Benjamin Diamond - Little Scare

Some Thoughts On "PNoy Resign"

Ah, the dreaded "R word". It seems that every President in my lifetime, save Ramos ( I was too young to remember though he probably had his own calls), has and will always endure calls for his or her resignation. "Erap resign!" was once the call but then came "Gloria, resign!". Now it's "PNoy resign!". It's either a sign of our malfunctioning democracy or of a vibrant one, depending on who you ask.

There seems to be a fear that PNoy's resignation will cause chaos in our country. I don't think so. A president voluntarily resigning isn't as cataclysmic an event as the media makes it out to be. Our constitution has provisions dealing with the matter of succession. An event like this was foreseen long ago. The framers of our constitution may have been meddlers but they weren't stupid. A smooth and orderly transition is quite possible.

The ones we should fear are those calling for special "transitional bodies" or whatever kind of committee they want to take over, when the President steps down. Let's just follow the constitution at least once in our lives, OK? One who talks of a succession order other than the one provided for in the constitution betrays his secret motives.

The calls for PNoy's resignation aren't as strong as you would expect in relation to his abysmal approval numbers. Lawmakers are noticeably hesitant as well and are wish-washy when it comes to exercising their power of impeachment. The reason is obvious. PNoy's resignation would mean that Vice-President Binay would temporarily take the reins. Binay is the strongest contender for the next presidential election. He has many rivals and it's reasonable to believe that they fear giving Binay such powers if only for a while. Binay temporarily exercising the powers of the President would allow him to consolidate his advantage over others. This is a political calculation which, I believe, is saving PNoy from being booted out right quick. It's ironic to me that if Mar Roxas had been the Vice-President, there would have been no such deterrent since nobody is scared of him.

Personally, I don't feel strongly either way about the issue. If PNoy resigns, then that's OK by me. If he doesn't, then that's fine too. It will be a source of humor at least, to wonder how he'll screw up next and how badly. At least I'll have something to write about.

God save our republic.

Bar Set High

What ought to be one of the happiest days of my life is ruined by the ever looming shadow of the Bar exams. No person can practice Law without passing it and I hate it so much. I hate being told about it non-stop ever since I set foot in the university. All my accomplishments thus far seem to amount to absolutely nothing for some people since the bar exam is apparently all that matters; this over-hyped, overblown, bloated monstrosity of a government board exam.

I want to feel content and happy if even for just this one day.

Civilization: Beyond Earth OST - Acclimation

Free Breakfast

Nothing irritates me more than reading the newspaper and finding out about McDonald's celebration of "National Breakfast Day". They celebrate by handing out the first thousand Sausage Mcmuffins for free.

"National Breakfast Day"? I celebrate breakfast everyday but now there's a special day for it? It's just some made up thing by McDonald's for publicity.

What irritates me is that there are pictures of people lining up early in the morning for "free" food. The lines are long with people standing around for hours. What a load of crap.

There's no such thing as "free". It's not free because they spent a lot of time lining up and waiting for their "free" food. Time is valuable. To say that they paid nothing for their meal is ridiculous. They could have spent that time doing something else worthwhile. Unless of course, this means that their time is totally worthless such that they can afford to wait hours to eat when they can eat at anytime.

I hate that this stunt by McDonald's is getting more attention than it deserves.

Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity

Little Cebu

Cebu is a great place but sometimes I really feel like it's going nowhere. It's a big town and is still growing but it seems we're still stuck in "small town" mentalities. That's our problem as Filipinos; we don't think big.

Our streets are still 1950's era. Sure, there's been road widening in some odd parts, but on the whole, our streets are too small. We don't have any rail system or mass transit networks. How can we call ourselves a modern city and not have a mass transit system? There's a plan to implement BRT system but it's moving way too slow. To put it in perspective, I was still an undergraduate when they were talking about implementing it. It's also doubtful if it would work as I explained before.

There's no overall plan. Development just happens here and there. Urban sprawl is getting worse and squatters clog our natural waterways. Yes, I call them "squatters". Sometimes I'm not in the mood for the politically correct pieties. It seems that if it rains for just a little while, everything floods. You'd think a people used to living in a tropical climate would have prepared for such a thing but no. Every year it's a ritual. 

The streets are full of garbage. Even now there's an issue with garbage collection. Garbage collection! It's one of the most basic services the government should provide but we're failing at even that. The traffic gets worse and worse as more cars are on the road every year and the streets remain the same. 

People are rude and don't follow the rules. Civic duty is out the window. People get shot in the streets and nobody blinks an eye. It's like that HBO show here, anybody can die. The drug problem persists in our society like a cancer. Anybody who tries to fight it seriously ends up dead. Beggars and thugs roam the streets. Corruption is a constant so why do I even mention it.

I look out the window of the jeepney or taxi and see a city with no dreams. Nobody talks about Cebu and what it could be. If I ask a person on the street where he thinks Cebu will be in a decade or two, I doubt he'll have anything good to say. I don't hear any politician talking about our future. All they care about is holding on to power for just one day more. Ordinary folk don't give a shit and just want to go on with their lives and get home in time to eat fast food dinners and watch their soap operas.

When will this end?