Do you agree with JDV that everybody is for sale in our country?

C.B. Fundales, Bulacan: No, it’s an affront to all of us who sweat it out for an honest living. Such an idea isn’t a surprise coming from a trapo who may have traded moral values.  

G.M. Baliatan, Rizal: That assertion could very well apply to the breed of politicians in Congress that he has nurtured during his term. No, I disagree with JDV.  

He can only speak for himself

Rico Fabello, Parañaque City: JDV has always been a funny person. You see him do this, you see him do that. He is everywhere and always armed with loyalty speeches. If he thinks everybody is for sale in our country, I think he better check his wallet. Better yet, he should show his price tag to the world. I might even buy him.  

Janet Lopez, Manila: For all intents and purposes, yes, but that means including himself and his son if he’s not talking in metaphors.  Lorenzo Fernandez Jr., Nueva Ecija

The ex-speaker has always spoken truthfully, especially about himself.  

Rochelle Alerta, Daraga, Albay: We were born with our own free will. It’s within our conscience or belief if we agree to be bought. As for JDV, he himself in some way admits that he is one who is for sale.  

Rene Poder, Manila :Baka silang dalawa ng kanyang anak so that failing to get the contract, they deplored friends and allies as corrupt.  Rodolfo Talledo, Angeles City

Did he really say that, himself included? I wish he had exempted the new Senate President.  

Leandro Tolentino, Batangas City: The mindset of a trapo is about money, not service, but if politics is business and everybody is for sale, more often than not there are no takers.  

Felix Ramento, Manila: What could be JDV’s basis for such an utterly irresponsible statement? In any case, he could only speak for himself, his family and associates. Marami pa rin namang mabubuting Filipino.  

There are still many honest Pinoys

Manuel Abejero, Pangasinan: He must be referring to himself, his old friends and ‘kuligs’, senators, congressmen, governors and mayors. But there are still God-fearing and principled Pinoys.  

Digoy Coro, Batangas: Though most politicians and government officials today can be bought, there are people like Esposo, Beltran and Bondoc who, I believe, will not sell their soul.  

Ian Roy Gerna, Eastern Samar: I don’t believe him! There are still things that cannot be bought by money, like the principles of upright people silently serving our nation.  

Germi Sison, Cabanatuan City: My services are legitimate and are for sale or given free in legitimate transactions or charitable projects, but not my vote or my conviction. JDV must be speaking of his own people, not the millions of principled Filipinos like me.  

Joseph Roaring, Bacolod City: To make such a generalization would be unfair. The fact is, there are still those who live with their morals and conscience intact.  

June Deoferio, Cavite: I don’t agree with JDV because we Filipinos value the importance of integrity, dignity and honesty more than any amount of money.  

Ricardo Tolentino, Laoag City :JDV is wrong in saying that everybody is for sale in this country, for there are still decent and upright people in our society.  

We’d be better off selling our country

Aldo Apostol, Metro Manila :Why not sell our country? We would be better off!  

A leader putting his country down

Joana Rizza Bagano, Benguet: No, that is imbecile. How unethical of a leader to put his country down.  

Manny Cordeta, Marikina City: I beg to disagree. I’d like to make it clear that I really do not give much weight or credence to the sort of slanderous and sweeping pronouncement of the erstwhile House Speaker and ex-future President JDV, assuming that he really issued it. Why, it smacks of irresponsibility simply because by uttering the words “Everybody is for sale” in our country, he should have realized that it includes himself, his clan, political and business associates, and buddies. It’s not yet late in the day, I believe, as there is still an iota of humility and statesmanship in JDV. I think you owe an apology to the citizenry. We are not ukay-ukay or used car models.  

Justo Cammayo, Isabela: To say so is insulting and degrading to the majority of Filipinos. It is only those who are in the same status who put up their political power and influence for sale.  

I beg to disagree

Pedro Alagano Jr., Vigan City :I don’t think so. Not everybody is for sale. There are principled people who aren’t. However, we can’t get rid of the notion that everything involves money.  

Carlito Pajaro, Pasig City: I am not for sale. I use my judgment and conviction whenever I decide something and I can’t be bought.  

Dino Monzon, Caloocan City: I think that applies to mostly power mad politicians and those who compromise their moral scruples and can’t make a stand on issues, but not everyone.  

J.R. Mondonedo Jr., Parañaque City: I disagree. Only most people are for sale, just like most women have a price, not all.  

Rose Leobrera, Manila: What are they in power for? We are being duped by this administration, which is obsessed for power and money, yet we are all silent and accept our fate. There are militant groups, but how can they assert our rights if they are only a handful who fight for the millions of Filipinos who won’t speak up for themselves? In unity there is strength, but this does not work here because we live in many different islands separated by water. As for JDV’s statement, sa kanila lang ‘yon. For us, the ever-indulgent and persevering Pinoy, what is important is the love and care of our families. The masang Pinoy are not gluttons like them. Yes, I admit there are Pinoys who sell their souls (kahit their lamang loob) in exchange for material benefits. Pero dala ito ng pangangailangan. Ika nga, kapit sa patalim.  

Gerry del Cano, Muntinlupa City :No, JDV is exaggerating; it is an insult to the honor, integrity and dignity of those who are not for sale.  

Yes, if the price is right

Arrin Villareal, Antipolo City: Yes, and everyone has a price tag, too. Sa panahon talaga ng kagipitan, kailangang kumapit sa patalim.  

Juan Eduardo, Baguio City: JDV is right. Heck, if Judas were Filipino, he would have settled for two pieces of silver!  

Jun Cajucom, Tacloban City :There’s a big chance that this is so, and more so, if the price is right.  

All the President’s men

Jester Pineda, Vigan City: I partially agree with him. If he had limited this statement to politicians and GMA’s Cabinet, I would have agreed 95 percent.  

Fortunato Aguirre, Bulacan :No, not everybody, only the souls of trapos are sold cheap, for P500,000 inside brown paper bags right inside Malacañang Palace.  

Ed Alawi, Davao City :Yes, especially JDV, his ilk and most government officials from messenger up to the highest position. Principled government people are a rarity.  

Jim Veneracion, Naga City: I would agree with JDV now that he’s talking about the dark side of Philippine politics. This is especially true of the ever-salivating solon supporters of GMA.  

C. Gaspar, Laoag City: I believe JDV’s statement referred to GMA’s supporters against her impeachment. Grease money was the reason why the impeachment did not succeed. Mukhang pera sila.  

Don Hernandez, Las Piñas City: A great majority of our countrymen, though beset by economic hardship, are decent, honest, and hardworking people. JDV must be referring to his kin in Congress, who can be likened to livestock who will do the master’s bidding as long as the trough is full.  

Wouldn’t take his statement seriously

Benjamin Nillo, Las Piñas City: I vehemently disagree with JDV that everybody in our country is for sale. However, I don’t take it seriously.  

Joseph Aliviado, Cagayan de Oro City: For rent, maybe, but for sale, I don’t think so. Ha, ha, ha!  

Speaking from experience?

Ric Vergara, Calamba: Diyan ako maniniwala kay JDV; he knows it from experience.  

Elpidio Que, Vigan: It must be based on personal experience. As House Speaker before he parted ways with his Cha-cha partner, he was the “rainbow king”. For self-serving reasons, he could glue together all the good-for-nothing politicians of varied colors with the use of money. In so doing, the interests of economic pirates are advanced and protected at a great expense of our country. JDV must have been a buyer of “bodies” and a seller of his own for him to whine this way after he was spat out.  

I.Q. Calata, Parañaque City: I used to have much respect for the former House Speaker because of his brilliant mind. But after the ZTE-NBN imbroglio exploded, it somehow diminished. Now, his recent statement is too sweeping and unkind to all Filipinos. Maybe, as people now say, he speaks from experience in “buying some people” that mattered to him when he was the Speaker. Did he ever pay colleagues in Congress whose votes were needed to ascertain the passage of anything he might have wanted passed for whatever reason? If true, could that be one of his bases in making that unfortunate and disgusting statement? Surely, his other basis is the vote-buying during elections. Was he also into that? I wonder.  

Ric Vergara, Calamba: That’s JDV’s sweeping motherhood statement. Talking from his experience, it could be true, but not everybody has a price tag.  Rey Ibalan, Antipolo City

JDV’s right. The former Speaker knows so from experience. Gawain nila ‘yun noon.  

Romeo Caubat, Masbate: Yes, because money talks and he is speaking from experience. That’s why. They have perfected the art of vote-buying.  

Gerii Calupitan, Muntinlupa City: Yes, if I am to believe what some ex-OFWs in Laguna told me in 1998. JDV was on the campaign trail then and we escorted his motorcade. A group asked me, “Sir, sino po ‘yun?” I replied, “Si JDV.” “Sayang,” they lamented, “sana nakapagpagawa kami ng streamer na ‘JDV, pinakawalang kuwentang tao sa mundo.’” “Bakit ho?” I asked. “Binenta kami niyan sa Kuwait! (He sold us out in Kuwait!). Iniwan kami!” If that is true, then JDV was right in saying that everybody is for sale!  

The price of progress

Robert Young Jr., San Juan :Many people will sell their bodies, principles or even souls. Prostitutes peddle their bodies, politicians their influence, and judges their verdicts. For the right price, poor parents will sell their children or husbands their wives. Rare can we find persons with principles who won’t succumb to the glitter of money. This is the price of a materialistic world and the thing they call progress.  

Girlie Esteves, Baguio City: Definitely not. While it is true that most people are for sale, we have to take into consideration the ever-growing social diseases in our country.  

Renato Taylan, Ilocos Norte: Perhaps, there might have been a certain time and place in our lives when we sold our principles to the devil or to the Lord.  

William Gonzaga, Marikina City: JDV must’ve known who’re for sale as he’s a consummate politician well-versed in traditional politics. Having presided over three failed impeachment cases against PGMA, he’d know the solons bought off by PGMA’s camp to kill such measures. Sad to say, there seems to be a price to buy one’s loyalty or principle. It’s either cash or death threats! As a Catholic, I’m aghast at many bishops’ condonation of PGMA’s abuses and excesses that adversely affect our moral values and psyche. Is lying and stealing acceptable?  

Never trusted JDV

Joel Caluag, Bulacan: I never agreed and will never agree with JDV’s points of view. I never trusted him anyway. He’s crying over spilled milk.  

Nick Ocampo, Angeles City: I don’t agree with JDV. I think JDV is the one who sells everybody in our country.  

Roger Caravana, Bulacan: It is indeed a common reaction for a traditional politician like JDV to sourgrape after losing the House Speakership.  

True of those in government

Ruel Bautista, Laguna: Perhaps within government circles, that is true. But there are still a few who would rather die than compromise their belief, honor and love for God.  

Ella Arenas, Pangasinan: I strongly agree with that perception. Iba na kapag pera ang pinaguusapan, nawawala ang prinsipyo. It’s very obvious. Can we still call our congressmen and senators “honorable?” Even our precious lands were sold in the aborted MOA-AD, where parts of Mindanao and Palawan were almost given away, had it not been for the intervention of the Supreme Court.  

He knows whereof he speaks

Leonard Villa, Batac City :It’s JDV’s figurative description of how rampant graft and corruption is in our country in which he has played a great role. JDV knows what he’s saying.  

Delfin Todcor, Mt. Province: JDV is a witness of how money and position are used to bribe leaders to cover up corruption.  

The higher place in the food chain, the pricier

C.K. Yeo, Iloilo City: Morals have deteriorated over the years because of poverty, corrupt leaders and dishonest businessmen. Everyone can be bought and the higher one is on the food chain, the pricier.  

Joe Nacilla, Las Piñas City: JDV’s perception that everybody, including himself, is for sale in this country could be true. The question is, by how much? There are two price levels. Politicians command the highest price because of their huge capital and marketing expenses. They dictate their price. The lowest price is for the ordinary people. They only have the goods, not the capital and distribution technology. Thus, politicians easily exploit by dictating the buying price favorable to their own self-interest.  

Cause for concern

Dennis Acop, Baguio City: No, I do not think that everybody is for sale in our country, just most of the politicians, especially those in the Lower House. That’s probably why it is called “lower”. In utter helplessness, many people appear resigned to the fact that politics is pera-pera lang in a very negative sense. To a great extent, politics is indeed dirty, but I do not believe that it has to be this way. Resources are essential in any undertaking, especially if they are 100-per cent for the realization of public programs and projects that advance the greatest good for the greatest number or at least the well-being of the most marginalized sectors of society. Accusations of corruption involving supposed lawmakers on a massive scale are very serious as they indicate the wasteful utilization of scarce government resources. The fact that a five-termer former House Speaker publicly admits in apparent self-humiliating disgust that everybody is for sale following the overwhelming but questionable defeat of the latest impeachment complaint against GMA is enough reason for anyone who has an above idiot IQ to be concerned about where this country is headed. I honestly pay my taxes. Is what we are witnessing the way tax custodians spend people’s hard-earned money?  

THINKING OUT LOUD

Joel Caluag, Bulacan: Why isn’t the municipal government of San Miguel, Bulacan regulating tricycle fare? What’s with the mayor?  

Erwin Espinosa, Pangasinan: What is JDV up to, challenging before the SC his own colleagues and partymates in Congress on the junking of the PGMA impeachment complaint?  

THE WAY I SEE IT

Nito Aquino, Makati City: The Indian government did right in storming those hotels to take out the terrorists and end the crisis. No deals with such vermin.  

Rollie de Leon, Valenzuela City: In detaining Bolante, I believe that the senators acted as prosecutors and judges, rolled into one.  

Reynato Austria, Cabanatuan City: The inquiry on the fertilizer scam will go nowhere if senators rely on COA findings alone. To determine if there is an overprice, somebody must go to court.  

Ferdinand Rafer, Manila: What’s happening in Thailand is not creativity in bringing down the government, it’s mob rule or arrogance of the elite. Wongsawat won in a fair election.  

REACTIONS

Edwin Castillo, Tanauan City: To Alex Magno: Power plants and transport vehicles should start using alternative energy to stop global warming. The oil industry will fall someday.  

Views expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The STAR. The STAR does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication also reserves the right to edit contributions to this section as it sees fit.

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