EDSA 4 daw bukas

[bender]

Quite dillusional really as a change in government wouldn't really solve our economic problems.
GMA might not doing a really good job due to her disregard for ethics and discipline but at least we have some semblance of order. All that another coup accomplishes is to pull as even deeper into the quagmire we are already in.

[pink_cadillac]

gents, where did this rumor come from?

[bender]

With people in the military like this, what kind of government will we have? Taken from the abs-cbnnews.com

'According to Mrs. Clarita Depakakibo Garcia, her husband, Gen. Carlos Garcia, is a gentleman who never failed to thank his benefactors. “He would always thank the person who provides the gratitude. If someone stops by the house with a gift or gratitude, my husband insists that the name and phone number be taken, so they may be called and personally thanked.”


Not only that, Mrs. Garcia’s husband is also a generous provider. She described to the US Customs Service how well her husband took care of her. “As the wife of a general, I am afforded several privileges, including a 4,000-gallon (16,000-liter)-per-month gasoline allowance, security detail and five drivers. I have a military cook who also provides piano music upon request.” That’s right: a soldier-cook-pianist.


In addition, she talked about their trips together. “I often travel with my husband on business, and my travel expenses and shopping money in excess of $10,000 to $20,000 (P560,000 to P1,120,000) are provided to me.” Naturally, they fly First Class.


In the United States the Garcias own properties and cash deposits worth over a million dollars. They have a P7-million investment with the Armed Forces of the Philippines Savings and Loan Association Inc., and they operate several businesses that bring in about $18,000 a month. Their children study abroad and live in their own condominiums. Of course, all that money couldn’t have come from a general’s salary; why, President Arroyo’s monthly pay is only how much—P60,000? '

My opinion now is that the military doesn't really want to solve the insurgency in Mindanao as it is the only justification for the government to continue the existence of their corrupt organization at this present level. In many ways, the military is worse than the rebels they are trying to combat as the rebels are simply fighting for their beliefts, the military is just fighting to get more money from us ordinary taxpayers

[pink_cadillac]

He's the comptroller, the corruption goes higher up.

Abaya is currently persecuting Retired General Felipe Flores, a hardened combat veteran, and an incredibly honorable man just waiting for his retirement.

Flores was the general who defended Malacañang in the foiled EDSA 2.5 mob rule.

Abaya is alleging, on the basis of an anonymous letter that Gen. Flores falsified his age to extend his tenure in the military.

Obviously, this is a petty smokescreen. If his comptroller is getting rich, then the stream always finds a way to flow up.

[niky]

(seems we're getting off-topic, but... oh well)

Well, there are some in the military who are not like that. My fiancee's uncle just retired from the miltary a year or two ago... Even though he was a general and the commandant of the Marines before he retired, he was only able to afford his own house AFTER he retired.

He got benefits from the military, but he has no fancy cars, no big houses and no businesses. He was often invited to partake of the windfall the other officers have received over the past few administrations, but he has always (politely) declined.

Unfortunately, he seems to be in the minority. And while others go on and on with their scams, he was once accused in the media of subverting tons of cash before he retired. (I laughed when I read this... at the time, he still lived in the simple on-base housing and drove around in a 70's car... hello!?!)

I wish the writers of these items could go see how he lives now and try to figure out how he could be living so simply if he really was corrupt... it's a shame so many others get away with it.

[badkuk]

hmmm...pampagulo lang; ang sabi naman ng iba, it's when the middle class moves that real political change happens...EDSAs 1 & 2 were successful because the middle class were the prime movers

[mbt]

van_wilder,

you are correct... the parallels between now and the months before the imposition of martial law are spine-chillingly similar. Consider:

Filipinos are hungry, same then as now.

The peso is tumbling to new depths, same then as now.

Corruption is unbelievable, same then as now.

The military is given prominence, what with EDSA 2 and GMA's "war on terrorism", same then as now.

Crime, petty or otherwise, is up. same then as now.

The vast majority barely scrape an existence while government bigwigs flaunt ill-gotten wealth, same then as now.

GMA is on a second-term, same as Marcos then.

There is believed to be widespread cheating in the last election in May 2004, same then as now.

GMA showed herself to be grandly ambitious, same as Marcos then.

There's a clamor for a parliamentary form of government, same as then when Marcos wanted the same thing for himself.

The country is heavily in debt. GMA borrowed more than Erap and Ramos did combined; Marcos borrowed more than all presidents before him combined. (and surely, part of this money went to massive campaign operations [cheating], same then as now)

Before the imposition of martial law, a huge typhoon inundated the entire Central Luzon with massive flooding. Didn't we just have that some weeks ago?

[dyelibins]

re EDSA 4...

wala bang iba? di ba pwedeng Monumento Revolution o The Fort Revolution...

i know this is not a laughing matter, pero siguro, nananawagan po ako sa pamunuan ng ating gobyerno, we should learn from other asian countries na umangat ang ekonomiya at nalagpasan na ang Pilipinas.

kung buhay pa sila rizal at bonifacio, ano kaya masasabi nila sa mga nangyayari ngayon? hmmm...

kung buhay pa si rizal, either nadoon pa rin siya sa ibang bansa (kagaya ni sison (?)), watching the philippines from afar, or isa siya sa mga opposition senators. then will probably say na... kayong mga Pilipino (na nasa Pilipinas) di na natuto. noong una, mga Kastila, ngayon, mga Amerikano. hanggang kailan kayo magtitiis na may ibang bansang nakikialam sa inyong pamamalakad? - or something to that effect.

kung buhay pa si bonifacio, either nasa kabundukan din siya, or isa sa mga party list representatives. maybe isa siya sa very vocal sa pagsasabing kailangan natin ng pagbabago.

Abaya is currently persecuting Retired General Felipe Flores, a hardened combat veteran, and an incredibly honorable man just waiting for his retirement... Abaya is alleging, on the basis of an anonymous letter that Gen. Flores falsified his age to extend his tenure in the military.

how could Gen. Flores have falsified his age, eh di ba kung mag-eenrol ka sa school (in his case, sa PMA), hihingan ka ng mga supporting documents? i don't think that early, he's already thinking of cheating his age para ma-extend ang service nya. and i think sa pma, may minimum age requirement yata pagpasok, kasi brother ko di natanggap noon kasi underage siya.

... the rich class exists because there's a poor class. without the poor class as a source of cheap labor, the rich will be quite compromised.

kaya ang poor class (and even professionals), pumupunta sa ibang bansa para kumita ng malaki. although kumukita ang bansa sa dollar na pinapadala nila, ang Pilipinas naman ang nawawalan ng competent na manggagawa.


opinyon ko lang po.

[muffer]

haaay nakoooh. bansa natin parang *** sa gulong kahit pa imibabaw mabaho pa rin, lecheng mga oportunista na mga bayaran, mga politicos na talunan, mga oposisyon na di matanggap si GMA.

sana naman magkaisa na sila, tigilan na ang bangayan, im sure pag nagka Civil War d2 liparan agad mga hinayupak na yan sa mga property nila sa ibang bansa na galing sa kaban ng bayan,
ang kawawang MASA na nagpagamit, ang maiiwan.

[stinkaboy]

totoo b na may edsa 4?...