SEAG proves Pinoys can excel if given support!

Are we really a nation of cheaters, that henceforth, Filipinos would be known worldwide as a people who cheat in our elections, cheat on their wives (thanks to Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada's reputation of having string of mistresses) and cheat in sports? I was dismayed to hear the news report that Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra virtually accused Filipino athletes of cheating during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) without presenting any proof to support his allegations. Or is PM Shinawatra merely doing what politicians do when they lose cry foul, that they were cheated?

Truth to tell, I haven't seen the Philippines win so much gold (57 in the last count) medals in a sporting event that it really makes you wonder, why all of the sudden, the Philippines that is known as a laughing stock in Asian sports suddenly dominated the SEAG? I'm sure that our athletes were better prepared for the SEAG more so that we are playing host to this sporting event.

But the best argument why we can thumb our noses to PM Shinawatra is that, the judges for each sporting event were not Filipinos. Most of them are foreigners who do not even belong to the ASEAN region. Hence, as the old saying goes, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." So if the Thais lost their respective games, perhaps they didn't train as hard as the Filipinos. So let us unite together to save the Filipino name that our reputation should be tarnished by innuendoes even if it is coming from a Thai Prime Minister. The message to our ASEAN neighbors is, Filipinos can excel in anything, even the SEAG if given the opportunity and support by the government and the Filipino people. I believe in this and I hope you do too!

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While the Consultative Commission (Concom) headed by Dr. Jose "Pepe" Abueva tasked to present a new draft Constitution to the President and Congress for real political reforms are dead serious in this endeavor, Senator Joker Arroyo virtually doused cold water to the advocates of Charter Change (Cha-Cha) saying that there was no need to prioritize charter changes and that the Senate may just archive this proposal when it reaches their floor.

From the way things are going, Cha-Cha is doomed even before it can start. Although Congress already said that they would "force the issue" the call for charter changes even with the opposition of the Senate, we know too well that our selfish and power hungry Senators would never legislate themselves out of existence. Hence, Sen. Joker Arroyo's reaction to a new Constitution was expected; after all, he was one of the 49 personalities who was appointed by then Pres. Cory Aquino to draft and create the 1987 Cory Constitution devoid of any consultations with the Filipino people.

So where do we go from here? If you ask me, there will be a great political battle in the Halls of Congress between the Senate and the Lower House never ever seen before in this country. I would like to believe that since the Concom is tasked to present their new draft constitution by Dec.15th of this month, add the Christmas season where government leaders would take long vacations, you can say that the fireworks to greet the New Year would be drowned by the fireworks that would ensue between the Senate and the Lower House by early 2006! Let's hope that the Senate loses this battle!

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Yesterday, the whole world watched US President George W. Bush on CNN and BBC making another administration speech about his Iraq policy before the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where once more he insisted that there would be no pullout from the war with Iraq "without victory". The problem about US policy in Iraq, it started from a mistake or wrong information about the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which US Intelligence agencies later admitted was erroneous. But since the US military have already taken over Iraq and deposed that despot Saddam Hussein, no one wants to back out of the terrorism being waged there every day.

Perhaps it is time for the Americans to tell the story as it is that the war in Iraq was won two years ago that what is really happening in Iraq is resistance to American occupation. This happened in the Philippines when the Americans took over the Spaniards in colonizing us and today the same thing is happening in Iraq. If you ask me, even CNN has swallowed the Bush Administration's yarn about the War in Iraq, which they always present whenever they feature stories about Iraq. Why can't CNN say the American Occupation of Iraq? That's the whole damn truth about what really is happening there.

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