FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


WAYWARD MALACANANG ALLIES

Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ National Hero once said: “There can be no tyrants where there are no slaves.” If a tyrant is perceived to be fast emerging in the Philippines today, then there must be another generation of Filipino slaves coming into being. Would they be the wayward Malacanang allies in the House of Representatives who follow everything at their little master’s bidding? A friendly caution to these fallen legislators: if they force charter change in to the Filipino people’s throats against their will, they surely will come back and line them up to be hanged. Nobody likes a Reign of Terror. But history is an excellent teacher and reminder.

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There is another Philippine senator aside from Sen. Ping Lacson who would like to be Mayor of Manila. He is Sen. Alfredo Lim. Both men are of Chinese extraction. So their candidacies will split the large voting bloc of the Filipino Chinese community. I hope one of them has to give in to deny any Arroyo crony even a bit of a chance to get Manila’s mayoralty. A clue to my recommendation: Sen. Lim was elected Mayor of Manila in 1992 and was re-elected in 1995. Is twice being Manila Mayor not enough?

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Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos stated in an interview that the May 2007 local and congressional elections should proceed as scheduled by law. He surprised me. I thought he is an Arroyo crony. Perhaps he is an avid reader of the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. He is becoming reasonable like Solomon.

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President Bush indeed has a soft heart for the immigrants. Because there is a lot of immigrant members in the extended Bush Family, mostly from Mexico. It was Prescott Bush, Jr., the president’s uncle, who is credited to have opened the gates of China to foreign trade. He is still a close friend of Jiang Zemin, former Chinese president. I believe Chinese Americans should correct their wrong perception of the President as anti-Chinese. Here’s my point: President Bush is pro-immigrant though he is surrounded by “neocon” advisers who are going down one by one. And here’s my prediction: the Bush Guest Worker Program will become a reality next year.

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