Piercing Pens

Amidst the calls for charter change, PGMA’s apparent effort to lure the Catholic Church into dancing with her and her cohorts through the commutation of death sentence, our justice system gets another blow from no other than the justice secretary himself.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez today downgraded the case filed against three of the four suspects in the Subic rape case, namely SSgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis and Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood. After reviewing the case, the DOJ decided to make them “accessories to the crime” instead of considering them as prime suspects since he says, there is not enough evidence to prove that they conspired to commit the crime.

The late Fernando Poe Jr. is now a national artist. Others in the list are Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Bien Lumbera and BenCab.

Arroyo conferred the title to them last March 30 following the recommendation by the Joint Boards of the Commissioners of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Trustees of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, according to an INQ7.net report.

I wonder how what Susan Roces and FPJ fans will react. Lumbera, for his part, is a vocal critic of Arroyo.

Many would probably think the national artist award is a form of “vote-buying” now that the president is again on a campaign trail for cha-cha.

Sponsored post:

GMA would love that Pinocchio gig. Imagine, she had rhinoplasty without actually undergoing one? hehehe

Isn’t it great? If the Pinocchio curse would be on flat-nosed people like me, we won’t need the services of a Manila or New Jersey rhinoplasty expert. All we have to do is keep on lying like some leader we know. Hehe.

From the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website

1. Introduction

“The Church… must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.” (Deus Caritas Est, 28) This challenging call of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, impels us to express to you, our beloved People of God, our deep concern over the attempt of certain sectors to make hasty and substantial changes to our Constitution, supposedly through the “People’s Initiative” provision in our present charter. We speak to you, not as lawyers or politicians, but as Shepherds, applying principles of our Catholic Social Teaching to our present situation, and inviting you to discern, decide and act in the light of the Gospel.

We recognize and respect those many concerned and thoughtful Filipinos who see constitutional reform as necessary remedy to the country’s many problems at present. In our pastoral statement of January 2006, we already stated that “we agree that certain aspects of our Constitutions may need amendments and revisions.” What we wish to challenge and express unease about is the process by which these changes are being brought about.

Continue reading “CBCP’s Pastoral Statement on PIRMA”

Sikat ang Pinoy!

The New York Times published yesterday (April 5) an editorial on Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and democracy in our country.

Here are excerpts from the editorial entitled “Dark Days for Philippine Democracy.”

“Mrs. Arroyo is no Ferdinand Marcos, at least not yet. But this onetime reformer is reviving bad memories of crony corruption, presidential vote-rigging and intimidation of critical journalists. Unless the Philippine Congress and courts find ways to rein in her increasingly authoritarian tendencies, democracy itself may be in danger.

“President Bush has repeatedly hailed Mrs. Arroyo as an important ally against international terrorism. He now needs to warn her that by undermining a hard-won democracy, she is making her country far more vulnerable to terrorist pressures.”

Read the full text at the New York Times or at the PCIJ blog.

“My reason for not accepting the post of prime minister is because this year is an auspicious year for the King, whose 60th anniversary on the throne is just 60 days away. I want all Thais to reunite,” Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, said in explaining his decision to quit.

He said he “want all Thais to reunite.” Familiar, eh? That is because we heard similar words from Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a few years ago. Arroyo “honored” Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our martyred national hero, by declaring she would no longer run in 2004.

“…I have decided not to run for President during the election of 2004.

“If I were to run, it will require a major political effort on my part. But since I’m among the principal figures in the divisive national events for the last two or three years, my political efforts can only result in never-ending divisiveness.”

By Yolly Ong

Like the rest of the ABC+ ECO classes, I figured we should just ignore GMA and go about our life. After all there’s no acceptable alternative on the horizon. Better the devil we know than the one we don’t, right?

I even said she was most likely the real winner in the 2004 elections. After all she had the incumbent’s advantage. She spent billions of pesos for her campaign. The P800M fertilizer fund and P500M health insurance budgets were diverted to buy votes. Then to ensure a convincing victory she topped it off with Garci. You see the little woman vowed she would get a lead of at least 1M votes over FPJ. That way, even if Opposition cheats, she would have a buffer. Her other ambition was to get more votes than Erap, partly to thumb her nose up at him and his loyalists. Mostly so she would feel the love of the people because in truth everything she did was really for love.