Monday, September 29, 2025

Pinoys ready na for the guillotine?

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

―Friedrich Nietzsche

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE are against the death penalty, and we can’t imagine watching government thieves, including Filipino political celebrities tainted by graft and corruption, being beheaded one by one if we have the death penalty—or if the government has fallen under the “Reign of Terror,” reminiscent of the French Revolution in 1789.

Even if we are very angry at the level of corruption allegedly committed by the likes of Zaldy Co, Martin Romualdez, Sara Duterte, Joel Villanueva, Bong Revilla, Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, among other high and mighty political clan kings and queens linked to misuse of intelligence funds and flood control project anomalies, we reject any act of barbarism as a punitive measure.

Which probably explains why we can’t duplicate what happened recently in Indonesia and Nepal.

We still hold the record of owning the most peaceful revolution in history—the 1986 EDSA Revolution. There are rosaries and flowers, but no bloodbath when we drive away dictators, ruffians and plunderers.

 

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In Indonesia and Nepal, protesters against graft and corruption and abuse of power by government officials were willing to vandalize government facilities and infrastructures at all costs and execute rapacious and greedy public officials by hook or by crook.

Filipinos, the only Christian inhabitants in Asia, could hardly replicate it. Not even close to duplicating it.

On September 21, 2025, a small number of Pinoy “protesters” wanted to do what the Indonesians and Nepalese did to their governments but failed miserably because they weren’t legitimate rallyists agitating for genuine reforms and social justice.

They were bandits, gangsters and paid troublemakers who couldn’t even understand what they were fighting for, and why they needed to turn violent while marching toward the parameters of Malacanang.

Criminals can’t be reformers or dispensers of social justice.

When it comes to mob, we are good at assembling it in the guise of expressing or to seek redress for our legitimate grievances against massive graft and corruption and plunder, but as to the real objectives and mission, we aren’t united.

Going back to the guillotine. Many Filipinos continue to advocate for death penalty while a broad segment of the population spurns it mainly because of religious and cultural considerations.

 

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Now that graft and corruption has turned deadly, or is now in the level where the Philippines will almost collapse economically, many Filipinos have now openly expressed their pent-up outrage not only in the social media, but also in the streets—and we’re referring to legitimate protest actions being initiated by the multi-sectoral segments of society that continue to grow.

For a lot of people, a mention of the French Revolution conjures up images of wealthy nobles being led to the guillotine.

Many have been left with the impression the revolution was chiefly about chopping off the heads of kings, queens, dukes and other cashed-up aristocrats, thanks to countless movies, books and half-remembered history lessons, according to The Conversation.

The Bastille Day and what is known in French as Quatorze Juillet–a date commemorating events of July 14 in 1789 that came to symbolize the French Revolution—it’s worth correcting this common misconception.

In fact, most people executed during the French Revolution–and particularly in its perceived bloodiest era, the nine-month “Reign of Terror” between autumn 1793 and summer 1794–were commoners.

Among those who died under the “national razor” (the guillotine’s nickname) were King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, many revolutionary leaders such as Georges Danton, Louis de Saint-Just and Maximilien Robespierre. Scientist Antoine Lavoisier, pre-romantic poet Andre Chenier, feminist Olympe de Gouges and legendary lovers Camille and Lucie Desmoulins were among its victims.

But it wasn’t just “celebrities” executed at the guillotine.

 

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If we have the guillotine in the Philippines and the death penalty, those expected to be executed are politicians who have repeatedly stolen the taxpayers’ money by hundreds of millions and even billions.

There are the so-called “repeat offenders” who had spent years in jail for plunder and yet were able to wiggle out from their crimes against the taxpayers because of political affiliations and manipulations.  

Politicians who enriched themselves while the people suffer from neglect, betrayal, and death like in the flood control project scandal. Those who collected mansions in the Philippines and abroad, bought imported vehicles worth hundreds of millions of pesos, private planes and yachts, among other pieces of evidence of opulence and mindless show of grandiosity.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Editor)

 


Did Dy absorb Mabilog?

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home... it's your responsibility to love it, or change it.”

—Chuck Palahniuk

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

INSTEAD of arguing whether they engaged in vote-buying during the elections, some members of the Iloilo City Council should focus on more important issues with direct impact on the lives of their constituents.

While vote-buying is a serious offense by any candidate seeking an elective public office, it can always take a backseat if there are more pressing matters that need to be tackled or prioritized.

Like the problem on health and sanitation especially that four tropical cyclones are expected to hit the country in October; the ear-piercing flood control tumult; the ever-controversial real property tax brouhaha; assistance for victims of storm Opong, among other urgent concerns.

The issue on vote-buying is also important and hot, and should be debated and investigated during the election season, but not when Ilonggos are expecting their aldermen to pass worthy resolutions that would redound to their benefit.

 

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Did former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog lose his job as Special Adviser to House Speaker Martin Romualdez now that the latter has resigned as speaker and was replaced by Isabela Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III?

Mabilog was appointed Special Adviser to House Speaker Martin Romualdez on May 1, 2025, or four months ago.

His appointment was officially confirmed through a memorandum signed by House Secretary General Reginald Velasco.

Since Romualdez remained as Leyte first district representative, did his office “absorb” the former city mayor in his staff?

Since Mabilog is not a Leyte resident and can’t be given a clerical position intended only, of course, for Romualdez’s province mates, it is possible his portfolio as special adviser for the former House speaker was also terminated.

Unless Dy will retain Mabilog, which is a far-fetched possibility, the former city mayor, who hid in the United States for seven years to escape the wrath and death threat from former Philippine President and now ICC detainee Rodrigo Duterte, will have to find another office where his expertise is needed while his Ilonggo constituents are hoping and waiting he will be qualified to run again in the next elections.

 

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PEOPLE who misuse the name of God dishonor His name and denigrate His holiness.

Like Eddie Villanueva, a party-list representative and former defeated presidential candidate, who reportedly used and even allegedly misused the name of God to threaten those who linked his son, Sen. Joel Villanueva, to flood control project anomalies.

The reason God will condemn us is because misusing his name is a very great sin.

It is a direct attack on his honor and glory, and anyone who makes such an attack deserves to be condemned.

When people break the third or any other commandment, they are guilty before God, and ultimately they will be judged for their sins.

 

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What God forbids is not the use of his name, then, but its misuse. To be specific, we are not to use it in a vain or empty way.

The specific misuse that God has in mind is speaking about him carelessly, thoughtlessly, or even flippantly, as if he didn’t matter or really didn’t exist at all.

God’s name has deep spiritual significance. So to treat it like something worthless is profanity in the truest sense of the word: It is to treat something holy and sacred as common and secular.

Even if he invoked the name of God, in the eyes of many Filipinos, Eddie Villanueva, or Bro. Eddie, condoned the alleged corruption of his son, who allegedly received some P160 million in kickbacks from the P600 million flood control projects.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Editor)

 

 


Wednesday, September 24, 2025

‘Trapped’ in UN-related gridlock


 

“If you're stuck in traffic, call a friend or listen to a favorite podcast. If you're waiting in a long line, make friends with a person in line with you. There are lots of ways we can change the vibe.”

—Gabrielle Bernstein

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE were right to warn earlier that if we didn’t have official business in New York City’s Lower Manhattan, it was best to avoid the area, especially in the First Avenue, where the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) kicked off on September 22, leading to street closures, extra security and more in Manhattan until September 29.

We were in the Third Avenue and East 41st Street September 24 morning for our patient’s doctor’s appointment and realized we had been “trapped” in a terrible traffic jam after coming out from the 8th floor of one building.

The gridlock could be felt or seen if someone was riding on a helicopter from the east to west, north to south corners.

Even France President Emmanuel Macron had to use his hotline to President Donald Trump to complain about the Big Apple traffic after being stuck behind a police barricade while trying to reach his country’s diplomatic mission in New York City after speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22 night.

 

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NYPD officers guarding the barricades appeared somewhat embarrassed at having to block the path of a visiting world leader.

“I’m sorry, president, I’m really sorry, it’s just that everything’s frozen right now,” one of them said in the video. Macron seemed to joke with them that they could turn a blind eye to his crossing, saying he wanted to “negotiate” with them.

Macron wasn’t the only world leader to suffer such a traffic-related indignity. Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also seen held up at the barriers.

Nearly 200 world leaders took to the stage during the week-long assembly, also known as UN week, to discuss “peace, development and human rights,” according to the organization’s website.

Politicians from all over the world discussed and voted on issues covered under the Charter of the United Nations. They were also expected to appoint a new secretary-general, elect members of the Security Council and approve the UN’s budget.

The main event, the general debate, began on Sept. 23 and will last through Sept. 29. The assembly will then continuously meet in sessions through December.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has warned drivers to plan for sweeping road closures amid the general assembly. A gridlock alert wa also in effect as the Department of Transportation warns of heavy traffic in the Midtown area this week.

 

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These streets could be shut down at the discretion of police:

-FDR Drive between Whitehall Street and 42nd Street

-East 86th Street (north side), East 80th Street (south side), Park Avenue (east side) and 5th Avenue (west side)

-60th Street (north side), 34th Street (south side), 1st Avenue/United Nations Plaza (east side) and 3rd Avenue (west side)

-57th Street (north side), 45th Street (south side), 3rd Avenue (east side) and Madison Avenue (west side)

-58th Street (north side), 49th Street (south side), Madison Avenue (east side) and 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas (west side)

-West 47th Street (north side), West 44th Street (south side), 7th Avenue (east side) and 8th Avenue (west side)

-Grand Army Plaza between 58th Street and 60th Street

-Grand Army Plaza between East Drive and 5th Avenue

-8th Avenue between West 49th Street and West 44th Street

-7th Avenue between West 56th Street and 59th Street

-6th Avenue between West 59th Street and West 46th Street

-5th Avenue between East 63rd Street and East 49th Street.

 

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-Madison Avenue between East 58th Street and East 42nd Street

-Vanderbilt Avenue between East 47th Street and East 42nd Street

-Park Avenue between East 86th Street and East 45th Street

-Lexington Avenue between East 57th Street and East 42nd Street

-3rd Avenue between 83rd Street and 72nd Street

-East 83rd Street between 5th Avenue and 3rd Avenue

-East 63rd Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue

-East 62nd Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

-East 61st Street between 5th Avenue and Lexington Avenue

-West 59th Street between 7th Avenue and 5th Avenue

-West/East 58th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas

-West/East 57th Street between 7th Avenue and Dead End/FDR Drive

-West 56th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue

-West 55th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue

-West 54th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue

-West/East 53rd Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive

-West 52nd Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue

-West 51st Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue

-West/East 50th Street between 7th Avenue and Dead End/FDR Drive

-West/East 49th Street between 8th Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road

-FDR Drive Service Road between East 48th Street and East 49th StreetEast 48th Street between 1st Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road

-West 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas

-West/East 42nd Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive

-West/East 34th Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive

-Traffic slows to less than 4 mph in Midtown during the assembly, according to the DOT.

Erin Pflaumer, a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018, reported that there were no credible threats as of September 22, according to authorities. More NYPD patrols, along with Secret Service agents, could be seen walking the streets of Midtown and in the subway system.

New Yorkers have been told to keep their eyes and ears open and to stay vigilant this week.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Editor)


Tuesday, September 23, 2025

What are you waiting for, Congressman Dracula?

 “Corruption is paid by the poor.”

—Pope Francis

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ILONGGOS will not accept that their reputation will be sullied only because of Congressman Dracula.

They have produced great and illustrious leaders these past 100 years; the entire Filipinos hold the Ilonggos with utmost reverence for being brilliant, trailblazers, honest, resilient, industrious, and nation builders. 

Ilonggos are enraged that because only of Congressman Dracula’s shenanigans and greediness, the good name they have built over the years will be ripped apart and shattered in one fell swoop.

They expected Congressman Dracula to tender his resignation out of delicadeza and turn over the reigns of the organization he represents in TONG-gress to the next nominee after his name was shamefully dragged into the scandalous multi-billion pesos flood control project anomalies.

But he did not. Congressman Dracula wouldn’t. What is he waiting for?

Instead, Congressman Dracula feigned innocence and denied to death accusations from corrupt DPWH contractors that he collected flood control project kickbacks for his malevolent godfathers, ex-Speaker Bondying and Congressman Zaltik.

 

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Nobody among those dishonest, deceitful and avaricious public officials has admitted taking turns in devouring big chunks of the multi-billion pesos intended to save Filipinos from floods during rainy season.

Like the wolfish Congressman Dracula, the druggles and grutnols of TONG-gress and SIN-nate, including the DPWH wolves and reptiles, continued to pretend they were only “victims of political persecution and harassment” and “lies intended to destroy our reputation.”

Reputation? What reputation Congressman Dracula, et al is talking about after stealing the taxpayers’ money? 

They have sold their souls to the darkness of rapaciousness and transformed their characters into double-dealing hooligans, and they have the audacity to complain about their “damaged” reputations? 

If they have a morsel of conscience and delicadeza, they would have resigned a long time ago and, more importantly, returned the millions or billions of pesos they have stolen from the people. 

No more theatrics. No more melodrama. No more pa-awa effects and feeling aping api fakery.

We don’t need another Indonesia or Nepal to hunt them like wild animals and violently oust them like peahens and peacocks begging for their lives as they jump into the rivers and hide inside the manholes before being torn to shreds by an angry mob.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Editor)

 

Monday, September 22, 2025

No dead bodies yet? Of course

“When all is said and done, our lives are like houses built on foundations of sand. One strong wind and all is gone.”

—Hanshiro Tsugumo

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

JUSTICE is slow if not elusive in the Philippines. 

The moneyed sometimes escaped accountability—but not guilt—like Houdini escaping handcuffs, straitjackets, and other restraints in daring public stunts. Arcanum effugium.

If the monolithic flood control project anomalies occurred in Japan, dead bodies of politicians and even government-funded project contractors would have strewn in the rivers, sidewalks, and railroads.

No, the taxpayers wouldn’t commit the murderous binge yet; it’s the politicians and contractors themselves who would violently end their lives via harakiri, a historical form of ritual suicide. 

The shame and humiliation after being exposed as plunderers and thieves in government are unbearable and unacceptable. Japanese would prefer to “die with dignity.”

The phrase "death with dignity" is understood as the right to end one's life with minimal suffering and to have one's wishes for end-of-life care respected, which can involve withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, particularly in terminal cases among Japanese.

 

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This concept is evolving from traditional cultural views emphasizing harmony and a peaceful transition, to a modern emphasis on individual autonomy and patient rights, influenced by Western concepts of individualism and the right to refuse treatment.

We don’t have it in the Philippines. Filipino thieves in government will even deny to death—and they are the ones who have the temerity to get mad and act as the victims.

Rapacious politicians don’t feel any iota of shame and embarrassment even if they are regularly bombarded with negative and slanderous commentaries in the social and mainstream media.

In Hiligaynon, it is called kabalan or mga kabalan (thick-faced or thick-skinned), which describes someone insensitive to criticism or insults, unbothered by embarrassment, and not easily offended.

Look at this kabalan Joel Villanueva. He even threatened to sue his accusers and the netizens who criticized him after a DPWH contractor revealed his possible involvement in the P600-million worth of questionable infrastructure projects in Bulacan, where his family members are being hailed as demigods.

If the flood control project anomalies happened in China, dead bodies would be strewn in the Tiananmen Square in Dongcheng, China where corrupt individuals—politicians and private individuals—are paraded for all the people to watch and mowed down by firing squad. 

 

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In the Philippines, the rascals are able to fly abroad for medical check-up, among other absurd alibis; they are able to create fake media accounts to belie accusations against them even if the accusations are backed by damning pieces of evidence.

They can call a press conference and even bribe some equally corrupt reporters to slant their stories in favor of these hooligans in public service.

They can finance a band of gangsters to participate and disrupt a peaceful protest rally to divert the people’s attention from their shenanigans.

Or they will just give up their positions like Martin Romualdez, the “bondying” (this isn’t our word) of Philippine congress. 

If bondying and his ilk Zaldy Co, et al won’t be jailed, the bondying’s cousin, President Bonget, will most like incur the wrath of irate Filipinos.

Heads must roll. It’s not enough to condemn the gigantic thievery that could reach staggering trillions of pesos if proper accounting of taxpayers' money stolen by the crocodiles in government has been completed.

Also, it doesn't mean the alleged malfeasance of the second highest elected official of the land, Sara Duterte, will be forgotten because the people are now laser-focused on the flood control project anomalies. 

All crooks must be exposed and sent to jail. There should be no exemption. There should be no holy cows.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Editor)