Philippines
EDITORIAL: No Killing the Pork
WHISTLEBLOWER Benhur Luy is the man of the hour.
Not a few were impressed—if not shocked—by the apparent casualness of Luy’s testimony as he described details of how Napoles managed to get her dirty little hands on the millions of pesos in government funds.
Luy’s lurid tales of forgery and collusion with lawmakers comes as a direct affront to the millions of Filipinos mired in poverty. A slap in the face of the jobless, the underpaid workers and, most of all, to the taxpayer who religiously pay their duties only to have the likes of Napoles steal it away.
While most of us are busy with the daily struggle of making ends meet, Napoles and her cohorts in Congress splurge on public funds and lead lives of unimaginable wealth and luxury. And to think that Napoles is just one of many involved in this decades-old scam, is enough to make you sick–sick of all the rotten, dirty scumbags who run our government.
Calls have been made to scrap the pork barrel system. Well and good. Even if there is nothing wrong with the system in the first place. But, considering the perks of being in power and how politicians spend, cheat (even kill) in this country to win an election, it is very hard to imagine a Congress without its pork. Napoles’ cohorts in government may be cringing in fear of impending implication—but the horror of being without the PDAF to a crooked lawmaker is a hundredfold greater.
(Image source: http://everyoneisstupidbutme.com)
Everything was roses until Luy had a falling out with his employer Napoles, who also happens to be his relative. Like whistleblowers before him, Luy is now state witness, a mob insider-turned-squealer. Like all whistleblowers before him, his courage to spill the beans on the pork barrel scandal is admirable. But killing the pork will be easier said than done. Its fate, after all, rests in the hands of people who are in the same club as those accused of abusing it. #OpinYon #Editorial #Philippines
Related articles
- Plunder cases vs Napoles, lawmakers for P10-B pork barrel scam to push through (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- ” Unraveling the Pork Barrel Queen “ (carnecerannarose.wordpress.com)
- Rappler Newscast | September 18, 2013 (rappler.com)
- It’s no-pork diet for ‘pork’ scam suspect Napoles (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Kapunan: Napoles is scapegoat of corrupt lawmakers (rappler.com)
- INFOGRAPHIC: Pork barrel trail – how gov’t funds end with Napoles (rappler.com)
- The principal whistleblower in the P10 billion pork barrel scam Benhur Luy on Thursday testified that his former boss, Janet Lim Napoles, shared 50-50 with… By Macon Ramos-Araneta | September 13, 2013 (manilastandardtoday.com)
- Santiago: Napoles has ‘pork warriors’ (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Pork Barrel (cedricmondero.wordpress.com)
- “Pork barrel”! (michaelabaluyut04.wordpress.com)
Shining Moment for Singers, Artists
by: Boy Villasanta
ANOTHER triumph of the local entertainment industry’s fight against immorality of the pork barrel was the presence of many singers and performers at last Wednesday’s “EDSA Tayo” rally at the Shrine of the Virgin Mary, but many would argue that the musicians and artists who attended the mass action weren’t popular.
No matter.
As long as they understood what they were there for. Obviously, they all knew the reason behind their participation.
One of ABS-CBN’s singers, Daryl, in the franchised talent search “The Voice of the Philippines” was voluntarily conspicuous in the protest action.
He sang a line or two I interviewed him and his music was very personal yet engaging in some social concerns.
“I want my music to be a channel of social consciousness,” he told me.
Although he was already out of the competition, the remaining hopefuls being coached by internationally and locally admired recording artists Lea Salonga, apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo of Black-Eyed Peas), Bamboo Manalac and Sarah Geronimo, Daryl is still being managed, according to him, by Star Network.#OpinYon #ePlus
full column | http://bit.ly/18wF2cq
Related articles
- [Voice PHL] Goodbye, everybody, they’ve got to go (rappler.com)
- See the latest photos of Sarah Geronimo in Kakao Talk (filipinocelebrity.wordpress.com)
- Lea Salonga and Patti Austin’s duet becomes hot topic in social media (examiner.com)
- Sarah Geronimo’s gets real in new album (manilastandardtoday.com)
- Galactic night of fun and excitement (manilastandardtoday.com)
- They’ve only just begun (rappler.com)
- ‘Voice PHL’: War almost over (rappler.com)
- Sarah Geronimo shows off her very beautiful legs (filipinocelebrity.wordpress.com)
- Celebrities are supporting Sarah Geronimo in the 2013 MTV Europe Music Award (filipinomovie.wordpress.com)
- Sarah Geronimo’s legs enter Twitter trend (examiner.com)
Demeaning the Presidency
by: Atty. Salvador S. Panelo
THERE is universal condemnation and outrage against President Benigno Aquino III, for the latter’s personally accepting the surrender of Janet Lim-Napoles in the seat of political power that is Malacañang, and worse, for escorting, the fugitive from justice to the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Camp Crame.
As if the gigantic and monstrous presidential faux pas was not enough, the highest official of the land, sworn to uphold and enforcing the law, had to inspect the room to check if it was airconditioned enough and sufficiently comfortable for the woman charged with seriously illegally detaining another and believed, if not reputed, to be responsible for – and the mastermind of that 10B pork barrel fund scam that has shocked the entire nation, triggering a social media blast protest by netizens that led to the so-called 1 Million March protest for the abolition of the pork barrel. #OpinYon #Pnoy #Opinion
cont | http://bit.ly/17msaZg
Related articles
- Aquino photo with young Napoles means nothing – Palace (rappler.com)
- Aquino met with Napoles in Malacañang (rappler.com)
- Damage control, twisted logic (bulatlat.com)
- ‘Civil disobedience’ next anti-pork move (manilastandardtoday.com)
- Aquino warned to heed call to scrap ‘pork’ or face ‘point of no return’ (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Photo of PNoy with Napoles’ daughter authentic – Palace (manilastandardtoday.com)
- Anti-pork concert targets youth (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Philippines president warns rebels against violence (upi.com)
- Palace: Napoles key to ‘pork’ case; DOJ to study state witness status for her (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Napoles transferred to Makati City jail (rappler.com)
- ← Previous
- 1
- …
- 17
- 18
OpinYon - The Philippines' first and only weekly opinion paper. 