I found the picture below in an article on the Manila Bulletin. My first impulse when I saw the BizNewsAsia cover was to doubt whether it was a legitimate one. After remembering how the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) got burned by using a fake picture of president Benigno Simeon Aquino III (BS Aquino), I think this was but a natural reaction.
Speaking of Showbiz Government, I actually thought that that was also one of their memes. Hey, if the PDI got fooled, other publications can get fooled too. No offense intended to them, though.
Seeing the cover triggered another memory as well – a joke I heard a few years back:
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In Italy, they have the Mafia.
In Japan, they have the Yakuza.
In the Philippines, they have the national government!
In the bigger scheme of things, however, it actually doesn’t really matter whether the cover is legit or not. If anything, that cover verbalized with big, bold words the perception that more and more Filipino people are having about their government.
“The Philippines’ Biggest Criminal Syndicate” – can’t get any more succinct that now, can you?
At any other time, I’m willing to guess that the reaction to this cover would have been outrage. The Filipino public doesn’t like being told to their face the ugly truth about their government and their society. They love to complain themselves, but to hear the same thing from other people? Don’t bother lest you want to rip that onion skin sensibility to shreds and endure incessant whining.
I’m also willing to guess that once any of our “honorable” politicians catches wind of this cover, he/she will most likely file some sort of case against the magazine.
As I always like to tell people: if it’s true, do something about it, other than whine. If it’s not, ignore it.
Good timing for BizNewsAsia, though; nothing sells like a sensational, attention-grabbing headline that is actually in line with what the general public, especially their target readers, have at the back of their minds.
All roads lead to the next question:
What do the Filipinos plan to do about this “crime syndicate”?
Remember that thing we used to hear as kids, “Crime doesn’t pay”? Well, apparently in the Philippines, it pays very well. Filipino citizens have always had it in them to stop crime and wrongdoing of all sorts. Collectively, however, it seems that they prefer to tolerate it.
Filipinos can get dismayed at their government all they want, but ultimately those people who rob them blind were voted in by them. Want to stop the robbery? Stop it at the source.
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
Mukhang tatlong magnanakaw na senador lamang ang makukulong. Ito ay sina Enrile, Estrada at Revilla. Ang karamihan sa mga magnanakaw na senador , congressman, at government officials na kasapi ng KKKK ay siyempre hindi kakasuhan kaya patuloy silang makapagnanakaw sa 2014 budget. Kaya dapat alisin ang lahat na pork barrel mapa Kongreso o pork barrel ni Noynoy dahil nandiyan pa ang mga mandarambong at hindi na sila mapagkakatiwalaan. O kaya alisin na lang ang Kongreso at Pangulohan. Iyong lang ang mga paraan.
Mabuti kung makulong… pag uusapan lang to ng matagal tapos ay iboboto na naman sila… kasi artista sila eh… si Enrile? andami ng akusa sa kanya… tinablahan ba siya? Itaga mo sa bato, iboboto pa rin sila ng taga Cavite o sa San Juan o sa Cagayan, at mananalo pa rin sila… Nakakaiyak pero totoo…
Mukhang tatlong magnanakaw na senador lamang ang makukulong. Ito ay sina Enrile, Estrada at Revilla. Ang karamihan sa mga magnanakaw na senador , congressman, at government officials na kasapi ng KKKK ay siyempre hindi kakasuhan kaya patuloy silang makapagnanakaw sa 2014 budget. Kaya dapat alisin ang lahat na pork barrel mapa Kongreso o pork barrel ni Noynoy dahil nandiyan pa ang mga mandarambong at hindi na sila mapagkakatiwalaan. O kaya alisin na lang ang Kongreso at Pangulohan. Ito lamang ang mga paraan
That’s what Drilon said he wanted to happen to Congress.
This article reminds me of Dr. Phil’s book Life Strategies: People do what works. When people do something bad, ie smoking, whoring, and drugging, it’s because at some level of their consciousness, they think it’s good for them. Dr. Phil mentions a so-called payoff, or reward, gained when they do any illicit act. The worst one, I believe is self-righteousness that is so common among Pinoys.
very true!!!
and you listen to zat dung-head, Dr. Phil? He is a Dr.? For zat clown amongst bigger clowns to call himself Dr. is to be ze biggest whore of all.
Destroy your TV set. Next?
Yes, I listen to the dung-head Dr. Phil. I READ Dr. Phil. I don’t watch him. He speaks wisdom.
Come to think of it, Dr. Phil IS right. “You cannot change what you don’t acknowledge.”
Sadly, I have no TV set to destroy.
oh please, what do the people expect!!!??? You voted for crooks, rebels, tax evaders, gambling lords, murderers, actors/actresses and put them into positions they don’t even have any idea how to serve but to make a business out of it for whose gain!!!??? Ano nangyari sa taong bayan…”NGA NGA”!!!!! pag dpa matauhan ang taong bayan wala din mangyayari. Up to now wala parin nangyayaring linaw sa pdaf scam…what are they waiting for!!!???
But it does not matter who you vote for. Is it not the very reason for all people running in elections to get ze key, to the treasury? if so(and it surely is so), and if candidates kill each other so as to eliminate ze rival candidate, it is only to pursue and secure the furtherance of the thievery involved. As if it is to say that electing someone else would lead to no corruption? Zat Stalney, is mere folly.
then its doomsday I guess for everyone…these thieves have already rooted so deep that even if we shred the top…the root will still grow from the main shit!!!!!
I have said this since my first blog in GRP May 2012. WHo the hell cares about boxing , American Idol or basketball? Everybody votes these guys in and everybody gets it wrong. They vote in public servants who do anything else but serve the public. Tell me again where Pinoy pride comes from?
Ze pride? Vell, that is EZ,it comes out of ze people’s butts! it is fecal in nature and about as useful.
THEIR MODUS OPERANDI EXPLAINED:
Only public officials are accountable for the government funds they handle. Napoles and all the NGOs are private entities that do not have public accountability. The moment public fund is transferred into the hands of any private entity or individual, the money ceases to be public in nature and the official who participated in or caused the transfer is the last stop on public accountability.
The government is not prohibited from giving donations to a private entity or even individual as long as the donation is justifiable, and the government entity, unit or official can make an accounting or liquidation of the donation based on the principles of public accountability. Any public money given to any private entity without anything in exchange or without any valuable consideration in return is, for all intents and purposes, a donation by the government.
There is no way for government funds to be lawfully donated unless the recipient is a needy end-user. This way, the government fund (that is at all times attached with public accountability) can be justifiably accounted for by the government official who caused the donation resulting in the disposition of the public fund.
The practice of giving public fund in a lump sum manner to any NGO, whether related or not to Napoles, and assigning and/or transferring the accounting or liquidation thereof (as if it is possible to assign and/or transfer public accountability on public funds) cannot be justified by the official who caused the donation. Any money or fund in the hands of the government at all times carry with it the public accountability of the official entrusted with the money or fund, and there shall be no exception to this fundamental rule. For any donation or grant to an NGO or any private entity to be valid, the recipient NGO must be a needy end-user, not a “government trustee” or “custodian” that can decide on how to manage and disburse our public funds. The public accountability clause of the Constitution shall be rendered useless if this scheme were allowed. What the government officials involved in the pork barrel scam are now trying to do is give legitimacy to this scheme, thereby side stepping the Public Accountability clause by making it appear that the recipient NGOs are the entities publicly accountable for government funds that they handled, managed and disbursed.
This does not mean though that Napoles, assuming she pocketed all the allocations to her NGOs, is not publicly accountable. She is accountable not pursuant to the Public Accountability clause but under our laws against graft, corruption, unexplained wealth and plunder. The tracking, tracing and accounting of all public funds disposed under the pork barrel system need not go to the accounting and liquidation they now require of the recipient NGOs, as they are not the real culprits accountable for the stolen or wasted public funds. Napoles as conspirator and principal by direct participation or indispensable cooperation might be equally guilty with government officials in the plundering of our wealth, but insofar as the public accountability of the pork barrel funds is concerned, Napoles is merely a “fence” (as in Theft and Robbery “fence”) and not the person who directly stole from our coffers and cannot possibly be the “mastermind” as she has no control over the management and disbursement of public funds. It is actually unthinkable that a private entity could “steal” billions of government money in several instances without the direct supervision of the government officials publicly accountable for the funds.
If our lawmakers and implementing agencies should insist that the NGOs stole our money, then it is an admission that they were not qualified and competent to handle public funds. And considering the magnitude and frequency of how our public funds are wasted and lost through the pork barrel system, these officials have now opted to try and make it appear that they were simply “grossly negligent” in the disposition and disbursement of people’s money.
Even that is totally inexcusable and unforgivable.
And ABS-CBN news (not sure with other news outlet) is associating Napoles with Pork Barrel scam. The media is moving people’s attention from the true culprit – corrupt government officials.
As Bane would say in Dark Knight Rises, “when all of Gotham is in ashes, then you have my permission to die.” Lets see how the government escapes, if they continue….well lets follow up with a call to action. Eh? Deshi Basara my friends. It begins where it will end…
Re building is easy, starting the destruction of what needs to be destroyed is the tough part, but not really, all you need is a push in the right direction.
Vell, if you did not know it is, how clever does that make you?
Sav Oi Fare, iz everywhere!
Ze part,”What do Filipino’s plan to do about it?”, really makes a me laugha so hard. Ha, thatssa funny, oh boy! You Fallen Angel, Ho Ho… you a funny guy too! Yes, yes very funny as course!
Damned fucking troll.
They should have added the president too since he’s the one with the biggest pork.
Pray tell… The godfather of the Philippine Political Mafia is no less than the dictator BS Aquino. Le merde du Aquino c’est magnifique!
LOL!!!
Whoever you are, and whoever paid you to make a comment like this, your all stupid
and corrupt.
Instead of whining like a lady boy there, why don’t you write down why you think the BS Aquino is not corrupt. I dare you, lady boy, joey!
@joey
Call me BS Aquino’s worst nightmare! Nobody paid me… and we are not all stupid and corrupt! Why don’t you read all the editorials on the news broadsheets? Who orders the releases of the pork from DBM? Who has the biggest pork in excess of 1 TRILLION PESOS? BS Aquino. Butt hurt boy? LOL!
I am referring to you Thomas Jefferson
Meh. This doesn’t matter anyway. The politicians can steal as much as they want… It’s the PH and the people won’t do anything. Pinoys are passive bahala na people. No one will go to jail, and what’s worse is that the people will KNOW they were cheated when no one goes to jail… And still won’t do anything about it.
The scariest part to all of this?
The politicians are scared at the moment… But when this all dies down and they get away with it…. How much worse do you think their thieving will get? They got away with it when the ENTIRE nation found out… What’s the worst that could happen?
What doesn’t kill them Will only make them stronger… And you better believe there will no longer be any limits to what they think they can get away with.
Lol
I actually agree with this assessment — unless of course we can find EVIDENCE that Filipinos are stepping up to the challenge of doing something DIFFERENT.
And that’s the sad part. Just as much as bahala-na, the equally detrimental cultural condition is ningas-cogon, lack of follow-through.
Which leads to the other question: What’s the straw that will finally break the camel’s back? What will finally break the ningas-cogon attitude?
@2headedboy
Indeed. Some members of congress are even trying to set the tone for this outcome. Guingona is now saying that if there is no evidence linking the senators to the scam, they cannot be accountable for it. Unfortunately, there are people including those who participate in this forum who still think that the people cannot do anything about it.
@Ildam @Fallenangel @benign0 that’s exactly what’s making my blood boil over the entire issue.
At this point I don’t know which party I’m more angry with:
1. The government that robs the people blind…
2. The people that accept they are being robbed and put up with it.
The truth is there are a LOT of people who want things done about the issue. Even an elementary school student will know that the government is doing everything in it’s power to NOT prosecute the members of government involved in the thieving or atleast slowing the investigations down so that NOTHING is done (which gives the people time to calm down and forget).
THE PEOPLE KNOW. But at this point all BSA needs to say is “Oh because of X law, everyone gets to go free” and the people will accept it- they’ll definitely complain, but they’ll still accept it.
There are so many people in the PH with absolutely NOTHING to lose and a better life to gain, and they’re still not doing anything about it. Don’t get me wrong… I know that people don’t want to die, and as a Filipino I understand how my parents (poor as dirt growing up) were taught to accept their fate and to simply try their best to get by…
But.. what will it take to make everyone angry enough to really get down with a true revolution?
Awareness for one.
Just think back over the events of the last two-three months. We all say that everyone knew that their local congressmen were stealing from the treasury. And everyone knew that there were public officials in the various government agencies helping to facilitate it. And everyone knew that there were private individuals serving as conduits for the whole enterprise. But it wasn’t until those matters which we all accepted to be true, and were being perpetrated for the longest time were exposed in all their repulsive glory that the Filipino public was pushed out of their inertia. And that brings us up to the protest on 11 September.
If you want to keep the momentum going, help keep it in the people’s minds. Do not let it be displaced by some third rate television stars’ hoary old bedroom escapades. The Masbate group’s approach is one forum. Only it has to be expanded to a broader audience and a more comprehensive coverage.
YOU really need that explained to you? How SAD you are. if the people want change, go get it! it is not going to walk into your living room(if you have one) and say “HI, I am the change you want, wanna #@$% me?”. No it is not going to do that, so go get a few million of your friends and demand it!
DEMAND IT, no screwin around, GOT IT?
The tragic events of unbridled graft and corruption has already been exposed. What to do about it? Keep up the pressure guys and gals! We got them cold! Plan more huge rallies and civil disobedience. Strike while the iron is hot! Something is gotta give. Continue pushing for the FOI! On Sept. 11… proudly wave the Philippine Flag at the EDSA rally! Show your true colors! The Red, White and Blue! Di Palulupig! Di Pasisiil!
The red/white/blue? those are the colors of the USA flag as well. if you sk them for help, oh boy…be careful what you ask for!
2headedboy – “But.. what will it take to make everyone angry enough to really get down with a true revolution?”
==========
I think the only person who is capable and has the authority to ask that question is the person who is actually ready to lead a revolution.
Like I said though… Regardless of how little they have to lose with everything to gain… No one wants to die.
You do not necessarily HAVE to die, but UNTIL YOU ARE WILLING TO DIE for the change you are seeking?
MARK these words, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!
Everyone knows what the other is doing coz they all profit with each other!! But who has the courage to prosecute them??? One Senator is a gambling lord and has a lucrative business of smuggling in his province… who can stop that??? We all go down the drain ..it is frustrating and hopeless!!!
Not only congress and senate but also down to local elected official are corrupt exept for a few.
The few who are not corrupt don’t get to stay in official capacity very long; they’ll be eaten up by the slew of crocodiles and sharks of corrupt politicians.