INC, rabble-rousing, in our faces

as if the traffic weren’t bad enough, or maybe that’s the point?  INC means to aggravate the situation, push to destablize, can’t wait for 2016, this illegal-detention-case has to be made to go away, now na?

the most appalling thing about it all is the lack of action on the part of the aquino government, as though it didn’t have the authority and the means to nip-in-the-bud protest actions of this disruptive kind, gayong we have seen them do it, time and again, to leftist groups who are almost always dispersed at once pag walang permit, or after a few hours, pag mayroong permit.

the latest from edsa/shaw according to INC TV is: patuloy na dinaragsa ang mapayapang pagtitpon ng mga kaanib sa iglesia ni cristo.  and i’ve heard some sincere rabble-rousing and offensive name-calling in the last hour.  meanwhile, nagpakita at naghayag na rin sina boy saycon at eid kabalu ng suporta, at nagpakita na rin si peping cojuangco, although kumaway lang siya from stage, hmm.

the moon is waxing full in pisces, culminating around 2:30 a.m. sunday.  emotions are high.  it’s going to be a long night.  will we see more politicos stepping up to express support, in aid of 2016?  will the crowd get bigger?  will they refuse to go home when their permit runs out tomorrow?  are they sleepless in the palace putting together, finally, a plan A, and a plan B?  i certainly hope so.  we need to see some decisive action from the authorities.

sabi nga ni walden bello:

A religious sect has Metro-Manila by the throat, and Poe, Binay, and Roxas are conciliating it. The government, always quick to act against the Left, has the authority to peacefully clear EDSA but it declines to exercise this authority, citing “respect for the right to protest.” Rights are relational. When the right to free speech is exercised to deliberately wreck public order and create chaos for the vast majority, then the government must place the welfare of that majority in command. The truth is this religio-fascist sect has the whole Philippine political system by the throat. Time to stand up to it and save our secular Republic. Time to say no to craven politicians who conciliate fundamentalist fanatics.

and to the INC, may i just say, mga kapatid, this is no way to do an EDSA 86, which (to be simplistic about it) was a most prayerful event.  no crass chants, no hi-tech stage, no political rabble-rousing.  what this is really is more like an edsa tres when you guys joined forces with erap’s urban poor constitutents, hoping to grab back the power lost to gloria in edsa dos, and failed.  i almost expect to see enrile and honasan, sotto and maceda, stepping up, with raised fists yet.  but wait, here comes tingting cojuangco.  argh.  excuse me while i throw up.

INC drama, street soap

The story goes: Today, some 200,000 members of the INC will mob the Department of Justice. Yes, a big crowd was there this afternoon – word is, they will stay on and on. They are protesting Justice Secretary de Lima’s “selective justice.”

The plot is: that more and more people will join that crowd and then a big push to EDSA takes place on Friday till Monday. Net25 on its Facebook page says members from 29 districts will be reinforcing their comrades starting tomorrow.

that’s from inday espina-varona’s blogpost yesterday.  about a plot to unseat the president in the long-run (yes, in the run-up to the 2016 elections) and, in the short-term, as in, now na, to demand insist importune that the department of justice respect the separation of church and state and desist from giving “special treatment” to expelled INC minister isaias samson who dares file an illegal detention complaint against INC’s top brass, i mean, ruling council.  unahin daw kasi ang mamasapano — sampahan ng kaso ang mga pumatay sa SAF 44, OR ELSE they will take it to edsa!  who is writing this script?  chiz escudero, is that you?

this morning the big news was the strafing of anthony taberna’s coffee shop in qc.  taberna is anchor of dzmm teleradyo’s dos por dos, with gerry baja, both INC members.  at first i didn’t connect it with the INC protest rally just because taberna had refused to comment on the issue from the start, which i took to mean that his sympathies lay with the INC leadership.  and then i saw inday’s fb status:

Attacks on Tunying’s cafe. He has been receiving many, many threats and very angry socmed messages from INC members loyal to leadership — because he kept quiet. I know some people have questions about Tunying… but it hasn’t been easy for him and Gerry this last month.

ah so.  complicating it is the fact that taberna and samson are blood relations pala, so his loyalty is under question.  the latest is, wala sina taberna at baja sa dos por dos today, and INC members are beginning to gather at the EDSA shrine sabay dumarami raw ang mga tao sa padre faura.  kahit saan nila gusto, puwede?  kahit gaano katagal, puwede?  iyan na mismo ang “special treatment.”

and, oh my, grace poe has chimed in, echoing chiz, of course.  aapir kaya sila sa rally?  abangan.

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INC protest is ‘bullying’, lawyers say

Class and the Politics of Memory in Post-War Asia

Walden Bello

Over the last few decades in Asia, August has been dominated by the anniversary of the tragic nuclear devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on the 6th and 9th days of the month. This year, however, being the 70th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, people have recalled the havoc that war brought to so many in the region and discussed the ways that the protracted, bitter conflict, which arguably began with Japan’s invasion of China in 1937, left its mark not only on the post-war relations between Japan and the different countries in the region but on the relations among social classes within these countries.

Read on…

juan ponce enrile, estelito mendoza, and the supremes

what a show of legal acrobatics and selective justice from the supreme court, no less.  the credit, of course, goes to enrile’s defense counsel na talaga namang matinik at kagilagilalas.  for some history, read Estelito Mendoza: Champion for “the wrong side” by raissa robles (2011), Joker Arroyo et al. versus Estelito Mendoza et al. by belinda olivares-cunanan (2000), and Estelito Mendoza’s defense of Louie Gonzalez by solita monsod (2008).

sabi nga ni raissa robles:

He can make white look black and vice versa. Plus he has a grateful army of former students, colleagues and subordinates scattered far and wide in the Philippine judicial and legal system.

and sabi nga ni associate justice marvic leonen sa kanyang dissenting opinion:

Special privileges may be granted only under clear, transparent, and reasoned circumstances. Otherwise, we accept that there are just some among us who are elite. Otherwise, we concede that there are those among us who are powerful and networked enough to enjoy privileges not shared by all.

(Other accused) … remain in jail because they may not have the resources to launch a full-scale legal offensive marked with the creativity of a well-networked defense counsel. After all, they may have committed acts driven by the twin evils of greed or lust on one hand and poverty on the other hand.

yes, a powerful, creative, and well-networked defense counsel is all it takes to get around the law.  and, but, what does that say about the eight arroyo-appointed supremes who dared preempt the sandiganbayan?  why the sudden inordinate rush to release enrile?  is it possible that enrile and/or mendoza called in favors of one kind or another and there was no saying no?  or were the eight just eager to establish a precedent for the benefit, next, of gloria arroyo?

kaya ko namang lunukin yung old age and ill health as pusong-mamon reasons for moving him (and her) from hospital arrest to house arrest, but to hear that he is raring to go back to work, in fact, is expected back in the senate on monday, if senate clowns are to be believed, is beyond outrageous, it’s unbelievable, as in, wow, is he no longer under arrest?!?  he is presumed innocent, the evidence is weak, blah blah blah, or so argues, nay, rules, estelito mendoza from on high, and that’s all there is to it?

the timing is highly suspicious.  just when marcos’s version of the bangsamoro bill is up for discussion.  except that i remember enrile evincing great interest in the original BBL as a welcome experiment in parliamentary government, or something to that effect.  can it be that he has changed his mind?  OR has he been set free to bring the aquino-iqbal BBL back on track, sorry na lang si bongbong?  is my imagination on over-drive?

and, but, what would it say about a senate that’s eager to welcome enrile back, no questions asked?  do these lawmakers owe enrile and mendoza some favors, too, of one kind or another?  are they testing our limits?

the good news is, justice secretary leila de lima has finally found her voice.

De Lima said the Aug. 18 ruling was not final, as it was “subject to the 15-day rule of filing a motion for reconsideration.”

“The People of the Philippines, through the Ombudsman, can and must file a motion for reconsideration,” De Lima told the Inquirer on Saturday when asked about the state’s legal recourse.

“[T]he decision can only be deemed final and executory if no [motion for reconsideration] is filed within 15 days from receipt [of the ruling] or, if one is filed, upon the denial of the [motion],” she said.

so.  let’s see how enrile and mendoza try to win this one.  think nation, and history, dear supremes.  we are watching, and taking notes for the worldwide web.