DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / June 2, 2014 / Daily Tribune
It’s been 10 months since the manhunt for pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles got underway last August 2013. But instead of the issues getting clearer, almost everything got muddled even more. The so-called Napoles list has mutated many times with every involved party adding to the muddle.
Mainstream media (MSM) have not helped either. Others not directly involved in the muddle have also stirred the cesspool. Economic oligarchs engaged in their own plunder of the economy, who exercise extraordinary influence, if not control, of MSM through direct ownership as well as of Internet news and social media through extensive PR operations, are paddle-churning the hullabaloo, too.
There is, however, one “list” that is infinitely more important but is being forgotten in the months that the MSM, particularly the “The People’s List” as story trailbreaker privileged by feeds from the involved parties (Napoles and Malacañang), have focused on the pork barrel scandal. This list of important issues, which we call “The People’s List,” involves the basic necessities that were once provided at least cost by public utilities and service institutions, namely, water, electricity, fuel, infrastructure, and public transportation.
These basic necessities are the fundamental determinants of the people’s “living standards” and “productivity.” And only based upon these are we able to tell whether we have lived better than in the past—and for our children and their children to do the same later on.
In all the time that the Napoles caper became the burning national issue, items in the People’s List managed to bob up from the undercurrents, but only for a short time. Efforts of various factions in the Napoles scandal steered MSM back to political enemies or away from damage to themselves. Of course, with the massive loot from the pork barrel scams, one could easily surmise that the factions could well afford to steer the news coverage by emblazoning this or that highlight of one list or version of the Napoles story. And that meant issues on the People’s List were eventually drowned out, such as the multi-billion disallowances of water utility corporate income tax pass-ons and other privileges that should now be discounted from consumers’ bills but are not.
Meanwhile, public transportation fares are being raised to P8 (basic) without commensurate increases in people’s income or countervailing benefits in other aspects of the cost of living. The result will be more belt-tightening for people who have added belt holes for decades now to keep their pants from falling off completely. The least the nation could expect now is for the people’s political and legislative representatives, and for media, to raise the issue of reviewing the “oil deregulation law.” But this is not going to happen as the politicians and the MSM continue to play games, like the Napoles List, for months on end.
What must the people do to get these politicians and MSM practitioners to prioritize our most vital issues?
At the rate the Filipino’s standard of living is deteriorating due to the skewed priorities of our politicians and the Fourth Estate, we can be absolutely certain that our lives, particularly the vast numbers who are already “poor,” will be even worse off in the coming months — again.
We can also say with certainty that if the economic policies and structures that have led to the present inattention to the People’s List and the pathological obsession on futile exorcisms (like Napoles et al.) instead of tearing down the haunted house cursed by evil, or instead of demolishing and rebuilding a new home, our children and grandchildren will not be able to expect livable lives anymore.
The nation must tenaciously focus on the People’s List until the issues are resolved in favor of us having better lives in these lands and seas—with a home for all time for our people, our children, and their children. Should it take a revolution to bring this about? If we love our children and their future enough, we must resort to whatever means necessary in order to make it happen.
(Watch GNN Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Philippines in the Asian Century”; tune in to 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; search Talk News TV and date of showing on YouTube; and visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)
It’s been 10 months since the manhunt for pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles got underway last August 2013. But instead of the issues getting clearer, almost everything got muddled even more. The so-called Napoles list has mutated many times with every involved party adding to the muddle.
Mainstream media (MSM) have not helped either. Others not directly involved in the muddle have also stirred the cesspool. Economic oligarchs engaged in their own plunder of the economy, who exercise extraordinary influence, if not control, of MSM through direct ownership as well as of Internet news and social media through extensive PR operations, are paddle-churning the hullabaloo, too.
There is, however, one “list” that is infinitely more important but is being forgotten in the months that the MSM, particularly the “The People’s List” as story trailbreaker privileged by feeds from the involved parties (Napoles and Malacañang), have focused on the pork barrel scandal. This list of important issues, which we call “The People’s List,” involves the basic necessities that were once provided at least cost by public utilities and service institutions, namely, water, electricity, fuel, infrastructure, and public transportation.
These basic necessities are the fundamental determinants of the people’s “living standards” and “productivity.” And only based upon these are we able to tell whether we have lived better than in the past—and for our children and their children to do the same later on.
In all the time that the Napoles caper became the burning national issue, items in the People’s List managed to bob up from the undercurrents, but only for a short time. Efforts of various factions in the Napoles scandal steered MSM back to political enemies or away from damage to themselves. Of course, with the massive loot from the pork barrel scams, one could easily surmise that the factions could well afford to steer the news coverage by emblazoning this or that highlight of one list or version of the Napoles story. And that meant issues on the People’s List were eventually drowned out, such as the multi-billion disallowances of water utility corporate income tax pass-ons and other privileges that should now be discounted from consumers’ bills but are not.
Meanwhile, public transportation fares are being raised to P8 (basic) without commensurate increases in people’s income or countervailing benefits in other aspects of the cost of living. The result will be more belt-tightening for people who have added belt holes for decades now to keep their pants from falling off completely. The least the nation could expect now is for the people’s political and legislative representatives, and for media, to raise the issue of reviewing the “oil deregulation law.” But this is not going to happen as the politicians and the MSM continue to play games, like the Napoles List, for months on end.
What must the people do to get these politicians and MSM practitioners to prioritize our most vital issues?
At the rate the Filipino’s standard of living is deteriorating due to the skewed priorities of our politicians and the Fourth Estate, we can be absolutely certain that our lives, particularly the vast numbers who are already “poor,” will be even worse off in the coming months — again.
We can also say with certainty that if the economic policies and structures that have led to the present inattention to the People’s List and the pathological obsession on futile exorcisms (like Napoles et al.) instead of tearing down the haunted house cursed by evil, or instead of demolishing and rebuilding a new home, our children and grandchildren will not be able to expect livable lives anymore.
The nation must tenaciously focus on the People’s List until the issues are resolved in favor of us having better lives in these lands and seas—with a home for all time for our people, our children, and their children. Should it take a revolution to bring this about? If we love our children and their future enough, we must resort to whatever means necessary in order to make it happen.
(Watch GNN Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Philippines in the Asian Century”; tune in to 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; search Talk News TV and date of showing on YouTube; and visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)
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