Funny that just as soon as Senator Miriam Santiago threatened to reveal the “truth” about Senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson’s sexual orientation, the latter senator in a way kind of validated what many people have been speculating by going on a rampaging counter-attack himself.
Manning up: an immense challenge in Philippine society
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To be fair to Lacson, Santiago’s attacks are quite crude. The best of threats are best kept veiled in favour of real actions. What was that old Nike slogan again? Just do it. Trouble is Lacson does the same — stoops down to the level of his adversary. Both now are making good use of the Media to further their tirades against one another. Guess who comes out of this laughing all the way to the bank?
Since when has Philippine Media become the sumbungan of choice of powerful Philippine senators?
Veteran journalist Ramon Tulfo, as a matter of fact, is known for his hit show Isumbong mo kay Tulfo where he facilitates getting the issues that affect ordinary powerless citizens to the fore before a mass audience. But that is a concept that suits ordinary people who do not enjoy the clout of Philippine senators.
You really gotta wonder then about the sort of men who obssessively tattletale to any bozo who cares to listen about the women they’ve had confrontations with. Filipinos of all people should understand. There is no English translation for the old observation when beholding such characters: Kalalaking tao pinatulan ang babae. Where I come from, the most admired men are stolid and stoic even in the face of a woman’s wrath — one, I am constantly told, that hell itself hath no fury to match. Indeed, a man resorting to rude behaviour on a one-on-one confrontation with a woman is bad enough, but to be constantly tattling about said confrontation loudly in a public forum of mutual back-patters is another.
Where I grew up such guys are easily told off: Bakla ka pala e.
Philippine senators, any powerful public official for that matter, whether male or female are expected to man up — specifically, settle disputes amongst themselves like men. After all, they serve as models to a citizenry who lack a tradition of doing the same. The sight and sound of senators clawing each other’s eyes out in catfights in living colour and surround sound simply highlights the sort of politics that reflect the character of the Filipino vote.
Why do Filipinos vote for such politicians?
Well, spectacle is king in Philippine elections. No surprise there. Indeed, our most esteemed “activists” for “social change” routinely denounce politicians for acting like clowns while on the campaign trail but are themselves blind to the banal clownery with which folk in their own ranks deliver their “activist” messages.
We can’t continue to reserve our most vitriolic criticism for Filipino politicians and ignore the character of the people who routinely vote for the same bozos year in and year out.
As Raquel Welch was said to have said:
Insanity is expecting different results while doing the same thing again and again.
Ms Welch is quite the woman indeed.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
And because of such personal attacks, my view of Miriam Santiago has sadly changed.
Ilda Pro, if you were better than Santiago in dealing with Lacson’s baseless lies and dirty tricks, you should run for senator. Lets see how far you’ll get with Lacson.
Sorry, Benigno O ! (apology to Ilda Pro)
Just because you are better than a person does not mean you should be in the same business as said person. 😉
who cares about your “view” of miriam… it’s not her whose ranking in the surveys have dropped big time… The Youth & right minded people love her…since 1989 up to the present. You are outnumbered Mercury…
Miriam should expose the corruption rather than reduce herself to fishwife with glib comments abd veiled personal threats. Very unbecoming.
Thats partly why i don’t think the ICC will be calling anytime soon.
No gravitas or style.
Not up to Brussels standard
Libertas, please call the ICC and ask if the old judges are still sitting and whats the schedule for calling the topnotcher of the elections. Stop spreading lies.
When one is dealing with a veteran of rubouts, extrajudicial killings, dirty tricks, and kidnapping for ransom, I dont know if you can talk legal matters to him. I go for Miriam. An eye for an eye. Come on ……. Its the only language Lacson understands and several in this thread fell for it. What a pity.
If Sen. Miriam seats as judge in International Criminal Court. . . never mind.
Well, I think she’s getting older, what do you think?
not lies,opinion.
and miriam is hardly topnotcher – at least when compared to western standards.
western standards huh… voted number one….just you wait when she gets to the ICC…
if she ever does.
the other 5 elected judges are all now serving.brussels/icc can do without the tirades and tantrums of a harridan.
it is a civilised place, unlike the senate.
Libertas…are there idiots, nincompoops, suspected killers, fugutives from justice, showbiz people, “honorable” senators & the like who are members of the ICC???
All of this garbage coming out of the mouth of someone who was once considered an ‘intellect’. HA, she was and always will be a moronic organgutan. Such a mess, and to think all she had to do was keep her big mouth shut and she would have had the easy road to European luxury laid out for her. A true dummy, she has ruined her chances of any type of international recognition and will just be another thieving criminal in the Philippine congress. She gets scarier looking as each day passes, YIKES!
As for Lacson, who cares if the guy is a fag? I could not care less and the way he disappeared when Arroyo was gonna have him imprisoned was pretty impressive. All you need is credentials and a large balance on a debit card and you can go anywhere BUT how he managed it all with no passport? pretty impressive.
WHAT “ONCE CONSIDERED AN INTELLECT”…SUSME CORRECT YOUR ENGLISH NGA! your comment is typical of one who has no meat…do you understand that??!
just because you do not get it and expect a differing version of the word doesn’t mean it is in-correct.
The woman is a pompous jack-ass and lacks class,intelligence and couth,u kno? kinda like you!
it is you who lacks understanding,as attested to in your opening sentences. Susme?…I’ll pass!LOL!
face the mirror & say moronic orangutan…you speak of class, intelligence & couth??! It’s easy to cultivate those qualities…you just gotta ape your Lacson!!
Just because you do not speak correct English does not make it in-correct.
it is you who lacks understanding:SUSME? NO thanks , I’ll pass,LOL!
SUSME? SUSME? You are the one who lacks correct English as well as understanding lady. You would not know meat if it slapped you right in the face, DOINK!!!
Your just an outraged insulter because some see right through Miriam Santiago and her callous remarks, she is truly class-less and will never get to Brussels after the act she performed at the Circus last year, LOL!!! a big loud-mouth loser, the both of you!
yan ang hirap sa iyo…imbis na matuwa ka na may isang babae na matapang harapin ang mga naghahariharian na mga kaduda-dudang personalidad na wala naman maipagmalaki kundi ang kapasidad niyang manakot at magtago, natutuwa ka!!!…Impressed ka pa kung paano niya na manage ang pagtakAS NA WALANG PASSPORT!!…kriminal ka rin ba??!
are you effing serious? impressive? lacson is impressive? well he may be but all for the wrong reasons. for all the atrocities (tortures, esp during martial law and murders) attributed to him – which we all know to be true, no one has ever pinned him down for it. that is what’s impressive. but he’s hardly a man. i remember when col. rey berroya confronted lacson as he emerges from one of the senate elevators, and challenges him to a fisfight. lacson as if right on cue, jumps behind one of his bodyguards. you could hear the snickers of those who witnessed it all the way to the plenary hall. i just hope miriam would make good her threats and expose this pretender for the faggot that he is!
so what if he is a faggott? and so what if he did not fight a guy who wanted to punch him out? You learn to pick your battles in life and he is smart to not give a shit about snickering shitheads who wish they were him, why give an idiot what he wants? eff him.
He is still where he is today, and maybe Father time will catch him in the end, but Father time catches us all and Lacson has proven he can last longer than many others who also wish they were him! I don’t like any of these people but as an observer of these antics, he stands out as a survivor like JPE.
Criminals, despicable as shit but stuck with them the country is.
In the first place, why did lacson get into the picture?!… It was a tussle between Miriam & JPE… i tend to believe the rumor that when Lacson went AWOL, he was hiding in Tuguegarao & he claimed that he lives in Paranaque yet the media were waiting for him in a residence in Alabang…hence his bayad utang na loob to JPE by acting as his “barking dog”. Lacson claims he doesn’t get his pork barrel funds…so i now ask…coming from the PNP where he is known to be PINKY, where did he get his funds to run for a senate seat?! No PDF so no projects for his constituents! oh cummon Pinky…you cannot erase your killer image by discrediting Miriam… And by your act of picking a fight with a woman speaks volumes of why you people say you are bakla!!! I look forward to July when you & your master are fully exposed! You will no longer be senator, no longer entitled to immunity!! Do your worst now…and Miriam will finish you off!!!
Lacson’ style has never changed: throw mud at first and just look for evidence later hoping the mud will stick. Sadly Miriam has played into his game. Thought all along she is of a different breed and intellect. Name calling will not amount to anything except be the flavor of tabloids. When one is able to clear his name, no one is listening anymore. We Filipinos have a short memory. But we remember our first impressions. You’re right benignO. Our senators are only proving what we have known all along: most of them are reflections of the very same people they loathe.
Ping Lacson may or may not be gay but he’s definitely a coward. He only attacks when he has the upper hand. He has not shown himself to fight fair. The Kuratong Baleleng were gunned down with their hands tied. To further his presidential ambitions in 2004, he made his exposés against the previous administration knowing the media will buy it and that he had parliamentary immunity. When he couldn’t use parliamentary immunity for the Dacer-Corbito case, he hid until the Aquino administration took over. The day he is not in any government position is the day he fears the most.
The guy is no idiot. I hate to tell you but He is well prepared for the day he will leave the public service. He and his passport, chateau and bundles of CA$H are all lined up waiting for that day. He will just laugh his ass off as he gallops into the sunset. If he is not stopped from doing it, that is exactly what will happen. The EXACT time, date and place are already picked out.
pati sa bata walang patawad si Pinky!!!….”Remember that 10-year-old girl and her aunt who plunged to their death on Manila Bay a couple of years ago?
In one episode of the now defunct TV show, ?Isumbong mo kay Tulfo,? I showed a girl and an older woman being pushed out of a helicopter flying over a body of water, in a dramatic depiction of the incident.
Lacson?s former henchman at the notorious Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group (MISG), Francisco ?Kit? Mateo, said he pushed the girl and the woman on orders of Lacson.” (Mon Tulfo newsinfo.inquirer 02/03/2010)
Ping Lacson has shown that he only attacks when he has the upper hand and that he will never engage anyone in a fair fight. Whether he is “bakla” or not doesn’t matter. He is the epitome of a coward. He fears the day he is out of a position of power or influence.
saan ka ba naman nakakita ng tao na galing sa kapulisan tapos naging senador ay naging model ng vanity…mahilig talaga itong Pinky na ito magpa-beauty…nakabalandra sa EDSA ng matagal ang mukha ni Pinky para sa Facial Care Center!!!….LOL!!!
Lacson? I’m surprised no one brought up Kuratong Baleleng.
And if namecalling is the name of the game… then it will be pretty hard to make choices in the election this coming May.
I’m rather amused by these Political Zarzuelas, pr political antics. They do not solve our country’s problems, which are many. The Senate looks like a “Cockpit Arena”. I’m sad that Lacson , who is a suspect of murder of Dacer-Corbito case. Is quarreling with a woman. After Lacson received his Bonanza Bonus, from that idiot Enrile. All he does, is quarrel with a woman…
Benigs, I think that last phrase “insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results” was attributed to Einstein.
But I’d attribute it to Raquel Welch more than some old German mathematician. Haha!
I think Einstein’s one goes like this:
You can’t solve problems using the same thinking that created them.
Pretty much sums up Da Pinoy Condition as well.
@benigs,
Two quotes I would like to add:
“Your solution to the problem might create instead another problem.”
“You expect a different result from doing the same thing over and over again.”
For me, MDS’s a bunny-eared lawyer.
I’d be laughing at them if it wasn’t so sad that bozos like this are running the country
Well said Johnny, right on target, BUT, You might as well have a good laugh because the criminals running the country are all having a good laugh at all of the people they allegedly ‘serve’.
Sir adrian fulford – ICC senior judge is openly gay. Am sure he is amused by the demeanour of a possible colleague.
The inns of court and brussels expect gravitas and propriety from its members.
Verbal diarreah and farting in the wind is not what we expect or want.
suggest she raises her standards of public discourse and becomes a better international ambassador.
Dear Webmaster — your own article, and the assumptions underlying it, are revealing of the culture of gender in the Philippines. Your headline promised an insightful, progressive analysis of the word war between these two people, and instead perpetuated the stereotypes within the either-or heterosexist mentality that enables the marginalization of women and bakla, and indeed, anyone who doesn’t conform to male-female standards in this country. Rather disappointing, given the lofty ideals of your site. Get real, indeed.
Presumably it is two things you refer to: (1) the context around which I use of the term “bakla” which you perceive as offensive to homosexual men and (2) your perception that women are necessarily weaker than men and thus men who challenge women are considered to be “bakla”.
It seems here that it is you, m’lady, who are a bit backward in the way you interpret what I wrote. You see, the term ‘bakla’ as I used it here no longer necessarily refers to homosexual men and is now used to describe overall spinelesss behaviour in people regardless of sexual orientation.
As to what you consider my ‘heterosexist’ regard for women as supposedly weaker and therefore deserving of favourable consideration in the proverbial schoolyard, well, that’s just the way I was raised: to open doors for women, to allow them to proceed first, and to remove any sort of headgear I might have on when speaking to them among others. Foremost of all is not to make them patol the same way their fellow female might if they were in my shoes given the same nature of conflict. But even in such a case, true ladies (as true gentlemen) to begin with wouldn’t stoop down to catfights and crass behaviour of the sort seen as standard fare in Pinoy movies but respond to the challenge or conflict with quiet dignity.
Too bad quiet dignity is one of those aspects of the code of conduct of the truly classy that remains alien to the mind of Da Pinoy. And that is why we have politicians such as these.
Anne, your comment is concise and hits the bull’s eye. Very well said. I was also expecting he would dissect the issues between Miriam and Ping. But he did not. Instead, he imputed the senators’ catfights not to straight men or straight women’s roguishness but exclusively to the general populace of bakla. How convenient. I’m not sure where he’d get the idea. I have gay friends, too, but they surely have breeding and never resorted to mudslinging or character assassination.
But if I may, I would like to share to you the bigger picture here. If you’ve read most of benigO’s articles, they would give you an idea that this webmaster is most certainly a hater of all the baklas, straight men, straight women, and anything in between, as long as they have something to do with “Filipino.” In other words, he has very low opinion of the Filipinos ever since. Ironically, he’s also a Filipino. So if he thinks that those two Senators’ classless misbehavior mirrors the collective attitude of the Filipinos, then that only means he is very much a part of this “bakla” culture.
It’s sad indeed to see Sen. Santiago joining mudfight in the cesspool we call the Senate. Well, Belgian winters (and chocolates) might calm down the nerves of Sen. Santiago when she goes to Brussels, but the pressure alone of being in such a prestigious institution of justice should anchor the Senator back to the gravitas and conduct of a true stateswoman.
When the hell will politicians drop the palengkera attitude and start focusing on issues?
Unfortunately focusing on the nitty gritty of the issues does not really endear themselves to the bulk of the electorate.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html#HYEvrrK0EmJ5g1TF.99
..and we called these morons “honorable”
Even barangay captains insist on being addressed as “honorable”.
First time when Lacson was elected senator, he was interviewed by Jessica Soho.
He was asked how he prepares himself before attending a senate session.
According to him, he would not leave to senate session without his “trick” bag which contains his makeup kit. Even showing the “lipstick” (a balm lipstick I suppose) he is using. Included in his trick bag is a “blush on.”
It was not discussed if he has somebody to do his makeup.
Then telling Jessica Soho that it takes time for him to finally choose what he would be wearing. Laying the clothes on the bed, viewing them, then change to another one until he is satisfied.
he is just one of the gay mafia in politics and media/entertainment.
a gay president helps boost certain careers – they are well known and easy to spot
maybe lacson should try to remember his lunch with a group of transgender a few years ago in manila. he was smitten with one in particular.
does transgender not count as gay in his book.
maybe santiago is asking the right question but in the wrong way.
Actually, “spectacle is king” in many parts of the world, with the U.S. being one of the most prominent.