so far, this year still proves to be a bit forgiving for me. everything seems to be working out. except for financial concerns (im heavily in debt because of my credit cards), everything else is just fine.

if i actually believed in horoscopes and feng shui then i guess being a horse does have its benefits during a dog year.

it's sad that i cant say the same for everyone. the loss of life. the security concerns. the political instability. but i guess it's all part of life. i dont think it's fair that we get to enjoy our existence while others dont. but i dont think itll help if we get mired in depression because other people are suffering and we arent.

these good things dont happen often, so we might as well get the most out of it. it doesnt mean we're insensitive towards the plight of others. but no one said we cant be happy for ourselves at the same time.

im a bit concerned with a few friends here in tabulas. but i can only do so much. it's hard when you're just another faceless blogger who cant really affect people's lives. ultimately, it depends on them on what they want to do with their lives. and just like the rest of the bloggers here, we can only read and comment about it.

so far, family's great. was able to participate in mass every sunday for the month of feb. and that's a feat in itself. i usually attend mass in the early morning. i hate the afternoon crowds. most of them are kids who use mass as a means to meet up with their lovers or to flirt with promising ones or just hang out with friends. so waking up at 7am on a weekend definitely takes a lot of will.

holy week is coming around soon and im a bit eager already. it's my favorite time of the year. nope, we're not goin to the beach or abroad. that time of year, the entire family gets together and we go on our annual bisita iglesia. i hope we go somewhere real far this time. maybe we can visit the churches in bulacan or laguna and make a little road trip out of it.

on another note, it's official. im putting my blog on friends-only. this is my last public entry (i hope). those on my friends list seem to be able to read all of my entries. i dont know about those who are on my friends-of list.

as it is, i have 29 peeps on my list and can only allow 3 more. im thinking of removing those whove been inactive for the longest time but im still hoping they login soon. (ever the optimistic pessimist).

almost on the same note, the network group i said i hate? well i hate them even more. looks like they managed to block my YM workaround. so since today, i wont be on YM anymore. and since i havent gotten around to fixing my pc back at home, i dont think ill be online on YM for quite a bit. im sorry for those who try to catch me on YM often. i really enjoy the chat. but until i find some ways to work around it, i guess it's back to old fashioned email. 

anyways, we're already 6 days into march, and im hoping it's great for everyone. but as of now, i do think it is. i have two friends who just announced their upcoming weddings. the engagement party's a few days away. so i guess, march doesnt look that bad either.

it's official. you're entering a new phase in your life.

id like to say that you're growing up, but graduation doesnt necessarily equate to maturity. it's just another signpost in your life. another milestone.

but if you mature by virtue of your commencement exercises, i applaud you and i wish better years to come.

having graduated three times myself, id like to share a few advices to you. no, im not acting all high and mighty. i just wish that you'll pick up a few things from my musings that could help you out with your life.

sometimes we dont like listening to the 'adults' because it sounds like sermon most of the time. id like to think im not that old yet and somehow i could pass off as an older barkada to you with tidbits of wisdom to share. so im sure you'll bear me out.

graduation isnt solely about you. it's about those two people who envisioned this very moment years ago the moment you were born.

it's that couple who labored through the days well into the nights, borrowing money if needed, pawning off possessions when absolutely necessary.

this day is about them too. when they spent hundreds and thousands if not millions to send you to the best schools, clothing you in the trendiest of clothes, feeding you nourishing food and giving you the material things you wished for.

that despite your lack of appreciation and gratitude, your incessant grumblings, your hateful words and your extremely negative attitude towards them, they still send you to school instead of disowning the selfish brat that you are.

so on this glorious day, try to see things from their point of view:

my child, after years and years of seeming rebellion and countless headaches and heartaches, has now graduated. i can focus on my life now. i can now enjoy my life a little bit more since i no longer need to toil well into the night.

i no longer need to hold onto this ungrateful job and bear with a selfish and spiteful boss. i dont need to wake up early in the morning, bear with rush hour, and come home to an empty house.

i can now spend more time with my beloved partner. my child's future is now secured. and despite our withering and aging bodies, we can concentrate on our promise to each other the day we got married: us, first and foremost.

i can now buy my partner the material things we've denied ourselves for the sake of our children. we no longer need to worry about spending our own money for our own desires. no more guilt racking on my conscience when i buy that tie ive always wanted. it's just a tie.

that at this moment, all those hateful words over the years can be forgiven because theyve made me proud. theyve earned their right to become their own persons. they no longer need us and we're easily swept to the sides as they plan their future without us. but it's ok. this is their life, not ours. we will take care of ourselves, my loving partner and i.

there's no written contract that they take care of us during our twilight years. they're not tied to us by duty or obligation.

now, i can retire and enjoy what little years i have left on this world. that i longer need not worry about my child going hungry for even one meal. that i longer need not worry where to look for money when my child gets sick. that i no longer need to stay up the entire night worried about the safety of my child even if i have work and deadlines tomorrow.

that i no longer need to sell off my dearest possessions when my child acts on a whim and desires a bauble that he'd lose interest in sooner than later.

i can now rest.

we tend to forget that our parents are people too. that they have emotions. and more importantly, they have lives as well. lives and plans theyve put on hold the moment you came into their world.

because as soon as you breathed your first breath, they were fascinated by you. and their world revolved around you. they put their desires and plans aside so they can plan your future. the same plans and the same future you rebel against since you refuse to see that they only want the best for you.

they no longer buy theirselves shoes whenever they want to. nor clothes. they put their money aside for your milk, your shots, your cute little clothes and whatever it takes to get your approval and your smile which soon vanishes as soon as they fail to appease you again.

they're no longer current with the latest fashion and accessories since all their money is spent on having you stay current with yours.

they still use their trusty 3310s while they gift you with N70s and Ipods. They still use the same clothes over and over while you buy new ones every week. they make do with a budget and packed lunches so you can have that meal with your friends at the most happening diners.

so in this day, that's supposed to be about you, i hope you appreciate the ones who made it possible.

beg them to come to your graduation (although im sure you dont need to) because you want them to see what theyve worked long and hard for all these years. that all those hardships they went through was well appreciated.

give them your diploma and give them a hug for me. tell them you love them. and thank them for bearing with you.

if you can do that, then you deserve to graduate and all the best that your life and your parents' lives can and have offered.

you deserve this day. you've earned it.

This one is from mlq3's blog.

Looks like the administration's up to their dirty tricks again. Theyre convening nationwide barangay assemblies to gather signatures to steamroll Charter change.

This is because they know that Congress cant push it forward with their insistence that both Houses should vote as one with regards to Charter Change.

But with the Constitution on the side of the Senate this time (who refuse to dance the chacha), the administration has managed to figure out a loophole: use the DILG and the barangays to gather signatures to show that there is public support for the change of the Constitution.

The worst part is that they might actually use this scheme as a way to abolish the Senate thus removing the remaining obstacle to Charter change.

With the Senate out of the way, the Lower House will be the only House of Congress and can proceed to steamroll chacha.

This entry on another blog writes about Cris Hugo, the 20 year old student activist from Bicol who was shot 3 times in the back. Looks like they dont care how young, or how old you are, you'd still get imprisoned, hosed down or killed if you stand up against the administration.

On a lighter note, an interesting and funny take on the current happenings can be read here.

i so hate arroyo. she never plays fair.

Here's a nice tagalog riposte on Bong Austeros' email.

It also has an interesting comment by Floyd which ill post here in complete detail just so to make this entry look longer than it really is.

Dearest Mr. Bong Austero,

I saw you last night on ANC you read your letter on cable television as is very much famous on the internet and blogging circles.
You were saying that we should give GMA a break and move the country forward.
You were saying that you have forgiven her.
And while people protests on the streets you say that it is not helping the economy.
You say that they are at connivance with these people that you ask to have protection from.
You say that they have not been able to offer any viable alternative.
You say that it is better to have a "Flawed leader than scheming power hungry fools who cannot even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest".
You say that many replied to your letter and congratulated you for it and even pasted it on their blogs and forwarded them their friends.
You have mentioned the threat of a Coup de’ tat within the ranks of the military and the Left.
All in all as in the way I understand, you mean “ENOUGH” and just live on with our lives as we watch the “FLAWED” President run the country. While saying that Cory et. Al are the bigger problem.

Your letter and its contents are what I’ve always heard with almost all the people I talked to about GMA.
They say that it’s better to keep the status quo than anarchy and let the country suffer an economic downfall.
They say that there’s no viable or a better alternative than GMA. And if there’s one they certainly won’t bet for another Erap or the likes of Noli de Castro. (or even FPJ for that matter on the last election)
Some say to wait for another election of congressmen and vote for the moral ones that would stand up against GMA.
Others would say that they will never trust a communist government or a state run by the military or a junta.
But the worse of them all is that they blame the Filipinos for voting corrupt officials thus having them deserve their plight.
Some reactions would state that even how many People Power that happens in the country there will never be a government that would listen to the people or be morally upright.
Each and everyone becomes as corrupt and hungry for power as everybody are as soon as they sit in office.
They become afraid that the current lifestyle that they are living now would be changed and more and more people will be affected because of the rampant destabilization plots as it would affect the economy.
Some would even compare different Philippine presidents and pinpoint each merits between them.
Yet all the more they are resigned to their conviction that there will never be a good Philippines much more an upright President.
So they decide to get out the country or live their lives and look for greener pastures.
That’s the part where I say “ENOUGH”.

I’ve never lived with my family.
My parents went out of the country with the same reasons.
They said that they want to have a better life for me and for their families.
They even planned on taking me with them.
In their time they saw that the only solution for a better life is outside.
They were poor to begin with.
They were squatters who came from their provinces and worked their way up the employment ladder through hard work and dedication.
As an end result they were able to have a better life.
They earned the merits of their actions and eventually became able to leave the country.
When they had me they thought that I deserve a better life than they had, thus they left me with my aunt and started another life oversees.
All their lives they worked and worked as many odd jobs as possible that they were able to send me to an exclusive school.
They told me to study and when I graduate to work hard as they are so I’d be able to do buy anything I want and when Id have my own family I’d be able to stay with them.
But for all the troubles that they went through they only have one request to make of me.

“Son if you choose to leave the country it is fine by us. But we ask of you not to do so and help our countrymen, we cannot afford to loose another generation of Filipinos at the expense of our country.”

So I did my best.
Though not that good in my academics I was able to graduate from my tertiary education. (In six years though)
In those years I tried searching for reasons and went all over the country to see the real Philippines.
I’ve mingled with criminals, the poorest of the poor the drug addicts the richest of the rich and the academics and mere street philosophers.
In all of them I saw the same bleak realization of a country that doesn’t deserve them or on the contrary made them who they were.
But in times of deep despair, in times of drunkenness and sober meanderings they’ve always hoped for a better life for the country and for their people.
That their children might never experience what they had.
They look at me with wondering eyes and asks me if there’s still hope.
I always tell them “When people stop making their lives better that is when there can never really be any hope.”

So now in these troubled times I read the news and I can’t stop myself from not doing anything.
A President apologized but never showed accountability.
GMA called who?
GMA did what?
I ask myself why we can’t put her to justice.
The point is she did something wrong and a simple sorry wont suffice it.
A simple sorry wont change a corrupted ballot.
A simple sorry wont change a cheated majority.
A simple sorry wont heal a wounded land.
And the more that she puts her back on accountability the more robust the criminals become.
The bolder the corrupt politicians become.
Because they see a society that bows down to a “Flawed leader by virtue of keeping the status-quo.”

Eventually her philandering continued.
By virtue of poverty and paranoia and sheer lack of viable alternatives she stepped on our civil liberties.
She issued E.O. 464
She decreed P.D. 1017
She puts to jail anyone who’s against her and asked them to be arrested without a warrant.
She puts media to a watch list and continues to harass its employees and supporters.
She silences the dissenters and brands them as communists and destabilizers.
And now she wants to change our system of government.

I say “ENOUGH”
Clearly there is no reason for me to stay silent and not do anything.
I don’t want another generation that is conditioned to learned helplessness.
I don’t want another wave of poverty that would throw the best and the brightest out of the country.
I don’t want us to not do anything.
I don’t want the next generation to blame me for another mistake that the older generation did—to remain complacent and just live their lives.
I also want to have a better life for all Filipinos but not like what you say Mr. Austero.

I see a justice system that is not friendly with the masses because of language gap.
I see an educational system that is flawed and backward because of lack of funds.
I see all the basic services like healthcare and access to food and water being eaten whole by graft and corruption.
And I see the taxes I pay going nowhere but to a “Flawed Presidents’ Government”

So let me remind you Mr. Austero that the President is not the Government, the people is the Government.
The President is not the economy, the people is the economy.
And I will never tire reminding you of that.

You have every right to protect your vote.
To not just let anyone take it from you.
You have every right to voice out your opinion and not agree with the governments’ policies and never be put to jail.
You have every right to question a leader’s credibility because you placed him/her in that position of power.
It is even a privilege that they are there.
Because they didn’t earn it, they asked us to give it to them.


So I find it justified to answer your letter.
And share my two cents of the matter.
That while you have presented your alternative of complacency I present my alternative of social responsibility.
That while your answer is “we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward”
My answer is “I am always prepared to defend our freedoms and our rights that we so hardly fought for hundreds of years and move this country forward”
And if it needs be id fight nail and tooth for it.

Unfortunately Mr. Austero it is from the likes of you that we need protection from.

I am not loath to see a series of People Power just so we could bring about real and tangible change.
I am not loath to see hundreds of presidents impeached if they so rightly deserved so.
I am not loath to see this country go down just so to rise up and rebuild itself rightfully.

I’m sorry Mr. Austero but I am not the silent kind that would just watch the events on television.
I also want to earn a living and live a good life with my family and friends but not in this status quo.
Surely not in this status quo of corruption and un-accountability and clear malicious disregard for the law.

And like you I am sick and tired of self scheming agitators that only have regards to what is good for themselves and their economy.
Perhaps that’s the only part where we could agree.

But take note Mr. Austero that I am never afraid to stand up for my convictions furthermore for truth and justice even in the face of any impending arrest.

So I end this letter with a prayer that by doing so I’d give justice to peoples like my family and millions of Filipinos hoping for a better country.

That as faulty as human beings we may find forgiveness in the eyes of God and men, but pledge accountability for our sins.

That we may stand up high and proud that our generation will never fail the future generations…

Pretty cool huh? Feel free to visit these bloggers and give them a pat on the back for eloquent replies.

Deymit. Im so sleepy

I dont know who made this email, but it sure is the best email ive seen so far regarding the political situation in the Philippines:

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED
IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS

ROBERT FULGHUM learned most of what he really needed to
know about how to live and what to do and how to be - in
kindergarten. Mine, I learned in Philippine politics. Most
of these, just recently.

Some of the things I learned:

1. During elections, the lesser evil isn't really the best
   choice. It's still evil.
2. Voting is a right. Getting counted is a privilege.
3. Calling an election official is not illegal. Wiretapping
   that call is. The first, a mere "lapse in judgment;" the
   second, a criminal act.
4. Philippine politics is not Mission Impossible. In the
   movie, the tape self-destructs in five seconds. In this
   country, the (Garci) tapes didn't just dodge deliberate
   destruction. It spawned several versions.
5. When caught cheating, deny. Then, lie. Saying sorry is
   the last option. But never ever admit to doing anything. The
   formula worked for the president, it could work for anyone.
6. You cannot have a thinking president and a thinking vice
   president at the same time. One has to be mentally-inferior
   and less experienced to achieve equilibrium.
7. It is easier to oust someone who's male and powerful
   than somebody who's female and extremely lucky.
8. To err is not just human. It's presidential. To forgive
   may be divine, but utterly stupid.
9. The pork barrel per se is not evil or corrupt. Lawmakers are.
10. It takes two to tango but all of two Houses to Cha-Cha.
11. Critical collaboration is the stance taken by
    oppositionists otherwise known as "appointees-in-waiting."
12. Coup plotters always come in three types: the plain
    adventurist, the genuine reformist, and the former senator.
13. People who were ousted by previous people power revolts
    should not be at the forefront of another people power attempt.
    Else, it would miserably fail.
14. Seditious journalism does not guarantee high readership.
    A police raid does.
15. You want to become a newspaper editor, forget about taking
    a course in communications. Join the Philippine National
    Police instead, and strive to be its chief.
16. When anti-riot cops bodily carry you off a rather peaceful
    rally against your will (as in the case of party-list
    Rep. Rissa Hontiveros-Baraquel), that's not an arrest. That's
    to safeguard you from harm.
17. When children of deposed leaders [e.g. Imee Marcos or
    Jinggoy Estrada] insist that the current occupants of
    Malacañang are either thieves or crooks, believe them.
    They've been there.
18. If you're a journalist and you wrote something deemed
    offensive by a politician, they call it libel. When a lawmaker
    says something defamatory against anyone, they call it
    privileged speech.
19. The State of the Nation Address is when the country's
    most prominent and influential liars come together to listen
    to the country's biggest liar.
20. When in UP, they are referred to as "hard-line activists."
    In Mendiola, they are "hardcore militants." In Congress, they
    are party-list representatives. Simply put, there are NO
    Communists in this country.
    
    

im really frustrated with philippine politics. how can you bear with people who flatly lies with a straight face?

with the people's initiative under way, you have comments by Bunye saying that 'the people were responding to the call for transformation and change' and Defensor preaching that ' people's hearts and minds were now open to joining the Charter change discussions'. (see here)

how can they stand in front of the cameras and say that Malacañang had nothing to do with the signature campaign, and how groups like Sigaw ng Bayan can say that they initiated the drive when it's the barangay assemblies who are gathering the signatures.

has everyone been corrupted already? how much did it take for these people to turn around and sell their children's future? do they think theyre doing this for their children?

sometimes in my frustration, i would want things like this to push through: have the charter change. take away the term limits (for those congressmen on their third and final term as well as the local officials who fear these congressmen will run for local positions). allow all past presidents (im looking at you, PGMA and FVR) to rerun in elections. allow all the provisions and amendments that would serve the intererests of these selfish politicians.

then we'll see how these same people would still run this country to the ground despite a change to a parliamentary government. then we'll see how they would continually put in a 'no vote of confidence' on the current PM whenever one of the ministers have a 'messianic' fit. then we'll see abusive bills by the unicameral house turned to laws without a Senate to countercheck them. then we'll have political parties splitting up and merging with other parties just to get into power. let's see how the 'local politicians' become more brazen and show us their true colors as warlords when federalism pushes through. let Arroyo become prime minister for life, or let her quietly retire with the 'Garci Tapes' and the fertilizer scam, and all the scandals, unanswered, and all her critics sent to jail.

by then, i'd like to see how people like Bong Austero, react to the current situation. i wonder if he'll write another email trumpeting taking the higher moral ground and forgiving these politicians again.

i was against EDSA II. i wasnt there. even if Estrada was guilty, he should have been tried and impeached, instead of overthrown by a real conspiracy by Arroyo (or more appropriately, the first gentleman) and her backers.

it was wrong for Davide to declare Estrada resigned and to swear in Arroyo. that will forever be his legacy. he made a mistake by not following the consitution, and his children and grandchildren and the rest of the Filipino people will have to bear the consequences of his mistake.

now, we have the same people who went to EDSA II admitting that what they did was probably a mistake. that's what i want Bong Austero and his like to feel. I want them to realize theyve made a mistake. Let them and their children suffer for their mistakes.

the sadist in me wants this to happen so that people who think that this President is 'the best person to lead the country' would eat their own words. that the children of these people would suffer so they would curse their parents and disown them. so that their children would leave the country and be ashamed to call themselves Filipino.

i want to see this country in ruins. let the country burn.