Post Bar Exam err.. Post

3 days after the announcement we’re still pretty happy. Ok about 10% happy and 90% relieved that it’s finally done and over with. I was with Jill on Friday when the announcement was supposed to have come out originally, learning it was postponed when it was too late and I was already on my way to her place. I’ve given it time to marinate in my brain and this is what I’ve come up with.

It’s good that in our society, there are still things difficult to achieve – I read a book a few months ago about Indiana State’s high school basketball program, the very one that produced the miracle team Milan, depicted in the film Hoosiers in 1954 (ok I know this sounds like I’m digressing into basketball talk but hear me out). Back in those days, Indiana high schools regardless of size compete in a single tournament for a single championship, making their win even more dramatic considering they only had a population of 165. This changed in the 90s when, due to overzealous parents (accdg to the book) who wanted their kids to taste a championship at least once in their lives, divided the tournament, resulting in different ‘championships’ throughout the state. Obviously this watered it down and consequently (possibly without their realizing it), negating the glory that came with it.

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Pacquiao Fearless Forecast plus Other Thoughts

I’ve been scouring the Internet for the past hour trying to find a streaming live video, audio or otherwise any whatever sort of livecast to no avail. I’ve found a few but they aren’t free, and their amateurish looking sites don’t look very reassuring, so no go.

Jill’s household usually buys into whatever Sky offers during Pacquiao fights to watch it live, but I’m still suffering from heat fatigue I got last Friday when I stupidly took a walk under direct sunlight for almost an hour, making me sick. I had two events that day and by the second one that evening my muscles were cramping and I felt like collapsing. Anyway I’ve decided to rest in for the weekend, and maybe get some work in too.

So anyway here’s what I think: Pacquiao’s gonna win. Which round? I dunno. What do I base this on? Just the way he looks. I know it sounds corny, but he does look like he’s got the ‘eye of the tiger’, whatever that is. Win or lose, he’s really become more impressive than I originally sized him up to be, mainly because inspite of the fact that he has already achieved far more than our wildest dreams would’ve thought anyone could, he’s still at it, training like his whole survival is at stake.

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Jun Lozada, You Have NO Friends.

Joker Arroyo blew his top at Lozada before he finished recounting how he had a meeting with the Senator’s wife. And as I watched at how Lozada started raising his patent girly voice in surprise, eventually leading to tears, I just had to wonder if Lozada knew what he was getting into when he got there. Apparently, judging from his reaction, he doesn’t.

Jun Lozada imho, is either naive or in denial. He clearly doesn’t see that in politics, he has no friends. As he declares how much of a fan he is of Joker Arroyo, the surprise in his voice at Joker’s anger was hard to mask. Lozada is a babe in the woods, and to his credit he admits as much. He is completely clueless to the fact that at this point, he shouldn’t trust anyone, because in politics it is every man for himself, each one looking out for number one. So if he really truly believes that Mike Defensor, Sec. Atienza, or anyone else amongst his proferred friends would not sell their souls to see him shut up, he’s sure to be crying even more in the days to come.

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An Impressive Show Of Farce

But first before I launch into my tirade, imagine how it feels like to be an active Marine in the military these days. First, you’re sent off to Basilan or Jolo to fight equally if not better equipped than you, with hardly the kind of support needed in case you get wounded or shot. Then, you get to watch the news aghast as Congressmen walk out of Malacanang with gift bags filled with P500,000.00 in cash bundles.

How would you feel? After seeing your comrades die in battle because the military lacks the funds to provide for them and after constantly risking your own life fully knowing you may be next, I’d probably riddle the tv with bullets right there.

But let’s not even talk about the Marines. How about the OFWs? The government heralds these as heroes, but let’s face it. They’re victims. Victims of a government that is so corrupt it has forsaken the country it’s supposed to work for, and so therefore these decide look for employment overseas instead. Calling them heroes is assuming that these people prefer to go abroad. That’s bullshit. Why in the world would you wanna leave your family? Why would you want to have your children raised parentless or your relatives never knowing who you are? Given a choice, of course you’d want to stay home.

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RIP

  1. Jose Allan De Jesus
  2. Liza Marquez
  3. Lester Peregrina
  4. Janine Marcos
  5. Anthony Marius Arroyo
  6. Maria Celeste Cruz
  7. Jee Ann De Gracia
  8. Ceasar Ni�o Vidamo (earlier posted as Cesar Nino Vidano)
  9. Rainier Tan
  10. Maureen de Leon
  11. Ricardo Petras (earlier posted as Bertras)

As of right now these are the names of eleven people whose lives were inexplicably taken from them by some maniac who decided to blow up Glorietta the other day. I read these names and I wonder who they are, what they could have probably done to deserve their fate, and what level of lunacy there is to have influenced the nameless forces that had seen it fit to do such a thing.

And since we have no answer to any of these, the only thing we can do is to pray for them, and hope that one day whoever it is to have caused such grief will be held responsible, so as to bring even a flicker of meaning to all this craziness. It is only right.

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Thoughts on the Senate Hearings

This is a waaaay belated post that shouldve come out last month. Was just too lazy to actually publish it here but for all its worth, here are some random thoughts I put down when I was watching the Senate hearings of mid to late September. Enjoy.

I loved the Senate hearings. You don’t need to use words like ‘true to life’ when describing it, because it’s real live drama and comedy right there and then. Finally a way to figure out these people via realtime impression! Anyway, I thought I’d list down some impressions before I forget them, considering we may or may not be seeing any more of these for a while depending on further events.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano – As head of the panel on the NBN deal, I thought he was fairly up to task inasmuch as most of the Senators were eager to line up to ask their questions. Truth is, I was never really impressed at the guy. He’d occasionally make some slam bang accusation against the administration, guaranteeing an audience when he makes some speech or presentation, only to result in pffft, nothing. It has a lot to do with his lack of speaking (and maybe even writing) ability, in particular, focusing on what he’s trying to say. This is a basic, I think, most politicians need to master – which after developing that, a sense of drama would then be next. I have heard and watched a lot of his speeches and so called ‘exposes’, all of which leave me aching to tweak his speech. I’d understand what he’s trying to say, and imagine how best he should say it, but instead he says something that’s completely off-base, misses the point entirely, or most of the time forks onto another topic or topics. It’s a pain to hear him talk. Sometimes I think he just has too many things he wants to say at the same time.

Sen. Mar Roxas – I was actually planning to mention Mr. Palengke later on, but I’m adding him directly under Alan Cayetano to serve as a contrast to Cayetano’s inability to express himself. If A. Cayetano cannot bring two different thoughts on a single paragraph together, Roxas on the other hand is the master of it. When he started on CHED (formerly NEDA) chair Neri, Roxas knew exactly what he was doing, with one question leading to another and to another and onto, finally, his point. It’s obvious he thought it out as if knowing what the answers would be before he asks them, leading me to wonder if he was a lawyer (I couldn’t find out if he is on his website). He displayed the thought organization needed to make a point via direct questions, and then brought on the drama big and powerful as he reached the end. Unfortunately he starts screaming when he gets near his point, but I could see it as a headline maker anyway. And even then it was ok, because sure enough he finally got the clear reply – the two or three clear statement from Neri that made you second guess his sincerity – and you feel like applauding. Sure enough, Roxas gets the headline the next day. When the papers need an image or the TV needs a two second headline video, it’s Mar Roxas we’ll see, pounding (and screaming) away as he makes his point. As such there’s no question we’re going to see more of this guy in this country’s future. He obviously knows how to work a performance and I’m glad, in this case at least, he was on the side of the truth.

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