Pulitika2010 was a success because of you! Check out my stats! ;p

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 47,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 6 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 1947 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 99 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 635mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was May 11th with 1,758 views. The most popular post that day was Poll results as per this morning’s Comelec presscon.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, facebook.com, mail.yahoo.com, twitter.com, and raissarobles.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for vetallano acosta, maria montelibano, philippine constitution 2010, bong naguiat, and erap junks binay.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Poll results as per this morning’s Comelec presscon May 2010
1 comment

2

The Lord of Makati – Can Binay explain his wealth? May 2010

3

Tong Payumo on the SCTEX issue vs Sen. Noynoy Aquino January 2010

4

Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s speech before the Makati Business Club January 2010

5

Prof. Winnie Monsod on the C5 road controversy February 2010

Thank you!

HEY guys! Thanks so much for following this blog. I hope it’s contributed in some way to help you, dear readers, to fully understand the current political and economic situation in our country, as well as the electoral process and your candidates in the past election.

I set up this blog primarily as an educational tool because of the May 2010 elections, and since I’ve already accomplished what I set out to do, I am officially closing this blog tomorrow, Dec. 31, 2010. Please feel free to continue using it for research purposes, or just to re-read how amazing this past year has been in our political lives. Allow me to thank the publications and bloggers which and who graciously allowed me to use their information for dissemination to all.

We have a new administration in place headed by President Simeon Benigno Aquino III, whom we still hope would be able to attain all the goals he has set out to do for himself and for our country. As the year closes, and a number of us may feel a bit disappointed at his recent decisions, let me ask everyone to please pray for him and his official family, that they always put country above self in anything that they do.

Please continue to follow me on my other blog http://stella-arnaldo.blogspot.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @Pulitika2010, although I may change that username in the near future, or subscribe to my Scribd document feeds at http://www.scribd.com/akosistella.

Let me leave this blog with one thought, from the great comic Stephen Fry: “The greatest immorality for a politician is not to be wicked but to be stupid.”

Happy New Year, guysl! May the good Lord shower all of us with more blessings in 2011. Rock on, Pilipinas!

;p

remembrance of things awry: Serious questions, stupid answers

   

I eagerly anticipated the national elections because I knew that the results would represent the current mindset of my countrymen and the state of my nation. I looked forward to the numerical evidences that my countrymen had finally become more educated, matured, improved, and hence have become more discerning citizens.

**************

DISMAL. VERY DISMAL.

What the numbers revealed was nothing more than a dismal reality. It was so dismal that it blew my mind.

Juan de la Cruz… How could we???!!! How could WE…???!!!

via remembrance of things awry.

We share your pain Toto.

Quit whining Sen. Aquino…behave like a President right now!

YESTERDAY, President-elect Benigno Simeon Aquino III (perhaps we should cease calling him Noynoy out of respect), said he would rather take his oath of office before a barangay captain (or tanod, depending which paper you read), than before the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Renato Corona. Aquino, of course, has been vocal about his views regarding incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s appointment of the new Chief Justice even before the position had become vacant.

This idea of taking one’s oath of office before a barangay tanod/captain, just shows who the President-elect has been listening to lately. Senator Chiz Escudero, perpetual Presidential wanna-be, was the source of this hare-brained idea after he told Karen Davila on Headstart yesterday, that there was nothing legally wrong if Aquino didn’t wish to take his oath before Corona. Escudero, added that in his case, he always took his oath of office before a barangay captain after he won his elective posts. Umm, okay.

Not that a barangay captain is a lowly disdainful post, but after GMA had dragged the image and position of the presidency through the mud with her shenanigans, we need to return the Philippine Presidency back to respectability. The Supreme Court already ruled that GMA had the right to appoint a Chief Justice. So Aquino better quit his whining right now and act like a President; he should do what is necessary to make us all look up to the position again. And that means, respecting the law.

I think the public needs to see the pomp and circumstance surrounding a newly-elected President’s inaugural ceremony which includes taking his oath before a Supreme Court Chief Justice, before the public at the Quirino grandstand, as tradition dictates. We need to feel good about the Presidency again. We need to know that the new President is a public official that prioritizes the law over personal feelings.

Aquino owes it to the millions of Filipinos who cast their votes in his favor, and show the rest of the citizenry that he isn’t wrapped up in trivialities and pettiness. (In the first place, Aquino was the one who forced the hand of GMA to appoint the Chief Justice because of his brilliant statement saying that his administration would go after her. Talk about showing all your cards before the card game is over!)

Anyhoo, while I had been fuming about Aquino’s statement, Dean Marvic Leonen of the UP College of Law, wrote a more comprehensive and dispassionate explanation why the President-elect should take his oath before the SC Chief Justice. Leonen, as many of you know, had opposed Arroyo’s appointment of the Chief Justice. I am publishing his note here with his kind permission:

Respect the Office, Not Necessarily the Incumbent: Why Take the Oath Before the Chief Justice
By MARVIC LEONEN, Dean of the College of Law
University of the Philippines

My criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court in de Castro v JBC et al is well known. I have participated in many fora to explain why I think the decision was wrong. I have also called on the President not to appoint the next Chief Justice. I am also calling for Justice Corona not to accept.

But in case he does, should the President not take his oath of office before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

The Office of the Chief Justice is a creation of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. So is the Office of the President. The Chief Justice presides over the Supreme Court, primus interpares with all the other associate justices. The Supreme Court in turn supervises and controls all other appellate and trial courts. It is that body that determines with finality–rightly or wrongly–what an entire constitutional department does. Ceremonially, the Supreme Court is represented by its Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court has the final say on the interpretation of the Constitution. As a document, the constitution is the formal representation of our ideas relating to government. As a human institution, the Supreme Court has erred–many times–on what the proper interpretation of its provisions should be. They should be rightly criticized for it, and it is the role of the legal academe, the legal profession and the public in general to call its attention to mistakes in its decisions. There are however many conceptions of what may constitute a wrong decision. There are fundamental bases of logic, hermeneutics and semiotics which provide wider consensus than other modes of argumentation. But, to make the system work, a wrong decision sometimes becomes final and must be acknowledged as such especially by the Executive Department.

Whoever is appointed as Chief Justice carries the burdens of the functions of that office as well as its traditions. Lately, starting with Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, to Hilarion Davide, to Artemio Panganiban and finally to Reynato Puno, the Supreme Court collectively addressed issues of correcting institutional injustices. Each of their courts may have had horrible decisions, but all of them attempted to addressed issues relating to access to justice of the poor and the marginalized. There may be some disagreement on how they proceeded to do this, but at least they did accept it as a problem of each of their courts.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno started the initiative of addressing enforced and involuntary disappearances through the promulgation of the writ of amparo and habeas data, bringing courts closer to the people through the justice on wheels program, environmental disasters through the writ of kalikasan and the concept of “continuing mandamus.” There are of course some decisions of this court as it was composed that deserves more academic scrutiny. Its recent decision with a majority of nine (9) allowing the President of the Republic of the Philippines to appoint the next Chief Justice is one among many decisions that amply deserves criticism.

But courts decide using their discretion within given circumstances. At this level of decision making on the meanings of the texts of our constitution and our laws, fifteen individuals are given the constitutional prerogative to decide on its proper interpretation. Theirs is supposed to be the result of rational discourse. Canonically, it should not be on the basis of crass and personal political interests. Institutionally, this idea is preserved by not subjecting their decisions to an electoral vote.

The President-elect takes her/his oath before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court not because of any provision of the constitution nor any other legal requirement. He does so because of the symbolisms of that ritual. The oath–prescribed by the constitution–is administered by the head of an autonomous, co-equal department of government charged with the preservation of the words found in the Constitution of the Republic. It acknowledges the existence of an entire branch of government and affirms the executive’s respect for the accomplishments and the constitutional role of the supreme court, the appellate and trial courts.

These symbolisms are lost when the oath is taken before a Punong Barangay. These symbolisms, in fact, will be denied.

President Corazon Aquino took her oath, not before the Chief Justice, but before Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee. Immediately after that, she issued a proclamation denying the 1973 constitution as amended and promulgating a “Freedom Constitution”. By taking the oath before a Punong Barangay, within your department of government, not even before an associate justice or a trial court judge, are there intentions to do the same?

On June 30, 2010 the President-elect will take his oath of office, hopefully before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This is a ceremony not only between Noynoy Aquino and Renato Corona. The act of taking your oath is not a statement against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It is to affirm that you accept the trust given to you by the Filipino people and promise this before the branch of government charged with the protection of the constitution. You can attack the former President, even the person of the Chief Justice if you want to, during your inaugural address–although I do not think that that also will make good politics. For example, you will have a series of appointments caused by some vacancies in the Supreme Court within your term. The JBC is under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice presides over the JBC.

There is a difference between criticism of a decision of the Supreme Court as a private citizen and the acts that you do as the potential incumbent of the Office of the President of the Republic. As a citizen you are accountable only to yourself, your community and your culture and its people. As the President, you represent more than yourself or your immediate communities. You take on a formal persona. In many constitutional doctrines, you even shed some of your rights as a citizen.

Let this be my first unsolicited advise to you: Be the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Act that part. Take your oath before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, whoever its incumbent may be. There are many other ways to improve the administration of justice. (For example, immediately get a good Secretary of Justice and a competent Solicitor General)

You may read more of Dean Leonen’s legal views in his personal blog: http://leonen.typepad.com

Jojo Binay junks Erap Estrada; and Chiz who?

   

At Midfield
By Ding Gagelonia

Think again.

What’s happened this week is the fighting mayor of Makati has effectively junked former president Erap with Jojo and his supporters embracing the so-called ‘Noy-Bi’ ticket cooked up by Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero.

via At Midfield.

AND I’m thinking, just how credible is Chiz Escudero, especially after his dramatic non-presidential run. (Di ba ma-drama talaga? Will I run, won’t I run, I will announce my decision on my bday, then maybe not again, bukas, sa makalawa, next month! Then finally, wag nalang kasi hindi ako binigyan ng pera ni Tito Danding.)

While most Filipino voters may have yet to make up their minds on their presidential candidate, I think they will be firm in their choice for Vice President. Sen. MAR Roxas has had a good track record as a Cabinet executive. He has merited nothing but praises for his legislative record, especially the latest on the Cheaper Medicines Act. And unlike Jojo Binay, has never been accused of corruption. Sen. Roxas does his homework, reads up on issues and has mastered the legislative process to enable him to get a number of his legislative bills approved. So idiots who think Sen. Roxas is “kulang sa kalyo”, are just really projecting their own inadequacies.

It is surprising that Escudero, who had hoped to style himself like Barack Obama w/ new-style politics, would endorse someone like Binay. If you just talk to Makati businessmen, or anyone who has ever tried to get a business permit and has dealt w/ Makati City Hall, you will not have any kind words to say about the perpetual Mayor of Makati.

I’m not saying he didn’t do good for Makati, bec. I’m aware of the diminiutive king of Makati’s accomplishments esp. in the field of education. I just don’t approve of his method of governance. He is a smart one no doubt, bec. you will not find a single paper trail or document linking him to anomalies. But talk to a property developer or two, and you will know exactly what I’m referring to.

Anyway, I give Pinoys a little more credit and will not underestimate their intelligence. They will be able to see through this ploy of Escudero to try and chip away at Sen. Roxas’ popularity because the latter is a potential rival in 2016. After all, Escudero has always wanted to become President of the Philippines since he was a small boy, so spare us the ‘I’m nearsighted’ act. But seriously, what exactly has Escudero done except to spew out his memorized spiels a mile a minute in a monotone, in kilometric sentences sans commas or periods, w/o actually looking at you straight in the eye?

The way Escudero has been behaving – demanding that Danding Cojuangco give him P3 billion to fund his presidential fantasy, claiming that Danding never helped him yet neglecting all those times he had used and abused San Miguel Corp.’s private plane, and just by being a constant presence in Malacañang – smacks of trapo-style politics. So young and so…. Well yes, I suppose I see now why he supports Binay. They are like two peas in a pod!

I think this latest Escudero gimmick to resurrect his dead political career and presidential ambition, will show just how inconsequential he has become as a politician. Binay’s numbers may rise, but will not even come close to touch the dust trail that Sen. Roxas has left behind. This is just Escudero’s way of trying to flex his muscles and to see if anyone still gives a rat’s ass about him. And frankly, Sen. Noynoy Aquino moving around and being endorsed by the likes of Escudero and Binay makes me question just how serious the LP presidential candidate is in his anti-corruption campaign.

Usapang pera

   

By Ellen Tordesillas

Usapang peraTinawagan ko kahapon si dating congressman Prospero “Butch” Pichay tungkol sa kumakalat na tsismis na kaya daw walang pera para sa kampanyan ng mga senador at walang perang pambigay sa mga local na kandidato dahil binulsa raw niya ang pera.

Natawa lang si Pichay, na tumakbong senador noong 2007. “Nag-abono na nga ako ng P20 milyon. Tapos sabihin binulsa ko?”

Sabi ni Pichay ang kanyang assignment sa Lakas-Kampi-CMD ay mga senador. Si Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno ang nag-manage ng kampanya ni presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro at Vice Presidential candidate Edu Manzano.

Sabi ni Pichay P90 milyon lang daw ang binigay sa kanya para sa anim na kandidato ng Lakas-Kampi-CMD para senador na sina: re-electionists Lito Lapid at Bong Revilla, radio broadcaster Rey Langit, dating cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Raul Lambino, at Ramon Guico, mayor ng Binalonan at presidente ng Mayor and League of Municipalities President.

Sabi ni Pichay kulang na kulang ang P90 milyon sa anim na kandidato. Hindi pa raw nagsimula ang kampanya para sa mga kandidato sa mga nasyunal na posisyon noong Pebrero 9, halos ubos na ang P90 milyon na yun.

Click Ellen Tordesillas.

THE BACKGROUND:

Villarosa blames Pichay for Lakas fund woes

MANILA, Philippines—Deputy Speaker Ma. Amelita Villarosa has blamed one of the administration party’s chief campaigners, Prospero Pichay, for problems on the allocation of funds to bankroll the campaign of its senatorial candidates.

“It’s Butch Pichay who handles the senatorial funds. I will ask Butch how funds are allocated or how these are handled,” Villarosa, the new chair of the ruling party, said in Lubao, Pampanga.

While saying that funds were solely the concern of Pichay, Villarosa said the party was not inclined to give cash to its national or local candidates.

Click INQUIRER.net.

We’re going on a Lenten break!

REST assured, however, that we will update this blog if any big news breaks over the Holy Weekend vacation. Thanks for your continued patronage.

An advanced Happy Easter to all!

Laugh trip!

Hacked!

Harapan: The VP Debate

Did you watch Sunday night’s vice presidential debate organized by ABS-CBN? At one point, Loren Legarda asked Mar Roxas why he kept shifting allegiances. Viewers were shocked to hear that from Loren. For a moment, they thought Jay Sonza would then be mocking Jejomar Binay for being dark-skinned.

Click The Professional Heckler.

Laugh trip!

The Oscars and Philippine politics

The 82nd Academy Awards:A Postscript

The 82nd Oscar Awards have been handed out. James Cameron’s costly sci-fi epic “Avatar” lost in the race for Best Picture. Sought for comment, Cameron said, “May this humbling experience serve as a warning to Sen. Manny Villar.”

A total of 10 films vied for Best Picture Oscar. Before the votes were counted, the frontrunners were “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” and “Inglourious Basterds.” The seven other nominees were “Up in the Air,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “An Education,” “The Blind Side,” “A Serious Man,” “District 9,” and “Up.” In case you didn’t know, a scandal broke out a few weeks before the awards ceremonies when James Cameron, director of “Avatar,” the costliest nominated film, and the highest-grossing movie ever – allegedly tried to bribe the director of “Up In the Air” into quitting the race.

Click The Professional Heckler.

A belated link to PF. But a perfect read to end another chaotic political week. Happy weekend. Take your pills, Loren.

Villar bias during Comelec voters’ education?

(Photo from Pro Pinoy)

If we examine Page 2 and the Zoomed In versions, we can see a glimpse of a possible bias. The first troubling sign is that the sample ballot contains only 3 Presidentiables: JC Delos Reyes, Nicanor Perla and Manny Villar. The second and perhaps more glaring possible indication of a problem is that Manny Villar’s name is bold and gigantic compared to the other 2 names. According to my grandmother, there is a poster-sized version of the pamphlet that was used during the training and the poster showed the same illustration where Manny Villar’s name more than necessarily figures prominently. One of the participating senior citizens, a neighbor of ours, then raised this matter and she asked why Villar is the only name in giant, bold face to the cheering applause of the crowd. The instructors who introduced themselves as from COMELEC merely laughed and said something along the lines of “Wala namang pulitika-pulitika po rito.”

Click Pro Pinoy.

ALSO READ:

Villar’s 20-peso handouts to kids may be ‘vote-buying’

Handing out money to children “may be considered” vote buying, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said, hours after Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar gave Php 20 bills to kids while on a campaign sortie in Batangas province.

The act “may be considered” vote-buying, Comelec Law Department Head Ferdinand Rafanan told GMANews.TV, citing the Omnibus Election Code.

Under Article 12, Section 261 of the code, vote buying constitutes the act of giving, offering, or promising money or anything of value, including promises of “employment, franchise or grant, public or private.”

Click GMA News.TV

How to vote

FIRST DRAFT
By Joe Torres Jr.

THE Comelec said you just have to shade completely that circle beside the name of your chosen candidate. And voila, your vote will be counted. Easy, isn’t it? But look again. Under the party-list alone, there are about 200 names. Imagine scrolling down that long ballot to look for your favorite party-list.During my weekend sorties to the nearby provinces, I saw that party-lists have realized the possible dilemma of voters this May. The solution: Posters and banners now carry this reminder “Shade # 345″ followed by a drawing of that “bilog na hugis itlog.” I still wonder why an egg is described as bilog or round in that song when it’s oblong.

Click JOE TORRES JR.

To the Comelec: Shut down The Manila Times

It is undeniable that Teodoro has few celebrity endorsers—a consequence of the copyright infringement brouhaha involving former Rivermaya front-man Rico Blanco, perhaps?—but Pichay, Puno, and their ilk would do well to remember that their candidate enjoys the signal privilege of being practically endorsed by a nationally distributed broadsheet, The Manila Times, in its editorials. This means that the administration candidate is not supported merely by a columnist or two, which is the case for other candidates, but by an entire publication that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers daily.

As early as October of last year, in the wake of Ondoy, the Times hailed Teodoro, then secretary of the Department of National Defense DND and head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council NDCC, for “an excellent job coordinating the rescue and relief efforts”, describing the disaster as a test that Teodoro passed “with grace and humility”. I have shown elsewhere—and, to my mind, very convincingly—how preposterous such claims are.

Click Random Salt.

3 reasons Villar should be president

Reading a tweet about Sen. Manny Villar and his security convoy going the wrong way down a one-way street yesterday made me realize something.

Senator Manuel Villar Jr is the president we deserve. Not the one we need, just what we deserve because if you really think about it, Manny Villar is us.

Click Indolent Indio.

Phi. Star Editorial: Jammed

Chairman Jose Melo of the Commission on Elections downplayed yesterday the risk posed by jammers of mobile phone signals to the conduct of the country’s first automated polls. A Comelec official had expressed concern the other day over reports that some 5,000 jammers of cell phone signals had arrived in the country. The device could be used to block the transmission of votes from polling precincts in May, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Click Philstar.net.

More from the foreign press dinner w/ President Arroyo

GMA: I started teaching 1976 up to 1987. all economics.

JIM: AND YOU REMEMBER NOYNOY AS STUDENT? HOW WAS HE AS STUDENT? (Laughter.)

GMA: No comment (quietly greeted by laughter) I’m into governance, not politics. (more laughter) until the last moment of my presidency.

FOCAP MEMBER: WAS HE IN THE SAME CLASS AS JOEY SALCEDA?

GMA: I think not.

ME: SENATOR NOYNOY TOLD ME HE GOT A B+ FROM YOU. IS THAT HIGH?

GMA: Yah, that’s high. That’s the top 20%. bec I drew a bell curve.

FOCAP MEMBER: WHAT’S THE HIGHEST GRADE YOU’VE GIVEN TO A STUDENT? WHAT’S THE LOWEST? (Laughter.)

FOCAP MEMBER: WHO GOT “A”?

GMA: Joey (Salceda, Albay governor).

Click Raissa Robles.