(The author, Dr. Ma. Dominga “Minguita” Padilla, is an ophthalmologist and president of Sinag, a people’s crusade for good governance. She is a signatory to the “Citizens impeachment complaint. )
“Where are all the good leaders?” “Who is the alternative to the present leadership?” “Yes we believe that the Gloria Arroyo cheated, lied and stole her way to the presidency, and we believe that the stealing goes on, but will fighting the present wrongs, resisting the present injustice, bring us anything better?” “All we see waiting in the wings are politicians who will simply give us more of the same, if not worse”. “Show us something, some light at the end of the tunnel, and then we might have the courage to act”.
These are the common arguments we hear nowadays from good but weary citizens turned cynical and apathetic because daring to hope or care has become much to painful to bare. Even thinking has become a risky activity since doing so only opens one up to the frustration of knowing that we have seen and heard indisputable evidence of high crimes committed against us by this administration, unprecedented in scale and impunity, and yet we have allowed ourselves to be bamboozled into doubting our very own senses.
And if thinking is risky, actually speaking out has become hazardous to ones health. After all, while the lifting of the death penalty to protect the lives of convicted criminals is being touted as a personal “gift” of the president to the Pope at the Vatican, administration henchmen continuously carry out the systematic massacre of hundreds of individuals guilty only of daring to speak out against the powers that be.
In the face of all this, we have a military that seems to have forgotten that they exist to protect the sovereign people, and a house of representatives which for all intents and purposes has become nothing but the obsequious hand maiden of the palace. Little wonder that despite our deep rooted discontent, most can only stand agape, helpless spectators in a bizarre tragedy, not knowing what else to do. We go about our daily lives trying to do as much good as we can in our own little worlds, but we do so carrying a badge of shame in our hearts, a badge that no amount of world boxing victories or scaled mountains can erase.
It is for all the above reasons and more that the second impeachment complaint against Gloria Arroyo had to be filed.
Contrary to the argument that another impeachment will not do our economy any good, a successful impeachment is necessary for long lasting economic stability which can only come from true political stability, which in turn can only come from the closure of the serious issues that plague this leadership. We already have too many unfinished chapters in our history, this last chapter that we are still living being probably the most acrimonious of all. It may also need to be solved with the most pain, partly because its resolution may lead to the closure of many unfinished and painful chapters that went before.
Those who signed this second impeachment complaint are not driven by hatred towards Mrs. Arroyo but by love of country, a deep sense of duty, and even a desire to see an end to the vicious cycle of political debts that hold the president hostage and which taint even her most well meaning efforts. It is an act that we knew would be met by criticism and much resistance, but an act that had to be done nevertheless.
Not to have filed would be to say that our house of representatives is a hopeless bunch; that not even 79 members of this once august body would have the sense of history, never mind the decency, to do the right thing. Worse, not to have filed the second impeachment would be to resign ourselves to the terrible thought that we, as a people, don’t deserve any better than elected representatives who care nothing about the next generation but only about perks, power, and pork.
There have been too many deaths since the “Garci scandal” broke out. Even before the systematic, daily murders of recent months started, the major casualties were our peoples trust in government, the credibility of our institutions, and worse, our sense of hope. Can we as a nation simply allow the massacre of everything we hold dear to go on?
“Where are all the good leaders?” we ask. Where are the people who will serve rather than simply rule? Truth is that they are out there trapped in a growing ocean of untapped talent, a force just waiting to burst through a seemingly impregnable dam created by a corrupt and severely damaged political culture that refuses to die, held up by a people who are afraid to let go, who curse the present yet refuse to risk the unknown. All we need is for enough people to stop propping up the wall and for a number of those in power to see the light so that a new breed of leaders may finally be born and allowed to thrive.
“People get the leaders they deserve”, so the old saying goes. Despite all the odds and the risks even to our own persons therefore, this new impeachment complaint had to be filed by citizens if only as the last constitutional and peaceful means by which we might free ourselves from this impasse and perhaps be deserving of truly good leaders. With this act go a simple faith and prayer that by doing the right thing the dam may break and hope be allowed to finally flow through.
dr. padilla,
matagal na po inuulit-ulit nina Ellen, Conrad de Quiros, MLQ3 at Atty Teddy Te na ang pagkakabigkis bigkis ng mga pilipino ang kasagutan sa mga suliranin ng ating bayang minamahal.
unity sa action for impeachment o eleksyon o anupamang available legal action or movement.
What a brilliant piece by Dr. Padilla! If only our “leaders” would have the conscience to realize that they are there to serve the people and not just cater to the whims and caprices of a bucktoothed pseudo-President. You can really feel the sincerity as you go about reading her essay.
I know it’s gonna be an uphill climb. It may even be doomed to fail. But at least we can show to Gloria Arroyo and company that there are people who cannot be bought and who are not afraid to speak out.
i believe bro. eddie villanueva is one presidential wannabe who will serve the country with the people’s welfare in mind and not his … am i right in saying this?
Well, at least, Eddie Villanueva, proved he could stand by his principle, and what he thought was true and right regardless of the consequences.
However, if he is going to run for public office, he should resign from his position in his church, and vice versa, for he cannot serve two masters, Christ and the people, as a full-time president!
We took a chance in ’86 when we backed a widow surrounded by trapos, but we never asked ourselves if she can handle the helm. All we knew was there was no one else and threw our support to an inexperienced housewife. We did not bother to think if our country would survive such a drastic change. All we knew was, we need to kick a despot out of office. Marcos had the goons, the guns and the gold, but we did not let it scare us. All we knew then was we were fed up with system bastardized by a maniac.
Twenty years and the monster has reared its ugly head once again. Will we be cowed with fear or will we bother to ask what’s next? In times like this, somebody always rises to the occassion, steps up to the plate to lead a nation. Who then, it could be anyone of us. Except that this time, he/she would have learned from the mistakes of the past.
I wouldn’t name names, but for sure love of country and countrymen will push this new leader to emerge.
Looking back, it can be recalled that the downfall of Marcos and Estrada were all about concealing the truth. It was rigged result of the snap election between Ferdinand Marcos and Cory Aquino. And it was the administration senators/judge during the Estrada impeachment proceeding voting against opening the envelope. When people are clamoring for truth and those in power are hard bent not to reveal, by all means everything will break loose.
That is happening now. The first impeachment complaint against Bansot was immediately killed because of the numbers game. It did not even reach “the second base”. Those congressmen who were promised of “projects” only to vote not to impeach Bansot are now having second thoughts.
Everyday since June 26th, the second impeachment complaint is being filed to the clerk of the House of Representatives which covers people from all walks of life. The complainants want to cover all fronts and avoid any technicalities to be concocted by the administration defense ally.
All Filipinos deserve the truth and this second impeachment is the only way. Let it be.
Never underestimate the wiles of queen of lilliput. She knows that there is NO LEADER of stature worthy to fill in her shoes. This was succinctly stated by Lucio Tan, to wit: There is no leader in the philippines, today and for the next generation. I am willing to bet on that and if I lose, you can come to me in heaven and collect on me.” Tan should know, because he bragged that he has every government official in his pocket. Whatever it is worth, it shows the frailty of the nation, leaderless and going in circles, and Gloria absolutely knows these facts, hence she can move about with impunity riding roughshod on her SUBJECTS. Against this backdrop of a leaderless nation, one and all might as well resign to the spectre of Queen Lilliput now and the next generation.
Dr. Padilla’s parting words: “With this act go a simple faith and prayer that by doing the right thing the dam may break and hope be allowed to finally flow through…” is inherently pathetic mindset of a leaderless nation – no chutzpah to pick the ripe guava. She (Padilla and the Filipino people) would rather wait for god to drop the fruit from the tree.
Ellen,
Tribune reports on Masinloc. I’ve been trying to get hold of the facts regarding this lastest fiasco. Teddy Casino will be filing another resolution tomorrow to investigate this transaction. He has already made one before, but for some reason has not been taken up by the Lower House. Sayang, it came to late to be included in the impeachment complaints.
Schumey, All:
I cannot understand this penchant of Filipinos to see themselves as flagellants in some “Cenaculo” and punish themselves for a mistake done. Worse is when they insult themselves with such silly thought being spinned by a crook that she is indispensible or irreplaceable when there are still a lot among them who are highly principled and moved by God and their desire to do what is right even no matter how many times they have committed mistakes that are now in fact becoming unpardonable.
As I have stated before, my mother is distantly related to the former president, Ferdinand E. Marcos, on his father’s side, the Rubios, and Armand here whose Rubio family must have originated from Ilocos Norte, could be one, too.
Anyway, at least, Marcos had a vision and we all know that he was surrounded by vultures pretending to be his friends and cronies who in the end left him and became his worse enemies. That was bad because he is now blamed for all the ills of the country when in fact, he has nothing to do with the prevailing immorality and greed that I knew existed long before he became president!
My professor in History and Nationalism, Teodoro Agoncillo, used to tell us that with all the borrowing spree and squandering of those borrowed money by then president, Dadong Macapagal, the Philippines would be as hopeless as it would be, and ours and future generations of Filipinos would never be able to see light as they would not be able to pay those debts. He was right, and wish I could say, “Why me worry?” like that carricature in the old Mad Magazine. He was right.
Still, I don’t see the reason why Filipinos should think that the criminally inclined cannot and should not be replaced especially considering the fact that she got her position by cheating, lying and fraud, that is by law a crime!
“One is innocent unless proven guilty!” is what the bobos contend but how do you prove the guilt of someone pretending to be innocent if not by having her arrested on the spot or as we say in Japanese, “genkohan taiho” or arrest on commission of the crime as when she admitted that she violated the Election Code when she was not supposed to be talking to the Commissioner she assigned at the COMELEC before, on and during the election for that will constitute a violation that would amply and duly disqualify her, and worse, connive the other commissioners there, including the Chief Commissioner, to play dumb and innocent about such disregard for the law.
Frankly, I wish I could say, “Shit, who cares what these people do to their own selves?” My mother feels “sayang” when I ask her to withdraw money from my US account to send to charities in the Philippines, etc., and tells me to forget about the Philippines especially if it will endanger my life as what happen to those who have shown their disgust for this government. But I tell her, I’m in Japan, and I should not worry especially because I am connected with the police somehow, and police here are definitely no hoodlums but a dedicated lot whose loyalty is to their country and people, not to any particular individual as is the case now in the Philippines, where the police are arrogant and boastful just because they carry guns.
Sure, there is a need for a change but not a charter change especially when these people running the show at present do not even have the intention to abide by the rules or even the laws, etc. that they are thinking of imposing on the helpless Filipinos.
Some pilosopong Tasyo over there would say, each individual Filipino should start changing himself, but how do you change a person now groping in the dark with leaders of their church likewise corrupted and would not even depend on the Lord Above for guidance and help, and those who do are evaporized from this world with guns and bombs as the number of priests now getting killed for their conviction and even just trying to protect God’s lost sheeps!!!
Still, I don’t see why Filipinos should stop there and allow the criminal suspect to continue squatting at the palace by the murky river, and continue to undermine and insult Filipinos with her silly pronouncements, evil, treacherous and fraudulent acts without a real fight!
There are other more adjectives to describe this crook’s and her fellow accomplices’ crimes against the Filipino people, but I guess you all know what they are.
I should mention that I actually supported the candidacy of Senator Pimentel in the last election. Nope, I did not give him money for his campaign, not that I did not want to, but the Senator himself told me that he did not want to violate the law prohibiting foreigners from contributing to any individual running for office in the Philippine government, and he did not want me to violate the law myself at his expense. Ganoon katindi ang pagka-tuwid ng mamang ito!
I thought he was best for the position of President for his dedication and wisdom that God I thought would not hesitate to enhance even for the simple reason that this man had led an unblemished life as far as his relationship with his wife was concerned, for the truth is that God does NOT bless a country led or headed by a fornicator!
In fact, it was one reason why I felt sorry for Filipinos when they were presented with known fornicators to choose from as presidents in 1998, and even in 2004 with all the rumors about this and that candidate having enough skeletons in his closet, even the Bansot, who claimed to be sexually active, and rumored to be romantically linked with a member of her cabinet then and now.
I feel sorry for Filipinos really for allowing themselves to be conditioned that a man like Senator Pimentel cannot be president, not that the Senator does not have money to win a clean election, but that elections there have been just as dirty as what the COMELEC, the system, etc have allowed them to be!
Personally, I like Senator Enrile, too, despite the attempts to make him look ridiculous with his quarrel with Senator Madrigal. Nevertheless, I cannot help wondering if he is suffering now from Alzheimer’s Disease for acting like a child and wanting to support one he has condemned before.
Senator Enrile is one that I have witnessed with my own eyes his ability to make things happen once he sets his eyes on something. And I admire him for not bragging about his own accomplishments and taking credit even for things that without him could not happen like his role in bringing the Apo down.
It will be too bad to lose the support of this great statesman to a criminally inclined indeed!
Yuko, You can recite a litany of outstanding wannabe leaders but the fact remains that they are wannabes, and bansot knows this fact only too well, hence she has the effrontery to claim that she is the best of them all. The truth hurts, but then NO ONE stood up to refute and dispute this claim of bansot. You can feel sorry for filipinos all your life, but the fact remains that NOBODY worth his salt claims he/she is a better alternative to bansot. Your only hope is that perhaps somewhere out there, lurking in the shadows, a phantom will come out in the in broad daylight and exhort pinoys to follow him to your “palace by the murky river”.
I’m back. Kasisimba ko lang kaya ayaw kong mademonyo, but dear Alitaptap, talagang masakit! Para kang si Kuya Eddie! 😉 Irecognized you, dear friend!
Ang lungkot nga, e, but at least, our dear crusader, Senator Pimentel, talagang matatag! Minsan nagkamali, tumayo agad laban doon sa tinulungan nilang umupo, but what can he do? Nag-iisa siya sa 24 na mga kasama niya!!!
Kaya nga nagtataka ako kay Enrile kung bakit binabatikos niya ang Opposition e hindi rin naman siya pumapasok (or should I say, “hindi makapasok”?) doon sa grupong humahalik sa puwit ni Pandak!
Questions on who is the alternative to Gloria Arroyo will be answered if we hold an honest election. Let all who are interested to lead the country run. Let the people choose. Whoever wins, as long as the election is honest, we will support. If he or she commits a crime, there’s the impeachment process as a means to remove him or her.
The most important is a leader who has the welfare of the people as the priority and not her own political survival. We need a leader who will strengthen, not destroy, institutions to serve the people.
Amen, Ellen. Iyan din ang sinasabi ko sa mga pilipino, pero na-mind set na ang mga pilipino na kung wala kang malakas na backer na may pera, hindi ka mananalo. Nakakadismaya kasi dito nag-volunteer na ako once na sumuporta sa isang kandidato namin para sa aming local assembly. Dito kasi ke may pera o wala, pantay-pantay ang tao. Dahil sa mahigpit ang batas tungkol sa gastos para sa kompanya, bawal ngayon ang mangalap ng maraming donation kaya magtitiyaga talaga ang kandidato sa itinalagang limit ng gastos sa pangangampaniya. Kani-kaniyang gastos ngayon bawat volunteer gaya halimbawa, bibigyan ako ng mga @pangalan ng 100 voters na susulatan para bumoto sa kandidato ko, ipi-print out ko ang standard message sa 100 pcs. na postcard at lalagyan ko ng selyo na ako ang bumili sa sarili kong pera. Iyan ang contribution ko. Kapag nanalo ang kandidato ko at nagawa niya ang mga ipinangako niyang gagawin ay kontento na ako.
I think, Ellen, this is why we have lots of hardworking officials here that they are not tempted to do wrong. It is because we do not tempt them to do beyond what they are allowed by law to do. Respetohan ng kani-kaniyang tungkulin at karapatan. Malayo pa sigurong mangyari ito sa Pilipinas lalo na ngayon sinasanay sa kawalanghiyaan ang lahat ng mangangakong pangangalagaan ang interes ni Bansot at ng mga galamay niyang palpak. Hindi pa nga siguro makapaniwala na nagagawa ito sa ibang bansang may matitinong patakaran, batas at pamahalaan, plus matitinong mamamayan!
Marami nga ditong mga media people na nagiging politiko at ipinagpapatuloy nila ang mga adhikaing dati nilang sinusulat. Am I giving you some idea?
Kung tatakbo ka maraming magba-back-up sa iyo pihado ko! But first, kailangan tumino muna ang bansa na iyong mga matitino at marunong magmalasakit sa bansa ay hindi patayin! Alisan ng mga baril ang mga mamamayang walang karapatang mag-angkin ng baril. Dito sa Japan, kahit pulis, pagkatapos ng trabaho, ay hindi maaaring magdala ng baril kundi maging siya ay madadakip at makakasuhang lumalabag ng batas! Ganyan sana diyan. Mga Kristyano pa namang naturan!
You think Bansot is the worst president the Philippines has ever had? But wait, Americans, too, apparently think they have the worst president. Read the story picked from Netscape server:
http://www.littleindia.com/
Worst President In History?
Achal Mehra
Mon Jun 12, 2006
Bush’s most dangerous legacy is the erosion of America’s vaunted traditions of civil rights and liberties.
A reputed historian, representing a profession that is usually very circumspect about making sweeping judgments, recently speculated that President George W Bush could go down as the worst president in U.S. history.
Sean Wilentz, a professor of history at Princeton University, wrote that great presidents, “Presented with arduous, at times seemingly impossible circumstances, they rallied the nation, governed brilliantly and left the republic more secure than when they entered office.”
By contrast, “Calamitous presidents, faced with enormous difficulties — James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover and now Bush — have divided the nation, governed erratically and left the nation worse off.”
Current public opinion, which is notoriously fickle, seems to reflect Wilentz’s view. Bush’s favorability ratings have been hovering around 30 percent. According to Gallup Poll, which has measured presidential job approval ratings since the 1940s, only four presidents, Richard Nixon, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and the first George Bush, have ranked lower and none recovered.
During his 1980 presidential bid, Ronald Reagan posed a dramatic question that resonated with the electorate and crucified then Pres. Carter. “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” A recent poll found that a resounding two-thirds of the American public believes the country is worse off than when Bush assumed office. Some 70 percent think it is on the wrong track; more than half consider Bush dishonest and untrustworthy.
Gross ineptitude, reckless politicking even with national security, nepotism, cronyism and sleazy corruption are at the root of Bush’s failed presidency. The administration politicized national security after 9/11 by stoking fear for the sole objective of mobilizing public opinion. Shallow and incompetent political cronies, hucksters, personal friends and business associates were rewarded with plush appointments and contracts by the Bush administration.
Disastrous as Bush’s incompetence and nepotism have been and the terrible price the country has paid as a result in precious resources and lives in the politicized war on terror and the misadventure in Iraq, Bush’s most dangerous legacy is the erosion of America’s vaunted traditions of civil rights and liberties, which served as a beacon around the world.
The first decade of the 21st century will go down in ignominy with the Red Scare of the McCarthy era, the Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798 and the persecution of dissenters in World War I and World War II. The Bush administration has used terrorism in this decade, much as McCarthy used communism.
In the name of the war against terrorism, the Bush administration has engaged in unconstitutional and criminal abuses, including kidnapping people, torturing suspects or rendering them to other countries for torture, holding prisoners without trial and sometimes without even access to attorneys and family in Guantanamo Bay and other secret gulags, and warrantless tapping of emails and telephones of U.S. citizens.
These egregious abuses have been made possible because the Republican majority in the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives failed in its constitutional oversight responsibilities. With two-and-a-half years still remaining of the Bush term, the prospect that we are living under an incompetent and unchecked president in such perilous times ought to be sobering.
Fortunately, the American public will get an opportunity later this year for some damage control during the midterm Congressional elections. We hope that they will restore some semblance of checks and balances on a reckless, inept and constitutionally unrestrained chief executive by electing Democratic majorities in both houses so that proper investigations can be undertaken and constitutional speed breakers installed until the long Bush nightmare comes to a welcome end in 2008.
I remember it was the late Senator Raul Roco who first suggested that a Snap Election be held to solve the current impasse. Pero di masyado pinansin, both by the Administration (for obvious reasons) and Opposition (because they thought magtatagumpay yung EDSA 4 nila). I agree with Roco then and I still agree with him now.
Ellen, clean election is at best a pie in the sky. With the track record of cheating in the ballot box, switching poll boxes, chicanery at the electoral tribunal, another election would be another ritual of self-flagellation. Granting for argument’s sake that decent elections are feasible to a degree, I would like to see Bishop Iniguez run for office. Needless to say, the bishop is anathema to bansot… indeed bishop vis-a-vis bansot.
posible pero mahirap yatang magkaroon ng malinis na snap eleksyon kung marumi ang comelec … hindi ba puedeng gamitin ang mga ATMs ng mga bangko kung sakali mang posibleng gawing automated agad ang botohan? … puede sigurong lagyan ng program ang mga iyon para tumanggap ng transaction na patungkol lamang sa eleksyon … maraming lugar sa bansa na may mga ganitong makina at ang mga ito ay nasa mga lugar na mataas ang populasyon … sa palagay ko lang ay mahirap mandaya kapag automated ang botohan … ang bawat partido ay puedeng maglagay ng kani kanilang representante para huwag silang madehado … sigurado akong magiging parehas ang labanan kasi bawat partido ay nakabantay … ngayon, doon naman sa mga lugar na walang ganitong makina, tiis muna sa primitibong botohan … ang ikinatatakot ko lang na maaaring makapigil sa tunay na damdamin ng bayan ay ang sandatahang lakas ng pilipinas na sa ngayon ay tumatayong private army ni gloria …
Sino bang may kasalanan na nakaka-arte si Bansot ng akala mo siya ang may-ari ng Pilipinas? Mga pilipino din siyempre na kayang-kayang bilugin ng spinners ni Bansot!
Sa totoo lang balita ko ang lobbyist sa Tokyo ay isasara na dahil medyo tumagilid yata dahil iba ang mga pilipino dito na protektado sarado. Nope, not by the Philippine embassy but by the laws of this land. Hindi sila tuloy makahirit!
Sana ang ginagawa namin dito ay magkaroon ng impact sa nangyayari diyan sa Pilipinas. And we do this because we love the land of our birth! Ayaw naming maging Enchanted Kingdom iyan ng isang wicked, wicked, wicked looney queen, iyong Reyna Engkangtada, na may tupak sa ulo!
Abaw, parang iyong Queen of the Hearts sa Alice in Wonderland na walang ginawa kundi magsisisigaw ng “Off with their heads!” na siyang ginagawa ngayon ng kaniyang berdugong si Palparan.
I wonder if the Bansot realizes that whatever wrong her staff does, she may not be held responsible by the judges of the Supreme Court she has appointed, but she will have her due judgment and punishment from Up Above, and that would be more severe than the punishment of men, especially with her signing the law that bans capital punishment that she knows she is the main beneficiary!!!
Pwede naman linisin ang Comelec if the President wants a clean election. Under Arroyo, there’s no hope for a clean election.
fyi, ellen, can’t get through by just entering http://www.ellentordesillas.com … was only able to get through by entering http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=338 … guess the culprits doesn’t know the extension of this blogsite
unable to log in using http://www.ellentordesillas.com … was able to using http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=338 and posted comment but don’t see it here … don’t know if this one will ever come up … fyi, ellen
Pringemilyn, have yout tried logging in through google? That’s what I do sometimes.
Ako naman, I’m having a difficult time with DSL. I had a DSL connection installed but it’s so unreliable. At least two days in a week, pumapalya. their helpdesk 172 is forever busy. Not once was i able to get through 172. I have been dialing several times a day the past three days.
Anybody of you who has discovered other contact numbers of DSL, please tell me.
I don’t want to give up my i-manila, dial-up connection because even if it’s slow, at least, it’s reliable.
tried google but still got the same result … am able to log in now but that is after clearing/deleting contents of download history, cache and cookies … don’t know which of them fixed it … guess the opponent’s internet wizards were able to plant cookies or something in my computer to block your site … thank you for your help
wow … and i can see my post right away, not like before i did the clearing/deleting
Ms. Ellen & Pringemilyn,
It was the same problem which I encountered two weeks ago. Microsoft Internet Explorer browser was timing out after several seconds. I complained to my server administrator, I am using a dial-in server, and he tweeked several parameters – I was told.
I am now using Netscape and installed a Spyware software which removed all harmful cookies from browsing & possible attacks from outsiders. Thanks to Yuko for these suggestions/recommendations.
I am back in the loop since.