Unflattering news on the Binays.

The Binays sure want to be in the news. Whether the news is good or bad, the Binays has this urge to be always on the headlines, the better to resonate and be embedded in the consciousness of the people who will vote in the next presidential elections to be held in 2016.

The latest "scandal" involves the Makat mayor and son of Senator Binay, who never hides his obsession on running for the top elective position of the land in 2116, the Presidency of the Philippines. Here is a video of what transpired last November 30, 2013at Dasmarinas Village in Makati, a rich enclave of high officials, foreign diplomats and Filipino millionaires.

Post by Rarhy isz R-Breezy.

Source: url: www.facebook.com/Rbreezy1

What happened was that the Mayor and his party wanted to get out of this gate, but the poor guards had to obey the rules that vehicles are not allowed to pass this gate after 10PM. There is in fact an alternate exit gate only 150 meters away, but the bullying mayor's police escorts forced the gate open and even arrested, following the mayor's order, three of the guards for doing their jobs( the excuse was to check the licenses of their handguns.)

Incredibly, the Binay camp avers that the three security guards VOLUNTARILY went along voluntarily to the police station!


These people are abusive. Imagine if they are at the higher levels of authority.

More reading:

Inquirer.net

Here is senator Nancy Binay's take: Nancy Binay blasts Inquirer on report.

Binay candies in the aftermath of Yolanda leaves a bad taste.

Binay cannot control his followers. After claiming that relief packages bearing the image of the Office of the Vice President was actually donated by one of his supporters in Panay, we have another case of the uncontrolable election campaigning of VP Binay, this time labeled candy wrappers.

Photo republished in the public interest. Photo may be viewed in abscbn

Of course it is not only the vice-president of the Philippines trying to gain popularity during relief operations. Here is another photo showing what our politicians can do during post-calamity periods.

Src: IREPORT.Cnn

Peque Gallaga is a brave but foolish man in his Open letter to the president and national leaders

Not since Marcos have we as a people been so polarized. As far as our hearts and minds are concerned it’s like we’re in the edge of a civil war. We are forced to take a hard look at ourselves and what we value.

Because of this, we are fighting friends in coffee houses, on the telephone, and on Facebook. We are a people whose lives have been upended. We don’t know what to do to get things done right and right away. We lash out. We insult our leaders trying to get them to do a lot more than to pose for photo ops – of giving out relief goods on a one-by-one basis. We cry desperately for demonstrable government response – we get almost next to nothing.



It is increasingly apparent that local media goes hand in hand with self-servicing Malacañang press releases which are more concerned with their showbiz image than confronting, accepting and dealing with the problem. What our leaders tell us is contradicted by the reports from international commentators who are understandably more objective and growing less dispassionate as they witness the horrors around them.



What our leaders tell us is also contradicted by the victims in these areas who are slowly able to give us the true picture of the realities of the situation. And the reality is that people are starving. The dead still lie on the streets even five days after the event. There are anguished souls scavenging for whatever they can to survive, as well as professional looters ambushing the helpless and relief caravans. It’s a war zone out there.



This disaster has affected, not only the islands in the path of Yolanda, but all of us as a nation. We have all been judged and found wanting. But more worrisome, is that we take a long hard look at our leaders and we judge and we find them wanting. It is worrisome because we have chosen them and are paying them to serve the needs of our nation and it seems that they can’t deliver. I don’t think that anybody, even the most criminal politician, can be that hard-hearted and close his eyes to this calamity so I can only surmise that they don’t know what to do. That they are impotent and incompetent. I am 70 years old and I don’t know what to do, but then again, I didn’t run for office promising the voters that I would take care of national concerns.



I am a private citizen and like most of my fellow citizens, have given of what I have to the relief effort. I have given to the point of hurting. I am 70 years old and have been stupid a lot of times for seven decades. I want to think that I can be a little less stupid now. This time, I want to make sure that my hard-earned money will reach its intended goal. I am sick and tired of throwing away my money; of making our politicians wealthy because of my unconcern and my inattention. I am sick and tired of my stupidity.



So I very much care now where all this help is going. I read Marvin Xanth Geronimo who was there when Yolanda struck: that TV personalities and politicians like Mar Roxas and Ted Failon going to Tacloban for the photo op. They never helped; endless tracking video shots of flattened towns with people walking clutching a plastic bottle of water with no government presence whatsoever; Korina Sanchez calling Anderson Cooper “misinformed”. Cooper was in Tacloban. Korina was not; the US landing 5 planes full of goods and not allowing any politicians to touch any of it. How much more do we need for us to realize that the enemy was not Yolanda? Yolanda was just a force of nature. The enemy is our leaders. And the leader of our leaders is the President.


So what now? There’s nothing I can actually do. I can only rage, rage against the dying of common decency. I can only rage against this man who claimed in a Christian Amanpour interview that he couldn’t get to the disaster areas because the weather after the storm left didn’t permit him to fly. This is 24 hours after the sun was shining all over the Philippines by then. I can only rage against a man who made light of the tragedy, refusing to identify it as a major disaster; who made light of a victim of looting who was shot at by telling him, “But you did not die, right?” I rage against a man who continually blames the LGU’s on the ground for their incompetence and their inefficiency because it is beginning to dawn on me that these Visayan LGU’s happen to be Romualdez people and this man is playing politics with people’s lives.



This is a crime. What this man does is unconscionable. I can only state it here. I can do nothing about it for now. I will wait for whatever movement develops after this fiasco and I will join it. But for now, what I can do is to declare that I am deeply offended by the people who try to stop me and others from stating the obvious.



All those people who charge us for criticizing, for being negative, for Aquino bashing – I am done with these people. In a very Yellow Army way, they try to hide behind an illogical argument that we cannot help if we criticize. I don’t know how good these friends are at multi-tasking, but one does not cancel out the other. We can help and we can criticize. And at this point I am convinced that we do help when we criticize; if at one point we can, as Hamlet says, “catch the conscience of the king”. But I know that this is futile. This man is no king. He is not even a real representative. What can you expect from someone who never worked an honest day in his life. What could he possibly relate to?



So my friends who accuse me of Aquino bashing: I want you to know that I’m done with your line of thinking. Either you defend this man or you defend the people that this man is ignoring. Don’t believe that the people are his “boss”. This was a piece of advertising sound byte created by showbiz experts to get the unthinking masses out there to swallow this uniquely unqualified man. This man who is totally unprepared for the most difficult job in the country. So my friends, as far as I’m concerned, you choose him or you choose the people. But if you instruct me again to stop bashing this man I am unfriending you. I will unfriend you in Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and out in our leaderless streets. —Peque Gallaga

• Where was Peque Gallaga's open letter during the term of one of the most scandal riven administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?
  
  
• Does Mr. Peque knows that the Yolanda tragedy is a unique supertyphoon to visit the Philippines, one which is quite different from other simple typhoons?
  
  
• Is Mr. Peque quite happy now that he has succeeded in shifting the attention of humanity to Yolanda's victims to this cheap shot at the President and Korina Sanchez?
  
  
• Does Mr. Peque knows that his incendiary statement
  "How much more do we need for us to realize that the enemy was not Yolanda? Yolanda was just a force of nature. The enemy is our leaders." instills disrespect and invites contempt for our leaders?
  
  
  

Binay campaigning early in Tacloban tragedy caused by Supertyphoon Yolanda Haiyan

Our brothers and sisters in Tacloban, Palo and other parts of Southern Leyte and Samar suffered the worst of the brunt of super typhoon Yolanda. The storm surge, equivalent to a tsunami's effect leveled most buildings and other infrastructures, shutting down communications which effectively starved the rest of the nation of news of the current situation in Tacloban. Now here comes another sensational event, the delivery of relief goods marked as coming from the office of the Vice-President!

I hope the people remember NOT to vote for politicians exhibiting gross insensitivity to the sufferings of the people of Tacloban City.

Are most Filipinos masochistic? A disaster is a PRIVILEGE.

Filipinos love to condemn themselves to a life of tragedies, even considering visited by typhoons, earthquakes as a PRIVILEGE! So welcome more of these forthcoming tragedies, including possible Chinese invasion, since Filipinos will just smile, 0k??!!


They are uncomplaining. No wonder, Napoles, and senators innvolved in the pork barrel scam may go scot free. Enough of these sad, syrupy baby talk.

Anonymous commenter responded to the posted comment [by a guy named in a CNN site.

Such collective "long-suffering" philosophy is the reason why thieving and corrupt politicians in government succeed in their opportunism. They use emotional bylines and tag lines and the majority of the people do not even realize they are being patronized. Instead of preventing repeated disasters like flooding as a result of natural calamities, they come to accept it as a way of life. So progress is slow to come. A smart nation will not accept a fatalistic fate but rather respect nature and avert tragedies through human ingenuity I.e. Earthquake-standards for homes and buildings, flood plans, zoning, population control, etc. this is the reason why after being Asia's leading emerging economy in the fifties and sixties, the Philippines is now behind Japan, South Korea, India...let their leaders tell those people that it is a privilege to suffer while they empty the country's coffers, and there will be a likely revolt. Filipinos accept it as a way of life. It is evidenced by the current state of things. They will make a fuss for a while and then forget about it. Politicians love these disasters, they work to their advantage.

Here is the comment posted in a CNN site and shared by a virtual friend:

"Time to get to know the Filipino people...unbelievably resilient, long suffering, good natured, uber friendly, loyal, ingenius, and a bunch of survivors.

At the end of the day, the Filipinos will just shake off the dirt from their clothes and go about their business...and SMILE. They do not complain much, they will bear as long as they can.

Maybe this is why they were given the "privilege" of bearing the burden of the strongest typhoon ever recorded.

The indomitable human spirit at its finest.

Here is a graphic:

Supertyphoon Yolanda: Is the Philippines prepared?

In 1999, India suffered a battering from a category 5 cyclone, whose aftermath listed around 10,000 people officially dead, and massive destruction totalling around US4.5 billion dollars. Read Odisha 199 Cyclone

Based on this frightening experience, India implemented a well-designed anticipatory policy. Thanks to modern satellite imagery, that country made a successful smooth rapid and massive evacuation procedure for the population living near the shorelines of the Indian Ocean.

Now a category 4 Super typhoon is making a beeline to the middle portions of the country, which include Leyte, Masbate Northern Panay, Romblon. The width of this supertyphoon easily encompasses Mindanao Island!

November 7, 2013 (posted 7:00 pm)

Here is a satellite imagery of the Western Pacific on November 7, courtesy of the
JTWC (Joint typhoon warning center).

It is predicted that the eye of the supertyphoon will make a landfall on October 8. Here is a graphical map of the predicted path of the supertyphoon codenamed Haiyan and locally named Yolanda.

And we start a series of DOST/PAGASA satellite photos of the current supertyphoon. this one was taken at November 7, 2013 near 7:00 pm

We hope and pray that the Philippines will survive this current supertyphoon.
But the cruelest disasters besetting the Philippines are man-made, like the Napoles PDAF scam.

THEY STILL KEEP COMING TO COURT

When reports came out that like the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Judiciary has its own version of “Napoles,” a name or a word which is now synonymous with unmitigated corruption in the highest level of government, a chorus of views criticizing the judiciary and the justice system flowed from opinion writers and columnists.

The court magistrates once again found themselves pilloried by generalized and sweeping accusations of corruption which lack hard and solid facts to back them up. At most these are perceptions. I’m not saying the judiciary is clean and the judges are all saints. They are not. Time and again we see the efforts of the Supreme Court to clean up the ranks by the dismissal of corrupt and undesirable judges and even justices.

Human vulnerability to corruption is not the monopoly of government officials let alone the judges. We need to be cautious that in our desire to ventilate pressing public issues, we do not debase the institutions upon which our democratic society rests.

The judicial branch is known to be the weakest of the three major branches of government. The Judiciary does not have the power of the purse, a power exclusively the domain of the legislative branch. Neither does the judicial branch hold the power of the sword, a power exclusively held by the President, who exercises executive functions.

The judiciary is known to be a passive institution for it acts only when an actual case or controversy is brought before it. It serves as an Impartial Arbiter, constitutionally empowered to interpret the constitution and the laws and checks the excesses of the exercise of power by the political branches of government under its inherent power of judicial review.

They say the courts are beholden to no one but the constitution and the law.

Appointments to the judiciary is basically a political act of the President who is the appointing authority. The Judicial and Bar Council recommends to the President who ultimately appoints the judges and the justices. The vetting process in the selection by the JBC follows a reasonably high standard. It is, however, inevitable that political considerations, other than merit, is a factor in the appointment of judges, since the appointing authority holds a political office.

In terms of budget, to insure the independence of the judiciary, the constitution gives it fiscal autonomy. This is well and good as a matter of principle but the reality is that as an institution the judicial branch depends upon the good graces of the legislative branch in the appropriation of its budget. Records would show that the Judiciary has the lowest budget allocation compared to the other branches and agencies of the government. The Supreme Court has to suffer the uncomfortable situation of sending its representative to attend the congressional budget hearings to justify or even plead to the politicians for its budgetary needs. This is another issue which puts the judiciary in a weak position in the interplay of governmental power.

The judiciary has no pork barrel, PDAF, or DAF, unlike the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is hardly any opportunity to steal or divert government funds. In this sense the Napoles racket might not be able to thrive in the judicial halls. The Napoles technique, however, could work its way in the fixing, wheeling and dealing game. But this is nothing new. Fixers thrive everywhere even in basket ball games. And who says no judge couldn’t be swayed to play games.

The point is the number of very good judges and justices far outweigh the misfits. Despite the perceived weakness and vulnerability of the courts they still remain the last bastion of justice. My only consolation as a member of the judiciary is that people still trust our courts of law. They keep coming to court because they know they will be heard, and granted relief in the enforcement of their rights and redress of wrong. I fear the day when they would no longer resort to the courts. That would be a dreadful thing to imagine.

The above enlightening piece is authored by the Honorable Judge Ray Alan Drilon of Bacolod City. Reprinted with permission.

Can the US trust the new Iranian president?

One of the first actions of President Rohani was to free some political detainees, and
publicly claiming that Iran has no intention to have possession of nuclear weapons.In fact the news reports came out saying Rohani is willing to close down the uranium refining sites in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordo.

This only means that Rohani is seeing the effects of economic sanctions in his country which were imposed by the US and Europe as a punitive act against Iran's nuclear ambition.

The U.S. should not let its guard down. It is Iran who is feeling the economic pinch and all her future actions will be based on easing the burden on her people, but its nuclear program is still running!
It is an oppurtunity for the U.S. to impose demands on normalizing relations between the U.S. and Iran.
Iran wants normalcy more than the U.S. and Israel. It is a golden opportunity fraught with dangers, the world never know and may not know the current state and extent of Iran's nuclear power development program.

Further reading:

1. spiegel: Rohani willing to decommision nuclear site

2. cnn:Iran's president calls for 'constructive' dialogue, end to 'unhealthy' rivalries

3.
Iran releases prominent political dissidents

Syria's Assad ignore U.N. findings about use of poison gas.

Assad is a crafty politician and is a survivor. Recently, he has denied that his governement forces were behind the chemical attack on Ghouta where rebels were concentrated resulting in more than a thousand deaths, including hundreds of innocent children among the fatalities.

The official U.N. investigation report has painted a clear and convincing evidence that only the Syrian government were capable of of launching the chemical attack based on the analysis of the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent and the trajectory of the missiles. Yet, Assad caught red-handed has manufactured its own report to be submitted to Russia, a member of the Security Council with veto powers that rebels were to blame based on the launched position of the rockets as observed by Russian satellite!

It is high time that Europe and the U.S. band together to punish Syria, but with Obama hesitant and tactfully spreading blame by "consulting" the U.S. Congress, the chance of a concerted effort is near zero. We hope that future developments will finaly bring the downfall of Syrias Assad, sharing possibly the tragic end Libya's Mummar Kaddafy.

We also hope that terrorists will not have a part is a future Syrian government.

Further reading:

VOA news: Assad denies link to chemical attack, vows to give up arsenal

Yahoo News: Asssad denies forces conducted chemical attack

Gigi Reyes birthday bash celebrated in Youtube.

I saw this video in my FB notifications. This has been described previously in newspapers. It is about the office of Senator Enrile celebrating the 50th birthday of a Gigi Reyes.

Obama turns chicken, gives Russia, Iran and Hezbollah reasons to crow about

In the news, Obama asks permission alone, without any support from the Dept. of Defense, from Congress for military action against the regime in Syria. Although our post's title may be harsh on Obama, it is a reflection that his hands are tied. You see, Obama will act only if he is backed by the UN Security Council and the US Cogress. In fact, let us not forget he was voted by Americans to get out of foreign wars and interventions.

So we can compare Obama with Reagan who is already secure in American history as a strong leader.But although we can say both are products of their age, let us not forget that Obama is the president of the United States. He could indeed order a military strike on his own, a gamble with political rewards and terrible losses if it goes awry.Whatever, let us give time for Obama who is on his last term.

Syria's Assad will not achieve stability for his country. He has proven himself a butcher of his own country. He can fool a lot of people, but not all the time. We hope he will have the decency to step down or face the wrath of the ordinary Syrian people.

Further reading:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324009304579047542466837078.html

A prophet is not honored in his own country! Panfilo Lacson haunting speech against pork in 2003!

Speech delivered by Senator Pamfilo Lacson in the Senate in 2003!

Mr. President, I rise today on a question of personal and collective privilege.

Last week, we passed the Senate version of the General Appropriations Bill of 2003. No less than the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and principal sponsor of the bill aptly described the 2003 budget as “bare-bones”, thus appealing to his colleagues to contribute their share to arrest the projected budget deficit which our economic managers expect to hit the PhP300B mark by year-end.

I now answer the call.

I call for the scrapping of a very corrupt and corrupting system in our political institutions. All I ask are a few minutes of your precious time - and of your mind.

We now must move to abolish the pork barrel system. We must see its end during our watch without need to mourn its loss. It is a virus of corruption that must die.

And, there is no better hall on this space on earth to make it happen than the Senate - expectedly, a place of men and women with mature age, with honor, with dignity, with integrity. Further, there is no better time to declare its end than now - when the country’s budget deficit is at an alarmingly uncontrollable pace. For the past year, it was PhP213B. Of course, we do not believe the numbers.

One thing, I may say is apodictic. It is still counting. There is nothing in the pork barrel system that gives us pride. There

Voice from the past:

Ping urged pork abolition is only everything that makes us hide in shame.

It should not matter anymore under what name the system sounds. Be it the Countrywide Development Fund, or the Congressional Initiative Allocation, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund. It is, and will remain to be a fund of compulsive corruption.

The name itself traces its origin to the pre-civil war days in the United States when, in periodic fits of generosity, white masters would give their black slaves salted pork in barrels. More often than not, the eagerness of the slaves would result in ugly shoving and rushing to grab more pork than the others. The more pork one could grab for himself, the more triumphant he would appear than the others who were meek and reluctant.

We may not realize it, but the Filipino people would sometimes see us behave like slaves rushing to the pork barrel. A critic has a worse description - that of swines rushing to get more slabs than they can consume.

Mr. President, our countrymen expect to see every peso of their taxes wisely spent on every project. They become profoundly disillusioned everytime they are robbed of it.

Let me say now what they hate to hear. But they must hear what we have been afraid to say.

Under the pork barrel system, only less than half of the taxpayers’ money actually goes to the programs of work. More than half habitually goes to the pockets of corruption. Occasionally, depending on the insatiability of the corrupt, a shameful twenty percent of the fund is left to finance the project. Holy mackerel.

We can pretend all day not to know. But the Filipino people have never been stupid not to see through such pretense.

Let me give the breakdown. It is nasty.

• 2% goes to the Commission on Audit as S.O.P.

• 10% is given to the district engineer and other officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

• 2% is passed on to the Barangay Chairman.

• 14% goes to the contractor - 10% in profit and 4% as value-added tax, thank God!

• 5-10%, if the Mayor or Governor so demands.

• And - hold your breath - 20% of project cost is earmarked for the legislator who identifies the project.

Shares sometimes vary depending on greed.

Even the billboards that advertise the proponents of infrastructure projects are overpriced.

Legislators who allocate funds for the purchase of medicines and other pharmaceutical products, as well as school supplies get bigger take. By how much, Mr. President? Some suppliers say, it is, “from here to eternity.”

In a book published in 1998 by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, entitled, “Pork and Other Perks,” the author wrote about vivid accounts of actual pay-offs involving legislators. Thus, a pay-off usually takes place inside the office of legislators. The more sophisticated ones prefer hotel rooms and restaurants. Sulo Hotel in Quezon City is said to be a favorite.

“Pork barrel” every year runs to billions of pesos. I hate to say it. The people hate to hear it. But they lose billions of pesos anyway. They lose these billions to the many deep pockets of corruption.

Mr. President, my esteemed colleagues, there is no saying here that every senator or congressman is corrupt. It is only to say that we have all become suspect. The public has every basis and right to suspect. And we seem not to mind anymore.

Mr. President, those with clear conscience among us do not need to rage. They only need to help those without it.

In this regard, may I take this opportunity to thank the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and some of our colleagues who have expressed support to this advocacy.

One colleague, Senator Joke Arroyo has done something truly admirable: he had not allocated a single centavo from his “pork barrel” allocation for the past year. However, I cannot help but wonder how his PhP200M pork was realigned since it was part and parcel of the 2002 GAA. That is the reason why I want my allocation this year deducted from the proposed 2003 GAA. I have an unsolicited advice to the distinguished gentleman from Makati and the Bicol region - why not slash the 2003 national budget by PhP211M more?

To all of us in this august chamber, maybe we can help alleviate the burgeoning budget deficit by waiving our 2003 pork barrel fund allocations. We can actually do our share, no matter how small, in balancing the budget by doing just that. With twenty-three senators, at PhP211M each, four billion, eight hundred fifty-three million (PhP4.853B) will automatically be deducted from the 2003 national budget.

The Speaker of the House, Jose de Venecia, can equally display his statesmanship by doing the same in the lower house. With more than 200 congressmen, at PhP65M each, that would be another PhP13B at least. Let us be the first to sacrifice for the sake of tiding us over a financial nightmare. I, therefore, call on the Senate and the House of Representatives to voluntarily give up the pork.

Mr. President, it is a simple choice between self-respect and self-aggrandizement.

That is exactly my point. Those among us whose hands remain untainted and unsoiled by the fruits of corruption from the evil “pork” must now be insulated from the temptation it may bring upon us. How? Let’s try scrapping the “pork.” There is life without it!

We all know who we are and what we are on this issue. That is one thing we are all sure about. Mine are not speculations - I definitely have my own sources. The figures I brought out earlier are never a figment of my imagination.

If the “pork barrel” stinks, how much longer must we suffer the stench? I believe it is time to abolish it altogether.

Mr. President, we were elected by the Filipino people to make good laws for the common good and never to make gold under the “pork barrel” system. We are here to make laws, not to build roads and bridges.

We were voted into office to provide check and balance under the principle of separation of powers; and not to accept fat checks to enhance our bank account balance.

Former French President and Prime Minister, the late Jean-Raymond Pompidou, was correct. There is a whale of difference between a politician and a statesman. He said, “while a statesman places himself at the service of the nation, a politician places the nation at his own personal service.”

With the “pork barrel” system, we are all perceived as dirty, corrupt and greedy politicians. Without it, we can all become better statesmen and public servants.

Whenever our committees investigate anomalies in government, does it not occur to us how equally guilty they think the legislators could be?

Mr. President, pardon my asking.

There are all kinds of arguments to defend the “pork.” Its advocates invent new methods and formulas to make every legislator happy. Ironically, in the mind of every Filipino, they are all mad and madly corrupted by it.

I know that the pork barrel system has never been legally flawed. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled on its constitutionality.

But the Supreme Court never ruled that scrapping the “pork barrel” system would be unconstitutional either.

I can only hope the Senate leadership will take a serious look at this proposal and not simply toss it to the dust heap of the Philippine Senate history.

I am sure to lose some friends and create more enemies in this 12th Congress. I am sure skeptics will taunt me and the cynics will mock me without end.

I remember BAYAN MUNA Party-list Representative Crispin Beltran, he who declared the lowest asset in the lower house at eighty-one thousand pesos, said in a media interview immediately after my position on the “pork barrel” issue first came out, and I quote, “mabuti pa si Lacson ay may ibang pinagkakakitaan na illegal. Paano naman kami na sa “pork barrel” lamang umaasa?” Realizing that what he said was an instant give-away, he paused and started to stutter. Another congressman commented that this representation would not need to make money from the “pork barrel” because supposedly, “I have a lot in some foreign banks.”

Mr. President, if this is my misfortune, so be it. It is not the one I cannot possibly learn to live with.

Mr. President, I derive no pleasure in telling what I have told. I am sure many colleagues derive no pleasure in hearing what they just heard. But the people surely hate what they already know about.

It is time to bring the “pork barrel” system down. Or, we all go down under.

We can surely live without “pork.” Certainly, there is life without it.

After his privileged speech, Senator Lacson was subjected to character assasination. In fact another senator showing envy? or spite? promises to expose Sen . Lacson's sins and his true sexuality!

We thank Sen. Lacson and others like Sen. Joker Arroyo for STEADFASTLY refusing to accept pork, and concentrated instead on their jobs as legislators.

Some senators allowed greed to get the better of them.

We thought senators are bright people, but the recent revelation by Conchita-Carpio Morales of the Ombudsman , Over 1 billion pesos for pork!, showed the following four senators gave or facilitated money to fraudulent NGOs.

According to the report, here are the senators with their reported amounts from PDAF to Napoles managed NGOs

• Senators Bong Revilla Jr. (P483.49 million)
  
• Juan Ponce Enrile (P332.7 million)
  
• Jinggoy Estrada (P262.575 million)
  
• Gringo Honasan (P14.55 million).
  

All senators, except Jinggoy Estrada, have affirmed their signatures on documents which disbursed their funds. If these people are Japanese leaders, most of them would have committed hara kiri for failing the people. These supposed leaders or politicians do not care about the country. They do not love the Filipino people. They only LOVE THEMSELVES. When will public anger rise higher to kick these false statesmen of the country?

Something to remember about the Napoles, living a fantasy luxury ife at the expense of the Filipino people

Never forget that this sort of video was made possible by the PDAF scam engineered by Janet Napoles and supported by the graft and corruption laden Senate led by the Honorable Enrile, et. al.





Our source fB link: Facebook link

Incredibly, Ms. Jeanne Napoles has not taken down her tumblr blog!

US under Obama is not prepared to punish Syria and losing its window of opportunity.

The government of Syria as repeatedly been warned that using chemical or poison gas will be a justification of the US Armed Forces to take an active role in the current Syrian Civil War See Red line warning on chemical weapons That use of chemical weapons as a red line has been made hazy in More options needed.

The past week news on possible chemical weapons delivered by missiles, last August 21 in the rebel held area of Ghouta have made the issues complicated.

1. Obama must act for permission from Congress to initiate miliatary action against military assets of Syria.

2. Further delays in the "punitive action" has enable Syria to scatter its military asses around the country.

3. Russia and China will "automatically" veto any resolution for military intervention.
Come to think of it. These nations may have supplied Syria with the chemical weapons.

4. The Uk parliament has refused to support PM Cameron for a joint strike against Syria.

5. Indications so far has shown the presence of chemical nerve agents in Ghouta, even the sound of approaching missiles were heard but the later explosion were not! Indeed photos of still intact missiles are circulating.

6. The government of Syria has consistently denied the use of chemicl weapons. See http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=Details&catid=12&pageid=6995

7. UN inspectors did not perform a thorough inspection on the affected areas.

8. Gases may have already dissipated into the atmosphere, rendering inspections useless.

9. The facts that mass deaths did happen in Ghouta or Goutha cannot be ignored!

10. Thorugh their loose mouths, Obama, state department officials are giving Syrian officials enough leeway how to respond more appropriately to the threat of "punishment". But the US is a democratic country and is the world's leadig superpower.
Russia is a "has been" and China is a "pretender". However we shall not forget that there is always a moral dimension in the world's affairs! The element of surprise is gone. We might witness another shock and awe show in our living rooms in full color in large sized screens!


11. hope that the people of Syria will meet a more stabe future, a future without Assad.



Further reading.

[1]. A good write up. Obama' hand may be "forced".

Charles Krauthammer opinion piece

[2]. A concise article in one reading! Wikipedia article on Ghouta attacks

Mug shots of Janet Napoles. What are your reactions?

Nobody likes to see their mug shots posted in public. But it is standard practice for police agencies in the identification of the suspect.

The photos show most importantly that Janet Napoles is alive and well. She may look unhappy but then she and her daughter had lived a life of astounding luxury. We can only feel sorry for the dead people, known or unknown, associated with reporting the P10 billion peso PDAD scam.

Janet Napoles surrenders to Pres. Aquino. what now?

Astounding news:Inquirer newsinfo

According to the presidential spokesman,Edwin Lacierda, the fugitive Janet Napoles who is wanted on charges of serious illegal detention arising from the alleged kidnapping of Benhur Luy, surrendered to President Aquino, atCamp Crame, at 9:37 pm last night august 28, 2013. Here is the first source, the Philippine Official Gazette!, to break the story:

Philippine Official Gazette.


This, in less that a day, after Pres. Aquino , offered a P10,000,000 bounty on the whereabouts of Janet Napoles and warned those harboring the infamous fugitive will be charged with obstruction of justice.

Sunstar

Image published by Sunstar. (reprinted in the public interest).

People made jokes that Janet was hiding all along in Malacanang and Pnoy, as the president is nicknamed, will now pocket the P10,0000,000.00 reward.

This is an interesting development, and will provide an escape for the Filipino people reeling from typhoons, storms, graft and corruption and misspent taxes. Janet may have wished to live longer, as powerful politicians, who were linked to the PDAF scam, will find their names dragged down in the the dregs of Philippine history.

Napoles may have wanted to turn state witness before she is charged with graft and corruption. A very crafty woman, her surrender may bring troubles to Pres.Auquino if not properly handled!

Meanwhile, Senators Enrile and other senators may see their reputation tarnished and their excellent "performance" in the Corona impeachment trial will dim and be forgotten. It is interesting what they will say to defend their "honor". Consider this image from Facebook about Sen. Ramon Revilla, courtesy of Modina vince Carbon.



If this happened in Japan, some of the officials will commit the honorable way out of committing the ritual of hara-kiri.

Note: Images owned and copyrighted by the original owners and linked in the public interest.

Where in the world is Janet Lim Napoles?

I sure would like to know where Janet Lim Napoles is. She has gone into hiding after she was charged, not with abetting or committing bribery, graft and corruption but with illegal detention of one relative Benhur Luy.

Mr. Benhur Lu,who was is now a state witness, divulged an amazing massive scam involving the Priority Development Fund (legislators Pork Barrel) , involving 5 senators and 23 congressmen to the funding of ghost projects. Estimates of how much money was involved ran to the tune of as much as P20 billion pesos. Ms. Napoles reportedly got P2.1 billion pesos by channeling the PDAF funds, after legislators got their "pork" , to her ghost Non-government Organizations. Some projects were for supplies of fertilizers, basketball courts, garbage odor mitigation, etc. The mountain of money enabled Napoles daughter to flaunt a life of luxury, and to purchase many cars, and vans supposedly under the name of a corporation (JLN Enterprises)and relatives.

Now, I do not think a lot of senators would like Napoles caught. So many dirty secrets may be spilled in case Napoles talks in a court harming the reputation of senators and congressmen involved.

So where in the world is Janet Napoles? Do you think NBI, Police are exerting so much efforts? They cannot manage even to catch another fugitive from justice, General Palparan. The chances of finding Napoles is virtually nil. But we will be happy if she is caught and happier if Palparan is caught too.

A man of the cloth is renting Ms. Napoles house at South Forbes.

It is not only senators, congressmen, local executives, now even a priest is associated with the stigma of Napoles PDAF scandal. His supposed "crime"? Renting a house owned by Napoles in South Forbes if our reading sources, like Rappler(credible!) are to be believed.

There is nothing wrong with renting a house at an exclusive millionaire's subdivision, but the fact is that it costs a whooping P120K per month. We thought priests have taken a vow of poverty??!!


Who is paying for the rent? No priest receives a salary to pay the rent of such a house. The church has to investigate this matter quickly.

Further reading:

Rappler.com

Who will charge Mr. Brian Yamsuan with bribery, graft or corruption?

People with lots of money to burn love the gaming tables. One was Brian Yamsuan, a PR consultant working for the office of the Executive Secretary Mr. Paquito Ochoa.

Mr. Yamsuan reportedly lost P5 million in a poker game at Resorts World Manila. He borrowed money from casino financiers only to even bigger.

The link to PDAF scandal was that a senator communicated with Ms. Napoles to help him out of debt. It is rumored that Ms. Napoles give so much cash to Mr. Brian Yamsuan to cover his debts who had to sell his condo units and some personal cars.

These wheelings and dealings have tarnished the image of the Office of the President.
We are glad that Pres. Noynoy has fired this PR man, but we ask.

1. What specific laws has this PR man broken?
2. will this lead to the resignation of Sec. Ochoa?
3. Who was the senator who asked Napoles to fix Yamsuan's gmbling debts? In olden times, a good senator will resign out of delicadeza.

In other countries, being tainted of association with shady characters is enough reason for resignation.


Further reading:

We ask the reader to read for full information.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/25/13/aquino-fires-palace-consultant-linked-napoles

Connecting the dots ... between PDAF scandal and an assassination of a journalist.

Could Napoles have a hand in the assasination of this bright young woman who filed charges against some Dept. of Agriculture officers over some scam about fertilizer supplies?

Rest in peace Marlene. We will not forget your memory. From

http://incitegov.org/fsgo-statement-on-the-priority-development-assistance-fund-pdaf/

On 24 March 2005, a hired assassin gunned down journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat while she was having dinner with her family at home in Tacurong City. In 2003, Esperat, who was the Department of Agriculture (DA) Resident Ombudsman for Central Mindanao, had filed charges against DA officials on a P432 M fertilizer scam.
The ensuing investigation revealed a possible connection with the even bigger P728 M fertilizer fund scam, which implicated Janet Lim-Napoles, then a big supplier of liquid fertilizer.

We hope in time that her murder will have the proper investigation and the guilty parties punished.

Photo above courtesy of Garcia-Esperat family.

Readings:

1. Marlene's life is told in a chapter of the book "Murders without Borders" by Terry Gould. Hope to get hold of it sometime soon! Here is a book review:
http://elementalview.blogspot.com/2011/08/iphone-diaries-390-and-book-review.html

2. We first told the story of Marlene in
http://the-aquino-presidency.blogspot.com/2012/11/we-fear-philippines-has-no-bright.html.

Can our beloved Vice President Jejomar Binay come clean?

Social media networks like Facebooks is a gold mine of information. First the standards of credibility has been lowered and unfounded charges are flying thick and thin. The latest victim is our vice-president Jeojimar Binay, who defeated Mar Roxas in the last nationwide presidential elections. Here is a list of hidden wealth unearthed by some unknown concerned person(s). The problem is that it is difficult for ordinary people to just charge a big fish like our beloved vice-president.

JEJOMAR BINAY AND FAMILY CORRUPTION AND SCANDAL

Unti unti na pong nasisilip ang baho ng bawat pulitiko na maiiwasan sana kung may FOI bill na umiiral upang mabusisi ng taong bayan kung may katotohanan ba o wala.

1.Unexplained wealth 400 hectares Binay FARM-Rosario Batangas
2. Unexplained wealth 40 hectares Binay FARM-Bauan Batangas
3. Unexplained wealth 10 hectares Mango Orchard
4.Two condominium units Rockwell worth 30 million not on his SALN
5.Three story Mansion with Elevator in Banuyo Street,San Antonio Village and not on his SALN
6.House and lot Orbit st.Bel -Air Village and not on his SALN
7.House and Lot in Palm Village,Guadalope Viejo and not on his SALN
8.Rest House in Tali Beach,Batangas
9.Rest House in Puerto Azul,Cavite
10.Rest House in Tagaytay,Highlands
11.Rest House in Alfonso Cavite
12.Rest House in Zambales
13.Rest House in Pangasinan
14.More houses in Paranaque, Pasig, Mandaluyong and Muntinglupa
15. 600 Ghost Employee authorized by corrupt wife,Dra Elenita Binay and Amigas worth 3 million a month
16. Binay wife linked to Php72.06-M graft

A FORMER whistleblower in high-profile graft corruption controversies turned-head of government’s financial watchdog yesterday linked the wife of Vice President Jejomar Binay, an incumbent and several former Makati City officials to alleged deception in the public bidding for a Php72.06 million supply contract awarded by the city government in 2001.

17. Sandiganbayan graft case

Elenita Binay's (and private businessmen Li Yee Shing, Jason Li and Vivian M. Edurise, and Ernesto Aspillaga's) arraignment for graft charges was set by the Sandiganbayan's 4th Division on January 18, 2008. Binay was charged of alleged anomalous purchase of office fixtures and furniture for the new Makati City Hall from private contractor Office Gallery International from December 1999 to February 2000, regarding the acquisitions worth P 13.25 million overpriced by P3.6 million.

18.Bogus charity Project-40 Million (sister cityhood )
19. Bogus charity Project-27 Million calamity fund to other Provinces
20. Bogus charity Project-22 Million Lakbay Aral Package
21. . Bogus charity Project-20 Million Ambulance to other Cities
22. 230 Million Infomercial in TV 2009-Present. He used the Makati Foundation Day Funds
23. 15 Million -Komiks for Vice President Campaign
24.More illegal canteen Businesses in Makati(UM,CITY HALL)
25. Security Services Company contract to the city Hall own by the Son in Law(Triforce security Agency)
26. Maintenance Services another son in Law (Red Hammer construction and Services)

Such preponderance of charges is worth nothing if unproven. We ask Jejomar Binay to issue a categorical statement regarding these titillating charges. We already know he is preparing for the 2006 presidential elections and his family is turning politics into a cottage industry.

Further reading.

Here is a source: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS/posts/10200892231406549.

This ANONYMOUS text is going the rounds in Facebook. We do NOT have the resources to find out the truth of each and every item!

Stop the madness, please do not involve innocent dead people about the PDAF scandal.

I got the following from my Facebbook timeline. Someone sent me an article which hopes to shed light about the modus operandi of Janet Napoles.




"The sender of the article below is Alfredo Masigan, a businessman and former President of Wack Wack Golf & Country Club. Please pass around so the whole Philippines will know."

STOP THE MADNESS!

"Janet Lim Napoles had strong ties before with the late Emilia Boncodin, DBM Secretary. Emilia is the one that keep Janet in the loop whenever a budget or SARO was approved and to which senator or congressman.

Gringo Honasan is a dear friend of Janet's husband, Jimmy Napoles. I was surprised when I read somewhere online when Honasan was interviewed and he said that he doesnt know the Napoles family.

During the coup in Cory's time, Jimmy napoles was driving a tank on the way to Camp Crame when his tank was hit by a mortar.Jimmy was operating the .50 caliber machine gun and the soldier driving the tank died during the blast. Jimmy survived and was jailed along with Honasan. If you can get clear photos of Jimmy Napoles online, you will see that part of his face and his arms show burn marks.

Their wealth started to build up during the late 90’s when theey engaged themselves with mayors based in Zamboanga to use them as a front for a foundation that will implement projects or deliver farm materials. With connections at COA, they were able to arrange completed projects without delivering anything. They established JLN group of companies sometime in 2000 and they moved to their new office from AFPOVAI to Discovery Suites on the 25th floor.

Soon enough, they were able to develop deep connections with more legislators in congress and numerous senators. What JLN Group Of Companies and their sub-company, Jo-Chris Trading (named after their eldest child, Jo-Christine [Neneng Napoles]) do – they use their foundations as the implementing agency for the funds of congressmen or senators. You see, congressmen and senators have budgets, PDAF or the pork barrel, but these politicians do not have direct access to their funds and they can never touch it. So what they do is, the politicians will create a project (common one is fertilizer distribution to farmers) and will ask DBM to set the budget. Then, there will be a public bidding to be held by DAR. The outcome of the bidding is already fixed and it's the Napoles Foundation that wins. The fund or SARO will be released through Janet's foundation and the congressmen/senators will ask 70% of the whole amount. So if the project is 10M, Janet will give 70% of that. Usually Janet's nephew, John Francisco Lim, is the courier of the money - they will meet at Podium or at a parking lot. The money is stored in plastic bags or paper bags.

So, whatever is left from the budget, 30% goes to Janet. They usually cash-in the cheque they get from DBM at Landbank in Greenhills and the manager there is part of Janet's payroll. Janet also need to pay the inspectors from COA and whoever is involved in DAR.

This is their workflow.This is what they do for more than a decade. This is how the senators and congressmen make money. This is why theses politicians have so much and working class Filipinos almost have nothing. This is not only Janet's fault. The greediness of the senators and congressmen are the driving point that keeps this system operating. It is ale so amazing that if Janet's family and her company goes into trial, the people who will try them – judges, senators, congressmen - are also part of this. I fear for the life of Benhur and Merlina as whistleblowers. Soon enough they will die. The people of the philippines should protect them. NBI or the witness protection program cannot do anything about it. Because they are keeping the whistleblowers alive for their own use only. Once Janet give payments to the NBI and once Revilla, Honasan, Arroyo, Pichay, Ducut, Pineda, Lim, Estrada, Soto, Lapid, and almost all the congressmen who were in post for the past decade, step in – there's nothing Benhur or Merlina can do. They are as good as dead by now.

Please post this on your social media and share it to the world. It is time to stop this madness and remove the pork barrel and protect Benhur and Merlina."

I asked a friend about the ties of Napoles to the late Sec. Emila Boncodin. He replied simply that as a public official, the late Sec. Emilia Boncodin met a quite a lot of people.


We can only conlude in this manner:

It is quite easy for someone like Napoles to claim Sec. Boncodin as a close friend.

I myself never heard of any shenanigans or hanky panky involving Sec. Boncodin. She never got rich in office and in fact died quite sick. I think people is just using
her name for their nefarious activities and the author has besmirched her memory as a dedicated public servant.

A scandal involving PNB

PNB is the Philippines National Bank. How could a single man own a government owned bank? This bank which used to be a government depository and official bank has amazingly transformed into a personal bank of one Lucio Tan, a well known crony of the Marcoses and a friend of the the Ramos administration. The PNB has merged with Lucio Tan's Allied Bank and which led to financial problems for PNB to stay afloat.

I was surprised today that a friend shared the following video posted by Al G. Portolaso in Facebook,



Karen Hudes (former employee of World Bank) says: "....in another case, I was reporting corruption in The Philippines. NINE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS (US$900,000,000.00) worth of money that should have gone to fight poverty in The Philippines instead went to a corrupt man, LUCIO TAN, who was in default of his loans. (The) Philippine National Bank went into default.....

I am pausing now and I will expand further on this post.



References.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_National_Bank

If Pinoy follows Chirst, he should scrap the pork barrel PDAF now for it is a FILTHY HARLOT!

We pause to give space to a lucid analysis of the morality of PDAF by our good FB friend Rolly Pellingon.


There's no greater mystery revealed in the Bible than this:The TRULY converted believers are God's (divine) PROXIES in His redemptive program.

For Christians to be SILENT in this time of severe MORAL CRISIS in our country is to miss the point of their christianity:

Colossians 1:25: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Colossians 1:26: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Colossians 1:27: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE OF GLORY.

“PDAF is a Filthy Harlot"

by Rolly Pellingon


Just by a simple catch-phrase: “Tuwid na daan”, PNoy has fundamentally altered Philippine politics and society. The phrase does not express much intellectual content yet it captured the attention, won over the sentiments and caught the fancy of majority of the filipinos who became fed up with the incompetence and corrupt practices of previous administrations. “Straight path” does not make much literal sense, but as an analogy for honest and efficient service it created strong emotions which transported the disillusioned filipinos from their awful existence and gave them hope and visions of moral order and a better future.

On July 22, 2013, PNoy gave his 4th SONA or what we may more aptly call a long self-congratulatory speech for the long statistical gains he claims his “tuwid na daan” program has achieved in three years. PNoy emphatically pointed out: “The standard of public service is raised: only honest, capable and principled public servants will be allowed to enter and remain in public service”. True enough, PNoy is quick at mercilessly lampooning and terminating executive appointees who fail to meet his expectations. Whether it is just for show to beguile the public or not, it anyway sends shivers to the spine of his cabinet secretaries. But if PNoy is truly a fearless moral crusader, why of all did he cautiously dodge denouncing in his address the raging JLN 10-Billion despicable PDAF scam when it looms larger than the ineptness of his men? The scandal, the occasion, and the SONA venue have all afforded him the golden opportunity to take his moral crusade to a transcendent political level, but the president flinched. He chose not to antagonize Congress thus confined his SONA within the politics-as-usual nuances. Or does PNoy have his own dark side of the PDAF during his past terms as congressman and senator? This the public deserves to know. And why is the feisty Justice Secretary De Lima more passionate with the Cadavero rub-out killing than the alleged 10-Billion PDAF plunder? This we also deserve to know.

PDAF, notwithstanding its fancy name, is morally toxic, a blight, a scourge of politics. It has served less as an equalizer for the less privileged but rather as source of kickbacks for some lawmakers and tool for dominating and exploiting their constituents. In other words, PDAF promotes polarizing and dominating hierarchy rather than democratic complementation.

Let us put PDAF into proper political context. Politics per se is certainly the most ingenious and powerful social mechanism devised by humanity as opposed to tools of war. Politics correlates and harmonizes mankind’s socio-economic activities. Take away politics and man regresses to being savage. As a driving force of transformation, politics is propelled by the laws crafted by lawmakers. For better or for worse, lawmakers must faithfully bind themselves to lawmaking if only to sustain socio-economic advancement and harmony. PDAF comes as a third party in the equation. It tempts lawmakers into becoming unfaithful. Now we have an unchaste congress rocked by PDAF scandals.

The way PDAF is dispensed over the years shows it is a powerful tool for institutionalized structural abuse against the powerless. Worse, it has caused the law-making competence of our congress to decline, given the street thugs, screen actors, comedians, boxers and their likes now dominating its hall. These charlatans got seduced by the cleavage of PDAF that is why they took advantage of their popularity to transfigure into quack politicians. Even well-educated statesmen are turned into immoral simpletons by the odious yet extremely seductive PDAF. The fund hardly serves its glossed-over purpose because it is by design a filthy harlot that stimulates politics of ecstasy. Abolish the PDAF and congress will be restored to its primary purpose, under the stewardship of truly honorable and competent politicians like in the past.

It is the Executive Department that proposes PDAF in its yearly budget proposal. This explains why, despite the newest Janet Napoles 10-Billion PDAF scandal, PNoy continues to defend PDAF even if it is antithesis to the moral rectitude his “tuwid na daan” promotes, not to mention DBM secretary Abad announcing that taxpayers will continue to foot the 27-billion PDAF bill by 2014. This gives away the true moral perfection of PNoy - to him the interests of his clique still prevail over his moral crusade, never mind that the poverty level in our country has not changed during the past six years he still wants Php27-Billion of taxpayers’ money placed under the Senators’ and Congressmen’s control.

This article is just a faint voice among the many denouncing PDAF as a fatal mistake of our democracy - that it must be abolished asap. PDAF and “tuwid na daan” do not mix. Our leaders must go back to being faithful to their purpose and focused to a common vision if only for our beloved Philippines to become economically emergent. But first things first, scrap PDAF before it ticks off another Edsa crowd.



The above analysis is authored by Rolly Pellingon and is republished in this blog with his permission.

This is where our taxes go. A list of cars under the company of Napoles.

JLN (janette L. Napoles) Corporation has ties with 17 non-profit organizations with ghost projects and schemes through which billions of several lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel were purportedly stolen.

Here are list of cars under the names of Napoles and her rrelatives and/or company JLN.

BMW - BMW 35
Cayenne Porsche - CYN 78 (white)
Chevrolet Tahoe - ZAG 827 (gray)
Crosswind Pearl - XPK 562
Estrada pick up truck - ZJB 235
Ford E150 - JLN 128 (red)
Ford E150 - JLN 18 (white)
GMC Savana - XRY 168
Honda Civic - XDX 319 (blue)
Honda CRV - NSO 245
Hummer - HRM 33
Hyundai Starex - NOQ 168 (white)
Isuzu - PQU 993
Land Rover Defender - to follow (red)
Lincoln Navigator - XPL 358 (black)
Mercedes Benz - XDX 527 (black)
Mitsubishi L300 - XDC 963 (white)
Mitsubishi Pajero - WCC 896 (white)
Range Rover Autobiography - TIN 11
Suzuki - NQF 487
Suzuki - NOG 416
Suzuki - NOW 945
Toyota Alphard
Toyota Altis - XPG 884
Toyota Hi-Lux - SIM 08
Toyota Innova - NGQ 370
Toyota Innova - NSQ 568
Toyota Land Cruiser - PSQ 169
Toyota Previa - XPG 398
Toyota Vios (silver)

It boggles my mind that this was made possible by collusion with greedy senators and representathieves regarding their PRIORITY Development Fund (PDAF).

On the teachers and workers union strike at HAU.

Holy Angel University is said to be the largest school in the whole of Central Luzon. The teachers and workers union held a strike last August 15, due to non-compliance by the school that a certain percentage of tuition fee hikes go to salary increases.

On the other hand, the school has claimed that it filed certificates complying with the 70-20-10 percent proceeds.

The Commission on Higher Education has mandated that 70 percent of tuition increase

-----shall be used for the payment of increase in salaries, wages, allowance and other benefits of teaching, nonteaching and other staff.

The 20 percent, it said,

------shall go to the improvement or modernization of buildings, equipment, libraries, laboratories, gymnasium and similar facility and to the payment of other costs of operations.

The remaining 10 percent

------ goes to profit.

I guess one of the parties is lying even if it claims "undeniability of facts." Certificates of compliance for the 70 percent increase in salaries should be signed by the teaching and non-teaching staff! Were they signed?

HAU is a for profit educational institution. There is nothing wrong with this category, and the school has produced illustrious graduates not only from Pampanga but also from the rest of the Philippines!

Futher references:

1. Sunstar

2. Inquirer.net

Freedom of Expression is well and alive in America.

I saw this on my Facebook page, and I would like to share it in my blog.




Try this on traditional Saudi Arabia, Dubai and even Russia. We hope that the leaders do not strike back hard on their critics.

A terrorist oganization forces a superpower to close 21 consulates

You cannot defeat the United States directly in a military war. With its vast arsenal of advanced fighter jets, ships and nuclear powered submarines, no lunatic country dare start a war with the USA.

Yet we have a terrorist organization Al Qaeda successfully forcing the US to close 21 consulates around the world and issue a travel alert for American citizens! see the links:


foxnews:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/03/rep-peter-king-says-al-qaeda-threat-is-very-specific-as-us-issues-travel-alert

and
http://www.thestate.com/2013/08/02/2897275/us-travel-alert-comes-amid-al.html


First of all the consulates are all located in Muslim countries!Here is a case where a a minority Islamic terrorist organization have succeeded in terrorizing Muslim countries where the majority of the population do not support its dangerous aims and goals.

As a start of solving thie terrorism problem, we should never sympathize with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Next Muslim countries should reign in religious leaders teaching hate and death to Israel.

Jurors should respect the justice system, re Trayvon Martin case

We have a juror, named as Juror B29, and interviewed by ABC saying she feels she owes an apology to Trayvon Martin's parents. Source :usatoday.com

This juror needs a crash lesson in the legal system. Imperfect it may be, but jurors are bound not to bring DISREPUTE to the whole jury's majority decision. We feel that this Juror B29 just wants attention, or just wants a way out for her MINORITY position against the whole jurys decision that Zimmerman was innocent. What this B29 juror wants is to try Zimmerman repeatedly until found guilty of killing Trayvon Martin. What a perversion!

Will the government revoke the licenses of Water Utility companies?

These two companies, Maynilad and Manila Water, would be hounded out of their concession areas if the following happened abroad:

1. Passing the income tax payments to consumers to the tune P15.5 billion pesos![ref 1]
   
2. Passing the cost of donations to consumers.[Ref 2]
   
3. Other charges reportedly charge to consumers as part of basic charge:
   Travel expenses, advertisements, training expenses and office equipment [Ref 2]
   

It is clear that these two concessionaires have enriched themselves illegally at the expense of the Philippine Republic. It is high time that their profits be taken away from them, officers banned from travel abroad and guilty parties, including MWSS personnel charged, and imprisoned.We suggest that the licenses of both companies be revoked. Let us see what president Aquino, he of Daang Matuwid promise, can do with these recent developments.

In reaction to this, a church worker said (with permission) ANG KAPAL NG MUKS NG MAYNILAD AT MANILA WATER - GRABE!!!

It was discovered by the MWSS Regulatory Office's extensive audit of the two concessionaires, that Maynilad (owned and run by the Lopez' Group of Companies) and Manila Water (owned by the Ayalas) passed on to their customers (that's us, the consuming public) their corporate income tax.

Not yet contented with this irregularity and unscrupulous business activity, Maynilad and Manila Water still passed on to their customers their Donations, Advertisements, Travel Expenses, and Representation Allowance(s). This kind of business operations is unconscionable - it is unjust, oppressive and exploitative!!!

References:

[1] http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/437635/probe-sought-into-maynilad-manila-water-p15-5b-pass-on-charges

[2] http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/315655/news/metromanila/water-companies-passed-on-additional-charges-to-consumers-report

The deafening silence on the effects of depleted uranium and white phosphorus munitions on Iraq children

I saw the grotesque photos of birth defects to the children of Iraq and I am amazed that nothing is found in the mainstream press. I hope that an organization will take up the cudgels in exposing and assigning blame and demanding just compensation for the nightmares the supposed depleted uranium munitions from US military operations has given these poor children.

Here is just ONE photo of the supposed effects of depleted uranium (there is still a nonzero dose of radiation!)and white phosphorus.

Src: http://cavnews.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/iraqi-birth-defects-worse-than-hiroshima/

Worse or ore disturbing images can be viewed from vice.com: Karlos Zurutuza on Iraq unfolding medical nightmare

More research on this!

July 5, 2013.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium claims that some photos were of deformed babies born
in the Soviet Union! The article also claims that groups against nuclear power and weapons are behind this scare of the effects of depeleted uranium.

A Marcos loyalist lament: the Philippines (A fooled Nation)?

I saw this through a Facebook page. I do not necessarily agree with the author, I only want to air his opinion. Tha author of this piece has a first name of Bryan. A thought provoking piece.

I’m actually studying International Trade Law and Economics here at Busan National University South Korea. My Professor once said that one of the economic models of East Asia as well as the South during the post war era particularly in the 1960’s are based on Japan and the Philippines. He added that the Philippines is one of the richest nations next to Japan in that time and also once envied. Having said all these I was actually proud and happy seeing all my classmates of other nationalities looked at me with smiles on their faces.

But, what struck me the most is when my professor asked me, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR COUNTRY? I couldn’t answer back. From this, I saw the sudden shift of emotions in the class. I went home having this in mind. I was quite puzzled of what really happened.

Then one day, my wife, a Korean national found a documentary about the late Pres. Marcos and his wife Imelda made by a Korean film company. He is actually very famous here in Korea and is known to be a great president.

In the documentary I saw a lot of things I couldn’t imagine happened during those days. I was surprised to see the prosperous and peaceful life the Filipinos back in those days were enjoying. I saw people wearing formal clothes (suits), a clean and magnificent city, happy people walking on the old streets of Manila, thriving communities and places everywhere and many more.

An interesting as well as quite controversial part of the documentary is the part wherein Bong Bong Marcos was interviewed. He was asked, the same question my professor asked me, WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY? He said, "My father loved and cared for this country a lot and my mother as well. While saying this, suddenly he paused with teary eyes and said, “We were betrayed by the Americans”. He believes that his father trusted them but they put him down. He also thinks that they used his mother’s (Imelda) lifestyle to further destroy their reputation. Though he admitted she is living an extravagant life, she also did a lot of accomplishments, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Kidney Institute of the Philippines, Nayong Pilipino; Philippine International Convention Center, Folk Arts Theater, and the Coconut Palace are all Imeldas' brainchildren. Nonetheless, all major social and public buildings and institutions in the country today were actually built during the Marcos’s reign.

What inspired me the most is the time when I heard the story of the late president of Korea Park Chung Hee who visited the Philippines once in the 1960’s. Mr. Marcos and Mr. Chung Hee were believed to be good friends. Pres. Chung Hee and Marcos once visited the Radial Road 8 now called North Luzon Expressway. I heard that Mr. Chung Hee literally cried on Mr. Marcos’ shoulder saying “ I wish my country would be just like the Philippines”. Right after he came back to Korea he started a plan to create expressways similar to what he saw in the Philippines to literally connect the cities all over Korea which were divided by tall mountains. He succeeded on doing this. And, it is said that this move is one of the keys of the Korean economic boom. Unluckily, he was assassinated. Some say that the Americans were behind the assassination.

I know Marcos cared for his country a lot that he wanted to put it on the map. He even bought properties at Wall Street at that time because he wanted the Philippines to be known and dominate the world market. He also initiated a group of powerful south East Asian nations (SEATO) and is believed to have been headed by the Philippines and some countries to strengthen their economic relations further which is also one of the models of economic integrations (G2, G3,G7, ASEAN, and so on) these days. Another international diplomatic accomplishment of Mr. Marcos was the joint effort of Japan and the Philippines to form the Asian Development Bank in 1966 with headquarter in Mandaluyong. Some say that it somewhat became just like the world bank of Asia and its sole purpose is to give foreign aid to poor countries at that time. Unfortunately, the Philippines is the one receiving aid nowadays.

For me, I think Marcos is the best president the Philippines ever had. During his time the economy was at its peak, unemployment was low, peso against the dollar was at its lowest, poverty rate is not that high (compared today), in short the Philippines was at its finest.

But, not until the West came to realize that the Philippines will grow strong and powerful as time goes. Some say they were afraid it will take over the Wall Street as it already started buying properties and putting up state owned investment firms on its soil. One, thing is for sure, that they should stop this. Then it all began. They had their plan of destroying Marcos’ reputation and putting him down using the media and some manipulated social and political entities whose dark aim is to privatize Mr Marcos' nationalistic legacies. The sad part is they succeeded.

And, the saddest part is, we were fooled as well.

A source of the above image is http://paulitics.wordpress.com/category/john-mccain/

What kind of airforce do we have?

We do not have modern F-16, F-15 or F-18 fighter jet planes, Instead we are still using propeller driven training planes like the Aermacchi_SF.260. What happened to the Armed Forces modernization drive?

We see that the Clarkfield air base conversion to an industrial estate is going strong. So where is the money suppossedly going to buy modern weapons for the Philippines military, and upgrading of the military structure, command and control and bases?

We are subjected to news of old OV-10 broncos crashing and killing our pilots. It is time that we stop being stupid. But first we have to get mad. For one thing, we are no match for China's powerful military.

American leaders talk so much! Stuxnet was an American cyberwarfare program!

We have a case of dangerous loose tongue in the American military. Nothing less than the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, is under investigation by the Justice Department for leaks on the industrial Stuxnet
computer virus which successfully destroyed centrifuges of Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010.

We do not know if Gen. Cartwright divulged information about Stuxnet to David Sanger, a correspondent of the New York Times, who use the material for his book "Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power."

Before we believed it was only Israel involved in creating the complex computer virus, now we know that it was a joint US and Israel program, with the US taking the initiative.

We cannot sympathize with the US if it complains that other nations are engaging in cyberwarfare or industrial espionage. This recent revelation on the Stuxnet worm is a blackeye for American security.

Richard Reid, the shoe bomber is sentenced!

I got this from a High School classmate and Facebook friend:

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?

Did you know he was sentenced?

Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?

Didn't think so.!!!

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly
stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

Judge Young: "Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years, again to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000, that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you, five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it, or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said:

'You're no big deal. '

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have, as honestly as I know how, tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty, and admit you are guilty, of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me, you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America , the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice, is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers, will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America . That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down."

So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young. Pass this around. Everyone should, and needs to, hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful words that strike home.


Further reading:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid