goodbye blue monday

Morong43

2010-02-17T09:00:00.001-08:00

Morong43, originally uploaded by ronvil.

This is a small contribution to the campaign to free the 43 health workers illegally detained by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

These photos of some of the 43 were taken when they were finally brought to court by the AFP, after they snubbed the Court during the first hearing for their Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus.

The protest outside was intense, especially when the buses where the 43 were being transported back to Camp Capinpin drove out of the CA grounds after the hearing. It was one of the longest and loudest Noise Barrage that I participated in, an effort to tell the 43:

“We are with you!”

“Do not give up. Do not lose hope. Continue the Struggle!”

The pictures of the 43 as they were led inside the CA inspired me to do this poster. We can only imagine what they have gone through when they were arrested, but here they are, fists raised in defiance of the state and its machinery that has persecuted them.

And so, i present you this poster, a small tribute for them, and for every other health worker who provides health services to the poor, the needy, and everyone that has been forgotten by the government. Who fights and struggles for the day when everyone can enjoy health care, regardless of class and the size of their bank accounts.

Taoist Temple

2009-12-16T08:18:00.001-08:00

Taoist Temple, originally uploaded by ronvil.

This is one of the structures that can be found inside the Taoist temple in Cebu. The temple's location was great, as it sits on top of a hill, providing visitors with a magnificent of cebu's skyline, providing me with a setting of my first panorama photo.

Bisita sa loob

2008-10-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

"Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
-Eugene Victor Debs

Natural lang sigurong kabahan kapag first time na pumunta sa isang kulungan. Mga imaheng katulad ng sa pelikulang "Anak ni Baby Ama" ang pumapasok sa isip ko habang naglalakad kami papuntang City Jail. Lahat kami, unang beses na papasok sa loob.

Ang cellphone, mp3 player at iba pang elektronikong gamit ay kailangang iwan sa labas. Ang polisiyang ito ay ginamit ng ilang tindahan sa paligid para magpabayad ng P10 para iwanan ang cellphone. Bawal magsuot ng yellow at orange. Baka hindi na palabasin. Kailangan magpakita ng ID. Bubutbutin ang bawat bulsa ng bag. Hindi ito tulad ng "security inspection" sa MRT.

"Sino bibisitahin ninyo?" tanong ng isang preso.

"Kay Ka Randy Echannis po." sagot namin.

Pag-unawa ang nakita namin sa preso. "Yung NPA?"

"Hindi po. Napagbibintangan lang."

Siya na rin ang naghatid sa amin. Nanghingi ng barya bilang kapalit. Kilala na si Randy Echannis sa kulungan kahit tatlong buwan pa lamang siya matapos ilipat sa City Jail ng Lungsod ng Manila pagkatapos ng anim na buwang pagkakaditena sa kulungan ng Leyte kung saan siya inaresto.

Sa isang kumperensya ng Kilusang Magbubukid ng PIlipinas kung saan siya ay isang opisyal inaresto si Ka Randy. Walang warrant of arrest na ipinakita. Kakaiba irin ang naging pag-aresto sa kanya. Mga lalaking nakasibilyan at naka-ski mask ang bumulabog sa kumperensya ng KMP para siya dakipin.

Agad na nakapagmobilisa ang mga kasapi ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan sa Leyte. Hindi man nagpakilala ang mga humili, tiyak ang marami na elemento ito ng pulisya. Hindi naman sila nagkamali at inilutang si Ka Randy.

Arestado raw siya para sa mga mass graves na nakita sa Leyte. Mga biktima raw ng purging ng NPA ang may-ari ng mga nahukay na buto. Subalit, natawa na lamang si Ka Randy nang ikuwento niya sa amin na tulad nina Satur Ocampo at Jose Maria Sison na akusado rin, siya ay nakakulong noong panahong naganap ang purgingI na ibinibintang sa kanya ng militar.

Kinuwento niya sa amin ang isang araw para sa isang bilanggo. Champorado o kaya nama'y Lugaw ang agahan na puro sabaw. Tinola sa hapunan na puro sabaw. "Nireretoke" na lamang daw ng mga bilanggo ang ulam. Itinatapon ang sabaw at muling iniluluto upang makain.

"Baka at baboy ang pagkain dito. Baka 'di mo makain dahil pagkaing baboy."

Buti na lamang, aniya, madalas ang bisita sa kanya ng mga kasamahan mula sa KMP at First Quarter Storm Movement na nagdadala ng pagkain.

Dinala din niya kami sa kanyang kubol. Isang kwarto sa loob ng dormitoryo na kanyang tinutulugan. Bukod sa matres, laman ng kanyang kubol ang ilang libro, dyaryo, at larawan ng kanyang mga anak at pamilya.

Nakilala rin namin dito si Loi, isang kasapi ng Migrante na napaghinalaang nagnakaw ng mga rehas mula sa isang sementeryo sa Maynila. Nakakagulat na para sa isang napakaliit na kaso, lagpas tatlong taon na siya sa kulungan. Wala pa ring disisyon ang korte sa kaso niya.

Kung sakaling lumabas ang desisyon, tiyak, lagpas na sa magiging hatol ang pananatili niya sa kulungan. Buto na lamang daw at nakilala niya si Ka Randy na tumulong sa kanya para maghanap ng abugado.

Sa pakikipag-usap ko kay Loi at Ka Randy, naalala ko na ang kulungan nga naman pala ay bahagi ng pamamaraan ng estado upang mapanatili ang kapangyarihan sa naghaharing uri.

Kalakhan nga naman ng bilanggo ay nagmula sa masang anakpawis. Urban Poor na naitutulak ng umiiral na sistema upang gumawa ng krimen dahil sa kawalan ng trabaho. Ang ilan, anila, mas gusto pang nakakulong. Wala rin naman daw sialng buhay pag nasa labas. Wala rin namang silang makikitang trabaho. Sa kulungan, may pagkain at matutulugan.

Siyempre, ani Ka Randy, marami ring mga lumpen o yaong ispesyal na uri na nabubuhay sa pamamagitan ng anti-sosyal na gawain. Pero ipinaalala niya na madalas, may pang-ekoniya pa rin itong batayan.

Nalaman din namin sa kanila na walang pamamaraan ang kulungan para sa tuluyang rehabilitasyon ng mga bilanggo. Walang livelihood training o anuman na ginagawa ang kulungan para sa mga preso. Kung mayroon sana, may magiging trabaho na sila paglabas, kaso, wala kaya ilang araw pagkalaya, asa presinto na uli.

Napatunayan rin ng aming bisita sa kulungan na hindi totoo ang imahe ng hustisya na mayroong piring na sumisimbolo sa pagkakapantay-pantay ng lahat sa mata ng batas. Kinuwento nila ang anak ng isang opisyal na nahulihan ng ilang kilo ng droga. Ilang araw lamang, nakalaya na. Ni hindi daw siya nakulong tulad ng ibang mga preso. Sa opisina lamang daw siya nanatili.

"Pero 'yung iba, tulad nitio ni Loi. Nakakulong na ng matagal kahit di pa napapatunayang nagkasala. Hindi nakakagulat na may mga nagbibigti dito," kuwento ni Ka Randy.

Ang kadalasang ginagawa na lamang niya ay magsulat at magbasa habang hinihintay ang disisyon ng korte. Tapos na kasi ang mga pagdinig sa kanyang kaso.

"Paborable man o hindi, basta may desisyon," ani Ka Randy.

Maya-maya, may dumating na mga intsik na umupo sa mesang katabi ng sa amin.

Nagtaas kamao si Ka Randy at may sinabi sa intsik.

Ngumiti at nagtaas rin ng kamao ang mga intsik na may kasong may kinalaman sa iligal na droga.

"Yun lang kasi ang alam kong sabihin na intsik," ani Ka Randy. Nagsalita na rin siya agad bago pa kami makapagtanong. "Long live Chairman Mao."

Ani Ka Randy, ang gusto ng estado sa pagkakakulong sa kanya ay niyutralisahin siya at ang mga tulad niyang lider sa pagkilos at patayin ang kanyang moral.

Subalit, sa ilang oras ng aming pagbisita, halatang binibigo ni Ka Randy ang estado.

"Lumalapit sa akin ang mga bilanggo at nakikipagtalakayan sa akin ng mga usaping pampulitika. Alam naman nila ang mga nangyayari sa labas dahil halos lahat sila, nanonood ng balita. Minsan nga may nagmumura kapag nakikita si Gloria," kuwento ni ka Randy.

Aniya, kailangan lang, itaas ang linya ng mga pagsusuri ng mga bilanggo na kanya namang ginagawa sa pakikipagtalakayan sa kanila.

Kung gayon, bagamat limitado, nakakapag-organisa pa rin si Ka Randy. Makikita rin sa kanyang mga mata na nananatili sa kanya ang determinasyong ipagpatuloy ang pakikibakang siya ay bahagi.

Matapos naman niyang kumustahin ang LFS at ang kilusang kabataan, kami ay nagpaalam na. Nag-iwan kami ng pangako na kami ay babalik upang siya ay muling kumustahi habang bitbit naman sa paglabas ang kanyang mga aral na ibinahagi sa amin at ang mas matinding determinasyon na ipanawagan ang pagpapalaya niya at ng lahat ng detenidong politikal at isulong ang pakikibaka hanggang sa ikatatagumpay nito.

My first vdeo

2008-07-25T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first video that I ever made. It took me over two hours to do as i was learning the software while making the video.

I'm quite proud of it and is already planning more projects in the future.

The music came from teachers belonging to CONTEND-UP.

The lyrics:

Pangarap ko, sa palasyo ‘ka’y lumayo.
Ang tangi kong hiling ay ang paglayas mo
dahil ang wangis mo’y nakangising demonyo.
Kaban nitong bayan, lagi mong kinakamkam, di ba?

Matagal nang lipas ang iyong araw!
Pamumuno mo’y di maaasahan!
Bayan ko’y lugmok na sa ulan,
bayan ko’y lugmok na sa ulan!

Boses ng masa’y babaunin,
tagumpay ay mapapasaamin!
Di mo na kami maiisahan,
di mo na kami maiisahan!

Di na, di na, hnde, h’nde h’nde,
hindi na maiisahan! (3x)

Di na, di na, h’nde, h’nde, h’nde, h’nde

Sweldong katiting, bigas pa lang ay bitin;
presyo ng langis, pamasahe ko ang buwis.
Pilipinong hinihilo mo’y kabisado na ang kilos mo.
Maliwanag na’ng lahat, di kami pabibitag, di na!

Matagal nang lipas ang iyong araw!
Pamumuno mo’y di maaasahan!
Bayan ko’y lugmok na sa ulan,
bayan ko’y lugmok na sa ulan!

Boses ng masa’y babaunin,
tagumpay ay mapapasaamin!
Di mo na kami maiisahan,
di mo na kami maiisahan!

Di na, di na, hnde, h’nde h’nde,
hindi na maiisahan! (3x)

Di na, di na, h’nde, h’nde, h’nde, h’nde.

Firefox 3

2008-06-14T22:41:00.001-07:00

Heads-up!

After three years in the lab, Firefox 3 is now scheduled to be released to the wild. This Tuesday will be Download Day 2008 for Firefox 3 which is claimed by its developers to be the fastest and safest web browser today.

Mozilla shall also attempt a Guinness World Record on that day for the most software downloads in 24 hours. As of writing this post, there is 1,247,219 download pledges on that day.

For an in-depth look at what Firefox 3 has to offer, visit the Field Guide to Firefox 3 , and of course, pledge your support to download on Tuesday here

i'm back

2008-06-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

shet. it's been months since i posted a new entry at goodbye blue monday. dunno the reason why i stopped writing for this blog and i do not plan to come up with an excuse nor to ask for an apology.

anyways, what happened for the whole summer break?

1. i have officially graduated from the University of the Philippines (still waiting for the graduation gifts to come though *wink*) and is now a proud full time activist for the League of Filipino Students despite the pleadings of my parents to get a "regular" job. My only regret during the ceremonies was that I wasn't the one who spoke in our lightning rally for the ceremonies...

2. an anecdote

as we were going to Baguio for an activity by Youth Act Now, the bus we were riding stopped at the front of the College of Business Administration at the UP. Some of us needed to go to the restroom so we went to the CBA.

us: Puwede po bang mag-CR?

guard: Bawal. (Points to the "No ID, No Entry Sign" by the door.) 'Dun na lang kayo sa Vinzons. Puwede dun.

Because it was raining, we had to insist.

me: estudyante po ako. (takes out my wallet, shows my ID to the guard, praying to God that she'd hurry as mother nature's calls were getting louder)

guard: (after a few seconds of hesitation) hindi puwede. (points to my shoes) madumi sapatos mo. hindi puwede.

WTF!

3. another anecdote

a friend of mine asked me what last agitated me. my reply was meeting the family of Rei Mon "Ambo" Guran, the second victim of extrajudicial killings from the LFS. (more about the meeting on a later post.)

4. another major regret during the summer break was being unable to attend the wake of the late, great, Crispin, "Ka Bel" Beltran, whose convictions has touched the lives of so many and whose unwavering determination in advancing the people's interests is worth emulating.

Speeches

2008-02-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

First article for Battle Briefings, my contribution to our decision to make lfs.ph a weekly internet magazine of sorts. We are still working on the technical, aesthetic and other details of the webstie remodelling so I'm going to post this entry here for a while. For want of something to post. Hehe.
---

This week, it was speeches that made headlines, the first, from an embattled house speaker, hours before he was ousted by Malacanang’s cohorts in Congress, and second, from the star witness in the continuing soap opera in the Senate, the ZTE-National Broadband Network hearings.

In a well-applauded speech that was supposed to last only ten minutes but dragged on for over an hour, (now former) Speaker Jose de Venecia raved about her past relations with Mrs. Arroyo and then “burned his bridge” to Malacanang. Speech here

Hours before the speech and the voting that put an end to JDV’s five terms as house speaker, the Palace in a press conference has already been calling him “the former speaker,” a reminder that lower house, after all, with a large majority belonging to the administration coalition is a mere stamp-pad of the Arroyos.

But the JDV's outbursts and his ouster was years in the making, with a widening rift between the Pangasinan Congressman and Arroyo, the gap between both factions being heavily widened after JDV’’s son and namesake testified in the Senate hearings on ZTE, naming former COMELEC Commissioner Benjamin Abalos and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo as brokers in the controversial project. “Back off,” continues to ring in our ears.

However, it must be noted that JDV did not tell us anything new. All he said were things that we already know. The only difference is the fact that this time, it is not an activist speaking but a long-time friend and (former) hard-ally of Arroyo. We already know that the Arroyo family has been running the government like a family business in a syndicate and mafia-like manner.
In fact, JDV’s speech was soft. He only gave us whiff of the foul-smelling Malacanang odor that he can open with what he knows about the dealings of Arroyo. Apparently, JDV has not yet given up full hope, and his speech was a vain attempt to blackmail Malacanang into not letting him go to the pits.

However, Arroyo, her sons, and their accomplices have other plans, knowing that there are other traditional politicians in Congress, hungry for power (and cash) that is willing to take JDV’s place as Malacanang’s speaker in Congress (pun intended).

And this is the major point in the JDV affair of the week. Of course, we know that JDV’’s speech and eventual ouster is an attestation to contradictions within the ruling class, even within the ruling faction of that class, to which progressives must grab as an opportunity to further isolate the narrowest target (the Arroyo family). But more than that, the ouster was another maneuvering of Arroyo to tighten her grip in Congress.

Arroyo knows that the ongoing ZTE hearings especially with a new star witness may provide another opportunity for an impeachment complaint which may fare better than its predecessors. She cannot have a rogue house speaker at a time like this.

Which brings us to the second speech that made this week’s headlines and removed JDV from the limelight was that of the ZTE star witness himself, Jun Lozada, who resurfaced after being incomunicado for some time at 2:00 am in La Salle, Greenhills.

Teary-eyed and between sobs, the long-time friend of fellow ZTE witness Romulo Neri recounted how the PNP forced him to sign an affidavit that would negate an earlier affidavit that began with the words “If you are reading this, I am probably dead.”

Apparently, the reports of how Lozada made an affidavit to safeguard himself from an assassination plot or threat to life is true. The very fact that he remains alive and that the PNP had to force him to sign the second affidavit would reveal how sensitive the contents of Affidavit A is.

In his speech, Lozada also linked Abalos and Mike Arroyo to the scandal, corroborating the earlier testimonies of ZTE scandal whistle blower Joey de Venecia III.

“
Hindi lang tumutukoy sa isang pamilya. Ang salitang Pilipino ay tumutukoy sa
isang bansa, isang bansang Pilipino.Sometimes it is worth taking a risk....
(sobs)... for this country. Maraming salamat po
”

This may very well be the quote of the week, for it sums up the frustration of all Filipinos to the Arroyo family syndicate.

Hopefully, CHEd Commissioner Romulo Neri and JDV would follow Lozada’s example and spill the beans on Malacanang and expose how rotten the rule of Arroyo is. And they better do it soon, because for all we know, Malacanang will be pulling another dirty trick from its sleeve.

Speaking of speeches, they may also like to learn a thing or two form US Presidential aspirant Obama, in his Martin Luther King-like speech, “Yes, we can,” turned into a song by Black Eyed Peas’ will.I.am and now being broadcasted in Youtube, and giving us the LSS.

Lahat ng lalake, baba.

2008-02-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

Had a first hand experience with Arroyo's creeping Martial Law the other night, and it has become a personal reminder of the chilling and unnerving state that the country is in (other than my friend Karen Empeno's along with fellow UP student Sherlyn Cadapan's continued enforced disappearance).

I was with Vencer and Ian of LFS-UP, riding the flashy patok, enjoying emo-rock music blasting from the speakers at ear splitting volume and holding on for dear life as the jeep zoomed along Aurora Boulevard at a speed that would make Sonic the Hedgehog run for his money. We were on our way home to QC, after attending an education summit hijacked by us and turned into a discussion of the recession being experienced by the US and its effects on our neocolonial country (more on that on other posts here or in the LFS website), and an LFS all-leader's meeting at PUP.

All of a sudden, the jeep stopped. The flashing red and blue lights of a police patrol car parked on the side of the road was enough to tell us that something was up.

"Baka magtutulak tayo," said Ian, when suddenly, we heard a stern voice call out to us passengers from the jeep's window.

"Lahat ng lalake, baba."

Upon hearing those words, the "Is this it?" question immediately sprung to mind.

Of course, who were we to argue against around five police officers, one of whom I remember was carrying an M16 rifle?

As we went down the jeep, the same voice who called us to go out gave his second command. "Buksan mga bag. 'Yung mga walang bag, taas ang t-shirt. Bilisan 'nyo na para 'di na tayo maabala."

Shit. My bag was filled with LFS publications and a red LFS flag. I was with Vencer, whose shirt was screaming "Imperyalismo, ibagsak," and who is still hot in the eye's of Manila's Finest (Bastards) after two days of his making fools out of them in consecutive rallies at the Western Police District Headquarters.

Again the question, "Is this it?" Heartbeat racing to newer heights. Chest tightening.

After a split second of flashing a light at the insides of our bags, we were herded back on the jeep without so much as an explanation of why the search, even a token "Thank you for your cooperation and we are sorry for the inconvenience."

No. This is not a case of another paranoid activist, thinking that he is the next target of enforced disappearance. What this is is political harassment. An attempt to remind our country's citizens that "big brother is watching."

Then again, has not mass paranoia has become the norm of today? A reaction to an even more paranoid state and government, afraid that the people are becoming aware of how they are being fooled and hence have been resulting to fascist means at the mere sight of a red banner, or readily accusing anyone of being a "terrorist" or a "destabilizer" for the simple reason that one calls for national industrialization or genuine reform, which so happens to be the same program of the CPP-NPA-NDF, regardless of the fact that the individual whose back is behind a gun barrel is a simple student, critical, and the only thing he holds is a placard, not a rifle.

This same mass paranoia, along with mass hysteria brought about by bombings (perpetrated by no less than the military) etc. is actually being used by the government to further enact fascist policies being masqueraded as security and counter terrorist measures (national ID system and ROTC restoration now at front row, center in the long line of such policies).

That there was no sincere efforts from the police to do a thorough search proves that the entire purpose of the exercise was to harass individuals, reminiscent of checkpoints set up by the Philippine Constabulary during Martial Law. I would even go as far as say that it is another one of the government's "testing waters".

Does the people know that it is their right to refuse such a search, where there was no search warrant? And even if they did, would they demand that their rights be respected, with an M16 carrying policeman eyeing everyone. Even we were dumbfounded, our tongues caught in mid-air. These men (if that is what they believe themselves to be) who were searching our bags after all are wearing the blue uniform that has been stained by the blood of hundreds of dead activists, journalists and civilians, trigger happy who kill young children when they are drunk, who turn their weapons into noisemakers during New Year celebrations, who, a few days ago, beat the crap out of students (me included) and teachers whose only crime was to have the guts to speak out against another government farce.

Hell, if they have nothing better to do with the time that the people are paying them, they should have instead went to Gilmore, where a CRV crashed into a truck that was carrying two container vans which was then blocking both lanes of Aurora Blvd., and causing traffic. The truck was visible from where the search occurred.

kwentong rally No. 1

2008-02-02T00:26:00.000-08:00

lintik lang ang walang ganti.

Dalawang araw na akong pagod, puyat, at halos hindi makalakad o makagalaw dahil sa sakit ng tuhod, binti at balakang, tulad na rin ng iba pang kabataang aktibistang aming nakasama sa dalawang-araw ng pagkilos bilang tugon sa Education Summit 'kuno ni GMA.

Hindi simple ang gumising ng ala-sais ng umaga (lalo kung ang sanay kang ang gumigising sa iyo ay ang ingay sa labas ng bahay 'nyo dahil magtatanghali na). Pinakamahirap na bahagi ng umagang rally-day ang pagpapasyang bumangon. Isang internal na istragel ito tuwing umaga (sa isang bahagi ay ang malambot na kama, ang katamaran ng isang peti-burgis habang ang pagkilala sa responsibilidad, tungkulin at pagnanais na mag-ayos ng sarili sa kabila). Pero dahil internal ang mapagpasya, kailangan pang magsulat, mag-email at magparepro ng Press Release, malayo at traffic ang biyahe, sa kabilang bahagi ng Maynila ang venue, at inaasahan na magiging ma-aksyon ang araw, nananaig ang ikalawa. (Buti naman.)

Nabanggit ko na dito na sa biyahe pa lang, kaba na ang mararamdaman mo. Lalo 'pag bumaba ka na ng bus at nagsimulang maglakad mula Taft tungong Kalabaw (statwa ng Kalabaw pagtawid ng Roxas Blvd. mula sa monumento ni Rizal sa Luneta. Buti na lang, nakasalubong ko si Anna ng kabataan at may kasama akong maglakad (kontra-aning, kontra-boredom).

Siyempre, dahil sa ilang karanasan ko sa rally sa Roxas Blvd. (kabilang na ang US Emba mob), at dahil inaasahan ang pagdalo ni GMA sa Summit, tiyak na ang dahas. Pordat, habang naglalakad, alisin na ang relo, at iba pang laman ng bulsa.

Extra tips:
1. 'Wag magsusuot ng skinny jeans at iba pang pantalon na mahihirapan kang gumalaw. Sa babae, bawal naman ang skirt at mga damit na kinulang sa tela kung ayaw mong mawalan ng dangal nang tuluyan.

2. 'Wag magsusuot ng sapatos na madaling maalis, masyadong masikip o maluwang. Baka umuwi ka ng nakapaa.

3. Magdala ng maraming tubig, alkohol, iba pang first-aid kit. (Hindi required, pero maraming magpapasalamat sa iyo kung sakali).

4. 'Wag kakalimutan ang prop materials.

5. Maging handa.

Minsan, nanakungkot talagang makita na pagdating mo sa kitaan, ilang piraso lang kayo lalo kung medyo delikado ang rally na pupuntahan ninyo.

"Wawalisin lang tayo nito."

Pero dahil bumubukol na at hindi na kaya pang itago ang mga tibak (na pare-pareha kung manamit kaya obvious talagang tibak) upang maghintay pa ng iba...

Asembol. Sigaw. Takbo!

Pagdating sa Manila Hotel, agad ang salubong ng halos 20 pulis, dala ang shield at truncheon (ang truncheon pala ay ang batuta at hindi ang shield). Walang negosasyon. Tulak na agad. Kinukuha rin ang mga streamers at placards na aming dala para magmuka sa media coverage na kami ay mga pasayaw at manggugulo lamang. Ilang segundo ng body-to-shield at tulakan, may ilang kasamang bumigay na at tumakbo. Siyempre, kahit anong pilit mong sumigaw na "walang tatakbo," may domino effect na magaganap. Lahat na, tatakbo. Salamat na lang sa iba na nakatingin pa rin sa likod, sinisigurong walang naiiwan o nadadakip.
Takbo sa Luneta.

"Freedom park ito. Hindi na nila tayo idedesperse at huhulihin."

Akala namin 'yun.

Nang mapansin ng mga pulis na lumalaki ang bulto at nakakakuha ng media coverage, round two na ng dispersal. Mas marahas. Pumapalo na sila ngayon. Nagtatarget nung mga nakatulak nung una, o kaya nung mga maaangas. Palo lang ng palo. Mumurahin ka pa.

Takbo uli. Pero siyempre, hindi every man for himself. Makinig sa komand.

Pagdating ng Taft, casualty report.

Nahuli: anim.
Nasaktan at nasugatan: 23
Nawawala: isa (baka dinakip na hindi kasama nung anim, baka umuwi, baka nahulog sa manhole) Walang kain, at sa kabila ng mainit na sikat ng araw, rali naman sa WPD. Masaya 'to. Agit ang lahat. Naghahanap ng magagantihan.

Inalog ng mga kasama ang gate. 'E bumukas. Naku, 'di alam ang gagawin. Di naman kasi inaasahang bumukas. Wala namang kumand na pumasok at sugurin ng tuluyan ang headquarters ng WPD.

Rally uli.

Nakipag-usap maga pulis. Kung aalis daw kami, palalayain na sila. Sige. Uwi muna, kami naman sa LFS, kuha ED. Tapos, malalaman mo na lang, hindi pa pala sila nakakalaya maliban sa isa dahil under-age.

Kinaumagahan, rally uli! Una, sa Manila Hotel para sa second day nf summit. (depensibo na ang mga pulis dahil maganda ang covergae ng media sa unang rally). Kahit masakit pa rin ang buong katawan, sige lang. Ahitado pa rin. Tapos, sa WPD uli para idemand ang paglaya nung mga nahuli sa naunang rali.

Matapos ang lagpas 24 oras, lumabas na sila. Ang mga kasama, nabuhayan ng loob. Handa nang umuwi para mag-organisa at maghanda para sa isang panibagong araw ng pakikibag-buno.
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Ang mga balita hinggil sa naganap na rali ay makikita dito, dito, dito, dito, dito, at dito. (Ung iba' parepareho ang laman. 'Yung iba naman, iba ang anggulo).

May grabbed video rin ang arkibong bayan mula sa coverage ng dos. Click dito. Para naman sa coverage ng siyete, punta dito.

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Ito ang unang post sa Kwentong Rally na magiging serye dito sa goodbye blue monday. Hindi lahat ng rally, pare-parehas. Bawat isa ay may katangian na puwedeng ikuwento. Ang ilan, tulad ng mga naganap nitong huling mga araw, tiyak na magiging subject ng kuwentuhan sa Vinzons, sa West 115, at iba ang tambayan ng tibak. Pakitaan ng battle scars, inggitan sa mga hindi nakapunta.

goodbye blue monday goes to Mendiola

2008-01-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

I was only able to reach the historic Mendiola in a rally once last year and so I got excited as soon as I heard that in commemoration of the 38th anniversary of the First Quarter Storm, veterans of the historic days of student activism were planning to go to Mendiola.

It was a nice feeling to finally step again in the historic bridge where the statue of democracy-hero Chino Roces stand, the bridge that bore witness to peasant massacres, people's demonstrations in exercise and defense of their rights and police-state efforts to repress these rights which has led to countless street battles.

So here are a few pics of yesterday's rally, courtesy of arkibongbayan where I had the opportunity to once again hold the mic and speak atop the equally historical tora-tora, the jeep of the KMU, where we were able to sing the 70s version of the Internationale, where we were able to hold banners bearing the names of FQS organizations such as the Student Cultural Association of UP, the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan/span>, and of course, Kabataang Makabayan.

Hidden meaning daw ng "Roneil Villegas"

2008-01-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

Mula sa: dito

What Roneil Villegas Means

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.
You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are very hyper. You never slow down, even when it's killing you.
You're the type of person who can be a workaholic during the day... and still have the energy to party all night.
Your energy is definitely a magnet for those around you. People are addicted to your vibe.

You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life.
You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone.
Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

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Tingin nyo?

komento

2008-01-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ito ay repost ng aking komento sa studentstrike, ang blog ni Vencer, pambansang pangulo ng League of Filipino Students hinggil sa nagaganap na debate sa blogosphere sa pagitan nina Manuel L. Quezon 3rd, (sa post na ito at ito) at ni Tonyo Cruz (sa post na ito at ito).

Sa paggamit ni MLQ3 ng resulta ng nakaraang eleksyon upang masukat ang laki at lakas ng Kaliwa kumpara sa mga dominante at pangunahing partido ng bansa, nakalimutan ata niya ang konsepto ng dagdag-bawas kung saan nabiktima ang mga kaliwang partylist at tumabo ng ganansya ang mga kandidato at partido ni Gng. Arroyo. Lalo pang magiging katawa-tawa ang kanyang pagtutsa na mas malaki pa ang natanggap na boto ni Chavit kesa sa pinagsama-samang boto ng mga partylist na ito kung aalalahanin ang maruruming taktika ng administrasyon upang makakuha ng boto bukod sa dagdag-bawas tulad ng pagbili ng boto, etc. Wala akong naaalalang kaso kung saan ang mga partido mula sa kaliwa ay pinaratangang nandaya o bumili ng boto.

Kung gayon, hindi maikakaila, kahit mismo ni MLQ3 na patuloy na lumalaki ang papel na ginagampanan ng Kaliwa sa mainstream na pulitika. Wasto ang pagsabi ni Cruz na ang bukod sa pagbibigay ng "warm-bodies," makabuluhan ang kanilang papel sa pampublikong diskurso, sa pagbabago ng itsura ng mga debate, at sa pagbibigay ng alternatiba sa kasalukuyang kaayusan. Mahalagang banggitin muli na ito ay kanilang nagagawa sa kabila ng black propaganda at represyon ng administrasyon at militar.

Sa mga komento, binaggit din ni Manolo na "in retrospect, the resign all call was the correct one to make." Hindi ba't ito ay dogmatismo sa pinakapayak na depinisyon ng salita?

Una, sa pagtawag ng "resign all", ihinihiwalay mo ang isyong sarili sa mga grupo na naniiwalang patalsikin ang pangulo ngunit hindi ang lahat. Pangalawa, at lagi't lagi na ngang inuulit sa ilang mga blog ng mga progresibo, ang people power ay hindi tutungo sa matagal nang pangarap na pagbabago pagka't hindi nito binabago ang esensyal (malakolonyal-malapyudal) na katangian ng bansa.

Hindi rin naman isinasawalang-bahala ni Tonyo ang mga tumututol sa extrajudicial-killings. Ang sinasabi lamang niya, ang pagsasawalang-bahala at paglimot sa papel ng Kaliwa sa mga makabuluhang pangyayari sa bansa tulad ng EDSA dos ay tumutulong upang maipagpatuloy ang mga pamamaslang.

Salamat kung inyong kinukundena ang pamamaslang. Subalit hindi rin naman nakakatulong upang matigil ito kung patuloy na ilalagay sa margins ang kaliwa. Kung patuloy silang ikokonsiderang insignificant. Kung patuloy na sasabihin na hindi pa sila tanggap ng mamamayan kahit na ang kasaysayan na ang magpapatotoo sa kabaliktaran nito.

Huli na lamang.

Maaaring totoo ang sinasabi ni Manolo na kulang ang galit na ipinapakita ng mamamayan sa mga pamamaslang sa mga kasapi ng Kaliwa at kung gayon ay hindi pa rin sila tanggap ng publiko.

Subalit, mali na ikonsidera ito bilang ultimate na batayan sa pagtanggap ng mamamayan sa Kaliwa.

Hindi rin maikakalila na malaki ang isinusugal ng mamamayan sa pagsasalita laban sa pamamaslang - ang kanilang sariling buhay. Nagbubunga ng matinding takot ang mamamayan hindi lamang sa ilang kasapi ng Kaliwa kundi sa publiko mismo.

Dagdag pam ano ba ang hinihigi ni MLQ3 upang masabing may simpatya ang mamamayan at sila ay concerned sa mga pamamaslang? Sino ba ang kanyang "naririnig" at "nababasa?"

(Patawad sa mambabasa kung magulo. malayang paglalabas lang kasi ito ng mga naiisip at walang outline o ano pa man.)

Canary in a cat house

2008-01-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

I was with Olga yesterday, browsing the shelves of the bookstore beside the office of the All-UP Workers Union at UP Diliman, looking for nothing in particular, waiting for time to pass by, doing the occasional "Tignan mo 'yun o!(point to a book)," and "Mahal naman nito" when Olga noticed in one of the shelves one of the books by our favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., behind it were other books of his, and we did not do much effort in reading the titles as we thought we have copies of them already.

Or so we thought.

We noticed this one thin book, and yes, the title was Canary in a Cat House in quite good condition apart from a tear in the back cover.

A quick search on the internet confirmed it. This is indeed the Holy Grail of Vonnegut Books. Published by Gold Medal (Firs Print in 1961), it could now fetch as high as $100 online (check out e-bay or amazon.com). Buccaneer Books published an illegal bootleg in 1991, which costs $25.

Canary in a Cat House is a collection of 12 Vonnegut short stories, all of which later appeared in Welcome to the Monkey House, apart from Hal Irwin's Magic Lamp which is included in the collection Bagombo Snuff Box.

Yes. this means that unless you are a collector of Vonnegut, Canary in a Cat House is of little value. But hey! I got my copy for Php100.

Did I enjoy my copy? The thought of having it when I didn't was greater than now that I have it. But that does not mean that I didn't love relishing the thought of having something that other book lovers would like to have.

This is my second time that I found a relatively expensive book dusting away in the shelves of second hand bookstores. My first was last year when I got Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude for Php50 at Recto.

Indeed, one man's garbage is another man's treasure. All it takes is diligence, determination, and the occasional bit of luck.

Will I sell it? I plan to hold to it yet for quite a while. I think the price will go up soon as Vonnegut just passed away last year. Huhu.

Well, that brings my list down to: Bagombo Snuff Box, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, Between Time and Timbuktu, Happy Birthday Wanda June and Sun/Star/Moon.

Help with these would be highly appreciated! Wink wink

Edsa Dos

2008-01-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

When I recieved a text message from a friend of mine calling for everyone and anyone to go to the streets of EDSA and join the crowd calling for the removal of then President Joseph Estrada in what would later be known as People Power II, I immediately turned off the TV, changed clothes and despite the pleas of my mother went out of the house, took a bus and got off in Ortigas.

That was me in EDSA II. Then again, that was were I would have been had I not been stuck in Pangasinan when history was made.

I was in second year High School in Pangasinan then, five hours away from Manila (the North Luzon Expressway was yet to be fixed). So, I was one of those who watched the events unfold from the comforts of my home, eating potato chips and exchanging gossip and news with my mom.

Nonetheless, that does not mean that EDSA Dos was just another event for me.

In the days leading to EDSA II, we found ourselves hungry for news of what was happening in Manila. Suddenly, everyone was reading Newspapers or were willing to sacrifice Cartoon Network and Cable TV for TV Patrol and local media networks.

Those who had cellphones (usually N3310 which just came some months before) were spending load to forward picture messages, SMS with others: mostly Erap jokes and the occassional news which the recipient already knew.

"The second envelope will not be opened!"

"Nene Pimentel just resigned!"

"Hindi marunong sumayaw si Oreta!"

"When are they going to shoot Miriam Santiago in Luneta?"

Like the Promdi that I was, I was enjoying EDSA dos, cheering the crowds while watching the live coverage on TV. In school, some teachers stopped holding classes and so we watched TV from the set in our school's faculty room. I was staying up late to catch news, and send messages to my friends who were studying in Manila.

"How is it in there?"

"Are you in EDSA right now? How is it like to shout at a rally? Will you be joining the march to Malacañang?"

It was a rare, and awesome event for me, seeing millions of Filipinos joining together for a single cause that does not involve waiving white hankerchiefs in the air or anything to that effect. (i was yet to become a member of the LFS to know that the people, in varying degrees and level of commitment has been uniting together for change).

True, EDSA IIs was more of a TV spectacle for me. However, it was probably one of those early events that told me to become an activist. Join rallies. Make history. Don't just watch them from the sidelines and be the spectator.

Seven years after the events of People Power II, we are once again faced with a regime that is unpopular, repressive, corrupt, subservient, (i could go on and on with these adjectives). However, instead of the one at the receiving end of the "join the rally" text message, I am the one mass forwarding it.

The liberals in the Philippine media said that if there is anything that Juan has learned after two People Power uprisings, its that ousting Presidents do not bring about the change that everyone has been hoping for.

I agree. What I don't agree with is when they say that this lesson has brought People Power fatigue, and that they have lost all hope for progress.

What the people has learned is that for a country that is f***ed up (read: foreign dominated, pre-industrial and backward agrarian) like ours, changing presidents will never be enough. Especially since the replacement will come from the same ruling class, the same traditional politician: corrupt, subservient to foreign impositions, bankrupt (No more adjectives, you get the point), albeit from a different faction.

The much-used (and abused) slogan of "Change the system" remains true to this day.

How? I reserve that for another post.

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By the way, if unlike me, you were one of those who did not spent EDSA dos being a couch potato, wear this badge!

Click here and here

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Also, head to Kape Tasyo (Freedom Bar) in Anonas, Quezon City on January 19 at 2:00pm for Bloggers Kapihan 3.0, Remebering EDSA Dos, with, of course, EDSA Dos personalities.

Seer you there!

Namaste!

2007-12-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

At nandito na uli ako sa Pilipinas.

Nitong mga huling araw, nagpunta ako sa Nepal bilang delegado ng LFS sa Asia Pacific Youth Camp on Education and Employment ng Asian Students Association, na hinost ng All Nepal National Free Students Union.

Ito ang unang pagkakataon na lalabas ako sa Pilipinas, malayo sa aking mga kasama sa LFS, kay Olga, at sa mga kasama.

Magkahalong eksaytment at kaba ang aking nararamdaman nang magtake-off ang eroplano sa NAIA, maglanding sa Thailand, magtake-off muli mula Thailand (matapos ang labinlimang oras ng pamamalagi ko sa Bangkok Airport), at maglanding sa bansa kung saan ipinanganak si Buddha at kung saan bumababa ang mga aakyat ng Everest at Himalayas, ang Nepal.

Labinlima ang mga Internasyunal na delegado, Pilipinas, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Pakistan, Hongkong, Malaysia, India (mga Indigenous People ng India, Naga at Zomi). Malaki rin ang nakibahaging participant ng ANNFSU.

Akala ko dati, malamig ang Baguio. Nagbago ang pananaw ko sa kung ano ang malamig pagdating sa Nepal. Umaabot sa baba ng 0 (as in Zero) ang temperatura rito kapag gabi. Ganoon kalamig. Hindi mo na mararamdaman ang iyong mga daliri at manginginig ka pa rin kahit limang patong na ng damit ang suot mo. Mamumulikat ka rin sa lamig.

Buti na lamang, nakakapaso sa anghang ang mga pagkain. Hindi lang minsan na napaluha ako sa anghang.

Sa pagbyahe papuntang International Convention Center ng Nepal kung saan gaganapin ang Opening Program ng Youth Camp, hinabol kami ng tatlong bus na puno ng mga estudyanteng naghihiyawan, kumakaway, ang ilan, mayroon pang iwinawagayway na pulang bandila. Sila ang kasapi ng ANNFSU na nagmobilize upang makiisa sa aming Opening Program. Sabi nga ni Rey ng ASA, magitla na lang ang walang kilusan! :)

Matapos ang Opening Program, nagpunta na kami sa Hotel Mirabel, Dhulikel, labas ng Kathmandu para sa venue ng aming youth camp. Gabi kami dumating, nagyeyelo na sa lamig. Buti na lang, may milktea at heater sa aming kuwarto. Sa dilim, napansin na naming maganda ang venue. "Five star Hotel siguro ito," sa isip namin. Subalit kinaumagahan, nagulat na lamang kami... Hindi pa pala ang hotel mismo ang kailangang ipagyabang, kundi ang view. Mula sa bintana ng kuwarto namin ay ang Himalayas, ang bubong ng mundo!

Matapos ang masarap ngunit maanghang na agahan, simula na ng pormal na sesyon ng Camp. Talakayan sa kalagayan ng Edukasyon at Empleyo sa buong rehiyon ng Asya at Pasipiko.

Komersyalisado. kolonyal. Eletista. Represibo. Batay sa ulat ng mga delegado, ganito ang katangian ng edukasyon sa kanilang bansa. Pamilyar? Malamang pagka't ganito rin naman ang dominanteng sistema ng edukasyon na umiiral dito sa Pilipinas. Sa ilalim ng mga pakana ng imperyalismo at neoliberal na globalisasyon (na pakana rin ng imperyalismo), parami nang parami ang bilang ng mga kabataang hindi nakakapag-aral. Malaki ang problema sa usapin ng akses sa edukasyon sa buong rehiyon.

Problema rin ang kalidad at kurikulum sa mga paaralan. Sa Pakistan halimbawa, na kumakaharap sa sistema ng edukasyong fundamentalista, sinasabi ng kanilang mga guro sa Kasaysayan at Biology nqa "Listen, but don't belive."

Sa Burma naman, kapag pag-uusapan na ang demokrasya, kailangan pang isara ng mga guro ang bintana at pintuan ng kanilang paaralan sa takot na marinig ng mga elemento ng militar at estado.

Pataas nang pataas ang bilang ng mga kakulangan sa klasrum, textbuk, guro at iba pang pasilidad, kasabay ng pababa nang pababang subsidyo na natatanggap ng mga paaralan.

At kung makagradweyt ka naman, hindi pa tapos ang iyong problema pagkat lumalaki rin ang kakulangan ng desenteng empleyo sa mga bansa sa rehiyon. Laganap ang underemployment, kakulangan sa sahod, diskriminasyon, at unfair labor practice.

Dito ko nakita na ang mga isyung kinakaharap ng kabataan at mamamayan sa Pilipinas ay katulad at kaugnay ng mga kinakaharap ng ibang mga neokolonya ng imperyalismo. Kaya, mahalaga nga talagang makipagkaisa sa mga progresibong kilusan sa iba't ibang bansa. Subalit, sabi nga, ang pinakamalaking kontribusyong maibibigay natin sa pandaigdigang kilusan ay ang pagpapanalo ng sarili nating pakikibaka.

Matapos ng mgs workshop, sumama ako sa drafting committe ng camp upang buuin ang deklarasyon ng mga kabataan at estudyante sa Asia Pacific hinggil sa edukasyon at empleyo.

Matapos ang Youth Camp, balik na kami sa Kathmandu upang magshopping sa Thamel, ang tourist district ng Nepal na pinaghalong Divisoria at Malate, kung saan ka makakabili ng mga rare na libro, murang bags, statwa ni Buddha, at Buddhist Singing Bowls. Kailangan lang, marunong kang tumawad. Ang 600 rupees ay maaaring mapababa tungong 200 rupees. Lagpas kalahati. Mas mahusay siyempre kung may kasama kang lokal na puwedeng tumawad para sa iyo.

Bukod sa Thamel nakita ko rin ang kahirapan at kalagayan ng Nepal. Malaki na raw ang kanilang inunlad matapos matagumpay na maibagsak ng mamamayan ang mkonarkiyo noong 2006. Subalit, tiyak na mas malaki pa ang kailangang gawin upang mapaunlad ang kanilang bansa.

Hindi pa rin istable ang kanilang pulitika pagkat hindi pa nagaganap ang eleksyon ng kanilang Parlyamento at nananatiling isang interim government ang namumuno. Mayroon kasing stalemate ang mga pampulitikang partido sa kanilang bansa na natatakot mawalan ng kapangyarihan kapag naganap ang eleksyon.

Bago ako umalis, nagkaroon din ako ng pagkakataong makausap ang ilang kasapi ng ANNISUR, grupo ng mga kabataang Maoista sa Nepal. Isa sila sa pinakamatalas na kabataang nakausap ko sa Nepal at kanila ring naipaliwanag ang posisyon ng mga Maoista sa kanilang bansa.

Sa aking pagbalik sa Pilipinas, nakausap ko ang napakaraming Pilipino na pabalik ng bansa para sa Pasko. Ilan lamang sila sa halos sampung milyong OFW na nakikipagsapalaran sa dayuhang bansa para lamang kumita.

Ngayon, narito na ako. Wala na ang maaanghang na hapunan, mainit na milk tea, amoy ng insenso sa atmospera at ang pagbati ng Namaste (sabay magkadikit ang kamay, parang nagdadasal.)

Balik na ako sa bansa ng adobo, Mabuhay, at Pasko (sa pitong araw ko sa Nepal, isang Christmas Tree lang ang nakita ko. Buddhists, Hindus at Muslim kasi ang dominanteng relihiyon doon).

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Para sa iba pang mga litrato, at para sa kopya ng deklarasyong tumulong ako sa pagdraft, pumunta sahttp://apstudes.blogspot.com/.

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I-add ninyo ako sa Facebook

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Nagbebenta pala ako ng Nepali bags. Ilang piraso lang ito! Bilis at bili na!

right of passage

2007-12-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

Sa wakas, nawala na ang kaba ko.

Lagi namang ganito tuwing may mob sa US Emba. Todo ang kaba. Sabi ko naman sa sarili ko, bawasan na ang kape, lalo kung may mainit na aksyon. Ewan ko ba bakit hindi na ako natuto. Sabagay, kung magising ka nga naman ng alas-nuwebe, tapos kailangan mo [pang gumawa, magprint at magparepro ng placards para sa isang aksyon na magaganap ng alas-onse sa kabilang bahagi ng Metro Manila, mahirap ding umiwas.

Sa byahe, non-stop ang text ng mga tao. "Asan ka na?" "Papunta na kami." "'San na uli ang kitaan?" "Marami nang pulis dito."

Pagbaba ng kanto ng kalaw at Taft, medyo malayo-layo ang lakaran. Kasabay ng kaba sa magaganap na action ay ang pagod, init ng araw, tapos 'yung paranoia na baka na lang damputin ka sa mga kanto na nagdudugtong sa UN Avenue at Kalaw o kaya nama'y lahat ng nakatambay ay intel. Tapos, mawawala ka pa.

Pagdating ng plaza Ferguson, makikita mo na mga tao. Ang ilan, bagong mukha, ang ilan, kilala mo sa mukha, ang ilan naman, sa pangalan. Konting batian, tapos balitaan. "Marami nang media." "Marami ring mobile ng pulis." "Start na ba?" "Start na."

Ikakalat ang props, tapos biglang magtitinginan, magpapakiramdaman, maghihintay sa mauunang maglaladlad ng placard, magmamartsa papuntang embahada, mauunang magtataas ng kamao at sisigaw. Siyempre, bukod sa hintayan, ang putok ng aksyon ang pinaka-nakakakaba. Kasi, ito 'yung panahong iaanounce mo sa mga nakatambay sa Plaza, sa media, at sa mga pulis na "mag-rarally kami at pupunta kami sa US Embassy."

Martsa, mgatratrapik. Lalapit sa media upang mag-abot ng Press Release. May masama akong experience dito. Kasi 'nung first time kong magmedia-liason, pati pulis, binigyan ko ng PR kaya agad na natugunan ang dapat na LR sa embahada.

Tapos, magugulat ka na lang na asa harap ka na ng embahada. Takbo sa seal! Unahang makapalo! Una, gamitin ang kamay. Tapos. pati placard na hawak mo, ipamalo mo na rin! Kung hindi ka pa natuwa, bunutin ang halaman sa paligid ng seal at ito ang ipamalo mo (ano ba talaga ang objective? Mapalo ang seal o magdamo?). At kung agit ka talaga dahil sa galit mo sa imperyalismo, kumuha ng redbrick at ito ang ipamalo mo. Tiyak, magiging makasaysayang nilalang ka na.

Ang pag-abot sa mismong gate ng embahada ay tila isang right of passage sa mga aktibista, lalo sa hanay ng mga kabataan at estudyante. Bahid siguro ng burgis na machismo, isang bragging right ng sabihing "napalo ko na ang seal ng US."

Sa halos limang taon kong pagiging-bakti, ngayong taon ko lang naranasan na makaabot ng ganito sa US embassy. Sabi nga, "mas madaling mag-rally sa Mendiola at Malacanang kaysa sa US embassy." Kasi naman, nagtitipon pa lang kayo sa kahabaan ng Kalaw, ang shield na ng mga pulis ang haharang sayo para man lang masilayan ang embassy. At kung magpapasaway ka pa't hindi kayo aalis, tiyak, maliligo kayo sa maduming tubig mula sa water cannon.

Tuwing may command-meeting para sa US emba rally, biruan din ang target na "touch the seal" pagka't alam ng lahat na ito ay suntok sa buwan. Kaya isang malaking tagumpay na sa taong ito, tatlong beses nang nakapagrally sa harap ng embahada ang YS. Para sa akin, ang ahitasyon ko ay produkto ng halos limang taong frustation na makapag-rally sa emba. Sa isang rally rin dito first time kong mahuli at madetain ng pulis sa loob ng halos labin-dalawang oras.

Simple, ngunit mahalaga ang bigat ng pagrarally sa emba. Una, ito na marahil ang isa sa pinakamalinaw na ekspresyon ng anti-imperyalistang paninindigan ng kabataan dito sa lunsod. Siyempre, sa kanayunan, iba ang porma ng paglaban na ito. Pagsampal ito sa dayuhang kapangyarihan. Pagsabi ito na "hindi kami natatakot sa inyo. Alam namin ang mga kabulastugang ginagawa ninyo dito sa bayan namin at sa marami pang iba." Ang pandarahas naman na ginagawa ng pulisya at ang kapangahasan ng mamamayan na kumilos sa kabila nito ay patunay sa kung kaninong interes naglilingkod ang mga armadong establisyemento ng estado at kung paano naman ito pilit nating nilalabanan.

Sa isang emba rally, tiyak ang dahas. Ang tanong na lamang ay "ano ngayon?" Nababawasan ang sakit ng galos at bukol sa kaalamang hindi lamang isang piraso ng bakal ang nalamatan mo kundi isang simbolo ng paghahari ng dayuhan sa bansa.

Kaya, habang dinidisperse na, kita mo ang ngiti sa mga kasama. Magkakamayan, magbabatian. Sabay tingin sa pulis na umieskort sa inyo, "sa susunod uli!."

---
Sundan ninyo ako sa twitter!

World meet Bambi!

2007-11-25T01:49:00.000-08:00

Note to self: Post something worth reading nezt time. And do it regularly!!!

hello world

2007-11-12T03:34:00.000-08:00

raprotesta!

2007-10-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

To everyone who was unable to catch my launching career as a rap artist, the video can now be watched, courtesy of studentstrike.

Now, if you want to sing along, here are the lyrics. :)

Download the original attachment

I
Noon pa lang lagi ng nagtatanong
Bakit ba ang bayan ay hindi sumusulong
Nasan na ang pangako ng pag-unlad?
Ekonomiya ng bansa, patuloy na sumasadsad

II
Pamahal nang pamahal bayarin sa pamantasan
Dahil sa maliit na pondo na nilalaan
Ang edukasyon, iba pang serbisyong panlipunan
Ipinagkakait sa atin ng pamahalaan

III
Maraming sikmura ang laging kumakalam
Maraming kababayan ang ginigiba ang tahanan
Lupang sinasaka nasa kamay ng iilan
Pinagsasamantalahan manggagawa sa pagawaan

IV
At habang dumarami mga taong naghihirap
Ang naghaharing-uri ay nagpapakasarap
Sa nakaw na yaman mula sa masang salat
Panahon na upang tayo ay mamulat, magmulat

CHORUS
Diwang palaban, dugong makabayan
Laging pasulong, at handang lumaban
Para sa kalayaan at demokrasya
Mag-aral, maglingkod, mangahas na makibaka

V
Ang estado, tila sunud-sunuran
Inuutus-utusan ng amo nitong dayuhan
Ang ating bayan kanilang ninanakawan
Hindi lang ng kayamanan kundi pati ng kalayaan

VI
Naghahasik, naglulunsad ng teroristang giyera
Sa lahat ng lumalaban at nakikibaka
Laban sa gahamang pag-aari ng imperyalista
George Bush, Uncle Sam, mga amo ni Gloria

VII
Nasan na ang sinasabing kalayaan?
Kung ang ating bansa kontrolado ng dayuhan
Sa ekonomiya at usaping pulitika
Ugnayang panlabas, maging ang ating kultura

VIII
WTO, IMF at World Bank
All-out war sa Afghan at Iraq
CIA and G.I. Joe
How many kids did you kill today, yo?

ULITIN ANG KORO

IX
Mga mag-aaral sa pamantasa’y lumabas
At sa lansangan, tumungo’t nangahas
Hindi natakot sa pulis na nandarahas
Bitbit ang paninindigan na walang kasing talas

X
Sa LFS kami ay sumanib
At doon nadama ang dakilang pag-ibig
Sa masa, sa bayang binusalan ang bibig
Buong paglilingkod sa kanila aming hatid

XI
At kami tumungo sa pagawaan
Sa komunidad at kabukiran
Nag-aral, natuto sa karanasan
Ng masang api’t pinagsasamantalahan

XII
At alam naman namin na hindi sapat
Eleksyon, reporma, lahat ito’y salat
DRB ang solusyon, ito ang nararapat!
Teorya ng MLM, sa praktika ilapat!

ULITIN ANG KORO

XIII
Ngayon, pakinggan ninyo aming tugmaan
Patungkol sa MKMP na lipunan
Mayaman ang bansa
Naghihirap ang sambayanan

XIV
Ang tatsulok ay nananatili
Iilan lamang ang naghahari
Pinagsasamantalahan ang mababang-uri
Sa lipunan ito ang ating pagsusuri

XV
Imperyalismo, Pyudalismo
Burukrata kapitalismo
Tatlong salot sa lipunang Pilipino
Kaya nagdarahop ang bayan ko

XVI

Tayo lahat bagong dugong Bonifacio
Sa kabila ng dahas, nakatayo’t prinsipyado
At ito na lamang huling paalala sa inyo
Ang karit, ang maso, dudurog sa estado

ULITIN ANG KORO (3X)

---

May I also urge you to point your browser tohttp://stealthiswiki.org, an updated, online, wiki version of Abbie Hoffman's (in)famous Yippie Bible, Steal this book.

semender

2007-09-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

malapit nang matapos ang semestre, pero wala pang ktiyakan ng king paggraduate.
marami pang kailngang habulin.
papers, exams, papers, exams.

to top it all off, hindi rin ako masyadong nakakagampan ng gawain sa LFS.

busit.

I better stop procrastinating my resolution to stop procrastinating.

busit!

BMI

2007-09-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Went to Laguna for the weekend, for the Basic Masses Integration Program of the LFS.

First stop, with workers from Nestle who remain in a six-year strike after talks with the Nestle Cabuyao Management regarding the guidelines for their Collective Negotiations Agreement broke down in 2001. The issue: whether Retirement Benefits is a negotiable item on the CBA. In 1991, the Supreme Court has already made a decision that the said benefit IS a negotiable item. In 2006, that decision has been reaffirmed by the High Court, ordering that the Union and the Nestle Management resume negotiations.

However, Nestle is yet to face the workers. The factory in Laguna has resumed operations, with less experienced contractual workers. The Union was only able to hold the gates and paralyze factory operations for a month, as they had to face not only the Union, but the combined force of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The DOLE, released an Assumption of Jurisdiction (AJ) order, authorizing the Secretary of DOLE (Particia Sta. Tanas) to use the police to break the picket line of the workers and order them to return to work. The DOLE justified their actions by saying that the strike was against national interest. After all, Nestle is one of the biggest corporations that invest here in the Philippines. But the experience not only of the Nestle workers but others that I have been able to talk to say that the AJ has always been used against workers, revealing the reality that government agencies serve the few and the powerful.

Incidentally, last Saturday, February 22 was the second-year anniversary of the slay of Nestle Workers Union President Diosdado "Ka Fort" Fortuna. He is the 11th Nestle worker leader to be killed around the world, which means that his death is not an isolated case but is actually a practice of the multinational corporation to prevent dissent from its workers. He is also the second Nestle workers union president to be killed here in the Philippines, after the who preceded him.

As the Nestle workers slogan goes, "There's blood in your coffee."

I never really was faithful to the Nestle Boycott campaign. Though I try to be conscious of what I buy, Boycotting all Nestle products (that number at 8,000 brand names) has been difficult, partly due to convenience (when you need food, there's always a Nestle product in a store near you). But after meeting Nestle workers, I have made a personal decision to be resolute at living a Nestle-free life. I hope you do too.

---

After Nestle, we spent the Night and the following day at a community of rural workers, those that belong to the lowest strata of the lowest strata in the social triangle. (Maralitang magsasaka).

At Tatay Elizer's house, before going to sleep, we found out that we are not the first visitors to their community, that many have long been their adopted children as exposurees.

In the morning, we woke up early, had a discussion of the situationer of the community, then removed our slippers to go to the farm and help in the harvesting of rice. Though the locals made it look simple, using a sickle efficiently and safely is very difficult. My little finger has a wound after being scraped by a sickle. Under the piercing heat of the sun, wearing nothing but a shirt and shorts, we caught a practical glimpse of how difficult it is to be peasant.

And that was just the physical aspect of it. The economic and political aspect, I can only imagine. As a petty-B from a family that is relatively well-to-do, I have always been sheltered from the difficulties of living. The biggest problem I had recently was if I can deliver a report in class. But the people there, and the many other peasants in the country can't even send their kids to school or bring food to the table.

After the harvest, the Petty-B me exclaimed, "And suwerte ko pala't naging Peti-B ako, 'di ko nararanasan ang ganitong hirap araw-araw."

To which Venzer replied, "Anong suwerte? Malas ka kasi wala kang alam."

Harsh as it sounds, the realization dawned on me. What do I know? Apart from what I read in books, hear in class, and live in a life conditioned by the illusions made by state ideological establishments,what do I know?

I'm just learning. A little at a time. In the streets, in discussion groups, in alternative forums, in talking with the people, I learn.

To quote Pablo Neruda,

I learned about life
from life itself,
love I learned in a single kiss
and could teach no one anything
except that I have lived
with something in common among men,
when fighting with them,
when saying all their say in my song.

---

Here is a statement I made at our propaganda writing workshop during the BMI.
The assignment: write a statement that shall make a reader end buying Nestle products.

Paano Uminom ng Kape

1. Magpainit ng tubig.
Hintayin na kumulo. 'Yung nakakapaso. Pero kahit anong sakit na maramdaman mo kapag isinawsaw mo ang daliri mo, hindi pa rin nito matatapatan ang sakit mula sa batuta ng police o tubig mula sa water cannon na naranasan ng mga manggagawa ng Nestle sa kanilang strike laban sa management.

2. Ihalo ang Isang kutsarang kape.
'Yung mabango. Masarap 'yung frothe o kaya'y Hazelnut flavor. Pero kahit mabango ito, hindi pa rin nito mapagtatakpan ang sangsang ng amoy ng korporasyong ayaw makipag-usap sa mga manggagawa. Kahit makatarungan at nararapat ang kanilang ipinaglalaban. Kahit dalawang beses nang sinabi ng Korte Suprema noong 1991 at 2006 na isang negotiable item ang retirement benefits sa Collective Bargaining Agreement. Ang pagpupumilit kasi ng gahamang Nestle na hindi maaaring pag-usapan ang nasabing benepisyo sa CBA ang dahilan kung bakit nagstrike ang mga manggagawa.

3. Ihalo ang asukal batay sa panlasa.
Pero kahit gaano karaming kutsara ng asukal ang pa ang ilagay mo, mananatili pa ring mapait ang karanasan ng mga manggagawa na pinaslangan ng isang lider upang sila ay matakot, manahimik, at iatras ang laban. Dalawang taon na mula nang patayin ng berdugong Nestle si Diosdado "Ka Fort" Fortuna, tagapangulo ng kanilang unyon. Hanggang ngayon, mailap pa rin ang hustisya sa kanyang kamatayan.

4. Haluin.
Sa labor dispute sa pagitan ng Nestle workers at ng Nestle Management, nakikihalo ang Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, at Municipal Trial Court ng Laguna. Pero sa halip na ipagtanggol ng mga ahensyang ito ang karapatan ng mga manggagawa, ginagamit pa nila ang dahas at batas ng estado upang masunod ang nais ng Management. Kung anu-anong gawa-gawang kaso ang hinaharap ng mga lider ng unyon. Sila pa ang masama at terorista sa mata ng gobyernong napatunayan nag nabibili ng dayuhan at nagsisilbi sa kanilang interes.

5. Inumin.
'Yan ay kung matitiis pa ng iyong sikmura ang Nescafe, na sa likod ng kanilang magarbong advertisements ay ang katotohanang pumapatay sila ng mga manggagawa. Mabuti pa, tigilan mo na ang pagbili mo ng Nestle products. Ito na ang suportang iyong maibibigay sa mga manggagawa ng Nestle na sa kabila ng hirap na kanilang dinaranas sa kamay ng Nestle at ng sabwatang DOLE-PNP-AFP-MTC ay patuloy pa rin sa pakikipaglaban para sa kanilang karapatan.

Dont choose Nestle! It kills workers!
Boycott all Nestle products!
Justice for Ka Fort!

gettin' down

2007-09-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

Had my launching as a hip-hop artist last night, during our cultural night in celebration of the LFS anniversary.

Real fun, though I did not get to rap, because I preferred to take the K-hon and make the beat for our number. However, I, along with a few LFS mems wrote the rap song, brainstorming for more than two hours just to get the rhyme right. Yo!

Lia's dance/armpit performance was also cool. Ever since I've learned that she dances, I have always asked her to quit being shy about it.

The Hiyas-Zangief play, which acted as an interlude in between the three segments of the cultural night was fun. Though I doubt that her brat-kid role was just acting as she is a brat in real life... :)

---

JOMA is free! Yehey! However, the fight for his rights as well as those who are being harassed by the regime is far from over. There's always something "pasabog" that we can expect from a regime as rotten as this one.

---

I haven't seen Olga for over two days. As of writing this, I'll be taking the bus to go back to Pangasinan which means another two days... :(

back in blogging form (or something to that effect)

2007-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

with everything (LFS anniversary, JMS arrest, semester about to end) going at the same time, I never had an opportunity to post a new entry here.

so i'm back, or as this post's title says "something to that effect."

What's been going on with me lately? For starters, my phone got lost yesterday. Yes, my ever-dependent phone is now the property of someone else. In the midst of the panicking and pressure a few hours before the LFS clean-up drive in Recto and Mendiola, I accidentally left my beloved phone in an internet cafe at Vinzons Hall. I just realized that I did not have my phone in the somewhere in Espana while in an FX.

Later in the afternoon, we waited for a couple of hours in front of the old NEDA building in UP Manila at Padre Faura while waiting for a torch-march to the US embassy. By 7, we started the March.

As we came towards the embassy, the police and security guards in the damned building were surprised to see more than a hundred students, carrying torches (reminiscent of the Salem witch hunts), mouthing loud anti-imperialist slogans, marching towards them.

Agitated, we stormed the embassy gates, banged on the seal of the United States, threw pebbles, and even the torches! (video footage to be posted soon!)

:)

Thats it. For now anyways. For the umpteenth time, I have made a personal resolution to post as often as I can here. Hope to keep it this time though.

Viva LFS!

tula #2

2007-07-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Hi ho

2007-07-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

The ever resourceful Olga, or should i say Olga Sulfur-16 Guela, told me to visit this, this saying that I'll probably like to... And i actually did.

Henceforth, I shall now be Ron Watermelon-2 Villegas. Hi ho.

To explain further, let me now quote Wilbur Daffodil-11 Sawin, future president of the US of A.

"As I said in my speech, your new middle name would consist of a noun, the name of a flower or fruit or nut or vegetable or legume, or a bird or a reptile or a fish, or a mollusk, or a gem or a mineral or a chemical element -- connected by a hyphen to a number between one and twenty."

Vonnegut addicts would understand that it has always been his belief that one of the reasons why people act the way they should not be acting is due to the lack of extended families.

Now, it's not that I no longer like my middle name, de Vera, which is also nice in itself, nor am I fully convinced with everything that the late great Vonnegut has written in his novels.

Its all in good fun really. And if you must know, Rowan Atkinson is also a member of the Watermelons, according to the website from which gave me my new middlename, selected at immaculate random. Hi ho.

I'm explaining a few things

2007-07-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs?
and the poppy-petalled metaphysics?
and the rain repeatedly spattering
its words and drilling them full
of apertures and birds?
I'll tell you all the news.

I lived in a suburb,
a suburb of Madrid, with bells,
and clocks, and trees.

From there you could look out
over Castille's dry face:
a leather ocean.
My house was called
the house of flowers, because in every cranny
geraniums burst: it was
a good-looking house
with its dogs and children.
Remember, Raul?
Eh, Rafel? Federico, do you remember
from under the ground
my balconies on which
the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth?
Brother, my brother!
Everything
loud with big voices, the salt of merchandises,
pile-ups of palpitating bread,
the stalls of my suburb of Arguelles with its statue
like a drained inkwell in a swirl of hake:
oil flowed into spoons,
a deep baying
of feet and hands swelled in the streets,
metres, litres, the sharp
measure of life,
stacked-up fish,
the texture of roofs with a cold sun in which
the weather vane falters,
the fine, frenzied ivory of potatoes,
wave on wave of tomatoes rolling down the sea.

And one morning all that was burning,
one morning the bonfires
leapt out of the earth
devouring human beings --
and from then on fire,
gunpowder from then on,
and from then on blood.
Bandits with planes and Moors,
bandits with finger-rings and duchesses,
bandits with black friars spattering blessings
came through the sky to kill children
and the blood of children ran through the streets
without fuss, like children's blood.

Jackals that the jackals would despise,
stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out,
vipers that the vipers would abominate!

Face to face with you I have seen the blood
of Spain tower like a tide
to drown you in one wave
of pride and knives!

Treacherous
generals:
see my dead house,
look at broken Spain :
from every house burning metal flows
instead of flowers,
from every socket of Spain
Spain emerges
and from every dead child a rifle with eyes,
and from every crime bullets are born
which will one day find
the bull's eye of your hearts.

And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry
speak of dreams and leaves
and the great volcanoes of his native land?

Come and see the blood in the streets.
Come and see
The blood in the streets.
Come and see the blood
In the streets!

Pablo Neruda

shingha

2007-07-12T20:16:00.001-07:00

Found this in the desktop of a computer at an internet cafe in the shopping center. Thought i'd share the fun... shingha.

random thoughts

2007-07-10T04:43:00.000-07:00

As of writing this post,

I miss Olga whom I haven't seen all day,

I'll never see Bob Smith again (more on this on later posts), Hopefully,

I've just earned P200 after serving as a major network's guinea pig for their new gameshow,

My cellphone's battery is dead,

I want to drink coffee,

I've just learned in the news that the AFP shall be deploying troops at urban communities, again,

I just finished editing my friendster profile,

Ka Bel has just been released, finally,

The rain has stopped.

Oh well...

----
I promise to try writing something coherent next time.

Meanwhile, I urge you, anonymous-reader-who-is-cursing-me-now-for-wasting-your-time-by-making-you-read-what-is-written-above, to visit this. Its pure genius. Really.

motorcycle diaries

2007-07-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

I always liked to ride motorcycles. The sound of the engine, vehicles zooming by, the faces of the people you see in the sidewalks, and the wind as it rushes on your face adds up to a wonderful experience.

I went home to Pangasinan for the weekend. Waiting for me at home was my dad's new motorcycle which he has been boasting about for quite a while. But it was apparent that its full capacity was yet to be exploited (the mileage was only at around 425.) This is where I come in.

After I woke up last Saturday morning, I immediately and eagerly went to our garage and hopped at the motorcycle. (Yes, no time to spare for breakfast nor a change of clothes, just a wash in the face was enough.) I called my cousin to join me for the joyride and off we went.

From Bayambang, we went to San Carlos City to Malasiqui and Back. I'm assuming that the distance was 70 kilometers since it took us an hour and we travelled between 60-100 km/hr.

The road was smooth and wide, and since it was in the province, in the middle of farms and agricultural land. There were only a few cars and vehicles in the road so we pretty much had only ourselves for the trip.

And the trip was really a joyride. To quote, "You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness." (Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintainance)

And that is what I like about Morotcycles. You become a part of the surroundings. The wind that makes the branches of trees sway is the very same one that you feel on your face.

The only trouble we had was when we came back home. That is when I felt the burns. After all, what can you expect when you ride a motorcycle, in a road which is most of the time without any shade, wearing only boxershorts and a tee, at 12:00 pm, with the nearly perpetual summer yet to end in the Philippines?

Postscript
Before I went back home to Manila, the Mileage was at 550. (We also went to Camiling Tarlac last Sunday, but at 6:00pm where it was colder.)

patay-patayan

2007-06-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

As part of our campaign nationawide campaign against the ATB, I, along with other members of the LFS smeared red paint and lied-down in the streets fronting the steps of Palma Hall in the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

Of course, it is apparent that such a draconian piece of legislation such as the Anti-Terror Bill or Human Security Act of 2007 shall only embolden the military to continue on their killing spree against legitimate political and progressive organizations that they label as "left."

I'm not supersticious. Just the thought of lying in the streets, full of paint that is supposed to be blood, and the sound of camera shutters from the media made me feel as if I'm in SOCO or CSI. It really was chilling.

A prelude of things to come? Though I hope not, the very fact the the hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings remain unsolved and Karen and She are yet to be found makes the protest action seem a real prophecy.

Afraid. It really is a scary thought. The beginnings of another Martial Law? No. Martial Law II has long been in this country since GMA took to power. What we have here now is Martial Law institutionalized, legalized.

One thing is missing from the protest action though. It is the fact that alongside this renewed efforts by the administration to stifle dissent is renewed vigot and grim determination from all sectors of society.

We shall fight. We shall not be afraid. This is dark times indeed. But we shall fight.

deathnote

2007-06-28T03:49:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching the 37th episode of deathote, the latest Japanese anime that I've been hooked into lately. It seems as if it is the last in the brilliant anime series, which also has its roots in Japanese Manga. From what I know, it has already been made into a live action movie and a live action TV series of the same title.

Basically, the story revolves around Yagami Light, a bored highschool student that acquires a deathnote dropped by a bored Shinigami (death god) to the human world. Though there are rule in using the note, the basic premise is that any human whose name is written in the deathnote shall die. Light then uses the deathnote to "create a new world" by killing criminals.

The governments, alarmed by the sudden deaths of notable criminals turn to L, the world's no.1 detective to capture the killer that has been given the nickname "Kira" (japanenese for killer, i think).

The story then develops in a cat and mouse chase where the two main characters attempt to outwit each other.

I won't go into the details of the series since I am not a fan of spoilers. However, there are a few points of interest that about the series which is the reason why I'm writing this post.

Most notable of these is the theme that the anime is playing with. Besides death, it also questions our concept of "justice." The anime does not present a clear cut line as to who is the protagonist and antagonist. Is it the Kira, the person who places justice into his own hands by killing known criminals? Or is it L and the police, establishments funded by governments and the state to "maintain order", to "serve and protect."

Deathnote allows the audience to choose as to whom his/her sympathies lie and who is doing what may be considered as "just."

It is interesting to note that the anime potrays the definite action of the state's coercive force (police and military) once another entity (such as Kira) challenges their capacity as "law enforcers."

Despite the fact that crime has almost vanished since the powers of Kira was unleashed and criminals became "judged," the police became more obsessed with hunting down Kira.

Another thing that got me hooked was the fact that deathnote does not provide all the details of what is happening and explains a few vague points later on. This is crcial since it leaves the viewers hanging, theorizing about what was happening, making guesswork at what are the plans of the characters, and then hoping that he/she was right in what he thinks to have occured.

However, be warned. It is not for children and is way too mature for the regular anime addicts.

pervert's guide to cinema

2007-06-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

the other day, i joined vencer, rico of kabataan party and a few others to watch The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, a lecture by philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek.

This is probably one of the coolest, and heaviest films that I have wathced for some time now. (The last one was a year ago with Waking Life).

Basically, Zizek used cinema as a means of explaining his arguments on psychoanalysis and at the same time, using psychoanalysis to explain the value of cinema in our time.

Zizek steps between iconic scenes in cinema history, including the fruit cellar in Hitchcock's Psycho, or in the scene where Morpheus offers Neo the two pills in the Matrix. In explaining his points, he used various movies, from the Marx Brothers to Hitchcock, Chaplin's The great dictator to Alien.

Of course, I'm yet to fully grasp the arguments being presented by Zizek in his lecture. For one, my knowledge of Freudian psychoanalysis is very much limited, second, we had some trouble with the speaker we were using, and third, it was real heavy stuff.

One of the points that I remember him saying was that today, Cinema is actually a necessity for us to understand reality. Especially since we are afraid to confront this reality or because reality is not "real" but is constructed.

I also remember him saying something about video gamers. Of course, it has long been said that people play video games because it enables them to be who they want to be but cannot because of the limitations set by society. However, Zizek points out that video gamers may also play games not because it allows them to be who they want, but who they really are.

The art of cinema consists in arousing desire, to play with desire, but at the same time keeping it at a safe distance. Domesticating it. Rendering it palpable…

The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire? There is nothing spontaneous, nothing natural about human desire. Our desires are artificial. We have to be taught to desire.

Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire. It tells you how to desire.
-Slavoj Zizek, Pervert's Guide to Cinema, 1997

powto no. 3

2007-06-26T23:48:00.001-07:00

ok... not much has really happened this days so i'm just stuffing this blogs full of photos. here is the third one. :)

kamao
detail of dambana ng kagitingan, summit of Mt. Samat

powto no. 2

2007-06-25T01:40:00.001-07:00

Dambana
taken from the summit of Mt. Samat

powto no.1

2007-06-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

from here on end, i shall be posting more pictures. as a friend of mine told me once, humans are visual learners. and who am i to argue since with an education major?

and to begin, here is powto no.1. enjoy. :)

viralinks

2007-06-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Ok. I know that I've started blogging again for just a few months now after I stopped a while back. For that, I am yet to increase my "authority" as a blogger. And I do know that it takes months, even years to do that, especially with countless blogs out there and new ones being started each day. And yes, one has to admit the truth that there's a lot of bloggers out there that has far more interesting stuff to tell or writes the same stuff that i blog about, only better.

of course, it won't help if one gets a boost here and there, especially from fellow bloggers.

while hopping blogs, I found this real cool tool that I can use to boost the PR of blogs.

Its called Viraltags, the brainchild of blogger Andy Coates and developed by other bloggers such as Jimmy Huens

The idea is to get bloggers create links for one another which in turn boosts one's popularity in the web. So join the bandwagon I do with Viralink. I just hope it works for me...

Instructions:

1.) Copy and paste the entire matrix of “ViralTags” below.

2.) Substitute the Host Tag and one of the “ViralTags” in the matrix with your anchor text of choice containing your blog’s URL. Please keep anchor text to a maximum of 3 words to keep the matrix size manageable.

3.) When you get a ping back from someone that has your link in one of their “ViralTags”, practice good karma by copying his/her Host Tag’s anchor text (automatically the associated link will also be copied) and paste it over one of your “ViralTags” below.

4.) Encourage and invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.

=========== Copy and Paste below this line ===========

Host Tag: goodbye blue monday

Naknampucha! | flowers in the window | gags211 | JohannTheDog | Rescue Me | Viralink | George Bush's Impeachment | The Tech Thing | only the best | blank canvas | Siyete | Jehzlau Concepts |Mommy's Getaway | Pro Audio Matrix | Resource Economics | Visit Egypt Online | Useful Blogging Tips | Chicago 2016 | Global Tips and Tricks | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |
ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |

Important: Once I get a ping back from you, I will add your anchor text and the associated link you designate as “Host Tag” here, replacing one of the “ViralTags” from the matrix above. As more and more bloggers copy and paste this matrix, the more backlinks you will have from your anchor text. If everybody who copies and pastes from your blog does the same, pretty soon this will spread and go viral. Remember, the sooner you participate, the more links you will receive!

=========== Copy and Paste above this line ===========

There it is folks. This should help you improve your Technorati ranking, SERP and Google PR. Please leave comment here if you have copied from this matrix so that I can add you just in case your ping back didn’t reach me.

Rules
No Porn Sites
Only 1 link per person (i.e don’t hog the viralink!)
Please don’t tamper with other peoples url’s

1st Manila Reggae Summit!

2007-06-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

huhu. 500 tix. huhu. :(

pero kung interesado kayo, click here

Sirens of Titan

2007-06-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s Sirens of Titann, his second novel, published in 1959 after the Player Piano.

For anyone still looing for the meaning in life or for a good book to read, may I suggest this fun book. Its general themes include the concept of freewill, omniscience, and even the purpose of humanity, but packaged like another sci-fi story. It presents the Marxist conception of religion as an opium of the people which drives its followers to do often insane acts.

And much like other sci-fis, it contains imaginative concepts about time, like the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula. There is even a crazy war between the Earth and Mars!

Crazy, weird, fun, heartbreaking, with a twist of romance it has pretty much everything that one can find from a Vonnegut novel which I never just seem to get grow tired of.

A definite 5 out of 5!

As an endnote, I present to you here a definition of the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula, as defined by Dr. Cyril Hall, in the fourteenth edition of A Child's Cyclopedia of Wonders and Things to Do, as copied from Sirens of Titan.

Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula — Just imagine that your Daddy is the smartest man who ever lived on Earth, and he knows everything there is to find out, and he is exactly right about everything, and he can prove he is right about everything. Now imagine another little child on some nice world a million light years away, and that little child's Daddy is the smartest man who ever lived on that nice world so far away. And he is just as smart and just as right as your Daddy is. Both Daddies are smart, and both Daddies are right.

Only if they ever met each other they would get into a terrible argument, because they wouldn't agree on anything. Now, you can say that your Daddy is right and the other little child's Daddy is wrong, but the Universe is an awfully big place. There is room enough for an awful lot of people to be right about things and still not agree.

The reason both Daddies can be right and still get into terrible fights is because there are so many different ways of being right. There are places in the Universe, though, where each Daddy could finally catch on to what the other Daddy was talking about. These places are where all the different kinds of truths fit together as nicely as the parts in your Daddy's solar watch. We call these places chrono-synclastic infundibula.

The Solar System seems to be full of chrono-synclastic infundibula. There is one great big one we are sure of that likes to stay between Earth and Mars. We know about that one because an Earth man and his Earth dog ran right into it.

You might think it would be nice to go to a chrono-synclastic infundibulum and see all the different ways to be absolutely right, but it is a very dangerous thing to do. The poor man and his poor dog are scattered far and wide, not just through space, but through time, too.

Chrono (kroh-no) means time. Synclastic (sin-classtick) means curved toward the same side in all directions, like the skin of an orange. Infundibulum (in-fun-dib-u-lum) is what the ancient Romans like Julius Caesar and Nero called a funnel. If you don't know what a funnel is, get Mommy to show you one.

Tanygnathus lucionensis

2007-05-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Tanygnathus
Species: T. lucionensis
Common Name: Blue-naped Parrot

Nickname: Pikoy

This is Pikoy. A parrot that my dad got from my Tia in Bataan.

Yes, he does speak. But he is only able to intrduce himself,"Ako si Pikoy!"; insult others, "Pangit!"; and imitating my mother's loud laugh.

Apparently, one of the first things thought to a parrot by its owners is how to insult others.

Though my arms is litterally filled with scratches now, its still nice to put him in your arms and feed him with chilli or sunflower seeds, whatever is handy.

happy FX

2007-05-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

had the most eventful FX ride last night.

just came from Park 'n Ride in Lawton to accompany olga where she took a bus ride to Cavite.

Since I was planning to go to the LFS staffhouse, I took a jeep that would pass by welcome rotonda.

Somewhere along España poured the heaviest rain so far this year. By welcome rotonda, I had to take shelter from the rain at the entrance of the the South East Asia College (not sure about the name of the school but it used to be the UDMC College, I think).

So I waited there, took a few pictures, and waited for weather to get nicer.

When it was apparent that the weather has got no plans of cooperating, I decided to abandon my plans of going to the staffhouse, brave the rain and just go home.

A few minutes later, an FX taxi headed for Cubao stopped in front of the school to drop a passenger, so ran I did to get into it.

Dripping wet, I sat and relaxed at the second row of the FX, behind the driver, taking pictures with my cameraphone.

Somewhere between the E. Rodriguez Puregold Qi Centrall Supermarket and Welcome Rotonda, the FX I was in got stuck in traffic. Then a man in orange sando, carrying an umbrella opened the door of the FX's passenger seat, and suddenly grabbed the cellphone (I learned later that it was a vodafone) of the lady beside the driver.

In less than ten seconds, it was all over.

Everybody in the FX were in shock, including the driver. In a few awkward moments, we were all in silence, trying to comprehend what just happened. The lady who lost her phone broke the silence.

"Buti na lang cellphone ko lang 'yung kinuha."

And I too was just glad that the man did not go inside the car and robbed all of us of our phones. Whew!

But, I was to discover that the night was not over yet. We were still stuck in traffic somewhere along E. Rod. and the flood has gotten knee-high.

The vehicles in E. Rod. did not dare cross the flood, afraid that their engines may break down. Goodthing the driver in the FX had guts to brave the flood.

E. Rod had suddenly become a very huge swimming pool, complete with children lying in the ground and running around.

I finally got home at around 9:30, dripping wet, runny nose and all. But I was just glad that I was home.

paynali!

2007-05-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

at last, the summer for me is over. Well, the classes ended monday last week but I wasn not through with it yet since I had an exam last Thursday an a paper that was due yesterday.

Yes. it was due yesterday but I only got to finish it today. Whoever said making a review of three researches on organizational and industrial psychology published in international journals was easy?

I thought so, but experience this past few days has proven me wrong.

I spen a wholata money on this thing, with the researches being at least 20 pages long. I actually had to go to PUP where the printing costs P1.00 to print the researches. Then, there was the very tiring and not to mention boring task of reading the damn three, summarizing them, and actually making a review of them.

The situation is actually worsened by the fact that I got no computer at home. Yep, Lorna, my ever-trustable laptop had died (thanks to my two cousins who took all the keys from the keyboard off...)

Also, I have the bloodiest runny nose in the freaking universe. Thank god for the rain yesterday and my stubborness to look for some shade and persist in walking in the rain.

The station where I'm actually typing this now is crammed with wet, sticky, and dreadful tissues. My apologies to the shop owner, and yes, as awful as it may sound, I'm going to pick them up one-by-one and throw 'em in a trash can...

(actual photo of the computer, not a recreation.)

well, after paragraphs of whining, I'm off to the psych department to pass my paper (Though I'm not sure if my professor will accpat it... I so hope she does...) and its over for me!

Hooray, and Hoorah!

I can finally watch the charlie chaplin movies that I got from my mother...

wuhoooo!!!!

Coolness

2007-05-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Pirates!

2007-05-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At world's end with Olga. Read at my review here (opens in a new window).

But since my review is posted in another blog, POTC is not the reason for this post.ent home

Rather, it is because I just came from Quiapo yesterday and saw a copy of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium which contains:
InDesign CS3
Photoshop CS3 Extended
Illustrator CS3
Flash CS3 Professional
Dreamweaver CS3
Acrobat 8 Professional

and, support softwares
Adobe Bridge CS3
Version Cue CS3
Adobe Device Central CS3
Adobe Stock Photos
Acrobat Connect

Being the novive (read: trying hard) graphic artist that I am, I'm quite eager to see the new features that the upgrade to CS2 boasts of. So i went to the website of adobe to chekitout. Indeed, it seems to be a nice product, which I have always expected from adobe.

But what was a real shocker was the price!

The genuine Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium costs a whopping US$1,799! That is equivalent to Php 82,754!

And how much is the one from Quiapo? Php 100. Yes. Php 82,654 less.

WTF!?

eleksyon

2007-05-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this poost inside the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where the national canvass for the senatorial and partylist elections are held. Im a pollwatcher for KABATAAN Partylist, the sole youth party that ran in the midterm elections last May 14. (Click on the link to visit the official website!)

Truly, much like the democracy that it represents, this year's elections is another freakshow, with schools being burned down leaving a teacher dead, mayors being shot, showbiz celebrities and boxing heroes running for public posts, towns with less than 10,000 residents turning up 20,000 voters... the list goes on.

The primetime news disproves the claims of the COMELEC that this year's elections was relatively peaceful and one of the cleanest in history. As of writing this post, a town in Abra is unable to continue because nobody wants to sit in the board of election canvassers. A few days ago, unidentified gunmen straffed the school with bullets, leaving the canvassers dead.

Anyway, the national canvassing is no different, only made more sosyal. It is filled with big bellied, pompous men in barongs who seems to be constipated with their own (or their candidate's> shit.

Oh well, papel, here comes another COC/SOV to be tallied. Back to the Excel spreadsheet for me...

First post, uli

2007-05-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

Weird. After a long time of hibernation from blogging, I now find myself an administrator of three blogs (this, flowers in the window which is maintained by me and my significant other, and gags211 which is something I cooked up to remain in contact with my buddies from Kalai.

Dunno the reason for this sudden mode with blogging. Either:
a) I no longer know what to do with my spare time (assuming I got some);
b) I don't hve a free time but I think that I have some and so I think that I don't know what to do with those free time;
c) Too many thoughts are are going on in my mind lately that there seems to be a necessity for me to find space somewhere even in cyberspace to put them in and record them (for posterity);
d) I just want to join in on the fun since many people, (baktis included are into it);
e) none of the above (meaning there is a reason, divine intervention included, for all this which I am yet to discover.

Whatever the reason, I have started this and I don't want this to become another one of my ningas-kugon projects... hopefully.