Bayan Muna and its success in averting power rate hike--Mabuhay!

I am getting back what I said several entries ago. To my colleagues at BayanMuna, the Filipino People's thanks. Your relentless campaign against Meralco's power rate hike is commendable. You are the only voice in the wilderness.

The message that you effectively communicated to these people is simply, please moderate your greed. Yes, we allow you to make some profits but please consider the overall public welfare.

Capitalist greed is a consequence of a ultra liberal policy of government. There is a persisting belief among businessmen that they can do whatever they want provided that they dont break the law. Or, even if they do, they have the strong connections to save them from the gallows.

The Filipino People salute the patriotic elements of Bayan Muna.

Freedom of Information Bill's Fate to be known today

Today, the controversial Freedom of Information bill will be discussed in the halls of Congress. My friend, Armand Mauricio, publicist of Deputy Speaker Erin Tanada says that this is the final discussion about the bill.   I think the Committee will start the hearing at 1:30 in the afternoon.

The Technical Working Group has left it to the Committee on Information to decide the fate of the bill.

One of the most contentious issues, says Congressman Ben Evardone, himself a former media man, is the inclusion of the right to reply, something which proponents and supporters of the bill, does not want to be included in there.

Bayan Muna Representative and senatoriable Teddy Casino pointed out the objectionable provisions which Malacanang want to include in the bill, which Casino says, will water it down. A report from Inquirer says:

According to Casiño, the objectionable exceptions included banning public access to official records of minutes and advice given and opinions expressed during decision-making or policy-formulation, invoked by the President to be privileged by reason of sensitivity or impairment of the presidential deliberative process.
Also among the exceptions were data related to law enforcement and defense, which he said could give officials a lot of chances to hide information on human rights violations.
Under House versions of the FOI bill, all information were considered accessible unless proven in court that these would be used for criminal purposes or were only requested for sheer curiosity.
The Malacañang version of the FOI bill also removed the proposed Information Commission, which was supposed to resolve in a timely fashion disputes between agencies and parties seeking public documents.

Joma's Prognosis of the 2010 Elections

Joma Sison's insights continue to amaze political pundits in this country. Despite being away for so long in exile, Joma's statements still packs a punch. Recently, the former CPP Chairman's statements were published. This is about his own views on the "presidentiables". He says that the man to watch is Defense Secretary Teodoro.

I wrote in Filipinovoices.com that Teodoro is really Gloria's closest ace for the elections. I heard from one of the closest advisers of the devil infant that she's grooming Teodoro to replace her. This is a stark contrast to some views that Noli's the "anointed one". I don't believe it for a second. Noli remains popular in perception; yet the prospect of him winning the top plum is, I think, more speculative than anything.

However, I am quite surprised why our last remaining credible Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tsetung resident head seems too engrossed on elections. If I remember my Marxism, elections are to be frown upon is'nt? Was that statement an indirect admission by the CPP top leadership that they're abandoning the oust gloria before 2010 movement and instead, looking forward to 2010? If that is the direction, then, quite possibly, does this mean that the CPP head honcho is more concerned now with the survival of the party's representatives in Congress than push thru with the protracted people's war?

That's the problem with the current CPP leadership--it's wishy-washy. It does not have the strong backbone we, the people, expect it to have. I expect Joma to lambast Gloria's government for its continued oppression of the people. I expect Joma etal to convince the public to participate in the continuing struggle rather than set their sights on the 2010 elections. Is the party going the pacifist route? Has the looong struggle already mellowed the leadership, numbing their ideological selves and turning them into veritable compromisers?

This is another problem--the "protractiveness" of this people's war. When is it going to ascend the next stage--from strategic stalemate to strategic victory? Are we going to wait another 40 years before this revolutionary victory becomes reality? Are these stages just products of Joma's fertile imagination or these are reality-based analytics going haywire?

I have been analyzing what happened to Bayan Muna and Anakpawis and why did they suddenly went into silent mode with the Meralco issue. The last statement I heard was a praise for the Arroyo administration for granting a measly 10 pesos wage hike. What the..? Are we being inconsistent here?