Owner: (Mis)readings URL:http://karlomongaya.wordpress.com Join Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:48:28 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: a blog featuring counterobservations on events and texts from the vantage point of an eccentric, optically inconvenienced, and culturally dispossessed resident from the Southern Philippines. Site statistics:Click here
The First Round of 2010 2007-06-13 16:23:54 Ferdie Sibal of Quezon City thinks that the GO victory is ‘an accurate gauge of the national mood.’ Sibal offers five interpretations for the astounding opposition win, one of which describes it as “a protest vote against the anti-democratic policies of the administration.”
However, the US Ambassador to Manila sees the victory of the opposition as “democracy in action,” singing the tune played by Malacanang. Of course, who else do puppets mimic in the first place? No one else but the master who holds the strings.
So which is which? I think the salvaging and abductions of political dissidents are things that do not happen in a “democracy in action.” Neither is the harassment of progressive militant parties like Bayan Muna and Kabataan.
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Read more:First
How Much of the Country have You Visited? 2007-06-12 22:07:15 Early this morning, I was browsing over some blogs to let another depressive bout cool off when I found a program developed by Vaes9 that lists down the provinces that one has been to in a map.
Called Lakbayan, the said program uses shades of blue to mark how much one has visited a province. I tried answering the questions honestly so I got a score of C.
Most of the places I’ve been to are situated in the Visayan islands. I’ve never set foot to the areas in white shades. That includes most of Luzon and half of Mindanao.
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Read more:Country
The Biggest Obstacle 2007-06-10 17:32:40
Youth and student groups, like the Kabataan Partylist, the militant League of Filipino Students, and the multisectoral youth center Anakbayan, and the student alliance National Union of Students, are again agitating for a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented educational system.
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Back to Business as Usual 2007-06-10 16:55:07 When I first heard an expose by a Maguindanaon teacher on the electoral fraud in the southern part of the country over the radio, I concluded that the brave witness will be murdered by the powers that be sooner or later.
That was three weeks ago. Reading the news now, this headline came as no surprise: Maguindanao teacher who exposed fraud shot dead
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Read more:Business
Hillary Clinton Biographies 2007-06-09 05:53:21 U.S. Senator HillaryClinton
, the wife of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, is a candidate for the future U.S. presidential elections campaign and the first woman president in the superpower nation if she wins.
There are presently two books on Hillary Clinton
being featured in the Time Magazine website. The page, which can be accessed here, offers a side-by-side view of the two biographies:
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Ora pro nobis 2007-06-06 04:14:24 Orapronobis as directed by Lino Brocka is a film that should be shown in local moviehouses.
Orapronobis tackles the awful state of human rights in the Philippines during the Aqunio administration. Ironically, the abductions of dissidents, political killings, and proliferation of paramilitary vigilantes chronicled in Orapronobis occured after the ouster of the much-hated Marcos dictatorship.
These should have disappeared along with Martial Law. Unfortunately, the same things are happening in our country today. An online version of the film can be seen here.
The portrayal of the Philippine situation won it critical acclaim abroad. Still, the film never got shown within the country at all. An article (some parts have been left off for the purpose of brevity) from the circa 1980 alternative magazine MIDWEEK explains why:
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More Woes for the Student Sector 2007-06-05 06:16:43 Student
activists are again marching in the streets with the opening of classes. The group in the picture, led by Kabataan Party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines, was dispersed in Mendiola. But not before leaving a message.
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Marginalizing the Marginalized 2007-06-05 03:44:35 While I celebrate Anakpawis rep. Crispin Beltran’s attendance to the recent session of the lower house, I lament the fact that Bayan Muna may get two seats only.
Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. said the poll body would use the so-called “Panganiban formula” instead of the commission’s “2-4-6 formula” in determining the number of seats each winning party-list organization would have in the incoming 14th Congress.
“It’s only the No. 1 group that will get three seats under the (Panganiban) formula,” Abalos said at a press conference after the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBC), adjourned for the day.
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Piso Mo, Eskwela Ko 2007-06-05 02:56:27 The woes brought about by the rising cost of education was rightly described by Pinoy Dream Academy Scholar Chai in her observation of the UP Cebu College first year enrolment process yesterday:
Freshmen, nasaan ka na?
While public schools all throughout the country face the perennial problem of a lack of classrooms and teachers, UP Cebu yesterday saw an abundance of space and probably less cranky staff members in the CSO and the OSA on enrollment day.
I admit it is easy for me to say, now that I don’t have to face long enrollment lines, but I would rather have long lines and cranky staff than have a large portion of the youth population uneducated.
Before the gigantic increase in U.P. tuition, there used to be around 300 freshmen lining up for enrolment in the U.P. Cebu campus every June.
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The Power House 2007-06-17 06:37:19
I am now reading the book Power House
: Robert Keith Gray and the Selling of Access and Influence in Washington.
The book is a biography of Robert Keith Gray. It explores how Gray worked in Washington backrooms to influence government policy and manipulate public perception for the highest
bidder.
For starters, Gray was a power player who did favors for people as an influence peddler of the highest order. He was seen as a permanent fixture in parties of the Washington elite who raised campaign funds for the Republican Party while maintaining clients who directly contravened the party’s conservative agenda.
Gray’s cultivation of several connections to the wealthy and the important led him to success as one of the most powerful lobbyist and public relations operator that the world has ever known.
Related Entries:
Hillary Clinton Biographies
An Incomplete Book Wishlist
An Incomplete Book Wishlist 2007-06-16 16:24:36 “If I knew where poems came from, I’d go there.”
- Michael Langley
I would too. And I did go there. Last Friday and yesterday, I went bookshop hopping. But not necessarily to find poems. Accompanied my girlfriend Beryl to buy her textbooks and in the process I listed down the books that I would want to buy:
This includes Seeing by Jose Saramago, the Portuguese writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998:
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Read more:Incomplete
, Wishlist
Musa Dumasidsing: Exposing the Need for Social Change 2007-06-15 21:57:36 Nick of Tingog.Com has started a writing project which he calls Group Writing Project: Write for Musa Dumasidsing. He hopes to make the sentiments of Pinoys known in an effort to raise a collective voice on the issue Dimasidsing’s brutal murder.
Musa Dimasidsing, a school district supervisor, and a designated election supervisor, stood up, in the face of death, because he knew that it was the right thing to do. He was the one who exposed the anomalies in Maguindanao, and he was shot dead on Saturday night.
Dimasidsing, 60, sustained two gunshot wounds in the head and body. He had exposed the alleged fraudulent mayoral race in his hometown where the prominent Montawal and Matalam political clans were at loggerheads.
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Read more:Change
, Social
Books, Books, and More Books 2007-06-20 10:35:24 After finishing the fried ducklings and Quail eggs that I ate for lunch downtown in the early afternoon, I was able to come by a Book Sale branch. I immediately went over the book titles offered after the brief stroll around the place.
I was looking for any copy of the Frog and Toad children’s book series. I used to read Frog and Toad are Friends, Days With Frog and Toad, and Frog and Toad Together again and again when I was a child.
I lost all three books when we moved from a past residence to another house where we no longer staying in today.
I never found that book, but the store had a whole rack for cheap colorful children’s books. [Image from Childrenstheatre.Org]
Moreover, I found some affordable fiction and non-fiction books of interest:
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Read more:Books
Investigating Killings and Trillanes’ Victory 2007-06-18 10:49:41 The unexpected electoral victory of Antonio Trillanes IV should be an interesting case study for political strategists, campaign managers, PR handlers, and politicians alike.
His garnering of 11 million votes from the Filipino electorate showed how a relatively new candidate can win despite facing detention, more popular and experienced contenders and other overwhelming odds.
Will Trillanes deliver his promises now that he’s been proclaimed as a legislator in the Congress’ upper chamber? I hope he does. In particular, the new Senator should make good on his recent statement about investigating the military on the issue of political killings.
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Read more:Victory
A Blueprint for Cebu’s Emerging Cities 2007-06-23 18:04:43
With thriving opportunities for business and investment, Cebu is poised to place itself at the center of the drive to move the country’s economy forward.
Cebuanos expect the addition of Bogo, Carcar, and Naga to Cebu’s growing list of emerging cities to further speed up the momentum of the economy.
However, this economic expansion will be stunted or go side by side with the specter of uninhibited growth for the sake of growth if left undirected.
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Read more:Blueprint
, Cities
CRSIS Complaints 2007-06-22 11:08:29 Aside from the low enrollment rate which is the direct result of the 300% tuition hike, U.P. still had to face other problems including complaints with its newly implemented Computerized Registration System Information System or CRSIS.
The U.P. Cebu College Student Council’s findings and recommendations on the issue is presented in a summary prepared by Beryl Ann Manching, the Chairwoman of the SC Students’ Rights and Welfare (STRAW) Committee:
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Kabataan Partylist Concedes 2007-06-22 08:58:28 Kabataan Party has conceded with 225,062 votes or 1.51% of the total partylist election votes. This does not mean the end for Kabataan Partylist. On the contrary, this should embolden the country’s strongest youth party to do better next time.
In particular, it should strive to develop a network of financiers and fundraisers. For the Cebu chapters, there is a need to form bailiwicks and expand its membership from the muncipal level down to the precinct level.
A speech delivered by Kabataan President Mong Palatino in an assembly is posted in his blog. It gives an overall assessment of the electoral campaign and prospects of the youth party.
This will be a challenge especially with the impending implementation of the Human Security Act (HSA) which is nothing more than the perpetuation of terror itself.
Even universities and colleges are official targets for the deployment of military forces. Progressive youth groups are now bracing for this development while still contending with
Half-Naked Mamas Defend Breastfeeding 2007-06-22 07:53:56
A group of mothers recently bared their breasts in front of the Supreme Court last Tuesday in a creative move against the case filed by big companies challenging ad restrictions on milk substitutes to breastfeeding.
The SC favored the petitioners by issuing a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of milk ad prohibitions. But the aging mothers did a good job of highlighting the need to promote breastfeeding. Although, they were not totally half-naked as slogans were painted over their breasts.
However, it still involved baring, a form of protest action which I am not in favor of. But still, this recent breast baring is more original compared to the worn out naked-running gimmick pursued by some youths last opening of classes.
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Gwen and Tom’s Business 2007-06-28 07:58:19 Old Streets are losing its names to politicans. The good news is that the old Filipino Komiks is experiencing a revival.
Now, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia and Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmena’s telenovela-like drama should be a good subject for Komiks strip. Let’s take a look at its present status.
Both agree that their brewing word war over provincial lots is not affecting business:
“The best economies in the world alawys have ongoing disputes. There’s no ifs or buts about it,” said the mayor. “We call it democracy.”
Meanwhile,
Governor Garcia said she didn’t see any slackening of investors’ interest in Cebu during recent conferences…like last week’s Philippine Investor’s conference.
Contrary to this, Cebu’s business leaders have a different take on the issue. Apparently, Like Cardinal Vidal, they want to end it. But Sun.Star Daily Opinion Editor Bong Wenceslao has a better idea - Why not let them Quarrel?
He argu Read more:Business
Stars Draw Flak 2007-06-26 21:40:12 First off is Actress cameron Diaz who got harsh words from some Peruvian citizens over her use of “an olive green messenger bag emblazoned with a red star and the words ‘Serve the People’ printed in Chinese on the flap.”
“Serve the People” or STP, as Filipino militant activists would say, is one of Mao Zedong’s most popular slogans.
Apparently, a bunch of conservative Peruvians took notice of the movie star’s bag while she was exploring the Inca city of Machu Picchu in the Andes highlands.
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Partylist Debacle 2007-06-26 09:07:37 Three progressive groups are expected to join the winning circle of partylists, namely Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women’s Party, and Anakpawis. The block’s retaining of the six seats that it won in the 2004 elections will still have to be seen. It all depends on whether the Comelec’s usual 2-4-6 formula or former SC chief Panganiban’s Veteran Party’s Formula will be used.
However, Oscar Franklin Tan offers a better suggestion in an article featured in PDI’s Talk of Town titled Partylist System: Mathematical Absurdity:
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Dirty War 2007-06-30 08:47:11 Juwono Sudarsono is the Minister of Defense of Indonesia and he blogs. I found his site, which is updated monthly, a few weeks ago. As the first civilian to become Minister of Defense, he seems to be very cultured and progressive.
The Indonesian official’s latest entry, “Clash of Civilizations,” tells me that he is not “utak pulbura” unlike some Filipino generals and civilian defense officials. Or at least he tries to look like it. And that can make a big difference for a country that is just as tumultuous as ours.
While present-day Indonesia is not free from human rights violations, these cannot compare to the scope and systematic viciousness that accompanies the Arroyo administration’s campaign against legal parties and organizations in the guise of wiping out the armed struggle waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines since the late 60s.
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Tuition Hike’s Disastrous Consequence 2007-07-04 11:39:10 Only less than half of UPCAT (UP College Admission Test) passers showed up to enroll in the different UP units. In Los Banos and Mindanao, less than 17% of passers enrolled. In Diliman, the entire College of Social Work and Community Development has one freshman. In courses like BA Malikhaing Pagsulat, BA Araling Pilipino, and BA Filipino, none of the passers showed up to enroll.
These are the numbers presented by fellow blogger Bikoy in one of his entries - dismal enrollment figures that point to the disastrous consequences of the blatant commercialization of education.
I wrote about the same topic in a letter to the editor sent to Sun.Star Daily’s opinion section titled “Education Should Be GMA’s Legacy.”
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Read more:Consequence
, Disastrous
, Tuition
Education should be GMA’s legacy 2007-07-03 12:00:59
Sun.Star Daily Publication Date: [Wednesday - July 4, 2007]
LAST year, students of the University of the Philippines stood up with the rest of the student sector to oppose the 300 percent increase in UP tuition.
We argued that the P300 per unit to P1,000 per unit fee hike would prevent bright students from depressed and remote areas of the country from enrolling in the premier state university.
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Read more:Education
PBB Triviality! 2007-07-02 16:07:43 A U.P. Cebu College MassCom alumni gripes about why the media is not for her. The existence of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB), a deliberately shallow and contrived TV “reality” show, should be enough to discourage more from choosing the media as a career.
But no, I will not continue by indicting PBB as a mere triviality that no one should not bother with. The more than 1,571,556 votes for Beatriz Saw should dispel that notion for beneath the veneer of triviality are some deeper meanings that I have yet to decipher.
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Cebu ICT 2007 Insights 2007-07-02 05:41:17
One of the major activities of the recently held Cebu Business Month (CBM) 2007 is the Cebu Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 2007 International Conference and Exhibition held in the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa and the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
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Read more:Insights
Cebu: Good News for a Change 2007-07-07 07:25:00 Because of the dismal state of the country’s educational infrastructure and its inaccessibility to the masses, the terrorist activities of a paranoid state and Philippine politics as usual, most of the entries posted in this blog have bad news involved in them.
So I’ve decided to note down some good news for a change:
1. RP’s First SME Industrial Park in Naga, Cebu
The first class municipality and soon to be Naga City is at the forefront of Cebu’s newly emerging cities. It is also the site of the the country’s first Small and Medium Enterprise SME Industrial Park. The new ecozone is a project of Plantersbank, the country’s leading bank for SMEs, and will be inaugurated on July 11.
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Read more:Change
, Good News
Cookout 2007 Preparations 2007-07-05 17:25:37 Despite this week’s holding of the 2007 Organization Fair and the proliferation of concessionaire booths for tonight’s Freshies Night, the U.P. Cebu College campus has been unusually very drowsy since the opening of classes. Could this be because of the fewer freshmen enrollees this year? I definitely think so.
If there’s one thing that stands out as lively, however, it is the early preparations for the Cookout of this year’s production team. My mass communication batchmates, as led by the energetic Chassy Cortes, is presently the only group in the campus that’s been making a real buzz in the campus with their well-thought plans for the Cookout event.
All this makes me remember last year’s Cookout when I was still the Chairman of the Student Council (SC). It was a very big success. Though, I believe the present production team can do better.
Here are three pictures of last year’s Cookout that I’ve recovered from my old files. It’s
Terror Law Jitters 2007-07-12 16:55:16
Between 2004 and the first five months of 2007 I was associated with several youth and student formations of the country’s national democratic left.
These includes the student council and the leading political party in my college, student alliances such as the National Alliance of Student Councils in the University of the Philippines (KASAMA sa UP) and the National Union of Students of the Philippines, and the youth partylist KABATAAN.
I now content myself with regular commentaries as the economic crisis now afflicting the country requires me to assist my family in the daily struggle for subsistence.
Looking back, I now see my involvement in the legal mass movement as an act of courage. Not only did we move for the improvement of conditions in our school or railed against fee increases and the export-oriented bent of the educational system, there was also the misunderstanding of activism, actual instances of being labelled as communists, the very real threat of political Read more:Terror
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