Message from jail
“…Not only to listen but to march” – Danny Lim
Posted: 27 Nov 2008
by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim
We are a nation divided. Peace, unity and development continue to elude us because we have a president bereft of moral or legal authority to lead. She had, in fact, become the greatest continuing threat to the security, cooperative spirit, well being and sense of Nationhood of the Filipino people.
A true leader is a symbol of unity and a rallying figure especially in difficult times. A bogus leader is divisive and stays …

Kaya Natin! launches drive vs Charter change
The Philippine Star
November 30,2008
http://philstar.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=419889&publicationSubCategoryId=67
The Kaya Natin! movement which was initially convened by the Ateneo de Manila University-School of Government and is led by local government leaders Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City, Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela, Gov. Eddie Panlilio of Pampanga, Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija and Gov. Teddy Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao reiterated its stand to oppose any moves to amend the present Constitution before the 2010 national elections.
According to the group, any move to amend the present Constitution …

US Intel Report sees the end of US domination in a new world
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
In past columns, every time this Chair Wrecker mentioned that the end of US world domination has come — responses from unsettled minds that still cling to illusions of ‘USA Forever’ questioned and argued the point. Someone even suggested that Chair Wrecker information sources may be coming from Robert Ludlum novels.
Well here is something to further unsettle those ‘USA Forever’ types — the US National Intelligence Council’s report (titled “Global Trends …

COMMENTARY FROM PERRY DIAZ
As expected, the House Judiciary Commmittee on a 42-8 vote junked the fourth impeachment petition against President Gloria Macapapgal Arroyo as “insufficient in substance.” With 80% of the House members under her control, how could she be impeached?
Enough of this impeachment exercise. What the opposition should do is how to stop Gloria from staying in power beyond 2010. That’s where the battle line should be drawn. Right now, Gloria is pulling all the strings to put in place her master plan to extend her term. If the …

Anachronistic
By Antonio C. Abaya
The topic assigned to me was “Defeating the Communist insurgency.”
But I told my audience last Friday, Nov. 21, that talking about “defeating the Communist insurgency” was anachronistic because Communism itself has become anachronistic.
My audience was composed of military officers, local government officials, and representatives of various government agencies, taking a five-day seminar on national security at Camp Aguinaldo under the direction of the National Defense College of the Philippines.
Our neighbors in East and Southeast Asia had defeated their Communist insurgencies decades ago, by taking draconian measures against …

Overseas Absentee Voters Registration Underway
“The overseas absentee voters registration drive and the campaign for dual citizenship in the Philippines are aggressively pursued by the Global Filipino Nation, a socio-civic, non-political international council,” reported Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a GFN Convenor and Lead Harvester of the two worldwide campaigns.
Dr. Chua, a cardiac surgeon in Northwest Indiana and Chairman of the Filipino United Network (USA), pointed out that these two drives are aimed at waking up the more than 12 million strong Filipino Sleeping Giant overseas, who could be a …

Awakening From A Historical Madness
GLIMPSES
Jose Ma. Montelibano
I wrote the following article in October of 2005. It seems that our country and people decided in the last three years to stay in place, unable to move forward and out of a quagmire. It is eerie how the state of collective life then remains as true now.
I heard a much respected man express his deep sadness and apprehension at the present state of affairs in Philippine society, saying that this moment is the worst and most dangerous he has monitored in the …

Anachronistic, Part II
By Antonio C. Abaya
In the first part of this essay, I had written that the ultimate reason why a Communist insurgency still lingers in the Philippines, decades after our neighbors had solved their Communist insurgencies, is the failure of one Philippine president after another, from Ferdinand Marcos to Gloria Arroyo, to create broad-based prosperity.
In the East and Southeast Asian context, this failure was caused by wrong choices in economic strategies and policies, most especially in exports and in tourism. Two other East and Southeast Asian countries share our …

COMMENTARY FROM PERRY DIAZ
The cat is out of the bag: one of President Gloria Arroyo’s followers in the House has secretly inserted a provision in HR 550 to extend the terms of all elective officials — including the President — by one year.
Although Gloria’s propagandists have repeatedly claimed that Gloria will step down in 2010 at the end of her term, a recent move by her House supporters — led by her own son Congressman Mikey Arroyo — to jump start Charter change (Cha-cha) through a Constituent Assembly has made …

Who really got burned by the Senate coup?
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
A good indicator on who got burned by the Senate coup is the STAR INBOX of November 24 about what readers felt about the ouster of Senator Manuel Villar as Senate President. Over 90% of the text messages — folks who pay to be heard — favored Senator Manuel Villar and were critical of the conspirators. Rarely does the STAR INBOX get such an overwhelming consensus.
Only the ignorant and the naïve would believe that the Senate …