The heat is up

If you are the owner of a company and you have some of your men applying for the post of COO, who would you choose if you had the following options?

1. One who has been rumored to be a psychotic, has not done well in his years in the company, and looks like an idiot by the way he stands and walks? or
2. One who has been accused a lot of times of using company funds for his own account, pretends to be poor to be pitied, and uses his mother to save his own ass? or
3. One who just came out from jail?

The top candidates for the presidency don’t seem to be presidential at all? I really don’t get it why Filipinos still eat these guys’ crap. When we offer jobs, even just a janitorial job, we screen the applicants and make sure they at least have some qualifications for the job. And that is just a janitorial position. How come the presidency seems to have lost any semblance of significance that the guys who we put there can just apply without possessing any attribute of being a worthy president?

The problem is not really with the candidates. The problem is the voting public. Sad to admit, but it is not only the candidates who are stupid. The voters are.

Senator Villar and Businessman Villar

How dangerous can Manny Villar be when he becomes President?

News has it that Manny Villar allegedly barged in during a board meeting at the Philippine Stock Exchange to force the board to let him be exempted from the lock-up period for secondary offerings of his shares of stock in Vistaland and Lifescapes, Inc.

Villar interfered during the PSE board meeting sometime in 2007. Instead of sending his underwriters to do their thing, he personally went there maybe to use his position as Senator and impose his will upon the members of the board. Even as some people in the business community say that this "usually" happen whenever owners of business empires want something done in their favor, the case of Manny Villar is different. He is a senator and this surely is a prohibited transaction for a legislator. Clearly, there is conflict of interest because he is a public officer.

I don't know if Villar is just stupid or if he's just really an imposing man. One thing's for sure. He wants to get what he desires even to the point of using his public position. What more if he becomes president?

Dati na tayong nagpaupo ng isang Presidenteng Aquino...

Sabi ni Noynoy sa TVC niya, nakurakot at nadaya ang taong bayan at makikita ito sa hitsura at kawalang-ayos ng mga kalsada ng Pilipinas. Tama ba namang magpalandakan ng kasinungalingan? Siya mismo ang nakikinabang sa isa sa mga malalaking proyekto ni PGMA -- ang SCTEx. Nakadaan na ako dito at totoo nga naman na ngayon ay mas mabilis na makarating sa Tarlac galing sa Metro Manila. Ibig sabihin ba ng TVC ni Noynoy na hindi pa siya nakakadaan dito sa SCTEx? Parang imposible naman yata iyon.

Isa pang kainis-inis: sa TVC ding iyon, kinutsa niya ang administrasyon ni PGMA dahil daw sa laking ng pondong iniyayabang ng gobyerno ay wala pa ring nagagawang pagpapaayos sa mga "bulok na health center." Para namang hindi pulitiko itong si Noynoy. Kahit ako na ordinaryong mamamayan lang ay may alam na ang karamihan sa health center -- tulad ng iba pang lokal na proyekto -- ay sakop ng mga LGU. Totoo naman na may pondong nilalaan; ang problema ay hindi naman dapat mag-micromanage ang ating Presidente! Kung itong mga health center na bulok (na wala namang prueba) ay ibibida ni Noynoy sa kanyang TVC, ibig ba sabihin nito na kapag siya ay naging Presidente iibahin niya ang management style ng Malacañang? Akala ko ba na ang reklamo nila kay PGMA ay ang pagka- "power hungry" niya? Heto na nga't decentralized na ang budget allocation process at kusang nagbibigay ng kapangyarihan sa LGUs si PGMA. Sige nga, subukan ni Noynoy na mag mircomanage kapag siya ay nanalo at ng mapikon siya sa pagbabatikos. Ngayon pa nga lang ay hindi na mapakali kapag may masamang marinig e.

Iyan ang totoong problema: lahat ng masama isinisiwalat, lahat ng mabuti isinasangtabi.

Maraming magandang nagawa ang administrasyon. Infrastructure nga ang isa sa nais iiwan ni PGMA bilang pabaon sa susunod na uupo, diba? Kaya bukod sa sangkatutak na kalsada ay marami ring proyekto na konektado sa MRT, LRT, at mga airport at sea port. Iyan dapat ang ipinakita sa TVC ni Noynoy at hindi makitid na daanan na hindi man lang nakasemento. Baka naman sa loob ng Luisita nya kinunan ng footage iyon. Tapos titirahin pa ang health insurance at health centers! Sige nga, mag- ocular inspection siya sa Metro Manila at sa mga probinsya at bilangin niya ang libo-libong Botika ng Bayan at Botika ng Barangay na naipatayo ng gobyerno. Diyan napunta ang "bilyon-bilyong piso" na sinasabi niya, dahil iyan ay programang pambansa at hindi lamang nakadepende sa LGU. Simpleng-simple, kadali-dali intindihin.

Baka naman kasi hindi ni Noynoy nararamdaman ang positibong epekto ng mga BnB kasi hindi pa siya nakikinabang rito. Bigyan natin ng benefit of the doubt, at baka naman suklian rin tayo nito.

Sabi rin ni Noynoy, "dati na tayo masipag, dati na tayong matiyaga" tapos walang nangyayari kasi maraming kurakot. Eh kung ganyanan na lang ay pwede ko rin sabihing, "dati na tayong nagpaupo ng isang Presidenteng Aquino." O, tama bang ituloy ko at dugtungan na wala namang nangyari kasi maraming kurakot? Sa simula pa lang kasi, faulty argument na.

Kung ayaw mong mapikon, huwag kang manggatong. Noynoy naman, ginagawa mong tanga ang taong bayan e.

Noynoy nagalit daw

Ito umanong si Noynoy Aquino ay nagalit sa ginawa ng moderator ng isang forum dahil ang moderator daw ay bias ang pag-iintroduce sa kanya at sa pagtatanong daw. Maganda ang introduction sa ibang kandidato, pero sa kanya ang pakilala ay apo ng isang national hero at anak ng national heroes, at ang kanyang gagawin ay antabayanan daw natin.

Kung ako si Noynoy, hindi ako ma-ooffend dahil totoo naman ang pagpapakilala sa kanya. Anak nga naman siya ni Noynoy at Cory, at talaga namang wala tayong mabalitaan na sarili niyang accomplishment sa Senado at sa Kongreso.

Nagreklamo pa itong si Noynoy ng palitan ang pagkakasunod-sunod ng mga sasagot sa katanungan ng moderator. Nang siya ang unahin ay sinabi niyang madaya daw. At talagang sumagot pa siya at sinabihan na bias daw ang moderator.

Eh kung ganito kapikon at kababaw mag-isip si Noynoy ay hindi pa nga siya handa sa mga responsibilidad na kakaharapin niya at sa mga batikos na maibabato sa magiging pangulo ng bansa.

PGMA's Legacy

The term of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is about to expire on the 30th of June 2010. For the long years that she has been in office she has created a number of programs that benefited every sector in the country.

I believe it is worthy to note and see how these programs were able to improve the lives of the people, improve the economic standing of the Philippines and improve the quality of governance of the Philippine government.

Politics amidst the massacre

The Maguindanao massacre has left us all in shock, anger and frustration over the political system in our country. This is an early wake up call for all of us to be more vigilant as the May 2010 elections come near.

The entire nation challenged the presidency to do something about the possible involvement of her biggest ally down South - the Ampatuans. The government was dared to make arrests among the possibly involved members of the clan. There was also the clamor to expel the Ampatuans out of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, the administration party.

Yesterday, Gibo Teodoro met up with his teammates in Lakas and the party has finally decided to indeed expel the three - Andal Sr., Andal Jr., and Zaldy. To me this is not only an act of personal outrage. It is more of an act of being decisive at the fastest time possible considering the circumstances of the case. Gibo decided that he and his partymates expel the Ampatuans for failure to uphold party principles and objectives. To me this is the wisest thing for him to do. Thumbs up for Mr. Teodoro.

The President vowed to get to the bottom of this incident and to let justice prevail. Politics is only secondary now because the journalists, lawyers, innocent passers-by and relatives deserve to get all the justice in the world. Indeed no stones are to be left unturned. No one is untouchable in the eyes of the law.

The recent news of Andal Jr.'s arrest is another big step. Hopefully in the coming days, all the 100 gunmen be apprehended as well.

Hacienda Luisita nanaman

Kahapon ang anebersaryo ng Hacienda Luisita Massacre. Ngayon naman ang pagpupulong ng mga Cojuangco sa Tarlac kung ano ang kanilang gagawin sa naturang isyu ng mga magsasaka sa lupain sa hacienda.

Nais ng mga magsasaka na mapasakanila ang parte ng lupa na kanilang sinasaka na siyang naaayon sa Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program na mismong si Corazon Aquino ang nagpatupad. Subalit pilit nila Noynoy i-apela sa Korte Suprema ang desisyon ng Department of Agrarian Reform na nagpapawalang bisa sa Stock Distribution Option ng management ng hacienda.

Ayun sa nasabing Stock Distribution Option na iyon, ang Hacienda Luisita ay hindi kabilang sa mga lupain na isasa-ilalim sa CARP. Sa SDO na iyan, ang mga manggagawa ng asukal ay naging stock holders at pang-arawang manggawa na tumatanggap ng P9.50 bawat araw subalit wala namang parte sa benta.