Text P-A-L-P-A-R-A-N

Forget about surveys and exit polls. They’re not that reliable. They make you happy, they make you feel dejected, but once the votes are cast, it’s all about waiting and counting (and of course, eternal vigilance). Here, where election-wise the only thing sophisticated is cheating, you suffer if you let exit polls and surveys to rule your life. It’s death by caffeine.

Everyone at the HQ is restless, of course, but no one has a choice: this is really how votes are counted in the Philippines. S-l-o-w. It is like sending radio signals to space and waiting for Martians to reply with the visual binary equivalent of “d2 na us! takbo na u!”. The only one quick to count is Garci, who surprisingly conceded defeat in a fight for a congressional seat in Bukidnon vs. the Acostas. Oh Manny, please learn from Garci.

Manila Times and Ahon Pinoy

Should media enter politics? Beyond its role of delivering information and facilitating public discourse on almost anything, what happens when a media company fields its own candidates and use its resources to engage in what could be construed as partisan activities?

Pitchay’s in, administration is ‘elated’

Well, the administration is elated with recent SWS survey. Presidential Political Gabby Claudio says it’s the administration’s machinery beginning to deliver.

I’m not really sure what Gabby is gloating about. He must be proud of Pitchay, who appears to be doing well in another survey. Here’s something to spite those who ridicule Pitchay. I fished this out from a mailing list (Thanks, Glenn!) and it looks credible.

Pitchay No. 3 na sa Survey. Yehey!!!

Sa wakas #3 na sa survey ang Pitchay as most favorable top 12 highfiber vegetable sa palengke.

1. Kangkong
2. Mustasa
3. PITCHAY
4. Repolyo
5. Alugbati
6. Saluyot
7. Lechugas
8. kamote tops
9. Dahon ng gabi
10. Sibuyas mura’
11. Sayote tops
12. Dahon sili

Pitchay – ibaon sa lupa!

Babae ka

Babae Ka, one of the party-list groups that is allegedly fronting for Malacanang, is frothing in the mouth. In a letter-complaint addressed to COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos, it urged the poll body to disqualify AKBAYAN for divulging Babae Ka’s nominees. In AKBAYAN’s Bare the List blog, Babae Ka hurled a few other accusations: that AKBAYAN representatives in Congress did nothing to amend the Party-list law (RA 7941), and that in AKBAYAN’s stay in Congress since 1998, it failed to achieve anything.

Paulo

My sincere apologies for my unintentional hiatus. I did try to write, and there are entries that are half-finished, but work has been astoundingly hectic because of the campaign period. I have decided to post this today, though, to celebrate the life of a good friend.

In that brief childhood phase where friendships were unadulterated by stereotypes and stigma, I met Paulo. He was the only childhood friend who could match my sense of adventure and wanderlust. We grew up together, with him tagging along in our trips to remote beaches or to our palaisdaan. We’d bike together, plot experiments, or just trade stories endlessly. We’d stargaze in their roofdeck, too, and make futile attempts to locate constellations using American sky maps. We got introduced to Greek mythology at the same time, and soon, along with aliens and UFO sightings, Greek heroes would figure in the stories that we shared to spend the long summer afternoons.

a season for rebirth

Love anywhere, anytime, even when it appears unnecessary or unwanted. Laugh without provocation, and face the sun with with a smile. When traveling to meet your loved ones, always remember that traffic does not diminish one’s happiness, or one’s capacity to provide happiness. Help someone in need, a stranger or a friend, or as poet advised, if you are someone in need, cry for help.

Dance. Dance to any music, because dancing discriminates no tune. Dance in silence, the music in one’s head is like a prayer.

Give someone a ticket or a book: to get lost in strange cities or inside one’s head puts one’s life in the perspective of a child.

When mad, sing. Air gave birth to forgiveness, share it thru a song. Laugh at your own mistakes. If you find that difficult, sing to yourself. Learn to be forgiving. Forgive yourself.

Today is a good day. With no agenda or ideology, I wish you a rebirth of the senses, a meaningful pause to discover the things that we truly love.

The 2006 LGBT Pride March

We had the annual LGBT Pride March last Saturday, December 9, 2006, at Manila City, and as usual, it was pretty tiring. The route was quite long, and we couldn’t really complain because it was based on an agreement with Manila’s Traffic Bureau. During the march itself, however, traffic policemen attempted to alter the route several times, and they were scared that we would do something political. The activist in me wanted to tell them that marching itself is political: we are asserting our rights and we want to offer a positive visibility of the LGBT community.

I was appalled by their paranoia. After defying their “proposal” that we stick to the obscure side streets of Malate, they tried to block us from marching along Roxas Blvd. They actually deployed riot policemen – they have no respect for beauty queens – but we prevailed, and they allowed us to make a turn in Pedro Gil and march along Roxas Blvd. I had to tell them several times that we secured a permit, and the City Hall approved our route. It took me several days of traveling to and from Manila City, with its polluted streets and noxious bureaucrats, to secure that permit, even though I wanted to scream at them and tell them that the law requiring a permit is a relic from the days of the dictatorship.

But nothing’s going to rain on our parade. My personal gratitude to those who helped organizing the march. Thanks to my office, too, for understanding why I had to take part in organizing the event, especially for Risa, who spoke during the program and brought her kids to march with us.

See you again next year.

—-
Correction: I never offered my eggs to the nuns of Santa Clara. No way.

Don’t Con Ass!

Another long day in this madhouse. The House majority decided to ram Charter Change down our collective throats through the convening of a Constituent Assembly. This is not exactly the first time that our honorable representatives railroaded questionable and unpopular legislative measures, but the Constituent Assembly is the height of the Lower House’s arrogance and corruption.

Duffy again

Give me a Duffy for Christmas. Please.

Last year, Jeanette Winterson interviewed Carol Ann Duffy for her collection of poems, Rapture. I want one for Christmas. Period.

The poem below is from a different collection called “Mean Time.” Indulge.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

— Carol Ann Duffy

Abante means homophobia

Are you from the 6th District of Manila? If you are, then do the Filipino lesbian and gay community a big favor. Don’t vote for Rep. Bienvenido Abante, who’s been trying to block the Anti-Discrimination Bill, in the forthcoming 2007 polls. From October 12 to 13, 2007, during the marathon session for the 2007 budget, Rep. Abante barred the House of Representatives from tackling Anti-Discrimination Bill. (Read more in LAGABLAB’s blog).

Rep. Abante happens to be the Chairperson of the House Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights. By blocking the Anti-Discrimination Bill and by calling homosexuality “morally reprehensible,” he committed a patent act of discrimination, thus violating the all-embracing principles of human rights. This proves that the current Chair of the House Committee on Human Rights does not know a thing about human rights, or about his mandate. Shame. He certainly does not deserve to be Chair of the House Committee on Human Rights.

Aside from calling homosexuality “morally reprehensible,” he also said that the approval of the Anti-Discrimination Bill is tantamount to extending protection to pedophiles. If I were a legislator, I’d be very careful with making such medieval assertions. If Abante really insists on attaching pedophilia to a particular profession or sexual orientation, then he should look into cases of sexual abuse against minors: most have been committed by heterosexual men against female children. The prevalence is also high within the religious institutions. If we are to follow Rep. Abante’s demented thinking, then it makes sense to keep straight men (or priests) from our children. The point, however, is this: pedophilia is an issue of power, and not of sexual orientation. Some adults abuse children because they think they can get away with it. Funny, but it is actually the Church that promotes this sense of impunity – the CBCP, for instance, just held a national conference on reconciliation and renewal for priests to address the issue of sexual harassment and pedophilia within the Church when what they should have done is turn over to authorities those who commit and perpetrate sexual abuse.

If you are not from Manila City, then help LAGABLAB spread the word about Rep. Abante’s discriminatory acts. Write him, call his office, and tell him that the lesbian and gay community does not take discrimination sitting down. If he wants to bring his proselytizing in Congress, then he should resign from his position (or from Congress) and stay in the pulpit. Democracy is not anti-God or anti-religion, but it certainly has to have secular institutions. He was elected not as Pastor but as a legislator, which requires that in matters of public interests, he must abandon his destructive sectarianism and work for the general welfare.

For me, his name is now synonymous with homophobia. Let’s kick the bigot out of Congress next year.

Here’s what you could do (from LAGABLAB’s blog):

Please send protest letters to Rep. Abante and demand from him equal recognition of the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. Express your condemnation of his discriminatory actions and of his failure, as the Chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights and as an elected public official, to respect and recognize the Bill of Rights as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution. Here’s his address:

Office of Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr.
Rm. 407, South-wing,
House of Representatives,
Batasan Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7248 or 9315691 (telefax)
Email: abante_maynila@yahoo.com

Also, send letters of complaint to House Speaker Jose de Venecia for Rep. Abante’s failure to fulfill his mandate as the Human Rights Chairperson. Tell Speaker de Venecia that as the Chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, Rep. Abante is committing a violation of human rights by excluding lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. Below is Speaker de Venecia’s address:

Office of House Speaker Jose de Venecia
Rm. MB-2, House of Representatives, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7446, 9315071 to 9315073
Email: devenecia@pldtdsl.net