So this is how our government officials here in the Philippines commemorate the memory of one of our great icons of democracy, Cory Aquino.
At the time when everyone were mourning over our great loss, here are our officials pigging out in a glitzy royale French fine dining restaurant in Manhattan, New York and spending US$20,000.00.
First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is staying behind while his wife, Gloria flies back to Manila to attend President Cory Aquino’s wake. Malacanang offered no explanation why FG decided to stay behind.
According to some sources in the US, the First Gentleman daw will be giving his testimony in connection with the alleged money laundering charges filed against him by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Some monts back, news about the cases filed against FG circulated in coffee shops throughout the US and the Philippines. FG wanted to clear his name and see for himself the serious charge sheets, according to these sources. However, the FBI refused to validate or confirm this.
After this, FG will be visiting their properties in San Francisco California. The First Family’s properties, sources say, have encountered serious back taxes. The values of their real estate properties also went down. That’s why, FG has reportedly decided to divest these properties and use the money to buy more properties outside of the US. Reportedly, the First Family intends to retire in their luxurious villas in Portugal, instead of their initial plan to stay in the US to avoid possible prosecution from state authorities.
Mrs. Arroyo just lambasted her critics for alleged political shamanism in the face of an impending financial crisis to hit us in the first quarter of 2009. She said that protests are ill-timed and ill-advised. We should all be uniting behind her to effect reforms.
Question–did the Filipino People made these controversies all up? Were we the ones who…
Let me re-publish one letter to the editor sent by an Inquirer reader here:
‘Godmother’ rules Philippine ‘gangland’
It’s really dismaying to watch the news and read the papers. An agriculture official diverted fertilizer funds for election purposes, a top election official sealed a deal to modernize elections with a bogus company, and a presidential candidate called an election commissioner during the canvassing of votes.
Let’s not forget a US Marine/rapist was smuggled out of Philippine jurisdiction, a convicted plunderer was pardoned, and an arrogant murderer was recently granted clemency. Now a former police comptroller is under fire for carrying more cash than allowed in Russia or anywhere but here. Slowly but surely our country is beginning to look like a very bad movie—except that it’s real.
I suggest we drop all pretenses and just declare once and for all that we no longer deserve the name “Republika ng Pilipinas.”
Our beautiful Philippines is looking more and more like a gangland. It’s now home to the most successful Mafia-like syndicate there is in any part of the world. Just like in the movies, the syndicate’s bosses appear respectable, they go to church on Sundays, and have nice real mansions, clothes and cars. But here, unlike anywhere else, they also run our country.
Here they can have you abducted or killed in broad daylight, especially if you (a) are an activist and (b) a journalist critical of government anomalies, or for no particular reason at all. Here they drive around in those big SUVs with armed escorts who will not hesitate to bully anyone who gets in their way.
Yes, they belong to The Family that rules the country. This Family is headed by a godmother, who is also the patron of convicted rapists, plunderers, murderers and election cheats. Human rights? They can’t be found around these parts of the planet.
JOSHUA REY P. CENTRO (via email)
Tomorrow, Illegitimate president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will again address the House of Representatives. As tradition dictates, she’ll present a report and an agenda. This report is supposedly a true and honest account of what government has done to achieve the previous year’s SONA. And Gloria is supposed to give an agenda to guide legislators on the priority bills this year.
Oppositionists say Gloria will just lie and picture what Makati mayor Jejomar Binay said: “..a situation where people are not hungry, oil is cheap…and government officials are honest”. United Opposition (UNO) spokesman Adel Tamano meanwhile enjoined the people to just listen to the “true” State of the Nation (SONA) along Congressional Avenue and in Makati to have a grasp of the true realities of Philippine life.
True, Gloria would probably lie to us and say that she and her mafia gang are doing something to arrest what the Inquirer said, is the continuing slide of major institutions of governance to corruption and decay. Gloria would picture the “success” of her administration in solving some of the basic problems we face today. These lies would make us catatonic again, making us complacent and inutile. What Gloria is doing is weaving a tapestry of intricate lies and half-truths that as a whole, picture a stable nation.
The real question here is what will we do about it? If we are being lied about by this usurper, are we supposed to do something about it? Are we just to go to Congressional avenue and listen to alternate viewpoints?
These opposition groups should provide an answer. They should enjoin the people to act accordingly. For, in not doing so, they are being negligent of their very job of being fiscalizers and true change agents. It is not enough to comment or make aspersions about Gloria. This is the time for them, the opposition, to provide some answers so that truly, the People will see, feel and hear that they do, indeed, represent the interests of the masses.
To the Opposition–don’t provide us with empty talk. The people already know we’re all in deep shit. Provide us direction and guide us on what to do with a monumental problem like Gloria.
Why was it that the Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to even prosecute even one big-time rice trader? Recently, the price of commercial rice just shot up again. After a much publicized raid of rice warehouses, the NBI teams just suddenly…faded into obscurity..again.
Talks are a-buzz that these raids were directed against Vicky Toh, the alleged paramour of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Yes, the infamous Toh. Toh reportedly controls rice and wheat trading in the Philippines. There are talks that Mrs. Gloria Arroyo ordered a crackdown of Toh’s warehouses, which caused considerable consternation from the First Golfer..err…Gentleman that he called the DOJ secretary to revive the case of then semi-retired former DOJ secretary Hernani Perez. Talk about a family feud…
Now, look. There’s no more raids…no more Hernani Perez…no more attacks against rice traders. What happened? Seems that the Arroyos are using the entire government machinery as mere retaliatory tools when they wage conjugal wars against each other.
Seems that fair-haired Gloria boy Mike Defensor is still in the States, preparing for what? Talks are a-buzz that he’s being primed for another government post. Why? We have enough of Mike. Mike should learn how to call it quits. We don’t need Mike Defensor, period.
By the way, there’s a titanic battle between the Lopezes and the Arroyos come May 27. Who’ll emerge as the winner? Who do you think?
Recently, the Lopezes said that there are five foreign firms interested in buying the GSIS stake over at Meralco. In an interview, Meralco President Jesus Francisco intimated to reporters that these foreign companies want to save the Lopezes from the inevitable government takeover come May 27.
How true? Well, Oscar Lopez trip to Europe shows how determined the Lopez family is in maintaining control of the utility firm. Meralco, it seems, is their main bread and butter. They can’t allow government to just raid it and part the spoils among Arroyo’s gang of misfits?
If this is true, then, are we expecting the further “de-nationalization” of Meralco? As it stands, Meralco’s stake is owned partly by two foreign partners of the Lopezes. If the Lopezes increases the participation of 5 more foreign firms, it would further make Meralco one of the most foreign funded utility firm ever.
Speculations are rife that GSIS President Winston Garcia is really bent on carving Meralco up to numerous pieces, to be controlled by the Aboitiz family and the Garcias of Cebu. So, introducing foreigners to buy the GSIS stake would amount to nothing.
There’s still a chance for the Lopezes to save themselves—ask the numerous stockholders of the GSIS funds, like myself, to rally behind them come May 27. Should I or should I not? What do you think?
