In My Own Words - Ron Centeno

I condemn in the strongest possible tone the impending arrest of Jun Lozada in connection with the 16 charges incredulously filed against him. The biggest irony in the Arroyo administration lies in the fact that those who have committed the most gruesome crimes in the past, (Do I need to mention their names?) are now freely basking under the sun, some of them have even surreptitiously begun campaigning for the incoming elections, while a decent man whose only fault, as far as in the eyes of those who want to obliterate his previous Senate testimony against them, is to tell the truth.

If in eventuality Lozada is put behind bar for cases, (which I assume have been deliberately put in place to warrant its potency), ranging from dishonesty, perjury to theft, then clearly the intent is short of piercing the cork into the mouth of those who bear the pieces of bad information against the keepers of power.

Needles to say, as a consolation to his endearing act of refusing to bend over the wishes of those whom he accuses of corruption in the NBN – ZTE scandal, Lozada’s arrest would equate the same fate in similar construct with those of Ninoy Aquino, Mandela, or Ghandi. Seemingly emboldened by the constant harassment in his person and those of his family, his concession to his forthcoming arrest is more of a sign of a war declaration in the court of law when he said, “I’ve reached the point where I’m preparing myself psychologically how to face them. I’ll ask them to bring me to trial. I’m challenging them to prove the charges against me, and I’ll stand by what I said.”

We can only hope, however, that the angels from heaven shall descend into Lozada’s camp when the court proceedings take place, because, even before the circus gets underway, a foregone conclusion has already been decided against his favor. It’s only a matter of time.

Until then, let us collectively muster our efforts to rally behind the cause of this man who had the chance to silence himself in exchange for comfort but opted not. It’s been a year now since Jun Lozada captured our hearts and minds while he was in tears before the illustrious men and women of the Senate during his testimony in that infamous deal where no less than the First Gentleman and the former Comelec Chairman Ben Abalos were linked to the scandal. Without question, his guts were truly epic. Instantly, a star was born.

But that was then. A year later, Lozada’s beaming star has long faded away, thanks to our short-term memory. And while the trumpets in heaven are no longer resounding for Lozada, the Arroyo’s “galamay” are now in the offensive to take matter into their tentacles. When this viciousness happens, we can only ignominiously watch from the sidelines while the man who risked every inch of himself is being devoured almost to his lonesome.

Echoing ex-President Cory Aquino’s prayer, we, too, should pray harder for Lozada. But prayer alone would be an empty weapon without “mobilizing people”, as Sr. Mary John Mananzan, co-chair of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), would like to happen. I have never prayed harder until today.

May God bless Jun Lozada and the entire Filipino people.

What if Erap becomes president again, is one gripping question that should not be ignored. God forbid, he dares not.

Time and again, Estrada keeps repeating he would run for president if the opposition cannot unite around one candidate. His logic, however shallow, nevertheless makes sense at least to himself because numerous opposition wannabes, according to the ousted leader who was once convicted of plunder, will pave the way to the preemptive victory of Arroyo’s anointed one.

To prevent that from happening, Erap will field himself as the viable candidate based on his personal calculation to have earned 30 to 40 percent of the expected votes in his favor. In such case, he concluded to have secured advantage over all the others. Other surveys, however, say otherwise.

Predictably, Erap was quick to refute the surveys saying, “That’s according to the surveys. But the surveys have been wrong in the past. In the last presidential elections, the exit polls said GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) would win in the whole of Metro Manila but she lost in all the cities and municipalities of Metro Manila except Las Piñas.”

Moreover, Erap brags the very warm reception of his provincial sorties attended by the masa who were frenzied over his visits. Further, he gives limitless credit to his upcoming tandem with funny Ai Ai de las Alas in a movie called, ‘Ang Tanging Ama N’yo’, a sequel to Ai Ai success movie, ‘Ang Tanging Ina N’yo.”

He’s also set to make a commercial for an arthritis medicine with a tagline ‘Pwede pa ba kayong tumakbo?’ This is, of course, in reference to his legal qualification to run again for the highest office in the land. Aptly as it may seem, Erap’s response, “Kung gusto mo karera pa tayo.” With that, Erap is shown in the ads leaving his opponent behind; courtesy of the arthritis drug.

He validly observed, “Thus, while my rivals would be spending millions for their commercials and advertisements, I would be earning from my movie and commercials. And I would have my mug and name plastered in billboards advertising the movie and the arthritis drug, all for free. Binabayaran pa ko. And after the movie has made the rounds of all the movie houses, I can show it for free in the town plazas to attract the crowds before my rallies, with the commercial thrown in. How can I lose?”

How can I lose, is another one hell of a question I dare God almighty not to grant. But in case God becomes fallible, let us brace ourselves as a people because, without question, our country would be doomed to certainty.

Wala na ba talagang mapag-pipilihan?!

Kidnap- for- ransom has now become the order of the day in all corners of the world, in general, and in southern Philippines, in particular. Be it from the jungle of Sulu, to Mexico’s Tijuana, or to the coast of Somalia along the Indian Ocean, this senseless act of looting is a loathsomely lucrative business.

Recently and similarly in the past, the Abu Sayyaf Group, now led by Albader Parad, has been in the business of seizing innocent civilians in exchange for a huge payoff. Some of the group’s earlier victims include a Filipino TV evangelist Wilde Almeda, an American Muslim convert Jeffrey Schilling, former Manila Times owner Reghis Romero, and ABS-CBN journalist Ces Drilon, to name a few. Overall, the undisclosed amount paid for ransom has been very difficult to determine. It is figured in millions of pesos.

Recall that the earlier group’s ideological reason for existence was to promote an independent Islamic state. That was then. Now, it is completely reduced to nothingness and is apparently turned into an abhorrent thievery.

What brought Parad, his cohorts, and those other militant-Islamist-turned-kidnappers that have long been dead, to this fate is an open-ended debate.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the culprit to the sorry-state of our Muslim brothers in the region is the absence of economic opportunity to which they have long been denied for decades now. Absent of such opportunity, the likelihood of putting matters into their own hands via extorting money the wrong way comes without surprise.

This is not, however, to suggest that I condone their horrific way of earning a living; because no matter how neglectful our government to our brothers’ plight in the South, kidnapping must be deterred at all cost.

On the other hand, one would argue that given the Islamist preoccupation to sowing terror, creating business in the region is a risk no one dares to take. Imagine erecting a Megamall complex in Patikul; luring Dell Corporation to move its chips production in Sipadan; or building a presidential vacation villa in Pandanan.

Such propositions are quite unconscionable, if not outrageous to begin with. Without doubt, the likes of Henry Sy, Lucio Tan, or Andres Soriano, for example, would be under no illusion to forge a business opportunity where risk to their investments is astronomical given the presence Islamic rebels.

In such case, if the trend continues as it is, then peace and prosperity in that southern part of the country shall forever be hallucinatory.

Another award from the David Funk of Basic Blogonomics. David is the CEO of BWE(Blog Wrestling Entertainment) where bloggers are written into fictional storylines. :-)

In one of his BWE updates David wrote this:

"Funk: "Welcome back to BWE Blog Center! Without question, one of the biggest signings in BWE Promotions history has taken place today. We have learned that Ron Centeno has signed one of the richest contracts in BWE history after serious negotiations. The Filipino blogging star was eager to get a deal done after it appeared contract talks would break down. But today, he signed a lucrative contract with the promotion and is ready to make an impact. He's currently unavailable because of a busy schedule at the moment, but an announcement from him should be coming soon. The brand in which he will represent is not known as of now.

My opinion: I think for EBW's sake, Paul might regret wanting to put him on that brand of extreme entertainment should he want to do so. Why? "In his own words", there will be a "Fall of a Dictator" on that brand if that happens."

So here's my answer to that post:

The BWE contract is very tempting and has a lot of potential. The only problem is that, I have an exclusive contract with CEI (Ces Entertainment, Inc.).

After conferring with Ces (my CEO), we were able to reach a compromise that was amenable for both sides. She granted me an open contract with CEI.

Now that I am an open agent, I'm very excited and can't wait to make a deal with BWE. I feel that I can have a very promising future with them. That is if the offer is still open since it took a long time for me to make a decision due to my hectic schedule with CEI.

The other thing is, how can I refuse the offer when CEO,'D Funk keeps giving me these awards. It gets me to think if this a plot to get me to finalize that contract with BWE, sooner. The thing is, he did not need to shower me with all these,although I have to admit I love the attention.

Thank you boss 'D! I hope to drop by your office soon to talk about that contract. In the meantime let me share one of the awards you passed on.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!

I would like to pass this award to:

1) Czel of "Vanity’s Child"
2) Goddy of "A Friend Named Goddy"
3) Sherwin of "Mokong (Anu’ng Nasa Isip Ko)"
4) Mac Allister of "Living the Expectations"
5) Gilbert of "Gillboard"
6) NJ of "Desert Aquaforce"
7) Pchi of "Opinion Pinoy"
8) The Pope of "Palipasan"
9) Ck_leik of "Beyond Crypticness"
10)austenfan of "Quintessential Babble"
11)Cecile of "Small and Simple Things"
12)Lisa of "Lisgold"
13)"Buhay Bayot"
14)Half Crazy of "An Ardent Cosmic Journey"
15)Ratty of "Everyday Adventurer"
16)Denzmeister of "Denzmeister"
17)Shei of "Pretty Eyes"
18)Dinah of "Okay Ukay"
19)edSie of It's My Turn"
21)Maxi of "Ovah Coffee"
22)John BM of "Ultraelectromagneticblog"
23)XP of "Xprosaic's World"
24) Irish of "Irish on Bizz"
25) Shydub of "Simple Happy Life"
26)Gagay of "Walking Newspaper"
27)To all of you who takes time to visit please feel free to grab this award. Blogging would be no fun without you! :-) Happy Blogging!

When batches of young girls are pimped nightly to the visiting American forces in Bicol, such illicit act draws no surprises. I mean that without degradation to our women. More than ever, the blame should be directed to whom it is due. And for good reason, these girls, given their very own plight of desperate living condition, prostituting themselves is a no-brainer, hence; accusing fingers should not be pointed against them.

Recall how many of our women were drawn into this so-called oldest profession in the world when the neon lights were still brightly illuminated at the Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base. Back then, whorehouses around the bases were commonplace. Literally, the streets were littered with pimps and their cohorts whose bodies were meant to be sold. And because it required no academic degree to provide a rapid and successive pleasure to the salivating Yankee sailors who were eager to pay, hooking was, by all means, a necessary evil. It was easy money. Indeed, for decades and long after the bases were padlocked by our Congress, whoring has become a way of life for our women whose commodity for trade was their very own soul.

While the truth is demeaning to admit, the fact remains that, like a broken record, the word poverty has been abused to become the intransigent rationality of why some of our women are driven to pimping to this date.

During my visit to Manila a year ago, prostitution has been well in-place. I’ve seen first-hand, for example, how young women strategically position themselves inside and outside a Brazilian bar and café in Greenbelt, Makati, in hopes for libidinous ‘expats’ or other foreign nationals seeking an overnight gratification. That bar and café, unfortunately, was just one of the many venues where flesh trading happens indiscriminately.

If it is any consolation to our Filipino women in the same business, prostitution, of course, knows no boundaries. I’ve been to some places across the globe including the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, and here in the U. S., and for good reason, prostitution in these countries is embedded in their culture with the trimmings of legalities. Amsterdam’s red district and Las Vegas being a ‘sin city’ are only two of these classic examples where prostitution is protected by no less than the state authorities.

Pointing out the validity of prostitution in these advanced countries, however, is not meant to provide an urging to some of our Filipino women to follow suit. The intent is to reaffirm our time immemorial supposition that, indeed, prostitution is our known oldest profession. Even Mary Magdalene will amen to that.

In the eyes of Senator Pangilinan, however, prostitution is non-negotiable. It must be stopped once and for all. And in reference to the girls catered to the American forces who are in the country to provide humanitarian aid for the depressed areas, the lawmaker said, “This needs to be investigated and exposed. This is condemnable. We worked so hard to get rid of prostitution and clean up our reputation when the US military bases finally left our shores. The Philippines is not a whorehouse for US soldiers.”

Without question, the task the Senator wants to put forward the issue on prostitution is gargantuan in the highest order. No matter how we want Sen. Pangilinan to succeed in his crusade to fight such menace, the rate of its success is virtually nil.

And while economic disease in the country has found no cure as of yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if more batches of young girls would find their way into the laps of visiting American forces who are set to pound their ‘tools’.