9 Sowing Salt

On a press interview last saturday, February 16, regarding the RH Bill, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said: “Ang simbahan walang talo yan. Maniwala kayo, maski ano gawin nila." (The Church has never lost. Believe me, whatever they do)

He's partially correct I suppose, since as far as I remember, never heard of a cleric being criminally charged for sexually assaulting anyone. nope. never.

Imagine Rosales saying: “Crazy, crazy, crazy!” again. 

The higher one soars, the harder one falls; I just hope he is not sowing salt on this one.

5 Post-modern Thieves

Like having an invisible watermark or signature on the gag- my gut with angst of certainty, protested like something was stolen from me…

Another one of my jokes has bloomed to the public and I am not getting any morsel of credit because someone quoted it on Facebook faster than I could remember it or even bother posting it.

Tush, what is keeping these people busy enough from having originality of their own?

3 Years

For fifteen years…

…Many Filipino legislators have tried to push the approval of laws to fund universal access to free contraception; all failed. The Catholic Church being its strongest opponent.

…The Catholic Church remains to be a strong influence in our country with over 80% of our countrymen attending the Catholic Mass regularly.

…Having no national law for reproductive health services, we’ve had no national plan to address reproductive health concerns of our countrymen. It’s all left to the LGU’s to help these people in need.

…Condoms have remained from 25 to 50 Philippine pesos, monetary inflation set aside. Far too expensive for the Filipino who's basic wage is 367 Philippine pesos.

…We’ve seen children on the streets abandoned by their hyper-virile fathers and ignorant mothers.* As of now, we've had no effective solution to help these children off the streets. 

In thirty years…

…Without reproductive health services, our population will rise up to 50%. Especially in one of the most crowded cities in the world, our capital city, Manila.

…More Filipinos will probably compete for jobs, government resources, and food leading to higher unemployment rate, national budget shortage, and national hunger with this surge in population.

…Catholic Church will pray for forgiveness having intercepted reproductive health services. Just like they pray today for the cessation of economic fluctuation, world hunger and wars.

…We’ll be seeing more children in the streets or perhaps, child laborers and prostitutes.

Or they can STOP interfering with our Reproductive Health Rights and in thirty years…

…Without reproductive health services, our population will rise up to 50%. Especially in one of the most crowded cities in the world, our capital city, Manila.

…More Filipinos will probably compete for jobs, government resources, and food leading to higher unemployment rate, national budget shortage, and national hunger with this surge in population.

…Catholic Church will pray they never should have intercepted contraception family planning education. Just like they pray now for the cessation of economic fluctuation, world hunger and wars.

…We’ll be seeing more children in the streets or perhaps, child laborers and prostitutes.

...None of this might happen.

*- no anti-feminist agenda intended.

19 Reproductive Health Opponents Bashes Again

A village in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City ratified an ordinance penalizing any person who advertises, promotes, sells or distributes for free any kind of abortifacient.

Condom purchases are illegal without a doctor’s prescription. Village officials claim that abortifacients according to the ordinance including condoms, IUD’s and birth control pills “undermine the solidarity of families by promoting premarital sex, giving rise to more fatherless children, more single mothers, more poverty, and more abortions when the contraceptives fail to prevent conception, and by causing a decline of legitimate marriages.” In addition to this, health advocates in general are also prohibited in providing sex education to students without parental consent.

People who violate the village’s ordinance provisions will be fined as much as P5,000 for the first offense and more for subsequent offenses. Recurrent violators will be also imprisoned for not less than a month but not more than six months and will also be held civilly liable to the offended party.

Barangay chairman Alfred Xerez-Burgos, Jr.; Kagawad Joanna Caluglug, Alice Bacani, Maria Carmen Reyes, Ma. Soledad Tugade, Mariano Manas Jr., Apolinario delos Santos III, and Giancarlo Nazario; and Sangguniang Kabataan chairman Juan Enrico Parfan sanctioned this ordinance.

Barangay Ayala Alabang spokesperson Atty. Luis Sison cited Pharmacy Practice Regulation Act or Republic Act 5921 of 1969, which says that "no drug or chemical product or device capable of provoking abortion or preventing conception... shall be delivered or sold to any person without a proper prescription by a duly licensed physician."

Atty. Sison also said that the barangay council passed the ordinance because they wanted to be proactive in their pro-life stance. Saying that the "St. James the Great Parish was the one who became very active in fighting the passing into law of the RH (Reproductive Health) bill, and this movement in the parish gained momentum."

The barangay officials claim that they are setting a “good example” for other barangays to follow when what they just did is a classic example of abuse of authority by victimizing the people’s liberty in line with their religious interests.

These people are seriously missing the point of condom use which is to prevent unwanted pregnancy which in the end reduces the frequency illegal abortions. It is a basic principle of liberty that no one should be forcibly prevented from acting in any way he chooses provided his acts are not invasive of the free acts of others. And this ordinance violates both our constitutional and human rights concerning liberty and it is depressing that the legislature system is once again encumbered and corrupted by collectivism and secular morality.

10 Mentally Troubled Bloggers

Because bloggers who aren't helpful are most definitely not.

i. My-posts-are-ads,-my-ads-are-ads,-and-I-wish-my-blog-title-is-an-ad-too Disorder. Probably the longest named pseudo-psychological illness there is. Just as many of us hate watching television commercials, why the hell on earth will we bother reading a giant stack of ads? Observing proper aesthetics, ads can actually give your blog an authentic feel but overdoing it is an eye-sore to people, other than you of course. Courtesy to other bloggers usually goes a long way; it shows your appreciation to those who read your blog.

ii. Bourgeoisie Blogger and the Trying-Hard Bourgeoisie Blogger. You feel an insatiable lust for posting your expensive bling, tour, and food even though they're not particularly related to your blog theme. (Well not unless bragging is your blog theme.) These people are the primary culprits in the silent rise in post-modernistic bragging.

iii. The Insular Blogger or the Blogger's Hypocrisy Disease. You expect people to come to you  yet you don't even give a shit to other people's blogs, which is most definitely not the same degree of interest you would want others to express towards your blog. When we think we're so special, oftentimes, we probably are not. If you have the time, comment on your friend's blogs! Comments will be so much appreciated because the work is valued for its worth. It's an honest way of expanding your readership.

iv. I-would-like-everybody-to-know-everything-about-me Syndrome. You are not famous enough for everybody to yearn insignificant information from you but you love blogging about yourself nonetheless, don't you? Even if the best probable reply to all of your posts is: "Like I care?" If you answered yes to both of these questions, we thank you so much for the information you shared with us... and Congratulations! Now we are much more aware why we should avoid your blog.

v. Trolling Addiction. Usually these people are posers who try to act tough or opinionated in the web to cover for their lack of confidence and insecurities in real time. There are plenty of hate blogs in the blog-sphere and some of them are cleverly disguised in a theme which at first seems innocent because its vile innuendo and discrimination is latent in its writing without proper scrutiny.

vi. Ignoramus Patheticus. People who have no idea what they're talking about but blogs incessantly nonetheless. These bloggers don't care about the composition of their blog at all which they consider no more special than their average daily routine. These people have been increasingly known to be the favorite preys of Troll Addicts. A job is not worth doing if it's not worth doing well- we all ought to remember this.

vii. Vagination Psychosis. This happens when women's ovaries metastasize to their brain and produces hormones which interfere with their ability to think properly and causes them to: a) assume subordinative roles and; b) be a sexist. Please take note that genderizing is also one way of discrimination. Many women needs to be reminded that they are an equally competitive sex and they can also handle things that doesn't have the word "cute" or "pink" in it. I've had encountered a handful of women who were "too pink to think."

7 Love at First Sight

I have encountered multiple people (complete strangers) who had an extreme appeal to me, even though sometimes, I myself didn't find them attractive at all. Does the same phenomenon happen to you?

You haven't even seen their faces but you really found them very inviting. You secretly gawked at him/her, sometimes you get caught and you were shy, but you really wanted to get caught anyway. Getting caught, you pretend like you weren't looking at him/her but it's pretty obvious that you were. You wish you had locked gaze with that person, but you were complete strangers and you were shy.

You wanted to get closer to that person and feel his/her body heat. You wanted to nuzzle him/her while gliding your hands over his/her body, he/she might be a little out-of-shape, but for you it's just so perfect and delicious. You fantasized being raped by that person, which you thought was unrealistically ridiculous but fascinatingly arousing. 

You felt like malice almost broke free. Time spoiled and you had to go and/or he/she needed to leave, but "I need to keep my composure" you actively reminded yourself, as your heart raced a little and your bowels felt like it has been washed with love at first sight.

0 Unadulterated. Exposed.

I thought about critically analyzing the pastoral letter as my follow-up entry since it'll bring more clarity to the issues at hand, however, I've changed my mind. Instead, I'll examine Arvin's dreadful comments regarding my previous post: The Philippine RH Bill A Clear-Cut Solution. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

First of all, it is false that CBCP is against family planning programs when they are agree in a family exercising Natural Family Planning.

Yes, it was indeed an error from my part. I should have explained and pointed out further that: with the numerous advances in technology (proven both safe and effective) towards preventing an unwanted pregnancy, the local priests preach instead for women to try guessing their egg-cycles. Now, isn't natural family planning's end-goal is inasmuch the same goal of artificial family planning? Then why should women bother themselves with these primitive yet complicated means of contraception? The main point here is that the Church's Morality should NOT in any manner encroach the FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN LET IT BE REPRODUCTIVE OR ANY OTHER. Should we allow morality to permeate our life decisions it will be an individual-to-individual basis.

Isn't the reasons stated why they are against RH bill by the Bishop in the Pastoral Letter are valid like population doesn't have correlation with poverty, that we are not overpopulated actually, and that we must address the true cause of poverty like wrong philosophy of development of our country, corruption and wrong education system? Since what they say about that is true, now, it doesn't follow that RH bill is a clear cut solution. And me reading the phrase "clear-cut" solution is like jumping in conclusion because by just thinking about its after effect, it is doubtful to think that we will solve many problems at one shot.

I'd hate to do a lecture but "Population having no relationship with poverty" is in-itself entirely misleading. The layman's explanation for this is that more people will have to compete for resources and in the Philippine context, we barely have any left. I guess you wouldn't trouble looking up our national budget for that. Nobody even has the authority either to claim that a country is overpopulated OR NOT since there is no quantitative criteria for telling that a country is overpopulated; it is but a qualitative term. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't curb the exponential growth of population because of limited resources. The global demand for food and employment however are both measurable phenomena and I am telling you that it is in a very alarming level which our country is not exclusive from. 

Let's measure the motives of government and bishops. What personal interest would bishops and priests gain when they would be successful on stopping the passing of RH bill? I can't think of any and it is contrary to what may government gain. And that is either money or conscience or both. Money is the motive because passing of this bill will a create a massive project where profit can be massive; Conscience is another motive because contraceptives, from the word itself is against life and against the command of God na magpakarami, will be light on our conscience when it will be a law since anything in the law is for the good.

As for the motives of the clergy, my most feasible hypothesis would be that they are revolting to preserve the tradition of their canonical laws. This is unfair because their canon laws and scriptures solely apply to them, not to the Filipino people as a nation. On the contrary, just so you know, that instead of gaining profits, the government will have to fund this RH Bill, now known as the Responsible Parenthood Bill. Therefore, it is a debit not a credit to the national budget. 

I have been stupendously aghast the moment you quoted "God" and "his command" in your reply. For the last time, your teachings and preachings are ENTIRELY LIMITED TO YOU AND YOUR CHRISTIANHOOD. Do not compromise our nation's democracy for your own religious propagandas because we have different beliefs. Respect that.

10 The Philippine Reproductive Health Bill, a Clear-Cut Solution

CBCP (Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines) is against sex education, all forms of contraceptions and family planning programs.

They started their official statement regarding their stance against the promotion of the RH (Reproductive Health) Bill with an excerpt from the Constitution of the Philippines Art. II, Section 11 that: "The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights." Followed by a follow-through from Art. II, Section 12 stating that: "The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception."

CBCP claims that they voice out the "the fundamental ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people." they say that this is "Far from being simply a Catholic issue, the RH bill is a major attack on authentic human values and on Filipino cultural values regarding human life that all of us have cherished since time immemorial... the RH Bill does not respect the moral sense that is central to Filipino cultures."

According to a October 2008 SWS (Social Weather Stations) survey, 76% Filipinos want family planning education for youth and 71% Filipinos favor the passage of the RH Bill. This is the real aspiration of the Filipino people. If CBCP really speaks for the Filipino people, they better start paying attention to information like this don't you think? CBCP is silently brandishing their morality as the "Filipino morality" even if the "Filipino morality" is almost impossible to identify because of the extreme diversity of our ethnicity.

Now, is there really any collision between life and death when the RH Bill's sole aim is to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care? Let us examine the essential components of the RH Bill No. 5043:

(1) Reproductive health education including but not limited to counseling on the full range of legal and medically-safe family planning methods including surgical methods;

(2) Maternal, pre-natal and post-natal education, care and services;

(3) Promotion of breastfeeding;

(4) Promotion of male involvement, participation and responsibility in reproductive health as well as other reproductive health concerns of men;

(5) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications; and

(6) Provision of information and services addressing the reproductive health needs of the poor, senior citizens, women in prostitution, differently-abled persons, and women and children in war AND crisis situations.

CBCP is against sex education, all forms of contraceptions and family planning programs. Therefore they are against: 1) Empowering the public choice by instilling awareness through public education. 2) Advertent control of the spread of venereal diseases and illegal abortions through providing public access to methodologies that are safe, economic, and effective. Both of which are clearly advocated in the essential components of the RH Bill.

Overpopulation is grossly related with poverty. According to the NSO or National Statistics Office' mid-2010 census of the Philippines, our country is populated by some 94,013,200 people, ranking us twelfth among the most populated countries in the world. While many may argue whether our country is overpopulated or not, it is self-explanatory that our government doesn't have enough resources to appropriate for the already existing casualties. That's why we should undertake active steps to combat rapid population growth which will cause  serious problems in the future.

The intentions of the RH Bill is a clear-cut solution to many of our national problems. That's why it should be ratified by all means necessary, in-order to foster the betterment of our nation. The main assailants of this bill, the clergymen should try to be frank about their position because they are definitely disguising their motives regarding this matter. 

7 What is Life About?

Accepting our losses and failures and humbling ourselves for there are things that are beyond our capacity to change and way beyond our comprehension. Therefore I think life is not about winning after all like many people perpetuate. I think that we are spectators in the greater essence because most of us constantly observe and even though there's a lot things we want, we couldn't do anything about it. Or am I alone in my train of thought?

We want many more things than we could ever achieve. For example, most of us want to be loved but not everybody is lovable or capable of loving back. We want more money and bling. Then why do most of us spend our lives in poverty? We want to discover the meaning of life but all we can ever come up with are preachy sayings and motivational ideas which I suppose makes everybody feel better for not knowing a crap. Many things are not accessible for everybody that's why I'm certainly sure that life is definitely not about winning.

We will never know what life is about but along the way, we will find our own reasons that will tell us what life is not about. But please remember that discovering what life is not about doesn't take us a step forward to knowing what it is about. It is just a happy picture that many people can say that they are living their lives to the fullest when they don't even have the slightest clue what life is about.

3 Is Pop Culture Evil?

Living in the world is becoming more and more demanding and the sole reason for that is the evil pop culture. We are like being forced to obey to public preference rather than making an individual statement or personality and whoever violates conformity is suppressed. In fact, the sense of socially identifying oneself nowadays in itself has been greatly imbibed with pop culture topped with marginal profiteering to boot.

Pop culture is all about human herding behavior and bandwagon effect. Agreeable definitions of intangible things such as love and friendship. The suitable emotion and the best decorum during certain situations have predominant standards. Any deviation from the standard doctrine incites moral panic and confusion.

People care about what Sally thinks or what Sam says, or should I say that we were taught to care about what others think of us. People are social beings and however we deny it, we all fear rejection. From time to time, there will always be people who will challenge social stigmas and I admire these people for their bravery and conviction. But take note that I am aware that not all radicals are of benefit to the society in my context.

In the end whether we like it or not, the ideal lifestyle has been predetermined for all of us and we will always  have a limited control on the course of our lives. That's just the way it is.  The worst part is the popular identity is what everybody should be but isn't something everybody can achieve and that makes the world an unhappier place and exactly the reason why pop culture in most respect is truly unfair.

1 The Poisoned Apple?

If you were for example famished and were offered the tastiest and most heavenly apple in the world by a seemingly innocent little girl in a hood and a concerned by-passer would warn you that it has been laced with lethal poison would you still eat the apple? Probably not. Who would eat anything that is suspiciously insidious anyway? But most certainly you'll consider eating it, since it's the best God damn apple in the world anyway.

You would not know if the apple has been poisoned or not if you don't let somebody try it first. Therefore, having an insight on the apple's edibility depends on the person who's going to try it unless you want to try it for yourself.

The dilemma is, every person reacts differently to everything whether it be a poison or a sweet candy. So how would you know if the poison would have any effect on you if it was indeed poisoned? Would you rather pass and forfeit the probably once in a lifetime opportunity of eating the best apple in the world out of fear of being poisoned when it's probably not?

How can you be sure if the by-passer is telling the truth or just planning to salvage the apple and hog it all to himself? Of course, we shouldn't skip being skeptical of the motive of the by-passer for warning. Perhaps, the by-passer was just afraid of trying the apple or just afraid of letting you experience the pleasures the apple will give if in case it wasn't poisoned after all. 

How can anybody presume certainty about a thing or an experience of being unpleasurable from endorsements or other people's opinion?

0 (you) - (common sense) = accident

I have just finished an eight hour accident prevention seminar and do you know I can summarize everything that I have learned in eight hours into two words? You heard that right, into two words: common sense.

Forgetting one's common sense always entails danger not only to the person but to others as well. Just a little misinterpretation of a scenario; just a little complacency and loss of awareness; Just a little bit of risky behavior; Just a little bit unfavorable condition and you can have your early rest or early pain and suffering.

I remember seeing a little boy (about 4 years old) in a pediatric emergency room writhing in pain from severe burns all over his body starting from his nose and cheeks down to his feet. His mother claims that he had been scalded by boiling hot "Lucky Me" noodles. How ironic since he wasn't very "Lucky..." I really wanted to stab the mother's eye with a pen or anything sharp to blind and spare her from seeing her son's agony as a result of her imprudence and irresponsibility. This COULD HAVE easily been prevented but all thanks to his mother's lack of common sense, he will suffer for a very, very long time.

Different accidents happen at different times to different people (perhaps the same) all the time but there is another common denominator to all of these and that factor is the blame. Yes, people will find ways on how to minimize the guilt of letting an accident happen when it could have been prevented. Therefore, a person will either act persecutory, defensive, or apologetic amidst an accident. Let's face it, people do nasty things when threatened. But the point is, the damage has been done and most of the time, can't be made up for.

I have had many accidents too and I more than admit that all of it are the direct results of lapses in common sense either between me or someone else. Yes, I had life-threatening accidents before too and I am fortunate that none of them claimed my life. Just a reminder that accidents may happen infrequently but when they do, they kill anyone if certain criteria are met regardless of sex, age, race, OR religion. NOTHING can save you from an untimely death or dismemberment if you haven't been careful.

Preparation and foresight. These are the things necessary to prevent an accident and to lessen the repercussions if an accident is force majuere or an "act of God." Of course never run out of common sense (a sense not-so-common nowadays) and in the event an accident does happen, forget blaming yourself, blaming others, or avoiding blame. The most important thing to do after an accident is to establish a quick remedy, enforce a follow-up plan, and most importantly learn from the experience.

How about you? Would you rather learn from an accident first-hand before taking any precautions?

I’m Back~!!! I Won't Say "From the Dead!" Screw You!!!

Hello! I’m back from months-long hiatus. Actually, it wasn’t hiatus, I just felt I wasn’t reaching many and to a blogger, not being listened to is ultimately equal to his death. I am just not sure how to explain others who keep blogging and blogging even though they’re not reaching any audience.

“So, why the eff did you come back” you ask?

Well just when I was about to delete this blog permanently, I took a quick look in my comments section and I was surprised to have received an email claiming how amazing my blog is and another claiming how I saved his ass from his college assignment. I was indeed very flattered. In fact, so flattered that I decided to resurrect my blog from its death and give it a second chance! In other words, in addition to all the stuff that I wrote here in which I intended to blatantly point out a truth (in which I offended some people) and/or make somebody laugh, I helped somebody. And in the end, that’s what really matters right?