Let’s Go on A Trip! February 4, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Miagao, Public Transportation.Tags: iloilo, Miagao, miagao jeepneys, Public Transportation, super lotto, victorias
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When the time comes that all my efforts at arranging random numbers on a sheet of paper pay off and I win the Super Lotto, I shall buy my family a nice big van. This is to spare them from the modern-day torture that is public transportation.
Since I go to a university conveniently located in the faraway land of Miagao (tastefully nicknamed Miami, so as to somehow create a semblance of urbanization), public transportation is something that has been a regular part of my life for three years now.
Before I went to university, public transportation meant a short jeep or tricycle ride. But, having to travel from Negros Occidental to Miagao, it’s now composed of a tricycle ride, a bus ride, a jeep ride, a pedicab ride, a boat ride, another pedicab ride, a jeep ride, and then a (certainly more crowded) jeep ride.
If you’re luckier than me at Super Lotto and you enjoy the full benefits of having a car, then you may slash out the first four rides of my trip. If you enjoy the full benefits of being at the top of this country’s social ladder, then you may as well cross out everything and just give your personal pilot a call, but I highly doubt you would actually want to study in Miagao.
Public transportation is not exactly something I detest 100%. I actually enjoy the natural scenery that comes with it, although my other self would like to argue that the same scenery can be enjoyed in the comfort of your own car. However, there are quite a number of points about taking public transportation that irk me, to say in the least.
1.The heat.
- Cue Glenn Frey’s “The Heat is On” song. Oh-wo-ho. Oh-wo-ho. Retro song aside, the heat is the root of all public transportation evils. It is the prerequisite to dust, sweat, irritation (both of the skin and of the emotional sense) and everyone’s favorite — body odor. And no, airconditioning is not a very good solution to that, especially when it comes with the driver’s favorite oh-so-pine-fresh air fresheners capable of turning your stomach into a miniature carnival. Also, “aircon” also usually translates to “plus P10 on your fare.”
2. Dust and sweat.
- Ahh, heat’s BFFs. Dust is commonly referred to as “free face powder”, and when mixed with sweat, becomes “free moisturizer.”
3. Body odor.
- Even with the millions and possibly billions of pesos spent by deodorant companies on advertising every year, they simply just can’t reach everybody. If you are lucky enough, taking public transportation may give you the chance to sit right next to someone who has never heard of Rexona. Or has heard of it but never really got around to using it. Or has used it but it never really worked. (Blame it on the manufacturers!)
4. Profit-oriented drivers.
- As if haggling with ukay-ukay sellers weren’t enough, drivers now also want to join the fun. Tricycle and pedicab drivers, to be more precise. Fares change depending on how you look. If you happen to wear gold jewelry, then you may be charged a bit more than usual. If you look like a probinsyano trying to find your way around the city, then you may possibly be charged triple of the usual fare. Try haggling, and you will either get a lecture on the rising prices of gasoline (yes, even from a pedicab driver!), or a spew of colorful vocabulary. Also worthy of mention are drivers who suffer temporary deafness when you ask “Manong, kambyo ko? (Manong, my change?)”
5. Non-stop trips.
- Running late? Do not believe the “non-stop” signs hanging from the front windows of buses, or conductors who tell you “It’s non-stop Ma’am.” They will stop for every person standing on the side of the street. Your trip will probably be just as long as any other non-”non-stop” trip.
6. Byahilo.
- Sure, you can get sick in your very own Ferrari, but how much more awful can it get when dozens of strangers are looking at you while you empty your guts out into a plastic bag?
7. Lots and lots of free space.
- NOT. Yeah right. Have you ever tried riding Miagao-Iloilo jeepneys? Well, I have. And most of the time it won’t be a very kind experience to both your hips and your derriere.
Despite the abovementioned, however, I can honestly stand public transportation. It’s quite a fascinating experience. And since I probably won’t be winning the Super Lotto anytime soon, I might as well enjoy it.
The Early Bird Bill February 3, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in 2010 Elections, Media.Tags: 2010 Elections, early voting bill, house bill 6928, media practitioners, teodoro locsin
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The media is often referred to as the Fourth Estate, the watchdog of society who must uphold the public’s welfare. It is not an easy task; this duty needs much time, effort and dedication from those wish to practice it.
During election day, the media is expected to be on full force, to ensure that everything is carried out the way it should be, and at the same time, to keep the people informed about what may be the current situation. However, duty aside, media practitioners also wish to exercise their voting rights. Given the current system of this country, voting is also not an easy task. The procedure can stretch up to an hour or possibly more.
http://acslaw.org/
If media practitioners wish to do both tasks in one day — that is, to vote during election day, and cover it at the same time — it is possible, yes, but highly impractical. In order for them to be able to fulfill their watchdog duty as efficiently as possible, they will have to be free from the hassle of waiting in line for hours in their precincts just to be able to vote.
Former media practitioner and Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin recently authored House Bill 6928, which will enable those working in media to be able to vote earlier — two weeks before election day, to be specific. It was approved by the House of Representatives on January 26, 2010, with a total of 192 votes, and is awaiting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s approval within a week or so.
Some may consider this as unnecessary special treatment for media practitioners. One may even argue that it does not really take hours to cast your vote, especially with the new automated voting system.
However, this early-bird bill has much to offer, not only to media practitioners but also to the public.
With journalists, reporters and the like free from hassle or voting delays, election coverage can become more efficient. Although this may not be the only factor in carrying out good event coverage, it is certainly helpful to them.
To serve as a simple example, let us say a television news crew is tasked to cover the elections. The cameraman’s precinct is in Barangay 1, the director’s is in Barangay 2, the assistant’s is in Barangay 3, and the reporter’s is in Barangay 982. If each of them were to vote on the day of the elections, it would take time to go to their respective barangays, vote, and then meet up together in one place to start their coverage. But if they were free for the entire election day, then there would be no lapse in the coverage.
One can simply declare that if media practitioners really want to come up with an excellent election coverage, then they can just altogether give up on voting in order to focus their time and energy on their beloved coverage. But if one can come up with a way to let them cast their votes without having to put the quality of their work at stake, then why not use it? This is the essence of House Bill 6928.
That said, media practitioners are in turn expected to properly fulfill their duty as the fourth estate after having been given this opportunity. Of course, house bill or no house bill, this is always a given.
Out of the Crawler, Out of Mind January 27, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Media.Tags: barack obama, haiti earthquake, joe biden, united nations
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A picture, as cliche as it sounds, does paint a thousand words, but it’s seeing it on the news that makes you remember.
It’s seeing the phrases “Haiti struck by 7.0 magnitude earthquake” and “150,000 deaths confirmed in Haiti earthquake”, and maybe a couple of days later, “UN sends more forces to Haiti”, on your nightly news’ crawler that reminds you that something terrible, something with such tremendous consequences, is happening several millions of miles away from where you are right now.
According to US vice-president Joe Biden, President Barack Obama “does not view this as a humanitarian mission with a life cycle of a month. This will still be on our radar screen long after it’s off the crawler at CNN.” [source]
I certainly hope Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama can live up to these words. After all, it’s easy to forget about something when you’re not directly affected by it.
Same thing goes for most of us. We see pictures of a horrible disaster, or maybe a mass murder. We see it on our TV screens. We shudder, and we feel for everyone caught in it. We talk about it with our friends, say how awful it must probably be for the people involved. We look up more news about it, and maybe click on some Facebook application that says clicking on it can help raise funds for the people in the tragedy.
We see it again on TV the following night, and then the next, and so on, and though we still care, we can’t help but feel a teensy bit more indifferent after every time we hear about it. It’s getting old, and it doesn’t really affect our daily lives anyway.
The evening news stops mentioning it little by little. We forget about it.
As they say, out of sight, out of mind.
Something’s Fishy January 21, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Uncategorized.Tags: editorial cartoon, gilbert daroy, jason ivler, marlene aguilar, NBI, philippine daily inquirer, stephen pollard
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This is a response to Mr. Gilbert Daroy’s editorial cartoon for the January 20, 2010 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Talk about hitting two birds with one stone.
This time, however, it’s catching three fish with one hook. Good job to both the NBI, for the successful arrest of Jason Ivler, and to Mr. Daroy, for a good depiction of what this arrest can possibly entail. However, let me emphasize on the word possibly.
Jason Ivler’s mother, Marlene Aguilar, has already bailed herself out of NBI custody after raps of obstruction of justice. Well, the NBI did manage to catch three fish; sadly, one of them has already gotten away. Which means the Marlene-Aguilar fish shouldn’t be holding on to the Jason-Ivler fish anymore.
But there’s still the Stephen-Pollard fish. This is where the word possibly comes in handy. Ivler’s British stepfather may face being declared a persona non grata and may also be stripped of diplomatic immunity, which allows a foreign diplomat freedom from any kind of jurisdiction in the country. Nothing is final yet, though, which is why I say that the entailments of Ivler’s arrest are all just possibilities. One of them is disproved already, even.
Well, after all, Jason Ivler’s the only one caught by the hook. The rest are just hanging onto him, and can very well let go anytime. However, knowing how the law sometimes (most of the time, more likely) works in this country, even those already caught by the hook get away; how much more those who aren’t?
But for now, at least the NBI already have Ivler.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Daroy, you spelled Jason’s last name wrong.
It’s ‘Ivler’, not ‘Iveler’.
Sources:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100119-248264/Ivlers-mom-posts-bail
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100121-248547/Pollard-immunity-in-peril-Ivler-faces-more-raps
Freedom January 16, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Miagao.Tags: fish vendors, miagao public market
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The fish vendors at Miagao Public Market enjoy freedom to a certain extent. However, it is this freedom that keeps them bound.
They are free to move to an empty stall when the stall-keeper’s not around or done with the day’s sale of fish. They are free to sell whatever kind of fish they want to. They are free to choose whether or not to join the Miagao Vendors’ Association. They are free to keep the day’s remaining fish, sell it again tomorrow, and tell the customer it’s fresh. (From the freezer, that is.)
This so-called freedom comes with a price, though.
Just being able to move from one stall to another also means the other vendors can do the same. There won’t be any sense of order.
Letting them sell whatever they want without regulation or control can bring about poorer sales when two or more vendors decide to sell the same kinds of fish.
Joining the Miagao Vendors’ Association is also a matter of choice. But who would want to choose it when there is virtually no benefit that can be gained from joining?
This is the kind of freedom that constricts development because it rejects order. Keeping this freedom means keeping away rules and regulations that could bring order and development into the marketplace. It may sound simple but the mere lack of anything concrete to follow also means there won’t be anything to blame when things go wrong, because there never was anything to define right from wrong in the first place.
Mixed Emotions January 10, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in 2010 Elections, Corruption, Politics.Tags: 2010 Elections, automated voting, comelec, rigging elections
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The Commission on Elections must be both excited and anxious about the upcoming May 2010 elections.
Excited, because the Philippines is finally making use of good old technology to make things run more efficiently. Which also means they won’t have that much work to do, and coming up with the election results won’t be as time-consuming as in the previous years. And besides, the poor teachers can finally retire from tallying votes from ballots with indecipherable handwriting.
(The voters themselves must also probably be pretty excited about the new voting procedures too, considering the number of registered voters have increased. Plus they’ve even gotten around to extending the registration period. Well, it’s either that, or the register-to-vote campaigns of various TV networks managed to convince them well.)
On the other hand, the Comelec must also feel quite a lot of pressure and anxiety. For one, the country simply does not have any hindsight about automated elections. This will be our, err, first time. Sure, you can always try to predict what could possibly go wrong, and maybe do some research on other countries who’ve been doing this for some time now, but you can’t always think of everything. And knowing the ingenuity of the Filipino mind, one of our lovely scheming countrymen could come up with something that no one has ever thought of before.
(But I should at least put some faith into the safeguarding measures of the Comelec, shouldn’t I? However, this doesn’t stop me from thinking about what could possibly happen in case of a major power failure. The machines are said to have 14 hours worth of battery life, but what if the power failure, especially if it’s of the rigged kind, lasts for more than that? I totally forgot to ask the Comelec people about this.)
In the midst of all these mixed emotions, I’m praying that the elections will go as planned this May 2010, and that we’ll get a new president who actually did get the most amount of votes.
But the anxiety is still there.
After all, whether it’s automated or manual, a cheater will always find a way.
Going and going and going and going… Not! January 6, 2010
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Environment.Tags: Environment, nonrenewable energy sources, renewable
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UrbanDictionary.com defines the Energizer Bunny as “he keeps going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going…” (repeat “and going” a hundred times more). Although it’s not exactly the clearest definition you’ve probably heard, I think you get the drift.
This definition of the Energizer Bunny may as well apply to some of our energy sources: some people think they’re just gonna keep going and going and going and going (repeat “and going” a hundred times more). I’m sorry to break it to you, but quite a good number of our energy resources are nonrenewable, meaning, well, they can’t last forever (i.e. oil, coal, fossil fuels, mineral, and sometimes even trees get considered as nonrenewable). Even Energizer batteries can’t, although this is something their advertisers would rather not want us to remember.
Sure, there are the renewable energy sources, like solar energy, wind/water power, and thermal energy, but we don’t use them as much as the nonrenewable ones. It should be the other way around, yes I know that, but sometimes people’s minds don’t exactly work the way you expect them to.
So what should we do about this?
Everybody’s been coming up with “Go Green” tips lately, and it’s getting a bit tiresome. All those “little things you can do for the environment.” Actually, I honestly feel these “little things” they keep telling everyone to do don’t really work, since it just makes most people go, “Oh, someone else is already doing this. One less person wouldn’t really matter.” Maybe we should shift our focus onto emphasizing what is renewable and what is not. And emphasize that the sources under the “what-is-not” category is running out. Maybe it can make people start thinking. Maybe it can help them realize that some things aren’t going to keep going and going last forever, and take conservation into their own hands. There’s a lot of maybe’s, and no one can really say for sure what’s going to work, but drawing the great big red line between renewable energy sources and nonrenewable ones can be a start.
I dread to see the day the Energizer Bunny dies from fatigue or overuse, although I have a weird feeling that something like this isn’t going to be too far away, if we refuse to stop all this “keep going and going and going and going and going and going and going” (repeat “and going” a hundred times more) madness.
But Energizer does make rechargeable batteries, right?
The Dress Code of Doom…? December 12, 2009
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Student Demands/Issues.Tags: dress codes, uniforms, university of the philippines visayas
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One of the factors that played a part in my decision to go to UPV was its liberal dress code.
The idea of expressing yourself by wearing whatever you wanted at school was very appealing for me. After all, I already spent five years wearing shapeless white uniforms that could pass for maternity dresses, and I did not want to spend another four years wearing WVSU’s ghastly pink uniforms or Silliman’s dull brown ones.
Until now, no one has this denied me this right to wear whatever I want to at school. One teacher has asked us not to wear shorts to his 7AM class. Some of my classmates think it’s the dress code of doom (especially my roommate who wears shorts all the time), but honestly, I do not feel that this is a form of denying us self-expression. His point was that going to class in shorts would only make us feel like we were still in bed and thus make the class atmosphere more sleep-inducive. I agree with this, since wearing shorts is more comfortable than wearing jeans, and getting too comfortable in your 7AM class will sooner or later lead to falling asleep.
However, I will definitely put my foot down on something as impractical as requiring your students to wear high heels and make-up. If our teacher wants us to feel a bit uncomfortable in his 7AM class, it’s because he doesn’t want us falling asleep. However, it’s another thing to feel so uncomfortable you won’t be able to concentrate anymore.
Having dress codes in the University is fine, as long as it helps the students. But as for something as absurd as requiring make-up, that would definitely stand in the way of my learning process. I do not want mascara getting into my eyes while I am taking down notes about x-chromosomes or how to write Chapter 3 of your thesis.
At the end of the day, I believe it all just boils down to whether or not the dress code will help the students or not. If it does, then I do not really find anything wrong with that.
Cranberry Sauce on Lechon Manok December 9, 2009
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Christmas, Colonial Mentality.Tags: a christmas carol, Christmas, Colonial Mentality, western concepts
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Just this Saturday, I got to watch Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (in 3D, wee!).
As expected, being set in Victorian-era England, there was much snow, fog and turkeys to be seen. Now, snow, fog and turkeys aren’t exactly what you expect to see during the holiday season in Iloilo, or anywhere else in the Philippines for that matter. Unfortunately, this is the image of Christmas ingrained in most of us: snow, mittens, candy canes, turkeys, stockings, sledding, Santa Claus (a.k.a. Father Christmas) and all other sorts of Western concepts. We barely have any remotely Filipino concepts of Christmas, which is quite sad. Even noche buena and simbang gabi are Spanish in origin.
But then again, Christmas is the quintessential holiday of the Christian Western world after all.
As a kid, my aunt in America would send us videotapes of (American) Christmas movies in her balikbayan boxes. ABS-CBN and GMA weren’t of much help either; most of their Christmas specials were also Western. The Little Match Girl, The Nutcracker, The Night Before Christmas, Barbie and Winnie the Pooh holiday specials, The Grinch, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and yeah, A Christmas Carol. Although there were probably some, right now I can’t recall having seen any Filipino-made Christmas specials. (I was probably too busy watching The Night Before Christmas all over again.)
My Christmas storybooks also played their part in brainwashing my sister and I into believing in Santa and hanging stockings on our door. (On Christmas day, they would be filled with treats, although this was thanks to our uncles and grandma, and not the elusive Santa Claus.)
I’m not sure about the older ones, but I would assume most people my age also have this Western notion of Christmas. It’s sad how I grew up dreaming of snow and catching Santa with milk and cookies, but never really of anything Filipino. (Perhaps a coconut Christmas tree instead of the typical pine tree?) I can’t think of anything, because Christmas has become something so Westernized for me. I have no idea how to change it, or whether it can even be changed at all. If anything, Christmas has only succeeded in intensifying children’s desires to fly to America and make snowballs. In other words, this supposedly Christ-centric holiday does nothing to help us get rid of our colonial mentality. (“Oh, Christmas seems much more fun in the States!“)
With the advent of the VCD and DVD players, my aunt stopped sending us Christmas videotapes. One Christmas however, when I was in high school, she sent us a can of cranberry sauce, just so we could try it out. Cranberry sauce is supposedly goes best with turkey, but in absentia of turkey, I tried it on my lechon manok. Needless to say, I did not appreciate it in the least, and went back to my toyo and calamansi.
Assertion December 4, 2009
Posted by Bemjo Torema in Politics.Tags: feminism, gloria macapagal-arroyo, greed, Politics, power
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Talk about an assertive woman.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo certainly knows what she wants. She’s not afraid to let people know. And she certainly isn’t afraid to go for it.
Madam Arroyo officially filed for candidacy for the congressional seat of the second district of Pampanga on December 1, 2009. Never before has something like this happened in Philippine politics: a president attempting to run for a much lower government position. But then again, can anything still surprise us when it comes to politics?
Feminists always talk about how women should always be assertive about what they want. Madam Arroyo definitely took their advice, but, right now, I’m not quite sure whether they would have wanted her to. This assertion of hers isn’t just about wanting a divorce or getting a ligation; it’s all about power.
By deciding to run for a seat in congress, she asserts her need to stay in power. And she’s quite confident she can get it. After all, her own son Mikey Arroyo got 92% of the votes when he ran for the same position in last year’s elections.
A large number of influential people have branded this decision of the President as “immoral” and “lacking delicadeza“. However, I’m pretty sure that even a million more nasty adjectives won’t make her change her mind. After all, a woman set on getting what she wants is a force to be reckoned with.
Madam Arroyo, I admire you for your assertiveness. If all the other women in the Philippines could be as assertive as you, it would be a good thing. The only catch is, you chose the wrong thing to be assertive about.
You know what you want. You’ve already let the entire country know. And you may not be afraid to go for it, Madam President, but the rest of the country is. Because we know that your kind of assertion doesn’t mean women empowerment. It means a one-woman empowerment — and that one woman is you.
