On The Third Hand

In my opinion, it was pretty much due.

This guest post by Kat (another Kat) at Winds of Change has a good background and overview.

You could say this is satire in the best tradition of Scrappleface, but it isn’t. Philippine President Arroyo has tossed her husband out of the country to hide him from corruption allegations.

Jun 29, 2005 — MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo moved dramatically on Wednesday to reduce pressure on her government from graft allegations, saying her husband had agreed to leave the country.

She did not say how long her husband, Jose Miguel and known widely as Mike, would remain abroad. Opposition lawmakers have said he, the couple’s son and other family members were involved in payoffs from gambling syndicates, but nothing has been proved.

Her husband has also been accused by the opposition of helping Arroyo try to fix the results of last year’s election in telephone conversations with an election official.

“Today, my family is once again called to sacrifice our personal happiness to allow me to serve best as president of our country,” Arroyo, her voice cracking with emotion, told a business forum in Manila.

“My husband has volunteered to go abroad. I mention this here today because I want to signal to everyone that nothing can stop my administration from implementing … our reform agenda.”

Volunteered? That’s rich, as I said it borders on being satire. It also gives “Mike” an opportunity to stash any US assets from prying legal eyes. One note of advise to the Philippine customs department. Better give “Mike” a complete inspection on his way out of the country. There’s no telling how much may be secreted out under the guise of “personnel papers.”

On a more serious note, Archbishop Oscar Cruz advised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to “just go” and “there is life after the presidency.”

That’s most likely true, the question is will that life be behind bars.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Lets lay out a scenario first.

Your the president of a struggling third world country. You assumed power when a peoples revolt tossed out your predecessor, whom you served as vice president. Two years later - and reneging on a previous promise not to - you run for re- election against a political virgin. The “John Wayne” of Philippine cinema. The election is won by a total of 1,123,576 votes and you return to office vowing to stamp out corruption and improve the stagnate economy.

In the two years since you survive an attempted coup d’état by disgruntled military members. A still unresolved scandal involving the First Gentleman and Iraq hostage crisis that results in capitulation and ransom money paid to jihadist cut throats.

The list of chicanery, shenanigans, double-dealing, fourberie, and fraud has been endless, but, you have survived. Until now. And as predicted in August ‘04 President Gloria Arroyo may be finally done for.

Whistleblower, and former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Samuel Ong, has produced a wiretap conversation (download files here) allegedly between the president and Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. The original tape is in excess of three hours long but the main gist is Arroyo was given assurances by Garcillano that votes can be found (read: manufactured) that will offset her rival’s lead over her in the May ‘03 election. Other portions detail how to slow down the election count in some areas and ensure her victory.

The government, meanwhile, insists that the tapes are fake, edited by the “opposition” out of wiretapped conversations Arroyo had with other people, in order to destabilize her administration.

In knee-jerk reaction three youths were arrested, and charged with inciting to sedition, a crime punishable by up to six years imprisonment for posting anti-Arroyo signs containing her picture and the words, “President Evil,” and “The Evil Continues.”

It is no surprise rather than call for authentication of the tapes they have filed charges against the whistleblower and are attempting to silence the media.

Exposing the criminal act of cheating massively at the polls committed by President Arroyo and her political operator, election official, Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, and demanding her resignation are now not only seditious acts, but also “proof” that the audio tapes on the poll fraud is a plot for a coup d’etat.

This position was bared today by officials of the Justice Department and the National Bureau of Investigation, after they filed sedition charges against former NBI Deputy Director Samuel Ong, the poll fraud whistleblower.

But even as sedition raps were filed yesterday against Ong, Malacañang at the same time admitted that the President does not want the tapes played by radio and TV stations or by anyone else because this would reduce her to becoming a victim of trial by publicity.

The House committees on public information, national defense, public order and security, electoral reforms, and information technology decided on Wednesday to send a letter to the President formally asking for her comment on the controversial tape.

The same letters will be sent to First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, Garcillano and other people whose conversations were allegedly illegally tapped.

The committees also decided to ask the FBI, Scotland Yard and other investigation agencies in Japan, Australia, and Canada if they can authenticate the tapes and if they are willing to do so.

The recordings issue comes as members of Arroyo’s family face allegations of connections to illegal gambling. On May 30 and June 6, at least three witnesses in a Senate investigation linked her husband, son and brother-in-law to jueteng, an illegal form of gambling that helped trigger her predecessor Joseph Estrada’s ouster in 2001. Her son, Congressional Representive (Pampanga) Juan Miguel Arroyo, took an indefinate leave of absense on Wednesday. A day after promising, “if proven guilty, I will resign.”

In light of the above, I hearby reissue my prediction of August 2004, President Gloria “Ate Glo” Arroyo’s shelf life has about expired. If she lasts until Christmas it will be an amazing feat.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

And with that pending release(?) of the Royal Commission’s Report too…

Top cop held over money scam

KUALA LUMPUR: A senior police officer was among three people caught red-handed preparing a black-money scam in a five-star hotel in Jalan Ampang.

The officer with more than 20 years of service had also served with the United Nations in Bosnia.

You can learn a lot of useful skills while working with the UN.

Current day time temps in the Philippines hover around 95 degrees with a heat index of 100 plus. But even that scorching enviroment is like a frozen arctic wind compared to the heat President Arroyo is feeling. The “political thermometer” started rising late last week, then burst through the top on May day.

Rumors of what officials called another “nuisance” plot to overthrow President Gloria Arroyo dominated the day in the Philippines.

Still, as some 10,000 demonstrators massed to march on the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, thousands of military and police were put on full alert after the government accused a group of retired generals of trying to recruit forces to mount a coup attempt. The generals called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign.

“This is now the time to take a peaceful yet bold step to change and regenerate our decayed society and energise our hopeless and desperate people,” Fortunato Abat, a retired army general, told a forum on Saturday.

“I am against a military takeover. I want a civilian-led revolt similar to what had happened in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine,” said Abat, who heads the Coalition for National Salvation, a group of retired generals.

Arroyo, breaking with normal practice, stayed inside the heavily guarded palace on Sunday to address a group of labor leaders. The annual event is usually held in a public place.

In her speech, she ordered the country’s regional wage boards to study the possibility of raising the minimum daily wage – “with or without a petition from the workers”. She also ordered Finance Secretary Cesar A. V. Purisima to study the possible exemption of minimum wage earners from withholding tax. Progressive political groups have described as “token” and “insult” the move of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to order the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) to increase the minimum wages of workers within 30 days.

Jeppie Ramada, spokesperson of Bayan Muna for Southern Mindanao, said that Arroyo’s statement just came when workers called for a salary adjustment due to the increasing prices of basic commodities.

“She was just fooling us because it is impossible for the wage boards to concretize her order. She should pay heed with the demand of all workers for salary increases,” he said in an interview yesterday morning.

He said what the workers really wanted is the legislated wage increase, that is the P125-across the board salary increase for workers in the private sector and P3,000 [$55 dollars] monthly for the public sector.

To put their request into perspective, the average monthly wage is approx. P10,000 so they expect a 30% raise. Nice work, if you can get it! In addition the Philippines pays the highest minimum wage in Southeast Asia and the country’s own head of the central bank has denounced any increase as fuel for higher inflation.

But, that’s the good news. In what may be the first signs of a death rattle being heard for the Arroyo administration, Catholic Bishops have threatened to withdraw support for the President:

Catholic bishops yesterday threatened to withdraw their support for President Arroyo and vowed to touch base and join hands with other political forces in ousting the Chief Executive, whom they rapped for “embarking on a terrrorist policy” against the Filipino people.

The same bishops were instrumental in placing Mrs. Arroyo in political power in 2001, as they played a major role in the coup d’etat against the Joseph Estrada government, and again in 2004, when they refused to heed the people’s plaints on the massive electoral fraud committed by the camp of Mrs. Arroyo.

“We are now experiencing a wave of terror in the series of assassinations and disappearances of individuals, journalists and leaders of organizations critical of the Arroyo administration,” Labayen said, stressing that the government has become very repressive, pointing to, among other measures, the Malacañang-imposed policy of its “no-permit, no-rally” policy, which he pointed out is even more wicked than martial law decrees.

“The message of repression is very clear in the imposition by this administration of the ‘no-permit, no-rally policy,’ the national ID system through an executive order despite a Supreme Court ruling to the contrary and the anti-terrorist bill now pending which will relive the dark days of martial law during the Marcos era but in a more vicious way,” the bishop added.

“We would like to remind the GMA (the President’s initials) administration that time is running out and that no force on earth can ever stop the coming deluge of change as the pent-up emotions of our poor suffering people are about to explode,” Labayen said.

Given the physical stature of the Filipino people a “fat lady” can be hard to find, but if one listens intently you can hear one limbering up her voice.

Related?
Cache of bomb chemicals seized in Manila warehouse.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has identified the Philippines as the most murderous country for journalists since 2000, followed by Iraq, Colombia, Bangladesh and Russia.

No genuine press freedom in RP: “Twenty-three Filipino journalists have been slain in the last three years, 66 since democracy was restored in 1986. As the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day today [May 03], an Ilocos Sur broadcaster lies in the hospital, the latest victim of attacks against journalists in this country. Three journalists were murdered in the first three months of 2005; four others survived assassination attempts but suffered serious wounds.”

The latest Pulse Asia survey released May 3 says the poorest Filipinos [Class E] either reduced their families’ food consumption* (23%), borrowed money (22%), or sought new sources of income (23%).

The Philippine government yesterday threatened to imprison dissident bishops [see above] critical of the Arroyo government, even as Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz yesterday confirmed at a congressional hearing at the House of Representatives that presidential son and Pampanga Congressman Juan Miguel Arroyo and M2 - a big-time beneficiary of illegal gambling bribes - are one and the same.

Maybe not related, but Hi..Larious: The Philippine communists are denouncing their Chinese breathren for abandoning the Maoist cause.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

This is highly-recommended reading.

If you are too young to remember, or paid no attention at the time, then it is a must-read.

[update] From the New York Times (of all people) comes this Op-Ed: The War We Could Have Won( registration required: use bugmenot.com if you don’t have an account). Money quote in the article: “In 1974-75, the United States snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.” Indeed. Hat tip to the Ranting Profs.

[update 2] Submitted to the Sunday Traffic Jam and to the Carnival of the Trackbacks in the hope that someone will read this and check out that top article I linked…

Nationalism: noun, “Loyalty and devotion to a nation or ethnic group that places emphasis on promoting the interests, cultural and social values, or religion of one group above all others.” As defined nationalism is an admirable trait. In extreme forms it can lead to xenophobic behavior.

The Malacca Straits, a narrow waterway slicing Indonesia’s Sumatra island from mainland Southeast Asia, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, funnelling 50,000 vessels a year between the biggest economies of the West and the East. This week there were seven reported incidents of attempted piracy, five occured in Malacca or Indonesian waters. The risk of terrorist/pirate attacks can perhaps never be eliminated, but sensible steps can be taken to reduce the risk.

The Malaysian coastline makes up a section of the Malacca Straits and their security officials should be sympathetic to the security situation in the area. Unfortunately they have come down with an extreme case of xenophobia and have started screaming “not in my backyard.”

Any ship providing private armed escort services to merchant vessels in the pirate-infested Malacca Strait will be detained, a top Malaysian security official warned in remarks published yesterday.

Director of internal security Othman Talib was responding to reports earlier this month that a private security firm employing former members of elite military units had begun providing armed escorts to ships plying dangerous Asian waters.

What has the Director crying foul is a Singapore-based maritime security company, Background Asia Risk Solutions (BARS). The company provides its own armour-plated vessel that accompanies ships between Sri Lanka, through the Malacca Straits and to the South China Sea for about $50,000 per voyage.

BARS employs 60 former members of military units from Singapore and elsewhere, who carry out their escort missions armed with M-16 and M-4 assault rifles. In what should be a fairly transparent operation to bordering countries - providing free security and allowing local coastal patrols to conduct other missions - has run into a security director that not only threatens to arrest them but has called them terrorists.

Othman told the Bernama news agency that directives had been issued to all marine police commanders to detain any such boat and arrest the crew members if it encroached into Malaysian waters.

The crew could be categorised as “terrorists” or “mercenaries” and charged under the Internal Security Act, he said. “They have no power in this country and it is a violation of our territorial sovereignty.”

Any private security company wishing to operate in Malaysia would have to obtain a permit from his ministry, Othman said. Malaysia’s marine police were prepared to provide escort services and were already guarding Japanese-owned merchant ships which were carrying high value cargoes as they passed through the strait, he said.

That raises a very large BS flag in my mind.

If Othman is claiming possible encroachment into Malaysian waters by BARS (a questionable claim, the transit channel is in international waters), why isn’t his own marine police experiencing the same as they pass by Indonesian and Singaporean waters enroute the South China Sea? Secondly, and noting the highlighted section above, Othman is requiring BARS “to obtain a permit from his ministry.” And I suspect he is damm upset he has received competition that would cut into any renumeration he receives for the escort services he is providing.

Given the endemic corruption in all South East Asian countries, Malaysia included, I smell a very large sea-going rat in the person of internal security Director Othman Talib. Considering the importance of the Malacca Straits in international commerce it may be time to launch an investigation into Othman’s operation.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

When Philippine President Arroyo first took office in 2001 after the Supreme Court unanimously declared the position of President vacant. I had hopes that things may change for the better. Here was a women that is a daughter of the late R.P. President Diosdado Macapagal and was Vice President, so politics were well known to her.

Her educational background is impressive and includes being valedictorian of her high school class, was consistently on the Dean’s List in Georgetown University in Washington DC, and graduated magna cum laude at Assumption College. She obtained a Master’s degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and a doctorate degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines.

In addressing the recent rise in world oil prices she has given a warning:

Arroyo issued the warning during her speech at the Asia-Africa Business Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she called on leaders of the Asia Africa Summit to push for greater stability in oil prices in order to avert a “full-blown economic crisis.”

She said while oil prices have softened in the past few days, “the trend could worsen to levels that could halt economic growth or even prompt a global recession.”

She said the high price of oil has the potential to “put the brake on economic expansion” because it is stripping oil-importing countries of the ability to pursue economic development programs and move towards global competitiveness.

Generally I agree. Certainly a continuing rise in prices will effect the global economy, more so in the Third World. A booming economy in China has created a greater demand and higher prices. Coupled with what I call the “summer effect”, (history shows oil prices always rise as vacation season starts in western countries) the inevitable happens, higher oil prices. The current market prices have already started to soften somewhat. Why? The supply lines are pumped full with a 2-3 month supply at the higher prices. Just enough to cover the June - August peak travel season.

Madam President wasn’t content stating the obvious, or understanding it, she had to wonder off into moonbat territory on two counts.

“It’s (oil price hike) increasing poverty and further widening the gap between rich and poor countries. This is a toxic formula that could increase global terrorism,” she added.

Arroyo said world leaders should enjoin oil-exporting countries in Asia and Africa, where most of the oil supply comes from, to “offer solutions that would temper the volatility of crude oil prices (and) slow the demand for oil.”

That “toxic formula” she refers to is the long used mantra of those that feel the need to excuse murderous behavior by jihadist cut throats. At best the theory is highly debatable and based on one study of 500 members of Osama bin Laden’s organization it may be flat out bunk!

Then we get to Arroyo’s alleged field of expertise, economics, and her suggestion that slowing demand for oil would cure anything beyond her standing as a politician. Followed to its logical conclusion her suggestion of slowing demand means only one thing. A world wide conservation effort.

For the sake of argument let’s assume the entire travel industry cuts back 10%. Less airline traffic is a good start, and 10% less auto mileage due to reduced vacations would also conserve oil. The effort would result in 10% less luxury cruises made. Less hotel reservations are made and a resulting drop in travel agents, both in commissions earned and total number on the job.

Now spread that scenario over every industry that relies on oil products to either manufacture goods or provide service to the public. And there are damm few that don’t use oil in one form or another. And that Madam President results in the exact opposite to want she’s tryng to avoid, a world wide recession.

Now someone tell me the value of a Masters degree in economics? And while you’re at it, tell President Arroyo she should be more concerned about a Philippine economy staggering from one crisis to the next than something she has near zero control over.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

During the last two US presidential elections two of the most common memes retailed by leftists, Democrats and moonbats of many stripes were the “No War for Oil” and the Cheney/Halliburton connections. Bear with me a minute and imagine this scenario for a moment:

What if Bush had made television, radio, or newspaper advertisments for one particular oil company? Suppose Cheney did a TV spot for Exxon stations or Havoline motor oil? The obvious answer is they never would have been elected or impeached if in office.

What that in mind, why is it Philippine President Arroyo is pimping for Petron oil corporation?

A DAY after a nationwide transport strike crippled public transport in key cities, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged the public to buy petroleum products from the quasi-government Petron Corp.

“We’re calling on everybody to buy from Petron rather than from rival firms because this is a deregulated environment. It’s demand and supply,” the President said yesterday at a news conference in Malacañang.

Petron, which is 40-percent owned by the government and has a market share of 38 percent, has not raised its prices the past few weeks.

‘Splain something to me. How does the theory of supply and demand work if, 1. A company is partially owned by the government, and 2, that company is under undue pressure not to raise prices due to item number 1. And last but certainly not least, what is the Filipino definition of “deregulated” if the President can pimp one company over all others in the press?

It should be noted President Arroyo has a doctorate in economics. She must have been ill on “supply and demand” day. The “deregulated environment” she refers to is Republic Act No. 8479, the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998. A section of that act allows oil firms to raise prices without seeking government approval.

Eeegads, just like a free market supply and demand system.

As if this absurdity wasn’t enough, the other oil companies are threathened with jail sentences for not reading their mail.

Officials of oil firms may face two-year prison sentences if they refuse to explain to the Department of Energy (DoE) by 5 p.m. today why they raised fuel prices by 75 centavos a liter over the weekend despite dropping world oil prices.

Energy Undersecretary Peter Anthony Abaya said the DoE yesterday sent another letter to the oil firms, seeking an explanation for the price increases, as the first letter went unheeded.

He said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla had asked oil companies, through a letter sent Monday, to explain under oath their latest price increases, which came at a time when world prices had gone down by more than 10 percent from all-time highs.

Let me preface this by saying, I in no way defend any oil company. To believe their pricing methods are on the up and up is delusional. But these idiots are about a liter short of a full gallon of gas. Do they really believe as the Mid-East oil ticks raise or lower the price of oil - as a result of world demand - it would by some type of petroleum magic be reflected at the pump? Have they never heard of the futures market? Have they no understanding that the gas pumped today was bought at a price set months ago and is unrelated to what is quoted in today’s papers?

I don’t believe it for a minute, I don’t believe they are as dumb as a box of rocks. This is just another case of knee jerk politics practiced to perfection by the Arroyo administration.

Not to be out done by the Palace, members of Congress have weighed in with proposals to cease purchasing oil from OPEC and only buying oil from China and Russia. The most incredulous idea comes from a militant transport group (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) and one of the organizers of Monday’s transport strike that crippled Manila. The groups secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said “scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law and the nationalization of the oil industry were the solutions to the crisis.”

Yea that’ll work. The government owns the biggest electric producer in the country that is billions of dollars in the red and charges the highest electricity rates in Asia,. These children need to go back to their sandbox and fight the real issues of the country. Over population, a sky high unemployment rate, and federal deficit reduction.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

As the rest of the world, the Philippines labors under the thumb of the oil ticks that run OPEC. As a result of the recent spike in the price of crude the Arroyo Government has a plan. A scheme. Ah…, well… something, and press reports claim it will save $2.6 million dollars.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has ordered most Philippine government offices to go on a four-day workweek in April and May to conserve energy.

From April 4 to May 31, government employees in the executive branch will work four days of 10 hours each instead of five eight-hour days from Monday to Friday, according to an administrative order signed by Arroyo Wednesday.

She said it was imperative for the government to lead the way in energy conservation, without jeopardizing the delivery of public service, in order to mitigate the impact of the oil price increases on the government’s fiscal position and the country’s U.S. dollar reserves, Business Times online reported.

I’m confused. But wait let me refresh my 2^nd grade math skills. Hmmm. 2 plus 2 = 4, 4 plus 8 = 12. OK I’m up to snuff, 4 x 10 = 40, 5 x 8 = 40.

Nope.. still confusing, to me at least. But never let it be said I won’t give Ate Glo (Pres. Arroyo) the benefit of the doubt. She and the “experts” that concocted this plan have most likely considered less energy will be expended because of one less travel day. A fair assessment, wouldn’t you say?

But there is one thing these calculation wizzards didn’t account for (or… maybe they did!). The countries schools begin their summer break this week. And as “luck” would have it the kiddies will be able to partake of summer fun til June. Also this week has seen an enormous increase in advertising for the many resort areas in country. Hmmmm… I wonder!

As they say, “you do the math,” political math that is.

Late Breaking Update: As the local temperature soars near the 90 degree mark, with humidity hovering around 80% the Department of Finance is considering a proposal to tax water consumption as another means of raising revenue.

I’ll let you all decide what this means to those that now enjoy a 3 day weekend for the next two months. Just make sure you figure into your calculations they will avail themselves of the opportunity to travel to the previously noted resort areas. Areas where the potential tax will be paid by the owner, not those participating in the weekend revelry.

In other late breaking news, President Arroyo’s approval rating is at it’s lowest level since first assuming office in 2001. With the exception of the 99% of the population that will be working a 5 day work week during the broiling summer heat I just can’t imagine why. What’s wrong with these ingrates?

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

As the Philippines starts it’s annual celebration of Holy Week the population propagandists have taken the opportunity to spread a little “fertilizer” around the countryside. Human Life International (HLI), a pro-life group, have been holding a series of forums in country. Brian Clowes, research director of HLI, has used the opportunity to be critical of the Philippines efforts at population control. Not surprisingly, it’s all an evil plot cooked up by the United States. The evidence he cites is, to say the least, suspect:

He said the “Ligtas Buntis” program and the pending House Bill 3773, or the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005, can trace their roots back to the US National Security Memorandum 200 (NSM 200) issued by Henry Kissinger in early 1970, only declassified in the early 1990s, which stated that the “depopulation” of Third World countries should be the highest US foreign policy.

“What the document says is that the US needs a widespread access to lesser developed countries which could be jeopardized by a large population,” he said during the debunking the overpopulation myth forum at San Pedro Hospital yesterday.

As further “evidence” he says HB 3773 is not a Filipino bill because “reproductive health is mentioned 55 times and family planning 17 times, where are the Filipino values? Here, God was not mentioned at all.” I won’t waste time with this last statement except to say here, here and here are examples of God’s “terrestrial representitives” as they go about their business and the effect it has had on Philippine society.

Back to the 30 year old Memorandum 200 for a moment. Can anything be more absurd than dredging up this historical document as evidence for anything? The US has elected 7 presidents and 8 vice presidents since 1970, starting with Richard Nixon in 1969. Due to world events US foreign policy has had countless priorities in the last three decades yet Mr. Clowes wants the Filipino people to believe those set forth 35 years ago are still in effect - sadly, due to the pervasive nature of the Catholic Church here and some anti-US sentiment many will. It’s also obvious Clowes has chosen to ignore, or doesn’t understand his own propaganda, (Or worse, knows and believes his audience is so stupid they will believe it). The fact is, if this memo was “declassified in the early 1990s” as he states, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, it serves as proof the document is no longer in effect.

Until recently Ligaya Acosta has been the regional program manager for the governments Ligtas Buntis program. She has taken a leave of absense from that job in protest of the program. She joined the [HLI] group in touring the country to educate the public about Ligtas Buntis and HB 3773. She is an even more skillful propagandist than Mr. Clowes:

The timing of the Ligtas Buntis, she said, is also suspect because the program was only relayed to them on the third week of January but was implemented immediately on February1.

“It was meant to catch the Church off-guard,” she said.

She said the Philippines, with its 84 million population, is not as overpopulated as what the government wants the public to believe. “We have only 255 people per square kilometer, that’s much lesser than Singapore with 7,223 people per square kilometer,” she said. She added that Hong Kong has more than 5,000 per square kilometer, Thailand has 625 per square kilometer and the density of South Korea is 433 people per square kilometer.

There’s that word again, “Church,” and they are “off-guard” now. That’s an ugly proposition, and also irrelavant to the subject at hand. What is relevant is her incredulous method of determining population density. How can anyone with a lick of common sense use Hong Kong and Singapore as examples? They both share a relatively small area and exceptionally high urbanization with little open spaces. In short, they are the best examples of a “concrete jungle.”

The Philippines, by most measurements, is rated in the top 25 of all Southwest and East Asian countires in population density, (The Vatican, BTW is listed at #6 of the world’s cities with over 2000 people per square kilometer. Can you say pass the condoms please? end of snarky comment - ed).

The Philippine land mass is approximately 300,00sq kilometers. Much of that is uninhabitable. Not in the “desert sense,” but in accessability and availiability of infrastructure. It is the 21^st century, yet in 2001 the Congress of the Philippines enacted and President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act No. 9136 (pdf file). Part of that law under Section 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY, sub-para a reads: “To ensure and accelerate the total electrification of the country.” Four years later it’s still an ongoing project.

Add to that roads, access to clean water and education, and various other services the government should provide to it’s citizens and can’t because population is growing faster than the above named moonbats are willing to admit, or believe. Considering the religious origins of Human Life International and it’s many adherents, I offer this, which should be easily recognizable:

“…And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad, And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed, And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah, And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah, And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum, And Shallum begat Jakamiah, and Jakamiah begat Elishama…” - The Bible, Chronicles

Who begat fanatics, moonbats and propagandists who will propagate any lie, misrepresentation, or perversion of the truth.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Ah yes, Holy week in the Philippines. The week when the “true believing” Filipinos have annually conducted reenactments of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion where a penitent is nailed to a cross. Keep in mind these “reenactments” are as real as they come. Complete with real crosses, real nails, real blood and a whole lot of real nut cases.

Case in point, Ruben Enaje has been crucified 18 times as of 2004.

San Pedro Cutud is a town in Pampanga province in the Philippines, approximately 70 kilometers north of Manila. It is known for annual re-enactments of the crucifixion of Jesus. During Holy Week each year, thousands of penitents arrive in the area to watch and take part in a pageant commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, including the Good Friday flagellation and crucifixion rituals.

And thousands of tourists, mostly from Europe, Japan and Korea. The moment tourists land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), they head for the information desk and ask: “Where can we find a crucifixion?” according to a longtime employee of the Department of Tourism (DoT).

Thanks to an adoring media that annually highlight the events the crush of tourists has prompted the local Department of Health to issue warnings to those watching and taking part.

Health authorities have cautioned penitents against traditional – but risky – Holy Week activities, such as crucifixion and flagellation.

“From the health aspect, we do not encourage them,” said Dr. Luningning Villa, head of the Department of Health’s infectious disease unit. Penitents planning to have themselves crucified or whipped risk getting tetanus, an infection that could kill victims in a matter of hours, she said.

The health department official also warned people against jumping in rivers after they are crucified, in the belief that they would be cleansed of their sins.

“Just imagine all the infectious agents in a river, not to mention those present in the nails and whips,” Villa explained. “They’re at risk for secondary infection.”

If penitents insist on being crucified or whipped, they should get the whip or nails properly sterilized, she said.

Anyone that has spent time here needn’t stretch their imaginations too far to understand the correlation between the local rivers and “infectious agents.” In fact in some areas getting within 10 feet of waters edge you risk having an “agent” jumping out and attacking you. As for Ruben Enaje and the many like him, good luck, you’ll need it. After 18 crucifixions his hands are so crippled he is unable to work.

Wonder if God has given him workers compensation?

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity