Travesty at the Williard Hotel

What on earth is this administration really up to? And what kind of government is this, partying like crazy in a ritzy hotel, while we mourn the passing of one of our nation's greats?

It's confirmed that Mrs. Arroyo, our pseudo Philippine president, knew about the demise of president Cory Aquino before she met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last August 1.

When Clinton met Arroyo at the Williard Hotel, Mrs. Arroyo deliberately did not tell Clinton about Aquino's death. Clinton only knew about Aquino's death through an ABS-CBN reporter.

It is elementary courtesy for a Head of State to communicate a monumental news like that to a foreign dignitary, to avoid such an embarrassing thing like what happened yesterday. But, Mrs. Arroyo and her ilk remain callous. They always cause so much embarrassment for the Filipino People.

It was Heherson Alvarez, the presidential hangers-on, who actually informed Mrs. Arroyo about the unfortunate news. Yet, instead of remembering the former president, Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage continued partying and celebrating after that Obama meeting.

May araw din kayo!!!

Clinton slaps Arroyo while Arroyo snaps back with Smith

The timing is impeccable. It deserves both our derision and praise.

The Supreme Court released a decision on convicted American rapist Daniel Smith, the very same week new US State department Hillary Clinton does her Asian trip. Shortly after the SC released the decision, temperatures again rose when civil society groups and the media try to revive nationalist passions against US inaction to hand over the rapist.

Is this a case of just "papansin", or in English, PDA meaning Public Display of Anger?

Obviously, the Smith case is a classic propaganda campaign meant to convince Obama and his administration that the Philippines is more relevant, than, say Indonesia or Thailand.

Those obvious snubs which Obama gave Arroyo and this slap by Clinton shows how strained relations between the Arroyo administration and the US government is right now.

This explains why the Arroyo administration is getting cozier with the Chinese than Obama, to the point that the government dangled the Kalayaan and Scarborough shoals as bait to the Americans.

The gambit did'nt work. That's why Arroyo is now dangling Smith before the nose of Obama and Clinton, trying to get their attention and for what? To save her administration? Or probably, to save her skin and that of her husband, who obviously, faces the prospect of arrest due to money laundering?

Teodoro--RP's New Obama?

Barack Obama is now the official Democratic presidential candidate, besting White America's finest, Hillary Clinton. This is phenomenal considering that, four years ago, Obama was a relative unknown. What's the secret of Obama's campaign?

First, Obama's handlers avoided the tendency of traditional politics by giving the campaign some "inspiring" taglines. That's genius. Most Americans are depressed due to the high costs of food and fuel. They need someone who'll inspire them with the vibrancy of youth and new ideas. Obama represented that. He was packaged as the Black version of JFK (John F. Kennedy), armed with wit and a serious mien. His words are always emotion-driven. You'll see and hear his inspiring words on traditional and new media.

That campaign was based on lessons in political history. In US history, men of such character emerge whenever America encounters extreme depression, such as what's happening now. Western societies need men of substance whenever they face tremendous socio-economic challenges. Obama filled that void.

Now, can we produce our own Obama? Yes. We already did.

In the 2004 elections, a veritable unknown in the person of Senator Antonio Trillianes IV emerged as one of the top senatorial winners. He did not campaign. His handlers used the internet as his launching pad. He did not use any traditional method of campaigning, just a few posters and stickers here and there. However, the electorate heard of him through traditional media, what with his digs at Gloria. The people loved it and voted for him, a vote which some political analysts say is a vote of anger against the prevailing dispensation.

However, is it possible for Trillianes to campaign for the presidency using non-traditional tactics? That's possible. With more than 13 million Filipinos going online daily, that's a huge constituency. The internet is the most cost-effective tool in launching any brand or product or even electoral campaigns.

There's a catch though. Trillianes is a realist and would probably think twice before dipping his fingers in the presidential pool. if Trillianes is not interested, then, who could possibly be his alternate?

I'll give my Singdollars to anybody who'll oppose Gilbert Teodoro, our defense secretary. Of all the candidates out there, Teodoro is the singular person who can probably inspire us and rouse us from mediocracy and apathy.

Teodoro is young, has a vision for the country and has that electrifying personality. He's one of the most hard-working members of Gloria's mafia gang. Reason why people in the civil society hesitate to go full-blast against Gloria is the fact that some well-meaning people continue to work their asses off and that includes Teodoro. Teodoro is a stark contrast to the likes of Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap or Energy secretary Reyes, who are publicity-hungry without concrete accomplishments. Teodoro exemplifies an Obama and has the potential of getting the people's nod come election time.

I believe that early campaigners such as Loren, Mar, Cheez, Villar and Noli will eventually neutralize themselves. They will turn irrelevant, leading the way for Teodoro to shine.

If the same tactics employed by Trillianes in getting the senate post be applied to Teodoro, there's a strong chance for him to win. Some people think that he does not have the physical strength to go on a national campaign since he has asthma or some respiratory ailment. To hell with it. Teodoro can always sit in his chair and ponder on solutions to national issues while his campaigners dominate the discussion sphere thru traditional and new media. You'll be surprised at the results.

Why are we so sensitive? My take on Filipino doctors and Cory as Slut

Why are we suddenly so sensitive on other people's views about us? Look at the reaction of Filipinos when Teri Hatcher said something about the "competency" of our doctors. She was just telling the truth. Do we really think of ourselves as "geniuses" or really "experts" in the medical profession that we can't be told of such things, like a joke? Or, we just don't want the world to know that we have been producing doctors or medical practitioners from diploma mills?

Let's be reasonable, shall we?

How many doctors, nurses or caretakers do we "produce" every year? Close to a hundred thousand? How many of those are quality doctors, nurses or caretakers? I know that we really have very, very good doctors. But, do we have a monopoly of quality doctors? Can we really claim that every year we churn out quality medical practitioners? Or most of those whom we grant nursing licenses are half-baked ones?

How many review centers do we have? How many colleges who previously don't give nursing courses or medical courses now suddenly claim to be "expert" schools in medicine? Examples are IT schools such as AMA and STI. They now have their own "medical" schools. Just go around Metro Manila and you'll see that every school, every review center of every Tom, Dick and Harry have their "specialists", "experts" in medicine.

Admit it---we are now one big medical school diploma mill. Since everybody wants to go abroad and the surest way to do that is to become either a nurse or a caregiver, we have treated medicine as a cheap profession. Yes, we have made the medical profession like a skills or technical course.

And, its like, we are hypocrites. We made a big fuss out of this and this latest dig against Former President Cory (whom by the way, its really below the belt, that American show calling Cory a "slut". Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is a legitimate slut, compared with Cory. Bush is also a man-slut. How about Bill Clinton? He's also a man slut (remember that sucking episode?)

We are hypocrites because we protest about these things but we don't protest the things being thrown at us by the Arroyo regime. We protest against these things but we don't go to the streets to protest about the shitty things being done to us by our leaders.

I blame the government for the low regard of other nationalities to Pinoys. How will one be proud of being Pinoy when our leaders show dishonesty? Our leaders are spineless thieves. They not only rob us of our hard-earned money, they also rob us of our voices. GMA is the biggest thief. We have the worst model citizen--GMA. What values do we attach to GMA? The value of dishonesty, robbery, immorality. So, why are we so sensitive? How can we counteract such views on us when we have a president like that?