OF HYPOCRICY AND REPRESSION: MANILA'S FURTHER IMPERIALISM

It continues to amaze me how we as a nation could boast that we love democracy and liberty and all those abstract nouns without looking long and hard at ourselves in the mirror every time we utter our adherence to democracy and its principles.

It continues to make me shake my head whenever I see the concept of democracy used by politicians who are, in reality, not after the truth, much less democracy. People who are only after their personal interests.

Why would the Black and White Movement condemn Cardinal Vidal? Why should they make such statements without any proof? When pressed for their evidence that the Cardinal instructed ALL 300 priests of Cebu not to officiate for feeble-minded-looking Jun Lozada, they would switch to moral authority and all that b*lls*it. Talk about hypocritical.

What does this imply of us Cebuanos? That not one Cebuano priest is strong enough to counter the Cardinal's command, if indeed he did stop these priests from saying mass? Is the B&W Movement suggesting that Cebuano priests, and Cebuanos by extension, are cowardly and could not think for themselves?

Who died and made Leah Navarro an expert on the workings of Church and State dynamics?

Who gave the B&W M the right to malign our Cardinal, our priests, and the Cebuano country?

Is this because the tone in Cebu is different? Is it because Cebuanos are more logical, and can think better, that now we are being accused of whatever pathetic accusation? Why should Cebu care for Jun Lozada? They want to make him a hero? Fine! Cebuanos do not consider thieves, even thieves who air out other thieves' dirty laundry, as heroes. Why should we? Jun Lozada admitted he committed graft and corruption, among other crimes. So now we are supposed to just welcome him to Cebu like a statesman? Not!!!

I am outraged at the insinuations that the Black and White Movement have made. I am ashamed to think that the people accusing Cardinal Vidal as a government puppet and alluding to the stupidity of Cebuanos are also Filipinos.

Whatever is the reality behind this controversy, I am proud to say that I am Cebuano. I am proud to say that my Governor, Gwen Garcia, and my Mayor, Tomas Osmena, and Cebu's most senior prelate, Cardinal Vidal, are willing to listen to all sides before making any stand that might ultimately be more harm than cure.

Cebu has always been a bastion of opposition. Above all, Cebu has always been a bastion of independent-thinking. Shame on Leah Navarro and her Black and White Movement for slandering the Cebuano people!

STAY AWAY FROM CEBU JUN LOZADA!

I have always wondered what was wrong with the picture of Lozada's touring campuses and other institutions, helping destabilize the government in the guise of "searching for the truth". He also has a propensity to release the "truth" in installments, which is in itself suspect. Why am I the only one to see this? If he is hell bent in revealing the f***ing truth, then he should have done it in one sitting. Not this bits and pieces of half-baked truths and downright conjectures.

Another thing that bothers me: he revels in his role as a "hero" of the "Filipino people". I am posting a video clip from GMA below so you can see how ecstatic (and stupid-looking, I might add) he looks when he tours campuses. If you are a witness bent on revealing only the truth and whose life is in major peril, shouldn't you be humble and low-key? Lozada is either mentally retarded or is starting to get the star-complex, which does not win him any points in Cebu.

To echo Cardinal Vidal in the above interview, WE DON'T WANT JUN LOZADA in Cebu! He should go back to those insipid nuns who swallow his lies hook, line, and sinker!

MAKATI IS NOT THE PHILIPPINES

Once again, people are calling for Gloria Arroyo's resignation amidst allegations of corruption and other anomalies involving members of her family and close political allies. All due to the testimonies of one Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada in the Senate ZTE-NBN deal.

I am not saying that Lozada is a liar or is being manipulated by the opposition just so they can finally oust President Arroyo. I am not saying that there was no anomaly in the ZTE-NBN deal. I truly don't know. What I am sure of is that not even half of those people now clamoring for President Arroyo's resignation also know what is "truth". I believe that the opposition has simply grabbed on whatever issue they could find and immediately demand the president's stepping down from her office despite the obvious fact that no formal and lasting investigation has been conducted regarding the ZTE-NBN controversy. Absolutely everything has been talk and allegations and counter-allegations. And yet, now, the Makati Business Club, some sectors of the Catholic Church, some civil society groups, and as always the so-called United Opposition, have once more latched on to this issue to try for the nth time to wrestle power from GMA.

Makati is not the Philippines. The MBC and the Catholic Church and the United Opposition do not speak for the rest of the Filipino people. I detest the fact that everytime an issue erupts, these same people feel that they can simply call on the rest of the population to oust the sitting president. If they say "enough is enough", I also say, whatever you are doing now is enough.

Stop dictating the rest of the Filipinos what to do and what should be. I remember what the Visayan and Mindanao leaders promised when opposition leaders asked GMA to resign two years ago. They swore that if GMA is removed forcibly and unconstitutionally from office, a Visayan-Mindanawnon republic or republics shall arise and break away from the Philippines.

Perhaps this is what we should do. The Visayas and Mindanao seem more level headed and careful in their political actuations and decisions. Maybe we should just declare our independence from imperial Manila/Makati and leave them to destroy themselves.

I am not pro-GMA, but I respect her strength and her resolve. I salute her for standing tall and proud despite the myriad of problems and controversies surrounding her administration. I do not believe that someone else is capable of holding the Philippines together should she be ousted, thus I continuously refuse to listen to the opposition politicians.

Those who want GMA out do not even want to follow the constitutional succession of VP Noli de Castro. Can you imagine these people's audacity and utter hypocrisy? Wanting to oust a sitting president is unconstitutional enough, but not allowing the Vice-President to succeed and planning to install instead a caretaker government is the worst kind of plan I can think of.

I believe that should these stupid people succeed (God forbid!), GMA will still be welcome in Visayas and Mindanao.

GMA: HEED THE SIGNS

The signs of an impending political upheaval are here once again. As usual, the Philippine Senate has found something to keep the Filipino people occupied with and has once more brought President Arroyo's leadership under scrutiny. Rodolfo Lozada's testimony about the alleged anomalies in the ZTE-NBN deal is reminiscent of those in Estrada's impeachment trial. And the ouster of Jose de Venecia as House Speaker also strongly reminds me of the falling out between Estrada and Chavit Singson. Once more, warning bells are ringing, signaling an impending shakedown in Philippine politics.

Looking back now, parallelisms exist between the 1986 ouster of Ferdinand Marcos and the 2001 toppling of Erap Estrada. Two important components in both episodes in our history were needed before a full-scale people power was successful. For Marcos, the assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino paved the way for the clamor of the Filipino people for change. It was the massive and obvious cheating committed by Marcos in the 1986 snap elections that eventually finished him.

With Estrada's case, the falling out between Erap and Chavit also paved the way to the impeachment trial of Estrada, eventually leading to his ouster in 2001 when the administration-controlled Senate refused to open the envelope during the trial. The refusal to open the envelope was synonymous to the cheating of Marcos in the snap elections.

Now, we have just witnessed two events that are obviously similar to the first steps that would eventually lead to an all out ouster of our president. The falling out between JDV and President Arroyo, and now the hurting testimony of Jun Lozada, are both paving the way to something...

It is interesting to note that the last name LOZADA is a derivative of a Spanish and Portuguese topographic name for someone who lived by an area paved with flagstones, derived from losar, which means "to pave".

Jun Lozada is paving the way to something...what that is, well, is up to Gloria.