The Last People’s Revolt

A Sunday headline blared “The World Will Not Forgive a Third Edsa Revolt” as part of Gloria Arroyo’s pre-Edsa I anniversary message. Other than its boring redundancy for having been said one too many times, I detect an undercurrent of panic in her so-called “warning”--a conscious or unconscious wish for another revolt not to occur to spare her from the guillotine that awaits.

Of course, Gloria is twisting a few facts about the Edsa revolts too, the first being her now apparent denial that a “Third Edsa Revolt” has actually taken place. In her desire to wish it away despite its being etched in our nation’s history, her few futile attempts to “reconcile” with the real people’s forces--making up the poor who rose in solidarity with President Joseph E. Estrada--by openly (but grudgingly) admitting to the fact of Edsa Tres in speeches, just show how hollow and hypocritical her latest soundbyte is.

Second, I wonder where Gloria got the idea of a world being unforgiving of another Edsa revolt. Edsa I and II were both coups d’etat masqueraded as “people power,” not unlike Ukraine ’s Orange Revolution and Georgia’s Rose Revolution, both engineered by western oligarchic interests. All such incidents, including the elite-led “People Power Revolutions” in the Philippines , have since proven to be massive fiascos where people were made to suffer from economic deterioration, arising from a severely eroded political sovereignty, as these nations became sacrificial pawns in the geopolitics and economic exploitation of western powers.

The Philippines was among the earliest victims of these “rainbow revolution” projects of the West, becoming the basket case of Asia in one generation alone while its neighbors all zoomed past it.

We must keep a historical perspective on this chronology of events if we are to use it for the turnaround of our beloved Philippines . The last 25 years was a time of what I would like to call, “The Great Con,” when a whole generation was hoodwinked into swallowing the western oligarchy’s conception of the universe based on: the universality, efficacy and efficiency of the profit motive and materialism; the greatest good coming from corporatism and competition; the removal of all regulation on financial and corporate power; and the end to the idea of nations and states through liberalization, deregulation, privatization and globalization, foregoing the protection of public interest and national economic sovereignty.

Edsa I and II represented the resurgence of this very type of neo-colonialism, which the national government quickly implemented in accelerating stages under the aegis of globalization. Alas, the rosiest future for the country promised under the new democracy by the Manila-centric, elite-led, Wolfowitz-designed coup d’etat turned out to be the institutionalization of plutocracy with the enshrining of the “dagdag-bawas” system by the Philippine Establishment’s most “respected” lawyers such as Christian Monsod, the original Benjamin Abalos.

The glow of Edsa I quickly faded in the seven years under the first Edsa government as the economy resumed its precipitous decline after a brief uptick from the euphoria of the so-called revolution. Before and after the elections of 1992, the nation was plunged into some of the worst crises in memory, such as the massive power outages and the first rice “pila” (queue), resulting from the scuttling of the Marcos energy program and the “high value crop export” policy of the globalist FVR.

Not surprisingly, these led the masses to turn to a leader of their heart’s desire, President Estrada, who, upon assumption into office in 1998, instituted food security (self-reliance) programs; sought a final end to the MILF and NPA insurgencies; opposed issuances of sovereign guarantees to government-private company projects (hence, never signing any of the onerous Independent Power Producer contracts); and resisted automatic rate increases for power, water and other basic utilities, among other things.

Estrada was everything that could upset the global and regional plans the West had envisioned for the coming new century. Thus, Edsa II had to happen, and a young, Georgetown-educated politician (like Ukraine ’s Saakashvili from Columbia and George Washington Universities ) with “economic” academic credentials but without a strong political base was hoisted into power. Privatization proceeded with ferocity; utility rates soared; the financial sector became more powerful and abusive; and the 2004 election cheating transpired with the blessings of the international community to extend the regime. But all throughout, the people became a lot poorer and the Edsa II glow got tarnished even more rapidly.

The Edsa III of May 2001, just four months post-Edsa II, had hundreds of thousands of poor people who outnumbered the fifty-thousand-crowd of Cardinal Sin and Gloria Arroyo. But with Gen. Dionisio Santiago (now lording over PDEA) under strict orders from Gloria then, soldiers machine-gunned the marching crowd and an untold number fell bloodied and dead.

The poor were left alone as no “protector of the people” came to their rescue. The middle class continued to believe in Edsa II, until they got hit with: the collapse of the College Assurance Plan, the betrayal by the largest bankers of the PEP educational plan holders, the continuing increases in power and waters rates, and the corruption and scandals.

The reason the final revolt and probably the Last Revolution is inevitable is that the middle class and the masa are now one in experiencing the deceit, abuse and treachery of the ruling class, a.k.a. the oligarchy.

The global financial collapse will accelerate this as hundreds of thousands of OFWs forced back home will reinforce our Last Revolution. What remains is the fortification of revolutionary leadership in the military, steadily firming up with manifestos of support for Gen. Danilo Lim. While there are those who petition for Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, President Estrada is still primus inter pares as far as civilian leadership goes. Whatever scenario unfolds--elections or Cha-cha, the Last Revolution is inevitable. After that, we can start rebuilding a better Philippines .

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with Venezuelan Chargé d’Affaires Hon. Manuel Iturbe on “The Chavez Victory;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Revolt against plunder

I don’t know what’s keeping the middle class and the masa from staging mass revolts against the system today. The plunder is so obvious that it just keeps piling up. The Legacy affair is clearly a massive syndicated plot to plunder taxpayers’ money from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC); the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pushing for more revenue measures here at this time when the rest of the world is finding ways to reduce taxes to revive their economies; the local, privatized grain-handling Asian Terminals, Inc. and container operator ICTSI, already charging some of the highest rates in the world, are raising rates in the midst of this global depression; the North Harbor is then privatized to FVR boy Reghis Romero’s R-II Builders with scant capital; while Ayala and Consunji’s water companies are raising their rates too!

The hackles of some citizens are getting raised very high, like this text from a businessman: “We are calling all Filipino(s): Legacy’s Celso de los Angeles is scamming d banking system with d connivance of PDIC’s Nograles. IT IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE FOR small rural bank to get 400k depositors with 14 billion deposit. It means legacy is much bigger than other big banks. Majority of d claimants r FAKE. PDIC NOGRALES IS already releasing d FUNDS. PLS PAS.”

Despite the telegraphed language, it sums up the truth about Legacy pretty well: The elaborate scheme is aimed at defrauding the nation’s taxpayers of billions of pesos, using a conspiracy of government and finance officials colluding with Mr. Celso de los Angeles . The irony is de los Angeles may still actually get away with murder by using squid tactics with the same connivance of those strategically placed in power.

Another huge scam on the horizon is the IMF call for more tax revenues, particularly on tobacco and alcohol, allegedly to “help offset the expected drop in taxes due to a decline in consumer spending, but should also help (RP) keep its budget deficit with the Fund’s ‘prudent’ recommendation of 2 percent of GDP for around P150 billion.”

What IMF representative Mr. Denis Botman won’t say is that they want to ensure the Philippines keeps up with its foreign debt amortization and roll-overs of about P1.2 trillion, and if more blood from the people is needed for this payment to be sustained, then so be it. Our people’s response to Mr. Botman should be a tax revolt and a repudiation of the $60-billion debt chained around out necks.

In the US , TrendResearch chief Mr. Gerald Celente predicts: “We’re going to start seeing a tax revolt in the United States . People are one job away from losing everything. We’re seeing more and more closures, people are being laid off. People are stretched to the limits. And what do they do in New York State ? Some 130 new taxes are being proposed, they’re raising sales taxes. There’s going to be a tax revolt in this country from property taxes first and school taxes second. That’s what we’re going to see start to happen.” This was said in the context of his prediction that the present crisis is “The Greatest Depression” and social chaos characteristic of Third World countries will start hitting America soon. I think the same thing is in the minds of peoples in Iceland , Ireland , and Eastern European countries now being hit by the plunder of bankers and taxing authorities.

Back here, the water and port-handling rate increases, like grand thefts in the night, especially in these times of economic crisis, are really unjustifiable and despicable. It is a mystery why the nation is still not up in arms in the face of these series of blatant abuses. Gloria’s government briefly tried to put up a façade of opposition to the water rate increases but abruptly turned around and gave in. It is good to be reminded that there once was a national leader who stood up to halt such barefaced oppressiveness and exploitation. President Estrada said “No” to power and water rate increases in 2000, which was when the corporatocracy conspired to bring him down.

The North Harbor privatization would have escaped our attention had it not been for the May Pag-asa radio series, where former QC Mayor Jun Simon, who’s on the radio slot every Wednesday and Thursday, reported on the North Harbor privatization debacle. R-II Builders, the winning bidder, had promised billions of pesos in investments in case it won, but after it was awarded the facility, its funds are nowhere to be found, making its employees and operations suffer from a deficit of cash. Salaries are left unpaid, supplies are not being delivered, and operations are disrupted. This is not the first time that privatization has took a turn for the worst, but in the everyday confusion of Philippine government amid the economic crisis, nobody seems to be taking note of the crisis in North Harbor.

The Philippines is just one big plunder story now, and the future will be even worse. The oligarchs are gearing up for a new Gloria to take her place and to front for them and the greatest oligarch of them all, who’s spreading his tentacles to power, telecoms, and water, aside from the good old consumer goods and financial empire foisted from the “Tree of Life.” I hope the nation will be more discerning today than in 2001, when a number of its citizens fell for the sales pitch of corporate spinmasters. I hope we are now moving toward a “Revolt Against Plunder” of all forms, and be it by election or other means, that “revolution” must happen soon or in 2010. Let’s vote for freedom from the oligarchs and freedom from plunder!

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with Venezuelan Chargé d’Affaires Hon. Manuel Iturbe on “Chavez’ Victory at the Referendum;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The new BNPP ( Bataan Nuclear Power Plunder)

Consider the following: 1) The Philippines, at present, is proven to have at least 2,600 MW of untapped geothermal energy resources, with tens of thousands more left to be discovered; 2) Filipino geothermal scientists and engineers are considered to be the best in the world, such that countries like Japan are fast recruiting them for their own massive geothermal energy drives; 3) The Philippines is currently the world’s number two geothermal energy producer and needs only 70 MW more to overtake the US; 4) Geothermal energy is indigenous and never has to be imported, and is literally infinite in human terms; plus, 5) It’s renewable for the rest of our lives.

Geothermal energy is undoubtedly one of the cheapest renewable energy resources. It can be large-, medium- to small-scale, down to the barangay level, and can cost only a few thousand pesos; making it democratic and anti-monopoly. The newest binary cycle technology alone already makes for very efficient low-temperature geothermal energy and is a closed cycle that ejects nothing into the atmosphere. This list could go on had we included the many other advantages of geothermal power over other sources of electricity--except maybe for hydroelectric and natural gas (if the latter wasn’t pegged to the price of petroleum as Malampaya is). Still, the advantages listed above already make it the imperative energy source for our nation’s development program in this era of “energy independence.”

The international media reported last January 5, 2009 that even Japan is now focusing on a massive campaign to increase its share of geothermal energy because it is the least polluting of all the energy alternatives that are practicable at this time. In addition, a June 2, 2008 report from RenewableEnergy Germany shows that that country is also going geothermal, saying this could generate 600 times its present power capacity. However, despite the obvious wisdom in going geothermal, there are a number of Filipinos still insisting on a billion-dollar revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which is really nothing more than a concrete shell, with no fuel or workable equipment to revive.

Nuclear power plants run on uranium fuel that is not only expensive per pound, but is also subject to continuing price hikes as more and more countries, bereft of geothermal resources, turn nuclear. If the Philippines were to go this route, it would be perpetually dependent on foreign sources of uranium fuel rods, which will become a tremendous dollar drain on our economy. What makes nuclear power even more capital intensive is the large size of its plants: The lone nuclear power proposal here alone costs $1 billion. On the other hand, the RenewableEnergy Web site reports German plants to cost only €25 million ($35 million) or just P1.645 billion, which makes them immediately affordable for the Philippines .

Furthermore, expansion of the country’s geothermal capacity can be done as the need expands. Plus, the modest budgetary requirements will minimize foreign loans; thus, no longer adding to our gargantuan national debt, which has taken a heavy toll on our economic and social development. My argument against the nuclear revival project does not use the scare tactics of the anti-nuke, anti-BNPP extremists about so-called safety risks of Morong as a power plant site. I have always opposed the disinformation of these extremists since the early 1980s which have exacted such a huge loss for our nation. The late PHIVOLCS Chief Dr. Raymundo Punongbayan made it very clear that there are no such safety concerns and we had always worked to educate people on this. The six nuclear power plants in earthquake-stricken Taiwan and the dozens in Japan that have been up for years show they pose no danger at all.

So the issue is not the safety of nuclear power. It’s all about economics. Aside from the horrendous construction costs intrinsic to nuclear power plants, there are the equally expensive nuclear waste storage and disposal problems to contend with. All these will add to the high power rates already saddling the Philippines , which now has the highest electricity prices in Asia . A little comparison between geothermal and nuclear power makes it crystal clear which is the more sensible direction for the Philippines . Yet what makes some insist on going nuclear, such as the minions of this MAWA (Malaysian-West African) Coconut Monster, who’s prepping his conglomerate to swallow the biggest chunk of the country’s future energy production? Surely, it’s not rational economics but greed.

Proponents of the BNPP’s revival argue that nuclear power plants can also desalinate sea water to produce fresh water. Stupid! In a tropical country where floods plague the land, water impounding projects would cost a fraction to build. What’s more: They also want to fund the new BNPP with taxpayers’ money by charging an additional P0.10/kwh of our consumed electricity! How dare they even suggest this in a country where the abuse of power rates through the PPA has been the heaviest burden of power consumers for the past eight years? It shows just how out of touch with reality these fiends are.

If I am so incensed by this BNPP revival bunch, it’s because I know the MAWA Monster’s plot. Already, his alliance with the Malacañang Monster is leading to a concentration of economic power unseen in Philippine history--moving into telecommunications, water utility and, now, power. They don’t think economic rationality; just political control and economic exploitation through a command economy based on corporate greed. The next Gloria Arroyo has been anointed to ensure the fruition of these plunder plots for the next decade. Gloria and MAWA Monster have agreed to control Malacañang and what they hid the past eight years will come out in the open soon. The other oligarchs will simply bow as the people of the Philippines are reduced to carabaos, all whiplashed for profit.

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the topic, “Renewable energy: RP’s future;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Colonial mentality ‘tutas’

Gloria Arroyo was so desperate to get invited to the Obama National Prayer Breakfast that when she finally did, our national dailies headlined it without fail. Thus, her subsequent failure to get just a handshake from Obama made for even bigger news, becoming the butt of jokes everywhere amid much rejoicing. For anti-Gloria politicians and other Filipinos fed up with Gloria’s regime, Obama’s third successive snub signifies a withdrawal of US support, which they hope would portend her ouster. Alas, these people are still looking to the US and Obama to get our country out of the rut that Gloria has placed us in. But this mindset, as typified by the Inquirer headline, “Obama to save Filipino OFWs,” even when he can’t save US jobs from being lost every month, should make us wonder whether this betrays a lack of nationalism on their part or just rank idiocy.

Local radio and TV talk shows, as well as, the US mainstream media effuse in the glow of Obama’s halo. Granted that some may have been taken by his charms, a lot more must have been instructed by their corporate bosses to keep a sacred light beaming around their new “Messiah.” After all, these “corpo-Rats” wouldn’t be his biggest contributors for nothing, won’t they?

It’s only from Internet Web sites of critical truth-seekers where one can learn the truth about Obama: How his cabinet consists of the very same finance operators that deregulated the US financial system, which led to its recent financial collapse. The inclusion of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Chief Timothy Geithner and 21 others--all members of the elite Bilderberg Club, is precisely why there has been no prosecution of the bankers and finance speculators behind the collapse; only quibbling about bonus packages and CEO compensation ceilings thereafter.

In security and defense, the extension of Defense Secretary Robert Gates means the continuation of military aggression and torture. CIA appointee Leon Panetta, though touted to bring about change, already retracted earlier statements saying no to “rendition,” or sending captured “terror suspects” to allied countries for interrogation, while his condemnation of torture has also become muted.

In line with this, torture perpetrators in Guantanamo will no longer be prosecuted as US forces are extending their stay in Iraq , all contrary to Obama’s election pledge. In turn, US Afghan deployment is even expanding by 30,000--a move that is a continuation of the strategy of encirclement of Iran , China and Russia . As they say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

It is very clear that the election exercise and the “change” it regularly introduces is part of a system of manipulation of the electorate’s state-of-mind. If, in the finance realm, there’s a manipulated boom-and-bust cycle while the ruling elite stays the same throughout, there is also a similar cycle in the popular psyche that is being manipulated to rein in discontent. That the US elite was able to get overwhelming public support for the global aggression of George W. Bush, as well as, his corporatist policies (remember deregulation, Enron, WorldCom, etc.) is undeniable proof of this. So now, even without Dubya around, the US still suffers from the diversion of its resources for war that has enriched its ruling class’ defense and other investments.

To forestall popular discernment of the truth and a consequential rebellion of the people, especially from the poorest of them all, the Blacks, the rise of a new Black “Hope” was imperative. The financial collapse was then timed to make Obama’s ratings zoom against his Bush-backed opponent. And so the grandest presidential proclamation was staged in all of US history, with the pomp and pageantry no different from what Soviet rulers or Kim Jong Il stage to keep their people mesmerized with the glory of power.

In like manner, what works with the US population for the continuance of this political-economic status quo should also work for the US Establishment’s diplomatic needs across the globe. Africa ’s Blacks, for instance, cannot avoid empathy for a US Black president, and this becomes timely in light of the ramping up of China-US competition for that continent’s resources.

Here at home, one can see how simple, brilliant, and useful the myth of “Obama as Messiah” is when looking at the Filipino media and public. First, it provides a believable yarn of change in Washington with a non-white and multi-cultural president. Second, it becomes so much harder to explain the history of continuing US aggression, as well as, its exploitation and domination of the Philippines and the Third World--a task that was made much easier by George W. Bush’s arrogant imperialism and globalization, and his failures both globally and in the Philippines .

Now, the Philippine ruling elite are taking advantage of this Obama myth to the hilt to make the Filipinos forget their collusion with Bush in all his failed policies.

Needless to say, Gloria, Edsa II and all its attendant failures are part of the Bush tragedy. I don’t think the Obama government and the US Establishment would want Gloria to tag along and drag their international image down with her. Although there was a polite invitation for Gloria (snagged perhaps by her operatives), they made sure there was no mistake for their new Black knight-in-shining-armor to be tarnished by Gloria’s “kiss of death.” Gloria has served her purpose in a decade of plundering. She’s ready for the dustbin; although this should not yet be mistaken as a US move to oust her. The World Bank exposé which the US buttressed is meant to keep Gloria and her term extension off-balanced. Obama will want Philippine elections to put up a “new” hope for “change,” the way he was installed.

Strangely, the only other Filipino politico invited to Obama’s National Prayer Breakfast was the NPC’s Chiz Escudero. That’s clearly a sign he is being groomed to be a new Gloria Arroyo for the US . Chiz looks educated, young and cute, the way the “economist” Gloria Arroyo was presented in 2001. I’m sure Chiz and his Boss are already salivating on the prospects. As such, Chiz has kept his nose clean, keeping away from the Blue Ribbon Committee in order not to step on any toes, including Gloria’s; while his Boss smoothens the alliance for the “change.” So young, yet so “tuta.” With him and his ilk, there’s no hope of freedom from the Filipinos’ economic enslavement.

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the topic, “Layoffs: Workers demand solutions;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Ponzi’s and pyramids

The model on which the Philippine economic system is based since Edsa I has been a huge Ponzi scheme designed by the global financial mafia’s bankers, speculators and swindlers, all for their domination and exploit. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is but a tentacle of this Ponzi scheme that has made use of stock and derivatives markets, ratings agencies and business media to manipulate the market psyche. Indubitably, this has been resorted to with much fervor as the global mafia’s penchant to install or oust leaders of its choice. As Amschel Rothschild--one of those who started this global mafia in the 16th Century--once said: “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”

So now, this mafia rules over our Republic through the control of our money. And nowhere is this as clear as in Art. XII, Sec. XX of the Constitution, where the BSP is fashioned as “an independent monetary authority… the majority of whom shall come from the private sector… (providing) policy direction in the areas of money, banking, and credit… (and) supervision over the operations of banks and (exercising) such regulatory powers as may be provided by law over the operations of finance companies and other institutions performing similar functions.”

As Atty. Alan Paguia never tires to point out, “independent” additionally means the BSP is even more powerful than the Philippine President because it is accountable to no one, neither Congress nor the Commission on Audit (CoA)--a set-up no different from the US Federal Reserve, a private corporation only appending “federal” as a façade to waylay the US public. Similarly, the Fed is not accountable and its refusal to accede to the US Congress’ demand to reveal where the over-a-trillion of Bush-Paulson bailout funds were given is proof.

Through the Fed’s interest and dollar exchange rates, the “floating exchange rate” of the world is controlled--except in countries like China , Malaysia or Venezuela that exercise currency and capital controls. And since the Philippines is under this floating exchange rate system, it simply means the US Fed decides our rates’ value.

Finance capitalism is not the ordinary capitalism that mortal folks know. Wiki defines it as: “the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system… characterized by the pursuit of profit from the purchase and sale of, or investment in, currencies and financial products such as bonds, stocks, futures and other derivatives… (including) the lending of capital at interest.“

Thus, it can be contrasted with industrial capitalism, where profit is made from the manufacture of goods. Because finance capitalism has to keep seeking bigger and bigger paper profits to perpetuate itself, it turns public needs into commodities by privatizing water and electricity, even education and health care, and then selling “pre-need” plans for some of these later.

The Market Oracle, a Web site, has an article echoing our view: “Economic & Financial Markets Forecast 2009: Collapsing Global Financial System Ponzi Scheme.” It says: “GDP, inflation, employment, credit ratings, corporate profits, balance sheets and much more have been MANIPULATED to FOOL the vast MAJORITIES of the electorate that can read and write. But any of these same people are functionally illiterate of history, economics, common sense, logic and the critical thinking skills necessary to sift through the FALSE and misleading rhetoric of the mainstream media, public serpents, er… servants and school systems.”

When Sen. Mar Roxas, himself a finance capital banker, rages against the Legacy Ponzi scheme, I know it’s just a comedy he’s staging; whereas grandstanding PMA goat Biazon is genuinely illiterate about it.

Learning the truth about finance capitalists in the past decade, I became committed to the struggle against their gigantic, global fraud and Ponzi game. One of the big swindles they had plotted was the privatization of public pension funds--the super-rich Japanese Postal Savings Bank was one of their targets. After Edsa II, the Makati finance mafia, using its enhanced power, attempted to launch the privatization of the Social Security System (SSS) by having Gloria Arroyo install finance man Vitaliano Nañagas. The Alert and Concerned Employees of the SSS (AcceSSS) was alerted and I supported them. In response, AcceSSS held daily lunch time pickets at the SSS entrance, and we stopped the privatization.

Imagine if the SSS were privatized, it would no doubt have been heavily invested in US investment funds already--just as the GSIS, under its political appointee, who ballyhooed its $1-billion investment in foreign investment funds through Credit Agricole and ING, lost $46 million or about P2.5 billion of the lowly GSIS members’ contributions.

Because the finance capitalist’s game is intrinsically Ponzi through and through, it has to keep squeezing more and more “profits” from paper; hence, the boom-and-bust cycle that inevitably sends it to the toilet. Those who start with it invariably get away with the hoard because of the political clout from the money already in their hands. Those who follow, meanwhile, are left with empty bags and broken dreams.

The finance and pre-need groups like Legacy are all part of this system; thus, senators and congressmen who legalized the financial system’s liberalization participated in creating this monster too. Yet, on top of their heap are the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Board and the Makati Business Club, who are merely ganging up on SEC’s Fe Barin because she’s a convenient scapegoat.

To end this national swindle, let’s proceed with the social revolution and restore real productive economics. One opportunity to change the prevailing investment practice is the proposed loans by SSS for the stimulus package, a pump-priming initiative undoubtedly needed by this country. With a sovereign guarantee--or the people’s guarantee, the loan is good. But the question is: What specific stimulus projects will be launched?

And here lies the problem: Gloria thinks that cutting roadside grass is already a good enough economic stimulus. Therefore, the SSS must ensure that its loan goes to infrastructure-development such as geothermal energy, irrigation and virgin coconut processing centers that are assured of continuing profitability over decades. It must exercise oversight to ensure earnings in the face of declining contributions due to the closure of many companies.

(Tune in to 1098AM: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. / Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. / Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the topic, “760 Rural Bankers Denounce Ponzi Schemes;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The rot stays because...

Ever since Gloria Arroyo called on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to keep quiet against the Department of Justice (DoJ) while the so-called Senate hearings continue, and as she took over as Czarina of the anti-drugs campaign, the House hearings have become so muddled and murky with charges and countercharges. The DoJ partisans made a mockery of the hearings by cheering their side against the other, as if justice was a partisan matter now. The law and its procedures are being used to tie themselves up in knots, and it’s a perfect scenario for the guilty parties in the bribery and illegal release of the suspects to get away with the crimes.

What has happened to the Alabang Boys’ case happens to so many other cases and the rot ends up staying where it has festered ever since, to grow and eat up the rest of society in its cancer. It’s the same thing that happened with the ZTE-NBN case, as it is happening too in the Fertilizer Scam case as well as in the “Hello Garci” case. The highest authority in the land where the rot begins steps into these lower cases to interfere and intervene, if not to stop the cleaning out process. With almost clockwork predictability another atrocity will occur in Mindanao or other parts of the country, with the Abu Sayyaf or the MILF, as in the Marines’ beheadings or the Ayala “methane gas” bombing to distract the public, or in the current kidnapping of the Red Cross workers.

The PDEA under General Santiago has been given good and well-deserved public approval when it defied the DoJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez’ attempt to bully the anti-drug agency in the indictment of the Alabang Boys. But following the order of Gloria Arroyo and retreating now from the challenge to see to the enforcement against the Alabang Boys and the DoJ to its logical conclusion erases every merit the PDEA has earned. In other words, General Santiago copped out and in doing so he failed the idealist young officers and others like Major Marcelino who are under his command. He succumbed and maybe now joins the conspiracy to cover up the comedy of crimes of the government institutions charged with the administration or justice but ends up as part of the syndicates of crime.

Gen. Dioniso Santiago just isn’t cut out to be a genuine hero as Gen. Danilo Lim, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and the Bagong Katipuneros are. Genuine heroes, especially among officers of the Armed Forces, stand their ground and do not give an inch to anything that will violate their sworn duty. So, General Santiago and the PDEA have acceded to let the DoJ and Gloria Arroyo have their way, stepping aside from the criminal conspiracy.

The rot, the cancer in our society continues to fester and grow because too many refuse to join the resistance when the moment offers itself. I am waiting for Major Marcelino to deliver on the promise he showed when he stood up to the badgering of Secretary Raul Gonzalez. Is Major Marcelino going to prove the Filipino people right, that on that day they saw the young officer stand up for integrity and dignity they saw hope shine forth. We understand that great pressure has been placed on his shoulder.

In the meantime, the country is falling over the precipice. Job losses now expected from the global and national financial and economic collapse. Admitted officially is some local 300,000 jobs. This was the figure we wrote last year when Gloria Arroyo was still telling the world that the Philippines had survived the crisis. She ain’t seen nothing yet. The OFW sector sees as many as 150,000 coming home by the middle of 2009. This is the sector that will provide great impetus for activities towards regime change as they demand jobs and Gloria comes before them empty handed. At this crucial stage of the crisis the Arroyo regime still cannot present any coherent and rational “stimulus” plan for the economy. It keeps touting its “infrastructure investment” plan without showing knowledge of what infrastructure would be productive and not just “white elephants.” The rot continues, until The Last Revolution comes — by election or otherwise.

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Who’s trapo and non-trapo?

It is frustrating to watch the different groups vying for “alternative” presidential bets and those self-proclaimed “presidentiables” offer themselves without as much as a hint of what they intend to accomplish once entrusted with the reigns of government. In our cable-TV discussion on the subject of “Third Force or Farce?,” Puno-for-President and anti-trapo advocate, Nilo Tayag, justified his support for the Chief Justice by claiming that Puno’s “character” makes him best suited for the presidency. But who’s to judge this?

Character, as applied here, can simply be: 1) the combination of qualities or features that distinguishes the person; 2) moral or ethical strength; or 3) the public’s estimation of someone or his reputation.

Going by the third definition, Puno’s measly +3 approval in the pro-elite SWS popular survey alone is already a negative after you subtract the percentage of error.

Then, if moral character were to be the gauge, as many do-goody, Third Force groups like “Kaya Natin,” the “Ang Kapatiran,” Eddie Villanueva’s and other politicized Christian groups have resorted to, maybe they should look for a Filipina Mother Teresa to run for public office. Yet, as one looks at many of these groups with a magnifying lens, one will find less “moral” personalities behind them, like Joe Almonte in Kaya Natin and the same US fundamentalist Christian groups providing the bulk of funds for Eddie Villanueva and his ilk, in the same manner that the CIA funded South Korean Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s cult. Although Ang Kapatiran is more legitimate in its claims, it still has muddle-heads like Nandy Pacheco who look at the world through rose-colored glasses, so much so that they are willing to leave guns in the hands of criminals and rogue cops to shake down innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, those searching for “alternative” leaders concentrate their artillery on “trapos.” Just what is a trapo? This witty contraction of the term, “traditional politician,” refers to the run-of-the-mill candidates who make promises that are never kept, who espouse hardly any principles, or forget what these are when in office. Yet, another aspect is even more important: The trapo since time immemorial preserves the status quo and keeps things as they are in the country, chief of which is the “tradition” in Philippines politics of utter subservience to US, local, feudal and oligarchic-corporatist domination.

In this vein, a trapo that comes to mind as the poster boy of trapos is Joe de “bola-bola” de “lehensya” de Venecia. Although, Joe’s been calling for “moral regeneration” of late, all those disparaging attributes should only be dropped if, and when, he delivers on his promise.

A moral person can be as trapo as a non-moral person. For that matter, a trapo can be of any age. Let’s take some young politicians now in the Senate and Congress, who are as trapo as can be--gaining seats either by inheritance of what otherwise should be won based on merit and not familial ties, or owing their keep from “Pacman” oligarchs in cahoots with or dummying for Malacañang to buy up, for instance, Meralco and Petron, and to set up the newest giant cellular phone service. As someone said of this Pacman-engineered robotic talker: “So young, so trapo; so young, so opportunist.”

Sadly, civil society still does not understand that the non-trapo is really Erap Estrada and FPJ, both of whom shunned US and Big Business support because they were confident of winning on their own.

President Estrada’s favorite saying, “Walang tutulong sa Pilipino kundi kapwa Pilipino” and FPJ’s denouncement of globalization are both prophetic as the current neo-liberal, globalized set-up is fast crumbling. Marcos, in his time, also tried shifting from trapo to non-trapo mode, and was consequently cut down by the US and Makati Big Business. Instead, those servile characters who chant “people power” are the actual pawns.

Among the younger non-trapos who have declared nationalist stands are Gen. Danilo Lim and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who are still in detention for refusing to play ball with the corrupt system and its sponsors, both foreign and local. As such, the hallmarks of non-trapo political leaders are that they are independent of foreign and Big Business domination, truly Filipino, and wholly supportive of programs for the nation’s political and economic sovereignty.

And so, I was pressing Nilo Tayag for a program of action from Puno; to which, Tayag could only say that promises smack of trapos. Though insisting that Puno’s character is enough, notwithstanding his illegal ponente for the “constructive resignation” yarn--which I no longer pressed, the problem is: Puno provides no basis for judging if he knows the problem and solutions, and be measured by what he does or fails to accomplish.

In effect, if he promises nothing concrete except his nebulous “moral leadership,” can this sufficiently resolve, for instance, which energy project is better--nuclear or geothermal?

Furthermore, can a so-called moral leadership surmise that renewables like geothermal and hydro-electric power are our ultimate liberation, despite the fact that there is now a made-up clamor for the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which, if pursued, will make us perpetually dependent on imported uranium as we are today on oil?

Also, can such vague leadership quality help decide to which direction the P300-billion pump priming fund should go? Would it be to build more roads and bridges which will just carry the same old smuggled rice and electronics, imported milk, diapers, Taiwan garlic, and cheap Chinese copies of anything?

Any nationalist who goes beyond the usual morally-upright mold knows that the funds should be used to increase the country’s production of its own goods from its own resources. These include: integrated virgin coconut processing centers for 3 million coconut farming families on 3 million hectares, using 350 million trees that could feed all Filipino children with skim milk, and all Filipinos with low-glycemic sugar, coco flour for the healthiest breads, virgin coconut oil for nutra- and pharmaceuticals; rice sufficiency programs through the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method and cultural shift to unpolished rice consumption; and expansion of marine industry and aqua culture to boost seafood production and marine mineral production.

China , India , Malaysia , Singapore , and South Korea did not become dragon economies by being Mother Teresas. They were ferociously practical and aggressive in patriotic, nationalist and populist economic development. The great world leaders such as Mao, Nehru, Park Chung-Hee, Mahathir, and Lee Kwan Yew were no do-gooders. They were rough nationalist revolutionaries who were determined to make their country independent and industrialized--and none loved by the US .

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