benign0's blog

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is fast becoming the leader of a no-consequences administration. One can drop the ball and cause unspeakable tragedies and gaffes that turn the entire nation into a laughing stock and still get away scott free . The latest gaffe that turns up the laughs on the already butt-of-jokes nation that is the Philippines is a Twitter post from Aquino speech writer Carmen Mislang who described in her post how the wine served to her at a dinner hosted by Vietnam officials "sucks". And yet the pa-cool culprit in an otherwise fireable offense gets a free pass ...

Where are we now? No one knows. We don't know whether we are coming or going or how far we are in our journey to whatever was promised to the Filipino during President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's campaign. All we know for sure is that 100-odd days have passed since we elected ourselves a new president. Beyond that there is no way of knowing how much has been achieved (a) relative to an initial baseline and (b) relative to an aspired-for target . In other words, Mr Noynoy: Where is the plan ?

How is the UP Law faculty's behaviour in the case of this so-called "plagiarism" row with the Philippine Supreme Court different from the way the Catholic Church is behaving with regard to reproductive health? Answer: Not too different. In both cases these are institutions tasked with guiding their flock -- the UP Law trains future lawyers, and the Catholic Church (RCC) for its part indoctrinates its Roman Catholic souls.

These are five otherwise beautiful words that have been imprisoned within the clutches of belief systems that presume to prescribe narrow definitions around how these words may be applied to one's daily life. It's high time that we use the better part of our minds to gain perspective of the sort that will finally set free these great words from the cage they've been kept within by the robes-clad officers of organised religion.

FilipinoVoices.com (FV) is back. And my favourite blogger Abe Margallo , heeding the call of its esteemed owner Nick to start blogging , starts the ball rolling in classic Margallo form weighing in on where the Administration is at after 100 days in power... President Aquino has been forewarned about it even before his election – that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the former president and now a congresswoman from the province of Pampanga, could in fact be retiring in the Supreme Court. The fear, one may recall, was heightened during the midnight appointment controversy involving the current chief justice himself.

According to the empress of Jolog Central in her recent published "insight" on the cutting loose of mutineer "Senator" Antonio Trillanes and his mob , "Trillanes and company never stole a single centavo from the government". I say perhaps . But in my book Trillanes and his band of bandits did something worse. His actions contributed to undermining the stability of the state and perception overseas of the Philippines as a viable market to invest in and do business with.

The successful rescue of the 33 miners after being trapped for 69 days in a Chile mine was indeed a moving and inspiring story. But I'd stop short of going as far as gushing about how "God's graces" were at play in this brilliant display of human achievement at one of its best. Whenever I see a grandstanding of "evidence" of "divine intervention" coming from an after-the-fact reflection upon a story with a happy ending I too reflect. And this reflection on my part is around this simple question. How does "God" decide which people are to be showered with his "graces" and which people are to be left to perish in the hands of the "evils" of nature and men?

These men are smiling because they are beneficiaries of the renowned Culture of Impunity of the Filipino.

The venerable Economist makes this terse assessment of Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's first 100 days in office in a 14th October report : Since taking office in June, he has proposed scant new legislation and promised little. His speeches are filled with platitudes and swipes at his unpopular predecessor, Gloria Arroyo-Macapagal. Nor is Mr Aquino obviously interested in foreign affairs; he is a reluctant flyer and has cancelled several trips abroad. "He's not a statesman," sniffs one Asian diplomat. They make other pointed observations...

Life's not all black-and-white, Mr inflame *. You can do both "fighting for your ideas/beliefs" AND "join the rat race". Nothing's stopping you from doing both. That is why there is a free market that is tempered by regulation. Elements in the private sector compete in that free market and the state applies regulation to create a fair and just environment for said competition. Is that difficult to comprehend?

Disappointing indeed. Hong Kong's expression of disappointment over the flaccid action taken by the Philippine Government on people found accountable for the deaths of eight tourists as a result gross incompetence comes in the wake of a similarly moronic granting of amnesty to "Senator" Antonio Trillanes and a mob of "soldiers", who also put civilian lives at significant risk as they stormed business establishments brandishing high-powered military weapons.

According to House Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tanada, author of House Resolution 524 granting amnesty to "Senator" Antonio Trillanes and a mob of "soldiers" who endangered civilian lives and damaged property as they mutinied against the government of former President Gloria Arroyo, benefactors of this "amnesty" have "suffered" "long enough" and are therefore deserving of a break (quoting from a Manila Bulletin report )...

It's no wonder that everything in the Philippines is expensive. Insurance premiums probably cost more than the average in the region because insurance companies most likely factor into their risk models the generally high likelihood of a bunch of "soldiers" barging into a client's business premises and nonchalantly declaring mutiny against their civilian bosses. That certainly becomes a more likely risk now that more than a few precedents have been set for uniformed bandits routinely getting away with jack-all even after waving high-powered weapons at civilians' faces in the name of some made-up "revolutionary" stand.

The venerable Sassy Lawyer Connie Veneracion finally weighs in on all the moronic happenings that have been transpiring in recent weeks. Great insight and clear positions articulated coming from a truly insightful mind (unlike some lawyers ). Here are my key takeaways from that great piece...

This is an excerpt from Proclamation 50 granting "amnesty" to Trillanes and his mob taken from the ABS-CBN News site ...

It is a cause for celebration for the mistress of Jolog Central as she breaks the news that "Senator" Antonio Trillianes has been granted "amnesty" by President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III . Just to give everyone a bit of perspective on how this ties back to our renowned culture of impunity , let me cite an article I wrote about Trillianes a while back where I highlighted this point...

The above title expresses the only thought that came to mind as I took in esteemed "economist" Winnie Monsod's "gone-viral" video .

Reading Maurice Arcache in his column Wild night with the Cosmo bachelor hunks where he describes a party where "the gals carried water guns, which they used to shoot the behinds of their favorite hunks while modeling on stage, dahlings " (emphasis on "dahlings" is mine), I came to thinking about the many other things the Church could have been stomping their feet about in Philippine society. Instead, our venerated men-in-robes today choose to raise a holy stink about the Reproductive Health Bill and wave their toy Excommunication Ray Gun at a Philippine President who stands by his position on the matter of universal public access to birth control products and services.

The venerable Big Boss of AntiPinoy.com (AP) summarised what in my opinion is the best position to take on the issue of Reproductive Health in the Philippines. He does this in a comment to a recent article on AP...

At no other time have we seen such an immense opportunity to rally behind sensible principles -- and ones that are being championed by the highest official of the land. Let's all do the right thing! Rally behind what is right, not what is traditional .

If the Roman Catholic Church "excommunicates" President Noynoy Aquino on the basis of the position he takes in favour of artificial contraception, then they may as well excommunicate the entire Filipino nation. President Aquino is the President of the Philippines and was elected by Filipinos . According to Nonoy himself, the Filipino people are his "boss". So on the principle of command responsibility , the Church should extend their grievances over artificial contraception to the Filipino people.