Tuesday, September 22, 2015

MORAL IMPERATIVES AND THE GODS OF SMALL THINGS

     ON THE "RIGHTEOUS" CRITICS:



     They use a set of moral imperatives to condemn others for what they call their unforgivable acts, while they are stony silent on the misdeeds committed by their gods of small things, who violated the ethical rules of their own exclusive cultural domain.


WHY THERE IS MISERY AND WIDESPREAD POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES

            AFTER THE FALL OF FERDINAND MARCOS IN 1986

"We will never attain full democracy until we eliminate these political dynasties for a true democracy cannot be a monopoly of a few but should be in the hands of the many."--Reynato S. Puno, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Another cold, bloody facts from the ex-Chief Justice:


"The Philippine economy is served by 36 commercial banks but only four families control more than 60 percent of the P7-trillion resource of the entire commercial banking industry. Only ten families own 60 percent of the P10-trillion combined capitalization of 300 business companies in the country. Such a business environment fosters a 'state of despotism'that aims to preserve the monopoly of the few, thus following a theory of government of the few and for the few. The present electoral system becomes vulnerable to force and fraud from political leaders who seek power by establishing political dynasties. We cannot live a full democracy with this kind of system where governments have failed to put a stop to political dynasties. Such a system 'relentlessly amasses resources' from the people's coffers to benefit only members of the family and loyal political allies."


The Political Model of Jejomar Binay


Such is the case of Vice-President Jejomar Binay who has been lord and master of Makati, the richest city in the Philippines, since 1986. He was supposed to have been a poor human rights lawyer during the martial law regime. In the company of Senators Benigno Aquino, Jr.and Heherson Alvarez ; Butch Aquino and others who were in the forefront in the fight against the dictatorship. 


Binay has amassed enormous wealth. He and his wife, his son and daughters form the Binay political dynasty. Jejomar, his wife Elenita and their son Junjun (he was suspended for graft and corruption) sat as mayor of Makati one after the other without interruption. Daughter Abigail represents Makati in the Lower House while daughter Nancy is a senator.


FM's martial law aimed to dismantle these oligarchies that grew like mushrooms after his fall. Needless to say, Edsa cut this aim and nipped the reforms, and the so-called bloodless revolution inaugurated instead the era of political dynasties led by Binay.


In the interim, the Aquino-Cojuangco business empire expanded and multiplied a million times and put a mentally-deficient heir as president in Las Islas de los Ladrones.


Punieta, the assassinated Ilokano Gen. Antonio Luna would have said of this arrangement, a kind of modern-day slavery, where more than 50 million Filipinos wallow in misery and poverty, and suffer useless deaths like those who eat poisonous garbage bread.  


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