Philippine Politics

Feb. 21, 2010

4:30 am - I had a good sleep last night and getting adjusted to my new time zone. Since my arrival, I’ve been holed up in the compound and haven’t set foot outside. My father who will be 94 this coming May has been keeping me company every day and he too seems to be enjoying the flow of people in and out of this place. Boredom doesn’t seem to exist here (for older people at least) even in the absence of Starbucks, malls, theaters and all those hangout places people normally go – at least for the time being.

What bothers me the most is my indignation about the Philippine justice system and what happened to my brother’s protest case. I do not understand why the Supreme Court Justice can be so incredibly swift in reversing the Lower Court and the Commission on Election judgments that seated my brother back to office. The case took more that 2 years to deliberate but the SC reversal of the judgment only took them less than a month. How can a SC hand down a “status quo” ruling that was so vague that they had to issue a second ruling (7 – 8 vote) favoring the other party. It is common knowledge how corrupt the Philippine politics is but this one I believe is the pits. I also heard there was a PHP8 million dirty money injected to swing the SC order to their favor. They know who they are. I won’t be surprised if the Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao goes to the dogs the way it is going.

I also have a gripe about our senators whom I sent email letters about Gov. Maliksi’s military takeover several weeks ago. Not even one acknowledged at least receiving them for courtesy purposes. I guess it is election time that they are too busy preparing for their political survival.