Dumb and Dumber

Raul Gonzales, the Justice Secretary who always has something derogatory to say against somebody, has decided over the weekend to pick on the UP system:

That school breeds the destabilizers that haunt the country year after year. They are acting as if they are the only ones who know how to run the country.

x x x

I doff my hat to them because they initiate the running of naked people... That’s also one kind of culture that they develop there... Maybe we are going in that direction... there are now women running naked. I will not be surprised if they will go to school with only their books, nothing more.

In response to his statements, the UP Alphi Phi Omega fraternity staged a “special edition” of their yearly Oblation Run at the Diliman campus yesterday, if only "to show the UP community that the fraternity was not going to take the justice secretary’s remarks sitting down." There is no feedback yet from Gonzales if the streakers, one way or the other, destabilized the country.

But what do we know? The state, after all, according to Gonzales, "is the one paying for [our] schooling," unlike Gonzales, who incidentally is from the University of Sto. Tomas(!) - the reason, supposedly, why he is "well-behaved.” He said, "I think some degree of gratitude should be there also."

Well, I am a taxpayer. So, I am paying him his salary as Justice Secretary. I believe the good secretary should likewise repay me, by say, slitting his throat.

Eight and Done

The UST Tigers avenged their first round demolition at the hands of Ateneo by beating the Eagles in OT yesterday, 88-80. The Eagles were leading by three points, off a Doug Kramer jumper with 10 seconds left in regulation, 69-66, before shit happened.

UST's rookie center Jervy Cruz scored all but four of his 14 points in overtime to put an end to the Eagles' eight-game winning streak. The team tied the win streak mark set by the 2002 UAAP champion team, and the 2004 Eagles.

At this point, the difference between the #1 and #2 seeds is just too insignificant. I don't think it will make much of a difference if Ateneo ends up playing either Adamson, FEU, or even UST in the Final Four.

Having said that, I hope that the team would just relax and play. I am not saying that they drop all their games, But there is a bigger goal ahead of them, and that is what they should be preparing for.

OBF.

Help Needed

Joshua has started a mini-campaign (I really don't know what to call it) to bring attention to Jones' condition. Jones, one of the finest people I have ever had the opportunity of knowing, currently suffers from some debilitating disease, which, as far as I know, still cannot be identified by his doctors. The news has quickly spread to Jones' former students, fellow alumni, and classmates.

I suggested to Joshua that he seek the help of the University and its Alumni Affairs Office - which I thought should not be waiting for such appeal in the first place - given the fact that Jones is both an alumnus (HS and College) and a member of its faculty. The resources at the University's disposal would be a substantial shot in the arm not only in information dissemination and fund-raising, but perhaps more importantly, in arm-wringing. While there is nothing, as of yet, in the University's website regarding Jones' plight, I would give it the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to be pissed off when you're eight hours away by land.

If you're from Naga, or if you know someone from Naga, kindly pass the note. And say a prayer for Jones, while you're at it.

Final Four Bound

With FEU's loss to UE in the second game last Sunday, the Eagles also clinched the first twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four.

Still looking good.

Photo courtesy of www.fabilioh.com.

The Best President We Never Had

"I return from exile and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer – faith in our people and faith in God."

- Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. (1932-1983), from a prepared speech Ninoy was supposed to deliver upon his arrival in Manila

Make-Believe Part III

My wife tells me that the latest incarnation of the Marvin-Jolina tandem on TV is about to end. The story, revolves around four people who for a really, very brief and temporally inconsequential period of their lives, find themselves in the Big Apple. Hence, the title of the show.

The creators of the show have assumed that a majority of its viewers are idiots. That, boys and girls, is the only logical explanation why they allowed several storylines that do not make the slightest sense, and would probably be rejected in a fantaserye.

First, the US Embassy will admit that Dubya is a moron, before it would grant a US visa to an unemployed minor, from the some rural area in the Philippines, who just happened to win barely enough money for a one-way ticket from some noontime show. No, they won't really care that you won it on Laban O Bawi. How he planned to actually live in the US was, conveniently, never explained. If this crap happened in real life, Toni Gonzaga wouldn't have a movie.

Second, contrary to the images shown on the boob tube, Filipinos in New York, or anywhere in the US for that matter, legal or otherwise, actually do open their windows. For some stupid reason, whenever the cast is supposedly indoors in NY, there are no windows. If for some architectural miracle, windows do find their way into the rooms, they are always covered shut. The only explanation I can surmise from this observation is that, should the viewer see through the windows of their sets, the viewer will most probably wonder why NY looks a lot like QC.

Third, they mistook the INS for the PNP. The INS is not that inept. Just ask Atong Ang or Joc-joc Bolante. Jolina may run faster, but the assumption that dear Jolina has a more calculating criminal mind than either Atong or Joc-joc is just too incredible, and is undeserving of any iota of belief.

WTF?!

WTF #1:

I believe that every person is entitled to his own opinion, but for an Atenean to say that he'd "rather see ADMU lose to DLSU rather than see AMDU (sic) win the championship without facing DLSU" is not just plain wrong. It's utterly stupid. For it to actually come out in the Ateneo college paper itself, well, that's really something else.

With all due respect to the writer (I also once wrote for the Guidon), I'd rather lose to NU year in and year out, than lose a single game vs. la salle. I am rather certain the other side feels the same way.

WTF #2:

Great job by the Eagles last Sunday in totally and absolutely dismantling the UST Growling Tigers, that by the end of the second quarter, the Growling Tigers reportedly considered changing their nickname to the Whimpering Pussies.

The game was tied 30-all early in the second quarter, when Chris Tiu unloaded 8 straight points to put the Eagles up 38-30. At the end of the second quarter, the score was 63-36. No, that is not a typo.

The Eagles have swept the first round for the second time in three years. Two years ago, after sweeping the first round, they promptly lost the next game, and went on to end the second round with a 4-3 card. Those past events puts the current season into perspective and makes you enjoy the season in a state of guarded optimism.