benign0's blog

I read with bemusement the catty exchange between Jim Paredes and Gringo Honasan that was immortalised on Twitter.com last Friday, the 25th February. Imagine two senior citizens of the Republic -- both household names and key figures in a "revolution" touted as one that defines Filipinos' place in history at that -- engaged in a tiff of the sort that would draw cheers and hoots the way a mud wrestling match would. Hold that thought and draw a hard association between that and this "spirit" of Edsa that we are supposed to re-visit , and there you have what the whole exercise was really all about.

The Inquirer today crowned President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III " our Filipino of the Year ". This honour was bestowed on the incumbent Philippine president supposedly for being "the living Filipino who made the most positive impact in 2010". And, it seems, on the basis of a November 2010 Social Weather Station survey that showed "seven out of 10 Filipinos were satisfied with President Aquino’s administration" and on a Pulse Asia "trust rating" of 80 percent.

American photojournalist Kim Komenich is out looking for the subjects of the iconic photographs he took of the Edsa People Power "Revolution" of 1986. He even won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for his trouble. Poor guy, though. He has no idea what a big joke Filipino-style street "revolutions" had since become -- a testament to Da Pinoy's renowned talent for perverting otherwise noble endeavors .

It is now quite generally established that the administration of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is being held up by the Philippine Media as one that is "trusted" by the people. The question is: Does the Noynoy administration deserve the trust of the Filipino?

As the famous saying goes. the winners get to write history . That, indeed, is what is happening as President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III launches The Inaugural -- a book about, what else, him and his family . Everything about the book has Kamaganak Inc written all over it. The book is published by Maria Montelibano, a cousin (surprised?) of Noynoy.

Should Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew feel insulted? The latest ululation this time from a bunch of brown-nosing bozos comparing a man with a vision to a man who cannot plan his way out of a paper bag.

So now there's this new hate site dedicated to wine connoisseur Carmen Mislang that was put up on Facebook . I first learned of it from a friend who emailed me the link to a news report on the GMA News TV site featuring that Facebook page. So off I went to check it out. One of the first things I found was this photo (Ms Mislang is the lady on the left with the tilted head). [Facebook photo location here ]

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...

The crystalline clarity that is emerging from the fog of primitivist thinking nowadays is how the Philippine Media has for the last couple of decades fixated itself on highlighting the eee -vils of despotism, tyranny, absolute power and all that emo fodder. Yet the fact that is coming to light now is that they themselves hold, monopilise, and wield so much absolute power themselves. Time to dismantle that tyranny and put the Philippine Media in their proper place!

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (a.k.a. "P-Noy") apparently was not lacking in in-house expertise. He just happened to be too much of a numbskull to be a bit bigger than his adolescent beholdenness to Kabarkada Inc and his infantile imprisonment by Kamaganak Inc to separate the men from the little boys in his Cabinet. In a brilliant expose on the monumental tragedy of unprecedented presidential tunnel-vision, journalist Boo Chanco reports another heart-renting case of fatal missed opportunity on the part of Noynoy's government that could have prevented the deaths of eight foreign tourists. Apparently, Alberto G Romulo who was Executive Secretary of then President Gloria Arroyo was the chief architect of a kick-ass Crisis Committee that came into effect under Executive Order No. 121 in June of 2001...

The brother of Conrado " Noynoy is Aragorn " de Quiros has been appointed by President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to the position of President of the Social Security System (SSS) according to this report ...

By highlighting two things in relation to the issue of the "review" of alleged rebel leader Antonio Trillanes IV, President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III highlights two key characteristics of his administration. Quotes are from the Inquirer.net report :

Remember the names of these senators: - Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada - Manuel "Lito" Lapid - Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. These are senators who have so far been reported to have taken up what is reported by the Manila Bulletin as offers of "perks" from Kris Aquino-Yap in exchange for support for Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan's bid for President of the Senate...

The following are among the people listed in the Statement of Contributions submitted by President-Elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to the Commission on Elections: Antonio "Tonyboy" Cojuangco (P100m) Martin Ignacio Lorenzo of Del Monte Philippines (P20m), Bu Hong Chiong from Ozamis City (P20m), Leonardo Javier Jr. of Andoks (P14m), David Lim and Elena Lim of the Solid Group of Companies (P10m each), Felix Ang of Cats Motors (P10m), Abeto Uy of Philsteel Group of Companies (P10m), Gerardo Esquivel, a businessman-friend of Aquino (P10m), Alex Tanwangco (P10m), Jose Ramon Aliling (P10m). Fulgencio Factoran Jr., P20m, Cesar Purisima, P10m. The Noynoy Aquino Kamaganak Inc Mapping Project has been updated accordingly.

According to this , Tony Boy Cojuangco donated P100 million to Noynoy's campaign. Note that T.B. Cojuangco is Chairman of Pulse Asia, one of the survey firms that provided extensive "analysis" of how each candidate fared in popularity during the 2010 Presidential Election campaign. This is a piece of information seemingly ommitted from his published biodata .