halfwhiteboy

Foreword Yesterday, August 26, 2013, it happened. Throngs of people trooped to the Luneta Park grounds in Manila to call for the abolition of the pork barrel and to demand accountability from those who have misused it. Before this, citizens -- taxpayers most of all -- were already enraged by rampant corruption in government highlighted by the alleged Php 10 billion pork barrel scam involving Janet Lim-Napoles, who is now in hiding after a warrant for her arrest was issued. Then just less than two weeks ago, the Commission on Audit (COA) released a bombshell of a special audit report on the PDAF , and people went berserk on social media. Almost immediately, the call to join a rally at Luneta spread online. Silence from both Palace and lawmakers followed, as if they were stunned. Then one by one we hear them either suddenly declaring their support for the abolition of the pork barrel or pathetically trying to defend the need for it, only to flip-flop later on. We also heard part...

It is no secret that the Philippine government -- whether of administrations past or present -- is corrupt, and to dismiss it as mere public opinion is downright insulting. It is in this regard that we welcome, however enraged we might be with them, all these exposés on the misuse and pocketing of pork barrel funds. Many of us taxpayers have been expressing our anger at this government that shows no genuine regard for its people and that does not have an iota of any sense of accountability at all. While so-called "pork barrel queen" Janet Napoles is in hiding, which, by the way, is really no surprise given her extensive connections with the most high in government, the Commission on Audit (COA) released a report on their special audit of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or more widely known as the pork barrel fund. The report sent more bloods boiling -- mine included -- and prompted more angry tweets and posts, including calls to stop paying taxes, and whi...

It's just five days to go before the 2013 Midterm Elections. Just some of the questions I want to ask those aspiring for one of the 12 seats in the Senate: Collage from thepoc.net Samson Alcantara - What is equitable distribution of economic wealth to you and what are you going to do to make this happen? How will you deal with hardworking individuals who've made a fortune against those who are poor and jobless and who can't even care to lift a finger? Sonny Angara - How will you reconcile your platform of making education accessible to more Filipinos with that "No late payment policy" enforced in U.P. where you sat in its Board of Regents? And oh, did you really pay Coco Martin Php 35M to endorse you? Bam Aquino - How, as a legislator, will you be able to provide employment opportunities for fresh graduates? Also, have you tried other eyeglass frames? Or contact lenses, perhaps?

With at least eleven petitions already filed with the Supreme Court against RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, there's no denying that it is one very questionable law, if not totally bad. With much ado about cyber libel and all its consequences that effectively curtail freedom of speech or of expression, arguably at least, I have a lot of questions on how this controversial law will be implemented. Protesters against the Cybercrime Law [ Source ] Although DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima promised that the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) will " harmonize " the Cybercrime Law, the fact remains that there is still no IRR and none of us has any clue as to how RA 10175 will actually be implemented even if the law already officially took effect on Oct. 3, 2012, fifteen (15) days after it was first published in the Official Gazette . As such, I believe I cannot be faulted for raising some questions. Isn't this wiretapping? Section 12 of the C...

Oh yes, I'm talking about no less than Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, whose boss, President Noynoy Aquino, had just recently signed into law the controversial Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 ( read my moderately lengthy rant here ). Oh common, with libel lumped together with cybersex, child pornography and cyber fraud, how else would you call someone who can potentially be guilty of cyber libel (or online libel, whatever you call it) but a potential cyber criminal? Apparently, Lacierda  was a blogger. [ Source ] Who knew he kept a blog curiously called the San Juan Gossip Mills Outlet ! Thanks to Jojo A. Robles of the Manila Standard Today, I got wind of Lacierda's past life before he became the Palace's mouthpiece and by default, a staunch defender of the infamous law. He called himself then -- at least at the time -- "a veritable fanatic of the Internet" and was himself a guest lecturer at De La Salle Uni...

Forty years ago today, then-President Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, effectively declaring the entire Philippines under Martial Law ( According to Wikipedia , it was actually signed on Sept. 17 but was postdated to Sept. 21 because of Marcos's superstitions and numerology beliefs. ). It was formally announced to the public on Sept. 23 on live television. [ Source ] Widely considered to be of the darkest periods in Philippine history, Martial Law was used to silence critics of the Marcos government. Many dissenters were arrested and incarcerated, one of whom was Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., father of current sitting President of the Republic, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. Interestingly, on Sept. 12, 2012, Noynoy signed into law Republic Act No. 10175, otherwise known as the "Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012," which is, according to Section 31 of the same law, to take effect "fifteen (15) days after the completion of its pub...

And so the country has just celebrated the 26th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. And so President Noynoy Aquino has babbled about his daang matuwin (straight path) for the gazillionth time. And so he has urged Filipinos to take action against the judiciary yet again. Don't you just tire of him? No matter what he says, how much he says, and how often he says them, Noynoy is still unable to really rally people behind him. The President desperately wants people to believe in the evils of the judiciary, repeatedly painting negative images of the Supreme Court and especially of Chief Justice Renato Corona, who is now the subject of a dragging impeachment trial. That he clearly has no regard for the rule of law is one; his disrespect for the impeachment process is another. "I cannot be gagged," he so obnoxiously declared. Noynoy is evidently going for trial by publicity even when the case is already being tried by the Senate.

I thought I heard it wrong at first but I didn’t. Last night in the news a solon filed a House Resolution against typecasting congressmen as villains or crooks in movies and on TV. It’s an appeal to the local entertainment industry for such portrayals to be minimized, prevented, or stopped altogether so as not to create stereotypes or negative public perception against members of the House of Representatives. Seriously? The congressman argues that such negative typecasting influences public perception of them, that got me thinking. Does this mean that the general impression we have of say, policemen or the military, are influenced by movies and television? Wow! Who would have thought? Former Congressman Romeo Jalosjos, convicted of child rape in 1997. Amazingly, he won two reelection bids in 1998 and 2001 while behind bars. Life imitating art or art imitating life? Following this line of thinking, should we now expect the Senate, the governors and the mayors, the ...