blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Hello from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA I'm now in Baton Rouge where I will do research and teach about the biodiversity of the Philippines at Louisiana State University. There is something about Louisiana that makes me immediately feel at home. It must be the southern hospitality. Louisiana and the Philippines have a shared history too. When the US State was once a French colony, the first Filipino migrants to what is now the USA first stayed here. Called Manilamen, these migrants worked as shrimpers. Louisiana is the only US State where French has official status. Some street signs are still in French. The state is also the only one to have a civil law system as compared to the common law system in the other 49 states. Cajun French is being promoted and conserved. 100 posts and still going! I can't believe I have written that much in a time of less than two years. All that material can make good fodder for a book! Saddam hanged! The papers here have Saddam being hanged. A c...

Finally, we have a fairly balanced orthodox Bible film. While some people may think Mel Gibson's "Passion" was faithful to scripture, the material for the film was taken from a German nun's private revelation. I never planned to see "Nativity", thinking it was one of those hagiographic dishes Hollywood cooks up from time to time. But I saw the traffic yesterday afternoon and I decided to cool off at a mall cinema. I wasn't disappointed. The movie is a new treatment of a traditional theme. OK. The movie producers did not offend traditional Christian (read Catholic and Protestant) sensibilities. The producers did not have to cook up gimmicks like having a scene where Joseph and Mary fulfill their marital duties (offensive to Catholics) or the Holy Couple kissing (offensive to Protestants and Catholics). Instead we see a young couple who are in love. Catholics are reared on an image of the Holy Family, but when I was a kid, I never thought Mary and Joseph...

Three days ago, I had an animated conversation with a former student of mine who now is an mid-level executive of a government agency involved in regulation. He told me that he gets a heaps of Christmas baskets and other presents from contractors and suppliers. His rule is that if the supplier or contactor is involved with a project under his watch, he returns the present. But he finds it increasingly difficult to draw the line. He says that if it is a money envelope, it is easier to deal with it. He told me that bribers know when to sense if the public servant is really in need of money. So I told him "I am in government service too, and we all know that government servants are ALWAYS IN NEED of money. Just look at the paychecks we get!" But contrary to what many in the public think, the overwhelming majority of public servants are honest. The papers report of cab drivers, security guards and other blue collar workers returning thousands if not milions of pesos to their ri...

UP Lantern Parade Cancelled!, Prayer rallies In an unprecedented move, University of the Philippines (UP) Chancellor Professor Sergio Cao and the deans decided to cancel this year's Lantern Parade scheduled for today. They cited as reasons "threat to life and property". This December is turning to be a long hot yuletide and amihan (winter monsoon) season and this is not due to global warming. In the national arena, protests are set to rail against the Arroyo administration's attempt to railroad changing the constitution (cha-cha). The public has noticed the game plan all along. First was the people's initiative (which the Supremes declared unconstitutional), then the undue haste of the House to declare itself a Constitutional Assembly without the Senate's concurrence. Civil societies and the Catholic, Born Again, Mainline Protestant and even the Iglesia ni Cristo churches have decided to hold prayer rallies. The Catholic led one is estimated to gather a few h...

In the Russell Crowe megastarrer "Gladiator" the most famous lines are Proximo: The giraffes you sold me don't mate. They just eat. You sold me queer giraffes. Maximus: Unleash hell! Gracchus:I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the coliseum. Lucilla: The Senate has its uses. In Gladiator, the Senate is pictured as a counterfoil to the Emperor but alas, a scheming one. But Romans wanted it at that. Even then the motto of Rome was, is and will be SPQR Senatus Populasque Romanus. Is there a Senatus Populasque Philippinarum?

Fed up with your president or prime minister?, your congress? your parliament? and constititional change? Then this book may be your liberation. I bought an interesting Lonely Planet guide on micronations. Wikipedia defines " micronation " as "are entities that resemble independent nations or states , but which are unrecognized by them, and for the most part exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators" These places are real. They each have a geography. Most if not all issue passports, grant citizenship. Their founders claim that their countries fulfill the criteria set by the 1933 Montevideo Convention defining what a state is. These are Permanent population Defined territory Government Capacity to enter relationships with other states The micronations say that if they fulfill these criteria, it matters not whether the UN, EU, or any other state recognizes them or not as a state. So let me take you to some of my favourite micronations F...

The ASEAN Summit was rescheduled due to an approaching typhoon. The storm intensified the winter monsoon that gave Manila a spell of cool weather. And this is the perfect weather for people power. EDSA I and II happened in the "amihan" season. Two Inperial asses were kicked by the people. In contrast, EDSA III happened in the height of the monsoon break (the Pinoy high summer and perfect beach weather). Guess whose ass got kicked? It's not the one who warms the palace chair. So it is no surprise that our Yoda had to call for a consitutional convention instead of con ass. It's amazing how quickly politicians will go to save their asses. Her Imperial Majesty may have started to see the invisible hand writing on the palace wall. She is a survivor par excellence and probably told her retainers to cool it. Nonetheless, this won't stop the alliance from having their Dec 15 rally at the Luneta. This shoud make for an interesting December and January.

The Philippine House of Representatives approved a resolution calling for the House to constitute itself into a Constitutional Assembly a.ka. Con Ass. The legislators want to propose amendments to change the form of government from a Presidential system to a Cabinet system. The House amended its rules in order to pass the resolution. The opposition tried to derail this but failed due to lack of numbers. The loyal stormtroopers are commanded by the Speaker, Joe de V.! Anyway, George Santayana once wrote "Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it" To that we add: "Those who don't watch "Star Wars" are condemned to be ruled by the Emperor! or Empress?" I like how the Imperial Senate meets. On one floating dish we see Senator-Queen Amidala say "So this is how democracy dies. With applause!" clap clap clap clap. In the next episode, we learn that Princess Leia was on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan on behalf of the Imperi...

Nicole gets justice One of the four American Marines charged with rape of a 22 year old Filipino woman (with a court assigned pseudonym "Nicole") in Subic Freeport was convicted by a Makati City court of rape. Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was sentenced to reclusion perpetua with a jail term of 20 to 40 years. The other three soldiers were acquitted as the court did not find evidence to convict them. The case has strained US-Philippine relations. It also placed the visiting forces agreement (VFA) into the spotlight. Feminist organizations and most of the papers hail the judgement as "historic", "victory for Filipino women" and "triumph of our justice system". However some are not completely happy as three of the accused were acquitted. Lawyers will have a field day dissecting the ruling. Some lawyers have said that the judge overlooked a legal principle that says in rape cases, witnesses who do not do anything to stop the crime, are accessories to ...

I got an early Christmas present, a book entitled "All Saints"by Catholic writer Robert Ellsberg. The book is a year's worth devotional of saints, the canonized, the uncanonized, the popularly canonized, non-Catholics and even non-Christians and the one occasional atheist! Sanctus (the root of the English word "saint) in Latin means holy and in the early history of the Church, most of the holy ones were martyrs, which in Greek means "witness". Since this book is is so unlike the hagiographies we know, it isn't boring. In fact it drills into the soul. Some of my 20 fav saints in the book are 1) St Mary, Theotokos 2) Galileo Galilei - faithful to science, faithful to the Church. 3) CS Lewis - Christian Apologist 4) Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King - apostles of non-violence 5) St Andrei Rublev - painter of the "Trinity" in the Russian Orthodox Church 6) Venerable John Henry Newman - English Cardinal 7) St Francis of Assisi - Saint of Natur...