Japan Earthquake 2011 - Thoughts & Realizations

Major news organizations such as CNN, BBC and Reuters reported that an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan and accordingly, the strongest that hit the country since the Great Kanto Quake back in 1923. Before writing this possible long blog entry, I am both watching the local news reporting the incident and checking the internet for possible updates.

I was at school when I first heard about this earthquake news in Japan. The local school TVs that were found in our campus started streaming news updates coming from a well-known local cable news channel, ANC (The ABS-CBN News Channel). While watching it, I was both stunned and amazed on what it happening. Stunned because this is worse than the earthquake that recently happened in Australia, amazed because its been a while since I saw this kind of strength being emitted by Mother Nature, the last one was the typhoon that hit our country two years ago.

Asides from those emotions, I was scared after hearing that a tsunami might struck our country, the Philippines due to the intensity of the earthquake, that is why I tried to lighten up myself by saying to myself, "The earthquake was caused by Godzilla and Ultraman fighting while the 33 giant robots from the Super Sentai franchise are watching." But it didn't work. The fear is still there.

I returned home, worried on what is happening in Japan, that is why I switched to one local TV channel who airs its nightly news update earlier than the other stations. Listening to a few bits of the update cause me to do other things, such as going to the market and buy fish from the fish monger for me to eat. I returned home, and went channel surfing till the other local channels will start airing the news. This is when I learned more on what is happening and saw more footage on the event.


An oil refinery exploded because of the earthquake, people are crying and saying to each other, "Everything is going to be alright." and people stuck on top of buildings. It was a devastating sight. Because of it, I am starting to wonder, are there any heroes around to save them? You might say, sure, Japan has an army of bug-faced heroes in which we cover in this blog along with men wearing colorful spandex and saving the world every single week, but those are fictional heroes, created to inspire others to be heroes in their own way.

I tried looking for lighter news related to this one on TV but I failed on looking one which cause me to be a bit depressed along with the possibility that a tsunami might hit the Philippines (while writing this post, Russia was hit with a tsunami caused by the Japan earthquake). Asides from that, I am starting to wonder, is our country prepared in case this level of magnitude will hit our country?

It turns out that there are heroes around when the earthquake happen. In an article from Kotaku that I just read, a gaming exec rescued a helpless junior high school girl. Sure, it was just minor act of heroism but we are not sure if there are more people like this gaming exec but we don't know.

What also lightened up my mood while learning more about this news is that, even if the communication lines are cut in Japan, they have other ways to communicate with others, such as Facebook and Twitter... and they say that Facebook and Twitter ruins some people! If they have a webcam, they might use Skype to communicate with their relatives outside Japan to tell them that they are safe. Also, local government agencies here in the Philippines are opening hotlines regarding the situation in Japan.

Even in the midst of the catastrophe, there is a ray of hope, a silver lining that everything will be alright. That is why local channels in Japan decided to cancel local anime and tokusatsu programming for a while the sake of updating about this news. So that everyone in Japan will be updated so that everyone in Japan will be safe and asides from that, anime/manga/game events were cancelled.

If you started rambling about having no Super Hero Time for next week, think about this, how many people in Japan are worried sick about their relatives being alive after the earthquake and what if you are in there position? Guess what I am trying to say is, let's pray that everyone in Japan are safe right now.

S.W.A.T., Uzis and Major Major Random

It’s the last two days of the week and it seems that we have one hell of a week. To kick things off, we will start with the Hostage Crisis. The reason why I decided to post my thoughts about the crisis this late is that I want to have my thoughts cleared up so that this post would not be… crappy.

For years living in the Philippines, I am used to hear that our police is does not have enough equipment, not swift enough that even films always portray them appearing at the end of the film! But this, this is madness. In the time they need to prove themselves that they are not those stereotype police officers in movies, they did this! I mean, look on their approach when the police decided to end the crisis in a forceful way. They look like they never experienced this kind of situation! To those whose memory is failing, let me remind you. Sometime in 2007 or 2008 or the time when Pedro Penduko is being aired on TV, there is a similar hostage crisis that happened. Whoops, they had experienced this kind of situation and based on what I remembered that they would try their best to be prepared in case this happens again.

Fast forward to the year 2010, we saw them using a sledgehammer to destroy a window BUT since they just smashed it without knowing the material of the glass, it was not effective. When they already made a hole, because of bad aiming, the teargas never went on target and caused a couple of media personnel and the police themselves to get watery eyed with the teargas.

Like what my idol, Erwin Tulfo said, they do not act like the S.W.A.T., which means Special Weapons and Tactics. Wait, that is the definition of S.W.A.T.? You have to be kidding me. Seriously, the S.W.A.T. team failed big time. They lack Special Weapons and they look like they are n00bs in playing Counter-Strike, OP7, Special Force or any First Player Shooter game that you might here. About their Tactics? Where is it? Oh, using a sledgehammer is their tactic along with moving to the side and not thinking that the culprit might use his guns to ward them off.

Just yesterday, I learned that they actually practiced for that event. But because they never anticipated the possible moves of their enemy, their practice failed. Sure, you can blame the guy who called Mendoza but why don’t you blame you lack of capacity to think of the possibilities that Mendoza will do? I mean, if I am on the situation of the police, I might think of at least five or seven possibilities on what will Mendoza do based on his position, based on his mood and especially, based on his weapons.

So, I agree on the new definition of S.W.A.T. Sorry, Wala Akong Training (Trans. Sorry, I Don’t Have Training). 

Camwhores. Pfft.

The fun part of the events during and after the hostage incident is the Uzis, I mean, the curios passersby who just happened to cross the police fence. To those who don’t know what is an Uzi, an Uzi is short for the Filipino term, usisero or usisera which means, those who want to know what is happening on this place even if he is not related to the person.

If you are checking various Facebook, Twitter or Plurk accounts, you might notice the pictures or links of pictures of various students taking a picture behind the bus, and boy, they all look happy! Plus, the fun thing is that instead, the police officers are warding them off, they just let them take pictures even they have no authority to take them! To top it off, the police themselves also took pictures along with the Uzis! This only happens Only in the Philippines! Now I understand why some pessimistic Pinoys prefer calling Philippines as FAILippines. 

Another thing that is proudly Pinoy is Maria Venus Raj, rah, ra-ah-ah! Roma, roma-ma-ma! Sorry, can’t help myself to sing Bad Romance everytime I mention her family name. Back to regular business, Maria Venus… Raj is one of the early favorites of the Ms. Universe pageant and has high hopes in winning the competition. When the day came, for the first time after years in following Ms. Universe in my TV if I had the chance to watch it I didn’t switch to another channel after the announcement of the top contenders! Ms. Philippines were there until the Top 5. The moment of truth came, the question and answer portion.

Here question was, “What is the biggest mistake in your life?” Her answer, major major not related to the question or probably she was just major major nervous on her answer. Aw, come on, Venus! You have an answer! Remember you were almost dethroned with the crown? You might use that experience! And so, she end up the 4th placer, not bad considering that the Philippines is in a dry spell in Ms. Universe.

Aside from her rather major major weird answer, is a birth of a major major Pinoy meme. Yes, those words she mentioned, major major.

What does everyone need to forget all about this? Another Filipino achievement from Charice, Arnel Pineda, Manny Pacquiao or some other PNoy who might so something about this situation after him being bombarded by issues regarding a certain Luisita.

If we will forget these events, I will not be surprised. Let this song from the classic film, The Breakfast Club reminds you that we should not forget about them.

Independence Day Special: Noli me Tangere and the Pinoy Society

 That is how this book stared at me for the first time I saw it in the bookstore.

Last time, I wrote an Independence Day article about the facts about Philippine Independence. This time, I will write an article about Noli me Tangere and the Philippine Society.

When Rizal wrote Noli me Tangere back then, it was meant to attack the Philippine society as a whole. But the effects were rather… different. And lo, it ushered the hearts and minds of the Filipinos to wage war against the Spaniards. Well, part of the message of the novel was meant to depict the lives of Filipinos being oppressed by the Spaniards but this part was just an icing of the cake.

Years later, Noli and its sequel, El Filibusterismo, were now part of our educational curriculum forcing students to memorize lines coming from the novel and reading abridged versions of the novel, or worse, summaries of every chapter. Because of this, Rizal’s sarcastic style in writing Noli was severely lost due to abridging. Because of this, I decided to save money (Well, I failed the saving part) and buy the Penguin Classics Edition of Noli me Tangere which is unabridged.

After finishing the novel, I was amazed on Rizal’s writing style and his true intention of Noli me Tangere. Here are the things that I observed while reading the unabridged copy of Noli.

+ Dona Victorina

You can still observe this on the abridged version. Dona Victorina wants to be a European thus, he wears the same known European fashion and wants to have the same European skin tone. In short, gusto niyang pumuti. Fast forward to the present, there are many ways on how to have that fair and rosy skin tone and every Filipina wants to have that smooth silky white skin tone.

+ The Balimbing Factor

Balimbing is a political term about a certain politician who always switches sides once he/she notices the greater influence of a said politician (Example: Former members of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD now on LP). In Noli, Ibarra was very much supported by everyone on his project in building a school for San Diego. But after someone framed him up on a crime that he is not involved, this is where his supporters started to switch sides and started ranting about him. Wow, parang pamilyar ang eksena na ito… which leads to this.

+ Pulling Someone Down Who is On Top

This is what happened to Ibarra. He was one of the most influential personalities in San Diego. This also happened to his father when someone accused him of killing a Civil Guard. After this incident, the number of his enemies grew and started pulling him down. Modern example, it starts with a V. Yes, I am serious. Manny Villar.

+ The Influence of the Church and State

The most dominant factor that I noticed in Noli, sure the friars are the ones who are dominating the state back then and everything they say is like the “Rule of God”. There is one scene of the novel which the heads of the town are having a meeting of the upcoming town fiesta. After finishing their plans, one person said what the friars wanted, since the friars want that, they have no choice but to abide on their wishes.

Same goes on what’s happening today. Everything must be consulted first to the Church. Sure, they are not Europeans but still, the influence of Filipino Bishops still lingers.

The question is, when we will be free from these factors? Time will only tell. Hope that the future generation will not see this scene again.

On Analysis: 2 More Years in School Here in the Philippines?! In Short, Middle School!

It has been a while since I did a commentary about serious things. There is a candidate running for the senate and also a presidential candidate proposed to add two more years in the educational system here in the Philippines. To those who don’t know, the Philippine basic educational system has a total of 10 years of studying and most countries have 12 years of schooling. Okaaay.

Based on what I remember based on mass media, Japan has 6 years elementary education, 3 years middle school education and 3 years high school education. Assume that we will use this system in case they will still pursue it, what will be the subjects in the three years of middle school? In my own opinion, I say they would focus more on mathematic subjects namely, Elementary Algebra for the first year, Intermediate Algebra for the second year and Geometry for the third year and as for the high school students, Calculus, Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry might be okay.

In case of sciences just, move the current high school subjects to the middle school and on high school, they would focus more on Physics, Advanced Physics and Advanced Chemistry. In terms of Social Studies, seeing that most high school graduates don’t know Napoleon Bonaparte (Note: I witness it myself.), it would be best to take World History for two years. The first year would be in the last year of middle school and the second year would be the first year in high school. But seeing how bad the public educational system is based on statistics, it’s like teaching them something that will just slipped by in their head.

One more thing, about the books, what books the students will use once this will be implemented also another thing, the uniform the student will wear and another thing, were will the students stay during their classes especially knowing that most public schools don’t have enough classrooms?

Seeing how crappy and problematic the Public Educational System is, why add 2 more years in school? I mean, my add more crap to something that is rotting out? Why not instead improve the Public Educational System first before pursuing this. If the public educational system will be good, pursue on having a middle school.

The bottomline here is that you must first fix the problems before adding another problem namely, Middle School. If you add Middle School to the list of problems, its like you are solving vast Calculus or Trigonometry questions in both hands.

On Analysis Special Edition: Maguindanao Massacre

Its been 4 days since this said incident, I decided to analyze this situation for two reasons: one, this is a serious topic about human rights and two, I noticed that this incident showed how cruel and brutal most people are that to the extent that they will mutilate the body in an extreme degree, and I want to reexamine our values as human beings.

This topic is all over the headlines, TV, radio and in the internet, the massacre of 57 people, and as of press time, still counting, for the sake of preventing someone to take the throne away from them. I will not go on to the bigger details, but I will summarize the big picture into one sentence. This massacre is worst than Hitler’s consecration camps, cannibal films and terrorist attacks. This massacre showed us that the possibility of us humans to do something extreme, heck, it is better described as inhuman for the sake of power.

Like the song by Gloc9 entitled Upuan (literally translated as Chair), there is one part of the song that says that if there is a chance, this said chair is fought by many people that is why the one currently seating on the chair protects it like it is his own life. The scenario happened to this case, the culprits, who are seating, clinging on to their power wants to stay longer that is why they did this certain act; unimaginable because of it’s brutally.

As of now, the government has no said action in this case. Considering the fact that it is OBVIOUS that they are the culprit, they still do ways and means to slow down the investigation, considering the FACT that the said culprit is a crony and that caused a landslide victory of the administration in the previous election.

After watching the news yesterday, hearing what my teacher’s opinion and opinions coming from the press, I examined myself, is there a being capable of doing this kind of crime? The only people I can cite doing it are those people living outside of the modern civilization and those people living in the caves back in the prehistoric times. Have we lost our values as humans? Or are we returning to our previous state, better known as cavemen? Or are we humans overprotective of our power?

The age of monarchy is over in our country, the Philippines, we should give others a chance to rule if they will rule for the sake of the people. If the said official wants to stay in the said position, do it in a clean way by the polls. Let the people decide if they still want the said person to stay in their position or they want them out. I think those guys forget the principle of what Democracy, 2010 Elections is all about. Democracy is the rule of the people and not the rule of a few. Democracy is about serving the people, for their sake and not for the sake of the sake of the money that will later corrupt their filthy pockets.

On Analysis: Noynoy for President

For the past week, Noynoy was silent about his plan to be president, until on the 40th day of her mother’s death; he officially announced that he will run as president of our country. While I was washing my yellow shirts and blue pants, these thoughts came into my mind.

Is he the hope?
In science, there is such a thing as genes. Many people think that Noynoy inherit both of his parents’ wonderful genes. Even I believe that he inherited his parents’ sense of justice. But the question is can he save this country from corruption? Is he the hope of this country?

In my opinion, yes, he is the hope of this country. Knowing what her mother did for the country and what she teached to her children, Noynoy can be a good president, heck maybe better from his predecessors. Noynoy has never been the limelight in the news, till now. In short, he didn’t do anything stupid while he is in the Senate.

Double Action Kris and Korina Form
Many people hoped that Noynoy and Mar for 2010. I am not sure right now if Mar will be Noynoy’s running mate but on the day Mar backed out, there is one part that these two are seen together, there was a spark on that moment. In case that this happened, they will have two of the biggest supporters at their arsenal. Kris and Korina.

These two are once part of a morning show and they both have this sort of mass appeal, what adds up is that they are good friends. If the Noynoy and Mar tandem will be the Liberal Party’s choice for 2010, then we will see a Morning Girls reunion. Instead of talking about some issue, they will talk about how awesome Noy and Mar is and why you must support them. Boy, these two can convince most people, and with their appeal, they can really boost the marketing for both Noy and Mar.

The Gloria Effect
Not that much of importance, but let’s just remember GMA’s genealogy. She is the daughter of a former president, President Macapagal. Hope once Noynoy will become the president, hope that history will not repeat itself.

On Analysis: SONA. LOL.

Una sa lahat, isusulat ko ang buo post na ito sa Tagalog para mas maintindihan ng mga Pilipino ang nilalaman nito at para di maintindihan ng taga-ibang bansa ang nilalaman nito unless kung meron silang translator na Pinoy, o merong silang program na naga translate ng mga mensahe. Magsisimula ako sa ginawa ko bago manuod ng SONA.

Nasa paaralan ako sa pagitan ng 11:30-12:00nn, naghahanda sa anti-SONA rally sa public plaza dito sa lungsod ng Bacolod. Di pinilit sa akin na sumama, ako mismo ang pumunta sa rally kasama ng mga kakaklase ko at mga guro ko. In short, wala kaming klase. Excuse kung baga.

Sumakay kami sa school bus papuntang lagoon kung saan magsisimula ang lakad namin papuntang public plaza. Una sa lahat, di ako naglunch. Nagwater therapy ako. Mabuti, na kumbinsi ko ang kakaklase ko na ilibre ako ng ice cream, pampatawid ng gutom. Pagpatak ng 1pm, nagsimulana na ang martsa papunta sa public plaza.

Mahaba, at minsan, nakakabagot ang paglalakad namin. Para mawala ang bagot, ilan sa amin ay naguusap, ilan gumagawa ng iba't-ibang paraan, basta matangal ang pagkabagod. Ang ginawa ko? Tumingin sa tabi-tabi. Nakita ko, bus ng Iglesia ni Cristo, mga tindahan lalo na ang isang carinderia na may pangalan ni Gloria. Biro ng kaibigan ko, dumugin namin yun at doon magprotesta. Sa haba ng paglalakad ay nakarating kami ng plaza. Nung tinawag na ang paaralan namin, pasok kami sa gitna ng stage. Wow. dun ko napansin na madaming galit sa "mahal" nating pang-gulo este pangulo. Napansin ko din na madami palang schools na sumama sa rally, kaya di nakapagtatatka na nakita ko ang pinsan ko na sa tabi lang ng plaza ang paaralan nya na tabi ng isang kilalang mall na tawag ay SM.

Di ako nakinig sa sunod na sabi ng mga pari. Humanap kami ng pwesto kung saan pwede kami ng mga kaklase ko na pwedeng umupo. kasunod nun, umulan. Pagkatapos ng Pambansang Awit, umuwi na ako. Gusto ko marinig ang sasabihin ng pangulo.

Pagkatapos tumingin sa mga rental VCD's at DVD's sa Video City, lumakad ako papuntang paradahan ng jeep. Muntik na ako masagasaan ng motorsiklo, buti, nagalusan lang ako. Pagbalik sa bahay, binuksan ko ang TV. Kambal sa Uma pa ang palabas. Naghintay ako. Sa wakas, SONA na.

Pagkatapos ng pagdasal nila para kay Pres. Cory, nakatulog ako. Hula ko, nasa state na ng katawan ko na kung saan, kung magsisimula na magnarrate ng kwento si PGMA, iiidlip na ako. Nagising na ako, natapos na ang pagyayabang nya. sa wakas, nasa parte na kung saan na magsasalita na ang pangulo sa plano nya.

Naging unang reaksyon ko nung sinabi nya na di na siya maging presidente sa 2010, sa wakas, tuloy ang eleksyon. Di nasayang ang pagod ng COMELEC sa automation, ABS-CBN sa Ako ang Simula campaigns nila, ang GMA sa paggawa ng isang malaking partnership sa iba't-ibang kumpanya, ang mga politiko na nagsisimula na ng kanilang "secret" campaigns at higit sa lahat, di nasayang ang magiging boto ng mga first-time voters sa 2010.

Ngunit, may malaking tanong pa rin ang naiwan ng SONA. Ano si PGMA lagpas 2010? Eto ang naging teorya ko.

a. Tatakbo siya sa congresso.

b. Haharap siya sa maraming kaso.

c. Maging isang kritiko sa susunod na pangulo.

d. Isang regular housewife na busy sa pagkanta sa Magic Sing o sapagsasayaw ng ballroom o busy sa panunuod ng Wowowee.

Di natin alam kung ano ang mangyayari pagkatapos bumaba siya bilang pangulo o pang-gulo ng bansa. Ang masasabi ko lang, abangan na lang natin ang sunod na kabanata.

On Analysis: Independence Day

Facts
We are freed from the Spanish rule at June 12, 1898. A months later, Spain and America had an agreement. The Philippines is now a colony of America. Since, we the sovereign Filipino, refuse to believe that we are "sold" and now a colony of America, we revolt. Rebellion failed. A few years later, thanks to the Tydings-McDuffie Act, we are given ten years to prove that we worthy to be independent. Commonwealth government started. Year 1941, The Japanese occupied the Philippines. Since these guys think we need a leader, a sort of leader was presented to the masses. The so-called "government" is under the puppet control of the Japanese. September 2, 1945, The Japenese surrendered thus ending their reign. At July 4, 1946, we are recognized by the whole world as an Independent nation, our country is officially free. But there's something strange, we are celebrating our independence on June 12, even the day of our independence is July 4. Weird...

The Main Thing
When we are kids, we use to think that we are independent for more than 90 years (to those who kids who watched the 100 Centennial Independence Day Celebration on TV), and we used to think that the brave Katipuneros did it... until we reach Elementary and learned Philippine History. Haha! I feel like I am a parent hiding the sacred truth about Santa Claus while typing the previous sentence! Anyways, in our journey in Elementary, we learn that we are once under the Americans later the Japanese in which the money is given a nickname, "Mickey Mouse Money" (Thus, children learned that their grandparents had watched black and white Disney films). After that, MacArthur returned then Hiroshima and Nagasaki are bombed. A few years later, we are independent. The day of our Independence is on July 4. But the day we celebrate it is, June 12.

Thanks to my teacher, Mrs. Q, I learned the current president's father, Diosdado Macapagal, did the Harry Potter thing-a-majigerry of the date of our independence. My teacher said that Macapagal had a conflict with the Americans thus changing the date of our independence. In my own opinion, the reason is too shallow.

Is changing the day of the celebration of our independence the right decision? I say, no. If I were President Macapagal, I will retain the day of our independence as it is. What's wrong with the 4th of July as the day of our independence? I find nothing irrelevant with July 4. Because of this decision, the number of years that we are independent changed. From 63, it becomes 111 thanks to June 12. A difference of 48 years. What's more, everytime we celebrate Independence Day, we don't commemorate much of our independence from the Americans, more on the Spaniards. It felt like, we find the Katipuneros bravery is better compared to a recognized sheet of paper signed by both parties that recognized our independence.

After you read this post, hope you find more meaning on the day of our independence.