Author Archives: Arbet Bernardo

24
Dec

Another weird dream, 8

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I’d never had an action-packed dream as last night. It was like a movie, really.

In that dream, I was in the place where I grew up, the place I had lived in for almost 20 years. Outside, people were having the usual Christmas games. That building I grew up was quite near an estero. Then, I saw an airplane with three helicopter propellers (yeah, maybe I have been playing too much Final Fantasy games). It was an awesome sight, specially when it was dropping right at you. Yes, it was crashing; two of the propellers were not working. The pilot was wise enough to steer the plane into the estero. Only then did I realize that the estero was wider than it should be – wider than the widest expanse of the Pasig River.

Unfortunately, I forgot the other parts of the dream. I remember one more, but it was actually of the censored stuff. =P

Merry Christmas!

24
Dec

A cautionary tale for this season

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Taken from here.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the mousetrap – alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember – when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

Merry Christmas!

21
Dec

Annoyance of the Week: Can’t I just say no?

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From my Twitter twits, from the first in series of twits.

* Wondering how {name of insurance provider} got my home and work phone number.
* I want to go home and play PS2. That call got me seething, and I want to punch somebody. Can’t you just say no nowadays?
* I am so tired of my name being misspelled and mispronounced. From now on, any telemarketer or agent who mispronounce my name shall hear NO.
* And any written communication with my name misspelled shall receive no reply from me, ever.

I really wanted to end the week right, so I’ll bury myself tinkering with my new toy.

21
Dec

Kababuyan, 2

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Isang malaking kasinungalingan ang gusto ipairal ni Jesus Arranza ng Federation of Philippine Industries. Ayon sa kanya, bagamat nirerespeto nila ang naging desisyon ni Gloria Arroyo na ilagay sa ilalim ng Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) ang 144-ektaryang lupain na nabili ng San Miguel Foods, dapat daw ay manaig ang rule of law at hindi ang emosyon.

Kakaiba rin si Arranza. Malamang hindi ganoon kataas ang naging grado niya sa lohika noong siya ay nasa kolehiyo. Sabi niya, dapat manaig ang rule of law. Ibig ba niyang sabihin ay iligal ang ginawa ni Arroyo? Kung iligal ito, bakit niya iginalang ang pasya ni Arroyo? Hindi ba dapat iprotesta niya ito?

Bakit hindi niya ito sabihin sa pamilya Quisumbing na lumabag sa land conversion order na nilagdaan ni Ruben Torres? Bakit hindi niya ito sabihin sa San Miguel Foods na pumirma sa isang kontrata in bad faith?

Ano ba ang mas mahalaga sa isang magsasaka? Ang magkaroon ng trabaho na ang sweldo ay arawan? O ang magsaka ng sariling lupa?

Kung anu-ano pa ang pinagsasabi nitong si Arranza, tulad ng farm inputs, pero ano ang gagawin nila sa mga farm inputs na yan kung wala naman silang lupang sinasaka? Aanhin pa ang mga iyan kung ang trabaho lang naman nila ay mag-alaga ng baboy na hindi rin sa kanila?

Mas gusto ko pang maging alila ng lupa kaysa maging alila ng baboy, este tao pala.

19
Dec

Throwback to the Marcos era

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I can only shake my head at what is happening to Joker Arroyo. He has transformed from this to that in blink of an eye.

Typical of his current state of mind, Arroyo called Attorneys Argee Guevarra and JV Bautista “cry babies” when they filed illegal detention charges against several PNP officers. Not only is Arroyo’s comment uncalled for, it is rather sad, showing Arroyo is really losing it, as if showing us he’s going senile. It is as if he is telling us that we should no longer seek justice when our rights are trampled upon. It is as if he’s telling us to just let things be. Like let Gloria Arroyo be. Heh.

Now, I think it is safe to say that I am justified in not voting for someone whose convictions are transferable.

—

For several instances, I have claimed that Gloria Arroyo does not need to declare martial law, as we are already living in a virtual one.

One proof is the use of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), that vintage Marcos antique, as censorship tool. For this year, the MTRCB has rated several anti-Gloria propaganda pictures as X – not suitable for viewing, for various reasons. The most common one was used in rating two documentaries and a compilation of public service ads with X. The reason: the movies tend to “incite rebellion and sedition.” I remember a documentary about Joseph Estrada earning the same rating for the same reason. The compilations “undermine faith and confidence [in] the government and duly constituted authorities.” Another reason is that they are “too libelous and too one-sided.”

I never thought that MTRCB is a quasi-judicial body. Hell, it is not. It has no right to usurp powers that the Constitution grants to the courts of law. It has no right to say that a movie incites to sedition or rebellion. It has no right to determine if a movie is libelous. Heck, it has no right to say that a movie is one-sided. Propaganda is one-sided, and documentaries can be propaganda. The MTRCB is going out of bounds when it gave X ratings to movies that MTRCB board members see as anti-Arroyo.

Heck, I will not be surprised if it gives a GP-rating to any movie praising Arroyo even if the movie contained explicit pornographic scenes.

Remember: censorship was one of the tools Ferdinand Marcos used to silence his critics and impose his will on the Filipino people. He had to declare martial law in order to do that. This regime – well, people don’t care anyway, so there’s no need to declare martial law.

I suggest that these people post their movies on YouTube and start a viral campaign. Let’s see if there’s anything the censors can do.

PS: Here’s what a former Supreme Court justice says about the MTRCB’s X ratings.

17
Dec

“To stand by the side of any brother Sigma Rhoan right or wrong” yeah right!

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Maikling Talumpati ng ina ni Cris Mendez sa National Conference to Stop Hazing na itinaguyod ng Solidarity for Anti-Hazing Via Education (SAVE) at UP Student-Led Anti-Hazing WAtch (UP SAWA)

Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.

Ilang linggo lang po ang nakakaraan ay nagtagumpay kaming buksan ang mga e-mails na natanggap ng aking anak na si Cris Mendez bago siya pumanaw noong August 27, 2007.

Isa po sa mga huling e-mails na natanggap niya ay may petsang August 22, 2007 na ang title ay “Sigma Rho Tenets.” Galing po ito sa isang nagngangalang “JJ Ocana” na sinabi niya sa anak ko na memoryahin daw ng anak ko ang mga tenets ng Sigma Rho at idinugtong niya na “see you on saturday. we are looking forward to having you as a brod.”

Doon po sa ipinadala ni Jj Ocana na Sigma Rho Tenets ay kasama yung mga sinasabi niyang “Codes of Action of a Sigma Rhoan.” Ang pinaka-number one po sa mga Codes of Action na ito ay ganito ang sinasabi: “To stand by the side of any brother Sigma Rhoan right or wrong.”

Kahit nakagawa ng mali, kakampihan pa rin nila ang brod nila. Kahit gumawa ng krimen, o pumatay ng tao, pagtatakpan pa rin nila ang brod nila. Walang kwenta sa kanila ang Diyos. Ang batas ay bale-wala rin. Kahit bulong ng konsensya nila ay di pinapansin.

Mag-aapat na buwan na po mula ng saktan at kitilin nila ang buhay ng kaawa-awa kong anak. Ang napakabait kong anak. Kami po ay isang mahirap na pamilya lamang at ako po ay umabot lamang sa high school. Wala po akong gaanong alam sa mga fraternities at ang kanilang mga ritwal. Ang alam ko lamang po ay ang itinuro sa akin ng aking mga magulang na itinuro ko rin kay Cris at sa bunso niyang kapatid na si Renz. Ito ay ang magkaroon ng takot sa Diyos. Ang paggawa ng tama. Ang pagmamahal sa kapwa. Ang pagharap sa responsibilidad at paggalang sa batas. At ang paghingi ng tawad sa kapwa pag nakagawa ng mali.

Kung ito lamang po sana ang tenets ng mga fraternities hindi po siguro nangyari ang nangyari sa aking anak.

Salamat po.

Note: JJ Ocana is a sophomore law student, and was a USC councilor maybe 2 terms ago.

16
Dec

Surreal

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After a meeting with Schumey and Mam Ellen, I was on the bus on the way home when two surreal scenes unfolded.

At the corner of Edsa and Pioneer, a truck full of MMDA goons unloaded and swooped on the lone street vendor. One customer was trying to reason with the goons, but there is no reasoning with goons. When the bus passed by the MRT station, I was tempted to shout to the vendors that the goons were coming.

And then, at the Baliwag Transit terminal in Cubao, there was this man who was seated on the sidewalk gutter, with a younger man holding him. I dunno if he was drunk, or he was having medical problem. At their right was a police car, but the policemen were scarce at that time.

14
Dec

Kababuyan

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Nakakalungkot ang naging pasya ng Kagawaran ng Repormang Pang-agraryo. Sa naturang pagpapasya, pinapatigil nito ang anumang pagpapagawa ng San Miguel Foods sa lupain na kinuha mula sa mga magsasaka ng Sumilao. Nasabi rin sa naturang pasya na dapat igalang ng mga magsasaka ang pagmamay-ari ng SMF sa naturang lupain.

Sabi nga sa wikang Ingles, “screwed once again.” Bakit ko ito nasabi? Balikan natin ang nangyari. Noong panahon ng pamamahala ni Fidel Ramos, inilagay sa ilalim ng agrarian reform ang 144-ektaryang lupain na pagmamay-ari ni Norberto Quisumbing. Upang hindi makuha ang kanyang lupain, nagsampa siya ng isang apela at nangako na gagawa ng ilang mga gusali bilang kapalit sa pag-alis ng kanyang lupain sa ilalim ng agrarian reform. Ito ay pinagbigyan ni Ruben Torress, ang executive secretary noong panahong iyon. Nag-apela ang mga magsasaka sa Korte Suprema, ngunit ang apela ay ibinasura dahil hindi tumugon ang Kagawaran.

Makalipas ang ilang taon, ibinenta ni Quisumbing ang lupain sa SMF, at isang babuyan ang kasalukuyang ipinapatayo.

Ibinigay sa mga magsasaka ng Sumilao ang lupain ngunit binawi ito ng pamahalaang Ramos. They were screwed. Ngayon, they are screwed again. Habang humahaba ang kasong ito, nananatiling pag-aari ng SMF ang lupa. Ang mga magsasaka ng Sumilao ay nananatiling walang lupain upang masaka. Screwed once again.

Mas nakakalungkot ang mga reaksyon ng ilang mga tao tulad ni Mon Tulfo. Hindi nito makuha ang esensya ng isyu. Bigger picture? Simple lang naman iyan, Ginoong Tulfo: sa tulong ng SMF, mananatiling mga manggagawang walang lupa ang magsasaka ng Sumilao. Ganun lang iyon kasimple. Palibhasa kasi may sarili na siyang bahay at lupa. Kung matutuloy ang babuyan, mananatiling baboy ang mga magsasaka ng Sumilao sa lupang dapat ay sa kanila na.

—

Bilang sagot sa mga pagtatanggol ng mga tauhan ng rehimeng Arroyo laban sa isang survey ng Pulse Asia, kung saan sinasabing marami sa mga Pilipino ang naniniwala na si Gloria Arroyo ang pinakatiwaling pangulo ng bansa, nasabi ko na kasalanan din ito ng rehimeng Arroyo. Tulad na lamang ng nangyari sa Senado kahapon. Sa isang pagdinig ukol sa nangyaring pag-aresto sa mga mamamahayag noong Nobyembre 29, halos lahat ng inimbitahang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan ay hindi dumalo. Ang ganitong gawain ang naging basehan ng mga tao sa kanilang paniniwala.

Mas makakabuti kung tigilan na nila ang kanilang kahangalankababuyan at patunayan nila na hindi sila gumagawa ng mali.

14
Dec

Takot sa pagbabago

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Nagpunta ako sa isang department store noong Miyerkules ng gabi upang bumili ng pangregalo para sa aming Kris Kringle. Mayroon silang libreng gift wrapping, kaya pumila ako para ako ay makatipid. Nagulat ako dahil napakahaba ng pila. Sa sobrang dami ay naglagay pa sila ng express section para sa mga magpapabalot ng hanggang sa dalawang item lamang. Iyung regular na section, ang daming binabalot.

Habang ako ay nakapila, madalas na may dumadaan na lalaki na nagtutulak ng kariton na naglalaman ng mga pinamili ng ilang mamimili. May washing machine, rice dispenser, kalan, telebisyon, radyo. Mga hindi mamahaling gamit pero ito iyong mga bagay na hindi basta binibili. Paminsan-minsan, may nagtutulak ng mga gamit na ipampapalit marahil sa mga nabili na – karaniwan ay mga gamit sa bahay.

Bigla akong napaisip habang nakapila. Hindi mayayaman ang mga taong ito ngunit maalwan ang kanilang buhay. Mga middle class, naisip ko, upper middle class. Sila iyong mga sapat ang kinikita upang makabili ng mga ganung bagay. Marahil nakuha na nila ang kanilang 13th month pay at bonus. Marahil nagpadala na ng mga dolyares ang kanilang mga kamag-anak na nagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa. Sila marahil ang unang masasaktan kapag nagkaroon ng isang marahas na pagbabago sa ating lipunan.

Hindi ang mga mayayaman, dahil malamang ang kanilang kayamanan ay wala na sa ating bansa. Hindi rin ang mga mahihirap, kasi wala nang mawawala sa kanila kung hindi ang kanilang buhay. Oo, ang mga middle class ang malaking talunan sa isang marahas na pagbabago. Sila ang aayaw sa isang rebolusyon.

Kung gusto natin ng pagbabago, paano natin ito makakamit? Halos lahat ng paraan na naaayon sa batas ay hindi na natin magamit, sa kadahilanang tayo rin ang may sala (tulad ng pagboto sa maling kandidato). Ano ngayon ang dapat nating gawin? Mukhang mas gusto ng nakakarami na antayin na lang ang susunod na halalan. Pero paano tayo makakasiguro na magkakaroon ng eleksyon sa 2010? Paano tayo makakasiguro na hindi na gagalaw ang mga katulad nina Garcillano at Bedol? Paano kung mabago ang ating Saligang Batas? Maraming maaaring mangyari bago ang 2010. Nabubuhay tayo sa panahon ng walang kasiguruhan, kaya marahil ayaw na nating dagdagan pa ang kasalukuyang kalituhan.

Hindi ko masisi ang karamihan sa atin kung bakit ganoon ang kanilang pag-iisip. Pero mas nalulungkot ako na habang mas gusto natin na manatili ang ating maalwan na buhay, patuloy na nagiging malalim ang ating suliraning pambansa. Sana hindi natin pagsisihan ang ating pagiging takot sa pagbabago.

13
Dec

Shopping for a laptop, 2

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In the previous post, I talked about my plans on getting a laptop, and the horrendous headache that shopping can give. Well, let’s add more to the confusion, shall we?

Last night, I went to SM Megamall Cyberzone, and I took a look around some shops (some of them were closed for their Christmas parties). So I looked at Octagon, and saw this MSI Megabook VR320 K2, a Core2 Duo laptop with the following specs:

Processor: Intel Core2 Duo T5200 1.6 GHz
Memory: 1 GB DDR2
Video: ATI Radeon 256 MB Shared
Hard disk drive: 80 GB SATA
Optical drive: Super Multi DVD
Screen size: 13.3″
WLAN: 802.11 b/g
Weight: 2.1 kgs
Price: Php 39999/Php 3329.16 for 12 months

I think this is a steal. There are cheaper models from Blue and Neo but I haven’t considered them.

Remember that confusing Compaq Presario V3617TU? The one with confusing specs? To add more to the confusion, Silicon Valley Computer has that model, and they list the processor speed as 2.0 GHz.

Whether I will get a laptop or not remains to be seen.