proportional response

It's the rainy season once again, and mosquitoes are once again in the air. I HATE mosquitoes. I hate how they fly around, darting here and there just beyond reach. I hate it when they buzz in my ear. And I most certainly hate the itchy welts that they leave after they suck my blood! But aside from the annoyance, mosquitoes also spread disease; malaria, dengue, and encephalitis are some of the more commonly known mosquito-borne diseases.

I absolutely despise those foul creatures. I don't care if they're only doing what nature and instinct tell them to do, I want to wipe them off the face of the earth!
That is why I am always ready to kill the first mosquito I see. I don't care if my hands get red and sore from all the smacking. I don't care if they get all bloody and grimy from the crushed black carcasses of the unlucky mosquito that wasn't quite fast enough to escape my wrath.
Bottles of Raid or Baygon don't last too long in our house; I ensure that substantial amounts are dumped on known and suspected mosquito hideouts. I don't care if I get an asthma attack, I want all those mosquitoes dead!
But even with all the pesticide I've dumped, even with all the mosquitoes I've killed with my bare hands, with my slippers, with a fly swatter, with a pillow, with a book, with a water gun, with fire, even with the freakin' kitchen sink, they just keep coming and coming. Like the unstoppable tide they come year after year, until we decided to go after the root of the problem.
Mosquitoes, like all animals, don't just appear from nowhere. They first enter the world as babies, those cute little wriggly thingys that infest the pools of stagnant water that collect around our house. Adult mosquitoes may be quick and stealthy enough to evade active pursuit, but their poor little babies are sitting ducks, like fish in a barrel, trapped like rats, and whatever other cliche you can insert here. So we dumped the water in the cans, in the boots, in the flower pots. Anything that had even a drop of water was drained. Countless little mosquito babies perished in one, swift, stroke.
Over time the mosquito problem died down. The buzzing gave way to silence. The welts no longer appeared. The odd mosquito reappears from time to time, but it is quickly and efficiently dispatched. There is no longer any stagnant water in our home, no place for mosquitoes to breed.
In the all-out war I declared against the mosquito pestilence in our home, I had won.

plans

President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address today was full of her plans for the nation. It focused on the division of the country into 'super regions' so as to allow the said regions to concentrate on their competitive advantages. I was impressed by the plans for improved infrastructure, poverty alleviation and for a better economy, but I couldn't help but notice the President's silence on other issues, such as education. Nevertheless, she delivered one hell of a speech, outlining her vision for the nation, even mixing in some humor. She also gave recognition to the efforts and achievements of certain people. I do hope that she follows through on her promises. Her plans looked impressive on the Powerpoint presentation; they would most certainly be more impressive when turned into reality.
***
The opposition must be feeling really stupid right now. For the past few months all they have been doing is planning PGMA's removal from office. All this time they have been promoting divisiveness, when many have decided to take a break from politics. They had better get their act together if they plan on getting elected or reelected come 2007. The smart move would be to cast politics aside and work for the betterment of the nation. The effort and dedication they give working against the President would most probably be of better use when applied to working with the President.

ooops.

That should have been today's State of the Nation Address... I think I've got this 'Performancing' stuff figured out... Hehehe...

no classes... again...

It's been raining non-stop for the past few hours. Apparently there's another typhoon coming in. I can't wait to see the protesters at tomorrow's State of the Nation address...  Hehehehe... >:D

sleepless night

I can't sleep. It's 3 AM and I'm still staring at the ceiling, vainly trying to count the cute little piggies jumping over my head. I have too much on my mind. I keep thinking about school and my classes and exams. I haven't been to UP in over a week now, thanks to an ill-timed medical disorder. Appendicitis has cost me 6 days of school, 6 meetings of German 10, 3 meetings each of my other subjects, my first German exam, my first Econ 106 problem set, and God knows what else. The opportunity cost of the past week is just as staggering. Instead of being cooped up at home I could have learned more. I could have gotten the readings for Kas 112. I could have done lots of things, but no, I had to stay at home or risk having a relapse which would then force me to stay out of school for a much longer time. Normally I would have fireworks popping in the air at having to miss school but the prospect of a possible forced drop and the hassle of having to catch up with my classes has put storm clouds over my sky. There's the keyword right there: HASSLE. I hate having to play catch up and I hate to run around after my professors. I already have too much to do this semester and having to catch up doesn't help matters! Oh, what I would give for a good SCREAM!

Haaay... Calm down... Remember your blood pressure... Breathe... Always look on the bright side of life... Whew... Yeah, the bright side. It could have been worse; I could be dead now if something had gone wrong that fateful Monday. And costs aside, I got a two week vacation in July! That's good, look at the bright side. Hehe... The bright side... I do hope everything is bright when I FINALLY(hopefully) return on Thursday.

post-appendectomy me

Just got out of the hospital today, minus my appendix. I spent the last 3 days at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan thanks to that useless little quirk of evolution.
I woke up with intense pain in my stomach last Monday. At first I thought it was just your 'normal' stomach pain but once I stood up I discovered that it was worse. I woke my mom and next thing you know we were speeding towards the hospital. I was supposed to take my first exam for German 10 in the afternoon so I was hoping that all I had was some sort of weird gas pain or at most something that could be cured by a magic pill so that I could go on to school.
But every doctor that examined me at the hospital said that I had acute appendicitis. I had to have an operation so that they could get it out of my body. Damn. There goes my perfect attendance. And my exam.
***
I wrote the preceding paragraph last night. I had planned on writing about everything that had happened for the past 3 days, but my computer disagreed with the 200-odd words I had already typed here. Screaming various invectives at my restart-happy power surge magnet of a computer has done nothing to restore what I had already written so I think I'll just give a brief summary of what has happened to me.
***
It turned out that my appendix had swollen to 8-9 centimeters. If I had not gotten to the hospital on time or if I had forced myself to go to school despite the pain it would have most probably burst, further complicating my condition. On Tuesday I was confined to my bed, receiving most of my food from an IV. I couldn't even sit up since the wound still hurt. It was only on Wednesday that I started to walk around my room, albeit with me using the IV stand as support. By Thursday morning the IV was gone and I could eat anything I wanted. I could also walk around my room without needing any help, although getting off and into my bed still hurt.

The normal recovery period for appendicitis is two weeks, but I'll most probably be back in school by Monday, unless something else happens. I've already missed a lot of classes, and I can't afford to fail this semester. Haaay...

easier said than done

For the past year a lot of people have been clamoring for change. Some want charter change. Others want a regime change. Many want economic change. We all want to change our current situation, yet no one wants to change themselves. Let's admit it, we all whine about our country's lack of progress. We are quick to criticize everything done by our leaders. We complain about how hard our life is with soaring oil prices and inflation. We throw everything -including the proverbial kitchen sink- at each other, destroying lives and reputations over ideological disputes. We do everything but solve our problems. We talk and talk and bicker and complain but we do nothing to lift our country from the muck of poverty and corruption and conflict. We are quick to point fingers, wasting time on investigations which lead to nowhere while people suffer and die on the streets.
How can we solve our problems? We should first change ourselves. To change a country we must first change the individuals who make up the country.
One thing we desperately need is discipline. "Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan"; so goes the slogan of Marcos' "Bagong Lipunan". Say what you want about the guy, but you have to admit he had some pretty good ideas. Our people today have little or no respect for the law. Simple rules such as "bawal tumawid dito" or "bawal magtapon ng basura dito" are ignored by many. If the simplest of laws are broken with impunity, what about the other laws? If the people don't follow such laws as "no loading/unloading here", what's to stop them from stealing or killing? Our people also enjoy short-circuiting the system -any system- as long as it provides greater convenience. Who hasn't tried to find a friend or relative in a government office when applying for a license? Who hasn't tried to bribe a police officer when caught violating traffic rules? Who hasn't tried to jump a line in the supermarket, or in the bank, or in the school cafeteria? Who hasn't cheated in school, or on their income tax return? Who hasn’t beaten the red light, or held back traffic because he/she wants to be the first to make the u-turn? We cry about graft and corruption, we cry about election fraud, we complain about the traffic, yet we fail to realize that we are doing the same things and everyday, albeit in our own little way. In doing so we contribute to the problems of our nation. Discipline is the answer to these problems. Start with the simple things. Follow traffic rules. Throw your waste at the proper place. Fall in line. Wait for your turn. Don't cheat. Set an example for the future leaders of our country by obeying the law. Our children must see us doing what is right instead of what is simply convenient or expedient. 

woohoo!!!

I FINALLY have DSL! No more dial-up internet cards baby! :D

To inaugurate my first post of this new age of unlimited, high speed 'Net surfing, I present one of the first streaming videos I watched with my new, super-fast DSL connection... :D

weeeeeeeeee...........

who's afraid of "the da vinci code"?

Two years ago a friend recommended to me a little book called The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Soon after, I got a copy from PowerBooks. It turned out to be one hell of a page-turner; I couldn't let go of the book after I had started reading it. I had my nose stuck in that book during my lunch period, in between classes, while commuting home from school, and well into the wee hours of the morning. The story was so engrossing that for a few days I touched neither the keyboard nor the remote control. I was so impressed that I sought out other books by Dan Brown. Within a few months I had finished Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and Deception Point.

Imagine my excitement when I found out that The Da Vinci Code was being turned into a movie.

It is only a few days before its worldwide premier, but if certain people and groups get their way, it may never be shown here in the Philippines. Various religious groups and personalities have denounced it as "blasphemy". An anti-pornography group has filed a case against the MTRCB for allowing the importation of the movie here. No less than the Executive Secretary of the President has called for the banning of the film. His words: "I think we should do everything not to allow it to be shown. I don’t see how we as a Catholic nation or as practicing Catholics would tolerate such a plot to be propagated in the name of freedom of expression."

Haaay... It's been a few years since the book came out so I assume that whoever is reading this has at least an inkling of what the book is all about. The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. Nothing more, nothing less. It did not happen. It is a story, a figment of the author's imagination. The idea that Jesus Christ was married and had a family with Mary Magdalene may have come from historical sources, but The Da Vinci Code only uses that idea to present an engrossing, fictional thriller.

But people say that it presents a danger to Christians, especially those who have "weak faith". According to them, the movie posits a lot of controversial ideas that would cause people to question their faith. To borrow a line from my Socio 10 professor; e ano ngayon? What's wrong with questioning something? Learning begins with questioning. Isn't this a good opportunity to let people learn more about their faith? Isn't this a good opportunity for the Church to educate those whose eyes are opened to new possibilities after watching the film?

People say that certain groups will be offended by the film. E ano ngayon? If they are offended by the film then they shouldn't watch it. Why should they drag those of us who do want to watch the film down with them? I remember an episode of South Park wherein everything about Christmas that was offensive to certain groups was banned. The town was left without a Christmas.

People say that being a Catholic nation the Philippines should not allow the showing of the film. So what about the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, and those who practice other religions? Are they not a part of this nation? Don't they have a say in this issue?

People may say whatever they want about the film. They may call it blasphemous and offensive, "an affront to the Catholic faith" or whatnot, but one thing is for sure, no one can ban it in this country.

Why?

Banning the film on religious grounds violates Article 3, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution which states that "No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights."

So there. I have set my heart on watching the movie ever since I heard about it last year.

I WANT to watch the movie.

I don't care if it offends anyone; it does not offend ME.

I don't care if someone thinks it is dangerous; it does not threaten ME.

The government CANNOT dictate what the people can or cannot watch.

See you on May 18.

i love the nightlife

Life as a nocturnal creature has its advantages. I've been one with the bats and the owls for days now, spending hours surfing the 'Net.

Why?

Because I have the phone and the computer all to myself. No one calls during these ungodly hours, so my Internet connection is never cut by the darned call waiting feature of our phone.

Because the temperature is more comfortable at this time of day. No need to have two electric fans AND an air conditioner turned on at maximum power just to negate the intense heat during the daytime.

Because download speeds are generally faster during this time. Yes, I'm one of those few surviving Neanderthals who still use a dial-up Internet connection, albeit one that only goes up to 24kbps thanks to an 8-year old modem.

And because I have free access to the Internet from 12 to 6AM. Yes, I'm a cheap, penny-pinching, miserly *bleep*, but times are hard and my pockets are almost empty.

Why am I writing this?

Wala lang.

Hehehehe...

back to reality

"Our arrival at Manila Domestic Airport will be delayed by a few minutes due to air traffic congestion. We apologize for the inconvenience..." Manila: even the airways have traffic jams. What better way to jolt us back to reality than by greeting us with traffic? After almost 6 days of communing with nature, rest and relaxation, peace and quiet, beaches and babes [hehehe... :)], we're back to communing with pollution, fatigue, stress, traffic, noise... But enough of dreary old Manila.

Haaay... I wish we could have stayed for another week in Palawan. It was so relaxing to be far away from city life. It was the perfect vacation, save for a few snags which I would elaborate on later. I had planned on keeping a daily journal of our trip; the following is the first entry...

Day One

After a night of sleepless anticipation, the day finally arrived. Our flight would depart Manila at 9:15AM. My dad and I went out at 6:30, hunting for a taxi on the empty roads of Marikina. We found one soon enough, and got to the airport with hours to spare. Travelling through Manila during the Holy Week is a breeze -literally. Now I'm here at the waiting area of the domestic airport, tapping away and counting the minutes until 8:55...
***
We're over Mindoro right now. A few minutes ago we passed Taal Lake, where I saw for the first time the entire island...
***
It's an exhilarating feeling when you're up in the air among the clouds, it's almost as if you could reach out and touch them...
***
There it is: Puerto Princesa. We're arriving 12 minutes ahead of schedule, or so the stewardess said. The plane would be landing in a few minutes; the buildings and the trees are getting bigger and bigger...
***
And here we are at Palawan. There was actually a guy who was waiting for us at the gate with a large sign saying "Welcome Obidos Family". Hehehe... After retrieving our luggage we were "escorted" (naks!) to a van which would take us to the boat which would then take us to the private island of our Tito Jun. We had to run some errands, however. My dad wanted to get some film for our camera and my mom wanted to buy some snacks, so we went to a grocery store. When we were finally on our way to the boat, I was already feeling a bit drowsy so I took a little nap...
***
The island at last. After an exciting boat ride through a choppy sea, we finally arrived. The house where we would be staying for the next two days was HUGE. And it's right in front of a very beautiful white sand beach. Hehehe...
***
I'm tired. Very tired. We just finished walking around the ENTIRE island. It was quite an experience. We walked on long stretches of sand, dotted here and there with crabs and starfish. We walked through a mangrove forest, where wasps buzzed us and where the tangled roots of the trees and the soft sand made our journey more difficult. We finally broke through the forest into the sand flats, a vast expanse of seabed exposed by the low tide. It was very beautiful, and quiet. While my companions busied themselves with catching hermit crabs and starfish, I was out trying to get close to the birds fishing out at the edge of the sandbank. It was the first time that I got a close look at real sea birds, even though they flew away when I got to a few feet from them.

The View From The Ground (hehehe…)
The following is my wittle sister’s account of our first day on the island…

A lot of us ran around, feeling tired and weak from walking half 'round the island we decided to sit on some part of the sandbar and decided to unwind by making castles, towns, and even holes. We agreed to have a contest on the highest castles. Unfortunately, no one won because everybody ended up destroying their own "work of art" except one, Kuya Andre', we helped him make his castle and made other ones and connected them together. Time still passed and we got bored of making things out of sand. We all got up and went back to the real seashore and started to walk home with one mistake, we took the long way home because we thought we were 3/4 of the island away from the house when we were just really only 1/4 away. We wandered through more "ghost crabs" and every one that I would see I'd start saying "CRAB!" and Kuya would think I was cursing every time we'd see one. We also got the chance to see one big crab but to our dismay it got in its hole. Still walking, we encountered tracks of an animal we decided to follow it and it traced to a kind of cave made out of plants and all of us were interested but only made us more scared when we got closer. Two of the youngest of our companions decided to run back, which left only three of us. It was fun messing around, we pretended that we were shipwrecked and we had to catch fishes and would do anything to survive. Kuya acted really stupid because he was shouting "WATER!" it was as if he was in the desert when we were on an island surrounded by water! Still walking, we finally saw a man preparing his boat and we knew that we were getting closer and we were but we had to battle through tourists fishing for starfishes on water. *moan* We even tried to catch a school of small fishes. Haaay... we finally managed to get back to the house. We were very exhausted from walking and running. Kuya went inside the house to rest while me and the others started to make mashed potatoes for dinner. The adults started the bonfire while we cooked the potatoes. We were finished with the potatoes and they were finished with the fire. We roasted marshmallows and hotdogs and everyone had fun making the fire bigger. Tito Jun called out that dinner was ready. We had a wide spread of roast pork mashed potatoes, garden salad, corn gravy, and some brownies for dessert, it felt like eating in a high-class restaurant only here we wore summer outfits. Everybody was full and went back to our own rooms where I just started texting instead of sleeping.

***

And that's about it. Hehehe... There were so many things to do, so many places to explore, that I found that I had zero time for a journal. Heck I was there to have fun, and not to confine myself in a room typing! Hehehe... So now, instead of a daily blow by blow account, I'll just talk about the places we visited, and what we did there.

Pandan Island
We spent almost 3 days on Tito Jun's private island. You got that right; private island. We had the entire place to ourselves. Pandan Island is one of the many islands on Honda Bay, just a few kilometers from Puerto Princesa. As mentioned in my lackluster attempt at a journal the island boasted white sand beaches and a mangrove forest. We stayed with Tito Jun and his family at their house just a few meters from the beach. The food was absolutely delicious, and we had a wonderful time in their company. Our 2 and a half days there were spent talking, eating, sleeping, playing Scrabble, and making our way through the mangrove forest to the sandbar. The sandbar was really the seabed exposed by the low tide in the afternoon. The sand there was very fine and soft. Strewn all around the sand were shells, starfish, and crabs. There was also the odd seabird feasting on the exposed shellfish and crabs. We left the island on the afternoon of our third day there.

Puerto Princesa
After our stay on Pandan Island we moved back to Puerto Princesa City. We stayed at the Casa Linda pension house. This was where the major snag in my vacation chose to make its appearance. After almost 3 years, I had an attack of asthma. I was coughing for the rest of our stay in Palawan. Maybe it was due to the fatigue caused by our long walk around Pandan Island. Maybe it was because of the heat. Or maybe it was because of my non-stop consumption of Cloud 9 chocolates. Whatever the cause, I was forced to take 4 different medicines every 4-6 hours. I had trouble getting around, since the slightest movement made my lungs ache. It was a good thing that my condition was stabilized by the medicines, or else I would have spent the rest of my vacation in the hospital. Asthma aside, Casa Linda offered excellent food; their beef steak was the best! I also stumbled upon a novel, Cauldron, by Larry Bond. I was so engrossed by the story that I couldn't put the book down. Basically it was about World War 3... Hehehe... I was reading that book during our entire stay at Casa Linda. There were also a lot of foreigners: Germans, Americans and Koreans. We were probably the only Filipino guests there.

The Underground River
This was the highlight of our trip. Months before we left for Palawan I was already badgering my parents to include the Underground River in our itinerary. Asthma or no asthma I was determined to go there. I finally got my wish on our fourth day in Palawan. It was a 3 hour drive from Puerto Princesa, so we left Casa Linda at about 9AM. This time we were with relatives of my dad. I slept for the first hour or so of the journey, only to be jolted awake when we left the highway. The "road" at this point was nothing but dirt, stones, and potholes. Heck, calling it a "road" would be really stretching the definition of the term. As if the "road" wasn't bad enough, the driver of the van we were in apparently had illusions of being in a NASCAR race, or maybe he was a supersonic jet fighter pilot in another life. Nonetheless, he felt the need; the need for SPEED. On the other hand, I had another need, or needs, for that matter; the need for a crash helmet, a seatbelt, a cushion, and a barf bag. It was a spine-jarring, head-crushing, stomach churning 2 hours until we finally arrived at Sabang: the gateway to the Underground River. We disembarked from the van and collected our bones--- er... our bags, and then we headed for the dock. Yes, the dock. We had to ride a boat across a bay to reach the entrance of the Underground River. Compared to the "Highway to Hell" the 20 minute boat ride with huge waves from the South China Sea threatening to smash our wittle banca on the rocks and cliffs was like a walk on the clouds. We arrived on the opposite shore at around 12 noon. It was a short walk through a jungle trail, where we saw a few monitor lizards and monkeys, to the Underground River. As luck would have it was time for lunch, and break time for the tour guides/boatmen. We had to wait about an hour before we could enter the Underground River, but when we were finally inside, we, or at least I, forgot all the aggravations of the past few hours due to the sheer beauty of the cave system. My dad and I sat at the front of the banca, so we had the best view. There were cave swallows flying all around us, snapping at insects. The first part of the Underground River was just your normal cave, with stalactites and stalagmites, and bats hanging from the roof. But after that we entered a huge space called "The Cathedral". The rock formations there were simply amazing. One looked like the Virgin Mary. Another looked like the Three Kings. Still another looked like a man being followed by a dog. At the center of that huge space was a lone, tall formation called “the melting candle”. After the Cathedral, we passed a gallery of vegetables. There were rock formations resembling carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, and even one that looked exactly like a "puso ng saging". Throughout the tour the boatman/guide kept cracking jokes; at one point he told my dad to point the searchlight to the left and then he declared "yan naman, bankang puno ng tao", when the light revealed not a rock formation, but another, real, boat full of tourists! We were laughing throughout the entire 45 minute tour because of our guide's wisecracks and ad-libs. We only toured a fraction of the 8.2 kilometer length of the Underground River system but what we saw was more than what I expected. It was so beautiful, so awe-inspiring, that I had wanted to take another trip into the caves. It even made me forget about my asthma for the next hour or so. Afterwards, we went back to the beach where we first landed. Our boat couldn't leave yet since two of our companions were still in the caves, so my sister and I spent the time playing on the beach pretending that we could control the waves. The waves at that particular beach were huge; when we were already boarding our boat a wave struck and drenched my mom. Coco was literally swamped by another wave while she was trying to climb into the boat. We got back to Sabang without further incident, where we had our lunch by the sea. Afterwards we once again boarded our van for the 3-hour, bone-crushing ride back to Puerto Princesa.

Room 7, Casa Linda
The day after our tour of the Underground River, I decided to take a break, since I was still having an asthma attack. So while my family was out touring Puerto Princesa, I was cooped up in our room reading the last few chapters of Cauldron. I finished reading the hardbound, 500+ page book by 3 in the afternoon. In the evening we had dinner with Tito Jun at a nearby restaurant. At the same time some show from ABC5, "The Adventures of Maverick and Ariel" (or something like that) was having a shoot. They were interviewing the owner of the restaurant, a half-American, half-Russian guy who was born here in the Philippines.

Puerto Princesa Airport
April 20. Leaving seemed so hard. We really enjoyed our stay in Palawan. We were already talking about returning next year. While we waited for our flight to arrive I busied myself with taking pictures with my PalmPix camera, my dad's digicam, and I also shot some video of the airport and of a departing airplane. Our plane arrived at around 10:50AM, right on schedule. We left Palawan at about 11:30.

Marikina
And now I'm back home. Back to playing computer games. Back to watching CNN. Back to sleeping up to 12 noon. Back to reality.

bon voyage

I will be out of the loop for a while, since we'll be leaving for Palawan tomorrow morning! :D

Hehehehe... 6 days of rest and relaxation on the beaches! Aside from swimming and making sand castles we also plan on going to the Underground River, and to tour the other tourist attractions there...

Anyway, I won't be back 'til April 21... But when I get back I'll have some pictures of our trip posted on my Multiply site and probably also a report of our trip here...

Until then! Hehehe... :D

yesterday

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away... hehehe...

Yesterday I went on a date with Erika. We had lunch at, where else, Jollibee! After eating our fill of spaghetti and french fries we went to the cinema to watch Ice Age 2. The movie was a total laugh trip; it was a good thing there were few people watching since my unbridled laughter would have undoubtedly elicited evil looks from people around us. After the movie we went to Timezone, where over a hundred pesos disappeared into Time Crisis 3 and Ghost Squad.

Yesterday was also Lester's birthday party at, get this, McDonald's! Belated happy 20th birthday Kuya Lester! Hehehe... “Kidding” aside, the party was a blast. The "kiddie" theme, complete with games, party hats, and an appearance by our ever lovable mascot Grimace, was a hit with everyone, kids and kids-at-heart alike. We had a lot of fun (especially with the games!) and we also had our stomachs filled with lots of food.
Moreover, the occasion allowed us to get together with old friends and classmates (yesterday was the first time in years that I saw Lucky), and gave us time to catch up with each other. It was a very refreshing experience to see and talk with people you haven't seen in a long time. Even though our barkada was not complete (Barbie had to prepare for a trip the following day, which is today by the way), we still enjoyed each other's company. It was when we were talking among ourselves when I noticed that everyone had changed a lot over the years. I had expected our conversations to be of the "how are you" type so imagine my surprise when the discussion centered on religion and philosophy! Heavy topics indeed over Chicken McCrispy. Other things talked about were work(!), on-the-job training, theses, and, on the lighter side, Lester's "I love me" pictures. Hehehe... Time flies so fast. Some of my friends would already be graduating from college next year; Paulo has to defend his thesis today (good luck!), Lucky would be graduating this December, Liza is already thinking of teaching at our old school. Albert, however, has at least 10 more years to go before "graduating" into priesthood. Hehehe... More money was burned at Timezone after the party, with Tyrone and Karen turning playing Time Crisis 3 into a science, Paulo and Lester having at various opponents at Tekken, and Albert and me duelling at air hockey. The night was capped with us having overpriced yet highly satisfying coffee at Starbucks, where conversation once again centered on serious topics, broken only by Paulo's "sigerepeat" joke. After coffee me and Diane left for the MRT and home. After finding our way through the maze that was a half-closed mall we finally got to MRT-Ayala Station. We boarded the train and experienced for ourselves the inside of a sardine can. I got off at MRT-Ortigas Station, after squeezing through a dense mass of people. I met my dad after walking the entire length of SM Megamall from the beginning of Mega A to near the end of Mega B. I do believe that I lost a few pounds in that leisurely walk.

Yesterday was a welcome respite from the monotony of a summer vacation. For two weeks now it has been wake up at 12 noon, fire up computer, lunch at 3 in the afternoon, return to pounding the Brotherhood of Nod into dust by 4, dinner at 9 in the evening, back to absorbing ambient radiation by 10, and finally sleeping at 3AM. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Yesterday was a turning point in my life. Seeing friends celebrate their 20th birthday and talk about "after graduation" made me face the fact that I'm growing old. I'm no longer the cute, plump, little toddler of 16 years ago. I'm no longer the cute, thin, little science whiz of 12 years ago. I'm no longer the cute, thin, little high school freshman of 7 years ago or the tall, handsome, somewhat confused college freshman of less than 3 years ago. I'm now a tall, handsome, somewhat delusional senior student about to cross the threshold into complete adulthood. It is only a few more months before I follow Lester into the twenties, probably only about two more years before general weighted averages and academic loads pass into history, and formerly alien concepts such as "job" and "work" become integrated into my life.

Yesterday was a time of relaxation and realization.

A new day has come to be lived and experienced.

Tomorrow is only a day away, waiting to be discovered.

letters from members of the silent majority

The following are letters from the "silent majority" which I have come across while online. I share them with you now because I have the same sentiments as these people, and I believe that a lot of you do too. If you agree with the views of the authors of these letters, please pass them on to others, so that the voice of the silent majority can finally be heard.

*I saw this on the PCIJ blog site while browsing through the comments on one of their articles...

***

Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Mediapeople, Leftists, and all Bleeding Hearts Out There:

I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tiredof all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos. I feel like screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours. You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made.
In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.
I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear - we chose not to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even more. Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward. You may counter with your ideological propaganda and give me all the dire warnings about the evils of Martial Law, authoritarian rule, suppression of freedom, etc., but quite frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts to defend your rght to continue fulminating, filibustering, and sabotaging this country until you wrestle power for yourselves.
You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights,but who told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that myrights and my freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and fight for themmyself. I have done that in the past, and I will do it again when I SEE THE NEED FOR IT, not when you tell me to do it.
You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this countrybecause she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you do), I may have become jaded. I may have lowered my standards about what a leader should be. Guess what, Tita Cory, you lowered it yourself. When I accepted your incompetence and fought for you during the many attempts against your government, I already lowered the standards to ridiculous levels. Guess what, Senators and Congressmen, you lowered it yourselves when you ran for office and won and now make fools of yourselves in the august halls of congress.
But the simple truth that you try to obfuscate is this: you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative! On the other hand, GMAhas bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way.From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective. You say she is the problem. I say, we are - all of us is the problem; more to the point, I think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right, YOU!
While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during theelections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her. Yes my dear bishops, have done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral thing to do: forgive. Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be defiant, continuing to insult us everyday with his protestations - and he is part of your cause now! Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after all.
I know you do not think that GMA’s apology was not enough, or that she was insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral fibre of society. The real reason is because yousmell blood and wants to go for the kill. Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you even more. I may not trust her, but you know what, I do not trust you even more
You know why I do not trust you? Because all you do is whine andsabotage this country. You belittle every little progress we make,conveniently forgetting that it is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them. Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard everyday in our jobs.
Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in theeyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakinly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause. Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven andearth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core. For all your efforts, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I say enough.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you e tried to prove your accusations all these time and you have not succeeded, so it is time to let things be. Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists - the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses.
So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than scheming power hungry fools who can not even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest.
Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently madeonly underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people who only want power but not the consequences and the sacrifices that go with the quest. Your one and only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse does not work. You are nothing but BULLIES who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task for your cruelty. You call for the rule of law and respect for authority, but so brazenly display your defiance and disrespect for the same things you claim to be fighting for. I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making all kinds of lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us. Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the government when THAT IS THE ONE AND ONLY ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DESPERATELY TRYING TO DO in the last many months?
We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our share to make things work. We the people will and can make it work, if only you get out of the way and let us do it. If you only do your jobs, the ones you are supposed to be doing, things would be a lot simpler and easier for all of us.
The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are moredangerous and a serious threat to this country than GMA is. We haveseen what you are capable of doing - you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need protection from, IT IS PROTECTION FROM YOU.

S. C. Austero

***

*This one was sent to me in an email...

Dear friends,

I share the sentiments of whoever wrote this. these
are words i would have wanted to pen down myself. It
is sad to note that all this hullaballoo boils down to
only one thing ... selfish, manipulative, greedy, and
big-time, dirty old politicians taking the whole
country for a ride! Labanan ito ng mga politikong
walang malasakit sa kapakanan ng mga maliliit at mga
nagsisikap lamang na paunlarin ang bayan at
papag-aralin ang kanilang mga anak, at bigyan sila ng
magandang kinabukasan.

hindi kasinungalingan at kadayaan ang isyu dito ...
lahat sila pati yung mga nagsisigaw dahil sa kadayaan
diumano ay madadaya rin. ang sistema ang bulok. kahit
sino ilagay mong presidente, ganyan pa rin ang
mangyayari.nakita nyo ba yung mga buwitreng politiko
(trapos) na noong nagkakagulo sa fort boni ay
nagdagsaan para daw tumulong at makiisa sa hinagpis ng
mga sundalo? vamos a ver ... noong matapos na ang
lahat, nawala silang parang bula. at kung naghahanap
kayo ng prayer leader sa inyong mga chapel, social
hall, at covenanted communities, alaw nyo na kung sino
ang dapat imbitahin ... kasama nga lang ng mga
madadaya at sinungaling na trapos, mga pulahan, at mga
armadong hindi alam kung sino ang dapat sundin.

i ask my readers and friends only one thing ... look
at the bigger picture. discern ... we cannot allow
ourselves to play into the hands of these
manipulative, scheming politicians, power grabbers,
and ideologues at yung mga nanagana na noong araw na
wala namang nagawa rin (nangurakot rin naman!) gasgas
na ang people power. we need new wineskins for new
wine; we cannot remain with old paradigms. how vain it
is to build a fence by destroying a wall on the other
side (khlil gibran. we cannot miss the forest for a
tree. we need to fight corruption in and out of
government, but we cannot afford to burn the whole
house in the process. i was reminded of a news story
that came out two months ago. a houseowner saw a pesky
rat in his house. sa galit nya, binuhusan ng kerosene
at sinindihan ang peste. Pumasok ang daga sa bahay
habang siya ay nagliliyab. namatay ang pesteng daga,
at NASUNOG ANG BUONG BAHAY.

This house, the whole Philippine society, is festered
with rats. They are all over the place not excluding
congress, senate, malacanang, the military, the
private sector (including one well known university),
and... why not? including religious groups and
denominations. the Naia alone is a seedbed of
corruption, as is every city, every town, every
barangay ... from top to bottom! but to destroy these
rats, including the one in malacanan, we cannot afford
to burn the whole house, for that would mean all of us
would end up losers.

perspective is what i request from everyone. when we
see the bigger picture, merely shouting in mendiola,
and joining rallies, ranting and railing against
oppression and injustice (whatever that means) and
other forms of inane sloganeering, might not be the
best course of action. L'ottimo nemico del bene ...
the best is the enemy of the good. let's face it ...
our president is not the best of the lot ... but let
him who has no sin cast the first stone. who is the
best? who can these noisy holier than thou personages
that are irredeemably angry at the present leadership
offer as alternative? crispin beltran? liza maza? the
one whose only expertise is to read news written by
other people? the one who obviously is drooling for
the presidency, whose name exactly sounds like he's
drilling and digging for power?

WE all want these rats out of the scene. But
perspective will tell us that mere violent overthrows
never worked and will never work. perspective should
tell us that the solutions of today may end up
becoming the problems of tomorrow.we need to discern.
we need guidance from above. and last thing i
heard,that type of pesky behavior exhibited by rats,
begins in the human heart - the heart of each and
everyone of us. another word for this is SIN, both
personal and social, and lest we forget, "all men have
fallen short of the glory of God." May I add a
memorable poetic line from Hopkins? Referring to the
human heart, he says: "There in your heart is your own
small commonweal. There ... rid the dragons; root out
there the sin!"

The tenant in the house by the dirty river may be
guilty of dishonesty and other forms of sin. "a just
man sins seven times a day." but so, too, are all
those who want to stone her, who push and drive her to
declare a state of national emergency, and then
vociferously rant and rail against it. What a shameful
hypocrisy!

I won't bore you any further ... here is the forwarded
message:

Ako ay isang middle class pinoy, isang officer sa
isang malaking
korporasyon at may asawa...dalawa anak. Di na
importante pangalan ko kasi
parepareho naman tayong mga middle-class....trabaho
9-5, inom konti tapos
uwi sa pamilya, laruin si baby, itutor si ate/kuya
tapos tulog na, pag wala
na pera intay nala ng ng sweldo.

Sa nangyayari ngayon sa ating bansa, lahat nalang ng
sector ay maingay at
naririnig, tayo lang mga middle-class, tax paying at
productive Pinoys ang
di naririnig. Subalit, buwis natin ang nagpapaikot sa
bansang ito. Pag
may mga gulo na nangyayari, tayo ang tinatamaan. Kaya
eto ang liham ko sa
lahat ng maiingay na sector na sana makagising sa
inyong bulag na
pag-iisip.

Sa Mga Politiko:

- diyos ko naman, sa dami na nang nakurakot ninyo di
na ba kayo makuntento
kelangan nyo pa ba manggulo.

Sa Administrasyon:

- hayan ayus na ha pinatawad na namin ang pandaraya
nyo sa eleksyon,
pruweba dito e di kami umaatend sa mga panawagan ng
people power, kaya sana
naman gantihan nyo kami ng magandang serbisyo at
magaling na pamumuno at
malaking bawas sa kurakot naman please para kahit
papano maramdaman naman
namin na may napupuntahan ang binabayad naming buwis.

Sa Oposisyon:

- di nyo pa b a nakikita na dalawang klase lang ng tao
ang nakikinig sa
inyo....isa ay bayaran na mahihirap kungdi man ay
tangang mga excited na
reporter na parang naka-shabu lagi....mga praning e at
naghahallucinate.

- Bago man lang kayo maglunsad ng kilos laban sa
administrasyon, pumili
muna kayo ng magiting at nararapat na ipapalit sa
liderato ngayon. Hirap
sa inyo paresign kayo ng paresign wala naman kayo
ipapalit na maayos.
Advise lang galing sa isang middle-class na syang
tunay na puwersa sa likod
ng lahat ng matagumpay na People Power, magpakita muna
kayo ng galing bago
nyo batuhin ang administrasyon. Wala na kaming
narinig sa inyo kundi
reklamo, e wala naman kayong ginagawa kundi
magreklamo....para kayong
batang lagi na lang naaagawan ng laruan.....GROW UP
naman...sa isip sa
salita at sa gawa.

- please lang gasgas na rin ang pagrarally nyo na
katabi nyo ay mga bayaran
na mahihirap, magtayo nalang kayo ng negosyo at iem
pleyo ang mga rallyista
para maging productive silang mamamayan. Sige nga,
pag nagrarally kayo
yakapin nyo nga at halikan yang mga kasama nyong
nagrarally!! Nung People
Power namin nagyayakapan kami lahat nuon.

- Wala naman mangyayari sa mga rally nyo nakakatraffic
lang, kami pang
middle-class ang napeperwisyo. Di nyo kayang
paghintayin ng 3 araw ang mga
rallyista nyo kasi kelangan nyo pakainin at swelduhan
ang mga yan. Kung
gusto nyo tagumpay na People Power kami ang isama
nyo....pero pagod na kami
e, sori ha.

Sa Military:

Alam nyo lahat tayo may problema, pati US Army may
problema, 2,000 plus na
patay sa kanila sa Iraq na parang walang rason naman,
pero nakita nyo ba
sila nagreklamo? Wala diba kasi professional sila na
sundalo.....yan dapat
ang sundalo di nagtatanong sumusunod lang. Kasi may
mga bagay na di kayang
maintindihan ng indibidwal lamang, at ang mga
nakatataas lang ang
nakakai ntindi ng kabuuan, kaya ito ang panuntunan ng
lahat ng military ng
lahat ng bansa. Pero parang military natin yata ang
pinaka-mareklamo.
Sabi nga sa Spiderman "with great power comes great
responsibility".....kaya maging spiderman kayo lahat
at protektahan ang
mamamayan. Sa totoo lang natatakot kami kapag
nagrereklamo kayo, kasi may
baril kayo at tangke, kami wala.

Wala ako comment sa mga mahihirap, di naman kasi sila
maingay na kusa e,
may bayad ang ingay nila. Saka wala rin naman sila
email.

Kaya paano na tayong mga middle-class?? Eto hanggang
email nalang tayo kaya
ikalat nyo na ito at magdasal tayo na umabot ito sa
mga dapat makabasa nito
at makiliti naman ang kanilang mga konsyensya.



Signed,

Isang Middle-Class pinoy na walang puknat na
binabawasan ang sweldo ng
Buwis!

overreaction

It has been said that the President was overreacting when she declared a state of national emergency. True, Proclamation 1017 appears draconian at first glance, but take a good look at it and all you'll see is just a statement saying that there is a national emergency. I believe that the negative reaction it received from various sector was due to its perceived similarity to a declaration of martial law. The warrantless arrests, the raid on the Daily Tribune, and the dispersal of rallies on the 20th anniversary of the first People Power revolt were all too reminiscent of the bad old days under Marcos. As with the previous issues which have turned our country into a political morass, perception metamorphosed into fact, and the declaration of a state of emergency became a declaration of emergency rule in the eyes of some: a return to dictatorial rule in the guise of PP1017.

But again, take a closer look at the circumstances. The alleged coup was planned to coincide with the rallies, with the soldiers marching with the rallyists to declare their withdrawal of support from the government. If a firefight erupted between loyal soldiers and the rebels, thousands could have been caught in the crossfire. Therefore, the ban on and dispersal of the rallies could have been ordered by the president in order to safeguard the lives of innocent civilians.
The raid on the offices of the Daily Tribune has earned the ire of journalists from all over. This was perceived as an attack on press freedom, and the suppression of the right of free expression. But, looking into the Tribune, one may notice an obvious bias in the wording of the news reports. Journalists should present facts in their reports; unbiased, uneditorialized facts. The biased reports could have been interpreted by the readers as fact, thus causing confusion and spreading disinformation. Freedom of the press does not entail the freedom to mislead the public through sensationalism, misinformation, or outright disinformation. If I were the President I would have shut the paper down entirely, but I am not the President, and she has refrained from doing this extreme action. In fact, the Tribune is still in circulation, biased stories and all.
The warrantless arrests of certain people has sparked cries of human rights violations, with images of the torture and abuse experienced by those picked up by the police during martial law. However, these warrantless arrests were within the law. Why? Those arrested were charged with rebellion, which is considered a "continuing crime". This precludes the requirement of a warrant, since a person charged with rebellion is considered as in the process of committing the crime. The others who were arrested during the rallies at EDSA, like Prof. Randy David, were arrested because their permit to rally had been revoked with Proclamation 1017.

So, who has overreacted?

The opposition has cried bloody murder over the suppression of rights by Proclamation 1017, a declaration of a state of emergency. Habeas corpus was not suspended, the President did not receive any emergency powers, there was no declaration of martial law; it was just a statement saying that there was an emergency.
The media has condemned Proclamation 1017 as an attack on the freedom of the press, saying that the government has muzzled the press and has stifled the expression of dissent. If this is true, why has the Tribune continued its circulation? Why has ANC continued to present editorialized news reports? Why is Conrado de Quiros of the Philippine Daily Inquirer able to criticize the President and call for her immediate ouster? Why have we been able to debate upon or even discuss the issue of Proclamation 1017 in the newspapers, on TV, in the Internet, and on the radio if its goal was to muzzle the press? Is this not a manifestation of the freedom of the press?

What is there to fear from Proclamation 1017? Nothing, unless you are its real target. The target of PP1017 is neither the press nor the public, but those who would rather see the Republic of the Philippines in ashes, albeit under their rule. These people have every reason to fear the crackdown, as this would spell the end of their selfish quest for power. They are the ones overreacting to the strong response of the government, using every trick in the book to muddle the issue and confuse the populace so that they can protect their own hides.

***

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted the state of emergency at around 11:30 this morning.
(More here.)

crackdown

In a list forwarded to the Department of Justice yesterday, about 59 leftists and renegade soldiers have been tagged by the PNP for arrest on charges of rebellion and insurrection. Since these crimes are defined as "continuing crimes", these people can be arrested at any time without warrants.
(More here.)

Four leftist lawmakers have already been placed under house arrest at the House of Representatives, as charges and warrants for their arrest and detention are being prepared.
(More here.)

Three words:

It's. About. Time.

***

What's the big deal about Proclamation 1017? Everyone is talking about it, everyone has an opinion of it. "It's martial law", one would say. "A clampdown on our rights", says another. Still another person says that "it's Arroyo's last attempt to hold on to power".

I beg to differ. Proclamation 1017, or the declaration of a national state of emergency, is simply that: a declaration of a state of emergency. Despite the Marcosian overtones (remember PD1081?), it is not a declaration of martial law; it does not give the president any additional powers nor does it place the country under authoritarian rule. It simply states that the president believes that there is a national emergency, in this case an attempted coup d'etat, and that she is calling out the AFP to deal with the threat, which is well within her powers as commander-in-chief.

Three words:
That's. About. It.

in the spirit of people power

20 years ago, a united Filipino nation fought for and regained its freedom from a corrupt dictator. The first People Power revolution, described by many as "one brief shining moment in our history", toppled the decades-old authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos. Different people from different walks of life marched together at EDSA, facing down tanks and helicopter gunships with flowers and rosaries. Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue was a sea of yellow, as millions rallied in the name of freedom. They were not there in support of any political party or ideology; they were there for the restoration of democracy and for the reform of our society. They were there for the Philippines and for all Filipinos.

Sadly, the spirit of People Power has been hijacked by people bent on grabbing power for themselves. The political opposition has been trying to simulate its own "People Power moment" since the "Hello Garci" scandal erupted last July, desperately trying to draw the people out into the streets to demand the resignation or ouster of President Arroyo. In the days leading up to the 20th anniversary of EDSA 1 they have been using People Power as a rallying point for their protest actions against the government, even going so far as to using the commemoration of the event as a cover for their rallies and demonstrations.
20 years after the triumph of People Power, opportunistic and self-centered people are using it to further their own ends, calling on the people to come out by fomenting dissent and exposing dubious "scandals" in what appears to be a planned destabilization effort, forgetting that the original People Power was not planned or calculated. It was a spontaneous event, propagated by people fed up with the abuses of the authoritarian regime and hungry for change. They forget that the people did not march for any political party or ideology; the people came out for the good of the entire country, not for one person or party.

The Philippines is now under a state of national emergency, thanks in no small part to the selfish ambitions of adventurist soldiers and power-hungry politicians. The opposition has cried foul, calling it undeclared martial law and raising the spectre of the return of authoritarian rule and the loss of freedom, conveniently forgetting that it was their noise and mudslinging and destabilizing activities which brought about Proclamation 1017.
Many see it as ironic that exactly 20 years after the restoration of democracy, the Philippines is now on the brink of returning to authoritarian rule. However, it is more ironic is that the "one brief shining moment" which united the nation is now being used as a political tool by selfish individuals to further divide the Filipino people. We are one step away from returning to the days of martial law precisely because of this.

I believe that the true spirit of People Power is not about the fight for freedom and democracy, or about the use of peace to bring about change in society. The true spirit of People Power is in the unity of a nation. Ang tunay na diwa ng People Power ay ang pagkakaisa ng sambayanang Pilipino. People Power would have never succeeded; freedom and democracy would not have been restored, if not for the united efforts of the Filipino nation.
So now, in the true spirit of People Power, let us unite as one nation and work for the betterment of the entire country, instead of uniting against each other and bringing down our economy in the process. Let us cast away our differences and work together to make our nation great again.

pushing the envelope

I'm not a morning person. I take 10 minutes just to wake up, and another 15 minutes just to stand up from my bed. 5 minutes to floss and brush my teeth. 20 minutes in the shower is a speed record for me. 5 minutes to dress up then 15 minutes to comb my hair, fix my things, and drink some coffee. I spend one hour and ten minutes every morning preparing for school, so I try to wake up as early as possible.

Yesterday was a typical day. I woke up at 7:30, since my class was at 10:00. It was still too early so I fired up my computer and logged on to the Internet. Time flies when you're having fun, so when I next looked at the clock, it was already 8:30! I turned off the computer and rushed through my morning routine. By 9:25 I was scrambling to get out of the door. I reached the FX terminal 3 minutes later, where an FX taxi was just leaving. Luckily there was one more seat in the back, so I got in and hoped that I could get to Katipunan Avenue in 20 minutes.

25 minutes later I was paying my fare for the UP-Katipunan jeepney; looking at my watch I saw that I had 9 minutes to get to class. 7 minutes later I got off in front of the Econ building. Racing past all the people outside I got in and saw that the doors were already closed! I was already running when I saw a little itsy-bitsy sign outside our door:

ECON 151 UNDER PROF. PUYAT
NO CLASSES TODAY

Damn.

my turn! :D

Leave a comment here and...
1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your journal.

2006 na pala? :D

wow... i've been blogging for one year already... hehehehehehehe...

wala lang... :p