Comelec: Garbage in, garbage out

For a moment, the garbage bin’s cover was shaken ajar and the stink came out. A party to the computerized voting system cried “foul,” breaking up the partnership between Smartmatic and TIM for a while, even though the reasons were never clear. Whether it was, as one report says, about P500 million pesos that TIM wanted or, as another points to, a quarrel over the system’s operational control, other suspicious angles arose, with one partner on the TIM side, an Arroyo oligarch-crony that was also linked to the NBN-ZTE scam, given free rein to store and transport voting machines beyond the watchful eyes of government overseers. Why did such a messy set-up get the Comelec’s nod in the first place, in a bidding that ended up as a negotiated deal with so many questions still unanswered?

For this, I re-watched Robin Williams’ “Man of the Year” about a comedian who runs for the presidency out of sheer disgust over the traditional politics prevailing in the US. Co-star Laura Linney plays a computer expert for a certain firm named, Delacroy, who discovers a glitch in her company’s election tallying program and reports it to the top corporate brass, who, instead of correcting it, which would have cost the company dearly, tries to silence her and fakes her suicide. Williams goes on to win the presidency but Linney confronts him with the truth before his inauguration. Williams remains skeptical at first until a murder attempt on Linney’s character convinces him to renounce his victory on Saturday Night Live with a caveat to the nation: “Don’t put your faith in a machine that has less controls than a Las Vegas slot machine.”

As my favorite computer expert Mr. Manuel “Mano” Alcuaz says, “With the manual system, we know there will be cheating but we can find the cheating. With the computerized voting, we don’t know if there will be cheating, but if there is cheating, we won’t even be able to find the cheating. When there are people in power who are determined to cheat, they will cheat.” Here, we are not only talking of Gloria Arroyo herself but all her cohorts implicated in the treason and massive kleptocracy that have become hallmarks of this government’s past nine years. They include the Davide Supreme Court, the police top brass like Ebdane and Mendoza, and the Makati elite who are Gloria’s cronies today.

Comelec patched up the differences between the two quarreling partners last week. Though citizens’ monitoring arms such as the PPCRV told the public that they are prepared in case things revert back to the manual voting system, what’s being left unsaid is that the manual system, which could have saved the country some P7 billion pesos, could have also rendered manual cheating next to impossible to slip under the public radar, due to the nation’s experience with “Hello, Garci” and “Hello, Bedol.”

But then, Melo had to go out of his way, and out of his mandate, to act as an arbitrator. Now, Comelec and Smartmatic are promising “dream polls,” yet garbage in three days is still no different from garbage in thirty days. Any comparisons made with the “efficiency” of Indian electronic voting is still erroneous because India conducts it in a parliamentary and regional voting scheme that is spread out over a month and not a one-day period.

Cheating is going to happen--through the voting machines and/or other means, like the National Printing Office snafu where more smoke is again billowing from missing poll equipments, which the Tribune yesterday reported. Melo keeps trying to project a determination to conduct clean polls when such is impossible under Gloria. In the same way that Melo’s previous efforts to investigate “extra-judicial killings” never went beyond Palparan, to his being the legal consigliere to disgraced former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos at the NBN-ZTE hearings, he is, as one lawyer puts is, merely “using his venerable age and stature as retired justice to pull the wool over the public’s eyes,” which is the worst kind of deceit I can think of.

No real change can be hoped for from elections while the Gloria Arroyo regime rules. A retired general told us in a private kapihan that the only way to “cause a realignment in the military” is to take Gen. Danilo Lim and Sen. Trillanes out of detention to lead again; to which another said, “President Estrada will have to come out to support them because he is the only one with the constitutional legitimacy to assume authority in such a scenario, and hold elections as soon a possible.”

That’s the “Constitutional Clock” theory that Atty. Alan Paguia maintains to this day. And since parallels are being drawn between the Philippines and Honduras , we should say that what Estrada has is what Honduran President Manuel Zelaya possesses that compels governments all over the world to sustain his legitimacy despite him being physically taken out of office by the military on orders of the oligarchic Honduran Congress and Supreme Court.

President Estrada’s clock of destiny continues to tick no matter what scenario unfolds in the coming months. Everything that has entered the picture to this day, from Gloria’s usurpation of power to the “garbage in, garbage out” conduct of elections under Melo’s Comelec, has so far remained illegal. Like in Honduras , detractors of the deposed president are merely distracting everyone from the main issue--the sovereign will of the people. Whereas Estrada was elected by the majority and deposed by a corrupt few, Zelaya too was only consulting the people but prevented by a corrupt elite from doing so.

(Tune in to Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 7, Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. to 9 p.m.; 1098AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and select YouTube broadcasts from http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Destiny

We now see the imminent collapse of the Smartmatic-TIM poll automation ruse that the Comelec has tried to ram through despite the system’s apparent vulnerability to manipulation by the powers-that-be. As this plot is finally laid to rest, whatever credibility is left of Chairman Jose Melo and his sidekick Ferdinand Rafanan will also go six feet under for placing us on the verge of yet another massive miscarriage of elections. However, once the dust settles, the nation should see to it that another con job, the Melo-imposed early filing of candidacy, must be quickly junked as well.

Such a deadline was advanced from the usual February, or just three months before the scheduled polls, to November, or a full six months ahead of May, allegedly because an early printing of new ballots is needed for the computerized system. Yet, for all their excuses, the unavoidable conclusion is that this is just GMA and her oligarch-cohorts’ way of disqualifying President Joseph Estrada by ensuring that the clock would not run out on any legal challenge to his candidacy before the Supreme Court.

For most objective, non-partisan, and disinterested legal luminaries, including a number of former SC chiefs, Estrada can indeed run since the constitutional ban on “reelection” only applies to an incumbent who can unfairly use his position toward this end. But for the GMA regime, the oft-repeated line is that this will all depend on the interpretation of the current SC--whose justices, majority of whom are appointed by Gloria, most Filipinos justifiably believe will vote to ban Estrada.

The legal strategy of Estrada’s camp has thus been anchored on the “due process” principle enshrined in legal jurisprudence to ensure that months of filing of motions and petitions for reconsideration can thwart Gloria’s SC appointees from railroading any decision that will enrage the nation.

Corollary to this, of course, is another scenario for Estrada not to be forced to run: That is, if Escudero, Villar, Roxas, and all those desiring to carry the “sure win” anti-Gloria mantle set aside personal ambition and unite under one whom they can accept as primus inter pares. But, at the rate moneyed candidates like Villar and Roxas feel the noblesse oblige to squander a little more of their shameful wealth, there is little prospect of a unified opposition ticket.

Hopefully, the numerous avowed “opposition” candidates will wake up, sooner than later, from any delusion that they can win as a divided force. It is almost a foregone conclusion that since Noli de Castro is this regime’s most likely presidential timber, he will be running a credible lead against them because they lack one thing in common--they are not candidates of the masa. And, if their stubbornness to stay divided persists, Noli (and GMA) will win.

Thus, the only real alternative for the opposition to capture the masa vote is President Estrada who, despite efforts by Villar-commissioned surveys to play down, remains the masses’ main man. Keep in mind that Estrada’s respectable showing already comes without him even expressing any final decision to run, and despite Noli de Castro’s use of hundreds of millions of government funds to stay ahead of him in the polls; with Estrada having spent practically nothing, except gasoline, for his Lakbay Pasasalamat.

What is Estrada’s edge? Well, one of the means by which he has kept his equanimity, perspective, and humor through the past nine years is by telling the dignity of his life story again and again, not just to his intimates but to the entire nation and the world. The latter he has managed through video productions (VCDs, DVDs), expertly put together by Estrada himself, along with his production staff, led by his brother Jessie Ejercito, as well as, loyal writers who’ve remained faithful through those “dark years” after his fall from Malacañang.

All in all, these efforts have yielded four versions of Ama ng Masa, the last of which carries footage from Gloria Arroyo’s giddy COPA (Council on Philippine Affairs) celebration of the Edsa II coup, where she was seen grinning from ear to ear when she named the military and police generals with whom she conspired, while vice-president, to subvert the popular will. Although Ama ng Masa was subsequently banned by the MTRCB from public viewing, that COPA footage will forever haunt Gloria and ensure that she will never escape accountability for her crime of treason against a duly-constituted government of the Republic of the Philippines . Today, another one of Estrada’s latest videos entitled, Destiny (Tadhana for the Filipino version), highlights Cory Aquino’s apology, the constant beeline toward him of remorseful ex-tormentors like Villar, and his Lakbay Pasasalamat.

Estrada’s Tadhana or Destiny is thus being fulfilled with each unfolding event, making certain that he will be the nation’s leader once more or be the power behind the next president from a hoped-for united opposition slate.

(Tune in to Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 7, Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; 1098AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; select YouTube broadcasts with links at http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

From “Neverland” to the real world

Western media put the brakes on their 24/7 demonization of Iran ’s leadership in favor of a ubiquitous, round-the-clock coverage of the death of Michael Jackson. From probing every minutiae of the life and times of the grotesque, white parchment-skinned ”Neverland” prince, to gathering tributes from all corners of the globe, including those infamous 1,500 dancing inmates of a Cebu prison, such efforts must have been deemed enough to distract viewers from the more pressing problems of the day. “How quaint these people are at performing ‘Thriller’,” they must have said. What’s being missed, however, is that for these inmates (or their superiors) to want to be noticed as great at aping that pitiful Michael Jackson, who was himself a “slave” of the white master, who bleached his face and salved his soul with pain killers to his death, it only betrays a greater cultural flaw among Filipinos: That of aping the decadent American sado-hedonist civilization.

While to some, it’s “killjoy” to react to Jackson ’s passing this way, a killjoy I will be to help kill this pandemic of a delusional cult culture that has infected our people. Michael Jackson promoted a slave culture that kept the masses distracted from the toil of meaningless labor and their alienation from the fruits of the earth, which should be for all but monopolized by a few. As someone reacting to the Inquirer’s banner photo of the orange clad inmates said, “Better than nothing for them to do,” I promptly retorted that these inmates could do better by building roads and bridges, mini-hydroelectric dams and the like, instead of merely grabbing their 15 minutes of fame.

Soon enough, western media will go back to Iran and Ahmadinejad-bashing; but the world will have snapped out of the anti-Iran shock anyway as hardnosed facts are surfacing, such as western media’s lopsided replaying of a dozen anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrations while hundreds of massive pro-Ahmadinejad rallies go unreported. The killing of the Iranian lady, too, is now known to be unrelated to any rallies or demonstrations and, therefore, could be attributed to the MKO or the CIA. By week’s end, people will better remember that these media, like CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, previously conspired with US and British interests to lie about Iraq and Saddam’s WMD.

Filipinos must now learn the truth about Iran because it is the only evolving, real democracy in that region. Iran is a revolutionary but democratic state that can bring change to the whole of the Middle East, and weaken the imperial hold of the US , as it is one of the few countries there that hold genuine elections. While post-election protests are to be expected in any working democracy, the West’s diatribes against Iran prove hypocritical since the US supports client states like Egypt , Saudi Arabia , and Israel , which do not even feign democratic processes and are infinitely more repressive, where even the slightest demonstrations are met with absolutely ruthless repression. Because of these, Iran is essential to the peace and prosperity of the Third World .

The post-election violence in Tehran was clearly provoked by anti-government elements, abetted by western media. From this incident’s very first day, CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera, have all showed from morning until night, one footage of a burning garbage bin and already described Tehran as “in flames.” With words and images like these, rage is sure to be provoked against Ahmadinejad, whose “faults,” according to the West, include opening a discussion about the Holocaust, standing firm on Iran and every country’s right to develop peaceful nuclear technology, and compelling world powers to conform to international law.

By calling for an open debate about the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad only sought an honest study of the facts. Is it wrong to challenge the long established rule about Holocaust questions, where in European countries such as Germany, one can be imprisoned for questioning it, or where in the US and France, many academics can be ostracized for doing the same, or where in Argentina, a Catholic bishop, Richard Williamson, can be hounded out by that country’s large Jewish community?

If the Holocaust were completely true, why even enact laws that make it illegal to look deeper into it? What is there to fear from questioning minds?

Perhaps it is because Israel has been extracting hundreds of billions of dollars in US economic-military support because of the “Holocaust guilt complex,” side by side with obtaining billions upon billions of German “Holocaust reparations” payments to create its “miracle state” and “miracle communes,” which are really massively subsidized Potemkin villages, and perpetuate Jewish control the US Federal Reserve and Congress, the information and entertainment business, and the control of much of America’s mind.

I posit that once Ahmadinejad shatters the myth of the Holocaust, and Iran finally masters the nuclear cycle, the world can begin total nuclear disarmament. Why? Israel is the only Middle Eastern nuclear weapons state. If Iran obtains nuclear weapons capability, Israel will have no choice but to negotiate for eventual mutual disarmament. In the same way, the US, which has tried to maintain monopoly of nuclear weapons by pressuring even France from nuclear testing until 1996, has been pretty cautious with regard to North Korea, perhaps because of the latter’s ability to damage US interests substantially. When North Korea perfects its nuclear weapons arsenal enough to reach US territory, America will then have to think very seriously about opening up to a universal disarmament to save itself. Ironically, only then can Michael Jackson’s “We are the World” become a real possibility.

(Tune in to 1098AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; YouTube‘s “Sulong Pilipinismo” Internet broadcasts; Global News Network, Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with Gov. Homobono Adaza on “Leaders: From Marcos to Arroyo,” with replay on Saturday, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The Philippine coconut: An economic game changer

The moment I saw the headline that 400,000 hectares would be given to Japanese interests for 50 years to grow coconut for bio-fuel, and for free, I saw another confirmation that Charter change (Cha-cha), whether by constituent assembly (con-ass) or constitutional convention (con-con), is really about giving the nation’s land to foreign capitalist interests. This shocking news was already preceded by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFC)--led by the American, European, and Japanese chambers--finally letting the cat out of the bag in telling the country to remove the limits on foreign capital in local ventures and on the sale of its land to foreigners. Given the impecunious reality of Filipinos, foreigners will own the Philippines in ten years’ time and we shall be landless tenants in our own country.

The thought of such huge tracts of Philippine lands (400,000 hectares is the size of Abra or Masbate) being given to foreign interests brought back memories of Rizal turning into a dissident and rebel intellectual. Rizal’s parents were well-to-do hacienderos but were only leasing land from the Dominican friars. The friars then incessantly increased the rent that, at one point, Rizal led the farmers of Calamba to contest this imposition, an imbroglio which eventually led to the “Calamba Affair” where most of the farms were torn and burned down.

When the Japanese, then the Chinese and Koreans, get hold of half a million hectares, and after the Americans expand their pineapple plantations in Mindanao , nothing will be left for Filipinos who’ll end up as farm managers or workers.

When I read the news item, I had just taped a cable TV episode entitled “Save the coconut industry: Save the national economy” last Saturday morning with Party-list Rep. Leonardo Montemayor of ABA-AKO, Mr. Melot Santos (a coconut chemical expert) of Senbel, and Mr. Joey Faustino of the Coconut Industry Reform (COIR) movement. We discussed government’s neglect of the coconut industry such that despite the sector’s P50 billion earnings a year, the government only plows back less than half a billion pesos when it ought to be the flagship of any economic stimulus and recovery program.

The coconut industry is the livelihood of 23 million Filipinos, or about a fourth of the nation. Faustino informs us that there are 3.2 million coconut farming families, of which 2.2 million hold coconut farms of less than a hectare in size and earn an equivalent of only P30 per day. While there are so many measures that government can use to increase this income fivefold--from fertilizing the coconut farm lands with salt and doubling coconut yield, to cross cropping with cacao or corn and others, and processing beyond copra into virgin coconut oil and its ancillary products such as skim milk, flour, sugar that’s low in the diabetic index, dietary fiber, coffee creamery that’s non-hydrogenated and non-carcinogenic, geo-textiles used for erosion control, and higher chemicals from bio-fuel and bio-lubricants, even chemicals for the explosives industry--it has done virtually nothing.

Oftentimes, only the private sector has taken steps to develop these potentials, like the bio-lubricants (2T oil) for motorcycles pioneered by Mr. Santos’ Senbel; yet globalization has sabotaged these repeatedly. Efforts like the 1987 approved EO 259, requiring Philippine detergent manufacturers to use coco-based surfactants for 60 percent of their requirements, have been negated by the country’s accession to the WTO as sponsored by Gloria Arroyo on the ground that these violate the “free trade” principle, even when the Philippines could have easily gotten around this by citing environmental concerns which the WTO supposedly puts priority on.

We have 2.2 million coconut farmers needing more land, experts and entrepreneurs like Mr. Santos, and a long history of pioneering in coco-chemicals like the Cocochemical Plant, Inc. established in 1967, yet why does government have to bring in the Japanese with a free land deal, in what can only be a doubtful promise to “reforest” land in Ilocos?

We received a text from one of the stalwart coconut industry advocates about this deal: “Yes, foreign market ulit, siguardong copra na naman.” This promotes dependence on the foreign market again, delaying the development of our domestic market and the import substitution potential of our products. For sure, the Japanese will grow, harvest, process, and export these to Japan ; and Filipinos will only be used as brawn.

Philippine economic planners are missing out on the paradigm shift in the global economy, which is to develop the domestic market and domestic resources. The repeated promise of recovery in the US economy isn’t going to come because there’s only one thing that the US produces and exports better than any other country, and that’s war and destabilization of the Third World to enrich its defense industry while the rest languish until the final collapse.

The BRIC ( Brazil , Russia , India and China ) economic block is moving to enhance each country’s natural edge. The Philippines should be doing the same and, no doubt, its principal strength is its 350 million coconut trees that can be a “game changer” for the Philippine economy.

While we do not have much admiration for the present economic managers, we recognize that the nation’s economic survival is paramount and we have to attempt to convince them to take the right track toward economic recovery--the development of our natural strengths, of which the coconut industry is topmost, as well as, the domestic market, upon which the economy can stand independently.

(Tune in to Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 7 and its other channels, Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., for “Save the coconut industry: Save the national economy;” and 1098AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Bernays’ PR paradise

Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations, developed much of his ideas from his uncle, the patron saint of psychoanalysis, Dr. Sigmund Freud. By working on the individual’s subconscious mind and applying it to the greater mass of people, Bernays pioneered the PR industry’s use of psychology and allied social sciences in the design of its public persuasion campaigns. Bernays once asked, “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing… it?” And as he crafted this scientific technique of opinion-molding, which he called the “engineering of consent,” we see his principles at work today in our daily lives.

One example of this is the A (H1N1) panic now causing price hikes for such items as face masks, oral and thermal thermometers, and vitamin C pills to supposedly protect the public from this non-existent threat. So inane is this scare that some local governments are even opting to sponsor mass vaccinations while other politicians are even eager to get their towns declared “calamity areas” so that hundreds of thousands of “calamity funds” would rain down on them. All these are being done despite the fact that in the 1978 US swine flu scare, the only ones who died were the 29 volunteers for vaccination. So why are vaccines potentially harmful?

Dr. Pamela Asa, a prominent microbiologist specializing in immunizations at Tulane University, who blew the whistle on the experimental anthrax vaccinations that caused the Gulf War Syndrome on thousands upon thousands of veterans, to the chagrin of the US defense establishment, was the first to recognize autoimmune diseases showing up in GIs that mimicked those caused by a pharmaceutical agent that increases antibody response in lab animals.

That culprit agent, also known as squalene adjuvants, was described by Gary Matsumoto, a New York-based award-winning investigative journalist who wrote the book, “Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment That’s Killing Our Soldiers and Why GIs are Only the First Victims” as “a key ingredient in a whole new generation of vaccines intended for mass immunization around the globe.”

The Euro-Med Web site concurs: “Eating and digesting squalene isn’t a problem. But injecting it galvanize(s) the immune system into attacking it, which can produce self-destructive cross reactions against the same molecule in… places where it occurs naturally in the body--and where it is critical to the health of the nervous system.”

Another specialist, Dr. Anders Brunn Laursen, adds, “Once self-destruction begins, it doesn’t stop as the body keeps making the molecule that the immune system is trained to attack and destroy.” He continues, “Matsumoto says ‘Squalene is a kind of trigger for (a) real biological weapon,’ what Soviet researchers called ‘a biological time bomb!!’ He and Dr. Pam Asa conclude that ‘Oil adjuvants are the most insidious chemical weapon ever devised… conceived as a vaccine booster (or what’s now being developed in labs as another ‘nano-bomb’), instigating chronic, unpredictable and debilitating disease.” The result: As naïve vaccinated victims feel the severe malaise, they go to doctors who prescribe more medicines for more profit, eventually detonating the depopulation “time bomb.”

According to Bernays, “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the (public) is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country” (and our world)!

This invisible global government has sent a message as clear as Henry Kissinger’s National State Security Memorandum (NSSM) 200, which defined the Third World population as a US national security threat that had to be radically reduced.

Such is the deeper meaning behind the A (H1N1) scare that supposed leaders of this nation should see and not acquiesce to the engineering of our consent for self-destruction.
The Third World has been fooled many times before with globalization, deregulation, liberalization, and man-made global warming. The globalization paradigm has collapsed while deregulation and liberalization have impoverished us and collapsed the global financial-economic system, notwithstanding a fake recovery that is being staged to no avail. Meanwhile, the Himalayan and Easter Antarctic glaciers are expanding and global sea temperatures have dropped half a degree. Should we then swallow this A (H1N1) scare? The best approach to defuse this “H1-Ewan” panic is to study it scientifically to best inform our people.

This should also be our approach to other applications of Bernays’ methods by PR practitioners of the local corporatocracy and Malacañang. For example, given Meralco’s komiks, which likens the company to a barber shop which adds air-conditioning, a karinderia that buys new utensils, and a magtataho who adds the sweetener arnibal and raises prices, Nasecore correctly points out that the small businesses cited are not monopolies, whereas Meralco is a monopoly and its customers are “captive,” its returns are guaranteed, plus, it gets deposits from consumers and charges them its capital expenditures, it charges provisional increases upfront, and when denied, refunds them after using the money for years.

Elsewhere, international mainstream media carry the invisible global government’s black propaganda against Iran by amplifying the anti-Ahmadinejad slant without demanding even an iota of proof of the alleged election fraud. Back here, Gloria Arroyo, also with the aid of mainstream media, is trying to confuse everyone with her “congressional run,” even when failure of elections or “no-proc” is the most likely scenario. Just the same, economic “growth” continues to be hyped despite a 5-percent decline among the ranks of the middle class as revealed recently. Philippine society is collapsing amid all this talk about elections, prompting one to quip: “Where have you gone Gen. Danny Lim and Sen. Trillanes? A nation turns its lonely eyes onto you…” Still, we should always remember: Whenever the truth is explained, Bernays’ methods won’t work.

RP’s ‘not poor’ but ‘low class’?

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Dr. Romulo Virola reported one statistic on the NSCB Web site that we should all be very worried about. In his Independence Day article, “Pinoy Middle Class Before the Crisis!,” he said that: “The Pinoy middle class remains vulnerable and has continued to shrink. And this is prior to the global crisis…” Of course, the readers of my column know that we’ve alerted the nation to this fact years ago, and revived this when the collapse of several pre-need firms set back tens of thousands of Filipino middle class families by at least a hundred thousand pesos each and jeopardized the advancement of their children.

I have raised the term “Africanization,” as a trajectory of prevailing socio-economic trends, to vivify in the minds of Filipinos the kind of extreme poverty and social collapse that awaits us if the present neo-colonial, oligarchic system continues. Dr. Virola’s article confirms this in very quaint terminologies: “High Class, 0.1 percent; Middle Class, 19.1 percent; Low Class (Not poor), 54 percent; and Low Class (Poor), 26.9 percent.” Here, “High Class” is the erstwhile “Upper Class” while “Low Class,” which used to be “Lower Class,” is now further split into “Not poor” and “Poor” qualifiers.

Removing the “-er” suffix from the classifications removed any comparative intention and made each sound like descriptions of social quality instead of categories. So now, to be rich and earning beyond P2 million a year is to be “high class;” never mind if they’re a kidnap-for-ransom leader from Surigao or part of the Kuratong Baleleng gang or a jueteng Lord. They’ve got class because they’ve got the money. “Middle class,” on the other hand, covers families earning P2 million down to P246,109 a year. Never mind if you’re a diplomat speaking four languages or a self-made millionaire running a successful business; you’re still not “high class” according to the NSCB but at least better than “low class,” who now constitute 80.9 percent of the population. But wait, one can also be “low class” and “not poor?”

Under this scheme, the 54 percent can now console themselves as being “low class” but “not poor,” and can still look down on the truly “poor” 26.9 percent. Why, we should thus congratulate Dr. Virola for finding a solution to RP’s poverty problem, thereby giving Gloria Arroyo another reason to gloat that the number of “poor” in this country has been reduced to an unprecedented low level! Of course, this is in part to counter that May 2008 SWS survey, which said, “Self-rated poverty went up… six points in Mindanao (59 percent from 53 percent); five points in the Visayas (47 percent from 42 percent) and in Metro Manila (44 percent from 39 percent); and two points in the rest of Luzon (48 percent from 46 percent),” in which a staggering 50 percent of Filipinos (or nine million families) considered themselves poor!

Apart from the rise in self-rated poverty, though, the really worrying part is that of the “shrinking middle class.” As everyone should know, a growing middle class is always an ideal in any economy as it is considered the indisputable sign of real growth. Both China and India today are proud of their growing middle classes and measure their success by the growth in home building and car purchases.

Dr. Virola’s confirmation of what we have long known--that RP’s middle class has been shrinking and will shrink even faster in the face of the ongoing global financial and economic collapse--should be the final wake-up call to all that real, drastic change should come soon or else we’re doomed.

That middle class is composed of thousands of hardworking parents and professionals who work, save and invest for a better tomorrow, particularly for the future of their children. I associate them with members of Philip Piccio’s group, “Parents Enabling Parents,” who were gypped in the successive pre-need funds scam. But, on the whole, Dr. Virola’s “middle class” is this layer of professionals and entrepreneurs who, through the past three decades, have continued to suffer greater and greater impositions and extractions from the “high class” political and, not to forget, corporate rulers of society.

Even as we write this piece, the biggest residential users of electricity--the middle class--will be hit again by a 35-percent increase in “basic electricity distribution rates” because of the shift from a fixed “return on rate base” (RORB) to a new uncapped “performance based rate scheme” (PBRS). Add to this the increasing cost of water, the perpetually-increasing real estate taxes and professional and business costs, with a great many middle class families being OFW-dependent, who are reeling from the backlash to the country’s labor-export policy, coupled with the export sector’s 35-percent loss--resulting in massive lay-offs, and we have an impending disaster.

In our last conversation, I told Philip Piccio that the middle class can be our society’s revolutionary class, which hopefully, gave him some food for thought. As members of the middle class come to realize the disaster awaiting us, they’ll be more and more scared of the consequences of not moving more vigorously and radically--not just as leaders for their class but for the whole of society. If not, our middle class will someday completely disappear, and we’ll all just be low class--poor or not poor.

(Tune in to 1098AM, May Pag-asa, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday / Teachers for National Transformation, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday on “Hello Garci and Whistleblowers II;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Beyond banal rallies

The real issues stemming from GMA’s continued rule, apart from her con-ass, must be explained in detail to the people if we are to create a significant impact: From the economic collapse, with exports plunging 35.2 percent and the IMF projecting a one-percent contraction of the economy; to the growing number of unemployed at 30 percent; to the opening up of the country to foreign land grabbers, starting with the impending loss of Mindanao via Cha-cha; to the genocide being plotted by the global oligarchs with the H1N1 scare (or H1-ewan, according to the masa), leading to forced vaccinations that will prove to be time bombs when even the DoH’s Dr. Eric Tayag now admits dengue has proven to be far more deadly; to the continued exploitation of local oligarchs, with electricity set to rise again due to new price-fixing schemes of the National Grid of Razon. The only alternative, thus, to this doom is a nationalist and patriotic leadership, represented by President Estrada in the electoral front and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim in the military. Banal rallies can no longer bring these to the nation.

After over eight years of organizing and leading various anti-GMA outdoor demonstrations, I have become less enthusiastic about staging them today as they’ve become ineffective--not to mention, costly. They achieve very little in communicating the issues to rouse the people into eroding the dictatorial hold on power of the Malacañang usurper. Like the Makati gathering last Wednesday, these rallies don’t even reach a fifth of those organized by Edsa III leaders--particularly the one in Makati last October 2004, where I was pinned down by a phalanx of riot police, which became doubly memorable because it hit the pages of international news.

Over the years, a succession of corrupt, jueteng-fattened PNP top brass have perfected the art of dissipating rallies and demonstrations even before they gather steam. From intimidation of urban poor communities, from where organizers assemble much of the large marching crowds eager to vent their frustrations; to cutting off access to jeeps and buses at major entry points for provincial participants; to breaking up marches into little fragments; all the way to preventing small groups of MRT commuters, suspected of being rally participants, from boarding the trains--these tactics of suppression have taken their toll on the enthusiasm of people, on top of the difficulties from the high cost of transportation and the economic downturn.

Last Wednesday’s protest against con-ass pointed to several other more effective avenues. The Facebook campaign alone elicited over 16,000 participants, not including all those other countless Yahoo! and other chat group members. After joining with the Magdalo contingent, I took off for my radio program where certainly more Filipinos (including soldiers in their barracks) were able to listen in and participate by way of text messaging, thus, discussing the issues more in detail. And in these alternative “demonstrations” via the Internet and media, we avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in organizing physical rallies--the turf battles of different groups, particularly the domineering and opportunistic tactics of groups like Bayan Muna, Black and White, and other “civil society” politicians.

Despite a standing rule last Wednesday of each group supposedly getting only two minutes of onstage speaking time, Satur Ocampo noticeably spoke much, much longer. And although the Black and White group committed a contingent of 3,000, what arrived with Leah Navarro was certainly not more than 30. Oh, and the Bangon groups of Eddie Villanueva promised thousands but not even one seemed to have turned up. Meanwhile, Adel Tamano, who’s now joined the trapo NP of Villar for an undisclosed but very big sum, tried to talk his way into getting onstage to ham it up as in the past. This time, the marshals stopped him. Leah Navarro tried the same, hoping to get a boost for her senatorial candidacy, but she was also stopped. Likewise, the LP’s Butch Abad (Mr. Balak Beauty of the EPIRA fame) also tried and was blocked.

If any, what that weak turnout last Wednesday proved is that without the Edsa III forces and President Estrada’s mass support, rallies and demonstrations of the “opposition” cannot generate the impact aimed for. Even the supposed support of business groups like the Makati Business Club, represented by its SecGen Bertie Lim in meetings at Binay’s office, didn’t boost crowd participation despite being held in Ayala Avenue . Bayan Muna, as coordinator, also turned off many other sectors instead of increasing participation.

The genuine anti-Gloria movement must therefore veer away from coalescing with such forces that turn off more people than they attract. New strategies and tactics must be employed--through the Internet, broadcast media, along with making the rounds in schools, churches, civic clubs, AFP groups--by using speeches and documentaries like the MTRCB-banned “Ama ng Masa” of Estrada and one which I hope Gen. Lim can soon have too.

(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / Teachers for National Transformation, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday on “Hello Garci and Whistleblowers II;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Heeding Gen. Danny Lim’s call

I am grateful for the efforts of many who are now organizing mass mobilizations against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her oligarchic backers, both foreign and local, in their perpetuation of the corporatocratic booty capitalist regime that has prevailed the past nine years. I thank individuals like Linggoy Alcuaz for gathering anti-Gloria “civil society” forces, many of whom were part of Edsa II but are now enlightened by experience, to lay the groundwork for these mass protests. Mr. Alcuaz has suffered great deprivations since he denounced the corruption in Arroyo’s Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), which has saddled him with countless court hearings of nuisance cases. Last Saturday, he hosted three meetings at his home, keeping his wife Baby Ahorro Alcuaz busy with the day’s food requirements.

We should thank Gloria Arroyo for resuscitating the protest movement at this point. It had gone into almost full hibernation as the country has geared for presidential elections in 2010. But, the imminent convening of the Con-ass, through the Nograles 14th Congress’ passage of the proposition, has re-awakened the movement’s energies, which a dozen presidential hopefuls will be riding on for their 2010 chances. However, unless there is regime change, I wouldn’t encourage them to keep their hopes too high because Mrs. Arroyo is intent on staying until she wastes away while her cohorts in foreign and local Big Business can live long without genuine elections, as long as they continue enjoying the bonanza they get from her. This Con-ass gambit is surely testing the limits of the nation’s patience, particularly the CBCP’s. But once it gets too hot, Gloria still has several options in place.

I wouldn’t put it past Gloria to take two steps back if she finds the resistance to her Con-ass insurmountable. We have previously discussed her alternative plans, one of which former Chief Justice Art Panganiban surmised as a “No Proc” scenario due to a “failure” of computerized elections. This wouldn’t be far-fetched because, aside from the vulnerability to fraud of any computer system, having a weak man and an outright patsy in charge ensures the manipulability of the process. Former Justice Jose Melo is no brave soul, just as he, like Panganiban, has shown no outstanding quality during the course of his professional career that will enable him to stand up to the maniacal will of this regime to hang on to power.

In contrast, the kind of courage and conviction required in this struggle is found in those who have opposed the violation of our Republic and Constitution from the very start. President Joseph Estrada, for one, never used his powers to suppress dissent or bribe any government official with favors or cash, the way Gloria has done with the courts, the police and military generals. The likes of the Bagong Katipuneros, too, led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who have been incarcerated for six years now, have gallantly tried not once but twice to spark our national liberation. And we most certainly count in this league Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, who has been part of military protests since 1989, then in 2006 and 2007, has been twice incarcerated and is still in detention, and is now being seriously eyed for a senatorial or vice-presidential candidacy by various political groups.

The other of Gloria’s self-perpetuation options few know about that will make her unbeatable in a plebiscite--or in the polls, if it comes to that--is the Smartmatic plot which we just got wind of from a very reliable source. Smartmatic bid the lowest, and some say at an impossibly low price of P7.1 billion, for what was earmarked by government to cost around P11 billion and estimated by other bidders like Indra Sistemas to be around P11.2 billion. What was its advantage? Our source says Smartmatic was already paid several billions to allow it to dive its price. And the source of the funds: The First Gentleman. In due time, photos of meetings of the FG with Smartmatic officials will be made public. Two political personalities with US links have been shown the photos by an Obama official, and like the “Hello Garci” tapes, these will be released soon.

Smartmatic was absolutely destined to win the Comelec electronic voting system bid, as it was ensured by the usual corrupt and devious operations of the Arroyo cabal. If some will find this too bizarre to believe, they probably have yet to fully understand the rabidness of this regime’s maniacal obsession to hang on to power. So, while we organize our rallies and demonstrations, I’d like to remind our people of BG Danny Lim’s call to arms:

“To the Officers and Men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines :

Last Tuesday’s brazen railroading of the Con-ass Resolution has erased whatever doubts we have about GMA’s true intention of holding on to power beyond 2010. This is not the first time she has trampled upon the Constitution we have all sworn to follow and respect. The EDSA Dos in 2001 was a coup d’etat that we, as an organization, took part in to oust a duly elected president. The 2004 election cheating, as exposed by the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes, was partly an AFP operation masterminded by the former Chief-of-Staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon. Countless other offenses have followed since.

GMA is determined and she will keep on ramming through every perceived obstacle there is, until she attains her much-coveted goal.

Now, only the collective will of the people with the support of the AFP can stop her.

I, therefore, call on every officer and enlisted man to follow your conscience and do what is right –

PROTECT THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE! God bless us all.”

(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / Teachers for National Transformation, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday with a special edition on “Anti-Con-ass Mobilization;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Constitutional constipation

It’s amazing how P20 million of chicharon can bring together what one radio pundit calls hijos de-putados for a night’s quorum at what could be appropriately called “The House of Representa-thieves.” Like thieves in the night, they will again rob us of our constitutional right to change, at appointed intervals, those whom we, as a people, have entrusted to control the levers of power of the state. When such an instrument is taken over by those without loyalty to either “people” or “sovereignty,” then the nation is screwed. But it didn’t just start the other night, or back when these “representa-thieves” repeatedly stole the people’s right to kick out the most hated regime to date. It started with the 1986 Constitutional Commission, when unelected, handpicked delegates created a hodgepodge Constitution aimed at maintaining elite control of the country.

Reviewing our three most significant Charters, i.e. the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, the last one turns out to be the longest, yet most convoluted and contradictory. Thanks to the miniscule 50 unelected, elite and trapo commissioners like Jesuit Joaquin Bernas, we have a hodgepodge Constitution full of contradictions and ambiguities, like surreptitiously inserted terminologies never discussed by the body, as evinced by the word “any” in the no presidential reelection provision. Now comes this controversy in the interpretation of the constitutional provision on “Amendments.”

Article XV of the 1935 Constitution refers to “The Congress in joint session assembled, by a vote of three-fourths of all the Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives voting separately” while Article XVI of the 1973 Charter says, “Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by the National Assembly upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members, or by a constitutional convention.” Article XVII of the 1987 Constitution, meanwhile, states: “Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: (1) The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or (2) A constitutional convention.” And it came to pass that in a record time of four months, the 1986 Constitutional Commission finished the draft and presented it for a plebiscite.

As Atty. Alan Paguia points out, and one that even Bernas admits, the 1987 Constitutional Commission simply copied the 1973 Constitution’s provision on “Amendments” and replaced the unicameral “National Assembly” with the term “Congress,” without clearly defining, as the 1935 Constitution did, the two separate bodies, i.e. the Senate and the House of Representatives, in the bicameral system either voting jointly or separately. The Arroyo-appointed Supreme Court has thus been handed by the likes of Bernas the easiest way to interpret that provision today in favor of Gloria’s Cha-cha designs.

Bernas charged that Arroyo’s lapdog Congress “gang raped” the Constitution with its Cha-cha vote, yet he and his ilk opened the door for the rapists by their kind of haphazard drafting of the 1987 Constitution. Of course, constitutional rape isn’t new as Bernas had already blessed it with the 2001 coup against an elected president!

We have to constantly expose the sophistry and fakery of Bernas because he’s touted by mainstream media and the socio-political establishment as a fountain of constitutional wisdom, which is an absolute falsehood. We should also expose, at this crucial moment, the real ultimate force behind the Cha-cha and Con-ass on which Gloria will be hitchhiking her parliamentary term-extension scheme. Every Filipino should take note of the vigorous hard-sell of Cha-cha, repeatedly aired over radio by Gloria lapdogs, Speaker “Nog-Nog” and Cong. Rodolfo “Snoop Dog” Antonino, that it is only the “economic provisions” they seek to change. These economic provisions, by the way, refer to the protection of Filipinos’ national patrimony, which Cha-cha would dismantle by opening our land and natural resources to foreign ownership, as well as, through the federalization of our country.

“Reform of only the economic provisions,” as a mantra, is also aimed at the ears of foreign powers who are earnestly watching this Charter charade. Everyone should note that Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap was already shown on Al Jazeera signing agricultural lands over to Arab parties for exploitation, as mining rights are being given to foreign companies left and right, with only the constitutional cover remaining absent. Likewise, the US Embassy is eagerly awaiting the removal of the last constitutional obstacles for the hastening of its Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain for the MILF and its oil companies. With these, the path to Gloria’s rider that will place the country under a parliamentary system--leading up to her prime ministership--has been smoothened out.

Gloria’s Supreme Court will likely approve of the Con-ass, which the nation can still defeat via a popular “No.” We have done it time and again and won--against FVR and others who sought to repeat the “hands up” approval of the 1973 Constitution. But naturally, Gloria has her “Plan B.” This is where Mancao’s return comes into the picture, with reporter Raissa Robles, in a news analysis, speculating: Mancao will falsely accuse President Estrada of involvement in the Dacer kidnap-murder, have him arrested, use the upheaval to declare emergency rule and proceed with Cha-cha. If, however, Estrada manages to keep his 11 million diehard supporters calm, Gloria then shifts to “Plan C,” which Comelec Chairman Jose Melo and former CJ Art Panganiban hinted of as “No Proc” or “failure of elections,” owing to the computer voting breakdowns and electoral protests.

Is there a solution to the worsening political-economic crisis under the present constitutional (dis)order? Every time the people expect the use of the Constitution’s good provisions to introduce positive change, corrupt vested interests use its inherent contradictions for their own ends. This has caused “Constitutional constipation,” a case in which only a revolution can expel the poisons. And this should be the real cure, unlike the vaccines and Tamiflu Big Pharma has been pushing for the Influenza A (H1N1) virus which, to date, our trusted writer-investigator William Engdahl yesterday said, “…neither the WHO (World Health Organization) nor the US Government’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have succeeded to isolate, photograph with an electron microscope and chemically classify…”

DoH (Department of Hoaxes)

The way the Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco Duque III has allowed himself and his office to be carried away by the A (H1N1)-Swine Flu scare really astonishes me. The same is true for local mainstream media that ape their “Big Brother” counterparts like CNN and BBC, with a continuous stream of panic “headlies.” We have repeatedly alerted Tribune readers to the pandemic alarm hoaxes of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) because there is ample evidence to show that these institutions, under the baton of pharmaceutical transnationals or Big Pharma, have raised these over the past five decades. Most, it seems, have taken heed, except for the DoH. 
In our “Swine-dler’s Flu” column, you were introduced to critical thinkers, epidemiologists, and doctors who have questioned the CDC and WHO’s sensationalizing of the Swine Flu occurrences. We later on reported the exposé of Dr. Leonard Horowitz on the Big Pharma company Novavax, which is implicated in experiments that splice together the 1918 Spanish, Avian and Swine Flu viruses to produce new strains, which are later “primed” onto populations. The H1N1 outbreak in Mexico was also said to have been perfectly timed for Novavax’s promotion of its new research and vaccine stockpiling programs. As a result of our efforts, we’ve started to hear from some naturalist doctors and we’re happy to have helped spread the information around. 
In our TV show, some headway came as well. Aside from featuring Dr. Horowitz’s YouTube video exposé, we had an episode that delved into the immune-boosting power of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a defense against Swine Flu and other diseases. 
Yet, last May 29, the Inquirer still came out with its article, “Virgin coco oil, vitamin C offer no flu immunity - DoH,” attributed to a certain Baby Banatin, director of the DoH’s Health Emergency Management Services, during a health forum in Makati. 
VCO has always been known to boost disease resistance by boosting the immune system, even more effectively when taken with what DoH rep Banatin similarly downplayed: “eight-hour sleep and vitamin C…” So when statements and reports further allege that VCO sectors make “false and unsubstantiated claims,” we know whom these quarters are in cahoots with.  
An experiment by a Department of Science and Technology agency entitled, “Virgin Coconut Oil Boosts Immune System of Chickens,” yielded the following findings: 
“…A recent study monitored by PCARRD (Philippine Council for Agricultural, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development) showed that VCO is effective not only in improving the immune system of chickens and making them resistant to infectious diseases, but also in improving their overall health condition… To test the effectiveness of VCO on the immuno-competence of native chickens, Dr. Edmundo Campoto of the Eastern Samar State University quantified the gamma globulin concentration (IgG) in the blood of native chickens given VCO. IgG indicates the presence of antibodies needed to fight infectious diseases. He also determined the chickens’ bleeding and clotting times, which indicate good health…. 
“These procedures were premised on the framework that since VCO contains lauric acid, the most important essential fatty acid in building and maintaining the immune system… His tests revealed that chickens given VCO had higher total serum protein than those without, suggesting that the chickens with VCO had higher antibodies against infectious diseases. This was attributed to VCO’s ability to remove the lipid coat of viruses and expose them to macrophages that destroy them. Moreover, he found that the bleeding and clotting times were faster in VCO-fed chickens than in chickens without VCO supplementation. This means that VCO-fed chickens have a healthier circulatory system. This suggests that VCO can improve the overall health of chickens, as healthier animals have faster bleeding and clotting time. 
“However, in the study, VCO supplementation did not lead to higher weight gain or to better feed conversion ratio. There may be a need to conduct another test of the varying nutrient densities to be able to see if the synthesis of more IgG as a result of VCO is competing with basic nutrients (protein and energy) required for growth…” 
And yet, DoH’s Banatin says VCO offers no immunity? It seems as if they would prefer to latch on to the A (H1N1) hoax and peddle the expensive Big Pharma vaccines than help our people with low cost, locally available health solutions. This is why, to me, the DoH is the Department of Hoaxes. Worse, the Philippine government today is more eager to collaborate with Big Pharma in this calumny and slander against the VCO and the coconut industry than it is to help this vital sector. 
The coconut industry should be the flagship of any national economic stimulus plan because of its huge potential not only as a food, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical product, but also as a source of complex industrial chemicals and materials for the environmental salvation of the planet (such as the coco-coir geo-textiles that reclaim desert lands). The problem is that neither Gloria’s Agriculture nor Natural Resources secretaries have anything in their “coconuts” about the economic wonder that is the coconut tree and the 350 million trees that are waiting to be tapped. RP’s science and health institutions should conduct human clinical trials to put on record the VCO’s health benefits that place them at par with eastern health practices--from India ’s Ayurveda to China ’s traditional medicines—that have been long known. 
In my next columns on this subject, we will expose the failures of flu vaccine trials around the world, as well as, the deaths that have resulted from them. 

The porno-circus goes on

“The circus goes on…” is how mainstream media the world over conduct their affairs. Because of the globalization of news and information by the western conglomerates’ control of international news and wire services, you can’t find anything of serious note about news anymore. That’s why a certain Web site now refers to headlines as “headlies” (omitting the “n”) to highlight the sorry state of today’s sensationalized news. Reading local mainstream media gives much of the same problem; although it feels more like “headlice” as we are further impelled to scratch our heads out of sheer exasperation. Take the “headlice” of our local newspapers, which have become the stuff of the two major networks: The “Hayden Cam” scandal and its many variations. 
This saga, involving Hayden Kho and a handful of his sexploits like Katrina Halili and Maricar Reyes, has been kept alive for over a week now by some media-manic legislators, prodded along by our sensation-stalking media. I didn’t even want to touch on the subject and add to the prevailing inanities even when a PR man sought me for a favorable comment for Ms. Halili. As I have always maintained, this is not a subject for legislators like Bong Revilla to pore over because this is simply a ridiculous sensational story. That was, until I got wind of Bohol politicians jumping into the act by declaring Kho persona non grata and Sen. Alan Cayetano saying Kho shouldn’t be allowed anywhere in the country. By stepping on the fundamental right of citizen Kho to be presumed innocent, these characters have obviously gone too far. 
For instance, I ask the Bohol Board Members: Why don’t you seek out the corrupt and proven evils like Joc-joc Bolante or Chavit Singson to be declared persona non grata in your province? Likewise, Sen. Alan Cayetano, for uttering such a statement that is patently violative of a citizen’s basic rights, has shown that he doesn’t deserve to be considered seriously as a senator of the Republic (not that a lot of them should). As for this “pabling” senator-son of the former senator who, by his own admission, has sired more children by as many wives, what right does he have to moralize about Kho’s amorous adventures when he himself is known to have gallivanted with some of those who had their trysts with Kho? 
In a real sense, Kho is also a victim in this series of scandals. Take that dermatologist cum cosmetic surgeon, whose face on those huge billboards my driver likens to a drag queen’s: Is she paying Kho’s salary (or allowance, as some report) for his medical expertise or for other services? As for Ms. Halili, isn’t she getting the most out of this imbroglio, as this is desperately-needed publicity for her sagging career and reputation? But, as always, in a damaged entertainment-driven culture such as ours, may other quarters have cashed in on this controversy. Thanks to Hayden and his sex partners, pirated DVD hawkers can now fetch up to P1,000 per video. Thanks to them, too, mainstream dailies have had an easy week of “headlies” to distract the nation from its miseries--from the 73-percent fall of coconut exports from the same period last year to the 1.2-percent Q1 contraction of the economy. 

Meanwhile, the other “headlice” that continue to paste over other really significant news revolve around the H1N1 panic being fanned by the global health institutions and media. What is not being reported that is very vital for all to know is that there is a raging debate among members of the World Health Organization (WHO) itself about the manner in which its alerts are being made. Dr. Margaret Chan, a former Hong Kong health minister elected to head the WHO in 2006, is announcing alert levels based on where and how many countries have found cases of infections. But there are other representatives there, like those from China and other Asian countries, who have instead proposed that alert levels be based on the severity of the virus and not simply the spread. Even though H1N1 has been shown to be far less severe than first projected, a global panic still ensued, which immediately sent vaccine sales through the roof. 
My serious indignation over such manufactured flu panics may seem an over-reaction to some, but the naïve obviously do not know the extent to which western powers would go into pressuring target countries. Mexico , for instance, lost $2.5 billion in economic activity (or 0.3 percent of its GDP) during the few weeks of the H1N1 panic, with its tourism suffering the most, just as it was being hit by the drugs war and US border issues. Strangely enough, the swine flu scare also coincided with the visit of Obama. Was it just a gimmick to accentuate the panic over the spread of the virus? Speculations aside, Dr. Leonard Horowitz, a doctor-advocate of natural healing, believes that this whole episode was designed by laboratories such as Novavax to sell its stock of vaccines. You can view his exposé, complete with names and details of Big Pharma experiments, on YouTube. 
The last item I have space for in this porno-circus is the Lakas-Kampi merger which is as corrupt and lewd as any political-porno can be. As President Estrada asserts, this pair has always been in coitus--in exploiting and oppressing the Filipino people and the nation’s rich resources. And as they wish to prolong their ecstasy, we are sure to be subjected to the biggest porno act yet: The 2010 elections, starring Jose Melo and the computer voting that’s designed to fail, all in furtherance of the Lakas-Kampi screw job! 
 (Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / Teachers for National Transformation [New], 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday on “Hello Garci Whistleblowers;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

“Reelection,” ban for incumbents

In a recent long vituperative article, Randy David continued his Edsa II harangue against President Joseph Estrada. As usual, he raised his usual litany of personal diatribes against the immensely popular leader without raising any policy issues. Just think: If personality idiosyncrasies were to be the basis of statesmanship, then US President John F. Kennedy, with his flings with Marilyn Monroe, or Chairman Deng Xiao Ping, with his penchant for mahjong, and Chairman Mao Tse-tung, with his weakness for farm lasses, would never have made it to the leaders’ pantheon of fame. That’s why Randy David, like the rest of his fellow Edsa II intelligentsia, has never gotten anything right--tracing five decades of failures of their social reforms and of becoming obstacles to the revolution themselves. 
Randy David did diverge from one Edsa II party line though: He took the position that Estrada should be allowed to run for the presidency in 2010. Notably, this is tangential to Edsa II “legal luminary” Jesuit Joaquin Bernas, who’s at the forefront of blocking the candidacy of Estrada. Referring to the line, “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection” in the Constitution, Bernas gives his account of discussions in the Constitutional Commission (Con-com), where he claims the “absolutists” won and passed the single term and permanent non-eligibility of anyone who has served a term of office as president of the Republic. 
Of course, mainstream media purports to treat the issue with balance. But one example pointing to the contrary has been GMANews’ May 5, 2009 report by Sophia Regina M. Dedace, wherein she absolutely did not present any contrary view to the official “non-eligibility” line that Estrada’s detractors keep mouthing. The four so-called “experts” she interviewed were Joaquin Bernas, Christian Monsod, Romulo Macalintal, and Marlon Manuel. Bernas and Monsod, as we know, are both Edsa II conspirators against Estrada while Macalintal is the vacuous Gloria Arroyo election lawyer. Marlon Manuel, meanwhile, turns out to be an Ateneo Law School functionary who’s certainly not going to contradict his dean. So how credible could they be? 
Only one Ateneo law professor--probably the most principled who ever taught in that law school--Atty. Alan Paguia, gave his view on the constitutional question. Paguia’s opinion on the Estrada “pardon” has been much misunderstood recently, particularly in relation to Estrada’s run for the presidency, as he had advised caution, knowing that Gloria Arroyo can twist that double-entendre in the language of the pardon to persecute Estrada again. 
Constitutionally, however, Paguia is actually of the opinion that Estrada is eligible to run again by virtue of what he explains as the “parity of reasoning.” He says that Gloria Arroyo, who acted as “president,” got the legal justification to have her run in 2004. How? With the same provision quoted by Bernas. 
Thus, to fully understand its meaning, let us expand and contextualize what was quoted: “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.” 
By the same reasoning that took into account Arroyo’s less than four-year stint, Estrada, who served as president for only two and half years, should therefore be eligible to run. But Macalintal argues that the provision applies only to one who “succeeds” the presidency. But isn’t it the serving of more than four years that defines the term and the eligibility to run? Of course, if we were to only go by Paguia’s theory of “The Constitutional Clock,” then Estrada is still the rightful president today. 
Moreover, the term “reelection” is always a key point in such discussions. Based on countless Web sites I have reviewed the past several days, the term “reelection” always applies to an incumbent running for the same office and not to elections where there have been an interruption or discontinuity in the incumbency. I have discovered that the term and the controversies surrounding it have had a very long history, as can be gleaned below from contemporary Latin American politics: 
“(Colombian president) Uribe has already changed the Constitution once to allow himself to run for reelection. Like most of Latin America—that is, until recently, Colombia didn’t allow for presidential reelection. This was in part due to the region’s long history of dictatorial rulers. ‘No reelection!’ was even the battle cry of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. True to post-revolutionary form, Mexico today has a strict no reelection policy; it doesn’t even allow former presidents to seek election after an intervening term.” 
From this and many other examples, it is clear that a former president running for the same office after an intervening period is universally called an “election,” and not a “reelection.” We see that the intent behind “no reelection” is the prevention of “dictatorial rulers,” evolving from an incumbent using his or her powers to become a permanent tyrant. 
Since it’s sufficiently clear that “reelection” involves an incumbent running for the same office to succeed his or herself, Bernas and company can only rely on the ambiguity of the word “any” to obfuscate the true and elemental meaning of that constitutional provision. While Randy David evades the real issues of poverty, sovereignty, and integrity that President Estrada, in his time, had addressed, Bernas evades the real issue by delving into the word “any” and by masking the Con-com delegates’ intent. But the most elemental issue here is the true intention of the Filipino people who ratified the 1987 Constitution: To ban any incumbent from taking undue advantage to perpetuate a continuing rule with all its attendant evils. For sure, the Filipino people never intended to deny themselves the right to elect non-incumbents, especially those who may have gained wisdom and competence from experience. 
As what Chief Justice Reynato Puno expressed in the case of Tecson vs. Comelec: “The better policy approach is to let the people decide who will be the next president. For on political questions, this court may err but the sovereign people will not. To be sure, the Constitution did not grant to the unelected members of this court the right to elect in behalf of the people.” 
(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / May Pag-asa, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday on “People, Power, and Poverty” with Nasecore; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The only alternative: Estrada

Our alert Christian communities in Cotabato City , serving at the forefront of the nation’s successful exposés on the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD), are now alerting us to new and alarming developments. The MILF, they say, is getting new, sophisticated arms from American sources. So pressing is this that a number of retired AFP generals have even come forward to confirm this, with one personally travelling to Mindanao to assess the conditions himself. So, as we look at this situation in light of the early presidential hustings, we ask: Who among the self-proclaimed candidates can really stop Mindanao from being Balkanized in the next round of US-MILF attacks? 
Is there anyone among them who can stand up to the pressure that will be brought to bear on the winning candidate, assuming we do have elections in 2010? Villar has never stood for anything other than his vested interest as a real estate tycoon, especially in using state resources to further his financial empire, which Senate investigations into his “C5 at taga” case are proving beyond doubt. Noli de Castro, meanwhile, can’t stand up to his old network bosses for they catapulted him to political fame even when that conglomerate has continued to suck the blood of the electricity-consuming masses dry. Chiz, on the other hand, cannot be expected to bite the hand that shepherded him to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington , as well as, those in local Big Business who are grooming him for the top post. 
For sure, Mindanao is doomed to be lost unless we can install a leader who is tried and tested in fighting for our sovereignty and national integrity all the way. Only one presidential timber has that political will. Only President Joseph Estrada-- who had once defiantly crushed the US ’ proxy army, the MILF--can defeat the machinations of a global superpower and its Trojan Horses in Mindanao . We remember the raising of the Philippine flag on the MILF’s headquarters after its leader, the late Hashim Salamat, was driven off to Malaysia . We also recall the price exacted by the US for that defeat--the ouster of Erap, which was facilitated by its local oligarchic surrogates when they instigated ex-General Angelo Reyes to betray the Republic and the duly-constituted authority of the land. 
While President Estrada has not yet proclaimed his final intention to run in 2010, the nation is already debating his eligibility. The debates, however, have only centered on constitutional and legal gibberish, led by the “Heswitik” Bernas, who’s been conjuring up impediments through sophistry and deception. Ditto for the rest of the Edsa II parties such as the Inquirer, which ran a recent editorial claiming that Estrada is fooling the people anew with a new run for the presidency. Certainly, these quarters think that they can fool the people again; but proof of their eroding credibility is Estrada’s growing ability to win against the odds, which must be striking terror in their hearts. 
President Estrada is eligible to run again if the people so wish and vote for him. There is no higher power in a democracy than the sovereign will of the people, and what the legalistic gibberish simply shows is that they, the few, want to usurp the will and the power of the people once more. Bernas had been doing this even at the 1987 Constitutional Commission (Con-com) which, it must be noted, was an appointed body and not an elected and representative forum. Because of its elite-controlled set-up, even if there were principled individuals trying to ensure the democratic character of the commission’s mandate, black ops were always at work to safeguard the interest of the elite. 
Bernas and his ilk repeatedly refer to the phrase, “The President shall not be eligible for any re-election,” stressing the word “any” to imply each and every election. Constitutional experts and researches, however, have pointed out that the term “any” was not discussed at all in the drafting of said provision. The term was inserted only by a “style” committee’s sleight-of-hand to change the entire meaning of the intended provision that should have read: “The President shall not be eligible for re-election,” where “re-election” means “to run and succeed oneself in a position,” as I have gathered from various Internet sources, including Black’s Law Dictionary. 
I am continuing my own layman’s research into the terms involved, which I will complete in Part II of this column. I believe that we cannot leave the matters of our democracy and the survival of our Republic to the arbitrary, sophistic legal interpretations of so-called experts like Bernas or to a handful of Con-com delegates who constitute clandestine committees. UP Law Dean Pacifico Agabin correctly said in last Wednesday’s Ciudad Fernandina Forum that even delegates to the 1987 Con-com cannot supersede the intent of the people who ratified the Charter to prevent the abuse of power by a sitting president who seeks re-election--and not to disqualify a non-incumbent former president. 
President Joseph Estrada must run again to lead this nation as President for only he has the will and the experience to overcome the daunting forces threatening to dismember the nation; the profit-predators exploiting and sucking the economic life out of our people; and the forces laying to waste this Republic that our 1896 revolutionaries fought and died for to establish for all time. 
(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / May Pag-asa, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

The Bilderbergers and the Philippines

The global corporatocratic network and its media persist in spreading the “swine flu” scare despite the dud it has turned out to be. The World Health Organization (WHO), which is reported to be still intent on upping the ante to a Phase 6 alert, seems to be giving politicians under the corporatocracy’s control another excuse to procure flu vaccines that will not only be stocked forever but also cause grievous harm. Britain has just ordered 90 million doses of the flu vaccine from Baxter and Glaxo--this, even after Baxter was caught sending out avian flu vaccines to 18 countries that carried the live avian flu virus, which was discovered in the Czech Republic when some of its inoculated lab ferrets died. 
Meanwhile, in the US and Britain , military recruitment is on the upsurge. The reason: The dwindling jobs market. Worse, this surge is happening just nine months into the recession. So as these economies deteriorate further, the number of jobseekers lining up for military work will grow even more. Wouldn’t it then be very bad for these countries to simply let their soldiers lay idle for long without any forthcoming military adventures? Perhaps this is why US and Nato military exercises are edging closer and closer to Russia and China . 
International analysts, like Adrian Salbuchi of Argentina --who’s produced a series of YouTube videos analyzing the reasons behind the global financial collapse, see this build-up as the start of the West’s strategy toward global war. Gerald Celente of The Trends Research Institute in the US , who is now immensely credible for having accurately predicted last year’s financial collapse, predicts a new and bigger bubble from the latest Wall Street uptick. 
He writes: “At this time we are not forecasting a war. However, the trends in play are ominous… While we cannot pinpoint precisely when the ‘Bailout Bubble’ will burst, we are certain it will. When it does, it should be understood that a major war could follow.” 
At every super-exclusive Bilderberg meeting, the direction of world events is deliberated on and threshed out by super-powerful individuals who represent western monarchies and corporations. From the selection of presidents to the policies imposed on countries, as well as, the United Nations (UN)--such as population control as enunciated by Henry Kissinger’s National State Security Memo 200, the Bilderberg group is always the fountainhead. What this group is up to this time in its current Athens meet should thus be everyone’s concern. 
Despite the usual news blackout in such meetings, an industry of enterprising investigative reporters has sprouted and more information is now being leaked to the world. Thanks to Web sites like Alex Jones’ PrisonPlanet, we can now catch a glimpse into the group’s 2009 agenda. 
Veteran investigative journalist Jim Tucker reported that former Swedish Prime Minister and regular Bilderberg attendee Carl Bildt, “(advocated) turning the World Health Organization into a world department of health (and) turning the IMF (International Monetary Fund) into a world department of treasury, both of course, under the auspices of the United Nations.” 
Bildt discussed global warming and the global tax on carbon emissions, which will be introduced gradually--first, as a tax at the gas pump, before being hiked. Of course, this will be institutionalized through local legislative bodies, in the same manner that privatization, liberalization, and deregulation laws were put in place (such as here in RP). 
This carbon tax concept is reminiscent of reportage on glacial melting in the Polar and Antarctic ice regions while ignoring expanding areas such as the Hubbard Glacier, growing by two meters per day, and East Antarctica, now four times the size of West Antarctica , where shrinking of the Wilkins ice shelf was overblown by global media. It’s sensationalized and reeks of a scam. 
Another investigative reporter, Daniel Estulin, exposed the Bilderberg discussion on whether to sink the global economy quickly or drag it along a tortuous ride. As reported in PrisonPlanet.com, “Treasury Secretary Geithner and Carl Bildt touted a shorter recession, not a 10-year recession… partly because a 10-year recession would damage Bilderberg industrialists… (And inasmuch) as they want to have a global department of labor and a global department of treasury, they still like making money and such a long recession would cost them big bucks industrially because nobody is buying their toys… (The) tilt is towards keeping it short.” Fellow journalist Jim Tucker added that as ordinary folks wise up to this group, the Bilderbergers’ programs face more hurdles. 
Sadly, the Philippines is still one of the most helpless victims of the Bilderbergers. Its political and financial elite work under Bilderberg underlings; its intelligentsia is enslaved by global academe and mainstream media; its “civil society” is funded by international foundations that subvert national and economic sovereignty; and its population is still blinded by global entertainment culture. Worse, every one of it’s declared presidential candidates is either ignorant of this global tyranny or is pining to be selected as a new puppet--if the present bitchy troll in Malacañang will vacate at all. 
Will we become victims of these bio-terror germs for profit? Will we eventually end up impoverished and broken up like Somalia ? Will we serve as a diversionary magnet in a looming World War III? Will we pay carbon taxes at the cost of taking food away from our tables? 
In the face of the Bilderbergers’ policies of enforced poverty, economic stagnation and retrogression, nationalism is the only response to this group’s tyranny. Let’s fight pandemic panic with our indigenous resources like virgin coconut oil to strengthen our immune systems, advocate global pacifism, and build an independent industrial economy. 
(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulong Pilipinismo, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Monday with Atty. Alan Paguia, Wednesday with former Mayor Jun Simon, Friday with UMDJ’s Ver Eustaquio / May Pag-asa, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; Talk News TV, Destiny Cable, Channel 3, 8:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Ho-hum

How can anyone get excited about the presidential primaries, if the ANC Leadership Forum at the Ateneo were to be the gauge? One candidate had his fiancée chosen by his stage mother who went around inquiring about a prospective daughter-in-law who can draw the masa to their camp. Another is an unapologetic nominee of a ravenous oligarch; while yet another is this same oligarch’s estranged nephew who has now turned to suckle from his midget mama’s bountiful milk. There, too, was the “cry baby” of Philippine politics-- who embarrassed himself for hamming up with tears over the Red Cross workers’ kidnap in Sulu that drew flak from the AFP. 
Then, there’s that newcomer whom everybody knows is kicking himself upstairs because he failed to fulfill the expectations of his provincemates who helped secure his fluke of a slim win, who wouldn’t be able to win again given his situation today. This fellow, a priest whom we laud for his personal integrity, is sadly possessed of a hyperbolic perception of his own significance, who clings to an ideology that is too limited to the anti-corruption issue, betraying an ignorance or denial of neo-colonialism, as well as, corporatocratic feudalism as the real problems of this country. 
As you know, I don’t follow presidential debates, even those in the US , for statesmanship cannot be reduced to oratorical or debating prowess. If only such were the case, then snake oil salesmen would have made for great presidents. Yet that’s what the system today is all about--a system run by mainstream media, which in today’s so-called “democracies” are controlled by none other than the oligarchs and their neo-colonial masters. 
Because of this, discussions or debates are tightly controlled. In the case of the ANC Forum, we were correct in expecting the moderator, Tina Monson-Palma, not to ever ask what the presidential candidates would do about the highest Asia-wide power rates of the biggest distribution franchise in the Philippines for the simple reason that this would be against the oligarchic media owners’ interest. 
Monson-Palma’s questions did revolve around Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, however, and no doubt, Gloria worsened the national crisis by leaps and bounds. But all of the nation’s deep-seated problems preceded her and will continue long after she’s gone unless a fundamental redirection of the structure of this society is instituted. Unless we raise the people’s welfare to the highest priority of government, we will merely continue to relinquish control of all our political and economic affairs to the “money masters” and the political charlatans serving as their puppets. 
I set very high standards for leadership. I must first see these qualities indubitably proven by those seeking my support. I must first see the clarity and consistency in these people’s principles, along with their obstinacy and readiness to face any odds to see these through--traits commonly seen in revolutionary leaders like Fidel Castro, Mao Tse Tung or Ho Chi Minh; and in the likes of the US’ Founding Fathers or the heroes of the Philippine Revolution that culminated in the 1896 anti-colonial uprising. In today’s world, there are also elected leaders who exhibit these traits, like Venezuela ’s Hugo Chavez, who first suffered incarceration, or Bolivia ’s Evo Morales, who previously faced persecution. 
Most leaders of western democracies since the 1960s, in contrast, have been weak and opportunistic charlatans engineered by the power of money through the Bilderberg Group and its ancillary councils such as the Royal Institute of International Studies in Britain and the Council of Foreign Relations in New York . 
The real guiding lights in the West today are those in the anti-establishment socio-political movements--from the anti-war protesters like former attorney-general Ramsey Clark and Cindy Sheehan, to former Marine Scott Ritter and Fil-Am Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (who’s leading the torture charges against Bush and Co.), to alternative media leaders like Michel Chussodovsky and Alex Jones, and the many groups around them. 
The neo-colonial reality in the Philippines sets the limits for Philippine political leaders. Thus, only a few have dared to challenge this. From the Lava and the Taruc brothers to Recto, Constantino and Lichauco, to Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, the tradition of defiance against neo-colonialism has been sustained albeit costly. 
Marcos fought in the Second World War for the country and put forth RP’s economic development, which no amount of demonization can erase. Although he danced to the West’s neo-colonial tune for a while, he eventually asserted Philippine sovereignty and was deposed by a conspiracy of foreign and domestic forces. 
In similar fashion, Estrada championed the welfare of the masses and asserted Philippine sovereignty in Mindanao by demolishing the MILF, despite a note of warning from then President Clinton. By facing the wrath of the almighty US, he ended up with a coup and almost seven years of illegal incarceration. Earlier, Estrada had already been arrested and detained twice for defying Martial Law, but his real test came after his fall from power, where, despite Mrs. Arroyo’s twice-offered lures of comfortable exile, he chose incarceration while arguing his case before Gloria’s kangaroo court. And, as we now can see in the aftermath of the MoA on Ancestral Domain imbroglio, the MILF and the US are definitely in cahoots! 
The other leaders who have shown proof of their dedication to their principles are the likes of Gen. Danilo Lim, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the Bagong Katipuneros, Capt. Dante Langkit (the only one detained in Ft. Bonifacio), the group of Gen. Renato Miranda, the groups in Camp Aguinaldo and Tanay, many of the leaders of left-wing movements, and my own colleagues in Edsa III who have faced harassment, arrests, abductions and torture but who have remained true. If only these were the leaders being considered, I’d wake up and take notice.