Can we still have those quality legislators?

 

 “Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”

-- George Bernard Shaw

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

THE illustrious batch that produced some of the Philippines’ greatest statesmen and brilliant lawmakers like Alejandro D. Almendras, Gaudencio E. Antonino, Magnolia W. Antonino, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. (Former President Noynoy’s father), Dominador R. Aytona, and the marvelous Jose W. Diokno was the Sixth Congress in 1966-1969 headed by Senate President Arturo M. Tolentino.

It was hailed by political scientists and historians to be “the best-ever Philippine Senate.” 

Sixth Congress also saw the rise and stardom of the “Stormy Petrel of the South”, Iloilo City’s maverick leader, Rodolfo T. Ganzon, idol of the Timawa (poor).

There were also Eva Estrada Kalaw, Maria Kalaw Katigbak, Wenceslao R. Lagumbay, Juan R. Liwag, Genaro F. Magsaysay, Manuel P. Manahan Raul S. Manglapus, and Camilo Osias.

Cebu’s Sergio Osmeña, Jr. was a member of that illustrious batch, along with Emmanuel N. Pelaez, Leonardo P. Perez, Gil J. Puyat, Francisco Soc Rodrigo, Gerardo M. Roxas (Mar’s father), the eminent Jovito R. Salonga, human rights vanguard, the political behemoth Lorenzo M. Tañada, Lorenzo G. Teves, and Tecla San Andres Ziga.

Those were the star-studded members of the Senate when clowns and showbiz stuntmen and comedians couldn’t yet penetrate the elite cast of quality public servants, unlike today.

 

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The Senate Seventh Congress (1970-1973) led by Senate President Gil J. Puyat also made waves what with the presence of come-backing Ambrosio B. Padilla, team captain of the RP basketball team that placed third in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Olympics cage icon first ran and won as senator when he resigned as solicitor general under President Ramon Magsaysay in 1957.

But Martial Law cut short all the magnificent senators’ tenure in 1972.

President Ferdinand Marcos subsequently phased out the Legislature as the country’s new Constitution transformed the system of government from presidential to parliamentary.

When democracy was restored after EDSA Revolution in 1986, the Senate Eight Congress (1987-1992), led by Senate President Jovito Salonga, produced yet the country’s most dynamic and prolific leaders like Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Rene Saguisag, Edgardo Angara, Wigberto Tanada, Teopisto Guingona Jr., Joey Lina, Orlando Mercado, Heherson Alvarez, and the lone survivor from the opposition, former Martial Law architect Juan Ponce Enrile.

Former Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr., father of incumbent Iloilo Governor Arthur Jr., was the lone casualty from the President Cory Aquino-inspired administration senatorial ticket that nearly scored a sweep (Enrile bumped off Defensor for the 24th slot).

 

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It was in the Senate Ninth Congress (1992-1995) led by Senate President Neptali Gonzalez where movie comedian and action stars like Vicente Sotto III, Ramon Revilla Sr. and Freddie Webb started to make their present felt and rearranged the Senate’s hitherto prestigious reputation.

PBA playing-coach Robert Jaworski and putschist Gringo Honasan followed suit in the Senate 11th Congress (1998-2001) headed by Senate President Marcelo B. Fernan of Cebu. 

 To add insult, action stars Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and Jinggoy Estrada completed the Senate 13th Congress (2004-2007) led by Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Another putschist Antonio Trillanes IV made it in the Senate 14th Congress (2007-2010) led by Senate President Manuel Villar.

And finally in the Senate 16th Congress (2013-2016) headed by Senate President Franklin Drilon, Ma. Lourdes “Nancy” Binay stole the limelight.

In the current Senate, now headed as President by Vicente Sotto III, the Filipinos’ worst nightmare occurred: we now have Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa, Manny Pacquiao, to name only a few misfits.

Tralala, one of the three aforementioned lackeys of President Rodrigo Duterte could be our next President in 2021. 

When Pericles died in 429 BC, the Greeks mourned the loss of arguably the most prominent and influential statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age.

When Draco died in 600 BC, the Greeks wept the departure of Ancient Greece’s first recorded legislator who laid down Greece’s first constitution known as Draconion Constitution.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

Biggest cemetery in Asia

“A crazy man finishes in the cemetery.”

—Juan Manuel Fangio

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

KILLINGS have become regular events in the Philippines. 

News of murders in raids, mis-encounters, and during the serving of warrants of arrest on suspected criminals and terrorists is being reported even in the United States despite the pandemic.

Human rights advocates have been watching with utmost concern the violence and mind-boggling number of murders in the Philippines.

If the dead bodies being dumped in the roadsides and other “killing fields” aren’t those of suspected drug users and drug traffickers, they are drug informants, activists and suspected rebels, notorious criminals, among other law violators.

Other victims of summary execution are lawyers, students, journalists, teachers, peasants, rogue cops, and politicians marked for liquidation for being suspected protectors of illegal drugs, or for being suspected drug traffickers.  

It appears like the Philippines has become the biggest cemetery in Asia based on the statistics gathered since the government “sanctioned” the summary executions of those involved in trafficking of illegal drugs.

Even during the pandemic, senseless killings continued in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

More lawyers have been killed in the five years since President Rodrigo Duterte took office than under any other government in Philippine history, according to our former media colleague and human rights watcher Carlos Conde. 

 

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At least 110 lawyers were killed from 1972 to the present, according to the date of news website Rappler. Sixty-one of those killings have reportedly taken place since 2016.

“Lawyers in the Philippines have been restless, risking contempt, some calling for a strike, to demand stronger actions from the government to address the unprecedented spike in killings of persons in the legal profession,” reported the Rappler.

Charges have been filed in just seven cases in which lawyers were victims, underscoring the lack of accountability for serious crimes in the Philippines since 2004, disclosed Conde.

The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), one of two nongovernmental groups that track killings of lawyers, said more than half were work-related. 

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), which also monitors attacks, said most of those killed represented either victims of the “war on drugs” or victims of human rights violations. 

The NUPL said, “almost all perpetrators have never been brought to the bar of justice.”

Conde said many of the high-profile attacks involved members of the NUPL, which represents leftist activists as well as victims of human rights violations. In 2018, gunmen shot dead Benjamin Ramos in Negros Occidental, a province in the central Philippines that has seen an uptick of violence directed against plantation labor organizers, peasant groups, and rights defenders. Earlier this month, masked men with a screwdriver stabbed Angelo Karlo Guillen, the NUPL’s secretary-general on Panay Island. 

 

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Guillen, an Ilonggo who was critically injured but survived, had handled several rights-related cases, notably the police killing in December of nine members of an Indigenous peoples’ group.

Lawyers in the Philippines have a long history of representing victims of human rights violations, making them targets as well. FLAG was founded in 1974 at the height of the Marcos dictatorship. The majority of cases it handled were political or human rights cases. NUPL was founded in 2007 during rampant rights violations under then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; 22 of the 110 lawyers killed in Rappler’s tally were murdered during her presidency, the highest after Duterte.

The targeted killing of Filipinos swept up in the brutal “war on drugs” or taking part in human rights activism is bad enough. The killing of those who defend them or seek to provide their families redress adds immeasurably to the horror. 

“The international community led by the United Nations Human Rights Council needs to act more decisively to press the Duterte administration to end the violence,” suggested Conde.

To add insult, the Calbayog Regional Trial Court recently confirmed that it received a request from local police, citing compliance from “higher offices,” of a list of lawyers representing what it called “communist terrorist groups.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

Presidency is for anybody

“The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.”

—Lyndon B. Johnson

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

THE reason why anybody can be president in the Philippines is because of the unique provision in the Philippine Constitution, which the framers had been trying to preserve and protect; and they have been opposing heavily any attempt to amend the entire charter.

If those pushing for amendments of the Constitution will succeed and change the qualifications for those seeking the higher offices, the likes of Senators Bong Go, Manny Pacquiao, Lito Lapid, Ronald dela Rosa, Dionisia Pacquiao, Pokwang, Vice Ganda, Kris Aquino, Allan K, Inday Garutay and other clowns will have no more chance to run for president.

As long as the Constitution allows them to run, they have all the right and “qualifications” to launch their candidacy in the 2021 presidential race.

For instance, Article VII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that no person may be elected President unless he or she is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding such election.

Very simple. No heavy requirements. No need for the candidate to come from a dominant political dynasty. He doesn’t have to be a diplomat or a bar topnotcher and outstanding orator.

A higher educational attainment isn’t necessary; a long background in public service isn’t needed.

 

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The qualifications provided by the Constitution for President and Vice President are pro-poor, pro-masa, pro-people.

The playing field is level; the game is fair and square and there’s no discrimination whatsoever except, perhaps, a candidate’s financial capacity or the wherewithal.

Anybody who can mount a nationwide campaign and can be adopted by a major political party can be qualified.

Natural-born Filipinos are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. 

Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines at the time of their birth and those born before 17 January 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority are considered natural-born Filipinos.

The President of the Philippines is both head of state and head of government of the republic. 

The President of the Philippines is leader of the executive branch and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

If President Rodrigo Duterte wants his daughter, Sara, the mayor of Davao City, or his longtime sidekick, Senator Go, to be the next president, he can always endorse any of the two and he will not violate any law.

There’s no barrier for any incumbent President to endorse a lackey or anybody, however mediocre is his political background, who doesn’t belong in the “establishment.”

 

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When one runs for president, it is assumed he or she is running for the worst job in the country. 

If elected he or she must deal with a cascade of domestic and international headaches.

A President should never eat humble pie for breakfast, suggested the Science of People. 

“A healthy dose of ego every morning would do a wannabe President good. And I don’t mean ego negatively. Ego is different than arrogance. 

No matter how smart you are, how many good ideas you have or how many people you help, as President someone will always be upset with you,” according to Science of People.

“Presidents are the constant target of criticism, and they are constantly beat up by the press, enemies—and even allies. Ego is the only way to survive it.” 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

Angry man inside a Brooklyn-bound F train yells at me and calls me ‘a Chinese’ amid upsurge of violent crimes against Asian Americans

 at 11 a.m. March 12, 2021

CLICK HERE: https://fb.watch/4do_RT8vZj/

Pinoys who hate Biden but love the stimulus check

“The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite!”

—Tennessee Williams

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

A SMALL group of Filipino-Americans in our community in Queens, NYC still can’t accept that Joseph Biden is the new U.S. President.

And they can’t hide their hypocrisy when it comes to salivating for their share of the $1,400 stimulus check per American as contained in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package Mr. Biden signed into law on March 11 afternoon.

“Nadeposit na ba ang stimulus natin? Paki verify nga kung available na (Kindly verify if our stimulus money has already been deposited and if it’s already available),” Grego, 65, a hard-line Republican supporter and loyalist of former President Donald Trump, requested his pal, Deo, 63, in their recent tete-a-tete.

A day earlier (March 12), their fellow Republican supporter, Roman, 70, informed them in jest: “Hindi pala napirmahan ni Biden ang stimulus (Biden failed to sign the stimulus).”

“Bakit? Ano daw ang nangyari? (Why? What happened?)” asked Deo.

“Eh paano fake pala na Biden ang nasa White House. Ang nakikita natin sa TV ay isang impostor na Biden. Si Trump ang pipirma sa stimulus bill para maging law (The Biden who is in the White House is a fake one. What we see in the television is an impostor. It will be Trump who will sign the stimulus bill into a law),” added Roman.

 

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Grego had criticized the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package for being “too much” and “a burden to us the taxpayers.” 

“Puro pasikat ang ginagawa ni Biden at ang mga walang hiya na mga democrats na yan (What Biden and the shameless democrats are doing is to grandstand),” raged Grego, who initially showed signs he wasn’t interested to get his share of the $1,400 direct payment stimulus check for individuals who earn $75,000 or below, a head of household earning $112,500 or less, and married couples making $150,000 or below. 

Those with kids will also get up to $1,400 for each child.

Grego changed his mind when he asked Deo to check if the stimulus money was already deposited.

“Hindi ako interesado sa stimulus na yan. Kawawa ang mga bata sa next generation. Sila ang magbabayad ng utang na yan (I am not interested in that stimulus money. It will be the children in the next generation who will pay for that debt),” Mang Pepeng, 85, a former gun runner in Nueva Ecija before the Martial Law, vowed.

“Kapag nakuha na natin ang pera balik tayo ulit dito ha (If we are able get the money, let’s meet again here),” Deo suggested.

Roman retorted: “Baka sa Martes darating na yan (It might be available on Tuesday).”

With his signature, President Biden checked off his first priority in the White House. 

He also gave a prime-time address March 11 describing how the country will proceed in fighting the virus a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic.

The plan sent direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans. Direct deposits will start hitting Americans’ bank accounts as soon as this weekend, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced March 11.

 

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The bill extended a $300 per week unemployment insurance boost until Sept. 6 and expanded the child tax credit for a year.

It  will also put nearly $20 billion into Covid-19 vaccinations, $25 billion into rental and utility assistance, and $350 billion into state, local and tribal relief.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Mr. Biden said before signing the legislation. “And giving people in this nation, working people, middle-class folks, the people who built this country, a fighting chance.”

Democrats passed the bill in Congress without a Republican vote through the budget reconciliation process. The House approved the measure Wednesday.

Republicans called the proposal “unfit for the moment” as Covid-19 vaccinations pick up and more states move toward reopening their economies. The GOP criticized what it called “funding not needed to fight the pandemic.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

One year of ‘viciousness’

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

BETTER late than never. 

It’s been a year since the “vicious” attacks on Asian Americans during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic started and U.S. President Joseph Biden has finally addressed the nauseating issue by denouncing it, something his predecessor, Donald Trump, failed to do.

Had Mr. Trump did earlier what Mr. Biden had done on March 12 when the Democratic President condemned what he called as "vicious hate crimes" committed against Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, calling such acts "un-American" and demanding they stop, there would have been lesser violence against Asian Americans even if the pandemic became a global terror.

Mr. Biden’s rage was both necessary and needed as hate crimes perpetrated against Asian Americans became alarming these past weeks that they almost became the albatross in his administration’s full-throttle campaign to eradicate the virus through massive vaccinations.

"Too often, we've turned against one another," Biden said in his first primetime address, detailing the progress made in the fight against Covid-19.

 

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The Democratic President decried "vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" over the pandemic, which originated in China.

"At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans -- they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still, still they're forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America," Biden said.

"It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop."

Quoting activists, Agence France-Presse reported that broader anti-Asian discrimination has been fueled by talk of the "Chinese virus" from former president Trump and others.

Racial motivation is hard to establish in many cases, but reported anti-Asian hate crimes more than doubled from 49 to 122 last year across 16 major US cities including New York and Los Angeles -- even as overall hate crime fell, according to a California State University study, reported the Agence France-Presse.

The report looked at events categorized as criminal in nature and showing evidence of ethnic or racial bias, using preliminary local police data.

It reportedly aligns with another study from the Stop AAPI Hate advocacy group showing more than 2,800 incidents of racism and discrimination -- including non-physical forms -- targeting Asian-Americans and reported online across the United States between March and December last year.

 

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USA Today noted that incidents of hate incidents against Asian Americans have risen markedly during the pandemic. 

Recent attacks, including multiple violent attacks on elderly Asian Americans, have sparked outrage and activism in the Asian American community and spurred lawmakers and organizers to respond to the threat.

"Racially motivated violence and other incidents against Asian Americans have reached an alarming level across the United States since the outbreak of COVID-19," a United Nations report released last year found, citing sharp rises in vandalism, physical assaults and robberies against Asian American people, businesses and community centers.

During his first week in office, Biden issued a memorandum condemning racially motivated violence and harassment against Asian Americans, directing federal agencies to develop methods to investigate and counter such racially targeted attacks.

In February, Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian American vice president, spoke out on the matter, stating the administration was taking steps to address the spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans.

"Despite these increasing acts of intolerance, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made our Nation more secure during the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout our history," a White House's statement from January stated. 

"The Federal Government should combat racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and should work to ensure that all members of AAPI communities—no matter their background, the language they speak, or their religious beliefs—are treated with dignity and equity."

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

‘Come, let’s dine on the 19th’

“Too many people just eat to consume calories. Try dining for a change.”

—John Walters

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 BY the time restaurants in New York City and the state of New Jersey are permitted to increase indoor dining capacity to 50 percent, most qualified Americans may have already received their stimulus check worth $1,400 each.

“Let’s dine in our favorite restaurant on the 19th,” transgender Filipino-American Artemio “Art” Lambino invited friends from the Woodside, Queens. 

Lambino, 38, said he will treat his friends to a dinner at Yoon Haeundae Galbi, one of the best Korean restaurants in the Big Apple “as a way of saying thank you” to Uncle Sam for President Joseph Biden’s popular $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package cleared by Congress on March 10. 

“It’s very symbolic,” Lambino explained. “We struggled when we lost our jobs last year. The stimulus package was a big help and President Biden added another one this year.”

“Sama ka sa amin lolo (join us grandpa),” Lambino, a Batangeno, told 84-year-old Restituto “Mang Resty” Lumacad, who had criticized the sweeping legislation that didn’t have any support from Republican lawmakers.

Lumacad isn’t related to Lambino but they both came from Cuenca, a fourth class municipality in Batangas.

They argued earlier whether the bill, which will deliver emergency aid and broader assistance to low-and middle-income Americans, was really good for America as a whole.

 

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Lumacad, a Donald Trump die-hard, called the legislation “bloated and unaffordable.”

“Naawa ako sa mga bata sa masunod na henerasyon. Sila ang magbabayad sa utang na yan (I pity the children in the next generation. They will be the ones who will pay that debt),” Lumacad argued.

“Don’t worry about the future,” Lambino chided him. “Let’s enjoy the moment po. Hindi na po ninyo maabutan yan.”

The measure rolling back some of the coronavirus safety restrictions goes into effect on March 19, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Indoor dining at Big Apple restaurants officially reopened at 25 percent capacity on Feb. 12 after Cuomo yet again shuttered indoor business at city eateries in mid-December. That was boosted to 35 percent late last month—but struggling city eateries had been pleading with officials to go to 50 percent. 

“This is a good news for the workers, as well. Our restaurant will be back to seven days again and this will help us a lot,” Renato, 43, a chef in a Queens restaurant, who is from Jaro, Iloilo City, said in a text message.

Governor Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced March 19 will be the largest increase in restaurant capacity in NYC since the start of the pandemic.

Indoor dining has been capped at 35 percent capacity in NYC and NJ since February 26. 

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Cuomo had paused indoor dining in the city in December 2020 because of concerns about hospitalization rates after a surge in COVID cases following the winter holidays.

Cuomo previously announced that restaurants throughout the rest of New York state, which are currently operating at 50 percent, could expand to 75 percent indoor dining capacity starting March 19th.

 

According to the latest city Department of Health data, NYC's seven-day average of positive COVID-19 tests is at 6.31 percent. The city reached an almost 10 percent positivity rate in early January, and has been slowly but steadily declining since.

However, on March 10, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that two new COVID-19 variants were spreading increasingly around the five boroughs, and health officials said the new variant first identified in Manhattan is more infectious than the original strain of coronavirus. 

So far, health officials don't believe that this new variant strain causes more severe illness or reduces the effectiveness of vaccines, but it still poses a health threat merely by spreading faster, according to a report in Gothamist.

The NYC Hospitality Alliance, which has been advocating for this increase in indoor dining capacity, said it was pleased with the move. "Cautiously and safely increasing indoor dining capacity at New York City restaurants to 50 percent, with an eye towards more occupancy, more vaccinations, and dedicated restaurant relief that’s on its way from the federal government gives our industry some optimism among all the doom and gloom of this past year," said Andrew Rigie, the Alliance’s executive director, as quoted by the Gothamist.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)