHER. That he is incapable of doing the wrong things his father did. That, unlike his father, he will never even entertain the idea of violating the civil, political and human rights of people just so he can get his way. That, far from his father, he has the moral compass and intelligence to even double the ‘good work’ his father did in the years he served the Republic. He should be put right there in the middle, on the spot and tell everybody that HE IS NOT JUST A CLONE OF HIS FATHER.
I tell you, knowing that he does’t measure up, intelligence-wise, with his father and all he got was his mother’s dramatics and the cunning of his dad, he’ll have a really hard time overcoming that challenge.
You are correct, there are people that still idolize the former dictator. They capitalize on what great attributes they think he has and transfer it to the son who is ready and willing to exploit the moment. Yes, it may affect Mar Roxas political run or it may not. I’m of the opinion that it is better to go about and fight based on the strength of Roxas than be wary of the possible damage BBM may inflict once elected as VP. Remember, it is Binay who is a direct threat to Mar and not BBM. And if the current strategy, which failed to stop BBM from becoming a senator, continue we’ll have Bongbong succeeding Mar in 2022.
And that would be awful! 😳
thanks, jameboy
Our efforts are aimed at helping Mar AND Leni get elected. The VP position is a very sensitive position, the VP being just a heart beat away from the presidency as we all know. It helps that the P and VP works as a team, unlike in the case of Binay whose every action is to watch for any misstep he can use to undermine the presidency, and we are all aware that the VP used his term to campaign from day 1 for the P and nothing else. (aside from his continuing plunder to fund his presidential dream and for his dynastic family to rule Makati forever unto eternity if he is allowed to have his way.)
We not only declared our support for Mar and Leni candidacy but also their administration when they win in May if only to have our dream of a continuity a reality – long term goal up to 2022 and beyond. 6 years admin is simply not enough to effect the needed reforms so we can catch up with the rest of the world economy wise and defense wise.
Never again for any Marcos descendant in the government or be the laughing stock for the rest of the world. Enough is enough!
We will do what we can, you go ahead with your way of doing things, let’s not argue about each other’s methodology. Maybe you are right, so go ahead. We will consider your advice when dealing with other groups, every little thing helps.
Good luck to all of us, no let me amend that, may God be with us in our search for good governance.
As a point of clarification, the “we” Mary Grace mentions pertains to herself and other advocates of Mar and Leni. I refrain from such direct acts myself, and stick with opinion-writing. It keeps me free of the “meddling” charge, which would be a violation of my visa. During the official campaign period, I also curtail my political opinions.
Right, Joe.
. “If it’s up to me, I’ll raise the issue of incompetence and untrustworthiness. “
The incompetence I think was already covered on the Bong-Bong blog, the one with him in his top hot and RR. Though untrustworthiness, I don’t think was covered. What did you have in mind re untrustworthiness, anything solid?
“It’s time to focus on them as individuals, separated from Ferdinand “
I was asking about the youngest, adopted, Aimee Marcos above– you think they’ll be some dirt on her? Looks like she’ll be very useful for what you’ve got planned, jameboy.
I was asking about the youngest, adopted, Aimee Marcos above– you think they’ll be some dirt on her? Looks like she’ll be very useful for what you’ve got planned, jameboy.
========
If the Junior cannot be pinned down by dumping all the evil deeds of his father on his lap how can a non-original member of the family be made to answer for something she has no idea of because she was just a toddler at the time?
I have no plan to take steps or join an action or whatever. I’m just expressing my view about an old and raggedy approach that has lost it’s meaning and no longer effective nowadays. The effort to make a scarecrow out of Ferdinand in order to scare people away from Bongbong has not work.
It’s about time to drag Bongbong out of the shadow of his father and make him answer for things that are personal and direct about him. The Junior should stop hiding behind the protection of the image of the Senior.
Now it should be all about him.
“how can a non-original member of the family be made to answer for something she has no idea of because she was just a toddler at the time?”
I’m not saying to crucify her, I’m proposing you make her join your cause– have her switch sides.
That will be very difficult in the Philippines, I can assure you of that, LCPL_X.
Joe once wrote a blog article called “Filipinos in Italian suits”.
Capulets and Montagues don’t mix over there.
bauwow: “Lance and Karl, little Aimee is rumored to be the daughter of Imee and Tommy Manotoc.
I’m thinking we hook up gian and Aimee Marcos on a blind date.
Most of her internet presence was in the 2000s, she’ll be mid-30s now. Based on her LinkedIn profile she’s basically not working, but she’s a trust fund baby so no worries (she’ll pay for the date, gian).
Unless she has handlers follow her around, which I think she’ll be able to lose (she was known for playing hide & seek with palace guards, other minders, in the early 80s), a date with gian is very doable.
Get him alone with her and a couple of dates later, gian should be able to convince her of how screwed up he family is. Then bauwow can swing by and drop the mind blowing payload, Inception-style, inside Aimee’s head.
Which will lead to a face-off with her mom, Imee Marcos. And the unravelling will take place.
Aimee seems like she’d have more than enough reasons to side w/ the anti-Marcos crowd, she’s the black sheep, man. I know one when I see one. Get on this, gian— get your James Bond on.
Hi Jameboy.
I have said most of the stuff in this article are already in the public domain. I just took the trouble of assembling them in one place and added some perspective and some detailed explanation which I think can convince some intelligent fence sitters. The detailed explanation provides the convincing logic that what’s out cannot be easily dismissed as anti-Marcos propaganda.
You have provided a very matured viewpoint, but which I’m sure many will dis-agree, and so do I. I’m not letting this get between me and my lunch, so I’ll be back later. For the moment, I’ll just say that knowledge and possession is a criminal act, period.
Joe & chempo,
Usually jameboy doesn’t offer solutions, this is the first I’ve read from him. I think it’s a good strategy, and I don’t think both attacks are exclusive– you can attack the dad, whilst attacking the kids individually. I’d personally like a parody/satire comic strip to counter the Bong-Bong comic strip.
Like a 1, 2 punch– and then maybe a kick in the nuts.
Usually jameboy doesn’t offer solutions…..
==========
Ouch! Really? 😃
But let me reiterate, I’m just thinking aloud about my observation on the common approach to the Marcos issue. I don’t know if that is offering solutions. All I know is we keep on saying the Marcoses are evil, etc. while they continue to rise and shine and climb the ladder of political success.
It looks like all those attacks and criticisms has served as a promotion for them. It has become a political advertisement favoring them. Could be the people are getting sick and tired of “the Marcoses are this and the Marcoses are that” approach.
If that’s true, which I think it is, boy, we’re doomed. 😎
“It look like all those attacks and criticisms has served as a promotion for them.” I’d say that is a hypothesis in dire need of proof.
I’d argue that what has promoted him is money going into various pockets in various communities and to supporters who pound the social media and work it like the Chinese trolls tried to work this blog. Chempo provides the other side of the one-sided argument.
But if you want to do a blog on Marcos’ incompetence, I’d be happy to publish it.
Thanks for the invitation Joe. I always enjoy discussing and sharing. Doing a blog takes so much time (in my case). I’d rather discuss and share. 👀
It doesn’t really take that much time, jameboy. I have cooked articles this way:
1. copy and paste some postings here into WordPress (or Word) – karne
2. put water, vinegar, soy sauce, laurel leaves and other adobo ingredients
3. waited for a while, and then added stuff I thought of later – marination
4. smoothed the flow of the words to round things up – cooking
5. added pictures and headings to my taste – serving
So writing up a blog is not harder than cooking adobo, and as tasty.
Now often instead of posting here and copy/paste I just save direct to the fridge first.
Ireneo, ang kapilyuhan mo talaga, oo!
But seriously, I’m open to anyone opening a blog questioning or attacking my idea of how to go about speaking about Bongbong and why he should be voted down based on his own merits. I don’t mind mentioning his filial link with the dictator whose popularity with some people he is exploiting and capitalizing on. But he should be taken to task and question about his competency or absence of it. The boy is trying to be a man under the shadow of his father.
He is using his father’s appeal with certain segments of the populace and at the same time working on the younger generation through twists and turns to project a contrary view of what it was like during his father’s watch.
And based on your culinary theory, we have a term for that, Ireneo: niluluto sa sariling mantika. 😄
Bongbong cannot be separated from the crimes of his father because:
1) chempo’s article proves he is involved in the money part, probably until now.
2) he has not really apologized or shown any distance from his father’s crimes.
3) his sister Imee is leading stuff like the kids dancing to THE regime song in 2012.
Of course there are other merits and demerits like his unbelievability – lying about his Oxford diploma like his father lied about war medals. All these aspects come into play.
And that is what I find strange. He cannot be separated from the crimes of his father and he becomes a senator. How can one be linked to the crimes of the past so serious the family was kicked out of the country and be elected as senator in the process? Beats me.
Anyway, lets move on to your other points, Ireneo.
1. Nothing’s wrong in chempo’s piece but I noticed something was missing: nowhere did I read that Bongbong orchestrated this or that for his or his family’s advantage. What was shown was he was a recipient of a windfall from his dad’s machinations. It’s all about his dad’s undoing and never his; all about dad’s scheming, vicious and cheating ways and nothing about the innocent and cute son.
2. Apology? Why will he do that when he got to be a senator ignoring, ducking and avoiding calls for it? Apology, for me, is an empty gesture at this point. It’s also embarrassing that people keeps on nagging and begging him to apologize in order for him to be seen in a better light. Everything is on the reverse now. The aggrieved is the one begging the aggressor just to apologize and things will be alright. Simply doesn’t make sense.
3. The diploma controversy is one good topic to start with to take him on. It speaks of his character and he has to settle and put a closure to it if he really intends to be transparent.
Bongbong is a grown man now. He needs to be compelled to answer issues that are about him and his role with the family now that the old man is gone. Is he under the control of his mother or vice versa? Who runs the family now? Does he intends to make a carbon copy of his dad once he becomes the VP? How can he compare himself as a senator now with that of his father? What is original about him that distances him from his dad? In all the years that they were out of the country, what business or activity did he engage into to be able to support himself and his family? Did they encounter financial hardship during their stay in Hawaii? How so? Is he willing to be investigated or open his financial or bank account/record to kill the issue of him as the gatekeeper of the Marcos’ hidden wealth?
Lots of questions that can be posed before Bongbong and test his credibility, character and honesty. Never mind the intelligence for right now what I see is all projection. Mimicking the style of his dad that make the unwitting loyalists to blush and the antis to gnash their teeth in anger.
Like it or not, Bongbong is turning out to be the AlDub version of Philippine politics.
Don’t get down on things because you are isolated here. At least Senator Marcos agrees with you. From today’s Inquirer:
“I no longer think like that. I no longer think about what my father has done and what he has not done,” said Marcos when asked during a weekly forum at the Senate what he has picked from his father and namesake’s 20-year rule.
“Whatever he has done or has failed to do really does not come to it because we live in a different world now,” Marcos said.
“Lots of questions that can be posed before Bongbong and test his credibility, character and honesty.”
This I really want to hear about (write an article) or do a quick list of the questions you think haven’t been posed before Bongbong, jameboy.
Ouch! Really? 😃
“the first” that “I’ve read”. Maybe you have done it else where, and I just missed it.
No, it’s not technically solutions, but it is a valid strategy, IMHO. And I do agree w/ you, that the Marcoses seem to be like teflon– “I’m rubber you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you!”.
Untrustworthiness, was his misrepresentation of his Oxford “diploma”, when it was really something else. But do you have anything else solid?
“…the Marcoses seem to be like teflon…..”
========
Exactly. 🙂
Teflon costs money, and they have it.
I beg to disagree. Wet underarms are not teflon. It’s kadiri (yucky) to millennials, which they derisively call baskil, basa ang kilikili, up there with bad breath and hanging booger. Visuals, visuals.
“He is more of an Imelda than a Macoy.”
In which case, he’s more vicious than I thought.
And shallow.
I haven’t heard of the sons or daughters of former scumbags like Duvalier, Pinochet, Suharto, or Ceausescu running for public office and attempt to restore glory (or perfidy) that was lost.
It’s only in this country that a former dictator’s son has the gall to double down on the crimes of his parents and add salt to what is still an open wound in our body politic resulting from their encompassing deviltry.
Shame is not a virtue
Plain decency should be.
The trouble with the Philippines is that good people are TOO good, and the bad are VERY bad. In dealing with bad people you can’t always be too good.
The office people that most of you are lack street smarts, Karl being a notable exception – a bit of an AzKarl so to speak he knows when to bite back.
Fairness is good, in dealing with people who deserve it occasional “gulang” is necessary – not really cheating, it is a Filipino street basketball term that denotes “accidental” fouls.
Joe knows what I am talking about, since he is a basketball player – and he knows my “gulang” from the time I did not know yet that he is an honest person…
The inability of Filipinos to deal with the Marcoses properly in a legal manner, expose their crimes, even notice that video from 2012 with Marcos kids… their fault, sorry to say…
sasabihin na naman ni Karl, para kang hindi kasali… but it is true I was not involved in letting the Marcoses off the hook so often, because I was abroad. The lack of commitment so many Filipinos display is annoying, and making the same mistakes all the time also and then complaining about the results. It was to be expected that the Marcoses would make a comeback, they have been in politics for years now, and no observation of their money?
Ireneo,
I am not a fan of tactical “gulang” and national politics is not basketball.
“Gulang” is what Gloria Arroyo did to Fernando Poe in Mindanao.
Micha, that is good, but let us look at the tough but fair angle. Why did:
1) the government not manage to prosecute them for their stealing?
2) the government not manage to educate people about martial law?
3) nobody see stuff like the 2012 video? In Germany stuff like that would be under observation by the Federal Constitutional Protection Agency which is like MI5 and monitors all anti-democratic types of activity. With a yearly report to the people.
Irineo,
So what kind of “gulang” are we suppose to employ?
No gulang.. you have convinced me that national politics is not street basketball.
Well, I guess you have to convince quite a few million other Filipinos of that, Micha.
The measures that should be taken are outlined in the point 1-3 listed above.
A Part III of this series – if there is a sequel, a trilogy should be made, would be good.
About what has been undertaken so far to go against the Marcoses, success and failure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Ceau%C8%99escu – well we all know how the Romanians dealt with the Ceacescu couple AFTER they were on the balcony 1989…
Valentin Ceaușescu (born 17 February 1948) is a Romanian physicist. He is the eldest and only surviving child of former communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena.
In December 1989, during the Romanian Revolution, Ceaușescu was arrested, along with the other members of his family. Known worldwide for their extravagant lifestyle, they were accused of undermining the economy of Romania.[1] Valentin, himself, is said to have had a position managing the Steaua București football club. He reported that he had watched the trial of his parents on television while he was under arrest.[1]
Ceaușescu was freed from prison nine months later, after no real charges were brought against him. During that time, his collection of 50 paintings by Romanian masters, engravings by Francisco Goya, and hundreds of rare books were confiscated. When he asked for restitution, the Romanian authorities argued that there are no documents which prove that he is the owner, and that the art collection belonged to the Romanian state. Ceaușescu sued the government for restitution. The courts found in favor of Ceaușescu in 2009, and ordered the National Museum of Art to return forty pictures.[2]
There ARE Ceaucescu loyalists – ex-Communist apparatchics as well as many young people born after 1989 – many are disoriented children of Romanian overseas workers…
But civil society won in Romania recently. Corrupt Prime minister Victor Ponta was thrown out while anti-corruption crusader President Klaus Iohannis was strengthened by people marching in on the capital after a deadly nightclub fire. It is more or less like the people forcing VP Binay to resign and cheering Noynoy after an Ozone-club type incident uncovering sloppiness in the government. At least they target the right people there.
Filipinos would probably have thrown out Klaus Iohannis, raised Ponta on a shield, and asked Valentin Ceaucescu to become the new President.
Ceaucescus also went on the balcony in 1989 to say goodbye to their people, but Elena did not sing. Marcoses and Ceaucescus were friends BTW…
Singer and actors do abound there, but politicians and actors do not mix, mind you they have very beautiful women there as well and enjoy life.
one who is from a Black Sea entertainer family in the third generation, but no politicians…
Millions working abroad, poverty and progress, fight against corruption and Mafiosi…
And they like to eat unhealthy food as well so there are really no excuses if you look at it..
Of the die-hard loyalists there is nothing you can do. Even if you have anything solid on BB himself, u won’t change their minds. They are all proud of that diploma.
The ones that this article can reach out to are loyalists or supporters who has a brain, but they have been fed info from all sides and are wary of whatever they read from non-Marcos where “propaganda” immediately comes to mind. I tried to present in a way that the logic can appeal to a reasonable mind.
Another group to appeal to are those who reads from both sides of the aisle and thinks he does not know where the truth is anymore.
Yet another group are those who kind of leans away from Marcos but does not what to say in their normal interactions with their circles. Hopefully, this gives them a more solid ground to stand on.
I think there are 3 things in your point
-a. Criminality — nobody says BB is responsible for his father’s acts. But retention of stolen wealth is 100% a criminal act.
– b. Moral ground — we all agree he comes up short. But to say that having been elected as senator close the case is to cede to the Aguilnado doctrine.
– c. Go after him personally on competency grounds alone — Sure we all agree, but you can’t take out (a) and (b) because it is a measure of the man in (c).
I’ll still bitch on that apology because not to do so is him saying I don’t think what my father was wrong. And history will repeat itself.
Funny thing — someone mentioned if we continue on covering the old issues we are giving BB the publicity time. Just like criticising Trump is giving him the publicity.
Jameboy the loyalists can’t even enumerate his perceived strengths of BBMprobably because there is none.
All the millenials are doing is to enumerate the perceived achievements of Marcos senior,and this article is an attempt to douse reality,true it has been duscussed and analyzed befiore,but the loyalists still insist in what they want to believe in and they are telling people to believe them.
It’s a waste of time engaging with the loyalists. They are not loyalists for nothing. Loyalists are the social and political epoxy in our midst. You can argue with the climate for you might change it but never with the loyalist.
They enumerate the good things or achievements that Marcos did to justify their devotion to him. Fine. But it would be a folly to counter and respond to them with the opposite view. Why? It has been that way for the last 29 years! They lost and they knew it but they’re in perpetual denial because of who they are: loyalists.
👮
Then why did a guy on twitter tell me that Chempo’s article made him change his mind about Marcos, and he would no longer support him? I’d say you are promoting a theory as if it were fact, and it is only a personal theory.
If Chempo’s article was able to change someone’s mind, loyalist or not, fine. No problem with that. I don’t know if I’m promoting a theory. That’s suspicion on your part, Joe. All I know is I’m sharing something that I have not seen nor read on this blog and in some blogs I frequent to. And the basis of what I’m saying is anchored in reality.
All I can say is take it or leave it. 😌
I’d say your theory could be promoted without calling into question the significant efforts of someone who wrote a detailed and thought-provoking piece aimed at doing something noble. Just write your own damn blog, put yourself on the line.
No offence taken Joe. I welcome Jameboy’s point of view. His suggestion to take offensive action against BB is great, if at all we have additional bullets, I mean, issues to take up. But I feel his view that we should step back from pushing the negatives against his father is rather defensive. To demolish, we should grab whatever stones we can throw.
And no reason to be offended because I get what you did and even commended you for the effort. I do believe you did a right thing BUT there are other ‘right things’ to look at the situation and advance a different, if not new, ideas to address what may have been overlooked or ignored.
Beating a dead horse can only go so far. I’m not against a perpetual piñata about the father but he no longer posed a threat now. In the end, people have to recognize the fact that there is actually a ‘live’ horse out there running wild and threatening everybody that should be the focused of attention. The threats are real and a proxy attack will not stop it. The once pariah son is now a senator. He is now aspiring to become a VP. If the beating and tearing apart and demonizing of his old man did not stop him from becoming what he is now, he will be unstoppable in his desire to reach the gates of Malacanang if the strategy in place will still prevail.
Just saying what I’m seeing. 😯
“I do believe you did a right thing BUT there are other ‘right things’ to look at the situation and advance a different, if not new, ideas to address what may have been overlooked or ignored.”
Attack from all possible angles.
You guys are arguing difference in strategies, when both (or more) strategies can be accommodated here.
Instead of argue viability of one’s strategy, we should be asking jameboy what examples have you of incompetence and of untrustworthiness, then list these down (like chempo has done). Then move on to Imee & Irene.
Then as the pièce de résistance gian can handle Aimee Marcos– with bauwow‘s salacious bit of information.
Attack from all angles, guys. Talk tactics.
@jameboy
I’d like to request you then to come up with your workable, realistic and effective recommendations in an essay to be published here. Not the contrarian-for-contrarian’s sake, hair-splitting, hyper-intellectualized and diluting ideas. Then the Society can pore over it and see if it’s for real.
You have time to write detailed contrarian posts here but cannot come up with the time to write it into a full blog piece?
I second the motion.
How’s about that, jameboy? I think that would be a great idea. Demonizing Bongbong Marcos because of the deeds of his father is not my cup of tea either so I guess if I stick with that idea you’re espousing in this blog of chempo I think we will be into some kind of an insurmountable odds but could be worth a try even if para tayong babangga sa pader niyan considering the leanings of these good guys who are quite determined on degrading a man for the sins of the father.
Sige, Pareng jameboy, gumawa ka ng blog tungkol dito at makikisabad-sabad lang ako ng kunti. Kung mabugbog tayo, hospital aabutin natin, hehehehe.
It is not degrading the son for the sins of the father, for me. It is an act of the son to deny the harm done to the Philippines by his father, and the failure to separate himself honorably from that by being forthright. Beyond that, he tells the half-truths and insults those harmed as if it were nothing. I also agree with jameboy – it is my personal opinion – that he is fundamentally incompetent, a buffoon even. I can’t get out of my mind his rant in the Mamasapano hearing when he was outraged that the AFP said they would not shoot artillery if the President told them to, if they determined that such firing would hit civilians, because they had rules to follow. It is scary to think of this man a breath away from the presidency. He is a strutting poppycock of the Hitlerian variety and people are buying his schtick. Their needs to BE SOMEBODY are so huge . . . and the setting of that scene is the doing of the father. Ironic, no?
Okay, I skipped a few steps in the logic train on that last sentence. Marcos Sr. bankrupted the nation, assured decades of poverty, and installed the culture of impunity and the sense among the poor that there is no future. That sense of no money, no future, is the bed of unrest that Marcos, Jr. speaks into with all his glorified promises.
That’s the irony. Marcos Sr created the social conditions and unrest that allows Junior to thrive.
And the irony of ironies is that jameboy doesn’t want chempo to tell people that.
Many people think that life under Martial Law was better because there are hardly any newspaper reports – except foreign media – about the problems during that time.
North Korean methods with more of a Filipino smile to them were the way then.
Of course more problems got reported since democracy really came back in 1986, which is why some people get the impression that they started with Cory Aquino – not true. Which is why the people who experience Marcos days must bear testimony much more.
In essence if you will look at it, you can treat the views I express here as blog in itself. This is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, a medium to express one’s view on issues. I find it strange that people get offended because I express a contrary view to the point of accusing me of preventing someone to tell people what they want to tell. Come on guys! I know we’re better than that.
It’s not about demonizing the son because of his father not being one’s cup of tea but doing the same thing over and over again expecting the same result when the facts on the ground bore the opposite. Like I said, the Marcoses are back and some people continue to howl and bark on the wrong tree hoping people will stay away from them every time Macoy is discredited and his evil deeds mentioned for the nth time.
The world has changed since 1986. The people won and Macoy is no more. Some people should stop fighting the ghost of Ferdinand and start confronting the resurrection of his family. IT IS NOT WORKING. The old method of attack has been reduced to playing in the hands of the loyalists. Imagine, arguing against them about the accomplishments of Marcos? Paatras! What’s left with the loyalist, the die hard Ilocanos, the wen manong fanatics are mere hallucination. They lost in 1986 and they want you to believe them they can still win.
Why waste time and extract victory from losers? I don’t get it.
What’s left are the remnants of the dictator who are now making headway because the people have ignored their relevance and importance to the present. They’re still grappling with the past and busy fighting the ghosts of the man from Batac not noticing the REAL evils of his family slowly creeping in back into our lives again.
When will people change course and recognize the fact that the old method is no longer working? Will they wait to see Bongbong declare martial law again just to stop them from demonizing his father? God forbid.
Bert, walang problema kung mabugbog ako. That’s the risk one take with the kind of idea he brings to the table. As long as hindi ko binababoy ang diskusyon at hindi ko iniinsulto ang ka-diskurso ko, open at ready akong mabugbog. 😰
I’m ready to be proven that what I’m saying don’t make sense. That I’m completely wrong in my appreciation of the facts. That the angle of the issue I’m presenting is contrary to logic and common sense.
I’m a grown up man, I can take defeat, acknowledge correction and if necessary take back whatever mistake I made that misinformed or hurt people.
In the meantime let my challenge stand with those who disagree with me and let’s talk about why I’m wrong and alone on this. 👀
Oh, Bert, Bert…
BBM is on record on admitting he had a direct hand in trying to claim the ill gotten wealth in the Swiss banks. He is on record in saying he is proud and lucky to be born into the Marcos family, he thinks his father did great while he was president, he speaks and gesticulates in perfect imitation of his dead father, he attacks this government that tries to correct the ills done to the country by his conjugal dictator parents….etc, etc.
How can you still think like Jameboy?
Mary, please read jameboy’s response to my comment. He did not agree to what I said therefore he does not think like me and I don’t think like him.
To jameboy. There are three things people can do to project an image of Bongbong Marcos to the public: 1. Demonize him, 2. Praise him, and, 3. Do nothing. My question to you is, are you advocating for number 3?
As for me, I just want to know why some people think Bongbong Marcos is evil just because his father is evil. That’s not to say that I expect Satan’s son to be an angel, no, no, not at all, :).
Satan was originally the Angel Lucifer. Binay was a celebrated human rights lawyer.
By this logic, Binay is Satan.
Bongbong is not Satan’s Son. Marcos is not Satan.
Marcos is Don Vito and Bongbong is Michael Corleone.
Bert, I was reacting to this sentence of yours:
“Demonizing Bongbong Marcos because of the deeds of his father is not my cup of tea either so I guess if I stick with that idea you’re espousing in this blog of chempo I think we will be into some kind of an insurmountable odds but could be worth a try even if para tayong babangga sa pader niyan considering the leanings of these good guys who are quite determined on degrading a man for the sins of the father. “
I posted this on the NeverAgain Group:
I believe that the Marcos Loyalist are a lost cause. We engage them because if their lies are repeated unchallenged then people with no opinion may be influenced by the social proof that Marcos Loyalist trumpet. We engage not for the trolls but for the silent majority who may or may not have a strong opinion on the matter.
Nicely said. I need 10 paragraphs, u put it in 1.
Gian, that’s what jameboy and bert do not understand. They think we are talking to the die hard loyalist and their evil supporters and enablers, we may be answering or responding to their trollish posts but indirectly we are addressing the silent majority, the undecided, the still wavering, the fence sitters, the young and the not so young FB and YouTube addicts
They are the misinformed, uncaring voters who made possible the fact that the Marcoses, the Estradas, and the other plunderers are in the government strutting ther butts there without a care in the world.
Contrary to jameboy’s opinion, the DEPED and the elders were all remiss in educating the youth, to update the country’s history in a more detailed manner. If they have done so, then the youth of today would not be easy targets for the Marcos lies and propaganda which the had begun the moment they came back from their exile in Hawaii.
Why didn’t Senator Sotto and Willy Bayola dress up as Ferdie and Imelda this Halloween?
That would REALLY have been scary.
Gian, better examine your belief about the Marcos loyalists’ as a lost cause. Their cause being lost largely depends on those people who are threatened by their antics and hallucination about the resurrection of Macoy through Bongbong.
You engage them, you give them platform to create those noises and enable them to thump and swagger as if the majority is with them. They are a lost cause only if you don’t meddle with them. Once you do, the bandwagon starts to roll and the ghost of Macoy will start to hover above us and Bongbong, the lucky son-of-a-biscuit, will be smiling in the corner while checking the blood pressure of Miriam Defensor Santiago and whispering to himself, more, more, more! 😃
I think we define lost cause differently jameboy.
Jameboy they are already doing what you are saying even without anyone engaging them. In this case to engage them means simply making them backup their claims with evidence, or making their arguments logical. I suspect we have different models of how people decide and makes us view things differently in terms of strategy
Let them make their own platform without using people like you as props. That’s only a suggestion my friend. Loyalists who recites to high heavens about the glory that is Macoy, should be ignored. Waste of time. Their game is to engage you and prove Marcos is wrong. No need. It has been settled a long time ago when the entire family was run out of the country in ’86.
Focus on Bongbong and why he do not deserve the adulation and ululation he is getting and why he should stop stepping on top of his father’s grave just to get some attention and advantage. He should be exposed for what he is and what he’s doing. His exploiting and getting sympathy at the expense of his father. He is playing with the emotions of people by projecting that they’re the aggrieved party by not being straightforward with facts. I know it may sound similar to the attacks against Noynoy when he ran for president but it is what it is.
One question I love to ask Bongbong if ever we meet in person. Is he willing to use the “Marcos pa rin, Marcos pa rin” chant in his campaign sorties for VP?
There’s the rub. 👮
How is someone crashing their party being their props? Sorry maybe its the lack of sleep I am failing to understand
Gian, it’s jameboy who doesn’t understand that we are reaching out to the loyalists’ target audience that’s’ why we are challenging, engaging their trollish posts
Anyways, back to the FB, social media war room… have to walk my talk.
@gian and Mary
Both of you are doing something admirable. I appreciate all that you do for our country and our people.
Jameboy is advocating the passive move because that is exactly what he is doing. I am not going to waste my time on someone who shoots his mouth but does nothing.
Chempo included the quote below for a reason:
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
– Edmund Burke
Thanks, JP. I see you are reporting for duty, too.
Jameboy is advocating the passive move because that is exactly what he is doing. I am not going to waste my time on someone who shoots his mouth but does nothing. – Juana P.
========
Suggesting to focus directly on Bongbong Marcos and put him on the spot is advocating a passive move? Opining that the current strategy, if there is any, is not working and those who are against BB’s rise should take a second look at what’ happening and do the necessary adjustments is advocating a passive move?
Let me tell you something Juana, if, unlike me who ‘advocates a passive move’, you are in an active mode or advocating an active move, you and your friends are failing in your job. Stop, look and listen.
Bongbong is silently rising and getting acquainted with an obstacle-free surrounding while your active move is on. From non-entity to a senator and now salivating as VP not because its a dream job but because its a diving board to the next higher office. That’s what your “active move” brings.
It’s either me really advocating a passive move (where that idea came from I don’t know) or people just refuse to open their eyes to a looming disaster awaiting to happen because they thought they were doing a good job? 😎
Gian, it’s jameboy who doesn’t understand that we are reaching out to the loyalists’ target audience that’s’ why we are challenging, engaging their trollish posts – Mary G.
========
Mary, I completely understand what you are doing and I’m just suggesting you pick your own fight because not all fights have substance. If you want to engage or challenge the blind followers, the ignorants, the know-nothing, the its Marcos or bust crowd, go ahead its your own time, your own patience.
Just don’t forget the accounting part where you determine the productive result of your effort in tangling with people who at a drop of a hat will drag you down to the gutter just to defend their idols.
Or maybe I’m just lost about the issue of level? I don’t know. 😧
Off topic
I have just posted this on Raissa’s Blogsite.
This from GMA News (November 5, 2015 2:31pm):
“Rumored brother Bongbong Marcos says he’s willing to take DNA test for Grace Poe.”
Well, for goodness sakes, what are you waiting for, GPL. And make sure the DNA testing procedure is done so it is not open to further criticisms. Suggestion — invite an authorized SET representative to be present and report on the procedure taken. And if after due process, not open to criticism; and the DNA test with Bongbong Marcos proves positive, that clears the Natural-born Citizenship issue. You just have to clear the residency issue.
Was there any published video of this? >> “I cannot confirm (the Swiss bank accounts) 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 — “ Bongbong, speaking to blogger Raissa in 2012.
If anyone published “Operation Big Bird” the novel (written Dan Brown style), it will surely be a bestseller. A hot topic that will enlighten those who are misinformed.
Not just Big Bird. Like I said, Philippines is a treasure trove for plots for financial suspense type novels.
Video’s I’m not too sure. Need to check with Raissa.
A gem from the host :
Marcos Sr. bankrupted the nation, assured decades of poverty, and installed the culture of impunity and the sense among the poor that there is no future. That sense of no money, no future, is the bed of unrest that Marcos, Jr. speaks into with all his glorified promises.
That’s the irony. Marcos Sr created the social conditions and unrest that allows Junior to thrive.
Who could make a meme of Marcos Sr. and Marcos Jr. similar to this, but as Sith Lords?
To young Filipinos: “yes, it’s all real.. the stealing, the human rights violations, the bankrupt nation, decades of poverty ensured: the February revolution, fight for freedom.”
This is also meme material, from Star Wars 7, yes, it’s all real, the Jedi, the Dark Side…
Ireneo,
Did you catch this theory?
Well that is one side, however there is the other side like the letter certification written by Cory Aquino that there is no evidence that President Marcos stole anything of the country’s treasure at all which was witnessed by then Executive Secretary Franklin Drillon. So what sayeth Netizen?
Do you have evidence of this? Otherwise it is just a rumor, unlike the stuff above which all is solidly documented.
Did you know that rumor-mongering was prohibited during Martial Law, by decree? 🙂
What’s your evidence that this ever existed? Affiant sayeth something about that. please before claiming it as fact. 🙂
POA signed by Marcos was acted by de Guzman and others which included the chairman of PCGG then….what’s the point in this — u did’nt see the POA yourself. The money was transferred to PNB which Gloria Arroyo released to the fertiliser scam….but what’s the point — you did’nt see the money leaving PNB’s vault.
Make it a trilogy, chempo. You’re on a roll. I would love to see this as Part III, man.
Marcos time is the worst time in my life,i just graduated fr high school and poverty is at the worst, cannot go to college,i need to work at my young age of 16 in a factory in pasig to survive
I hope life is better for you now Jilltoleda. Life is still not that good for many, but much has been done in this admin to set the house in order. Still a long way to go, but there is better hope now.
Hey Chempo, great article! An eye opener for anyone who pretends to be asleep. You are right, we need to remind people who already forgot the rage and magnificent discontent that forced the Marcoses out of Malacañang.
We will be the laughing stock of the world if Bongbong will be the Vice President.
By the way, are you and Manong Joe classmates? Your write extremely well like he does.
The Singaporean is very obvious when one reads chempo – references to Churchill are not something an American would usually do.
Hey, I love Churchill. I even once smoked cigars . . .
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill
See?
😀
Still, it isn’t typical of you to refer to Churchill in two consecutive articles…
Humpty Dumpty New World Dictionary and Urban Dictionary, more likely. 🙂
Ahaha, yes, you are right. I concede. Humpty Dumpty has more utility than Churchill.
A brief digression I’m sure you will appreciate, Irineo, with your fondness for anecdotal events in history. Khrushchev’s famous shoe-banging tirade at the United Nations was set off by the Philippine delegation. https://t.co/7ABX8EYU4H
Thanks to Steven Rood for the Tweet on this . . .
I still hope to see the day Miriam bangs her shoes in the Senate – not as President.
Thks bauwow, u have’nt been here for quite a while.
On a scale of 10, I’ll put Joe at 9. Me probably at 5. Actually you would have recognised my English english, but my editor Americanized it to made sure u can’t recognize that.
Laughing stock is the word — not just BB, but Binay and Honasan. Poe or Santiago are OK, that’s your Filipino perogative.
My first ex-wife was Singaporean, chempo. Very attractive Chinese features. Schooled in London. People meeting her for the first time would get struck absolutely silent when the eloquent British speech came rolling out. My editing of your works consisted mostly of looking for places were I could put in a zed where you had lodged an ess. It was not hard labour.
Hope that you somehow found a way out
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: … Society of Honor … was extended an invitation to attend the event by the Bloggy awards staff. … will help recognize the important role bloggers are playing in the enrichment and growth of the Philippines.
It took years for Bloggy Awards to recognize Society of Honors like U.P. took decades to realize UPCAT REVIEW is a school like any other schools. If UPCAT students fails, what they learn from UPCAT Review is theirs to keep not U.P.’s.
Grrrrrr …. Pagmahina ang U.P. professors and regents …. therefore, mahina utak ang mga estudyante nila ….. therefore, yung hindi naka-pasa sa U.P. uber-hina rin sila.
“Asked what their campaign slogan would be, Marcos said in jest: “High blood sa mahina (High blood on inept people).””
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/737394/bongbong-distances-self-from-dark-marcos-years
I like the demeanor of Leni. She is Grace Poe without the DNA and Korina’s skeletons except Korina got a backbone, a mean right hook. Korina is also Chinese. She was born in Hong-Kong and never gave it up.
Wonder on whose side Korina is on in 9-dash line? Is Mar sleeping with people’s emeny? Will soon find out.
“Marcos stressed that the Philippines should not be “snobbish” in dealing with “superpower” China. He added that he cannot see any reason not to talk with China.”
http://www.philstar.com:8080/headlines/2015/07/09/1475020/bongbong-bilateral-talks-china-opened-door-we-shut-it
Filipinos are goot imitators. We legalized weeds, Filipinos introduced weeds legalization. We impeached Bill, Filipinos impeached Gloria & Corona and others. We have Three Bushes, Filipinos wanted two Marcoses maybe Three. Wheeew ! I just love Filipinos.
Bongbong imitates an Oxford BA degree holder:
“My understanding is that the special diploma was something given to students on the rare occasion that they failed their first year preliminary examinations and hence disqualified themselves from going on to receive a Bachelor’s degree.”
http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/85844-oxford-university-confirms-bongbong-marcos-got-only-special-diploma
*******
Incompetence admitted and proved.
Untrustworthiness also proved: he hid his incompetence until he was outed by Rappler.
*****
Bible saaaays: To Forgive is Divine
Bible on the other hand says: You all sinners because Adam and Eve Sinned.
Bible says: Forgiving Bongbong Marcos is divine
Bible on the other hand says: Bongbong is a sinner because his father and mother sinned.
I forgive Bongbong, therefore, I am divine. Heaven is mine.
Whatever happened to your religion, folks? Forgive Bongbong. Live a life of matuwid the religious way. Unless you people have not heard of the Bible.
Lucky you, Mariano; you’ve been thru the bouncer’s checkpoint ☺☺
Tadaaaaa! I am on duty. 🙂
“Asked if he thought the public has forgotten the horrors of his father’s dictatorship, he said, “Siguro, yes. Ibinoboto kami, eh.”
Marcos said moving on was also the key to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile raising his hands when he officially declared his vice presidential bid in Manila earlier this month.”
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/542300/news/nation/filipinos-have-moved-on-from-martial-law-years-bongbong-marcos-claims
Nabili ang BALUT di ba ??? ☺☺☺
BAA – LOOT
Oo, ‘day. Nangompra ng balot na balota gamit ang baa-loot. 🙂
“to err is human; to forgive, divine” — from – An Essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope
MRP says, “Forgive Bongbong!”. But has Bongbong asked for forgiveness? Forgiveness comes after confession and repentance.
Bongbong is deemed forgiven because he was elected senator? I disagree. He should first win a national position by majority before he even claims that. Besides, it’s just lazy reasoning by judges, to consider crimes being washed away because of an election win.
Something like this,
Is it really a matter of forgiving Bongbong, MRP, or is it an issue of remembering the past so as not to repeat it? Some assumptions: 1) The son is the father (if he is not, then no prob, but all signs point to Marcos II); 2) The son will not rest until restitution of the family name is achieved, it’s a natural law; 3) When back in power, the son will simply repeat the actions of the father, good and bad, otherwise why did he bother to get back into power at all?
Why should the beloved country become once again the battleground for good and evil just like in the days prior to EDSA One? To continue on the road to a Singapore-like country, if there was such a thing? To be a laughing stock again?
Chart the economic growth: Up there with Japan pre-war, slow decline leading to 1965 when Marcos took charge, sharp fall down the abyss during his admin, stopped falling in ’86 (floor), up and down due to coups against brave Cory, internal and external issues of the Ramos, Erap, GMA days, hey, what’s this, a hand is slowing creeping up from the grave in 2010, the head is beginning to show, slowly, aah, the nose can breath again (credit ratings).
In 2016, will we jam the head down again or will we coax it back to life, give it a good bath, so it can sit among nations who incidentally wants it alive and open for business, status quo of the PNoy years?
Now, tell me, MRP, forgive Bongbong?
“In 2016, will we jam the head down again or will we coax it back to life, give it a good bath, so it can sit among nations who incidentally wants it alive and open for business, status quo of the PNoy years?” Exactly… why have I posted all the German projects here?
Germany is a very conservative country but they are giving the Philippines a lot of trust. They audit if the stuff they are being told is true or not, especially after the Greek thing. This means that Daang Matuwid is not just window-dressing like its enemies are claiming.
@jameboy
Posting this here because the thread above on the jameboy/chempo/lcplx discussion on the best approach to the Marcos issue has become too long.
Jameboy, you have made a valid argument. Now it’s time to put it into details, instead of continuously pointing out the flaws in the other approach. Eagerly awaiting this, and test if it is valid and workable. After all, everyone agrees these two approaches are not mutually exclusive.
We will set aside your contention that the present approach has not worked (though we think the exact opposite- the dire lack of a comprehensive education on the Marcoses is what fueled their comeback).
Let’s hear it. Enough of the contrarian for contrarian’s sake. Let’s get it done.
“Let’s hear it. Enough of the contrarian for contrarian’s sake. Let’s get it done.“
Agreed.
Seconded. Not throwing sour grapes. We continue to throw those old Marcos Snr stones, but would be great if you can come up with fresh angles on Jnr.
Correct. Jameboy, we need those fresh angles so we can use them. Please provide them.
andrelim8,
Appreciate your desire to get into the bottom of what I’m saying. You see I spoke a lot and spread in several posts my idea about why I’m advancing a different view on the Marcos issue. So far, no one has taken me to task by disagreeing with me and showing why my proposal is weak or wrong and the present strategy is just fine and working as expected. No one. Most assume something that I did not said. Others guess where I’m coming from. The rest just listen to themselves after reading my posts.
I wish I have not spoken of being a contrarian, which by the way is not really a wrong thing. Because people tend to focus on the word and its meaning and forget about the real message.
Finally, if you are asking me to open a blog, no problem. But let me remind everyone that I’ll be simply repeating myself in it and add some more if I can. It’s on Joe’s hand now to make it possible.
Jameboy, on the contrary, I think several are waiting for you to provide whatever additional bullets. The diploma is one, we know that. BBL as you mentioned is another, which is actually a good one.
We eagerly await that piece.
Submissions are at the initiative of the submitter. The e-mail address for submissions is in the “Contact Us” tab above. I’d guess that 85% of all submissions get accepted and a few get rejected for this reason or that.
Cook up something very tasty. We will eat.
And afterwards we will make tagay – discuss…
Nobody here is Takuza, especially not Bert. 🙂
Let us make sure na may tulog si Bongbong.
Huwag tayo ang magsuntukan dito, kahit lasing.
I am a hit and run follower of this blog. I hit comments here and there. Jameboy’s stand has ground, I should say. The 90’2 minions are already saturated with truths,time to reinvent but still on truth side.
1. Martial Law was bad, but it is still bad till now.
How can we counter this?
2. Marcos Sr. is dead already.
Imelda is still alive,right? And she’s got a lot of Imeldific statements in Youtube
where you can feast on.
3. Bongbong is a reluctant (kuno) politician.
He’s a mama’s boy. A Robotic mind with a command botton “Kill”.
4. Ang mga Bicolano ang may tulog.
I learn that VP candidates are Bicolanos eg. Leni, Trillanes, Honasan, Cayetano.
Can crunchy bagwit win over spicy bicol express?
http://manilastandardtoday.com/opinion/columns/virtual-reality-by-tony-lopez/188987/bongbong-marcos-and-the-bicolanos.html
I think these are cracks that can be explored.
Napoleon III was democratically elected by the French, and became a good President – but maybe that was because Napoleon II never ruled…
Gerry Roxas and Ninoy Aquino overcame the mistakes of their respective fathers, so one cannot always judge a son by his father, and the grandsons much less.
But Bongbongs actions so far show no distance to his parent’s ways and that is why it is good to clarify them again, and show the present connection to Bongbong and Imee.
Possibly a good anti-dynasty law would prohibit sons and daughters of former Presidents from running, skipping one generation is better para hindi lumaki ang ulo…
Noynoy (and his mother) were luck, even if what led to them being voted was plain and simple martyr worship – they did well even lacking prior track records.
Leni is a different case – she has already shown solid work, of course the martyr cult of Filipinos helps her, like it helped Cory, Noynoy and Gabriela Silang.
Wonder why Filipinos like their heros dead. Wonder why they hate those who do good work while living. Like Heneral Luna or Mar Roxas.
If Roxas is nice, he is seen as weak. If he gets mad, people do not like it. Mukhang talagang wala kang magawang tama sa Pilipino.
Ewan ko ba. Like Will wrote, the country is on the verge of getting up. But obviously Filipinos remain their own worst enemy as always.
@Jameboy
Just to put things into perspective: the Society of Honor blog has reached a certain level, a status in recent years of being able to influence (the degree is subject to debate), nudge, affect, disturb policymaking at the highest levels, where it matters most. It has also become a rallying point for people of the same views, though it has room for contrary ones.
It is vital to the health of the blog to accommodate such contrarian views, though it bears the responsibility of contributing what it is for, not just what it is against, since the blog has a special status as described above.
A perpetual peanut throwing machine is not an ideal state for a commenter. What else can you bring to the table?
Frankly, I don’t know what you are talking about. I spread wide open my view on the board all you have to do is agree or disagree or correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m not an enemy nor do I aspire to pick a fight here. Hold your horses and calm down. As far as I know we are having a lively conversation of the issue. Everybody is talking within the boundaries set by Joe. If there is something wrong in what I’m saying feel free to correct or even criticize my view.
The discussion is ongoing and no one is being excluded or disrespected. Let’s maintain that civility. Thank you. 👲
I am actually interested in what you propose, not just your contrarian views. Your views have been stated clearly, and the agreements/disagreements have been put out. But that is not enough. You have not spelled out what you are for, in detail- how it will work out and why it will be more effective. That deserves an in-depth discussion on its own. We want to hear how you would handle it, given the chance.
I am actually convinced that you may have something there, and if vaild, then it deserves support. In your contrarian post on Wil Villanueva’s Aldub blog, I actually agreed on some of the points you raised.
But it would be better if this is discussed thoroughly in a blog piece of its own instead of being buried in another post, where space limitations hinder it.
Joe: “Chempo says he does not take offense, but I did, as I am protective of those who – in the face of a pretty broad and imposing readership – put themselves and their ideas on the line.”
I think, I can sympathize w/ where chempo‘s coming from, and no it isn’t “offense” that is felt, but an expectation of a certain level of input. When ideas are put up, it’s already a given that you’ll not have 100% agreement (only Wil has that skill). The best is affirmation of your own idea (that’s the one that feels good to the ego), but you’re not really writing for that, you’re writing to push the envelope a little further–
like Legos you place a brick and you’re hoping others will put one on top or on the side, and expand.
andrew: “A perpetual peanut throwing machine is not an ideal state for a commenter. What else can you bring to the table?”
So, jameboy, expand it.
Exactly right, and you’ll see a quote to that effect in a blog I am addressing now about “change”. It will be out in a week or so.
Really, LCpl_X? I have my own rotten tomatoes. But yes, push the envelope, an inch at a time. Law of the Inches.
True. I think it’s in your delivery, Wil. You’re like Kenny G, just so velvety smooth,
“the degree is subject to debate”
at least we do not claim to have degrees from Oxford.
I like chempo’s style. I think a collection of Marcoses’ MYTHs collected from the loyalists and believers should be countered by FACTs. These will be short enough for FB but not for Twitter.
Example:
MYTH: Bongbong has a BA degree from Oxford and an MA degree from Wharton.
FACT: Bongbong did not have a Bachelors’ degree. He could not have a Masters’ degree if he did not have an undergraduate degree.
Reference: Rappler, http: …
Just wondering how many of our lawmakers, senatong especially, are without any college credentials?? Yet they have the gall to draw up laws for the gentry ??? Does Pacquiao even
understand what grammar is all about ??? Lucky for him he has his advisers or he would have ended in the poor house long time ago, Mommy would then have to let go of her boy toy ☺ Fortunately there ARE some militia men who will gladly have her. Tsk . .tsk. . .
Pacman is a good person by all accounts so let’s give him the respect. But I agree senate is not the place for him. I hope it’s not ego surfacing. He would be great in a lgu position.. But his teaming with una is great disappointment. Poor reading of character. Imagine what this means in Senate
Oh, I think he is a good person, too, by old-school religious standards. But he is making strange decisions that reflect Ego unbound, like playing for the PBA team he coaches, while still being active boxing and inactive in the position to which he was elected. Seems like a taker to me.
He is a good person, the tragedy is, he is not getting good advice, one that is compatible with his faith, that is – to walk in righteousness, one that distinguishes right from wrong, lies from truth, real advocacy for the country from mere self-interest-dictated-propaganda. He should read up and not just depend on the opinions of those around him, read JoeAm’s blog, I mean, and raissa’s too, even rappler and the opinion makers in PDI like Monsod, Randy David, and Montelibano so the things he hears from the UNA group will be countered, and pray for Divine guidance and then right discernment.
Blah blah blah.. Do people care? NO! They’ll vote for Bong2 just as Binay still has a shot- Majority of Pinoys who vote do not want a leader- they want a Patron who will dole out goods.. Marcos just failed in his experiment like Suharto- Lee Kaun yew who’s family owns Singtel etc and succeeded in his dictatorships. Do you think Singapoerans care?..People are lambs and will just follow the leader- Thief or not..Sad end of story..
You may be right, VSB, but it is hardly the end of story for a lot of people working earnestly for a wise, mature, richer, honest and productive Philippines.
As long as we have breath in our body, we will not stop working earnestly not to have that sad end of story…just keep that in mind, VSB
Agree, MGPG. Habang may hininga, payt. (As long as you have breath, fight.)
We’ve been fighting since Sen. Ninoy died VSB. So I don’t think that we are lambs. The reality is we’ve been too busy earning a living as Sir Joe pointed out in previous blogpost that love of country gets relegated.
Indeed, loyalists may be too far gone to ever change their views. Which is why this article and others like it, are directed toward those who are still making up their minds.
It’s like an arms race: they are piling up their half-truths and lies, which, if recited often enough without rebuttal, becomes the eventual truth. So we must counter them with our own truths, otherwise we end up losing by default.
That’s a good one, et. That’s exactly our point, jameboy.
Singtel — Lee family does not own Singtel. It’s a public-listed company. Do you even know what that means? And Spore gove has been paying out dividends to citizens over the years in the form of shares in Singtel. I have a few thousand which I have disposed when the market was high.
Marcos owned PLDT, San Miguel, PAL, National Shipyard and Engineering Co, Meralco, Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp., Marcopper Mining Corp and many others (but sorry, PCGG took back some, other cronies stole from him)
Marcos just failed in his experiment — by implication you are very happy to be his guinea pig. Well good for you. Were you raised in the air-con piggery of Binay I wonder.
Where the leader is good, people do not mind to be lambs. Jesus knows best. Where the leader is bad, they kick them out to Hawaii or impeach them.
Excellent rebuttal, chempo. VSB, like all the other trolls, just shoot and run…they don’t engage, no ammunition at all.
Here is a nice article in Filipino somewhat similar to to chemp’s awesome article:
nasa FB na ba ito, gian.. I’ll share this if not yet
Shinare ko na sa FB. Ganda. Dapat yata nating imemorize yung article na yun, take it to heart, just like chempo’s. Thanks, chempo! Thanks, giancarloangulo! Thanks, Sankage Steno!
I remember there was a detailed account of the Jabidah Massacre in one of Rissa’s blog topics. And knowing Raissa, she would only write such event with magnitude implication after an in-depth and thorough investigation.
Imho The Jabidah Massacre would be a very informative and up to the times film material.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/90083/marcos-heirs-revisionist-assault-on-never-again
I am hardly a fan of Mr. Doronila because of his compromised ideals and politics, but his oped piece today clearly articulates the need to counter a concerted, continuing, and massive effort to recast and glorify the regime and legacy of the Marcos dictatorship as one of the best administrations in the nations’ history since its American independence. It is very troubling to read the comments by readers in response to his piece as they tend to confirm his observations as many of them are not in the vein of broken and halting verbiage usually elicited by loyalist trolls and hacks.
It is not clear to me that any effort to blunt the campaign of Bongbong Marcos or any of their clan can be effective without dealing effectively with this effort at revising the historical record and assessing its place in our history; the fact is it was hellish. What our friend from Singapore with the blessing of our Yankee host in my opinion is a necessary and hopefully not the only step in the right direction in avoiding the possibility of a return to a dreadful era in that history. It cannot be complete without considering Bongbong’s qualifications as a candidate but to the loyalists and his other sources of support, his shortcomings are most likely less of a factor at the ballots as the fact that he represents the same powerful dynasty that once ruled the land for a generation and is once again poised to reclaim its power if not its wealth. Old saying: fool me once, shame on you-fool me twice, shame on me!
You are making sense today, caliphman. 🙂 I am a Yankee by national affiliation, but a Dodger in baseball affiliation. If the youth would simply respect their elders, and the lives they had to lead, they would grasp why Doronila and a lot of other “olds” are so passionate about this.
They’re both important, the anti-Marcos and anti-Bongbong line of attacks. You can even add anti-Imelda, anti-Imee, anti-Aimee, anti- the whole bloodline, if need be. The Marcoses did not creep back to where they are now by simply propping up the image of Bongbong or any other single member of the family. They did it and are doing it from all fronts, appealing to as wide an audience as they can get. Even the third generation are now public figures, as entertainers and would-be politicians themselves. The measure of their success in rehabilitating the Marcos brand is not in the individual victories and failures of their efforts but in the general rehabilitation and growing popularity of the Marcos name.
So anyway, for those wanting to pursue the anti-Bongbong track, here’s something useful :
So anyway,
*******
1. Is the “push anti-Marcos Sr. rhetoric to reject Marcos Jr.” approach an application of the association fallacy? That is, the fallacy of guilt by association?
2. This is an interesting question.
3. The Godwin Law states that online discussions that go on and on will inevitably invoke comparison to Hitler or Nazism.
3.1. Accordingly, in observance of the Law, allow me to make the analogy: the Marcos dictatorship can be seen to be the Philippine equivalent of the Holocaust… although admittedly the scales and magnitude are different. The thousands of human right abuses under the Marcos regime do not really come close to the mass murder of six million Jews. Still and all, grant me the comparison.
4. The first question, then, is: Are the Marcos children only guilty by association?
4.1. The answer has to be No. This is made clear in Chempo’s items 3 (Bongbong) and 4 (Imee).
5. The second question is: What is the reason for the resurrection of the Marcos name, the success of the wife and children in obtaining public office?
5.1. It is largely granted that the tribalism of the Filipino can account for the successes of the Marcoses in Ilocandia.
5.2. But what about Bongbong’s ascension to a national office? There are five major theories here.
5.2.1. The first is the one postulated here, which is the unwarranted publicity engendered by the anti-Marcos Sr. rhetoric.
5.2.2. The second is due to the “accomplishments” of Marcos Sr. and the associated nostalgia of “better times.”
5.2.3. The third is due to the extended tribalism, the combined votes of the Solid North (Marcos) and the Visayan (Romualdez) vote.
5.2.4. The fourth is due to the voting power of the millennials, the martial law babies who have no memory of the dictatorship and who are wilful in their ignorance.
5.2.5. The fifth is due to the success of the ongoing revisionism drive in social media.
5.3. It may be that no single theory is correct, that the combination of all these factors may be the reason for the unexpected national ascension.
5.4. However, the third (tribalism), fourth (millennials) and fifth (revisionism) theories are the most prevalent among political observers, with the fourth being the dominant theory. (Refer to Raissa’s blog.)
5.5. If the above is true, then it is the lack, rather than the abundance, of info on the Philippine Holocaust being effectively pushed on the public that has made Bongbong senator. This effectively kills the first theory posited here.
6. I agree with Cha that the anti-Marcos campaign — in whatever shape or form it takes – is important and crucial. Let’s stop making nice. In this case, let us damn all this nonsense about the sins of the father not being visited upon the children.
The Marcos name, like Hitler’s in Germany, should be anathema in Philippine politics for some generations to come.
*****
if we do not watch out, our struggles three decades and more ago will have been in vain…
deep sadness made me write this article, I do not wish to see a new dictatorship…
I now realize why the theme song from that 2000 movie about the 1974 revolution fits the present situation in the Philippines exactly… it was 26 years after the end of dictatorship. The movie and the song were made to remind people to be patient for reforms to work.
Economic progress was setting in, but in an uneven manner. Large parts of Lisbon were still slum areas, especially the areas where blacks and gypsies lived. People saw the up and coming groups much richer than themselves, but forgot that they had been much poorer in the time of Salazar, who had already died and been replaced by Caetano before 1974. I was in Portugal quite often for a project in that time, I remember hotel desk clerks telling me that the ruling party sucks, they want to sell Portugal to foreign investors…
My Portuguese contact was and is a Salazar loyalist. A member of the upper class there. Eating fish with him in a restaurant near the waters of the Tejo river, I remember him telling me democracy doesn’t work, look at all these poor people who don’t know how to behave, no more discipline. His IT manager though is another story – a former Allende supporter who had to flee Chile when Pinochet got into power, and spent two years hiding in Peru until he moved to East Berlin – so we were two former leftists who got along very well…
For the 1998 Expo world exhibition, they had an entire area north of the harbor cleared. People told me it had been a very rough place. Portugal was the poorest country in the EU at that time. People were overwhelmed by rapid modernization. Attitudes not ready.
2008 brought me to Romania, still the second poorest EU country now. Well they had their revolution in 1989. So it was just 26 years ago. The present situation in Romania is very interesting. Prime Minister Victor Ponta is their Binay, with a lot of corruption cases, while President Klaus Iohannis is their Aquino, pursuing anti-corruption heavily via the DNA (Directie Nationala Anticorruptie) or National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Ponta is out, but the present movement is not stopping at him, they see how legal tricks are being used.
Because I have a personal perspective on both Portugal and Romania, I might make a blog article called “Portugal, Romania, Philippines – A Tale of Three Democracies”. Many parallels – and differences. Portuguese probably have the advantage over Filipinos of being quite patient, even phlegmatic sometimes – while Romanians can be terrifying in seeing things through. Both Ceaucescus arrested after their balcony thing, their son too, Nikolae and Elena shot after a tribunal. Eastern European mentality can be quite vicious. Good that they managed and are managing to deal with the present crisis quite well, inspite of their Latin emotionality. What I think – I will have to ask my Romanian FB friends – is that returning workers from abroad are playing a major role in this present change.
A lot of youngsters in Romania BTW idealize Ceaucescu, many who were not even born when he died. But in the recent events the neo-Ceaucescu folks have not really figured.
But also there, a lot of pro-Ceaucescu people come or came from the poorer or lower middle classes, who saw those who were more adjusted to modern ways of working shoot past them economically and felt poor as a result, even if they were better off than before.
Working overseas may have given some a chance to earn money, start businesses…
abroad not overseas… to get to Germany they just need to take a bus, around 20 hours..
going to Spain or Italy they will usually fly, but Spain sent many home, they have a crisis, and even compete with Romanians for low-level jobs in places like Germany nowadays.
Latin Americans I have talked to are in part sadistically happy about it, because the way Spaniards treated Latin Americans and other workers before and now they are the ones doing the same work abroad. Arrogance and crabbing, both Spanish colonial legacies…
Kindly give the exact title of Portuguese movie, PiE. thanks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Captains – original: Capitães de Abril
They of course showed only the 1974 thing in the movie, not the year 2000 reality..
but having seen the reality in 2000 myself, 1974 was really light-years behind…
Watched HENERAL LUNA yet, PiE? reply your comments if you’ve seen it. am interested.
European premiere is on November 27 in Berlin, just got the news about it today.
Most probably pupunta ako, I have folks there, so I can combine it with a visit.
no means to watch APRIL CAPTAINS. Checkered past.
The theme song video give a rough idea of the times then, with the musicians watching the movie at times, silently remembering the past while the music plays….
What I think was a strength of the Portuguese in the end was their fado songs, even if they were criticized as fatalistic. They are like the Afro-American blues a way of singing out one’s feelings, coming from oppression. Like some Filipinos do with loud karaoke…
What could be the reason for much rage in the Philippines now – as evidenced in the Mamasapano aftermath – is suppressed emotion. In the late 1960s, the 68ers diagnosed their countrymen as being “unable to grieve” – for the things that happened before 1945.
The painful self-examination of the Nazi period – after more than 20 years of denying what had happened by not talking about it at all – was instrumental in cleansing the national psyche and making it free to moving forward. The Philippines is now starting that stage…
Know what happened, grieve if necessary to be free of it emotionally, THEN move on.
“What could be the reason for much rage in the Philippines now – as evidenced in the Mamasapano aftermath – is suppressed emotion. In the late 1960s, the 68ers diagnosed their countrymen as being “unable to grieve” – for the things that happened before 1945.”
That is worth thinking about. Something is there, the flight to rage, almost anguish. Even the bullet scam is pushing the edges.
But Marcos . . . not . . .
It would be an interesting comparison. I know poverty is at the root of all three nation’s struggles. I was in Portugal a number of years ago, and I did not get a sense of passion, but more of “passive”. As if going nowhere. The Philippines seems to retain passion in spite of the poverty. It is going everywhere . . . at once.
I don’t know where Romania is going.
It seems the lull in the Iberian peninsula has been going on for a while. The countries are more synonymous to cultural destination and only a little more.
Edgar you have stepped back and taken a cool helicopter view of the matter. You reinforced the moral strength of those actively taking the anti-revisionist route giving them a more profound understanding of what they are doing.
my professor of criminal law once said that to evaluate whether a crime is committed, just look at the outcome. if there is death, its either a murder or homicide is committed.
and that’s how I look at the Marcoses. they were neither businessmen nor landed hacienderos. but they are very rich. I define rich as someone who doesn’t need to work for a living.
where the wealth came from is the one people don’t acknowledge that it came from you and me. that’s why they have to tell tales that it came from Yamashita which is BS. it came from the treasury.
people don’t even want to acknowledge that hundreds of millions of dollars have been remitted from the Swiss Banks from their accounts. where did it come from?
Biag nga kailala.
Sharing some tips from facebook. Hope this helps
Grace Tumang
November 4 at 11:34am · Edited
Challenging those who got deceived by the propaganda with questions about their beliefs may make them think twice, thereby encouraging critical thinking. The goal is to help those who can be helped by using questions to criticize their own beliefs and guiding them with the facts along the way. It’s not to one-up those who can be helped. Be patient and as kind as possible kahit nakaka hi blood minsan. The paid trolls are a different story. You’ll know the difference soon enough.
More tips on how to challenge loyalists from Anthony Davila:
“I think the best way to reach the youth, is to challenge them with questions and make them doubt their own arguments. For example: If you ask them why Marcos had to declare Martial Law, the usual answer is: “the country then was in chaos, peace and order was so bad, the country infiltrated by the communists, with bombings everywhere….” Then ask them when was the country placed under martial rule, and when did Marcos became president. President in 1965, declared Martial Law in 1972 – so 7 years sitting as president before declaring Martial Law. Then ask the loyalists: So what has he done in those 7 long years? If he really is the best president ever, why did the peace and order situation in the country got that bad under him as president in those 7 years.
Ask them also the peace and order situation in the country from 1965-1972 (7 yrs) under Marcos, compared to the peace and order situation from 2010-present (5-1/2 yrs) under Aquino. If they would say that it is worst under Aquino, then ask them if it would it be justified if Aquino also placed the entire country under Martial Law, so that this country could go back to the glory days of Marcos’ Martial Law, like what they are programmed to believe?
IMO, most of the loyalists are non-thinkers, so I suggest rebuttals should be in the form of questions, that would challenge them to search for answers themselves. They are too lazy to read. The facts we give them are dismissed outright as yellow-propaganda. They don’t read them.”
Excellent advice, I think. Thanks, Percival.
I could’nt agree more with you if the target audience is the less educated ones.
I was actually targetting the youths in universities and young fresh graduates. Those who are educated, still with some idealism, but who have been fed a bunch of lies. That’s why I went to the trouble of going in depth sometimes to display a logic that they can believable.
Can somebody please post link or books used as evidence in these articles, I wanna help in the fight against revisionism. Thank you!
There are several links provided in each topic. Try reading past topics here and also in Raissa’s blog and some old, old ones in Rappler’s written by their investigative group. You may also read “Conjugal Dictatorship” a book written by Primitivo Mijares. I am not sure if you can find one in Phil bookstores but you can try Amazon. I read once that a revised edition has been in circulation, I don’t know what “revised” mean, like somebody did some sinister job to water down the original issue. If you can find the original edition, the better. Also I suggest “Subversive Lives” by S. Quimpo.
Hope this would help.
@JRFGalvez. For me, a first person account of what whappened during the Marcos dictatorship is The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos written by Primitivo Mijares (one of four personal secretaries who “can enter Malacanang’s Study Room without knocking.”) It’s available from amazon.com at:
But the book is very expensive which costs at $100 per book.
One that is much cheaper costing about $8 per download via Kindle is available at:
Hope this helps.
Sorry, the 2nd link is at:
Finally, Primitivo Mijares’ book “The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos” is now available at amazon.com at an affordable price, thanks to Tatay Jobo Elizes, which you can order at:
You might also want to read:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/89576/marcos-and-the-forgetfulness-of-evil
This is also very interesting:
http://correctphilippines.org/lky_phil/
Two very good links
http://www.rappler.com/views/imho/105362-marcos-brand-amnesia
http://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18499
Thks fed-up for those interesting links.
@chempo, welcome. Here’s another interesting read about what marcos did to Philippine democracy:
http://countrystudies.us/philippines/83.htm
Marcos inflicted immeasurable damage on democratic values. He offered the Filipino people economic progress and national dignity, but the results were dictatorship, poverty, militarized politics and a politicized military, and greatly increased dependence on foreign governments and banks. His New Society was supposed to eliminate corruption, but when Marcos fled the country in 1986, his suitcases contained, according to a United States customs agent, jewels, luxury items, and twenty-four gold bricks. Estimates of Marcos’s wealth ran from a low of US$3 billion to a high of US$30 billion, and even after his death in 1989, no one knew the true value of his estate, perhaps not even his widow.
Bravo, Chempo.
May less Filipinas feel stigmatized by being mistaken for the brave, hardworking, self-sacrificing maids. They give more than they get.
Was IRRI an unqualified success? Didn’t their methods have a pernicious effect on the soil? They made rice farming ultra dependent on imported fertilizers. One more sin of the short-sighted Marcos.
Salamat Maria
Yes and I have lots of respect for these OFWs.
IR8 was a life saver for Asian rice eating countries. All other countries soon turned to the Philippines IR8. To be frank I’m no farming expert so I don’t know of it’s impact on soil conditions. As to dependency on imported fertilisers, it’s got nothing to do with the IRRI. It’s govt failure to do it’s own R&D and come up with local solutions for local fertilisers.
This piece of writing is really a nice one it helps new net users, who are wishing for blogging.
Thks Shirley. Glad you liked it.
I think “Marcos Revisionism” was started by Marcos himself, whatever his aims were (start a dynasty?) and busied himself in the process rather than doing good governance. Please read:
http://raissarobles.com/2011/05/17/part-1-eminent-filipino-war-historian-slams-marcos-burial-as-a-hero/
He started many other things. He also started printing peso notes with same serial numbers. (Amercans found these in suitcases he brought into Honolulu).
magnificent publish, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector do not notice this. You must proceed your writing. I’m sure, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
Truth has its own way to find the light. Just keep the light bright. Thanks Roseanne.
It’s actually a cool and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you find it useful Santos. Cheers
Chempo — it doesn’t look like a legitimate user. Looks like you replied to a bot.
Just an update: asides from castigating the Prez over the SSS veto, BBM claims that People Power was orchestrated by the Americans! Ha!
His pocket money came from IMF-WB funds!
http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/focus/01/22/16/edsa-people-power-revolt-was-american-inspired-bongbong
OMG, an entire nation is going insane right before my very eyes.
Yessir, that was disturbing.
BTW, something for the 30th anniversary: Nothing can top the one where his daddy bragged to Brinkley on ABC that he still had the, um, “mandate of the people” and thus called for a snap election.
Thanks for that profound look at history.
Let’s say the Marcoses managed to fool Ronnie and Bush Sr. for a while, then were dropped like a burning hot potato – but it was more like hey Filipinos sort out your own sh.. from now on.
Something tells me they have found new sponsors, possibly the Chinese. It’s a repeat of the old game Aguinaldo (Marcos BTW saw him as an idol) played with first with the Spanish (Biak-na-Bato 1897) then with the USA from Hongkong – then have the nerve to call others lapdogs?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mainlanders would secretly meddle with the upcoming elections, try to find, influence and finance those candidates who are in favor of “negotiating”.
I think GDP will get a 1% spike from all the money being pumped into the Philippines. People worry about a few American soldiers whilst hundreds and hundreds of millions of pesos from unknown sources go crashing about buying air time and loyalties. I’d guess huge amounts are coming in from China, and one would think there must be a way to track that.
For the sake of sovereignty.
Beinga VP candidate is just a step for Bong Bong ( No Bing Bong) Marcos ! He wants his daddy’s golden throne back !
The Panama Papers —
This is a link I put here for posterity.
There is a global investigation into leaked documents of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca which lists their international clients of politicians and celebrities that point to serious tax evasion by moving their monies into offshore accounts. Mentioned here are Imee Marcos and JV Erjecito and 500 other unnamed Filipinos.
Tax evasion is one issue, but where those money came from is the burning issue. For those celebrities, it’s probably hard earned money, but those politicians, it screams corrupt money.
Imee Marcos’ name keeps turning up in all these foreign tax haven news. She pops up in Singapore, in Virgin Islands. She will keep moving the money for sure. Now that Mossack Fonseca is exposed, expect some trips by her soon to discuss with new operatives to move the money elsewhere.
Filipinos, we are talking of your $10 billion stolen wealth, enough to build a brand new railway system from Aparri to Legaspi at the southern tip of Luzon.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/panama-papers-list-global-tax-000000861.html?nhp=1
Hi Chempo. I was actually hoping you would be writing about this. Would love to read your take on this some more. So I’m still hoping…
Also sharing this great analogy for explaining what the fuss is all about:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/05/how-to-explain-offshore-banking-and-when-it-is-naughty-to-a-5-year-old?CMP=soc_567
Thks Cha…it’s a tantalising subject. We’ll see how.
We should get that Guardian illustrator to comine up with something on why you should not vote the Punisher.
It’s difficult to find well-informed people on this subject, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Thanks for dropping by Armand. Just throwing some light without ulterior motives.
I’d like to find out more? I’d love to find out some additional information.
Thanks for dropping by. If you have any specific questions, I’ll see if I can answer them. There is a bit more info in Part I, have you read that?
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Please make a Tagalog version of this. Kelangan mabasa at maintindihan eto ng mga masang madaling nalilinlang ng mga kampon ng demonyong pamilyang Marcos.
That would have to be done by a volunteer, as we have no paid staff and that is a considerable task. If you know of someone who could do the translation, they are welcome to submit it.
I am so encouraged by this that I need to put this link here for posterity.
Thank you, young Filipinos, for your ability to cut through all the bull-shits and know what’s right from wrong. May your tribe prosper. You honour those from your learning institutions whose young lives were cut down ruthlessly by the Marcoses.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1166987/up-mapua-student-leaders-want-marcoses-barred-from-their-campuses
It is encouraging. It is a sign that young people are interested in values. Some of them, anyway.