At par with Estrada, et. al.

With GMA's pardoning of Erap, here is a list of new things could officially get away with (courtesy of Jim Paredes, of the acclaimed APO Hiking Society and his awesome blog):

But to be fair, let's allow the same right given to Erap to every Filipino. That's right. Let the Republic of the Philippines allow all Filipino citizens to enjoy the right to unlawfullness equally. If we can't be equal in the eyes of the law, let's bend the rules. Plainly, we should all be allowed at least one crime and a guaranteed pardon that we can 'legally' commit. Let's make this official. Calling Mar Roxas, Villar, the Catholic Bishops and all who supported the pardon and are 'happy for Erap", give a litsen. This new idea could be your legislative coup d' grace. It is the only way to save the joke we call 'democracy' and 'rule of law' since we refuse to do the right thing.

Here's a list of crimes all Filipinos should be allowed to do even just once.

a) steal billions from the government (like the Marcoses, Erap Estrada and many others)

b) do not pay taxes and behest loans (like so many we know, JDV, et al)

c) subvert the government through coups, armed rebellion, etc. (like Honasan, Enrile, CPP-NPA, MILF, Trillanes and all who have done so and are still scott free)

d) murder (like what some congressmen and senators, and other public officials have done). But to be fair, government officials should not be exempt targets by regular citizens, since they do same to each other anyway.

Please excuse the mess

Yeah, I know that the blog looks messed up right now. I'm looking into it. It's probably a problem with the template I'm using.


Hope you're all having a great summer!

Some results

It's been about a week and a half since the Philippine midterm elections. They're still tabulating the votes for the national races and some of the local ones. In Philippine elections, most if not all of the votes (save internet voting in Singapore) are done manually, and most national races aren't officially decided until about a month afterwards. This unfortunately increases the prospect of cheating and corruption, especially in the provincial elections.

Here's some interesting results, though:

• A Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Eddie Panlilio, has been elected governor of Pampanga, From this Inquirer article on 5/18, he will become "the 26th governor of Pampanga since 1901. His followers said they would call him Among Governor. Among is a term of endearment for priest. His parishioners in Betis, Guagua called Panlilio "Among Ed."
• According to the latest NAMFREL (National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections - a electoral watchdog group) tally, senatorial candidates from the Genuine Opposition (GO) are currently dominating the elections, with 8 of its 12 candidates in the "Magic 12". Two candidates in the "Magic 12" are from Team UNITY (the administration group), while the last 2 are independent candidates.
• South Cotabato congressional candidate Manny Pacquiao was defeated by a large margin (139,061 to 75,908) by the incumbent, Darlene Antonino-Custodio. According to this article, Pacquiao said, “I have accepted the results. I just hope that she will fulfill her promises to help the poor. If that happens, I will be happy, it would be like I won too.”

It's election time again

Go to this site for the latest updates on the Philippine midterm elections. Looks like the cheating has already begun:

From the site:
---

Foreign observers claim to have witnessed blatant cheating in Lanao del Sur and disenfranchisement in Nueva Ecija, according to the report of delegates of the People's International Observers' Mission (IOM).

Vote-buying and coaching of voters inside election precincts were rampant in Marawi City, said Jessica Tulloch, IOM spokesperson for the Lanao del Sur team. Tulloch said they saw poll watchers sit beside voters and dictate candidates' names to be written on the ballots.

Members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) were also seen powerless, as they “practically gave up policing the precincts with just anybody entering and interacting with voters,” Tulloch added.

The IOM also witnessed the following:

1)Voters had more than one finger that had been marked with indelible ink that was easily washed with soap and water.

2) Voters freely admitted to having voted several times. Voters were seen being paid a minimum of P50 for every vote for municipal and city councilors, and P2, 000 per vote for mayoralty candidates.

3) Minors as young as 15 years old were allowed to vote.

4) Peso bills were seen stapled on sample ballots and campaign leaflets being passed on to the voters through window grills.

5) Ball pens were seen in voting booths with stickers with candidates' names written on them.

6) Voters’ lists were missing outside the precincts, and no Secrecy Folders and list of candidates for national and local positions were reported.
Posted by : Erwin Oliva at Comelec in Manila

TFP VI: Sandbowl Clip Series 2

second (4/18 edit: and last - just put the last one up) in a series.

"Verse About Tony"



"The Race"



(updated 4/18) "Carlos and Percy Attack"

TFP V: Sandbowl Clip Series 1

first in a series. (my last PACN clip will go up by the end of this week)

"Ian and the Hole 1"



"Ian and the Hole 2"



"The Screen Name Song"

VOTE OR DIE, 2007

TFP IV: PACN Clip Series - "The Apartyment (DPS)"

third in a series.