“Chance favors the prepared mind.” <br> – Louis Pasteur

HISTORY, to paraphrase Santayana, will repeat itself as in the 1997 Asian financial crisis if Congress and the Executive Department cannot get their act together in view of the worsening global economic recession never been experienced since the 1930s.

If senators, obsessed with partisan politics and presidential ambitions, persist in their wasteful and counter-productive investigations in aid of publicity, and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo does not exercise her awesome power over the purse, and would rather commune with nature in remote corners of the archipelago, this global recession will be more difficult to handle than the 1997 Asian crisis.

Ten years ago, at the end of the Ramos administration and the beginning of the Asian financial meltdown that originated in Thailand, the retiring Ramos government reassured then President-elect Joseph Estrada that the economic and financial "fundamentals" were in place that were designed to minimize or cushion the impact of the crisis if President Estrada would only focus on operationalizing those so-called fundamentals.

Alas, President "Erap" had his own agenda and priorities that eventually led to his unceremonious and premature ouster from the presidency.

In brief, in spite of President Arroyo’s efforts since 2001, the Philippine economy was the last to recover and not until 2007, only to face another looming crisis in 2008 and 2009.

Now, they are singing the same refrain.

That is, the Philippines will overcome the worst-ever economic crisis in 80 years since its "fundamentals" are in place.

However, those fundamentals are inert if the nation’s leaders are busy doing other things instead of putting up the barricades and defenses against the widening global recession.

Truth to tell, we do not perceive any coordinated or concerted efforts from Congress and the Executive Department towards confronting the crisis, and uniting the nation.

When all is said and done, great care must be taken that the utilization of public funds, or what is called "stimulus" bailout schemes will not go to the pockets of the bankers, politicians, brokers, cronies and relatives at the expense of the poor and the unemployed.

Honest implementation should be the last act of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

You be the judge.

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HERE AND THERE

Is it now a crime to be a friend or acquaintance of the First Gentleman, Atty. Miguel "Mike" Arroyo? … Is one automatically a suspect for corruption by being a friend of the First Gentleman? … Don’t people wonder why they would rather approach the First Gentleman rather than approach President Gloria Arroyo directly whose moods are known to be unpredictable and mercurial? … Is the influence of Atty. Mike Arroyo exaggerated, or underestimated? … In the meantime, our congratulations to Secretary of Finance Gary Teves after having been selected by the prestigious Bankers’ Magazine of U.K. as the "Best Finance Minister in Asia" in 2008 … Not only is the integrity of Sec. Gary Teves unassailable but his low intensity, relaxed and management by delegation also appears to be well appreciated by the employees and officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Customs … By the way, Philippine soils are rich and highly suitable for the large production of coffee, cocoa and rice, and yet, sad to say, Filipinos have no appreciation for good locally grown and brewed native coffee; cannot produce international quality chocolate confectionaries; and have not learned the art of making local wine from rice similar to the Japanese "sake" … Talking about sake, the wine, made of pure water and rice, part of the history and culture of Japan … The sea that separates the Japanese archipelago from the Asian continent, like the Philippines, proved fortunate in that the Japanese developed their own brew and techniques to suit Japanese tastes … Incidentally, sake of all alcoholic drinks has the highest alcohol content … Lastly, R.A. 9208 makes it illegal and a crime to arrange the sale and removal of a person’s organ by abduction, deceit, fraud or force of any kind … Moreover, it is illegal for a Filipino surgeon to undertake kidney transplant to foreigners of any nationality from a local donor in the Philippines … Only for Filipinos … Abangan … (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)