2009 ends in a few days and with this year-end the first decade of the 21st century ends. In all the years I have been privileged to exist on this planet - or anywhere, as far as I know - there has never been a year when so many have disappointed nearly all of us.
If you are a thinking man with blood pressure problems, don't live in the Philippines for surely your elevated blood pressure will rocket through the ceiling. Don't live in the U.S. either, where the Lords of Chutzpah held a never-ending Shriners-style convention all year. Don't live anywhere in the world, except perhaps Australia, Switzerland and Canada, where people seemed to get most things right.
I am creating year-end awards this year that I hope to keep up over the years. Luckily, there are some "points of light" in the heavenly darkness which leads one to conclude that there may be hope yet.
The Nykos2 Person of the Year: The deposed governor of Isabela province, Philippines -
Maria Gracia Cielo "Grace" Magno Padaca
The 46-year-old Grace Padaca, a recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award for public service in 2008 and the International Women of Courage Award in 2007, was stripped of her governorship after the Philippines' Commission on Elections held a "recount" of votes that found Benjamin Dy had actually won the 2007 election for governor of Isabela. More than 17,000 votes previously counted for Governor Grace were invalidated by the Commission on Elections, First District, because Governor Padaca's name had been mis-spelled, yada-yada-yada.
The shenanigans employed by her opponents in the Comelec were reminiscent of the "hanging chads" controversy in the U.S. Presidential election (Gore vs. Bush) in 2000.
In the U.S. election, the question of voter intent was paramount, according to the Florida Supreme Court. If there was a clear indication that voters had selected either Bush or Gore, the votes should be counted even if the chads were hanging, indented, etc.
In the case of Benjamin Dy vs. Padaca in the Philippines, voters had clearly voted for Governor Padaca even though those voters had mis-spelled her name. Mystifyingly, the Comelec, First District, invalidated those ballots and thus awarded the governorship to Benjamin Dy.
Mr. Dy apparently does not think that if there is a rematch he will prevail over Governor Grace, which is why he is running for mayor of his hometown instead of governor next year. Governor Grace will again run for governor and will probably win by a landslide. The Dy in the Dy dynasty who will be Governor Grace's opponent is the one who defeated her in 2001 for Congress, Faustino "Bojie" Dy. Ms. Padaca initially won that election, but her win was overturned by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal after votes marked only with "Grace" were invalidated even though no other person going by the name of "Grace" had run in that election.
Governor Grace Padaca, or simply "Grace" to her supporters, was a green revolutionist who stopped all the illegal logging that was going on in her province. She was a fighter for good governance and a passionate advocate of true democracy, which abhors dynasties. She openly campaigned against the dynastic stranglehold of Isabela politics by the Dy clan.
This created for her some very powerful enemies which eventually led to her downfall. She is an environmental and good governance martyr.
Courage and Conscience Awards
1. Governor Ed Panlilio of Pampanga, Philippines - a potential martyr for the cause of good governance. His election in 2007 is also under protest and may be overturned by the Commission on Elections. There is widespread apprehension that the Comelec may yet find a way to "sell" their looming decision to the public.
2. Naga City, Philippines Mayor Jesse Robredo - a good governance advocate allied with Governors Grace Padaca and Ed Panilio.
3. San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, Philippines Mayor Sonia Lorenzo - a good governance ally of Panilio, Padaca and Robredo.
4. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, U.S.A. - once he had his jaws locked on health care reform in the U.S., he would not let go. His advocacy of the health care reform issue may yet turn out to be the final straw that will cost him his job as U.S. Senator in 2010. This was a sacrifice that he was obviously willing to make.
5. President Barack Obama - He used all of his political capital, and then some, to push through the unpopular stimulus package, the bailout of banks and the U.S. automobile industry, caps and trade, climate change and the health reform package in the U.S. Congress. All this at the risk of becoming a one-term President. A real stand-up "Profiles in Courage" guy.
6. The Christian Brothers (De La Salle Brothers) in the Philippines - They were the first mainstream religious group to condemn the Maguindanao massacre and to lay the blame at the feet of President Gloria Arroyo for coddling the alleged perpetrators, the Ampatuans. No other major religious group in the Philippines has had the courage to point out what is obvious to a lot of Filipinos, that the close ties between President Arroyo and the Ampatuans were partly responsible for the heinous crimes allegedly committed by the Ampatuans.
And now for the sad stories of 2009:
Sons and Daughters of Beelzebub Awards
1. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., Governor of Maguindanao Province, Philippines. While the guilt of his son Andal Ampatuan, Jr. is yet to be proved in court, the Sr. Ampatuan's complicity in the crime of the 21st century (so far) is obvious to many because the backhoe that was used to move the dirt that covered the bodies of the 57 murdered Maguindanaoans and journalists was property of Maguindanao province. It is inconceivable to many that the provincial property could have been used for the purpose without the governor's approval.
2. The Ampatuan brothers, scions of Andal Ampatuan, Sr., who have been identified by eyewitnesses as having participated in the murder of the 57 Maguindanaoans and journalists. The brothers are a long way from being convicted of anything, of course, but then again...there are witnesses.
3. The Ayatollahs of Iran, who brutally quashed the Iranian students and freedom fighters who were agitating for electoral reforms.
4. The Pakistani-led mass murderers who went on a rampage in the streets of Bombay, India.
The Lords of Chutzpah (Filipino translation - Ang Kapal ng Mga Mukha)
1. Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who is running for President - again - after serving time in prison and house arrest following his conviction for the crime of plunder of the Philippine treasury.
2. The Philippine Commission on Elections, for allowing Estrada to run for President again and for its egregiously one-sided decision in the Dy vs. Padaca electoral complaint.
3. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Arroyo clan, for filing candidacies for Congress despite their dismally low approval ratings and despite questions about the legitimacy of the Arroyo presidency and the widespread allegations that the family is corrupt to the core. Also, for her decision to attend a conference in Asia while half a million Filipinos remained homeless as Typhoon Ondoy floodwaters continued to threaten their lives.
4. Former First Lady Imelda Marcos, for thinking that she deserves to be elected Congresswoman from an Ilocos Norte, Philippines district being vacated by her son, who is running for governor of the province.
5. U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, for opposing the expansion of Medicare which he previously championed as a candidate for President in 2004, presumably as a vindictive attempt to plunge a stick in the eye of U.S. progressives.
6. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, for suggesting that the health reform bill was establishing "death panels" that would decide on which old people lived, and which ones died to save government money.
7. "President" Ahmadinejad of Iran, for claiming that he won the Iranian election "fair and square."
8. Senator Panfilo Lacson of the Philippines, for fingering Estrada as the mastermind in the Bobby Dacer murder, despite the fact that everyone in the Philippines - all 90 million of them - know that Estrada's henchman during the two's glory days was none other than Panfilo Lacson.
9. Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina and U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada, for refusing to resign after being exposed for marital infidelity and probable ethical misconduct in the use of public funds and in the case of Ensign, the alleged use of campaign funds to silence the husband in his adulterous menage a trois.
10. Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, for suggesting that President Obama is neglecting Afghanistan, after he and former President George Bush neglected Afghanistan from 2003 through 2008.
11. The U.S. banks that were "too big to fail," for refusing to grant small business loans after the U.S. government bailed them out from near-certain bankruptcy. Instead, the banks invested the bail-out money in the fast-recovering stock and financial instruments markets and made record profits.
The Worst Persons in the World (apologies to Keith Olbermann)
1. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh of Fox News. Beck for calling African-American President Obama a racist and Limbaugh for wishing that the economy stays bad so the American people will turn on Obama and the Democrats.
2. President Gloria M. Arroyo for declaring martial law in Maguindanao, apparently to protect the Ampatuans, after doing nothing to prevent the slaughter of the Ampatuans' political enemies and independent journalists.
3. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme ruler of Iran, for allowing the murder, rape and torture of Iranian electoral protesters in the aftermath of the disputed Presidential election in that country.
There you go, folks. Comments and suggestions for additional award recipients and citations are welcome.
