Wanted, A Respectable Opposition: editorial for September 3, 1988

Philippines Free Press Editorial
September 3, 1988

Wanted: A Respectable Opposition

THE late Pres. Manuel L. Quezon expressed a preference for “a government run like hell by Filipinos” to “one run like heaven by Americans.” The government run by Americans was hardly heavenly, what with its colonial economy keeping the country a producer of cheap raw material for export and a market for highly-priced imported goods, and the Filipino people in their place as “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” The Army and Navy Club with the sign: “Dogs and Filipinos not allowed.” And a cultural brainwashing that left the Filipino with one dream: to be an imitation American.

If the American-run government was not celestial, the Filipino-run was sure hellish or at least purgatorial. Democracy being the only saving grace, for allowing the Filipinos to kick out their Presidents and representatives and kick in the next hungry pack that turned out no better. Hungry mosquitos replacing over-fed ones, in the words of the late Manila mayor, Arsenio H. Lacson.

Our issue for December 3, 2005

PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS

December 3, 2005 Issue

Main Features

1. Cover: Virgilio Garcillano—Hello, Garci, Where Are You?

A supporter of President Arroyo in the House of Representatives leaked to the Philippine Daily Inquirer a draft report by the five House committees that inquired into the Arroyo tapes hoping that the newspaper would highlight the finding that there was a conspiracy to embarrass Mrs. Arroyo. The implication would have been that the congressional investigators cleared Mrs. Arroyo of charges that she rigged last year’s presidential election. But it backfired: the newspaper highlighted Malacañang’s attempt at a cover up. PDP-Laban Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati says the report does not clear Mrs. Arroyo of the charges just as the September 6 congressional vote that terminated the impeachment process did not clear her of the same charges. The leak has prompted a review of the report, which now needs revision to correct any misimpressions that might have been caused by the premature disclosure. The findings are almost similar to the Free Press’s views at the time of the investigation: there was this tape on which somebody, probably from military intelligence, recorded wiretaps of Mrs. Arroyo’s phone conversations with Virgilio Garcillano; somebody reproduced the tape and leaked copies to disclose the secret of Mrs. Arroyo’s electoral victory—not to embarrass her—to draw charges of fraud or the people to force her out of office; the Palace obtained a reproduction of the tape on CD and, anticipating its being made public, disclosed it but with an accompanying reproduction that Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye claimed was tampered with; but how he knew which reproduction was original and which was fake he failed to make clear to the investigators; all that the administration and its allies did was to discredit the tapes, but the investigators, not having the expertise, were unable to make a determination, although Mrs. Arroyo’s June 27 apology to the nation is a clear admission that the tapes are authentic. The investigation is unfinished. Many questions remain unanswered and not the least of them are: Who bugged Mrs. Arroyo’s telephone? Where is former NBI deputy director Samuel Ong, who claimed he had he mother of all the tapes? Where is Virgilio Garcillano, whose disappearance speaks volumes about the charges against Mrs. Arroyo? The man is the answer to the question of the legitimacy of Mrs. Arroyo’s rule. Does he still live? The Palace insists on closing the book on the Arroyo tapes but the opposition refuses to drop it because the truth must be known. Is Mrs. Arroyo president of the Philippines or is it Fernando Poe Jr.? Wait for the worst, the opposition in the House says. The people hold the final judgment.

By Ricky S. Torre and Wendell Vigilia

“Filipinos keep out.” October 5, 1946

PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS

“Filipinos keep out”

By Leon O. Ty
Staff member
October 5, 1946

OUR cover photo in this issue was taken in Tacloban, historic provincial capital of Leyte, two weeks ago today. The arresting signboard bearing the notice “FILIPINOS KEEP OUT—EWAS DEDA,”* may still be standing where the FREE PRESS photographer snapped it — near a dump on the left side of the road leading to the PAL and FEATI landing fields in a barrio called San Jose, some seven kilometers away from the town proper.

Our issue for November 26, 2005

PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS
November 26, 2005 Issue

Main Features

1.Cover: Winners and Losers

President Arroyo wants all newspapers and radio and television stations to be like the Manila Bulletin, the only newspaper in the whole universe that runs such insignificant headlines as “GMA meets Bush at APEC� and “10,000 jobs offered by trade fair.� She wants to manage the news so that only what her administration is doing will make it to the front pages. She doesn’t want news about irregularities in her government, about allegations that she rigged last year’s presidential election, about her Marcosian tactics in dealing with opposition to her rule, about her investigation by the people’s court, about “losers,� meaning the opposition. Imagine the gall of a leader who will say those things at a meeting of television journalists, and pulling reporters at a job fair and telling them to interview businessmen. For that she got a mouthful from both the opposition and her own allies and the press, at least the organizations that will not be dictated to. Mrs. Arroyo has been thinking dangerously since she imposed her rule on the Philippines last year, not unlike Ferdinand Marcos who after saying he was not running for reelection did not only stay but also canceled all elections and all freedoms in 1972 and went on ruling the losers—the Filipino people—until they decided to stop losing and gave him the boot in 1986. Maybe it is true that Mrs. Arroyo has a private army or she will not go on squandering her political capital and rolling back civil rights and liberties. But what can her private army do or the military, if she doesn’t have a private army, do when the people have summed up her sins against them? (Here, review from December 30, 2002 to attack on clergy-led rally on Mendiola.)

By Ricky S. Torre

Quezon attacks the law’s delay

Quezon attacks the law’s delay
By J. Collas
September 30, 1939
WHAT is wrong with the administration of justice in the Philippines? Why is there so much delay, mostly unnecessary, in terminating cases, even those of a criminal nature? Why is a poor man accused of a crime quickly sentenced, generally convicted, while it takes a mighty long time to try and convict a rich man? Is there one law for the rich and another for the poor in spite of the insistent claims of social justice and the oft-repeated maxim, now derided by many, that there is equality before the law?

Guest of honor and principal speakers at a banquet given at the Manila Hotel by those who passed the bar examination in 1914, President Quezon propounded some of these disturbing questions last week. He has been outspoken, sometimes explosive, in his criticism of antiquated court rules and “sixteenth century” judges. As the fitting subject of an impressive impoverished address, he expatriated on the law’s delay.

Juan Sumulong: Dreamer, not demagogue

Dreamer, not demagogue
By Leon Ma. Guerrero
Free Press staff member
September 17, 1938

THE day before, Nationalist Campaign Manager Benigno Aquino had said: “Juan Sumulong would be an ideal critic. He is a profound thinker, an effective writer. But as a leader of the opposition he will not be successful. A person who considers thoroughly what he is going to do and say, because he is afraid of what may be said against him, cannot lead a successful opposition. Juan Sumulong is a dreamer, an idealist.”

Sitting at a quiet window in native shirt and slippers, looking out occasionally at the great tree an arm’s length away or down at the quiet street, the old man I was talking with looked indeed like a dreamer, an idealist.

The New Menace: editorial for April 1, 1961

Philippines Free Press Editorial
April 1, 1961

The New Menace

THIS country has never been more menaced by youthful criminality than it is today.

One has only to take a cursory look at the nation’s press to realize the gravity of our teen-age problem. No less than the secretary of national defense and the chief of staff of the Philippine Constabulary have offered to make available units of our armed forces to stem the rising tide of youthful violence.

Even the Man in Malacañang during a commencement address in Cebu City this week took cognizance of the rising criminality among our young people, and promised to deal with it “to the full extent of the law.� At the same time, President Garcia urged that the nation’s attention “be focused unerringly on this social malady.�

What has happened to our young people?

In Manila and the surrounding cities, they have gone on rampage! Like jungle beasts.

Our issue for November 19, 2005

PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS
November 19, 2005 Issue

Main Features

1. Cover: Age of Majority (House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles)
By Ricky S. Torre and Wendell Vigilia

2. Sunset Joe
For the first time, House Speaker Jose de Venecia feels threatened. The majority in the House killed a motion to declare all positions vacant, but members of the ruling coalition are meeting in blocs and sharpening their knives and they will surely use those vile blades on him when they get the numbers. While Malacañang wants de Venecia out for insisting that President Arroyo must step down after the Constitution has been amended, the majority in the House feel de Venecia has sinned against them in many ways, not the least of them his frequent absences. He is always in the United Nations, they complain, neglecting his duties as leader of the House. But that is just a minor gripe. His mortal sin is agreeing to slashing the House members’ share of the pork barrel from P70 million each to only P40 million for this year, although all of them also agreed to the cut, sold as they have been to Mrs. Arroyo’s claim of a fiscal crisis in the government. But de Venecia is not following up the releases of funds in Malacañang, appearing to have lost interest in patronage since a shift to the parliamentary system is imminent. Well, that’s what he thinks. The Constitution may be amended, but if Mrs. Arroyo will still be there after the amendment, Filipinos will surely reject the proposed new constitution in the referendum and the presidential system will stay. Will there be pork for the MPs? Now that’s another thing that de Venecia has not made clear to the House members—because he is always in the United Nations. What the hell is he doing there? Why doesn’t he just ask to be appointed ambassador to the United Nations and leave the House to another leader who will mind the store full-time? And there’s the question of the bonuses for the maximum protection the majority gave to Mrs. Arroyo during the impeachment process in September. Where are the bonuses? The rattled de Venecia is trying to stamp out the fire, but he has already shown where his heart is and Malacañang, offended by his talking to foreign correspondents about Mrs. Arroyo not having any choice but to step down in 2007, is not helping him. Lakas Rep. Prospero Pichay of Surigao del Sur is the Palace’s choice for a new speaker. Unless de Venecia finds something in his hat in the next three weeks, he will just be Lakas Rep. Jose de Venecia of Pangasinan, a station not worth anything in the United Nations.
By Guiller de Guzman and Wendell Vigilia