How a workers' strike became the Luisita Massacre - Special Reports - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

How a workers' strike became the Luisita Massacre - Special Reports - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

Center of the storm

Manny Villar is once again at the center of the storm. The C-5 fiasco seems to be hounding him to no end as senators throw bricks and stones at each other over their report. Political supporters are at each others throat saying that everything is politically motivated, the timing is in question, why only now? Those kind of BS.
Villar's camp keeps on insisting there was no insertion of anything, while his critics disagrees.
Things get hairy when Villar refused to attend the senate committee of the whole to discuss this matter. IMO, he should just attend since it's not really a trial. Media is making a frenzy over this.
My question is who will gain from this? Will it help the Filipino people in anything?

Programa de Gobyerno

This is my wish list for the coming president:

1.) Free Education for the masses for all levels.
2.) Free or Affordable housing for every one.
3.) Affordable prices for basic commodities.
4.) Pollution free power.
5.) No graft and corruption, or persecute those caught.
6.) Realistic and sustainable economic advances.
7.) Better roads and infrastructures.
8.) Self reliant Agriculture sector.
9.) Manageble population growth

I'll probably add more since only a genie can give such things now.....

Last January 16

It was my late sister's birthday last January 16, 2010. She would have been 41 if she did not die almost 21 years ago. I still miss her you know. My mom and dad misses her also. My mom just got over her death last year. It took her 20 odd years to get over it. She died of Leukemia. She was 20 that year. She was about to graduate cum laude at FEU.
I miss my sister. I'm hoping 1 day, we'll all see each other again somehow. You know, a person near death sees dead people. Sort of fetching them. My sister saw my great grandmother who we did not meet ever.
21 years of living without her was hard on all of us but life goes on.
I can't help the tears from flowing in my eyes......

Miss you Bing-bing.....

formspring.me

what's your favorite comic book?

hmmmmmmmmm
Hawkman

Ask me anything

My last 3-day adventure

I started doing the applications for renewal for business permits of our clients since Tuesday. I went to get Barangay clearances and the actual getting in line and start the process of applying. Since last week, I've been readying those clients assigned to me.
Observing the process inside city hall (that's Sta Rosa, Laguna), lots of people are applying since the deadline is fast approaching. Good thing if you know a few people inside, or even if you don't the process is fast enough.
Some municipal people accept gifts from applicants but others don't or at least not seen outside. I remember my former boss who told me, If you get offers for the work you do, accept it. Nothing bad about it. But if you ask for gifts in exchange for favours then that's extortion.
From a private corporation point of view, you avoid those stuffs but rarely could deny suppliers from giving you something. For government people, it's different because public servants should at least have an image of honesty.
This morning, when I was waiting for my papers to be processed, I heard someone who signs the application said to another applicant that she's getting hungry. And she straightly said for me to give the encoders something for snacks. Well since favors are favors and you can only give as high as P500 it's ok. Just to get a move on and finish my task. I did the process, I waited in line even if I did pay someone something, I didn't let anyone else do my work for me.
At least it's for services rendered, you know how much these encoders earn for government work?
This is my first time to do this sort of job. So I'm just observing as I go by. You cannot believe the gall of BIR examiners. But that is another story, and I have more paper work to do today.

Villar is Gloria's boy?

Been having a discussion with friends over Manny Villar's commercial on TV. Man, whoever thought of that ad is one sick fellow. I mean, having kids sing that Manny can make all of us rich is too good to be true. It's downright a lie.
I'm wary of would-be messiahs who come to us common people with dreams of grandeur and false promises. Like Gloria Arroyo before him, he spouts the same thing she does.
Survey shows that Manny is gaining ground next to Noynoy. His funding is enormous. Being the richest senator can do that.
Villar is also involved in the overprice of the C-5 road project in which his subdivisions are the beneficiaries.

check this out:

Yellow Pad -- By Filomeno S. Sta Ana III

Villar’s leadership

Manny Villar is on a roll. The latest survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows that he has narrowed the gap between him and Noynoy Aquino, the frontrunner, to 11%. The survey came in the wake of a media blitzkrieg during the holiday season.

A friend of mine, an executive in a major television network, conservatively estimates that Villar has spent P2 billion since the third quarter of 2009 for his media campaign. (Other estimates are on the high side, ranging between P3 billion and P4 billion.)

His ads are very populist. In one ad, responding to Michael V’s complaint about the prohibitive cost of education, Villar says that college education must be free. Why Villar focuses on college education, not on basic education, which is a bigger problem, is easy to answer. Villar wants to get the vote of college students. Elementary and high school children don’t vote.

Populist rhetoric works during elections; that was part of Gloria Arroyo’s tactics in 2004. She ordered a price subsidy on electricity, mainly benefiting the rich and the non-poor; she wasted billions of pesos for dole-out; she stalled revenue-enhancement reforms so she would be popular. All this led to a fiscal crisis, and the people had to suffer from the consequences of Arroyo’s irresponsible populism. But Arroyo won the elections -- her populist rhetoric and action attracted votes, though the decisive factor was the cheating.

Villar is doing a Gloria. Villar, like Gloria, is a master of populist language bordering on demagoguery. He even adopts the program of the Left so he can get its command votes. In his obsession to win the presidency, this multibillionaire has wooed a force that regards him a class enemy. (Incidentally, Gloria also forged tactical ties with the Left in the 2004 elections.)

And Villar is doing to Noynoy what Gloria did to Fernando Poe, Jr. in 2004: question the leadership qualities of his main rival.

The Villar camp attributes the gain from the latest SWS survey to "the shift in voting preference over the last three weeks in December as respondents start to put a premium on proven competence, leadership and accomplishments." And in a televised debate that was staged immediately after the release of the SWS survey, Villar highlighted again the issue of competence and leadership.

The problem is that Villar’s propaganda on leadership will backfire.

One of the enduring quotes from Winston Churchill is: "The price of greatness is responsibility." Villar, however, has exhibited recklessness and waste, not responsibility.

Let’s take another look at his ad where he promises free college education. If only the Philippine government were very rich in revenues, free college education would have been a viable option. But because of the severe lack of resources, the next administration must specify the priority spending. And undoubtedly, basic education must be the top priority because it has a bigger impact on poverty reduction and has higher social returns.

It is the mark of irresponsibility for Villar to promise many good things like free college education, without identifying where he will get the resources.

Villar would have a more responsive contribution to society, at the same time he would gain political capital, if he devoted the billions that he spends on ads to the housing and education projects initiated by civil society -- like Tony Meloto’s Gawad Kalinga on housing and Nene Geuvara’s Synergeia on basic education. Let an undergrad economics student calculate the opportunity costs of the billions that Villar spent for his media campaign at a very early stage of the campaign.

Villar is thus the opposite of a good leader who knows how to husband resources and use such resources efficiently.

Villar also boasts of his performance in the Senate to boost his claim of being a good leader. But let us not forget how Villar turned against the very institution that he once led as he resisted the Senate inquiry into the controversial C5 project. The C5 controversy, at the very least, exposed Villar’s conflict of interest with regard to the budget insertion.

In fact, Villar did a Gloria act by boycotting the Senate inquiry and by condemning his fellow senators for prejudging the case. This was the same way Gloria rejected the Senate in relation to the notorious ZTE-NBN deal.

At any rate, Villar is correct in making leadership a main issue in the elections. He may be a good manager, but he misses the point that what we need now is someone who will rebuild the institutions that Gloria has destroyed.

And there’s the rub. Villar’s leadership is no different from Gloria’s.

To repeat what Churchill said, "the price of greatness is responsibility." We can also quote Dwight Eisenhower, Churchill’s ally during World War II: "The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

Unfortunately, Villar has neither responsibility nor integrity. He does not adhere to the ethics of honesty, uprightness, and transparency. He makes money do the talking, but he veers away from obligations, accountabilities, and tradeoffs. He is another Gloria.

My birthday Celebration

Taken from Yellow Cab Pizza Tagaytay
I was looking for a place to pee
My dad being the center of attention
My daughter with her lola
Me and my wife

Anyway, spent time with my whole family yesterday. Fun was the word. My dark world was brighter for a while. I wore Noynoy Aquino's and Eddie V's color yellow. Hah!
I really wanted to try mushroom burger but the kids out voted me so we ended up at Yellow Cab Pizza where my son had 4 big slices and my 2 nephews had 3 slices each. I had pasta.
My brother ever wanting to do the same said that he hoped we celebrate his birthday like that come April. Hehehe

Boring day

I can't help but feel bored today. It must be the weather. Early mornings are so cold but by the time it's noon, it's so hot.
Been doing some reports for the quarter ended December 2009. Still got lots to do. I'm swamped in paperworks and printing works.
Aside from that, we still got really a bundle to do. Sigh.
So sleepy.......

Why am I not surprised?

The trial for the Maguindanao Massacre has started today. The principle suspected master mind Andal Ampatuan Jr has pleaded not guilty. This is going to be a long circus of a trial. And while lawyers and government prosecutors battle it out in the legal arena, the family of the almost 60 victims wait for justice to be done.
I'm really not surprised that Ampatuan pleaded not guilty. He has the resources to make this trial a prolonged one. This will be dragging on and on for years IMHO.
People are angry and restless, this is a real test for our judicial system.

Clearing my stuffs

I've been thinking of clearing some stuffs I have at our room. It's really inviting dust to settle. My old comic books collection although shelved needs to be boxed again. The only reason I shelved those in the first place was because flood waters entered our house way back in 2007 causing some books to be soaked. Also I need to arrange my DVD collections. I need to get rid of some really tacky DVDs I bought. Our room is getting smaller and smaller. The kids added some PlayStation disc to the fray so I really need to make room.

My wife always complains about my comic books which is leading me to clean house again.

Waiting for a new Hawkman book

It's 2010 and already I'm hoping DC comics publish a new Hawkman book.
Hawkman was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville in 1939-1940 as a backup to The Flash comics. Since then it has endured as a comicbook characters. Originally an American Archeologist and later an Alien cop, Hawkman together with Hawkgirl (woman) has lasted 70+ years.

Over time Hawkman has had revisions and re-interpretations but his essence lives on. This year, Hawkman will be featured in Smallville. Can't wait to watch that.

Fly Hawkman fly.

2010 the new year

This is my first blog here at this site. A decade have passed since the dawn of Y2K. I can't believe it's been that long. Man, 10 years have passed since then. A new decade dawns.
I hope that this year will be better for all of us. Specially here in our country.
Happy New Year