A mistake is an act or judgment that is misguided or wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. While some of our mistakes have little to no consequence, we can make mistakes that have bigger consequences that could actually change the course of our lives or even other people’s lives. We definitely have to live with the consequences of our actions or judgment whether they are good or bad.
There are people who realize early on that they made a mistake and, when they do, they do something to remedy the situation in order to cut their losses. Some people’s ability to foresee and prevent further damage to themselves or others has to do with honesty – being honest about their own abilities and shortfalls.
Most successful people are honest about their own abilities and shortfalls. They avoid entering a transaction or a commitment that they know they cannot handle and consummate. They avoid over-promising on something they can’t deliver. They know that people who keep their promises generally succeed in life.
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Rational people do not want to deal with a person who is dishonest. Most successful people also surround themselves with honest people. After all, people are only as good as their word. When news gets around that a person is dishonest, most people would avoid dealing with that person. Only fools deal and keep dealing with a dishonest person.
People who overpromise are like con artists. Con is short for confidence. People who try to gain others’ confidence for something they know they cannot fulfill are con artists. Most politicians in the Philippines are like con artists – they overpromise but never deliver. Only fools deal with them. They keep electing them in office and even put them in the most powerful positions in Philippine government.
Take the case of Philippine President Benigno Simeon (BS) Aquino. A growing number of people realize now that he over-promised on a lot of things during his presidential campaign. He even promised to get rid of poverty by getting rid of corruption. He fooled a lot of people with that promise. Only a fool would believe that it is possible to get rid of poverty and corruption. Poverty and corruption exists everywhere not just in the Philippines. Even First World countries have incidences of poverty and corruption. The incidence of corruption around the world just varies in degrees depending on how the laws are enforced and observed in each country. So, therefore, BS Aquino conned a lot of Filipinos into believing that he could get rid of poverty by getting rid of corruption especially since the laws in the Philippines are hardly ever enforced.
President BS Aquino: Unable to admit mistakes and apologize because of his arrogance
Who was BS Aquino kidding when he said he is fighting corruption? He keeps saying he is not corrupt and his supporters believe him because they think he hasn’t pocketed public funds. He may or may not have pocketed funds directly but the point is, corruption comes in many forms not just in stealing funds. Misuse of funds (through the Disbursement Acceleration Program), nepotism and favoritism are all forms of corruption. In that sense, BS Aquino is corrupt.
The second problem with BS Aquino is that, he doesn’t have the ability to foresee and prevent further damage to himself or others. The reason he doesn’t have this ability is because he is unwilling to admit he made a mistake in the first place. His unwillingness to admit error in his action or judgment is due to his arrogance. One cannot learn and apply more wisdom when one thinks he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. It is almost a guarantee that BS Aquino will continue to make mistakes that will have grave consequences for the Filipino people.
President BS Aquino hasn’t admitted to any mistakes since he started his term even when a lot of his actions and judgment calls resulted in preventable deaths or tragedies in Philippine society. In fact, the first tragedy that occurred in his first year in office resulted in deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists that he refused to apologize for. Evidently, he is not getting wiser. As someone once said, mistakes are the usual bridge between inexperience and wisdom. So it’s no wonder that BS Aquino does not want to apologize for authorizing his friend and former Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima to take charge of the operation to capture Malaysian bombers in Mamasapano even when he was suspended.
Some say that men in service die in battle or in the course of performing their duty all the time. But the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Special Action Force (SAF) troopers are different. Some even consider those circumstances treacherous. Since he was suspended at that time, Purisima had to keep his participation in the operation a secret. The secrecy resulted in the failure to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in time to rescue the SAF troopers caught in the firefight with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. BS Aquino was not even apologetic for prioritizing his so-called peace deal with the MILF instead of saving the lives of the SAF troopers. He could have ordered the AFP to rescue them immediately after he got the text message from Purisima about the firefight as early as 5 a.m. when the troopers where still alive. In other words, both Purisima and BS Aquino are liable for the SAF troopers’ deaths.
Rep. Walden Bello: Could have prevented more tragedy had he spoken out sooner about PNoy’s shenanigans
Yes, the people around BS Aquino don’t tell him when he makes a mistake. They seem to be scared of informing him when he is wrong. Maybe it’s because they just forced him to run for the Presidency immediately after his mother died. Or maybe it’s because he acts like a bully and doesn’t listen to suggestions. Or maybe it is a combination of both. They quickly come to his defense every time he commits gaffes and diplomatic faux pas by saying, “He is honest” or “His intention was good”. Senator Grace Poe said the same things about the President immediately after the Senate Mamasapano report came out with the conclusion that as the commander-in-chief, the President was “ultimately responsible” for the Mamasapano clash.
To say that BS Aquino’s intentions are good without elaborating on what his intentions were is really silly. And it is disappointing to see that Senator Grace Poe is foolish enough to fall for the country’s biggest con artist — BS Aquino. If his intentions were good, he wouldn’t feel the need to come up with different lame excuses to save himself and he would have been more transparent about coordinating with Purisima prior to the operation. Likewise, he wouldn’t feel the need to vilify relieved PNP SAF Director Getulio Napeñas in front of the media.
Senator Grace Poe: Her reluctance to take President BS Aquino to task is foolish.
What will it take for Filipinos like Poe to accept the truth about BS Aquino? They are acting like complete fools by turning a blind eye to the injustices BS Aquino has committed. Sadly, former Aquino ally Walden Bello’s decision to become the President’s critic is too late to save the day. Had Bello spoken up years ago about the shenanigans in the current government, a few disasters could have been prevented from happening in the Philippines. Now Filipinos have to live with the consequences of allowing BS Aquino to commit more mistakes.
In life, things are not always what they seem.
another good read mam. thanks!
i sometimes discuss the same things with others, i. e. Pnoy diehards, and still it doesnt stick.
its exasperating and upsetting. that they go ad hominem and everybody’s pissed.
talking to close minded people is truly a losing proposition.
Thanks, Monakh!
It’s ok. Let them make a fool of themselves now. We are planting the seeds of doubt so that when the proverbial brown stuff hits the fan, they will realise we were right all along.
If people like Grace Poe haven’t figured it out bu now then they never will. They will find any lame excuse to deflect blame and think that things will be better next time. Guess what? They won’t get better! Everyday that idiot opens his mouth (in public) the entire country cringes and instead of calling him out, they make up excuses… I honestly don’t know how this man can still be in Office!
He is in office because Filipino’s don’t have what it takes to get rid of him and all the rest of the thieves.
You really think Grace Poe doesn’t know? The all know, and are all part of it,DUH-MEE!!!!
Dos Euqis, I don’t know why you would be so disrespectful to someone who obviously shares the same view as you do but… You need to tone it down with me!
He’s not disrespecting you. He is suggesting that the senator knows and that they’re all in on the racket.
Roger that CT… Belay my last Dos E.
@Jetlag807
Seems their idea of honesty is different from our own idea. Grace Poe still believes in the “Aquino legacy”, unfortunately. She is part of the problem.
another hatchet job on the President and chief thief of the country. BUT, so what? What is BS Aquino going to do because some people don’t like him and even others think he is a thief and still others think him incompetent?
He,like the rest of the politicians,IS LAUGHING AT ALL OF YOU !!!! they have the keys to the treasury, and you do not. BWAH HA HA !!!
Yup. Them being a retard will definitely do that. But why laugh like them?
Well presented Ilda, as always.
I sincerely believe that all have been spoken about the disaster called the Philippine government.
Perhaps this is all what can be done for now, perpetually. Express distaste for whatever new fiasco that the government and the Philippine society would produce.
What more can be done for a country envisioned by then Pres. Manuel L. Quezon to be run like Hell by Filipinos. If this country is being run like “Hell”, as evidently seen, what can “demons” do to make a good government?
Perhaps there’s just one last hope that can “exorcise” this demonic society – help in pushing to RE-ANNEX THE PHILIPPINES AS U.S. TRUST TERRITORY.
The US wouldn’t be interested in acquiring such a poor performing asset…
Thanks, Shilo!
Yeah, at this point it’s hard to imagine how the situation can get any better with the way PNoy’s supporters are sticking by their man.
Aquino simply has a Very Large Ego. He cannot accept Responsibility. If he commits mistakes, he looks for someone to blame.
He simply has a very low Emotional Qoutient (EQ) and low Intelligent Qoutient (IQ)…
You can have Good intentions. However, your good intentions can produce bad results…
When we were asked to help candidate noynoy when he ran for the presidency. We siblings said, What did this country do to deserve such punishment? Why did people want to inflict upon themselves this curse? Sadly, we were right. We did not help him. We did not vote for him. But we could not stop him.
Again, sadly, even the bright people around him, are beginning to look and sound stupid, when they try to defend this indefensible fool.
Good intentions? His cohorts forget the saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If pnoy and his ilk persist on this course, then they shall all be damned.
if people in power were serious about ending poverty, they could start by: allowing the poor free access to: public transport, public housing, hospitals, schools, a living and just wage where the working poor could survive in frugal dignity etc.
the mind-boggling amount of money lost due to corruption since 2010 would have been more than enough to have kick-started a universal medicare scheme for everyone in the country, including the poor, but it’s all been squandered away now.
Lee Kuan Yew, who today passed away, will be revered by the Singaporean people for his utter integrity, humility, and good governance, he transformed Singapore from a backwater into the success story it is today.
When will that happen in the Philippines?
Lee Kuan Yew worked for the people.
Filipinos work for themselves and do not give a fuck about the people.
“if people in power were serious about ending poverty, they could start by: allowing the poor free access to: public transport, public housing, hospitals, schools,”
Even Lee Kuan Yew made sure that poor people pay for their rent-to-own homes, the thing is he made sure it is within the means of those people. By now majority of Singaporeans have a place of their own. Unless it is the impotent poor you’re talking about, those who can’t really go to work or look after themselves, then yes, they should be given free access to those you’ve mentioned. Once the poor are classified, take in consideration the important factors that could turn them into active player in our society because there are those who refused to work, those who live on charity even if they are capable of working and there are also those who just lack the skills or proper education. And here we have lots of enemies to overcome before one can do some saving out of poverty and crack the thick shell of stupidity and cluelessness amongst our people. We have the Philippine media that dumb down people, the Filipino culture on supporting the entire family, our own divided government, incompetent and fraudulent leaders, oligarchy, government dependency and no real opposition that’s pro-justice, pro-growth and order (what did i missed?). I’m sure a lot of us dare hope that the latter could be Sen. Grace Poe’s team. There should have been no reservation in their final judgment. They owe it to the victims, their family and all the people vying for justice and accountability. Unfortunately…
RIP Lee Kwan Yew. BUT, lets see if the Man is the myth? Singaporeans figured out that they should not do many of the thing Filipino’s do constantly,such as:public urination,litterring,accepting political bribes to vote for someone,and many other things.
IDK why the Filipino nation has not banded together,instead of dividing themselves,in common national interests to further the national agenda.Singapore did just that and look where it has got them.The Philippines,from what I know of Filipino’s, could have outdone Singapore,but no !and now the Filipino nation is so far fucked that they have no idea and leaders incapable of,finding a way out of the darkness that has befallen the country.
The Republic of the Philippines is fucked,make no mistake….and not a single politician in the country has any clue about how to solve the countries multiple problems.Metro Manila’s traffic problem,the world’s highest electricity rates(although the ENRON playbook could be done away with at a moments notice)…etc…etc…etc…
Good intentions? A man who’s full of himself is likely to do everything for self-interest alone and not for the good of others, if that’s what we mean by “good intentions.” It seems so many Filipinos, including a senator (Poe), do not know how to size up people.
…and let’s hope it’s not too late for us to redeem ourselves, because humans can commit mistakes with irreversible consequences.
Correct. One day there might not be any trace of Filipinos anymore after China or Malaysia takes over the Philippines due to the majority’s apathy and indifference to what is going on around them.
it has happened before: Poland’s govt became so ineffective and disunited that there were 3 partitions by Prussia, Russia and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795 after which Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for 123 years!
but that didn’t last long, only until 1939 but not until 1989 did it emerge more united and democratic than ever before – and free.
Hi Walter
Good thing the Polish people got their act together eventually.
Filipinos are slow to react to atrocities that happened as a result of the current government’s incompetence and arrogance. It baffles me also why a lot of Filipinos are not outraged by MILF’s blatant disregard for Ph authority. It might be too late when they realise the consequence of PNoy’s “peace deal” with this rebel group.
@ Prez e., I hate to tell you, but it is past the point of return. IDK when exactly that happened, but it is within the last 10 years for sure. The national situation is bad that the people who run things have no clue as to figure out the solutions to the nation’s problems.
Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.