Monday, April 4, 2022

A Conversation with Benigno Aquino: The 1983 Interview with Mother Jones

This is a wide ranging interview with Benigno Aquino from back in 1983. Snippets of this interview can be found across the internet taken out of context by Marcos revisionists to prove that Aquino was a politically ambitious man and thus no hero. As if Marcos was not a a politically ambitious man who faked his war service record and even contemplated INVADING THE PHILIPPINES in order to regain power after he was exiled to Hawaii.

It is none of my concern if Aquino is a hero or a villain. Such categories are entirely subjective. Aquino is objectively an important person in the recent history of the Philippines and this interview shows a side to him that is otherwise overlooked in this day and age of historical revisionism. Does anyone in this country know what a "Jeffersonian democrat" is? Doubtful! 

This will be a very long article. It was a nine hour conversation. I hope you read it and I hope you find it insightful. 

https://books.google.com.bz/books?id=q-YDAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

A Conversation With Benigno Aquino 


Before Benigno Aquino's fateful return to the Philippines, Mother Jones met with him in San Francisco. In a nine-hour conversation at his sister's house, we discussed a broad range of topics, but Aquino's primary concern was whether or not he should go home. It was a propitious time for us to speak with him, for he had that day already met with opposition leader Salvador Laurel, another former Philippine senator thrown out of the power structure by Ferdinand Marcos. Laurel had brought word from opposition groups in the Philippines. "It is time to come home, Ninoy," Aquino said Laurel had told him. 


In his lap during our long conversation Aquino held a gift from friends in the Philippines: a book on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. "What do you suppose they meant by this Do you think they want me to become a martyr?" he asked me with a wry smile, followed by a cackle of laughter, something he used often to break the tension that built as he spoke of the solemn agenda facing his country. 


Aquino was a third-generation politician. His grandfather fought against Spanish occupation of the Philippines. His father was a senator and cabinet minister. At 22, Aquino was the youngest mayor of his home town; at 28, he won the governorship of Tarlac province; at 34, he became the youngest senator ever in the Philippines, and it seemed likely he would become the youngest president of his country, succeeding Marcos in the 1973 elections. But Marcos ended Aquino's political dream by declaring martial law and throwing him into prison. He might still be there had Marcos not allowed him to travel to the United States for open-heart surgery. 


After three years in Boston, teaching at Harvard University and at MIT, and pondering the political problems of his country, Aquino drew an interesting conclusion. Before Marcos dies, he believed, the country must be put on the road to democracy or it will languish in violence for years, as competing forces, topped by the military and Communists, battle for supremacy. "Marcos," Aquino told me, "is the key." 


It was clear the day we spoke that the implications of going home weighed heavily on him. He felt that the longer he stayed in the United States, the more he faced the danger of becoming politically obsolete. Marcos had already successfully isolated him by keeping his name out of the censored media of the Philippines. 


Aquino told Mother Jones that he would not run for political office in the Philippines. He would, instead, act as a conciliator, both amongst opposition leaders vying for power and between the opposition and Marcos. He al-ready seemed to be defining his role as mediator, referring to himself during the interview variously as a "moderate," an "elite oppositionist," a "Jeffersonian democrat" and a "Left-Socialist." 


He felt that his role was to promote a moderate third force between Marcos and the Communists, a force, with which he believed Marcos would deal. He harbored an almost naive trust in the rationality of U.S. foreign policy, believing that the State Department ultimately learned from its own mistakes, and he felt that the only way the Philippines could be returned to liberal democracy was for the U.S. government to exert pressure on Manila.


 Throughout the day our conversation was frequently interrupted by small children who came to chat and play with "Ninoy." He would quietly rub their heads for a moment, whisper something in their ears and send them off to play. —S.A.S. 


MJ: There is a rumor that you are considering a move to Europe. 


AQUINO: Yes, but I'm also thinking of going back home. 


MJ: How can you go back home? 


AQUINO: Why not? Face the firing squad. 


MJ: What do you think Marcos will do? 


AQUINO: Marcos loves the situation with me in the U.S. In the Philippines, I'm a thorn in his side. 


MJ: Yes, but he could throw you in jail. 


AQUINO: O.K., let's do that scenario. I go back to Manila tomorrow. Marcos has three options: Have me shot. Send me to jail. Let me out on house arrest. Or, free me. 

MJ: Four options. 


AQUINO: O.K., four. But he won't shoot me. He also won't free me, because he would like to have some kind of a leash on me. So, chances are good he will throw me back into jail or at least put me under house arrest. If he throws me in jail, I'll be the focus of international attention again, as I was seven years ago. He's supposed to have lifted martial law. So he will have to bring me to trial. If he brings me to trial, I have a forum. 


MJ: And if he brings you to trial and you're convicted? 


AQUINO: I still have a forum. Because then I go to the court of appeals. I can drag this on for five years. Meanwhile, I'm there and I'm delivering speeches. Now, I cannot fight Marcos politically: he has all the aces. I cannot fight him militarily: he has the armed forces. I cannot fight him economically: he has two, three billion dollars plus government budget. But I can drag him into one field where I can fight him, and that's the moral field. Imagine it, two leaders—one in prison and the other one in a palace. The contrast is great. One guy, sentenced to death, is released, goes to America, lives in comfort in Boston, then voluntarily comes back in self-abnegation. He goes back to prison because his people are suffering and he must share their suffering. Now, how the hell do you think Marcos will see that? It can be seen two ways. Either I'm the greatest human saint around or I'm a nut. Take your choice. Every day someone will suggest that he shoot me. But he won't shoot me. 


MJ: He wouldn't have to do that. You've had heart surgery. And you take medicine. 


AQUINO: Exactly. But if I die in his prison, do you think people will believe he didn't kill me? On the contrary. So, he will keep me alive because he knows the moment I die, I am the martyr like Martin Luther King. And he wouldn't want that. 

The moment I go back, he will be in a dilemma. He'll keep me locked up for a while. But eventually he’ll release me . . . and have me run over by a truck—driven by a drunk. Then he'll give me a state funeral and say, "Well, he was a nice guy. I tried to help him, but he got hit by a drunk." The drunk, of course, will be brought to trial and given a life sentence. End of scenario. Another possibility: he lets me out, and the Communists knock me off. They blame Marcos. They have a martyr and they have eliminated a stumbling block. That is why Washington tells me, "You can't go home. You will give the Communists what they wanted all along." You see, the Commies hate me more than they do Marcos. To them we sing the same songs, we just don't belong to quite the same grouping. In the case of Marcos, the situation is very clear; it's Left and Right. In my case it's blurred because I'm a Left-Socialist, you see. Communists don't like Left-Socialists. They sing their song but they're not Commies. 


MJ: So you really can't go home.


AQUINO: That's what Senator Laurel told me some people are saying. 


MJ: Was Senator Laurel here in this country? 


AQUINO: Yeah. He arrived yesterday. He's leaving for Manila tomorrow. We've been in conference for two days. The opposition sent him here, because it is now the consensus of a minority of the moderate leadership in the Philippines that I must stay out—because everything is going down so fast. They are afraid that if things turn sour they will all be eliminated. So someone must stay out, you see, to maintain a link to the outside world. 


MJ: But the majority of the opposition would like you to come back? 


AQUINO: Yeah. They feel that there must be something dramatic. You see, there must be something now to jolt the situation. Something that will be a symbol. Right now they're fragmented. 


MJ: You seem intent on taking a moderate democratic route. Well, let me play devil's advocate for a moment. Maybe a Communist regime is right for the Philippines. It will give land reform to the peasants. 


AQUINO: Maybe. But I'm not ready to accept that.


MJ: Is it possible that you're blinded by moderacy? 


AQUINO: No, I'm blinded by democracy, as I was taught. In the same way that some of my countrymen are fanatics on Marxism, I'm a fanatic for Jeffersonian democracy. I still believe that it's the best way—with or without America. I do believe in that. I believe in a pluralistic society. I don't want to be regimented. I don't want to be able to read only one newspaper. If Marxism is so good, how come the traffic has been from East to West? Thousands of people escape from East to West. But I've never seen much traffic from West to East. I've been to Russia. I've been to the Communist countries. I've seen them. And empirically, the West is still ahead. In other words, in spite of the faults of Marcos, he's still an angel compared to the Communists. 


MJ: Some Filipinos I've talked to feel that people of your background, the so-called elite opposition, are very much removed from what's actually going on in the Philippines. One person said that the Movement for a Free Philippines is really not that much different from Marcos, except that they are not authoritarian and they don't want to oppress human rights. But that if you come to power, the vertical structure of the Philippines will still exist, that it will be a society pegged upon personality and that agrarian land reform is something very foreign to you. Is that true? 


AQUINO: Partly. But keep in mind that the people you are hearing those things from want a revolution. We want an evolution. These guys want to restructure society overnight. Well, you can't do that. They talk about the goddamn revolution. They've been in the hills for 30 years. It's us "elite" who spoke about land reform. It's us "elite" who brought the Philippines to where it is today. 


Let me put it this way: none of these jokers that you talked to ever won a post as dogcatcher in my country. I've never lost an election. I have been elected by the entire Philippine people from north to south. Now who are they to say that they are better than us? I say to the same people you speak of, "You guys are here in America. You hate America virulently. You attack the goddamn bases. You attack the multinationals. So why don't you pack up and go to Russia?" Second, I say, "You are products of American education. Ph.D.s from Princeton and Berkeley. Now, if you are so brave, why don't you go home?" My credential is seven years and seven months in jail. What right have they to tell me that they are better Filipinos? I challenge them. Return free elections to my country and they won't get ten percent. They got to do it by the gun. I'm going to do it by the ballot. In my province they never won. You see, my biggest danger is not Marcos, it's the Communists, because they know I'm going to set them back 40 years. I go back home, friend, and they'll be back to nine percent.


I have met with Philippine Communists here in America. They are divided among themselves. They are battling like cats and dogs. They have split into three groups: the internationalist group, which is Moscow-oriented; the Maoist group, which is Beijing oriented; and the centrist group, the National Democratic Front, which is following the Eurocommunist model. All three groups are downplaying their Russian and Chinese connections and projecting their nationalist credentials to broaden their base and bring in the entire Left as a united front. 


When I met them I said to them, "I respect your view; you respect my view. The first thing I will do if I ever become president is legitimize you guys. You're going to be allowed your freedom. Amnesty for all. Only one condition: don't pick up the gun. The moment you pick up the gun, I'm government. And I will hound you worse than Marcos does. But so long as you don't take up the gun —you go by the rules—you can attack me; you will have the freest press. You don't have the money? I'll give you a press. I'll give you equal time on television. You put up your electoral candidates. You win, brother, and I bring you to the palace and concede. Now that's belief. I believe in a pluralistic society; I believe in all the freedoms contained in the Jeffersonian concept." They said, "Aw, but we don't believe in elections. It's a bourgeois mechanism." "Fine. But tell me, geniuses of our people," I said, "how can you determine the mandate of the people short of an election? Now, you tell me, 'We are the vanguard party. We know best.' The hell you know best." Goddamn it, these jokers just don't trust elections. So, we can't agree; so I finally said, "Look, are we agreed that Marcos is bad for our people?" They said yes. "Well, then, let's just cooperate in removing Marcos." 


MJ: But hasn't history shown that if an amnesty is given to Communists in jail, they will simply head to the hills and pick up guns? 


AQUINO: That's their problem. But they know me, friend. I'll hound them, They pick up the gun on me and by George, they're going to be met by the gun. Enough is enough. I mean, Jesus Christ, these guys want the whole body. Now, the Filipino is a petit bourgeois; he loves private property. The poorest Filipino wants a little house he can call his own. He wants to educate his children. He believes in his god, whatever god that is. And he's anarchic. And on top of that, America for 70 years has brainwashed us about individual rights. This is the tide that the Communists are going against. 


MJ: Have you learned anything from the Communists?


AQUINO: Oh, yeah. I owe some of my progressive ideas to them. Every time I meet them, I pick their brains. We just have to outvision them; we've got to outperform them. That's the only way to beat them. 


AMERICAN INTERVENTION 


MJ: What is the mood in the Philippines toward the United States? 


AQUINO: It's hatred among the radicals. But disappointment moving toward hatred among the moderates. I mean, people today are hurting. My God, today Manila is the center of prostitution in Asia. When your young women start selling their bodies, my friend, that's the best indicator that your economy is bad. But when 14-year-old kids are peddled by their parents, you don't have to be an economist to know that you've hit bottom. 


When I was a newsman, everybody used to laugh at me when I'd go to a foreign country. The first thing I would do is look for prostitutes. If there were between five and a dozen on one corner, then you'd know that the economy was shot. But if you couldn't find them, and had to go to the police and pay them to help you find a piece of tail, then you knew that the economy was booming—because women wouldn't sell their bodies. Look at the prostitution in the Philippines today. It's a sign of corruption at every level and of the total desperation of people. You can't talk to a single Filipino, except one connected with Marcos, who will tell you that the country is in good shape. 


MJ: Is Uncle Sam listening to the plight of the Filipinos? 


AQUINO: Nope. That's the sad part. And I think they're not listening because we are so low in their priorities. In 24 hours of Reagan's life, he gives us maybe one-tenth of one second, if any time at all. Reagan is bothered with NATO, the missiles, the MX, the budget, the deficit, whatever. Until the Philippines is burning, we're not going to catch his attention. 


Now, you may ask: "Are you trying to tell me that America should interfere in your country?" But I'll tell you, you are interfering, for Pete's, sake. You're giving Marcos $500 million a year. You're giving him helicopters. You're giving him guns. Isn't that interference? You've given him $18 billion. The very fact that you bring Marcos here and toast him with bugles and everything - you're interfering. You've legitimized him in the eyes of the world. You've even legitimized him in the eyes of our people. You've given him superpower backing against hapless rebels and dissidents. Isn't that interference? If it isn't, then I don't know what interference means. You do not realize that just by being a superpower, whether you like it or not, America is intervening in the lives of everybody. When you sneeze, brother, we catch pneumonia. Now that is a fact of life. Even by your inaction you're intervening. 


So why are you talking now about interference - you have been interfering from the turn of the century. We were free, for Pete's sake; you colonized us. And all I'm asking from you guys is, if you must interfere, interfere for good, not evil. Help us bring back freedom of the press. Help us bring back free elections. That is your ethos. That is your tradition. That is your belief. Now what's so hard about that? 


MJ: What kind of a reception do you get in Washington? 


AQUINO: [laughs] I argue myself blue in the face. When you have a hardnosed conservative there who believes it's better to be dead than Red, and the only way to talk to a Red is with more guns, you're really in bad shape. 


MJ: How different was it with Carter? 


AQUINO: Carter was not cemented to that view. In fact, Carter himself confessed that he thinks the Russkies are human beings and as human beings there's something good in them. Reagan does not share that. He begins with the proposition that the Russkies are devils and that there's nothing good in them. Carter belongs to the reform tradition that man is basically good and that we can therefore deal with the Russians. The Reagan view, stemming from the McCarthy era, is that they are evil. Don't even touch them. Give the Russians the slightest chance and they'll put one over on you. He says so time and time again.

 

MJ: Carter had a fairly decent human rights policy. But his relations with Marcos, when it came to the military bases and funding, were not that different from Reagan's. 


AQUINO: Yeah. But Marcos was scared of Carter. He knew that basically this guy was in a different ball game. Sure, Carter placated Marcos because he needed the bases. But once the lease was signed, Carter reverted back to human rights. But with Reagan, Marcos thinks: Now that's some kid. He's a member of the team. It's a perception. Maybe it's not true, but that's exactly how Marcos perceives it. In the four years that Carter was in office he never invited Marcos to the White House; that was symbolic. Reagan sent the vice president to toast this guy. And then he rolled out the red carpet in the White House and said Marcos is the personification of moderation and reason in the world. Jesus! I mean, if you were Marcos, you'd say: "Oh, coach, call the shots, coach." 


MJ: Do you think Reagan is representative of American attitudes toward the Philippines? 


AQUINO: This Communist countryman of mine tells me all Americans are bad. I don't buy that. If you tell me some Americans are bad, I will agree with you. If you stretch that argument and tell me most Americans are bad, I may even accommodate you. But when you tell me all, I say bullshit. And when you tell me all multinationals are all bad, I can't agree. There are some multinationals that are good, and we must use them. How the hell are you going to progress without them? You can't. Of course, it behooves you to control these monsters in your country, and you can do that if you have the power. You have the laws and you have the sovereignty. You can even nationalize them. So why be scared of multinationals? You should be scared only if you're afraid you can be bribed. Then you should be scared. But no developing country in the world today can move forward without multinational support. We need technology transfer; we need capital transfer. We cannot live in isolation. 


THREE SCENARIOS 


MJ: What's going to happen in the Philippines in the future? 


AQUINO: The scenario that will unfold in my country is similar to what is now happening in El Salvador. Actually it's more of a Guatemala-El Salvador combination. That's exactly where we are headed right now. Marcos will continue to plod along, which is O.K. with the Communists. The Communists love Marcos. They love him. He's the best thing that ever happened to them. From having 500 men under arms before martial law, they now have 17,000 —and they're expanding. They love him. He's their objective ally. And they certainly don't want him to go until they're good and ready. 


Now, what will happen in the Philippines when Marcos goes? That's the big question. Let's say Marcos drops dead tomorrow. I think he's been able to set up a situation in which his wife will take over. 


MJ: Even though he says that that won't be the case? 


AQUINO: All the contending forces will yield to Imelda for one reason. Be-cause they will have to pull in the wagons. Otherwise, they know that, divided, they may all fall. All right, So now Imelda is the rallying point. Immediately the corruption will increase. Everybody will feather his nest. At that point, she will be nudged to the side and be made a scapegoat for the mess. Then, the military will take over. just as in Argentina. They will say, "Well, Imelda, we've given you your chance." But they will have made sure that she would fail. The military will make her the scapegoat and they will even throw her to the people. Then they will come in as the great savior of the republic. Now you have an authoritarian military regime. At this juncture. the Americans will have lost their maneuverability. if they withdraw support from the military, the Communists will take over. If they continue to support the military, then you will eventually have an actual confrontation between a U.S.-backed Philippine military and the Communists. The U.S. becomes a partner in the internal rebellion, exactly as they are in El Salvador. 


So, through no effort on anyone's part, the guy just drops dead—God has decided it’s his time, and he goes. O. K. Now we start anew. As I said maybe Imelda takes over, and you're on the road to polarization. Or maybe a middle guy will appear. In a few months he's kicked out and you have a junta. That's one scenario. 


The second scenario is armed revolution. Storm the palace, kick Marcos out: the Cuban, Nicaraguan model. 


The third possibility is to negotiate a rational peaceful transition with Marcos, hoping. one, that he is aware of the present danger and., two, that he is patriotic enough to realize the time has come to return democracy to his people. Now that's a long shot. lt’s a very tong shot. but I do submit that that should he the direction of the moderate opposition. because the moment you go along with armed struggle, you develop a new cadre of leaders: the killers. And the killers of today can't be the leaders of tomorrow. No way. You see. when you emerge from armed revolution. it’s the muscleman, the guy who has killed ten thousand people, who emerges as leader. Today, some of the moderates (the philosophers) are being led by the wayside. But as Mao Zedong said, if you are not willing to use a dun when you draw it, don't enter into revolution. Now the dilemma of the moderate is, the moment you take that path. kid, you're an amateur compared to the Communists. They've been at it for 30 years. You will end up bedding with them. and then in the end like Nicaragua—they take over. 


MJ: Lets assume the third scenario takes place, How would you approach Marcos?


AQUINO: Marcos will negotiate only out of fear. He will sit down at the table only under tremendous pressure. the same way that the Viet Cong negotiated with Kissinger. Only after "Rolling Thunder" [the massive U.S. bombing campaign] was unleashed and Haiphong was mined did they get serious. But if we went to Marcos now and asked him to negotiate. he'd say, -“Why should I negotiate With you? Who are you? You're amateurs." So how do you bring about the fear? The Communists on their own cannot bring Marcos to the table. But if they bring in Russia they may. Just as the Moslems never forced Marcos to negotiate until they brought in Khadafy. It is our conclusion [that of the moderate opposition] that at this juncture, short of getting cooperation from an external power, we cannot force Marcos to negotiate. He laughs at us. But if we bring in the United States, he might sit down.

Now, it is my contention that where Americans have no leverage, it is foolish to intervene. You are bound to fail. You would be the laughingstock of the world, for example, if you tried to get Russia out of Afghanistan. So long as you're not ready to unleash the nukes, the Russians will say, "Baloney. You have no leverage." But when America has leverage and does not use it to further democracy, then I say America is as guilty as the dictator. 


MJ: Does America have enough leverage in the Philippines? 


AQUINO: Definitely. Marcos owes $18 billion, mostly Wall Street loans. He has to roll over these loans annually. He's kiting; he's hurting. All right. He wants $2 billion for the bases, spread out over five years. He already got $500 million. He wants loans from the Inter-national Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He wants the State Department to tell the world that he's improving his human rights so that he can improve his image so that other international creditors will lend to him. Now when you take the totality of all this, well, Jesus, America carries a huge club.


MJ: So how would you use it? 


AQUINO: If I were Reagan, I would go to Marcos and tell him: "Ferdie, we like you. You're a staunch friend of America. But we think, for your own good, for the good of your people, for the good of the alliance, for the good of the free world, for the good of the region, you have to liberalize. You've got to bring back freedom." 


And Marcos might say, "Like what?" And Reagan would answer, "Well, why don't you sit down with the moderates? You might start by giving them freedom of the press. Ease up a little bit, man, because things might explode." 


MJ: What happens, though, if the Reagan administration goes to Marcos to negotiate about the bases, and they say, in effect: "We'll look the other way on the human rights. All we want are the bases." What happens if that is Reagan's quid pro quo? 


AQUINO: Then we're screwed. But I do not believe that the Americans are that dumb. 


MJ: Try to convince me of that. 


AQUINO: They've learned their lesson in Iran, in Nicaragua, in Cuba, in Vietnam. I mean, these guys in the State Department, they weren't born yesterday. They've been around there for the past 20 years, for Pete's sake. The academic journals are loaded with their works, so you cannot convince me that there are no right-thinking Americans —maybe not in a position to dictate policy, but at least to influence policy. 


But there is a fear in the United States, a fear that if you delegitimize a regime, you may not be able to control the degree of its fall. If your people could just be sure that this guy will fall only ten percent, they would confront him. But they are afraid that if Marcos starts falling, there may not be a safety net below. At that point, what happens? They allowed the delegitimization of the shah and they got the mad ayatollah. They allowed the delegitimization of Somoza and they got the Sandinistas. They allowed the delegitimization of Batista and they got Castro. Now those are also lessons of history. So they are very cautious. They say: "What if we destabilize Marcos. and he hits bottom. Where are we?" 


MJ: Is it too late to allow the delegitimization of Marcos and get Aquino? 


AQUINO: Yeah. I think it is. The tragedy of tragedies, I submit, is that only Marcos can bring us back to democracy. Only Marcos. And tell you why. Marcos is the only man today who can decree a clean and honest election. Only Marcos—with his residual powers that can retire 20 generals with one stroke of the pen. 


MJ: So you believe that Marcos really is the key?


AQUINO: I've already said that. In 1973 I wrote him a memo. I wrote him a detailed memo on how to bring the country back on track. He picked up a few points in that memo: he lifted martial law as I suggested; he called for elections as I suggested. But he was very selective. He liked the points that dovetailed with his own ideas. But other matters, which could have completed the picture, he junked. Still., I've always held that Marcos is the key, and if he goes tomorrow, by George, the Philippines is going to have a hell of a time until someone else emerges from the scramble. 


MJ: What if you were that person? 


AQUINO: If you made me president of the Philippines today, my friend, in six months I would he smelling like horseshit. Because there's nothing I can do. I cannot provide employment. I cannot bring prices down. I cannot stop the criminality spawned by economic difficulties. I mean, let's face it. When people are hungry, you can bring down St. Peter and you won't get a stable government. So, this must be anchored collectively on the free world. 


MJ: What does Marcos think of your ideas? 


AQUINO: I don't know. Marcos blows hot and cold. He wants to have his space in history, but like cautious American policy-makers, he also does not know what will happen if he starts delegitimizing himself. Marcos, too, has learned a lesson from history. A dictator must never, never give the appearance he has lost the will to fight. That's how Somoza died; that's how the shah died. He knows that the more he liberalizes, the braver the opposition becomes, because they are smelling blood, and he knows they will eventually go for the jugular. 


MJ: Why did Marcos let you out of prison? 


AQUINO; You know, Marcos is not completely gone. He doesn't want to be branded a cruel man. Marcos operated this way: "I want to be dictator, but a nice dictator (if you'll allow me). I don't want to hurt you. The entire garden of paradise is for all of us—so long as you don't talk politics. You can criticize anybody—the bishop, Reagan. You can criticize anybody. Just don't criticize one and my family, O.K.? Then, every-thing's fine with us. Oh, one more thing, if you want to be president, you go to jail, kid.”


MJ: What would you do about the bases if you were president? 


AQUINO: "Out with the bases," say the radicals. I agree. But we cannot remove the bases tomorrow and destabilize that region, particularly while the Russians arc building in Camranh Bay. Otherwise we will surely be changing masters. But I'm going to tell America I don't want these bases permanently. The sooner you remove them, the better. 


Going Home 


MJ: If you decide to go back, would it be soon? 


AQUINO: Yeah, it would have to be very soon. 


MJ: By June? 


AQUINO: Maybe sooner. You see, my problem right now is that I have a wife and five kids. Much as I have a responsibility for my people, I also have a responsibility for these five Filipinos I brought into this world. So I told Senator Laurel, I said, I would have to ask Washington whether they would allow my family to stay in this country for another two years. If not, I'll have to relocate them somewhere they will be safe. Otherwise, they will be pressure points. Marcos may not be able to pressure me, but Jesus, if they somehow get to my family, my children, you know, I don't know how I will react. So that's one. 


Then, I have to set up a little trust fund for my youngest, because while four have already graduated—the fourth one is graduating from college this year, so somehow, somewhere, they will be able to survive—my youngest is only in the seventh grade. And so I must set up something for her. Not much—enough for college—but I'm in the process of doing that now, liquidating certain assets. 


Having done that, that little private thing, I sort of like the idea of jumping into the fire. Maybe, just maybe, if I'm in prison and helpless, Marcos will be more inclined to talk to me. You know, if I have freedom to go to the press and all, he may not like that. But if he can control the conditions of our meeting in other words, he can hold me in isolation while he's talking to me and nobody would know—just maybe.


As I've told you, I'm not predisposed to say that Marcos is all evil. I think if I go there and give myself up, he will accept it as a token of sincerity. I think he will be more inclined to say, "Well, maybe this guy has something to say." He may not love me but he will respect me. I mean, you respect a hero because he does something that you can't do. In Marcos' wildest dreams, though, he would never expect that, because the conventional wisdom is: Aquino's not coming home. Jesus, I mean, he's no nut. You know, why should he? He's living well in Boston. He's in the best academic world. He can go around America. Go back there? To that two-by-four cell? No way. 


That's the conventional wisdom. So, when I go back there, even those doubting Filipinos, even those Communists, deep in their hearts they will have some kind of respect: Jesus Christ, he's done it. With that as my leverage, I can parley. But who knows—someone might shoot me. But what the hell, you can die on a Monday, friend, or you can die on a Friday. We're all going to go. We've got to go somehow. I'd rather die before a firing squad to trigger a revolution for my people than get run over by a drunken driver in Boston. 

Saturday, April 2, 2022

The God Culture: Timothy Jay Schwab Claims "I am Proud to be a Filipino"

Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture recently attended a conference in Baguio where he discussed his heretical ideas. He declined to tell his audience about the event but there are many videos and pictures online documenting the conference. Let's start with this one.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=383547413607126&set=pb.100058556118547.-2207520000..

In this picture the conference is being opened with the singing of the national anthem. And what is Timothy Jay Schwab doing? In a glorious manifestation of disrespect he is sitting down working on his MacBook. How rude is that? Especially considering that Tim has told his audience that the Philippine national anthem is prophetic it is quite rude.

https://youtu.be/E-RNcBdn-GM?t=1737
28:56 So let's look here at the national flag of the Philippines. Notice the symbol of the Sun. Are there other countries that have such? Certainly there are many in fact but take a look at their national anthem Lupang Hinirang or chosen land, interesting. Land of the morning. Why? Well the Sun rises in the east and has been considered the Far East as far back as history goes really. The Orient is well recorded, even Japan is also known as the Land of the Rising Sun and it's it's parallel to the Philippines but it is not a Lost Tribe territory thus it does not fit this. But the Philippines is. 
Now read the next line though very odd, Child of the Sun returning. Wow! The first time we saw that we thought well it must be Sun God symbology yet in lieu of these findings in Revelation 12 perhaps not.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-god-culture-revelation-12-series_14.html 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=384758280152706&set=pb.100058556118547.-2207520000..

Here is a lovely picture of Tim slurping down some soup in front of his MacBook. Thank goodness it's closed or he just might ruin his computer. But what's this in the foreground? This lady has a huge box in her bag. It's called the i-fern Premium Package.

That bad boy costs 25,500 pesos and contains all kinds of beauty products which i-fern sells. But wait THEY don't sell those products, YOU sell them because that is how a multi-level marketing scam works. You buy the products, you sell the products, you recruit others to do the same. Your level of income increases with the number of dupes you can recruit. It's a typical pyramid scam.

This company has also had issues with counterfeit products. If the audience can't discern what a pyramid scheme is then how can they ever be expected to discern that Timothy Jay Schwab is a fraud and a liar?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=383555473606320&set=pb.100058556118547.-2207520000..&type=3

Now, here is an interesting picture. The lady at The God Culture book table is wearing a The God Culture polo! I bet Tim could sell a few hundred of those shirts if not more. If any of his audience saw this lady they would no doubt be filled with envy. There is another guy in these photos wearing the same shirt but there is no good close-up. However, since two people are wearing God Culture polos it's a good bet there are more out there.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=384763880152146&set=pb.100058556118547.-2207520000..

Just look at this guy. Timothy Jay Schwab says he is following the Law of Moses but why is he so fat? You can see his moobs and gut pressing against his shirt. This man is nearing the age where his excess weight will be a liability potentially causing a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack. He oughta know by now. Jesus said WHEN you fast not IF you fast. From the looks of it Tim isn't missing any meals. 

There are a lot more photos none of which are interesting except the space looks like it could use more people. So, why did Tim not tell his audience about this conference? It's also interesting that Tim was not able to coordinate and have copies of 1 Enoch for sale. This conference took place on March 14. He published the book on March 1. But he did not officially release the book until March 10th and physical copies were not available in the Philippines until March 15th. Strange that he mentions that book at 25:56 in one of the videos. The thing is he knew this conference was coming. It had been postponed several times due to lockdowns in Manila. Why was he not prepared to sell his new book? It screams of incompetence.

There are 7 videos of Tim speaking varying in length from 1:14 to 2:25:38. I'm not going to distill the contents because they are basically the same as what he teaches on his YouTube channel and in his books.

https://www.facebook.com/sabbathbc.congregation/videos/460905962381641

This video begins with the tail-end of Timothy Jay Schwab singing Ray Boltz's Watch the Lamb. Why is he singing that song? Ray Boltz is famous amongst the evangelical community primarily for his song Thank You which, along with Watch the Lamb, was sung so many times as a special by my youth pastor during morning service that I lost count. Incidentally that man is now on the sex offender list because he did some naughty things. Likewise Ray Boltz is a flaming homosexual who abandoned his wife and children to shack up with a dude. Given Tim's proclivity to use the ol' guilt-by-association tactic are we to believe he is okay with homosexuality? Why sing any of that awful CCM? Just think how hypocritical it is for Tim to call the Church the Synagogue of Satan but to continue singing their songs.

Watch the Lamb is maudlin garbage that tells the story of Simon the Cyrenian who carried the cross of Jesus Christ. It's a narrative song with absolutely no doctrinal substance. Why are we supposed to watch the lamb? The narrator never tells us. Why sing this nonsense? Why not start off with a good old fashioned hymn like Victory in Jesus? Or There's Power in the Blood? The fact is this conference is not about Jesus Christ and nothing about Tim's project concerns the work of Christ.  He is too concerned with esoteric history and texts to care about what the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection mean. The conference is focused on the Sabbath and keeping the law.

This video is practically a 2 hour long commercial for Tim's books. Nothing new is said and nothing is actually taught. However, there was one thing said so insane that it needs to be addressed.

49:37 You know when it comes down to it America came in as conquerors. That's how they approached the Philippines. They could've just given the Philippines their freedom if they were to spread democracy. We came in here to spread democracy. See, America's a great place, except for that's not what they did. They sent their military in and they crushed the Philippines, killing in some estimates as many as 2 million Filipinos. That's a conqueror. They had their boot on your neck. That's how they operate and they can try to paint it whatever way they want. I am an American but I know the truth and I'm going to tell the truth. I am ashamed at what my country did and I am proud to be a Filipino

This is it. This is where Timothy Jay Schwab has jumped the shark. This statement, which was accompanied with a round of applause, proves everything I have been saying about this con-artist to be true. Timothy Jay Schwab has transitioned from claiming to be Native American to now claiming to be a proud Filipino. Here is what I wrote in a previous article about this.

The reason Tim stresses his Native American ancestry is because he wants his Filipino readers to think he is just like them. He has red skin, Filipinos have red skin, therefore they are the same. Except Tim is MORE EQUAL than Filipinos because Native Americans "were all but wiped from the face of the Earth!" Tim hails from a tribe of people who have been oppressed on a scale that outweighs anything that ever happened during the Spanish and American occupations of the Philippines.

What we have here is a guy who loathes the fact that he is a White American man and is latching on to anything that can transform him into a persecuted minority. It might be the ultimate case of going native as Tim is attempting to paint himself as being not only genetically identical to Filipinos with red skin but also being a member of a people group that has been more oppressed than them.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-god-culture-stuff-god-culture.html 

Here he is telling us all he is an American, is ashamed of it, and that he is proud to be a Filipino. Except Timothy Jay Schwab will NEVER be a Filipino. This proud Filipino cannot even stand up during the national anthem! He will forever remain an oafish white man who has founded an online cult that has duped many actual Filipinos. 

Friday, April 1, 2022

Retards in the Government 252

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

  


https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170972
Law enforcers separately arrested a barangay councilor here and a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) official in the Maguindanao town of Parang for shabu possession, authorities said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM) identified the arrested village councilor here as Ivann dela Fuente Ampang of Barangay Poblacion 7.

The PDEA raiding team, together with the military and National Bureau of Investigation–BARMM operatives, swooped down on Ampang’s residence at Datu Siang St. of the village around 8:40 p.m. following a buy-bust operation.

“A concerned citizen reported the illegal activities of Ampang that prompted PDEA-BARMM to launch an operation against him on Tuesday night,” PDEA-BARMM said in a statement.

Confiscated during the operation were six pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing 5 grams of shabu worth PPH34,000, the buy-bust money, and other pieces of evidence.

Meanwhile, Parang, Maguindanao police officers manning a checkpoint also arrested Tuesday afternoon Camidon Dima, 34, the SK treasurer of Barangay Libungan-Torreta, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

“Police implementing the election gun ban flagged down Dima for regular inspection but found the shabu items instead,” Lt. Col. Joseph D. Macatangay, Parang police chief, said in a report Wednesday.
A barangay councilor and a local SK treasurer have been busted for drugs.


https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/22/abra-town-vice-mayor-husband-turn-over-firearms

The two-day standoff at the compound of Pilar town, Abra vice-mayor Jaja Josefina Disono between police and armed men inside ended Wednesday afternoon.

Following negotiations through intermediaries, Disono’s camp turned over 14 small and long firearms to police for ballistics tests in connection with the chase and shootout between police and men in van allegedly belonging to Disono’s convoy on Tuesday morning.

Atty. Raymond Fortun, lawyer for Disono and her husband, told media that half of the guns belonged to the vice mayor and the other to her husband. 

Twelve men from the compound were also turned over to police Wednesday night and brought to the provincial headquarters.

One of Disono’s men, an escort identified as Sandee Boy Bermudo, was killed in the encounter after his van ran past a police checkpoint.

Police crime lab operatives inspecting the van recovered an assault rifle whose ownership was traced to Disono.

Abra provincial police director Col. Maly Cula said the checkpoint located meters from the municipal hall and police station stemmed from an intelligence report they received Tuesday that armed individuals were in the area.

Part of the police probe into the incident was a dash-cam video taken from the van, which showed the vehicle sideswiping a policeman pointing a gun at it, leading to the chase up to the Disono compound.

Cula said 2 vehicles had been rammed and one was hit by a bullet.

      A two day standoff between the PNP and the Vice Mayor of Abra ensued after one of her security aides drove through a PNP checkpoint and opened fire. The police followed the vehicle to the Vice Mayor's house. The place say they will be filing charges against the Vice Mayor and others involved in the standoff.
    https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171104

    A police officer assigned at the Police Regional Office (PRO)-4A (Calabarzon) is now facing administrative and criminal cases for acts due to his addiction to e-sabong (online cockfighting).

    Based on the reports reaching Camp Crame on Thursday, the police officer was identified as Lt. John Kevin Menes, 24, assigned at PNP Drug Enforcement Group – Special Operations Unit – 4 (DEG– SOU4), PRO-4A, who is facing raps for estafa and illegal gambling.

    Menes, a graduate of the PNP Academy, was first restricted at the headquarters of the PRO-4A in Laguna over the disappearance of some PHP500,000 in cash allocated to the DEG in Calabaron, which is being used as show money in buy-bust operations and other expenses of the local police anti-drug units.

    However, Menes escaped on March 27 and left the camp using a car that he borrowed from his subordinate, Pat. Melvin Bojocan Barbo. Menes refused to return the car, triggering a search and recovery operation.

    Two days later, authorities received a tip that Menes was spotted at an online betting station in Sta. Mesa, Manila. When the cops arrived at the scene, they found out that Menes was being held by the employees of the facility for his unpaid debts amounting to PHP15,000.

    When asked about the vehicle, Menes told the police investigators that he left it in Tondo, Manila.

    Police then proceeded to the area early Thursday and found the vehicle he borrowed from the rookie cop.

    Further investigation showed that the suspect pawned the car to a certain Angel Robert Maximo for PHP170,000 with an interest of 1 percent per day.

    “Knowing fully that the vehicle is owned by a Commissioned Officer and gaining his trust and confidence, he (Maximo) accepted the offer and paid Lt. Menes, the said amount, who in turn, delivered the mortgage vehicle to him,” read the report.

    A cop has been arrested for crimes he committed because of his addiction to online cockfighting.

    Thursday, March 31, 2022

    Coronavirus Lockdown: Vindication, 4th COVID-19 Vac Shot, and More!

    More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

    All areas of the Philippines are not at low risk for COVID-19.

    https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170341

    All regions in the country remain at minimal risk case classification with health systems capacity at low risk, a health official said Tuesday.

    The Covid-19 cases nationwide is on a slow decline with an average of 490 cases reported daily for the period of March 15 to 21, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during an online media forum.

    The current average of infections is 13 percent lower than the previous week which recorded 564 cases.

    “Batay sa ating datos, bumaba sa 805 cases ang severe and critical cases mula (Based on our data, the severe and critical cases went down to 805) 1,874 since mid-January,” Vergeire said.

    The government says these low numbers are a vindication of the authoritarian response to the pandemic.

    https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170550

    “Yes, we are on the right track, definitely. The fact that we are one of the third lowest in Covid mortality (and our hospital bed utilization rate is low, there are few patients. It means everything is going smoothly),” acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said in an interview on Daily Tribune’s “Straight Talk” program on Tuesday.

    Andanar described the country’s improved Covid-19 response as a “vindication” of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his administration.

    “We have a Covid policy unlike some of our neighbors in Southeast Asia. (And now we see there are surges there, but we're reopening our economy). So this is a vindication to all of the tough policies that we followed during the last two years,” he added.

    In a prerecorded Talk to the People aired on March 7, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Duterte's leadership coupled with Filipinos' compliance to health protocols have led to the Philippines having fewer Covid-19 infections compared to other Southeast Asian countries.

    Who knew that all the unnecessary checkpoints, military patrol vehicles, and cops beating quarantine violators was actually all for the best?

    Despite the low numbers face masks are here to stay. 

    https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/23/duterte-not-ready-to-lift-face-mask-mandate-new-covid-19-variant-looms/

    Despite low Covid-19 cases in the country, President Duterte said the existing face mask mandate would remain to help contain the spread of the virus, especially with the discovery of the new strain in Israel.

    “The numbers are now very low compared to the population… But you know itong mask na ano maraming nagtatanong, alam mo (many have been asking and you know) I am not ready to order the removal of the mask,” Duterte said during his “Talk to the People” address aired Tuesday, March 22.

    “Pero siguro ‘yung plastic na ano cover puwede na ‘yun pero (Maybe the cover made of plastic we can remove it but) as I said, it has done a lot of good that prevented the contamination from spreading,” he added.

    Duterte noted that the ongoing pandemic may stay for long as new Covid-19 variants have been detected in other countries and may eventually reach the Philippines.

    “So matagal pa ito (This will stay for long). And there are reports that I don’t know if it’s — subject to confirmation — that there is a new COVID [variant] found in Israel. So whether we like it or not, kung totoo ‘yan (if it is true), it will reach again the shores of our country,” he added

    Be sure to wear your mask in public or face steep fines.

    https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170462

    The city’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) prevention and enforcement cluster has recorded 426 face mask violators from March 14 to 18 who have been required to pay appropriate fines.

    This came about despite the city’s current Alert Level 1 status, in which restrictions have been eased.

    In a statement Wednesday, Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, said the public may have assumed that the wearing of face masks had been lifted after some information campaign signages on the minimum public health standards in the city were taken down.

    Schlosser said the signages were probably removed because social distancing was lifted, but clarified that Executive Order 11 noted the wearing of face masks as mandatory.

    “I would like to reiterate to Dabawenyos that only the social distancing protocol was lifted but the mandatory wearing of face mask remains. People might have thought that the non-wearing of face mask is okay since the signages were removed," Schlosser said.

    She reiterated that individuals caught not wearing a face mask in public places will still be issued citation tickets.

    Violators will get a PHP500 fine for the first offense; PHP2,000 for the second offense, and PHP5,000 or one-month imprisonment for the third offense.

    Face masks do not prevent the spread of COVID-19 but not wearing them will certainly add to the government's coffers.

    The safety protocols businesses were required to follow during the pandemic are now going to become permanent. One will not be able to obtain a business permit unless one can get a Safety Seal.

    https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1924324/manila/local-news/safety-seals-now-a-requirement-in-getting-business-permits

    THE Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the recommendation to include Safety Seals in the requirements for obtaining business permits, a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official said on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.

    DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said they will issue a memorandum circular to the local government units (LGUs) for the implementation of the measure.

    “That has been approved during the IATF [meeting] that we will issue a memorandum circular to all our LGUs to require Safety Seals in specific identified industries lalo na 'yung mga negosyo na closed door (especially closed door businesses),” Densing said during a Laging Handa public briefing.

    He said so far, six percent of the businesses in the country have Safety Seals.

    Safety Seals are being issued by the Department of Trade and Industry to establishments that comply with the safety standard set by the government amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

    It's just another burden on would-be small business owners. Also quite silly as none of the health protocols like wearing face masks, taking ones temperature, or signing in to enter a store will stop the spread of any disease.

    Were you expecting the new normal soon? Well, think again. We will be in a transition period for some time. And it's your fault if you have not had a booster shot.

    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1574588/new-normal-by-april-not-likely-says-presidential-adviser

    The “new normal” is unlikely to be implemented by April owing to the low rate of booster vaccination, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Monday.

    During the Laging Handa public briefing, Concepcion said that while the National Capital Region and other regions have a high vaccination rate, especially for primary doses, the rest the country still has a low booster vaccination rate, making the race for the new normal a difficult task.

    (Yes, because our challenge now—the number of our primary doses is not a problem in NCR and other areas, it is increasing but booster shot coverage is low.)

    (I was all for Alert Level Zero but the percentage of boosting of LGUs must be high.)

    Hurry and go get your booster shot if you are so inclined. And then after that get your fourth shot.

    https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/26/govt-eyeing-4th-covid-19-vax-shot-rollout-last-week-of-april-nvoc/

    The government is considering to start in April the administration of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot in selected individuals once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the said measure.

    The Department of Health (DOH) has already submitted its application to the FDA for the amendment of the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Covid-19 vaccines to include a fourth shot for people considered as “vulnerable” to the disease, said Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center Chief Myrna Cabotaje. 

    “(This will start once the EUA and guidelines are approved. So, maybe we can start this last week of April),” said Cabotaje on Saturday, March 26, during a public briefing.

    The DOH is currently crafting the guidelines for this measure, said Cabotaje. 

    “(The set of guidelines is now being prepared. We continue to discuss with our experts…This is recommended for high risk or vulnerable groups such as the A1:) health workers/ frontliner services, seniors, and immunocompromised individuals,” said Cabotaje. 

    The DOH is seeking FDA approval for a 4th COVID shot but the DOH also says four shots can be dangerous.

    https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/826656/doh-warns-vs-taking-4-or-more-covid-19-vaccine-doses/story/

    The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday warned the public against taking four or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine saying it could be dangerous for their health as it is yet to be approved by health experts.

    Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stressed that while COVID-19 jabs are proven safe and effective, people still need to be wary in receiving doses more than what was approved by experts.

    She said they have received reports that several individuals have taken four, five, and even six doses of the anti-COVID vaccine.

    “What I can say is it would be dangerous. We have to understand that these vaccines are only in their Phase 3 trials so although it has been approved already, has been studied that it is safe and effective, but we need to monitor for long-term effects of these vaccines,” Vergeire said in an ANC interview.

    "It could be dangerous for their health as it is yet to be approved by health experts." So, once its approved by experts then it's not dangerous anymore? Is that how science works? Amazing.

    Wednesday, March 30, 2022

    Another Late Delivery From PhilPost

    On July 13th, 2021 I ordered two books from the Book Depository which is in London. For some unknown reason the packages did not arrive in the Philippines until January. I understand it takes a long time for mail to reach this backwater in Southeast Asia but during that same timeframe I ordered a book from the USA in September which arrived a month later. A seven month wait for a package to enter the Philippines is ridiculous. Did it get stuck in China? 


    Even more ridiculous is that it took a month and a half for PhilPost to send these books my way and then a further two weeks until I finally received them on March 22, 2022. That is completely unacceptable. What is up with PhilPost? Why are they so slow? 

    If you are wondering what the books I ordered are, well here you go:


    I would say these are the last books I will ever order again but that's not likely. How much longer will it take for them to be delivered next time?