Before we begin, let’s delve into a little bit of set theory. Let’s define three distinct sets/groups in Filipino society. Yes, they all exist.
First, the pro-Mar group. This set consists of those whose net political inclination is to back and support Liberal Party (LP) candidate Mar Roxas and his campaign for the presidency for whatever reason.
Next, we define the pro-Aquino group. This set is composed of Filipinos who have taken the side of the Aquino family, right or wrong, and regardless of which Aquino politician is currently relevant. Generally speaking, those in this group were supporters of the late Cory Aquino, and have transferred their support to the son, outgoing president Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III.
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Finally, but not the least, we look at the anti-Marcos group. Among them you will find mostly those whose relatives or colleagues were either victims or casualties of the Martial Law era, during the time of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. There are probably also some in this group who oppose Marcos without knowing why they should.
Here, we concern ourselves with the intersection of all three groups, from here on referred to as The Subject. For argument’s sake, I defined each group as distinct from the others, although in reality, one can be forgiven for thinking that all three groups are one and the same.
The anti-Marcos part of The Subject has been generating a lot of clamor to oppose the vice-presidential run of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., under the slogan Never Again. That is, never again should a Marcos be allowed to sit in Malacañang. Unfortunately for them, as GRP webmaster benign0 has pointed out, the noise they make ultimately highlights their lack of a vision. They don’t even seem to have an idea of what they want a future Philippines to be; they merely emphasize what, to them, it shouldn’t be, and who must not be in a position of authority.
The pro-Aquino group part of The Subject will defend its “royal family” to the death. BS Aquino was supposedly going to be a good president because Cory, to them, was. Noynoy, Cory and their other kin have never done wrong, can never do wrong, and when things do go awry, it’s always someone else’s fault. Their favorite whipping posts have been, aside from the Marcoses, the Arroyos.
Because Mar Roxas was endorsed by BS Aquino as the LP candidate, the “can-do-no-wrong cleanliness” of the Aquinos suddenly applies to him as well. This is perhaps the starkest point being emphasized by the pro-Mar group. Therein stands out the dogma, after all; if endorsing Mar was a mistake (hint: it was), then BS Aquino has made a mistake, and to ever even suggest that BS Aquino makes a mistake will get you branded a heretic.
Enter the concept of original sin.
Religion class for Christians and Catholics teaches that because Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, all of their descendants – basically the entire human race – are tainted with their sin. And thus all babies must be baptized in order for the original sin to be washed away.
In the same way, The Subject will forever keep on insisting that because Marcos was supposedly such a vile, despotic dictator, the survivors of Ferdinand Sr., and all future generations of Marcoses, are tainted with the “original sin” of the deceased. Bongbong will be a bad president simply because he is his father’s son. No amount of baptism, no amount of ice buckets being dumped on the Marcoses’ heads will ever be able to wash away this sin, especially since incessantly reminding Filipinos of “the dark Marcos years” and how “they were saved by Cory and friends” is what keeps the Aquinos relevant.
The other side of the coin was mentioned earlier. Because Cory is a saint to the pro-Aquino group – this belief is not to be questioned at all times – BS Aquino is, too. And because BS Aquino chose Mar Roxas, then Mar is immaculate. End of discussion.
BS Aquino’s lame duck, limp dick presidency, however, is anything but untainted. Countless lives have been needlessly lost due to his government’s incompetence. All one has to do is mention the Luneta Hostage incident, the mismanagement and unnecessary politicization of Typhoon Haiyan relief operations, and the 44 dead from the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP). Filipinos should not ignore either, the attempt by BS Aquino’s “peace panel” to hand over to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) a sizable portion of Mindanao, never mind that certain provisions were dubious and possible violations of the Constitution. They were negotiating, as equals, with an insurgent group, for crying out loud.
Mar Roxas is no slouch when it comes to the screw-ups department. Filipinos continue to blame him for the breakdown of the Mass Railway Transit (MRT) commuter train system, and supposedly with good reason; shady deals which replaced the maintenance contractor with a dubious one were approved during his term, and were continued under his successor in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Jun Abaya. Mar also figures significantly in the botched Haiyan relief operations because of his episode with Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez (“you must remember that you are a Romualdez and the president is an Aquino”). Mar was also seemingly bypassed by BS Aquino in the planning and execution of the operation in Mamasapano (the “misencounter”), yet he continued to defend his boss. He also downplayed the bullet-planting operations (tanim-bala) done by personnel in the Manila International Airport (“kung nagpasok ka ng contraband sa airport, paano naging problema ng gobyerno yun?“).
Therein lies the hypocrisy. The pro-Mar, pro-Aquino, anti-Marcos groups would like Filipinos to believe that the Marcos survivors and descendants are forever “unclean” for simply breathing and carrying the clan name, yet overlooking mistakes committed consciously by the Aquinos and Mar is perfectly acceptable. The double standard being applied here only serves to highlight the stark difference in the nature of each side’s transgressions.
Even if, for argument’s sake, Bongbong were grown enough back in the 80’s to decide to oppose his father, and now could simply apologize for his father’s crimes, why are Filipinos expecting him to do something they themselves wouldn’t? Opposing one’s parents is considered a cardinal sin in Filipino society.
Let’s apply the same standard to the Aquinos. Where is the clamor for BS Aquino to apologize for his mother’s incompetence? Where is the clamor for Mar to apologize for his failures and BS Aquino’s failure of government? What makes the need for Mar to apologize even more poignant is that he chose to continue Daang Matuwid instead of be his own man.
There won’t be any, because generations of Filipinos have been indoctrinated into the dogmatic belief of “Aquino good, Marcos bad”. And this dogma is extended to whomever the Aquinos have pointed to as The Enemy. Gibo Teodoro and Renato Corona have had the misfortune of being tainted simply because of their association with Gloria Arroyo.
This is indeed hypocrisy, if viewed from the lens of accountability as an idea. Because Filipinos, however, are unable to graduate from thinking in terms of personalities, to them there is no double standard.
This is simply how things are done in the Philippines, and it is not likely to change for a long, long time.
[Photo courtesy: indybay.org]
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
“Never Again” is a YellowTard mentality. How about the treasonous case of Benigno Aquino, Sr. during World War II. He was responsible for the murder and torture of Filipino Guerillas by the Japanese Militarists occupiers. Aquino’s KALIBAPI Party were composed of spies and traitors.
How about Benigno Aquino, Jr., NPA support, together with Cory Aquino support to the NPA.
The Mendiola massacre is far worse, than Marcos Martial Law. The Hacienda Luisita massacre. The Maguindanao massacre, overlooked by Aquino. Now, the 44 SAF, heroes massacre.
These “Never Again” people are paid by Aquino and Mar Roxas, to perpetuate: the Oligarchy, Feudalism, and the Aquino’s hold of Hacienda Luisita.
Politics is very strange in our country. Of course, you earn money by holding those signs. There is chronic unemployment in the country.
Unless, our people will wake up, and think. We will remain the Basket Case of Asia.
If Bongbong Marcos is to be held accountable for his father’s sins, then Noynoy Aquino is to be held accountable for Hacienda Luisita, Mendiola, the NPA support, the Malaysia backdoor deal, and the sellout during the Japanese war.
No to Pnoy,Mar Roxas, and the Anti Marcos Groups. Hindi na kami paloloko sa inyo. Gising na ang Bayan. Kami ang Silent Majority ay Gising na. Kaming mga OFWs, mga Manggagawang talo ng Endo system, kaming mga Senior Citizen na di pinakinggan ng walang Pusong si Pnoy; kaming nga pamilya ng SAF 44 na pinagpalit ni Pnoy sa MILF dahil sa Pera ay Hindi ma bigyan ng Hustisya; kaming mahihirap na di tinitingnan kaya walang habas na I binenta ng Aquino government ang nga government hospitals at ariarian sa mga cronies ng Aquino ; kaming mga mahihirap na mamamayan ay Gising sa kasinungalingan at katusuhan ninyo . Hindi na paloloko sa inyo. Mabuhay si BBM, Mabuhay ang mga Marcos … Mabuhay ang mga ginawa ni Pangulong Marcos na pilit na inaangkin ng Aquino administration; MIA, NLEX, etc. Marcos pa rin, BBM Vice President …Marcos forever.
Tama gumising na kayu noon paman alam nnmin sasadsad ang pinas oras maupo ang Aquino kc sila ang punotdulo ng rebellion sa pinas.bulok at mg aagaw ng kban ng bay an,sila sang totoong magnanakaw kc Hindi sila pilipino kundi mga sing kit .walang puso yan tingnan mo nman yan cris Aquino unggetera suot pla mga alahas ni emilda.
Mga Pro-Marcos Loyalists pa revise ang history to forget about Martial Law. So Martial Law was paradise a wonderful period. Defend Marcos apologia.
TROLL.
It’s not about revising history but everyone wants to tell you that Martial law is just two sides of the same coin. So years after Martial law is paradise and wonderful period.
If I were you, son, please take that faggotry to somewhere else. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Thanks for telling me that you are clueless.
Says the faggman who thinks that the post Marcos years are wonderful and considered as paradise. While in reality, it’s the opposite. The next time you reply is when somebody asks you about the Mendiola Massacre you’ll say “a wonderful event.”
Son, congratulations. You just went FULL RETARD with what you wrote. 🙂
The hypocrisy of the Yellow Horde feeding at the hands of Pnoy and Mar as the campaign heats up is lamentable as a feature of our republic’s political exercise! Let us focus on ” Nation Building ” which was shelve as the rightful of good governance and so let us vote for those who places on top of their agenda ” Nation Building “!
Iyan ang tinatawag na “PIKITMATANG SUPORTA.” Sakit na talaga ng Pilipino iyan kahit noon pa. Isang halimbawa diyan ay yung pagdaraos ng Black Nazarene na alam na alam na ng mga deboto na napakadelikadong tradisyon sa buhay ng tao sapagkat napakaraming nangangamatay sa tuwing idinadaos ang walang kabuluhang tradisyon na iyan. Pero bakit ginagawa parin nila? Ano ba sabi ng Diyos sa Bible? “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES”, kung nais niyong malaman ang katotohanan basahin niyo ang Bibliya. Kaya palala ng palala angf sakit ng mga Pilipino ay dahil tamad magsaliksik ng katotohanan at mas pinipili pang makinig sa sabi-sabi kaya lalong nagiging bobo at uto-uto!
It’s not only that Marcos survivors and his descendants are forever “unclean” for simply breathing and carrying the clan name. By association, the Romualdezes of Leyte shouldn’t likewise and must not be in a position of authority.
Using mathematical set theory in social commentary is a real bitch — because it brings across the confronting reality of one’s real place in the overall scheme of things. It’s often a sad reality to face.
Confucius said: the superior man has no factions… meaning he has his own independent opinion. Which is why I don’t join any group of Filipinos, not your place even if you invited me, not Joe even if he invited me. Groucho Marx said I never would join any club that would want me as a member. Filipinos everywhere tend to be so weak-ass that they cluster in groups… now shouldn’t we all look at ourselves benign0?
I’ve been called yellow by Marcos folks, a loyalist by Aquino fanatics, and crazy. The stigma of being alone is totally fine by me. I try to see how Marcos did good and bad, and how Aquinos did good and bad.. the balance counts in the end. Now my historical evaluation of Daang Matuwid isn’t finished yet. Looking from afar, it all looks like Capulets and Montagues to me. Now I have seen FB comments of people who like Aquino but distrust Mar Roxas. I have FB friends who hate both Marcos and the Aquinos but like FVR as a President. Things ain’t that simple, but Filipinos dislike complexity. My high school best friend and myself had a condescending comment (he born in the USA, me half-German) that “Filipinos are stupid”. When we did stupid stuff and got caught, we realized and said “we’re stupid Filipinos”. Cheers, comrade benign0, let’s get stupid.
Good to know you would rather be alone with your personal convictions than in a choir singing from the same page with minds imprisoned by the hive dogma.
More importantly, you seek critical evaluation of said convictions from a diverse set of communities by laying out your ideas clearly on the table for all to scrutinise. What more could one ask of a person who takes the right approach and mindset over the course of his journey of intellectual discovery?
the hypocrisy of etta rosales..as one of the victim of mendiola massacre 1987, so unfortunate that she didn’t belong to the fatal casualties of the carnage…
Hindsight being 20/20, Marcos was the best thing that has ever happened to the Failipppines. The only ones who hated the Marcoses are the ones who did not get what they wanted during his reign.
Today, these anti-Marcos regime finally got what they wanted, and look how they fucked up the whole country to serve themselves.
Go ahead arrogant and selfish Failipinos. Keep sucking up to the Chinese–and the modern “sosyal” lifestyle of condominiums and shopping malls they’ve sold you on–and let us see how far it takes you.
To Hell, I hope, while your new Chinese master drains your country’s resources and steal your souls.
Not quite true… his regime harrased quite a lot of intellectuals. The stupidification of the country started then.. the first malls, sleazy bomba movies… we were teens and knew it wasn’t advisable to look to smart and so we started acting stupid… those after us I guess were a bit more stupid and acted more stupid… so the momentum of what started during Marcos times continued after he left… including the growth of slums that was due to the civil war in the countryside… both Marcos and the Communists heated up the conflict.. instead of blaming or praising one family or the other among these Italian Mafiosi one should look at the dynamics of things. Marcos was a newcomer like Napoleon while the old families were like the French royalty, the Bourbons. Napoleon had his Imelda, Empress Josephine, and his cornies including his brothers. The Bourbons when they came back “learned nothing and forgot nothing” which is why Napoleon III was elected President by the French. Now history will tell whether the Aquino/Roxas group have “learned nothing and forgotten nothing” or not… the evidence is mixed in my opinion but I haven’t arrived at a conclusion yet… the nice thing is that I don’t have any stakes in the Philippines anymore, nothing to lose or win so I may not be neutral – nobody is – but I can be relatively dispassionate if I wish. My view of Erap/Arroyo/Aquino periods will come out in my blog in due time, folks… 🙂 and that ain’t a threat, it’s a promise to keep.
Irineo B. R. Salazar,
How do you jump from “Bomba” movies to Napoleon and Josephine of the French Revolution to Erap/Arroyo/Aquino in describing Marcos?
Your explanation is fleeting, at worse, and non-applicable, at best.
Suggestion: give a comparison that are more parallel and valid before you convince anyone.
Aeta
Irineo B. R. Salazar,
How do you jump from “Bomba” movies to Napoleon and Josephine of the French Revolution to Erap/Arroyo/Aquino in describing Marcos?
Your explanation is fleeting, at worse, and non-applicable, at best.
Suggestion: give a comparison that is more parallel and valid before you can convince anyone of your rationale.
Aeta
@Irineo: Perhaps. But this supposed stupidification of the Philippines was carried on by Cory Aquino and the Cult of Yellow that came to surround her and her clan. Not only did they carry it on, they took that stupidification campaign to new heights and embedded the mentality deeper in Da Pinoy psyche than any previous regime had.
So now, the process is all but complete. The crop of idiots running for the presidency is proof of this. Filipinos’ embrace of national stupidity is such that they actually continue to pompously debate the merits and demerits of each candidate as if one has any significant advantage in virtue over the other that is of any consequence to the fortunes of the Philippines over the next six years.
The ascent of Cory Aquino to Malacanang was the seminal milestone that introduced the idea to Filipinos that stupid and incompetent people could actually aspire to be president and succeed at attaining that aspiration.
We could wait for an apology from Aquino and Roxas up ’til the pigs learn to fly; but that’s not going to happen. That will betray a weakness. All politicians, guilty or not, know only too well that a show of weakness just invites further aggression.. so why should they. They will simply deny, or muddle up the issue until everyone is confounded. What’s more, like Napoles’ three Senators, they could just say “prove it”. So, good luck with that.
On the matter of the ‘original sin’ of Bong-Bong.. his mother’s and sisters’ too.. it isn’t that they are guilty by association.. it is that they obfuscate and impede further progress of the loot’s repatriation. Some six hundred-thousands of dollars have since been recovered, indicating that the investigation was on the right track.. and the money in question belongs to the Filipino people. Mexicans would say, “Tanto peca el que mata la vaca como el que le detiene la pata.” (roughly, “He who holds down the cow, is as guilty as the one who slits its throat”.)
Correct… there are international cases on the Marcos loot and a lot was proven, some of it is being auctioned off at the moment.
The reality is that Marcos caused galloping inflation by printing money like mad.. the inflation was highest in 1984 this is proven. Yes he had a lot of infra projects but he put the country in heavy debt which had to be paid to the IMF / World Bank. Well being an utangero is a Filipino trait.
Irineo B. R. Salazar,
Here is an example of comparison that I would like you to make. Compare what Marcos stole when he was in power to what the post-1986 political and business oligarchs have stolen–and will continue to steal–from the Failippines.
Then compare the quality of life of the average Failipinos when Marcos was in power to what it is today.
Convince all of us on this forum on those two comparisons and I will accept your argument that Marcos was a total asshole compared to all the assholes we have today.
Aeta
Try watching these Irineo Salazar:
Link to YouTube video
Link to YouTube video
What do you think?
“…he had a lot of infra projects but he put the country in heavy debt which had to be paid to the IMF / World Bank.”
_____________________________
It is called deficit spending, you spend more than you collect. You borrow to fill up the deficit. Now, it depends on where you are spending on. In the case of Marcos, infra. Today, because of a slack in infrastructure spending for the last three decades, we are feeling the effects. In fact, experts attribute much of our problem to this huge backlog in infra development.
Now infra is big spending. You need big big funds. Your options are limited: increase taxes, borrow money, or make do with what you have. Or use the PPP option which is a relatively new innovation. Marcos refused to increase taxes. Making do with what he had, he would have built nothing. If the PPP scheme was there then, would he have resorted to it? Perhaps not with all the complications. He chose to borrow. In the early seventy’s the world was awash with petrodollars, interest rate was low. It has its downside though. But every option has a downside and an upside. To me he made the right decision.
By the way, you might want to know which countries are the most indebted.
http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/the-20-countries-with-the-greatest-public-debt/
Funding infrastructure projects with debt is actually an act of optimism — because you are generally assuming that the $ value of the productivity gains enabled by the infrastructure you are building will fund the servicing of the debt that funded it.
There should be more analysis on whether the economic managers of the 1970s were, in fact, making decisions on the basis of the best information available at the time. If what ricelander is saying is correct — that funds were abundant and cheap — then it made sense at the time to fund deficit spending with debt rather than taxes, so long as the spending went into vital infrastructure to lay the groundwork for sustained economic expansion.
Simply dismissing all that by putting said borrowing out of context for the sake of issuing a soundbyte does not tell the full story.
“The reality is that Marcos caused galloping inflation by printing money like mad.. the inflation was highest in 1984 this is proven.”
__________________________
You are making a very serious accusation. Printing money is a most sensitive matter. You do not just print money, let alone print money like mad, because of its encompassing consequences. Care for some references or proof?
Or are you assuming that because there was galloping inflation, Marcos must have been printing money like mad?
Whether Marcos was printing money or not is not the ‘burning issue’. Inflation, which is the result of depressed productivity, (which practically ground to a halt in the private sector then), on the other hand, would ‘do a country in’; and it did. The fact is, during the Marcos years, there were three ‘defacto devaluations’. Money then became little more than wallpaper. It was a cartel of rich Chinese merchants, ‘the Binondo Central Bank’ that kept the economy afloat. The shrinking economy was just one of the ‘blights’ of that regime. The Marcos years, I agree, are best viewed from a rear view mirror.. if only to be reminded of what to avoid.
The galloping inflation in the early 80s were triggered by two crisis: the debt crisis which started in the Latin America countries and the assassination of Ninoy. Add to this the threat of IMF not to lend anymore money unless Marcos gave in to their demands, some of which were for him to increase taxes and stop his expensive industrialization projects. Crisis of this proportion normally cause the appreciation of dollars (thus depreciation of the peso) as funds look for secure shelter. The crisis was so bad indeed the value of the peso dived so steeply so that the value of goods soared so high and many businesses went bankrupt.
Irineo, bravo and keep up the fight! I find it unbelievable / astounding that you are even having this exchange regarding Marcos. Bottom line is, Marcos makes all other corrupt politicians in Philippine history seem like kindergarden kids. Read the following: http://getrealphilippines.com/2012/09/martial-law-in-the-philippines-but-heres-the-point/
The passing years appear to have erased any sense of magnitude or gravitas to the crimes of Marcos and his cronies.
Simple lang yung kaso ni Bong Bong. Ibalik mo yung ninakaw ng magulang mo at ng pinagsasaan mo buong buhay mo na hanggang ngayon ay binabayaran ang kampanya mo . . . tapos hayaan natin umiral yung bulok nating demokrasya. Kapag ibalik mo yung ninakaw ninyo, isip mo ba may pag-asa ka pang manalo ng anumang nationally elected political position? Pera-perahan ka lang. I have great faith that in the absence of the ill-gotten wealth funding your political career, mas mabilis pa sa alas kuwatro ay patay na ang karera mo. Bago ang lahat, ibalik mo yung ninakaw ninyo and try for once in your life to earn an honest living.
I posted a Youtube link above in reply to Irineo Salazar. Care to watch it, just for fun if you wish, and make a comment?
“Irineo, bravo and keep up the fight!”
______________________
Haha, great, when you fight, you do not put up one jab then scamper away.
Iba ang standard of justice sa mga tanga gaya ni cory at anak nyang noynoying, pag nagkamali, tingin ng mga iba nating kababayan, normal lang. Pero pag ang nagkamali ay matalinong lider gaya ni Marcos, walang patawad. Nasaan ang hustisya?
Ang totoo nyan ayaw ng aquino na muling tumaas ang ranggo ng marcos sa gobyerno hindi dahil sa pabulaan ng martial law kundi takot sila na malaman ng mundo na ang kasaysayan ng edsa at ng mga cojuanco aquino ay puno ng kasinungalingan at pagkukunwari sa madlang pilipino.
The incumbent president of South Korea is Ms Park Geun Hye. Who is she? She is the daughter of the dictator Park Chung Hee, who was said to be an admirer of our Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (FM), his contemporary. Like all the dictators of that age, Park Chung Hee too is accused of corruption and human rights violations. Like Indonesia’s Suharto, Park Chung Hee is also of military background.
In 1979, Park Chung Hee was assasinated by the chief of his own security. Today, some Koreans believe it was the CIA that got through the mind of the assassin. Park was becoming more and more in his posturing independent of, and out of sync with, US foreign policy. For all his faults, Koreans, however, attribute to him their first step towards technological advancement. Park was responsible for organizing, which was quite secretive at the start, the Research and Development Group managed by the military, but funded by the oligarchs of the time. He also had the Strategic Planning Group managed by the KIA (Korean Intelligence Agency).
Both agencies became prestigious places to work for in time and for that, it became an accepted fact that summa-cum-laudes ended up working there the moment they graduated from the different universities then. In other words, he attracted the best and brightest. Although, those agencies are no longer there today, as the home grown scientists slowly got dispersed to the various R&Ds of the chaebols (Hyundai, Samsung, LG, etc.), the first step to technological sophistication was made. Today, we see how South Korea has become competitive with their supersonic jets, helicopters, submarines, etc. PHL, in fact, just bought 12 of their jets with two already delivered.
Some say Park was more forward looking than FM. I am not so sure about that. During a visit to the Philippines just about the time Martial Law was put in place, he is on record for saying that he was fascinated by the way FM was running the country. At that time, Philippines was ahead of Korea by a mile. Park declared Martial Law in 1972. Maybe because South Korea is at war with North Korea, Park had to find a way to be superior over their enemy militarily, the reason for the R&D managed by the army. Philippines had no perceived enemy, so FM had the luxury of focusing on commerce, commodities, etc.
Both countries at that time hosted the biggest US military bases outside of the US, though Subic and Clark were bigger than those in Korea. Today, Korea still hosts a US military base, although at a reduced size.
Geography-wise and military-wise, the two most critical points in Asia Pacific are the Korean Peninsula and the Philippines. Philippines, because of the “narrow” sea lane between Ilocos and Hong Kong. Korea, because there have already been technologies for long range missiles for some time that could cover the distance between Korea and the US, or Europe, via the region of the North Pole. This is the reason why everybody is watching if North Korea on its own could duplicate these technologies already available.
That is also the reason why Korea has to remain divided. It is the perceived desire of the global powers-that-be. No power has to be allowed to take full control of the peninsula. So, the geopolitics of the area is always critical at any one time. Internally, there has always been an ongoing initiative to unify North and South. It is an ever present sentiment of all the Korean people that they are just one country. Korean academics and planners are always busy trying to come up with a strategy that could unify the two and that could finally be accepted by the international players. Thing is, as soon as they have formulated what would otherwise be a great move for unification, either the US, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, or UK steps in to frustrate it. So far, unification has been elusive, but the process has yielded some of the best geopolitical thinkers around, who are Koreans. You only have to look at the UN and WB organizations to know this. The White House and US Congress always have Koreans in their staff, or as consultants.
As in the Philippines, US meddling in Korean politics is palpable. FM was ousted by people power of what is becoming clearer by the day as something engineered by a certain group in the US. FM was becoming more defiant of US dictate, probably why he eventually became quite close to Park on a personal level. For one, FM initiated the move to demand rent for the use of Clark and Subic.
Whatever, since his ouster, the smear campaign has been non-stop; at the start, it became a world phenomenon. I am not saying the smear have no basis or justification; they do, in quite a number of cases. But, which are the ones seeking truth and justice, and which are the ones which are only meant for pure vilification, riding on the situation, to cover the selfish motives of accusers, it has been made difficult to decipher. What is obvious is that it was not about seeking justice since Imelda is not in jail. So, the motive must have been just to vilify — it had to be, …..could it be otherwise?
EDSA1 was 30 years ago, and they have not settled the matter?? Is there an effort to settle it, or is the intention to keep it hanging in the air so they could have a perpetual bogeyman? They don’t even want to pursue the case on who really was the mastermind in the assassination of Ninoy Aquino when already two Aquinos sat as Presidents. Strange, it is the Marcoses who want the case pursued to its logical conclusion and have a closure.
When we absent what was characteristic of the region that time, i.e., that many Asian countries were ran by dictators, we could paint our Martial Law years as something unique, and of course, the image we get is horrible. But, is the picture accurate? How do we compare with the alledged one million desaparacidos and killings that Indonesia experienced during Suharto, or similarly, the over the million each, in the case of Pol Pot and Mao. Are we talking of the same numbers here? Of course, this does not absolve Marcos; one desaparicido is one too many human life that disappeared into thin air.
And yet, here we are still discussing what happened 30 years ago; each accusing each as a revisionist. How can there be a revisionist, when higher-ups have made no attempt to write the final chapters of the history. In the meantime, the rest have written their respective chapters and have moved on. As mentioned, in the case of South Korea, they even elected the daughter of the dictator. Has she become a dictator like his father? That is the question. She was here during the APEC; did she look even remotely like a dictator?
What is even funnier is that now they want Bongbong to write the history for them. While they have done nothing to attain closure and while they sit in their aircon rooms counting their PDAF, they wait for Bongbong to apologize and return whatever money his father plundered. Why would he do that? So that PCGG could plunder them again? They claim they have recovered half of the USD 10 billion, how come they have not paid a single Martial Law victim?
They should be careful what they ask for. They are not dealing with a stupid guy. Just because he has a maligned family name does not mean he is stupid. Given the chance, Bongbong will write the history for them, they should not doubt that.
Indeed, he has already started writing a history. Ilocos is the province where energy cost is the lowest, thanks to his windmills.. It is the only province that is ISO-9000 approved, and always one that has not encountered a problem with COA. It’s record is squeky clean. Agriculture and Tourism are flourishing, and thus unemployment is under control. It is the only province that is growing its middle class at a good pace.
As a candidate, he is the only one that talks with geopolitical sense. He has a very good appreciation of the dynamics at play in the region. Among the Yellows, there are only two groups; at one end are those who only see everything as US imperialism and who are always angry while at the other end are those who kowtow, like PNoy, to everything American. No one in the middle. So, how could they formulate a sensible foreign policy in the interest of the Philippines. Or, do they think we are an isolated island?
Well, maybe I should correct that. There are two who are in the middle. DFA’s del Rosario who always makes sense; unfortunately, he is not of the inner circle and does not have the ears of PNoy. (Recall how he lambasted Trillanes) The other is Amb to US Joey Cuisia, who is a recognized geopolitical thinker. Unfortunately, PNoy just put him there, as all ambassadors are, just as a gratitude for the contribution Joey made to his campaign, without even investigating the gem of a talent that Joey is. So, poor Joey, there he is in the US even spending his own personal money to keep the embassies and consulates working properly for the budgets sent them are simply not enough. Joey may be a very wealthy man, but surely he can not spend his own money to advance a continuous lobbying effort so that US also sees things the Filipino way, which should really what should be done. This is what Korea does, and that is why US sees them as a partner. The Philippines? Well, ..US sees it as its pet Chow-chow.
But, I have been digressing. I was about to say that BBL has always been the project of the US, same as RH Bill was. (See they passed that law, but are falling short in the implementation side. Why? Because all they needed was just a paper to make Obama happy. Hahaha. Still, Obama didn’t release the USD400 million MDG Fund) Thanks to the SAF44, it was them that made people see this, but that was all they saw. Bongbong, almost singlehandedly, was the one who sought the only sensible alternative to BBL. Many see BBL as a domestic concern. Bongbong saw it within the context of geopolitics and that is why he was able to convince other Senators. It is by force of reason that he works.
Just think, a VP asking for the Labor portfolio. Sonamagan, this guy is either insane, or one who knows the problem of the country very, very profoundly. For sure, he knows what comes first.
Oh gosh, and… and.. He is the fucking future dictator??? Is Park Gyuen Hye one? Open your eyes, people, and think.. And think hard. That is what 2016 is demanding.of you. Even if you don’t vote (which I think many of us will be doing, boycott) think is what is being demanded.
This is an excellent dissertation on the history of the South East Asian region with a few references to areas farther afield. I can’t be sure, though, that it cleanses Bong-Bong and his clan, or (leastwise), the Ferdinand Marcos years.
A) Park Chung Hee’s daughter is not a dictator.. indeed; but what has this got to do with the price of rice? FM’s son is a different quantity altogether. What’s the connection? B) So..the Ilocos region has full employment, and an ISO-900 certification. Is this Bong-Bong’s doing solely? Isn’t the credit due to the managers of local industry? I guess Binay could claim all of Makati’s successes for himself as well. C) It’s OK for the clan to hang on to ill-gotten wealth, (loot, lucre, dirty money).. because it will just be looted in turn by the present dispensation. Really? Is this even an argument? D) So, (again), Ferdinand Marcos’ reign caused less human disappearances than did Suharto, Pol Pot or Mao Ze Dong. But, as was pointed out later; this does not make him any less ruthless or guilty.
No amount of ‘clorox’ can bleach the record of the ‘Marcos Years’, or for that matter, Suharto’s, Pol Pot’s, Mao’s, or even Stalin’s. And, Bong-Bong, while merely ‘collateral damage’ now, should do much more than just be tangentially associated with the Ilocos’ good record, or merely presenting an alternative to a BBL which must be totally scrapped.
Actually, the arguments presented to polish Bong-Bong’s image, seem to make the case against this.
@vagoneto rieles:
Marcos reign is past…it is history. Aquino’s reign is the present. We are staring on him of what he has done to the country.
This tactic of Aquino of diverting the issue against him, and blaming Marcos, is “lumang tugtugin na”…panahon pa ni Cory Aquino, yun. Kumagat naman ang mga mangmang na Pilipino.
We want these Politicians, running for offices, to present to us: (1) What can they do to improve the dismal conditions of our country. (2) How will they solve the problems of our country.(3) How to remove Feudalism, and implement Land Reform. (4) How to Land reform Aquino’s Hacienda Luisita; so that its tenants/serfs, will truly benefit . (5) Present and discuss the REAL ISSUES, affecting the country.(OFW, massive unemployment, squatters, massive graft and corruption, widening gap between the rich and the poor, MILF/ISIS/Al Queda, NPA and other insurrections, Land Reform, Feudalism, Aquino’ Hacienda Luisita, 44 SAF heroes massacre, other massacres and murders, etc…).
Aquino , Mar Roxas and their YellowTard minions are doing the “Squid Tactic”, to cover their: incompetence, corruptions and sell out of the country. They use the DIVERSIONARY tactic, to put blame on a President , who died 30 years ago.
We want you platforms, Idiots, not anything else. We want to stop the country from going further and further, from being the Basket Case of Asia.
@vagoneto rieles
A) “…. what has this got to do with the price of rice?”
>>Ask the Ilocanos who elected Bongbong as governor. They will tell you there are no hungry people in Ilocos.
“FM’s son is a different quantity …What’s the connection?”
>>> Well, the Yellows keep repeating ad infinitum that the apple falls not far from the tree, don’t they?
B) I don’t know if you have experienced getting an ISO-9000 certification. It’s a real bitch, I tell you. Other LGUs are still trying to get one, but they still don’t have it.
“Is this Bong-Bong’s doing solely?” >>No, he initiated it, her sister finished it.
“Isn’t the credit due to the managers of local industry? I guess Binay could claim all of Makati’s successes for himself as well.” >> I think you are clueless. Binay came after Makati was already on the roll. Ilocos’ dramatic change came during Bongbong’s incumbency. So, it must be his policies. Progress is continuing now under Imee.
C) “It’s OK for the clan to hang on to ill-gotten” >>> No, No, No, but it has to be returned under more conducive conditions…
D) “So, (again), Ferdinand Marcos’ reign caused less human disappearances than did Suharto, Pol Pot or Mao Ze Dong. ….” >>> Is having a correct sense of proportion in assessing a history important or not?
“No amount of ‘clorox’ can bleach the record of the ‘Marcos Years” >>> as no amount of chlorox can bleach the damage on the national psyche EDSA1 has inflicted. My friend who is an executive headhunter based in New York used to drop by Manila when he wanted to fill up a position requiring an Asian ….well, he stopped doing that by late 90s. He says he can’t believe how a pool of talents could just disappear seemingly overnight. I know what he is talking about, because I myself could spend about five days interviewing daily, and yet find not one candidate qualified. It wasn’t like that at all before. Before, you spent sleepless nights trying to decide between two or three fantastic candidates for an executive job, which you have been able to shortlist in just two days of interviewing.
My Hong Kong friend who used to import container loads monthly of Trebel Pianos, a PHL made product, an old Thai friend who is an alumnus of UP, and a Korean friend who spent years in Loyola as a seminarian, but who eventually said priesthood was not for him and is now a VP in one of the big banks, and some more who are familiar with the PHL, all miss the old Filipino character, and the charm of the country. Most of them are unanimous that sometime mid 90s, something, somehow there was a change which amazingly was not gradual. My old man, he passed away five years ago, used to say while watching TV news: “Ano ba yan?. Anong nangyari sa atin? Puros pulubi na lang. Nun panahon namin, Tao, kahit probinsyano, ay hindi kakain, pero hindi ibaba and dignidad nya para mamalimos lang.” Since my teen age, I have been going in and out of that airport we now call NAIA, and there was a decade I was going through it every two weeks. Never have I seen so much number of shady looking characters, crooks, hanging around in the area as these days. Right there they kill the charm of the country, if there is still any.
The Marcos, for all their faults, wouldn’t dare lower the dignity of a Filipino. In fact, this is what they were conscious of.
I, myself, will not vote this election because I don’t like any of the Prez candidates and I really don’t care who is Bongbong (for what we need is a systemic change), but this I will say: win or lose this 2016, Bongbong, or the Marcoses, have already won. The mere fact that he was able to deliver an alternate SONA in front of the Asian CEO Forum, and be able to run for VP, is already a big slap in the faces of the Yellows. If he wins, then the people are saying: we are not happy with just slap, please spit on them when you have not yet brushed your teeth in the morning.
This is a total win. Thank you for this post. Very helpful.
AQUINOS SUCK!! THEY ARE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES,, IN THE HISTORY OF MISTAKES,, IN THE HISTORY OF SUCKING!!
So kung ako galit kay Marcos maka-Aquino agad ako? Parang sinabi rin ninyo na kung galit ako sa ABS-CBN ay maka-GMA din ako. Napakalaking katangahan naman itong analohiya. Kung gusto ninyo kay Marcos pumunta kayo sa Tsina at North Korea, huwag niyong idamay ang ibang mga tao dito sa Pilipinas.
>>>North Korea is a TRUE Communist country.
>>>China has an OPEN ECONOMY and they were now one of the rising economies in the world. And they even hosted the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Mali rin ang analogy mo, bord. As expected from an EMOFAGGING.
Pareparehas lang ang mga yan (Romualdez-Marcos, Cojuangco-Aquino, etc.), nakakasawa na. Kailan kaya magsasawa ang iba. Tama naman ang mga sinabi ni Irineo B. R. Salazar. Sana nga dumami ang mga Pilipino na katulad mo mag-isip. Oo nga pala, tanong ko lang. Kung traydor si Benigno Aquino Sr. traydor din ba si Jose P. Laurel?
Failippines history is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.
What I don’t get is how some of these “Never Again” activists can turn a blind eye on the atrocities committed under both Aquino administrations. What about Mendiola Massacre? Mamasapano? Where were these “Never Again” activists on the demand for justice on the victims of these particular incidents. Apparently, they didn’t make the same fuss about Mendiola Massacre (29th anniversary just a month ago) as compared to Bongbong’s Vice Presidential Bid.
Marcos is no saint, but to vilify him, and not do the same to the Aquinos reeks of hypocrisy. If Bongbong’s last name isn’t Marcos, I doubt that these people will bring up “Never Again”, which is a shame, since for a Catholic country, there is a passage in the Bible that says that “the sins of the father are not the sins of the son” and vice-versa. Criticize Bongbong based on his own actions, and not on his father’s.
It is because of this black and white mentality of the Filipinos that political dynasties will continue to exist as one family can always paint themselves as saints to fool gullible voters.