With less than four months in her lame duck presidency, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will be off to another foreign junket with final stop in Washington, DC.  What is she up to now?  Would she try to convince Obama to support her “master plan” to save the Philippines from the “catastrophic fallout” of failed elections?
– Perry Diaz

Arroyo resumes foreign trips; first stop: Hanoi
by Joyce Pangco Pañares
from Manila Standard Today
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/march/6/nation2.isx&d=2010/march/6
President Gloria Arroyo will leave for Hanoi and Washington next month for the 16th Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and …

Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

THERE’S AN ASTONISHING SIGN AT THE foot of the footbridge connecting SM North to West Avenue spanning Edsa. Except that nobody finds it astonishing. Certainly I haven’t read or heard anyone comment on it in the newspapers or TV and radio. In fact I haven’t heard anyone comment on it in conversations.
That sign comes in the form of a streamer that says, “Salamat po Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa footbridge na ito!” (Thank you President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for this footbridge!)
I have seen that …

by Ducky Paredes
from MALAYA
“(W)hy would Villar need Gloria? On the other hand, to steal victory away from Noynoy, GMA surely needs someone like Manny Villar. She does not want a President Noynoy hounding her for her sins against the Republic.” – Ducky Paredes
Nacionalista Party presidential standard bearer Manny Villar may not be aware of it, but the suspicion that he is President GMA’s secret bet seems to have gained a lot of ground. (In fairness to Villar, he has denied that he has met with either Mike or Gloria Arroyo.)
A friend …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz
Last February 24, 2010, on the 24th anniversary of the People Power Revolution of 1986, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered her final message to commemorate EDSA 1. She repeated the same cliché that she had been telling the people in the past several years: “The world embraced EDSA 1 in 1986. The world tolerated EDSA 2 in 2001. The world will not forgive an EDSA 3 but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable.”
She said that the “glorious revolution” of EDSA …

FRANKLY SPEAKING
by Frank Wenceslao
What happened in Thailand last week explains why Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would enter into a deal with the devil if that would keep her in power.
Thus, the report is plausible that GMA has entered into an agreement with Manny Villar, a.k.a. “Money Villaroyo” for protection in case he wins. GMA knows Villar is on the same boat she is and has better chance to win than Gilbert Teodoro but could lose to Noynoy Aquino which is GMA’s and Villar’s greatest fear.
They must feel like Nazi leaders during …

Source: PhilippineCommentary.blogspot.com
http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2006/01/when-last-military-withdrew-support.html
“Gentlemen, I’m sure you know that we’ve just committed mutiny.”
Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Angelo T. Reyes uttered those words to the Service Commanders of the Philippine Army, Navy and Air Force on the morning of Friday, 19 January 2001 in reference to their decision to WITHDRAW SUPPORT for the Commander-in-Chief, President Joseph Estrada and to join then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the EDSA Shrine demonstration demanding the immediate resignation of the President. GMA would be sworn in as president the very next day and Reyes …

This is an interesting observation by Mr. Bondoc.  If Gloria appoints Corona as the next Chief Justice, the Supreme Court could be called the “Coronarroyo Court.” — Perry Diaz
GOTCHA
by Jarius Bondoc
from The Philippine Star
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=553909&publicationSubCategoryId=64
Renato Corona is almost sure to be the next Chief Justice. People are reviewing his record, especially in relation to the most hated President. An Oct. 2008 Newsbreak tally of Supreme Court rulings showed Corona to be the most pro-Gloria Arroyo justice. Appointed in Apr. 2002, he had voted in Malacañang’s favor in 15 of 18 controversial …

Life in Gloria’s Enchanted Kingdom
by Manuel Buencamino 

An old priest who lay dying in his hospital bed motioned to his nurse to come near.
“Yes, Father?” asked the nurse..
“I would like to see Manny Villar and Gloria Arroyo before I die.” whispered the priest.
“I’ll see what I can do, Father,” she replied.
Villar phoned Arroyo after he heard from the nurse..
“Did you get the priest’s request?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she replied.
“I don’t know why he wants to see us but my advisers told me I should go, it will be good for my …

by Akbayan (Citizens Action Party)
Akbayan party-list launches campaign to deny the premier political family power in the 2010 elections
“Blood is thicker than water.” This is the statement issued today by Akbayan party-list during the launch of the “Deny the Five Campaign, a drive to stop five members of the Arroyo family including Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) from winning legislative seats in the May 2010 elections.
Blood Politics
In a press conference in Quezon City, Akbayan said the campaign aims to repel Mrs. Arroyo and her family’s intent of securing their …

At the 24th  anniversary commemoration of the EDSA People Power revolution, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said, “Healing the wounds of EDSA is a part of her 10-point pro-poor agenda.”  Really?  On February 3, 2010, in my article, Power of the ‘Pork’, I wrote:
 “Biggest pork barrel in history: In 2005, Gloria used more than P80 billion for pork barrel — that’s 10 times the normal amount! — for projects in which most were shrouded in mystery. More than half of this — P46.8 billion — were allocated for ‘Healing of Edsa I, II and III …