Remembering Tita Cory

It will be almost two months now since the last piece of writing was posted on this blog. It was an an awful day. I was pissed and frustrated. I felt dismayed and betrayed. I was and I am still angry. The feeling of exasperation and hopelessness dawned on me.

I am breaking my two-month silence because of an extraordinary event; because an extraordinary person passed away. A person I never imagined I could learn to admire and respect despite of and in spite of her perceived frailties. And today I write not because of anger or frustration, but because of hope and inspiration.

Kapal Muks Congressmen Who Voted for HB 1109

What is keeping us from storming the House of Representatives and setting it on fire? With the majority block in it of course. How long can we stand around and wait for things to happen?

From the way I see it, GMA and her cohorts in Congress are not only trying their luck. Neither they are testing the relatively calm political waters. With their latest political stunt, they are insulting our political and intellectual sensibility. Do we not feel insulted? Ashmed of our continued inaction? Or of our inability to get angry?

What is keeping us from hurling stones (and other things that can injure, maim, or kill) at these congressmen and women who voted for House Bill 1109?

The Best June Gift for the Filipino Student

And just like that. Summer has ended, June is here. Schools are abuzz again with students as they open their doors to those wanting and willing to learn.

In the midst of this school year’s opening, what has pre-occupied the many revolves on the issue on whether the government and other stakeholders in the education sector have laid down proper procedures for dealing with the possibility of a swine flu virus outbreak in our schools like what just happened in Japan and Mexico. While questions about this are valid and important, I believe things are being handled quite successfully by the Department of Health and the Department of Education.

Having said this, parents, teachers, students, and other Filipinos who all have a stake in how the young are educated should focus their energy on other pressing issues affecting our schools and our youngs. And what are these issues?

Books and cigarettes.

Retarded Government, Retarded People

There is a reason why the word retarded is no longer associated with mental conditions. It is not just for political correctness. It is to separate the otherwise persons with pure intentions and noble heart from the less noble ones. The word retarded thus finds its way to disparagingly describe a people who thinks of and acts so little for others.

Time and again, our government has proven that they keep a handful of retarded people in their ranks. For what can be more retarded than a government refusing to raise taxes on sinful products like tobacco and alcohol but arbitrarily increasing the taxes and levies imposed on books?

Last time I checked, books are good for all people of all ages, gender, and social class. Indeed, books are the complete remedy to ignorance, apathy, and all sorts of other problems one encounters throughout a lifetime. There only downside? They are pretty expensive.

Tobacco? It kills. That is certain. Alcohol? Makes you dizzy and vomit at best. May induce you to kill or maim someone at worst. And depending what type you take, alcohol can either get you into thinking you were raped or you were having a consensual sex too. Their only upside? They come cheap in this country.

Sin Taxes and Sinful People in the Philippines

The House of Representatives yet again stood up to its monicker as the premier HORE (pronounced whore) government institution in the country by freezing the needed increase in the excise taxes imposed on tobacco and alcohol products. By being a Lucio Tan and Danding Cojuangco lackey, Ways and Means committee chair Exequiel Javier of Antique should be ashamed of himself as he has dishonored the memory of his father, who is considered by many as a hero during the martial law years.

The urgency of increasing the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol has been certified urgent by the Department of Finance since the collection resulting from the proposed changes would yield at least 20 Billion, which will be used to cover a ballooning budget deficit. Revenue from tobacco and alcohol products has been steadily eroded by inflation because they are currently taxed on the basis of volume rather than value. For example, many of Lucio Tan’s cigarette brands are still being taxed at their 1996 selling price when in fact these are now being sold more than twice their 1996 value.

Standing and Speaking up: From Mr. Palengke to Mr. Padyak

I do not hate it. I simply do not like it. It is a disservice to the man, his accomplishments, and the values he represents and fights for.  Another blogger has declared that the new Mar Roxas advertisement is simply the wrong way to do Padyak. I agree with him but mainly for different reasons.

The latest political advertisement by Mar Roxas is a failure for many reasons. First, the script is plainly nonsensical, the message fails to connect, and the image it wishes to convey is nothing but short of being superficial. Second, it is not yet time to do political campaigning. And the Mr. Padyak commercial is clearly a political advertisement for the 2010 elections.

While a rival to the presidency has been spending millions everyday since last year for these advertisements, Mar Roxas need not imitate the strategy of this traditional and corrupt politician from Las Pinas. Known for his statesmanship rather than political showmanship, Mar Roxas should be delivering political messages and not political advertisements. The former puts premium on issues, substance, and advocacy while the latter prefers to waste time on political tidbits and image-creation.

Mar and Korina to wed this year

No question mark this time. Only affirmation of the date. The next affirmations that will be spoken would be, “yes, I do.”

And yes, they are going to do it. They are getting married this year.

Mar Roxas is scheduled to make an official announcement of the wedding this coming Monday, April 20, 2009. A pamamanhikan is already in the offing with Korina’s two siblings (I think Korina’s parents have both passed away.)

And so the predictions hold true.

This marks the start of the long march for Mar and Korina – not the march along the wedding aisle but the march towards the presidency in 2010.

Thoughts on Education from Bonn

Bonn World Conference Center, Bonn, Germany: As the 700 delegates from 151 countries leave the conference plenary, a mixture of optimism and pessimism about the possibility of realizing the items enumerated in the declaration adopted by the plenary can be felt. The same can be said of the NGO conference I was part of last week where we also made our own declaration coming from the NGO perspective.