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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

(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.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

UPDATE (9/2/09): Six of those who were arrested last Friday were only released today, five days after they were detained. The Head Prosecutor reversed the decision of the Fiscal finding probable cause in the complaint filed by the police.

Alta theater in Cubao was raided again last Thursday by the police and was subsequently closed down by the Mayor. Last night, another establishment catering to gay/bi/trans clients was also raided. We had to be in a police precinct till 3 AM this morning, and come back again late, and wait for hours till formal charges were filed late in the afternoon – all in the name of an ordinance that imposes a maximum fine of P200 per violator.

Too much hassle, right? Those who were arrested are still being held by the police. They have been detained for more than 12 hours before the arresting officers arrived and confirmed that formal charges would be filed. The police dragged its feet, timed the filing of the complaint just when the weekend court is about to close. The prosecutor said that with no court open, there can be no arraignment, and therefore the bail could not be granted. We have to wait for the court to open on Tuesday to secure the release of the arrested individuals. That’s more than 72 hours of jail time for an ordinance so important the violation of which could lead to maximum of P200 fine. (Unfortunately, I cannot give the other details because we are still securing an early release).

Let’s call a spade a spade. These raids are not done in the exercise of the rule of law. These are extortion activities, the kind of law enforcement that compromises the rule of law and erodes whatever trust we have on the government and our law enforcement agencies. Assuming that in some of these unjust raids certain violations of local laws or obscure national policies have been committed, the proportionality of police response betrays the motive behind the action – to extort. It’s easy money, and we know that law enforcement can be a lucrative profession. Everybody in the establishment earns – the police, the local or national officials, and sometimes even the mainstream media. (Read here a case background on a raid in Alta that shows how the interests of the police and the media converge) Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Photo from www.gmanews.tv

The first time I sided with Cory Aquino was when I was in grade school. It was, I suppose, at the height of the snap elections. Maricon, the granddaughter of our school’s principal and my Grade 2 classmate, came to me one day in our school playground and tried to bully us to do the Marcos’ V sign.

I didn’t like her. Wiry hair, frail, pale, and an unforgivable name. A brat, too. So I defied her, told her “na Laban ako”, flashing the L sign, all of which – the labels, the gestures – actually meant nothing. I merely picked them up from grown ups. Already a Marcos loyalist, Maricon said she’s not inviting me to her birthday party. Read the rest of this entry »

And so yesterday, after pigging out in Binondo and while we were walking to Cartimar, we discovered the Magdalo bar and restaurant (and carwash). Now that the political grapevine is again full of rumors of another coup attempt, I wonder if the Oakwood Mutiny and the Manila Peninsula Siege were nothing but an exercise of culinary espionage? After all, why launch coups d’etat in hotels? Rumor has it that one of the mutineers escaped through the kitchen – was he stealing a recipe, or doing a quick taste test?

When you announced the other day that Bishops do not need sex education and that you actually have your sex education program, I instantly got a hard on. There’s nothing like listening to a man of cloth explaining the birds and the bees and the miraculous babies to arouse me instantaneously.

In high school, I got bored with flip charts showing the fallopian tube, the vans deferens (duh!), and all these organs. But with bees and birds – dude, my dear Bishop, I get the point. It’s so raw that it gets me off – no need to commit premarital sex, or in my case the dreaded immoral, infernal homosexual sex – and I do get the message instantaneously: the birds shouldn’t get the bees, they should get married first and promise to each other that the bird won’t eat the bee and bee won’t sting the bird. Commitment before the stomach. See?

I also wish you would always bring that nifty anti-abortion poster of yours, that one with Grim Reaper and his Sickle of Death carrying a baby. The caption “Born Free” perfectly captures the attitude that young Filipinos should have towards sex. It is so… natural. Reminds me of the lioness that inspired the song. The image alone would make each and every horny teenager throw away their condoms and think of marriage everytime they have sex. And pregnant teenagers would not even contemplate taking morning after pills or going to underground abortion clinics because the poster alone would remind them of the… lioness.

My dear Bishop, nobody gets pregnant in the kind of sex that people of my “inclination” engage in, but we have decided to abandon using condoms because we firmly believe in your doctrine. Condoms prevent procreation. And more importantly, one must not waste the seeds of procreation. If the HIV incidence in the Philippines increased this year, then we must spend more to have cleaner toilet bowls and implement a more aggressive mosquito eradication program. Surely, with the help of god, the number would dwindle next year.

And I say yes to requiring prescription for condoms! Sex, after all, is a disease. Only perverts engage in meaningless sex, the type that requires condoms. Normal people think of pregnancy everytime they engage in sex. It’s true even for gay men. And while we are at it, you really should require prescription for lubricants, too. And also for guys4men membership – I don’t mind telling my doctor that homosexuality is a disease, so could I please be given a reseta to be a member of g4m?

So here: I will attend your sex education workshop. Please be warned that, given your expertise on sex (I feel so inadequate, you guys must be sexually active!), I might ask the following questions:

• What exactly is rimming, and will it make me get pregnant?
• Are you top or bottom? Is it true that versatility is akin to being in purgatory, and must we decide with finality where we really are?
• Just to avoid confusion and unnecessary sexual reaction, when you mention the “flesh of Christ” during communion, which flesh are you really talking about? Also, is He a bird or a bee?

Sincerely,

Fullman