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...

Tikboy is Alive! Zarathustra is dead!

First of all, congratulations to our blogging councilor, Hon. Pete Lavinia for winning another seat in the Davao City Council. Of course, kudos to the rest of the politicians who won by hook or by crook in the recently-held Philippine elections.

It's been a long while since my last log. Many things happened. The Genuine Opposition's senatorial slate grabbed most of the seats in the upper house, more scandals, new laws, etc., etc. Despite my virtual absence, Statcounter was still able to record hundreds of visits hoping that Tikboy will have newer and newer entries. Sorry for failing you, dear visitors. But good news, Tikboy has resurrected and will be busy blogging again.


But while Tikboy is alive, Zarathustra is dead! And the people having different thoughts yet taking steps parallel to Zarathustra's are slowly falling one by one. Courtesy, of course, by the the Arroyo government through its inaction (or blessing?).

Anyway, this is just an introduction to the Second Coming of Snippets. Please bear with me as I watch the moments pass us by...

Ombudsman: Graduating from Mona Lisa's lair

Sometime in 1998, an investigative report by Cecille Balgos goes on to show that the Office of the Ombudsman has been singled out as "Mona Lisa's lair". According to Balgos, the cases filed before the Ombudsman inevitably take after a line in the 1950s ballad popularized by Nat 'King' Cole which goes: They just lie there, and they die there.

But that was in 1998. Now, the Office of the Ombudsman headed by Merceditas Gutierrez has been very active and always at the limelight. Last April, she even proudly announced that her office was able to fire "23 erring public officials and suspended 33 others from government service in the past 15 months." (Sad to note, these public officials were only tiny dilis as compared with the pating swimming lavishly in the halls of Malacanang.) Her office was even able to come up with a resolution regarding the involvement of the Comelec Officials in the Mega Pacific scam and later revoked it to clear the name of the commissioners. Just like Gloria Arroyo, the alleged Philippine president, who said she will not run for president but still filed a certificate of candidacy and won after calling a Comelec official to ensure that her votes will be higher than 1 million as against her nearest contender.

Whether or not the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman is favorable to the public, or that the Office is turning a blind eye to the truth, or that it is just wiping with a hanky the blooded hands of the murderer, however, are different stories. What is clear is that the Ombudsman is now working and that it has graduated from being a Mona Lisa's lair.