Charter Change Musings

It's almost weird.

Today has been very sunny and bright, a stark contrast to yesterday's stormy weather, a result of the passage of typhoon 'Paeng.' But, then, the typhoon has left the country, so I guess the weather should take a turn for the better. And just in time too, for tomorrow's All Saints Day cemetery trek.

* * *

The buzz around the Supreme Court decision on the people's initiative still hasn't died down, with columnists from every broadsheet putting in their own two cents about the matter. The anti-Charter Change advocates hail the decision as a sign of the Supreme Court's independence, despite the fact that majority of the Justices were appointed by GMA, who is supposedly solidly behind Charter Change. Going through the concurring opinions, one of the most enlightening comes from Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, who notes that the oft-repeated justification for mass movements like the people's initiative, "Vox populi, vox Dei" (the voice of the people is the voice of God) actually is mentioned as part of a warning against it. The complete quote is “nec audiendi qui solent dicere vox populi vox Dei quum tumultuositasvulgi semper insaniae proxima sit,” which means, "And those people should not be listened to who keep on saying, ‘The voice of the people is the voice of God,’ since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.” In this case, Sandoval-Gutierrez rings true, I think, for it has been my contention that the people have been sorely and foully used in this sham of a people's initiative.

The pro-Charter Change advocates have been very vocal and very aggrieved about the decision, to the point of threatening mass action and demanding the resignation of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the writer of the majority decision. They focus on the assertion that the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts, and shouldn't have ruled such.

What's telling is that members of the President's cabinet, notably Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Chief of Staff Mike Defensor seemed to insinuate that they were expecting a different decision, which raises the spectre of Palace pressure on the Court.

Pro-Charter Change advocates try to dismiss the fact that local governments were involved, which actually would make this a government's initiative. Wrong. In a real people's initiative, the politicians should probably distance themselves from it, to avoid giving it any political color. Instead, they did the opposite, which brought into question the motives for Charter Change.

They even try to raise the spectre of class war, practically saying that it's the elite who are against Charter Change, and that Charter Change will benefit the poor. Once more, the Filipino people are exploited by politicians who claim to have the people's best interests at heart. But, really, the politicians behind Charter Change are the ones who want to benefit, by prolonging their stay in power.

If these advocates did actually have 6.3 signatories wanting Charter Change, maybe they should mobilize these people to express their dissatisfaction with the decision. The fact that the people at large haven't raised up their voices in anger at the Supreme Court decision should tell these pro-Charter Change advocates what the people think of the decision.

"The Prestige"

Cutter: Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.
Probably one of the best movies to come out this year, "The Prestige" is a wonderful tale of obsession and passion for the art of magic, and to what lengths some will go for the sake of their art.

I won't spoil the movie here; you'll have to watch it for yourself, or, if you wish, click on the link to IMDB.com, and spoil yourself.

Ta.

Supreme Court Rules!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I, for one, am glad the Supreme Court decided the way they did, voting 8-7 to dismiss the petition of Sigaw ng Bayan. This, in effect, puts another nail into the coffin of the Charter Change through the so-called People's Initiative, which should actually be called, GMA's Initiative.

One of the key points the Court makes is to finally make a distinction between an "amendment" and "revision," giving enough detail to make the clear difference in the two terms. It also explains why a revision is not possible under a People's Initiative, and identifies the change Sigaw ng Bayan proposes, to change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary, as a "revision." Therefore, it is not allowable under the People's Initiative, which can only call for amendments to the Constitution.

The voting cannot be construed as a biased one, considering of the 10 justices so far appointed by GMA, the vote was split down the middle: 5 voted against the petition, and 5 voted for the petition. If anything, the swing vote was provided by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, whom pro-Charter Change advocates were hoping would stand by his dissenting opinion (described as "brilliant" by my favorite columnist, Carmen Pedrosa. I wonder how she'll take Panganiban's vote in this case?) in the 1997 case of Comelec vs. Santiago. Panganiban, however, voted to disallow Sigaw ng Bayan's petition.

However, it is not fair, as the Daily Tribune would impute, that those who voted for Sigaw's petition are now seen as giving in to pressure from the government. If that were the case, then does that mean that they were voting to please Malacanang in the previous decisions wherein the government's orders or actions were questioned or struck down? I don't think so, and the Tribune is trafficking in intrigue to make such allegations.

Now, the battle shifts to the filing of the motion of reconsideration. Will the 8 justices who voted to put an end to "People's" Initiative reverse themselves, and order the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to verify the signatures for sufficiency? We'll see, although the Court hasn't made a practice of reversing itself.

For those of us who have been following the case, it still means that we have to remain vigilant.

For more info, check the links below:

The actual text of the decision: G.R. No. 174153. October 25, 2006

Separate Opinions: Chief Justice Panganiban, Justices Ynares-Santiago, Sandoval-Gutierrez, Callejo, and Azcuna

Dissenting Opinions: Justices Puno, Quisumbing, Corona, Tinga, Chico-Nazario, and Velasco, Jr.

Dean Jorge Bocobo's Thoughts:
Insufficient in Form!
Revision or Amendment? Revision!
Sufficiency in Form: Counting the Baby's Toes

Requiem, Dr. Emy

Dr. Emy Pascasio passed away yesterday. She was my mentor for the textbook project I’d been working on the past few years; it’s a pity that she’ll never see it actually used.

I first met Dr. Emy in 2001, when we began the textbook work for Neo-Asia Publishing. For me, there were many lessons learned from her about how to teach the language, and much of the textbook has her stamp on it. It did take a while, though, for my partner and me to get it done, it being our first time to work on making an actual textbook from scratch. But, through it all, Dr. Emy guided us through the process, and we learned a lot from her mentoring.

I had actually lost track of Dr. Emy the past year, the last time we’d met was December of last year, only to learn of her through the Office of Mission, Identity and Organizational Development (OMIOD), as I was given the task of proofreading an interview of her done in preparation for a book the OMIOD would be releasing. It was then that I learned about her sickness and her physical deterioration. It was through the interview transcript that I learned a little bit more about Dr. Emy, about her passion for the English language and for teaching. It’s almost a pity that, being a U.P. student, I never had the chance to be her student. In a way, though, working on the textbook, taking her comments on corrections and content into consideration, I was her student. So I am fortunate, then.

There will be a mass later this evening at 7, at the Sanctuario de San Jose in Greenhills.

Requiem, Ma'am.

World Series!

It’s been an eventful weekend in baseball.

Last Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the National League pennant, by beating the New York Mets, on a home run by Yadier Molina in the top of the 9^th inning. It marked the second time in three years that the Cards had made it to the World Series; they were swept by the miraculous Boston Red Sox in 2004. In a game that almost everybody ceded to the Mets, the Cards refused to fold, and, by winning, won the right to face the almost equally miraculous Detroit Tigers, the American League champions.

However, the Cards were determined to take control of the script this time around.

Yesterday, in Game 1, St. Louis pounced on rookie pitcher Justin Verlander, and leaned on their own rookie pitcher Anthony Reyes to take a 7-2 victory, leading the World Series 1-0. Third baseman Scott Rolen and first baseman Albert Pujols both homered to give the Cards a comfortable lead in Game 1.

Game Two begins in a little while, featuring two starting pitchers who haven't had much success in the Series, Detroit's Kenny Rogers and St. Louis' Jeff Weaver. The other side story is that Weaver used to pitch for the Tigers at the start of his career. Will the Tigers manage to avoid a 0-2 hole, or will the Cardinals be heading back home with a big lead? It remains to be seen.

Blast from the Past - Roadwar 2000

One of the problems with futuristic games is that if the time frame is only a decade or two away from the game, the game quickly becomes an anachronism, although in superior games, players can be trusted to ignore this time paradox. 

So it is with Roadwar 2000, released by SSI back in the 80s.

In Roadwar 2000, the U.S. is devastated by a biological agent that transforms its victims into crazed, dangerous, and highly infectious mutants. The government collapses, and the coastal cities are captured by invaders (in this, the game was politically correct; there’s no mention of Cold War opponents.). Each individual town or city is left to fend on its own, and slowly, following the law of the survival of the fittest, various groups manage to take control: invaders (mostly on the East and West coasts), the National Guard, survivalists, Satanists, the Mob, etc.

Roving the blasted ruins that were the United States are various road gangs, foraging and salvaging, and occasionally, taking control of the town or city. Leading one of these gangs is you.

Meanwhile, somewhere out there, American scientists desperately finish their research to develop an antidote to the disease. Unfortunately, contact with the scientists has been lost, and it’s up to the road gangs of the future to unite the fractured country, locate the scientists, and bring them back to the research laboratories to create the cure that will save the world.

I’ve been playing Roadwar 2000 for more than a decade, and few games are able hold my interest like this one. As I mentioned above, the object of the game is to build up your gang, and then start taking control of each town and city. When you’ve controlled enough of the U.S. (about 10-15 cities/towns), a government agent will approach you and give you a password. A few more cities, and you’ll be asked for the password, after which you’ll be told where the underground government lab will be found. Once you reach the lab, you’ll be told where the scientists might likely be found, and sent out to find them and bring them back. To date, however, I haven’t been able to achieve this.

One of your important duties is that you have to manage the meager resources that your gang possesses. To build up your resources, you have to do quite a bit of looting for vehicles and stuff. You’ll also have to do a bit of recruiting in each town.

Once you’re stocked up, off you go searching for cities to conquer and road gangs to fight. You can also acquire new vehicles during these fights; to do this, you have to make sure there are no more enemies on the rooftop of the vehicle, and then send in your men to capture the vehicle.

Your men will range from the lowly Escort to the elite Armsmaster. After every battle, a number of the surviving members of your gang will be promoted a rank. This will be faster if you’re able to find a top notch drill sergeant, one of three cronies. The other two are the politician, who will help defuse fights with other groups of people, and the doctor, who will be able to better tend to the health of your gang.

Among the vehicles, the trailer truck and the bus are my favorite vehicles of choice: the trailer for storage and decent firepower, and the bus for massive firepower. Unfortunately, these vehicles are also heavy on fuel, so you do have to make sure you have enough of it in order to move around. You can halve your fuel consumption by locating fuel additives when looting.

Sometimes, through looting, you may find machine shops that will upgrade the various aspects of your vehicles: their maneuverability, their armor, and their rate of braking and accelerating. In time, you will have built up elite units that can handle more punishment than the normal bus or truck.

To take over the city, you have to fight pitched battles with the inhabitants for control. In larger cities, it will take a while.

Some cities will no longer exist, except as barren nuclear wastelands, rife with infectious mutants. Unfortunately, it is also in these places that you’re likely to find the scientists. Make sure you find a town wherein healers reside; they’ll give you the antitoxin that will keep your gang members from dying of disease.

Did I mention earlier that you have to manage your resources? One of the important resources is food; without it, your gang will die horribly slowly of starvation. You can augment this by locating food supplements.

All in all, Roadwar 2000 is an addictive game, worthy of long hours of play.

You can download it here. If you liked it, you can also check out Roadwar Europa.

Other notes:

The three largest cities are Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Good luck trying to take over these cities, which are normally controlled by invaders.

There are three types of road battles: abstract, quick fight, and pitched battle. The main advantage of pitched battles is that you have control over how your gang works as a unit. Also, if you win the battle, the number of vehicles your gang can control increases by 1, to a maximum of 15.

Make sure that you download the manual. There are no help functions within the game, and memorizing the various key commands is important.

Specific gangs inhabit certain regions, although the regions are randomized per game. The best ones to look for are the Greyhounds, which are an excellent source of buses.

When fighting the detailed battle, make sure that your vehicles’ sides are facing the enemy at the end of your movement phase; this will allow for maximum firepower aimed at the enemy.

You can also opt to ram, although this is damaging to your vehicle’s structure, or you can try to shoot out the tires. Make sure that you look for body shops and fix your tires after every battle; otherwise, you may wind up losing a damaged vehicle in the next battle.

Turns run according to months, and in the U.S., take note of November to January. During this time, it’s very difficult to move in the entire Northern area of the U.S., as it is affected by bad weather conditions brought on by winter. This can be partly offset by locating snow tires.

Geekdom

According to Wikipedia, a geek is "is a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination." In the past, the term was used as an insult, although, today, it is sometimes used as a compliment, honoring the person for his or her knowledge.

Last week, Thursday, the fourth year level held a trivia contest, "Revenge of the Geeks," as one of their activities for Communication Arts Month. The fourteen fourth year sections each sent a group of their classmates to vie for top honors. After the first round, the six top teams would get the chance to meet and beat the geeks.

There were eight geeks: comics (non-manga), fantasy literature, war history, music, Shakespeare, Greek mythology, Lives of the saints (hagiology), and Filipino movies.

I was the comics (non-manga) geek.

The second round would go in a manner similar to Comedy Central's "Beat the Geeks." Each team would choose a geek, and answer a question from that geek's specialty. If they answered it right, the geek would have to answer a more difficult question.

When I was challenged, the team was unable to answer their question (What was the name of the original Marvel Girl? Jean Grey.), so I never found out what question was waiting in store for me. Also, since I had already been challenged, the other teams couldn't challenge me anymore, much to the consternation of one of the teams, who apparently guessed in advance that I was the comic geek, and were ready and waiting to take me on. Oh well. C'est la vie.

After the second round, three teams would remain to dispute the top honors. Each team would be asked a series of questions that the geeks would themselves answer. If the team got it and the geek didn't, then the team got 20 points. If both of them got it, the team would get 10 points.

The first question, for me, was the most difficult, as it asked what immortals made up SHAZAM. I managed to complete the acronym (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury), only to be told that Atlas was wrong, and that the 'A' stood for 'Agamemnon.' The other team didn't get it, so I was saved from embarrassment. However, I checked some sources the next day, and found out that I was, indeed, correct. The answer was Atlas. So there.

The second question, "What is Aquaman's real name?" was answered both by me and the team (Arthur Curry), so that team got 10 points.

I only knew the answer to the last question thanks to my reading of Wizard magazine in the 90s. The question was "Which Marvel character made a guest appearance in Archie Comics?" (Answer: The Punisher. No kidding.)

While I managed to answer all the questions thrown at me, what was more impressive was Vince Loiz, the hagiology geek, who answered some pretty difficult questions, the answers of which I was not aware. All of us were in awe of Vince's knowledge of saints' lives.

It was a pretty interesting afternoon, all things considered, and I wouldn't mind doing it again. But maybe I'll choose a different field to be geeky in. Heheheheh.

Sheer Arrogance

Once more, our honorable (HAK! Hochhh!) Congressmen have done it again. Under the supervision of Albay Representative Joey Salceda (who is rapidly replacing Davao Rep. Douglas Cagas as my number one favorite congressman), Committee on Appropriations chairman, the House of Representatives has increased their pork barrel allocations in the proposed 2007 budget from P40 million each to P70 million each.

What's disgusting about it is the sheer arrogance that Salceda has displayed in announcing the increase. It's not because he wants each Congressman to be better able to help their constituents, but it's because 2007 is, according to Salceda, "an election year." So what does this mean? Will the pork barrel funds be the basis of the Congressmen's war chests for next year's elections? You can bet your sweet bippy the funds will definitely be used for that purpose.

The main problem with pork barrel funds is that they are not audited by the Commission on Audit (COA). While I'm sure some funds will be used to help the constituents, I'm also sure that a good amount of it will be used for the Congressmen's benefit, in this case, to ensure their wins in the 2007 elections.

Worse, the pork barrel funds are used as clubs to force subservience to Malacanang, as opposition representatives complain that they have not received their funds. To this, the President's chief of staff, Michael Defensor, blithely replies, "Why would the Palace make taxpayers’ money available to those who want the President out and replaced?" So the opposition constituents are also screwed, as they will receive no help from their Congressmen.

What's ironic is that some of those who loudly protested the use of pork barrel funds in the past, such as Bayan Muna's Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casino, now sing praises of the funds now that they are congressmen themselves.

And the people do nothing, maybe because they're not aware of the magnitude of the screwing over that they're getting from Congress, or maybe because they're just interested in receiving some of the mana. And it is this same people the Cha-Cha proponents claim to be aware of the magnitude of the changes that will be wrought with Cha-Cha? Please.

Tiger Magic

The baseball playoffs are currently ongoing, and the Detroit Tigers are looking to move on to their first World Series since 1984, which they won. It’s interesting to note that the four teams left in the playoffs all last won back in the 80s: the St. Louis Cardinals won in ’82, the Detroit Tigers in ’84, the New York Mets in ’86, and the Oakland A’s in ’89. While the A’s, Mets and Cardinals have been in the Series at least once since then, they haven’t won it since.

There’s nothing more exciting in baseball than a game-winning home run. It was Kirk Gibson’s home run in the ’88 World Series that turned the tide for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Oakland A’s; as a side note, it was also the catalyst for me to be a baseball fan.

The Detroit Tigers did the same, winning Game 4 6-3 against the Oakland A’s on a bottom of the 9^th home run by right fielder Magglio Ordonez. By doing so, the Tigers swept the A’s, and gained entry to baseball’s championship, the World Series.

At first, it seemed as if the A’s would manage to extend the American League Championship Series to five games, as they led 3-0 until the 6^th inning, when the Tigers managed to tie the score on Ordonez’s first home run, a solo shot off A’s starting pitcher Dan Haren. Then, in the bottom of the 9^th, with two out, Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco both hit singles, setting the table for Ordonez, who hammered closer Hudson Street’s offering into the middle of the left field bleachers.

It must be a heady feeling for Tigers fans, having suffered twelve straight years of teams with losing records. All of that is over, for now, the Tigers are the American League champions, awaiting the outcome of the National League Championship Series between the Mets and Cardinals. The Tigers can rest easy for a week, and then, it’s back to work, and hopefully, their first title since 1984.

Fantasy Basketball

With the end of the baseball season, my two fantasy teams did pretty well. The Blue Eagles won their division handily, having a double-digit lead over the second place team. The Dojoboys, plagued by a lack of power and pitching, managed to finish in the so-called first division, or upper half of the division, finishing fifth.

However, for us fantasy players, we leave the playoffs behind (no fantasy playing here), and move on to other sports. 

Like basketball.

The last time I played fantasy basketball was about five years ago. Then, it was the now defunct smallworld.com which sponsored the games. I stopped when smallworld was engulfed by The Sporting News.

Then, a few weeks ago, one of my co-teachers tossed around the idea of getting some of the faculty together and have a league of our own. We’d have an offline draft, and then play head-to-head style. Unlike Rotisserie play, head-to-head means that the teams in the division will match up each week, and whichever teams gets more stats in a particular category at the end of the week, earns a win for that category.

14 of us gathered together one afternoon to do the draft. Prior to that, I’d done my homework, and had a list of players arranged according to priority. Unfortunately, I drew #12, which meant that I’d be drafting very late in the first round. Still, it also meant, that in the even-numbered rounds, I’d be one of the first to pick.

By the 10^th to 12^th rounds, all of us were groping for names with which to fill up our rosters. Still, it was a fun afternoon, as we traded good-natured barbs and congratulated each other for astute drafting.

By the end of the draft I had the following players: Steve Nash(PG, Phoenix), Mehmet Okur(PF, C, Utah), Michael Redd(SG, SF, Milwaukee), Antawn Jamison(SF, PF, Washington), Charlie Villanueva(SF, PF, Milwaukee), Morris Peterson(SG, SF, Toronto), Randy Foye(PG, SG, Minnesota), Raef LaFrentz(PF, C, Portland), Eddie Jones(SG, SF, Memphis), Ricky Davis(SG, SF, Minnesota), Grant Hill(SG, SF, Orlando), and Juwan Howard(SF, Houston).

As soon as the draft was over, the trading began. Most of the trade offers, I wound up rejecting, either because they were unfavorable (Andrew Bogut and Speedy Claxton for Michael Redd? Come on.), or because they involved players I didn’t want to let go of (Steve Nash). However, looking at my team, I did have a lack of good blockers, and I wanted to take some chances, so, thus far I have two trades pending, one sending Okur for Emeka Okafor, and another involving Peterson and Jamison for Marcus Camby and Mo Williams. I’ve also dropped LaFrentz for P.J.Brown, and Howard for Gary Payton, so we’ll see if all the pre-season moves will pay off.

I’m taking a gamble on three players: Foye, Okafor and Hill. Foye is a rookie, Okafor is coming off an injury, and Hill is injury-prone. But if they work out, then I’ll have a fairly solid lineup from top to bottom. If they don’t, well, it’s time to do some trading or go back to the free agent pool.

Respect

During the funeral mass of Vincent Zaño, I mentioned that most of the students were appropriately solemn. The reason for this was that there were a few students who could not stay quiet during the mass, and were talking incessantly. There were two hardcases who continued talking, even after I confiscated their IDs; apparently, disciplinary sanctions weren’t enough deterrents for them. What bothered me was that these were freshmen who came from the Ateneo Grade School, which made me wonder if the years of Christian Life Education (CLE) had stuck. Apparently not.

Two weeks ago, I ejected a student from Judo Club training for making obscene gestures while others were doing drills. What bothered me was that this was a three-year veteran of the Club, so he should’ve known better than to do that. What he did was disrespectful and insulting, and made me question why I continue to handle the Club.

Last week, one of my students, the prayer leader for that day, asked if he could read a Bible passage to start off his prayer. Thinking that it would be a good idea, I consented. What I failed to remember was that not all Bible passages are reflective in nature. His passage? He chose Leviticus 20:16, which reads:

“If a woman goes up to any animal to mate with it, the woman and the animal shall be slain; let them both be put to death; their lives are forfeit.”

He then followed it up with a “Glory be,” to the snickers of his classmates. When I asked him if he could explain the significance of the passage, he couldn’t. What bothered me was that this is also a student from the Grade School, and an otherwise quiet student. Apparently, silent waters run deep, and in my student's case, they run deep into dark places.

One of the challenges of being a teacher in a Catholic school is that we’re not only supposed to teach academic material, but we’re also supposed to work for the proper formation of the students. The above incidents makes me wonder what sort of spiritual formation my students are getting, if at all.

There is no one cause to this problem. It's probably indicative of the slow moral decay that our society is experiencing. How to address this problem? I don't know.

On the Matter of the Ombudsman's Supplemental Resolution

Having read both the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Infotech vs Comelec (January 13, 2004), and the Office of the Ombudsman’s Supplementary Resolution on the MegaPacific case (September 26, 2006), I am of the mind that the Ombudsman has indeed ignored the Supreme Court’s decision, and, instead, come up with its own decision on the matter, in effect reversing the Court’s decision. It almost seems as if the Ombudsman is simply trying to find a way out for the Comelec. 

I’ll not bore you with the nitty-gritty details. Instead, I’ll direct you to Dean Jorge Bocobo’s blog, as he assails the Ombudsman’s resolution point by point, with more passion that I can bring to bear on the issue. 

Here are the salient entries:

Ombudsman Junks Supreme Court Decision

Rogue Ombudsman

COMELEC: The Ombudmamasan's Legalized Whorehouse

A Crime With No Criminals--Making a Jackass of the Supreme Court

DOST Tests Could NOT Have Measured Accuracy of the ACMs!

Criminal Elements of Graft and Corruption

A Pattern of Graft and Corruption

Pseudoscientific Inanities In Ombudsman's Resolution

More Argumentum Ridiculosis from the Ombudsman

"Upon What Moral Principle?"

As you can see, he's pretty fired up about the issue. And small wonder, considering we will be counting on the Comelec to ensure clean and honest elections in next year's midterm election. The fact that Abalos and company's credibility is severely tainted, I can't imagine what next year's elections will be like.

What a government we have. No wonder graft and corruption are rife, if the main graft buster is blind to the realities swirling around it. No wonder the country is in such a mess, as corrupt officials aren't brought to court and charged; these are the people our youth will emulate in the future.

Other useful pieces of commentary:

Federico Pascual's column in the Philippine Star

Today's Editorial in the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Welcome to Post 500

Welcome to post 500! Thanks to all those who’ve followed my musings over the past two years.

Food has always been a big part of my family. My mom is well-known by me and my siblings’ friends for her lasagna, although it’s been a while since we’ve had it. The younger of my two sisters bakes a mean cheesecake reminiscent of New York’s Viniero cheesecake. The older one has been baking up a storm in the past few months, trying out recipe after recipe, although I think her best recent efforts are the chocolate lava cakes (based on Alton Brown’s recipe; what? You don’t know who Alton Brown is? For shame.) and her cinnamon rolls (more on this later).

Me? I can bake and cook, although I’m limited to specific recipes, such as chocolate chip cookies (although it’s been a while) and pasta sauces. Still, I’m always on the lookout for good recipes to try out.

It’s nice to know that the love of baking has been passed on to the next generation, as my four-year old daughter Gabby recently managed to make pizza dough under the supervision, of course, of my mom and my sister. Too bad she made it while I was still in school; I would've liked to have taken pictures of her working on the dough.

I’m told that she made the pizza dough herself; my sister Angelie just oversaw the mixing, the kneading and the spreading. It was my sister who finished off Gabby’s pizza margherita-style (not sure if that's the right spelling), topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil leaves and tomato slices.

Take a gander below.

Cinderella Run

When the game is on the line, what matters is which team has more heart, and which team wanted it more. And, in game 3 of the 2006 UAAP Senior basketball championship, it was the Cinderella team which had more heart, and was hungrier.

University of Santo Tomas (UST) completed its Cinderella run to the championship, beating a heavily favored Ateneo squad in overtime, 76-74. JC Intal, Ateneo’s main man, tried to put in what could have been the tying basket with less than 12 seconds to go in overtime, but missed the shot, and UST, under the guidance of rookie coach Pido Jarencio, won their first championship of the decade.

To think UST managed the win after losing both Allan Evangelista and Jervy Cruz to fouls before the overtime just showed the determination of the team to buck the odds.

Who would have thought that UST would come back from a 2-5 record, go 5-1 the rest of the way, beat University of the East (UE) twice, and defeat Ateneo twice after losing Game One?

When I was talking to one of my friends, he said that it was probably after the Tigers beat the Warriors twice in their Final Four match-up that they gained the confidence and the belief that they could go all the way. And all the way they went.

For Ateneo, it was a heartbreaking end to a great season. After ending the eliminations with the best record, and putting away the Falcons in their one Final Four game, to come up short when they could have won it, is just too painful to think about.

It’ll be a different Blue Eagle squad next season, with stalwarts Macky Escalona, Doug Kramer and Intal all ending their collegiate careers. With La Salle coming back next season, the Eagles, led by coach Norman Black, are going to have to do some serious recruiting if they want to make it back to the finals next year.

Requiem, Vince

“No man should bury his son.”
- Theoden, in the movie, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

I’ve been meaning to write about this since last week, but I couldn’t seem to get the words right, and I felt that the subject deserved respect and care in crafting. I’m not actually sure if I’d achieved it, but if I wait any longer, I probably won’t be able to write about it. So here goes.

It’s never easy to deal with a death in the family. It’s harder when the death in question is one’s daughter or son.

Three Saturdays ago, one of our students, Vincent Zaño, died suddenly of heart failure due a viral infection. He was supposed to have taken the Ateneo College Entrance Test that Saturday morning, but was running a high fever. His father, a doctor, immediately brought him to the hospital, and he was given a pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat, but, by Saturday afternoon, he was gone.

I never knew Vince; he wasn’t one of my students, although I probably saw him walking along the high school corridors. From all accounts, from what I’d heard, he was a quiet and nice boy, liked by both his classmates and teachers alike.

Last last Thursday, the high school community said goodbye to Vince during a school wide Mass. After Communion, two video montages were shown, and, through it, I got a better picture of Vince.

After the videos, his father went up the stage to both thank the community for the support and to talk about Vince. He related to us how he was with his son throughout that dark Saturday, and he choked up when he got to the point when Vince passed on. He recovered though, and was able to finish his eulogy.

After the Mass, the students were requested to exit in quiet solemnity by passing in front of Vince’s coffin, paying their final respects as they left the Covered Courts.

I was touched by the respect that most of the students accorded Vince; throughout the Mass, most of them were quiet, keeping the seriousness of the situation intact. They were giving tribute to one of their own, who went ahead of them.

I have to remember that I should be happy for Vince, because he is with God now. But I also hope and pray for his family, his parents, and his siblings, that they may be able to accept what happened, and be able to be at peace with this tragedy in their lives.

Split Decision

(3 ...)


In the end, Ateneo had to settle for a split.

While the Ateneo Blue Eaglets survived their encounter against the FEU Baby Tamaraws, 69-61, the senior squad was thoroughly trounced by the UST Growling Tigers. I turned it off when the score showed 85-71, with half a minute remaining.

It was apparent from the start that UST remained unfazed after Ateneo’s come-from-behind victory in Game One. This time, the Tigers made sure that they covered all bases, and pounded the Ateneo side both inside and outside.

While the Eagles were able to contain big man Jervy Cruz, they had no answer for the rest of the UST players. Dylan Ababou and Jojo Duncil were unstoppable, shooting almost at will.

Every time Ateneo managed to come close, the Tigers were able to turn on the gas, and pull away from the Eagles.

It didn’t look like the Eagles had their game faces on, looking both lost and bewildered at the turn of events. While JC Intal, Ateneo’s Mythical Five member, kept on banging away, trying to carry the load himself, it just wasn’t enough.

Now, Game Three is later this afternoon, and UST now has the momentum. Can they keep their Cinderella streak going, and win the crown, after having gone 2-5 in their first 7 games? Or can Ateneo pull themselves together, and come off with the championship?

All questions will be answered today.

Milenyo's Wrath

(4 ...)

With the way the sun was shining last Friday, one wouldn’t have thought that Metro Manila went through the worst storm in 11 years the day before. Typhoon ‘Milenyo’ went through the city, and departed just as quickly, although the damage it wrought will be around for a little while longer.

The worst of the storm hit sometime in the early afternoon. The winds lashed at the houses and trees. In our case, the fiberglass roof over our side terrace had come loose at a corner, and its banging against its metal railing made us feel that it was going to torn off by the force of the storm. 

Fortunately, it didn’t.

At my parents’ house, a big branch of the santol tree beside the house fell off, and crashed on the grill fence. Fortunately, the fence wasn’t badly damaged by the fall, and, even more fortunately, the branch didn’t fall on the house.

Friday morning, I went out and got the newspaper, and was struck by images of the storm’s carnage. Electric and telephone posts all over the city were down; one official was quoted as saying that power would be back 100% by Sunday. Trees were blown down, and strewn across major thoroughfares.

The damage which got the most press, I think, was the damage done to the billboards. Towering three stories at some points, these danger posed by these massive structures were exposed by “Milenyo”. Several boards had crashed onto cars and buses; at least one FX driver was killed instantly when a billboard fell on his vehicle.

This prompted the President to show her legendary anger, and ordered that these structures be taken down. Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Bayani Fernando concurred, saying that he had been complaining about these billboards for some time now, while Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Ebdane defended the billboards’ owners, saying that they had the law on their side. Well, maybe the owners can pay for the damage their billboards have caused.

It's Monday, and Metro Manila still hasn't come back fully from the storm's effects. It'll probably be a week or two before things go back to normal.