I Was Only Gone A Few Days . . .

And things are already heating even before President Benigno Aquino officially takes power.

Rumors abound that there is a rift between the President-elect and his Vice-President-elect Jejomar Binay.

Seemingly the rationale for this rift is the fact that Binay won and Roxas, Aquino's running mate lost.

This despite the fact that Binay has been a long running Aquino family friend and supporter.

Now there are added allegations that Roxas and his group is out to sabotage further Binay's relationship with Aquino.

Hopefully this would not turn out to be true but if it was then I will say this is one major case of being a sore loser.

But then again politics is everything but clean here in the Philippines so something like this is par for the course.

The same can be said about the Ampatuan Clan's denial that they had nothing to do with the murder of a key witness against them - Suwaib Upham, also known as Jesse.

Of course they will deny it but then again who is most likely to gain if a witness against them is killed.

Hmmmmm . . . who I wonder?

It's not like you would need a crystal ball to figure this out. But then again with the way our police and justice system are so incompetent maybe they do need that crystal ball.

Which finally brings me to the not so surprising news that Aquino's government would be facing the burden of a huge public deficit.

Again it doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out who is to blame for all this right?

I mean come on people if you can't even figure it out then our country deserves what we are getting right now.

And he is still planning to go ahead with adding an extra 2 years to the elementary and high school programs.

Where will the money come from. Yes education is important but you need to fund it.

Also, I think the first order of business is to add more classrooms and more teachers before we can even think about adding extra years.

I remember that before my classes took the whole day. Now it's not even half a day.

WTF will anyone learn in such a short time.

President-elect Aquino should set priorities straight first before pushing for something grand but impossible to accomplish under current condition.

Until then we will continue to be stuck where we are.

But knowing Filipinos that will be par for the course.

I Always Thought CEO Should Know What's Going On In Their Company

Apparently not if you're the CEO of BP.

Under intense grilling by the congressional committee overseeing the investigation on the Gulf incident, BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward said that he was "was out of the loop on decisions at the well."

He also denied any knowledge of any of the "myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion," telling the committee that "With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world."

As Republican Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas replied, "Yes, I know, that's what scaring me right now."

My sentiments exactly.

Ok give him the benefit of the doubt because CEO can't be expected to be in every decision making aspect of the company.

After all in a company as big as BP there's only so much one can take care of but the thing is when it comes to something as risky as this the CEO has to be in the loop at some level.

And when I say risky I mean something as risky as off shore drilling.

I took this verbatim from the yahoo article where I read this from:

Hayward spoke slowly and calmly in his clipped British accent as he sought to deflect accusations — based on internal BP documents obtained by congressional investigators — that BP chose a particular well design that was riskier but cheaper by at least $7 million.

"I wasn't involved in any of that decision-making," he said.

Were bad decisions made about the cement?

"I wasn't part of the decision-making process," he said. "I'm not a cement engineer, I'm afraid."

Also, "I am not a drilling engineer" and "I'm not an oceanographic scientist."

What about those reports that BP had been experiencing a variety of problems and delays at the well?

"I had no prior knowledge."

At one point a frustrated Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, interrupted the CEO. "You're kicking the can down the road and acting as if you had nothing to do with this company and nothing to do with the decisions. I find that irresponsible."

Hayward quietly insisted: "I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process."

I dunno about you but wouldn't this infuriate you to. I will tell you that I am.

As 61 year old shrimper Diane Wilson of Seadrift Texas shouted at Hayward, "You need to be charged with a crime."

Amen.

World Cup Fever Hits Everyone

Well almost everyone.

Here in our country we are excited . . .

. . . For the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers.

I find that amusing and frankly quite stupid.

Filipinos are not that tall - probably around 5'6" if that.

Between you and me do you really see us getting competitive in basketball when the average height of other countries is at least a few inches taller than us.

Some argue that of course we choose the tallest among our citizens. That's well and good but there is the disparity in where you pick your candidates.

We have probably around 100-million people to choose from, if that. China has over 1-billion to choose from.

Can you see the disparity there?

I sure can.

Then there's the question of commitment. China is committed to being a world power in basketball.

Our end we can't even win in the ASEAN games with consistency.

And their government has one body and the money to back up their basketball program.

Our end we argue which political body has control over Philippine basketball and the funding, if not pocketed by "administrative" "yes" men are wholly inadequate.

The Chinese team has been together for years. Our teams are formed a month before tournaments and don't really practice well together because they are all "professionals."

So do I expect us to win anything at all - nope not really.

Yet the one area where we can be a contender we neglect.

That's right we should be focusing our resources on football, or as the Americans call it, soccer.

We have the height - hell Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are not that much taller than us.

We already have the tan and the thing is it doesn't need height to win. You need to have stamina, persistence, teamwork, and the knowledge to play.

And it doesn't require a covered court because any field can be the "pitch." You just need two goals, a ball, and two 11-men teams and you've got a game.

Filipinos are built for football, or soccer if you will. We are definitely not built for basketball - not the world or even NBA kind of basketball.

And don't say it's impossible.

Hell, North Korea, and impoverished country was able to send a team to the current World Cup in South Africa and was able to do well against the heavily favored Brazilian team.

They lost 2-1 but they gave Brazil a run for their money.

Given the right support we too can give the rest of the world a run for their money.

But then again we don't want to watch a sport which can end 0-0 after 90 minutes.

But if we continue on our mistaken path we will always be a spectator and not a contender.

Something to think about as we don't watch the world celebrate the thrill that is football (soccer).

I'm Just Sharing The Link

Goodbye, Gloria: 10 Things We’ll Miss About GMA


I think it's only appropriate.

First United Now Delta . . . And Why Am I Not Surprised

Remember a few weeks back the story that came out that a passenger on a United flight was locked in a plane simply because she fell asleep.

Apparently not one of the flight crew noticed her sleeping considering that they are supposed to do a last minute check to make sure everyone is off and nothing major gets left behind.

And I would say that a sleeping person is a major think - too major to overlook.

But like they say, shit happens.

But now another airline has come up with something else.

I wouldn't say entirely the same as leaving a sleeping passenger behind but just as novel.

Delta Airlines contracted to fly 2 different children (one boy and one girl) from their respective starting point to their respective destinations - namely Cleveland and Boston.

The children flew and Delta dutifully brought them to their destinations - the boy in Cleveland, the girl in Boston.

Alls well that ends well right?

Of course not else I wouldn't be making a commentary.

I'm sure many of you already get what happened but just in case you missed it the boy was supposed to go to Boston and the girl to Cleveland.

A mix-up? Yes, a BIG one.

Imagine the surprise of the persons picking up the children when they discover the child they were suppose to pick up not only changed gender but also changed names.

Delta blamed a paperwork mix-up for the incident.

See why are they blaming pieces of paper when they should be blaming the people in charge of their unaccompanied minors program and the immediate people in charge of the two children.

How simple could it be to check the name of the children and match it with the name of the child they have have on record so they know which child goes to which destination.

Unless of course Delta's records were wrong to begin with so the blame is really for their whole system and it cannot be blamed simply on a paperwork mix-up.

An apology and free flights is not enough. More punitive action must be taken against Delta, and all airlines for that matter, that treat passengers as simply nothing more than baggage.

It's only right that there be a passenger bill of rights that airlines should and must abide with lest they be held accountable - and the punishment should not simply be a slap on the wrist.

It must be something that will remind them not to do it again.

Maybe after this they will start putting barcodes on the children they carry.

It would not prevent them from being lost but at least they will be going somewhere warm and tropical.

Finally We Have The Winners

It's really official - well semi-official at least - Benigno Aquino III and Jejomar Binay are our country's next President and Vice-President respectively.

Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, finally finished canvassing the 278 certificates of votes - a process which had been marred by delays due to questions about the election's validity as well as accusations of fraud.

Of course it's not over until it's really over since Senator Manuel Roxas is probably going to file an electoral protest.

Whatever the outcome of that remains to be seen.

But at least for now, a new leadership has been chosen by the people and will take office come end of June.

Whether it will be better or worst than what we've had is still up in the air.

We can only hope that President-elect Aquino would follow through with his promises and be able to steer the country to a better course than where it has been headed now.

And may the vice-president-elect and all the senators and representatives put aside politics and work for the actual good of the country.

Seems like a logical thing to ask . . .

. . . Or is that whistling in the wind?

There's No Freedom Of Information

At least for this term of the Philippine Congress.

On it's last day the House of Represented was expected to pass the Freedom of Information Bill - a landmark piece of legislation that would have lifted the shroud of secrecy over government transactions and data.

Alas, nothing happened because unfortunately, or fortunately, the house was seven members short of a quorum - the minimum number needed to pass a bill.

Because of that the FOI bill died and congress closed its session.

If you read above I did say fortunately only because rumors have it that Malacañang was against it because it would expose them, especially soon-to-be-congresswoman Arroyo.

Not surprisingly Malacañang denies the allegations and said that they also supported this bill.

The question is, knowing that an very important bill was about to be put to a vote how come members of the House of Representatives were not there?

I guess they were "told" not to attend. Hmmm . . . I wonder by whom?

And if there was a house rule allowing for the bringing in of truant representatives in why didn't Speaker Nograles act upon it.

I have no problem with what representative Romualdo did. Even if it was a landmark bill, if the house rules require a quorum then there should be a quorum.

Just because it is an important bill doesn't mean it can be passed without the mandatory required minimum number of representatives present.

As Romualdo said, "We want all transactions in the government to be very transparent . . . it should be based on a law that was properly, legitimately, legally enacted."

Like it or not, that is how it should be.

If you want to put blame put it on the proponents of the bill who did not make sure that they had the proper numbers to deal with the bill.

Blame speaker Nograles for not doing enough to make sure there was a quorum present.

In a statement he issued through his media officer after the adjournment, Nograles said: “I did my best. But I guess my best wasn’t good enough. I did not expect this to happen, especially because many of the authors were not present. The authors and coauthors would have been enough to sustain the quorum and we were not remiss in requesting their presence.”

Yes Mr. Speaker, your best wasn't good enough because it seems you really did not do your best for this bill.

As Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said: “What we buried today is not the FOI act. It can still live because it can be refiled; it is a part of the democracy that we cherish. What we buried today is Speaker Nograles and the 14th Congress because they reneged on their duty.”

Yes they did . . .

Yes they did . . .

Which Will You Choose?

The current oil spill disaster that's happening right now in the Gulf of Mexico has greatly affected not only the environment in the immediate area and the surrounding geography but it has also affected the economy as well.

And it's not like the effect is only for the here and now . . . NO . . . the effect, unfortunately is still unfathomable years and even decades from now.

From an environmental point of view the effect is unquestionably devastating. Images of birds such as pelicans coated in thick, black goo struggling and flailing in the surf in futility is a somber and saddening reminder of the impact this oil spill has done to the environment.

And it's not yet over - not by a long shot.

Because BP has failed to cap the spewing underwater geyser of oil it is highly likely the oil may travel further into the interior where it will surely wipe away sanctuaries and breeding grounds of many animal species.

And that includes man as well.

What the economic effects will be is still hard to tell. An industry that will take a big hit is without question the fishing industry. Already hundreds of fishing families are starting to feel the effects of the spill.

They are angry and rightly so.

So too is the tourism industry, especially in the states that are in the path of the oil slick. This has been further fueled by the decision of officials to protect only the fragile ecology of the marshlands and not the beaches.

Officials have explained that it was easier to keep the oil slick out of the marshlands that it is to keep it away from the beaches.

It was a decision that King Solomon would not envy but it is the right thing to do.

Tourism can recover within a short time frame. The ecology of the marshlands would take years or decades, if at all. This loss would be far greater than the loss of tourism dollars.

And its affect will be far more devastating in the long run than the loss of tourism dollars will ever have.

BP is getting hell for their seeming ineptness in shutting down the leak. Their secretiveness and lack of openess to what they are doing doesn't help.

The U.S. government has to step up and keep pushing BP to not only stop the spill but to also clean it up. They have to also hold BP accountable for this disaster.

To his credit BP CEO Tony Hayward has promised that the company would clean up every drop of oil and "restore the shoreline to its original state."

That is all well and good but the thing is no one can bring back the dead animals and fishes. Nor can you truly bring back nature to the way it was - delude ourselves all we want it's not going to happen.

Everything may be back to how it looked before but it would be empty.

And that, unfortunately, is what is being heard right now.

That's One BIG Hole

Tropical storm Agatha caused this sinkhole in Guatemala City.

Now that's one big hole.

See more pictures here.

Will This Open The World's Eyes To The Palestinian Plight In Gaza?

Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish aid vessel and killed 9 activists. As you may recall the aid flotilla wanted to dock in Gaza and unload their 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid.

Unfortunately, Israel has a blockade going and warned the aid flotilla that they will be stopped.

The flotilla proceeded and as Israel promised, they were indeed stopped.

But perhaps Israel should have thought about their actions more.

Instead of getting support, the resulting international condemnation seems to further alienate and isolate Israel from the international community and further added legitimacy to Hamas and its claims of representing the plight of the Palestinian peoples.

Instead of diverting the world's attention to the unilateral imposition of the blockade of the Gaza strip, the bloody encounter actually focused the world's attention on it - something Israel more than likely did not want to happen.

European diplomats have demanded for a quick end to the blockade but not surprisingly Israel's long time ally, the United States have not really been that vocal, only calling for more aid to enter Gaza and not an outright demand for the lifting of the blockade.

Israel is sticking to its guns on both the blockade and the events that occurred but that may not be enough.

Israel's purpose for the blockade was to hasten the demise of Hamas who took over Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel should learn from the experience of the United States. They have had a unilateral embargo and blockade against Cuba for the purpose of removing President Fidel Castro but that did not work as expected.

The thing about blockades is that it helps give the people a common enemy - in this case Israel. To the minds of the Palestinian people it's not Hamas who's to blame for the embargo, it's Israel.

More so after Israel bombed them back to the stone age, destroying vital infrastructure - hospitals, power plants, water treatment plants and schools.

Basically the people living in Gaza are living without power, water, and necessary health support.

It is a humanitarian crisis of the highest level and is at par with war induced crises in Africa.

People are dying in Gaza and the world's not doing anything. It is genocide and should be treated as such because Israel's actions show their own callous disregard for the Palestinian people.

I dare say that if it weren't for international scrutiny they would have done more than what has happened already.

At least there is that saving grace.

In the aftermath of this bloody encounter more than just political pressure should be put to bear. There should also be action.

A people is being held hostage and while I do not condone the actions of Hamas, the actions of Israel are not any different.

They would argue otherwise, saying that Hamas has attacked and killed Israeli civilians but the thing is, Israel has retaliated against civilians as well.

An eye for an eye does not justify the result.

At the end of the day it is up to the collective power of the world to make Israel toe the line.

yes Israel was a victim before but now the tables have turned.

They are not the victim anymore but are now the oppressors.

And like any oppressors they should be stopped and held accountable.

An Oily Hurricane Season Can Be Devastating

Maybe.

With the advent of the hurricane season in the United States, researchers are unsure how it will affect or be affected by the current oil spill from the explosion of BP PLC's Deepwater Horizon rig.

Scientists and experts are unsure what will happen if a storm should hit the area right now.

Some are hoping that it would help disperse the oil much like what happened during the Ixtoc 1 spill.

At that time while oil from that spill coated miles of beaches in Texas and Mexico, the tropical storms and unseasonable cold fronts that year helped reverse offshore currents earlier than normal and drive oil away from the coast and at the same time helped disperse some of the oil.

Worst case scenario is to have storm surges bring the oil deeper inland, affecting inland freshwater canals, flora and fauna.

Even now syrupy oil has crept into Louisiana's marshes, coating plants, killing some birds and threatening wetlands. What will happen if the oil gets driven farther inland is anybody's guess - but the guesses are not positive.

Right now BP's attempts to cap the gushing oil has failed and they are trying to find other ways to deal with the leak.

What has irked Washington and the people living in the coast is BP's silence as to what really happened and what they have been doing thus far.

Many are wondering when Washington will finally put their foot down and start to act and not just let BP make a fool out of them.

The extent of the damage done and that will happen in the future is no joke.

And when hurricane season finally begins it will be between the "now" damage of the storms and the "longer term" damage of the oil spill.

Either way no one wins.

Ladies And Gentlemen This Is Your Pilot Speaking

. . . It seems we forgot one passenger.

Imagine that. An airline forgetting a passenger.

Oh sure . . . it happens all the time . . . planes leave without all the passengers.

. . . It happens

But this case is a little different . . .

. . . Yes the airline forgot the passenger

. . .

. . .

. . . Inside the plane.

That's right folks and airline forgot the passenger inside the plane.

A United Express flight crew forgot a sleeping Ginger McGuire inside the plane when it arrived in Philadelphia from Washington D.C.

Apparently Ms. McGuire fell asleep during the flight and no one thought to wake her up when the plane landed.

She was able to get out hours later when the cleaning crew came in.

Erm ok. I'm sure there are a number of you who will say its her fault because she fell asleep.

You may even ask how she did not feel the people moving about when they disembarked.

And I'm sure you're all wondering how come she did not call 911 when she found out she couldn't get out.

(To be honest I wonder about those things too. I mean I fall asleep as well when I'm on a plane because I hate flying so it's sort of a defense mechanism for me but at least I wake up when the plane lands because the people are moving about. As for calling 911 we're not sure if she had a cell phone so we can't really say.)

But that's all beyond the point.

It doesn't matter if she fell asleep or if she should have woken up.

The fact is it is the cabin crew's job to check and make sure nothing is left behind when it's their turn to disembark.

That's standard operating procedure.

So does that mean all the flight attendants had bad eyes to miss a person sleeping in the plane?

How can they miss her?

I mean it's a person for crying out loud.

They have a duty to check and they did not.

That's dereliction of duty.

That's negligence.

They should be held accountable.

The airline - in this case United - should be held accountable.

Because that's just too much. The airlines are already screwing us, the paying passengers, with too many fees, delayed flights, long waiting times and lost luggage - now they're losing passengers?

. . . it's only right.

Fly the friendly skies they say! That was one of United's slogans.

Oh wait I forgot . . .

. . . They were already on the ground.

All Records Must Soon Fall

If you're asking while I am not doing any commentary on the local Philippine scenery all I will say is at the moment I'm sick and tired of it so I'm going abroad for a while.

That being said I guess the saying is true: records ARE meant to be broken.

Although when it comes to oil spills I doubt if anyone wants any record to be broken other than the fastest clean-up ever.

According to U.S. Government estimates the Gulf of Mexico oil leak has already surpassed the Exxon Valdez incident as the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska it only (and I use the word lightly) 11 million gallons according to scientist working with the clean-up.

The current oil spill has conservative estimates say spewed out 18 million gallons. And that, my friends, is merely a conservative estimate.

More liberal estimates peg it at almost 40 million gallons which is a lot but still 100 million gallons short when compared to the 1979 explosion of the drilling rig Ixtoc I.

Whoa . . . I don't think in either case it's not something to be proud of. Be it 140 million or 1 gallon it is not a good thing to spill crude oil at a very sensitive environment - especially one that has already taken a beating.

. . . And people wonder why fish prices are going up, there's less fish being caught and more dead fish are found floating or washed ashore.

. . . Why bother. We allow a scientific loop hole for people to kill whales supposedly in the name of science.

See I have a problem with that. Kill one or two whales is fine but to kill hundreds? Every year?

Where's the scientific value in that?

But that's another rant altogether. Let's get back to this one.

Where was the government regulation when you need it?

I guess the Minerals Management Service was not doing it's job what with agency staff members accepted tickets to sports events, lunches and other gifts from oil and gas companies and used government computers to view pornography.

Talk about your cozy relationship with the industry you're suppose to regulate and oversee.

Should heads roll?

Of course but a little too late.

Especially when the environmental catastrophe begins to fully manifest itself.

The sad part is people keep saying that tourism is dead or fishing is dead.

Why doesn't anyone say something about this planet is dead?

Because Nothing Beats A Warm Bum When You're Doing Number 2

It's true. You "go" better when you're not sitting on some cold plastic when your bowels tells you to go.

I can say that from experience and it does wake you up.

That is probably the reason why Argentinian Football Coach Diego Maradona demands to have the E-Bidet which features a heated seat, a warm air blow-dryer and front and rear bidet wands.

Of course why wash when your seat does it for you - and dries you up as well. Put in a recliner and a flat screen TV and you'll never want to leave your bathroom - ever.

(Calling Tim Taylor of Tool Time: Let's power er up)

But that's not the only reason why Argentina leads the way in World Cup hotel demands.

They also want 14 different salads during every meal along with 10 hot dishes a day.

Well the dishes are easy enough - they only want 10 heated every day so a few minutes in the microwave and you have hot dishes.

Hehehehe . . . Ok maybe it's not that funny but seriously 14 different salads? I can't even get more than 5 if that.

I guess the Argentinian team love their greens.

I am so down with the PlayStation consoles and the ice cream 24/7 though.

Add chips and we're rocking . . .

. . . while we're each sitting on our own warm E-bidet.

/--------------------------------------------------/

Note: I apologize for offending anyone - especially Argentinians. It's just in good fun.

North Korean Tightrope - And Diplomacy Is About To Fall

Brinkmanship seems to be key to North Korea's diplomatic stance. Whenever it wants concessions it pushes the "we are insane" button, test flies a few missiles and proudly proclaim that everyone is out to get them.

Well . . . DUH . . . if you threaten to destroy your neighbor and everyone else within the immediate vicinity of course everyone will be out to get you.

The US has been called an international bully and in many cases it has been rightly so.

But when it comes to the Korean problem this time it's North Korea that's the bully.

Why?

Because if they don't get what they want they threaten an escalation to war and the willingness to use nuclear weapons.

Where's Nixon when you need him. What's needed is someone to just shut up the sissy diplomacy stuff and say out right if you don't peace up we will nuke you to oblivion.

But of course it won't do since we are a civil world so it all has to be done civilly even when the other party isn't.

And now we have the question of what to do with North Korea as a result of the findings of the international group of investigators who found conclusive proof that it was North Korea which blew up a South Korean naval vessel that killed a lot of sailors.

Retaliation is acceptable for this is an act of aggression that goes against the truce that both Koreas entered into to end the Korean conflict.

And it was obviously done by the North Koreans.

I admire the restraint of the South Koreans but there will come a time when "enough-is-enough" and more forcefull action is required.

Do we really need for a lot more to die through these "incidents" before action is required.

Hell the world acted and invaded Iraq when there was no cause to and when no cause was found even after the invasion.

SO why not now when there is cause and the evidence is right there. And isn't North Korea more of a threat than Iraq.

Walking the diplomatic tightrope is all well and good but the strain is showing and it won't be long before the fall.

Let's hope it never gets a chance to get there.

We Should Try This Too

Or maybe we're so into the long story line of figuring out who the winner is that we like to watch the drama of our elections unfold.

After all tele-novelas are tele-novelas but the election drama only comes once every 3 years - and it's live.

Hmmm maybe if we still can't decide who the the vice-president will be why not have the two front runners Binay and Roxas slug it out in a no holds barred contest to decide who will be Aquino's partner for the next 6 years.

If you prefer something more civilized then WATCH THIS!

Anyway, let's get this elections over with because the longer it stays on the more ridiculous it gets - Koala Bears be damned . . .

And You Believe Them . . .

"Sons of bitches!!!"

No I'm not calling you that . . . it's what Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin said about Smartmatic's officials and about the company itself.

Locsin was angry and unsatisfied with Smartmatic officials’ explanation on why the election results transmitted by the voting machines had different time stamps that did not reflect the actual opening and closing times of the polls.

As stated in the Inquirer this is what Locsin said:

“You sons of bitches! You had us standing here guaranteeing to the public and to the world that even if fraud was committed, we would be able to trace it."

“We never said that fraud could not be committed, but you said that we could trace it, and now you tell me, that at 10 in the evening you [referring to hackers] could do it and we would never know."

Way to go congressman, that's giving them hell.

I'm not happy with Smartmatic's explanation either.

Heider Garcia, Smartmatic electoral systems manager, explained that the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were stand-alone machines and reflected the time configured into their internal clocks before they left the warehouse.

Supposedly the time stamp was there to show the timetable of events that happened on each individual machines.

Garcia added that since the PCOS machines were not synchronized some may not have had their internal clocks corrected.

Why not?

Why were the internal clocks on the machines not set to our local standard time.

The time stamp was put there for a reason and so shouldn't it make sense that they should all be running on local time?

The Comelec came to the defense of Smartmatic with Comelec Chair Jose Melo saying that these may just be isolated cases and that it was not done deliberately by Smartmatic.

No sir Mr. Melo. If Smartmatic did not change the internal clocks then they deliberately did it - screw up the timestamps. There is a big difference between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. - by about 3 hours.

And the statement that only the losers would be complaining . . .

. . . well DUH.

Of course only the losers would complain.

I ask you, have you ever seen any winners complain about cheating or fraud?

I don't think so.

And so what if it was the losers complaining? Does it make their complain less valid? Less important?

Check the allegations out.

Or are our politicians too afraid to uncover anything that will put them in a bad light?

That being the case I would not be surprised.

Then this will just fade away as nothing more than rumor and the man who became "Koala Bear" would probably not live it down - forced to wear that ridiculous get-up with nothing to show for it.

Ah that's showbiz for you.

It's Getting Hot Again

And I'm not just talking about the temperature and humidity although it was 37.3-degrees Celsius yesterday.

At least it's a little better today.

No that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the drama that is our elections or rather the results of it - that is if we will ever get the results.

Almost 10 days after the elections and despite promises of a speedy result we still don't know who our Vice-President will be.

The presidency is already a done deal but that will depend on the outcome of the current poll fraud investigation.

A masked man (yes he was actually wearing a mask - maybe he is a fan of Lucha Libre, the popular Mexican style free wrestling or fighting) alleges in a video that he and others like him had been paid by certain candidates and/or their backers to rig the elections to assure the winners.

The way they supposedly did it was to shave votes from certain candidates and add it to the favored ones.

How you say?

By supposedly scanning in sheets to their own PCOS machines and sending it to the Comelec just minutes before the actual, legitimate PCOS machines do.

Of course the Comelec and it's official citizen arm, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) are up in arms about the whole so-called revelation.

Calling him a Koala Bear (although Koala Man might be more appropriate), Comelec officials deride him for not identifying himself and not showing any proof.

They are adamant that no cheating happened and if there was the masked man should show proof.

I agree that proof should be shown to support any accusation. After all it is easy to make claims but harder to support it.

If cheating really did occur proof should be shown now to make sure it is dealt with.

If there is proof then it should be taken seriously.

That is where I find issue with the Comelec and the PPCRV. Instead of saying that they agree that it is a serious allegation and one that needs looking into they instead quickly deny anything wrong happened and that cheating and fraud was impossible.

They also said men couldn't fly and as wel all know the Wright brothers proved them wrong.

So instead of laughing off the allegations they should look into it seriously.

Admittedly I too have doubts about the "timing" of this masked whistle blower - no I am not going to call him Koala Bear or Koala Man in respect to real Koala Bears out there who are cute, cuddly and have the awesome Australian accent.

If there is proof show it now. That's it. Short and simple.

Put yourself under the protection of Congress if you have to.

Hey if he gets shot then that means what he is saying is true - because he has been silenced so he won't divulge anything.

Though I'm guessing this will come to naught - a with all things of a similar nature that happen in our country.

So it's either shut up or show up.

So we can damn move on from the elections that were supposedly fast.

"Supposedly" . . .

/-------------------------------------------------/

Note: I was supposed to post this yesterday but I had internet connection problems so that obviously didn't happen. FYI I use PLDT as my service provider and of course they keep saying nothing is wrong.

That's for another rant another day.

And the picture I took from the Inquirer's site

Automation Not A Cure-All

This according to delegates of the People’s International Observers’ Mission (PIOM) who were here to observe the May 10 elections.

The group said the Commission on Elections, Smartmatic and the Arroyo government were accountable for the problems encountered.

“And we can fairly say that the Philippine government is not committed to free and honest elections,” it added.

That in itself is an understatement.

I wonder if there has ever been a Philippine government committed to free and honest elections.

From the way the last elections were held the answer would be no.

I'm not going to bother with the details so I will post verbatim the observations of PIOM as posted by the Inquirer in their website.

• There was a sore lack in the preparations such as lack of teachers and lack of technicians; too few precinct count optical scan machines; no back-up plans, among other thing;

• There was general chaos and confusion in the voting process such as overcrowding due to the clustered precincts and there was no uniformity in procedures;

• There was lack of secrecy in the voting process such as people in the precincts watching, taking pictures of voters and people seen outside the polling places dictating to voters whom to vote for;

• There were clear violations of laws on campaigning such as poll watchers wearing campaign T-shirts and bringing campaign paraphernalia inside the precincts;

• Vote-buying was prevalent as shown by people lining up in politicians’ houses, people being paid not to vote and people distributing campaign materials with money clipped in;

• There was election-related violence such as cases of intimidation and harassment coming from armed groups of candidates, landlords and the military. It cited the case of Abra which was a "ghost town the night of the elections;"

• The heavy presence of military and police in the communities and within the polling places contributed to or caused a climate of fear;

• Political dynasties and their armed militias still lord it over local politics;

• There was a systematic vilification campaign against leftist senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and eight progressive partylist groups; and

• Political and economic inequality creates vulnerability to intimidation and vote buying.

The group concluded that widespread intimidation, vote-buying, corruption and violence showed that automation "could solve only part of the problem.’’

Of course we will counter this and say that they are wrong but the thing is we are looking at it from our respective subjective eyes.

The international observers are looking at it as outsiders - as objective 3rd parties. I think I will believe the objective party more than the subjective.

Besides I'm tired of "our" excuses anyway. They are pretty much the same.

The bright side is that this election was way better than previous ones. And there is still room for improvement.

Hopefully the coming elections will prove that point.

The Beer Has Spoken - Watch It

Oh wait did I say beer?

My bad - when I saw Corona I immediately thought of the Mexican alcoholic beverage.

Renato Corona has just been sworn in as our country's 23rd Chief Justice.

To those that have criticized his appointment he only had two words to say: "Watch me."

“I am my own person. All I know is that I am here. I have been appointed this job. I assume the responsibilities as chief justice and I am going to do a good job out of it,”

“I am grateful for my appointment. But that ends there….If the party in front of us is correct then he will win the case….We will decide things and cases on the basis of the law and evidence,”

Nice words but at the moment they are merely words - and Corona admits it. That's why he wants us to watch him do his job.

I do hope what he says is true. The Supreme Court has been wishy-washy and it needs to be more responsible and dignified.

That being said he is only human and like it or not the sense of owing someone for his position will come to play.

Remember we don't have the American mentality. We have the Filipino mentality and for us when we owe someone we owe someone - "utang na loob" is what we call it.

Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said that "There is no longer an issue, whether legal, constitutional, moral, or political."

Yes it may b true that there is no issue legally, constitutionally, or politically but there will always be a question of it's morality.

Because like it or not it will still look to everyone that Corona's appointment was to simply pad the Supreme Court in her favor so she's protected.

Whether it's true or not remains to be seen but it is a big burden for the new Supreme Court Chief Justice, as well as the Supreme Court itself to overcome.

Time will tell, especially when Arroyo is one of the defendants.

Then we will see if the rule of law and evidence will win over "utang na loob."

Chief Justice Corona - please prove me and every naysayer out there wrong.

Promises Promises . . . Aren't They Made To Be Broken?

That is if you're soon to be former president and soon to be new congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Facing the prospect of a tough uphill battle for the speakership of the House of Representatives against returning congressman Feliciano Belmonte, Arroyo has supposedly declined her allies prodding that she run for speaker of the house.

According to Arroyo she would rather be the "Sonia Gandhi" of the Philippines and help her fellow representatives from the floor and not from the speaker position.

Quite appropriate since Sonia Gandhi was faced with a lot of controversy especially concerning her "true" citizenship.

But Arroyo can compare herself with anyone as her right.

That being said the real reason potentially she will not run for the speakership is that it would be an uphill battle for her, especially if many of her so called allies and supporters defect to Aquino's side.

After all who wouldn't want to be near the root of power. It is our way as Filipinos after all - whether we like it or not; good or bad.

Of course who knows if this would be true. After all her record for sticking to her word has been, at the very least, spotty.

I'm sure she will do her best to protect herself from potentially be investigated by the Aquino government as seen by her last minute actions prior to her departure from office.

She has the political acumen.

Too bad she did not use it for the Filipino people.

So What If It's A Snub?

As long as there is no constitutional provision or law requiring a president-elect to take the oath of office in front of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court then he or she should be allowed to pick the officer to administer the oath.

That's the plan of president-elect Benigno Aquino III when he takes his oath of office and officially takes the reign of the government.

A political statement concerning the appointment of Associate Justice Renato Corona as the new Chief Justice?

Probably.

Is it unconstitutional?

Probably not.

Is it bad form?

Probably.

At least it's starting his presidency off with a bang.

Malacañang has been vocal about Aquino taking his oath of office in front of Corona. Spokesperson Charito Planas even went as far as saying that "he will be 10-feet taller if he would [take his oath from Corona], instead of taking his oath before a judge, or a notary public, or other justices.''

I don't know about you but if Aquino was not 10 feet tall now I doubt being sworn in by the Chief Justice will make him any taller.

Planas further stated that in swearing in front of Corona, Aquino would be "recognizing and respecting the principle of the separation of powers' of the executive, legislative and judicial branches."

You mean recognizing the midnight appointment of Corona and the abuse of power of Arroyo?

I don't think so.

She also added that "You can criticize whatever you want but still you have to follow and respect the decision of the Supreme Court."

But what if, for argument's sake the Supreme Court is wrong?

What if for argument's sake the Court was wrong?

Who would protect us, the good citizens of this country from that kind of mistake?

And if Arroyo was of good she would have just allowed Aquino to choose the new Chief Justice as one of his first acts as president.

But then again if she did that then she would not be safe from potential litigation should Aquino choose to investigate her for the wrong doings she did when she was president.

I mean come on any moron can see that.

So it becomes a constitutional crisis. With everything else this country has faced and survived what's one more.

Besides, who knows there might be another people power to put *gasp* Erap in power.

Now wouldn't that be something.

I hope not . . .

Candidates MUST Clean-Up After Themselves

Because quite frankly it's a mess.

During the campaign period all sorts of campaign paraphernalia and materials were used to shout out to all who would care to read or listen the merits of this or that candidate.

We were awoken at six in the morning to the sounds of each candidate's song - sung by bad singers who can't even enunciate well.

Case in point - one of the candidates for councilor in my hometown had a song that instead of his name I heard "lychee."

Good if you're the fruit, bad if you're the candidate.

But at least that kind of pollution (and who ever first thought about it should be shot) disappears after elections.

What does not disappear as quickly are the ton of streamers, tarpaulins, stickers and what-have-you that the candidates used to tell all of us that they are less of a scoundrel and theif than the next candidate.

It's around and it's hard to remove, especially the stickers.

The thing is the candidates don't clean this up. For them it is not their job despite the fact that they were the ones who put it up in the first place.

They expect everyone else to clean up after them.

It should be mandatory that the candidates should be liable for the clean up of their mess after elections are over.

It shouldn't matter even if it was a supporter that did it - the fact is they are getting the benefit of having their name out.

The Comelec should make it mandatory and should have each candidate put in escrow money to be used for cleaning up.

(I say this out of pure ignorance of course because for all I know they already do)

Anyway they should clean up after themselves and that's that.

Binay Versus Roxas For The Best Job Ever - Vice-President

Things are heating up between vice-presidential bets Jejomar Binay and Mar Roxas.

Accusations of fraud and what not has been slung between the two with no signs of abating

No surprise as the gap between the two is negligible and so it is unsure who will really win the coveted easy seat of Vice-President of the Philippines.

Why do I say it's an easy job?

To my mind the vice-president, at least in our country really does nothing - much. If they do they really don't get that much exposure.

Also, since the vice-president often is from a different party, the president will not be that open to using the VP since he or she does not want the VP to get politically strong and win the the next national election for the other party.

And let's just say there's really no trust because of the different party thing. That's why I wonder why we don't elect both the president and the vice-president as one package - much like in the United States.

But because of the current system, the VP gets to network and be behind the scenes without much concern. He or she gets an on-the-job-training on how to be a president so when the times comes he or she knows what to do and not what to do - especially if the president does something that becomes truly unpopular.

So who ever wins the vice-presidency will, barring any stupid mistakes that can result in political suicide - like vice-president Noli de Castro - most likely be the next president.

So depending on who you want it's either going to be Binay or Roxas.

We just have to wait and see.

The People Have Spoken - We Have Our Next President

A day after the historic May 10th national elections it looks like we have a new president in the form of Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Mud had been slung, lies had been made, accusations had been sung and after all that the people of the Philippines has spoken - emphatically.

4 presidential bets have already conceded - Senator Manny Villar, Richard Gordon, Gilbert Teodoro and JC de los Reyes.

A good gesture because based upon the unofficial returns there was no way in hell either of them could overtake Aquino.

The other presidential bets should also do the same because barring a major catastrophe Aquino is it.

People may hate him, they may not like him, they may be apathetic towards him but it is a fact that he is going to be the one.

Hence we should put aside differences and loo forward to working with the government of the Philippines which will soon be under new management.

That being said Aquino should not forget that when he takes his seat as President he did not get a majority since if over 40 million of us voted then he is only at about 40% or so.

He has to remember that more than 55% did not vote for him for one reason or another so they will be looking, and looking hard, to see how he would perform - especially in his first 100-days.

As for who his vice-president is going to be it seems like it will be Jejomar Binay. However it is a closer battle for this position what with Aquino's running mate Manuel Roxas breathing down his neck.

We'll soon see how that will go. Should it be Binay we're potentially seeing the next in line to be president after Aquino.

But then again predictions are not always a sure thing.

/---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

Note: The automated elections seem to be a success based on the outcome. There were glitches along the way but nothing that couldn't be fixed. That being said I hope that next election we have a true electronic voting system where we just press a screen and our vote get's counted.

Despite my earlier misgivings good job Comelec. Let's give credit where credit is due at least.

Agricultural Sector Not Performing As It Should Be Because There's No One Advocating For Them - AAMBIS-OWA #19

As I stated in my prior 2 posts on the subject, our country's agriculture is a mix of small, medium and large farms with the majority of them small lots averaging about 2 hectares.

Despite that, agriculture is a main occupation of about a third of our workers and contribute about 1/5th of our Gross Domestic Product.

Crop cultivation is the main enterprise with the rest being poultry, services, and swine farming.

Despite its desire to implement reforms to increase productivity, efficiency, competitiveness, market adaptability, and sustainability, the agricultural sector's reforms have been hampered by inadequate resources, limited implementing capabilities of both national and local government units and weak coordination among the differing implementing agencies.

This has resulted in a significant decrease in overall productivity, high production costs and negligible government support. Add past and current environmental disasters such as the El Niño and La Niña phenomena that have hit us and the agricultural sector is in a crisis.
A crisis that has affected the crop sub-sector wherein farmers saw a 1.42% decrease in total production last year. While overall gate prices went up by about 1.81% hidden by that is the fact that coconut prices went down by 21.03%, coffee by 10.17% and Onions by 30.62%.

And even with prices of fertilizer down (for now) it has been offset by increases in the price of fuel which will, in turn, eventually increase the price of fertilizers in the future. This will be true when the price of oil in the global market hits $100 per barrel again and there is no reason why it won't.
These two elements are two of the biggest cost of production facing our country's farmers.

And despite our government's promises nothing seems to be done or if it is it only benefits those that have political connections or those that have big farms that don't really need government assistance. Often it's a case of too-little-too-late.

That's why it's imperative that our country's farmers are given representation so that they have advocates in congress willing and able to fight for what they need and deserve.


AAMBIS-OWA, number #19 in the party-list in the May 10th national elections are the farmer's advocates.

AAMBIS-OWA is a non-profit national organization of small marginalized farmers that started as a half-hour Sunday radio program in Iloilo that soon spread beyond the boundaries of Region IV.

As a farmer's organization, AAMBIS-OWA understands the basic problems plaguing our farmers from the farmer's perspective. It is their purpose to promote and support agendas that help uplift the economic welfare and rights of marginalized farmers and their families around the country.

Their legislative agenda is for the marginalized farmers and is centered on the basic and prevalent problems of its members.

Problem 1: Production is stagnant or declining

• Streamlining or overhauling of government and public institutions within the agricultural sector

• Linkages and partnerships to foster agricultural innovation

• Advocacy on agricultural competitiveness and modernization

• Infrastructure development, especially farm irrigation and farm-to-market roads.

Problem 2: Farmers continue to live below poverty level

• Technology transfer through learning centers to increase production output and minimize production costs.

• Training for farmers and their families on modern farming technologies and alternative income sources

• Research and development to improve cultivation, intercropping, production, processing, marketing, registration, and export

• Government monitoring on farming supply costs

• Quality control standards on all stages of the industry to gain better trading terms

Problem 3: Low farm gate prices

• Organization and support of cooperatives and farmers'groups.

• Integrated processing centrals owned by farmers or farmers' groups.

• Government monitoring on trading and pricing

Problem 4: Farmers and their families are without economic and social security

• Magna-carta for the socio-economic, health, and educational benefits of marginalized farmers and their dependents

• Crop insurance and financing

• Training and education for dependents, whether through scholarships or seminars, on entrepreneurial alternatives

AAMBIS-OWA seeks party-list representation in the House of Representatives to fight for a comprehensive and sustainable legislative agenda for marginalized farmers. Through a common voice, AAMBIS wishes to bring attention and to find rightful solutions to the grassroots of the agricultural industry.

It's not about asking for complicated answers to the basic problems of marginalized farmers. It's about asking for simple and essential solutions as seen from the eyes of the poorest farmers in the country.

Our farmers toil the soil in order for us to eat and for our country to grow and develop. Why aren't we doing more to help them?

Help our farmers so they can help themselves and as a result help ourselves. Their future is our future as well.

Give our farmers the representation and zealous advocacy that they deserve.

In the upcoming May 10th national elections give our farmers AAMBIS-OWA #19.

VOTE AAMBIS-OWA #19 ON MAY 10TH!

It Comes Down The Wire For The Presidentiables

A little over two more days to go before we get to elect our new government. Well I say new government but really it's the same type of government but simply under new management.

So who will you vote for president? That all important position - the head of all corrupt politicians everywhere. But I digress . . .

Villar? The billionaire businessman who supposedly grew up poor and became rich out of pure hard work and diligence. A true rags to riches story.

Opponents argue he was really never that poor and that they were actually middle class.

They also say that he will ruin our country economically because he's only here to make money.

Whatever . . . he can't do any worse than Arroyo. Let's face it there is really nothing left to get, her administration made sure of that.

Then there's Aquino, son of two of the most beloved (depending on which generation you ask) people in the country - Ninoy and Cory.

He has their legacy but does he have their acumen? Let me ask this: during his term as senator what exactly did he do? What laws did he pass that could have benefited all of us?

At a loss on what how to answer? That's OK. You're not alone. Neither does anyone else. Maybe he just "thinks" he did something good for the country or that he will do good. Who knows to whom he listens to.

And hey he got the Iglesia Ni Cristo's endorsement. Wow talk about not being corruptable. The fact that you are actively seeking out endorsement from one religious entity or another means you are already corrupt.

And don't get me started with the whole separation of church and state thing. It's only on paper anyway so technically are we really a secular country.

Maybe we should all convert to Islam so then we don't have to pretend we don't let religion control our country. That just makes us hypocrites.

But that's better than the hubris to call yourself the "son of god" much like Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, head of the sect "Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name." Like I said in my last article I always thought there was only one "son of god?" Well depending on which religion you follow of course.

But I suppose it's OK for GIBO to accept that kind of an endorsement. After all, he hasn't been really getting any support from the administration - considering he is the administration candidate.

I guess Arroyo is a little busy trying to cover her tracks and campaign to become a congresswoman.

But why bother getting endorsement from the religious groups when you can have one for your very own.

Brother Eddie (Eduardo C. Villanueva) is also a televangelist like Quiboloy but to his merit he hasn't openly declared himself to be the son of god (that I know of). If he did then that would make him and Quiboloy brothers.

He has his own cadre of followers under his "Jesus is Lord" church so in that regard he has an advantage over GIBO and Aquino.

And should I say anything about former president Joseph Estrada? Probably not. Besides what is there to say. He was president and was ousted in a people power (sounds familiar) and was replaced by his back-stabbing vice-president at the time and soon to be congresswoman Arroyo.

And since he has been pardoned wants to be president again so he can get back against the people who ousted him especially Arroyo. OK OK I made that one up but will it really be a surprise if he has that in mind? I won't.

Richard Gordon - Former Mayor of Olongapo and Chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. See I liked him when he was still Mayor of Olongapo. He was able to bring order from what was a chaotic "sin" city that was Olongapo.

And I was one of those who supported the call for the retention of the U.S. bases during that nationwide campaign that he led.

But back to what we were talking about. He's a dark-horse and who know he may do good. Of course if surveys are to be believed he hasn't a chance in hell but then again he doesn't believe in surveys anyway.

Now if only he learns how to just shut up.

Then there's Madrigal and Perlas. Sorry to say I don't know squat about them so I'll leave it at that. Note to their spin doctors - maybe everyone else don't know much about them too. Just a hint.

Anyway regardless of which one you vote for it will not be a 100% guarantee that they will be the medicine for what ails the country.

Will they be more corrupt or less corrupt than the regime they are replacing? Who knows. The thing is only time will tell.

The sad part is, our country doesn't have anymore time to spare.

Agricultural Sector Needs Support - Especially Our Farmers - AAMBIS-OWA #19

In our country agriculture holds an equally important status as the other economic sectors. It plays an important role in our country's economic growth and development.

We have a total of 4.8 million agricultural farms covering an area of about 9.7 million hectares, constituting about a third of our country's total land area. While the number of farms has increased the total farm area has been decreasing.

This is mostly due to an increase in the conversion of farmland to residential and commercial purposes, especially near major urban areas.

This has resulted in the average farm size of about 2.04 hectares used for raising crops, fruit trees, livestock, poultry or in any other agricultural activity.

High cost of inputs, low price of produce, lack of capital and post-harvest facilities, labor problem, pests and diseases, an inadequate irrigation system, incomplete "farm-to-market" transportation network, along with low gate-prices add to the the main obstacles facing farmers today.

Lack of government concern and funding along with government foot-dragging, has also helped to further exacerbate the situation especially in times of environmental threats like the current El Niño weather phenomenon.

This does not help the small poor farmers who only net P12,000 for the entire harvest season.

Government emergency outlays are good but they are only a short-term patch and most of the time the money does not even reach the ones that needs them.

What's needed is the will and zealousness to advocate for the needs and concerns of the farmers of our country.


AAMBIS-OWA is a non-profit national organization of small marginalized farmers that started as a half-hour Sunday radio program in Iloilo that soon spread beyond the boundaries of Region IV.

As a farmer's organization, AAMBIS-OWA understands the basic problems plaguing our farmers from the farmer's perspective. It is their purpose to promote and support agendas that help uplift the economic welfare and rights of marginalized farmers and their families around the country.

Their legislative agenda includes:

• Streamlining or overhauling of government and public institutions within the agricultural sector.

• Agricultural competitiveness and modernization

• Infrastructure development, especially farm irrigation and farm-to-market roads

• Training for farmers and their families on modern farming technologies and alternative income sources

• Government monitoring on trading and pricing

• Crop insurance and financing
  

AAMBIS-OWA seeks party-list representation in the House of Representatives to fight for a comprehensive and sustainable legislative agenda for marginalized farmers. Through a common voice, AAMBIS wishes to bring attention and to find rightful solutions to the grassroots of the agricultural industry

It's not about asking for complicated answers to the basic problems of marginalized farmers. It's about asking for simple and essential solutions as seen from the eyes of the poorest farmers in the country.

Give our farmers the representation and zealous advocacy that they deserve.

VOTE AAMBIS-OWA #19 ON MAY 10TH!