Forgetting and Forfeiting
Presidential candidate Rodrego Duterte promotes federalism [Photo credit: mindanews.com]
By Rolan F. Literatus
Lee Kuan Yew once held the view that the Filipino people has a soft forgiving culture. According to him, it is this culture that puts the Philippines as the only country in the world that considers a national burial for a former dictator who pillaged the country for twenty years and allowed the comeback of his wife and children to both national and local politics. I hasten to add that forgetting the nation’s history and its many lessons is the very twin of this forgiving culture. It is this trait that bears importance to the issue that has recently polarized the nation on account of the 2016 presidential election. No, I am not talking about Vice President Binay and the undying issues that cling to him. I am referring to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the controversies that continue to hound him. The nation watches as his potential to be a contender for the presidency continues to evolve. In the interest of open discourse, this is my take on the matter.
Let me posit that those who turn a blind eye, forget or do not learn history, deliberately or otherwise, are bound to repeat history and all of its brood, be it horrors or testament to a nation’s greatness. For it is an unbroken and fundamental rule that history repeats itself, if the collective act of the people allows it to be so. We only need to look at the history of our nation, resolve to perpetuate its triumphs and always be too careful to deter or stop history’s scourge from being resurrected and threaten to consume the nation and its people.
Yet, today, we see a nation that has become so enamored to quick-fix that a serious portion of its population has resolved that the nation at this very hour needs a strong-man yet again as President of the Republic to sweep away our society’s various problems. They resolved that the justice system has not been functioning long before Mayor Duterte came. They resolved that inequalities have never been worst than today. That such inequalities were so manifested by convicted criminals living a life of luxury in the New Bilibid Prison, complete with jacuzzi, entertainment facilities, all captured by the media and a perfect visualization of an irony that they who are convicted go unpunished. They resolved that democracy is a failed experiment and was, is, will be, the very generator of societal problems that we have since felt, seen, tasted and heard.
Yet to me, they seemed to have forgotten that, not so long ago, the Philippines suffered the same social ills so malignant that they threatened the very fabric of our nation or sapped the last ounce of coherence that we have had after World War II. The same social ills gave birth to a strong man in the very person of Ferdinand E. Marcos. Lest I be misunderstood, I do not raise here an argument and bring a conclusion on the question of whether or not Martial Law and the Dictatorial Regime was boon or bane. I only seek to draw my fellowmen’s attention unto the indisputable fact that the abuses, whether sanctioned by then President Marcos or not, were real.
Which brings me to this point – a power too concentrated in one man, has the innate dangerous tendency to be abused, by the power-wielder himself, his subordinates, the system, or the collective ascent of a nation’s citizens. The latter is made possible by a people’s collective action of not acting to stop an act by a public official that will clearly graduate into an abuse, or, when an abuse has already been committed, they fail to protest, correct, or prevent further abuses. They could be witnesses to the abuse but refuse to act, anyway. When a nation’s citizens, or a notable portion thereof, sing praises to tough talks and summary killings attributed to one man, conclusively or not, we shall have known that we begin the nation’s descent into becoming a forgetful nation. We shall have forgotten that not too long ago we have been a wounded nation and the pains from that wound we still carry today. Unless we resolve to muster a collective act to reverse the tide of this ominous sentiment, we shall have incriminated ourselves as accomplices to the future onslaught of abuses.
What, they will not happen? They are a possibility. If we deny the abuses during the Marcos regime, nothing is ever real. Unless we wake ourselves up from our self-inflicted delusions, we shall have condemned ourselves to betraying the laws of the land because in so doing we would have inked our approval on the short-cuts to due processes, as they are happening in Davao City.
I do not have an ill will against Mayor Duterte. I could certainly give him credits where they are due. Certainly, his long history of public service has an abundance of that. However, where governance oversteps the boundaries of the rights guaranteed by the constitution, the credits must end. There shall be none except credits for violation of the laws. This could certainly be the case if the controversy over extrajudicial killings in Davao City remains unresolved. After all, is it not that a mayor or any public official for that matter is bound by an oath to uphold, preserve and protect the laws of the land?
If summary killings happen under the mayor’s watch, whether he had something do with them or not, isn’t that failing to uphold the laws? Wouldn’t this be so when he does not condemn these killings and instead consistently issues pronouncements that he would kill all criminals in his city? And when these pronouncements are backed by the unabated killings, my friend, wouldn’t you be inclined to consider that it ceases to be just tough talks? I certainly do.
The supporters of Mayor Duterte say that the people have nothing to be afraid of because only criminals will suffer the fate. However, my friend, history tells us that in the Nazi Germany, good neighbors for quite a while held on the belief that they were safe because only those deemed enemies of the Reich are regularly taken by the Gestapos. Until the Gestapos began to round them up also. The power concentrated in one man, in Adolf Hitler, had such dangerous and consummated tendencies that it blurred the lines between good Germans and perceived enemies of the Reich. Everyone became suspects until the word safe was reduced to nothing more than a painful illusion, translated to horror in flesh every time the Gestapos forcefully knocked on their doors, rounded-up civilians, both old and young, and then sentenced them to oblivion in concentration camps or subjected them to horrors which we could only imagine.
That’s the same image during the Martial Law years. That is the same possibility if we gleefully ride on to the seemingly festive sentiments best exemplified by all too familiar expressions. Kill-’em-all! Hang the criminals! Good riddance! Go, salivate yourselves with that revelry. Just so, whenever you become a victim much like those during the Martial Law or the Nazi Regime, never ever say that you have committed no crime. The moment you accustom yourself to those expressions, it is that very moment that you have forfeited that right. Didn’t the fairy say be careful with what you wish for? Be careful, then, my friend.
I end on a positive note, that these scenarios need not happen. We, as a nation, must resolve to take a stand, for or against the laws of the land. There could be nothing in between. The only in between that one should entertain is that which he or she could courageously face the horrors that it could bring. It is high time that we stop faulting the system. The system fails by our collective action. It shall triumph by our collective resolve to make it work. To the latter lies our redemption as a nation. It is one that certainly must not be let into one man. It is too heavy a burden and a heavy burden corrupts, not just a man but the nation’s soul as well.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Short comment to subscribe but not swear before everybody this 8th of December, 2015…
and also to say this, haven’t read everything yet, but “quick fixes” reminds me of this:
Marcos’s motto that endeared him to the people was action agad
Karl once posted a link which proved that most of his projects were done quick and dirty.
Most of what he built was rotten and done to so quickly that it looked old after a few years.
My grandmother experienced the end of WW2 in Berlin-Wannsee… her house cellar was a place people fled to… even if she was the divorced wife of a Nazi businessman – my grandfather – she refused to go to the Nazi bunker she was entitled to use…
The SS commander of Wannsee was crazy, refused to surrender while all other districts of Berlin were falling to the Russians, and Anglo-Saxon bombs were falling… he hanged a ten-year old boy up a tree near the house of my grandmother for refusing to man the anti-artillery cannons. He wanted to put a flak cannon in front of my grandmother’s house. She told him I have over 30 women and children in here, you are a target. He put the flak cannon in front of a school. Two days later the school was shelled by “Stalin organs”…
My grandmother learned this courage, to speak truth to power, from own experience… Jewish neighbors disappeared, but she still went to a Jewish pianist neighbor to hear her play even when the rest of the neighbors shunned “The Jew”. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, doon ako sa lola kong Aleman natuto kung ano ang tunay na Tapang at Malasakit. Ikaw, tulad ka ng SS commander na baliw na hinarap ng lola ko noon. Pagligtas ng buhay ang tunay na Tapang at Malasakit Digong, hindi pagiging berdugo!
The current episode of Panem BTW was partly filmed in East Berlin.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/rody%E2%80%99s-war/ – heto Digong, para alam mo kung bakit demonyo ang tingin ko sa iyo ngayon – dati akong para sa iyo, hindi na talaga:
But what about the children? Many of those killed were minors.
(Stammers.) That’s a collateral social problem. It becomes a collateral itself. Its not a question of crime anymore. That’s what makes things difficult. Well, that is another problem. I cannot answer that.
Hindi ako nakakorbata… I am wearing a checkered shirt similar to what Digong also likes, jeans and rubber shoes na luma… I don’t even have my Swiss watch on. Just to preempt those among the Duterte supporters who call all who criticize elitists – I am not one of them.
Marami akong kilalang nakapatay na Digong – isang ex-foreign legionary na Pranses kaibigan ko, napunta sa Africa noong araw. Meron akong kilalang isang sniper dati sa Bosnia, medyo sira-ulo, minsan pinagyayabang lalo na kapag naka-durog sa tingin ko, madalas na napapaiyak at nagsisisi kapag lasing, ngayon may terminal cancer na gawa ng hindi niya mapatawad ang sarili niya. Kahit papaano tao pa rin sila, kahit si legionary, sundalo talaga at matindi ang control, minsan nakikita ko ang lungkot sa kanyang mata.
Pero alam ko sa mga kaibigan ko na nakapatay na may isang batas ang lahat ng pumapatay – huwag papatay ng bata. Kuwento sa akin ng isang taga-Davao na nasa Alemanya, professional killer ang tiyo niya, tumigil siya sa operation nila noong narinig nila ang tunog ng mga boses ng bata. Nasa ilalim sila ng kubo at handa ng bumaril tumigil sila. Kilala nitong taga-Davao ang mga Ampatuan na matanda, sabi niya sira-ulo iyong mga anak nila, panay ang drugs kaya nagawa iyon. Ikaw din kaya Digong nagdudurog? Ano?
Does the DDS have an Assassin’s Creed? Do you have an assassin’s creed Digong?
Even assassins have a certain honor. A Serbian ex-irregular in Bosnia told me how he once killed a colleague for going beyond certain rules. His co-irregulars quietly nodded.
Well said.
Case in point the tenement housing that crumbled in Tondo (I don’t remember the exact location) that was constructed by Marcos with his BLISS program. Adjacent to the one that crumbled is a tenement housing built by Macapagal, Marcos’ predecessor. Macapagal Tenement housing actually outlasted Marcos’ tenement housing.
BLISS..bilis-bilis din ang gawa kasabay ng bilis-bilis na pagkurakot…
I got this from Abdon M. Balde’s facebook page:
“When the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) was under construction, our company was ordered to deliver as much ready-mix concrete as we could deliver. As usual, the purchase order was “open,” meaning there is no limit to the quantity. On many occassions, our concrete trucks were made to unload “anywhere” within the Cultural Center Reclamation Area. As the PICC rises, so does the hotel adjacent to it. But the hotel was privately owned. The said hotel opened simultaneously with PICC. But our entire concrete deliveries were later paid by DOTC and DPWH. All of this happened in less than a year from mid 1975 to early 1976.”
Forgot the URL but some commenters already gave examples.
If you’re not a criminal, you have nothing to fear? Maybe if I was born yesterday (or in the 70s,)
It seems some people do not understand the concept of hulidap extortion scheme.
Many of us are born in the 70s.
Err, I mean were.
That is what a police state would be like. I swear, any Duterte fanboy who gets arrested with planted evidence will surely turn 180 degrees.
Oh, something else to nail down that point:
I wonder of those posting comments here, how many of you live in Davao? How many of you have spent any meaningful time in Davao? Not a day, a week or even a month. I’m talking years. Honestly, I don’t think any of you who haven’t experienced the difference with this city have anything meaningful to say.
Duterte got results. Regardless of the means, he got results. If all you can compare Marcos to Duterte with is that he has a Strong Man approach, then you have a weak argument at best.
If you argue that he is trampling all over Human Rights, then I would remind you that there is no such thing. What we call Human Rights is just a privilege, one that can be taken away at any moment. Take the Japanese-American citizens who were put in camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They were citizens, guaranteed rights by the US and yet those rights were taken away at a drop of a hat or bombs, in that case.
And Joe. How did America attain its independence again? Through violence, yes? What about when the North wanted to free the slaves and the South did not? Wasn’t violence the answer then? Sure, MLK was able to fight for equality peacefully, but let’s not kid ourselves here. He wouldn’t have had that chance without the Civil War.
Honestly, only history will tell who is right or wrong in this issue. For us who support Duterte, we are extremely tired of this bent system.
The Divines have failed and now it’s time to deal with the Devil. He might take our souls but at least we might give the next generation a better future.
Everything the wilder Duterte supporters say makes it unlikely that the violence will be CONTROLLED. War is a controlled form of violence. So is policing.
Duterte MAYBE was able to control his own DDS. Tagum Death Squads are an example of a less controlled version of DDS. Will he be able to control killers in the entire Philippine?
Marcos banned guns. Army and police had all the guns in his days. People were afraid to overtake army or PC jeeps because there were stories of them shooting at overtakers whom they felt were mayabang – allegedly it happened to a mestizo kid in a nice car, they just shot him up, maybe he looked at them in a way they did not like, or his nose was too Western for them. Duterte could lead the Philippines to be like Charles Taylor’s LIBERIA…
Democracy is a funny institution. It recognizes we don’t always see things eye to eye, so sets up this system of checks and balances to give voters the right to express their opinion peacefully. It is built on a system of laws which themselves reflect a set of values. It is generally the values the people fight over. The American Civil War. The Revolution. What values of the existing bent system do you oppose? That you think radical change can fix? I just slap my forehead. The outside world sees the Philippines on the rise. If you follow President Aquino’s trip to Italy, you see the respect he has built, the friendship in the eyes of the Pope, the backing on the sea dispute from Italy. You see the Philippines climbing on ever global index, from competitiveness to transparency (anti-corruption). Huge strides. If this system is bent, I have no idea what you expect, frankly, that you would put a known autocrat and murderer and philanderer into the position of representing you with the Pope, in Italy, and here. With Filipinos who are studied and those who are poor and crying for help. Those who want change speak from the heart. Okay. Okay.
Those are the values you are supporting. Not laws. Not facts and deeds. But passions. Good luck.
Sorry, we are 180 degrees apart. I like the values that are being worked on today, that are represented best in Leni Robredo. That are represented well in Mar Roxas. My values are not represented in Mayor Duterte. None of them as far as I can tell.
Well Joe, LCPL_X and me will slightly disagree with you on certain things but I think we three all have the same core values, slight deviations nonwithstanding. You seem so bleeding heart to me at times – BBL for example – and so willing to tolerate expediency at other times to LCPL_X – the drone killings discussion – but the bottom line is that we all want peace, and agree that all use of violence should be CONTROLLED not random.
Otherwise you have Charles Taylor’s Libya in no time in the Philippines… who knows how many of the DDS people are not former Tadtads (chop-chop killers) or Rock Christ cult type people? The Rock Christ lost command of Mindanao BTW ate people’s body parts.
Bavarian State Police (yes, the ones helping retrain the PNP, my article Seguridad ni Duterte says it) have rules of engagement for the “final rescue shot” in hostage situations. Shoot only if you have a clear line of sight and no civilians moving. Abort if ordered to…
Well, I take it you are not calling me a shrub, a flower of the mint family, so I will go with the urban dictionary: Bleeding heart: Feeling sorry for everything and everyone and giving in to emotions quickly.
I prefer the term empathy, and along with it, respect for others. If that seems weak to you, perhaps that is your inner Filipino speaking.
Why don’t we just skip the personal characterizations and stick with the issues.
My inner German is much nicer… guess it is because of my grandmother and mother. 🙂 Those who have seen war firsthand – my father also has – appreciate life much more, and have a greater sense of compassion and empathy, is what occured to me just now…
Many of those calling for Duterte from Manila have not seen the war in Mindanao.
I doubt that Duterte was really in the war zones. Those who were there abhor killing.
Liberia
Sir, by the next generation, do you mean the children right now? Well, Duterte himself admitted that children are among the unintended casualties of the killings in Davao City and for which he has no concrete answer about it. The exact dialogue from http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/rody%E2%80%99s-war/ goes:
“But what about the children? Many of those killed were minors.
(Stammers.) That’s a collateral social problem. It becomes a collateral itself. Its not a question of crime anymore. That’s what makes things difficult. Well, that is another problem. I cannot answer that.”
What does this tell us? The collateral damage is real. If the present generation of children are at stake even as we speak, how much more the generations after them. I could not imagine the scenario wherein any minute they could become a case of mistaken identity, shoot at by DDS members and later on the latter will say, “Holy cow, this is not our target.” What a better future that would be, if it can be called as one, at all.
Kung kinakailangan mo pang manutok ng baril sa bayag at ipakain ang upos sa isang violator ng no-smoking in public place ordinance, e mahina kang mayor. Ipatupad mo ng maayos ang batas, huwag yung mas malaking kasalanan pa sa batas ang gagamitin mo para ipatupad ang simpleng batas. Mahirap bang unawain yun?
At ang mga ganitong gawain ay sinasang-ayunan ng mga supporters ni duterte. We will grant you your wish. Sa inyo na lang si duterte. PLEASE.
It is this kind of reasoning that compelled me to answer you for I love my soul and I don’t want the Devil to take it away. If you wish it that way, it’s your choice.
Don’t give us this crap that “what we call Human Rights is just a privilege, one that can be taken away at any moment.” Human rights can only be taken away when the Government is authoritarian, with no regard to the welfare of its citizen, or if we have a martial law, but not in a democracy like ours.
Killing poor and lowly criminals without the benefit of a trial shows that failure of the local government to develop and help its poor citizens. What do the poor resort to when they don’t have food to eat? They resort to criminal activities. Fix the economy and teach your citizen skills (education), have a job and you’ll solve poverty, then you’ll solve criminality.
And this is what Roxas supporters do not get, including many of us who comment in this blog. The masses want RESULTS. Results in almost ANY FORM! This is what drives many voters to support Duterte, especially less educated men. They treat the elections as a five-month sports event. They view it the way they view a basketball game, whose outcome is known two hours after it starts.
This is why Binay was on top of the polls before all the corruption allegations came out. Voters from the DE classes were always saying that with Binay, at least they were getting handouts INSTANTLY. Aquino and Roxas may be harping about long-term economic benefits, but voters have simply ran out of patience. They want gratification for their hard work – NOW!
Until Roxas gets to understand this, he will remain near or at the bottom of the polls.
Author Ninotchka Rosca once told me the basic Filipino problem is wanting instant gratification.
Psychological tests were made with children. They were given a marshmallow and promised a second marshmallow if they managed not to eat the first within an hour. They followed the careers of these children in later life. Now who was more successful? Those who managed to delay gratification by not eating the first marshmallow at once and waited for the second one. Most Filipinos seem to be of the type that will eat the marshmallows and their dogs at once.
It’s not just a Filipino problem. Even in the US, the same kind of mentatlity exists, particularly among Republican voters (who are mostly white, less educated men). The trash talk they get from Trump has tremendous appeal to them. “Out with all Muslims, forcibly deport Mexicans, let’s go back to waterboarding!”
If Roxas is serious about wanting to win these elections, he needs to understand that this is the way the game is played. He needs to find things he can immediately deliver to the Filipino people. Duterte knows it, Binay knows it. Heck, even Poe knows it, giving voters the telenovela approach to her campaign. Roxas seems to be the only candidate who does not seem to understand that this is what it takes to win.
There used to be a time back when I was a regular at Raissa’s site when the big question was how to stop Binay with his huge poll survey leads favoring his presidential candidacy, inspite of the mounting evidence of his unexplained wealth and massive corruption. Along came Poe and Roxas’s prospective candidacy and CPM or the blogsite’s regular commentors main obsession was what I consider unwarranted smear attacks against Poe who equalled and surpassed Binay’s poll popularity in order to enhance the meager prospects of their favored candidate, Roxas.
So fast forward now six months from the elections, I am here at JoeAm’s driven away by the continuing anti-Poe venom being spewed at CPM in spite of the fact that she is probably out of contention courtesy of CPM research originally digging out her mistaken 2013 COC residency declaration being used by the Comelec to disqualify her filing as presidential candidacy.
Well it seems like times have changed but the dire situation remains the same. Instead of the prince of corruption Binay lording it over distant second placers, we have Duterte the dark dictator from Davao. The latest poll showing an already large margin over the rest of the pack whose popularity including Roxas seems to be waning. In fact it is even more dire, because there may be no white knight nor fair lady (is Poe considered mestiza?) to challenge this seemingly insurmountable lead. As for Roxas? his support in Mindanao has defected to Duterte and by the most recent surveys he suffered the most erosion from NCR and the critical D voter segment.
And yeah, the condescending trash talk seems to appeal to Duterte supporters and by many online accounts the use of tough talk has spread to them in order to intimidate and silence critics. In a Rappler interview, he told the reporter that if the country elects him ” Putangina, sumunod kayong lahat!”. He also came out in print admitting to a reporter that he personally shot and killed three criminals after catching them in the middle of their activity. I used to like watching Dirty Harry movies but not sure I would vote a real Dirty Harry into Malacanang.
Bottomline, its a fine mess we got into, Ollie!
@hackguhaseo
Your statement will give me a nightmare. It is difficult to comment on your opinion which is based on violence which I abhor. If you can compromise your soul to a devil,isn’t not giving your children to the force of the devil because you will not be there to fight for them? Nobody can escape from a psychotic mentality because the devil knows how to play into your mind and control it. Watch the Silence of the Lamb,an old movie. Search why there are criminals and what are in their mind. Then, immerse yourself in the story. After which, tell us here how you can escape the hands of the devil.
I was born live and have my business in Davao for more than 60 years now. It’s just as corrupt as any other city. Every Christmas we give lechon, gifts to city hall, Judges, Police for their parties. It ranks 3rd in criminality next ot Quezon city, and Manila.You criticize the mayor or any official and your business gets harassed so if you want to be left in peace you just pay the bribes and keep quiet. There is no criminality, that’s why I have to have security guards in my house, for my children and office. A friend of one of my children, a minor was killed by the DDS. It turned out to be a mistake and all they could say was ay mali, sorry, pasensya na lang. There are a lot more atrocities and abuses that have and are still happening, that are too many to tell here. Suffice it to say, that’s Davao in a nutshell..
Thanks for providing that real-world insight, gubatvoces.
nice script though. 🙂
I once asked a contractor under me about doing their permitting for a construction project in Davao (they are contractors from luzon whom I worked in my project in CDO) their reply was that it was just ‘normal’ which without explaining further means that some grease money was involved.
In the early days of my assignment I have wondered why the station dealers I was talking to are so paranoid about the security of their stations. Later on I received reports that 2 of the stations I was working on was held up at dusk.
To evaluate, what I can say with the peace and order situation in Davao is no better that or Legaspi City’s. And Legaspi City don’t even need citywide CCTV’s and death squad to control criminality.
What he can do in Davao, cannot be done with the entire country. Remember there are 3 equal powers in our country. The executive, legislative and the judiciary. Do you think he can bully any of these 2 ?
Filipinos have no idea what makes a tough and fearless man. Their image of a tough cookie is guy in unbuttoned sweatshirt, muscle-bulching. beer gulping, expletive eloquent character with an AR15 in one hand and the other around the waist of a wanton lass.
That’s your hero. I see this guy over and over again in your black and white replays on TV.
In “No Ordinary Time,” historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, as one of their greatest presidents. He was basically the one that made the US into a superpower. He was as tough as anyone who needed to be as a president. To this day, absolutely beloved by Americans. By all accounts, a tough and fearless man.
Filipinos who are ignorant of it should please take note, FDR was a sickly man, crippled by polio in his ’40s and ran his presidency in a wheelchair. What a man!
Just like him… Apolinario Mabini…
and many Filipinos watching Heneral Luna thought he was too lazy to get up!
This was a man of the warrior type – a Mayor of Tiwi in the 1870s, Higino Templado.
But his violence was controlled, not used unnecessarily: http://templado.blogspot.de/ – my great-great-grandfather, abaca planter and alleged warlord like Templado, knew him:
The forest areas of what is now the Binisitahan of San Bernardo and the mountains of Barangay Mayong were earlier inhabited by roaming Agta (Aeta). These people were nomadic and warlike in nature and were constantly molesting the Christian natives. Higino decided to pacify these Aetas. He befriended their chiefs and summoned them to gather in San Bernardo and the lowlands of Mayong. When Higino arrived at the gathering of the Aetas in San Bernardo, he noted an unfriendly atmosphere among the Aetas. Their Chief, seated on a bench like a king, did not rise nor demonstrate any act of welcoming the gobernadorcillo.
As Higino stood unwelcome and embarrassed, the Chief Aeta, brandishing a bolo signaled to one of his men to throw a coconut to him, which he struck in two. Higino, however, was not impressed by the show. He surprised everybody by disarming him with his bolo. Everybody was tense! The slightest signal from their Chief would throw them into action. Tension, however was eased when the Aeta Chief, in an act of surrender smiled apologetically and explained that what he did was nothing but a mere gesture of welcome. He warned them not to molest the Christian natives and advised them to live peacefully. Later, he arranged for a lay mission, which he accompanied for the conversion of the Aetas to Christianity. For a while they settled peacefully but some of them wandered into the forests.
and how he dealt with the MORE powerful was also exemplary:
An incident with a Guardia Civil caused an unwholesome relationship between him and the organization of the Guardia Civil. In those days, the guardia civil were powerful and arrogant. Nobody dared disobey them. For no cause at all, they would beat anybody (not excluding the gobernadorcillo) who happened to cross their ways.
On one occasion, a guardia civil came knocking at Higino’s bedroom while enjoying his noon siesta, with the intention of humiliating the gobernadorcillo. Irked by this arrogance, Higino opened the door abruptly and in a surprise move, he grabbed the guardia civil’s pistol and held him up. “Pay respect or honor in the name of the King”, the gobernadorcillo commanded. Caught unaware, the guardia civil humbled himself before Higino. He arrested him and locked him in jail. He was only released upon a pledge that the guardia civil will not repeat the incident nor molest his people. From then on, no guardia civil ever dared slight Higino nor would any guardia civil go to any place in Tiwi without his knowledge and authority.
My father always told me, certain things should only be done if necessary. It is from this true warrior culture of Bikol that we come from. Duterte is not a warrior in my eyes.
Sports fan mentality among voters when it comes to the polls. I read an analysis of FDR’s campaign somewhere (sorry, I forget where) that had the television been a popular thing during his time, FDR would not have won even his first presidential election.
Yep.. this is my take on this: http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/personalities-versus-politics/
This is what gets my goat, this “Have you lived in Davao” spiel. Newsflash — IT DOES NOT MATTER. Duterte has already admitted to his involvement in extra judicial measures. What Davaoenos enjoy is a “peace” paid for in the blood of innocent men, women, and CHILDREN. Children!!! Viewed as collateral damage by Duterte himself. Now, it is quite obvious that you choose to enjoy the “peace and stability” given to you by Duterte and live in ignorance of those who have had their rights trampled upon. We, on the other hand, will not ignore this.
So — here, a man has admitted to his role in murdering people (some criminals, other innocent — this is what happens when due process is not followed), children included. And you are willing to vote him into the presidency? You are making a deal with the devil, and opening our future to a very very deep grave.
Populism, the need of a strong man – “the others are so weak, they make our enemies laugh”-, easy solutions, the attitude of “we” (the pure) and “they” (the tainted), fanning fear… all so common today. Trump in the US, Le Front Nationale winning elections in France, Orban in Hungry… the list is long. Is it only history repeating itself? Are the Filipinos any different?
Or are the traditional media getting to bottom-line oriented and loosing influence? The issues getting more complex, more difficult to explain? The influence of politicians diminishing, decisions moving to the control rooms of other institutions, financial, major corporation, international…? The influence of big money and the reliance on professional marketing?
*******
Chempo’s post below and this post brings to mind two political concepts — fascism and demagoguery.
1. Fascism has many connotations and is hard to define, but it is a tendency to have a strong autocratic or dictatorial leader. The Urban Dictionary suggests that a fascist is “a harsh and probably murderous kind of dictator…” Certainly for Duterte, the word “probably” can be omitted.
2. As for demagoguery, the definition of a demagogue from Wiki is instructive… except for the reference to “lower socioeconomic classes”. I understand Duterte has a large following in the ABC classes, but then a lack of moral nous is evident in all socioeconomic classes.
“A demagogue… is a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the
lowersocioeconomic classes in order to gain power and promote political motives. Demagogues usually oppose deliberation and advocate immediate, violent action to address a national crisis; they accuse moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness. Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, nothing stops the people from giving that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population.”2.1. Again, the phrase “lowest common denominator” should not be taken in an economic sense but in the sense suggested above of a “lack of moral nous”.
2.2. A country that permits and indeed supports a Binay and a Duterte to run for the highest office cannot be said to have a high standard of morality.
3. From the viewpoint of ethics, the pinnacle of achievement in the present Aquino administration is that the country has climbed and come to occupy a portion of the high ground of morality… with economic progress to boot.
3.1. The country forfeits this achievement and backslides… if the voters forget the past woes of presidential authoritarianism and corruption… and make an error of choice in the next election.
*****
3.1 is powerful, and underscores the message of the blog article. It’s on us.
Here is a thought experiment for Duterte fans. Imagine the person you love the most gets killed because of mistaken identity would it be okay to you? It has happened before it is bound to happen again.
Sadly true.
There are some quirky things about dictators. See if you recognise them :
— The need to purge threats to their control :
Alberto Fujimoro of Peru — famous for his self-coup in 1992 where he closed Congress, suspended the constitution and got rid of the judiciary so that he could take control
Duterte : “I will close Congress. I will use the billions of money to fix government,”
— Build a personality cult :
A well-known dictator trick — present yourself as the most amazing thing possible, display ridiculous habits, plaster their photos all over the country, give yourself nicknames, etc
Duterte — The Punisher – Kill kill kill ! “I’ll dump all of you into Manila Bay,” , Davao is #1 crime free city in the world, drug lords don’t come to Davao, people start funeral service business quick….. Wow what a tough guy, sure to rid Philippines of crimes.
— Give direct, powerful speeches:
Watch Hitler’s speech — All rhetoric and pure absolution. Just tell people what they want to hear. There is no finese, no intellectualism, no lectures,
Watch Duterte — simple arguments that use passion over reason, black and white reasoning as propaganda, repeat and repeat and repeat.
— Experience over books:
Throw away the projectors and powerpoint presentations, don’t waste time with meetings and discussions, I’ll make immediate decisions. Things will move faster.
The trailer of a recent movie “Er ist Wieder Da” – He’s Back…
Hitler wakes up after 70 years, becomes a TV “comedian”.
I just have to share this. Found this on twitter:
Kid: “What was it like living during Martial Law?”
Person: “With Duterte as our next president, you’ll see for yourself.”
My personal theory of the evolution of human order from savagery…
Stage 1) Warlords: Nebuchadnezar, Ampatuan
Stage 2) God-Kings: Pharaoh, Duterte
Stage 3) Prophets: Moses, Dagohoy
Stage 4) Morals: Bible, Koran
Stage 5) Laws: Justinian, Quezon
When the Spanish discovered the Philippines, it was mainly at Stage 1).
They imposed State 4) via Catholicism, but the roots were not deep.
When the Americans took over, they imposed State 5) with democracy.
The roots were not deep either – in practice it remained at Stage 1).
Among some Germans to the roots of Jewish-Christian morals and Roman laws were not deep.
Adolf Hitler became a God-King to many when the crisis washed away the thin legal/moral topsoil.
Crisis in Mindanao washed away the thin Muslim moral topsoil, 200 years older than Catholicism.
It made the Ampatuans possible. It washed away Duterte’s thin legal and moral topsoil as well.
One more thing: Dachau was originally opened for criminals and misfits in the early 1930s.
Most neighbors complained about the stench, and stopped complaining when it was dealt with…
For decades women went to Munich to give birth.. for the child not to have Dachau as birthplace.
Shall I dare to open my mouth,
To speak of cities in the South?
For I have never been to Dachau,
nor have I ever went to Davao
Dachau for me is very near,
yet still it holds for me great fear,
to board the S2 suburban train,
so will it be Davao in the rain?
Shall I go face the DDS
Who remind me of the SS
Now that my name is openly known
and I may reap what I have sown?
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
—Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
There you go, Sir. The last line of the poem, immediately sends the chills.
It was Niemöller’s Ultimo Adios – he was killed by the Nazis.
Got me curious. He actually died at the age of 92. Ultimo Adios is very apt. I’m trying to imagine what those die-hard Nazi supporters could have felt when they too were about to suffer the fate of others whom they were indifferent. Just sadness. I dare not think that those who’re into the current hype will be put into the same situation.
The lessons of history are always useful. Hitler disbanded the Sturmabteilung or brownshirts, the street-fighting toughs he used to come into power, when he did not need them anymore. I don’t really remember what happened to them, guess some were killed.
Many German soldiers fell into Russian captivity. Chancellor Adenauer arranged for their release in 1955… lots of broken sad men coming home. Many were innocent, not diehards.
Some were as young as 16-17 when they were drafted. The German Army was reconstituted in 1955 and some of these ex-prisoners became officers. The modern doctrine of “inner leadership” was developed – to obey only moral and legal orders.
Valykrie the Movie with Tom Cruise is about Count Stauffenberg… my mother went to school with some of the kids of those coup officers. Their mothers only were able to secure officer’s widows pensions in the 1970s – before that their men were called traitors.
These officers were hard-core right-wingers, make no mistake… but are heros today.
oops, he survived… but he was in a concentration camp and didn’t know if he would.
This is for you, Mayor Duterte:
When you kill, you are helping yourself to God’s sole prerogative.
When you kill, you are saying you are God’s equal.
When you kill, you are consigning yourself to the pits of hell.
When you kill, you carry all the murders you have committed when awake, when asleep, when you are dying, when you will be judged by the God of compassion.
When you kill, you kill yourself as well, for without peace, you are a lost soul, a fate worse than death.
http://www.wired.com/2012/12/why-spree-killers-kill-themselves/ – exactly – most criminological and psychological studies confirm the murderers have suicidal tendencies… and a sense of grievance and injustice which explains many pro-Duterte motivations:
Psychologists have long theorized that there’s a connection between rage against others and rage against the self…
Criminologist Jack Gibbs’s theory of social control suggests that when an individual commits murder, he or she does so because the social system is perceived to have failed in its responsibility to control the behavior of others and thus protect that individual’s rights. Unable to rely on broader instruments of social control, the murderer tries to “correct” past injustices by employing his or her own direct control over others, which manifests itself through violence.
Christmas is near… and I remember a Christmas song… and how some of us Martial Law kids made it into a macabre rendering… maybe our way of dealing with what we did not know back then,… but felt somehow because the smell of fear was always there:
Original:
Tayo na giliw magsalo na tayo
meron na tayong tinapay at keso
Di ba Noche Buena sa gabing ito
at bukas ay araw ng Pasko…
Rendering:
Tayo na giliw magpatayan tayo
meron na tayong kutsilyo at bolo
Di ba katayan na sa gabing ito
at bukas ay araw ng Patay!
There are certainly many signs in Duterte that history will repeat but we are so focused on the obvious. We should also consider the silent metastatic aftermath of extreme authority. Duterte is not a young man and while 2 or 3 years in office may not seem long, the stresses of presidency at 70 will be like a decade for him. The probability is high that he will implement extreme measures which he cannot control as he ages. That lack of control will bring out the worst in those he trusts. And that is key in his style of leadership. He must have control. Furthermore, extreme measures creates a strong ripple, a ripple that will be met with an equally strong and reinforced seawall in anticipation of a surge. The criminals and drug lords may have left Davao, but they did not leave the Philippines. A criminal to move out of Davao is easy enough but to be moved out the Philippines is another thing altogether. Another point is alliance and enforcement. The NPA and the Philippine Military cannot coexist. The NPA needs to remain a perpetual enemy of they must end their struggle. The commander and chief cannot lead an army and befriend its enemy. Controlling a police force to do your bidding is one thing, controlling an army truly requires loyalty.
Dont get me wrong, compared to the other contenders, I like him best but I hope he has the humility to recognize that he is old and that he will not be a mayor of some violent crack head laden city that you can see from one view in a helicopter but he may lead a great nation with more happy people than criminals, more innocent than corrupt and small businesses actually thriving but mired in a morass of government corruption. If you are his friend, have him focus on the corruption and speak less of other matters. He has our support for corruption but divides us on other matters.
The point with the army is very important. I have looked at Philippine military groups in FB. They are not very happy about Duterte and his NPA connection to say it diplomatically.
Now imagine what could happen? A military coup against Duterte by certain groups, and even more if Duterte actually cozies up to the Chinese which many military people are expecting to happen. The country will be torn by civil war for at least a decade.
Also, old men in power can be dangerous because they want to prove their power one last time. Mohammed created the worst of his teachings, especially the idea of Jihad as war, when he was already old. Other examples: Fidel Ramos, Chinese Communist leadership.
Hey Joe, can you get Sal to check if I got the odds right…
If Roxas loses the election, there is a 75% probability that escudero will become president, assuming he wins the vice presidency.
Binay will be impeached because of corruption, or suffer a people power ousting.
Duterte will either be impeached because of culpable violations of the Constitution.
Poe will probably be disqualified by the PET shortly after winning.
Santiago will surely succumb to cancer due to the stressful nature of the job.
In the end escudero will be the winner of the game of thrones.
He scratched his head, pondered, grunted then called over his shoulder as he headed for another beer: “This inquirercet kid has potential” He might have used the “kid” loosely.
What is the fascination the masses have with Escudero? I don’t get it.
Like lightning to a lightning rod, I get attracted to numbers like bookie Sal. Here is the voter age demographic in 2010, likely to be similar to that in 2016, percentage-wise.
Note that Escudero wants to style himself as the “Kid” rarely sporting a suit or barong. Voters in the 18-24 bracket certainly identifies with the “Kid” with his one-liner hollow know-it-all. And even those in the 25-34 and 35-44 would like to believe they are still “young” kids. That is a whopping 68 percent, Joe. I am a kid at heart too, Joe. And I believe you are too. Please pass on the popcorn. 🙂
AGE RANGE——— PERCENT
18 to 24————- 21.96
25 to 34————- 25.48
35 to 44————- 20.61
45 to 54————- 15.39
55 to 64————- 9.36
65 and up———– 7.2
Ah, “youth is beautiful on anyone”, an old girlfriend of mine used to say. She neglected to comment about ignorance . . . 🙂
I’m looking at the 18 to 24 bracket, Joe. That 21.96 percent should be gold. They are the youth in the various schools, universities and colleges of this country. Ergo, the academe has a critical role in educating them about these current issues. Professors need not necessarily endorse one candidate but initiate discourse, debate and pry open the truth from mere propaganda. I must admit, I’m doing the same in our university. Wouldn’t that be a salve to ignorance, Joe?
Yes, I think that is a nugget. The young dreamers who are attaching to a sweet siren who, once elected, turns hideously ghoulish. Time to wake them up, perhaps.
I recommend contacting Professor Michael Chua of La Salle who already was a one-man show in documenting the Marcos abuses due to torture… he has a history show on television.
Look for Xiao Chua in Facebook. He is relatively young, Gen-Xer, reaches the young.
I have befriended a lot of youth in FB…A lot are Marcos supporters that I’m still trying to influence, a few are rabid trolls not in listening mode, and a number of them are gratifyingly aware and for continuity. I encourage the last group to share all my posts to their circle of influence, and I can say that this is being done. A twenty-two year old student (Jhomz Rey) is very active in this.
That’s heartening, Mary Grace. So, it can be done. I think patience will do the magic.
Yes, patience and trying to be kind and not stooping to their level of rudeness and trolling posts…I never tire of answering their attacks, not for those not in the listening mode sakes, but for the silent majority who reads but not participate in the discussions. I know they are there because they indicate their agreement to my answers by clicking like. Those are my targets.
Jhomz Rey joined an FB group called Marinduque Level Up for Mar and Leni, not so sure about the exact name, he submitted my name there so I can join. He posted a lot of links there, listing all the achievements of this administration, ongoing projects still to be completed, and those. In the pipe line / drawing board…his way of saying continuity is a must for long term progress to be attained. I included this in the numerous FB group that I’m posting to, Freedom Wall is one. It is so encouraging when I observe that minutes after posting, almost a hundred likes are generated, half who liked shared them to their own circle of friends. Discussions are exciting, too and challenging.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/455107/davao-death-squad-victims-neither-smugglers-nor-drug-lords – critics of Duterte that were killed… deaths unexplained – https://cpj.org/killed/2007/ferdinand-lintuan.php
I did not see Presidential material when he filed his COC yesterday, chewing bubble gum, trying to look macho…For me he did look like a 2hand Robin Padilla…
Yes. Second Hand Robin Padilla describes it. If Duterte begins to look and sound Presidential he will lose it. He would continue to act macho complete with the expletives, P…I…, or he will lose his supporters.
BTW, I don’t know if its just my geriatric brain, but I seem to have read that the First Hand or Original Robin Padilla is or will be campaigning for Mar? Can you confirm this?
Correct, sunstar , pep.ph etc did report that…
http://www.pep.ph/news/59800/daniel-padilla39s-endorsement-of-mar-roxas39s-presidential-bid-draws-mixed-reactions
Thanks.
http://www.rappler.com/entertainment/news/113839-robin-padilla-rodrigo-duterte-president-daniel-mar-roxas
Daniel is for Mar. Uncle Robin is for Duterte.
Ok, thanks, Chief Librarian, for the info on the two Padilla’s — uncle and nephew: Robin for Duterte; Daniel for Mar. Corrected and stored that in the greying brain bank.
It is OK manong,my brain is grey too.If my brain can do numbers as sharp as you……..Bless you sir.
I am unfamiliar with the current author’s name and presume its the nom de plume of a regular commentor from this blogsite. I share his deep concern that a public official with Duterte. with his proclivity for abiding by and most likely dispensing his own extra-legal brand of justice. I am at this point neither pro-Poe nor pro-Roxas but decidedy anti-Binay and becoming even more anti-Duterte. When a candidate with Duterte’s track record for supporting extrajudicial shortcuts in trying to solve criminality in Davao will openly talk of getting rid of congress to fix the country’s problems, and presidential poll surveys show that he enjoys a surging lead inspite of this, then this deep concern if not alarm is justifiable. Where and when did the clamor for a candidate who is first and foremost a strongman or potential dictator a rallying cry for the teeming masses? Have there been bombings in Plaza Miranda, serious problems with the economy, a burgeoning rebellion sweeping the countryside or the major cities? Is crime so uncontrolled that once again a strong hand is needed to impose martial law?
The truth is none of these conditions prevail, which were used by Marcos and his minions as reasons to impose his dictatorship and implement martial law. That the voting pubilic at large is willing to once again to risk plunging the country into another deep dictatorship I believe is a symptom of a sweeping frustration that Roxas and Binay has nothing to offer aside from a continuation of Daang Matuwid that left the middle classes and D/E segments economically stagnant or left behind.
The author is a blogger resident in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao. He has dropped off a couple of comments here under the screen name olingliteratus, which is also the name of his blog, which you can reach by clicking on his name on one of his comments. He has followed this blog for some time, and has reposted Society articles.His Duterte article first appeared in his blog back in May of this year. I’d guess that he can see into the future.
If written only the last few weeks, that is one. But written in May 2015, that is like antique. Great value. Thanks Rolan F. Literatus aka olingliteratus.
Antique has a nice ring to it. Thank you, NHerrera.
This 2010 voter demographic which is likely to remain similar to the one in 2016, percentage-wise may partly explain the attraction to Duterte conundrum:
OCCUPATION———————————————————– PERCENT
Non-gainful occupation————————————————- 42.99
Elementary occupation: Laborers and unskilled Workers—–13.75
Farmers, Forestry Workers and Fishermen———————–12
…
HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED————PERCENT
No grade completed—————————–2.2
Elementary—————————————–27.19
High School—————————————-37.51
…
Note, I have clipped the other categories of voters who have more capabilities for discernment either because of schooling or time on their hands. (BTW, since it is relevant, the SWS survey showing the Duterte phenomenon of 62% of ABC class “voting” for him may partly be explained by the fact that SWS showed the following weights for the socio-eco class — ABC 5% (AB 0.1, C 5 rounded to ABC = 5) D 79% E 16%; meaning that because of accessibility most of the respondents in the ABC class may be in the lower part of the C’s).
Sorry, caliphman… I can tell you that it isn’t just CDE, there are upper middle-class folks who are pro-Duterte… including some of my FB friends who are Philippine Science High School graduates. They have kept totally silent on my anti-Duterte postings, well one I have not unfriended but am not following anymore because I know that he seriously supports BBM, something which is not surprising given his background… the mechanisms at work in our Pisay batch are similar to what Will described among Upsilonians. We cover the entire spectrum, but when things get really hot we respect each other, meaning we let each person go his way…. BTW there is one leading Leni supporter with a FB group among us as well just so you don’t think we Marcos babies are all somewhat strange… but two of the best and most human of us are also promoting Duterte heavily, meaning I can see every move he makes on social media, which I think is valuable to us here and I hope you are able to make use of my feedback…
Closing down Congress is not necessarily unsympathetic to most intelligent Duterte people, because of pork barrel and because of the perception that Congress does not do its job because they are mostly absent. Another posting by a top supporter (not from Pisay but shared by them) says we do not want the corrupt, the inept, the newbie or the loonie. The perception that Roxas is inept is very strong in social media, it has become like gospel truth for very many.
Now what I am NOT going to do – because I will not go against my own folks – is start engaging my batchmates now. It is a situation similar to the heat of Mamasapano where emotions ran high during the shooting and Iqbal could do nothing because of that – “mainit na kasi”. No problem arguing with others, but I will not risk friendships, some of them truly lifelong, for a candidate like Mar Roxas. Only thing we can do is gather evidence and prove our case, to combat prejudice. And remember that the anger that fuels Duterte is very real and not just stupidity. Inspite of gains there are things people see that make them mad. How to give them a better perspective?
Irineo, I was merely making the point in my post that this is an utterly bizarre and unwarranted timing for a brutish self-declared strongman and probable dictator like Duterte to have his presidential candidacy to be receiving such strong broad-based popular support; ie. the economy is strong, peace and order is relatively stable, crimininality for the most part is under control, corruption is significantly reduced and cases in progress the most powerful politicians engaged in it, etc. etc. etc.
Sure, wealth distribution and economic opportunities for the masses has remained not equitable and in fact has deteriorated and more concentrated as the top 100 richest and most powerful families reap the benefits of Daang Matuwid which while not perfect has benefited the Philippines as a whole social and economic inequalities as we touched on before It is no less a problem here in the US, in the EEC, in most essentially capitalist countries and for that matter, in China, Russia, and Korea where even greater concentration of wealth and power come hand in hand. My point is social and economic inequality is a deep rooted problem which even Marxism and its socialist offshoots has failed to offer satisfactory solutions in over a century of experimentation. But I maintain for the time being, its better off to be poor in a prospering economy that than being poor in a poor stagnating one.
It frightens me to think that you, Giancarlo and others who are outspoken in this forum can feel intimidated in anyway by political supporters of Duterte in your circles of families and friends from voicing out concerns or criticisms about his candidacy. This might very well be a taste of how things might be like in Duterte dictatorship if he wins the presidency, closes Congress, and rules by decree. Its difficult to be certain what path someone like Duterte who has an alarming tendency of following his nose when crucial decisions like his candidacy is involved. But it would be very dangerous to ignore what his saying now and what he has shown himself capable of doing in his past, particularly his penchant for taking extralegal if not constitutional shortcuts.
Like!
I am not intimidated but a bit resigned… the two top Duterte supporters among my friends are among the most good hearted people I really KNOW… the “Stand By Me” sort of friends… they aren’t stupid so they must have valid reasons… I want to be well-prepared to talk to them…
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/personalities-versus-politics/ – now this article has the start of an attempt to evaluate the Noynoy government as big picture and objectively as possible…
Now if one looks at the present government, there seem to be some successes, and some failures. Successes first:
1. Peace and order: CCTV, Oplan Lambat-Sibat, PNP modernization
2. Opportunities: CCT and Pantawid Pamilya, Negosyo Centers, K-12
3. Citizen services: government webpage for complaints and hotline
4. Infrastructure: roads and ports built, mainly via PPP
5. Good governance: the Ombudsman is acting, LGPMS for LGUs
6. Economic development: more trust in the country by investors, BPO
7. International relations: APEC, ASEAN, ITLOS filing, Vietnam alliance, trust
8. National security: AFP equipment (planes), Project NOAH, Oplan Listo for LGUs
Of course there are negatives, so let us have a look at them, and some I will ask as questions to see what might be missing:
1. Peace and order: drug problems, kidnappings, lawlessness in some areas (Lumad killings, NPAs, death squads).
2. Opportunities: slum areas are still huge especially in Metro Manila, also causing all the crime problems.
3. Citizen services: how reachable the government appears to the people, and how responsive, seems to vary.
4. Infrastructure: the Internet is very slow, Manila is overcrowded and has heavy traffic, what else could be missing?
5. Good governance: where is the Ombudsman not yet doing enough, and which LGUs are not following LGPMS?
6. Economic development: which areas are not yet benefitting enough from growth? Mindanao seems to.
7. International relations: I don’t see any problems here, why should one talk to China at this point?
8. National security: Current BBL has great risks and needs changes I think, cybersecurity must be addressed.
Whether one sees the present government as more or less successful or even as a failure depends on perspective and how one gives points for the good and bad things.
because both positive and negative stuff as far as it is true is valid, but it is the big picture that matters… I can deceitfully get tabloid articles from the Munich Abendzeitung over the past two months and select reports to prove that Munich is worse than Metro Manila in crime… but the Bavarian State Police, Munich Presidium has a webpage that openly communicates everything so I can look at it and see that most crimes are just attempted burglaries and snatchings… https://www.polizei.bayern.de/muenchen/news/presse/aktuell/index.html/232644
Like MRP used to say, most stuff coming from the Philippines is hearsay and witness accounts, not evidence.. and even the hard evidence has to be put into proper perspective and from here I cannot really do that – or maybe I can even do it better because I am not embroiled… But so many even pro news have the quality of “sabi ni Grace ganito”…”HINDI! sabi ng hipag ko ganyan”… “Putangina… papatayin kayo ni BerDugong”… so it is hard to get a clear picture. Because in Germany I would do the following if I had to decide whom to vote:
A. How do I evaluate the performance of the present government in Points 1-8. Based on good and bad what are the final scores, and what is the average?
B. What things should stay the way they are, what should be improved a bit, and what should be completely changed compared to today?
C. Look at the candidates and see what they are planning to do, check their programs and see which matches my idea best – then vote that candidate.
Not one newspaper in the Philippines has ever evaluated the Aquino government using the 8 criteria I have tentatively proposed, or any others. No single candidate has done A or B, meaning AS-IS and what I want to do better. OK maybe Mar Roxas might do it, who knows? Because my Pisay batchmates who are pro-Duterte have good reasons I am sure, and the first thing I will be told is that I don’t live in the Philippines, don’t really know what is going on.. true. Have to rely on accounts that are getting increasingly confusing on all fronts, even personal.
The Philippines under a Duterte presidency, or an Erap – Bongbong one (which Erap is threatening if Poe is disqualified), or even a Binay one is a thought too horrible to be borne . Those presidencies cannot be allowed. But how?
For me, the media is the most potent force that can certainly prevent such eventualities happening to our beloved country. Do they in the media realize that ideas, for good or evil, are perpetuated and gain ascendancy among the great masses of our people largely through the slants they put in their TV shows and publications?
In this instance,,I am calling on the MRTCB to encourage the telenovelas to weave into their stories which are watched by millions of Filipinos here and abroad not only ideas of Good Filipino values (which they are starting to do), but also ideas of good citizenship, specifically in the matter of discerning who to vote for in the coming elections. There are criteria that I see shown on TV, but they are just words. If woven into the telenovela plots, this is a powerful way of educating Filipinos about how to participate meaningfully in nation building.
Erlinda R., we need writers and artists to create the stories you want woven for our young and adult Filipinos to see. Of course, we needed them like yesterday. 🙂 You have the heart in the right place.
I agree about the media, Erlinda. But I’m a little bit skeptic whether they’d be willing to shed off their usual programming which brings the cash and make way for these current issues. It’ll be a tough and long climb. On second thought, if the media is quick to hammer on a subject that is sensational material, maybe the concerted writers can make their pieces so striking as to approach sensational. Then, it might just work.
I wish. But if my memory is correct someone claimed that a elite clique of TV and movie writers seem to prefer to stick to tried-and-true story formulae that profitably worked for decades but worked only for the C-D-E classes; they’ll not want to break the status quo of outdated gimmickry, even in this era where Western television is enjoying global popularity than ever before (and perhaps why there is a cable channel dedicated to 80’s movies, and I’m not surprised our Southern Muslims feel marginalized in the North because much TV programming is largely focused on the Christians — the terrible lack of diversity).
Personally, sensationalism is the TV corporations’ thing now, it’s what brings in the advertising money to them, but they also have the huge power to shape or misshape Filipino thinking and culture wholesale… or worse magnify problems such as crime, corruption or poverty, that prompts them to despise Roxas and vote for Duterte.
The MRTCB is unlikely to insert itself into actual content. I agree media are negligent in reporting, and inspire the “star struck advocacy” of crooks and murderers with the way they posture their breathless tabloidian headlines. If the Philippines goes down the tubes, we can all turn and point to the greedy (some purchased) publishers and producers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hugenberg – tabloid owner in the Weimar Republic
the Nazi Party soon became the recipients of Hugenberg’s largesse, both in terms of monetary donations and of favourable coverage from the Hugenberg-owned press, which had previously largely ignored Hitler or denounced him as a socialist.
Hitler started off as a leftist… his evil genius was getting both extreme left and right people…
Watch and follow the new reprogrammed Duterte says Koko Pimentel. Yes, say some, I have to watch this and follow his every move and statement. Beautiful marketing. I gotta hand it to the marketing ploy. What say the Marketing Man, Joe?
The link:
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/121200/after-cursing-pope-visit-koko-assures-a-reprogrammed-duterte-will-come-out-soon
Is it as easy as
– Reprogramming Joe to be an MRP;
– Or the other way around?
Hahaha.
P.S.
Say, I miss MRP here. What has happened to our friend?
I commented on Twitter that Pimentel thinks he can reprogram someones psychological makeup with a simple request.
He has obviously not worked as a shrink.
I think MRP got tired of people carping about him, or recognized he was getting cranky himself, and chose to take a sabbatical.
I respect everyone’s concern against EJKs in Davao, but I do get a growing sense that this sudden concern for civil liberties is being driven by completely partisan ends to prop up some other candidate (is it you, Mar?).
I don’t remember anybody here ever having previously raised any alarm at the many other instances of human rights violations repeatedly committed by government security forces even from the immediate past — for example, how a boy was taken by the SAF in Mamasapano to be used as guide pre-ops, only to be later found tied and riddled with bullets by the roadside when the smoke had cleared.
Or how an NUJP activist (the journalist Inday Varona) was tarred and feathered by the military’s 4th ID in Cagayan for reporting that anti-communist Lumad leaders have bullied administrators of a DepEd-certified lumad school into shutting down in Bukidnon.
Or how similarly AFP-supported armed vigilantes have killed arguably-leftist-but-inarguably-unarmed lumad PO leaders in Surigao, and driven off large hordes of lumad families in Compostela into the charitable fold of protestant UCCP’s Haran compound (where they were eventually followed by Liberal congresswoman Nancy Catamco and once again harangued for being communist supporters).
I can at least give it to the likes of the HRW, Amnesty International, Etta Rosales and Walden Bello who have condemned the death squad killings with as much vigor as many other everyday violations of civil liberties that’s taking place all around — and many times by our own policemen and soldiers with the full authority of their superiors — by whatever shape or form, or political configuration, they may take.
Let me be clear, I don’t mind that people raise their concerns about death squad killings in my beloved Davao (I honestly have little sympathy for characters with long derogatory records getting killed, but I do get genuinely upset that innocent lives occasionally get caught in the crossfire — yeah, that’s how my cookie crumbles) but I do mind that this issue is used cynically just for the elections.
It just reminds one of how, in the heat of the presidential campaign back in 2010, partisans raised so much ruckus against Villar’s rent-seeking and how he has thoroughly captured land and shelter regulatory agencies, and yet everybody just dropped the ball once election results were out. Di na pala importante ang corruption and bribery sa C-5 extension basta di lang sya ang manalo..
I’m betting no one here ever takes up this issue again the moment Duterte gets disqualified, or slides down to the bottom of the surveys — and Mar wins in 2016. Yeah, that’ll be the day…
“I respect everyone’s concern against EJKs in Davao, but I do get a growing sense that this sudden concern for civil liberties is being driven by completely partisan ends to prop up some other candidate (is it you, Mar?).”
It’s not fair to dismiss this concern immediately as propaganda for Mar Roxas. In fact, if you go over the comments and across the articles in this site, people are free to discuss regardless of whom they are rooting for. As Joe puts it, you are free to do as you please here, to discuss but never to promote a candidate.
“Let me be clear, I don’t mind that people raise their concerns about death squad killings in my beloved Davao (I honestly have little sympathy for characters with long derogatory records getting killed, but I do get genuinely upset that innocent lives occasionally get caught in the crossfire — yeah, that’s how my cookie crumbles) but I do mind that this issue is used cynically just for the elections.
Why are criminals getting killed, Sir? Why do innocent lives occasionally get in the crossfire? These are valid concerns. And to say that this issue is being used cynically just for the elections, I am quick to ask, when is the best time to face the issue head on? Is it not precisely this time, before somebody sits on the throne, brings this baggage and cause all the more irrevocable harms and in a magnitude that will send tremor in the entire archipelago? This is not being cynical. This is a possibility consistent with what is happening now and on the say-so of Duterte.
Now, if the issue as you have pointed out is used cynically just for the elections, this admits of a position that the issue has been there for a long time. Therefore, people there must have already done something to raise it. They must have been clamoring against it. Did any of this kind happen?
“I’m betting no one here ever takes up this issue again the moment Duterte gets disqualified, or slides down to the bottom of the surveys…”
Whether Duterte wins or not, whether he gets disqualified, slides down to the bottom of the surveys, or Roxas wins, it does not matter. When he admitted that he is the DDS, that is what matters all the time. It must be raised all the time, as it is happening now.
There are allegedly not just DDs, there are also Tagum Death Squads and many others…
Of course there are Lumads allegedly killed by the Army, but there are so many Lumads being used by the NPA and the NDF to further their aims… the anti-APEC demo is one example.
And I think the Left is supporting Duterte… because I am a former leftist and I KNOW exactly what there plan has been all along… make sure things get worse so they can have a revolution.
The Left loved Marcos actually, because he was a fertile recruiting ground for people like me… well I was 16 then, simply an angry young man, and as easily recruited as any -tard today.
The perception that Mar Roxas does not care about the ordinary Filipino is very widespread, that all he wants it to promote business… that it translates into better lives for everybody is what many don’t really see… I have seen true capitalism and its benefits here abroad, and I now see that Mar is replacing the feudal pseudocapitalism of the past with real capitalism, but of course his detractors think it is still the old feudal Makati pseudocapitalism of the classic elite.
As I’ve said, I don’t mind that people condemn the killings, it just bothers me that people are only coming around to conveniently condemn it now just because its celebrity endorser is now front and center in the race.
The DDS began operating in the early 1990s, and the killings escalated beginning the early aughts til maybe 2008, when then CHR chair de Lima (yes, our former justice sec) began investigating in earnest. Not to minimize the scale, but there’s been a lot less of these killings in the last several years (at least the ones fitting the death squad’s MO). And yet it had to take Duterte’s declaration for the presidency to magically transform online warriors into extremely selective HR advocates overnight? Where was the outrage at the height of the bloodbath?
And if you’re going to be extremely concerned about killings of assorted police characters, my other point is why can’t you muster the same energy for condemning the proportionally more alarming killings of unarmed Moros and lumads that are even more current? I’m not even asking you guys to go easy on the Death Squad, or to give Duterte a pass, but you could at least be more consistent with your recently discovered advocacy so skeptics would’nt have to go, “hmmm, eleksyon na gyud tuod ‘no..”.
Rain the bombs on the death squad and Duterte for all I care, but please be as exacting with your standards in favor of hapless minorities whose only “sin” is being found co-existing harmoniously in areas controlled by armed rebels. Please train your concern, too, to DAR’s farmer CLOA awardees in the Bondoc peninsula in Quezon province who couldn’t be installed in their newly awarded lands because armed goons of entrenched big landlords wouldn’t give them an inch. Akbayan people and their farmer-PO affiliates will surely welcome your concern and probably find ideas for how you can help.
If you’re a Cagay-anon as Joe says, go to the 4th ID and take up NUJP’s concern about the red-baiting tactics of their spokesman, Capt. Patrick Martinez, which could just get journalist Inday Varona killed. Tell them to do something too about the shutting down of the IP school in Bukidnon at the instigation of armed vigilante lumads that the 4003rd brigade has been supporting all along.
Concerned for lives of criminals? Fine. But kindly take on all the other HR issues as well that I shared. The lives of these “non-criminals” are just as important, arguably more so. That’s what it’s going to take to be a human rights advocate in our neck of the woods, bai — advocacy for all, for all seasons. May elksyon man o wala.
I continue to maintain that the problem of the Philippines lies in “KAMI” thinking…
Small minority of LP supporters: “basta kami manalo”
Other minority of LP supporters: “basta kami may magandang hanapbuhay”
Most Binay supporters: “basta kami busog”
Some Binay supporters: “basta kami binayaran”
Most Duterte supporters: “basta kami buhay kriminal patay”
Poe/Miriam supporters in fact think more of the whole, but are deluded about the solutions. Some Duterte supporters are also like that, think he can really solve the country’s problems.
The (hopefully) majority of Ro-Ro supporters think (correctly from what I can see so far) that Ro-Ro (not Roxas alone, not Leni alone) is the solution to move forward with gains made. This argument should come across stronger, because many still think they just want to gain power.
The mindset of “TAYO”, meaning for all Filipinos, for the Philippines, should be intensified.
You sound bitter, butod. Maybe people understand dictators and are fearful for a return to those painful days. Maybe there is no evil intent other than caretaking the nation. Why do you fault people for caring about the Philippines?
Hi Joe, my longer response above. Sorry for going off on you and the rest. I’m just getting a little riled up because of my sense that human rights advocacy and cries for justice are being used in such a highly partisan and cynical way.
Oh, I think you are representing your views well.
It is not impossible that some parties are amplifying hrv and dds,but to say that hrv and dds is not true is also bs.
People have complained before as you said dds was way back that only means they exist.
And we have enough complaints of police and military brutality,since time immemorial,not just from hrw,leftist partylists.If you mean regular commenters here,we do not wear blinders.We have former leftists here like Irineo,current leftist like Mami Kawada lover.I have to reread your comment and I understand that you advocate for human rights.
BFD is also active on human rigjts commentary,so this is a case of barking up the wrong tree.
Clarification: while technically I’m a leftist (as I have left-leaning beliefs), and I do sometimes sympathize with the progressives, I consider myself more of a moderate than a progressive.
Speaking of leftists, I’m stunned that Karapatan, which is a very vocal human rights group, has yet to say anything about Duterte even though their sibling(?) group Gabriela has condemned his actions.
OK MKL.Mabuhay ka young man.
“Karapatan, which is a very vocal human rights group, has yet to say anything about Duterte”
They claimed that they weren’t able to obtain reports or proof of abuses against him because no one in Davao wanted to come forward. Of course, the beef about Karapatan is that they report specific abuses committed against any Maoists or Marxists to please the Utrecht leaders and their donors, rather than the other way around like reporting any human rights violations on both sides.
Butod, I am not a Roxas advocate and have defended Poe online on many occasions because many Roxas supporters engaged in smear tactics and slander because they saw her as his primary opponent or wanted to reduce her lead so she would accept his vice presidency. I am against Duterte’s candidacy because of his record of supporting if not engaging in extrajudicial methods in fighting crime in Davao. Morever, he is publicly vocal in espousing support for these methods including admitting his personal involvement in such activities. In fact, what is scary is much of his popular appeal is his willingness to take extra legal measures to achieve his ends. In other words, these are not just trumped up charges and yes there is a political agenda here. Stop Duterte from being elected president, if that is still possible.
Please read those entries again Caliphman, I never suggested that reports of extra-judicial killings in Davao or the existence of a death squad itself are all made up. I in fact supplied a brief background history of the death squad and timelines of ebbs and flows in the killings, having lived in Davao until 2010.
My only thing is, these killings aren’t necessarily unique to Davao and has been happening all the time — be they criminal suspects arrested by Manila police, gunned down with cuffs on and later simply reported as killed while trying to grab a cop’s sidearm; or the even more alarming killings of non-combatants in conflict areas on the belief of holding sympathies for insurgents.
My question is — what’s so special about slain criminals in Davao that only their executions are singled out? And why only now when the wave of killings escalated and ebbed during GMA’s time?
Porke mayor pa lang si Duterte noon and went all-out for Pnoy for president at the time, di pa importante ang patayan nuon? Tapos nung naging threat na sa ibang kandidato we’re supposed to suddenly go ape-shit about him being this horrible berdugo?
That’s my point — an appeal for a little more consistency about your human rights advocacy. Broaden the field guys, you can still tear down Duterte without ignoring all the other killings.
Hahaha, I think you need to tell that to Duterte. He’s the one bragging about killing or threatening people. That’s what people are reacting to.
As for the Philippine killing fields, I agree, they exist. But as America descends into the blood and pain of that, don’t you think it would be more civilized to find a better, less violent way to go about being a community?
Duterte’s open support for the killings has always been public knowledge; he started publicly bragging about it as far back as the mid ’90s. That’s exactly why he got the “punisher” monicker from Time magazine’s cover profile about him, I think in 2006.
Intermittently throughout the wave of killings in the mid-aughts, the national media has been covering the killings and Digong’s strongman triumphalism. So again, why did the outrage have to take this long to come when the information has been widely available all this time? Eleksyon na nga kasi eh…so forgive me if I sound so cynical about where all this noise is coming from.
As for me, while I won’t go as far as applaud the targeted killings, I won’t be losing sleep about them either. Seeing criminals in whichever dead-end they find themselves is just about the chicken coming home to roost, IMO. My only thing is if the death squad is going ahead with an operation, they had better do their recon well so the innocents don’t get caught in the crossfire. And that’s also the reason why I found myself in a number of “stop the killings” protests in Davao back in 2003-2004. I had a highly-nuanced position from my other fellows even back then, but I did make my voice count.
This by the way also pretty much sums up my thoughts about armed conflict in general: if insurgents and government forces feel they have no choice but obliterate each other to smithereens, have at it then — just make sure to spare the civilians, because that’s truly having innocent blood on their hands.
And finally, just so there’s no confusion, no, I am no Duterte sleeper (while I’m very impressed by what he has done for Davao, I’m still deeply skeptical if he can scale that up nationally). I simply don’t think it’s right to use this issue against him when many others are thought to have similarly danced on criminals’ graves — like the Liberal Party’s Rey Uy of Compostela (who sneeringly calls criminals “sagbot” — wild grass), Ping Lacson, Fred Lim of Manila, and ex-Cebu Mayor Tommy Osmena just for starters.
And of course there are the bigger sinners — the butcher Palparan and the succession of ex-AFP generals-turned-Bucor chiefs from the time of GMA up to the present occupant — who rained hell on insurgents AND CIVILIANS alike in their respective tours of duty in the past.
Yup, that’s how much it will take to truly condemn extra-judicial killings in these parts.
Let us say it is a good thing that the elections are a catalyst for many discussions.
Duterte himself is a catalyst, the grain of sand that an oyster needs to create pearls.
Philstar — A rising presidential bet we can’t support (December 9, 2015 – 12:00am)
http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/12/09/1530702/rising-presidential-bet-we-cant-support
A nicely worded, courteous (to Duterte, that is) opinion piece on Duterte by Tony Katigbak.
Excerpt
—————————————————————————-
I have to admit, I am one of the citizens who would like to see justice prevail for once in the country. However, I don’t stand by Duterte’s way for achieving this justice. While I understand that fear might be a powerful tool towards achieving discipline, I don’t think it’s the only way to do it, or the right way for that matter. I know we have all been so desperate for change in the country, but we have to remain mindful of those we empower to deliver that change. If anything, we don’t want to change for the worse.
…
Another concern I have about his style of leadership is his brash way of dealing with others. While I commend his no-nonsense attitude and his courage to say what is on his mind, we can’t deny that we live in a global community. We live in a world where words matter and when it comes to international relations, even the slightest “off” sentence can lead to an international incident. We can’t pretend that the Philippines is isolated and all alone in the world. In fact, we have to rely on other countries for help and partnerships a lot of the time, and while his strength may help us on some fronts, it is still very scary to have a representative who, at any time, may just blow his top and verbally assault another world leader. I would like to think he would not, but historically, that just does not seem to be the case. I worry that Duterte currently lacks the diplomatic finesse to handle global relations. We might end up becoming another North Korea, isolated from the rest of the world leaders.
In either case, as I’ve said in previous columns, I know it is still a long way to the 2016 elections. A lot can happen from now until then and while Duterte is currently in the lead when it comes to presidential candidates that might easily change in the weeks and months ahead. As responsible voters, I think we just have to keep our eyes and ears open and truly get to know our choices, as our votes in 2016 will definitely dictate the future of the country.
——————————————————————————
Fear of crime – partly real, partly strongly sensationalized, was part of the Weimar Republic.
Bertolt Brecht wrote the Three-Penny Opera about these times… the most chilling character of this musical (German Jews who left brought musicals to Broadway BTW) was McHeath the killer, who said something which is true for those at the edge of things: Erst kommt das Fressen und dann die Moral – eating comes before morals. Mackie Messer is the original version of the song “Mack the Knife” which became popular in the USA after WW2. It is about a ruthless, cold killer…
The Duterte supporters among my FB friends and ka-batch are my old crowd, and I know where they are coming from… we are the maong crowd, the rugged crowd… as opposed to the “burgis” crowd I was with also before them, to which Jessica Zafra belonged… now Jessica has become more down-to-earth than she used to be, she was perceived as snobbish and “Inglesero” but she isn’t really what people think she is… a lot of prejudices play a role in the kind of stuff going on.
Mar Roxas, I can see that you have a vision for the country, but the prejudices of people play a major role in shutting you down. Now I have seen where I am now that I can be a businessman and make money even if I am a rugged, down-to-earth type… there is none of the stuff here that used to determine the Philippines, where being down-to-earth made the “maarte” people shut you out of opportuniy… convince the people that’s over and you will win. You don’t stand for the pious hypocritical crowd that WE hated in our youth, the wannabe Americans-cum-holier-than-thous…
Some of your followers still are iiiih when someone acts down-to-earth, normal – isolate them.
Mar Roxas only has to show that he ISN’T part of the “Hip Teens don’t wear Blue Jeans” crowd that many people think he represents… Duterte gets many people by being a Rebel without a Cause who appeals to those who ain’t part of the “exclusive” crowd, chewing gum and all…
Make more Filipinos feel that they can belong to the world shown on your Christmas video, meaning that they can make good money and be part of the joy, as Joe said so nicely.
I recommend that you hold messages to the Roxas staff until tomorrow, for they will most certainly read the blog. On the other hand, don’t over-burden it with advice, or they won’t pay much attention.
Maybe they should pay attention a bit more… because even if they win the stuff I have pointed out won’t go away and could come back to bite at another time. It is really up to them.
In the end I won’t be affected if things blow up – except emotionally. I live elsewhere.
hehe… bahala kayo sa buhay ninyo… kapag hindi ninyo pinansin ang mga nagpapapansin ngayon, the rage might blow over… convince people that the cake will grow and everybody will have the share he or she is willing to work for whether dressed in business suit or jeans.
And deliver on that promise when you do win, because I do see that discontent will rise if that is not delivered.. people might give you benefit of the doubt, but want to see their own gains soon.
Anyway Joe, don’t worry, I will summarize all of this as one posting tomorrow for the staff.
Good way to do it. Keep it succinct. They are very busy.
Management summary. I think what a lot of Filipinos have to learn is:
1) to articulate their concerns precisely and clearly instead of howling out in anguish.
2) to summarize their concerns and present possible solutions instead of just complaining.
Since I have had that learning curve myself, this is my way of paying it forward.
A lot of concerns are legit, but voting a rebel without a cause is simply immature.
Yep. By the way, you are mentioned in the blog, prominently. For some reasons. Two of which you have just cited.
Während andere Länder versuchen ihr Bestes, um die Besucher zu begrüßen und Fichte ihrer Flughafeneinrichtungen, um sicherzustellen, Besucher haben einen guten und bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen, ist auf den Philippinen genau das Gegenteil.
Filipino Flughafenpersonal und individuelle Personal betrügen, Vlies und zu terrorisieren jeden ankommenden (und Abflug) vor ihrer Haustür bei jeder Gelegenheit.
Da Filipinos wissentlich und absichtlich Ruf ihres Landes vor der Welt abzubauen, kann ich leider feststellen, dass die Philippinen ein Höllenloch zu bleiben. Der Aufstieg einer Nation kann nicht geschehen, wenn sie Menschen sind korrupt und kennt keine Scham.
It is easy to use Google translate… the name Adolf is not given anymore over here Dolphy.
I really wonder how many laglag-bala cases there were, EXACTLY… because you can always selectively get some stuff to make a place look good or bad… but I am sure that the investigation is still ongoing so I will wait for some hard data.. I could tell you cases of corruption in the Munich police force, a few beatings, a killing or two by mistake to make it look as if we lived in Uganda… but you have to see the big picture and that is what people DON’T…
https://www.polizei.bayern.de/muenchen/fahndung/personen/straftaeter/bekannt/index.html/2244 – Wanted murderer…
http://www.bka.de/DE/Fahndungen/Personen/BekannteTatverdaechtige/BoehnhardtMundlosZschaepe/boehnhardtMundlosZschaepeHeilbronn.html – Wanted Neonazi terrorists – their trial has been going on over a year now because of the sheer number of witnesses – and these are not that many accused as in the Ampatuan case where a judge is working full-time and witnesses have died under strange circumstances, so why is everybody saying NOTHING is being done about the Ampatuan case… I could just as well say the case against the National Socialist Underground is a farce, some extreme leftists do that here OK but nobody is stupid enough to believe that… I can bike in 20 minutes to the trial court.
As for laglag-bala, there seem to have been people charged… I will wait for more information… because individual reports are just data… and information is not knowledge either… cu.
Die Philippinen sind der Kranke in Asien, Deutschland nicht in Europa.
@ Irineo
Adolfo S. Azcuna — served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009.
Ferdinand Topacio – Gloria Arroyo’s lawyer — the lawyer who sees Adolf Hitler as a revolutionary with a single-minded vision worth emulating. In his office, on the wall behind his desk, is not a picture of his wife or children or filipino bandila, but a large drawing of Adolf Hitler.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/612-ferdinand-topacio-and-adolf-hitler
Topacio recently called me a “son of a bitch” in a tweet. I felt pride in the designation, coming from him.
“Adolf Hitler as a revolutionary with a single-minded vision worth emulating”
in a way, he was… but revolutionaries have often wanted power and done harm..
Didn’t the French revolutionaries start guillotining each other after Marie Antoinette?
The Reign of Terror stopped only a little bit after the great Robespierre was guillotined.
Didn’t the Russian revolution lead to countless purges, the worst being those of Josef Stalin.
Stalin was a bank robber from Georgia who helped finance the revolution, a “black” Russian.
Many nationalistic Russians will not believe he is a Georgian, they really look down on them.
Or that Lenin was 1/4 Tatar (Asian) and half-German-Russian and freed the Soviet Republics?
Lenin was suspected of being a Germany spy by the Tsarist secret police, lived in Munich…
Adolf Hitler was involved in a coup attempt near the Feldherrenhalle in the early 1920s.
He was freed after a year in Landsberg prison, and then went back into politics after that.
The parallels with Trillanes end there for now… I think Trillanes has become a true democrat.
The statue on the left-hand side of the Feldherrenhalle is Count Tilly, Catholic commander.
In the 30 years war (Mindanao war has been 40 years+) he killed almost all of Magdeburg.
A Protestant city… a warlord worse than Ampatuan in scale… history repeats itself so often.
Irineo the new article is waiting.
It is a presumption to think they are not paying attention, just as it is a presumption to think they are. Indeed, it is up to them.
Lee Kuan Yew is my hero, strong leader who believes that Economic rights takes precedence over human rights and and alas! achieved excellent results over years of steady statemanship.
I like history Joe and I want to present to you and Edgar some crazy ideas relating to historical background of great countries. Among them USA, UK, France, Greece, Italy to mention a few among many. These and those countries I failed to mention, have endured bloodbath of atrocities uncommon to modern civilization before they achieved their current social and economic prosperity.
Philippines have not been through that stage of bloodbath of atrocities. My other hero Thomas Jefferson believed that sometime the tree of liberty must be cleansed with the blood of tyrants and patriots.
I think that Patriot is in the horizon and I have to ask both of you to think two or three hundred years ago.
The Philippines endured bloodbaths during the Philippine American War, during WWII, and, to a lesser degree, but still violently, at the hands of a dictator. Nations each tread a separate course, a separate set of circumstances. The Philippines is poor, and that undermines the best of deeds. To get rich, she needs stability, not bloodshed.
Ok, it is my fault for failing to define bloodbath of atrocities, I simply meant civil war. Being said that, would you reconsider your views on tree of liberty? There are poor countries fighting for liberty.
I think the idea that civil war is needed is ridiculous.
Hey Joe, it is just a crazy idea based from the tree of liberty principles and I really want to know why it is ridiculous. Come on man, have you forgotten our history? I dont think the American revolution over tax without representation was ridiculous and so as the American civil war over the north’s and the south’s views on slavery.
I dont think Filipinos revolting over poverty and corruptionis is not ridiculous. I dont care how it is done just change the current and worsening economic (poverty) and social condition in the Philippines as much as I wanted to to steal the tires of expensive SUV of those corrupt generals just to make a point. Do you remember me saying that long time ago when I was the Jackass and I think Duterte will be the one who will be stealing those tires for me.
Well, I think people wanting Binay or Duterte for leaders of a modern land are lacking some deductive reasoning skills. I already explained why bloodshed is ridiculous. It tears down, it does not build. Because poverty is the problem and that requires economic stability and growth for about 15 years. Building is good. Tearing down and causing pain is bad. Advocating tearing down is (to me) ridiculous. But you are free to argue for it. Do, at least, address the point about poverty and the need for a stronger, more productive, job-rich economy.
ps, the poverty situation is not worsening, and the economy is growing well.
I cannot subscribe to the idea that they’re be another bloodbath for the Philippines just so the present era could make way for a nation’s rebirth towards prosperity. We have had our bloodbaths. Our history is replete with it. We could instead take the learning from it and move this country forward.
Please forgive my ignorance; I thought the excellent piece is authored by Joe, so I asked him and Edgar instead of you. No disrespect intended.
So, you dont believe the tree of liberty concept, but what if we dont have any other choice? We almost have a bloodbath on EDSA I which changed our history, but did not accomplished much.
None taken. About the tree of liberty and the near bloodbath in EDSA I, I did ask myself once, what could have happened had Marcos ordered the soldiers to attack the people. I was thinking, it could have brought so much pain that the Filipinos then would have vowed to never let it happen again and work towards progress in earnest. I could certainly think of the founding years of South Korea. On the other hand, I believe that the fact that it’s just a near bloodbath did not diminish its significance. Lessons can be drawn from them. They should have been enough to drive us as a people, as a nation. Well, you do have a point. The Filipinos may have squandered valuable ideals and opportunities from EDSA I. But that’s not to say, we have not made any progress. We do. The challenge now is to sustain that momentum and build on it so we could at least approximate the ideals of EDSA I.
Business people has just asked Duterte about his economic plan. Reminds me of his statement during an interview in http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/rody%E2%80%99s-war/ which goes:
“What has changed about you since you first ran for mayor,
since you were a prosecutor?
…My hatred of criminals, that’s what changed Davao. If I have not improved the lot of the poor folk there at Boulevard, it’s simply because of the economy…”
We should be hearing about his economic plan soon. That should be very interesting.
So paano na yan, Duterte, di pala pwede kang magsubstitute kay Dino kasi nag withdraw ka from Davao mayoralty candidacy, to be a substitute for another position, the presidency..
Mary Grace P. Gonzales’s photo.
Haiissst, another failed attempt in photo sharing…can’t seem to master the technique….
briefly the pic is a screen grab pic of an excerpt of the Comelec rules on substitution which states that “No person can substitute for another if he/she has filed a candidacy for and later withdrawn from another position and is now substituting for another/different position. ”
I wonder if this rule is still current. karl, would you know if it is so? May I request for a link, Mr Chief Librarian / Chief Tanod?
Duterte has filed with out incident.Comelec allowed him.
Sorry MGG got lazy,all is not yet well, he might get dqd.My fear is Erap finding a technicality to sneak in.
In the same way that they allowed Intergalactic Ambassador to file. COMELEC’s going to decide on the case soon.
Link on the rules on substitution…I wonder if this has already been amended.
http://www.chanrobles.com/comelecresolutiono3253a.htm#COMELEC%20RESOLUTION%20NO.%203253-A
I have a set of questions which I hope lawyers here can answer, please?
“COMELEC RESOLUTION NO. 3253-A
AMENDED RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE FILING OF CERTIFICATES OF CANDIDACY IN CONNECTION WITH THE MAY 14, 2001 NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS.
(d) substitution made, if any.
The field office concerned shall be notified of any withdrawal of candidacy and/or substitution filed with the Commission.
Sec. 13. Substitute candidate in case of death, disqualification or withdrawal of another. – If after the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy, an official candidate of a registered political party dies, withdraws or is disqualified for any cause, he may be substituted by a candidate belonging to, and nominated by, the same political party. No substitution shall be allowed for an independent candidate. The substitute candidate nominated by the political party concerned may file his certificate of candidacy as herein provided for the office affected not later than mid-day of the election. If the death or disqualification should occur between the day before the election and mid-day of election day, the substitute candidate may file the certificate with any board of election inspectors in the political subdivision where he is a candidate, or in the case of candidates for Senator, with the Law Department of the Commission on Elections in Manila.
No person who has withdrawn his candidacy for a position shall be eligible as substitute candidate for any other position. ”
Questions:
re the above “COMELEC RESOLUTION NO. 3253-A The above resolution was for May 14, 2001 election –
1) Is the last paragraph which states that “No person who has withdrawn his candidacy for a position shall be eligible as substitute candidate for any other position. ” still in effect today or are such rules deemed replace by this resolution:
UNDER COMELEC RESOLUTION NO. 9984
Substitutes allowed until Dec. 10 and other rules on taking a candidate’s place
Published October 15, 2015 10:05pm
I cannot see that last paragraph in the 2015 resolution.
2) Do the Comelec promulgates a new resolution (every election year) that will govern that specific election?
3) If the current resolution No. 9984 does not contain that last paragraph, does it mean that that prohibition (“No person who has withdrawn his candidacy for a position shall be eligible as substitute candidate for any other position. ” is no longer applicable in the 2015 election?
Some FB posters had high hopes yesterday that the last paragraph in the May 14, 2001 resolution can be used as basis for DQ case to be filed against Duterte. I have doubts now that I cannot find that paragraph in the 2015 Comelec resolution.
http://www.chanrobles.com/comelecresolutiono3253a.htm#COMELEC%20RESOLUTION%20NO.%203253-A
Not (yet?) a lawyer, but from what I understand, the questionable aspect of Duterte’s running is not that he is a candidate who withdrew, but whether or not he can substitute for Martin Dino at all. For one thing, Dino’s COC, while using the form for presidential candidates, indicates that he is running for Mayor of Pasay City, which could mean that even if Duterte is allowed to run, it might only be for mayor of Pasay and not for president. Allowing Duterte would run given that the original candidate had a “defective” COC could be a bad precedent that could be used by future politicians. Second, Dino has already withdrawn, although I am not sure if this withdrawal is simply withdrawing for the race or it comes with cancelling his COC, in which case it might be possible that Duterte cannot run simply because there’s no COC he can substitute with.
Thanks, you’ll make a good lawyer someday, MKD.
Some FB friends posted that and I shared it as a spring board for discussion. It’s just we think that the more basis for Duterte’s DQ, the better for the chances that he will finally be disqualified. The defective CoC maybe one, the other could be this last paragraph of Sec. 13 of the 2001 Comelec Resolution, just in case that the Comelec ruled that the intent to be a Presidential candidate is sufficient and the error does not matter as it does not have the purpose to deceive.
Just hoping still, (although a lawyer at raissa’s had already opined that the said prohibition (for candidates who have filed a CoC for a certain position to substitute for another to an entirely different position) no longer applies.
Super kulit that I am, I’m still asking for other lawyers’ opinion on this matter, that’s how anxious I am that a self confessed killer and dictator and NPA supporter will somehow win the presidency.
Ok, let’s set aside all the emotion and hype about how awesome Davao is. Let’s listen in on the supposed “platforms” (or lack thereof) of this self-destructing Digong. These can be said about his interview today (12/09/15) in DZMM this 6 o’clock in the evening:
1. He will borrow money to build more infrastructures. And says infrastructure is our country’s priority. On the issue of Clark Airport, he shows how he not only lacks the details to tackle specific issues, he also suffers from disorganized thinking and abandons issues when he cannot argue them until the end. According to him, he will leave it to the “experts”. His priority is infrastructure but he has NO CLUE HOW TO ADDRESS THE LACK THEREOF.
2. He doesn’t know whether to continue the CCT in the DSWD. He initially says he will consult the experts and then, drowning in his own disorganized thoughts, he talks about his focus on the individual and how he wants to make food available and affordable. So then he wants to provide families some form of “micro”… “basta hanapbuhay”, he says. (Gulo niya diba?) AND THEN HE TOTALLY CONTRADICTS HIMSELF BY SAYING THAT HE NEEDS TO ABANDON INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE SAKE OF THE RECIPIENTS OF THE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER IN HIS FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE.
3. On the issue of Federalism, he says it is our only saving grace. How does he do it? First he says he will sign an executive order to create a commission that will determine whether Pinoys have a consensus on the issue of Federalism. Fair enough, so a referendum on the topic is his first step. However, now here is how he reveals how DISORGANIZED HE THINKS, if the majority or 50% plus 1 agrees, he will set up a constitutional convention. I think he is really confused as to the difference between consensus and the rule of the majority.
Anyway, this guy is just out to tell you what you want to hear; a demagogue not as brilliant as Marcos but just a simpleton, really a loose cannon. He doesn’t have any clue how he will govern as President. Ok na sana all of his tough-talking ways. MUKHANG AKSYON MAN. MUKHANG HINDI CORRUPT. Pero Mayor Duterte must only be left within the confines of the local level. Para sa akin, pang-Davao lang si Digong. The Philippines needs someone who does not suffer from DISORGANIZED THINKING and POPULIST tendencies so that he/she does not contradict himself because he/she doesn’t know what he/she really wants. I am not against Duterte for cussing or womanizing. Those arguments are too mababaw. I AM AGAINST DUTERTE BECAUSE HE AIN’T GOT NO CLUE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO!!!
Urong sulong nga sya di ba,ang tagal nyang magdecide daming kondisyones.
Yes, you have captured my read-out on him. Loose cannon, unbalanced, knee-jerk. Horrible representative of the nation on the global state. Investors will shun the nation. Everything goes back 10 years.
Horrible representative of the nation……..and himself…70 year old riding a Harley, trying to be macho….dirty jokes, chewing bubblegum …….yaghhhhhhh…..as i said before no Presidential material…I guess he will burn himself like Trump..now he will make curfew for every Filipino…And very friendly against foreigners..go go go Santo……..
“It pisses me off, really, to hear it na yung mga Pilipina pagta-trabahuin mo tapos ‘tong mga foreigners — wala ‘kong paki-alam sa foreigners, umalis na sila,” the mayor ranted. –
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/547353/news/nation/duterte-wants-1-a-m-curfew-if-he-becomes-president
Curfew,no can do because of the schedule of the BPOs and hospitals.
Definitely a sophisticated, worldly guy ready to take the Philippines into the future on a par with European nations, Japan. Singapore. (Detect dripping sarcasm)
USA under Trump.
They’d meet halfway.
He would become an ad hoc President dealing with ad hoc concerns. He is too trivial and there is no strategic vein in any of his thought patterns. The challenge is to expose him for who he really is so Pinoys can vote properly come May 2016 🙂
“Trivial”. Perfect description. He is, for a nation on the rise. He’s what the nation needs to leave behind. Not go toward.
If rumors are true that Mike Arroyo will fund Duterte,then that is another reason not to vote for him.The only concolation is Mike Arroyo is no longer funding Binay.
A PROFILE ON A LAWYER ON THE SPOTLIGHT
http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/115390-scrum-elamparo-grace-poe
This post is not about Elamparo versus Poe. It is about the profile of Elamparo written by a respected investigative journalist, Marites Dañguilan Vitug.
Vitug writes on Elamparo:
All this time at UP, she knew what she wanted to do as a lawyer: to be in litigation. She has experienced this in private firms (Hubert Webb and Antonio Sanchez cases, among others) and in government, as prosecutor with a Manila court and the justice department, and in GSIS. Elamparo likes the “mental challenge” that comes with litigation and she still gets to do a lot of writing, which she enjoys. “I saw how being good at it can help an individual client and being bad can be be heart-breaking [for the client].” Moreover, the lure of big-ticket cases, the adrenalin from court trials: these are not lost on her.
John Grisham would love her.
Et tu Joe? I too am a John Grisham fan. Funny, my greying brain bank did not associate, but you did. And when I read your note — BINGO.
Yes, though his last one was rather a sleeper. I particularly like his judges, those cantankerous old southern rulemakers who would straighten out Filipino courts in about a week. Whenever the judge screams for the attorneys to meet him in his private quarters, I know I’m going to learn some law.
Though I’m no Duterte fan, I made it a point to sit through his 2 hr. interview over DZMM yesterday, hoping I could find any plausible reason for the adulation people shower upon him these days. Sad to say, I really found no new solution for the existing problems of the country – traffic, graft and corruption in government, criminality, the drug menace. What struck me most was his statement that he would need 12 years to really make any significant advances in his reform program. Duterte offers nothing new on the table except tough talk. He admits no not having drawn any economic plans as of yet nor has considered anyone for a Cabinet post. He did manage not to cuss during the whole time but could no hold back his true self when he described Karen Davila as “delicious”. Oh well …….
Yeah, I don think he is honest, like about the 12 years. Just bent around the values. I love those Poe commercials promising everyone empty trains and freeways, and the Binay ads offering everyone free medical care. Talk about fantasy world. You can accomplish so much by tricking people.
Grace makes much talk about her magic wand and her populist statement that “no one will be left behind”, a take off from Obama. To date, I still have to find a country where no one was left behind even as it attained progress. Talk is so cheap and people are truly gullible.
I admire your sitting through that 2-hour interview and putting in a nutshell what that was all about.
Yep. The more deceitful and manipulative the candidate, the better the chance of winning. Says a lot about us . . . and the candidates.
No one left behind was actually a Dubya Bush “brainchild” (not Obama) which actually pertains to the supposed education reform (that never happened)
Just had to share this excerpts of Monsod’s article:
And talking about the next president, Rodrigo Duterte is now very much in the news. I have three points to make about the Duterte phenomenon.
First, the “Davao is the safest city in the world” tag was given by Numbeo, described in Wikipedia as “a crowd-sourced global database of reported … perceived crime rates … other statistics.” What does this mean? This means it is based on what people (who go to the website) say, and not on hard data, which is why they talk about “perceived” crime rates. That is why in the space of seven months—between April and November 2015—it moved from the ninth safest city to the No. 1 spot (from ninth to fourth, between April and June).
The rankings can be manipulated. In the Davao case, the ranking was based on less than 500 observations—all self-selected. On the other hand, the Economist Intelligence Unit has a list of the world’s 50 safest cities; Davao is not in the list.
In other words, it is not true that Davao is the safest city in the world.
But even if it were true, the fact is that Duterte has been mayor or in control of Davao City for more than 20 years. It took all that time to get Davao cleaned up. How much time will it take to get the Philippines cleaned up? He only has six years as president—if he wins.
Second, the reported reason Duterte gave for running, in spite of his previous “NO” answers, was that the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) on the Grace Poe disqualification case did not sit well with him. No way is he going to have an American citizen as president, he said. Having said that, he chose Alan Peter Cayetano as running mate. I have not checked on it, but I bet Alan and his sister Pia Cayetano vote the same way on important issues. Well, Pia voted for Poe, which is why the vote was 5-4 in Poe’s favor (all three Supreme Court justice-members of the SET voted against). So what does this say about Duterte’s decision-making abilities?
Third, I interviewed election lawyer Romy Macalintal (one of the best), and he says that there is no way Duterte can run, substituting for Martin Diño, PDP-Laban’s candidate. Why? Because Diño’s certificate of candidacy is flawed: It shows his candidacy for mayor of Pasay City. And he had a chance to correct the COC when he withdrew his candidacy. But he didn’t.
I was under the impression that the Commission on Elections had allowed Duterte to run, which is why I texted Macalintal. But as of this writing, Duterte has not filed his COC. So the Comelec has still to rule. (Duterte filed his COC for president before noon yesterday. The Comelec accepted it and elevated it to the en banc for resolution.—ED.) And Macalintal says the Comelec ruling cannot be favorable, unless Duterte substitutes for some other candidate, like Roy Señeres. Or unless the Comelec breaks its own rules (my take, not Macalintal’s).
In the meantime, we are left with Jojo Binay, Mar Roxas and Poe for president. Binay seems reluctant to meet his rivals in a no-holds-barred debate: He did not appear with Roxas and Poe at the Manila Polo Club, although I am told that he was on dzMM at the same time. Maybe he is right: Concentrate on the D-E class only.
Anyway, Poe’s main problem other than that she had to read her opening spiel (which raises the who-wrote-it issue) was that she did not answer the question “Did you renounce your Filipino citizenship?” but instead just went round and round. Pity that Karen Davila did not repeat the question or ask, “Is that a Yes or a No?”
Roxas sounded really “presidential,” giving facts, figures and analyses with great confidence, no notes. So as of now, it looks like Roxas is still the best man for the job.
– Solita Monsod.
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/…/talking-about-the-next-presid…
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/seguridad-ni-duterte/comment-page-2/#comment-1614 – I refer to this posting by a person who calls himself “TRUE DDS” – and my answer to him.. but I am now translating his posting into German to give an idea of the chilling mindset:
Dein Artikel ist irreführend. Du bist nicht mehr ein Bürger des Mutterlandes. Du weißt nicht wovon Du redest. Warum nimmst Du unglaubwürdige Informationen?
Falls Du DUTERTE in seiner EIGENSCHAFT als FÜHRER sehen willst, dann schaue Die Veränderungen in Davao an. ICH VERSICHERE DIR DASS DUTERTE DER NÄCHSTE PRÄSIDENT IN 2016 SEIN WIRD, nicht vergessen!
and my answer starts with this: I am similar mixture like Senator Alan Cayetano and Digong’s children, and my citizenship status is none of your business, but I never needed to make any oath like Grace Poe. Besides once Digong is President, anybody worldwide will be writing about him – so consider me an international journalist with Filipino background.
..and ends with this Now if Digong is willing, I will interview him here in Munich to get HIS side… and show him a really safe city. – but if you want read the rest…
This passage is most significant: Besides the German sources I am citing are definitely more reliable than any source in the Philippines. The Bavarian State Police are the right people to teach the PNP something which is descended as an institution from the formerly abusive PC. The State Police here in Munich is descended as an institution from the police in the city that was known as the “Capital of the Movement” – meaning National Socialism. They have learned about human rights while remaining efficient – kung saan kayo papunta pabalik na sila.
Rules of engagement in all situations – to avoid escalation and still bring subjects to justice efficiently. Gathering of real evidence to prove cases in court. All of this is proven in the links of the Hanns-Seidel Foundation of the CSU political party, that they are teaching this to PNP, better do things the right way instead of Wild South methods. Also the Bavarian State Police have rules of engagement for the “final rescue shot” in extreme hostage situations. Clear shot, clear identification and no civilians moving, abort if ordered to avoid collateral damage. Yes, they also know how to kill if needed, but they do not kill unnecessarily, and this one exception of the “final rescue shot” was heavily discussed when it was introduced. And rules of engagement mean that unnecessary shoot-outs are avoided which can cause new problems. Because every person you hurt or kill unnecessarily has relative and friends. And they could become enemies of the state.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/rody%E2%80%99s-war/ – and in this interview from 2005, Digong indirectly admit this: But what about the children? Many of those killed were minors.(Stammers.) That’s a collateral social problem. It becomes a collateral itself. Its not a question of crime anymore. That’s what makes things difficult. Well, that is another problem. I cannot answer that. – now even if you approve of extrajudicial killing, that collateral damage is simply too much. Munich is close to former Yugoslavia. I know people who have killed in the civil war there which was similar or worse than in Mindanao. Also I know a lady from Davao whose uncle was a professional killer – this is a personal source whom I consider honest. She told me how they once aborted a killing under a bahay kubo when they heard children’s voices. People from Yugoslavia who were involved told me that even for killers there are rules.
Plus this international source: http://www.japanfocus.org/-David-McNeill/3174/article.html – They came to kill her children one by one. First was Richard in 2001, then his brother Christopher. Bobby was taken from her the following year, and Fernando in 2007. Now Clarita Alia lives in fear that Arnold, her last remaining son is next. And far from protecting her shattered family, it is the police who are behind the killings, she says.
“The police said, ‘We will take your sons one by one,’” recalls the 54-year-old grandmother at the graveside of her murdered brood in the southern Philippines city of Davao, the largest city in Mindanao. “They may kill me too, but I am not afraid to die. I’m already old.”
I came here and realized that some folks here are speaking the same language as I do, and this is because I find it terribly chilling that most acquaintances I know of believe in Duterte and that most of them are in college or are college graduates and should be knowing better by delving into research instead of relying on popular quick-fix solutions.
When I speak about my beef with this God-King of Davao, everyone on my flist are silent, some of them thinking I’m alarmist. But when they speak of crime, often they expect Duterte to be the solution to their problems, and that is the problem itself — can he manifest himself anywhere in the 7,100 islands like Superman? He can’t, and if he needs to put his policies into motion, he needs people, and what people he needs? The military, the PNP, to enforce his laws. But he can’t simply get them to mobilize them without considering an incentive to do so, so he must pay them. If not, he’ll let his stormtroopers to deal with criminals, mostly by using punishment ala-Cultural Revolution. But that isn’t possible when creating the police state of his vision, so he must declare Martial Law, and to do that he needs a reason to declare it, like a massive incident ala-Plaza Miranda bombing.
But even then… If he is elected, he will be at odds with the military, as well as having to put up with the opposition in Congress and the Senate and possibly the judiciary (this is why it’s good to have checks and balances and that power is invested in the office and not the man), and if he gets out of line completely, either impeachment, mutiny, personal enemies or mortality could take him out of the picture.
(I’m sure that even if elected Trump will face the same opposition against his bloody promises and possibly he’ll be impeached in the first six months.)
I’d rather want a presidential candidate who would fully support universal education because ignorance is keeping us from going further, but at the moment, it seems that fanatical devotion asking him to destroy crime at all costs in desperation has overridden all other concerns, including freedom of speech, of movement, and human rights in general.
@ Madlanglupa
A jem of an analysis on basic PH Politics and Civics. I say Politics because it goes to the heart of what politics should be all about, bridge-building where differences are chasm-deep and graded infrastructure where friendlies are; Civics, because the principles contained here are truly worthy as takeaways for the Filipino young who are just coming into their own as citizens of a good country to develop in. Thank you.
I have for a long time looked for the reason why your generation is so different from now…
the chasm between rich and poor has widened, plus the population density has increased. Well a lot of people have now grown more affluent due to remittances and BPO money.
Will says the middle class is there again… because I still remember the fake civics that the rich crowd played, but it was the civics of Intramuros – those within the walls, and the Indios, I mean the masa were just extras… increasing wealth and access means they want to be part of the body politic as well.. it was always like that in history… the French Revolution was because the nascent upper middle class wanted a part in things… the Propaganda Movement was not because of poverty but because newly affluent ilustrados wanted to have their part as well, then you had those like Bonifacio who worked in the trading companies and made money much like the BPO crowd does today… and also wanted a role in things… Philippine Revolution…
what does this look like? I cannot post the symbol this reminds me of because I am posting from Germany and it is considered a “Symbol against the German Constitution” and can put me in jail… http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/2903/6795/original.jpg?w=600&h
http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/06/10/1464061/davaos-duterte-law-and-order-bbl-federal-option-and-what-makes-leader
Leadership mentors. This prompted me to ask him whether he had taken lessons from Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. To this, he said “yes.”
But then, he further added, “also from Adolf Hitler”. A man who could command great obedience from citizens deserves study, he said.
Juan Nationalist has a beautiful picture of a young boy who was a criminal and now is reformed.
It embodies the idea that everybody should be given a chance. Duterte is like dentists before who just pulled teeth. Root canal is the way now – Duterte would make the Philippines BUNGI…
Excellent analogy. Another analogy they used is that when you are sick and you go to a doctor, the latter gives prescriptions but you still don’t get well. So, you go to a new doctor. Well, there’s another way looking it. The patient could be the problem, might not be following the prescription. When the current government and its approaches do not work, you need to have a new breed of leader and a new approach – a tough one at that. But then again, it could be that the government is not entirely the problem. It could be the people themselves.
I was a very engaged Filipino community leader in Germany… in the middle of many things… Association President, Association Grey Eminence, Embassy Casual…. nearly everything.
The stuff with Arroyo and some stuff that happened in the Munich Filipino community made me completely isolate myself from them years ago… too much bullshit… the past few years have been a gradual return to everything Filipino. And there IS a new breed of Filipinos there now. Only this new breed – international but STILL Filipino, must help educate those that are Filipino but lack the confidence to face the world, and also educate the wannabe Americans that they can be Filipino without losing sophistication. This is OUR Paris CCOP delegation, off hours:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas – a lesson in what can happen if security forces are given uncontrolled power… Duterte may be able to control the DDS or whatever he has locally… but nationally or even federally some groups may find their own game… Mexico is truly dangerous.
Powerful message…
I am glad Aquino came out with a book describing martial law.
“Peace” under Duterte is like….
“Peace” under Ultimate Tsukiyomi (for all yah Narutards out there. Hehe)
Uchiha Madara, who claims to be anti-war and merely pro-peace, wants to put EVERYONE under a genjutsu (illusion) of peace
Basically, Madara wants total control not only of the entire shinobi world, but also of Uchiha Sasuke’s powerful sharingan eyes
Is it a coincidence that Duterte looks like the tyrant in Battle Royale?
Battle Royale is similar to Hunger Games and probably inspired it.
DUTERTE PLATFORM and VISION: Philippine Star Interview (UNCUT version they don’t want you to see) Philippine Star deleted this video 1 hour after it went viral.
I don’t know how many of you have seen this uncut version.
I spend just 10 mins to get a feel of the man. My God, it’s so juvenile. I did’nt bother to finish the whole video. I get goose pimple imagining him representing Philippines in some high power global conventions.
Do you have the link sir?
I see. It’s still on youtube.com. Thanks.
Thank you Anibongpalm.
If you were to draw a family tree, Marcos is the trunk. The branches are:
Llamanzares by virtue of FPJ’s association with Marcos;
Santiago by naming Bongbong as her VP;
Binay by implication of Enrile and Erap—with Imelda in hand-raising of Bongbong;
Duterte by almost naming Bongbong as his VP if not for mixed signals.
Mar-Leni are the only ones distinct and separate from the Hydra-headed monster, sorry for mixed metaphor.
Vintage WGV — a picture in words!