ipersonallybelieve

It is such an outrage that the Palace wants to extend the state of calamity to a whole year (which covers the May 2010 elections as well). How convenient!If you can not declare a state of emergency directly, you can then use the current collective despair towards the same end. You then get to exercise as much power and control over a lot of things in this hapless archipelago. You also have the chance to manipulate the next elections so as to ensure you will be replaced (if at all) by one who may not have been able to rescue people from their roofs but can save you and your family from a slew of lawsuits to chase after your ill-gotten wealth ad infinitum.

This reminds me of a text joke of not so long ago about being a Filipino and reporting to St. Peter after your death.

St. Peter: Taga-saan?
Dead: Pilipinas po.
St. Peter: Ah, kay GMA? Sige diretso sa langit, matagal na kayong nasa
impyerno!

And so it came to pass that the Imeldific is forgiven by many Filipinos because she was able to do a lot of things while stealing from the coffers of the country and people remember much of the beauty she has built (but I still cannot forgive her for Dagatdagatan). The Ming was known to be unassuming during her term and managed to spearhead the cleaning of the Pasig River. But what of the current presidential spouse, who I gathered from tonight’s news, actually descended from a would-be -saint? Has he done anything that can compare with the perceived goodness/usefulness of his immediate predecessors?

This is to salute my three friends and former classmates in grad school who will be marching (with three-stripes gowns this time) on Saturday, October 10. Warm wishes of meaningfully lucrative careers as PhDs go to Joahn, Maan and Marivic. Needless to say, I should be marching with you if only…

Anyway, I can only imagine myself donning the doctoral gown someday soon. Actually, I may not attend the ceremony if ever I finally graduate. I have already experienced attending the very solemn commencement ceremonies of that prestigious university along Taft. What is important is to get the degree.

I am very happy for my friends that they have weathered all the ’storms’ towards this pursuit of ours. I should better get my act together lest a PhD is rendered irrelevant for me someday because of age. CONGRATS Joahn, Maan and Marivic!

I could not wait for tomorrow to post this after seeing in the early evening news how Miriam Santiago, some other senators and DENR Secretary Atienza put the blame on everyone else (the mayors, the dam managers and LLDA’s Manda) except GMA and the NDCC. Santiago was so predictably pointing fingers again at her pet peeve Ronnie Puno and whoever happens to belong to his family (that guy involved in the road safety scam thing). Of course, we know that Santiago has an axe to grind against Puno. The spectacle reminded me of my favorite YouTuber Ryan Higa who has this series of videos called Off the Pill where he has so far ranted about stinking people and farts.

The nerve of the DENR chief to accuse the mayors of not doing their job when we know that illegal logging is as much to blame for the flash floods in Marikina Valley as uncollected garbage and botched flood control projects are.

The Senators of course remain blameless despite the fact that their pork barrels were not going into much needed country wide development. I will not be surprised if they will blame PAG-ASA for not predicting how much rainfall would a typhoon bring. No, they will not do that now as Prof Winnie Monsod has already pointed out the sin of omission of Congress, the members of which did not care enough that the Weather Bureau is sorely lacking in equipment.

Pepeng and Quedan are probably communicating out there as the mission to cleanse this country of hypocrisy, greed and corruption was not really accomplished. The innocents suffer while the culprits merely rant.

Check out Ryan Higa over at YouTube. Just type Niga Higa and feast on this young boy’s irreverently creative videos.

If you are wondering why the Cory and Danding branches of the Cojuangco clan are at odds with each other, read the 9-part series on them at newsbreak online. The news group managed to print one chapter from the unauthorized biography “Boss Danding”. The stories it told beat all past and present family sagas you have read or watched. Here’s the link of the first installment:

http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6815&Itemid=88889066

My wish list for today:
1. Early 13th month pay;
2. A flat screen TV (21 inches lang);
3. A dissertation proposal to submit;
4. Good health (I am feeling the signs of old age already he-he);
5. College scholarship for my son (next year!);
6. Money for house repair (before the next typhoon arrives!)
7. More teaching years to come…

But Tagalog is Greek in Visayas, Mindanao

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:47:00 10/05/2009

Filed Under: Language, Judiciary (system of justice)

Inquirer’s Aug. 25 editorial pushed the use of “Filipino” in our judicial system to promote the “national language” and make “court processes more understandable to the people.” It commended the Bulacan courts for blazing the trail in trial proceedings. Its desideratum, presumably, is for the others to follow suit.

Verily, there is no question that the use of “Filipino” in the Bulacan courts allowed litigants there to understand what was going on in those esoteric conclaves. But what the Bulacan courts actually used in their proceedings was “Tagalog.” Of course, the people there understood it—they all speak the tongue of Balagtas! But the trouble with that is that Tagalog, as a language spoken in most of Luzon, is not acceptable to those living in the Visayas and Mindanao as a “national language.” It is by no means “national”; it is only “regional” in usage.

Imagine, if you will, the courts in the Visayas and Mindanao regions also using Tagalog in their proceedings. To a great many people there, Tagalog is as Greek as English is to them. If the goal is to make them also understand judicial proceedings, the courts there should also use the languages spoken in those areas. Makalibog gyud na, bay (That would be confusing, man)!

Such a cacophony of court records in different dialects would be one insurmountable problem on appeal even if we concede that the justices of the Supreme Court in Manila are fast learners and become polyglots overnight. Things are good as they are: in different jurisdictions, courts get the services of local interpreters for the benefit of laymen, but the official records are in English, a language used in official communications all over the country.

This country has survived well with English as its principal medium of instruction and communication. In fact, most of us concede it has given us an edge over other countries that spurn the English language. Making Tagalog an alternative medium and encouraging its application in official records would plunge this country into the abyss of chaos and confusion.

_________________________________________________
The above is a letter published in PDI today. I hope linguists would once and for all be heard by our brothers and sisters from the regions that FILIPINO and TAGALOG are not one and the same. And ENGLISH should not be venerated as a language that will save us all. Goodness!

No, this is not about noodles reportedly disappearing faster than we can say ‘pancit na naman?! from supermarket and grocery shelves. This is about what the likes of me who were spared from Ondoy’s wrath could be saying now after hearing of various stories of survival, near survival or utter disaster experienced by other people. Aside from Ondoy who killed less than 300 people but rendered millions homeless and desperate, there were the killer tsunami of Samoa and the twin quakes that flattened much of Sumatra and buried thousands under the rubble. There was also Pepeng which was obviously pushed off its path by a multitude of prayers. Through all these catastrophes, my family and I survived. The only prerennial calamity we suffer from (which I appreciate better now lest we experience worse situations) is financial but it is still nothing compared to the seemingly bleak future most poor people are facing after the events of the past week. At least, I have a job to go back to and my kids have a private school to return to and our house which has been under a moderate state of disrepair for years now, was saved from losing its roof for now. Funny that our TV conked out yesterday, that one appliance which kept us company for years already. After threatening to put it away for good and just wait for the 13th month pay to buy a replacement, it came back to life, same way it did many times before. It refuses to retire from service because it knows we are ill-prepared to replace it not even with one from the nearby surplus shop much less with a plasma type.

LUCKY US indeed and we will continue to pray for a peaceful and safe existence especially after watching Nicolas Cage’s KNOWING the other night. We will continue to hope and pray for peace and safety for the rest of the country and humankind.

My former Economics professor Winnie Monsod said last night on her News on Q segment that Ondoy brought out the best and the worst in us. She enumerated four sources of human errors that made things worst during Ondoy: 1. PAG-ASA’s lack of equipment to predict the amount of rainfall a typhoon would bring; 2. the NDCC ignoring much of PAG-ASA’s warnings and its own cluelessness as to which area needed to be helped first; 3. cars parked on main thoroughfares which later blocked the way for rescue teams; and 4. residents refusing to be evacuated because they feared that their homes will be looted (and some actually were looted) if left behind.

The first time I felt very vague of what tomorrow would bring was in 1984 when the economy was so down and the prospects were so bleak for new graduates like me. Yesterday, while we read of doomsday warnings through text messages (some of them were actually irresponsible gossip), I could feel the heaviness in my heart because I was imagining that worse could befall my family after we were luckily spared from the cruelty of Ondoy (despite the fact that we are from flood-prone Malabon). I do not know but I had the feeling that it is the Reaper’s season what with Indonesia and Samoa adding considerably to the number of souls called upon by the Creator. I only had myself to worry about in 1984, but now I have a brood of three extremely promising young Filipinos (sorry, the stage mother in me made me say this) and I wondered if life is about to end for them as well. I was already imagining us on the roof although if this scenario ever happens, that would mean the whole of Malabon disappearing into the sea. Ours is the last to get flooded in the present state of affairs. I could just shudder at the thought that finding my family on the roof of our house would mean the end for my relatives and friends who live in the low-lying areas of our sinking city.

What got me through the night of course was prayer; which I think was the common weapon wielded by millions of Filipinos who were equally threatened by Pepeng. Prayers seemed to have worked once again for our country as Pepeng, this morning, was reported to have weakened and slightly changed course, sparing NCR from a direct hit. I hope our kababayans in the other regions would not suffer much from this typhoon’s wrath.

It’s the feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus today, Oct. 1. I know this because my sons study at a school named after this popular saint who is said to grant requests for money. The school owner herself, Mrs. Prim, told me about it and this encouraged me to pray to the said saint when money was being so scarce (not that it is not anymore now) months ago.

St. Therese is also a favorite among chain e-mails and SMS. People would readily forward prayers bearing her famous photo (at least in e-mails) and send them with promises of good fortune to those who do not break the chain.

I remember writing chain letters and sending them out to friends when I was in the intermediate grades. There was stern warning for those who do not comply with the request of making 24 copies (handwritten or typed, this was when computers and photocopiers were unheard of) of the letter and sending them within a certain period of time lest one suffer from bad luck like so and so who died or met an accident because he ignored the letter.

Nowadays, I would skim through an obvious chain email or SMS but as soon as I see a threat of bad luck I immediately choose to delete or ignore said message. I think I am too old to be placing my faith and fate upon such a chain message. I wish friends would not forward anything of this kind anymore and just send those that wish only the best for the receiver.

Anyway, as St. Therese remains a favorite saint, we might as well say to her a prayer for those who are yet to recover from the onslaught of Ondoy:

I GREET YOU,
Saint Therese
Of the Child Jesus,
Lily of purity,
Ornament and glory
Of Christianity!

I salute you, great saint,
Seraph of Divine Love.

I rejoice at the favors
Our Blessed Lord Jesus
Has liberally bestowed on you.

In humility and confidence
I entreat you to help me,
For I know that God
Has given you
Charity and pity
As well as power.

Oh then, behold my distress,
My anxiety, my fears.
Oh, tell him now my wants.
One sigh from you
Will crown my success,
Will fill me with joy.

Remember your promise
To do good on earth.
Obtain for me from God
The graces of our Divine Lord,

(especially …The victims of ONDOY)

Amen.