The Filipino people are at a crossroads in their political lives. The impeachment trial of Chief Justice (CJ) Corona will resume on March 12, which gives us time to think how we have gotten to this point. GRP personified benign0 gives us an idea here.
Let us recall what has happened in the last two weeks. Evidence presented by the prosecution got thrown out. Secretary de Lima struggled with her testimony. The prosecution dropped five out of their eight original articles of impeachment. Senator Miriam Santiago delivered her most ear-wrenching lecture yet (gago!). Vitallano Aguirre made the mistake of covering his ears just to keep from hearing one of Santiago’s lectures, which in turn earned him a citation in contempt of court. He resigned from the prosecution panel shortly thereafter.
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In summary, the prosecution’s case is going rather well.
We the Filipino people, in a way are involved in a trial of our own. We stand accused of not thinking for ourselves these last 26 years. We stand accused of being responsible for our own lack of progress. We stand accused of not taking our destinies into our own hands as a people. We stand accused of squandering opportunities that have come to improve our way of life.
In short, we stand accused of paving the road towards our own demise.
CJ Corona’s case has clearly divided us. There are those who have pre-judged the CJ even if the trial has not yet finished, and there are those who have come to appreciate the law, the idea of due process, and the idea of three coequal branches of government, for what they really stand for. We have seen our Senators rise to the occasion, and for some, fall flat on their faces. Whatever the verdict will be, Filipino society will never be the same.
In one of my previous articles, I enjoyed the exercise of drawing parallels between a fictional work, and our current state of Philippine politics. I thought I would do it again here.
Our reference this time is the very noteworthy film, A Few Good Men. It stars Tom Cruise and Demi Moore as Judge Advocate General (JAG) lawyer Kaffee and Naval Investigator Galloway, respectively. Jack Nicholson stars, in perhaps one of his most memorable roles, as Colonel Jessup. Plot summary here.
The story follows the trial of two United States Marine Corps (USMC) soldiers, Downey and Dawson, who are being investigated for murder following the death of a fellow Marine, Willy Santiago. They were stationed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where the commanding officer is Colonel Jessup. If you think about it, the two defendants can represent two types of Filipino citizens. I will elaborate on this later.
The courtroom scene towards the end is the source for one of the best lines in film ever. After Kaffee caught Jessup in one of his own lies, he decided that the time was ripe to force the colonel to admit ordering a Code Red, a euphemism for an extrajudicial punishment. Although he was close to being cited in contempt of court, he felt he could get the colonel to admit it.
Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!!!
Jessup: You can’t handle the truth!!!
Substitute President Aquino (PNoy) for Jessup, and a Concerned citizen (cross-examiner) for Kaffee, and take any scenario of his being caught in an awkward situation where he had been inconsistent, or inadvertently shown his own bias (take your pick):
PNoy: You want answers?
Cross-examiner: I want the truth!!!
Pnoy: You can’t handle the truth!!!
After that, Jessup delivers a short speech where he regards Kaffee as disrespectful of Marines doing their duty. It’s not too far from the notion of PNoy disrespecting his critics, isn’t it? Kaffee continues anyway.
Kaffee: Did you order the Code Red?!?!?!?
Jessup: You’re goddamn right I did!!!
Now, let’s define “Code Red†in our own context. We can make Code Red stand for COrona DEcision (on Hacienda Luisita) REDone, or COrona DEposed, REputation Destroyed. I leave it up to the readers to think of their own terms. The significance of this phrase to us is that even just by dragging him through an impeachment trial, PNoy has effectively killed not just the career of CJ Corona, but of anyone who has an opinion that he does not like. Do the same role substitutions, and we get the following exchange:
Cross-examiner: Did you order the Code Red?!?!?!?
PNoy: You’re goddamn right I did!!!
As for the defendants, they were found not guilty of murder, but they were not able to avoid dishonorable discharge, due to being guilty of conduct unbecoming of a Marine. The difference lies in the way each of them accepted the verdict:
Downey: Colonel Jessup said he ordered the Code Red!!! What did we do wrong?!?!?!? We did nothing wrong!!!
Dawson: Yeah, we did. We were supposed to fight for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willy.
I mentioned earlier that the two Marines on trial can symbolize two types of Filipino citizens. Downey represents a Filipino who just blindly follows his leaders’ words and nothing else. Dawson symbolizes a Filipino who, in the end, had learned to discern between right and wrong, between what his duty is and what he should not do, albeit too late.
It’s interesting to note, by the way, that the USMC motto is Semper fidelis, which means “always loyal†in Latin. I wonder how much longer PNoy’s supporters will be able to feel that for him.
While we are talking movie references, let’s mention the sci-fi classic, Tron.. I am referring to the very first film, released in 1982, not the sequel from 2010. Let’s proceed to the scene where the security program, Tron, is doing battle with the main villain’s assistant, Sark.
Sark: You’re very persistent, Tron!
Tron: I’m also better than you!
Now substitute Corona for Tron, and PNoy for Sark. Hey, even the roles that they play fit! We get the following dialogue:
PNoy: You’re very persistent, Corona!
Corona: I’m also better than you!
Those familiar with the movie will probably find more parallels between it and our current political situation, but I won’t go through them in detail here. I leave it as an exercise to the readers (hint: Master Control Program (MCP) = oligarchs).
Lastly, I just want to mention that it’s a given in these forums, that we get the occasional commenters who just do not get it. There are some who have the gall to keep insisting that we are too concerned about the procedures of the impeachment trial, instead of focusing on the truth. An example of such a statement, below:
“And all of you are making a controversy out of the PROCEDURE while missing the goal and the crux of the matter which is the TRUTH. How pathetic. I’m out of here.“
If your data is flawed, then your conclusion is flawed, that simple. This is non-negotiable for anything that has to go through a systematic procedure, such as a court trial. If you don’t follow a systematic procedure, you’re doing no better than a witch hunt. People like the above-mentioned will never be able to appreciate, nor understand that.
Once again, that epic exchange from A Few Good Men plays in my head:
“I want the truth!!!â€
“You can’t handle the truth!!!â€
PNoy, his prosecution team, his supporters, and anyone who does not want to think, do not look very capable of handling the truth. The case against CJ Corona has just gotten even flimsier. The house of cards is about to come crashing down.
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
Nice one on comparing the impeachment with those movies you’ve mentioned. Although you should also include this from Judge Dredd since this is about the law (Dredd as Corona while Rico as pnoy):
Oops correction: (Corona as Dredd while pnoy as Rico)
LOL. how could I forget that.
You betrayed the LAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!
Anatomy of most Get Real Forums:
(1) This is the typical opening salvo. Usually, it is composed of ass kissers to initiate the discussion. Very seldom, but it’s possible, that a transient poster will make the first remark.
don’t assume all people are like you.
you have yet to make a point of any substance beyond the capacity of an 8-year old. but keep trying, kid.
Do you also know where we like to take our lunch everyday? 😉
Wonderful article. That is a classic line “you can’t handle the truth”. As I recollect, it was spouted in rage by the Nicholson character, who ended up in jail and disgrace. So his fear of getting information out – the truth – is what did him in.
I dunno. I see the incompetence of the prosecution and the SALN that does not add up and the rants and taunts and say “yep, this is the Philippines, where real life is better than most movies”.
For myself I don’t like having a Chief Justice who testifies to an SALN that adds up wrongly, or uses a dozen attorneys to make sure his dollar assets remain hidden. You know, the top judicial officer of the land who does not want facts to influence the decision.
if i were in a boxing match i’d want my opponent to NEVER protect himself too, joe. but then, what will my win prove?
Facts SHOULD prove he deserves to stay in office.
That he is fighting so desperately to hide information sends the wrong message, that he believes in the exercise of law, rather than the good the law is designed to protect.
In other words, he is acting like an attorney rather than a judge.
@Joe America
Why don’t we await the defense panel’s turn before making statements against CJ Corona.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. False dichotomy Mister Joe.
I think Mister Joe’s arguments are direct. You may have been too strict on the punctuations that is why you treated it as one sentence.
Mister Joe’s approach here is one of literary style and textbook Mechanic’s of Arguments on Debate sadly does not apply all the time.
Try correcting the Gettysburg Address and see how pale that will become.
we’re not sure yet why he has those accounts, the defense hasn’t defended their position yet. You’ve already judged him as someone who is hiding stuff because he has dollar accounts. Maybe he uses them for currency arbitrage or they can be outright empty.He also did not hire attorneys just to make sure his dollar accounts are hidden, the law provides that it is illegal to open those accounts.The attorneys are there to defend his innocence.
Combuzz, I am simply giving a personal impression. We can’t know what is in the accounts unless the defense is willing to allow it, because secrecy of the accounts is a law. The judge doesn’t want us to know, when the purpose of the SALN is perfectly clear. Public officials ought not to be able to hide illgotten wealth in a nation that does this routinely. In the US it is called fraud.
How do you right the ship? Transparency. Just as the U.S. is breaking down Swiss secrecy laws in the hunt for tax evaders.
I am looking forward to the defense case with great expectation.
@joe: those “facts” should have been part of legally obtained evidence. if you personally have an issue with legally obtaining evidence, go ask a lawyer why evidence MUST be legally obtained.
now, if those “facts” are NOT part of evidence, and the prosecution is FISHING for possible things to whack the accused with, that’s already allowing the accusing party (who is, take note, accusing without proof) to hound the accused as long as the accuser’s benefactor has enough resources to keep intruding into everything. it will have no end except in the accused losing in the end, whether the accused is a guilty man or an innocent man, because the machinations you want imposes no proper, decent, or lawful restraint on the accuser.
of course, i would love to see that happen to pnoy himself, being hounded in court for the rest of his life for being instrumental in ruining the economy by prioritizing political vengeance, trading the country’s democratic institutions for hacienda luisita, and whatever else we could think of later and much much later.
i would love for all his critics to band together and hound pnoy on case after case after case so pnoy will have to explain why he shouldn’t be punished, penalized, or pwned for each of these:
http://grpshorts.blogspot.com/2011/11/tit-for-tat-ii-list-of-things-that-went.html
never mind his rights to protect himself. let’s put all the dirt on the table and spend an eternity accusing people and hoping to find evidence sooner, later, or much much later. after all, that’s what seems to send the right message, right joe?
(btw, all this talk of transparency is moot if not applied to all them public officials, your idol included.)
parallelaxe, I agree, even the bank accounts of President Aquino should be available to law enforcement agencies upon showing “reasonable cause” to a judge, and receiving a warrant for access. I also agree the courtroom should not be used as a fish bowl.
Fallen Angel, I took my pills before commenting. Just like Senator Santiago ought to do.
May I say frankly, Joe, I think your commenting style is getting better 🙂
Careful Joe, nobody has pre-judged the trial here. I trust you know better than to make mistakes like that.
Let me reiterate what everybody else before me here has said. Let’s wait for the defendant’s explanation on things. If the defense cannot counter the prosecution’s argument sufficiently, not all the CJ powers in the world can save Corona.
This is a nice twist in the realm of opinion posting! If I may borrow and alter a line from the movie Philadelphia to answer Sir Parallax’s analogy
“With all due respect your honor, *this is not a boxing match*”
* Moviebuff
@moviebuff: the thing about analogies is that there’s a common context that allows the parallelism to be expressed.
now, if we’re just going to take snippets of whatever from anywhere without using context, then any schmoe could answer you back quoting from a fairly frequently heard line from penn & teller’s popular series named “bullshit”. guess what that word is.
get what i mean?
Sir Domo:
It’s good you mentioned Judge Dredd and compared him to Corona. Remember these lines uttered by Corona, errr….Judge Dredd
“I did not betray the law. I AM THE LAW”
In reality… CJ Corona never said “I am the law.”
I sure miss the critter Vincenzo. Looks like the good trolling lure attracted trash fish again.
Let’s wait for their time to present then. Here’s hoping that a permanent, errr…. temporary (what the heck there is no difference anyway) restraining order is not in the works.
I really hate to say (from the movie “I, Robot” uttered by WIll Smith)…”I told you so, does not quite make it”.
…..your temper Sir
And Sir, that is what one gets when one tries to tailor a movie’s storyline and context to fit one’s point of view 😉
LOOSE ENDS
loose ends are the hallmark of pamimilosopo, and you’re the one who got them. no surprise there.
Der Fuhrer,
A quote from Archie comics comes into mind:
“*sigh*. We used to get a higher class of trash in this neighborhood.”
……Kids.
Fallen Angel
The “Watergate Scandal†(1972) and the Cover Up that ensued with the involvement of no less than the Executive would be closer, because it was Nixon, no less, who masterminded and funded the underhanded techniques the accusers employed, particularly the resort to “dirty tricks‖the “manufactured, irrelevant, cruel and incorrect rumors or outright falsehoods designed to damage or destroy an opponent.â€
As regards the “truth†in Corona’s SALN declarations and Dollar accounts (Joe America), let’s be patient and just wait for the crucial testimonies of the Central Bank “plumbers†in the on-going Senate Hearings, which might lead to the identity of their closet principals and, of course, the much-awaited response (Der Fuhrer’s comment)any accused in a fair trial is entitled to render, a week from now (Mar. 12th).
In fact, like in any “boxing” match Parallax suggested, I wouldn’t be surprised if the defense team will call for Corona’s presence–in tandem, of course, with PNoy’s invitation, or if not, to secure PNoy’s attendance by “compulsory process‖during the hearings to allow the accused the opportunity (a constitutional RIGHT) to confront face-to-face and one-on-one, his Chief Accuser.
what is code red in this analogy? what did pnoy order which the soldiers followed?
What order you say? Why almost everything, from demonizing said person in media to the 188 fools who signed and have not read said impeachment articles.
i gotta hand it to you, gabbyd. if there’s anything at all that’s completely reliable about you, it’s quality control.
internal quality audit. The problem is that the yield is always less than satisfactory.
guaranteed to fail virtually all the time, everytime.
it’s so damn reliable it’s practically six sigma in fail. no more than 3.4 comments of substance (the six sigma defect) per million opportunities.
ROFL 🙂
The six sigma reference is downright hilarious, all the more so because I have an IE background
would have been in ie myself had i not run into certain forks along the way. 🙂
GabbyD, let’s play a little game. Why don’t you comment here on what you think the answer is, and then I’ll tell you afterwards whether we’re thinking the same thing.
If you make an excuse that you’ve not yet seen the movie, go watch it.
If you make an excuse that my article is not clear enough, read it again.
If you fail to see the figures of speech I used, just stop.
In other words, gamitin mo naman utak mo.
well, in the text, you left the analogy open for interpretation. its confusing.
lets say it means that Pnoy (jessup) orders his men (congressmen) to code red a fellow soldier (corona).
ok. then you write: “After that, Jessup delivers a short speech where he regards Kaffee as disrespectful of Marines doing their duty. It’s not too far from the notion of PNoy disrespecting his critics, isn’t it?”
but i thought pnoy was jessup, not kaffee?
also, the point of code red wasnt to kill santiago, but merely to haze him to be a better soldier. this is a major plot point in the movie — santiago wanted to leave, but was prevented many times because jessup wanted him disciplined.
so, is the point of the impeachment to haze corona? or get rid of him? the analogy breaks down at this point.
i ask because i love that movie and aaron sorkin’s other work. a few good men is a conflict over what the vision of the military is. for kaffey (and his dad), civilian control over the military is part of what makes america great. for jessup, its the complete opposite — civilian control over the military is ministerial. for the big issues, military discipline and rank trumps all (note how he dismisses women holding a higher rank than him with casual sexism).
@fallenangel: does this count and mean we have 2.4 remaining? 😛
Jessup is intended to be pnoy. There is no confusion there.
Think about it from another angle, the impeachment case was intended to make an example of the CJ, if not to make him more compliant. But PNoy, in a way, overdid it. He not only pushed the trial, he is slinging mud every chance he gets. By doing so, he is effectively killing his career as I said above. And a dead career, in a way, reduces someone to a lifeless corpse.
Similarly, the code red is intended to discipline someone and make him more compliant. Unchecked, it leads to death, as the movie had shown.
Remember that I defined the term “code red” in our context above. Not only that part, but the entire analogy wouldn’t have worked if I just superimposed A unto B without taking into regard the different contexts. And I didn’t do that.
And with what you said about Kaffee advocating civilian control, the analogy to our context is that Corona symbolizes the check and balance that the judiciary plays. PNoy, consistent as Jessup, insists that such be done away with.
Remember as well that part of Jessup’s speech after “you can’t handle the truth::. There’s a part:”…sleeps under the very blanket of freedom I provide, and questions the manner in which I provide it.” Read between the lines, and that part implies “you have no right to tell me how to do my job”. Now do you see why I said “similar to Pnoy disrespecting his critics”?
Sure, not all of the speech applies to Pnoy, but the gist does.
So, the analogy doesn’t break down. It actually works better than even I thought.
Having just said the above, GabbyD, I just have one question:
do we have to spell out everything for you?!?!
Parallax, to answer your question, complete the following phrase in GabbyD’s context:
At first if you don’t succeed…
I’m surprised you didn’t pick up who “Lord of the sea” is 😛
if at first you don’t succeed, gabbyd, you still have 3.4 out of a million attempts left.
“lord of the sea”… i must be too sleepy to think what i am missing here though, fallenangel. sorry. 🙁
i’ll be the first to admit i need a little less figuring out right about now.
Is it possible the author of this article haven’t reviewed his piece thoroughly?
On one hand you already judged that Pnoy gave the marching orders for the impeachment
(read).Cross-examiner: Did you order the Code Red?!?!?!?
PNoy: You’re goddamn right I did!!!
While on the other hand you are demanding that Corona should not be judged before the defense present their counterargument.
Pnoy did. It’s called pork barrel. Just ask the baguio rep who regretted signing the complaint in exchange for millions of pesos.
The Pro-Pnoy supporter will also say likewise to Corona’s bank and dollar accounts.
You missed the point.
@losenemigos: 1luna is trying to reconcile this
with
but pnoy being the driving force of the impeachment wasn’t something to be “judged”. it’s fact. corona’s guilt or innocence is what’s to be determined in the trial.
hihirit ka lang mali pa.
Then it defeats the writer’s intention of educating us of the workings of Law because we ourselves are guilty of the pre-judging.
hi 1luna. see my reply to losenemigos. thanks.
@ 1luna
it’s just a metaphor, a figure of speech which a term or phrase is applied to something
I think the author is the best one to defend that.
From how I read it, he is more on the technical rather than the literature author.
I don’t know if people here are refined enough, but I present this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keZlextkcDI
Parallax, karim, thank goodness for people like you who get it.
I just want to say, for the record, that figures of speech, symbolism, and stretching one’s imagination, are literary devices lost upon quite a few here.
At face value, this article is entertainment. It’s more entertaining than anything else to see life imitating fiction. However, articles like these are also mirrors. The reader sees what he/she wants to see, precisely because I, the author, am not merely just shoving opinions down your throats. Frankly, comparisons like these also make the article easier to swallow.
I fashioned this article in such a way that you guys can draw your own conclusions, but nowhere did I say mine, if any, is the only valid one. Therefore, if anybody is accusing me of any bias, think again whose bias it actually is.
Once again, people shoot the messenger but not the message, or they just plain don’t get it.
“LOST” seems to mean IGNORED by these people, fallenangel. some of them don’t even sound like vincenzo; they’re fairly articulate. and six sigma boy gabbyd here has a master’s degree or something. it’s either intellectual dishonesty (for pretending not to get it in order to force one’s point-of-view on another without being able to really back it up) or an alarming waste of education money spent by parents.
Are you serious?! Figure of speech is your alibi for that unequivocal, straight in-your-face statement that Pnoy “ordered the code Red”?
You should at least be man enough to admit that, I may agree with you even without the procedures of Law you speak so highly of.
But then again you will be contradicting yourself, would you not?
Tough situation you’re in. There is however, a procedure in Manufacturing that you can do, alligned with your Six Sigma requirements…. RECALL.
it would be nice if you read the whole article again and show at least a few iq points and the reading comprehension skills of a grade four kid.
your failure to get it isn’t the author’s fault but your own. maybe they should have had a recall for the entire batch where your brain came from.
pa-alibi alibi pa.
Too bad.
How about this Inquirer Headline:
“We were oppressed by the Coronas”
On one hand, fallen angel is telling us not to judge that this is true unless Corona has his day in court.
On the other, you are telling us (through your one track mind argument “but pnoy being the driving force of the impeachment wasn’t something to be “judgedâ€. it’s fact.”) that we should believe the headlines anyway.
You and the author should QA your outputs before you proceed with the deliveries.
You see Parallax, this impeachment is an initiative of Congress. In their newfound zeal to rid the government of corruption, they mustered great haste to file the articles of impeachment. Nothing but good intentions here.
Also, you guys really need to be coordinated in delivering propaganda for this site. Sloppy and contradictory reasoning makes you no different from a bunch of nationally infamous lawyers.
@peste: take the cobwebs off your face and see with clarity what 188 congressmen could actually sign with newfound zeal without reading it.
you call this “sloppy and contradictory reasoning”?
do your homework, kid.
hihirit lang, mali pa.
@losenemigos: your loss if you choose not to get it, pal. but then, i shouldn’t have expected that much of you.
go on, have another QA pun and maybe it will be funny this time. let’s pretend it actually applies.
Where did you come from you little boy. It’s not your cue yet.
Parallax can still handle this with his trademark bullying, has not gone fiscalizer mode yet. You are supposed
instruct us on the dilapidated “Manual on Debates”.
In fairness with Anonymous (with his limited vocabulary i.e. idiots and its derivative and trolls only) you’re right on cue for the first half.
Aegis Judex, not yet. You are supposed to be self-righteous when the whole staff has given their parting shots.
Hehe
Where is the resident
@nut: what is it about you geniuses that gets you predictably calling the prevailing guy the bully? i suppose trolls hate being trolled, mmmm?
playing victim is just pathetic. go ahead and cover your ears.
Peste gets the point Parallax.
It’s a shame you can not take the high road.
@1luna: i usually do take the high road with dissenters who post intelligent rebuttals, not wiseassedness.
Still in denial mode. Typical.
yeah, denial. tsk tsk. should i turn over a new leaf, mommy?
Demmit Parallax, I thought my second paragraph was enough to clue you in on my sarcasm.
Peste, you’re no different from the dog who eats his own puke.
You lost your balls the sudden you got the courage to wear it.
Tsk.Tsk.
And it took you more than a couple of hours to post it. Common sense.
OMG MY REPLY WAS HOURS DELAYED! I Oh I dunno, Blessie, I can be somewhere else doing other things aside from obsessively checking this site for new comments.
What was that? You guys flipped out when you thought you got a new ally? But when I said it was just sarcasm, you then spazz’d because those not on your side can finally make mistakes?
So you see, Parallax, better get some coordination there. They’re gonna monitor this site good. Even the post timing will not escape their eyes.
@peste: my bad. thought it was a yellow troll pretending to be you. no worries. (i had an odd feeling something was off. sorry.)
@blessyouchild: what, i can’t have any sleep just to slap your troll bums in the wee hours of the night? get real and get in line, pal. next!!!
LOL, the NUT tries to flame me but I have news for you… It doesn’t work you a**hole.
You think I have limited vocabulary?? Guess again freak.
Parallax, Even Homer sometimes nods. 🙂
Everyone else, no I’m not referring to Homer Simpson.
Peste, I almost didn’t get the sarcasm either. I initially wondered why you did an about-face. Oh well, even Homer sometimes nods.
@amir al bahr: doh!
(sorry. i couldn’t resist. 😛 )
my bad, you guys. my sarcasmometer was having lunch.
@peste: we’re cool, bro. (i’d suggest a gravatar, but then maybe you don’t have to.)
@amir: but seriously, thanks. 🙂
Parallax,
Since your head hurts, I won’t add to it. My screen name Amir al Bahr means “lord of the sea” in Arabic. 🙂
Angels who descend to Earth do need a place to rule over too 😛
hi amir. thanks. dunno why fallenangel assumed i’d pick up the meaning of your name, but then maybe i need more sleep just to get past this toxic week. (you could probably tell i don’t have my jerk streak right now.)
Too bad. You and the author are not that good in creative literature. Sarcasm?! Figure of speech. Metaphor. What next? Go ahead appease dear Parallax COBWEBFACE!!!!!! By the way, cobwebface is a Euphemism, just so you know…..Hehehehehe
For a “manual on debates” guy, you suck big time.
Make up your mind kid.
@losenemigos: yeah, i’m a little lost here, too. dunno who he’s really referring to or why my name is in there. [munching breakfast]
Same here, Peste is an honorable guy. Sorry NUT but he is no COBWEBFACE!!!!
hey..? napanuod ko ung a few good men.
Jack Nicholson as always blow me away (Kahit sa The Departed, at the Shining).
err. balik sa topic.
are we Filipinos cant really handle the “Truth”??
sa madaling salita, hindi. May mga Pilipinong hindi kinakayanang tanggapin ang katotohanan, sapagkat balat-sibuyas sila. Ngunit ito ay paksa para sa ibang talakayan. 🙂
oo nga, may mga Pilipinong hindi matanggap na corrupt ang midnight appointee ng pekeng pangulo. gumagawa pa sila ng site na sumusuporta sa kanya.
Nice try troll but your post is full of fail.
Get a life you ignoramus.
Source or your nose is getting longer troll.
Iyan ang mga paniniwala ng mga taong grasa sa Pilipinas and worse, people like you love to make TSISMIS as national pastime.
We can never progress as a country if you refuse to THINK. Sabi pa nga ni Richard Gordon “Filipinos don’t think. They REACT.”
Please give us FACTS and not conspiracy theories and other crap that you’re spouting.
they have valium at mercury. would be nice if you could down a few.
wow, seryoso, yun ang sagot mo sa akin? i feel so enlightened about the Philippines already! tell me more, gusto ko talagang malaman kung paano mag-isip ang mga tao dito.
Well, kalokohan ka rin because of your “anti-Pnoy at pro-CoronArroyo” approach. Sorry to say, but you should GET REAL because you’re completely missing the point. In short, you never get what the article says. Like Parallax said, Pnoy being the driving force for Corona’s trial is a FACT. May hidden agenda din sa Pnoy if you ask me.
For the record, you’re not really enlightened about the Philippines either. We do; that is because we saw the flaws and what it wrong with our country with things like our dysfunctional culture and other factors which made the Philippines as “Asia’s Basketcase of Wasted Democracy”. And that includes YOU.
@kalokohan: why, of course. i know it’s hard for you to miss a dose. it makes people like yourself go emo before using their brain.
We are looking for A Few Good Men, who will stop this madness that this mentally ill President has gotten us into…Philippine Embassies are closing due to lack of funds…and this mentally ill President is bent on spending our funds on this useless impeachment. Just to hold on his Hacienda Luisita and his hidden agendas of his Cojuangco family…
Some good Filipinos must stop this madness…
EMO detected.
Well, I was expecting somehow a more thought of answer. It turned out they were going back to the predictable one-track mind rebuttals. Typical ad infinitum, ad nauseum argument (it that qualifies as one).
Engage yourself in some simple mental calisthenics sometimes. It doesn’t feel it but brain atrophy might be settling in.
(That’s an advise, but then you know better, right?)
oh come on. you have yet to score ONE. chest-beating prosecution style is so last month.
You want the Truth?
(1) Hyden
You’re going the EMO way…way to go for STOICS like your minions
(2) Wha!!!! No Mush Room comments for Hyden?
(3) From the Movie Philadelphia
– “You’re talking about Law, you’re talking about procedures…Now let’s see what this procedure is all about?!”
– “Are you guys ONE-TRACK MINDED?! Are you guys ONE-TRACK MINDED?! It’s a simple yes-or-no question.”
(4) The Last of the Mohicans
“How I love to take scalps……It was 1Luna’s kill”
Proceed with the ass kissing of your kind guys :-).
you seem to enjoy conveniently taking snippets and never applying context (even after having been told).
very well.
here’s the quote you seem to have missed, the one that’s an excellent response to your butthurtness, moviebuff:
“bullshit!!!”
-quoted from the penn & teller series “bullshit”
Let the man speak. Since he seems to know a thing or two about GRP and claims that our agenda is “halatang halata”, let’s allow him to enlighten us as to what exactly this “agenda” is.
Tell us, Mr “Kalokohan ang GRP”: What do you think the “agenda” of GRP is? 😀
Ay, sorry, mali ba ako ng hula kung sino ang nagpa-fund sa inyo? Sino ba? Please enlighten me.
go have a fishing expedition yourself and find out.
@Kalokohan: why you don’t just admit the fact that what are you doing is nothing but spouting nonsense by putting up rhetorics and conspiracy theories and crap.
Ayaw mong aminin na you’re just a SLANDERER. Most of the trolls here are funded by the Yellow Media.
You really don’t get the point of the articles of GRP because you’re an ignorant flip who doesn’t give a damn on the sorry state of this country. At katulad talaga kayo ng bobo mong presidente: mahilig magbintang kahit inosente at walang matibay na ebidensya para lang sa ikakasaya ng sarili nyo.
Wala ba talaga kayong ibang strategy kundi mag-name calling? Napakaenlightened naman! I really felt your concern for the country.
Patunayan niyo na lang na hindi kayo propaganda machine. Yung may logic na paliwanag ha, wag yung puro ignorant flip+inosente-si-corona-because-I-said-so na hirit.
IKAW, wala ka na bang ibang alam kundi maggulo at mang gago sa site na ito? Mukhang wala ka nang alam kundi manggulo lang dito gunggong!
But GRP IS not a propaganda machine but rather to enlighten ignorant flips like you. Ang hirap lang kasi sa iyo, masyadong malaki ang duda mo sa amin. And it’s very obvious na ang hilig mong magbintang. If you think we are paid hacks, who told you that? Your crystal ball?
Hehe, if you want to talk about a propaganda machine, that is the Yellow Media (ABS-CBN, Inquirer, etc.)
You’re not enlightened at all. You’re just deluded, accusing of anyone just to make yourself feel good. No wonder why our country sucks.
I’m surprised we still have to give the lesser men “The Reason You Suck” Speech over and over again. Do they ever learn?
Sadly,it seems that the yellow trolls and idiots are too dumb and stupid to comprehend intelligent counter arguments to their idiotic posts here.
You are the Mother Theresa of our times with your self-proclaimed righteousness.
But no grey matter inside really.
i beg to differ, mister nut. aegis has demonstrated far more thinking capacity than you have.
cigar?
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta didn’t have to trumpet her righteousness. It just showed, you see.
BUT I DIGRESS.
What makes you think that I am lacking in the thinking capability department?
Any…new…words….you….learned….today….boy?
Am borrowing from Parallax’s. (I like your wits sometimes)
Your….voca….bu…lary….is….ohhh….sooooo……limited.
substandard imitation – the signature product of da pinoy
next!!!
Go plough yourself NUT or better yet go jump off a cliff you yellow idiot.
This NUT must be some kind of deluded and pathetic FAT jobless loser that spends time trolling on this site.
That is coming from a nutjob who wants to wreck havoc on this site since he’s an anti-intellectual.
Troll post detected
Fail lvl: very high
NUT, you are full of bullshit
Shut up NUT
The truth is… nobody really gives a flying f**k about what you think.
substandard imitation – the signature product of da pinoy
“Also, you guys really need to be coordinated in delivering propaganda for this site. Sloppy and contradictory reasoning makes you no different from a bunch of nationally infamous lawyers.”
Hahahahaha. Kinausap mo na lang sana si Parallax sa text. Tatlo na tuloy kayong nagmukhang tanga, hardeeharhar!!!!!
Damage control please. Nagkakalat na ang mga resident posters nyo.
Oh my, I might get fired if I don’t do this right!
Parallax was steadfast on his stance because he was passionate in his belief. That is respectable even to those having extreme differences in opninon.
You Peste, you smack of traditional and transactional politics of the worst kind.
You are an employee kissing prospective boss’s ass. That’s metaphor for you.
@losenemigos: whoa, back it up a bit and lay off on peste. he was being sarcastic (something i didn’t realize immediately as well).
If you say so Parallax. Cool then 🙂
@pamataypeste: the above happened because we who picked up the same message from this blog post as intended by the author, actually post our opinions independently of each other, unlike you trolls who, well, muddle up discussions only to make your cause look – what’s the word i’m looking for – idiotic, but in a coordinated fashion. which means you emo boys and girls are no different from tupas, aguirre, and the rest of the prosecution lawyers who are capable of nothing else but cover one’s ears and look stupid coordinatedly.
but then, pray tell, how the hell do you plan to pull a stunt like that here? you can’t, can you?
he was the same peste? I thought he turned yellow. Good news then. 🙂
I think he just ate his puke…ahehe
Jim, what happened to you?
The trolls are having a heyday that’s for sure! They’re getting so desperate.
Can we go back to the topic please?!
At ikaw, paulit-ulit na sinasabi na this is an ‘anti-Pnoy’ or a ‘pro-CoronArroyo’ site. Wow, what logic.
Paulit-ulot because you refuse to think CRITICALLY. Ya know what I’m saying?
Kalokohan, you can call parallax anything but never is he the one with the limited vocabulary words.
In fact, he is the most articulate guy here.
Give substance to your claims naman please.
Yeahhh…..It’s same as saying
Never is he the one with limited vocabulary
But you can call him anything…
Hahahahaha
and that’s rib-tickling funny why again?
No am just saying….jeez….. You can forgive Peste’s apparent cowdung and you can not even cut me some slack.
what’s to forgive? i screwed up, not peste.
but no offense taken. chill.
Note that comments that are in violation of this site’s Terms of Service will be (and are being) flagged as spam. Repeat offenders flagged as spam will eventually be noted by our spam protection provider’s database as such and will eventually be automatically filtered in subsequent instances. Admins of this site reserve the right to provide warning (or no warning at all) to offenders.
BenignO
IGNORE THEM would be the best response. To repeat what has often been quoted: “The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.” This old site offers several other response choices:
http://www.angelfire.com/space/usenet/
Indeed. And ultimately it takes people of substance to recognise those who are lacking in it. 😉
BenignO
Right, like most letters of application: NO RESPONSE; meaning SILENT REJECTION!
BenignO
See, it works! “Heaven has no rage …†scorned, unrequited, ignored!
I also beg to disagree with NUT (your name sounds really you) that “nagmukhang tanga ang tatlo” with Peste’s style. He was just driving home a point regarding the figures of speech.
Same here, Peste is an honorable guy. Sorry NUT but he is no COBWEBFACE!!!!
Same here, Peste is an honorable guy. Sorry MANE but he is no SPIDERMAN!!!!
How unfortunate for the prosecution to drop the other articles of impeachment before meeting Ana Basa.
Oh, I commented too soon before reading everything. I like how you never got over my comments. Hahaha. You should have included the quote from Einstein. The one that goes: Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to be our main problem. But I’m pretty sure you’ll ignore that part.
What’s so baffling about you people is that you remain indifferent or uninterested on the evidences presented by the prosecution. Instead, you make excuses for Corona. You make a controversy on how an impeachment trial should be done. You accuse the prosecution of doing dirty tricks. Yes, Corona is innocent until proven guilty and yes, we should follow the law but it seems like you didn’t watch the trial at all. YOU DIDN’T PUT INTO CONSIDERATION THE TESTIMONIES AND EVIDENCES OF THE WITNESSES. It’s like the part of the movie you missed on because you went to the restroom. And after all that, for you, he still isn’t a tiny wee bit suspicious? Don’t counter me by saying innocent until proven guilty given the fact that you’ve been making judgements of probably almost everyone–the president, senators, congressman, your wife, husband, neighbor, dog, me when we’re not even on trial.
—-If your data is flawed, then your conclusion is flawed, that simple. This is non-negotiable for anything that has to go through a systematic procedure, such as a court trial. If you don’t follow a systematic procedure, you’re doing no better than a witch hunt.—–> A systematic procedure such as a COURT TRIAL. Well, isn’t Corona on court trial? Systematic, yes. Perfect, never.
One more thing, —if your data is flawed, then your conclusion is flawed—> The data may be flawed/imperfect but not necessarily a lie. And what’s the purpose of a due process? What is our goal? What do we want to achieve out of all of this? We all want the truth, not the conclusion. And you, fallen angel, seems to be confused of that.
“Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to be our main problem.” – Albert Einstein.
The prosecution are nothing but a bunch of incompetent idiots. Yes, this a court trial but what they are doing is nothing more than TRIAL BY PUBLICITY. And even the witnessess are not credible to their testimonies. This is more like a circus act and you love to watch circuses since you’re missing the whole point.
So do you want to accept hearsays as TRUTH. LOL nice trolling you have there. Just accept the fact that you’re so vindictive and you’re also villifying Corona, just like the prosecution and even Pnoy himself.
We want the truth but I hope that is not your so-called ‘truth’. In reality, you just want to make yourself feel better.
Verdict: Point f*cking missed. Posts confirmed for trolling.
It’s called Karma.
Read Tulfo’s column in the PDI today.
I don’t believe in karma. That is only for fatalistic jerks.
Hey guys, next week will be pretty interesting.
It’s the Defense Panel’s turn to make a fool of themselves. And we thought that it could not get any dumber than the Prosecution.
This early, the Defense just made a preview:
“Why are they making noise only now? They should have sued the chief justice a long time ago.”
Am referring to the 90 year old nun Flory Basa’s allegations that the chief justice and his wife oppressed the former.
Mon Tulfo was very careful to insert the conditional: “if what the Basas are saying is true…”. I bet PNoy’s supporters will not be.
People who read that article or any other one regarding the Basas, and regard it as a godsend for the prosecution, are simply jumping to conclusions.
It smells funny of course. The timing, more than anything, is suspect. And it reeks of the Filipino traits pa-epal, pasikat, and pagtulungan ang isang tao.
So what you are saying is:
(1) The poor 90 year old nun is lying?
(2) The poor guy whom Corona pointed the gun at who also happened to file a testimony on 1999 is lying?
Do you really know Corona that much or your common sense needed to be impeached as well?
Also, you should read Tulfo’s article succeeding article. Maybe he just found out that nothing beats overwhelming plain common sense.
And Sir, please, for crying out loud, give the “you are jumping to conclusion” argument a break.
Everybody here knows that everyone is jumping to conclusion. What makes you different is that you made articles that champion it.
—The prosecution are nothing but a bunch of incompetent idiots.—> Whatever. And yeah, you’re a genius. That’s just what you want to hear so I’m saying it. It’s your time to shine!
—Yes, this a court trial but what they are doing is nothing more than TRIAL BY PUBLICITY.—> Like the 100 Mil BS?
—And even the witnessess are not credible to their testimonies.—>They aren’t credible because you said so?? Okayyy.
–This is more like a circus act and you love to watch circuses since you’re missing the whole point.—> Obviously, you haven’t been to the circus.
—So do you want to accept hearsays as TRUTH—> Uhhhhh. I didn’t say that. Do you call an original document from the bank a hearsay? Define hearsay please.
—Just accept the fact that you’re so vindictive and you’re also villifying Corona, just like the prosecution and even Pnoy himself.—>Have you been taking estrogen? How did I vilify Corona? By calling him suspicious? Or maybe you’re just using the word vilify without knowing it’s meaning.
—We want the truth but I hope that is not your so-called ‘truth’. —> What the hell is a so-called truth?!
—In reality, you just want to make yourself feel better. —> Feel better from what? You’re not making sense.
—Verdict: Point f*cking missed.—> Care to say what point I’m missing? Cause it seems like you have a lot of points there.
—Posts confirmed for trolling.—> Calling my posts trolls doesn’t negate the argument. How smart can you get?
….and I heard a loud thud! Who could that be?
Pun intended. Go figure.
Oh, I get it!
THE FALLEN ANGEL, right?
Nice.
You seem to be the one confused on why we have the impeachment trial in the first place.
The purpose of the impeachment trial is to determine whether the accused public official is to be removed from his/her position. Digging out the truthfulness of accusations, using due process, serves that purpose. The idea is that removal of said official keeps the government running smoothly with no corruption nor incompetence.
Seeking out the truth can be done via other lawful means. The government can launch investigations and inquiries. You’ve heard of “investigation in aid of legislation” — a term now very much maligned and abused but ideally another way to find out the truth, in this case, for the purpose of improving the law. Outside the government there’s also “investigative journalism” — also maligned and abused but ideally a noble undertaking of truth for truth’s sake (and viewership of course) and may be done within the bounds of law. The beauty here is that whatever truth is unearthed for one purpose can be used for other purposes.
Too bad, this is just the ideal. Actual practice, especially in the Philippines, don’t even strive to present even at least the semblance of idealism.
—The purpose of the impeachment trial is to determine whether the accused public official is to be removed from his/her position.—> Another confused man or woman. The real purpose of an impeachment trial or any trial for that matter is to find out whether a complaint is true or not. So that actions can be taken to address complaints that are proven to be true. In Corona’s case, removal from office. In a criminal case, imprisonment or penalties etc. The goal was, is and always will be the truth through due process.
JUSTICE is a vehicle/means to your destination/end which is the TRUTH. And the truth can either hurt you or set you free. Either way, you have reached your end.
They are not mutually exclusive po Mister Twoface
@twoface
The Philippine Constitution accords its citizens [a] right to due process. But you are surely welcome to force your own [philosophical] beliefs regarding concepts, you really don’t have a clear grip on, in countries such as North Korea, Syria, and others which have little regard for the rights of its citizens and accords too much power to its dictators or ruling parties.
Unless you claim any firsthand or eyewitness knowledge of the facts (yourself) or direct access to the mind of God, you need to go by a process proper to human reason as fashioned by its Creator in distinguishing TRUTH from HEARSAY, mere BELIEF, or OPINION be they personally your own or shared by people like you.
Justice and Truth are merely two sides of the same coin. Truth is just, and Justice is True. They both emanate from the same Author and are only in conflict to people who prefer to abide by prejudice instead of timeless principles.
Felipe
I noticed that you haven’t been reading my comments before posting yours. But I will be kind to you and explain myself again. I’m not going to accuse you of being close-minded and biased.
I’ve never been against due process or respecting rights. If Corona’s rights weren’t respected, he would have been removed from office already. But that’s not the case. The resolutions from the SC were even respected by the impeachment court. The people in countries like the ones you’ve mentioned aren’t even given a lawyer to defend themselves but Corona has I think ten or twelve. He has the right to due process. Not perfect but due process nonetheless.
—you need to go by a process proper to human reason as fashioned by its Creator in distinguishing TRUTH from HEARSAY, mere BELIEF, or OPINION be they personally your own or shared by people like you.—> I NEVER SAID OTHERWISE! The original argument here was from the comment I made a few weeks ago which was quoted in this article “And all of you are making a controversy out of the PROCEDURE while missing the goal and the crux of the matter which is the TRUTH.” This is an observation made by me to the commenters of this site who seem to focus their energy on the procedure while blatantly ignoring the evidences from the witnesses! Never mind the prosecution’s evidences. But what about the witnesses? People have even been praising Pascual’s non disclosure of Foreign dollar accounts. But now that Pascual disclosed Corona’s two other accounts and SOME of his wealth, he isn’t credible all of a sudden? Why turn a blind eye?
—Truth is just, and Justice is True.—>That doesn’t make any sense. Truth is truth and justice is justice. Can I make it any more obvious? Both of them do emanate from the same author but they have a different purpose. That’s exactly the reason why the author didn’t just create Justice and didn’t just create Truth.
—They both emanate from the same Author and are only in conflict to people who prefer to abide by prejudice instead of timeless principles.—> Whoever told you they’re in conflict?
@twoface
Justice and Truth remain inseparable in practice or actuality whatever the context. Your assertion should stand on their own.
You don’t have to be kind me. Just be kind to reason.
Don’t be too sure you aren’t “closed-minded and biased” yourself.
Not unless you insist on separating truth from justice.
False. If the executive branch had their way they would have simply usurped his rights as they were in fact the ones behind this impeachment. It was the existence of another branch–the legislative branch, namely, the Senate, which carried out due process. Besides, we are not simply talking about the admin’s actions, but the implications of your assertion in which you stress truth as if it were attainable apart from or even at the expense of justice.
False. Those aforementioned countries may subject their enemies to a kangaroo court or mock trial which is a publicity stunt not much different from what the prosecution is doing with the help of media and the current administration. The impeachment court (the Senate) is the one carrying out what is laid out in the Constitution. The executive branch abides to keep up with appearances and give a semblance of a republic or constitutional democracy.
Like I said…not coming from this executive branch’s admin who’re themselves behind the impeachment. They have no choice since the legislative body as well as the internatioanl community exists and may be keeping their eyes on them.
Who precisely is ignoring which and in what way?
This only shows that immutable principles are simply non-intuitive to you. You cannot be truthful without being just nor just without being completely truthful at the same time—there!—Made sense yet or did it simply fly pass your head again?
What became obvious is that you’ve missed the point entirely. Not quibbling over their real distinction, but merely pointing out the fact that there simply cannot be one precisely without the other.
Again, regarding justice and truth, there cannot be one precisely without the other. Look simply at circumstances where there appears to be truth, and where justice is lacking, it would turn out to be—a “half-truth” at best. If you think they could exist either separately or at the expense of the other, then your notion of them surely conflicts with their actual nature.
Once again, the “Dilapidated Manual on Debates” Guy reared its ugly head.
Brother, ignore peste. Even he does not know where he stand.
He is oh soooo confuse.
I see BJ is still jizzing from the fantasy of me joining their side.
No Sir, nobody trusts backstabbers nowadays. Would you?
Well, that’s your problem because you’re living in fantasy.
Sir yes sir!
If there is one thing in this article that is uncontestable, that is there really only are A FEW GOOD MEN.
By the way, it’s not really the failure to attain perfection of means that riles up most people here, it’s the failure to at least meet the minimum requirement prescribed by law and common sense.
Troll post detected. Requesting for deletion since the above me comes from a mindless zombie. 😛
I think that post should’ve stayed until verified by determining which college and who in the faculty is asking that question.
But please answer benigno’s question:
Who do YOU think who this site?
Your question is like you’e used to be EMO rather than using brains.
Just make your question intelligible first, okay.