Category: pork barrel

Let a hundred rallies bloom

By Katrina Stuart Santiago

The aftermath of the August 26 rally has been radio silence, at least if what we were waiting for from its organizers was a plan, a vision, if not at the very least a bigger picture against which we could plot a continued fight against the pork barrel system.

Granted that the Million People March liked to call itself leaderless, and was made up of the “not organized” or the “not affiliated” individuals such as myself, I think now that this was meant to only last about as long as its Facebook event page. That is, it expires the moment the event’s done, never to be seen again.

I think that the August 26 Scrap Pork rally, is the August 26 Scrap Pork rally. It is over. It was over the moment we realized that the people who were part of it had nothing planned really, for August 27.

And the truth is it’s okay, because August 26 will always be historic, will always be valuable, for having gotten people out on the streets again to take a stand against the state of governance in this country. August 26 might not have gathered a million people, but it gathered enough of us, volunteers with disparate views included, to show this government and the rest of nation that we cannot stand for this kind of corruption anymore.

But instead August 26 is being tainted with its own class biases. And no, this is not even just a matter of it being called a middle class rally, which it most certainly was. This is about the kind of discourse that has come out since then, because no it is not silence that we have gotten.

Instead it has become this seeming superiority complex, where one having done the August 26 rally, one might now speak of what is a good and proper gathering, and what isn’t. Instead it has been about careless queries about who people are connected to and how, and suspicions-on-overdrive about who’s affiliated with which politician and since when? Why on EDSA? That is too disruptive, it is being said. Why on a weekend? Is this legal?

At the heart of all this of course is the question of motives. And yet one wonders: what are we afraid of? There is no messing with the value of the August 26 Million People March, and at this point supporting actions against the pork barrel is really the only way to go.

Yes, there is the call to now refocus energies on the 100-day investigation. But that shouldn’t mean just waiting it out until its December 6 deadline. That’s a good three months at least of nothing but waiting. That’s a good three months that we are allowing government to live peacefully and quietly, thinking that we have compromised—or that the people ever will—because they can be silenced by the surrender of someone like Janet Napoles, and those televised budget hearings in the Senate.

That’s three months of going back to social media activism—which is really barely activism at all when you think about it. It’s like taking a million steps back, after proving on August 26 that there is value in moving from Facebook to Luneta, from social media to the streets. To go back to the confines of these virtual spaces fails to consider the value of sitting with others, hopefully strangers, and learning something new about the pork barrel there and then. To go back to doing Facebook and going all crazy on our statuses, fails to consider how many need a better conversation about the pork barrel, and how that conversation needs to happen right now.

Because if we don’t engage in that conversation, then it is government that will continue to peddle the notion that it has scrapped the pork barrel because it has scrapped PDAF. If we don’t have these conversations now, then we lose the opportunity to continue to engage the ones who know they have much to learn, and want information right now. If we don’t do this now, then we lose whatever it was that August 26 had going for it.

Which was what exactly? A sense of democracy. The idea that if we all agree on the abolition of the pork barrel, then that is enough to unite us. The belief that if we go from that issue to others then those are individual perspectives and causes that need not be taken on by the rest of those who are only on that line of scrapping pork. The conviction that all we need is to unite on scrapping all pork, because that is the only way we can actually prove our numbers, and even more so our anger as a people and demand change.

It seems strange to have to state it here. But when you think about it, the fact that the August 26 Million People March was handled the way it was, and was fueled by this kind if discourse, just might have pushed for the various rallies and activities from the less expected organizers (i.e., not organized groups). And in which case, shouldn’t it take pride in what it has achieved? In having pushed individuals to take the cause on?

I have gone as an individual to more meetings for scrap pork rallies than I have ever gone for anything else. I have had the best conversations about it with people who are planning these rallies. There are more to come, I’d like to tell PNoy, but also I’d like to tell the rest of you who went to Luneta on August 26. This is not about going to one gathering and thinking your task done; neither is this the time to go all cliquish or elitist about rallies. If there’s anything August 26 taught us all, it’s that we can co-exist in the same space, and I bet you, even on the same stage if we dare do a program.

Multifarious perspectives were accepted at the Million People March, as long as these commonly believed in scrapping all pork. Now all we need to prove is that we believe in its notions of democracy and unity.

Let a hundred rallies bloom. Let the conversations continue. It’s the only way.

calling out peachy and jim (or, why not on EDSA?) #ScrapPork

in the time of EDSA Uno, lines were clearly drawn; the parliament of the streets was united behind cory from the snap election campaign to the victory rally in luneta to the four days in EDSA.  in Dos, however, the people who wanted erap ousted after the second-envelope fiasco, didn’t agree at first on who to replace him with — the elite wanted gma, the left wanted a council of state of sorts, and yet others wanted davide — but they all came together at the EDSA shrine anyway, and, in the process and over time, rose above their differences, united behind gma, and that was the end of erap.

amazingly (and then, again, maybe not), the “non-organizer” of the aug 26 luneta rally, who has chosen to “disengage” from the movement isn’t really disengaging pala, she can’t seem to let go, or why else does she now explicitly discourage moving the action to EDSA?  i sincerely hope that the gaffe is unwitting, political naif that she is, rather than witting, which would mean she is not above helping the palace prevent an EDSA crowd of any kind from gathering against pork.

Peachy Rallonza-Bretaña
31 August near Manila • Edited
Just to clarify, the EDSA call is NOT from me and not the same as the #MillionPeopleMarch. #ScrapPork has nothing to do with Marcos’ bday or martial law. And besides, anything on EDSA is too disruptive to our economy and the daily lives of the ordinary taxpayer like us who eke out a living. We want to make an impact yes, but an impact that works within the system and doesn’t throw us back to the bottom of the pit again. Thus the #100days to Justice. I am quite sure there will be those who will get angry at me for saying this but I just want people to be more aware of whatever they’re getting into.
Please repost and share if you feel the same way.

“work within the system?”  was that what she thought the luneta rally was about, working within the system?  that’s almost like playing into the palace spin that we’re all on the same side as the president on the pork barrel issue, which is far from true.  “100 days to justice?”  does she really think there’s a chance that government peeps will fall all over themselves to deliver all culprits for punishment in a hundred days if we don’t level up from unorganized disorganized luneta picnics and unite behind clearly articulated and non-negotiable demands?

she says “EDSA is too disruptive to our economy.”  hmm. i hope she means only in the sense of traffic problems — thus the aversion to a rally in EDSA — and not because she’s against any kind of EDSA action, even prayer rallies and townhall style discussions aimed at information exchange and eventually coming to a consensus on abolition, hopefully (rather than mere reform na tila tuloy tuloy ang kickbacks).

if the former, it would be a simple matter of engaging with the organizers and suggesting that they hold the rally on a weekend, less traffic, kahit paano; not that there’s any guarantee the organizers would listen, of course, but at least she tried.  if the latter, then it might be connected with her fear of militants taking over the movement, not seeing the fact that the militants are but a small sector of the huge silent coalition who went to luneta that Monday, and that these more numerous unorganized and unaffiliated citizens are intellectually capable of facing up to the challenge of sifting the grain from the chaff in pursuit of the common good.

she’s right, #scrapPork has nothing to do with marcos’s birthday or martial law, but if those days fell on weekends, okay na rin. If we don’t want the unrepentant marcoses and marcosistas gatecrashing, we could make it a day too of national reflection on how, and why, ferdinand marcos failed us. time for history lessons.

weekends would be good just because more people are likely to come than on a workday, but if that’s just me, okay lang.  maybe we have to hold one on a workday to see for ourselves what works and what doesn’t.  it’s like starting from scratch, but again that’s okay, as long as learning happens.

not surprisingly, self-styled guru jim paredes who was part of the luneta rally, as volunteer or something, reposted peachy’s no-to-EDSA facebook status.

Jim Paredes shared Peachy Rallonza-Bretaña’s status. 1 September

Yes Peachy!.. YES. I too will not go to any rally that falls on the day of Marcos Birthday. And yes, EDSA is too disruptive a place. With too many operators now moving in the shadows, I am very skeptical specially since some people associated with the past regime are suddenly calling for mass action.

“too many operators now moving in the shadows,” hmm.  i hope paredes realizes that he seems as much an operator as any of the ones he’s referring to, gven his continuing unflinching unwavering support for the incumbent. what did he say at the rally? something like, government is listening.  yeah, right.  but government is also hoping the noise dies down asap so they can get back to business as usual.

read And Just Like That, the Concept of “Social Media Revolution” Dies Choking on the Astroturf.  ben kritz is spot on:

There was already some evidence of an effort by the Administration to ‘hijack’ the protest last Monday with the appearance (appropriately given an abundance of attention by the government-backing media) of well-known Aquino apologists such as Jim Paredes and Mae Paner (delete mine), the catcalls and jeers directed at former Chief Justice Renato Corona which were apparently instigated by Administration supporters planted in the crowd, and this simpering paean to Aquino posted in the hours before the demonstration by “social media expert” Cocoy Dayao, which was seized upon by both of Malacañang’s Designated Talking Persons as evidence of genuine support from the public. Whatever else can be said about the Aquino Machine, their grasp of the importance and potential of social media as a propaganda tool is formidable, and well it should be: Social media management is the responsibility of the unctuous, ethically-challenged, but extremely intelligent Manuel L. Quezon III, the third and clearly the most adept of the three Cerberus heads of the Palace Comm Group.

… Social media as a means to effect the change this country needs had an incredibly short life-span, and is now dead. It may have gotten the ball rolling, but its primary use now is to simply telegraph every idea and planned move of protestors to a hostile government desperate to stay in power and more than capable of using the public’s own technological tools against them.

peachy is reported to have tweeted that it’s “too soon for an EDSA gathering.”  i hope she means it’s too soon IF the objective is the ouster of the prez.  but, as far as i know, this is NOT the objective.  the objective is to exchange information, raise questions, find ways of reconciling differences, the better to present a united front for Freedom Of Information and against the pork barrel system and all its evils, especially the ghost NGOs and contractors, and the kickbacks to the honourables.

and to those who say that EDSA Uno was a failure anyway, i say, EDSA Uno was a huge success, the million people stopped tanks and ousted a deeply entrenched dictator without bloodshed.  no.mean.feat.  it was post-EDSA that was the failure, and that’s where and why we need to level-up.

if you don’t get it, or you’re happy enough with the response of the aquino admin, or your priorities simply lie elsewhere, fine.  just, please, don’t stand naman in the way.

Can Janet Napoles turn state witness? (updated)

senator miriam agrees:  Napoles disqualified as state witness.  and showbiz (b)witch lolit solis, who knows her way in and out of a scam, alleges that her pal napoles contributed to the liberal party’s campaign in last may’s elections via executive sec  jojo ochoa, which ochoa denies of course: Talk show host Lolit Solis relieved by surrender of friend Janet Lim Napoles.

i agree with the public perception that it was the wrongest kind of move for a president to make.  napoles does not fall under the same category as taruc who was a rebel revolutionary fighting for a nationalist notion of nation; napoles is a common criminal, a thief, a plunderer of public funds.  and what does it say about aquino’s relationship with the DOJ and the NBI?  that he doesn’t trust them, he had to take charge personally, and in secret, to make sure nothing happened to napoles upon her surrender?  doesn’t inspire confidence, to say the least.  i’d resign, if i were leila de lima.

BREAKING NEWS: napoles just arrived in makati city jail, wearing a bullet proof vest.  mar roxas and edwin lacierda very much around.  why???  can’t believe they think this is winning them points with the #scrapPork public.

LEGAL OPINION
By Raymond Fortun

Janet Napoles surrendered to the government on Wednesday evening. She says she feared for her life. I’d rather believe that she was enticed by the promise that she could become a state witness instead in order to avoid imprisonment.

Janet Napoles CANNOT become a state witness because SHE IS THE MOST GUILTY. She is most guilty because she had the most to gain from the pork barrel scandal.

To illustrate:

Let’s assume there are 23 congressmen who dealt with Napoles. Assuming that each congressman turned over their entire Php70Million to Napoles’s bogus NGO’s, and the “deal” was that each congressman would get 70% (with Napoles getting 30%), each congressman would get Php49Million (70% of 70M). On the other hand, Napoles would stand to gain a grand total of Php483Million (30% of 70M x 23 congressmen). Do the math — Php49M as against Php483M. Who benefited the most?

In the concept of a grand conspiracy, it is highly unlikely that 23 congressmen from various districts all over the Philippines (including party lists) would get together and instruct Napoles to set up bogus NGO’s so that they can all get 70% of their pork barrel allocation. Rather, it is easier to surmise that NAPOLES separately approached 23 congressmen, told them of her scheme to use bogus NGO’s to extract the congressmen’s pork barrel allocations under a 70-30 sharing arrangement. Under the latter scenario, it is NAPOLES who masterminded the entire scam, with the congressmen being the greedy and willing participants thereto. Suffice it to state that the mastermind CANNOT become a state witness; the mastermind is the MOST GUILTY.

Section 17(d) of Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that an accused can be discharged to become a witness for the state when “said accused does not appear to be the most guilty”. Somehow, i cannot but expect the government to find a way for Napoles to be granted immunity from suit EVEN IF THE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW IT. Reports of Napoles having contributed to PNoy’s campaign coffers certainly creates a cloud of suspicion about whether the government is serious in prosecuting all concerned INCLUDING Napoles. We will see within the coming days if the charge list would include ALL who benefited from the pillage and plunder of taxpayers’ money, and not merely a veiled persecution and neutralization of perceived political opponents for the 2016 Presidential elections.

All of us must MAINTAIN OUR VIGILANCE. If the members of the Liberal Party dipped their hands in this mess, they MUST be held accountable, the same as everybody else. There should be no sacred cows in the coming investigation.

notes on luneta the rally

thank you, manila hotel, for opening your doors to rallyists who trekked in non-stop, muddy shoes and all, just to use the lobby CRs.  i hadn’t planned on going there unless i got desperate for comfort, but on the way to luneta with cholo, around 8 a.m., i got a call from butch my brother who said he was in the lobby, having breakfast with our pamangkins ainee and don who had come all the way from binan (with a benedictine abbey group); they would wait for us.  perfect, i thought, a last pee before the rally.  and might as well meet up there with katrina (she had left at 6:30) who had been asked to represent the unaffiliated organizers in a meeting with the philippine medical association at 9 a.m., na naging 10 a.m., and hindi na with the pma, but a presscon/forum na whose panel included kit tatad (argh), isagani cruz, letty shahani, ernesto ordonez, among others, all expressing solidarity against the pork barrel.

it was more interesting in the lobby.  gloria diaz at a a far table, linggoy alcuaz and herman tiu laurel moving around, vilma and mel mathay, randy david and family, marra lanot walking by, karina bolaso with a group, lito atienza (argh), marites vitug walking by, renato corona and family.  and got to chika with old friends lenny de jesus who was with russel sobrepena, and mildred juan who was there with her ATOM barkada.  and balikbayan cousin gary salcedo (like butch, home for good) who had spent the night in the hotel with fellow lasallites.  lol.  ang sosyal ba.

as we were leaving for the rally, saw someone at the door who looked like raissa’s alan robles with a few others, and just leaving the driveway was the corona party and photographers galore, so we rushed to leave first, heading for the rizal monument area, just in time to see the the militants marching in, led by satur ocampo, teddy casino, and ACT partylist rep tonchi tinio.  in fairness, pinaghandaan nila, and they scored points because they were one with the rallyists on the abolition of the pork barrel, and because they stayed on topic: no ibagsaks, nothing on pyudalismo koloyalismo, o kapitalismo.  while i was around, anyway.  and no we didn’t hear anyone booing them.  if anything, people who were just sitting around in that area, too far away to hear anything from inside, were entertained, if not nudged awake, by the pointed slogans and the sounds of pigs grunting in a loop that included the voice of noynoy “abolishing” the pork barrel. LOL

at that point katrina needed to get back to her post and i went with her; cholo went off on his own to look around, before going on home (wala pang tulog).  i had planned to stay away from the muddy grounds, but i also wanted to see what it was like inside.  the “command center” turned out to be an open tent, not too large, half occupied by organizers and mirons and whoever was holding the mic — jograd was on but couldn’t see him, except on a labo screen, kasi walang platform — the other half occupied by tables for petition signing, and stationed next to them, momblogger noemi dado, one of the organizers.  looked around for peachy, gang, vince lazatin, names i had been hearing, but they weren’t in the command center.

katrina left me in what seemed a safe spot just behind petition tables; some distance behind us, the lower grounds that immediately faced the grandstand.  i was noting the continuous stream of people coming up to sign the peachy petition, mostly from B and C, pero meron ding A.  on the other end saw nato reyes conferring with katrina, then with momblogger, and on the mic, someone reminding na bawal uminom, bawal magyosi, and leading some intermittent chanting, makibaka, wag magbaboy!  at some point people started surging past the tent and crowding behind us, overlooking the grandstand area, and they were booing someone and shouting EPAL! along with the crowd below.  the girl beside me stood on her chair to look, aha, binoo-boo si corona, join ang girl.  i texted katrina an s.o.s. and not too long after sinundo niya ako, took me to sister mary john mananzan to say hello.  jim paredes had the mic when we left.

heading back to manila hotel where katrina’s friends thea and aries pollisco were having lunch before going to the rally, we saw “rally virgin” noel anonuevo with jovy zarate, and join na rin sila.  at the hotel CR i took off my muddied shoes, pinasok ng putik pati loob, buti na lang i had brought sosyal slippers pampalit just in case and that the cr had tissue paper galore to wipe the mud off my feet with. the shoes — buti na lang an old pair that deserved to be laid to rest — went into the plastic bag that had held the slippers and i dropped it in the trashcan with many thanks na hindi ako nadulas sa putik.

when katrina went back to the rally with thea and aries, i stayed behind, catching up with noel and getting to know jovy, and talking, among other things, about the rally and how disorganizedly organized it was.  at some point cholo phoned, pauwi pa lang because he had run into friends here and there, many first-timer atenistas and spirit-of-67 fans.

at another point noel got a phone call from a friend watching tv and cardinal tagle was at the rally, speaking to the crowd.  fine.  i wondered how many of the crowd could hear him and imagined that many like me were wishing that the grandstand had been made proper use of, as in cory’s victory rally in 1986 that brought a million people, eager to listen, eager to be affirmed, eager to move as one.

okay lang.  this was a baby step.  the next ones should be better organized and the lines more clearly drawn.  if you’re only for reforming the pork barrel system, for whatever reason, then please go hold your own rallies.  but if you’re for scrapping all pork barrel and you want to see heads rolling, then be assured that it’s not over.  what next?  there’s a call for #occupyEDSA but i don’t know enough about it yet.  will keep you posted.