A Day In The Life Of RJ

It was a long wait. Was it two years? And now Joc-Joc Bolante, the alleged “mastermind” of that “fertilizer scam” issue is finally here. And just like our “very optimistic” expectation before that Romulo Neri will spill the beans on the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal, I must say that we are none the wiser to assume that we can ever get something out of Joc-Joc’s mouth or head. If it took him two years to evade questioning, what guarantee do we have that the man came back here after much “reflection” of the grave offense he has done to this country and its people? So the guy did not tell the truth, what were you expecting, really?

Personally, I think we simply gave the man a chance to fabricate and weave a “good” story that would be fool-proof or looking at it from a different angle, we may have just given the guy a chance to “toughen” himself up and train himself to lie straight-faced. Two years is a long time, and mind you, for some people, guilt feelings wear-off over time. And for all we know, that is exactly what happened to Joc-Joc. We should have been more vigilant, more persistent and more “concerned” to not have let two years pass us by without grilling the guy while the guilt feelings might still be there and where “Freudian slips” may have given us the truth we’ve always wanted to know. There’s an adage appropriate for that — ah, yes. “Strike while the iron is hot.” So now, however you strike the guy, there’s no way you can mold him to what you want because he’s now “too tough” for any possible “strike”. Our senators can grill him all they want, stress him out, scrape-off his ulcers, turn him backwards and inside out and hang him by a pole for all he cares, but the guy — to my mind — will never “talk” or “sing” for that matter. (more…)

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A few hours after writing my last post dreading the thought of the slightest hint of tension and chaos that may be spurred by the seemingly fragile peace negotiations relating to the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (JBE) MOA on Ancestral Domain, the idea of such an event — although an acknowledged possibility, has been, to my mind, rather remote and too speculative. And that is precisely why I dismissed the idea instantly without second thoughts about it whatsoever.

It is therefore, almost surreal to me that news of such a tension popped out of my Google feed reader on a casual hit of the “refresh” button. As if (more…)

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Oh, finally! Good news. Although technically, there isn’t any law yet, the mere fact that lawmakers are talking about it (amidst issues of BJE, SONA, EVAT, Meralco, Sulpicio, 2010 pre-election campaigns and all others) is worth commending. Well, what do you know, we can get something good out of this house after all. And if you think that all I do is bitch all day and find fault in the government and the society in general, well, you’re wrong. If all I write and comment about are negativities and rants, it’s just that no good news has come my way. So anyway, let’s talk about this somewhat good news (i say somewhat because there’s no law yet, it’s still in the “all-plan-and-talk” stage). (more…)

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The 2008 SONA (State of the Nation Address) is over and done. What now? If you don’t mind, I’d like to quote and examine a few statements given at the SONA a follows:

“Many in this great hall live privileged lives and exert great influence in public affairs. I am accessible to you, but I spend time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.”

Oh, you bet. Many. Many of which, also, I’m quite positive, do not care one bit of what you, Madam President have to say in today’s SONA. And this is all because they are part of those people you identify in this statement below. (more…)

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Now, this is wrong. Very wrong. I’m not a Gloria fan myself but hey, I won’t do such a thing. Not because I’m an elitist (how can I be an elitist when I don’t even belong to the “elite” myself?) but because it is indecent, downright dirty and stupid. I mean, come on people! How many times have we seen such display of rudeness? This is not helping anybody. In fact, it is adding problems to our already problematic country. If you want to do protests on the streets, then fine, do it anytime you want but do not destroy, and spray-paint public property! I understand you don’t like PGMA, I don’t like her either. But hasn’t it occured to these people’s minds that this is but a waste of time and energy? If you want change, (more…)

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When asked about the Philippines’ biggest problem, specially now that the Presidential elections is but two years away, I suppose one would answer education, governance, poverty, criminality and hordes of others. Not to downplay all the major problems we speak of today, i believe there’s an underlying problem that’s being overlooked right now — and that’s attitude. Simple, plain attitude. Because the way I see it, these problems did not happen overnight. We didn’t just wake up one morning dead broke as a country. All these problems started small and eventually accumulated and worsened by the day. All because one, two or more people decided not to act and remained indifferent to the issue at hand. These people were short-sighted enough to see past than the current situation or were simply insensitive enough to care about the adverse effects of their negligence or indecisiveness to other people’s general well-being and right as this country’s citizen. And having felt neglected and uncared for, most citizens responded the same way to other people they’ve dealt with. They too became indifferent and assumed that they won’t be as directly affected as others. This has become a vicious cycle, as never-ending as our struggle as a nation to rebuild our reputation and economy. Remember “pay it forward” — but the opposite. That’s what happened. But what can we possibly do now to address this problem, you may ask? The answer lies within ourselves. We need a radical “change of heart” and we need to do it now. It’s always been said and quoted from one of the greatest philosophers, “Aesop”, that “one little act of kindness, however little — is never wasted. Everyone must act now and contribute what they can to push for “social transformation”. You don’t need to run for President. All it takes is one little act of concern. Let us care enough to throw candy wrappers in trash bins, to segregate our trash at home, to obey traffic rules, to help people in need as much as we can, to think twice before speaking ill of another, to scrutinize election candidates before voting for them, and many, many more little deeds that we’ve abandoned because of indifference. I know that social transformation, like the current problems we’ve created will not happen overnight. But if we do something now, it will make a world of difference today and in the generations to come. And it’s definitely better to do something about it than to sit and wait for the ultimate destruction that is to come.

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