Looks like the last coup in Makati has been resolved. Had turned on the tv and watch a little commercial about the government giving extra funds to Pinoy soldiers. Now I need your reactions... What do you think?

Hmmm.....I guess for the Pinoy Soldiers who are, well, pretty honorable (I detest what happened in Makati) this fund-drive would work towards their side of the coin, GIVEN that no "kupit" happens. If you have noticed, there are PAF advertisements going about, one about housing for soldiers and such.

That advertisement for the housing proved to me only one thing.........even the Captains & such officers live off a low salary. You would see it by just looking at the captain's house...............see!!??

Haha! My lolo when he was alive was a Ret. Colonel, he survived the Death March, and IIRC was an artillery commander during WWII in Bataan. He never did have any big-mansions and such, we used to live in the lot which is now the Continetal Court Condo's in Annapolis Greenhills, prior to that he lived in Fort Bonifacio. My point -- why wasn't my lolo qualming for such funds back then?

Hmm...'bout grandfathers, my grandpappy who was a soldier (father's side) and a guerilla infantryman (mother's side) back in WW2 did go through a lot of trouble getting those veteran's benefits... Natagalan pa bago nila ma-claim yung benepisyo! Namatay na nga lang cla, wala pa rin... Wala lng...I just thought this relates.... Yung government natin, ang laki ng utang sa mga sundalo, tapos they do not even give them importance....Wawa nmn cla...

Siguro mas kailangan pera ngayon eh. Naghihirap na lahat.

Cost of living today is high compared to what it was 50 years ago or so. Before, one can buy a 1-litre Coca-Cola for P1.00 (my grandfather used to curse this - P1.00 for 1-litre coke was too expensive in his days daw). Now, it's roughly P25.

The ad is typical government propaganda, so... :-)

Congress almost always releases funds related to modernization to the AFP. But a huge part of this is pocketed by corrupt officials - same old story, no need to re-tell.

I agree. And if we try to enter the service and attempt to rectify fthe corrupt system, we may end up shot in the head while in resting inside your private quarters...(like some soldiers did who tried to bring a change did...) tsk..tsk...

Know why corruption takes place? Dahil sa hirap ngayon. They wanna get rich so they can give food for their family. We cannot blame all of them. Some reasons are reasonable.

LW: Now where did you get that idea of being shot in the head? Do you have any inside information that this DOES happen?

It isn't like that. What separates the spoiled brats in the Awkward Incident and those who really want change is that those tantruming rebels, supposedly intellectual ones, armed to the teeth, held the nation hostage, all in support for a power hungry person, and were willing to blow themselves up for it. They did not go through the legal process. They acted like spoiled rotten children. One can enter the service and be bloody honest, without getting a single centavo from corrupt practices and still do make a change in the system if one isn't apathetic and accepts the current system.

SR in a way is right in why corruption happens. Actually, we should distinguish two "kinds" of corruption - one motivated by greed and power, the other motivated by a aching stomach, a hungry family, mortgage payments, etc. etc. Normally, it is the latter kind that is the small fry corruption - say, a few hundred pesos here and there. However, this shouldn't be a reasonable reason (and this is where I disagree with SR's last post) as stealing - what ever its reasons - is still unreasonable. The generals and other top brass, not to mention the Sena-tongs, and those in the House of Representa-thieves are "amply" compensated by their salaries, per diems, and other allowances, whilst the teachers, foot soldier, janitor, and the like have a very small salary coupled with today's higher cost of living. It is highly unreasonable for a Sena-tong or a general to steal money considering their salaries. It is unreasonable for a poor teacher to steal as well, but considering the very low salary, this fact is somewhat "mitigated."

Now, back to the military and having those executed for trying to change the system, the reason why change is bloody hard to do is because some have warped the camaraderie and honor of the PMA and turned it into a big frat house. The terms "mistah" and other things just heighten the image of a fraternity. Even if there are more and more women joining the PMA, it is still an "Old Boys Club" - like the Senate and Congress. The fraternity mentality has been warped to such a degree that it becomes something akin to a Mafia - wherein everyone should follow the code of Omerta (Silence) so as not to squeel on their erring "brads" just because they are your brads and will help you as well. It's basis is "I scratch your back, you scratch mine." It has been corrupted to such a degree that some fraternities have reached what I would term sheer fanaticism that is reminiscent to the Waffen SS and Nuremburg rallies in the Third Reich.

Example of such fanaticism: my (biological) sister watched a movie premiere which happened to be a fund raising campaign for the Aquila Legis Ateneo Law fraternity. Prior to the start of the film, there were all sorts of frat members - "officers" - who gave talks and speeches, one or two saying something close to "We are the BEST lawyers of this country and WE will one day RULE this place!" - complete with clenched fists and booming voice that would make Goebbels or the Il Duce really damn proud. Then they began singing the frat hymn, again with clenched fists. My sister observed that the frat members had really intense faces. It's not like ordinary students who look a bit embarassed when singing their own school hymn during the UAAP games, but rather more like fanatics. And this despite having blood on their hands from Leny Villa. What my sister reported gave me the shivers as I recalled the highly fanatical Waffen SS.

Some frats are like this. And some people in the PMA are like this as well. And it is because of such that change is hard to do. But it is STILL possible for change to happen, through legal means, and peaceful measures.

There was this big story on a Navy-man who got shot in the head in his vessel a few years back. IIRC, his story was even featured on the discovery channel, albeit in a different light nga lang, something about the spirit-questors being able to make contact with the navy-man, or something to that effect. Bottom line is, this did happen, and IIRC the navy-man was shot because he wasn't willing to pitch in or "draw water from the well" from the activities that his superiors and comrades were into.

IMO corruption is just a matter of tradition. Hehe!

Ah yes, I now remember that incident. However, from LW's post, I interpreted it that it was a common, widespread practice. This incident, AFAIC, is an isolated or rare case, and is an extreme form of it. IIRC, this was even shown in the Discovery Channel about a paranormal documentary.

Thanks for jarring my memory.

You are right GI, stealing is bad. This gaves me a good question: Bakit nila gustong magmilitary if they knew na mababa sweldo? They must think firsthand if it really is good for them. Easy to get the job? Maybe but the salary isn't that good.

Ok, about your frat. From my point of view, yung dating fraternities is just a simple hit in another guy. Kaya naging grabe to ngayon because they want to show the neophytes what they felt before pero may dagdag na. And there it goes. Over and over again. Another thing: Frat members tend to "attract" more men so they can take their revenge on their upper batches. So they do the sweet talks.

You're right. And you know where this came in? Sa mga kano. Kwento sa min ng Philhis (Philippine History) prof namin, noong sinakop nila tayo, nauso ang cinema, nagpalabas sila ng similar films about corruption. Yon, nagsimula na yan. Inadapt ng Pinoy

On the Yanks being the source of the corruption:

Sorry SR, who ever that professor of yours was, he's a dumb-a$$. The Spanish have been far more worse corruption practicers than the Yanks. Hell, one can get a nice big plot of land just by paying a fine hefty bribe to the Governor, or to the Friars. Besides, in all societies no matter how primitive, there is always corruption, in one form or the other. It's not only limited to cash, but also food and even sexual gratification.

Labelling SR's professor a dumb-ass is too much GI, plus SR has some points which could be further explored. Remember, the Yanks patronized Marcos for his being-Pro-American, even if this came late in our history, one can draw conclusions from the Yanks having influence over people in Power. IIRC, one of the earlier elections in our country, a Yank-fielded candidate won.

Sorry Jomz, but I'll stand by my earlier post. Here is quoted SR's post:




The first lines "You're right. And you know where this came in? Sa mga kano." is a very broad sweeping statement that the source of the corruption - or its start - was from the Yanks - which I disagreed in my previous post by saying corruption has been occuring even during the Spanish times, and even in the most primitive of societies. So, if the prof says (plus the reasons as mentioned by SR) that the Yanks are the source of the corruption, he's a dumb-a$$ for not reading much, and it shows the prof's tendency to blame all the ills of the world on the Yanks. Mind you, I ain't a Yanqui cheerleader, but just straightening the facts. I reckon the prof's the usual of The-Let's-blame-the-Imperialistic-Yanks-and-Mao-is-just-oh-so-cool-and-Marx-is-just-oh-so-right-let's-get-some-Mary-Jane-to-smoke-shall-we-ilk.

And yes, the reason why the Yanks supported Marcos, and had the CIA "create" NAMFREL to make Magsaysay win, was part of the grand scheme of fighting communism. I may not agree with their policies, but that's the reason why we aren't singing "The Communist International" as an anthem, or waving red flags with hammer and sickle emblazoned on it.

No problem, I wasn't looking for retribution on SR's part either, I just have certain principles: and this includes not calling people, who could've been inaccurate with his information, naiveness aside or bias towards any sides aside, it could always be an innocent mistake. Plus we're hearing this information, what, third hand? We might ire some people, but name-calling, just comes like an "off-shoot" of sorts to the sense being made on the boards.



NOTE: Retribution is not being seeked, nor withrawal of words posted, each of the posts' authors have the right to claim sense and whatnot to their posts. Further discussion could always clear things up.

Well, you do have a point on name calling. However, if it's a person of authority (like a professor) who gives - no, spews - out disinformation to his students - especially if there are FACTS - then that prof is being irresponsible and is pursuing an agenda.

My language is, I must admit, rough, especially when I'm in a "state of high agitation."

In retrospect, I should've labeled the prof as an "intellectual light weight." One must admit that there ARE some professors who don't know what they're teaching about.