for a change

so did cocoy really say anything new? manolo is right, the dream of a nontraditional political party that we all could support, thereby doing away with trapo incumbents and their family dynasties, lock stock and barrel, is not new. what’s new is the level of rage. he is so “fucking” angry. such passion. such youth.

interestingly enough, what set him off was the idea that nonviolent resistance isn’t futile, which is to say, don’t let up on this lying cheating stealing president. cocoy thinks this is divisive and crappy – gma is not the problem, the system is. and so he calls for “good people” to step up, form a political party, and run for election in 2010. how simple.

manolo’s right, resistance isn’t futile. not to show signs of resistance would send the message that we don’t care, it’s all right, go ahead and do what you want. in fact we do care, it’s not all right, stop whatever you’re doing. never mind that no one seems to be hearing it but us.

gma IS the problem. apart from the lying cheating and stealing, she could have fulfilled promises she made, such as good governance, but she didn’t. she it is who has the power to change the rotten system, but she does not. instead she makes the system stronger by the day. 2010 might be an illusion.

but let’s say 2010 is truly there for the taking. i’d say the call for “good people” is premature. first we need a sense of what’s “good” for our purposes. how much change do we want? will anti-corruption anti-cheating, population and information measures be enough because the economic and foreign policies are okay naman?

or do we want persons good enough to tackle the economy, and globalization, and rice, and power, and education, and garbage – the whole rotten system that is tied up with unregulated capitalism and unscrupulous foreign creditors?

these good people have to be really good, really brave, and adequately informed so they know what patterns they’re breaking from and what new patterns they’re creating for future generations.

and we the people have to be very clear what we want them to do in our name. i’d want them to have a bias for the filipino masses, and to stand up, rather than grovel, to mighty america, crafty china, and wily japan. for a change. sana kayo rin.

jun lozada, gma, and the rice crisis

jun lozada should rethink his campaign to expose gma’s involvement in the nbn-zte bribery scandal.

the rice crisis simply trumps all other issues and naturally we are distracted, not just by the implications for the very poor and the not-so-poor and the medyo-poor who have long been barely able to buy the cheapest rice, but also our minds are busy trying to make sense of the information offered by media about rice supply and demand, and government subsidies, and global shortages, the better to get a grasp of what’s really going on and why.

jun can’t blame us if we have stopped to watch gma do her thing, praying she can find ways to remedy the situation short-term and long-term, because this time really we don’t want her to fail, or we would be facing prospects of food riots.

it doesn’t mean that we don’t want her to resign or be ousted for her sins against the constitution and the seventh and eighth commandments, but until more nbn-zte whistleblowers come out jun would be wise to go with the flow, expand his rhetoric, get into the rice problem, explain it as a failure of policy, a consequence of gma’s blind embrace of globalization, which clearly indicates a lack of foresight and vision.

not everyone loves jun lozada. still there is no denying that he has the ear of the nation. if he would polish his act and upgrade his message, he would do the nation a great service.

the senator’s daughter 2

thanks to anna de brux for asking:

Youmean to say that sex education is still not part of the school curriculum in Pinas? That accounts for the phenomenal population ‘explosion’ in the country.”

there is some “sex education” going on in the higher elementary grades and in high school but mostly just about the anatomy, and mostly vague about how male and female get together in sexual intercourse, and how babies are made. i suppose educators are held back by the same factors as parents from explaining in some detail how to avoid pregnancy, which is the fear that the kids might take it as a license to have sex as long as no one gets pregnant.

what we need are some creative minds working on how to get sexual information across in a manner that encourages objectivity and equips kids with the necessary information about hormones and libido so that they are not entirely at the mercy of sexual urges.

the senator’s daughter

pregnant at 18. what a bummer for bong revilla and lani mercado, no matter what they say (now that they’re over the shock and the shame) that it’s okay, they did their best, hindi sila nagkulang sa pangaral, hindi naman nila kayang magbantay 24/7, siguro talagang destiny niya na mag-asawa ng maaga tulad ng magulang niya.

in fairness to inah, nag-sorry naman siya sa magulang, which means she knows how deeply she has disappointed them. and, i suppose, it is to her credit that she is prepared to suffer the traditional consequences, as in goodbye freedom and maidenhood, hello marriage and motherhood. how brave.

but i think it is even braver to buck the system, like rosanna roces’ 16-year old daughter did when, in the same “happiness ahead” circumstances some years ago with an 18-year old brother of inah, she opted for single motherhood. the idea being, to wait, finish their studies while getting to know each other better. there’s more to a relationship than sex.

strike two na ito kay senator revilla – first a son, now a daughter. clearly, parents need help in the sexual education of their children, never mind the catholic church. clearly, there ought to be a law mandating sex education in all schools and universities. let’s hope the message is not lost on the senator.