Go back to the community

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.

A conspiracy among Kapampangans

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.

How about lower fares?

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.

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.

Inutile.

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

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.

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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

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.

Critical times

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.

Step Down, GMA.

Reclaim EDSA

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!

Monday take on the Thursday stand-off

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.

Lest we forget

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.

Tatsulok

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

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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...