That’s right. Congress, after all, is a government branch whose primary role in government is to craft laws. As such, the important question Filipinos need to ask of their candidates in the coming 2019 elections is this:
What is your legislative agenda?
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And that is the easy bit. The harder follow-up to this question (assuming the candidate or party can cough up a coherent response) is this:
How does this legislative agenda fit within the framework of your long-term strategic vision?
An excellent legislative agenda worth its legislator’s salt, after all, would naturally emerge if one has a long-term vision of what the Philippines might look like, say, five or ten years from now. To get to that five- to ten-year vision requires, of course, a means and a roadmap. The roadmap would be the strategy, and the key milestones within that roadmap would be legislative achievements. Executing the vision would then involve traversing said road and passing each milestone.
In that regard, it is easy to see how simply slinging mud at one another, playing the Victim Card, engaging in necropolitical “activism”, and virtue signalling for the cameras will neither crystallise such a vision nor get anyone anywhere near the end of that strategic pathway. Unfortunately for Filipinos, they are stuck with an Opposition that focuses all of its efforts on exactly those unproductive endeavours. This is why it is important that the Opposition ditch the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards) where much of this retarded thinking originates. Only this way will the more important job of defining a vision and crafting a legislative agenda consistent with it become a true priority.
Nonetheless, Filipinos need to apply a critical mind when deciding who to vote for in the coming elections. In the Philippines, unfortunately, personalities are pitched to voters much the same way a bar of soap is marketed. It’s all in the branding. Nebulous notions like “disente” and “dissent” as well as various liberalist concepts like feminism and “human rights” are thrown into a cauldron of clichés out of which are produced the campaign collateral that then gets parroted over mainstream media ad nauseum by candidates and supporters alike.
Filipinos need to recalibrate the way they consume media, evaluate online content, and understand what is coming out of politicians’ mouths to make themselves immune from these quaint and obsolete mind tricks. More importantly, they need to learn to look past mere platitudes and demand that assertions and claims made by politicians and “influencers” be based on really clear and well-defined terms. For example, a claim to wage a “war on fake news” cannot simply be taken at face value. It is a mere motherhood statement that, to true stakeholders in the wellbeing of the nation, are all essentially meaningless.
It could start by habitually asking two simple questions:
What do you mean by that?
So what?
Thus, when a politician or “influencer” promises to mount, say, a “war on fake news”, ask the above two questions and watch them squirm.
It does not take much to apply an intelligent mind to one’s duty to contribute to democratic exercises like elections. Often it is just a simple matter of asking the right questions and not simply lapping up and swallowing whole whatever verbage polticians and “influencers” issue without even the least bit of a chew.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Most of those candidates for public office, do not even understand the term, “Legislative Agenda”. So, they try the old trick of sloganeering, like: “Never Again”. YellowTards want to bring out the ghost of the late Pres. Marcos Sr., to frighten us, that Marcos Sr., might resurrect, and impose Martial Law again.
Or, if his followers, who are Marcos Sr. loyalists, will be voted into office. They may impose , “Martial Law” . I really don’t understand what they means by their placards : “Never Again”. What did the nation gained from that slogan: “Never Again” ?
These YellowTards had shown what they can do, with their span of 30 years in power. All we saw, were: widespread corruption; DAP, PDAF; drug dealers; drug lords; no land reform; election fraud; massacres; incompetence; political patronage; culture of corruption; etc…most of the YellowTards grew exceedingly wealthy, during that span of 30 years…
Maybe, they are telling us: “Never Again”, that YellowTards will become poor ! “Never Again”, that YellowTards cannot steal from the National Treasury. “Never Again”, that YellowTards cannot deal in Shabu . What a bunch of Retarded !
“Money, money, money, always sunny in a rich man’s world.” Abba
agree with your comments = These YellowTards had shown what they can do, with their span of 30 years in power. All we saw, were: widespread corruption; DAP, PDAF; drug dealers; drug lords; no land reform; election fraud; massacres; incompetence; political patronage; culture of corruption; etc…most of the YellowTards grew exceedingly wealthy, during that span of 30 years…
Maybe, they are telling us: “Never Again”, that YellowTards will become poor ! “Never Again”, that YellowTards cannot steal from the National Treasury. “Never Again”, that YellowTards cannot deal in Shabu . What a bunch of Retarded ! Never again Marcial Bonifacio aka Ninoy Aquino Open daylight bribed bacon barrell pdaf corruption, making the Philippines number one corrupt country in Asia.
954 please read;
– Marcoses were found guilty of human rights violation from murder, salvaging, disappearances, torture, etc kaya nga sila pinagbayad sa mga Human Rights claimants ng Court – documented yan hindi lang meme
– Never Again if hindi mo alam, ay slogan para sabihin sa lahat pati sa buong Mundo, na hindi na natin papayagan ang isang mamamatay tao at diktador ang mamuno sa atin- documented din ang lahat ng pagnanakaw ng mga Marcoses -read Days of quiet nights of rage, cronies like Jose Campos, Romualdez, etc returned their ill gotten wealth and also validated the corruption during Marcos leadership, at volumes of books written and verified about martial law days
– Yung sinasabi mong yellowtards ay hindi 30 years in power, Cory, Ramos, Erap, Gloria,Noynoy, Digong- iba iba ang naging presidente
– Generalized ang mga pinagsasabi mo, drug , land reform , corruption etc ay hindi resulta ng isang pamunuan lamang, ito ay mga resulta ng iba ibang presidente
Hindi masama magcomment, pero kung hindi mo alam mga facts about a certain topic sana magbasa ka muna it will be very useful
-Yours is half documented. But were the Marcoses tried in court per se and you even let other guys like Enrile and Ramos scoot free, where they were also part of it? Nope, it’s more like an exaggeration, unfortunately.
-Hate to break it to you, but the ‘Never Again’ slogan is now more like a sham and also a form of propaganda. Of course, you would approve the rule of Yellows and even the killings of the post-Marcos years and say, “They’re not that bad” with a smile on your face. Also, ‘Greed and Betrayal’ and ‘A Country Imperiled’ is more of a worthwhile read compared to those books as if you try to overrate the corruption during Marcos’ leadership and always turn a blind eye of the corruption of the post-Marcos years until today.
-You’re very literal. Those ’30 years in power’ with those presidents are under the “Yellow Rule”. So it’s not the presidents here but more of the Yellowtards’ influence. If anything, you’re clueless about this.
-And you’re grasping on straws because they were also under the Yellow influence.
Hindi nga masama ang mag-comment. Pero walang kwenta ang facts mo if you have a one-sided view and full of biases and if you also rely on one-sided books; instead of being very useful, it’s now very useless. You need to widen your thinking here and not being a simpleton.
ang mga marcoses ay iniharap sa korte at guilty kaya nagbayad sila sa claimants – hindi na try si ferdie dahil namatay na in the process.
magnanakaw sila dahil documented na sinabi ni benedicto disini cojuangco cuenca campos kung paano kinurakot ni marcos ang pera documented yan.
may pruweba ka ba otherwise?
Half-truth. Most of them were never put behind bars and even Imelda is acquitted in all charges, including racketeering. The Yellows are afraid that they would be exposed so they rely on the court of other countries. Try again.
Another half truth. You only mention the Benedicto, Disini Cojuangco, Cuenca, and Campos families. In case you don’t notice:
Sinabi mo pa documented na magnanakaw si Marcos but you always turn a blind eye that those after him are much worse. I always use CRITICAL THINKING here, and not just mere proof.
Spoken like a true Yellowtard. Thanks for exposing yourself.
@patrick gonzalez:
Marcos is a crook because it was pointed AND documented by media pundits, but let’s not go for Cory and her crookery, including what she did during in office so everyone would believe in the Aquino name.
Because only gullible fools would believe in the Aquino magic and hype. That and everything that has a last name on them.
to get that 5 to 10 vision requires the president to tell the pilipinos who to vote.
Ah, but as we all must know, man is not a rational animal. His “reason” and “logic” only being used to justify his own instincts and rationalize his own bad behavior. For if your false view of humanity were correct, then it wouldn’t make sense for many intelligent people to support candidates in such a sycophantic fashion. Seems like the problem isn’t the use of intelligence, but the fact that you have become too wilfully stupid to see what a false god of intelligence you have constructed.
Nasim Nicholas Taleb once described the phenomenon of the Intellectual Yet Idiot. I suggest you read it. Might help you dispel the superstitions you believe about the saving power of logic,reason,and intelligence.
But let’s entertain your delusions for one second. If we were to start asking questions about who our candidates should be, wouldn’t that also follow that we can begin processing the way in which our candidates qualify for being “electable”?
Wouldn’t that also follow that we begin even questioning whether or not the process our country’s leaders are chosen is right and legitimate?
Wouldn’t that also follow that, if it turns out that democracy is a sham, we must consider alternatives?
Only a fool would tell you that the third question leads to communism. There are many far superior forms of governance that have existed that aren’t examples of leftist trash such as communism and democracy.
Those are exactly the sorts of questions I wanted the readers to arrive at.
To blood stark and dio;
Marcoses ang pinauusapan dito.
Huwag ibahin usapan.
Aquino and their ilks are also guilty of corruption and i agree should also be punished just like the exiled marcoses.
I dont believe in any aquino from ninoy to kris hehe they are same mold as the marcoses.
My argument is that mamatay tao at corrupt si marcos and patunayan nyo na hindi.
Aquinos and those who came after marcos na corrupt din should also be kicked out and given the same banishment given to the marcoses.
Huwag nyo ako ihanay sa porke im advocating the continued vigilance against the return of the family of thieves the marcoses , ay gusto or im a supporter of what you call yellowtards.
Thats critical thinking for you and not blind idolatry sa mga guilty na marcos.
Sorry but I’m not as biased as you are. But you have your own blind idolatry that you believe that ‘everything is better after Marcos left’. Perhaps you would say it’s true, but it’s not. You’re not using critical thinking here but one-sided nonsense.
Nope, you just love to overrate stuff. And you’re trying to say na hindi mamamatay at corrupt ang mga sumunod sa kanya. It’s like you’re trying to tell that nobody died or no one is corrupt on the post-Marcos years. Bravo for your sheer idiocy and ignorance. Sorry if I’m not drinking the Yellow kool-aide like you do.
again saan sa sinabi ko na mas maayos after marcos?
saan ko sinabi na walang namatay o corrupt after marcos?
wala kang basehan sa mga sinasabi mo na ako ay biased or yellow or not seeing the rotteness after marcos.
ganyan lang ang argument mo kasi wala kang masagot sa sinasabi ko na MAMAMATAY at magnanakaw si marcos at documented yan.
@Patrick:
You failed the “so what” test. Wala along sinasabi na hindi corrupt at hindi mamamatay si Marcos because all of these are half-truths. You can never blame all of these on one man alone. There are other people who are involved. Too bad you can’t admit your one-sided view and biases and if anything, it’s also the SAME NARRATIVE that the Yellows always say.
It’s like this: you want to OVERRATE and EXAGGERATE your argument as if it’s the ONLY argument that matters. That is where you failed. You are circlejerking the argument which is always half-truth and LOL EVIL Marcos.
Typical Yellowtail trash.
By saying na ” wala akong sinasabi na hindi corrupt and hindi mamamatay si Marcos because all of these are half truths” hehe you are saying na kalahating corrupt lang at kalahating mamamatay lang si Marcos?
Truth is admitted mo na, na si Marcos is Corrupt and Mamamatay, and also you are saying hindi lang naman sya ang dapat sisishin.
So settled na ang argument ko, your own admission Marcos is Corrupt and Mamamatay tao pero as per your request sana wag lang sya ang sisihin.
Good. and yes ikaw na rin nagsabi Evil marcos.
Still grasping on straws. I never said Marcos is evil, it’s just the common narrative perceived by the Yellowtards.
Ang ginagawa mo kasi is you’re OVERRATING.
Hindi basta pwedeng isisi sa isang tao lang. You overrate those atrocities pero you never want to bat an eye on other key players like Ramos and Enrile. Ang laging pinupunterya mo ay si Marcos. So what’s your point.
At yung sinasabi na corrupt siya? Agree, pero I’m not exaggerating just like you do. At least he had done something for the country unlike his successors who had done NOTHING worthwhile for over 30 years. Because if Marcos is bad, his successors are worse.
again agree ako na may iba pang corrupt from all types, but the issue here is Marcos ay mamamatay tao and corrupt and you AGREED na. My point i believe nakita mo na, na si Marcos ang pinakaguilty at dapat alam natin lahat ito at huwag na baguhin pa.
Ang gusto mo na lang ay sisihin din ang iba.
Sige sisishin din natin sila, lets look at all the cronies, i totally agree na dapat Danding, JPE, Lucio Tan,Zamora Ramos etc should be investigated pa to get the monies they owe.
Tell me where to sign and pirmahan ko na.
Reality check ang ginagamit ko dito and BTW, I never admitted that Marcoses are guilty because they were acquitted on most of the charges against them. And neither FM had the chance to prove himself in court, including on the ill-gotten wealth issue:
Another thing, it’s weird that you don’t include the Ayalas, the Lopez family, etc. because these are cronies worse than those compared to Marcos.
What I actually wanted is to go on who is involved, not just one man. It’s like your saying that’s it’s all on Marcos, which is stupid thinking per se. You just want to go on one tainted surname and not everyone involved, including the present ones.
The problem with people like you is that you’re vehemently EMO over Marcos where you said that he is the one who apparently shattered the country. If Marcos wasn’t around, then who would build those roads, bridges and infrastructure that we are currently using today? You overrate his atrocities but people also found out the truth that it is also a time where society was disciplined. People demonize Marcos but they take away what he did for the for the country, as they uplift the humanly Cory into the presidency yet it was proven that she’s an inefficient leader to boot.
Ang isang pangulo ay dapat talagang magpagawa ng roads and bridges and infra, ito ang trabaho nya at ito ay pera galing sa atin , hindi ito pera ni Marcos , tandaan mo yan. Hindi natin utang na loob sa kanya na may mga kalye at tulay tayo, yun talaga ang trabaho ng isang presidente.
Wala akong pakialam kay Cory, isa rin syang kauri ni Marcos. No arguments there.
Nice strawman. On the other hand, those roads, bridges and infrastructures that we are currently using right now, who had that built? Certainly not Cory because she is busy paying her media friends to make things look good in her term so asshats like you would still believe in the Aquino hype machine. And by the looks of it, it seems you try to sound intelligent by defending her family name.
So you fully admit that it was Marcos who did those and none of his successors add anything either.
What’s funny about your “mamamatay tao si Marcos” half-truth is that most of, if not all, anti-Marcos literature cannot stand up to academic scrutiny and historiography. Even Alfred McCoy’s data is doubtful. The 1975 and 1980 Amnesty International Reports on human rights abuses cannot be valid until most of the accounts have a corresponding oral histories or memoirs. With 21st century forensic science or criminal justice systems, no Martial Law abuse victim has ever stepped forward to compile the stories of the 10,000 human rights abuses claimants. And to think that some of these alleged victims were supposedly educated in UP or other colleges and universities.
Human Rights Claims Board and the courts studied and verified the claims of abuses made by the Marcos REgime . It already stood scrutiny and the Marcoses were ordered to pay the claimants. Torture, murder, forced disappearances and rape were some of the documented cases that validated the Marcos abuses.
My challenge to you is to show proof that these didnt happen.
You mentioned about claimants as UP students, and why didnt they compile the stories, to tell you candidly, just educating the likes of you about the Marcos atrocities is the best gratitude i can give my fellow UP students killed and tortured by Marcos.
Ano ka ba , 1985 huling may ipinagawa si Marcos. Ang mga ginagamit na natin ngayon ay iba iba na presidente na ang nagpagawa.
Hindi ka ba nakakaintindi, HINDI NATIN UTANG NA LOOB KAY MARCOS ANG MGA KALYE AT TULAY, ITO TALAGA ANG TRABAHO NYA.
AT HINDI NYA PERA YUN, PERA NATIN YUN.
at anong asshats like me believing aquino media hype, sinabi ko na sayo pareho lang ang uri ng marcos at aquino. wag mo ako isali sa mga aquino worshipping yellows, hindi porket im anti marcos ay kampi ako sa aquino. Wala kang mapapanalun sa argument if you insist that im biased for aquinos, im not, marcos and aquino are both elites killing the filipino masses.
And you still fail to add that these kind of human rights abuses still continue under Cory’s rule, as stated in Richard Kessler’s book “Rebellion and Repression in the Philippines”. It’s really glaring that it was Marcos’ time only had those abuses. So what’s next, you’re gonna say that the Mendiola Massacre didn’t happen?
Those Human Rights Claims Board are even half-truths or not even honest either. If your basis is from Alfred McCoy, who is known for his anti-Marcos bias
No need for that ‘gratitude’ of yours because of its hollowness and distrust. You try to ‘educate’ about the Marcos atrocities but never about the whole human rights abuses in all eras. That shows your bias, as those atrocities and tortures also happened during Cory’s time, and may have even worsened. Trying to educate someone with one-sided views and biases is more like you’re banging your head against the wall. You need to stop talking about ‘gratitude’ if you can’t even grasp the bigger picture.
again uulitin ko sa inyo wala kayo makikita na biased ako for aquino dito sa usapan natin dito- i also said i believe aquino is as corrupt and abuses are also present, you insisting i am biased is totally wrong and i have been telling that since the start.
Human rights abuses were present sa aquino regime and corruption too.
But here is my point- si marcos ay mamamatay tao at magnanakaw.
You both agreed and ang gusto nyo lang wag sya lang sisihin.
Wala na kayong pag debunk na si marcos ay magnanakaw at mamamatay tao kaya you just insist that i have aquino bias.
I dont- i would love also to discuss the human rights abuses of cory, the death of olalia and lean the mendiola massacre kamaganak inc etc.
Pero hindi ito ang usapan natin, its about the marcoses.
Si marcos ay mamamatay tao at magnanakaw.
At masaya ako kumbinsido at natuto kayo.
Natuto ako matagal pa. Hindi lang ako EMO, exaggerated at petty sa mga bagay na katulad nito. Ayaw mo lang aminin na may mas maraming nagagawa si Marcos compared to his successors.
Magnanakaw? But he’s now looked like an amateur by comparison.
Mamamatay tao? But human rights abuses continued and they’re far more worse.
So you’re glad about you don’t admit your pettiness and exaggeration of events. Ikaw ang hindi natuto due to your anti-Marcos bias. I’m not here to please people like you. you have no idea how reality-check works.
Let me reiterate this quote:
But here’s another side of the story:
During the 20 year term of Ferdinand Marcos as the President of the Philippines his budget was a little bit less than half a trillion pesos. His concrete accomplishment which the Filipino enjoy today is enormous and cannot be questioned. The budget of Cory Aquino during her 6 year term is more than 1 trillion pesos without any concrete accomplishment. Fidel Ramos’ budget in his 6 year term is 2 trillion Pesos. Noynoy’s budget for his term of 6 years is multi trillion pesos without concrete accomplishment. And utang ng mga Filipino noong panahon ni Marcos is more than 2 Trillion Pesos, sa panahon ni Noynoy ginawa niyang 6.4 trillion Pesos ang utang natin, saan kaya napunta ang mga trilliones na mga iyan. Ngayon, ako naman ang magtatanong: sino ngayon sa kanila ang magnanakaw?
Sino pa e di c Fidel V. Ramos Gloria M. Arroyo at ang Mag Inang Cory at Noynoy C. Aquino po.
Lahat sila ay magnanakaw , sinabi ko naman sa inyo do not play the aquino bias card ako.
Hindi ko alam bakit panay ang insist nyo sa argument na yan.
POINT IS MAGNANAKAW SI MARCOS AT MAMAMATAY TAO and you are in agreement too.
Huh so pag wala na maisagot ganyan na argument.
Kayo ang mga tao na pag kulang na kaisipan sa pagintindi, pag wala na maikatuwiran dadaanin na lang sa pagtawag na troll at impersonator ang kausap.
Hehe galing na rin sa inyo magnanakaw at mamamatay tao si marcos.
Pag may maisip pa kayo na debate , nandito lang ako.
Question lang dio, bakit impersonator?
No, no. You don’t how this guy (Propaganda Boy) works. He’s not here to debate but to piss people off with his trollbait and impersonation nonsense. Look at his posts.
Hindi naman ako nagkulang or anything. Hindi naman ako nag-exaggerate just like you did.
Magnanakaw at mamamatay tao si Marcos, and? Parang gusto mo siya lang ang sisishin sa lahat at ibalewala na lang ang sinong involved. Pero if we compare him to his successors, Marcos is irrelevant. In other words, parang maliit na bagay na lang siya. And you fail to understand that. Kasi ang gusto mo, pinapalaki mo ang mga maliliit na bagay. Ang mga maliliit na problema ay pinapalaki
Enough with the “magnanakaw at mamamatay si Marcos” half-truth narrative. It offers nothing new and it’s done to death for many years, Yellowtards and anti-Marcos cretins alike. It’s like a broken record and can be considered as propaganda mostly done by the Yellows just to cover up their failures. So kalingkingan lang yung kay Marcos, kung tutuusin. Gusto mo lang talagang palakihin as if it was a big deal, which is not in this day and age.
Imee Marcos, Salvador Panelo, Jay Sonza and Larry Gadon might possibly the best bet for Senate, no LP.
Salangintong Bukid will love this.
Whether or not, trollbaits, terrorists or debates or whatever; government might close down GRP if we make a wrong step of a mistake.
Nobody is falling for your trolling game, Propaganda Boy.
What’s next, you’re gonna impersonate other users for your attention whoring?
Legislators and revolutionaries who promise equality and liberty at the same time, are either psychopaths or mountebanks.