GRP Mail - 01 Nov 2021
Imagine an Opposition that had proven themselves INCAPABLE of uniting coming to power in 2022. A sobering thought indeed.
Dear GRP Insiders,
Happy Day of the Dead! Most Filipinos are Catholics so, presumably, death shouldn't be such a big issue for Filipinos because, after all, all that is promised by the Catholic faith lies after death.
Regards,
benign0
In review and in prospect
Did we already mention that the Philippine Opposition remain fixated on negative campaigning? Apologies then if you are reading this for the umpteenth time. Looking back at the week that's just passed, it seems that this fact about their campaign cannot be emphasized enough. Has the Opposition presented to Filipino voters anything about the future that they can look forward to? How do they envision the Philippines of 2028 after six years of a chance to lead their country? Sorry folks, answering those questions is evidently just too hard.
The admin camp may not be perfect and may also be divided into factions but the pathway to common ground is a lot clearer there. This is evident in how all the “placeholders” have been setup thus far with Senator Bato dela Rosa still regarded as one keeping the seat warm in case Sara Duterte decides to run for president, Bongbong Marcos running for president because Sara won't, and Marcos not having put forth a running mate yet and very likely open to Sara — or possibly her father — depending on who of the two decide what.
More importantly, with Marcos being the admin presidential bet for now, Sara's effectively taken one for the team for now too graciously throwing her party Hugpong ng Pagbabago behind his bid. That's not as much as one could say about the Opposition the bickering factions of which see no common ground amongst their lot beyond the old anti-Marcos and anti-Duterte motherhood-isms. One can only imagine what sort of government and ruling bloc these bozos would form should they manage to seize power — legally or illegally — next year or in the coming years.
The other bit of news making waves across the rest of the world is Facebook's renaming to “Meta”. Rather, it's the original Social Network subordinating itself to its new parent company, Meta as just one of the several other brands it owns. This is in line with Mark Zuckerberg's new focus on creating his “metaverse” within which he envisions users living in an immersive alternate reality “where people would interact, work and create products and content”. How does Zuck's envisioned alternate universe differ to existing multi-player online games? From what we read about it media, it seems not by much. One thing's for sure, we’ll find out soon enough.
Last week's blog posts
Politics
An unconventional proposal to save all versions of Filipino democracy
October 31, 2021 by FallenAngel
"Duterte’s supporters may not have the snooty air or the inability to step out of their echo chambers that the 'disente' do, but they turn off the non-aligned just the same by being irrationally hostile towards any criticism of Tatay Digong, especially the warranted ones."
Leni Robredo is anything but a “healing leader”
October 29, 2021 by benign0
"If Robredo and her lot cannot even change their campaign style what makes them think they would know the first thing about mounting an effort to implement long overdue change in the Philippines?"
October 28, 2021 by benign0
"If Robredo and her lot cannot even change their campaign style what makes them think they would know the first thing about mounting an effort to implement long overdue change in the Philippines?"
The Yellow Cult — turned #KakamPink scum — are the REAL threats to Democracy!
October 27, 2021 by Moduli
"If theirs is the sole truth, why are they so insecure as to habitually shut down dissenting opinions and constructs? Are they afraid to be proven wrong and called out for being frauds?"
North and South UNITE across the seas: Marcos-Duterte “super bloc” sees rise of #SolidPhilippines
October 25, 2021 by benign0
"Whatever credible 'thought leaders' the Opposition are left with will have to get back to the drawing boards and craft new strategies to deal with the changed game that the Marcos-Duterte alliance has created."
Media
Change-dot-org petition to recall Maria Ressa’s Nobel TAKEN DOWN after amassing 120,000 signatures
October 30, 2021 by benign0
"Who is powerful enough to have a petition removed from Change-dot-org? Opposition 'influencer' Gang Badoy-Capati may offer some answers..."
History
October 26, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The power blocs are afraid that what they stole from the Marcoses in their time of weakness will be taken back and they will be left at the mercies of what will be the Marcos-Duterte combine."
Duterte’s cleanup of the mess Noynoy Aquino made of Ph-China relations should CONTINUE post 2022
October 26, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"...'Will our candidate continue the path of the Duterte administration in setting aside the award, or will he or she choose an entirely different path?' Butuyan’s position, as expected, is one of fear of that continuity that his camp are bent on blocking…"
Crime
Corrupted Values on Vote-buying
October 31, 2021 by ChinoF
"...if you take the bribe and vote for someone else anyway, isn’t that lying? So not only do you take bribes, but you lie. The right answer would be to never take the bribe at all."
October 28, 2021 by benign0
"So clear was her message that a generic tweet issued by Commission on Elections (COMELEC) spokesman James Jimenez copped a deluge of defensive responses from Robredo’s mob."
Leni Robredo should be DISQUALIFIED for encouraging her followers to accept bribes
October 26, 2021 by benign0
"Receiving bribes is, by itself, a crime. Robredo should know better than to condone — in this instance, encourage — criminal activity. This is astoundingly irresponsible behaviour coming from no less than a Philippine 'vice president'..."