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.