Senator Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III recently said that the Philippines would be a “laughingstock of the world” if fellow Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. were to win as vice-president.
Osmeña noted that the Philippines would be a “laughingstock of the world” if Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will win as vice president.
“Nowhere in the world do you see the family of a dictator be allowed back into the country and running for public office. Even Lee Kuan Yew couldn’t understand it so somebody as dumb as me can’t understand it either,” Osmeña said.
The senator quoted former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who said that the Filipino people are very forgiving.
In an interview with ANC, one of ABS-CBN’s news channels, Osmeña quoted quite a bit from deceased Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew’s book “From Third World to First”, where Lee devoted a few pages to describing his impressions of the Philippines then, and his interaction with the Marcoses.
In an interview on ANC’s Headstart, Osmena said he is reminded of the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s description of the Marcos family in his book “From Third World to First.”
…
In his book, Lee described the late President Marcos as “the undisputed boss of all Filipinos.”
“Imelda, his wife, had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they visited Singapore before the Bali summit, they came in style in two DC8’s, his and hers,” Lee wrote.
He also described the Filipino people as having “a soft, forgiving culture.”
“Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics,” Lee wrote.
I would beg to differ with what Senator Osmeña is saying, however, because the Philippines will not become a laughingstock if Bongbong Marcos wins as vice-president.
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It already IS. It’s not hard to see why:
(1) Filipinos have been showing for decades just how utterly without direction they are.
Filipinos removed a person they perceived as a dictator under the assumption that being free would lead to the improvement of their plight in life. If we look almost 30 years after, it doesn’t seem that anything much has changed. The direction Filipinos took with their newfound “freedom” after the 1986 EDSA event could be pretty much described with one phrase: bahala na, come what may.
Filipinos have been unable to muster up the collective vision and ambition for a better Philippines, and instead have left it up to their politicians, who in turn usually have very little to offer themselves. After all, they merely reflect the society that put them in power.
It’s quite easy to see that democracy and freedom do not work in the Philippines. That is because Filipinos want the freedom to do what they want, yet they ignore the duties and responsibilities of such freedom, and the consequences of their actions.
Democracy works best only if the people work hard to keep their leaders and themselves accountable. It works best only if differences in opinion are welcomed instead of suppressed. Freedom works only if people are responsible for their own actions and mindful of the rule of law.
Time has proven one statement by Ferdinand Marcos Sr. correct: patuloy na bumagsak ang Pilipinas. The Philippines has been on a downward trend, much of it their own fault. That has been enough to make us a laughingstock.
(2) Filipinos, to this day, have not mustered enough collective will and smarts to chase after the Marcoses for the crimes they are accused of.
For whatever reason, it seems that the representatives who were chosen by the Filipinos have not been able to definitively pin down the Marcoses for whatever cases, human rights abuses and others, there have been. In addition, because it has been a long period of time since they were deposed, the chances of recovering more of their alleged ill-gotten wealth are close to nil.
Quite simply, it seems that the Filipinos have been outmaneuvered by the Marcoses. Whether they allowed it or it just happened despite giving their best effort really does not matter.
Not only have very few cases against the Marcoses prospered, if any, but certain Filipinos keep on voting them back again and again. And they’re STILL giving them a voice and rendering them relevant in today’s political scene!
I would add to Mr. Lee’s statement about Filipino culture: not only is it soft and forgiving, it is forgetful, and weak-willed. That alone has been enough to make us a laughingstock.
(3) The politicians Filipinos have been putting in after the Marcoses were deposed seem to make them look good in comparison.
Despite the few bouts of good leadership that the Philippines has had, the Philippines essentially remains the same wretched, impoverished, dysfunctional society that it has been since the 1900’s.
Roughly, the trend of quality of leadership that the Philippines has had resembles a wave with its crests and troughs – Marcos, Aquino the Mother, Ramos, Erap, Gloria, and Aquino the Son. And now Filipinos look towards the next one. That’s saying it nicely: simply put, the quality of leaders has been inconsistent, and yet the national plight has all but remained the same.
Filipinos have, on more than one occasion, had the opportunity to choose from a list of qualified people to be their leaders. Yet in a lot of them, they chose arguably the least qualified and seemingly least competent one. Not only that, they have dropped the ball many times or put themselves in a position where they are powerless to hold their leaders accountable and check them for corruption.
One only has to be reminded about how Erap and outgoing president Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino won. BS Aquino deserves special mention, because in just one six-year term, his record of failure is worse than all of the Marcos years put together.
That Filipinos have allowed and tolerated such bullshit and incompetence from their leaders for a long time has made us a laughingstock.
***
It is quite laughable that Filipinos like Serge Osmeña fail to see the bigger picture that the Philippines has already been a laughingstock for some time already. If indeed, voting Bongbong Marcos into the vice-presidency will be a mistake, it will not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back; it will merely just add more to the collective, heaping pile of dung that is the Philippines’ course as a modern “nation”. A pile of dung, may we add, that could have been entirely avoidable, had Filipinos collectively been smarter, or at the least exhibited an ability to learn from their mistakes.
The lack of that ability – which has crossed the line into insanity – truly makes us a laughingstock of the world.
[Photo courtesy: politics.com.ph]
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
FallenAngel,
I know that…you know that…the Failippines has been the laughing of the world for a very long time. The question is, ‘do the rest of our people know that?’
That most of us are delusionally in denial that we are not as great of a country, and people, that we would like to imagine.
That we Failipinos will forever be a legend in our own minds, and we will fight with each other and destroy our country–by fleecing it to the max–to prove our points and show our individual “Pinoy Pride.”
Aeta
Let us see the political records of Sergio Osmena III. He voted for the removal of CJ Corona, to give Aquino a virtual dictatorship of the country. He is one of the recipients of the Pork Barrel bribery, by Aquino, to vote for the removal of CJ Corona.
Let us compare the records of the Marcos family dynasty and the Aquino family dynasty:
Marcos never owned a large tract of land, with tenants and serfs, like the Aquinos’s Hacienda Luisita. The Aquino’s ownership of this land is questionable.
The Aquinos owned Hacienda Luisita, with serfs and tenants. They went into politics to protect their ownership, and protect Feudalism.
Marcos implemented the Land Reform Program, to remove Feudalism in our country.
The Aquinos stopped and removed the Land Reform Program to protect their Hacienda Luisita.
Marcos had a counter insurgency program to defeat the NPA, and the Muslim rebellion in Mindanao.
Aquino collaborated with the NPA, and released the NPAs that were arrested in Morong, Rizal.
Aquino has the BBL Law, that would give territories to the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda in Mindanao. Aquino and Mar Roxas, even wanted to finance the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda.
Marcos empathized with the soldiers and their families, who sacrificed for the country.
Aquino and Mar Roxas did not care about the 44 SAF fallen heroes. Aquino even ignored them. Mar Roxas called the butchering of our SAF, a “misencounter”…
Marcos led us to rice sufficiency thru the expansions of the NIA irrigation system.
The Aquino era brought us rice importation; rice smuggling by his YellowTard cahoots.
Imelda Marcos has a taste of extravagance, in the midst of poverty of our countrymen.
Kris Aquino, has also a taste of extravagance, immorality and self adulation.
Marcos is a true hero in World War II.
The Aquinos are Japanese Imperialists collaborators in World War II. Benigno Aquino, Sr. was sentenced to death for treason, after the liberation of the Philippines.
Marcos may had emptied the National Treasury , by any means.
Aquino has his DAP, PDAF, Pork Barrel bribery, used as his “carrot and stick” to prod legislators, to vote for his political agenda. He is also emptying the national treasury.
Sergio Osmena III is using the “Boggeyman” tactic, to promote his party’s political agendas.
I am no fan of the Marcoses, nor any of these politicians. However, let us make the records straight.
We have been long, a laughing stock of the whole world. Our people are looked down as “economic refugees”, because of the OFW program, used by Aquino to float the economy.
Well said Mr Haydeen. By the way what is the most significant accomplishment Mr. Osmena has done for the country.
Answer your own question.
Do your research. Do not be a lazybone, to be spoonfed.
If you lived in thar era…the things your complaining about the present is but an nth if the Marcoses excesses….pls just question the fact that Bongbong hve a SALN declaration of 384M. Pls also check in the BBC website re program of Simon Reeve where Imelda boasted of a 980m usd time deposit certificate in a finance institution in Belgium. Where in the hell did all those riches came from when they had nothing after their return to the country?
You want to experience their greed? You outvthem in power..
The Aquinos and the Marcoses , and all the Oligarchs are all greedy…the Hacienda Luisita is worth more than that, and it is in the Province of Tarlac and some parts of Pangasinan…you don’t know the overseas bank accounts of the Aquinos and other politicians.
@Johnny:
Many Fil-Am old-timers, here in California, lived in the Marcos Martial Law era. My brother, who is a Cardiologist, was against the extension of Martial Law.
All stated, that the conditions of the Philippines was better, during the Marcos Martial Law era.
Land Reform was enacted. There was the Dept. of Agrarian Reform; abolished by Cory Aquino, to protect their Hacienda Luisita. There was self sufficiency of rice.
Do not tell lies to people, because the lies you are telling came from the propaganda machine of the U.S./C.I.A.
Not all Filipinos are as dumb, as you, who are YellowTards.
If I may add that the Yellow Horde’s one accomplishment is to buy the people, fool the people and are not for the people’s welfare but for themselves! That is what the oligarchy of this country has done and continue to do until they are stopped! And I have high hopes that this coming national elections shall signal that change to becoming ” a great nation again! “
Yes, we can, if people could only understand, what we Bloggers are trying to inform.
The removal of Feudalism in our country is a priority. The Aquinos are the stumbling block, in the implementation of Land Reform, because of their ownership of the Hacienda Luisita.
Rice self sufficiency is also a priority. We cannot feed the 100 million Filipinos; with Feudalism intact.
Question, why is the Philippines one of the top destinations for Foreign people to retire. It is always listed in the top ten countries. I truly believe the fault of the average Filipino is not understanding why others come here. 1. This is the number one Asian country percentage wise for English speakers. What other Asian country can supply enough people to work in English call centers? 2. Children are safer here in the Philippines. When was the last time a University or High School had a shooting on campus? This happens in America every week now sometimes two to three times a week. 3. Are there homeless people here who have jobs? This happens in America. We have working families that have to live with relatives, because they cannot afford a place to live. Now I ask you which is better place to live?
You have debased, dear child. You have always made your country, the Failippines, a laughingstock of intelligence, a stench in the nostrils, of the gods of the ionosphere.
Actually, as I’d noticed in the history of our country, all of our Philippine presidents and governments from Emilio Aguinaldo’s administration up to the current Pnoy’s administration are full of cowards, arrogant, selfish and dumb!!!
Sorry but that’s the truth guys if your offended by what I’d said it. But think about it, if we have a president & our governments who are not too dumb, not too arrogant, not too selfish and not too coward to rule this country like one from the countries of Singapore, South Korea, Japan and other 1st world countries then a new Philippines was born.
So we better be careful on who’s gonna vote on our next leader this coming election on May 9. Good luck, let’s fight for our country & make a radical change of our country’s system from our attitute to politics.
And you still believe that voting and a six year term can rectify a terminal, stage 4 cancer of PH society? Glad I have moved on and soon to renounce my God-forsaken PH citizenship!
At least we are trying Mr. or Ms. Kuro and not giving up. unlike people like you who betray their citizenship and swore allegiance to a different flag and seem so proud of it.
Don’t forget to have a surgery and change the color skin and a nose lift if necessary.
Think and vote wisely. Don’t be A BOBOTANTE.
At least we are trying Mr. or Ms. Kuro and not giving up. unlike people like you who betray their citizenship and swore allegiance to a different flag and seem so proud of it.
Don’t forget to have a surgery and change the color skin and a nose lift if necessary.
I hope our countrymen would think and vote wisely this time. Don’t be A BOBOTANTE.
We cannot jump out , from our skins. I live and work in good old U.S.A. However, I have not forgotten where I came from…I have still relatives living in the Philippines. They have children. This is the reason, I am concerned about the country.
Problems can be solve, if we give efforts, and we are true and sincere enough to solve them.
Terminal cancers can be cured by miracles. Miracles happen in any instance. Have hope, that things will be better. And the people will open their eyes, to see the Truth.
We have been deluded by these self serving political leaders for so long.
If the people vote based on the countries honest state and not by propaganda, being a laughingstock based on history isn’t the first thing that one will have in mind. The voters need only to look at how the present leaders seized the opportunity to make a big difference in the poor state of the people and country and it’ll be clear who should really be in the government. Supposed to be matatalino ang new generation in electoral decision in that in the age of modernization, they know that we should be in the direction of self-sufficiency, political reform against corruption, national security and competitive innovation. Aren’t those the reason why BBM and Santiago are popular to the youths while the fed up adults go for Duterte? They judged them based on their achievements, political will, platforms and vision. But due to traditional politics and media propaganda, that was being forced to be set aside. We’ll be more of a laughingstock if the Filipinos decide based on what the inutile media and public servants wants to persist and not based on the changes we wanted to see.
If government officials are really mindful of us being a laughingstock then they shouldn’t have wasted the opportunity of serving the people well and turn us into a more developed, lawful country.
Way before campaign period Duterte, Roxas, Binay, Poe already spent millions of pesos for TV ads. Such a sign of a trapo.
The Marcoses and the Aquinos compared
Letters prove Marcos didn’t sequester Meralco from Lopezes
Serge Osmena III is a political butterfly, jumping from party to another depending on which way the wind blows, so to speak. He has been in the senate for since 1995 and look WHAT HAS HE DONE TO BENEFIT THE POOR PEOPLE? Nada or zero. He is very rich for he is part of oligarchic family that controls electric power. Very recently he concluded that the money laundering that has come out lately is because of “weak banking system”. Look who is talking? Osmena is chairperson of senate committe on banks, financial instutions, and currencies. He is part of the current administration of Abnoy. It is funny he is talking about “becoming laughing stock of the world if Bongbong Marcos is elected VP”. He does not think Pinas is already the “laughing stock” the Aquino regime. He is hypocrite because he did not say anything about the ILLEGALITY OF PORK BY AQUINO and yet pretends to get involved in this dirty money laundering involving $81M. OMG! He keeps on rehashing he was incarcerated in a maximum security prison by FM, but he does not tell why he was incarcerated and why he was able to escape in a maximum prison. LUMANG TUGTUGIN. Actually Osmena is on PANIC MOOD as Bongbong Marcos continue his march towards Malacanang