Politicians are from Uranus

In a rare (and becoming more scarce) good news from the Philippine government, its vehicle licensing section, LTFRB, expects to formalize fare rollbacks for public utility buses and jeeps when it meets anew with representatives of transport groups (mostly the PISTON, PASANG MASDA, and other groups with off-colored names) sometime within the next few days.

In retrospect, the rollback is minimal (.50c for jeeps and a peso for the bus) but in these hard times in the RP, everone could use some spare change inside their pockets for a moment’s need. You never know, maybe you’re a peso short for one stick of a cigarette.

But I expect a Christmas rollback too, so it would be good if the government gets going on the fare rollbacks.

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In other news, JDV’s son Joey refuted media claims that his impeachment case filed against GMA is fueled by politics, as the media portrays him as a Senator or a congressman wannabe in 2010.

You know, most political observers in RP can easily spot a liar with his pants down, and JDV3 here is no exception. I mean, most whistleblowers and big-names in recent controversies soon found themselves heavily involved in politics. Joey-boy here is filing an impeachment case, and that’s a political start.

Here’s a quick run-down of a few people who were involved in controversies and became somewhat better political players:

1. Antonio Trillanes IV – this guy takes the top spot. He’s a troublemaker, he’s an embarassment, and he’s a disgrace to the army, but now he’s a Senator… even behind bars. Most people remember Trillanes as the PRO for the failed Oakwood mutiny that happened 5 years ago, and in the failed “Manila Pen Siege” last 2007. In politician’s lingo, that’s called a “major ratings boost”, the former one winning Trillanes a Senate seat. Thankfully the Supreme Court granted the country some breathing space from this egomaniac.

2. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo – he’s the one who owned up to the “Jose Pidal” bank account that Sen. Lacson tried to pin on to GMA’s huge husband. Now he’s a congressman serving the 5th district of Negros Occidental. Talk about rewards for taking a bullet in the chest.

3. Loi Ejercito Estrada – this woman was Erap’s First Lady when he assumed office in Malacanang. When Erap was ousted, Loi capitalized on the Erap supporters’ outrage for his ouster from office and garned enough votes to be voted as a Senator (alongside his son Jinggoy) in 2001. But in retrospect, I think this woman deserves capitalizing on this – she did more better medical and humanitarian outreach programs than the Arroyo government did.

4. Gringo Honasan, Fidel Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile – these guys were major players during the first EDSA revolution, and these military personnel were responsible for leading the army against Marcos. And the three of them went on to have very very fruitful political careers, with Honasan and Enrile becoming senators and Ramos becoming a president.

5. Alan Peter Cayetano – this person was the one who realized why Lacson attacked GMA’s hubby – FG is a gold mine. So Alan boy here tried to find kinks in the armor, and soon found one regarding FGMA’s secret bank accounts. He stirred up enough buzz and capitalized on it in 2007, and lo and behold, he won a Senate seat.

If anybody knows other people who were involved in controversies and became politicians, let me know and I’ll update this list.

So, I have also a list of people who COULD run for a political position (or a much better position, if they are incumbents) in the 2010 elections:

1. Joey De Venecia [NBN-ZTE controversy]
2. Jun Lozada [NBN-ZTE controversy]
3. Jejomar Binay [heavy political player] [NBN-ZTE controversy]
4. Benjamin Abalos [Mega Pacific controversy]
5. Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla [NBN-ZTE controversy] [originator]
6. Virgilo Garcillano [Hello Garci scandal]
7. Bayani Fernando [Celebrity Duets fame and MMDA work]
8. Whoever manages to pin down JocJoc Bolante

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When great power comes to you, better be prepared for hell.

Google is hugely becoming a major player in the online world. They just keeps on growing and growing, by just being the better search engine. They hire the best of the best in computer science and information management graduates fresh from Harvard. Their uber-fast search engine is the unanimous best and bar none.

But most internet watchdogs (especially the Consumer Watchdog), wary of Google’s super dominance in the web search industry, is barking around a topic that can become Google’s worst enemy in the future: loss of privacy. They are wary that Google’s product announcements are prompting questions about its ability to gather more potentially sensitive personal information from users.

But Google had a very good answer: everything it stores in its data bank “disappears into a black hole once it hits the Googleplex”, meaning it’s just a read-then-dispose manner when it comes to treating Google data, which is of no concern at all. It’s like a read-delete option.

Last September’s release of Google’s web browser, Chrome, illuminated the growing conflicts between Google and the privacy SOBs.

In a mid-October letter to Google honchos, Consumer Watchdog said it had “serious privacy concerns” about Chrome and the transfer of users’ data through Google’s services without giving people what it sees as “appropriate transparency and control.” What control, assholes? People control what they type. The Consumer Watchdogs should type in “Consumer Watchdog Assholes” in Google’s AutoSuggest right away then press Enter.

I really like Google. It’s a fast-loading site, quick, straight and easily accessible. And I think Google is too intelligent a company to let something as potentially harmful as “privacy loss” just pass right through their noses.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: fare rollbacks, Google, impeachment case vs GMA, Joey de Venecia