Category: politics

lucky napoles, out in two years?

i usually give fearless forecasts by astrologers and other fortunetellers a wide berth at this time of year, i.e., i am never critical — some of these psychics are quite good — rather i’m just interested in gleaning whether or not their prognostications are consistent or not with each other.  when consistent, across tarot, feng shui, chinese and western astrology readings, no matter if as vague as “trouble in the second half of the year,” then in my mind it’s worth noting…

but here i’m taking note, before i forget, of one reading by astrologer henry palacios a few days ago in atom araullo’s ANC show Hiwaga, where after warning of possibly another, maybe even stronger, yolanda, and maybe a big earthquake maybe in september, and some huge problem na kakaharapin ng gobyerno, possibly corruption-related, he ends on a very definitely upbeat note on, of all things, of all people, janet napoles of PDAF-scam fame now under detention in a police camp in sta. rosa, laguna.

say ni palacios :

Matindi ang suwerte ni Napoles. Two years, she’ll get out. Because hindi lang naman siya e. May follow-through yan, may effect di ba, kung hindi lang … dahil sa kanya biglang umikot lahat. So may purpose siya para sa bansa. Wag mo sasabihin na masama siyang tao, may purpose siya.

on facebook palacios assured a group of astrologers that his statements were based on napoles’s birthchart.  i wished that araullo had said so, and shown us the birthchart, and asked palacios to elaborate a little.  after all, he’s practically saying that napoles will be exonerated, and i can’t imagine that happening, given COA’s truckload of documentary evidence, and the testimonies of benhur luy et al, UNLESS she turns state witness and tells all.

and when palacios says, don’t say she’s a bad person, may purpose siya para sa bansa, what does he mean?  that napoles’s motives for stealing PDAF funds were good, maybe a la robin hood?  or does he mean that her purpose for nation is to be the instrument for uncovering corruption?  again, that could only be true if she were to spill the beans and tell on the senators and congressmen who raked in millions and millions of pesos in kickbacks with her help.  which would entail nothing less than a change of heart vis a vis her refusal to answer incriminating questions in the senate hearing pre-yolanda.

as for the matinding suwerte, napoles’s birthchart, posted on the blog of astrologer col. romy solina, is indeed the birthchart of a very lucky and powerful native.  we have no way of knowing, though, whether palacios’ napoles chart uses the same birthtime.  but even if not, even without a birthtime, the zodiacal positions of planets and other elements, and the angles they make to each other, are enough to indicate extraordinary potentials for power and prosperity, especially if, like marcos and reagan in their heydays, she was, is, getting advice from astrologers.

in two years she’ll be free?  in two years it’s 2016, election year, which means she’ll be wheeling and dealing with the next prez.  can’t wait to see how she plays her cards.  maybe she could teach gloria, the other “lucky bitch,” a trick or two.

year-end gripes, and a dream

parang not since the impeachment trial of erap 2000-2001 has the holiday break been so politically charged.

the outrageous hike in meralco bills continues to jolt especially because the supreme court’s 60-day TRO came too late for some customers who have already paid their december bills.  energy regulatory commission, sleeping on the job?  or just happy for the power industry that’s raking in such profits?  vested interests maybe?  bakit ngayon lang naisip yang bid price cap sa spot market?  what’s going on?  testing our limits?

and what about energy sec petilla’s resignation kuno for failing to fully restore electricity to yolanda-ravaged provinces…  for a while there ka-excite-excite the prospect of petilla taking up the cudgels for oppressed electricity consumers vs power oligarchs, but that fizzled out soon enough, pa-cute lang pala, knowing full well that the president would not let him go?  nakakainit ng ulo, nakakainis, to find that he’s just another traditional politico with a moist eye on the palace, or first the senate?

and what about the Tarlac Devt Corp, said to be the manager of Hacienda Luisita, bulldozing farmlands (that farmers have been farming for years), claiming that the land belongs to TADECO and not part of the Hacienda luisita area ordered distributed by the supreme court.  ganoon?  if it has long been farmed by the farmers who claim it, and they have papers showing no other claimants since, what claim does TADECO have on the land?  sino bang may-ari niyang TADECO na yan?  hindi ba ang mga cojuango rin na may-ari ng Hacienda Luisita?  whatever, whoever, it’s a case that should be settled in court, according to the agrarian reform law, and not with bulldozing strong-arm tactics.

and what about the binay brouhaha aka dasmagate…  as though the binays, like most politicos since forever, have not always behaved this way, what are they in power for, and all that jazz.  what was unusual was that the security guards said no, and yet not one in media has told us with certitude that it was because they did not recognize the mayor (and why not? hindi sila taga-makati?), or they recognized him but weren’t told the rules re VIPs until after the incident.  it would also help to know if this was the first time the mayor tried to exit through this gate before, or if he had done it countless times and never had a problem.  come on, media, level up naman.  and you might want to check out a rumor that dasma has opted to change security agencies anyway?  i’d love to hear that it’s not true.

and speaking of binay the mayor, what about the hate campaign crackling on social media vs binay the veep, patriarch of an entrenched dynasty, who would (intends to) be prez in 2016.  nakaka-freak out naman talaga the prospect of a binay presidency, with abigail in the lower house and nancy in the senate.  kulang na lang, mga alipores sa judiciary.  yari tayo, ika nga.  from the frying pan into the fire.

unless, of course, tamaan ng nakaliliwanag na kidlat si jejomar binay, ala saul sa damascus, at ma-convert siya back to human rights advocacy, as in the days of marcos (before cory made him officer-in-charge of makati, what a plum prize).  full circle.  abigail, junjun, and nancy would resign out of delicadeza, and in support of their father’s new politics, anti-poverty, anti-corruption, anti-patronage, anti-status quo, pro-environment, for a change.

a pipe dream, yes, but if there’s one who could make it happen, it’s binay, if he only cared enough for this bayang sawi of ours.

drama ni mayor romualdez

nakaka-distract itong drama ni tacloban mayor romualdez vs. the aquino admin.  how much of it is true?  is any of it true?  i wish the pnoy camp would say something, i-deny kung hindi totoo, i-explain kung medyo totoo — after all, we might even agree that this is the way to handle the mayor who has been, after all, quite derelict in his duties and responsibilities to taclobanons.

kung maniniwala kasi tayo sa mga sabi-sabi, the insinuation is that taclobanons could be getting more help in relief, rescue, and rehab if only the mayor would surrender all authority to the dilg sec.  if true, that would be like saying, sorry na lang ang mga taclobanon, never mind that they were the worst hit and deserve all the help and love and care that the nation can give them in this time of great grief and devastation.

say it isn’t so, mr. president.  this is no way to win in 2016.

calling out mar roxas

former investigative journalist jp fenix shares his reflections post-yolanda and a friend’s urgent missive on retribution and political ambition.  it’s the first i’ve read na malinaw ang allegation of political considerations in relief ops.  say it isn’t so, mar roxas.

DAY 6 since Yolanda/ Haiyan
November 13, 2013

… I wake up to BBC’s report that “people have been increasingly abandoned” in Leyte. Switching to CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN… and the theme is much the same: Relief has been pouring in from all over the world, but they have been stuck and piling up in airport warehouses in Manila and Cebu.

In local TV and radio, the reports have cabinet secretaries like Dinky Soliman and Mar Roxas saying that they are still “studying how they will release relief goods.” Their concern is how action can be done in the most efficient and equitable way.

In the Palace, President Benigno S. Aquino III is still arguing with CNN’s Christian Amanpour over inaccurate casualty counts, and insists that they are still gathering data.

In the midst of it all I get this urgent email from my lawyer – a trusted friend. It has a document attached and it reads:

RETRIBUTION AND POLITICAL AMBITION – Deadly combination for Yolanda Victims

Read on…