Transcript of post-Sona online chat

(11:05:01) mildred_galarpe: Good morning handyman and earthbug. welcome to sunstar’s post-sona chat online.
(11:06:21) Sun.Star.Bot: Gary_Olivar logs into the Chat.
(11:07:22) (earthbug): good morning to Ms.Mildred
(11:08:01) mildred_galarpe: Good morning and welcome Deputy Spokesman Olivar.
(11:08:01) Sun.Star.Bot: Manny_Valdehuesa logs into the Chat.
(11:08:48) mildred_galarpe: Good morning Mr. Valdehuesa and welcome to today’s post-Sona online chat
(11:09:05) Gary_Olivar: good morning to everyone. just call me professor. manny your name is familiar to me.
(11:09:35) Sun.Star.Bot: (ruho_55) logs into the Chat.
(11:10:12) Sun.Star.Bot: (savy) logs out of the Chat.
(11:10:26) (earthbug): Good morning Professor Olivar
(11:10:33) Manny_Valdehuesa: Gary, I remember you from the 60′s when I was Sec Gen of Christiab Social Movemet
(11:10:38) Sun.Star.Bot: (warlie) logs into the Chat.
(11:10:44) mildred_galarpe: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. our guests for today’s chat are Professor Olivar, who is deputy presidential spokesman for economic affairs and Mr. Manny Valdehuesa, who is former UN executive and columnist of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
(11:11:36) Gary_Olivar: oh yeah that’s right. good to meet you again. btw i’m not deputy, just straight pres econ spokesman. there’s another one, ddg rolly tungpalan of neda. the two of us share duties.
(11:11:46) Manny_Valdehuesa: Good morning all…from Cagayan de Oro
(11:12:17) Manny_Valdehuesa: in mindanao…
(11:13:21) Gary_Olivar: well who wants to go first w/ the questions?
(11:14:35) Sun.Star.Bot: marlen_limpag logs into the Chat.
(11:15:04) marlen_limpag: good morning, everyone.
(11:15:34) (handyman): professor olivar, how come the president did not categorically say that she is stepping down
(11:15:50) Sun.Star.Bot: (justine) logs into the Chat.
(11:15:52) (MelRyan40): mildred, may i ask the first question?
(11:16:09) mildred_galarpe: go ahead mel
(11:16:16) marlen_limpag: welcome to our resource persons, professor olivar and mr. valdehuesa, and to our guests. feel free to ask your questions.
(11:16:25) Manny_Valdehuesa: Am wondering why she mentioned nothing about ridding govt of corrution as one of her legacies
(11:17:40) Gary_Olivar: 1. Stepping down was clearly stated several times in her speech. Pls review the text if you can.
(11:17:56) (MelRyan40): To sir G. Olivar, PGMA made mention of the decline of foreign debt from 73% in 2000 to 32% in 2008. How it will redound to the benefit of filipinos provided that its true?
(11:18:14) (warlie): Professir Olivar, Two giant leaders in the catholic church, Archbishop Rosales of Manila and Msgr. Esteban Binghay in unison issued statements exhorting Presdient Arroyo to tell the truth on her Sona. Were the two clergymen insinuating that President Arroyo is a liar? If not were all the stuff that she delivered during the sona true?
(11:19:38) Manny_Valdehuesa: indeed, the issue of trust and crediblity resonates greatly in my neck of the woods
(11:20:24) Sun.Star.Bot: (Temujin) logs into the Chat.
(11:20:26) Gary_Olivar: 2. Corruption is an ongoing problem, but let me share some of her initiatives on this: lifestyle checks (never done before her), record antigraft budget (doubled to 1B plus one time 2B in 2006, coursed thru PAGC and DOF), 50-75% conviction rate under ombudsman (only 6% before) w/ help of 200 new investigators and 50 prosecutors, institution of new procurement law and procurement transparency group which includes private sector and civil society reps, conviction of a former president for graft.
(11:20:26) Sun.Star.Bot: (jill) logs into the Chat.
(11:20:48) Sun.Star.Bot: (irene) logs into the Chat.
(11:21:37) Gary_Olivar: the president is a devout catholic and of course the instructions from two senior prelates will be taken to heart. halving the foreign debt is a remarkable achievement, same as getting a full letter-grade rating upgrade from moody’s in the middle of a global recession.
(11:22:02) (earthbug): How will the history judge gma?
(11:22:47) Sun.Star.Bot: (aris) logs into the Chat.
(11:23:12) Gary_Olivar: history will judge pgma much better than the soundbites being recklessly released by presidentiables trying to score campaign points at her expense.
(11:24:23) Sun.Star.Bot: (paalam) logs into the Chat.
(11:25:04) Sun.Star.Bot: (dennis) logs into the Chat.
(11:25:49) Sun.Star.Bot: (739071) logs into the Chat.
(11:26:02) (MelRyan40): Sir Gary, if your figure is true, 50-75% conviction rate, why is it that corruption is still perceived as rampant in this administration? Are we to understand, that those who does fall out from the graces of the power-that-be must the first to go
(11:26:34) (paalam): conviction, and then pardon
(11:26:54) (MelRyan40): Or the rate is high because only the ‘small fishes’ are caught?
(11:27:25) Manny_Valdehuesa: Actually, I believe the president to be extremely lucky that Filipinos are among the world’s happiest people and therefore easy to please. Mababa ang kaligayahan.
(11:27:39) Sun.Star.Bot: (evelio_b._obeso) logs into the Chat.
(11:27:53) (earthbug): why are the media like abs-cbn not listening to the sona of PGMA?
(11:27:54) (paalam): Hahaha. It is our fault too.
(11:28:52) Manny_Valdehuesa: Thus, Pinoys are not likely to be harsh in judging her. At the same time, she shouldn’t push’ her luck and presume on Pinoy indulgence
(11:29:04) Gary_Olivar: the key word in your question melryan is “perceived”. with so much noise from the opposition, perceptions are influenced even without supporting facts. if you check the records, you ‘ll find governors, mayors, provincial board members, even some congressmen affected. as for those we think SHOULD be convicted but are not, let’s ask ourselves: are we or are we not prepared to trust the institutions and due process that determine questions like guilt or innocence? If the answer is no, then we have a problem more serious than we think, and the people to blame are those willing to bring down confidence in our institutions for the sake of campaign points.
(11:29:29) (MelRyan40): i agree with you, Prof. Manny, because easily forget the sin and forgive the sinner. And too soon at that.
(11:29:38) (warlie): Professor Olivar, President Arroyo said, Governance, however, is not about looking back and getting even This is a great line uttered by the President. However, it contradicts from her previous pronouncements when she said, I am accused of misgovernance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their misgovernance. And we did it. Was her statements an indicator of her demeanor that she tried to get even with her critics? Can she not ignore her critics and allow her performance to speaks for herself?
(11:30:46) (paalam): Was it proper for President to use her SONA to hit back at political critics? She then used the platform for political points.
(11:31:06) mildred_galarpe: Mr. Valdehuesa, if you are the president what could be the content of your last Sona?
(11:31:14) Manny_Valdehuesa: Gary: we have a problem of dIssonance between the credibility of GNP figures and reality of Barangay Gross Produpc figures between macro and micro.
(11:31:21) Gary_Olivar: warlie, the president in fact ignores her critics and tries to let her performance speak for itself. this is why she continues to be unpopular, but she still doesn’t mind. but, you know, napupuno din ang tao paminsan minsan. if you keep too quiet too long, people start to think you’re really guilty.
(11:32:04) (earthbug): How the Pres. accept the criticism that she had? Prof.Olivar
(11:32:12) Gary_Olivar: the figures in sona are vetted and i have a 200 page technical report to cite from manny. may i know what are the barangay numbers you’re talking about?
(11:32:42) Sun.Star.Bot: (ruho_55) logs out of the Chat.
(11:32:47) Manny_Valdehuesa: My last Sona would be supre to leave a legacy of empowered communities and geunel sovereign people from wom state power and government authority truly emanate.
(11:32:53) Sun.Star.Bot: (evelio_b._obeso) has been logged out (Timeout).
(11:33:33) Gary_Olivar: great motherhood statements manny. can you reduce these to specific goals and numbers to work for?
(11:34:12) (warlie): Mr. Valdehuesa, do you agree with what the President said,”That our country has a strong economy. If this is true, I don’t mind going back to the Philippines from the U.S, to look for a job, so I could be nearer to my extended family that I have not seen in a decade.
(11:34:50) (paalam): Stay where you are, Warlie
(11:34:54) Gary_Olivar: warlie you’re us-based? i lived there for 16 yrs before coming back in 97. which part are you in?
(11:34:58) Manny_Valdehuesa: that’s my point Gary. the bird’seye view of Manila doesn’t square with the gut feel of 42,000 barangays
(11:35:26) (MelRyan40): Sir Olivar, thanks for reminding us that the president is only human as ‘napupuno’ din. And she must also consider what will happen to a people when ‘napupuno’ na din sila.
(11:35:36) Sun.Star.Bot: (jill) logs into the Chat.
(11:35:49) (paalam): That’s right, Mr. Valdehuesa
(11:35:57) (warlie): Gary, I’m in Washington State. I love our country. There’s no place like the Philippines.
(11:36:06) Gary_Olivar: gut feel is so unreliable manny. that’s the stuff of popularity polls, not governance. melryan, ano ang ikinapupuno ng tao? are the grievances justified or just the product of opposition noise?
(11:36:23) (handyman): professor olivar, how come WE, the ordinary people could not feel the economic improvements the president has been saying.
(11:36:40) Sun.Star.Bot: (april) logs into the Chat.
(11:36:59) Manny_Valdehuesa: I believe we have a strong potential to be a super economy. but it would take off unless we shrug off the acquisitve and power greed trapos
(11:37:02) Gary_Olivar: pls be specific handyman. what exactly are you complaining about?
(11:37:34) Sun.Star.Bot: (josc) logs into the Chat.
(11:37:48) (josc): hi
(11:38:38) Gary_Olivar: first, how do we replace the trapos and with whom? second, can such a miracle truly take the place of hard work, working together, and changing ourselves one at a time? believing in our institutions, accepting the world as it is, not looking for quick fixes and short cuts?
(11:38:47) (handyman): if indeed the economy is better in her time, then how come more and more filipinos are leaving the country to work. because… no work here?
(11:38:53) (earthbug): we should’nt depend on our government, we should work in our own way to live simply.
(11:38:53) Manny_Valdehuesa: Gut feel Gary is what people moan about the barangays that’s the worm’s-eye view, but the local officials persist on pork barrel dependency
(11:39:40) (warlie): Professor Olivar, how true is the rumor that President Arroyo is contemplating to run for Congresswoman in her district, once her term of office will expire in 2010?
(11:39:46) (MelRyan40): one aspect in point sir gary, getting justice in this country is very slow. Only moneyed people can ready avail of themselves the protection of our laws. Equal protection as mandated by our constitution is still far from reach of the multitudes of filipinos.
(11:39:58) Gary_Olivar: working abroad still better than no work at all. as for creating local jobs, that has to come from investors, especially abroad where there is the money needed. now let’s ask ourselves, is or is not this president creating a conducive climate for those investors so that the jobs can be created to keep our people from having to go abroad?
(11:40:21) (handyman): earthrug.. i think we had lived below simply for the last 8 years and we had work so hard and still we are in the same state.
(11:40:26) (josc): we cannot change trapos coz nobody will run for the reason is dont have money
(11:41:07) Gary_Olivar: the justice system in our country is truly a work in progress. but the judges in this country report to the chief justice not to tthe president.
(11:41:07) Manny_Valdehuesa: The trapos won’t hold sway if the mieddle and upper classes pay a little attnetion to local politics and not think of Manila as the totality of political phenomeno9n.
(11:41:37) (paalam): About Warlie comment, yes I want to know too if she is running for Congress.
(11:41:50) (earthbug): how much is the budget of the tesda to improve the skills training? Prof. Olivar
(11:41:53) Sun.Star.Bot: (morelos) logs into the Chat.
(11:42:38) Sun.Star.Bot: Manny_Valdehuesa has been logged out (Timeout).
(11:42:46) Gary_Olivar: agree on importance of local politics. under pgma, previous arrears on IRA were paid, and this year ps 40B was distributed to the local govts in order to fund grassroots projects. now whether or not that money is spent wisely is up to you, the constituents, to make sure of. do not think that she can be anywhere and everywhere, even if she’s the prez.
(11:43:19) (josc): yes thats it
(11:43:19) (paalam): Ah OK
(11:43:40) (handyman): professor, the fact that more and more people are leaving the country for the last 8 years, does that not show that she failed to create a conducive climate?
(11:43:40) Gary_Olivar: dami nang tanong! tesda budget has gone way up, i’ll need time to check the technical report. as for the president running for congress–seriously guys, after she steps down in 2010, isn’t that her personal business na? and if she’s so unpopular anyway, why worry about her running for congress?
(11:44:49) Gary_Olivar: many reasons for investors not coming here. one is high power rates (which she addressed with epira). another is problems w the education of our labor force (which she addressed with task force on reforms). third is infrastructre (just count all the roads, bridges, ports she built). do you want to continue going down the list?
(11:45:13) (josc): for you guyz, whom you will vote for a president?
(11:46:45) (handyman): how come there was no mention magkano utang natin sa panahon ni GMA?
(11:47:47) (paalam): Yes Mr. Gary. How about political instability as reason why there are few investors?
(11:47:49) Gary_Olivar: tesda budget 2.8b in 2002, 2b in 2003….3.2b by 2008, 3.5b by 2009. kulang pa ba?
(11:47:50) (april): then Mr. Olivar, if she has done all those things, why has nothing changed? more and more people are still leaving and investors are still not coming in.
(11:47:50) (earthbug): The ICT Sectors is one of the investors here in our county, like the BPO companies.
(11:48:22) Gary_Olivar: debt cut by half under PGMA. that’s a major reason the rating agency moody’s upgraded us by one full letter grade four days ago.
(11:48:38) (MelRyan40): another case in point sir Gary, is the penchant for this administration to hide the truth under the cloak of executive privilege. When people get exasperated in their failure to find the truth about matters of national interest, we are feeding them to the destabilizers and humor-mongers.
(11:49:10) Gary_Olivar: political instability comes from MILF (she already declared ceasefire), NPA (she already gave immunity for negotiators to come home), and opposition (what do we do with them?)
(11:49:25) Sun.Star.Bot: Manny_Valdehuesa logs into the Chat.
(11:50:10) (josc): opposition they are rugs..
(11:50:14) Gary_Olivar: but april, investors ARE coming in. foreign direct investment increased to over 2b on her watch. if that’s still not fast enough to create enough jobs to keep people at home, this only means we’ve got to work even harder at it. that’s why she told the congressmen there’s still more work to be done.
(11:50:19) Manny_Valdehuesa: test
(11:50:29) Sun.Star.Bot: (moyakss78@yahoo.com) logs into the Chat.
(11:50:35) (handyman): did the president ever regretted pardoning erap that she mentioned him in her sona (not really named)?
(11:50:54) (warlie): Mr. Valdehuesa, how do you rate President Arroyo’s 9th state of the nation address? Do you agree everything what she said?
(11:51:17) (earthbug): Is it still growing? The BPO company? Prof. Olivar
(11:51:36) Gary_Olivar: executive privilege is intended [primarily for national security reasons. but the courts and organizations like ombudsman and sandiganbayan exist to provide fact-finding and relief. so does the impeachment process allowed under the law through the congress.
(11:51:36) (josc): yes still growing
(11:51:36) Manny_Valdehuesa: its the people who measure political success or chances of success who fall for the trapo claptrap that all it takes is money that play into the hands of trapos
(11:51:38) (paalam): Opposition is encouraged in a Democracy
(11:52:05) (josc): what encourage?
(11:52:37) Gary_Olivar: yes bpo is still growing very fast. it’s countercyclical–the deeper the US recession, the greater the cost pressures to outsource, the better our bpo here does.
(11:52:40) (MelRyan40): sir gary, what is the benefit of getting improved credit rating from moody?
(11:53:17) Manny_Valdehuesa: Sorry I can’t really grade her…for the reason that she did not follow the syllabus she set out…like new politics. If this were school, I’d have her repeat the course.
(11:53:21) (josc): paalam wake up….
(11:53:32) (paalam): Different points of view instead of One who dictates
(11:53:38) Gary_Olivar: better credit rating means lower interest costs whenever we borrow, especially from abroad. it also improves confidence of investors and private lenders abroad to put money into us.
(11:53:43) (warlie): Great response, Gary.
(11:54:18) Gary_Olivar: warlie, washington state is beautiful except that it rains all the time.
(11:54:20) (earthbug): Opposition is the tacklish and no work at all. dada ng dada, waala namang ginagawa ang opposition.
(11:54:53) (josc): yeah that’s it….
(11:55:11) Gary_Olivar: manny, don’t have her repeat the course. you might be accused of supporting cha-cha.
(11:55:25) (warlie): You are right Gary. That is the reason why I like to go back to our country where there is plenty of sunshine.
(11:55:26) Sun.Star.Bot: (april) logs out of the Chat.
(11:55:34) Gary_Olivar: earthbug i agree 101%
(11:55:38) Manny_Valdehuesa: Gary, you know how essential is TRUST in any transaction. Economies collapse on the point of trust and confiendence. GMA seems to have overlooked this. Thus, hardly anything she says is able to penetrate the veil of distrust.
(11:56:18) marlen_limpag: @earthbug, chat rules discourage the use of capital letters because traditional netiquette sees this as screaming at the top of your voice.
(11:56:50) Gary_Olivar: how much of the loss of trust is fact-based and how much based on the incessant noise from the opposition? it’s such a fragile commodity manny — one rumor is all it takes to start a bank run and bring an entire bank down. how much more a presidency, with the kind of opposition we have here?
(11:57:03) (earthbug): Ok.sorry Ms. marlen
(11:57:19) (handyman): professor, ben diokno who was guest last said this: Using the UP grading system I rated her ‘Beat the Odds’ progam as total failure with grade of 4.0 (conditional failure)
(11:57:19) (MelRyan40): sir gary, are we seems a hopeless country that we always looking to whom we can borrow to sustain our needs as a country?
(11:57:20) (josc): tingnan mo nga si Escudero, daldal ng daldal wla naman nagawa sa probinsya nya sa sorsogon..
(11:58:01) Gary_Olivar: sorry, i also went to up school of economics like ben diokno, and considering he teaches there, the quality of his comments also deserve a failing grade from me.
(11:58:08) marlen_limpag: @earthbug. it’s okay. please be guided accordingly.
(11:58:28) (josc): what hopeless ang narinig nyo kasi sa media lagi nalang negative…
(11:58:37) Gary_Olivar: borrowing melryan is a normal activity by a person, a company, even a country. otherwise we would never be able to build large infrastructure projects except by taxing people all the time.
(11:59:15) Gary_Olivar: good point about Escudero josc. what laws has this young man authored in the senate? compare his record to the first two years of PGMA when she was in the Senate too.
(11:59:53) Manny_Valdehuesa: I would still recommend that she makes a categorical statement that she will vacate the throne as the present Constitution requires and not try to have another constitution preclude her from doing so. Second, that she categorically calls on her congressional surrogates not to force-feed Con-Ass into the wary and distrustful polity.
(11:59:58) (jill): sir what do you think created a big impact in President Arroyo’s speech yesterday?
(12:00:04) marlen_limpag: @josc. let us focus on the discussion at hand and ask our questions from the resource persons.
(12:00:19) (moyakss78@yahoo.com): sir gary, does the SONA really make sense?
(12:00:54) Gary_Olivar: manny on point one she was clear enough. on point two, i think what you have is a tug of war between Congress and Senate, where the president is simply a separate though co-equal govt body.
(12:01:04) (MelRyan40): yes i agree with on that sir gary that its a normal activity to borrow, but to some extent. Debt has two side too, good and bad.
(12:01:32) Gary_Olivar: correct melryan. i teach finance at AIM, and you sound like a promising candidate to study there.
(12:02:10) (earthbug): PGMA, doesn’t declared marial law, though if she does, the oppose team ar running scared.
(12:02:31) (MelRyan40): i’m looking forward to that sir.
(12:02:31) Manny_Valdehuesa: It wasn’t categorical Gary. She said she never said she wanted to extend her term. She didn’t say that she wouldn’t even if others push her into doing so.
(12:02:47) Gary_Olivar: PGMA won’t declare martial law if she can help it. remember she was also a street activist during the marcos years.
(12:03:02) (paalam): Not clear enough, that is true
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(12:05:06) Manny_Valdehuesa: That’s the problem Gary: the statement “if she can help it!” Too many believe there are too many who are trying to push events so she wouldm’t be able to help it!
(12:05:33) Gary_Olivar: manny, read her speech. “my term does not end until next year”. “i never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term”. “to the people of this nation, for allowing me to serve as your president, maraming salamt”. do you want this notarized?
(12:06:29) (warlie): Professor Olivar, President Arroyo promised that she won’t run for President in 2004. But she ran it anyway. During her sona, she said.,”I have never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term.” How truthful and honest she is at this time?
(12:06:29) (MelRyan40): sir gary, what do we expect from PGMA in her remaining months as president? What do you think her best legacy that can best describe her presidency?
(12:06:59) Gary_Olivar: manny you were sensate like me during the years before martial law. i was already in jail before it was declared in 1972. you have to admit that the times today do not feel like the times back then. PGMA is nowhere like marcos, the NPA then was much stronger than now, there was still an international communityst movement, etc.
(12:07:52) Manny_Valdehuesa: Too Jesuitic for comfort. Disingenuous. Someone told me yesterday while listenting/watching her: My ptoblem is even as she speaks, I have the feeling that there’s something she’s keeping from me, that she’s not saying it all.
(12:08:50) Manny_Valdehuesa: Again, trust, confidence, Gary.
(12:08:59) Gary_Olivar: in 2004 warlie it was legal for her to run because she had just served out Erap’s unfinished term. in 2010 it’s no longer legal. that’s the difference. manny i can’t help how you feel about the Jesuits. maybe you do need a notary public after all.
(12:09:38) (MelRyan40): Yes, sir manny, i sensed it too. She’s withholding something, maybe to temper a little bit in preparation of her scheduled trip to the USA.
(12:09:55) Manny_Valdehuesa: Ouch…score one against the clerico fascists!
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(12:10:53) (warlie): Mr. Valdehueza, are you insinuating that President Arroyo has a serious problems of being an untrutful and dishonest President?
(12:11:00) (earthbug): yes, that is the point of view of PGMA, that she will down to her presidency and there will be elections on 2010
(12:11:32) (Temujin): I was in Washington, D.C. recently and read an editorial about GMA’s much-awaited visit to the White House. She will be the first president from Southeast Asia to visit the White House under the Obama Administration – it’s considered a great honor given to her.
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(12:11:57) (paalam): She cheated in the elections. Remember “I am sorry”?
(12:13:42) (earthbug): Arroyo advised the presidential aspirant to talk about how to build up the nation rather tear down their opponents.
(12:14:23) Manny_Valdehuesa: You bet…in 2001 she announced her intention to introduce “new politics”, in 2002, she said she wouldn’t run, in 2003, she ran. Then in 2004, she called Garci. and in 2008 and 2009, she flashed a Mona Lisa smile at Con-Ass. Anyway as I look at it, she has serious credibility problems.
(12:14:24) Gary_Olivar: i wasn’t paying too much attention to PGMA in the 2004 elections, i was for Roco then. but i think what she apologized for was the indiscretion of checking on her performance at the polls with Garci, a comelec commissioner. other politicians had been doing that, of course, but she just happened to be the one caught on tape. seems to me that checking on performance is a difference activity from actually cheating–but as i said, i’ll have to take a pass on this issue.
(12:14:54) (MelRyan40): indeed, temujin, but be reminded that the US have their interest to protect especially that China has shown muscle-flexing in the south-east recently.
(12:15:16) Gary_Olivar: as for changing her mind about running after she said she wouldn’t, that’s not illegal naman, di ba?
(12:16:02) (handyman): yes, but its unbecoming of a leader, lying before the nation
(12:16:04) (litmus): no, that’s not illegal but it did mar her credibility and shows she could say one thing today and do another thing tomorrow.
(12:16:44) (Temujin): Of course, the US has never historically shown anything except self-interest when it came to any of their dealings with the Philippines.
(12:16:55) Manny_Valdehuesa: Somewhere in all this is absence of noble obligation and the triumph of legal vs moral, proper versus improper.
(12:17:26) Sun.Star.Bot: (aris) logs out of the Chat.
(12:17:46) (MelRyan40): that the problem guys, like the proverbial ‘kid who shouted wolves…’. It definitely tarnish the credibility of PGMA.
(12:18:08) Gary_Olivar: so the first time when she said she wouldn’t run, somehow we know that in her mind, she was in fact planning to? and there was no genuine change of heart between the two announcements? where are the facts to support this mind-reading statement?
(12:18:24) Manny_Valdehuesa: Of all people, these values — of uncompromising decency and propriety — ought to be expected of a woman leader.
(12:18:55) (handyman): now, can GMA blame us if we are skeptical
(12:19:22) (earthbug): “give the electorate real choices and not just sweet talk.”
(12:19:30) Gary_Olivar: manny, where when and how have decency and propriety been compromised by this woman leader?
(12:19:33) Manny_Valdehuesa: It wasn’t mind-reading, it’s hindsight based on actual happening.
(12:19:44) (handyman): we believed on her when we booted out erap but she lied to our faces.
(12:21:05) Gary_Olivar: manny, i’m asking about how some people seem to know for sure that there wasn’t a genuine change of mind or change of heart that took place between both announcements.
(12:21:11) Manny_Valdehuesa: Long story Gary. Check it out with Randy David and Bong and Lilia Pineda.
(12:21:13) (handyman): thank you professor olivar for listening to all our sentiments against President Arroyo. this is nothing personal against you.
(12:21:44) marlen_limpag: we have 13 more minutes to go before the chat ends.
(12:22:08) (handyman): we salute you for answering all our questions. clarifying the wrong impressions and correcting the wrong facts.
(12:23:38) (MelRyan40): Sir gary, as a woman leader, she should have shown the virtues of a good mother of the nation. Telling half-truths, legal or not, have effects that destroyed the trust of many people to the highest office of the land.
(12:23:39) Gary_Olivar: of course not handyman. this is helping me to understand why the president is unpopular. i read somewhere about how filipinos relate in a different way to their leaders, compared to westerners. our relationship is more affective, more emotional, more personalized–we need to be able to trust them at a gut level (remember manny’s earlier comment about gut feel) instead of objectifying our judgment and looking at facts and achievements. i truly believe there’s a dissonance between the way we want to be governed and the way PGMA has chosen to govern us. but at the end of the day, affect doesn’t last, achievements do.
(12:23:59) (earthbug): She is very intelligent woman as a Pres., US-trained economist has survived four coup attempts and four impeachment bids since 2001.
(12:24:16) (handyman): but the fact remains, she betrayed my trust when she said she will not run (i feel sad about it at that time) but she run. when said sorry for talking to garci during elections. i pity her.
(12:24:24) Manny_Valdehuesa: A great pleasure, this, and a great Sun Star service. Glad to note my two sons Basilion alias Temujin in New Yprk and Aris in Siicon Valley took part.
(12:25:28) marlen_limpag: in behalf of sun.star, we’d like to thank our resource persons professor gary olivar and mr. manny valdehuesa. it was great having you both in the chat.
(12:25:32) (paalam): Thank you Mr. Manny. I like the exchange.
(12:25:36) (MelRyan40): Thank you guys for the opportunity to be heard.
(12:25:47) (Temujin): Thanks to both of you, as well.
(12:25:55) Gary_Olivar: to sum up on my end, guys: thank you for engaging me on the president’s behalf. i found your insights very helpful as on our part, we move on with the unfinished work we still have to do. thanks again guys!
(12:26:12) Manny_Valdehuesa: In the end, too many will say she achieved power, empowered herself and her family and anointed ones, but forgot to empower the people.
(12:26:15) (MelRyan40): Thanks also to our moderator and to Sunstar. More power!
(12:26:19) (paalam): Salamat Mr. Gary.
(12:26:29) mildred_galarpe: Thank you all
(12:26:51) (earthbug): thanks to all chatters and sun.star, to Mr. Olivar and Mr.Valdehuesa.
(12:26:59) marlen_limpag: this chat has ended. thank you all for your participation. til our next chat.
(12:27:29) (warlie): I like to propose through this online chat for a one-on-one debate between Professor Gary Olivar and United Nations executive Chief Manny Valdehause. Subject to be debated: Resolved that President Arroyo is a great President. Olivar on the affirmative side and Valdehauese on the negative side. What do you think? Great job, Sunstar. Thanks a lot. Mabuhay Pilpinas!
(12:27:31) (paalam): paalam
(12:27:49) Sun.Star.Bot: (paalam) logs out of the Chat.
(12:28:15) Sun.Star.Bot: (jill) logs out of the Chat.
(12:28:21) (earthbug): i hope it would publish this chat to the news paper tomorrow, just kidding. Paalam.
(12:28:42) Sun.Star.Bot: marlen_limpag logs out of the Chat.