Professional Documents
Culture Documents
cQp0lH0C
cQp0lH0C
cQp0lH0C
#MiriamIsForever.
P175
ISBN 978-971-816-127-2
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
any electronic means, including information storage or retrieval systems
without permission in writing from the authorized representative of the
publisher except brief passages in books, articles, reviews, legal papers,
and judicial or other official proceedings with proper citation.
Any copy of this book without the corresponding number and the authorized
signature of the author on this page either proceeds from an illegitimate source
or is in possession of one who has no authority to dispose of the same.
ISBN 978-971-816-127-2
PUBLISHED BY
ABS-CBN PUBLISHING, INC.
8F ELJCC Building
Mother Ignacia St., cor.
Eugenio Lopez Drive,
Quezon City, Philippines
iv
Books by the Author:
Recommended entry:
p.132 ; 17.18 cm
ISBN 978-971-816-127-8
vi
vii
ix
xi
Q
He (Miriam’s enemy) was a waiter at the Last Supper.
Q
Politicians never get lost in thought,
because it’s unfamiliar territory.
Q
Brains aren’t everything. In the case of
Congress members, they’re nothing.
Q
Corrupt politicians would be different, if
they had enough oxygen at birth.
Q
Most people live and learn. Politicians just live.
Q
In the Senate, sometimes I debate with people who
don’t let the facts get in the way of their opinions,
as in the case of the Reproductive Health Bill.
Q
He (Filipino politician) is just not user-friendly.
Q
To politicians accused of plunder: As an outsider,
what do you think of the human race?
Q
Of her enemy: Googling him yielded no results.
Q
Of her pet peeve: He is so ugly he should donate his face
to the Parks and Wildlife Office in Quezon City.
Q
Like Voltaire, I believe that the ideal form of government
is democracy tempered with assassination.
Q
The speeches of young, ambitious, apparently
corrupt politicians leave the impression of an army of
pompous phrases moving over the political landscape
in search of an idea. Sometimes these meandering
words would actually capture a straggling thought
and bear it triumphantly as a prisoner in their
midst, until it died of servitude and overwork.
This is how I feel when I watch these talkative,
pompous and empty young people answer media
questions during a live TV interview.
Q
On live TV interviews after a plenary session,
some Congress members look so blank, each one
of them looks like the guy in a science fiction
movie who is first to see the Creature.
Q
Sometimes I meet my enemy in the Senate lounge
and would receive from him the sort of greetings
a corpse would give to an undertaker.
Q
Someone working in the presidential staff in
Malacañang loves to appear on TV, looking very
much like a female llama surprised in her bath.
Q
Celebrities who act as poster boys for stem cell treatment
are bound to lose the temporary youthful look and then
each one becomes a triumph of the embalmer’s art.
Q
On her Magsaysay Award for Government Service:
Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by
pygmies. Here are guidelines for bureaucrats:
When in charge, ponder.
When in trouble, delegate.
When in doubt, mumble.
Q
Of the social event known as State of the Nation Address:
Some women wear too much makeup and
some women wear too little clothes.
Q
A politician is a man who will double cross
that bridge when he comes to it.
Q
As Galbraith said, there are times in politics
when you must be on the right side and lose.
Q
Plato was so right: the price of apathy toward
public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
Q
In a corrupt country, if you want to succeed in politics,
you must keep your conscience under control.
Q
The members of Congress are the people who
will support the President when he is wrong.
10
11
Q
There are no true friends in politics. Someone
said that we are all sharks circling, and waiting
for traces of blood to appear in the water.
Q
Of her political enemy always angling for a government
job: If left out he would be dangerous, but if
taken in, he would simply be destructive.
Q
Of a wishy-washy politician: When in doubt on what
should be done, his policy is to do nothing.
Q
There are politicians who, when they were in power, were
snobbish and arrogant. Now that these politicians have
lost their jobs, there is nothing as abject and pathetic
as they are. They remind me of a retired stud horse.
Q
According to Mencken, the whole aim of practical
politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence
12
Q
Ang pulitiko, para sumikat, ay tinatakot muna ang taong-
bayan na may malaking problema, kagaya ng kidnap for
ransom. Pagkatapos nagpapanggap na siya lang ang may
kakayahan na lumutas ng problema. Ang totoo, siya
pala ang may hawak ng mga kidnappers. Ang galing!
Q
Some politicians get elected because they are well known.
The other politicians are defeated for the same reason.
Q
In any Congress, out of 100 people, 2 are honest and
intelligent, 10 are criminals, and 88 are good for nothing.
Q
Is there a good politician? Is there an honest burglar?
Q
In any country, crooks make money by
underestimating the intelligence of the masses.
13