Archive for October, 2009
October 28th, 2009 by bp
It’s clear now Senator Noynoy Aquino is not the only one running a campaign anchored on the popularity of a dead personality. If Noynoy has the memory of his parents, Ninoy and Cory, to prop up his platform-less campaign, Senator Francis Escudero has the seemingly undying appeal of Da King to fuel his.
Yes, the Chizman has lowered the bar further by choosing to exploit the memory of erstwhile presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. In a pathetic attempt to boost his masa appeal further, Escudero has resorted to using devices identified with FPJ. If you’ve been listening to AM radio lately you would have already heard the senator’s radio commercial, which features the very same campaign jingle used by FPJ back in 2004. You’d probably remember that jingle by its anthemic line “may bagong umagang parating” (a new morning is coming).
I don’t about you but to me this trend of exploitation of the dead is so low. But, I guess this is just how things go when candidates can’t come up with real substance with which voters can base their evaluation and decision.
Well, true to his usual form, Chizzy came out with a number of pandering statements during his pander-fest of a press conference at Club Filipino in San Juan earlier today. His supporters may think otherwise but one of the worst things Chizzy said today was his reason for resigning from his political party the Nationalist People’s Coalition or NPC.
“Sa aking paniniwala, sinuman pong nagpaplano tumakbo bilang pangulo ng bansa, wala dapat partidong kinabibilangan. Ang partido lamang dapat niya ay Pilipinas at ang kanyang mg kapartido ay lahat ng Pilipino,”
(I believe that anyone who plans to run for president of this country should not be allied with any political party. His only party should be the Philippines and his party mates all Filipinos.)
Since when did the Philippines become a party? Oh wait! It is one big party, a big fiesta of fools.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure Chizzy’s rabid fans will lap this up and all his other motherhood statements without even thinking. What can we expect? Dumb candidate, dumb… oh never mind.
Seriously, who is Chiz fooling? He didn’t leave the NPC because of some pseudo-altruistic/patriotic crap about not wanting to be chained to a party. Chiz left the NPC because he was not getting the support he wanted from his party of 11 years.
While I may be able to ignore Chizzy’s statement, I certainly can’t do the same with the fact that many immature, juvenile and mindless people (and I’m not just talking about his youth supporters) would actually take the whole thing as another proof that Chiz is not a traditional politician. Can’t you people see beyond the spin? Oh well.
Moving on… I think I’ve just found a simple way to know for certain if, at this point, the Philippines is still headed for many years of non-progress. My simple method involves what I shall henceforth call the “Chiz-Noy Metric of Doom.” What you do is simply check if the number of Chiz and Noynoy supporters continues to grow. A decline indicates relative safety. The Philippines may still have a chance. On the other hand, an increase especially one that is exponential is a red flag. That should tell all of us that we’re all doomed.
October 21st, 2009 by bp
Dear Erap,
Nananawagan ako sa iyo na huwag ka na sanang tumakbo para sa pagkapangulo. Nakikiusap ako na kung maaari lang sana ay isipin mo ang mas nakakabuti para sa sambayanang Pilipino. Kung maaari ay mas isipin mo na lang kapakanan ng mga kababayan mo kaysa ang pansariling interes.
Wala namang duda na kahit papaano ay malakas pa rin ang hatak mo sa mga tao. Wala ring duda na marami pa rin ang nahuhulog sa iyong diskarte. Malinaw na malinaw rin na alam mo rin ito. Sa katunayan naisip mo pa ngang gawin sa masang masang lugar tulad ng Tondo ang iyong pagdedeklara ng kandidatura. Kitang kita rin sa mga binitawan mong salita ang mala-showbiz mong atake para makuha ang simpatiya ng mga taong dati mo nang pinangakuang iaangat mula sa kahirapan.
Nakikiusap ako sa iyo Erap. Huwag ka nang tumakbo. Higit sa lahat nakikiusap ako na huwag mo namang tratuhing tanga ang mga hindi tanga at lalong huwag mo namang pagsamantalahan ang mga tatanga tanga. Huwag ka nang tumakbo Erap. Kung totoong gusto mo talagang tumulong sa mahihirap magagawa mo naman ito bilang isang pribadong mamamayan. Sa dami ng iyong pera marami kang pwedeng gawin. Bigyan kita ng ilang suhestiyon:
- magpatayo ka ng mga paaralang magbibigay ng libreng edukasyon sa mahihirap
- magsimula ka ng sarili mong programa para turuan ang mga mahihirap na tumayo sa sarili nilang mga paa; maaari mong ituro sa kanila kung paano magpayaman (pwede ring iba na lang ang magturo)
- mamahagi ka ng pondong pang-puhunan para sa mga mahihirap; gayahin mo ang Grameen Bank (napakagandang programa nun)
- magtayo ka ng negosyong makapagbibigay ng trabaho sa napakaraming tao; gayahin mo si Cecilio Kwok Pedro, ang may-ari ng Hapee Toothpaste
- magtayo ka ng mga komunidad para sa mga mahihirap tulad ng Gawad Kalinga
- magpatayo ka ng mga hospital na magbibigay ng libreng serbisyo sa mga mahihirap
Kita mo naman. Marami rami na rin ang mga suhestiyong naibigay ko. Sigurado ako kaya mo ring makaisip ng iba pang proyekto na pwede mong gawin para makatulong kahit pa hindi ka presidente ng Pilipinas.
Seryosong panawagan ito Erap. Kung totoong mahal mo ang mga mahihirap, igagalang mo sila at hindi mo sasamantalahin ang kanilang kakulangan sa edukasyon. Hindi mo ipiprisinta ang sarili mo sa kanila bilang kandidato kahit pa alam mo namang mahihirapan kang tumanggi sa mga mala-lintang personalidad na nasa paligid mo (ganyan naman talaga ang barkadahan di ba?) sakaling manalo ka. Hindi mo rin sila paaasahin sa wala.
Tama na sana ang nakapaglingkod ka bilang mayor, senador at pangulo noon kahit pa hindi mo nga natapos ang iyong termino sa Malacanang. OK na iyun. Kung ako sa iyo tutulong na lang talaga ako bilang pribadong mamamayan. Mas masarap iyon at hindi ka pa masyadong mabuburyong dahil walang babatikos sa iyo. Tinitiyak ko rin sa iyo na sa ganitong paraan mas higit mong maibabalik ang bango ng pangalang Estrada.
Ano? Pwede mo bang mapagbigyan ang aking pakiusap? Umaasa ako na kahit papaano ay pagiisipan mo ang mga suhestiyon ko. Gusto ko lang naman sana kasi na makita ko na talagang mahal mo ang Pilipinas at gagawin mo ang tunay na makakabuti para dito.
Salamat.
October 19th, 2009 by bp
Is honesty the most important trait we need to see in our candidates especially those for the presidency? Noynoy Aquino’s supporters think so. If they are to be believed, honesty will not only ensure good governance it will also solve unemployment, illiteracy, insurgency, crime, poverty and possibly even baldness. Of course I’m kidding. Honesty can’t solve our country’s problem with criminality.
Seriously, such is the power of the Yellow Fever and the Cory magic — they have a way of screwing up your logical mind. You think I’m exaggerating? Check out these samples taken from the Noynoy gushfest over the internet.
- Noynoy offers us hope. We may be disappointed again in the future, maybe not. But we see hope and we cling to that hope. We do not see that at all in ALL other candidateshe is the only who has the integrity, honesty and character for the job.
- given Noynoy’s ‘non-record’, there is HOPE. Some may call it FAITH, whatever you may call it, the 60% of the people THINK it is better than what the others lay on the table. Honestly, I’d rather gamble on Noynoy than the proven records of the rest.
- My biggest reason for backing Noynoy and Mar is their honesty.
As you can plainly see the authors of these comments would like us to believe that Noynoy is an honest person. Now I’m just wondering how they arrived at that conclusion. I’m guessing they did so by simple deduction. Most likely they figured that since Noynoy’s name has never been dragged into any corruption scandal he must be clean. Fair enough. I must admit that kind of reasoning is a little hard to dispute but since I’m feeling a little adventurous today I’ll give it a try.
First of all I’d like to say that Noynoy is not necessarily an honest man even if he has not been implicated in any scandalous affair involving public funds. Notice that I said ‘has not been implicated’ not ‘is not implicated’ or ‘will not be implicated.’ I’m making an issue out of that distinction because if you really think hard about it Noynoy’s clean record merely indicates that he has not been accused of any corruption, yet. That’s just what it means. To say that it’s an indication of honesty is a bit of a stretch. Fact is if we follow that faulty reasoning then we can safely say that the moment Noynoy gets accused of something he ceases to be ‘honest.’ The absence of one thing (accusations of corruption) does not necessarily establish the presence of another (honesty).
I have to hand it to Noynoy’s handlers. Aside from establishing Noynoy’s ownership of the ‘honesty’ brand, they also appear to have succeeded in positioning Noynoy as the solution to corruption.
- Noynoy = Honesty = Anti-Corruption.
Of course there’s an even bigger equation at play here, which certainly works to the advantage of Noynoy and any other opposition candidate. It is this:
- Corruption = President Gloria Arroyo.
Considering the above mentioned equations we arrive at this:
And that my friends is how Noynoy is perceived by his supporters. Obviously, Noynoy’s handlers want to make sure their candidate will have the best chance of winning and at this point in time the anti-PGMA angle seems to be all that’s working for them.
While I can acknowledge the marketing wisdom here, I’m still of the opinion that an anti-PGMA stance is not enough. So, am I saying that being anti-PGMA is wrong? Of course not. Nor am I saying that we shouldn’t vote for Noynoy because he is against PGMA. What I’m saying is we shouldn’t vote for Noynoy or any other candidate who has nothing to offer but an anti-PGMA stance.
I hope you’re not thinking I am not against corruption. For your information, like many others I also believe corruption is one of our biggest problems. As a matter of fact some of my earliest posts in this blog were about corruption and my ideas as to how it can be addressed. You can verify this here and here.
Like all the Noynoy supporters out there, I also don’t care much for PGMA. I would also like to see her out of Malacanang. The only difference is I prefer that she be replaced by someone who has already demonstrated a real desire and ability to do much better. I don’t care if that person has any connection, whether imagined or real, to PGMA. What’s the problem if the next president is connected to PGMA anyway? Oh I forgot, a PGMA ally can make sure she won’t have to spend a single day in court after she steps down. Talk about conspiracies.
Anti-PGMA candidates like Senator Chiz Escudero would like us to believe that PGMA’s prosecution is the most important event that should happen after the 2010 elections. For me, it is not. The next president should not even be pressured to focus all his/her energy on this particular issue. That should not be the main thrust of the next president as there are much bigger issues that need attention foremost of which is the economy.
Just like Escudero, Noynoy is running on nothing but an Anti-PGMA platform. No, make that an Anti-PGMA slogan. But unlike Escudero, who in all fairness has been fairly consistent in inflaming people’s passions with his oppositionist pandering, Noynoy doesn’t fully commit to this anti-PGMA branding. Noynoy is simply vague about this and pretty much everything.
Well, there’s really much to be said about a candidate who chooses to be vague or silent about what he really stands for and plans to do for the country. From the time he was thrust into the limelight following the death of his mother, former president Cory Aquino, Noynoy has shown nothing but qualities that hardly qualify him as a leader but certainly make him popular with people who refuse to see beyond dramatic devices. For one he has been milking the “I’m not sure I’m the one but with the people’s support I can be” line for all it’s worth. Dear reader, Noynoy is just playing to your emotions. Don’t be fooled.
At the end of the day, what we’re really talking about here is the country’s future not some telenovela. With that in mind please know that what this country needs is a leader who has real plans and the right skill set to carry them out. If you want to see an end to corruption, hunger, poverty, crime, and everything else that ails the country, demand real solutions from Noynoy and all the other candidates. Let’s base our analysis of the candidates on their ideas and not their campaign slogans and gimmicks.
In Noynoy’s case, all this hoopla around his being honest is just a gimmick.
October 13th, 2009 by bp
I’ve had some run-ins with Senator Francis Escudero’s supporters in the past and in one of those instances I promised one of the senator’s most avid fans that I will publish his platform here as soon as it is available. It’s been a while since then and I have yet to receive a copy of Escudero’s platform. Last I heard the platform is ready but that the senator will make it public only after he announces his candidacy.
Well Escudero’s plans remain a mystery even though he said he will reveal it after he reaches his 40th birthday, which he did just recently. So what’s causing the hold up? Apparently, unlike Senator Noynoy Aquino who even saw it fit to meet with former president Joseph Estrada while Ondoy was battering the country, Escudero would like to defer any talk of politics at this time. Here’s an excerpt from an Inquirer.net report:
Sen. Francis Escudero has decided to withhold any announcement about his political plans for the 2010 elections in deference to the crisis brought about by the damage wrought by two killer storms.“It’s not right to talk about politics while many of our people are still missing, have no houses to return to and have no food to eat,’’ Escudero said in a news conference on Monday.
I’m sure many people other than those belonging to his many fan clubs are eagerly awaiting his plans. I, for one, am interested in his ideas concerning education. My curiosity stems mainly from his past statements about this issue one of which is his supposed proposal to scrap certain math subjects from the school curriculum, which led many people to conclude that the senator is for a dumber Philippines. Escudero has since claimed that his ’scrap math’ statement was taken out of context. Here’s an article from his own website:
Escudero reiterates need to review school curriculum, adopt multi-intelligence approach in education
July 3, 2009
“I believe our students will be better served by a broader vision of education, wherein teachers use different methodologies, exercises and activities to reach all students, not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence, or mathematics. At the same time, developing a multiple-intelligence approach will justify a 10-year basic education since a 12-year transition seems difficult to do at this time,” he said.
This, as he clarified his proposal for the review of the basic education curriculum, saying he was misquoted in articles circulating in the Internet lambasting the proposal he raised in 2006.
Escudero said the articles quote “only part of our proposal, and not the whole picture,” particularly on the removal of certain advanced subjects such as Algebra and Trigonometry from the existing basic education curriculum.
“What we actually want is for advanced subjects like Algebra, Trigonometry, etc. to be removed from the basic curriculum, which means these subjects will still be retained in the curriculum not as core subjects but as electives which interested students can opt to take,” Escudero said.
“Why not let those with interest in mathematics or engineering take those advance courses as electives and not burden others students interested in other fields or disciplines to study these difficult subjects?” he added.
The senator said the proposal, which he filed as a bill at the House of Representatives in 2006, was intended to support the development of the multi-intelligence approach in education.
“I don’t think our graduates will lose their competitive edge if we remove these subjects from our basic curriculum. On the contrary, if we are able to focus on subjects and skills needed to be employable (while retaining core subjects such as English, Science, Mathematics, Philippine History and Active Citizenship, and the Arts), we will provide our graduates a good grasp of language, numeracy and other skills that are needed to be competitive in the global market,” he added.
Escudero said his track record in pursuing reforms in the education sector will speak for itself and prove his critics wrong.
As Sorsogon representative, Escudero authored Republic Act 9155, or the Governance of Basic Education Act, which transformed the name of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) to the Department of Education (DepEd) and provided the overall framework for school head empowerment by strengthening their leadership roles and school-based management within the context of transparency and local accountability.
He also filed bills seeking to raise teachers’ salaries and benefits.
I think Escudero’s proposal will do more harm than good. Mathematics is a bane to many students but it is a field of study they ought to learn and appreciate. Making it an optional subject would only ensure that no student, except for the truly mathematically gifted and so inclined, will take it. In my opinion, high school students shouldn’t be given that choice. Instead of making mathematics an elective subject why not just make it more interesting much like how mathematician/columnist/author Qeena Lee-Chua does it.
Another one of Escudero’s education related statement is this
‘Across-the-board’ passing mark urged for typhoon-hit students
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:10:00 10/12/2009
Filed Under: Pepeng, Ondoy, Disasters (general), Education, Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections
MANILA, Philippines – An “across-the-board” passing grade for all students affected by recent typhoons has been proposed by a senator on Monday.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said this should be given to affected students in elementary, high school, and college levels since their schools were no longer “usable” and they could no longer catch up with their lessons.
“Ideklara nang pasado or across-the board-ipasa na lahat ng estudyante mula elementary, high school at college sa mga naapektuhang lugar [Students in the elementary, high school, and college levels in affected areas should be given a passing grade across-the-board],” Escudero said in an interview over “Umagang kay Ganda,” a morning show over ABS-CBN television network.
“If you notice, even in reliefe effortsof ABS-CBN, a lot of the youth helped when there were no classes. When classes resumed, only you were left,” Escudero told his hosts.
“What the youth will learn when they help, what the youth will learn in areas ravaged by the typhoons, these cannot be taught inside the classroom in one semester or even in a year,” he said in Filipino.
In a text message, Escudero explained that a passing grade for these students was the least that the government could do for them, “especially given the fact that they already learned a lot from this experience and the semester is almost over.”
He said the Department of Education can issue a directive on this, citing a similar incident during Edsa I.
“If I remember, this was done during Edsa I when there was no grade given to the students except “P” so that their average or grade won’t be affected,” Escudero said.
Instead of returning to school, the students should be tapped to help the victims of the calamity.
“We should tap youth power to help us get through this,” said the senator.
I seriously hope the Senator was just misquoted here. This proposal is just (I’m vocabulary-challenged so pardon my choice of word) idiotic. Oh well.
Anyway, BongV of Sanamagan gave this reaction.
OMG. He ought to be suggesting remedial classes. Deliver content online. He could have suggested that the Phil government seriously consider e-learning as an alternative measure. That way, students don’t have to be in the classrooms in Manila to be able to catch up. And the cost of deploying an online course is substantially less than constructing a new building and equipping it with chairs, blackboard, etc.
You see there are other options reason why I find it hard to understand why the good senator would pick the dumbest one. Oh wait! I almost forgot he does have a tendency to pander. Let’s double check.
Well, it is evident here:
“If you notice, even in relief effortsof ABS-CBN, a lot of the youth helped when there were no classes. When classes resumed, only you were left,” Escudero told his hosts.
And here:
In a text message, Escudero explained that a passing grade for these students was the least that the government could do for them, “especially given the fact that they already learned a lot from this experience and the semester is almost over.”
From the looks of it, Senator Escudero is just being his pandering self. And, this time he’s going after really very young kids. It’s either that or he’s really pushing for a dumber Philippines.
October 12th, 2009 by bp
A blogger friend called my attention to a banner going around Facebook. It is this one:
It’s a nice graphic if I may say so myself. However, I’m not at all impressed with the message it imparts. My apologies to Mark Gosingtian, the artist responsible for this artwork.
I’m certain Mark got his inspiration for this artwork from the outpouring of assistance for the victims of the recent floods. I can’t blame him. It really is quite a sight seeing people working together to help those in need. The effect is amplified even more when the scenes are rendered in slow motion and set to dramatic music. Such is the power of video editing.
Well, as I said earlier, I am not at all impressed with the message.
Where I’m From Everyone’s A Hero
(Mark I’m really sorry. In case you read this I just want you to know that I don’t mean to offend you especially since I got word that you may actually be doing this for charity.)
My main problem with Mark’s slogan is that it is one big exaggeration and a flat out lie. My other problem is that because it was rendered in such a fashionable manner it will certainly attract a bit of a following. Remember those ubiquitous Ako Mismo dogtags?
I know the message is meant to be inspirational and I sincerely hope it does inspire Filipinos to come out with real initiatives aimed at getting our country moving towards real progress. But that’s the problem. Slogans like these don’t really do that sort of thing. They always fail to produce meaningful results. Worse they even contribute to the dumbing down of this country by reinforcing the wrong notion that everything is alright. Unfortunately, where such an attitude or belief is the prevalent one you can be sure real progress is almost non-existent.
To be blunt about it. We are not a nation of heroes. We are just a nation of ordinary people currently facing extraordinary challenges. How we turn out afterwards is of course yet to be seen. I am betting though that even we apply Rhonda Bryne’s visualization technique to this hero thing there is no way we will become a nation of heroes.
Instead of aspiring for hero status why don’t we just aspire for something a little more down to earth. How about we aspire to be a nation of rational thinking people? And, if having a slogan is a must then I would suggest something less “fashionable” but truly meaningful. I propose this one from the netizen known only as Benign0:
Get Real Philippines!
It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? It may not be as sexy as “Where I’m From Everyone’s A Hero” but it certainly does more than just create an artificial feeling of patriotism. For one it tells you to do something. Now, the great thing about it is that if you feel you’re really up to it there’s already a place where you can go to get ideas. I’ll provide the link in a bit but before that I want to warn you the content in the site you’re going to see will challenge your beliefs and make you think really hard.
So, are you ready to exercise your brain and get real or would you rather just wear the national colors on your shirt and feel all hero-like? Well, if you’re the former then proceed here. And, if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of being real for the Philippines go here.
October 1st, 2009 by bp
Much has been said about what could have possibly caused the floods that hit many parts of Metro Manila. For those who still don’t get it, here’s an explanation in an easy-to-understand picture file courtesy of Benign0 of GetReal Philippines and The Anti Pinoy. Enjoy!
You may also download this picture in pdf format. Go ahead and share it among your friends. Download here.
