Tantrums of the demigod (Trillanes' Tantrums)

[jonski]

Tantrums of the demigod

By Antonio J. Montalvan II
Inquirer
Last updated 01:05am (Mla time) 07/02/2007

MANILA, Philippines - Eleven million voters were wrong. That's 11 million voters who were mesmerized by Antonio Trillanes IV as a knight in shining armor who comes to save the republic from the ignominy of an unpopular administration.

But mesmerized by what, search me please. His words do not enthrall. His pronouncements are no spellbinders. In fact, I suspect there is nothing between those ears. His oft-repeated boo-boo that he will initiate the impeachment process in the Senate against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo only exposes his gross ignorance of the legislative process.

Now comes Ramon Tulfo's findings, supported by documentary evidence, that the guy is not even the epitome of the swashbuckling hero against government corruption that he has styled himself to be. And if Tulfo were to be believed, not only the 11 million Trillanes voters but the entire republic itself should now endure the empty antics of a pseudo-hero for the next six years, in a Senate that has long ago contradicted its traditional designation as an august body.

Tulfo calls him the "boy with a new toy." I think he is your typical neighborhood bully in a perpetual tantrum who simply calls attention to himself.

But even long before Tulfo made known his findings of the man whose personal life is largely hidden from public knowledge, we should be thankful to the Dutchman Adriaan de Jager and his Filipina wife Ana Santarin who related the injustices they had to endure under Navy Lieutenant Trillanes.

They were evicted by Trillanes from their Novaliches property without any court order; Trillanes swooped down on the De Jager home with a gang of armed goons. He did not even introduce himself as a Navy lieutenant, but reportedly misrepresented himself as a businessman. Trillanes later used the basement of the house to store a cache of explosives and ammunitions. Because of that, De Jager languished in jail for 15 months.

Do all these sound familiar? Those of us who lived through the Marcos dictatorship should hear bells ringing. The whole Trillanes adventure reeks of politicized military men using their misplaced powers to abuse their role as protectors of the state. That is the bottom line. Military men, including Lacson and Biazon and Honasan, have entered the fray of politics out of a confusion that stemmed from the immense powers the military acquired during the Marcos regime.

But what makes Trillanes a worse case is the sheer hypocrisy of his pronouncements that seemed to have clinched the good impression voters had of him. The anti-corruption demigod that he now is was a lieutenant senior grade in the Philippine Navy whose monthly pay was less than P20,000, but who had the luxury of a Mitsubishi Pajero, a Nissan Terrano, five Mitsubishi Delicas and a Kawasaki motorcycle.

Completing what should make for the glitz of a lifestyle that belongs only to the rich and famous is a posh unit in the Town and Country Club Executive Village in Antipolo. But Trillanes made sure to maintain his "poor and honest" image by listing BF Homes Caloocan as his address in his certificate of candidacy. Tulfo found out that that is the residence of Trillanes' mother. The 11 million voters have been had.

Can anyone please tell me the new definition of moral ascendancy?

The Trillanes campaign was reportedly bankrolled by Jamby Madrigal, another of our more confused senators. But the tittle-tattle says more, that it was actually greased by Estrada money whose jailed patriarch made sure Trillanes won. That is certainly plausible. The disgraced former president always gets linked to anything that has the potential of undermining the administration of his equally disgraceful nemesis in Malaca¤ang.

The storyline has always been clear: accusers are no different from the accused. Ours is a politics of personalities who all represent the same socio-economic and political interests. Does anything surprise us? Nothing should. Under our hypocritical political system, anything is possible. A mutineer becomes senator. Lintang Bedol gets kid-gloves treatment for dereliction of duty. Lani Cayetano gets elected as congresswoman. Dato Arroyo gets minted as the latest dynast in his family. The fightingest anti-Marcos Pimentels are now dynasts too like the late dictator's family. And the Binay family is in power eternally. And more of their ilk in the rest of these 7,100 islands.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood bully with the perpetual tantrum who thinks he is your formidable demigod against other bullies is now in the Senate.

When will the real hero come to save this republic?

[jonski]

Pakilipat nalang ng forum. nakalimutan ko yung sa politics section.

[FedEx]

haay nothing new.. nothing special... problema na aman yan si Trillanes..

[Alpha_One]

Trillanes is like that child hostage taker on the bus with the grenade. He rigged up whole buildings with bombs, and then many people sympathized with him because of "legitimate grievances".

C'mon people. Do we need a Timothy McVeigh for people to realize that sometimes, the end just doesn't justify the means?! What if Trillanes blew up Ayala Center, or the bus hostage taker pulled the pin on the grenade killing all the children?! "Legitimate grievances" still?!

My grandmother voted for Trillanes (and Honasan), on the basis of "dapat rumebelde rin tayo". I'm not proud. I'm not making any pretensions of respecting her decisions.

I am looking forward to a world where there are no double standards in the name of political correctness.

[laklak]

if you guys have time, read tulfo's columns in the inquirer. The first time i saw trillanes' face on television, i had an inkling that he is a wolf in sheeps clothing.

[Alpha_One]

Trillanes is a wolf full stop. Rigging a whole city block with bombs, he's never pretended to be sheep. It's just that, to 11 million people, a wolf is to be sympathised with as long as he has "legitimate grievances".

But do we have to wait until the wolf starts biting?

[BLINGBLING]

if you guys have time, read tulfo's columns in the inquirer. The first time i saw trillanes' face on television, i had an inkling that he is a wolf in sheeps clothing.

my 2cents worth:

let's give the guy(trillanes) the benefit of the doubt. he hasn't warmed his senate seat yet.i can see that some quarters allude to his past actions/profile to pre-judge his performance in the senate.why not give him a fresh,clean slate and wait 'til we see what his actions are as a senate member..

OT: before, i used to take mon tulfo's words as gospel truth..but in the latter years, i began to doubt his stories..because i figured out his style is somewhat similar to some "motoring journalists" (if you get my drift..)..i hope i'd prove myself wrong that he isn't another "ac-dc" mediaman..

[Hanren]

my 2cents worth:

let's give the guy(trillanes) the benefit of the doubt. he hasn't warmed his senate seat yet.i can see that some quarters allude to his past actions/profile to pre-judge his performance in the senate.why not give him a fresh,clean slate and wait 'til we see what his actions are as a senate member..

I agree.

But in order for Trillianes not to be judged, he should not start acting like he has always acted in good faith in all his life as an officer. To say the least, he should do his job as a senator and not create a new clean image. Magpakatotoo na lang siya.

His recent pronouncements (impeach GMA, investigate and investigate, etc) already gives me an idea on what role he will playing in the Senate. I hope I am wrong.

And he should also keep in mind that being a "victim" of the entire system is not necessarily a virtue.

[oldblue]

wala tayo talaga mapapala sa idealistic na reklamador

we all should be on the lookout sa idealistic that follows the system. yan ang chess player

[Monseratto]

He still has to get himself out of jail permanently...Afterall he is still under court-martial. And if he does get convicted, let's see if he will take it like a man or a spoiled kid.

[chua_riwap]

Masyado lang madaldal ito si Trillanes.

Pero may punto siya about corruption sa military. Look at that Marine's "mortar boo-boo" in Tipo-tipo. The soldiers are clearly ill-equipped. May operations sila, pero sa dump truck nakasakay yung mga sundalo. Gumaganti rin ng mortar fire yung mga kalaban.

[wildthing]

IMO, mas mayabang yung reporter na nagpost ng article sa inquirer...probably a tuta ni GMA na reporter.

for obvious possible conspiracy theory na sirain na ang credibility ni Trillanes bago pa sirain ang credibility ni GMA (actually dagdagan ang paninira).

IMO - let the guy work muna bago husgahan...duon lang nating makikita kung talagang nagkamali ang 11M + voters niya. This guy did not even spend millions of pesos (like Pichay and the other loosers) and yet he amassed votes than puts him in the senate.

For (again) obvious reasons, dahil democratic tayo at ang boto naman nya ay legit (at hindi nakaw, I presume)... I am sure that the opinion of those who voted him need to be respected.

Just my 2 cents. Peace.

[jonski]

I dont think tuta ni GMA yung reporter kasi nagdemandahan sila diba?

[fourtheboys96]

did not vote for this arrogant person. he thinks (and some military personnel still do) he is the savior of our country.

2nd chance? what? a guy who cordoned a whole building with bombs should be givn a 2nd chance? just because he has some "valid" complaints and the bombs did not explode, the guy should be given another chance? madali talaga tayo malinlang.

mag-isip ka lang ng magandang rason para mag coup, sa susunod na election eh senador ka na.

[Galactus]

Let's give the guy the benefit of the doubt. As I've always said, better him than Pichay, Defensor or God fobid, Chavit Singson.

You can't blame his outburst. Wala naman kayo sa military, mataas ang esprit de corps ng mga sundalo. Everytime may namamatay sa field because of inferior/lack of equipment na hindi naman dapat (dahil nakurakot ng mga heneral), talagang maiinis ka. They reached out, but they were not heard, or the powers-that-be refused to listen. Rebellion was the last resort. If they had succeeded, IMO, well, who knows, we might have been better off.

We enjoy our liberties mainly because our soldiers man their posts at night. They gave up their lives so we enjoy the very freedom we oftentimes take for granted. Just like Jack Nicholson said (in A Few Good Men)..."I'd rather that you say Thank You, and be on your way..." But instead we curse them, and label them as cowards and terrorists, and blame them because the economy spiralled after Oakwood. During Erap's time, the AFP top brass also committed mutiny, but Angelo Reyes et al were deemed as heroes. Is it because Erap was a crook? It's the same with GMA, mas malala pa yung asawa nyang si Draco, hindi nga lang lantaran.

In war, there will always be collateral damage. But we Filipinos are a hardy and resilient people, we will survive. I'd rather have a fiscalizer in the Senate than a rubber-stamp parliament.

And forget about Montalvo and Tulfo. I used to hold the latter in high regard, but only a fool would think he is not a paid hack. And it wouldn't surprise me that the former is another as well (along with Belinda Olivares Cunanan, Alex Magno, etc)

[mazdamazda]

Buti pa sya may bahay sa Executive Town & Country...

Aba... at naka Pajero pa!

[Al_Librero]

Sure, let him prove himself first (as if we had any other choice). But damn... eight cars registered under his name. Hahaha.

[jeffrocks]

Yep....but Law is a law no SACRED COW here pls...and subtanciate with tons of evidence if you may

[jeffrocks]

My dad was a colonel in PNP[Inspector General]got only one car di pa modelo,my step mom still a LCDR[Lt.Commander,Coast guard]got also one car di rin modelo, my uncle was a LtCol. in army station hospital Cebu,isang auto at di rin modelo,I was in the army as 2Lt no car at all...but these guy...tsk tsk tsk...

[66bunny]

Here we go. Instead of uniting the country against corruption, silipan na.

Did they ever think that some of our politicans have business on the side just to sustain their "lifestyle of the rich and famous" status?

Di naman lahat galing sa corruption.

It's like there's a written law that any public official isn't allowed more than two vehicles and a house not bigger than a bungalow.

And one of the supposedly military "traitors" in EDSA 1 became a president.

Give the guy a break. And yourself too.