Philippine laws are a snake’s nest

What Philippine laws look like [Photo source: World Viewers Stop, You Tube, “Snake Island”]

By Joe America

In a recent article, I looked for quick and easy ways to fix Manila. This one looks at the hopeless snake’s nest that is Philippine laws. I can’t see a quick fix. Solution is keyed to the quality of legislators elected and voters are not thinking so well these days.

Philippine laws, ironically enough, form the barrier that prevents laws from working. Laws are so detailed, so lacking in clarity, so conflicting, so out of touch with what NEEDS to be done, that they are hard to implement, hard to enforce, and hard to adjudicate.

Most are well intended. But take the case of Senator Aquino’s bill providing free college education to all Filipinos. It was enacted without a budget. And the expense will be onerous, P100 billion a year according to Finance Secretary Diokno. The entire Department of Education budget in 2017 is P543 billion. Free education is a HUGE cost. Now finance people are scratching their heads to find what programs to rob to pay for the bill.

It was a well-intended law passed on emotion (and faith), without any pragmatic context or understanding of consequences.

There are other examples. The building code is a national law, so if construction rules need to be updated for better safety, it requires an act of Congress to get it done. Ridiculous. Code maintenance should be delegated to the implementing agency.

There is no National Land Use Law. The gorgeous and precious resources of the nation are being chopped up indiscriminately and the Legislature is busy investigating individual cases of fraud, murder, or drugs. “CSI Manila”.

When a law is taken up for debate, there is what I would call a “no offense” rule. The proposed bill has to make everyone happy. Filipino lawmakers are notoriously incapable of compromise. They must win on every issue or vote no. That’s why there is no national land use law, or no anti-dynasty law. Legislators don’t give, don’t compromise. They take.

The details in the laws also make it possible for judges to rule on any case as they feel politically empowered to do. They don’t act on legal principle, they act on the nits of laws. That’s why President Aquino was assigned negligence for DAP even though anyone who ever thought about it past the politics knew he did the right thing. Faced with doing bad projects, sending money back to treasury and killing the economy, or investing the money where it would do good, he picked doing what is right for the nation. And the Supreme Court said he did wrong.

It is one area where all presidents agree. The Supreme Court ties their hands.

Well, I suppose it it isn’t the Supreme Court, actually. Bottom line, it is the small-minded thinking of lawmakers. These are the boxers and entertainers who insist that they and only they can approve the size of nails to be used in construction projects across the nation.

Until lawmakers grasp that prioritizing bills by need, not politics, is a critical thinking SKILL, and delegation is a SKILL, and defining context and the pragmatics of funding is a SKILL, and compromise is a SKILL, then the nation will continue to produce nonsense for laws, like a cat wrapping itself in its own ball of yarn.

And . . . and . . . and . . . until voters get a grasp that lawmaking requires SKILLS other than popularity, then laws will continue to be a snake’s nest.

 

Comments
104 Responses to “Philippine laws are a snake’s nest”
  1. Vicara says:

    Yes, I was disappointed–even shocked–by Bam Aquino’s bill, a nakedly populist move that the president treated with the contempt it invited–by signing the bill and almost gleefully pointing out that there isn’t any money to pay for it.

    Which only goes to show that wearing a pair of Ninoy lookalike glasses and sporting a famous surname is not going to cut it any more. What nonsense to put us all through. What a waste of political capital.

    • madlanglupa says:

      It was even before PRRD, and assuming that Roxas — if he were to win — would ensure that the bill has sufficient funding. But this is PRRD, and of course, that President will go to great lengths to throw around bread and circuses, in an attempt to soften his image during the extermination spree.

      • tinacuyugan says:

        It was cleverer than that, I think. The administration made sure that the bill was attached to Sen. Aquino’s name, signed it–o, ayan, we’re supporting a “yellow” measure!–then promptly undercut same by pointing out there’s no funding–and no provisions for funding–in what comes off looking like a half-baked bill. Maybe the bill looks better when one reads the fine print. But who ever does? We the people consistently drop the ball on such things.

        Admittedly, I’ve retained some negative impressions of Aquino from the election campaign period, so I’m “bias.”

        • I actually think President Duterte was afraid NOT to sign it because students were ready to protest and he did not want to be so publicly criticized. I have not seen it used to criticize the yellows.

  2. arlene says:

    So many laws being signed and implemented but are not followed. The National Building code is one . I have a neighbor here who had his second floor added three years ago. Minimal steel bars used and no beams used and even destroyed my roof adjacent to their building. Debris were not taken cared of. I complained about it with the subdivision management and to our Engineering at the Municipal Hall, no actions were made. Sinita lang. Until now, walang plaster sa walls outside.

    Good morning Joeam!

  3. madlanglupa says:

    The great problem with so many laws, is that they’re more likely to be ignored, given our history with a combination of miseducation and contempt towards authority.

  4. karlgarcia says:

    We maybe flabergasted by the existing and supposed to be existing laws.
    The existing laws as you said are too detailed and yet not complete due to the constant math in crafting them.
    Just to make everybody happy you add, subtract, multiply sometimes you divide.
    Then the implementing agencies of the current admin during the crafting of the irr, also do their addition and subtraction that anti distracted law was originally meant for texting and calling, but the implementing agencies added a lot like rosaries, etc just to show they are strict, but for a certain sector like the public transport like paying the jeepney driver, you may legislate all you want, but how can you enforce that without changing something.

    I read the latest news were slaughtered dogs were found, you can eat rabbits and horses, but not dogs?
    Forget it, just sharing it.

    The supposed to be existing laws have been filed and refiled time and again,
    but never gets passes because of the risk of no reelection.

  5. josephivo says:

    A mixed grill of problems with the legal system in the Philippines (many are interconnected):

    1. Trying to square the circle. Trying to combine the common law system with the Napoleon law system. This results in many logical contradictions and creates unlimited ways to delay.

    2. Laws made to create “income”. Just look at the divorce laws, with money you can have as many divorces as you want (called the annulments), without is impossible.

    3. Justice for sale. Just look at the annulments or at most Supreme Court cases.

    4. Free TRO’s.

    5. The culture were repeating is more important than understanding and thus the one able to recite the most detail is the one with the most status.

    6. The same person can be an expert boxer, an expert evangelist, an expert singer, an expert prosecutor and thus an expert lawmaker.

    7. A president saying “to hell with laws, I’ll kill them anyway”.

    8. A president proud of planting evidence when he was prosecutor.

    9. Lawmakers first priority are not laws to make the Philippines more efficient and effective in providing happiness for all, but to protect the wealth and entitlements of their own class.

    10. The culture in the government is one of lawyers and the letter of the law, not of engineers and entrepreneurs and the outcome and feasibility of a law.

    • Edgar Lores says:

      *******
      On no. 6, he is also an expert basketball player.
      *****

      • Sup says:

        And expert babaero…. 🙂

        • karlgarcia says:

          Paquiao maybe in an expert boxer, but he was lousy at basketball.
          He tried to be like Mike. ( Jordan and Tyson)

      • josephivo says:

        … and this omission was made while knowing too well how important basketball is when crafting new laws. My sincere apologies.

        • karlgarcia says:

          They dribble,shoot,pass, foul,commit errors.
          My example Paquiao dribbles by mumbling when he talks, by delaying, etc
          He shoots down a witness by “contempting” them.
          He passes the blame on people and he commits errors.

    • The strength of the German party and civil service system can be seen in its laws:

      1. Career civil servants in ministries draft them. Almost all ministry employees have jobs for life and are ‘one mile deep’ experts.

      2. Parties ask for changes based on the direction they want the law to take. Stakeholders are often invited during drafting.

      3. Debating and passing is the last stage. IRRs or Ausführungsverordnungen are the job of the ministries. They have to hurry upon signing.

      The Napoleonic system (Codes, not Bills) makes it easier to see which laws apply. Codes are amended so even a civilian can roughly see the current status. Less of a paradise for Winkeladvokaten – streetcorner lawyers – and more trust in the legal system.

      Of course Germany has been compared to an orchestra. Don’t expect violinists to fiddle solo over here. Or monkeys with cymbals to play.

    • EXCELLENT elaboration of the peculiarities that create the snake’s nest. The last is a killer of progress.

  6. grammy2342 says:

    SKILL – doubtful if anyone in this government of ours knows the meaning and the practice of it.
    Soft skills, hard skills, nonsense skills…What the present government knows is KILL.

    My parents were both lawyers but as the Bible says it: Lawyers give us a hard time.

    Laws are worded in such a way that a simple layman, and even a not so simple person like me, cannot really make heads and tails of it.

    So in the labyrinth were all these laws are crowded together, you are so right to call it a Snake’s Nest.

  7. Sup says:

    Mostly it is enforcement.
    Not enforcing because the election system..
    The Barangay always complain no money…..but….you see dogs without leash every where……no penalty.
    Same open burning …you see the smoke from a mile…..no penalty….
    The municipal did spend millions for a pedestrian lane going to market..
    The people in that street expanded the houses till the pedestrian lane…Made shops…
    Than even put their items at the side walk..So walking in the street again.
    Now they put the items at the street and signs ”no parking” so the street is halve full off items, plastic covers etc.
    No penalties because during election time they need those shop owners….
    Zebra stop? Drivers? Waste of paint……

    http://pawsphilippines.weebly.com/animal-welfare-laws.html
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/284324/denr-bans-backyard-burning-of-garbage
    http://www.mmda.gov.ph/13-legal-matters/mmc-resolutions/96-mmda-resolution-no-02-28
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/351607/stop-at-zebra-lanes-or-else

    Most countries ”use” the law to” make” money used for road maintenance/ improvement/ Social security/ Health care…

    My 5 peso for today.

  8. alicia m. kruger says:

    “What’s in it for me?” a common question from most Filipino lawmakers. Yes, yes, yes. Pass the convoluted bill please. There’s plenty of room in the nest! Ha ha.

  9. Vicara says:

    With his popular mandate and his control of the Senate and Congress, this president could have initiated important reforms in laws the judicial system. He has had extraordinary moments of incriminatory self-confession which–since anyway he’d felt compelled to share–he could have used to turn things round:

    “Yes, I did plant evidence as a prosecutor. That was wrong, I did it because the judicial system was flawed and slow. This is how we’re fixing it.”

    “Yes, Davao was once ‘NIcaragdao’ and we had to deploy vigilantes in order to survive, and things spiraled out of control. But that is not it should have been or should ever be again. Here are new safeguards against abuse of formal and informal police power.”

    “Yes, land use is a mess, and land management issues have long held back development, particularly in Mindanao. Here are solutions.”

    The much-awaited draft Bangsamoro Basic Law may have some actual, sensible solutions with regard to land management in the current autonomous region, which could set templates for the rest of the country–and even the federalist project–if they work out.

    But after weeks of having the draft BBL on his desk, he’s just passed it on to Congress with a note that basically tells them, it’s OK, no need to bestir yourselves, keep this on the back burner.

  10. NHerrera says:

    It is rather obvious if one thinks about it, that;

    – the Filipino lawmaker has carried a form of democracy n the crafting of laws to extremes;

    – the pakikisama among the lawmakers except between the two houses of congress ensures that the law generally is a weak one, or in the case of the exceptional ones, takes ages to pass;

    – it is quite clear from an analytic (or mathematical framework, if you will) that if all options are put in a halo-halo way so as to please all lawmakers that it cannot be optimum for the country in the long term;

    – no big picture logic, no hard or analytic thought on the conflict of the new law with other laws, no hard thought on the budget and other country constraints and its future impact on succeeding generations.

    Yes, Irineo, I admire the German and Japanese mind and the way they do things; no wonder they make such good machines.

    • Edgar Lores says:

      *******
      On the first point — that is crafting of laws to extremes — both houses of Congress are not even crafting.

      They are too busy conducting hearings “in aid of legislation,” grandstanding before the cameras, and either attacking someone (political opponents) or absolving someone (the president and his kin).

      The Legislature is acting more like an extension of the Judiciary. Summoning witnesses. Gathering or discarding evidence. Issuing verdicts.

      It is not attending to business and this shows in the paltry number of bills passed… which perhaps is a blessing (less poorly constructed laws). The important issues are not being tackled.
      *****

      • NHerrera says:

        edgar,

        Yes, of course: I missed that very important element — crafting laws instead of acting as part of the Judiciary in aid of the next election or in aid of The Boss!

      • josephivo says:

        Lawmakers are not interested in laws so it is delegated to assistants. On their turn these assistants are too busy with politics, gossip and the distribution of goodies whatever the source. So they delegate to some trainees who will try to outdo what was ever written before without having any idea what the real intention of the law should be. .

    • Laws define the machinery of state.. Max Weber BTW wrote about things like that also.

      A well-run state is like electricity, Internet service or public transport – it makes things easier for everyone.

      But yes, I read about how public sidewalks are occupied and useless.. I wonder then how long it would take Filipinos to mess up even Singapore if they miraculously get it in full working condition, all for themselves. Didn’t they also mess up what Quezon left to them?

  11. madlanglupa says:

    Offtopic:

    Yes, we do remember. But we’re now in a war footing.

    God knows it’s going to be SNAFU up to 11 next week.

    • madlanglupa says:

      BTW, to our friend Bill: do note that benign0 is an Australian resident and knowing that his pro-regime blogs often border onto what amounts to supporting hate speech, he’s accountable in accordance to Australian law.

  12. Sabtang Basco says:

    Philippine Laws are inutile if Philippines has Fake News. (Before Donald Trump coined “Fake News” there is this guy in Philippine blogosphere who has been going around with his “pekeng-peryodistas”)

    Fake Op-Ed Philippine columnists do not analyze application of laws if they did it is so convoluted that readers get lost in legalese and Latin phrases. Our big boys real news columnists in the U.S. never quote lawyerly Latin phrases. Why do fake law talking heads in the papers speak Latin? Doing so make their pieces logical? Maybe they want the scare the readers with their “knowledge”.

    They are also fond of quoting Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Michaevelli. Why? To show to Filipinos they read books and drama? They even define words before they begin their column. They think Filipinos are that dense?

    This is unacceptable.

  13. Sabtang Basco says:

    U.S. Immigration Laws are thick and voluminous so are U.S. Tax Codes, yet, they can fit the instructions at the back of Petition for Alien Relative form in concise and easy to understand absent of Latin and legalese. Individual Tax codes are available every Filing season. Not hardbound. Not in volumes. But in packets. Easy to read. Easy to understand. Not convoluted. Simple and easy.

    Philippine Laws are crafted to discombobulate.

  14. chemrock says:

    Maybe this is the tipping point… when toads in the snake pit feel uneasy. Gordon, Villaneuva, Lacson, Gatchalian…speaking out against the killing of Kian.

    JFK ! JFK ! JFK !…..

    • Edgar Lores says:

      *******
      But should there be forgiveness for these people?

      No! A thousand times, no!

      They did not just stand by. They were complicit.
      *****

    • I hope so, chemrock. THIS got to stop.

      Another law that is being broken by someone who should know better. (Claims that he hates corruption but leads the impunity parade):

      “REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3019
      ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT

      Sec. 3. Corrupt practices of public officers. – In addition to acts or omissions of public officers already penalized by existing law, the following shall constitute corrupt practices of any public officer and are hereby declared to be unlawful:

      (a) Persuading, inducing or influencing another public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority or an offense in connection with the official duties of the latter, or allowing himself to be persuaded, induced, or influenced to commit such violation or offense.”

      “Let’s kill another 32 every day. Maybe we can reduce what ails this country.”

      https://www.yahoo.com/news/least-80-dead-escalation-philippines-war-drugs-033339263.html

      • Edgar Lores says:

        *******
        1. Let’s do the math.

        o Voters: 16,601,997
        o Representatives: ~280
        o Senators: ~17
        o Palace: ~20

        2. That’s a total of approximately 16,602,314.

        3. At 32 per day, that will take 518,823 days. Divided by 365, that would be 1,422 years. That’s a millenium and a half.

        4. Nope, too long.
        *****

    • karlgarcia says:

      Will another independent commission should be the one to handle the investigations as suggested by Lagman? Agrava,Davide,Feliciano,Melo then the next one.

      • Rep. Layman urged the President to form an independent investigating commission. It won’t happen, I’d guess. Just as Trump is trying to stop a Russia investigation. They are the culprits. Why agree to be investigated?

        • karlgarcia says:

          Yes, All the fact finding/Truth Commisions before that is sort of a president telling the people: “I’m allowing my self to be investigated”which in hindsight I don’t really think they would have allowed that to happen.

          • Edgar Lores says:

            *******
            We don’t have the proper mechanisms to create and maintain commissions (or special counsels as in the US or royal commissions as in Oz.)

            o The Agrava Commission was created by Marcos. That made the commission beholden to him and, accordingly, it was a failure. It was not able to pinpoint (refused?) the mastermind(s).
            o The Truth Commission was created by PNoy but was shot down by the Supreme Court.
            o In the US, the special counsel (or independent prosecutor) is appointed by the Attorney General (or Deputy Attorney General in Trump’s case), who is appointed by the president.
            o In Oz, royal commissions are created by the Head of State (that is, the Governor General who represents the Queen) on the advice of the ruling administration.

            Edcel Lagman would have Duterte create a commission to look into EJKs. Yet he challenged the creation of the Truth Commission on the basis that only Congress can create and fund commissions.

            o In the case of EJKs, the commission should definitely not be created by Duterte due to conflict of interests.
            o Congress is not liable to create a commission because the supermajorities in both houses are beholden to Duterte.

            So who will create an EJK commission?

            No one… until the current powers-that-be are overturned.

            And should a miracle occur and should one be created, it’s creation should not be subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court as the Truth Commission was.

            I think the key factors for credible outcomes of a commission are (a) utter probity of commission members; (b) complete independence; and (c) immense powers to carry out the investigation.
            *****

      • josephivo says:

        I’m lost. There is a human rights commission not functioning as it should, will a new commission with a different name function as it should?

        More of the same leads to more of the same. This is the subject of this article, redundancy in legislation and non-functioning of the same.

        If hitting a nail with your screwdriver doesn’t work, don’t buy a bigger screwdriver.

        • popoy says:

          If I may ventilate suffocating gaseous mental pollutants: Many public servants most public officials GLORY in their positions with prefixes of HONORS affixed to their names. THEY ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS. Their job is to see to it that lots of vermin in the society should end up in the courts, in jail, or paroled or pardon or death in prisons. They the taxpayers’ thick skinned dependents beat their breast, cry their hearts out, appear as heroes BUT THEY DON’T DO THEIR JOBS. They are extra weights and burdens to teachers and doctors who try keep the society knowledgeable and healthy. They are brilliant and rich freeloaders with eche bucheches of alibis and excuses.

          • lindrell says:

            Pardon my ignorance but I find your use of este and eche bucheches quite jarring in your comments. Wouldn’t using fart instead of ventilating be more mainstream, not high falutin ? What’s eche bucheche, anyway? No I am not on an acid trip but, Sñr. Popoy I need help in understanding what’s going on in Pinas and your prose is making it difficult. The TSOH column always makes my day but eche bucheche deters my comprehension.

            • Edgar Lores says:

              *******
              If it helps, I usually substitute the appropriate form of “nonsense” (noun or adjective) where “eche bucheche” is used.

              The other forms are “nonsensical” (adjective) and “nonsensicality” (noun).

              Thus, “They are brilliant and rich freeloaders with eche bucheches of alibis and excuses.” can be understood as:

              o “They are brilliant and rich freeloaders with eche bucheches of nonsense alibis and excuses.”

              o “They are brilliant and rich freeloaders with eche bucheches of nonsensical alibis and excuses.”

              o “They are brilliant and rich freeloaders with eche bucheches nonsensicalities of alibis and excuses.

              Caveats:

              o Sometimes “nonsense” does not fit. Simpler words may do like “lots” in the above example. At times more complex words have to be resorted to depending on context.
              o The term can be used in a positive sense.

              But let Señor Popoy explain himself:

              Upside down


              *****

            • Thanks for saying it straight, lindrell. I have a hard time with that as well.

            • popoy says:

              “No I am not on an acid trip but, Sñr. Popoy I need help in understanding what’s going on in Pinas and your prose is making it difficult.”

              If I’m PIKON lindrel I’ll ask are you saying I am on acid trip to be able to say and be understood to call people pahilatra and garutay but that’s before acid surfaced in law abiding communities where politicians are not thieves. Try to see the link provided by Edgar (THANKS Edgar) about my eche bucheche. If that doesn’t help, I am not ashamed to confess I am ignorant of high falluting mainstream political correctness eche bucheche. If you need help in understanding what’s going in Pinas, you’ll need first to know that in TSOH my eche bucheche like a broken record is that most of us (that includes me) are snoozers in the noodle house–natutulog sa pancitan.

              The thing is I know you do not mean to offend Lindrel as others might be mistaken and be happy about it but I need to say as others commented here that in prose there sometimes could be poetry which to some is hard to decipher and understand.

        • karlgarcia says:

          @josephivo,
          The Using of a screw driver instead of a hammer is like your first point earlier, trying to square the circle.
          Without the mechanisms mentioned by Edgar, ( commissions) won’t work.
          It will just be more of the same.

        • Edgar Lores says:

          *******
          The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is a constitutional body but does not have the requisite powers of a special commission.

          o Probity. CHR is headed by lawyers. Special commissions would be chaired by retired or serving justices.

          o Independence. CHR has financial independence and the commissioners have a security of tenure for 7 years. Four of the current commissioners were appointed by PNoy in 2015. However, CHR is not immune from political criticism. Duterte has asked the current chairman, Gascon, to “shut up” and called him “naive” and “idiot.” Duterte has said, “Human rights are shit.” In effect, CHR has been sidelined.

          o Powers. CHR has investigatory powers and to monitor government compliance with international treaties. It does not have the power of adjudication. This is the legal process of a court hearing and pronouncing a judgment. De Lima tried to investigate the DDS but did not get very far.

          A special commission would be a different kind of animal. In Oz, royal commissions have great powers and are feared — as are special counsels in the US. Mueller, for example, has taken the significant step of impaneling a grand jury in the investigation of Russia’s interference in the US elections.
          *****

    • karlgarcia says:

      It took Kian’s death to make the Palace say this is no longer an isolated case and one death is one too many.

      http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/924082/war-on-drugs-ernesto-abella-extrajudicial-killings-kian-loyd-delos-santos-rodrigo-duterte-oscar-albayalde-vitaliano-aguirre-ii-nbi

  15. popoy says:

    To their co-workers, to their neighbors, to their friends, to their President, to their families, it is plm, p l m, PLM, Police Lives Matter, Policemen’s Lives Matter.

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/6-police-officers-shot-1-fatally-in-shootings-across-us/ar-AAqjodp?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

  16. popoy says:

    EVERYTIME the POTUS opens his mouth or twits a line or two, immediately the papers and the cyberspace news respond with this:

    but that music is the medium is the message

    but this is what really happens:

    • popoy says:

      ah the words that tell it all, let’s do the twist, rocking all around, rip it up, lonely tear drops, and more like being nothing but hound do.

  17. popoy says:

    This is the dance of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS:

    AND THIS

    • popoy says:

      Don’t stop, keep viewing the last link above ’till the realization sinks in that racism is negative and could lead to hatred while RACIALISM should be the broader ideology learn from the youth who causes and create the generation gap so that the specie will survive the Darwinian survival of the fittest. Notice the beauty of the race mixes. One need not be aged 70 and above to accept and appreciate the longer the epoch gap in years the more positive should be the view towards the weaknesses of mankind. History grows stronger as it continue to snub and outlast prejudice and bigotry.

      • karlgarcia says:

        @popoy, allow me to ramble.

        There are political correctness movements, diversity movements,equality movements, and other acceptance movements.
        Like MLK said about not getting along because of fear and not knowing each other.
        But with all the getting along movements there is still hatred because for one, familiarity breeds contempt, eveything is shared nothing to store in a diary locked up somewhere, sure we all say we have nothing to hide there is now the I woke up like this post, etc.
        Smokes and mirrors of the social media causes unecessary stress and envy among other downside of the social media.

        • popoy says:

          Karl if I may political correctness can’t be a MOVEMENT to me. It is the snake medicine of establishmentarianism. Not totally bad it is the prescription for the common cold of the common man by the elite. It is relieves but does not cure.

          I’ll attempt to concretize what you just said Karl in terms of S-R Model of behavior where a stimulus begets a response. Trump and detractors don’t get along because more of fear of Media of what Trump can do than Trump fearing media of what media can do to him (like sissy politically correct Presidents). This happens because they just don’t know each other and they just also don’t get along. But to know each other more than what is necessary could be trouble too. And so on.

          I think I got the message Karl.

  18. karlgarcia says:

    http://globalnation.inquirer.net/159857/antonio-carpio-maritime-dispute-south-china-sea-west-philippine-sea-sandy-cay-pag-asa-island

    Invasion? Is Justice Carpio saying Martial Law should be expanded to cover WPS?
    The thing is I agree, it is an invasion, but with consent.

    • Interesting, that would empower both civilian (Coast Guard) and military authorities.

      • karlgarcia says:

        Yes it is very interesting, would Cayetano continue downplaying this?

        Andrew has an article tomorrow, maybe aside from shabu, Andrew also tackled WPS as a continuation of his series.

        • andrewlim8 says:

          As a sneak preview for tomorrow’s article, the theory I’m going to discuss will show how the shabu/drug war is inextricably linked to the West Phil Sea issue and how the Philippines and Filipinos are being fucked twice over – the death toll from the drug war and the loss of Philippine territory.

          • karlgarcia says:

            @Andrew,
            Thank you very much for the sneak preview.

          • popoy says:

            andrewlim8, if I may, not for MAY BE but for sure EVERYTHING is inextricably link no matter how distant to every other thing in the Universe but that no one knows with certainty how it began or how it will end. The dynamics of linkages is discernible from an art of Leonardo of a naked man (Vitruvian Man) with outstretched arms as the structural-functional model made by God for the Universe.

            The long long way to the good life paradigm starts from the still unknown to the atoms and DNA may be unmeasurable to the unmeasurable happiness as desired end. How then can one characterize US journalism by linking it to songs and music that sends messages of TWIST, rocking and rolling, RIP it up, etcetera. How can DANCE be depicted in the generation gap that ultimately ensure the survival of the specie. Rizal’s Hope of the Motherland; Hitler’s Hope of the Fatherland. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle says it well: It’s elementary My dear Watson.

            There comes a time when a person, man or woman fueled by greed and powered by megalomania fails to see the crime against humanity, of how a solution is but a delusion resulting in incalculable harm to a segment of mankind.

            Of how a mere commercial action movie mirrors life itself; mimicking unfolding events so close to the eche bucheche of home politics. It’s preposterous how and why a HITMAN needs a BODYGUARD. How a movie’s action sequences of a Fleming’s and Ludlum’s fiction can all be deftly put together to distract and entertain snoozers in noodle houses.

            See the movie to find out how and why Superman HITMAN Samuel Jackson needs Ryan Reynolds as his bodyguard. Just to give way to entertainment see ineptness? of the ICJ, the ICC, the Interpol and the blue bereted UN peacekeepers. The fiction could in a way be closer to home than the real connection between the WPS and the illegal drugs war. Opinions should remain tentative till after sufficient discussion here in TSOH.

            • karlgarcia says:

              Sorry for not waiting until tomorrow.
              My succeeding opinions regarding the matter are tentatively set for tomorrow.

  19. popoy says:

    andrewlim8, if I may, not for MAY BE but for sure EVERYTHING is inextricably link no matter how distant to every other thing in the Universe but that no one knows with certainty how it began or how it will end. The dynamics of linkages is discernible from an art of Leonardo of a naked man with outstretched arms as the structural-functional model of God for the Universe.

    The long long way to the good life paradigm starts from the still unknown to the atoms and DNA may be unmeasurable to the unmeasurable happiness as desired end. It was even incomplete for the genius artist to study first the human anatomy so he can do the glorious depictions in the Sistine Chapel.

    How then can one characterize US journalism by linking it to songs and music that sends messages of TWIST, rocking and rolling, RIP it up, etcetera. How can DANCE be depicted in the generation gap that ultimately ensure the survival of the specie. Rizal’s Hope of the Motherland; Hitler’s Hope of the Fatherland. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle says it well: It’s elementary My dear Watson.

    There comes a time when a person, man or woman fueled by greed and powered by megalomania fails to see the crime against humanity, of how a solution is but a delusion resulting in incalculable harm to a segment of mankind.

    Of how a mere commercial action movie mirrors life itself; mimicking unfolding events so close to the eche bucheche of politics. It’s preposterous how and why a HITMAN needs a BODYGUARD. How a movie’s action sequences of a Fleming’s and Ludlum’s fiction can all be put together to distract and entertain snoozers in noodle houses.

    See the movie to find out how and why Superman Samuel Jackson needs Ryan Philips as his bodyguard. Just to give way to entertainment see ineptness? of the ICJ, the ICC, the Interpol, the blue bereted UN peacekeepers, It could be closer to home than the connection between the WPS and the illegal drugs war. Opinions should remain tentative till after sufficient discussion here in TSOH.

  20. Sup says:

    I guess it is about time the snakes start biting the law-makers?

    • popoy says:

      I have to scroll up to the above photo to see whether they are poised to bite each other. Well, that’s stretch and a corruption of an unreality to a truth.

      • lindrell says:

        Hence the infamy and lack of respect in the appropriation of a second language. Let the snakes gobble up the eche eches and be ‘echar(red)’ into the bottomless pit.

  21. In plain language, the Senate Majority (in aid of legislation) will probe PNP regarding its EJK accountability in the War on Drugs. Let us see if they can connect the dots to the big fish. Can this bunch be trusted in bringing out the truth? Are they codependent no more? I highly doubt it (but it will be my pleasure if ya’ll can prove me wrong for once).

    https://www.rappler.com/nation/179401-senate-majority-bloc-resolution-kian-loyd-delos-santos-drug-war-killings

    • NHerrera says:

      JP, as they say “Miracles do happen.” But this dot-connecting activity may not lead to the big fish, or if it does you need an electron microscope, if that, to see it.

  22. sonny says:

    The snake blog installment is closing, Joe. Thus I have read and restate from there:

    (1)“…Until lawmakers grasp that prioritizing bills by need, not politics, is a critical thinking SKILL, and delegation is a SKILL, and defining context and the pragmatics of funding is a SKILL, and compromise is a SKILL, then the nation will continue to produce nonsense for laws, like a cat wrapping itself in its own ball of yarn.

    And . . . and . . . and . . . until voters get a grasp that lawmaking requires SKILLS other than popularity, then laws will continue to be a snake’s nest.”

    (2) The PCOO theme is about frustrating the country’s information handling & mgmt.

    Why the PCOO accreditation program for bloggers is unethical

    I assume the running analogy in both is poisoning (snake bite) by our current lawgivers and rendering their legal output as useless for the country’s good.

    As in all snakebites, antitoxins are vital to unparalyze the country’s nervous system. And so “the devil in details” rears its head. And the suggestions in the blog installment are a big start, I feel.

  23. chemrock says:

    Correct me if I’m wrong.

    Chinese customs informed BOC of the illicit shipment and asked them to hands off Richard Tan.
    Richard Tan said Chinese customs informed him of the illicit shipment, and he in turn informed BOC.

    In Philippines it’s forever ‘he said, I said’ kind of stuff. I’m really laughing at the way the govt is handling these things. The impression is always bumbling idiots. The executive agency — we don’t trust them with whatever they try to do. The legislative – getting in on the act for show, nothing will ever come out of this. I’ll tell you what any other country would have done in this particular case of 6.4b peso shabu. The PRC ambassador would have been called into explain. And one hell of explanation he needs to give me — when your customs knew about the shipment, why did you let it go, why endanger Philippines? And have you made any arrests in China?

    Edgar is probably right. It’s a game, but as to what purpose? The damage is to Pulong, so what is the grand idea? Perhaps Duts is not delivering on certain commitments?

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