A negative is negative

According to the Social Weather Stations, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC)'s satisfaction rating in its drive against corruption is negative 7% in 2005 which fell to negative 17% last year and partially recovered to negative 8% this year.

For this, PAGC Chair Constancia De Guzman retorted: That is something, a positive sign that we are succeeding in the fight against graft and corruption.

Teka, teka, teka! It appears that Ms. De Guzman is misled. A negative rating is still a negative rating. Whatever the figure is, it simply means you are not doing your job well. If you do, then where are the sharks that you were able to catch? Or you have catched only anchovies? And why is the Philippines still on top of the list of corrupt governments in Asia? Hmmnnn?

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...