Armchair Columnist

Sorry for the absence in the past couple of months. I was in other realms of the Intarwebz, pursuing some rekindled interests. Meanwhile, the country has again treaded upon interesting times.

I've been active again in the Philstar feedback section and have been engaging in debates with posters who either are sympathetic to the MILF, unwarily bought their propaganda, or simply unaware of history. One such debate brought up a series of good posts from me, which I would like to quote here:

You seem to be hung up with the 1996 peace pact with the MNLF which has obviously failed. Accept it, with what is happening now, the peace pact with the MNLF failed to achieve peace in Mindanao. You put the blame of its failures with Erap's all-out war with the breakaway MILF group and this is where I point out to you that the problem existed even before that all-out war. The peace agreement itself was flawed, and I list here some of the reasons:

1. It did not cover the other existing armed groups most notably the MILF and the Abu Sayaff.
2. There was no provision for disarmament of the MNLF.
3. There was no guarantee that it will lead to the development of ARMM, which would have prevented discontent.
4. There was no guarantee that MNLF has total control of its members, especially Nur Misuari, such that all would fulfill their end of the bargain.

I agree that I have the benefit of history when I give my analysis. But that's what history is for, so let's learn from it for a change, shall we?

You quoted FVR's speech proclaiming himself a peacemaker and according to Scripture, peacemakers are worthy to be a son of God. I'm sorry for FVR but I have a higher standard before I would call one a peacemaker, especially a peacemaker worthy to be a son of God.

I say a peacemaker is one who has created peace and sustains that peace.

First we have to be clear of my idea of peace. It is not simply a truce or an absence of battles. People may not fight, but if there is enmity between them, there is no peace. Peace should at least be a condition that discourages conflict to thrive in the first place.

So you see for me, being a peacemaker is more than creating peace pacts, but in making them last.

As for Erap's all-out war, it was another chance to negotiate correctly from a position of strength. We could insist that they (MILF, NPA, Abu Sayaff) disarm and cease from supporting terrorism and submit to authority or else be annihilated. With the removal of armed conflict with as a distraction, we could finally build infrastructure, provide education, boost agriculture and other social services in Mindanao

This was actually done before by Magsaysay against the Huks. All-out war or all-out friendship, he offered and also delivered. The Huks were defeated and rendered irrelevant. Unfortunately, he can't sustain it. The government can't sustain it. The festering problems causing discontent remained, and it was not that long after when discontent again reached a boiling point and the NPA and the MNLF were born.

They say poverty and conflict is a chicken and egg problem. The way to solve it is to break the cycle by choosing to decisively tackle on one first and then leverage on the gains to tackle the other. Erap and Magsaysay chose to tackle the conflict first and got favorable results. Well and good. Now tackling poverty proved to be more challenging and it wasn't helped that both were cut short in doing so. For Erap, it's also his fault--the irony! Gloria seems to want to tackle the poverty first, and as expected is also having difficulties. It also didn't help that her negotiators don't know how to negotiate (I assume they were hoping to prevent further hostilities from the MILF so as not to interfere with the ever so slow economic development) and there are foreign meddlers all around. Also, just as the MILF leadership is having credibility problems by having lost commands, Gloria's scandals have also lessened her and the government's credibility in striking a deal she will keep.

If I would add, FVR, to his credit, also focused on economic development first and did better than Gloria. It's just that he could still have done better. And then there's the problem on continuity that has been plaguing not just the peace process but other development projects. Does that mean a term extension is needed? Not necessarily. But with the inconsistency I'm getting from Malacañang, I am seriously considering the conspiracy theory that the President is seeking agitation that would be enough to justify martial law and a term extension, although the usual government-bashing will also never be of help in peace-building.

Actually, I'm not surprised with this administration's incompetence in negotiation. I could mention many instances, most of which have been in the news. Instead, let me share a more personal anecdote. This happened when I was still in college. Our Political Science instructor also worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). One time, in explaining her lengthy absence, she mentioned having been part of simulation exercises in negotiating with the MILF. I asked her if they simulated the scenario wherein foreign terrorist organizations are aiding the MILF. She said they only considered the ideal setting to show their good faith. My jaw dropped. Why call it a simulation in the first place? Besides, why should the MILF know about it? In fact, I would've been more comforting for me if she merely stated that details of the simulation were confidential.

For more in-depth analysis, I'd rather refer to Dean Jorge Bocobo (DJB) at Philippine-American Commentary. Though I may not agree with him all the time, especially when he goes hard-line, I appreciate his courage to openly voice out unpopular and non-PC (politically correct) opinions that I myself would rather be subtle or diplomatic or even silent about, especially in this blog. The political pundits in the Philippines could be quite vicious, and I'm not looking for trouble. Good thing for DJB, he has superior research skills, and actually go deep into the root of every contention more efficiently than I could. For instance, he's been questioning the legitimacy of the "ancestral domain" claim and showing the danger of its mere suggestion. He also brings to light the feeling of guilt for one's predecessors' mistakes that he says explains why some people would be fine with appeasement. His views are complementary to my predominantly problem-solving approach.

For the historical perspective, a newspaper archive is your friend. Below are some interesting links mainly due to the sense of deja vu:

A 2002 editorial entitled Bare the Details
Soliven ranting about a 2002 appeasement deal

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A Tale of Two Political Scandals

The first political scandal is obvious enough because it's all in the news. Since it's a little too early to be conclusive about this particular episode in the never-ending thriller of Philippine Politics (I normally do not write commentaries early in the game, it's just that the second political scandal pushed me to blog now), there's not much I can do besides making fun of the cover photo in Philstar last February 8.

Maybe I'll just share what I have commented in Philstar.com last February 8 and 9. It was largely uncontested by even the rabid ones so I guess it has passed a moderate litmus test (or maybe, even if a couple considered it "comprehensive," most just ignored my very long comment). Here it is, slightly edited for Highway Drift standards:

Okay opposition, I'll help you with this, because I also like to have some change in the country... Why does it seem you can't win "fence-sitters" (your term) and some moderate pro-GMA to your side, when as far as I know, with the clumsiness and spinelessness of the administration, you should already have done so by the previous years? Let me enumerate my observations so far:

1. You are still operating under the personality-based politics we have in the country wherein personal attacks are given premium. You rely too much on witnesses. This explains the penchant for labeling those on the other side as paid hacks while ignoring some doubtful aspects of your witnesses. This also explains the perception that the opposition is just the same as the power-hungry people in Malacañang.

2. You rely too much on media, especially broadcast media. What if the administration finally decides to gag the media once and for all? You could turn to the Internet, but as far as I know you don't have the same clout here as you have with broadcast media. In fact, the clout you developed in media has turned some people off and explains the perception that media is already biased.

3. You can be as closed-minded with morality as the government can be closed-minded with the economy. Close-mindedness is a turn-off, but your disadvantage here is that you can't enforce your close-mindedness with military might. Perhaps you have rebel military factions with you, but using them would only undermine the morality card you're playing.

4. You are not original. Spark another EDSA uprising? Force the government to declare some sort of martial law? The problem with lack of originality is that your moves are anticipated.

5. You are unwilling to fight the government on its own terms, the courts for example. Why? Are you incapable? Is it because, like in no. 1, you already dismiss the courts as under government payroll?

6. You lack a great leader to unify all of you and address these observations of mine as well as other possible weaknesses that a truly competent leader can detect. You lack a leader that will make the leader of the other side puny in comparison.

-oOo-

The other political scandal is somewhat closer to my heart because it involves my college alma mater, and somehow it tangentially concerns things I was involved in back then.

There's a common wisecrack among Ateneans that happenings in the national political scene are reflected within the Sanggunian, the university student government, also called Sanggu for short. For instance, during the Erap Impeachment and EDSA 2, the Sanggu president was also ousted by impeachment (due to corruption, if I remember correctly). On and off talks of constitutional change this decade have resulted to a new constitution for the student body last 2005 (I was part of that years-long effort which was challenged by a lack of voters in plebiscites as well as the yearly change in leadership). Actually talks on changing the Philippine constitution has continued, and in Sanggu yet another proposal for a constitutional commission is in the offing.

Now, with the ouster of De Venecia as House Speaker as well as the Lozada misadventure threatening the Arroyo presidency, Sanggu has pulled another equally shocking scandal with the belated discovery that Karl Satinitigan, this year's Sanggu president, was actually not enrolled for the second semester! (Read all about it in the theguidon.com, the student publication's online edition.) It's like discovering that since 2004, Her Excellency was no longer a Filipino citizen--but Chinese! (Though, in her case, that would explain everything, hehe.)

Well, since this is "just" a student council, we could say it's a good practice for coping with extraordinary measures, especially with the things happening in the national scene. However, the rude shock of knowing that the student government has been rendered rudderless hit Ateneans at the worst possible time. And I'm just referring to Ateneo-scale proportions.

First of all, a shadowy opposition group calling themselves "The Gadfly Society" (inspired by the original gadfly Socrates) had surfaced this year to anonymously lambaste (in their blog gadflysociety.blogspot.com as well as spam email) the Sanggu as well as the student body and the university in general on their "failings" in fulfilling an "Atenean social duty" (in the Liberation Theology sense, perhaps). Their style has far from impressed me (refer to my Philstar comment above) but they do have valid points. As far as I'm concerned, though the are enjoying the political fallout and basking in renewed notoriety, they apparently have no hand in this expose; because, if they do, Karl would have been out by the start of the sem. It's a stretch of imagination that they have kept secret this knowledge. At the very least, perhaps we could give them credit for smelling Sanggu's bleeding wound this school year and becoming emboldened just as leftist groups get emboldened at the time of scandal-laden administrations.

Secondly, Karl has recently been mentioned in blogs due to his statement regarding the Manila Peninsula Siege. I must agree that his statement could be written better, but, personally, it's pathetic how some in the opposition (U know who U are), in an apparently desperate move, would (under guise of education via reality) pick on a student-written position letter that had the misfortune of taking a neutral stand regarding the siege (see again my Philstar comment above). It's even more pathetic how they use the letter to further whatever is their stereotype of the Ateneans, the youth or the elite. In light of this incident, I guess they would snicker in a feeling of vindication, but I say: what they did is still unfair and recent developments, although usable against the persons involved, will still not prove any stereotypes at all.

Rather, the issue here is what to make of actions, statements and decisions Karl had entered in official capacity, when he was already ineligible all along, like the one mentioned above. I guess this is another job for the Student Judicial Court (SJC). I'm actually impressed that they seem to be a competent body at these trying times. It is their investigation that has made sense of things. On the other hand, the Gadfly or The Guidon, if they are truly worth their salt, should have come up with the expose way before the court.

In the aftermath of this turmoil, continuing scandal has been fuelled by the statement of the acting president, the former vice president Cabreira. The general impression is that the remaining officials are suddenly putting the blame on Carl while washing their hands of any fault. There are accusations that Cabreira is just a mere puppet of a rival party's presidential contender for the coming elections. "ROTC Corps Commander, Sir! What is happening to our campus?" Karl may have already asked this as he is wheeled to the hospital due to backstab wounds, and he suddenly understood what De Venecia is going through.

So much for long-winded official statements, at the end of Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor, immediately after a horrific attack killed off almost the entire government leadership, Jack Ryan's first words after being sworn as president are simply "let's get to work." But that's fantasy US politics. What we have here is authentic Philippine politics, and you can't get more Philippine politics than this!

Wait, actually, there's more!

A recent comment in The Guidon article linked above from someone who dreams of being a Jun Lozada points a very serious blaming finger on a wide range of university personalities and groups. Actually, I like this Guidon "witness" more than the real Lozada because of the all-out testimony; s/he even linked a campus opposition figure to the Gadfly. What I find bothersome is that s/he had pointed the complicity of the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (ADSA) and the Office for Student Activities (OSA) to keep secret an earlier issue regarding resignation of Sanggu officers. If this is proven to be true and dots are connected, then all the Sanggu officers involved in this conspiracy are impeachable for betrayal of public trust and violation of the constitution! (Though they're lucky the semester is almost over.) This could also possibly answer in the worst possible way my initial question on why the school administration did not issue notifications on Karl's enrollment status in the first place. (Too few have been asking this. Are most afraid they'd hear exactly wannabe Lozada's kind of answer?) My own unpleasant experiences back in freshman year come to mind (but those are for another post, though I can't promise to write about it).

At this point, this issue is still developing, and I've realized I've just churned out no more than a narrative with commentary. For cutting-edge opinion, I guess it's better to refer to the people who are closer to the action:

• I like how her personal take on things somehow connects the two political scandals.
• Good take on the issue, as expected from an Atenean Political Science major. I was already a senior when I noticed the growing similarity of the school council politics to that of the Philippine government. Before, I perceived the Sanggunian as more of a corporate management team, and the politics involved as more of office politics. Or was I just naive to think that there's actually a difference in the first place?
• Tatot Quiblat delivers with a great take on leadership in the general sense. If he's still with OSA though, I'd like to hear his side on the grave allegations against OSA.

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Disabusing Some 2007 Notions

The year 2007 is over, but before we "move on" to a new one, I would like to touch on some events and notions of this year that, thanks to the media, have been blown to ridiculous proportions.

First up is the media circus swarming over the death Marianet Amper in Davao City. They say, based on a note she left plus a cursory examination of the household, it's the poverty that had drove the poor girl to suicide. Perfect! The news producers must have thought while leaning back on their plush seats to process the situation. This angle should be hyped up because it is such a "convenient truth" for profit, if not for power.

Later on, when the discussion among ivory towers died down a bit, the infamous mayor of Davao, perhaps more as a defense of his economic handling of the city and a defense of political allies, launched an investigation to see if Marianet has been a victim of an abusive father. Some evidence actually pointed to this angle, but, oh, this would ruin the sensational alignment of an innocent death, poverty, hopelessness, corrupt administration and farcical economic gains! An alignment that could finally provide the spark to topple the said corrupt administration and prove once again the awesome power of the Philippine Free Press and avenge the murders inflicted upon their kind.

Don't expect the issue to be given its proper conclusion, though. Later still, the mutiny at the Manila Peninsula, the spark for a power grab, have fizzled out and some media personalities have been detained for processing. "Processing?" The government should never have the monopoly of double-talk! Forget Marianet, this is a personal attack against media!

Too bad they haven't even considered my theory that what have driven the girl to suicide are the earworm voices of Sean Kingston and JoJo warbling the lyrics below to a pleasant beat and chord progression that is familiar to everyone since Ben E. King:

You're way too beautiful girl
That's why it'll never work
You have me suicidal, suicidal
When you say it's over
Damn all these beautiful girls
They only wanna do you dirt
They'll have you suicidal, suicidal
When they say it's over

I'm way to cool for ya boy.
That's why it'll never work.
I'll have you suicidal,suicidal.
When I say its over.
Damn all these beautiful girls.
We're only gonna do ya dirt.
We'll have you suicidal, suicidal.
When we say it's over.

-oOo-

Speaking of the Manila Peninsula stand off, there is this particular defense for media's actuations before, during and after the incident at the Pen. Most pundits have been debating about the right to information vs. the duty of the police and police overkill vs. police SOP among other things, but there was one statement that gave most some pause: if none of the media people stayed put, Trillanes, Lim and company might have been killed. Most have apparently accepted this as a valid line of thinking. Indeed, in exploring this idea one might assert that if there was complete media coverage of Ninoy's arrival back in 1983, he would never have been killed.

This, however, is an oversimplification because it does not take other factors into consideration. Consequently, it requires a lot of assumptions, which could be telling. First it already assumes that someone is out to kill somebody. Otherwise, it assumes that the mutineers will shoot it out to the death. Still otherwise, it assumes a poorly trained and undisciplined SWAT team. Bottom line, there appears to be a distrust to the authorities (may they be de facto or de juris, with or without moral ascendancy), or an effort to create mistrust, or, further still, pandering to a possibly distrustful public. Perhaps it is but natural for media to be critical of the authorities; therefore, this is acceptable.

Other assumptions would be that the killing would take place inside the hotel under their watchful eyes. This one is dismaying, because it lacks imagination. Rather, it somehow reeks of naive self-importance: the mere presence of media can decide who lives and who dies. They should have considered that media can be used and have been used to broadcast murder and that their complete coverage would be rendered powerless in saving lives, instead creating a more potent "chilling effect." Oh sure, the killer may--repeat, may be caught on camera, but they are assuming the murderer will allow him/herself to be identified, an assumption that could cost the very lives of the media people. Ah, but they are willing to die for the right of the public to information, aren't they?

It would have been better for all if they railed against the curfew. Maybe, a legal attack wouldn't prosper since the administration has done its homework and has conjured a legal block, fair or otherwise. But the opposition could have injected more malice to this overreaction. In the end, the media preferred discussing about themselves. In addition, compared to the stand-off and the curfew, the media aspect has more gray areas and touches on their area of expertise; thus, it has more fodder for further analysis.

-oOo-

In the end, I'd like to share what I've written in the Philstar Feedback Section (subsequently deleted by the moderator, I wonder why) back when the debates were raging about the media handling of the Manila Peninsula stand-off:

Philippine media is like a pendulum swinging from authoritarian control to anarchy. Marcos started this pendulum's swing by holding the bob to the side of state control, and when his iron grip was forced to let go, the bob swung wildly to the opposite side. Shall the media then slowly swing back to being nothing more than a government propaganda arm? Who could be the great leader whose hand shall still this swinging and restore the bob to its stability at the center?

-oOo-

Now for some lighter stuff. There is a decor hanging on our Christmas tree that appears not so "Chistmassy." For me, it looks more like a key chain. Then the thought hit me: why not hang on the Christmas tree key chains that can pass as Christmas decor? I'm thinking of the shiny "gold" and "silver" metallic kinds, but of course any key chain may do. It can earn your tree a second look from visitors. At the very least, you save on buying additional Christmas trinkets and at the same time find a way to put those key chains received every Christmas into good use.

(Disclaimer: To those who have given me key chains, be assured that this sentimental chap has remembered and will remember the good memories associated with the gifts. It's just that there are not that many bag zippers and sets of keys where I can adorn with your key chains, so they stay in storage until the ones currently in use get worn out.)

Now if you see this phenomenon next year, bear in mind that you read it first here in Highway Drift.

-oOo-

I've written before about the pathetic excuse for carolers exhaling sounds that could hardly bring anyone the tiniest bit of Christmas cheer. Fortunately for this Christmas season, I've encountered none from their kind. Some singers in fact deviated from the tiresome medley of Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and this I've much appreciated. Also, there are still jeepney carolers, but this time, they thump their tin can drums with a more coherent rhythm and none wish for the death of stingy people.

One caroling tactic I've noticed this Christmas is the Stake Out Caroling. That is, the singers stay by an empty house and spring into action when the homeowner comes. Of course the unwitting recipient of Holiday songs no longer has the option of ignoring the carolers. At least they're not staking out to rob someone.

A prosperous new year to all!

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President Jack Ryan and the TV News Anchor (Part 2 of 2)

(Continuation. Spoiler alert still up.)

What kind of a president is this John Patrick Ryan? For the enemies of the United States, who by this time have regrouped from their humiliation as narrated in the previous novel, this new president may be skilled as a technocrat, but he was unprepared for leadership and statecraft, a weakness they shall exploit. Indeed, an America reeling from tragedy was most vulnerable, and they shall keep the superpower distracted with attack after attack, like hyenas circling the lion, while they pursue their world-changing goals. (What's a political thriller without the megalomaniac?) For Jack's personal friends, he's a straight shooter, a committed man, and, being a non-politician, someone with the willingness and capability to finally put some order in the government.

Ed Kealty had taken the political bumbling of the neophyte Ryan as a sign, an opportunity for his political redemption. In those troubled times, entrusting the presidency to an amateur was a risk the country should not take. On the other hand, he, Ed Kealty, experienced in the ways of government and beloved by media was ready and willing to take over. His only problem was that his charm was irresistible to women as they were irresistible for him.

Working on the notion that the resignation letter was never submitted, Kealty claimed that he was, in effect, never been removed as Vice-President and was therefore the rightful successor to the late President. This was political suicide, Kealty acknowledged, but in all earnestness before the camera, he would say that he was doing this for the country. At first he put the White House in the defensive, and Ryan, whose temper was a character flaw, would privately fume in the Oval Office. But the presidential Chief of Staff was a great political mentor, and Ryan's sincerity was eventually received by the public: exhortations in his speeches translated to voting trends at the emergency Congressional polls. Even the normally skeptical press had started to cut him some slack.

Kealty sensed his efforts were coming up short. As a last-ditch effort, he turned on Ryan's mysterious CIA past, hoping to play on the public distrust on the secretive spy agency as well as expose the international scandals that Ryan's actions in the Agency had concealed. With a leak from a news special, ironically more favorable to the President, that a print journalist was working on, as well as Kealty's own CIA source, the fallen Vice-President showed to a TV news tandem classified information about the anti-drug operation in Colombia and the defections (and conveniently omitted the part about stopping a nuclear war). Now to catch Ryan unawares, Tom Donner, the younger, more aggressive anchorman of the pair, suggested that they tell the Presidential staff that the tape of an earlier White House interview got damaged and request for a live one at primetime. Later on TV, Jack's eyes widened upon mention of places and names better left unsaid. He could not admit nor deny, but feebly insisted on his position not to comment on CIA intelligence activities.

The fall out was immediate. Colombia questioned the violation of their sovereignty and was worried on the impact to their anti-drug campaign. More importantly, coordination with Russia was hampered at a crucial point when the international threat was growing. Also, the defectors were outed and, thus, their lives were put in danger. Both friend and foe abroad were in agreement that the news anchors committed an act of treason, and in their countries the necessary punishment would have been meted out. But Ryan could only release his rage in private: charges could be filed, but that would only mean an implicit admission. Not that it mattered anyway. Russia for instance, had figured things out, and for them it was merely a matter of reclassifying which information was true and which was false. His enemies, though while acknowledging the revelation that could be Ryan cunning and formidable, took the non-action to the committed treason as another sign of weakness.

Perhaps it could be said that Tom Donner was indeed siding with Ed Kealty, for the latter was good to the media and they were just finding comfort in the familiar. Or perhaps he was just acting out media's role as a watchdog, naturally critical of the government, especially this new one slowly being populated by political outsiders and led by a non-politician with the absence, as of that moment, of the usual checks and balances. Indeed, the Congress and Supreme Court were killed off in the crash, and only the media remained unscathed to check on the administration: what an immense responsibility. The CIA might hide and disclose on a need-to-know basis, but for the media, the people had the right to know who their president was.

On the other hand, maybe it was primarily about the scoop, and confidential information was one hell of a scoop. Maybe it was no different with the journalist whose story they stole. Although the journalist had expressed the intention of helping Ryan, in the end, especially for the journalist's editor-in-chief, it was just one good scoop, and putting the President's past in a favorable light was just secondary.

What about public reaction? Of course, some people would fuss about the violence and the fact that Ryan had killed twice, others would admire him as a man of action, perhaps consider him a hero for a lot of reasons, but mostly because he defended his family. Some would be shocked at the interference to other countries while others would accept it as the roles of the World's Policeman. In the novel, the popular pulse wasn't really given that much attention or it was dismissed as susceptible to spin. This tells something about the government's perception, or maybe just Clancy's.

Meanwhile, the journalist wouldn't take the theft of his story sitting down. He had an idea of where the lies were and he would expose these to get even. He found help in the person of John Plumber, Tom Donner's senior and conservative partner. Plumber had misgivings of his partner's deceptions and was looking for a way out. The new pair of conspirators hatched a plan that involved the anchor's surprise farewell address at his nighttime TV news program and a top story at the journalist's paper with him as co-author.

The expose sent ripples across the media industry and disgraced Tom Donner in particular, but also his TV network as well as TV news in general, as the journalist had hoped it would accomplish, such that the public's trust would shift back to the newspapers. Back at the White House, Jack Ryan might have gloated, but again, no charges were pressed. Maybe he was just too busy dealing with the foreign attacks that had ravaged the country, which even his family was not spared. Moreover, the situations in the Indian Ocean and Taiwan Strait were getting complicated. On top of all these, a war was looming in the Middle East. The expose on Tom Donner was just a small thorn off Ryan's presidential arse.

Speaking of that war in the Middle East, it came to a point that US troops will have to be mobilized, and Tom Donner, as part of an earlier arrangement to be a war correspondent, was shipped along with the soldiers. The first though that would come to anyone's mind, was that Donner would be killed in the heat of battle, and Ryan would actually have his revenge. However, as the full extent of the conflict was revealed and the tanks Donner was embedded with rolled along virtually unopposed, the repentant reporter declared with gratitude how he was given the rare opportunity to witness history as it unfold.

All's well that ends well in the world of fiction. Perhaps this is why amidst the bad news hovering over the country in the past weeks, I immersed myself in the world of Executive Orders as a form of escape or maybe as a way to flesh out the hope that, in a better age, systems fulfill their purpose and persons rise above their differences, contribute their talents and lead all to the path to happily ever after.

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Drought

In one way, this title can well describe the recent state of my blog. At the surface, there is no new entry to quench the thirst of the handful of readers out there. Yet like the country's recent drought scare, in my mind clouds of thoughts have been gathering, building strength to inundate my blog with my usual kilometric posts.

Speaking of this recent drought scare in Northern Luzon, I can't help but twit with the responses of the nation's leaders to the crisis.

It was already July, yet this year's rainy season hadn't officially kicked in, at least in Northern Luzon. Sure, there were some rains in Metro Manila, but they were too few in the places that matter. Consequently, the water levels in the dams up north of the capital continued their descent, even breaching their respective critical levels. This in turn threatened both the irrigation of vast agricultural areas in the region, which is a great contributor (40% if I'm not mistaken) to the agri-economy, and the energy output of hydro-electric power plants, which were churning out electricity to power the fans and aircon of city-dwellers still inconvenienced by the extended sunny weather.

The government then began sending out emergency funds to mitigate the farmers' losses, step up cloud seeding operations as well as ordering extra coal so that the expensive and polluting coal power plants could shoulder the energy production, which the dams had been rendered incapable of generating. Officials also mouthed reminders to conserve water so that there would be no interruption of its supply for general consumption. The problem appeared to be compelling enough that Church leaders issued out an oratio imperata, a call to prayers for more rain (made more profound because of the Latin, ah but of course: "quid, quid latine dictum sit, altum videtur").

As if on cue, starting just mere days later, three successive typhoons passed by the Philippines. They did not hit the country directly, but instead strengthened the monsoon and brought in more rain. Too much rain in fact for the places that did not need it. It was as if God decided to humor the prayers of the flock when he sent in the typhoons. It was as if the reason He delayed the rains was because the people were not yet ready for the flooding, the disease, the potholes and the falling billboards, among others.

It makes me wonder what would happen if the typhoons started coming only after more than a month since the call to prayers. Or maybe the bishops had been assured, after a long hard look at Pagasa weather data, that a storm may form in a few days, thus they issued the call ad majorem Dei gloriam.

Pathetic. My first impression of the bishops' response is that it is medieval (not surprising though). The government's call for water conservation was a lot better, but considering the other things it can do, I deem as feeble the overall government response (also not surprising).

I would be impressed if the government would use this crisis to push for long term measures to counteract water shortages, boost food security and ensure uninterrupted energy production. I'm not knowledgeable on what exactly are the measures are most fitting for the Northern Luzon area, but I'm sure reforestation and logging control are included. Buried in the news, but also vital would be the DOST/UPLB research for an irrigation system with minimal water usage. Instead, the government focused more in reactive moves like cloud seeding, emergency purchases and emergency funds. Oh well, as I've learned long ago, I shouldn't expect nor depend much from the government. If they push for those long term measures, they would be stepping on the toes of those with vested interests, and for an administration concerned with its survival, this could be a disaster that will impact them much more than natural disasters of which they think they are insulated.

On the other hand, I would be even more impressed, if, in a very simple move, a move as easy as creating daily homilies, a move that would only be opposed by those with vested interests at their own risk, the clergy starts mouthing off that caring for the environment is a moral duty for every devout Christian, that this is backed by a number of Bible passages from the Book of Genesis up to the Book of Revelations. They actually had the chance one Sunday during the height of the water crisis when the Sunday Gospel was an admonition against greed: Jesus told a parable about a rich landlord who decided to build bigger warehouses to amass more harvest only to be told that he will cease to live the next day. It was the perfect opportunity to impose upon the consciences of the faithful that the human penchant to consume more than is needed is a sure way to strain and eventually deplete natural resources, leading to a collapse of the society wherein its members would suffer gruesome deaths from starvation, warfare, disease, crime, natural disaster, etc, take your pick.

I've intimated about these things in my previous entries here and here, but this time I am more sure of where I'm coming from after reading Collapse by Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Because in this book I find some of my armchair speculations and conclusions about humans and the environment validated and backed by the 70-plus-year-old author's lifetime of research and experience.

More on the book in my next entry ;)

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The Philstar.com Feedback Section

Apologies for the long absence in this little blogspot of mine. Aside from my usual glacial pace of writing, I was dabbling with my other interests in the Internet, one of which I'd be writing about in this entry...

A few months ago, the online edition of the Philippine Star made a site upgrade, as seen in the new layout and features, one of which is the Feedback Section. Now before I proceed to the bone of my contention, a quick glance at the sidebar would show that Philstar is my preferred source of Philippine news. A big reason for this is how they present the news and opinions: the two do not mix. The opinions stay in the opinion section and the news stay in the news section, with the former never influencing how the latter is presented. Yes, this balanced reporting could be boring, but at least it gives me less hypertension unlike the other "leading" newspaper out there that seems to thrive in creating sensationalized titles (to grab a buyer's attention?) and selective exposition of facts (this I cannot explain without malice). Curiously though, it's the other paper that's preferred by the "intellectual heavyweights" in the academe and blogosphere.

The bloggers' preference for the other newspaper, especially in terms of linking to its online edition, may be due to the fact that it has a better archiving mechanism while Philstar's archive is incomplete. One more peeve I have for Philstar is that they do not upload the article photos online, which reduces the impact of certain picture-heavy columns especially in the Lifestyle section. But I understand that these two may be due to system limitations, where further upgrades would need a significant chunk in the budget.

What I'll be ranting about is the newly-introduced Feedback Section of Philstar. This feature is truly a bold pioneering move of Philstar and it ups the ante for online Philippine newspapers. Every day, the site registers around 50-100 comments (and even more whenever there are hot topics like the Philippine elections, the Basilan ambush and the Philippine Basketball Team). Commentators come from the middle class conservative people (of course readers have the same mindset as the paper they read) as well as OFWs. There is a gaping absence of leftist commentators, though. I wish there was one, so that I may see them clobbered by the overwhelming conservative majority who can be equally intense in their vitriol!

Even if Philstar is the pioneer of adding a feedback section for their articles, it can easily be surpassed because of two major shortcomings: lack of true interactivity and dubious moderation.

The first reason stems from the impression that the columnists and reporters do not read their work online. Of course they have their complimentary copy of the paper, and if ever they go online, e-mailed feedback would already keep them preoccupied. Ultimately, they do not seem to have the time to log on to the site and reply to the comments of their articles.

If that is not frustrating enough, the second reason is a real can of worms that may:

1. Provide doubts about Philstar's true intentions. Are they really about "truth shall prevail," or are they just like the other newspapers, only with contrasting agenda, just as the cynics of Philippine media have always insisted?

2. Provide another proof of their declining competence (the competition boasts of technical superiority in terms of proofreading, for instance and, as mentioned above, designing websites) especially now that the great ones like Max Soliven and Teddy Benigno are gone.

The Feedback section actually has two levels of moderation. The first one involves an automated censorship of certain keywords in English and Tagalog deemed inappropriate for use in an online newspaper. Aside from the usual cuss words, strong words denoting mental incompetence like stupid, idiot, gago and gaga are replaced with asterisks. The funny thing is, every instance of the keywords, even if they are just substrings of other words, will get censored: for instance gagawin would become *****win. Thus, one would have to mentally uncensor to get what the commentator meant. The automated censorship code seems to be works of amateurs and can be easily circumvented by using Leetspeak, which, fortunately enough, the present crop of commentators are not yet sophisticated enough to adopt.

If one gets past the auto-censor, there is a second layer of moderation that should in theory be the most superior method of moderation available: human moderators. At regular intervals, mods scan the comments and delete those violating the editorial policy, namely comments that are irrelevant to the article, duplicate comments, and personal attacks.

Now it so happened that for August 4, 2007, most of my comments were deleted while some survived. It gave me an opportunity to check the human moderation of the Feedback Section. Below are the details that led to my can-of-worms conclusion above.

Let's start with the two that survived:

Two suspects in the Marines ambush surrender

• Said that this new development is a joke
• Defended another commentator that was critical of the military and sounded like a Bangsamoro propagandist and challenged the critics to go ask any soldier on their opinion. (I sensed he/she was just dismayed and was being sarcastic by taking on an online persona of a Bangsamoro propagandist, but of course I may be wrong and he/she truly was a propagandist. Ah, anonymity, that's the beauty of the Internet.)

RP students show strong performance in an international math contest

• Remarked how the popular culture does not have high regard for math and science and thus no incentive for politicians to push for R&D. Ultimately the grown-up whiz-kids will then move to places more appreciative of their talent.

Then, for the fun part, we have the deleted comments:

Salvage victims

• Noted that the comments preceding mine were appreciative of the vigilante attacks.
• Remarked sarcastically (probably not detected by the mod) that their statements were surprising and may cause more bleeding to the bleeding hearts out there.
• Also said that I got their (the previous commentators') point and that (rather than antagonize them) I would prefer to see this kind of comments as symptoms. (I deliberately ceased completing that statement because I considered it harsher in full: symptoms of a breakdown of law and order. I guess the mod deemed what I've written as harsh enough.)

Bulacan bank robbery

• I merely remarked on the stupidity of the robbery gang leader: he was wounded in his escape and went to a hospital. Of course the cops were waiting there to arrest him. He's not supposed to be ignorant with this police tactic because he was himself a cop and I wondered aloud how he could have been accepted to the force in the first place.
• Was it deleted because I wrote it in a lowly type of Tagalog one usually hears in TV Patrol?

Controversy over Atenean foreign players

• Picked on the Blue Eagle's flair for drama due to its usual close games and that this is what might have made them a favorite of Studio 23 (for the ratings).
• Asserted UE will win the championship unless something like the Great Upset of UAAP 2002 should occur.
• Insinuated that the Archers expected a win, that's why they pushed the protest only after the game (why not halftime, right?).
• By the way, I didn't introduce myself as an Atenean. I abhor playing the Blue Card when stating my opinion because it just might put color (pun intended) to the current discussion on the table. But what if I did--just to save this comment? Nah, not worth it.
• My main beef here was that other comments more vicious in attacking DLSU (stating outright that they are notorious cheaters, KSP, dense or egotistic), but they had survived deletion. I was actually dismayed at the sudden strictness with my comment as I had noticed that highly charged threads (like the ones I've mentioned earlier) wrought with inflammatory statements, name-calling and one-upmanship were generally left alone.

Jessica Zafra's Young Star article about her dream

• She was asking readers to interpret it for her--heck, she even shared her mood and other background info to establish the dream's context.
• Commented that if she wrote this in a blog, I could have supplied her with an interpretation. But since it was a newspaper article, and that she had her own blog and might probably not read the comments in Philstar anymore, I would not bother doing so.
• Took a swipe at her blog-like writing in a newspaper and the fact that she's won't be reading the comments, but I still I don't see these as personal attacks.

Come to think of it, maybe I'm just taking this deletion thing too personally. It does not help perhaps that the handle I use allude to its competitor. This might perhaps caused the moderator for that day to consider me a marked man. But anyway, because of this incident, I realized the importance of having my own blog, my nook in cyberspace, my Ivory Tower where I can indulge my armchair columnist tendencies.

By the way, happy 21st anniversary, Philippine Star!

Edit: What a shame! The entry is about a newspaper yet I found lots of grammatical errors in it! That's what happens when I write and publish a post with remarakable "speed." Oh well, what can I do? Unlike a newspaper, I have no editor here but myself.

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Drifting Thoughts 05

First up is the news: observe that my side bar is still counting up the days after the election, and we still have no complete senatorial line-up. But I'm not here for another heavy-handed commentary. Instead, I'd just like to share something I found in the June 28, 2007 homepage of the Philstar.com. Shown then and there was a photo of Rep. Migz Zubiri propping up his legs while watching the favorable (for him) news about the Maguindanao polls. I find it surprising that no blog jester has picked on the picture's potential for hilarity, so I shall do the honors then:

-oOo-

If there is one thing in the news that I'd like to comment on it would be the issue concerning the first Filipino conquerors of Mt. Everest. Well, it's not exactly news anymore, but remember how Dale Abenojar's sherpas has earlier been quoted by the physician of First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition as indicating that Abenojar, whom they have accompanied, has not really reached the summit? Well recently, the Philippine Star has contacted the sherpas of Abenojar, and the guides deny ever having issued that contrary statement and maintained that their Filipino companion has reached the summit.

I personally would want to believe that Dale Abenojar, on his own physical and financial capacity, devoid of the media hype and corporate sponsorship, is the first Filipino to have climbed world's tallest peak. It's a shame that the quest for the first Filipino up on Everest became a rat race, fuelled and escalated by corporate rivalries most notably ABS-CBN and GMA7. What's the glory in fellow countrymen racing against each other to the top, especially if the race is greatly seen not as a noble contest (like the X-Prize that promotes scientific breakthroughs) but as a mere extension of the Network Wars? Competition, one may say, has forced out excellence, but this quest for Everest is better achieved through cooperation (as the team of first Filipina climbers have demonstrated the following year--why is it that in the Philippines, the women are more reasonable?). But if there is no cooperation, the one with the strong sense of purpose must plod through, and that is where the independent climber Dale Abenojar has redeemed the Filipino and trumped the corporate wannabes who have not achieved the restoration of Philippine pride but rather have shown the negative attitudes that burden this nation.

It would be easier and more gratifying to believe if things are just so simple, but they're not. I've read some blogs that tell of Dale's penchant for tall tales and acting like a wuss. Could he have improved and fulfilled his dream, but was tragically viewed like the boy who cried wolf by those in the local mountaineering community that he have pissed off? Whatever it is, in the absence of solid evidence to prove one claim or the other, I stand by my personal preference, because the message of this version of events is in line with what I want to impart.

-oOo-

I finally figured out the existence of some searches that lead to my blog, and discovered an unintended meaning of my blog title. I got to know of something called "Drifting" (picture from the same Wikipedia link), which is, more than a motorsport, a new paradigm in driving. It is popularized by the manga and anime Initial D and the movie The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift. Unfortunately for Drifting enthusiasts, Highway Drift is not about the practice of the driving technique in the highway but rather about this writer's current drifting in life while having residential and business addresses located near highways.

-oOo-

To cap a somewhat sports-themed entry, a few words about the just-started UAAP season 70 are in order. I'm actually one of the apathetic students then and now, the one who would be contented with reading about my school's game in the papers the next day and who would watch the live telecast only during important games. Heck, I haven't watched one game live at the gladiators' pit that is the Araneta Coliseum! But now that I have the means, allow me a little bit of ra-ra-rah...

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah!

Now perhaps you might be wondering how I have created this picture as well as manipulated that of Migz Zubiri in this post. No need for Photoshop, and no need to shell out some few thousands of bucks. Behold the open source GNU Image Manipulation Program--the GIMP, in short. Special thanks to Jose for showing me the light.

The image sources for this banner, specifically, is taken from the Broderbund ClickArt collection for Windows 95(!), whose CDs contain the Photodex CompuPic image browser legacy program I have featured (with screenshots!) before. It was a pleasant surprise that these companies are still alive and selling the latest versions of their software. The ancient ClickArt jpeg collection I have with me, for instance, had this awful resolution that the cameraphones of today can rival. Now they have this DVD ClickArt collection, haha. On the other hand, the latest version of CompuPic amazingly features an upgraded version of The Eye! I wonder if it still follows the mouse, though. Come to think of it, with help from the latest software like the GIMP, these really old relics can still fulfill their purpose.

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Drifting Thoughts 04

Last Saturday, I was supposed to go out with some DS people for a rare bonding session. It was to be held somewhere in Pasig, in an area I'm not familiar with. I was to test my "pathfinder" skills: the ability to go to an unfamiliar place primarily by using a map and, only if no other choice, asking the locals. Pasig was a notoriously difficult place for me, having been lost there twice, so I "cheated" by exploring the environs with my officemates when we had a lunch out the day before. Besides, the stakes were high this time since instead of just me, I had to accompany a friend going there (although I'd prefer getting lost with good company than getting lost alone). Well all these came to naught when the arbitrary quorum wasn't reached and the activity was cancelled.

All was not lost however for my need to attend a get-together and to practice my path-finding skills. On that Saturday I did get to know of another gathering, this time with my course-mates, over at Quezon Avenue. All I needed to know was the general area starting from the MRT station. I found the destination after a long-distance walk, and had more than enough time to reward my efforts with a halo-halo and to still get restless by waiting for the others.

Our gathering was a sort of sending-off for two of our friends (a third one was absent) who'll be working overseas for a year. After a tasteless dinner at a place that's more apt for a drinking session, we sang until our throats (or just mine) felt sore at the nearby videoke and then made some celebrity sightings at Starbucks-ABS CBN (with no TV for a year, I really had no idea they are celebs; all of them looked ordinary to me).

On the way home at three in the morning, I passed by sidewalk vendors sleeping soundly while their wares are still on display. It was good to know that none among the passers-by picked up those unguarded items. Dear reader, cling on to this sign of hope while continuing with this entry.

-oOo-

Behold the editorial cartoon of the Inquirer last May 3. Were they merely being naive about military stuff, giving the Air Force a good-natured ribbing about its clunky widow-makers, or, now that the military has been somewhat humbled, were they displaying their anti-military bravado, which is reasonably fashionable nowadays? (By the way, the cartoon was badly drawn since the punch line would be read first; better if the kid and the general switch places.)

Let's get the facts straight. Back in the Vietnam War, the US Air Force has suffered Huey crashes from the hands of the Vietcong. How did the guerillas pull it off? Rocket-propelled grenades? Snipers? A well-aimed shot may work, but why waste precious ammunition when one can just lay a web of wires along the path of a low-flying helicopter a la Spiderman? Yup, these flying babies are vulnerable to things that can snag its whirling blades--dramatically reducing their lifting power or tragically diverting them towards a collision course. And yes, the pilots won't notice a menacing wire or string until it's right in front of them. In fact I was actually surprised that a Philippine Air Force official admitted that their Hueys have been "disabled" before by Mindanao rebels using the lowly kite.

More than the issue of antiquated military hardware due to corruption and incompetence, the media has overlooked the issue of safety. And when I mean safety, I do not just mean saving a soldier's life, I mean saving the lives of the flying public as well as those down below. You see, aside from helicopters the lowly kite may also get sucked into one of the engines of a 737 and jeopardize its take-off. It's a very probable scenario; since, like in Cebu, kites are being flown in the vicinity of airports, and while this is prohibited, the rule isn't being enforced. Why didn't the media hyped things up by emphasizing this more troubling possibility? They might be merely ignorant about these things. Or, given the election fever nowadays, are they more attracted to the chance of criticizing the corrupt and incompetent military, and by association, the administration? Unfortunately, the Air Force officer didn't help dispel the impression of incompetence, at least in PR skills, when he himself did not raise this safety issue when he was being interviewed.

-oOo-

Well, look what the Supreme Court has forced the Comelec to reveal: party-list nominees who are identified with the administration, and more than that, have spotty reputations.

The left is not exactly immaculate on the party-list issue. First, they also enjoy government funding in the form of pork barrel. Second, they have the support of the largest private army in this country: the NPA. Lastly, like any traditional politician, they want to horde party-list votes by attacking all the other parties they can discredit. Suddenly being pro-administration or even moderate or neutral is a mortal sin.

Considering that these leftist groups and the administration have been doing attacks and counter-attacks with each other, it would be better to just cancel out the parties identified with the two. One would still find more meaningful parties that are not that obnoxious or notorious but rather silently fulfilling their role in truly representing the marginalized.

-oOo-

Recent developments have troubled my home city. A Comelec Division had ruled on a complaint back in 2004 regarding Mayor Robredo's citizenship. It's an old, overused, futile attack against Robredo, but this time the camp of Luis Villafuerte managed to pull it off.

For the complete coverage, I present Willy Priles's blog. Focus links: Historical Background, Family Drama, Foreboding (see the last part), The Watershed Event. (There's supposed to be an entry where Willy speculates on the election plans A and B of both Villafuerte and Robredo, but I can't find it anymore. Is it deleted?)

I have long been planning to go home this summer. Having missed the opportunity during the unusually long Holy Week break, I suppose the election weekend would be a good alternative since the horde of travelers will not be that massive. But I never expect to come home to this summer tempest. Curiously though, this scandal had strengthened my desire to go back to Naga--perhaps due to the youthful "foolishness" of wanting to be where the action is.

I reply to this madness with a picture originally taken by Randy Villaflor, posted online by Willy, and crudely edited in MS Paint by yours truly:

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Pilgrims Digress

Holy Thursday

We start our journey from the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. It is six in the evening. Others have gone out ahead of us, but it is alright: time does not matter; getting there is what matters. We hope you are wearing your best walking shoes, for we will be spending the entire evening walking. Walking barefoot, though, will make you pious in the eyes of many. It will be helpful if you bring along water, snacks and even your dinner, unless you want to start fasting six hours in advance.

The saying that how ever long a procession is, it returns to its starting point does not apply here. First of all, this is not a procession where people bear a deified ikon around the town; although an air of solemnity still surround throngs of people walking in prayerful cadence. Indeed, we shall end up in another church in another municipality in another district.

We begin with a proud burst of energy: we noisily converse, sing, and laugh until the next municipality.

We then somber down and acquire the prevailing mood of our fellow pilgrims. It is rightly so, we think, for this is the Holy Week and Dios Jesucristo is about to die. The merriment of the Last Supper we had earlier gives way to the agonizing prayer at Gethsemane. Our garden is the National Highway and the surrounding farmlands, and our agony is the early onset of weariness. Like the three disciples, some would stop to rest, but most would start to pray. The latter we do an automated thumbing of rosary beads as we mumble away each Hail Mary in a mechanized yet eerily recognizable manner.

We must have walked more than five kilometers now. Our feet might be feeling sore but we trudge on; we feel our sins getting left behind with every step we took. More so if we do not have shoes and socks to impede their transmission from our body to the earth where they originated and where they shall end--burnt to a crisp in a never-ending infierno. It does not matter that we have not asked forgiveness from our neighbor, returned the things we have stolen, or repaired the things we have damaged. God has forgiven us and that is important.

We may buy water, food, and other things we suddenly feel needed from stores that have mysteriously sprouted along the highway. The Pinoy entrepreneur is there where the business is good, as what is done in fiestas and other religious events: inserting Money and Materialism among the other gods being worshipped, even creating other gods like Wine, Gambling and Vanity among others. We might manage, though, to be spared from offering to the Money God when some altruistic mayor or congressman hoping to be re-elected comes up with action centers or task forces providing free cold drinks, restrooms and first aid.

While we are in the middle of our journey, we may as well go sight-seeing. All too often, we shall see drinkers raising their glasses in praise of the Wine God as they indulge in an extended Last Supper--a last supper indeed for some, whose souls will be displaced from their bodies by the spirits of the alcohol. Some pay homage to the God of Gambling, where it is not only Christ’s cloth that is at stake. Others sing the pilgrims on, while others simply do not care as they sit mesmerized by the God of Entertainment residing in the TV.

We finally enter Calabanga, the destination municipality, and our hearts are gladdened. The atmosphere is festive, similar to the finish line in a marathon race. Others do treat this as a race, speeding up and overtaking lots of exhausted pilgrims. Tough walkers that they are, it is because they know what lies ahead: a kilometer long line of pilgrims desiring to have an audience with the King of kings. To stop as we fall in line is a welcome rest for our weary legs. Then we wait for more than an hour until we can enter an antiquated kapilya.

Finally, we see Him. There He lays--a lifeless wooden body dressed up in fine burial clothes, yet capable of giving blessings and grace. We view Him like that of our departed loved ones. We may pray, weep, then we kiss Him goodbye.

Our bodies are weakened but we are cleansed from sin. We are happy to see Him.

Good Friday

We now go to a friend’s residence nearby. He is expecting us as well as other visitors. He has prepared food and refreshments for all. Some of us may rest our tired bodies on his sofa and fall asleep. Others may keep vigil and tell stories to keep each other awake.

It is past midnight now, but Calabanga is still wide awake, still expecting more pilgrims. A midnight procession is taking place with rowdy boys in center stage. Jeepneys are taking some pilgrims back home. Earlier, they also took into the municipality some pilgrims who consider the sin-cleansing walk unnecessary.

Those who slept wake up to a fine sunny morning while those who kept vigil struggle with their last remaining strength to keep awake. We initially hesitate in accepting our host’s invitation for breakfast before we eagerly partake everything he offered.

To push the boundaries of holiness, some of us will choose to walk their way back home while most would ride the jeepney, discovering that, upon the influence of the Money God who seems to be powerful as Christ dies, the fares are higher than usual.

Along the way home, we see Him again. This time he is alive and in flesh and blood. We see him carrying His cross trudging to an unknown Calvary. He wears a crown of thorns that draw blood from his head. His hair is disheveled, partly hiding a bloodied face filled with sorrow and torment, although he tries futilely not to show these emotions. His white blood-stained robe is torn, exposing a whipped back. Skin has been peeled off His elbows and knees indicating that the sturdy cross has imposed its weight upon Him more than three times now.

Behind Him are ten men and two women dressed in similar fashion brandishing spiked whips. But they are not the Roman soldiers forcing Him to move on (it is the horrible sins committed that is whipping Him forward). They too are trying to hide their agony as they whip themselves at their backs in a synchronized ritual.

The scene of self-inflicted, self-righteous suffering is a sight to behold. But there is neither Roman-Jewish crowd jeering nor women wailing for Him. Some do stare dumbfounded, some wince in sympathy, while most go on with their business. Could this apathy be more painful than the jeers, their suffering in reparation not acknowledged?

One Caucasian excitedly operates his camcorder. When he returns home, he will sell his video footage to some reality program for the whole world to gawk at it all and come and see for themselves. Thus, next year, to the delight of Dick Gordon, we shall accommodate in our group excited Westerners eager to have their innocent minds full of the ideals of human rights blemished by the sight of holy gore, WOW Philippines!

(Note: This was first written in November 2003, based on the pilgrimage to Amang Inulid, the image of the dead Christ, in Calabanga, Camarines Sur. This tradition, although long-running, is not officially sanctioned by the Archdiocese of Caceres.)

Picture Credits:
Naga Metropolitan Cathedral from www.stvictor.org
Cristo and flaggelants from Sidney

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Wrestling with the Wind (Part 3 of 3)

Oh great, this third and last part got postponed for a long enough period to have two more super typhoons pass the country, with the latest, Reming (Durian to the rest of the world), almost threatened another destructive episode right here in Metro Manila. In fact another one is upon the Philippines, Seniang (Utor to the rest of the world), threatening a deluge to compensate for its not-so-strong winds.

Rants

Back to Reming, good thing this latest cloud spiral of doom decided to change course. Else the metropolis will once again get plunged to darkness. Once again the massive power failure would affect the water supply for most parts. How long would another round of deprivation last? Nine days also? Two weeks? When Naga City was struck by Milenyo, with greater intensity than Metro Manila, mind you, they got their electricity back in two to three days. This "provincial city", like other "provincial cities", beat any NCR city by days in fully restoring power to their constituents. How's that for "Imperial Manila"? They can't even back their haughtiness up!

In fact, Meralco kept proclaiming in the news, after more than a week, that they got their systems 99% restored. Was this godforsaken kilometers long stretch of darkness and dryness along C5 composed mostly of military housing and squatters a mere 1% for them? One percent of income I presume? Let all of them suffer, Meralco must have implied when they de-prioritized repair in those areas, as punishment for them having some people that had stolen the cables that would have made the restoration work a lot easier, faster, cheaper, cheaper and cheaper. Let them suffer, these people who had, for the longest time, connected illegally to the grid. What kind of reasoning is that? It's like Globe refusing to repair a bombed-out cellsite because the people in that area have allowed the NPA to flourish or cutting the signal around an area because of too much fraudulent activities. At the very least you do not hear Globe whine openly in media about such NPA-infested areas, and proclaim them de-prioritized. So Meralco is more "honest" then? It's not that I would condone the stealing of the cables and electricity, but should we law-abiding citizen's whose only real fault was to be neighbors with these lowlifes be made to suffer as well? Should we who refused to participate in the orgy of stealing be accused of condoning them? Why not recognize that we are helpless as well, that we can be threatened by these thieves into submission.

That was just for the electrical shortage, but what irked me more was the loss of water. Electricity had only been harnessed by humanity for no more than 200 years, but water has been part of human existence ever since the start. Thus the need for it is greater, more primordial. Water entrepreneurs made a killing with their delivery services for the nine days we had no water. I have no beef with them. Even if they jack their prices up I understood them for they are merely following supply-and-demand tenets. Besides, they are doing honest labor as they pedal around the complex and carry liters up the stairs. What raised my blood pressure was our housing administration that had no qualms of violating laws just to earn a few tens of thousands of bucks per day aside from their usual racket of additional charges for every utility that enters the housing complex. Some wise guy in their hierarchy had the great idea of wrenching open the fire hydrants in our neighborhood. Then they charged hapless residents of a few pesos per gallon with the reasoning that these hydrants pass through their meters. Bullshit! The mere fact that these hydrants had water while the water pipes in the housing complex were dry as a desert makes that assertion doubtful. Besides, these are fire hydrants, to be used by firefighters in case there's a fire. These lucky bastards should be thankful nobody raised this charging of water from a hydrant to the Bureau of Fire Protection. Why not power instead the pumps of the housing complex with generators, wise guy? Oh, that would be costly; all the profit from the rackets will be lost. Yeah you're a wise guy indeed, asshole!

You've noticed I haven't talked about billboards yet. That's because it's the one topic that has been talked to death in public. I'd rather talk about the fallen trees, and fallen lampposts. See how much of those trees were shallowly-planted in some half-hearted attempt to comply with environmental or aesthetic standards, which were feeble in the first place. Similarly, the shallowly-planted lampposts on the other hand are testaments to half-hearted--no, heartless public service (read the book Pork and Other Perks to find out what I mean). Well as for the billboards, I've been observing the humongous one in Guadalupe. Its first ad after Milenyo displayed the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It reminded me of how people turn to God once they start feeling their mortality. The next ad, after the billboard reduced its height by about two meters, had Manny Pacquiao on it. So, they'll fight it out now, huh. When Pacquiao furled up under the threat of Reming, the next ad to be unfurled declares the "power of beauty" or something. Great shades of Imelda!

It really was good that Reming changed course. It's not so much the natural disasters that make me bristle, but the man-made disasters that follow it.

Sermon

It makes me think on how Sodom and Gomorrah was actually destroyed. Was it the raining of fire and brimstone that destroyed those cities? Or could it be how the people reacted afterwards that did them in? Maybe that was why Lot was not allowed by God to look back at the city while it was being destroyed. Maybe God did not want Lot's eyes to be defiled by witnessing what the people were doing to each other and not by what the fire and brimstone was doing to the city.

But there is hope. Remember what God promised to Abraham while the patriarch was bargaining with Him about the fate of the sinful city? God said that as long as a few good people remain, the city will be spared. Same thing with Nineveh, when the people changed their ways after hearing from Jonah, the city was spared. Again, before that, didn't Jonah give up on Nineveh upon learning of the prophecy? Could've Jonah seen a cataclysm that was inevitable, like a tsunami, a typhoon, a meteor barrage? Perhaps disaster still visited Nineveh, but because the people have changed, those who survived managed to rise up after the calamity by sheer power of a true community rather than succumb to selfish interests and ultimately, destruction.

Perspective

You think Metro Manila's experience of Milenyo was bad? Remember that it is usually the Bicol Region that faces the full power of a typhoon fresh from gathering power over the Pacific Ocean. And in Bicol, it is usually the province of Catanduanes that has the unwanted privilege of being the first province to meet the howler head-on. Furthermore, being in a remote area, the aftermath could be something like this.

In the aftermath of Reming, this region's unfortunate circumstance has been highlighted once again. This latest super typhoon might rival Rosing in terms of the destruction it has wrought in Naga. But more than that is the tragedy bestowed upon the neighboring province of Albay. It was less than half a year ago that the people in charge have handled with flying colors the disaster mitigation in the light of a restive Mayon Volcano. It is frustrating now that they are left with about 500 dead (possibly more) from the sliding of volcanic debris from the otherwise beautifully inclined slopes of the volcano. As if, in some sinister improvisation, Mt. Mayon was merely waiting for a typhoon with diluvial rains to dislodge the debris it earlier deposited on its slopes, in the end the mystical volcano again pulled a fast one on them.

Help them please, please.


Other parts of the series:
1 2 3

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How to Appeal for Generosity a.k.a. Effective Begging

This was supposed to be posted in late September, but Typhoon Milenyo got in the way.

It was one of those usual rides to work. The jeepney I was riding on readied itself for the last kilometer of its route towards Guadalupe. With our jeepney joining other jeepneys from different routes all going to Guadalupe, traffic slowed. I decided to close my eyes in my vain attempt to take a nap in a moving vehicle. It was at that point between wakefulness and sleep that a skinny little boy dressed in sandos and shorts and carrying empty cans of powdered milk clambered up our slow-moving jeepney. The barker at the back knew of the young one's intentions but was taken by surprise. He belatedly extended his legs to bar the kid's entry, but the seasoned street urchin merely slithered past him. Without missing a beat, the boy immediately started distributing envelopes to us, passengers, in a fast and efficient manner. Written on them were "maawa na po kayo (please have pity)..." and other possibly heartrending cliches that I did not bother reading anymore. I suddenly remembered that we were in the -ber months and the period of gift-giving was near. Some of the passengers were amused by this boy's antics while others, including the barker, were not. I, on the other hand, resumed (pretended) dozing off. The kid sat at the back of the jeepney, facing away from us, and played random beats (noise) with his cans while waiting, not eagerly, for our generosity. I gave him nothing, and I guess the others also gave little since as he stepped off he muttered, in a nonchalant (rather than angry or angsty) tone, "mamatay sana kayo (may you all die)."

When the boy was gone, one passenger remarked that the kid didn't seem to really need the money. Another agreed and scoffed at the "death curse" as a sign of haughtiness. The barker pointed out that, with half the effort, the little bastard could potentially earn more money out of the passengers than what he could collect as fare. Others assumed that the child was neglected by the parents. I thought that the parents might have been the one who taught the kid to beg, or he was merely working for a begging syndicate, hence the disinterested attitude. If this was so, they trained their pupil awfully bad.

Actually, before this incident pushed me to write, I've been thinking about an article on this topic ever since I encountered those Red Cross people at the MRT. It reminded me of the fund-raising activities I once did in college. Yes, I've done some begging before--contributing to a large-scale, institutionalized and organized effort at that, so I know what I'm talking about. In private conversations with project colleagues, I didn't hesitate it to call it as such. In public, however, prudence dictated that use euphemisms like "asking for a little help and contribution" ("soliciting" is not a euphemism anymore).

Before proceeding, I would commend you, potential beggar of a reader, for choosing this non-threatening way to acquire things. I praise you for shunning the absolutely abominable resort to violence. In violence, you expect to be feared, but there will be some who will never be afraid of you. They will seek not just justice but revenge. Indeed, your use of force will only return to you.

Moving on, I present the following tips under a working paradigm: generosity, like respect, has to be earned. In today's trying times, people will not easily depart from money they worked hard for. It follows then that even begging entails toiling and shedding of blood, sweat and tears.

Without further ado, behold the Tips:

1. Have a purpose, a goal. Make it specific. What is it that you really want? How much does it cost? Money is merely a tool to attain that goal. Woe to you if you beg for money when you don't even know where to spend it. Nobody wants to help a drifter drift along. (That's why I have this blog as my cry for help for someone to get me out of this drifting in life, and as a way to help myself write my way out of it.)

2. Be mindful of the target audience. Make sure they have what you are asking. Make sure you appeal to their sensibilities. How would you communicate your message across? Would a business-like manner work? Or perhaps a dramatic guilt-trip approach? By the way, I find it best to ask from the middle class and up since they have the capacity to give and give big. Also, it's better to be all business about it. A guilt trip will not only make anyone feel bad, it's also over-used. Look: how would you put a price on that guilt or whatever emotion you feel? Business, on the other hand, is all about price and quantity.

3. Behave with dignity. Isn't it horrible to see a filthy, fly-infested beggar sulking under the lamppost? Wouldn't you like to just look away instead? How would you then get what you are asking for, if they wouldn't even come near you? Even desperation might turn others off. Just to make it clear, their dignity is still there, it's just that they refuse to show it. It would be fortunate if a blessed soul would make them recognize that dignity and give them hope, but most probably they will just be ignored or worse, mistreated. It is usually up to them to help themselves. Dress up, look clean (no jewelry, obviously). Remember #2, your appearance should appeal to the target audience. Look and act like a human being and others will treat you as one.

4. People give in many ways; receive in many ways. Beggars can't be choosers, it has been said. If you ask for money, prepare to receive money in the form of cash, cheque, transfer, etc. Although tips #1 and #2 would most likely let you get what you are asking for, take whatever they offer especially if given in good faith. They are earnest in their generosity; it's just that they can't give exactly what you are asking for right then and there.

5. There is one irony with begging: it is always better to do it for the benefit of others, an organization, or a project, rather than oneself. The selflessness, the relevance and the cause of that project or organization makes begging a noble activity worthy of support. People might say, here is an established organization that has the means, or at least the potential to be of great service. All it is asking from them is a little help. Most probably, they'll give.

At this point I invite you to transcend begging as means of acquisition. If you have something of value that you can exchange for something you need or want, well then, now we're talking business!

-oOo-

"Mamatay sana kayo..." Of course, boy, we will all die sooner or later. But as I went on with my daily routine, the words rang in my head: while riding the elevator, mamatay sana kayo; while reading a newspaper article about beggars, mamatay sana kayo; while fighting off boredom, mamatay sana kayo; onboard a speeding jeepney on the way home, mamatay sana kayo....

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Toxic

The metro atmosphere is toxic. Aside from the ambient air along EDSA, JP Rizal, Kalayaan and C5 being filled with abnormally and sinfully huge amounts of particulate matter and pollutants, my nightly commute is punctuated, first with an olfactory barrage from the garbage of Guadalupe Commercial Complex. The stink is most profound around 10pm when they are shoveling their trash into a dump truck. Every scoop of the shovel releases more hidden smelly terror, making the air around the alley where the jeepney passes sourer than a thousand sweaty armpits. The second brutal nose assault happens along C5 Palar. Their own version of smelly garbage makes me wonder how food vendors nearby can still sell their contaminated wares. Every time I pass these biohazard areas, I hold my breath rather than cover my nose, which the other passengers would do. I hold my breath like in diving since I consider it useless to merely filter the air with cloth since this would be akin to using the same cloth to filter out water to breathe under the sea. Yes, that's how bad the air is here. I feel like acquiring lung cancer or some respiratory disease even though I don't smoke.

As if the atmospheric abuse can't get worse, somebody was burning tires big time one night ago. Noxious tire fumes spread out over such a large area that I was gasping for air like a fish out of the water. As if burning tires wasn't against the law. But what the heck is the use of such a trivial law as the Clean Air Act in the Philippines? If the crime isn't as immediate as murder or rape or robbery, Filipinos normally won't give a shit. Yeah, we'll die just like the frogs that fail to realize that the water temperature in their pool is slowly being raised to fatal levels.

For once, I wish the law of the real jungle would prevail in this urban jungle. This is natural justice: if you do one thing, another will surely follow. A disruption in the circle of life will return to the culprit. Unfortunately, in this artificial world, catastrophe can be delayed unnaturally, giving humans complacency. But with the damage remaining unchecked, catastrophe will come. There might come a time people would just drop dead because of the poisonous air. Buildings, statues and other monuments would have accelerated corrosion.

I am just talking about the air, but the water and the land have their share of pollution. Somehow I feel like welcoming this environmental Apocalypse that we would bring upon ourselves. Hopefully, I'll be watching the end of Metro Manila unfold via TV in the comfort of my provincial home.

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