Arroyo mankuakuanan ya mansasakit; labay toy ontaynan ta pian ag la onpawil

No sakey ya too labay toy mansakit, say laman to onabuloy. Sakey si Arroyo ed sarayan totoo lapud natatakot ed isabi na agew ya pamadusad sikato.

Nen asingger da lan ipokok ed pangawan si Arroyo aliston inmabig. Say kuanday abogago ton Lambino ya sarag to lay onsempet ta diman lad abung da manpakasil. Sakbay to ya labay to ya onlad abroad ya manpatambal kono.

Imbis ya hospital arrest, house arrest lay gabay da.

Kabebegta nitan la lamet so balita ya kaokolay iyakar ed ospital ta sinmigi lamet so sakit nen Arroyo.

Natan ta onpawil ed ospital, say labay da langula anganko et hospital arrest?

Irayan doktor na St. Lukes paelek-elekan ira.

Unaan lapud ag da sarag ya polaingan so sakit nen Arroyo, kaokolan sikato ya onlad biektaew ya mangipapatnag na inkakapoy daray doktor na St. Lukes.

Mikadua, onaabuloy ira ed katilaan nen Arroyo ya kaokolan toy manpanengneng ed abroad anggano andi ya sebel ed itika  na inkadoktor.

Nitan met si Miriam Santiago tan Gregorio Honasan ya angibitla iray sangkamurengan ya balikas ya kaokolan konon itday galang si GMA sikaton nepeg labat so house arrest aliwan diad kolongan.

Anggapoy nailaloan ya onpaway ya maong ed sangi nen Honasan lapud sakey sikato so walaan ya baleg a kasalanan ed baley. Makapakelaw no akin ta analon sinador nen saman tan natan. Lapud inkamureng daray bomobotos.

Nipaakar ed si Santiago, diad padisir ko, gagawen ton mureng iray Pilipino. Sakey ya maronong ed ley ya uusaren to ta say nonot to mureng iray Pilipinod ley. Bantiwel!

Time is up

Everything has a beginning and an end. Your president should come to terms with the possibility of resigning from office. Resignation is an honorable thing to do rather than stick to a much-maligned office. But GMA will never resign.

As the people would clamor for the president to step down, she would all the more turn blind and deaf to these cries of protest. She would consolidate her power by giving bribes to her minions in the Senate and in the House. She would sow discord among the assembly of Catholic bishops. She would continue her policy of militarization in the countryside. She would paint a scenario that her government is in danger of a communist conspiracy. She would ensure the loyalty of the police and the military by assigning retired officials to government agencies. She would try to influence or even control media to stifle and silence opposition. In doing so, she would earn the fury of the people who will not be satisfied of getting rid of her by violent means. The people would like that heads roll, not just the head of GMA; those who supported the regime would also face their wrath. In short and ironically, she would create the perfect condition for a revolution.

Of course, the latter is an obvious exaggeration although it appeals to those who would like real change to happen, to the left who are still dreaming of Mao’s success in Jiangxi; to the anarchists who are against any form of domination; and to the rightists who would want to install a military junta.

Launching another “People Power” revolution is no revolution at all. The two EDSAs were sad testimonies to their failure of reforming Philippine society. Replacing leadership with another in a rotten system is not enough for as long as the roots of evil, avarice and greed are there, a good president will ultimately succumb to their snares.

Arroyo, however, from the outset, was corrupt. Thus, it is understandable that she did not accept the call of JDV for a moral revolution. That she would allow cheating to happen to ensure her presidency was another sign of her immorality. That she would conspire in 2001 with power-hungry elements to grab the presidency showed how patently ambitious she was in her desire to get Malacañang.

Let her go mad as she clings to her position amid seemingly loyal followers scheming behind her back. Then, Estrada would get his sweet revenge if that plot succeeds. Nevertheless, the people, the masses should be wary and vigilant about personalities who would ride on their sentiments so that, in the end, they will be the ones duped and taken advantage of. If that happens, a repeat of the last EDSA, no one should get the blame but us.

Arroyo’s clock would want to tick beyond 2010. Yet, the people knew that her time is up.

Published in People's Digest Newsweekly, Dagupan City, 11-17 March 2008

Pinocchio à la GMA

If Pinocchio’s nose gets bigger and bigger every time he tells a lie, GMA’s mole should get bigger and bigger as a sorry reflection of how a malignant cancer the Philippine society had on her face.

GMA is a master of dissimulation. She thinks she could fool people in one stroke of a lie masquerading as truth. She really knew that there was anomaly involving the ZTE deal NOT a day before she went to China. Her revelation at DZRH was a blatant falsehood to swindle again the people. Upon the advice of her spindoctors like Ermita, she was hoping that the act would clear public doubt but it did not at least to a discerning mind. Is she a gullible president surrounded by equally naïve advisers that she would only know that the contract to be signed the next day was ridden with irregularity, thus inimical to the national interest? Actually, she was aware of it all along.

She knew it. She would tell a lie just to stay in power. She would deceive the people to remain in Malacañang. She would want to surpass the thievery of the Marcoses in tandem with her husband and her clique, which includes Abalos et al.

Yet some remain skeptical about the need for a regime change only because they also would want to tolerate graft and corruption. It is also because they benefit from the spoils. They support Arroyo because they stay apathetic to the plight of the masses who were the ones suffering from this wanton avarice of the first family.

There is no other recourse but to condemn this administration and its supporters. For those who side with truth and justice, to stand neutral is tantamount to teaming up with the status quo. In short, it is time to separate the sheep from the goats. Ironically and pitifully, the CBCP has chosen to be non-aligned. Instead of taking up the cause of the people when black is black, white is white, the CBCP, out of cowardice and patronage, alienated itself from its flock. They had become one with the enemy.

Majority of local governments from mayors to governors had expressed their loyalty to GMA. There is no doubt about the House of Representatives, home of GMA loyalists. The top brass of AFP and PNP paraded themselves for a “show of unity” imitating the “unity walk” of cabinet officials in palace grounds last week. Former President Fidel Ramos, in contrast to her sister, former Senator Leticia Shahani, stopped short of calling for resignation.

“Birds of the same feather flock together.” They say GMA is fine when she is not. They believe GMA is indispensable when she is not. They are all liars and liars do cheat and steal. Look for a facial mole beside a left nostril and you will know why.

Published in People's Digest Newsweekly, Dagupan City, 4-10 March 2008

Imelda in Mike, Marcos in Arroyo

This administration hangs precariously on a precipice as the First Gentleman is involved in another scandal yet to be uncovered. His name is obviously another stain that besmirches the besmirched reputation of Mrs. Arroyo. If former Senator Salonga sees Marcos in Arroyo, I see Imelda in Mike.

The parallelism between the latter is not as apparent as the former. Imelda, to others, is seen as the cause of Apo Ferdie’s eventual downfall. Former US Ambassador Henry Byroade remembers how Imelda used to ask for her cuts in deals. Thus, Rafael Salas, one of Marcos’ brilliant technocrats resigned from his post: “It’s very bad. The corruption is unmitigated, it has continued, if not increased in volume, despite the worsening situation.” About Imelda running for 1969, he said: she “will probably ruin the country.”

Now with Mike Arroyo, he is rumored to have deposited a $500 million account in a German bank. In 2004, he allegedly has to do with the diversion of farmers’ fertilizer fund worth P 728 million through Joc-Joc Bolante to spruce up his wife’s campaign funds. He was linked to funding a post-election “special operations” in Lanao. In 2003, Senator Panfilo Lacson identified him as Jose Pidal involved in money-laundering activities. As early as 2001, he was accused of accepting a million dollar-bribe to save a vetoed telecommunications deal. In one of these charges, he filed 11 libel cases against 46 journalists, which he later withdrew.

With all these controversies that he faced, he is known to have one response – to go abroad and hide from media flaks. This time with the ZTE national broadband deal raging in the Senate, he, without delay, took a flight to Hong Kong.

It is not yet clear from Joey de Venecia’s testimony before the Senate hearing of what constituted Mike’s participation in the deal. Did he endorse ZTE’s bid? Was his endorsement necessary for the approval of the contract or was there more to it than meets the eye? Did he receive part of the pay-off? One thing is somewhat sure that Abalos sought a kickback from the contract. What is anomalous is that ZTE, as alleged by Lacson, is banned in many countries because of acts of bribery. Still, we are dealing with these people in a so-called executive agreement, which is still debatable, with Beijing. Corrupt people appeal to corrupt government.

Three years from now, Arroyo’s unprecedented nine-year term ends, which is less than half of Marcos’ authoritarian rule. During these remaining years, we Filipinos must be vigilant. Every contract, every deal, every loan agreement should be watched closely. They are racing against time and so they will use every opportunity to milk the government. There is every reason to believe that this Arroyo government is corrupt because crony capitalism is back with vengeance. If we fail to do so, then we will confront another nightmare as horrendous as the Marcoses.

[First published in People's Digest Newsweekly (Dagupan City) (September 25-October 1, 2007)]