LAGLAGAN NA KUNG LAGLAGAN!

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KUNG GANON NA LANG KABIGLAANG NILALAGLAG NILA SI SECRETARY MAR ROXAS, PWES KAMING LAHAT RIN NA MGA BISAYA SA MGA REHIYON NG VISAYAS AT MINDANAO AY BIGLAAN RIN NA MAGKAKAISA AT PILIT NA MABUBUO ANG PASYA NAMIN NA SI MAYOR RODRIGO DUTERTE NA RIN TULOY ANG PAGKAKAISAHAN NAMING IBOBOTO PARA PAGKA-PRESIDENTE NGAYONG DARATING NA HALALAN! WALA NANG TANONG PA AT WALA NANG ANUMANG PAG-AALINLANGAN PA!

LAGLAGAN NA KUNG LAGLAGAN!

        

What really is your plan?!

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Lalong Nakakalito! Ano ba talaga, Federalism o Revolutionary Government?!

I would go for the right kind of federal form of government with the appropriate safeguards in-place. But a revolutionary form of government? Hmmm... I'm not so sure. What nature exactly of a revolutionary government have they in mind this time? This declaration loudly rings a bell in many people's mind and adds another layer of confusion to voters like me who are seriously inclined to the idea of decentralizing government powers and resources through federalism or some other viable and doable approaches such as "Bottom-Up Budgeting" (BUB).

In one of his meetings with the Federal Movement For A Better Philippines in Cebu City some time ago, Mayor Duterte said that if he cannot get the desired results within six months to 1 year during his term, he will abolish the Congress. He will declare a revolutionary government similar to what the late former President Cory Aquino did during her time. But of course, he will consult his constituents before doing so.

According to him, one of the benefits of having a revolutionary government is it would allow him to get rid of the corrupt government officials in the Philippines. He deems these people as the reason why our country is still suffering from poverty. His first targets would be the military generals and other high ranking police officials. But he said, personally, he favors a federal form of government and is currently campaigning for it. He believes that by establishing a federal government, inequality would be abolished and there would be equal distribution of resources among provinces. Furthermore, he claims that this would be for the best interest of the country and will be essential in the promotion of peace in Mindanao.

(If Mayor Duterte said that he personally prefers Federalism, then the implication is that there must be some unseen unknown hands behind his push for a revolutionary government. Are they the unseen hands of the entity he code named as "Emilio Aguinaldo"?)

          

Importance of clarity of advocacy and platform of government

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When it comes to specifics, this is one reason why presidential candidates should create no ambiguity in conveying their respective advocacies and platform of government to the public. It is also very important that the public be able to know the full and true background of the candidates.

(Stock markets are sometimes called the "gamblers' confidence barometer" in the financial industry. Their opinions quickly change depending on their degree of confidence/doubt of the known and unknown factors they have considered in their assessments.)

          

My evaluation of the Presidential Candidates

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My Overall Presidential Scorecard after the 3rd and final Presidential Debate 2016:

* ROXAS ................  21.15 %       (Margin of lead over Duterte = 0.30)

* DUTERTE .............. 20.85 %       (Margin of lead over Poe  = 0.55)

* POE ....................  20.30 %       (Margin of lead over Binay = 0.25)

* BINAY .................  20.05 %       (Margin of lead over Santiago = 2.40)

* SANTIAGO ...........  17.65 %


Remarks and explanations of [selected and significant] details not shown in the overall score:

* In my assessment, this is a very close presidential race. Roxas' 0.30 % margin of lead over Duterte is overwhelmingly negligible. Statistically, they are tied. All four candidates have statistically negligible margins of lead, thus the four are virtually tied in my scorecard.

* All of the candidates are competitive in terms of Leadership Ability, although they differ in style, approach to problems, and attitude.

* In the area of Character and Mental Aptitude, Senator Poe scored just a little bit higher than Secretary Roxas. The rest are very close behind except for Mayor Duterte who lags but not far in the rear.

* In the category of Physical Fitness & Endurance. Senator Santiago managed to score good (although far not quite as excellent as the rest of the candidates) since she is showing observable very significant recovery from her stage four lung cancer. This is the only area that causes her overall score to lag behind the other candidates.

* Mayor Duterte scored very high in the sub-criteria of Anti-Crime and Anti-Corruption. But in the main criteria of Ability to Solve Current Pressing National Problems, Duterte's score ranked 3rd, with Roxas on the top followed by Binay. Poe and Santiago are statistically tied at the 4th rank very closely following Duterte.

* On the criteria of Platform of Government, all the candidates have almost no difference in terms of their plans for the economy, poverty alleviation, education, infrastructures, health, transportation, agriculture, housing, etc. But in the area of OFW Affairs, VP Binay scored higher. Binay exhibited a deeper knowledge of the OFW plight than the rest of the candidates. Meanwhile, in the area of Job Creation, this is where Secretary Roxas shines. His track record speaks well of his capability to really do the task of job creation well, but close behind him is VP Binay.

* I have not yet finished my final assessment and scoring for the candidates concerning their Plan of Action regarding the two very important national issues very seriously faced by our country, namely, the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) and the WPSTD (West Philippine Sea Territorial Dispute).

* At the start of the election season, the one factor that attracted me to the Duterte candidacy is their ["strong"] advocacy for a change of government to "Federalism". Even long before the Duterte candidacy was officially announced, they have already floated the idea of Federalism to the Filipino public and caught the interest of many people including me. But as the campaign period is nearing its end, it now appears as if the floating of the idea was just an act of testing the waters because they are saying nothing concrete about the idea until now. When they noticed that hyping their anti-crime line of messaging has drawn a large following, they dropped Federalism in the background and pursued a campaign with a messaging strategy of hyping anti-drug crime and anti-corruption coupled with "malasakit". People like me who got infatuated with their idea of change of government are now starting to strongly doubt the [in]sincerity of their Federalism advocacy.
 
* With all the factors in my preference for a president considered, except for the two important national issues, namely, the BBL and the WPSTD, there is yet one more big factor that is important in my consideration of who will I vote for for the office of the presidency. It is between Mayor Duterte's "Federalism" and Secretary Roxas' "Bottom-Up Budgeting" or BUB. The success of either of these two approaches to decentralization of government powers and resources will greatly depend on the kind and quality of either of the leaders and how really committed they are in carrying out their respective grand plans and how viable and doable their respective plans are.

Lord, we are at a crossroads. Guide us into the best way that we should go.

         

The ramifications are very serious! Government should prioritize its focus!

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Given the very serious ramifications of this hacking incident, the priority of focus should be on how to prevent the possible immediate dangers the Filipino voters and the Philippine government are being exposed to. Therefore, when it comes to finding effective ways of prevention from cyber crimes and electronic crimes at the actual/practical technical level, field of expertise of lawyers should not be the first place to look for solutions. Lawyers are experts in the punishments of the crimes done, but not in the technology involved in the prevention of such technology-driven crimes.

With the immensity of the seriousness of the not-understood real dangers that the voters (and the Philippine government itself) are being exposed to as a consequence of the public's and the government's ignorant tolerance of Comelec's level of cyber security ineptitude, even a more drastic move such as dissolving the entire Comelec organization would just be a mere slap in the wrist, aside from the fact that it won't help a bit in seriously finding ways of how to secure the Filipino citizens and the government from the real very serious dangers they are now being exposed to. Of course heads should roll and even more so! But that may come later after the immediate pressing problem has been properly addressed.

Captured by government authorities is one of the hackers who is a 20-year-old I.T. graduate. Perhaps instead of persecuting this young man for his participation in the cyber crime, how about the government authorities utilize his talent to help them implement a far better security for the entire Comelec computer system? They could also perhaps use his skill and influence to help them track his co-hackers. Let them give the young cyber wizard all the support and protection he needs to accomplish these objectives. This a way of not wasting a very valuable talent of a youth and at the same time a means for the cyber wizard lad to redeem himself and use his special skill for good intentions.

Imagine if copies of the database have already found their way into the hands of states who have antagonistic relations with our country, and to think that we have a closely approaching election this coming May 9, 2016? Given the present expertise and manpower the government is employing now to address this problem (assuming they are seriously addressing the problem), would there be enough time to put up a really credible and effective preventive measure against any possible sabotage or manipulation of election results as one possible severe consequence of this worst-in-history data security breach? The ramifications are very serious, therefore the government should prioritize its focus! If they need to hire foreign expertise in order to augment and speed up the job of protecting the Filipino citizen voters and the government and the elections, then they should have done it already by now. 

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"Leaked info can't be used to rig elections." --Comelec officials

Stolen voters' info may not more likely be used in the rigging but may more possibly be used in the area of faking of voters' I.D. that could possibly result in cases where some late comer voters will be surprised to learn that someone had earlier voted using their stolen identity.

It is not primarily the voters' information in the stolen database that exposes the coming elections to a possible rigging. But it is the fact that a 20-year-old I.T. graduate was able to penetrate through the computer security system of Comelec that puts into very serious vulnerability the now highly questionable strength of the Comelec's entire computer network security system (not to mention the similar vulnerability of other computer network system of other agencies of our government). Because if a fresh graduate-level I.T. expertise was able to break through the security system being put in-place, then just imagine what would real cyber criminals with top-level of expertise (who are for instance fully well sponsored by a certain group or a state) would enthusiastically be able to do to penetrate and sneakily install a votes-consolidation-interceptor virus code to manipulate or sabotage the results of the elections.

         

Hackers copied Comelec's database of registered voters!

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When you went to your local Comelec office to register as a voter, could you recall how long it took you to fill out completely the voter's registration form? Do you remember how very detailed were the bits of information being asked -- including the digitized bio-metrics of your fingerprints and your digitized signature and your picture? All of that amount of information about you are now in the hands of the hackers! And if they wish to, they could know any piece of information about you down to the last detail that you provided in your registration!

As a consequence, all of us innocent registered voters are being unnecessarily exposed to certain risks that could range from not serious to very serious.

God forbid, but if those database could somehow find its way into the hands of real cyber criminals of very high expertise, then the following are possible to happen:

1.) Information about you held in other establishments may get hacked.

2.) Your bank accounts may get hacked and funds may get stolen.

3.) Your I.D. cards, ATM cards, credit/debit cards, passport may get reproduced or get faked using the information about you in the stolen database. Then transactions using the reproduced or faked cards may happen without your knowledge.

4.) Your identity may get stolen and assumed by another person and use your name to engage in transactions that could make your person responsible to whatever accountability the transactions may have caused.

5.) By using your stolen identity, your person could be sabotaged by someone with a malicious intent to destroy your reputation or your career.

6.) And lastly, since there are pictures, signatures, and fingerprints bio-metrics in the stolen database, fake voter I.D.s can be produced and used on May 9, 2016 elections.

This is not a trivial matter. Let us be warned and let us follow the advice that the experts are recommending concerning this incident.

Thanks to the hackers for busting Comelec's claim of a good security system they have put in place for their computer system network which will also be used this coming elections in May. If no stronger system security fortification is done to address this situation, then during the elections, the integrity of the computerized consolidation of votes could potentially be jeopardized and the outcome of the elections might be rendered questionable.

         

The Joker, the Batman, the Bruce Wayne in you

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The Joker in you is so deplorable! But the Batman in you is what Gotham badly needs to rid itself of crimes and corruption.

Life in Gotham is not just all about fighting against evil and striking terror into the hearts of criminals. A major portion of Gotham needs the Bruce Wayne in you to run its economy.

For that particular thing you've done and that which, in your own judgement, was good, ...no apology is necessary. For being ashamed of your big filthy mouth, ...apology accepted.

So go and be what you believe in your heart you ought to be. Do what in your [good] judgment you have to do. But Gothamites like me will never close our eyes nor shut our ears to the Joker in you! Because when you soon will be preoccupied with looking after our well-being, we will in turn be looking after your well-being as well -- because the Joker in you is defeating you and is destroying you from the inside.
         

Would somebody please do something about this?

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The thing shown happening in this video highlights one major thing that for decades is not working as intended in our omnibus election code. Because when it comes to election violations, countless possible cases of bribery or vote buying (such as what we may see and may be suspecting happening in this video) are so easy to disprove by the parties involved but so hard to prove by concerned parties or citizens.

If we want positive change to be a reality in our country and put a stop to corruption, then one very appropriate place to start rooting out corruption is in our electoral system. Bribery and vote buying are starting point manifestations of corruption which are prevalent and rampant during elections. But yet for many decades already, almost nobody or no political group have been proven guilty and penalized!

The time to stop this form of corruption has so long been overdue. We call on presidential candidate former secretary Mar Roxas and our president PNoy himself to do something about this issue since the incident allegedly involve members of their own Liberal Party. So we hope they won't turn a blind eye on this issue because if the suspicion is proven true, then this is not the "Daang Matuwid" that the administration is advocating. If they simply ignore the issue, then they are as if contradicting their "Daang Matuwid" advocacy. And if that happens, then perhaps they might as well forget the continuation of their "Daang Matuwid" vision because ignoring the issue would prove to the Filipino people that the leadership of the Liberal Party has no real political will to rid even their own ranks of corrupt members.

         

The Lord's purpose shall prevail, not men's

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NARCISSISM: EXTREME SELF-CONCEIT. We may not be aware of it or may not admit it, but perhaps some of us also exhibit this type of personality sometimes.

According to experts, excessive selfie obsession is also one possible indication of a narcissistic personality. If that is so, then Facebook is a haven for narcissistic nitizens like me. :-(

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Now that this report has come out in the open, this would perhaps help people understand better why DU30 is not just tough on criminals, but he also has a very strong tendency to be so rude to anyone particularly when his ego is hurt.

So, would our country be better off with a leader who has this type of personality rule over us? Maybe or maybe not. We can really never be so sure of the outcome of leaders' plans for our country despite/in spite of the type of personality, character, qualifications, (or whatever qualities or attributes) that they may have. There simply are factors that are beyond human capacity that affect the outcome of the affairs of the universe.

Election is not just an exercise of our citizenship through our right of suffrage, but it is also a test of our society's norms and honesty. And more than the other things, it is a test of our spiritual maturity. Thus, the right thing we can do as responsible citizens of a democratic country is to not be corrupted ANYMORE by bribes! But rather, let us once and for all vote wisely and honestly according to the dictate of our [good] conscience. As different individuals as we are in this country, we may differ in our choices of leaders, but we have common hopes for the good of our country. Therefore as a people of faith, through fervent prayer, let us all lift up to the Almighty's hands our different preferences of leaders and leave our common earnest hopes of a better country at His feet.

As we come close to the elections in May, perhaps a few lines from the Book of books could strengthen our trust in the Almighty's overwhelming concern for the well-being of all of the countries and nations all over the world:

* (Proverbs 19:21) Many are the plans in a man's mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose that shall prevail.

* (Isiah 9:6) For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

* (Proverbs 21:1) In the Lord's hand, a king's heart is like streams of water: He directs it wherever He chooses.

* (Psalm 75:6-7) No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

* (Daniel 2:21) It is God who alters the times and seasons, and he removes kings and promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

* (2 Chronicles 7:14) If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

* (Proverbs 14:34) Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.

* (Proverbs 21:2) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

* (1 Corinthians 1:27) But God [could] choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God [could] choose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

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One should not just remain held captive by a narcissistic spirit inside his own self. This "criminal" spirit inside one's own self is a tougher enemy to conquer than the criminals on the streets. One's personality disorder should never be an excuse not to ask for God's forgiveness and help.  More likely than not, this spirit can get in the way of good leadership and governance. It can ruin good personal relationships as well as public diplomatic relationships when this inner negative spirit is not cast out but left to grow stronger inside.

We can observe that in his heart, the man is struggling against this spirit. Now that this spirit has been identified and named, I beseech you people of faith, together with our prayers, let us help the man cast his inner enemy out of him in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

           

Are we up to the Joker's challenge?

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Buying into the "Joker's" dream

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The "Joker' is exceptionally smart and his words make real sense. He knows that when "Gotham's" recent generation has little knowledge of or has not learned the lessons of the pains and horrors of the ways of the past, they are a very rich market of the kind of merchandise he is peddling.

         

When your "jokes" make the world cry, you're a joke!

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Confused of "The Gong": Who really is he inside?

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Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte said that while he would target criminals, he would not kill NPA members because they are fighting for "an ideology." Duterte joked, however, that he would tell communist guerrillas to get out of his city and "go to Cebu and Bohol instead."

Is this a bad joke, or is this not? In this election season, this statement of DU30 could be misconstrued as the DU30 brand of iron fist which is no other than the selective extra-judicial approach to criminality done the communist NPA way! I would rather that people would misinterpret DU30's statement than for people to take it as a joke when DU30 was being serious about not exacting justice to countless crimes that members of the communist NPA rebels have committed against the laws of our country. In a civilized world governed by laws, ideology is never an excuse for crime, and this is what true justice is all about -- not selective. No matter how good the intention might be for committing a crime, it should never be an excuse for doing it. That is why under a genuine justice system, even when a person steals or sells drugs for the noble intention of earning money to feed his family, he must be exacted the punishment due for his crime. In like manner, no ideology no matter how "good" are the intentions of its adherents, when they break the law in advancing their cause, like other criminals they must equally be exacted due punishment for crimes they may have committed. A true leader should not just be tough on common crimes but also on crimes of killing brought about by rebellion. A president cannot just be iron-fisted when it comes to drug-related and other common criminals while at the same time being baby-handed to the countless murder crimes of rebellion. That would be double standard on his part! True justice should favor no individual or group. This is the way of true and genuine justice!

DU30 may had long disassociated himself from his past communist NPA roots, but yet in many public instances his actions would seem to demonstrate that deep in his heart still burns the communistic ideology. In the minds of people, this now puts in question what really is the sort of "federalism" DU30 and the unseen unknown hands behind his candidacy have really in mind.

People must bear in mind that in the art of war, one strategy that the communists are also adopting and employing is this: If you can't beat your enemy by force, then beat them by joining them -- by penetrating their system and subtly controlling it from the inside, and when the time is right, taking over it.

I pray I would be proven wrong when the time comes! May the man they code named "The Gong" (D-Gong or Digong) is really no longer a disciple of a godless communist ideology, not just by outward appearance but really by heart.

Peoples all over the globe have different cultures and beliefs and they adhere to different ideologies. This is why respect is so important for these differing ideologies to co-exist peacefully. In few regions of the world where there is peaceful co-existence among differing ideologies, the different groups of adherents don't just passively tolerate each others' group beliefs but they strive in cooperation to compensate for one another's weaknesses with their individual ideological strengths.

The best way for the CPP-NDF-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines -- National Democratic Front -- New People's Army) to advance their cause is to join and participate in the government and its political process in the legal way. Their cause have legitimate concerns and they can advance them best by advocating for the reforms they wanted rather than commit crimes by rebelling against the government and take arms in order to ambush and fight the government's duly authorized armed forces.

Rodrigo Duterte is formerly from their ranks but have abandoned the arms struggle approach of advancing his idealism and have joined and participated in the government and now has made a great impact in at least a considerable part of the country. If the kind of change that Rodrigo Duterte is advocating is also the kind of change that the CPP-NDF-NPA is after, then perhaps they should follow the example of their former comrade by laying down their arms and use the strength of their ideology to help and support the multi-termer former mayor DU30 accomplish his cause and advocacy. After all, the people can still publicly observe that DU30 has not lost his heart for the legitimate valid reasons behind the cause and the ideology of the group he once belonged to.

In terms of advancing a group's valid legitimate cause, rebellious arm struggle has now become irrelevantly counter-productive and ineffective because it produces no good outcome, instead it only generates more killings and crimes, more sorrow and pain. If you are tired of arms struggle, then lay down your arms, join and participate in the government by following the example of the man they called "The Gong".

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But who am I to complain if God, in His wisdom, would put into highest authority in our land a man who is after his own human heart? -- a man who vows that within 6 months in office, by the might of his iron fist he will not fear hell nor hesitate going there so as to bring along with him particularly drug-related and common criminals; a man sought out by so many people to bring a "kind of change"; a man who thinks that what he would be doing (if elected president) to cleanse the country of the evils brought about by drug-related criminality and corruption could give God some sorrow.

Lord God, guide us. Forgive us for we are a people like many of the rest of the world who take special pride in calling ourselves by Your Son's name, but yet more than often, we act like children of men.