in retrospect…

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with the elections over, and the counting of votes now crawling along very very slowly, the tally so far shows that 8 Genuine Opposition, 5 Team Unity, and 2 Independent candidates are in the top 15 as shown in the unofficial tally below:

go to the Inquirer.net page for an updated tally…

finally, it seems that the magic that celebrities, actors, and actresses hold over the people are finally waning… whereas before, people will vote simply because the candidate was well known for their movie antics and showbiz allure, voters today are becoming mature not to vote for them again… they probably learned from the lessons from a former ex-President, and several sports and movie personalities in the senate…

take the case of 2 very famous actors who just run for the senate, Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano, who are currently in the 18 place in the case of the latter and 25th for the former… and at the rate the counting is going, they will never set foot in the senate… not even the smiles of their equally-famous pretty wives campaigning for their husbands swayed the voters one bit…

also, Lito Lapid, running for mayor of Makati City, has finally conceded defeat to mayor Jejomar Binay… electorate of Makati City was not dazzled by Lapid’s waning star… likewise, his son, actor Mark Lapid, re-electionist for governor of Pampanga is in 3rd place behind 1st placer Fr Ed Panlilio and Lilia Pineda…

and lastly, champion boxer Manny Pacquiao seems bent on prolonging his agony and not likely to throw in the towel in his title fight bid for a congressional seat against re-electionist Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who’s father he has accused of trying to kill him before…

finally!! people are seeing into the real political agenda of these celebrities, and considering the needs of the Philippines more than their weakness for celebrity enchantment… ang galing ng Pinoy!!

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippines | politics | OWA | celebrities ]

now that the election fever is over, all stupid election commercials done away with, and all promises will remain just that, promises, where to now, Pinoy?? do we hold a fiesta for our winners?? do we bring out all our best suits and dresses and hold a ball?? or do we clean up after them, tearing down and scraping all their campaign posters posted all over?? and will something better happen now?? can we expect changes in our government now that we have put into position all of those we thought capable??

unless something astounding and freakish happens to our senators and congressmen and mayors, the same things will happen over and over again… and by the same things, i mean:

• our poor, which comprise almost 75% of our population, will remain poor and keep getting poorer… they will continue to live in shacks and eat only 1 meal a day, if even that… their children will continue begging for a few coins in the streets while their parents try to eke out a living… only 1 out of every 5 school-age children will be able to go to school… all the while, our senators and congressmen and mayors continue to fill their pockets with our tax money, living in plush mansions in Ayala Alabang, eating food bought with our money, and sending their children to schools abroad…
• those of us with 4 or 5 year old cars will continue to drive along semi-paved roads full of ruts and potholes, while our despised esteemed senators and congressmen and mayors continue to zoom along traffic in their new Expeditions and BMWs preceded by a convoy of military personnel…
• while so many of our countrymen ask for help from policemen and the law courts, our detested highly regarded senators and congressmen and mayors fuck with the little people, laugh at the courts, and waving their immunity at our faces… all the while getting protection from the the same policemen we little people pay with our hard-earned taxes…
• and, while we all grind to earn a decent and honest living everyday of our lives, we continue to hate venerate our senators and congressmen and mayors by sending them abroad on junkets so that they can have a well-earned vacation from their lives of pomp and high-living…

what can we expect this time around??

judging by past experiences, and i have had 37 years of that, i’d say more of the same… hey, we can’t expect our disdained respected politicians to change overnight, can we?? we just have to simply let them have their space and do their own thing in their own time… the time will come when we will harvest our just dues… but this will not come anywhere near our son’s sons lives…

next elections?? be ready for the same obnoxious politicians playing their obnoxious commercials on TV, attacking each other, continue fucking with the little people, and winning because of cheating their charms and stupidity wit…

remember everyone, we deserve what we get…

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippines | Politics ]

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This is a DigitalFilipino.com Club-sponsored post

Mirriam Defensor-Santiago in an interview with ABS-CBNs Halalan 2007

to all candidates running for a public seat:

kung hindi ka marunong magbasa, please, wag ka na tumakbo!!

to her current co-Senators:

i am thinking, kahit sino man manalo, even the most docile ones, sigurado puro kriminal yan!!

as a definite service to the Filipino people

we need someone who will run amuck and gun down these 24 [Senators]… that will definitely be a service to the Filipinos…

Mike Enriquez of GMA7s Eleksyon 2007 on Fr Ed Panlilio

sana nga manalo no?? pero win or lose, the seed of change has already been planted and will usher in a new kind of politics

a voter wanting to vote in QC because his name is not on any list

ako po ay residential na dito sa Quezon City… 15 years na po ako dito, kaya po bakit naman po ako nagiging alien dito??

Miguel Zubiri on his chances the day after elections

I am a consistent number 1 in Mindanao, and that is without cheating…

anyway, this early in the counting of votes, it clearly shows that the 2 celebrities-turned-wannabe-politician-Senators, Goma, and Cesar, are already out of the race… Cesar is number 20 with 491,827 votes with the number 12, Pimentel having 924,942 votes, and Goma is nowhere in the Top 20… yey!! at least, this shows that the voting population is already mature enough not to be taken in only due to popularity and celebrity status…

Filipinos 2, Celebrities 0

Cieo, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippines Politics | May 14 Elections ]

tomorrow, we will all again troop to voting precincts to cast our votes on whom among the senatorial hopefuls will have the right to steal from us for the next 6 years, and whom among the local candidates can bully us for the next 3 years… we have learned so much from the just concluded campaign period, and i believe the most relevant question now should be:

will we allow the next elections to be the same??

reforms in the election laws should be in place before the start of the next election period… only 3 out of 10 [or 33%] of eligible voters believe that tomorrow’s elections will be true to its spirit of free and clean elections… this only show that most Filipinos do not believe in the voting practice anymore, and would rather stay at home and enjoy this 1 day rest from the stress of work than to go and vote… according to COMELEC ex-chairman Christian Monsod, when before the practice of cheating were simply flying voters and small-scale vote buying, today, cheating has become so massive that it has become such big business for a lot of people…

changes, then, are very much needed before the next round of elections… and i can think of 2 right now:

put more teeth in the anti-vote buying law [Sec. 261, Article XXII, Election Offenses] — [Sec. 261a] immediately look into alleged vote buying issues of any form, whether by national or local politicians… any form, in this case, would include money, grocery, food, insurance cards, or the promises of any of the aforementioned… politicians have worked around the current law, giving away insurance cards and other intangible materials, making a mockery of the COMELEC…

computerize the next elections — as part of the lobby calling for the computerization of elections, i have always maintained that the process would infinitely be simpler if we are using computers in voting and counting these votes… election fraud will also be minimized, if not totally eradicated… information technology have come a long way, and i still believed that it will help the COMELEC if computers were used in practices such as theses…

finally, i still maintain that tomorrow’s election will not be for us… the effects will not be felt long after tomorrow is finished… it will be our children who will suffer the consequences of our votes tomorrow… again, if you have to vote, vote for those who can affect positive changes, and will not be simply milking their offices dry… vote, not because the candidate is a celebrity or a boxer-hero, but because you are sure that the candidate can do wondrous things for our children…

so, tomorrow, make sure you have the following before going out of your homes to vote:

– a list of candidates you’d be voting for…
– location of the precinct where you’d be voting…
– pen you will use…

Ciao, sweetie…

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This is a DigitalFilipino.com Club-sponsored post

the following was from Connie, which was in turn forwarded to her via email:

Maganda rin naman ang naidudulot ng pagiging prangka ni Senador Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Ayon kay Santiago, marami ang tumatakbong Senador dahil sa laki ng budget na ibinibigay sa kanila kada buwan.

Lumalabas na P35,000 suweldo nila kada buwan ay pakitang-tao lang sa milyun-milyong budget ng bawat senador. Kada buwan ay may Fixed Monthly Budget ang bawat Senador ng humigit-kumulang P2 Milyon.

Sa opisina pa lang nila ay humigit-kumulang P500,000 and budget nila sa Maintenance and Operating Expenses (Rental, Utilities, Supplies at Domestic Travels) at P500,000 para sa Staff at Personal expenses. Kaya para makatipid ang ibang Senador, kaunti lang ang staff na kinukuha nila. Nagtataka ka pa kung bakit mayroong mga Ghost Employee?

Bukod diyan, may P760,000 allowance pa sila kada buwan para naman sa Foreign Travel. At ang masakit pa nito, hindi na kailngan i-liquidate ang mga resibo ng mga gastusin ‘yan kundi Certification lang ang Requirement.

Heto pa, lahat sila ay Chairman ng mg Komite sa Senado. Ang Committee Chairman ay tumatanggap din ng budget na sinlaki ng tinatanggap ng mga Senador na humigit-kumulang P1 Milyon din! Hindi sila mawawalan ng Komite dahil 24 lang ang ating mga Senador at 37 naman ang Committee sa Senado. There’s food for everybody ‘ika nga! Lumalabas na doble ang kanilang benepesiyo at kita kapag sila ay nabiyayaan ng Committee Chairmanship.

Sa P200 milyon na Budget para sa Pork Barrel ng mga Senador bawat taon, awtomatikong may 10% na S.O.P. o kita ng Senador na P20 milyon. Ito ang porsiyento na ibinibigay ng mga kontratista sa mga Senador na nagbibigay sa kanila ng mga Infrastructure at Livelihood Project.
Bago matapos ang termino ng isang Senador, kumita na siya ng P100 milyon sa Pork Barrel pa lang. Yung ibang Senador mas gahaman, hindi lang 10% kundi 20 - 30% ang komisyon hinihingi sa mga kontratista.

Pansinin niyo na lang ang pagbabago ng buhay ng ilan sa ating mga Senador simula nang manungkulan sa puwesto. Kung dati ay simple lang ang kanilang pamumuhay ngayon ay nakatira na sila sa mga eksklusibong subdivision, maraming bahay sa Pilipinas at abroad at mahigit lima ang sasakyan.

Ngayon nagtataka ka pa ba kung bakit gumagastos ng daan-daang milyong piso ang mga Senador sa kampanya para sa isang posisyon na P35,000 lang ang suweldo kada buwan? Bawing-bawi pala ang gastos kapag naupo na!

PLEASE FORWARD TO AS MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS AND LET THE WHOLE COUNTRY KNOW THAT ELECTION IS MORE OF PUTTING AMBITIOUS PEOPLE IN POSITION WHO ARE GREEDY IN POWER, WEALTH & PRESTIGE THAN OF PUBLIC SERVICE… ANG MASAKIT PA PERA NG BAYAN PARIN GAGAMITIN SA ELEKSYON MALUKLOK LANG ANG MGA BUWAYA SA PWESTO.

a video of the Mirriam interview can be found in YouTube…

this. is. just. NOT. right!!

Ciao, sweetie… :|

Tags: [ Philippine Elections | May 14 ]

an officemate and i got to talking about driving conditions in the metro and outlying areas while waiting for the next meeting to commence… it all started when he asked me which top 3 drivers/vehicles among our public transport system are worse… to answer his question, my choices were:

number 3: buses, because of their volume along EDSA;
number 2: taxis, because they don’t care whether they get hit or not;

and,

number 1: jeepneys, because they still maintain that they are kings of the road, and must be feared…

our number 3 were the same, but his number 1 were taxis… when asked why, he just went deadly serious on me and said:

it is nationalism, pre… or at least the lack of it… you see, if you are a nationalistic person, it means that you respect yourself as well as the next person… with taxi drivers, it is very obvious by the way they drive that they don’t care whether they get hit or not, or whether they hit someone else or not… for them, it is just the money… they drive that way because they think they can earn more by getting to their destinations the fastest way possible… and by doing so, they don’t respect the space of the other drivers… they will cut people off the road, they will get ahead of you given the smallest possibility that they can get ahead of you, and in intersections? they simply zoom across without regard for themselves, their passengers, or other drivers…

thinking back to that, i do believe he is right, that he nailed it right on the head when he mentioned that the problem is the lack of love and respect and consideration, not just among our public transport drivers, but more so can be said for the government… that was why we have corruption, political killings, and political dynasties… this was because politicians do not recognize that the Filipino people should be first and foremost in their minds, because they thought that the esteem we held for them was due to their status in life, and because they think that the government is their own little playground to do however they see fit…

it will be election time in 5 days… unfortunately, it will not be for you, for you will never feel its effects… think of the little ones: you small brother, your children, nephews and nieces, grandchildren… this exercise will determine their future… so if you have to vote, please vote wisely…

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ driving | Philippine Elections | May 14 | nationalism ]

it will be election time come May 14, and a lot of people will be trooping to polling centers to cast their votes, as well as a lot of candidates will be doing last minute vote buying campaigning and harassments …

and this election is the biggest farce ever!!

did i say farce?? sorry… no… not a farce… more to the point, it has become an absurdity, a broad comedy, caricature, a very big joke, a mockery of the Filipino people, a parody, a sham… in short, it has become a travesty…

first, the likes of Richard Goma and Cesar Mountainous, great actors in their own right but not schooled in the business of politics and policy-making, were allowed to run…

second, Manny Pookyaw, a great boxer and a philanthropist, is now destined to lose in the greatest fight of his life… to a lady…

third, who is this candidate who got Francine Prieto as a celebrity endorser?? according to him, he got Francine because she has got a sweet disposition and that her image is so clean… clean?? hmmm… i can show him and the world a video of Francine doing a photo shoot in the nude!! don’t get me wrong… that video is one of my favorite shows on earth… but i don’t think her endorsement can do wonders for this candidate…

fourth, there is a candidate who was accused of masterminding the Valentine’s bombing in the year 2005 [he was out on bail]… according to him, his idols were Gringo Honasan [accused of mutiny, still under court consideration] and Antonio Trillanes [likewise accused of mutiny and still under heavy guard]… if these are the kinds of people running for public office, no wonder the country is buried under a ton of shit…

and fifth, we have administration candidates being endorsed by an inept president and corrupt husband, opposition candidates being endorsed by an equally corrupt ex-president, and other candidates under the banner of a dead ex-dictator-ex-president… where will this country be in the future??

and next elections?? we’ll see the same candidates all over again, doing the same jig, dance, and stupid jingles over and over again, promising the same promises, and yet, doing nothing when they finally get the nod of the people…

when will we ever learn??

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippine Elections | May 14 ]

let’s play a little game of “If I Were A Senator…” the object of the game is to list down all the things that you will do if you were elected to the Senate of the Philippines… since i started this game, let me go first:

– i’d make a law prohibiting any politician from putting their names in projects done using the people’s money… case in point are those schools in Batangas named Sen Ralph G Recto Type School Building and Mayor V S Recto Type School Building… these schools were provided for by the pork barrel given to Recto, and this came from the people’s hard earned taxes… or on those roads where the billboard says Brought to you by Mayor So and So… again, not theirs… not even their money was used to put these projects up… i know, they’re doing this for immediate name recall… but this is just not right…

– i’d pass a law which will make political dynasties a crime… i don’t care if they are doing good to the people… but if they are, these are just isolated cases… more often than not, this is detrimental to the growth of the dynasty’s constituents… one person from each family in government, ONLY!!

– i’d pass a law directing the MMDA to study the possibility of limiting the number of buses plying EDSA and jeepneys plying the city streets… or having a regular time for departure and arrival… this way, we decongest our streets, and people get to their destinations on time, without limiting access to public transport…

– i’d pass a law banning prayers of any sect/religion from all public functions… enough said…

you?? what are your take on this??

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippine Senate | laws ]

while the wife and i were on the way home, i decided to pass through Kapitolyo Village in Pasig City because of too much traffic along Shaw Boulevard… for all those who know that area, you’d have to pass by a circle in front of the Rizal Capitol, then go around that circle to cross over to Kapitolyo… found out later that the traffic was right after that circle, good thing i decided to go through Kapitolyo Village instead…

anyway, we were right at the circle when i noticed this:

campaign posters were all over that circle!! posted on the lower half of the concrete, strung between trees, probably nailed on the trees themselves, too!! shet!! tama ba ito?? for more of pictures like these, go here… these are just so… despicable!! not to mention ugly!!

ito ba ang klase ng mga tao na iboboto mo, botante?? oh, i am sure it was not the actual candidates who did these… and if they reason out that they cannot control what their people do, how can they hope to lord over control the rest of the population, then??

mga shet talaga kayo!! the candidates/partylists from the pictures are the following:

• Cesar Montano [Team Unity] — running for senator
• Mike Defensor [Team Unity] — running for senator
• Prospero Pichay [Team Unity] — running for senator
• Tessie Aquino-Oreta [Team Unity] — running for senator
• Miguel Zubiri [Team Unity] — running for senator [may pagmamahal sa kalikasan, according to his tv ad]
• Chavit Singson [Team Unity] — running for senator
• Win Rivera — running for mayor of Pasig City
• Bandila Partylist
• Abante Partylist
• Kabataan Partylist
• Anakpawis Partylist
• AngGalingPinoy Partylist
• A Teacher Partylist

i’d not vote for any of them if i were you… if they cannot care for the environment [and your health] as early as now, do you think they’d care once they are in position??

hoy, Governor Casimiro M Ynares Jr, di ka ba naiirita na paglabas mo ng kapitolyo e yan ang bubungad sa yo?? isa ka pa, letse…

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ May 14 elections | politics ]

on May 14, people from all walks of life will be trooping to voting precincts to vote for their favorite candidates… favorite because:

• they were given money by these people
• they were harassed to vote for them
• they were promised jobs/money/their life if these candidates win
• they recall the name of these people from billboards
• the candidates they will be voting for were/are celebrities
• they were given insurance cards worth 100K pesosesoses
• they were promised insurance cards worth 100K pesosesoses
• he was a boxer, ergo, may be a good politician
• they were/are actors/actresses, ergo, good politicians
• they spammed your email/SMS with their propaganda
• they gave you lechon during their campaign sorties

if these, and others similar to these, are your reasons why you will be voting for your favorites, please think again…

• money can be spent in an instant, while the person who gave you this will spend a lifetime [ok, 4 years at least] milking money from you
• you can still be harassed to do things you hate?? goodness!!
• lies, lies, and more lies… that’s the life of a politician… he even finds it hard to tell himself the truth!!
• if they need to be recalled by other means than by the good they do, they must not be doing anything good…
• remember Erap?? he just acted through it!!
• insurance cards are worth nothing if your hungry…
• same reason as above…
• huh?? when has a boxer done good in governance??
• even worse!!
• i hate these people!!
• hehehe… eat a day, rob for a lifetime??

now, if your list gets shorter and shorter because of these qualifications, then, it would be better not to vote [or abstain] than to vote for somebody who is not worth your one vote… i am not calling for a boycott here [though i am tempted to, not that anyone would listen], but simply laying down foundations for your eventual choices like how jester-in-exile made his choices…

me?? i think i’d just use my one vote for myself and be done away with it… kidding!!

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ Philippine Elections | May 14 ]