Convergence of anti-Con Ass voices

sarah-and-bibeth harry-and-his-students militant-even-before-born

1) Bibeth Orteza and daughter,Sara 2) Harry Roque and his Constitutionbal Law students (UP) 3. UP Law student Michelle Chua-Puyo takes a stand against Con-Ass with her baby in her womb .

contra-con-ass-manileno plm fred-llim-leads-march

1) Manileño contingent 2) Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila against Con-Ass 3) Among those leading the march: Mayor Fred Lim, PLM President Adel Tamano, Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, Kabataan Party Rep. Mon Palatino.

arriving-with-torches young-boy precy-lopez-gina-dev-harry-roque1

1) Protest march became a torch parade when darkness started to set in 2) This young boy asked me to take his picture 3) Precy Lopez-Psinakis, Gina de Venecia, Harry Roque and other members of the Concerned Citizens Movement

Cha-Cha protesters start countdown

by JP Lopez
Malaya

STUDENTS and young professionals led by the Movement of the Youth for Empowerment, Reform, Advocacy and Progress (myERAP), a group aligned with President Joseph Estrada, yesterday served a symbolic “notice of eviction” to President Arroyo near Malacañang.

“From 2001 to 2010, Arroyo would be the second longest serving president next only to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Arroyo however leaves Marcos in the dust in terms of corruption and violation of human rights,” said Ginno Jaralve, spokesman for myERAP.

“Today, we start the year-long wait for Arroyo to finish her term with a fervent prayer that Arroyo and her cronies turn away from their wickedness and greed for power and step down next year,” said Goodbye Gloria campaign spokesman Lloyd Zaragoza.

Anti-riot policemen and members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) were able to turn away the group at the J.P. Rizal gate in San Miguel street.

MyErap also launched an online countdown to June 30, 2010 at goodbyegloria.com.

It said the online countdown also details the scandals, exposes, and significant dates detailing instances of the Arroyo administration’s legacy of plain bad governance.

More than 5,000 students and young professionals joined militant groups Anakpawis, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Gabriela and Bayan Muna yesterday in marching to Liwasang Bonifacio for the “Martsa Laban sa Cha-Cha”.

The march aims to send a message that the public will oppose moves to tinker with the Constitution to enable President Arroyo to remain in power beyond 2010.

The students were from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Adamson’s University, University of the Philippines-Manila and Diliman, De La Salle University, College of St. Benilde, St. Scholastica’s College, Jose Rizal University and Arellano University.

Three columns assembled at the Mabuhay Rotonda, Taft Avenue and Intramuros converged at the Liwasang Bonifacio at around 6 p.m.

Organizers have said that “Martsa Kontra Cha-cha,” kicks off a month-long protest leading up to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Arroyo on July 27.

The protesters carried placards that read, “Oust the corrupt Arroyo regime,” “No to Gloria forever rule,” and “Junk Cha-cha now.”

Marchers also brought whistles and noisemakers, for use in the noise barrage.

The program at the Liwasang Bonifacio consisted of nationalist songs.

Violinist Coke Bolipata played Nicanor Abelardo’s Mutya ng Pasig, while activists from Bayan, Karapatan, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, and the UP Alay Sining sang Joey Ayala’s “Wala nang Tao sa Sta. Filomena.”

Among the personalities were Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, NBN-ZTE whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Sister Mary John Mananzan of the Association of Major Religious Sectors of the Philippines, movie director Carlitos Siguion-Reyna and wife Bibeth Orteza, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano, and Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino.

Lim led Manila City Hall employes in a march towards Liwasang Bonifacio.

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Days of Dextrose

Penman for Monday, June 29, 2009


SO I had this pesky operation—hellishly painful post-op, as my surgeon warned me early on—and I’m back home waddling like a diapered duck. Having made my bargains with God, I shall henceforth have to add bales of fiber to my diet, to chew everything down to microscopic mush, to run around the UP Academic Oval (without treating myself to ice cream at the end of the second lap), and to generally reduce my intake of creatures horned and hoofed. All this, because I never want to make the intimate acquaintance of another catheter, ever again.

I’d agreed to the operation in the expectation of certain side benefits, and I wasn’t thinking of just the break from work (except column-writing, which I’ll probably be doing on my deathbed, tapping out tepid wisecracks on my laptop). I was wishing that my surgeon would toss a tummy tuck into the package—might as well, while I was high on Demerol—or at least drain a tubful of lard from the old tire, but his scruples dictated him to keep to his mandate, which was to snip the most sensitive half-inch (well, maybe the next-most) off my poor, 216-pound body. Still, I was hopeful that several days of Dextrose would produce transformative wonders, and deliver me out of the hospital a svelte, sprightly 170-pounder.

Didn’t happen. Beng put me on the bathroom scale as soon as we got home and pronounced me trimmer—by three whopping pounds. I glumly theorized that I was probably just waterlogged and bursting with all that fiber additive I’d had to ingest. I looked at my profile in the mirror and everything was peachy—or rather, peach-shaped. UP Oval, here I come.

That’s as soon as I can get back on my feet. Thankfully I have the world’s best post-op recovery platform, a.k.a. my trusty, treasured La-Z-Boy Reclina-Rocker, my official residence for the next week. The only trouble is, “La-Z-Boy” is the antonym of “exercise.” Once you get on this thing, it won’t let go. Come to think of it, that may be where and how this whole mess began.


FRIENDS WOULD probably do me good right now, but thanks to a personal firewall I’ve put up, they won’t be too many. That’s all right. Friends are one of those things that, as you grow older, tend to get fewer but better.

That flies in the face of what’s been going on in the Internet, where an explosion of “friendships” seems to be the order of the day. Like you, I receive numerous invitations online—many of them from people I don’t even know—asking me to be their “friend” and to join them on this or that social network: Facebook, Multiply, Wayn, Jhoos, Hi5, Unyk, etc.

Just in the hospital, I must’ve received a dozen reminders on my BlackBerry to respond to this and that invitation—all of them, I’m sure, well meant. A week earlier, a friend wanted to send me some information, but sent me a Facebook link instead, thinking that I could access it. I had to tell her, sheepishly, that I must be the last person on earth (or at least in Diliman) without a Facebook account. Which is, admittedly, a rather odd thing, considering my penchant for all things digital.

But my stubborn resistance to “social networking” online is rooted deep in my analog, pre-computer psyche.

I don’t chat online (except during the annual Macworld keynote speech where Steve Jobs used to announce new gizmos—now sadly a thing of the past). I don’t even chat on the phone, coming as I do from a generation for whom a telephone—the big, black, plastic, two-headed doorstopper—was a luxury only rich people had in the house. Our family didn’t have a phone until I was nearly 30 and already married. I grew up thinking that there was no phone conversation you couldn’t finish within a couple of minutes (maybe remembering all those store signs that asked you to limit your call to three), and even today I get ear fatigue when someone keeps me on the phone for more than five, unless they’re truly friends.

I don’t think I’m anti-social or misanthropic or anything like that. I don’t mind meeting people and talking to them; I wouldn’t be a teacher otherwise. It’s just that some part of me recoils when someone I haven’t even met asks—nay, demands—that I be his or her “friend” online. I especially dislike messages that threaten me with being thought of as unfriendly or uncaring if I don’t respond positively and quickly to an “invitation”—you know, the ones that say, “XXX might think you were ignoring him/her if you don’t click the button below.”

None of this, of course, is the fault of the kind person who thought to invite me into his or her circle of acquaintances. It’s the Internet, and the nature of the beast, that’s blurred the distinction between an acquaintance and a friend, between someone you might exchange a juicy tidbit of gossip or a snippet of technical advice with on the fly and someone you’d trust your house, your car, or even your child with for a week or longer.

My friends are the people I drink beer or coffee with, play poker with, fuss over pens with, listen to live music with, and argue passionately about literature and politics with, without the discussion degenerating within three comments into what, online, would be called a “flame war.” My friends are people I may not be in touch with for weeks or months, who will understand and won’t mind the great pools of silence that sometimes well up between us when things get too busy or life yanks us in unexpected directions.

I can appreciate how Facebook, Multiply, Twitter, and such can be great meeting-places for people and convenient, speedy conduits of personal information. I’m probably missing out on something big, and I’m not silly enough to say “never” to something so clearly essential to the digerati (to catheters, yes). After all, I resisted blogging for years, and here I am.

In the meanwhile, like my friends know, the best way to reach me is by email, which gives me time to think of a sensible reply.

Win 2 Tickets to the SM Science Discovery Center!

I am currently raffling off 2 tickets for SM Science Discovery Center in Mall of Asia. If I am not mistaken regular entrance fee to the Center is PHP400.

To join the contest, simply answer the Question:

“If you are a heavenly body, what would you be?”

Post you answer in the comments section. Only one e-mail address per entry. Duplicate email addresses will be removed. The contest is open to everyone, provided, the winner must provide a Metro Manila address for the delivery of the tickets. One winner will be picked via random.org raffle. Contest closes July 15, 2009. Winner will be announced a day after the closing date. Ticket is transferable but NOT convertible to cash.

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Win 2 Tickets to the SM Science Discovery Center!

Broken plates

The theory of broken windows in police enforcement says that the rate of crime in a neighborhood is directly proportional to the number of broken windows in the area. Broken windows can mean burglaries or plain vandalism. Either way, when these offenses are not nipped in the bud, graver crimes happen. The solution is to [...]