Kwadernong Bilog

Possible.

2009-07-21T07:23:00.002+08:00

Since October of last year, I've been riding a scooter to get to work. No more hassles at getting (or punching your way) into a jeepney ride. No more one-hour trips from the office to home. And at least I can drop by Shopwise at Libis to buy grocery items.
However, the road I take is not one I take alone. I share the road with so many others, and many of them seem to have been molded from the nincompoop mold.
Although it's no wonder since I ride on Philippine roads, I am still enraged when someone takes my lane, when someone tailgates me, when someone does not know how to practice road etiquette.
Disheartening. Just the simple act of yielding speaks volumes about what kind of society you belong to. And from the experiences I have on the road, clearly, we Filipinos are a bunch of greedy fools.
Of course we have exceptions, as with all societies. There are times when a jeepney driver would wave at me to pass him, or times when someone driving an SUV in an intersection would wave at me to cross first. This has happened several times, and it never fails to elicit a smile from me when that happens.
So, clearly, it is possible to have responsible Filipino drivers. What's stopping us then?

Determined

2009-06-24T22:19:00.001+08:00

She woke me up early today to watch the first screening of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and incidentally, the first time in my whole life that I watched a movie on its first day of screening, and the very first screening at that.

We were too early. The mall was still closed. So we dropped by the nearby Starbucks branch. All along I was thinking she would be ordering her usual iced espresso, but today, she ordered an ensaymada for us two and a chocolate donut for Gabby. I also ordered a cup of brewed coffee to perk me up.

After noticing two different people wearing the same shirts and after finishing up the chocolate donut, we went to the mall that just opened and went straight to the ticket booth. Alas, the booth was still closed. We were also told that moviegoers would only be treated to a single screening (tough luck: I was planning to watch it twice).

With a bucket of popcorn we went in and enjoyed three solid hours of entertainment. Outside, “Transformers” merchandise was on display, and she promptly bought two shirts for her and Gabby. Tough luck again for me since they were not selling a shirt that would fit me.

She was determined though to buy me a new shirt. Side story: two officemates of mine already have shirts that are similar to what I have in the closet, and those shirts are the ones that I regularly wear at work.

After failing to find a suitable shirt for me at a popular boutique that catered to the stars of a broadcasting giant, I found a shirt that fit me, a black shirt with a large skull design out front, at a boutique that catered to rock stars and their ilk.

She was also in the mood to have some cake. We dropped by our favorite bakeshop at the mall, and brought home a lovely roll of chocolate caramel cake (As of this writing, the cake still sits untouched in the ref. We’re too full to take a bite).

We three went home fully satiated. I still had to cook spaghetti for her, and she still had to check on her finances.

With a half-roll of cake and a bunch of spaghetti noodles, we braved the light rain to visit my mother-in-law. We also took some time to play with Butchoi the family dog, who stayed behind at my in-laws’ house since he did not have that big space to run around at our apartment.

Afterwards, we left Gabby with my in-laws and went to the bank to withdraw funds. We went back to the mall, where we bought a tub of ice cream for ourselves and two blouses and hair dye for her mother.

Back at my in-laws’ house, she gave the blouses and the hair dye to her mother and picked up Gabby. We spent the night eating spaghetti, ice cream, and re-telling our favorite “Transformers” scenes.

Right now, she’s playing Sims 3, her favorite addiction. And me? Here, sitting this blog entry, enjoying how this day had transpired.

Her birthday.

Happy birthday, Alisa. Happy birthday, my TRUTH. This is truly a day I’m grateful for.

FrancisM (1964-2009)

2009-03-06T15:40:00.003+08:00

I remember buying Francis Magalona's album (in cassette tape format, decades ago), Meron Akong Ano!, as a gift for my brother. I was in high school then, and my brother, who was still in elementary, did not have the same excitement I had for rap metal.

The album liner was revolutionary for that time: it was not glossy, it was kinda like matte coated but newspapery-like in its texture, like papemelroti stationery.

The tape wound its way again and again in my Panasonic portable cassette player. Eventually, it became a gift for myself.

Did it influence my music? Definitely. The combination of FrancisM's quick tongue and the riffs and slaps of the guitars and the pounding of the cymbals and drums eventually made its way into my rhythm, into how I play.

Last year saw FrancisM's venturing into shirt design, which I promptly saw copied at last Christmas' tiangges in Greenhills and Marikina Riverbanks.

What made FrancisM different from other local rappers?

FrancisM forwarded an agenda, and that is pride in being Filipino. One always sees the Filipino in every FrancisM performance, whether it be the shirt he's wearing or the performance itself.

FrancisM has made his indelible mark in Philippine culture. He will always be remembered.

Go back to the community

2009-02-21T04:04:00.005+08:00

The current economic situation demands more than macromanagement. We all have a responsibility, and in this context, we all ought to pay attention on how we micromanage our resources: from the water we consume, the carbon footprint we make, the waste we produce.

Paeng has succinctly pointed out that this crisis was born of consumerism: of that oh such a lovely feeling of having new things to play with every three months or less.

Technology has indeed made our lives faster, and in more ways that we can appreciate, has also made our lives efficient. The Information Age has revolutionized sharing (like what wifey says in this post). We should share more than culture (the songs, the stories); we should also share among our societies technologies that lead the way to sustainable development.

Community-based management programs seem to be effective in sustaining development and at the same time, stewarding efficient management of resources. We can view Wikipedia as a community-based project; community-based companies such as Canonical (for Ubuntu) and Mozilla Foundation (for Firefox and Thunderbird) are proving to be competitive against profit-driven companies such as Microsoft and Apple.

This crisis is clearly a result of global greed. Our lives right now prove that the world is a small, global village: we are all interconnected, more than we can ever know. Share more, then you live more, then you earn more... more than monetary rewards.

Obama's excited, too!

2009-01-21T02:06:00.002+08:00

The 44th President of the United States of America is also keenly aware of the historical moment he's making. Just watch at how he took his oath today.

Anyway, I am also excited at how he'll lead the world's most powerful country towards change. And also, at how the whole world will go with the change.

A conspiracy among Kapampangans

2009-01-17T03:13:00.005+08:00

Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio is having a severe headache right now. Make that severe headaches.

Compared to Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, Governor Panlilio seems to be facing a wall of guns, goons, and gold -- all coming from gambling.

You see, Governors Panlilio and Padaca have similar histories. They were elected on a wave of change, of hope, just like the path US President-elect Barack Obama took to Washington DC.

photo grabbed from pcij.org

Currently, Governor Panlilio faces a stubborn group of truckers. Just yesterday, they backed out of talks with the governor on resolving issues about an anti-overloading ordinance.

I'm not really in a position to explain what that ordinance means, but if it's an anti-overloading ordinance, then it's about preventing overloading, right?

However, these truckers, who previously had stormed the Pampanga governor's office (as provincial policemen huddled in their desks), do not like the idea that they cannot bring as much sand and gravel out of the province's quarries.

Talk about leveling mountains, literally.

photo by dan zen

Perhaps it's a conspiracy. One can never know how fast money can change men's souls. Remember who Among Ed came up against during the elections? The gambling kingpins, the damned idiots, and their patron, the thief-liars. Perhaps these three families have gotten their act together to pull down the second priest to be elected as a public official.

Good thing Governor Padaca has only one family to beat in Isabela. But Among Ed? He faces three families of despots.

Al Jazeera releases Gaza videos

2009-01-15T22:59:00.003+08:00

Al Jazeera has released its video repository on a Creative Commons license. In their site, they say

We have made available our exclusive Arabic and English video footage from the Gaza Strip produced by our correspondents and crews. The ongoing war and crisis in Gaza, together with the scarcity of news footage available, make this repository a key resource for anyone producing content on the current situation.

The video below is titled War on Gaza Day 19:

The following are notes on the video, as written in the Al Jazeera website:

Segment I:

Aftermath of Israeli bombing. Homes in rubbles.
Residents and children in rubbles.
More of damage to homes caused by Israeli bombing.
Residents watching rubbles of their homes.
Bulldozer clearing debris.
Damaged houses with broken windows and residents collecting their belongings and leaving
SOT Abu Antar, one of the resident of the bombed building

Segment II:

House of Umm Rami, which is damaged by Israeli bombing.
Small children running around
CU small girl.
Interior of house showing damaged caused by Israeli bombing.
Broken asbestos sheets, which were the roof of the house.
Small children clearing debris of the house and salvaging their belongings.
Mother and children inside damaged house.
CU two babies in their mother's lap.
Mother (Umm Rami) crying and talking to Jazeera reporter about their plight.

Segment III:

Ambulance arriving at Shifa Hospital.
Medics moving injured Palestinians to hospital.
Private car bringing injured to hospital
Small baby on hospital bed with burned face and chest caused by white phosphorus.
Mother and child with burns.
Severely injured boy on hospital bed, being fed by family.
Boy with severe facial burns and body injuries.
Sabah Abu Haleema, another victim on hospital bed crying in pain.
Family members of the injured in despair.
Sabah Abu Haleema, who lost her sons in bombing of their house, talking to Al Jazeera reporter.

Segment IV:

Sheikh Ridwan Graveyard which was bombed by Israelis.
People in graveyard watching damaged caused to graves by the bombing.
People in graveyard covering graves with soil.
View of crater in the graveyard caused by Israeli bomb.
People repairing graves.
Various of damaged caused to graves by Israeli bombing.
Interview with a resident living near the bombed cemetery.

Segment V:

Warehouse of electricity distribution /transmission company in Gaza.
Bomblets still burning.
Various of Electrical transformers inside the warehouse.
Damaged electrical cables and transformers.
Engineers of the electrical department explaining the damaged.
Interview with Engineer Majdi Yagi, Incharge of the Electrical store which was targeted.

The Earth is changing

2009-01-15T21:35:00.007+08:00

The weather has been unusually cold, and those of us who have watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" are somehow scratching our heads.

For sure, those who are global warming skeptics are smiling to their ears -- there is no global warming, as shown by this unusual weather.

However, glaciers are still melting, and drought still strikes Africa. Desertification is still ongoing, and super storms are being spawned in the Pacific and the Atlantic.
photo by John LeGear

So, the Earth is changing. Our Earth is changing. Our one and only refuge in this system is changing.

At home, we've "rationed" our water. A big drum of water stands in the bathroom, while another full pail of water sits beside the kitchen sink. This is our way to help the environment, and at the same time, lower our monthly water bill.

From 10 in the evening till 4 the next morning, we shut off the water supply. And then, from 1 in the afternoon to 5 in the afternoon, we also shut the supply off. Well, that's the supposed plan... every now and then we fail to follow the sked.

Though this time around, we're making sure everyone knows the sked. There is more than at stake here than paying lower water bills, although it really helps that in the face of skyrocketing utility bills and food prices, we can still save one to three hundred pesos.

Make sure you do your part. We all live in a single planet. Water is not an irreplaceable resource -- it can be consumed to the last drop.

photo by Randy Son of Robert

Israel's Holocaust

2009-01-14T02:26:00.009+08:00

There seems to be no end to the violence that the Israeli nation can wreak on its Palestinian neighbors. This picture of an injured Palestinian child comes from the BBC news website.

Is this the way Israel wants us to remember them by? This singular nation, specific victims of the Holocaust, targeting innocent children, creating orphans out of hundreds of Palestinians?

I whole-heartedly agree with the assertion of journalist Len Olea that Israel is clearly a war criminal, together with its ally, the United States, in destroying the lives and property of Palestinians in Gaza City.

The way Israel treats Palestine civilians is no more different from the way the Nazis treated Jews during World War II. However flimsy my argument may be, there is still no reason to justify all this mindless violence against women and children.

the year's almost out

2008-11-30T03:42:00.004+08:00

2008 has been a good year, for all its ups and downs, for all its caboodles and oodles. Lemme count what I got this year:

>> a second happy year of marriage to a woman I happily love
>> my own website!
>> getting a job I really like, and all its attendant "motivations:" job security, medical coverage, mandatory benefits
>> use of a Mac (and for a country like us, that would really be something for an entry-level middle class worker like me)
>> a red street bike (a cross-over between a mountain bike and a racing bike)
>> Red Ezra, my noble Yamaha Nouvo SE

Materially, I have been successful. So far, I've been able to sustain a family and give some help to my parents. Spiritually... well, there's the rub.

This ain't about religion, though. There's a deep river between going to church assiduously and being emotionally, intellectually, spiritually enriched.

This is something we argue about, me and wifey: the old life I had. The old, unsustainable lifestyle that I had.

No, I'm no junkie. I'm no alcoholic, either. I WAS a poet, a musician, a writer. It was true that I lived on a meager salary, it was true that I had no cares about the strings (or ropes, actually) that this society, and the world in general, tie us down with.

I find it difficult to juggle the responsibilities I have now and the need of my "old" soul for literature, for poetry, for good food, for good music. A "clean, well-lighted place," as Hemingway wrote.

I complain that I have no time, but in reality, all the time for rest that I get I de-stress myself, which is just a painkiller, a remedy before the real burn-out happens.

How I thank God though to have given me someone that never tires to make me laugh. If she reads this, she'd tell me I'm ranting again, depressing myself again. Hahaha. And then she'll pinch my lovehandles, and kiss my nose. And then I go laugh uncontrollably.

Yep. I don't know what's with the nose, but a kiss on mine tickles me. She discovered it.

Introducing... Red Ezra!

2008-11-02T01:05:00.002+08:00

Here he is after sometime. He's almost two weeks old now, and we've gone as far as Baras, Rizal just this morning. Red Ezra is a Yamaha Nouvo Sporty Edition, and I really don't know what year he was produced. Technically Red Ezra is a scooter, and a powerful scooter at that.

MY CELLPHONE HAS BEEN STOLEN

2008-09-28T09:15:00.002+08:00

Quietly, silently... the snatcher brought the cellphone from the depths of my pockets. And so the cellphone, which this morning was successfully contacted by my wife, continues to live on the hand of another person, my SIM card apparently still active, being used barefaced by another person.
So watch out, all those who know me personally and my cellphone number. Don't be fooled by their modus operandi, by pretending to be the SIM card owner, by taking the identity of the one they stole from, by contacting the SIM card owner's friends and seeking help. This modus operandi has victimized a friend, and has cost her terribly, financially speaking.

How about lower fares?

2008-09-11T23:53:00.004+08:00

And so, tonight, oil prices will again be reduced, and according to reports of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, oil prices have been slashed by as much as PhP 8.50 for gasoline and PhP 6.50 for diesel and kerosene.

Still, fares stand at a minimum of PhP 8.50 -- a very unfair fare considering the lowered oil prices. Added to the commuter's burden is the delay in the Implementing Rules and Regulation of the amended Income Tax Law, which is supposed to "relieve" the common taxpayer.

We have mechanisms for increasing fares... do we have mechanisms, though, for lowering fares?

It is but high time that we be relieved of this tremendous pressure to work more for less income. We are not slaves, we are not carabaos.

I am just dumbfounded by how much b*llshit we can take from this illegal regime. I am really dumbfounded, discombobulated, knowing that the Court of Appeals can be bought, that a government official can easily escape to the United States with millions of pesos tucked away somewhere, knowing that we have a liar as a leader.

How much sh*t are we really willing to take as a people?

The poor die poor.

2008-09-02T10:13:00.001+08:00

Mang Pandoy is now dead.

The foremost symbol of poverty remained a symbol of poverty to the very end. He is so poor his family cannot even have him buried.

All those unkept promises. All those short-term support. All those tokens. All for naught.

He had started poor, and he had died poor. Was it his choice -- to die of tuberculosis, to have an indefinite interment?

This is how the government (and in extension, our politicians) treat our poor -- as pawns in their indefinite struggle to be at the top of the heap.

How magnanimous.

Route 28 - The First Long Ride

2008-08-30T01:39:00.004+08:00

Just bought a road bike last Monday. The chain unfortunately broke that same night. Anyway, that made an excuse for me to buy a genuine Shimano chain. At least I have a Shimano part lurking in my bike, right?

My route took me from my home in northern Pasig to my parents' home in southern Pasig. The trip totaled almost 12 miles, which roughly translates to 19 kilometers.

View Larger Map

Seem daunting? In the past I was able to ride a mountain bike to Imus, Cavite from Mandaluyong, and back, when the coastal road was still open to all vehicles.

Road biking has been a passion of mine. Maybe it's just my itchy feet, but nothing beats the feeling of air rushing through one's ears as one pedals his/her way.

I also don't want to grow old with aching joints.

Inhumane

2008-08-28T06:55:00.002+08:00

Our government's failure to integrate our unique Pinoy psyche in development programs is one reason why our country's progress remains, as a whole, stunted. Trapped in a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, coupled with a very pervasive system of client-patron relationships, our country will never be an industrialized country.

Just consider our society's food security. We rely on our neighboring countries to supply us with our basic staple, rice. Consider, too, how our government treats sidewalk vendors, jeepney and bus drivers, and the lowly commuters.

I find it inhumane for a government to have its citizens walk almost a kilometer to get a bus ride along Edsa, what with all the pollution, and the weather we're exposed to (the heat of day during summer, or the blazing rains during the monsoons).

This government must adapt its traffic management policies to the Filipino psyche, instead of the doing the other way around. For as long as I can remember, this government has relied on Western methods to educate its citizens, enforce economic policies, and plot development goals.

The only thing that remains Asiatic in our society are the political structures we derived from the archaic and clannish datu system, which exists to this day in Mindanao, and in its highly evolved form, in Congress.

This government has forgotten obviously forgotten for whom it works for.

On a Roll!

2008-08-11T22:42:00.001+08:00

Alisa's on a roll!

In a span of a few weeks, she has established two new blogs for her (and for our friends) to enjoy -- Thumbbook and Litrato at Iba Pa, both hosted at Wordpress.com.

Do pay these blogs a click -- you won't regret it. Part of why I fell in love with Alisa in the first place was her quasi-humorous style of writing (quasi since it reads funny, but is actually serious). Gets?

Beware... of Wrong Spellings!

2008-07-27T11:13:00.001+08:00

Describe love.

2008-07-17T02:20:00.001+08:00

I haven't written about you for such a long time now. By now you should know why, or perhaps you have forgotten why.

I'll reminisce, then. I remember you asking me why I haven't written a poem for so long (except for the one I emailed to myself the other day). I simply answered you, "I have difficulty in describing indescribable happiness."

I have difficulty describing my teary-eyed moments with you, while our laughter fills the whole house.

I have difficulty describing the kisses you plant all over my face, and how I would laugh uncontrollably whenever you plant a kiss on my nose (a ticklish part I never knew until you discovered it).

I have difficulty describing how I feel whenever you look at me, whenever you pout, whenever you gently hit my arm... let's just say whenever I say you're cute at what you're doing, it's exactly that -- I find it cute whenever you look at me, whenever you pout, whenever you gently hit my arm.

And then, every now and then, after all my difficulty in describing my indescribable happiness, you ask me if I'll ever grow tired of you.

Let's just say I prefer to be happy eternally, even if I can't describe it.

Inutile.

2008-07-16T22:31:00.001+08:00

This inutile regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have cut off themselves from reality. They have effectively numbed themselves from the real situation happening in the kitchen, in the living rooms, in the bedrooms of all Filipinos.

And now, this regime is offering loans to poor families, the loans coming from the VAT that has been mining billions of pesos from our shallow pockets.

And even then, loans are STILL loans -- they are meant to be paid, meant to be returned to the very regime that offered help.

And she even has the gall to say that these ready billions came from the well to do! Oh my, does she know that VAT covers almost everything? VAT covers a can of sardines. VAT covers a packet of instant noodles. VAT covers a small, plastic tube of cooking oil. VAT covers a teaspoon of salt. And who consumes a can of sardines, a packet of instant noodles, a small tube of cooking oil, a teaspoon of salt? The well to do? Ask any Elizalde, Ayala, Araneta, Tantoco, Prieto, or Arroyo if lately they have eaten a can of sardines.

I have this theory. This regime, elected out of sheer dishonesty, will cling to power just as they did in "endearing" themselves to the military.

Almost all Cabinet members are former members of either the armed forces or of the national police. Our true, bemedalled military officers are languishing in jails, imprisoned for speaking their minds out.

This regime has also "endeared" themselves to local chieftains, err, local government officials by doling out millions of pesos in paper bags and IRA funds.

And now, this regime is taking the opportunity, taking this very golden opportunity, of "endearing" themselves to the "poorest of the poor" by doling out cash, doling out loans, doling out gifts in the midst of a world financial crisis.

Who stands to lose if we were to scrap the VAT on oil and basic goods?

Who else?

Are we really too tired to wage a revolution against these nincompoops calling themselves "our" leaders?

Have we succumbed to apathy, to turn a blind eye to this scandal-wracked government?

Questions and more questions. It is up to us as a nation to answer these questions.

The Electric Bill Paradox

2008-07-15T14:14:00.002+08:00

This e-mail came in forwarded through my inbox. This should circulate not only among email addresses, but among Web addresses. The scandal over Juday's endorsement of the ludicrous Meralco bill is just the tip of the iceberg. Please read on to know more. I didn't trace from whom this email came from, but the reasons it gave convinced me to make this a blog entry.

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

Pakibasa po ng malaman nyo gaano ka-corrupt ang govt. natin sa electric bill natin!

Bilib ako sa commercial ni Juday, biro mo naipaliwanag niya in 30. sec ang masalimuot na system loss na yan..:)

Tama si Juday sa kanyang paliwanag ng system loss, pero kung tayo ang bibili ng yelo at ayaw talaga nating mabawasan ang yelong binili, siempre magdadala tayo ng styrofoam ice box o Coleman..

Ang tawag diyan ay increase the efficiency. Kung baga sa mga distribution utilities ayusin nila nang husto ang electrical network, pati na ang mga substation and step-down transformers para nagooperate sila sa maximum efficiencies. Kung lumang-luma na, palitan o di kaya imaintenance. Tapos, ireduce, at kung maaari ay alisin, ang mga administrative inefficiencies, tulad ng wrong meter readings, pilferage ! at kung ano ano pa...

At alam ba ninyo na hindi lang meralco ang nagpapasa ng system loss? Pati ang TRANSCO na government owned at siyang nag me maintain ng power grid. Balak ipasa or naipasa na ng TRANSCO ang 2.98% ng system loss nya sa meralco.. at shempre kanino pa ba naman iyan sisingilin ng meralco..

Ngayon alam na natin kung bakit natunaw ang yelong binili ni Juday... pero part pa lamang yan ng equation kung bakit mataas ang singil ng ating koryente, kunin ang electric bill.. at heto ang component ng ating electric bill...

Generation charge
Tax on Generation charge
Transmission charge
Tax on Transmission charge
System loss
Tax on System Loss
Distribution, Metering and Supply charges
Lifeline rate subsidies
Tax on distribution, metering and supply charges and lifeline rate subsidies
Local franchise tax
Universal charges

I-add mo lahat yan at yan ang total electric bill mo... pero napansin nyo ba sa isang electric bill 5 tax ang babayaran natin?

Para lalo nating mapansin, ganito ang flow ng kuryente bago dumating sa bahay naten... Ang napocor or IPP ang mag po produce ng koryente...bago pa makaalis ng planta ang koryente, magabayad na tayo ng tax na 51 cents /kwh.

Ang koryenteng iyan ay padadaanin ngayon sa TRANSCO, papunta sa distribution utility natin gaya ng meralco.. Muli tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno, this time 11 cents/kwh

Pag nakarating sa meralco ang kuryente, muli sisingilin tayo ng buwis ng gobyerno, ng distribution tax at franchise tax...

At dahil magbabayad tayo ng system loss muli na naman tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno... ng system loss tax..

A eto pa ang kwela sa lahat, after i total ang iyong electric charges.. papatawan kang muli ng tax.. t! his time yung 12% e-vat. Imagine 5 Tax na binayaran mo, yung tax na yun eh bubuwisan pang muli ng isa pang tax...

Ang alam ko po sa batas bawal ang double taxation... pero sa ginagawang ito ng gobyerno.. cguro naaayon na sa batas kase lampas na sa double eh (sarcastic lang po).

At upang madagdagan pa ang sama ng loob nating mga filipino... Ang napocor, ayon sa batas ay kinakailangan mag imbak ng supply ng coal na tatagal ng 5 taon.. pero ano ginagawa ng napocor... sasairin nila yung supply nila ng coal upang tumagal lamang ng isang taon, at dahil paubos na, mapipilitan silang mag conduct ng emergency purchase na di na dadaan sa bidding.. or kung dumaan man, dahil sa ikli ng time table, walang makakapag bid.

SO si napocor bibili ng coal, hindi sa lowest bidder, kundi sa kanilang preferred suplier.. ang masaya pa neto, anlaki na ng patong... higit pa sa doble ng actual price ng coal sa market... idagdag pa jan ang arkila ng mga barko na gagamitin sa pag ta-transport ng coal... na shempre muling pagkakakitaan ng mga napocor executives...

Sobra na nga pinapataw na tax sa atin ninanakawan pa tayo ng gobyerno natin..:( ansaya ng buhay sa pilipinas no?

Kaya bago natin husgahan si Juday, sa kanyang paliwanag ng system loss, at bago natin awayin ang meralco sa taas ng singil ng kuryente.. tignan muna natin ang pinag uugatan ng mahal na singil... si meralco lamang ba ang salarin? or ginagamit rin lang sila ng corrupt na gobyerno para lalo tayong pahirapan?

Kabayan, please dont keep this message!

Pakipasa sa iba...

Ain't Creative

2008-06-16T20:23:00.003+08:00

Featured in tonight's TV Patrol (ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network's flagship news program) is Rogue Magazine's latest issue, featuring on its cover model Joey Mead in her birthday suit, albeit painted on with the Philippine flag.

Oh, this is indeed a rant against the magazine's cover. Not only against Joey Mead's beauty itself (and I find her rather fugly, given her insane past), but also for the magazine's defense of what they find creative.

Lemme give you an idea where I come from. I now find myself working for a company that outsources graphic design services to overseas clients. Every day, every night, we're called upon to be creative. Immersed in such an environment, I am confident about what creative means.

I digress. Let us go back to what I'm trying to point out.

Rogue Magazine's cover featuring an old naked model with the Philippine tricolor painted on her is simply fugly. I find their Cherie Gil cover better, placing the audience in the shoes of the soon-to-be-wet Sharon Cuneta.

The cover is not creative. It is not creative at all. Pandering, that's what it is. They just sought to pander to the erotic interest of the male audience. Honestly, when I found their latest issue on the magazine racks at MegaMall, I was surprised to find Joey Mead still at it. Or maybe the editors had "something" to do with ancient Ms. Mead.

And according to the TV news report (so forgive me for basing my logic on the faulty boob tube), the pictorial was part of Lawyer Argee Guevara's take on the mire our society is finding itself boiling in.

Whatever political point the article was trying to say, it had drowned in the depiction of a naked ancient model with the Philippine flag painted on her. How tasteless.

The last thing on anyone's mind who is interested enough to find this society educated and enlightened is the image of a naked woman, the painting only serving as a loophole to label it creative. Oh, let me clarify that last statement: they wanted it labeled "creative." It ain't creative.

At least with the reaction they're getting about their latest cover, they got to live up to their magazine title. Maybe even a boost to their circulation.

Paypal Email Scam

2008-05-04T20:12:00.004+08:00

Good thing I have junk mail controls set up in my Thunderbird email client. Just today, I checked out the three (3) mails in my Junk folder. I was curious enough to check the email with the subject "PayPal Email ID PP565." I was thinking, is there something wrong with my PayPal account (besides from the zero balance I have)?

The email was a scam, all right. It was trying to lead me to a website, where I think it will harvest my username and password and other pertinent information. Whether the scammers were just "fishing" or if they really knew I had a PayPal account, I will not know.

Here's the complete email text:

Subject: PayPal Email ID PP565
From: Security Center
Date: 4/29/2008 7:39 AM

Dear valued PayPal member,

Identity protection matters. And PayPal works day and night to help keep your identity safe. That's why it has come to our attention that your PayPal account information needs to be updated as part of our continuing commitment to protect your account and to reduce the instance of fraud on our website. If you could take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service.

However, failure to update your records will result in account suspension.

Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.

To login to your PayPal account and update your records click on the following link:
http://0xca.0x8d7522/icons/online/user/ppsecure/

Thank You for using PayPal!

The PayPal Team

Accounts Management will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements, as outlined in our User Agreement.

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

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link located in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

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

PayPal Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United States as an electronic money institution.

PayPal Email ID PP565

NOTE: A search with Google reveals that the Financial Services Authority is indeed a regulatory body IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Critical times

2008-05-02T12:31:00.002+08:00

So many scandals have racked this once proud country, so much corruption has maligned even the lowliest of public servants. The cancer is ever-growing, never stopping, as if Jose Rizal the national hero had not written his novels describing the prevailing social malaise.

A decade ago, when I was wailing my head off writing for college papers, I was already writing against the apathy that was engulfing my generation, and the generations after me. It was like finding a needle in a haystack if ever I knew someone who was thinking of the same problems I was thinking, and who shared the same views I held.

Nevertheless, I am not losing hope that we'll get out of this mire alive. It has always been that way. I do believe, though, that as a people, and as a forgetful civilization basking in the tropics, we will never walk outside the shadow of a colonizer, be it the United States of America or the People's Republic of China.

Still here, and existing

2008-03-24T01:03:00.000+08:00

Perhaps it is a basic thought, but the past few weeks have not rendered me speechless, or have blocked my hands from writing. I have taken in another new meaning, I have taken in another life, I have taken a job.

The entrepreneurship trip is not over, though. I would rather want to see it from the perspective of a penniless businessman, who has to generate income to steamroll his own road towards progress.

I have aligned myself with the graphic design industry for two years now, and it seems I find more comfort in being creative with shapes and fonts rather than being creative with words and concepts. It is hard to learn, but it is so much better than being dumb and numb.

Step Down, GMA.

2008-02-25T20:09:00.003+08:00

Reclaim EDSA

2008-02-25T19:52:00.003+08:00

February 25, 1986 is no special day. February 25, 1986 is an historical day. I shall never forget a day when hundreds of thousands of my countrymen converged along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (or Highway 54 to the ancient ones) in a rare display of nationalism -- a virtue I have always viewed as lacking in us.

At that historical intersection of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue now stands a figure of religion. And under its wings a platoon of battle-ready soldiers always stands guard. An obvious desecration of hallowed ground, where prayers, tears, and sweat mixed with the heady air of nationalism.

We, as a people, have allowed bastards to step on our hallowed grounds, on the very spot where our race as one country found expression.

We are a masochistic race. We revel on our despair, on our woes. We want progress, but we are cowards, afraid of sacrifice for our own kin, afraid of confronting the bastards who corrupt our society.

What else can be said about a people who allow themselves to be trampled upon, to be spit upon, to be treated like animals?

We pay for the salaries of policemen who regularly violate our rights for peaceful assembly and free speech. We pay for the very bullets of soldier-assassins that maim and kill activists, priests, and journalists. We pay for the the special no. 8 license plates of our so-called honorable representatives, for their bullet-proof cars, for their arrogant security detail and for the luxuries of their wives, mistresses, and spoiled kids.

And of course, the very cash that flows from the bloodied hands of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to her minions comes from our pockets lined with fear and abuse.

All of these, we fight with prayers, we fight with protest rallies, we fight with text brigades.

Let us heed Engr. Jun Lozada's call for truth to overpower all the profanities of the present regime. Truth shall set us free, truth shall power us to resolve this maddening crisis.

GLORIA RESIGN!

Hard fall for JDV

2008-02-05T04:28:00.000+08:00

We should not blame Representative Joe de Venecia for spilling the beans at the very last moment. The former Speaker is not known for his vindictiveness, and certainly, the only time I remember him shouting in the chambers of Congress was last night, as I sat there seeing someone facing the gallows.

By his own reckoning, by his own interpretation, by his own acts anyway, we can define that JDV is a classic politician -- an intelligent man who manipulated and used power to make everybody happy and ingratiate himself to his audience, but in the end, it was still the happiness, the satisfaction of the majority that mattered (of course, including the politician's own happiness).

Many are asking, "Why only now, JDV?"

JDV is, I say again, a politician of the classic mold, of the Political Science 101 sort. He naively believed that GMA could right the wrongs she and her allies were making. He naively believed that his colleagues would see the light someday, would steer Congress to the right path, and he, as Speaker of the House, would lead them, not as dictator, but one among peers -- primus inter pares.

We have seen dictators in other Southeast Asian countries make tiger economies of their dictatorships, but the Philippines have always suffered from greedy intellectuals like Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We can surely blame JDV for naively hoping that Macapagal-Arroyo will take care of him out of gratitude; however, as her regime clearly manifests, Macapagal-Arroyo is no politician who uses power to make everybody happy.

She is the great dragon lady, the firestarter, the mother of all cowards -- just look at what she did when she married a scion of one of the country's oldest, richest, and nastiest landlords; just look at her alter egos as Cabinet secretaries, most of whom are former generals (makes me wonder whether GMA had harbored wishes to enter the Philippine Military Academy as a cadet... she wouldn't make it, anyway, considering her height); just look at her having three close relatives in Congress, two of them her own sons; just look at her lying straight-faced, saying "I'll never run for President," and "I'm sorry."

If there's any consolation to JDV's wails last night as he was being stabbed by his honorable "friends" by the ides of February, it is his grand act of standing by his son. In the first place, he could have told his son long ago to shut up, to go to Europe and keep a low-profile as ZTE constructed the NBN and Abalos enjoyed his millions.

There is so much to do for this country, JDV, aside from making circuitous routes to avoid assassins. Finish what you had begun, this battle of yours and of the people.

PR: RP gov't should extend assistance to aggrieved workers

2008-02-01T12:49:00.000+08:00

PRESS RELEASE
Two OFWs in Kuwait, terminated for complaining against unfair labor practices
RP gov't should extend assistance to aggrieved workers

Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) condemns the illegal termination of two Filipino caregivers by Al Essa Home Care Services for leading a complaint of 11 workers in said company for unfair labor practices. We strongly enjoin the Philippine Labor Office in Kuwait (POLO) to provide all the necessary assistance to said workers and not to compromise their rights.

The two, Josephine Tuburan and Gemma Limsam have stood their ground on January 30 not to agree to the reasons given by the company why they were terminated because of its spurious reasons. A day earlier they were being prevented to go out of their dormitory by the company to attend a conciliation meeting scheduled in the afternoon. Only the perseverance of the workers and the intervention of Migrante-Kuwait were they allowed to attend said meeting.

Last year, Armida Tusino was sent home by the company for leading the workers against the malpractices of the company. Unfortunately, the POLO in Kuwait denies that they received any complaints from the workers that time.

Nine other Filipino caregivers have resigned in disgust from the company. They were promised free airfare back home, their remaining salary for the month, a chance to come back to work in Kuwait with other employers and waiving of a penalty of KD250 (US$915) for breach of contract. The company also promised to provide the remaining workers a copy of their pay slips. There are 53 Filipinos and more than a hundred South Asian caregivers in Al Essa.

However, the KD130 (US$476) deducted from them for their airfare to Kuwait (which the company told POLO was for training fees) was never given back to them. In addition to this, they still lacked payment for 2 hours of overtime pay (they were only paid for 10 instead of 12 hours) and for working on their days off and holidays. The caregivers have a basic pay of KD70 (US$256.00) and a meal allowance of KD10 (US$37.00) every month. This only totals US$293 a month which is far short of the US$400 which the Philippine government brags should be the minimum pay of household service workers.

These caregivers work in homes and hospitals. However, they are considered skilled workers both by the Kuwaiti and Philippine governments. Reportedly, their wards pay their company KD300 (US$1098) a month for their services. In other words each worker generates 375% or US$805 of profit for their company.

Other complaints of the workers which were not acted upon by POLO include the following:

1. One month salary deduction for their placement fee even if the workers already paid such fees in the Philippines
2. Filthy accommodation which includes water and power shutdowns
3. Payment of KD1 (US$3.66) every time they need to go to the hospital even if the company promised no charges for these
4. Indifference to those who meet accidents or get sick
5. Misrepresentation to the wards that they are registered nurses even if their contract stipulates that they are caregivers
6. They were forced to sign a blank paper by the company once
7. They are only given two days off in a month but are allowed to only two-three hours for this and are treated as prisoners

APMM thus reiterates its call on the Philippine authorities concerned to provide all the necessary assistance needed to the workers and a positive solution to their other complaints.

PABRIKA IMAGERY is now online

2008-01-29T11:45:00.000+08:00

Finally, PABRIKA IMAGERY is alive. It is live and kickin'. Kinda difficult to "give birth" to a live and kickin' site.

But now it's there, and we're still cookin' up stuff to put in. I'm still cleaning up the whole place (i mean, the site), but the facade is ok now, the walls are all painted on, the chairs and the tables are in their places, and the pot is still simmering. Nye.

Intimacy at Moomai

2008-01-22T11:07:00.000+08:00

Moomai is a social networking site currently on beta. The site's a proud product of syndeo::media, a young start-up company. So, being in beta, the network is by invitation only for now.

One idea that sets moomai apart from other social networks is Intimacy, a concept they use in programming the rating system. I, for one, was curious about that Intimacy setting, which you can use to set the level of (what else?) intimacy between you and a friend.

As explained in this entry, Intimacy as a concept has the potential to revolutionize (and i dare say the word) how social networks operate. Friends are real friends, not some face you see and a request to "add" them up to your "friends" list.

Social networks can become real networks, and participation becomes more active, more relevant, rather than the daily bulletin board posting and the chain messages that fill up the inbox.

Caleruega on a hill

2008-01-22T03:13:00.000+08:00

A rotunda in a cul-de-sac fronting the administration office that looks like a church perched on a hill welcomes you to the retreat that is Caleruega.

Coming off the Silang exit along the Southern Luzon Expressway, a two-hour drive takes you to this spiritual haven that can also be an available venue for your commercial functions, be it for your company's spiritual retreat, or an escapist wedding set in the midst of lush, green surroundings.

Inside the administration building, a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene takes you for a surprise, and your thoughts begin to swirl around the debate whether she was the Messiah's wife or a plain prostitute rescued.

Nevertheless, the whole Caleruega experience can literally take your breath away on any non-rainy day, as you walk up towards the chapel itself located on the topmost hill, and then walk towards the hanging bridge on the very fringes of the Caleruega estate, only to walk up again the steep incline towards your car parked in the busy rotunda in the cul-de-sac fronting the administration office.

Caleruega is not commuter-friendly. Located in Nasugbu, Batangas, just a few meters away from the boundary of Alfonso, Cavite, the haven sits behind a golf club. One can easily miss Caleruega altogether, since only a small arrow perched on an electric post along the national highway points to the direction of the golf club's gate. Not one notice tells the commuter that one has to pass through the golf club's gates to reach Caleruega. Upon reaching Caleruega, that's the time you get to know how to reach Caleruega, through a map in the brochure that tells you how to reach Caleruega. Don't forget to pay the 50-peso fee per head, and sorry, no discounts for kids.

Pabrika Imagery is now officially under construction

2008-01-18T03:16:00.000+08:00

My road to entrepreneurship is still going. And I can see that the road, although it reaches far into the horizon, is almost obstacle-free.

After successfully making an exchange deal with Pinoy Press, I am now fully underway into constructing my very own website.

On my links tab on the left you'll see Pabrika Imagery on top of the list.

Much work still needs to be done, especially with the conceptualizing and all the bells and whistles that we're planning to put up on the site, but at least I have quietly launched my groundbreaking ceremony.

We have successfully registered the company with the Department of Trade and Industry, and now I still need to get permits from the City Mayor's office and the local Bureau of Internal Revenue.

And hopefully, by the end of this year, I can confidently call myself a businessman.

Lost in time

2008-01-15T10:29:00.000+08:00

Veritably, our government is lost in time. Either the military has resorted to its primitive roots, or Raul Gonzales has really lost his head (which is, in reality, far from impossible). To say that communists are behind attempts to topple the government is to ask innocently that oh my golly, Rizal is dead?

In the first place, why are there peace talks behind the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)? Why are our troops commissioned to do patrols in our sparsely populated countryside? Isn't it because of the decades-old communist insurgency, which has always threatened to encircle the capital region and topple the regime in Manila?

To issue press releases like this is to pre-emptively suppress the constitutional right of citizens to free assembly and freedom of expression. And I thought the military vowed to protect the constitution, as declared in their humongous billboards along the white walls of Camp Aguinaldo along EDSA?

How silly of me to believe anything the military says.

On January 22, farmers will be commemorating the massacre of their kin on Chino Roces Bridge on Mendiola. Our honorable secretary found it convenient to declare that this memorial, this remembering of kin senselessly murdered for crying out loud, is an event that destabilizers will take advantage of.

Of course, mister honorable secretary. I'm no lawyer but I'm no fool. The farmers will be out there, protesting on the streets, risking their lives, their farms and their families, to hurl invectives at the government for always reneging on its promises to improve the agricultural sector.

And the people you call destabilizers, mister honorable secretary, are people who keep on helping and protecting the people you have forgotten -- the farmers, the fisherfolk, the urban poor, the out-of-school youth, the displaced, the women and the children -- compared to your government's mercenary armed forces who pillage the countryside and maul the urban landscape in the guise of protecting the Constitution.

Some things on my mind

2008-01-12T15:49:00.000+08:00

There are some things on my mind right now, and the rains, the pouring rains are just keeping me whoozy. I am planning to cook champorado (by the way, champorado goes best with rains, and I don't like mixing it with tuyo).

My stepson and my niece are laughing heartily in the background, while Alisa takes her time in having her rest. She's feeling sick with all the rains and all the stress that goes with her job, and she has to be strong enough to go to work tonight. I don't know what will champorado do for her, but then again, mixing chocolate with rice is a miracle, a delicious confrontation between the Orient and the Occident.

Christmas has been a very merry one, while the New Year celebrations heralded another new year for new ideas and new friends.

So many ideas are brewing now, so many ideas that need to be born, to be raised, and to be taken for the world to see.

Just this week we bought a magazine's maiden issue, and that maiden issue excited us with competition, with a resolve to do something better with what we had bought (Basically, we bought that magazine out of sheer curiosity).

And of course, time has that fearless job of murking things up. We cannot attend the supposed brainstorming sessions we had scheduled for today due to Alisa's condition, and thus the birth of a very, very exciting idea must wait for another week.

This project will be born, not only due to our sheer determination to make better stuff, but also to deliver to the Fates what they had brought to our very feet in the first place. Oh, abstract as it may sound and as it may read, but giving birth to a very exciting idea gets my adrenaline going. It is just Father Time telling us, make it good while I slow it down.

Deadly Coffee

2008-01-08T23:05:00.000+08:00

"the Best 3x times Ocedant if you drink coffee

BARAKO can protect your body with CANSER"

We all know how coffee can be healthy, and as with all good things, coffee also has its "deadly" side.

But I never thought coffee can be this deadly.

Look at what I found this Christmas

2007-12-30T21:42:00.000+08:00

For Christmas, I bought myself something I've been missing all these years. It is not that expensive, but it is really hard to find -- happiness.

Being a complete family this Christmas season has enabled me to find happiness in my families, in the company of friends I have kept all through these years, and among my colleagues and associates I have returned to here.

There are new cherished friends, and some friends thought lost but are now here again.

There are, of course, gifts for children for whom Christmas is special beyond faith.

And as this fateful year draws to a close, I would like to wish everyone luck and happiness beyond measure for the coming years.

Maligayang pasko, Pilipinas, at manigong bagong taon.

The Year 2010 and GMA's end

2007-12-12T10:01:00.000+08:00

After 2010, we can do anything against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her minions. Let us just make sure that she steps down in 2010. Look at what the Peruvians did to former president and pseudo-dictator Alberto Fujimori.

From the looks of it, though, she ain't going down by 2010. And if that were to happen, what would we do?

An African hawker?

2007-12-03T10:19:00.000+08:00

And I was quite surprised, but true. An African hawker came to holler at our gates, seeking my attention.

He asked whether I spoke Tagalog (?!), and of course, I said yes. Forthwith he also spoke in Tagalog. After presenting his ID (he was Tony something, and he was the "marketing supervisor." He kept on telling me he had 45 people also walking the streets), he tried to sell me motion sensor devices, the ones you see being sold at DIY stores at malls. He was offering two units for PhP199 only, and as bonus, he would gladly give me a pack of 10 batteries for free.

I was almost convinced, since the units offered security.

Anyhoo, I am still very disturbed at this morning's encounter with an African hawker.

Monday take on the Thursday stand-off

2007-12-03T07:43:00.000+08:00

Several days have passed now since that fateful Thursday stand-off at the Manila Peninsula. That very day, as I monitored newsfeeds from the boobtube, the radio, and the Web, I also looked around Technorati to see what bloggers were saying about the mutiny.

Many were still holding their voices on what was happening, but I was already seeing various vicious comments about Philippine Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier General Danilo Lim, former commander of the country's elite First Scout Ranger Regiment.

This is saddening to note, that these commenters have access and all to the web but can't seem to see the bigger picture into which the puzzle of the failed mutiny of Trillanes et al. fits in.

Let me share anyway what my fellow blogger Paeng had also shared -- a much better explanation of what had transpired, courtesy of the much-admired sociologist, Professor Randy David. Don't forget to visit, too, the renegade soldiers' instant website.

Getting there

2007-11-29T11:34:00.000+08:00

I have been following several techie blogs for some time now, and I have realized that none of the blogs I have been following discuss the impact on our environment of the tremendous explosion of electronic devices borne out of Moore's Law. Maybe I haven't read closely, or even between the lines, but not one tech blog has an advocacy tying the ill effects of so much irresponsible technology on the environment.

Maybe it's an oversight on my part, or maybe I just didn't read that many blogs in the Philippine blogosphere. Of course, I am no authority in that aspect, but from my personal surfing experience, I have never read a blog that tackles that specific issue -- of the environmental impact of this explosion of technology.

Environmentalism is no more a fad, just as El Niño, La Niña, severe droughts and snow storms, uncontrollable fires and rising ocean levels are no more than a fad. With the Information Age came the Age of Annihilation. There is only one superpower left, and we all know it's the empire of the United States of America, but rumors of hundreds of nuclear warheads entering the weapons black market persist. And if the database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency can be hacked, surely the codes to these nuclear warheads is as easy as ABC to enterprising hackers.

Still, nuclear annihilation, though not far-fetched, is a long way-off compared to the environmental upheaval of global proportions we're having right now.

Let me get to the point. I have successfully made three entries in my advocacy blog, Have a Gut!. Go over, and read the three posts regarding guilt-free technology, open source software, and the environment. Thanks go to Paeng for pointing out my "mirroring" of blogs :).

Banners high for the Saguisag family

2007-11-09T09:19:00.000+08:00

Tragedy has befallen the Saguisag family.

Being a family man myself, the accident that cost Atty. Saguisag the life of his wife made me think about my own relationship with my wife, and how things would be darkly different if all of a sudden she were to go Dulce Saguisag's way.

Life is short, and always we are reminded by the daily deaths that go on public record. However, it is painful to account (an understatement) that many deaths are caused by another man's irresponsibility -- violent deaths due to crime or worse, simple idiocy.

Dulce Saguisag died because of a driver who thought his vehicle of a dump truck was as light as a go-kart and could be stopped immediately by lightly pressing the brakes.

Dulce Saguisag died because of a driver who thought the meaning of traffic lights going from green to red still meant "go."

Dulce Saguisag died because of a driver who the Land Transportation Office (LTO) thought was responsible, intelligent enough to be given a professional driver's license.

I am seething with anger not because it was Atty. Saguisag who lost his wife, but because what happened to him can also happen to me, and I don't want to lie on a hospital bed, to the point of dying, ignorant of the fact that my wife, my lifetime partner, is already gone.

got time for Flickr?

2007-11-08T03:42:00.000+08:00

Just got a Flickr account thru my Yahoo! nick. The photos we got while we were in Cebu are too beautiful to be kept musty in the hard drive.

Check out the pictures, and I'll be adding more as soon as I get some time.

Defacing The Truth

2007-11-07T11:56:00.000+08:00

Although I really do believe that the National Press Club (NPC) is one historical institution, it is with difficulty to say that they can have an ounce of my respect.

The recent hullabaloo with the mural they had commissioned is only symptomatic of what the NPC really is, or what composes the NPC today.

And to call lowly artists as "ingrates," as described in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, reeks of arrogance.

What else can be said about what they did, defacing a work of art? Collectors of paintings pay millions of dollars for an artwork, but for the love of art, never did any of them (as much as I know of) vandalized the artwork they bought. Have you seen a Van Gogh painting with the name of its owner written on it?

Only one thing is clear, outrageously clear, disgustingly clear, frustratingly clear -- they were trying to please the heck of a human who had unveiled that monster of a censored mural.

Lest we forget

2007-11-07T11:10:00.000+08:00

The Palace spin doctors are working overtime. We have seen information overload, and even a humongous fart that had claimed precious lives.

However, in the midst of all these issues, we should never forget that Malacañang tried to bribe our local officials. We should never forget that Malacañang tried to ram down our throats as taxpayers a very costly (ahhh... it is still an understatement) project that our telcos can do for us at lower prices. We should never forget that Malacañang, through the AFP, murdered journalists, priests, and activists in their pursuit of dictatorship, deftly disguised as the "strong republic."

The damned must be damned.

We should never forget. We must not forget.

the road to entrepreneurship 2

2007-11-06T10:50:00.000+08:00

a follow up on this

The other day I went to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at Trafalgar Plaza along dela Costa Street in the Makati City CBD. What was I doing there? I came to finalize the registration of the name of the company I am putting up with friends.

I applied at the Business Name Registration System (BNRS) of the DTI, and then the whole process will send in an email informing you of your application. After a week or so they'll send an email either rejecting or approving the name you had applied for.

Fortunately, mine was approved, and so the DTI email instructed me to go to the DTI office at Trafalgar Plaza.

After an hour or so of travel, I was finally there, and the nice lady told me that my application is incomplete since I didn't have a middle name in the application. Oh. I forgot my mother's maternal name after all. All in less than five minutes.

So I was instructed to repeat the whole process. Ok.

Attaway to do business here in the Philippines.

It is all a big fart, says the PNP

2007-11-05T15:24:00.000+08:00

Based from what our national security agencies believe (the Philippine National Police and even the National Bureau of Investigation), what happened at Glorietta 2 can happen at our very own primitive homes.

Imagine heeding the call of Mother Nature, then suddenly a huge explosion rips you apart, rips your whole toilet apart, rips your whole house apart, because of the methane buildup in your humble poso negro.

Considering that most of us do not even install wastewater treatment facilities at the municipal and city levels, imagine the number of explosions that would tear the metropolis apart, all from the humongous methane buildup that will catch all of us unaware.

And I am very sure that with the PNP's pronouncement, the Malabanan empire will have its hands full (eewwww!) sucking and draining all the poso negro facilities in the metropolis to avert the inevitable mind-numbing fart bombs, the lethal methane explosions that will tear all our Mariwasa-branded thrones apart.

So, after all the drama and the weeping, is the government saying that it was just a very, very, very big FART that had caused all of those deaths, physical and otherwise?

How intelligent.

almost back to square one

2007-11-05T04:02:00.000+08:00

It has been one long holiday break. A holiday break that also broke into a monotone of PS2 games and 12-hour sleeps.

And tomorrow, payment for the credit card is due, notwithstanding the other bills that need to be settled. Yep, a sudden reality check.

I knew it would be difficult. I have always prepared myself in such situations, always taking mental calisthenics and acrobatics to run my self through the rollercoaster of emotions that accompany such great risks.

Such as the decision to become a freelance graphic designer. Oh, yes, I am a freelance graphic designer.

And what does that mean?

No job security, no financial security, no routine. Just hours and hours and hours, te deum ad infinitum, of mindless wanderings about what can be done, about when something can be done, and about whoever can be the tool to have something done.

I am suffering over the maelstrom of insecurities that I have to endure.

A hopeless reminder about this country

2007-10-25T18:49:00.000+08:00

Deposed president Joseph "Erap" Estrada, convicted for plunder, is free.

And this country definitely ain't.

After six and a half years of languishing at his resthouse in Tanay (hahaha... did you really think he was a prisoner?), Erap is granted pardon by his former vice-president. All he had to do was to withdraw his appeal for reconsideration, and drop all plans to seek public office.

With all the influence he wields, does Erap really need an elective position to get what he wants?

There's no other way to think about this. Aside from declaring another state of emergency, Gloria needs to do all that she can to redirect the unwanted attention she has been getting.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has her dirty hands full of controversy: the broadband fiasco, the bribery AKA as financial assistance, and the deadly Glorietta bombing.

And what better way to deviate all the attention, all the boos and the insults thrown her way, than to do the unthinkable, the unforgivable?

We might as well dissolve the Sandiganbayan, which found Erap guilty beyond reasonable doubt of plundering this poor country. Throw in the dissolution of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (tasked with recovering the ill-gotten Marcos wealth), considering that the Marcoses are back in power after all the pillaging they've done.

the road towards entrepreneurship

2007-10-25T11:42:00.000+08:00

Among our plans on our return to Manila is to pursue commercial endeavors. Just last night, I was talking to two very good friends about establishing a company that will sell exclusively-designed shirts.

Countless hours will surely be devoted in designing sample shirts, and of course the requisite permits and licenses must be applied with the corresponding government agencies.

How I wish establishing a business is just as easy as buying a prepaid SIM card. Yep, I know, there are reasons behind the difficult path towards entrepreneurship, but I don't think the government, with its penchant for exporting Filipino workers (and an irrepressible urge to kill those left behind), appreciates a darn thing about Filipino entrepreneurs.

We shall count blue cars

2007-10-21T09:58:00.000+08:00

Tell me all your thoughts on God... 'cause I'm on my way to see Him

Counting Blue Cars, Dishwalla

The twenty-four hour window has passed, still, we (the authorities and us all) are clueless as to who was responsible for the Glorietta blast that has claimed ten precious and irreplaceable lives.

I can only weep for the families that lost those ten precious and irreplaceable lives -- weep for the vacuum created by Death, weep for the insensible end that those ten precious and irreplaceable lives were made to meet.

And if those ten precious and irreplaceable lives only knew that they would be on their way to meet God, surely they would have done more than ask our thoughts on God.

This is our undoing as a people, as a civilization -- the Philippines beset with an arrogant society, who bespeak of glory and honor, only to be bound by hands and feet to humongous rocks of corruption and greed. How else can we describe ourselves?

We shall count blue cars on the very rocky path towards true democracy, towards a mature (inexplicably, the government confuses maturity with the word "strong") republic. And as we count, we shall allow ourselves bedeviled by a government that kills its own citizens for its own ends.

Di Ko Alam

2007-10-11T09:42:00.000+08:00

Ngayong umaga, isinulat ni Alisa ang kuwento ng dalawang penoy at ng kanyang mga magulang, ng aking mga biyenan. Pagkatapos magsulat, dumiretso na siya sa kama at humiga, tila may gustong takasan... maaaring iyung isinulat niya, o ang emosyong biglang lumitaw pagkatapos makapagsulat.

Siyempre, nag-alala ako. Patay na ang PC... parang tinakasan talaga. Binuksan ko ulit, at hinanap sa My Recent Documents ang isinulat niya. Doon ko naabutan ang mga tinakasan niya... doon ko nasalubong... sa My Recent Documents.

Nasalubong ko ang kwento ng dalawang penoy na binili niya ngayong umaga, at ang kwento ng mga multo ng mga penoy na ipinasalubong sa kanya noong bata pa siya, mga penoy na binili ng kanyang mga magulang para lamang sa kanya.

Sa bandang dulo ng sulat niya, naramdaman ko na alam na niya kung paano matatapos ang kwento niya. Doon pa lang, itinigil na niya, at tinakasan ang napipintong katapusan -- isa, o higit pang, balde ng mga luha.

Bumalik ako sa kama namin. Kailangan niya ng yakap. Kailangang makatulog siya, makatakas nang lubusan.

Hindi ko alam, Mahal, kung saan pumupunta ang mga masasayang alaala natin bilang mga bata. Hindi ko alam kung anong silbi nila -- ang palungkutin tayo, o iparamdam sa atin na ang buhay ay tunay na maiksi, na ang bawat pagkakataon ay dapat ninanamnam, dahil lilipas ang bawat pagkakataon, at hindi natin malalaman kung saan napupunta ang mga nasayang na pagkakataon.

Heto lang ang sigurado ko -- kapag napipinto ang pagbulwak ng luha, kapag gusto mong takasan ang pagmulto ng nakaraan, takbo ka lang sa kama natin at sasalubungin kita ng yakap.

Back in chaos

2007-10-01T22:25:00.001+08:00

Not exactly. It has been almost two weeks since my return from tropical Cebu. From the relaxed attitude, day in and day out, creative juice flowing kinda existence in that southern paradise, I am back in the hustle and bustle of the metropolis.

The first week was spent adjusting my in-laws' house to our existence as a family. Alisa never got tired of re-arranging the things, and she was especially thankful that I was around to help. She had a very, very difficult time when work started for her while I was still in Cebu, since she had to tutor our son and at the same time, have enough energy to do the nighttime shift. Therefore, one of the first things I did upon arrival was to cook my son's baon for school :).

I had planned to do several, simultaneous rackets upon my return. I am used to this kind of life before -- when literally I had asked friends for "something" to do -- a magazine to design, an article to write, a gig to play, a concert to go to. In the past, there was just time to burn, and nothing else. Money was scarce then, but money wasn't the center of attention (even now, I'm proud to say).

Alisa says she's proud of all the things I am doing. I say, you know what? There's this palpable difference between then and now, despite having the same hectic schedules and the all the task-juggling.

There is this sense of fulfillment.

I go home to the beckon of my son, always asking, where am I? Am I on my way home? How far am I? What exact time will I arrive home?

Tired and dizzy, I am energized whenever he calls out, "Daddy," and asks another question. Alisa says he is not that talkative with his biological father. I am thankful, then.

Very, very thankful.

Pag-asa

2007-08-29T15:05:00.000+08:00

Isinilang ako nang medyo natanggap na ng lipunan ang Martial Law. Maaaring tinanggap na lang ito ng mga tao dahil sa pagod at kawalan ng pag-asa. Sabi nga ng kolumnistang si Michael Tan, mapagpatawad tayong mga Pilipino. Mapagpatawad o makakalimutin? Hindi ko alam. Ang nararamdaman ko lang ngayon ay kalungkutan habang pinapakinggan ko si Cesar habang inaawit ang kanyang Balita.

Kasagsagan ng digmaan ngayon sa Mindanao. Ang buong Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas ay ipinadala upang sagupain at tuluyang puksain ang isang pangkat ng mga bandidong lumalaban raw sa ngalan ni Allah. Ang mga pinakamagaling nating sundalo ay nakakulong dahil sa kanilang prinsipyo, habang ang mga pinakabata nating sundalo ay ipinapain sa mga beteranong kalaban. Ilang anak na rin ang hindi na nakasaglit sa kanilang mga ina, ilang ama rin ang hindi man lang nahalikan ang kanilang mga bagong silang na sanggol, dahil mula kampo militar ay dumerecho na sa kani-kanilang mga libingan sa Basilan.

Dinampot ng mga Olandes si Jose Ma. Sison, isa sa mga namuno laban sa Martial Law noong dekada setenta. Hindi pa rin nagagapi ng pamahalaan ang Bagong Hukbong Bayan, pero ngayo'y nagpipista sila sa tuwa sa pagkakaaresto ni Sison sa mga salang galing yata sa puwet ng kung sinong bobong pulis. Hindi pa rin natatagpuan ang katawan ni Jonas Burgos (umaasa pa ba kayong buhay siya?).

Ang taas ng buwis. Ang taas ng mga flyover na itinatayo sa Kamaynilaan. Ang dami ng mga sasakyang naglalakihan na iisa lang ang pasahero.

May darating bang Kristo o Buddha upang sagipin tayo sa ating sariling kumunoy?

On my way to Manila

2007-08-16T14:51:00.000+08:00

Here right now at a free Smart Bro booth at the Mactan International Airport. Spent almost two thousand pesos for the extra cargo and the airport terminal fees. In a few minutes, we'll be boarding our 4pm Cebu Pacific flight to Manila.

This is Alisa's last day here in Cebu. Some part of me is of course sad that upon my return to Cebu, I'll be spending all my days all alone, alone at the pension house.

Of course, I clearly understand the need. This is our adventure. Another chapter of our lives as husband and wife has come to an end. This is the transition... this is where the hero falls on his knees and seeks the help of the heavens in his last great fight.

I am also on my own return, on my own journey.

The Cradle of Philippine Christianity

2007-08-13T17:52:00.000+08:00

Cebu is famous for its beaches and the annual Sinulog mardi gras. However, given the folly of some lewd tourists, many Filipinos have conveniently forgotten that Cebu, first and foremost, is the root of our pride as Southeast Asia's only predominantly Catholic country.

Tourism is indeed alive in Cebu considering the number of hotels, resorts, and diving spots that dot the coastline. However, for all its old churches, history and traditions, Cebu still has to offer a world-class museum the province can really be proud of.

A step towards that direction is the establishment of the Ecclesiastical Museum of the Archdiocese of Cebu, just across the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral (which is also a few steps away from the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, home of the world famous Senyor).

The museum is housed at a former convent, a classic piece of architecture reminiscent of Spanish times (to be specific, the bahay-na-bato style). The convent has seen a lot of uses through centuries of existence, all to serve the general welfare of the Cebuanos.

A tourist guide welcomed me and my wife as we entered the expansive lobby. The entrance fee is pegged at a cheap P50 (cheap considering the quality of the museum, and the addition of a very informed tourist guide).

The first floor houses the lobby, a chapel of artifacts, and an audio-visual room. To reach the second floor, one ascends a wide staircase made of mahogany, to be welcomed by ancient saints made of wood and ivory, silver chalices and other holy items encrusted with precious stones.

The museum is still a work in progress, since most of the pieces are not encased in glass, there are no surveillance cameras to monitor the priceless items on display, and documentation is still ongoing (the guide showed us an image they still haven't identified, since the donor was anonymous and didn't provide any documentation).

Cebu has so much history to offer, aside from the pristine white beaches and the myriad of colors hidden in her seas. Attention should also be given to the spirit of zeal and creativity that made Cebu the cradle of Philippine Christianity.

Posted too at Pinoypress.net

Somebody

2007-08-13T16:22:00.000+08:00

WARNING! Mushy entry follows...

Although full of ironies, Depeche Mode's "Somebody" is still a very
popular love song. The radio just played it, and kinda made me think
about how we look for and why we look for love, for that "somebody."

Despite men and women finding each others' arms, inevitably majority of
those who had found their "somebodies" eventually part ways, finding in
the long run that the one they had found wasn't really the one they had
been looking for in the first place (kinda roundabout,
beating-around-the-bush type of reasoning, eh?)

So, here's the mushy part: I am fortunate enough to have found my
"somebody," and the lyrics of the song almost fit to a T in describing
the relationship I have with the woman I have vowed to spend my life with.

I love her very, very, very much.

aaarghh.

2007-08-13T12:54:00.000+08:00

i miss losing myself, in the dilemma of making music, of making rhythm.

i miss being lost in trance, of having my hands sweating at every pound
on the conga. of holding the thick sticks and making the agongs speak.
of breaking drum sticks, of having welts on the fingers, of celebrating
life with music.

i miss my music.

weather down south

2007-08-10T09:55:00.000+08:00

Good morning, y'all.

It is sunny down here south. While rains were ravaging the imperial
metropolis yesterday, the sun was giving away free sunshine yesterday.

Farther south, though, bullets were raining on the island of Jolo. The
deadly weather has cursed the bodies of more than twenty soldiers, who
await their somber return to their respective families. Victims of the
tragedy that still hounds the blessed island of Mindanao, my knee-jerk
reaction was to firebomb the island of Jolo. Of course, it is no solution.

And I will not try to offer a solution. Suffice it to say that whatever
cancer is there in Mindanao, much sacrifice will have to be done by both
parties (not necessarily blood sacrifice) to ensure peace.

downtime

2007-08-09T16:49:00.000+08:00

i haven't written anything for some time now, although i really have to
tell what i had gone through last month, when alisa and i went to the
hospital for the first time ever in our lives.

it was also my first time ever to take care of someone in the hospital.
good thing alisa had medical coverage, and if it were not, i'm sure we'd
be deep in debt right now.

thank God. thanks for the faith. thanks for the strength.

and now, back to our regular programming... what the heck is that design...

mortality and immortality

2007-07-09T12:34:00.000+08:00

a poet passed away yesterday. i do not know why she took the easy way out, but in these difficult times, the easiest way out is the hardest way to comprehend.

i do not know Ana Escalante Neri personally, but i've read her works in SunStar Cebu, and the occasional times i passed by her works online. this morning, though, suddenly i felt this connection with her, and i a tear threatened to escape from my left tear duct.

a friend served as the harbinger of her death.

just last night, i had finished reading Illusions by Richard Bach, the same guy who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The novel tells the story of a reluctant Messiah, who in turn, transforms another gypsy flier into a Messiah.

We ought to transcend these mortal remains, of the illusions being imposed by what we think to be reality. It is difficult to understand why someone as young as Ana, as creative as she is, to take the easy way out of these stupid illusions.

We who remain here are of course saddened by her sudden departure. However, we also ought to see the other side of the coin: she is now free of her mortality, she is now unbound by her physical limitations. surely, she now has immortality secured.

The Libel Law should be and must be scrapped

2007-06-22T16:40:00.001+08:00

Ex-PDI reporter detained for libel despite posting bail - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

By Marlon Ramos, Jeannette Andrade
Inquirer
Last updated 06:25am (Mla time) 06/22/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- A former Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent who now works for an Asian media outfit was detained for nine hours Thursday by a Quezon City judge despite having posted P20,000 bail in a libel case filed by a Palawan congressman four years ago.

Jofelle Tesorio, of Puerto Princesa City, was brought to the Quezon City Female Dormitory (QCFD) in Camp Caringal based on a commitment order issued by Judge Maria Theresa Yadao of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 81.

Instead of signing her release order, Yadao directed a sheriff at around 10:30 a.m. to bring Tesorio to the East Avenue Medical Center for a checkup and subsequently to the QCFD, according to Jose Torres, president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Definitely, press freedom here is not as free as the government touts it to be.

Libel law, according to what scant law I know, presumes the guilt of the suspect. And again, from what scant law I know, the Constitution guarantees the innocence of a suspect until the suspect's guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. The burden of proof, thus, lies on the accuser, not on the suspect.

However, from what I understand of the Philippine law on libel, the burden of proof lies on the suspect (the journalist) to prove that he/she had no malice against a public personality when he/she wrote the article in question.

Public officials here, especially the elective ones, have this illusion of being honorable, that when a journalist writes about their misdeeds, they rush to the courts and cry about their honor being besmirched, about their lives being destroyed, their honor in disrepair (as if they had honorable lives in the first place), and promptly file libel charges against the hapless journalist (who was just doing his/her job in the first place).

If we are to mature as a sovereign state, we must scrap primitive and retrogressive laws such as the libel law. There is no way for this country to really realize its potential if we are to allow the curtailment of our rights, of our basic right to free speech.

technorati tags:media, freedom, libel

Amnesia

2007-06-20T13:25:00.001+08:00

Descendants, environmentalists mark Rizal birth anniversary - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

kuha ni Raffy Lerma ng PDI. I-click ang larawan at puntahan ang orihinal na istorya sa Inquirer.net.

Kahapon, bertdey ng pambansang bayani, si Gat. Jose Rizal. Medyo nakakatawa na medyo hindi na kung tutuusin, kung anong isinulat niya mahigit isang daang taon na ang nakararaan, e puwede pa rin niyang isulat ngayon.

Nang mananghalian kami ngayon ng mga kasama ko sa trabaho, sinabi ko, sa background ng kanta ni Wowowee Willie, na kahapon nga e bertdey ni Rizal. Sabi ng kasama ko, ba't ganun Kuya, sine-celebrate natin iyung pagkamatay niya? Ibang klase, no?

Ano pa nga ba. Ibang klase tayong mga Pinoy, sabi pa ng isang kasama ko. Talagang kailangan munang mamatay ang isang Pilipino bago maituring siyang isang bayani? Ganun ba? Tapos kakalimutan rin natin siya?

technorati tags:Rizal, nationalism, sadness, Filipino, Philippines

Umuunlad raw tayo

2007-06-16T10:44:00.000+08:00

Wala kaming cable TV sa pension house. Dati meron. Siguro napansin nung may-ari na nanonood kami ng HBO at Cinemax sa sarili naming TV, kaya binunot iyung connection namin. O pwede ring wala na talagang cable TV connection ang buong pension house.

At dahil nga wala na kaming cable TV, tatlong channel na lang ang napapanood namin sa TV. Na-raid na rin kasi iyung paborito naming bilihan ng pirated DVD sa me Fuente Osmeña.

Nariyan ang kapusong GMA, ang kapamilyang ABS-CBN, at kasamang RPN (bakit? “kasama mo” kasi ang tagline nila).

Mas maaga ang newscast sa RPN, kaya sila ang inaabangan ko pagdating ko sa pension house. Isa pa, meron silang MTV show nang 9:30 pm, at wala silang nakaka-iritang VJ.

Iyun nga lang, dahil government-controlled station ang RPN, karamihan din sa mga advertisement nila ay pampulitika — mga commercial na kinakastigo ang oposisyon, sabay mananawagang magkaisa para sa kaunlaran.

Teka lang. Kung tutuusin, hindi naman kinakailangan ng pamahalaan na manawagan ng pagkakaisa para sa kaunlaran KUNG nararamdaman ng mga tao ang pag-unlad.

Ganun ba ang turing ng gobyerno sa atin — na ganun tayo at kailangan pang ipangalandakan sa atin na umuunlad tayo?

KUNG umuunlad nga tayo, hindi na natin kailangan ang mga commercial na iyan (na pinagkakagastusan natin bilang mga taxpayer). Hindi na kailangang ipagtanggol ng pamahalaan ang sarili laban sa oposisyon (E trabaho naman talaga nila ang kontrahin ang administrasyon, hindi ba? Tila hindi yata nag-PolSci 101 ang mga nasa pamahalaan… )

KUNG umuunlad nga tayo, walang sunud-sunod na bank robberies. Wala ring madugong bus robbery in broad daylight sa kahabaan ng EDSA. Mantakin mong panahon pa yata ni Nardong Putik ang holdapan sa bus, pero nangyayari ulit ngayon, at sa tanghaling tapat pa.

At huwag rin nating kalimutan ang contractor na nanghostage ng mga batang naka-enrol nang libre sa sarili niyang day care center.

At nariyan din ang Oakwood mutineer na nahalal na senador ng republika natin, sa kabila nang pagkaka-kulong niya sa isang military camp.

Meron ding mga commercial na testimonial ang dating — mga taong nakinabang sa mga programa ng pamahalaan. Nariyan ang nabigyan ng hanapbuhay, nariyan ang nabigyan ng bahay, nariyan ang napaunlad ang negosyo.

Aba! kung tutuusin, tungkulin ng pamahalaan na siguruhin na may mga trabaho ang mga mamamayan nito, na may maayos na programang pabahay, na naaalagaan nang sabay ang mga negosyante at manggagawa. Hindi ba sila nahihiyang ipagmalaki ang iilang nakinabang, samantalang ang karamihan ay umaasam na makapag-abroad para sa mas magandang kinabukasan?

Umuunlad tayo? Baka sila. Baka sila ang umuunlad.

Changes

2007-06-16T10:23:00.000+08:00

Seems the Pig of this year (this is the year of the Pig) is kinda rolling in the mud pit. Last night, I took some respite from my self-study of Flash and HTML programming, and basked in my literary ebooks.

I have been meaning to finish Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. And although I wasn’t spared the fatigue of the past few days (a mix of toxicity and plain serenity), I sat down before our humble yet powerful desktop PC with an open bag of Granny Goose Tortillos and a small cup of Kraft Real Mayo for dipping.

It was close to midnight when I decided to hit the sack. Since I was reading the PDF in full screen mode, I wasn’t aware that I had almost finished the book (I finished page 46 out of 61 pages). Coelho writes that good that the reader is so entranced, he reads and reads until suddenly it is the end of the novel.

I haven’t finished the book, obviously, but I have thought of so much while I was reading. The Alchemist talks about a search, about the Soul of the World, about a language that transcends not only human races but even species.

I have found my Truth, that is clear. However, there is, of course, this new chapter about living with the Truth, and keeping happiness alive with the Truth despite all the misgivings and tragedies of this very, very real world.

My very own search has not ended. If it were to end, would I be happy about an end? However, with this thinking, I am erroneously assuming that I have only one search to make.

We have our very own lives, crisscrossing and interrelated with the lives of others. However, each individual has a special place to find under the Sun, under the Moon, under the Stars, under this infinitesimal galaxy.

Unfunny

2007-05-09T11:57:00.000+08:00

We can’t seem to find a way to fight off this menace that imposes its unfounded authority on us.

Why is it? To what unseen, unexplained, unbelievable sickness have we succumbed?

The violence this election season is so mind-boggling. The COMELEC, the armed forces and the police seems to have no power whatsoever to stop those unseen, trigger-happy hands. God help us in condemning those fools (the powers-that-be, and their gun-wielding idiots) to the abysmal depths of Hell.

This country is definitely, and unbelievably, sickening. For what can we be proud of as a people? People Power? That was ages ago. Manny Pacquiao? Yeah, as if boxing with lotsa advertisements weren’t enough for him.

We as a people should be proud if we have our pride in the first place. However, we have no pride as I speak, considering the unfaltering count of killings that take place around the country, from the rural streets to the urban jungles. We have an unelected president who has surrounded herself with retired generals posing as civilian Cabinet secretaries. We have honorable, bemedalled soldiers languishing behind bars. We have dishonorable former government officials running for elective posts. We have a former president, morally ascendant over all her predecessors, being wiretapped for unknown reasons.

This country is no longer funny. We have all these paradoxes, and they are not at all funny.

apathy stalks the land

2007-04-27T16:31:00.000+08:00

they would have gone through
the whole process of repeating themselves
were it not for the silent ones
who had shot themselves in the head.
they were few, they who had martyred
themselves, they who were the minority
entrenched deep within the majority.

one had hostaged a bus full of schoolchildren
with real guns and fake grenades
all the while being praised
by the kids' grandmothers.
some are the best fighters of the sovereign,
now languishing in jails for pointing out
the wrongs, the mistakes, the glaring

injustices. Injustices, unbelievably in
the plural form.

Apathy stalks the land
is an understatement.
Darkness is bound to shroud
this land both blessed and cursed
with riches and a short memory.

Take Up Arms

2007-03-05T14:13:00.000+08:00

They like to push the weak around.

"Deer Dance," System of a Down

Does it really take the brains of an idiot to wonder out loud why simple peasants will take up arms against this farce of a government?

Why would someone already burdened by the hard life of farming seek redress by pursuing the harsher conditions of guerrilla life?

Why?

Can the government, in all its wisdom, know why?

Or will the government just blame the insurgency problem, the influence of communists, the rebels?

Fuck that crap. Fuck that shit. Will the government really care? Of course, they don’t. They won’t. They have privatized almost every basic social service. They have made it possible for Filipinos to buy mineral water instead of enjoying the free natural water resources of our very rich country. They have made it possible for the country to have the highest power rates in Southeast Asia despite the number of active volcanoes in the country, despite the number of river systems and waterfalls, despite the number of super typhoons that visit us every year.

Try to imagine, because I simply cannot in the midst of my rage. They have even deployed soldiers in the slum areas of the metropolis. How low can this government get? How dare they instill fear among people who have sought the relative safety of the capital region far from the maddening militarization of the countryside?

Magellan's Cross - A Postcard View

2007-02-06T11:46:00.000+08:00

alisa took this shot when we finally got the digicam my father-in-law promised her. simple shot but classic. this took a while to be taken, though :)

February

2007-02-03T12:56:00.000+08:00

oh yes. the month of Love, as commercialism dictates. Wikipedia, though, says February came from the Latin word februum, which means purification.

In that sense, i would like to call attention to what we have as a country that we often refer to, grudgingly, as The Government.

In a few months’ time, we’ll be electing a new set of “leaders.” (I’d rather put that honorable word in quotation marks, considering the low quality of majority of the elected “leaders” that we now have.)

Informally, the campaign season has begun, since the filing of candidacies for local and national offices were opened a few weeks back. Please keep in mind, though, that as per the Omnibus Election Code of this so-called country that we have, candidates for local offices are only allowed to spend P3 per voter, while those running for national offices (which, for this year’s elections, are only for the Senate positions) are allowed to spend P5.

As responsible voters, we also must begin a campaign against graft and corruption, against lawless violence, against state-sponsored terrorism. These issues seem cliche, but they are REAL issues, as opposed to issues of whose better between Cueshe and Hale (is there really a comparison?), or between FHM and Maxim (huh? both only aspire to whet your sexual appetite, and thus blind you to the unseeming realities of our banana republic).

The so-called president (uncouth and unseeming, a freak of Pampanga) says she will ensure clean and honest elections. Let us not forget that she had also stated that she would not run for president way, way back.

So, for all the romance and the red roses and the red wine that threaten to overflow this month, let us not forget that this month was meant for purification. And by May, we should have cleansed ourselves from all evil to visit the sacred election booth and register our opposition to the evil that has spread all over the country.

I’m crossing my fingers, though.

The Filipino

2007-01-23T17:41:00.000+08:00

There is always this debate about what makes a Filipino. From those born in the islands to those born to Filipino parents overseas, there's always a question about a Filipino's identity.

However, among ourselves, we have this problem about what makes a Filipino. Is it about knowing ethnic music, wearing ethnic jewelry, and espousing ethnic culture? Or is it about knowing the latest fad among Filipinos, and in the process of knowing, being one with the masses? Or is it about being nationalistic, of being protective about one's language?

After my transfer here to the Queen City of the South, I suddenly found it ridiculous to define who the Filipino is.

How do you find one's identity? Simple. One digs and digs in one's history, until one is able to understand its lessons.

I had found my identity as a Filipino through educational, albeit revolutionary programs such as Jim Paredes' Tatak Pilipino. And when I got to the state university, I had even managed to be a member of the Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino, an ensemble of musicians and dancers from the university's colleges. The group specializes in adapting ethnic Filipino music and dance to contemporary tastes.

Back to the south. There is some degree of discrimination here against those who hail from Manila, which is most probably something Cebuanos and other Bisaya feel (and even fear) when they get to the capital.

In several occasions I had found myself defending my lineage, pointing out that though I was born in Manila (in Mandaluyong City, specifically), my parents both come from Iloilo, and in our household, Kiniray-a is the tongue of choice. Apparently, Kiniray-a is the mother language of Hiligaynon, the present language among Western Visayans, since the epic Hinilawod is recorded in Kiniray-a.

Basically, I had to prove that I was also a Bisaya. So, is there a hierarchy of identity? That before one is a Filipino, one must be a member of the islands' various regional groups?

One's identity is only in one's mind. On Judgment Day, would it really matter if one were a Filipino or an American? If aliens were to arrive and attack our planet, would it really matter if one were a Filipino or Dutch?

Who knows? Might be that aliens would not attack Filipinos, simply because they would not want to waste precious energy.

Made in China

2007-01-23T17:28:00.000+08:00

The BBC website recently reported China's launch of a missile that had shot down a satellite. Of course, perfunctory reactions from the world's supposed great nations, such as imperial United States and lackey Japan, were in no short supply in deriding China's act of surging militarism.

We have long considered China as a sleeping giant. One of the world's oldest surviving civilizations, the Chinese are credited with a myriad of inventions and innovations. There is no doubt about what scientific, technological, philosophical, and social debts we owe the Chinese.

However, what lurks dangerously in the horizon is the slow but sure rise of China's military might. What scares me is the thought that we know nothing about China's weapon systems and technologies, and how modern these are.

We all know about how economically powerful China is. Almost all items on my table are labeled "Made in China." We all know how threatening Chinese cheap labor is, how it can depress all our salaries and render us workless and worthless. We even acknowledge that almost all of us Filipinos derive some percentage of our blood from ancient Chinese seafarers.

Unknowingly, we are powering China's military, equipping them with the latest military science and technology. Unknowingly, we are slowly becoming slaves to their economy, all of us rendered blind by their cheap prices, and drowned by the flood of their products.

I honestly believe the Chinese has no idea of benevolence. Henry Sy has shopping malls all over the country, employing thousands of Filipinos into an endless and vicious cycle of contractualization. There are hundreds of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs, but I have never personally heard a friend or an acquaintance praise his/her Filipino-Chinese employer for benevolence. Even the novelist F. Sionil Jose has criticized the Filipino-Chinese community for doing nothing about the poverty of this country.

Does China know the meaning of benevolence? I honestly think not. I honestly believe the Chinese still consider themselves as the civilized race, while the rest of the world are all barbarians. Look at what had happened to the peace-loving Buddhists in Tibet. Look at what had happened to the nomads of Mongolia. Look at what had happened to student-activists at Tiananmen Square.

Then look at what had happened to Indonesia when they started chasing the Chinese off their lands.

Though many had welcomed the opening-up of the Chinese economy to free trade and capitalism, I strongly believe that it was to basically trap the world economy into thinking it has subjugated the Chinese. In truth, it is the other way around the Chinese has successfully subjugated the world economy, and their entry into the World Trade Organization will only galvanize their stranglehold.

We are powering one of the world's most racist, most pervasive, most complex, most hierarchical, and most persevering societies. We are unknowingly boosting their economy and strengthening their military. Someday, we may wake up trampled on by pairs upon pairs of shiny black boots of Red Army soldiers.

Tatsulok

2007-01-23T10:38:00.001+08:00

tangna! ni-revive ng bamboo ang Tatsulok ng Buklod! tangna talaga! wahoooo!!!! tumatalon ang dugo ko, gustong kumaripas patungong utak, at pasabugin ang isip sa kabalintunaang nagaganap sa bayang hinahayaang mabulok.

"habang may tatsulok, at sila ang nasa tuktok, HINDI MATATAPOS ITONG GULO!"

--"Tatsulok" ng Buklod, kinantang muli ng Bamboo

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

eto ang kumpletong lyrics. naaalala ko pa nang tinugtog namin ito sa kontra, kumpletos rekados na may tongatong, dyembe, gitara. hanggang ngayon buhay na buhay pa rin ang mensahe nito. akmang-akma sa sitwasyon natin ngayon -- meron tayong pasistang pekeng pangulong pandak.

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 mapagkamalan ka't humandusay 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 ang di siyang dahilan
Hangga't marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan
At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman

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

Lumilipas ang hininga ng kay raming mga tao
At ang dating lunting bukid ngayo'y sementeryo
Totoy, kumilos ka! Baligtarin ang tatsulok!
At tulad mong dukha ang ilagay mo sa tuktok

Hindi pula't dilaw ang tunay na magkalaban
Ang kulay at tatak ang di siyang dahilan
Hangga't marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan
At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman

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

Malapit na

2007-01-22T15:45:00.000+08:00

bukas, magi-isang taon na akong nagta-trabaho rito sa cebu. at sa biyernes naman, magi-isang taon na kaming mag-asawa ni Alisa.

ang dami nang nangyari sa nakalipas na taon. kung tutuusin, parang imposibleng mangyari sa akin ang mga nangyari this year. pero, nangyari ang mga nangyari. naganap ang mga naganap. at, sa totoo lang, di pa rin ako makapaniwala na nangyari ang mga nangyari.

ano iyung mga nangyari? na may trabaho akong maganda, isang trabahong gustung-gusto ko. na nakapag-asawa ako ng isang napakagandang babae, na hindi ko pa rin maintindihan hanggang ngayon kung paano ako nakapag-asawa ng kasing-ganda niya. na unti-unti'y nagpupundar kami ng mga gamit (flat TV! huwaw... sarili naming flat TV!) na sa wakas, meron na kaming sariling computer.

so... what can i say for this year?

thank you, Lord!

p.s. ok na si Nanay. na-mild stroke lang. e kasi, kumain ba naman ng daing! hmmm... masarap naman talaga ang daing, e. arrgghhh.... naalala ko tuloy nung minsang muntikan na rin akong ma-stroke (yep! 29 years old lang po!). sarap kasi ng daing, e.

'Awayness'

2007-01-18T09:47:00.000+08:00

when Nanay was first rushed to the hospital way back in 2000, i had frantically rushed home, and was able to reach them at the hospital.

now, i am here in cebu, hundreds of kilometers away from manila, and Nanay is at an emergency room, asleep, thinking perhaps that i should have been there. dreaming perhaps of me, at her bedside, dismal-looking but present, at her bedside.

this is the tragedy of "awayness." this is the tragedy of not being able to rush to your mother's side if ever something happens to her. this is the tragedy of numbness, of not being able to do anything to assuage your pain, except to continue living, to continue working, to continue thinking, to continue breathing. even, to some extent, to continue smiling.

From Pasig to Cebu, With Love

2007-01-04T12:50:00.000+08:00

Nang umalis ako sa siyudad ng Pasig at lumipat sa siyudad ng Cebu, hindi ako nanghinayang. Naging pugad na nga mga adik ang lugar namin sa Pasig, at nagbu-bulag-bulagan ang mga opisyales ng barangay namin. Balita ko nga, pag me nahuling adik sa amin, kakausapin lang ni Kapitan ang pulis. Pagkatapos ng ilang oras, laya na naman ang adik. Langya

Idagdag pa na sinimulan na ni alkalde ang dinastiya niya. Naka-ilang taon din siyang alkalde, tapos pumalit ang misis niya. Ngayon, siya ulit ang nakapuwesto. Naghahanda na rin ang anak niyang konsehal.

Ganun naman ang sistema sa halos lahat ng siyudad at bayan dito sa atin. Alkalde ang padre de familia hanggang sa maubos ang terminong pwede siyang manungkulan (tatlong termino, ayon sa Konstitusyon natin), tapos susunod ang madre de familia (isang termino lang kadalasan panakip butas lang), tapos ang padre de familia na naman. Ang panganay na anak ay magsisimulang konsehal, o kung masyado pang bata, e SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) muna. Kapag mahina na ang padre de familia, pupuwesto na si panganay upang maging alkalde naman.

Ano bang meron sa ating mga Pilipino na binoboto natin ang mga magpamilya sa mga pamahalaan natin? Siguro, sa barangay ninyo, anak ni Kapitan ang nakaupong SK chairman.

Balik tayo sa Pasig. Madugo ang mga pangyayari nitong mga nakaraang araw dun. Noong gabi ng New Year, sa gitna ng mga putukan at pagdiriwang, isang barangay ang binisita ng apat na armadong lalaki at basta na lang nagpaputok. Isa agad ang patay, at siyam ang sugatan, ulat ng ABS-CBN. Sa may palengke naman, isang manininda ang hinabol at binaril sa ilalim ng sikat ng araw. Kamakailan lang e binomba ang palengke hindi pa rin kilala ng mga pulis kung sino ang salaring nag-iwan ng bomba. Isama ko na rin ang pagkawasak ng sasakyan ng congressman dahil rin sa isang bomba.

Madugo rin dito sa Cebu dahil sa mga vigilante, pero dahil sa ASEAN Summit, tumahimik ang mga vigilante (naka-security detail yata, hehehehe). Langya naman ang mga vigilanteng yan, walang alam patayin kundi ang mga mahihirap, mga small-time na kriminal. Magnanakaw ba ang mahihirap dahil lang sa trip nila?

We Never Learn

2006-11-04T09:32:00.000+08:00

Good thing Gloria had Luli for a daughter, who knows her place in this country’s state of affairs.

The presidential daughter is in the news for being “insulted” by an arrogant immigration officer. The government employee is now in hiding.

If errant government employees were to follow this arrogant immigration officer’s cowardly act, the government would stop working in a matter of hours.

Why are some government employees arrogant when, in the first place, they get their wages from us citizens?

Definitely, it is not a simple case of a lack in ethics training. The cure is not a month-long workshop on ethics, or a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation, or another executive order (which, of course, we will be paying for with our taxes).

What is the cure, then?

There is still hope. There will always be hope for a country that exports its best people and resources to other countries in exchange for hazardous waste, outdated buses, and zombies.

We have always lacked an identity. Although we are proud to be Filipinos (as long as we’re in another country), we are always at a loss about how we are as Filipinos, when we are Filipinos, who we are as Filipinos, and why we are Filipinos.

When we are here in the country, we only become Filipinos with respect to a foreigner, or when it’s Buwan ng Wika, or when it’s Independence Day. Most of the time, we are little brown Americans, always absorbent of what Western culture can throw our way.

Most of us simply do not recognize, and realize, that Western hegemony exists, that neocolonialism impairs our sovereignty, and that this whole bullshit of globalization is another way of Western countries to shackle us – to keep this banana republic of ours as Southeast Asia’s premier backwater.

See – our very own immigration officer, of our own color, of our own blood, belittling the only daughter of our president, ignoring the basic rule of accommodating whoever’s first in line?

What is the cure? Embarrassingly, it has been written in our history books for so long, written by no less than Southeast Asia’s first national hero.

Dr. Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda tells us, until now, that what our country needs is education.

Yes. Education. Education that makes us whole, education that makes us human, education that opens our eyes and frees our mouths to speak.

Education that shows us the way towards Truth, towards self-realization, towards an identity.

Education is not about pursuing a degree that will enable one to immigrate and live in another country. Education is not about enslaving for four or more years to be enslaved by another. Education is not about uplifting one’s life, while leaving others mired in the pit.

Education is enlightenment. Education is about the Truth.

Is education the cure?

Yes.

Novelist F. Sionil Jose says we are doomed as a race because we have no memory as a race. How can we move towards development, how can we progress when we do not learn?

History repeats its lessons, to those who never learn. Just like us.

We never learn. We have never learned. Coming out from the dark years of Martial Law, we were so drunk with democracy we treated ourselves to three revolts, all in less than half a century.

And after all that trouble, we are still Southeast Asia’s sickest man.

Softie

2006-11-04T09:27:00.000+08:00

Through the years, as we progress through our adult lives, we take on more roles, and in the process, take on more responsibilities.

And as we take on more responsibilities, we become more afraid of taking risks, of making mistakes, of throwing away what we have achieved.

However, since nothing is constant in this universe, we also have to be always prepared to lose everything.

Perhaps I derive my present serenity from that realization. In my less than three decades of living, I have faced Death twice. But in those meetings, I was only afraid for my parents, who have already lost a child (my elder sister died of colon cancer in 1982).

I was never afraid for myself. I was never afraid of losing anything, since at that time I didn’t have anything.

However, now that I have my Truth, I cross the street only after looking left and right, then left and right. A tinge of fear stirs my heart when a vehicle slows down beside me as I walk the street, or when someone walks behind me along a dark alley.

Nope – I was never afraid to walk through dark streets. When I was working in the Malate district for a newspaper, I left the office at three in the morning and walked all the way to Quiapo for my ride home to Pasig.

And at the university, cars always slow down beside those who walk the academic oval. Why? To ask for directions. People aboard vehicles had asked me for directions towards the chapel, towards the theater, towards the Math building – and it happened at ten in the morning, at four in the afternoon, at eight in the evening, or even at around one in the morning.

Have I lost my fearlessness? Or have I just gained a sane amount of fear, considering that I have responsibilities now?

I am sure about one thing – that what I have now are gifts from God, from a Higher Being, for which I should be eternally grateful. In that respect, I must take care of my gifts.

And on that note, I am proud to say, I have become a “softie.”

sundo

2006-10-31T14:55:00.000+08:00

To say that this song is beautiful is an understatement. The lyrics maybe that simple, but the promise of an eternal courtship lingers, across the rhythm and the melody.

Among Filipinos, fetching the woman one loves is an essential part of romance. Yes, there's this risk of the "fetching" becoming perfunctory and monotonous, but for a man so in love with a woman, fetching is a very powerful act of love.

And almost every woman I know has waited for someone... for a "sundo."

For Alisa, such a beautiful and strong woman:

Kahit anong mangyari, mahal, susunduin kita... umulan man o bumagyo, may sasakyan man o wala, alas kuwatro man nang umaga o alas dos nang tanghaling tapat.
Sundo

ng Imago

Kay tagal kong sinusuyod ang buong mundo para hanapin, para hanapin ka
Nilibot ang distrito ng iyong lumbay, pupulutin, pupulutin ka

Sinusundo kita, sinusundo

Asahan mo, mula ngayon, pag-ibig ko'y sa iyo

Sa akin mo isabit ang pangarap mo, di kukulangin ang ibibigay
Isuko ang kaba, tuluyan kang bumitaw, ika'y manalig, manalig ka

Sinusundo kita, sinusundo

Asahan mo, mula ngayon, pag-ibig ko'y sa iyo

...sinuyod ang buong mundo, naghihintay sa iyong sundo

Silence

2006-10-30T18:36:00.001+08:00

Silence is a golden virtue.

A Spanish proverb written on the back of a prototype textbook in Spanish I. At that time, I didn't understand the proverb, perhaps for two reasons first, the proverb was, of course, written in Spanish, and second, youth is a noisy phase.

I came to appreciate silence during my assignment in the city of pines. I had stayed at a house that sat on top of Legarda Road. It was a house owned by the foundation that had commissioned the book that we were printing. Due to the foundation's character, the house was clean, neat, and very well-kept. One had to remove one's shoes, place them beside the door, and wear sandals (which were lent by the foundation) while inside the house.

Since it was an off-season for tourists, I was alone in a room that had eight single beds. Aside from myself, there were three housekeepers, who stayed downstairs, and the officer-in-charge of the house, who also had a room for herself downstairs.

Simply put, I had the second floor all to myself.

While I was there, I savored the silence that went with loneliness. I savored the time I had for myself, to "center" myself, to listen to myself. If I had needed music, I had my CD player with me, and large headphones to keep me company.

The din of the metropolis, the chaos that pervaded the cities, the decadence of the spirit and the body that was being proudly paraded around the halls of the powerful and the powerless all these things had pushed me to transplant myself. It was not taking a break.

It was about saving my soul.

to be continued

The PC Genesis

2006-10-25T09:59:00.001+08:00

Finally, a computer that I can call my own.

For several years, or let's say since my college freshman days, I had been dreaming about having my own computer. Perhaps it was just the natural tendency of a geek to get hung about anything electronic, just like the good old computer.

Oh, our humble desktop computer runs on an Intel Celeron 2.2Ghz. The PC was a gift from Alisa's father who had been working overseas. A simple Dell Dimension 2400, and as its website says, a basic package for home use.

When we first saw our gift, naturally we were too excited to forget that the CPU was supposed to be plugged into a 110-volt outlet. In seconds, there I was, somehow trapped between a computer table and the wall, stunned by an explosion ripped off the power supply unit by a 220-volt electric surge.

Good thing I had a spare power supply unit at my parent's house. For the past few years I had been buying PC components, so that I could eventually build my own PC. I had bought fans, CD-ROMs, a set of high end speakers, even a 17-inch Philips monitor.

Until I was fooled into buying a junk CPU for a whopping six thousand pesos.

Nah, I will not tell that story. I have learned its lesson, and that is, to be patient.
Just like with our very first PC.

First, I had to replace the burned power supply unit. We were able to test the unit for, uh, thirty minutes.

Then, when we got back in Cebu, the whole CPU wouldn't power on.

After pulling everything out and putting each part one by one to isolate the problem, we found out that somehow, the surge had burned through a capacitor in the motherboard specifically the capacitor connected with the memory modules.

Now, our humble PC is an Intel Celeron 2.2GHz-powered CPU on an ECS motherboard powered by a twin-fan 300-watt PSU, with 650 Mb of memory encased in an original Dell Dimension 2400 micro ATX case. Bought a second-hand 15-inch monitor for P1,500, and a Dell keyboard and mouse set completes the ensemble. An Altec Lansing ACS220, which I bought sometime 2004, provides whopping sound.

A good start for a good PC.

akap

2006-10-18T18:27:00.000+08:00

mahilig sa yakap si alisa. isang bagay na hindi namin ginagawa sa pamilyang kinalakhan ko. sa pamilyang pinanggalingan ko.

ewan ko ba. talaga lang sigurong di namin nakasanayang maging pisikal.

hindi naman sa nagulantang ako sa sariling pamilya ko ngayon. sa simula pa naman, gusto kong magkaroon ng masayang pamilya -- iyung tipong tumatawa, iyung tipong nagyayakapan, iyung tipong malakas magtrip.

akala ko noon, dead end na ang pagpapakasal. kaya nga ingat na ingat ako noon sa mga pakikipagrelasyon ko.

naging babaero rin naman ako. nanloko rin ako ng mga babae, binobolang mahal ko sila kahit alam ko sa sarili ko na hindi.

masaya ako na pinakasalan ko si alisa. kung tutuusin nga, understatement pa iyun. paano ko ba talaga isusulat? ewan.

basta ang ginagawa ko na lang, lagi kong pinaparamdam sa kanya na mahal na mahal ko siya, at kahit anong gawin ko, palaging magkukulang para sa kanya... kasi ang gusto ko, higit pa sa maibibigay ko ang maibigay ko sa kanya. gets mo?

kung puwede lang, yakapin ko siya nang yakapin, kaso kailangan ko ring magtrabaho para sa aming pamilya.

ang sarap pa naman niyang yumakap... :D

nyahahahaha

2006-10-18T11:44:00.000+08:00

aba, kung tutuusin, nasa corporate world na nga ako. sinong mga kinakausap namin? mga asteeeg na kliyente lang naman.

pero dahil nasa isang design studio ako, hindi pwedeng i-kompromiso ang kaluluwa para lang sa isang proyekto. bakit?

dahil ang pagiging malikhain ay naka-ugat sa isang kaluluwang masaya, isang kaluluwang sanay sa katotohanan at hindi sa mga kabalbalan ng katawan.

mga ilang taon na nang magulantang ako ni lourd ernest de veyra at ng kanyang bandang radioactive sago project.

mga ilang linggo pa lumipas nang ginulantang nila ulit ako sa isang CD sa aming barangay ng San Joaquin.

ang sumikat sa album na iyun ay gusto ko ng baboy. pero, ang pinakagusto ko ay ang kantang Love Ka Ni S.
Love ka ni Satan, he loves you, he loves you, he loves you
Love ka ni Satan, he loves you very much, man
Love na love na love na love na love ka ni Satan
Love ka ni Satan
Pare, kahit anong gawin mo, love na love na love na love na love ka ni Satan
He loves you, he loves you, he loves you
Love ka ni Satan, man, he loves you, he loves you, he loves you, he loves you
Love ka ni Satan, love, love, love
Love ka ni Satan, he loves you very much, man
Love ka ni Satan kung sumasamba ka sa pera at sa laman at sa kung anu-anong mga bagay sa buhay na wala namang pakialam sa kaluluwa ng tao.
Saan ka man magtago, kahit ano ang gawin mo, kahit sino ang sambahin mo, iisa lang ang kukuha sa iyo at malapit ka niyang kunin.
bwahahahahaha. basta ako, i'll keep my sanity.

oh well

2006-10-18T11:10:00.000+08:00

we had hoped, but in the end, it was just another month.

we had bought two home pregnancy kits, and both had tested negative. and as Lady Luck would have it, four days ago her Guest arrived.

yep. a woman's monthly guest.

kinda reminds me of those damned softdrink caps, when you hope for a prize but all you see inside are the usual words -- "Try again."

hehehe. so... i'm looking forward to more action, then.

Don't eat at McDonald's

2006-10-13T17:38:00.000+08:00

A nationwide grassroots campaign convinced McDonald's to cut back on its use of styrofoam packaging in 1990. If that clown Ronald can do it, so can the rest of the world.

Apparently, Ronald's pinoy cousin hasn't caught on yet, but if enough people speak up, he just might listen.

My name is Gary Granada, I am a KaalagaD volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your time to help reduce the use of styrofoam in fast food chains.

What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald's turned out to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by McDonald's, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their response, at least they made some effort to shift to other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited for a response. The most we got from them was 'you wait for our call'. They never called, never wrote back, but verbally said they will assign representatives to receive our motorcade's representatives.

When we got there, their representatives turned out to be the Citibank Building 's security detail. Ill-mannered and impolite, they told us that they were told by McDonald's that they were not expecting us. One of our staff went up to their 17th floor office to find out whether they were willing to sit down and talk matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited. The giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald's apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers, priests and concerned consumers as their employees. We asked how long we were supposed to wait and got no straight answer. Finally they sent word for me to come up, just me, no one else. I thought these people must have seen too many spaghetti movies, perhaps they thought they had a hostage crisis. I was led to a conference room that could easily sit six or seven people and was greeted by two bright boys.

Think about it. Naglakad kami papuntang McDonald's, at pagdating namin doon, wala man lang bumaba para kausapin kami ng maayos. At pinatawag ako nitong dalawang batang managers!

It occurred to me that there were far more basic issues that plague McDonald's than styrofoam. Like common courtesy. So I explained to these rich young rulers that the courteous thing to do was to go down, greet the delegation and ask how they may be of help. I even asked them where they were schooled, because in the public school in an obscure town where I came from, they manage to teach such things in Grade One. Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the space that was meant for their ears. It felt like talking to an electric fan.

Meanwhile I insisted that somebody from Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition, Franciscan Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, and the JPICC of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (our partners in the activity) be present as well. They said they can only accommodate three people at most. Fine. So I said I and our staff will go down and we will send three people up.
But at the lobby, the three representatives we sent were barred by security people from proceeding, again upon McDonald's instructions we were told. It looked hopeless.

We decided to wrap up the program when out of nowhere a condescending woman materialized and introduced herself as the media relations officer of McDonalds. She said 'Why don't you go to Jollibee instead, they're number One.' To which Father Ben Moraleda replied, 'We did, and at least they are doing something.'

On the side, irked by her audacity, Fr. Ben quipped, 'And please take that hand of yours off my shoulders, I don't like you.' And all that commotion for a very simple and very reasonable plan: that McDonald's reduce the use of styrofoam by 50% within one year. McDonald's has once again demonstrated its arrogance and incapacity to appreciate the sincere and constructive efforts of common folks to protect our environment. Unlike them, we do not make money doing what little we can to help make things a little better for everybody.

5 seconds, that's all I ask of you to help reduce the use of styrofoam. Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang, papansinin lang nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan. Take 5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to dine or order food.

WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON'T CHOOSE MCDONALD'S

I feel sad for that woman and those two young managers. So young, so successful, so ahead of their game, so privileged; so rude, so arrogant, so lacking in character, so bland. And I have since stopped wondering why their burgers taste the way they do.

It will take a bit longer than 5 seconds, but it will go a long way if you can email this page to friends. Thank you.

i need to cry

2006-10-02T12:33:00.000+08:00

The lines haven't appeared though. A couple of lines that literally drew up our fate, that literally changed lives as they spun around one's world.

Alisa says this is so likely for a girl. Subtle, silent, but will make her presence felt.

My fingers were still crossed that afternoon as I sat in our bathroom washing dishes. I don't remember exactly if I were washing dishes, but I'm quite sure I was washing something.

Then she entered that narrow room, and announced something I've been wanting to hear for days.

Mahal, buntis ako!

I could have wept that moment. I didn't have the strength to shout, to yell, to scream in joy I had been exhausted by the wait, I had been tired, fatigued by the frustration of all these years of having no sense of direction.

It was a breathe of fresh air. It was an injection of fresh blood supply into my system. It was a respirator-full of pure oxygen being slammed before my mouth, before my nostrils.

We haven't bought a new home pregnancy test kit, but I will surely buy one when payday comes. And definitely, we'll need to see a doctor this weekend.

Good luck to this life. I so want to cry right now. Thank God.

a sunny saturday afternoon

2006-09-02T11:45:00.000+08:00

yesterday, i found it difficult to work despite the surge of caffeine in my veins. alisa was alone at home, nursing a rumbling stomach and a fever that didn't cool off. yesterday was also redapple's third birthday, and so i and my officemates infused ourselves with pansit malabon and last year's red wine.

dazed (and somehow energized) by the red wine flowing in my veins, i sped to the nearby henry sy mall, and direct to rose pharmacy to get me some medicines. alisa prefers advil (ibuprofen), while i rely on classic cortal (aspirin) to relieve pain. the difference? dunno. apparently, aspirin also helps to relieve high blood pressure, which i get whenever i munch on chicharon and daing.

here in cebu, buying at stores with counters is more organized than buying in manila. you get a number, and wait for your number to be called to be served. i wonder why it can't be done in the imperial city that is manila.

with number in hand and an half-hour of waiting, finally, i got to tell the pharmacist what i had needed. advil wasn't in stock, so i bought medicol instead (medicol's formula had changed to ibuprofen. their ads are funny!), six in all, vicks vaporub, and the smallest bottle of white flower embrocation.

when i got home, alisa was on the bed, with a blanket on. she was hot (no pun intended). at least, my worries were lessened since i was already home. she hadn't eaten anything since her stomach was still hurting.

while on my way to buy medicines, i thought about cooking comfort food for her -- arroz caldo. in the larder, we keep malagkit rice (here they call it pilit), literally translated as sticky rice, so we can cook champorado (chocolate porridge) or, as last night's case, chicken porridge.

after an hour, the porridge was ready, and we ate together. before midnight, her fever had subsided, and so we slept, fitfully. i for myself felt good, since she wasn't sick anymore.

and so, today, a sunny saturday afternoon awaits me and alisa. later, we'll be heading off to gaisano country mall, a mall we haven't "explored." a "battle of the bands" sort of concert will be held there later.

thank God she's okay now.

time... more time....

2006-08-29T14:01:00.000+08:00

i have so many things i want to do, but i also have so many things i need to do.

i WANT to do the following projects:
1. finish my online portfolio
2. upload a PDF version of a magazine i designed and edited last 2004
3. start an online literary folio, to be published in PDF
here are the projects i NEED to do:
1. finish a company newsletter in time for a spetember 15 distribution
2. finish a glossy magazine in time for a september release
ha ha.

A Call for Civil Disobedience

2006-08-26T10:06:00.000+08:00

In the face of all the political bickering and mudslinging, there is only one way out of this muck, and it is to ignore the presence of a government.

I am one with those who are calling for civil disobedience. Our so-called representatives would not heed our call for transparency, for legal processes to be undertaken for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to answer allegations of fraud, graft, and corruption.

Journalists and activists are being killed. Newspapers are being shut down. This regime is further pushing the people into mass graves with onerous taxes and repressive economic policies.

Ang Tatlong P

2006-08-25T09:53:00.000+08:00

Isara ang pinto. Takpan ang bintana.
Ikulong ang sarili sa bahay.
Tumahimik. Tumunganga.
Tularan ang karamihan --
mapagkumbaba sa harap ng
buwitreng nananahan
sa tuktok ng Malakanyang --

ang pekeng pangulong pandak.

Wala nang saysay ang katotohanan
laban sa sandamukal na
pesteng press release
mula sa mga alipores ng

pekeng pangulong pandak.

Wala nang saysay ang magsalita
laban sa madugong pambubusal
ng berdugo ng Mindoro, Samar, at Bulacan --
hayop na berdugong asong itim ng

pekeng pangulong pandak.

Wala nang saysay ang mga patutsada,
mga protesta, mga tsismis ng coup d'etat,
laban sa pagkagahaman ng

pekeng pangulong pandak.

Wala nang saysay ang pagsunod,
pakikinig, at pakikibahagi
sa pamamahala ng isang

pekeng pangulong pandak.

Wala nang saysay ang isang pamahalaang
peke, sinungaling, at mapanlinlang.

Ang pamahalaan ng
pekeng pangulong pandak.

|| kahapon, ibinasura ng Konggreso ang ikalawang impeachment complaint laban kay Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, sa botong 173-32. naisulat ko ang tulang ito noong ika-15 ng Agosto, 2006.

Coffee and Sundry Thoughts

2006-08-22T14:01:00.000+08:00

i am barely awake, trudging through this day with half-open eyes. have three projects on the tube, all waiting to be given attention.

here lies the difficulty after going through a three-day weekend. ha ha.

A Tumbling World

2006-08-19T13:50:00.000+08:00

Imagine a world where the males and the females are the minority, are genders deemed "abnormal," are burdened with the almost daily need to fight for their rights.

The world is pink and brown, perhaps, while the gay and the lesbian communities are the legal "sexes" -- would World Wars I and II be part of history?

Would we have the same problems that our dichotomous society now have?

What would be the meaning of virile? Of grace?

And would masculinity and femininity be abnormal terms?

Would I be insulted if I were called macho? Would I take it against the majority gay community?

Would I be discriminated against for being quiet, for speaking softly, and for being righteously angry when the situation demanded?

whew!

2006-08-16T13:28:00.000+08:00

our accounts officer now knows photoshop 7. so it is with our accounting personnel.

i started working here with a scant knowledge of adobe illustrator. now, i get to choose between adobe indesign and adobe illustrator when making simple calling cards. from illustrator 8, i made the jump to illustrator CS2.

now i know alpha channels, and the use of masks.

from adobe premiere 6.5 to sonic foundry's vegas 3.0.

what? you don't understand me?

i understand.

all in a span of less than a year. add to the to-learn list is macromedia dreamweaver, macromedia flash, CSS, HTML...

whew!

see how competitive it is in the design industry? and oh, don't forget time management, the creative process, finance juggling, and the rules of English grammar (plus the nuances between American English and World English).

The Literati In Me

2006-08-15T12:38:00.000+08:00

i'm flexing my literary muscles again.

it has been almost a year since i seriously "wrote."

last night, alisa and i had an instant session of gsm blue shaken cold with ponkana powder drink. we had a half-finished long neck then, a remnant of some weeks past. the bottle still isn't empty.

after that session, thoughts got cooking in my mind. sometime after midnight, after washing the dishes and manhandling the laundry, i instantly wrote two poems.

just after one in the morning, i told alisa, "i have written two poems. they're kinda long, though." immediately, she muted the television, and waited for my husky voice to fill the room.

since college, i've been preparing some sort of literary folio. then i learned adobe pagemaker, and started laying down the framework. i had even managed to print a draft layout.

and this seed of a folio has always been waiting to explode through my mind, to see the light of day.

the moment has come. in a few months' time, i will release a folio, in PDF format, for all to see, read, and hopefully, enjoy.

Like a kid again :)

2006-08-12T10:28:00.000+08:00

i am a hairy guy.

not as hairy as chewbacca, though (although i've been nicknamed as such), but i am what you may call in Filipino as "balbon." in a month's time, i think my hair grows at least an inch longer, so if i were very fussy with my hair, i'd have to visit the barbershop twice a month.

back in high school, my mother would always remind me about getting a haircut on weekends. she'd brand me as a drug addict or a rebel, whichever came to mind first.

(of course, she knew better. i'm only a drug addict as far as Vicks and other mentholated products are concerned).

i only got to grow my hair long two years ago. my oh my, i remember a night when some teeners whistled at me, thinking i was some sexy gal. and another instance, when i was sitting beside the jeepney driver, when a fellow passenger felt my sides with his elbow. my oh my...

alisa never tires of laughing about those instances of mistaken identity. me, my big old me, being mistaken for a woman?

but since i cut my hair a year ago, alisa also has never tired of saying i'm handsome. aw schucks... yes, she tells me i am handsome, of how lucky she is that she had married a handsome guy.

i am not writing fiction here. yes, i know... it is hard to believe. but there she is, always saying those words, never tiring.

and what is the price for all those sweet words?

i have to get my hair cut every time she tells me to do so. just like this morning. and i remember my whimpering every time my mother told me to get a haircut.

i whimpered again this morning.

"huh? ngayon na? pwede pa 'to, a."

"ayan o, ang haba na. abot na nga tenga mo e."

"eeewww.... next time na lang..."

"mamaya. dumaan ka sa barbero, ok?"

"eeewww...."

and so, after playing at work, i went to the barbershop. there he was, the man who also gave me a hair cut almost a month ago, sitting placidly on his chair.

i walk towards him, and smile.

it feels so nice to pamper one's self once in a while, neh?

Rebel Against Gates

2006-08-11T17:35:00.000+08:00

Something's amiss with my Outlook Express.

I am not suprised at all, anyway, considering that this bundled email client has lots and lots of bugs and what-you-not.

Slowly, i am moving out of Bill Gates' monopoly. The world's waging a revolution against Microsoft. And i am taking up my own weapons against him and his clique.

Let us link arms and use open-source software. Free ourselves!

a hiatus

2006-08-09T10:21:00.000+08:00

yesterday, i wrote a poem. and i was almost teary-eyed, my tear glands threatening to explode with a gush with every line i wrote.

it's no easy thing to write. sure, some will envy you and some will praise you, but at the end of the day, it's always the writer who suffers, who rebels against the world simply because the writer wrote what he/she believed was worth writing for.

but i need to breathe. i write to breathe.

the portfolio has begun

2006-08-08T17:18:00.000+08:00

i really haven't collected my output since i started tinkering with adobe software (pagemaker was the first, then photoshop, then indesign, then illustrator. just last week, premiere).

see? one really has to learn.

gleaning from the design magazines that litter our office, a graphic designer should be an all-around designer.

aaaargh. but it's exciting. it's like being back in school. and every project becomes a school project... difference is, you get paid while playing with ideas.

you think that's great? oh, of course. but you need aspirin to go with the job.

i digress. i have established a simple online portfolio, Portfolio Escanlar (http://escanlar.blogspot.com). good thing my surname as a blogname was available. think about that!

i'll try to post as many works as possible. i need to shoot the books and magazines i've designed, and i haven't been around that.

good luck to this effort. good luck to me.

A Certain Sadness

2006-08-08T12:10:00.000+08:00

a certain sadness burns through my eyes.
a whimpering sadness, a child ignored.

the child sits in a well-lit corner.
still, shoulders hunched,
arms around each other.
teary-eyed, she looks up to me,
asking silently.

i am apologetic, but i don't speak,
lest i blurt words that won't comfort her
and words that won't lessen my guilt.

she waits for an answer.

i kneel, conscious of my knees
grinding against the concrete floor.
the spotlight shines in her eyes,
reflected in tears
glinting along my eyelids.

my hands are trembling. i reach,
and enclose her in my presence.

i hush her with these words:

"i am sorry. terribly sorry.
to almost forget you
and remember you at the same time."

this is my tribute to you,
my little child,
my poetry ignored.

the stupor in my mind

2006-06-27T17:14:00.000+08:00

how hard is it to be creative?

i need to have my toxic substances to sustain this toxicity. how come? seems like the levels of nicotine and caffeine that i need to take are now up to stupendous levels.

how hard is it to be creative?

how hard is it to dump your shit every hour, on the hour?

it is that hard -- to be required to dump good o'l quality shit, every hour, on the hour.

do note, though, that i'm not making shit as far as i am concerned, and as far as the company i am with is concerned.

i need to output high-quality, world-class art. not exactly the art that one would find at deviantart.com, but art that, oh, would satisfy the whims and desires of the client, whoever he/she may be.

loading up with graphic design magazines seem to do "some" magic for me, inspiring me with questions as to how something was made.

but basically, it is still damning how to output original art in the midst of all the shit i'm seeing in local commercial design.

the other afternoon, i told my so lovely, lovely wife, Alisa, "i so hate times new roman and arial. there are so many fonts out there, just waiting to be used. the world would be a better place with myriad roman and minion littering streamers and banners."

of course, i told her those words in filipino, bwekbwekbwek.

damn. this afternoon's rain has nothing to remove the stupor in my mind.