Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Of Ineptocrats and Precariats (I'd rather be with the latter than the former)
I'm back to nitpick again.
A lot of political antics have taken place since I last wrote about ineptocrats in the local scene. Cha-Cha - no, not the dance move but the constitutional reform called Charter Change - was initiated by the clowns in the Congress led by then House Speaker "The Joker" Alvarez and now by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo whose ascendancy to the speakership was nothing short of dramatic. And GMA, I'm certain, is more motivated than Alvarez in pushing for the shift as this will make her the prime minister. GMA still has a pending plunder case at the office of the Ombudsman, and if she becomes the PM we can definitely say ta-ta to that case.
Pro-admin lawmakers are eagerly finding ways to please Duterte, top of which is the changing of the Constitution mainly to adopt the federal form of government. Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno has been assigned by Duterte to head the consultative commission tasked to change the highest laws of the land. Apparently, Puno accepted it with a heavy heart because he knows how the shift to federalism can further spur political dynasties and their corrupt practices. In fact, Puno had recently threatened to withdraw his support for federalism should the anti-dynasty provision in the commission's draft is taken out by Congress.
As I've said in one of my previous posts, federalism is not the answer to our nation's woes. You put a new system of government to be run by the old timers - the trapos - and you're not going to improve things but derail everything instead. It's like buying a new bus but never replacing the people at the helm - people who never follow the rules of the land, who never care about the people they sideswipe, and who jump out of the window and abandon the passengers when the bus heads into a ditch.
As many critics of the system shift say, we do not need a new set of laws but strict enforcement of what we have at the moment. Strengthen the systems we have, especially the check and balance aspect of political governance, and punish those in the government who use their positions to empower and enrich themselves. A weak penal code - or the weak implementation of crime and punishment in the country - is the root of what debilitates us all. When politicians and criminals alike go unpunished or are only imposed with just a slap on the wrist for severe crimes such as bribery and corruption, we send out a wrong signal that it's okay to steal and abuse power. What we really need is a drastic paradigm shift.
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We're seeing it now and we've seen it before. Political vindictiveness has once again come to the fore magnified by the impeachment of Chief Justice Sereno. This is one of the main reasons why everything that we try to gain in one incumbency is quickly lost when a new leadership takes over. Appointees by previous administration are usually replaced by the incumbent and it usually doesn't matter if that appointee is doing a great work or not. I'm not saying the Sereno was the most competent for that position but it's obvious she was impeached by the House primarily because she's appointed by Benigno "PNoy" Aquino.
Almost every House and Senate inquiry and/or impeachment proceeding is endorsed by the ruling party. The former Chief Justice Corona and the subsequent hospital arrest of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during PNoy presidency was motivated by politics. Granted that there were indeed plunder and corruption committed, there was never any doubt that had it not been by the arm swing of PNoy, their cases would have been thrown out of the window because both Corona (who died in 2016) and GMA did have strong political clout. But such clout easily disengaged when the president of the land came a-calling.
But if ever there's one true role model of political and personal vindictiveness, I'd say Duterte would be It. The horrors our president has committed easily surpass Pennywise's predatory and maniacal tactics. Duterte's favorite letter is V, as in V for Vendetta. There's Sen. Leila De Lima, one of Duterte's most vocal critics, whose cases had been railroaded (and possibly invented) to put her behind bars and effectively gag her. Then there is the impeachment of CJ Sereno as well as the inquiry on the Mamasapano and the Dengvaxia fiascos. The last two, in my opinion, are being blown out of proportions and are being spun and slanted by Duterte et al to have some issues thrown against PNoy. I didn't vote for PNoy and I thought him to be a very indecisive and uncharismatic leader but I consider him (but not all of his Cabinet, please take note) to be one of the most incorruptible of our politicians, past and present. Duterte has read enough of Machiavelli to decide that "an injury has to be done" and that "it should be so severe" to avoid retaliation so he's dumping all these issues on PNoy with the intent of shackling the former president.
Of course, retaliatory attacks against Duterte will not happen during his presidency - that's not how things work around here. Wait until his term is up (provided he's unable to extend it through Cha-Cha), and then the issues that would confront him are the EJKs (extra-judicial killings), his family's alleged involvement in rice and drug smuggling, and the Marawi Siege (a riposte to Mamasapano). What goes around, comes around.
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I went to SM a few weeks ago, and I noticed these two chairs. They may just be ordinary plastic chairs but what caught my attention was the writing in them: "For Resting Employees".
SM employees are the poster people of unfair labor practices belonging to the social group called precariats. Precariats, I just learned, are individuals whose lives are "precarious" because their employment status provides them with so little security, financially and/or ethically speaking.
SM is notorious for the "endo" (short for end of contract) employment scheme, which basically relates to contractualization wherein employees are hired on a short-term basis (usually six months) so that companies can avoid paying for health and other insurance benefits. SM employees, especially the sales ladies, are one of the most abused groups of local precariats - working long hours and were previously not allowed to sit down during their shift while wearing high heeled shoes. These chairs are signs that the giant retail company is finally taking notice of the complaints voiced out by their own employees and concerned citizens. And there has been news that SM plans to regularize 10,000 employees this year, and I hope this will push through.
A lot of political antics have taken place since I last wrote about ineptocrats in the local scene. Cha-Cha - no, not the dance move but the constitutional reform called Charter Change - was initiated by the clowns in the Congress led by then House Speaker "The Joker" Alvarez and now by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo whose ascendancy to the speakership was nothing short of dramatic. And GMA, I'm certain, is more motivated than Alvarez in pushing for the shift as this will make her the prime minister. GMA still has a pending plunder case at the office of the Ombudsman, and if she becomes the PM we can definitely say ta-ta to that case.
Pro-admin lawmakers are eagerly finding ways to please Duterte, top of which is the changing of the Constitution mainly to adopt the federal form of government. Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno has been assigned by Duterte to head the consultative commission tasked to change the highest laws of the land. Apparently, Puno accepted it with a heavy heart because he knows how the shift to federalism can further spur political dynasties and their corrupt practices. In fact, Puno had recently threatened to withdraw his support for federalism should the anti-dynasty provision in the commission's draft is taken out by Congress.
As I've said in one of my previous posts, federalism is not the answer to our nation's woes. You put a new system of government to be run by the old timers - the trapos - and you're not going to improve things but derail everything instead. It's like buying a new bus but never replacing the people at the helm - people who never follow the rules of the land, who never care about the people they sideswipe, and who jump out of the window and abandon the passengers when the bus heads into a ditch.
As many critics of the system shift say, we do not need a new set of laws but strict enforcement of what we have at the moment. Strengthen the systems we have, especially the check and balance aspect of political governance, and punish those in the government who use their positions to empower and enrich themselves. A weak penal code - or the weak implementation of crime and punishment in the country - is the root of what debilitates us all. When politicians and criminals alike go unpunished or are only imposed with just a slap on the wrist for severe crimes such as bribery and corruption, we send out a wrong signal that it's okay to steal and abuse power. What we really need is a drastic paradigm shift.
--------------------------
We're seeing it now and we've seen it before. Political vindictiveness has once again come to the fore magnified by the impeachment of Chief Justice Sereno. This is one of the main reasons why everything that we try to gain in one incumbency is quickly lost when a new leadership takes over. Appointees by previous administration are usually replaced by the incumbent and it usually doesn't matter if that appointee is doing a great work or not. I'm not saying the Sereno was the most competent for that position but it's obvious she was impeached by the House primarily because she's appointed by Benigno "PNoy" Aquino.
Almost every House and Senate inquiry and/or impeachment proceeding is endorsed by the ruling party. The former Chief Justice Corona and the subsequent hospital arrest of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during PNoy presidency was motivated by politics. Granted that there were indeed plunder and corruption committed, there was never any doubt that had it not been by the arm swing of PNoy, their cases would have been thrown out of the window because both Corona (who died in 2016) and GMA did have strong political clout. But such clout easily disengaged when the president of the land came a-calling.
But if ever there's one true role model of political and personal vindictiveness, I'd say Duterte would be It. The horrors our president has committed easily surpass Pennywise's predatory and maniacal tactics. Duterte's favorite letter is V, as in V for Vendetta. There's Sen. Leila De Lima, one of Duterte's most vocal critics, whose cases had been railroaded (and possibly invented) to put her behind bars and effectively gag her. Then there is the impeachment of CJ Sereno as well as the inquiry on the Mamasapano and the Dengvaxia fiascos. The last two, in my opinion, are being blown out of proportions and are being spun and slanted by Duterte et al to have some issues thrown against PNoy. I didn't vote for PNoy and I thought him to be a very indecisive and uncharismatic leader but I consider him (but not all of his Cabinet, please take note) to be one of the most incorruptible of our politicians, past and present. Duterte has read enough of Machiavelli to decide that "an injury has to be done" and that "it should be so severe" to avoid retaliation so he's dumping all these issues on PNoy with the intent of shackling the former president.
Of course, retaliatory attacks against Duterte will not happen during his presidency - that's not how things work around here. Wait until his term is up (provided he's unable to extend it through Cha-Cha), and then the issues that would confront him are the EJKs (extra-judicial killings), his family's alleged involvement in rice and drug smuggling, and the Marawi Siege (a riposte to Mamasapano). What goes around, comes around.
--------------------------
I went to SM a few weeks ago, and I noticed these two chairs. They may just be ordinary plastic chairs but what caught my attention was the writing in them: "For Resting Employees".
SM is notorious for the "endo" (short for end of contract) employment scheme, which basically relates to contractualization wherein employees are hired on a short-term basis (usually six months) so that companies can avoid paying for health and other insurance benefits. SM employees, especially the sales ladies, are one of the most abused groups of local precariats - working long hours and were previously not allowed to sit down during their shift while wearing high heeled shoes. These chairs are signs that the giant retail company is finally taking notice of the complaints voiced out by their own employees and concerned citizens. And there has been news that SM plans to regularize 10,000 employees this year, and I hope this will push through.
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