henever she speaks I am tempted to say that Jamby Madrigal is the new Miriam Santiago. But that would be an impudent insult to a brilliant legal mind, accused of various mental disorders over the years only because of an ineradicable Ilonggo-British accent.Jamby Madrigal has neither problem. Her drawling Old Money diction finds new eloquence in the figures of speech of the Communist Left, with whom she has developed a symbiotic political and ideological relationship with many trans-gender nuances. Fortunately for us, she is the Medium and they are the message. But that combination has been seen on stage many times before, with entertaining, even hilarious effects.
But you don't really have to accept my diagnosis without seeing the clinical evidence. Here it is, in her own words, in a speech she recently delivered in the Hague, and posted on the official Senate government website (talk about infiltration!). It is the Opening Statement for the Prosecution in a trial over political killings in the Philippines. The principal accused is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I would compare the forum to processes often associated with certain large marsupials in the Southern Hemisphere, but I've already delivered one undeserved insult today. So let us listen to the good Senator Jamby Madrigal who does the work for us.
Speech of Sen. Madrigal at the People's Permanent Tribunal
The Hague, 30 October 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen of the People’s Permanent Tribunal:
The Filipino people and their posterity have great need for the efforts of this tribunal, and its labors to secure our common objective of exposing to the people, just how deeply and thoroughly the President of the Philippines has betrayed her office, the public trust, and the humanitarian principles to which Filipinos have been committed since independence.
[TRANSLATION] WE CAN'T GET RID OF THE PRESIDENT OURSELVES UNDER PHILIPPINE LAW, SO WE'VE COME TO YOU FOR HELP.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has publicly called for prudence and discernment, so that the institutions of the State and secular society will have an opportunity to assume responsibility for the search for the truth, with fairness, charity, and justice in mind. The President of the Philippines has trivialized and sidestepped proposals such as a Truth Commission; she has actively thwarted impeachment; she has treated the efforts of the Citizen’s Commission for Truth and Accountability with contempt and more.
[The CBCP did not actually withdraw support from the President and they probably don't agree with Joma anywhere nearly as much as I do, but if I mention their name here at the beginning, many people will be fooled into thinking they do.]
The purpose of this exercise is: to engage the legal profession, the clergy and religious, the bishops, and the laity, and to confront them with the true meaning not only of recent pastoral statements from the clergy, but to use secular law for moral objectives; to eliminate the “rule of law” or simply, the law, as a monopoly of the President of the Philippines or any state leader; to engage the President’s partisans in an active defense of her, against evidence and testimony already subjected to the most rigorous legal analysis and interpretation; and finally, to provide a means that is of permanent record, portable, easily distributable, and difficult to misinterpret, throughout the length and breadth of the land and the world.
[Translation: We haven't succeeded in convincing our own people to eliminate this inconvenient "rule of law" even when we held our own Kangaroo Court, with its own Presiduum and all, last year. So we turn to you, the Permanent People's Tribunal, to help us turn it all into propaganda, instead.]
Such an exercise will take a few months, to be sure, but it will prevent Mrs. Arroyo from saying she has achieved normalcy; it shines the harsh light of the law on the issues, it exposes the evidence, it makes them available to all, including the skeptical, fearful, or indifferent. [GLOBAL propaganda]
Since 2004, the Filipino people have been a people demanding answers, and yet unable to get a frank, democratic response from our leaders. Mrs. Arroyo has led the way in substituting confusion for clarity, replacing faith in our people with cynicism towards their democratic demands, and demonstrating hostility rather than dedication to the rule of law. She tramples human rights and yet preaches she loves her people. [So now, we shall do that too!]
I believe what my countrymen and all those in solidarity with them believe: that the truth can be found, and that it is the obligation of every Filipino and every person in the world dedicated to truth, justice, human rights and the creation of a democratic space, to find it. Only then can we be truly democratic, and free, for we would be equal in knowledge, and liberated from doubts concerning our government. [We haven't been able to get rid of her, but we just know she is guilty.]
Normal, to her, is the continued harassment of oppositionists, whether belonging to progressive groups, or to the mainstream political parties. She denounces the party list representatives, then confers heroic status on them by ordering their arrest. [Do unto other's before they do unto you.]
[read the rest at the Senate website in the link above]
Meanwhile, in the real world of the communist insurgency (really just a nationwide extortion and protection racket) here is the NDF boasting of two political murders committed by the CPP-NPA just the other day. But I doubt that these will be added to the list of "extradjudicial killings" -- since they were done after a New People's Army court, (probably the local branch of the one Jamby just addressed!) had already "sentenced" them to death.
There is no denying of course, that many people are dying--both innocents and combatants on both sides. There is after all a communist insurgency on with a "people's army" led by their "vanguard party" that has bedevilled the people for half a century, seeking to overthrow the government, by violent means and foul, and create a new Member of the Axis of Evil Hairdos.
The local version of it last year was a bizarre, Orwellian morality play that only glorified local Leftist fantasies of Justice-by-edict. In the name of the People, of course. No one takes this new, "international" People's Tribunal of Joma and Jamby seriously. Except of course for the Kangaroos, that noble race of mammals more anxious than her to keep their good reputation and upright standing within the democratic and constitutional genus.
Bel Cunanan of PDI, who is normally like oil on water, name-dropping and oozing optimism, displays a rare tantrum as she calls for abolition of the people's initiative as a means of charter change. Tsk, tsk, what a bitter pill is so sour a defeat.
I give John Kerry a lot of credit for apologizing to the American people regarding his controversial remarks to college students recently about Iraq. It's damage control, but I believe it is sincere.
Adrian Cristobal of the Manila Bulletin offers a curious theory. He thinks victory for the Democrats during the midterm elections is a Republican strategy for winning the 2008 elections!
WITH the US mid-term elections just a few days away, the Republicans are trailing in the polls. The usual analysts blame this on the Iraq war. (There’s also Foley’s folly, which reminds us of a British writer’s remark that nothing is as ridiculous as the British public in their sudden fits of morality, only this time it’s the American.)I think Ricky Carandang and the rest of the ABSCBN News Gang will be discussing Bob Woodward's new book on Iraq, State of Denial, tomorrow, Friday on the Morning Show on ANC.
The curious thing is why astute Democrats are wary of winning, and equally astute Republicans are not dismayed at losing, the majority in Congress.
The astute Democrats think that not getting the majority will enhance the party’s chances in the presidential elections. They believe that the Republicans cannot disentangle themselves from the mess they created with George W. Bush in just two years.
The astute Republicans think so, too; that’s why for them it would be better for Democrats to win the congressional majority since the onus of responsibility would be on their shoulders; they wouldn’t be able to do anything constructive either.
It wasn’t so long ago when President Bush said, in effect, that the present mess, if mess it is (which he may have or may have not created), would be the problem of the next administration, Republican or Democrat; certainly not his.
Manuel L. Quezon III has the Really Long View today at PDI with a discussion of the generational displacement caused by Ferdinand Marcos.
My favorite editorial cartoonists, Cox & Forkum, announce a new book, Black and White World III.
50 comments:
Adrian Cristobal of the Manila Bulletin offers a curious theory. He thinks victory for the Democrats during the midterm elections is a Republican strategy for winning the 2008 elections!
maybe adrian got that idea from national review's ramesh ponnoru or jonah goldberg.
btw dean, do you love watching movies. may i make a suggestion? can you review some films that are out now in dvd in you blog?
like Syriana?
or Looking for Comedy in the Muslim world?
and Cavite?
i want to read what you have to say about these films. hindi ba si denbeste anime reviewer na? (btw, i still read him everyday).
mb,
there's lots about the tribunal in google. I don't think its a front of the CPP. It's probably more like what HIllblogger (Anna de Brux) calls Communists as the perfect middle class.
john,
yeah, i suspected as much considering he was talking last week about his subscriptions to various of those publications.
DJB,
Off topic....
One of the La Salle brothers who went on swimming earlier this afternoon went missing.He is brother Rafael Donato,he was the lsgh president during the late eighties till early nineties.Let us pray for him.
Now on Jamby,
When she was just a newbie,I was impressed by her using Management science and statistics in her speech,yun nga lang sya lang yata ang nakaintindi,kahit si Brenda I mean Miriam hindi naitindihan ang speech nya.
Karl,
Bro. Rafael Donato was our high school principal. That beach he was swimming in (Bagac, Bataan) is really dangerous, especially at low tide when there is a strong undertow. There is a beach resort there now but 30 years ago our class went there on an outing. Four of us had taken a row boat out at low tide and before we knew it we couldn't make out the beach house because we were being taken out to sea with the tide. Luckily some men saw us and used a motor launch to tow us back. Everyone is hoping that Bro. Rafe was found by fishermen and will be found safe. Navy Seals are onsite. But things look grim. He was fit as far as I know. Saw him earlier this year at homecoming.
Hi Dean,
I gave Jamby's speech a cursory look.
I've heard and read a great deal of nasty things about her so that when I met her I tried to "pry" a great deal into her thoughts.
One of my comments was, "Am surprised to see you both (she and Ocampo) together because one would have thought your ideas are diametrically opposed, blah, blah..."
But as I told you earlier, she sounded and seemed so sincere. Many of my friends warned me that Sen Madrigal had a habit of making sure people understand how wealthy she is and all that. I didn't see it there. I raised the issue of her wealth and social status but she just said "I want to make a difference, etc."
She also said that her own family castigated her and practically disowned her for going against the powers that be, i.e., Gloria, etc. but she didn't care because deep inside her, she wanted to serve her nation (well, that's the gist.)
I'm in no way coming to her defence but that's my impression of her. Perhaps, you're right that she has this romantic illusion of Joma and his clique but having met her only twice (first time in Manila), I do want to reserve further judgement of her.
What if an ordinary Filipino presented the case to the PPT, would you have a different view? It seems propaganda works both ways. To me this is important. Let the whole world know how GMA's version of accountability stinks. If the world cares so much for people's rights, they too should hear the voice of the Filipino as well. The international community is so concerned with the rest of the world, why not with us? Africa and the Middle East is no different from us. The reason behind Cha-Cha and GMA's refusal to sign the Rome Statute is one and the same, its all about accountability which to this day is the Filipino's elusive dream.
Anna,
I think she IS sincere, but that is not enough. Loren was just like her, and still is in many ways. Maybe Jamby will learn. I haven't "given up" on her, but she is poisoning her own reputation I would think. But gosh when I think of the thousands of idealistic young colegialas that became activists, then members of the NPA killed in some encounter, it breaks my heart. But Jamby never went their route. She got water cannoned once, now she is the patron saint of demonstrators. She has every right to express herself, but the thoughts she expresses are clearly not her own. I know. I used to think and talk like that too!
Schumey,
Tell the truth: had you HEARD of the PPT before all this. Has anyone?
Who is the Chief Justice (or Commissar or Minister or whatever) of the PPT? Who are the other judges? Who appoints them? Who are they answerable to? What Constitution do they base their judgments on? What precedents? What LAWS?
Or maybe this is not about Law, but rather about Theatre.
I personally had heard about it even before Jamby went there but didn't give it more than a passing glance.
But after reading Schumey's comments, I think I'll try to find out more about it.
yes, the communists and the leftists are bad.
pero bakit nung 2000-2001 at at sa edsa dos, i recall na magkakampi ang kampo ni Arroyo at ang mga komunista at leftists. nag join forces pa nga ang militar at maka-kaliwa para patalsikin si erap.
bakit ngayon, ganito na ang nangyayari sa mga dating kaalyado ni arroyo sa kaliwa. LOL.
Political Expediency?
i think the jihadists pose a more serious threat to our country. she should reach out to the opposition members who are frightened by Arroyo's version of the anti-terror bill and tell them that we're going to drop some of the provisions in the bill that were inserted in 2005, and were meant to be used against the anti-GMA groups and the opposition.
arroyo should tell the opposition and anti-GMA senators and house members (lacson, lim, golez, estrada, magsaysay) that she is wiling to approve their version of the anti-terror bill for the opposition and every filipino's peace of mind. the only groups that should be afriad of the bill are the jihadists and the NPAs.
John,
In terms of incidental terrorism, I agree the jihadists are a bigger problem than the NPA. We don't for example know whether or not they have a Bomb. But I think even the jihadists realize the Philippines is a Christian country, where Muslims are a strict minority. Of course Mindanao is there, but what I'm trying to say is that perhaps they do not really consider us as "Muslim land." If ever they would split it up with the CPP NPA. Now in terms of "systemic terrorism" the NPA is a major micro- and macroeconomic burden to the Filipino people. They are independent of any President or administration, as a problem that is.
John,
May sentiments exactly. Why not revise the Anti-Terrorism Bill and consider the proposed provisions of the senate. If its not a political tool, why disregard the senate's suggestions. Its easier to "sanitize" now than clean the mess later. I'm against terrorism but what do we do about state sponsored terrorism? My view hasn't changed about the Anti-Terrorism Bill. I would like to see it cleared of any political cloud. With the lower house/administration proposal, GMA will no longer need to declare martial law to get rid of the opposition. Nor will there be a need to ask the congress for such a declaration. I agree with DJB's suggestion of creation of a separate court for it but if the likes of Raul Gonzalez would be appointed, what would safeguard legitimate dissent.
DJB,
We may call it law, proganda or whatever. The key is "awareness and information". We see a flurry of statements from prominent figures about the plight of Africa, Lebanon, Palestine and even Myanmar. Their plight is justified and information about this is worldwide. I think ours deserves to be known too. If evidence against GMA is weak then she is cleared, if not, then let her be condemned too by the international community.
So, Rizalist, you think the NPA belongs in that Terrorist list? The young colegialas who became members of the NPA, were they terrorists? How do you define terrorist? And how are they different from armed rebels that do not belong in the Terrorist list?
Schumey, I'm all for information. But this gig is being billed as a TRIAL, in a Court, with charges and judgments. That is what makes it Orwellian considering that the legal and constitutional bases for such a "trial" are highly questionable. Living with such a lie, if that is what it is, is unacceptable to me because it is a mockery of real justice. It is pure psychosis to accept that it IS legitimate judicial procedure and not a political propaganda morality play.
I think what many forget is that democracy, unlike Islam or Christianity, does not come with guarantee of results, only a reasonable and effective method of achieving them.
It is the communists, with their historically failed system, that must promise a Paradise, must ensure that justice is always done according to the Party line.
Jego,
Yeah, the NPA belongs on the EU's, US's list of FTO's and if we had one, the Philippine list of terrorist organizations. Along with the CPP leadership and the Abu Sayyaf bandit group. Their large scale extortion operations include blackmail and kidnapping as well as the delivery of "revolutionary justice" to the "class enemies of the people" may not resemble 9/11, but they strike the same fear in people's hearts that "it" will happen again. Humanitarian violations of all kinds have been committed by these groups, including mass killings of their own comrades suspected of being agents of the govt.
The longevity of the communist insurgency is no proof that the cause for which they are fighting is good, or that their strategy and tactics are justified by "root causes."
What makes their cause so special, their goals so noble, or their ideology so superior, that our inteligentsia even defend their right to wage violent struggle to achieve it? Some even deny that they are involved in violent armed struggle every day on 650 "guerilla fronts and liberated zones."
If anything, one would have expected that after half a century of marching to glorious victory there would be a more positive response to their calls for revolution. But the Pinoys just make them dedma, for the most part.
"How are they different from armed rebels that do not belong in the terrorist list." [in reference to colegialas in the NPA).
I guess I have to say that when colegialas commit murder or kidnapping, then we call them murderers or kidnappers. When they commit acts of terror then we call them terrorists. Except for the especially blind or obtuse, the reality of terrorism in the world is obvious. Yet what "acts" constitute "terrorism" is ill-defined, prejudiced, arbitrary -- until you have a law to make definite what the people themselves consider to be terrorism.
Colegialas would be terrorists if they break the anti-terrorism law, just like anybody else. They are special only in that, as in Jamby, there seems to be a special romatic appeal that the revolutionary Left has for this group. And all young people, by default.
My favorite saying is thus: "If you are not at least a communist sympathizer when you are 16, then you may have no heart. But if you are still a communist sympathizer at 26, you may have no head"
I may be naive, Rizalist, but from what I know of the reds, they have their own set of laws--trials even--within which they pronounce sentence. They just dont pick anyone at random and shoot their brains out. How they choose to deal with the rogues within their ranks (the murderers, extortionists, kidnappers, etc.) would do much to indicate to me whether or not they belong to the Terrorist list.
I'd like to throw this in as an indicator of whether or not a group is terrorist or not: If you have no reason to be afraid (you are law-abiding, peaceful, citizen) but nevertheless are, that's terrorism.
Many moons ago, I was assigned to a small coal mining town in Mindanao that was at that time a hotbed for rebels. In that town, I had a distinct impression that the people were more afraid of the military than they were of the reds. As I look back on it now, I wonder who was waging terrorism then. This 50 year rebellion is eating us up; terror feeding upon terror. The Pinoys make them dedma because I dont think they have been allowed to present their case to the people yet. I mean really present their case. Red scare tactics from the powers-that-be are effective in stiffling their right to speak freely, dont you think? In parts of the country, being labeled a red is a death sentence. Who knows, if they are allowed to speak freely, then maybe the rebellion would end. Or at least, those that choose terror tactics are discredited when a peaceful venue is made available. The IRA was more or less discredited in N.I. when Sinn Fein was allowed to participate peacefully. Let the CPP participate. Let the people hear them out. I for one dont really know what theyre about.. There's a huge chance that what theyre espousing is absolute bollocks but Id like the chance to make up my own mind.
Like you I believe the reds are wrong. But whatever happened to their right to believe what they believe in? I think the CPP-NPA in their twisted way is practicing that old libertarian principle of the right of a people to protect themselves from the State by means of the use of arms. We cant really lump them with the jihadists, IMO.
Dean,
Re: "If you are not at least a communist sympathizer when you are 16, then you may have no heart. But if you are still a communist sympathizer at 26, you may have no head"
Ja, ja, ja! Ich weiß!
Didn't Hitler think same way too at the beginning?
Jego,
just received a phone call this instant. FVR is in Brussels... I've been invited to attend a gathering in his honor tomorrow; a journalist friend is going too and I will make singit during the interview (Heh!)
If you can make it, why not join the fun and we can talk to him about the terrorist bill being proposed?
Utrecht is like an hour's drive to the gates of the Embassy here!!!!
Dean, what did I tell you? I bet FVR will make it a point to say "hi" to his friend in Utrecht, not Jego (well, ok, why not?) but you know, your favorite pet peeve, JMS!
Sad news Dean,
Brother Rafe's body was already recovered.There is a vigil now on LSGH chapel
Good thing there was someone there to rescue you,I had a traumatic experience when the boat I was riding capsized somewhere in Manila bay near a beach in Ternate,good thing there was a fishing stand or something nearby in the middle of nowhere.
As in every law it is up to the bicameral conference,if the one in the bicameral conference ignore all the senate's suggestions then that's the problem.
But it is always Might makes right.....
it all boils down to the power broker.
Anna,
Most people treat ideology as if it were a simple matter of opinion.
But to me ideologies are hypotheses that can be, and are tested by history.
Tbus, no matter what validity or even good we may see in communism, the histories of Russia and China prove that it is an evolutionary dead end.
Dean,
Don't think I'm defending Philippine communists and their ideology. Don't twist what I didn't say. I didn't say they were good. I merely spoke of what I see...
I said, so what if Philippine commies prefer Mao or Lenin to Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld or for that matter, prefer China's or Russian version of communism... Why do you want them to think like you do? You cannot force people to accept the American way of thinking all the time. It doesn't work like that.
As to Communism, let me remind you that I've lived in Europe for more than 3 decades, lived here long enough to witness the decadence of Communism - experienced arrogance and verbal abuse in the hands of labor union leaders because I didn't want to join their Communist sponsored strikes; I saw the dismantling of Communism with the fall of the Berlin wall first hand (was in Berlin with friends when it started) and know that it is a failed system of government, I am a living witness here to the conversion of these former communists to the Western way of life which is happening all across the European hemisphere.
Didn't I tell you that communists now are becoming the perfect middle class, i.e., little business for profit, bit of luxury here and there, good educational attainment in Europe?
So, you cannot lecture me on how communism failed... how it failed most of the former USSR countries... we are seeing these tiny former communist countries rushing to join wealthy, free Europe...
But it is a fact that Communist parties exist in the political hemispheres of almost all European countries and they are legal... perhaps millions of people still cling to the old essential promises that in Communism, they can aspire for economic and social equality. I don't know but they exist.
However, I personally don't believe in equality as espoused by former or sentimental communists - am much too pragmatic to believe or accept that but I do believe that there should be a bit of homogenity - just a teeny weeny bit, short of everyone or everything being almost equal, would be good if people don't go hungry...it's the more humane thing to aspire for, just a bit of humanity. Nothing to do with ideology here.
Your problem in the Philippines is warped time - it has affected the Philippines, it has passed the Philippines by, it continues to set back a nation that doesn't need to be a Communist country for it to fail on almost all levels, social, political, economic, etc.
You find why it is so and perhaps, you will find the solution to your problems.
Anna,
Lookit, there's nothing personal here. I hope I'm not being insulting sometimes (It's just rhetorical device like peremptorily taking a well-defended pawn with one's Queen.)
But here in our posts is the problem with LABELS. The "communists" you are talking about, the one's that have managed to become "the perfect middle class" are not the same "communists" I refer to as extortionists terrorizing the Filipinos.
I have merely taken your words at face value Anna, because I think you represent part of the truth about "communists" when taken as a worldwide category.
But we cannot fall into the trap that Islamism is bound in: that Islam, eg, is a monolith. That whatever happens to Muslims or communists everywhere affects them all.
That clearly is not true, right?
Which is why, on this Comment Thread I've been asking about having a TERRORIST LIST that serves as our definition of who the terrorists are.
That way the misunderstanding self-evident in this very discussion will be largely avoided.
My prayers for those Brother Rafe left behind.
Hillblogger, much as Id like to tag along, Im afraid my corporate shackles won't let me leave Utrecht this weekend. I hope you give the former Prez a huge piece of your mind. :-)
My prayers go to the the loved ones that brother Rafe,left behind.
one thing I noticed here in Pinas,we always do it our own way,or we put a different twist to everything.....
The movement intended tom pattern their ideology to the Maosist practice of developing the countryside first,then controlling it,then the nation woul fillow,but here in Pinas, the poor got poorer because they were easier to extort..You know the vicious cycle that followed the poor from the province went to the cities etc,etc ....,at least now China(state) has the bulk of the dollars and the Euros,but here in Pinas all the dollars and Euros of the movement are in the Netherlands.
now to Islam,the South East asian region has the most number of Muslims thanks to Indonesia,but obviously in the sates they associate everything with Arabs,that is why even with the most our number of Muslims that might be potentially more damaging,the JI is feared less than any faction in the middle east and south Asia.
I have spoken to a non-Muslim Indonesian (an immigrant from India) a couple of months ago and he said that Indonesian muslims are kind and tolerant of other faiths. That is in general true of Southeast Asian muslims. Our South East Asian brand of Islam is locked in a battle with the brand of radical Islam being imported from the Middle East. Islam isnt a monolith like Rizalist said.
Just got back from LSGH to pay my respects. Apparently the brothers were all on vacation together in Morong. When they arrived, Bro. Rafe apparently was so excited he didn't bother to unpack but just got his swimming trunks and ran down to the beach. There've been anumber of deaths there this year because of a strong undertow. He will be missed.
Hi Dean,
Mind expounding a bit on what you meant by "I have merely taken your words at face value Anna, because I think you represent part of the truth about "communists" when taken as a worldwide category."?
Hi Karl,
My sympathies to the family of the departed.
Jego,
Too bad...
What I would like to know from HE, ex Prez FVR is why he was retired by the Carlyle group?
Also, perhaps ask him why he thinks a unicameral system of govt is better than bicameral...
Anna,
I am accepting at face value your observation that in the world there are "communists" who have become "the perfect middle class" in their millieu. Most European communists, I suppose are like that. They have achieved a place in their social and political systems, and are not involved in violent "communist" insurgencies seeking to overthrow an existing democracy. They are only "philosophical" communists. Not "terrorist" communists.
Anna,
Whaddya think of the Cox and Forkum editorial cartoon I posted? You've mentioned once how just speaking about Muslims in France (or Belgian society?) is considered incorrect behavior.
What? You mean the cover of the book? Strange depiction of stifling of freedom of speech or expression but it's pretty...
Yeah, people are very careful to offend Islamic sensibilities (lest they are branded racist or something) and prefer to make sure there's no misunderstanding when one utters the words, ISLAMIST, MUSULMAN, JIHAD, etc. by being very very choosy with his/her words particularly in public...
Here's an anecdote: Two weekends ago, I took the train to Paris to meet with my tenants - we met in a café in front of the Gare du Nord (train station in Paris.) Just as we were about to sit, I noticed there were only Arab or Mid-East/Meditaranean looking type of customers so I asked, "Etes vous surs que nous ne sommes pas dans un café reservé pour des musulmans içi?" (You sure we're not in a café reserved for muslims here?) One of my tenants motioned with his forefinger in front of his mouth to mean "Shhhh!"
I was flabbergasted and said rather loudly (and perhaps rudely): "Nous sommes dans un pays libre et j'ai posée une question tout a fait simple, ou est le probleme?" (We are in a free country here - I asked a very simple question, where's the problem?")
My tenants who were actually very young yuppies were quite disconcerted.
I personally don't go around trying to offend people's religious sensibilities on purpose but I do make myself clear, i.e., I don't pretend to like veiled muslim muslim women prancing around... the law prohibits veiled muslim women in public and when I run into someone like that in a supermarket, I say, "Madam, you are breaking the law!" BASTA!
Ooops, I meant it's against the law here for Muslim women to wear the muslim veil (covered face) in public....
Now, Dean, my turn... Let me ask you if it's right for Turkey PM not to receive His Holiness?
Anna,
I'm not familiar with the recent development, but it could be a diplomatic signal of displeasure at the recent neoconservative remarks of His Holiness. Or else it could be a sign of prudence on the part of the Turkish authorities who probably feel they won't be able to control the situation.
I looled at old news about the Pope and Turkey;I saw A septemer news item saying that the Turkey government invited the pope..as to what happened,maybe it wass one of the reasons Dean mentioned.
Yeah, perhaps so.
There's been a few news items putting emphasis on the fact that Turkey PM would rather attend the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia than be on hand for the Pope's arrival.
Some Italian newspapers call it a snub. Initially, that was my thought to but thinking again, the PM might have a more important political and security reason for not being there which has actually nothing to do with the security of the Pope.
Dunno. I posted my thoughts in my blog.
Folks, looks like we never even got to the main topic here! Which is extrajudicial killings. I pointed to an NDF press release practically bragging that the NPA had executed two municipal officials accused of being agents of the state. (Well, aren't they?)
But these two murders are not part of that magic list of "745" or whatever the current number is, of extrajudicial killings.
Oh no, these self-righteous self-judicious terrorists first passed a "death sentence" on the "class enemy" advertised it for five years or so, then killed them in cold blood.
Nice middle class terrorists.
Dean,
Have the CPP-NPAs also become middle class?
That's news...I thought they've remained hidden in the boondocks and are really a bunch of rag tag gun toting army.
Told you Dean, you guys in Pinas have remained warped in time... while the rest of the commies anywhere else in the world are aiming for a perfect middle class life (just look at your neighbours, the Red Chinese), you guys choose to remain forever at the bottom of the social totem pole... tsk, tsk...
I'm beginning to believe you that Joma is far more powerful than the entire Philippine political, judiciary, intellectual armed machinery put together (not forgetting Uncle Sam's gentle support...)
Why, your successive presidents have not managed all these years to show a bit of clout and sign an extradition treaty with the Netherlands is beyond me.
Anyway, congratulations, Dean. You've just proven to me that you were right all along... Your pet peeve who's managed to become a petit bourgeois has left you all quite behind.
Anna,
You're no good at sarcasm because you're too much of a straight shooter.
Besides, the term "middle class" really has lil meaning around these parts. Our middle class is in Daly City and New Jersey.
As for the petit bourgeois, their the guys that read Time and Le Monde in the john. Talk about being "left" "behind!"
Hey Dean,
Didn't know you can read French. Time magazine, a commie magazine? That's new.
Le Monde has gone pretty bourgeois if you don't know it yet. Ah toldya, commies have become pretty middle class in this part of the world.
Daly City and New Jersey? You talking of American commies or Philippine commies?
C'mon Anna, I didn't call them commie magazines. I was just commenting on habits of the petit bourgeoisie. Btw, I guess you never were a radical activist in the Philippines, coz you didn't get the joke about reading magazines in the john. It was a way for "truly revolutionary comrades" to begin their ideological transformation into proletarian fighters, from their usually petit bourgeois origins.
Hahahah!
Didn't know that.
Nope, I was NEVER an activist, by that you must mean political activist, not even remotely, but I used to ACTIVELY rebel against Dad for not allowing me to drive his new car or something silly like that. I was perhaps too engrossed in my "bourgeois" way of life and preferred to party, attend fashion shows, or being cover girl for local womens magazines, (Womens Magazine and I think the other was called Woman's Journal, can't quite remember exactly anymore, as well as in a couple of other stuff!) Heh!
But I met a pretty, bright, bourgeois girl whom I understand was an extremely dangerous radical activist; can't remember her name now, but I remember she was a model for Caltex...
No, no, I think it was Esso, not Caltex... gosh can't remember anymore.
Several bright beautiful women have had their fling with the Left. There was even a bomba star--I think it was Elizabeth Orapesa--who became an NPA for a while. But there it is you see, a kind of romantic communism to which many Filipinas, and Filipinos have been susceptible.
So, Rizalist, in your personal Terrorism list, extra-judicial killing = terrorism? Alsa Masa, that 80s anti-communist vigilante group is ergo terrorist? These NPAs are outlaws who dont recognize our laws and go by their own with which sometimes they pronounce sentences of death. (Aside: Isnt the anti-death penalty view primarily leftist?) By definition, their sentences are extra-judicial. That is, theyre presumed to be extra-judicial, therefore you dont have to bother with tallying their victims. It's different when youre supposed to operate within the law. The body count then becomes significant bit of info.
Terrorist is as terrorist does? I remember you said about the colegiala NPA that theyre terrorist if they did terrorist acts. So in you view, the NPA as an armed rebel group isnt terrorist? Just it's members who practice terrorism?
Jego,
The significance of a "law" being "passed" is that "the people" are expressing their will through their representatives. (Even if it's a democracy it would be foolish and impossible to have a DIRECT democracy).
The peoples of the United States and the European Union have passed laws that indicate their sense that CPP NPA belong on their foreign terrorist organization list. I believe they also belong on ours, if and when we develop one and get out of the intellectual quagmire over the definition of terrorism and who, metaphysically, "terrorists" are. From Forrest Gump: Terrorism is as terrorism does.
So any killing down outside the established system of the law is an extrajudicial killing. The govt denies it is involved in such activities (but I doubt they are telling the truth.)
Yet there it is in the recent incident: the NPA IS involved in extrajudicial killings itself both of the "class enemy" and "deep penetration agents" and "renegade comrades."
Their motto: Only the Paranoid survive.
You cannot deny the existence of the Killing Fields. They are capable of eating their own children!
Terrorism is a lot like pornography or AIDS--you can argue about its origins or cure or definition--but there is never any doubt when you encounter it for real.
Now I have been suggesting lists of terrorists so there will be none of the ambiguity that prevents stupid fascists
from calling someone a terrorist who really isnt.
for more jamby visit http://misterhotshot.blogspot.com
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