"For the one who led me from darkness . . . "


my light 

All I Want is You
by U2

You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want your story to remain untold.
All the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you.

You say you'll give me a highway with no-one on it
Treasure, just to look upon it
All the riches in the night.

You say you'll give me eyes in the moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbour in the tempest.
All the promises we make, from the cradle to the grave
When all I need is you.

You say you want your love to work out right
To last with me through the night.

You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold.
All the promises we break, from the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you.

"Hello Garci . . ."


GMA "Liar and Cheat" 

All over the metro, protests are mounting as Mrs. Arroyo kept her silence regarding the alleged wiretapped conversation between her and Comelec commissioner Virgilo Garcilliano to rig the 2004 elections.

It seems that Mrs. Arroyo is trapped in a damn if you, damn if you don't situation. If she admits that she was the person in the tapes then her presidency is a farce since it was begat by fraudulent means. If she denies that she was in the taped conversation, the masses won't believe her and most probably will mount more protests against her.

What to do, what to do? . . . .

Oust Gloria now! 

"Stalemate"

Malacanang may have been given a breather over the long weekend since the Samuel Ong affair has not generated the kind of people power response that followed the decision of the Senate not to open the second envelope during the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada.

No throngs flocked to San Carlos Seminary where Ong sought refuge nor was there strong support from opposition figurehead Susan Roces whose husband was the direct victim of the alleged election fraud. At best, Roces was lukewarm to the whole affair and for that many Filipinos were grateful. Roces has in her power to appeal to the masses and inflame them to another popular uprising. At least one figure chose to remain level headed thru this sordid affair.

But as many well know, we are just in the opening moves of a very elaborate chess game with the future of the Republic of the Philippines as the stake.

At present the political situation is at a stalemate, with both sides waiting for the next big move.

Many expected Mrs. Arroyo to make a stand on the wiretapping issue during Independence Day but instead, she called for an end to "dirty politics".

Mrs. Arroyo should realize that the more that she evades the issue, the more she fans suspicions that it was she indeed in the tapes presented by Ong.

Already, two independent foreign voice analyzing companies have confirmed not only the authenticity of the tape, in that the conversations have not been edited or altered in any way, but also that the voices have been identified as belonging to Mrs. Arroyo and COMELEC commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Garcillano’s continued disappearance adds to speculations that Malacañang does not want the conversation confirmed because that would further pin down Arroyo. Attempts to arrest Ong bolster his claim that Malacañang wants to silence him because he has more explosive evidence incriminating Arroyo.

Mrs. Arroyo has to handle the volatile issue very carefully lest it blows up in her face and she incurs the wrath of the people. As it is, the Philippines is quite near the boiling point.

The scandal over the so-called "Mother of all tapes" will continue to hound her unless she comes forward and honestly answers it. She owes it to the people who voted her into office, first and foremost, to explain about it.

At the end of the day, the political battle between the opposition and the administration would likely result with one side winning, and another side living to fight another day.

If Malacanang plays their cards right, Mrs. Arroyo might survive this latest assault to her presidency but the confidence of the people and perhaps the world community would be seriously compromised.

The losses in the local currency and the stock market would be difficult to recover and the confidence of the international investment community would again be nearly impossible to regain.

A strong republic is what Mrs. Arroyo wanted, but a stong republic requires an equally strong leader which sadly she is proving to be wanting.

Huli ka na!


"Buking" 


Buking ka na Gloria kaya baba na.

A caricature of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo depicts her alleged wiretapped phone call to COMELEC commissioner Virgilio Garcillano implicating them in election fraud last May. Opposition members, militant groups and the clergy staged a prayer rally on Saturday at Liwasang Bonifacio to signinify a "national day of mourning" due to massive corruption in the government and the alleged vote padding that happened last elections.

Tsk, tsk, seems GMA is hanging by her very fingernails in this latest controversy.

One saving grace she has right now is that no identifiable figure has emerged which the people can rally behind.

Noli de Castro. . . he does not have the confidence of the people much more the politicians and in any case I don't think anybody would want the country ruled by ABS-CBN.

FPJ . . . he's dead, dipshit.

Susan Roces . . . hmm, nah, don't think she has the force of will to rally the politicians behind her. darling of the people, yes at the moment, untested definitely.

Erap . . . kill me now why don't you.

Senate President Franklin Drilon . . . only logical choice as of the moment, but he must concede the position by calling a snap election as soon as possible lest he incur the wrath of the people.

So there "Gloria-gate" is just entering its first phase and definitely more will break in the following weeks.

Interesting, these times are . . .

"Jueteng"-gate

Self-confessed jueteng operators Wilfredo “Boy Bicol” Mayor, Richard “RJ” Garcia, and Demosthenes “Abe” Riva dropped a veritable time bomb when they testified in a joint hearing by two Senate committees looking into the illegal numbers game.

They implicated legislators, top police officials, Manila and provincial based journalists and some members of President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo’s family.

High on the list was her son Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, whom they called the “Lion King”. Also mentioned were First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and his brother Representative Iggy “Jose Pidal” Arroyo. They said that jueteng operators need the “attorney from Malacañang’s” blessing.

As expected, the personalities named by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz’s witness strongly denied the accusations. So, what else is new?

Of course they will deny ever dipping their hands in illegal gambling, but the word is out and here in the Philippines rumors and scandals do spread very fast.

The witnesses admitted that they did not see the big fishes themselves receive the money. They said it was their bagmen that they dealt with. Legally speaking,
their statements are pure hearsay...for now.

And seemingly to get the people’s mind off the jueteng controversy, a new bombshell has been released by Malacañang.

Malacañang says that it has intercepted an alleged tape of a telephone conversation or series of conversations between President Arroyo and her husband, on one end, and an election operative named Gary on the other. The conversations are said to
broadly hint at the massaging of the election returns from areas where Fernando Poe Jr. gave Gloria a drubbing.

Malacañang said the tape was faked and even provided copies to the media. It added the spliced tape signals the shift to high gear of the opposition campaign to
drive President Arroyo out of office. Strangely, opposition leaders said they had never heard about the tape until Malacañang itself announced its existence.

President Arroyo’s administration is indeed in very rocky grounds as evidenced by the recent opinion poll on which she received a -33% rating, the lowest a president has received since 1986. And we all know what happened during that year.

The people will always believe the worst about President Arroyo. And it’s not that the accusations of cheating are something new or the fact that her immediate family has been implicated in juicy scandals before.

It is ironic that jueteng toppled the Erap administration and put President Arroyo into power and now it seems that jueteng has come back in a big way to haunt her.

The Philippines and perhaps the world community now wait with bated breath the next sordid tale of our President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo’s telenovela.

What’s so bad about “jueteng” anyway?

“Jueteng” for the uninformed is a grassroots numbers game being played almost all over the Philippines. The bank pays out 80 centavos for every peso that is bet. Pagcor's roulette, which is also stacked against the player with its zero and double zero, offers better odds, but only a tad better.

“Jueteng” gained infamy when it toppled the Estrada administration. “Jueteng” payola is once again in the limelight, dragging with it the names of members of the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s family.

Some say that it is a boon for the Filipino poor while others say that it is a social evil, the root of corruption in the Philippines.

For the poor a peso can buy dreams of winning Php800 which can go a long way to supplement a family’s meager income. Critics, however, condemn “jueteng” as nothing but a criminal racket that victimizes the poor, co-opts police, bribes officials, perverts elections and threatens or kills those who oppose it.

Plunking a peso or two certainly won't rend the moral fabric of a bettor, after all for many “jueteng” is just a diversion, a means to easy money. But it is the web of corruption that the illegal numbers game spawns that is the problem. And we are seeing it now.

The police are corrupted. Local officials are corrupted. Even national officials, if we are to believe Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, are on the take. Come to think of it, even the Catholic church admits to receiving donations from any source, even “jueteng” lords.

The Philippines has been a buzz with the constant rumors that the President’s family are on the take from the illegal gambling racket and that Pres. Arroyo herself received campaign contributions from known big time “jueteng” operators.

From a different viewpoint, it is quite easy for the government to stop “jueteng,” after all the big time operators are well known and one even resides in Arroyo’s hometown in Pampanga. But it is the big and relatively easy money that is earned from illegal gambling that is too hard to resist. “Jueteng” payolas are much larger than a civil servants pitiful salary and all they have to do is turn a blind eye to the illegal gambling racket. So the better approach should be obvious: remove the corrupting aspect of "jueteng" and the problem will solve itself.

There had been many attempts to legalize the numbers game in the past but all ultimately failed, probably due to the fact that the payolas would certainly be cut. But it can be done and legalization can be a means to an end to stem corruption.

Moral pundits say that gambling is a sin. So be it. It remains a sin whether it's legal or illegal. It's the corruption spawned by illegal gambling that worries us. After all Lotto and the sweepstakes are legal and it is a form of gambling, so why not “jueteng?”

Pres. Arroyo's ratings plunges to record low


Lowest ratings ever? Keber! 

Amid allegations of massive goverment corruption, rising prices, high taxes, and ties linking her immediate family to "jueteng," Arroyo's ratings have plunged to a record low.

According to a recent SWS opinion poll, Pres. Arroyo's ratings have plunged to a record low of -33%. The lowest ever since 1986 . . and we all know what happened durng that year.

And take this, GMA wants to hold a constitutional convention by next year in order to put into motion the change to a parliamentary government. Afraid, this one is . . .

Yup, keep it up GMA. Interesting times are surely ahead.

You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of. And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!

What kind of blogger are you?

teehee . . . Snarky!

WAGE HIKE?!?


A P25.00 (US$0.50) wage hike? Get real Pres. Arroyo! 

I don't know who Pres. Arroyo is kidding, but a P25 wage hike is just insulting. I mean what would P25 buy at present prices. It's barely enough for transport fare for most workers.

No wonder the cream of our talents are contemplating on migrating or at least working in another country.

Sigh . . . . .

WOL-PUWIT!


Kiss our collective butts, World Bank! 

Dumb, dumber, dumbest is the best way to describe US Pres. George Bush's decisions.

Take for instance the recent appointment of Dr. Paul Wolfowitz as the president of the world's most influential financial institution, the World Bank.

For those not in the know, Wolfwowitz was one of the primary planners for the US led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wolfowitz also served as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and was crucial to the escape of Pres. Marcos during the 1986.

As it stands, Wolfowitz is very close to the family of Bushy-bushbush.

I mean, the guy is primarily a military planner and not a financial person. Giving the reigns of the World Bank would only give Bush a means to wage another kind of warfare on those he deems are against him. Financialy breaking a nation is deemed more disastrous then physically destroying it.

Gives whole new meaning to Papa Bush's "If you are not with me, then you are against me."

Sheesh . .

Your Birthdate: October 31

Your birthday suggests that you are a good organizer and manager, an energetic and dependable worker; attributes often showing success in the business world. Serious and sincere, you have the patience and determination necessary to accomplish a great deal. Your approach can be original, but often rigid and stubborn. Sensitivity may be present, but feeling are likely to be repressed. You are good with detail and insist on accuracy, but at times scatter energies. You're a practical thinker, but not without imagination. You love travel and don't like to live alone. You should probably marry early, for responsibility is necessary for your stability.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

FISHERMAN'S RALLY


A protestor tries to fight his way past the police blockade at Mendiola 


Policeman grabs a protestors neck as he tries to stop them from marching into Malacanang Palace 


Another day, another rally.

Once again some hot-heads tried to force their way into the Malacanang Palace Grounds and once again they were foiled by riot police at Mendiola.

But somehow they managed to trick the police into thinking that the main group was in the vicinity of Morayta and they managed to outrun the blockade before finally being stopped near CEU, that is after a lot of pushing and manhandling.

Must remember not to stay in the middle of the mob lest I be mistaken for one of the protestors or worse the police. . . . Oh well, another lesson learned.

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . . . .


The force is strong in this one . . 

Fans spurned the first two installations of George Lucas' Star Wars prequels but the final part of the intergalactic saga would make the fans drool for more.

Although the same wooden dialogue and dry acting still permeates much of the movie, the lightsaber battles and the overall dark feel of the movie more than makes up for it.

Spoilers aside, although we do have a general idea of how Anakin became Darth Vader, the real story lies on the path that led to the ominous black mask and the harsh decisions he had to do.

Its a classic case of doing all the wrong moves to do greater good or how blind a person can become when he believes he is on the righteous path.

Ultimately we do have a little of Anakin in us and in someway, somehow we would be facing the same dilemnas that he faced.

If you are looking for great acting, look elsewhere. If you are looking for great battle scenes and intense sword fights, bingo! Good storyline . . . definitely.

The Heat is ON


To catch a fountain . .  

It' so friggin hot in the Metro!

As in so scrochingly hot.

Sometimes I do envy all you peeps working in your air-conditioned rooms, sitting on your chair, facing your computer terminal, and waiting for the fiver to arrive.

For us others, there is daily sunbathing and occasional steam baths from the ever elusive rain. Then you come home to a virutal oven of a room.

Touch the walls and they are hot. Turn on your fan and a hot steamy stream of air would assault you. A cool shower might stave off the encroaching heat, but unfortunately water pressure is depressingly low. A personal air-conditioner is a luxury often dreamt of, but so frustratingly unattainable.

The answer to the heat? Hit the malls and join the masses enjoying free air-conditioning.

Sometimes I wonder if it is a good idea to set up a mini-dorm in the malls. Like rent a good enough space and put in some double-bunk beds for economy class and perhaps partitioned off spaces for single or twin sized beds for people who would prefer more privacy. Charge by the hour and wait for the money to roll in.

Crude but effective I guess. I mean I would certainly go for it just to escape from this frigging heat.

Just my one cent. . . .

rally 

Hazardous Life

Recently, we were covering a rally near the Malate Church when things started to get ugly.

Nobody really knows how it started but apparently somebody agitated the riot police holding the protesters back and they started to retaliate with their sticks and shields.

As usual, I had to be in the middle of it to capture the best image possible. Somewhen during the fracas a Carmelite priest got hit by a cop and was soon squealing for his mommy right beside me with a bloody head to boot.

Me? I got hit in the back with the edge of a police shield and a close encounter of the precious jewels kind from a bamboo stick wielded by one of the protesters.

Fun, fun, fun.

Evil as it might seem, I just can't stop laughing about the whole incident. One moment the priest was all fire and brimstone and the next a helpless, squealing baby with blood streaming from a nasty cut in the head.

May the Blessed Kitty Watch Over Thee

I believe in dreams, I believe in miracles, I believe that toy ballons could touch the moon.

Lo and behold, from the land of Sanrio comes forth the messiah of kyutishness, Blessed Hello Kitty.

Bless us Hello Kitty, guide us to the path of cute and cuddly. Swatch our dreams, empty our pockets, show me the money.

From the heavens above came Little Twin Stars, from the pond of dreams came Kerokeroppi, I dont know what to do whenever you are near, I think of you every second of the day, You give me hope, the strength, the will to carry on.

Kitty oh Kitty save us from ourselves.

GOODBYE JP2

Karol Wojtyla, the Polish priest who became Pope John Paul II and led the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, was an extraordinary man. His death Saturday at age 84 is a loss that, like his impact, will be felt far beyond his 1.1-billion member flock.

Pope John Paul II traveled the world more than any pontiff in history and spoke in person to more people than any individual in history. He toured extensively in the developing world, drawing enormous crowds of the faithful and demonstrating a spiritual power that made some political leaders nervous.

Filipinos will always have a special place for the much loved Pope.In his first visit to the Philippines in 1981, JP2 planted the seeds of a nation free from oppression which ultimately led to the “People Power” revolution which toppled the Marcos regime.

With shouts of “Viva il Papa“, Filipinos and youths around the world once again welcomed him in 1995 for the World Youth Day.

It was also under his term that the first Filipino saint, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, had been canonized.

Known as the “Great Communicator,” the pontiff was fluent in English, French, German, Polish and Spanish. But ultimately, he was fluent in people.

He has preached the Gospel with clarity and extraordinary insight. He has guided the Church wisely and touched the hearts of millions outside the fold. He has faced up to any and all expressions of racism and totalitarianism. He has fought for peace and justice with equal vigor. He has been a missionary traveling the world as no one ever before him, and this he has continued even in the face of extraordinary physical infirmities.

Pope John Paul II made "the worth of the human person" his grand project. Not only did John Paul plead for the lives of the unborn, but also for human rights and social justice for those outside the womb. He deplored the Iraq war, saying that "violence and weapons can never resolve the problems of man."

He was a religious leader who labored tirelessly to be so much more -- peacemaker, bridge builder, healer, even conscience to the world.

Pope John Paul II is by any measure one of the most celebrated and inspiring leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has championed the law of God when others have lost hope and given in to the demands of a fickle world.

His, indeed, was a dignified and full life. Through example, in extraordinary travels, in a pontificate defined by courage, leadership and forgiveness, the Pope has reached to the hearts of his flock. Even for nonbelievers, his certainty in his faith could never be doubted, his place in history forever fixed.

Bad as I Wanna Be


Ok, so I borrowed the line from Dennis Rodman, so sue me! Dont you get it? There is a certain mystique surrounding mischief, rebellion, going against the tide, and that sort of stuff.

For many a life carbon copied from a multitude of others is fine, dah?! Boring. But who am I to preach, right?

Individuality as we know it is slowly becoming an endangered attribute. I can't blame them, can I.

To be secure is one of the tenets of life, one so religiously pursued by many. What are we searching for, what are we striving for? Is it not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Oops, too imperialistic, lets try it again shall we. A stable high paying job, a domicile worth calling home, good healthy food to sustain us, clothing to impress others with, an understanding & patient wife/husband/lover/whatever, well rounded kids, and finally self-esteem to feed our ego. In the end we delude ourself thinking, hey I got it all. For some perhaps, for all I fervently hope so.

How many times have we faced a fork in our life? Decisions wherein there is no turning back and might as well dictate the rest of our life. You could do this and be that or maintain the status quo. Take the plunge, I say.

Failure is not an option, or is it? Life aint easy. Failure is an option. You have to be wrong to know what is right, diba?

Many times we fail, but what matters is how we bounce back. How we recompose ourself and face the jeers of others, is it not what failure teaches us?

Strength, perseverance, passion are what counts the most.

Be that as it may, we are what we mold ourselves to be. Enough crap about how we are the products of our society. Dont delude yourself thinking we had no choice.

Forks, dear people, forks in our life. Always, every minute, every breath we take. A multitude of paths are available. Some dark, some light, but always there.

There was once a person I knew who said I can change the world. Where is that person now?

Me? I'll be as bad as I wanna be. Got a problem with that bub?

Playing with your minds. . . . . .

He who must not be named