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People Politics and Elections

Ocampo Dragged Out of MPD (GMANews.tv video)


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
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Faith and Religion Politics and Elections

Ang Kapatiran Website Changes Server

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Ang Kapatiran or Alliance for Common Good, a lesser-known political party that promotes “politics of virtue” and “politics of duty”, appears to be popular in cyberspace. Its website was not functioning properly when I visited it yesterday. Today, it reports that it has “experienced a surge in members wanting to register, and have run into problems with our new website.”

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History People Politics and Elections

In Imelda’s World…

Did you see GMA-7 reporter Tina Panganiban Perez’s interview with Imelda Marcos last night?

From that interview, we could conclude that in Imelda’s world, the following are inalienable truth:

  • Martial Law gave us not only freedom, justice, and democracy but also dignity and identity.
  • The dictator’s reign was peaceful.
  • Imelda was never extravagant.
  • Martial Law was one of the greatest periods in Philippine history.

On the other hand, these are fiction:

Categories
People Politics and Elections

Gloria’s Deadlines

“I am not a traditional politician who likes to give promises and deadlines…”
– President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, March 8,2001

No matter how much she denies it, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo just loves giving deadlines.

A news release posted on the government’s official website said the President on Friday gave newly-installed Customs Commissioner George Jereos “two months to stamp out smuggling.”

“Let’s zero in once again on smuggling… While we clean up our finances, we shall also rid society of its dregs and misfits,” the President was quoted as saying during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Incorporated (FFCCCII).

Another release posted today on the same site said the Palace will closely monitor the Bureau of Custom’s compliance to the President’s order.

Oh really? Wish ko lang!

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Politics and Elections

Debt, Crisis, Pork and our Lawmakers

Under Jose de Venecia’s leadership, representatives of various parties in the lower house have agreed to scrap their pork barrel. The congressmen said they are “taking the moral and political high ground” to help the president solve the fiscal crisis.

This proposal however still needs to be approved by all the 236 members of the House of Representatives. The people have long been calling for the abolition of the pork barrel system, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund. With the initiative already taken by their leaders, will the lawmakers finally yield to the public’s clamor?

We hope so. Many of them will surely raise ostentatious and obviously self-serving concerns. They will say–as Bohol Rep. Roberto Cajest had already did–that the abolition of the pork barrel system will “adversely affect basic services and economic growth.” Duh? Wouldn’t the delivery of basic services and our economy improve when we’ve finally disposed of that corruption-ridden system?

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Politics and Elections

Trapo Queen

Among the things one would notice in President Arroyo’s 2004 inaugural address was that she no longer refered to the need for new politics as she did in January 2001 at the EDSA Shrine.

In 2001, she said:

Politics and political power as traditionally practiced and used in the Philippines are among the roots of the social and economic inequities that characterize our national problems. Thus, to achieve true reforms, we need to outgrow our traditional brand of politics based on patronage and personality. Traditional politics is the politics of the status quo. It is a structural part of the problem.

We need to promote a new politics of true party programs and platforms, of an institutional process of dialogue with our citizenry. This new politics is the politics of genuine reform. It is a structural part of the solution.

It was the best thing to say at that time.

Categories
Government Politics and Elections

Proclaimed

Before dawn today, while most of us were still in dreamland, the Philippine Congress formally proclaimed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the president-elect and Noli de Castro as the vice-president-elect.

After being proclaimed, Arroyo called for unity: “This is the time for forgiveness and letting-go-of-the-past,” she said.

But how could she call on the people to forgive and forget when doubts on the credibility of the recent elections that made her remain in power persist?