BY Greg Macabenta
If you grew up in the streets and had to deal with a bully you may recall having been told this to your face: “May angal?” Literally: Any complaints?
If the bully was much bigger than you, and especially if he had other toughies backing him up, you simply swallowed your pride, meekly shook your head, and took whatever abuse was heaped on you.
Your only recourse was to weep in self-pity and complain to the heavens about your fate. If you were the type with some measure of braggadocio, you told your friends that you didn’t have the heart to embarrass the bully or you didn’t want to dignify his lack of manners. But deep inside you, you felt really puny, impotent and helpless. And ashamed of yourself for not fighting back.
In this country, which has deteriorated into one governed, not by laws but by people wielding raw power, we are being bullied and told to our faces:
“May angal???”
We make a lot of noises, organize marches, sign petitions, hold up placards, write letters to the media, threaten to go to court and curse the bullies to high heavens. But after so much sound and fury, the bullies in government still get away with their abuses. In fact, in a literal sense, they get away with murder.
The question is: deep inside us, how do we feel? Do we feel puny, weak, impotent, helpless and ashamed of ourselves?
But can't do much more? So far, that seems to be the case.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo phoned and instructed a Comelec Commissioner to ensure her victory by cheating. She was exposed. She brazened it. Garci went into hiding then reappeared. And after a lot of zarzuela in the Senate and in the media, nothing came out of the case. Garci even ran for congress. Mercifully, he lost. But Arroyo remained president.
May angal???
Jocjoc Bolante, undersecretary of agriculture, was summoned by the Senate to explain the misuse in the Arroyo presidential campaign of millions in agricultural funds. He went into hiding in the U.S., was jailed, deported to the Philippines and finally faced the Senate. But all they could extract from him were denials. Nothing has come out of the case. Now Bolante is running for governor of Capiz in the party of Manny Villar who is the no-longer-secret candidate of Arroyo.
May angal???
The chairman of the Comelec, the presidential husband and Gloria Arroyo herself were accused of complicity in the ZTE-NBM scandal that would have yielded millions of dollars in illicit profit for the conspirators. Arroyo prevented a key witness from testifying before the Senate on the excuse of executive privilege. A compliant Supreme Court backed her up. To this day, a clear case of corruption and obstruction of justice remains unresolved and unpunished.
May angal????
The Supreme Court, formerly the last recourse for those seeking justice, has told the nation to “Shut up already” and live with its decision to allow Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appoint the next Chief Justice. That way, Arroyo will have an even more compliant high court when she unravels her Machiavellian scheme to remain in power.
May angal????
The acting justice secretary, Alberto Agra, has decided to clear two members of the Ampatuan clan of involvement in the Maguindanao massacre, based purely on alleged alibis and discounting the testimony of a witness that the two had a hand in the planning of the killings.
The Ampatuans are electoral magicians. They can make even the most favored candidate end up with zero votes. And they can make someone like Chavit Singson number one among senatorial candidates, never mind his dismal performance everywhere else. Obviously, the Ampatuan magic will be harnessed once more in the May 10 elections.
May angal???
State prosecutors, all subordinates of Agra, led by Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano, have publicly protested Agra’s unilateral decision and a nationwide uproar has been raised against him. But he is standing his ground.
May angal????
The Commission on Elections has piled up more blunders than the Keystone Kops, leaving in serious doubt the efficient and honest implementation of the country’s first automated polls. To protect the integrity of the electoral process, calls have been made for a parallel manual count. IT experts, civil society, the business community, media and most of the candidates for president are demanding it. But the officials of the Comelec have rejected this recomendation, insisting that the elections will be conducted without a hitch.
That’s like saying that a car with faulty brakes, broken headlights, balding tires and a defective steering system is fit and ready for a race. But as far as the Comelec officials are concerned, it’s their way and no other way.
May angal????
The partylist system was devised to ensure representation for the disadvantaged and the under-represented. But the Arroyo dynasty does not want to let go of power. Gloria Arroyo will taking a demotion to member of congress, just to stay in power, and her son, Mikey, from whom she is grabbing the congressional seat, has decided to demote himself to security guard – more accurately, as the representative of security guards – in order to remain in Congress. Another relative claims to represent tricycle drivers. Everyone knows it’s a farce. But they’re getting away with it with the approval of the Comelec.
May angal????
Gloria Arroyo, feeling ultra-generous, decided to appoint her personal manicurist to the board of trustees of the Pag-IBIG Housing Fund and her gardener as deputy of the Luneta Park Administration. Her spokesman, Gary Olivar, justifies this as providing representation for the common people.
May Angal???
And speaking of Olivar, this fellow is a U.S. citizen, as well as a Filipino citizen. According to the law, a dual citizen who occupies a key official position in the Philippine government must renounce his foreign citizenship. Has Olivar done so? Is he breaking the law and getting away with it?
So what else is new? May angal???
And so, the elections will be held on May 10. There is every reason to fear that it will be Garcified.
May angal???
This we have to see.
(gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)
If you grew up in the streets and had to deal with a bully you may recall having been told this to your face: “May angal?” Literally: Any complaints?
If the bully was much bigger than you, and especially if he had other toughies backing him up, you simply swallowed your pride, meekly shook your head, and took whatever abuse was heaped on you.
Your only recourse was to weep in self-pity and complain to the heavens about your fate. If you were the type with some measure of braggadocio, you told your friends that you didn’t have the heart to embarrass the bully or you didn’t want to dignify his lack of manners. But deep inside you, you felt really puny, impotent and helpless. And ashamed of yourself for not fighting back.
In this country, which has deteriorated into one governed, not by laws but by people wielding raw power, we are being bullied and told to our faces:
“May angal???”
We make a lot of noises, organize marches, sign petitions, hold up placards, write letters to the media, threaten to go to court and curse the bullies to high heavens. But after so much sound and fury, the bullies in government still get away with their abuses. In fact, in a literal sense, they get away with murder.
The question is: deep inside us, how do we feel? Do we feel puny, weak, impotent, helpless and ashamed of ourselves?
But can't do much more? So far, that seems to be the case.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo phoned and instructed a Comelec Commissioner to ensure her victory by cheating. She was exposed. She brazened it. Garci went into hiding then reappeared. And after a lot of zarzuela in the Senate and in the media, nothing came out of the case. Garci even ran for congress. Mercifully, he lost. But Arroyo remained president.
May angal???
Jocjoc Bolante, undersecretary of agriculture, was summoned by the Senate to explain the misuse in the Arroyo presidential campaign of millions in agricultural funds. He went into hiding in the U.S., was jailed, deported to the Philippines and finally faced the Senate. But all they could extract from him were denials. Nothing has come out of the case. Now Bolante is running for governor of Capiz in the party of Manny Villar who is the no-longer-secret candidate of Arroyo.
May angal???
The chairman of the Comelec, the presidential husband and Gloria Arroyo herself were accused of complicity in the ZTE-NBM scandal that would have yielded millions of dollars in illicit profit for the conspirators. Arroyo prevented a key witness from testifying before the Senate on the excuse of executive privilege. A compliant Supreme Court backed her up. To this day, a clear case of corruption and obstruction of justice remains unresolved and unpunished.
May angal????
The Supreme Court, formerly the last recourse for those seeking justice, has told the nation to “Shut up already” and live with its decision to allow Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appoint the next Chief Justice. That way, Arroyo will have an even more compliant high court when she unravels her Machiavellian scheme to remain in power.
May angal????
The acting justice secretary, Alberto Agra, has decided to clear two members of the Ampatuan clan of involvement in the Maguindanao massacre, based purely on alleged alibis and discounting the testimony of a witness that the two had a hand in the planning of the killings.
The Ampatuans are electoral magicians. They can make even the most favored candidate end up with zero votes. And they can make someone like Chavit Singson number one among senatorial candidates, never mind his dismal performance everywhere else. Obviously, the Ampatuan magic will be harnessed once more in the May 10 elections.
May angal???
State prosecutors, all subordinates of Agra, led by Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano, have publicly protested Agra’s unilateral decision and a nationwide uproar has been raised against him. But he is standing his ground.
May angal????
The Commission on Elections has piled up more blunders than the Keystone Kops, leaving in serious doubt the efficient and honest implementation of the country’s first automated polls. To protect the integrity of the electoral process, calls have been made for a parallel manual count. IT experts, civil society, the business community, media and most of the candidates for president are demanding it. But the officials of the Comelec have rejected this recomendation, insisting that the elections will be conducted without a hitch.
That’s like saying that a car with faulty brakes, broken headlights, balding tires and a defective steering system is fit and ready for a race. But as far as the Comelec officials are concerned, it’s their way and no other way.
May angal????
The partylist system was devised to ensure representation for the disadvantaged and the under-represented. But the Arroyo dynasty does not want to let go of power. Gloria Arroyo will taking a demotion to member of congress, just to stay in power, and her son, Mikey, from whom she is grabbing the congressional seat, has decided to demote himself to security guard – more accurately, as the representative of security guards – in order to remain in Congress. Another relative claims to represent tricycle drivers. Everyone knows it’s a farce. But they’re getting away with it with the approval of the Comelec.
May angal????
Gloria Arroyo, feeling ultra-generous, decided to appoint her personal manicurist to the board of trustees of the Pag-IBIG Housing Fund and her gardener as deputy of the Luneta Park Administration. Her spokesman, Gary Olivar, justifies this as providing representation for the common people.
May Angal???
And speaking of Olivar, this fellow is a U.S. citizen, as well as a Filipino citizen. According to the law, a dual citizen who occupies a key official position in the Philippine government must renounce his foreign citizenship. Has Olivar done so? Is he breaking the law and getting away with it?
So what else is new? May angal???
And so, the elections will be held on May 10. There is every reason to fear that it will be Garcified.
May angal???
This we have to see.
(gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)
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