While you were drowning
(In this video: Proponents of the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, among them AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros and Walden Bello, protest the railroading of the dismissal of the impeachment complaint)
While some were still drowning, while some families were still stuck on roofs, while those who were not badly hit were sacrificing their lives to save those who need rescuing and while others were volunteering their energy to provide relief to those who lost almost everything, some of our honorable congressmen and women were busy saving Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, protector of Big Boss Mike Arroyo.
Today, the impeachment complaint against the Ombudsman was dismissed by the House justice committee with a vote of ‘absolute majority’. It was a surreal hearing. After being delayed for several weeks because of lack of quorum, the House committee was suddenly able to force its members to attend the hearing, disaster and all.
They were there, the President’s allies. Mikey Arroyo was likewise there. When the roll call was made, the secretariat declared that 35 members of the committee were present.
When they railroaded the vote to junk the impeachment complaint, they counted 37 in favor of dismissal. Who cares about the discrepancy, they have the numbers after all. That’s their version of ‘absolute majority’: 35 in attendance, 37 voted in favor of junking, and those for impeachment were not counted. They even cheered after the vote.
They did not even bothered to count the votes of those who wish to impeach Merceditas Gutierrez, who needs to be held accountable for letting COMELEC officials involved in the Mega-Pacific deal go scot-free. She is St. Mercy after all, the patron saint of the Arroyo family.
Who cares about having a sound decision on the matter, who cares about an honest-to-goodness debate, one that sharpens the intellect, and one that sieves wisdom from insanity: they have the numbers, and the Chair alone could simply gag the opposition. Appeals and protests were ignored. There were calls to have the vote postponed for the meantime, so that the counter-arguments could be studied and so that all could focus on what is crucial: relief work.
But why worry, when the President’s son was there to cheer the vote and make sure that the stooges will do her bidding. And so the good Presidential son did what he was told to do – enforce the marching orders, and dismiss the complaint.
And like the rest of them, when the complaint was junked, he clapped and cheered, shamelessly overjoyed and gloating while you were drowning.
58 Responses to “While you were drowning”
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Ang tagal ng 2010.. cant wait to vote for someone new. Our President and congressmen are sooo powerhungry they throw every dirty trick in the book and they work on all sorts of loopholes just to stay in power. Di ba marami pang bills sa congress na super mas importante pero nakabinbin, bat kaya yon hindi mafast track kagaya nito? Ay oo nga pala.. wala silang pakinabang sa mga importanteng bill.
what a nonsense… it’s utterly useless to put our hopes on these kinds of people… some always say, “wag umasa sa Gobyerno.. tingnan mo sarili mo if nakakatulong ka…” well there’s some truth in that but absolutely not everything…
It is the right of the people to demand results from those they have given power to govern… the more power you have, the more is expected from you. But again and again and again, it’s common sense that there useless individuals are screwing up our country because we allowed them to… ‘yung mga congressman and senators who are tagged as corrupt and sometimes murderous, have become powerful because we made them become what they are now.
Just think of this… the vote that you have is a political power you give to a candidate. If you vote for a candidate who is known as a psychopath or pervert or fraudster, then it’s just as good as you are giving him/her your power… sa mga pandaraya at pananakot naman, again these idiots rely on those who help them to commit cheating… or to terrorize the town… that’s another form of power which again comes from the masses.. it all boils down to the fact that we, the masses, are making ourselves slaves of our own device…
i agree with smilish. kayong mga WHINERS puro tuligsa, wala namang positive recommendation para ialleviate ung crisis. ang method niyo kasi, to criticize others so youd feel better about yourselves. i dont like mikey myself, but you WHINERS are always going overboard. BINAHA ang bahay ko hanggang dibdib, tanghali na the next day nung nalaman ko ang nagyayari with the rest of the philippines. these people are trying to keep the work from piling up. i was back to work on monday kahit walang natira sa gamit ko. all im saying is that you cant judge people on their immediate priorities. especially when you are not directly affected. the bottom line is, you are HATING just for the fun of it. not out of real concern. cos if you are, then youd be out on the streets helping. not posting HATE on blogs while nakabukas ang ibang window sa facebook or whatever sites. dont deny it. let your hands work. not your mouths.
“ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORD”..lol!!!
@ all commentators: if you disagree of what had done by the congress, then can anyone of you do an action against this issue and better HURRY UP!
I have to take exemption to this. As I’ve said earlier, hindi naman siguro tayo dapat magbilangan – while giving my own contribution to our relief work after Ondoy, I’ve seen the admirable job that we collectively have done as ordinary citizens. I find equally admirable people like Xander who went to work even after losing their properties due to the flooding. BUT, and here’s the big BUT for me, public officials are different. we have all the right to criticize them when we see that they’re doing something wrong. i have nothing against with the idea of all these committee meetings taking place while the rest of us are sacrificing to give relief to our fellow citizens, it’s the act of abusing power, and doing so while we are ‘drowning’, that i find repulsive. As i told a friend immediately after the hearing – and I went there, because as a government employee it is my duty, too, to be there, despite feeling tired because of a long day of packing relief goods – seeing what took place was revolting, as if my body was physically rejecting the sight of pro-admin legislators clapping and cheering after they railroaded the junking of the complaint. That’s the issue for me.
(Funny, but yeah, even during the hearing, I was busy sending tweets and facebook status updates – kailangan kasi ng trucks, ng donations, para sa relief work. Seeing what they did in the hearing, I thought social networking was rather more fruitful and meaningful.)
@Xander: Your reply is clear proof of the victim mentality ever present in our society. You have the right to your opinion, and we respect it; but there are several points that you have to consider:
1. Do you understand the main point of the article? Let me give you a hint: it’s not about whining or hating.
2. You complain about those unable to help victims of the calamity (and make yourself a stark example of those who should be helped – I hope you don’t deny this; we’re not dumb); but have you considered helping as well? A lot of us here have helped, and we were all affected, too. Oh, and have you heard of those who lost their homes but still went out of their ways and risked (or gave) their lives saving others?
3. Hating is not “fun”; however, psychological studies prove that in such situations “projecting” what one feels is the best way to cleanse one’s conscience.
4. Look at the bigger picture, not just the snapshots of reality that you choose to juxtapose.
5. Respect our opinions. This is a blog, and THIS IS NOT A DEBATE. FYI, this is a DISCOURSE.
I am not a fan of whiners myself; but to my understanding (and I believe Mr. Webster agrees with me here) whining is more of an audible than a visual. You don’t agree? Here’s a link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whine.
Seriously, your reply had no essence in it; it’s as if someone asked you to defend them from their actions. No logic, no sense, no rational. If you want to rant, do it somewhere else (e.g. PEx, etc.).
Use more intelligent arguments in the future, ok? And please stop that nasty habit of assuming.
ASSUME = Making an ASS of U and ME.
@logical: Here’s what you said:
“It’s fine to point out the flaws in the gov’t system, but in the same breath you should also work towards making positive contributions… hindi lang yung puro complain ng complain… wala namang ginagawa para maka-tulong sa gobyerno!…”
Here’s what I say:
Walang ginagawa para makatulong sa gobyerno? You must be blind, deaf AND dumb. Or maybe we can give you the benefit of the doubt and just count you as one of the very few uninformed (and apathetic) minority. Aside from having non-government reliant relief efforts (and cash donations being taxed, mind you), we get taxed every single day. Our income tax is almost 1/3 of our earnings. And they still need help??? How useless can they get???
Sorry bro/sis, you just made your side (and, consequentially, the government) look REALLY bad.
A tip to lapdogs: the next time you decide to defend your “masters” (who are ironically PUBLIC SERVANTS – doesn’t that make you feel bad about being a lapdog?), look at the bigger picture. We’re not stupid (excuse my french); we see it real clear.
@smilish
You’re an idiot. Learn to read between the lines before commenting. Your opinion is as daft and inept like those so called PUBLIC SERVANTS who voted for junking the impeachment complaint. Wonder why the country is a such a mess? People like you..CLUELESS.