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Archive for the ‘Philippine Left’ Category

Last Monday, Rep. Walden Bello of Akbayan Party delivered a scathing speech condemning former President GMA for high corruption. He said that corruption was the signature of the Arroyo government. He condemned the allies and cohorts of the previous government, whose acts he called porcine. He said that GMA should be brought to the National Penitentiary, and that she doesn’t deserve to be in Congress. (Download the speech here)

The speech was delivered shortly after former President GMA had her oath-taking before the members of Congress as the representative of the 4th district of Pampanga.

In the House of Gloria, what Walden did cannot be tolerated. Walden was interrupted several times during his speech, with one veteran representative saying that it was taking too long. Another representative – remember him, his name is Rep. Marcoleta of Alagad – complained that Walden, a professor and a public intellectual, was tackling too many issues, and it was too much for his brain to handle. Read the rest of this entry »

(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.

GMA's surprise visit during AKBAYAN's National Congress

So President GMA – Gloria Macapal Ayoko – paid AKBAYAN a suprise visit during the Opening Ceremonies of its 4th Regular National Congress and the launching of Risa Hontiveros’ senatorial bid. Below is the speech she delivered.

Senator Jovy Salonga; Senator Noynoy Aquino; Professor Randy David, my future opponent in the second district of Pampanga (sarcastic) good luck to you; members and officers of AKBAYAN na alam ko naman na ayaw nyo talaga sa akin; ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant (pause) hellooo.

For the longest time AKBAYAN especially your representatives in congress have been a pain the ass but I have found ways to get back at you guys. But past is past. Natutuwa ako dahil sa wakas ay natanggap na ng AKBAYAN that I am, after all, a great president. This opportunity to speak to you today is a concrete step towards national unity, reconciliation, beautification, glorification and evaporation. Salamat AKBAYAN at na-realize nyo na that I am not really guilty of any crime (winks).  Ang Hello Garci, NBN-ZTE at fertilizer scam ay mga minor lapse in judgment lamang. Very minor lang yan at wala naman talagang  malisya tulad ng pagpili kay Carlo Caparas bilang national artist at ang one million pesos na bill para sa dinner sa New York. In fact, kahit ang pagpunta ko dito ay lapse in judgement din. For this, please allow me to say (slowly) I am sorry.

Let me tell you that I am not looking forward to the senatorial candidacy of this Risa Hontiveros. Nasa kongreso palang siya, masakit na siya sa bangs. Pati ang statement of assets and liabilities ko pinakikialaman. Don’t get me wrong I have no ill feelings for this Risa Hontiveros. Its just that she is not my type. She represents everything that I am not. I have feeling she is my anti-matter. She is tall on virtues while I am short (pause) on everything. St. Scholastica siya noong high school, Assumption naman ako. Si Risa laging nakikiisa sa sambayanan, samantalang ako laging pinagkakaisahan ng sambayanan. Si Risa nakulong na, ako (teasing) hindi pa. Si Risa byuda, ako (pause) sana. FG I love you. At higit sa lahat, si Risa magsesenador na, ako naman magkokongresista.

But I have to give this Risa Hontiveros an A for persistence. Kahit binomba ng bumbero sa  mendiola, kahit hinuli ng mga pulis sa welcome rotonda at kahit tinggalan ko pa ng pork barrel ay hindi pa rin natitinag at tuloy parin ang paglaban sa akin. Risa Hontiveros kung sa mga SONA ko hindi ka nakikinig, pwes ngayon makinig ka. I have three words for you, (slowly) “I will never endorse you for senator in 2010.”

I, thank you.

*Speech was written by Percival Cendana, Deputy Secretary of AKBAYAN, a certain “Wilma Mae”, and Josel Gonzales, a salingkit in AKBAYAN’s Gay and Lesbian Collective. Photos by Marlon Cornelio of AKBAYAN-Youth.

Kaya pa daw tumakbo ni Erap. Nice. Mister President, I have some tips for you about running.

Get yourself a pair of good running shoes.   Never underestimate the importance of warm ups, otherwise the day after would be a complete disaster (no different from a night of sex without condoms or contraceptives).

Before running, drink lots of water. Tonic water, especially if mixed with vodka, is not counted. Breathe properly – shoulders lifted, upper chest expanded, and diaphragm nicely tucked in. This would be hard, since as an actor you’ve been trained to pant and grunt, and told that such skills are enough to win hordes of fans.

No English required. Actually, the ability to construct coherent statements are also useless, unless it is your habit to talk to yourself – it’s hard, believe me I’ve tried. But take note of useful words like Ped Xing. No, that’s not the name of your favorite Chinese crony, that’s where you cross, Mister President.

Find a good spot to jog. You might want to try Muntinlupa, Bicutan, or Tanay. Jog in place if you like, you might find that skill useful.

Also, try controlling your leering look. Maybe it’s age, or maybe it’s you, but it’s scary and makes you look suspicious – as if you have just robbed the people or that you’re about to commit some nasty sexual stunts.

If you are a beginner, you have to take it slow. Rein in your greed, este, your excitement. Oopss, that still didn’t come out right.

But who the hell cares? Nothing is right in this country anymore.

Not that I haven’t gotten over with the US elections, but I just have one question: What’s ‘country first’ nga in Filipino?

And when are we going to hear about the ‘Obama-Arroyo’ regime? Tagal naman…