By Jesse Jose

A Cup O' Kapeng Barako

I see a similarity between then-President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and President "Huni" Mubarak of Egypt.

Marcos was a strongman and a dictator; Mubarak is a strongman and a dictator. Marcos was known to be corrupt; Mubarak is known as corrupt.  Marcos and his family and friends, like Mubarak's family and friends, have accumulated billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth, while the people of their countries lived below poverty level.

Marcos was known to be a tuta of America; Mubarak is known as a tuta of America. Both were subsidized by American taxpayers to stay in power. And both depended on their country's armed forces to keep them in power. 

Marcos ruled for two decades; Mubarak has ruled for three decades.  

Marcos had numerous mistresses; Mubarak has a harem.

And ... Y'all remember that time in 1986 when President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled by a CIA-orchestrated People's Power kuno and run out of Malacañang Palace by mobs of rioters?

And then American helicopters flew in and plucked him out and flew him and his family to safety into that huge, sprawling US Air Force Base in Pampanga?

PAOAY/HAWAII: And then from there, Marcos and his family and his several entourages, that included General Fabian Ver, were loaded up aboard a huge US Air Force aircraft and informed by the American pilot that they would be flown to Paoay, Ilocos Norte, where thousands of die-hard supporters of Marcos anxiously await for their beloved Apo.

But Paoay, lo and behold, turned out to be Hawaii. Y'all remember that historic event, right?

Perhaps Marcos and Company misheard and misunderstood that "strange" American accent. You know, that kind of accent where the words are drawled and slurred ... and expelled nasally through the long nose of a white American dude. 

Perhaps, that long-nosed pilot said: "Welcome aboard, y'all.  We are all going to 'Pah-wayyy.'"  Yung pala sa 'Hah-wayyyy' ang punta?  Y'all remember that, right?

Well, I think, what happened to President Marcos might also happen to President "Huni" Mubarak of Egypt. The mass demonstrations and rioting against Mubarak has entered its third week, and things are getting worst. It's just a matter of time ... and Mubarak will, perhaps get rescued and flown out, too, from his palace by American helicopters, destination, Timbuktu, perhaps?

Mubarak has tried to placate the Egyptian people by promising that he won't run for re-election this September, and for now has turned over the running of his government to Omar Suleiman, his appointed vice president. Marcos, to placate the Filipino people promised naman a "snap election."  But, as we all know, it was a rigged snap election ... and that's how EDSA 1 came about.... 

CUT AND CUT CLEAN: General Fabian Ver, Marcos' "bodyguard" and chief of staff then of the Philippine Army, suggested to President Marcos to give the order to Marcos' loyalists soldiers to FIRE on those throng of crazed and advancing rioters. 

President Marcos, to his credit, said, "NO, these people are Filipinos, too. I don't want that kind of blood in my hands ..." Mubarak, to his credit, has also restrained himself from giving the order to fire on the Cairo rioters. 

Marcos sought help from America.  But was told in no uncertain terms: "Cut and cut clean."  Mubarak has also been told by President Obama to step down and cut clean "smoothly." 

In a last-minute desperate attempt, Marcos tried to turn over power to Juan Ponce Enrile, his Defense Minister then at that time and the "ARCHITECT" of Marcos' martial law regime. Enrile refused. He had already joined up the "other side" with General Fidel Ramos, who at that time, was the vice chief of staff of the Philippine Armed Forces.

Both knew that Marcos, who gave them so much power and wealth, had reached the end of his mighty corrupt reign. 

And the rest ... is history, as we all know it to be.

. The history of Cory Aquino's "Galunggong" and "Rosary-Praying" regime.

. The history of Fidel Ramos' "Tabako" and "Wink-Wink" regime.

. The history of Erap's "Red Label" and "Stolen" regime.

. The history of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's, aka, "Pandak" and "Kawatan" regime.

.  And, presently, a history in the making ... of the "PEE-NOY" regime, whose fondness for bullet-proof luxury cars and "girls" and hand guns has become legendary and Manila's talk of the town.

And to think that PEE-NOY's mantra when he was campaigning for president was: "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap."  But that turned to be: "Ang mga corrupt, walang mahirap."  Kawawang Inang Bayan.  EDSA awaits!

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: The so-called Cairo Revolution in Egypt, like the EDSA Revolution in the Philippines, consisted mostly of student activists and the masa, unhappy with food prices and low wages. But in Cairo, the followers of the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former honcho of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who returned from his many years of self-exile in Europe and offered to lead Egypt after Mubarak's departure, were there, too.

It was exactly what Ninoy Aquino intended to do after Marcos, when he returned to the Homeland. But, unfortunately, he was assassinated, by Marcos' henchmen. Who gave the order to shoot Ninoy has never been known. From what I understand, it didn't come from Marcos himself.

But one thing for sure, Marcos' wife, Imelda (notoriously known as the lady with the five-thousand pairs of shoes), traveled to the United States to warn Ninoy NOT to come home, for he would be assassinated. Ninoy came home and got what he wished for ...

ELBAREDEI IS A HAMAS SUPPORTER: But back to the Muslim Brotherhood. What is this Brotherhood? It's a radical Islamist group, more than eight decades old. It supports Hamas and other terrorists groups. It's friendly with Iran. It opposes peace with Israel. 

And, if ElBaredei is allowed to head Egypt – a secular society and longtime ally of America – Egypt will become, according to news reports and opinions of several syndicated columnists, "America's enemy, and Israel's, too ... and that's dangerous pablum."

So, I say, let Egypt be! 

The devil that the United States and the Western World know, is President "Huni" Mubarak. And he's a friendly devil. ElBaradei, the other devil, who wants to take Mubarak's job, is a hostile devil, who supports terrorism. 

For us, Filipinos, the devil we knew back then was President Marcos. He was told to "cut and cut clean." And look, what happened to the Philippines afterwards? It became the "armpit of Asia." And, who do we have now leading the Motherland?  

A Playboy, a Gun Nut and a RETARD.  JJ