water cannon incident

yesterday, a friend priest asked my opinion about the mendiola incident wherein several hundred rallyists were "cannonized" by the police to stop them from coming any closer to malacanang. honestly, by the time that i was asked, i never really had any opinion about it yet, maybe because i didn't see the event as surprising. everything went as expected.

well first of all, i think the rallyists (kme, kme bishops, along with several politicians) really were testing the police, and in effect the calibrated pre-emptive response stance of the administration. i mean, why have their demo there in the first place? they were allowed to hold mass at plaza miranda, where they were given a permit to demonstrate. according to reports, they were also allowed to proceed to san sebastian church. but there were several who moved towards mendiola, supposedly to have another mass in san beda. that was where the police broke the demonstration. (plus, how many masses can one attend in a day without one's soul going beyond heaven eh? just kidding folks!)

so i guess, i am one with the hawks (bunye, ermita, claudio) who think that these rallyists really wanted to provoke the police.

i am however not one with what the police did. i think they should have just allowed these rallyists to move on, if they pose no real danger, for tactical purposes. what is happening now is they just invited more and more criticism to their policies. and invited more enemies.

look, whereas before, they have bishops labayen, iniguez and tobias (plus cruz) who are openly against gma, now they will probably have more, who will agree not with the views of these bishops, but will sympathize at how they were "objectionably" handled by the administration.

"a little more of this and this thing will explode," says bishop tobias, and i agree with him, if the "this" in his statement refers to the lack of foresight of this administration. this is about arousing the sympathy of the people again, and in this particular battle, i say the anti-gma forces win.

one by one...

undersecretary miguel luz is gallantly fighting for what he thinks is right.
read his story, copy - paste the following url:
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=1&story_id=53310

ombudsman simeon marcelo has resigned already.

anti-corruption czar tony kwok (hongkong expert) allegedly is contemplating leaving too, seeing half-heartedness in the commitment of the government to fight against corruption.

the good guys: either they want out, or they are forced out.

i hope they continue putting their best efforts for the sake of our people when they go back to the private sector. the same wish goes for all ordinary citizens including myself. may we strive at leading upright, productive lives. let us make ourselves our own models of being Filipino. till in the end, the supposed leaders of this land will start noticing that they have become useless, that they're not interesting anymore for the media to even cover them. they can go on making fools of one another but the ordinary, hardworking Filipino will not care. he will strive at bringing about a new generation of leaders. if the present crop of leaders that this country has refuse to step down, and insist on shaming the offices they are occupying, then we will just wait for all of them to die. we shall suffer in silence, but work day and night. the Philippines after all is more than just its government leaders.

untitled

funny how the rain pours down
each time we see each other
not dampening our spirits
but sprinkling sunshine rays
on cold and gloomy
rainy days

funny how the world colors itself
a purple-painted sky
his eyes a shade of hazel
grass of green and yellow
and his spirit:
a crazy mix of rainbow

funny how time runs and stops instantaneously
making a few minutes precious
and five hundred friends a bore
ten years really don't count much
my dear,
each second is what life has in store

funny how nonsensical things begin to matter...
there is delight in conversations,
comfort in silence,
and a feeling that makes my heart smile.
simply extraordinary,
his presence is worth running a mile.

seriously?
i don't need the rain
a yellow lampshade to set the mood,
spanish guitars or vodka
a cup of ice cream,
or short poetic dreams
a sip of my coffee
or a heartwarming movie.

because when i am with you
i am me.

(by someone who resides in a purple-painted sky. grazie!)

Long Goodbyes

Counting footsteps while catching breaths
Soiled pants sweep the ground
The gray sky stirs some emotion
Our slow heartbeats resound

I'll see you tomorrow
Although it's not true
Hold my breath for a second
Smile my sweetest for you
Stop my heart for a beat
And lightly drag my feet
Tomorrow is not coming
And forever lasts in a minute

The path is coming to an end
The sky cries no more
The door is widely open
What are we waiting for?

So I'll see you tomorrow…

(lyrics of a future song. written by the vocalist of a future band.)

what if

just what if dilg sec angelo reyes and nsa norberto gonzales are in fact telling the truth, that there are terrorists now in the country? and what if filipinos find it difficult to believe them?

if it happens that what they're saying is true, and we witness (or become victims) of a terror attack, there is a lot of reason for people to still think otherwise. it's easy to say that the government, or the afp themselves did it. they may say that it happens all the time in zamboanga city, and other parts of mindanao. it happened also last feb 14 here in manila. there are no terrorists here, it is the government who are sowing fear among the people, they may say.

but what if it's not really the government, that there are in fact terrorist elements here in the country? abu sayyaf, rajah sulaiman movement, etc.

this is the problem when a people's government has very low credibility. when trust is gone, even efforts at winning it back easily gets laughed at and doubted. on which side must trust start to slowly spring up? who can risk it?

my prayer is that none of these threats ever happen to materialize. aside from the cost of such an event, it's always pathetic to look at how people may get vindication from such tragic events.

what's up next?

two things have reached me recently, both about a possible threat to the present administration. first, the "tsismis" coming from sen miriam defensor santiago about the plot to kidnap then kill gma. no less than former pres cory aquino, along with sen franklin drilon, are the alleged mastermind behind this, according to santiago. second is the "promise" given by ex presidential candidate bro eddie villanueva to his jil flock last night. he said that they should watch carefully the events of the coming days. he vaguely described it as something that will have great impact on the lives of each filipino.

about the first, im not sure whether pres cory has the capacity to will the death of gma. i don't think this has ever been her style. i however believe that they're planning something. there were reports that as early as first week of july, cory had met with drilon, along with some bishops, to talk about the possibility of a decastro-drilon tandem. this is open source. cory talked to gma and asked her to resign last 06 july. just recently, cory was also seen in a meeting with prof nemenzo and other groups, possibly talking about the transitional revolutionary government that prof nemenzo had been advocating since the start of this national crisis. about drilon, i don't have much info about him, except that i have the impression that he is really one "good politician." imagine how he managed to be always present in every administration, in varying positions, ever since the time of marcos. i won't be surprised if he finally gets himself in the position to be future vp. then kicking de castro out will be the next logical step. tsk, tsk, tsk...

if one puts sen santiago's tsismis, and the proclamation of bro eddie, one can have a vague sense that something's really brewing behind the little that we get from the news. if we also add the recent actions of gen gudani and col balutan, former marines heads and presently involved in the pma. i mean, they won't really go and defy orders if they're just by themselves right?

now the next question is whether this underground plan will succeed. im sure this plan will have violence as a crucial component. most of the high ranking officers in the military and the police is still with gma, at least this is what can be observed from their statements and actions.

is bloodshed really the next logical step to this crisis?

#17

The best (rulers) are those whose existence is (merely) known by the people.
The next best are those who are loved and praised.
The next best are those who are feared.
And the next are those who are despised.
It is only when one does not have enough faith in others that others will
have no faith in him.
[The great rulers] value their words highly.
They accomplish their task; they complete their work.
Nevertheless their people say that they simply follow Nature (Tzu-jan).

Two kinds of feelings were elicited by the above excerpt from the Tao-Te Ching when I read it.

Fear is the first. If one is to use the above teaching of Lao Tzu as benchmark or some kind of a model of a leader, and one is to put it alongside the present set of leaders that we have in the Philippines right now, we flunk big time. Sure there are still a few who actually pass (like Education USec Miguel Luz), but precisely it’s their being “few” which is disturbing and makes me feel afraid about the where our leaders shall bring the Philippines to. Oh, I thought of another one, Commissioner Haydee Yorac. And yes, former Captain Rene Jarque. But the sad fact is they’re both dead already. Whew! The good ones are not only rare, they must be dead too!

I hate to sound too negative. But I think I am one with many Filipinos who feel the anguish and the insecurity of our land’s future. It’s important to go through this kind of desperate situation, to really feel what the concerned citizens of this country feel. I remember the many nights when I find my self with this feeling of doom, not being able to sleep. Many nights, no kidding.

When one has leaders who are not loved and praised, not anymore feared (as evidenced by the media’s –especially Inquirer’s- depiction of them in their front pages), who can sleep well at night? I don’t even think I despise them. Despise is a reaction to an unpopular decision. Sometimes a leader has to sacrifice to be unpopular for a while, for the sake of the greater good. But from how I feel towards the majority of our present leaders, it’s not even despise that I feel towards them. I don’t even see them as leaders anymore. They’re totally hopeless. And what I am afraid of is that if they’re totally hopeless, the country will not be far behind.

But wait a minute. Did I just say we’re nearing becoming hopeless? When I first read the excerpt, honestly, that’s how I felt. But I am a man looking for that redeeming aspect. I read the excerpt again. And then there was light. Hope was the second feeling that was elicited by the excerpt.

The first line of the teaching above talks about the best leaders, those who are virtually unnoticed, those “whose existence is merely known by the people.” Perhaps, there are those leaders, who don’t reach the front pages of the dailies, or the headlines of every evening news. They are those who silently “accomplish their task; they complete their work.” These are the best leaders.

Do I know many of them? No. But that’s precisely why they are the best. Aside from not getting themselves into anomalous or scandalous positions, they don’t go around publicizing the good works that they do. These are the ones who keep to what they are naturally are, letting their actions do the talking.

This is the set of leaders, unknown for now, who will redeem our country. This is also the set of leaders whom I hope all of us are, or will become. AM+DG.