Ratratan 2008

Photos are taken during the Ratratan 2008 held on December 13, 2008 at Kampo Kalesa Kape at Santa Rosa, Laguna. More photos and videos at www.popularairsoft.com. Also at our squad's site here.

Cory: I am ... sorry

I was at Podium on that momentous event. And hearing the words addressed to the Convicted-Plunderer no less than by the Icon-of-Democracy herself, I wished I were at a different place.

I’ve just had a business meeting with one of my suppliers from Holland at Dome Restaurant at the ground floor of Podium. I was at the escalator on way to the second floor to meet my son who was already dining at Banana Leaf. As I reached the second floor and was about to step out of the escalator, I was jolted by the very uncomfortable situation I suddenly found myself in. A throng of people swarmed before me, dozens of cameras clicked and flashed, and I noticed public figures like Senator Ernesto Maceda, former Ambassador to the U.N. Lauro Baja and Senator Franklin Drilon offering handshakes.

Were those offers of handshake for me? Have I suddenly become a celebrity?

I made my one-million-dollar-smile ready for the appreciating crowd and cameras, put extra effort to come up with a twinkle in my eyes, and secretly wiped my hands on the sides of my pants, ready to return and acknowledge the offers of hand. You could hear my thoughts aloud like you’re in a THX moviehouse: Yes, I was a celebrity!

Now there was one last thing to do: I looked around – half of it to confirm that the much undeserved attention was indeed for me and the other half to recognize and show appreciation for the same attention that I was suddenly being showered with.

And then I saw him. Just at my back, one step below me at the escalator was a man dressed in a black suit, his hair meticulously prepped with pompadour – the ousted president, the Convicted-Plunderer himself.

The event turned out to be the launching of Jose de Venetia’s book written by Brett Decker titled “Global Filipino: The Authorized Biography of Jose de Venecia, Jr., the Visionary Five-Time Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines” -- a rather lengthy title for a biography of a relatively short man and which as Erap himself complained, was as kilometric and as nakakasakit ng ulo as JDV’s speeches. It was a star-studded event. I immediately recognized Tita Cory in red dress, Gina de Venecia also in red dress, Sen. Ernesto Maceda, Former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, Cong. Ronaldo Zamora, Former Sen. Francisco Tatad and former Ambassador to U.N. Lauro Baja. Of course, the subject of the biography, JDV himself, was the picture of a most gracious host dutifully announcing the presence of his guests before the throng of crowd.

“Kiko!” a familiar voice yelled. The voice was from a lawyer-friend, a neighbor in my condominium community. He was, like the other heavyweight guests, in a dark suit.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I’m one of Erap’s lawyers,” he proudly declared. “Come, join us,” he said.

And so, I found myself listening to politicians’ speeches, got to elbow and pressed hands with some of them, even got to make beso-beso with one of the missus… and felt tremendously sorry for the nation after.

My take on Tita Cory’s mea culpa:

I can understand she regrets the fact that it was GMA who succeeded Erap but I can never agree with her that we should regret Edsa Dos, too. I can agree that GMA is more corrupt than Erap but that doesn’t mean Erap wasn’t corrupt either. In fact, we see GMA as more corrupt now only because GMA is already on her eighth year as president; Erap only had three years. None of these to mean Erap didn't deserve to be ousted. On the other hand, all of these to mean GMA deserves to be ousted, too. A more corrupt president does not exculpate the sins of another corrupt president.

Did Erap do wrong things to this country? Yes. Did he use the presidency for his personal interests and vices -- the midnight Cabinet, ‘jueteng,’ womanizing, mansions? Yes. Did he deserve to be ousted in Edsa Dos? Definitely yes!

Is GMA corrupt, too? By all accounts, yes. Is she using the presidency for her personal interests – NBN-ZTE deal, Fertilizer scam, Hello Garci, bribery of public officials, attempt on the life of Jun Lozada, etc.? Yes. But does that mean we should now regret Edsa Dos, that we ousted Erap?

Hell, no! That only means we should oust GMA, too! Edsa Dos and ousting Erap was the right thing to do. And so we did. Ousting GMA is now the right thing to do, too. And so we should!

Now let me share with you what I felt during the launching of JDV’s book itself. I was watching JDV and Erap, former bitter presidential rivals, lock arms, almost like lovers. Former Vice-President Tito Guingona who snowballed the impeachment against Erap through his “I accuse” speech was in a jovial banter with Erap himself. Senator Ernesto Maceda was lovey-dovey with former Senator Francisco Tatad. And of course, on top of these, Tita Cory, one of the leaders of Edsa Dos that ousted Erap, was making beso-beso with Erap himself.

My God, I prayed, these people are playing with my country, turning it into a circus for the amusement of the elite. God help the Philippines!

The Gacias Clan Blog

I am starting a blog for the Gacias Clan. Visit gaciasclan.blogspot.com.

On Jesus' prayer in the name of Jesus

"Bless the President so she will have forbearance, good health, the tolerance to lead this nation up to 2010, and perhaps, who knows, even beyond," thus prayed Press Secretary Jesus Dureza.

O Christ Jesus, if You can’t listen to me, please DON’T listen to Your tokayo, too. He was just being humorous as he openly admits. Just listen to the hearts of all the Filipinos. Let his president NOT extend a millisecond more in Malacanang. Amen.

On Philosophical Pessimism

“Man’s life is limited to one hundred years. Night takes up half of these; one half of the remainder is absorbed by infancy and old age; the rest is passed in the midst of the sicknesses, separations and adversities which accompany life, in serving others and giving oneself up to similar occupations. Where is one to find happiness in a life that is like the foam that the agitation of the waves produces in the sea?”

These words, taken from the verses of Bhartrihari, somehow capsulizes what philosophical pessimism speaks of: life is suffering and happiness is but a dream. As Voltaire, this favorite of fortune and nature, said: “ I have been experiencing it for eighty years. I do not know of anything to do except resign myself to it, and remember that flies are born to be eaten up by the spider and men to be eaten up by grief.”

It can be said therefore that pessimism is nothing but the pathetic confirmation of the evil of this world, a desperate cry of anguish of the tortured soul.

But there definitely is dignity in the face of suffering. And this dignity lies in the acceptance of the absurdity of the sisiphusian task – a confidence in the face of the absurd end to an absurd existence. This implies that humanity will fulfill its destiny not by its own simple disappearance, but by a complete surrender of individuality to the cosmic process, so that this process can reach its aim which is the freeing of the world. It is only by a complete submission to life and its suffering, and not by a cowardly renunciation and surrender, that one will be able to contribute to the cosmic process.

But this ignores and fails to mention that there can be a higher dignity beyond man’s desperate heroic act in the face of absurdity, that there can be something nobler than the acceptance of suffering. What can be nobler than the acceptance of suffering? This we believe is succinctly expressed by the Stoics when they proclaimed that our real happiness consists in virtue and that the realization of this happiness is beyond human strength. Also, Plato, who admitted that terrestrial existence is essentially imperfect and the pleasures of this world sheer absences of pain nonetheless admitted the World of Ideas which we can reach by our own efforts, enlightened by Reason. In the same manner, Christianity which at all times preaches the “vanity” of terrestrial joys, likewise speaks of heaven and of the eternal beatitude which is in heaven reserved for man.

Moreover, we observe that the contention that the essence of life is suffering is contrary to experience. This is because in spite of the unquestionable miseries which are inherent to terrestrial life, the majority of mortals decidedly prefer existence to non-existence. Nature does not recommend pessimism.

The fear of death, a senseless, irrational but for man more dreadful than all suffering, is only the counterpart of the will to live.

Bury me

BURY ME

Wilt thou letteth me see thee before I die
and kisseth thee before I fly?
Though the fee is worth so high
doubteth I thou wilt cry.

So long my dearest
my life is cooleth now and weary
blank fate is in my ride
cause the Reaper of Life is nigh.

I remember now the sign of years
seen in naked fears
though troubles seem unfair
still and yet, who would care...?

Wilt thou letteth me cry before I die?
... But saith he:
"Let the dead bury their dead!"

Bushisms

As Erap was for the Filipinos, George W. Bush is for the Americans. Erap had his “Eraptions,” Bush has his “Bushisms.” Thus, while large corners of the world are still euphoric over the presidential victory of Obama, there will be some people feeling slightly deflated to see Bush step down as US president. Just as there will always be some Filipinos who would feel aggrieved to see the downfall of the movie star who became the most stupid president of the Philippines, as he is often dubbed by the media and civil society groups, there are also some people -- Americans as well as non-Americans -- who feel aggrieved over the nearing exit of Bush.

Just as Erap has provided us with endless amusement as a result of his faux pas or “Eraptions,” Bush, too, has provided us with his “Bushisms.” You say the Filipinos were crazy and deserved what they got for voting Erap into the highest office in the land? Well, the Americans had Bush. And he got to rule the most powerful nation on earth for eight years.

Here are 25 of my favorite Bushisms:

25. "I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that -- in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House." --George W. Bush, referring to White House chef Cristeta Comerford while meeting with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Washington, D.C., June 24, 2008

24. "I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 26, 2008

23. "Your eminence, you're looking good." --George W. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI, using the title for Catholic cardinals, rather than addressing him as "your holiness," Rome, June 13, 2008

22. "Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech." --George W. Bush, to Pope Benedict, Washington, D.C., April 15, 2008

21. "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

20. "So long as I'm the president, my measure of success is victory -- and success." --George W. Bush, on Iraq, Washington, D.C., April 17, 2008

19. "Let me start off by saying that in 2000 I said, 'Vote for me. I'm an agent of change.' In 2004, I said, 'I'm not interested in change --I want to continue as president.' Every candidate has got to say 'change.' That's what the American people expect." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 5, 2008

18. "This thaw -- took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw." --George W. Bush, on liquidity in the markets, Alexandria, La., Oct. 20, 2008

17. "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk -- that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras -- it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments." --George W. Bush, speaking at a private fundraiser, Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008

16. "Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." --George W. Bush, Charlottesville, Va., July 4, 2008

15. "I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there needs to be -- hold hands." --George W. Bush, on how he can contribute to the Middle East peace process, Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2008

14. “Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." - Nov. 28, 2005

13. "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - Dec. 19, 2000

12. "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness." - Aug. 30, 2000

11. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." - Jan. 3, 2000

10. "I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will." - Oct. 5, 2002

9. "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." - May 25, 2004

8. "I understand small business growth. I was one." - Feb. 19, 2000

7. "I just want you to know that when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - June 18, 2002

6. "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." - Sept. 17, 2002

5. "The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." - Oct. 8, 2004

4. “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." - Sept. 29, 2000

3. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - Aug. 5, 2004

2. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." - Jan. 27, 2000

1. "They misunderestimated me." - Nov. 6, 2000

For more Bushisms, check the Political Humour Website.