A rollercoaster of a year December 21, 2007

2007 is drawing to a close. And the country has weathered ups and downs.

Ups:

The peso has performed significantly better, with the latest standing at P41 to a dollar. It now seemed like a long time ago when the value of the peso was steadily going down at P54 to a dollar.

The country has  improved its economic standing in the global community.

Downs:

Coup attempts by disgraced senator Trillanes at another upscale hotel. Overkill by police, sensationalized by media. It’s a shame, really. Bringing a tank into the lobby of the hotel just to face several military men with not enough fire- and people power is bad enough; having the incident broadcast all over the world is worse.

Scandals. A lot of them. The ZTE deal. The CyberEd project. The WB deferment. Major contracts. None of them solved. Where are the whistleblowers now?

Somehow, the gravity of the downs greatly upsets the feeble power of the ups.

Here’s hoping to a better 2008–ever the optimistic Filipino.

Sometimes, the silent majority’s silence can be infuriating. October 31, 2007

The Estrada impeachment drama drew strong emotions when it first played out over local and international television six years ago. Emotions ran high. A multitude of people, tired of sitting and waiting for change to come, took to the streets and initiated change themselves. Those days were full of feverish moments; the newspapers had a field day covering all angles. When the impeachment case began, the emotions stayed with it. When it dragged on for years, the courtroom drama was just too much. The nation moved on to worse and more ludicrous government skirmishes, until finally Estrada was sentenced to reclusion perpetua. It seemed then that the justice system finally caught the big fish, and many hoped that it would stay that way. Naysayers, on the other hand, shrugged and said that Estrada would be out in no time.

The naysayers were right.

President Arroyo recently granted executive clemency to Estrada, restoring his rights under the law, and leaving him a free man. She justified this by saying that under the law, executive clemency may be granted to those convicted at the age of 70 above.

Let us assume that the law had been followed down to the letter. Let us assume that there are absolutely no loopholes whatsoever. That everything was, as they claimed, all legal.

The questions remain. Why the quick pardon? Why the granting of a pardon (which, even by the dictionary, assumes the existence of a misdemeanor) to an unrepentant convict who still swears by his innocence? Is this a precedent for future impeachment cases to come?

Estrada was unrepentant, that much was obvious. His refusal to acknowledge Arroyo as the rightfully voted president, his demand that the pardon be in line with his wishes, his continued protests of innocence–it is hard to grant pardon to someone like that, even for a former President. Why grant pardon to someone who refuses to acknowledge that he has done something wrong? Even for the sake of peace, justice must be upheld for all or none at all.

After that much-acclaimed triumph of the justice system, here we see the President waving all that away in favor of Estrada, all for the sake of “peace”. It is likely, though, that her granting a pardon was a precedent for when she takes the turn. Show pity to one and you get pity yourself. But the system? Overrode, by the looks of it.

It is highly disappointing, more so that the silent majority is doing nothing much but grumble. No, I don’t mean they should take to the streets. But one would have hoped for a more active resistance of the decision, even if at this point in time nothing much could be made.

Culture and morality down in the dumps May 28, 2007

This month our family took the long drive to Antipolo, that famous haven for retreat aficionados. The road was good, the markets were bustling with life, the traffic policemen were helpful, and upon reaching the famous Antipolo Church, we found ourselves in the middle of a business zone–only that it was made by the people, for the people. Outside the church were dozens of food stands, almost all of them offering basically the same items; the difference lies in the prices. The area of the Church itself was beautifully maintained: there were trees and ample benches for churchgoers. The breeze was slightly cooler than down there in the metropolitan, so it would be safe to say that this was indeed the easiest route to take to escape the stifling summer heat in the main city.

We drove to the SM Mall of Asia and its more famous steel globe. At night it’s lighted up in different colors, and always the Philippines is highlighted because the material used for the archipelago was of a different color. It was not as full as it should be, but since the week wasn’t over yet, that was perfectly understandable. If one would visit the other SM malls and compare it to the Mall of Asia, the difference would be astoundingly clear. For one, MoA utilizes natural light, allowing it to stream inside the building through expertly-designed windows. The stark whiteness of the place and the architecture was free flowing and gave it a different kind of ambiance that I suppose could rival other countries’ malls. Of course, since it is the biggest mall in Asia, naturally it was spacious. Fortunately, spacious didn’t exactly equate to more stores crammed near to each other; there were seats and benches available; there was even a grand piano in the Music Hall.

There was a photography exhibit going on when we went. Most of them were disturbing: photos of war and violence, death and suffering; although there were also candid shots, there weren’t enough to counteract the negative ones. I thought it spoke volumes about the world now.

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Upon my insistence we drove to Intramuros, expecting to see a fairly good crowd appreciating the Spanish architecture and the innate beauty of the Walled City. We walked in to find it deserted, with two or so guards wearing Ye Olde type uniforms (to complement the place I suppose) keeping watch. The place was as quiet as the grave. I thought it was a shame; the Mall of Asia was nearby, and it had apparently drawn the crowds away. But I can’t see why a balance could not be made; after all, Intramuros is in itself a very beautiful place, and since it is the Walled City, you can actually feel as if you’ve gone back in time. I’m rather fond of cultural places like this because they bear witness to a story (or several) that unfolded decades ago. I was really sorry to see that this place that was a piece of our history, and this place that is accessible and well-kept for the common Filipino would be left lifeless.

Change is constant–is politics part of this? May 12, 2007

Election day is on Monday–you can tell by the sheer number of commercials to hit television every waking moment and that blasted campaign music (if you could call that monstrosity music). As expected, the candidates are getting desperate; not only have there been election-related killings, but there have been news reports of vote buying and black propaganda in various places. I don’t know about these “various places”, but if what’s happened–and happening still–in Pasig is any indication of what’s happening anywhere else, then I think I pretty much have the gist of politics in the Philippines.

Concerning election related killings: So far I haven’t heard of any candidate being murdered (or assassinated, for the rich, famous, and arguably important) in Pasig, unlike those in the far-flung provinces, but the last time elections were held a mayoralty candidate was killed in a restaurant while dining with friends. It was said that Henry Lanot was so popular a candidate that the “dynasty” ruler of the time, Enteng Eusebio, endeavoured to solidify his and his clan’s hold on the city by disposing of his rival for good. His popularity ratings dropped then, but with most of the uneducated Filipino’s brains wired to have a faulty short-term memory, it’s no wonder the case was shushed and justice forgotten to be served.

Now that Eusebio’s son Bobby is running for mayor, however, old hurts are heating up again. This time the Eusebio clan is against a much popular candidate, one that has been gaining ground from the silent majority (more on the silent later). Dodot Jaworski is touted to be the next mayor of the city, favored by those who’d rather have someone else manage the city instead of another Eusebio taking the outgoing mayor’s place. Like many other cities in this country, Pasig is beset with political dynasty. The Eusebios have been in power ever since Caruncho stepped down, and power’s been circulating from husband to wife to husband to (possibly) the son. One would say that if the Eusebios have clung on to the position for such a long time, there are only two most likely reasons why: either people sincerely love them enough to continually vote for them, or people sincerely love their lives more than honor and country to consent to vote buying and/or election fraud.

It’s no secret that this kind of dirty game is present in the city. As election day approaches the Eusebios have already been televised because of accusations of vote-buying (which I perceive will never be given justice). Like any traditional politician they denied the accusations, saying that it was merely a ploy by their political rivals. They are getting desperate indeed; desperate enough to have television ads that are broadcasted nationwide despite the fact that their target is only one city. Desperate enough to consort with barangay officials and their constituents, handing money discreetly and pretending it was merely an act of goodwill, no strings attached. Desperate enough to hire people to rally for them. In fact, the silent majority who would rather have Jaworski take over is keeping mum, resigned to support Eusebio publicly yet in truth support his rival. There are talks of barangay chairmans calling over people who are known for their support for Jaworski. Goodness knows what happens then.

It’s sad to note that people actually vote for this kind of politician despite their nonchalance for breaking the law. They know it’s wrong and the people know it for sure, but the Filipino virtue of gratitude has crossed its boundaries and gone on to worse consequences. The haves think they are a godsend to the have-nots by giving them enough money to last a week. The have-nots think they are in their debt for displaying such kindness despite the fact that they’re barely on first- or even last-name terms. Because of ignorance and lack of proper education, the poor are used and abused, exploited by the learned and led to believe that it is now the poor’s duty to help them in the elections because of the “kindness” they showed. They do not realize that the money given to them was the money stolen–or will be stolen–from them.

We vote for candidates with knowledge, but given the wrong stimuli, knowledge can corrupt. We reject the uneducated because they are incapable of governing, but given the right guidance, ignorance can lead to simplicity of thought and judgement. This leader may be less prone to corruption, maybe, but more prone to being used by others. Not exactly the kind of leader that will reassure foreign investors.

What we need is knowledge coupled with good intentions and the will to see things through the end. We had that before, but he was corrupted. A pity; he could have been hailed as one of the greats without stirring up memories of his wrongdoings.

But I digress. Appeals to honor the country doesn’t seem to work much anymore. Money does. But sometime soon enough there will be a growing number of people who will finally realize that enough is enough.

And for the meantime, no, politics is not yet on the verge of change.

Spider-Man 3: More on the drama, less on the blood May 5, 2007

 Spoilers ahoy! Read at your own risk.

I was not expecting to find a seat when we decided to catch the movie on a Friday night, around 6:30 P.M. at that. Four of the mall’s five cinemas were all showing Spider-Man 3, and doubtless they would be full to the rafters. To my surprise the cinema was empty, and I didn’t see a single person standing just to catch the movie; it seems like in that particular establishment, they strictly imposed the one-viewing, limited seats rule, unlike in the Philippines’ largest mall. It was good of them to do that; somehow it lessened the pain of the hundred and twenty bucks one has to fish out for entry.

The graphics were astounding, as expected of a big budget movie. The aerial fight scene between Harry and Peter was nicely done and was one of the best fight scenes you could get from the movie. If you had seen better this would not have counted, but since the entire movie was 80% emotional problems and 20% actual butt-kicking, it would have to be taken into account.

The movie was good in the sense that it did not shy away from the notions that crying and displaying emotions is strictly limited to the female character. The relationship of Harry and Peter is much deeper than MJ and Peter’s is. Even the villains have problems of their own; Flint Marko is not as menacing as he looks, but rather pitiable. Eddie Brock was pitiable near the end, but he for one seemed to be the true villain in this movie, relishing his bad guy role as much as Peter relished his good guy role. Unfortunately, Brock only turns into the formidable Venom in the latter part of the movie; by then it was too late to show off his edge as Spider-Man’s arch-enemy. Truly, if he had been much more involved earlier, this would have led to better and longer fight scenes.

The movie was touted as the best in the series, and at first it was easy to believe. How could you not, when there are three villains all wanting to destroy the wall crawler? Throw in some personal problems and a personality shift courtesy of alien goo and you’ve got the perfect mix. But the balance wasn’t very well done: the goo seemed to be the worst of the lot, with Venom coming in a close second in terms of physical damage. Harry did the emotional damage, and so did MJ. What’s a confused hero to do but let the arrogance overtake him. The scenes in which we witness bad Peter drew audience laughs for his antics–and I believe, his hair. Changing his hairstyle in between good Peter and bad Peter was the cheapest, most effective, and virtually idiot-proof way to say “Hey! I’m different, see?” to unsuspecting audiences.

The movie, for all its special effects and subplots among subplots, was sadly riddled with cliches. How can a small child’s voice carry over a large crowd and lead them to turn their heads in the direction of the hero all at the same time? It would be more believable if the movement was in a wave-like, “ripple” motion. Furthermore, the movie emphasized the age-old notion that large, bulky villains generally have more brawn than brain. Towards the end of the movie, one of Harry’s metal bombs hit the gigantic Sandman and all he did was grunt. Classic. When something hits you and you don’t know what it is or whether it is potentially lethal or not, the quintessential grunt is the universal response.

Overall, the movie did deliver good fight scenes despite the cliches and the we-knew-he-was-coming moment that Harry pulled when Spider-Man was in deep, deep trouble. The emotions in the movie was a welcome deviation from the standard butt-kicking we had enough of in the last two films. The ending was a disappointment though, but the proposal being put off may be a sign of another movie in the works.

Spider-Man wasn’t the hero here. In fact, we hadn’t had much of him in action that the movie could have been titled “Peter Parker: 2, Spider-Man: 1″ for all we care. The real hero of the film was the butler. Really. If it hadn’t been for him, would Harry come and save Peter? No. Maybe not. But Harry’s death was a beautiful irony in the film: when one goblin died to kill Peter, another one died to save him.

The dread once again May 4, 2007

It’s now May. In the Philippines, it means only two, very related (and not very likeable) things: summer is halfway done, and school is rearing its great big head once again, ready to trap us poor students. I think I can safely say that this is the general sentiment of the student population, although there are a handful who have wandered from the natural, instinctive reaction to actually look forward to the opening of classes. Their philosophy: Sure, freedom is once again handed back to the school authorities, and web surfing and TV viewing times are drastically cut (if you are serious about studying, anyway), but at least you’ll be with your friends and some of the school activities are indeed looking forward to. Sad to say, only a quarter of my soul share this sentiment.

It’s not that I thoroughly hate school; I feel apprehensive and unnerved by what lies ahead. This being my last year in the school that had been my foster home for the last ten years, I do have fond memories of the place, as well as those of the teachers I’ve been through, whether good or bad or excellent or mediocre or downright terror-inspiring. I’m not dreading this coming year as much as I had dreaded my entering last year; maybe because there’s the added fuss about graduation, sappy goodbyes, and all the activities you could wish for. A big factor of my not-so-optimistic optimism towards this year is that I had successfully emerged from the hellish third year with only bruises and a treasure trove of memories.

Given all this excitement about entering fourth year, I’m not even sure if I wholly dread it. Maybe it’s an innate reaction in most students, the fear of the unknown, especially regarding something academic. Excited as I am for college, I’m sure I would be feeling this same thing once I enter summer of next year. College is a whole new world of different possibilities, and since I have this fear of the unknown, I don’t doubt that I’d be feeling the tremors sooner or later.

Forget nationalism; this is a war game April 28, 2007

It’s times like these that make me want to pack up my bags, say sayonara and good riddance to the Philippines, board the next plane to Iceland, and settle down for a cool, relaxing nap.

That would be the saving of me. Except for the fact that I’m several hundred thousand dollars short (what, you expect me to live not in comfort?) and that I am woefully incapable to live on my own. For now.

The heat! To live in the tropics is a crash course to hell. Some Westerners kowtow over the white sand beaches of Boracay and sunbathe without a care in the world. We heat-fatigued city warriors on the other hand simply adore the likes of Alaska and dream endlessly of having a white Christmas (instead of blackout-riddled ones). Of course we understand the hype about beaches and summer love, but since the entire world have contributed greatly to global warming, the grins on our faces seem to fade off inch by inch.

Today, for example. The heat was nearly unbearable. You just cannot stand being outside–or any non-air conditioned room, for that matter. We had to be outside the entire day to look for supplies, so trust me on a first-hand account of this. Needless to say, every air conditioned building was a welcome respite from the scorching blaze out there.

Global warming, indeed. I wonder if it’s too late now. Maybe not, but it will take decades to flush out the toxins we put in this (eco)system.

Languages, languages April 27, 2007

You can find it in the fantasy books and movies: people of different races or species having an unusual language. Die-hard fans and even curious onlookers would sometimes try a couple of sentences just to wow their friends. Almost the entire world is speaking at least two languages: if English is not your mother tongue, it most likely is your second. But with the majority of information today available for English speakers, the language is, quite obviously, the language to use primarily.

I, for one, prefer my second language to my primary one, which is Filipino (Tagalog). Now I know that certain individuals would decry this preference as akin to colonial mentality or abandoning nationalism, but it’s merely personal choice, nothing more. Besides, my own native tongue is, frankly, difficult to truly master. For about nine years we were taught the same thing on grammar, always the parts of speech. What was strange, though, is how the number of parts of speech there are seems to vary with every year level. There are times, too, when we are taught that the interrogative words can be classified as a pronoun, adjective, and adverb, with no further explanation as to how they differ in usage. Truly confusing for anyone wanting to learn the language; heck, even we who are born here still have difficulties. If those self-proclaimed nationalists and more importantly, the education officials will only clean up this mess and give Filipino a competitive edge, then maybe we could begin using this language for business affairs, and likewise, turn the preference back to the mother tongue.

There are those who have a third language, or at least, are in the process of learning it. Around the forums I’ve been in I notice a lot of people taking up Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese (the forums being anime-themed ones is a dead giveaway). About three years back, I think, I was immersed in Spanish, not really because I was keen on learning it, but because I wanted to be able to speak another language, and since Filipino has many of its roots in Spanish, I figured it would be much easier to learn than other languages with few or no contributions to our own. For a while it was fine, but I grew tired of it and moved on. I wasn’t too interested anyway. Today my current interest is in studying Japanese, and thanks to the anime otakus out there, a lot of resources (even too much!) is available on the Web.

Why Japanese? I admit that it was partly because I wanted to watch anime without subtitles, and partly because the sound of the language captivated me. I loved the simplicity of it, even though thoroughly learning the language is by no means simple! There are three writing systems for starters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. The first two are easy enough, but combine that with kanji, and you’ve got one major headache. Of course, what’s a language without learning new words; vocabulary is as major a headache as the writing systems.

Sometimes it occurred to me to just give it up and take up something easier. But I’ve gone and immersed myself in the culture, I’ve gone in too deep, that it’s a waste to just give up and stop trying. I’ve given up last summer, and that was right after I’ve memorized all of the hiragana characters; now that I’ve gone past lesson one on my textbook, it’d be a shame to forget all that. Right now I’ve taken a liking to podcasts, for those times when I want to refresh my admittedly limited knowledge while on the go. I downloaded the first five lessons from JapanCast.Net on my Palm and I think it’s quite good; not recommended for serious studying, though, as the topics vary greatly, but enough to jog your memory in remembering that long-forgotten term.

Techie-ness and recent Web finds April 24, 2007

In our computer class at school, my best friend and I are regarded as “techies”. Why? Because we know much more than they do. But if they were to compare us with real, hardcore technology fans, we are simply novices–just a little more advanced than the rest of my classmates. They shrink away when they see blue screens of death on our computer labs’ rusty MS 98s; they are at a loss when they see unfamiliar black screens with lines of complete gibberish. I have learned, through my years of facing these things myself, that the trick is good English. Somehow, when you have a fairly good grasp of the language, you can actually figure out what to do. Sometimes, I roll my eyes and think about how advanced users would feel if they knew that knowing how to use CLI–even just a couple of commands–would seem like godsend programming skills to my classmates.

Anyway, I think this definition of techie is too broad to be applied to us, but in my own, very limited definition, techies are people who are not only interested in technology and in studying processes and applications on technology, but also have the, er, means to satisfy their craving for more high-tech stuff. So even if I am as “techie” as my limited definition implies, alas, this particular techie has not the financial capability to keep up with the crowd. Some of my classmates are not even proclaimed “techies” at all, but they have the latest gadgets someone like me would die to have.

That’s a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but CNET has become one of my favourite haunts now, with me gazing longingly at that Apple iPhone and wishing for my computer to start up with a Windows Vista, or better yet, having my laptop become a Mac overnight. I have wasted hours looking through all the reviews and blogs, making me want to splurge–but I am counting on my savings to see me through college at the Ateneo, and the desire to do so largely outweighs my craving for these masterpieces.

The only thing I was proud of owning was a Windows XP computer, now overshadowed by those running Vista. We also have a laptop, but it is not solely mine. Now my pride and joy lies in my Palm Tungsten E2, a birthday gift for me from my parents, and one which I knew cost them dearly. It’s not the best of the lot; I wanted the TX badly, or even better, an 02 XDA, but as I had originally intended to get the Z22 (I didn’t want to burden them too much), I didn’t even think of complaining. My entire household has been splurging on gadgets lately; two of us have 3G capable phones, with the notable exception of yours truly. With a PDA like that, I think it’s too much to ask for a fantastic mobile phone to complement it.

—

Because my computer has been sluggish lately, and with me afraid of another accidental data wipe, I uploaded a lot of my files over storage spaces and Google Docs today. I have an account on esnips.com which offers 5GB of storage and Streamload, which offers a whopping 25GB of storage. I don’t trust the security too much though; as with all online sites, uploading sensitive data is a risk I don’t want to take. Just a couple of zip files here and there, and some hard-to-find music.

And because I love my Palm so much (ever since I got a 1GB SD card) , I have been uploading videos incessantly. To get these videos on my Palm, however, I had to find an online converter to convert those FLV videos YouTube has into an MP4 format, playable on The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP). For a long time I had been using Keepvid to download videos off YouTube (and some other video hosting sites), but had to stick with VLC Media Player to play them. It was a welcome change to finally encounter vixy.net, which not only downloads YouTube videos, but converts them into another format online before you download them. Then there’s media-convert, which can handle documents and music files as well. And today I came upon Zamzar, yet another one of those heaven-sent file converters, which, like media-convert, can handle other file formats. I found it worked a lot better than media-convert, but that’s just me. What’s more, it emails you the link to the converted file and provides twenty-four hour storage for it. Great for file-sharing. I only hope that in the future, they can prolong the storage time to a week or so.

On another note, I found another video hosting site, kyte.tv .  Not only does it allow you to upload your videos, you also have your own “channel”, and an embeddable TV to go with it. There’s also a LiveChat feature to interact with your audience, and other people can submit “shows” to your channel if you allow them to. It’s relatively new, but a lot of people are already signing up on the site.

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I think I find it much more comfortable for me to ramble on and on about sites and programs and useful applications than commenting on the ongoing saga of Philippine politics. But then again, this blog is about anything, and technology certainly classifies as something.

The mountains bear witness: another disgrace for the Philippines April 23, 2007

Ever since I heard the news about Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell missing somewhere in Banaue to see the Ifugao Rice Terraces, I was already hoping that if she did not make it alive, at least let it not be a homicide. She was found half-buried earlier this week, and an autopsy is ‘halfway through’ (Inquirer.net, 4-21-07). Unfortunately, earlier reports have already said that it was a homicide case.

In a country where religion is deeply intertwined with everyday life, and whose people are frequently described as “accommodating”, “friendly”, “hospitable” despite the weight of poverty, what makes a man commit murder for money? If they are in need of the money, say, for food, they might justify it with “a life for a life”. False logic? Or a case of, as Niccolo Machiavelli is quoted* to have said, “The end justifies the means.”?

To each his own, but I am a firm believer of the contrary–the end does not justify the means. There is no justification in taking a life for another life, but of course this point of view can take on a different meaning under different circumstances–for example, in a rescue situation or for self-defense, when there is no other option but to take life. But for a reason wherein there is a possible and achievable solution, taking what is not yours and what is not your right to take is hardly worth defending.

Anytime now, travel warnings may be raised around the globe. Am I sounding too pessimistic here or just being truthful, in a sense? The government will no doubt oppose such measures, citing this and that reasons, even in the glaring pieces of evidence. I don’t blame them for denying despite the proof; what government would want to keep prospective investors away?

The best they could do–and what they should do anyway–is to step up security measures not only for foreigners, but to civilians as well. This case was brought to light simply because she was a.) a Peace Corps volunteer; b.) a foreigner, and c.) an American at that. If she were a civilian, as most unfortunate victims are, we wouldn’t be hearing the news by now and I wouldn’t be typing this. This is not to say that local cases don’t make international headlines, but that those that do make them often concern foreign countries. Cases wherein the victims are poor individuals or non-influential figures are not given that much media attention and most likely, investigations as well. The UN would probably be concerned even in local cases, but if none of the other countries had citizens harmed over here, there’s no point scolding the Philippine government for its mediocre performance. For one thing, they at the upper echelons of power know about this mediocre performance everyone keeps criticizing, but they’re more than willing to turn a deaf ear to these cries if these doesn’t adversely affect their popularity ratings so much to make a sizable dent, especially with the upcoming elections. Sorry, but their attention is currently on that hard-to-get-without-illegal-means Senate seat. Better luck next time; that is, after the elections and after the mandatory cheating accusations. Until then, the citizens would just have to be strong for the country until they at the upper echelons of power would find it in their willpower to finally do something.

* According to Wikipedia, this phrase has no equivalent in Machiavelli’s The Prince.