"Dissent without action is consent." - Gen. Danilo Lim

Today, we address all and decent Filipinos, to announce that NOW is the time to end the sufferings and miseries inflicted upon us by the illegitimate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Government and start a new life and a new Philippines.


The die is cast.

Pursuant to our constitutional mandate as “protector of the people and the State,” and by this act, the patriotic officers and men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, supported by the masses of our people and the various political forces, give substance to the constitutional provision which says, “The Philippines is a democratic and republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people, and all government authority emanates from them.” Thus, we take the fateful step of removing Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the Presidency and undertake the formation of a new government.

Let a Hundred EDSAs Bloom

By Emmanuel M. Hizon and James Matthew B. Miraflor


Illustration by Banksy

We are glad Mr. Joseph Estrada was pardoned. We are glad Erap entered into a compromise with Mrs. Arroyo, in effect absolving him of any wrongdoing he bestowed in a country so wronged and offended. Thank you for sparing us the effort to remind everyone that justice here in our society is a plaything of the rich and powerful, that the search for truth within the comforts of legalism, of our ‘beloved constitution’ and jurisprudence, is nothing but a blind alley.

When Absolute Conformity si Fun

Forget about those "who follow a different drummer". This is the era of absolute conformity, and I never imagined absolute conformity could be this fun. Asians have much to say share to the west regarding unity of command, be it done in a capitalist, communist, or hooligan-ist way.

As a starter (and this is the most boring), see a Chinese Military Parade.

Labor Protests in South Korea: Videos

We ain't seen nothing yet.

If the so-called highly-developed "democracy" in the Philippines is already "tolerant" of our relatively peaceful labor protest actions (which was already condemned as violent by our more conservative friends from the government), just wait till they see the protest actions in our East Asian neighbor South Korea.

The largest and most politically and organizationally advanced labor union federation in South Korea (and perhaps, in the whole Asia), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, had conducted mass actions that will surely dwarf our meager direct actions here. Forget the "shock and awe" tactics of the anarchists - look at the campaigns of KCTU, planned and organized with almost militaristic precision.

Here's one video.

New World Order: On Millenarian Movements

by James Miraflor (September 20, 2005)




"The continuous emergence, destruction, and re-emergence of millenarian movements since the age of imperialism have long baffled social scientists, anthropologists and laypeople alike. Looking at such movements often entails getting a glimpse of the dark recesses of the human mind – particularly its subconscious desire for a new world order."

Team Unity: Where our money goes

This letter appeared on Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) issue last March 22, 2007 (Thursday), page A14. It is a reaction to the unnecessary delay to the budget signing. The same day it was published, Arroyo quickly signed the budget to prevent collateral damage and snowballing of the issue. They got quite good tacticians, I say.

The article is also available at this link.
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From Inquirer
Last updated 03:48am (Mla time) 03/22/2007




Team Unity seems to have assumed that the public is already used to administration candidates always having the advantage of machinery and funding during elections. However, this begs the question: Where does Team Unity source its campaign funds? To answer this, we need only to look at the government’s primary source of funds: the national budget.

Paradigm Shift: Open-source and the Market Revolution

by James Matthew Miraflor

"

Known also as the “Bazaar” paradigm of software development, the FLOSS operates under the economics of increased competition and participative development, in contrast with the “Cathedral” paradigm employed by most software development companies in the market which seeks to monopolize software production and maintenance through consolidated capital. Instead of concentrating resources in order to improve its product, FLOSS flattens the hierarchy and allows a greater number of channels by which the product can be improved.

This paradigm is actually based on a new model of economic production – the commons-based peer production. Coined by Professor Yochai Benkler in his seminal paper Coase’s Penguin, the model is different from the conventional industrial production model since the creative potential of large number of people is coordinated into large and meaningful projects without traditional hierarchical organization or financial compensation."