Potential list of 2010 senatoriables from Lakas

From the Inquirer:

Fifteen congressmen, three Cabinet members and two re-electionists are among those in the 30 potential senatorial candidates being considered by the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats in 2010, its spokesman said on Wednesday.

List of potential candidates? Kala ko pa naman list of potential projects ng Lakas. O kaya list of political grasshoppers na tatanggalin ng Lakas. Sayang.

Anyway, curious lang ako sa senatoriables na kasama sa listahan -- si Bong Revilla tsaka si Lito Lapid. Di ba nahihiya ang Lakas sa performance ng mga ito bilang mga senador? O proud sila sa performance ng mga ito bilang mga artista? If it is the latter, puwede ba ulit itanong kung ang trabaho ng senado ngayon ay para gumawa na lang ng pelikula o para gumawa pa rin ng mga batas?

By the way, kasama daw sa listahan ng potential list of senators ang mga sumusunod:

1. Lito Lapid
2. Bong Revilla
3. Ralph Recto
4. Eduardo Zialcita
5. Prospero Pichay

Check and Balance or Retaliation?

According to Inquirer.net: Malacañang has “unceremoniously” sacked the brother of Chief Justice Reynato Puno from the Commission on Higher Education, slashed by about P1 billion the 2008 budget for the judiciary, and disapproved funding for the Manila City Hall of Justice requested by Puno.

Well, as a democratic country, there is a system, of check and balance. Pero bakit mukhang retaliation ata ang nangyari? As Senator Pangilinan asked: Is Malacañang punishing the Supreme Court for calling the summit on extrajudicial killings? Is it exacting vengeance after the summit raised the issue of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s possible liability for the unabated killings?

Oo nga. Bakit ganun?

Pero teka, speaking of bakit, let us also ask: Bakit nagtatanong na rin si Kiko? Noted niya na rin ba ang mga nangyayari? Ba't ngayon lang ata siya nakahalata unlike in 2004 canvassing of votes for the presidential elections?

Bakit nga ba?

Trillanes's continuing detention, not a voice of the people

Many looking for complicated arguments just to let Senator-Elect Antonio Trillanes go out of his detention cell and perform his functions as a member of the Upper House. Pero simple lang naman ang argumento diyan.

First, the President of the Philippines has a power to grant pardon and amnesty. Pero saan ba galing ang powers na yan? Sabi sa Article 2 ng 1987 Constitution:

Section 1. The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.

In a sense, the president cannot exercise his/her powers to grant pardon and amnesty without the blessing of the people.

Second, If the President is a delegatee of the powers to grant pardon and amnesty, it therefore follows that the people also has those powers. Sabi nga: One cannot delegate which he/she doesn't have.

Which boils down to the third proposition: The people elected Trillanes. This is despite the fact that there are 37 choices for the position. And this, despite the fact that Trillanes is facing charges for his "criminal acts". The very simple conclusion is that the people simply condones whatever acts Trillanes may have committed. O di ba?

Say ni Fr. Joaquin Bernas na isang constitutionalist? Kahit si Senator Brenda Santiago pa ang tanungin natin.

'S' for 'Seven'; 'S' for 'Shut-up'

Joining the "7-7-7" hype is my friend, Albytes, who got wed on that date. He thought seven is a lucky number so after seven years, he is dreaming of having seven children.

But seven is not a lucky number after all. After nearly seven hours of debates, the members of the Supreme Court voted 7 favor and 7 against the petition of Pimentel the Son for the plea for temporary restraining order. The equal number of votes simply meant denying the petition and thereby continuing the proclamation of Team Unity's Juan Miguel Zubiri as the 12th Senator of the Pinoy Republic.

Pimentel the Son felt a great loss but the Filipino people suffered a far greater loss. As Tribune simply put it: The former congressman’s [Zubiri's]proclamation at the expense of his rival [Koko Pimentel]from the opposition camp for the 12th seat has legitimized cheating and any views to the contrary will only “inspire” the politically ambitious into looking for the Bedols around and, presto, the Comelec will raise his hands as victor.

In simple terms it means bastardizing democracy and making the voting public look stupid.

*****

7-7 is to be remembered also for shutting-up dissident voices because of the implementation of the anti-opposition law.... err., anti-terrorism law couched in a beautifully worded term "Human Security Act".

The implementation of the law started July 15 even without the necessary implementing rules and regulations (IRR).According to Toting Bunye, the IRR is not anymore necessary.

Naks naman. If the IRR is not necessary, then anything that “causes widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace” can be considered as acts of terrorism because that is the definition of the law. So if you happened to wear a mask for the maskara festival, or if you are trying to imitate and provide a visual description for the tambaloslos in the Ibalong festival, you must be a terrorist already.

Another "panicky" pothole in the law is the question as to who will give the qualification of a terrorist. That is because, with the general definition, Ducat of the Manila hostage drama can be considered a terrorist. 40 years pa naman iyon sa kulungan.

Similarly, all the rallyists can be tagged as terrorists especially if Gloria in the Palace will be rattled with their "storming presence" as what happened in February last year. Gloria thinks she is the state with the promulgation of PP 1017 and the CPR so the possibility is not remote for her, being the State, to experience “widespread and extraordinary fear and panic". That being the case, goodbye dear rallyists.

The Trillanes's Mandate

The editorial of Inquirer is quite incisive. To quote:

Should [Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV] accused of leading a coup d'etat be allowed either temporary or conditional liberty, to allow him to discharge his duties as a new member of the Senate? Should he enjoy a change in his custody status, from military detention to perhaps the custody of the Senate? Not least, should his election to the Senate, on the strength of over 11 million votes, be considered as absolving him of his liability?

A friend who is now a Dutch citizen lamented that in the Philippines, anybody who wants to be a senator must first stage a coup d' etat. Just like Honasan and Trillaness. Such a thinking, he continued, makes the Filipinos an "inexplicable political morons".

(Well, my friend isn't Miriam Santiago. Too bad he isn't that we can't rid a country with at least one genius liar.)

Well I may not be proud to be a Filipino. Neither am I proud to be an inexplicable political moron. But if such a moronic state could give sanity to elections, so be it. The way I read the signs, the election of Trillanes simply means a wake up call to those "seated in the most high". If the Filipinos are satisfied, why would they exchange chocolates for "delimon"? Or a castle for a "barong-barong"? Nobody would even want a "tinapa" in exchange for a beefsteak (unless he/she is a Hindi).

At first I also believe that the Filipinos are an irrational voter. It's hard to predict what they want and who will they choose. Add the mud that the Catholic church spread by saying "Ang pera sa bulsa, ang boto sa balota". But th was before. It was only lately that I realized Filipinos are what Samuel Popkins call as a "Reasoning Voter". They vote retrospectively and prospectively. They want to punish their officials for not performing well, and they sometimes have "moronic" choices because they think that someday, somehow, things will still change. And for that reason, they chose Trillanes.

But as to Inquirer's question on the fate of Trillanes, the only possible reply is: Read the signs. The signs are clear and these are written already on the ballot.

Hanging Ropes and Elections

While Miguel Zubiri and Koko Pimentel are still busy with the legal battles on the Maguindanao vote, the local politicians are also busy with the cases they have filed against each other. But why this fuss? Let us count the ways:

1. There are no losers in the Philippine elections -- only the winners and those who have been cheated.
2. The first teacher of cheating is the Church. They are not transparent as to where the tithes go. As a result, some spiritual leaders and ministers have acquired new cars and houses in the name of the father... err, in the name of their family members.
3. From this teaching, the State goes onto institutionalize this. Take a look at Arroyo.
4. Worse, the Church did nothing but keep mum on the Hello Garci. In another case, there is vote-buying. The Church says: Ang pera sa bulsa, ang boto sa balota. This was the slogan since the time of Cardinal Sin which, in a sense, approves the taking of election money. In a sense, the institutionalization of cheating was tacitly approved by Tikboy's spiritual leaders.
   
5. And here comes the Comelec. Until now, it was not able to pin down an election cheater. Where is Garci? And Bedol? And big happy family, err... mafia, that manipulates votes since post-Marcos elections?
   

Worse, while the real winners find their places lost in the labyrinth of uncertainty and shame, the faces of the real losers almost split into two like the "tambaloslos" of the Ibalong epic for wearing that extra (and super) large smile. And while these real losers eat their fill and plunge their hands at the bounty of the government coffers, the voters who did not choose them continue to wallow in poverty and hunger. And this cycle continues again and again.

Of course, there are also politicians who won fair and square. But nobody knows their number. And nobody knows if they can still multiply. Hope they will...