Pala-isip

I just read this article in the Inquirer about the plagiarism issue of Tito Sotto. Suffice to say, it got my blood boiling. How stupid can these people be? Just because a blogger wrote it doesn't mean it's free for all. Just because someone took a photo doesn't mean someone can use it for free and make money out of it. The worst part is, they said that it's common practice in the Senate so it's ok to copy. Here's what Tito Sotto's chief of staff Hector Villacorta said, “We plagiarized the US Constitution. All the amendments became our Bill of Rights. But do they call us a plagiaristic country? No, because the law is based on precedent,” Sotto’s chief of staff said. “Even our Insurance Code is a plagiarized document. The proposed freedom of information bill is plagiarized. What’s more, the Senate and House (of Representatives) versions of the RH bill are very similar. So who is plagiarizing who?” he added. Villacorta reminded everyone that “the ...

Ever since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's photo with the neck brace came out, people have been editing them. Here's a couple of funny ones. Here's the original. and here are the edited ones.

From GMA New s. MANILA, Philippines – What started off as a lively discussion on popular social networking platform Twitter ended up becoming a confrontation session between participants of the 1986 People Power uprising. Senator Gregorio Honasan lashed out at Apo Hiking Society member Jim Paredes regarding comments the latter made on the "agenda" of various Edsa players. Honasan was one of the leaders of the Reformed the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) whose attempt to stage a coup against then President Marcos served as a prelude to the 1986 People Power revolution. Paredes himself is also considered an Edsa 1 personality, being one of several artists who sang "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo," (The Filipino's gift to the world)—regarded as the anthem of the bloodless uprising. On Friday, February 25, Honasan was one of the "Twitterviewees" (read: interviewees on Twitter) in the virtual discussion organized by Newsbreak together with its newest blogger @I_Am...

Gloria’s “My Last Farewell” Balitang Kutsero by Perry Diaz After lame duck prez Gloria Macapagal Arroyo left Malacanang Palace, my investigative reporter James Macaquecquec visited the vacated First Family’s quarters and found a document under the table. A note was attached to it saying: “To be published after I step down.” My Last Farewell by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Farewell, my Inang Bayan, land of the morning sun, Pearl of the Orient Sea, Paradise lost. With gladness I gave you my life, With sadness I leave you now. I made a lot of promises, Some of which I kept. I promised to end poverty, But in the end, the poor end up eating dust. I promised to stop corruption, But in the end, power corrupted me. I promised to end the communist insurgency, But in the end, Gen. Delfin Bangit failed to end it. I promised to create jobs, But in the end, 3,000 Filipinos leave everyday to look for jobs abroad. I promised to end the deficit, But in the end, I left Noynoy with a P400 billion deficit...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. ====================== MANILA, Philippines—While Malacañang was not looking, Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar has quietly gained the support of the biggest political party and the most powerful political family in vote-rich Cebu, according to well-placed party sources. Villar met with congressmen and local officials belonging to One Cebu and the Garcia family behind closed doors at Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu City on Wednesday. Although details of the meeting were not disclosed to local journalists, Alvin Garcia, who is seeking to regain the city’s mayoral post, announced an alliance between his party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Progress for Cebu) or Kusug, and the NP in a press conference at the same hotel. His position was different from that taken by his cousin, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia, who founded One Cebu and has expressed support for Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro. The governor sealed President Gl...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ====================== LUBAO, PAMPANGA—Allies compared her to Jesus Christ for “coming down to serve.” They said that unlike former presidents who plotted coups, she would fight in the open and defend herself against corruption charges after she leaves Malacañang. Crowds estimated at several thousand cheered President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Tuesday when she returned to her hometown to file her certificate of candidacy (CoC) for representative of the second congressional district of Pampanga. Ms Arroyo’s term as president ends in June next year and her decision to vie for a seat in Congress next May is unparalleled for a Philippine leader. Seizing on this, Fr. Roland Moraleja advised Ms Arroyo to “be not afraid of this unprecedented move.” ‘Blasphemy’ “Do not believe you are diminishing the power of the [Office of the] President. Ating metung a taung migbaba ba yang sumuyo—I Kristo (There was a person who came down to serve us—Jesus Christ),” Morale...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. ====================== MANILA, Philippines—Within hours of her declaration that she was running for Congress in May, a firestorm of criticism swirled around President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, with one critic accusing her of being drunk with power and others saying her aim was to shield herself from “a landslide of lawsuits.” The criticisms, as well as concerns, came both from her well-known political enemies and from some Church leaders. The biggest worry of Ms Arroyo’s political foes appeared to be that she might use a seat in Congress as a launching pad to become prime minister, in case of a shift to a parliamentary government. Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, for so long a vocal critic of Ms Arroyo, said the framers of the Constitution did not think of imposing a ban on an outgoing president running for a lower office simply because it was unthinkable. “There appears to be no reasonable cause for such a constitutional prohibition as ...

The Filipino-Canadian boy who became a victim of racial discrimination in Canada for using spoon and fork while eating in school will finally have his day in court. The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal will hear the case of Luc Cagadoc on Nov. 23 and 24 against the Marguerite Bougeoys School Board and two other school staff members, according to Fo Niemi, executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, a Montreal-based human rights advocate group. The hearing, which is open to the public, will be heard at the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal at the Montreal courthouse (Palais de Justice) at 1 Notre Dame East, Montreal. Full story at GMA News .

Read this from Ramon Tulfo of The Philippine Daily Inquirer. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has not only opened the gates of Malacañang to typhoon victims, she has also allowed them to stay in the Palace. As she sometimes does to cover some flaws in her character, she makes an overkill. In short it’s “overacting.” Why did she let some flood victims sleep in the Palace when there are many evacuation centers set up by the government for these people? The answer is simple: press release. At first she was irritated by the big number of people lining up for food outside the Palace after she announced that Malacañang grounds were open to flood victims. Her subordinates said what she meant was that Malacañang would be a place where relief goods would be repacked. But apparently some of her spin doctors told her it would be good for her image if she let some of the victims make the Palace their temporary home. Some people who know President Arroyo from way back say she wouldn’t touch the u...

Here's the latest directive of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regarding donations, remittances and relief goods coming from abroad. First, they've set up a task force to stop and prosecute those who raise prices of medicine unreasonably. Second, they will arrest and punish those who takes advantage and cheats in accepting donations coming through the banks. Third, there will be no taxes nor confiscation of relief goods by the Bureau of Customs coming from abroad as long as it is directed towards DSWD. Fourth, the DFA has given our embassies and consulate the task to speed up the processing of documents for donations coming from abroad as long as it is address to the DSWD. Fifth, they have requested remittance companies to waive their transaction fees for monetary donations if they are directed to the DSWD. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I can't shake the feeling that some of those monies directed towards the DSWD will be skimmed. Also, what happens to the other donations directed...

Just reposting this. I have no sources to confirm this but I hope it's not true. ============= Repost, from a confirmed and reliable source: donations from abroad coursed through embaassies were directed by (p)gma to be deposited into a "special" account opened for Ondoy victims. Said account is under the control of Luli Arroyo. ============= If this is true, may God have mercy on their souls. No, wait scratch that. If that is true, people like these deserves to be in hell. The foreign donations coming to the Philippines is huge. We are talking millions of dollars here. Here are some details http://balita.ph/2009/09/29/foreign-donations-pour-in-for-ondoy-victims/ . So a reminder just to be safe. Don't send your donations through the embassies. Direct them straight to the charities instead. Check my previous post for details of various charities.

GMA's message on the typhoon that swept through Metro Manila on Sept. 26, 2009.

Someone forwarded this to me. Grabe! And to think about 2 weeks before this sorry excuse of a dinner, Obama and Biden LINED UP IN A WORKING-MAN'S LUNCH COUNTER AND HAD SANDWICHES AND COLA?! Parang hindi alam nung nasa Malacanang ang pagkakaiba ng "Class" at "Crass"? Wala na ba silang pakialam? Pakipasa sa iba para Makita nila kung ano ang binayaran ni tongressman Danilo Suarez na gustong maghari sa Quezon kaso di nagtagumpay para hatiin ang Quezon. Mga kababayan silipin nga natin kung ano itong pinag iinitang mga kinain daw ni Kamahal-mahalang Pangulong Gloria sa Le Cirque New York at ang kanyang mga kampon. Since na may ambag naman tayo (as a taxpayer ) dapat lng sigurong makita natin kahit sa picture man lang ang mga pagkaing nararapat daw para sa ating mga honorable public servants. Ang bill ng entourage ni Gloria sa Le Cirque Golden Osetra Caviar. Sa Tagalog, kumpol-kumpol na itlog ng isda. Rare daw ito. Malansa at lasang bagoong, sabi ng iba. Kulay itim la...

Sinong mas sincere? Sino!? Nag tatanong lang Po.

In this article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Malacanang Palace is slamming the media on why they are quibbling over a few thousand dollars when, according to them, GMA has brought in billions of dollars in investments in return. On the article, it says “Whatever monies may have been spent for the appropriately ceremonious conduct of her official trip abroad are but a tiny fraction of the billions of pesos she has committed, and will continue to commit, to the alleviation of hunger and the amelioration of poverty in our country,” Anthony Golez, a deputy spokesperson of Ms Arroyo, said Thursday, reading from a statement at a media briefing. What does that the dinner have to do with the investments and the billions committed to alleviate hunger? This just shows how numb and insensitive they are. The Palace said that the dinner was paid for by Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez who had footed the bill at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington. If it was a Philippine Congressman that footed the ...

The $20,000 dinner spent by GMA and company at Le Cirque Restaurant in New York has spark an outrage. The palace got its spin doctors trying to justify the obscene amount. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said it was a simple dinner. Let's see: Note: this is a theoretical breakdown of the bill according to the blog of Manuel L. Quezon III . Simple indeed. Here I thought the fried bangus and tinola I had for dinner was simple. I guess those food are now poor man's food. I should probably be setting my standards higher and eat caviar more often and chug Krug like beer. GMA's people have of course pointed out that the media is mistaken in taking a theorical computation for a fact. This is how hard they work in making sure GMA has a clean image. Whether theoretical or not, whether the bill is $10,000 or $30,000. We all know that amount is obscene in light of the fact that 3 million Filipinos are going without food. The mere fact that $20,000 can feed 3,000 families 3 meals a day s...

Saw this report from the New York Post about Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with a large entourage enjoying the good life enjoying expensive bottles of wine and ending up with a bill of $20,000. What else is new eh? http://www.nypost.com/seven/08072009/gossip/pagesix/eat_and_drink_183333.htm

Reporter interviews Erap at Cory's wake. R: Mr President, and dami pong tao nakikiramay po ano? E: Oo, dahil mahal na mahal natin si Cory.. R: Eh palagay po ninyo, pag namatay si GMA, ganoon di po ba karaming dadalaw? E: Eh aba, sa tingin po mas marami pa! R: Bakit naman po? E: Siyempre, mas maraming gusto manigurado na patay na siya! *TOINK*

GMA delivered her SONA on Monday declaring that after her speech, she will step down from the stage, but not the Presidency. Following that her Presidency doesn't end until next year. Riiight.... Somehow, I just can't trust what she says. It's not only me, but pretty much most of the country can't trust her words. She's a master of saying something that doesn't mean anything. She talked about the strong economy. By strong, they usually mean the US Dollar to Peso rate. But not really the core economy strength since you would probably notice businesses are suffering and there are more poor people starving. She hit back on her critics. Even saying that if you want to become a President, don't say bad words (obviously to Mar Roxas). What else...oh right, she said that she has no time to play politics because there's a lot of work to do. She's very hardworking you know. The only problem is, hardworking doing what? I'll leave that to your imagination. ...