I received an email today, this time its subject are the lies of Manny Villar. Well, this made me think and thought I would share them to you. Actual email below:

It’s Villar who should apologize

Business Malaya/April 6, 2010

LITO BANAYO

‘So our question remains – why foist a lie upon the public?’


In reacting to news reports on TV and columns which brought out documentary evidence to disprove the faked poverty claims he made in his political ads, Manny Villar wants Noynoy, the Liberal Party, and us columnists to apologize.

He angrily lashed back at critics (that’s Winnie Monsod and Conrad de Quiros of PDI, Billy Esposo of the Star, and this writer, as of the time Villar responded) for allegedly “distorting facts surrounding the death of his younger brother Danny”.

What were the “distortions” , Senator Money?

“During an emergency case, you go to the nearest hospital and bother later where to get the money to pay the bill”, after stating that Danny was admitted into the “charity ward” of FEU Hospital.

Laki ako sa Maynila, Senator Money. The nearest hospitals to your North Balut digs were: Sta. Rita Hospital in Gagalangin, owned by the Albanos, Emmanuel Hospital, a Protestant-owned and run hospital on Jose Abad Santos (then Reina Regente) in Tondo, or Mary Johnston (also with a charity ward, and where Joseph Estrada was born, fronting the parochial school young Manny attended since Grade One), and even San Lazaro Hospital (a government-owned free hospital near Tayuman and Avenida Rizal). These are nearer to Balut or Navotas than FEU Hospital. And all these were far cheaper than FEU. There is another hospital nearer, UST Hospital, which costs about the same as FEU.

If Danny was a leukemia patient long before either chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant were developed by medical science, the doctors at FEU would have told the parents of one in the charity ward that it was time to go home and prepare for the inevitable. Thirteen days at FEU must have cost a pretty penny, as I said in a GMA-7 interview on Holy Monday. Assuming Danny was kept in the charity ward, the doctors would likely have told the Villars it was better to bring their son home. At the back of their minds, the bed could be given to an indigent patient who could yet be cured or treated.

But Villar said his family could not afford the cost of Danny’s treatment. This he even enshrined in costly TV advertorials, “mamatayan ng kapatid dahil wala kang perang pampagamot”. The truth is, may pera ka man o wala, hindi pa kayang gamutin noon ang leukemia, and surely the doctors would have told Manny and Danny’s parents so, especially “kung wala (silang) perang pampagamot.”

So our question remains — why foist a lie upon the public? Why use your dead brother as fodder for your propaganda? Is this not an insult to your industrious mother, and a desecration of your brother’s death, as much as a mockery of your deceased father’s efforts to give you and your siblings a better life?

“Some groups have the gall of spinning tales that I did not come from the poor. I’ll never get tired of saying we were once squatters. My siblings and I were born in (Moriones) Sta. Maria in Tondo. The nine of us slept together on a single mat and mosquito net,” he pointed out.

“Squatters”, Mr. Senator? Your parents rented that small house in Moriones. They did not “squat” upon it, like those in Intramuros who Mayor Arsenio Lacson bundled up and moved to Sapang Palay in San Jose del Monte, close to the lands you pawned to the Bangko Sentral. So cut the crap, please.

“My father was forced to borrow money and build our own home. Now they’re saying we are not poor…” he said. No sir, we did not say you were never poor. Maybe you were. But the truth is your parents sacrificed a lot, and worked hard to give you and your siblings a better life. The truth is, even before your brother Danny died, even when you entered school, you were already much better off. Your father, Manuel Sr. was a budget officer of DANR, later divided in two, and he became part of the DENR, eventually becoming the confidante and financial officer of then DENR Minister Jose Leido Jr. Pretty well-placed and cushy, indeed.

Which is why we cannot understand why you had to fake the circumstances of Danny’s unfortunate illness and eventual demise and therein lie to the people.

Your father did obtain a loan from the GSIS, for 16,000 pesos to build the house, which was not a small amount in those days. He bought a 560-square meter lot in San Rafael which at the time, cost 30 pesos per square meter, or 16.800. Who were your neighbours? Well, the following big names in Philippine industry lived in that vicinity: the late Yao Eng Hue, once president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, at the time owner of Manhattan Rubber, which produced rubber slippers; Robin Sy, also a former president of FFCCCI; Dante Go, who used to own Sugarland and sold it in 1999 to Ramon Ang for a cool billion; even the family of Wilson and William Tieng of Solar Films and Solar TV. Their father was one of the biggest glassware and kitchen equipment dealers in Echague, Quiapo, in league with the late Leonardo Ty of Hitachi and Ajinomoto. Even William Gatchalian had property in the vicinity. My own grand-uncle used to have a clothing factory nearby, called La Navotena at the foot of the bridge along North Balut. The area is beside what is now Westminster High School, a Chinese-Filipino school.

Just so the young will understand how big an amount 16,800 pesos was (30 x 560 sq. m.), the minimum wage at the time was 120 pesos per month, or 4 pesos per day.

Villar also said that the subdivision they lived in was beside Smoky Mountain, and the stench assailed their nostrils. Again that is a lie. Because there was no Smoky Mountain at the time (the 60’s). It was only in the 80’s when population pressures, inward migration and grinding poverty made foraging the city’s detritus become the anomaly that it was. San Rafael subdivision is close, but not adjacent to the area used as a mountain of dump, which Tita Cory and later FVR converted into tenement housing for real squatters, developed by Reghis Romero, now one of Villar’s and GMA’s most ardent supporters. Young Manny did not smell the stench of garbage, but the smell of soap produced by Procter and Gamble PMC at the back of San Rafael.

You want the Liberals and your main political opponent to “apologize” for what they did to your reputation. Firstly, it was neither the Liberals nor Noynoy who told the truth surrounding the death of your brother which you yourself brought to public attention through expensive advertisements. It was the collective work of columnists whose responsibility it is to tell the truth, and shared their information with each other, especially since it concerns someone who wants to be president.

Whether truth hurts you or not is of no moment to those among us who have a duty to search incisively into the character of all who seek the highest office within the gift of the sovereign people.

Your own propagandists, aided by the communists, are trying their worst to pin even the Mendiola massacre and the suspicious killings at the gate of Luisita to your main protagonist, as if he himself bloodied his hands, as if he himself ordered the shootings, even if police findings showed that some died at the hands of communist agitators who wanted precisely to blow up a labor problem into a political issue to further their cause. You and the agit-prop experts you have purchased with your indecent money are the ones who foist lies against your opponent. And now you have the effrontery to ask him or us to apologize?

No, Mr. Villar, este Villarroyo, it is not for anyone else to apologize for telling the truth about the baseness of your character. Rather, it is you who must apologize, firstly to your old mother whose industry and sacrifice you belittled by making it appear that she and your father were helpless in providing you with a better life, and only you, through your “sipag at tiyaga”, triumphed over the poverty of your birth.

And then, apologize to the people, especially the poor to whom you have lied, and egregiously so.

Apologize to those little children whom you have exploited in your propaganda, singing an anthem dedicated to a bogus poor.

Apologize to the desperate Dumagats of Norzagaray whose ancestral lands your bankrupt bank hocked to the Bangko Sentral, which in turn foreclosed their lands and their future.

Apologize to the urban settlers of San Pedro, and to the family of Quirico de los Santos, whose life was taken by your security guards when you or your assigns ordered the demolition of their shanties standing over land that was under the custodianship of the PCGG, over which you have no valid title.

Apologize to the many landowners whose ingress and egress over their titled lands you closed so that they would be forced to sell their lands to you.

And once again, apologize to the public who you fool with your ads proclaiming your “opposition” to a hated regime which now turns out to be your chief sponsor to succeed its misrule and its corrupt governance.

Weeks ago I received an email about Gibo Teodoro who is running for presidency in the Philippines. I thought it’s worth sharing. The statements have something to say after all. Until this time I haven’t decided yet on whom to vote. I feel sorry about this because election day is just a month away.  Please read the actual email below:

Gibo Teodoro: So Much to Answer For
by Peachy Paderna
Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 12:04am

My frustration with Gibo supporters lies in the fact that most of them are educated university students, academics, and professionals. We’re talking about individuals who should have the ability to form insightful opinions, especially on matters of great national and political relevance.

What I notice, though, is that people who are inclined to vote for Gibo are people who are hypereducated . I’m coining this word to strike a contrast between them and Manny Villar’s (mostly) uneducated followers. Do a quick survey of Gibo fans, and you’ll find that an overwhelming number of them aren’t merely intelligent. They’re aware that they’re intelligent, and their intellectual capacity is actually a great source of pride for them.

They support Gibo because at the very core of it, they see him as a peer . As intelligent people, it’s only right that they vote for the intelligent candidate, correct? His professional achievements are enviable: bar topnotcher, Harvard Law graduate, political golden boy. The man even has a pretty wife. And no one will dispute that Gibo has been the most eloquent speaker so far, and in various debates, his wit and rhetoric trump everybody else’s.

Gibo supporters place an inordinately high premium on academic achievement and — I am getting tired of this word — intelligence. There’s nothing wrong with that: I would never vote for an inept candidate, someone whose intelligence I would seriously question.

However, people who believe in Gibo are forgetting one thing: eloquence, wit, and polished rhetoric does not a good President make . There is a huge crevasse of logic that stands between a man’s intelligence and his ability to effect change in a country that needs it badly; in other words, the former doesn’t necessarily give rise to the latter, despite all appearances.

I know it’s been done countless times before, but I’m going to invoke history again: our most intelligent leaders — Marcos and Arroyo — were also the most reviled, because they did everything they could during their terms to plunder from us and keep themselves above the law. And why did they manage to get away with their thievery for so long? Remember that both Marcos and Arroyo served multiple terms. They were in power longer than they should have been. The reason? They were cunning and brilliant, and they knew how to stay safely ensconced in Malacanang Palace.

Look, I’m not saying that we should conveniently vote for an idiot so we can easily boot him out when the situation calls for it. I’m also not saying that every intelligent candidate is a potential autocrat or a big-time crook. Instead, what I’m saying is that intelligence alone is a poor barometer for determining which presidential aspirant is most deserving of your vote.

So what about Gibo Teodoro? I think he’s a tragic example, actually, because I do admire his purported intellect. In fact, let’s throw in efficiency as well, since people have claimed that this man works well and has a great track record backing his candidacy. But you know what? None of these makes a difference to me. What completely ruins Gibo in my view is his utter inability to show us that he is a principled man.

Let’s face it. Public office demands principled individuals, because it’s a service-oriented job. You don’t want McDonald’s staff spitting on your burgers before they bundle it up in paper and serve it to you. And when you pay a hundred pesos for that burger, it’s only fair for you to receive your change before the receipt rolls out. We trust people in service jobs to go beyond the bare fulfillment of their tasks; we also want them to be transparent and honest about what they’re giving us, and we want to know what goes on in every transaction that we enter with them.

Now let’s say that Gibo is a service crew member in your nearest McDonald’s, where he mops the floor and is in charge of tidying up the place. Nonetheless, this McDonald’s is a crappy one, where spitting on customers’ burgers is par for the course and you find yourself always shortchanged. Despite all these, however, our dear Gibo doesn’t decry the filthy practices of his colleagues. He doesn’t stand up and say, “WAIT A MINUTE, GUYS. YOUR BURGERS HAVE MY MANAGER’S PHLEGM ALL OVER IT. OH, AND PLEASE COUNT YOUR CHANGE, BECAUSE YOU WON’T GET ALL OF IT IF YOU DO BUSINESS HERE.” He just mops away at the floor and does good work of it. That’s all he does.

Let’s imagine that this crappy McDonald’s is the administration, and that the manager is GMA. In other words, Gibo is turning a blind eye to everything that the administration is guilty of. And what’s his response when asked about what he’ll do with Arroyo once her term is over? “I won’t intervene.”

He won’t intervene? That’s it ?? It’s a move that reeks of cowardice. It’s inaction that betrays a lack of principle. He knows that Arroyo did something that she has to account for, but he won’t even spearhead an investigation. The best he can do is “not intervene.” Nice try, Gibo.

People have asked me why it’s important for GMA to pay for her transgressions. Why waste time on such an endeavor? Why not focus on other matters? I’ll tell you why: it’s because we cannot keep on communicating to public officials that it’s okay to steal. If we let Arroyo get away with offenses of astounding magnitude, what will our lesser public officials think? They’ll think stealing from us again and again is fine, because hey , we won’t do anything about it, anyway, and we allowed bigger crimes to pass through the net before. By letting Arroyo off the hook, we further encourage an already flourishing culture of corruption that should have long been nipped in the bud.

I’d like to go back to that analogy I drew about a crappy McDonald’s. Funny how, if you found out that the nearest branch habitually served phlegm-burgers, you would never go back to it again. If they always cheated you out of your change, you would protest and want your money, and you would never go back to that place again. But when it comes to our government, we’re masochists and we’re suckers: oh, you’re stealing from me? That’s okay, I’ll vote for you again. Oh, you trampled upon my human rights? That’s okay, I’m used to it.

If you vote for Gibo, you’re essentially the McDonald’s customer who’s happy to chew on burgers laced with other folks’ saliva. You’re okay with getting less change than you should, because the guy who’s mopping the floor is doing a good job of it, and you think that a clean floor equals clean service. If this crew member were really doing a good job, he’d tell you to get out of there. He would hand in his resignation and find a better place where his principles don’t have to be compromised.

In other words, it’s not enough that a man be intelligent. It’s not enough that his rhetoric can sweep you off your feet. It’s not enough that he works efficiently. He must have principles, unyielding and certain. Principle is the scaffolding in successful leadership, without which the whole structure cannot sustain itself.

So think about that, Gibo supporters. I’m sure you can. You’re intelligent, after all.
____________ _________ _________ _________ ______

If I may add, his policy of not intervening makes him guilty of the sin of OMISSION  when he did not do anything when the Ampatuans became a powerful monster dynasty during the Arroyo reign, with a private army more powerful than our military, lording it over in Maguindanao.  He merely cautioned the Maguindadatus of the threat to their lives.  AS SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, AND HEAD OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL, HE DID NOT DISARM, DISBAND, AND PROSECUTE THE AMPATUAN WARLORD, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WERE HIS BOSS’ PROTEGEE. HE DID NOT PREVENT NOR STOPPED THE BLOODSHED.

supplied by Danny Olivares

I’m not talking about how she handles the Philippines but her fashion sense. I cannot contain the flabbergast I felt when I found out that Pres. Macapagal Arroyo is wearing Yves Saint Laurent Cage 110 booties. Thought this is only worn by young celebrities. Never had an idea that a president like her and old as she could have the confidence and don this posh pair of shoes to parties and meet ups.

And the price? Original retail is of 890 Euros, that’s already 61,337.53. Wooo, that’s supposedly 1 month salary of a president.

My heart goes to all the families and friends of the Maguindanao massacre victims. I think that’s the saddest news I’ve ever heard this year. Imagine? Killing humans just because of selfish political ambitions. It’s not a teaching of God. That fact could break anybody’s heart. Aside from the killing happened in Maguindanao, what went more sad is to learn how bad people became just to get what they want.

Monday, Nov. 23 when the mass killings happened in Maguindanao. 100 armed men stopped the convoy of Mangudadatu while on their way to file for the candidacy of vice-mayor Toto Mangudadatu for governor in their province. Most person who went with the convoy is women because they believe they will not be harmed by their political rival as believed that in rido teachings, women are untouchables. But it went wrong this time, no life is spared. even the media men were killed. Now this makes Philippines the most dangerous country for journalist. Even I, became afraid of the country that I lived in, I feel no safe being here specifically in Mindanao. I think I cannot put my trust to politicians anymore and more so the government administration, I don’t really know what their motive is. Now that election is coming, I find it hard to pick the right person to vote for different government positions. I might sound pathetic here.

This problem need to be solved now, not later. I don’t know what is the next step that the president will take after announcing day of mourning yesterday November 25, 2009. I want to see more action about this than just talk and talk. Hope this will not be a dump case.

God bless Philippines!