Just Saying

I’ve noticed the recent spike in the use of hateful words online.  You can blame that on what’s been happening in the country.  Yes, there was the Zamboanga siege, the Bohol earthquake, the PDAF scam, and Typhoon Yolanda’s aftermath.  On my feed in Facebook, I can always spot strongly worded comments in the news related items.  Online, people fashion themselves as experts, even with limited information in their hands.  I don’t blame the people for being angry at everything that blows up as something wrong or a scandal in the country.  They have every right to be.  However, I noticed that even propaganda pieces end up as truth for some people.  These just add to the confusion and hate. 

The internet could be a number of things to a number of people. From my point of view, I can just look at it as a portal of knowledge and a vessel of emotions.  While I would ideally want that people should focus on the knowledge aspect, one cannot ignore the fact that people sometimes get “editorialized” versions of information.  People are predisposed to make an opinion on almost anything, even using wrong information as basis.  Here in the Philippines, ranked as a leading user of social media and where TV gossip shows rule time slots, having internet freedom is almost like giving everyone a gun to shoot everybody else.    People should have to at least digest the information first and not just stop at reading the headlines before they shoot their mouths off online.

In my very humble opinion, if you pass information that could lead to more confusion during times of crisis, do have second thoughts about it.

Just saying.

In the news: Edutainment and Rambo

I have not been updating this blog lately because I had been busy with work.    Instead of updating this blog as my usual recreation,  I found watching/ reading the news more “entertaining.”  I believe that people are intently following the current hot topic of the day  — the CJ Corona impeachment trial at the Philippine Senate.  Like in the impeachment trial of former president Estrada in late 2000 to early 2001, the trial transformed into something like a telenovela.  This time, the trial is somewhat like a sports event.  We even have analysts to explain what is happening.  News once again became “entertainment.”  And thanks to analysts and information floating in the internet, I think that today’s impeachment is more educational for the average viewer.

As a normal Pinoy, I found it amazing that people, at least those who follow the Impeachment of Chief Justice Corona, are becoming instant legal experts.  People are getting “entertained” with  “pursuing the corrupt” in the PNoy admin’s “Tuwid na Daan.”  Just follow the forum postings on news sites on the internet, you’ll see comments ranging from the inane to the scholarly (and lawyer-ish).  People became instant fans of Cuevas, poked fun at the less-than-desirable performance of the prosecution team, some even became instant fans of the pretty defense team spokesperson Karen Jimeno.

Today’s headline at the Inquirer.net  showed that the prosecution team at the Corona Impeachment trial has about 100 witnesses to call up to the stand.  Like, 100 witnesses?  If this was a courtroom movie drama, this will drag on for 3 installments or sequels just to finish the story.  Like, I thought they wanted a speedy resolution.  If the defense calls up its arsenal of technicalities, that trial will surely drag on for months.  By that time, it’s either people would have grown interested or the elderly Senator Enrile would have turned to dust already.

On that same trial and in a real world sense, I am torn 50:50.  One side says that this process is necessary for the country to finally start healing itself.  However, if this trial does drag on, it might prove too much of a COSTLY distraction to the point that nothing will get done in the legislative branch of government — the impeachment trial will be their life.  Maybe, since the noisy majority simply just wants that Chief Justice out of the way, it would have been cheaper just to hire someone to cause an unfortunate accident at the Corona household.

(Obviously, I’ve seen way too many movies.)

***

Speaking of movies…

Also in the news is something you don’t see regularly, a government official patronizing his local pirated DVD shop.  Of course we’ll hear the usual “investigation” to be made to make sense out of what happened.  I trust that this will be swept under the rug and forgotten after a few days.  The government official, who also went by the monicker Rambo a few months ago, is one of those presidentially handpicked people currently in government service.  They are supposed to be the straightest of the straight.  They are positioned as the unquestionable authorities when it comes to ethical behavior.  That is where the trouble starts.  For me, the bottom line is this:  the president’s man was caught buying stolen goods.  What’s the boss going to do?  While photographic evidence is there, the admin is slow to act.  Great, isn’t it?

When the supposed straightest of the straight acts that way, this big question should then be answered:

Is this the best that the straight Filipino can do? Lip service?

Arr, mateys!  Them pirates are doin’ this country a world of good.  Tupperware’s makin’ a killin’ out of ’em government guys.

Personally, I won’t complain that the president indirectly supports piracy by treating this issue lightly.  Pirated DVDs contribute to cheap entertainment.  Cheap entertainment is what keeps this country from going all revolutionary.  I also love cheap entertainment.

In the News: The wicked leaks and incontinence

With the recent Wikileaks…leak about US dispatches referring to the Philippines, a lot of words saw print online and off.  End of the day assessment leads me to just take everything with a grain of salt (for now).  It’s really stupid for the PNoy  government to just fly off the handle because of these “leaks.”  Their releases were too amateurish, even for an amateur like me.   Their reactions trumped the presidential lovelife jokes.  It was like, basta makahirit lang.

I think PNoy should bring out the thunder and lightning in his meetings with them.  I didn’t vote for the guy.  I don’t believe in him.  However, I also don’t want him to fail as president.  In this wikileaks case, I think his people made him look bad in front of all of us.   That’s a different story altogether.

Just to take a break from that circus.  I read one of the oldest opinion writers in the Philippines the other day.  Whoever thought of the title for his piece could have done better, imho.  While on a mean streak, I found this “funny”:

Incontinence Makes the Headlines

The picture of an old man next to that title.  Sorry, I guess I was too bored and too mean that day.  Picking on the title and not much on the writer. 🙂

Anyway…back to whatever it is that I was doing.

Philippine Senate/House Hearings & the AFP Pabaon Scandal: Some Thoughts from an Ignorant Bystander (on a break from calling for blood)

If you think Survivor is reality TV, wait till you have seen an episode of the Philippine Senate/ Congressional Hearings.  Real-life drama of national proportions.

Angelo Reyes, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),  took his own life this week after attending one of the Philippine Senate’s “hearings in aid of legislation.”  He was supposed to be a witness, but ended up getting grilled instead.  May that man rest in peace, along with the secrets he carried with him to his grave.

Although the revelations from the supposed rat/witness  — Rabusa — can be considered as damning to those generals summoned to the hearings, I think that the public need to stay objective and weigh what is presented to them.  What we have on TV isn’t an ABS-CBN or GMA Telenovela.  There won’t be any love teams or love angles between protagonists.  The chisel-faced contravida is nowhere to be found.  We only have the rotund son-of-convicted-plunderer Jinggoy, the clueless TG and, currently, Santiago’s “fave face” in the senate — Trillanes.

Sorting out this mess need not be ruined by rotten directing.

So far, what do we have as “fact”?

1. There is send-off money for retiring generals.   However,no retired AFP chief — living or dead — has admitted to receiving the moolah.  The retired AFP chiefs we have will certainly distance themselves from the money (Di ba, Biazon?).  With all the noise in the Senate and Congress, if cases are to be filed against some generals, wouldn’t they have covered their tracks by now?  Certainly, there is need to call in the Department of Health.  There’s an amnesia epidemic.

2. Incumbent and past presidents possibly know of this system, as mentioned by some politicians (Di ba, Trillanes and Biazon?).  As far as I know, no president has confirmed the existence of the “pabaon” system.  I don’t think any former president will ever admit to knowing this.  Ask Ramos.  Conduct a seance and speak with Marcos.  We don’t have to go far back in time.  However, GMA’s lips are sealed and tight, like a Lilliputian’s arse.

3. There was no case filed against Angelo Reyes during the hearing.  If they’re going to file something, refer to #1.

4. As for Rabusa, as far as his involvement goes, is he going to do some jail time as well?

5.  What was the original hearing about anyway?  Oh, Garcia and the plea bargaining agreement.  Where is that hearing heading?

6.  As far as hearings in aid of legislation are concerned, is there a freakin’ database on bills/ laws/ regulations passed since the House started conducting these hearings?  Imho, if someone collected all the wasted spit on all these hearings, I think that would’be been enough to stave off the effects of last year’s El Nino drought.

If you still wonder why nothing seems to get done in legislation, that means you hardly watch TV.  Good for you.  With government acting on “WHAT’S HOT” rather than “WHAT IS REALLY NEEDED,”  I say GOOD LUCK to all of us.  Really, where are we on the following issues:

• Gov’t transparency – With the numerous scandals that “ENTERTAINED” the public through the years, should not our bright boys and girls in legislation have come up with something to curb corruption by now?  Maybe they need to be audited down to the last centavo.  Maybe they need to be subjected to an embarrassing time and motion study.  My thought:  Productive use of saliva, PLEASE.  Those are my taxes paying for your salary, honorable sirs and ladies.  WTF?  Maybe there should be SENATOR/ CONGRESSMAN of the MONTH.
  • Related to the point above, isn’t it time for them honorable men to review their rules when it comes to congressional/ senate hearings?
• Jobs generation – too bad there isn’t an opening for legislative saliva collector.
• Food security – Last time I checked, the Philippines’ population isn’t decreasing.  How’s the food supply coming along?

I guess what I am trying to say is simply this:  If the government’s job is to entertain people, then the people should vote for more actors.  However, if you want results and then the government tries to entertain you, that is a totally different thing.  Oh, well, I guess being a politician is really a PROMISING career choice.

Related Articles

• Trillanes not responsible for Reyes’ death, not sorry for feud – Inquirer.net (news.google.com)
• Retired General’s Death Follows Philippine Graft Probe (online.wsj.com)
• Philippines Uses General’s Death to Tout Reform (nytimes.com)

Sick and Bored? Read and Review the News

After a long trip last week, I got sidelined because of a gastrointestinal infection over the weekend; I am drained, almost literally.

Anyway, enough with the forced imagery of toilet hugging.  I am feeling better today but yet to recover my strength to carry on a full working day.  I’ve already checked and replied to some work emails but I still can’t get my head straight for some real business-cohesive thought processing.  Not really enough motivation for relaxation but, heck, what else can I do?  And pardon the toilet references…for good reason.

I ended up reading the news sites and internet forum sites earlier.  I’ve read stories on the president’s hot dog treat, his inverted RP-flag story; nothing new.  I chanced upon a news article mentioning a man who just got a 14,400-year sentence for rape (serves him right, if he can serve that long) which I also found as a discussion thread on a popular internet forum.  While browsing that thread, through a link posted there, I found a shocking but oddly written news story about a recent gang-rape incident .  The incident involved three men in an AUV picking up a woman along Quezon Avenue.  While I don’t normally criticize news in text form, I just found how this piece of news was written WEIRD.  I’ll post an excerpt and see if you think there’s something wrong with it:

Inside the car, she said the suspects ordered her to take her clothes off. She said one of the suspects forced his penis into her mouth while another suspect manipulated her most private part.

The woman said that after molesting her inside the car, the suspects blindfolded her and brought her to a house.

Inside one of the house’s rooms, she said the 2 car passengers and its driver, repeatedly molested her again. She said one of the suspects even forced his penis into her behind.

She said that the ordeal lasted for at least 2 hours.

Afterwards, she was again blindfolded by the suspects and released somewhere in Quezon City.

Don't watch too much of this

Didn’t that just sound way too detailed for a news report?  I don’t know how rules of taste applies to journalism (in light of recent events here, I really don’t know).  Frankly, the report described the despicable act like a botched-up Bang Bus episode.  I mean, if the report said “forced the victim to perform oral sex” or “forced the victim to have anal sex,”  would that have sounded less explicit than “forced the penis into her mouth”  and “forced his penis into her behind”?

The article did mention some form of resolution and justice in the end.  One of the suspects, whose name sounds like a Bang Bus porn actor, was traced through the license plate of the vehicle.  Good on the cops.  At least there’s one suspect down and the noose is tightening on the other two suspects.

Today the cops only need to after a thin and bald guy and a guy with “longback” hair and Visayan accent.  Good luck with that.