Dear GRP Insiders,
We wrote what we wrote last week because the passing of former President Noynoy Aquino presented a powerful context for a review of just what sort of people the leading Yellow clique within the Opposition are.
Regards,
benign0
In review and in prospect
This week marked the end of the Aquino Era with the death of former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III last Thursday. By Friday his body had been cremated and, by Saturday, his remains interred. They pulled a fast one, so to speak.
Noynoy's passing would have been a virtual non-event if not for the attendance of close family, friends, and former colleagues during his wake and a mass in his memory held at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.
Much as Noynoy Aquino's death was the most significant event of last week, it is unlikely that it will be of much consequence in this week's politics — for that matter, very likely of little significance over the months leading up to the May 2022 national elections. This, despite assertions coming from top Opposition "thought leaders” that, as Philippine political tradition dictates, an Aquino death forebodes the demise of a tyrant.
The fact is, there is no tyrant. What there is is an emerging five-way race for the presidency that can only spell trouble for a broad fragmented Opposition bidding for the chance to present an alternative to the Duterte Way. President Rodrigo Duterte's incumbent camp remains a formidable challenge to an Opposition having to contend with a vote split several ways. The path to victory no longer rests on a political mythology of martyred “heroes” and a sons on missions from God. Campaigns nowadays need to be a bit more clever than that.
Last week's blog posts
Politics
Cut the Crap! PNoy’s Death was Not Heroic!
June 27, 2021 by Hector Gamboa
"Why can’t many of these Yellows simply remember PNoy for his admirable traits and not use his death as another vehicle to promote a political end? There have been two Aquinos already whose deaths have been weaponized..."
Noynoy Aquino is NOT Jesus Christ
June 27, 2021 by benign0
"The Opposition are basically telling Filipinos that they owe the Aquinos — for the ultimate 'sacrifice' of Ninoy in 1983, for the stepping up of Cory in 1986, and for the summoning of The Son to messianic greatness in 2009."
June 26, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The Yellows can edify Noynoy all they want. But the Filipino people and history are in the better position to judge. They made that known in 2016 and 2019. Year 2022 is the turning point in history again because it marks the end of the Aquinos in the country’s political firmament."
June 24, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"They don’t see anything wrong wishing President Rodrigo Duterte dead but to call a spade a spade in one’s judgment of Noynoy Aquino is blaspehemy."
June 24, 2021 by benign0
"Right here today is a sacred cow — the dead Noynoy Aquino that tradition dictates demands the respect the dead deserve — and the no-go-zone waiting for a politician to plant his or her flag upon and claim as his or her territory..."
June 24, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"COVID-19 is not going to go away anytime soon and the public cannot be in a state of suspended animation over the basic issues which are a factor in their daily lives."
Necropolitics Card dealt by God to the Yellowtards!
June 24, 2021 by benign0
"What timing, indeed. An Aquino death in an election year. Both admin and Opposition politicians will have to tread carefully in their regard for the passing of a Philippine president."
Senate composition post-2022 election key to crucial admin agendas – including Charter Change
June 24, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Such are the vagaries of Philippine politics. An NPC Senate bloc is Tito Sotto’s insurance policy against irrelevance in the event he isn’t elected Vice-President. It makes him a kingmaker in determining who becomes Senate President."
June 24, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"But to my mind, any Presidential candidate who will challenge the Duterte brand needs to be as disruptive as Duterte was in 2016 if he wants to have a strong chance of success."
Manny Pacquiao’s promise to house every homeless Filipino is dishonest and irresponsible
June 23, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Politicos like Pac-Man should stop making irresponsible statements in aid of their planned Presidential bids. Pacquiao means well no doubt but he should also be realistic in his promises."
Aiko Melendez Kakalabanin Si Ate Rose Nono Lin Sa QC 5th District?
June 23, 2021 by Paul Farol
"Medyo nagulantang lang ako dun sa sinabi ni Ms. Melendez na waring anak rin siya ni dating Mayor Sonny Belmonte. So… bale ang tawag sa kanya eh 'Baby'? Ganon ba?"
Can Ping Lacson transform senatorial votes into presidential? Perhaps with Pacman’s and Isko’s help…
June 21, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"From the latest developments, we might have a three-way race between the administration, a possible Lacson-Pacman ticket, Isko-TBA (runningmate) to be announced and probably the Opposition with a Robredo-Trillanes combine."
Media
Front page of Philippine Daily Inquirer CRAMMED with fluff pieces about Noynoy Aquino!
June 25, 2021 by benign0
"Rather than make commemoration of a former president following his death a tasteful affair, they’ve tipped the occasion over into the realm of garapal."
Rappler republishes and amplifies malicious FAKE NEWS published by PhilSTAR
June 22, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Rappler has now deteriorated to the level of a propaganda mouthpiece for the Opposition. The Star, for its part, is controlled by Manny Pangilinan, an oligarch who is not a fan of President Rodrigo Duterte..."
Development and economy
The Philippines’ “Bucket List” – a vision for a better country
June 26, 2021 by PulbuRonn
"Continuity in policies must be observed. This has been the complaint of investors in the country as with every president, the Philippines is taken into a new direction which either weakens or altogether nullifies the predecessor’s efforts."
Public services
June 25, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"It is only under the Duterte administration that Senator Lacson has found a strong ally in addressing the plight of uniformed government personnel, particularly the members of the AFP and the PNP."
June 21, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"It’s become a game of finger-pointing between the IATF-EID and the local government units (LGUs) when it comes to vaccine availability. The LGUs haven’t adopted technology to solve the glitches in the registration process."
History
Revisiting my regard for Noynoy Aquino
June 27, 2021 by FallenAngel
"The more privileged took to Noynoy because of how he made them feel. I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that all that 'education' and 'privilege' was useless because, being Filipino, they still suspended their 'critical evaluation' in the face of Yellowtard rhetoric."
Answering Bobby Tiglao On Why Pnoy Died Alone
June 27, 2021 by Paul Farol
"Part of me wants to go along with the charade of Pnoy’s peaceful death, but another part of me just can’t abide by polite untruths — though I understand why such are said in public."
Debunking the Yellowtard fantasy that “God takes an Aquino whenever the Philippines is in trouble”
June 27, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Up to the very end, the Yellowidiots remain self-righteous and very, very much entitled. In case they forgot, Duterte’s formative years were also spent with the Jesuits at the Ateneo de Davao."
To the very end, Noynoy Aquino was a man-child and boy-king rolled into one
June 26, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"As President, Noynoy couldn’t set aside getting even with his and his family’s political enemies. He was driven by hatred. He wasn’t man enough nor had the gravitas to look at the forest instead of the trees."
Death of Noynoy Aquino is NOT end of the line for Yellowtardism
June 26, 2021 by benign0
"That is Noynoy and his family’s legacy, and boy does it stick like a rash. Short of using sandpaper to scrub the legacy off themselves, the Yellowtards remain perceived as such — Yellowtards."
Tragedy comes to mind when I remember Noynoy Aquino
June 25, 2021 by Ilda
"Are members of the Opposition actually mourning or are they celebrating the passing of Noynoy? It is almost as if they had long been hoping that another Aquino would die before the 2022 Presidential elections."
Noynoy Aquino died a sick and broken man
June 25, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"There was political vendetta against GMA, Corona, Erap, Enrile, Revilla and Binay. There was the skewed foreign policy which favored the interests of the few and not the greater interest of the Filipino people."
June 23, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The comprehensive action and rehabilitation plan submitted by Sen. Lacson before he resigned his post on February 15, 2015 was never implemented by President Aquino. It wasn’t even in the national budget until 2017..."
June 21, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"They should be doing the hard work of developing an alternative platform of government to present to the people for the 2022 election. Instead of the vicious politicking since 2016, they should have..."
Important dates
30 Aug 2021 - National Press Freedom Day
01 to 08 Oct 2021 - Filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC)
Notebook
"It’s fair to say the human gut is now the most well-studied microbial ecosystem on the planet. Yet more than 70% of the microbial species that live there have yet to be grown in the laboratory." (Full story)