Look who’s back!
Ansaya-saya, ‘no?
Ferdinand Marcos’ Legacy
Some Facebook users are circulating a photo of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos with a caption that enumerates why life was supposedly better during his regime and lists the projects he accomplished.
To make that post balanced and accurate, they should have added the following to the list:
- Plundered an estimated US$5 billion to $US10 billion, according to the Philippine Commission on Good Government
- Amassed the largest foreign debt at more than US$25 billion during his 20-year rule
- 3,257 killed, 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 incarcerated during his regime, according to Alfred W. McCoy of theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
- Found guilty by the Federal Court of Hawaii of violating the human rights of almost 10,000 Filipinos
- 878 desaparecidos or victims of forced disappearance were recorded during his regime, according to the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance
- Declared Marial Law that took away the people’s freedoms
Public Statement Of Support For Governor Grace Padaca
(If you agree and want to sign the statement, kindly email your complete name, place of origin, and contact details to kai.pastores@yahoo.com.)
We, democracy and freedom-loving Filipinos, fully stand by Isabela Governor Grace Padaca who we believe is the legitimate winner of the 2007 gubernatorial elections in the said province amid an unfair ruling by the Commission on Elections Second Division composed of Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph.
As fellow Filipinos, we believe that this resolution to unseat Governor Padaca in favor of former Governor Benjamin Dy is highly questionable and the evidence raised forth against Padaca raises significant doubt as to the validity of Dy’s claims of electoral fraud resulting to his loss.
Continue reading “Public Statement Of Support For Governor Grace Padaca”
The Change that the Philippines Needs?
Priest-turned-governor Among Ed Panlilio of Pampanga is now considering running for president in 2010 with Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca as his running mate, says an Inquirer report.
Both Panlilio and Padaca are non-trapos who defeated powerful politicians in their respective provinces.
Panlilio and Padaca, with other reform-oriented public servants, have been practicing and preaching good governance.
Are they the change that the Philippines needs?
Archbishop Cruz and the “Public Sinner”
Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz recently said that public sinners should not be given the Holy communion. News reports said he was referring to Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — the Philippines’ de facto president who is accused of election fraud and corruption. But the maverick archbishop denied he called Arroyo a public sinner who should not be given communion.
He told CBCPNews that all he stated was, according to the teachings of the Church, a public sinner should not be given communion.
He had earlier wrote on his blog:
Mar Roxas and Traditional Politics
Among our mainstream political parties, Liberal Party is the one that is a bit different from the others. Despite having members whose loyalty seems to be with Lakas, LP has a clearer ideology than the personality-oriented parties.
That is why it is disappointing to hear its possible standard bearer in 2010, Mar Roxas, say that they are “open to talking with everyone†when asked about former president and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada’s multi-party opposition nomination process.
Trillanes, Lim Again Call for Withdrawal of Support
ABS-CBN News Channel and GMANews.tv report that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier Gen. Danilo Lim walked out of a court hearing in Makati and marched to the Peninsula Hotel where Vice President Teofisto Guingona joined them.
As of this writing, Trillanes Lim is reading a statement calling for the people’s solidarity in their call for Arroyo’s removal from the presidency.
7:20 pm update: Ellen Tordesillas on media arrests after the mutiny
Read additional info from the rebel soldiers at Sundalo Tagapagtanggol ng Pilipino.
Let’s hope the state security agents will not attempt to harm them. We don’t need dead heroes like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and Ninoy Aquino. We need living leaders like them.