Another Day in the Barbershop

Here’s a page that compiles all the tweets by our presidential candidates.  It also shows the twitter posts from other people who mentions them and it’s all happening in real time.

Haaay.  Another day in the barbershop where interesting stories are exchanged – fact of fiction, it doesn’t matter.  In the filipino culture “Kwentong Barbero” (stories from the barbershop) simply means that you can’t really rely on that information.  Tama ba? Hahaha, or deretcho “stirero” na lang.

Anyway, it’s quite entertaining just watching the conversations that are taking place in the twitter-sphere.

http://monstercomments.com/2010elections/home.html

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Paalam, Tita Cory

I’m watching the live coverage of ABS-CBN on the funeral procession of our beloved former President Cory C. Aquino.  It’s a sad day today in the Philippines and I’m sure that all filipinos either have their eyes glued on the tv or went to the streets to show support. The Cory Magic is what they call it – it inspires you and it makes you want to stand up and go to the streets.

While watching this, I wondered who else has this massive effect on the hearts of the Filipinos.  Then I thought about our current president GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), will people hit the streets for her?  I wonder.  How about Erap – maybe right? Anyway, think about it.

She’s a Marian devotee and the sisters predicted that she will die on a first Saturday which exactly what happened because this is the day of  the week for Mama Mary.  It is also said that the gates of heaven are open from 1am to 4am – so it just goes to show that our beloved Tita Cory is now in the presence of our maker.  I can imagine her now with Ninoy.  Finally, together again.

Tita Cory, I’m sure you are in a better place now.  Thanks! Paalam po.

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Amidst the excitement and fuss of the Pacquiao and Hatton fight, a moving yet puzzling tv commercial showed up.  2 days after, it caught my attention when it rocketed to over 50,000 commitments, a sea of blog posts, endless thread of reactions, comments and speculations.

I kept my mouth shut.  I waited for seasoned writers to speak (the ones I really believe in, not those who are quick to jump in on the action).  Nothing… silence…

I was left with no other option but to start reading the blogs and emails that I have been receiving.  I agree with most.  I will stay neutral but I have to admit – I did sign up and post a commitment.  I even helped spread the movement by submitting it to digg and posting on my social networks.  I even forwarded the first email I received to yahoogroups where I belong.  It was my initial reaction.  I followed my instinct.  The message made sense.. so I acted on it.

I’ve seen some really inspiring reviews and “analysis” of what the site is all about and some creative speculations.  I’ve also seen a number of negative posts that spread through the internet like wild fire.  Apparently, from one reliable person – I also received that email forwarded to me.  Again, I agree… the points raised were legitimate and I also did my own background check and read the terms and conditions plus the privacy policy – if you ask me, pretty standard BUT and that’s a big but (hehehe) what the site included in their t&c / privacy policy are reminiscent of a social networking site or a forum… I wonder… then I saw the big “BETA” on the wall of commitments.  Its easily missed but for the web-savvy crowd, its a clear sign that this site is still in testing mode.. maybe that’s why they are not yet reacting.

Another simple point that puts a frown on my face is the influx of the negative press online.  Its clearly a sign of how our society has evolved to constantly being in a defensive position.  We’re so used to people trying to take advantage of us that we’re always quick to assume that this is political or even a database building scheme.   Why am I taking this position? Simply because I have not given up on the fact that men are fundamentally good.  I still believe in the good bayani pinoy in us.  I went to Batanes twice just to clear my self of the negative aura of today’s society.  Anyway, going back… I will support this… I do not care if they use the database for commercial reasons – the most they can do is bug me which doesn’t bother me because I know for a fact that I can easily report to NTC if that ever happens.  I don’t care if they monitor behavior or do some marketing analysis of the data they get… that’s acceptable to me… if they know me better.. maybe it’ll improve their services… come to think of it, as I write this.. maybe that’s what the goverment needs… a proven, systematic approach to address the needs of the people. hmm.. good job brain.  Bottomline is, I will not judge Ely Buendia, Fr Matt de Jesus, Maxene, or Efren… I will trust that they’re involvment in this is genuine and that this movement, advocacy, or whatever they want to call it is true.

I have the freedom to take whatever it is that this site has given me… the tv commercial inspired me and this site washed away my fear of being alone in my quest to better myself.  Ako Mismo will not ask for more… except that damn dog tag – me likey!

My next point… let me overthink this a bit.  Could it be that the the silence of the site was intentional to stimulate the desired effect – Ako Mismo.. I, myself…  Why do we need an organization to tell us what the next step is… maybe, just maybe this is part of it.  I can see their faces now, tough love.. holding back.. refusing to respond to any attacks just to get a point accross.  Its like a well crafted film by an eccentric director.  Its an innovative approach if you ask me.. we’ll see.

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I’ve been reading up on the controversies that are crowding the nation (Philippines) lately… so why aren’t we on the streets?

If you think about it – we are either stupid OR simply ignoring it. But its not that simple anymore, the cover ups are quite disturbing and I think the people behind it are under the impression that we believe it.

HELL NO!

The only reason why people are treating these issues as a form of entertainment.. just to pass the time.. is simply because we don’t have a replacement.

Here’s the deal:

• the cover ups are getting dumber each day – we can see right through it
• who’s next? VP – I’m not sure, Military – uhm…
• plans – what? where? how?

So my message to the people responsible for the cover ups – c’mon! are you kidding me?!

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Here’s a quick summary on what the fuzz is all about.

Hu-What?

• ZTE – Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Limited. A global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions. A huge corporation based in China with global operations.
• NBN – National Broadband Network of the Philippines. Just check out their website – uhm… (is this it?)

The ZTE-NBN Deal:

• Its well over $300 million
• In a nutshell: Setup a broadband network for the government (about time they at least started to think about that)
• How are we going to pay for it : The plan was to secure a loan from China with interest of course

The ISSUE:

• Overpriced to the point where its both insulting and hilarious. Insultingly Hilarious OR Hilariously insulting. (ha ha ha – doesn’t make sense, that’s the point!) You just have to sit back and say – who the hell are you kidding?!
• “Alleged” bribery – left and right
• Clearly in favor of ZTE – by the way, there were other bidders who gave reasonable “bids” – that’s why JDV III broke silence (he represented one of the losing bidders – Amsterdam Holdings, Inc).
• JDV III claimed that Abalos offered him $10M to back off. A bit short for the price of your soul.
• Abalos was the alleged “broker” of ZTE – quite clever if you think about it. $130M commission (almost half of what the whole deal is worth) – woah! the roof.. the roof.. the roof is on fire!
• Involvement of Malacanang – Madam President, the first gentleman… I guess even the kids

That’s about it. A couple more issues in between like the contract being manipulated after signing, it being lost and found again. Inconsistencies in the actions of the parties involved including the President. A lot more our there to feed your judgment.

Now that you get what its all about, turn on the TV and get back to watching the hearings. It gets much sweeter with Lozada breaking his silence.

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