Headstart on ANC

I told you.  I don’t  watch TV that often.  Yesterday was an exception though because I was looking forward to watching Karen Davila,( an award-winning broadcast journalist) on  Headstart at ANC.  I discovered this program this week  and it’s a joy to find so many interesting personalities and topics.  This morning, they have Gang Badoy as guest, a bubbly personality who is also the creator of the Dear Noynoy page at Facebook.

Yesterday, it was Adel Tamano who kept me on my seat until the end of the show. I voted for the guy during the last election, one of the two candidates who didn’t belong to the senatorial slate of the Liberal Party  that I voted for.  He seemed a down-to-earth, no-nonsense and intelligent guy.  I felt bad that he was not included in the lineup of the senators who won.

He said that he resigned from the  Nacionalista Party (NP) because he disagreed with the things that happened during  the campaign, especially the black propaganda.  And he was referring to the black propaganda aimed against then presidential candidate, Noynoy.  If I heard it right, he said further that everyone in the NP camp knew about it.  In my  opinion, that led to the downfall of Manny Villar.  He said that they relied too much on the ads, the mudslinging didn’t help either.  He further added that  he has no political plans anymore and will focus more on his family.  Asked what he think about representing ex-PGMA  Arroyo and he laughed and said he’ll get stoned doing that.  He said that someone close to Arroyo asked him to become a lawyer and spokesman for CGMA.

I follow him on Twitter.  I was pleasantly surprised when he wrote back and answered my tweet.   Good luck sir and God bless!

@adeltamano Really enjoyed your guesting at Headstart this morning. Am planning to write a blog about it. Thanks for a lovely discussion!

@arlene1027 Thank you Arlene. That is very kind  of you. Have a great day. 7:14 PM Jul 7th via web in reply to arlene1027

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Wangwang, Limo, Counterflow

I promised myself that I would start every first day of the month writing a blog but then I got engrossed  with all the news and happenings lately,  foremost of  which , is  the inaugural of Pres. Noynoy.    Honestly, I was overwhelmed by the number of visits to this site since I blogged about  P-Noy  a few days ago.  And for those not in the know,  the president himself asked all Filipinos to call him P-Noy, a rather informal way of course but the masses whom he wants to reach out to can relate to it, me included.  I’m kinda like the big bad wolf devouring all the news about him, be it on the internet , TV or over the radio.  Yes, I listen to the AM band early in the morning for the news while  watering the plants and at the same time watching our two dogs romp in the garden.   I’d like to think I am not alone because even the neighbors and street vendors I talked to were one in saying that they are optimistic about P-Noy being our new president.

And something that’s been a favorite topic, even at the dining table with the kids is the use of  wangwang (siren to you dear readers).  The past years, we’ve been so used  encountering people  using this device to get through traffic in the metropolis that  it has become a way of life and nobody is questioning why even the lowly politicians, and the big time personages in the government have it in their cars. Why, I am not  even aware of the true and legitimate users of these wangwang except the President, police force, ambulances and fire trucks.  Picture this, because  in the past, some people do get away with it.  You are stuck in traffic  and there is an ambulance at a distance and you hear this  wangwang, a signal for everyone to give way since it is probably an emergency.  Then some unscrupulous drivers veer away from the line of traffic and follow the ambulance  to save on precious minutes.  Isn’t it annoying?  Even in our subdivision, I sometimes hear  people riding in motorcycles making use of  it  and they are not even in uniform. I am glad, just glad that  P-noy is strictly implementing  the anti-wangwang campaign. It’s about time we are taught these simple lessons.

No limo, no counterflow. The president is serious about not using Malacanang’ s limousine on his sorties.  He  said that his car, a Toyota Land Cruiser, is bullet proof anyway so why waste so much on gas when  he  can save a little using his own car?  He was late  arriving at Camp Aguinaldo the other day because he was stuck in a  traffic jam for more than thirty minutes.  It must be a nightmare for the PSG but when people learned that the president was there (somewhere along EDSA), they were waving the Laban sign and seemed even glad that he was following what he was implementing.  He said that he would wake-up earlier so he would not get stuck in traffic.

I believe that there is still HOPE for all of us as long as we  make  promise to help even just in our own little way.  Kung gusto nating umunlad, kailangan din natin ang disciplina sa sarili. The next six years would probably be the start of a new and better Philippines.  I am optimistic, are you?

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Some Tidbits on Pres. Noynoy’s Inauguration

I’ve been blogging about Pres. Noynoy since yesterday, and these are  just tidbits I saw while watching the inauguration: – Ninoy left Times St. at 9:45am on the dot and I admire that

-According to the news anchors of ABS-CBN, he had burger patties and fried rice for breakfast, a simple fare for the next president. I saw VP Binay’s house earlier and breakfast was catered….haha!

Stopping on red lights. Truly admirable and he is showing that discipline comes into play even through  a simple act as obeying traffic lights. setting an example is the best way to start a good governance.

-The historic walk to Malacanang at 10:25am with the two presidents,  shaking hands and smiling at the press people around. What could they be thinking?

-Riding together going to Luneta at the Presidential car.  I wonder what they talked about.

-The last farewell of outgoing  Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Although she is considered as the most unpopular president, I felt kind of  sad that she was saying goodbye.

-VP Jejomar Binay riding on his E-jeep.  Truly Filipino!

-It’s a virtual sea of yellow, the yellow color being the trademark of the Aquino family from the time Ninoy died until now.

-Charise Pempengco, our international celebrity singing the National anthem Lupang Hinirang, makes you proud to be Pinoy!

-Baby James waving at  the crowd.  Showbiz talaga ang dating 🙂

-The mini-concert led by the Apo Hiking Society, Ogie  Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Gary Valenciano, Christian Bautista , Noel Cabangon and the UP   Madrigal singers.

-Enrile reading  Proclamation of Aquino-Binay Victory at around 11:16am.  Pres. Noynoy ‘s parents must be smiling in their graves.

-DFA said that there were about 100 foreign dignitaries who attended the inauguration

-The  actual oath-taking done by the VP and the president, it’s the highlight of the event.

-The Inaugural  Speech –  I had goosebumps listening to Pres. Noynoy deliver it.

-The  trip back to  Malacanang, this time as the new President of the Philippines.

-Pres. Noynoy briefly stopping by the large portrait of his late mother, Pres. Cory Aquino.  I shed a tear or two watching that scene.

Bravo Pres. Noynoy!

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My Two Cents’ Worth on Pres. Noynoy’s Inaugural

I have been glued to the TV screen since yesterday when Pres. Noynoy held a press conference  to announce  the new members of his cabinet.  Like every Filipino, who is aspiring for change, I am also very hopeful of the future.   I must admit that  I didn’t vote for Noynoy during the election. Like the rest of the voting populace, I felt that many of us were just riding on the popularity of his parents and that Noynoy would not be good enough to become the next president.   And I don’t really care about writing a political blog because I am not that interested in politics.  You have to get your facts right  to be credible.  But time and again, I write about the Aquino family,  I  am a fan, you see and I greatly admire the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino and  the late Pres. Cory Aquino.  For me, they are the embodiment of a what we call “true Filipinos” because of their unselfish love for our country.

Today  marks another event that is very significant to our country, the inaugural of a new president.  I was greatly touched by  Pres. Noynoy’s inaugural speech.  Delivered mostly in Pilipino, it makes me really proud to be Pinoy.  It was sincere, direct to the point and easy to grasp.  I believe that he spoke from the heart.  The thing is, we must not expect too much on what he can do to our country but rather, we must ask ourselves what we can do and contribute to help build a nation which we can truly be proud of.

There is this  campaign by ABS-CBN called Ako Ang Simula.  I like the concept and it is true that positive change could be achieved if we take it upon ourselves to start within and not rely on other people to do it for us.  It is always easy to blame the government when things fail, but are we doing our share?  As they say, “walk the talk”.

Congratulations Pres. Noynoy, I will be praying for you. I sincerely believe that you have a good heart to lead the nation to a greater height.

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P-Noy’s Cabinet

Tomorrow would be another milestone in Philippine history. It’s the inauguration of our 15th President Benigno Aquino III. He will take his oath under Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales.  And here’s the list of the cabinet positions under the Aquino administration.

Gregorio Domingo – Department of Trade and Industry

Rogelio Singson – Public Works and Highways

Alberto Lim – Department of  Tourism

Rene Almendras  – Department of Energy

Edwin Lacierda – Presidential  Spokeman

Ping de Jesus – Transportation and Communication

Enrique Ona – Department of   Health

Rosalinda Baldoz – Labor Secretary

Proceso  Alcala – Department of Agriculture

Ramon Paje – Environment

Dr. Mario Montejo – Science and Technology

Alberto Romulo –  Department of Foreign Affairs

Ed de Mesa – Presidential Legal Counsel

Jing Deles – Peace Adviser

Cayetano  Paderanga – NEDA

Maj. Gen. Ric David – AFP Chief of Staff

Patricia Licuanan – CHED Chair

Dinky Soliman – DSWD Chief

Armin Luistro – Department of Education

Jojo Ochoa – Executive Secretary

Voltaire Gazmin – Secretary of Defense

Leila de Lima – Department  of Justice

Ramon Dizon – PSG  Chief

Butch Abad – Budget and Management

Julia Abad – Presidential Management Staff

Cesar Purisima – Secretary of Finance

Kim Henarez – BIR

Jesus Verozosa – PNP  Chief

Ramon Dizon – Presidential Security Group

Pres. Aquino will take the DILG post temporarily and the  head of Media and Communications group is still to be named.

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2010 Proclamation (Pres. Noynoy and VP Binay)

They have coined a new word, it’s a new tandem called NoyBi for the next six years.

Months ago, I’ve been blogging about the Philippines’ presidential  hopefuls.  Election was held last May 10, 2010, the first automated election in Philippine history and exactly a month after, the 15th president of the Republic will be proclaimed.  It’s the second time the Aquino family will be witnessing a member declared as the Philippine president.  Pres. Elect Noynoy is the only son of the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino, Jr. and Pres. Corazon Aquino, both icons of democracy.  At more than 15M vote cast in his favor, it was a landslide win.

For most of us Filipinos and for those who voted for him, he represents the hope of the Filipino people, a guy who is so consistent in saying that he will fight corruption and be transparent in his government.   The people have spoken and a few days from now, July 1, 2010, Pres. Noynoy will take over.  Let us show our support behind our new president.  Mabuhay ka Pres. Noynoy!  Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Live at the Batasang Pambansa, it started at about 2:23pm with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada reading a message of congratulation from former Pres. Erap Estrada, who I believe, is abroad at the moment.  He has conceded and he believes that Pres. Aquino has the mandate of the Filipino people.

Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri and House Rep. Arthur Defensor jointly filed a motion for the declaration of Pres. Noynoy and Vice-Pres.Binay. The former delivered the Sponsorship of Canvassing Committee Report.  And the official tally were:

Aquino – 15 208,678 votes
Binay   – 14,645,574 votes

Momentous events.  History in the making.  Meet the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines.  Binay seemed to be a crowd favorite, he has the more resounding applause or maybe he has more followers who attended the event.  There were lots of people wearing yellow, obviously followers and supporters of Aquino.

Minority speaker Nene Pimentel joked about doing the proclamation in broad daylight and not during the witching hour.  He even translated the word PCOS into “Pres. Cory’s Only Son”.  There was rejoicing when the two were finally called to the rostrum.  I can’t help but be moved by the proclamation. Let us hope for a better Philippines. See the link for the full account of the event.

Link

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Countdown to 2010 – It’s A Noynoy-Mar Tandem

It’s final – Sen. Mar Roxas has accepted the vice-presidential bid under the Liberal Party in a simple ceremony held at Club Filipino a few hours ago.  It started with a prayer led by Fr. Tito Caluag of Ateneo.  I love the way Noynoy made his introduction of Mar in a precise, clear and sometimes witty speech delivery. He also acknowledged the presence of his sister Viel who was there to give him her moral support and he jokingly said that, “lahat ng mga kapatid ko tahimik maliban lang dun sa bunso, referring of course to his youngest sister Kris Aquino.

Mar Roxas was in yellow T-shirt, the proverbial color of Tita Cory.  The crowd were chanting “Noynoy, Mar“ even before Mar started his acceptance speech. “Salamat Noynoy sa tiwalang ipinagkaloob mo sa akin“.  What a short but powerful acceptance speech.  He said that they are after a government that puts the people’s interest first. And it is about a collective search for change.

“Mga kababayan, taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang maging katambal ni Noynoy Aquino”.

“But this fight is not just about Noynoy and me. Tungkol ito sa matuwid laban sa baluktot. Tungkol ito sa tapat laban sa tiwali. Tungkol ito sa tama laban sa mali.”

“We are up against forces who will fight tooth and nail, fair and unfair, legal and illegal, against us. Sa kanila,  tuloy ang ligaya; sa atin naman, tuloy ang laban”.

“Kailangan nating isulong ang bandila ni Noy at ng reporma. Mahirap ang laban na ito, pero nasa kamay natin ang ating kapalaran”.

He urged the public not to be complacent since this is a tough battle to face.  Noynoy announced his presidential bid last Sept. 09, 2009.

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The Search for the Next President – Countdown to 2010 (part 2)

The second ANC Presidential Forum was held last night at the UP Diliman School of Economics.  It was attended by former Pres. Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Binay and Bayani Fernando.  It was not surprising that Noli de Castro was again a no-show.  Ping Lacson had previously backed off from the race. Compared to the first batch of the presidential wannabees, I don’t like this batch. Only Legarda and Binay came prepared to answer those seemingly simple but profound questions posted by the audience.  Only Binay showed concrete plans on what he will do if he is elected.

And why was Estrada so disrespectful of the time limit, always making jokes at some serious questions which need concrete answers.  His manner of speaking is somewhat slurred, so hard to understand.  Disrespect for the rule of law even on such a simple forum like this is a little bit disgusting .  It’s the same with Fernando, both of them can’t communicate. I believe that first and foremost, you have to be a good communicator to be an effective leader.

Legarda, as always is so articulate about her plans and key legislation if ever she is elected President.  She will focus on good governance, sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, environment and cultural enrichment of the Filipinos.  Agriculture is the key towards providing jobs.  Her key legislation is the anti-violence against women and children act.  “Walang atrasan ang paglilingkod sa ating bansa”‘. Her declared worth for 2008 is 45.59M.

Binay is willing to slide down to being a vice-president if need be.  He said that a vice-president must be qualified to be a president with kakayahan at karanasan. His advocacy is to have a strong local government, decentralization is important and more power must be given to the local government.  He is the president of the National Boy Scouts of the Philippines.  He has faced graft charges for supposedly hiring ghost employees at the Makati City Hall and earning cuts from the contracts. He has a net worth of about 43.93M (daw).  “Aasenso ang bansa sa tama at dapat na pamamahala”.

Fernando said that for change to happen, order must be put first. You mean, paint the town pink and blue?  He is definitely out in my list.

Some questions asked were, What qualities do they have to gain the youth vote?  And their answers to this question are interesting.  Do you or do you not support the reproductive health bill? And here are their answers:

Fernando – “follow the precepts of my church. follow the natural way of
limiting the number of children to affordable level”  Huh?
Binay – “give them freedom of choice”
Legarda – she is against any form of abortion but she is for informed choice,do everything to bring down the mortality rate of women giving birth.
Estrada – ditto to Binay and Legarda’s answers

And here is another thought-provoking question.  Would you support any investigation of the Arroyo family for corruption allegation?

Binay – she has to answer to everything
Legarda –  kung may ebidensya ay mag-file ng kaso and must be done expeditiously.
Erap – nobody is above the law. He has forgiven the Arroyo family.

Sorry guys, I simply didn’t understand what Fernando answered.  Given the power to reallocate funds, they were asked where they will put it and why. Estrada said that the basic needs of the people must come first. Legarda answered that she will focus on agriculture, education and health.  Binay wants to put it on education, health and other social services. Fernando said that he will focus on hanapbuhay (as to what kind, he didn’t elaborate), education and other social services.

And the plum goes to Loren Legarda as the most likely candidate to succeed (just my opinion though).  Erap provided the entertainment, he is truly capable of making you laugh but choosing the right person to lead us is no laughing matter.

Catch the replay at Studio 23 tonight at 6pm and on Sunday at ABS CBN at 10:15pm.

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Will We Ever Win?

They have spoken and their voices were heard. The Americans have delivered and set a historical record of choosing their 44th president. If only we could emulate what they did, going out of their comfort zones to choose a man who they think is more capable of running the government with all its present problems and its economic turmoil. I admire their guts in choosing someone regardless of color of his skin. Democracy is clearly in place and the freedom to exercise their right to choose was in evidence.

How I wish there would come a time in our own Philippine politics where a loser graciously accepts defeat and the winner humbly acknowledges his triumph. I dream of the time when they would just shake hands and go along the same road together instead of back fighting, tongue lashing and hurling vindictive at each other. Or didn’t you know, there are two mindsets gravely embedded in us Filipinos – if you win, you are nandaya and if you lose, you are nadaya.

In the end, it’s the Filipino voters who are losers. Will we ever win?

(I posted this blog in my other sites when Barack Obama took his oath as the 44th President of America)

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The Presidential Wannabes

Countdown to 2010: An ANC Leadership Forum, introduced us to the five presidential aspirants in a two-hour question and answer format anchored by TV journalists Ricky Carandang and Tina Monson-Palma. It was sponsored by ABS CBN in conjunction with the Ateneo School of Government. The five presidential aspirants were Gilbert Teodoro, GMA’s Defense Secretary, Fr. Ed Panlilio, governor of Pampanga and the three senators, Mar Roxas, Richard Gordon and Chiz Escudero.

Teodoro lauded the economic achievements of GMA citing NLEX, SCTEX among others. Roxas and Escudero of course belongs to the political opposition. Roxas touched on the government’s failure to address the present corruption in the public sector which “amplified the negative impact of the global economic crisis”. Escudero as usual, seemed to give those rehearsed responses, coming out like the best debater among the five but I admire his fluency in speaking Tagalog.

I wonder, I couldn’t place where Gordon was coming from. Is he a part of the administration or he was just trying to impress the people with his on and off criticism of the Arroyo government? But, Teodoro and Gordon gave more concrete answers than the rest.

Ed Panlilio was soft-spoken, more like delivering a good homily on a Sunday mass, but of course, he is still a man of the cloth.

Teodoro said that he was in favor of charter change but should be through a Constitutional Convention but he also declared that he needs the go signal of Malacanang for practical reasons before he could run.

Gordon said that Arroyo’s biggest fault was to engage in “transactional politics”. he further said that he would lead by example. Panlilio was put on the spot by co-host Ricky Carandang about his views on the issue of family planning. ‘”These things are delicate matters, critical issues, I believe that there should be more opportunities and room for discussion and dialogue”. Escudero emphasized the corruption issue against Pres. Arroyo.

Tina Monson-Palma minced no words when she asked Mar Roxas if he was merely using Korina Sanchez to boost his presidential bid and he answered that his critics are just “inggit”. (They are already engaged to be married). Actually Korina’s early morning radio program on DZMM was replaced by another anchored by Pinky Webb and Ricky Carandang. She said that she would just maintain her weekly TV show Rated K and help Mar in his campaign.

When they were asked by Ricky Carandang about the person they admire the most, living or dead, Gordon chose his father and he was emotional about it, getting teary-eyed while recalling how his father valued work ethics. Roxas said he admire Cory Aquino.

I wonder why, the other presidential wannabees were absent, Manny Villar, Loren Legarda, Ping lacson and Noli de Castro. Or is this a case of less talk, less mistakes?

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