Duterte, Citing Hitler, Says He Wants to Kill 3 Million Addicts in Philippines

[K. A. Pital]

I think that the point is, in a Germany full of Nazis, you can only choose between Hitler, Himmler or Goebbels. You won't have other options as the population largely supports Nazi policies, whether actively or passively (as was the case with Germany), and resistance is miniscule and irrelevant.

Same here. Duterte capitalizes on a huge wave of popular support for such policies as lynching and vigilante justice, and they would very likely have happened under another administration as well.

No idea how true that is. I am not a Filipino to make the judgement. Shroom can.

[Shroom Man 777]

Erap did something similar - tough on crime, appealing to the poorer segments of society with welfare programs (that were kept in later admins, because they DID address real needs), and then all out war in the south that I think was stupid.

The ineptitude and abuses of the Aquino-Cojuangco family and the failure or inadequacy or insufficient pace of their supposed "liberal" party's application of economic "progress," presumably the neoliberal stuff advocated by other technocrats throughout the world, enabled the Marcos family to spread more disinformation stoking the nostalgia of the great good old days under Ferdinand Marcos who was a great Lee Kuan Yew figure with great infrastructural development, a healthy economy, rivers of chocolate, rain made out of candies, and maybe some Tough Justice that whiners today are whining about. [/sarcasm]

Zinegata is not wrong, there were so many inadequacies and abuses that constituted legitimate grievances and if left unattended or under-addressed or too-lately addressed were bound to be exploited, misdirected, and manipulated.

That doesn't mean criticizing Duterte can't be done. One can criticize him and the likes of Putin without being seen as some supporter of Boris fucking Yeltsin or whatever their equivalents are. One can criticize them while knowing full well of the crapsack situation in the past that led to this, while being a critic of the crapsack situations of the past too. This is why I'm aggravated by what Zinegata says.

Especially since I do believe in those grievances, I believe that they have to be addressed, that cause was important, and so I take offense to the Duterte establishment's manipulation and misdirection of said issues and causes. That and he is undeniably worsening the situation so I think it's a false equivalency.

I mean I'm saying "It's wrong to shit on the sidewalk!" and I don't get this response of "What about last time when another guy pissed on the sidewalk?!" especially since back then I was already upset about people relieving themselves on our sidewalks!

[Shroom Man 777]

If Mapua Institute of Technology student Archimedes Trajano had been killed today and Ferdinand Marcos was still the President, newspaper headlines would be screaming –

College student snatched and found dead after questioning the President’ daughter

But no such headline came out after Archimedes Trajano’s lifeless body, bearing obvious signs of torture, was found on a road.
His parents were told he had gotten into a fight with dorm mates. Beyond his immediate family, friends and school – few knew the actual events that caused his murder and torture by military bodyguards of Imee Marcos.

It would take years before his extra-judicial execution would reach public attention.

Briefly, here is an excerpt from my book Marcos Martial law: Never Again on what really happened to Archimedes Trajano:

On August 31, 1977, Archimedes Trajano, a 21-year-old student of Mapua Institute of Technology, attended an open forum with Imee Marcos, 21-year-old daughter of the dictator. Her father had appointed her National Chairman of the Kabataang Barangay youth organization.

When Trajano questioned her about her appointment, Imee apparently became irritated. Her guards seized Trajano and dragged him away. His body was found hours later: he had been severely tortured and beaten to death.

His mother later recalled: “He was covered in a white sheet, laying on a table. And when I opened the sheet…I saw him blue-black….I could not talk… nothing… but I think my heart hardened. I said, my God, why him?”

What I’m about to tell you next is not in my book because I didn’t have enough space to go into the details of the Trajano case. But the document I’m about to share with you were among those I had collected during research.

Before I go on, I would like to tell you more about Imee Marcos. She was the equivalent of Kris Aquino during the dictatorship. Imee was a precocious daughter. Like Kris, she loved acting. I remember that Manila’s wealthy 100 all turned out for her debut onstage in the play “Mother Courage”.

Even then, Imee was a natural politician. She reminded me of a wild colt with her mane of hair. To fully appreciate what Imee was all about and how much power her father the dictator had bestowed on her, watch this video below which historian Manolo Quezon unearthed from the archives of the Associated Press.

Now, picture Imee traveling around the streets of Manila in scruffy designer jeans, surrounded by heavily armed military bodyguards. Picture her addressing a student forum inside Mapua. Where suddenly this upstart of a student boldly questions her why she was appointed KB chair by her father.
Hours later, the same student turns up dead and beaten black and blue.

If that kind of murder had happened today, Trajano’s mother Agapita could have filed murder charges against the military bodyguards. But it was not possible during Martial Law to charge the president’s daughter and her bodyguards of conspiracy to murder. The country was under a dictatorship which ruled by terror and violence.

It therefore took Agapita Trajano nine years before she was able to file a case in a Hawaii court against Imee Marcos and General Fabian Ver – President Marcos’ spy chief who was then in all but title the real Armed Forces Chief of Staff.

Agapita charged them for “false imprisonment, kidnapping, wrongful death, and a deprivation of rights” of her son.

Agapita chose Hawaii as the venue since the Marcoses and Vers had fled there in 1986. And apparently, Agapita happened to have migrated there, too.

Agapita won the damage suit in Hawaii. The case was the reason why Imee Marcos transferred her residency to Singapore.

The Hawaii court ruled in Agapita’s favor. Its decision stated in part:

“…judgment was entered based on the court’s findings that Trajano was tortured and his death was caused by Marcos-Manotoc. The court concluded that this violation of fundamental human rights constitutes a tort in violation of the law of nations under 28 U.S.C. § 1350, and awarded damages of $4.16 million and attorneys’ fees pursuant to Philippine law.”

Now reading the court judgment, which I am reprinting in full below, two things struck me about Imee Marcos. Before I go into it, let me first explain that Imee Marcos knew the law because she studied at the University of the Philippines College of Law but could not get the degree nor take the bar. It turned out she did not have the necessary prerequisite – a college degree.

But her UP law professors, whom I personally knew, spoke admiringly about her. She was one smart cookie. One of her professors was my father.
What is interesting – and shocking as well – about the Trajano case is the legal argument that Imee Marcos and her lawyers used before the Hawaii court to try to get the case thrown out.

I use the word “shocking” because last week, Imee Marcos said on national TV that she knew nothing about the human rights abuses going on during her father’s dictatorship. She argued that she was “too young” to know.

However, before a Hawaii court over two decades ago, Imee Marcos and her lawyers gave the following arguments to counter a civil lawsuit accusing her of “wrongful death”.

Imee Marcos argued that –

- Yes, Trajano was tortured by her military bodyguards.
- Yes, Imee Marcos knew all about the torture.
- But the case against Imee Marcos should not proceed before the Hawaii Court because this court only has jurisdiction for torture acts that happen in the US.

Neat, huh.

I based my conclusions on the sixth paragraph of the court decision, which stated:

"Marcos-Manotoc argues that the Philippine Military Intelligence is an “instrumentality” of a foreign state within § 1603(b) of the FSIA, and that the tortious acts were brought about by persons acting pursuant to the authority of Marcos, Marcos-Manotoc, and Ver such that the liability of Marcos-Manotoc is expressly premised on her authority as a government agent. She further contends that, regardless of whether she acted within the scope of her employment, she is entitled to absolute immunity under § 16047 because a foreign state and its agents lose sovereign immunity only for tortious acts occurring in the United States."

FSIA referred to the Foreign Services Immunities Act, which was approved in 1976 – a year before Trajano’s murder. The FSIA codified all US laws which granted or waived the immunity of anyone invoking “sovereign immunity”.

The Hawaii court decision explained the impact of the FSIA on the tort or damage lawsuit that Agapita Trajano filed against Imee Marcos. I have highlighted the most important sections of the decision in bold:

"We must first determine whether Marcos-Manotoc is entitled to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1602-11. The FSIA “must be applied by the district courts in every action against a foreign sovereign, since subject-matter jurisdiction in any such action depends on the existence of one of the specified exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity.” Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 493, 103 S.Ct. 1962, 1971, 76 L.Ed.2d 81 (1983); see also Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp., 488 U.S. 428, 109 S.Ct. 683, 102 L.Ed.2d 818 (1989); Liu v. Republic of China, 892 F.2d 1419, 1424 (9th Cir.1989), cert. dismissed, 497 U.S. 1058, 111 S.Ct. 27, 111 L.Ed.2d 840 (1990). A “foreign state” under the Act includes “an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state.” 28 U.S.C. § 1603(a).5 We have, in turn, held that an “agency or instrumentality of a foreign state” for purposes of the FSIA includes individuals acting in their official capacity. Chuidian v. Philippine Nat’l Bank, 912 F.2d 1095, 1099-1103 (9th Cir.1990).

Therefore, because Marcos-Manotoc’s default concedes that she controlled the military police [BOLD], the FSIA is implicated and we must be satisfied that it does not bar jurisdiction, even though the issue was not raised in the district court"

The Court concluded that it had jurisdiction of the case, not under the FSIA, but under a different law – the Alien Tort Statute.

The Court said Agapita Trajano’s “suit as an alien against Marcos-Manotoc for having caused the wrongful death of her son, by official torture in violation of a jus cogens norm of international law, properly invokes the subject-matter jurisdiction of the federal courts under § 1350.”

Next time you see a Marcos loyalist post on Facebook or Twitter that no Marcos has ever been convicted in court, you can point out to them that the Marcoses have lost at least FOUR landmark cases in court –

- the case in Switzerland involving their Swiss loot;
- the mother case in Manila forfeiting the Swiss money and other stolen assets in favor of the Philippine government (the decision was penned by the late Chief Justice Renato Corona when he was still an Associate Justice);
- the class action suit filed by human rights victims in Hawaii;
- and the separate tort case filed by Agapita Trajano over the torture and murder of Archimedes.

What happened after Agapita Trajano won her damage suit in Hawaii is tragic, thanks to the Philippine Supreme Court.

The 1991 Hawaii Court judgment has never been enforced because the Philippine Supreme Court barred it.

The Trajano family tried collecting from Imee Marcos by filing a civil case with the Pasig Regional Trial Court since Imee Marcos, by then, was said to be living in the Alexandra condominium in Pasig.

The RTC judge actually issued the summons for Imee to appear. When Imee snubbed the summons, the judge declared her in default.

But Imee Marcos ran to the Supreme Court. In 2006, the SC ruled that the service of summons on her was invalid.

The ponente who ruled in Imee Marcos’ favor was Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco. Last week, Justice Pesbitero was also among those who ruled in favor of burying Marcos in Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Here is the link to Velasco’s ruling on the Imee-Trajano case.

Just last week, Imee Marcos told Karen Davila on national TV:

“I feel in my heart that if in any way you have hurt someone, you should say sorry even if it’s not intentional. Even if it was not policy.”

Governor Imee, how about saying sorry to the family of the late Archimedes Trajano, whom you knew all these years was tortured and killed by your own bodyguards? And you told the Hawaii court so?

And pay the damages of US$4.4 million with interest you owe to the Trajano family for the “wrongful” slay.

And give back all the wealth stolen from the Filipino people that you, Irene, Senator Bongbong and your mom Imelda continue to hide and hold on to here and abroad.

That’s the only way you, your children, and grandchildren will get peace of mind. And our nation can start healing.

[Zinegata]

So I guess what I'm getting at is, fuck yourself.

Well, given that you talked past what I said several times - only to then bizarrely claim I talked past your points - this is unsurprising.

I already said several times that Duterte is most definitely part of the problem and that his rhetoric adds to the problem. If this sails over your head then it's not my problem anymore.

All I'm doing is to point out it's a much deeper issue that needs to be fixed, and if you actually spent time to figure out these deeper issues you wouldn't be stuck condemning the "masses" as a bunch of gullible fools who are acting out of fear. They are by and large not afraid of Duterte. If Duterte leaves office (which can come pretty soon if you've looked at the situation closely) the replacement will not really change much regarding the extrajudicial killings. They will continue and as many people will still die.

This is what makes the public's reaction to the extrajudicial killings - which is largely muted or even supportive - truly worrisome. It's much more of a people problem than a leadership problem at this point.

[Shroom Man 777]

People trying to figure out the problem in all the years and decades got liquidated. Pigs get medals. Make videos of stringing people's balls up and yanking them.

The greater issues... I don't know. It's scale is incomprehensible, has always been. Yes the reprehensible fucks at the driver's seat now - they're reprehensible fucks I keep on saying it - but it goes on and on past them.

Mother forgive us.

[K. A. Pital]

Meanwhile oligarch TV this morning told me that despite all the events, Philippines has one of the fastest growing economies in the world with like 7% growth. Actually, they pretty much ignored all the unsavory stuff and concentrated on the numbers.

[Shroom Man 777]

Which quarter was that growth stat taken from? Honestly some remarkable advent from the precambrian era would be appropriated and twisted by people to say that it was an achievement of the current administration (to be honest they have taken last-minute achievements of previous administrations as well as their plans that came to fruition over time and past the transition, and either credited themselves for it or subtly make it look like they're hot shit).

And Duterte's economic policies could be STRATOSPHERIC for us but the violations and abuses would still be objectionable... since that was one of our objections to previous admins too!

[K. A. Pital]

I guess it is the last quarter
http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/1 ... .1-Q3-2016

And Duterte's economic policies could be STRATOSPHERIC for us but the violations and abuses would still be objectionable... since that was one of our objections to previous admins too!

I shouldn't remind you that I don't think stratospheric growth numbers actually mean much, or share the opinion of the oligarchs.

What I think is important is that it shows the business elite doesn't mind dealing wtih Duterte.

[Shroom Man 777]

Of course they don't mind. They didn't mind dealing with Freddy Dan Macros. So much for a campaign rooted on bringing down "ze oligarchy."

[Zinegata]

People trying to figure out the problem in all the years and decades got liquidated. Pigs get medals. Make videos of stringing people's balls up and yanking them.

The greater issues... I don't know. It's scale is incomprehensible, has always been. Yes the reprehensible fucks at the driver's seat now - they're reprehensible fucks I keep on saying it - but it goes on and on past them.

Mother forgive us.

Actually, a lot of the people who really understand the situation are still around. Manila's relatively safe as far a the political analysts are concerned. The issue with the Philippines - which is why Internet wags have dubbed us as "Pee-noise" - is that everyone's got an opinion and that most of the "liberals" just want to vent; and they get angriest at people who tell them their venting is misdirected.

That's pretty much what happened with Aquino. Those who watched his administration carefully knew he actually accomplished a lot early in his term - he was largely incorruptible and much of the slowness of his government owed to trying to "fix" the system of its corrupt habits - but much of that kept getting buried by tangential issues. After Mamasapano, all of the venting finally got to him and he just gave up.

And those who looked at the situation closely could hardly blame him. Most people still blame him for the "SAF 44" - but the harsh reality was as cruel as it is simple: The Special Action Force (SAF) - while attempting to kill a "terrorist" and share the bounty among themselves - couldn't read a simple map, got lost in a territory held by MILF rebels who had a ceasefire with the government, carelessly fired on and murdered several MILF troopers, and were subsequently wiped out by the MILF counter-attack.

The public - and most especially the "liberals" - responded by demanding war on the largely blameless MILF, buried the law that would have ended the decades-long war with the Moro rebels, while elevating the careless SAF troopers into "heroes". The truly sad part? One of the leaders of the raid was actually friends and classmates with an MILF commander - and they could have actually cooperated to capture the terrorist - but the SAF wanted all the money and glory for themselves. Worse, I'm sure some in the media also found this out (I don't even work in the media) - but nobody wanted to get in the way of the angry public who were so sure Aquino was to blame for Mamasapano.

In short, we're a country where even the supposedly educated just blindly blame the president as a knee-jerk reaction to every little issue. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own part in it. Nobody wants to even look deeper and always just pretends it's incomprehensible. Nobody wants to admit that perhaps it doesn't always go "all the way to the president"; and that for a government to work you need to have accountability at both the bottom and the top. In the case of Mamasapano, certainly nobody wanted to admit that it's the "little guys" who might be at fault - because nobody wants to admit they're also capable of cooking up their own schemes that sometimes ends up blowing up in their faces.

This, by the way - is why local governments (e.g. small towns and municipalities) are almost universally controlled by corrupt characters even in the major cities. Everyone wants to blame the president instead of realizing that their local mayor is stealing much more from them in the first place. Problem is, all of our national leaders actually start off as local leaders. You can't have a pool of great national leaders to choose from when people by and large ignore the local elections or the crooks closer to home all the time.

But hey, feel free to knock yourself out with focusing all your anger on Duterte, but I really just don't see much value in Duterte venting anymore. You're just going to be stuck venting at a new target come next election even if we end up electing Jesus Christ himself.

K.A. PITAL->

Meanwhile oligarch TV this morning told me that despite all the events, Philippines has one of the fastest growing economies in the world with like 7% growth. Actually, they pretty much ignored all the unsavory stuff and concentrated on the numbers.

There's something of a real growth in the middle class in the Philippines due to the whole Business Process Outsourcing thing. It's not only because of all the call center agents who are getting decent wages, but the fact that Manila is becoming the world's first truly 24/7 city to serve the BPO centers who largely live and die by the US timezone.

When all the restaurants and convenience stores go 24/7, they essentially double the manpower requirements even for the unskilled labor pool. That is beginning to extend towards the agriculture and tourism sector as well, but we're still very weak in manufacturing. Still, I am beginning to see in Manila the beginnings of what I saw in Tokyo.

Much of the unsavory things happening in the Philippines happens in the poorer areas - which increasingly means the far-flung rural areas where journalists fear to thread and the local government basically has full control over everything. Indeed, extra-judicial killings tended to be largely unreported during the pre-Duterte era because most of them happened in these rural areas. In a perverse way people only really began counting them because Duterte is so bombastic about it.

Also, I have to note - Shroom is mis-remembering Duterte's stance on oligarchy. Duterte never promised to break it, which is unsurprising when you consider he was being bankrolled by a pair of oligarchs himself. Without Arroyo (a very corrupt former president) and Cojuanco (a Marcos cronie) he would never have had enough money to do a nationwide campaign to begin with; which is mandatory in a country where vote-buying in the rural areas is common. Paradoxically however, he is the closest thing we've ever had to an open communist as president (which is why he is trying to hard to make peace with the communist rebels and why the military wants him dead so badly) - but I think that would be cold comfort to you at this point.

[Shroom Man 777]

People trying to figure out the problem in all the years and decades got liquidated.

Actually, a lot of the people who really understand the situation are still around.

Pardon me, "get" liquidated was what I meant. There are people who understand it still around yes. But I just get distraught at how they get treated historically and recently. They enact counterinsurgency and redbaiting and Red Scare McCarthyist crap towards people who genuinely want to just help others.

Duterte's recognition of marginalized groups that get perpetually para/militarily victimized was one of the reasons why I really considered voting for him.

That's pretty much what happened with Aquino. Those who watched his administration carefully knew he actually accomplished a lot early in his term - he was largely incorruptible and much of the slowness of his government owed to trying to "fix" the system of its corrupt habits - but much of that kept getting buried by tangential issues. After Mamasapano, all of the venting finally got to him and he just gave up.

And those who looked at the situation closely could hardly blame him. Most people still blame him for the "SAF 44" - but the harsh reality was as cruel as it is simple: The Special Action Force (SAF) - while attempting to kill a "terrorist" and share the bounty among themselves - couldn't read a simple map, got lost in a territory held by MILF rebels who had a ceasefire with the government, carelessly fired on and murdered several MILF troopers, and were subsequently wiped out by the MILF counter-attack.

The public - and most especially the "liberals" - responded by demanding war on the largely blameless MILF, buried the law that would have ended the decades-long war with the Moro rebels, while elevating the careless SAF troopers into "heroes". The truly sad part? One of the leaders of the raid was actually friends and classmates with an MILF commander - and they could have actually cooperated to capture the terrorist - but the SAF wanted all the money and glory for themselves. Worse, I'm sure some in the media also found this out (I don't even work in the media) - but nobody wanted to get in the way of the angry public who were so sure Aquino was to blame for Mamasapano.

I get this. While I didn't know that the SAF were actually trying to profiteer, I thought it was a blunder on their part but I didn't know it was of that sort. My tone towards Aquino actually softened in the later years and I actually did think the outcry over the SAF - and the detestable calls for war - was... overmuch. The calls for war were something I can't bear.

Because - I hope you understand why I say this - it's very easy for some people to call all out war on some parts of the country when they are utterly detached from it and barely have any stakes, unlike others who would object for sensible reasons and stakes (and in return get called out as traitors or cowards). (And I hope you realize that this is why your other statements making implications towards my character are very upsetting for me)

And the outcry for war on the group and the shelving of the law that would have probably stabilized the regional shit-situation really pissed me off. Because I know the problem there is something that can be worked on.

But hey, feel free to knock yourself out with focusing all your anger on Duterte, but I really just don't see much value in Duterte venting anymore. You're just going to be stuck venting at a new target come next election even if we end up electing Jesus Christ himself.

The topic was about him and his flaws. And he has culpability now - just as Marcos has and how GMA has. Don't assume that I don't know about the problems past that and the shit people have to deal with at the local level. I find it outright insulting and condescending to get this kind of treatment from you just because the thread doesn't cover those issues (I get it that I could have articulated those aspects better). Seriously. You are off the mark in a way that is genuinely upsetting me.

[Shroom Man 777]

Also, I have to note - Shroom is mis-remembering Duterte's stance on oligarchy. Duterte never promised to break it, which is unsurprising when you consider he was being bankrolled by a pair of oligarchs himself. Without Arroyo (a very corrupt former president) and Cojuanco (a Marcos cronie) he would never have had enough money to do a nationwide campaign to begin with; which is mandatory in a country where vote-buying in the rural areas is common. Paradoxically however, he is the closest thing we've ever had to an open communist as president (which is why he is trying to hard to make peace with the communist rebels and why the military wants him dead so badly) - but I think that would be cold comfort to you at this point.

Maybe it was the supporters' rhetoric then. Another thing I am very much in agreement with - the sentiment of fighting oligarchy. That his alliances - that were noticeable - belied. Very unfortunately and disappointingly.

Because - due to reasons - the idea of addressing disparities and injustices and such through federalism was very appealing to me and many others. Until, seeing those alliances with Arroyo and the other cronies, it revealed the dangers of what kind of federalism they wanted to implement. One that would just empower more of those families.

It's very disappointing.

Honestly maybe that's part of my Duterte-focused venting. He took things that were worth a lot to us (think: why would I say this?) and used it to trick so many. I hope you figure out why I'm saying this, which is also why your other statements making character-implications on me are very hurtful.

EDIT:

I get that the problems go beyond him - they were systemic and sociocultural and psychohistorical and so on. I've long realized this. But how can one not voice out and vent at what he's doing anyway?

[Shroom Man 777]

So Freddy Dan Macros is now being buried. Military is on alert. Troops are barricading the cemetery too. Even where I live, which is another island so far away from over there, the military base here is also on alert and not letting the usual civilian traffic through.

Fait accompli. "Oh sure you can protest if you want..." *burial is done in an unannounced time, really fast, so sudden but with shitloads of soldiers and with military bases on alert and ready for it*

[Flagg]

So I guess what I'm getting at is, fuck yourself.

Well, given that you talked past what I said several times - only to then bizarrely claim I talked past your points - this is unsurprising.

I already said several times that Duterte is most definitely part of the problem and that his rhetoric adds to the problem. If this sails over your head then it's not my problem anymore.

All I'm doing is to point out it's a much deeper issue that needs to be fixed, and if you actually spent time to figure out these deeper issues you wouldn't be stuck condemning the "masses" as a bunch of gullible fools who are acting out of fear. They are by and large not afraid of Duterte. If Duterte leaves office (which can come pretty soon if you've looked at the situation closely) the replacement will not really change much regarding the extrajudicial killings. They will continue and as many people will still die.

This is what makes the public's reaction to the extrajudicial killings - which is largely muted or even supportive - truly worrisome. It's much more of a people problem than a leadership problem at this point.

That's nice. Unfortunately for you I never blamed "the masses", I blamed Duterte and the police as well as those with power whom enable them. I'm not a binary thinker, am well aware that complex situations are complex, and have family connections who are diametrically opposed to Shroom's position. If you really were paying attention you'd have realized that. So, fuck yourself.

[Shroom Man 777]

Honestly as I say elsewhere, I am getting tired.

I'm afraid of falling down into solipsism - that there is no objective thing out there, that everything is now potentially bias media CIA-concocted dilaw* shapeshifting reptiloid George Soros Killary zionist homobortionizing gay agendas or whatever filmed in the FEMA camp where 911 and the moonlandings were faked.

Maybe the vaccines made me autistic and the wifi is making chemtrail-filled cancers grow in my brain. I will euthanize myself by jumping into the Hollow Earth. But maybe I'll find Jessi Robredo's airplane crash site** there. Surrounded by Morlocks and the reptilianoid queens and clusters of eggs filled with facehuggers and headcrabs larvae and brainbugs. Johnny Rico and that relative of Gary Busey and psychic Neil Patrick Harris can't save me now. That is what Plan B truly means. Plan Bug. The arachnids of Klendatheu will invade us. Suck our brains out. Slllluuurrrrrpppp. Like Daniel Plainview's milkshake in There Will Be Bloodgeoning.

*dilaw is yellow in tagalagalalaog, yellow is the color of Aquino's Liberal Party, the designated target of the Duterte propaganda machine. To be fair the Aquino-Cojuangcos are oligarchs who were fine with farmers being shot... and their attempt at technocrat neoliberal development had so many holes you could use it to make Play Doh shapes.

**Jessi Robredo is the dead airplane-crashed husband of current VP Leni Robredo, she's a fine person with social advocacies but undeniably sympathy and necropolitics were used, that's probably why the Liberal Party selected her because they knew she was cool... and it turns out this decision paid off, it wasn't that half-assed or haphazard, they did dedicate a lot of resources to promoting her (which is fine since Aquino's designated successor, Mar Roxas, was a stick in the mud... at least socially... I don't know how good his brain really is... but he epitomized detached technocrat richkid foreign-schooled Imperial Manila tool...). Anyway the airplane crash fuels many conspiracy theories, that is why I jokingly theorize that his plane crashed into the World Trade Centers (flying backwards through time). And the VP who is popular is a fixture of conspiracy theories regarding coups on Duterte to replace him with her. The Marcoses also fuel these speculations and say that the voting machines were actually decepticon transmorphers or transforminators that stole his votes and gave his votes to Leni in exchange for negative energon cream or something.

[Flagg]

Honestly as I say elsewhere, I am getting tired.

I'm afraid of falling down into solipsism - that there is no objective thing out there, that everything is now potentially bias media CIA-concocted dilaw* shapeshifting reptiloid George Soros Killary zionist homobortionizing gay agendas or whatever filmed in the FEMA camp where 911 and the moonlandings were faked.

Maybe the vaccines made me autistic and the wifi is making chemtrail-filled cancers grow in my brain. I will euthanize myself by jumping into the Hollow Earth. But maybe I'll find Jessi Robredo's airplane crash site** there. Surrounded by Morlocks and the reptilianoid queens and clusters of eggs filled with facehuggers and headcrabs larvae and brainbugs. Johnny Rico and that relative of Gary Busey and psychic Neil Patrick Harris can't save me now. That is what Plan B truly means. Plan Bug. The arachnids of Klendatheu will invade us. Suck our brains out. Slllluuurrrrrpppp. Like Daniel Plainview's milkshake in There Will Be Bloodgeoning.

*dilaw is yellow in tagalagalalaog, yellow is the color of Aquino's Liberal Party, the designated target of the Duterte propaganda machine. To be fair the Aquino-Cojuangcos are oligarchs who were fine with farmers being shot... and their attempt at technocrat neoliberal development had so many holes you could use it to make Play Doh shapes.

**Jessi Robredo is the dead airplane-crashed husband of current VP Leni Robredo, she's a fine person with social advocacies but undeniably sympathy and necropolitics were used, that's probably why the Liberal Party selected her because they knew she was cool... and it turns out this decision paid off, it wasn't that half-assed or haphazard, they did dedicate a lot of resources to promoting her (which is fine since Aquino's designated successor, Mar Roxas, was a stick in the mud... at least socially... I don't know how good his brain really is... but he epitomized detached technocrat richkid foreign-schooled Imperial Manila tool...). Anyway the airplane crash fuels many conspiracy theories, that is why I jokingly theorize that his plane crashed into the World Trade Centers (flying backwards through time). And the VP who is popular is a fixture of conspiracy theories regarding coups on Duterte to replace him with her. The Marcoses also fuel these speculations and say that the voting machines were actually decepticon transmorphers or transforminators that stole his votes and gave his votes to Leni in exchange for negative energon cream or something.

Don't forget the black trains, the Mayan Apocalypse (I bet they were going by the Islamofascismmusselmenterrorist'murkahaters calendar), and time travel through meditation. That or escapism via my favorite comic series ever, 'The Invisibles' by that crazay motherfucker Grant Morrison. Or you can do "the Hemingway Solution", but put a few layers of plastic sheeting behind you as using your toe to pull the trigger of the double barreled shotgun in your mouth makes a bit of a mess. And if you somehow survive you'll have just the right amount of brainmatter to serve in a high level cabinet position in the Trump Administration. Oh, but you're not white enough.

But at least you have your health! For now.

And if you try really hard you may actually be able to fuck yourself. You master that and take it on the road and you're set for life!

Ameriphillipopolis!!!

[Zinegata]

That's nice. Unfortunately for you I never blamed "the masses", I blamed Duterte and the police as well as those with power whom enable them.

... And in a democracy power is in fact granted by the masses, so you really are blaming the masses if you say those "with power who enable them" are the ones you blame.

The difference is that I don't pretend to absolve the masses. I blame them just as much. Even the latest Marcos burial is just a reflection of the indifference of the masses and even the educated/liberals. Sure, they complain now, but back in 1992 (24 years ago) a Marcos was already elected back in Congress less than a decade after the revolution. Where were the endless complaints and huge protests back then to make sure that they could never have re-entered the Philippine political scene in the first place?

What I tried to do is to give light to their perspective. They approve of vigilante killings because they aren't seeing a working justice system. They vote for the Marcoses because people don't want to acknowledge that national power in the Philippines stems first and foremost from local control of specific provinces, cities, and towns - where paternal loyalties override national issues. This is also why they applaud a gangster for a national leader - because a lot of their local leaders are gangsters.

All of this, mind you, can actually change - but it actually takes a lot of thinking and effort - not to mention paying attention to what's happening in your little towns and cities rather than the president's latest antics.

But hey, if you're more interested in impotent venting about another country - or taking everything personally like Shroom is doing - then knock yourself out. You'll huff, and puff, and bounce around shouting for a bit but then end right up where you started anyway.

[Shroom Man 777]

Sure, they complain now, but back in 1992 (24 years ago) a Marcos was already elected back in Congress less than a decade after the revolution. Where were the endless complaints and huge protests back then to make sure that they could never have re-entered the Philippine political scene in the first place?

There were protests during that time too.

And how could a family be barred from re-entering the political scene? The legal means - nailing them with their crimes, getting the money back - was slow, there are obstructionists, the family filing appeals, possible cronies within the system, and the sheer slowness of the system by default that we all know exist. More expedient means to block the Marcoses from re-entering politics might be seen as abuses of the rival families - like how anti-corruption efforts by the Noynoy were seen as strongarm efforts to co-opt other parts of the government - and might be extra-legal.

Elements of the government - heck people in power during that time - included Marcos supporters and it can be argued that even the anti-Marcos politicians and factions were cut off the same cloth too. So the establishment might have been happy with deposing Marcos but going further and actually holding guilty parties accountable might have been too much for them if they were initially colluding with the Marcoses (ala Enrile).

Even the anti-dynasty law that's more generalized faced challenges.

What I tried to do is to give light to their perspective. They approve of vigilante killings because they aren't seeing a working justice system. They vote for the Marcoses because people don't want to acknowledge that national power in the Philippines stems first and foremost from local control of specific provinces, cities, and towns - where paternal loyalties override national issues. This is also why they applaud a gangster for a national leader - because a lot of their local leaders are gangsters.

All of this, mind you, can actually change - but it actually takes a lot of thinking and effort - not to mention paying attention to what's happening in your little towns and cities rather than the president's latest antics.

This is the biggest paradox of federalism because it might empower these elements - it's very likely - but at the same time the disparities due to the "Imperial Manila" tendencies means that local empowerment and degrees of autonomy would be nice. It's like when the centralization is denounced because of its inadequate measures for local problems - like say the slow response to Yolanda... but I really think that was something nobody was prepared for - but then it turns out in the case of Yolanda... the local government ended up pocketing the recovery funds that were coursed to them...

But hey, if you're more interested in impotent venting about another country - or taking everything personally like Shroom is doing - then knock yourself out. You'll huff, and puff, and bounce around shouting for a bit but then end right up where you started anyway.

Why the hell do you keep on mischaracterizing me? What the hell? Seriously please explain.

You're not even addressing me or responding to me, just mentioning me in third person in deriding tones. Why?

My problem - the thing I am taking personally - is that you are insinuating that I'm being deliberately not acknowledging those problems when those have been a source of frustration to me for a long time because they affect me and the people around me.

That is separate from my frustrations with the current administration and that is separate from my perspectives on the other issues and just because I give a different kind of emphasis on how I communicate doesn't mean I'm not acknowledging the things that you have also observed and stated. Perhaps the reason why I am so irate is because of the persistence of the multi-faceted problem. But why are you deriding me for this?

[Flagg]

Sure, they complain now, but back in 1992 (24 years ago) a Marcos was already elected back in Congress less than a decade after the revolution. Where were the endless complaints and huge protests back then to make sure that they could never have re-entered the Philippine political scene in the first place?

There were protests during that time too.

And how could a family be barred from re-entering the political scene? The legal means - nailing them with their crimes, getting the money back - was slow, there are obstructionists, the family filing appeals, possible cronies within the system, and the sheer slowness of the system by default that we all know exist. More expedient means to block the Marcoses from re-entering politics might be seen as abuses of the rival families - like how anti-corruption efforts by the Noynoy were seen as strongarm efforts to co-opt other parts of the government - and might be extra-legal.

Elements of the government - heck people in power during that time - included Marcos supporters and it can be argued that even the anti-Marcos politicians and factions were cut off the same cloth too. So the establishment might have been happy with deposing Marcos but going further and actually holding guilty parties accountable might have been too much for them if they were initially colluding with the Marcoses (ala Enrile).

Even the anti-dynasty law that's more generalized faced challenges.

What I tried to do is to give light to their perspective. They approve of vigilante killings because they aren't seeing a working justice system. They vote for the Marcoses because people don't want to acknowledge that national power in the Philippines stems first and foremost from local control of specific provinces, cities, and towns - where paternal loyalties override national issues. This is also why they applaud a gangster for a national leader - because a lot of their local leaders are gangsters.

All of this, mind you, can actually change - but it actually takes a lot of thinking and effort - not to mention paying attention to what's happening in your little towns and cities rather than the president's latest antics.

This is the biggest paradox of federalism because it might empower these elements - it's very likely - but at the same time the disparities due to the "Imperial Manila" tendencies means that local empowerment and degrees of autonomy would be nice. It's like when the centralization is denounced because of its inadequate measures for local problems - like say the slow response to Yolanda... but I really think that was something nobody was prepared for - but then it turns out in the case of Yolanda... the local government ended up pocketing the recovery funds that were coursed to them...

But hey, if you're more interested in impotent venting about another country - or taking everything personally like Shroom is doing - then knock yourself out. You'll huff, and puff, and bounce around shouting for a bit but then end right up where you started anyway.

Why the hell do you keep on mischaracterizing me? What the hell? Seriously please explain.

You're not even addressing me or responding to me, just mentioning me in third person in deriding tones. Why?

My problem - the thing I am taking personally - is that you are insinuating that I'm being deliberately not acknowledging those problems when those have been a source of frustration to me for a long time because they affect me and the people around me.

That is separate from my frustrations with the current administration and that is separate from my perspectives on the other issues and just because I give a different kind of emphasis on how I communicate doesn't mean I'm not acknowledging the things that you have also observed and stated. Perhaps the reason why I am so irate is because of the persistence of the multi-faceted problem. But why are you deriding me for this?

It's some weird vendetta. Just report the little shit.

[Shroom Man 777]

It's fine. I'm probably just being touchy because the issue is "close" to home. Or the issue *is* home.

[Flagg]

It's fine. I'm probably just being touchy because the issue is "close" to home. Or the issue *is* home.

Dude if he kept doing that while in the same room as me I'd knock his teeth out.

[Shroom Man 777]

I'd like to apologize for being over-sensitive and for jumping at phantoms that I'm just seeing, making mountains out of perceived molehills in other people's (Z's) posts.

It's just been hard.

The neglect towards the rest of the country - or what really looks like neglect - including the parts where I'm from, is a big gripe of mine. A chip on my shoulder. This under-appreciation of the problems faced by the rest of us who come from the rest of the country.

Some people think that the places where they come from comprises the Entire Philippines. The other parts of the country - where the rest of us come from - might as well be another planet.

You know how in Franco's Spain, aside from the other forms of marginalization they did, they tried to make Castillian the True Spanish language and other languages were made second-class, alienating Catalans and Basques? We kind of feel it too... for the longest time, the media presents this image of what Filipinos are. And that image rarely includes the rest of us.

Zinegata's right, the problem has been festering - it has and it's taking its toll.

It was a sore point during the elections and has been a sore point for a very long time beforehand. Regional grievances and identity politics were already over-pressurized way before the elections, not only in an abstract demographic or ideological level, but on personal levels. Myself included.

It means a lot to some people. Right now we are seeing how it is being misused. That makes it even more touchy for me.

(Like... we have seen the president use his ethnicity to deflect criticism towards his behavior. That is very shitty. Now his critics will mock him and his use of that ethnic-defense. And that's even more shitty. And all of this makes my stomach churn. Everyone is pressing the wrong buttons. Like, when they satire his disingenuous and manipulative use of the ethnic-defense... I still feel like they're using racial slurs! And it hurts.)

So everything that's been happening... feels like the corners or walls are closing in. In a metaphorical way, socioculturally. It makes me jumpy, twitchy, stretched out and tired. Especially since old issues - ones that we should have been working on - are actually just... worsening or not budging at all...

The soreness of the issue - and the fact that it's been sore for a very long time - is why I jumped at Zinegata and blew a miscommunication, a single phrase, out of proportion. I perceived that he said I was comfortably oblivious to these problems, when in fact it's been frustrating me and those around me for a very long time (and lots of us have been trying to communicate our frustrations to those who don't see it), that's why I just lost it.

[Flagg]

It's still uncalled for to take potshots at you for daring to give a shit about what's happening in your country, dude.

[Shroom Man 777]

My approach isn't everyone's cup of tea. And I was being difficult to deal with too. And nobody is having it easy here anyway.

[Flagg]

My approach isn't everyone's cup of tea. And I was being difficult to deal with too. And nobody is having it easy here anyway.

Yeah, but you were being genuinely emotional and sharing how you feel about what's going on, and what has been going on as long as you remember. You didn't deserve some shitlord vendettapath digging into his adult diaper and flinging shit at you for it.