Psychotherapeutic Counseling for the Democratically Inclined

"Democracy is for the intelligent, because the leadership of State is placed in the hands of the People. It also works best if the People are not nuts." JoeAm
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Going by the Rappler mood meter, a good many Filipinos seem to be in a rather Maude-like snit about the harsh treatment being given by Malaysia to the uninvited visitors. It's like Malaysia deems the intruders to be a potential risk to security or even sovereignty in Sabah. Go figure.

This occasions several thoughts.

• First of all, it demonstrates that Sultan Kiram gave no consideration to others before striking out on his self-enhancing misadventure.  I suspect he and Pete Seeger would not get along very well.  Read on.

• Second, it confirms that Malaysia is not as advanced as the Philippines at introducing the modern democratic values of a pluralistic society; authoritarianism in Malaysia is heavier on the scale of government motivations than respect for human rights.

• I'm reminded of America jailing her own Japanese citizens during World War II because their race was given more weight in judging their motivations than their citizenship was. That has proved to be among the most embarrassing of American acts because it so conflicts with the idea of equality for all. Malaysia is insecure about her democratic institutions. And perhaps for good reason if the Sultan's attitude is common among residents of Sabah.

• Finally, when Filipinos get frustrated, many blame their President, as if he had the dictatorial or wizardly capability to stop bad things from happening. Next they will want manna from heaven.

Here's Lesson 5, today's session of Psychotherapeutic Counseling for the Democratically Inclined ("PCDI").

Ownership

5.1 Remember that other people and you are not attached by any strings whatsoever. You do not control them and they do not control you. What they do is not a reflection on you and what you do is not a reflection on them. Each operates in a separate sphere of motives and reasons.

5.2 To internationalize this and make it relevant to recent events on Sabah, please recognize that both Malaysia and the Philippines are sovereign states. The operative word is "sovereign". It  puts legal and ethical exclamation points on the separateness.

• The Philippines does not control Malaysia. Malaysia does not control the Philippines.

5.3 Hopes, wishes, dreams, hallucinations and prayers are fictions. We fall to the Humpty Dumpty New World Dictionary suitable for the custom definitions that are appropriate under PCDI instruction.

• Hope (noun): The heart's desire for good things.

• Wish (noun): The brain's desire for good things.

• Dream (noun): A subconscious hallucination.

• Hallucination (noun): A conscious dream.

• Prayer (noun): Hope that God will attend to our insignificant little lives.

5.4 "Ownership" in the PCDI context is the process where one accepts that a decision has results, and any outcomes arising from a decision go back to that decision. They do not go elsewhere.

• Example. When a Sultan chooses to intrude with guns into a society that bans such guns, President Aquino did not make that decision. Nor did any other Filipino, unless he or she was a controller and the Sultan agreed to do what that controller decided. Then accountability flows upstream to the controller. President Aquino was not the controller, either.

5.5 Pipedreams are when hopes, wishes, dreams, hallucinations and prayers come together in the form of a solution that sounds good, but is wholly irrational. Like the statement:

• Sabah belongs to the Philippines because of (cite agreement or historical reference that represents a "decision" on the matter).

• President Aquino humiliated us by not (cite the decisions he did not make, that you, in his predicament, would have made).

• President Aquino needs to fix this by (cite the steps you would take to right the Sabah ship, which is listing strongly to port and starboard at the same time . That's really bad.)

Then go back and determine what percentage of the people in Sabah agree with you.

5.6 There is a difference between land, which can be titled, and personal allegiance, which is a conscious decision by people to be governed as they see fit. Allegiance cannot be titled and transferred as if it were a box of socks inherited from grandpa.

5.7 The healthy, democratic Filipino conveys to his/her duly elected President full right and authority to act on his/her behalf. He does not deny responsibility for his vote. When the "other guy" wins, he is big enough to recognize that others are entitled to a voice, and he backs the process result. For his nation.

5.8 The takeaways from today's session that you should meditate on at least once a day for a year are:

• Accept responsibility for what you can control, and accept what you cannot. Learn to distinguish between the two.

• Don't give others the power to define your well-being. Take charge yourself. Don't whine, beg, apologize or make excuses, as that transfers power to others.

• Don't assign responsibility to others for your hopes, wishes, dreams, hallucinations and prayers. They are operating in the real world. Don't expect them to take up your fictions.

• It is lunatic to expect others, like Presidents for example, to exercise bad decisions to take care of your hallucinations. Like the Philippines taking Sabah "because it is ours". It is simply not going to happen.

• Chill. Let go of it. Get yourself free of irrational wishes, of unfulfillable hopes. It is simply not worth the energy.

• You can control who you vote for and what music to play.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
words and music by Pete Seeger
performed by Pete Seeger and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

©1961 (Renewed) Fall River Music Inc
All Rights Reserved.

The Office of the Eye of the Bull

Originally published March 5, 2013; republished March 17, 2013. This has been one of JoeAm's most popular blogs. It was withdrawn due to potential violations of COMELEC rules for engagement in elections by a foreigner. Comments pertaining to political parties and their principals or candidates have been removed. Support of the President is non-political. It advocates for a strong, unified nation.

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I'm not sure why the classic circular target for archery or darts has a small red or black dot in the middle called a "bull's eye". Maybe in the American wild west that was the best way to shoot a crazed bull, I dunno. Or Robin Hood's comrades had a good imagination or sense of humor.

But the bull's eye is the place where everyone aims this weapon or that.

And I suggest that President Aquino give a name to his office at the Palace, rather like Obama works in the "Oval Office". President Aquino can call his office "The Eye of the Bull". 

This idea struck me as I watched people criticize President Aquino for the deaths of Sutan Kiram's people in Mindanao rather than criticize the Sultan.

How in God's great and glorious green earth people could lay this outcome on the President is beyond me. I suppose there exists a need to find culprits for anything gone wrong. And he is the catch-all culprit. If he had done something different the deaths would not have occurred.

Am I the only guy in the Philippines that believes that if the Sultan had done something different, the deaths would not have occurred?

By my reckoning, the deaths occurred BECAUSE PRESIDENT ACQUINO WORKED HARD to get an agreement structured to stop the murder and mayhem in Mindanao. In so doing, he generated jealousy among those not invited to the peace table.

The Sultan could not wait for the peace progress. He had to push it, because he was not at the table. He waited all his life, some 74 years, most of them in strife, and then, as peace was on the horizon, he took it upon himself to insert himself and assert his claim with an unwanted physical presence in the contested land of Sabah.

Let me tell you, that peace table would have to be as big as my island of Biliran to host all the various Sultans, Emirs, Governors, Mayors, Rabbis (a little humor there) and Clan Leaders who were jealous because they did not get to sit down to carve out their piece of the peace.

I've popped off a few comments on Rappler news reports regarding this incident and I am considered a foreign and unsympathetic - and unwanted - critic of the Sultan's acts by Muslims and their sympathizers, as well as a lot of "normal" Filipinos (a little more humor there) who seem to have an uberpatriotic bent.

I admit to having some measure of cynicism about the incident.

• The Sultan claims it is his homeland, which is why he is there. He is passionate about it. Yet he would be willing to entertain offers to leave if the rent he receives from Malaysia were increased. I guess his passion is really with his wallet. And for that, people have died.

• The Mindanao Peace Agreement would provide the unified Filipino negotiating framework for deciding what to do about Sabah. It is a complex situation, and Malaysia has a lot to say about it. Short of outright war, the Philippines is in no position to dictate to Malaysia EVEN IF the Sultan' claim is completely legitimate. The agreement is on track to be finalized next month. Why, then, did the Sultan pick now to provoke an incident?

So the President's great success in Mindanao offends people. Just as his crackdown on the corrupt offends the corrupt.

Because he orchestrated a huge diplomatic breakthrough in Mindanao, President Aquino has evidently aroused jealousy, not only from the Sultan and other wanna be Muslim leaders, but from former President Arroyo's backers, who could not claim this achievement. President Aquino showed them up. Read this interesting article at ellen tordesillas' blog: "Aquino fell into saboteurs' trap".

In the Philippines, that is grievance number one. Doing something better than someone else. It is the cause for vengeance. Never mind what is good for the Philippines.

What counts is what is good for ME!!

Do you want to know why President Aquino works in the Office of the Eye of the Bull? Because, by working to develop a clean, honest, productive Philippines, he is offending people who are corrupt and jealous and angry that their sacred cows are being targeted for reform:

• The Catholic Church
• President Arroyo's Cronies
• Smugglers , Tax Cheats, Kick-Back Scammers and Bribe Experts like LTO, PNP, Customs, and DENR Officials
• Generals, Governors and Mayors Indicted for Corruption
• The Monopolists and Oligarchs Preserving their Easy Road to Riches
• Muslims Not at the Table

You know, about the only friend the President seems to have most days is the People.

And when the noise gets so loud, the critical arrows whizzing toward the bull's eye, even the people lose confidence. They join the ranks of the critics, unable to say "I support President Aquino as the leader of my nation" because peer pressure is like envy pressure, a huge power to conform. They can't stand firm in the face of fire and say, "I am for my country, and the leader of my country".

They bend, they break, they start criticizing their President.

Do you want to know why the Philippines self-destructs every few years?

Envy. Greed.  And people who are unable to give of themselves to make a community.

I'm an outsider, from a land where patriotism means sacrifice. On some days there seem to be precious few patriots in the Philippines. From the Humpty Dumpty New World Dictionary:

• Patriot: A citizen who is so committed to the well being of his fellow citizens that he will give of his heart, his mind, and his body to preserve national unity.

Well, if the nation cannot rally around its President, who does it rally around?

Sultan Karim? Senator Enrile? Manny Pacquiao?

Then there are those who argue it is patriotic to criticize.

I answer, "yes, if that criticism is constructive, not personal." If it is solution-oriented, not destruction oriented. It is not patriotic to undermine and divide. That is the opposite of preserving national unity.

And, of course, the guy with the bull's eye on his desk is President Aquino, who catches it all.

Well, it's a free world, a free nation, so all you archers and dart throwers fire away.

But I support President Aquino. I personally don't expect some unrealistic Jesus ideal. The gap between the unpredictable, error prone, imperfectly informed realities of day to day living and that idealistic, unreachable perfection is the easy space into which critics write or speak sometimes divisive, destructive words.

It is a choice to go into that gap, or not go there.

On days when I have this urge to take the man to task about what he says about China or a certain skulking sultan in Malaysia, I think about what a different impression the Philippines makes to outsiders when people see her as unified, versus bickering and divided and one general away from a coup. And I chew up and swallow the critical words I might otherwise write. And I pen support.

Because I am for the Philippines, and I am for her earnest, decent President.

The Strength Within

Stick with me if you can. This one's a ride. Ideas grow where you plant them and propagate in an organized random way.

Doing this blogging bit is a little like stuffing a plant into the fine red Philippine soil. You plant one idea and before you know it, you've got another plant poking up over there. And one over here, too.

Things propagate easily here, whether they be babies or banana trees. I once asked my agriculturally endowed sister what the definition of a "weed" is.

She said "a rose in the cornfield is a weed".

Well, we have weeds and we have roses here, and they all grow like gangbusters. I had to take out all the ferns because the spores were flying through the air like so many invisible locusts attacking the Kansas cornfields, producing hives on my wife and incessant coughing from me and junior.

I've come to the conclusion recently that Filipinos are not very introspective in a proactive way. They are introspective in a negative way.

It's that matter of face again, or thin skin. And cultural values shaped by those political Catholics in their doctrinal house of cards who would suggest psychiatry is a sin. Just turn to Jesus. Or Mary. Or God.

Anywhere but knowledge.

I like President Aquino because he is an inward guy. Reflective. Thoughtful. He allows humility to rise up in a genuine way, rather than arrogance. His arrogance is actually determination, an insistence on staying the course, no matter the criticisms that surround him.

And boy do Filipinos do criticisms well. It is all a part of the interpersonal win/lose battles taking place in any interpersonal interaction.  People here do naturally what shrinks try desperately to get people to stop doing.

Judging themselves based on how others respond.

"No no no Jose", says the shrink.  "Others respond differently because they walk in their own environmental and emotional bubbles. They are not in your bubble. They have reasons for reacting as they do. Legitimate reasons. Respect them and their bubbles. Popping them just gets messy."

But here, there seems to be a need to pop bubbles, to dominate. To win the argument. To cut down the opponent. To triumph. To demand that he walk in the same bubble.

Which of course is fruitless and fills the nation with acrimony and envy and bullets.

That's why President Aquino is an exception. He can walk away from a needless argument. He walks more like Jesus than the political priests of the CBCP for sure.

I'm guessing the Philippines is the orphan kid who was whacked upside the head too many times from his overbearing colonial parent. Filipinos took to heart the shouting and insults and demands and started figuring they don't measure up.

So, like the 8th kid among 12, one tends to over-reach to try prove one is worth something.

I'm thinking that President Aquino is injecting a healthy dose of self-esteem among Filipinos and THAT more than jailing President Arroyo will be his lasting legacy.

I praised President Aquino in a Rappler discussion thread and another commenter called me a "yellow general".

So there you go. Give the Filipino a choice of building his nation or tearing it down, way too many will choose tearing it down. Because then THEY can feel good that they won the argument by demolishing someone. 

Just like that colonial papa did to them and their self-esteem.

Living the cycle. Just like in a family.

Brutality begets brutality. Kindness begets kindness. Ignorance begets ignorance.

Except for those few who find a way out.

I rather think those who find a way out do naturally, without psychiatric intervention, that which is healthy.

They grant others the right to be themselves. They accept responsibility for their own choices. They recognize the value of knowledge and the fruitlessness of superstition. They see the importance of trust and the damage of betrayal. They know the community is important: the family, the neighborhood, the city, the province, the nation, the earth. The community is the platform for safety and health and convenience, if it is done right. From looking at the importance of community, they learn to give of themselves to others.

No where in that paragraph is there a need to prove oneself a winner, or to tear someone else down to avoid being a loser.

The look within can occur without thought, I  think.

Rather like prayer. I believe you can get right with God in a wordless burst of emotive energy.

Those who do think about it can certainly help this healthy progression.

That's the press and the bloggers and the politicians and the leaders. You notice I distinguish between a politician and a leader. Their drivers differ.

All that these opinion makers need to do is come to the honest, unspoken, soul-felt realization that the Philippines is rich with resources and potential and is a place to cherish, not condemn. It will recast their whole approach to information and leadership.

Enough digging and throwing of dirt. Up with planting and building and respecting others. Enough of the winning and losing, as if life were games rather than serious business. Up with laughter and humility and honor and the values that lift, rather than crush.

Philippine resources are the people of good will and honorable intent, intelligent people with love and generosity in their hearts, land that grows green and abundant,  seas that reflect eternity and everlasting hope in the endless patterns and poundings.

I tell, you folks, if you would just look within, yourself, privately, and forget what everyone else is shouting, you'll find a very simple truth.

It's good to be Filipino.

Angry Maude Reports: Invasion of the Philippines

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Philippines Invaded!

Special Report Filed by Angry Maude

The Philippines suffered a stealth invasion overnight. Well, the invasion did not exactly take place overnight, but the Nation awoke and discovered itself invaded.

Rather like a woman awaking, rolling over, and finding herself face to face with some naked unwanted stranger, scruffy of beard, smelly of breath, and loud of snore right there on the pillow next to hers. Kinda makes you want to check out the body parts and wonder about the dream , you know?

But no matter how it happened, it was clear over the morning coffee, reading the morning blog, that the Philippines has been invaded. It is now occupied. Officially. Without question. Fo sho . . .

Strangers are in charge.

Normally we think of invaders as being from a different planet, or different country. A different place of geography.

But that is just a limitation in our thinking, rather like our thinking that history is a stepwise progression in time rather than a warp of space.  History is taking place instantaneously but on a magnificent spacial quantum twist of cohesion that we can only grasp iteratively. And if you can figure that sentence out, please send me a note, because I have no idea what I just said. Michael Crichton gets it, though, I'm confident.

Occupiers are distinguished, not by the land from which they emerged, but the by the control they exercise over the native man. Or woman. We are not gender biased here, no matter what my sisters think. We are occasionally inclined to use gender shortcuts, for the quickest point between two ideas is often a short word.

But I digress . . .

Christ this blog will never get written if my typewriter keeps running off at the lip . . .

We are occupied.

The invader

The invaders are the pampered patrons of dynastic privilege backed by the moneyed industrialists. This is a well-defined set of people, a unity, a community, a nation unto itself.

These creatures are chameleons of the body and public presentation  and are able to mold themselves into our likeness like a Roddenberry shape-shifter from Planet Xon. They look like us. Dress the same. Have the same language. And they talk the good word in that language, appealing to our historical pride in their father's deeds. Or mother's. Or great grand-aunt's, as long as the name is distinguished enough.

They are handsome or pretty, charming and intelligent. They smile and tell us of their good deeds. They get their 15 minutes of fame, generally once or twice a week.

But then they step away from the public podium of gracious bearing and they get down and dirty, down and privileged, down and powerful. They wave the law in front of our faces and say "obey" whilst running off to do as they please, where as they please means engorging their stomachs and wallets off the fat of a very thin nation. Nay, a starving nation.

Make no mistake. They are different. They are unified. And they are raping and pillaging.

You can tell they have something to hide because that's what they spend most of their time doing. They hide their money in secret bank accounts. They hide their deeds in public records kept from the public.  Getting SALN's out of them is like pulling teeth from a gorilla. They get their educations in foreign lands at strange places named Harvard and London School of Economics. They live behind gated walls with maids and servants and polished fast cars that haul them about while the rest of the nation is stuffed like crushed sardines in the back of a noisy, dirty, diesel-puffing jeepney.

They step ambitiously and assuredly upward along the path to fame, riches and power whilst the rest of the nation sticks in one place for a lifetime, monotonously jamming rice into the mud.

No, no. We are occupied.

Those people are "those people". They are different. They are not us.

They make the rules, and the rules favor them. The rules do not favor us.

If we open our yaps, the dungeon awaits. Senator Sotto represents the dark knight, a vivid  caricature, a hyper-sensitive ego engaged in sly, silky religious posturing that morphs into master and lord. He only lacks a horse and cape and "cue sound" for his thunderous, ominous approach, waving shouts of "libel!" as his mace. Like the armies of huns and mongols and invading turks, "suppression!" is his battle cry.

He seriously believes he has the correct definition of freedom of speech, and it is a lot more confined and confining than ours. Like, we get confined for 12 years if we open our yaps about the stench that emanates from the brains of the privileged.

The only thing that keeps the occupiers from hauling our bloomer bedecked derrieres off and flaying them is the internet and the knowledge that the entire world is watching. And they are trying to worm their way around that.

Two citizens visiting the Senate chambers . . .

Cybercrime Act my overlarge backside.

Citizen Oppression Act, libel enforcement of the internet built on the masterful illusion of caring for kids who are peddled for sex.

Clearly, legislators have learned from the Catholic Church. They've learned how to wield guilt and righteousness whilst avoiding the stigma attached to responsibility. Like responsibility for all the death and sickness and starvation in a nation the Church caretakes as moral custodians and the Legislature caretakes as legal custodians.

Who did it, I want to know. If not them, who?

The government recently hauled a 62 year old woman off to jail because she complained that miners were destroying the land and she ripped into the Mayor of her berg. The Sotto mentality got her. "Criticize the Mayor and learn your place, Woman!"

From the inside of a stinking cell.

They allow extra-judicial murderers to lie in wait like the biggest ugliest crocodile you can imagine. They don't cage the beast. They WANT it out there as a stark dark reminder to the common people that "you best not get out of line".

Fear is palpable in the Philippines. It is there every day. Lying, lurking. The knowledge that there are mean bastards with power here, and they know no limits. The alien monsters are drooling and snarling and they are in charge of this nation.

U-tube is the only thing keeping the Philippines from regressing directly back to the dark ages.

The soul of the occupiers is akin to that of Darth Vader. On some days you can hear the heavy breathing and swear it is enhanced by a borg machine behind the curtains pumping life and wisdom into a lifeless apparatus called Senate . . ..

Have you ever seen such a body of highly schooled people getting nothing done so magnificently? No RH Bill, no FOI Bill, no Divorce Bill, sitting on their SALN's. In the real world, among the commoners, they would call such achievement incompetence.

Here, it is just another day.

Because the Philippines is occupied.

And the occupiers play by their own rules. And they really don't give a box of bon bons about the natives. Except as to how they can be used to best advantage.

The proof is in their putrid, non-performing pudding, and their choice of acts that suppress over acts that open the government up to forthright inspection by the natives.

The Inquirer won't print the headline.

But you know, and I know, the nation is occupied.

Private Venturing Politics in the Philippines

I'm going to make a connection here and invite you to extend your thinking a bit to grasp it. And maybe extend your acts, too, if you have that kind of influence.

The issue facing us is the fundamental ineffectiveness of Philippine democratic institutions and processes. There are three branches of government, supposedly co-equal. Here is a rough idea of the status of each:

• Executive. Led by a capable, honest family "name", Noynoy Aquino. Mr. Aquino tends to favor friends for high positions, whether because of confidence or comfort, it is hard to tell.  He rewards those who have worked to fulfill his ideals. He requires honesty and straight dealing and expects a lot from subordinates, so his picks are generally good ones. In that way, he is a good leader. He also has a lot of activity in the pipeline as all of his cabinet secretaries have their priorities and marching orders. Still, he does not press forward independently on important social programs like RH or FOI, and never something shocking like divorce. So progressive initiatives get bogged down.

Source: Mars One Project

• Legislature. Stuck up like an engine filled with Mighty Bond. The Legislature could correct the weaknesses of Executive by pressing forward with bills to modernize the Philippines, but it does not. Indeed, the Legislature is largely frozen in time, stuck between Catholic/Trapos values and sporadic efforts by younger thinkers to modernize. But the progressives have no power. When the majority leader of the senate, Senator Sotto, can bog RH deliberations down by making four lengthy speeches on a subject that could easily be dealt with in 10 minutes, we know we are dealing with an organization mired in political game-playing. That his arguments are stolen from others means he has little personal pride invested in thinking things through honestly and honorably. He's a master game-player. The Senate is not energized by public interest. The House of Representatives is younger, more flexible, and will march to the tune of the President because it is in their pork-laden interest to do so. But the Senate gums up good works. The Legislature is not effective. Period.

• Courts. This is the biggest nightmare imaginable. The courts are jammed with no sense of priority, corrupt methods, and damn little justice. People who are legitimately damaged cannot get damages corrected because it takes money and so much time that they give up. 25 years to deal with the Hacienda case and it is still open for judgments. New Chief Justice Sereno is facing jealousy and bitterness among the justices she is supposed to lead and, indeed, seems the lightweight they claim she is by calling to God for strength rather than intellect. Two glimpses of hope for a new environment: SALN's of Supreme Court Justices have been released, and a new bill has been passed to get some load off the courts, namely the requirement that courts certify citizen requests for name and date corrections to birth certificates. However the mass of the judicial mess is huge, and it will take years to correct.

So we have an Executive that is sound and honest, and could lead the nation strongly forward, but chooses not to in areas that provoke hostility from the Church (RH) or power-people (FOI). The Legislative and Judicial branches of government are lost to the public as their representatives, respectively, of social modernization and justices.

Switch gears entirely.

A few days ago, a Dutch consortium announced its plans to put people on Mars in 2028 as a private venture. Here is the link to the article. If you take the time to review the brief video imbedded in the article, you will hear one of the principals explain that by going private, the initiative can proceed forthrightly, faster and cheaper because it does not get bogged down in the political bickering, or the shove and push of vested interests who are behind the politicians.

The program will be funded by selling rights to video the mission as a reality television show.

Is there a lesson here?

Yes.

If you want poor women of the Philippines to be educated, and to have condoms, you would be better off to organize and fund the effort privately than beat your head against the congressional brick heads and walls. You can seek donations from wealthy Filipinos. If they don't have a passion for Philippine well-being, go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or the Clinton Foundation or other global organizations set up to advance the well-being of women on planet man.

Go around the Executive and Legislative blockades. Reduce them to the irrelevancy they are striving so hard to achieve.

If you want the FOI Bill passed, organize to publicize the critical information that is being held back and make sure people know: (1) why it is critical, and (2) who is hiding it. You turn over one rock at a time. And make sure that people know which legislators, and who within Executive, are supporting the hiding of information from the public. President Aquino made the point in his 2012 SONA that the public is boss.

• "I stand before you today as the face of a government that knows you as its Boss and draws its strength from you. I am only here to narrate the changes that you yourselves have made possible." (President Aquino, 2012 SONA)

Prove it. Prove that you are the boss.

The only organization I see that is proactive in representing public interest is the PCIJ, the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism. A number of blog sites agitate for progressive acts but they are fractionalized and, not unified, represent irritating flies on an elephant's butt. They are not a tiger, strong and threatening.

That's the take-away I get in looking at the entire Senate ignoring the blogging firestorm over Senator Sotto's outrageously bad ethics.

There are no organized women's groups having heavy impact. We can hear a lot of sporadic shouting from here or from there. The noise is mostly ignored by leaders who are listening to the louder, organized cry of the CBCP.

There is no VOICE for women.

More flies.

Perhaps the Filipino penchant for doing things "my way" gets in the way of organizing to speak as a unified voice (refer to the recent blog "How Filipino Personal Independence Undermines Community").

Well, ladies, I'd say you ought to get your act together, privately.

And FOI mavens, build your own ship to Mars.

And RH backers? Forget about that irrelevancy called the Senate, organize, and go straight to poor women with your messages and assistance.

The Senate does not want to do its duty to drive the Philippines progressively forward?

Let them stew there in their own muck. Irrelevant.

Mars or bust!

Privatize, oganize and modernize.

The Legislature is Busted

I think Angry Maude's rant the other day got my blood boiling, too.

The Philippine Legislature is busted. The floor of the House and Senate are rat-pits of acrimony and showmanship. And really horrible ethics and productivity.  I'd recommend young people of the Philippines "duck and cover" rather than study the ways and means of the mud-stuck Senate or pork-motivated House.

Like the courts, which take 25 years to act on some cases, the Legislature cannot seem to get unstuck on any bill where there is objection. The Senate spends its time on the floor, not debating the final points of legislation, but mucking about in detail, fishing for solutions, like so many prosecutors dredging up information on CJ Corona in court rather than out of court.

Evidently there is no staff process, the backroom delegating and dealing that assigns competent staff the role of negotiating agreements on language. The staff appear to be engaged in the plagiarizing and writing of showmanship speeches.

The House is no more encouraging.

You can watch the allegiances of the House membership dance and move as Representatives track like a school of sharks sniffing blood in the water, following the Pork. Patriotism, thy name is peso.

We've beaten and battered Senator Sotto for two weeks, upset at his plagiarism and blame-mongering.  But he is still stealing other people's work and claiming it as his own thinking. The latest from the honorable JFK (John F Kennedy). I'm tired of Senator Sotto, our local Lord Voldemort, as a reader so aptly described him.

Think through who he is and what he is doing.

He is the majority leader. He represents the best of the best behind Senate President Enrile who bounces between dignity and partisanship like a government issued yoyo. Alas, the yoyo was issued while the grandfather of self-service in the name of patriotism was still around promoting his morality. That would be President Aguinaldo.

The esteemed Senator Sotto takes four speeches to state his objection to the HR Bill. Four. Over the course of two weeks. He holds court over the Senate, over the press, over the People. He holds court until the HR Bill is set aside.

A one-man wrecking crew.

You and I, if we objected to the HR Bill, could state the objection in 10 minutes. Me, much less.

Here would be my objection speech:

• "Hey, Ladies and Gents of the esteemed maroon Senatorial robe, the Government has no business peddling condoms. And there are laws in place already that protect women's health. We don't need another that will just overlay confusion on our health services. The Executive Office has powers. It has a Department of Education. Use them and let us get on with some important new initiatives. Like the Divorce Bill and FOI Bills and amending the Constitution to speed foreign money into the fuel tank of our economic machine. Let's put this baby up for vote and abort the stinker. Thank you for using your common sense. I yield the floor."

32 seconds.

The Senate is so stuck on protocol and process that it can't get the people's work done. It has become an institution that is heading directly toward irrelevancy. Even the Ethics Committee is unethical, refusing to act hold Senator Sotto to higher values.

"Duck and cover, kids. Duck and cover!"

The House, ah, the House. Bright young people, eh? Lots of them, and every damn one of them has two thoughts and two thoughts only: (1) how can I leverage myself into the Presidency, and (2) how can I get more pork money, to leverage myself into the Presidency.

We former business executives recognize the pedigree easily. These are the young, bright people who come into the office looking for a job. Great portfolio, on paper. Impeccable college and work experience. They say all the right things during the interviews. But on the job, they have no discipline. No patience. They are so ambitious that they lose enthusiasm for the work that needs to be done. They can't concentrate on today's output because they are busy dreaming about the next promotion.

That's the House in a nutshell. No enthusiasm for the job that needs to be done. No concentration.

Overly ambitious office workers last about 18 months on the job before quitting and running off in search of greener and faster pastures.

House people also lose enthusiasm and stop showing up at on the floor. Have you seen Colonel Doctor Champ Pacquiao there lately? He's one guy for sure already dreaming of the presidency.

And so they coast.

They bide their time, looking for ways to shine.

My Filipino friends, our Legislature is busted and there is no one here who can fix it. You can't fix a rat's nest or a snake's den or a hornet swarm with a hope and a prayer.

It is best to go around these barriers to progress, these inert democratic irrelevancies, if we hope to achieve anything progressive.

More on that later.

The Awakening Beast: Public Indignation (Angry Maude)

Guest Blog by: Angry Maude

(Editor: The scheduled blog "How Filipino Personal Independence Undermines Community" will be delayed one day so that this guest article can be run on a timely basis.)

I see that a lot of commentary has moved past Senator Sotto's transgressions to the willingness of our so-called esteemed Senators to turn their eyes, to duck their heads, to walk away from a blatant, arrogant insult to public honor and high values. Not to mention, Senate honor.

I like Senator Santiago. She is a bright woman and my role model. But today I have to disagree with her. Senator Santiago is correct in only one way. Copying a paragraph from a blog is not such a big deal.

ANGRY MAUDE

But every which way after that, she is wrong. It is a big deal if an entire speech is crafted on the creative efforts and knowledge of others, with the words twisted to mean what the writers did not mean to say. It is a big deal to deny first the theft, then  acknowledge it and dismiss it as innocent. It is a big deal to criticize the public for doing their duty to condemn bad behavior. It is a big deal to propose an act of vengeance against those who spoke out for higher values, a blogging bill to silence public expression.

No, no, Senator Santiago, that is a VERY BIG DEAL. Idol or not, you are wrong.

Blaming bloggers for the incident reflects a huge ignorance of what the public's role in a democratic nation is all about.

Condemning bloggers in this instance is very much like condemning a whistle-blower for having courage and high values.

Public expression is a vital check and balance in democracy.

To silence public expression would be like eliminating the courts. Just letting the police determine guilt or innocence. Who really needs that check and balance on justice? Cops have good values.

It would be akin to eliminating the legislature. Just letting the Executive Branch dictate laws. Who really needs a Legislature, especially if it is not interested in doing good acts?

To silence public expression would be to return the Philippines to the dark ages where leaders meet in secret smoky rooms and hatch dark schemes hidden from public eyes.

This is an attitude exactly the opposite of transparency and forthright governance.

It goes against the grain of stability and enlightenment brought to the Philippines by President Aquino's dedication to good governance.

The Senate is out of step. Out of step with the direction of the Philippines.

The Senate is not leading.

It is just sitting there. Or worse, hiding.

• Senator Sotto has spoken. He has held the floor for a long time.

• Four senators have mumbled a few words of support for the Sotto ideals.

• One senator has criticized plagiarism.

• Seventeen senators have remained silent.

Oh integrity, sweet integrity, I fear thy name is not Senator.

Senate Silence on Sotto

I wonder as to the great silence emerging from the Senate regarding the transgressions of Senator Sotto, to wit: (1) plagiarizing other people's copyrighted material, (2) using outdated material in a misleading way and out of context, (3) denying there was anything seriously wrong with what occurred, and (4) expressing absolutely zero remorse for the transgressions.

The Senate appears willing to let Senator Soto get away with it.

What do the laws say with regard to what the Senate OUGHT to be doing?

The Constitution of the Philippines:

• Rule X. The Committees.Sec. 13. (2) Committee on Ethics and Privileges. - Seven (7) members. All matters relating to the conduct, rights, privileges, safety, dignity, integrity and reputation of the Senate and its Members.

It seems to me that the Senate is currently the laughing stock of the Philippines due to Senator Sotto's abuses and refusal to accept responsibility for them. Perhaps the Senate believes its integrity is enhanced by being the butt of so many jokes. We are all just comedians around here, eh? Clowns abound.

In 1989, two years after adoption of the Constitution, the Legislature promulgated and approved Republic Act 6713 which is the basic code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials. Here are some pertinent excerpts:

• REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6713. AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES, TO UPHOLD THE TIME-HONORED PRINCIPLE OF PUBLIC OFFICE BEING A PUBLIC TRUST, GRANTING INCENTIVES AND REWARDS FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE, ENUMERATING PROHIBITED ACTS AND TRANSACTIONS AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES  

• SECTION 4. Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees. — (A) Every public official and employee shall observe the following as standards of personal conduct in the discharge and execution of official duties:

• (b) Professionalism. — Public officials and employees shall perform and discharge their duties with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill.. . .

• (c) Justness and sincerity. — Public officials and employees shall remain true to the people at all times. They must act with justness and sincerity and shall not discriminate against anyone, especially the poor and the underprivileged. They shall at all times respect the rights of others, and shall refrain from doing acts contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy, public order, public safety and public interest. . . .

SECTION 11. Penalties. — (a) Any public official or employee, regardless of whether or not he holds office or employment in a casual, temporary, holdover, permanent or regular capacity, committing any violation of this Act shall be punished with a fine not exceeding the equivalent of six (6) months' salary or suspension not exceeding one (1) year, or removal depending on the gravity of the offense after due notice and hearing by the appropriate body or agency. If the violation is punishable by a heavier penalty under another law, he shall be prosecuted under the latter statute. Violations of Sections 7, 8 or 9 of this Act shall be punishable with imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years, or a fine not exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000), or both, and, in the discretion of the court of competent jurisdiction, disqualification to hold public office.

The mechanisms are in place to address Senator Sotto's transgressions: (1) the Committee , which is both the investigative and judicial body, and (2) the Law. The Law is clear. Professionalism, good morals, good customs, public interest.

Senator Sotto does not define the law or his innocence based on what his representative counsel states. He is an interested party. The other interested party is the Public.

Who represents the Public on this matter?

Why is the Senate silent?

It is time to move this matter past Senator Sotto and his horrendous professional behavior and ask why the Institution that is responsible for writing laws is inclined not to enforce them? I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me that:

• Senator Sotto broke the law by failing to refrain from doing acts contrary to good morals and good customs.

• The Senate, by not fulfilling its obligations under the Constitution, is also breaking the law.

So here we have a fundamental reason as to why there is a wide scale collapse of respect for and obedience to laws across the beautiful Philippine landscape.

No discipline. No insistence on right over wrong . . . at the highest level . . . in one of the three co-equal branches of government.

But, hey, you don't care, Senators, I don't care!

Watching the clowns. It's more fun in the Philippines!