seaside b&w

photos that i took yesterday after seeing a work of art. the b&w idea came from artist barry saphiro after i have a visit of his site.


water and rocks


shapes and sky


bench no more


splash with the fishes


yin yang (balance on the surface)

after the rain

busy day

i went to a two events yesterday. it was a fiesta and novena. this month is the month of novena and fiesta in my country. so can expect that every municipality and province has this events.










this was at our chapel, we have a novena last night.





















































the action during fiesta at Colon, naga. well they did enjoy the food... i think?

unkown fruit

fruit that is totally unknown to me... i happened to pass by in a local area where i saw these plants...

at the market

i love to go out and be with different types of people. so i went to a market and love the shots i have.

my life on music

this is the thing that i love the most other than photography. yes your right i love music too and also graphics design. if any would want to comment and suggest any thing with this work i'm open to it. i know it's not the best out there but i hope that i give you something to smile with.

night of thunder

i just wish i could have done better... with my lame camera... this is how i capture thunder.

me at the beach

the temperature is rising but i don't care. one afternoon i just drove and explore the area. i never thought that i will find something like this. a place that is quite and i can enjoy the beach with sands on my feet. it's been a month since the last time i set foot on a beach but now i did it again. here are some photos that i took to share to you guys i hope that you are going to love them.

life on the line

many times we might walk pass through them. may be we just don't see them or even ignore them. but the truth is they are still part of our society and they are the reflection of what society has become.

starting point

it's been a while since i put some thing in here. but i was very busy with photography lately that i have no time for writing anything in my blogs... most people think that i just live my life like a party but it's not even like that. most of the time i'm alone and has no one to talk to. i love to talk to different types of people but i am not doing it anymore. most of the time you will just see me on the street or corner of a street with a camera on my side.
well though my life seems to be like lonely or something because i often click than chat but i find something to do with it. instead of being sorry to myself i decided to make my own online magazine. well it's not like what you think i still going to use this site but i will share to you picture that you will love to look at... this will be my first but i hope that i can keep up with it... so starting tomorrow you will see me here with more and more pictures on this blog...

i go manual with light

ok i bought this lame camera last February and since then i was starting to practice with it... but then again it's not the camera it's the person behind it... may be i am good for i have finally did a light speed shot with manual settings... yes manual, no shutter priority setting just manual...

this is the setting that i use.
f-stop: f/8
exposure time: 5 sec.
iso: 100

simple lamp post

f-stop: f/3.2
iso: 100
exposure: 1/320 sec.

i took this photo at local park in Naga, Cebu. simplicity does work every time. just remember when taking a picture consider the lights and the background of your subject to have stunning results.

i turn off my light

last march 28, 2009 i only use my phone as my light for 1 hour. yes! i participated at the earth our and i vote for earth. my switch light is my vote. i know that we need to make a step even if its small.
and yes in stead of using a candle i use my cell phone's head light. it is like a tiny flash light at the back of the phone function as a flash for the camera of my phone. i do want to use a candle but i just couldn't find one. i guess i for got to place it on plain sight before i turn off the lights. lol
at first i thought that we were the only people in our municipality that turn off the lights. but i was surprise to see that the whole people in our compound turn off their light. some houses too in the next compound. and then my cousin came home at 5 minutes before 9:00 pm local time and report to me that that town's plaza turn of the lights too. remember the colorful lights post that i post at dA? yes that it! they turn off them all too for about an hour.
i am very happy that there are other people besides me that are concerned about environment and global warming. i hope that some of you here turn off your lights too.
i post my photo at flickr. the link of my photos is http://www.flickr.com/photos/12872431@N00. hope that you will drop by to see them.

Admin's black propaganda: TC funds used in holding a forum of Jose Maria Sison

It’s the funniest thing I have ever heard! This time the school administrators has definitely exaggerates things…

First thing about school administrators and students is that they are two opposing forces that collide most of the time. They have separate interest and this thing keeps them divided. Guess you will have hard time if not impossible to blend water with oil.
And I can say that it is very normal to hear admins’ barks the same line over and over again. Considering that Today’s Carolinian is one of those students’ critics that lurk and expose anything that is anti-students policies of the school.

But if we are to believe what the admin said abut the funding of Sison’s forums, may be the TC is very rich. Well try to imagine, they need to print magazines, tabloid, and other alternative materials for like 10 thousand students. Well that is not included the office supplies, trainings and other expenses of a publication.

It is to outrageous to actually tell people that TC finance Sison on his forums. And if ever TC will sponsor a forum and Sison is one of the speakers well they have a very good reason for it. We can not deny Sison’s expertise when it comes to literature and politics. I believe that he is one of those few who can mix politics with literature well.

To the admin’s I am challenging them to show any proof if there are any. Show it to the alumni and new Editorial and staff of TC in a public hearing. Don’t bark TC behind their back.

It has been a long struggle for students to up hold their rights. We as students should join hands to defend ourselves. Who else will stand for us if we don’t act for our fellow youth and student? We did it once and we will do it again. To those who say we can’t face Goliath, we will face them and tell them Oh YES WE CAN!

Long live the students! Long live the Today’s Carolinian!

at my lap

my cat munskins...
location: cebu
camera: 5MP-9BE
Shutter Speed: 1/446 second
F Number: F/3.0
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Want to hear something cool!

i just discover an artist with a true talent and has potential to make it to the top. all it takes is support from people like us to appreciate their music. and what better ways to that is to listen and buy their songs (well if you have cash).

yeah i just stumble at Mr. Charles' at slicethepie and from there i google his site. it is one of the best that i have reviewed so far. the caleber of his music is something that can land ones name at the top of the charts.

i hope that you will visit his site and find yourself the treasures that i found. i hope that you will enjoy his music.

this is the link.
http://wedelstudios.com/charlie/mrcharles/index.html

i can cook at Associated Content

this is my very first AC published article and its about cooking Halang-halang.
i love cooking and so is writing fuse them together and you will have this... please click the link...

check out my recently published content on AC:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1073698/halanghalang

cycle of life

Life in past two months is been that predictable. If somebody plans to kill me surely I won’t give them a hard time.

I wake up and starts my breakfast. I open my computer and starts going online. Then check my emails. Starts doing something at photoshop. Before eleven I will cook our lunch.
Then before 1 pm I start posting something not worth reading for mylot. By 3 pm I check my deviantart and after wards I check my emails again. Then I will cook diner by 5 pm. Eat diner around 7 pm and watch tv which has only one clear channel.
After watching tv I will take my bike, go around the block. And finally after a boring day I will take a bath and once again I will start to journey the world of dreams.

Sounds like that movie I saw once but forget the title. But lucky him, he had a chance to wake up one day doing something he don’t usually do. I too, is waiting for that day to come to finally wake up one day and not doing these predictable things.
I just want to break free from this curse of cyclic predictable life. I am floating in nothingness and decay.

Now after these few words I will once again will journey to the world of dreams. And tomorrow I wake up and starts my breakfast. I open my computer and starts going online. Then check my emails… once again.

thanks for the sunshine

Now after two long months I finally had the nerve to show up to people I have been hiding all these months. I shall say it wasn’t easy for me, but manage to do something about that fear. A lot of questions raised by those do not know anything. And some answers were shed but still I will never know for I will or may not be there to face them.

The finish line is way too far. A lot of things will happen and still happening. I still sense that the people I have faith in will not be there to support me in this journey. Some were as cold as the pigment where I have fallen. But I never blame them for that. Who would have guessed that after three long years I will just throw it all right out in the window? Who would have thought that I will just stop running when I was leading in the race? Even I was surprise as events unfold to something that we never plan.

To hell with everything I was just happy with those who have faith with me. May be they are trying to understand the complexity of somebody’s mind like mine. They took a minute to breath with me. And I do appreciate that. I am happy to see my kuyas, ates and my sister. It took a smile from them to lighten up the load that I am carrying for seven long months. I will never ever forget this day that I saw sun shine again after a long time.


guys i didn't leave, i just stayed where you left me

they make life a hell

Thursday we drag our asses on a isolated parts of Cebu. Endure a three-hour bumpy ride, hike on a muddy road and cross a wild river to find out the truth about what had happened to those peasants in the area.

Nov. 9, 2007
a team was assembled to go to Barangay Gaang, Tuburan, Cebu. Objectives, first find out what had happened to the people in Gaang after the first fact finding team (they recovered the 8 yrs. old girl who was kidnapped by the 78Th infantry battalion of the Phil. Army) left. second document any harassment that the Arm Forces have done to the people. third give human rights orientation to the people in order for them to protect themselves from the abusers. target day to start the mission was Thursday Nov. 15, 2007.

Thursday came
we are all ready to go. we already prepared everything, from the equipments to our personal things. all system was go!

when we cam to the town that was the start of the agony. the mayor didn't gave us an endorsement that left the team no choice but to wait for it on the next day. so the members of the team went to Marmol barangay to spent a night there. the other two members went back to the city and will return to the mayor's office on the morning.

evening came
the team leader gathered the team and told the team that we will give a human rights orientation on the people of Marmol on the next day around 9 am while waiting for the endorsement letter. people were given topics that they will discuss on the next day.

Friday Nov. 16, 2007
two members went out to the barangay get the endorsement letter while another to went to the barangay captain to ask permission to use the barangay hall. while the rest of the team prepared the breakfast. 9:45am the Human Rights orientation begun and ended around 5 pm. four members of CAFGU was among the participants. the endorsement letter was still out of sight, because the mayor went to the city that day according to his secretary. they told the two member to return on Monday.
after the Human Rights orientation the team gather to update the rest of the team of the situation and decided to go to the houses of the members of a local organization in the area to check on their situation.

Saturday Nov. 17, 2007
the team broke into two team and went on the houses of the people.

Sunday Nov. 18, 1007
around 8:15 am a local spotted a number of AFP climbing their way to our direction. the team immediately gathered and planned what to do. we find out that they were with members of PNP. around 8:40 am while we were interviewing them what they were doing there, they called the owner of the house who was Arcenia and immediately when the owner faced them they serve the warrant or arrest.
to our surprised they have a warrant... qualified thief was their case. but what we have know is that it was dismissed last march but it was appealed to the higher courts.

the history of the land in question
actually the land in questioned is owned by the government (timberland) and not to a certain Verginia (land Lord) who filed a case against them. that's why the case was dismissed because in the first place the farmers who till the land was given power by the government to use it for farming. they were given certificates to prove it. so how come this people became thief if the own the products of the land? that is clear harassment to the people by a certain person to extract money from the poor farmers.

team followed
as soon as the farmers was handed by the warrant, we followed them all the way to the police station for moral and legal support. we stayed there for two night and two days until they were transferred to the provincial city jail.

part three
another fact finding team is now being assembled to finished the objectives that we have left out. as of the farmers we are now doing all legal papers to get them out of jail as soon as possible.

help
we are needing financial aids and equipments to continue our advocacy. to those who are willing to help us. pls call ian belle 09064964572 or email luntian.grace@gmail.com

canvas

Sadness is again at my doorstep
Now all alone in this empty room
I wait for your coming

Into the darkness
I draw your canvass
The perfect shades and shape of your being
A perfection that I will behold

I mix different colors that will bring you life
Thinking that you will be the most beautiful
That everyone will gaze at

And then I stare in the dark
As I thought that I will have you
Feel you and smell you breathe

Then light flashes before me
You, my perfect creation

Remains in the depth of my soul

The canvas

I will forever behold

the boyfriend that i never have

A look that gives mystery into my soul. I have never seen someone with such expressive eyes, though your soul is speaking into my heart. You have these soulful blue eyes that I want to dedicate Pablo Neruda’s poem; leaning into the afternoons. And to sing you this song that is repeatedly playing on my site (you rise me up by Josh Groban). You have this charm that can make everyone’s heart melt like butter. You are too playful in your entire photograph. You have the gift that transform picture in a masterpiece.



But I know that you will never see me the way I see you, for all I know you are just a guy that I have bump on to when I was browsing to art pictures in the net. May be, I did fall for the guy I saw on the web…

i have dacided

I do need the psychologist asap… sound crazy? I think not! Most of us might say why do I need a psychologist which in fact I’m totally not crazy. And for now I need one to help me cope up with my psychological stress that can be dated back as early as high school. Well because most of the symptoms were evident.

I think the only thing that kept me alive during those times is because of my spiritual advisers (in present times were untraceable). Delaying the frustration that a weak spirit (me) is experiencing that time, telling me that there is something more in life. That I should not loss hope, for there is a reason why I am still alive. But the thing is it only delay the problem but didn’t solve it. It’s like giving a patient having a cancer with a pain killer instead of curing cancer. Well I don’t hate them for that, I do appreciate their attempt to help me out.

Well now that after hundreds of years, and believing that it’s gone, here we go again. It’s just like a ghost in the past that keeps hunting me again. Now I have decided that it’s time to see a psychologist to help me out before things got worst.

Death Squads, the CIA and Political Killings in Central Luzon

Stanley Karnow, in his book In Our Image, said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the U.S. government brought the concept of death squads to the Philippines, specifically in Central Luzon, in the early 1950s through known CIA operatives Gen. Edward Lansdale and Charles Bohannan. These death squads have been known to perpetrate the annihilation of personalities from progressive organizations since then and to this day, and are seen as the culprits in the escalation of political killings in Central Luzon.

BY ABNER BOLOS
Gitnang Luzon News Service
Posted by Bulatlat













Southern Tagalog activists display pictures of their martyred comrades in a protest against political killings






Tirso Cruz, 33, officer of the United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU), was shot from behind while walking home along with his father and brother in their village in Pando, Concepcion town inside Hacienda Luisita (120 kms. north of Manila), shortly past midnight last March 17.


The two assailants rode a motorcycle and wore ski masks to cover their faces. Cruz died instantly from nine bullets from an M-16 rifle used by the assassins. After committing the murder, the killers poked their guns at Cruz’s brother and calmly drove away passing an army detachment some 100 meters away.





The soldiers and Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) members inside the detachment at the time of the shooting did not bother to investigate or help the victim. They even put out the lights when a barangay tanod (village security) member ran to the detachment minutes after the shooting to report the crime and plead for help.


“Death squads”


The cold-blooded murder of Cruz, the 14th martyr of Hacienda Luisita, bore the trademarks of a “death squad” operation. Aside from the characteristic motorcycle and ski mask, it was carried out with a deadly, surgical precision in a populated area very near a military outpost.


Not one of the perpetrators of the 601 killings and 151 enforced disappearances since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency has been tried and sentenced. The public’s verdict: the death squads were let loose and are being protected by the government.


In Central Luzon, at least 98 people have either been killed or abducted and presumed dead since January 2005 to May 17 this year, and almost all are blamed on the government’s death squads, states Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights)-Central Luzon.


The number of victims increased significantly when Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan was designated as commander of the 7th Infantry Division in September last year, says Sr. Cecille Ruiz, Karapatan-CL chairperson.


Palparan is one of the main implementors of Oplan Bantay Laya, the government’s counterinsurgency program. The 7th ID covers the seven provinces of the region –Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan and Aurora.


Ruiz said 53 persons were killed and 24 were abducted and remained missing since Palparan was transferred to the region. The incidents represent 78 percent or more than three-fourths of all cases monitored in the region by Karapatan-CL from January 2005 to May 2006.


Sixty per cent of all murders and enforced disappearances in the entire country from September 2005 to the present occurred in Central Luzon and coincided with Palparan’s transfer, states Karapatan-CL.


CIA


Stanley Karnow, in his book In Our Image said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the U.S. government brought the concept of death squads to the Philippines, specifically in Central Luzon, in the early 1950s through known CIA operatives Gen. Edward Lansdale and Charles Bohannan.


The death squads were then known as “skull squadrons” because of their practice of beheading their victims who were mostly suspected members or supporters of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap or People’s Anti-Japanese Army) or the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB or People’s Liberation Army).


Col. Napoleon Valeriano of the Philippine Constabulary (PC) supervised death squad operations to suppress local peasant resistance under CIA direction, Karnow wrote.


During the Marcos dictatorship, the PC organized an armed group known as “Monkees” in Tarlac province, and other similar groups in the region, that killed hundreds of suspected members or supporters of the newly-formed New People’s Army (NPA), as well as the political opponents of Ferdinand Marcos.


It is well known that the Marcos dictatorship reigned with covert CIA backing. Human rights records show that 1,166 people, mostly unarmed peasants, were killed at the height of the dictatorship from 1972 to 1983.


After Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino was installed president in 1986, armed vigilante groups and fanatic cults organized by the Philippine military sprouted across the country. They were a component of the government’s “total war” counterinsurgency campaign within the aegis of the “low intensity conflict” doctrine of the U.S. government.


As many as 50 vigilante groups were formed in the entire country. Records show that 1,064 persons were killed, including 135 cases of massacres, during the Aquino presidency.


The groups, like the Alsa Masa and Tadtad in Mindanao, gained notoriety for mutilating the bodies of their victims. Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, a U.S. military adviser and a high profile CIA operative, is widely believed to be involved in the formation of said groups.


Invariably, albeit without public acknowledgement, death squads are an integral part of the government counterinsurgency program.


Oplan Bantay Laya


Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) is a five-year program of the Arroyo government aimed at eliminating “threats to national security.” It started in 2002 and at first, targeted “terrorist” groups and the armed secessionist movement in Mindanao island.


The OBL was formulated by the Philippine government as its part in the “global war on terror” doctrine of the US.


In 2003, the OBL program was shifted to neutralize and destroy the threat posed by the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Central Luzon is among the seven regions identified by the military as priority targets in the implementation of the OBL.


In 2004, the Arroyo government received $4.6 billon for military and economic assistance and $30 million for counterinsurgency exercises from the U.S. government.


The gruesome shooting of seven strikers on Nov. 16, 2004 at the picket line at the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita placed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and President Arroyo in a defensive posture as the government was blamed for the carnage.


Bible


In January 2005, the government declared that the strike of the plantation and sugar mill workers in Hacienda Luisita has become “a matter of national security” through a Power Point Presentation entitled Knowing the Enemy which was made available to the public.


The AFP also came out with a book titled Trinity of War which, like the presentation, deals on how the government intends to destroy the CPP and the NPA basing primarily on their study of the events in Hacienda Luisita.


The book and the presentation has, since then, served as the Bible of the Arroyo government, especially the generals in the AFP and PNP, in the counterinsurgency campaign within over-all the framework of Oplan Bantay Laya.


But the circulation of the materials in the military and police hierarchy, as well as the general public, also signalled the start of intensified killing and grave human rights violations of leaders and members of militant organizations not only in Hacienda Luisita, but in the entire region and the rest of the country.


In the book and the presentation, legal organizations and institutions suspected as “fronts” of the CPP and the NPA are considered “enemies of the state.” Foremost among these are the party-list organizations Bayan Muna (People First) and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) and the sectoral organizations belonging to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance).


Even traditional groups such as church and media organizations were not spared and listed as “enemies of the state.” The accusations drew widespread indignation from the public.


“Enemies of the state”


At noon on March 3, 2005, a sniper shot and killed Abelardo Ladera, 45, a Tarlac City councillor. Ladera is from barangay Balite, inside Hacienda Luisita, a popular Bayan Muna leader in the province and ardent supporter of the striking Hacienda Luisita workers.


Ladera is third on a list of seven individuals that in the book and the presentation are described by the military as instigators of the Luisita strike and therefore are “enemies of the state.” The assassination of Ladera was followed by a long string of murders and gross human violations of leaders and members of militant organizations in Central Luzon that has not stopped to this day.


The names of most of the people killed in the region appeared in various military “hit list” or “order of battle” before they were killed. The lists are drawn supposedly from intelligence reports.


Luisita union leader Tirso Cruz, who was also an elected council member in his barangay, was tagged by the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) as the “secretary of the revolutionary committee” in the village several months before he was murdered.


To be included in the list is has been considered as a sure prelude to a death squad attack in utter disregard to existing laws and basic human rights.


Last month, because of the increasing number and regularity of the murders and the refusal of the Arroyo government to investigate and punish the perpetrators, an editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer described the killings as a ”systematic policy of extermination” of the critics of the Arroyo government.

The terms “death squads” and “political killings” have also become part of the popular vocabulary.


Global


Death squads have appeared not only in the Philippines but all over the world.


In a collection of books and articles gathered by author Ralph McGehee entitled CIA Support of Death Squads that was posted in the Internet in 1999, death squads were alleged to have been organized and supported by the CIA in 43 countries, most of them coming from the Third World including the Philippines.


According to the materials, there appears to be several but common patterns on how death squads are born and operate. Among these are:

Death squads appear whenever there is a strong popular movement against poverty and oppression resulting from “US dominance” in said countries. Death squads also appear when a “progressive” government takes power and resists US impositions.

The US government, through the CIA, trains, provide arms and finances the death squads in cooperation with the regime in power.

Death squads are a part of official policies and programs, although not publicly admitted.

High-profile implementors like Gen. Jose Alberto Medrano of El Salvador, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras of Haiti and Maj. Gen Jovito Palparan of the Philippines are employed.

The killings continue until the objective of weakening the popular resistance is not met or unless there is very strong local and international condemnation and pressure

Blatant


In the Philippines, as in the case in Central Luzon, the operation of death squads is blatantly used in the framework of Oplan Bantay Laya.


Instead of prosecuting soldiers accused of the crimes, Maj. Gen. Palparan even points the blame on the victims themselves.


In a recent published media interview, Palparan was quoted as saying: “They (the victims) should ask themselves, what are they doing?”


Last week, bowing to widespread indignation and a report from Amnesty International that is critical of the role of the Arroyo government in the killings, a government task force was formed to investigate the incidents. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has also started its own investigation.

But based on the experiences of other countries, and our own experiences in toppling the Marcos dictatorship, it will take a lot more than investigations to stop the killings. Bulatlat

March vs. political killings reaches Mendiola

A 3,000-strong peaceful march calling for an end to political killings and human rights violations successfully reached historic Mendiola bridge, only to be dispersed by water cannons and truncheons twenty minutes later.

Led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the marchers demanded that Mrs. Arroyo declare an end to the state policy of killing activists and political opponents which, according to human rights watchdog Karapatan, has victimized 679 civilians

The latest casualty in the Arroyo policy of killing activists was Marcos Bangit who was shot dead last night in Echague, Isabela. A native of Kalinga province, Bangit was serving the Elders Desk of the Cordillera People’s Alliance. Until 2004, he was provincial coordinator of Bayan Muna in Kalinga province.

The protesters arrived on Mendiola Bridge at exactly 12:00 noon, to shouts of victory from passersby and the marchers themselves. The anti-riot police started dispersing them with water cannons twenty minutes later. But unlike the first march that reached Mendiola on April 6, this time the protesters held their ground longer. The police had to order the firetrucks to follow the marchers who retreated to nearby Bustillos Market.

“Remove the fascist military from the rural areas,” the marchers shouted, in an apparent reference to soldiers led by the likes of Major Gen. Jovito Palparan who is now terrorizing civilian communities in Bulacan province.

Some flashed placards bearing pictures of some of activists assassinated by suspected military elements.

Leading the protest were Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr., Bayan Chairperson Dr. Carol Pagaduan Araullo, Anakpawis Rep. and KMP Chairperson Rafael Mariano, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño and leaders of farmers’ organizations from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur C. Ocampo swiftly condemned the dispersal of the peaceful march. “The Arroyo government again bare its fascist pangs on people who were only asking for an end to political assassinations. The people will never forget and forgive her barbarity in treating opponents and critics.”

The protesters reached Mendiola close to three hours since they started marching from UST along España. They were initially stalled for two hours by a phalanx of anti-riot police near the corner of Morayta and España streets.

Sensing that authorities were intent in preventing them from approaching Mendiola via Morayta and Recto, the protest leaders decided to take P. Noval Street and other side streets until marchers successfully reached Mendiola Bridge at about high noon.

The President is Wrong!

CHED REGION VII DIRECTOR: The President is Wrong!
National Union of Students of the
Philippines

- Visayas







Press Release

May 21, 2006




CHED REGION VII DIRECTOR: The President is Wrong!






The President does not know the law






During the meeting with the Regional Multi-Sectoral Committee on Tuition Increase last May 19, Dr. Enrique P. Grecia, CHED Region VII director told the body that PGMA is wrong in releasing press statements that she is not allowing schools to raise tuition more than the National Inflation Rate (NIR). The issuance of the recent CHED Memorandum No. 14, which she approved May of last year, prevents this from happening.




“The President does not know the law.” Dr. Grecia said after analyzing the contents of the memorandum. This reflects that PGMA is ignorant of the laws of the land. More so, PGMA is manipulating the people not to be active in expressing concerns regarding the surmounting tuition.




All for Politics






“The public display of concern for the students and the youth shown by PGMA is all for politics. There is no sincerity in her acts; it is all a pretense to save her rotting image. There is no hope for the youth in her. There is no hope for the country with such a president,” stated NUSP Vice President for the Visayas, Ma. Fe Jayme.




Thinking that the people will be foolish to believe yet another ploy from her office, PGMA issues this press statement. The people should be more vigilant against the façade of concern that PGMA is showing because it is all for her glory, it is all to raise her ratings and publicity. There is no truth to all her promises.




Concrete Actions






“This idiocy caused by memorandums that do not benefit the students should be further reason for us, students, to unite. The problem brought about by surmounting tuition increases will not only affect us. The struggle is for our parents who pay for our education,” called Jayme.




“What we do now and the opposition we launch against tuition increase will not only benefit us but the coming generations as well.”




“Education is our right but PGMA doesn’t appear to know that. With an inutile president, we have to take these matters into our hands and struggle for what is rightly ours and oust the ignorant president,” Jayme concluded.

change of season, change of heart (posted last May 11, 2006)

today the country is under tropical depression. yes this is the mark of change of season. now summer is officially over.

but as days passes by, the mode of life change. you were no long the person that i knew before. you look different and sound diffirent too. you've become a stranger every day and we both did'nt know. and now i just realized that even we are near to each other but still miles apart. i guess your the living prof that things in this world will change.

i just hope that you can talk to me. face me and look at me in the eye. tell me what you feel inside. i'm just here waiting for you even it will take me forever.

yo-yo for a day

i bought a yo-yo yesterday. i have no idea why but i just did. weird ah? yeah sometime i just do some weird staffs… hehehehe but come to think of it i was just like throwing money. if nanay find out about this then i am in trouble.

i felt bad about buying useless things. i mean come to think of it, many people in the world are starving to death and i'm here buying useless things. nanay teach me not to wast money, that we should live in a simple way. i can always remember her lines "simpleng pamumuhay, puspusang pakikibaka" (simple way of life, thorough strugle).

lubas pics

pic sa lubas.... from the left holding a scissor wearing black shirt me, wearing red shirt inday rechelle, then on pink stripe ate kaira, on white is mama roxane, then on red is ROWENA CARRANZA-PARAAN Director, National Union of Journalists of the PhilippinesAssociate Editor, Philippine Graphic magazine, Managing Editor, Bulatlat.com, nanay pypai on blue, and last tiya karen on darker red.

wish it will all be gone

i wish it will all be gone by morning. the same pain i have to live up every day. dark clouds that formed over our heads for the past week and five days. it is one of the most darkest days of our lives. emotionally it leaves my body powerless and eventually turns to death. inside my head, it tells me that i should be strong for little Ghe-ghe. but some times when i'm alone i feel the pain, the great pain and it scares me that may not have the strength to battle this problems. yes i am weak, i'm not like nanay or tiya… i'm just Ian the mouse, the scared one.

Still the same

Its been a week and four days when they broke up. My heart still in grief, and pain seems to stay forever. Its just like a bad dream and I just wish that I will be awaken from all of this. I love them both and don't want to choose from either of them. My love for them is equal. In the darkness I cry, when I'm alone I feel the great pain of loosing two people you love and you will love forever. In the morning I just wish that this is over that things will come back to normal, that they will be back in each others arms. nanay said to me that the door for reconciliation is not yet close, that there is still hope for the two of them. Hope I am brave enough to tell them how I feel and it hurt us all specially if ghe-ghe will find out about it. I know she too will take it the hard way. I don't want to tell her I don't want her to get hurt, I hope that she didn't find out the news. I love her too, and I don't want her to feel the pain that I am feeling. Its hard and I don't think she will be able to take it.

empi

in this world where capitalism is god, where poor people suffers til death. you still say to me that i should keep my head down and pretend that there is peace. well i did, i did bow to them... to the gods. i even worship them just to survive... to keep my self alive. i offer them gold and all my possession, i even became their slave. but the sad part is, in the end of the day i lay on the ground lifeless.