A Letter From My Constituent and My Reply

I received a message in my Multiply site which came from a constituent who submitted a request for support from my office for their badminton tournament.

From Richard (a constituent):

Congressman Ruffy,

Good day congressman,we came to your office 3 times and asking for the support regarding the badminton tournament and are group are shock cause your secretary personnel said that you are not supporting this kind of events..and our participants is all residence of muntinlupa any way thank you even you are not supporting us and god bless.our tournament is finished with 400 particpants good luck.....

I immediately responded both to his email and in his Multiply site:

Dear Richard,

Thank you for the message you sent me regarding your request for assistance for your badminton tournament.

I hope that my staff was able to convey our policy in the manner that I instruct them to.

BUt in the interest of clarity, allow me to explain...

First of all, requests such as yours are not allowed to be charged against the Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pork Barrel) under the rules prescribed by the General Appropriations Act (the law which governs the funds of national government). YOu may view the rules at http://www.dbm.gov.ph/GAA09/PDAF.pdf

As to the requests from our constituents which are not allowed to be charged to the PDAF (such as your request), we use the monthly operating expenses allocated to my office, which is not much, considering that it is only meant to fund the administrative needs of the office.

Due to the limited funds available for direct requests from constituents, we are compelled to classify and prioritize the requests granted. 

Therefore, we give emphasis and priority to social services (medical, educational and community development requests). Additionally, among the so many requests that are submitted to us, we also have to determine which one is urgent and which is not.

In view of those considerations, your request for assistance in your badminton tournament placed low in the list of requests which were considered, giving way to requests such as urgent medical care and medication, our medical missions, education-oriented requests such as teacher trainings, classroom equipment and teaching tools, repair of community facilities such as water systems, feeding programs, livelihood programs, and others.

It is with sincere apologies that we are not able to contribute to your badminton tournament. It is just that in determining who gets to benefit from the meager resources of my office, we are forced to give priority to the other programs because of urgency and necessity.

BUt once in a while, funds are available for requests like yours, so we are able to grant them.

If only I had the resources, I would rather approve all requests, but unfortunately, there is not enough to go around. As I told one federation of youth groups which requested my office for sponsorship of their summer outing, granting their request would mean that I will be turning down someone else's request for medicine or assistance in paying his hospital bills.

Such is the burden placed on the shoulders of public officials and it always requires us to make tough decisions and choices.

I hope that you and your group will understand the difficult situation that I am in. Rest assured that I will always be open to future requests and if resources are available, am very much willing to accommodate them.

Thank you and God bless!

Ruffy

A Few Good Men

They literally stood up to the essence of being soldiers..disciplined, dedicated to duty and loyal to the Republic.I salute these men for the honor they gave Pres. Cory.

Airman 2nd Class Gener Laguindam, Pfc. Antonio Cadiente, Police Officer 1 Danilo Maala and Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez.

Although there was no Marine among them, I borrowed the well known slogan of the Marines as the title of this photo.

Carry on, men!

Inquirer Article on the Honor Guards

Evil Minds Using The Passing of President Cory for their Evil Political Schemes

As the nation mourns the death of the Icon of Democracy, people with black souls are using the national tragedy to pursue their evil political schemes. I cannot imagine how callous and ruthless these people are, their sinister intentions prevailing over what should at least be a time to give honor and respect to the former president who gifted the nation with the restoration of democracy.

Even while the Filipino people show an outpouring of grief, these evil minds conceived a plan to sow intrigue through text messages meant to drive a wedge between President Cory’s son Nonoy and the Liberal Party.

I received a series of messages which began yesterday, August 3, starting with one coming from mobile number 0909-1452011 at 8:13PM saying “Milyun-milyon pa rin and nagmamahak k Tita Cory! Ipagpatuloy ang adhikain nla Ninoy & Cory. Noynoy 4 prez sa 2010! Pls pass.”

After a few minutes, at 8:20PM, I received another message this time from mobile number 0909-1452004 which said, “Millions troopd to the wake of 4mer Pres Cory! Very clear evidence f Noynoy’s support when he runs. Noynoy 4 Pres in 2010! Pls pass.”

Then at 8:30PM, a message was sent from mobile number 0909-1452013 which said, “Nakakalito naman itong abs cbn…anong pagkaka pareho ng pagkamatay ni Ninoy at ni Cory? C Ninoy, nabaril, c Cory, na cancer! Tama na pulitika, kakasawa na..”

The latest came in today, August 4 at 1:56PM from mobile number 0909-1452014 and it said, “If u like someone frm d Liberal Party, a mama’s boy, who’s neither a boy nor a girl or one who dated Korina why go for Mar, go for d Original go for Noynoy!!”

A closer look at the numbers will reveal that these messages are part of a black propaganda scheme since it is obvious that the messages came from a single source, considering that the mobile numbers come from one series:

0909-1452004, 0909-1452011, 0909-1452013 and 0909-1452014

Perhaps when the text brigade of these people was set up, they bought a whole batch of SIM cards which comprised of a whole series of numbers. 

Although I also received a message from a number from a different series at 11:55AM of August 4. The message, from mobile number 0929-3655389 said, “Nakaka aliw panoorin ang confetti sa Makati ng dumaan ang karo ni Tita Cory! D Cory magic is alive!! Kaya mga kaibigan, ipagpatuloy ang Laban nila Ninoy & Cory…iboto natin si Noynoy sa pagka presidente..Pres Aquino again sa 2010!” The number may belong to another series, but it is quite evident that it was conceived by the same person/group from which the others came from.

Since SIM cards are easy to acquire in this country because no registration is required, it will be quite difficult to identify the person or persons who are behind this. But in instances like this, one may have an inkling of who may have the motive.

I can point to a couple of people who may benefit from a split in the Liberal Party or intrigue among its members. I will not venture into giving clues. I will just leave it to the readers to make their own conclusions. 

But one thing I will say to the people who conceived and implemented this diabolical scheme…may you be welcomed in hell in the soonest possible time!

Tita Cory--A Great Filipino

The passing of former President Cory Aquino is a national loss. But her life was a national gift. Her physical life has ended but it will continue to inspire us that there is still hope that goodness will prevail in the Philippines.

I considerate a great privilege to have had the chance to know her personally from the time that I was a teenager when my father served in her administration against the coup attempts to the recent years when I serve the country as a member of Congress.

She is, was and will always be a great and noble Filipino.

My Dream

No, this is not a Martin Luther King “I Have  Dream” write up. This one is about a Rapid-Eye-Movement moment, that portion of life when our body is at its most quiet but our minds are in an excited state of activity.

Perhaps owing to the stress and fatigue of a very active schedule these past days, I fell asleep early last night, which is a very rare occurrence. I was out by 9:00PM, as testified by my wife and that meant that she had to endure longer hours of my snoring.

I needed the rest. Not only for my tired body but more so for my restless mind. So many things to think about, all competing for attention. Work related or personal, these thoughts occupy my conscious mind and it is only during sleep that they settle down and make way for rest.

But last night, my sleep was made colorful by the dream I had. I dreamt that I was a TV Show Host. Yes, I agree that many politicians have that dream and actually try to squeeze themselves in as a broadcast personality. That’s not a dream that I have, but it was a dream I had last night.

I dreamt that I was a host in a TV show. No, not the variety show type where they give out tons of money to people they cajole into doing foolish stunts with scantily clad women grinding their hips in the background. Neither is it the early morning magazine show where the hosts seem to be overdosed with caffeine in order to be perky so early in the morning. And neither were there pretty co-hosts. My wife wouldn’t want that. (Sorry, dear!)

Being a public official, the show was a public affairs show, the one that usually draws yawns or expletives from the public, depending on the topic. And the guest. Or the host. Anyway….

Since it is nearing the elections and everyone seems to be geared towards being part of the change that will happen, the show was a leadership forum starring the Presidentiables.

As I type this blog entry in Microsoft Word, the Spellcheck places a red line under the word “presidentiable”, indicating an error in spelling or an unrecognizable English word. So I check the word, curious as to the official existence of the word “presidentiable”.

I googled it and almost all of the sites listed were Pinoy sites. But one non-Pinoy site, entitled DOUBLE-TONGUE DICTIONARY: A Lexicon of Fringe English Focusing on Slang, Jargon and New Words had this to say –“The noun form of the word probably separately derived in France and the Philippines from the adjective presidentiable ‘capable of being president.’ Such an adjective-to-noun conversion is more common in French and Spanish (from where the word was introduced into the Philippines) than it is in English. A similar word is papabile ‘suitable to be Pope.’”

Well, add this to their dictionary : “Papable”, meaning “suitable to be your papa”.

Going back to the show….

So I was a host in a Leadership Forum show with the Presidentiables. I guess I was not chosen for my good looks (ahem!) but for being someone who is in politics and public office and is familiar with the workings of government and the intricacies of politics.

In other words, the message to the guests was “don’t bull***t the host, he knows the inside story”.

Well, in the dream, the show was pretty well publicized and all the guests confirmed their attendance, unlike in real life where some prefer to hide behind the screen of absence following the principle of No Talk, No Mistakes.

Some have said that if public affairs TV had been around during the time of US President Dwight Eisenhower, he wouldn’t have been president, owing to his physical condition which required him to use a wheelchair.  It appears that some presidentiables are following that tact, avoiding public appearance unless it is under their control, not to hide any physical condition but probably some other form of disability.

Back to the program….well, the guests were all seated and the nation tuned in. Final touches on make up were done. Adjustments to the lighting were made and some of the guests were reading notes while another was clearing his throat. Another was wondering “is this my good angle or should I shift in my seat?”. Still another presidentiable kept a smile pasted on, and it was quite obvious that the presidentiable was faking it because the facial muscles were starting to quiver.

“Quiet on the set!” yelled the floor director.

“We’re going on 5..4..” then silently makes the final countdown with his fingers “3..2..1..”

“Papa! Papa!”

No, it wasn't someone who though I was "papable". It was my son waking me up to ask for his allowance. It  is a school day and as part of our Standard Operating Procedure in our home, I wake up early just to have breakfast with the kids and send them off to school. It is always such a treat to start the day with my kids, who give me the reason to care for this country and the nation’s youth.

I have four boys aged 18, 9, 6 and 3. My dream is for them to finish their studies, be productive members of society, have a family of their own and be content with whatever God gives them.

Back to the dream I had last night…well, I never was able to see how I performed as a TV host. I never got to ask the questions I was supposed to ask. And I never found out if I would be offered a regular hosting slot in any of the networks.

Well, I do have the questions in my mind. And that’s why I’m writing this. I would like to throw those questions to the presidentiables. I may not have a TV show to do it, but maybe through cyberspace the questions will go out and somehow get answered.

If I were a host in a forum for presidentiables, I would ask them these questions:

1. Is your campaign reflective of what you really are as a person or is it just presented the way you or your public relations analysts think will capture the attention of the public?

2. If you win, will you treat Congress, especially the House of Representatives, as the independent and co-equal branch of government that it should be or will you use your position to influence who the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and the chairmen of the various committees will be?

3. Will you use the pork barrel as leverage on the legislators? Will you use your position to influence how legislators vote on an issue ?

4. Do you agree to the usual statements of Presidential appointees who say “I serve only at the pleasure of the President” and tolerate them or will you imbibe in your appointees that their accountability is to the people who may call for their resignation any time?

5. Will you allow horse trading in the Commission on Appointments?

These are but some of the questions that I would like to hear form the presidentiables, aside from the usual queries that have been asked in the past. I have never heard any of these questions in past forums so I am at a loss as to how any of those seeking the presidency think about these issues.

Well, my dream was interrupted (although I very much welcome the interruption) so I never got the chance to hear the responses which could have been dream responses or nightmare answers themselves. But I hope that by putting these questions out in cyberspace, we could all get a response from those seeking the highest post in the land.

After all, they should all be online now. If they’re not, then it only means they are dinosaurs and deserve to be overlooked by this highly connected generation.