Must-read on Mindanao Massacre

Journalist Aquiles Zonio writes about the events leading up to the convoy going to the provincial capitol. And how he managed to avoid death:

Believing in the power of the media, Mangudadatu, who felt helpless then, asked help from the media.

He requested several journalists—through Henry Araneta of DZRH—to cover the scheduled filing of his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections provincial office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

Araneta managed to invite 37 journalists from the cities of General Santos, Tacurong and Koronadal.

The gubernatorial aspirant claimed reports had reached him that the Ampatuans had threatened to chop him into pieces once he filed his COC with the Comelec.

All in all, there were 58 persons—37 journalists, 16 Muslim women who handcarried Mangudadatu’s COC and five drivers—in the convoy.

Military sources disclosed that several other innocent motorists from Buluan and Tacurong City were seized and summarily executed on mere suspicion that they, too, were followers of the Mangudadatus.

I meant to post a link to this article previously but didn’t get around to it. It verbalizes some of the gravity of the situation from one of the people directly affected:

Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town who is running for provincial governor, also said his wife was sexually assaulted and mutilated before being killed in the mass slaughter, which he and police said was organized by his political rival.

“We can’t call him an animal because I have pets and they are tame. No, he is a monster. They are monsters,” Mangudadatu told reporters Wednesday.

“We sent women because in the Muslim culture you don’t hurt women,” he said.

“My youngest sister was five months’ pregnant, while my aunt was into her sixth month of pregnancy.”

Mangudadatu gave a sickening description of his wife’s fate.

“My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it,” he said.

“They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her.”

Of course, authorities have not verified these statements officially. Enough said.

Mindanao/Ampatuan Massacre

There has been a movement to call the Mindanao Massacre the Ampatuan Massacre. For local coverage, I think this is appropriate. In the international press, though, expect it to be just referred to most probably as the Philippines Massacre.

Here are some of the newest developments:

Dept. of Justice finally charges a suspect in the massacre with multiple murder.

Andal Ampatuan Jr. finally surrenders.

Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, a former AP stringer and now regular staffer of Manila Bulletin, was one of the journalists killed.

It was reported that Arroyo tried to talk the Mangudadatus out of running for office. That’s democracy in action for you.

Even in Iraq, where a war has been going on, the number of journalist casualties has not been this bad.

More on Mindanao Massacre

Reading the news is still heartbreaking. Even if I have read multiple reports on the case, every time I read about the victims, the women, the journalists, being massacred like that, I can’t help but feel.

Here is more information:

Previous PCIJ report on Maguindanao rivalry:

http://pcij.org/stories/amid-the-fighting-the-clan-rules-in-maguindanao/

The Case of Jason Ivler

Reading stories on American Jason Ivler, the son of Marlene Aguilar, sister of folk singer Freddie Aguilar, and stepson of British diplomat Stephen Pollard from the ADB.

First question is, does he have a vendetta against Malacanang officials? Interesting luck of the draw if the traffic incidents were just plain coincidental. He was found guilty in 2004 for the death of Nestor Ponce, a Malacañang undersecretary in a traffic incident. Now, he is wanted for allegedly shooting the only son of Presidential Chief of Staff Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. in another traffic altercation. And Manila roads ain’t no Washington DC so what are the chances of him doing a take two on presidential secretaries?

Second, if he allegedly escaped to Malaysia for traffic altercation No. 1, how did he get into the country for traffic altercation No. 2 if a warrant for his arrest is outstanding from the 2004 case?

I would like to see how this is all played out in the end. If he goes back to America, will he even be extradited?

Read about it here and here.

Mindanao Massacre

My God.

Those two words can only summarize the brutality that has happened in Mindanao. It has been reported that at least 21 were killed in Maguindanao. There may be more, up to 36, but the others have not been identified yet. Authorities believe that this was linked to the upcoming governor elections.

Among those killed were the wife of the candidate who was about to file her husband’s candidacy, women, lawyers and 13 journalists. From inquirer.net:

Military and police investigators found a backhoe owned by the Maguindanao provincial government in the killing field planted to corn and coconut, raising the possibility that some of those slaughtered may have been hastily buried in a mass grave.

Buluan Vice Mayor Ishmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said among those killed were his two sisters—Eden, the mayor of Mangudadato town, and Farina—along with his 36-year-old wife Genalyn Tiamzon and legal counsels Cynthia Oquendo and Connie Brizuela.

The victims were in the group that included some 20 other women supporters, accompanied by over 30 journalists, whom Vice Mayor Mangudadatu had tasked to file his certificate of candidacy for him for governor of Maguindanao in the provincial office of the Commission on Elections in Shariff Aguak town when the massacre happened on Monday.

There are reports of the women being raped, of the people in the convoy being beheaded. May God grant rest upon their souls!

Do these people who have committed the gruesome crime think that their power will get them out of the consequences of their actions? The armed men were reportedly supporters of the current Maguindanao governor.

No matter how bitter the rivalry is between the clans, and whatever issues they may have between each other, there is justification for this inhumanity.

The government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said they will quickly investigate the case. Will we see the actual culprits brought to justice? Remember, the whole world will be watching.

 

From Friendster to Facebook to Twitter

A few months ago, I deleted my Friendster account. It was old and clunky and I didn’t really get much out of it anymore. And I did it also because Facebook had already won me over.

Facebook was so much cooler than Friendster. For me, it’s comparable to a fashion magazine, except that instead of society people I don’t really care about, I had people I knew updating, posting photos, sending messages.

But then they started playing with the layout. And added those applications.

I like social networking sites because they keep me connected to people I otherwise wouldn’t even know where they are right now. These are the sort of friends you pick up along the way. You like them but don’t necessarily get the chance to see them often because they’re in a different geography. Or you don’t like them but want to be updated with what they’re up to. Whichever works for you.

The rest of the applications for me is just gravy. I don’t use the chat feature, nor do I play any of the games.
I know people who are crazy about them, even going as far as making multiple accounts so they can play Farmtown.

But Facebook has become blah lately. In my experience, it’s because I can’t seem to find anything anymore. And I don’t have the time or patience to figure it out. And even the little thing as the sometimes disappearing Ignore All requests button on the right hand corner can ruin things. I just don’t want any invites to play whatever. Period. So if anyone out there can give me a guaranteed solution to resolve this, my Facebook life would be so much enjoyable.

Which brings me to Twitter. I did not think the day would come when I’d take Twitter seriously and even prefer it over Facebook. Why? Because it’s simple. It allows me to subscribe to publications I want to know updates about but only in short bursts of info. It’s sans clutter.

I haven’t even bothered to explore Twitter apps because I don’t want to spend time dealing with stuff like that, unless there’s something specific that I particularly want. And even this is done in a discrete fashion, with just a tab that tells you what your Twitter can do. I hope that Twitter doesn’t mess with the formula and clog the site with lots of useless add ons. I’m sure that day will come.

We’ll see what technology future holds. In the meantime, I think I’m going to get me some pie.

Blast from the past: newspaper drive

Tonight, I was sorting through old newspapers, deciding which ones to throw and which to keep. Don’t ask. I’m old fashioned that way.

And because I was doing this, I was actually transported back in time to my days as a student in an all girls Catholic school.

When I was in elementary, the entire school would hold a newspaper drive. Everyone would bring in old newspapers and you’d get merit points for homeroom. At the end of the campaign period (I don’t exactly remember when), the whole class tallies the newspaper stacks using a giant ruler to measure the height. If I remember correctly, and my memory is fuzzy on this part, the winning section got a prize. The newspapers are then sold to a recycling center by the kilo with the money used to fund projects.

I diligently brought newspapers to school. My mom was an avid newspaper reader, at least bringing home two a day from the office, and that would add up to a sizable stack by the time the campaign rolled around.

As I had a younger sister, we had to split the newspapers at home equally. Still, it was still nothing to sniff at, even minus household consumption usage for starting the grill, cleaning mirrors and wrapping fish, among other things.

But no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t the winner of the class when it came to bringing the most newspapers. I couldn’t figure this out. People with more siblings than I, who I didn’t think read newspapers at home, were bringing newspapers by the stack.

And then I learned one of life’s important lessons at this age, when I was still naive in my thinking that if you were diligent enough, you just might win the newspaper drive. There were signs that the rich schoolmates of mine, the ones who had more siblings than I and whose parents probably didn’t even read the papers daily, actually bought their stash by the inch.

There were no rules that said one couldn’t buy newspapers to bring to the newspaper drive. The school’s objective was to raise funds, after all. And how would you know if someone bought newspapers to donate, right? (Except that sometimes one whole stack would contain the same edition).

So that was one of the first lessons in life for me. I attempted to beg my parents to buy me some but no dice. (When I was younger, I did think most of the time that it was a pain in the ass to have parents who always wanted you to do the right thing. That lecture came out of my ears with the number of times it got said again and again. But when you get older, you get it.)

Another lesson I learned was there are ways to beat an illogical system. Since the papers were being sold by weight, but measured by height for contest purposes, then if we actually separated the spread of the papers, it could help increase how tall the stack would be when measured. Or at least, that’s what we thought.

Then there was the Chinese-style battle plan. In the beginning, don’t reveal all your firepower. Every class could see how the others were doing in terms of the height of the newspapers because they were stacked up next to the blackboard. So one could pretty much gauge how one fared relative to the others, which was a cause of insecurity if your section lagged behind. But on the last day, then those who had the secret stacks would, in the end, bring out all their ammo, in effect, surprising the competition.

And now that I am older, I have learned another lesson, looking back. The world is round. Those of us who were able to coast by because they had the means to, well, let’s just say that you eventually find out that even if it can buy you a whole stack of newspapers and momentary popularity, money isn’t really everything.

Manny + Krista

Manny Pacquiao, you already have fame, fortune and the gift of family. Your mommy Dionisia is very supportive. I heard that your dad is living in one of your houses somewhere. Your wife married you because she loved you, way back when people didn’t even give you a second glance. You are on top of the world, king of your field. You have so much money, you literally can’t keep count.

And there’s a possibility you’re about to throw it all away for another woman!

I have been keeping up with online updates on the alleged affair between Pacman and actress Krista Ranillo, who turns out, is Atenean (yikes!).

Only learned about it because I live tweeted the Pacquiao-Cotto fight and one of the tweets I saw mentioned Krista entering the arena. I’m like, why is she there? She must be such a fan (haha, naive. *smacks forehead*).

And then I saw entries on Chuvaness. And stories on other websites.

I understand why Manny may be enamored of her. She’s so different from him. Aside from the fact that she’s smoking hot, she’s  sosyalin and spokening English. And interestingly enough, she resembles Valerie Concepcion (Remember that prolonged kissing scene for a movie that upset the girl?).

This isn’t the first time, though, that he has been linked with other women. If I’m not mistaken, his wife even alluded to the hookups in previous interviews but said that they had worked it out. But that video of her breaking into tears during the Thanksgiving mass was just a big indication that things are not well between them again.

All I can say is a big Haaaaay naku!

If I were Manny, I would:

Stick with my wife and don’t do a Ramon Revilla or Erap.

Concentrate on getting the best that I can out of my boxing talent because I only have a few years left. Having said that, make sure I go out on top, and with a bang.

Not enter politics. The people love me already. Instead, do charity work or put up a foundation or school for boxers (so people will love me forever).

Assign someone to handle my money (Maybe he already has it. I don’t know. I hope so.).

We’ll see what happens next.

Live Tweeting Pacquiao-Cotto

Not a play by play because God knows I don’t even know what’s happening half of the time.

But doing some on the fringe updates via Twitter.

First time am watching a fight with Twitter in the background. Before, just used to live blog, which does’t really work so well because of the format and the cumbersome updates.

Technology has come a long way.

Kibitzing Politics and Manny

Have been so busy. My clean laundry is strewn in my living, all three weeks’ worth of it. I just console myself that at least it’s clean. My grocery bags are unpacked. My kitchen floor is just plain gross. I haven’t even had time to cook! And my new blog is sadly neglected.

I wish I had more time to kibitz on Philippine politics. Ironically, I had more time to do so when I was living in LA. Kibitz, like the fact that Gilbert Teodoro and Noynoy Aquino are actually first cousins. Or that Noynoy and Mar share a lady between them (I keep on saying this but it’s really an awesome fact).

Now that Edu Manzano is Gilbert’s vp bet, what’s a girl to do? Edu has been a longtime crush of mine and when I met him in person eons ago, I broke my ban to not have photos with local celebrities, him just being the second local celeb I actually hyperventilated to have a photo with (The first one was Gabby Concepcion and I was in third grade, so sue me! I will still jostle for a photo op with Gabby anytime.)

But no, Edu, even if I’m crushing on you, it’s not enough to have my vote. Especially since I’m actually registered and will vote come election day. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.

And this angle of the presidential race being an Ateneo (my alma mater) versus La Salle (all my family members’ alma mater) is funny in a simplistic way. Oo nga naman. Who could have seen it coming? Even in presidential election, passion can be equated into something akin to a basketball game. Waaah!

Forgive me if I don’t make sense and this post sounds like a ditzy one. I’m feeling ditzy tonight. Especially since I’m actually looking forward to Manny Pacquiao’s match with Miguel Kuto este Cotto this Sunday.

I think Manny is great. He’s funny, can laugh at himself, has had an awesome, amazing life story so far, and is liquid as water, with assets and no liabilities financially, except for his hangers on (But if these chuwariwaps give him the psychological boost he needs to win his matches, then they’re a good enough investment).

I wish I could be like Manny: earn big bucks and be someone my country is proud of. But that remains to be seen. Lol.

Hayayay. So I will stop sharing my ditzy thoughts now. But before I end this show, let all of you all know how crazy I am about Body Shop’s Peppermint foot lotion. It did as it promised, meaning my cracked heels are no more, and Body Shop’s cocoa hand and nail cream. It actually made my hands softer and I’ve only been using it for a few days. And no, I didn’t accept payment for this endorsement.

So goodnight, sleep tight. On Sunday, hope I wake up to watch the fight.

PS Latest NCIS episode rocks, the one where Kai gets killed. I was actually cheering McGee on with his new girl, because I just woke up after six seasons of repeatedly watching NCIS over and over to realize that McGee is now a stud in Season 7. But no, they had to kill her. Worse, they had to make her evil. And what’s that moment again between Ziva and Tony? Please let them hook up already? Or that moment with McGee and Abby? Argh.