Pathetic

THAT'S how most people felt about the serial coup plotters' caper yesterday. Parang, ano na naman ba yan?! I don't really understand why Trillanes and company actually thought people were going to join them in their idiotic cause when they weren't successful the first time around. Remember 2003 boys? Then they said they were ready to die for their cause and all that crap, but what happened? they surrendered. Then Trillanes had to cry to his mommy to get him out of his predicament. The poor woman had to go Malacanang and beg the Presidentita not to harm him!

This time around, Trillanes and his group said they decided to give up because they didn't want the media covering them to be hurt. Lemme tell you guys a thing or two about journalists who were covering yesterday's stunt. I know most of them, have covered the field with them...they are all battle-hardy journalists who have been to war-torn areas in the country. They have risked life and limb in the name of covering a good story.

Yesterday was no different. They chose to cover the coup-lang sa pansin rebels, because it was their job. If anything had happened to them in the event that government troops had attacked Trillanes and company, no one would have blamed the government. They put their lives on the line in the name of a scoop, an enterprising story, and public service. The media's presence just provided a convenient excuse for Trillanes' group to stop their foolishness. I'm not surprised many of the Magdalo soldiers, those who stand co-accused with Trillanes for the 2003 coup attempt, didn't join him this time around. Once burned, twice shy.

We are all aware of the Presidentita's illegitimacy, her and her husband's corrupt bent, so too her henchmen, but a coup would not solve these problems. C'mon, didn't you think things would change when Marcos and Estrada were booted out of power? Corruption got worse. For a young democracy such as ours (compared to 'older' countries like the U.S., for example), the path towards real honest and competent governance is often, and will continue to be bumpy. We just have to keep trying. Perhaps things may change a bit with someone like MAR Roxas as President in 2010.

Anyway, let's hope this weekend turns out to be more quiet and peaceful.

Davide didn't recommend Macarambon — report

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net, Nov. 3, 2007

Hilario Davide (Photo from Permanent Mission of RP to the UN)

MANILA, Philippines — Newly appointed election commissioner Moslemen Macarambon is not among those recommended by former chief justice Hilario Davide for the post, according to a report from the government watchdog Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN).

TAN executive director Vince Lazatin said the information was relayed to him by former Commission on Elections chairman Christian Monsod, who is in New York now and has spoken to Davide, now Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

“I just talked to Ambassador to the UN and former CJ Hilario Davide Jr. here in New York and he said that he never recommended Judge Moslemen Macarambon to the Comelec,” was Monsod's text message to Lazatin, which was forwarded to INQUIRER.net.

Malacañang had said that Macarambon was appointed to the Comelec on the recommendation of Davide, who was a presidential consultant on electoral reforms before he was posted to the UN.

(Click Macarambon appointment for the rest of the story.)

QUOTE OF THE YEAR:

"Trans-Asia, through its legal officer, apologized for the inconvenience and informed respondents that if the offered accommodation would not be acceptable to them, petitioner would be willing to refund the ticket. Despite the offer, Judge Moslemen Macarambon became furious and expressed his intention to bring the matter to court. Brandishing his calling card to petitioner’s employee, respondent judge said: “You know I am a judge. You should have accommodated me first."3 Rollo, p. 6. Respondents immediately disembarked from the vessel."

(Want to know more? Click PCIJ.)

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This reminds of a text joke forwarded to me recently by my favorite bank president:

"Tandaan mo anak, ang batang sinungaling ay di na tatangkad, uusli ang binti, at tutubuan ng nunal sa mukha." — Diosdado Macapagal

Now this is scary! (with update)

Neri still hopes to regain Neda post

By Cai Ordinario
Reporter, BusinessMirror
Nov. 1, 2007

DESPITE having been shunted to a position seen as a demotion in some quarters and having provided explosive testimony in the ongoing Senate hearings into a multibillion-dollar broadband project, Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri still wants to head again the National Economic and Development Authority after his term at the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Neri is still holding on to the President’s promise to return him to the premier Cabinet post, a promise she made months before he testified on the national broadband network deal forged—and then aborted—with China telecoms giant Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. “The agreement was that I would come back after six months. I like it [at the Neda]. I was lucky there. Truth be told, my problems began when I was moved to CHED.”

At the Senate last month, Neri said former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. indicated that “there’s P200 million” [in bribe] for Neri if, as Neda chief, he endorses to the Cabinet the NBN project that was later denounced as overpriced and redundant.

Neri said that when he informed President Arroyo of the bribe offer, she told him to decline the bribe — which he said he had already done — but approve the project just the same.

Neri was recently given additional bodyguards, so he now has six. He said there was a threat to his life last week when a certain individual, whom he declined to identify, went to the Neda office in Pasig City warning of an attempt to assassinate him.

Neri said the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group is investigating. “I just have to be more security-conscious but otherwise I can go anywhere I want. . .I don’t even [believe] it’s for real but for all you know it is just to scare me.”

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THE gall of this idiot! It's bad enough that he doesn't want to tell the public the truth, now he wants to return to a more powerful government position. Honey, your problems didn't begin when you were transferred to CHED, it began when you were the Neda director-general. Not only that, the credibility of Neda became eroded when you headed it! You say you were lucky at Neda? Well Neda and the entire country ran into one of the worst misfortunes we've experienced since you were appointed its head. Manhid ka na ang kapal mo pa!

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UPDATE (Nov. 2, 2007)

Neda deserves better
Editorial, BusinessMirror

COMMISSION on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri certainly has some gumption saying publicly that he still hopes to get his top post at Neda after presiding over one of the most demoralizing periods of the organization. Good sense tells us that Neri should have no place there at all; come to think of it, he should never have been appointed there, in the first place.

Traditionally, incoming presidents appoint to Neda’s top post someone who has had really solid and extensive training in economics, particularly one with a Ph.D., in a discipline that is getting technical by the day. We should not be surprised because, as mandated by law, Neda’s task has something to do with “formulating continuing coordinated and fully integrated social and [socioeconomic] policies, plans and programs.”

That’s a very sensitive task that shouldn’t be left to anybody who doesn’t have a good grasp of economics. More so because since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the tidal wave of globalization has rendered more complicated economic management at the national scale. Neri may have taught subjects in business, but that limited experience has not given him the right preparation to become Neda’s top decision-maker.

There had been talk, right after his first appointment at Neda, that the only reason he ended up there was sheer politics. For nearly eight years, Neri had been one of the closest advisers of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who made him head of the Congressional Planning and Budget Office of the House of Representatives. Then, months after JdV and former President Fidel V. Ramos rushed to the rescue of President Arroyo in the heat of the “Hello Garci” controversy and the Hyatt 10’s departure, the Chief Executive named Neri to Neda.

(Click BusinessMirror for the rest.)

US, Aussie experts rule out bomb in mall — PNP chief

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
Inquirer.net 10/30/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Affirming their initial findings, US and Australian experts have ruled out the theory that a bomb caused the explosion at a mall in Makati City where 11 people were killed and scores were injured, Philippine National Police Chief Avelino Razon Jr. said Tuesday.

Razon said the reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police contained findings that would point to the incident at Glorietta 2 last October 19 as an "accidental gas explosion."

PNP Directorate for Intelligence chief Dante Ferrer said they were expecting the official reports from the US and Australian bomb experts later Tuesday.

Razon said the PNP was finalizing its report on the incident and would likely follow the accident angle.

He said the report would be completed "in a few days."

Razon added the President has been informed of the report by the foreign experts.

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So has anyone actually seen copies of these reports from the FBI and Australian experts? If I were the one covering this running story, I'd make sure to secure these reports first before I even write about this conclusion.

It's very easy for Razon and company to use the reports and twist them to their own end since they and they alone saw the reports. Unless someone can actually get those FBI and Aussie documents and reveal them to the public or post them online for everyone to read, I'd say these reports are just a figment of Razon's imagination. Of all people, Razon should know that the PNP and its allied agencies aren't exactly the most trusted institutions in this country.

(Razon photo from www.cooperativeresearch.org)

Shit!

THAT'S what government probers are saying caused the explosion at Glorietta 2. I think that's a load of crap. From the little I've read about how excrement (human or otherwise) can produce methane gas...it would take tons and tons of it to actually explode.

Consider our open dumps like Smokey Mountain or the landfills in Montalban and Cavite...no methane gas explosion has ever occurred in those areas despite the mounds of garbage sitting on them. Of course one could argue that the dumps are out in the open and have ventilation and G2's basement was not. Still, I would side with the UP chemists who rule out the gas explosion. Are there any chemists working in the PNP Crime Lab? (Yeah, yeah, I know this is no Gil Grissom/CSI setup.)

I'm interested in what the Australian and American investigation teams are going to conclude. I doubt though if they would release their own findings to the public and possibly risk humiliating the obviously inept investigation of our own police force, especially if their findings are contrary to what the latter has concluded.

Look, I have no love lost for Glorietta mall management and its incompetent security force. But I severely doubt that in terms of construction and structural maintenance, Ayala Land, the mall owner, would be remiss as well. For the company not to install a proper ventilation system in their basement where all the sewage tanks and pipes run through is a violation of building codes. It would never have been allowed to open any of its malls if this were the case, especially in a strict city like Makati. (Btw, give those Castilaloys some props...they acted very wisely in footing the hosital bills of those injured.)

So I can't blame Ayala Land management for disputing the PNP report, and still calling the explosion a "bombing." I supppose this also has to do with the company's insurance claim...if government probers believe neglect caused the explosion, the company won't be paid. But I think it goes beyond that. I think Ayala Land owners know something we don't. I know that even if the Zobels and the wanna-be Castilaloy Presidentita speak the same language that they are not friends. Yeah, there are two Castilaloys who are BFFs of the Presidentita, but they sure aren't Jaza nor Fernando.

UPDATE: Fabulous Jessica thinks I may temporarily blinded by my lust for Fernando Zobel (just him hon, not your mistress Jaza) that's why I'm still harping on my conspiracy theory. Hahaha. Seriously, I'll take the word of the UP chemists over our police force anytime. I hope I'm wrong but you really can't put anything past the Presidentita's administration these days. People will always believe the worst about GMA and her dogs simply because she is the most vile manipulator that has ever sat in Malacañang. And even if it were a bombing, this still doesn't absolve Ayala Land of any liability. It will have to pay for its shoddy security measures.

Btw, the Brits aren't discounting the terrorist angle still. And surprise! Makati Mayor Jojo Binay who is no good friend of the Zobels either, want an independent investigation into the blast considering the conflicting and confusing statements the PNP is making. What strange bedfellows in this time of a highly-charged anti-GMA atmosphere no?

Gloria goes malling in Glorietta

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday inspected the devastation at Glorietta 2 and went shopping at the adjacent Glorietta malls in Makati City four days after a powerful blast hit the area and left 11 people dead and over 100 injured.

Separate reports on radio dzBB and GMA News Flash Report said Mrs Arroyo, together with Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral and senior executives of mall owner Ayala Land Inc., walked through the boutiques and shops in Glorietta 1, 3 and 4.

She then visited stores at the first and second floor of Glorietta 4 and bought shoes and a blouse. (Click here for the rest.)

GREAT news isn't it? While the rest of the country's workforce are sweating it out in their offices or factories, the great leader of the land plays hooky and goes malling! What an inspiring example of professionalism! As usual, this is another of the hare-brained amateurish ideas of La Presidentita's PR guys. Hindi na kayo nahiya sa mga kababayan nyong nagtratrabaho, hoy!

Sure we get it. The government wants people to get out of their homes and shop, so La Presidentita buys some shoes and a blouse which she probably doesn't need. (Her fashion consultant Joanne Zapanta wasn't with her so God only knows what awful items the great leader must have chosen.) Shopping is good for the economy...that's this administration's mantra. Since we don't have enough foreign investments pushing the country's economy, might as well have personal consumption drive it right? What are all those dollar remittances for anyway?!

What am I feeling about this new publicity stunt from the great leader? Unimpressed.

The controversy over Desperate Housewives

HERE'S the clip of Season 4 episode 1 of Desperate Housewives where Terri Hatcher's character, Susan, disses Filipino doctors/Philippine med schools. Frankly, I've stopped watching this series a long time ago. I thought two seasons were enough. The writing is no longer funny. I only watched it for watshisface yummy plumber's hotbod.

Anyway, easy your heart, as my friend Jodass says. And if you want to complain, here's the URL of Desperate Housewives (ABC) where you can post your comments on their message board.

Teves admits Neri told him about Abalos' bribe offer

MANILA, Philippines -- Romulo Neri informed not only President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but also Finance Secretary Margarito Teves about Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.'s purported offer of P200 million.

Teves himself disclosed this to reporters in New York, saying that Neri, then the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, had told him about Abalos' alleged bribe attempt to push the approval of the National Broadband Network project in favor of China's ZTE Corp.

But at that time, "I did not put too much attachment to it," Teves said on Thursday. The finance secretary is part of the entourage of Ms Arroyo, who is in New York with other heads of state to attend the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly. (Read the rest at Inquirer.)

HAVE we Filipinos lost our sense of moral outrage over corruption in government? Apparently so, as even someone as respectable and honorable as Finance Secretary Gary Teves, apparently didn't even flinch when told of Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos bribe attempt on former NEDA Director-General Romy Neri!

Why did Teves think Neri was telling him this for? Btw, FYI lang? Obviously, Neri turned to him for guidance being a decent man of his stature. Neri's conscience was bothering him and he wanted to tell someone so he would know what to do about it. But how did Teves behave? Wala lang.

It irritates me to no end that even people whom I thought were decent have a cavalier attitude over stomach-turning incidents as this. If you don't say anything about it or put a stop to it, then you are guilty by complicity. Such a shame Gary Teves. I believed in you.