Boomerang

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 10/7/2013 / Daily Tribune


Ireceived this from a source monitoring the anti-pork activities on the Web: "Peachy Bretaña is one of the organizers of the first Luneta anti-pork rally and the just concluded Ayala rally. The following post on her Facebook timeline is interpreted by many as an admission of her yellow agenda:

"It is with utmost sadness that I withdrew my video message for the MPM@Ayala just now, being in Singapore for a scheduled trip since June. I can't personally gauge it and reports have reached me that there are strong groups trying to hijack the messaging at the Ayala rally and turning it into an oust P-Noy messaging. 'This is not the intent.' Please, to these groups and you know who you are, 'Manggagamit lang din kayo.' You are no different from the congressmen and senators who have taken advantage of us all these years. 'Mahiya sana kayo sa ginagawa ninyo.'"

Tracing the Million People March (MPM) activities, we noted that Bretaña, after some Internet debate with other so-called "leaders," such as Inday Varona of ABS-CBN, missed the Sept. 21 activity at the Edsa Shrine (led by another PR operator Junep Ocampo) where anti-government protest placards were supposedly banned. Actually, from the very beginning, Bretaña and her ilk not only banned the "oust" message but all reference to BS Aquino's "porks."

Obviously, Bretaña was referring to the groups associated with Bayan Muna when she decried them as "trying to hijack the messaging at the Ayala rally."
I congratulated these militant groups even at the first Luneta rally for staging their own pocket rallies on the anti-pork issue, thereby unmasking the likes of Bretaña, whom I have long believed to be Malacañang operators using "pork" to divert from the Ballsy Aquino-Eldon Cruz Metro Rail Transit scandal.

These "militant" groups deserve thanks and kudos for being the only ones serious enough to be organized on the ground and deliberate in their strategy of "boomeranging" Malacañang's "anti-pork" diversionary attack on the legislative opposition, always bringing the rallies to Malacañang's doorstep at Mendiola.

While these militant groups worked on the ground, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada set the tone for the "boomerang" in his Sept. 24 privileged speech by exposing the gamut of pork of this administration and its party mates. Then, former Sen. Joker Arroyo exploded an even bigger bomb with his exposé of the Aquino-Abad Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of P72 billion worth of pork.

On the Internet, the campaign to "boomerang" the anti-pork crusade was most effectively conducted by the group, Tanggulang Demokrasya (Tandem). Its members were among the first to spot the similarities between Bretaña's anti-pork posters for the first Luneta MPM drumbeating and those of BS Aquino's 2010 presidential campaign.

Later, Bretaña was compelled to admit that she indeed lifted the design from BS Aquino's 2010 posters. Moreover, she, too, has admitted to being a publicist or PR person for an international agency, a fact that took time to be discovered. But isn't it ironic that while she accuses others to be "users" ("manggagamit"), she herself spurs some rallies then disappears to foreign lairs?

When we discovered the MPM posters as a facsimile of BS Aquino's 2010 run, it became very clear what Malacañang's intention was on the supposed anti-pork campaign. I recall emailing to Tandem that we must begin figuring out some moves to "jujitsu" Malacañang's plot and turn it against the Palace. Little did I know then that the efforts of various groups to expand the search for truth would trip

Malacañang's plans completely, now having BS Aquino, Butch Abad, and all their partisans tightly by their necks with a "poor Nelson" wrestling hold. On the other hand, because Bretaña and company kept insisting on a no-Aquino-criticisms-allowed policy, their rallies just kept dwindling.

Malacañang had a complete PR plan laid out — starting with the anti-pork campaign then culminating in the musical advocacy we now see on the Internet. The "Kayanihan" song, penned by Ryan Cayabyab (the composer of choice of the Yellows), suddenly made the rounds on the Internet just before the MPM@Ayala, with a music video akin to "Ako'y Ninoy" and "Ako Mismo" targeting the youth with young faces interwoven with known images.

But PR or propaganda has its limits. As we can see the whole truth that is coming out, BS Aquino and his regime, much like the previous Arroyo government, are as synonymous to corrupted human nature at its core, where everyone and everything can be bought and sold, and where bribery rules the day.

Now, as for the Yellow taboo of ousting PeNoy, that actually is already in the minds of an unprecedented number of people I come in contact with — from FX and taxi drivers, to media camera crew, office staff, even priests and nuns, as well as radio anchors and listeners, ad nausea.

But, as we've had so many ousters before where we were merely thrown from the frying pan to the fire and then to purgatory, the next one for us might just be hell — unless we are prepared with a collective coalition that has a vision inspiring enough to overcome the fears of major power factions of society and capable enough to contain the financial mafia. Only the ripening crisis will reveal this to the nation; but now the forces have begun to coalesce.

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It's still a class war

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 10/2/2013 / Daily Tribune

If what we are witnessing is just a negative media campaign against Jinggoy Estrada, then we might consider it in a more limited light. But given that fresh from this pounding comes another political assault, this time using one of the oldest charges of "election overspending" to oust another Estrada from elected office — who, by the way, heads a province with the largest voting population in the country — and that these are happening amid rumors (and texts) of an impending disqualification of President-Mayor Joseph Estrada from the City of Manila based on the "whereas" clauses of his political pardon, it's clear that the old war of the elite against the masa's Erap is raging again.

What has triggered this renewed war against Estrada and his family? The anti-pork crusade is clearly not just an anti-pork campaign as the media focus is not on all porkers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in various pork orgies. The Angaras and Cayetanos are prominent among those who have huge pork barrel allocations but very little attention is paid to them by mainstream media. It took Jinggoy to expose the Liberal Party (LP)'s other major porkers (such as Mandaluyong's Boyet Gonzales) before Frank Drilon attracted attention to himself by becoming the Senate President — among the noisiest during the impeachment of Renato Corona — who now has brought upon himself the onus of the impeachment-linked P100-million bribe.

The speculation going around among analysts and pundits regarding this targeted crucifixion of the Estradas is one of two — first, the spectacular electoral victory of Mayor Estrada against incumbent and administration- (as well as automated machine-) backed Alfredo Lim, allowing him to overcome the pessimism over his capacity to introduce improvement in Manila; and second, the electoral victory of ER Ejercito in Laguna, which planted a flag in the province with the largest voting base to become a solid jumping board for any future plans the Estradas may have. Did they fear Erap running for Malacañang again, with the memory of US President Ronald Reagan winning his second term at 73?

There is no consensus that Mayor Estrada is of a mind to run again in any presidential contests. Estrada himself has said that younger leaders should take over.

It is well known that Jinggoy is being groomed only for the second top post. The other speculation is that the vilification campaign against the Estradas is really the first stage of the campaign against Vice President Jejomar Binay.

It is no secret that Binay is the top bet for 2016 and behind him are the Estradas who can command at least 30 percent of the nation's votes — that is, if the 2010 elections are to be believed. LP strategists are surely up to an early start to erode that base expected to be cast for Binay by the Estrada family.

Behind the LP is an array of supporters from the ruling class that can trust only one of its own, i.e. Mar Roxas. While Binay has played his cards very well, keeping the Yellows at arm's length, the ruling class is not only uncomfortable but is very uncompromising over absolute control of the presidency, especially at this critical juncture where Western powers are gearing for a comeback in the world stage but getting beaten along the way. All these forces need total control in the next administration to put in place every detail for the next major global scenario.

The rabid anti-Estrada tier in the upper crust of Philippine society is being made to focus on so-called corruption but only on a limited in scope. They know that the entire system is corrupt from the top feeders in the food hierarchy down to their prey. International and local bankers feed on the usurious system of unnecessary foreign and local debt imposed on the nation; then the top 50 corporations feed on the population through price gouging in service utilities; and only then do the politicians and bureaucrats provide the legislation and administration for these top feeders through privatization laws, financial usury rules, the flawed electoral system, the dispensing of pork barrel, etc.

Foreign and local elite corruption over the centuries is untouchable so much so that political and bureaucratic corruption is made endemic by the culture of impunity promoted by the ruling class for its "controlled" politicians and bureaucrats; this, as uncontrollable political and bureaucratic elements are selectively persecuted as the situations demand.

Especially dangerous to the corrupt ruling class is competitive or rival leadership that can rouse the masses into consciousness and consolidation, which Erap Estrada can still singularly achieve when he so decides.

In the 2010 presidential elections where the ruling class' candidate had the advantage of the "funereal sympathy wave," the masa, who should have been solidly tapped for the Estrada campaign, were unfortunately drawn in. Even as his campaigners debated the use of the "final solution" — that of sending out the "class war" message — Erap never wanted it framed that way, given his appreciation of Cory Aquino's "apology." But that, in reality, is still the main issue: The war the ruling class is waging against the people (including the middle class), impoverishing everyone below the "upper crust."

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., also on www.gnntv-asia.com, this week on "Thorium nuclear power"; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)

The forest's afire, stupid!

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 9/30/2013 / Daily Tribune

There is a forest fire but social media trolls were chopping away at one tree. That was the picture in a newspaper reporting some social media tweets day after Jinggoy Estrada's privileged speech last week. Jinggoy didn't dwell on the charges against him, that's for the courts now and he had already said so in his speech.

Jinggoy's offensive was an extensive exposé of systemic corruption of the Yellows' system. The Yellows don't want that. Jinggoy dwelt on the comprehensive picture, exposing presidential use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and other levers to bribe politicize and distort legislation, fiscal conduct and justice, the perfidy of Commission on Audit (CoA) with its BS Aquino appointees, etc. Jinggoy didn't start the fire, it raged angrily even before he got there.

The hostile tweets on Jinggoy reflected, also from the usual civil society-yellow types, foaming-in-the-mouth anti-Estradas neurosis from the Edsa II days. They afflicted fume at a personality but are blinded to the broader systemic crisis. Rabid "evil society" types refuse to see the CoA turned from fiscal watchdog into attack dog against Liberal Party rivals, or the channeling of the PDAF for Malacañang's bribery, or the LP "sow-lons'" pork orgies from the diarist whose fabricated entries "convicted" Erap in 2001, to political-porker-with-wings (butterflies are passé) Drilon and P 6-million burger gorger look alike's pork, or the P70-billion unaudited PDAF likely going to other LP "sow-lons."

The newspaper that front-paged the anti-Jinggoy tweets also headlined Jinggoy's exposé comprehensively. But focusing attention on the anti-Jinggoy tweets already tilts some readers' perception is led to various stages of cognitive dysfunction. Cognitive dysfunction is the inability to think clearly, organize thoughts, analyze that obsessive hate can cause. It's the same as some of those who have absorbed the hate Marcos psychosis. This is the mass mania cultivated by the Yellow machine in the mainstream media over the past 25 years which is still effective in deflecting any potential frustration and rage away from the present Yellow power wielders.

The pork barrel controversy has so overtaken the national psyche that the nation, and not accidentally, has lost the balanced and comprehensive perspective required to solve the national crisis. One cannot douse the forest fire by chopping down or spraying water on just one tree. The individual trees are singed or are burning because the forest was ablaze long before the conflagration exploded with Janet Lim Napoles today.

Jinggoy didn't start the fire. Ah, yes, that was in 1989 when under Cory Aquino's watch the PDAF formally made its way into the General Appropriations Act. Point this out to anyone of the tweeting Yellows and they'll pull your hair out.

This space has long fought for the causes that could restore sanity and balance to the politics of this country. It is among the first to expose the insanity of burning down the house to drive out from power the imagined "rat" from Malacañang in 2001. Edsa II, of course, eventually led to the whole house being taken over by the biggest rats. We exposed the fraudulence of the digital elections based on countless violations of security safeguards provided by law. We were among the first to raise the "pork" issue but saw how the Yellows redirected it as a political ploy to divert from an Aquino sibling's shenanigans in the Metro Rail Transit deals and eventually from Malacañang's own pork-related corruption.

For Oct. 4, "patsies" of the financial and economic interests that have maneuvered all "people power" exercises since Edsa I (only too happy to redirect the rage against them to the "sow-lons") have organized a "Million Man March" again but at the Ayala-Paseo junction. It will be a Friday afternoon affair, easy for the social media yuppies to congregate at before partying in the evening. The choice of place and time was made because the last Sept. 21 "Million Man" activity flopped after the Sept. 11 Edsa Shrine gathering had more cops than rallyists because of their insistence not to link the issue to BS Aquino's pork.

Tsk, tsk. That's just so typical of the Yellows.

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