No solution without revolution

How many years have we, the people, been raising our voices and the alarms against the growing illegal drugs scourge? Yet, not only has there been no solution; after two decades, the cancer has grown to immense proportions. Former QC Mayor Jun Simon, over our new Saturday 10 to 11 p.m. radio program with Atty. Alan Paguia, explained that even during his time as mayor, the total number of drug users in the Philippines was already six-and-a-half million. If only a tenth of that consisted of regular users, then total revenues could have run to over P300 billion or $6 billion a year. Even though that’s just a small fraction of the world’s estimated $500-billion drugs trade, it’s still a huge sum for this country which has a national budget of only a little more than $14 billion.

The Philippines has been through four leaderships since 1986. All, except President Estrada’s, have had full terms of six years or more to have made a dent in the fight against illegal drugs. But all have failed. Even as all levels of government, especially local government units, have been called to take action, we still had that infamous “drugs tiangge” in Pasig two years ago, in which the result is still indeterminate as the mayor responsible for it still managed to pass his mantle to his son. In Pasay , on the streets where I grew up, there are also such similar drugs tiangge that abound today. And even in some deeply religious Muslim towns in Mindanao , the illegal drugs scourge proliferates. Alas, all government actions against drug proliferation seem to be a lot of lip service only.

Indeed, the Arroyo regime, like any administration formed under the present corrupt, economically-subservient and mendicant, neo-colonial system cannot go beyond lip service on this national scourge. This is because the international drugs trade is essential both as a geopolitical weapon and as an exploitative tool of the speculative world financial system. We’ve cited some cases before: from the 18th Century Opium War of the Brits, to the US ’ “Iran Contra” deals under Reagan, to the CIA’s backing of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and more recently, the US ’ full support for Afghan warlords in fighting the Taliban.

Today, I also add the case of Jackie Selebi, who was Interpol president from 2004 to 2008. Interpol is the UN transnational agency charged with coordinating international crimes, among which is the international drugs trade. Last year, Selebi, a South African police bigwig, was forced to resign his post due to charges of links to illegal drugs criminals. While certain elements of Interpol have long been accused of being involved in many illegal drug activities, using the UN mantle as cover, this recent charge against Selebi shows just how high up and complex the problem goes.

Another important factor to this global menace is the intricate link between illegal drug money laundering to the international financial and banking system, the bond of which is so strong that many reputable global banks run the risk of folding without such dirty money as their bread-and-butter. For instance, one of the world’s most reputable banks, HSBC or the Hongkong Shanghai Bank, was known as the “opium bank” as it was used by the Brits for its opium trade in China .

Illegal drugs are, thus, no different from other commodities of dubious value that the western global financial mafia has used to siphon off money from the real productive sector of the economy. Whether it’s the subprime mortgage collapse last year, or the multi-billion dot.com crash in 2000, or the “junk bonds” of the 1980s, or illegal drugs, these are all commodities that yield a thousand times more profits against their production cost and/or real value. Production cost of “ecstasy,” for example, is only six percent of its street price. Subprime mortgages or junk bonds follow the same formula: They all suck resources away from the real economy, leaving it dried and shriveled.

But then, what makes the global and local illegal drugs trade next to impossible to defeat are: 1) its billions in corruption money found too irresistible by bribe-taking officials; 2) such money easily determining election outcomes in almost all electoral democracies; 3) the means with which it can buy enforcers to liquidate those who cannot be bought; and 4) its being an adjunct to covert geopolitical operations in surrogate or proxy wars against national authorities or similar operations of rival powers.

If at all, only a few can resist the enticements of drug dealers or geopolitical powers. Those who do are the few whose dedication to higher principles of morality, patriotism or nationalism border on the religious or revolutionary.

Thus, any serious call for action against the illegal drugs scourge must also call for a drastic change in the country’s leadership. It should become one that is nationalist and anti-colonial in character; protective of the national welfare and its values; and dedicated to real economic development (versus exploitative and speculative economics). Since this would be a total reversal of the status quo, it could only come through a revolution, which can be a peaceful one, achieved through clean elections, like those happening in South America . What’s therefore needed is a revolutionary ideology, the kind espoused by detained Gen. Danilo Lim, who called for nationalist reforms in our country in his November 29, 2008 statement, as well as, in revolutionary actions a la Oakwood, the February 2006 and Manila Pen protests, and now, in Maj. Marcelino’s stand.

The PDEA vs. Raul Gonzalez fight is only another straw on the camel’s back, along with Cha-cha. These must all lead to “The Last Revolution” now or in 2010; without which there’s no solution.

(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., featuring: “Integrated Coconut Processing Centers for National Recovery;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Dope Republic

The current imbroglio over the Alabang Boys and illegal drugs subculture among the rich and (in)famous amuses me quite a bit. Why is there so much ado over this when the illegal drug scourge has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past two decades since Edsa I’s so-called “revolution” liberalized virtually everything--from the unfettered trade of goods and human cargo, down to the exchange of cultural values, regardless of their negative impact? Though many issues can be leveled against the Marcos regime, toleration of the illegal drugs trade isn’t one of them. He, in fact, carried out a well-publicized execution of a drug pusher by the name of Lim Seng. His nemeses from Edsa I and II should then be asked: Why did the illegal drug scourge escalate after their so-called revolutions?

In the 20 years since the fall of Marcos and the takeover by “civil society” of the reigns of government, the Philippines has become an internationally-acknowledged transshipment point for the global drugs trade. Larry Chin of Center for Research on Globalization writes in his six-part series on The US and the Philippines: Post 9/11 Imperatives: “The Philippines is a major transit route for heroin from the Golden Triangle to markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. The Philippines exports locally produced marijuana and hashish to East Asia, the US and other Western markets, according to the CIA World Fact Book. The country serves as a transit point for heroin and crystal methamphetamine, or ‘Shabu,’ most of which is sourced from China, passes through the Philippines into Guam, Australia and rest of Southeast Asia.”

He continues: “The US State Department's 1999 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report identifies the Philippines as a ‘country of concern’ because of its rising crime, pervasive corruption, strict bank secrecy laws and lack of legislation against money laundering. The drug trade accounts for some 8 percent of the nation's gross national product.”

Was this part of the promise of Edsa I, a “revolution” so enthusiastically supported by the US? Liberalization of trade, international travel and financial transactions under the Edsa I regime apparently facilitated the turn of the Philippines into a “narco state” or what I call a Dope Republic (with a double entendre I will explain later). Was this facilitation an accident? Or was it by design? History offers us many specific instances to learn from.

Wherever Britain and the US set its foothold, the illegal drugs scourge begins to grow, and there is no way for this scourge to enter a country unless its borders, trade, travel and finance are liberalized. The most recent case in point is Afghanistan. When the Taliban was running that country in 2000 poppy production dropped by 60 percent as reported by the UN. As soon as the US “War on Terror” brought its troops to that country, poppy production increased drastically over the years. Afghanistan is now reportedly supplying 90 percent of the world’s opium production today. Flashback to the decade before is the example of Kosovo, where the CIA-sponsored Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) traded drugs to fund Yugoslavia’s destabilization. Now, the KLA leader is president of the independent Kosovo.

In the 1960s, it was Latin American that was afflicted by the scourge of illegal drugs as spread by US subversion. One of the celebrated cases involved drugs found in the US company Chiquita Banana’s ships plying the Columbia fruit trade. Of course, another one is the notorious “Iran Contra” drugs-for-arms deals under Reagan, with Col. Oliver North, where the US traded drugs to buy and supply arms to the Contras fighting Nicaragua’s leftist rebels. Farther back in history, one also finds the British Opium Trade that brought China to its knees. The opium trade also victimized the Philippines as the British had agents selling in the Philippines, among whom is a certain Barreto family, now British immigrants and citizens.

In 2001, a report came out on the seizure of 39.8 kilos of shabu from a FedEx shipment from Hong Kong to the Philippines on September 11 by the Bureau of Customs. A similar case occurred in July 30, 2002. While we can’t say that there was a corporate involvement in these instances, it is very clear that the liberal entry of goods via various means has abetted the expansion of illegal trade supplies in and outside the Philippines. Although countries like Malaysia, Singapore and China certainly get equally large shipments of goods through FedEx, UPI and other courier services, we can safely say that their customs, anti-smuggling and anti-drugs services are certainly not as porous as ours. Aggravating all this is the essentially corrupt government and Philippine National Police (PNP).

Invariably, the PNP, since its Edsa I beginnings down to the purported Edsa II “anti-jueteng” revolution, has lived on the expansion of illegal jueteng under its nose. Archbishop Oscar Cruz has stated that this illegal numbers game had doubled since Gloria’s coup in 2001. Clearly, after each such revolution, the country gets poorer and poorer, compelling the keepers of law and order to rely more and more on corruption money for survival. Imagine that 60 percent of cops are now squatters! Are we such dopes that we as a nation have not realized this?

The Alabang Boys’ case has pushed the corruption of the Arroyo regime to media’s forefront; while our AFP young officers have done well with Maj. Marcelino, following the proud tradition of the Magdalos (Bagong Katipuneros). But I am afraid that everybody might have still missed the larger picture. Like the decaying economy, the illegal drugs scourge comes with the neo-colonial, corrupt institutions (from the “hoodlums in uniform” to the “hoodlums in robes” as Erap called), and a globalized socio-political-economic system led necessarily by a corrupt bureaucrat-capitalist leadership.

We need a revolution to cut off the cancer of illegal drugs in our society. And to achieve it, we need leaders of integrity and honor, and of dedication to the national welfare and goals proven by demonstrated self-sacrifice. That’s why I am rooting for those who have paid the price of incarceration for standing against the corrupt regime, - the tried and tested triumvirate of Pres. Estrada, Gen. Danilo Lim and Sen. Antonio Trillanes to take charge. (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.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., featuring :“Integrated Coconut Processing Centers for National Recovery;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The ‘systemic’ solution

Yesterday’s Tribune editorial, “Desperately Looking,” correctly criticized Malacañang spokesman Jess Dureza’s retort to critics on his regime’s total failure to meet the challenges of the global “free market“ system’s unfolding collapse, including the massive job losses in store for OFWs and the domestic sector. The fact that he challenged critics to come up with concrete steps, instead of him supplying the answers, reflects his administration’s wide-ranging bankruptcy.

Dureza has obviously not been reading up on the right solutions to the crisis. For if he did, the first thing someone in his position ought to have done is to step back and see the fire that is spreading across the forest from the individual burning trees. Moreover, Dureza is ill-equipped to comprehend complex matters, which is par for the course for all of Gloria’s men and so-called opposition trapos.

However, this inability to appreciate the “whole picture” is true even of more “educated” people, as can be gleaned from Internet articles like “The Crisis of Common Sense: Is It So Difficult to Understand the Financial Crisis?” by Matthias Chang, or “We Can’t Rely on Superficial Mainstream Media Reporting at a Time of Deep Crisis-As the New Year Begins: Things to Think about More Deeply” by Danny Schechter, and “Capitalism in Crisis: Actually, ‘It’s the System, Stupid’” by Prof. Rick Wolff.

Everyone, thus, can benefit from sources such as the Center for Research on Globalization, for the best political-forensic economists and geopolitical analysts from all over the world. And to condense voluminous data, thereby understanding the problem faster, we can apply such simple common sense thinking as: 1) There’s never any free lunch, 2) When an offer sounds too be good to be true, then it’s not, 3) If you’re enticed to get something for nothing, you’ll be the sorry loser in the end, and 4) Never judge a book by its cover--because bankers, investment advisers, and “economists” dress the best.

But even before we get to understand, we must first remove the “blinders” that hamper our vision. The Guerilla News Network, another helpful Web site, for one, has an article, “Financial Meltdown Decolonizing Asian Minds,” on the connection between colonial thinking and economic subjugation.

Across the region, the Filipino mind is sadly the most colonized in Asia , with Filipino intelligentsia and media being the worst of the lot. In fact, the better “educated” one is, whether he’s from Ateneo, La Salle , or AIM, the more colonized and inutile he becomes without even being aware of it.

Worse, our traditional political leaders are not just of this colonial mold, they are even conscious and willing colonial servants, side by side with Gloria Arroyo in her sickening sycophancy to western leaders, from Bush to Juan Carlos, or in Joe de Venecia’s sucking up to the Heritage Foundation’s “free trade” advocacy.

In the same way, Philippine media is as seriously afflicted with colonial mentality. Take Melinda Quintos de Jesus’ Center for Media Freedom, which is tied to CIA front National Endowment for Democracy, or the PCIJ, which has a USAid ad crawling on the masthead of its Web site, promoting western colonial liberalism and economics; or CNN veteran cum western asset Maria Ressa’s readiness to air via ABS-CBN the official US State Department line on the Mumbai Massacre blaming “al-Qaeda,” even when the fog of war had not yet lifted (a line that has been discredited by more exhaustive investigations that pointed to the Pakistan-based, CIA-Mossad-Hindu underworld).

Other than that, these media “professionals” are used regularly by US and Makati corporate predators to demonize Filipino leaders and dish out disinformation on the Philippine economic crisis.

This “colonial mentality” issue is important because it is part of the root problem of RP’s society in general, and its economy in particular. Nothing is ever done by government, business and “civil society” intelligentsia without first waiting for the signals, if not direct instructions, of the US .

Thus, at the very start of the financial collapse in August-September of last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) continued to raise interest rates even as other Asian governments, particularly China , announced rate cuts posthaste to stimulate their domestic economy. The BSP only reduced interest rates after the US Federal Reserve cut rates last December--a subservience to US economic policy that is the real obstacle to our nation’s economic survival, recovery and take-off.

For the real solutions, I have long posited that interest rates be cut drastically and a “debt moratorium” be instituted to channel such money to “pump-priming” programs, such as the P100-billion package mouthed by the Arroyo regime, hopefully not for “fertilizers in urban jungles” and grass cutting schemes, but directed toward economic self-sustainability. This can run the gamut from geothermal energy production facilities, integrated coconut production centers for every thousand hectares of coconut land, brown rice consumption education, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technology dissemination, import-substitution industries, to the revival of indigenous raw materials like abaca and ramie, among other programs.

Alas, these real solutions cannot come because leadership still lacks the nationalistic will and the independent economic imagination that similarly plagues the economic elite, which controls the direction of the economy. Thus, the entire system must be changed, beginning with a change of people from the top of every institution in government and society, to be purged of the colonially-enslaved and replaced with nationalists and patriots.

In a “dying society” such as ours, the urgency to act--and act fast--for the common weal becomes all the more apparent. Because, as it has often been said, “Dissent without action is consent.” And such action can only come from, and be directed at, all of us collectively as a people because: “Walang tutulong sa Pilipino kundi kapwa Pilipino.” If such themes sound familiar, it is because these are the battle cries of our genuine patriotic leaders, Pres. Estrada, Sen. Trillanes and Gen. Danny Lim.

Since genuinely nationalistic and patriotic leadership is fundamental to begin this process of “systemic” change, with the current dearth of such leaders in the political horizon, we then ask: Can elections even hope to achieve this?

(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.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., featuring “2009 Projections with ‘Futurist’ Tony Gatmaitan”; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Survival: 2009 and beyond

The challenge of 2009 is to let Filipinos’ hopes survive. As my generation saw the Philippines ’ boom in the 1950s, then its bust during the past two decades, it became clear that life has gotten increasingly worse with each passing year. One gauge of this continuing decline, the United Nations Human Development Index, saw the Philippines plunge from No. 77 to 90 under Mrs. Arroyo, behind Peru , Lebanon and Ecuador . Another indicator, the Food and Agricultural Organization 2006 Hunger Index, had Myanmar at No. 68, better than the Philippines ’ 72nd ranking.

Today, hunger in our lands is even worsening, with four million families or 20 million Filipinos going without food regularly. So how do we still hope, much less survive, amid all this gloom? First, we need to be armed with the truth.

The precipitous crash of RP’s economic and social well-being--marked by rising corruption, criminality, and drug addiction--definitely got worse after Edsa I with the economic liberalization and globalization that followed. It took over two decades, made worse by Edsa II, for most Filipinos to realize the big swindle this “free trade” and liberal economic model brought, as they witnessed the US economy’s crash, and the trashing of its previously sacrosanct export-, import- and debt-dependent policies.

The problem is, few among the architects of this economic swindle are willing to admit their errors to institute the only salvation for the Philippine economy: Self-reliance and import substitution programs.

In the same vein, the local ruling cliques will not allow any inch of their comfort zones of power and privilege to be eroded--even if it involves poisoning the fountainhead of our historical knowledge.

These are why Establishment economists like Solita Monsod still perpetuate the lies of liberal economics even when the whole world already sees it without clothes. Ditto for politicians like Dick Gordon, Noynoy Aquino, and talking heads like state-owned Channel 9 director Deedee Siytangco and opinion writer Billy Esposo for demeaning earnest historical judgments or expressions of intellectual integrity, like Cory Aquino’s mea culpa over Edsa II, even when such are necessary, given the untold hardships their collective acts have wrought upon this nation.

These, too, are why since 2001, this column has exposed the myths and lies of the ruling powers, both local and international, and targeted the evil of this profit-manic “corporatocracy,” finally laid bare in the historic 2008 global financial and economic meltdown. Although some have erred in branding our efforts as the musings of a “conspiracy theorist,” time and time again, we have been vindicated with succeeding events.

The last laugh is on those who still refuse to admit these truths despite confirmations from reality of our analyses and those of our circle of socio-political nationalists, as well as, our global online community of anti-Establishment dissenters.

In the past decade-and-a-half, we have fought and dispensed with the myth of globalization. But many battles still lie in this information war, or “infowar,” to free people’s minds from the clutches of mainstream media and years of miseducation by western financial masters, who, even though are now on the decline, are still bent on pursuing the world’s destruction to dash all prospects for genuine peace and brotherhood.

Thus, Samuel Huntington and the West’s lie about the inevitability of the “Clash of Civilizations” must be replaced with the 21st Century Confucian ethic of “Harmony of Civilizations,” as enunciated by the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Other complementary myths perpetrated by the ruling corporatocracy must also be debunked. For instance, the “global warming” con game is currently being discredited by such contrary weather findings for 2008 cited by Christopher Booker in The Telegraph of UK :

1) The sharp drop of global temperatures after years of flat-lining, enough to offset much of their 20th Century net rise; 2) The Alps’ best snow records in a generation that are set to beat all records by New Year’s Day; and 3) A “worse” winter than last year with Canada and half of the US under snow.

All these, deemed to contradict the “computer models” of alarmists that drive their scare, led Booker to state that “2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved.”

Then, he adds, “Man-made global warming is an anti-industrialization myth to lead to a ‘carbon tax’ scam,” and this convinces me all the more of my correctness in fighting the “nuclear power danger” myth of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant debates, which now ex-anti-nuke Greenpeace co-founder Peter Moore has junked as well.

But then, I will have to dismiss today any calls to revive nuclear power for the Philippines because that would make us dependent on imported uranium, which will become more costly as more nations turn nuclear. And, since we have practically unlimited geothermal energy reserves to tap for the next 50 years, along with the fact that Filipinos are acknowledged to be among the best with this technology, only opportunists or nincompoops will go that route.

So, as 2009 starts, as we renew our “DIE HARD” commitment to engage the nation in our “INFOWAR” for truth and political-economic progress, we affirm our continued support for:

(a) Leaders of change like Pres. Estrada, Gen. Danilo Lim, Sen. Trillanes, and all nationalist, non-trapo forces; (b) Recovery-driving economic sectors and measures such as the Philippine Cooperative for VCO and Allied Industries, local producers, import substitution, debt repudiation, geothermal energy, power sector cooperativization; and (c) Our very own Second Propaganda and Enlightenment Crusade through radio, TV, Internet and DVD campaigns.

Hopefully, as we reap decisive victories in this “infowar,” a lot more will awaken to take action for our nation’s survival in 2009 and beyond.

(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.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Hope springs eternal

“Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.” — Anonymous

Seven out of 10 Filipinos still believe there’s hope in the Philippines ; they should. Our hope lives on while there are still outstanding leaders who keep setting the example of sacrifice and determination to liberate this country from poverty, mental stupor and national mendicancy. Gen. Danilo Lim, Sen. Trillanes, the Bagong Katipuneros and President Joseph E. Estrada—with his slogan, “Walang tutulong sa Pilipino kundi kapwa Pilipino”—are all such leaders who lead us toward national emancipation.

In historical terms, our struggle is still shot compared to the awakened giant of Asia, China , which decayed and languished for 500 years before revolutionary, anti-colonial, and nationalist leadership emerged 59 years ago. If measured from the year of the Malolos Republic of 1899 when the Philippine struggle set up its sovereign government, it will only be 100 years next year.

We thus have no reason to believe that this historical event may finally be completed soon. But with the right leadership to galvanize this nation’s energy, we can achieve a turnaround in 10 years of what China has achieved for itself in 60. By then, we would have returned to our pre-eminent stature in the Asean community—something that we took for granted in the 50’s. But these positive aspirations should be first stoked in all Filipinos’ hearts that they may be fired up to achieve the socio-political and economic changes we so direly need. For where there is no hope, there can be no progress.

It is therefore heartening news that hope still springs from the Filipino soul as the recent Pulse Asia survey found. Yet, there is another factor that increases the likelihood of our much-needed changes: The return of thousands of OFWs who are now jobless.

All the decades since the 70’s, the only pressure relief valve for scores of unemployed but able-bodied and talented Filipinos was the OFW deployment. Millions had left the country to earn a living, including many leaders from the activist movement and the intelligentsia. But now that these foreign jobs are disappearing, OFWs still with boundless energies will be forced to return home with little prospect of employment.

Where are they going to work here? Where are the kinds of factories they’re used to when they were in Taiwan , for example? What about construction workers from the Middle East who are coming home to a construction slump? Workers in the electronics sector, meanwhile, will come home to the news that Texas Instruments had just laid off 400 workers in its Baguio plant. Then, as Filipino white collar OFWs from the US also come home, to what office will they be recruited when retrenchments here have already begun?

Radically changing the present paradigm is thus the only way to solve this impending unemployment tsunami: By reorienting the country’s economy toward import substitution to produce what we import today such as milk, diapers, rice, meat, etc.

Buttressing this is the latest PhilExport News sent via e-mail: “Exporters increase sales to domestic market… A manufacturer and exporter of handcrafted Christmas and other holiday décors…said since sales abroad went down because of stiff competition from China and other Asian countries three years ago, exporters have been participating more in domestic trade fairs. She bared that the local market now comprises around 20 percent of their total sales, while that of a furniture company is much higher at 40 percent… So over the years, we have found out what the Filipinos are looking for. We already produce for the domestic market…and it is enough to take care of our overhead cost.”

For sure, increased earnings will take care of more than just the overhead if there is a full blown government-led policy to cultivate the domestic market henceforth. However, it’s more than just furniture and Christmas décor we should make for the domestic market. We need agricultural implements, organized organic fertilizer production, production of skim milk from coconuts to replace almost all milk imports, and more high tech people to put up big and micro-geothermal power plants all over the country. You see, it just takes some little imaginative twists to shift our orientation from export-dependence to import-substitution.

Then again, there are macro-economic issues to take care of too, like reviewing our debt amortizations to shift resources to domestic pump-priming, as well as, cutting down power and water costs, which, despite declining oil and exchange rates, are still going through the roof with petitions from Meralco, the NPC, and the new Maynilad owners, to increase charges yet again.

These are the things that all Filipinos should be focused on while struggling to remove the one big obstacle to all these remedies—Gloria Arroyo, together with the foreign and local oligarchs propping her up. All the other carping from diverse anti-Gloria groups are only secondary to this. The debate on the CARP law, for instance, is moot and academic, as any land reform program won’t work while the landlord class still controls Malacañang and Congress. Moreover, all investigations of corruption will come to naught while Gloria Arroyo is in power for she serves to cover all their asses.

All forces for positive change against Gloria’s tyranny must therefore come together and concentrate on the removal of Gloria and the establishment of a genuine leadership dedicated to the welfare of this nation and its shift to an independent and progressive economy.

Thankfully, the nation is coming close to a final turnover of power to a new leadership that can and will change this country. The previous Friday, all soldiers were confined to barracks with a headcount conducted to ensure that no one was out to join any unauthorized movements, an intel major confirmed. The Gloria Arroyo regime is suffering from violent nervous convulsions because it knows that there are unceasing efforts to break open the floodgates of change. Their diversionary bombings won’t help them anymore. The odds are all against Gloria and her corrupt henchmen as she and her FG’s billions will be inutile when the social volcano erupts.

(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.; Destiny Cable, Channel 3, Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., featuring Mrs. Aloy and Ms. Aika Lim, wife and daughter of Gen. Danilo Lim; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)