Tao Pala Siya
Senator Trillanes at home with his dog, a Chow named Bruno, preventing Bruno from eating the cameraman.
Ni Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Akala ko ubod siya ng seryoso. Akala ko para kang sinesermonan kung kausap ka, yung bang medyo bilib sa sarili, nagsasalita ka pa sasabat na, an intimidating presence, ang lakas ng dating. Hindi pala.
Ang nananatiling visual niya sa akin, yung umupo siya sa sofa ng reception room ng tinitirhan ng pamilya niya, at nilalamutak ang mukha’t katawan ni Bruno, ang kanya daw “stress reliever,” isang Chow Chow.
Hindi siya ang may-ari ng bahay. Sa in-laws niya ito, pero sa ibang lugar nakatira ang mga elders kung kaya libre silang tumira sa bahay sa Town and Country. Refreshing ang kanyang humility, ‘di ba?
Dog of royalty ang Chow. Mukha siyang leyon. Na-discover siya ng mga Amerikano sa palasyo ng emperor ng China, at tinawag ang breed na ito ng mga ‘Markano na Lion Dog. Lumapit sa akin si Bruno, at medyo napaatras ako dahil hindi ko kilala itong breed na ito. Ang aso kasi may sariling mundo. Akala mo okay kayo pero sasakmalin ka pala. Ganyan ang aso. Kaya kwidaw.
Napagisip-isip ko, parang kwidaw nga ako sa amo ni Bruno. Siya si Senator Antonio “Sonny” Fuentes Trillanes IV. Oo, pinaunlakan niya ako ng interview kahit na hindi naman ako mainstream media. Sinabi ko lang ang magic words na “Joe America” at nagkaroon ako ng konting stature.
Si Senator Trillanes, para ngang mamahaling aso. Standing up or sitting down, straight body siya, kaya umpisa pa lang iba na ang dating. Alam mong you are in the presence of a thinking man, a man of experience and wisdom. Gagalangin talaga. Pero andun pa rin yung isipin mong loaded gun siya, na punong-puno siya ng mission at kung medyo salungat ka, malamang makaririnig ka, may kalalagyan ka. Ganun na nga. Ang aso cuddly katulad ni Bruno, talagang man’s best friend. Pwede rin ma-consider na BFF si Senator Trillanes, pero distansiya pa rin. Pwedeng manakmal, in other words.
Dalawang pag-aaklas. Una sa Oakwood, pangalawa sa Manila Peninsula. Parehong extra-legal, parehong may golpe de gulat, ganyan ang impression ko sa senador. Hindi siya ordinaryong Pilipino. Siguro, kung buhay pa sila Rizal at Bonifacio, Mabini, Heneral Luna, Gregorio del Pilar, Macario Sakay, Wenceslao Vinzons, Mer Arce, Benigno Aquino, atbp., mga taong hindi nagpasindak sa mga Español, Amerikano, Hapones, Marcos military, iisa ang hitsura nila. Oo, kung sawa ka na sa Pilipinas, kung iniisip mo ano bang klaseng race or culture tayo, h’wag ka lang bumuklat ng history books o magmuni-muni sa museo, kausapin mo rin o basahin si Senator Trillanes. Sasabihin mo sa sarili mo, “Meron pa palang Pilipinong bayani, mga Pilipinong nagmamahal sa bayang nagdurusa.”
Si Senator Leila de Lima, nakakulong. Salungatin ba naman ang Poon, ang tao sa Malacañang. Ikaw na. Marka bayani talaga ang ale. Ganun din si Senator Trillanes. ‘Di pahuhuli ng buhay, ‘di aatras.
Pero sumurender siya sa Oakwood, sumurender siya sa Manila Peninsula, ‘di ba? Bayani? Uhm. Iba marahil ang pintig ng puso ni Senator Trillanes.
Teka, bago ang lahat, manumbalik muna tayo sa PMA kung saan siya napadpad galing sa La Salle Taft, isang taon na lang sana at tapos na niya ang Electronics and Communications Engineering course, pero nang pumasa sa PMA (Philippine Military Academy) entrance exams, alsa balutan, hayaan mo na ang unfinished units sa DLSU, at magse-serve muna siya sa bayan. Sa PMA, for three years, member siya ng honor committee. At naging chairman siya nito nuong senior year niya. Alam naman natin na naka-honor code ang akademyang ito, so sa balikat ng batang Trillanes nakasalalay ang investigations kung may violation ng honor system: nagnakaw ba, nagsinungaling ba, ganung mga issues. So sanay siya mag-field ng mga questions to ferret out the truth. At simula’t sapul, may character na ang mama. Ilalagay ba naman siya sa komiteng iyon kung may bahid siya ng kabulastugan?
So ayan.
Fast forward to his first assignment after graduation, sa Philippine Navy. Ensign siya, katumbas ng Second Lieutenant sa Army. Aba’y may nadakip na mga pirata ang crew ng barko de giyera niya sa karagatang Pilipinas. Nagulat na lamang siya ng makita niyang tinatalian ng pabigat ang paa ng mga pirata. “Ano ang ginagawa ninyo?” mabigat na bigkas ng batang-batang officer. “Itatapon po namin sa dagat para matuluyan na,” ang sagot ng crew. “Aba’y h’wag ninyong gawin ‘yan. Kalagan ninyo at pagdating natin sa port, ite-turn over natin ang mga pirata sa Coast Guard.” Sumunod naman ang crew.
Ma-prinsipiyo si Senator Trillanes. Post EDSA na kasi ang batch niya, kung kaya palaging malinis ang hangarin ng mga kadete. May ethics lessons sila. Babad sila sa suka, toyo’t kalamansi ng country above all, honor above all. Hindi sila katulad ng Marcos military na alam ninyo na. I-google ninyo ang “Olalia murder.”
Kaya balik tayo sa mga mutiny kung saan siya ang lumantad bilang point man o spokesman. “Collegial body kami ng Magdalo,” aniya, “kaya ang desisyon ng lahat ay desisyon ng isa.” Bakit kayo naglagay ng booby traps sa paligid ng Oakwood (renamed Ascott), tanong ko. “May kasama kami, si Faeldon nga, na iba mag-isip sa amin. Hindi siya Peemayer (graduate ng PMA). Nagulat na lang kami nang gawin niya ito. Paano pa pupunta sa amin ang mga tao, kasi nga laban kami sa katiwalian ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?”
Isa pa. Nang nakulong sila after the failed mutiny, tumakas ba sila, such as what every imprisoned rebel would instinctively do? “No,” he said, “it would endanger or compromise our guards. Ayaw naming mapahamak sila.” Conclusion: kahit gumagawa ng hindi legal na pamamaraan (violating the chain of command), maka-tao pa rin sila Trillanes nung panahon na iyon.
“Kung kaya tutol ako sa extra-judicial killings,” sabi niya. Ang ganda ng segue, ano? Nasa isip niya talaga ang misyon niya, na hintuin ang EJK o extra-judicial killings ng Pangulong Duterte.
“Nagkausap kami ni Duterte bago pa siya naging pangulo, sa isang hotel sa Ortigas area, relax lang ang aming conversation, kung kaya marami siyang ikinwento sa akin na hindi dapat ginagawa ng isang public official, such as EJKs in Davao,” Trillanes said. Kilala niya ang mama.
Binigyan ako ng kopya ng Dayan’s Psychological Clinic report to justify the legal separation o dissolution ng marriage ni Duterte kay Elizabeth Zimmerman. Nung binasa ko, napagisip-isip ko, kung ano ang abusong ginawa ni Duterte sa kanyang asawa, eh yun na rin yata ang modus niya sa bayan natin ngayon: ‘di nahihiyang ipakita ang mga kabit niya, pinapahiya ang wife niya, suspetsoso at nakikinig sa tsismis.
Kung doctor ka, ano ang prognosis o kahihinatnan ng bayan, tanong ko. “May tumor tayo,” aniya. Hindi na niya ipinaliwanag ang ibig niyang sabihin.
So 2019, tapos na ang termino niya. “Mag-aaral ako,” sabi niya. “I’ll see kung makahanap ako ng ibang trabaho.”
A run for the presidency in 2022? “Mission oriented ako,” sabi niya. Huminto siya duon.
Natatakot ka ba sa posisyon mo? “Kung panahon ko na, tanggap ko. Sabi ko nga mission oriented ako. Basta may evil na kailangang kalabanin, gagawin ko.”
Bihira siya ngumiti, pero personalidad na niya siguro yun. “Pero alam mo ba,” sabi niya, “nung nasa kulungan kami, ako ang nagpapagaan ng kondisyon namin.” Ha, may sense of humor ka, tanong ko. “Aba, oo. Lahat ng tao akala nila intimidating o suplado ako, pero up close, alam nila na hindi pala.”
Behind the steely disposition of a knight in shining armor who dares to do battle with wayward kings and dragons lies a man, isang tao na may damdamin din. Nung napag-usapan namin ang mga anak nilang mag-asawa, natigilan siya nang banggitin niya ang kanyang pangatlong anak. Born March 16, 2004, died April 6, 2004. Childbirth complications. Dala pa rin niya hanggang sa ngayon ang kalungkutan ng isang magulang na namatayan ng isang anak, kahit na mga tatlong lingo lang ito nabuhay. Ramdam ko ang sakit ni Senator Trillanes bilang isang ama.
Hindi madali ang ginagawa niya para sa bayan. Masalimuot ang mga issues, marami at malalakas ang kalaban. Ngunit sige lang siya nang sige, tila wala siyang takot, parang isang surgeon na nasa operating table para mahiwa ng pinong-pino ang tumor na walang gaano madadamay na laman loob. Seryoso siya. Matalino siya. Higit sa lahat, may misyon siya. Yun at yun lang ang pinanghahawakan ni Senator Sonny Trillanes.
Itutuloy. Abangan.
Comments
125 Responses to “Tao Pala Siya”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[…] Posted by Wilfredo G. Villanueva on September 1, 2017 · 1 Comment […]
-
[…] worries me is that these days we are often “preaching to the choir” as the idiom […]
-
[…] niya ang Facebook. Alam ninyo ba na phenomenal ang pagtanggap ng mga netizens sa artikulo kong Tao Pala Siya? Mahigit sa 10,000 shares sa Facebook. Mahigit 22,000 readers sa The Society of Honor website. […]
-
[…] party. I was inspired by both the man and the party, as I have been with the Senate version, Senator Sonny Trillanes,for some […]
-
[…] Someone like Sonny Trillanes being identified as “yellow” by some or being for PNoy was unthinkabledecades ago. Some activists in 2019 didn’t vote for Gary Alejano while Chel Diokno was OK for […]
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Thanks for the profile wil
You’re welcome, Gian!
Thanks for reading more about Senator Trillanes from your interview with him. Interesting to note about the “open sesame” words — Joe America. But you are being modest Wil. Probably more accurately:
Wilfredo G. Villanueva + Joe America + (a whisper from our karl?)
I find interesting too this paragraph in your article:
“Nagkausap kami ni Duterte bago pa siya naging pangulo, sa isang hotel sa Ortigas area, relax lang ang aming conversation, kung kaya marami siyang ikinwento sa akin na hindi dapat ginagawa ng isang public official, such as EJKs in Davao,” Trillanes said. Kilala niya ang mama.
Lastly, Bruno, the Senator’s dog, with its hairy fur, does indeed look like a stress reliever. (We at TSH should get one — even a virtual one. 🙂 )
I’ll concoct a character who is part psychiatrist and part Mom and part a can for kicking. Hahaha! He (or she if the conditions require it) can make all things right.
Please do. If nothing will, the part “can for kicking” will surely relieve stress. 🙂
Hi NH,
Got me speechless there, but this is another great interview from Wil.
Thanks Wil for the interview.
Can’t wait for part 2.
I wondered if you were in the arena when the two senators circled threateningly about the ring, one whining and complaining like a child who lost a toy, and the other flexing his considerable muscles like a guy who would love nothing better than to pop a cheap, amoral senator.
I was not in the arena when senators Gordon and Trillanes confronted each other.
Wait, make that Gordon/ Sotto and Trillanes confrontation.
Thanks for putting my curiosity at ease. It was great television, and I think CNN got a boost in ratings.
Yes, it was great televsion.
Thanks, Karl! Encouraged.
You are welcome.
@ NHerrera:
Nice. Is that Trillanes’ Bruno when just a puppy? 🙂
No, it is yours…virtually…. 🙂 🙂 .-)
Thanks, I would like to keep it — virtually.
Aww…
Thanks, NH! Nah. “JoeAm” is the password, and they lower the drawbridge.
Senator TRILLANES a fighter for the TRUTH, FAIRNESS & JUSTICE!
Saludo ako kay Senator Trillanes
The pic left me laughing, yes, the Senator has a sense of humor there.
Yep, here’s a man who was disgusted with Arroyo, jailed for it, ran for office while behind bars and won, and then now, he’s facing an iron-fisted government.
There is not much to laugh about in today’s Philippines, so I get Trillanes’ laughing little. Those who laugh too much even nowadays make me suspect their sanity or moral values. Probably the hero generations knew better when to laugh and when not to – like Trillanes.
Some of us have passed the ‘horror’ stage and, without diminishing or denying it, found that humor works a lot like a salve, an ointment soothing to the mind and spirit.
I suggest striving to reach that point, rather than being constrained by bitterness or frustration.
It is all a question of context.
I am watching people I know grin and ‘joke’ while turning into collaborators.
Maybe they grin to not go crazy. Maybe they have few choices. Jokes like I also make here are another matter.
Agree
Pikon talo, Irineo. Roll. Dust off. Punch. Weave. Get hit. Roll.
Laughter is an antidote on dealing with despair; gallows humor it may be but nonetheless needed to keep on going in these dark times, as we tend to see the majority of officialdom as Stephen King’s twisted “IT” clowns in the Big Top called this blundering government.
That is OK – as a Martial Law Baby I have known dark humor, but also sarcasm to the point of being subversive.
As for not OK, laughing about rape jokes of the President, or the juvenile stuff like ‘extrajudicial feelings’ come to mind. Anything goes humor is dangerous when standards start to shift unnoticed.
Thanks for clarifying that Irineo, for a
minute I was confused about the grinning and joking part.
Why laugh at all at those jokes. At that Solar plant launch in Batangas, I got disappointed with Legarda because she was laughing at the jokes.
I suppose there are several kinds of laughter.
(1) Good old boy laughter, rape jokes for example; belonging to the gang; jokes that test
(2) Ridicule as found in memes to drive home a point and diminish the target
(3) Camaraderie, or sly laughter, witticisms among friends that have no target and no test and simply lighten the mood
I think the third kind can help deal with stress, and I’d guess there is research to that effect. I was always successful in the army and corporate world because I had inherited from my grandmother a crooked way at looking at things and the spontaneity of impromptu punch lines. People work better if they don’t take themselves – or their circumstance – too seriously.
I will add Item 3 to my list of stress relievers, aside from a furry cuddly dog. Your grandmother is a gem.
Laughter is the best medicine.
You got a wise grandma Joe.
I was really confused because there was a time when Irineo and my self exchanged jokes here to lighten up the moment.
Point of information. The article just passed the 6,000 read mark today, which is much higher than the norm. I detect from that, and from comments on facebook (which you may wish to scan), that people are very much needing someone to rally around, someone who will stop the crazy-making pretending that killings and fakery are normal and political vengeance and impunity are okay.
I will scan the fb post Joe, thanks.
Struck a mother lode again. TSH blogs: There is gold in them thar hills.
The human mind is amazing — being able to distill the essence in things even in an essentially barren desert of morality: being able to see genuineness and value when it finally sees one.
“The article just passed the 6,000 read mark today, which is much higher than the norm. I detect … that people are very much needing someone to rally around, … ”
1) the 6000-read mark is a quantified intensity indicating something is amiss in the realm and the subjects are troubled enough and should be addressed (the WHAT)
“… someone who will stop the crazy-making pretending that killings and fakery are normal and political vengeance and impunity are okay. …”
2) common decency is being toyed with and needs to be corrected along with other related matters that are simmering and approaching change-threshold of the common weal. (pointing to the quality of the WHO)
But I get Irineo’s point. Sometimes, we just laugh too much even if the joke’s on us.
I think all too well about Imelda’s emphasis on rich lot of smiles over actual resolution of poverty.
I’m a fan of the Senator.
If there is one who deserves the slogan, “Tapang at Malasakit (Bravery and Compassion)” it rightly belongs to Sen. Trillanes. I concluded long ago that he has more honor and integrity than the whole Senate Majority.
Gordon is supposed to complain to the Senate Ethics Committee regarding the recent heated argument between him and Sen. Trillanes. Gordon threw a fit about being questioned why he can’t invite two personalities implicated as part of the Davao Group in the BOC probe and being told that he heads the Absolution Committee.
Trivia: the Senate Ethics and Privileges Committee is headed by Tito Sotto.
I am with Sen. Trillanes, Gordon has a pattern of cutting short probes as soon as they point to Davao.
The tale of two Senators:
Gordon — once admired but now … what a change … for the worse;
Trillanes — once criticized as mutineer but now admired.
The “tapang” that I recall was used to characterize Gordon is really just bluster. Trillanes was right in characterizing his conduct of BRC hearings, especially this last one on the shabu smuggling as a “monologue.” Gordon and Sotto, birds of a feather, but Sotto has one over Gordon, in being able to handle his ego better. The demeanor of Gordon has turned unpleasant, to be mild about it.
Bingo.
I like Sen. Trillanes’s demeanor. Can’t be jolted out of his wits, even when he was young and impetuous.
Gordon talk to much..
Every time he ask a question halve way the answer he talks already again…very annoying..
The Taguba questioning was terrible..did not allow him to speak..
During all hearings about the 6.4 shabu Gordon has been talking monologue 70% of the time….
Trillanes at most 3% while there are only 3 senators?
When Trillanes start Gordon turns his head the other side not facing him and put his hand under his chin..with other words ”i don’t care what Trillanes has to say, finished Trillanes?” Just ignoring him and don’t allow Trillanes to even ask his questions or care that Trillanes has a witness.
ps the other 27% is Chinese bla bla.
EXACTLY my take on it. Wholly unprofessional, wholly not objective, wholly not serving the people’s interest.
Sorry, I am not through.
I read this somewhere:
If you make a mistake you assume the responsibility. You don’t weasel out or blame someone else.
or in the case of Gordon, threaten a Senator for contempt or file a complaint before the Joke of a Senate Committee — the Senate Ethics Committee chaired by a Joker.
Pambihira ang mga taong katulad ni Sen. Trillanes, pusong Rizal, Bonifacio, Del Pilar. I pray for his safety and his loved ones’. Unlike other public officials he chose discomfort and danger over easy money life.
Klasik utak militar.
The apple might have fallen on Newton’s head but AT IV did not fall far from the apple tree.
Ayy, teleserye?? Weyt ko yan, pramis! Bakit si Apolinario Mabini di mo binanggit, Sir Willie, eh paralitiko na nga palaban pa siya at pati mga Amerikano hindi umubra sa galing ng utak nya, stubborn pero super talino. At saka, si Sir Trillanes eh napansin ko at naikomento ko na rin na konsistent ang pananaw nya sa mga ishus, gaya ng tindig nya — istreyt at tudapoynt, walang paligoyligoy. Binanggit nga naman yung Davao Group na kasama si Polong Duterte na protektor ng bilyon bilyong kontrabando ng shabu sa imbestigasyon sa Senado, bakit ayaw imbitahin at tanungin din gaya ng mga ibang binanggit ng witness na broker? Tama naman si Sen Trillanes, dapat pa bang imemorays yun Gordon? Abangan si Sir Trillanes sa teleserye niya kay Willie V at sa misyon laban sa mga porcine at assuming. Mabuhay ang mga may paninindigan para sa TJR ( Truth, Just, Right)!
Pressure. Hahaha!
As Wil sketches the person of the senator, the image coming out is of a member of a surgical team who knows his role in the team and is keenly aware of the team’s goal, ability of each member and the window of opportunity that is available at any given time. (What I understand by a “mission-oriented” individual).
You got it, Sonny!
So the good senator also qualifies as a knight w/ a code of chivalry. With his experience of Arroyo politics, he decides his knighthood has dependencies. He runs for people’s representative, he finds more dependencies: the people’s welfare and the president’s agenda may or may not coincide. The republic is in conflict. He is at a crossroad again … Whither will he go? The damsel (his country) is still in distress and dragons lay in wait ahead.
Gordon is a dirty player. During Erap’s time, whilst on a campaign sortie, the Dick ordered electrical power shut-off when it was the presidential candidate’s turn on stage in Subic. When Estrada won and assumed office, one of his very first presidential act was to sign an administrative order removing Gordon as chairman of SBMA.
To this day, Dick has remained dirty. He still cuts-off anyone who does not share his view.
Oh sorry, got carried away. Here’s looking forward to reading WGV’s susunod na kabanata. As always, superb writing. Thanks as ever, too, to Joe America, for coming up with a repository for great minds.
Ha, it is easy to get carried away, and quite all right now and then. Glad you find the articles and discussion meaningful.
Hey Ones! Thanks! Thanks too, for Joe’s trust and confidence in my meager resources. He is a multiplier.
He was plotting revenge because back then Erap was one of the 12 senators who vetoed the extension for the US bases.
more than 30 year reign in Olongapo and national government (and red cross) those Gordons…..enough…..!!
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/308573/paulino-other-candidates-topple-gordon-family-s-31-year-reign-in-olongapo/story/
So….here we go……..under pressure?
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/927233/taguba-apologizes-to-duterte-son-in-law-clears-them-from-drug-smuggling-mess
Natakot lang. Iisa lang daw ang puso niyang tumitibok. Astig ang dating nung umpisa, kulembot pala.
Suriin ‘lagi ang ebidensya.
My word for the day: pussyfoot.
pussyfoot
1. to go or move in a stealthy or cautious manner.
2. to act cautiously or timidly, as if afraid to commit oneself on a point at issue.
Trillanes does not pussyfoot around while all the other Senators do.
Correction — Hontiveros and Aquino are non-pussyfooters too.
Aquino tiptoes carefully compared to the other two. He just works at laws and his committee priorities. He comments carefully when there are major public issues (Kian) but, different from Trillanes and Hontiveros, he does not confront on principles. At least it seems that way to me.
A good item for study, these three — Aquino, Hontiveros and Trillanes!
To me comparing them to past heroes: Aquino, Trillanes, and Hontiveros are Rizal, Bonifacio, and Gabriela Silang respectively.
Ahh, yes!
Oh! For the days of heroes!
Trillanes is the archetypal Warrior – fighting for self, for others and for ideals; driven by a self-chosen mission to right what is wrong with this world. Ready to face and push through hardship and pain for a worthy cause. Disciplined, loyal and dependable. Often quick to anger and impulsive because of his fiery nature.
A warrior serves the King. But Trillanes has not had much luck with previous commanders. None of them it seems, were deserving of his respect and devotion. First let down by the unscrupulous Arroyo, then the overbearing Enrile (as Senate President) and now the tyrant Duterte. Maybe the warrior Trillanes will lead the charge as a people searches for their true leader. Maybe he will help crown the next King (or queen).
And then all would be right again in his world.
I particularly like his having overturned the default option for the crew to exercise EJK in a Philippine Navy ship fresh off PMA. He could have gone with the flow, but no. Who would know anyway? But no. Honor, power, resoluteness and compassion at a young age.
A warrior with a code of honor. Thank you for confirming what many of us sensed about the man,
Trillanes is a breath of fresh air. The kind of Filipino we would like our government offices to be full of. Sadly, there are more Sottos and Gordons abound and it is so frustrating! Still there’s a glimmer of hope when Trillanes is about.
True, and it seems to be feeding exactly into what people are looking for. Someone who does not shrink at the prospect of facing President Duterte.
Just one man can make a difference.
Just glad, iilan nlng tanga sa bansa na to.. 😉 enjoy hallucinating ;)..
Doon sa Facebook, sobrang dami.
it’s not everyday we heard something personal from Sen. Trillanes. And thanks to you Joe Am.
Thanks to you, Dong, for stopping by and offering up a kind word.
Gordon turned into Gorgon when Trillanes mentioned his committee as “Komite de Abswelto”.
After this moment, Gordon and Sotto will be defined as Mutt and Jeff of this Senate. What a way to be defined by history as members of the infamous “Komite de Abswelto”, everyone of us watching this moment stood up and clapped our hands.
This was Trillanes finest hour.
Tao pala sya! Ugaling Aso lang hehehe
Kagat kesa kahol. Di yung mga nakikita kong mga tuta sa Tongreso.
If there is anyone deserving of the presidential office it will be this man. Mayroon siyang prinsipyo, kayang lumaban kung ano ang tama para sa bayan kahit sino pa ang masagasaan.
First time I listen to him two years ago I know his a good senator big heart I’m hoping he run for presidency this coming election pure president go go go senator Trillanes your the one that this country need a real human to us filipino mabuhay si senator Trillanes we believe your the man big heart sa bayan natin✌️✌️✌️
Thank you very much for this article. It doesn’t mean because a person is not smiling is not a person. Most of all, my admiration to him about his pet, Bruno. I can relay to that, the stress reliever. Each and everyone have to have something that will relieve their stress in everyday life, especially his, being a senator, I mean a serious senator, they are stressed all the time. His demeanor being very quiet and forceful when he asked questions is just an indication of being an officer and he carries that up until his dying days. A true #anofficerandagentleman. I admire his courage more than anything else. A committee hearing is dull without Sen. Trillanes and Sen. Delima as an interrogator. Lastly, thank you again.
You’re welcome, Zenaida!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this article! Anyone with an active conscience will see the truths of Senator Trillanes. May his tribe increase!
Thank you, Mely!
Thank you Willie G Villanueva for sharing with us your interview with Sen Trillanes.I hunger for an inspiring story such as this.Any story/news about him interest me no end.I look at him as an annointed one. Sana hindi ako mali.I always pray for him
You’re welcome, Teresita!
Praying for for your safety! Safety from all the 🐺 wolves of our country! 🙏👍👏
Well done again, Will.
Thanks, LG! Keep the faith.
Your political career is over Mr. Senator Trililing Unbelievable na mayron parin tao humahanga sayo, hahaha, sundalong kanin. #tsismisKing
It is a sign of our small-hearted times that there are people who, within themselves, cannot find the grace to allow other people to think kind thoughts, but must arrive to tarnish the thoughts with a supposed greater moral wisdom, supported with not with argument, but condescension. I tend to think of such people as the disease of our civilization, intent upon tearing down, and not building up.
Nothing is perfect
No one is perfect
How very true
In the minds of fools
In the loud snores
Of snoozers of the noodle house.
Only to be very wrong
In the minds of Divines.
Man is perfect
So is the Universe
Modeled after Man’s Being
Modeled after God’s image.
Good and evil
Love and hatred
Beauty and ugliness
Peace and anarchy
Compassion and cruelty
Greed and satiety
Mahatma Gandhi, M. Luther King Jr
And their assassins,
And opposites of thousands more
Must face each other
To beget each other
In constant mortal combat
As paragon of perfection.
I wrote the above poem(?) after I read Jessica Chastain’s tearful twit.
And the words of Martin Luther King Jr reminded me of the life of the
Mahatma Mahondas Gandhi of India.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=qnHo6XWd&id=6860DBFC789F4BABE3E9191A0F4C736AD3D3A17F&thid=OIP.qnHo6XWdE1z9tkFKPdVLOQDZEs&q=mahatma+gandhi+words+against+violence&simid=608025009839473761&selectedIndex=16&ajaxhist=0
http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/jessica-chastain-posts-tearful-video-after-backlash-over-alt-left-tweet/ar-AAr5uad?li=BBnbfcL
Nicely done, popoy, a great bit of wisdom. It also works if you take the penultimate line and change mortal to moral. That suggests much is foolish rather than fatal.
Thanks for tickling our rhythms and rhymes.
thanks TSOH. morals as both its weakness and strength lend perfection to mortals.
I can’t read through everything before my eyes now (lack of time eh) , there must be neuro-trigger. It just got stuck in my skull when I read a while back there is something to be proved with Jessica Chastain.
Still an unknown Jessica read in audition for a movie role. The director was shaking his head almost in disbelief; she has something, she is perfect. Then I saw a movie about the fall of Bin Laden with J. Chastain as government agent in the background. Now she twits with the sensest of sense to an otherwise sweet tweeters of real birds.
Rosario, your alt name, Sen Trill has my back if the elections were held today. How about you? Who has your back?
I can only imagine them wearing those dark Hugo Boss uniforms, ramrod straight, and then showing him the brofist fascist salute: “Davaolandia über alles, über alles in der Welt!”
IF I MAY, If you TSOH bloggers had read, cogitated and digested the statements of defense by President Duterte against insinuations and accusations against his son, his son-in-law and worst against himself . . . Well, WELL WHAT? From his own lips loud and clear, he MIGHT have already incriminated his two sons and worst himself. EXCUSE ME? HELLO? Why the heck is that? Is this fake news? Rocket science can explain that. Rocket Science (two main branches: social and natural sciences) can prove that by contextual definition (morphology and genesis) of GRAFT AND CORRUPTION as negative bureaucratic behavior.
Pardon the high falluting (polluting?) jargon but my tummy needs to boodle before I start writing the popoy conjecture.
GRAFT AND CORRUPTION dressed like poultry for roast chicken. The year was may be 1968, I was shifting rocket science from natural (agriculture) to social (public administration) sciences. In PA203 Nation Building, Development and Pub Admin Class I spoke out of turn (as many times before) in Dean De Guzman’s Class when on the topic of graft and corruption I was postulating it is so close and none other than ASEXUAL PROPAGATION. I was stopped on track because I found out later the language and jargon between the sciences don’t easily cross boundaries.
In the social sciences GRAFT AND CORRUPTION derive its basic elements in psychology (personality types) and rural sociology (tribalism and values). It is like asking a person about being poor, being honest and not greedy for power and money. Rural sociology implicates community values and power structure. About values of kumpadre system, smooth interpersonal relations, hiya concept, and UTANG NA LOOB and, amor propio.
These social aspects of rocket science in their absence and cultural presence in VARYING DEGREES of practice and abuse may constitute causal or associative factors to GRAFT AND CORRUPTION Sickening a society. Contrariwise, Think and ruminate the list of the twenty countries which TOPPED the UN World Human Development Index. How low and inexpert were they in graft and corruption.
GRAFT AND CORRUPTION (G&C) like ALL elements of the perfect universe exhibits a connection no matter has flimsy, sheer and farfetched to the natural and may be to the exact sciences by reasons of predictability, repeatability or replication through experimentation. It takes TIME (long or short) for G&C to seed, germinate, grow, mature and reproduced. G&C NEVER and can’t magically HAPPEN when Harry Potter waves his wand and instantaneously one becomes a corrupt person. Really takes time to be one eh.
Pomology is a semester course in Agronomy for a B.S. degree in agriculture. Aside from sexual propagation using seeds and seedlings for economic and non-economic trees a student must complete the lab work on asexual propagation like GRAFTING, inarching, budding, marcotting etc. The asexual techniques involve not exactly mating. Grafting needs joining different stocks and scions; inarching is fusing the cambium layers of two branches of different characteristics; budding is inserting buds to plant stems; and marcotting is removing the bark of a branch covering it with porous or water retaining material so it will PRODUCE ROOTS and cut as another young plant. The point is in asexual propagation it takes time and SKILL from practice and experience to do successful GRAFTING.
GRAFT AND CORRUPTION are not two different things but ONE CRIME in governance. One perspective or dimension is to think of it as: each word may be the cause and at the same time the result of the other. No graft, ergo no corruption. And vice versa.
The above peroration was solely generated from distant memory; no internet search and therefore will welcome corrections.
There is so much analysis, too much discourse, so many recommended solutions to eliminate corruption in the Bureau of Customs (also the BIR) .
Pasakalye : Once upon a time during the time of Monching, there was this Manila Chief of Police named Quintos who was riding in a (non air cond) car who had his right hand out for aeration of the car window while passing the sentry gate. The custom guard grabbed his palm searching for, expecting something. What he got was a tongue lashing.
There was too this police chief’s friend who complained his tourist friend’s expensive wrist watch was stolen by a snatcher. The chief just asked where, when, what time. Hours later, the watch was returned in good order to the unbelieving tourist.
Ah Yes the incurable canker that is the BOC. The problem there is not the solution. The problem is not there in the BOC but as no one will suspect is really SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Only and ONLY the incumbent President. His/her spouse, children, extended family, close and distant relatives; his/her friends and supporters, party mates, religious supporters; and the quality of character of all the above will and can SOLVE the BOC canker. USA, UK, Canada, Singapore, countries of the EC can offer the best models of the next best thing.
POPOY : Sir I sallute you, I take back whatever reservations I had re your ‘estes’. You are a source of anecdotes every Pinoy must treasure. Long may you prosper ☀
Sorry for the wrong spelling, Spell check is on strike. ☺
Hi, lindrell. What is so nice about this place is that it is spelling and grammar tolerant. If not, I would have been banished a long time ago. 🙂
My experience here tells me that it is the ideas and the consideration with which they are conveyed — humor, sarcasm included — which matter. No nitpickers on grammar and spelling here as far as I can tell.
it’s ok lindrell, no need to worry there, if and when you reach 80 you might have acquired resilience of a higher order.
Popoy, I like that idea. When I reach 80 — in about a year — I will have acquired resilience of a higher order: grammar and spelling of a higher order. Because the fingers on the keyboard are not quite resilient? 🙂
POWER GRAFTING
In ruling a kingdom
Or governing a country
Regardless of form
Much more ideology
Communist or monarchist
Be it theocracy or democracy
There it must exist
Literally another tree
Along the tree of life
Of good and evil
A tree of POWER and influence
Over wealth, even over
Life and death coveted
To be shared by grafting
With and by other lesser trees.
NHerrera true but no worry there for the fingers. ONE minute for the young is FOUR minutes to you. They have only one to your four minutes for your fingers to correct spelling and grammar. What takes them one hour to do, takes you four hours to do it. Heh, Heh, Heh. Truism of time speed is found in your CV. What took you to achieve so much in one year during your thirties could take you four years to achieve in your sixties. Eh.
True, but I soldier on, notwithstanding. 🙂
Off topic
HORROR
… in the war on drugs.
A retelling of ‘Makapili’ during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the Second World War and the present version related to the on-going war on drugs.
Randy David writes:
In a way, the fate of the victims might be better than theirs (the young makapili’s apparently forced to perform the task) … these kids would forever be haunted by the anguished faces of the victims they had helped identify. They would see them in their nightmares begging for pity before being shot in the head.”
http://opinion.inquirer.net/106831/makapili-war-drugs#ixzz4ra2BMcaH
Off topic
International media report that North Korea tested a nuclear bomb. This is after the recent ballistic missile test which flew over Japan’s Hokkaido Island. North Korea said it is a Hydrogen Bomb test made underground. As we know a hydrogen bomb from fusion of atoms is many times more powerful than an atomic bomb of the fission type, such as the one dropped in Hiroshima. More details will most probably come out on this HB test aside from seismic events reported.
Can we call Duterte to the ethics committee for calling Sen. Trillanes a political ISIS and a Trililing?
🙂
Inquirer’s opinion writer Solita Collas-Monsod’s piece on “Missed opportunity,” concerning Senator Trillanes and the Dutertes, belongs here.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/106992/missed-opportunity#ixzz4sWdMYWxf
Tao nGa sya gaya ng asong ulol nagpapagamit lamang kay Noynoy Panot Aquino at sa LP (Lapastangang Partido TAE). Kaya ang tawag sa kanya Sonny TAE.