PH PRESIDENT AQUINO: CROCODILE’S SMOKESCREEN

PH PRESIDENT AQUINO: CROCODILE’S SMOKESCREEN

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Noynoy Aquino, flagbearer of the Liberal Party for the presidency, has been in power for almost a year now. He continues to exude incorruptibility. True that may be, but as I declared in an article of mine writ during the campaign period, he is a mere smokescreen for crocodiles.

Aquino’s first year will be completed by June yet, and we already have reports of anomalous dealings by officials he appointed. Not only are many of his appointed cabinet members down to assistant secretaries highly incompetent, many of them have already shown their true colors as dirty corrupt officials. Let us wait for another eight (8) months or so, and see how the ‘short list’ of grafters will mutate to a ‘long list’.

Let’s reflect back on the article I wrote more than a year ago yet about the ‘crocodile syndrome’ among the people surrounding him then. As we reflect and discuss, insurgencies of the Maoists and Muslim secessionists continue, insurgencies that are part caused by ‘bureaucrat capitalism’ of graft & corruption.

[Philippines, 10 April 2011]

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NOYNOY: CROCODILES’ SMOKESCREEN

Prof. Erle Frayne D. Argonza
07 January 2010

Noynoy Aquino, presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, has been projecting an image of an anti-graft crusader for some couples of years now. To recall, he was cajoled by his Mama, the late president Corazon Aquino, to join the anti-GMA movement precisely on the issue of good governance.

After his Mama’s death, public sentiment blew the winds of electoral fortune for Noynoy to take on the Aquino’s unblemished mantle and run as president of the republic. Seeing this groundswell of public sympathy arising from his Mama’s departure, vested interests of every shade found a window of opportunity to reap future rewards as largesse of a would-be victorious campaign of Cory Aquino’s son.

Indeed, as shown by preliminary information that reached my ears late last year, Noynoy is surrounded by diverse vested interest groups that (a) couldn’t see each other eye-to-eye and (b) are in active search for a smokescreen for their largesse pursuits. Some of the leading elements were former Ramos- and Erap-era bureaucrats, while others served GMA during her early heydays. Some others represent ideological blocs that are known for their classic opportunism, obstructionism, factionalism, and ‘termite behavior’.

Anyone who is interested to do serious empirical studies on graft and rent-seeking is advised to start with the Noynoy camp. There are couples of circles surrounding Noynoy, all of which the bachelor has no control over.

• Friends and kins comprise a ring of influence-peddlers. This ‘circle’ alone comprises a diversity of “we-bulong” factions that somehow show a semblance of goodwill though on a superficial level. A Noynoy presidency would serve as bread-winning opportunity for the crocodiles within them, in case Noynoy wins.

• Experts comprise another ring of potential state carpetbaggers. While the first ring shows semblance of mutual goodwill, the experts’ ring hardly shows such goodwill at all. During the crafting of Noynoy’s platform, the factions couldn’t even see each other eye-to-eye to iron out the agenda. No wonder that the final platform turned out as a hodge-podge of mother statements that was haphazardly finished to meet the deadline of the Comelec for registration. All of these factions are crocodile nests.

• Civil society groups comprise yet another ring. The Black & White Movement, largely a social democratic-controlled coalition, seems to have the strongest “bulong power” which renders the other social democratic or ‘soc-dem’ factions ‘outside the kulambo’. The unconsolidated state of these diverse groups make it so tough for volunteers to join the Noynoy camp, as they are pressed to identify first of all which faction could be most friendly to them. The top crocodile here is led by a former GMA cabinet member whose coalition received funds from treasuries when her sibling was finance secretary.

• The Liberal Party comprises the final inner ring. Final, because this serves as Noynoy’s homebase group being a party-mate. Fr. Intengan’s ‘soc-dem’ cadres are well entrenched in the directorate and think-tank of the party (even as another Intengan ‘soc-dem’, Norbie Gonzales, is in the GMA camp). The same ‘soc-dems’ possess a lifeline in Europe—the Eurosocialists and Jesuits—who can use them for Europe’s own Bonapartist agenda. Meanwhile, other kibitzer liberals, who are simply eager to waft in the energy of the Noynoy upsurge to gain respective electoral mileage, are just that: kibitzers whose fragmentary opinions wouldn’t weigh as much as the Intengan Euro-bonding puppets and the stalwart oldies.

I was almost lured into the Noynoy trap right after the burial of the Tita Cory. But after receiving information about the inner rings and realizing the power of the Primal-Corruptitious among the crocodile leaders, I decided against this pro-Noynoy option.

Maybe Noynoy should present clear credentials of a true-and-honest saintliness that may make his words worth the salt of the earth. He is hardly any perfected human who merits my attention, which makes it all clear that the country needs a leader—a true leader who’s most experienced, prepared, and has made enormous sacrifices as prelude to his preparation for a feat with Destiny—other than Noynoy.
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PADERANGA & CO.: NOYNOY’S LIST OF INTELLECTUAL PROSTITUTES

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

Magandang hapon! Good afternoon!

In previous articles I tackled topics of (a) ‘crocodiles in Noynoy’s camp’ and (b) economists serving as consultants who crafted Noynoy’s agenda of governance (see: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com).

I articulated in the first article that I almost supported Noynoy, driven as I was by the passion of post-Cory burial’s grief. In the months of September-October 2009, I began to uncover information about the people who were behind Noynoy’s candidacy, particularly the paid experts doing his agenda.  

Added to the political factions and Kamag-anak Inc., the crocodiles surrounding Noynoy—who are in fact calling the shots in his candidacy and campaign—seem just too many to behold. By late October I simply lost my enthusiasm for supporting Noynoy and the Yellow Shirts, who to my mind were up to amassing largesse once they sit in power.  

Words reached my ears about paid experts who were tasked to write the agenda of Noynoy and Erap (Estrada). An old co-teachers’ advocate from the UP NCPAG intimated to me that he was also among those who were being invited, but declined to do so, and instead referred experts he knew to the Noynoy camp. A lady professor from UP SOLAIR flatly told me that she was tasked to write the social agenda for Erap, and jokingly told me that “maybe you will draft the agenda for Noynoy or whoever.”  

Quite recently, a group of economists openly endorsed Noynoy Aquino, an eventuality that has titillated the Noynoy supporter. Little do the same supporters know that the same experts were in fact involved in drafting Noynoy’s agenda, with a quid pro quo of taking the juicy positions and amassing largesse in the event that Aquino wins the presidency.  

I wasn’t surprised at all to find out that the endorser economists—who made it appear that they are doing the endorsement as independent intellectuals—are in fact an entourage of experts with a track record of intellectual prostitution (see my article “Paderanga, Economists: Noynoy’s Intellectual Prostitutes). 

The list is reproduced below, so people will know the WHO IS WHO in the line up of bureaucrats and advisers that must be zealously guarded in case Aquino wins the presidency. This is just a preliminary list, mind you. The factions of Prof. Mario Taguiwalo (UP School of Economics), former trade Sec. Purissima, and Albay Gov. Salceda (he’s bringing his own coterie of stooges) are not included in the list. 

One would wonder how poverty can be alleviated and hunger be eliminated in case that the crony economists will take over the bureaucracy. As I said earlier, the leading economists (contained in the list) were responsible for liberal economic reforms—imposed by the IMF-World Bank Group—that led to more poverty, hunger, degradation of health services, and inequalities. 

The likes of Alba and Paderanga served government before, and facts are so glaring about the ballooning of poverty with their kinds at the helm of state agencies. They fattened the purses of Big Capitalists & Landlords, their purses got fattened by the same capitalist-landlords, they sit in the board of the big business cronies, and what business have they eradicating poverty? 

Experts’ List 

Michael Alba

Fernando Aldaba

Filomeno Sta. Ana III

Cayetano Paderanga Ph.D.
Raul Fabella Ph.D.
Myrna Austria Ph.D.
Edita Tan Ph.D.
Vicente Paqueo Ph.D.
Teresa Jayme-Ho Ph.D.
Germelino Bautista Ph.D.
Ma. Socorro Gochoco-Bautista Ph.D.
Gilberto Llanto Ph.D.
Erlinda Medalla Ph.D.
Gwedolyn Tecson Ph.D.
Ernesto Pernia Ph.D.
Leonardo Lanzona Jr. Ph.D.
Fidelina Natividad Carlos Ph.D.
Carlos Bautista Ph.D.
Edsel Beja, Jr. Ph.D.
Emmanuel Esguerra Ph. D
Ruperto Majuca Ph.D.
Melanie Milo Ph.D.
Jose Ramon Albert Ph.D.
Rhoelano Briones Ph.D.
Rafaelita M. Aldaba Ph.D.
Rosalina Tan Ph.D.
Danilo Israel Ph.D.
Rouselle Lavado Ph.D.
Gerardo Largoza Ph.D.
Stella Quimbo Ph.D.
Ma. Joy Abrenica Ph.D.
Eduardo Gonzalez Ph.D.
Danilo Venida
Allan Borreo
Alexander Narciso
Meldin Al. G. Roy
Jessica Cantos-Reyes
Joseph Francia
Emilio Neri Jr.
Cristina Bautista
Philip Arnold Tuano
Romelia Neri
Reuel Hermoso
Joselito Sescon
Marilou Perez
Paulo Jose Mutuc
Sarah Grace See
Ramon Fernan III
Ernest Leung

[26 April 2010. See also: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com, UNLADTAU: https://unladtau.wordpress.com]

PADERANGA & CO.: NOYNOY’S LIST OF INTELLECTUAL PROSTITUTES

 

Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago

 

Magandang hapon! Good afternoon!

 

In previous articles I tackled topics of (a) ‘crocodiles in Noynoy’s camp’ and (b) economists serving as consultants who crafted Noynoy’s agenda of governance (see: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com).

 

I articulated in the first article that I almost supported Noynoy, driven as I was by the passion of post-Cory burial’s grief. In the months of September-October 2009, I began to uncover information about the people who were behind Noynoy’s candidacy, particularly the paid experts doing his agenda.

 

Added to the political factions and Kamag-anak Inc., the crocodiles surrounding Noynoy—who are in fact calling the shots in his candidacy and campaign—seem just too many to behold. By late October I simply lost my enthusiasm for supporting Noynoy and the Yellow Shirts, who to my mind were up to amassing largesse once they sit in power.

 

Words reached my ears about paid experts who were tasked to write the agenda of Noynoy and Erap (Estrada). An old co-teachers’ advocate from the UP NCPAG intimated to me that he was also among those who were being invited, but declined to do so, and instead referred experts he knew to the Noynoy camp. A lady professor from UP SOLAIR flatly told me that she was tasked to write the social agenda for Erap, and jokingly told me that “maybe you will draft the agenda for Noynoy or whoever.”

 

Quite recently, a group of economists openly endorsed Noynoy Aquino, an eventuality that has titillated the Noynoy supporter. Little do the same supporters know that the same experts were in fact involved in drafting Noynoy’s agenda, with a quid pro quo of taking the juicy positions and amassing largesse in the event that Aquino wins the presidency.

 

I wasn’t surprised at all to find out that the endorser economists—who made it appear that they are doing the endorsement as independent intellectuals—are in fact an entourage of experts with a track record of intellectual prostitution (see my article “Paderanga, Economists: Noynoy’s Intellectual Prostitutes).

 

The list is reproduced below, so people will know the WHO IS WHO in the line up of bureaucrats and advisers that must be zealously guarded in case Aquino wins the presidency. This is just a preliminary list, mind you. The factions of Prof. Mario Taguiwalo (UP School of Economics), former trade Sec. Purissima, and Albay Gov. Salceda (he’s bringing his own coterie of stooges) are not included in the list.

 

One would wonder how poverty can be alleviated and hunger be eliminated in case that the crony economists will take over the bureaucracy. As I said earlier, the leading economists (contained in the list) were responsible for liberal economic reforms—imposed by the IMF-World Bank Group—that led to more poverty, hunger, degradation of health services, and inequalities.

 

The likes of Alba and Paderanga served government before, and facts are so glaring about the ballooning of poverty with their kinds at the helm of state agencies. They fattened the purses of Big Capitalists & Landlords, their purses got fattened by the same capitalist-landlords, they sit in the board of the big business cronies, and what business have they eradicating poverty?

 

Experts’ List

 

Michael Alba

Fernando Aldaba

Filomeno Sta. Ana III

Cayetano Paderanga Ph.D.
Raul Fabella Ph.D.
Myrna Austria Ph.D.
Edita Tan Ph.D.
Vicente Paqueo Ph.D.
Teresa Jayme-Ho Ph.D.
Germelino Bautista Ph.D.
Ma. Socorro Gochoco-Bautista Ph.D.
Gilberto Llanto Ph.D.
Erlinda Medalla Ph.D.
Gwedolyn Tecson Ph.D.
Ernesto Pernia Ph.D.
Leonardo Lanzona Jr. Ph.D.
Fidelina Natividad Carlos Ph.D.
Carlos Bautista Ph.D.
Edsel Beja, Jr. Ph.D.
Emmanuel Esguerra Ph. D
Ruperto Majuca Ph.D.
Melanie Milo Ph.D.
Jose Ramon Albert Ph.D.
Rhoelano Briones Ph.D.
Rafaelita M. Aldaba Ph.D.
Rosalina Tan Ph.D.
Danilo Israel Ph.D.
Rouselle Lavado Ph.D.
Gerardo Largoza Ph.D.
Stella Quimbo Ph.D.
Ma. Joy Abrenica Ph.D.
Eduardo Gonzalez Ph.D.
Danilo Venida
Allan Borreo
Alexander Narciso
Meldin Al. G. Roy
Jessica Cantos-Reyes
Joseph Francia
Emilio Neri Jr.
Cristina Bautista
Philip Arnold Tuano
Romelia Neri
Reuel Hermoso
Joselito Sescon
Marilou Perez
Paulo Jose Mutuc
Sarah Grace See
Ramon Fernan III
Ernest Leung

 

[26 April 2010. See also: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com, UNLADTAU: https://unladtau.wordpress.com]

CRIMINALIZE FRAUDULENT POLLS SURVEYS

 Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 Poll experts are intellectual prostitutes. This is the most precise attribution we can give to the “experts” who conducted the poll surveys in this country, and probably in other countries as well. It is now turning out that they are experts in doctoring data and are in league with the criminal forgers at Recto Avenue in old Manila. 

As it now appears, poll surveys are not exactly meant to reflect the state of voters’ perception at the time they were conducted. The PulseAsia, for instance, is owned by Raffy Lopa, a Kamag-anak Inc. (blood relative) of Noynoy Aquino who is running as a presidential candidate for the Liberal Party.

 Can we expect fair game from the poll survey companies, notably the PulseAsia and Social Weather Stations? Now that it is becoming much clearer that the surveys rig public perception results to favor certain personalities and political blocs, we may rest assure of the result of the coming 2010 elections. 

We do wonder whether the research personnel of the said companies did conduct field work in the other regions of the country for data gathering. It is getting clearer that no such actual field works are done, the same field works largely concentrated in metropolitan Manila. 

The survey results are purely forged data. Being disinformative, the results are pure insidious LIES. 

It may be high time for the state to investigate dubious researches, with the maximum aim of criminalizing fraudulent research. The public better raise eyebrows whenever the SWS and PulseAsia publish results from hereon.  

Observably, commercial sex workers sell only their bodies for money, while intellectual prostitutes sell their souls to the highest bidders. Thus said, those intellectual prostitutes are as obnoxious as filthy swine. 

[Philippines, 03 May 2010.]

[See: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com, UNLADTAU: https://unladtau.wordpress.com]

PADERANGA, ECONOMISTS: NOYNOY’S INTELLECTUAL PROSTITUTES

Prof. Erle Frayne D. Argonza

University of the Philippines

Good day from Manila! Magandang hapon!

I just intercepted a note that has been circulating via the email circuits, which echoes the endorsement by certain economists of moralistic leadership standards and the presidency of Noynoy Aquino. Let me share some notes about those economists, which I hope will induce some reflections on the readers and would-be voters.

You see, I felt the itch to burst with guffaws at the economist endorsers, but had to restrain myself as I was surfing inside a commercial cyber-shop. The immediate scorn and ridicule I felt for the economists who endorsed Noynoy was their nauseating projection of (a) independence of mind and (b) moral purity.

I could say this matter-of-factly, that those economist endorsers, led by Prof. Paderanga of the UP Diliman’s School of Economics (UPSE), is a coterie of intellectual prostitutes who are so at home with receiving  fat consultancy & analysts’ pay in exchange for enriching the purses of corporate carpetbaggers. Their independence is paid independence; their moral purity, delusional hogwash.

Those same economists have made no qualms in implementing the dictated policies of the IMF-World Bank that widened social inequalities and led to ballooned the poverty levels in the past, to note: (a) liberalization, (b) privatization, (c) deregulation, (d) tax reforms, (e) reduced budget for social services, (f) wage freeze (both private & public employees), (g) devaluation of the peso, and (g) increased prices of utilities.

Save for the NGO carpetbaggers (e.g. Men Sta. Ana & company who make money via fat funds flowing to their moderate Left NGOs), the Paderanga-led endorsers naturally sit in corporate boards as ‘independent directors’ (I feel like vomiting!). Well, since the energy & other sectors were deregulated, big biz players such as Mirant et al, came in and, believe it or not, appointed one to three of the so-called ‘independent directors’ –who now appear in the pro-Noynoy list of endorsers—to the corporate board of the former.

In the case of Sta. Ana & company (including social workers from the ‘soc-dems’ or non-Marxist social democrats), the carpetbag venues are those NGO coalitions where fat “juices” from debt swaps have been funneled in the past. There was the Peace Bonds racket, to recall, which initially amounted to a billion 1^st tranche, guaranteed by the Finance Department, hence making many involved experts blissfully happy from the 1990s to the present.

If you think Gov. Salceda is truly (a) independent-thinking and (b) morally pure, better review the facts. Salceda is implementing couples of Big Projects in his Albay backyard, thanks to his close affiliation with the incumbent president, worth P10 Billion more or less. He is a MASTER OF KABUSUGAN, as laymen would put it, and his greed has been moving up in exponential fashion. Besides, he was a most fatly paid marketing economist for the corporate world before he joined the GMA regime.

Inside the academe, the likes of Paderanga, Taguiwalo, and other professors, have hardly been known for doing research projects as a ‘labor of love’ thing. Being well connected to corporate and ODA paymasters, their researches and publications are deeply tainted with the vested interests of their financiers. [ODA= Official Development Assistance]

Having established their niches in their big-paying clientele—Big Business, Big Foundations, Big Banks, Big NGO networks, Global Development Agencies—it is but natural that those same morally puritanical economists put their foot forward in the Noynoy Team (they used their connections to leverage their getting into the team) and practically dictated the TOR (terms of reference). They were to join the Purissima faction of experts who were then with GMA, but who bolted away as early as 2005 yet.

Coming from different factions of experts, I could just surmise the great difficulty in getting them to draft the agenda of Noynoy Aquino who was catapulted to a presidential timber by sheer historical accidence. Surely enough, words reached my ears that the factions couldn’t see each other eye-to-eye, a truistic situation that bogged down the drafting of the agenda in late Sept to October of 2009.

The Paderanga faction was assigned the broad economic & development agenda, Taguiwalo faction the fiscal agenda, Purissima faction the budget agenda, Sta Ana & ‘progressive’ faction the social agenda, and so on. Pressed by time constraints to churn out an agenda, the highly paid Noynoy consultants did miraculously produce one that was the accompanying document submitted to the COMELEC attached to the certification registration of Noynoy Aquino.

Upon reviewing the Noynoy agenda of governance that was published in the major dailies, I was so aghast at the rather sub-standard quality of the content. It was a mere hodge-podge of motherhood statements, spiced up by cut & paste items lifted directly from the Philippine Constitution. Honestly, that draft agenda can be prepared by mere undergraduate students in the University of the Philippines, given a 1-day workshop time frame, while it took the economists two (2) months to accomplish it!

In contrast to those prostituted intellectuals and Masters of Kabusugan, we academics and think-tank consultants who support the likes of Villar (others support Gordon, Bro. Eddie,…) have openly endorsed our choice candidate on the basis of our advocacies. This expert is not being paid for my analytical writings, interviews, and forum talks supportive of the nationalists (Villar, NP…). And there are just too many of us nationalist and grassroots-working intellectuals who are contributing our share of the campaign through pro bono service.

To share an anecdote: A co-partner of mine in the consulting & academic world, Dr. Cesar Mercado (he heads an international think-tank, was former UN official, and is globally known), was offered by a graduate student of the UP SOLAIR a participation in the drafting of the Noynoy agenda. Dr. Mercado outrightly declined the offer, and he need not bother to call me up for the fat-paying consulting work in the Noynoy camp. He simply replied that he was busy.

That was how desperate the Noynoy Team was for a draft agenda, for Noynoy just didn’t possess the competence to draft one. In contrast, the other presidential candidates (Villar, Bro. Eddie, Nicki Perlas, Gordon…) already possessed analytical and practical frames that they developed throughout their careers, and so the role of consultants if ever was merely to critique, edit, incorporate methodology of implementation, and polish. The latter candidates don’t need to hire a huge coterie of experts like Noynoy and Erap did, but utilize merely 2-3 consults at the most.

Not being personally known to Villar, the likes of me and hundreds of experts (adaceme & think-tanks) have been expressing opinions based on our long-standing policy frameworks, advocacies, and ‘best practices’. We need not come together to release a public manifesto in the broadsheets, which will require at least P1.5 million for five half-paged pronouncements in five (5) dailies. We don’t have the funds to do so! So we campaign in the micro-niches, based on the personal resources within our means.

Lastly, hardly had Noynoy began campaigning, and those prostituted minds were already clawing on each other like competing crabs, as per reports reaching my attention. They will likewise claw on each other in grabbing juicy government sub-sectors and agency posts in case Noynoy wins, and will be stabbing each other to get the boss’ attention if ever they sit in power.

Let me toss the capsule query: are such intellectuals indeed independent-minded and morally pure? Are they worth leading the institutions of state for the sake of ‘walang korupsyon’ and/or good governance? Will a president Noynoy be on top of them, or will they be on top of puppet Noynoy?

[20 September 2010. Prof. Argonza is a political economist, sociologist, university professor, development consultant, self-development guru. See: UNLADTAU: https://unladtau.wordpress.com, IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogger.com, BRIGHTWORLD: http://erlefraynebrightworld.wordpress.com%5D

BAD GOVERNANCE AND TURBULENCE: UPDATE ON MANILA SITUATION

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

[Writ. 16 March 2008, Quezon City, Metropolitan Manila]

Good evening!

 

It’s a Sunday evening, and right now the turbulence in the country brought about by protests against huge government anomalous transactions is the hottest agenda.

 

In this country, please note that bad governance has been responsible for so much political turmoil since the 1960s yet. The Marcos and Estrada administrations were overthrown via the ‘people power way’ precisely due to people’s widespread dissent against corruption and the erosive effects of the social ailment on development efforts and poverty alleviation.

 

Today the Arroyo administration is coming under hot fire due to the same malady. The difference between the Arroyo administrations and the previous ones is that this regime had arrived at a time when urban population had outstripped rural population. The middle class enjoys not only a clear edge in opinion making, it also enjoys a predominance of the population today.

 

Thus, with the middle class pointing to a political wind of turbulence, an upsurge of mass movement and potential upheavals is again around. Unless there are clear resolutions to the ailments currently coming under hot fire, there will be turbulence and possible armed conflicts in the urban centers in the coming months.

 

In closing this briefer reflection, let me enclose my own public statement about the matter.

 

PRO-GLORIA SPOKESMAN URGES GMA TO RESIGN

 

[25 February 2008, Quezon City, Manila]

 

This gentleman, who was Spokesman of the PRO-GLORIA Multisectoral Coalition, hereby pronounces the most urgent need to save the nation from political deterioration and degeneration into the hovels of anarchy, by urging the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign her post.

 

To recall, together with many patriots then, we PROGLORIA Advocates joined the coalition in early 2004 with the values of good governance and competence among our top criteria for choosing leaders. Such values were to intersect with the advocacy for fair trade, to which GMA affirmatively supported via her line of “no to unbridled free trade.” And, hopefully, the benefits from public policies and programs would galvanize as greater social services for our marginal sectors. In the end, everybody wins from a GMA electoral victory.

 

After almost four (4) years of governing, the political-cultural terrain has become tragically murky. Civil liberties are openly violated by military & police functionaries, incompetence is endemic as the appointment of unqualified officials has been rampant,  corruption is more marked and brazenly committed, electoral reforms remain elusive while GMA herself is accountable for electoral fraud charges, and ‘free trade’ ensues with impunity while treaties that have onerous terms are being negotiated to the detriment of the national interest. It is true that the fiscal environment had been stabilized and credit standing had improved during GMA’s watch, but given the situation where her administration has become the main source of instability, it is not a remote possibility that such gains will be wiped out before the end of this year 2008. This present regime had clearly lost its moral moorings, credibility, and trustworthiness.

 

To save the nation from an impending system collapse, GMA and her team of state managers should resign en masse. This will then pave the way for constitutional processes to re-grow our most cherished values of good governance, strong institutions, greater democracy and equitable distribution of economic development gains. Public trust will then be regained, and political stability will fuel back our economic boom.

 

 

 

ERLE FRAYNE D. ARGONZA

National Spokesman – PROGLORIA (2004)

 

Quezon City, MetroManila, 19 February 2008