This week's tidbits: every Filipino citizen can be atrocious

After finally graduating from College last Friday, I came across some relevant and interesting news tidbits coming from the local scene. These news tidbits I came across with are generally saddening and quite depressing. So the rundown:

The Annoying Ligots: so here we go again. And this time the controversial couple annoy me further as they keep on denying about their acts, even if the evidence is already clear. They give out various excuses for not speaking, especially with their passion for the word "incriminate". Their use of the word has become exaggerated, to the point that they actually used it for the wrong reasons (as noted in recent news stories about their ongoing trial).

Now with the added pressure on them (through being under contempt by the senate), the Ligots are slowly revealing the details, although forced. The annoying part? They could have just admitted their mistake and save face, and thus speed up the process of investigating the massive corruption occurring within the Military.

Filipinos executed for real: It is indeed sad news that three Filipinos were executed in China for being drug mules, but personally speaking, it is something very disturbing to our current society here in the Philippines. First things first, one should take note that those who were executed belong to families that are within the lower to lower middle class, the societal category where most OFWs thrive in. This fact is a telltale sign of the Filipino's struggle to earn a living, even to the extent of doing very illegal activities, such as the transportation of drugs from one place to another, all for the sake of making a living to support one's family.

With such issue in mind, one must note about the reality of the Philippines, that people coming from lower classes have to resort to doing such activities because of the grave injustice in Philippine society, wherein the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. It is a struggle that has to be addressed, wherein the problem of corruption in the Philippines is very evident even in the grassroots level, as it appeared in the execution of the three Filipinos in China.

A sidenote to this story: apparently, the recruiter of the three Filipinos who were executed happens to be an illegal recruiter. This adds up to the exposure of the reality of Philippine society.

The Ping appears: After more than a year in hiding, Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson finally appears to the public, citing that he was hiding because of his worries that he will be treated badly in the investigation of his case on the Dacer-Corbito massacre. In light of his case, he even dared the Dacers to expose the truth behind the murder.

Now my commentary on this is that first things first, Lacson is nothing but a coward (I wanted to use a word different from coward but my friend said that it is offensive to use such word, so coward should be sufficient enough to describe Lacson). I call Lacson here a coward by the fact that he was not even man enough to show up to the public, and face the charges pressed against him. He had to hide from the public for more than a year to save his face. Like seriously, by doing so proves that, just like the Ligots, he is indeed guilty of something that he does not want to reveal it to the public.

BONUS: The douchebag strikes again (or maybe not): A few days ago, Willie Revillame's show Willing-Willie has been placed under fire for Willie's bullying of a 6-year old kid, wherein the kid was doing a form of macho dancing in front of the audience (with the family of the kid being part of the audience). For a part of the show, Willie mocked around with the kid, to the point of even saying that the kid had to do such act in order to please (or more of help) his family. Even if the kid gained a couple of thousands, it was simply wrong for Willie to be acting this way in public Philippine Television. It is wrong all throughout.

However, in this particular case of Willie's douchebaggery, we cannot entirely blame him for this situation; yes, the family also plays a role in this situation because in the first place, I do not see why the family would be amused to see their kid dancing in an undignified manner in front of hundreds of people, even going to the extent that the kid is already crying, and that the family members still find it funny. The same thing applies to the rest of the audience as well. Seriously, it is evident that the kid is NOT enjoying what he is doing, and yet the audience finds it amusing. This incident tells a lot about our values, of which is distorted and needed to be addressed properly.

My Blue Roast Drama (for lack of a better title)

The day of ending the drama.

A part of Ateneo's tradition for the seniors is the Blue Roast, an event where seniors (and sometimes, undergrads) gather together, reminisce the good times, have good food (and alcohol, something that makes this event unique among all other school-sanctioned events), good music, and also the giving of blue roses to that special person you have encountered in college life. Yes, Ateneo is cheesy like that.

Basically, I was roaming around Bellarmine with my friends:

CADS friends: Issa, Nika, Raiz, and Betsy

HBoys (and HGirls): Me, JohnD, Henri, Alan, TJ, Mariane, and Betsy

*CADSters playing around with a symbol of liberation from normal school-sanctioned activities (that is, beer for everyone!)

Then while being bored during the start of Blue Roast, me, Raiz, and Geoff decided to head to Gesu, and have our photos taken while on top of the Gesu (took advantage of doing so while the guards were not there). A lot of Ateneans have placed this in their bucket lists, so even if it is not really in my bucket list, I decided to have a photo of myself here and show to them the nice feeling of sitting on top of the Gesu.

*Photo on top of the Gesu: CHECK!

While the Blue Roast awards and the presentation of the various Blue Roast videos made by the seniors were presented, it was a happy night for the seniors as Fr. Ben appeared on stage, with almost every senior approaching him for a photo op. Yes, that's how much we love our School's (outgoing) president.

*Fr. Ben Nebres: the most-loved Jesuit by our batch (or maybe, by practically every Atenean). Trust me on that.

Then came some performances from various people like CADS, a couple of bands (Evernote, then UpDharma in the latter part of the event), and I was amused by them. The lead singer of the band Gracenote did a really good cover of Paramore's "That's what you get" that night.

*Gico Sinjian, you lucky bastard being able to hold her hand

*Boys (in chorus): "I love you"; Gracenote lead singer: "I love you too"

And That particular song started to hit me hard later on, that it provoked me to get 2 essential things for the night: The Blue Rose, and a can of San Mig Strong ice. Perfect combo.

*Beer and Blue Rose: a good combo altogether

Then the night came along with more of the Blue Roast Awardees, and the epic Blue roast super performance, which for me best depicted what happened in the past four years of our college lives in the Ateneo, from OrSem, to all those UAAP games, to Ondoy Relief Operations, to our ramblings about our lifestyle shot for our Yearbook (which as of this writing, I will be getting it today). Then the time was ticking fast before we were given the cue to give our Blue Roses to that special person we met in college.

*Best photo that describes on what I was feeling on the last few minutes before the cue of giving the blue rose was given. Photo by Jangan

The clock was ticking fast, then when it was UpDharmaDown playing on stage, the cue was given. I started to become nervous and anxious about this (especially that at that point, I was decided on who to actually give my blue rose to), but I try to calm myself down by first accompanying Raiz to her blue rose recipient, of which she was so happy that night.

*A very, VERY HAPPY Raiz

Then I asked Raiz to accompany me on giving my Blue Rose to Nikkipu. After seeing her giving her blue rose, I made my cue. I approached her, and gave my blue rose to her (I kind of forgot what I told her that moment). She started to blush for a bit, then she hugged me tightly. Frankly speaking, that was one of the longest hugs I've ever had. And best of all, it came from someone I like and admire a lot.

*And there we have it.

The drama finally ended after I gave my blue rose to Nikki, and for me, it was definitely worth it. I would remember this among the list of my best non-academic college memories forever. After all, it was the heart that won over the mind.

News Snippets (and my commentaries on them)

It seemed that for the past few days, there have been a good number of notable news events to follow, both from local and foreign. So I shall have a quick rundown of the events that made me curious enough to know.

1) The Japan triple disaster

-All I could say here is simply wow. First you get hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, then you get hit by an epic tsunami, wiping out a portion of Japan, and now, you are facing a nuclear crisis as the Fukushima power plant is in danger of a nuclear meltdown, which can become another Chernobyl disaster, and still the Japanese managed to keep their cool, doing all its best efforts in dealing with this triple whammy disaster, all three happening in less than two days. Even with such catastrophe, the Japanese do not even steal, or loot, or fight, or even panic with the situation. They simply move on with their lives, making the best out of their situation. Indeed, these people are simply amazing and are good examples of society.

-They may be still facing a problem with their nuclear plants, but look at them; the media may exaggerate their situation, but the Japanese seem to be cool enough in dealing with the situation. In short, you don't see in their faces the feeling of being in a state of panic. In fact, one worker stated that he's willing to die, just to save thousands of people from an impending nuclear disaster. Now that's what I call true nationalism we have there.

-Now when will the Philippines have values and beliefs similar to Japan? And to think the Japanese aren't even Catholic, they still show care for their country still (Unlike in this country where the Catholic Church shows no true concern for the many women dying everyday from childbirth and poor reproductive health conditions).

2) The Banco Filipino closure

-This one made me really curious, considering through my little research about BF and the Aguirre family, they have been having problems even before, to the point that it was closed down in 1984, then reopened in 1994 after proclaiming that the closure of the bank was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. The issue? The Aguirre family apparently is not declaring its assets and liabilities properly, such that when it came a time that its clients start withdrawing money from their banks, they suddenly could not give the clients their money back, thus making them being declared as insolvable (or maybe to how I understand it, they're technically bankrupt in that manner).

-What I do not understand here is that why on earth was the bank even reopened in 1994, given that they are considered to be insolvable. And 17 years later, they are faced with the same problem, except this time it came to a point that they failed to release their records of assets and liabilities, and yet they still insist on getting "emergency loans" of some sorts from the Central Bank. Now my question to this: now where did all of the money of BF's clients go? That still remains a mystery. Also, another question: Where the hell are the Aguirres? Why are they not visible to the public these days?

-Indeed, this case of Banco Filipino is something that needs to be investigated very well.

3) The insane person named Gadaffi

-Yes, he is a crazy leader, and in order to beat a crazy leader, the UN decided to undergo crazy means, among one of them is to declare a no-fly zone in the area of Libya, which means that airstrikes are now allowed in the area, in efforts of eliminating Gadaffi for good, and for Libya to liberate for once.

-In the most recent news I've heard about this is that Gadaffi is even threatening the Western Countries that he will do a counter attack should the West decide to start off with the airstrikes in Libya (as of this moment, I've heard that one of the planes that was sent to do the air strike was gunned down, showing Gadaffi's insistence and stubbornness of leaving his position). In addition, despite the utmost hatred the world has for Gadaffi, apparently he is loved by those in Africa. He is called the "builder of Africa", the "king of kings of Africa", among the many names he is called there. He is loved by the Africans because of his supposed courage in battling against western neocolonialism and imperialism.

-With such view on Gadaffi (you can view the article here), now I have second thoughts on his intentions, especially on why is he willing to die for Libya, rather than leaving Libya by means of threats and attacks coming from the West. So, is Gadaffi a hero or a villain?

Ramblings about the past few days

It has been quite apparent to me about the big difference on how people belonging to various social classes would react to the events happening around the world (and also in our own homeland).

In one instance, while having my newly-purchased pair of pants altered at the tailor shop in the market near our home, I was having a quite interesting conversation with the tailor on talking about Gadaffi and Merci. Amusing since despite his social class (I don't think the old man even finished college, or even high school for that matter), he is very well aware of what is actually happening around him, armed with just news coming from TV Patrol and 24 Oras, and the occasional tsismis sessions with his kumpadres and kumares. Being a Political Science Major (who apparently still believes even as he will graduate that Communication should be his course in college), I am quite happy to see that those from lower classes know something at the very least in terms of current events, and even politics itself, without the need for college education.

However, the opposite reaction is what I had when it comes to conversing with my peers, particularly those coming from the upper and upper-middle classes. I don't know it if it is just me or what, but I find it extremely disturbing by the fact that majority of my peers from my college show little to no interest in discussing and talking about what is actually happening around us (the middle east conflicts, the multiple earthquakes, the rising gas prices, the trial of Merci Gutierrez, among many things). Save for the ever-brutal 9.0 Magnitude earthquake in Japan (of which they were concerned because of either a) they have friends or relatives living in Japan, or b) Japan is a progressive first world country, and that they got wiped out by a single event), I still find it sad still that even if they may be concerned about foreign current events (well thank God they still do show awareness, but I don't like the slacktivism culture going on where they "support" for a cause through a click on a webpage or some sort), I don't really see them show any sense of concern for our country by itself as how those coming from the lower classes would do.

Just something that I have observed: haven't you noticed that those who are against the RH bill are those coming from the upper classes while those who are for it are those coming from the lower classes? I may be right or wrong, but that's my general observation so far.

Remembering: A fire just broke down (7)

*A photo of me and my PolSci partner-in-crime, Hansley, during our Immersion in Unisan, Quezon

When it comes to my course, it is indeed essential that you have a certain partner-in-crime wherein you can share your thoughts with each other, ranging from serious topics to even the most trivializing things in life, and in this manner, it helps towards keeping one and another sane, especially with the boatload of readings every PolSci major has to undertake. But since my freshman year, Hansley has been my ever-trusting PolSci partner-in-crime. Despite that he is FAR more academically superior than me (hahahaha), we are both passionate about Philippine Politics and journalism, so our thoughts go along with each other.

To Hansley, thank you for being the best PolSci partner-in-crime I've ever had. Through good and bad times, we managed to conquer all those horrendous amount of readings, those mind-blowing and nosebleed-inducing theories, and those nerve-whacking papers. Kudos to you kumpare, and all the best to you as you finish your MA in PolSci :)

Remembering: Hello, good morning (6)

*Members of the morning group partyin' at Manor during Bea Castro's debut.

I'm not exactly that of a morning person, and it is crucial for me to have a steady group that would liven up my mornings. Thanks to Bea Castro, Betsy Esguerra, AJ Tinsay, and HBoys Mark Verayo, Gico Sinjian, and Darrel Udasco, my mornings have become more exciting hanging out with them :) Hanging out with you guys every morning is really worth it, and it is fun being with you guys!

I hope we still get together still even as we are working already :)

Remembering: News Partner (5)

* What a fez I have here. LOL.

Of course in the field of news writing, your sanity will not remain sane without some friends that will help you out, and no one was able to keep my sanity at its best other than Bea Mandac.

To my ever-reliable partner in News Writing, thank you for keeping my sanity even after leaving The Guidon come Junior year (of course you know why I LEFT The Guidon =)) ). My sanity still remains intact thanks to the likes of you and those occasional gossips full of intrigues, controversies, and pure soup.

Remembering: College sister (4)

I admit it. I was never friendly towards the opposite sex during my high school days (save for a few, occasional crushes I had, where I try to be nice and all, but it didn't work). It was until college, when I met this tall, mestiza girl, that changed everything. At first, I hesitated to approach her because of these stereotypes I had in mind, but with the first conversation we had, I found out that she was nice after all. Ever since, I've become nicer towards the opposite sex and I have learned NOT to impose stereotypes to people.

Yes, i'm glad to have met Trisha during my freshman year. To my sis, thank you for all those bonding moments we had in class, outside class, and even with those occasional YM conversations. Yes, I still remember those occasionally funny moments we had during ES classes (side story: I was looking at my old notes in my laptop and can I just say, natawa ako sa mga pinagsusulat mo then hahaha). And even if we were not classmates for a long time, we still manage to bond with each other pa rin :) Thank you sis!

Ps. See you in Blue Roast! :)

Remembering: News is the deal! (3)

A lot of people in Ateneo remember me as that person who writes for the school publication (a short stint, since I've stopped writing for the org come senior year), who interviews people left and right, who hunts down for news, and the like. And all of that is not made possible without a very supporting News Staff.

*The (Incomplete) News Staff, 2007-2008

*The News Staff, 2008-2009 (Yes, I was the ONLY guy then in the female-dominated News Staff)

To all those I have worked with during the heydays of me being a News Staffer, thank you for those moments of kasabawan, moments of seriousness, moments of unity, and the fun times we had during those News bondings. It made me miss news writing more when I remember these days. Even if we all have to work under pressure, with all those deadlines, missing interviewees, grammatical errors, and the like, it was still an experience worth sharing.

Note: We all should have a group photo during Blue roast!

Remembering: Partners in crime (2)

Who would expect an Atenean like me to have a great friend that came from the other school, and became close to that person despite the supposed "rivalries" between the two schools? Jem, I really thank you for those funny moments inside the pub room, when we philosophize with each other on life (and love), and when we talk about dealing with the world of media. Had I not known you, I would not have understood the world of journalism much better than today. Thanks, parter-in-crime :)

And even if you are on the other side of the world, you never fail to amuse me with our YM and Skype conversations about everyday life :) Kudos to you Jem!

Remembering: Polsci by course, Comm by heart (1)

This is the tagline I've lived through my whole college life. While at one hand I was a Political Science major, going through all these theories and current political events, and analyzing them one by one, I was also doing News Writing, and photography on the side.

I myself was a frustrated writer, but it took one great woman, in the name of Ayee Macaraig (Guidon News Editor, 07-08), to help me pave the path towards journalism and understanding the field of media. Have I not joined The Guidon back then, the way I viewed media and its relevance has never been the same. Thank you, News Mommy, for having faith in me, and for making me realize that politics and media are interrelated to each other, especially in the unfolding of history as the days go by.

Ending rites.

*A photo of me performing during Extant, with that joyful smile on my face. Photo taken by THE Kevin Tatco.

So there. Three days after I am officially free from academic duties (well I have clearance to accomplish tomorrow though, but I'm free for real from school life), it seems that everything has really mellowed down. It has been quite a while since I felt this relaxed in a long time. Spending my first three days (as a student-no-more) with cleaning up his room, fixing up his files, backing up and editing photos, giving myself some feel-good retail therapy, and many more, these first few days as a (technically) freelance photographer-cum-writer has been relaxing but at times boring and money-starving, since being a freelance can't really suffice my lifestyle, and that by now I should really learn to earn money and make good use of it, lessening my dependence from my parents.

But for the meantime, I'm cherishing this freedom I have as of now. However, as much as I have a lot of time now to bond with my friends, I have to find a job real soon. A job I really like for one.