TH E O. J.

OPPOSITION FILES

THE BATTLE

FOR THE

PRESIDENCY

2004

“The Philippines is the richest country on earth

pretending to be poor” – Imelda R. Marcos
 - page 3 -

I dedicate this booklet to Elsa and Nolly,

without whose help
this would never have been possible

The pseudo name O.J. was created in the house

of Atty. Oliver Lozano who is running for Senator
on the KBL ticket. A true Marcos loyalist.
He awarded the 16-year-dito German with the
nickname Oscar the title national hero,
with reference to Oscar Jaena Lopez.
 - page 4 -

An old saying goes like this:

It is better to ask the right questions then to know all the answers.

This book is certainly going to ask a lot of questions.

Hopefully, all the right ones.

Still the biggest question in recent history of the Philippines,

that was never asked, goes like this:

Many people remember the phrase: “Marcos has fled.”

Not many people know how he fled.

He was lifted out of Malacanang in a U.S. Military helicopter.

The helicopter brought him to a U.S. Military Air Base, to a C-130.

The C-130 carried him to a U.S. Military Air Base in Guam.

From there, they brought him to a U.S. Air Base in Hawaii.

There, Marcos and his “entourage” had to wait 48 hours, no bed.

Then, three other C-130 arrived with “what Marcos had carried”.

In police language, they call that “planted evidence”. The CIA did.
It was shown on TV and the public believed them.

Question No. 1: How could he have carried that?

Question No. 2: WHERE IS IT NOW? Can anyone explain?
 - page 5 –

“I want the Filipino people to suffer,

so that they will hate Marcos.”
- President Corazon C. Aquino, in front of a.o.
Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad

Cory’s first presidential order was the immediate release of communist leader
Jomari Sison from jail. Best friend of Ninoy, Jomari was charged with killing
or ordering the killings of tens of thousands of Filipinos, in “cleansing”, Pol
Pot style. Cory blamed Marcos for the killings

Cory’s first Executive Order was the creation of the Presidential Commission
for Good Government (PCGG) to get the Marcos wealth. Separately, her
nephew, Conrado “Dodie” Limcauco of PTV 4, headed the Marcos Wealth
Recovery Program to comb, and comb clean, the Central Bank. It was
certainly not Marcos, who looted the Central Bank, ask Dodie!

On the other hand, first PCGG Chairman Jovito Salonga, close friend of Ninoy
and Jomari, headed and bungled OPLAN BIG BIRD. Swiss Bank Corporation
in Zuerich, Switzerland, showed him the Marcos Instructions for some few
trillions of dollars in accounts with Citibank, Chase Manhattan, and Bank of
America, all in New York. Ayaw nila.

“I don’t want Marcos to look good.” That was what Cory told him on the
phone. “Filipino people? Bahala sila!” So, Salonga came home empty-
handed. The 21 accounts are still there, close to $7Trillion now. 20% are
reserved for the Filipino people, but the Filipino people don’t know, don’t
believe. They believe in the lord and the virgin, courtesy of our foreign
colonizers. Kasi, sabi ni Cory. Blessed are the poor. Hallelujah!
 - page 6 -

GLRO 0105
S-7-3-1941

Reported in this office and inscribed in this Land

Title OCT No. T-01-4, that Spratley and Turtle Islands, explored
by Dr. H. F. Bain, Mining Affair Adviser to the Philippine
Commonwealth and after conducting oil drilling activities over
the area which are part of this archipelago, large deposits of high
grade oils were discovered suitable for commercial use, while in
the area at 75 kilometers Southeast of Mindanao, a large
undeterminable volume of Deuterium was found within the area
of the archipelago.

Date of Inscription: July 4, 1941

(Sgd) Teodoro Gonzales

Register of Deeds

From the current files in COURT OF APPEALS, FORMER SECOND DIVISION, -

G.R. SP No. 70014 -, under HON. CANCIO C. GARCIA, Presiding Justice (Chairman),
HON. MARINA L. BUZON, Associate Justice (Ponente), HON. ELIEZER R. DE LOS
SANTOS, Associate Justice in Re: REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES – versus –
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF PASAY CITY, Branch 111 et al. re. LRC/Civil Case
3957-P Respondents.
 - page 7 –

PROLOGUE

This book is written in the assumption that something is terribly

wrong in this country, that something is terribly wrong in our
history, that the present is filled with lies and gimmicks, and that the
future will hold true the old saying that the rich will get richer and
the poor will get poorer.

Actually, this book is not a book in the real sense; it rather is a

compilation of manuscripts, which try to deal with our daily
problems, with observation, analysis, and personal judgments with
the end to find solutions to lighten or better the worsening plight of
the Filipino people.

Whatever, this book has a lot to do with our true history and the true
situation anywhere in our land. It also has a lot to do with
personalities, but mostly with what they don’t want other people to
know. No, this is not about tsismis, even if Filipinos love tsismis so
much.

This is more about unmasking false images and revealing true facts
that the Filipino people may never have known, and it is certainly
about drawing the battle-line and showing the deep rift between the
Marcos and the anti-Marcos forces in our country.

The intention behind this book is to awaken the Filipino people,

impossible as that may sound or be, as the sovereign master of its
own fate and, yet, as the virtual victims in the ongoing, biggest
betrayal in history, as the innocent victims in the grand conspiracy
involving the defamation, discrediting, and demolition of the
greatest president this country ever had and ever will have.
 - page 8 –

If that appears useless or impossible, it is still a matter of concern,

or at least should be a matter of concern for the majority of poor
Filipinos, forget the rich, because of the huge accounts in Pesos and
Dollars plus gold deposits, which Ferdinand E. Marcos has left for
the benefit of the Filipino people.

If any one else has a recipe how to pay for the national debt, local
and foreign, around and above Pesos 3 (three!) Trillion for the
Filipino people to pay, then we should elect that person right away
to be the President 2004.

If no one among the candidates has an idea, or a “plataforma”, as

they love to call it, on how to pay and not to borrow, then they should
not be the next president of this country, because they would only
make matters worse for the Filipino people.

President in 2004 should be the one who would welcome the idea to
“un-freeze” the hidden (hidden by government, mind you) Marcos
accounts and implement the “LOI’s” (Letter of Instruction) that go
with every Marcos account, whether in local banks or in foreign
banks.

All the clean-up operators, “clean up government from graft and

corruption”, should shut up; we have had that in every election for
the last how many years. Also, “tulong-tulong tayo” sounds like
band-aid medicine. Forget it! The poor are paying for everything
already, why ask them for help?! Because they are stupid anyhow?
 - page 9–

The playing field for this first presidential election in the New
Millennium is definitely prepared by mass media on command. Who
owns the mass media? Not the poor people in the Philippines! There
are a handful of super rich families in this country, they own what
they consider worth owning and what they consider gives cash flow.
The rest? They don’t care, the rest is for the Filipinos. Filipinos pay
cash, everywhere, for every thing, day and night.

This book is definitely based on a lot of knowledge, not the least

knowledge about what really happened to this country and its
people. It’s a shame, really! Even more so, that the Filipino people
don’t know any more, don’t care any more, and don’t want to know
any more. They have lost, with very few exceptions, their dignity,
their honor, and their morals.

When there is no livelihood in many residential areas for so-called

informal settlers, then selling shabu, more or less openly, becomes
“hanap buhay”. That’s how deep we have sunk, we don’t know
shame any more when it comes to petty crimes. What about real
crimes? Ask young people and they will shrug their shoulders.

So, here we know where the Marcos money is and how to get it. All
we need is a President for the People, a People’s President or a
People Power President. What ever! He has to realize that Marcos
was the past, the present, and is the future. Without that, dear
countrymen and dear next President, there is no future. And that is
the truth and nothing but the truth
 - page 10-

CLRO 10
S-475
This land evidenced by OCT No. T-01-4 has been placed for
adjustment under appropriate court proceeding in accordance with
LRA 496 of 1902 to find the permissibility of the area and it has been
recorded under Court Land Registration Case 475. Decree No. 297 of
October 3, 1904 per Record Book of Decree, Book No. 1, embracing
the entire archipelago up to Turtle Islands, Spratley and Islands of
Sabah (North Borneo), which ended appropriately in favor of the
original owner, Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean (Tallano), married to
Princess Rowena Ma. Elizabeth Overbeck Macleod, the predecessor
of Prince Julian Macleod Tallano for a period of two (2) years court
battles, to wit:

In view thereof, the Court of Land Registration found in due

course with probative value said Land Title OCT No. T-01-4
embracing the subject archipelago for and in the name of Prince
Lacan Acuna Tagean, married to Princess Rowena Ma. Elizabeth
Overbeck Macleod of Austria, who was naturalized under the laws of
the Philippine Commission as Filipino Citizen.

Now therefore, by virtue of the Public Land Laws of the

country dismissing the appeal of the Government in his Highest
Tribunal, a corresponding Decree 297, October 3, 1904, embracing
the whole archipelago has been granted and be appended to the said
OCT No. T-01-4 as a matter of proprietary rights of the said registered
landowner that should embrace to be title to the land forever, adapted
thereto, the Torrens System of the Royal Kingdom of Switzerland to
establish social peace and order in every island and hacienda like
Philipines.

Date of Inscription: October 10, 1904

(sgd) H.K. Sleeper
Land Registration Officer

(From the same COURT OF APPEALS Case No. CA-G.R. SP NO. 70014)
 - page 11 –

GLRO-079
S-4-7-1946

Letter of Declaration respecting Private Rights of

Don Esteban Benitez Tallano, heir of late Prince Julian Macleod
Tallano over the 7,169 Islands of the Archipelago including the
Freedom Islands, Turtle Islands and the Sabah Islands as
evidenced by OCT No. T-01-4 in consonance with the
Declaration of U.S. President Harry S. Truman with the U.S.
Congress Joint Resolution No. 93 of June 29, 1946 and the
December 10, 1898 Treaty of Paris, that United States withdraws
and surrenders all rights of possession including lands and
supervision, jurisdiction, control of sovereignty and recognized
the independence of the Philippines.

Date of Inscription : July 5, 1946

(Sgd) MANUEL A. ROXAS

Philippine President

Honestly, did anybody ask the obvious question why the Americans would
be so stupid and give us independence, for the first time in history, right
after the much-ballyhooed LIBERATION? Hindsight estimates show that
about one million Filipinos (1,000,000) lost their lives during that short
period of the war. The Japanese were already on the run to the North, yet
the Americans blamed them for all the atrocities. Living eyewitnesses,
though, blame the Americans, who desperately and mercilessly, wanted to
find the Yamashita Gold for General Douglas McArthur

- page 12 –
 “We have no problem to cooperate in the recovery
of the Marcos wealth, but we cannot and we will not
cooperate in the recovery of the alleged
“ill-gotten” Marcos wealth,
because, by Swiss law, we have to protect our clients
from fraud and false claims and until now
any allegation of “ill-gotten” is unproven and therefore a false
claim, even if it is made by the Philippine Government”. –
Swiss Federal Court and Swiss Banks, 1998, in a repeat letter
to PCGG Commissioner Alexander Gesmundo. First letter to that
effect in 1996 to PCGG Chairman Gunigundo.

- page 13 –
 PERCEPTIONS
The lifelong process of acquiring skills, information, or knowledge
is called learning. All knowledge comes through observation and
experience. Observation and experience come to a person through
his or her personal perception by way of the senses of seeing,
hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting.

Perception is every person’s own mental image created by his or her

own sensations. Every person has his or her own perception as
nobody can be in somebody else’s place, nobody can see exactly
what you see, however close the other person is to you.

For example, you ask any person to close his/her eyes and you say
“bird”, then every person has his/her own version of a bird from
his/her own subconscious, stored, mind. One sees a small bird
sitting, one sees a big bird flying, one may think of a Philippine
eagle, one may think of a vulture sitting on the fence, another one
may think of a beautiful bluish kingfisher, and yet another one sees
a bird he wants to shoot. There is no limit to imagination.

On a higher level, every person has his/her own perception of

“good” or “bad”, good or evil, nice or ugly, exciting or boring. That
is OK, as long as nobody wants to influence and form a general
perception for his own interest, be it for political or commercial
interest, many call that “vested interests”.

Unfortunately, the latter has become general practice with the

advent of new technologies like radio and television, the media of
mass communication or “mass media”. Perceptions are no longer
left to the experience of a private person; perceptions are created by
repetitions of pictures and sounds. This can be done for the
- page 14 -
benefit of a producer of a toothpaste, for a certain beer, for TIDE
ULTRA, or for a certain food chain. In simple terms, the more often
the picture appears on TV the more it will stick to the senses of the
viewer, until it becomes a conditioned reflex like in the case of the
famous Pavlov’s dogs.

Pavlov, a famous Russian scientist, paired a buzzer with the dog

food. The dog saw the food and heard the buzzer, and started
salivating. This happened for a few times, then the dog needed to
hear the buzzer only and he started to salivate already, even if the
food was not there yet. That is called mind conditioning, nothing
more than an induced illusion or an artificial perception.

Prime examples are the Coca Cola bottle, the Marlboro horses, the
Mercedes star, or, here, the jollibee. A very good example for an
induced illusion good for nothing is, on radio, “for life” or “101.9,
for life”, best described as name recall but in effect not better than
the old Hitler doctrine which says that, if you repeat a lie often
enough it will soon be perceived as the truth.

In the Philippines, we may have the cruelest example of such

induced perception ever created in the world. That is the case of
the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, but also the case of the duly
elected President of the Republic of the Philippines. In both cases,
the powers that control the mass media, especially TV, have created
a picture of “plunder” and the general perception is that Marcos was
a “dictator” and Erap a bad president.

This is in stark contrast to the truth that has never been heard;
actually, Erap should be in the Guinness Book of Records as the
only true President who was deposed without due process, without
the chance to say his version to the unfounded charges, not even in
the impeachment case. It was trial by publicity, kangaroo court.
- page 15-
It is very unfortunate that perception has become more important
than the truth. It can be said that the Philippines is a very special
case in the world. “Only in da Pilipines” is widely accepted, albeit
sarcastically, with a slight negative taste. The reason for all this is
the long rule of Spanish colonizers. They used, to their distinctive
advantage, the almighty Roman Catholic Church with their foreign
friars and priests, not the least with a church leader with the name of
Sin, who stands, arguably, for the greatest lie ever swallowed by a
whole nation, when he said over Radio Veritas on that fateful day
in February 1986: “Marcos has fled!”

Here is a note for innocent young people: Marcos was held up in

Malacanang Palace and then kidnapped in a U.S. military
helicopter by the U.S. Marines. They brought him first to Clark
Airbase and from there to Guam in a C-130, while a few hundred
thousand Filipinos lined EDSA from Ortigas to Cubao, miles away
from the palace. Only after the Cardinal had delivered the biggest
lie on radio, more and more people left EDSA and rushed to the
Palace to ransack and bring home whatever they could grab.

That was maybe the worst case of U.S. foreign intervention,

officially recorded on May 6, 1986 in the U.S. House of
Representatives under “Costs of removing President Ferdinand
Marcos from office.” General Singlaub was the one who presented
the budget and it was approved! Among others, millions and
millions of dollars for “envelopmental journalism”, distributed daily
in Hobbit House, in Malate. That was the start of “news for sale”,
something that is daily practice in mass media now.

That, of course, might be too much of a personal perception against

the general perception that our known and established opinion
writers are all good guys. Personal perceptions are better

- page 16 -
kept secret in our society of hypocrites that abhors controversy or
open discussions. We say what we think the other party wants to
hear, we don’t say straight what we think. We have become cowards
in our own country, we have no backbone; we don’t dare to defend
what is just or good. We accept everything as is, like god-given, and
we pray ten times a day. “Lord, give me ….”

Just to complete perceptions, all business is about perception, about

image, about prestige. It’s no longer to be or not to be, it’s all about
look good, smell good, and have the winning message. Soon we will
all look the same, smell the same, buy the same, and, oh yes, eat the
same. We can see that trend already in any of the big malls. They all
look the same, offer the same, but inside it is a matter of perception.

It’s like this: Some restaurants are empty, nobody wants to enter.
Jollibee is crowded already, people are lining up. Not because the
food today is so much better, but the perception is created, by TV,
in the heads of the kids. They cry out in delight as soon as they see
the sign of Jollibee. So, mother has no choice.

Back to politics, politicians are masters of false perceptions. “People

Power”, “Alleviation of poverty” are as false as the myth of freedom
of the press, self-serving. Cory coined these to gain popularity, when
in effect she destroyed all power and everything else, because she
wanted to destroy the image of her predecessor.

She feared and avoided any comparison with FM, she became the
widow of hatred and revenge. Good for her that she could hide
behind a Cardinal and his prayers and that she was lifted by the CIA
to become “Woman of the year in TIME” and allowed to speak in
full Congress. Image, perception, instead of truth for the Filipino
people. And they paid dearly for that make-over.
- page 17 –
 AN INTRODUCTION

First Letter to the President

- page 18 -
November 10, 2003

Mr. FERNANDO POE Jr.

7, Narcissus Drive
Beverly Hills, Antipolo City

Dear Mr. President, dear First Lady,

As you read the newspapers these days, you get the feeling that the
bandwagon is unstoppable. Better to get used to the idea. It is not so
bad anyway as you will see. You have already millions of friends,
diehard friends like the Ginebra fans. You will have millions more.
You will see that also. We are just two of your friends, but we hope
to become real friends soon. We like to write an intelligent letter,
but we don’t want you to fall asleep while reading. Let’s try. Maybe
we’ll be your speechwriters later, who knows? Here we go.

Following the POSTSCRIPT in the PHILIPPINE STAR, last

Sunday, FPJ is a good man, but is he ready? What a question! Of
course, he is not ready! How can he? He has never held a public
office. FPJ will tell you “hindi marunong ako mag-presidente pero.”
Stop! Hold it! Right there! We don’t have to talk about FPJ being a
good man. But, we have to talk about that p e r o.

First, let’s make it clear to everybody, FPJ does not need the
presidency to make himself rich. He does not need anybody to buy
him a drink. FPJ also does not need the presidency to prove to
everybody that he would have been a brilliant politician.

Certainly Susan does not care about that. She would prefer a
private life, if you ask her.

- page 19 -
P e r o, the Filipino people need FPJ to be the king of the Filipino
people. Da King in da Palace! We need beautiful people in the
palace to represent us. Filipino people love beauty and they love
heroes. The housewife and the labandera were not the choice of the
Filipino people, neither was FVR. He had a beautiful socialite
somewhere out there but a pangit wife in the palace. Erap brought
new flair, but he was not allowed to stay for long. Actually, he
himself gave up his strong position with the people, when he danced
in the EDSA Celebration 1999, arm-in-arm with the housewife and
FVR. Against his old pare FM! Can you beat that?

Talking about Erap’s mistakes, he said he wanted to bury Marcos.

He said but then he got afraid. He wanted to please everybody.
Nobody can please everybody. The truth is that in this country there
is one real issue and that issue divides the country as long as the
issue is not solved: Pro or against Marcos. The other truth is that the
one who will bury Marcos will be the true hero of the Filipino
people. Even if for 20 years now, the anti-Marcos conspiracy has
controlled the mass media, TV, Radio, and newspapers, and spread
lies over lies about our late President.

FPJ and Erap know first hand that FM did not steal a penny from
any Filipino. But what can you do against the most powerful
conspiracy of the powers of the world, the USA, the G7, and the
CIA together with the local oligarchs of rich land grabbers led by
Ayala, Ortigas, and Tuazon Arroyo? They could not control Marcos,
so they decided to destroy him. The majority of the Filipino could
not see the evil intention behind the sacrifice fly of someone who
was dying in Boston already but got himself killed in plain daylight
on the Manila airport by the enemies of FM, who then blamed it on
him.

- page 20-
For 20 years now, the housewife wants the Filipino people to suffer
so they will hate Marcos. They suffer, yes, but they don’t hate
Marcos. They still hope silently that FM has left something for them.
As long as this government is anti-Marcos, the Filipino people will
keep quiet. What else can they do? They can only watch the sacrifice
fly, the one who was declared a national hero by the housewife, his
housewife.

So, here now comes FPJ! He who was meant by FM to be his

successor one day! But Erap came ahead, first Senator then Vice
President. Erap is a good guy, but he did not listen to his best friends
who warned him of a giant demolition job led by FVR. He just did
not see it coming.

So what with FPJ? Will he be the same as Erap or will he be luckier

with his advisors? Will he listen to his conscience? Will he have the
guts? Will he remember what FM told him? And what, if they start
accusing him of being an old friend of FM, actually a very close
friend, who was with FM to the end, there in forced exile in Hawaii?

This is, by all means, the making of a president. You can’t please
them all. Make your stand. Stand firm with your old pare. What else
is there, Mr. President? You don’t want to make another GMA, do
you? It’s useless to think that anyone can turn around government,
fan the economy, and set a stop to graft and corruption. For example
only, what will the newly elected president do with a Supreme Court
that is filled with political appointees of the enemy, so that the
enemy cannot be prosecuted for plunder?

Look, who is coming to the defense of the Chief Justice! The

housewife, praying, praying, praying, the labandera, and old, senile
– page 21 -

Jovito Salonga, Mister Oplan Big Bird from the early PCCG, the
traitor of the Filipino people! They must have millions of reasons.
It is more realistic to think that what they did to Erap in Makati, they
will do again to FPJ. Those poor innocente filling the offices of
Ayala have mortgaged their houses and their souls for the rest of
their lives. They have to follow the Business Club. At least until they
hear the new FPJ slogans. ”Life will change with FPJ. For every
Filipino!”

What? With FPJ there will be P10,000 every month for every
Filipino 50 years and older? WOW! Who will pay for that? That will
be the big question. And the answer is: “That is not your business.
It’s not government. We have a bank guarantee from one of the top
banks in the world.” We don’t have to mention a name. Everybody
will know.

Finally to us, we have been working silently for years for the
vindication of Marcos. We wanted to find the deposits and the
accounts and we did. We are known to the family and we don’t think
that we can cheat the CIA or the U.S. Treasury.

So we are working out something together with those poor remnants

of a lost generation that were entrusted by FM to be holders of
certificates and/or be signatories. Of course, we cannot do anything
openly under a government that condemns and confiscates anything
and everything that smells Marcos.

We are waiting, hoping for a different political environment. That

has to be pro-Marcos. We are dreaming of a National Reconciliation
Council of Seven. That could be the ideal vehicle to distribute the
Marcos money. Not government! The incoming president could be,
would be, hopefully, presiding over that
- page 22 –

Council of Seven including such persons as the Former First Lady

and the duly elected President of the Republic of the Philippines.
That Council could also pay off the coco levy victims. Imagine; that
alone would be more than 10 million voters. Not only voters, friends
for life! Then let government and Danding Cojuangco keep the
money, public funds or private funds, and stick it up their noses.
They would look pathetic.

On the day of reckoning, when all the cameras are there when FPJ
registers in the COMELEC, FPJ could say one more thing: “Now
the mudslinging can begin in earnest. “To all my enemies and
accusers I have this to say: The day I will start my work as President,
I will seriously consider and call the best lawyers to file the biggest
court case on earth, Filipino people against the Guinness Book Of
Records for $100Billion. For lying to the world about our late
President and for destroying the credibility of a whole nation! At
least they will have to show us where they got the information that
Marcos was the biggest robber of all times, from which court and
when. Maybe they can tell us how much he stole. If not, well, that I
leave to the lawyers.”

Of course, we could give that to the big boys and focus on illegal
sequestration by the PCGG. The PCGG law provides that FM had
to be tried in court in a criminal case for diverting, stealing, money
from public funds. And convicted! That’s what the law says. As no
such thing ever happened, the next President is free to file charges
against some former administrations, after Marcos, for stealing the
sequestered assets from the people.

Yes, we can, Mr. President! Give justice a chance, justice for the
great man and his people! His people will be grateful forever.

With kindest regards, O.J.

- page 23 –
 AN EXPLANATION (or two)

Have you heard about the Vatican Gold?

A letter to someone who knows

THE SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE

- page 24 -

Have you heard of the Vatican gold?

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
October 29, 1999 Page 1

DAVAO CITY--A former Catholic priest here claims to have

evidence that the alleged Marcos gold horde is composed of World
War II “Yamashita gold and Vatican gold.''

Ex-priest Marcelino Tagle of Bataan, a former director of Caritas

Manila and one of the nation's “Ten Outstanding Young Men'' in
1967, said in a recent interview that the nation “should benefit'' from
the Marcos gold, which he estimated at “10 trillion dollars.'' Ten
trillion dollars is 10 times more than the gross national product of
China in 1998; around 127 times more than the GNP of the
Philippines last year; and almost 10 times the combined worth of the
world's 200 richest known billionaires in 1999.

“I am ready to substantiate and defend my claims for the benefit of

the Filipino people,'' Tagle said when told that his claims were
preposterous. The former priest said he once served as an adviser of
the late President Ferdinand Marcos and administrator for the estate
of another man whom he claimed was the source of the Marcos gold.

But because Marcos was allegedly able to gain control of the gold
certificates and cover the paper trail, according to Tagle, “it is almost
impossible to recover them without piecing the various pieces like a
mosaic.'' Tagle said the gold certificates and bullion were deposited
in at least 15 countries. How the Vatican and Yamashita treasure
reached the Philippines is a story that, he

- page 25 -

claims, involves two of the century's most influential personalities-

-Adolf Hitler and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Royal gold
Tagle said the Vatican gold included “gold bars captured by Hitler.
The gold bars belonged to the royalties of Europe, of which the
Vatican was trustee.'' It also included “royal gold'', which the British
reportedly shipped to Singapore for safekeeping in the event that
Hitler would conquer all of Europe.

Tagle said that the Vatican entrusted the treasure to a certain Father
Jose Antonio Diaz, who assumed several names when he moved to
the Philippines. One of his aliases, according to Tagle, was “Col.
Severino Sto. Romana.'' Tagle said Sto. Romana hired the young
Marcos as his lawyer and trustee. He said the Sto. Romana gold was
“actually more than the Marcos gold, about $50 trillion, but this
treasure is tied up with the Marcos gold.''

Tagle, co-administrator of the Sto. Romana estates, said the

Yamashita treasure was recovered through the help of MacArthur
and Yamashita's wife. But an estimated 400,000 metric tons from
both the Marcos and Sto. Romana gold, he said, “are still in the
country, hidden in caves.''

For lack of documents

The heirs of Sto. Romana were unable to recover the assets “for lack
of original documents and (because of the) nature of the accounts
(which required) full cooperation of nominees and trustees
constituted by the late President Marcos.'' Appearing before the
Senate blue ribbon committee on October 14, 1997, Tagle said
Marcos, as lawyer and chief trustee of Sto. Romana,
- page 26 -

“succeeded in isolating the nominees or trustees of the gold

certificates from the physical assets--so much so that it is almost
impossible to recover them without piecing the various pieces like a
mosaic.''
Tagle said the “Marcos gold was not stolen from the Philippine
government.'' Instead, said the former priest, Marcos abused his
authority by using the Central Bank to transact the gold. Tagle, who
is presently in Davao City as consultant of gold prospectors, said he
was ready to substantiate his claims.

He allegedly went into exile in the United States in September 1969

because the Marcoses were displeased about his leading a protest
against graft and corruption in the Bureau of Customs. He resigned
from the priesthood and married. He is now chair and chief
executive officer of International Consultex Inc., a New York-based
mining, consultancy and engineering firm.

A lot of money

The Senate is conducting public hearings on the Marcos wealth,

revolving around a $13.2-billion Swiss bank account once allegedly
kept by Irene Marcos Araneta. Former Solicitor General Francisco
Chavez is presenting the evidence. “Chavez knows what he is
talking about,'' said Tagle, adding that the Marcos wealth was so
huge that even Marcos' widow Imelda did not know its exact worth.

If Tagle's $10-trillion estimate of the Marcos wealth were true, the

Marcoses would be around 111 times richer than “the richest man in
the world,'' Microsoft chief Bill Gates. Forbes Magazine in June
estimated Gates' fortune at $90 billion. Ten trillion dollars is also 56
times more than the combined net worth of the top 50
- page 27 -

billionaires in Asia, and almost 1,111 times the combined net worth
of four Filipino billionaires who made it to the 1999 list. The Marcos
family was not on that list.
The amount is also equivalent to almost half of the combined GNP
of the world's top 10 economies in 1998. It would take
approximately 4500 people--counting uninterrupted at a rate of one
dollar per second--70 years to count $10 trillion.

Seven-point solution

Tagle said among the first things government should do to recover

the wealth is to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good
Government which has spent “millions of dollars'' but has “failed to
produce the desirable results in bringing back the gold assets for the
benefit of the Filipino people.''

Tagle proposed a “seven-point solution'' to the problem of

recovering the Marcos wealth:

* Create a Global Trust Fund to “secure, recover and distribute the

assets of Marcos in an out-of-court settlement.''

* Have “banking groups lend money to the Trust using the gold
certificates and physical assets deposited in the lending banks, for a
period of 15-20 years.''

* The proceeds should be used to “pay the Philippine debt'' and fund
“education, social services, medical needs, and generate jobs by
building new plants, roads, transport facilities, communication,
irrigation, energy development, etc.''

* Probate courts “should assist in determining the rightful heirs and

- page 28 -

beneficiaries (of the wealth) and effect compromise agreements with

primary and secondary beneficiaries.''
* Government and all beneficiaries should “agree on their respective
shares”.

* “Adequate compensation should be given to human rights

victims.''

* “Put a major portion of the funds into the development of

Mindanao and other depressed areas of the Philippines by creating
new centers of industrial development and free trading zones.''

* Establish an Asia-Pacific gold trading house in Subic backed up

by a gold refinery, jointly operated by the Central Bank and private
gold hallmark companies.''

* “Call a general and sectoral conference on the Marcos gold. World

banking officials and lawyers involved in recovering the wealth
must be invited.''

Carolyn O. Arguillas, Chief, PDI Mindanao Bureau; with a

report from PDI Research

- page 29 -

To: David Silb…….. , Esq.

New York, N.Y.
(Name withheld for security reasons)
Dec 15, 2003

Dear David,

How are you doing? Do you know that it is 10 years now that we
have been exchanging notes, views, and ideas regarding the greatest
secret on earth? Surely, it is not Victoria’s secret. Seriously, I have
to take it as my destiny that I spend the most important years of my
life here at the end of the world. History will tell that I was not an
idiot. I hope. I am collecting bits and pieces and trying to connect
them to a giant puzzle. Most parts are now covered and it is easier
to fit in any new parts.

What makes the whole story so scary is the involvement of the most
powerful people and institutions, especially some of the biggest
banks in this world. They rule the world. Silently. Secretly.
Cunningly. Untouchably. It does not make things easier that the
Pope is involved as well as the Queen or the President of the United
States of America.

The Pope does not need anybody to find out that the Vatican
financed the army of one Adolf Hitler. The Queen does not need
anybody to show the true original crown jewels. The what? She
would hate that. And she will tell the President of the U.S. of A to
make bloody sure that any information coming from the Philippines
has to be suppressed or ridiculed. So that nobody will believe.

- page 30 –

Believe what? David, but please bear with me when I try to give a
complete picture. That might help, so I hope, even in the higher
echelons, with your good friends, your best contacts, to enlighten
each and everyone a bit more. As is, this country harbors numerous
armies of foreign intelligence agencies sneaking around in sting
operations, confiscating, arresting, misleading. CIA, Mossad, G9,
MI5, name it, they are all here to stay, fishing for information.

The world out there is bankrupt; all the wealth of the nations is
hidden here. This is and has always been the richest country of the
world, silently, secretly, so nobody will ever find out. Until Marcos
came and some other small events in history, not always recorded
and transmitted to the full extent of the truth. I heard it from you that
you were apprentice in Schroeder Bank in London in 1946, assigned
to the London Metal Exchange.

You were there to list the lost gold, lost in different warehouses.
946,000 metric tons of gold had disappeared during or maybe even
before World War II. You were there when the claims were filed,
the claims of the “Original Claimants of World War II Loot” as they
are called officially, in the International Court in Den Haag. That
was some 60 years ago. The world does still not know who, what,
and why. The owners or their countries never got it back.

Does anybody care? Hitler's SS had stolen it, brought it to Singapore

where DEGUSSA had re-melted and re-barred the stuff. The
Japanese Imperial Army picked it up and brought it to the
Philippines. They were very good in hiding it. “Forever Japanese”,
sounds like the “1,000 year Reich”.

And then there was another 350,000 tons, which Yamashita brought
over from his bloody rape of China. So the whole Imperial Army
knew. Does anybody think that the Yakuza does not know?
- page 31 -

Sure they know, so do others. They will not go away and they will
not show. Covert operation. Anyhow, Manila is a friendly mega
city; some call it Sodom and Gomorra, it’s absolutely safe for any
criminal elements of whatever caliber.
The irony is that even they don’t know. They don’t want to know or
believe even that 60 ships brought still another 485,000 tons secretly
from the Vatican to Manila in 1949. With that the Royal Family of
the Philippines created the Central Bank of the Philippines, leasing
the gold per contract to the Philippine government for 50 years. That
has passed and there is now an existing court order wherein the
Governor of the Central Bank is ordered to relocate the remaining
balance of 400,000 tons in the vaults of the Central Bank.

Thousands of people pass by there every day. They might see the
fortress-like structures but they have no idea what is in there. By the
way, the undersigned is as much authorized representative for the
Royal Family as anybody else. For your reference: Regional Trial
Court of Pasay City, Branch 111, Case Number LRC/Case 3957-P,
Presiding Judge Ernesto Reyes.

Marcos re-smelted some of that gold to create “RP-CB” gold. He re-

buried most of it, even in Manila. One of the nicest hotels here is the
Philippine Plaza Hotel. It has a beautiful swimming pool by the bay.
Yakuza people like to swim there and have a drink at sunset time at
the bar called “Treasure Island”¨. The beauty is hard to beat but
down there, deep down under their chairs are 172,000 metric tons of
“RP-CB” gold.

Nobody wants to believe. Nobody wants to believe anything that is

connected to Marcos. The demolition job done by the highest

- page 32 -

powers after Marcos had fallen out of grace in 1983 was the most
perfect job ever done in this business.

For the last 20 years any Indio boy in the jungle of Peru or any
hottentot in South Africa, and of course everybody else in this world
can open the Guinness Book of records and read that Ferdinand
Marcos was the biggest robber of all times.

Fact is that they have no fact but who cares? Nobody will doubt,
nobody will argue that the highest court in New York has acquitted
Marcos in 1991. The verdict is very clear and final: “In the case of
Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos there was no fraud and no
malversation of public funds.” Nobody wants to hear the truth
anymore.

So, why will the Guinness Book of records go so far as to create a

blatant lie? Your guess is as good as mine, but too many people
knew about some massive deposits of gold and cash in many banks
in many countries all over the world. Marcos did it. Marcos was in
control. But he had created too many enemies. He had gotten too
big. Greed is an enemy. Envy is an enemy.

Everybody hated the people close to him. Maybe he overestimated

himself; maybe he underestimated the power of media. Certainly he
did not see it coming, when Ninoy Aquino got killed on the airport
in a clear premeditated media campaign to blame Marcos and instill
the idea of a “dictator” in the minds of the people.

The rest is history and the new “powers” in this country needed help
to get going without the support of the people. A lot of that is
patchwork, amateurishly done, and might still become a problem

- page 33 -

one day if not checked properly. Who can check, though, if there is
hardly anyone who knows the facts?

Anyhow, the crucial point here is this: We assume that there is a

super power, Committee of the 300, or whatever we might call them.
By all means, they must be in control now where Marcos was in
control before. Let me believe that he was an absolute genius, the
Uebermensch in Nietsche’s German dictum. Let me also believe that
the old guard of the top bankers of the world salute to a great man,
until today.

It would follow that they always wanted to go the Marcos line with
officially IMF- and World Bank-approved plans and projects, but
certain political developments took center stage for the meantime.
Politics have proven futile or negative over the years and four post-
Marcos administrations must have been very disappointing to those
who have a real interest in the welfare of country and people. It has
been a plain disaster ever since Marcos left and there is no hope.

This country is going to vote for a new President in May 2004. It’s
going to be more of the same or even worse. Except, there is a new
star on the horizon, a movie actor but also a personal friend of
Marcos. In just a few days he has emerged as the favorite of the
people and he is widely predicted to win even without a political
party.

For me, the idea is so tempting that there might be the opening for a
general reconciliation on a grand scale. He would finally bury
Marcos and he would invite the Pope, Bush and the Queen, and the
Japanese Emperor and everybody else would come.

A unique window of opportunity! In plain view of the world, the

leaders of the world embrace each other! And the top bankers of
- page 34 -

the world, especially those from the BIS in Basel (Bank for
International Settlement), offer their help in the settlement of the
Marcos accounts. Peace on earth is to follow and no one will
doubt. No one will argue anymore about this and that, provided that
we get that movie actor interested and convinced.
Here now I meet a group of people, British, ABC-Group (names
withheld for security reasons) with their general manager who also
is the general manager of BENOIT INTERNATIONAL SWISS
DESK, the long arm of UBS, now solely and exclusively in charge
of the Marcos accounts. Jim So-and-so is a nice guy to talk to but
very low key, very cautious. He explained to me, in full detail and
in no uncertain terms, about the plan of the Luminati to make the
Philippines a first-world country by the year 2011.

I saw the schedule with Alan Greenspan leading the Philippine

Commission from 2006 on. I like to work with him but he is wary
of my open style of just do it, with reverse psychology as risk
management. He realizes that I know too many people and he might
be afraid that I leak. He prefers his status as covert and he wants to
do humanitarian projects only to help the poor.

Nice and good but if you really want to help the Filipino people by
the millions, you have to think big and do something big also. At
least that is my opinion and I tell him. Well, I have been here for
more than 15 years, I have well adapted including the language, and
I know the pitfalls. I sometimes have to agree with others that many
Filipino men tend to be a disgrace to mankind but they are handsome
and smell good. You don’t trust them or most of them. Logic?
Hardly anyone knows how to spell it.

Bottom line: I am talking to (or writing to) a man who is up there,

who can buy 70,000 tons of gold, not for himself but for his group.
- page 35 -

So you, David, must know the people who are really up there, the
decision makers of the grand plan. We cannot ask them a favor, but
maybe we can tell them that nobody can really know what is going
on in this country from a distance of thousands of miles. I could be
a useful tool and I am willing to be because the time is right and the
playing field is for the taking.

Why do I tell you all of this? A few weeks ago, the day that the actor
announced to the world that he would be available to pass the
election process, I saw him on CNN, every half hour. As if he had
been declared the new President. Nothing comes from nothing, I
thought, certainly not on CNN. So he has the big support.

Wonderful, I thought. I had just given him a letter of my own, passed

also to Madame Imelda Marcos and to the duly elected President of
this country, Joseph Estrada.

I attach it also and then I beg your pardon for giving you all this
without asking you. I just feel it, that this is right. You have known
my way of thinking for a long time. I am certainly not pushing
myself forward and I am not limited to the Philippines. I think I told
you that I see myself as the German Chancellor one day. But here
and now, I can be of great help. Please check it out with the ABC
Group. I will have no problem working with them.

With kindest regards,

O.J.
(Signed real name)

- page 36 –
 Cory Aquino always denied the existence of any gold.
CIA authors wrote books like “ASIAN LOOT” and
“HOW MARCOS LOOTED THE CENTRAL BANK”,
ably joined by local authors of the macabre caliber of
a Jovito Salonga and Erick San Juan who have to cover up.
Ex-President Ramos always said: “Gold?
I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Question is: Why do they have to lie to us?

And the answer is: Read the following live report!

- page 37 -

SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE
 “We were there; we dug up gold”

SPECIAL REPORT, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

By Donna S. Cueto, January 02, 1998, Page 1, (First of Two Parts)

THEY were just in their early 20s in September 1972, when

first recruited into the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion, with the
“mysterious'' task of digging tons of gold and gemstones for
President Ferdinand Marcos.

Twenty-five years later, the soldiers now in their 40s and 50s have
surfaced to file a claim in California and Zurich against the Marcos
estate for their labors from 1973 to the second quarter of 1985 when
they dug--what to their estimate--were 60,000 tons of gold and other
precious metals and gemstones.

They have written a joint affidavit signed by at least 96 of the

original diggers. Roberto B. Caoile, 45, the group's spokesperson,
said their members number more than 115. They are still looking for
other comrades--members of the 51st Army Engineering Brigade
and the AFP Logistics Command who helped them in the diggings,
classified as ``top secret'' by Marcos and Ver.

The soldiers, some of them retired, others still in active service,

represent the Forgotten Claimants of Yamashita--World War II
Treasures Versus Marcos Estate Incorporated. They were part of the
Task Force Restoration, organized by Armed Forces Chief of
- page 38 –

Staff Fabian Ver, whose main task was to conduct ``massive

diggings and excavations'' under the cover of fighting the
communist insurgency in the countryside during the martial law
years.

Not fantasies

“These are not mere legendary fantasies out of Arabian

nights as claimed by ignorant, unknowledgeable or pseudo-
pretenders/impostors who ought to deceive, conceal, cover,
camouflage and confuse the real truth about this matter for their very
own personal pursuits and vested interests alone,'' states the soldiers'
affidavit.

This was apparently a shot at an earlier statement of

Magtanggol Gunigundo, chair of the Presidential Commission
on Good Government who had denied the existence of the
Marcos gold hoard. They said the statements of Ferdinand
``Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., denying the Marcos gold, were also ``pure
lies, deception and greediness to conceal, cover and camouflage the
selfishness of the Marcoses.''

``We were there. We dug the gold. Why would they deny this now?''
Caoile said. The soldiers' group said it is only ``appropriate'' that the
Marcoses pay the human rights victims a specific amount based on
the just and fair computation of each victim's ``factual predicament
during Marcos' rule.''

The human rights claimants had been awarded a $2-billion judgment

against the Marcos estate. But the soldiers said they, too, should be
given their just share for digging the gold and other treasures.

- page 39 -

``We want the truth to come out and we want to be recognized for
our role in digging the gold. This has been kept from the public far
too long,'' Caoile said.
Missing link?

Theirs is a story that may be considered the missing link in

the mystery of the Marcos gold. According to the soldiers, the
Marcos generals and officers close to the late president knew about
the operation, including President Ramos who was in the so-
called ``Rolex 12'' circle and was chief of the Philippine
Constabulary.

Ver's elite Presidential Guard Battalion watched and guarded the

young soldiers with hawk-like attention while they conducted the
digging operations at night, claimed Reynaldo Dominguez, one of
the ``gold soldiers'' in Task Force Restoration, who recently retired
with the rank of second lieutenant.

During the day, they slept or did their ``standard'' work of

``restoration'' or infrastructure development and other ``field
operations.'' They did not question their orders, Dominguez said.
When they were sent on ``field training'' they obeyed to serve the
country. Dominguez and Caoile were among those newly recruited
in the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion which was one of the first
troops sent to the ``digging fields'' in 1972. Caoile was then only 20;
Dominguez, 25.

172 sites

Throughout the 13 years that the members of the Task Force

Restoration did their work, only some 30 treasure sites out of 172
were dug up, they claimed. The rest where members of the
- page 40 -

Japanese Imperial Army buried their looted treasures from some 10

countries as identified by Marcos and Ver with the help of “some
Japanese men,'' who had the maps, were untouched or may have
been dug up by “those in the know.''

The young men, some 300 of them, who became members of the
reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion, were recruited in September
1972. On Oct. 16, 1972, they took oath as new recruits with the rank
of ``private,'' of the battalion under the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the
Philippine Army in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal. Lt. Col. Javier
was their battalion commander. Their group was under then Col.
Ramon L. Cannu, commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Brigade.

First digging

Their first digging operation was in March 1973 near Lake

Caliraya in Lumban, Laguna, according to the retired soldiers.
``Sometime on early morning of the first week of March 1973, we
were secretly tasked to provide manpower for digging operations
and security to a huge part of the infamous and legendary
Yamashita WWII treasures consisting of gold bars and gemstones
buried by Japanese soldiers within the plateau in the vicinity of Lake
Caliraya Resort, in Cavinti, Laguna,'' their affidavit states.

Their unit stayed in the area up to the last week of April 1973, but a
platoon-sized detachment remained to ``ward off New People's
Army elements operating there.'' They started the preliminary
work—setting up steel sheets around the area and constructing the
makeshift field barracks--and then dug the area as instructed.

- page 41 -

Ver's PGB and high-ranking officers inspected the construction of

the makeshift field barracks and the ``pounding of long flat steel
bars, which served as perimeter fence at the treasure site about to be
dug up . . .''
Dominguez, who was in the first group, recalled how they prepared
to dig a hole in the ground 30 feet wide and 35 feet deep, as
instructed by their superior officers. Their stay of several months
extended to a year.

Animal offerings

They were even told to make offerings--pigs or chickens

which were killed at the site to appease ``enkantos'' who were
supposedly guarding the treasures. Otherwise, they could encounter
severe difficulty at the digging site. The ground would mysteriously
swell with water or some of their things would get lost. Even the
soldiers themselves were told to have no ``dark intentions'' and to be
``pure in heart'' so they could accomplish their objective,
Dominguez said.

President Marcos himself came to visit them at the site whenever

there was a glimpse of success. He also made ``random visits''
aboard a helicopter during the diggings, they said. ``During these
operations, members of our unit saw four Japanese nationals
together with ex-president Ferdinand E. Marcos, Generals Fabian
Ver and Ramon Cannu, Lt. Colonels Lachica and Javier D.
Carbonnel, and Capt. Renato Jamora and some members of the elite
Presidential Guard Battalion,'' the soldiers' sworn statement says.

- page 42 -

Eureka

But it was only on the evening of April 27, 1973, at around

11 p.m., that the ``treasure digging activity finally reached its
objective.'' They had been using two bulldozers, two backhoe
``Kato'' and a heavy-duty crane when they struck something, the first
of the group's find. ``Several steel cylindrical drums measuring
approximately three feet long and 1.5 feet in diameter, and an
undetermined number of rectangular copper boxes (three feet long,
one foot wide and two feet high) entombed in several thick concrete
vaults were unearthed at an estimated depth of 35 to 40 feet,'' they
claim in their joint affidavit.

One of the concrete vaults was accidentally hit by the Kato backhoe
while the vaults were being dug up. Until that time, the soldiers
didn't know what they were sent down there to dig. Because of
repeated strikes, the teeth of the backhoe broke the body of the vault,
hitting a steel drum inside it. The soldiers saw ``heavy yellow metal
gold which gleamed amidst the floodlights concentrated on the big
digging area.'' One of the bars which they saw was a foot long, three
inches wide and almost two inches thick.

Marcos elated

After more than 30 minutes, three helicopters arrived. Two

Huey military-type helicopters came escorting a presidential
chopper ferrying Marcos, Ver, Cannu, Felix and some PGB close-
in security personnel. They came to inspect the treasure find.

Marcos could not contain his excitement, the soldiers said. ``When
the ex-PFM saw the successful operation, he was very much elated
and very happy with the group numbering about 60 soldiers who
- page 43 –

were there at that time. The others (soldiers) were away manning the
second and third layer perimeter security of the digging area,'' their
affidavit says. Marcos allegedly told them in Tagalog: You will all
share in everything that's here but you have to wait for the right time.
The concrete vaults (approximately six feet long, five feet wide and
five feet high) were lifted one by one through the use of a heavy
crane and were placed aboard three six by six military trucks which
were on a 24-hour stand-by near the battalion headquarters
command post at the area. ``Before the former President and (his)
party left the place, we overheard him instructing General Ver
apparently on where to transport and hide the gold bars which (task)
was carried out by PGB elements,'' the soldiers' sworn statement
says.

``Sometime in the fourth week of April 1973, we were pulled out

from the area, but a platoon-sized detachment was left and stayed
there for almost a year after the site was further improved as new
tourist spot into what is called now as Japanese Shrine Sunken
Garden,'' they said. After the digging at Lake Caliraya in Laguna,
the other company elements of the reactivated 16th Infantry
Battalion were utilized to provide the same security detail services
and conduct treasure-digging operations separately in the areas of
Montalban, Antipolo, Baras and Teresa all in Rizal province from
1974 to 1981.

This led to the activation of the ``Task Force Restoration'' under Lt.
Col. Porferio Gemoto sometime in 1977 and 1978. To justify the
continuous service of these soldiers in the treasure-digging
operations, some company elements of the 16 th Infantry Battalion
were placed under the operational control of the Presidential
Security Command in Malacanang with provisional headquarters
- page 44 -

at an old incinerator plant located in front of Munoz, EDSA, Quezon

City, the soldiers' affidavit said. Task Force Restoration had then
extended its operations to the Intramuros-Manila Cathedral area
near where the Palacio del Gobernador was built.

Discovery of tunnels
In 1972, before the diggings happened, Marcos' men discovered a
vast tunnel ``within the Pasig River'' along what is now the
Napindan flood control project, underground tunnels from the Fort
Bonifacio military reservation up to Villamor Air Base and Bicutan-
Taguig via Fort Bonifacio Army General Hospital. These secret
tunnels preceded all the other treasure hunting and digging
operations.

The soldiers said the gold discoveries made by Marcos, as well as

their operations, were the real reasons why he started his strongman
rule ``in the guise of a threatening rebellion by the alleged newly
revitalized CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines, New
People's Army) and Muslim secessionism in Mindanao.'' In fact,
Marcos allegedly had to create the conditions for this to justify
martial law and allow the secret diggings done by newly recruited
soldiers sent to the countryside allegedly for ``field training.'' (To be
concluded tomorrow)

- page 45 -

SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE

‘Forgotten claimants’ say they dug 60,000 MT

of gold, precious stones
 By Donna Cueto, January 03, 1998 Page 1, (Last of 2 parts)

THERE was a different group who dug, another group in

charge of transporting the boxes containing the treasures, and
another group who took care of securing these before they were
transported outside the country. This is according to Roberto
Caoile, spokesperson of the Forgotten Claimants of Yamashita-
World War II Treasures Versus Marcos Estate Inc.

The trucks, which transported the crates of gold bars and other
treasures, were large six by six trucks heavily covered and boarded
up, Caoile said. Some of the WW II gold bars were coated in black
hardened tar and asphalt to ``discourage innocent finders during
these treasure-hunting operations,'' Caoile said. The gold bars dug
by the soldiers were stored in the vaults of the old Central Bank in
Intramuros.

Later, in the mid-1970s, Marcos ``ordered the construction of a new

and modern coin and gold minting and refining plant of the Central
Bank along East Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City.'' According to
the soldiers, this was to ``further accommodate voluminous bulk of
Yamashita gold bars and bullions for remelting''-to change their
original forms and markings which included the countries where the
gold came from.

- page 46 -

There were orders from Marcos to erase the marks from the gold
bars, which the soldiers had dug up, Caoile said. This was to prevent
the government of the countries, which the Japanese had looted from
discovering these. At that time in the '70s, only 30 years after the
last World War, these countries still had the right to ask for the
return of their treasures.

The different gold bars which the soldiers dug up had inscriptions
such as ``Cambodia'' with five star markings; ``Sumatra'' with four
stars; ``Burma'' with three stars, and other marks identical to the
countries of their origin. The Cambodia gold bars weighed 6.3
kilograms each; the Sumatra gold bars weighed 6.2 kg each; and
the Burma bars weighed around 6 kg each. Upon orders from
Marcos, the original size and weight of the gold bars were modified
to make it appear that these did not come from the Japanese treasure
loot; thus, the need to re-melt these at the Central Bank, the soldiers
claimed.

Shipped out

The soldiers' affidavit says ``crates by crates'' of gold bars

were shipped out of the country via the Manila International Airport
(now the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) using C-130 military
aircraft after martial law was proclaimed. This was witnessed by
perimeter security personnel of the airport. ``During those years of
diggings and excavations, frequent electric power brownouts
occurred (in) the Greater Manila area intentionally done to cover up
the series of transport of gold bars from treasure sites to the Central
Bank or secret warehouse vaults pre-designated by ex-PFM thru
General Ver,'' a document prepared by the new claimant group of
soldiers says. The group said even before martial rule in 1972,
Marcos had already successfully excavated gold bullions and

- page 47 –

gemstones at the Manila Railroad Company (MRRCO, now PNR)

yard complex at Tutuban terminal.
 This was at the start of his first term as president from 1965 to 1969.
He started treasure digging when elected president in 1965 but could
not finish it in four years; thus the need to employ soldiers to
continue the work under Task Force Restoration when he was
reelected, the forgotten Claimants said.

60,000 metric tons

The soldiers claimed that in all, they excavated and retrieved

more than 60,000 metric tons of gold bars, bullions, and other
precious metals such as palladium, platinum, chrome, nickel, zinc
and little Babbitt bars. There were precious gems such as diamonds,
both cut and uncut.

Among the ``major'' treasure sites which the soldiers, who now
formed the ``Forgotten Claimants of Yamashita,'' had dug up were
in Caliraya in Cavinti-Lumban, Laguna; Baras and Teresa in Rizal
province; Montalban caves in Montalban, Rizal; Montalban Mascat;
Sitio Mayagay, Sampaloc in Tanay, Rizal; Fort Bonifacio Tunnel;
Fort Bonifacio hospital; the area of the Manpower and Youth
building; Bastion de San Lorenzo in Fort Santiago; Munoz in Nueva
Ecija; Balok bridge, also in Nueva Ecija; site of the Central Luzon
State University statue in Mu¤oz; Sta. Fe in Nueva Vizcaya; Campo
4 in San Jose, Nueva Vizcaya; and San Mateo in Rizal province.

According to them, the Japanese army units had subdivided the

treasures they brought into the country and buried them in places

- page 48 -

classified as major and minor treasure sites. The Japanese allegedly

used the Manila Railroad Co. to transport the treasures.

Major or minor treasure sites depended on the ``suitability,

concealment, permanency and location of man-made, built-up areas,
mountainous and/ or rolling hills, terrain with creeks, rivers, dams,
big acacia, mango, camachile or duhat trees that serve as references
for future retrieval of said treasure deposits,'' the soldiers' said. This
excludes the four, six, eight or more pieces of gold bars usually
found underneath big acacia or mango trees where they had been
stashed by low-ranking Japanese soldiers while their superior
officers were not looking.

In some of the major treasure sites, the soldiers even found skeletons
still wearing their tattered uniforms and helmets, and with their
swords beside them. In Fort Santiago alone, there were more than
100 boxes of treasures, which the soldiers found buried under the
old torture chamber, Bastion de San Lorenzo, which is just near the
Pasig River. The gold treasures were buried at or below sea level
where the ground temperature is cooler to prevent melting.

Too poor to file

Their lawyer, Benjamin Rosario, said the soldiers have all

the right to file a claims suit against the Marcoses because they had
a ``direct hand and knowledge about the treasure digging activities
of the Marcoses.'' In fact, they directly participated in these
activities. Most of the soldiers are poor. Not much has changed since
they were young recruits digging for gold.

Much as they wanted to file a suit directly to the Zurich tribunal as

instructed by Swiss Ambassador Kurt Hoechner, they could not do
- page 49 –

so because of the monumental lawyer's fees they have to pay. A

Swiss lawyer's asking price is 500 to 600 francs per hour. ``Where
will we get the money?'' said the group's spokesperson, Caoile. They
have already written Hoechner, about their plight and their plan to
file a suit in Zurich.
Swiss envoy regrets

On April 29, 1996, they sent most of their vital documents to

Hoechner to seek help from the Swiss Embassy in filing their claim.
On Sept. 5, 1996, Hoechner wrote back: ``I regret to inform you that
the Swiss Embassy is not in a position to forward those documents
to a court in Zurich. Indeed, the Embassy cannot be considered as
legal place of service for a civil suit pending before a Swiss court.
You are obliged to serve these papers by other means directly to the
Tribunal in Zurich.''

Hoechner said that as far as the so-called ``Marcos case'' is

concerned, the Swiss government is limited to the request for
judicial assistance in criminal matters under the pertinent Swiss law
made by the Philippine government through the PCGG.

``The Swiss Embassy in Manila has no role in these proceedings. A

discussion with the private claimants on this matter can therefore
not take place and would be to no avail,'' he added. When they wrote
the US District Court in California, they were given an option for a
``pauper trial'' since they had no money. There was a list of lawyers
to choose from.

But the old ``gold soldiers'' were apprehensive about a ``pauper trial''
since, according to them, they would ``lose for sure.'' In late 1995,
around December, they wrote Credit Suisse and Swiss

- page 50 -

Banking Corp., two of the Swiss banks, which hold the frozen $500
million Marcos accounts.

They did not receive any answer. Shortly after that, the two Swiss
banks initiated a mediation with the Philippine government and the
lawyers of the 10,000 human rights victims to settle the conflicting
claims on the Marcos deposits. This came to nothing as no
settlement was agreed upon without the Marcoses' consent. ``The
banks probably got scared with the appearance of a new claimant
group which knew a lot about the Marcos treasures,'' Caoile said.

`Loyal, confidential'

“The more than 100 major treasure sites of Mr. Marcos

including minor ones could not just be excavated by himself alone
without utilizing the trusted, loyal and confidential services of a big
number of diggers composed of the Task Force Restoration
members,'' their document states. Even in President Ramos' time,
there have been secret diggings, they add.

No talk

Caoile said Marcoses and other government officials

including President Ramos would ``never talk about the gold.''
``Instead, they will deny and torture the minds and belief of the
people by telling them that these Marcos gold is nothing but a mere
hoax, fiction, fantasies of a fertile and speculative mind,'' he said.
``They do not want to expose the truth about the Marcos gold
because they are expecting to benefit out of it in collaboration and
connivance with foreign conspirators both here and abroad,'' he
added.

- page 51 -
 SCENARIOS OF BETRAYAL

What they did not tell you …….

- page 52 –

What they did not tell you about Marcos

The greatest hero during the PEOPLE’S REVOLUTION 1986 was
Ferdinand E. Marcos himself. When General Fabian Ver wanted to
have the allowance to shoot warning shots over the heads of the
thousands along EDSA, the answer was a resounding “NO!” and the
explanation was very simple. A warning shot could be
misinterpreted and answered. That would demand more fire and
escalate. Marcos did not want any Filipino to get hurt. “If they really
want to change all this, then so be it,” Marcos said.

First reaction from that: Cardinal Sin told his nuns to go out and
sit in front of the tanks for picture taking. Those pictures went
around the world, totally misrepresenting the whole story. They did
not stop the tanks with their bodies. They were merely used as tools
in the psy-war against Marcos. Marcos had given the orders and Sin
knew it. He also knew that he could trust Marcos 100%. How else
could he have risked the lives of his nuns?!

Second reaction: Knowing that there was no way Marcos would

allow guns, some colonels came up with what they thought was a
great idea. Proudly they proposed to unleash tanks loaded with
human waste from five helicopters over the crowds outside the gates
of Camp Crame. That would make them run and isolate Ramos and
Enrile. Upon hearing that, Marcos exploded. What he had tried to
build for almost 20 years would go to sh—t? Who do you think you
are to make us look ridiculous? He fumed.

Now, what is the lesson from that? That sh-t, not unleashed but
returned to barracks, saved Ramos and Enrile. Maybe, only an
idea, the sh-t unleashed, then and there, would have been better in
the long run for the fate of the Filipino people.
- page 53 -

TALLANO,
the O.C.T. 01-4,
and the PHILIPPINES
The Spanish stole the land from the Filipinos. Then, 100 years
ago, the Americans got the Philippine Islands as their only colony
in history, but when they discovered the true legal status of the
archipelago, they stuttered, gave us a Commonwealth Republic,
where they owned practically everything, until the Japanese
Imperial Army stole it during World War II.

Surprisingly, after the longest and cruelest of all wars, which

ended after the first nuclear bomb in man’s history, in Hiroshima,
Japan, and with “liberation” and recovery of the so seemingly
valuable more than 7,100 islands, which had cost thousands and
thousands of lives of American soldiers, the Americans gave
independence to the Philippines in 1946.

Filipinos were still fighting each other, what side they were on,
and nobody was there to hear the news of independence or ask
why they did that. Except for the old families, shall we call them
illustrados, kastilas, oligarchs, or feudal land lords? They were
in charge with the Osmena clan and the Roxas clan.

What ever, 20 years later, 40 years ago, the administration of then

President Diosdado Macapagal was seeking an end to legal
chaos after the Great War by filing, in court, a petition for a
decision with compromise agreement with the owners/holders of
O.C.T. 01-4 based on the following terms and conditions:

- page 54 -

1. Government recognizes the court in Land Registration

LRC/Civil Case 3957-P up-holding O.C.T. 01-4
2. Government waives its rights over all “public” lands
3. Government accepts fair prices set by the court to pay for
lands in every region
 4. Creation of a 50-year Central Bank lease agreement (until
the year 2005) for the fabled gold from the Vatican as
reserves for a stable currency

On February 4, 1972, a brilliant judge in Pasay, Judge Enrique

Agana of RTC Branch 111, had combined the best intents and
purposes of both President Diosdado Macapagal and his
successor in office, Ferdinand E. Marcos, in a landmark
DECISION WITH COMPROMISE AGREEMENT.

This decision was a land registration decision, not a heirship

decision, to create or re-create the Torrens title system of 1902
decreeing that all land titles have their origin in O.C.T. 01-4 or the
two titles derived therefrom, the T.C.T.- 408 and the T.C.T.- 498.

Two other judges, Ret. Judge Sofronio G. Sayo and Presiding Judge
Ernesto. A. Reyes of Branch 111, RTC Pasay City, have vehemently
up-held that original decision and made orders, clarificatory orders
and clarificatory decisions, writs of execution, and final orders in
LRC/CIVIL CASE 3957-P. To no avail. The sheriffs came back
with their reports. They have never been able to execute the law
against the will and the power of the rich. Not even in the few cases
where they brought military assistance.

The final order in case 3957-P came after the new administration of
GMA, through the Office of the Solicitor General, at that time Atty.
Simeon Marcelo, tried to re-open the case with a Motion for
Reconsideration of the Order of July 11, 2001. That motion for
- page 55 -

reconsideration was denied with Order of October 8, 2001. So the

Presiding Judge expected the follow-through of the Order of July
11, 2001. As nothing seemed to move, the Presiding Judge released
the following (quote):
 “ORDER”

“Perspicuously moved by the Manifestation and Reply filed

by the Office of the Register of Deeds of Rizal to the counter-
manifestation of the intervenors, as regards the continuing resistance
by the said Office to comply with the decretal pronouncements of
the final and executory Order of July 11, 2001, this court is
compelled to stress, once more, that:

1. The Order of July 11, 2001 has attained finality or

conclusiveness as to the matter competently litigated
therein;
2. The judicial pronouncements made therein became
immutable;
3. The court cannot decide the case anew;

Hence, it would be improper to tackle the merits of the

contentions considering that the order has already attained
finality…….. The court has authority to inquire whether its
judgment has been executed and will remove obstructions to the
enforcement thereof.

Otherwise, the judicial proceedings that were had could be

rendered virtually a farce, the court a stooge, a marionette subject to
the manipulation of the other parties.

- page 56 -

In view of the foregoing, compliance with the decretal

pronouncement of the final Order of July 11, 2001, is hereby
enjoined. SO ORDERED, PASAY CITY, DECEMBER 12, 2001”.
On December 19, 2001, the Office of the Register of Deeds for Rizal
in Capitolyo, Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City, issued a new land title,
T.C.T. - 408, covering the southern part of the Greater Metro Manila
Area including Manila, Makati, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Taguig,
Alabang, Muntinlupa, and the whole of Cavite.

Then, within weeks, the registrar of Deeds was removed from office,
all pertaining records in that office have disappeared, and the
Solicitor General was transferred to another government position.
The new Solicitor General ordered the Court of Appeals to issue a
TRO and then a Preliminary Injunction. That is justice with the big
hammer!

Regarding the lifting of the injunction, on March 3, 2004, the Court

of Appeals, in Paras Hall, held a hearing, which focused on the issue
of the identity of Prince Julian Morden Tallano. Present were Hon.
Cancio C. Garcia, Presiding Justice (Chairman), Hon. Marina L.
Buzon, Associate Justice (Ponente), and Hon. Eliezer R. de los
Santos, Associate Justice.

After 2 and ½ hours of ridiculous, fruitless debate, Justice Garcia

closed the hearing like this: “The Court is coming out with the
resolution along the lines expressed here by the Division. If there is
a party who is in disagreement with the resolution, then they can file
their opposition. And we will come out with the necessary resolution
on the motion for reconsideration. If you still disagree, this is not the
last Court, anyway. Alright, session adjourned.”

- page 57 -

In the beginning, all parties agreed in the DECISION WITH

COMPROMISE AGREEMENT that no appeal should ever stall the
course of justice. For 40 years, no appeal was registered. All
motions, since 1962, were filed by the Office of the Solicitor
General. They have everything on record. And they cannot accept
the verdict of the court?! What drives them? Who drives them?

The process of the law and justice may be slow, but the law must
prevail. It is time for the Philippines to recognize and honor what
has long become the law of the land, even if most people have never
heard of it. For example, it is a fateful error for many Filipinos to
believe that, if they faithfully and religiously pay their monthly
payments to the bank for 25 years, they will be the owners of the
land, where they have resided for so many years.

That is an error created by the land developers or land grabbers

starting with BF Homes, Bel Air, Forbes Park, Urdaneta Village and
many, many more after that. The developers give you a Certificate
of the Home Owners Association and, vaguely, make it appear that
they will provide a true title, as they also make it appear that they
are the true owners of the land.

As could be seen from many title disputes, many of them made it to

the Supreme Court, most prominently the mothers of all scams, the
Fort Bonifacio scam or the PEA-AMARI deal in the reclamation
area which includes also the famous-infamous Diosdado Macapagal
Boulevard, the most expensive boulevard on earth, Ayala does not
own, the PEA does not own. The Global City might just go down
the drain, if not Ayala Land, the biggest and most daring of all land
grabbers makes a giant financial effort to save the man-made
disaster looming between Makati and Taguig.

- page 58 –

GLRO 01107
S-5-9-1956
 The National Treasury of the Philippines under
Carlos P. Garcia Administration submitted a promissory note of
the National Government to undertake the payment of
P700,000,000.00 in favor of Don Esteban Benitez Tallano as
payment of the Balara Reservoir, the La Mesa Dam and at least
300 hectares of Lands utilized by the National/Local
Government into roads, highways and other infrastructures, that
the owner is committed to release the corresponding Titles of the
lands upon payment of said amount which will be derived from
the Reparation Agreement signed at Malacanang between
Philippines and Japan amounting to U.S. Dollars 2,000,000.00.

Date of Document: May 10, 1956

Date of Inscription: May 11, 1956

(Sgd. JOSE D. SANTOS

Register of Deeds

Entry No. 01107 has been cancelled upon full payment of the
National Government obligation which was reduced to P 300 M
to Don Esteban Benitez Tallano on May 7, 1956.

(Sgd. JOSE D. SANTOS)

- page 59 -

A quick look at our history, as Filipinos might not know it: Magellan
came here and found a blooming, if not the richest, country with a
Royal Family and nice people, most of them catholic of the
Apostolic Catholic Church of the East. The problem was, that the
Church of the East did not and does not recognize the Pope in Rome.
When the Spanish colonizers had conquered the archipelago of more
than 7,100 islands, with evil intention, and subjugated the people,
with the help of a foreign Pope, they also arrogantly claimed the land
as their own as “friars land”.

Then, in the year 1762, the British Royal Navy came here and ended
that claim and the claim of the King of Spain. In 1764, the Royal
Crown of England, Great Britain, decided case No. 571 in the
Escribania de Cabildo and ordered the creation of the Hacienda of
the Philippine Islands pursuant to the Decree of 01-4 Protocol, by
virtue of the Supreme Order of the Royal Crown of England (at that
time the police of the known world).

Decree 01-4 Protocol was in favor of PRINCE LACAN ACUNA

TALLANO married to Princess Rowena Ma. Elisabeth Overbeck
Mcleod of Austria, “the owner in fee simple of certain lands known
as Hacienda Filipina” embracing four major islands consisting of
169,972,500 hectares of plains, mountains, forests, and seas,
specifically the island of Luzon 31,804,624 hectares, the islands of
Palawan 3,652,875 hectares, Visayan Islands 45,996,215 hectares,
and Mindanao with 83,518,786 hectares more or less.

“Witness His Highness King George III of the Royal Crown of

England, January 17, 1764, issued at Manila at 10.45 a.m. attested
by Governor General Downsone Drake, British Governor, P.I.,
signed Governor Jose Raon, Office of the Escribania de Cabildo,
Proprietary Governor.”

- page 60 -

It has been a long time since then. In the Treaty of Paris in 1898, the
Hacienda Filipinas was traded to the new colonial masters, the
United States of America, because their President McKinley wanted
a colony also. Not true, though, is the story of America paying 20
Million Dollars to Spain. The Magnificent Seven of freedom loving
Filipinos did. The who?

They mortgaged part of the O.C.T. 01-4, a portion of land in

Pampanga and Tarlac to Banco Espanol Pilipino in Binondo. The
Bank required additional guarantees, so the “Magnificent Seven”
put their names as guarantors. They were non other than Don Juan
Ejercito, yes, grandfather of Erap, Don Servilliano Aquino, yes,
grandfather of Ninoy, General Antonio Luna, General Miguel
Malvar, Don Mariano Tayag, Don Francisco Macabulos, and
Don Esteban Benitez Tallano, for a total of Dollars 20 Million.

We understand that President McKinley then wanted a colony, not

national heroes of the real kind. So, he ordered the magnificent
seven defamed and dishonored and those other shady characters
who stole the money that was entrusted to them, like Emilio
Aguinaldo, to become “national hero”. And the Filipino people
believed that! Well, what did they know?

What they should know is this: The Supreme Court has finally
spoken, with finality, on December 18, 1996, Decision in cases
G.R.103727 and G.R. 106496, promulgated by Justice
Hermosissima Jr. and signed by Chief Justice Andres Narvasa.

There it reads like this, on page 21: “It is settled that by virtue of
Presidential Decree 892, which took effect on February 16, 1976,
the system of registration under the Spanish Mortgage Law was
abolished and all holders of Spanish titles or grants should cause
their lands covered thereby to be registered under Land
- page 61 -

Registration Act No. 496 within six (6) months from the date of
effectivity of said Decree or until August 15, 1976. Otherwise, non-
compliance therewith will result in a re-classification of their lands.
Spanish titles can no longer be evidence of land ownership.”
Originally, that Presidential Decree No. 892 was made by Marcos
to stop the most abusive fraudulent O.C.T.– 4136 in the name of
the heirs of one Don Mariano San Pedro y Esteban, perpetrated
on the basis of a Real Estate Tax Declaration #4136 of Don Esteban
Benitez Tallano in Quezon City for the year 1963.

Incidentally, that O.C.T.– 4136 is the “mother title” of the

dubiously prevailing fraudulent land titles that cover the whole of
Quezon City until today, most prominent among those are the
O.C.T.– 994 (Tala Estate), the O.C.T.- 333 (Payatas Estate), the
O.C.T.– 614 (Piedad Estate), the O.C.T.– 730 (Marikina Estate), and
the O.C.T.– 735 (Tatalon Estate).

O.C.T.– 4136 did not comply with P.D. 892 but O.C.T.– 01-4 did
and so did T.C.T.- 404 and T.C.T.- 498, which covers the northern
part of the Greater Manila Area up to the boundaries of Bulacan and
Nueva Ecija. These two T.C.T.’s are part of O.C.T.- 01-4, for which
part the O.C.T.-01-4 is cancelled in accordance with Republic Act
No. 2259, Cadastral Act of March 14, 1914, and evidenced in
Decree No. 297 issued in 1904.

In the above mentioned Decision, the Supreme Court declares the

O.C.T.- 4136 and all titles derived from it as “null and void and
no rights can be derived therefrom.” Eight years have passed and
the officials in the LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY have
not heard or seen anything. The LRA is, by far, the greatest scum in
our country that is not short of corrupt agencies. The LRA is under
The Office of The President.
- page 62 -

In a vain attempt to follow that up, the Department of Environment

and Natural Resources, Office at Congressional Avenue, came out
with a version of RECLASSIFICATION OF LAND TITLES IN
QUEZON CITY, but actually, that booklet still has to be seen by the
public. Chances are, though, the public will never see it. So strong
are the so-called vested interests in this country!

Once upon a time, Land Registration Commissioner Atty. Antonio

Noblejas testified in court, in the year 1964, under oath, under
subpoena duces tecum ordered by Blue Ribbon Committee
Chairman, Senate President Gil Puyat, during a long-time hearing in
the Senate caused by the well-known land scams, with an abundance
of fake land titles at that time already. The number of fake land titles
is more than 22 million according to former LRA Commissioner
Alfredo Enriquez. That was then!

As we may all know today, all laws created under or during the
Marcos Regime are now trampled upon. Not only are we now the
only country in the world with a stupid Squatter Law that allows
illegal squatting on private property. We also allow wheeling and
dealing in fake land titles, we pay “lagay” to the Register of Deeds,
we pay “lagay” everywhere to the Mayor’s Office.

Maybe now we understand why the dynasty families cling to their

posts, with wives and sons, nephews and nieces running for office.
There is so much money in fake titles and fake permits! All the
while, Congress conveniently overlooks that they have made
holding a fake title a heinous crime. They themselves are the
criminals! It should be to nobody’s surprise that never ever has
anyone been charged with the crime of land grabbing or holding a
fake title. Only the rich can buy a fake title or pay for a fencing
permit, for that matter. And only the poor will go to jail. Noh?

- page 63 -

Nonetheless, the courts have spoken. The law must take its due
course and the Filipino people must regain sovereignty over their
own lands. Someone has to be the administrator. The courts have
decided that that should be PRINCE JULIAN MORDEN
TALLANO. Let us all accept that. Then the rightful President of the
Filipino People will find a way for every Filipino to cooperate and
do the best for the people and the country.

The late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, supposedly the merciless

“dictator”, tried to do his best to solve the historical malaise. In
Presidential Decree No. 1143 of the year 1977, he decreed that
legitimate occupants of lands shall coordinate with the true holders
of O.C.T.-01-4, but maybe not surprisingly, that very important
Presidential Decree No. 1143 is no longer to be found in the National
Archives. In the Library of Malacanang it is listed as “Reserved for
Malacanang”. Whatever that means.

It just becomes too obvious that the real, unlimited power of the
invisible oligarchs, the rich old families in this country, who control
“traditions” and the almighty mass media, was even too much for
the “dictator”. We all remember the wife of Jaime Ayala de Zobel,
Bea Zobel, running with and driving Cory. They are Christians?
Christians are supposed to forgive. Those two ladies will never
forgive. They have too much to lose. And they are afraid of the
Filipino people. Like all the rich. They hire guards with guns. Not
against foreigners. Against Filipinos. God bless the Philippines!

Prepared by:

Wolfgang Struck
Authorized Representative
PRINCE JULIAN MORDEN TALLANO
- page 64 –

OFFICIAL LIES OR JUST STUPID?

The MANILA BULLETIN is the leading newspaper of the nation.
That is what they say. Going by an article on February 5, 2004 on
BUSINESS BULLETIN, page B1, “Gov’t to use Marcos fund for
debt”, they should first hire proof readers who know their English
or at least hire financial experts to do damage control when the
writer does not know what he is writing about. The writer is just
doing what other newspaper writers are doing also, quoting
“accredited” sources without thinking.

Let us start with the interesting quote coming from no less than our
Finance Secretary Juanita D. Amatong that “government plans to
take advantage of the Marcos Dollars that have been remitted to the
National Treasury”. Obviously, the lady is referring to the $683M
in escrow with PNB that the Presidential Good for Nothing
Commission (PCGG) is egging the Supreme Court (SC) to
confiscate and ordering the Sandiganbayan “to execute” from the
Philippine National Bank (PNB).

Sorry, Ms. Finance Secretary! There are no Dollars transferred to

the National Treasury and there will be no Dollars coming as long
as you are Finance Secretary, because PNB is a bank and a bank has
to follow banking rules. One of the most honored rules in banking
is concerning escrow agreements and any honorable bank has to
follow those rules of escrow, otherwise they will no longer be in
business.

The funds in escrow in PNB are Swiss funds, until a Philippine

court has convicted Marcos of stealing exactly that amount of
money from the Filipino people while in office as the President of
- page 65 -

the Republic of the Philippines or else PNB will have to send it back
to Swiss Credit, the bank that extended help so far only.
Many people will be utterly shocked to learn this: No court has
any criminal case against Marcos, never had and never will
have; not in the Philippines and not in any other country of this
world. Maybe in another world, but here in this world, after the
RACKETEERING case in New York in 1990, which cleared
Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos, no court will ever try Marcos
again for any crime.

Not guilty! No fraud, no stealing, no malversation of public funds!

That is the final answer. Only in da Pilipines, certain people are still
trying, desperately so, to get that stamp “ill-gotten” on accounts that
Marcos donated to the Filipino people long ago by way of Letter
of Instruction (LOI). Of course, all those who love to hate Marcos
will keep on trying hard until the people will get mad and stage their
own version of French Revolution. And heads will roll, literally.

As for the not so honorable Supreme Court, no respect is given for

the application of an obsolete law, the Republic Act 1379 of 1955,
which has long been relegated to the dustbin by the 1987
Constitution and no respect is deserved. On the contrary, Art
XVIII, Sec. 26 of our 1987 Constitution would order the Supreme
Court to order the PCGG to return all sequestered assets to the
Marcoses. But then again, who really cares about the Constitution
when, indeed, nobody cares to read it? So why should the Supreme
Court justices?

How we wish we had a President who would understand the truth

of the matter, who would care to find out who this guy Ferdinand
Marcos really was, how he was able to control the gold
- page 66 -

of the world even after his death, and who could have masterminded
the Grand Conspiracy against Marcos and his people.
We are the richest country on earth pretending to be poor. Imelda
said it and everybody was laughing. Millions and millions of poor
Filipinos are not laughing any more. They are hoping and praying
for a new political environment. If that does not happen now, guess
what!

- page 67 -

THE DEVIL’S GAME PLAN

2004, the dirtiest of all presidential elections! The dirtiest before was
1965, when Diosdado Macapagal, the most corrupt of all Philippine
presidents, tried to hang on to power but lost to Marcos. He is
surpassed now as the most corrupt of all presidents by his daughter,
the incumbent President, who was elected Vice President but not
President. She is the illegitimate President. That is the reason why
she can run for office while in office.

Like Marcos in 1965, there is an overwhelming favorite to win the

presidency this time. The choice of the sovereign people is FPJ. But
like father like daughter, she is trying all dirty tricks to eliminate the
enemy.

Mind you, the favorite son of the people is the enemy! Because she
was heaved into position by the rich oligarchs, she has it all, money,
media support, lawyer liars, a Supreme Court totally at her fingertip,
and the demolition team of Almonte/Ramos that did in Marcos and
Erap already.

They are more sophisticated now than ever before. Their schemes
are not direct, they are crooked; you have to be wise to see through
their doings. They are not stupid; they know that they cannot win.
So therefore, Ramos the demolition man of the old CIA, makes his
sneaky approach to the FPJ camp to make the people believe that he
is the good guy on the right side. In the meantime, they plan the
terror acts following the decision of the Supreme Court to disqualify
the enemy.

The Supreme Court will rule that FPJ, who was born 65 years ago
in the Philippines, with Philippine father and American mother, a
- page 68 -

Filipino ever since, equipped with a valid Philippine passport, who

has never said that he is American citizen, but who has been “Da
King” of the Philippine film industry, as actor, director, and
producer, multi-awarded and acclaimed as the best in the business,
is “not a natural born Filipino”.

Not a what? Ask Susan Roces whether she married a Filipino or an

American in that famous, celebrated wedding sponsored by the
Marcoses ages ago! Of course, he is Filipino! Every Filipino knows
him and loves him as “da King”. Now they want “da King” in the
Palace. What’s wrong with that? Very simple: She, PGMA, does not
want to get out. She wants to stay for another 6 years, minimum. She
must have millions of reasons.

So, she orders her own Supreme Court to find a way to destroy the
enemy. Totally! Not only FPJ, no, she wants total power. No Martial
Law, oh no, who wants that! Emergency powers only, when the
enraged masses stream to the streets to bring out their grievances,
then private bands of paid mercenaries will sow terror among them,
so that she will have the right to protect herself from terrorism. “The
War on Terrorism” has not yet started; she will start it. She can kill,
arrest, detain without evidence.

All along, they find a way to assassinate FPJ. No, they are not
involved in that! The assassin escaped from the mental hospital, that
is uncontrollable according to the Chief of the NBI, which is ordered
to conduct an immediate investigation, whitewash guaranteed. Tide
Ultra!

They will then hope that the outrage of the people will get really
serious. That will give them the chance to hit “maximum tolerance”
with their newest anti-riot equipment and kill by the thousands.
Addicts, squatters, rebels, they will find all sorts of
- page 69 -

names for the poor massacred, but that will be the last time that
people will storm the streets. For peace!
Never ever again EDSA 4 or EDSA 5 or EDSA 6 or whatever
EDSA. Never again! She promised. The rain of terror from then on
comes from within and is under total control. By the Office of the
President, courtesy of His Highness Angie Reyes. “I feel safe, when
Angie is around.” How cute. And FVR is always behind her. So
nobody will dare. Hallelujah!

- page 70 -

THEY DID IT AGAIN!

Yes, they did it again. 10,000 policemen in full battle gear, with the
newest in anti-riot equipment, smashed thousands of hapless people
who had gathered in two public places in Manila last Thursday.
Many were injured, one or more died, but who cares? The
established media, including the foreign press, REUTERS and AP,
had more important things to report the day after.

In other countries, they call that news blackout. Here, only the
DAILY TRIBUNE dared to show pictures of the violent end of a
peaceful rally for FPJ. There was shouting “F – P – J”, yes, but the
impression “they” want to convey is of unruly FPJ supporters,
stubborn Marcos loyalists, and uncontrollable ERAP supporters.
Many believe that, because that is what they see and hear on TV.
Fact is that those on the streets have one thing in common, or
actually two: They are mostly poor Filipinos, jobless, hopeless, no
shoes, only slippers, but Filipino citizens, and FPJ is their only hope
that they will ever have a better life again.

Unfortunately for them, they, the Filipinos, are the enemy in their
own country and their idol, FPJ, is the enemy of the state. The state,
called GMA or Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, will do anything and
everything to eliminate him. From the race. At least the presidential
race. Maybe also from the human race. But that will be officially
denied, of course, like everything is and will be denied.

WE THE PEOPLE, that is how the Constitution starts. WE THE

PEOPLE elect a president and allow a Supreme Court to do certain
things like guarantee justice for every Filipino. That sounds like a
fairy tale, but it’s the 1987 Constitution that upholds the sovereign
Filipino people as the masters of their own destiny. The Supreme
- page 71 -

Court is only supreme not sovereign. Chief Justice Davide is only a

servant of the Filipino people and can be held responsible.
Therefore, the judgment of the people is higher than the decision of
the Supreme Court to disqualify FPJ. It is profoundly argued that the
Supreme Court has no business disqualifying FPJ. The COMELEC
is the proper forum and they have decided 5:0 long ago that FPJ can
be a bona fide candidate for president. Mind you, this is about
candidate not president.

Whatever the Supreme Court will decide now is moot and academic,
null and void. We will just disregard and look a little bit closer at
the not so honorable Institution SC and what those 13 not so
honorable SC gentlemen have done “en banc” lately, after their
dubious involvement in the ouster of the duly elected President of
the Filipino people, to make life miserable for Filipinos and foreign
investors alike.

Among others, the SC nullified the rightful claims for about

$4ooMillion of German FRAPORT that had built the NAIA III.
The SC also nullified the claim of Thai AMARI to recover
P1.7Billion in bribe money from the Ramos Administration.
Actually, they legalized the big-time corruption for Ramos, our
“beloved” former President. They should have put him in jail for
plunder.

More, the SC nullified the Fort Bonifacio land scam worth

P79Billion but did not follow up. One-half of the P79B disappeared
in Landbank with Ramos; the other half of the P79B remains
unpaid to government for lack of legal title to the land. Government
has no right to sell or commercialize any of the military reservations
that serve the safety and security of the Filipino people. That is true
also for Subic or Clark Air Base and
- page 72 -

the Centennial Expo where Ramos made some P9Billion in “coffee-

money” and blamed the late Doy Laurel.
Manny Pangilinan, by the way, chose to leave PLDT, Metro Pacific,
and the Bases Conversion To Ramos Commission. He is now
enjoying life in Hong Kong, celebrated as a manager genius. Well,
well, that is justice in the Philippines. Everything has its price and
those gentlemen in robes know very well why they want to be SC
justices.

So, what shall we do now? There is only one thing to do. We will
vote “FPJ” and if the votes are not counted, as we expect, then we
will come together and raise our hands as living witness and for
validation that we voted “FPJ”. Then let us declare FPJ as the
President of the sovereign people of the Philippines. Raise your
hands! Anybody against it? No? Approved! FPJ is our new President
and he will solemnly swear his oath.

Then 80 million Filipinos all over the country can celebrate and
maybe some people will now understand what that means: PEOPLE
POWER. The real People Power. Not that bad joke of EDSA I in
the year 1986 or that EDSA DOS 2000, both courtesy of Cory
Aquino and Cardinal Sin.

Just imagine the real people power. We will be 5 million people in

Luneta Park. We carry candle and we dress in white. How can the
police be against us? They are also Filipinos. We will ask them to
join us and we will read the bible, all together, DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 28, verses 12 and 13: Thou shall now lend unto other
nations, and thou shall not borrow. The Lord shall make thee the
head and not the tail. Thou shall be above only, and thou shall not
be beneath. It’s there in the bible! Black on white. We just have to
follow. God bless the Philippines and relieve us from the evil.
- page 73 -

ANYBODY LISTENING? Part I

If a giant corporation registers a yearly loss of more than P250
Billion then, of course, the President will be fired, investigated, and
punished, if proven in court. No shareholder will oppose that. They
will elect a new one, the one who has the best plan to rescue the
company. In some of the most celebrated cases in international
business the incoming new president unleashed dormant assets and
made them cash cows. Ever heard that word before, “cash cow”?
Want to hear more about it?

Oh, sorry, Sir, wrong number! The candidates don’t want to talk
about cash cows. This election is about people, spelled pipol in the
local language. Those are “celebrities” who are only interested in
pork, actually pork barrel. That has only slightly to do with pigs.
When they grow rich, they get fat and look like pigs. So, nobody
wants to be a pig and nobody wants to talk about cows.

In this country there is no divorce and no bankruptcy law. That is no

issue for politicians. It’s the opposite, the more our government is
bankrupt the more candidates are running, spending money by the
billions. The going number is P10 Billion. Of course, that
investment has to be recovered, hopefully in the first few months,
after that there is ROI (Return on Investment). Yes, Sir, only in da
Pilipines!

Nobody wants to know where the money comes from and where it
will go. The election campaign is only about who will win, meaning
who is the “blessed” one who will make ROI. Of course, everybody
wants to make ROI. Who is the “blessed” one? Look, it’s like a
beauty contest. Loren Legarda is the most beautiful, they
- page 74 -

say. They don’t see anything else. They don’t see the sponsors
behind the curtain, laughing; the old boys club of the rich and
shameless. Funny, they sponsor the one who made the P250B loss.
Weird, no? Maybe not! They must have millions of reasons.

We see kisses and insinuations, hear about the glory of Cory, eh

democracy, about unity and reconciliation, and the great satisfaction
from helping the poorest of the poor. That is what people want to
hear, whisper the shadowy “advisers” behind the curtain; show them
what they want to see. That is what Filipino people want to see,
right? So nobody will talk about the national debt of P3Trillion and
counting; that is not an issue. Actually it’s negative, controversial.
And we want smiles, all smiles.

At least, that is what the advisers tell their candidates. Anyhow, what
is important according to them is that FPJ is Filipino. Or is he Kano?
Or Spanish? My God, maybe Chinese!? What is important also is
how he looks with Loren Legarda. Or is it the other way round, how
Loren Legarda looks with him? If Miriam Defensor Santiago can
kiss GMA (bastos!), why then can Loren not kiss FPJ and Noli de
Castro at the same time? Cute naman! Or? Will Angara get jealous?
No, of course not! He will smile from one ear to the left.

Yes, Sir, that is politics in da Pilipines. We have bamboos and

balimbing; we also have Talakitok. That is all accepted. That is
business as usual. No, Sir, not what you mean, no accounting for
debts or payments. That will be for the next President or the one
after the next. And sorry for the cash cows, Sir. We don’t have.

- page 75 –

ANYBODY LISTENING Part II

The Enrile Law Office lost the case regarding the $683M in escrow
in PNB to the Supreme Court. Also, their Motion for
Reconsideration was denied by the Supreme Court. And the
Supreme Court said that that decision was final. All newspapers
trumpeted that out as the Big News not long ago.

Imelda Marcos asked another lawyer for help, her old ally Atty.
Oliver Lozano who had successfully fought the Marcos Government
represented by Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza. That was way
back in 1971 and 1978 when Marcos was at the height of his power
and that was the first time that the Supreme Court ordered a rollback
on prices for oil and other prime commodities. Marcos applauded
the daring winner and since that time Atty. Oliver Lozano is in the
inner circle.

The same Oliver Lozano now takes on a final decision of the

Supreme Court and his legal grounds are simple and crushing.
Under time-honored doctrine, the final decision of the Supreme
Court is binding unless, and that has been practiced before, in a case
where the final decision runs contrary to the supremacy of the
constitution or contrary to the higher interest of Justice:

SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION

Following Art. XVIII, Sec. 26 of the 1987 Constitution the escrow

account can no longer be confiscated. On the contrary, all Marcos
assets that were sequestered by the PCGG long time ago should be
returned to the Marcos family. That is what the Constitution of 1987
says.
- page 76 -

ESSENCE OF THE ESCROW AGREEMENT

Conviction of Marcos in a bona fide court, in a criminal case, not a
forfeiture case, and proof beyond reasonable doubt that Marcos stole
exactly that amount of money from the Filipino people while in
office. The burden of proof lies clearly with the PCGG but they
don’t have a criminal case there, never had, and never will have.

GLOBAL INJUNCTION

As the Supreme Court of the Philippines has chosen the short-cut

solution, the legal basis of R.A. 1379 from 1955 which has since
been relegated to the dustbin by higher laws, our Supreme Court is
now facing stern opposition from other international institutions.
Years ago, Judge Manuel Real from Hawaii was celebrated in the
Philippines, and only in the Philippines it is fair to say, as a hero
when he ruled that some 10,000 unknown human rights victims
should have compensation to the tune of $2B.

Nowhere in that “famous” judgment was there a mention of “ill-

gotten” or “stolen”. The $2B were to be deducted from the Marcos
Estate which at that time was estimated to be in the hundreds of
billions. Now the same judge is called “a certain Judge Real in
Hawaii” by the PCGG because he is insisting on due process.

Unfortunately this is not business as usual for the PCGG and the
Supreme Court. This is international in all aspects and the Swiss
High Court will rule what is correct and acceptable before it will
allow transfer of ownership.

In the meantime, Judge Real has enjoined all banks with Marcos
accounts, whether here or abroad, not to release any money to the
Philippine Government unless and until due process is proven to
- page 77 -
the Swiss High Court. So far, there is no proof and nowhere is a
conviction of Marcos in sight, as all high courts in this world found
Marcos “not guilty”.

Those are the legal weapons of Atty. Oliver Lozano. And now, for
laymen, questions over questions. Following the renewed “order” of
the PCGG to “execute” the final decision, the Supreme Court is
looking at a blank wall. Where is it? In PNB? No? Oh, it is in
Singapore? How interesting! What is it doing there? Who did that?
Stupid questions maybe, but seemingly leading to one common
denominator: Where exactly is the escrow agreement? What does it
say? Why are Filipino people not properly informed?

Well, it looks like someone does not like us to know. We might find
out the truth and we might find the cash cows. Dormant accounts.
Frozen accounts: $88B in the PCGG, $13,2B in UBS. That’s only
for starters. Yes, Sir, billions! What are we waiting for? Actually,
we are waiting for the Supreme Court to declare the Marcos wealth
“ill-gotten”.

For what? We don’t know. Marcos has donated all his wealth to the
Filipino people. Imelda has vowed to fulfill his will and to distribute
the money to the Filipino people. What seems to be the problem?
Oh, the problem is the PCGG, the bogus Presidential Good for
Nothing Commission of greedy people like that not so honorable
Commissioner Ruben Carranza. No more comment.

Thanks anyway, Atty. Lozano, for taking up the battle for justice on
behalf of the Filipino people. May God in his eternal wisdom be
with you all the way.

- page 78 -
 ANYBODY LISTENING Part III
Since the last days of Marcos in Malacanang we had four (4)
administrations, starting with Cory. Only one was not anti-Marcos
and he did not last long, as the anti-Marcos forces removed him from
office with the same dirty-tricks-demolition job as Marcos long
before. Even the lead players were the same: Cory, Cardinal Sin,
Ramos and Almonte together with the paid media hecklers led by
Teodoro Benigno and Max Soliven.

Tragedy of all tragedies was that the Filipino people got themselves
entangled with their favorite pastime, jueteng. The jueteng lords are
laughing while Erap is rotting in jail, abandoned by 11 million
enthusiastic voters in the only clean election this country has ever
witnessed. They looked at the first results and gave up on the idea
of cheating. So overwhelming the landslide victory!

And now? Good question, no? The prosecution had 3 years to find
evidence. First in the impeachment disaster, then in dubious cases
in “Special Courts”, spell them kangeroo. Wake up, Filipino, there
is no plunder, not with Erap, not with Marcos! Others did.

We were all taken for a ride. That comes out now. There is a short
lady now, the shortest president on earth, the only one who did not
get one vote for President, but she is riding high on us. She has no
opposition, she can do what she wants as all those election
candidates are kissing and holding hands. Better we understand it’s
our own fault. We don’t dare to ask questions. For some dark reason
we want to believe that that is not our business.

- page 79 –
Ayala made that very clear, by the way, on their billboards. In case
you have not noticed: “While you keep dreaming, Filipino people,
we keep stealing the land from under your noses.” That’s also a
reality. Sta. Lucia, Filinvest, the Manny Villar companies, they are
all the same caboodle. You see them all over the country.

Back to serious business, does anybody remember the $13.2B in

UBS, Irene Araneta account? What does the PCGG do? What the
Supreme Court? A flat zero! Seems we all have forgotten but out of
the $683M we are creating a real elephant.

Of course, we all have forgotten the Big Bird. That’s too long ago.
Why do we not ask Cory and Jovito Salonga about Oplan Big Bird?
Trillions of dollars in 3 big banks in New York, all recorded and
originating in Swiss Bank Corporation of Zurich, Switzerland. Cory
did send her first Chairman of the bogus PCGG to Zurich to find the
money. For whom? Your guess is as good as mine.

You don’t believe? Why don’t we ask them to explain? The money
is still there. The bankers are still waiting for us to come and claim
it. Marcos did not take it with him to his grave. He left an LOI (Letter
of Instruction) with that Swiss bank. But they don’t like. They don’t
want Marcos to look good. My God, they must have billions of
reasons!

How we wish we had someone who could unite the opposition

against the anti-Marcos forces, who could be like a president of a
giant corporation and look for dormant assets to make cash cows out
of them!

- page 80 -
How we wish we had someone who dared to oppose those who
claim, “he stole”, and to un-freeze those accounts for the benefit of
the Filipino people!

How we wish we had someone who makes true FM’s People’s

Pension Plan that will give P10,000 every month to every Filipino
over age 50 at the place where they were registered in 1983!

How we wish we had someone who could pay out all the coco levy
victims and modernize the biggest industry of the country!

How we wish we had someone who would brave the anti-Marcos

dynasties and solve the disaster in the energy sector and bring down
the exorbitant prices for electricity and basic commodities!

How we wish we had someone who would build roads all over the
country to save us from choking traffic, to create millions of jobs,
and create tax income for government at the same time!

How we wish we had someone who could streamline the irrigation

authorities and make planting worth our while, while providing
post-harvest facilities so that the farmers are no longer at the mercy
of the Chinese middlemen.

How we wish we had someone who would understand the simple

truth in rebellion and uprising! All they need is food on the table, a
job, and hope for a better future. Don’t ever come to them with
“walang fondo”, they might just blow you into pieces.

Is anybody listening? Or can anybody make suggestions where to

find the money to pay for our ever-growing local and foreign
debt plus for the gaping deficits in RSBS, the Veterans Bank, in
SSS, GSIS, and all other government agencies supposed to be
- page 81 -
serving the Filipino people? If not, we are in deep trouble, we will
suffer more than ever, and this country will go to the dogs.
Hallelujah!

Final note: The rich and shameless don’t need change; they are just
fine. Actually, they would hate change. It’s us, the Filipino people,
who need change. Now!

- page 82 -
 SMEAR CAMPAIGN TIME. AGAIN.
It’s the time of EDSA again, time for smear campaigns against
anyone with the name Marcos, preferably Imelda (Look at
IMELDA’S NEW DEMANDS, Front page INQUIRER 3 days from
Feb 22-24). Well, the only reason of being for some people here is
their hatred of anything Marcos. All administrations after Marcos,
with the exception of the interrupted Estrada administration, keep
fighting even the ghost of Marcos and yet it will not disappear.

In hindsight, wondering what has happened to this once so beautiful

country, we have to ask how they could forget, in their ritual hate
campaign, to include the two gentlemen who “did” martial law for
14 years. One is running for senator again, the other one, our
“beloved” former President Tabako, who was the chief of the
dreaded Constabulary for those 14 years, looks like sitting in jail
again somewhere out there because of his insatiable greed. Do we
have to mention the two ladies in the role of Philippine president?
What a disaster for this nation!

We don’t imagine in our wildest dreams that we will ever change

the mind of anyone in the Marcos hate brigade. They are “closed”
for any arguments. Well, nobody has to believe, but the truth will
come out, the Marcos truth, not the Cory truth. This nation will be
great again and, for some people, the lights will go out. That is not
our fault. That is karma.

What is important to note here is that some people striving to be

OPPOSITION leaders would make a decision to oppose the regime
of Marcos haters and to make a clear distinction between the
MARCOS WEALTH and the Marcos loot. The Marcos
- page 83 -
Wealth is for the people and can be recovered, if and when the
people finally decide, after so many years, to elect a pro-Marcos
president. The Marcos loot is hidden by the PCGG, frozen, and can
never be recovered.

“If ever it will be recovered, it will go to the Marcos Family, so

better forget”. That is what the people have accepted to believe but
that is bitterly wrong. The Marcos wealth has nothing to do with the
Marcos family, actually, Imelda does not know where it is or how
much it is.

In one simple formula, Ferdinand Marcos was the chosen one for
the original gold treasure of the Royal Family of the Philippines and
got his due share in kind, when he brought the gold back from the
Vatican in the year 1949 to open the Central Bank of the Philippines.
That alone made him the richest man on earth. His share is in Swiss
Bank Corp., Zuerich.

He also had his hand on the Yamashita Gold with his mentor
Antonio Diaz a.k.a. Col. Severino Sta. Romana. And that is
something like 1,250,000 MT (metric tons) of gold, mostly from
Europe, stolen by Hitler’s SS from the London banks in Casablanca,
Dubai, Rangoon a.o., re-melted in Singapore by DEGUSSA, handed
over to the Japanese Imperial Army to be buried in the Philippines
mostly under or near churches or in Japanese Garrisons. Who said
there is no gold?

When Ferdinand Marcos became President in 1965, he thought that

all claims of the “Original Claimants of World War II Loot as listed
in the International Court of Justice” would end after 30 years, in
1976. “No gold bar will leave this country as long as I am President
of this country”. It would all be under his control.

- page 84 -
But shock, the Queen of England got an extension for 10 years until
1986 and Marcos knew that that was it! Frame-up! International, on
highest level, by the highest powers on earth! The rest is history, as
they say. Maybe not.

False impressions have been going around about Gold Bullion

Certificates, giving Filipino people the belief that Marcos brought
the gold to Switzerland and stashed away his billions. That is
absolutely false. UBS issued GBC’s against the gold in the Central
Bank of the Philippines, where it is insured by Lloyds of London,
until today.

The court in LRC/Civil Case 3957-P of the RTC Pasay City

orders the Governor of the CB to relocate the remaining balance of
400,000 MT in the vaults of the CB. The court order though was
blocked through preliminary injunction by the Court of Appeals.
Total abuse of power by GMA’s men in black.

Now, look who is talking. Look who is talking about the Marcos
loot. They must have reasons to do that. For example INQUIRER or
STAR. The reason is envelopmental journalism. Others call it free
press. That is most disgusting when it damages the will and the
interest of the Filipino people. It should be treated as treason with
death penalty and some people are now ready, willing, and able to
debate the whole issue in public. The question is only, who will go
to death row in Muntinlupa, the reporter or the publisher? Maybe
Max Soliven, the man of THE STAR, has a suggestion.

Anyhow, before the new millennium is over, that was a real

gimmick, wasn’t it, Max Soliven and The STAR, even Cory and
Tabako, and all of us will have to bow to the word of GOD and the
bible and the scriptures about curses and blessings. Deuteronomy,

- page 85 -
Chapter 28, Verse 12 (King James Version): “The Lord shall
open unto thee his good treasure and thou shall lend unto many
nations, and thou shall not borrow”. In Verse 13: “And the Lord
shall make thee the head and not the tail; and thou shall be above
and though shall not be beneath”. Amen.

Of all the candidates, may FPJ be the chosen one this time. He does
not need convincing; he has always been on the right side, the side
of the people. Maybe it is destiny for him to fulfill what the greatest
President was not allowed to fulfill. Prepare for your big moment,
Mr. President!

- page 86 -
 DOUBLESPEAK OR OUTRIGHT LIES
This is a funny world we live in. Actually, it is not so funny, nobody
understands it any more. Some seriously call it the End of the World.
Scientists call it “The Era of Unreason”. The Bee Gees were
singing “Words Are Only Words” but it is now worse than then.
They are all untrue. All! Just a simple example from our daily lives:
Sharon Cuneta, the megastar, has a TV audience that runs into the
millions. She looks at the camera and says: “I love you”. And how
she says it! My goodness, she does not know you, she does not even
know who is watching.

Another one. You see that sign “We are open to serve you.” You
might ask: Serve me? How nice, I will go there. But there is a guard
in uniform with a gun. He sees to it that you don’t go in unless you
look like money. It’s open only for those with money, those who
want to buy something. Ah yes, I will never forget that scene in
“Pretty Woman” where Richard Gere tells Julia Roberts “they don’t
like you, dear, they like your credit card”. Meaning, don’t believe
what they say. It’s all doublespeak.

Now we have a President who is running kalsada natin, in English

our own street. According to that sign 5 times in every one of our
42,000 barangays, she has a program that will make all Filipinos
street sweepers and the street sweepers will all wear PGMA like a
walking billboard. Isn’t that cute?

Maybe that is cute, but actually they, the MMDA, are driving all
vendors and others from kalsada natin into nowhere. They forbid us
to cross kalsada natin. They teach us discipline and make fences
where we walk like pigs on the way to the slaughterhouse, over new
overpasses (someone big makes big business), but all that is
- page 87 -
nothing compared to the supremacy of the law. The law provides
that the president is elected for 6 years. No re-election and nobody
should be above the law. Our Constitution has no provision for a
case where the incumbent president uses all government resources
(spell that people’s money) to stay in office.

All nice smiles and empty promises come down to one question: If
it is illegitimate for any president to stay in office beyond his term,
is it legally possible for a president who is not the legitimate
president to run? And the answer is yes, GMA can run because she
is not the elected president.

The duly elected President of the Republic of the Philippines, Joseph

Ejercito Estrada, popularly known as Erap, and elected with the
biggest margin of victory ever in Philippine history, is a political
prisoner in Tanay, Province of Rizal, until his time as president is
over. Then the courts will release him for lack of evidence.

In the meantime, the incumbent president can prepare all

government agencies and greedy politicos for the big cheat in the
coming elections. She will smile down and rule over all those nice
Filipinos who did not vote for her but for FPJ and the timid Filipinos
will not say anything again because there was no leader, no
opposition in the first place.

Maybe the over-intelligent advisers of the opposition candidates

were too ashamed to even mention the name of Erap during the long
campaign of 2004, nor did they ever raise the issue of the Marcos
wealth, the only way to deal with our galloping local and foreign
debts as a nation. What a waste! What a shame! God bless the
Philippines!

- page 88 -
 EDSA 2004 CANCELLED!
This is EDSA week, or should be “EDSA” in celebration of the
Marcos ouster in February 1986. Is there anybody who will
celebrate? Looks like the people are too busy with the upcoming
election, in particular hanging in animated suspension while waiting
for the decision of the “Corte Suprema”.

There are other people also, we should not forget, even few, who are
waiting for the final step of the Supreme Court to cross the Rubicon
of Truth. If really this Supreme Court will disqualify FPJ, then they
have quashed all doubts that this system is a system of injustice, a
Supreme Court filled with justices of injustice, a political system of
dirty tricks and dirty politics. There is no more justice in this
country. Justice here is only for the rich.

If birth certificate, why not for all candidates? Why only FPJ?
Maybe we find something very exciting in another birth certificate?
There are rumors of an illegitimate daughter of a lavandera, laundry
woman in English, with a President. The laundry woman lived-in
with the President who signed off a few years ago before his
daughter could grab power.

Laundry woman and President were commonly believed to be

husband and wife. Truth to tell, they were not. They had very
influential friends, though, who are all known land grabbers-turned-
billionaires. Those are her friends now. Not exactly what they had
in mind when they sang “That’s what friends are for”. Those
“friends” were behind the orchestrated ouster of Marcos and
Estrada, the Presidents of the people. In case you wonder who they
are, they have something to do with Ayala and the few others who
“own” Metro Manila.
- page 89 -
 HUMAN RIGHTS VICTIMS?

MEMORY LANE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Referring to the big picture on your front page (INQUIRER Feb.27,

entitled LIFE OF MEMORY), is it allowed to ask a few questions?
Like why are there only white guys, why are there no Filipinos? Is
it true that Filipinos were not invited to that spectacle? Who did that
and what is the intention behind the whole thing; is that maybe part
of the FPJ demolition job?

That is an old soup, so why do you make a top story out of it? Let’s
assume the Supreme Court will approve and accept in full legal
terms that dubious verdict of Judge Manuel L. Real in Hawaii, USA.
He “rewarded” some 10,000 people with a lump sum of $2Billion
in “a class suit”. He did not see anyone, did not hear any case, does
not know anyone.

Chances are near zero that the Supreme Court will ever rule on that
issue, it is just too sticky and too politically loaded. But assuming,
then the 10,000 alleged human rights victims will have to go to
court, to their own Regional Trial Court, and prove beyond
reasonable doubt that they are actually the victims of Marcos and
not the victims of the other side, the CCP under Jomari Sison and
our national hero, Ninoy Aquino.

In our rotten judicial system with those “hoodlums in robe”, that

might take 100 years. The alleged victims are not FPJ and GMA has
only interest in FPJ. For all those people who love to hate
- page 90 -
Marcos, the year 2004 will be a year full of surprises. They will hate
it. At least one book will soon appear in the market that will expose
the grand conspiracy against Marcos and his people. And if FPJ does
not win the election for the Filipino people against the people from
Ayala and the Makati Business Club, then God have mercy on us!

- page 91 -

To MANILA BULLETIN
www.mb.com.ph

Attn.: NAPOLEON RAMA, PUBLISHER

Dear Napoleon Rama,

We think we know why MB has chosen the line of playing along

with the official line of government but Napoleon Rama has not
always been like that. There was an article, not too long ago, in
PANORAMA about government inefficiency. By Napoleon Rama.

One quote from that article is about schools, rather lack of schools:
“In 1972, the President asked, how many schools do we need? The
answer was 12,000 and in that same year 12,000 schools were built
at a cost of P20,000 each.” That was the quote from Napolean Rama
himself and we all know whom he is referring to.

There was no graft and corruption at that time. Some politicians and
their media call that time “Martial Law” and they make us believe
that life was like hell than. No, that is not true. Life was like heaven
then, the Philippines were the Pearl of the Orient. Say, we are wrong,
Napoleon Rama! You cannot, because you are witness of the good
old days.

In “celebration of EDSA and People Power that ousted Marcos”,

forget it and read our gift to the nation. We know as well as you that
it is hard to even be heard by people who are brainwashed by Cory
and the Cardinal. We don’t argue with that. We just think that
someone should light a candle, so it can be seen by others That is
what we are doing and GOD forgive us if we are wrong.

With kind respect, O.J.

- page 92 –

To the DAILY TRIBUNE

letters@tribune.net.ph

Attn.: NINEZ CACHO OLIVAREZ, PUBLISHER

Dear Ninez Cacho Olivarez,

We have always been avid readers of the DAILY TRIBUNE, with

that little reservation, when there is/was anything negative about
Marcos. Now, we are not your normal kind of readers. We are the
longest ranging lawyer of the Marcos family, the campaign manager
of Ping Lacson 2001 and me, officially, the consultant for the
LAWYER’S LEAGUE FOR A BETTER PHILIPPINES.

We know what we are talking about and we are obstinate enough to

think that this is our chance in life and our time to straighten out a
few things in the bitter life for most Filipinos. The most important
task is to get the “advisors” out of the way who hate controversial
topics, who hate debates because they don’t know.

The 2004 presidential election should not be about the nicest smile
or the biggest promises; it should be about the state of our nation.
We are bankrupt by all means, financially, economically, morally,
and our officials are liars. Just imagine FPJ will take office and find
all coffers empty. SSS, GSIS, RSBS, Veterans Bank, all gone,
deficit wherever you look. Welcome to the Palace, FPJ!

Our officials are celebrating “the ouster of Marcos”. They blame

Marcos for everything. Fact is, too many people don’t know. Too
many people, even on that celebrated EDSA 1986, did not know and
do still not know what was going on. All they remember is that
suddenly there was a stampede from EDSA to the palace by the
murky river. Those who arrived first, ransacked the place and got
- page 93-
drunk with joy. Was that a revolution? Cory was still in that convent
in Cebu, Ramos and Enrile kept hiding in Camp Crame. To be sure.
They were so afraid. People Power Revolution? No, dear Filipino
people, the “revolution” was staged by Cardinal Sin and his nuns
and “the people” were mere usizeros, bystanders! The famous
placard with black letters on yellow shiny plastic, “FREE
AGAIN”, was ordered made 3 days before that glorious happening
by the Cardinal. It was all planned.

Sorry to destroy the great dream of so many Filipinos. “They” gave

you democracy. How does it taste? Can you feed your children with
that? Of course not! Only the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
So, can we please give up that yearly spectacle that cost Erap his
presidency in 1999 and concentrate on better things to do?

Now, first step first. You printed our DEVIL’S GAME PLAN. Very
nice, but of course, we don’t think that that will happen. FPJ will
really be the next President. Even if it has to be via WE THE
PEOPLE declaring him the president in Luneta Park. Again and
again, that is not a kudeta, we will all wear white and carry a candle.
And we will not believe the polls of Pulse Asia, we let the people
manifest in person that they voted for FPJ.

You in your exposed position, you are facing all sorts of cases
already from the big gentlemen, you should know what we are
doing. We want to spread the news but we have to be careful. We
want you to understand and join in. Silently, we are not on a suicidal
expedition. If we send you something, you use it as you like, for
your own writing or a letter to the editor. We are not interested to
get our name into the newspaper.

With kindest regards, O.J.

- page 94 -
TO THE PHILIPPPINE STAR
feedback@philstar.net.ph

Attn.: MAX SOLIVEN

Dear Max Soliven,

The motto of the STAR is “the truth shall prevail”. There are many
ways to look at the truth and, certainly, you look at the truth as a
matter of business. Your business! What sells is the truth. You
would not be the first one to say that and we are not here to blame
you, if you put business higher than anything else. In fact, we admit
that the STAR is doing just fine and Max Soliven has shown some
serious signs of becoming a better person. That is no joke. We mean
it.

Therefore, and only therefore, we will make you part of some

serious soul searching in the coming months, if you like, and give
you something to read which, hopefully, will enlighten you. It’s all
a matter of the mind. If you set your mind on it, you can do it. The
future of this country is at stake. The 2004 presidential elections are
by far the biggest decision this country will ever have to make and
the people do not know. We cannot demand from them to make the
right decision. They will follow their heart and their hopes. And my
God, what’s wrong with that!

The hopes are no longer with this government. It was over in 1998
already. That was not so much an election of Erap, it was more an
election against the establishment. Same now, six more years of
the same, that would be just too much! “They” claimed they would
be so much better than Erap and look what happened! We don’t have
to tell you, you make it clear yourself.

- page 95 –
Therefore, we should not harp so much on stupid birth certificates;
we should look at what is at stake. Too much is at stake and the
world is watching us from a distance. Actually, the world is waiting
for us to find a president who will bury Marcos. The Pope will come,
the Queen, the Emperor, and Dubya and they will salute the moment
we will make peace with our own past.

If the Germans could do that after millions and millions lost their
life and everything else in World War II all over the world, we
should be able to do that even against the declared will of Cory
Aquino and the Cardinal. Oh sorry, we forgot 10,000 of those fake
human rights Seldas. They want money.

You know what we mean. You are too intelligent to be one-sided.

Even though, we are never too old to learn and to change our mind.
We seriously hope that you will enjoy reading. We may not be on
the same political side but we are beyond personal interests. We
mean it when we say that this is for the nation. And don’t forget, we
happen to think that this is the richest nation on earth. But read first
and, if ever you feel for it, let us know what you feel.

With best regards,

O.J.

- page 96 -
 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Referring to the picture on your front page (INQUIRER Feb.27,

entitled LIFE OF MEMORY), is it allowed to ask questions? Like
why are there only white guys, no Filipinos? Were Filipinos not
invited to the spectacle? Who did it and what’s the intention behind
the whole thing; is it maybe part of the FPJ demolition job?

That is an old soup, so why do you make a top story out of it? Let’s
assume the Supreme Court will approve and accept in full legal
terms that dubious verdict of Judge Manuel L. Real in Hawaii, USA.
He “rewarded” some 10,000 people with a lump sum of $2Billion
in “a class suit”, he did not see anyone, did not hear any case, does
not know anyone.

Chances are the Supreme Court will never rule on that issue. It is
just too sticky. But assuming it will, then the alleged human rights
victims will have to go to court, to their own Regional Trial Court,
and prove beyond reasonable doubt that they are actually the victims
of Marcos and not the victims of the other side, the CCP under
Jomari Sison and our national hero, Ninoy Aquino.

In our rotten judicial system with those “hoodlums in robe”, that

might take 100 years. For all the people who love to hate Marcos,
the year 2004 will be a year full of surprises. They will hate it. At
least one book will soon appear in the market that will expose the
grand conspiracy against Marcos and his people. And if FPJ does
not win the election for the Filipino people against the people from
Ayala and the Makati Business Club, then God have mercy on us!

- page 97 –
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
Attn.: MAX SOLIVEN, PUBLISHER
feedback@philstar.net

March 1, 2004

Ref. IMPACT 2004, Your Column STAR, Feb 29, 2004

Dear Mr. Soliven,

That was nice! Not so much what you said about FPJ after the first
airing of IMPACT 2004, your new show on ABS-CBN, but how
you said it!

It is always hard for someone to be the first. He did not know, but
you did not know also. Now you know. FPJ is a man of few words.
He wants to be known as a man of action. You are one of the few
who can attest to it that this man is special, very determined, very
sincere. He knows what he is doing and he seems to know what he
is up against.

Your last word in your column is quite intriguing. “He may be good
for a real surprise”. You are not saying it for yourself; you are saying
that for your readers who, as you know, are mostly from the A-B
classes and very prejudiced, very outspoken against FPJ as they
were against Erap.

We don’t have to be clear-voyant to predict that none of the GMA

believers or of the Roco fans will change to FPJ, so it does not
matter to them what he does or what he says. GMA believers are

- page 98 -
the rich and their dependents, including their employees, or those
who have something to lose in the stock market.

Roco fans are those who love to rate themselves as intelligent and
believe that to be a Roco fan is good for their image. They
conveniently forget that Roco was fired by GMA from the juicy
position of Secretary of Education because of proven cases of graft
and corruption.

These groups are interested to talk about “platform”. They want to

hear from the “opposition” whether there is reason to close shop, or
to buy dollars, or to prepare for emigration.

The C, D, E have nothing to lose, they can only hope that the status
quo will end, that someone will give them hope. They do not listen
to promises like “alleviation of poverty” any more; they call that
“alleviation of property” and they laugh at PGMA’s program to
make all Filipinos street sweepers via KALSADA NATIN.

Before we forget, in 1998 there were 11 million Filipinos of the

silent majority who voted for the only majority president this
country ever had and, guess what, none of them will vote for GMA
or Roco. So, in a way, it does not matter what the A and B read in
the STAR, that never reaches the C, D, E classes. Sad for you and,
admittedly, for the nation!

In future, that has to change. You are one of the people who can
effect change. TV is the most important media branch. It reaches
everywhere and every one. It is widely abused, though, and thirsting
for good ideas and good people.

We wish you luck with IMPACT 2004 and, hoping against hope,
you will find someone among the candidates one day who will be
- page 99 -
able to tell you how to pay for all the lofty promises without
borrowing by the billions of dollars for the Filipino people to pay.
Nearing 5 Trillion na!

If not, maybe you invite FPJ again, just before election. He will
have the surprise. He will tell you what is in there for the Filipino
people and how he will pay. Now, in 2004! Of course, this is also a
promise today, but at least it is in writing, black on white.

With kind regards,

O.J.

IN MEMORIAM
“If we can really free the small man from the chains of poverty that
has shackled his ancestors to the land they tilled with others, if we
can locate the same small man at the center of increasing opportunity
for himself, to his family, if we can produce enough and pay our
workers enough, so that their labor can assure them of a
better quality of life, if we can provide the proper machinery of
government, so that one does not want of an efficient administration
of justice, then we can remain firm in our basis for building a new
society .” – Ferdinand Emmanuel E. Marcos, July 1, 1981, in signing YU- 745201O
of the ANG BAGONG LIPUNAN, the currency of the Republic of the Philippines, every
set backed up by 2,500 M.T. of gold, insured with Lloyds of London, secured by Bank of
England Note Bond and International Certificate Deposit
- page 100 -
 THE - first quarter - SCORE
If it is true that 8 out of ten Hong Kong people are into horseracing
and that 9 out of 10 Aussies are into gambling, then it must be true
that eleven out of ten Filipinos are into talking elections. Basically,
repeating what they saw and heard on TV. TV is so important. But
still, truth to tell, many Filipinos are betting all, even their life
savings, unabashedly, unwaveringly, unmindfully of what the
outside world is thinking or doing. They are running for the sake of
running and running is a never-ending fiesta from place to place,
province to province.

In fact, it is fair to say that the Philippine electorate is unique in the

sense that it has nothing to do with issues, at least political issues.
They are up and running, or rather singing and dancing. Here it is
all about people, celebrities, and smiles. The rest is entertainment
big time.

Where there are no issues, there are also no principles. Money talks
and the poor people along the streets are waiting for dole-outs.
People who will stay and wait for the big moment, never on time,
can make P400 or more. That is more than they can earn from
regular business. They will then applaud on command for anyone,
whatever side he or she is on.

Every rule has an exception. So also here. There is an absolute

crowd favorite. He does not have to pay. He does not have to talk.
He just has to be there and all hands, all arms will be stretched out
to reach him or his wife. By all stretches of your imagination, there
is no more need for campaigning. The people have spoken. It is just
a matter of going from place to place, province to province,

- page 101 -
but the scenes will not change. The people will swarm around FPJ
and take the money from GMA.

Having said that, it is amazing that there are so-called polls, surveys
on public opinion, who claim that there is an even race among the
candidates. It is true, though, that one of the presidential candidates,
the leader of a charismatic religious organization, was able to gather
several hundred thousand people for a mass in Luneta Park. But
remember, they went there to seek for their own salvation and they
pay for it. To call that “campaign funding” is a little bit far fetched
and the poll results of 1.2% put him in line with the Great Pretender,
the wigged Eddie Gil, who claims he has the Marcos accounts.

In the middle bracket, Lacson and Roco should consider throwing

in the towel, but we fear that they will never surrender. So, on the
top, it is a one-on-one, FPJ vs. PGMA, with some 33% each, a
newcomer against the incumbent. After round one, the newcomer
has not shown anything yet, the incumbent is already throwing
everything she has.

It is interesting to note that Filipinos who see themselves as fence

sitters of the finest order can endure the theater of election
gimmicks, jumping from one conclusion to the other, in the end
unable to see what is right or wrong.

The incumbent president has certainly a big advantage with all

government resources in her hand, all media on her side, and the
COMELEC, Congress, Senate and the complete House of
Representatives, and the Supreme Court dancing to her tunes in
order to protect her, to protect her cabal, surely to protect them
selves from impeachment or criminal action. They will do anything
to stay in power. For fence sitters it may be an interesting Round 2.
- page 102 -
HERITAGE AND CULTURE

THE BITTER TRUTHS

- page 103 -

GENERAL ORDER NO. 13

 WHEREAS, martial law has been declared under
Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and is now under
effect throughout the entire country;
WHEREAS, one of the objectives of the proclamation of
martial law is to effect social, economic, and political reforms, and
thus bring about the transformation of a New Society in our country,
a Society infused with a profound sense of discipline and order;
WHEREAS, every citizen and resident of the Philippines
should participate in bringing about these changes;
WHEREAS, it is also the duty of every citizen and resident of
the Philippines to keep his environment or surroundings clean and
wholesome;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS,
President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by
the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of
the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated
September 21, 1972, do hereby call upon every resident and citizen
of the Philippines, all universities, colleges and schools and other
similar institutions, private as well as public; all commercial and
industrial establishments, hotels, restaurants, hospitals,
cinemahouses, public markets, transportation companies, and all
establishments of all kinds, to undertake the cleaning of their own
surroundings, their yards and gardens, as well as the canals, roads or
streets in their immediate premises.
Towards this end, it is hereby prohibited for anyone to throw
garbage in public places, such as roads, canals, esteros or parks.

- page 104 -

I expect everyone to cooperate in this project to clean our

surroundings.
 I hold everyone responsible for his own surroundings, and
should anyone fail to comply with his obligation under this General
Order, the Government will undertake the cleaning of his premises
at his own expense.
The owners of idle lots in the Greater Manila Area are
expected to keep these idle lots clean. In the event of their failure or
inability to comply with this obligation, the Government will
undertake the cleaning of the lot at the owner’s expense, and the
Government may further utilize the land for its food production
program.
I order the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and
Communication to supervise the implementation of this campaign.
Done in the City of Manila, this 30th day of September, in the
year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.

Sgd. FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President
Republic of the Philippines

- QUOTE FROM VITAL DOCUMENTS ON PROCLAMATION

NO. 1081 DECLARING A STATE OF MARTIAL LAW
IN THE PHILIPPINES

- page 105 -
 “Filipinos are probably the only people in the world
who are ashamed of their country, who show contempt
for anything if that is their own.
They take a perverse delight in devaluating the Philippines.
If it is Filipino, it is no good.” – PHILIPPINE FREE PRESS,
Nov.1, 1958 “A New Look at the Philippines”.

- page 106 –
 OUR UNFINSHED TASK . . . .
By Judge Juan Nabong
(direct quotations)

“The institution in the Philippines that has always been against true
nationalism is the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. This
ecclesiastical power was instrumental in the execution of our
martyrs Fathers Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, and our national hero
Dr. Jose Rizal. The oppressions and the persecutions were always
due to its influence and power over the state.”

“With great wisdom and spiritual power, Martin Luther exposed the
errors of the church and declared them to be contrary to the words
of the gospel. The challenge of Martin Luther came like the
explosion of an atomic bomb to all Christendom. It demolished and
pulverized the false doctrines of the Pope.”

“Up to the present, those countries that broke away from the power
of Rome are the most progressive, prosperous, and peaceful in
Europe. The light of truth has freed them from darkness,
superstition, and fanaticism so characteristic of those countries
where the Pope holds ecclesiastical power.”

“In the Philippines, however, because of the rigid control of the

church, the Reformation movement of Martin Luther was not

- page 107 -
introduced. Although the power of Spain is forever broken in the
Philippines, the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church
remained, becoming even stronger. They were able to do this, when
they placed patron saints in every town during the three centuries
that the friars ruled our religion here.”

“Every municipality was given a patron saint who happened to be

an alien priest or religious woman. The people, although ignorant of
the life of their alien patron saints, were required to celebrate their
anniversaries in the form of a big town fiesta, when their wooden
images were pulled in a long procession lighted with candles and
profusely smoked with incense.”

“Our people, instead of holding celebrations to commemorate the

anniversaries of our own heroes or martyrs, held an annual town
fiesta in honor of the foreign patron saints, which resulted in the total
bankruptcy of values. There is not a single Filipino saint,
notwithstanding the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has been
here for 400 years now. ”

“The Philippines is the only place in the world today where nationals
in the Catholic Church occupy inferior and lower positions to the
alien friars. In Spain the heads are Spanish, In America Americans,
in Canada Canadiens, in France French, but in the Philippines the
heads have always been aliens.”

“For 400 years, the friar priests have taught us to have a colonial
mentality. This is especially true in religion where we are very
submissive and obedient and are taught to fear pastoral letters,
- page 108 -
excommunication, or sermons of the priest. For this reason our
religion has always been colonial, our education is colonial, and
even our economy is colonial. The colonial mentality is so strong
among parochial-minded Filipinos that they even have a History of
the Philippines for Catholics. The major theme of that book is
fulsome praise for the Spanish missionaries who allegedly came
here to bring us the cross. We were crucified, all right, while the said
missionaries have always been living in luxury, comfort, and wealth
among us up to the present. The friars are made to appear as angels
of light and salvation while Filipino patriots who resist them and
who fought for freedom and liberty are made to appear as anti
Catholic, misguided rebels.”

“In the last election, the Roman hierarchy participated actively

in the campaign and often times candidates for national office,
in their extreme desire to win, set aside their self-respect and
honor as Filipinos by passing at convents and churches in order
to kiss the hands of the priest or the bishop and secure his help
in the election, as if the votes depended upon the choice of the
church and not upon the will of the people.”

“We have been taught by this hierarchy to belittle ourselves so

that we will always prefer the alien friars or priests to our own
countrymen. So long as we are not absolutely free from religious
alien control, fanaticism, bigotry, and intolerance, we cannot
develop our God-given faculties.”

WE NEED A PRESIDENT WHO WILL GO TO THE

UNITED NATIONS IN N.Y. AND TALK IN FILIPINO.
- page 109 -
THE DAILY TRIBUNE
letters@tribune.net.ph

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:

March 4, 2004, was really a day to remember. Every newspaper in

the land had the same headline on its front page: FPJ CAN RUN.
Interestingly, your newspaper had also two contradicting but very
good opinions on the famous question: What now, pussycat?

DIEHARD Hermann Tiu Laurel goes mainline thanking the SC

profusely for its show of “justice” and believing that from now on
everything is smooth sailing including justice for Erap. That that
may very well be wishful thinking comes out on a very unlikely
place, on page 10 of the business section, where Jesse Bacon, the
man at the market, develops the theory that GMA conceded to the
scenario of FPJ not being disqualified, because her advisers told her
that she is winning anyhow as seen in the latest SWS survey.

Indeed, the decision of the SC is a very dubious decision. GMA’s

political appointees voted for disqualification. Davide and Azcuna
may have changed their mind in the last minute, maybe out of fear,
maybe following instructions from the Palace. This has little to do
with justice and should not restore respect in a high institution that
was created long time ago as an independent institution to safeguard
the balance of power against a usurper president. We still have a
usurper president who can only run because she never ran as
president and because the legitimate President of this country is a
political prisoner. In the same sense, we still have to contend with
the fact that this usurper president will do anything to stay in power.
- page 110 –
 THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
Many people think that the root of all evil is money, so you would
wonder why they are all crying for money. Other people say the root
of all evil is the love of money. Well, no doubt, everybody would
love to count his blessings like the rich are doing, even if, according
to the bible, Jesus Christ never counted his blessings. He never had
any and is telling every true believer “Blessed are the poor”; but that
is only for Sunday Church.

To tell you the truth, you have a problem, when you don’t have
money, but you have a big problem when you have big money. You
need a security guard at the door, you need a driver to bring your
kids to school, and, basically, you live in constant fear of being
kidnapped or scammed.

In this country, where the rich are getting richer and the poor are
getting poorer and more in numbers by the day, it is debatable
whether or not the government is the root of all evil. Certainly, the
government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her MMDA
under Bayani Fernando are the biggest dividers, cleaning up the
streets for the rich from the poor. Literally, on a daily basis courtesy
of Kalsada Natin.

We have reached a state of total class division between the haves

and the have-nots. Everything is done for the rich. Where it was
before “sidewalks are for people” it is now clear that sidewalks are
for people’s cars. Not only that! Everything for the poor is illegal:
Illegal gambling, illegal vendors, illegal loading a bus even, illegal
drugs even. And they are made for the poor by the rich! Diba, only
rich people have the capital for a shabu lab. Only the rich have the

- page 111 –
money to buy dollars, so please don’t blame the poor Filipinos for
the losses of the Peso.

For reasons only the President and her men in black may know,
Filipinos are forced to walk longer and longer stretches to reach a
place where their bus is allowed to slow down, so that daring people
may jump the bus. It is a miracle that no accidents are happening
yet, or maybe they are just not reported. We have to pity the elderly,
everything is made so difficult for them. How can they jump a bus,
while they all blow their horn?

Also not reported are the many buses and jeepneys that are
impounded by the well-oiled machinery of police and MMDA for
reasons only the President and her men in black will know. Come to
think of it, why is the FG not among them? The black men, I mean!
To get your jeep back you have to shell out P1,500 “plus-plus” with
the police, miles out of town, or P5,000 with the MMDA on a stolen
property with high fence. That is their daily money-making or
milking machine. It’s really time we get Lacson back to clean up the
police!

Not reported or toned down, suppressed even, was another little

event that happened at night March 3-4 out there in Molino Drive,
Bacoor, Cavite, where two cops and four security guards lost their
lives fighting it out for land grabbers. There is a huge property of
875 hectares that has been claimed for ages by the heirs of
Hermogenes Rodriguez but was encroached by some well-known
land grabbers of the highest caliber.

The modus operandi of the land grabbers is always the same and
very visible for everyone with eyes open. “PRIVATE PROPERTY!
NO TRESSPASSING!” You see, only the rich can buy a Fencing
Permit from the mayor who, of course, wants “his
- page 112 -
share”. After the Fencing Permit they buy a “Building Permit”. Then
they wait for some time for an eventual complaint from another
“owner” of the property.

Most properties in the Philippines have more than one “owner”, so

most properties have “over-lapping” claims. That is how they call it
in the snake pit of the worst kind, the LRA or the Land Registration
Authority. The land grabbers are the best friends of those shameless
bandits who are working in the LRA for a minimal official salary.

But don’t worry, be happy! The land grabbers pay! Yes, they pay
big money to get a title and “pertaining documents” and they “work
it out” with the mayor and his lackeys. In the case of Las Pinas and
Bacoor it is actually family business. It’s all Camelia, Manuela,
Crown, Brittany, yes all in the family! 85% of Las Pinas for sure is
owned by them!

They have their own private armies distributed by their own

agencies, and they have the order to shoot. They have the hottest
firearms and they are ready to shoot Filipinos. Always Filipinos,
what else, do you think Germans will steal land here? Chinese
maybe, but they steal land everywhere, even in Malaysia, Sabah, or
South Africa.

It’s not only the Speaker of the House, actually he is in good

company with the Ramos family, the Ayalas, the Ortigases and their
Hong Kong conglomerates, and not to forget the Tuazon Arroyos
and the heirs of Gregorio Araneta. That is why Cubao is so beautiful;
it stinks because it is rat-infested! And the nicest property, prime
prime, at the corner of EDSA and Aurora is empty while in court for
the next 100 years.

- page 113 -
Long time ago, during the good old days of Presidente Garcia and
Macapagal Father, they discovered that all the lands in the
Philippines were never really owned by anyone except stolen by the
Spanish Friars who gave it as reward for the not so honorable
families of those who killed Filipinos who did not want to go to
church. That is what “salvaging” stands for. The Spanish claimed
but did never “own” land, so they could also not transfer ownership
of something they did not own.

The Spanish, by the way, did not like at all that the British Crown
who were the real police of the world at that time came here in 1762
and put things in order. Among others, they decreed in “Protocol 01-
4 of 1764” that the whole archipelago of 7,100 islands does not
belong to the Spanish King but to the Royal Family of the
Philippines, at that time represented by King Luison’s heirs. That
was also the basis of the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which, on paper,
ruled the official transfer from Spain to the United States of America
and up-held the private rights of the Royal Family Tagean-Tallano.

In 1902, under the control of the Governor to the Philippines,

Howard Taft, who became U.S. President in 1908, and Registrar
Sleeper, Land Registration Act 496 up-graded the “Protocol 01-4”
to OCT 01-4 and to mother title for all other titles like TCT - 408
and TCT – 498, which cover the Greater Manila Area. That is the
Torrens Title System.

Unfortunately, for most Filipinos, the bandits in the LRA have

“forgotten” the origin of the Torrens Title System; they use the
Torrens System of Money Talks and they talk only to the richest of
the rich who have no names, corporate offices only, like B.F.
Homes, Greenfields, Philinvest, Sta. Lucia Realty, Fil Estate, all of
them! They promise or peddle land titles but can never deliver,
- page 114 -
only Certificate of Home Ownership or a Certificate from the Home
Owners Association.

Poor Filipinos who buy from them in the belief that they will own
their property, at least one day, after paying for 25 years. Nope!
Thomas Aguirre could not, V.V. Soliven could not, Manny Villar
and Fernando Zobel de Ayala cannot deliver a proper title. In P.D.
1143 President Marcos decreed “all legitimate occupants of land
shall consult with the true owner of the true title”, before they
register their new title under the Torrens Title System. As simple as
that. Ask who did not like!

“All wealth starts with a crime.” A wise word of U.S. President

Roosevelt and he did not know yet the root of all evil in the
Philippines.

- page 115 –
 The International Court of Justice of The Hague, Holland,
has ruled on several occasions – Dictators Allende, Pinochet,
Idi Amin, Ceaucescu – that accusations of human rights violations
cannot be invoked directly against the President of a country but
against the highest officer in the Police.

- The Million Dollar Question of the Philippines: Why did nobody file a
case of human rights violation against Fidel V. Ramos, the Head of the dreaded
Constabulary Police during 14 years of Martial Law?

From: LETTER OF INSTRUCTION NO. 1

“In carrying out the foregoing order you are hereby also
directed to see to it that reasonable means are employed by you
and your men and that injury to persons and property must be
carefully avoided.
Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of September, in the
year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.”

Sgd. FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President
Republic of the Philippines

- page 116 –
 PANEM ET CIRCENSES
In the old Rome at the time of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago, the
emperors discovered a simple trick to perpetuate their power: Make
the people happy, give them entertainment, bread and games, bloody
games, violence and sex, and they will leave you in peace, they will
not ask stupid questions and you can do as you wish. Good or bad,
good or evil; who cares? Well, in the end, Conan the Barbar from
the North came and cared and that was the end of the Roman
Empire.

Since then, the game plans of the world leaders have become a little
bit more sophisticated. Wow! I am just watching Kris Aquino’s
boobs in a Saturday afternoon show on ABS-CBN for children, No,
they are all sobbing and crying. That is a real good show, very
selling! I understand Joey Marquez now. Not so bad! But that is not
the topic.

The world will maybe never know what the ouster of the Shah of
Persia has to do with the murder of John F. Kennedy and his brother
Robert Kennedy, then Justice Secretary and a good man, or what
Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have to do with the bankrupt Enron
Empire where the old Bush was an executive VP. Some people may
have heard something about Ramos with Bin Laden in Afghanistan
during the 1980’s, where they created the Abu Sayyaf.

Most people now know that the Abu Sayyaf is very bad. They bomb
and they behead people, they even sabotage the Superferry 14. And
their head is Kumander Robot. At least that is what people read in
the newspapers. Of course, people do not talk to Kumander, they
don’t know him. What? He is in a hospital in Manila? No more legs?
So how can he sabotage a superferry? Exactly, how can
- page 117 -
he? He cannot! He is dying in that Veterans Hospital or they help
him to die, whatever, so he cannot talk.

Robot is Chairman of the Sabah Recovery Project and that is very

hot to handle. Too hot. That is why. Remember when Erap became
President, then suddenly there was a hostage drama with so many
foreign hostages. They came from Sipadan, Sabah. Sabah belongs
to Malaysia now, since Malaysia was created in 1963, when Dado
Macapagal was President. Dado asked Esmael Kiram and Esmael,
no, not e-mail!, said yes.

Question remains, of course, how can something that belonged to us

since Adam and Eve suddenly be part of something that did not even
exist before 1963? Well, only Dado and Esmail could tell but Dado
is no longer available for comment. Maybe his daughter knows but
she is too busy running against FPJ.

In the meantime, Sabah oil produces $88Billion every year for

Malaysia instead for us in the Philippines. We should ask the
naughty question what Ramos and Mahathir are doing with all that
money. They must be very busy, both retired generals and
presidents, in the prime of their glory. At least that is what
everybody is made to believe.

As to poor Robot, he has written a post mortem statement, which

will be read after he is dead already. There is a court hearing on
March 12 in Sulu where Nur Misuari and Robot will be charged with
rebellion and hundreds of more charges. That’s ridiculous! It’s like
charging the driver of Halina Perez’ car for illegal parking in Bicol.
Only in the Philippines!

GMA is correct, as long as she is in power, she can do what she likes
to do. Power is very important. But what if?! Exactly, people
- page 118 -
should not forget that “what if”. Under President Poe Jr. this
Kumander Robot can tell in a fair trial, maybe in a double whammy
with Erap, what really happened there and then. Maybe he will also
tell that the grand master of all flagships, Mr. Aventejado, was a big
traitor who kept the money.

So, therefore, it is safe to say that he will not. Talk, I mean. He will
also not talk about Ramos and Mahathir, the Head of the Pakistani
Mafia in Malaysia. Who said that he was such a great Prime
Minister? Erap snubbed him and visited Anwar in jail instead. Erap
could smell a rat there. That is why he is kept in a freezer here, so
he cannot invite the wife of Anwar again like a head of State.

Mahathir got very angry with Erap and told his generals to give him
a nice present. He told the generals to get the hostages and bring
them to Robot in Basilan. They also told Angie Reyes to bombard
the area from the air, so Robot had to run and hide while hundreds
of civilians were killed during the air raids every day. Good
thinking, Mr. Prime. Nobody knows that there is a criminal case
pending in court against Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes for genocide.
For the time being, Angie is safe, but what if…

The only hope for Robot is his legal counsel, Mr. Due Process. Atty.
Oliver Lozano should really become Senator. He is one of the few
who really know what’s going on. The media, of course, call him
“Marcos lawyer” and right they are. At least there is one! Mr. Due
Process will go to Sulu, embrace Nur Misuari, and see to it that there
will be due process. Then they will talk peace. Simple under FPJ!

What a difference to the “policies” of Ramos and GMA! They talk

only. They preach “total war” or “all-out war”. Always talks! Those
are piss talks, not peace talks. “Mama Mary, give peace to
- page 119 -
this country”. What a bull! Who is Mama Mary anyhow? Is she
God? And what peace are they talking about? The peace of Gloria?
Or the peace of Cardinal Sin? Or the peace of the Catholic Bishops
Conference? Oh, they mean status quo, where the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer. Ah, ganon! Thank you but no thank you!

That is what I mean with media. They preach the bull. They don’t
cover Atty. Lozano in Sulu on a peace mission, because good media
coverage is expensive. Only Ramos has that kind of money. Good
for him! Therefore, he always looks good in all media. He is smart.
Smarter than his old friend Bin Laden. He looks dreadful with that
unwashed beard. And they claim that he is a billionaire!

- page 120 -
THE DAILY TRIBUNE
NINEZ CACHO OLIVAREZ, Publisher

March 8, 2004

Dear Publisher,

Your issue of today is such a disappointment! It reveals in one shot

where the TRIBUNE, that started so well only a few years ago, has
landed: In the garbage can of stupidity. Two things are totally
unacceptable, the DIEHARD and the letter to the editor. Your
writings are already known and discounted, always the same
anyhow.

Look, we live in a democracy and everybody has the right to be

wrong, even crazy, so also a guy from Cubao who has the temerity
to write such a stupid lie in his letter to the editor about the greatest
president this country ever had and the U.S. ! We don’t blame the
guy that he has that weird idea about the U.S. and the IMF-World
Bank ruling the Philippine elite through EDSA I and EDSA Dos,
but it is a different thing, if you find it worth printing and to give it
to the world.

That makes you part of the demolition job on Marcos. Don’t you see
that “they” fight Erap and FPJ because of Marcos and with the
“Marcos issue”? No, you don’t, because you do not see also who
“they” are. The people who think “they ousted” Marcos (the CIA
did it), the people who ousted Erap, are the same people who will
also oust FPJ and replace him with one of their choice, Loren
Legarda.

Filipino people do not see that anymore. Loren is so beautiful!

That’s what they see. They forgot already that she was so happy
- page 121 -
when “they” ousted Erap. And Erap? Look at that, special treatment!
Nobody wants someone else to have special treatment, right? For
himself, yes, why not, but for somebody else? No way! So be ready
to hear on the news nothing but “the rest house”. It fits to our crab
mentality.

A good trick to make Erap look bad. Poor guy! He is a victim of the
system, cannot hit back. Whether it is his knee operation or the
“house arrest”, they will always make him look bad. They are
professionals in the dirty tricks department and they can count on
the Filipino people, they will swallow hook line and sinker what
they see on TV.

If ever someone wants to say something bad about the IMF, then
please, tell the people that the IMF is here (in the BSP) to account
for and replace what our leaders are stealing from the people. Those
leaders include our beloved Cory, Ramos, GMA, the Cardinal, and
a Speaker of the House of Representatives, who received $5Billion
for Land Oil in Iraq some 30 years ago, made it disappear, and then
accuses Marcos of giving behest loans. And he is Speaker now?
What a country!

In the case of DIEHARD Herman Tiu Laurel, he is getting senile

now. Or he was drunk when he wrote this thing pitting Manang
Maceda for senator together with “Mr. Nightclub”, Mayor Lim, who
has never been tried in court for killing 87 farmers on Plaza Miranda
on Cory’s order and who single-handedly destroyed the cash cow of
Manila, Ermita, where all foreigners loved to spend their money.

The foreigners do not come here anymore. They go to Thailand and

spend their money there, where they feel welcome. Thailand is
sprouting and we are going down the drain. In style! Here, we have
- page 122 -
Chinese guests who go to their guest relation officers (GRO’s) in the
nightclubs owned or controlled by Mayor Lim. So much about that
wonderful “prostitution drive”! They do those things on TV now,
Mayor, daytime shows! This is only the beginning. It is only a
question of time before we go naked on TV also. You can already
order your chicks from the TV shows.

You see, publisher, you made me angry on a beautiful Monday

morning. I feel I should never buy the TRIBUNE again.

O.J.

- page 123 -
ROUND TWO

- page 124 –
 GMA’s 1-2 BLOW : VERY DAMAGING!

While the troops of FPJ are running, smiling, singing, dancing,

shaking hands, and raising arms high into the air of Mindanao, GMA
raises the arm of Manny Pacquiao in the Palace to make him a
formidable billboard for her, but that is nothing against the new issue
of “The Resthouse” and the “debt repudiation”.

The advisers of GMA, THE FIRM and other professional groups

of the highest caliber, are reading the O.I.A’s of FPJ very well and
poor FPJ does not even see it coming. The O.I.A’s? Ah yes, the o is
for over, the i is for intelligent, and the A for Adviser, so we are
talking about the over-intelligent advisers of FPJ, who are around
him, so he will not forget them later, when it is time to distribute
juicy positions.

They advise him among others not to talk about Erap and never say
MARCOS. They consider that taboo issues. They hate controversy,
they want to avoid confrontation, they don’t want to argue, they just
want to win. And they are hired just for that.

We are, of course, talking about the presidential campaign of the

formerly top-running candidate for the presidency 2004. It’s so
typical Filipino that one could cry. It is all about “running”, nothing
about knowing, nothing about planning ahead, nothing about real
issues, nothing that would look like a platform. All about da King’s
popularity. Now they are asking FPJ in public, what will he do with
the ballooning debt of the country. Wow!

That is, by all means, a reasonable question, nothing wrong with

that! It becomes wrong, when the impression is given that either

- page 125 -
FPJ does not know or does not know how to pay the interest. That
is again very Filipino because the Filipinos out there will only pay
what the bumbay is telling them to pay, otherwise…

No, that might be unfair to the Filipinos out there. They pay and FPJ
gives the impression that he is not ready to pay. That makes the
Governor of the BSP a very concerned citizen. He comes out with a
press statement warning the public against a president who will not
pay the foreign debt. He can do that even if the Filipino people do
not know in the first place that any president is paying the foreign
debt, because how can the foreign debt be “ballooning” if someone
is paying the foreign debt?

By the way, how sure are we that the I.M.F. really wants us to pay
the foreign debt? The two Presidents who were about to pay did not
make it too long in office after that. They were none other than John
F. Kennedy and Ferdinand E. Marcos. Of course, our younger
generations know these two greatest presidents only from the history
books, and who wrote the history books? Ask Tita Cory!

So, nobody is paying? Exactly! The opposite is true: The Monetary

Board, just the other day, gave green light again to GMA to borrow
another $9.6Billion (billiones in dolares and some five hundred sixty
billiones in Aquino Pesos) from the foreign nice guys. We should
really ask who they are, these people in the Monetary Board, where
they come from, or who put them there, and how can they give green
light? Will they pay the bill?

No, they will not and we should make it very clear to the Filipino
people: The foreign debt is not at all foreign; it is very Filipino, for
the Filipino people to pay. So every time the Monetary Board gives
green light to GMA to borrow more billions of dolares, it is for the
Filipino people to pay, not now, because they have no money;
- page 126 -
later, when they have money. You see that, Filipino people, when
you have money later, they will take it away, because then we have
to pay the foreign debt! How nice, noh?

Oh yes, the honorable Governor is one of the nice guys and he is

also a member of the Monetary Board! He knows very well also that
our currency, the Aquino Peso, is not a currency, not even listed as
a currency in the Internet.

That story of Cory C. Aquino demonetizing the ANG BAGONG

LIPUNAN is only for “da Pilipines”. They stole our money and they
gave us a peke. To make that very clear for everybody: We cannot
pay in pesos outside the country, we have to buy dolares first and
pay in dolares. That is the trouble and that is why the peso/dollar
rate will soon go to 60,70,80,90,100 per dollar. And that has nothing
to do with FPJ.

A peke is a peke, false, a fraud. Same as the BSP. Peke also. That is
not a Central Bank. The BSP is a private corporation with an
authorized capital of $1Billion, not listed even in the SEC. We
should ask Fidel The Great V. Ramos why he did that and what he
got from it. That is the truth and nothing but the truth!

Maybe we can now reason that the spokesman of FPJ, the young
congressman from Sorsogon, one of the spice boys, was also very
concerned, when he explained that FPJ would not r-e-p-u-d-i-a-t-e
the foreign debt, he would just extend the time period for the
payment of the interest. In banking terms out there, they call that m-
o-r-a-t-o-r-i-u-m and they hate it, because it means that the country
is bankrupt.

The young spokesman was just not prepared. That’s all. If he had
been prepared, he would have made his own knockout punch.
- page 127 -
Something like this: “We did not create this foreign debt. They did
it. So they should answer the question. They should also explain
what they did with the money. We would be very happy to hear their
answer. Please don’t ask us what we would do with their foreign
debt. We will show them, when we are in office and accept the
foreign debt as ours.”
That would have been a nice answer, putting things in the right
perspective. Indeed, nobody should ask FPJ or Ping Lacson about
the foreign debt. It is nothing god-given, it is nothing inherently
Philippine. It is solely the problem of the incumbent and her
predecessors, except Erap. Erap Bobo was not quick enough, not
smart enough, to borrow foreign debt. Even if traitors Pardo and
Aventejado were begging him.

Now, honestly, did anyone think about this: We are paying

P500Million everyday in interest for our national debt and we don’t
have money. Certainly not now! GMA needs all the money to spend
for her campaign! People’s money that is! And you know what?
How can we imagine the FG, the fat man behind PGMA, he will
look at P500Million every day and not take at least 20% in service
fee? No, I do not believe he can say no! He is a reputable father of a
family and Family first! First Family! Of course, he will take…..

But again, that is not the issue. The truth is not the issue. The truth
is never the issue. In this country, everybody hates the truth. If the
FG is really in everything from Customs to DPWH, from Pagcor to
Philhealth, then that is not the issue, no newspaper will pick this up,
unless a lawyer of ill repute will file a complaint.

Even if Ping Lacson comes up with an expose, then that is doomed

as “politically motivated” and consequently discounted, as we have
seen with the fertilizer issue. Imagine this and Ping is absolutely
- page 128 -
right: The DBM gives out a list for a total of P3B, payable in
February 2004, with so-called beneficiaries for agri-prods. On the
list are only friends of GMA, Nonoy Aquino with P5M, which is, of
course, understandable because Tarlac is such a poor dry country,
but Maite Defensor with P5M also, and that for Quezon City, which
is already plastered with those blue-yellow PGMA kalsada natin
brigades! Where will she fertilize? Her pocket?

You see, the fertilizer is a gimmick and we are fed gimmicks,

especially gimmicks with people who cannot defend themselves.
Remember, this is not about singing and dancing, this is serious
business and at stake are 11 million votes for Erap. Therefore, they
make gimmicks to make Erap look bad or stupid or bad and stupid,
if possible, while GMA has to look good. Always.

This is the score of the Gimmicks: They were already able to convict
Erap in a kangaroo court of public stupidity. At this time, it seems,
nobody among 87 Million Filipinos wants Erap Bobo back as duly
elected President of the Republic of the Philippines. Nobody knows,
but everybody thinks he was corrupt. Everybody knows “plunder”
and “jueteng” but not what or how much, like that does not matter.
The real plunderer of the jueteng is running for Senator. Watch out!

They did a great job. We have to give it to them. They fooled the
whole nation. Even the o.i.A’s of FPJ, including his young
spokesman, are clearly in line with their boss, the 40-year padre-
compadre in film business and social life, now dumbfounded and
stupefied, so he cannot greet his old friend any more. Maybe he does
not know anymore where to find him, in jail or in hospital, or in
detention camp or in “The Resthouse”. That’s what friends are for!
Philippine style.

- page 129 -
Nobody cares about the case of Erap. There is no case. There is only
PLUNDER blablabla, charges or rumors. All hot air! And the
makers of the gimmick are laughing. He is behind bars forever. They
have bought the justices, they bought the lawyers except the one,
Alan Paguia. They got him disbarred. So, no more problem!

They can play games now. PGMA is so nice, she allows him to go
to The Resthouse. For show. She hires some lawyers who file a case
against her. That is NEWS! Raps filed against PGMA! PGMA
impeach! For contempt of court! That is headline stuff!

But really: What contempt? She owns them. She hires and fires
them. Cory comes to say that she supports PGMA. That is NEWS
also! Here come the paid hecklers: Special treatment. That is a bad
word. Schmacks Marcos! Yeah! People will hate someone who
enjoys special treatment. Special treatment in the Resthouse! Yes,
Erap will look very bad with that! They know the people and crab
mentality. They must be celebrating already in the Palace.

The truth is, Mr. Wannabee President, that your old pare is still the
duly elected President of this godforsaken country. GMA is in
power, but she is illigit. That is why she can run again, against the
provisions of the 1987 Constitution given to us by her Excellency
President Corazon C. Aquino. No President, no Cory, no FVR, was
allowed to run a second time. Why can she run again? Where is the
COMELEC? Where is the Supreme Court? Where are all the
lawyers in this country? They must all be very busy running.

The Constitution is very clear: No elected President can run again.

So, what seems to be the problem? There is no problem. Nobody
elected her as President. She was elected Vice President. She
became President only later, in 2000, through “People Power”. That
is the combined power of Cory, the Cardinal, and Ramos
- page 130 -
Generals plus Money Talks for the hoodlums in robes. Ask Davide,
how much did he get?

Oh, yes, and don’t forget the magic of the SHRINE! That is the
symbol of the evil machinations of the Roman Catholic Church, the
Creator and Conspirator of the Oligarchy (the Ayalas, Ortigas,
Tuazons, Aranetas, and Manny Villar not to forget), which, silently
and secretly, rules this country of medieval religiosity. They call it
catholic and call you to pray the rosary a hundred times per hour.
Foreigners who come to these shores keep quiet. They have never
seen anything like this.

The SHRINE will be guarded by 10,000 police in anti-riot gear,

newly imported by GMA, for “maximum tolerance”, that is when
they hit old crying ladies in the head. In other countries, they call
that intimidation. One thing is for sure; those paid idiots in police
uniform who hit old women in the head and kill young rebels will
never go to heaven. God forbid!

But that, again, is besides the point. The point is that GMA is really
starting to look good, at least on TV. She is “our last best hope” a
hundred times a day. She is the only one doing something for Erap.
She allows him to go to The Resthouse. People are conditioned with
a daily overdose of GMA PR and it will come to the people: Erap
should endorse her!

In Philippine setting, impossible as it may sound for thinking human

beings in cooler climates, it is possible to think that Erap will,
indeed, embrace and kiss his biggest enemy, his tormentor, and ask
the people from El Shaddai and the Iglesia to vote for GMA. That is
something so Nobody knows where that comes from. Must be
colonial mentality.Filipino.

- page 131 -
The question remains: What is FPJ doing for Erap? NOTHING!
What does Ping Lacson do for Erap? NOTHING! Nobody on the
opposition side is doing anything for Erap. They seem ashamed or
guilty. Only GMA is helping Erap. That is what people see.

And GMA is also helping the poor. She is giving P50,000 to every
family in the Visayas. At least that is what my maid told me, when
I asked her why she has to go to Masbate tomorrow. According to
her, she also wants to get P50,000 for her family. That is why she is
asking me for advance pamasahe.

That is reality, reality that nobody wants to see! The troops of FPJ
in Mindanao are so exhausted. They cannot see. They are drunk
from so many hands to shake and lips to kiss. Even the friends of
Eddie Gil don’t see reality. Nor do the friends of Eddie Villanueva.
Nobody wants to see the truth. What truth? What reality?

There is no reality. There is perception only. Everybody’s

perception. Reality is what appears as reality in your head,
anybody’s head. Everybody in this world perceives reality for
himself. Nobody the same, but if you are enough mis-educated, then
you will even believe that Raul Roco will become the next President.
And Aquino the Vice.

Again, that is beside the point. The point is that GMA did land a
terrific 1-2 combination and the opponent in the blue corner is
unable to respond. If no miracle will happen, the election is over.
One month ago, it was finished also, FPJ was the supreme winner.
No more! GMA appears now as the overwhelming force in every
angle of a business that the o.i.A’s are unable to fathom. FPJ will
lose by default. He will look utterly stupid. Without his doing. He
never knew maybe that this is business. Real business. Nasty
business. Dirty Business.
- page 132 -
If you thought that this is a game only, then sorry, Mr. Poe Jr., game
over! Sayang, Philippines! This beautiful country with so many
fiestas, even more Santos and Ninos is going to the dogs. There is
no more hope! Except for PGMA.

PGMA is going to borrow $10Billion every month. She will have a

lot of money to spend. Not her money but she will spend it anyhow.
She will re-name Malacanang Palace to be the MACAPAGAL
PALACE and, by all limitations of the mind, we have to face the
end of the line; the people who are now fighting for FPJ will all join
hands with the winner by TKO. Right or wrong, that does not matter.
Good or bad, that is beside the point. Be real!

Welcome to the Philippines!

- page 133 -

FROM MINDANAO WITH LOVE

Back from 14 days on an odyssey on the Land of Promise. Actually,
if you listen to the people down there, it is the land of empty
promises. For someone like me who had known Mindanao only
from reading newspapers in Manila, I found nothing like what I had
expected. Number one, it is so peaceful and the people are nice,
hospitable, modest, and silent. It is the silence of the lambs.

Number 2, the wielded power of the dynasty families is disgusting

to say the least. Let no one tell me anything nice anymore about the
Zubiris, the Plazas, and the other feudal lords down there. If ever
they are down there, as they prefer the dolce vita of Makati and leave
the dirty work to willing goons down there. Shameful, that we
Filipinos allow that!

Number three, Gloria has covered every square meter down there
with her barangay-wide kalsada natin program. They are very quick
to clean any attempt to post a poster for any of the other candidates.
You hardly see a poster of FPJ. In the whole of Mindanao, maybe
we saw three. In our view, the campaign is over and, by all means,
Gloria won it.

Ah yeah, I have to explain, we were three who had followed an

invitation or “order from Tatay” to oversee the situation of the so-
called commodities. The “commodities”, that is maybe the widest
underground business, if we can call it that, in the country. In
Manila, you can see people hang around in Glorietta, in Starmall, in
Shangri la Plaza Food Court, and in many other places like that
peddling accounts, deposits, Wells Fargo, Uncut Dollars, Victory
Notes, Jap Notes, American Dream, Federal Reserve Bonds, Treaty
of Versailles, and so on and so on. From time to time, you

- page 134 -
find sting operations in the newspapers about sellers of fake gold
bars arrested or similar stories.

Nobody was ever successful in selling. It was always confiscated.

That has to do with a funny side of the whole. As it is all sting and
con, the poor believing, or rather gullible, agents, brokers,
negotiators involved in the “transactions” always fall for the con
artist, the big talkers, and the rich looking, big spending CIA agents.
There are not only poor guys involved in this, oh no, every level of
our society is part of it, at least from time to time, secretly of course,
not even the wife is allowed to know. What about the public, Mr.
Senator and Mr. Congressman?

There are “Buyers”, mostly CIA agents, in every 5-star hotel one,
and owners, called “Holders”, mostly dubious syndicates peddling
“samples”. What started maybe as “Marcos Money” is now free
from any taint, because Ferdinand Marcos is long dead. The only
thing that has not changed is the treasure hunt. Thousands of
Filipinos are digging, silently and secretly, for Yamashita treasure
or Marcos treasure every day. All over the country.

All over the country, the poor Filipinos keep dreaming and hoping
for a miracle. The promises of AAA, Alvin Amirante, with 20
million followers countrywide, are heard because of wishful
thinking. If you dig a little deeper, it is the faint and silent hope that,
one day, the Marcos Money will come out and will be distributed to
the Filipino people. Even presidential candidate Eddie Gil, by now
disqualified as nuisance candidate, is singing the same tune.

Now back in Manila, we are welcomed by the headline that GMA

made P15B in the Maynilad Water deal. That is plunder, outright
open plunder but nothing will happen, because the Filipino people
- page 135 -
are too busy. They have other priorities. The field is open for
someone evil enough to take everything and GMA is just doing that.
Of course, the newspapers will say that the deal will be re-
negotiated, and she will make sure that that will never come out in
the press again.

And look, there is the 2004 GLOBAL CORRUPTION REPORT of

the United Kingdom-based Transparency International: FM and
Erap made it to the top ten of world’s most corrupt. What a nice
gimmick and how timely! That is good work, demolition job, against
FPJ. Filipinos should be very happy. There is now clear evidence,
by a top international agency, that FM stole and that Erap plundered.

“In its Global Corruption Report 2004, Transparency International

charted the flow of stolen assets and recommended ways to recover
money looted by despots.” Thanks to this report on the front page of
THE PHILIPPINE STAR on Friday, March 26, 2004, we will now
know how much FM stole and how he stashed the money away in
Swiss banks. Right?

In the case of Erap, Transparency International can now help the

Philippine courts to find out what Erap really did, because they have
no clue and no clear evidence against Erap yet. After more than 3
years, imagine! And Heidee Yorac will be very happy, because as
the not so honorable Chairman of the PCCG she got cancer in her
evil job to cover up for Cory Aquino. Or is this all a bad joke? Of
course, it is! This is black propaganda of the worst kind, because the
perpetrators bet on the stupidity of the local public that they will just
swallow the lies hook, line, and sinker. And they are our “gobierno”!
Hallelujah!

- page 136 -
So, in the end, did we miss anything? Maybe the build-up for the
jeepney strike, maybe the start of the below-the-belt operations, see
Dolphy “bastos” and “judas” or is that kabayan Noli de Castro? You
do not know any more, because the whole thing called election is
getting “bastos”. There is nothing to discuss, it seems. It’s all show
and entertainment. Gloria is everywhere, promising the moon and
the stars and she will keep up with FPJ. If ever FPJ will be ahead by
10 percent or less, that can easily be ironed out. Actually, following
the grape vine, the list of winners is out already.

We can go to sleep now. GMA will take care of business; the fat
gentleman will be whitewashed while more and more squatters,
vendors, beggars, and street children will sleep on our kalsada natin.
No more “programa”, PGMA will be tired also. Until next election.
You bet!

- page 137 -
 F·R·O·N·T·L·I·N·E
NINEZ CACHO-OLIVARES

Confident of fraudulent victory

Thursday, 04 01, 2004

Gloria says she is confident the disqualification cases filed against

her at the Comelec and the Supreme Court will not prosper, as the
election body and the high court will dismiss them. Of course the
cases against her, despite an overabundance of evidence, will be
dismissed by both bodies, since she obviously controls them.

But even as these two constitutional bodies (that can hardly be called
independent or imbued with integrity) dismiss these cases, as all
indications show that these will be dismissed, with the Comelec
chairman already prejudging the case even before it was formally
filed, the suspicion that yet another injustice has been heaped on the
Filipino people will remain.

On the charge that Gloria had exceeded the limits on TV advertising,

the Comelec chairman quickly said Gloria is not to be blamed.
Instead, the Comelec should be blamed, since it had ruled that the
120 minutes was not the total ad time exposures, but per TV station,
even when the Comelec was aware that it could not, but itself,
amend the Fair Elections Act.

What else can be expected from the Comelec that already clears
Gloria's transgressions even before a disqualification case is filed
against her? In the case of Gloria misusing government funds and
resources as a vote-buying scheme,

- page 138 -

it was the Comelec commissioners who were coming out in defense

of Gloria, saying she is President and an incumbent, and that this is
part of her governance. Again, she is being absolved of any
violations even before judgment is rendered. There is clear evidence
that Gloria has been utilizing government funds to prop up her
candidacy.

Just check on the amount spent by certain government agencies last

year, first quarter, as against this election year's first quarter. From
a low — advertising-wise — of some P15 million spent in 2003 first
quarter, the same government agencies, this first quarter spent some
P98 million. Why the jump, and why that high an advertising jump?

Simple. Last year was not an election year. This year is, and all
resources are being utilized for Gloria's election. And what about
the other telling evidence of Gloria getting her Cabinet officials to
campaign for her, by writing official letters and telling people to
vote for Gloria?

There is, too, that presidential address that Gloria wants read to
graduating students, approved by her Education secretary and the
Ched officials. Isn't that electioneering? Not to the Comelec, it isn't.
All signs point to the Comelec protecting Gloria and even ensuring
her win in May.

With the opposition baring that rolls of water-marked security paper

that would be used for the printing of two million ballots are missing
didn't get the Comelec alarmed. Instead of conducting an
investigation into the matter, the Comelec took the side of the
National Printing Office (NPO) chief, whose explanations on the
missing rolls, as well as his math were all shot.

- page 139 -

Surely if the Comelec and the NPO chief were certain that no hanky-
panky in ballot printing exists, a probe would have been the best step
to take, if only to prove to the public that the opposition was coming
up with unsubstantiated charges on electoral fraud. The same tack
was taken by the Comelec in the case of a Cavite official who caught
some six contractual Comelec employees hacking away at
computers connected to the Comelec. The official called in the
police because the employees could not explain what they were
doing and why they were hacking a Comelec program, which had
something to do with the voters' registration files.

Immediately, the Comelec commissioners came to the hackers'

defense, saying they were working late but were authorized to clean
up the voters' registration list. What? Contractual employees are
given this sensitive job of cleaning up the voters' registration files?
No wonder Gloria is confident all charges against her will be
dismissed by the Comelec.

As for the Davide Court, Gloria can be super-confident that any

disqualification case lodged against her before this court is not going
to prosper. She is, after all, the Davide Court's anointed, and even if
blood will be spilled owing to the massive electoral fraud that is
expected, Hilario Davide and Artemio Panganiban won't deem her
to have constructively resigned, or even disqualified from running
in the presidential race.

Both are frauds, and frauds have to stick together. Always.

- page 140 -
 A·N·A·L·Y·S·I·S
BY ALEJANDRO LICHAUCO
Two national security questions for the ‘presidentiables’

Excerpts:

Question: Do the presidential aspirants have any contingency plan

in the event of a “nuclear 9/11” (nuclear attack) in the US and/or the
explosion of a “dirty bomb” (radioactive bomb) in this country?

The reason for this question is that national security studies in the
US both in the private and government sectors, anticipate the
possibility of such nuclear attack in the US before the November
presidential elections. On the private sector side, the Kennedy
School of Government of Harvard University and the Federation of
American Scientists have already anticipated the scenario in
officially released studies (See article “Nuclear 9/11” by Nicolas
Kristof published in a local daily last March 12).

But to bring this particular point home, there are strong but as yet
unconfirmed reports that al-Qaeda has slipped in 30 of its suicide
agents into this country armed with a dirty bomb scheduled for
detonation at the opportune time. Nothing surprising, of course,
considering that the Philippines has been included in al-Qaeda's
terror targets, along with Australia and Japan, in view of our
government's insistence to remain actively involved with the US in
the latter's war on Iraq.

As the still officially unconfirmed reports goes, the bomb will be

detonated in front of the US Embassy in traffic-heavy Roxas
Boulevard where it would be extremely difficult to conduct a
security check because that would involve

- page 141 -
stopping and inspecting every vehicle coasting along both sides of
the boulevard. Such a scenario, considering the pattern of suicide
bombings in Iraq, can only be described as most logical and the most
conservative of security planning should at the very least assume
that more likely than not that is precisely what would happen, or
what we should expect to happen and prepare for.

Given all these, the most disturbing feature of this year's presidential
campaign is that not a single once of the presidentiables appears to
have given thought to these two national security questions at all,
which makes you wonder how on earth any of them proposes to
tackle the two ballooning problems of poverty and national security.

That's why in an earlier piece written for a local daily last March 16,
this writer suggested that the “AFP should prepare for a “nuclear
9/11” in the US and the National Defense College of the Philippines
(NDCP) should be tasked to draw up a comprehensive emergency
program in anticipation of that possible event, which certainly
would have traumatic consequences for us.

To that suggestion, this piece will now add — and add pressingly —
that the AFP, through the NDCP, undertake forward and emergency
planning in anticipation of the strongly rumored dirty bomb attack
on the US Embassy here. If it doesn't happen, then at least we shall
have prepared for it and the exercise would have been worthwhile.
But should it happen, and we are caught literally flatfooted, the AFP
as an institution will never be able to forgive itself for its
unpreparedness and neither will the public be able to forgive it. The
AFP will never be able to live down the embarrassment and the
humiliation and it wouldn't even be in any moral position to assume
command in the event that chaos breaks loose, as it certainly would.
That

- page 142 -
command will be reserved for, and can only be assumed by an
organized armed force that is bound to emerge from the chaos and
which would identify itself with the people as their protector.

The AFP will be completely finished as an institution and its ranking

members might even have to shed off their uniforms and flee for
their lives. For they have been given the opportunity to prepare for
the role of “protector of the people and the state,” and simply
flubbed it because of sheer incompetence and corruption.

As for the presidentiables, and the trapos behind them, you and I can
let our imagination run wild as to the fate that awaits them, as
marauding bands of desperate, hungry masses scour for food and
scour as well for those who should hang and be made to pay for the
criminal state of un-preparedness toward which this nation shall
have been allowed to drift by the criminal incompetence of those
who aspire to lead it.

As this writer has asked only too often, who is the nut who wants
to be President in these times?

- page 143 –
 NO PLATFORM, NO BRAINS!
After April fool’s day, it is the preacher Eddie Villanueva, who is
the one among the presidential candidates who coins and starts the
term “count down”. As a politician, he is a greenhorn, a neophyte.
As businessperson, he is in the business of selling salvation. As a
scientist, he is a nut spreading the news of Adam and Eve. As a
religious man, he is at best a tribal medicine man, a shaman of
forgotten primitive cultures, but in Philippine politics, he has
millions of followers in neat yellow uniform who may, God forbid,
carry him to the highest post of the land.

By the way, a count down is a specified interval of time, measured

in a descending order of units, usually seconds, to zero, at which an
intended action is to occur. We know it for NASA’s launch of a
spacecraft, for example. That is as scientific as scientific can be. On
the contrary, the 2004 election campaign scene seems to be a
comedy of errors. Even comedy king Dolphy got himself caught in
the act, obviously not knowing what he is doing.

Now, Dolphy reminds us that there once was a triumphirate of Erap,

FPJ, and Dolphy as the kings of Philippine filmmaking. Close
friends, they campaigned together in 1998 for Erap and won him the
presidency. Erap became arguably the most bobo president in
history who had himself untimely removed from office, in a rather
rude manner, though, from the highest office by way of what the
Supreme Court ruled as “constructive resignation” leaving the
palace by the murky river through the backdoor.

Mind you, this is not a fairy tale story; this is modern Philippine
history! Someone else took over the reigns of absolute power and
put him in jail. Actually, it is not jail, because jailing someone
- page 144 -
requires certain legal grounds like finding him guilty of something,
anything. They did not, at least not yet, after 3 years, but they denied
him bail, so the duly elected bobo President of the Republic of the
Philippines is kept in a freezer of sorts, somewhere out there,
sometimes in a Veteran’s Hospital, sometimes in a military camp in
the provinces, sometimes in a rest house, who knows?

Well, certainly, Gloria knows, she is playing with him as long as he

is the duly elected President. She is occupying his post, illegally.
That is why she can bypass the provisions of the Constitution. Our
1987 Constitution, to be sure, forbids an incumbent president to run
again for office. The obvious reason being that the incumbent can
use the government machinery, the people’s money called public
funds, and the power-wielding position as concurrent Chief
Commander of the Army, de-facto police chief, and sole
commander of the finances of the whole nation.

Gloria is all that plus she controls the COMELEC and the Supreme
Court. She is, indeed, in a super position that practically guarantees
her victory. Lately, she decorates herself with doctor hats. That
looks cute on her and makes her look a little intelligent, at least for
a while. Maybe it is correct to say, though, that in the eyes of the
viewing public, not the blinded Ayala employees but the silent
majority out there, nothing will change the general disenchantment
of the viewers in their modest homes.

They don’t like her, they don’t like her political gimmickry, and they
don’t believe her any more. Except that more than the absolute
majority of Filipino people believe that she is using public funds to
finance her gigantic presidential campaign and that she is ready,
willing, and able to cheat in the elections. Big time even!

- page 145 -
There lies the tragedy of this election, the tragedy of the Filipino
people. Here are millions and millions of poor Filipinos, desperate
for a brighter future, and there is dagdag bawas, the brazen power
grabbing of the rich oligarchy. And the real tragedy is that the so-
called opposition does not see it, does not see the great opportunity
of unifying the opposition for the benefit of the Filipino people
against the establishment. Five weeks before May 10, the day of
reckoning, FPJ is wasting his chances in political no no’s, making
himself a sad picture of a spoiled brat with no manners, and worse,
a picture of a hapless puppet in the hands of some ambitious-over-
ambitious traditional politicians.

Is that what we want as the next president? No, thank you! More and
more former admirers of the king are getting disillusioned and fall
off. Surprisingly or not, a lonely candidate is plying his ways,
presenting himself as presidential caliber but without a party.

This is Senator Ping Lacson, looking good, looking straight, serious,

and strongly determined. Not only that, he sounds intelligent, shows
political experience that FPJ definitely does not have, and is brave
enough and eloquent enough to stand up to any task and any
question on his own.

Brains? Senator Ping Lacson has. Maybe Roco also has but that guy
is not straight, not serious, and not strongly determined. That’s for
sure. He is a hang-on, playing the role of hero for a stupid
“intelligencia”, mostly miss-educated students who polish their own
image. In those “educated” circles, it is “in” to be for someone who,
in reality, was dismissed as super corrupt while in office as Secretary
of Education. Is that we want as the next president? Ha?

What ever, who ever, someone will take the position of president
very soon and rule this banana republic with a strong hand until it
- page 146 -
bleeds to death. Gloria’s platform for that, and that is most likely the
winning platform, is borrowing more money and not care who will
pay for it, as long as she and her beloved fat gentleman have enough.
And some are saying that there is no enough. Tough times ahead,
Philippines!

The unlikely, more unlikely by the day, though, alternative is that

FPJ will win with either Noli or Loren, both courtesy of ABS-CBN-
Meralco-Lopez Family, as Bise. That might be just too tempting for
certain powers in this country to just blow off FPJ with a bullet and,
one breath away, Meralco-Lopez has its own President. Not so bad
also! For them. What about us? Will we then pay double for the
electricity?

Well, at least as long as it lasts, we would have our president of our

own choice, a president who does not know how to talk without a
script. The script would, of course, come from the trusted handlers
and look, who are they! Angara, Sotto, Maceda, Enrile! Oh noh,
please! Have mercy on us!

So, Filipino people, vote wisely! Your vote will not be counted
anyhow. If Gloria will buy your vote, take the P5,000, what else can
you do? They have just too nuch to lose, too much to protect. They
might be investigated and that includes Cory and the Cardinal,
Ramos and his generals, and Gloria with her spice boys. The FG?
Munti is next! But NO, they will never allow that to happen. They
will go dagdag bawas.

WE, THE PEOPLE! Where are they? They are everywhere.

Everyone too busy doing his own business. But always remember,
mga kaibigan, in 1986 we had a snap election. President Marcos
won, was declared president by Congress, and took his oath of
office. A few weeks later, Cory Aquino said she was cheated and
- page 147 -
that she won. She abolished Congress and took her own oath of
office in a funny place like Club Filipino. Like welga kami. But she
became President because Marcos was kidnapped already by the
Kanos and brought to Hawaii.

What is important here is that the Supreme Court then up-held the
legitimacy of the “People Power” President Cory Aquino. We all
know what happened. Six kudetas shattered the economy because
many people then thought that Cory had no right to call herself
President and that she totally abused her powers. Time can heal
wounds but injustice remains injustice.

Problem then was, by the way, that all those friends of Cory who
were nobodies before, mostly leftists and activists, became
government officials under Cory, and they were greedy, very
greedy. They are very greedy until today. Mike Defensor is one such
a leftist with unstoppable appetite for more. Just for example.

Anyhow, the Supreme Court has spoken. “People Power” is the

sovereign power in this country. If there is only one candidate who
declares himself the candidate of the people and readies himself to
become the next “People Power” President, the Supreme Court
cannot prevent that from happening. What is allowed for Cory must
be allowed for FPJ. Or Lacson for that matter.

If, yes If. If we the people can come together under one leader, we
can do a lot of changes which “they” will never do or never allow to
happen. “They” stole the land from the Filipino people and “they”
claim now that “they” are the owners. “They” also claim that “they”
follow the law and that is not true. “They” make the law, “they” pay,
“they” bribe people in office. “They” are the root of all evil, of
systematic graft and corruption. “They” are the enemies of the
people, as simple as that.
- page 148 -
“They” are, of course, also the enemy of the late President Ferdinand
E. Marcos, “they” charge him with anything and everything, but
“they” were never able to prove any of their allegations in court, in
any court, not even their own courts.

Now, who is ready to jump? Who is ready to be crowned the

“People’s President”, to un-freeze the Marcos accounts and make
this country great again?

- page 149 –
 B·A·C·K·B·E·N·C·H·E·R
ROD P. KAPUNAN

TI’s opaque assessment

Saturday, 04 03, 2004

It is only in this country where organizations probably funded and

working as fronts of foreign intelligence agencies publicly parade
themselves as watchdogs or crusaders on the management of
Filipinos in their affairs. Releasing for media dissemination names
of leaders and former leaders, and depicting them as notoriously
corrupt, thieves or plunderers who looted their country’s national
treasury would be more then enough to convict these hirelings at the
least for the crime of libel. Yet these anti-Filipino organizations are
accorded prestige and traitors are hailed as heroes.

For the talent of these modern-day mercenaries to manipulate facts,

not one of them ask why their organization is engaged in vilifying
local leaders, yet their handlers would not do the same to know if
US President Bush and UK Prime Minister Toby Blair are also into
the same shenanigan of looting the coffers of the governments. Such
is truly a mystery for clearly these people are engaged in subversive
activities, and such is serious because they are working for the
interest of a foreign power. In the case of Transparency
International (TI), it particularizes in destroying the image and
reputation of foreign leaders by depicting them negatively that
would believe this would be an insiders act of interfering in the
internal affairs of another state.

There are several organizations suspected as fronts of the US CIA

or simply allow their legitimate organization to be used as conduits
to carry out subversive activities. Each of these front organizations

- page 150 -
makes use their claimed expertise to assert lies. We have the
Namfrel. Its accreditation makes us the only country in the world to
admit that our own Commission on Elections cannot be trusted.
There is the US-funded AGILE, with its members acting as
consultants in legislating laws that have resulted in the depredation
of the country’s economy.

They also have their media pipeline represented by the PCIJ. This
organization operated as a propaganda machine and at the height of
the Estrada oust campaign it came out with 14-US directed articles,
13 of which were derogatory to the ousted President. There is also
the Makati Business Club, an association of a fraction of the
country’s businessmen closely identified with the US interest. Other
organizations like the Social Weather Stations and the Philippine
Center for Policy Studies are also tapped and people cannot be
wrong because they always present apologetic stand on many
crucial issues.

Lately, that which hogs the headlines is TI. There is now a big
question how it managed to freely operate here, and who are the
foreign handlers behind this seemingly self-righteous organization.
The forte of course of TI is to list down names of heads of state it
considers as most corrupt. Surprisingly many of them were leaders
whose ouster was principally engineered by the US. TI casually goes
around by feeding information from what Estrada calls the “wild,
wild press.

” Their job is not really to present the truth, but to present a

malicious slant against Marcos and Estrada just to make sure they,
members of their family or their followers can no longer regain
political power. They set aside the truth that the greater number of
our people still idolize them. As ousted President Estrada would say,
“It cannot rely on gossip, hearsay and scuttlebutt to destroy

- page 151 -
me. That I continue to be a factor in our political life indicates that
our people know better.”

Any Filipino who still has his sense of dignity and honor would
not stand happy to see two of his Presidents who after being ousted
would be listed by TI as among the list of 10 most corrupt leaders in
recent history. It cited in the following order President Mohamed
Suharto of Indonesia to have allegedly plundered between $15 to
$35 billion during his 32 year reign; Ferdinand Marcos between $5
to $10 billion; Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire $5 billion; Sani Abacha
of Nigeria $2-3 billion; Slovodan Milosevic of Serbia $1 billion;
Jean Claude Duvalier of Haiti between $300 to $800; Alberto
Fujimori of Peru $600 million; Pavlo Lazarenko of Ukraine between
$114 million to $200 million; Arnoldo Aleman of Nicaragua $100
million; and Estrada between $78 to $80 million.

In the case of former President Marcos, the presidential good-

for-nothing commission and those aging anti-Marcos bashers
have not been able to make a good case of the charges they have
filed against him and his family. Rather, what the public saw is that
those who took charge of sequestering those properties became
multimillionaires with some even trotted as crusading politicians.
No less than the local chairman of TI Dolores Espanol was quoted
saying, “Estimates of funds allegedly embezzled is very disputable
considering that in the case of Ferdinand Marcos, who was
deposed about 18 years ago, no case has ever established the
amount that was allegedly embezzled, except for the $658 million
that was administratively returned to the Philippines under an
escrow account by a Swiss bank. In the case of Estrada, the $78-
$80 million has not been ruled to be a clear case of plunder, thus,
the special court, Sandiganbayan is on.”

- page 152 -
But on the business of destroying the reputation of our duly elected
leaders, our people are now coming to know the truth that the
government of Mrs. Aquino hired 16 American public relations
firms and spent millions of dollars in government funds just to
destroy the reputation of a man who did well to serve his country
as a soldier and as a statesman.

It was inconceivable to many of us because her government was

hailed by her trumpeters as God-given. These US PR firms include
International Business Communications; TKC International Inc.
(TKCII); Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton; S.K.C. Associates;
Chaplin Drysdale, Chartered, One Thomas Circle; Sawyer Miller
Group (SMG); The Fontayne Group; Robert Werner Group; Paul,
Hastings, Janofsky and Walker; Reichler, Applebaum & Wippman;
Galland, Kharagoh, Morse & Garfinkle (Morris R. Garfinkle);
Patton Boggs & Blow; Ralph R. Heading; Warren & Associates; B.
Grame & Bannerman and Associates

For the constant propaganda waged by these front organizations to

weaken our political will, our people now realize that there is no
truth to what they say. The latest intervention by TI is by no means
an accident for it came at a time when Mrs. Arroyo is direly in need
of a life raft to keep her government afloat. In fact, as the chances of
her being able to hurdle the election, her desperate followers who
made good under her regime are now floating the idea of pre-
empting the election or of preventing the elected President from
holding office.

They have become bold because they enjoy the patronage of the
hypocrites, although noticeably that circle of canine devotees has
been shrinking just as fast as the sinking economy.

- page 153 -
Blast from the past: Poe, Marcoses seal alliance
Posted: 0:48 AM (Manila Time) | Apr. 15, 2004
By Carlito Pablo

Inquirer News Service

Reminder of 2 ousted rulers

LAOAG CITY -- Fireworks lit the evening sky on Tuesday here in

the heartland of Ilocandia to herald the unabashed political alliance
between opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and the
Marcoses.

Like a blast from the past, the personalities who occupied the stage
at the grand rally of the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang
Pilipino (Coalition of the United Filipino, KNP) party were a
reminder of two administrations that were booted out by the people
power of 1986 and 2001.

On stage were Imelda, widow of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, in

resplendent red with children Representative Imee Marcos and
Ilocos Norte Governor Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. Also on
stage were former Marcos ministers Ernesto Maceda, Juan Ponce
Enrile and Salvador Escudero, and former police general Alfredo
Lim -- all seeking Senate seats under the Poe-led KNP banner.

At a pit stop here, Enrile, the defense minister who staged a failed
coup against Marcos in February 1986 that led to the people power
revolt, apologized to the Ilocano for his role in the ouster of Marcos.
"Agbabawi ak (I regret)," he reportedly told a crowd.
 - page 154 –

Likewise present was Jinggoy Estrada, son of deposed President

Joseph Estrada and a wedding godson of Poe.

The main star was Poe, himself a wedding godson of the Marcos
couple, who had raised the hand of Marcos and running mate Arturo
Tolentino for the 1986 snap presidential election.

Marcos legacy

Imelda told reporters that Poe would resurrect and continue the
legacy of Marcos, which is to give to the people the proceeds of
Marcos "foundations and wealth and assets."

"That is where the Marcos legacy lies. I'm sure FPJ (Poe's initials)
will do this because this is the last will of Ferdinand Marcos, which
is to help the people even if he is already gone," Imelda said.

The Marcoses have been claiming that the former strongman had
intended to use the millions of dollars stashed in foreign bank
accounts and foundations to help the country.

"But these assets are being used by the government for their personal
selves and this is what makes me cry," Imelda said.

She said that if Poe won, the Marcoses would willingly give these
assets to the government so he could use it for the people.

Imelda described the Marcos assets as her late husband's "heritage

(pamana) for the Filipino people."

- page 155 –
 Macapagal's approval rating
rises in latest SWS survey
Posted: 2:21 PM (Manila Time) | Apr. 17, 2004
Agence France-Presse
(As expected, this falls under mind conditioning
or brain washing. If the people buy this, they have only
themselves to blame. But they will not. This smells a good,
actual case of NEWS FOR SALE in STAR and INQUIRER)
Agence France-Press? Do we need foreigners for that, ha? Or feke?

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's public satisfaction rating

has risen as she campaigns for a six-year term in the May 10
presidential election, an independent polling outfit said Saturday.

Social Weather Stations said 55 percent of those it surveyed between

March 21 and 29 were satisfied and 25 percent dissatisfied with Ms
Macapagal's performance. This was an improvement from the 40
percent satisfied and 43 percent dissatisfied in a November survey,
it said.

Ms Macapagal has a slim three-percentage point lead over her main

rival in the polls, movie star Fernando Poe.

The Social Weather survey found Filipinos were generally satisfied

with the government's efforts to prepare a free and peaceful
elections, "fighting terrorism" and fighting crime. However they
were dissatisfied with government efforts at fighting corruption and
controlling inflation.

Social Weather its survey was based on face-to-face interviews with

a national sample of 1,400 statistically representative registered
voters.

- page 156 –
- page 157 -
HAPPY END?

- page 158 -
PROF. FELIPE MIRANDA in Philippine STAR
Excerpts from his column:

The now much-ballyhooed opposition unification – looking and

sounding more and more like a macho search for some unholy grail
– may be equally feckless. Political unification has never worked in
the fashion of grade school arithmetic where one plus one equals
two or five plus ten makes for fifteen. Particularly during elections,
voter preferences for two candidates add up to much less than the
simple sum of their two support levels.

Unifying the opposition may be an absolutely necessary condition

for thwarting President Arroyo in the forthcoming elections.
However, oppositionists who mistake it to be a sufficient condition
for winning the elections deceive themselves and should not run
competitive political campaigns.

Since the lazy route to the presidency is no longer a credible option,

the opposition requires a dynamic, willful and simultaneous pursuit
of alternatives that could effect a synergistic victory over the
administration’s standard bearer. Much attention perforce must be
given the arithmetic of vote diffusion and even more care might be
devoted to grasping the dynamics of political unification.

Both concerns now require focused and extremely quick

resolution. For candidate unification, it is criminal to allow this
issue to remain unresolved yet another minute. Neither Senator
Lacson nor FPJ serve the opposition interest well by continuing
their endless, witless and increasingly useless palavers.
However, in addition to these considerations, more intensive
analysis must focus on where the unified opposition and its
- page 159 -
standard bearer could gain enough voter support to eventually
overcome the administration’s presidential bet. The critical lodes of
voters waiting to be mined by hardworking political workers are not
difficult to spot. About 10 percent of all registered voters
nationwide remain unpledged to any presidential candidate.

Over three and a half million votes are therefore ready for political
activation if the right mix of approaches, messages and indicative
projects could be put together and addressed to those still mulling
their presidential choices.

Another huge reservoir of oppositionist capital are voters who

are uncompromisingly hostile to the Arroyo administration.
They comprise about 36 percent of the electorate, able to cast as
many as ten and a half million votes. This critically large group
has been ritualistically recognized but had not been worked on at
all by the opposition. Pursuing their fragmentative politics for an
overly long time, opposition presidentiables surely have engaged
in nothing less than folly in failing to develop this resource as a
potent political bloc.

Political unification may enable the unified opposition’s candidate

to gain the support of those who may be hostile to other opposition
presidentiables but are not intractably against him. His
competitiveness against the administration’s own standard bearer is
obviously improved by soliciting these voters’ endorsement.

The final target of an intelligent, resourceful and absolutely

hardworking opposition candidate is no less than President
Arroyo’s soft supporters, those who say there is a big possibility that
they may still change their mind about her as their presidential
choice. This group accounts for slightly over four million votes.

- page 160 -
Find them, woo them and keep them – this is the singular task of the
unified opposition’s campaign team and its presidentiable.

Gaining support of even half these identified groups ensures an

opposition victory for whoever might be the opposition’s unified
standard bearer. Even for someone who might not do so well in
the surveys, someone like Senator Lacson, the analysis offered here
makes it possible to consider winning the 2004 presidential contest.
The opposition need not abandon hope yet.

They still can make it. All they have to do is unify, focus their
campaign, work truly collaboratively and be diverted by no
considerations of personal turf, personal gain and personal
animosity. Everything for the unified opposition, everything against
a unifying administration!

They have a full week to start making this miracle possible. They
have three weeks to make it come to pass.

Ample time. Ample enough for miracle workers.

(Thank you, Professor)

- page 161 –
OPINION by MAX SOLIVEN, Philippine STAR
This is a great time for columnists, opinion writers, political pundits
and putas (not to be confused with each other), poll survey groups,
power brokers, deal-makers, KSPs (kulang sa pansin, now being
given undue attention), and posturers.

But it is a situation which is bad for the nation.

Lying, blackmailing, extortion, bribery, dishing out of black

propaganda, bad-mouthing and countless intrigues seem to have
become the order of the day. The result of these evil doings is that
cynicism, already chronic in our disappointed society, is being
reinforced. All the worst things we observed or imagined about
ourselves are being demonstrated.

The prospect of any "unity" being forged between FPJ and Senator
Panfilo "Ping" Lacson grows bleaker and bleaker by the day. One
of the main reasons is the fact, increasingly apparent, that many in
their respective pangkat don’t want this to happen.

Ping Lacson’s boys tell me that a meeting had been scheduled for
last Monday. Then a phone call came – direct to Lacson from an
emissary – that FPJ’s schedule couldn’t permit a meeting that
afternoon or evening. Is this true? So there

The FPJ side’s subalterns, in turn, have been letting it be known that
Lacson won’t "slide down", and that he had said this was not
negotiable. Members of the media, of course, exacerbate matters by
reporting "leaks", guided missives, and disruptive statements (real
or manufactured) from both sides. Is there still hope of a face-

- page 162 -
to-face dialogue? Perhaps Monday? Perhaps Tuesday. We’ll know
when it happens – if it happens. GMA is obviously lapping it up,
taunting the two to "unite". Don’t discount the possibility that the
intriguers in both camps, or in the media, or among the kibitzers,
belong to her, or to "Jose Pidal", and, don’t forget, The Firm.

One of the Hawi boys, for instance, is an Angara boy from

ACCRA, a certified Sigma Rhoan, and, at 28, aspires to become the
youngest Secretary of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), if
FPJ – despite his efforts – comes into his Kingdom. Da King, alas,
may be headed in the opposite direction, thanks to the Hawis, and
their bosses. The ASO Gang – what did we say, Angara-Sotto-
Oreta? – is alive and well, and operating fulltime.

The pity of it is that the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP)

and, indeed, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) are only
"shell" organizations – the latter badly sapped of the strength it once
had when it collided with the former President, Joseph Ejercito
Estrada. FPJ’s nationwide network comprises the volunteers who
originally propelled him into the race, and are the only apparatus he
has to bring in the voters on election day. Presently, however, the
volunteers feel themselves left "outside", while the ASOs and the
concentric rings of the cordon sanitaire make the "decisions" and
hug the limelight.

It turns out that even Senator Greg "Gringo" Honasan is out of the
loop, handling only security (he’s almost never seen himself), and is
supposed to become "operations chief" only on election day.

Is FPJ leading his "army", or is he being led? That’s the

pregnant question which festers. Don’t believe for a moment,

- page 163 -
that clever GMA’s agents aren’t fanning the flames of
demoralization and dissent. Panday, it’s well known, is the only
challenger capable of giving GMA a fight, and even of
overpowering her increasingly well-oiled machine. But his strength
is ebbing, and even his capacity to lead is beginning to be questioned
by those who love him. Snap out of it, Ronnie, unless you want to
be dethroned ignominously by those who profess to be your most
loyal "knights".

Imagine Da King surrounded by gorilla King Kongs, beasts of the

political jungle – and you can spot the dilemma. FPJ’s sincerity is
never in doubt. It’s his ability which must be demonstrated along
with his intestinal fortitude, and his charisma in real life, not the
deceptive "reel life" of film.

As an experienced actor, why isn’t he acting the part of a slambang

candidate many are asking, a righter of wrongs, a determined
crusader wielding the Excalibur of Light?

"He’s not only acting according to a bad script, it seems that he’s
without a script," a perceptive critic told this writer yesterday. The
word on the street remains the same: Unite or perish. But first, FPJ
has to unite his own party.

As for Ping Lacson, I repeat, is it a choice between feng shui and

chop suey? Ping is one of the smartest, and best-qualified in the race.
However, it’s mystifying how he can hope to make it without a vice
presidential team-mate, a Senatorial slate, a congressional line-up, a
network of provincial and municipal candidates, and a bring-in-the-
votes organization.

This we’ve got to see.

- page 164 -
 B·A·C·K·B·E·N·C·H·E·R
ROD P. KAPUNAN

Voting against the usurper is patriotism

Tuesday, 04 27, 2004

Nowadays, it is not enough for every Filipino to say he or she is against Mrs.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The patriotic duty now is to see to it that his or her
vote would contribute to the removal of the usurper.

The coming to power of the usurper is now an infamous political landmark in

our history that forever will haunt us. There, we saw how these insolent
hypocrites insulted us, and are again insulting us for our choice by calling him
inexperienced and does not have the intellectual capacity to resurrect this
country from the bankruptcy caused by the usurper and her so-called dream
team's own economic bungling. These hypocrites are not even remorseful
about their globalist economic programs, virtually turning this country into a
desolate wasteland.

It is in this regard why it is not enough for Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson to say
he is running because he wants to challenge Mrs. Arroyo. Rather, he should
take into account how he, as a candidate could translate his current poll rating
to effectively defeat the power grabber who now styles herself as the most
qualified and competent among the presidential hopefuls.

It is Lacson's patriotic duty, more so as a senator, to objectively assess his

chances against one whose reign was made legal by those miserable justices
of the Supreme Court who equally failed to exercise their patriotic duty to
defend the Constitution.

There is need for him to exhibit his zeal of patriotism because the dimension
now of the election is not in letting the world know that our freewheeling
democracy is still alive, but on how to crowbar out of office the de facto
leader.

For Lacson to insist despite his nil chance of winning is to feed the ugly
suspicion that he is the Trojan horse. This could now be the case because he

- page 165 -
is chopping the chances of unity within the opposition, with the sad part that
a divided opposition could greatly boost the chances of the power grabber.

As the race moves closer to the finish line, people notice that he is exactly
doing the fine job as seen by his mule-like obstinacy coupled by the regularity
of his attacks on KNP candidate Fernando Poe Jr. than on GMA. Only by
giving value to patriotism can Lacson resolve the dilemma that now confronts
him. He should not view it as a compromising defeat, but a compromise to
give the opposition that much-needed political boost, and to view the victory
of FPJ not as something personal, but a signal to the hypocrites that the
Filipino people can not forget just how they were swindled of the leader they
elected. He cannot even go on with his sloganeering of "buo ang loob" and
"walang atrasan" because they only excite passion than rationality on how to
overcome that distinct possibility of languishing for another six years with the
lackey doubly arrogant that she now has the mandate that possibly could be
contributed by him.

In fact, it would not be too much for Lacson to know that the economy that
has been lorded over by the power grabber is now in a state of decomposition
that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its regional assessment report,
said the Philippines could only register a 4.5 percent economic growth rate,
the lowest in the region where the average is at 7 percent. The significance is
not that we are at the bottom, but that it debunks her claim that being
surrounded by a number of balderdash economic experts she can run the
country well and soundly.

For that matter, asking our people about the economy is already a burden
because their pre-occupation is on how to hold on to their employment if they
are still lucky to be employed, or to find one if they are already out of job. The
11 percent unemployment rate or the equivalent to 3.9 million Filipinos out
of job is of staggering proportion. This, not to mention the 35.2 percent or
roughly 5.5 million underemployed or people working less than 40 hours a
week.

More than that, while Lacson's ambition may only affect his future political
career, our crisis involves all of us, and we have no choice but to unite for the
sake of survival. Since the usurper assumed power in January 2001, the debt
of the national government has soared to P1.2 trillion or an increase by

- page 166 -
more than 50 percent from the Estrada administration. In 2003, the national
government incurred a total debt of about P3,325 billion. The government of
Mrs. Arroyo incurred a P214 billion budget deficit in 2002 or equivalent to 5
percent of the country's gross national product (GNP). On foreign direct
investment (FDI), the unofficial ledger on measuring confidence in our
economy by foreign businessmen, FDI for almost the entire tenure of the
power grabber, from January 2001 to September 2003, only managed to
register $2.2 billion, and practically dropping to zero in 2003. This is in
contrast to the $3.4 billion that came in during the last 24 months of the
Estrada administration.

Taking all these into account, Lacson should by now wake up to the fact that
he can not for long cling on to that taipan and to some rogue Filipino-Chinese
businessmen who are committed to keeping their political pipeline open with
the power grabber. The taipan is more interested in keeping his empire intact
that after playing the role of political kingmaker he now finds himself deeply
mired to a point that he is now being blackmailed for his own clumsiness. In
fact, many of his fellow taipans have lost their respect for kabise after knowing
that he had a hand in discrediting the Piatco deal to the detriment of the Cheng
Yong group, which he should have inhibited from because he was a part of
the consortium that offered to build the Naia III terminal, but was out bidded
by Piatco. As it now appears, after abandoning his taipan partners in that failed
New Emerging Dragons Consortium, the kabise now wants to come in solo,
which is an unethical business practice.

Finally, there are many things that Lacson has yet to learn because political
decisions are different from military and business decisions. In politics, to
compromise is not equivalent to capitulationism. Rather, it is sometimes
needed when exigencies demand that one has to give in order to make a
democracy work for the common and for higher political goals closer to what
the people have in mind, not in what one has in mind. Amor propio has no
place in politics because it is obstructive to unity that right now could give the
political usurper another opening to give us six years of economic nightmare.

- page 167 –

HERMANN TIU LAUREL – DAILY TRIBUNE (Excerpts)

 OPERATION CHECKMATE
Operation Checkmate is the Gloria regime's systematic plan for the
wholesale hijack of the May 10 elections, including the use of JJ
Soriano's NFO Trends as the fountainhead of corrupted polling
interviews, which will end in the “hard” approach using
intimidation and large-scale destruction of election documents.
The PNP is instrumental in this operation, establishing intimidating
presence in urban poor areas known to be overwhelming bailiwicks
of Poe to keep voters away from the voting centers. This is helped
along by “Operation Cheque-mate” giving millions to the police
generals.

The amounts said to be given to key PNP generals for the operation
range from P2 to P5 million, for participation in special ops of PNP
“SWAT teams” and other operating units in election “hot spots”
which the operation in the Comelec will identify. At this writing,
there are reports that the Poe bailiwicks like Smokey Mountain,
Parola, Temporary Housing, Isla Puting Bato, Happy Land and
Balut (all very peaceful in previous elections) in Tondo are being
declared election hot spots. If the Comelec obfuscation of voters'
lists is not enough, they'll use force in these areas.

The Trends trending is all part of the “civil society” cabal's

operations to maintain the status quo, i.e. the rule of the
Independent Board of Advisers (Mirant, AIG, Bosworth and
Co.) and its local gofers like Bobby Romulo. JJ Soriano who heads
Trends is the son of Noel Soriano, Cory Aquino's national
security adviser who dug up Intramuros for Yamashita's gold,
but instead, buried a number of workers there. Trends is the
cesspool from which SWS and Pulse Asia draw their data, polluted
and poisoned at the very source.

- page 168 -
Many things will happen on May 10 that will enrage the nation, but
as the majority of Filipinos have said so, FPJ will win the elections
— but the counting and the proclamation are another matter. Many
people look forward with anticipation that after May 10, they will
be relieved of the tension and anxiety. I am afraid they will be in for
a surprise. That's when the real tension and anxiety will begin, and
after that, Philippine life may totally be different — for the worse.
Gloria, Ramos, Almonte, the Firm et al will have a scorched earth
policy; if they don't survive this, no one will.

A lot will depend on our military and police forces' young officers,
for their higher officials have already been “cheque-mated” by
Arroyo. Only the young officers, particularly from the military,
remain “strong and pure” as a note to us by one of them said. The
battle between FPJ and Arroyo, between the broad masses of the
Filipino people and the oligarchs, is a battle between truth and lies,
honesty and deceit, between corruption and purity, between
humanism and Hitlerian cynicism. These are battles in a war to pull
our “dying society” from the edge of the grave.

If Arroyo's electoral treachery is not stopped, then power rates will

rise first by seven centavos, then by 33 centavos and another 12
centavos — the sky's the limit. Maynilad stopped paying its
concession fees only two months after Edsa II. Arroyo will
reprivatize it to the Lopezes again and we won't hear anymore of the
500 percent overpriced P220 million per kilometer North
Expressway scam. They'll attempt to institute fascism, worse than
martial law, but in the end Arroyo will fall – because the people can
only take so much oppression.

Even if 100 American election observers give their blessings to

Arroyo's cheating, the Filipino people will know the truth and
with their heart, mind and body they will demand justice.

- page 169 –
 PAPANO?

HOW DO WE DO IT?

- page 170 –
 PRIVATE FUNDING
FOR HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS
IN THE PHILIPPINES

INITIAL AMOUNT $200Million

AVAILABILITY approx. April 20, 2004
ORIGIN New York, London
PRIME BANKS Deutsche, ABN-AMRO

SPECIFICS

The funds are privately owned and are clean, clear, and
approved by the United States Treasury. Allocation not
allowed for political purposes except for the unification of
opposition candidates under the general term: ”For the
greater benefit of the People”.

EXPLANATION

Extreme Poverty is a continuous human rights violation. An

undetermined number of millions of Filipinos live in abject
poverty. Therefore, THE FUNDS have approved a Pesos
10,000 monthly payment to every Filipino above 50 years,
like a People Pension Plan, to be paid through special NGO’s
under condition of a new administration for the benefit of the
Filipino people to end the Aquino/Ramos/GMA hegemony.
- page 171 -
For the united opposition to make use of this opportunity,
certain funding for the FPJ/Lacson tandem is approved,
specifically for application in mass-media.

Generous funding programs are being readied under the

same terms and conditions for all soldiers and all teachers
with the purpose of substantial upgrading and alignment
under a new administration.

GENERAL REMARKS

The owner of the funds, obviously not limited to $200

Million, prefers to remain unknown to the general public and
to give all credit to FPJ/Lacson, even long-term. The owner
has a sole administrator who is soon ready to publish a book
with the title THE BATTLE FOR THE PRESIDENCY
2004. That book will reveal most of the distortions in our
history and the betrayals against the Filipino people.

In its positive and factual aspects, it could even be used

outright as a plan or platform for the new administration.
Everything black on white, not far from the New Society.

For the funding, our prime banks abroad will confirm “for
and on behalf of one of our most valuable clients.” This is
not a one-time but a continuous funding through the next
nine years.

- page 172 -

STATEMENT BY FERNANDO POE JR.

 Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you all for coming. We have a brief statement to read to

you. We do this, so that there will be no confusion later or
misinterpretation for our friends in media:

Today we present to you the unified opposition under the

FPJ/Lacson ticket. Presidential candidate Ping Lacson has been
able to present himself to the whole world as true presidential
caliber. He is a future President of this country.

But for the time being, he has chosen to serve the greater benefit
of the Filipino people and to help the winning candidate fill in the
one visible gap that is the perceived and admitted lack of
professionalism and seriosity. In other words, the unified
opposition now has one presidential candidate, FPJ, and a new
vice presidential candidate, Ping Lacson. To do what?

To make this very clear, it is our opinion that the rich in this
country, in Makati or in the plush subdivisions, will do as they
like, who ever is the president, but the poor majority in this
country, those who don’t have money to buy what they like, those
who don’t have money to travel, those who have no hope to ever
get a job, those Filipinos need us, need our help, and we will give
it to them.

You will ask, how will you pay for all that, and we tell you here
and now that we will un-freeze the Marcos accounts and that we
will use the Marcos money that is listed but held in the PCGG to pay
for all our programs and projects to help the poor.
- page 173 -
Yes, we have a clear understanding with the Marcos Family, call
it alliance, if you want, and we guarantee that the Marcos Family
is friend and helper to the Filipino people, all the way.

When I’m president, I will forge a constitutional, legal, just, and

honorable settlement with the Marcos family to use the Marcos
wealth to pay for our national debt of more than P 5 Trillion. In
our opinion that is the only way to prevent riots later like they
happened in Argentina.

There will be no special treatment for the Marcoses. Neither will

there be injustice against them. This includes the burial of the late
President according to law and military traditions. Then I will
support to the fullest land reform, housing, and livelihood
programs for the poor and cause the early settlement of the human
rights claims according to our laws.

Now, our friends on the other side claim that we have no

experience in governing and politics. That may be a blessing in
disguise. We will not interfere in local politics, therefore you
voters out there look very well, who you vote for as mayor or
governor. They will be in charge for you, not us. We will make
sure that your taxes will be used properly in your places, not in
Manila.

Did I make this very clear for everybody? We will stop graft and
corruption right here, leading by example. Nobody will ever find
a case of graft and corruption, nor plunder, against us, we swear
this to GOD the Almighty in Heaven. Amen.

Did anybody say we have no platform? You, Filipino people, you

decide, you vote wisely. It is up to you now, the sovereign People
of the Republic of the Philippines. Thank You.
- page 174 –
 MENSAHENG BABASAHIN NI GINOONG
FERNANDO POE, JR.
Mayo Uno, 2004

Mga Kababayan,

Maraming maraming salamat sa inyong pagdalo sa pagtitipong ito. May

maikling pahayag lang akong gustong basahin para sa inyo ngayon dahil
ayokong mag-karoon ng mali o ibat–ibang isipin ang bawat isa lalong lalo na
ang mga kaibigan natin na nasa hanap buhay ng pagbabalita.

Ngayong oras na ito ay nais kong ipahayag sa buong Pilipinas na NAGKAISA

NA! Uulitin ko NAGKAISA NA ANG OPOSISYON – FPJ/LACSON
NAGSANIB NA!

Si Ping Lacson na tumatakbo sa pagka pangulo ng Pilipinas ay naiparating na

hindi lang sa buong Pilipinas kundi sa buong mundo na siya ay may katangian
ng isang kandidato sa pagka pangulo ng Pilipinas. Siya ay magiging pangulo
ng ating mahal na bansang Pilipinas sa malapit na hinaharap.

Pero dahil sa ipinahayag kong si FPJ AT PING LACSON AY NAGSANIB

NA si Ginoong Ping Lacson ay pansamantalang nagbigay daan para
pagsilbihang talaga ang higit na nakakarami ng ating mamamayan at higit sa
lahat ay ang napakalaking tulong na maiibibigay ni Ping sa inyong lingkod
bilang kanya at inyong PANGULO, ang kanyang pagiging magaling na taga
pagpasunod at taga pamahala sa tumpak na pamamaraan. Sa madaling salita
ang NAGKASANIB NA OPOSISYON ngayon ay may isa ng kandidato sa
pangulo - ang inyong lingkod si FPJ at ang bago nating bise presidente si
PING LACSON. Ano ang aming gagawin?

Para maging maliwanag sa lahat ng mamamayang Pilipino, lalung-lalo na sa

nakakaraming dahop-palad, sa nakakaraming walang pera pambili man lang
ng kanilang kailangan sa pang araw-araw na pamumuhay, sa nakakaraming
wala man lang pamasahe para mag hanap ng trabaho kaya nawawala na ang
pagasa sa buhay at sa lahat ng mamamayang Pilipino na naniniwala pa na
- page 175 -
mas makatotohan na ang NAGKASANIB NA OPOSISYON ay ang tambalan
na makakalutas sa napakalaking problema ng Pilipinas! KAHIRAPAN!

Matagal ng tinatanong sa akin o sa amin kung paano naming malulutas ang

problema ng kahirapan ng Pilipino? NAGKASANIB NA SI FPJ AT PING
kaya ngayon palang bago ang pagkapanalo ng inyong lingkod FPJ bilang
Presidente at ni PING LACSON bilang bise presidente ng Pilipinas ina
anunsiyo ko na sa lahat ng pilipinong naghihirap na BUBUKSAN NATING
MULI ANG YAMAN NG ATING DATING PANGULONG FERDINAND
MARCOS!

Gagamitin natin ang yaman ni dating Presidente Marcos - na ang ilan sa

buong listahan ni APO ay iniipit pa ng PCGG hanggang sa ngayon - para
pondohan ang aming mga programa at proyekto para tulungan lahat ng
naghihirap na masang Pilipino.

Mayroon na kaming malinaw na pakikipagunawaan sa pamilya ng mga

Marcos at paniwalaan ninyong tunay na kasama ang pamilya Marcos at lahat
ng kanilang tagasunod sa Pagsasanib ng oposisyon at silang lahat ay kaibigan
at handang tumulong sa muling pag-unlad ng ating bansang Pilipinas!

Pag si FPJ ay Pangulo na, ako ay magpapalabas ng isang Kasulatang may

Unawaan na ayon sa Konstitusyon, legal at makataong pakikipagayos sa
pamilya Marcos para ang yaman na naiwan ng dating Pangulo ay magamit ng
ating gobyerno para bayaran natin ang pagkakautang na umaabot na sa P5
Trilyon sa ngayon. Ito ang napakalaking tulong na magagawa namin sa
paguumpisa ng aming panunungkulan bilang inyong Pangulo at Pangalawang
Pangulo.

Sinisigurado ko na walang magiging natatanging pagtingin sa mga Marcoses

at wala ding magiging di mga makatarungang pagtatrato na mangyayari sa
kanila. Kasama dito ang paglilibing sa dating pangulo na naayon sa batas at
sa tradisyon ng Hukbong Sandatahan ng Pilipinas.

- page 176 -

Kasunod nito sa tulong ng ating Bise Presidente, ng mga Senador,

kongresman at ang aking mga magiging Sekretaryo sa Kabinete ay
susuportahan kong lubusan ang buong pwersang pagpapatupad ng reforma sa
lupa, pabahay at programang may kitang pang-kabuhayan para sa
nakakaraming mahihirap, pagpapatupad ng tamang pasuweldo sa maliliit na
manggagawa at malaki ang aking paniniwala na ito ang mga makakalutas ng
maaga sa mga naghahabol ng kanilang mga kaso na may kaugnayan sa
karapatang pangtao na naaayon sa ating saligang batas.

Ngayon, sa aming mga kaibigan sa kabilang kampo na nag papahayag na si

FPJ ay walang karanasan sa pagpapalakad ng gobyerno at politika. Blessing
in disguise kasi hindi talaga ako makialam sa pamamalakad ng mga lokal na
opisyales. Kaya mga botante - iboto ang mga local na opisyales na inaakala
ninyo na talagang makakatulong. Sila ang mamahala ng pagunlad ng inyong
lugar hindi si FPJ. Si FPJ sisiguraduhin lang na ang mga buwis na binabayad
ninyo ay talagang nagagamit ng tama sa inyong lugar at hindi dito sa Manila.

Maliwanag ba ang aking pinahayag ngayon dito para sa lahat? Putulin na natin
ngayon palang - umpisa ngayon - dito ang GRAFT AND CORRUPTION!
Ako ang mangunguna sa tulong ng aking GRAFT BUSTER ANG ATING
BISE PRESIDENTE PING LACSON. Lagot sa amin ni Ping ang sino man
na mag kakaso ng graft and corruption o kaya plunder! sa termino namin. We
swear this to GOD the Almighty in Heaven. Amen.

Sino nagsasabing wala daw kami plataforma? Kayo ba mga mahal kong
naghihirap na kababayan? Kayo na po ang humusga? Bumoto po tayo ng
naayon sa ating konsensiya? Kayo na po ang bahalang magpanalo kay FPJ
ang inyong bagong Pangulo at kay PING LACSON ang ating Pangalawang
Pangulo. Maraming Salamat Bansang Pilipinas!

- page 177 -

A·N·A·L·Y·S·I·S
BY ALEJANDRO LICHAUCO
The dying gasp of Philippine ‘democracy’
If a system were judged by its results, what does one say about the
representative system of government installed by Edsa I? To call it
a democracy — as the thinning devotees of the first people power
insist it is — taxes even an uncontrolled imagination; and if it is
indeed democracy, then democracy isn't only the most difficult
political system to administer, as someone like Winston Churchill is
said to have said, but also catastrophically absurd.

The truth is that democracy as a system by which a people govern

themselves can't possibly work — and can't possibly be a
democracy in the honest meaning of the term when the mass of
those who vote are immersed in acute poverty and in the mass
ignorance that comes with mass poverty. You can have democracy
if 70 percent of the voters haven't gone past grade school and are
economically desperate, desperate enough to sell their votes.

Democracy simply can't co-exist with mass poverty. As a system

of governance, it can function and thrive only when those who vote
governments to existence are economically free to vote as they
please and — this is most important — are informed of what is at
stake when they cast their votes.

In a democracy, elections are primarily a battle about public

issues and between public philosophies, not only about private
personalities. And when you don't have that, then, elections are
reduced essentially to a process of personal calumny and outright
entertainment. And that's exactly what we are having. That's
essentially what we shall continue to have as long as the mass of

- page 178 -

the electorate is economically deprived and ignorant and you will

agree that can't possibly be democracy.

The great democracies in the world today didn't come to being as

democracies. They came to being after having passed through
decades, if not centuries, of political authoritarianism and even
despotism, during which the governing elite established the
foundations of self-sustaining and flourishing economies.

England, France, Germany and Japan, for example, became political

democracies only after having engineered their respective industrial
revolutions under authoritarian governments. South Korea is now a
democracy, the foundations of its economic vibrancy and stability
were laid down by the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee. The same
may be said of Taiwan. If democracy there is flourishing and
vibrant, it is because of the economic stability and even prosperity
made possible by decades of political authoritarianism.

Of course, it took more than just political authoritarianism to bring

about economic prosperity. It took politically authoritarian
governments that perceived the first order of business for any poor
and undeveloped country is to catapult itself to the age of industry,
science and technology. In brief, it took politically authoritarian
governments to make industrial revolution the first order of their
business. That was what the political dictatorships of Park Chung-
hee, Chiang Kai-shek, Suharto and Nasser were about. And that's
what the political dictatorship of the communist parties of China and
Vietnam are about.

That, unfortunately, was what the dictatorship of Marcos realized

too late in the day. The larger part of the Marcos dictatorship was
squandered on programs and policies designed precisely to keep the
economy from graduating to the industrial age and it was only

- page 179 -

in the last years of his dictatorship that Marcos realized the nation
must industrialize if it is to survive. Hence, the 11 major industrial
projects which he launched in 1979. But by the time, poverty and
underdevelopment were already exacting their price and, with
Ninoy's assassination, Marcos became as dead as a dead duck and
with him the vision of an industrialized Philippines died.

But back to the title of this piece. It shouldn't take much to realize
democracy as we have known and have practiced it over the last 17
years is on the way out simply because it has been reduced to a
catastrophic absurdity. No system of political governance can
possibly endure when it co-exists with a poverty problem as acute
and extensive as what we have now. Elections have even ceased to
be the entertainment they have always been because there's a point
when the hungry can no longer be entertained. One suspects that
point has now been reached.

If the ignorant masa are going for FPJ, it isn't because they wish to
be entertained but because they have given up on the educados and
the politicos of Philippine society and now look to the non-educados
and the non-politicos for their economic liberation and you can't
blame them for that.

What next after the elections — or even before that? Whatever it is,
we know the picnic is over because hunger has taken over and we
are now ready, for a Park Chung-Hee, a Nasser, a Suharto, a Chiang
Kai-shek or even a Franco. Because democracy is done for,
discredited and dead and if you don't believe that then take a close
look at the nature of these elections and the players in them.

Lincoln, who gave democracy its modern definition — as a

government of the people, by the people and for the people —
must be rolling in his grave and wondering what kind of people
Filipinos are. But, are they people? (end of quote)

- page 180 -
 (Before I forget:

If anybody will ask, where do we get the money

to finance the Annual National Budget,
which is some P780B last year,
we will just say that we will not pocket the money
from oil, diesel, gasoline, and LPG.
That is a minimum of P600B. Expose?
Next time na lang!)

- page 181 -

A last one, because of the heat and because

I am angry:
Most informal settlers in the beautiful city of Antipolo don’t have
water, not even from deep well. They have to wait for the truck to
deliver. And they pay. This is not Nawasa or Maynilad. This is
courtesy of the Brgy. Chairman, or the Counselor, or the Board
Member, or the Mayor. Water is big business in Antipolo City. No
other city in the world has a worse system of government but,
surprise, surprise, the Mayor is able to accumulate the highest
honors and awards. ACG is plastered all over Antipolo, forever,
forever; paid with people’s money, of course, what do you think?
What are we in office for? And who pays for it? The poor. Only the
poor do not have water. The rich have no problem, they have the
nicest houses, “over-looking”, along Sumulong (uncle of Cory) and
along the ridge: The nicest properties are reserved for the guys in
the LRA, the nicest lot for the guy who issues the fake land titles
and makes it “legit”, so that no guy, not even O.J., can prove it is
“fake”. That is how good they are now, they have perfected the
system that makes them rich. And they have the President and the
Secretary of Justice with them, they all profit. And the poor …... ?
Remember? “Bahala sila!” So, who owns the water that GOD
created, when He created the world? There is no life without water.
Who? Ah, yes, the land grabbers! Not one of them has a true title to
the land, where they make their water business. They are just there
because they have the money. It’s dog-eat-dog or a question who
has the money for a private army. Welcome to Antipolo City!

P.S.

- What? You call me Robin Hood?

- Ok, I will be proud to be Robin Hood.
- page 182 –

PERVERTED POLITICS
So, it comes down to the polarization between the rich and the poor,
the haves and the have-nots. Gloria is the savior of the haves and
FPJ is the savior of the have-nots, the only hope of the poor.

The playing field among candidates for president should be level

even and fair. It is not. Gloria claims to be the President, but she is
now candidate for president. Any opposition from any candidate
smells rebellion, sedition, mutiny, but of course, it is not.

Gloria has the resources of the nation at her fingertip. She is using
it ruthlessly, not minding what will happen to the nation after this.
We may have no water, no rice come Election Day, she does not
care. She cares about winning this presidency 2004. She hates
anything that has to do with the poor and the poor hate her. The only
question there is whom they hate more, her or her MMDA boss; I
wouldn’t like to be in the shoes of Bayani Fernando.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines are the protectors of the

sovereign people. That is what the 1987 Constitution provides.
Reality is that the incumbent president is using the Armed Forces,
and that includes the police forces and SWAT, to protect Her
Excellency and the Malacanang Palace against any intrusion from
or dissenting opinion on the part of the people, especially the poorest
of the poor.

Actually, the poorest of the poor have become the enemy of the
haves and the haves are hiring more and more guards with guns.
Poor guards, they come from the ranks of the poorest of the poor
and the have to shoot the poor, if they come too close. What a
tragedy of poverty! We cannot blame the guards; they have no other
choice, if they want to earn money.
- page 183 –
 'Those 19th century
long, acrimonious wars
of words... are the
direct antecedents of
the harsh and
interminable polemics
we see today...'

THE ROOTS OF OUR ELECTIONS

DURING the Spanish centuries, the Philippine colony was ruled by

decrees from Madrid or Mexico which took anywhere from several
months to a year to cross the seas, orders and the policies which
varied according to the different reigns and crises in the Spanish
crown.

Therefore, Spanish Manila and the archipelago of native Malays

wavered between extreme tyranny, fabulous wealth (during the
Galleon Trade or the Tobacco Monopoly) and sudden reform with
the accession of new dynasties.

However, elections were held for gobernadorcillos (or mayors) but

they were not popular elections. The gobernadorcillos were elected
for a term of one year, "by superior approbation" of the 12 oldest
men in the town (or their substitutes), plus the outgoing mayor, in a
formal, secret balloting held in the Casa Real (or hall of justice).
That was done in the presence of the parish priest, who could
- page 184 -
"express what opinions he may consider fitting, but for no other
purpose." The cabezas de barangay were also elected, as were the
heads of the Chinese community.

The officials' compensation, a certain percentage of the taxes and

contributions they collected, was "so small and they were subject to
annoyances, fines and imprisonment that their office was considered
honorary." But, wondered Sinibaldo de Mas, a political analyst, why
"the Indians covet it with a desire that is astonishing, and avail
themselves of all possible means to obtain it."

In fact those officials got their houses built free of cost by the men
on forced-labor duty, with materials from the forest and sums from
public works funds, and took "innumerable bribes and illegal
exactions that they impose and taxes that they collect through
numberless separate judgments." In other words, power and pelf.
During their appearances, they were preceded by an attendant
carrying a wand. A great fiesta celebrated their oath-taking and, on
holidays, they were accompanied by musicians playing a double-
quick march and fancifully-dressed guards on their way to and from
the church where they sat in special seats of honor.

The ordinary Indios escaped from the petty tyrannies of their

cabezas and gobernadorcillos and other officials, as well as the
larger autocracy and bigotry of the Spanish government, in the
person of the gobernador, the Archbishop of Manila and the clergy,
who also held actual political power by a masterstroke of evasion.

They manifested an outward show of obedience and loyalty,

bowing, kneeling and kissing the gesturing hand, then deliberately
forgot or ignored the recent orders and instructions. This quality of
intransigence, of disobeying the law and bending the rules, is still
the main characteristic of the Filipino political animal.
- page 185 -
At the end of the Spanish regime, resistance to Spain took another
form and became another national characteristic. The first educated
young natives, the ilustrados, whether in Manila, Cebu, or Madrid
became immersed in chaotic disputes and controversies, endless
debates between liberals, republicans and clericals on one hand, and
conservatives, monarchists and atheists on the other.

Those 19th century long, acrimonious wars of words among the

ilustrados and revolucionarios are the direct antecedents of the harsh
and interminable polemics we see today in our coffeeshops, the
media and on the floor of our beloved Congress.

- page 186 –
 THINKING AHEAD

THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE

- page 187 -
 Sarcasm is the wrath of the powerless.
Filipinos are very sarcastic these days.
Have you heard this one from a lady from the market?
If I could vote a dog for president, this time I would vote the dog.

Apart from sarcasm, there is also nostalgia.

There are more people than ever who smile and say: Marcos

And today is May 6, 2004, in Metro Manila

- page 188 –
 WHERE WE ARE, WHAT WE ARE

As the sun rushes through space at a speed of 150 miles per second,
it takes many smaller bodies with it, like Mother Earth and the
Moon, Mars, and other planets, around our galaxy. In exactly 225
million years, we will be back here in this area again but, of course,
we will no longer be around. Mind you, our galaxy is about 100,000
light-years across; our nearest neighbor is 4.3 light-years away. One
light-year is the distance light can travel in a year and that is just
short of 6 trillion miles. Therefore, our nearest neighbor is some 25
trillion miles away from us, too far to throw a stone.

By the way, in our galaxy, called the Milky Way, we are in a distant
corner, one lonely sun among 100 billion suns nearer to the center.
Our galaxy is one among billions of other galaxies, some more than
10 billion light-years away from us. Compared to those distances,
our solar system occupies a tiny part of space through which we
rush, or shall we say shoot, with a speed of 150 miles per second or
9,000 miles per minute or 540,000 miles per hour. Don’t forget, we
are also spiraling around the sun and turning around ourselves once
a day. We should all be dizzy.

Of course, this took billions of years to develop and will take more
billions of years to unravel. All we know is that the sun will get
bigger and hotter, until all matter is burnt. Then it will end up as a
black hole. No more sun, no more life. But life will end much earlier
because of the heat. One day, our Planet Earth will be melted, but
we will no longer be there for our cremation. Life is only possible,
if there is water, at a very crucial temperature, which depends solely
on the exact distance to the sun. Too near, too hot; too far away, too
cold.
- page 189 –
Water allows the nitrogen cycle to produce oxygen, by the plants,
for the animals to breathe. Along that line, totally accepted by
serious scientists all over the world, and the evolution of millions of
life forms, here comes the human race at the end of the line, the
proud “homo sapiens”, and everything goes wrong.

Actually, it did not go wrong from the beginning. Our ancestors

lived a simple life, following the laws of nature and natural instincts
and they were fine. But then, some 6,000 years ago, which is just
tics in terms of our universe, in the beautiful or not so beautiful
desert of Egypt, they discovered the sweet pleasures of power over
other men. The pharaohs dressed themselves in gold and ordered
their slaves to build the pyramids for them.

Once addicted to the pleasures of power and ensuing wealth, they

declared their power as God-given. Whatever gods they had at that
time, they declared that it had to stay in the family. That was the
beginning of dynasties. We know the end, don’t we? Binay in
Makati, Abalos in Mandaluyong, Eusebio in Pasig, Barbers in
Surigoa, Plaza in Agusan, Zubiri in Bukidnon, just to name a few.

Let’s just mention the worst period in the history of mankind. That
was when the Pope established himself as the highest secular leader
on earth, higher than kings and emperors at that time, 1000 to 1300.
What followed were the Dark Ages, some few hundred years of evil
triumph of religious doctrine over the ideals of the human mind.
That was before they even had a print of the Bible!

Fortunately, for all of us, the invention of the printing press

happened in Germany, Gutenberg in the year 1498. There was
already a movement called the Enlightenment, which in turn
triggered the Renaissance, the recollection of the great minds of
- page 190 -
Greek and Roman culture before the religious bulldozer, called
Christianity, destroyed human thinking. And there was, thank God,
Martin Luther who led the restoration of the sound mind and the
dismantling of evil rituals in the churches.

We should not forget those historical facts, when our leaders are
practically leaving the outcome of this election 2004 to the religious
leaders. Woo! Religion is for eternity. The President is for earthly
matters. The Constitution demands that Church and State are
separate entities. Here the candidates for president are wooing one
after the other of those leaders of religious groups of the charismatic
kind. The hard question can only be this: Who is the prostitute in
this case?

Are we going back to the Dark Ages? Only in the Philippines do we

have so many blind followers of religious leaders, so many devout
followers of religious statues, so many followers of anyone and
anything that promises “salvation”. Well, we have to be honest and
add: Followers of anyone who gives them money. This is even true
for those who do not exactly belong to the poorest of the poor.

Undeniably, the great majority of Filipinos don’t know where we

are and who we are. They don’t care about our galaxy, they are even
afraid of extra-terrestrial visitors. Well, even if those extra-terrestrial
visitors can ride on the beam of light, can they do it for 4.3 years?
No food, no drink, no bed?

Come on, Filipino, get ready for education for everybody, that is
the only thing that will change this country. Not today but in the
long run. There must be something like a human drive for better and
more beautiful. There must be a human drive to know more, or?
Well, listen to this; some men close their eyes, when they ride the
train or bus. They hate to see a woman standing.
- page 191 –
Back to the religious leaders, in this election, we actually talk about
three, His Excellency Erdie Manalo, leader of the Iglesia Ni Kristo,
Mr. Mike Velarde or El Shaddai, and Eddie Villanueva, the leader
of The Jesus is Lord Movement.

Of them, only Eddie Villanueva is directly involved in running for

president. Chances are that he is very clever, with his own hidden
agenda: Make it appear that he is winning and, thereby, making his
Movement the strongest among all charismatic movements in this
benighted country, well, and make a nice side agreement with Gloria
for a juicy position later.

No less clever is Mike Velarde, the businessman who is proud to tell

that he went bankrupt twice before he engaged in the business of
selling salvation. He plays both sides, as he was backing Erap
Estrada in the 1998 election, but he made a juicy deal with the new
president in 2001 that practically guaranteed Ate Glo (that was how
we called her then) the vote of El Shaddai.

That deal was the shady C5-deal in San Dionisio, Paranaque, where
the joint land grabbers Manny Villar, SM Prime, and the company
of Mike Velarde cashed in big. Manny Villar bigger than Mike in
the ratio of 25,000 per square to 15,000 per square but, hey, Manny
Villar was already in the Senate and his beautiful wife Cyntia in
Congress. SM? They got it for free and build the new SM Center
there, along Sucat/Ninoy Aquino Avenue.

So, what about the third one? There is probably only one reason why
He could side with Gloria, or actually two: Human vanity and the
great enemy of Philippine culture, self-centeredness. Reason No. 1
could be that FPJ does not bow deep enough and long enough before
His Excellency. Reason No. 2: Gloria keeps kissing his feet, until
He gives in.
- page 192 –
What these three gentlemen, wonder what Cardinal Sin is doing
these days, have in common with that shortest president of the world
is that they don’t spend their own money. The spend O.P.M. money,
other people’s money or Oh-Promise-Me money.

I might be a little bit too harsh in my judgment, but maybe not. A

friend is just showing me a text message that reads that PGMA has
now withdrawn from GSIS the total of Pesos 49,000,000,000.00 (in
words: forty nine billion). Yan si Gloria! So determined. And that
is only from GSIS! What about SSS?

Poor Filipinos, those mabuting tao of FPJ, there will be nothing left
for them. But what the heck, the religious leaders are on her side, all
the way! Do you get my point? Right or left, right or wrong, that
does not matter for them. They have other priorities. What those are,
here comes a bright analyst, Rod Kapunan to back me up right on
time:

B·A·C·K·B·E·N·C·H·E·R
ROD P. KAPUNAN

Religious endorsement is interference

Saturday, 05 08, 2004 (DAILY TRIBUNE)

When religious leaders mix their dogma with politics, they not only
violate the freedom of worship and abuse the privilege of tax-
exemption given them by this wayward republic, but invariably
open themselves to severe public criticism.

Unless the dominant Catholic Church or the minority sects such as

the Iglesia ni Cristo, El Shaddai, Jesus is Lord, and other religions
would put to an end to their penchant of mixing spiritual beliefs

- page 193 -
with political convictions, they would always be accused of
demagoguery, their religion branded as cults, and even insinuations
of corruption and bribery won't stop.

Such would always be the case because these self-anointed messiahs

have the notion that it is their religion that liberates their followers
from this cruel earthly world, and not their faith to enlighten them
of the evil done by the man-made vices that have enslaved us.

Take the Supreme Court decision overruling Manila RTC Branch

49 Judge Concepcion Alarcon-Vergara. Instead of the Davide Court
dissecting the substantive meaning of religious endorsement, it dealt
on its usual legal platitudes it claims to understand. To quote that
infamous ruling that threatens to administratively hold liable Judge
Alarcon-Vergara for allegedly violating the now vandalized
Constitution, “The constitutionality of the statute or act will be
passed upon only if and to the extent that, it is directly and
necessarily involved in a justiciable (not justifiable) controversy and
essential to the protection of the rights of the parties concerned.”

For all that legal extrapolation of what a justiciable controversy is,

the justices failed to grasp why in the first place religious leaders
persist in endorsing certain candidates, especially if they are
perceived to win. Yet for this subtle form of political blackmail,
comprehension has never dawned on the justices on why most
candidates troop to the residence of the executive ministers and the
evangelical pastors. It is not to foolishly exchange pleasantries with
these religious kingpins, but to strike a bargain with them. In
exchange for their support, the politician would see to it that their
brethrens are appointed or promoted to public office ahead of the
ordinary taxpayers.

- page 194 -

If the justices just exerted extra efforts to visualize the meaning of

justiciable controversy outside of the rigidities of that the vandalized
Constitution provides, it should be easy to see that people measure
their freedom of religion on a personal basis as pursued by these
religious organizations. This, the politicking Davide Court failed to
see because it wrongly assumed that in all democratic governments,
religious freedom is pretty much the same as the freedom of
religious organizations.

For the State to allow religious organizations to define and mangle

the freedom of the individual, such as how he should exercise his
political rights in the guise of testing his faith, is to recognize that
they are co-equal in authority to define their concept of religious
freedom on top of that heaping insult that they do not pay their taxes
to a government they would often slander.

But if an individual affiliates himself with a political party, the

relation between the State and the individual is not altered because
the objective of these legal or “surfacing” political organizations is
always to compliment to its furthest limits the meaning and
substance of the individual freedoms given in the Constitution.

Legitimate political organizations do not deal with religious

morality that is often shaded with bigotry. They only promote and
harmonize the relations of the State with the individual, and not the
relations of the State with a particular political organization. If an
individual would cling to his political organization, it is because he
believes the organization could advance his rights, and not the
interest of the organization.

This is the reason the early justices of the Supreme Court were able
to delineate the ideological belief of the individual from his political
party affiliation, with the State responding only if that political party
would advocate violence to overthrow the

- page 195 -
government. In which case, the State applies the principle of self-
defense. The same ought to be true to religious organizations. While
none of them advocates the overthrow of the government, nobody
doubts that once they succeed in controlling it, they would be very
intolerant to heresy, agnosticism, and atheism, or would easily
condemn anybody disagreeing with their beliefs.

We can cite the fratricidal wars that were fought in the name of
Christianity that decimated almost half of the population of
Medieval Europe, and how Torquemada elevated torture and
brutality to a form of art. Since we now live in a pretended civilized
society, religion has instead become a big and lucrative business that
works well within the dimension of free enterprise where desperate
people pay their tithing as they await a miracle.

As we continue to allow religious charlatanism to proliferate, we are

as equally guilty in contributing to the erosion of our democracy.
We cannot fool ourselves for our betrayal because no well-meaning
democracy can operate in any country if what prevails is the
arbitrariness of these religious zealots that would not hesitate to shed
off their intolerance once they succeed in capturing political power.

This we can say because their avowed objective is to convert all the
people to their faith. Their pretensions of humility, charity and
patience could easily turn savage as any tyrant once they are in
power because the history of religious organizations has shown us
how dangerous they can be to heretics. Political ideologies only rank
second in the commission of genocide, the latest of which was the
religious, not ethnic, cleansing in Serbia.

Right now, we are witnessing the vitriolic verbal tussle between the
members of Iglesia ni Cristo and that of Dating Daan that
occasionally erupts into a violent confrontation. As both deliver

- page 196 -
insults at each other on radio and television, people who tune in to
them are amused at their antics and on how each childishly claims
to correctly interpret the bible. Due to the intensity of their rivalry,
whoever is the candidate endorsed by Erano Manalo's group will
definitely be opposed by Ely Soriano's followers not really to spite,
but to lessen the increasing influence of the other. The lurking
danger is that both have rabid fanatical followers, and their rivalry
today is not just on who is credible, but a question of survival that
could only be sustained by their political leverage of wanting to
make it appear that winning candidates owe their victory to them.

Let's go all out for FPJ and Loren Legarda, and for senators: J.P.
Enrile, Kit Tatad, Jinggoy Estrada, Digs Dilangalen, Boots Anson
Roa, and Jamby Madrigal. For party-list, vote for the pro-poor
People's Movement Against Poverty (PMAP).

- page 197 -
OUR LAST HOPE: FPJ, Hermann Tiu Laurel, TRIBUNE

Picture the Philippine one month after next Monday, May 10, and
the political forces of the usurper of power and constitutional
transgressors Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hang on by the treacheries
and travesties of our laws they have been committing since the
Manapat forgeries to disqualify Fernando Poe Jr. to the present
disbursement of billions of government funds for electioneering. A
senator gave his informed view about the prospects:

“The consolidated public sector deficit will hit P350-billion, P200-

billion deficit in our national budget and P150 billion in Napocor.
Electricity rates will have to be raised by P1/kWh, taxes to pay for
the deficit will have to be raised from oil products, alcoholic and
other beverages, tobacco, cellphone texting etc. “If Arroyo stays on
there will be no moral credibility for the government to ask for
sacrifices from the people. With a new leadership there is hope.”

This was narrated to us by a banker, and the senator is Serge Osmeña

III. It depicts the situation our nation faces after the May 10 elections
accurately. Except for the “sacrifice” to be asked of the people I can
agree with him entirely, but in my view the sacrifice must be made
by the “elite” in our society consisting of the big business interests.
That change of political leadership is imperative. I am, however, in
full solidarity with him; and if what I hear is correct, we are agreed
that FPJ is the man of the hour to help our nation shape up the crew
and steer the course in these dangerous times.

The picture Serge Osmeña paints does not evoke even half of the
dread that we should feel in the situation facing us after May 10.

- page 198 -
The private schools have already notified authorities they will raise
tuition fees by 15 to 20 percent; tens of thousands more will be out-
of-school as students of all levels try to jam the gates to the public
schools and state colleges and universities only to be turned away
because there will be no room anymore for them.

With so much economic and financial resources to be diverted to

taxes for debt servicing, public infrastructure will deteriorate further
which will turn away more and more domestic and international
enterprises; unemployment and underemployment are now at 11
percent and roughly 30 percent respectively. Former national
treasurer Liling Briones has warned that a financial collapse is
imminent within a year. “Argentina here we come!”, and no one
disputes this anymore with the 20 percent of P5.3-trillion new debt
Arroyo has put on our shoulders in her three years in Malacañang.

Add to all these economic and social factors the political tension that
will continue to grow because everyone knows: Gloria's February
2001 power grab destabilized all our institutions and obligated her
government to the local and foreign oligarchs that supported her
usurpation hence the Lopezes stopped Maynilad concession
payments in March 2001, Epira was rammed through a lame duck
Congress that gave us the PPA and doubled energy prices, the
International Board of Advisers came to rule our economic
management solely for their own benefit, and now we're just ahead
of Cambodia and Laos in development growth.

Against all these crises that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo symbolizes,

including the crisis of trust, stands FPJ. Representing independence
from all vested interest blocs with his principles of honesty and
transparency, of the nation as the hero and not the power brokers,
and symbolic of a 180 degree turnaround of leadership philosophy
and style — FPJ offers the only hope for averting an Argentina

- page 199 -
situation. FPJ embodies a chance for what can be aptly likened to
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal; a reshuffling of the deck
that is presently stacked against the Filipino common man rich and
poor alike.

Ranged against FPJ are Gloria and all her surrogate candidates
arranged by Ramos and company to confuse and split the people
from voting for change. They have repeatedly used this flaw in our
political system, its lack of a run off or elimination round to allow a
clear polarization of issues and final mandate between only two
choices. They field Eddie Villanueva who was gifted before with the
Zoe Channel, and the real lameduck Roco who helped foreign
bankers to take our country; most insidiously, they now sustain
Lacson who has done everything to sabotage the consolidation of
the opposition vote.

The vast majority of voters have long made their decision that they
want change and have given their vote to FPJ, which explains why
he continues to lead in all honest surveys and why they're all ganging
up on No. 1.

Lacson has sought to ensure that the groundswell for FPJ does not
materialize, but even his sabotage of the Iglesia ni Cristo support for
the opposition will be for naught as we have talked to many faithful
and they have said they shall vote by their conscience and leave the
judgment of their act to God.

We are like Ceasar, Moses or Joshua at the river or sea crossing.

Crossing that barrier is the way to hope, the Promised Land, the new
beginning and new day — a new vision and fresh approach to the
crisis at hand, that will deal the Filipino a new hand by an honest
and trustworthy leader.

- page 200 –
 AT THE END, THE MAN: FPJ

You have to see it to believe it. They are making it so

hard for FPJ. It is a shame for the Filipino people.
Many times, they cut the light for his rally; many times
he does not even get a permit for his rally. Manila?
Njet! Eddie Villanueva, yes, one million yellow idiots
there in Luneta Grandstand. They all want to go to
heaven. God forbid that he becomes the president.
Then we are really banana, we all have to wear yellow
uniform, become born again, and cry: ”Eddie!”

Here on Saturday, May 8, 2004, on Ayala Avenue, in

enemy territory, all Ayala buildings were dark, very
dark. All Ayala employees spelled s-l-a-v-e-s were
home watching TV, ABS-CBN entertainment, no FPJ
there, guaranteed. The sky got dark also and started
crying. Seeded clouds produced some very heavy
showers, in summer, dry season, mind you, but oh
wonder, where was the wind?

That was a very ominous sight for so many who ran

for cover. Big raindrops, straight down, no wind, no
movement of the clouds. Gloria’s monsoon! She

- page 201 -
must be very afraid that she has to go so far to even
change God’s weather pattern! Yes, she won, OK, she
disturbed FPJ’s “miting de avanse”. But for those who
stood their ground and waited for FPJ, a moment came
that they will never forget in their life. They saw and
heard a new FPJ, the real FPJ.

What he said was not learned, was not scripted. The

way he said it, it was what he felt, truly, deeply in his
heart. For the Filipino people, for the downtrodden.
The millions who do not know how to feed their
children, how to enroll them in school. The millions
who do not count, who have no rights, because all the
rights are with those few who have it all.

And how he said it! How he correlated with the masses

in front of him. Maybe only Adolf Hitler did it better.
But Adolf Hitler had a clear common enemy. FPJ is
not there yet. Our culture is not there yet. We still have
to learn to call a spade a spade and an enemy an
enemy.

But anyhow, thank you, FPJ, you showed us the way!

Those of us who were lucky to be there will follow you
all the way.
- page 202 -
 THE DAY AFTER
A nation is holding its breath. The election exercise is done. Now
we are waiting for the judges to tell us who won. It is like in boxing.
You saw the fight. You think that Manny Pacquiao won. But he did
not. Marquez is still the world champion. They found a way and
there is nothing you can do. Maybe there will be a next time. Maybe.

Maybe FPJ won the election. Maybe the overwhelming majority of

the Filipino people want him to win, maybe the overwhelming
majority of the Filipino people hate Gloria, like they hate the world
champion who stole the title from their hero. But what can we do?

There was a difference in showing, though. The Manny Pacquiao

fight took hours and hours because of the overload of TV
commercials. Filipino boxing aficionados want to see the fight, not
what “they” want us to see. But that’s how it is. That is how “they”
treat the Filipino. “They” decide, not you.

In the election, ABS-CBN gives us “complete coverage”. That is

how they call that gimmickry of showing us how they vote in Saudi
or in Abra or in Hong Kong or in Sultan Kudarat. That is like the
magician who diverts your attention from the main thing and, out of
a sudden, he pulls out the dove from nowhere.

To believe that the complete coverage by ABS-CBN is not part of

the election machinery of Gloria is, at best, innocente. They leave
nothing to chance. She will not even have to pay for the favor, the
owners of ABS-CBN have an inherent interest to keep her in power.
She is with the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. So it comes gratis
and amore as the most visible part of the greatest and,
- page 203 -
by far, most expensive, campaign this country has ever seen. The
TV coverage will show her in all her glory but it will never tell that
she “borrowed” P 49 Billion from GSIS for her election campaign.

They will also, and let us include all those intelligent-sounding

gentlemen, who get interviewed in her favor as time passes by, not
explain to you how Gloria will fill that hole of P49B in GSIS. That
is not her money! Same with the money that the ill-fated lady from
the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office had to borrow for her.
She got a heart attack. Poor lady!

Coming to her rescue is the phony argument that Gloria did not just
spend the money; she made an investment. She made a what? Well,
you have to understand the logic behind this. By spending huge
amounts in vote-buying, she actually gives the economy a boost and
money, trickle-trickle, into the hands of poor Filipinos, who then
spend the money to buy more San Miguel beer. The profits of San
Miguel will go up and the price for San Miguel shares in the stock
market will go up, which will pull up the indexes and make the stock
market analysts bullish about the future of the economy. Did you get
it?

They say that the water in Pampanga is best for San Miguel beer.
They make the famous “Grande” there, the big bottle for real beer
drinkers. That is maybe why Gloria spent P 1,000 per vote there.
Good thinking! For P1,000 per vote or per head, she got all the votes,
here, there, and everywhere.

By the looks of it and by the sounds of the spokespersons for her,

she won and she will be proclaimed President soonest. Then she can
start filling the holes she has created. How does she do it? She will
borrow from our foreign lenders who are waiting and only too eager
to lend her more. You, the readers of 200 earlier pages, you
- page 204 -
know very well why they are so eager to lend more to the Philippine
President. But beware, it is not the President, it is not Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo who will borrow, it is the Republic of the
Philippines. That is you, and me, and every Filipino, even the
unborn, all of us, rich or poor.

One day we will have to pay for what she borrowed for and on our
behalf. Thank you, but no thank you. How do we deserve that? Well,
we can always say we did not know but that does not help us any
later. Someone has to pay and that is nobody else but us.

At least, for now, we can always hope that she will clean up the mess
she has created in GSIS, SSS, PAGCOR, Charity Sweepstakes, and
wherever else she was able to “borrow” money. Nice of her, noh?

Now all Filipinos can go back to what they do best, watch Paloma,
Love Storm, Bubble Gum, Star Talk. That’s exciting. Hopefully
there will be more programs with more big boobs. Now that the sex
train has started rolling, there is no way to stop it. In our mid-day
shows you see already our young daughters learning how to look
seductive. Like hookers. They make more money on TV than in the
cabaret. Some people call that University of Pegasus.

Morals? Ethics? Real values, anyone? All talk, no action. Sex is a

selling argument that nobody can deny. You may like it or hate it;
that is up to you. But selling is money and money talks. Bullshit
walks, you know that. Now I will ask you a question and please be
honest to yourself: Imagine, Jesus Christ comes back to earth and he
lands in Makati Avenue. He has no money, no cellphone, no ATM
card. No money to eat, walang pamasahe! Will anybody believe
him? He does not even have a clean haircut. Chances are, mga
kaibigan, that you will not believe him. You know the tricks
- page 205 -
of beggars. He says he is Jesus. Jesus Christ! Come on! And believe
me, everybody will do like you. Because of money or, in this case,
because of no money.

No, seriously and honestly speaking, the whole election exercise is

an exercise in futility. We might as well vote one President for the
rich and one President for the Filipino people. We could call him the
People’s President. The rich will get richer anyhow and the poor will
get poorer. So, at least, let them have a President.

It depends on how you look at it. For me, the worst of it all is the
constant cheating. Of course, it is worst during election, when they
become so nice, come to your door and shake your hand and
everybody’s hand, so promising, and they pay you to run for them
or to paste the posters at night.

Cheating is the other side of look down upon, despise, abhor (the
unwashed, you remember?), treat as undeserving of respect (illegal
vendors and everything “illegal”). Not enough with that. It gets
worse. They think that Filipinos are stupid, that they eat everything
and know nothing. That they want to be fooled, so let’s fool them.
Therefore, they can smuggle in thrown-away chicken from other
countries, maybe even poisonous, and sell it here in the markets.
They can smuggle in half the need for diesel, make a nice cut for
themselves, and go and raise the price for diesel anyhow with the
connivance of the big three. Of course, not election time.

You think they have an interest in educating the Filipino, so that he

will find out what they are doing? You must be joking. This whole
scenario is a self-serving mechanism in the hands of the rich and the
poor are picking from their hands. Like chicken. They love to have
Halalan every six years, because every six years they get richer and
the poor get poorer. As the poor get poorer, there will be
- page 206 -
more criminality. The answer of the rich to more criminality is more
rigid action from the “strong Republic”: Show of force, clamp-down
action, intimidation, and liquidation of the fall guys. The small fry
will get caught and shown big on TV. The big fish will swim freely,
related to and protected by you know who. And Halalan gives them
the right, the license to steal. Wonderful!

What did the Filipino people get out of Halalan 2004? Some money?
Yes. Some excitement? Sure. And then what? Tomorrow it will be
business as usual. Gloria will smile triumphantly from her media.
And with her but not so openly, all the crocodiles of greed who did
everything to stay in power.

You will not see your candidate any more. His office will be
protected from now on until next Halalan. So he will not be molested
while doing his own little business. That’s what we are in office for!
That Filipino who coined the beautiful phrase: “Better by Filipinos
like hell, than by Americans like heaven”, did not know what he was
talking about. May he rest in peace!

So, what is in there for Filipinos from the middle class down to the
poorest of the poor? A good advice may be to look for jobs in
Afghanistan or in Iraq and send home money, so your relatives can
spend the money in the malls to up-hold the economy here. Or go as
jappayukki to Japan or Taiwan where the guys have money to spend.
At least, you are no longer prosti or prostitute. You are now certified
care-giver, courtesy of Gloria and the fat gentleman. Anyhow, your
younger brother does not care how you make the money, as long as
there is money.

Grave as that may sound, what else is there to wait for in a country
that, after the smoke screen of the Halanan has settled, is bankrupt
by all standards, with the rich owning everything and every one of
- page 207 -
the cash-cows, but getting scot-free from not paying their due taxes.
Indeed, you will never find an Ayala or a Henry Sy or any of his
Chinese sounding name friends in the list of tax payers. They make
billions, but the top tax payer in this country barely cracks the P10M
mark. Pesos, not dolyares.

Did I say anything against foreign sounding names? There are not
too many Filipinos in the business clubs, not even as hang-ons.
Filipinos don’t own anything. They serve. Chinese kids in our
country learn how to run a business. Filipino kids learn how to get a
diploma. Then they look for a job. Who told them that? God
question, no?

Let me ask another question, while we keep waiting for trickle-in

results. Who were the first overseas contract workers? The answer
is this: In the early 70’s, Riyad, the capital city of the Saudi Arabian
Kingdom needed a new airport. The plans were to build a great
airport, the biggest airport on earth. They needed workers, many
workers.

Filipinos, by that time, had a good reputation in other countries as

architects, designers, construction workers. Many Filipinos were
working already in other countries as professionals, on their own
merits. They had a job already. In those days, there was no big
problem with visa and border control. Surely, not for Filipinos. But
those were few and not available. They had work to do.

So, the Arabs asked officially for Filipinos and many applied. But
they did not pass. The Arabs wanted Muslims only. Where do you
find Muslims in the Philippines? In Zamboanga. So, then President
Marcos ordered and arranged for the first batch of Muslim overseas
contract workers from Zamboanga, with proper training in Manila.
From Manila, they were flown to Riyad and they
- page 208 -
worked there. They were so good that the Saudi King asked Marcos
to send more and Marcos made Blas Ople the first Secretary for
Overseas Contract Workers. Such were the days. Nowadays,
Filipino contract workers do not enjoy that privilege any more.
Filipina is a bad word now. In Europe, in the dictionary, Filipina
stands for hooker. Indeed, so many things have changed from the
days there was a President Marcos.

Talking about hookers, there is another one. There are many ways
of looking at prostitutes or prostitution. No country, no ruler has
ever been able to eradicate it or them. On the other hand, in some
countries like in Germany, Switzerland, France, or England,
imagine, some prostitutes are in the highest circles of society.
Certainly, the owners of the finest and most expensive restaurants
count them as their privileged guests. Guess why.

That is not the case in the Philippines. Since Cory Aquino and
Mayor Lim “cleaned up” and that includes the killing of 87 farmers
on Recto/Mendiola Bridge, prostis are garbage and on the lowest
end of society. That has not always been the case.

In 1981, my first visit to Asia, we were enjoying life in Patpong,

Bangkok, Thailand. We knew Hamburg with 100,000 or more
licensed hookers but Patpong was different. Easy. Not so
professional. So we were sitting together and they tell me that only
Ermita is better. I ask: “Ermita? Where is that?” And they: “What?
You don’t know Ermita?”

The next day we were in the airplane and landed in Manila. It was
hard to find a hotel room. All hotels fully booked. Remember, in
those days Manila Hotel was ranked the No.1 hotel in the world.
Foreign tourists came in the millions, imagine! And then they
brought me to Firehouse on M.H. del Pilar. Wow! That was it! The
- page 209 -
girls looked great and everyone speaks English! Drinks were cheap
and we learned to eat Filipino. Exactly what the doctor ordered. We
had the fun time of our lives. Year in, year out, until 1986. That was
the time the Philippines was No.1 for us. Whenever we had time, we
would come together in Ermita. I think we spent a lot of money. But
that was not the problem.

The problem was in 1986. No more! No more Ermita! There was a

new President, a lady. Everything had changed. No more fun, so we
went back to Bangkok. Now, nobody talks about the Philippines
anymore. Manila? Who needs that? Who needs the Abu Sayyaf, or
kidnap or holdup? We do not care about the rich in any country.
They are the same anywhere. We pity the poor. But the more you
give, the more they come. No good any more. So better next time,
Ermita!

Now, that was then, and we are here, and we have to live with what
we have now. Yet, it is a pity, really, it is a shame, no, it is a crime,
a patriotic crime that the Filipino people have forgotten how life was
before, when we had a President Marcos. It is like it was erased,
deleted, with snow fake, from every body’s mind.

Instead, we have this mental anomaly that people, generally, feel

that life is getting poorer and poorer, but when you ask them, yes,
we had good presidents. Cory was a good president, they say, Ramos
was a good president, they think, well, and that Gloria is a good
president. Ah yeah? Are you sure? Please, repeat, Gloria is a good
president? How come we are going bankrupt?

They don’t see anymore that that is all perception. They don’t know
anymore the truth. They don’t care. Unfortunately, in the process we
have become a stupid nation, let’s face it. Everything has to look
stupid, so they can laugh. If that is not enough, bring in
- page 210 -
the bakla, the gays, they are so cute! Or Eddie Gil. Last night, he
had his first show. It is so stupid that even the monkeys cannot laugh
anymore. But don’t worry, Filipinos can.

I always say, the Filipinos may be stupid but it is not their choice.
They have no choice. They have to be happy with what they get and
what we see, as the early results are coming in.

As predicted by many, the trending shows from the beginning a slim

lead by Gloria. That is easy. Take Pampanga and Davao where she
bought the entire opposition, but let it appear like a close race, so
the people will not doubt her clean victory. That is very important:
Make it appear like clean elections, no cheating.

As there is no perfect crime, there is no sure victory for Gloria, not

yet. Depending on the numbers for Lacson, a close win by Gloria
could be just not enough for a clear mandate against the combined
numbers of FPJ and Lacson.

We are in the Philippines, but still the idea of an amicable settlement

between FPJ and Lacson for a coalition must be in the minds of some
people up there. That is how election works in other countries. OK,
we know, here it is all personal, all about people and celebrities, not
issues.

Anyhow, assuming a win by Gloria in the region of 5%, then it does

not matter whether through cheating or not. People are more or less
expecting that from her anyhow, even if they vow together to wish
for clean election.

Easy for her! Only one can cheat, the incumbent, and it would be a
miracle, if she would not. It is, of course, not Gloria herself who

- page 211 -
does it. It is also not her spokesman, Mike Defensor. Others are
doing it, for her. But that is the same. Game over, Philippines!

They might still tease us with some nice numbers for FPJ, but let’s
all go to bed in the assurance that, one of the next days, ABS-CBN
will greet us a good morning and introduce us to our new President:
Gloria Macapal Arroyo.

God bless the Philippines!

- page 212 –
 Election can end like Pacquiao-Marquez fight
Neal Cruz, INQUIRER
JUDGING by the initial election returns, the presidential fight
could very well end up like the Pacquiao-Marquez fight -- a draw, if
that is at all possible in a presidential race. And like the boxing bout,
the real winner can be robbed of his victory by the real loser who,
alas, happens to control the government, the same way Manny
Pacquiao was robbed of his victory by the promoters who control
boxing in Nevada.
The voting is over but the counting has just begun. And as everyone
knows, a candidate can win in the voting but still lose in the
counting. Everyone, from candidate to voter, fears and expects
cheating. It is not far-fetched to believe that almost every candidate
and political group has a special operation or arm tasked to cheat or
to foil any attempt to cheat by the enemy. A popular election joke is
about cheating, purloined from the title of an action flick:

Panfilo Lacson: Cavite province is mine. Raul Roco: The Bicol

region is mine. Eduardo Villanueva: The pious are mine. Fernando
Poe Jr.: Mindanao is mine. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo: The
Commission on Elections is mine!

That is why everyone should not relax and let his guard down. A lot
of mysterious things can still happen between now and the time the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaims the winners.
Cheating in the precincts is now small-time and useful only to local
area candidates.

Big-time cheating now happens in the provincial certificates of

canvass where the No. 3 mysteriously becomes No. 8, No. 1

- page 213 -
becomes No. 7, 9 or 11, and the totals get either additional or lesser
zeroes. Such is "dagdag-bawas" [vote-padding and vote-shaving],
an invention perfected by Filipino politicians.

I am almost certain that special operatives of some candidates are

already dispersed in far-flung areas to cheat for them. That was what
happened in previous elections, with operatives even chasing each
other in airplanes from place to place. That was how certain senators
had won and others lost. That was how Miriam Defensor-Santiago
claimed she lost the presidency to Fidel V. Ramos.

It happened before; it can happen again.

AN indication of the firm grip the Christian denomination Iglesia ni

Cristo (INC) has on its members is that in the voting precincts in
Barangay New Era, the communities behind its main church in
Quezon City, candidates who were not on the INC sample ballot got
zero. The counting was finished very early since all the ballots were
like carbon copies of the INC sample ballot.

It is easy to understand why INC members vote like sheep. In

communities where only INC members reside, a few votes that stray
from the INC sample ballot would cause a big scandal. An
investigation could easily ferret out the disobedient members, who
could be expelled from their church and their communities.

Some members I talked with said they were not happy with the
choices their leaders made and would have preferred to vote for
other candidates, but they were afraid to disobey orders. For
example, they had been taught earlier on not to vote for women as
leaders, but this time they were told to vote for a woman for
President.

- page 214 -
And do you know that INC members actually spy on their neighbors
to find out how they voted? One housewife said her husband
accompanied her inside the polling booth to make sure she voted for
the candidates on the INC sample ballot.

In other words, there is no democracy within the INC. The members

don't have the free will that God gave to all human beings. There is
only dictation from the leaders, a virtual martial-law regime. I have
no quarrel with their leaders dictating the religious teachings of their
church, but voting for leaders of government is something else. That
is no longer religion. That is already meddling in politics and
government, acts that are prohibited by the Constitution because
they have been abused before and may still be abused now.

If we don't watch out, we may become another Iran with Filipino

ayatollahs having the power of life and death over citizens, like the
priests during the Inquisition having the power of life and death over
the people or the friars having the power of life and death over
Filipinos during the Spanish regime.

Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, the propagandists and the

Katipuneros, as well as the other earlier revolutionaries, saw this
danger more than 100 years ago. But like most of the Filipino
"ilustrado" elite during the Spanish regime, the present ilustrados
don't recognize its return, not in the person of Spanish friars but in
the person of Filipino religious leaders.

- page 215 -

PRESS STATEMENT
MAY 13, 2004

STOP POWER GRAB OF POLL

CHEATER – COALITION OF PEOPLE
EMPOWERMENT (COPE)

THE POLL CHEATER IS SET TO BE PROCLAIMED AS THE

ELECTED PRESIDENT UNDER A GRAND CONSPIRACY TO
SUBVERT THE SOVEREIGN WILL AND, THUS, PRESERVE
VESTED INTERESTS OF THE OLIGARCHS.

THE ONLY WAY TO INSTALL THE RIGHTFUL

PRESIDENT IS PEACEFUL, SOVEREIGN, CONSTITUTIONAL
PEOPLE POWER PURSUANT TO ARTICLE VIII, SECTIONS 15-16,
1987 CONSTITUTION.

THE MODUS OPERANDI OF THE POLITICAL

SWINDLER NOW IS TRENDING BY PAID SURVEYS, PAID SERIES
OF POLITICAL ANALYSTS ADVERSE TO FPJ AND PAID
CONCILIATORY STATEMENTS LIKE HEADLINE IN TEMPO:
“TIME TO UNITE & RECONCILE”.

HOWEVER, THE FOLLOWERS OF THE

OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES HAVE
ORGANIZED A COALITION OF PEOPLE
EMPOWERMENT (COPE) TO DETER FRAUDULENT
CANVASSING AND TO PROCLAIM THE TRUE CHOICE
OF THE SOVEREIGN FILIPINO PEOPLE.

OPLAN-SAGIP BANSA IS ON!

- page 216 -
To: FERNANDO POE JR.
Thru: A close friend

May 17, 2004

Dear Mr. President,

I am referring to and reverting to my letter to you dated November

10, 2003. I was advised then to give it to Butch Catsawan, which I
did in the Studios. I would not know whether you ever read it or
whether your entourage kept it as “not important”. They, of course,
have other priorities. It is easy to criticize or point the finger on what
went wrong, I will not elaborate, but the campaign is lost because it
missed the issues. I will attach copy of my original letter now, even
if that may be water under the bridge.

Why do I say so? Whatever good I have said and written about FPJ
seems to be for naught going with yesterday’s headline in
PHILIPPINE STAR that FPJ has urged his supporters to shun street
protests amid allegations of fraud over last Monday’s elections. That
same article makes a remarkable statement, it reads: “Opposition
leader Sen. Edgardo Angara, the executive chairman of KNP, said
they will wait for the final result.”

Is it now fair to say, after all, that is was and is Mr. Angara who calls
the shots? With all due respect, we cannot wait for them to declare
that Gloria lost. That will never happen. Now, I am surely not the
only one who thinks that Mr. Angara is not only the traitor of Erap
in the past but also the one who split Erap and FPJ now. He is said
by many to be the mole of Ramos in FPJ’s entourage to minimize
the chances of any opposition. Beware of diaries!
- page 217 -

Please forgive me my candidness. This is not the time for

pleasantries. We better tell you now what’s coming. Imagine, you
lose and you decide to go back to private life. You think you can?
You are the last hope of the Filipino people. You cannot desert them
now. History will remember you as the loser of the last free elections
in this country. At best for you. More probable is that history will
have you as the most cheated loser ever and that you asked your
supporters to “reconcile” with the enemy of the people.

You can, of course, say that you don’t see it like this. That is your
prerogative and maybe the worst. It would show to the world that
you are mis-led. Do we assume then that they will call the shots, if
and when People Power makes you President? God forbid!

To make a long story short, we have joined forces with some of your
oldest and most loyal friends. We feel it is our patriotic duty to help
the Filipino people see the truth of the matter. If the incumbent, also
your opponent as presidential candidate, will win this one, “they”
have no reason in the world, not to keep the well-oiled machinery
for the next election.

And we give it to them on a silver platter? FPJ maybe, because he

loves Loren, but not us! We seriously appeal to your remaining
senses of dignity and honesty to open your eyes to reality and make
true your commitment to the Filipino people. Your true friends are
here, not there. It is not too late, actually, it is never too late to repent
and do the right thing. But, please, don’t throw in the towel now,
you are burying the Filipino people alive. For ever.

With all due respect and a great deal of hope,

Truly yours, O.J. and friends

- page 218 –

ONE WEEK AFTER

 B·A·C·K·B·E·N·C·H·E·R
ROD P. KAPUNAN
Danger of a questionable mandate

Tuesday, 05 18, 2004

At the rate the election results mysteriously come out in trickles and
delayed for inexplicable reasons, the focus is no longer on who won
in the May 10 presidential election, but on its jarring consequence
with the people having second thoughts that this might ultimately
affect the integrity of the electoral process, which is the cornerstone
of our freewheeling democracy. There is now a consensus that our
wobbly democracy is about to collapse due to loss of credibility.
Political analysts see the blinking signal that the presidential
election was a sham, and what is being shown by the National
Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) is the manipulative
result on the candidates it wants to win in the recently concluded
election.

This is now the fear of many because negative perception is fast

building up on Mrs. Arroyo. At stake is not just a question of who
won, but on whether the tampering and manipulation of the results
done through that dirty business called “trending” to mold the public
mind that she won might end up with the democracy being the
ultimate casualty. The symptoms are evident that once this de facto
government fails to sustain the credibility of the election results, an
extra constitutional government would emerge to replace one that
has been rendered inoperative by Mrs. Arroyo.

- page 219 -

At this point, the question is on how far we can make our carbon-
copied democracy work because we overlooked the aspect of this
involving not just a question of winning, but also the existence of a
substantial degree of credibility on the win of the candidates. The
actuality of having been voted should tally with public perception
that she won in that election. It is on this aspect of convincing them
that is most difficult since once the perception of cheating is
imprinted in the mind of the public, this would be very hard to
dispel.

These factors, which are indelible to the dynamics of democracy,

should be present because winning requires that the candidate
should first and foremost be believed to have won the vote. In its
absence, her government would be rocked by civil unrest and
massive protests. This explains why despite instances where
government has its firm control of the media, public cynicism
continues to prevail, and the people persist in patronizing the
alternative media, including the underground papers, because the
issue boils down to credibility.

Mrs. Arroyo cannot toss back the issue to the now galvanizing
opposition to prove its allegation of massive electoral cheating for
as always the question of disproving electoral fraud is on the
administration which is in control of the government. Even if some
crackpots in the opposition come out with a statement that Mrs.
Arroyo won, such would not suffice because cheating is an issue
between this corrupt government and the public at large. No political
leader would summarily demand from the people to prove their
charges because the holding of an honest, clean, and orderly election
is the duty of the government. If that credibility is shattered, that
becomes the liability of Mrs. Arroyo, and from thereon her de facto
government would be saddled with the serious problem of
divisiveness, and that would require an artificial

- page 220 -

respirator of resorting to strong arms tactic to contain political unrest

to keep her government alive.
By then she would have to rely on her emergency powers, which
would be an open-ended invitation for disaster for by then her de
facto term of office had already ended. Added is the fact that
members of the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police
cannot be segregated from what constitutes the general public's
nurturing the belief she never won in that election. She would have
difficulty exacting from them loyalty as there are doubts cast over
her electoral victory. Neither can Mrs. Arroyo and her elite
supporters continue to delude themselves on the political swindling
they love to call “people power” for behind that infamy in the shift
of loyalty by the AFP was the betrayal of some overtly ambitious
generals to their Commander-in-Chief and to the Constitution.

This is why Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino senatorial

candidate Francisco “Kit” Tatad was right in saying “there is no
candidate or official in the opposition who can announce that no
street protests will occur over the perceived nationwide electoral
fraud because the vote belongs to the people. It is the electorate
whose votes were stolen that would decide whether they want to
fight for their rights in the streets, or passively accept the fraud, and
not us, not even Fernando Poe Jr. who has been voted by the people
and whose votes have been stolen.” Such statement by Tatad serves
to stress the point that charges of election fraud are not an issue to
be resolved by the cheated against the cheater, but by the cheater
with the people because it was their votes that were stolen that would
give rise to a bogus mandate.

Even on the bleak apprehension by some that FPJ might

unexpectedly concede to Mrs. Arroyo without awaiting the result of
the counting to be finished, such would not serve to resolve the
political impasse. It would not even result in the automatic

- page 221 -

suspension in verifying the charges of massive electoral fraud.

Rather, it would only result in FPJ's forfeiture to any future claim of
having been elected President. The lackey would have nothing to
rejoice about because the failure of the candidate to claim he was
elected would automatically go to the Vice President-elect, and not
to one who ran but was not elected by the people. It is succession to
office and not refusal to accept the office that would operate.

With all these grim possibilities brewing, it can be surmised that we

are veering toward a more catastrophic political crisis.

We are now on the crossroad on whether to resign to our faith of

being ruled by one we never elected or to take a drastic action that
as Mao Zedong succinctly said, “destroying the old system in order
to build a new one.” This is now the dilemma that confronts many
Filipinos today because what would happen in the next few days
would be crucial in determining whether the brand of democracy we
have been patronizing since our imperialist colonizer set us free is
still alive and kicking.

One can only guess about the lurking danger should the lackey
decide to push her luck too far for it might just be an altogether self-
defeating enterprise as the people would be having their serious
thoughts on being governed for another six years by one who is
perceived to have stolen the elections.

- page 222 –

Taking out a giant

Tuesday, 05 18, 2004

Elections where an incumbent is seeking a fresh mandate is never

one that makes for a level playing field. We have experienced this
first-hand, which is why the 1987 constitutional convention
painstakingly emphasized that elected Presidents are forbidden from
running again for the presidency.

There is always the danger and iniquitous advantage of

appropriating public funds and resources and the entire government
machinery for personal campaign purposes, especially where an
unpopular incumbent is among the main contenders in the electoral
contest.

Facing such an incumbent when you know you have no money or

machinery to match the government's resources that are available at
the fingertips of the sitting President is not only foolish but a
complete waste of time and energy.

Candidates who cannot even guard their votes against fraud or

manipulation are disappointments to their electorate and do not
deserve to win, and candidates who lose elections because of alleged
cheating and fraud deserve no sympathy and deserve to lose.
Candidates who chose to run in such an election are expected to be
aware of the fact the playing field is heavily tilted against their favor
and the incumbent would rather sell his or her children's souls to the
devil than lose. Therefore, a candidate's cry of foul over cheating is
a poor and an unacceptable excuse for defeat.

Candidates who are up against an abusive and remorseless

incumbent must compensate for their limited resources and
capability by being creative. If the playing field originally intended

- page 223 -
for the battle was never level and equal to begin with, they should
not expect a smooth victory, or better yet, should expect no victory
at all. If faced with such a situation, a smart candidate will try to
level the playing field by infusing his campaign and election
strategies with more money and resources to approximate the
government arsenal of the incumbent. But as experience has taught
many, the incumbent will always have an edge. The wise and
strategic candidate, on the other hand, will take the battle elsewhere,
to another playing field where the incumbent will be put on the
defensive instead.

When Jack faced the giant, he did not try to fight the giant head on.
He chopped off the giant beanstalk, causing the giant to fall and die.
When David faced Goliath, he did not try to fight him head on with
a sword. He slung a piece of rock at Goliath's head, hit him at his
most vulnerable spot, and killed him.

Incumbents may be giants and may appear invincible, but they too
have vulnerabilities. If fairy tales and the Old Testament have taught
us anything, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It is up to the
candidates who challenge the mandate or lack thereof of incumbents
to discover these weaknesses and exploit this discovery to their
advantage.

The only question is, are the challengers up to the challenge?

 page 224 –
 PHILIPPINE PHENOMENON
India with more than 350 Million voters is finished in 3 days, three
days after Election Day, and they have a President. They have
electronic vote-counting machines in all strategic places, same as
Germany. In Germany, by the way, people expect to know who won
on the evening of Election Day.

Here in the Philippines, we are going into the third week and we do
not have as much as a clue even, who won in the election. Things
are not going better with FPJ announcing, in Zamboanga, in Muslim
country, that he won the election and that GMA is trying to cheat
him. Actually, he said, she is cheating, she is trending, she is making
people believe she won.

That closes the door to conceding to GMA. He cannot, not now and
not next month, say, “Congratulations, Gloria, you won.” And,
believe it or not, she will not, not now and not next month, say,
“Congratulations, FPJ, you won.”

Well, you could ask how we know. Actually, we do not know, it is

just one of those things that have developed over time, that it appears
as a given that she wants to be the President at all cost and by all
means, by hook or by crook, with legal or illegal means. There
should be no more doubt for any one in this country that this has
been the most expensive election campaign ever, from kalsada natin
walking billboards (where are they now?) to millions per day in TV
commercials, from a weekly P1M in cash for her personal generals
to a generous P10B to the head of Iglesia Ni Kristo.

There should also be no doubt for any one in this country that she
did not spend her own money. She spent government money, your

- page 225 -
money, our money. And to do that she borrowed money. Big time!
With so much money involved, we still have the most backward, the
most ridiculous vote-counting system in the world. There is nobody
else to blame for that than the President. Call it political will. Call it
intentional. Everything else she wanted, it appears she got. Is it now
correct to say that, also with the vote-counting system, she got what
she wanted?

All that is debatable; mostly facts or hard questions, but the media,
so proud and loud, when it was “Erap-resign-time”, are quiet,
awkwardly quiet. The supposedly educated people in this country,
the A, B, and some from the C classes are awkwardly quiet. To be
honest, they support the one who cheats the system, who cheats the
democratic system. They want her to be their president.

That is something uniquely Filipino. Gloria has chosen the haves,

the “good” people. FPJ is whether he likes it or not, the idol of the
poor. In a country that prouds itself to be the only Christian country
in Asia, the divisiveness between the rich and the poor is so deep,
so entrenched, the rich detest the poor so much, that there is no way
that the rich will give in only a little to the poor.

All Christian values are mere lip service. Politicians who love to
show themselves as god-fearing, prayers of the Rosary maybe, are
outright liars. The rich, the “blessed”, who love picture taking with
politicians, are the incarnation of hypocrites, as anti-Christ as anti-
Christ can be. They, of course, confirm themselves every time they
give five Pesos to a beggar. But they fully endorse Gloria’s line to
“show the full force of the law” to the poor, while they take the law
in their own hands as soon as they are sitting behind the wheel or
when they can blow their horn in case a jeepney stops suddenly in
front of them and unloads the passengers.

- page 226 -
 A CALL TO ARMS by Herman Tiu Laurel
By this time, the number of Filipinos waking up to the fascist
intentions of the Arroyo cabal should be growing fast. Monday
afternoon a blatant act to suppress the people's right to free and
unhampered expression and public information was committed by
the Comelec. It issued a gag order on ABC Channel 5 on its
broadcast of its election quick count that challenged the “official”
slow “quick count” of the other TV stations.

The obvious difference between ABC 5's count and the others shows
the count as it comes in, which shows FPJ leading significantly over
Arroyo. ABC 5 has several hundred employees who now know the
truth that the Arroyo cabal will do everything to suppress the true
results of the elections. They have families, relatives and friends
who will hear the story of how their station is being suppressed.

There are about 15 million voters of FPJ out there who will now
receive further confirmation that their vote is being systematically
suppressed and replaced by spurious ones being manufactured now
and announced through the National Citizens Movement for Free
Elections (Namfrel) and the mainstream media. There will be an
explosion of indignation at the end of this electoral outrage!

Not only Filipino-FPJ voters are confounded. At the monthly

diplomatic “Kapihan at the Mandarin,” organized by diplomatic
circuit journalist Deewai Caparas, the Indian diplomat asked, “What
is this Namfrel? Why do you have such a body aside from the
official government electoral institution? It confuses. Doesn't it
create instability?” I whispered to her later, “Namfrel was organized
by CIA Edward Lansdale” while pointing to the American diplomat
at our table. I reminded the diplomatic community, after
congratulating the Indian representative for her

- page 227 -
country's most successful conduct of elections, that Namfrel leaders
Joecon and Bill Luz had already declared FPJ an enemy six months
earlier.

Thus far, Namfrel counted 10 percent of the 16-million NCR and

Luzon votes where FPJ commandingly leads while prioritizing
Visayas and some parts of Mindanao to show GMA leading. We
found this out even as Namfrel refused to bare to the public the
precincts where they got their votes to count nor the certificate of
canvass (CoCs) used even after ending its count at 77 percent of the
precinct votes. That is intended to leave out the balance that they are
hard put to change and where the FPJ lead would overtake
Namfrel's. Mainstream media's credibility will collapse, however,
as The People's Tally electoral watchdog took out full-page ads
Tuesday showing the CoC-based election results all over the
country.

All these election venalities are not lost on active police and military
officers, who have the integrity to appreciate that the most sacred
institution, enshrined in the Constitution that they vowed to uphold
— the elections — is being raped right before their eyes. Several
officers have already been unjustly persecuted for refusing to obey
orders to allow tampering with of the elections in their areas of
responsibility, such as Gen. Gudani, Capt. Felix Aungge and now a
Col. Gamus is being persecuted for allegedly campaigning for Poe
but most likely another recalcitrant in the election-fixing game of
Arroyo's generals.

As I write this column, opposition supporters are being called

through cell phone texts to send people to Channel 5 to express
moral support. I am going there myself after writing this column. As
I prepare, I remember to give credit to the indefatigable spirit of tens
of thousands of FPJ volunteers whose spirit has not flagged through
these days of intimidation, disinformation and

- page 228 -
suppression, digging into their own pockets, thriving on stale
cookies and water at the HQs and the Makati Coliseum, its media
bureau slaving away in the dugouts — these are true soldiers of
freedom in the spirit of the Katipunan.

Yes, it is a call to arms, bare arms raised against the oppression from
the Arroyo regime. We are probably being led into a dark night by
this power-obsessed cabal now holding the reins of government, but
it won't be long before the dawn rises from this. Summer nights are
short and the new dawn never fails to rise, that is the law of history
and human nature — truth will come out in the open and shall reign
supreme.

Our call to arms today is to continue with the struggle to bring this
truth out to the public by publishing them; airing them through texts,
manifestos and seminars and even other limited media
opportunities.

While some are willing to be fooled by Arroyo's suppression and

manipulation, they cannot erase from the face of this country the
millions who cannot be fooled and the tens of thousands who are
eager to go out onto the streets to start expressing disgust over the
travesty of our elections. There will be no peace in this society so
long as the truth is suppressed and the genuine will of the people is
suppressed. No gimmick, such as Roco's preemption of the total
count and conceding to GMA, can fool the people. All this is
enlightenment for the people that leads to more freedom and action.

Let us offer all our resources and labors now at the altar of genuine
democracy. The next days and weeks shall bring a close to the
cheating Arroyo regime and see the beginning of a just, open and
trustworthy government.

- page 229 –

COOL ANALYSIS: MILITARY?

Thursday, 05 20, 2004

The singular characteristic of the recent elections, one that sets it

apart from all proceeding elections, is the devastating impact it has
had on the credibility of every institution that has anything to do
with the elections, from the Commission on Elections (Comelec)
and National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) down
to the polling organizations, media and religious sects.

The entire electoral exercise has been totally partisan and agencies
which are supposed to have maintained a conspicuous degree of
aloofness and objectivity, such as the poll organizations and
Comelec, for example, today stand perceived as having abjured that
aloofness and objectivity in favor of political partisanship.

Comelec, Namfrel and the polling organizations are now “widely”,

and even “wildly”, seen to have “massaged” not only public opinion
but the actual outcome of the elections, while prominent elements
of the media community as well as religious sects and leaders are
just as widely perceived to have abandoned all objectivity expected
of them and to have plunged, flagrantly and recklessly, into the
political battle, including the cheating and bribing side of it.

Only months ago, for example, Namfrel, the Social Weather

Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia were deemed bastions of objectivity
and non-partisanship, which could be expected to function as a
counterweight to the partisanship that had enveloped the entire
electoral process. The Comelec long ago had been assumed to have
lost its objectivity but there were still Namfrel and the polling
organizations that could be counted on to serve as a counterweight

- page 230 -

to a Comelec that just about every one assumed would rig the
elections in favor of the administration.
But not so now. Namfrel, Pulse Asia and the SWS stand literally
accused of having conspired with Comelec to rig the elections.
Insisting, as administration supporters do, that such accusations will
have to be proven in court is about as meaningless as insisting that
allegations accusing the fallen Estrada of plunder first be proven and
established in court before the public render judgment against him.

The truth is we are here dealing with politics and in politics it isn't
the truth that matters so much as perception of the truth. Estrada was
felled by people power on the basis of the perception that he
plundered as charged rather than on actual proof that he did plunder,
a point which still has to be established in the courts.

That is precisely what has happened to the Comelec, Namfrel and

the polling organizations. Nothing they can do or say now can
disabuse their large and still growing number of accusers of the
impression that they colluded to help GMA steal the elections.

How this has come about is, of course, a long long and even
complicated story, which need not concern us at this time. We deal
only with what appears to be, at least to this piece, an
incontrovertible fact. The fact is Comelec, Namfrel and the polling
organizations are perceived, repeat, perceived, by a large portion of
the voting public to have functioned as an arm of the GMA
administration in its bid and effort to win these elections and win
them at all cost.

Whether that perception is correct, whether it is founded on reality,

is something else. As said earlier, this is politics and in politics it

- page 231 -

isn't the truth that matters so much as the perception of the truth, and
the two can be two separate and opposing worlds.
If the credibility of Namfrel and the polling organizations has
broken down, one can only take it as part and parcel of the
breakdown of the entire political system, which had long been in
process. After all, by the time the elections started the three branches
of government — the legislative, the executive and judiciary —
were already bereft of credibility and same may even be said of
media as such and, of course, the Comelec.

It would seem then just a question of time private agencies like

Namfrel and the political polling organizations should be dragged
down by the process and that's exactly what has happened.

But that isn't the darkest aspect of the process. The darkest aspect of
the system's breakdown is the fact it is breaking down, or that it has
already broken down, at a time when the overwhelming number of
Filipinos are experiencing acute economic and financial difficulties
and have obviously become deeply and irrevocably disillusioned
with the political and electoral system as a vehicle for improving
their lives and getting them out of their miserable state.

Which brings us to the subject of this piece.

With the breakdown, at a time of acute economic crisis, of the

credibility of just about every agency and institution that has to do
with political governance — directly, as in the case of government
agencies and indirectly as in the case of private agencies like
Namfrel, the poll organizations and media — the road has been
thrown wide open not only for military intervention but for military
intervention of the total and absolute kind.

- page 232 -

There isn't a single civilian institution left standing that could with
credibility function as a restraining force on a military government
should such a government materialize. And such a government is
bound to materialize simply because civilian institution, and that
include political parties and the politicians they produce, have lost
political as well as moral credibility significantly if not completely.

Even the media as an institution have lost credibility and a military

government would have no compelling reason to listen to them in
conducting the business of governance.

So, it is a complete political void we are looking at, and we can only
hope that the military force that would step into that void would have
the good sense and judgment to govern in the way the military
regime of Park Chung-hee of South Korea or that of Nasser of Egypt
or even of Suharto of Indonesia governed their respective nations.

These regimes at least brought their countries to the age of science

and industry, and dramatically rolled back the poverty that had
plagued those countries through the most part of their modern
history.

- page 233 –

THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM?

Eleven days after Election Day, we see the lull, but a storm?
Nowhere in sight! There is another taifun coming but that is not it.
The lull is on ABS-CBN, they make us believe everything is fine,
everybody loves soap, sex bombs, and Gloria. And romance!

She is making herself rare; she had a visitor from the U.S. of A. with
the name of Bosworth, same as the one who told Marcos that is was
time to leave. Instead of playing it out big in her news, there is
silence, like no visitor had been there from the U.S. of A. who
brought her the news that the Philippines, indeed, looks very bad in
the world with respect to its human rights record.

We have known that all the time but, funny, the kanos are coming
with that now. Is it then true also that the U.S. embassy told her that
they could no longer guarantee for her personal safety and the safety
or her family? That would be a real blow to her strategy. Maybe she
is thinking of what to do now.

Maybe she is thinking about Presidente Bush who needs to show to

the world that America is rightfully the police of the world. That
Iraqi prisoner thing with those nasty pictures forces him to show
force somewhere else. Strongly and now. What else is there, than to
show to the world that America cannot allow cheating to go on, big
time, in their only colony, eh, eh, former colony?

In the meantime, sa mantala, we, the Filipino people, unmindful of

what is really important in the world, go about our own business, in
the old habit of taking the path of least resistance and showing a
superficial, hyperactive facade to our neighbors who mean so much
to us. Around us, the very concept of government has
- page 234 -

become a mockery from the clerk who fixes a traffic ticket or sells
an undeserved permit or license, to the palace favorites who treat
laws and agreements as their own personal fiefdom. The traffic mess
cannot be fixed because the generals run the buses and the protection
rackets. The garbage problem cannot be solved because the mayors
own the garbage trucks and the law enforcers are themselves the
culprits. All faith in government is lost and we adjust and pay.

On TV, big businessmen whine about the climate of public gloom

and pessimism, but it is they who buy the elections. Corruption
makes reforms impossible because too many criminal fortunes are
at stake. That is not only true for shabu labs, that includes also illegal
logging, illegal smuggling of cell phones and cell cards, and
widespread land grabbing, even on highest level.

Education cannot be improved because bribery makes everything so

expensive that there is only one schoolbook for every 8
schoolchildren and the teachers are nannies in Hong Kong. The
power of illegal money is such that everything is overturned,
goodness is turned on its ear and nothing works anymore. Wrong
has become right and evil, good.

The members of this envied club of the “blessed” and the wannabe-
rich have been classified as “morally upright”, as morality now is
bestowed on those that have been “blessed”, and only the “blessed”
have the moral direction for our people. Thanks to our misguided
church leaders and, of course, our misguided selves, the
churchgoers, who look up to the “blessed”.

In the case of a populist Joseph Estrada who was voted into office
by a landslide victory, this class of the morally upright, calling
themselves the “civil society”, went into overkill to drive out the
- page 235 -

advocate of the “filthy democracy of the masa”. Now, the same civil
society is quiet, awfully quiet, silently praying that Gloria will win
and that nothing will come out of the claim by an actor that he won
the election but got cheated. They will silently accept everything and
anything, our worst sickness as a nation, if only the hero of the filthy
masa will be stopped.

How many are they, 20 percent? 30 percent of the total population?

They have a car; they may have a house that they pay mortgage for
for the rest of their lives. There are those who have more than one
car, even those who have more than 10 cars in their garage, but they
are less than 10 percent of all Filipinos.

So what? There are 70 percent of have-nots stacked against 30

percent of the have it all? That is it? But the 70 percent cannot win
because they have no leader, is that it? And as long as there is no
leader, there is, also, no storm, right? Correct!

So, what about FPJ? Truth or not, FPJ is perceived to be the drop-
out from school. True or not, that perception is now deep-seated and
will not change. FPJ will never convince anyone on the other side,
the 30 percent “upright”. He might as well drop the idea of ever
trying anything to please the “upright”, the “good people”. He would
better do what Joseph did so successfully 6 years ago. Go the masa
way, all the way. What stops him from doing that?

Let’s be honest. Nobody is perfect. We were talking about

unification of the opposition before and thought that that was the
only solution. The problem was that Lacson wanted FPJ to slide
down to VP. That seems outlandish now, like long time ago. The
people have chosen FPJ and dropped Lacson but it is very possible
that many enthusiastic votes got lost in the process over the
stalemate and bickering in the opposition. What counts is that the
- page 236 -

people have chosen the school drop-out with zero experience over
the more polished, more professional senator who, maybe, was
banking on his superior contacts in the military. Now, FPJ is in,
Lacson is out. Still, there is the question, why not a landslide victory
like Erap?

Give it to the Filipino people. Many of them may be uneducated but

they are not stupid. They loved Erap. That love is still there; maybe
withheld as long as “they” claim that there was a plunder. The courts
have not spoken yet. But they will never forget how Loren danced
in Congress, when they ousted Erap. No proclamation of Loren, no
beautiful smile, can erase that memory. No proclamation of FPJ can
erase the question in the minds of the poorest of the poor who will
always love Erap, are you serious?

Indeed, at 5 minutes before 12, the question arises: Are you serious,
FPJ? You are saying, there in Zamboanga, that you won the election
but you got cheated in the counting. You know what? That will end
in nowhere land. We will squabble over that question long after Joe
de Venecia has proclaimed Gloria as new President.

Did your statement do any good? Maybe it did. It makes it hard for
you, or impossible, to concede. You will be a loser, a querulant, a
complainant, a whiner. Maybe they will find a new word for you.

But did it raise a storm? No! Not even a whiff of a storm. It created
some headlines like FPJ claims, so what? The big media actually
bring the news to accentuate the futility of the effort. Bunye already
compares FPJ to Eddie Gil. They can claim anything.

Why is it like this, FPJ? Are you not claiming that you make your
own decisions? Are you? Can you please show us? We are waiting
for you but we know you are busy-busy checking election results
- page 237 -

in Mindanao to find proof of fraud. With all due respect, that is

useless. Fraud is all over the place, you don’t have to look for it.
What if you find “something real”? Will you give it to your lawyers
and then wait for the COMELEC to tell you that your complaint is
baseless? That is a waste of time and energy.

The problem is here. We know that you cannot proclaim yourself

President. Gloria and her cabal will never allow you to be crowned.
What then? Can you please look at the Constitution and the rights
of the people, the sovereign will of the Filipino people? It says there
that We the people elect our leaders and We crown our President.

But how can we do that, if we don’t have anyone to crown? The

“electoral process” of Mr. Bunye will ask us to sit back and relax
and wait for that ugly man Borra to tell us who won. Only by
looking at this ugly man, we know already.

We the sovereign People, we decide. By doing nothing or by doing

something. Something like this maybe: For example, FPJ makes a
press statement, this time on the occasion of the victory of Jinggoy
in the senatorial race, in San Juan, and FPJ will say:

“Your father is proud of you, but he cannot be here with us because

the powers that be have taken his freedom and his dignity. May I
represent your father in this occasion and from here on. This is a
very emotional moment and I am forced to admit that only now do
I see the full impact of your father’s situation, which reflects the
situation of the Filipino people at large. As long as your father is
incarcerated and bereft of his freedom and dignity, so is also the
majority of those who voted for him. I will take this opportunity and
this moment of truth to declare myself as one with your father in
spirit and heart and that I will take up the fight for
- page 238 -

the rights of the vast majority of under-privileged Filipinos. Nobody

has given more respect to the rights of the poor than your father. I
will do the same by declaring myself as the successor and President
of the poor. I cannot proclaim myself as President of the Republic;
only the sovereign will of the people can do that. If you so decide
and proclaim me President of the Republic of the Philippines, I
will abide by the Constitution and swear to God the Almighty
that we will make this nation great again!”

IGNITION! Yes! That is what the people want to hear. That is what
the people deserve. They don’t deserve that someone tells them that
they are too stupid to vote for their own President. They deserve to
be heard and to be counted. This will end all squabbling and create
a storm of enthusiasm for a peaceful, constitutional, and
justified change that this country so urgently needs.

To justify, for all the poor, listen, the electoral process may be
moving in a snail’s pace but the oil price is going up, minimum fare
is already raised, and approved, by almost 45%, and everybody is
going to “adjust”, meaning to raise prices. Only the poor cannot
adjust, they have to pay. Always. This time and every time
hereafter, if there is no change in government.

To justify for the haves, you please listen also, the NHMFC sells
P13.4B Housing NPL’s. Ah, you don’t know what that means? Let
me help you. The National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation
sold P13.4Billion worth of non-performing residential mortgage
loans to a foreign investment company. The foreign investment
company shells out P13.4Billion to Gloria and Mike D., so that they
can take over your mortgages and your property. You get it?

Instead of protecting you, Gloria and Mike Defensor, the housing

czar, will add a few billions to their private accounts and you get
- page 239 -

your homes foreclosed and foreigners will then own your home.
That is forbidden by the Constitution, but who cares about the
Constitution anyway? You get out of your house, Gloria’s police
will see to it, but you still have to pay on your mortgage. Wonderful,
noh? Well, if you have a rich auntie. If not, welcome to the squatters
club! The syndicates in Fairview are waiting.

Oh, wait, someone is really egging me about proof of election fraud.

Excuse me, you mean, how we are going to prove widespread
election fraud? We not going to prove it. It is proven. The verdict
is guilty. Listen, man, every stupid judge in our beautiful justice
system knows that when you have a crime, you look for a motive
first. Next question is who has the means? Only the administration
has and the administration is Gloria and she has a motive, she wants
a 6-year mandate from the people.

Well, yes, FPJ also wants a 6-year mandate from the people but he
does not have the means, he cannot cheat. Third then is evidence.
Here we go! Here is the ebidensiya for every stupid judge. In the
beginning, there was an exit poll. It was all over the media, spread
in headlines even all over the tabloids that Gloria had won the exit
polls by 7-8% over FPJ. Boom! It was a lie. First, how did they
know it was FPJ, when Lacson was still dreaming and Eddie
Villanueva. Second, in those 19 precincts in the Greater Metro
Manila area, it turns out that there was only one winner, FPJ.

Will the media now retract and tell the people it was a lie? Of course
not! It was not their report, not their findings. They were paid to
print that. Evidence enough to prove that the whole action was well
hecked-out, well orchestrated, and long planned. With the evil
intention to lie to the Filipino people.

- page 240 -

Neal Cruz, INQUIRER, makes mention of the evil plot but

somewhat in passing. He does not have the bright mind to connect
and look at the whole tedious and nebulous exercise called “electoral
process” as what it is. The institutions, mandated to do the job, have
totally lost credibility. The Senate looks ridiculous with “extra”
forms of Certificates of Canvas in the comfort rooms and new
entrances created to kitchens and bathrooms. For whom? We don’t
even have to guess.

Amazing to see that the civil society is still on Gloria’s side, frigging
and fearful of an eventual FPJ victory. They are so afraid of the poor,
the unwashed, the uneducated. What are they then? Look at our
youth, nobody and really nobody is known as activist any more, our
students are too busy doing fucking business on the internet. What
a degenerated new generation are we creating here!

There was, and this one for the most ardent supporters of the greatest
cheater in Philippine history, at the height of 4’8” at that, an
independent TV station ABC5. They made their own counting, on
the basis of counting what came in and in that order. They had FPJ
winning to the tune of 9 million to Gloria’s 8 million and they
announced it. Not any more! They are forbidden to do that.

What do we learn from that? Under this administration of Gloria

and, God forbid, the next administration of Gloria, there will be no
more freedom of expression, freedom of speech, there is no freedom
to assemble, no more freedom of the press. We now have a strong
Republic and many of us understand what that means.

But are we all clear about, do we all understand the impact of what
we are saying here? We are saying that FPJ is representing 70% of
the Filipino people. Gloria then is representing 30% of the “good
people”, the “morally upright”, which includes the “blessed” and
- page 241 -

the rich and the super-rich, the Corys and the Cardinals, the FVRs
and Almontes, the Ayalas and the Ortigases, the Tuazons and the
Pidals. Yet the 30% claim that they are the people like in Peoples
Power. They are not. The people are the 70%.
We have not seen People Power yet; we have only seen the bogus
“People Power” of the rich and “the morally upright”, courtesy of
Cardinal Sin and his stupid nuns. God forgive me for saying this,
but it is true, they don’t know anything in life, they just follow and
do what they are told to do. In the end, they were abused to take
pictures in front of the tanks to “prove” to the world, WHAT?

So, what we are saying is that FPJ will, that is the best case scenario,
as we don’t know yet, call in the 70% of Filipinos to make People
Power or stage a rally to show the sovereign will of the Filipino
people. Will it look like EDSA III?

We have to ask the question why “they” lied to the Filipino people,
when “they” called it “People Power” to oust the presidents of the
poor like Erap and Marcos. The answer is clear but many do not
want to see it. The poor don’t know but they go for the candidate
who smells Marcos. Roco may be intelligent but he does not smell
Marcos. Neither does Eddie Villanueva. Look at Lacson.

Erap made no qualms about his relationship to Marcos and he

landed a landslide victory. FPJ does not yet. Will he? Good
question and the future of this nation is hanging on it.

Remains one innocent question of a concerned lady: What will that

be good for? Will this country not go down the drain then, if the
poor people will reign this country? Truth to tell, the opposite will
happen, FPJ can, and probably will, make this nation great
again. Not for himself. For the people.
- page 242 –

LETTER TO THE EDITOR (quote)

This is to show that not everyone among Filipinos is sleeping. Please
let this be known to the public also. It is interesting to note that the
current leadership of the COMELEC was acting like mere amateurs.
They failed to get the exact number of polling precincts in our
country, thus having such two (2) figures 288,000 and 295,000
precincts and NAMFREL has 216,000.

It seems to me that they don’t know what business they are into in
the COMELEC office. Don’t tell me that the towns/ cities/provincial
COMELEC offices don’t give them the right figures of polling
precincts we have in the entire country. Thus, they have come up
with that figures. What! They just have to make an estimate? They
are fooling our people. Was that figures made for cheating and to
make sure GMA (would) win the elections?

If the actual number of polling precincts is 288,000 all over the

country, then why they have that 295,000 figure? One (1) vote
makes a difference. How much more, if they have that 7,000 excess
number of precincts? Look, there are 200 votes per precinct. If out
of that number, GMA would get only 100 votes per precinct, then
that would clearly give GMA 700,000 votes. What a great
contribution made by the COMELEC to GMA! A shame on her!

And what if the actual number is only 216,000 like what they have
given to NAMFREL. GMA would surely get the 5 Million plus
votes as predicted by GMA’s housing csar, Mike Defensor. Now the
people want to know why the COMELEC has the two figures and
NAMFREL another figure. Which is which and which is the right
number of polling precincts in the entire country?

- page 243 -

The COMELEC shall be liable for the mess and NAMFREL too as
an accessory. There is no washing of hands. They are all liable to
the Filipino people who paid them billions of Pesos to do their job.
On the part of NAMFREL, which was commissioned by the
COMELEC to do the slow count not quick count, how could they
come up with the right number of votes delivered in the recently
concluded National Elections to match the votes counted by the
COMELEC if they have only 216,000 polling precincts in their
hands? The people will only be puzzled of the would be differing
numbers of votes counted in the national elections.

They blamed the COMELEC for that. But are they not part of the
grand design of the current administration (of GMA) to cheat FPJ
and deprive the latter of his seat in Malacanang? If NAMFREL can’t
do their homework well, they should stop doing the slow count and
desist from participating in the future national and local elections.
They were paid millions of Pesos to do their job impartial of who
may be the winning candidate. But sad to say, the NAMFREL
people led by Jose Conception and Guillermo “Bill” Luz are now
favoring GMA in their own making.

The trending going on to condition the minds of the people that it is

GMA leading by a wide margin over FPJ, supported by the surveys
by Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station who were paid by the
GMA administration to do their job. They have eaten up the people’s
money without delivering the right election results.

Well, anyway, it is public knowledge that Conception and Luz, both

wealthy oligarchs, were pro GMA. Why should they favor FPJ who,
they think, will not do good to the elite nor be a good president to
them. GMA will surely give them great favor particularly in
government projects, while FPJ will only serve the masses (rich and
poor) transparent of what it is for the good of the
- page 244 -

country and people. No great favor to the wealthy but give real
service by putting an end to graft and corruption in government to
establish a genuine government of the people, for the people, and to
the people as what Jose Rizal had once said and dreamed of.

Talking of GMA’s recent Cabinet meeting where she laid down her
six (6) year program as a follow through of her campaign slogans in
the currently held elections, she asked her Cabinet secretaries to
submit their courtesy resignations. To her. She has over-reacted as
a truly elected President of the Republic. Her action would tell us
that she already has assumed to have won the national elections as
president. What a great pretension! Very assuming! She doesn’t
have yet the mandate of the people and she shouldn’t have acted like
that.

The people know that the normal practice for a Cabinet Secretary
his/her courtesy resignation is after the elected president of the
Republic is proclaimed by the COMELEC. Thus, giving the newly
elected president the right to chose/appoint his/her new set of
Cabinet Secretaries. A shame for her to do that! She showed us her
true lusts of power. Thereby, she has shown us, then and now, her
true color and to prove to us that she is ready to grab the power from
FPJ whom the people have chosen to lead the country for six (6)
years. She spent billions of the people’s money during the campaign
period, just for her to remain in power.

Gloria! Maawa ka naman sa ating naghihingalong bayan. Tama na!

Sobra na!

Eddie Jarina, ret. Col. AFP, Brgy Inarawan, Antipolo City

- page 245 –
 IMPORTANT MESSAGE

The National Press Club last May 20 issued a statement of concern

signed by its president, Tony Antonio, regarding the Channel 5
issue, but for some reason or another, it hasn't come out in any of
the newspapers around.

We are putting it out in its entirety lest the club be accused of being
silent regarding the matter:

"The National Press Club condemns in the strongest possible

terms the naked attempt of the Commission on Elections and the
Department of Justice to suppress the people's right to know — a
most sacred and cherished right in any democratic setting — in
their order stopping ABC Channel 5 from continuing with its
Bilang Bayan on the flimsiest of excuses.

The NPC views the joint actions of the Comelec and DoJ as both
selective and arbitrary and without any legal and moral basis. The
NPC maintains that Channel 5 has every right to conduct its own
quick count, no matter how meager the resources it has allotted
for the purpose.

The NPC therefore strongly urges the Comelec and the DoJ to
recall their respective orders stopping the Bilang Bayan of
Channel 5 because such orders not only constitute a clear and
present danger against press freedom but a dangerous precedent
and any democracy-loving individual and institution must
denounce."

- page 246 -

LULLABY OF PHILIPPINES
It is Sunday again, Sunday May 23, and every Filipino will go to
church. Maybe not everybody. They will pray to the Lord and ask
for guidance. Many will ask to be blessed, others will just ask for a
miracle. For themselves, of course. They have done it every Sunday
before and they will do it every Sunday ever after.

Such is life in one of the mostly catholic denominated countries that

form the tail end in developing among the world’s poorest countries
that are falsely called “developing countries”. They do not develop.
They remain stuck in their own “traditions”. Well, that is only true
for the vast majority of the poor.

It is not true for the blessed few who own everything here and have
their houses in California and New York. Maybe they need their
houses for their kids who go to school there and couldn’t care less
about the desolate school system in the Philippines. Some of them
are so rich, that they can house the NAMFREL in their living room.
The world has created a law to control them, the anti money
laundering law. Now the drug lords, the pirates, and the smugglers
of this world need more than just good tax lawyers, they need a
friendly banker here, there, and everywhere.

Thank God, FVR and Mahathir were able to create their own tax
haven, in Sabah, City of Labuan. So Gloria and the fat gentleman
have no problem to wash their money clean. Anyhow, Gloria has
experience as lavandera. She may have an unforeseen problem with
FVR, though. No respect for old age maybe. Or maybe she thinks
she is too clever, at least cleverer than FVR. FVR does not like that.
That’s why he tells the public about that stupid idea to have Gloria
ambushed and shot at and then blame FPJ and the
- page 247 -

KNP. That was good enough maybe 20 years ago, not now. Now
every teenager who has some experience with games on the internet
will yawn at that stupid idea of Gloria. If she wants to kill herself,
wonderful, go ahead and make my day.

We should not celebrate yet. She is too evil to die for us. She is not
dying as Ninoy was when he came here to be killed. Actually, with
all the results coming in now, she has only one way out. Get
proclaimed right away tomorrow, Monday, before the canvassing
can start. The Speaker of the House is only too willing to be her
stepping stone and the congressmen are too stupid and too greedy,
they will just nod, if ever they will make it to their seats.

How the counting will go then is still a mystery. On all counts and
evidence, FPJ got 70% of the votes, even in places that they call
Gordon country. How will they hide it? To shave that off, they will
need several weeks. Borra and Abalos may be corrupt but not
intelligent. How will they solve that, now that even the U.S.
Embassy has officially taken notice of the cheating?

By the way, text messages are going around telling that Bosworth
has brought the message from Bush to Gloria to step down. Is that
the reason why she is so quiet suddenly? Step down or face civil
war? If it is either or, then it is easy for Gloria, she wants civil war,
she has the generals waiting, exited and ready (for the right amount
of money, of course). But Bush cannot allow that to happen. He
cannot afford that the world is looking at him asking whether he is
blind or his thousands of CIA agents in this god-forsaken country
suddenly have gone on holiday. Boracay maybe? Or Basilan?

Wonder what they are saying in the military, those who do not
receive one million every week, I mean. There are now two
battalions around or in front of the Palace, in full battle gear, nicely
- page 248 -
pictured behind huge walls of barbwire. They are preparing for war,
it seems. Are the Chinese coming? Or the Malaysians? No? Then
who are they fighting? What? Filipinos? Come on!

One of the first things you learn, when you start your career in the
military is this: We are the protectors of the people. That is the
only reason why we are allowed to carry arms. “The freedom of
the people is our responsibility”. You can read it along the wall of
Camp Aguinaldo. You see it from the bus or from the MRT.

Marcos never had it. Erap never had it. But Gloria needs protection
from the Filipino people. Who else is she waiting for, if not for the
Filipino “masa”, for the Erap supporters, the Marcos loyalists, or the
friends of FPJ? Eh, supporters, loyalists, or friends do not carry guns
or bring their arms. They my have demands, may utter their
grievances, what’s wrong with that?

Not allowed? Are you sure? Stay away? Because Gloria is afraid?
Maybe she is paranoid already. She wants to stay there. She loves it
so much. You must understand, she lived there already, when she
was still a child and her dad was the president. That is why.

Yes, OK, we wanted to know what they are thinking in the military.
How do those soldiers feel there in the Palace? Nobody there,
nobody coming. They are there alone. Only on the C.R. it’s always
crowded. Big job! To protect the Palace. The protectors of the
Filipino people are now protectors of one short lady only. Against
her own people. Against their own people. Their own kababayan!
How does it feel, man?

By the way, what Constitution is that you are swearing to? Do we

have a new Constitution? OK, we don’t ask questions like that.
Soldiers don’t know, soldiers follow orders. They don’t think, they
- page 249 -
are not trained to think. Even the generals do not know how to think.
They only know how to receive money under the table. The more
they receive, the higher is their rank and the lower rank must follow
the higher rank. If Gloria gives you one million a week from
PAGCOR, then the lower ranks must follow the leader, in this case
the one million Peso man. That’s how it is in the military.

So, don’t ask how they think. They don’t. If one will start thinking,
the whole system will collapse. Ask Gloria. That is why she is the
Commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. She is the
actual commander of all those who carry arms in this country.

The people cannot. Carry arms. If anyone gets caught carrying gun,
you risk going to jail. Remember all the checkpoints? And you don’t
get out of jail, if you are not Robin Padilla or have a one million
Peso man as your uncle. So, if nobody is allowed to carry gun or
arms, what can we do against the military? Carry knives or sling
shots? That’s useless. Let’s forget it. They will kill us.

Don’t make a mistake here. Gloria is not stupid. She has learned
from Marcos and Erap. They were stupid. They had all the power
and did not use it. Look, what they did. Marcos said, no fire, not
even warning shots. Erap went out the back door; he did not want to
create trouble for the people. Look, what they got! Look, where they
are now! Gloria will not make the same mistake. No way!

She will order to shoot and shoot to kill. They are my enemies, so,
no mercy, take no prisoners! Yan si Gloria! O o, that is why the
“morally upright” love her, because she will shoot the Filipinos. She
will even call for more American soldiers to kill more “terroristas”,
more Abu Sayyafs, more NPA’s, or more “militanteng rebelde”, as
long as they are Filipinos. If they shoot only one Malaysian, they
will end up in court, in the World Court.
- page 250 -
But Filipinos? Who cares? “GMA cares”, remember that one?
Bullsh…t! The Constitution forbids that any foreigner carries a gun
in our country, but who cares about our constitution, diba? Yan si
Gloria! She is not bothered, not limited by our Constitution. She will
have her own constitution soon.

They will not call that Cha Cha anymore, because the Filipinos do
not like to dance the Cha Cha. They will call it otso otso, because
Filipinos love otso otso and when they do the otso otso, they forget
everything, they are so happy that they do not mind how they get
cheated in life or cheated with the constitution.

And we will have a new habeas corpus law. If there is one living
witness that any Filipino said anything derogatory to criticize or
destabilize the government as it is called then, anyone like Chavit
Singson or the Tulfo Brothers, then the police, either in uniform or
under cover, has the right to shoot and kill the destabilizer.
Foreigners will be blacklisted and deported immediately.

That will guarantee stability, as Joe de V. said, and a friendly climate

in our Glory country. And from now on, Filipino people, be nice to
the rich and shameless. They are not only your padrinos, they own
everything we do and eat. They might even cut off the light and we
cannot watch TV anymore. No, that will never happen. They will
never stop showing us their commercials, so we buy more of their
stuff.

Come on, do we really want that to happen? Who needs that? So,
why are we so afraid of FPJ? It can only be better with FPJ.
Mabuhay Filipinas! Not you, Ramos, you take care of her! Then you
can sing, “I did it my way…. “

- page 251 –
 Z·O·O·M·I·N·G··I·N
RUDY ROMERO

FPJ, President-elect
Monday, 05 24, 2004

With the passing of the days, it has become virtually certain that
Fernando Poe Jr., won the May 10 presidential elections and it is
only a matter of time before this fact is validated by the Commission
on Elections (Comelec) and the National Citizens Movement for
Free Elections (Namfrel).

Malacañang is doing everything to prevent the Filipino people from

beginning to believe that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lost the
elections to FPJ. Two things provide support for the increasingly
firm belief that FPJ was the victor on May 10. Ironically, the first of
these partook of the nature of a self-inflicted wound.

In previous presidential elections, the newspapers and television

networks maintained running tallies of votes cast for national-
position candidates for up to two weeks after election day. But in
2004, they curiously stopped maintaining such tallies barely thee
days after May 10. This was a sharp departure from the practice of
these media institutions in times past.

Many Filipinos — more Filipinos than Malacañang cares to admit

— interpreted that departure from practice to mean that Malacañang
could no longer cope with a torrent of vote totals indicating a tide of
national support for the man whom GMA and her followers derided
as "that high school dropout." Since the newspapers and TV
networks in question would not be able to keep up with the pro-FPJ
victories up and down the country, they decided to stop featuring
vote tabulations altogether.

- page 252 -
From the Malacañang war room, the order went out: Limit the
Comelec and — sad to say — Namfrel tabulations to the votes from
areas where GMA is known to have beaten FPJ. These were Western
Visayas, Central Visayas and parts of Central and Western
Mindanao. And keep the count slow, the order added. In that way
did the absurd situation arise where the votes from FPJ-partial areas
such as Metro Manila remain only partially tabulated two weeks
after election day?

The other basis for the belief that FPJ won, and GMA lost, in the
May 10 elections is the increasing outflow of data evidencing FPJ
victories in most of the regions and provinces of this country.
According to the data, KNP's standard-bearer took practically all of
Luzon, which in the Comelec's estimate accounts for close to 55
percent of the national vote. In addition, FPJ beat GMA in Eastern
Visayas and most of Mindanao, which was known all along to be an
FPJ bailiwick. It is now known that "Da King" won in all the
component cities and municipalities of Metro Manila except Las
Piñas City and he lost only by some 5,000 votes.

Considering that the KNP and Namfrel each have a copy of every
precinct's certificate of votes cast, the Comelec and Namfrel can no
longer ignore the flood of FPJ pluralities from around the country
and with the results from Da King's bailiwicks now coming in,
GMA's edge over FPJ has progressively been reduced. As the votes
from Luzon's various subdivisions have to begin to be tabulated,
FPJ's running vote total should steadily pull away from that of
GMA.

Even at this point, with the percentage-of-votes-tabulated at around

the 50 percent mark, it is, I believe, already possible to speak of an
impending FPJ victory. That being the case, FPJ may now be safely
referred to as the President-elect of the Philippines.

- page 253 –
 THIS IS TO RECORD AN ANOMALY:

ADMISSION OF GUILT?

While counting of votes is stil ongoing, NAMFREL moved from

Las Salle, Ortigas, San Juan, to the RFM Building, Pioneer Street,
Mandaluyong. Mandaluyong is “ABALOS country”.

The mayor of San Juan is J.V. Ejercito, son of former President

Joseph Estrada, and half-brother of Senator-elect Jingoy Estrada.
Loi Estrada, wife of Joseph Estrada is going into her second 3-year
term as Senator. Therefore, San Juan is “ESTRADA country”.

The RFM Building in Mandaluyong is the private property of Jose

Conception, Chairman of NAMFREL since 1985/86, when he
rigged the Snap Election results together with Cardinal Jaime Sin.
Joe “Joe Con” Conception has since been the undisputed No.1 crony
of Cory Aquino, controlling the Board of Investments. Ironically,
for the Filipino people, Joe Con’s brother Raul heads Consumer
Watch, the only case in the world where a
capitalist/oligarch/producer/entrepreneur and co-leader of the
Makati Business Club dictates what is good for the poor people.

- page 254 –
COALITION FOR
PEOPLE
EMPOWERMENT

PEACEFUL

PEOPLE POWER

OR

PEOPLE WITHOUT

PEACE & POWER

- page 255 –
 PEOPLE’S PROTECTORS
OF THE SOVEREIGN WILL (PPSW)
An aggregation of 30 freedom-based organizations met recently at
the Bay View Hotel where, after the meeting, all attendants passed
a resolution condemning GMA for “gross and blatant robbery”
of the Filipino people’s sovereign will.

The PPSW also issued a warning to the nation to put a stop to the
dictatorial tendencies of GMA, which has sown fear in the minds of
many. In particular, the PPSW accused GMA of the following:

- Failure to administer justice with regards to the IMPSA, the

PIATCO/NAIA III, and the PEA AMARI scandals
- Her impervious behavior regarding the Jose Pidal scandal
- The massive cheating and electoral fraud she has orchestrated
and ther state-inflicted aggression against other candidates, her
opponents, in the recently concluded elections
- Her wanton plunder of people’s money which, in the end, will
cause the dismantlement of the democratic process
- Her utter disregard for press freedom, freedom of assembly,
and freedom of speech (Bill of Rights Article IV Sec.IX and
Article XIII Sec XV and XVI
- Abuse of power and authority in the case of “cease and desisit
order” to known responsible media organizations
- Her stubbornness to not refrain from threatening FPJ, who
earlier announced he had won in the South

Thus, the People’s Protectors of the Soverein Will issues a clarion

call to all freedom loving citizens to oppose authoritarianism to
secure freedom, peace, and justice in our country.
- page 256 –
 B·A·C·K·B·E·N·C·H·E·R
ROD P. KAPUNAN
Military could break impasse

Tuesday, 05 25, 2004

Part of our political upbringing is the belief that in a democracy the

people are always supreme, and supremacy is determined by a
political mechanism called rule of the majority. Thus, believing
ourselves to be sovereign, we adhere that all political decisions
approved by the majority are always democratic. Because this belief
stems from our passionate, but blind acceptance of that mythical
ideology, demagogues and political opportunists often invoke the
slogan that the voice of the people is the voice of God. This has now
become the hallmark of our limping democracy such that when the
rules are violated all the institutions it represents appear to crumble
as this is thought to encompass the meaning of justice.

Nonetheless, seldom is it realized that our democracy is more of a

passive than an active factor in the dynamic relations between the
ruler and the governed. In reality, there is only one instance where
democracy plays an active role, and this takes place only during
elections. Once that crucial process of allowing the majority to
speak, democracy then reverts to its passive state, while the people
return to their role of rendering obedience to the leader, on the
assumption of his having obtained the mandate by virtue of having
been elected by the people.

The problem, however, with this Platonic idealism is that democracy

despite its being active only during election day is often violated
such that the whole electoral exercise has become a

- page 257 -
lopsided social contract because the questionable mandate is now
brazenly being utilized to exact obedience. More than that, the
commission of electoral fraud that has become systemic is gradually
developing into a class war owing to the fact that the masa feel that
the elite, which have the political machinery and capability to
manipulate the election results, are into cheating.

The consequence is serious as there is no way for the people to defy

a leader who can be proclaimed under that situation over who would
be exercising their right to question the proceedings of the election.

Notably, when the mechanism in democratically selecting a leader

is violated, such would automatically trigger a polarizing reaction
from the people. As the issue about the questionable leadership
hangs high on the mind of the public, the contradiction on its own
would intensify, which now becomes the responsibility of the AFP
and the PNP because the exaction of obedience from the people is a
tedious process. It could in that instance transform the image of the
AFP and the PNP from being the protector of the people to one of
acting as their oppressors all because of that single factor of allowing
the will of the people to be derailed. The reasons Mrs. Arroyo was
not voted in can ramify them beginning with her vandalization of
the Constitution and the wholesale graft and corruption that
characterizes her stay in power.

More than that, it is now an admitted fact that the members of the
AFP and the PNP are far more politically conscious than the people
taken collectively. They have a much keener understanding of
politics because they are made to understand that their role is
confined to enforcing law, but on condition that the leader must
possess the basic credential of having been elected by the people.
The trouble, however, with that limited role is when the mechanism
of democracy is tampered with, such would

- page 258 -
automatically result in the alteration of their role because allegiance
to their Commander-in-Chief is assumed to work only when there
are no visible cracks in the relations between the people and the
ruler. Obeying an order from one bereft of a mandate is nothing
more than a naked act of oppression.

Such is right now building up into a tinderbox situation. The Army

and the police are becoming preoccupied over how to live up to their
role as the protector of the people than in sustaining an isolated
leader that would in the end alienate them from the people they want
to protect. It has become extremely difficult for the AFP and the
PNP to maintain their allegiance to one whose leadership began by
grabbing political power, and now wants to extend that for another
six years through an election marred by massive electoral fraud.
There is now the likely possibility that the military would play the
Machiavellian game of getting rid of an unpopular leader just to get
the rousing support of the people that to some political scientists is
equivalent to an implied mandate. Should they succeed in restoring
political sanity and honesty in government, their success would be
an effective substitute to democracy for ultimately the reckoning is
not on how a leader was catapulted to power, but on how the leader
was able to improve the economy, and bring forth prosperity and
employment to the people. All military dictatorships realize it is not
the form of government that the people are concerned with, but the
substance in which that government would allow the prospering to
reinforce their stakes for public support of their government. The
industrialization and prosperity that the military governments have
brought to the people of South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand give us a
living memory just how people are willing to exchange their
political freedom in favor of economic prosperity.

- page 259 -
Such is now crucial because the residual consequence of wanting to
maintain her leadership means that Mrs. Arroyo would have to rely
more on the AFP and PNP. As the people go on with their civil
disobedience, it will be the AFP and the PNP that would be taking
the brunt of confronting an agitated population. In that instance, the
Army and the police would be tempted to break that impasse by
eliminating the leader that has become totally isolated. The removal
of the leader under that extra-constitutional process in modern
politics is often interpreted as a preparatory step to restoring
democracy itself.

For that matter, political theoreticians would even argue that if street
protests turn violent, there could be no demarcation to what is legal
and illegal because the act is not on what the people are doing, but
on what the leader has done to defraud them of their right to elect a
leader. It is on this consideration why at times people tend to take
the role of the military as a better option because they understand
well the meaning of discipline, than in being duped by one
pretending to have the will of the majority.

- page 260 -
 C·O·U·C·H··P·O·T·A·T·O·E·S
JENNY MANUEL AND GAI OLIVARES
The good, the bad and the ugly

Tuesday, 05 25, 2004

Amid all the talk and accusations about GMA supposedly cheating
her way to possible victory my mother and sister were having an
interesting conversation built around a single question. What would
be worse — having GMA cheat her way back into office or
having FPJ as President?

Tough call. Very tough.

Talk about the choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea.
What fantastic options! It's like being offered to choose to date either
a mass murderer or a mass rapist (not that I'm suggesting that either
presidential candidate has ever murdered or raped anyone). I just
offer up the example to illustrate what a lousy set of options we seem
to have before us.

The thought of yet another inexperienced actor running the country

turns my blood cold. But the thought of someone cheating her way
into office makes my blood boil. And one has to question just how
many promises GMA has made to take her this far. Some people
estimate that she has mortgaged the country to such an extent that
our children's grandchildren will still be paying the price.

I honestly can't say which scenario is the lesser of the two evils.
From where I'm standing both options are pretty damn nasty.

- page 261 –
Why can't the leaders of our country follow the example of Sonia
Gandhi in India? After her party unexpectedly won the latest
elections she stood on the threshold of becoming India's first
foreign-born Prime Minister. Think about it, from pretty Italian girl
to the leader of the world's biggest democracy in ten easy steps. Yet
she decided she was not the best person to lead the country, stating
that her inner voice told her to decline. Did she realize that it was
too big a task to take on? Does she accept that she isn't the best
person for the job? Perhaps she just wants a quiet life. Or maybe she
realized that Indian leaders named Gandhi have a habit of meeting
rather untimely ends. Whatever the reason one has to wonder how
many Filipino politicians in the same position would have done the
same thing.

I know how many. NONE.

Our country is run by the most shameless, self-serving, greedy and

corrupt group of bozos I have ever seen. And for as long as we keep
voting them into office we are going to continue to be faced with
such unappealing options.

- page 262 –
 F·R·O·N·T·L·I·N·E
NINEZ CACHO-OLIVARES
A matter of time

Tuesday, 05 25, 2004

Despite her threats against the opposition and her claims of military
loyalty to the incumbent government, Gloria Arroyo can't be too
sure of the loyalty of the Armed Forces to the chain of command.

The reason is simple. It has been proved, in 2001, that the AFP does
not uphold the chain of command, thanks to Gloria and her elite mob
who encouraged the military leadership to break the command
chain. After all, there was that constitutional President and
Commander-in-chief, Joseph Estrada, from whom the then AFP
chief of staff, Angelo Reyes and his service commanders, withdraw
support, with the claim yet of this withdrawal being a constitutional
duty of the Armed Forces.

Withdrawing support from Gloria would be even easier, as she is

not seen as being the legitimate President and Commander-in-Chief.
Besides, if the act of withdrawing support from the Commander-in-
Chief, legitimate or not, is deemed constitutional by the AFP top
brass, owing to the bogus claim of being defenders and protectors of
the state and of the people, it stands to reason that withdrawing
support from her would be regarded as a constitutional obligation of
the Armed Forces.

How then can the military now guarantee the chain of command will
remain firm and strong in supporting Gloria, a certified usurper?

- page 263 -
Even more worrisome for Gloria is that she has been directing her
loyal generals to get their uniformed men to cheat for her through
altered vote counts and certificates of canvass (CoC) as well as
electoral results while at the same time, getting those who refuse to
cheat for her pulled out of their command, and sometimes getting
them charged on bogus charges of the violation of the articles of war
and electioneering.

The military rank and file are not unaware of the widespread
electoral fraud that their superiors have a hand in. They know there
have been directives from their superiors to cheat for Gloria and also
know, from the pictures and copies of CoC that cheating has been
performed by the soldiery for Gloria's victory. Even more telling is
that they know it is wrong to do this as this is the direct thwarting of
the will of the Filipino people.

It is no surprise then that military officers have been giving out the
word that they are fast losing faith in the chain of command, having
seen for themselves the way some of their superiors have
campaigned for Gloria, knowing they will be rewarded by her once
she is proclaimed.

The truth is, given the divided and disgruntled state of the military,
even the scenarios being bandied about by the Palace, of
destabilization attempts by the opposition, the so-called no
proclamation scenario, and the warnings aired by Gloria of getting
the police and military to bear down on the protesters, aren't likely
to work in Gloria's favor, as she and her aides have already lost
credibility.

Like it or not, the Filipino people see all these threats and scenarios
as a ploy of Malacañang to instill fear in the public and force the
populace to accept the victory of Gloria.

- page 264 -
The fact alone that the elite allies of Gloria, among whom are the
Namfrel officials, the survey outfits, the businessmen, the matronas
of Makati and Alabang suburbs and the Palace officials can't get
their messages of the conduct of elections being clean, orderly and
credible, across, is already a telling point of their lack of credibility.
No one, save for the pro-Gloria media, which have also been
discredited, are carrying their message, but without any success, as
the public knows their credibility, as well as their principals'
credibility is shot. The military is aware of this loss of credibility of
Gloria and her government, as well as being aware of the loss of
credibility of the elite forces allied with Gloria.

They are just as aware that, given the situation today, Gloria, even
if proclaimed by her rubber stamp Congress as the President-elect,
will not be able to keep the country and the nation together; knowing
she has no control of the masses who see her as a grand cheat who
will commit every illegal and unconstitutional act to keep herself in
Malacañang.

The military also knows there is nowhere for the Filipino people to
seek redress of their grievances, as all the institutions have broken
down, having allowed themselves to be prostituted by a scheming
power-grabber. Where can the people turn to, to air their
grievance of having been cheated out of their sovereign will? To the
Comelec that is clearly pro-Gloria and has aided in getting her
elected fraudulently, as it does not even sanction its officers in the
regions who do not submit the CoC two weeks after the polls? To
the Congress whom they already suspect of railroading the canvass
by gagging the opposition and its complaints? To the Supreme Court
that is known to rule favorably for Gloria, even when clearly
unconstitutional? To the military and police that keep on barring
them from staging their protest at their will being thwarted? It's just
a matter of time when all hell will break loose.

- page 265 –
Dear Ninez Cacho Olivares,

Now, at last, Rusty Salazar introduced me to you and to your Editor-

in-Chief, kahit briefly. I guess you will have no more doubts now
where I belong. I gave copy of my last day’s work to your Editor-
in-Chef. I hope I am right to predict that he liked very much what he
read, both in matter and in style. Therefore, I attach my book up-
dated to today. You will see that you are very much part of it,
especially towards the end, the days after Election Day.

I am writing a book, yes, but I am not writing it to show what a great

person I am. I do this to help the Filipino people who need help
against formidable forces from the right. My book is, don’t be
surprised, meant to be a vindication of Marcos and I draw a very
sharp line between the Marcos forces and the anti-Marcos forces. As
we see in the distortion of facts and history in the case of Erap and
FPJ now, it was the same with Marcos, but at that time, nobody had
the experience and the knowledge to see what was going on, so
everybody believed and, sadly, believes until today.

The Marcos issue is very important, because the anti-Marcos forces

are desperately trying to put the label of “ill-gotten” on anything that
smells Marcos, whereas the Constitution demands return of all
sequestered assets. The public is not aware and not knowledgeable
to see through the evil scheme. The public is also unaware that the
cases known to the PCGG are in the trillions of dollars. Those assets
are “for the people”, not for the powers that are in power today and
desperately clinging to power.

It is not clear whether FPJ is aware and fighting over the same issue.
Would he fight to become President of a bankrupt country? Same
question as - everything is relative - would a Lucio Tan fight for a
bankrupt bank? Answer: He is not so stupid. He knows but he
- page 266 -
will not tell us. Come to think of it, Angara was Chairman of PNB
once, he must know, but he, also, will not tell us.

Let’s make it very simple. In case GMA will be the President with
a fresh, dubious “mandate from the people”, she will probably put
down the foot on Imelda, nastily, badly, and mercilessly destroying
everything ever after, like torched lands. She thinks that will do her
good. Maybe she needs some stature. Well, that’s for sure.

On the other hand, there are certain moves that the public cannot see
and will never see even, to make available some of the Marcos assets
that are definitely legitimate, known to bankers, and known to be
“for the benefit of the Filipino people”. These assets are not related
to or known to the Marcos Family. The danger, though, is that this
kind of evil government will not make the fine distinction. They will
blame Imelda for 3,000 shoes, for stolen jewelries, and what have
you, and they will always try to file cases against her in the belief
that GMA (and even Cory) will look good with that.

Therefore, it is adamant that a pro-Marcos government open the

door to a new millennium of opportunities. This is not Eddie Gil.
This is reality! A reality that is as glaring as a comparison between
Madame Auring and Madame Imelda Marcos. A reality that would
allow FPJ to apply new funds, such as this country has never seen,
to reconstruct and rebuild this nation.

Without that, sorry to say, it does not matter who is the president of
the country from here on, intelligent or “classmate of Clinton”, this
country will go to the dogs. The “closest friends” of GMA will be
the first ones to pull out their money and invest it in greener pastures
and leave this country dry to hunger and starvation.

Let’s keep this line open. You can count on me. O.J.
- page 267 –
 SPECIAL ATTENTION (Felipe Miranda)
Language among Filipinos often reduces to meaninglessness — the
chatter of empty talk that, at best, the technically inclined might
describe as "white noise". It obliterates anything meaningful and,
despite occasional stridency, leaves mostly everyone with a feeling
that, in the end, nothing really matters. A Dali painting the scene
would have a multitude of open mouths framed by a company of
glazed eyes, folded ears and recumbent, somnolent bodies.

Elections deserve special attention. Among nations with the

slightest pretension to harboring democratizing regimes, no political
process is more sacred than that which enables the people to elect
their authorities. Those who undermine this process of popular
elections are guilty of a most heinous crime. Where they happen
to be the very authorities tasked with securing the integrity of
elections, impeachment must be considered a grossly inadequate
penalty. Something more appropriate to the crime has to be
considered.

Whether they are predatory politicians, corrupt judicial officials,

dynastic oligarchs, power-hungry military men, or opportunistic
representatives of crony enterprises, hypocritical civil society
groups or pseudo-academic polling organizations make little
difference. All of these felons deserve no less than capital
punishment for conspiring to corrupt democratic elections.
After all, if raping an individual is a capital offense, how can the
rape of a fledgling democracy, the deliberate violation of an entire
nation’s expressed choice be less than a heinous crime? (Actually,
in societies that suffer little civilization even as they exact much
justice, these criminals will not merit a lethal injection; public
quartering would be the runaway penalty of choice.)

- page 268 –
As one returns from a brief sojourn abroad, having lectured at the
US State Department and Johns Hopkins University’s School for
Advanced Studies on contemporary Philippine elections and their
implications for this country’s long-delayed democratization, these
re-entry concerns glow white-hot. And one perhaps should be
forgiven a rather undemocratic thought – that Philippine democracy
could be birthed only when Filipinos elect to summarily do away
with incompetent COMELEC, partisan electoral tribunals and
feckless election laws.

When that time comes, Filipinos will not suffer the embarrassment
of political clowns and record slow counts in their elections. Even
as India may be able to count close to four hundred million votes in
a week, the Philippines may then serve notice that it too can quietly,
reliably and effectively tally up to forty million votes within the
same week. A tenth as fast for something just as good is good
enough for a start.

Up to forty million votes counted within a week of elections! With

only the certifiably demented screaming their heads off about
having been cheated. With those winning the tally able to believe
that they honestly won the nation’s trust if only provisionally. What
a heartwarming performance!

Truly a great day, if it ever comes to pass. There are some who say
every birth is attended with some violence, with blood and a vibrant
scream. An increasing number of Filipinos – some of them senior
columnists – believe that Philippine elections cannot birth a
democracy any more. This particular columnist used to think that
these people were dangerously impatient and absolutely wrong.
The recent elections incline him to review this earlier verdict
and give these analysts at least the benefit of the doubt. They
could be right, really, and this columnist could be absolutely
wrong.

- page 269 –
 MAX SOLIVEN’S RETURN
Even in a country known for Grand Guignol, would you ever have
believed that the "canvass" of votes for President and Vice President
would begin just now – more than 17 days after the elections? We
have been an independent Republic since 1946 (remember?) – and
they are haggling in Congress over the "rules".

I am sorry, but we are giving the term "democracy" a rather bad

name. Some people, I am sure, may even long for the bad old days
of the Marcos dictatorship when everybody already knew who had
won before the first votes were cast.

As for me, my bet paid off: When friends were aghast when they
learned I was leaving for Shanghai last week "in the middle of all
the excitement", I told them that nothing would happen while I was
away for six days.

And so it was. I flew back Wednesday night – a smooth three-hour

flight on PAL’s PR 337 (an economy-sized Airbus, by the way) – to
discover the House of Representatives still in a furor, with the
canvass suspended, while Maguindanao "Opposition" Rep. Didagen
Dilangalen fumed and filibustered over a nasty note that was passed
on to him by a former Coryite in the gallery, who wrote that he
should "shut up".

The note-writer turned out to be a Ms. Suzette Pido, who I recall was
working in Malacañang when former President Corazon C. Aquino
was in office, and, when interviewed by GMA-7 yesterday, declared
herself unrepentant, asserting she voted for GMA but was not
employed by GMA, etc.

- page 270 –
She refused to apologize to Didagen-Baby, and dramatically vowed
that even if she went to "prison" for what she had done, she would
continue to stand by her word, etc. Gee whiz.

What a country we are for over-dramatics and huffing and puffing,

and this, of course, includes, in spades, Dilangalen who had roared
that the note had been an "insult" to Congress and had demanded
that Pido be declared "in contempt", etc. None of these outbursts,
alas, are going to bring us closer to officially discovering who was
elected President of our land, or Veep.

Didagen didn’t shut up, and Pido isn’t in any danger of going to
prison, or whatever. So why all the useless fuss, fury, and
fulminating? Let’s get on with the show.

Author’s note: For all righteous, morally up-right, “good” people

of the Philippines, including Max Soliven and his staff, beware of
the now following article which will show an alternative view of
things as they have appeared rather awkward and happazard, to say
it diplomatically, in the media. We accept your apology that you did
not see the development personally, as your schedule did not allow
you to just sit and watch TV. We accept that.