In Korina Sanchez’s opinion, the Philippine Supreme Court is “still beholden to the gods of the past, and not to the people”.
Well who isn’t anyway?
This is the Philippines we are talking about — world-renowned for being a nation of people who remain fixated on the past and clueless about their future; focused on themselves and oblivious of their surroundings; and prayerful for salvation yet hopeless at saving themselves.
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Even more tragic is how Filipinos look to their presidents as the miracle cure for their persistent wretchedness. I’ve long maintained that Philippine Presidents — even the longest-serving ones — make a very small difference. And what little impact they have on Philippine society is sustained only at the tip of what is an immense iceberg of profound cultural dysfunction that deeply characterises the collective character of the Filipino.
Way back in 2008 when the chattering classes of Philippine “society” were exchanging their small-minded views on what they perceived to be the appalling prospect of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo extending her term beyond 2010, I wrote my seminal piece Who cares if Gloria is President after 2010? where I challenged what is now the evidently primitivist notion that who the president happens to be at the moment has some causal bearing upon the overall fortunes of the people who are subject to him or her.
Back then the political activist’s tagline of choice was simple enough for morons to internalise (as with most successful slogans)…
A Gloria Arroyo presidency beyond 2010 will spell disaster for the Philippines.
… and therefore …
Patalsikin na, NOW na! (“Oust her right now!”)
But, see, the premise of the above “call to action” of the politically passionate folks of 2008 would ideally have been underpinned by thinking around the following conceptual framework that is an expansion of the question I posed above:
Can we, infer from a value of A [who the President is], what the probability distribution for a set of values of B [how the economy performs] might be?
For example, what many people claim to be a certainty can be expressed like this (using the conventions I loosely spelled out above):
IF A = GMA and Year > 2010,
THEN B = Disaster for the Philippinesor, for that matter;
IF A is NOT equal to GMA and Year > 2010,
THEN B = Prosperity for the PhilippinesMy question is this: Is there an A=>B relationship?
Despite the above question remaining unanswered, many Filipinos ate up the “activist” tagline hook line and sinker. And so here we are now under the leadership of the Second Aquino Administration — well past the Year 2010, the Patalsikin Na Now Na crowd victorious.
Yet the question of whether or not we have a better economy much less a better Philippines today remains debatable. And the debate will rage on, perhaps coming out of the Year 2016 (the end of Aquino’s term as President) utterly unresolved. In fact, as I pointed out above, it is unresolvable. In short, “debate” on this matter is a waste of time.
Fact is, the Philippines will simply go to wherever it is headed regardless of who is at the helm. If you compare the Philippines of today with the Philippines of the 1970’s from a broad perspective, you will find that our society is fundamentally the same — same infestation of pwede-na-yan and bahala-na mentalities, same culture of banal impunity, same overall inconsiderate demeanor, same tacky aesthetic sensibilities, same largely unimaginative entertainment industry, and same mediocre industrial faculties.
Whatever differences in “character†supposedly shaped by one president or the other that we imagine to have been applied is just a cosmetic veneer on top of the more stable and more deeply-ingrained lack of national character that the fine men and women of GetRealPhilippines.com have been pointing out for the longest time. So let’s not get caught up with WHO the president is. In my opinion, the effect of one bozo in Malacañang or the other offers very little contribution to our aspirations to change at a fundamental level. And it is this largely stable dysfunctional character that mainly accounts for what the future holds for us.
Korina Sanchez should go back to what she does best, which is to look perky before the cameras and just read the news.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Corina said: “the President was not to be denied the chance to air out what he sees as a poorly functioning Supreme Court.”
Wow!! Amazing twist… amazing belief. The function of the judiciary is to decide on what is just; provide a ruling to compensate the aggrieved and the violated; and define the punishment within the legal framework on those who have violated. So what’s the blabber about?
The function of the executive is to interpret and implement the law. The deliverable of this branch pertains to the basic needs: food, clothing, shelter. Sama na natin ang well-being… that pertains to womb to tomb policies, peace and order, education etc…
BOTTOM LINE: As far as Corina’s ex-boyfriend Abnoy…. NONE DELIVERED.
Abnoy did not do his part in year one because of underspending and incompetence in the area of economic growth and economic development. The decision to distribute the CARPABLE HLI is a feather on the sleeve of the judiciary where the head of the executive branch has vested interest. So who is not functioning well?
Napurnada kasi yung chance ni Mar Roxas na maging 80% president (from abnoy’s dzmm interview).
“The function of the executive is to interpret and implement the law.”
Truth is, INTERPRETING THE LAW is also a function of the judiciary, so that leaves the executive with only enforcing/implementing the law. So you’re right: What’s the blabber all about?
This administration could, AT LEAST, provide equal opportunity for all – that is the least law enforcement. Unfortunately (if fortune has anything to do with it), they continue on giving 0 opportunity for all. Equal 0 opportunity for those who need them. If SC would entertain the President’s childish bickering, they would more to say.
“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” – J.C.
I agree. Let’s also put that interpreting function in the legislative branch. They also interpret the highest law of the land which is the constitution. Interpretation is done to draft and pass bills based on the articles of the constitution. In the executive branch there are Implementing Rules and Regulations per every department, agencies, bureaus and commissions of the executive branch. The interpretation function is also applied in the discretionary function of enforcement agencies such as PNP, BIR, LTO, Customs etc…
In the case of Abnoy’s cause to pin down GMA because of perception of violations of the law, he needs to gather EVIDENCE of FRAUD then present it at the right office within the government structure… kahit sa barangay pwede syang mag file. He had one year and seven months to go through this logical and rational process. Why only now? SHORTCUT KING AND QUEEN si Abnoy at si Delima dahil they are presenting these evidences at the corrupt tri-media. Fortunately (or unfortunately) his former wishart Corina is blabbering about these issue as if she really knows what’s it all about. It’s easy to twist facts when you have a name to boot plus the power of her vagina over two men of power.
BadNoy has been manipulating media through his communications group. His mediocre thoughts, beliefs, opinions and even his ignorant, shortsighted twisted interpretation of the law against the Judiciary is echoed by many empty walls.
Korina is just part of the manipulated media. She is just an empty wall echoing the rants of the noisy dictator. This is part of the ongoing progrom to influence the minds of the gullible and the blind followers. Thus democracy and freedom can be ignored because they say so.
The masters echoed voice appears as all knowledgeable and supreme. No, I am not referring to the new society. This was in the distant past where the High Court was not touched by echoes. Welcome the improved society where the noise of the madding crowd prevail over reason and sanity!
Something is really amiss with the way Filipinos are fed with public information reason that the majority’s mental aptitude is backwards, barriotic, provincial, and islandic to say the least. Watching news programs now is no different than engaging in “tsismisan sa tindahan”. Listen to the way (the tone and script) they are styled and delivered.
Filipinos are buying it anyway.
“The Gods of the Past.” Are still here ruling us…Corina Sanchez’ husband: Mar Roxas, is one of those Gods. The Roxas family political dynasty and other family political dynasties, have not contributed anything good in our country. But, made themselves sure, they are always in power…
We are a dysfunctional country…full of political opportunists…whose loyalties are their Stomachs…
Look at who the people are in Noynoy Aquino’s administration. Most of them, are the people , when, Gloria Arroyo was in power…When Noynoy Aquino will soon be out of power. You can be sure of these peoples’ faces, will again surface, on whoever President, will take his place…
Because Korina Sanchez and others in mainstream media have demonstrated to be incapable of delivering balanced reports especially when it comes to political and related issues—due of course to their personal bias or lack of objectivity, they have lowered the standard of professional journalism to a level even below those of amateur blog sites.
Blog sites like this one have definitely proven to be more reliable and insightful in terms of analysis, in comparison to supposedly professional news reporting sites and journals like the Inquirer.net, TV Patrol, Balitang America and/or ABS-CBN, etc. I am forced to treat these supposedly professional news reporting sources as just another source of opinions. Blog sites are even getting to be more objective than these “pros”.
If these journalists continue to tread this unenlightened path, they would be responsible for the destruction or demise of real democracy in the Philippines. Uncritical news audience who have left left a significant part of their thinking to these so-called journalists have already forfeited their right to be free.
There are so many self-righteous calls for “delicadeza” yet bozos like these who are laden with heaps of baggage bursting with personal agendas fail to see the lack of that very same delicadeza when they go out and abuse their access to mass communication channels to broadcast wholesale drivel to their vast audience of already misguided minded people.
Your view is so pessimistic and self-derogatory. I don’t believe that the Philippines will simply go wherever it is headed regardless of who is at the helm. Would you say the same if we would have another dictator who would control the media and prevent the entry of latest technologies like, for example, the internet or cable TV because it gets in the way of spreading their lies? How about a president who would resort to showbiz gimmicks, envelopmental PR and outright lies just to maintain his/her position? I don’t think so, no way man. From the way your article went, it seems you can’t tell the difference between black and white. Your mind is clouded with something. We must always be wary of selecting our leaders and how we select them.
Re what you say here:
But isn’t that what still is happening today?
nailed it.
Well said!