Are we safe?

On May 02, 2011, the world was cheering in victory as Osama Bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist, holy warrior, mastermind of the 9/11 bombing, and ultimate hater of the United States, succumbs to a lethal defeat as the US Army invades the fortified Pakistan compound, the very place where Bin Laden resided for 5 years. They say that they had to raid the compound in order to kill him. Others say that he was killed unarmed.

The United States insisted that they threw his body into the sea. Photographic evidences of his death are not revealed to the public, insisting that the whole operation is confidential and is of danger if released in public. With this, the public is in doubt about the authenticity of Bin Laden's death, despite the massive media coverage of his death.

Prior to this event, Sony had a massive plague hitting the users of its Playstation Network with multiple hacking and security breaches, affecting millions of users and placing thousands of credit card accounts at risk. Sony presently has made multiple efforts to please its customers, even to the extent of giving free games to affected customers, yet these customers are not pleased at how a security breach occurred not once, but twice.

Both of these events may have a varying level of significance, but they have something in common: the fact that the world is never in a state of peace and stability. That there is always uncertainty in the things that we do. That there will, and will be always, a loophole that will never be solved. No matter how hard we try to make the world safe, there are these glitches that can potentially mess things up. Even the most sophisticated technology can fail us eventually.

Sometimes, all of these precautionary measures and sophisticated technologies towards protecting ourselves are not enough. We may run all the time but we can never hide. Might as well be cautious of our decisions, after all.

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.

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?

Job-hunting blues.

So yeah, I have just a few weeks before my college life comes to an end, and that it's time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life (which is finding a job, what else).

So came the Job Fair in Ateneo. In my previous entry, I was ranting about on how the Job Fair was, to an extent, biased towards SoM students. As a response, the people from the Placement Office (of which I do have friends there) made some efforts to make the Job Fair as unbiased and unbalanced as possible, and I would commend them for putting in their efforts on it, despite the rains that occurred in the duration of the Job Fair.

Speaking of Job-hunting, I applied (as of this writing) to a total of four companies, namely: Thomson Reuters, ABS-Corporation, Nielsen Media, and Summit Media. And yes, none of them have anything to do with my Major (unless you count journalism in politics as one, in the case of ABS-CBN and Reuters, and that my photography skills do count, as for Summit Media). So finding a job is indeed a challenge as of the meantime.

Although I am hoping (and praying) that I get into ABS-CBN, it does not hurt to have alternative plans, so that is why I applied to other companies as well. Worst case scenario? I can be a freelance photographer, but that will make me a starving artist with an unstable income, and that is not good especially in the world that we live in.

Honestly speaking, I am scared of what will happen after college, and that is why I am starting to act all panicky in terms of finding a job. For some strange reason, I fear of being a bum (or being JUST a freelance photographer of some sorts). I fear about what will happen one these last few weeks of college is finally put to an end.

And to think I'm drowning with papers, field works, and the hope of finding that job.

And no, love life is not a concern for me as of the moment. Hee.

On the Job Fair.

NOTE: This note is simply states my opinions and sentiments on the Ateneo Job Fair, and I am not saying that we should be against or to boycott the Job Fair.

Sure sure sure.

The Ateneo Job Fair is coming next week. Graduating and undergrad students looking for a job after graduation or looking for internships and on-the-job trainings are looking forward to this event that is said to be full of opportunities.

And I tell this upfront: I have mixed feelings on the Ateneo Job Fair.

Not that I do not like the thrill of searching for job opportunities, given the fact that I am going to graduate real soon (and that I do have to find a job), but what the Ateneo Job Fair offers is not equal and fair entirely to everyone here in my school.

Just so you know, there are four schools in Ateneo, namely School of Humanities (SoH), School of Science and Engineering (SoSE), School of Social Sciences (SoSS), and School of Management (SoM). Population-wise, SoM has the highest population, while SoH has the lowest population. And this will make sense on why I hate the Job Fair, especially given the fact that I am studying under a course that is part of SoSS.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine was also ranting about the Job Fair as well. We had the same sentiments about it, with the Job fair being too SoM-oriented, and that it does not really give out any opportunities for the other three schools (well, maybe, I mean MAYBE, SoSE students and a select few SoSS students could grab the opportunity as well). As I glanced through the list of who are participating for the Job Fair, my disappointments on the Job Fair have just been further elaborated.

Most, if not all, of the companies participating in the Job fair are oriented towards business and corporate categories. There are none for media. None for education. None for NGOs. None for governance. Not even for advertising.

Now who benefits from this? SoM people would benefit from these opportunities (to my friends in SoM: take advantage of this opportunity in the Job Fair AND don’t waste it!). But how about those from SoSE, SoSS, and SoH? I am not sure in what manner they would benefit from it.

I do understand that there is a bias towards SoM majors when it comes to the opportunities for the upcoming Job Fair, but to be considerate of things (in behalf of people organizing the Ateneo Job Fair), there are factors that we have to consider as well (and this are based on what my friends said about it).

First is the fact that we live in a world where money makes the world go round. As my friend would put it, “the ones who can effectively attract, wield, and use cash will survive.” This is why most people would like to take up courses such as management, as there is a lot of opportunities in the world of corporate and business. Yet we can’t live on money alone mind you; hence, my friend adds that it is a misnomer that there are no job opportunities for SoSS, SoH, SoSE; there are job opportunities for them, but it just happens that it is these powerful and influential companies that have the capacity to shell out money and be part of these job fairs.

In relation to the first argument, another factor that can be considered is the costing of actually participating in a job fair. Being a participant in job fairs is not cheap; you have to pay for booth rentals, for paraphernalia, for the people manning the booth, for electricity, for food, and the like. Ateneo just happens to charge a high price with their job fairs, which is why the big corporate companies are the ones who are able to participate in the Ateneo Job Fair.

Another factor (and something that I may or may not agree when a friend told me this), is that of surveys. According to surveys, there is a high rate of job preferences for the business and corporate industry, which is why it happens most of the time that companies like Nestle, Procter and Gamble, and Unilever are the ones who would participate in these Job fairs. Sure that may be the case, but I do think the voices of those coming from other schools are not heard that well, or not addressed properly.

But it does not mean the Job Fair is inclined more to SoM students that those from the other schools should lose hope; in fact, the Job Fair, said by a friend of mine, should be an opportunity for those from SoSS, SoSE, and SoH to creatively strut off their skills in applying for these companies. After all, nothing is really impossible as long as you are determined for it. It is challenging indeed, but of course you can’t get a job without starting somewhere.

I may hate the Ateneo Job Fair, but that does not mean I am going to sit down and wander, hoping for an opportunity to just come along. We all need to work hard if we want to get good jobs. The Job Fair is just one opportunity; there are a lot of opportunities out there. Kailangang lang maging matiyaga sa paghahanap ng trabaho.

The ultimate shocker.

So today, I went to the laboratory (at Hi-Precision diagnostics) to have a blood test. A week before, I've been suffering from body pains, particularly with my legs, even if I just woke up from bed. So dad suggested that we have a blood test to see the problem.

So I was there at the laboratory, anxiously waiting for my turn for blood extraction. I was just playing Monopoly on my iPhone to kill the time. Then my turn came.

I went inside, then the technician was examining which arm will they extract blood at. They chose the left arm. Then came the needle. And the tubes. I was trying to resist the pain of blood being extracted to me, but something went strange. I started feeling dizzy. My heart was beating fast.

Then I went into a total blackout.

The only thing I remembered then was my dad (who is a doctor btw) waking me up, and giving me candy, on his suspicion that I had a hypoglycemia attack. It took me a while before I was able to barely stand up. Then upon arriving home, feeling weak, I headed straight to bed to get some rest.

A couple of hours later, the result came out. And I was terribly shocked at my results. At age 20, I was borderline diabetic, and my uric acid was WAY high than normal. Ouch. Straight to my heart. I was alarmed. I have to fix up my lifestyle if I wanted to live longer. A total shocker indeed.

And yes, it is a pain for me that at a young age, I have these kinds of sicknesses, something that I used to think that only old people would have. Now I have them, and my dad's letting me drink medicine (on a scheduled basis) AND now I have to go back to the lab every 3 months to monitor my blood levels and the levels of the chemicals in my blood.

After years of not caring about what I eat, now I have to act like an old person, monitoring carefully what I eat. It sucks, but I have to do it still.

And I can't accept the fact that a 20 year old like me has a sickness that 50 year olds have. Or maybe it must be my lifestyle (and the lifestyle of my generation). What do you think?

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.

This is reality.

BobbyGuev's story today revolves around the drama behind a tribe (forgot the exact name of the tribe), comprising of 25-30 families, residing along Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija.

When a typhoon struck in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija in 2004, this tribe practically lost everything, since they resided along a river. In effort for rehabilitation, the tribe decided to relocate along the Sierra Madre mountains and start life a new. And their life was good; they learned how to make rattan baskets, they had education, they learned to plant crops, they learned to earn some profit. In short, they were starting to live a good life, starting fresh and progressing very well. However, this seemingly happy situation for this tribe changed into a disaster in 2006, as their place was invaded by the NPA, causing them to leave the place, bringing along with them their things, going back to the river.

Since there were NPAs in the area, of course the Military would take over and attempt to eliminate the Communist rebels, but their intent was tainted. One day, someone from the tribe went back to the mountains to inspect his land. However, the Military mistaken him for being a member of the NPA, and next thing you know is that his body was found inside a sack. Ever since, the tribe never came back to the mountains. And all their hopes gone and vanished in an instant. After that, they ended up going back to the riverside, where their lives are at risk, and start over again, going back to square one.

Stories like this are those stories that will wake you up to the harsh reality outside the four walls of the classroom. Poverty is bigger than what you would expect. Power is far more abusive than how media would portray it. Violence is unimaginable without the blood and the bullets. Society is more discriminating than how television shows would show it. This is the real world, and not what us Ateneans would actually think of, revolving around cars, shoes, partying, gadgets, and what nots. Reality is far from the ideal world that is within the walls of this school. We may get failing grades, or get sanctioned, but we are at least protected within the four corners of this university.

For almost four years at the University, it came to my senses slowly about the harsh reality that awaits us as we leave college.

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.

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.

First world does not mean leading the pack

After watching the documentary "Who killed the Electric Car" for IR class a while ago, I came to realize an important thing about First World countries, that they are not necessarily leading the pack.

Take the US on it's take on electric vehicles. A great potential for the future, electric cars is a viable solution to the perennial problem on gasoline, emissions, and oil crisis. California's idea of having electric vehicles (examples of this are the GM EV1, the Honda EV Plus, the Ford Th!nk, and many more) was a good way of addressing the problem. People were liking the idea of it. Launched in the late 1990's (around 1996), it was a revolutionary idea. Up until it's elimination and destruction of these electric cars in 2003 to 2005.

It was a sad and stupid idea for the US to eliminate this budding solution to environmental problems. Japan has been in the progress of further developing these electric vehicles back in the early 1990's (if I remember clearly, it was 1992 when Japan presented to the world the electric vehicle), and Japan is still in a progress of developing this technology (which is very evident with the recent popularity of Toyota's Prius hybrid vehicle). How about the US? Because of pressures from consumers, oil companies, and the government itself, the electric car was killed by the United States. So sad.

Looking this in a liberalist perspective, the US' move to eliminate these potential ideas was because of the persuasion and pressure it received from pluralist groups, such as the CARB (California Air Regulation Board), Petroleum and oil companies, some consumers, and even the Automobile industry themselves. Claims of dubious zero emissions of these vehicles, plus a low demand for these vehicles killed the electric car. Such persuasions caused by conflict forced the government to cooperate with pluralist groups by going in what they want, which bred to the upsurge of these big, gas-guzzling vehicles, such as the Hummer.

The consequence, in my opinion, is that the US dug its grave deeper. A couple of years later, the recession hit the country, prompting their citizens to sell their gas-guzzling cars because of surging oil prices, and worse, people were losing jobs, and the US started to be in deep shit, that despite President Obama's efforts to stabilize the US economy, it was a problem that will take time to solve.

In the end, I think US' decision on killing the electric car proved to us that first countries are not necessarily to be leading the pack. In fact, when it comes to such technology, Japan is doing far much better than the US, that they sell the Prius not just in Japan, but in the US and in the Philippines as well (During my trip to the US in 2007, around 10% of the cars I saw there were Priuses, and in the Philippines, there is still an experimental run on putting the Prius into market). In this aspect, the US made a significant lapse in decision-making that created a chain reaction of events to them and their citizens.

The end of rivalries? I doubt.

During Cory Aquino's wake at the Manila Cathedral, among one of the main issues there was the visitation of the Marcoses and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself. The Aquinos accepted the visitation of Bongbong and Imee Marcos, but somewhat was "cold" upon GMA's short 7 minute visit to the wake.

In my opinion, there seems to be a problem with this, epsecially with media's portrayal of it.

First, let's dwell with the Marcoses. Ok granted they have visited the wake of Cory, with the Aquino siblings confronting Imee and Bongbong, does this mean that the rivalry has ended, as how media portrays it? In my opinion, I think this is just a partial ending to the rivalry. The bigger part of the rivalry is still missing. For me, if the rivalry has truly ended, then Imelda Marcos, the first lady of the dictator, should have visited at least. Did she paid her last respects to Cory? As far as I know, she wasn't there at the wake, save for her daughter Imee and her son Bongbong. There's still some unresolved conflict behind it.

How about GMA? Well we all know that she did cut her trip short in order to visit the wake of Cory. People were cold about it. Media portrayed it in a cold way as well. Well yeah, GMA used to be an ally of Cory during People Power 2, up until the election fraud issues that GMA had in 2005, starting with the Hello Garci scandal. Not that I am Pro-GMA or Anti-GMA (I'm more of neutral when it comes to this), but at events like this, politics should step aside. GMA did have the freedom to visit or not to visit Cory's wake. She decided to do the former, and we should not politicize or be cold about it. If we are talking about sincerity issues here, well at least GMA did made a short visit amidst issues about her and the conflict she has between her and the Aquinos.

The point here? GMA did made a last-ditch effort to fix up her reputation by paying respect to the late president, and even offering a state funeral (which the Aquinos declined). Behind all the numerous issues behind her, the latest being her supposedly last SoNA, she still paid respect to a political figure that became her rival after the 2004 elections. In my opinion, GMA somewhat did something right for once as she made an effort to visit the late president. I'm not saying that the rivalries are over, but the good point here is that rivalries are set aside for this particular event.

How I wish Imelda Marcos visited and also paid her last respects to the woman behind People Power 1.

A balance between the two

I remember back in high school that I would always wish I wouldn't be afraid of interacting with the opposite sex all because of the thing called katorpehan. Back then, I would be a tad too hesitant to talk to girls for a reason I couldn't explain even by myself.

But however, as I am in college life, I wish something different: that I should learn not to be too open on things especially crushes and likes. As being one-of-the-girls playing a major factor on this, I have learned that by being too open, I immerse myself to danger more than when I am in my more naive state.

I'm not saying that I want to be all torpe again; it's just I need to have a balance between being open and being disclosed from the public.

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Our politicians presently pisses me off big time. Take the case of Senator Bong Revilla. For me, he is the epitome of a fucking hypocritical bastard. He criticizes people for making sex scandals, that it is immoral and all that shit, and yet he himself is also like that! I bet a million pesos that Bong Revilla has a lot more sex scandals than Hayden Kho. Kung tatay nga niya babaero, pati din siya babaero rin ah.

And when it comes to sex scandals, I honestly don't show any pity for Katrina Halilli. Just like the Nicole rape case, it just shows that Katrina is point blank a whore. Like c'mon, who on earth would say that she enjoyed the video of her dancing in underwear and at the next perspective gets angry over Hayden videotaping her during her intimate and pleasurable encounter with Hayden (which, by the way, has recent news that Katrina "drugged" Hayden and that she had consent of the video).

It's not that I am such a sexist on this topic, but honestly, there comes a point when we are protecting the women too much that we fail to realize that its the woman who is doing the crime and the immoral act, not the man.

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And speaking of good news, I am proud and happy that the bill on taxing imported books has been rejected for good. Only thing is that the media is a whore for scandalous and negative stuff. Why not focus on good news like these instead of bullshit crap like the Halilli-Kho controversy? Honestly, I don't think there's any political relevance to these sex scandals; it's just a sign that people are simply morons. They know that doing such can cause a commotion, and yet they still do it, all for the craving for attention.

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All of the sudden, I start to feel again the effects of not being a News writer anymore. Now, I am so out-to-date of the latest happenings, both within the Ateneo and outside Ateneo. As much as I want to write and do this, I guess there's a need to move on.

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I've been going to events and parties a lot, that my resistance is getting low. Gotta get some rest so that I am all game when I turn 19 years old soon.

And yes, getting older in four days. Ugh. So much for the arrival of my last teen year.