Yang

Rage

2009-03-17T23:20:00.000+08:00

I have just read the news item about Nicole recanting her previous statements, and the so-called "sworn statement" she released only now, more than two years after the bitter battle for justice began.

Profanities race through my mind as I try to rationalize this sudden turn of events. For the statement, it seems, was tailor-fitted to strengthen the defense of accused Cpl. Daniel Smith. As I read through it (or at least the citations), I can't help but think how incriminating and contradictory it was to what Nicole has been stating ever since the case began. It would definitely remove Nicole's credibility, in the eyes of the many who would believe anything they hear or read in the news without any sort of critical analysis.

And the more suspicious part is that, it all happened after Barack Obama called the highly-contested President of this republic to commend her for her moves against terrorism and to say that the US will uphold the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on their end.

How Nicole was manipulated and maneuvered to recant, we can only guess. We could not blame her for reaching this decision (if she was not coerced into it), for the case has gone on for too long and still, justice has not been served.

In the anti-VFA rally held earlier ended on a dramatic note, with Nicole terminating her contract with her legal counsel, and her mother saying that there is no justice in the Philippines.

Add two and two together, and what do we get?

This event only proves the extent to which the government would go to protect the interests of its closest ally, the US—even at the expense of its own citizens.

Such a sorry state of government is more than enough for us Filipinos to be enraged.

Let there be no more excuses. Nicole's case should be more than enough reason for us to call for the junking of the VFA.

Crossroads (or depression, again)

2009-03-17T10:43:00.000+08:00

I don't get this. I really don't get it. The feeling that everything you do is pretty pointless — be it academics or be it Kule. It's not like I deliberately think about it; it just comes on its own accord. This empty feeling, this alienation, this strange disturbance that I hope will go away really, really soon.

Lately, I've been thinking of doing something more than I already am (and I know it's near suicide, what I'm considering). That's why right now I'm thinking about joining another org outside of Kule (UP SILIP to be precise).

The thing is, I'm really confused about what I truly want to do.

My impending graduation, one year from now (that is if I finish on time), seems like a dead-end; a deadline to make decisions. Decisions which I have put off for as long as I could. I have options aplenty, but in the end I know that somehow I have already chosen, I just still haven't gotten around to accepting which options seem most viable to me.

Existential? Maybe; most of the time I just chalk it off as chronic depression that eventually goes away. Manic-depressive? Possibly. World-weary? Isn't that too early at this point in my life? I mean, I'm barely 18, it's not like I'm supposed to experience some midlife crisis now. I'm supposed to be at the height of my youth. I'm not supposed to be like this.

But then, and the more important question is, why? Everything's going well in my life. It's not like I'm failing my classes or anything. It's not like I'm having problems again with my working relations with the people I work with.

Problem is, it's beginning to come more frequently lately that I'm afraid it might be something more serious.

Moreover, I have no freaking idea how to get around this.

I need a diversion badly. I know as much. I feel removed (detached, I think, is the more apt word) from the height of things, like when other people are around me, I just simply fade quietly into the background, choosing not to mingle, choosing to be alone, wrapped up in my thoughts (or lack thereof).

Maybe I need to write more, since I have long since recognized that writing is my form of therapy. Like now.

Or maybe I just need to stop for a moment, and breathe.

Random Facts

2009-03-07T07:36:00.000+08:00

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.#

Return to Sender

2009-03-04T18:12:00.000+08:00

Sa mga fans ni Chris S. Agrava:

Return to Sender

Hamon sa USC 2009-2010

2009-02-25T20:50:00.000+08:00

Hati ang konseho ng Diliman sa susunod na taon. Ayaw ko mang pangunahan ang mga bagay-bagay, natitiyak kong lalong mahihirapang makamit ang consensus ng USC sa bawat isyung pagpupulungan. Kung nitong nakaraang taon na dalawang partido lang ang mayorya at lamang pa ang isa, nakita na ang pagkakahati ng konseho, paano pa ngayong tatlo na silang nagkakagulo?

Hindi ko naman sinasabing may dominasyon dapat ng isang partido lamang. Marami marahil ang magsasabing "balanse" ang susunod na USC. Subalit kung itutumbas ang pagiging "balanse" sa pagiging neutral, palagay ko'y may malaking problema ang UP sa susunod na taon.

Wala namang magiging kaso ang pagkakahati nito kung hindi hahayaan ng mga niluklok sa posisyon na magkaroon ng personalan at partisan politics sa loob ng konseho.

Ang mahirap lang, iba-iba rin kasi sila ng interpretasyon sa kung ano ang makabubuti sa mga mag-aaral. Galing sila sa iba't ibang sulok ng lipunan at may iba't ibang interes na isusulong. Ang dapat lang sigurong laging isaisip ng mga nasa posisyon ngayon, isulong nila ang interes ng mga mag-aaral at magdesisyon batay dito. Sana, ito ang unahin nilang isulong kaysa interes ng kani-kanilang mga partido, sapagkat sa puntong ito, kinakatawan na nila ang konseho at hindi ang kanilang partido.

Wala naman akong problema sa hatian ng konseho kung lahat ng ipinangako noong kampanya ay matutupad. Kung mapapatunayan ng ilang niluklok na karapat-dapat sila sa posisyong inihalal sila, at hindi sila maglalahong parang bula makalipas ang eleksyon.

Siguro, sa oras na ito, tapos na akong manlumo sa resulta ng eleksyon. Wala na rin kasi itong magagawa sa puntong ito; sa huli, ang magagawa ko lang ay umasa. At kung biguin ako ng mga taong tinutukoy ko, ang magiging sagot ko ay walang pagpapaumanhing pagtatasa at pagtuligsa sa kung anumang maling hakbanging piliin nila.#

On classes

2009-02-22T14:03:00.000+08:00

Got home from dokyu shoot. Nakakapagod, pero ok lang.

Ngayon ko lang natanto na totoo palang kahit saang relihiyon, nahahati pa rin sila sa uri o social class.

Bakit? Kitang-kita ang pagkakaiba sa mga taong naninirahan sa dalawang lugar na pinuntahan namin.One community focused on their hand-to-mouth existence, the other asked our credentials and all things that reeked middle class.Iba rin ang practice nila ng relihiyon nila.

Wala lang. Na-agit lang ako.#

Wala lang

2009-02-21T19:52:00.000+08:00

May naalala lang ako from UP Fair's last night (Feb 14), mula sa Giniling Festival, isang version ng kanilang kantang "Holdap."

ORIGINAL:
What do holdapers do?
They take your money and run as fast as they can!
(Run as fast as they can)
Ispel holdaper
Holdaper, G-A-G-O, holdaper

UP FAIR VERSION:
What do holdapers do?
They take your money and then they run for president!
Ispel holdaper
Holdaper, G-M-A, holdaper

Crowd: (LOL).

At ang winner na line:

Pare-pareho lang naman tayong walang pera...

Pero mas winner pa sa Holdap ang "Astig."

Like, here are some of the lyrics (di lang kumpleto, sori):

Uso ang pa-cute, bibili ako ng cute (?)
Usong maangas, lalabas kong aking ahas
Usong malungkot, malungkot pati utot
Uso ang ___(?)___, magugunaw ang mundo

Usong maputi, glutathione glutathione
Usong maputi glutathione
Uso ang sosyal, frappucino frappucino
Uso ang sosyal frappucino
Uso ang tsinelas, havaianas havaianas
Uso ang tsinelas havaianas
Gagawin ko ang lahat, gagawin ko ang lahat
Pag meron kapitbahay ko, bibili rin ako
Para lang ako'y maging astig
Gonna be astig for life

Di ko na-gets yung medyo dulong line, pero kung tama ang rinig ko, it's "Tsong tol pare man dude" na inulit ulit.

Tapos may skit. With some lines here:
That is so astig man! Ako naman, yesterday I was using my laptop. And I was drinking frappucino. And my havaianas, with so many colors... (I lost all sense and laughed like crazy)

Ayun. Astig at Holdap. Buo na ang gabi ko. Sumama pa ang "Wala" ng Kamikazee. Para raw sa presidente...ng Malaysia (with the disclaimer: "mahirap na..."). Hahaha. Sabaw na talaga ako.

Sabi ko sa'yo, wala lang ang post na ito. Hehe.

Wala lang

2009-02-21T19:43:00.000+08:00

Babangon ako't dudurugin kita: A 2009 USC elections debate

2009-02-18T19:21:00.000+08:00

Magkakaalaman na. Magpapahuli ka ba?

The Philippine Collegian, official student publication of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and Solidaridad, Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers' Organizations in UP, bring you Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita: Debate ng Mga Partido sa 2009 USC Elections, a two-hour debate program for USC electoral candidates this coming Friday, February 20.

Slated to participate in the debate are five candidates each from Alyansa, Kaisa, Stand-UP, and two independent candidates for USC councilorship.

Date: Friday, February 20, 2009
Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Venue: Palma Hall, PH 400

Punta na!

Sa Lumba Ranao: Anekdota ng diskriminasyon

2009-02-16T14:37:00.000+08:00

Kanina, nagtungo kami sa dalawang magkahiwalay na komunidad ng mga Muslim dito sa Metro Manila para sa ginagawa naming dokyu. Yung isa, yung Lumba Ranao sa may Pasay (dapat gagawan ng artikulo ng feats last year, pero di na natuloy), at yung isa, malapit sa simbahan ng Quiapo. Walang masyadong kwento ang huli, maliban sa pinatakpan ang buhok namin bago pumasok sa mosque nila.

Iba ang kaso ng Lumba Ranao. Kinakailangan mong dumaan sa gilid ng creek sa may Roxas Blvd. Malayu-layo ang kailangan mong lakarin bago marating ang komunidad na nakaumpok na sa gilid ng mosque nila. Tagpi-tagpi ang mga bahay; hindi rin uso ang pagsusuot ng scarf o shawl ng mga kababaihan. At kinahaharap nila ang isang demolisyon dahil sa pagtatayo umano ng casino roon ng pamahalaan.

Isa pa, may nakabantay na guwardiya sa pinakadulo ng nilalakaran sa gilid ng creek. Sabi niya sa amin, sigurado raw ba kaming tutuloy kami (apat kaming babae lahat sa grupo). Nang tanungin namin kung bakit, ang sagot lang niya, "Muslim ang mga nandoon."

Na para bang sapat na dahilan na iyon upang matakot kami at huwag nang magtuloy. Na para bang ang salitang "Muslim" ay dapat iugnay sa mga negatibong bagay, na parang hindi mga tao ang tinutukoy niya.

Nakakalungkot. Nakakagalit. Pero ito ang tingin ng karamihang mga Kristiyanong Pilipino sa mga kababayan nating Muslim.#

Campus Politics: An anecdote

2009-02-14T00:00:00.005+08:00

Election's here again. We should have seen it coming, with the CRSRS referendum coming to pass, when individuals who couldn't care less about UP suddenly bombarded cyberspace with their comments and "active participation" on the SR issue.

Yeah. UP is once again officially divided by colors: red, blue, and yellow.

I know that as a member of the campus publication, I'm supposed to be nonpartisan, an "objective" observer. But then, I have always held that objectivity is a stupid myth, so...Well, I believe that as a student, I am entitled to my opinion. But, hey. No name-dropping here or there, of course. I'd just like to share some stories. Here's one:

I remember an interesting conversation I had with a supporter of the party (CENSORED) about their party's brand of activism. It was interesting, the way he said that activism isn't just about protest actions. Activism is when you study hard, when you throw garbage in proper areas of disposal, when you follow rules and all that jazz...when you're pretty much a model student with perfect grades (but a too-clean slate of grades isn't an indicator of leadership capabilities, don't you think?).

Why did I mention that? Nothing. I just thought that if that were the standard of activism we are aspiring for, then majority of the students can be called activists.

Just one conversation. It said a lot about why UP is what it is today.#

Tracking the Ballot

2009-02-13T19:28:00.000+08:00

Tracking the Ballot

The Philippine Collegian coverage of the

University and College Student Council elections

Bisitahin lamang ang www.collegiannews. multply.com para sa mga pinakahuling ulat, video, podcast at litrato hinggil sa dalawang linggong kampanya at sa gaganaping halalan sa Pebrero 25.

Untitled

2009-02-06T13:12:00.001+08:00

It is ironic that many set their sights on working themselves to death so that they can live more comfortably.#

Re: MYTHBUSTERS (on the SR REFERENDUM)

2009-01-24T01:01:00.000+08:00

I received this message from a classmate through a class ygroup, and I replied to clear up some "myths" they apparently "busted". I just want to question some things they mentioned here and help explain things to you if you have received a similar email.

Here is the complete excerpt, and my reply follows each "myth".

Just to be clear, I am not doing this because I am favoring any political ticket. I think it should be made clear that the SR Referendum is a STUDENT ISSUE. It has nothing to do with what political party we are supporting. There shouldn't be a divide among us, not when student representation on the highest policy making body of the university is at stake. (I know the election's drawing near and everything, but you [and the authors of this mythbusters thingy] should realize that the SR referendum hasn't anything to do with that)

MYTHBUSTERS

Myth # 1: The question in the upcoming referendum is "Do you still want student representation in the Board of Regents?".
Observation: The Student Regent herself, in a statement released last January 16, stated that the one and only question in the upcoming referendum will be: "Do you approve of the existing Codified Rules on Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) as rules and qualifications to govern the selection of our student regent to the UP Board of Regents?" [Yes] or [No]
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 1: I never knew that there were rumors circulating about what the question will be, but right now, I think the question is pretty much final. And there is a rationale why it is the question decided upon by the OSR.

Myth #2: The Office of the Student Regent will be abolished if the NO vote wins in the upcoming referendum.
Observation: The upcoming referendum may only have an effect on the rules that we use in selecting the Student Regent. In no way may a vote of NO by us in the referendum abolish the said office – a position created by law and which may only be abolished by a subsequent law.
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 2: Yes, the OSR will not be abolished. But the question is, will there be a regent to hold office? So, what will we do when the referendum fails? Do we ask Shan to stay until we can draft a new set of rules? She can only possibly hold office as SR as long as she's a student, but what happens when she's no longer a student and the rules are still not final?

Myth #3: The students will never have a CRSRS (Codified Rules on Student Regent Selection) if the NO vote wins.
Observation: The UP Charter (sec. 12 [1.g.]) specifically states that the Student Regent shall be chosen by the students in accordance with the rules and qualifications approved in a referendum by the students. Nothing in the law states that a vote of NO will bar any rules for selecting the SR from being set. A NO vote is a edict by the students that they reject the old CRSRS as the rules in selecting the SR, and therefore is a command that a new one must be proposed before them for their approval.
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 3: There was never a claim that there will be no CRSRS if "NO" wins. However, it certainly puts a lot of uncertainty to the selection process itself. For one, the proposal of certain parties for "NO with amendments" is practically impossible. Why? If students already reject the old set of rules by saying no, how can they move to amend it? What will probably happen if "NO" wins is that, we will draft a new CRSRS which will, again, be subject to a new referendum. There can be no new student regent until this new set of rules are approved. If "YES" wins, meanwhile, the student regent selection will take place this year and we will elect a new regent. Then, by October, the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) may propose the very amendments that they are requesting in their call for "NO with amendments." Isn't it more logical to say yes now and propose amendments afterward, instead of saying no with all the uncertainties of what may happen if no wins (e.g., new rules subject to referendum, admin intervention, no student regent)?

Myth #4: There will no longer be any Student Regent if the NO vote wins.
Observation: We again look at the law. The UP Charter (sec. 12 [1]) states that the Board of Regents shall be composed of, among others, one Student Regent. By law (Lecaroz v. Sandiganbayan) a public officer is entitled to stay in office until his (or her) successor is chosen and has qualified. In other words, the current Student Regent may temporarily hold over her position until her successor is selected through a legitimate set of rules.
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 4: As I've already said, yes, the current SR may indeed hold over the position. But what if she's no longer legible for the position [i.e. she's no longer a student]? Who will take over while the rules are still being drafted? And that's where the danger comes in, since the whole process of drafting a new set of rules will invariably be time-consuming (it will, again, be subject to a referendum), that we are not sure if Shan will still be around by the time a new set of rules are established. And without the CRSRS (new or not), we have no official mechanism to select a new regent.

Myth #5: Assuming that the NO vote wins, if the current Student Regent graduates or resigns from her post, it will be the administration who will select her successor. Our independent representation in the BOR is in danger from attacks through admin-intervention.
Observation: Let us quote Section 12 (1 [g]) of the UP Charter: "One Student Regent, to serve for a term of one (1) year, chosen by the students from their ranks in accordance with rules and qualifications approved in a referendum by the students;" There is no question that the law mandates that only the students may choose the Student Regent. Any act by the administration to appoint the SR will surely be annulled by the court due to it being contrary to law.
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 5: "One Student Regent, to serve for a term of one (1) year, chosen by the students from their ranks in accordance with rules and qualifications approved in a referendum by the students;" the charter says. But since the rules will be discarded if "NO" wins, who could say what would happen? We might say that the chances of the administration appointing a regent is pretty slim, but there is still a possibility that there will be no regent until the new rules are finalized if the "NO" vote wins.

Myth #6: We will have no Student Regent to represent us if the NO vote wins and the current Student Regent eventually graduates or resigns because the process to select the SR has been rejected by the students. No rules = no process = no Student Regent shall be selected.
Observation: The UP Charter has also given us a remedy for this situation. Section 12, paragraph 2 of the said Charter states that in case of vacancy, such shall be filled in the same manner as provided for her predecessor. In as much as the current Student Regent may temporarily hold-over her post until her successor has been selected through a valid set of rules, the current CRSRS may also be temporarily retained as the rules to select a temporary Student Regent until an official one has been selected through a legal set of rules.
Status: Busted.

On "Myth" # 6: Sure, you can do that. But isn't that hypocritical—using a set of rules which have already been rejected by the students (if, again, NO wins)? So what's the point of rejecting a set of rules you are willing to use in case of emergency? Why not just say yes and move for amendments later?

Myth #7: The councils failed to recommend their amendments on time. The deadline for filing amendments is set by the CRSRS on the first day of October. No proposals were given to the OSR before such date.
Observation: It may be true that the first day of October is indeed the deadline for submitting proposed amendments under the old CRSRS. However, we must also take the following into consideration:
a. The practice for the past ten years is for the GASC to convene twice annually: once in October to approve the CRSRS (and any amendments proposed thereto) and again in December to select the SR by implementing the rules approved during the October session. The wisdom behind setting the October 1 deadline, therefore, must have been to ensure that all proposals are submitted before the October GASC session. For everyone's information, the October 2008 GASC was unilaterally cancelled by the SR due to the upcoming referendum.
b. The Student Regent circulated letters to the local student councils indicating her intention to visit each one of them from October until December, to consult on what must be done in the referendum. It is not difficult to imagine that any rational student council at that point believed that the SR's agenda at that time, among others, must have been to seek suggestions on the probable referendum question. Considering that the at the SR's scheduled consultations with the said councils the October 1 deadline would have already lapsed, one may logical infer that the October 1 deadline must have been also suspended together with the October GASC session.
c. Article V, section 1 of the CRSRS mandates the SR to inform all student councils, through official memo, of all pertinent information vital to the process of selecting the Regent. A new law was passed commanding that the rules for selecting the SR must be passed in a referendum. A rational SR must have concluded then that the councils are in a state of limbo on how to go about selecting the said rules. The presumption of regularity has been shattered. Yet, despite this state, the SR still failed to inform the student councils that the October 1 deadline still stands.
Status: Plausible.

On "Myth" # 7: I don't think the SR alone should be blamed for the fact that the GASC meet in October failed to materialize. The new Charter has indeed thrown student institutions in limbo. But had the meeting/deadline for amendments happened, would it have made any difference? (As far as I know, the amendments being proposed by several groups now has been presented over and over again in the GASC in the past, but they never were approved.) Does this justify your decision to vote no and try to railroad the amendments you have failed to enact in the past (I won't even dwell on the ludicrity of the amendments being proposed)?

UPCAT 2009 Results

2009-01-17T05:36:00.000+08:00

UPCAT results out now at http://upcat.up.edu.ph/cgi-bin/results.cgi.

Yes! For the Student Regent

2009-01-13T14:35:00.002+08:00

Go out and vote. Participate in the systemwide referendum for the Office of the Student Regent on January 19-23, 2009.

Defend Student Rights. Defend Student Representation.

Vote YES and Defend the Office of the Student Regent.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---

In Defense of Student Representation

An Open Letter from the Office of the Student Regent

Warm greetings!

As the university heads to the final days of its year-long centennial celebration, I have observed that one historical landmark of the students’ democratic struggle inside the academe remains largely ignored- the creation of the Office of the Student Regent (OSR).

Now that the university looks back on its 100 years of existence, the significance of the OSR must not be ignored or forgotten. For the office is a concrete product of the UP Students’ sustained efforts for the representation in the Board of Regents (BOR), the highest policy-making body in the University. The BOR was once dominated by personalities appointed by Marcos. And although the students formed the largest sector in the university, there was no student representative in the body.

The students, however, fearlessly pushed for their democratic rights. Even during Martial Law, they held massive student demonstrations inside and outside the academe, determined in the face of repression from both Malacanang and the UP Administration. As the students’ campaign reached its peak, the administration relented. Pres. Corazon Aquino approved Executive Order No. 204, which led to the inauguration of the OSR. Since then, the office has become a symbol of victory for the UP studentry in asserting their democratic demands to the BOR.

Historically, the office has spearheaded the fight for greater state subsidy by initiating lobbying efforts in Congress and student actions. It has also stood up against discrimination on the basis of class, gender, race and religion. For this is the mandate of the OSR- to safeguard the interests of the students at all times.

Despite several attempts to render the OSR impotent in its duty to serve the students and the people, it has struggled to remain loyal to its function by pushing for measures to ensure the quality and accessibility of UP education and to realign the thrust of the university along the democratic interests of the people. At the locus of the campaign for student rights and welfare across UP units is the sole student representative to the BOR.

Ironically, the OSR is hounded by uncertainties, even as the whole university looks confidently to another 100 years. Traditionally, the General Assembly of Student Councils approves the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection. The new UP Charter, however, obliges a referendum of students in order to approve the selection process for the Student Regent. The mandatory referendum is a move by the state and administration to invalidate the student-crafted selection process which exhibits student autonomy and self-governance.

A referendum is a logistical difficulty. The process requires more than half of the entire population of UP students nationwide to cast their votes in favor of the OSR. There are two possible scenarios, should the students fail to clinch the majority vote: the office may be left vacant, leaving the students without representation in the BOR, or the office may still be occupied, but by a Malacanang-appointe d student regent. Either way, the institutional autonomy of the OSR is undermined. This presents dangerous implications for the office, whose commitment to democratic rights is ensured, in part, by its independence from Malacanang and administration intervention.

Sadly, these bleak scenarios come at a time when student representation in the BOR is much needed. Today, the rightful role of students in the development of the university and country is being challenged at all fronts, from the reduction of state subsidy to the militarization of campuses. It is worth noting that year after year, the state has slashed added income. Meanwhile, legitimate student institutions and formations at the forefront of campaigns against commercialization are met with suppression.

At this landmark moment in history, there is no other way to succeed over threats against our rights to representation than to collectively rise up to the challenge of a referendum. At a time of crisis, we are tasked to protect, defend, and uphold our sole voice in the BOR, in the same way that we are tasked to advance our democratic struggle against commercialization of education and campus repression, not just for ourselves but for the future generations. Now that the office is in peril, let us continue the spirit of vigilance and persistence that led to the founding of the OSR.

With the firm resolve demonstrated by those who fought for the OSR, I call on the broadest number of UP students across the entire university system to support the campaign to defend the OSR and prove, once and for all, that measures meant to impede our democratic rights shall fail against the collective militancy of the students. By defending our basic rights to be represented, we concretely reaffirm our democratic struggle for greater state subsidy, for tambayans, and for our right to organize.

Once more, history demands that students register the potency of collective action in the fight for freedom and democracy inside and outside the university. We will respond to this challenge, valiant and united.

SHAHANA ABDULWAHID

University of the Philippines Student Regent

FIGHT FOR STUDENT RIGHTS AND REPRESENTATION!

BE PART OF OUR CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND THE OSR!

Join the OSR Volunteer Corps

Contact 0916-26351-43 (UP Diliman)

Represent and Struggle

The Office of the Student Regent and KASAMA sa UP

by JPaul Manzanilla

Please circulate among your yahoogroups and repost on the internet.

No Justice! No Peace! Stop US-Israeli Aggression and Terrorism in the Middle East*

2009-01-13T14:30:00.001+08:00

BAYAN Statement on the Protest Action Condemning Israel's Siege of Gaza

January 6, 2009

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan joins the people of the world in condemning the brutal armed aggression of Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza. The 8-day airstrikes followed by the ground invasion of Gaza is the latest in the long list of atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians under the Occupation.

Israel justifies its armed aggression by saying it is a response to the rocket attacks of Hamas on Israel. This view is also supported by Israel's # 1 ally, the United States. What Israel refuses to acknowledge is the broader context wherein this violence is happening. The actions of Hamas should be seen in the context of the brutal, more than half-century occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel. In the case of Gaza, while Israel has pulled out its troops and settlements over the past three years, Israel has effectively set up an economic blockade that systematically and collectively punishes, starves and kills the Palestinian people.

The residents of Gaza have been denied any meaningful economic activity as a result of the blockade. For months now, Israel has prevented food, medicine, and fuel from reaching Gazans. Even during the time of the airstrikes, Israel has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza as it has prevented Gazans from seeking refuge and hospital treatment outside.

It is the brutal occupation which has pushed the Palestinian people to armed resistance. It is the occupation that is the main stumbling block to a meaningful peace. It is Israel's refusal to recognize the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of a Palestinian State which is the root cause of violence in that region.

In light of the historical circumstances of Israeli occupation, the current offensive against the Palestinian people can never be justified.

We condemn in the strongest terms the US government for its political and military support for Israel. For decades now, US government has encouraged and supported Israel's occupation of Palestine and its armed aggression against the Palestinian people. The US government not only provides billions of dollars of military aid to Israel, it also uses its veto power in the United Nations to support the cause of Israel. Recently, the US government even rejected a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, a clear indication that the US supports the attacks on Gaza.

We call for an end to the siege of Gaza and for immediate relief for the Palestinian people ravaged by the Israeli armed offensives. We call for an end to the inhumane blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza and for allowing much-needed aid to be brought to Gazans.

We call for an end to the Israeli occupation as the only long-term and viable path to peace. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their fight of genuine self-determination and freedom from oppression.

STOP THE SIEGE! STOP US-ISRAELI AGGRESSION AND TERRORISM!
END THE OCCUPATION! FREE PALESTINE!

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The Israeli military is doing the US government’s dirty work!

Stop the ongoing massacres in Gaza now!

BAYAN USA

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, an alliance of 12 Filipino organizations in the US, vehemently condemns the US government-sponsored bloodshed that is currently ongoing in the city of Gaza, in the Palestinian territories. As of the writing of this statement, the Israeli military air strikes in Gaza have killed over 300 Palestinians, and nearly 1000 more are critically wounded, including women and children. The death toll from the last 72 hours alone in Gaza marks the highest in the decades-long so-called “Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. Israeli state officials claim the siege on Gaza is a response to the Hamas government’s continued “violent retaliation” in the form of rocket barrages.

To understand the so-called “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” more comprehensively, one must see it in the context of US imperialism’s role in dividing and plundering the Middle East to serve its economic and political interests. The state of “Israel” still serves as a strategic access point for US-imperialism to plunder the entire region’s most profitable resources– black gold and oil.The state of “Israel” is a US surrogate state that has long been funded by Washington DC to do its dirty work and uphold its interests in the region. This includes the ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinian families who were violently forced to flee from their ancestral lands beginning in 1948 with the forceful and violent Zionist occupation of Palestine and the establishment of the state of “Israel”. The establishment of Israel and its systemic massacre and displacement of the Palestinian people is one of the greatest offensives of the US government in the Middle East, that duly serves the interests of US imperialism to control the region.

Israel-US government relations remain tight and intimate in this campaign. Israel is the largest recipient of direct economic and military aid from the US government since World War II. This means the Israeli military’s continuing offensives on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are made possible with generous funding from the US government. The hard-earned tax dollars of the people of the US are fueling these continuing attacks of the US surrogate government of Israel against the Palestinian people. At the same time, the global economic crisis is hitting the people of the US hard with massive job lay-offs, foreclosures, evictions, and budget cuts to health care and education.

In light of their historical oppression, the oppressed Palestinian people have every right to resist and determine their form of resistance in the interest of their national liberation. It is understandable that this heroic resistance includes armed struggle. The Palestinian people have suffered the most horrific crimes of war and massacre from US imperialism at the hands of the Israeli government.

In the same light, the Filipino people are suffering from attacks from the same enemy. If the state of “Israel” is considered US-imperialism’s front door to the rest of the Middle East and Asia, then the Philippines would be the back door. For almost 110 years, the US has forcefully imposed its control over the Philippines, directly and indirectly, for the sake of maintaining this strategic geo-political and economic post in the Asia Pacific region. One of the first colonies of US-imperialism at the turn of the 20th century, the Filipino people suffered great losses. More than one-sixth of the Filipino people were massacred with the first few years of US occupation.

Like the US surrogate government in Israel, the US surrogate government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is also performing the same dirty work in the Philippines to advance US imperialism’s control over the country. While Israel is the largest annual recipient of US economic and military aid in the world, the Philippines is the largest recipient in Asia. But US economic aid to the Philippine government is not used for economic development of a very poor nation. Instead the Arroyo administration directs US economic aid towards beefing up the Philippine military, which has been responsible for the gravest human rights crisis in the country since the period of the US-backed Marcos dictatorship, and deepening corruption by buying the loyalty of corrupt Philippine politicians. The Philippine military is also responsible for the massive displacement of millions of Filipinos from their lands, especially the Muslim and indigenous communities.

Here in the United States, oppressed and working people have the responsibility to cripple the state terrorist machinaries of the Israeli and Philippine governments by demanding the withdrawal of US direct economic and military aid to both countries. As the global economic crisis continues to awaken the people in the US to the rotten character of US imperialism, we must strengthen our solidarity ties to national liberation struggles abroad, including Palestine and the Philippines. By intensifying our struggles and resistance against US imperialism in all parts of the globe, we can weaken our common enemy.

Furthermore, President-Elect Barack Obama’s swift appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief-of-Staff foreshadows continued Zionist oppression of the Palestinian people. His father, Benjamin Emanuel, is an ardent Zionist militant who has been infamously quoted as bragging that his son will ensure the incoming Obama administration’s pro-Israel agenda, and offensively remarked that Arabs in the White House are usually relegated to cleaning floors. We must therefore remain vigilant and maintain no illusion that the incoming US presidential administration can effectively or even has the intention to restore peace in the region.

In condemning the attacks on Gaza, we demand justice for the Palestinian people. This means we demand the US-Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people’s ancestral land end, and that the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland be globally respected and recognized. Without justice, neither peace nor democracy can be realized or practiced in the Middle East or the Philippines.

STOP THE ATTACKS ON GAZA!
JUSTICE FOR THE PALESTINIAN VICTIMS OF THE US-ISRAELI ATTACKS!
FREE PALESTINE!
WITHDRAW US ECONOMIC AID TO ISRAEL!
WITHDRAW US ECONOMIC AID TO THE PHILIPPINES!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

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Worldwide actions protest Israeli massacre in Gaza

International Action Center

Beirut

Dec. 31, 2008. The genocidal U.S.-backed Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip has had at least one unintended consequence. It has mobilized the anti-imperialist movement and other anti-war forces around the world.

The Washington-Tel Aviv axis might not yet see this as an obstacle to their war crimes. But it is a work in progress, coming as the workers' movements are beginning to get in motion to fight the consequences of the capitalist economic collapse. Even in vast parts of the world where the winter holidays often drain the strength of a social movement, people reacted quickly, angrily and in some places massively to oppose the new Israeli assault.

Groups all over the world made strikingly similar calls for action. There was complete solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, a besieged and occupied population that had every right to resist. Most saw the Israelis as the direct criminal, the local gendarme acting as an appendage of world imperialism, especially out of Washington but also out of Brussels.

The immediate demands were to stop the Israeli attacks, lift the blockade of Gaza and for the government involved to break relations with or stop aiding the Zionist state. In some mostly Arab countries—Egypt, for example—the protests also targeted the regime for collaborating with the U.S. and Israel.

People began to hit the streets and squares in protest the day of the first Israeli bombing, Dec. 27, and spread through the world in the next few days. There are still some important gaps in our reports. However, we will list time and place for those protests that we know of that are planned for Jan. 1 or later with enough detail that people can use this information to attend.

North Africa and Asia

Tens of thousands of Lebanese, many supporters of Hezbollah, protested in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, on Dec. 29 in the pouring rain. In Damascus, Syria, people held Hamas and Hezbollah and Palestinian flags aloft at an anti-Israeli rally. Protesters burned Israeli and U.S. flags in many Arab cities and demanded their governments react to Israeli aggression.

More than 50,000 demonstrated in Egyptian cities on Dec. 28 according to the AFP news agency. The biggest protest was in the southern city of Asyut, led by the Islamist opposition. Some 15,000 also attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Jordanian capital Amman, and there were rallies in many of Jordan's refugee camps that house thousands of displaced Palestinians.

Sudan

There were demonstrations throughout the West Bank and in Haifa, Jaffa and other towns within the 1967 Israeli borders, and also a protest of 1,000 anti-war people in Tel Aviv. There were also anti-Israeli protests inSudan and Yemen, where tens of thousands marched in Sanaa.

In Iraq, there were demonstrations in Baghdad, Mosul, Najaf and Kuffa. In Tehran, Iran, thousands of Iranians rallied Dec. 29. In India, there were demonstrations in Kolkata (Calcutta) and a number of other Indian cities. There was a protest of more than 1,000 people in Jakarta, Indonesia on Dec. 30, waving Palestinian and Indonesian flags, and in Tokyo, Japan that same day at the Israeli Embassy.

In South Africa a protest of the Gaza massacre is set for Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. at the U.S. Consulate in Killarney, in Johannesburg.

Latin America

Caracus

In Argentina, a vigil of hundreds was held the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires after a march there on Dec. 29, called by different Argentine-Arab organizations to show solidarity with Palestine. In Puerto Rico, the Socialist Front held a mobilization in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to reject and condemn the crimes of the Israeli state, gathering at the Federal building in San Juan.

Starting at 10 in the morning on Dec. 29, some 200 people protested in front of the Israeli Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela in the second day of protests there. The Communist Party of Venezuela and other social organizations were present. On Dec. 30 people protested before the Israeli Embassy in Mexico City, D.F. There was also a protest in the Colón, Costa Rica on Dec. 30 at the Israeli Embassy.

In addition to these popular actions, statements from the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia condemned the Israeli killing of Palestinians.

Europe

In Belgium, there have been local protest rallies in Ghent, Louvain, Brussels and Antwerp the days following the first attack, with a national protest rally on Dec. 31 at 2 pm at the Place de la Monnaie, and moving on to the Place des Martyrs. It is a joint effort of solidarity committees, NGOs, the Workers Party of Belgium and Arab organizations.

In Greece, where there have been youth protests against a police killing since early December, more than 3,000 demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. slogans marched on the Israeli Embassy in Athens. Greek left-wing parties and Arab groups participated. Another demonstration of 1,000 took place in Thessalonika.

In England, Scotland and Wales, as reported by the Stop the War Committee, there have been demonstrations Dec. 28 in London of 700 people at the Israeli Embassy where protesters scuffled with police. Some protesters were seen attempting to climb the gate towards the embassy and also throwing red liquid - to symbolize blood - towards the gate. Respect MP George Galloway and former Labor MP Tony Benn were among those who addressed the crowd. Afterwards Galloway said: "We should treat Israel as we treated South Africa during apartheid. They should be shunned."

Demonstrations are continuing in London at 2 - 4 p.m. outside Israeli Embassy, and on Jan. 2, will move to the Egyptian Embassy 2 - 4 p.m. at 26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW, to call for Egypt to open the border immediately. Also in Bristol opposite the Hippodrome at 3-4 p.m. Jan. 3, and Portsmouth at 11 a.m. at Guildhall Square, and Hull, at 11 a.m. at Queen Victoria Square.

Protests are set for Glasgow, Scotland, on Jan. 3 at 12 noon outside Lloyds TSB St Vincent Street then assemble for demonstration at Blytheswood Square 2 p.m. In Edinburgh, the same time at Foot of the Mound, Princes Street.

There were actions also in Cardiff, Wales, in Nottingham and Southampton.

In Lisbon, Portugal, various organizations concerned about the massacre in Gaza, including mass union and women’s and anti-war organizations met Dec. 30 and decided to call a unified demonstration for Jan. 8, with the place and time to be announced later.

Madrid

In the Spanish state, on Dec. 28, 1,000 demonstrated before Israeli Embassy in Madrid; also demonstrations reported from Barcelona, Bilbao, Coruna and Seville. Further actions are planned in Madrid on Jan. 3 at 12 noon at the Foreign Affairs Ministry at Plaza de Sta. Cruz, and on Jan. 11 at noon at Puerta del Sol. If there is an Israeli land invasion of Gaza, there will be a protest the next day at 8 p.m. at Puerta del Sol. A march is also planned between the squares of Cibeles and Sol on Jan. 17. In Madrid people have initiated a campaign of international solidarity with the Palestinian people by hanging Palestinian flags and scarves from windows and balconies.

In France, there were demonstrations called by a broad coalition of forces Dec. 29 and 30 in Paris, where 1,300 marched, and in Angers, Annecy, Besançon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nîmes, Quimper, Rennes, Roubaix, Rouen, St.Etienne, St.Girons, Thionville and Toulouse.

Cologne

Denmark

In Italy, Red Link reports demonstrations at least in Rome and Pisa on Dec. 28 and in Naples and Bologna on Dec. 29. Soccorso Populare in Veneto reports a Dec. 28 protest of 100 in Padua, on Dec. 31 in Venice Mestre, on Jan. 2 in Treviso and on Jan. 3 in Vicenza at 2 p.m. before the Central Train Station. There were also protests in Florence and Genoa and in Cagliari in Sardinia.

A broad national demonstration has been called for Rome on Jan. 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Piazza della Repubblica marching to Piazza Barberini.

In Germany, on Dec. 28 some 50 people gathered downtown spontaneously near the big cathedral in Cologne to demand an immediate end to the massacre. The next day there were actions in Berlin and Dusseldorf.

In Austria there were vigils and protests in Vienna on Dec. 30, when 2,000 people marched through the downtown area. On Jan. 3, at 3 p.m., there will be a demonstration: Stop the Massacre in Gaza! at the Albertina, Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna. The Gaza Must Live group called further protests for Jan. 2 at 2:30 p.m. at Karlsplatz and on Jan. 9 In Switzerland there were protests in Basel and Geneva.

In Denmark, there were solidarity demonstrations in Copenhagen and Aarhus on Dec. 28, with 1,500 people in Copenhagen at the Israeli Embassy, in Odense on Dec. 29, and again in Copenhagen (Town Hall Square) and other cities on Dec. 30.

New York City

Dearborn, Michigan

Photo: Alan Pollock

United States

From inside the U.S., International Action Center and other activists have sent more detailed reports. In general, most demonstrators at first have come from the Palestinian and Arab/Muslim community. The IAC has helped with organizational and logistical support and outreach to other North Americans in the labor, anti-war and anti-racist movements.

The largest demonstrations reported so far have been in Dearborn, Mich., New York, San Francisco, and Anaheim, Calif., near Los Angeles, all numbering in the thousands.

In Dearborn on Dec. 30, some 5,000 people formed a human chain stretching for blocks in this city near Detroit that probably is home to the largest Arab community in the U.S. Some of the many youth stood on snow banks and waved Palestinian flags, of which there were hundreds of all sizes, and chanted, "1,2,3,4--stop the killing, stop the war; 5,6,7,8: Israel is a terrorist state." Passersby in cars—some also draped with Palestinian flags--honked loudly and repeatedly for the over hour-long action in cold windy weather.

A follow-up action, a candlelight vigil, will be held Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. at the City Hall in Dearborn.

In New York, some 5,000 people gathered in front of Rockefeller Center on 5th Avenue on a very busy shopping day Dec. 28. The demonstration was largely Palestinian, young and very militant, chanting, "From the river to the sea: Palestine will be free." It marched a mile to the Israeli Consulate. Majids in New Jersey towns sent five busloads of people on 24-hours notice. There were other protests on Dec. 29 and 30. A major unified demonstration is planned for Jan. 3 to start at Times Square at 2 p.m.

More than 1,500 people participated on Dec. 29 in Anaheim, just south of Los Angeles. A coalition made up of Al Awda, Muslim Student organizations and many others including the IAC, called the action. The next event was on Dec. 30 in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles. There was also a demonstration in San Diego.

On Dec. 30, several thousand Palestinians and supporters held a loud and militant march through downtown San Francisco.

In Washington, D.C., on Dec. 30, ANSWER held a demonstration at the State Department.

In Boston, there was a march of 120 people on Dec. 28 from Park Street to Copley Square with strong Palestinian participation, rush hour distributions on Dec. 29 and a demonstration Dec. 30 at the Israeli Consulate. The next action in solidarity with Palestine will be on Saturday, at 12:00 noon at Copley Square, and will march through downtown Boston past the Israeli Consulate in Park Square, Downtown Crossing, the military recruiters on Tremont Street and back to Copley Square for a concluding rally. It is being organized by a broad ad hoc coalition.

Some 80 mostly young people attended an emergency demonstration inBaltimore on Dec. 30, at the War Memorial Plaza. Over 100 people came out for a protest outside the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia Dec. 28, called with less than 24-hours notice.

The Palestinian community in Houston had a huge demonstration Dec. 28 on all four corners of the busiest intersection in town, maybe 750 people. From infants to elders, Palestinians came out with their families, lots of students, and a number of elderly women in beautiful Palestinian traditional clothing. In typical Texas style, pickup trucks filled with Palestinian youth carrying giant Palestinian flags waving in the wind drove up and down the streets honking and yelling. There were other protests during the week with the next action on Jan. 2 at the Israeli consulate.

In Atlanta, Emory Advocates for Justice in Palestine and Athens for Justice in Palestine (UGA) with help from the IAC pulled together an action in less than 18 hours for Dec. 28. More than 100 people came; mostly Palestinian, many college and high school age youth as well as children brought by their parents, with good representation of the anti-war movement.

With help from Hana al-Bayaty for the Middle East, Paola Manduca for Europe, Berta Joubert-Ceci for Latin America and dozens of militant activists around the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and Japan, John Catalinotto compiled this report

"Social truths" that suck

2009-01-10T11:18:00.002+08:00

We never question the validity of some "social truths" and things in life which has always been there since we were born. When, in fact, these are mere social constructions which can be changed and amended.

For instance, renting homes. There was a time long ago when people are free to roam everywhere, but now homes have become a source of income (actually since the feudal era).

For another, paying for utilities. Electricity and water. At such ridiculous cost, when these are basic necessities to live decently. You don't have the money to pay, that's okay, because that's life and there are other people like you. When in fact, the government ideally should provide its citizens these basic needs.

Education. We accept that public education sucks and that we must strive to educate ourselves or our children in a better school. But education is a right that the state should provide to its children.

I could come up with a dozen other "social truths" which are, in fact, mere social propaganda seeking to retain the status quo of exploitation, profiteering and whatnot.

(Did I even make sense?)

Food / health savvy? Read this.

2008-12-30T15:34:00.003+08:00

I've visited this website for health buffs, where they seem to count every calorie on every menu item/product of every company/fast food chain in America.

I thought, wow. You really must be a sucker for healthy living if you follow everything they say here. But then, if you aren't, you'd want to get your money's worth. You'd want to go for those large helpings and calorie-laden items. And, let's admit it, we don't really care for the calories, do we?

Actually, this magazine couldn't possibly find a market here in the Philippines, since our primary concern when eating out or shopping for food at the supermarket is the price. Bargain buys are always better than healthy options. In fact, you're already lucky to eat enough for a day. Millions of families survive on only P90 a day, while some even live on only around P50 to P60 a day.

How's that, health suckers? Yeah, buy another exercise machine. Renew your membership at a slimming salon. Chuck out all that "junk food" in your fridge to the waste bin. And you're free to consume all non-fat, low-calorie whatever on sale on those posh supermarkets.

After all, you're the only ones who can afford that kind of lifestyle. While us mere mortals (especially those who are mired deeply in poverty) survive on MSG-heavy cup noodles and instant mixes—sometimes on plain salt (that's sodium to you) and coffee (caffeine in your book).

Yeah, not very healthy, but unlike you, we don't have a choice. They don't have a choice, at least if they want to survive. It's not even a question of "what will you eat?" but a question of "do you have anything to eat?"

Beyond charity

2008-12-29T19:25:00.002+08:00

I would never claim to know everything there is about Philippine society. Only a fool would proclaim that, for to do so is an admission of one's ignorance and presuming arrogance.

Nor would I claim that I fully understand the big picture. For I have lived and experienced only a fraction (my social exposures are limited to a mere few days or hours at a time), and while some would say that that is enough to estimate the rest, I beg to differ.

To fully understand poverty, you need to experience poverty. Just the same, to fully understand the situation within a community, you need to immerse yourself in that community. Live with the people, live like them. You need to communicate with them. It makes the difference between simply knowing the facts and understanding the situation. Doing so gives faces to concepts like poverty and social inequality; it gives whole new meaning to these concepts.

Studying theories and knowing hard facts and statistics can only do so much. Without actually stepping out of one's comfort zone to mingle with the masses, one is but an armchair activist. All talk, no action. It's like standing inside an ivory tower, seeing and knowing everything that goes on, but not doing anything about it. (In fact, I think I am guilty of this. There's this community I promised I'd return to, but I still hadn't found the time. Before this semester ends, I hope I can return and live some time with the people there.)

And when I say concrete action, I do not refer to charity and all those condescending "acts of mercy" of the elite. Many non-profit organizations and/or charity institutions don't really "act." They just "help"...or they think they help, without fully understanding the conditions of the people they are helping. It's enough to paint them as poor and pitiable, without even considering why and how they came to be poor.

They don't realize that only by understanding the how and why of things can we come up with real and lasting solutions, beyond charity and short-term aids.

Sa pagbasag ng mga ilusyon

2008-12-29T15:18:00.005+08:00

Reporma. Ang sarap pakinggan, di ba? Yan ang pagsusulong ng pagbabago sa lipunan sa pamamagitan ng mga batas. Maraming porma nito, isa na ang sinasabing extension ng CARP na may halong reporma (CARP extension with reforms, mababasang nakapaskil sa labas ng DAR office sa Quezon City).

Iyan din ang pagkakaiba ng Katipunan ni Andres Bonifacio sa La Solidaridad nila Jose Rizal at ng iba pang mga ilustrado.

Reporma ang isinusulong ng La Solidaridad. Gusto nilang pairalin ang karapatang pantao sa Pilipinas. Hindi soberanya ang hiningi nila, kundi awtonomiya lamang. Gusto nilang maging probinsiya ng Espanya ang Pilipinas.

Subalit sa huli, ang nagpasya naman ng "kalayaan" (sana, kung hindi umeksena ang Estados Unidos) noon ng Pilipinas mula sa mga Kastila ay ang rebolusyong pinamunuan ng masa.

Ngayon naman, kung magpupumilit kang sabihing reporma ang solusyon, isipin mo ito. Ang problema kasi sa pagsulong ng reporma ngayon, may mga pinangangalagaang interes ang mismong mga nakaupo sa pwesto—ang mga may hawak ng kapangyarihang isulong ang pagbabago sa pamamagitan ng batas. May mga lupang hindi kailanman ipamimigay, mga korporasyong nakikinabang sa batas na mababang pasahod at kontrakwalisasyon.

Mamamatay tayong dilat ang mata kung hihintayin nating "makita nila ang liwanag" at bigla na lang ipamigay ang kayamanan nila para mawala na ang kahirapan sa bansa.

Repormista o rebolusyonista? Sa huli, masa naman ang mapagpasiya. Masa ang magpapasya.

Progressing vs. Regressing (Song lyrics, 1st batch)

2008-12-29T01:59:00.009+08:00

I don't want to write anything now, I still feel a bit too agitated for me to assure you that my post will be coherent or if it will be plain ranting. So. I'll just post song lyrics here.

Tatsulok

Buklod

Totoy bilisan mo, bilisan mo ang takbo / Ilagan ang mga bombang nakatutok sa ulo mo / Totoy tumalon ka, dumapa kung kailangan / At baka tamaan pa ng mga balang ligaw / Totoy makinig ka, huwag kang magpagabi / Baka pagkamalan ka't humandusay dyan sa tabi / Totoy alam mo ba kung ano ang puno't dulo / Ng di matapos-tapos na kaguluhang ito / Hindi pula't dilaw ang tunay na magkalaban / Ang kulay at tatak ay di syang dahilan / Hangga't mas marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan / At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayayaman / Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok / Hindi matatapos itong gulo / Lumilikas ang hininga ng kayraming mga tao / At ang dating lunting bukid ngayo'y sementeryo / Totoy kumilos ka, baligtarin ang tatsulok / Katulad mong mga dukha ang ilagay mo sa tuktok / Hindi pula't dilaw ang tunay na magkalaban / Ang kulay at tatak ay di syang dahilan / Hangga't mas marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan / At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayayaman / Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok / Hindi matatapos itong gulo

And I See
Datu’s Tribe

A B C D CPP, CIA KMU PNP / DOH CBCP, IMF WB / Now i know my ABCs / Ilang taon na lang magiging NIC / A B C D ADB, RAM YOU AFP / DOJ NUC, MNLF PACC / Now i know my ABCs / Ilang taon na lang magiging NIC / Lupa galing sa libingan / Patungo sa kabusugan / Patungo sa kabusugan / Ang dami nang naghihintay / Lahat nagaaway-away / Patungo sa kaunlaran / Patungo sa kaunlaran / Patungo sa kaunlaran / A B C D NBC, DSWD PCGG / DPWH ERB, MWSS PLDT / NUCD, LDP, PCHR, DAR, KNP / BAD, DOLE, DFA, GADD / Now i know my ABCs / Ilang taon na lang magiging NIC

Buksan ang iyong puso

Buklod

Ano kayang bukas ang darating / Sa bayang may pasakit pagka't biyaya'y pinagkait / Kayrami nang batang nagigising lamang / Sa maagang pagpanaw ng pag-asa o buhay / Buksan ang iyong puso / Huwag ka nang magsawalang-kibo / Pagluha'y di sapat / Ang kailangan ay pagganap / Ibahagi ang iyong panahon / Sa pagtugus ng nilalayon / Damhin mo ang hapdi at pait ng kahirapan / na ngayo'y nararanasan ng iyong mamamayan / Ilan na bang mga musmos ang sinawi ng dalita / Ilan na bang mga bayani ang nag-alay sa lupa / Kailan mo pakikinggan ang tawag ng bayan / Ngayon na ang panahon / Ang pagkilos mo'y kailangan / Nagpipiglas ang damdamin / Maayang bukas ay yakapin / Buksan ang iyong puso...

Tumindig Ka

Buklod

Tumindig ka ipaglaban ang karapatan / Tumindig ka ipagtanggol ang karapatan / Daangtaon na ang nakalilipas / Ilang pangulo ng ang nagdaan / Wala pa ring asenso si Juan / Subsob pa rin sa kahirapan / Tumindig ka ipaglaban ang karapatan / Tumindig ka ipagtanggol ang karapatan / Daangtaon na ang nakalipas / Ilang pangulo na ang nagdaan / Wala pa ring masilungan si Juan / Tagpi-tagpi pa rin ang kasuotan / Tumindig ka ipaglaban ang karapatan / Tumindig ka ipagtanggol ang karapatan / Daangtaon na ang nakalipas / Ilang pangulo na ang nagdaan / Wala pa ring sariling lupa si Juan / Nakikisaka't baon sa utang / Tumindig ka ipaglaban ang karapatan / Tumindig ka ipagtanggol ang karapatan / Daangtaon na ang nakalilipas / Ilang pangulo na ang nagdaan / Kulang pa rin ang sweldo ni Juan / Wala pa ring sariling lupa si Juan / Wala pa ring masisilungan si Juan / Subsob pa rin sa kahirapan / Tumindig ka, tumindig ka / Ipaglaban mo si Juan / Tumindig ka, tumindig ka / Ipagtanggol mo si Juan

Whoa! Pilipinas!

Datu's Tribe

Napakarami pang kagiliw-giliw na mga bagay na maipapamalas sa bayan ko na maaaring hindi nyo nakita nung kayo'y unang bumisita rito / Kaya't halina't tuklasin ang ilan sa mga kaganapan at tanawin na higit na makapaglalarawan sa mga hindi binabanderang aspeto ng / Whoa! Pilipinas

Nangingibang-bayan ang aming masisipag at matatalino / Ang pangunahing eksport nami'y nagugutom na mga desperado / Kinabukasan ng nakararami'y sinasalalay sa Lotto / At ang mga pag-asa ni Pepe'y tumitira ng rugby sa kanto / Whoa! Pilipinas

Umiimport kami ng mga binabasurang produkto / Mga mamamahayag nag-eendorso ng alak, gamot at shampoo / May mga titser na nagbebenta ng insurance, damit at tocino / Karaniwang pasahod kasi'y sapat lang bumuhay ng aso / Whoa! Pilipinas

Ang bagong relihiyon ng masa ay tele-pantasya / Kaya mga artista dito'y mga pulitiko rin at vice-versa / Andaming kampon ni Bonifacio na nasa center na ng mga elitista / Na nagiging tambayan ng mga bagong burgis na dating aktibista / Whoa! Pilipinas / Galamay ng sindikato ang mga pulis at sundalo

Nagiging congressman ang mga sugarol at babaero / Pwedeng-pwedeng maging milyonaryo sa sweldo mo sa gobyerno / At umuupo sa pwesto mga di naman nananalo

Halina't bumisita / Whoa! Pilipinas / Halina't bumisita / Whoa! Pilipinas / Nang inyo nang makita / Mga di ninyo nakita / Halina't bumisita / Whoa! Pilipinas / Halina't bumisita / Whoa! Pilipinas / Nang inyo nang makita / Mga di pinapakita sa inyo / Mga di pinapakita sa inyo.

UP Naming Mahal
Alternative version

UP naming mahal / Pamantasan ng bayan / Tinig ng masa / Ang siyang lagi nang pakikinggan / Malayong lupain / Di kailangang marating / Dito maglilingkod sa bayan natin / Dito maglilingkod sa bayan natin

Silangang mapula / Sagisag magpakailanman / Ating ipaglaban / Laya ng diwa’t kaisipan / Humayo’t itanghal / Giting, tapang ang dangal / Mabuhay ang lingkod ng taongbayan / Mabuhay ang lingkod ng taongbayan

Silangang mapula / Sagisag magpakailanman / Ating ipaglaban / Laya ng diwa’t kaisipan / Malayong lupain / Di kailangang marating / Dito maglilingkod sa bayan natin / Dito maglilingkod sa bayan natin

Middle class rant

2008-12-27T23:17:00.003+08:00

I can't seem to find my voice to find a suitable retort. I know the right answers but I'm just one, and they are so many...

I badly need to release my thoughts, so here I am now.

I remember I said to someone that I don't want to become rich. Why? Because that would be the biggest insult of all — acquiring worldly wealth in a country where 75 percent of the population is poor, where millions of families live on less than P100 a day. Then I'll condescendingly give them a fraction of my earnings and call it charity.

No. I don't want to become rich. I don't want to be one of those glittering, fake people who smile and wave at cameras. Showbiz people or politicians, there isn't much distinction in them. They are all whimsical butterflies feeding on the masses.

The problem with acquiring wealth is that you can never get enough. Because of competition, you need to struggle to remain at the top—stepping on a million others to get what you want.

And this culture of endless acquisition, of excess, of surplus, is an inherent trait of the current system.

I have other dreams. Being famous or rich isn't among them.

I feel uncomfortable with contradictions. But I know that someday, I must break free from my middle class woes, fight against middle class aspirations and finally tell my family what I want to do in life. Of course, disappointment is to be expected. I don't really plan to put my course to use. Maybe I'll get a job for several years, but I'm not sure if I'll stay on. Nothing's definite in my future, I guess (but then, whose future is really certain?). But in the end I will have to leave.

I just hope that, despite the disappointment, my family will be able to accept and respect my decision when that time comes. Along that, I hope they'll accept what I have to say, they'll accept me still.

Why am I saying this? Or better yet, what am I talking about? I don't know.

But it feels good to know that I have something to go back to in times when my resolve is weakening.

Indulging in excess

2008-12-25T21:14:00.003+08:00

What's the essence of Christmas? Is it the gift-giving, the merry-making? Is it spending all you have to celebrate?

Does a "merry" Christmas equate to the amount of worldly gifts you receive, the amount of noche buena food you partake in?

If so, then Christmas might just be the most convenient excuse to indulge excessively.

I'm really quite the pessimist.

On police brutality

2008-12-25T01:18:00.005+08:00

Crime rates are pretty high during Christmas, so this is not off-topic, is it?

I don't think my blog has ever been this alive before, so forgive me for posting every now and then today. It's just, I don't have anything much to do, so I spend time thinking (in between the pages of the manga I am reading), and sometimes those thoughts have merit so I blog them.

Anyway, a few days ago, December 16 (Oblation run and before the centennial lantern parade, so I won't forget), I covered a crime story along with three group mates for my BC132 (Broadcast documentary) class.

We camped out in Camp Karingal in QC, the CIDU headquarters to be precise, from 7 pm till around 11 pm. We transferred to Station 10 of the QCPD in Kamuning at around 11 but decided to return to CIDU after about 15 minutes of sitting idly.

It was promising to be a peaceful night. Until, around 1 am, the phone in the CIDU rang informing us of an encounter between the anti-carnapping unit of QCPD and two "riding-in-tandem" robbers. Both robbers were killed.

I won't tell you the gruesome details of the crime scene. (That was my second crime coverage, so the shock wasn't really much, but it's enough to turn the stomachs of the uninitiated) But I noted something which made me really think.

The robbers were armed, of course. They took a scooter and led the police to a merry chase to *that* road (I won't mention where). But the position of their bodies caught my attention.

First, they abandoned the scooter they nabbed. I think the bodies were two to three meters away from the vehicle.

Their positions indicate that they weren't in the offensive. In fact, they were running away.

Another: the shots they took were fatal. Actually, both robbers died of head shots (I told you it was gruesome).

So what's my point, you ask? The robbers were escaping when they were shot. In the head. By the respondent police unit.

Some would say they deserve it. But (I'm not justifying robbery or anything), let's think about it. There are objective conditions which would have led them to resort to robbery. Poverty, mayhap. Man is not inherently evil, there are circumstances which drive us to do what we do.

So perhaps the robbers were in the wrong. But we need to understand their reasons instead of merely painting them black. And that's where police interrogation comes in, along with due process. If you ask me, their lives were too high a price to pay for whisking off a scooter. It wasn't balanced.

That brings me to my second point. Why aim for the head? Why aim to kill them? Granted, they were armed, but there's such a thing called "shoot to disable," where you aim for the arms and the legs of your quarry. In fact, that's a more difficult shot to execute than aiming for the head...which was the case in this particular story.

Besides, if my observations were correct, even if the robbers were armed, they were in the process of running away. Not fighting. So there wasn't really any real danger involved. Deaths could have been prevented had the police acted responsibly.

Where's the justice in that? There was no due process involved. You did not bring them in; you chose to silence them forever. The rule of the gun took over.

It's a challenge to the police force of the country. To serve and protect us Filipinos, and to avoid deaths when it can be prevented. Being a criminal doesn't make you inhuman. At least, in the case of petty crimes such as theft and robbery.

One's life is too high a price to pay for that. Or was that the message, to scare off would-be criminals? That's a disappointing logic which treats human lives with impunity.

I think we ought to reconsider. Even those who hate wrongdoers so much. Let's not stereotype them or anything as naturally evil. Then maybe we'll understand the country's situation better.

P.S. It's Christmas and I'm thinking dark and heavy thoughts. Will there be a moment when I won't think of such anymore?

Christmas in crisis

2008-12-24T15:38:00.000+08:00

It's December 24 today. Christmas eve later, in Catholic customs.

Our dining table was totally empty earlier today. The electricity was busted too, until about an hour ago when it was finally fixed.

It's promising to be the most pathetic Christmas. Ever.

The Philippines is really in crisis. But then, we are in perpetual crisis that we don't realize just how dire our circumstances are. In Philippine culture, we must continue celebrating even if there' s no reason to do so, even if we do not have the means to do so. That's how it is; even if it would drain all your resources, you must have that one special day or meal, way better than your regular fanfare. The more extravagant, the better.

I think it's money and consumption which comprises the celebrations. I realized that it's true, too, that money makes the world go round. At least in present conditions and the current system. If you don't have money, you can't even feel excited about Christmas. Or any other holiday for that matter.

Money. The one thing that controls everything else in the capitalist world.

Nowadays, happiness really does come for a price. And, in most cases, that price might just be too high to pay, we just don't realize it.

P.S. Last week I had to go somewhere and stay there for several days. Well, in that lane where we stayed, there was only one house full of Christmas lights. The rest didn't feel like they were celebrating at all. I think it indicates just how the crisis has affected the Philippines today.

By the way, this post has everything to do with holidays and the current crisis (which everyone seems to believe has passed, but I beg to differ. There's no denying poverty everywhere). I'm not criticizing Christians or whatever (technically, I'm Christian too). While I believe in religion, and I respect each religion, since it's a matter of choosing what actually works for us, I just don't think that religion and religious customs should be used to control people. Nor do I believe in using religion to sell, or to urge them to consume more than they can.

So yeah, I guess I am criticizing Philippine culture as pertaining to Catholic customs.

Waiting

2008-12-23T21:46:00.000+08:00

I can't wait for it to happen. I know chances are bleak that I would witness the completion.

And I know that to rush things would be a grave error which might only delay things more.

So, I wait. I do my best, and I wait.

I'm beginning to think that waiting may be the hardest part.

Money, money, money

2008-12-10T22:08:00.000+08:00

Yesterday (or rather, earlier today), I journeyed home at 1 am. Despite a *slight* mishap at Q ave, I managed to go home safely. Since there are no more buses going to Malinta then, I had to use the Monumento route and ride a jeep there. I noted several things while on my way home.

One, there are many *bars* in Caloocan. And not the high-end or even standup comedy sort of bars. The sort where there are lots of women and there's videoke and drunk men all over (I passed about four or more of those, almost side-by-side). I wonder why that sort of business is tolerated...

Anyway, beyond that, I also noted just how many people are still journeying home at that time. And not the well-dressed yuppies (call center agents), too. Some are those who have blue-collar jobs and stuff.

Then I thought, in a year or so, will I be one of these people, going home during witching hours and having little rest before another day? After all, that is the working drill, right?

But then, I can't help but think, it's just money. Why are people so wrought up about it? Why must you work so much to earn so little (or to earn some more)? They're just pieces of paper and metal, after all.

The answer, however, came to me in a moment: money is what makes this world go round, at least with the current system. With a culture of consumption and capitalism, money is needed to survive. We must always strive to have more; such is the culture fed to us. For there is no such thing as "enough," we must always acquire more profit, more possessions. There's no level of satisfaction.

In a capitalist society, money is one of the most essential things to survive. I guess, then, that this is why we always strive for more. And this is why many among us work to the wee hours of the night. We need money to buy more, consume more. Money, after all, is our capital. And this is a capitalist society, driven by money.

I hope to see a time when money (or lack of it) is no longer a big issue. So that we can stop killing ourselves to live and survive.

Assuaging consciences

2008-12-10T21:37:00.000+08:00

Charity is bad. Nothing good ever comes out of it.

I got your attention, didn't I? You'd probably say I don't have a heart; that I am one of those *apathetic* souls who don't give a whit about the social realities around me.

On the contrary, though, I care. I care a lot.

Remember that old phrase, "Give a man a fish and he survives for a day, teach him to fish and he'll survive for many days" (or something like that)? Well, that is practically the point. Except that in my case, I don't believe that even "teaching" someone "to fish" would really solve the problem. With a problematic social strata like the Philippines, no matter how talented/gifted you are, you can never reach your full potential if you have to worry about basic necessities still. In short, these objective conditions will impede one's growth and shrink opportunities for development.

Anyway, back to charity. I started with *charity* on mind, too. However, I realized the so-called evils of charity soon enough.

Okay, let's take it one at a time. Let's start with small-time charities (e.g. giving alms). This sort of charity, well...the shallow analysis would be that it breeds laziness. But actually, the "evil" of this type of charity actually pertains to the giver, not the recipient (for in actuality, even if you are physically capable to do jobs, there are, again, little job opportunities in the country which you can take on). Charity of this sort, I believe, makes the giver feel good (smug, even), that he/she has done something morally right, as dictated by social standards. Thus, the level of social awareness will never go beyond giving alms or that sort of act. You give a peso or two and forget the social reality you saw. It soothes our bothered consciences; therefore we can put it at the back of our mind until another beggar comes along and stirs that deep-seated conscience once more.

Now, big-time charities (oh, you know all those charitable institutions, so I won't mention them). The sort that the rich occasionally take part in, in the spirit of generosity and giving and whatever crap they want to call it. Still, it's charity. And for me, it's still bad. Why? Well, essentially, what these charitable institutions do are kind of okay...however, to allow such acts to proliferate, we are actually sanctioning the state to abandon its duties to these institutions. Instead of providing funding for social services, the state then relies on charities to provide what its citizens need. And that, people, is what makes it bad. It becomes a scapegoat, an excuse for the government to shirk its duties.

Also, *some* charities are rather discriminating; there are some charitable institutions whose help is exclusively available to a certain sect or group (again, I won't mention names) alone. That nature of charity alone causes disparity and rifts among members of different groups, social classes and whatnot.

Point is, charity may be the entry level of social awareness, but to remain caught up in romanticizing charity as compassionate acts of kindness makes me retch. Charity may assuage our consciences for a moment, but in the end, we have not initiated true change.

More on dichotomy

2008-12-05T00:02:00.000+08:00

Damn it. This is not a feminist blog. It just so happens that everything I seem to ponder on recently is the gender inequality on Philippine society (and even that topic's debatable to be a bourgeois pursuit/interest).

Well, more on the virgin-whore dichotomy. I think that it invariably has an effect on the way women's minds work, as well. I just realized...the enmity I felt for several girls in high school could have been caused by this very dichotomy fed to society through media and literary works.

Why?

Well, simply because, as I recalled the resentment I felt, I began caging our personalities in the bida-kontrabida context (with me as the bida, of course). I felt antagonistic against those girls because I framed them in my mind as the whore I have to compete with. I skimmed the surface and never dug deeper to objective conditions which led to our misunderstanding. Sometimes, I even argue just for the sake of fitting our roles—I felt the need to argue, not because I really wanted to, nor needed to.

But, the thing is, I realized...such petty quarrels are exactly the sort we must let go of, the things we must rise above of. Maybe, if everyone didn't think in that frame of mind, there'd be less misunderstanding in the world.

Or then again, if such petty quarrels no longer exist, then we are no longer living in a socially stratified world. If liberalism and individualism were set aside for a bigger, common goal...

Social injustice and inequality may cease to exist in this world.

Truth causes mayhem

2008-11-26T22:23:00.000+08:00

iuI'm scared. I'm exhilarated and absolutely flattered with the outcome, but just the same, I'm scared.

And now the issue's getting bigger. Mainstream's beginning to stir it up. I'll bet they'll soon connect it with *that* incident. Before we know it, we'll be accosted and attacked from all fronts.

Another rough ride for us, then. We better stock up our ammunition and be prepared for another onslaught of attacks and a full-fledge battle.

Then again, telling the truth is never an easy thing. They're affected, means there was merit to our arguments. We got to them. They panicked and resorted to a counter-attack and minimize the damage we've done...or perhaps to simply deny what we have claimed.

Can I be any vaguer?

Dichotomy and racism in creative works

2008-11-23T22:57:00.000+08:00

I just read Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when I really liked her, particularly for the chick lit Can You Keep A Secret?

However, having read two of her works, I came up with a pattern on her characters. And, like the many other writers before her, Kinsella employed a sort of female dichotomy in her books. The virgin-whore dichotomy, I mean. Even if it weren't so clear cut, unlike in others, where the message was glaring—the women fight over a single man, as if he were a sort of prize. Here, we see something else, more subtle, perhaps. The women who surround the heroine come across as stereotypes.

It's not the only novel, though. It's everywhere.

Okay, I am not making any sense. Or am I?

Oh, well. I just wanted to say that women empowerment nowadays is just an illusion that ought to be spurned. For if we are truly empowered, why are we branded as promiscuous or whatever when we don't behave the way the Virgin Mary supposedly did? Why are rape victims stigmatized and not the rapists? Why is abortion--for whatever reason or defense--inadmissible?

I'm not really feminist, at least not exactly. I just believe that men are not superior to women--they're just different.

So they have no right to dictate how women ought to behave. And we, as women, should realize that it is demeaning for us to employ patriarchal ideas in whatever we do and accept them as social truths. For truly, they are not.

AFFIRMATION
1. Men are not prizes worth enough to be fighting over.
2. Women are not delineated by being a virgin or a whore. That's like saying everything is classified in black and white.
3. Women are not objects. We are not trophy stuff to be won either. Flattering, you might think, but I say otherwise. Can you stand those skimpily-clad women in shows? That's a form of objectification. So are many advertisements we see on TV.
4. Abortion ought not to be illegal. There are numerous scenarios where it is, indeed, the only way out. Where it is justifiable. Not because it's legal, it means all women are going to do it, too. Legalizing it is only meant to keep women's options open.
5. Rape ought to be a criminal case so that perpetrators will be persecuted even if the victim refuses to file a case. The state can file the case. And there's nothing to be ashamed of in rape. We are the victims, the blame is not on us.
6. Is virginity a big deal? Somehow I doubt it. It's just reducing a woman to being a pussy, to put it crudely. We are thinking individuals, not mere vessels or sex objects. There's plenty more for us to be proud of than just being...well, you know it.

Scorning society pages and all that jazz

2008-04-02T21:27:00.001+08:00

I happened upon an online petition, or should I say, sig campaign, calling for the resignation of three columnists in a certain local broadsheet in the Philippines, whose names I shall not divulge for I know that for some, these names are of certain "prominence" in Philippine society. I leave the readers the liberty of reading the petition itself, in this page: http://www.petitiononline.com/nogucci/

Having gone over the petition itself, I agree with the person who shared this link with me--the contents of the petition were rather filled with personal attacks with no enough basis. So I decided to research a bit more on the issue especially after reading the comments of people who signed the petition.

You will have to find the blog where the full story behind the petition is posted, but I have the gist of it: one of the three columnists have been accused by someone of thievingm , fraud and every notion of freeloading and social-climbing I can think of.

So have the other two, even the drugs part.

Having dispensed that, allow me to continue.

I read some of the rather vicious comments of the petitioners and I am loathe to admit my disgust on the comments. They scream of how these writers lost credibility, of how they corrupt young minds, and how these freeloaders don't deserve any space in any newspaper.

Yet in the process of doing so, I have unveiled the cause of their rage--I mean, these are the people who actually read the work of the columnists before. I won't even be surprised if some of them are actually freeloaders themselves, if not struggling to fit in with the latest fashion.

These are the "elite" of Philippine society talking--raging about some people who have, it seems, fooled them that they belonged with them, and now they shun them aside after the discovery.

Oh, how very important it is to have these three resign, to have their lives--or rather, social statuses destroyed.

It is most important for them that these three pay for their sins. For fraud, for thieving, for the deception, for freeloading for everything.

So they are guilty, let us say. So what?

Is this what has become of Philippine Society? Chasing after "Gucci gangs" and all that crap, for some crime which may not be considered petty, but at some point, rather beside the point compared to other things happening.

Oh, the sensationalism.

Oh, the crap.

To think there are a good two thousand people who signed, raving about these columnists.

Their efforts are so very wasted. While morality and credibility create media practitioners' foundations of respect, to merely see these shortcomings for what they are is avoiding the deeper problems rooted beneath.

There's the issue of substance abuse. There's the issue of "elitism" and all that bullcrap they feed us. The high-end life and all that which most Filipinos silently aspire for. Getting newspaper everyday, they are led to believe that what they see in the papers' society pages are what they can become.

Some petitioners even called for Filipinos to not be apathetic. That this is an important issue.

I scoffed. Come on, some freeloaders being hunted by someone foolish enough to be...well...fooled, or conned?

Come on.

That's important? Oh, believe me, one of these days we'll just find the headlines of our newspapers bearing society and entertainment "news," or rumors, as I believe. Pages after pages of blind items and all sort of yellow journalism crap filling the newspapers.

These are exactly the individualistic endeavors which we must overcome.

Might I ask just how many of those two thousand individuals ever considered fighting the tyrranical political regime, or stop political killings happening everywhere? Did they ever join rallies of any sort? Even just for appearances?

Maybe they do. Or will. When the regime threatens their little butterfly haven of a society.

I doubt if they ever heard of the missing Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan...students, barely out of the schoolroom who may very well still be suffering for their cause...which I believe has more to be said about than trying to bring down louts who are freeloading their way to the "creme-de-la-creme" of society.

God, the day everyone is at the rage after some Gucci-loving fools is the day I declare the Philippines hopeless. And it can very well happen.

Or not. After all, I still count. And while I rage at this foolishness, I will never try and go after some low con-actors and try to give them a piece of my mind.

Society papers disgust me. And so are the artifices surrounding them.

And not because the people there are famous and I am jealous and envious. Fame has always been overrated, a fickle f(r)iend to those who seek it.

I never did care for appearances.

Educating the blissfully ignorant in chatrooms

2008-03-22T13:03:00.000+08:00

I was crazy to have done it. But then I wouldn't have seen for myself just how ostracized and apathetic Filipinos have become.

Confession number 1: I tried to facilitate an educational discussion online. Stupid, right?

Confession number 2: I never got to start it. Needless to say most people are too apathetic. What I have been claiming for most of my "enlightened" days with Kule, that social apathy, is true, after all.

Confession number 3: Then again, it might have been my fault for being negative and antagonistic. Same faults they've seen at me since forever. But you can't expect me to set aside my principles for some diplomacy bullshit, right? That's how I see it, that's how I will say it.

Then again, I could have been more subtle.

Picture this: I am not a chatting fan, but I visited sites now and then to observe people. Of late I stayed at all-filipino channels. I have not visited this IRC channel/network for months, and lo! Before it had been a rather nice sanctuary, even if it was only a bit of fluff to relax on.

But now, all that has changed. I think OFWs dominated the place, or else Filipinos who live anywhere but here. You know why I think so? Because they spoke in rampant English. I was shocked at my findings. They were throwing foreign brand names here and there, talking as if they were anything but Filipinos.

Using an alternate persona, I wanted to rant on their hypocrisies, about how they dare speak like they're not Filipinos. How pretentious they were. One chatter noted of it, but I don't think she got to the bottom of my angst.

I entered the chatroom with a different persona. It was on impulse, I thought it wouldn't work. But work it did. This persona isn't like the first one--angst-driven, english-raving, bourgeouis. This persona was everything that I became with the help of a lot of EDs and whatnot--activist, participant, social critic and commentator. The one who called for change.

I started talking. Then an impulse came over me: I wanted to ED these people.

I tried to ED in said IRC channel (which I shall not name), all right, using this second persona. I had scruples, but they said go ahead. So, fine. I tried.

I started by trying to see their disposition on certain issues. I asked about their stand on the ongoing protests to bring GMA down.

Then one of them (the only one I debated with, apparently) said it could be generalized since I was asking their opinion. So I clarified that I wanted to see how they see things in individual perspectives.

One of them, whom I believe is an OFW, said she did not know anything about the issue. I guess that did it, at some point. How can someone detach him or herself from what is happening in his/her country and call him/herself a citizen of this country?

Oh, well. Let me tell you this: These OFWs I've been seeing a lot of in this channel aren't heroes. Nope. They're individualistic, with more care as to how they can be Americanized further by their endeavors. I can hardly wait until the US Recession becomes a big depression, and we'll see who're going to be so depressed about it.

It will be bad for us, of course. I shouldn't be wishing ill of us, but I can't help it. Whatever will happen once this recession becomes full-blown depression is to blame on the Philippine government for not creating our own industry and relying heavily on outsourcing and OFW remittances.

In fact, if you ask me, this anticipated blow is exactly what our country needs to wake up. America isn't a hero. Yet most of us insist that it is. Well, that would be one rude wake-up call which hopefully will clear the addled minds of Filipinos and set them to proper motion. And if GMA is still around by then, then she won't be around any much longer after. I don't mean we are giving up the present struggle, for clearly, we are not.

Oh well. So much for that OFW thingy.

The chatter who debated with me turned out to be an ex-activist. Or maybe, she thought she was an activist. I'm not so sure if she was a UP graduate or not, but it does not matter, for presently she is blissfully unaware of goings-on. She claimed she's not an activist anymore, if she ever was, for now she spends her endeavors on "relevant" work to help herself and others. Herself, meaning these endeavors are individualistic.

I didn't trust myself to comment on her views. After all, I was gauging her openness to a full-blown ED which I would have delivered as well as I could possibly do. So I just asked her follow-ups. I asked her to give examples of these endeavors and she riled up. She said she didn't have to justify her work. I argued that I merely wanted an example. She went all philosophical-cum-logical on me, giving out hasty generalizations and saying I was defeating my own argument and all that bullcrap only a Philo major would have known. What I understood from what she said was this: either she cannot justify what she said, or she's afraid to justify what she said for fear that I would find gaping loopholes, or she was simply not prepared to give the answer for she knew it was an incorrect assumption.

She escaped the question by saying I either drop the subject or else she'll leave. Didn't scare me, but I said my piece anyway and said she's entitled to her opinion. She is, after all, her own person.

But, I said, it does not mean that I accept her opinion as it was, as mine.

And it didn't mean I will allow her opinion to be the majority's opinion while mine remains that of the silent "minority."

Bottom line is, if ever she was an activist (that remains in dispute), then she is a very ostracized one. Bottom line is, most Filipinos fear to tread on these unholy paths. The unspeakables.
Activism and whatnot.

I never got to ED. Not that I gave up, but they weren't prepared for what I had to say, fully.

God forbid whatever crazy ideas I may have. EDs aren't meant for this medium, nor is it for chatting. Computers add an impersonal touch to everything.

EDs are meant for those who are prepared to hear the worst, face to face.

I should have known that--a long time ago.

Revolution

2008-02-15T21:24:00.000+08:00

Arroyo's audacity has attained new heights.

Reports have stated that 10,000 people calling for PGMA's ouster. However, a colleague of mine states that there might be as much as 20,000 people rallying in Makati today.

The Palace has released several press statements insulting the movement, saying that people are "tired of destabilization" and that progressive mass actions are "waning in number."

This may be true, but the releases are obviously geared to dishearten the Filipinos.

And ultimately, these words will remain true unless the Filipinos unite.

However, if and when a revolution pushes through, Filipinos must remember to never make the same mistakes again and again. To replace the ruling few with yet another member of the pack will be erroneous. The country's problems will perpetually manifest if the system remains the same.

Allow me to quote Buklod's Tatsulok (revived by Bamboo).

Habang may tatsulok, at sila ang nasa tuktok, di matatapos itong gulo.

No truer words can explain the persisting problems of Philippine society.

What are you waiting for?

Revolutions are not miracles--they are the result of constant struggle for what is right.

So long as we remain pliant and yielding to the ruling system, nothing will change.