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08
June 2002
Manny's Woes: With dear dear apologies
to my cyberfriends, I shall refrain from making too many comments about
what is most presently a very tough time for Mr. Pangilinan. ; )
"Court
Fiction"
Long
long ago in a courtroom potholes and potholes away lay a quiet, hardly
unattended trial that has been going for years now. No one wants to stick
around too long anywhere in this country. Remember, our revolutions last
for three days, people get bored and want to get back to their comfy homes,
having done their duty for the country. Of course they are back a few
years after the unfinished job, but the Pinoy obviously doesn't see social
change as a big thing, really. Only till the dirt is swept under someone
else's rug. OK. That's about as long as you'll get serious stuff from
me. I get berated for being too serious. See what I mean? I have now,
as they used to say in a former quite popular TV series they called the
Impeachment Proceedings. That's where the Senate President kept giving
out free advertising to the mineral water business that belongs to one
of the favorite cronies of almost all the presidents this country has
ever had. He allowed them liberal display of their wares over national
TV the entire length without thought of all that marketing income. One
thinks, there are the brains running the country, and one shivers in fear.
You don't hear him paying any of the chump change of 26 Billion Bucks
he owes in taxes. I guess some things are not for mere citizens to mess
with. So there I was, with a website assailing the callousness of a man
advertising this crony's bottled water for free -- ad space in an impeachment
like that could have built houses for the poor but we don't have enough
of them to build houses for apparently as they seem not to exist, unlike
politicians, who exist for TV, radio, newspapers, and the like, therefore
making them the real citizens and the poor, well, poor. Oh what the heck,
let's move on to a fairy tale.
The Panic Mode of Mr. Barrister (My Experiences
with the Mythical Man we shall call Mr. Barrister)
Having
seen a lot, and I mean a lot of American Television growing up in this
American would-be state. There wasn't much of a choice on the three or
four TV stations anyway. The local shows showed lawyers who were trying
hard to be funny but were not, and serious lawyers who just made one burst
out laughing.
But exactly
what the protocol is in this country when a lawyer keeps staring over
the ledge (I forgot to mention, I was in a box. Sequestered, being "grilled"
as a witness.) What I must admit I was not ready for was the lawyer. And
since I'm not a "slim" guy, it is a bit cramping. But on to
the story.
So one
goes about a court hearing, where apparently one person asks questions
from another, and the guy in the box replies. The part I can't really
get is why the decibel levels are somewhat like in a teenager's souped
up car with his fancy radio. The room size is only so small. And I guess
anyone sans a basic course in acoustics can tell if there is only one
person in a room talking, and not much noise. OK, so I do some Stereo
Consulting, to augment my meager income- another job, as I ain't the corporate
type who can grab jobs as Vice- Presidents for their good looks and possibly
other physical attributes (just a thought) or who has influential relatives,
you know, the way 99% of people get by (I hope).
Since
this is hurting my ears I stare around looking for some sympathy, only
to realize that this was the Noriega treatment- the Gringos played heavy
metal around his palace till he would get dizzy enough to surrender (he
didn't).
At any
rate, round two was coming. Back in the foxholes it is called pray and
spray. Point top end of your weapon out of your bunker and pray you hit
a bad guy or two. In this case I guess my face was the target and (^&*#!@
making) his possibly disease-ridden saliva the weapon. As if this doesn't
cost me enough, I have to pay doctor fees for my health. To quote a certain
Bambina, "Yuckers!!" or for the older ones "kadiri to death."
Damn the torpedoes and the torpe, onward for my country.
Boy atrocious
courts, one would think. But this was beyond the vision of court officers.
Of course, we dare not insult the court and this is the last agenda we
have in mind. But article number 3. Oh yeah this will be one for the books.
Here
it comes:
Have you ever dropped something or thought you dropped something and had
to bend down to look for it? All pretty normal stuff right? Of course
it is. Until the place you are sticking your face is a few inches away
from someone sitting down in a tight tiny box, and you THINK you have
misplaced your briefs in front of someone else's. I swear, Archbishop
Law would have had a good laugh at that one. As for the unwitting witness,
for one of the few times in his life, he knew not whether to call the
judge's attention, shout for help, or continue to try and convince Manic
Panic that fat as he thought I was, I would certainly not stick someone
else's briefs into my own. Eventually it appears that Panic Man found
his folder with the clerk of court, a good five feet away from me. Man
was I relieved, come to think of it, relieve myself was maybe something
I should have done when this sucker (no pun intended) decided to stick
his face into where it don't belong.
Moral of the last part? Maybe they are suing the wrong company. This part
would have been different. All in jest, folks, but it's also all true.
Too bad you missed it. And sad to say that in this little country where
freedom once reigned, one is made to suffer for speaking his mind.
02 June
2001
GERRY ON THE PASAY KILLING
We have a suggestion. Why not put all the policemen who can render different
versions of Sinatra's standard "My Way" and accurately shoot
other nightclub patrons in the Pasay City jail go directly to hostage
situations right after? They seem to be very accurate when they are in
that state. Worst of all, the government adopted once more the gun ban
policy. This applies only to gun owners who have passed prequalification.
I recall the government a few months ago talk about arming the barangay
tanods. The needed help from the civilian sector in fighting crime. Now
they have decided finally that the best way to fight crime and allow the
Filipino the right top defend himself and family is by taking away his
gun. OK We will, But please allow the politicians to feel the same sense
of security by disarming their squads of bodyguards too. That would be
fair. Leave the civilians to their own, protected by the same kind of
guys who allowed a mere child to be murdered in front of a SWAT team before
national Television. Great Stuff!! . Talking about civilians groups helping
with crime rates. After incidents like this and "My Way" shootings
I think we don't need an Abu Sayyaf here in Metro Manila, they are probably
too scared. In keeping with the governments double standard, though, some
if not most of our politicians have at least four bodyguards who are supposedly
assigned to them (for which we foot the bill) from the Police GHQ. Obviously
those incidents like this can happen only to us mere lowly citizens. Especially
now, that the government banned legal gun permits. Let me get to the point.
Criminals do not have licenses and those who apply for permits do not
have evil plans playing around in their mind. Weird, wacky stuff.
GERRY
LAMBASTED IN COURT FOR BEING SICK (?)
My apologies to those have seen nothing change in this site for a while.
At one point in time I appeared in court with a fever, pale and looking
like death warmed over. The Judge was kind, but the opposition's lawyer
apparently did not like to be insulted by incidents like this. For about
fifteen minutes I heard all sorts of adjectives, I thought to myself,
would some people have the balls to do the same when prosecuting someone
like Erap, or maybe even Ping Lacson, or is this anger reserved only for
harmless webmasters, who have but computers to put up a semblance of a
fight, I snickered in pain. To think that they did exactly the same thing
to us to announce that their allegedly newly appointed witness had to
fly off to Paris. Small stuff, we didn't sweat it. Picked up our belongings
and left quietly after the proceedings. I guess the powerful can do as
they please when they want to appear tough and think that they can trample
on the little people, like many of our politicians do.
GMA
TRYING DESPITE SEVERAL RASPUTINS AROUND HER
I see how our President is trying to do good here, and I am not necessarily
a political person. However, if she sees hears the public voicing out
their despair, and all she does is defend these guys, then siguro agenda
may change in the people's eyes, and a campaign fund for 2004 is looming.
But I guess it's ok, because like all other presidents, it seems that
their children get married during their terms, throw lavish, and I mean
lavish parties. Pagkain na lang siguro sa lower at middle class yan ,
matutuwa pa yung tao, pero yung super stinker na nakapaligid sa tabi niya.
Ms. President, sana balang araw huwag ninyong sabihin sa taong bayan hindi
mo alam. Hindi bobo lahat ng Pilipino. Huwag na lang natin bigyan yun
militar ng isa na naman pagkakataong humirit.
GERRY
ON POLITICAL SLOGANS
Popular political slogan "YES, THE FILIPINO CAN". Question is:
Can do WHAT? And to whom?
GERRY ON BASKETBALL, THE LOST SPORT
This may be another unpopular observation, but do we really expect that
from today on to 2050, our basketball teams, and I speak not of two token
Pinoys plus Filipino-American basketball players but of most of the Pinoy
players who can't even speak a word of Tagalog, or barely win against
the USA women's basketball team? Aw c'mon. Wake up people...
Who are
we fooling, ourselves? Did anyone look at how much these companies are
spending on these expensive imports before firing their employees for
excuses like poor cash flows? At least unahin sana ang tunay na Pinoy
kung pilitin ninyo na basketball player. Medyo masakit na ginagawang alipin
ng mga player na ito ang Pilipino sa kanilang sariling bayan.
GERRY
AND TREATMENT FROM THE BIG THREE
These guys, impressed by our totally amazing corruption rate, have but
a few words to say. You keep stealing it, but fear not, we will continue
giving you lopsided loans 'cause we're from the first world and we tell
you what to do. (wahahaha) So there.
GERRY
ON PHONES AND MUSIC
I am happy
to see though that more people are using cellphones because it means they
now have the freedom to communicate with their friends, family, associates,
etc. So far, I haven't seen a study on how much money people have saved
to discuss a business deal over the phone instead of having to brave the
awful traffic and spend precious time listening to songs by Earth Wind
and Fire and the like.
Isn't
it a reflection of how we think and work when we refuse to advance even
in something as basic as music? We are killing our culture. Some may argue
we may never have had one, maybe I even felt that way years past. But
after meeting so many aggressive youths fighting for their right to have
their music played and heard (of course, they don't, but fight on they
keep doing), I know I've met those I consider Filipinos. Those who love
our culture. A local heroine like Grace Nono, ironically, is appreciated
more by foreigners rather than our own people. And let it not be that
we don't know how the rock and roll goes folks, sometimes we are blacker
than the blacks. (Do we really think that we need to support Limp Bizkit,
we can name the band Rosquillos de Otap and sound even better but still
sound like Limp Bizkit?) Maybe because he is broke? I am not a music bigot.
I have a rather eclectic collection of international music to prove that.
But how many people do you know have more than five local musicians in
their music collection? Our guys and gals can go head to head with almost
anyone in the world.
PLDT.COM
SUGGESTS TAXING CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Another brilliant idea from the Site PLDT (and we don't mean the other
PLDTs) loves to Hate.
UP
AND DOWN WE MERRILY GLO
The Philippines is definitely going somewhere. In some areas we go up
and in some we go down. What we have to is see where we are going up and
where we are going down. Let's see these two typical examples:
JUSTICE SYSTEM : HOLDOVER FROM SPANISH TIMES
Justice: Where? I see the same guys I started seeing in my hearings that
I saw three years ago. Not all are guilty. but their fate uncertain. One
thing that is sure though is that they are stuck in jail, some for a decade
now, because they can't make bail or their public lawyers made a booboo.
Hey who wants to be a lawyer in the public arena anyway? Fixed salary,
In the Metropolitan court in Mandaluyong there's one lawyer who handles
about fifty clients a day. He has to look though the brief, trust me it's
brief, and get the case postponed. So the guy goes back to the Bureau
of Prisons truck and heads back to jail for another month. When this ends
who the heck knows. Who cares for them? Whether they are guilty or not
has not been established, but they are in orange so people assume they
are guilty. Who knows, maybe 95% are guilty so good grief get the case
done then throw the guilty into the cramped slammers. But for the 5% or
less? Who returns their future? And it ain't the judge's fault either.
Nor the lawyers. The influence of money and politics sadly has the whole
justice system in a Gordian Knot. Sometimes it looks like what is right
is wrong and more often, it appears right is just so wrong. We are all
at fault because we take it as we sweep our garbage under the neighbor's
rug. Who cares? It's us and no one else. Hey, two days after EDSA 2, word
went around that deals were signed. And only three guys were responsible
for all the plunder. And what was going on? Texts flying about the grand
dinner held at Erap's Mansion in Greenhills. Anybody ever think we deserve
this?
Our
brave but forgotten OFWs
Erap's effective one-woman COMELEC strike force? Could this be true?
One answer may lie with the OFW's. They have seen things work in other
countries. They have seen Bad. They have seen Good. They know how our
Foreign Affairs and Cultural whatever will treat them if they get into
trouble. After all, they are lowly Domestic Helpers, Construction Workers
and the like. They got more important stuff to do. Attend cocktails, suck
up to the bosses at the DFA and/or Palace, and go shopping. Hey that's
their job. I am not generalizing, but if you guys want to get to the bottom
of some areas, check out http://www.elagda.com Wanna see an uphill climb?
My own uneducated guess is some trapos may not be too keen on allowing
Filipinos abroad who have access to the internet. Why should they? The
relatives in remote barrios may read printout material from their relatives
overseas and start reading about current events. Tsk tsk. Isn't keeping
them ignorant the ultimate goal? What they don't know won't hurt them.
Sad. This would be a great chance for the rest of the 70 million Filipinos
to learn more about where they live and its woes, living life in quiet
desperation as this country has been doing since Marcos took over with
his Rolex gang. We dare the Congress to allow the overseas vote. But if
they can allow this Luz Tangcangco, among others, to slowly maneuver to
make 2004 the worst nightmare this little archipelago will ever have,
how can they expect to solve the problem of the overseas vote?
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One
more day. After tomorrow, the 29th of April, the webmaster and owner of
this website shall be able to give readers snippets and tidbits about
his ordeal at the hands of Manny Pangilinan's lawyers, (Pangilinan presently
Chairman and President of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and
one of country's largest monopolies) lawyers.
Find out answers to questions like:
1) Why did webmaster need an umbrella/raincoat while testifying.
2) How come trial spectators had to stay at the rear portion of the courtroom.
3) pldt.com is planning to request for a neuro-psychiatric exam to be
done on certain persons.
4) What
will be the fate of the witnesses who, it turns out, may have been telling
the judge interesting things when he puts the case together and after
all the witnesses are heard.~~
"We have a department of labor that is really the department of capital;
a National Security Council that is the main cause of our insecurity;
a law enforcement agency populated by criminals. And a justice
department dedicated to fomenting iniquity." READ
THE REST OF CONRADO'S PIECE 25
JAN 2002
"No second Vietnam": Erap. Ex-President
and King of the road now living in plush digs (the Marcos suite of the
Veterans Hospital) commented the other day that the Philippines cannot
become the next Vietnam as many radicals have stated because, as he put
it, "any idiot can tell there are no Vietcong here!<burp!!>
"Please pass the caviar".
Yank sense of justice reflected by their treatment
of Johnny "Boy
Blue" Walker.
Although part and parcel of the Usama
Bin Laden choir, this boy is now home. In case the importance of this
fact is lost upon our reader, (yes, we have one reader. His browser is
stuck on this page.) Allow
me to clarify. What this means is that any American, even if he is part
of a terrorist organization that was responsible for the death of about
3,000 people, including Filipinos, is sent back to America. Unlike his
comrades now stuck sleeping on the ground in camps in Cuba, he gets a
bed. Unlike
his comrades who probably don't even speak the language, he gets as many
lawyers as he wants. Much
like the GI's in Clark and Subic bases who may have killed or raped but
were always turned over by local authorities to the US base commanders.
This corner proposes the Americans be allowed to stay but only under condition
they drink water from the toxic wells of the bases they left behind. These
are poisoning our children, something Bush and his gang don't give two
bits about. Or maybe Gloria forgot. Clark IS in Pampanga, her bailiwick,
isn't it?
The comedy on TV last night:
"Misuari
has broken the law. Therefore he cannot be entitled to the things a normal
person has access to" -Dept.
of Justice. Misuari is detained
in the Sta. Rosa camp. No Marcos suite for this guy.
ERAP,
on the other hand, also has violated the law and more. However, the same
DOJ allows him to throw lavish parties, hold conferences, meetings and
have more or less free movement around the grounds of the Veterans Hospital.
So much for equality of justice under the Banana Republic.
And
we wonder why there is war between Muslims and Christians in the Philippines.
VIEWER MAIL OR, NA-ONSE NA NAMAN BA ANG PILIPINO?
Happy
New Year Mr.Kaimo!
I hope that all is
well on your side of the fence. Anyway, let me cut to the chase, I saw
a full page ad of PLDT on the Jan.2, 2001(back page of the Metro Section)
inquirer issue. It features a big hand, it's the telco taking an oath,
and has some bragging statements on the side like: "revolutionizing
mobile communication","Always in touch,no matter the distance
and "World class data solutions". Take this: there is even a
statement from Manny Fanny boldly printed under the giant palm and I quote:"We
pledge to create rich and varied communications systems that people need."
Cool, sure, I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they would do all
these for us people. I hoped that this was their new year's resolution,
I hoped that they would be honest THIS time and I hoped that that they
would really be there for the people. I would have put a drop of trust
on this telco company, but then I noticed something, and hell did I laugh
out loud, I said Manny Fanny is at it again, taking an oath to high heavens
to serve us better! The ad is a f******* lie! The big palm, which I think
is Manny's ,is the LEFT HAND! Sure, it may be nuthin' but it sure means
something to me! When you take an oath or swear, you use the right hand!
Wow, with all the tech sh*t they have been bragging about, they can't
even tell their right hand from their left! No wonder we have been eating
all the cr*p they have been feeding us! I hope this email would find it
on your site and the other PLDT.com fans be informed. May I request that
my Identity and email address not be printed in case this email gets published
in any form. Thank you. More power and good luck!
(
A TRUE CITIZEN )
Mike Arroyo, Joseph Estrada, Aniano Disierto, Panfilo Lacson, R. Fortun
and R. Saguisag: What do these men have in common? The
SWS said it was "a large measure of public distrust."
pldt.com honors our National Hero Andres Bonifacio. If alive today, he
would probably be leading another revolution. We
think there are just too many quasi-guinaldos around betraying our country.
(flash courtesy digital-genre)
Philippine-American ties cannot be underestimated. For
Thanksgiving Day
the Philippines sent most of its turkeys to Washington.
GK invited to join Shell Corporate Motor Sports Challenge. We go as soon
as he gets clearance to allow use of a tourist bus marked with the famous
www.pldt.com from the roof (for aerial shots) to all over the bus.
Fun time kids.
If allowed, we will take along as many pldt.com friends as we can. Free,
but first come first served. And bring your own damn beer.
NEW
PLASTIC KING?? or rather, KING OF KA-PLASTIKAN? The
US Citizen(?) who cheered on the rebels in 1989 (the country never recovered
economically from that adventure where Martin loudly and publicly showed
his adoration for the wrong side) shows his true colors. He isn't even
from La Salle, is he?! Anyway, here is his story...
New Martin Album in Hot Water Over Copyright Violation
EMI blows top over single "To Say Goodbye"
- revealed to be an unlicensed
recording of a Dianne Warren composition by Jim
Ayson
"Nievera's single "To Say Goodbye",
which he has mentioned to the press to
be his composition, has turned out to be a re-recording of "We Just
Don't
Know How To Say Goodbye", composed by the prolific hitmaker Dianne
Warren."
http://www.philmusic.com/zine/news/2001/11/111201_emi/index.shtml
A
Long Wait for a telephone.
How long others have
had to wait for a telephone...
Pldt.com doing its
share in keeping the peace.
NTC:
Cellphone firms must give free voice calls By
Dennis C. Serfino of the Manila Standard
Star TV blinks, offers lower
fees By Dennis C. Serfino of the
Manila Standard
While the entire government bureaucracy takes a four day holiday, the
whole island of Luzon and reportedly other parts of the Philippines were
plunged into total darkness at around 5PM today, Nov. 4, 2001. Once
again, the government that could not care less (practically all the officials
own power generators for this type of emergency) sit back and enjoy their
favorite home movie as the rest of the country suffers in darkness. This
outage brought to you by the National Power Corporation. Expect jellyfish
to take the blame again. The real ones, not spineless government officials.
Conrado
tells
it like it is-
What a guy, Ate Guy!!
The country' most "popular" CEO in a matter of months has:
1. taken away from consumers 70% of "free" SMS text.
2. issued Jose Velarde (allegedly Erap Estrada) a check for P20 million
pesos
3. seen his company stock price fall from P1,600 to P370
4. aired company advertisements
which are demeaning to the gay community
5. managed to get the government to let his company install public pay
phones inside Metro Manila homes
6. allegedly mismanaged team Ateneo, which just lost a basketball championship
7. had his cable companies remove Manila residents' favorite channels
Makes one wonder whether
his focus is on improving the quality of life for Filipinos, his twisted
idea of how to run a business, or just following weird orders from his
Indonesian masters. Whatever it is, it's "Simply Amazing!"
Make
yourself heard. Join these consumer groups and help us help you:
ReklamoPLDT-DSL
* Possibly the highest complaints posted on a discussion list.
pldt-dsl
* (ditto)
ReklamoGLOBE@yahoogroups.com
ReklamoSMART@yahoogroups.com
ReklamoMERALCO@yahoogroups.com
ReklamoMARINO@yahoogroups.com
ReklamoTUBIG@yahoogroups.com
Justice
Cruz on "the eradication of the
iniquitous vestiges of the previous regime" as mandated by the Freedom
Constitution in 1986.
See
PLDT.COM Webmaster Live as he is subjected to cross examination by PLDT
attorneys Feb 19, 2001 Regional Trial Court No. 90, QC RTC 2PM. Entrance,
unlike your text messages, is FREE.
Mystery Question of the entire proceeding: Why did
PLDT lawyers file a motion to prevent webmaster from testifying, a motion
which the judge denied, citing that in the interests of justice, the webmaster
must be allowed to speak at the hearing in which he is a defendant. Send
your legal
opinions/wild guesses/kinky ideas as to
why they filed such a motion to WhyQuashTheTestimony@pldt.com
CONTINUED
ON PAGE TWO
WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES.
THE BANDAID© CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. WHERE ANY
REMEDIES TO PROBLEMS ARE TEMPORARY AS THE GOVERNMENT CAN'T HURT FEELINGS
OF BIG BUSINESS, OR RELATIVES OF THE POWERFUL. Want proof? This website,
along with the PLDTI
sued by PLDT telephone company for unfair competition, among other things.
Want more?
Webmaster testimony to be cross-examined by PLDT's Attorneys!
Feb 19, 2002 @ Regional Trial Court No. 90, Quezon City 2PM.
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