SONAkakaduda 2024 #FactsFirst

PBBM: Mahigit limanglibo at limang daang flood control projects ang natapos na at marami pang iba ang kasalukuyang ginagawa sa buong bansa. [Applause]

The following night bumuhos ang katakutakot na ulan at bumaha nang bonggang bongga across Luzon, even in places that never used to flood, so reminiscent of Ondoy2009, The following day a state of calamity was declared in all of Metro Manila, Bataan, Bulacan, Batangas, and Cavite. [Ambilis ng balik]

DJ Chacha https://x.com/_djchacha/status/1816275607157874692 
Last year, 147.5 Billion Pesos ang total budget for flood control projects for Metro Manila only. Sa lake ng halaga na yan paulit ulit pa rin ang problema natin sa baha. Anyare? 

PING LACSON
It is because most of the budget for the flood control projects flood the pockets of the proponents in Congress in connivance with the implementing agencies and their favorite contractors.

So, were there really 5,500 finished flood control projects?  If yes, what difference did they make? Totoo ba na walang-epek sapagkat substandard ang materyales at trabaho sapagkat kung minsan halos kalahati na lang ang pondo dahil sa mga komisyon ng kongresista, DPWH, LGU, at contractor? [Guys, mahiya naman kayo]

So now I’m wondering, too, about other stuff BBM said at the SONA that were met with great joy by nation: the ban on POGOs and the unequivocal stand on the West Philippine Sea, in particular. 

Already nakikiusap ang PAGCOR that “12 of the 43 POGO companies” be spared kasi masyadong marami ang mawawalan ng trabaho. Yan na rin ang concern ni Senator Tolentino sa isang interview with Karen Davila back in June that I blogged on: #BagongPilipinasWalangPOGO.

G. Senador, lumang tugtugin na ang ganyang justification: na may mga Pinoy na mawawalan ng trabaho. Iyan na rin ang daíng ng mga taga-Zambales at Pampanga nung isasara na ang US bases. But the good Senators of the 8th Congress agreed that the welfare of the whole, the common good, is more important than the welfare of the few.

Besides, the US bases and POGOs were bad ideas to begin with.

And yeah, great that he took such an unequivocal stand on the West Philippine Sea and had the grace to thank our fishermen, coast guards, and soldiers for their vigilance and sacrifice. I was hoping he would say, too, that the repairs of BSP Sierra Madre are to proceed apace whether China likes it or not ’cause #AtinAngAyungin! Alas, bitin. [Unless I missed it lang]

There’s a lot more na kaduda-duda especially re the grand promises of infra and ayuda. Saan kaya kukuha ng pera na panggastos? Lubog na tayo sa utang.  Bugbog na tayo sa taxes. Paano na ba. 

Looking for kakampi, post-SONA, it was good to hear some credible pundits airing similar concerns on social media.

Check out Christian Esguerra’s political podcast Facts and Fiction in President Marcos Jr.’s 2024 SONA  with guests Pulse Asia president and political science Prof Ronnie Holmes, RJ activist and PNoy’s political adviser ex-Sec Ronald Llamas, UP econ prof. and ex-Finance USec Cielo Magno, and PR strategist Alan German na anak ni PR OG Reli whom I sort of knew back in the days.

Holmes, Llamas, and Magno are better informed than most, with a sense of the true state of affairs, past to present, and who clearly care about nation. German is a glib PR political tactician who always seems to know more than he’s telling and teases with tips on how-to-sell politicians, among other powertrippers. Host Esguerra, once of ANC, steers the talk with a GenZ’s take on national concerns that tends to provoke discussion, though only up to a point. 

Unlike public affairs TV talkshows of yore, there’s a lot of banter, chortling, private jokes, whatever, between Esguerra and German, Esguerra and Llamas, apparently to keep the talk from getting too serious,  or maybe his regulars like his GenZ sense of humor, I’m not sure. Whatever, it’s medyo nakaka-put-off, but the serious exchanges were | are worth staying for. 

The same goes for Magno’s Chikahan podcast that premiered the Friday before the SONA with Llamas as senatoriable Edu Mansanas. It was the best conversation I’d heard yet on the state of the nation 2024, though you’d have to sit through some  patawa and pababaw moments that interrupt trains of thought. And parang the sax and sing-along numbers are for another kind of podcast altogether. 

If senior-short-memory serves, Magno and Llamas had a brief exchange about the pink movement, recalling what that campaign was like, how huge the crowds, how magical, parang EDSA, or something to that effect [sorry ang hirap hanapin ng exact words]. That was a pretty solid base of 14M – 15M voters, as it turns out — some 14.4M voted her in as VP in 2016, and some 15M voted her for president in 2022. 

And if my social media algo is any gauge, buhay na buhay pa ang kakampinks  — a third force neither pro-Marcos nor pro-Sara — naghihintay lang ng timon at direksyon. Which brings me back to Esguerra’s and Magno’s podcasts, the likes of which can be the perfect vehicles for thinking Filipinos with a bias for the Common Good to discuss current issues frankly and in depth, hopefully towards a consensus to organize around certain advocacies — like flood control, land use, anti-dynasty, proper wage hike, divorce law, atbp. — that sina Bam and Chel et al. could campaign on and carry into Congress in 2025.  Hope springs.

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SONA blogs across three admins 2008 – 2019

SONA 2019 message: he ain’t no lame duck, not yet anyway

ChaCha: Duterte’s endgame #SONA2018 #NoToChaCha

SONAkakasindak 2017

sona, tsona, torre de manila #takeitdown (2015)

SONAkakaiyak (2014)

SONA’s deafening silence on coco levy loot atbp. (2013)

SONA as farce (2013)

the spin that is SONA(kakasuya) (2011)

SONAkakadismaya (2010)

kontra-SONA (2008)

“Let me get my shoes” #TrumpTheater

Sunday midmorning I was transfixed by CNN’s veritable loop of the minute or so when Trump was shot at and bloodily nicked in the right ear. He ducked and disappeared under secret service peeps until the coast was declared clear. But there was no rushing him off the stage to safety, oh no, first he had to “get his shoes” — I knew then that he was fine — and next he took a BIG MOMENT to stand tall in the embrace of secretservice and to raise his right fist sabay sigaw ng FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! to an ecstatic MAGA crowd. WHAT.A.SHOW.

Was it staged, as many are saying on social media, or was it the real McCoy, a failed assassination attempt? Easy to speculate and imagine behind-the-scenes conspiracy scripts of all kinds, from all sides, but first let’s hear it from the FBI. And maybe the CIA?

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The Mass Psychology of Trumpism
In the minds of his most ardent supporters, the ex-president is both more and less than a person
By Dan P. McAdams

July 12, 2016 was a very good day! #PNoy

Aminin na natin. It took chutzpah, audacity, what President Benigno Aquino III did in January 2013 when the Philippines instituted arbitral proceedings against China some months after da agawan sa Scarborough Shoal. Other presidents, from FVR to ERAP, GMA and RRD, were too careful to not antagonize China kahit anong kabastusan at kabulastugan nito sa karagatan nating pilit nitong inaangkin; or maybe they thought na madadaan pa ang Tsina sa magandang usapan LOL. No surprise then that PNoy’s closest advisers were divided on the matter, for and against arbitration court.  Read former SC Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio‘s first-hand account. Very interesting and impressive how PNoy simply stuck to his guns despite all underhanded attempts to stop him. Good good job!

AQUINO AND THE ARBITRATION AGAINST CHINA 
By Antonio T. Carpio
July 1, 2021

One of the enduring legacies of President Benigno Aquino III is the Philippines’ landmark victory against China in the South China Sea Arbitration. It took courage and wisdom to sue China, an economic giant and a nuclear-armed superpower. President Aquino made the difficult decision even as his closest advisers were bitterly divided, with one faction against the arbitration and the other in favor of the arbitration.

These two factions fought from the beginning to the end. After consulting with Law of the Sea expert Paul Reichler and his team, then Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario submitted to Malacañang his Memorandum to President Aquino recommending favorably the filing of the arbitration case against China. Unfortunately, his Memorandum was rewritten in Malacañang, making it appear that he was against the filing of the arbitration case. Secretary del Rosario swiftly found a way to give to President Aquino his original recommendation. President Aquino then convened a meeting of national leaders who, except for one, all voted to file the arbitration case.

When Paul Reichler recommended the amendment of our Statement of Claim to include the status of Itu Aba as one of the issues to be resolved by the arbitral tribunal, the two factions fought again. Secretary del Rosario arranged for Paul Reichler and his team to meet President Aquino in Malacañang so our lawyers could explain to the President the need to amend our Statement of Claim. Paul Reichler and his team waited for four hours in Malacañang for President Aquino, only to be told by then Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. that the President could not meet them. Instead, Ochoa informed them that the instruction of the President was not to amend our Statement of Claim. Over dinner that evening, I asked Paul Reicher what he would do, and he replied he would discuss the status of Itu Aba in the Memorial without including it as an issue to be resolved by the tribunal.

When Paul Reichler submitted his draft Memorial to the Office of the President for approval, the two factions fought again. One faction wanted the 15 paragraphs in the Memorial explaining the status of Itu Aba to be deleted, while Secretary del Rosario insisted on the retention of the 15 paragraphs. I met with then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and explained to her why the 15 paragraphs should be retained. I gave her a two-page brief on the matter to give to President Aquino, which she did. When President Aquino called the two factions to a meeting, he announced his decision — the 15 paragraphs would remain in the Memorial.

Incidentally, when journalist Marites Vitug interviewed President Aquino in 2017 for her book “Rock Solid,” she asked the President why he did not meet with Paul Reichler and his team. The President replied, in the presence of Secretary del Rosario, that nobody told him that Paul Reichler and his team were in Malacañang to see him.

Finally, for the last hearing at The Hague in November 2015, Secretary del Rosario as usual submitted to Malacañang the list of names of officials who would form the Philippine delegation. The list included my name as observer, but when the approval came out my name was deleted. Secretary del Rosario wrote back that if I would not be included he would not be joining the delegation. Malacañang reinstated my name.

When I arrived at The Hague, I found Paul Reichler and his team terribly upset. Solicitor General Florin Hilbay had earlier emailed them not to answer the questions of the arbitral tribunal on Itu Aba, questions that were previously emailed by the tribunal to our lawyers. At the meeting with our lawyers the evening before the first day of the hearing, I explained that in the Supreme Court, if lawyers refused to answer questions of the Court during oral arguments, that would be taken very strongly against them and they would likely lose their cases. Thankfully, Solgen Hilbay did not argue with me anymore and Paul Reichler and his team took that as a green light to answer all the questions of the tribunal.

The nation is eternally grateful to President Aquino for bravely filing the arbitration case and for steadfastly pursuing the straight and principled path until final victory.

acarpio@inquirer.com.ph

 

 

 

70 years of Imelda

That is, 70 years since she became a public figure in 1954, when she married Ilocos Rep. Ferdinand Marcos; she was 25. In her birthday speech@95 Imelda was superhappy to be back in Malacañang with her son the President and she thanked God for such a rich life, or something like that. Meanwhile, PBBM’s historical revisionism continues apace. Sharing here Philstar columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan’s reaction to the president’s “Mama Meldy” six-minute vlog tribute that I just can’t bear to watch. 

History lessons
By Ana Marie Pamintuan

The only son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos is busy rewriting the story of their family, and the TikTok generation may be unable or unwilling to determine the truth.

Ferdinand Junior’s latest effort to whitewash his parents’ criminal record (of large-scale corruption and gross human rights violations) can be seen in his seemingly innocuous birthday greeting to his mommie dearest, Imeldific.

After treating her to yet another birthday party at Malacañang, where her infamous shoe collection was moved out many years ago, BBM paid tribute to “Mama Meldy” in a six-minute vlog, in which he lauded her “profound impact” on the country and for turning Filipinos’ “countless dreams into reality.”

BBM correctly cited Imeldific’s pet projects when she was the all-powerful first lady of Ferdinand Senior: the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Cultural Center of the Philippines and Folk Arts Theater.

Left out of this gushing tribute were the corruption scandals when they were built, about the massive kickbacks that gave rise to the term “edifice complex” and the jokes about Imeldific’s penchant for “mining” – all this is mine, mine, mine.

During the Marcoses’ encounters with Japanese officials at the time, the standard joke was that the conjugal dictators “robbed the Philippines very much.”

“My mother doesn’t get angry. She doesn’t pick a fight with anyone,” BBM posted in his vlog.

You won’t get angry, either, and won’t feel the need to pick a fight if you manage to get away with everything.

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Imelda (after) Marcos #Halalan2022

Dovie Beams and Philippine Politics: A President’s Scandalous Affair and First Lady Power on the Eve of Martial Law