By Raïssa Robles
Here is the analysis I shared in today’s forum on the proposed Freedom of Information law organized by the Asia Society. I compared and contrasted the version of the House of Representatives with that of the Senate. It is not my aim to cast aspersions on the bills. My aim is to help improve it. It is not yet too late.
I have uploaded at the end of this piece the Senate and House versions of the FOI so you can compare them yourself.
UPDATE: Dec. 2, 2014 6:00 AM.
Congressman Barry Gutierrez has joined Cyber Plaza Miranda to defend the House version of the FOI bill. He is one of the main sponsors. His comment is at No. 5. You can ask him questions directly and tell him your reactions to the bill.
First, the good news – both the House and Senate versions will require all government websites to display content in the country’s major languages and not just in English.
Both versions require more comprehensive disclosures of government contracts and bid results. All government contracts amounting to at least P50 million will be uploaded in full on websites.
And now the bad news.
Speaking as a journalist — and I believe journalists are at the forefront of the sectors that will use the freedom of information — let me say this: the proposed bills are worse than I thought when it comes to denying the public and the media access to personal information of government employees and officials.
1.The proposed FOI will not only narrow the existing freedoms of journalists, it will also open them to being jailed for receiving leaked information.
2.If either of these proposed laws had been in effect some years back, then whistle-blower Apolinario “Jun” Lozada would have been arrested; political columnist Jarius Bondoc would have been arrested.
3.Under either of these proposed laws, a journalist can be arrested for “inducing” a government official to give information. The word “induce” is not defined.
4.We already have two existing laws relating to press freedom. Both proposed bills will actually worsen those laws. The FOI bills will restrict, if not take back ,what these laws grant.
I am referring to:
Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials and employees; and
Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012
Republic Act No 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and employees clearly states that the public cannot be denied access to the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and net Worth (SALNs) of all government personnel. Section 8 states that
“(1) Any and all statements filed under this Act, shall be made available for inspection at reasonable hours.
1.Such statements shall be made available for copying or reproduction after ten (10) working days from the time they are filed as required by law.
The House version drastically amends Section 8 of RA 6713 by making it more restrictive. Instead of making available “any and all statements…at reasonable hours,” the House version of the FOI will make SALNs available at all times by having them posted online.
That sounds OK, right? However, the public and the media will be denied access to certain “personal information” in the SALNs that are deemed to “constitute an unwarranted invasion of his or her personal privacy.”
Such information, according to Section 7 of the House version, will be “redacted” or scrubbed from the SALNs released to the public, including the media.
What kind of information can be denied journalists and the public, which RA 6713 currently guarantees?
Section 7 of the House version gives quite a long list of the kinds of information that can be erased from SALNs released to the public. These may include “signatures, addresses, telephone numbers, identification numbers, family members, race or ethnicity, religion, health, education, sexual orientation and similar information.”
The innocuous sounding phrase “similar information” is a catch-all phrase that could include personal real properties, names of corporations owned by the government official and the spouse, and types of vehicles owned.
Now at first I thought that SALNs would not fall under this clause of “unwarranted invasion of…personal privacy.” I thought SALNs were excluded by the addition of the phrase that there is no invasion of privacy if the law requires such information to be publicly available.
But my hopes were dashed with the addition of a sentence saying, in order to prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, “an agency may redact such information from a record made available to the public.”
To redact means to to scrub away – to blacken out sections of a document. Yet the existing law, RA 6713 allows anyone to examine the complete SALN without erasures, for as long as inspection is done at reasonable hours.
Why do I not want RA 6713 to be watered down?
During the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, it was those very details that enabled me to find out that Corona had obtained an P11 million cash advance from a long dead corporation called Basa Guidote Enterprises.
In other graft cases, officials have been known to hide their loot in corporations where their under-age children are listed as incorporators.
The devil is really in the details and if you remove those details, officials who are corrupt can more easily masquerade as angels of public service.
Another thing: the mandatory online publication of SALNs does not include governors, mayors and councilors. Why? Why are they exempted? Aren’t they all public elected officials? Using our money and wielding powers we, the public, gave to them?
Thus, I must repeat – the current law on SALNs as governed by RA 6713 should not be watered down.
I am also disturbed by the fact that both the Senate and the House version do not state that personal real properties of government officials need to be publicly disclosed. Using the House version, such disclosure can easily be prevented by classifying it as “similar information.”
To this day, property records in the Philippines are quite opaque even to journalists, even if in 1948 an editor won a Supreme Court ruling that established media’s right to access real property records.
Yes, you might be surprised to know this: there is a Supreme Court ruling that says the media — specifically newspapers — have the right to access real property records.
It came about this way. In the landmark case between Manila Post editor Abelardo Subido and Justice Secretary Roman Ozaeta, the Supreme Court ruled that the Register of Deeds of Manila had no right to bar Subido from examining records of lands alleged to have been sold to non-Filipinos.
Notice here that we are not talking of land records of silting politicians but land records of private individuals.
Explaining its verdict, the court said:
“Newspapers have a better-established right of access to records of titles by reason of their relations to the public than abstractors or insurers of title. Whether by design or otherwise, newspapers perform a mission which does not enter into the calculation of the business of abstracting titles conducted purely for private gain. Newspapers publish information for the benefit of the public…It is through the medium of newspapers that the public is informed of how public servants conduct their business.”
Subido obtained this verdict by filing a mandamus with the Supreme Court.
I wonder if journalists can collectively filed a mandamus in court to compel the House of Representatives to open SALNs for public inspection “at reasonable hours” as provided by RA 6713, which in turn is the enabling law for Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution.
The House version of the FOI threatens to erase this legal victory of Subido.
In this regard, the Senate version is the exact opposite of the House version.
While the House version bans public disclosure of personal information even of government personnel, the Senate version limits such ban to disclosures of information on those who are not government officials. As for those government officials who have reverted to private status, information during their period of government service can be disclosed under the Senate version.
Both the Senate and House versions amend another existing law to the detriment of journalists and writers.
This is RA 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012. It contains a special provision in Section 4 that specifically allows use of “Personal information processed for journalistic, artistic, literary or research purposes.”
The House version completely bans the use of “personal information” of private persons “of a natural person, whether from the public or the private sector” because the House considers “its disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of his or her personal privacy.”
The Senate version imposes a ban on disclosure of “personal information” of private individuals, thus amending the Data Privacy Act’s exemption that was given to journalists and writers. I beseech the lawmakers to keep this exemption in the FOI law.
There’s more: Section 22 of the Senate version will discourage future whistle blowers in government service and result in the jailing of journalists if they “knowingly directed, induced or caused” the leak.
For its part the House version (in Section 15) proposes a similar penalty against journalists who induce or cause leaks.
In the years I have been working as a journalist the guideline I have always followed is that leaked information relating to national security, diplomacy, ongoing court trials and police operations should be handled with care. But all other information can be used once verified and as many sources from all sides of the issue are interviewed.
The proposed bills also propose to restrict access to corporate information.
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of the most transparent agencies when it comes to sharing information on corporations. Everything that corporations file at the SEC are made available online.
However, the Senate and House versions both contain Section 7 (g) which bars disclosure of “financial information…from a natural or juridical person other than the requesting party, whenever the revelation thereof would seriously prejudice the interests of such natural or juridical person in trade, industrial, financial or commercial competition.”
This is very worrying. Does this mean that a journalist writing about corporations will be denied access to financial statements of corporations on the brink of bankruptcy? This has to be clarified or better yet struck down because it is a backward move.
The same Section 7 (g) talks about non-disclosure of “trade secrets.” I wonder if inquiring about drug patents that are about to expire will be covered by this. Drugs are very expensive locally and one way to bring downs costs is to locally manufacture those drugs for which patents have expired. Foreign drug manufacturers beat the system by tweaking the formulation just a little bit.
Another provision that worries me is Section 7 (J) that is the same in both versions. It bars government agencies from disclosing information that would “likely frustrate the effective implementation of a proposed official action.”
If this was in effect in 2007, Apolinario Jun Lozada would have been sued for disclosing the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal with China. So would Jarius Bondoc for writing about the leaks in Philippine Star. The disclosures and leaks scuttled the NBN-ZTE altogether.
Personally, as a journalist, I have SEVEN minimum demands for an FOI. These are:
One – The online publication of SALNs of the President, the Vice-President, the cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, heads of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), the Supreme Court justices, all members of both the House and the Senate, commissioners of the various independent commissions, all senior military officials with star rank, all senior police officers starting with the rank of police chief superintendent, all governors, city and town mayors and all members of the city, town and provincial councils.
Two – The online publication of the ABC costing of all bids amounting to at least 50 million pesos. That means, the agency bid estimate, the actual bids and the actual construction cost. As for GOCCs, the posting online of year-end financial statements similar to those required by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Three – Access to all real property records for journalists in print, broadcasting and online and members of private anti-corruption watchdog groups.
Four – The online publication of all ordinances and other acts of all city, town and provincial councils. It’s ridiculous, for example, that in order for you to read the Zoning Code of Quezon City you have to go all the way to the archive section located in the top-most floor and leave your ID so you can xerox the only copy of the Zoning Code on the first floor. Local officials do a lot of “magic” with the zoning code so that one day you may just wake up and find, for instance, a crematorium being built in your residential neighborhood because the city council passed a special law exempting a businessman from the zoning restrictions in exchange for burying a certain number of constituents free of charge. I wrote about this and no less than the House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte who was then the Quezon City mayor stopped the construction of the crematorium. But his successor let it through.
Another example, do you know that Makati City has an ordinance that bars people from drinking beer while walking in the streets even in the so-called tourist areas? Do you see signs in Makati warning people about it? I know this because several HK journalists who came to Manila to cover the post-Luneta bus hostage massacre were on the brink of being brought to a Makati City police station because one of them happened to be drinking beer while walking. There was no sign against it.
Five – No restrictions and revisions on already existing laws relating to freedom of information.
Six – Archiving of already available information online. I noticed that every change of administration erases the information on the previous administration.
Seven – A system of declassifying “Secret”, “Top Secret” and “Confidential” state documents particularly referring to security matters. This is the only way our historians, political and social scientists can write our troubled history as a nation. As a writer, I was once privileged to read and write about “Top Secret” presidential papers given to the late President Elpidio Quirino when I wrote his biography, which I turned into a study of state corruption.
Everything else outside of these seven minimum demands can be left to enterprise reporting.
Thank you.
HERE IS THE SENATE VERSION
HERE IS THE HOUSE VERSION
NHerrera says
RECONCILIATION OF SURVEY NUMBERS QTRs 3 AND 4 — MY POINT IN LAST PARAGRAPH
There is nothing new in the survey data presented below. These are already published numbers. I just tried to reconcile the numbers, knowing very well that the period of survey are different and thus the events during those periods are significant factors; nature of the questions posed; one standard deviation up or down from those numbers are +/- 3. Note that SWS net satisfaction result for Binay, for Qtr 4, has not yet been published (to my knowledge)
Thus, the Qtr 4 numbers for Net Aquino of 48 and 39 may be reconciled as follows 48-3 = 45 and 39+3 =42. The numbers 45 and 42 may be considered in the same ball park.
MY POINT HERE is that Pulse Asia result are bannered on APPROVAL numbers — that is 45 for Binay in Qtr 4; whereas SWS reporting focuses on NET SATISFACTION. Thus, for the non-discerning poor, when the result of SWS comes, with its focus on Net Satisfaction, the number is expected to be in the neighborhood of 22 — A MORE STRIKING NUMBER. That is, another unpaid negative advertising against Binay.
Approve/ Disapprove/ Net
Satisfied Dissatisfied
AQUINO
Qtr 3
PA Sep 8-15 55 14 41
SWS Sep 26-29 59 25 34
Qtr 4
PA Nov 14-20 59 11 48
SWS Nov 27-Dec 1 63 24 39
BINAY
Qtr 3
PA Sep 8-15 66 10 56
SWS Sep 26-29 70 17 53
Qtr 4
PA Nov 14-20 45 23 22
SWS Nov 27-Dec 1 ? ? ?
NHerrera says
RECONCILIATION OF SURVEY NUMBERS QTRs 3 AND 4 — MY POINT IN LAST PARAGRAPH
There is nothing new in the survey data presented below. These are already published numbers. I just tried to reconcile the numbers, knowing very well that the period of survey are different and thus the events during those periods are significant factors; nature of the questions posed; one standard deviation up or down from those numbers are +/- 3. Note that SWS net satisfaction result for Binay, for Qtr 4, has not yet been published (to my knowledge)
Thus, the Qtr 4 numbers for Net Aquino of 48 and 39 may be reconciled as follows 48-3 = 45 and 39+3 =42. The numbers 45 and 42 may be considered in the same ball park.
MY POINT HERE is that Pulse Asia result are bannered on APPROVAL numbers — that is 45 for Binay in Qtr 4; whereas SWS reporting focuses on NET SATISFACTION. Thus, for the non-discerning poor, when the result of SWS comes, with its focus on Net Satisfaction, the number is expected to be in the neighborhood of 22 — A MORE STRIKING NUMBER. That is, another unpaid negative advertising against Binay.
Approve/ Disapprove/ Net
Satisfied Dissatisfied
AQUINO
Qtr 3
PA Sep 8-15 55 14 41
SWS Sep 26-29 59 25 34
Qtr 4
PA Nov 14-20 59 11 48
SWS Nov 27-Dec 1 63 24 39
BINAY
Qtr 3
PA Sep 8-15 66 10 56
SWS Sep 26-29 70 17 53
Qtr 4
PA Nov 14-20 45 23 22
SWS Nov 27-Dec 1 ? ? ?
Johnny Lin says
Funtime
Sing along this time
Composed for our friends
@Vander, Leona, Rene especially moonie
Sing like The Crystals Da Doo Ron Ron
I saw her in the wake my heart was stunned
Da doo run run, da doo run run
Somebody told me her name was Len
Da Rob Re do run, Da Rob re do run
Yes my heart was stunned
Yes her name was Len
Yea when she faced the crowd
Please do run da doo run run
I knew she’s the one when she caught my eye
Please do run Da doo run run
She looked so quiet oh my oh my
Please do run Da doo run run
Yes she caught my eye
Yes oh my oh my
Yea when she faced the crowd
Please do run Da doo run run
No sottocopy
He he he!
Johnny Lin says
Forgot to mention the musical prodigy accompanying the singers @parekoy :)
vander anievas says
weeweeeet!
klap, klap, klap!
babalik!!!
moonie says
I’m running, I’m running!
Rene-Ipil says
TRUST FUND. Australian courts found how Ferdinand Marcos set up funds between 1982 to 1985 for Evelyn Hegyesi, the mother of Analisa Josefa Hegyesi. On January 26, 2005 Juan Mercado of PDI wrote:
“Earlier, Sun Herald’s Frank Walker reported how Australian courts tracked Ferdinand Marcos funneling, between 1982 and 1985, almost $169 million from the shell Lichtenstein foundation Vibur. Laundered funds set up, in luxury, a then-pregnant former Playboy model, Evelyn Hegyesi. Her daughter was named Analisa Josefa. “Marcos’ mother was Josefa,” Walker wrote.”
A Marcos model or template of a trust fund. Assuming that Grace is really the daughter of Marcos, it is not farfetched that a similar scheme has been in place for Grace.
http://juanmercado.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_archive.html
Rene-Ipil says
In an exclusive story in The Sydney Morning Herald, Frank Walker wrote how the hunt for Marcos millions leads to a former Australian model’s home.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html
kalakala says
@ johnny lin # 94.3.1
My family suffered a lot under the reign of Ferdinand E. Marcos , the biological father of Sen. Poe if and only if proven by DNA test – If and only if the blood sample will be taken in front of the trusted Phil. government representative. He opened trust funds – money from the poor filipino people, to his illegitimate Australian daughter Annalisa Josefa while depriving Filipino children ( except his legitimate & illegitimate children) what was due us/them.
What if proven to be true, will she return ALL the monies Marcos had given to her? or rather, If it will be proven to be true then she MUST return all the monies to the Philippine government.
Johnny Lin says
We both hate Marcos, Imelda and 3 siblings.
I already said, assume she is the daughter. If she knew where the trust funds came from the start, she is fair game. On the other hand if she was made aware up to now that it came from her foster parents, she is still an innocent victim.
Prove 2 things first which could be traced in this order:
1. trust fund if any came from Marcos hidden corporations. Trace original documents which are preserved.
2. DNA test, however even unnecessary if there is no evidence on number 1. In this case, she could admit that possibly she is the daughter but it’s irrelevant to number 1 because she is still an innocent victim for being illegitimate.
kalakala says
Prove 2 things first which could be traced in this order
1. which was the very best strategy of marcos. original documents are preserved in their ( people directly involve) CONSCIENCE.
2. she is still an innocent and illegitimate but marcos has a responsibility as a father over her and do you think marcos was unfair to his other illegitimate child?
Johnny Lin says
1. Original source of trust fund is preserved in the bank or corporation or administrator of trust funds. In some countries they could be requested to be open in case of involvement in litigation. In US it is easy now to trace with new taxation law on reporting foreign accounts involving hundred thousand dollars
2. I do not know who are illegitimate, including Grace, so I could not judge his unfairness but if there I proof he established trust fund to known ones like that Australian woman, he accepted responsibility. If you asked me shall I ask this Australian woman to return the trust fund? If it is sustaining her family shall we deprive her and let her suffer because she’s an innocent victim too in the first place and make her family innocent victims again. Tough ain’t it? Human compassion is universal.
Johnny Lin says
Kalakala
If you are really serious in retrieving money stolen by Marcos and Imelda, be active in participating on the proceedings to retrieve money and corporations from Romualdez clan and the $5 billion secret offshore account of Imee. Grace trust fund must be drop of water from that ocean of money.
kalakala says
i already participated in this endeavour by paying my taxes and work hard for the RP to pay the government which is mandated to retrieve the looted monies.
as an electorate, if and only if poe will run as pres., i think she must be transparent and i think it would be a plus factor if she can shed light regarding this issue.
the past is our big lesson. very very big mistakes that people still put these romualdezes and marcoses back into phil. political arena. time to clean. time to change.
Johnny Lin says
Your wish is wish of many. politics is local and bobotantes are the problem in local politics, plus corrupt govt officials.
Unfortunately these scumbags know whom to grease with stolen money
vander anievas says
whoa
Leni Robredo’s viability is emerging!
i may agree, she has no excess baggage.
yes.
and no baggage at all. hehehe.
i saw her one time in September in Terminal 3.
alone. i might be wrong though, a guy behind her some 5 meters away, seems trailing. could be old jesse’s buddy, can’t say as i’m not familiar of him.
all empty hands and fearless heart.
not an iota of wang-wang chuchuvaah.
simply dressed.
right-away giving handshakes to well wishers.
look at that.
could it be her?
why not!
moonie says
I think, leni needs wingman or wingwoman, the ones going to wangwang about her, spruik and promote her to the public time and again. tell anecdotes about her. say good things about her. the public needs to hear who leni is, what she has done and what she can do. and tell again. leni might be a self contained package but she has to be promoted, marketed, put out there for people to look and see, and look and see again. like being in the job fair. you’re doing right, vander.
vander anievas says
yes.
on a note, she wont hire someone for her pr.
pr professionals are expensive.
afforded by monied only.
we might be of help, let us do PR for her.
whadyathink?
kalakala says
she used a wonderful strategy during her campaign. she went house to house, shake and talk with people. her political machinery was not as big and powerful as the trapos and yet she was able to unseat/destroy the dynasty.
yes we can help campaigning for her. this was what happen in naga. people started to go out from their homes and campaigned for her for free. no sugar coated words.
fed-up says
Continuation of Post #79, Part 2 of 2
6.Pres. Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986)
He ranks second in “The World’s All-Time Most Corrupt Leaders”, allegedly embezzled $5 billion to $10 billion.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/03/25/cx_vc_corruptslide_2.html
“Court papers show that Marcos siphoned $US23 million ($169 million in today’s money) from Japan’s war reparations into Charis. There is no suggestion Ms Hegyesi would have been aware of these transactions.”
Japan’s war reparations paid to the Philippines could have given the country its “much deserved progress and prosperity” but it didn’t. By the way, how much did Japan pay the Philippines? Yen 198 billion indemnity and Yen 90 billion loans.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html
“Hunt for tyrant’s millions leads to former model’s home”
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html
7.Pres. Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1986-1992)
“She first established a revolutionary government under the Freedom Constitution, later replaced by the Constitution of 1987, which served as the basis for reestablishing democracy.”
http://tagaloglang.com/Famous-Filipinos/Presidents/elpidio-quirino.html
8.Pres. Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1997)
“His presidency is remembered for better integrating the national economy in the global scheme.”
http://tagaloglang.com/Famous-Filipinos/Presidents/elpidio-quirino.html
9. Pres. Joseph Estrada (1998-2001)
He ranks tenth in “The World’s All-Time Most Corrupt Leaders”, allegedly embezzled $78 million to $80 million.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/03/25/cx_vc_corruptslide_2.html
Like Pres. Marcos, Pres. Estrada is also a philanderer:
http://pcij.org/imag/PublicEye/edifice.html
A paragraph from the above link:
“To begin with, Estrada does not explain how he can support four households in such grand style. Apart from the First Lady Luisa Ejercito, Estrada has long-term relationships with three other women: former actress Guia Gomez, with whom he has a son, 31-year old Jose Victor or ‘JV’; one-time starlet Laarni Enriquez, with whom the President has three children, the oldest of them, 15 years old; and ex-model Joy Melendrez, a Pasig policeman’s daughter who has borne Estrada a son.”
10.Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-2010)
“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is considered the most corrupt Philippine leader in history, more than Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, who were ousted from office, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/12/us-philippines-arroyo-idUSSP30281220071212
Headline: “Philippines lost P101.82B to anomalies under Arroyo–COA”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/284120/philippines-lost-p101-82b-to-anomalies-under-arroyo-coa
11.Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III (2010- )
Does his presidency spell the end of GGCP? We’ll soon see.
Since becoming independent in 1946, the Philippines had ten Presidents before PNoy. It appears that what “bricks” the previous presidents (nation-builders) have added towards progress, three presidents (nation-tearers Marcos, Estrada and GMA) have torn them down, thus making the “much deserved progress and prosperity”still a pipe dream (“suntok sa buwan”).
caliphman says
http://www.rappler.com/thewrap/december-12-2014-edition#topone
When it rains, it pours…on the Binay dynasty. Doctora has her own Mercado to worry about now in court.
Johnny Lin says
WARNING:
Latest News: Sandigan allows Dra Binay to travel to Japan from Dec 18-23
Latest Info from spy:
will suddenly be flown to US from Japan for emergency medical treatment by private plane
Johnny Lin says
A bill is being filed in Makati Session hall to change all the B signs scattered all over the city.
The reason: people’s mind be conditioned that the meaning of B is BAGSAK as in ratings.
Suggestion is to to do it the cheapest way by removing the bottom bar to make letter read R, meaning rebound
Another councilor said:
Eh Roxas, pwede din
He he he
NHerrera says
From panic mode to “trembling” mode we have the next mode — hospitalization mode. GOODNESS GRACIOUS.
Hospitalization Mode being planned along with Negotiation Mode.
“Yes, I will get you out of jail a few months before July 2022,” not before. (The President has the absolute power to pardon for humanitarian consideration, for “old age at 80, failing health and mind” — which is evident even now. Those sleepless hours are really telling.)
One problem with this Negotiation Mode scenario is that the leverage to do this has virtually evaporated.
Our friend, @caliphman, is right — when it rains it pours.
caliphman says
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/12/14/binay-trust-approval-ratings-suffer-huge-drop-pulse
Maybe its not so much would be voters prefer someone else over Binay for president but more and more of his base (D &E masa) just dislike and distrust him! If this trend continues to accelerate, it should mske other candidates aside from Poe more viable.
Johnny Lin says
This Pulse Asia survey complements the other survey. Main beneficiary of the drop of Binay from D &E classes was Poe resulting to the surge. In the previous survey margin of error was plus/minus 3-4%.
Looking at the approval and disapproval rating of Binay net satisfaction approval is 22, not far from the margin of error of other survey indicating their directly proportionality to each other. Although net satisfaction trust rating is 18 it is not directly related to previous survey. if this trend continues and calculating the effect of these two surveys on the probable result of the next survey, Binay’s vote preference in next survey should be around 21% (plus/minus margin of error).
Among five names, Binay has the least net approval and trust at the same time he has the lowest “undecided” percentage, meaning voters have definite conclusion on his personality. His travel to markets and rural areas to deliver his message did not work. This survey was done while Binay was busy eating with his his bare hands in public markets. He should start thinking of dumping his advisers like Toby for advising him to withdraw his challenge to Trillanes. Noticeable is that Drilon has better numbers including net approval than Binay. Will LP push his popularity ahead of Roxas?
Post #62, postulated was that Poe would be the most attractive candidate to Binay’s class D & E base.
NHerrera says
THAR HE BLOWS
Methinks we did much better here than the so-called political analysts and the general run of opinion writers.
Simple, Dr. Watson — we are not paid hacks; and we have something up there where it matters (please forgive the immodesty).
BYE BYE LOVE. BYE BYE HAPPINESS. HELLO LONELINESS. THINK I’M GONNA DIE …
Johnny Lin says
That is Everly Brothers song.
Binay has Toby and Jonvic, his Cleverly Brothers for making funny clever remarks justifying Binay.
You probably just finished listening to Dr Love on DZMM
He he he
NHerrera says
Love some of those OLDIES. Sometimes my wife remarks — iyan na naman? My answer — mababaw lang ang kaligayahan ko sa musik dear.
NHerrera says
RE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT GRACE POE BELOW
Too many unknowns. Too many variables. Indeed we have a rich topic for discussion here. The CPMers are offering a lot of food for thought.
If we are subjecting Binay to minute scrutiny, with a mix of heart-felt analysis, passion, fun statements and sometimes cruel words, we should do the same with Grace Poe NOW, since recent statements from her indicate her leanings concerning the 2016 Presidency — prompted no doubt by the Poe “surge”.
Though we don’t have the same loathing that we have bestowed on Binay because he aspires for the President; we cannot treat Madame Senator with gloved-hands. Indeed, I agree that we should not repeat the same euphoria with which we have greeted Gloria Arroyo — a euphoria which turned quickly into a sour calamansi.
What are incontrovertible facts about Grace Poe? Let us unearth as much as possible the facts that matter. And having more data, proceed with updated analyses — analysis being the forte of the CPMers. My gut-feel is that our comments here and elsewhere are picked-up easily. And soon, Poe cannot but react. We can then test at the very least the mettle of Poe from her reaction.
Glad to be in CPM, guys and gals.
Oh, here is something I recall from Trini Lopez:
When I was just a lad of ten
My father said to me
Come here and take a lesson
from the lovely tree
Don’t put your faith in love my boy
My father said to me
I fear you’ll find that love
is like the lovely lemon tree
Lemon tree very pretty
And the lemon flour is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon
is impossible to eat …
(That is as far as I can go, my memory fails me.)
NHerrera says
And, I beg you, let us not lose focus on what we want post May 2016. Further, realpolitik is still a factor. True even in developed countries. True here even more.
If not, I will say — I am pure of heart — so please vote for me.
Good day.
Johnny Lin says
We are scrutinizing Grace though I believe should be based on facts or plausible truth. Hacienda Binay, we don’t have proof of documents the land is registered to him but we believe he owns it based on circumstances.
Innuendos against Poe are fair game. Below I started the scrutiny to assume that McCoy is her father is true. So far nobody has offered counter argument on the importance or effect of the rumor on her.
Down farther @Rene offered a theory on Poe’s house. I posted possibility of source.
I’m not euphoric on her popularity surge. More ecstatic that people begin to realize there is an alternative to PNoy aside from Roxas to defeat Binay.
Main objective is to derail Binay replaced by a trusted candidate who can rally the people by toppling Binay’s base on D& E class voters. Doubt if Leni could debased Binay!
By the that lemon flour, “flower” isn’t it?
NHerrera says
Flower it is. I read you Johnny Lin.
baycas says
Patalastas:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/long-sperm-swim-faster-fertilise-more-eggs/articleshow/45471137.cms
moonie says
size and length matters.
Johnny Lin says
For the sake of argument
“Assume it is true, MCCoy is the father of Grace”
She grew up with foster parents.
Did she discover her real father was? Assume she did.
Did she try to make in contact. From all indications, there is no proof of that.
Is the sin of the father the sin of the child? If she did not make contact with father considering she knew and never made a statement about her father, she should not be faulted on the sin of her father. How about the 3 children of McCoy. They were active participants in hiding ill gotten wealth from the time they were exiled. Many hidden wealth discovered under various names all over the world were accepted by them as theirs. On the 3, sin of the father is the sin of the child.
Burning questions:
if Grace will become president will she bury McCoy LNB and forfeit PCCG claim against his riches? When she runs for president, she should be asked to make a solemn pledge that she will honor the status quo and let the courts thru PCCG proceed or put up a commission handling the decision on this matter without interference from executive office.
My opinion: Grace is better off not to interfere because McCoy is “hot” subject that would muddle trustworthiness. Binay was an example. Besides, she owes to her foster parents of reminding her their sacrifices and protection from scandal while she was growing up.
Will she interfere on the plunder cases of 3 senators and possibly Binays: same thing, make a pledge not to interfere in court including promise not to pardon anyone till end of term.
My opinion: non interference will make this nation great and solidify her legacy and that of her parents that corruption has no place in her administration. Susan would have great influence on this decision which if I’m not mistaken she will take into consideration the family integrity of Sonora, her father Dr Sonora kept in high esteem, and at the same the legacy of FPJ that his running for president was no fluke, that friendship has no place in clean and honest government( also silent rebuke to PNoy)
crucifying her beforehand on these matters without her input is injustice or unfair.
Dilemma Grace is facing is she knows her life will be an open book when she accepts clamor to run and that will be the day she will realize there is no room for turning back.
then the big question would be: will the revelation affect her chances?
My opinion: No. Sin of the father is not sin of the child for she was an innocent victim even priests would not deny. It could also work to her advantage and pitfall for her opponents if they try to capitalize on it.
Maintaining status quo is the key to her decision.
Next argument will be on Leni
He he he!
kalahari says
Her resemblance to bongbong and the blood that runs through their veins came from the hated dictator, who almost emptied the public coffers mostly from contracted foreign loans that were reportedly credited directly to their foreign bank accounts.
“The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.(William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice)
Johnny Lin says
Shakespeare also said “Kill all lawyers”. So far, every govt constitution all over the universe is shaped by lawyers. Evidence Shakespeare is no Nostradamus.
Is that the best argument against Grace, resemblance to Bongbong and according to Shakespeare?
Very weak!
moonie says
he, he, he, actually, I’m the weak one around here, at the best of times my arguments are weaker than kalahari’s.
kalahari, dont you go stealing my thunder!
Atin says
Am for Leni Robredo. I believe she is the ideal candidate. Honest, intellectually and academically prepared, focused on her constituency, consultative, clean, and an inspiring leader. Am extremely disappointed Grace Poe has not publicly taken a stand against the corruption of her father’s so called “supporters.” However, am saddened and appalled at the innuendos on her parentage, particularly since they come from CPMers whose opinions I generally agree with or value. The proof is her similarity to Rosemarie Sonora and Bongbong Marcos? I have been staring long and hard at Grace Poe’s face and the likeness I see is of her adoptive father’s.
Johnny Lin says
Agree with description on Leni, reality is she is unlisted in presidential survey and more important:
Is she electable by C,D,E classes beating Binay compared to Poe? Roxas could not beat Binay on these classes.
As I said before unless Binay is out of equation among candidates by law or by natural cause, only Poe has the best chance whether there are many candidates or one on one scenario.
Binay strategy is to have many opponents as much as possible so he could squeak a win like what happened with VP. One on one, Roxas might win but with many variables to overcome; appeal to lower class, people will listen to Aquino and continuing scandal on Binay. One on one would not happen because candidates make money by running to skew the votes in favor of their benefactor.
kalakala says
blood is always thicker than water…. she became “rebellious and went to USA”. imo it was just the best statement for the press conference in order to protect her personality/humanity being a marcos. there in USA she can live as any normal person. just like what her other half siblings- studied abroad… no press con about fpj & his wife about their adopted daughter because of macoy. i doubt fpj was close to mcoy in their own secret way.
the best strategy of macoy that napoles and binays failed to become copy cats was… kept grace life away from the intrigues, misled the people by press con statement ” rebellious and went to USA and live independently” and there live a simple life so nobody will doubt …
… forgive me in advance if i am hoping against hope that grace did not able to use/spend macoy’s stolen money even a single cent.
Johnny Lin says
So you believe she will favor the Marcoses by apparent blood affinity as singular reason.
Notwithstanding legacy of adopted parents making her obviously ungrateful as sitting president?
Will you ask her to make a pledge on treatment of Marcos before election? This is a fair question for her to answer.
kalakala says
@ johnny lin
My family suffered a lot under the reign of Ferdinand E. Marcos , the biological father of Sen. Poe if and only if proven by DNA test – If and only if the blood sample will be taken in front of the trusted Phil. government representative. He opened trust funds – money from the poor filipino people, to his illegitimate Australian daughter Annalisa Josefa while depriving Filipino children ( except his legitimate & illegitimate children) what was due us/them.
What if proven to be true, will she return ALL the monies Marcos had given to her? or rather, If it will be proven to be true then she MUST return all the monies to the Philippine government.
fed-up says
Part 2 of 2
6.Pres. Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986)
He ranks second in “The World’s All-Time Most Corrupt Leaders”, allegedly embezzled $5 billion to $10 billion.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/03/25/cx_vc_corruptslide_2.html
“Court papers show that Marcos siphoned $US23 million ($169 million in today’s money) from Japan’s war reparations into Charis. There is no suggestion Ms Hegyesi would have been aware of these transactions.”
Japan’s war reparations paid to the Philippines could have given the country its “much deserved progress and prosperity” but it didn’t. By the way, how much did Japan pay the Philippines? Yen 198 billion indemnity and Yen 90 billion loans.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html
“Hunt for tyrant’s millions leads to former model’s home”
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html
7.Pres. Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1986-1992)
“She first established a revolutionary government under the Freedom Constitution, later replaced by the Constitution of 1987, which served as the basis for reestablishing democracy.”
http://tagaloglang.com/Famous-Filipinos/Presidents/elpidio-quirino.html
8.Pres. Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1997)
“His presidency is remembered for better integrating the national economy in the global scheme.”
http://tagaloglang.com/Famous-Filipinos/Presidents/elpidio-quirino.html
9. Pres. Joseph Estrada (1998-2001)
He ranks tenth in “The World’s All-Time Most Corrupt Leaders”, allegedly embezzled $78 million to $80 million.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/03/25/cx_vc_corruptslide_2.html
Like Pres. Marcos, Pres. Estrada is also a philanderer:
http://pcij.org/imag/PublicEye/edifice.html
A paragraph from the above link:
“To begin with, Estrada does not explain how he can support four households in such grand style. Apart from the First Lady Luisa Ejercito, Estrada has long-term relationships with three other women: former actress Guia Gomez, with whom he has a son, 31-year old Jose Victor or ‘JV’; one-time starlet Laarni Enriquez, with whom the President has three children, the oldest of them, 15 years old; and ex-model Joy Melendrez, a Pasig policeman’s daughter who has borne Estrada a son.”
10.Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-2010)
“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is considered the most corrupt Philippine leader in history, more than Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, who were ousted from office, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/12/us-philippines-arroyo-idUSSP30281220071212
Headline: “Philippines lost P101.82B to anomalies under Arroyo–COA”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/284120/philippines-lost-p101-82b-to-anomalies-under-arroyo-coa
11.Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III (2010- )
Does his presidency spell the end of GGCP? We’ll soon see.
Since becoming independent in 1946, the Philippines had ten Presidents before PNoy. It appears that what “bricks” the previous presidents (nation-builders) have added towards progress, three presidents (nation-tearers Marcos, Estrada and GMA) have torn them down, thus making the “much deserved progress and prosperity”still a pipe dream (“suntok sa buwan”).
fed-up says
With Pnoy’s governance of the country today, he’s laying down the foundation for a graft- and corruption-free (dati rati, nagkikibit na lang ng balikat ang mga bobotantes at sasabihin “wala naman malaking isda na nakukulong sa corruption”; ngayon ay mayroon na, 3 pa at baka madagdagan pa) to achieve progress in the next generation. Should a “trapo” wins as president in 2016 and tries to subvert Pnoy’s programs by backsliding, then I urge the other two branches of gov’t (legislative and judiciary) to work together and put in place a governmental mechanism that follows what China is presently doing:
Headline: China sentences state-owned firm chief to death for graft
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/656592/china-sentences-state-owned-firm-chief-to-death-for-graft
BFD says
If Senator Grace Poe would be a presidential candidate, we must know where she stand vis a vis corruption issues that’s plaguing our country.