Junk all candidates pushing Cha cha!

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
by William M. Esposo
from The Philippine Star

Despite all the remedies to wipe them out, vermin simply keep resurfacing. Despite the absence of a real reason that will justify the revision of the 1987 Constitution, these vermin pushing for Charter change (Cha cha) will not stop promoting what many Filipinos suspect is a self serving political agenda.

The 1987 Constitution was created by the Spirit of EDSA, the 1986 People Power Revolution which became one of the proudest moments of Philippine history. Last December, we saw one of the finest features of the 1987 Constitution — the new rules for the declaration of martial law — at work.

Under the 1935 Constitution which allowed Ferdinand E. Marcos to impose martial law in 1972, Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo GMA) could have gotten away with the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao. The discussions during the December 9 and 10 Joint Session of Congress on Presidential Proclamation (PP) 1959 which imposed martial law in Maguindanao displayed the wisdom of the guidelines of the 1987 Constitution.

Under the guidelines of the 1987 Constitution, GMA had absolutely no legal ground for imposing martial law in Maguindanao. It became quite obvious that her PP 1959 would have compelled the Supreme Court to shoot it down, just as the High Court shot down her PP 1017 in 2006. GMA quickly terminated PP 1959 — a move many think was meant to pre-empt and discourage a Supreme Court rejection.

The vermin who are promoting Charter change, like the devil quoting scripture and the serpent that caused Adam and Eve to fall from grace, are luring Filipinos with economic incentives that their Cha cha purports to deliver. They call it economic reforms and one of these that they are offering is the generation of foreign investments by allowing foreigners to purchase and own land here. Only an idiot, one who does not know the truth, will buy that.

China and Vietnam attract the bulk of foreign investors in Asia and both China and Vietnam do not allow foreigners to own land in their country. So why should we when that will only make property prices skyrocket beyond the levels that Filipinos can afford? So why should we allow foreigners to buy and own land here when there is not even enough for our expanding population?

The truth is foreigners are not lured by laws allowing them to own land but by level playing fields and big markets that deliver hefty returns on investments. In fact, the vermin promoting Cha cha are some of the biggest disincentives to foreign investments coming here.

What rational investor will want to operate here where the laws are subjectively implemented and whimsically altered to suit narrow interests? What rational investor will want to operate here where we are rated as high risk for a social explosion owing to the poverty situation which fuels social unrest and insurgency?

The 1987 Constitution set the direction for dismantling political dynasties but the same type of vermin promoting Cha cha did not pass an enabling law. The 1987 Constitution was clearly a legacy of Cory Aquino to her people. The proposed Cha cha is nothing more than another attempt of the vermin who are trying to kill all vestiges of People Power and perpetuate GMA in power.

The Pulse Asia December 3, 2009 media release showed that 79% of Filipinos will not vote for GMA’s presidential candidate in the May 2010 elections. That passion against GMA’s presidential candidate must be extended to all 2010 candidates for all elective public offices who are pushing for Cha cha.

The Information and Education Gaps in our country created the wrong impression among many Filipinos that the bulk of our problems can be solved by electing a good president. Many Filipinos are unaware that a nationalistic, independent and honest legislature (Senate and Congress) is the key to making democracy work.

A Senate and Congress that will allow a crooked president to get away with high crimes — likely with big personal incentives for doing so — results in a failure of democracy. Have we not seen a lot of that with the GMA regime?

GMA has provided more than enough reasons to be impeached, the Constitutional remedy for removing bad presidents and presidents who stole an election. Did our Congressmen impeach GMA?

Erring and stealing public officials are supposed to be made to account by the Ombudsman. Well, the current Ombudsman had also provided more than enough reasons to be impeached by her inaction on some of the biggest corruption cases of the GMA regime. But did our servile GMA Congress allies impeach the unresponsive Ombudsman? They did not.

Our democracy failed because the principle of check and balance was betrayed by a compromised Congress. The truth is much of the sins of the GMA regime could have been prevented or could have already been made to account if GMA’s Congress allies only placed country above pork barrel and those Malacanang Palace gift bags.

GMA’s Congress allies have proved themselves to be the most insensitive to public opinion — to the point of arrogance. In the Senate, even GMA allies like Senator Miriam D. Santiago have taken opposing positions to regime actions and proposals like PP 1959 and the Visiting Forces Agreement.

From all indications, GMA’s anointed presidential candidate will not win the 2010 presidential elections — an understatement really. It had gotten so bad for the GMA regime, that there have been a lot of whispers all over town, from usually reliable sources, that GMA has transacted a deal already with a more competitive presidential candidate, one posturing as from the Opposition.

If Filipinos really want meaningful change and reform, then all public officials associated with the GMA regime, especially those who are pushing for Cha cha, must be junked. Only then can Filipinos expect a new dawn of democracy and an earnest pursuit of social justice to take place in our country.

* * *

Chai Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com

Three aspects of the presidency

The Long View
by Manuel L. Quezon III
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

LISTENING to last Saturday’s Presidential forum in De La Salle Zobel, where Benigno Aquino III, Richard Gordon, Gilbert Teodoro and Manuel Villar Jr. answered a series of punchy questions expertly presented by Mike Enriquez, something Dr. Jose Abueva told me kept coming back to my mind.

If we assume that the presidency as an office is molded as much by the personalities and vision of individuals, as it is by the rules imposed by the Constitution and tradition, then pondering the answers given by the candidates requires an insight into the potential that acquiring presidential office represents not just for the candidates but the country.

Dr. Abueva points to three aspects—three potentials—of the presidency, that we should bear in mind. Several years ago, in our book on Malacañan Palace, I described it as “prize, pulpit and stage”: a prize, as power is contested and fought for, symbolized by a new administration moving in; a pulpit, because of the manner in which presidents can nudge public opinion toward great goals and national ideals; and a stage, because it’s where the panoply of governance plays out.

Abueva adopts a similar perspective.

First, a president, he says, can be “A Great Teacher.” By personal example and the manner in which he wields the powers of the office, a president can demonstrate leadership and not just undertake management of the executive branch. There is a deep difference between the two, and the public ideally has to identify the candidate who can lead, while being able to create a team that can manage things well.

Much has been made of Barack Obama’s enthusiasm for the book “Team of Rivals,” Doris Kearns Goodwin’s account of how Abraham Lincoln turned a divided cabinet composed of strong personalities with ideas not only very different from his own, but skeptical of his character and abilities, into a team that ended up loyally serving him and whose members became his admirers.

He did this knowing the encumbrances of the job. Lincoln famously remarked, concerning the legions of politicians besieging presidents for the pork barrel and patronage, that his daily dilemma was “too many piglets, too few teats.” And yet even as patronage was par for the course for any political job, it didn’t dominate his presidency or his subordinates’ or the public’s perception of how he viewed his office and wielded his office.

Read the full story >> Three aspects of the presidency

CHAOS AT THE 2010 POLLS?

“Reports said that out of 600 ballots fed into the Smartmatic-TIM machines, only 30 were read by the machines. The rest were rejected.” That’s 95% rejection rate!

If Comelec would proceed with the automated election system where only 5% of the votes cast were validated, it would provide President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with a ”valid” excuse not to declare the winners in the presidential, vice presidential, and senatorial elections. — Perry Diaz

Automated polls on despite failed PCOS test

by Aytch S. de la Cruz
from The Daily Tribune

Reacting to reports that the Commission on Elections (Comelec’s) initial testing of the Smartmatic-TIM’s automated machines in laboratory testing, proved to be a failure, since there were too many ballots rejected by the machine, Malacañang yesterday said that despite the failed tests, the country’s first automated national elections in May will push through.

“We are confident that any problem will be appropriately addressed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec),” Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said during a Palace press briefing.

Earlier, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal was quoted as saying that some of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines failed to read most of the ballots during a lab test at the Smartmatic warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Reports said that out of 600 ballots fed into the Smartmatic-TIM machines, only 30 were read by the machines. The rest were rejected.

According to Larrazabal, the machines were erroneously set at a “high shading threshold,” thus they were unable to read partial and lightly shaded ovals …

Read the full story >> Automated polls on despite failed PCOS test

The ‘Garci Boys’ and the 2010 Elections

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz

According to most accounts, the rigging of the 2004 and 2007 elections — which resulted in the election of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the 12-0 sweep of the administration’s senatorial slate in Mindanao — was the work of the “Garci boys.”

In 2005, wiretapped conversations — the “Hello Garci” tapes — between Gloria and Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano revealed the extent of Garci’s fraudulent work to ensure that Gloria won the presidential election in 2004. Garci was caught on tape taking orders from Gloria who ordered him to manipulate the votes so she’ll win by more than one million votes over her opponent.

In an article written by Sheila S. Coronel, she described Garci as an expert in election fraud. She wrote: “Garcillano was an election technocrat, a career bureaucrat with specialized skills in a specific sphere of government. These skills are invaluable for the efficient administration of elections. But they can also be used for more sinister purposes. As the ‘Garci’ tapes revealed and as those who know him well say, the commissioner was a master fraud operator who used his knowledge of election laws and procedures, his long field experience, and his extensive network of contacts to rig the vote in favor of President Arroyo, Senator Robert Barbers, and a few other local politicians. ‘He was the plotter for electoral fraud, the overall supervisor and commander in chief,’ says a Comelec official who asked not to be named. ‘He was working for GMA.’”

Garci commanded a small band of operators who did what he told them to do. They’re known as the “Garci boys.” Although Garci was forced out of Comelec after the scandal was exposed, he and the “Garci boys” were unpunished. In fact, the “Garci boys” were rewarded — they were promoted to higher positions.

Among those who were promoted were: Rey Sumalipao to Regional Director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which covers the “hot spot” provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan; Renato Mabutay Regional Director for Northern Mindanao covering Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Camiguin, Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte; Francisco Pobe to Asst. Regional Director for the Caraga region; Renault Macarambon to Chief of the Comelec’s election and barangay affairs in Manila.

In 2006, in a press release issued by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., he said, “the rewards being given to these election operators confirmed public suspicion that Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos conducted ‘moro moro’ or farcical investigation of these poll officials who were mentioned in the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes.” It was argued that the “smoking gun” evidence cannot be used because it was a wiretapped conversation and, therefore, illegal. Thus, Garci escaped indictment by technicality and Gloria got away with stealing the presidency.

Pimentel said that “the promotion of election officers who had a hand in 2004 poll cheating and failure to prosecute and remove them from office means that the machinery for cheating remains intact for the 2007 polls.” Yes, indeed.

In the 2007 elections, the “Garci boys” became more powerful in their high-ranking positions. The whole of Mindanao was under their “absolute” control. And once again, they did what they do best, manipulate the election results to favor administration candidates.

Kontra Daya, an election watchdog, reported: “The recently concluded polls again demonstrate a pattern of massive, deeply-rooted, systematic fraud and violence rivaling those in previous elections. The onslaught of cheating, threats and intimidation, brutality and bloodshed, could have been worse had it not been for the efforts of a vigilant citizenry, the mass media and various poll watchdogs.” Further, it said: “What is arguably the single most glaring example of systematic and wholesale cheating is the result of the elections in Maguindanao wherein a statistically improbable ‘0’ vote count was recorded for non-administration senatorial candidates amidst serious allegations of disenfranchisement and fabrication of election documents.”

Once again, the “Garci boys” got away with cheating.

In October 2009, thirteen “Garci boys” — including relieved ARMM Regional Director Ray Sumalipao — were charged with criminal violations and subjected to disciplinary actions connected to the election anomalies in 2007. Their cases are now pending before the Comelec. Some Comelec officials credited Jose Melo — who took over the chairmanship from the disgraced Abalos — for the revival of the cases. However, justice seems to be moving too slow.

Melo, in an attempt to allay fears that the “Garci boys” would once again rig the 2010 elections in favor of administration candidates — particularly presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro — gave assurances that the “Garci boys” would not be allowed to participate in next year’s elections. He said that the 13 “Garci boys” currently under investigation are being kept on “floating status.”

Melo said that he is confident that the “Garci boys” would not have the chance to manipulate the election results because of the implementation of the Automated Election System (AES). “Everything will be automated, untouched by human hands. They could no longer do anything about it. They cannot invade all the machines. Many will lose their sideline,” he said.

In a press release Pimentel issued last December 28, 2009, Pimentel “urged the Commission on Elections to neutralize the so-called ‘Garci’ boys who were involved in fraud operations in past elections particularly those holding sensitive positions in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.” He decried that the “Garci boys” who conspired with Garci in the massive“dagdag-bawas” (add-subtract) operations in the 2004 elections have remained unpunished and many of them have even been promoted to higher positions.

Contrary to Melo’s assertion that nobody can invade the AES machines to do their “dagdag-bawas” manipulations, it can be done and done so without paper trail — only the end results. Like any other automated system, regardless of the application, AES will only perform what it is programmed to do. And if the system programmers were bribed to program AES to do certain things based on certain sets of codified instructions, then the results would be favorable to certain candidates.

In this age of automation, the next generation of “Garci boys” might be unlike their “dinosaur” predecessors. They could be high-tech specialists who know how to manipulate numbers at the touch of the keyboard.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

And who is the No. 1 coddler?

Editorial
from MALAYA

‘And that’s the problem. The protection comes all the way from the top.’

A COMMISSION is needed to dismantle private armies? Why does this administration have to complicate matters? It’s the job of the PNP to see to that no individual, let alone organized groups, goes around illegally carrying guns. Are the police so incompetent that they cannot not carry out this primordial job of ensuring that the State maintain a monopoly over instruments of organized violence?

We are sure the PNP has a list of so-called private armies and their maintainers. In every place ruled by warlords, it is common knowledge among residents who the retainers are and how they are armed. The usual reason policemen look the other way is that they know they are inviting retaliation from the politically powerful if they do their job.

Remove the protection these armed groups enjoy from the powers that be and their members will slink back to wherever they came from.

And that’s the problem. The protection comes all the way from the top. The Maguindanao massacre, the trigger for the frenzied Malacañang efforts to project itself as the champion of peace and …

Read the full story >> And who is the No. 1 coddler?

Ampatuans ‘VIPs’ in jail

Ampatuans ‘VIPs’ in jail
from Inquirer Mindanao

They have cell phones, catered meals in PNP camp

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Even in their detention cell, the Ampatuans appear to live like kings.

The suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao apparently have mobile phones, catered meals, even someone who comes daily to clean their cell in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) compound at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Fermin G. Lira Jr.

Four members of the powerful clan that once enjoyed a close friendship with President Macapagal-Arroyo are being held at the CIDG lockup. Three are brothers—Zaldy Ampatuan, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; Sajid Ampatuan, former acting governor of Maguindanao; and Anwar Ampatuan, mayor of Shariff Aguak. The other is their uncle—Akmad Ampatuan, vice governor of Maguindanao…

Click here for the full Story ->>Ampatuans ‘VIPs’ in jail

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A Happy and Prosperous New Year to all readers!