Posts published during August, 2008

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August 30, 2008

Tisay and her cut

Tisay and her cut

Tisay fell from the kitchen countertop last weekend. I got scared when I saw her head bleeding after the fall. I felt quite distressed when the doctors were stitching her cut. She was screaming on top of her lungs. Ako nga hindi pa ‘ko nasi-stitches (considering I have a greater propensity of having such a cut since parati akong nasa rally and I’m a fratman).

Anyway, amusingly, right now it’s as if nothing happened. Though she’s obviously traumatized by the experience. She cries when she hears the word ‘doctor’ or ‘hospital’.

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Wag the Dog: Mula MOA hanggang Cha-Cha

War is show business, that’s why we’re here.
- Conrad Brean (Wag the Dog, 1997)

Lantad na lantad ang makasariling interes ng rehimen ni Gloria Arroyo at ng U.S. sa pagpasok sa Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) ng Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) at Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Mula sa mga abo ng pagkabigo ng kaniyang pakanang People’s Initiative for Charter Change noong 2006, muling gumawa ng oportunidad ang kaniyang rehimen upang pasayawin ang mamamayan sa kaniyang Cha-Cha sa pamamagitan ng pagkasangkapan sa mahigit apat na dekadang armadong tunggalian sa Mindanao para sa kanilang karapatan sa sariling pagpapasya o right to self-determination.

Ang matagal nang pakikibaka ng mamamayang Moro para sa kanilang mga pampulitika at pang-ekonomiyang kahilingan ay malayong maisakatuparan sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni GMA. Imbes na sinserong harapin ang ugat ng kahirapan at pag-aaklas ng mga kababayang Moro na primaryang nagmumula sa pagsasamantala ng malalaking panginoong may-lupa at korporasyong multinasyunal sa kanilang mga ancestral lands, ginamit pa itong pagkakataon para itambol at isulong ang naantalang anti-mamamayang Cha-Cha na sa huli ay lalo lamang magtitiyak ng interes ng iilan sa “˜Bangsamoro homeland’. Tunay na walang sinseridad ang rehimeng ito sa pangmatagalang kapayapaan sa Mindanao at nagawa pang isangkalan ang buhay at kapakanan ng mga sundalo’t sibilyan para isulong ang mga nasabing interes at upang magbunsod pa ng giyera na nakikitang pagkakataon upang gawing lehitimo ang mga base militar sa Mindanao at ang paggamit ng emergency powers dahil sa giyerang ang rehimen niya mismo ang may pakana.

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August 29, 2008

UP Law Freshmen Week ’08

For at least one week, freshmen law students and their blocks set aside never-ending days of law school stress and modesty and go wild competing with fellow freshmen blocks in various competitions (including a karaoke competition where I was coaxed to represent the block, and where I fortunately got second place) for some six days, culminating in a freshmen night where blocks go head to head in performances and in an annual drag pageant. Iba talaga siguro ‘pag naiipon ang kulo, palibhasa sa Mass Comm, it seemed that every day was bibo day.

Oh well, back to normal law school days now. No worries. I have the best blockmates.

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August 27, 2008

Ninoy was not alone

Last Thursday, some of my brods and I went to Tarlac City in Tarlac to join the provincial government’s commemoration ceremony of Ninoy Aquino’s 25th death anniversary. We left UP pretty early and arrived at the province around nine in the morning. Before proceeding to the provincial capitol, we also passed by the municipal hall in Concepcion, Aquino’s hometown, and where he was once Mayor. At around ten, we arrived at Tarlac City to meet the governor, Victor Yap, who is another brod. The commemoration ceremony was held and I was even asked to give a spontaneous speech in front of all the elected provincial officials and employees. We went back to UP a little past lunch time.

That night, we held a memorial at the theater of College of Law, also in honor of Ninoy Aquino.

25th death anniversary Ninoy Aquino

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August 24, 2008

USC ACLE 1st Sem ’08: Juan vs. 100

University Student Council ACLE Alternative Class Learning Experience 1st Semester 2008: Juan vs. 100

Last August 14, the University Student Council (USC) held its first alternative class (ACLE) program for the year dubbed, Juan vs. 100: “Si Juan dela Cruz at ang hamon ng panibagong siglo ng Unibersidad.” More than a hundred student organizations participated, came up and staged their own alternative classes for the afternoon. The program was spearheaded by the Education & Research Committee of the USC.

We also released the second issue of the student council’s newsletter that day, which my committee, the USC’s public information office, comes up with. Unlike the last time I distributed the newsletter, I finished distributing the copies of the second issue to almost all the buildings in campus in under two hours thanks to Bang’s help. I still wonder how the Philippine Collegian does it every week, the efficient distribution of the university’s official student paper.

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August 20, 2008

Ninoy Aquino 25th Martyrdom Anniversary

Ninoy Aquino 25th death anniversary

If the project I was handling with the frat wasn’t in honor of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.’s 25th death anniversary, I would have begged off from the very beginning. All the stress and the qualms are nothing, after all, to the late senator’s martyrdom.

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Hindi pa gumagraduate sa prod

I just came home a few hours ago from the first day of shoot of a group of Broadcast Communication and Film majors for a term project short video. Haha. I know, hindi na talaga ako gumraduate sa pag-”bida” sa productions. One semester right after my Mass Comm batchmates in a Broadcast Communication 130 (BC 130) class invited me to act in their production, I’m getting myself into another one. Even if I’ve graduated from Mass Comm!

I didn’t ask for it, really. But how could I say no to a role like this: Patrick; law student, fratman, student council president, forced into marriage by unwanted pregnancy, went to the spiritual world to save the unwanted wife, and all-around nice guy (nah, dagdag ko lang ‘yun). It sounds… interesting. He he.

Let’s see how this will turn out. It felt nice being in student production-mode for a day. Relieved me quite of some current stress by reliving my past days as a Mass Comm student.

Now I have to go back to Criminal Law readings. Law student pala talaga ako in real life. He he.

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August 18, 2008

Something with B

Block B 2012

If not for these people’s case digests and tutorials I’d be much worse off in law school. After our last midterm exams in Legal Method last Saturday, we went off for lunch at Mang Jimmy’s at Balara and an afternoon of karaoke and drinks at Ixara’s place in Cainta. Hindi na ‘ko nakapunta ng Inter-B party, though.

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Would you allow me to be selfish now?

“Natutulog ka pa ba?” I forget who asked me the question. I got asked the same thing around three times last week. “Yun nga ‘yung problema eh, natutulog ako.” It’s so sad that I’m blaming sleep for the lack of time I need to do everything I’ve committed myself to do. There just isn’t enough waking hours to do them.

I’ve never felt so depressed over grades. I was never that much of a grade-conscious person. As long as I pass and I know for myself that I’ve learned well, I’m satisfied. Last week I found out what my mid-semester average was. In spite of all the sleepless nights and the effort, it wasn’t enough. I failed big time. The fact that I was second lowest in my block made me feel so much worse. That day I went straight home from class and sulked. The week left me so tired and I am met with a failure.

Inggit na inggit ako sa mga blockmates ko when they study in the library in the afternoons, or when they come to class ready and discuss among each other issues and cases one after another in attempt to review what they’ve read. I wish I had all the time to commit myself to the great demands of law school. When I see my blockmates talk about the lesson, I want to walk out because I barely know anything anymore.

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August 10, 2008

People’s SONA 2008

People's State of the Nation Address SONA

July 28, 2008. It was my second SONA (State of the Nation Address) rally. This year’s mobilization was definitely larger than last year. It was a broad-alliance rally of BAYAN (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) and other political opposition groups. I went there as a member of the University Student Council along with my other colleagues in the institution. More than a hundred UP students joined the march all the way from Diliman to the rally site near Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue. Some of my blockmates from UP College of Law even joined the rally after our Legal History class that morning.

People's State of the Nation Address SONA

I shall just repost the editorial we have for the current issue of Oblation, the official newsletter of the University Student Council.

OBLATION ISSUE #2 EDITORIAL

When power becomes an end in itself, and not a means for the common good, moral judgments are bound to take the backseat. And so, the annual State of the Nation Address ““ meant to truthfully report on the president’s progress for the year ““ has evolved into a tool for deception.

Since 2001, Gloria Arroyo has trumpeted her administration’s achievements. Elaborate cover-up techniques were employed, with numbers and rhetoric as her most potent weapons. The littlest improvements were exaggerated, harsh statistics were ignored, and outmoded yet positive data were favored over the recent but negative figures. Consistently, the end result is a rosy picture of the national fabric, even when reality tells of bleak prospects.

Yet, a closer look on Arroyo’s fiscal reforms reveals sinister details.

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