Obama was asked to press Arroyo on human rights. But why should Filipinos expect this when he had already broken his inaugural promise to oppose the corrupt who continually hold on to power through violence and deceit by meeting the most traitorous of them all? What Obama should have done was to actively rein in on his envoy’s continuing subversion of the sovereignty and economic security of this nation. Instead, he has allowed Ambassador Kristie Kenney’s PR work for Mrs. Arroyo, in setting up a “Fifth Column” in this country, to buttress the political stock of the most hated
In doing so, the nation should similarly deepen its understanding of the real corruption that plagues this country. The overlords using Arroyo to impoverish the people, despite our rich patrimony in land, sea, and human resources, are the financial institutions she proudly proclaimed at her Sona as having raised her fiscal ratings. Looking deeper, one will see the scandalous truth about these ratings agencies. Moody’s (nothing but an institutionalized Madoff), Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch’s were all sued by one of the largest, if not the largest, pension fund, Calpers, or the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, for ratings that “ultimately proved to be wildly inaccurate and unreasonably high” for subprime mortgage investments that caused it billions of dollars in losses.
Meanwhile, Gloria says she is not president to be popular. But she never was president to begin with! And we all know that she only craves for popularity with the likes of Amb. Kenney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and previously, Bush and Condy Rice, and, of course, with King Juan Carlos, whom she so desperately wanted to engage in her Spanish to gain acceptance despite her lowly pedigree.
Gloria has had to lie, cheat, and steal, among many other things, just to get to her present status. But she has also run scared from the eventual jail that awaits her. Unlike Estrada, who was vindicated by apologies from a bishop and a former president who saw a man wronged, who lived in no “glass house,” Gloria, after losing power, will be condemned by millions and caged in a Petri dish for generations to gawk at as a specimen of Dipylidium Caninum.
Gloria has incurred more debt than three of her predecessors combined, so much so that every man, woman and child in RP now owes P57,000! But fewer still are aware of the fantabulous privatization Gloria has wrought on this nation--around P105 billion from 2001 to 2007--and boy, she ain’t finished yet. Compare that to FVR’s two-year 1996-1998 record of around P12 billion (since we couldn’t find 1992-1995 figures at the time of this writing) and Estrada’s two years of around P10 billion, and easily, Gloria has sold off so much more of the state’s most profitable assets, including PNOC-EDC, which was earning billions--with the figure of P105 billion even excluding the (underpriced by P100 billion) P200-billion crown jewel Transco sold just recently, which was in fact earning P17 billion annually. No wonder Gloria can’t shore up enough revenues to keep the deficit on target; she’s given her oligarch-cronies almost all the state assets that are earning profits for the nation’s coffers!
Gloria Arroyo has been a national disaster and 75 percent of the people know this as surveys show. But as much a calamity as she is are congressmen, senators and some opposition politicians. Noli de Castro on radio touted his arithmetical “prowess” with how many applause for Gloria he observed, counting 125 which he said didn’t tally with someone else’s 126; and he repeated this observation three times as if trying to impress listeners on how “bright” he is. Then, there was the battle of the backless and kabuki faces, involving even so-called “leftist” party-list congresswomen, who’ve all become distractions in this bizarre zarzuela.
At the Iglesia ni Cristo-Rizal Memorial gathering, only a few of the major presidential timbers were invited. As they were introduced, Binay got much more applause than Villar. And since this was a microcosm of the masa sentiment, we should ask how Villar could be number one in the SWS and Ibon surveys, especially since Jinggoy Estrada got even more applause than Binay, and Erap brought the house down.
It seems SWS is doing what it did in 2004, which Mahar Mangahas eventually apologized for, while Ibon is parroting Bayan Muna in parlaying its service to whoever can finance its own candidates for the senate. And, by the way, why is it that despite showing outright political ads, as against the other bets’ product endorsements, Villar is not being cited for this patent violation?
Finally, the cat has been let out of the bag. Mikey says that Chiz has been asking for Gloria’s endorsement while Malacañang says four candidates have already approached it for 2010. As noted by many, Gloria’s speech hit neither Villar nor Chiz; so why are we not surprised? Clearly, the only serious candidates that are beyond suspicion are President Estrada and Mayor Binay.
But for all the uselessness which that Sona day brought, one signal event that became a worthwhile hit was the Bagong Katipunan motorcade from Taguig organized by Lt. James Layug’s congressional campaign picked up by media--a sign, perhaps, of a new grassroots opposition movement a-brewing?
(Tune in to 1098AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,
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