Critiquing the critics

CRITIC'S CRITIC
Mentong Laurel
2/7-13/2011



OpinYon has enthusiastically acceded to introduce into this opinionated weekly a section that focuses on society's high and mighty critics by turning the microscope on them to scrutinize what they say and do, and to uncover whatever skeletons they may have in their closet.

The opening salvo is to be tackled by yours truly, Herman Tiu Laurel, a self-described nationalist and anti-imperialist crusader; self-employed; frequent political detainee since Martial Law all the way to the Manila Pen siege (with Trillanes, Danny Lim et al); part-time entrepreneur; consumer advocate; anti-Meralco crusader; and full-time guerrilla information warrior. The worse that can be said about me is that I'm an obnoxious, self-righteous pain-in-the-neck; an occasional anti-social who's also an intolerant Holocaust denier, ad nausea--all of which is true. But let me stress that, above all, I'm very studious with the issues I tackle as I am a dedicated truth seeker.

Now why do we turn our guns on the opinions of writers, especially those of major mainstream media dailies and broadcast networks? Because they lord it over with their opinions that are often wrong, shallow, self-serving, servile, infused with conflicts of interest, and immune from right-of-reply by virtue of their media's size, despite their downright misleading information.

The first on our crosshairs is the recent Feb. 1 column of Philippine Star's Billy Esposo where he lambasted Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Antonio Trillanes IV as "...boorish and seemed more like delinquents instead of Senators of the Republic," claiming that the manner of questioning by the two of former AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Chief-of-staff and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes "unwittingly generated public sympathy for (him) instead (and was) counterproductive."

Esposo never bothered to check out his points with the two senators, which I did with Trillanes. When I asked Sen. Trillanes about his agressive interrogation of Reyes (a PMA upperclassman who's at least 20 years his senior), he told me, "I tried to hold my punches... but when Reyes started from a very offensive and arrogant posture, which I believe was a tactic to intimidate the audience and the interrogators, I had to turn the tables on him."

Indeed, the other senators had a tendency to be deferential, as they often are to other high level colleagues whom they had associated with in government service.

As for Sen. Jinggoy, I haven't had any opportunity to ask him about this but his reply to Esposo's charges that he harbors a grudge on Reyes "for abandoning his father, the convicted former President Estrada" was that his father had, in fact, helped Reyes get confirmed by the Commission on Appointments--despite Reyes' open treachery at the height of Edsa II.

The one who really has a record of harboring a lot of unexplained and seemingly bigoted resentments against selected individuals is Esposo. Take his adjective for President Estrada as the convicted former president that oozes with malice.

It is historical fact that Erap's conviction was a politically-motivated act by a Kangaroo Court established by what is now unfolding to be a thoroughly corrupt and malevolent Gloria Arroyo regime. Esposo, of course, was one of the members of the conspiratorial group named COPA (Council of Philippine Affairs), which counts among its members such checkered characters as Peping Cojuangco (alleged lord of the Northern Alliance of jueteng) and Pastor Boy Saycon (known for being part of the FVR campaign and the bayong of jueteng cash from the late Gen. Rene Cruz). The only achievement of COPA was the Edsa II regime of Mrs. Arroyo, which history has now judged to be the most corrupt in the Philippines EVER.

But if this section can criticize negatively, it can also give positive critiques such as with with Butch del Castillo's Business Mirror column entitled, "NFA's 'reason for being' still eludes Abad."

Butch Abad has been trying to abolish the National Food Authority from Day One of the Aquino III administration. Del Castillo says, "...He was quoted by the Philippine Star as saying it is folly to think that the NFA--a virtual monopoly--could function both as a regulator and a trader. He declared that, henceforth, the state-owned agency would no longer provide subsidized rice to the poor as 'this role would be transferred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).' He tried to justify by citing World Bank figures purportedly showing that only 31 percent of NFA rice (reach) the poorest of the poor in this country... I am afraid, he does not understand that the flooding of the retail market with subsidized rice is broadly intended to serve as a market-dampening tool."

Abad should already be a well-known quantity to every well-informed Filipino. A Jesuit protégé, he's a main proponent of electricity privatization during his time in Congress via his Omnibus Power Bill (that eventually became the EPIRA), which brought us the highest power cost in Asia, if not the world.

Power privatization, as part of globalization, is a World Bank-Asian Development Bank initiative. The elimination of the NFA is also part of this sinister campaign the the WB-ADB to remove the pillar of food security that suports the sovereignty of each nation. We are glad that such enlightened views on the issue of the vitality of the NFA to the nation's economic welfare and food security continues to find advocates in columnists such as Butch del Castillo.

As we end this week's "Critic's Critics," let me trail off with a few potshots: Babes Romualdez of the Philippine Star in "PCOS, smart option" makes a plug for the P2-billion purchase of the Smartmatic machines, saying it will save us P18 billion for those "world class machines." He obviously hasn't even read up on the findings of RP's top computer experts (from CenPeg, UP, DLSU, etc.) on that machine. Is this a "Hocus-PCOS" in media too? Meanwhile, Jake Macasaet of Malaya on Feb. 2 wrote that "Subsidy discourages rice production." Well, he should tell that to the Americans and Europeans who directly subsidize their farmers to the tune of $20 billion a year under their "farm price stabilization" measures.