Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 9

I think I have to explain my obsession for local autonomy. Suggestions that require a cha-cha are at best amusing; at worst, fearsome. Let us not forget that a cha-cha may not necessarily turn out to be of our liking. All other proposals to improve our lot such as cooperatives, food production and livelihood programs may be addressed by local autonomy. Electoral reforms and good governance will strengthen it.

If it’s a meaningful change we want, we must start with education. For instance, do local government officials know the extent of their powers? If they knew, they could and would stop licking Gloria’s heels and demand the release of the money due them. If they don’t protect their rights, who will? How can they ask for more powers when they can’t even use what they already have? Why entrust Gloria with anti-poverty programs when they can do it more effectively?

A million thanks to Ed Aurelio 'Dng' Reyes, for bringing up one very important point – the Local Government Code is not being fully implemented. PGMA withholds LGU’s IRA share; its release is supposed to be automatic. Congress all but ignored the Code; they are mandated to visit it every five years to keep it dynamic. I also agree with the examples he cited.

Let us first make local autonomy work before talking of federalism. How? I cannot be too emphatic about this: education. Let the people know what local autonomy is. I’m sure they would go for it if they knew. I tried to contact Senator Pimentel about this long before he went crazy about federalism but his email address yielded nothing.

I searched for arguments in favor of federalism, and did not find a single claim that cannot be addressed by local autonomy. While there may be a debate between pros and cons on federalism, I see a no contest between federalism and local autonomy. While others may view federalism as the solution to the ills of our country, I see local autonomy as federalism, without its costs.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 8

It is but normal for one to be shocked by the cold blooded murder done by bank robbers recently. But for Secretary Raul Gonzales to react so methinks the lady doth protests too much. There was this prostitute who, for fear of being discovered, cried ouch rather too loudly and too often.

Actually, the good Justice Secretary need not go into dramatics to hide his apathy. Hindi siya nag-iisa. We too are now inured to the violence that hounds us day in and day out. Just to prove this point hereunder is a piece inspired Neale Donald Walsch, author of several best selling books.

Allowing people to go hungry is a form of violence. We make people go hungry by stealing millions from the government through a process we call graft and corruption. We further make people go hungry when we block investigations intended to prevent such crimes and punish all those responsible for it. Investigators make people hungrier and angrier when they do not do it right. We allow people to go hungry when we refuse to lift a finger to prevent or assuage such hunger.

Placing life-saving drugs and the finest medical care out of reach of millions is a form of violence. For several decades we have been guilty of this form of violence. We are even guiltier with each day of delay in the signing of the bill into law that would somehow address this problem.

Underpaying laborers while taking huge front office profits is a form of violence. No comment.

Mistreating, underpaying, denying promotions to, and mutilating females is a form of violence. No comment.

Racial prejudice is a form of violence. No comment.

Child abuse, child labor, child slavery, child prostitution, child trafficking, and child soldiering is a form of violence. Many infants do not receive the nutrition they need to develop their brains. They will be societies' liabilities when they grow up, if they grow up at all. Our starving school children are packed in ill-equipped along with a hungry teacher in what we pass off as an educational process. Therefore we have so many high school graduates who are illiterates. This happens because our loans continue piling up, and do not go where it should.

The death penalty is a form of violence. Just a reminder for those who want it revived.

Denying civil rights to people because of their sexual preference or their religion or their ethnicity is a form of violence. Denying civil rights for whatever reason is a form of violence. More so if we kill with impunity to do it.

Creating and maintaining a worldwide society in which exploitation, oppression, and injustice are commonplace is a form of violence. No comment.

Ignoring suffering is as much a form of violence as inducing it. In other words, apathy is also a form of violence.

And if we may add one too, allowing senior citizens to fall in endless lines at the GSIS for needed services, even as it ignores urgent pleas through email, is a form of violence.

While Gloria may be guilty of these forms of violence, Congress, is also guilty by omission. It allowed her to maintain and use so much power when it could have made the legislation that could have curb it. Now Senator Pimentel would poise upon the nation the scourge of federalism though he knowa very well that all he had to do was push for greater local autonomy to reap the benefits of the strange and dangerous order he spouses.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 7

About the only good thing we see in the Senator Pimentel's resolution calling for a Constituent Assembly to move towards federalism is that it opens up a dialogue that may eventually lead us to see the light. While we agree with the challenges it seeks to address, the solution suggested is downright unacceptable. The proposed system is so expensive and unwieldy that it may do more harm than good. How much would cost to maintain 11 State Officials and employees? How would it function?

And it is an exercise in futility. Can anyone imagine a plebiscite voting to have 70 senators and 350 representatives? It would rather vote for the abolition of both houses! Maybe the idea would not be so bad if the alternative is not so workable, not so inexpensive and not so effective. But it is!

And what might it be? Local autonomy, plain and simple! Review the Local Government Code of 1991 authored by Senator Pimentel himself. The answers are all there. We doubt if senility or ulterior motives it all, but we can't understand why the father of local autonomy would spouse federalism rather than decentralization. Where was he all the time that the Code needed to be updated?

It's been 17 long years and the League of Provinces are still pushing for amendments! It is supposed to be dynamic. It is so provided in the code itself: a visit every five years. Did Congress do what it is supposed to do with the Code? No. And its author was too busy with the ambition of his son to even let out a whimper. Who knows that the adjustments that might have produced effective leaders of LGU's, rather than heel licker who wouldn't dare question Gloria abuses even if they themselves are the victim.

Our failure to devolve more powers enabled Gloria to use and abuse all the powers given to her. And who can stop any of her successors from doing the same thing? This is why we appeal to all senators and congressmen. Get real. Stop this nonsense about federalism. Listen to the League of Provinces. Maybe what they want is not even enough. Put safeguards and guidelines, but give it. Give them now as much as you would to federalism. It could be our sure and easy way out. Also Gloria's. Do it now while we still can.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 6

Failure to launch or being in a bottleneck implies that we’re stuck somewhere. It’s not anything just like that. We are in a quicksand. We did not stagnate for the last 25 years. We kept on sinking down and down. In the race among Asian nations we miserably fell behind because we move slowly, backwards.

EQ, the original brand, was still well-off; he could afford a golden bowl without having to steal. It all started when, irked by haughty American meddlers, RM ordered them to speak in Tagalog; he was killed in a mysterious plane crash. Buy Filipino, CPG urged; foreigners bought by the millions, Filipinas mostly. DM devalued the peso; her daughter brought it down to its lowest actual value. He adopted a floating rate; she simply made it float away through globalization. FM promised that we shall be great again; he made us regret again.

We complained of galunggong day in and day out; Cory cured our nausea by placing it beyond our reach. FVR drew illusions of a tiger economy; now we are being eaten up by one who had long been sleeping. ERAP is truly for the mahihirap; he started making us all as his beloved. GMA simply continued the process at a more frenzied pace. She promised more food on our table; now she squanders billions trying to put back some rice on our plates.

If it’s any consolation though she made us No.1, in corruption; and MLQ got his wish, a government run like hell by us. The downward trend cannot be stopped by limiting our debt payments, but by limiting our debts. This is not a question of semantics but of strategy. We are not reneging in our commitments. It’s just that we have to live within our means.

If we have a debt cap we would be forced to look into our resources at hand. How could the government provide basic services if the taxes it collects are used to pay debts? We prioritize debt servicing only because we are allowed to borrow as much as we can. More money flows in as loans than the amount we lose via amortization, so we inevitably sink deeper and deeper into indebtedness.

If we had a debt cap the CTE-NBN deal would not have been possible. PCIJ would not have reported that 7 out of 10 ODA projects reviewed failed to deliver because probably there would be no such rich fodder for graft and corruption. Maybe because of limited number and amount, every proposal could be scrutinized and guarded more carefully.

Viewed from this point, Congress must take a break from travels abroad and from Gloria praising or bashing and pass a debt cap that would prevent GMA and her successors from doing what she has been doing. Who knows that by trying to live within our means we could be more conscious of our civic duties and begin to be less corrupt and less prolific? Having less money for importation, maybe then we can start producing more rice and more goods for our own use, at least.

We understand Congress’ reluctance to a debt cap. It would mean lesser money to go around. How could it fund development projects without incurring debts? How could the government finance its bloated bureaucracy and voracious lawmakers? It could. All that is needed is for them to involve the people through the local government units.

We are a nation of talents and resources just waiting to be tapped. We have existing systems and structure. We need only strengthen them. For this we do not need to amend the constitution. We only have to go for a stronger local autonomy.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 5

Some people suggest that, since Malacañang's APP program is nothing but a costly propaganda gimmick for the administration, it instead be used to teach the poorest of the poor how to fish. This is a tall order.

How can we tell desperate people how to fish when fishermen themselves are starving? And I do not just refer to the fishermen along Manila Bay, Laguna Lake and in provincial waters. Look at the PUB, PUJ and taxi drivers nationwide. Look at the former workers of the once flourishing garment and shoe industry in Taytay, Rizal, in Marikina City. Aren't they all in the same sinking boat where survival, not fishing is of utmost concern?

People will go fishing if the water's not murky, or if no storm's abrewing or if there's fish in the waters. Frogs just flourish by themselves when conditions in a pond are favorable. People too will, and unlike frogs they may choose to multiply goods, not their kind. Gloria bashing and search for truth only describes the pond. It does not make it more livable.

A point will be reached when the truth may cause desperation, rather than positive action as when we realize that the ZTE-NBN deal is just the tip of an iceberg of corruption. What would you do if your realize that the pond you live in is wider and is more polluted than the Pasig river?

I admire the guts of Sen. Pimentel for proposing something which he thinks would alter the conditions of the pond even if it might turn out to be not be a very sensible idea. It came just when I gave up trying to contact him. I just wanted him to keep his local government code alive and kicking. Now that he is too preoccupied with a preposterous idea, who can I turn to?

There is nothing but dead silence from our senators. Half of them are too poorly funded that they do not even have a staff to acknowledge mails. The other half lead by Senator Pimentel just bounces back undelivered. They simply cut their ties with reality. At least Senator Gordon has people who refer us to his own site. This is why I just can’t buy the obsession by some supposedly knowledgeable sectors to assign sloths by region. Bicol has five and it is as poor and as neglected as any region could be.

Cha-cha will have its time, but for now I just want more local autonomy in our country. Not that I feel comfortable with LGU's ability to handle more power and resources. It's just that it's easier to train and police them than Imperial Gloria or any of her successors.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 4

The CBCP’s call for communal action that it itself dropped amidst public outcry of vagueness and timidity when the CTE-NBN issue was at its hottest point now just might turn out to be the best path after all. At least, it is a lot preferable to Cardinal Sin’s forthright call to the streets. People power only aggravated the problem, instead of addressing it.

That we were a lot better off before EDSA 1 and 2 is an observation that only those who are in power might dare dispute. This, along with the grim specter of anarchy, a civil war, military junta or a communist take-over, forces many of us to grin and bear it with the luckiest bitch while nervously praying that the 2010 elections finds us all still intact.

But, come to think of it. Elections never bring relief, only false hopes that last for a year at most. Alas for the oppressed majority, elections differ not at all from people power. It is perhaps this predicament that draws us to other options. Cha-cha, for one, is considered even if we have to dance to a cacophony of sounds under the baton of a usurper who obviously seeks an extension of evil. An unlikely knight in rusty armor who comes to revive her fading hopes, albeit unwittingly perhaps, is drawing much attention.

Senator Nene Pimentel correctly suggests that our problem arose from too much power and resources lodged in the Presidency. He wants some of it devolved. No more shall our fortunes or misfortunes rest on a woman or a man. Fine! There’s just one small hitch though. His proposal carries with it its own death sentence – 70 Senators and 350 Congressmen. How insensitive can one be?

How ironic indeed that the Local Government Code of 1991 he himself authored is capable of giving the benefits of federalism without its costs. The Code itself mandates that it be visited every five years. It provides for dynamism yet it’s been 17 years since its approval but the League of Governors still struggles to have it amended. What does this show? That Congress, including the good Senator himself, was never too keen about giving more powers to local governments! Perhaps, it has yet to see its full import.

We think that Senator Pimentel is agonizing. The formula slept with him for too long. Now he wants to make up for lost time through the cha-cha that he used to oppose vehemently. We understand. Ganyan talaga ang mga taong bagong gising. Wala pa sa sarili. He can recoup faster if he let his son take care of his own ambitions. It’s time the Code is updated to suit the challenge of the times. It’s time for the old man to sit with the League of Provinces or any other concerned party. We need his expertise and true advocacy, not the heel licking ULAP and League officials.

Communal action goes beyond Gloria bashing and search for truth. It seeks dialogs, not impulsive action. How was it that she was able to freely do her thing? Was it because we failed to pass the laws that could have curbed her powers? Was it because we were not vigilant enough and failed to act on the little things that could have meant a lot, like the PNP’s inability to serve a warrant of arrest to a high profile and potentially voluble convict who finds safe haven under a fetid skirt? Not Garci, stupid! He’s too big for us.

What now? What must we do after the EDSA option failed, or while it simmers? Shall we go the way of Senator Pimentel? Or, have we other ideas? We now rage for communal action. Will CBCP pick up the pieces and provide the much needed leadership, if only to regain its relevance? Its call is obviously inspired. Let no man or woman put it asunder. Or do we just wait for the bubble to burst?

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 3

I think that Senator Pimentel’s pitch for federalism is well within CBCP’s call for communal action. He wants to go beyond Gloria bashing. He does not want to just wait for a 2010 or earlier PGMA exit. He has proposed a course of action. He may be in the right path.

Any change of leadership will bring no relief for as long as the conditions that enabled her to do what she did remain. She can borrow as much as she can, and mortgage our future. She controls the purse, even of Congressmen and Senators. She can import billions of pesos worth of rice and channel it to favored traders. She can order Quedancor to finance her pet projects. She can control the distribution of fertilizers. She can enter into secret deals. She can get away with murder.

The list of what she can do, and did is almost endless. Why wouldn't her successor do the same?

Senator Pimentel probably proposed federalism to curb these powers, and empower autonomous states to pursue their own development programs. Surely, he will not lack for followers more so because he dangles P100 billion in what he calls a Federal Equalization Fund. But his idea can only be done through a cha-cha, and once a con-con or a con-ass is convened he will have no control over it. What then is he trying to do? Joining forces with PGMA? Unwittingly perhaps?

If the idea of federalism is the solution to over concentration of powers in the Presidency, then he has himslef to blame for the problem. Well, he can always say he was distracted by his son’s ambition so he failed to see that the benefits of federalism, without its costs had lain in hands for too long. I am referring to the Local Government Code of 1991 which he himself authored.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 2

Senator Nene Pimentel must be kidding. Yes, that’s precisely what I mean, giving birth to a goat. He could lessen the birth pains and come up with something better than an animal if, for now, he sticks to his Local Government Code of 1991. Yes, we can reap the benefits of federalism without its costs. All that was needed was to follow the Code. The guidelines are all spelled out there.

Suddenly Congress is agog with decentralization after sitting on it for at least 12 long years. That was the time when they should have visited the LGC, as provided for therein. The Code provides for dynamism, but Congress or even Senator Pimentel himself was never up to the challenge. They had other things in mind. They had no time for the very formula that could have averted our present political and economic crisis.

Maybe we are going to fast. Let’s slow down a bit. PGMA was able to do what she did because she had too much freedom and power. Local autonomy seeks to devolve some of such powers, as federalism would. For this we need not amend the Constitution. Congress merely has to pass enabling provisions or amendments.

Decentralization, A Way Out. Part 1

History repeated itself too soon. In her 2002 SONA, PGMA said, “"Meanwhile, one shocking corporate scandal after another severely eroded public faith in the most promising system for conducting economic activity-the free market." She was then referring to ERAP's time. Now she can repeat the same words and refer to her own, except that hers is more intense. Most newspaper columns, including the web, agree that reasons for going to the streets are more compelling now than in EDSA 1 & 2.

Ironically enough though previous successes in people power are the very reasons why people remain glued to their seats. The people never found relief in people power. Therefore, they are not interested in another power grab. What for? Let them who want power work for it!

Perhaps sensing that the situation is hopeless, Senator Nene Pimentel proposes federalism to preempt any move by any sector to initiate a movement that could lead into a full grown revolution. He said that federalism would prevent too much concentration of power and resources in Imperial Manila. throwing a towel into the ring via a proposed federation! He wants to multiply a thousand fold the flaw in his otherwise brilliant Local Government Code of l991- an overly expensive local legislative body. How many sacks of palay seeds, artesian wells or even school buildings is the equivalent of the total allotment for Sangguniang Bayans? Instead of reducing the number of greedy lawmakers, he proposes that we allot scarce funds for more of them – 35 Senators and 350 congressmen!

Crazy or outlandish though it may seem, Senator Pimentel has a point in making the proposal. We have to go beyond fault finding because each time we point an accusing finger we stop being productive, unless we earn our keep by doing so. After a 2010 or earlier exit of PGMA what? Another shot of opium, as Communists call elections? It gives nothing but delusions of relief and false hopes. So does an EDSA or people power! It brings nothing but Marcos, Cory, FVR, ERAP, Gloria and Oligarchy. Our government has never been by the people, with the people and for the people.

I tried to sound off some of our Senators but only three has a kind of answering machine. The rest are dead silent. So, of what good is an NBN? I was hoping to fire up Senator Pimentel, at least, because my proposal concerns Local Government Units, but out of his disheartening silence came this thing about a federation, an exact antithesis of what I had in mind - a strong republic through decentralization or strong LGU’s. Why not?

What’s with this idea? Actually it’s not anything new. It is provided for in the Local Government Code of 1991 – visit the act every five years. It’s been 17 years hence. Some people might react: our hands are full with scams after scams, with the rice crisis, with widespread hunger for food, education and truth, etc. This thing about local governments can wait. I think not. I think that this very thing is probably the best prescription for all our ills.

Under our present system, the fate of the country lies in the hands of the President. She can spend P5 billion to feed selected hungry mouths. She can import rice and channel it through favored traders who make a killing by selling them as commercial rice. In the same manner, she can subsidize foreign farmers and starve local ones. She can distribute fertilizers and control Quedancor. She can borrow as much as she can to prop of a regime that is bankrupt in cash and in morals. She controls the purse even of Congressmen and Senators. Why? Because she is President! And whoever succeeds her can do the same.

The problem lies in a system that existed because Congress was remiss with its job. Local autonomy is supposed to be dynamic. It is supposed to regularly devolve more and more powers to LGU’s. Having renege on its job, it now proposes a total overhaul of the Constitution itself. Senator Pimentel himself should know that through local autonomy we can have the benefits of a federal state without its attendant problems. How could this be possible? He need not look far for the answer. It is in his mind. It is in his local government code.

She died, then cried: Wake up!

The departed sister of Maj. Jason
Aquino sends this message.

Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi
Kaliluha'y siyang nangyayaring hari
Kagalinga't bait kimi't nalulugami
Ininis sa hukay ng dusa't pighati

Supreme Court or Plaza Miranda

Please bear with me as I grope through the issues that threaten to shake the very foundation of our so called democracy. I said so called because ours has never been a government of the people, by the people and for the people. But then this is another story, isn't it?

Why must the Supreme Court deal with very specific questions? Does this mean that henceforth, any Palace henchman may seek prior clearance from the SC on any question he doesn't want the Senate to ask? Wouldn't it make the Senate less equal with the SC?

It just doesn't seem right that anybody would give prior restraint to a body whose members are, presumably, chosen by the people themselves from among so many brilliant aspirants. Can't we grant them just enough common sense, plain decency and cursory knowledge of statutory and political limitations so they can enjoy some degree of freedom in the performance of their jobs and even, perhaps, at one point or another in just sheer grandstanding or unwitting exposure of mental handicaps?

Now, what's all this fuss about the first two questions? How could anyone, PGMA especially, be bothered by it at all? What if Neri says no to both questions? Maybe we might even chide PGMA for being a bit remiss with her job! The President's men and some supposedly heavy weight technical people sang paeans about the project so it was just a matter of logical concern that the President should follow-up on it and even order that it be given priority. What's wrong with it?

The 3^rd question might to a different league. It could indeed be damaging. But wait… wasn't this question already answered in the Senate inquiry? Will anyone please refresh my memory? Didn't Neri already admit telling PGMA about Abalos' bribe offer? In effect, didn't he say that PGMA told him to approve the project anyway? He said so by being silent despite intense pressure.

The truth is already out. The Senate does not need to do anything to implicate PGMA in the anomaly. In effect, Neri did it, by his resounding silence; the President's men, by sending Jun Lozada abroad to evade the Senate inquiry and by kidnapping him; Chairman Abalos, by being omnipresent in the ZTE transactions even at the height of the 2007 election frenzy; Executive Undersecretary Manuel Gaite, by being so generous to a tune of P500,000 to a nonentity at such a short notice.

Maybe we should include in this list the lucky nine justices of the SC by... well, by being lucky. On top of the list should be PGMA herself, by firing Neri for being loquacious in his silence and by giving him something to chew at CHED so he can't really talk; for not canceling the contract immediately and for admitting that she knew that the contract is flawed even before she signed it. Jun Lozada does not belong. The color of his feather differs.

Why do the Senate insist in asking Neri these three redundant or inane questions? Is it its job to prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt or innocence of a person. Isn't it enough that it has unearthed enough information for Plaza Miranda to make an intelligent conclusion? A taxi driver told me that in this our democracy nobody can force anybody to talk against his will. Legally, of course. He also said that judges are allowed to consider non-verbal messages of witnesses such as hesitancy, blinking of an eye or restlessness. Why can't we do the same?

We raged for the truth. Now we rage for action. Unfortunately, CBCP cannot lead us. It is too busy searching for the truth that, in the process, it conceals. And the Senate is also busy allowing the heat generated to cool off, or the rage to shift direction. It is playing with the Supreme Court a game called 3D - dumb, deaf and dolt. With all due respect...

The Best of ZTE

Ducky Paredes of Malaya Newspaper wrote: Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited, ZTE for short, is among the best in the world. It is an Asian business that we, as Asians, ought to be proud of.

He said that “this is the company that is regarded, in our country, as among the lowest of the low primarily because its name has been dragged through the mud by among the lowest of the low characters in Philippine politics.”

“Actually, in the ongoing investigation extravaganza that the Senate is conducting, no shred of evidence has been shown that would indicate that ZTE bribed anyone or that the contract was overpriced or that it is even attended by any irregularity.”

“In the end, ZTE lost nothing but we, on the other hand, must be the laughingstock of the world. We allowed unsubstantiated allegations to be our basis for scuttling the NBN project. That the allegations of wrongdoing came from polluted sources many of whom obviously had an ax to grind made the affair doubly comical."

Comment:

If ZTE is indeed the best in the world, it cannot just be “dragged through the mud” particularly “by among the lowest of the low characters in Philippine politics”. Nobody can put a good man or Company down.

About the main characters in Philippine politics I remember ever having mentioned ZTE, in one form or another, are Senators. Was Ducky Paredes perhaps referring to any or all of them as among the lowest of the low?

Why must we be the laughingstock of the world? Remember that it was PGMA herself, not us nor anybody else, who scuttled the NBN project. Only PGMA herself could possibly be accused of acting on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations. That, perhaps, the allegations of wrongdoing came from polluted sources many of whom obviously had an ax to grind made her decision doubly comical.

In canceling the contract she did not wait for the Senate to produce a shred of evidence “that would indicate that ZTE bribed anyone or that the contract was overpriced or that is even attended by any irregularity.” Presumably, she already has it.

Senator Trillanes

I cannot understand why Senator Antonio Trillanes is still in jail. The law allowed him to run for a Senate seat. He won and was duly proclaimed by the COMELEC. He is now a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, no less. Is it also the law that bars him from doing his job?

I cannot understand why he is still under court martial. The law says that a person who files his candidacy is automatically resigned; therefore, with the termination of his employment in the government, he also lost his military status. He is now a civilian. A civilian being tried in a military court is a novelty that is possible only when the military reigns supreme over civilian authority.

I cannot understand why he should ask the court for special privileges. He deserves none, nor does anybody else, much less a detainee. But he is not supposed to be a detainee. He should be out serving a term, not in jail, but in the Senate. The voters want him there, neither on the streets nor in jail.

I cannot understand how the voice of the people could be trampled upon so easily. When Trillanes ran for the Senate the people were already aware of the Oakwood incident, and this is precisely what galvanized them into action. They liked what he did. Total strangers campaigned and voted for him. Who was he before the Oakwood incident?

I cannot understand why he should be equated with Jalosjos. The latter won despite a crime; Trillanes won precisely because of a crime imputed to him.

I cannot understand why the courts continue to try him for something he did before the elections. The people have spoken. They did not absolve him of a crime. The people said that what he did was not a crime. This is supposed to be the essence of the ballot. It reflects the people’s will. It must be respected, more so by the courts.

I cannot understand why one man, even if he happens to be the Chief of Staff can lord over a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. It is his will that Senator Trillanes stay in jail. And so he is still there. I am deafened by the silence of his fellow Senators and by their indifference to the injustice being perpetrated against one of them.

I understand why nobody hears the gnashing of teeth for Trillanes. It is drowned by loud grumblings for more urgent concerns, like the CTE-NBN deal; the fertilizer and swine scams that caused the present rice crisis; and the conversion of NFA rice into commercial ones.

I understand why this is happening to our country. We deserve it. We allow a myopic PNP to search in vain for the ubiquitous Lintang Bidol, the guardian of a Pandora’s box.

Time Warp

Activists Scientists Ask Reyes: After Selling Our Mineral Resources, Are Our Energy Resources Next?

This is not true. He has left some for Atienza to finish off what he began.

Atienza Off to Singapore to Attract Mining Investors.

To insure success he should bring along the DENR’s own findings on Rapu Rapu Group. It would help if investors know that, in the Philippines, they can violate practically all mining conditions and get away with it.

On Glorietta Explosion: Scientists Group Calls For Independent Investigation To Avoid Whitewash.

Since the elections of 2004 we never knew what and whom to believe in.

Scientists Highlight Need For Genuine National Information Network.

Why not? After the CTE-NBN deal we can survive another.

Scientists Warn DOE On Nuclear Energy And Privatization.

Yes. Nuclear energy is only for first world countries. We are happy enough being third world.

Government Eyes Takeover Of Rice Warehouses.

After seeing their stacks of NFA rice, why not? But not to worry! It’s all just for show. No charges will be filed. Their partners in the government will not fail them, and themselves.

PNP Can’t Find Lintang Bidol.

The safest place to hide is still under a woman’s skirt.

Mrs. Arroyo Issued The Order Lifting The Import Quotas. Any businessman can import rice and corn for as long as they pay tariffs.

Why not? Rice importation is lucrative. Planting rice is never fun.

With The Rising Prices Of Consumer Goods, Malacañang Asked Yesterday The Regional Wage Boards To Study The Possibility Of Raising The Minimum Wage.

Studies can’t fill-up empty stomachs but it can raise hopes. False ones!

Favila Clarified That The Country Is Not Facing A Food Supply Crisis But A Problem With Rising Prices.

This must be higher or lower economics. Economics 101 tells us it can't be so.

NFA Insists Rice Supply Enough.

This is why we have to line up for hours and hours for two or three kilos each.

The President Last Week Unveiled A Plan To Increase Food Production Through Increased Spending On Fertilizer, Irrigation And Infrastructure, Education And Research, Credits For Farmers And Distribution Of Higher-Yielding Seeds.

We are on a time warp. It's always April 1st.

Senate Turns CBCP

Bad Precedent

The Supreme Court set a bad precedent when it approved Neri’s petition to stop the Senate from asking three specific questions. Now who can stop any Palace official from doing the same thing when confronted by a Senate inquiry? Does the SC really want this to happen?

Too Late and Too Puzzling

It was rather puzzling and too late in the day for the Supreme Court to bar the Senate from asking whether PGMA told Neri to go ahead with the NBN-CTE deal after he told him that it is flawed. The Senate already asked this question and Neri, in effect, answered it all under oath in a televised Senate inquiry.

After saying that he told PGMA of the bribe offer of Chairman Abalos Neri invoked executive privilege and refused to answer the question whether he was directed by her to go ahead with the project. He maintained his silence even when subjected to intense public pressure.

Does Neri really have to say anything more? Was not his silence his way of saying yes? After PGMA herself admitted in a radio interview that even before she signed the contract she already knew that it was flawed, who would ever say that it isn’t so?

In the face of all these revelations, the local Chinese diplomats never voiced any reaction at all. So why would they be bothered a bit by questions that even PGMA can easily brush aside with another question? What could possibly be wrong if she follows up on and instruct a subordinate to give priority to a project that his advisers say is laudable?

A more appropriate dissenting opinion could have been summed up in only one sentence. Neri’s petition’s nonsensical.

Senate Turns CDCP

It baffles me why the SC barred the Senate from asking Neri two pointless questions and one that was already answered and did not produce the fearsome scenario he painted in his petition. It baffles me even more why the Senate insists in again asking him the same question.

Does the Senate, perhaps, want to go beyond its realm and force Neri to speak up and link PGMA directly to the anomaly? This is both unethical and unnecessary. Nobody, not even the Senate, can force anyone to speak against his will. Well, maybe, just maybe, it might be permitted to run a volt or two in a body part immediately below and adjacent to his organ, if only to find out if there’s anything in there.

The Senate need not do anything more to link PGMA directly to the anomaly. In effect, Neri already did it, by his ominous silence; the Presidents men, by sending Jun Lozada abroad to evade the Senate inquire and by kidnapping him; Chairman Abalos, by being omnipresent in all NBN-CTE affairs even at the height of the 2007 election frenzy; Executive Undersecretary Manuel Gaite, by providing incontrovertible material evidence in the form of a hefty sum of 500 thousand pesos he gave to a nonentity at such a short notice.

PGMA herself should be at the top of this list. She did it by merely suspending the deal at the start of the Senate inquiry and by canceling it only under immense and incessant public pressure. She did it by signing the contract even if she already knew that it was flawed. She did it by firing Neri as NEDA Chief for talking too much, and by giving him something to chew at the CHED so he can’t talk.

We shall have to include here the nine SC justices who made the concurring decision, for being lucky… perhaps even as lucky as PGMA herself. Jun Lozada is noticeably not in this flock. His feather differs.

The truth is already out. For those who believe, any more evidence would be superfluous. For those who refuse to believe, a prayer or two might work wonders. Any more searches would only serve to cool down the heat that has been generated.

We raged for the truth. Now we rage for action. Unfortunately, CBCP refuses to lead. It is too busy searching for the truth that, in the process, it, perhaps unwittingly, covers up. The Senate is right behind, playing the same game.