Beating the heat with issues at hand.

In spite of the scorching heat here in the Metro (highest temperature recorded so far is around the 37 degree Celsius range, so imagine the heat alone), current issues, from both the local and foreign scene, remain to be as hot as the current temperatures along the Metro.

We have the everlasting RH bill debates (with 1) Iglesia Ni Cristo showing their support for the RH Bill, and 2) The basing once again of the CBCP, citing those supporting for the RH Bill being "terrorists" as the bill allegedly kills the unborn, which is not even what the RH Bill is all about), then new developments on then-President-now-Congresswoman GMA (with the most recent one involving her misuse of the OWWA funds, wherein she used them for the 2004 elections, making the plunder accusation against her to seem more plausible). Also, new issues regarding rising fuel prices also make it to the news (with numerous price hikes, rollbacks, press conferences, and investigations on certain oil companies).

As you see, the Philippines these days has become an interesting point-of-focus for current events, and to a certain extent, I kind of like the fact that there's actually progress happening within the country.

And it does not stop there. Follow-up news like Merci's resignation as Ombudsman made it into the news, causing the senate to not go on with the impeachment trial and instead go on further with the investigation of corruption during GMA's reign.

International issues are also of big topics, with the Royal Wedding of Prince William and (now) Princess Catherine, giving new light to the British Royal Family, and the Beatification of Pope John Paul II, also noted to be the fastest in history (Pope John Paul II was beatified six years after his death in 2005).

For the meantime, I couldn't get myself to be coherent enough on making this week's blog entry. Maybe for the next one I can come up with a more relevant one.

Almost a month of bummage and frustration

So it has been almost a month after graduation, and still I am in a state of frustration of finding a job. Well I'm not exactly bumming around (hey, I've been submitting resumes left and right, and I've been to a couple of exams and interviews too); it just happens that I must be one of those graduates who have a hard time finding work. The more I hear that a friend of mine has work, the more I become frustrated, in one way or another.

The frustrations of being a bum? Well there is the painful fact that you don't receive allowance anymore (and that finding rakets seems to be the way to go for me as of the meantime), and there is also the fact that you are not that productive in any sense (save for those times that I am not at home, all I do at home is either sleep, go to the internet, eat, and all those other lazy stuff you can possibly do at home). In short, being a (technically-speaking) bum can be summarized in two things: unproductive AND expensive.

The advantages? Well at least I get to go out and spend some time with friends, or go out spontaneously and do some photoshoots or sightseeing, and things like that. So summing things up, the past month of bummage was spent with buying new stuff, bonding with friends, watching movies, going into photoshoots and photowalks, taking great photos, trying out new restaurants, catching up with the latest stories, and staying tuned to current events too (yes, I'm kinda enthusiastic with that part, just as much as I am with photography).

So while I am off to search for that job, I guess I should make good use of the time available to me because I will never know if I will manage to do these (seemingly unproductive) things once I have a full-time job.

There's Holy Week, but there's also the hypocrites.

During Holy Week, we all make sacrifices and put ourselves towards prayer, reflection, and a change of heart. This is supposed to be a time where we should stop arguing and bashing against one another, and simply have peace of mind towards trying to change for the better. Holy Week should be, in short, a week where we try to ponder upon our lives, analyzing what is wrong or right, and trying to change them through methods of prayers, confessions, and the like.

However, as much as I wanted this particular week to be as quiet as possible, this year's Holy Week is unforgivably noisy. As much as I consider myself to be a Roman Catholic (as my whole family is, especially my grandmother, who is a very devout Catholic, and my mother, whose faith has strengthened throughout the years), I am not exactly proud to be one, especially in light of the CBCP's constant bashing, threatening, and power-tripping against those who are for the RH bill. With threats such as excommunication, people tend to be scared with these threats (although in recent times, some brave Catholics are willing to be excommunicated in efforts to uphold their rights).

Personally speaking, I view the CBCP as a place for hypocrites, likened to the pharisees of the Bible. People who are so arrogant and so righteous, they think they know it all. These priests go out and tell the people "Kung meron nakikimisa dito pero Pro-RH Bill...Please. Go out. It's useless."*1 during a homily in a mass in Baguio, or tell that the President of the Philippines cannot marry because he is too old for his age to marry*2, or stating that a certain Catholic groups who are for the RH Bill is likened to Judas, who betrayed Jesus, and even being called "eclectic catholics"*3.

If we go back to biblical teachings, I do not think Jesus taught us to condemn those who are for the RH Bill. As far as I remember my Theology classes, Jesus actually related himself to the poor, the neglected, and the sinful. Jesus did not condemn the sinners, and this is best exemplified when he told the Pharisees that whoever did not sin should cast the fist stone on the woman who committed adultery (and in that story, all of the Pharisees left, and only Jesus and the adulterous woman was there, and Jesus forgave the woman!)*4. However, as much as Jesus tries to be compassionate to these kinds of people, the supposed teachers of the Holy Scripture are doing the opposite thing: Instead of helping those who have sinned (or have sided with the RH Bill), they instead condemn them and wish them to suffer.

Instead of helping the poor who have resorted to abortion (due to lack of proper family planning and education on various contraceptives), they are left hanging, letting these patients suffer a slow, painful death*5. And what is the Church doing with this? Nothing, as in nothing at all. They just let things as they be, while they are out in Churches, preaching the word to its people, while it fails to realize what is actually happening to its sheep. They may be the shepherds to the Catholic flock, but they fail to properly address the concerns of it's flock.

And sure they may say that the RH Bill is a means for convenience (or what other term they may be using), but one question I like to pose: are you happy to see homeless people and street children along the streets, begging or doing dignity-busting jobs because they have no money? Are they happy that people are stealing (or worse, killing) because it's their way of meeting ends? Are they happy that women die from childbirth, due to the failure of addressing proper birth control?

And the most important question of all: Does the Catholic Church even care for its flock? Because how I see it, they are doing things contrary to what Jesus actually taught us.

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*1 - Quote taken from this article: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/04/19/11/priest-tells-rh-bill-supporters-leave-mass

*2 - This was said by former CBCP President Oscar Cruz in an interview (which can be viewed here)

*3 - http://www.gmanews.tv/story/215358/nation/priest-likens-church-pressure-vs-rh-bill-to-the-inquisition

*4 - John 8: 1-11

*5 - Taken from this article: http://www.newsbreak.ph/2011/04/01/dying-in-silence-how-abortion-kills-filipino-mothers/

Let's talk about conscience and morality in the news.

This week's fave tidbits happens to be testing our conscience and morality. So this time, I made my selections and commentaries to be as coherent as possible.

1) Willie and his disappearance: Alright, so it will be almost a week since Willie has not appeared on TV, nor his show Willing-Willie has been on air with TV5. While the hiatus (or more of suspension) is ongoing, a lot of interesting issues have been coming up when this topic is being talked about. One of the latest issues ongoing with the case is that the parents of Jan-Jan actually filed a libel suit against bloggers Joe Silva and Froilan Grate, and child Psychologist Dr. Lourdes Carandang, in light of the issue, insisting that there was no form of child abuse that happened during the said incident. In fact, the parents are actually defending Willie Revillame, saying that there was nothing really bad about the said incident, since the kid actually does such a dance number even at family gatherings.

In short, it was supposed to be a normal thing for the kid, and that because of this fiasco, the family is no longer living in a peaceful and happy life, thus, the libel case. And the bigger irony? The father apparently posted the same video of his son dancing in Willing-Willie, and even asks his friends to "like" it. So now, why is he filing libel raps against two bloggers and a child psychologist, wherein in the first place, he was the one proud of this misdeed? It just shows on how much of an irresponsible father he is.

If you come to think of it, this particular issue has exploded to a large scale. This time, there is an exposure of irresponsible parenthood, where parents would just let their children do various things, no matter how undignifying they can be, in exchange for some money to supplement their livelihood, which for me may be the case of the Jan-Jan issue of Willing-Willie. Sadly, this phenomenon is existing, especially for families coming from lower classes, which for me also shows a certain reality in the Philippines that has yet been realized by the citizens (of which can be a possibly useful argument with regards to the RH bill debates).

2) Banned commercials: Yes you've heard it: That cute McDonald's commercial involving a boy, a girl, and a desire for french fries has been pulled down in order to please the Catholic Church, citing that it promoted wrong values. What happened to be the wrong values being taught? 1) that it is inappropriate for children at that age to talk about relationships, and 2) that relationships have become cheapened, as they have become related to french fries (of which costs php25, as said in the advertisement). Frankly speaking, I get the view of the Church on this but as what my friend told me, "we're collectively fussing over unnecessary things."

For one, I find it a bit mababaw for the Church to be offended by such commercial, or by appealing to PNoy to move Earth Day because it happened to fall on a Good Friday (which is April 22 . . . but on this, I think it is possible to celebrate both events on that day; we can sacrifice our "earthly" desires all for that day, at the same time being in line with the Lenten season . . . it's that simple and the Church didn't actually think of that). And to think it is a irony that they deal with this petty matters, and not worry with bigger matters such as child abuse (as said in the earlier part of this entry), or with animal abuse (remember the killing of dogs using the tambucho method?), or even with addressing proper population management (and not rely on abstinence alone, because we all know that people never followed it).

In another perspective, I really do think the Church has been doing these things for the sake of media attention. But I think that's just me.

3) Mikey and his assets: Well not just Mikey Arroyo specifically, but I find it really intriguing that after his undeclared assets in the United States have been revealed, he suddenly sells them off, even if he insisted that the property in contention is owned by not him but by a company. Then later on, he, together with his mother, none other than President-turned-Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and his brother Dato Arroyo make amendments to a particular bill on rallying, adding that rallying is prohibited in front of the residences of public officials. This makes me feel quite suspicious about the Arroyos, citing that they may be really hiding something from the public that they are trying to put in all the stops in order to save their name from shame.

And the case of Mikey Arroyo is one of the many possible cases of tax evasion that the BIR is currently filing. Believe me or not, a bigger majority of these tax evaders actually come from those belonging to the upper classes, and not really from the lower classes. Mind you that it is through this fact (something that probably a lot of people do not know) that our revenue collection is really that horrible, such that people (me included, should I actually start working) begin to doubt on paying taxes. It's more like "why pay taxes if other are successful in evading it" kind of thing. But probably not now, as the BIR is putting an iron fist in the hunt down for tax evaders.

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In other news: I want to start working and start earning.

This week's feenzy (in the news)

So a couple of interesting news bits came about for this week. And despite doing other stuff (like going to parties and pretending to be quiet when the girl I like is there), these news bits came to my interest.

1) Hostage-taking in Agusan: It has been a while since I last heard about hostage-taking in the Philippines (the last being the hostage fiasco, which took the lives of Hong Kong nationals as a result of the government failing to please a disgruntled police officer). In the latest hostage-taking situation, the hostage takers decided to put in hostage a school, alongside with students and teachers. The hostage situation took quite long, and it also came to a point that the hostage takers insisted on releasing one of the students, in exchange for the father of the student, which I find it really, really absurd.

Hostage taking by itself is already bad enough, and what makes it worse is that this time it involves students and teachers. Honestly speaking, I do not get the sense of why these hostage takers would involve innocent civilians in exchange for extortion money (wherein if the payment is not made, they would decide to kill these innocent civilians with no question). In addition to this, the amount of money they would ask is simply out of this world: tell me how on earth can you raise millions in just a few days? Unless you are rich, such is a herculean task and I pity those who can't pay enough for it, and just see their love ones killed by these brutal hostage-takers.

2) Fuel subsidies (really?): This one is more of an unexpected move coming from the government. For them to actually give fuel subsidies to owners of public transportation vehicles is something, especially in the context where fuel prices can go as high as php60 a liter (that's for regular Unleaded fuel; Diesel fuel can go as high as php55 as of this writing). I appreciate the move that the government has made through this; however, I really think this method is more of a short-term advantage; soon enough, the government would come to a point that it is impossible to provide for subsidies (which, by the way, is the reason why LRT fares are expected to increase dramatically soon. So are toll rates in both SLEX and NLEX).

Instead of subsidies, I do really think that the government should go into a close investigation of these fuel companies, particularly the big three companies (namely Shell, Caltex, and Petron). The reason for this is that these fuel companies would be so fast in increasing their fuel prices, yet they become slow (and hesitant) when it comes to price rollbacks. By this fact the government should be already suspicious about it. To resolve this, I really think that there should be an a-la-BIR submission of SAL (Statement of Assets and Liabilities). I do hear news of under-the-table selling of fuel happening within the city of Manila, and I do find that disturbing enough.

3) BIR tax evasion cases: Yes, the BIR happens to have become more aggressive these days, fulfilling its promise to go on the hunt for tax evaders and the like. And personally, I find this a good sign, especially since that most of these tax evaders are actually rich people who are just too greedy with their wealth. And we're talking about big amounts of money here, amounting to millions of pesos.

Among those who have been filed for tax evasion is Mikey Arroyo and his wife, Angela, a son of Former-President-Now-House-Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Well, by the fact that he was filed for tax evasion just shows that they are hiding some of their wealth from the public, which puts into the speculation that the family has actually been involved with such corrupt acts during the reign of GMA as president. Now the pieces start to fit together now. And Mikey's response? At least he is not driving around with a Porsche like Noynoy does. And my reply? Touché.

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Actually, there are more interesting bits for this week (like Marlene Aguilar's craziness for her son Jason Ivler, the ongoing case with Willing-Willie and the douchebag himself, Willie Revillame, The case of illegal recruiters, among one of many), but the ones I've mentioned above are those that got my attention.

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As of this writing, let's all pray for Japan, as a 7.4 Magnitude earthquake has just hit them. And to think they had to undergo a earthquake / tsunami / near nuclear meltdown a couple of weeks back.