Happily, she won't be sanctioned, says SC Administrator Midas Marquez.
Bourne In the Philippines
January 11, 2012 is the first filming day of The Bourne Legacy in Leveriza in Pasay in the Philippines.
I read The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum years ago. If I remember correctly, this was when Jason's arch enemy Carlos The Jackal drowned in an amusement park.
Carlos The Jackal is a real person, Ilich Sanchez Ramirez, a Venezuela-born international assassin in the 1970s. He was a central figure in Claire Sterling's groundbreaking investigative book Network of Terror.
Claire Sterling is the inspiration for the character of Clarice Starling in Thomas Harris' novel The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice was played by Jodie Foster in Jonathan Demme's film version, with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter.
Carlos also inspired ex-CIA Frederick Forsyth's novel The Day of The Jackal, which was made into a movie in the 70s. Bruce Willis played the role in the 90s remake, with Richard Gere and Sidney Poitier
Sorrow At Yuletide
The tragedy brought by typhoon Sendong was lethally swift, totally unexpected and gut-wrenching. But it galvanized people around the world to send help to the grieving survivors in Iligan and Cagayan De Oro; couriers like ZestAir are even offering their services for free just to send much needed aid. Universal brotherhood knows no borders.
A typhoon is a phenomenon of nature. But how "natural" are disasters like flashfloods caused by illegal loggers and irresponsible mining companies protected by politicians?
Congress can amend the Price Act overnight to include bottled water in the list of necessary items to avoid overpricing during calamities. If Congress can impeach an incumbent Supreme Court Chief Justice in a matter of hours, surely they can.
Who Is Most Welcome To Your Home?
Bill Moore of Asheville, South Carolina wrote a letter to their local paper about a house guest who turned their lives upside down. They followed all his demands: a special bed, an entourage of at least three people wherever he goes, undivided attention when he's awake, and most importantly, absolute silence when he's asleep.
He has a habit of taking things apart, blissfully oblivious that he can't put them back together again.
One time, they went to Mount Pisgah, and in reaction to the magnificent view, he yawned and slept. During lunch, he made a fuss, refusing to eat what was ordered and insisting that he eat somebody else's meal. If that wasn't enough, he was seen kissing the waitress.
Is that kind of guest welcome?
You bet! "He is just three years old, and he calls me Grandpa," says Bill. "And he can come and dissemble the whole house anytime he wants." (Source: Reader's Digest, November 1979)
Me and the Athenians
As a writer, I appreciate brevity. Yes. So did the Athenians of Ancient Greece. Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander The Great, told them: "If we capture your city, we'll burn it!" The king sent a one-word reply: "If.
Are You Using All Your Powers?
A young boy as trying to lift a boulder but it was too heavy. He told his father he was using ALL his strength.
"No," his father smiled, "because you haven't asked me to help you yet."
The Best Lawyer Jokes In The World
I got a bunch of lawyer jokes from columnist Jarius Bondoc.
A witness who was suffering from myasthenia was asked how it affects her memory. She said it makes her forgetful. The lawyer asked: "Can you cite examples of those things you have forgotten?"
A widow was asked how her marriage ended, and she said by death. The lawyer demanded: "Whose death?"
A forensic pathologist was on the witness stand. The lawyer wanted to get his medical opinion: "Doctor, isn't it true that if a person dies during the night, he wouldn't know about this until the next day?"
A prosecutor was grilling a witness: "Were you present when your photo was taken?"
A lawyer was making sure he got the facts straight. Okay, the witness has three children. There are no boys. The lawyer confirmed: "Are there girls?"
The Inside Story of The Jabidah Massacre
I was talking with the former provincial administrator of Jolo (or so he says), around the third week of May. Apparently, Sabah belongs to the Philippines. It was leased by the Sultanate of Sulu to the British North Borneo Timber Corp in the 19th century. After World War 2, Sabah was lumped with the Federation of Malaysia, from which Singapore and Brunei broke away to become solo nations. So Sabah was left with Malaysia.
It turns out that Marcos' Operation Jabidah, the secret recruitment and training of Sulu's fearsome Samal Bangenge tribal warriors in Corregidor, was meant to be a coup to reclaim Sabah. It was also known as the Jabidah Massacre, because the food-denied troops staged a mutiny and they were all killed.
Chapter V. 2011
Trees of Gold
Spent the entire day yesterday in Ayala Triangle, the park behind the Makati Stock Exchange. People, local and foreign, look at me and see a guy in a blue sports shirt, jeans and silver rubber shoes. Probably a student, writing in a notebook, with trinkets on both wrists like a hippie, a couple of books on top of his knapsack.
I was actually writing magazine articles, making my free time productive and hydrated with Gulp from 7-11 and Coke from McDonald’s.
I look up and see trees of gold like the cherry blossoms in a Shinto shrine in Japan.
In The Arms of Nature
The Sunken Garden at the sprawling Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines, like Ayala Triangle, is special to me. What plays in my mind at those places is "I’ll Remember" by Madonna, theme from With Honors, a touching movie set in Harvard.
I won’t tell you why, only it’s about peeks at the bright sparks on the verities of existence, sheltered by the arms of nature, under an infinite sky that will outlast our sojourn through eclectic lifetimes.
Superstar Stray Cat
Last Monday I was sitting outside a tailor shop in Santa Ana in Manila under the shade of a tree. The summer heat was demonic though it was cooler where I was, compared to my apartment which doesn’t even have air conditioning.
A ragamuffin kitten passed, and I instinctively called out: “Swswswswswswsws!”
He came, climbed up to me and was soon sitting on my knapsack on my lap as comfy as you please.
Feeling close.
A Friendship To Last A Lifetime
I just attended last Wednesday my nth funeral – I mean, not mine, but I’ve been to so many I actually lost count. It pains me still that those include the wakes of my first best friend Noel De Los Angeles in 2007 and my second best friend Gilbert Bolante in 2009. I was also there for a really close friend, Jimmy Locsin, in 2003.
This time it was for the aunt of another old friend, Gary, a good friend since 1993. What makes it poignant is his mother died just last month. It was in the same room at Loyola Chapels in Guadalupe in Makati.
I value friendship more than words can say. As I posted in Facebook last week: If you earn my respect, then you deserve my loyalty. No man intimidates me so my words are true.
I may not be a party animal – I don’t drink and really feel out-of-place in boisterous crowds – but in your hour of need, I’ll be there.
If our friendship is worth keeping, then you can lean on me. Depend on it. That’s what friends are for.
Cheesy!!!
What I Did When I Woke Up This Morning
Woke up early today to a beautiful rain shower, an easy Sunday morning! Good mornin’ Al Jarreau and Mr. Radio! Surfed the FM stations til I got Di Bale Na Lang by Gary V. I love Sundays: it’s rest day from both work and school. I love it when it rains and I don’t have to go out, enjoying that cozy moment sheltered from the elements, remembering that line from the Astrud Gilberto jazz classic “A Certain Sadness”: “Look out the window when that rain storms…”
My First Day Alone
There’s a reason why the song“First Day Alone” is super special to me. “
Here comes the morning sun …”
It’s perfect hearing it on the jeep radio in the early smile of sunshine on a Sunday two weeks ago. This Cascades classic revives my youthful adventures in my quest for independence and my place in this world.
It just so happens that I was reminiscing about my gung-ho zest to live life to the fullest, totally indifferent to trivialities and gossip. I still have that joie de vivre, that joy for living and I’m happy because I choose to be
In Perfect Harmony
When you update your Facebook status through your mobile phone, the ideal message length is 96 characters, or 64/1 on your phone screen. Here’s my FB Mobile post Tuesday morning, something adorable and upbeat:
Huggybear would like to teach the world to sin in perfect harmony, U R a child of the universe.
Why I Wear Sunglasses At Night
I go the extra mile to affirm my belief in humanity. Last April, I lost my Top Gun style sunglasses, in an original Hugo Boss frame with its indestructible case, in a PBCom pantry while waiting for some friends who work at Stream, formerly eTelecare.
The next day I got it back because somebody turned it over to the security personnel. It perhaps helped that it was tinted prescription glasses, 600 on both eyes, so I know nobody but me can use it. Still, I’m grateful, and it strengthened my faith in the inherent goodness of my fellow men.
A Stormy and Thankless Job
Weather is, by nature, unpredictable. That’s why we used to have the tradition of naming tropical depressions with girls’ names, an ode to the fairer sex’s famous fickle mind. That is, until women’s lib landed, so now we also have boy storms.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), throughout the years, has been our only source of information about anything about the weather. This government agency under the Department of Science and Technology reports their forecasts based on their instrument readings, always setting the expectation that conditions can, and oftentimes will, change.
It does them gross injustice to get blamed for something beyond their control, like what’s happening now. Some politicians, instead of being thankful that typhoon Chedeng didn’t fully land in Metro Manila and the northern part of the country as was calculated based on the available information at that time, actually slammed PAGASA.
Instead of being thankful that their constituents did not have to face the full force of nature’s fury, they even took it as an opportunity to get media mileage.
PAGASA’s warnings galvanize preparedness and have actually saved lives, but there are people who just stubbornly insist on focusing on flaws, and nothing can change their mind, not even the climate.
But if the storm did arrive, they would blame PAGASA too. “What a fool believes he sees,” sings Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, “no wise man has the power to reason away.”
Your Signature Can Save Palawan
Remember Aesop’s fable about the thirsty crow? Let’s call him Vince Perez. Stumbled upon a half-empty bottle of Chivas Regal. Can’t reach his beak inside, you see, so he got some ice cubes until he got a shot of scotch whiskey on the rocks.
Great things start from small beginning, goes the Milo slogan. Little things accumulate. I am proud to say that I have signed the petition to stop mining in Palawan.
I did that last March and my blog 2Rivers has been carrying a self-made banner link to the sign-up website since then.
Good news: Palawan is unique for its rich but delicate biodiversity. Here’s the bad news: the ground underneath is so thin and fragile so any excavation threatens to sink the entire island.
My First Story After The World Ended
Today’s the first day after the end of the world.
I respect other people’s beliefs, even if they contradict mine, even if they defy logic. I didn’t even entertain the possibility that the Lord Almighty has revealed to Harold Camping of Family Radio Worldwide – EXCLUSIVE! – that doomsday has been scheduled for yesterday.
It is against my nature to gloat, but it got me seriously thinking about the God-like powers of the mass media.
I understand the human need for a connection to the divine. I’m just sad that some people, like trekkers stranded on a desert, will desperately cling to a mirage to assuage their thirst, to fill that emptiness.
In our search for the sacred, have we forgotten to discern what we believe to be true from what we want to be true?
Should Marcos Be Buried At Heroes Cemetery?
Our actions live on after we die, like the ripples on a lake after the pebble we have thrown has disappeared beneath the surface. The regime of the late President Ferdinand Marcos systematically erased the our people’s inalienable human rights and democratic way of life.
Martial Law has murdered thousands of men and women from all walks of all life, and destroyed the lives of countless families.
Marcos has lost the moral right to be buried at the Heroes Cemetery. The nation may forgive the abomination, but it should never forget the consequences of those actions.
Absolute power corrupted him and almost destroyed our republic. If we let Marcos be buried alongside true heroes who gave their last full measure of devotion in defense of democracy, then we show the world that we Filipinos do not deserve democracy, that we do not deserve justice, that we do not deserve respect.
Why I Support The RH Bill
I support the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill because intelligent family planning cannot rely on menstrual cycles alone. Sex follows its own sked and libido moves in mysterious ways.
President Aquino is ready to defy the Church to curb the galloping boom, and I admire him for that, and I’m behind him all the way in my own little way.
Here’s a solid case for population management: Just last week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development rounded up more than a dozen minors in Balintawak who were sniffing rugby and gambling on the sidewalk, asking pedestrians for money so they can gamble more.
Children like these are mostly spawned by uneducated, alcoholic and criminal fathers, the kind that begs you for coins – and curses you if you don’t give them.
Here’s a suggestion from a friend: Stop taxing families with less than 2 children as an incentive for family planning. That makes sense. The present set-up of tax exemptions for large families actually encourages precisely what the government is trying to stop.
Here’s my own suggestion: Pay 5 thousand pesos to male teenagers in slum areas to undergo vasectomy. They will agree as long as their peers won’t know. Purely voluntary of course, and PAGCOR can easily jumpstart the pilot project.
But for juvenile delinquents and jail gang members, vasectomy should be part of the punishment–we are sick and tired of their kind.
Our cities are now infested with squatter areas and overrun with genetically conditioned mendicants who mate and multiply even before they reach adolescence. Change the tax code and pass the RH Bill before it’s too late.
The Planet's Most Vicious Animal
Torturing animals is unspeakably despicable. There’s a scene in The Brothers Karamazov where a boy stuck a sharp pin into a piece of bread and threw it to a starving, trusting dog. His conscience punished him later, and he even became swore loyalty to Alyosha, so at least he had a measure of redemption.
Real life, on the other, can sometimes be more surreal than Russian dramas, sometimes more abominable than real life.
It’s bad enough that a U.P. student mauled a kitten to death out of sheer bloodlust just a couple of days ago.
What’s even worse are those Filipinos whose job is to systematically subject animals to intense agony and slow death, capturing it all on video which they sell to perverts who gets aroused by it all.
What the hell kind of sub-humans are those?
Man is the only animal which inflicts pain for the pleasure of it. It makes you wonder why God thought we have evolved enough to have dominion over the earth.
You Have To Earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I attended a class with a trainer who’s the complete opposite of a good leader, the complete opposite of a good teacher, and the complete opposite of a professional worthy of respect.
He bullies his students, humiliates them in front of the class. It’s obvious he’s uncomfortable with me because I’m one of the handful who doesn’t kiss his ass, and I know he resents me because I’m the only one in class who’s not afraid of him.
I have nothing but contempt for power-trippers.
This is a snapshot of my life now so I’ll have lots of things to chuckle about when I grow old and look back. I left that class and good riddance.
New Year Message
Life is beautiful, so precious to squander on things that hold us back from a life of happiness, fulfillment and inner peace. Life goes on whatever we may feel, whatever may happen to us, whatever we imagine. It's something to think about as we all receive the gift of a new beginning. This is Huggybear wishing you a Happy New Year and may The Force be with you!
Merry Christmas Message
My favorite Christmas tale is the greatest story ever told: Jesus was born in the most humble of circumstances - and became the greatest man in the history of the world. The gift of eternal life from Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and the Son of God, is the true meaning of Christmas. This is Jonathan "Huggybear" Aquino wishing you and your family and all your loved ones a blessed and meaningful Yuletide season
A Wonderful World Page 5