A picture paints a thousand words!

The September11 "Fuente Ta" Rally at the Fuente Osmeña last Wednesday night was a bit of a disappointment because there were less than a hundred people inside the Fuente Circle. Why were there only a few people? It could be a host of things. First perhaps is that…those who went to the August 26 rally were totally disappointed that the anti-pork was "hijacked" by the pro-Aquino yellow supporters whose main objective was to sow confusion and end the rally quickly so as not to threaten the rule of Pres. Aquino.

The Pro-Aquino followers were very successful in spoiling that August26 rally. Sensing that the Fuente Rally might be hi-jacked again is probably one of the reasons why the Fuente rally yesterday had a dismal showing. Also…there was bad weather yesterday afternoon as it rained hard by 4 p.m. That could have turned off many people who were planning to go to Fuente.

I went to Fuente Osmeña at around 6:30 p.m., but I didn't cross the street to join the protesters…first because it was drizzling and I was still nursing a cold, secondly I met a fellow mediaman who gave me a rundown of what had happened before I arrived. What surprised me when I got there was that the speaker Ms. Stella Palomo a good friend of mine was speaking in Tagalog. Why speak Tagalog in a Cebuano rally? Although she probably realized it right away as she shifted to Cebuano after a few minutes.

Another speaker was another friend, Abbey Canturias who also worked with The FREEMAN a long time ago. He had a manifesto that he asked people to sign….however the manifesto fell short of what this nation really needs today… a systems change. Abbey merely wanted an increase in the Internal Revenue Allotment,which in my book is a band-aid solution to a nation that needs a heart trasplant. My readers know too well that I've been espousing for a Federal form of government or go to the extreme of calling for our right to self-determination and do a Czechoslovakia here.

But while there were only a few protesters that night…at least it was no longer run by Pro-PNoy supporters…that's on the positive side. Don't fret; the EDSA Tayo prayer rally also produced a dismal crowd when compared by the Million-man rally in Luneta. Instead of the hundreds of thousands…only a few hundreds came. At this point all I can say is that we should keep the pressure cooker boiling until Pres. PNoy also removes his own Pork Barrel.

At this point, I would like to believe that we Cebuanos are still indignant over the Pork Barrel issue and perhaps many are just waiting in the wings for more future dramatic events to happen. That news report last night that showed no less than Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino, III having a solo photo with socialite Jea-neNapoles, daughter of Janet Lim Napoles here in Cebu last November is proof that Pres. Aquino knew the Napoles Family.

The other damning photo that media exposed was with Janet Lim Napoles and Senate President Franklin Drilon. Remember the old saying, "A picture paints a thousand words?" These two rather telling photographs tell a whole story behind them. Of course, the Palace Rasputins have issued pleas for those who saw the photos for them "Not to be judgmental."

What do these people think about us? That we're a bunch of idiots just like them? For a month now… Malacañang spokesmen have frantically denied any links with the President and Napoles… then suddenly she surrendered to the President in Malacañang and the President obliged and even escorted her to Camp Crame making sure that her accommodations were okay. Why does the President have to do these things himself?

Now the rumors are out that Napoles may have been one of the biggest contributors to the Liberal Party campaign kitty, which is why DILG Secretary Mar Roxas addressed her as "Ma'am Janet." No matter what damage control measures that the Malacañang spokesmen are doing, they just keep fumbling simply because they never told the Filipino people the real truth and engaged only in Nazi-style propaganda.

If the Malacañang Palace spin doctors were smart…they surely must have known that a photo of the president with Jeane Napoles existed…and they could have preempted any media expose by having the photo released to show that they had nothing to hide. But they kept that under wraps and reacted only when the news of the photo was splashed on nationwide TV and newspapers.

If there is anything worrisome it is that statement by a new group that calls itself Reformist Officers United who issued an official statement in the Tribune the other day. They are disgruntled members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Can they be called the New RAM?

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