The House of Gloria

Last Monday, Rep. Walden Bello of Akbayan Party delivered a scathing speech condemning former President GMA for high corruption. He said that corruption was the signature of the Arroyo government. He condemned the allies and cohorts of the previous government, whose acts he called porcine. He said that GMA should be brought to the National Penitentiary, and that she doesn’t deserve to be in Congress. (Download the speech here)

The speech was delivered shortly after former President GMA had her oath-taking before the members of Congress as the representative of the 4th district of Pampanga.

In the House of Gloria, what Walden did cannot be tolerated. Walden was interrupted several times during his speech, with one veteran representative saying that it was taking too long. Another representative – remember him, his name is Rep. Marcoleta of Alagad – complained that Walden, a professor and a public intellectual, was tackling too many issues, and it was too much for his brain to handle.

The homophobes lost, but…

Rep. Abante during the Anti-Discrimination Bill hearing

Here’s some good news: three candidates from the conservative bloc lost in the senatorial and congressional elections. Bienvenido Abante, an incumbent representative in District 6, Manila City, lost to his rival Sandy Ocampo, a former congresswoman and currently Manila’s deputy mayor. Atty. Jo Imbong, legal counsel of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, ran for senator under the Catholic church-backed Ang Kapatiran Party, is among the bottom-dwellers in the senatorial race. Another pro-life bet, ex-senator Kit Tatad, has been unable to surpass the Top 20 benchmark.

Rep. Abante, as Chair of the House Committee on Human Rights, blocked the passage of a bill penalizing discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. Last year, Rep. Abante filed a bill criminalizing same-sex marriage and prohibiting co-habitation among between partners of the same sex.

He also opposed the enactment of the RH Bill, a controversial measure that provides access to reproductive health information and contraceptives.

Atty. Imbong, on the other hand, is the CBCP lobbyist that has rabidly campaigned against the RH Bill and Anti-Discrimination Bill in most congressional hearings. A “pro-life” advocate, Atty. Imbong has labeled the above bills as part of the Church-opposed DEATH bills, a cluster of measures promoting divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total reproductive health, and homosexuality (same-sex marriage).

While you were drowning

(In this video: Proponents of the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, among them AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros and Walden Bello, protest the railroading of the dismissal of the impeachment complaint)

While some were still drowning, while some families were still stuck on roofs, while those who were not badly hit were sacrificing their lives to save those who need rescuing and while others were volunteering their energy to provide relief to those who lost almost everything, some of our honorable congressmen and women were busy saving Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, protector of Big Boss Mike Arroyo.

Today, the impeachment complaint against the Ombudsman was dismissed by the House justice committee with a vote of ‘absolute majority’.  It was a surreal hearing. After being delayed for several weeks because of lack of quorum, the House committee was suddenly able to force its members to attend the hearing, disaster and all.

They were there, the President’s allies. Mikey Arroyo was likewise there. When the roll call was made, the secretariat declared that 35 members of the committee were present.

When they railroaded the vote to junk the impeachment complaint, they counted 37 in favor of dismissal. Who cares about the discrepancy, they have the numbers after all. That’s their version of ‘absolute majority’: 35 in attendance, 37 voted in favor of junking, and those for impeachment were not counted. They even cheered after the vote.

They did not even bothered to count the votes of those who wish to impeach Merceditas Gutierrez, who needs to be held accountable for letting COMELEC officials involved in the Mega-Pacific deal go scot-free. She is St. Mercy after all, the patron saint of the Arroyo family.

Who cares about having  a sound decision on the matter, who cares about an honest-to-goodness debate, one that sharpens the intellect, and one that sieves wisdom from insanity: they have the numbers, and the Chair alone could simply gag the opposition. Appeals and protests were ignored. There were calls to have the vote postponed for the meantime, so that the counter-arguments could be studied and so that all could focus on what is crucial: relief work.

But why worry, when the President’s son was there to cheer the vote and make sure that the stooges will do her bidding. And so the good Presidential son did what he was told to do – enforce the marching orders, and dismiss the complaint.

And like the rest of them, when the complaint was junked, he clapped and cheered, shamelessly overjoyed and gloating while you were drowning.

GMA pays AKBAYAN a visit

GMA’s surprise visit during AKBAYAN’s National Congress

So President GMA – Gloria Macapal Ayoko – paid AKBAYAN a suprise visit during the Opening Ceremonies of its 4th Regular National Congress and the launching of Risa Hontiveros’ senatorial bid. Below is the speech she delivered.

Senator Jovy Salonga; Senator Noynoy Aquino; Professor Randy David, my future opponent in the second district of Pampanga (sarcastic) good luck to you; members and officers of AKBAYAN na alam ko naman na ayaw nyo talaga sa akin; ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant (pause) hellooo.

For the longest time AKBAYAN especially your representatives in congress have been a pain the ass but I have found ways to get back at you guys. But past is past. Natutuwa ako dahil sa wakas ay natanggap na ng AKBAYAN that I am, after all, a great president. This opportunity to speak to you today is a concrete step towards national unity, reconciliation, beautification, glorification and evaporation. Salamat AKBAYAN at na-realize nyo na that I am not really guilty of any crime (winks).  Ang Hello Garci, NBN-ZTE at fertilizer scam ay mga minor lapse in judgment lamang. Very minor lang yan at wala naman talagang  malisya tulad ng pagpili kay Carlo Caparas bilang national artist at ang one million pesos na bill para sa dinner sa New York. In fact, kahit ang pagpunta ko dito ay lapse in judgement din. For this, please allow me to say (slowly) I am sorry.

Let me tell you that I am not looking forward to the senatorial candidacy of this Risa Hontiveros. Nasa kongreso palang siya, masakit na siya sa bangs. Pati ang statement of assets and liabilities ko pinakikialaman. Don’t get me wrong I have no ill feelings for this Risa Hontiveros. Its just that she is not my type. She represents everything that I am not. I have feeling she is my anti-matter. She is tall on virtues while I am short (pause) on everything. St. Scholastica siya noong high school, Assumption naman ako. Si Risa laging nakikiisa sa sambayanan, samantalang ako laging pinagkakaisahan ng sambayanan. Si Risa nakulong na, ako (teasing) hindi pa. Si Risa byuda, ako (pause) sana. FG I love you. At higit sa lahat, si Risa magsesenador na, ako naman magkokongresista.

But I have to give this Risa Hontiveros an A for persistence. Kahit binomba ng bumbero sa  mendiola, kahit hinuli ng mga pulis sa welcome rotonda at kahit tinggalan ko pa ng pork barrel ay hindi pa rin natitinag at tuloy parin ang paglaban sa akin. Risa Hontiveros kung sa mga SONA ko hindi ka nakikinig, pwes ngayon makinig ka. I have three words for you, (slowly) “I will never endorse you for senator in 2010.”

I, thank you.

*Speech was written by Percival Cendana, Deputy Secretary of AKBAYAN, a certain “Wilma Mae”, and Josel Gonzales, a salingkit in AKBAYAN’s Gay and Lesbian Collective. Photos by Marlon Cornelio of AKBAYAN-Youth.

The politics of outing

I thought no one noticed it, but Bandila, the late-night news of ABS-CBN, had a segment last night about how Senators grilled Jun Lozada, the star witness of the opposition on the NBN controversy (If you are not familiar with the NBN controversy, read these articles first). Bandila’s story said that even Lozada’s pagkalalaki (manhood/maleness) was questioned during the hearing.

It was Sen. Jamby Madrigal who opened the topic. He asked Lozada, a close friend of former NEDA Sec. Romulo Neri and a consultant of NEDA on the controversial project, if his relationship with Neri is intimate. If, to be precise, it is as intimate as the ones he allegedly has with two men, whom Madrigal has the chutzpah to name, one of them is allegedly Neri’s boyfriend. (Read Neri’s reaction here.) Nothing new about what Madrigal asked, and the story has been circulating in the political grapevine and in the halls of Congress ever since Neri’s name has been involved in the NBN scandal. But Madrigal’s motive must be questioned.

Chutzpah

Four session days have passed and the House of Representatives remains empty. They have opened the session and subsequently adjourned simply because there are not enough legislators to constitute a quorum.

The excuse last week was the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization, which held its 27th General Assembly in Cebu City. Other representatives, meanwhile, joined President GMA’s European junket.

This week, it’s the budget briefings that have kept our dear congressmen and women too preoccupied to attend the regular session. Please don’t misinterpret me. It’s not as if they are now suddenly busy with their parliamentary work. Actually, what happens is that while the formal budget deliberations are taking place, legislators are also busy having side meetings with representatives from line agencies to demand for congressional insertions and other requests. In fact, in most of the budget hearings, the buzz from these negotiations and horse trading is noisier than the formal debate itself.

Next year being an election year, this craving for more development projects is not surprising. Former Camarines Sur Representative and now DBM Secretary Rolando Andaya, who once said that a fifth of the pork barrel goes to the pockets of legislators, is predictably silent.

The Senate is still busy with inquiries that go nowhere because government officials continue to snub them. Bong Austero is appalled by the treatment that PCGG Chair Sabio is getting from a Senate panel investigating a sequestered asset, while Manolo Quezon believes that the Senate simply has no choice. I don’t really see anything wrong with Sabio’s arrest, and though I take issues, too, with the Senate’s excesses, Congress as an institution has broad oversight powers. It should certainly not be abused, but when the entire Executive is ignoring your invitation, then the institution must assert its independence.

And oh, Miriam is sick again. This time with anorexia.

Patayin sa puyat si palparan

The guy just won’t fade away. Might as well deal with him, though I don’t exactly agree with the macho strategy of the New People’s Army. I’m neither for armed struggle nor for active non-violence, but, other than being a staunch advocate of world peace, i am in favor of earnestly gathering sound proposals on how to deal with a guy like Gen. Jovito Palparan.

The best proposal yet is this – “Oplan PPP: Patayin sa Puyat si Palparan.” He looks malnourished (just look at his disproportinately small head), so sleep deprivation would be very debilitating for this guy. This won’t be easy, because in spite of the human rights violations he has obviously committed, he actually admitted that he is still able sleep well at night. Since he’s based in remote rural areas, where the only creatures that are active at night are truly nocturnal, the only way to keep him up until the wee hours of the morning is to invite him every night to judge your ubiquitous gay beauty pageants. This is the only strategy that does not violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For the public’s information, gay beauty pageants, duly supported most of the time by the Sangguniang Kabataan or the Baranggay Council, can run for 10 hours and last until 5 – 6:00 AM. Sometimes, they even have to break the pageant at daybreak and continue the contest immediately after sunset.

If you are from Bulacan, Nueve Ecija or Pampanga, then do an act of patriotism and invite Palparan to judge your gay beauty contests. Believe me, that would, ehem, neutralize the menace.

Just so you know, this brilliant idea is not mine. And I do have a cedula.