The Night Before Her Death

In my last blog, I have admitted that I was not really affected by the former President Aquino's death. Until now, I am still trying to figure why however I could not find the reason why.

When I heard that she was diagnosed with colon cancer I just felt nothing. I even get annoyed everytime I hear news about her. I mean, come on, she's on stage four and no matter how many prayers you are going to offer her I just don't think it would work.

I refused watching tv and read internet news update because I know the media will just be talking about her. The last time I got interested with current events was during Michael Jackson's death. I would really spend hours and hours on the internet just to be updated with MJ. But it is not the case with Mrs. Aquino.

31 July 2009 - My students and I were walking along McArthur Highway. When we reached Ateneo de Davao High School campus I noticed the yellow ribbons tied on the railings as well as on the streets. I have already known that those yellow ribbons indicate support and prayers for Mrs. Aquino. Reminded by the yellow ribbons I then shared to my students my points of view on Mrs. Aquino. I told them that I find prayers for Mrs. Aquino to be useless, if her time comes the she would die. The prayers would not be able to heal Mrs. Aquino. The prayers would not help Mrs. Aquino to recover.

The next day, at around 5 o'clock in the morning, I was already hearing Ted Failon on TV. I thought it was just a replay of news program; what's more absurd was I thought it was another tribute for Michael Jackson. But shock suddenly grasped me and I could not believe what I was hearing. So to make sure that the news was true, I checked abs-cbnnews.com and yahoo.com, after doing so my hesitations were all erased. Mrs. Aquino died at 76. I was surprised upon confirming it. I was just talking with my students regarding prayers for Aquino, and then after few hours she was already gone.

Anti-Filipino

No. I am not so affected. Should I feel guilty about it?

Shameful may be but I just cannot lie to myself. I have cried over the King of Pop but I could not cry, even a single tear, for the late Mrs. Corazon Aquino. Maybe it is because I could barely connect with her, unlike MJ whose music greatly influenced me. Aside from that, forgive me kababayans, maybe I am just not impressed with what she had done. Others may think of her as the icon for hope but I really don't.

Yes, it is true. She led the people power but it was not her who triggered it. It was her husband, who I admire greatly. She only came to surface after her husband's death. She had to, the people are calling her. Filipinos are melodramatic. Underdogs are greatly favored. And I guess that's what happened hence the enormous support for Mrs. Aquino during the 1986 Special Election.

But I am not saying that the People Power 1 was just a fad. I believe that the Filipinos were already at their pique and to let Mr. Marcos continue his term would be a suicide. It just so happen that Mrs. Aquino was the wife of the great Benigno Aquino, Jr. She was the perfect character to replace the dictator who was believed to be connected with her husband's death.

Well, anyway, perhaps I am just one of the few who was not pleased by Mrs. Aquino but this does not necessarily mean that I see Mrs. Aquino as an inefficient president. I understand that her term as president was the most painful and difficult of all as hers was the transition period for the Filipinos. Despite the coup attempts and crisis she encountered the Philippine government was still able to survive.

Philippine Martial Law version 2

With Con-Ass on the move, I am afraid that there will be a Martial Law part 2.

Well, i just hope i am not correct and i just hope President Arroyo would not take advantage over Con-Ass. True that the constitution needs to be amended but why now when 2010 election is just around the corner?

I was not fussed when i read that the congress finally okayed on con-ass however my apprehension surfaced after i finished reading the article about the said matter. The solons who ayed for con-ass were not sure on what would happen next. They don't even know when to begin the convention! Nograles said they might convene after the President's last SONA which will be on July 27. That would be ten months before the election and who knows how long the con-ass will take? Amending the constitution needs more time and thorough deliberation and i don't think ten months or less is enough.

I am not against cha-cha in fact I strongly believe that the constitution needs to be revised to accord with the Filipinos' lifestyle. However, to push con-ass this year is very precarious and this might give the government a reason, an apposite reason, to do what they have been wanting to do -- Martial Law.

People Power. Not again.

I just seen from the TV that few of my kababayans will be bringing their objections against cha-cha on the streets. In fact, according to the news update, some of them are already busy preparing for their rally which would start Monday next week.

Wow! Isn't that great? The Philippines is going to have another version of people power! If this will happen then it would be our 3rd people power. Oh no! I think it's the 4th... hmmmm... maybe 5th. It could also be the 6th, 7th, 8th. Nth? Sorry, i lost my count. Let me check the history. Nah. Never mind. It doesn't matter anyway. People power are all the same. Except for the first of course. The original.

I wonder why some of my kababayans are not yet tired of the history repeating over and over. Come on. We've been tolerating people powers for many times but nothing has changed. The Mother country is still suffering from the social cancer and no one even bothered to check if she is still okay. Our impulsiveness would only bring us to nowhere.

The railroading of con-ass at the congress did seem to be equivocal and i cannot blame those people who were infuriated by it but to bring it to the streets is frivolous.

Here Comes Jeep ni Erap

When Erap relaunched his jeepney, I knew he would be running for 2010.

President Gloria shouldn't have granted Estrada his civil and political rights hence his audacity to run for reelection.

The nerve, after all he's done and what he'd gone through, he still has the guts to run for president! I wonder what was he thinking or does he ever think at all? If he is only following his advisers then it is time for him to fire them all. They have done nothing good to him, in fact his reputation was ruined because of what they are feeding him.

He must realize that life is not a movie. He's not an actor playing for a role of a man who lives in a dream that he is born to be the savior of his country. He should stop thinking that he is the next Ninoy or Rizal because he will never be one. I do not understand why he still wants to go back to politics after the fiasco he and his men created. If his reason is just because he wants to serve the Filipino people, does he really had to run for office? Can't he extend his hands to his fellowmen without a seat in the government? If he would reason out that he can do a lot of things for his people if he is the president of the country, what had he done for the Philippines during his term in the first place?

If ever he had done something good for the country, I really cannot say for the things that I can only remember during his presidency was the peso rate on its lowest, the economy at its rock bottom, the Philippines in the dark. And I don't need to present evidence here as the history has already spoken it.