The 2010 presidentiable list
(clockwise starting from top left: Bayani Fernando, Ed Panlilio, Gilbert Teodoro, Dick Gordon, Chiz Escudero, Noli de Castro, Mar Roxas, Jojo Binay, Loren Legarda, and Manny Villar)
Just looking at this composite picture makes me gasp for air because (1) it makes me want to boycott the 2010 elections and (2) it makes me realize how doomed our country will be come next year.
These candidates or would-be candidates are not all bad. Personally, I could go for Roxas if he doesn’t marry Ms. Korina Sanchez. I just don’t see Sanchez as a likable first lady because I find her rather ‘plastic’ and I just hate how she never ever comes out like a real person in any of her shows. And let’s be honest, they could have never picked a much time to publicly announce their wedding plans, right? I don’t think Sanchez would win Roxas enough votes to make him president. Maybe he might even lose some because of her. But even if Roxas has a good track record, he seems unlikable for the position too. I don’t know, he seems boring kasi even with that ‘Padyak pa, Padyak!’ commercial of his.
Eraserheads Reunion Concert (Panghihinayang)
Wish my sister and I could be there but since Marlboro backed out, the frenzy of ticket sales and venue resets were just too crazy for us. Good thing MTV Philippines stepped in when they did or else a riot of E-heads fans would have burned a Marlboro effigy everywhere in the country. The ticket prices were very reasonable, costing just around 800php and 1300php. But then again, I wish we were free from commitments that night or we could have been seen egging our way into the slam pits, if there were any.
Tongpats
Pinoys are so great with word play. We could invent a new word just by reversing or inserting certain syllables like ‘pa’ or ‘ga’ in between syllables. I loved doing the ‘pa’ and ‘ga’ game back in grade school. My mom would be horrified every time I said something like,
“Apalampam mopo bapa napa apakopo aypay hinpindipi papa kupumapakapainpin, Mapa?
You just have to take out the ‘pa-pe-pi-po-pu’ after every syllables and you have the exact translation. The ‘pa’ inserts depend on the vowel of the previous syllable so if you have ako, you say it as apakopo. The same goes for the ‘ga’ inserts only the ‘pa’ ones are easier to use.
We also make up new words by mere association. The infamous Jologs for Jolina’s Organization started when rumors about Jolen’s alleged transfer from UP to AMA was because of the former school’s lack of star treatment for her. Berks for barkada, as popularized by ABS-CBN’s teeny-bopper series with the same title, was originally used to refer to the brand Birkenstock: predecessor of Havaianas’s fame. Then we also have Granma which, when said nonchalantly sounds like grandma, actually refers to Grand Matador Brandy.
2008 SONA
Last Monday’s SONA was breathtaking – it literally kills you with inconsistencies and bull shit.
To listen to PGMA go on and on about how she is concerned for the welfare of the people is, to say the least, rather damning:
(1) She insists that VAT cushions the world food and fuel crisis in the country;
(2) VAT is the fuel for government projects and such to help the poor;
(3) Poverty and unemployment has gone down;
(4) Sending more OFWs to other countries is a wonderful thing;
(5) Microfinance has gone up to help more people;
(6) There is an existent fuel subsidy for people who work in the transport sector;and
(7) The price of sending SMS has gone down to 50 cents.
To start with, VAT does not cushion anything other than the government’s revenue. You pay an extra amount for what, to shoulder government projects to help the poor? What help does this scheme offer the poor, no, us in general when we’re forced to pay more than we could afford? And what Pro-POOR projects was she referring to?
SONA Primer
I don’t see why we should all get excited over this year’s SONA. If it’s all going to be lies and nothing else, why bother?
A report about the nation; that’s what this should be about: not propaganda, not white washing and certainly not weaving illusions. This country has had enough and we deserve to hear it straight without PGMA’s made up fantasies of how she’s doing such an excellent job in manning this country to greatness. If there’s anything she’s good at, its making this country sink even lower than it is.
Most corrupt in Asia – that says it all. This country, I believe, has always been a consistent runner up in that ‘most corrupt’ list since perhaps Erap’s time. But thanks to PGMA, she’s elevated this country’s image to new heights. What, with those unresolved murders of journalists and activists and with that cheating fiasco back in 2004? And let’s not forget about those corruption charges made against her and her better half, the countless impeachment cases against her and oh, her illegitimacy. Such awesomeness, don’t you think?
Calamba Shootout or ‘Encounter’?
Sec. Raul Gonzales and Atty. Leila de Lima are at it again. These two had been at odds since the previous elections because they represent the government and the opposition respectively and it seems just natural that they collide with so much friction since both are adamant to discredit each other’s side. For principle? Maybe but quite frankly I’m guessing it’s for the 2010 elections. Gonzales says his opinion – to shoot and kill the RCBC suspected suspects – is not the reason why the four men from Tanauan, Batangas ended up dead as opposed to De Lima’s insistence that his suggestion triggered the PNP to shoot and kill the men; hence the rob out scenario. Take note of Gonzales’ opinion from De Lima’s suggestion : whoever is taking the other one out of context is almost virtually impossible to detect.
The initial encounter a.k.a. rob out issue between the four men from Tanauan hasn’t even been cleared yet and now another shoot out in Brgy. Puting Lupa in Calamba, possibly a rob out incident again, has resulted in Montano Tolentino’s death, which the PNP Calabarzon believes is the leader of the famed Tolentino Liquido Group – a notorious organized crime syndicate operating in the said region. The family of Tolentino said it was a rob out but the PNP said otherwise. According to the PNP, they were there at Tolentino’s house with a search warrant but the man open fired at them and left the RCBC Task Force no choice but to retaliate.
CHR declares Tanauan ‘encounter’ a rob out
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), with their newly appointed chair Atty. Leila De Lima, said that the Tanauan City encounter between four of the six RCBC robbery-murder suspects and the PNP last May 16 was a rob out. The CHR based their conclusion on (1) the lack of search warrants, (2) the lack of evidence that links the four men to the RCBC incident and (3) the precise bullet holes found in the houses of the slain men – because if the PNP and the men indeed had an encounter, then the bullet holes would have been plenty, found everywhere and not strategically and precisely clustered in specific areas.
The CHR now demands that the PNP give them, among others, the complete list of the cops who were present in that operation. The PNP, on the other hand, will cooperate with the CHR but they will stand by their initial report that it was not a summary execution a.k.a. rob out and that they have proof that the four men had indeed been involved with the RCBC incident. So far, the PNP still has no leads regarding the two uniformed men that are also suspects in the case.
RCBC-Cabuyao Robbery-Murder
Last May 16, six armed men stormed an isolated branch of RCBC at the Industrial Park in Cabuyao, Laguna. They took an approximate of 10-15M pesos from the bank and the lives of eight bank personnel, a security guard and a client. This incident has been tagged by the PNP as the ’bloodiest bank robbery-murder’ event in the history of the country. Everyone was shocked and horrified by the violent assault but you can’t say no one knew this would happen.
The PNP said they received information that a bank robbery would happen that day but didn’t expect it to happen inside an industrial park. I wasn’t dreaming when I heard Razon say this on T.V. Patrol. Then PGMA went furious and ordered the PNP to have a thorough investigation to capture the animals. And as a loyal puppet, Sec. Gonzales also went berserk and wanted the animals to die and rot in hell. But there will be no shoot to kill order says Razon.
Task Force RCBC was formed and days later, the team had an ‘encounter’ with 4 out of the 6 suspected robbers: Pepito Magsino, 35, Vivencio Javier, 55; Angelito Malabanan, 35; and Rolly Lachica, 50, who were all killed in the shootout in the village of Pagaspas, Tanauan City. At this point in the story, it is important to note that the PNP has a ‘witness’ and that the ‘witness’ was the one who identified the 6 suspects from police files. Razon said that the witness identified men possibly involved with organized syndicates that work in the Calabarzon area.
Where to
It’s not like everything’s fool-proof, right? But the way I see it, the government or the people, whoever they are, controlling the reins of this country is losing it. I don’t know who is/are responsible because, frankly, if you point a finger at anyone in office, they’ll weasel their way out by pointing their puckers to somebody else. You can’t really pin anyone down. And that’s the problem. No one is brave enough to raise their hands and claim responsibility for all this sh*t that we’re in. But then again, all these troubles we’ve been having are not the sole efforts of one man. You could say it’s a collaborative effort of a team working against progress and moral decency. And, as they say, there’s no ‘I’ in team.
It started with that NO RICE SHORTAGE thing that made a superstar out of NFA and Sec. Arthur Yap. Whether we have enough supply or not, the fact remains that the local farmers are still receiving squat from the government to support or help them at least. No loans for the small farmers, no possible profit. How could they sustain their crops? Even if the 2007 and 2000 census figures had the lowest annual population growth rate recorded for the Philippines since the 1960s, the number of farmers expected to provide the whole country with the staple crop is just too small and under compensated to carry such responsibility.
Stupidity on the rise
I wanted to concentrate on writing my entry to this year’s Palanca Awards but I just couldn’t. So I’m using this entry as a lame excuse to vent my frustrations on my self-imposed writer’s block.
You’re an alien if you haven’t heard anything about the Canister Scandal at the Vicente Sotto Medical Center in Cebu. The doctors and the nurses involved in that operation can only be described as idiots, a**holes and mindless dogs who know nothing about genuine care for their patients. And the hospital is harboring these creeps. Last I heard, the 3 doctors and 2 nurses who were responsible are retained in the hospital because they are short of medical staff. I mean, is that even a reason? That’s just bullsh*t.
