Rest In Peace

Rest in Peace, Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il, who would have thought that after all that nuclear hype, you would just die from a heart attack while inspecting a train?

Rest In Peace, Sendong Victims

Al Gore did say at his Inconvenient Truth talk that water levels will continue to rise and that there will be more and more incidents of floods in places that normally do no flood.

2011 has given us our fair share of these occurrences. The Philippines is no stranger to typhoon and floods. It happens all the time, it happens every year. Yet, every time it happens, every time hundreds of people die, you just wonder why these lives are so cheap?

In some cases, the main cause of so many deaths is the fact that people just refused to evacuate. Of course in every disaster, there are other factors to consider such as poor infrastructure, warning systems, disaster preparedness, as well as illegal logging, the number of informal settlers in the area, environmental issues and weather changes.

Still, hearing about all these unidentifiable bodies, so many that they've already ran out of caskets and people are just making their own DIY caskets now. Its overwhelming, the thought that these people were… well, washed away, just like that.

Corona Speaks : In Tagalog

Corona also speaks in Tagalog. And, I was just talking about this whole national language use topic yesterday.

He even used the word “iling”. He even goes the same way as the Tagalog lambasting style of Pnoy.

I don’t know what this mean when opponents of Pnoy (or officials from other factions) start battling with Pnoy in the same way ala Zubiri’s resignation speak and, in this case, Corona’s rebuttal. Does this mean that Pnoy is doing a good job at communicating to the masses and people want to emanate it or is this a matter of you speak English, I speak English, you speak Tagalog, I speak Tagalog, in the way that we often mimic those that talk to us?

Corona does not sound like a “conio”. However, it does sound somewhat unnatural.

I only saw a clip of his rebuttal but these are some of the things I’ve heard:

“Diktadura na nagmula sa pag lilinlang at paglason ng isip ng ating kababayan”

“Ako daw ay midnight appointment. Dapat daw hindi ko tinangap ang paghirang sakin - bakit po ba? Bakit po ba? Para si ginoong Aquino and makapaglagay ng kanyang Chief Justice na hawak niya sa leeg? Mapapailing ka talaga.”

“Mabagal na takbo ng ekonomiya, kawalan ng trabaho, pagtaas ng presyo ng langis, kahirapan at kagutuman… mukhang hindi niya naiintindihan…”

“(Ako ay) tumututol sa pag alipusta, sa paduduro at pananakot… tutol sa diktadura ni Pangulo Benigno Simeon Aquino… “

Wow… what fiery words. But I can’t help but want to respond to the subjects that he mentioned. I am currently writing a paper that required me to look into some local and global. macroeconomic factors and forecasts, so let me just say these things…

First, with regards to the comment on slow economic growth: If you look into the status of the Philippine economy, it has registered its best performance in three decades with a 7.3% GDP growth for 2010 and while for 2011-2012 growth was lower than expected, current growth forecasts remain modest at of 4-5% as forecasted by most international institutions like ADB, World Bank and Credit Suisse.

Second, with regards to unemployment and the increase in oil prices: Anyone who has cable TV or who tunes in to the local news, knows that this is a global phenomenon. Greek people are now sleeping on the streets and going to soup kitchens. Majority of the occupy people are probably unemployed. World food and oil prices are expected to increase. There are other factors to consider - the Arab Spring, all the other global occurrences (Japan Tsunami, Occupy Movement, etc) and the US/European financial crisis. Should the Philippines be completely insulated from all of it? If gas prices increase, does this mean the president doesn’t understand why they are increasing?

The risk of further inflation is currently being managed, it is now somewhat stable at the average of 4.8% (Jan-Sept 2011) after some preemptive policy rate hikes and raised bank reserve requirements. Despite everything, global economic growth is still forecast to slowly grow, which gave OPEC the right to "slightly" increase oil prices as well. This is the story.

Third, with regards to his (Corona's) appointment: Well, yes, he was a midnight appointee. And, logically if he didn’t take the position, Aquino would have appointed a chief justice that would be more cooperative to his administration, which isn’t a bad thing, as don’t we all want to get things done, get things moving along, and not spend too much time on getting rid of former appointees that hinder the government from achieving other objectives, like say the RH bill or the divorce bill or other things that would move the country forward?

Lastly, with regards to “dictatorship”: It is truly hilarious when people such as Mike and Iggy Arroyo start using words like this, calling what was done to them as something out of the Martial Law era or calling the current president a dictator. It’s funny. It’s not even just ironic. It should be on a level that is way past the irony.

People call Pnoy other things, like inefficient, lame, duh, or a mama’s boy but if we suddenly classify him as a brute dictator, what do we call the people who have gone before him? What do we call GMA’s term that was marred by questionable legitimacy (gaining power via Edsa 2, where she was technically a unelected president and dubiously winning over FPJ in the succeeding election), midnight appointments (even her manicurist and gardener got appointments) and exercises of government regulation loopholes abuse? Again, let's get some perspective here.

Dictatorship, you say, and, again, I ask: Are we gaslighting?

This diatribe is not even about Pnoy. This is about all these impudent characters. Why should they be allowed to win?

Pnoy vs. Corona

The TV was on the entire day, yesterday, while I was surfing the net, updating our social networking pages, burning Christmas PR CDs and working on my paper. So, my concentration was clearly impaired, I thought it was just about another impeachment filing and as history would have it, it seems ever since Clinton was put forth for an impeachment trial, the Philippines (with all its history of colonial mentality) has been impeaching everyone ever since. Given that there was some buzz that GMA was just being impeached then (with the intention for the move to fail) so that she could not be impeached again all throughout the year (so very diabolical). But, still, no one has been successfully impeached…until now, that is.

In a blink of an eye, Corona was indeed impeached. Exciting times, you say? Only, I didn’t even notice it until the news replay was on in the wee hours of the night (or early morning, I think that was). So, hey, he was impeached after all.

I have no particular feelings for him. When he was appointed just before GMA stepped down, I did felt that was shady. I am no lawyer. I have no affinity for the Supreme Court or have any empathy for its (former) head. So, I guess, that’s that. Let the PR wars begin.

Speaking of our president, what I’ve wanted to say for a long while now: I really like it that he uses Tagalog in his speeches. Even better, he does not use street Tagalog but utilizes a more formal tone, even when he is lambasting people.

I bet you that most of our officials cannot maintain a conversation on this level of the national language. It truly is a pet peeve of mine when government officials are interviewed on air or when they make speeches and they try to use Tagalog but eventually inserts more and more English words, like they couldn’t think in or (apparently) cannot communicate decently in the country’s national language.

This annoys me because (Dude) you’re a public official.

With this, the resignation speech of Zubiri comes to mind. I remembered he tried very hard to communicate in Tagalog but it was obvious that his command was lacking. It just sounded very “conio”.

So, ok, kudos to you Pnoy on your Tagalog speeches, although today, I must say, there were a lot of pauses, mispronunciations and some repeats. It wasn't "conio" sounding, just seemed like you didn't practice the speech. But, hey, I can still accept that, for now, just don't start dating.

Occupy Alaska: When Stupid meets the Ice

Nobel or Stupid? Despite negative temperatures, you set up tents, put up (more often than not) nonsensical signs, and just sit in. Resist to leave. Continue to protest.

You do have to wonder about this state that voted Sarah Palin in as a governor, a gun toting former pageant girl. Hmm?

I don't know about you, but logically, everyone avoids frostbite if they can.

I don't know about you, but for me, they thing that these occupy movements obviously have in common are these ridiculous signs and slogans that the people come up with. See top right corner: "you cannot evict an idea". Lower left corner: the tent that has writings on it talks of a congress amendment that once again doesn't make much sense.

Immortals: Not so immortal

Great digital cinematography wasted on such a flimsy storyline. I still prefer this one over Avatar though, another film that pairs impressive digital effects with a weak plotline simply because I would choose Grecian abs over a cheesy environmental alien love story any day.

While I do think Henry Cavill was hot (have thought this since his Tudor days) and Frieda Pinto the appropriate kind of alluring in this movie, this does not make up for the glaring fact that the movie was a sequence of senseless acts put together just to bridge those fighting scenes.

So many many holes and a lot of questions come to mind:

First off, what again was the intention of Mickey Rourke’s character? So, at first he wanted to get the bow. So, he raids monasteries and other holy places to find this bow or to possibly find the oracle, a.k.a. the virgin Frieda Pinto who gets premonitions that she may be able to tell him where this bow is. Why does he want this bow again? Is he just pillaging town after town to get rich, to conquer lands, or to get women? What’s the point, really?

Suddenly though, alas, the bow appears! Theseus cracks a rock formation and (tada!) it’s there. Seriously, if I blinked for a second there, I would really be wondering where the (hell) that bow came from. It’s just there lying around his hometown’s crypt, how convenient.

Then, the protagonist (Theseus) uses this bow to save his friends, shoots 4 invisible/lighting arrows from a distance and kills 4 bad dudes, impressive, but then, in the next scene, a rabid dog steals the bow. Oh-kay. Then hands it over to Mickey Rourke (King Hyperion) and then this bow never touches Theseus’ hands again. His buddy Stephen Dorff (friend peasant) does get to touch it afterwards (once King Hyperion drops it), he attempts to shoot arrows at those black figures (which I assume are the titans) and he doesn’t even hit any of them, instead he drops it after the first bow, and was devoured instantly (by said figures). What a lame weapon!

Speaking of the Titans, why does Mickey Rourke want to release them, again? I assume, they are not the type to just give thanks and pay allegiance to whomever it was that sets them free. If King Hyperion conquers the world, let’s say, these titans would still wreck havoc, right?

And, what is up with these Immortals showing up like the Justice League (in formation and in costume)?

And more importantly, are they not suppose to be immortals? Why did they die? Is that not the opposite of immortality – i.e. the title of the whole movie?!

Those gods don’t deserve their solo spot in the promo posters. They appear in a few scenes and just drop dead after all that hype.



And, why did Zeus take just Athena’s body up to the heavens when he left? What about his other children?

And, this Zeus character here, not very clever or god-like at all. If he could just pull those gold strings and make the mountain crash (effectively burying the black figures), why didn’t he just do that in the first place, instead of letting his children do all that manual hand to hand combat, which you would think they would do successfully (as they are suppose to be gods) but they didn’t, and they just died.

I know the film is looking to segue to a sequel, as these days it seems that just happens, but I don’t particularly get why the dead Theseus becomes immortal.

Also, I know I wasn’t listening too intently when we took up Greek mythology in high school but somehow I don’t remember things happening like they did in this movie. I am all for historical fiction (The other Boleyn Girl – the book, not the movie) or creatively using some historical facts (The Da Vinci code – the book, again) but I am definitely against loosely using characters (historical, mythical, biblical, book/comic characters, or otherwise) and creating a totally different persona or narrative for them. Do they really have to use the same name, put them in a similar setting, but make such extreme story adjustments?! It’s not ingenious or (even) cute, it’s just confusing.

So, I looked it up, browsed the internet as I was mildly bothered (and honestly befuddled) and figured, maybe, there was some Greek Mythology basis for some of the things that happened in the movie. But no, the film was really inaccurate (if we can use this term, as I don’t think they were even the least bit concerned about this, the way they turned everything upside down).

So, apparently, Phaedra wasn’t really even an oracle. She was a daughter of a king and she actually got married to Theseus (so it wasn’t just a vision-cancelling one night stand). Theseus wasn’t actually a bastard, his mother wasn’t raped (and she wasn’t a peasant either), and apparently she slept with her husband and Poseidon as well, to produce her son, Theseus. So, Theseus is suppose to be Poseidon’s son. Hyperion is the name of a Titan, not a king. I found no King Hyperion of Crete anywhere on the Greek mythology. And, these are just some of the totally off center things that I’ve discovered as I was browsing. Seriously, why make this kind of weird faux adaptation?

Lastly, just wanted to comment: what’s up with all the glitter and sequins?!

I've noticed a lot of glittered and sequins costume and prop items in the film. The bow had sparkly black glitter/sequence on it. There were random characters with sequenced head gears. I would have posted more pictures, only I couldn't find much pictures of the extras.

I like sparkles as the next girly girl (with an inner diva) but I just find it disturbingly odd. Come on, just look at this supposedly barbaric king, wearing this sparkly gold mask!?! It shines. It glitters. I don't know if he's meant to look scary (with his shark hat) or somewhat like a show gay.

This movie: Great form, laughable substance.

Occupy Mendiola: SERIOUSLY!?!

Not my picture, just my comments

For a while there I was proud. I thought this occupy movement will never reach our shores. And so, I was wrong. Perhaps, our nation’s colonial mentality is truly heavier than our understanding of our reality.

I remember my friend telling her sister who lives in New York when she showed her a video of an occupy rally near her apartment, “Ano ba, taga Pilipinas ka, and you call this a rally?”. The video was of a sparse group of people walking around a sidewalk claiming to “occupy”.

And it was true that rally pales in comparison to our rallies here: to Edsa 1 that started it all, even to Edsa 2 that turned out to give the nation false hope, and it definitely pales in comparison even to a crowd of stampeding fanatics into a Willie Revillame show. The rally captured in that video was indeed lame.

So, it this slogan trying to be cool or what?!

So, this Occupy Movement, I have previously discussed why I have no respect for it. But ok, let’s discuss it even further in the Philippine context. I've, previously, said that these occupiers from first world countries don’t know what it’s like to live poorly, not in the same way that people in third world countries know how. I've implied that we (Filipinos) would never rally that way because we had other things to stress about such as what we are going to eat the next day.

So I will say it again – these activists and rally people in Mendiola, can they say that they are part of the lowest 1%? Or even the lowest 20% of this country?!

The fact that they are educated, as most of them are said to be students, and the fact that they even know what the Occupy Movement is, know what it stands for and know this whole brouhaha about the 1% vs. the 99%, they are surely not part of lowest of the low of society, who probably have other concerns for the day.

In the past, there were kings and queens, there were aristocracies and gentries, there were caste systems, there were colonizers, there were feudal lords, there were priests and holy people who acted like lords, there were sultans, there were datus, there were tribal leaders… There was a societal hierarchy… It was the way of the world.

In the modern world, people were/are left to believe in democracy and meritocracy. With this worldview, people can choose their profession, who to marry, who to vote for… Women can chose to be educated, women can chose who to marry, women can vote and women can fight for equal rights…

With this worldview of offering freedom and freewill, people are left to survive amongst themselves. Some will win, some will lose, yes. This is to be expected. This is the way of the world these days. It is probably assumed that when you work for something (legally or illegally), you will reap what you sow (provide you come across some luck as well).

I am not saying that it is great that the rich people are getting richer or great that the poor are getting poorer. I am merely saying that if I owned a corporation, my aim would be to develop it. Wouldn’t that be logical? People do not open up businesses for it to fail. People do not start up enterprises to make them charity wards for everyone who is down in the dumps and are angry at the world.

That is not business, that would be dole outs and hand outs. Businessmen and women aim to get richer, it's their job. Corporations aim to make more profits, it's why they exist in the first place.

this cartoon that I saw the other day: My thoughts exactly!

I ask again. So, you are angry. So, the 1% are rich and you are not. And so, what is it that you want oh-crowd-of-anarchists-trashing-mendiola?

Do you all want to be magically rich? It does not take a genius to tell you that cannot happen.

Should we all turn Marxist, socialists or communists? Even if we do, government officials would likely still experience a more luxurious lifestyle that the general mass. So, will you guys still rally on then?

Is it equality that you want?

Do you just want to be rich? Or do you want the rich to be as poor as you are?

If you were suddenly rich and others were not, would you still rally on like this?

Late Reaction on these Political Machinations

So is GMA really sick? Initially, no one really believed it. Afterwards, people were like, ok, maybe, she’s a little bit sick. But the way these lawyers, Horn and Topacio, and all her people fought tooth and nail just to tell the public she should be allowed to leave the country for a checkup in Singapore or Spain, it’s as if her life depended on it.

Complications, diarrhea, depression and whatever else, just kept piling up. She needed to stay in the hospital they said.

Suddenly, when the doctors were being called to testify as to what the status of her health really is… Suddenly, she’s well. Could it be that no doctor would be willing to falsely testify for her at the risk of losing his/her medical license? (It is like when Atty. Topacio said that he advised the so called pro-GMA rallyist, to stay calm and not to rally. Clever - as there probably really are no GMA rallyist)

Speaking of her lawyers:


Hats off to Horn, she’s using her womanhood to her advantage. She cries. She emotes. She comes up with all these logical responses to everything that’s thrown at GMA and at her. If only GMA still had an ounce of credibility with the people, if only people gave a damn if she was sick or not… then Horn’s highly impressive skills would have made it work.

But that’s the thing, Horn’s really good at what she’s doing and yet she fails. This is the state of how much the people do not sympathize with GMA’s plight.

And, for Topacio – he is a clown. The first egg remark was a novelty, the succeeding ones were just trying. So, he continues to make random accusations and statements on air.

But as a friend of mine said the other day: “ang mga magnanakaw at manloloko, ang modus nila ay ang manindak muna”. She says that they will raise their voice or say some statement to shock you, then you’d forget about about your real thoughts for a while. This entire circus is a little bit, running along the same lines as, that strategy: Gaslighting.