Fear and Trembling for Iloilo City (and the Philippines)

First of all, this is not an article regarding Kierkegaard's book.

I am writing this article with fear and trembling. I was thinking of covering the latest video of Gordon with Moymoy Palaboy and the hacked website of Villar. But I’ll just forget about them and do something that’s more important to us: our security.

Why? Because no one is protected anymore. You should no longer feel safe at your home. Take this as a word of warning because bad things might happen out of nowhere. Even though you’re not part of the things happening today, it might happen – so watch out. It’s a lot better to be a bit paranoid than being careless and ends up with a body split in half.

Why am I saying this? Read tomorrow’s newspaper from Iloilo. This morning (around 3AM), someone threw a grenade on the ancestral home of Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas. The house is currently owned by his brother. You can read about it online right now.

This incident can be easily pointed to his brother’s possible beef with anyone. But a few weeks ago someone did the exact same thing to the Mayor’s house near the airport. As of this writing, no one was invited for questioning or became the suspect of the grenade bombing.

Does this mean anything to us? A big YES!!! Here are the implications:

• Anyone can become a target and the culprit can get away from it – the City’s most powerful man is susceptible to these attacks. He has an impressive security and we’re just sitting ducks here.
• The police are not ready to do anything – I’m sure they are working double time to find the culprit. But nothing has come out yet. If you become a victim, you’ll most likely end-up looking for a mythical needle in the haystack.

Can we be protected? I don’t know. What we should do for now is to be a bit paranoid about these events. Each candidate could be a target and those who want to inflict harm will do anything to get the job done.

Three OBVIOUS Reasons Why Party List Should be Abolished (Part 3)

Read Part 1 Here

Read Part 2 Here

Final Reason: THEY DON’T WORK

I’m sure marginalized sector from various industries have been represented in the senate. But have I seen their work? NO. Maybe I have seen BAYAN and GABRIELA do their chants on the street but other than that I have not seen one bit of help. The party list group should help a group of people that can’t be easily represented in the senate.

Why I argue they don’t work? Simple: because I’m a regular Filipino. I have encountered fishermen, sugarcane planters, CARTAPS (Carga Tapas or Sacada), really poor individuals, teachers (my parents), urban poor (my in-laws), carpenters, street vendors and I have seen no help that came from party list groups. They don’t do anything except to listen and create speech in the congress. If they do help, they will only help people from their region or their town or to the people they know. It’s NEVER nationwide.

This are the reasons why I want it abolished. No new laws to control party list or no new regulations how the party list will help. I just want this abolished. If you’re part of the party list group, feel free to leave a comment. You may have plans to help the country but when you get up there, you forget about us regular folks. Go on and gobble up to your pork barrel. We’ll just stay here, pay our taxes and hope to God something would happen in the congress that will say get those pseudo-congressmen/women out here! YOU GUYS HAVE NO BALLS!

Three OBVIOUS Reasons Why Party List Should be Abolished (Part 2)

Click HERE for Part 1

The second reason why I don’t like the current party list system is the sheer lack of knowledge of us regular folks. I think the only people who know about the party list procedures are those who are running or involved in a party list. Here’s the common knowledge about the party list – during elections a bunch of groups representing certain people are running for congress. With enough votes they will win. That’s what we know.

So what’s lacking from our basic knowledge?

• We are not sure who represents whom.
• We’re not sure what “enough votes” mean.
• We’re not sure how they will win and what they do in congress.

You can say that there are a lot of people involved in the party list system. But the fact still remains: 7-10 Filipinos are not aware of the party list system. Every party list is polluting the street asking the people for their vote. HOW CAN WE VOTE IF WE DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOU? Instead of spending money on streamers, spend it on educating the people what is a party list and who are you.

We can blame the COMELEC. Or you can point your finger on the PPCRV (I won’t) but since you’re there willing to spend money to win, at least have it in your conscience to tell us what a party list is.

Three OBVIOUS Reasons Why Party List Should be Abolished (Part 1)

When the party list system was introduced back in 1998, it was a revolutionary idea that I believed it would help people. I was in high school then and many people explained to me that it’s a chance for the marginalized people to have a voice.

But after 12 years…none. So consider this as my official statement AGAINST the party list system. I did some research and I even have more to complain! Here is my first of the three part problem with the party list system:

First Reason: The Party List is Veiled in Secrecy

By law, party list groups are not required to reveal the names of their candidates. This statement alone makes me angry and highly doubtful about the party list system.

Why is this you ask? Any aspiring party that wants to be accredited are not required naming their candidates. Only AFTER accreditation they will be compelled to name names. Do you know what this means? This simply means anyone can “shop” for an accredited party list.

COMELEC actually tries to avoid this problem by only allowing candidates that came from the same category. For example, if you’re representing the fishermen – you have to be a fisherman. But here’s the kicker:

Sec. 9, RA 7941 the nominee is not necessary someone poor or the traditional idea of a fisherman. The nominee is not necessarily someone who “wallow in poverty, destitution and infirmity as there is no financial status required in the law. It is enough that the nominee of the sectoral party/organization/coalition belongs to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors, that is, if the nominee represents the fisherfolk, he or she must be a fisherfolk, or if the nominee represents the senior citizens, he or she must be a senior citizen.” This simply means any billionaire could be part of a party list as long as a he has a small business within the same industry.

“Shopping” for a party list is actually possible no one really knows the nominees.

Stay tuned for the second part.

A Message to The World: Global Warning or Not, We Have to do Something

(Note: I like talking about politics but I care more about nature. Why? Without nature, there would be no politics. It just makes sense. So here it goes)

I can't believe what I'm seeing online. For the past few days, the Northeast portion of the USA is covered in snow. The people are having a really hard time dealing with this condition. Although snow do happen in the area, it's quite devastating this time. Lots of people are affected by this weather condition.

But that's not what I'm complaining about. I know the US government is a lot better than us here when it comes to this type of problem. Yes, I read some fiasco about help in Katrina but things could have been worst. I mean, place the same situation here and millions could be still suffering.

What I'm complaining about is the question asked by some people regarding global warming. To sum their complaints, it goes this way, "if it's global warming, how come it's very cold in the Northeast USA?". I can't believe I'm about to talk about this but there are people who can't seem to understand how the weather works GLOBALLY.

Don't just say that there is no global warming in your area because it's cold. Come down here and experience the increasing heat everyone has to endure. Global warming is not just about hot weather conditions, it's about EXTREME weather conditions. A few decades ago, the weather was just tolerable weather it's hot or cold season.

Of course, you can rationalize that it could another "cycle" the world is going through. But don't you think this cycle will eventually kill us? It's a very disturbing thought that we are not part of survivors in the next millennium simply because Earth is about to change. If you use this rationalization, you just created a game that you can't win.

That is why I believe in global warming. By believing in this scenario, I can force myself to do something about the environment. This means I am part of the game and I have a chance to win. If I play my cards right, the world will not be so hot or too cold for our children and children children…ad infinitum.