Another presidential marionette –I forget his name– said that Malacañang was not threatened by the prospect of Sen. Aquino running for President in 2010.

Now be the judge, dear reader, if the above doesn’t reveal that GMA is, indeed, threatened if not downright paranoid.

But, they have an ace up their sleeve. They’re hoping that the opposition does not unite under a single candidate, specifically Noynoy. They’re hoping that one of GMA’s sycophants gets elected so that Arroyo and her ilk don’t get prosecuted for their plunder. Or, at the very least, they get pardoned.

But hoping that the opposition remains disunited will not be enough. So they’ll put spoilers in place to divide the vote. One of these is Gilberto Teodoro. Another is Dick Gordon.

Dick is … well … a dick. He showed his true color when, during the hearing into the ZTE broadband deal, he castigated whistleblowers Joey de Venecia and Rodolfo Lozada instead of trying to find out the truth. It’s hard not to imagine invisible strings manipulating Dick.

Yet, take a look at the other presidential hopefuls. They pale in comparison, not only to Sen. Aquino, but Sen. Mar Roxas as well. When Sen. Roxas announced he was foregoing his candidacy in favor of supporting Aquino, he made the other presidential candidates look self-serving and keeping secret agendas.

Malacañang apparently sees this; for why are they training their guns on Sen. Aquino?

But let me give a piece of advice to Golez and his fellow mouthpieces: Before wagging your tongues, take a look behind your shoulders and see first if your boss has the moral ascendancy to judge an activity such as a spiritual retreat.

At the very least, take a look at youtube and see the kind of son she raised. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather stake my belief on Noynoy standing under the shadow of his parents than Mikey Arroyo standing under the shadow of his.

Such is the case with the news about the eating splurges of GMA and her band of sycophants when they were in the U.S. When the news broke, Malacañang didn’t know how to answer. They hemmed and the hawed. When they couldn’t stand the heat, they sent in their attack dog, Atty. Romulo Makalintal.

So what does Makalintal do? He attacks media and blames them for the whole brouhaha. He calls them immoral, pointing out that they accept ads from politicians and earn vast amounts of money.

Makalintal embodies the worst in lawyers. He is the best argument on why lawyers are the butt of bar jokes. If it’s true lawyers don’t go to heaven, Makalintal leads the pack in forging a way to hell.

Other than that, he’s an example of the stupid choices GMA makes in hiring all the President’s men.

I’m not going to use my blog to challenge the inane arguments of Makalintal. Other media outlets are already doing a fine job at that, not because they have good writers, but because Malacañang’s attack dog is simply barking and baring fangs without any semblance of intelligence.

If GMA wanted to prove again that she should step down next year, there was no better way to do it than by unleashing Makalintal.

Oh, and what about the Chesire cat? While Makalintal was haranguing media about morality, beside him was Press Sec. Cerge Remonde grinning from ear to ear. Like the Chesire cat of Alice in Wonderland.

Come to think of it, we are in Wonderland. We’re wondering why GMA is still president.

Thus, it was good judgment on the part of her siblings to have her wake at accessible venues like the de la Salle Greenhills campus and later in the week, the Manila Cathedral.

However, we wish that they would agree on a state funeral. This would certainly bring pride to the nation.

——

As usual, in her brief message of condolence, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo looked insincere. Perhaps her trumpet blowers will attribute this to jet lag or that she was "in transit," or a host of other reasons. The fact is the death of Pres. Aquino removed much of the luster of her hyped-up trip to the U.S. to meet Pres. Barack Obama. But she can’t blame Cory for this. This is God’s way of letting the nation know that the real dead person is Arroyo.

For Cory Aquino lives on in the hearts of the Filipino people.

——

GMA didn’t so much as give a hint of an offer to have Pres. Aquino lie in state in Malacañang Palace. According to Sen. Noynoy Aquino, no offer was given and the family didn’t ask for an offer.

Perhaps GMA wants the Filipinos to remember the last president who lay in state in Malacañang Palace.

Who cares? Whatever good Diosdado Macapagal did for the nation, it has been tarnished by the person who now resides in the Palace: his own daughter.

——

The two big TV networks are always replaying the speeches of Pres. Aquino, especially her last State of the Nation address (SONA). In that message, Pres. Aquino said goodbye and thank you for the support of the Filipinos. Love for the nation radiated from that speech.

Fast forward to GMA’s last SONA. In that speech there were no goodbyes and it left a bad taste in the mouth because it exuded arrogance.

Is it any wonder then that "Tita Cory" was so loved and "Ate Glo" so despised?

In trying to be cute and witty, Gonzalez only manages to look senile. For a Justice Secretary, the least he could do is show impartiality. At best he should try to dispense wisdom and not sound stupid. After all, he is supposedly more mature than many Filipinos. Wouldn’t he do well if our youth can look up to him?

But, alas, what can we expect from a GMA appointee? The President’s men are chosen mostly for their loyalty, especially in a delicate position such as Justice secretary.

So we just need to grin and bear it whenever Gonzalez opens his mouth. Looking at the bright side, however, Gonzalez is another solid reason why GMA nor any of her lackeys shouldn’t be given another term.

"I write to appeal on behalf of my family, especially my (four) children who are presently studying in their elementary years," Defensor said.

"If you (Mananzan’s group) feel that the courts may not be the proper venue then tell me where I can seek the justice that all of us speak of," he said. "I am also a Catholic and I pray together with my family. Am I now refused justice or the support of the religious because I served this administration?$quot;

My answer to that is a resounding, YES! In case Defensor is naive or downright stupid, when one supports an administration that lies to its people and steals from them, then that one is guilty of incredibility. When one remains silent and does not expose the administration he serves and benefits from, then that one is guilty also of conspiracy.

If you read the rest of Defensor’s statement, it seeks to ooze with sincerity. He even invokes the future of his children. But how about the future of our children who will take up the cudgels of debt, if not at least the global embarrassment, that this administration has wrought from unabated corruption?

Now Defensor asks to be believed. He says that his perjury suit against Lozada is a personal quest and not backed up by the administration. If Defensor is truly seeking justice, then he should loudly bang at the doors of the Ombudsman and demand its findings on Joc-joc Bolante and the fertilizer scam or the other government scams that the Ombudsman is being silent about. If Defensor is worried about the future of his children, then he should expose the shenanigans of the administration he is so proud to say he served.

Otherwise, he should just withdraw his suit, cower in the darkness and let his children and his children’s children bear the sin and stigma of their father.

That’s what we’re seeing with the two giant networks of ABS-CBN and GMA. To this we can only call as disgustingly embarrassing.

There’s no better example of irony than what we’re viewing as these two networks publicly go for each other’s throats while calling themselves endearing names such as “Kapamilya” and “Kapuso.”

ABS-CBN is the most hypocritical of the two by stating in its defense that it’s not about ratings, but honesty towards advertisers and viewers.

This is, of course, 100% hi-grade bull. The only way to get advertisers and viewership is to rate high.

But, really, what sort of programs are competing with each other for ratings?

During noontime for instance, you have an ABS-CBN show that features a creep known to be a womanizer, who likes to show-off driving in an allegedly smuggled Ferrari, and tried to cheat his fellow Filipinos in a defunct segment called, “Wilyonaryo.”

GMA, on the other hand, features has-beens surrounded by a slew of young entertainers who are definitively boring. An ex-senator shows up on occasion, but he’s funnier as a senator than as a comedian.

Prime time presents no improvement. Both networks feature shows that are just clones of each other. They both have a few fantasy series productions with special effects that are at best comical and at worst sophomoric. The soaps are the same tearjerkers that offer nothing new in terms of plot.

The Internet offers much better entertainment.

So here’s unsolicited advice for both ABS-CBN and GMA. If you’re going to war in front of the viewing public, pleaaazzze, let it be something worth fighting for.