The Privileged.

In the world of the penal institution, people who enter the institution are placed in this structure for various reasons relating to committing crimes or any form of wrongdoing they have done against the society. They are placed there as a means of punishment, as a means of reform, so that once they leave the prison, they come out as reformed persons, ready to serve the public for the good, and not for the burden of society. These institutions are there to create a sense of threat and punishment to the offender, through their confinement within the four walls of the prison, devoid of any luxury such ad television, radio, and the likes. Prisoners follow a strict timetable inside the penal institution to show them that they cannot be the one who is in favor all of the time, that they become enlightened once again that there are laws, rules, and regulations existing for the betterment of society, and by defying them, society is placed in danger.

And this are the many significances of the penal institution. They are existing to make the defiant step down and be humbled upon. They exist to correct the mistakes of these offenders. Yet, in the cases of Jason Ivler, the Ampatuans, and recently, Antonio Leviste, the significance of the penal institution has lost its true purpose, as VIP and special treatments do exist within these institutions, signifying biases occurring starting from the institution alone, and goes all the way on how the injustice in our system still prevails.

From Ivler's party life in the jail with the girls, booze, and friends, to the special treatment the Ampatuans receive, complete with luxuries inside their prison cells to boot, to the special treatment given to Leviste, especially when it comes to his dental issues, having preference over his own personal dentist outside of prison rather than the dentist within the prison.

I do believe that the world is an unfair place to begin with, but seeing this form of injustice is just way too much. I do really hope this gets addressed.

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.

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.

Some notes to ponder about PNoy's SoNA

Just as so you know, today is the day where President Noynoy Aquino gives out his first State of the Nation Address (SoNA) as President of the Philippines. Having listened to the same old piece of crap that is the SoNA of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the past 9 years, I would consider PNoy's SoNA a different one.

One of the initial observations I noticed with PNoy's SoNA is that he made really good use (and I mean it) of the Filipino language (as compared to PGMA, who has been using the English language for all of her 9 years as the President of the Philippines), signifying PNoy's efforts to address his message to the masa, and not to the elite who understand the English language. Like what most news anchors and field correspondents have commented on the SoNA, PNoy managed to change the notion of the SoNA by stating the real facts, facts that have been hidden for the past how many years.

Starting off, PNoy has noted the anomalies that have been not revealed by GMA such as the expenditures made within the Calamity fund (where a big chunk when to a district in Pampanga), and the severe depletion of the Yearly budget, and various anomalies present within DPWH, MWSS, and Napocor. Contrary to his critics considering it as nothing but mere "rants", this is a very good characteristic of being transparent in the Aquino administration. I guess now is the time for the public to know about how deep in shit is the Philippines after GMA has left it.

After citing the present situation of the Philippines, PNoy has made good note of what his administration has done for the first three weeks. Among one of the accomplishments he has mentioned is the speedy restoration of electricity after typhoon Basyang came along to the Philippines a week ago. Another good accomplishment he has noted is on the hunt down with the tax evaders, starting with Villarica for paying php 25k in taxes where at the same time he was able to buy himself a Lamborghini that is worth php 26m. The efforts with hunting the tax evaders and smugglers are so far so good. Also, his mention of a 50% success rate in resolving extralegal killings is a very good sign for me, something that the PGMA administration failed to address for the past 9 years. By that means PNoy is making an effort to address these killings immediately, making the world of journalism (specifically in the Philippines) a much more safer place.

In addition to this, PNoy also laid out his plans, and in his speech he mentioned the progress of these plans, which again, is a good sign that the Aquino Administration is very transparent and makes the public aware of what is happening. Among one of these plans he has said in the SoNA are the modernization of the Navy, resurrecting the railway system, and the re-structuring of the PhilHealth program. In addition to these plans, he also added the push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, Procurement law, Anti-Trust Bill, National Land Use Bill, National Defense Act, and the Whistleblower's bill, all bills pertaining to the Administration's efforts to re-structure a country that is left in a bad shape. In addition to these new bills, PNoy also said that there's a need to revisit other bills, and update them to make the law more consistent and have less loopholes.

Towards the end of his speech, he called for the MILF and the CPP-NPA to give him their plans for peace efforts. As far as the Aquino administration is concerned, they are open to the MILF and CPP-NPA for diplomatic talks. It is up to the MILF and the CPP-NPA on what they plan for the peace talks.

Although I find Noynoy's first SoNA speech generally good, imposing a sense of hope for the country, some issues were not addressed, such as the Agrarian Reform, where the case of Hacienda Luisita is put into question. Still, we all should remember that it has just been 3 weeks since the start of the Aquino administration, and that a lot of things may change or happen for the coming days. But generally speaking, I am satisfied with the message conveyed with the SoNA.

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*Some Quotable quotes from the speech:

-"Paano kung bumagyo bukas? Inubos na ang pondo nito para sa bagyong nangyari noong isang taon pa. Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan."

-"Ang inakala ng taumbayan na natipid nila sa kuryente ay binabayaran din natin mula sa kaban ng bayan."

-"Kung kaya mong bumili ng Lamborghini, bakit hindi mo kayang magbayad ng buwis?"

-"Mayroon po tayong 36,000 nautical miles ng baybayin. Ang mayroon lamang tayo: tatlumpu’t dalawang barko. Itong mga barkong ito, panahon pa ni MacArthur."

-"Negosyante, sundalo, rebelde, at karaniwang Pilipino, lahat po makikinabang dito. Basta po hindi dehado ang Pilipino, papasukin po natin lahat iyan."

-"Kung ang mga gobyernong lokal ay nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain, ang Kongreso namang pinanggalingan ko, siguro naman maasahan ko din."

-"Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin."

-"Dapat din po nating mabatid: ito ay panahon ng sakripisyo. At ang sakripisyong ito ay magiging puhunan para sa ating kinabukasan. "

Do I hear complains? Anyone?

By now, it has been a good 20 days since President Noynoy Aquino has stepped into office, ending the dynasty of Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Personally speaking, I find his leadership quite impressive (but not impressive in terms of his overall decision making and leadership skills), save for a few flaws, like being late for some meetings.

So what are the key points to consider (in my own opinion) in the first 20 days of the Aquino Presidency?

1) His selection of cabinet members

Face it. Noynoy did make a good choice for his cabinet members (like Jesse Robredo for DILG), and at the same time, has made bad choices as well (such as appointing the controversial Dr. Ona for DOH). His recent appointment of ANC News Anchor Ricky Carandang and Philippine Daily Inquirer Columnist Manolo Quezon as part of his communications cabinet are also good choices in his selection as well. The important matter with regards to Noynoy's selection of his cabinet officials is that the newly-appointed cabinet members shall serve as a backbone to the Aquino administration. The importance of having good choices for cabinet members is that in a team, it is important to have not just a good leader, but a good selection of members as well. For one thing, Noynoy is learning from GMA's mistakes on making bad (and I mean REAL bad) choices for cabinet members. So far when it comes to that department, I could say that Noynoy has been choosing quite deserving people to particular posts, and that the performance of these appointed cabinet members are doing quite well, especially when it comes to hunting tax evaders and upholding proper traffic laws.

2) No Wang-wang policy

Yes, we all remember that part of Noynoy's Inaugural speech, emphasizing that he will not use such a device for his appointments. True to his word, the President attends his meetings without any use of sirens or having any special treatment of sorts. Every motorist can attest to this: when they see the presidential convoy on the road, they act like ordinary citizens, following traffic signs and the laws of the road. And with this, I commend Noynoy for setting a good example, of which prompted the LTO to be more strict with "wang-wangs", catching quite a number of violators, private or government official. I actually the improvement with regards to traffic, as less douchebag drivers exist in the road. Just a suggestion: maybe Noynoy should impose strict rules with regards to smoke-belching vehicles, and especially with motorcycle drivers, who still remain the biggest pain in the ass next to public utility vehicles like buses, jeeps, and taxis.

3) Busting the tax evaders

Tax evaders have been a perpetual problem in the Philippines, of which is the major cause of low collection of taxes by the BIR. Not this time. Noynoy's administration has been quite aggressive towards hunting down "big fishes" of the tax-evading scheme. The first big fish they have caught is the owner of the Villarica line of pawnshops, wherein the owner only paid php25k for taxes, yet the same person managed to buy a php25m Lamborghini sports car for himself. Quite a great job for the administration for hunting these greedy people, but I expect that they become more aggressive, as a lot of these greedy people are there hiding from the scrutiny of the BIR, chilling around with their riches as if they are like Scrooge. On the other hand, the bust incident in Subic was, for me, still a show-off, unless they can actually eliminate all of these smugglers proliferating around the Metro, selling goods that are ridiculously low, that is too good to be true that they are actually tax paid (remember Willie Revillame's unfortunate incident with the Ferrari?).

4) Bashing government agencies that fail in their jobs

After another PAG-ASA epic fail called the false forecast of typhoon Basyang, Noynoy actually had the guts to bash them for not doing their job properly. PAG-ASA's miscalculation of the typhoon was a costly mistake for Metro Manila, with communication lines cut off and a massive blackout swallowing not just the Metro, but almost the entire Luzon region (and that became a major obstacle for us in Storyline, as the blackout meant a delay in our production work). Aside from the PAG-ASA incident, another point of consideration for me is the summoning of former Department of Agriculture secretary Cito Lorenzo to act as a witness to the ever-controversial Fertilizer Fund Scam, where allegations point out that the supposed fund for the purchase of fertilizer for the use of the farmers were actually diverted as campaign funds for former president Arroyo for the 2004 elections. In this aspect of criticizing certain government agencies, I really think it is a good move, especially that I firmly believe that there is a need to do some streamlining by eliminating some useless and money-wasting government agencies (since I do think there are way too many government agencies in our government system).

5) To forgive?

Another brewing issue in the Aquino administration is the reconsideration of the case of Senator Trillanes, also known as the man behind the Oakwood mutiny. The case with Trillanes is on the decision of Noynoy of whether he should forgive him for that failed coup attempt or to pursue the case against Trillanes. The issue has created a divided stand: to those who want to pursue the case, they say so because what Trillanes (and co.) is still a crime against the government, as they made an attempt to defy against the chief executive. The fact that they had intentions of bringing Arroyo down is a concrete evidence of their defiance, hence the stand for pursuing the case against them. However, the other side would consider forgiving Trillanes, as what Trillanes did then was right, considering that Arroyo's legitimacy as president was questioned, given the number of scandals that has haunt her in the duration of the 2004 elections. For these people, it is tantamount to say that Trillanes could be considered as a fallen hero, making an attempt to topple down a questioned administration. Nonetheless, Aquino's decision with regards to this matter would mean a lot about his leadership, on whether he would be a forgiving and merciful president or not.

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It has been just 20 days, and a lot has been brewing upon under the Aquino administration. I wonder what would happen in the next 80 days as well.

Separation?

*Note: I am neither for or against the Church being involved with our politics here in the Philippines. All the things that is written here are my thoughts about the importance of the “separation of Church and State”, as evident within the pages of our Constitution.

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For many years, there have been debates on whether Church and State should be separated. For one, it is evident that the Church by itself is a powerful body. During the early and middle ages, the Church held on by its power, being of a great influence to people. So powerful that books then were controlled by the Church (in fact, it is only the Church then who has access to these books, and copying them would take months in a pre-Gutenberg press era). The Church in fact is so powerful, it has influenced people with the use of indulgences, a method that grants people to reduce their time in purgatory, to prevent them from going to hell, and in hopes of going into heaven.

Even up to this day, the Church’s very traditional and conservative approach still has an influence, even to the state, which in the Philippine context, has been evident with both People Power 1 in 1987 and People Power 2 in 2001. Indeed, the Church, to an extent, is of great influence to our politics.

However, is there a limit to the Church’s influence over the state?

A characteristic of the Philippine government is that the Church and State work as two separate bodies, one being independent from another. In short, the Church should not have any intervention with the State, especially when it comes to law-making.

However, when it comes to such issue, I would say that the Church MAY intervene with the State, BUT only to a certain extent. Although a lot may not agree with me on this, but I think that the Church’s traditional and conservative nature still plays a crucial role towards forming the people of the state. With the Church being against premarital sex, extramarital affairs, influence of vices, and suicides, their conservative nature in fact protects the nature of the human person from committing such inhumane, animal-like acts.

If you ask me if I am in favor of what the Church teaches, I would NOT necessarily say that all the things they are for are right. Yes, the Church has made right decisions, and wrong decisions as well.

Case in point? The perpetually controversial Reproductive Health Bill.

This bill proposes the need for a means of population control through the use of condoms, and through teaching sex education to elementary students. For one, the Church is very against about such actions, given its conservative nature against sexual acts.

Remembering Theology 131 class, it has been explained that since time in memorial, the Church considers anything related to sex as an act that lacks sacredness. Going through the teachings made by St. Augustine himself,marriage is considered to be an act that is done when man and woman can’t contain their lusty desires. In short, marriage was there to make the act of sex between man and woman more legal and justifiable, with the purpose of procreation and unification.

But that was the view then. The times are changing, so are the perspectives behind these laws.

Frankly speaking, the issue about the Reproductive Health Bill has divided my stand between the Church and State, hence, the “separation”.

So I look at it at two views:

On the view of the State:

Promoting the use of condoms may be a good way of alleviating the problem of the booming population issue of the Philippines, BUT I seriously doubt if these people (especially the masa) would actually bother to use such a device that hinders the full-blown “pleasure” of doing the act unprotected by any apparatus.

Sure there are these contraceptives that may help prevent “accidental” conception, but with how I see things, people do not really make use of these contraceptives anyway. These people, crazy as they may be, would always (and forever always) would like danger, and therefore do things the unsafe way (Ie. banging each other like they don’t care what happens and cry over spilled milk when they realize they made a great mistake).

In short, the proposal of the bill on population control is not necessarily to be effective. You may give away condoms for free to people, but how are you assured that the people who received these free condoms would actually use them in efforts of protecting themselves from accidental conception or worse, HIV and AIDS? Frankly speaking, the bill has a lot of potential, but it needs some more revision in my own opinion.

On the view of the Church:

Sure you would stand still with your conservative views, but with the changing times, we need to adapt to the needs of the present times and not depend too much on the needs of the past. I don’t think teaching sex education to elementary school students would be as scandalous as you may think because it’s a sad world out there. Girls as early as 10 years old get pregnant, sex is already a norm for most teenagers out there, with the average 14 years old as the age when they first engage in sexual intercourse, and girls who get pregnant that young pose big health risks.

I understand on the nature of the Church, given its history, but there’s a need to adapt to new needs: The Philippines is already overpopulated, more and more people are getting poor, and more people die from starvation or lack of medical attention. This problem has been booming in the recent years, and I would agree with the government that we need to address this issue immediately. The notion of “magtiis na lang kayo”, as what my grandfather would say, referring to the Church’s stand about the overpopulation issue, such is inappropriate in the current situation of the Philippines.

The problem with the people is that despite being Catholics, rarely do they follow the notion of “magtiis na lang kayo” (andI can vie for this, as I know quite a number who have engaged in premarital sex, with some having incidents of accidental conception due to the practice of unprotected sex). With what I have learned from my Science subjects and Socio-Anthro subjects, it is a sad reality that it is the masa who usually have more children than the upper elite classes. The sadder part? Majority of these masses are Catholics. What happened to the Catholic teachings? Did the masses just disregarded them as they hear mass every Sunday? If you would ask me, I think the Catholic Church should go back to its teachings and see what is wrong with it (and why majority of Catholics do not follow the teachings)

For both sides:

Both sides do have a point regarding where do they stand about the Reproductive Health Bill, yet both sides share a common goal of controlling the population problem in the Philippines. Both sides bash at each other for the respective flaws they have in their proposals. What is needed here is the search for a common goal and agree with a common proposal to help with the population problem of the Philippines.

So, is there still a need for a separation of Church and State? Many people say there is still a need for it, but personally speaking, there are times that the Church and the State should work together, but only to an extent.

How 2.6m would matter

What’s 2.6 million for you?

For that price, you get yourself a mid-size SUV.

For that amount, that is approximately the number of college and high school students combined.

For that amount, that can make a good amount for having a low-cost house.

For that price, that can get you a couple of those Hermes bags you are probably lusting for.

For that amount, that is approximately the total population in Quezon City.

For that amount, that can fund for your child who is having college at the best universities in the Philippines (Ateneo, La Salle, etc.).

BUT, for the country, 2.6m is important, especially with determining on who our next leaders will be.

Canvassing is coming to a conclusion, and more or less we know who our next leaders would be (especially with the position for President, where Aquino has a large lead over Estrada). However, spotting 2.6m worth of “null” votes is crucial for the position of Vice President, where the difference between front runner Binay and Roxas is just over half a million votes.

But, the joint congressional committee do not like to investigate on the matter. So does that mean that the next vice president would be illegitimate? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Maybe yes because of the rumors circulating that the vice president position was rigged. Binay is closely associated with the Cojuangcos, Aquino’s relatives. And the possibility of cheating would still remain, given the power the Cojuangcos have.

Maybe no because as explained by Smartmatic and Comelec for many times, a lot of voters have difficulties with the process of automated elections. With that in mind, it is possible that there were improperly shaded portions in the ballot, hence the “null” votes.

In both cases, what puzzles me is why there are just 1m “null” votes for the president, while there are 2.6m “null” votes for the vice president? Sounds intriguing, isn’t it?

The point of contention regarding this? the 5m “null” votes back in the 2004 elections.

So who do we believe now?

We need evidence.

Although I was expecting by now that Canvassing would start by this week, the results of the recently-concluded elections are tainted with supposed cases of electoral fraud. Starting off with the appearance of “Koala Boy” (Not Koala Bear since a lot of people are insisting that Koalas are not bears but marsupials, but I do agree with that), numerous personalities have stood up and questioned about the elections. (And so far, most of these people complaining are those who lost in the elections, but like what Mat Defensor said, even some winner complained with the system in general)

Mat Defensor and Manoling Morato claimes that a group of people approached them, offering services of electoral manipulation through either guarding the votes to not be shaved or to shave the votes of their rivals. Although when asked to identify these people who approached them, Morato particularly declined to comment, saying that all he knows is the nicknames of 2 of the 7 men that approached him. Also, Morato insisted that he could not remember their faces, because he sees a lot of people everyday. (But like what Karen Davila asked him, I don’t think you would exactly forget someone’s face, especially if the guy is offering you billions in money)

In another case, Mary Ann Susano has in her hand Compactflash cards that is said to be used in manipulating the elections. however, these cards were failed to be tested at yesterday’s hearing as they did not have a computer (or should I say, a card reader). An interesting point of argument with Susano is on how come she has at hand these Compact flash cards, that were actually used with the PCOS machines(and to think no one has the right to have in acquisition these Compactflash cards … I find this strange)

And when we talk about the Poll automation, more problems arise, from the error in the time stamps and now, the miscalculation of the total number of registered voters (the total number of registered voters is supposed to be 51 million but the machines say 254 million voters … how on earth did the total number of voters multiplied five times?). Congress grilled Smartmatic and Comelec on a number of issues regarding poll automation (and to think Congress should actually be investigating anomalies with the poll automation MONTHS before the elections, and NOT when canvassing starts off)

However, although for the past months, it has been explained that there are a million ways of manipulating the automated elections (from switching the Compactflash cards to manipulating the source code such that it “selects” which votes are to be counted), as cited by numerous interviews. However, as Gus Lagman and Teddy Locsin would put it, people may complain and all, but what is still really important is that they at least present solid evidence pertaining to the accusations.

I’m not saying that the accusations are pointless, and must be disregarded, but I personally think that people should go out and just expose these supposed people involved in such acts. In short, the names should be exposed, and the evidences should be presented right away if their accusations are true.

Otherwise, their accusations are just nothing, and electoral fraud in this year’s elections will never be proven to be true.

Oh well it’s the Philippines and the mayhem called elections.

Teddy Boy’s my boy, among other things.

This is so expected to happen. After elections,when winners have been proclaimed already, these losers would come out and cry out that they have been heavily cheated by their opponents, citing electoral fraud as the cause. But as we all know, the elections were generally fine, and I can’t see the fraud being involved, well at least for the National elections.

And here comes my favorite legislator, Rep. Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, who heads the committee on investigating the automated elections and its”possible” anomalies behind it. And boy, he’s a man of many quotable quotes. And I’ll cite some:

1) He called the whistleblower of an alleged electoral fraud case “koala bear” because of it’s looks.

2) While “koala bear“‘s video was being viewed, he said to cut off the tape, and that it was useless.

3) On “koala bear“‘s case, he said: “don’t bring me tears; give me evidence”, which I definitely agree since I really think “koala bear” is nothing but a product of black propaganda

4) “YOU, son of a bitch!”, he furiously said to Smartmatic upon reacting it’s failure to digitally trace poll fraud.

Now, that’s the kind of politician I like. Fighting for what is right, with a kick ass attitude.

Oh, and haven’t you notice those who are complaining of electoral fraud are either 1) Hopeless candidates who can’t stand against their opponents by a mile, or 2) Traditional Politicians (in short, TraPos) who can’t accept their defeat to their political opponents? Well it points us to one thing about Philippine Politics and the sad reality of it: If you win, you have cheated, and if you lose, you were cheated upon. Why can’t the losers simply shut up for once and accept who won (of which is the reason why I look up to Gordon, Teodoro, and even the evil Villar, for conceding and throwing their support for Aquino)

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And guess what? Rep. Pacquiao (geez, now we will all start calling him that) will start taking crash courses on public legislation in UP. A crash course in Public Governance for a week? This I got to see. And he even plans to take the UPLAE as well. Now that brings me to this question: what would people say if he actually passes the UPLAE?

But on the other hand I do commend PacMan for acknowledging his need to learn at least the basics of legislation. Not bad for a people’s champ. At least he’s willing, and has this desire to learn more.

How I wish the other showbiz politicians like Estrada, Sotto, Revilla, AND Lapid would follow the initiative made by PacMan himself.

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How about the Mar-Jojo showdown?

For how many days, I am tired of hearing the same “Binay leads by 800k votes over Roxas”. HELLO COMELEC. I don’t think you are updating your vote count since last week. There should be at least some change to it, you know.

Oh, and speaking of the Mar-Jojo showdown, I am somewhat accepting the fact that Mar is going to lose this battle for the following reasons:

1) The Chiz Escudero effect: the Noy-Bi endorsement made by Chiz has persuaded people to go for such. Apparently, it seems like Chiz is an influential person.

2) Mar’s wife. Yes, I’m referring to Korina Sanchez here. A lot of people don’t exactly like her, and Mar’s marriage to her somewhat pulled him down. Add also the sudden resurfacing of Korina’s former maid, who accused Korina of beating her up.

3) The Chiz logic. Well although I think of Chiz as a sly bastard for that Noy-Bi endorsement, I think his reason for such endorsement makes sense: 2 economists would not work well in politics; what is needed is an economist and a developer, hence the Noy-Bi tandem

4) Kamag-Anak, Inc. part 2? Yes I’m also speculating that since Binay is close to Aquino’s family, the Cojuangcos, maybe someone from the Cojuangco did made some manipulations in the elections in order to make Binay win. After all, there may be some electoral fraud involved, but let’s rest the case with Comelec for now.

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And when it comes to showbiz, looks like Mr. douchebag Willie Revillame is shifting sides to TV5. Now look at who’s the sore loser who can’t accept critics.

A preview to an upcoming favorite.

I'm quite excited to do my paper for Philippine History, as it will deal upon one hidden dark agenda about the Aquino Administration, of which is relevant in terms of the current events here in the Philippine Atmosphere. As a result of feeling smart during the break, I am going to write a quick excerpt of what seems to be a potential fresh idea for a History paper.

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Working title: The Dark Side of Democracy: The Aquino Administration and the Maguindanao Massacre

FEBRUARY 25, 1986. It was the time of great struggle towards Philippine democracy, as it was still under the dictatorial rule of Ferdinand Marcos. That day changed, as the Marcos Regime was brought down, and the light of Democracy was seen once again, through the presence of Ma. Corazon Coujangco-Aquino --- Cory for short. A widow of the murdered senator and primary opponent of the Marcos Regime, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., she stepped into the presidency, and thus, becoming the "light of democracy", and soon enough, the "mother of Philippine Democracy".

A lot of decisions were made in a flash, from appointing officials to certain parts of the country to the full revision of the constitution, later known as the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Her decisions back then have greatly influenced the turn of events today, of both in a good way and in a bad way.

But who would expect that fast forward 22 years later, a massive massacre, that claimed over 60 lives in Maguindanao, tagged as the most inhumane act in Philippine history. Who would have realized that the start of a family of warlords, the Ampatuan family, actually started off as being appointed as the governor-in-chief of Maguindanao, in the person of Andal Amaptuan Sr., father to Andal Ampatuan Jr., primary suspect to the death of media men and political rivals, the Mangudadatu clan? It may sound eerie that a massacre like this started from an era where democracy was at it's finest, where people relished it the most.

After all, democracy does not mean everything will turn out well, especially on the long term.

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