Nestor D. Tamayo
31 May 2007

 

To: Mr. Jess Garcia,

Kuya Jess, how could I purchase one of your cycling shirt (Padyak Pinoy 2007)? I really am interested in owning one or two of this shirt. Pls. send or write me the website on where I could purchase it.

Balbaleg ya salamat,
Nestor Tamayo of Goodyear, Arizona U.S.A.

Eduardo Pontaoe
30 May 2007

 

Miss Leslie Panganiban:

Seeing new faces in the Forum is whole heartedly welcome. It adds vitality to the concept of open discourse. But, we need clarity of purpose.

Your post on the 28th is not well-defined. If your intention is to critique a person’s write-up, you must be absolutely straight to the point. No running around making the posters guessing who your target is. In your face. . . the name it is.

Eduardo Pontaoe
30 May 2007

 

Greetings, ladies and gents!

Just back from the rough and tumble world of Santa Barbara politics and the political quicksand of Pangasinan. It was quite an experience watching how ex-mayor Zaplan and Rey Velasco went “mano-a-mano” to make their points to convince the wily voters of Santa Barbara who’s the better of the two.

The last two weeks of the campaign made Zaplan poured all he got . . . according to some rats in his camp . . . a whopping amount of moolah to the tune of P30M. He thrown all but the kitchen sink and still got zapped big time - the result of a disgruntled populace who demanded change. He (Zaplan) went berserk campaigning and it was incredible seeing him with a cement mixer and truckloads of gravel asking anybody who wanted their pathways fixed or anything for a miserable vote. Zaplan’s bid for a scoundrelly pathetic vote was P500 which was cheap compared in the past.

As of this writing since I departed Santa Barbara, Zaplan is crying his heart out asking the gods why he lost. Looking at his drop-dead gorgeous wife, he pulled his hair off why such beauty became inimical to his campaign. He did not realize Jinky was a JINX since he dumped his first wife and PLAYED WITH FIRE.

Morality was in the political mix. The smoke of politics dissipates and comes the business of governance. Velasco’s 10 points declaration of intent is a monstrous hurdle to overcome. The people believed him he can deliver and the longing of relief can be felt how the people give him a mandate.

First, his order of business should be a full accounting of how much money from Santa Barbara was stolen. If Velasco would let the rats go and turn a blind eye then this election will be his first and the last. He should also rein-in his close associates who I was informed and heard they are promoting the idea of . . . to the victors belong the spoils. It is pretty scary to start because “jueteng” is still alive in this town, and drawings are being held three times a day from Zaplan’s cockpit. At P3000 a drawing, it’s an amount to be reckoned with.

But, given Velasco’s straight shooter for law and order, I’ll give “jueteng” and “shabo” until June 30th their last breath under the unscrupulously corrupt Zaplan.

And to The Benjie. . .good riddance.

For Oscar Lambino, I was right all along that his 11 years as a mayor of Malasiqui and as vice governor are just plain nonsense.

I say with objectivity, May 14, 2007, was the day Pangasinan politics brought forth a new meaning. From the barracks of PMA to the hallowed halls of Harvard. There’s a nice ring to it.

Rafael L. Oriel, Jr.
30 May 2007

Mr. Carrera, the political and other prevailing cultures in the Philippines and here in Canada are the products of the systems being used. The maladies you itemized are the results of the malfunctioning systems being used in the Philippines.

I wonder where you got the idea that those who are undesirables will easily change attitude and mentality without improving the systems to control and regulate them. The problems are getting worse. Breakdowns of law and civilized behavior are becoming accepted as a way of life.

It is already very obvious that the current presidential system does not work to the best interest of every Filipinos. Common sense should dictate that if a system doesn’t work, then fix it or improve it or redesign it or change it to something much better, more efficient and productive.

It is no different when you are in a bus with a malfunctioning electrical system. You have to fix the faulty system instead of blaming the passengers or the driver, is it not? Of course, if there are undesirable passengers or driver in the bus, they deserve to be kicked out but the faulty system still needs to be fixed or improved if we want to continue using the bus in good shape.

Because of the excellent systems being used in Canada, those kinds of problems you patiently enumerated are not encountered. In other words, they are considered taboo.

There was a time very recently when anomaly was detected and a public inquiry was held. The investigation led to the downfall of the ruling political party and was replaced by another party belonging to the opposition. After the fiasco, certain measures were enacted on top of the already existing forms of election campaign finance regulation.

The lawmakers made Canada one of the most tightly regulated electoral environments in the world. Those who wish to use money to engage in some form of illegal election-related activities are prevented by law from doing so. In addition, fine tuning of the systems are being done periodically to immediately fix any of the flaws they can find to make the systems foolproof as much as possible. They change those that are needed to be changed without so much ado.

If there is a need to amend or change the charter to suit the needs of Canadians, they will surely not hesitate to do it. Cheating during election can be easily detected. Any election protest can be easily solved. If the election result is very close, automatic recount is done right away and results are known in no time.

Canadians are not overworked and overwhelmed with unnecessary problems and false allegations. Thanks to the systems used. Canada is a bicameral, federal Parliamentary system of government.

Because of the simplicity of a parliamentary system, people can be easily self-educated of the electoral process. They can become intelligent voters in no time to replace politicians with somebody who can serve them better. You do not need to be millionaire to be elected as Member of the Parliament (MP) or Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

In fact, there are already some Filipinos who were successfully elected Members of the Canadian Parliament and Legislative Assembly. Laws here are enforceable. If there are loopholes, they are immediately fixed to make circumventing the law very difficult. In comparison, some people in the Philippines are having a good time taking advantage of the many loopholes of the law of the land.

I think, there are even some laws that are not enforceable like the Philippine dynasty law or the people’s initiative to change the charter. There is even a possibility that millions of Filipinos cannot Cha-Cha if few senators will not allow it to protect their own or their allies’ interests.

No wonder law enforcers, prosecutors and judges are having hard times doing their jobs. In addition, temptation is high for them to go against the law. Many will not hesitate to risk everything just to get rich quickly, especially those who have nothing to risk.

To them, the tune of millions or even billions of pesos or dollars is very encouraging to sacrifice anything. Some are not even ashamed or affected to be jailed or dishonored which is highly in contrast to those who committed hara-kiri when disgraced. Political hara-kiri can even work to their advantages by conditioning the minds of the public.

Kapatiran

By +Oscar V. Cruz D. D.

It is a rather well known fact that the three “Kapatiran” senatorial political candidates are adorned with impeccable integrity, competence and commitment. They clearly and passionately professed their mission to exercise the public office they pursued in the last elections in line with the mandates of justice and truth, honesty and transparency.
Read more

Edgardo C.Visperas
29 May 2007

 

Insan Eva, Belated Happy Birthday!

From,
Edgar
United Arab Emirates
edgardo.visperas@parso​ns.com​

Jeremias Andrade Carrera
29 May 2007

 

Mr. Oriel:

Your suggested form of government and reasoning is a model that works with those kind of mentality of people and government officials, but majority of the Filipinos, the government officials, and their politicians do not think and act like the way you do or the people in those countries where that form of government works.

For example, do those people sell their votes, do they ask their public officials for dole outs or help for almost everything they need for their families instead of earning a living for themselves? Do those government officials or politicians get the money to dole out from the government coffers through illegal means? Do those politicians enrich themselves and their families by corrupt practices? Do most of the newspapers in those countries condone corrupt politicians by not publishing corruption? Do they have SOP for their “PORK BARREL PROJECTS”?

You can suggest the best form of government for the betterment of the Philippines but it will not work until that attitude and mentality is changed. Start first with enforcing the laws and the Philippines may not even need to change the form of government.

As I stated in my postings many years ago, there are available qualified candidates for execution of politicians and government officials almost every day of the year.

Now, please do not ask for evidence just to make an argument because there is preponderance of evidence.

Leslie Panganiban
28 May 2007

 

Ano bang galit mo sa mga Agbayani? Dahil ba sa sarili mong failure as a candidate?? Napaka-bitter mo; as well as delusional try to kid yourself with the story of Espines the Giant Killer, ha ha ha…airports? Bullet trains?

Felix Bermundo Jr.
28 May 2007

 

Congratulation to Emma Chan for winning the mayorship of the town of Pozorrubio.

Rafael L. Oriel, Jr.
28 May 2007

 

 

Mr. Ramos, if you need a solid background in socio-politics, you are better off to put your stock to someone else. I am quite sure there are many Filipinos around with those credentials.

Actually, that is a very good question that you should ask politicians. Whatever I learned from the school of hard knocks and school of conventional wisdom is all that I have as far as socio-politics is concerned.

Contrary to what you think, I find nothing dreadful about using the Japanese, Singaporean, or any success story of Asian parliamentary government. Using your line of thinking, the Asian countries you are talking about seem to be enamored with European parliamentary governance because they adapted the parliamentary system of government based on European models. Singapore, for example, is a republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. Westminster?

From what I understand, there are broadly two forms of Parliamentary democracies. Westminster System or Westminster Model and the Western European Parliamentary Model. There is also what they called a Hybrid Model, the semi-presidential system, drawing on both presidential systems and parliamentary systems.

I guess the French model proposed by JDV is a hybrid model and is more complex compared to the English model proposed by FVR. I like the one proposed by FVR better because it is much simpler.

If ever we Filipinos will decide to go for the parliamentary system of government, of course, they should design it in such a way that it will appropriately suit the needs of every Filipinos, something that we can call a Filipino-style of parliamentary system of government. I hope they can produce something that we can be proud of.

The most ideal is to keep all our systems in the Philippines as simple as possible because it is more economical and much more manageable. I strongly believe that Filipinos have all the talents and resources to make it feasible or to make it a reality towards a better future for the country and its people.

Last May 22, we had a provincial election here in Canada to elect 57 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Province of Manitoba. It is very simple to vote. We just need to select one out of four candidates or one out of four different political parties. I just put an X beside the name of the candidate that I think can best represent me to the provincial legislative assembly. I based my decision not so much on the candidates’ personality but much more on their political platform.

The voting process was very simple and ensures the smooth and efficient conduct of the election. The polls opened at 8:00 A.M. and closed at 8:00 P.M. and few hours after that we already knew the winners and the losers were already graciously conceding defeat followed by a victory speech of the newly elected Premier of Manitoba. Consequently, it took only few hours for us to know the winning political party who will govern the province and the political parties who will be in the opposition.

Iniisip ko na sana ganito rin ka-simple ang election sa atin. Kaya ko nagugustuhan ang unicameral, federal and parliamentary system of government dahil sa mga nakikita kong maraming mga advantages nito na siguradong makakabuti sa ating bansa at mamamayan.

It is as simple as that and I am quite sure that you do not need a solid background in socio-politics or to be a rocket scientist in order to know that fact. All we need is to use our common sense.

If we are really after the welfare of Filipinos why not GO for it? If some Filipinos can suggest something much better then why not? If Filipinos will believe what Mr. Carrera is saying that nothing works, wala talagang mangyayari sa ating bansa at mga mamamayan, di ba?

Hindi ba ito insulto sa kakayahan, husay at talino ng mga Filipinos. Gusto niyo bang hanggang diyan na lang tayo?

I like to reiterate, I am a firm believer of what the KISS strategists, especially computer programmers, often say, “Keep It Simple, Stu”. The current Presidential system is complex, very expensive and very difficult to manage causing excessive burden and unnecessary yoke that is overloading the country and its people.

Godspeed to all.