Romulo Neri's Suspension mere public relations and damage control.

Neri previously covered up as to the direct instructions Gloria gave him insofar as the deal is concerned, subject of the very juicy effusions he shared with his consultant Rodolfo Lozada. But in a sudden turnaround, what was generally expected to be the damning testimony against the president suddenly became a pleas for executive privilege. When the Senate forced the issue, Neri went to the Supreme Court and scored his first major victory.

On May 26, 2008, a Supreme Court decision nullified the Senate's citation of contempt against Neri, ruling that conversations between Neri and President Arroyo are considered classified information. That may have bolstered Neri's expectations of impunity.

But his impunity can only secondary to Gloria's impunity. This is what the Ombudsman is saying with the temporary clearance it gave the First Kotong.

In short, Neri is now in the can. People say he must have been paid a great sum for keeping mum on his M'am Gloria, but now that he has been suspended for six months from his exalted position in the Social Security System, the shame that he did not have by not corroborating Lozada's accusations, could start to seep in now.

Actually, it may not been money, but extreme harrassment not just to himself nut to his entire family. From 2002 to 2004, I worked with a cabinet secretary who was forced to take his whole family to self-exile in the United States because they ate death threats for breakfast, lunch and dinner while they were still in the Philippines. All because he did not agree to cover up for her plunder.

Forget Ben Abalos. He would most likely hold on to his legal hard nose. He will take chances with technicalities and equally corrupt magistrates. Besides, even as mayor of Mandaluyong, he was already corrupt. His family was able to stash all the capital that built the "Crossings" chain of department stores from so-called SOPs he collected from business licenses and construction permits.

I am sure Mike had a dossier on Abalos that he can put the former judge on leash. It is only in the Philippines that the chairman of the Commission on Elections takes multiple trips to a foreign land to broker for the First Gentleman. Equally promised impunity, he increases his leverage on the First Kotong by accepting to be scapegoat. But with a conscience seared, Abalos is playing for greater stakes here for his equal weight in gold.

Time, however, is running short for the First Kotong. And it is too late for PR to remedy.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has taken the same corrupt and violent road Marcos took towards the end of his term. Today as we speak, even the White House, the State Department and the American Embassy in the Philippines has categorically told Gloria that she must exit after her term and allow a credible election for her successor.

Of course Gloria is trying leverage back by forcing the renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement. As a lameduck and unable to use her soiled Chinese card this time, she will of course fail to establish a counterpoise.

My group alone has more than 20 live cases against her in the Ombudsman, mostly for plunder.

The spectre of one day after her term she will lose all her friends, is not entertaining at all. First to go will be Ermita, Remonde, Golez and Olivar, her rahrah squad. Next will be Nograles, Puno and Duque, who will be now queueing to the new powers. The pera-pera political parties of Lakas-Kampi will also disintegrate in the same way Monching Mitra saw his party evaporate into the thin air. Mind you, she does not even have the following that Erap had, even through his prosecution, eventual incarceration and until now.

With Gloria, everybody is only as good as their last good performance. She used all her classmates to feed her ambitions to become president. But soon as she got what she wanted, she betrayed them one by one. Bing Rodrigo walked out of Malacañang because she caught Mike's hand in the cookie jar and she did not sustain her. Bing died some years after leaving Malcañang without the benefit of reconciling with Gloria. When Censors employes trumped up charges against Marilen Dinglasan, she unceremoniously replaced her. This broke Marilen's heart and sank her into a depression that snuffed her life less than one year from the incident. Bing, Marilen and Gloria were bosom friends since grade one at the Assumption Convent School.

So with Gloria who needs enemies? I can already smell the orange suit waiting for her.

As soon as her star wanes, Mike Arroyo will reunite with Vicky Toh with whom he has sired two children, and attempt an escape through Hongkong. His local fortune, he will leave with his brother Ignocito, who then will be non-electable and who will just waste the ill-gotten wealth resuming his drug addition and trying to regain a seat in Congress.

Gloria's children may even be reluctant to visit her in prison for fear of ostracism and reprisal. Her only way out is a bullet into her big, swollen head. Whether self-inflicted or not, nobody cares. Whichever is just as good provided she exits horizontally.

Sad, but necessary.

Neri must reconsider serving as state witness. He could still save the day. Not now but when the case finally gets to the Sandiganbayan.

By that time Gloria would be citizen Arroyo.

***************************************************************

Ado Paglinawan is a former press officer of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC who occasionally contributes to the Philippines Daily Inquirer. He writes for various email groups and blogs under the pseudonym "mymaestro888". Ado has best served overseas Filipinos as a resource person providing inside information and backgrounders about the celebrated fertilizer scam that rocked the Philippine Agriculture Department and the Presidency since 2004.

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NAFFAA Affirms Organization's Fiscal Integrity, Resolves to Press on with Empowerment Agenda

Board members of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) reaffirmed their total acceptance and approval of NaFFAA’s financial records, and strongly repudiated baseless accusations of financial misconduct by their executive officials. These attacks have been widely circulated recently in some Filipino American newspapers and in the Internet.

“Our audited financial reports – which have been thoroughly reviewed and audited by an independent CPA firm – are open to the public for scrutiny, and they will belie any charge of fraud, misrepresentation or fiscal impropriety,” states National Treasurer Ludy Corrales. “These external auditors have confirmed that our financial operations are basically sound. As a non-profit organization, we are committed to high standards of accountability, transparency and fiscal integrity.”

In a manifesto approved at the August 27 meeting of the board, NaFFAA officers were unanimous in rejecting allegations of NaFFAA’s “non-accountability or failure of accountability of moneys received from Wells Fargo in 2002.” The matter of the $300,000 grant from Wells Fargo has been thoroughly documented and audited by the independent CPA firm of A. F. Paredes & Co. The board cited the Oct. 22, 2003 cover letter of the Independent Auditors’ Report, which says in part: “In our opinion, the financial statements referred to [above] present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations as of December 21, 2002 and 2001 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.”

In accepting “without question the external auditor’s report as satisfactory and conclusive,” board members also affirmed their “full confidence in the personal integrity of Alex Esclamado who, as national chair during the period in question, served with total dedication and commitment to NaFFAA’s cause, and at great personal sacrifice.”

Board members also expressed their unequivocal support for National Chairman Greg Macabenta, who has been falsely accused by one media practitioner of receiving commissions, in his capacity as a NaFFAA official, from a $300,000 Wells Fargo grant in 2002. While acknowledging that he had professional dealings with Wells Fargo in connection with a marketing campaign handled by his advertising agency, Minority Media Services, Inc., the business transaction occurred in 1995, two years before NaFFAA was formed. Board members were united in condemning “all the malicious attempts by certain individuals in our community to impugn our national chairman’s character and integrity, and by inference the integrity of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations as an institution.”

Adds Rodel Rodis, a regional chair emeritus and NaFFAA founding member: “We’ve always welcomed constructive criticisms from the community, but we condemn the malicious accusers who are mainly obsessed with destroying an organization that is committed to empowering the Filipino American community."

Since its founding, NaFFAA has received grants from Wells Fargo Bank and other corporate donors to fund the organization’s programs and general operations. These grants have been fully accounted for in audited financials.

LOOKING AHEAD. The board also resolved to undertake a series of initiatives to build NaFFAA’s resources and capacity in order to address the critical issues that affect the Filipino community. “We have much work to do,” asserts Macabenta. “On the issue of equity for Filipino World War II Veterans, we need to ensure that our aging heroes receive their lump sum payments as provided for by law. Health care and comprehensive immigration reform are major issues that require our active interaction with policy makers and coalition partners. And with the 2010 Census coming up, we need to organize ourselves down to the grassroots level to make sure that everyone is counted. Our community expects us to seize the leadership and they deserve nothing less than our dedication and total commitment to their causes and concerns.”

When NaFFAA was formed in 1997, community leaders vowed to engage the Filipino American community in all aspects of America’s social, economic and political life. Over the years, NAFFAA’s leaders have worked closely with civil rights organizations to fight for equity and justice for Filipino World War II veterans. In coalition with other groups, NAFFAA implemented get-out-the-vote campaigns and voter education drives. It responded to media stereotypes and racist caricatures of Filipinos through protest actions and dialogues with corporate media organizations. At regional and local levels, NaFFAA also spearheaded several projects relating to youth leadership, business development and civic participation.

“We’ve come a long way in building NaFFAA and I’m proud of what we have accomplished,” says Gloria T. Caoile, National Vice Chair Emeritus. “The young generation is looking up to us now to lead our community, to show that NaFFAA is bigger than any one of us, and that we owe it to them to always take the high road when faced with daunting challenges.”

Adds Gus Mercado, a former regional chair and NaFFAA founding member: “Our organization is not perfect by any means, and none of us leaders are. We all make mistakes. But that is the beauty of our organization. We have so many good men and women in our midst who will persevere in their sworn duty to unite and empower the Fil-Am community, no matter the challenges and pitfalls they face along the way.”

“NaFFAA has survived for 12 years despite its ups and downs,” points out Dr. Joy Bruce of Miami, Florida, a former regional chair and currently executive director of NANAY, a social service organization. “I have no doubt that it will continue to survive, flourish and emerge successfully, like a sleeping giant, to fulfill its mission for empowerment. And everyone will be proud to have stayed the course. All it needs is renewed vigor, new blood, new ideas, a change in approach, a willingness to learn from past experience and a determination to succeed.”

August 27 Manifesto

We, the undersigned officers, members and supporters of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations strongly repudiate all the baseless accusations of financial misconduct by NaFFAA officials that have been publicized recently in newspapers and the Internet.

We particularly reject allegations of NaFFAA’s non-accountability or failure of accountability of moneys received from Wells Fargo in 2002. The matter of the $300,000 grant from Wells Fargo has been thoroughly documented and audited by the independent CPA firm of A. F. Paredes & Co. As stated in the Oct. 22, 2003 cover letter of the Independent Auditors’ Report, “In our opinion, the financial statements referred to [above] present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations as of December 21, 2002 and 2001 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.” This report is available to the public for examination and scrutiny.

We accept without question the external auditor’s report as satisfactory and conclusive. By this declaration, we are affirming our full confidence in the personal integrity of Alex Esclamado who, as national chair during the period in question, served with total dedication and commitment to NaFFAA’s cause, and at great personal sacrifice.

We also express our full and unqualified support for our NaFFAA National Chairman Greg Macabenta, who has been falsely accused of receiving commissions from Wells Fargo in his capacity as a NaFFAA official. While acknowledging that he had professional dealings with Wells Fargo in connection with a marketing campaign handled by his advertising agency, Minority Media Services, Inc., the business transaction occurred in 1995, two years before NaFFAA was formed. We strongly condemn all the malicious attempts by certain individuals in our community to impugn our national chairman’s character and integrity, and by inference the integrity of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations as an institution.

Our community is faced with critical challenges that require the active attention of NaFFAA’s national leaders. Policy makers in Washington DC are making decisions that directly affect our lives, our families and our children’s future. We need to be engaged in these critical issues, such as health care, workers rights and immigration reform. The fight for justice and equity for Filipino Veterans continues for so long as their lump sum payments are not made and for so long as their surviving widows are not cared for. And with the 2010 Census before us, we need to ensure that everyone in our community – regardless of citizenship and legal status – stands up to be counted.

To achieve our goal of community empowerment as enunciated in our 1997 founding conference, we will build our organizational capacity to lead, mobilize our collective strengths at the grassroots in partnership with those who share our vision, and summon from within each one of us a sense of selfless dedication to public service, always mindful of our proud history and heritage..

We are determined now more than ever to move forward and build the “dream that is NaFFAA,” and be the strong voice for the hopes and aspirations of the community we love.

(partial list of signatories)

Michelle Abad, New York, Region 1 Youth Chair
Amy Agbayani, Honolulu, Region 10
Nony Abrajano, Hampton Roads, Va., Region 2 Chair
Roger Alama, New York, Region 1 Vice Chair
Dely Alcantara, Albuquerque, NM., Region 6 Chair Emeritus
Tess Atayde, Seattle, Wash., Region 7 Chair
Norma Benson, Houston, TX.,Region 6 Chair
Marites ‘Bing’ Cardenas Branigin, Reston, Va., Media & PR Director
Joy Bruce, Miami, Fl., Region 4 Chair Emeritus, Exec. Dir. NANAY Inc.
Gloria T. Caoile, Springfield, Va., National Vice Chair Emeritus
Martin Celemin, Las Vegas, NV. Region 10 Chair
Jerry Clarito, Chicago, Ill., National Director for Legislative Affairs
Ludy Corrales, New Jersey, National Treasurer
Val F. Dagani, Jr.. Orlando, Fl..Council of Filipino-American Organzations
Lorna Dietz, Chicago, Ill. National Director for Online Communications
Marilyn Doromal, Atlanta, GA., Region 4 Chair
Luly Esclamado, North Carolina, National Director for Program & Development
Mariella Fletcher, Seattle, Wash., Region 7 Vice Chair
Alma Kern, Seattle, Wash., National Chair Emeritus
Rozita Lee, Las Vegas, NV., National Vice Chair
J.T. Mallonga, New York, Region 1 Chair
Jon Melegrito, Washington, D.C. National Communications Director
Loida Nicolas Lewis, New York, National Chair Emeritus
Ed Navarra, Detroit, Michigan. Region 3 Chair
Flor Obana, Denver, Colo., Region 5 Chair
Jose Pecho, San Francisco, Calif., Region 8 Chair
Ernie Ramos, Miami, Florida, Region 5 Chair Emeritus
Sluggo Rigor, Seattle, Wash., Region 7 Chair Emeritus
Rodel Rodis, San Francisco, Ca. Region 8 Chair
Emeritus Merit Salud, New York, Region 1 Co-Chair, FilAmVote
Marlene Stern, Connecticut State Chair, Region 1
Reuben S. Seguritan, New York, General Counsel
Bart Tubalinal, Chicago, Ill., Auditor & Parliamentarian, Region 3
Yoly Tubalinal, Chicago, Ill., Region 3, 2004 NaFFAA Convention Co-Chair

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Gloria Arroyo, 41st in Forbes’ Most Powerful Women of the World

Gloria Arroyo made it to the Forbes’ list of most powerful women of the world and yet her numerous retinue of blabbermouth seems so eerily quiet at the horror errr “honor” and “prestige” it brings. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Lu Tong Mancao thinks it is a bad thing especially if you look at the write-up of Tatiana Serafin at Forbes below:

The scandal-tainted president's popularity fell to a record low in June over escalating food and energy prices; Arroyo soon announced a deal with oil companies to trim diesel prices. A recent imbroglio: Arroyo's husband is among those accused of accepting bribes in a $330 million deal with a Chinese telecom firm. Despite rumors of another ouster campaign in the works, Arroyo has survived three impeachment attempts and three coup plots since taking office in 2001 and is sure to fight back.

No wonder she is not jumping in joy, the write-up is not exactly flattering for the deluded one so this must be the reason why they are not bragging about the “accomplishment” if indeed we can consider it as one.

According to Forbes Francesca Donner the list of the worlds’ most powerful women who made it to the list was not about celebrity and personality, it’s all about influence, to quote:

In assembling the list, Forbes looked for women who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. Their rankings are a combination of two scores: visibility--by press mentions--and the size of the organization or country these women lead.

Arroyo is definitely not a celebrity, she being a politician and popular she is definitely not. Perhaps infamous better describes her and her scandal prone administration so despised yet wields so much power.

In terms of visibility she passed that with flying cohorts’ errr color, why even the gossip column of Washington Post took notice. The size as in “large” country that her blabbermouth errr spokesperson like Cerge Remonde and GloriLIE Fajardo taunts errr touts about as if the runaway population running amok with baby factories gives them the justification to spoil themselves with decadent luxurious entitlement. An entitlement to pig out extravaganza in fine dinning restaurants , alcohol binges with fine wines, and hotel accommodations reserved for the royalties and mega rich.

With Arroyo’s inclusion into the worlds’ most powerful women you would expect a triumphal return akin to Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi heroes welcome in Libya. It should pose no problem after all she is “influential” with her Palaka dominated congress who will have no problem bussing truckloads of rent a crowd as her cheering boisterous pangs errr fans. "Admirers" who probably will scream even louder that the “birthers” and anti-death panel at the American town hall meetings on health care reform. Of course she is a "hero" in Lubao, with jueteng intact the number one livelihood program of the province dislodging Lahar Quarrying plunder (spoiled by Among Ed Panlilio's honest collection effort so he must be dislodge by of course the wife of alleged Jueteng Lord), the crowd will swell with Jueteng Cobramen and women (illegal numbers game bet collector) owing her a debt of gratitude for not being serious in eradicating their source of "income."

They should really celebrate especially now that they have Imelda “Imeldific” Marcos the Queen of excess and decadence to their rescue in an interview by Mario Dumaual of ABS-CBN:

You know, we're talking about a dinner for a President for an anniversary, and in America, it's double, triple the prices. And you cannot put them in the sidewalk for their anniversary. Maawa naman kayo, para 'yon lang! Nakakahiya 'yong pinag-aawayan. Doon sa Amerika, 'di malaki iyon (Have pity, it is just one of those! It is embarrassing that we fight over this. In America, it is not a big deal).

Look who’s talking, the mother of all excesses who had the “honor” in landing the Guinness book of world record. Of course she has to defend her nephew the pork barrel bagman of the Arroyo’s who is entrusted with taxpayers’ money in billions of pesos for their political maneuverings. Ayayayay, Imeldific the shoe lady should just shut up lest she makes Gloria Arroyo looking good compared to her delusions and squandering habits. Just because the Aquino family accepted their condolence it does not follow that she was given a “license” to once again insist on a hero’s burial for the frozen one.

Of course Imelda Marcos will naturally identify and empathize with Gloria Arroyo since both of have one thing in common with Elda Beguinua the Contessa de Kulasa. What? Elda Beguinua the self-proclaimed "tredizillionaire" heir to Galleon trade bullions dwarfing the mythical gold treasure of Ferdinand Marcos? As Lutong Mancao ask in disbeliefe on what exactly was the connection. Well, the three muskeeters errrr the three ladies share the same entitlement on enjoying the finer things in life. Elda Beguinua the Lady Contessa de Kulasa like Gloria Arroyo and Imelda Marcos has a weakness for beautiful signature clothes, accessories, fine dinning, fine wines and gets chauffered in a limousine to be seen in places where famous people hang out.

Going back to Forbes, it is a mistake to have included La Gloria Arroyo and I say there goes their credibility and an affront to those legitimate most powerful women of the world. But then again, it was not exactly powerful and influential in a good way so no harm no foul. Her being powerful was more of thick hide impudence and influential that is more of influence peddling.

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GMA's spending diminutive after all compared with Imelda's

It appears that Press Sec. Remonde and the other defenders of GMA's nearly P 2 million worth of gorging in her last US visit with a retinue of food tasters, security people and baggage handlers had a leg to stand on when they maintained with straight faces that the amount involved was small potatoes for such Very Important People. Charlie Avila had issued a CHRONOLOGY OF THE MARCOS PLUNDER proving that GMA's spending and all are really diminutive compared with the former First Lady -- other half of that Conjugal Dictatorship who won a mention in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's greatest thief.

September 1976

This month the Marcoses bought their first property in the U.S. - a condo in the exclusive Olympic Towers on Fifth Avenue in New York. Five months later they would also buy the three adjoining apartments, paying a total of $4,000,000.00 for the four and using Antonio Floirendo's company, Theaventures Limited in Hong Kong, as front for these purchases.

October 13, 1977

Today, after addressing the UN General Assembly, Imelda celebrated by going shopping and spending $384,000 including $50,000 for a platinum bracelet with rubies; $50,000 for a diamond bracelet; and $58,000 for a pin set with diamonds.

The day before, Vilma Bautista, one of her private secretaries, paid $18,500 for a gold pendant with diamonds and emeralds; $9,450 for a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds; and $4,800 for a gold and diamond necklace.

October 27, 1977

The Marcoses donated $1.5 million to Tufts University in Boston, endowing a professorial chair in East Asian and Pacific Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The students and professors discovered this and forced the school to reject the donation. To save face, the Marcoses were allowed to finance several seminars and lectures.

November 2, 1977

Still at her shopping spree, Imelda paid $450,000 for a gold necklace and bracelet with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; $300,000 for a gold ring with emeralds and diamonds; and $300,000 for a gold pendant with diamonds, rubies, and thirty-nine emeralds.

July 1978

After a trip to Russia, Imelda arrived in New York and immediately warmed up for a shopping spree. She started with paying $193,320 for antiques, including $12,000 for a Ming Period side table; $24,000 for a pair of Georgian mahogany Gainsborough armchairs; $6,240 for a Sheraton double-sided writing desk; $11,600 for a George II wood side table with marble top - all in the name of the Philippine consulate to dodge New York sales tax.

That was merely for starters.

A week later she spent $2,181,000.00 in one day! This included $1,150,000 for a platinum and emerald bracelet with diamonds from Bulgari; $330,000 for a necklace with a ruby, diamonds, and emeralds; $300,000 for a ring with heart-shaped emeralds; $78,000 for 18-carat gold ear clips with diamonds; $300,000 for a pendant with canary diamonds, rubies and emeralds on a gold chain.

After New York, she dropped by Hong Kong where a Cartier representative admitted it was this Filipina, Imelda, who had put together the world's largest collection of gems - in 1978.

May 1979

The Marcos couple celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in a party that cost $5,000,000.00 There was a silver carriage drawn by eight white horses.

November 23, 1978

A house was purchased at 4 Capshire Drive in Cherry Hill, New Jersey (actually near to Philadelphia where Bongbong was taking courses at that time) for use by servants and Bongbong's security detachment.

The Marcoses did not neglect their annual real estate purchase. During this year and next year, 1979, they purchased two properties - one at 3850 Princeton Pike, Princeton - a 13-acre estate for use by daughter Imee as she attended Princeton. The other was a house at 19 Pendleton Drive in Cherry Hill for use of Bongbong and under the name of Tristan Beplat, erstwhile head of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.

April 1979

In two days in New York this month, Imelda spent $280,000 for a necklace wet with emeralds and diamonds; $18,500 for a yellow gold evening bag with one round cut diamond; $8,975.20 for 20-carat gold ear clips with twenty-four baguette diamonds; $8,438.10 for 18-carat gold ear clips with fifty-two tapered baguette diamonds; and $12,056.50 for 20 carat gold ear clips with diamonds. June 1980

For $1,577,000.00 in New York Imelda buys Webster Hotel on West 45th Street. She rewards Gen. Romeo Gatan as a limited partner.. Gatan arrested Ninoy at the beginning of Martial Law.

The insurgents' ranks grew by twenty percent a year.. Meritorious officers in the armed forces experienced low moral due to Marcos' penchant for promotig friends over more deserving officers.

February 16, 1986

In Fe's records of monies paid out during Marcos' last campaign, one unusually large item was authorized by "FL" (First Lady) and paid to Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador on this day. A few days later, two carloads of men drove into San Jose, the provincial capital of Antique. Evelio Javier, head of Aquino's campaign, was watching the votes being counted when the men opened fire and killed Evelio after he was still able to run through town but finally got cornered in a public toilet where he was gunned down in front of shocked townspeople. Pacificador was later convicted of the murder.

February 25, 1986

Marcos fled the Philippines leaving behind a foreign debt of $27 billion and a bureaucracy gone mad. "Cash advances" for the elections from the national treasury amounted to Php3.12 billion ($150 million). The Central Bank printed millions of peso bills, many with the same serial number. Sixty million pesos in newly printed bills were found in a vehicle owned by Imelda's brother Bejo in the Port Area of Manila, and another Php 100 million aboard the MV Legaspi also owned by Bejo Romualdez.

How massive and humongous a loot Marcos took can be deduced from the known losses he left behind.

The known losses he left at the Central Bank included $1.2 billion in missing reserves and $6 billion in the Special Accounts.

Imelda charged off most of her spending sprees to the PNB or Philippine National Bank which creatively wrote off her debts as "unresponded transfers". Ver also used PNB funds to finance his "intelligence" operations.

The known losses at the PNB amounted to Php72.1 billion At the DBP, the losses Marcos left behind totaled Php85 billion; at the Philguarantee, it was Php6.2 billion ; and at the NIDC or National Investment and Development Corporation (NDC) - the losses amounted to Php 2.8 billion.

These losses were primarily due to cronyism - giving loans to cronies that had little or no collateral, whose corporations were undercapitalized, whose loan proceeds were not used for the avowed purpose, and where the practice of corporate layering was common, i.e. using two or more companies with the same incorporators and officers, whereby one company which gives the loan owns the company which obtains the loan, or similar arrangements. The cronies enjoyed their closeness to Marcos. With him they formed a Grand Coalition. They participated in the exercise of dictatorship. But Marcos owned them. The wealth of the cronies belonged to him.

Because of the free rides taken by Imelda, Marcos and the cronies, the Philippine Airlines was in debt by $13.8 billion.

The conservative Grand Total for losses Marcos left behind (and therefore the kind of loot he grabbed and hid) amounted to $17..1 billion.

The Central Bank, the PNB, and other financial institutions badly need an audit. The special review (not regular audit because there seems not to have been any - there are no records anyway) did not uncover Imelda's spending - her name never appeared - and Ver's intelligence fund.

The review gave no hint of theft or missing money, only "downward adjustments" and "proposed adjustments" to "deficiencies" and "shortages of money".

February 26, 1986

A few hours after the Marcos party landed in Honolulu, their luggage arrived - 300 crates on board a C-141 cargo jet. It took twenty-five customs officers five hours to tag the bags and identify the contents. The process was videotaped because of all the money and jewelry found inside.

There were 278 crates of jewelry and art worth an estimated US$5 million. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denominations worth approximately US$1,270,000.00 (It was illegal for anyone to depart the Philippines carrying more than Php500 in cash. )

There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, seventeen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents - all of which were impounded by Customs. The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage because they declared them and broke no US customs laws.

There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into a=2 0$17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, "To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary."

February 1986

When Marcos departed the Philippines, the losses in the three Central Bank accounts surpassed Php 122 billion (more than $6 billion). The big bulk of losses was attributed to the RIR account mainly due to two items: forward cover and swap contracts. Forward cover referred to foreign exchange provided by the CB at a fixed exchange rate to importers of essential commodities. Swap contracts referred to CB's receiving foreign exchange from banks in exchange for pesos at the prevailing rate with a promise to deliver the foreign exchange back to them at an agreed future date.

There was no mention of losses due to CB transactions in gold or foreign exchange.

February 28, 1986

On this day, Jim Burke, security expert from the US Embassy, was tapping on the wooden paneling in Imelda's abandoned Malacanang bedroom when he heard a hollow sound. It was the walk-in vault. Inside were thirty-five suitcases secured with locks and tape. They contained a treasure trove of documents about Swiss bank accounts, New York real estate, foundations in Vaduz, and some notepaper on which Marcos had practiced his William Saunders signature. They also contained jewelry valued at some US$10..5 million.

March 16, 1986

Did Marcos steal any gold from the CB? The CB always refused to comment. Why?

Today the LA Times reported that 6.325 metric tons of gold was unaccounted for in the Central Bank. Between 1978, the year Marcos ordered all gold producers to sell only to the CB, and end 1984, the Bureau of Mines reported that 124,234 pounds of gold were refined.

But the CB reported receiving only 110,319 pounds during this same period. That left a difference of 13,915 pounds (6.325 metric tons).

March 1986

Jokingly referring to themselves as the Office of National Revenge, a vigilante team led by Charlie Avila and Linggoy Alcuaz received a tip in the morning that Marcos' daughter Imee had kept a private office in the suburb of Mandaluyong at 82 Edsa. They obtained a search warrant, then rushed to Camp Crame to pick up some soldiers. After devising a plan, they boarded four cars and drove to the premises, arriving around midnight. The soldiers scaled a fence and sealed off the area. Avila, Alcuaz, and their men moved in and found documents in cardboard boxes, desks, and filing cabinets. Gunfire could be heard outside but it didn't deter the search. The documents revealed the names of offshore companies and overseas investments of Marcos and his cronies - a late link in the paper trail that had been started abroad by the teams of Avila, Steve Psinakis, Sonny Alvarez, Raul Daza, Boni Gillego, and Raul Manglapus.

March 09, 1986

A Greek-American, Demetrios Roumeliotes, was stopped at the Manila International Airport before he could leave with eight large envelopes stuffed with jewelry that he admitted belonged to Imelda - valued at US$4.7 million.

March 15, 1986

Ernie Maceda, Minister of Natural Resources, revealed today that some 7 to 14 tons of Philippine gold are sold to the Binondo Central Bank annually and then smuggled to Sabah, Malaysia - this gold being part of some 20 tons produced by 200,000 panners all over the country. Maceda's query was whether part of the gold they produced was siphoned to the "invisible gold hoard of Ms. Imelda R. Marcos."

"We deliver to the Central Bank," the miners said. "If it happened (the siphoning), it happened in the Central Bank."

Is it true that Marcos propagated the Yamashita myth to hide the fact that he looted the Central Bank, that its gold bars were melted down and recast in odd-size bars to make them look old (how does gold look old, anyway?).

Marcos claimed that he "received the surrender of Gen. Yamashita" after a battle with his guerrilla outfit. History has recorded that Yamashita surrendered to Lt. Co. Aubrey Smith Kenworthy and that there was no battle. Yamashita's peaceful surrender had been arranged at least two weeks before the event.

In one entry in Marcos' diary he noted, "I often wonder what I will be remembered for in history. Scholar? Military hero…?" In a supreme irony, he did achieve what he so vainly sought - lasting fame - but not in the way he envisioned:

The largest human rights case in history - 10,000 victims.

Guinness Book of Records - the world's greatest thief.

The largest monetary award in history - $22 billion..

September 30, 1986

Questioned by Philippine and US lawyers about his hidden wealth, Marcos took the Fifth Amendment 197 times. Imelda followed suit - 200 times.

December 1989

An American jury found the Marcos estate liable for $15 million in the killing of anti-Marcos activists Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo. Manglapus, Psinakis, Gillego and other erstwhile exile oppositionists testified at the trial.

November 04, 1991 Today, a Sunday, the circus came to town. The Swiss Federal Tribunal had ruled the year before that the Philippine government must comply with the European Convention o Human Rights, especially due process. There had to be a lawsuit filed within one year. Thus, the solicitor general's office filed all sorts of cases against Imelda and the government had to allow her to return to answer the charges.

"I come home penniless," she tearfully said on arrival. She then repaired to her suite at the Philippine Plaza Hotel which cost $2,000 a day and rented sixty rooms for her entourage - American lawyers, American security guards and American PR firms.

December 1991

The Central Bank had accumulated losses of Php324 billion in the Special Accounts.

November 30, 1992

The Central Bank; losses were Php561 billion and climbing. Cuisia asked that the CB be restructured. Sen. Romulo asked to see the 1983 audit of the international reserves. He couldn't get a copy. It was "restricted".

January 05, 1993

Imelda didn't show up for the scheduled signing of a new PCGG agreement. She kept vacillating on the terms and conditions - demanding she be allowed to travel abroad for thirty-three days to confer with bank officials in Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong and Morocco to work out the transfer of the frozen funds.

Actually she was hoping a guy she had authorized, J..T.Calderon, would be able to move the funds just as the order was lifted, before the government had a chance to transfer them to Manila. When the government discovered the authority, all negotiations with Imelda were halted and her requests for travel suspended.

August 10, 1993

Georges Philippe, a Swiss lawyer of Imelda, wrote today a confidential letter to the Marcoses' old Swiss lawyer, Bruno de Preux, who handled almost all of the Marcos family's hidden accounts in Switzerland. Philippe requested de Preux for the status of:

A $750 million account with United Mizrahi Bank in Zurich;

Various currency and gold deposits at the Union Bank of Switzerland, at Kloten airport and at Credit Suisse;

A $356 million account (now in escrow and worth almost $600 million) which was being claimed by the PCGG.

1994

The human rights jury awarded the victims $1.2 billion in exemplary damages, then $766.4 million in compensatory damages a year after that, for a total of $1.964 billion. Two days after, another $7.3 million was awarded to twenty-one Filipinos in a separate lawsuit.

1995

The US Supreme Court upheld the $1.2 billion judgment.

March 29, 1995

The Swiss Parliament passed a law (an amendment to a previous act) that removed the need for a final judgment of criminal conviction of the accused (such as the Marcoses) in the case of criminally acquired assets which could now therefore be returned to claimants (such as the Philippine government) by Swiss court order.

July 1996

In part because of the torture of Roger Roxas, $22 billion was awarded to his Golden Budha Corporation.

December 10, 1997

The Swiss Supreme Court promulgated a landmark decision that took into account the March 1995 Swiss Parliament act and the fact that new criminal cases had been filed against Imelda Marcos. The court held that there was no need for any criminal proceeding; that a civil or administrative proceeding would suffice, and the Marcos Swiss deposits which had been "criminally acquired" can be returned to the Philippines in deference to the final judgment of the Philippine court as to the ownership of these deposits.

The Swiss court also announced that the interest and reputation of Switzerland was at stake if it would become a haven for money launderers laundering money obtained by crime. Therefore, in the case of the Marcos deposits, because "the illegal source of the assets in this case cannot be doubted" the Swiss court ordered that the money be returned to the Philippines to be held in escrow account in the PNB to await the judgment of the Sandiganbayan in the forfeiture case.

By the way, in January 17, 1975 a secret decree not made public until after the Edsa insurrection was signed by Marcos stating that in the event he became incapacitated or died, power would be turned over to Imelda. On June 7, 1975, in his own handwriting, Marcos amended the January 17th decree and clarified imelda's role as chairperson of committee with presidential powers.

In February 1979, Imelda was named chairman of the cabinet committee, composed of all ministries, to launch the BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services) program, an ambitious attempt to centralize control of all economic and social development. She assumed responsibility for the "11 needs of Man" codified in her ministry's mufti-year Human Settlements Plan, 1978-2000. By 1986, the number of Filipinos living below the poverty line doubled from 18 million in 1965 to 35 million. And the ecologic al balance of the country had degraded from 75 % to 27% forest cover remaining - with 39 million acres of forest falling victim to rampant logging. This was BLISS.

She was head of the Metro Manila Commission, which by year-end 1985 had managed to accumulate debts of Php 1.99 billion (which included $100 million in foreign loans) in its ten years of existence. Imelda had accomplished nothing and left the people embittered and even more disillusioned.

In September 1992 Marcos was found guilty of violating the human rights of 10,000 victims. The ruling occurred just after a judge found Imee Marcos-Manotoc guilty of the torture and murder of Archimedes Trajano, a 21 year old engineering student at Mapua who had the temerity to ask Imee after a speech she gave whether the Kabataang Barangay (a national youth group) "must be headed by the president's daughter?"

Imee and brother Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. are presently biggies in Philippine politics. Bongbong is set to run for senator next year.

*********************************************************************************

Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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Our gluttonous, do-nothing leaders and languishing countrymen

It's heart-wrenching to read the posting here about the police in S. Arabia arresting officers and members of the support group KGS together with victimized OFWs they were trying to help. It brings into focus the many stories about our languishing countrymen who are in that cruel part of the world just so they can have honest work to better their lives. In this context may I ask what our government is doing to assure that our people have access to law and justice? Has there been a definitive response in words and deeds from Philippine officials concerned regarding the inhuman treatment of Filipinos by their employers and what they have done and are doing in this regard?

Instead, we have the following additional information about a thousand female OFW's who had managed to escape the tyranny of their masters and now congregate in a so-called holding area of the Philippine consulate in Jeddah, which the informant said "is like a manila city jail that is congested and lack of raw and drinking water."

Again, may I ask where are our embassy officials, the departments of labor and justice and foreign affairs. Where are those publicity-seeking presidential candidates who have been harking about their Middle East rescue heroics? For once lets get real angry on behalf of our languishing people everywhere if only to persuade our bloated officials to move their fat asses to help them!

To our globe-trotting leader of a banana republic and her baggage handlers and food tasters who think a million pesos is nothing to gorge about: Here's one more way your excesses may find a worthy outlet and for once get your citizens' gratitude in return.

Subject: [OFW-Texas] OFW DOMESTIC HELPERS BEYOND CONTROL
Date: 8/23/2009 8:12:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
From: mario.panlilio@yahoo.com

I just finished helping the rescue of 2 OFW domestic helpers from Taif Saudi Arabia, the 2 is at present in the holding area of the Philippine consulate Jeddah, they are complaining of bad environment at the holding area. They said that it is like a manila city jail that is congested and lack of raw and drinking water. The Female OFW's now in that holding area in Jeddah is around 1000 and it looks like that the Philippine government is running out of control in getting the OFW's justice. Most of them has pending cases against their employers and to me if not remedied soon will keep on increasing until the OFW's become old and sick in this unsanitary living condition.

According to the two almost every other day there are "takas" coming in to the holding area.

The case of the two rescued from taif is supposed to be finished now because during the rescue the Saudi sponsor is caught on the spot and jailed the two did not make TAKAS. The following day the family of the saudi agreed to pay 10,000 saudi riyals each to the two plus one-way ticket to Manila. I am thinking now if there are glitches on the agreement. The case should be followed up from POEA and DFA Manila before its too late. They were in Taif for only 8 Months and complains that most of the time Emilda is being hit in any part of her body and face anytime there is misunderstanding due to language barrier Sometimes avoiding attempted rape. The other OFW is raped 3 times and sometimes orally. They asked help from me to contact the proper people in Jeddah.

This is the info of the two Female OFW's
1. Emilda Alcayde Esiderio = from Capiz, age around 43 yrs old, married with
four childrens 1 college in Roxas city.
Celpon number= 009665-66232509

2. Luz dela Cruz = from Nueva Ecija, age around 30 yrs old, single and eldest Daughter.
Celpon number= 009665-53707541

They were rescued last August 12, 2009, I received the information about Emilda July 20, 2009 , but after that her celpon was confiscated by her madam (arabyana). The madam called me after 3 days and warned me not to inform the authorities about what happened to Emilda.

But August 9, 2009 Luz dela Cruz told me that she is also in the same Saudi family with Emilda and that they are planning to escape while their group with the Saudi Family will spend 3-days in a resort in Jeddah. So that I told Luz to be careful be safe and that it is better to inform the Philippine consulate about the escape.

So the rescue was done properly with the coordination of Saudi Police and Philippine consulate. But the problem now is the proper resolution of their case.

The recruitment agency that processed the two is WAVEX with phone number 0063-2-3026454.

The flood of OFW's coming to Saudi Arabia particularly the domestic helpers keeps increasing everyday and it should be reversed or controlled due to numerous cases now pending her in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. There is a place in Jeddah called GAndara bridge used as standby area for those OFW's runaways and wanted to resolved their case quickly by being deported by the Immigration department. The environment at the Bridge is more worst than the holding areas in the Embassy and consulates.

As an ABP member and an OFW myself this is my contribution for the well-being of our country and people and soon after my retirement I will continue to find solution in preventing the mass inflow of domestic helpers and unskilled OFW in this injusticed country.

See also: OFW Support Group KGS Arrested & Detained in Saudi Arabia

*********************************************************************************

Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Ground zero of the health-care debate

As soon as the news broke that President Obama would be in a town-hall meeting at Portsmouth High School, which is just a few blocks from where I live, I registered online hoping to get picked in a lottery that would determine members of the audience. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side; the organizers could only accommodate 1,800 people, and tens of thousands must have registered throughout New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. However, I did get an invitation to join the pro-reform rally, ostensibly organized to counter right-wing protesters. While I didn't exactly feel I should be there to carry placards, I decided to go to the area hoping to get a glimpse of the president, before I went for my daily run.

It turned out the Secret Service decided to bring the president through the back door, not the front entrance where I, among a huge crowd, was waiting. Earlier in the day, Portsmouth police arrested a man for carrying a knife and for keeping an unlicensed and loaded gun in his truck. Another man was spotted with a gun strapped to his leg in the grounds of a nearby church. The gun was licensed and the church was considered private property, so he was left alone, carrying a placard that said, "It's time to water the tree of liberty," an apparent reference to Thomas Jefferson who said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Those security concerns plus the vociferous anti-Obama protesters made it logical to sneak in the president through some back entrance.

While I was disappointed that I didn't get a glimpse of the president, I was glad I came as I had perhaps an even rarer glimpse of, at that moment in time, the ground zero of the health-care debate.

Yes, I considered the entire strip of road leading to Portsmouth High School last Tuesday, not the actual town-hall meeting in the auditorium, as the epicenter of the national debate on health-care reform. I later watched on CNN the town-hall meeting, and while it was enlightening in terms of separating rumors from fact, the audience was too "nice" to be representative of the general American public. Outside was an altogether different picture, not that it mirrored a deep and smoldering national fissure (I didn't think mainstream America was as hyper), but it captured the sharper edges of the opposing sides of the debate.

On the left side of the street were pro-reform supporters carrying placards that endorsed the president's agenda: Don't kill health care due to more scary lies; Reform NOW: Insure people, not profits; Stop health insurance companies; Public option shines for all. On the right side were anti-Obama protesters carrying mostly hand-written placards: I love America, land of liberty; Socialism sucks; Stop Obama; We are mad as hell; Obama-care makes me sick; Stop Obama health care, we can't afford it; Obama lies, grandma dies; Freedom or death; Obama's health-care plan is a death-care plan. One placard depicted Obama as Hitler, with the infamous moustache. I reckoned the pro-reform side outnumbered the anti-Obama protesters by two to one, but the latter, pound for pound, seemed more intense.

There were chanting and shouting from both sides of the street, but many actually seemed good natured about it all. From the pro-reform side, a band calling itself the Leftist Marching Band did nothing but play upbeat music as its members and clusters in the crowd danced, so there was a street-festival feel to the event. Most of the anger came from the anti-Obama side. Several people held megaphones lecturing people about the dangers of socialism and Marxism (even if nothing in the reform proposals made the issues relevant). One called the pro-reform group "parasites" (I suppose for supporting a government option that would allow more poor people to avail of health services). At one point a lady from the right side of the street grabbed a megaphone and yelled, "Shoot Obama!"

If you watch Fox News, listen to talk radio, and read all the chain e-mails, you'd understand the context of the anger. Many people seemed misinformed. For example, Sarah Palin recently helped spread the rumor that the government would create a "death panel" tasked to decide whether old people would live or die. It was a totally twisted interpretation of a proposal to require Medicare to pay for counseling for elderly people on issues surrounding end-of-life medical care(designating a health-care proxy, choosing a hospice, etc.). My sense was that others seemed upset still that a black man won the elections and were deeply resentful of the fact that America was no longer the white America that it used to be. The man who called people on the left side of the road "parasites" also went on and on lambasting illegal aliens. Another carried the American flag saying that it was all about "reclaiming" America. What I thought was particularly sad was the sight of kids carrying the same reactionary and hateful placards. For sure, the youngsters had no clue what the real issues were, but by birth and affinity they'll probably grow up holding the same sentiments.

The police while all this was happening were hardly noticeable, even if they were constantly ambling back a forth right in the middle of the road. At one point someone from the right side of the road said, "To all the policemen, thank you for all you do." Both sides burst into a unanimous applause.

As the Leftist Marching Band took a break, and vitriolic statements became more audible and flew like bullets (one pro-reform guy, in response to the megaphone brigade on the anti-Obama side, called them "rednecks" and "hillbillies"), I decided to leave, satisfied that I had witnessed a memorable piece of American democracy in action. As I walked by one cluster of pro-reform supporters, I finally heard what they were chanting; it was inaudible from where I was standing earlier: "Everybody in, nobody out!" Wow! It was a hammer hitting the nail on the head, and sinking it! For me it was the crux of the health-care debate in particular and of politics in general. It represented a worldview that's diametrically opposed to the political right's parochial and exclusionary mind-set. The sadness that blanketed me as I heard protesters regurgitate standard right-wing slogans was for one powerful moment lifted. Young and old, mostly white Americans chanting: "Everybody in, nobody out!" Hearing it firsthand in America's cantankerous political underbelly has reassured me that this is still the greatest democracy in the world, and while a segment of America may be hostile to "outsiders" and seem nostalgic of the social order of 1950s, most Americans are a great people and are still on the morally correct side of the road.

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Marvin Bionat is the creator of PhilippineUpdate.com, a news and views site that has served as a virtual platform that promotes various advocacies, including the political empowerment of overseas Filipinos and accountability in government. He wrote the National Bookstore bestseller How to Win (or Lose) in Philippine Elections (Anvil Publishing, 1998) and is now based in the U.S. working as an editor.

Read more articles by Marvin Bionat
************************************************************************

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Mikey “Marie Antoinette” Arroyo the Latest Joker in the Family on the Gluttons Le Cirque Pig Out

First it was Luli Arroyo lamenting the political heat his dad was getting saying daddy dearest was an easy target by their political enemies for being a rich fatso. Now we see Mikey “Marie Antoinette” Arroyo coming to the rescue of mommy dearest extravagant fine dinning pig out and drinking binge together with 65 or so free loaders and a drag queen to boot social climbing the big apple.
People travel light for a reason and that is for convenience and mobility. Now it does not mean that just because you have no extra baggage it does not translate to filling up one’s tummy and stuff it with lobsters, steaks, expensive wines or other fancy gourmet food you can ravage as if it was going out of style.

There is nothing wrong with the president and her huge entourage eating at a decent restaurant as Mikey “Marie Antoinette” says but the problem is his deluded and corrupted concept of decent. Decent does not mean it has to be an expensive fine dining restaurant reserved for the rich and famous, meaning not for the rich of the unexplained wealth and infamous kind.

Experienced traveler knows enough not to stuff their belly with all the food and wine they can stuff their belly till it explodes because it can be nasty, stinky and may cause some undignified embarrassment. Mikey “Marie Antoinette” seems to confuse dignity with lavish extravagance insulting ordinary mortals like us that eats at McDonalds and Turo-Turo (buffet style restaurant) as undignified. But let me ask this, where is the dignity in queuing and hopefully not elbowing each other trying to cut the line because you over stuffed your bulging belly enough to clog your host rest rooms? Can you imagine how embarrassing it is when the first thing the leader of large nation and her huge entourage ask for the restroom as soon as they set foot at the White House because they just came from a gluttons pig out and drinking binge, not a pretty sight I tell you.

Our friends at FaceBook such as Joseph Rommel Ramos,Jun Vicencio,Ernie Reyes, Marife Guzman Toledo, Maria Linda Llagas Vicente, Reynaldo Dillera Barretto, Rashid A. Fabricante, Ferrum Mann, Mark Anthony Dario, Jonnel Duka Espaldon, Rosana Robles, and Robert Young Jr. are not exactly enamored at Mikey “Marie Antoinette” Arroyo’s comment on youtube while Jo Santos shares an article on Obama hamburger outing: President, VP Joe Biden have lunch at Virginia burger joint showing the obvious contrast of the Arroyo Glutton party and Mikey's distorted mindset. Obama and Biden the 2 most powerful leaders in the world go on a dutch treat while the herd errrr the huge Arroyo glutton party are treated by mysterious money bag man and bag lady or perhaps bag drag queenies (Manuel Buencamino's hilarious Eats Meets West at Uniffors).

As if this is not scandalous enough Maverick of The Equalizer posted the P6 Million spent on gratuity by Arroyo and her retinue of free loaders, to quote:

Based on the list provided to GMA News by Susanna Vargas, Malacañang’s deputy executive secretary for administration and finance, Mrs. Arroyo’s party spent $66,000 in Washington D.C. and $59,000 in New York for various service tips.

Lito Banayo’s Unending Excess article details quite a revealing or rather revolting the list of expense from the chartered plane “charge” to Lusu Tan errr Lucio Tan to the presidential suites at Waldorf Astoria that makes Imelda Marcos whimsical HK trip craving for sharks’ fin or roast goose, even birds’ nest double-boiled in black chicken broth and Marie Antoinette pale in Comparison, to quote:

Waldorf Astoria presidential suite (no less than 3,500 dollars, plus plus). And about forty de luxe rooms as well as junior suites (some cabinet members had left after Washington DC), each at an average of 900 dollars per, and breakfasts, snacks, plus plus. Not to forget the generous tips, but naturally.

It is so amazing that Imelda Marcos nephew has found himself in the corridor of power and we just don't know if his generosity in allegedly paying for the Le Cirque US$20K glutton pig out was really coming out of his pocket especially when he is entrusted oink oink pork barrel for the con ass where some mobsters errr some congress people are complaining they never recieve their loot errr allocation. Transactional politics at its worst, see Niñez Cacho Olivares excellent job of reporting the sinister maneuverings of the Arroyo's in their attempt to ram Con Ass to the tune of P1B at taxpayers expense.

Sadly, we have leaders and their dimwitted offspring whose concept of decency and dignity only serves as an embarrassment to the Filipino and as the saying goes flies on top of a carabao (water buffalo) thinks they are taller than a carabao really rings true in this case.......... People are getting riled up and their response are even worse in dispersing protesters, to quote Mong Palatino of Kabataan Partylist:

After insulting the public's intelligence by spewing out ridiculous lies and alibis to justify Arroyo's lavish dinners, authorities are now resorting to excessive force and violence to quell disgust over the administration's gluttony amidst widespread crisis and poverty.

They better watch out or as Giovanni Tapang puts it while it is hilarious on Mao's dictum that a revolution is not a dinner party, but in the Philippines a dinner party can lead to one, may just happen when you have quite a number of people mired in poverty..........

See also other related articles:

• Gloria Arroyo says, The Filipnos are Worth Dining For (list of the entourage)
  
• Glutton’s Rage against ‘Commie Agitation-Propaganda' over Gloria Arroyo's Le Cirque US$20K Decadent Dinner
• Gloria Arroyo & her Entourage on a US $20K Gluttons Pig Out at Le Cirque?

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