Opinyon445 rikitiks

Wedding Industry Expect Php1B Growth PAGE 6

FOREIGN

BUSINESS

NATION

The Fate of Jojo Binay PAGE 3

UK Scholarship Program to Allow More Pinoys PAGE 11

Meric Mara

MAKING TECHNOLOGY PINOY-FRIENDLY 16 Educational yet opinionated, informative yet persuasive JULY 7-13, 2014 • VOL.4 NO.45

Php15.00

We Take A Stand Visit us at www.opinyon.com.ph

facebook.com/opinyon

NOW AVAILABLE

Nationwide

AND AT ALL OUTLETS OF

National Bookstore PowerBooks Fully Booked Scan QR Code inside for additional content from OpinYon Digital Edition!

twitter.c om/opinyon2010

By Ray L. Junia Thieves continue to steal the future of this country. And

nothing can be more unreal than the government claim of economic gains trumpeted by spin masters as the best in our part of the world. Page 2

THIEVES IN GOVERNMENT

environment Opinyon445.indd 1

ENVIRONMENTALISTS HARASSED BY MINE GUARDS | 8 7/4/14 9:01 PM

COVER STORY

Thieves in Government How else would one describe a situation like what the Filipinos are going through now. Before privatization, cost of electricity was one of the lowest in Asia, roads were free to use, cost of water was affordable and cost of living allowed free money to spend outside of the essentials.

The national economy is now controlled by forty families. Eighty percent of national wealth is owned by 10 percent of the population. Ninety percent share the remaining 20 percent of national wealth.

This situation has led to daily “rape” of every poor Filipino’s right to a decent living.

Now we have to pay for use of highways we call toll roads. The national leadership intentionally stopped building big roads to the big city to justify entry of toll roads.

Planned robbery

By Ray L. Junia, Publisher THIEVES continue to steal the future of this country. Nothing can be more unreal than the government claim of economic gains trumpeted by Malacañang spin masters as the best in our part of the world.

The latest gesture of courtesy by an honored guest to his host, a World Bank top official saying the Philippines is on its way to become Asia’s economic tiger, made the headlines in our national media.

This made us laugh. This WB seer is either the worst prophet or best in PR that envoys are trained to be.

Motoo Konishi, WB country director for the Philippines, cited macroeconomic strength of the economy for his trust in our future. He fails to see the sick trees inside what appears to be a beautiful forest. This is unfortunate as we expect bankers to be more forthright and honest and if they cannot be honest they better just shut up.

Tail ender

The Philippines is doomed to become tail ender in the race for economic gains in Asia if not the world. It is our destiny to be always poor. We have our reasons to believe so.

Corruption is the root cause of the country’s economic miseries. Cost of living, driven by high cost of basic necessities, is too high, seventy percent of the population has been declared poor.

Stealing from government coffers has not abated, even got worse with the President illegally spending Php177 Billion on DAP from the national budget. To think that other agencies are victims of the same thievery that ultimately ends up with the people suffering.

This thievery and corruption is the fi rst reason responsible investors are not coming in and may even be packing up.

Latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority on the foreign invest-

2

JULY 7-13, 2014

Opinyon445.indd 2

OpinYon

ments (FI) shows a sharp decline in the fi rst quarter of 2014 compared to same period last year.

In the fi rst quarter of 2014, FIs approved by seven investment promotion agencies amounted to Php37.4 Billion.

This is 25.6 percent lower than the take in the same period last year. In 2013, FIs were Php50.3 Billion.

FDIs tell the story

On foreign direct investments (FDI), the Philippines is the tail ender, far way below the second lowest.

The average take by the country on FDIs between 2002 and 2012 was US$2.7Billion, the lowest while Singapore, a city state, got the highest at US$52.8Billion. Vietnam got second lowest with US$8.5B, better by over US$5B. Even the numbers on FDIs in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can cause investors to shy away from us. In the fi rst two years of the Aquino administration, we registered again the lowest in ASEAN countries.

In 2010, net FDI was 0.7 percent of GDP and this declined to 0.6 percent in the following year, 2011. Compared with neighbor countries our net FDI was the worst and almost sick situation. Our neighbors did much better: Singapore 25.1%, Vietnam 6.2%, Malaysia 4.3%, Thailand 2.8% and Indonesia 2.2%.

In the measure of impact of the FDI to population or per capita shares, it will tell a clearer picture of the cause of our economic woes. On this measure, our FDI per capita is lowest at US$ 13.3 while Singapore registered the highest at US$ 12,347.00.

These figures covering the period ended 2011. Three years after, when poverty incidence has gone up and prices of basic goods and services have hit the ceiling, this situation could be lot worse.

The fi rst look at our numbers will not encourage serious investors to come in. discouragement will set in when they fi nd out why we are the cellar. The reason is massive corruption that has worsened during the Aquino administration.

It’s corruption, stupid!

Pulling down interest and trust by foreign investors in our country and national leadership are several reasons: high cost of electricity, lack of infrastructure and worsening peace and order and corruption.

While corruption is last in the list of reasons, it is the principal cause of reasons the country is losing the trust of investors.

The cost of electricity in the Philippines being highest in Asia and second highest in the world can be traced to massive corruption in the highest offices of the land, from Malacañang to Congress, down to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

On infrastructure, the national leadership has turned over this responsibility to the private sector. From supply of power, to supply of water, to use of roads, to building of transport, and airports, these are all now being given out to private investors.

It’s rape!

Our national leaders call this PublicPrivate Partnership or PPP. This is one marriage that was intended to legitimize rape.

What happened to cost of electricity and cost in use of roads are examples of well planned grand robbery. Government neglected building new power stations while neglecting national roads, stirring consumers to demand for better services.

Privatization became the only solution, offering lower cost that never happened and, worse, cost doubled if not tripled.

Government leaders said privatization saves the government of funding services that are obligations of government. These government duties are supposed to be supported by our taxes. This cost transfer led to savings that allowed Malacañang to “steal” Php177 Billion for DAP and tens of billions for PDAF. Theft came from many points: at the privatization arrangement when investors would show interest and put his money where his mouth is. Second, at the national budget that would have been spent for these basic services given to the private group. This savings turns out be pork barrel of Malacañang, in the case of Aquino is Php177 Billion in two years, misappropriated and misspent.

Even when privatization became a solution to our infrastructure needs, still serious investors are saying the country is short of what are needed to gain their trust.

One leading complaint is our problem in communications. Even when Smart earns billions of pesos for Manny V. Pangilinan and Globe has multiplied several folds the billions of the Ayalas, the foreign groups are not still happy with our communications system.

Truth is not only the foreign investors are complaining but the locales are also complaining of being short changed by these telecom companies.

Privatization not free

Privatization is not free to the taxpayers. In 2012, President Aquino gave the DOTC Php8.6 Billion and the DPWH Php3 Billion for the preparation of business cases, pre-feasibility studies and feasibility studies for various PPP ventures.

In inviting private sector participation, the government waives many requirements that would have earned the national treasury billions of pesos. Of course these exemptions are always suspect to be products of under-the-table negotiations that line up the pockets of government executives and legislators.

The sum total of reasons this country will not move forward and bring economic relief to the poor is we have elected officials who serve the interests of their masters and not the interests of the people. We have national leaders who boldly steal, unmindful of constitution and laws, as if the public does not exist.

The “theft” of Php177 billion by Malacañang is just a symptom of a more serious malady. The effect of this disease is a society that will always be abused and used to enrich further enrich the billionaires and make new millionaires of those we trust to lead our government. This is because we have elected thieves to run our government.

WE TAKE A STAND

7/4/14 9:01 PM

Nation

News from Where You Stand

The Fate of Jojo Binay

By Ado Paglinawan

effectively a hostage at the Veterans Memorial Hospital to keep her away from power politics.

BS Aquino got them by the balls and blackmail greed prevents them from squealing. Did you notice how Mike has confi ned the Arroyo defenses within the legal structures politics? Despite this “political persecution”, Arroyo’s Kampi and KGMA supporters complain no end that they cannot get any funds from the former president.

JOJO Binay is doomed.

His intentions for the presidency surfaced too early and unlike Cory Aquino, so to speak, he did not “keep his options open”.

Because of this, his prospective run for the Presidency in 2016 is doomed from the outset.

Why? Because in a political atmosphere where corruption is key to being despised by the Filipino constituency, the bevy of his wife’s pending plunder cases await him at every corner.

He is able to maintain his Makati dynasty despite this Damocles sword because of the “controlled” political environment he inherited from the late former Mayor Nemesio Yabut.

Pedigree

Irreversible Error

I dare say if Yabut did not die in 1986 leaving a vacuum of leadership in that city just as Marcos had just left for Hawaii, there would be no Binay at all. Binay expanded the projects of Yabut in order to gain power and fame for his “entitlement” programs.

I know because I was Yabut’s strategic consultant since he was fi rst elected in 1971 to the time of his death. Only Yabut’s oldest son, King could have prevented the Binay ascendancy, but the boy did not challenge him and instead fielded his half-brother Toro Yabut to run for councilor.

That proved to be an irreversible error because when Toro had mayoralty ambitions and his half-brothers Ricky and fi nally King had theirs, Binay was already well-entrenched.

Perks

Only in Makati do the poor registered voters get free full medical care including hospitalization, laboratory work and pharmaceuticals and the nonpoor are charged nominally according to their income brackets.

Seniors have special privileges and go to movies for free and children are guaranteed free education up to college.

The police are well-equipped and provided for. There is a small sports complex in almost every barangay that also houses wellstaffed councils that are everpresent in their respective territories making sure every resident or new resident of voting age are properly identified in their periodic census. Fire and emergency brigades also abound.

National Appeal

Again to clarify, Binay did not start these programs, he only expanded and added juice to them like a check for PhP1,000 every six months and a birthday cake for senior citizens. He has also issued a blue card for residents so that they become “arrest free” within the city.

This of course has a powerful appeal to non-Makati residents.

In fact, it was even able to propel his obscure daughter to the Senate in 2013, despite her only experience being to count the

weekly loot the Binay family gets from the exercise of their elective positions and laundry the fi lthy money into a foundation.

The reason for this was her daughter ran for one of 12 available positions in a campaign where name recall and TV advertising counts the most. Even Grace Llamanzares was severely way behind the polls when she had not yet added the magical surname “Poe” identifying her to her adoptive father of the late action king “Fernando Poe” to her “official nomenclature” as a candidate. And of course, Jojo Binay has all the cash to buy those lucrative TV spots.

Winning the Count

One may argue, however, that Binay won the vice presidency. Hello? Binay was never truly elected by the people. He came out with almost Php400 million to buy the position when Mar Roxas reneged on his contract with the Comelec “operators”, thus failing to protect his votes. Mar led by a long mile in 100% of all the pre-election surveys and exit polls. Binay lost the elections but won the count.

Like BS Aquino who is a digital president, Binay is a digital vice president, courtesy of Smartmatic and the corrupted automated election system. In fact, there is not a single public official in government today that has not been digitally elected.

Pending in the Supreme Court today are nullification

cases that I have fi led or helped fi le for the 2010 and 2013 elections.

So stop this romantic notion that Binay is electable. The dung his wife Elenita acquired when she left the city after her term as mayor ended will haunt him no end.

Binay does not even have ground troops outside of the Alpha Phi Omega and some cities that he has adopted as sister cities of Makati sharing with them some entitlements. His groundswell was just fictionalized in order to apply smoke and mirrors on how he bought his own election. But I am willing to concede to you if no one stops Comelec Chairman Sixto Brilliantes from reinventing Smartmatic into another automated cheating system for 2016.

By the way, the recent barangay elections were conducted manually. Are you aware of any electoral protests? The reason why the powers-that-be are addicted to automation is because it has made buying the presidential election a lot easier—you only have to corrupt the person who controls the system and you do not have to do any cheating anymore in more than 100,000 precincts nationwide.

That disputes your entire article about a dilemma because there is no dilemma. Binay must kiss the ass of BS Aquino who has Brilliantes in his tank in the same way the village idiot got elected in the fi rst place.

One may argue, however, that Binay won the vice presidency. Hello? Binay was never truly elected by the people. He came out with almost Php400 million to buy the position when Mar Roxas reneged on his contract with the Comelec “operators”, thus failing to protect his votes. Mar led by a long mile in 100% of all the pre-election surveys and exit polls. Binay lost the elections but won the count.

Controlling the polls

BS Aquino controls the electoral system.

Gloria Arroyo cleared Ronnie Puno to giving Pinky Aquino Abellada, Noynoy’s sister, the source code and thus control to the Smartmatic system on May 5, 2010 or five days before the 2010 elections.

The Arroyos are forever corrupt. Only God knows how much money changed hands, but soonest BS Aquino got proclaimed and sworn into office, he turned his back on Arroyo, propped up plunder cases against her and proceeded to put her behind virtual bars and

This fatal mistake has stuck to Gloria because she forgot Noynoy comes from a pedigree of quislings.

His maternal great grandmother stole the war chest of the Katipunan entrusted to her

by General Antonio Luna. Her grandfather cheated the government and farmers in order to acquire and control Hacienda Luisita.

His paternal grandfather was a Japanese collaborator, and of course his own father was an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) whose fl ipside spells IBM, for which her sister worked for. Remember how Ninoy Aquino used the New People’s Army against government in order to leverage the Americans?

Her own mother the former president but who was without a political machinery rode on the Unido coalition to win the presidency but who later betrayed Unido’s leader Vice Presidentelect Salvador Laurel whom she promised will serve as Prime Minister of the parliamentary form of government they inherited from Ferdinand Marcos.

In order to protect the gruesome relations of her husband with the communists, she released Jose Maria Sison and gave him safe passage out of the country.

And then to appease the US, whether CIA or IBM, Cory Aquino instead chose to rule under a revolutionary government and returned the government structure to the American presidential system that ended up accidentally deleting the twoparty system that is causing all the schizophrenia in today’s Philippine governance.

There is no dilemma. Binay only has to pander to BS Aquino (and of course the Americans) and obediently serve as their altar boy.

The Americans are once again omnipresent in Philippine affairs, but I am not too sure they will agree to electing the fi rst black Filipino president after it seems that the fi rst black US president they twice put into office seems to be more interested in his ideology transforming the American political culture rather than serving their country’s national interest and the vested interests of the US establishment before that.

This is how complicated the situation is.

WE TAKE A STAND

Opinyon445.indd 3

OpinYon

JULY 7-13, 2014

3 7/4/14 9:01 PM

OPINION E

D

I

T

O

R

I

A

L

Smooth Criminals THE Aquino administration is in a quandary.

Shortly after putting senators Bong Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada behind bars for their alleged involvement in the PhP10-billion pork barrel scam and issuing a warrant against former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, government is now beset with a problem bigger than pilferage of the PDAF— that of the issue of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court..

Designed as a stimulus package to fast-track public spending and economic and push economic growth—which was supposedly being hampered by a prevailing under-spending in government disbursements—President Aquino approved the DAP in October 2011 upon the recommendation of the Development Budget Coordination Committee and the Cabinet Clusters.

From its approval and throughout 2012-2013 government spent a total PhP142.23 billion in realigned savings from different government agencies on a total 116 DAP-funded budgets. And in declaring the practice to be in violation of the Constitution, the High Tribunal cites the culpability of the proponents and implementers of the illegal government program.

The chief architect of this budget impounding system is Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, the same person whom some quarters have accused of orchestrating and providing tutelage to the players and con artists of the PDAF scam.

If the PDAF scam lists senators and congressmen as possible conspirators, the DAP tags the Office of the President—President PNoy—for approving a program that is against the fundamental laws of the land.

In defense, Malacanang said it “acted in good faith” when it spent hundreds of billions in public funds circumventing the provisions of the Constitution via the DAP. Also, being unconstitutional—in the words of Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda—should not be equated to criminality. Acting in good faith could be taken as the government’s admission of incompetence or an ignorance of the law, with both providing no excuse for the commission of an illegal act.

Because the DAP is very similar to the PDAF in many respects including the funding of projects identified by lawmakers, it is not easy to accept that the line that DAP was money well spent and the thievery was limited to the PDAF. The PDAF involved an amount less than one percent of the total national budget and the DAP spending is ten times that of the money that Janet Lim Napoles and her co-accused were able to stick their fingers into.

If PDAF is just “pocket change”—Napoles and company are just petty thieves. An audit of the DAP and national budget could lead us to the big-time crooks and the smooth criminals in government.

OpinYon is published weekly by Opinyon Media Services, with business office at Rm 202, ECRD Condominium, Barangka Drive cor Talumpong, Mandaluyong City.

Editorial: 214-0766 Business & Circulation: 9412189 Email: opinyon.2010@ gmail.com website: www.opinyon.com.ph DISCLAIMER Letters to the Editor and unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher, editors and staff of Opinyon. We reserve the right to edit articles based on our editorial standards.

JULY 7-13, 2014

Opinyon445.indd 4

OpinYon

Where the Mega-Rich Get Richer

(The following is an excerpt from the Agence FrancePresse report originally published in South China Morning Post, dated 2013 March 5.)

According to the Forbes 2012 annual rich list, the two richest people in the Philippines, ethnic Chinese magnates Henry Sy and Lucio Tan, were worth a combined US$13.6 billion, equivalent to about 6 per cent of the nation’s annual GDP. In contrast, about 25 million people, or a quarter of the population, lived on US$1 a day or less in 2009, which was little changed from a decade earlier, according to the most recent official data.

Some of the elite families have dominated since the Spanish colonial era that ended in the late 1800s. Prominent Spanish names, such as Ayala and Aboitiz, continue to control large chunks of the economy and members of the families are consistent high placers on Forbes’ annual top 40 wealth list.

Their business interests range from utilities to property development to banking, telecommunications and the business process outsourcing industry.

Many of the ethnic Chinese tycoons, such as

Simple lang: pagnanakaw ang DAP. Jan Victor Ayson

Hindi na ilusyon yan. Yan ay malinaw na kabaliwan. No Bail ka ngayon, hindi NOBEL. Sigaw ng mga kababayan natin sa Eastern Visayas na biktima ng Yolanda, NOBEL KA NGAYON SA KULUNGAN!!!

Boyet Gregorio

Good faith = ignorance of law = acquittal / exemption from criminal liability? Hindi yata ganon yun noh!

Lady Salem

What achievements?

Mateo Manlises Quillopo

Si Jinggoy nga na sinasabing di siya pumirma eh nakakulong etong si BS Aquino na aminadong pinirmahan ang mga dokumento ng DAP makakatakas.

Joe Satriani Junior

Least budget for education since Marcos. Most neoliberal policies implemented.

Ben Galil Magkapatid nga sila ni Kris... di mo alam kung kulang ba sya sa buwan nung pinanganak o sadyang kumukulo pa ang ahm e pinakain na agad sa kanya...

Rabi Bienes Achievements? Pork Barrel King. Impunity King.

Rommel Villano Most Time Wasted during administration, Highest Mortality Rate during grave calamities, Most money siphoned from a country’s citizens.

Nick Legaspi Depende kasi kung anong record ung ibebeat, baka mamaya paramahian sila ng makukuha sa pork barrel.

Von Jason Carlos

FREDERICK FABIAN Acting Managing Editor DAVE DIWA Opinion Editor

Easiest challenge in Philippine history.

Nöersæm Öc

CARLOS RAJAMIRA Creative Director JOJO VALENCIA Layout Artist

ON SC DECISION TO DECLARE DAP UNCONSTITUTIONAL

ATTY. SALVADOR PANELO Ombudsman

ATTY. RICKY RIBO Legal Counsel

ON PNOY’S STATEMENT TO NEXT PRESIDENT: “BEAT MY ACHIEVEMENTS.”

Error 404: Accomplishment not found.

Normal Galman

ALFONSO LABITA Executive Editor

RAY L. JUNIA President

Sy and Tan, got their start soon after the country gained independence from America after the second world war.

The tendency for the same names to dominate major industries can be partly attributed to government rules that continue to allow near monopolies and protections for key players.

For decades after independence in 1946, important sectors such as air transport and telecommunications were under monopoly control, according to a Philippine Institute for Development Studies paper.

Despite wide-ranging reforms since 1981, big chunks of the market remained effective oligopolies or cartels, it said.

The Aquino government’s mantra since succeeding graft-tainted Gloria Arroyo’s administration has been good governance and inclusive growth, and their efforts have been applauded by the world community.

But political scientist Louie Montemar said little had been done at the top end to impact on the elite’s dominance. “There’s some sense to the argument that we’ve never had a real democracy because only a few have controlled economic power,” he said. “The country dances to the tune of the tiny elite.”

PUBLIC PULSE

RAY L. JUNIA Publisher

ISSN 2094-7372

4

Commentary

Scan this QR Code with your mobile device to read OpinYon Digital Edition on the go.

Dapat si Aquino patalsikin!

Orion Yoshida Ngaun na npatunyn na iligal ang DAP ni aquino DAPat na tlga xa ptalsikin sa pwesto Jezen Pascual

Impeachment is inevitable.

Renato Reyes Jr.

Legal ng magnakaw sa Pilipinas, basta gamitin lang sa maayos ang ninakaw mo. yan ang ibig sabihin ni Abnoy at Abad bad boy tungkol sa DAP. Butch J. Mirador Aquino & Abad conspired to use illegal funds to another illegal purposes. It’s a double plunder.

Better ask the opinion of Ate Guy ‘ cause Penoy said she use illegal drugs? He he he!

Boyet Gregorio Impeach Pork Barrel King Noynoy Aquino!

Audrey Antonio Lahat ng sangkot ‘Dapat Managot’! Pati Si Pork Barrel King.

Corky Hope Marañan The entire hierarchy of the Philippine bureaucracy, including the executive, legislative and judicial branches, from the time of Quezon and Osmena to that of Macapagal and Marcos, has always been ridden with graft and corruption. One has only to take note of how much property a certain bureaucrat capitalist has at the start of his treacherous career and compare it with his visible assets that accumulate from year to year to be convinced of the enormity of graft and corruption and how detestably rotten the present system is.

Jose Victor Teosoro

WE TAKE A STAND

7/4/14 9:01 PM

Opinion

The Viewpoints and outlook of the well-informed

Hypocrite

Do not expect P-Noy to fire DBM Sec. Butch Abad. How could P-Noy, really, have the heart to dump Abad whose wrongful acts he had authorized or acquiesced to? However, a charge of Technical Malversation against Abad is being studied, according to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. Good move, although this could be a clever ploy that effectively diverts attention and pressure from P-Noy.

M

e r r i a m-Web s te r Dictionary defi nes “hypocrisy” as the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion. There are disturbing reasons to believe that the much-touted daang matuwid (righteous path) slogan of Pres. B.S. Aquino lll qualifies as a shuddering example of the defi nition.

Good attracts while evil repels, and this explains the slogan’s proselytizing power. The Tagalog catchphrase is excellent political fodder for largely religious, fanatical, and superstitious Filipinos. They are, to a fault, easily beguiled by the slogan, the same way they are often fi nagled by quick-money operators who build bogus shrines and sell fake healing water.

Needless to state, the slogan’s large-scale deception is pernicious to our floundering democracy, and only our citizens, if reawakened and unshackled from the yellow camp’s “Rasputinean” enticements, can be their own saviors. However, most of us didn’t believe then Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s claim that God had ordered her to ignore the public clamor for her resignation because He wanted her to continue her good work for the country; so maybe there is hope P-Noy’s bewitching mantra will fizzle out.

But, is there? My persistent irritation is that: despite the president’s slowly diminishing popularity, his slogan still appears to

MUSINGS Ronald Roy be getting the better of us. Without rattling in public, he quietly seethes with anger whenever confronted by legitimate dissent.

And he is good at appearing virtuous, notwithstanding his obviously undemocratic contempt for opposition leaders, vis-à-vis his overwhelmingly indecent defense of misbehaving political allies.

He is a bad sport. His kind of politics is dirty and foul-ridden; and if governance were a basketball game, he would have already been ejected and banned for life which, in reality, is a possibility now that the Supreme Court has unanimously declared DAP ( disbursement acceleration program) to be unconstitutional.

The sovereign people’s anguished cry for justice and restitution of their money has been heeded by the high tribunal, and this for the moment is a reassurance that our magistrates’ principal concern is the people’s welfare --- a welcome reminder that the high court is the ultimate rampart for an oppressed citizenry, and that it stands ready to play an activist role to counter-

check the abusive executive and legislative departments. But this is only the start of a long, daunting struggle.

As expected, impeachment of the president quickly came to the public psyche on the day of the official announcement of the tribunal’s resolution and, as of this writing, countless theories have evolved regarding its impracticality, futility and legal untenability, as bandied about by the Palace and its cohorts; and most likely, by the time this article’s been published, a number of impeachment complaints have already swamped the lower house’s impeachment committee.

Predictably, not one of them will prosper, impeachment being a political exercise, a numbers game, where P-Noy’s lackey, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, is in full control, not to mention the president’s bottomless kitty for political self-preservation. The DAP reportedly funded the removal of impeachment respondent CJ Renato C. Corona, and it is ironic that the high tribunal’s subject DAP decision now portrays his tormentor, President Noynoy, as having received a dose of his own medicine.

Karma?

As I wrote in a previous article, do not expect P-Noy to fire DBM Sec. Butch Abad who is generally seen as the brains and/or orchestrator of the DAP. How could P-Noy, really, have the heart to dump Abad whose wrongful acts he had authorized or acquiesced to? However, a charge of Techni-

cal Malversation against Abad is being studied, according to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. Good move, although this could be a clever ploy that effectively diverts attention and pressure from P-Noy. Resignation? I do not think Abad will “take the bullet” for his master by stepping down. I hear this guy is a kapittuko of the kapal-muks variety.

So, what have we got before us? The spectacle, no less, of a graft-ridden administration on survival mode, fiercely banking on the power of its hypocritical daang matuwid to convince us: that we have a virtuous leader who rules the country with the best of intentions, by using our money for allegedly legitimate and noble purposes, and without pocketing a single peso, and that this declaration should be enough to shield him against accountability. HUH??? I disagree.

Their unbearably monotonous refrain of “good intentions” and “good faith” must now be laid to rest in the face of the Supreme Court’s statement that the Palace is not yet off the hook, not till the DAP’s sponsors can prove good faith.

Well, P-Noy and cohorts are fi nished, and here’s why. Senate records show that Sen. Noynoy sponsored a bill to outlaw the DAP because he saw it as an evil. But his colleagues rejected it. Therefore, he has been in bad faith all along. He should graciously resign if only to reduce the ignominy of being tagged as a hypocrite.

Which Propaganda to Believe?

V

eteran strategic analyst George Friedman of Stratford wrote at the Businessmirror (6/29/14) about the US unfi nished business in Ukraine and Iraq. He said that some of the international systems unfi nished business has revealed itself. He believes that Ukraine’s fate is not yet settled.

Neither is Russia’s relationship with the European peninsula. I agree. Friedman explained that geopolitical situation rarely resolve themselves neatly or permanently.

Among the written analysis about Ukraine that I’ve read, it was the Counter Punch’s in depth report written by Diana Johnstone that I realize was the most balanced and accurate reading of what really transpired in Ukraine entitled, “Tightening the US Grip on Western Europe: Washington’s Iron Curtain in Ukraine.” To quote:”NATO leaders are currently acting out a deliberate charade in Europe, designed to reconstruct an Iron Curtain between Russia and the West.

Planned in advance, events that they deliberately triggered are being misrepresented as sudden, astonishing, unjustified Russian aggression.

The US and the European Union reportedly undertook an aggressive provocation in Ukraine to force Russia to react

defensively. The US was allegedly manipulating political conflict in Ukraine to install a pro-Western government intent on joining NATO. It is a matter of life and death to the Russian navy and allegedly a grave national security threat on Russia’s border.

Johnstone said that it is a trap for Putin, allowing NATO to advance its hostile forces to an ideal attack position. She added that the West was ready for this, prepared to tell that Putin was the ‘New Hitler’, poised to overrun helpless Europe which could only be saved like the ‘Normandy’ by the Americans.

But the overwhelming majority of Crimeans are Russian, having been Russian citizens since Khrushchev bestowed the territory on Ukraine in 1954.

The takeover of Ukraine was allegedly planned at Yalta in September 2013 when Ukraine’s richest oligarch, Viktor Pinchuk paid for an elite strategic conference on Ukraine’s future that was held in Yalta, Crimea. This was the same place where Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill met to decide the future of Europe in 1945. Both President Viktor Yanukovych, which was ousted after five months and the recently elected successor Petro Poroshenko were present. Former US energy secretary Bill Richardson was there to talk about the shale gas revolution which the US hopes to use to weaken Russia by substituting fracking for

WHISTLE BLOWER Erick San Juan Russia’s natural gas reserves. The prospect of Ukraine’s integration with the West was discussed and the possible break of Ukraine with Russia.

Sergei Glazyev, Putin’s adviser noted that Ukraine was running an enormous foreign accounts deficit, funded with foreign borrowing and the increase in Western imports could only swell the deficit.

Planning to incorporate Ukraine into the sphere of the west would entail serious problems with Russian speaking Ukrainians and to Russia.

Instead of working for a compromise, Western leaders allegedly decided to forge ahead and blame Russia for whatever would go wrong. Yanukovych faced an economic collapse, outraged protests ensued which was rapidly exploited by the west.

During the time of Yanukovych, Ukraine was playing a double game, telling the EU that it was interested in signing a trade agreement DCFTA

while telling the Russians that it was interested in joining the union. He could not make up his mind and trying to get the best deal out of both sides. He was reportedly not a ‘Moscow’s man’ and his downfall owes a lot to his role in playing the best of both worlds. It was perceived as a dangerous game of pitting big powers against each other.

According to Johnstone, the Russian position is not to split Ukraine because it could be a bridge between East and West.

But the arrangement calls for Western readiness to cooperate with Russia which the US vetoed preferring to exploit the crisis.

A blatant provocation, using Ukraine political confusion against Russia has astonishingly succeeded in producing a total change. We are told that the ‘freedom-loving West’ is faced with the threat of Russian expansionism. The US allegedly needs an enemy to save the world and Europe. Washington policy makers seemed to be worried that President Barack Obama’s swing to Asia and neglect of Europe might weaken US control of its NATO allies.

The May 25 European Parliament elections revealed a large measure of disaffection with the European Union.

Washington is even able to exploit the anti-communist, anti-Russian and even proNazi nostalgia of Northeastern Europe in order to obstruct the

growing economic partnership between the old EU, notably Germany and Russia.

To tighten the grip of US on Europe, the United States is using the artificial crisis to demand that its indebted allies spend more on defense, by purchasing weapons system.

The situation in Ukraine is not only a chess game but chess combined with poker combined with Russian roulette, Johnstone concluded.

Pundits believe that the planting of the western values in Ukraine was carried out by NGO’s and non-profit organizations like the NED(National Endowment for democracy) founded in 1983 on the initiative of then US President Ronald Reagan which had been successful in dismantling the USSR. The official website of NED contains information about the organizations close ties with CIA. NED reportedly allocates $2.8 million dollars to implement around 50 projects in Ukraine aimed at the development of democracy and civil society. It also provides support to several youth associations, activists and journalists. This was the reason I wrote about the NGO’s in my previous article so that we will be aware of such lobby groups especially those funded by foreign governments. Most of its trained leaders are expert in propaganda and in destabilizing governments.

WE TAKE A STAND

Opinyon445.indd 5

OpinYon

JULY 7-13, 2014

5 7/4/14 9:01 PM

OPINION Making Open-Source From page 16

Open Source means Sharing

As current CEO/CTO of 8layer Technologies, he considers his job role as more of giving direction to the company, planning expansion programs and doing the research and development.

Unlike typical commercial outfits, Meric believes in sharing knowledge to everyone. Every time his company discovers new technologies, they make it a point to share knowledge to Filipino students. The most basic business strategy with open source technology involves making the operating system available to users.

The OS already has essential programs such as a word processor, an office suite, a web browser, and media players.

The user can then have the option to buy affordable software add-ins from the company if he wants to expand and enhance his use of the OS. Meric believes that more and more young Filipinos have the potential to get into open source technology. He knows that the open source movement is very progressive and the low cost of building computer technologies based on the system is just right for a developing country like the Philippines.

As far as experience is concerned, Meric has more than a decade’s worth of work in various IT fields. His leadership style and know-how led him to clients who are impressed with his expertise.

Meric spearheads various projects that involve designing specialized software for the government, power companies, oil mills, retail and distribution, gaming, telcos and BPOs, among so many others.

Local IT industry leader

Even before he worked fulltime for 8layer, he has already established himself in the local IT industry. For one, he has founded the sites sysads.org and philbug. org for programmers, web developers, and system administrators who want to collaborate in finding

solutions to technical problems.

Meric has also held critical and management positions in various companies in the past, which includes Ecommsite Solutions, Unionbank of the Philippines, IDS Finance, and Philworld Online.

Under his direction, 8layer has grown to become one of the country’s trusted IT companies. The group has partnered and worked with Intel, PLDT, IBM and Digium.

The first Pinoy-friendly OS

Together with 8layer colleagues Deng Silorio, Jasper Tomas, and Lariz Santos, Meric helped develop what is now known as the first operating system that caters to the needs of the average Filipino computer user.

Based on the Linux operating system created by open source pioneer Linus Torvalds, the ‘KahelOS’, qualified for the top ten list of Distrowatch.com, an online site that charts and monitors Linux distributions, or distros, worldwide, upon its release.

The first version of KahelOS was developed with no funding years ago. The team acknowledges that it was through sheer passion for innovation and love of sharing.

Another thing that motivated the 8layer group was that they wanted to create an operating system that will both cater to Pinoy sensibilities and represent the Philippines in the global open source community.

At the same time, the team also wants KahelOS to be something that everyone can use for free, even if they are not Filipino.

Unlike some Linux distros that are difficult to use, KahelOS has a user-friendly interface that allows for easy, quick, and friendly installation.

To further promote the OS, its developers have created a mascot named ‘Mulat’ (wide-eyed or awakened in Tagalog). It was patterned after the endangered tarsier of Bohol, and the developers want Mulat to represent openness and awareness.Although the OS was developed mainly by 8layer Technologies, it was improved

upon by online volunteers from the open source community who tested the software and checked for coding errors. Meric and his colleagues are very appreciative of the fact that other Filipino and international contributors have shared in 8layer’s vision.

The 8layer team hopes that the Filipino community “would not put this noble, passionate and useful innovation to waste.” KahelOS has already earned international accolades since its early development, and it would be ironic if Pinoys disregard something that many computer users worldwide consider very useful software.

As Meric’s colleague Deng would say, “We are sure that there are thousands, if not millions, of benefits and savings we can derive in using this free operating system in our schools and government offices,” she said.

BE WISE, E! ADVERTIS PLACE your AD with OpinYon and get the BEST VALUE for your money!

LINE AD: PhP171 per column/cm ¼ PAGE: PhP8,750

SUBSCRIBE NOW We Take A Stand Date: DELIVER TO

Name: Address: o House o Office

½ PAGE: PhP17,500 ¾ PAGE: PhP26,250 FULL PAGE: PhP35,000 (Rates exclusive of 12% VAT and COLOR and POSITION surcharges) For Inquiries: Call 214-0766, email opinyon.2010@ gmail.com

Tel. No.: Email Paid Php:

(Please make all cheques payable to Digitek Publishing House, Inc.)

Please send me:

q Within Metro Manila (by mail) P1,560.00 for 52 Issues q Outside Metro Manila (by mail) P2,340.00 for 52 Issues BOX AD RATE

14 Opinyon445.indd 14

JULY 7-13, 2014

OpinYon

o Cash o Check

P143.00 per COLUMN CM plus 12% VAT

WE TAKE A STAND

7/4/14 9:01 PM

Politics

The Voices of Change

Quintessential Operator! Strange Bedfellows!

A

The lesson of the lost August 26 Million People March to Luneta shows, it is impossible to unite everybody. All they have to do is to aim their attacks at the same targets – Aquino and Abad, and not at each other. The Supreme Court Decision declaring the DAP unconstitutional lays the foundations for a common target range. The targets are now much bigger than Napoles of the Ten Billion Scam.

year ago, this week, July 12-15, 2013, the PDI came out with a four part series on the Napoles PDAF/Pork Scandal. The PDI Expose came out of the three months “Serious Illegal Detention” of Benhur Lim Luy by Janet Lim Napoles and brother, Raynald “Jojo” Lim from Dec 19 to March 22. Then there were attempts (the retention of the MOST Law Firm and a letter to President Aquino from JLN seeking assistance against harassment by the NBI.) to cover up and hush up the said crime. Atty.

Baligod and the Family of Benhur Lim Luy went to the PDI on April 27, 2013 and turned over Benhur’s Computer Hard Drive with 2,156 folders and 20,103 files.

Since then, we have been analyzing, projecting, wondering, what will be the end result of all of these. Our predictions and projections have swung back and forth, to and fro, principle to practical. A mere month and a half after the first PDI series, we thought that we were on the verge of another popular revolution (July 12-August 26). However, every month that passed since then, September, October, November, December and so on, the instant indignation and mobilization of July and August was disassembled and whittled down.

Even, the Tuesday, November 19, 2013, Supreme Court decision that PDAF was unconstitutional seemed to contribute to the pacification of public opinion. The proverbial final nail on the coffin was the paltry and pathetic June 12, 2014 Coalition or Movement Rally at the Bonifacio Shrine behind the Manila City Hall. Meanwhile, Bayan and other likely suspects held their rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio and proceeded to Mendiola after. The quantity as well as the quality of the Million People March to Luneta had been dissipated by Disunity, Dogma, Pride, Purism, Selfishness, Suspicion, and what have you.

Before you read on: Beware “Do Gooders”, “Holier Than

YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW Linggoy Alcuaz Thous”, “Mayabangs”, “Pharisees”, “Purists” and Swapangs”.

You might not like what you will read. Welcome “Balimbings”, “Half Breeds”, “Mestizos” “United Fronters”. Pray, keep your Hearts and Minds Open!

People are born, develop and grow up with two sides to the brain – Art and Science, Creativity and Logic, Language and Numbers, Love and Likes. My Left Brain must have been bigger.

I was better with numbers than with language. However, in my late High School years and even more during College, my Right Brain caught up with my Left Brain and even overtook it. This was just in time for the 70’s as in the “First Quarter Storm!”

Subsequently, I realized that six decades of Politics and Protest taught me a new Political/Protest kind of Math. I learned that: 1 + 1 is not = 2, its 3. 10 divided into two is not 5 and 5, its 3 & 3. The other 4 just evaporated. I learned the value of Coalitions, Compromise, getting together and Unity.

I learned too the other side of the coin, Disunity, Division, Dogmatism, Going It Alone and Purism.

Both at close range and from a distance, I learned about and observed political failure and success. One of the longest running political failures was the Jesuit/ Ateneo inspired purist third force that fielded a separate slate of candidates in the National/Presidential Elections of 1957 and 1965 (PPP – as in Party for Philippine Progress and Progressive Party of the Philippines), and the Local/ Midterm Elections of 1959 (Grand Alliance). Double blinded Noynoy (an Atenean like Manglapus.)

may yet turn the success story of his parents’ double deaths and martyrdoms into the biggest family tragedy because of his narrow mindedness. On the other hand, we have had a myriad of political successes when even strange bed fellows got together. The following are examples of how the heterogeneous as opposed to the homogenous came about achieving their common objectives.

In 1946, the Liberator, Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur supported the Collaborator, Manuel Acuna Roxas for President. In 1953, the Nacionalista Party adopted LP President Elpidio S. Quirino’s Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay as its Presidential candidate. The latter had been an LP Congressman.

Then, in 1961, the Grand Alliance/PPP and the LP coalesced as the United Opposition Party (with Diosdado Macapagal and Emmanuel Pelaez for President and Vice President. Raul S. Manglapus and Manuel Manahan of the GA/PPP captured the first two slots for Senator.) and defeated the NP’s incumbent re-electionist President Carlos P. Garcia.

In 1965, former LP Congressman, Senator and Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos won the NP nomination for Presidential candidate. With Fernando Lopez as his Vice Presidential running mate, they defeated the incumbent LP President Diosdado Macapagal and running mate Senator Gerardo “Gerry” Roxas.

Senators Raul S. Manglapus and Manuel Manahan, the Purists, came in third.

In the 1970’s, Moderates and Radicals came together and came apart several times over. In the February 7, 1986, Snap Elections, Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino and Salvador “Doy” Laurel were perceived as having been the real winners because they had come together in one slate at the last minute.

In 1992, Lakas, NUCD and UMDP coalesced to field FVR. After he won the count and proclamation, Ramos made peace with all of his rivals, namely,

NPC”s Danding Cojuangco, LDP’s Ramón V. Mitra, LP’s Jovito Salonga, KBL’s Imelda Romualdez Marcos and Unido’s Salvador “Doy”: Laurel, except for PRP’s Miriam Defensor Santiago.

In 1995, in a Marriage of Convenience, Lakas and LDP put up a common twelve man Senatorial Slate.

In 1998, the LDP, LP, NPC, PDP and PMP coalesced behind Erap against the Lakas, NUCD, UMDP, Kammpi and defeated Speaker Joe de Venecia. However, the Kammpi’s GMA beat Angara for the VP. In March 2000, the Binamira’s, Pedrosa’s, Jun Enriquez and Linda “Inday” Montayre and Linggoy Alcuaz launched the Exclamation Point Sticker in the Silent Protest Movement. In the run up to EDSA II, Boy Saycon and Popoy Lagman, Peping S. Cojuangco and Vic Ladlad teamed up to Oust Erap. In 2004, Erap and Jun Enriquez got together. From 2004 to 2009, Orange and Red worked side by side.

From sometime in the past until November 29, 2007, the RA and RJ factions of the Left were often in the same coalitions. In 2007, Uno and GO defeated GMA and the Lakas’s Coalition at the Senatorial level. In 2013, Grace Poe ran under the LP and came out # 1. The future may show Pastor “Boy” Saycon and Erap together again.

All of these examples don’t mean that in this more complicated age that the strange bedfellows have to be formally together and united in their objectives to defeat the enemy. After all, as the lesson of the lost August 26 Million People March to Luneta shows, it is impossible to unite everybody. All they have to do is to aim their attacks at the same targets – Aquino and Abad, and not at each other. The Supreme Court Decision declaring the DAP unconstitutional lays the foundations for a common target range. The targets are now much bigger than Napoles of the Ten Billion Scam.

Happy Birthday Pastor Boy Saycon!

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Coloma “Well, in the final analysis, the President is the Chief Executive and the members of the Cabinet are [his] alter ego. [They] performed the role of alter ego and whatever role that they perform is only an extension of the personality of the President himself.”

— Aquino’s Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma Jr., when asked if the President was given an idea of how powerful the DBM had become because of the budget memorandum.

“I will not yield to public pressure or opinion…I do not hear opinions that are baseless. I will not care what lawyers and the media will say. I personally promise that I am going to read nine thousand pages (of the case).”

— Associate Samuel Justice Martires, who said he would take

more time deciding on Enrile’s motion for judicial determination of probable cause, vowing not to be pressured by public opinion.

“We say it again, we don’t want another Andrea Rosal here. [pregnant political detainee] Maria Miradel Torres should be set free for humanitarian reasons as the ‘inhuman condition inside the jail is unfit for her delicate pregnancy.’”

— Karapatan chair Marie Hilao-Enriquez, in reference to the daughter of the late communist rebel leader

Gregorio Rosal. Rosal was seven months pregnant when she was arrested in late March.

She gave birth the following May to a daughter, Diona Andrea, who eventually died.

“Who is to be blamed here? Why did we allow P17 per kg to become P280 per kg? We have a Price Act of 2012 [that created] the Price Monitoring Council. The council should have acted on this. This is a case of very unreasonable rise. We’re in the wrong business.

We should go into garlic trading.”

Villar — Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the agriculture committee hearing the spiraling prices of basic commodities, which includes garlic.

“We are confident that the contractor will meet the deadline. By the middle of June, the completion was at 85 percent. So far,

we have not received a request for extension from the contractor.”

— MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado, on the promise that NAIA-3 will be fully operational by August 1 of this year.

houses in Pangasinan province contained 30,000 bags of buffer rice stocks, all imported from other countries, including Vietnam.

“We have no locally produced stocks [because the farmers] have sold [these] to the traders. Even now when harvest time is ending, traders are still buying.”

— Dionisio Rivera, NFA administrative officer for western Pangasinan, on NFA’s failure to buy rice from local farmers. NFA wareHonrado WE TAKE A STAND

Opinyon445.indd 15

OpinYon

JULY 7-13, 2014

15 7/4/14 9:01 PM

SECTIONS NATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 HEALTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 AGRICULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 FOREIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

GameChanger MERIC MARA

Making Open-Source Technology Pinoy-Friendly

M

eric Mara is currently CEO and CTO of 8layer Technologies, makers of KahelOS, a ‘Filipino-friendly’ operating system based on Linux. Linux or GNU/Linux, unlike Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS, is a free and open source software operating system for computers. The operating system is a collection of the basic instructions that tell the electronic parts of the computer what to do and how to work.

Free and open source software (FOSS) means that everyone has the freedom to use it, see how it works, and change it. There is a lot of software for Linux, and since Linux is free software, it means that none of the software will put any license restrictions on users. This is one of the reasons why a lot of people, especially IT professionals, like to use Linux.

Meric considers himself a hardcore Linux enthusiast, and he is an active advocate for various open source projects and initiatives. It was during his college days that Meric got deep into programming, while looking for ways to make his work easier. This kind of mindset led him to eventually fi nd ways to make software more user-friendly.

Turn to page 14

16 Opinyon445.indd 16

JULY 7-13, 2014

OpinYon

WE TAKE A STAND

7/4/14 9:01 PM