Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Whose Finger Is On the "Play" Button?


I must weigh in on the Arroyo flight plan, as everyone else has. It's top drama.

Did the Aquino Administration rush the arrest?

My readout is no, but I would also say that being rushed is preferable to being played for fools.

It was Ms. Arroyo who forced the Administration to act. She did not need to do that. She could have been respectful of the Travel Restraint Order. Respectful of the Administration's offer to fly doctors of her choice to the Philippines. She fails as victim, in my book, because she was the one who initiated the "play". She was responsible for the confrontation.

The Aquino Administration has been slowly and methodically building its understanding of the election rigging. Like any law case, there are risks and judgments made. Do you accept the Ampatuan testimony or seek other witnesses who can confirm the election tampering? When are you absolutely assured you will win if you make the charge?

The Administration was clearly not rushing until forced to make a decision. Do we have enough to charge her? So I don't see the operative word being "rush", but "risk". If we charge her, will we win?

Ms. Arroyo may have forced them to accept a higher risk. But "rush" is not applicable. They have a lot of testimony and evidence. Gathering it wasn't rushed.

Beyond the case evidence, we observe our chief suspect sneaking around and behaving oddly.

The fish in Denmark was stinking to high heaven on this medical flight, and the airport showdown was downright weird, surreal, rather like her chasing President Obama around like a diplomatic stalker.

As I understand it, the Lady and her Gentleman had purchased tickets to six separate destinations before the Supreme Court ruled on setting aside the Travel Restraint Order, permitting her to fly. When the ruling came down, they were immediately off to the airport. By what stroke of efficient scheduling did this occur, and who were the medical appointments with, in the six different locations?

Names and places and procedures, please.

If I read "The People" correctly, most think Ms. Arroyo is playing everyone for fools, and has been since her long-ago midnight raid on the Constitution, followed by a midnight appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court just prior to President Aquino's assumption of office .

Now it is hard in my book for someone sponsoring such irregular activities (and I won't even bring up the bags of cash she once joyfully handed out to legislators) to claim irregularity of process by Mr. Aquino. What kind of bankrupt, two-faced morality is this?

Oh, yes. I should read my own writing about the notorious Filipino Ego and self-dealing, and the trade of favors, and the kinds of deceits undertaken to save face or promote one's own interest.

In this inside-out culture, many hold that President Aquino is wrong for taking steps to do what is right.

Well, it will all play out as it will play out, and I think Ms. Arroyo will sweat a lot and curse a lot, and not too many people will care.

As for Justice Secretary Leila De Lima possibly being charged with contempt of court, I rather think she would become a martyr if that were done, a symbol of the political games undertaken by a court that has made a mockery of its job to be dispassionate interpreters of the law. Besides, I understand Secretary De Lima has technical grounds to argue that the Court's annulment of the TRO did not ever become effective because all conditions were not met. The Arroyos were in too much of a hurry to attend to the requirements.

My main points are:

  1.  I would not give Ms. Arroyo a free pass to claim no responsibility for what has transpired. She is the one pushing the buttons. As she always has.

  1. It isn't a matter of Justice Secretary De Lima rushing the charge. It is a matter of assessing risk; are we ready now?

Yes.

15 comments:

  1. At the end of this drama, two things can happen. GMA can be:

    1. The big fish that didn't get away

    or

    2. The big fish that wasn't really the big fish.

    Somehow, I lost being insightful at the course of this day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. She could have avoided all this if only she headed straight to the airport after dropping of Aquino for his oath-taking. But she wanted to play...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree, Rep Arroyo had unnecessarily raised alarms by trying to rush her (confusing) trip abroad.

    I see a PR failure here since:

    a) They were caught lying through their teeth by saying Rep Arroyo's life was in danger but having part of the trip, some political event.

    b) They were trying to make Rep Arroyo look like a victim when his husband was throwing his weight around.

    c) Giving out a ton of reasons why they should be cleared to leave the country and using each reason whenever convenient (Medical>Constitutional>Medical again...)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very perceptive Joe...

    Please watch this.. :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OrF3p7_Kw

    ReplyDelete
  5. de Lima will surely fail the recently found out 2007 Election Sabotage. I wonder why they choose this charge among thousands of others that have been percolating since her presidency. Hmmmm ... Are they trying to let the cat out of the cage?

    Something is cooking.

    Most of the charges against Gloria has no hard evidence except Affidavits, tsismis and hearsay from criminal witnesses which came out to play when benign0-the-Turd offered a bribe to atone for their past sins so they can lie on a hammock by the mango tree sipping pina colada. Too bad for Garci, he missed the deadline, he'll be nailed to the cross next to Gloria.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ZTE was a show of festive Filipino ignorance. Joey na Venta went to the irresponsible Philippine Media without evidence. He made dal-dal and the Philippine Media obligingly published. The characters in Joey na Venta story try to clear themselves thru the media. And their stories has plenty of inconsistencies. I just wonder why they clear themselves instead of doing the Miranda dance. Now they are in a bind. Their clearing themselves gave credence to Joey na Venta's uncorroborated story without evidence.

    And these are the bureaucrats of the Philippines. And they made dal-dal to the media to clear themselves and in the end they stumble on each other. DUH ! DUH! DUH! DUH!

    And fortunately, Philippines is populated by low-intelligence Filipinos that believe anything that is published in the papers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now, here comes Gloria with Election Sabotage. Witnesses are criminals and ballot switchers. Gloria does the Miranda, as usual, because she knows the process. She was educated there in Columbia. She knows better than anyone else. Like Marcos, Gloria is a difficult fish to catch. Whereas, Erap-para-lahat-pantay-hERAP got caught easy because he's a college drop-out like Manny Pacquiao.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As to why she wants to fly out of the country of cuckoos is beyond me. Because I am one of those cuckoos.

    Could it be part of her "look-at-me, pity-me" strategy which Filipinos fall for most of the time with their propensity of tear-jerking telenovelas?

    We will never know. I wonder what her strategy was, is and will be. Something is brewing. Something is cooking. Maybe that stinky fish from Denmark.

    Has Gloria lost it? Has she became a Filipino at that instance for not using her head? I can only guess.

    ReplyDelete
  9. jcc, powerfu, man. "Call CJ Corona!" Hits like a sledge hammer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mariano, "Filipinos . . . believe anything that is published in the papers." Yes, that adds to the surrealism, a blanket of "facts" that may just be snippets of delusion.

    And it is peculiar that this woman of power and intelligence comes across so weakly. I almost conclude, let her go. She is not worth the trouble, and her own demons will be punishment aplenty.

    But then the win-lose mentality around here would cast President Aquino as a loser.

    He is in a box, built of his own anger and acommitment to those who elected him.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "My readout is no, but I would also say that being rushed is preferable to being played for fools."

    ---> Very true. GMA has caused more than enough trouble for the Philippines. She should be killed Quadaffi-style.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Joe, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but what is it SPECIFICALLY about Ilda that you hate?

    If you'll ask me, what I hate about her is her "trying-hard" attitude. I compare her articles to Cheeze Curls or cotton candy - looks appetizing on the outside, but once you bite, you'll realize that there's nothing but air inside.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anon, it is a fair question. I dislike her sly deceits, the way she accuses others of exactly the same things she does, of her inability to give respect to opposing views, for her agenda based arguments, of her coddling of people who defend her, when they are outrageously personal in their attacks. She doesn't have what I would call the honor of dealing straight with others. It is a personal/political game, win/lose in the best Filipino tradition. And she is shallow in her arguments, the point you recognize.

    ReplyDelete
  14. If I may add, I hate Ilda because she pretends to be an intellectual who aims to lift the discussion to a higher level yet she does the opposite by bringing people down in the dirt with her twisted arguments. She is arrogant, condescending, and morally bankrupt.

    ReplyDelete

Please take up comments at the new blog site at joeam.com.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.