blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo plans to go back to teaching . The blurb quoted Mrs Arroyo's son Mikey. I never had Mrs Arroyo teach me economics (only the indomitable Winnie Monsod). But in the words of Sister Lucy (the nun I helped in teaching science to indigenous Australian kids when I was doing my PhD in Oz) I would say "She would make a good teacher!' Being a prof myself I immediately realised that Mrs Arroyo ran the country as if she were managing a rowdy freshie class. The freshie prof should be able to 1) Throw a bit of temper trantrums some of the time, 2) be imperious , 3) shut up psuedointellectuals and "philosophers" and 4) know what he/she's talking about and come to class prepared. Mrs Arroyo for all her faults was extremely good at this. She would make a good PhD supervisor! As for Mikey, the only way he could shed his "mama's boy" image is to do an act of rebellion that all normal tee...

The news services and blurbs report that the single toilet in the International Space Station broke down and the astronauts and cosmonauts have to use the one in the emergency Soyuz capsule. Pioneers and explorers have had that problem before. Now that really wasn't a problem when Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue or when Magellan sailed around the world. They can just do what nature requires at the rear of the ship! We have building codes on Planet Earth that legally requires architects and engineers to calculate the number of toilets in a building depending on the number of occupants. Now why didn't NASA and the Russian Space Agency ever thought of adding a spare toilet? The closest analogue to the astronauts problem on Earth is when you go camping and you can't do your thing in the bush. (There are some camp grounds that prohibit doing it in the bush!) You find that the humus toilet is kaputt! So you have to do it in your car! The Vatican has just reiterated its ban on orda...

There is one memorable line (now the subject of a zillion parodies!) in the movie "A Few Good Men" delivered by Colonel Nathan Jessep (played by Oscar winning actor Jack Nicholson). Lt Daniel Kafee (played by Oscar nominated Tom Cruise) wanted to find the truth about the death of a Marine grunt and when the evidence pointed to Jessep declaring a "code red"then Kaffee wanted the truth and Jessup bellowed "You can't handle the truth!" This line was voted 29th most memorable line in American movie history. But seriously the line has something for Jun Lozada and his fans to think about. So much has been been said about Jun Lozada. He has been called the "bearer of truth" (OK sort of...) and Jedi Knight (Oh puhleeeze!). The fans are in adulation but this whole morality play now staged in the Senate,on the Streets and in the Universities makes enough good Lenten reflection as we approach Passion Week. Strangely, the Catholic Bishops have missed out...

The neo-feudal traditional politics that have characterized Filipino politics are fading fast,according to Prof. Randy David in his latest Inquirer op ed column. David places the context of Lozada's testimony in the Senate with last week's Joe De Venecia dethronement from the House speakership. Here greed is shorn off of its moral consequences. In the old politics loyalty once counted as David writes. But it is not the professionalism of modern politics that replaced it by sheer greed and it seems that someone in the Macapagal-Arroyo ruling cabal has managed to dredge out a modicum of conscience when he advised to "moderate their greed". The medieval idea likened the conscience as a castle keep. Consciences are never easily destroyed and perhaps Jun Lozada in waging what should be a private battle with the Devil, broke free with a barrage of arrows. It is just fortunate that other people now see how this battle is run as to fortify their own stands. And David cites t...

Commemoration of the Mendiola Massacre The Mendiola Massacre protesters tried to march to that bridge over the estero only to be met with police with placards with the non-violence message. The lefties cried foul and "psy war"! Well the fossilized ideologues of the CPP-NDF and its fronts don't have the monopoly on placards. Fascists or anyone for that matter can make them too. Also the commie fossils have to realize that how to do psy war isn't just found in Mao's Little Red Book or in " Philippine Society and Revolution". Ha ha ha! The lefties got a dose of their own medicine! Heath Ledger dies Aussie Actor Heath Ledger was found dead on Jan 23 in his New York flat apparently of a drug overdose. Ledger's performance as a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain" was amazing and this was his ticket to Hollywood stardom. Ledger was nominated for the 2005 Oscar Best Actor only to lose to Philip Seymour Hoffman who portrayed Truman Capote. We will...

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) want to revive the Anti-Subversion Law (ASL) as the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports today. Both houses of Congress oppose the plan. The President is again trysting with fascist ways. This betrays a lack of imagination. The ASL never achieved its goal of curbing communism. Criminalizing believers of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology is so passe. After all followers of this non-scientific belief system should be guaranteed freedom of worship rights! They worship Marx, Lenin, Mao and Jose Maria Sison. Marxism is a religion since it has no empirical basis. Once a practitioner of a religion begins to use a weapon to advance the religion's goal he/she becomes a terrorist. The Human Security Act should be enough for the moment. If need be, more teeth should be given to the law.

Senator Antonio Trillanes and his Magdalo group's antics at the Manila Penininsula Hotel deserves condemnation. As does the panicky reaction of the Arroyo government that again reveals its tendency to tryst with fascism. Trillanes and company took over the hotel and had a sit in with a few weapons and demanded the Queen to abdicate from the palace. Of course our Glorious Queen wants to reign till 2010 and she won't do an Estrada and cross the political Styx . Trillanes and company may have been desperate to get their grievances across but to resort to a stunt like this can make one laugh or weep. We laugh because when asked by the media we get vacuous answers. Like General Lim's vacuous "lilitaw and papalit" (the leader will appear) when asked about who will succeed our Queen if she gets dethroned! Where will the vaunted Leader come from? From God in heaven?, Ex Nihilo? Lenin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh must be roiling in laughter in Socialist Revolutionary Heaven! Perh...

It is really a matter of conscience. The bribe giver believes that conscience has a price and the bribe taker agrees that conscience can be sold. This makes me recall two interesting bribery scenes dished out by Hollywood in the movies. Incidentally these two scenes come from two of my favourite movies that got the Oscar best picture award (and best actor awards for the leading cast). The first one is a scene from Robert Bolt's "Man for all Seasons" when Thomas More was at the height of his powers and favour from King Henry VIII. While coming out of Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court Palace, he received a silver cup from Averil Machin, woman with a request from the court of requests of which More was the presiding judge. More also received gifts of candied apples to which More replied "ah to sweeten my judgement. I'll give your son the judgement as if he were my own, a fair one." He did not accept the apples but accepted Machin's cup. In a later scene, ...

Like a Pope, Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made many of our sacred national holidays movable feasts. This reminds me when Paul VI decided to make Epiphany movable (the first Sunday after New Year's Day) right after Vatican II concluded. There was resistance since a lot of people especially children who had learned their third R calculated that they would lose a few days from the 12 days of Christmas. But if January 1 happened to be a Sunday then kids would get 2 extra days of Christmas. But why bother? Schools tend to restart their terms on the first Monday after January 1. Christmas evaporates soon afterward. Gloria made June 12 movable, something unthinkable in other countries. What if the United States of America made July 4 movable (following Gloria's lead) and by quirk of calendar fate, Independence day fell on July 1? Horrors for the Americans! That's Canada Day! England and the other Commonwealth realms celebrate a national day called the Queen's Bi...