November 2011
38 posts
And you call yourself the justice secretary
I can’t believe Raul Pangalanan actually agreed with this.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima rightly says: “To have [our legal system] depend on faith and on the goodwill of the defendant/respondent is to make our criminal justice system the laughingstock of the entire world.”
It makes me wonder. Shouldn’t our legal system depend on the competence of its administrators, and not on...
Nostalgic
A conversation I had today reminded me of the heady days of Filipino Voices. So, I re-posted everything I ever posted over there; from the last one to the very first.
Now Ding’s dead, from the looks of it, FV is moribund, and I miss J from the Nutbox.
The last time J spoke to me, it was to tell me that he was disappointed about my comments on Venus Raj not being pretty. What a lousy thing...
At the Y
Thanks.
[February 3, 2009]
Dear Primer
As the intrepid DJB said, welcome to FV. And I must say, your comments have been like a jolt of coffee this fine morning.
Rom started a sub-column on a main one, if I may say, and then Ted and the rest registered their comments in Rom’s precious digital space.
Alright, uncle. Yours was the MAIN column, and mine just a sub-column. It wasn’t a reaction to your post, but a subordinate one – ...
Addicted to Crisis
Primer C. Pagunuran – some guy from UP – wrote in ‘An Anti-Climactic Presidency‘ that:
Nothing alters the fact that as soon as votes have been counted, the Americans have spoken – catapulting to power – one Democrat Barack Obama as the 44th US president. And few more days before Obama should assume office come January 20, 2009, a looming question on whether or not he is a natural born...
Purists
I had no idea there were so many purists among bloggers.
In a way, it’s pretty heartening. Especially Marocharim’s insistence that it’s all about the writing. I suppose some of us started that way. But as time wears on, I’m pretty sure that the number of people who continue writing for writing’s sake must dwindle. There will of course, be a privileged few will find that they can still afford...
What's Wrong With a GMA Term Extension?
What’s wrong with a term extension for GMA? Well, nothing – if you’re being totally objective about it. The problem is that, we may have passed the point where objectivity about GMA is still possible. And once you’ve crossed that line, you have to decide whether it is more important to have a technically competent president (which, itself, is a debatable statement) or a president with enough...
Eid Mubarak
The headman of the village stood with his head bowed in the middle of the road, an island of stillness as his village erupted in chaos. The marines were coming and everyone knew that they would bring retribution with them.
Children sat crying in the dirt while their mothers and sisters ran around frantically stuffing clothes and instant noodles into plastic bags. Here and there, arguments...
Yo, Jester!
Yo, Jester! Whatever gave you the idea that I was a peacenik? LOL!
My weapon of choice, mister.
Or in case he’s unavailable …
LOL!
[September 12, 2008]
Guess What KL Stands For
Malaysia’s top anti-government blogger arrested under law allowing detention without trial
By SEAN YOONG | Associated Press Writer
3:26 AM CDT, September 12, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ Police arrested Malaysia’s top anti-government blogger Friday under a law allowing indefinite detention without trial in a move likely to face public reproach.
I felt sad that I had no shoes,...
The Night Before Ramadan
They told us that we were in jihad; that the government of the kafir had sworn on the Holy Book that our ancestors’ lands would be returned to us, but that they were now going back on their promise. And we believed them. Our Caliph had torn his shirt in anger as he was telling us of the betrayal, and we felt in our hearts the same kind of anger. What animals were these, we thought, who would...
After The Love-fest, Answers
Ces is back! She’s safe! Whee!
Now, after the love-fest, answers.
Who kidnapped her?
Can she identify them from mugshots and such?
Did she know where she was held?
What can she remember about the place where she was held? Any geographic landmarks?
How many people held her?
How were they armed? How were they provisioned? Who was feeding her captors?
Did they have a political agenda?
Why...
There You Go
With the deadline come and gone, the kidnappers are now said to be contemplating scaling down their demand. From cash to livelihood projects. That’s good, of course. It just calls into question how much we needed the ‘ticking clock’ drama.
Every line of text devoted to these jokers gives them incentive to up the ante; every drama sequence increases pressure on people to cave to their demands;...
Cinematic
It’s funny how after initially not wanting to talk about it, media now can’t stop hyping up the abduction of Ces Drilon. Here in Voices, most especially, Ding Gagelonia’s constant updates are nothing short of cinematic. Reading through his posts, one can feel a palpable build-up of tension and fear – bordering on hysteria even – worthy of M. Night Shyamalan or even Cloverfield.
It is now...
It's What Today?
When the taxi driver greeted me with a ‘hapi independens day, mam!’ I had a brief moment of ‘it’s what today?’
When i recovered my wits, I was mortified.
This, i think, is the reason why the independence day holiday should never be moved to the nearest monday or whatever. With all the things you need to do just to survive, the higher things – like remembering to commemorate Independence –...
Schola Brevis and Butthead
The number of private school students admitted into the system has increased steadily versus the number of those coming from the public education system. For the past five or six years now, the gap has only widened. Currently, it is almost 75% to 25%. Eligibility for admission is determined solely on a ranking of the test scores, and so far the private schools have had the wider share.
...
Too Much
I have great respect for the people who write on this collective, and so it was with some trepidation that I set out to write this post. But still, freedom of expression and all that…
In Worst Case Scenario, Benj wrote:
With Bloggers’ Kapihan’s bold plan to launch blogs authored by Jun Lozada (yeah, remember him?!) and Ed Panlilio, the blogging community could be headed to a position that...
Frontier Justice
Nothing against the cops who shot and killed some of the suspects in the RCBC killings, but that sort of frontier justice doesn’t satisfy. Worse, what if the cops were wrong? What if those weren’t the guys who did it? If not, then the real assholes are still out there, laughing their heads off at getting away scot-free.
If only the cops had not been so fucking trigger-happy, they could have...
Gunless
In the aftermath of the murders in Laguna, the gun-less society folks have started coming out of the woodwork. But honestly, what good will it do?
This morning, a guy named Nandy(?) Pacheco was ranting and raving on radio (hey! awesome alliteration!) about how his group – something called the “Gunless Society” – has been advocating a total gun ban. When he explained a little further, it...
What Justice?
Roberto Panganiban Castro. Ferdinand Bernard Antonio. Benjamin Manalo Nicdao Jr. Bernardo Lapaan Jr. Noel Olaes Miranda. Juan Marza Layva. Aguilando Baltazar. Olga Gonzalez. Teresita Umayao. Isagani Pastor.
You’ll probably forget those names not five minutes after you’ve read them. But that isn’t what they deserve. These were people killed by people who wanted money that wasn’t theirs and...
The Other Gods
Today, I wrote something about the Vatican astronomer’s recent statement regarding extra-terrestrials and how their existence – if ever they’re out there – does not contradict the idea of God. Serendipitously, I also re-discovered Atheista. That particular combination of events – finding an affirmation of the idea of Deity, and a blog whose central theme is the denial of it – started me...
Job Stories
I love my job, I admit it. I’m a happy worker. It’s part-time so I don’t make much, but it’s enough to keep my grad school fund slowly growing. I don’t have a car of my own and I’m not above bumming a ride from friends now and again. My boss isn’t a pain in the neck nor is she my best friend so, we’re colleagues and that’s exactly how I want it to be. I have a good friend in the office, but...
Well, if you must...
Marocharim (fierce name, btw. Love it.) wrote:
I could, if I wanted to, just get the hell out of this computer shop, go to Timezone in TriNoma, and play Tekken 6. I could, if I wanted to, SMS my friends right now for an afternoon at Gateway and forget about the Philippines.
And if you did go to play video games and hang out at Gateway, would that make the Philippines sink any deeper into the...
Must We?
On April 17, Cocoy wrote ‘Because we can.’ The following day, the Jester-in-Exile wrote ‘Because we must.’ Now, without meaning to be contrary, I ask: Must we?
On the one hand, Cocoy says stop wasting time with protests and such. Just prepare for the elections. But isn’t that where all this hatred really started to boil over? Remember the 2004 elections? Despite Solita Monsod giving the 2007...
Why Pardon Them?
I’m not even going to go into their apologies and how scripted it all seems. That’s beside the point. As I see it, what matters is the nature of their offense. Or more precisely, the motivation behind the offense. Think Valjean.
Those Magdalo boys took action because they felt that they had no other recourse. They were frustrated with government, with their leadership, and with the perceived...
9-6
This is a featured post from Rom’s blog, “Smoke”. A reaction to the decision made a few weeks ago by the Supreme Court of The Philippines in which they ruled in favor of Romulo Neri.
The Court ruled:
Using the above elements, we are convinced that, indeed, the communications elicited by the three (3) questions are covered by the presidential communications privilege. First, the...
“Oh, shit she’s a gold digger, just thought you should know nigger.”
– Cee-lo
Kim Kardashian's almost apology
This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write. I see all of the support and I am so thankful for my fans, friends and family who are helping me through this difficult time.
I am trying not to read all the different media reports but it’s hard not to see all the negative ones. First and foremost, I married for love. I can’t believe I even have to defend this. I would not have spent so...
disqus now works. yay.
thegreatest:
Cracks me up each time
Well, it does drive down the rate of teen pregnancies.
Eleanor
Someday, hopefully soon, I will tell Ellie all about the woman I named her after: Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was many things: Queen of England AND France, independent woman who fought for her right to divorce an abusive husband, a one-time political prisoner, warrior (she personally led her duchy’s armed contingent in the Second Crusade), patron of literature (including of Chretien de...
An afternoon spent in a bookstore is, in equal measure, a pleasure and the most tender torture.
So Charice actually said this?
“Para sa mga kapatid ng daddy ko, wala kayong karapatang sabihin o hulaan ang nararamdaman ko. Sino kayo para sabihing masaya ako sa pagkawala ng SARILI KONG AMA? Kapatid lang kayo at ako ay ANAK. Kung natatandaan nyo, KAYO MISMO ANG NAGSABI SA AMIN NA IWASAN ANG DADDY KO. Sinabi nyo pa na wag gamitin ang apelyido nya. Hindi pinagbawal ni mommy na dalawin...
October 2011
11 posts
I suppose it is asking too much to be asking for some attention from you. #sarcasm
I don’t get. Really, I don’t. One minute you’re all sighs and soft eyes and the next, it’s like I don’t even exist.
I’m not going through this again.
SO I woke up this morning next to a zombie. #halloweenpartyaftermath
It’s ok to call me sexy. Just don’t say it like you want to have sex with me right where I’m standing at the moment that you say it. That’s just creepy.
deantastic asked: How ya been?
Before we hand Kenneth Cobonpue the keys to the...
We should all thank Ken Cobonpue and his partners (sorry, can’t seem to remember who those are, but them) for the nice concept for the reboot of NAIA. But, as we fall all over each other to heap praise on them - and out of the other corner of our mouth, snidely ask the government to make its move - consider the following:
1. The proposal only talks about redesigning what is now the...
January 2010
2 posts
Comelec General Instructions →