Perhaps it is time members of Congress get dragged into the streets and sat before a panel of the people they “represent” and explain why they are entitled to their pork. The “debate” around why or why they shouldn’t be entitled to a slush fund to dole out to their “constituents” has gotten crazy. Pork has long been recognised as the single biggest reason why Philippine politics is what it is today. Yet now that there is a clearer path to abolishing it as there never has been in the Philippines’ entire history, Filipinos seem set to drop the ball.
Pork apologists are stepping up their campaign to retain this detestable practice. Some say that “not all pork is bad”. This argument misses the fundamental point on all counts. A legislator’s job as I had previously pointed out is to legislate. Beyond their job of evaluating and approving the General Appropriations Act every year they have no business funding and overseeing projects at an operational level. That is the job of executives. Executives execute. Legislator’s legislate. Milk in your coffee, Coffeemate in your cereal and all that, capiche?
Another recent idiotic argument being fielded by pork apologists is that the end justifies the means, presumably because the means was undertaken “in good faith”. One moronic tweet I stumbled upon the other day took that idiotic thinking to the extreme: “Details matter little to me now. How govt does it matters less than the result.” To which I responded “Ret.Gen Jovito Palparan, meet ur new friend…”
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I used to stop short of calling characters like these Yellowtards. Nowadays I feel an increasingly reduced need to restrain myself. To be fair to moi, if people can quite easily justify making idiotic remarks such as those above, that, in principle, gives me some license to justify calling people names, doesn’t it?
Nonetheless, we should be the bigger personalities here and be a bit more circumspect when it comes to calling people names. Such people, after all, have lost the plot and have declared singular allegiances to people rather than ideas. We should look no further than the sad case of Mae “Juana Change” Paner for a case-in-point that highlights this. Paner is famous for both supporting then presidential candidate Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III in 2009 and turning against her former idol in recent months. To be fair, that’s quite a nice development. Better late than never. Unfortunately for Paner, she has become a an example of how not to engage in “activism”.
True activists with real convictions apply sound principles rather than blind loyalty to people in their advocacies.
If there is any one passage in this article the reader should burn into her consciousness, the above one-liner should be it.
So pity the former celebrity known as Leah Navarro who recently fielded a tweet categorically expressing her loyalty to President BS Aquino. “Yes I am loyal to PNoy,” Navarro asserts. That sort of thing may work now, as Paner thought back in 2009. It remains to be seen whether or not Navarro will learn any lessons in the future.
Huwag magsasalita nang patapos.
The sight of “activists” making statements of “loyalty” to specific people, normally raises alarm bells. This is because when people whose actions are motivated by such loyalties are no longer directed by deeper principles they are no longer open to debate. It’ll be like having a discussion with a religious zealot or fundamentalist. The loyalty to the person or deity will always be the conversation-ender.
But the Philippines is not a normal society by any stretch of the imagination.
Ultimately with Yellowist Taliban like Navarro and her mob running around making loyalist assertions such as what we have seen thus far, President BS Aquino is the winner. The ultra-simplified ideas of demagogues and people-loyalists (as opposed to idea-loyalists) are often the most seductive to the lazy thinkers that make up 90 percent of the electorate in the Philippines. This is why members of Congress can afford to act with impunity and remain adamant about their entitlement to pork — because the deeper principles at stake consistently escape the stunted sensibilities of the majority of Filipinos.
Time to drag Senators and Congressmen out from their airconditioned offices and onto Manila’s streets? Perhaps it’s time.
[Thumbnail image of this artricle courtesy Metamorphosis of Articles.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
thank you very much for people like you and your blogs. you keep me from just throwing in the towel in the people’s fight against corruption.
“But the Philippines is not a normal society by any stretch of the imagination.”
Best sentence!
Even though I tend to agree with you Benign0 that we should hold the intellectual high ground, I do not agree that all conversation has to be toned down.
A good example is the Republican party in the US. They get away with outrageous lies and idiotic statement because the Democrats are far too diplomatic and often refrain from calling them out and stating things in CLEAR terms, therefore they seem weak.
This is a war. A war about the betterment of lives of every Filipino and we just cant afford to lose. Lets not argue for hours, sometimes a good, hard verbal slap in the face does wonders.
@ Jim, The Republicans and Democrats in the USA are the same thing now, serving corporate masters as well as AIPAC, their political lives depend on voting for the agendas’ of their corporate masters.
as far as the Politicians in the Fail-ippines, they have been talked to for decades and have proven themselves deaf to the people’s pleas.
I never met anyone (not one single person!) who did not understand a good fuckin beating. That said, which do you think would be more effective? U kno,at this point I’d lean towards the latter.
Perhaps? R U KIDDING? Take half a million pissed of Filipino’s, send half of them to the Palace and half of them to the Senate, when they crooks are all inside. Once assembled outside inform the crooks that they MUST resign, immediately, or face the consequences of the mob.That is all that is necessary. it will work too. When criminals are cornered and know the ‘jig is up’, they always make a run for it!
Don’t do it, and see what changes,LOL!
Do you think the pathetically paid police are going to shoot their neighbors protecting the criminals? HA, they will join the masses!
If you do not do it now, you will be living in shit until you do.
ITS TIME? LMAO, that time came and went 10 years ago!
People Power is not the answer. There is an electoral process that is capable of throwing the bums out. Elect people that have not served before or are not part of a dynasty. Why should half a million people usurp the rights of the other 99.5 million? If the majority of the country is fixated on mindless worship of celebrities and want to elect people who are opposed to their own self interests; that is their democratic prerogative. If you keep short circuiting the democratic process with coups and mob rule, you wind up with a mess like they have in Thailand. Now if Aquino refuses to step down after his term; that is a different matter. The answer lies in organizing and educating people. That is a longer process and it does not appeal to most filipinos who are lazy drama queens.
Vlad: check out history…The French Revolution did not work. It transformed itself into despotism and ushered in the dictatorship of Napoleon. The same with Cambodia, Nicaragua, and countless other examples.
Those revolutions were effective, they got rid of the tyrants that needing to be ridded of,yes?The people let their cause get hi-jacked.How come the ones that got hijacked are the only ones you mention? The American revolution was successful,very successful, as well as many others through the ages.
So maybe you should check out history? BUT try to remember that history is re-written & re-written by the victors! Spoils being theirs and all.
French Revolution = overthrow of the monarchical government, reign of terror, ushering of Imperial France under Bonaparte
American Revolution = revolt against “high taxes” and demand for representation (no taxation without representation)
VLAD must be talking about the French model, LOL! 😀
@ YUP, the American revolution was not only the ‘taxes w/out representation’ issue, it was more complicated than that.
It had to do with the Bank of England and its imposition of the GBP Sterling upon the colonies.it was tantamount to slavery and it was the Middle-classes who spear-headed the revolt, not the peasants or even the upper-class colonists. It was a very complicated issue and too broad to discuss here, as I’ver not the time and dont care enought to explain it all.
The French revolt was by the peasants, for the most part and Napoleon hi-jacked the revolt after returning from an un-succesful military campaign in Northern Africa.The guy was real sharp to pull that off, a real PR success.
@!Sea Bee
Bring out the “French Guillotine”…let us start cutting the corrupt Politicians’heads…they don’t have Brains anyway..Start with Aquino, Binay, Erap, Roxas,etc…
@ HT, what are the Filipino’s waiting for? No one is going to fire a starter’s pistol or wave a green flag, ring a bell or anything like that. HA, the good news is that the NCR police have no bullets after the first clip,
(someone stole the peso’s for the bullets,LOL!) the grunts in the military dont make enough money to die to care about.The bad news is after the scumbag politicians are dealt with, then you have that old guy with the top hat, Uncle what’s his name? to deal with,
THEN WHAT? Good luck with that.
Pork Barrel is the end all, be all of Politicians. It is their “Pot of Gold”, at the end of the “Rainbow”. They control Huge Amount of Money (public funds), without any accountability. Projects can be overpiced. Funds can be easily stolen…
Aquino, himself has his: DAP, PDAF, etc…and he can dangle this Pork Barrel, infront of these corrupt politicians ; to make them do what he wants them to do (legal or illegal).
This is the reason we have: politician thieves; corrupt political system; fsmily dynasties; rabid political followers – who are killed ; willing to die; and willing to kill, for their political patrons.
Pork Barrel to Politicians is the thing “worth dying for…”
All Filipino citizens and voters, must be aware of this EVIL in our political system. The faster, we REMOVE this Pork Barrel; the better for us and for the country…
The Hacienda Luisita Swines have taken over the “Hacienda Luisita Swine Farm”; and are wlaking on their Hind Legs, feasting on Pork Barrels…
@Vlad
They have stolen everything, except the garbage. Police with guns, but no bullets? Give them “slingshots”…?
It defies my senses on how to solve this country’s problems. They have turned everything upside down.
Why then, people voted for these Retarded People to solve these problems?
This article missed one crucial point.It should not be allegiance of people to people,TRUE, and it should not be people to idea’s,NO it should not.
It should be people having allegiance to the benefit of the entire NATION of people that make up the country of the Republic of the Philippines.and that is all.
This is where the fundamental problem prospers.The politicians do not give a fiddle’s fart for the Filipino Nation.That much should be obvious.The idea that the politicians are going to change vanished with the begining of the Republic in 1948.Since that time, time and time again, it has been presented as some sort of justification that a person’s acceptance or rejection in filipinne society was/is based on the ‘IDEA’s that somehow make that person’s furue actions predictable. as in labeling a person a ‘MARX’ist or Muslim or Christian is the reason to accept/dismiss that person as well as his idea’s. Allegiance given based on his ‘idea’s in so far as what the label applied to that person somehow signifies what said person’s future actions will be. The Filipino people are constantly falling for this line of reasoning and the time is certainly NOW for the Filipino people to step up and demand that the current crop of criminals be replaced with new people to do what the people have been expecting all along.That is to act and govern in such a way that benefits the Filipino nation and not just the select few at the top. That is all there is to it, not complicated.But the people at the top make it complicated so as to divide and conquer (He is a Homo, She is a Comie etc etc etc)….and it has worked splendidly for those at the top.
You bet your ass its time.But Filipino’s will not do it,for this reasonreason…they will not take advantage of the unique opportunity that has presented itself to one and all Filipino’s who have little or nothing to lose.A powerful situation to be in but a brain capable of understanding the power of that situation is needed. On this single point, the Nation of people that comprise the Republic of The Philippines falls dreadfully short.
Too BAD.
Vlad…you heart seems to be in the right place, even if you seem to be incapable of expressing yourself clearly. For your own information; check out the concepts of-“critical thinking”, “logic” and “social contract” for starters.
@CEE BEE, English is my 3rd language. and IDC if you can read it or not. The comment? its pretty clear to the people I showed it to just now. and By The By, I took those classes when you were in diapers,Sonny! PPFFFF….
Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that we lack effective leaders. The Philippines needs heroes and lots of them. The first EDSA revolution attained critical mass due to the urging of one Cardinal Sin. He told the Catholic faithful to protect the people at EDSA. THe rest is history.
Another factor is the propaganda machinery of the yellow dictatorship! Their repeat the great lie principle is still effective. People still believe the Matuwid na Daan which is actually Bulok na Daan, Baliw na Daan and Tamad na Daan. The opposition should have effective counter-propaganda to expose the real rot within the yellow dictatorship! The truth shall set us free!
Lastly and sadly… Money talks! The yellow dictatorship can and have bribed people to kneel to them in the form of CCT, Pantawid, “election money” and even bribing people in the opposition. Witness the presstitutes and those paid hacks who rally to the yellow dictatorship! The dictatorship is trying to corrupt the people with legal tender.
Finally, the silent majority must organize and rise up to defend freedom and democracy in the country. We have realize that this country is in great peril as the dictatorship continues to rule. Di Palulupig! Di Pasisiil!
@ TJ, Cardinal Sin, the name says it all. Oh the irony !
Binay camp and the CPP-NPA-NDF should double their efforts at ousting PNoy as soon as possible. Tanda, Pogi and Sexy have been crying out loud to be released from their special treatment cells. Bilisan nyo, mga ‘pre!
john c. jacinto and the Noytard camp should triple their efforts to keep on brainwashing poor people as soon as possible. Abnoy is always crying out loud like a 1 year old baby so he will continue to get what he wants.
Bilisan mong mag-TROLL, REAL-LIFE PAID HACK! 😀
@ J C J, do you really think those guys are even in those ‘cells’, HA…you can not be that naive, OR can you?
LETS REVIVE THE KATAAs-tasang Kagalang galangang mga anaK ng Bayan. In short, THE LEGENDARY KKK in allegiance with all rebels, revolutionaries, and seperatists. Against the yellow dictatorship!!!!
MAbuhay ang Pilipinas!!!!! MAbuhay ang Katipunan!!!
THE SECOND PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!