Back to the same old dirty business of trapolitics
Okay. So I put this picture of Big Bird in this entry because I wanted to be cheerful when I am anything but. What I actually am is pissed off.
Maybe it’s nothing, maybe it’s just a ploy, maybe he has something creative, clever and ultimately principled up his sleeve but hell if I wasn’t upset by the news report that Alan Peter Cayetano has pledged support for the economic legislative agenda of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
Hey, maybe it’s something he ate yesterday. Or there was some odd cloud formation that emitted
weird radiation and it affected his brain temporarily. In whichever case, I was do disappointed by Sen. Alan’s declaration. It was something I did not expect from the guy I practically begged my relatives to vote for (kahit may mga nagtaka because they all know that I essentially don’t believe in elections yet there I was making a pitch for Cayetano and bullying my relatives to make sure that they spell out his complete name A-L-A-N P-E-T-E-R Cayetano so the vote doesn’t go to the fake candidate.)
So much for the political polarization we witnessed during the elections. Sen. Aquilino Pimenetel’s explanations on how the Senate is divided into the majority and the minority were more than enough to make me sick. Now it’s back to the dirty old business of wheeling, dealing, and exchanging one political compromise for another. Someone get me a barf bag, now na.
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It’s awful how by the hour the chances of Koko Pimentel becoming senator becomes slimmer. Next to Cayetano, he was the one I lobbied with my relatives for. Unbelievable that Migz Zuburi will take the 12th seat. The man is like a dandelion weed. Don’t even let me get started on the hypocrisy of his freakin’ Biofuels Act.
"Thank God democracy will still prevail in this country." "Where’s Audrey, where’s Audrey?"
Ewwwwe.
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This is why it’s never a good idea to pin hopes on politicians. They are never beholden to their voters (the Filipino people) but always, always to whoever is more powerful and will help them become more so themselves. Personal gain and personal interest always enter the picture (actually, it IS the picture) and in the end it’s the Filipino people who are left in the dirt. It’s compromise for the sake of something bigger and self-serving.
What’s worse? Most Filipinos are divorced from the entire process legislative process. They are not aware of how exactly laws are passed, and hence most politicians at the local level are never made accountable for their crimes of bypassing or voting against measures that aim to give concrete aid and benefit to constituents. And am not talking about giving the occasional school room or waiting shade a new coat of paint.
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My mom’s bestfriend is in the country (she’s based in Washington DC) and is working on a project here for three months.
I’ve known Tita Agnes all my life and many of the books that I grew up and loved were gifts from her.
We’ve never had serious conversations about life or issues, but the other day over coffee and cake I couldn’t help but blurt out how the Human Security Act will be implemented next month and that’s she’ll be here to witness the chaos.
Of course I didn’t intent to scare her or make her panic. She didn’t anyway, but she did ask what the heck the HSA was and I, suddenly fired up, told her.
She shook her head and said how strange it was that nothing changed in the Philippines politically, and how it seemed that things have actually become worse.
Understatement of the century. I turned my laptop on and showed her a report on the AFP’s attempts to absolve themselves of the responsibility for the abduction of Jonas Burgos.
"The more things change in this country, the more things stay the same."
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The BFAD issues a warning against buying food made in China. Uh-oh. It’s like everything’s made and grown in China these days. My journals (even the ones friends brought from Europe) are made in China.
Paano na ang aking champoy and kiamoy habit?!
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Am in an internet cafe and next to me is a deafmute girl who is using the webcam to communicate with her friend. I can sense and see her out of the corner of my eye gesticulating happily in sign language, smiling and laughing silently. Sometimes when she’s particularly happy or excited about something (gossip? sharing about a boyfriend?) she practically jumps out of her seat in exuberance, her hand and fingers weaving stories out of thin air, and everything is captured on camera, the images beaming through wire to wherever to her friend who, I bet, is also laughing and also conjuring long narratives with her hands.
I love technology.
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FIVE HOURS LATER
Sonny Trillanes calls Migz Zubiri a cheat and says he (Trillanes) doesn’t want to work with a cheat. (!!!). Zubiri retorts that the accusation was most unfair and says that he and his lawyers are mulling over filing libel charges. Hilarious! Totally made my day. Sen. Trillanes is clearly not one to mince words. I mean hey, the man has been incarcerated for three years now — he owes no one nothing, and Zubiri is only making Trillanes even more famous than he already is he does file charges (and in turn, Migz is making himself appear more of a fluffy idiot).
Been trolling the net regarding the various anti-terrorism law versions all over the world and I have a pounding headache from staring at the monitor too long.
