No surprises here. They are still the same faces, but in different positions. Some have just been replaced by their spouses, thus extending their power to three more years.

We can be bitter all we want. We can tell the others that we don’t like how the results turned out. We can bash our opponents.

And still there will be no surprises in the end.

If it doesn’t work, look for another way.

There’s this line from one marketing guru who said that we cannot change how people think, but we can change the circumstances they live in.

If a person believes that he has to vote for the person who gave him money or a job, you cannot change that belief. Either you accept that or kill him.

People will have their reasons in voting for a ‘bad’ candidate. But if there’s one major reason I think I see, that would be the lack of empowerment among the majority of the voters, once again, in the local scene.

The lack of empowerment makes it easy for people to vote for people not because of their qualifications but because they gave them several hundreds or thousands of pesos and/or a job. “Utang na loob” is a big deal among us and that would be almost impossible to remove from our psyche. Or the probability of being axed from your job because the powers that be don’t like you makes it also difficult to stand up for what you believe is right.

But if these people are empowered, if they earn enough to have a decent meal, to have decent clothes, to send their children to school, and if they know they have the power to change their destiny, then I believe that things will change for the better.

Armed with the confidence of knowing what they can do, it will be a lot more difficult to buy their votes. It’s a simplistic way of putting it, but I’m only trying to illustrate a point here.

Change their circumstance, change their lives.

And you don’t have to be a government official to do that. You can do a lot of things to change your community through your talents alone.

On the other hand, you also can’t do anything if you all you do is complain. Present solutions instead.

The elections are over, but that’s not the end of everything. Rather, it should be the start of another phase of being vigilant. Let’s take it three years at a time. Let’s try to improve things three years at a time. Things will eventually add up.

So stop complaining. Change your community in whatever way you can. And never forget to be vigilant.

And you might be surprised at what our local politicos have to offer. That’s unless you are really in tune with what’s happening at the local level.

Come 2010, you will see the same old familiar faces vying for new positions. Politicos who have backstabbed each other in the past will become allies. And we, the people who believed in whatever was fed to us, will feel betrayed.

But then again, politics is a game of betrayal. When speaking of politics, I am speaking of the same old political bullshit that politicos have been playing in Eastern Samar and the rest of the country for years. Try as we might, money is still the name of the game. He who can bankroll the election, his candidacy, and the bribing of the thousands of voters, more often than not wins.

Voters are not stupid of course. Surely, there are still people who votes can be bought. But I still believe that the majority of us are still for having a clean and honest elections. Sad to say, it takes more than wishful thinking to change things in our local political setting. It takes vigilance and action.

Why?

Because when politicos see numbers not going in their favor, they can always bribe others to change it for them. There are actual politicos brave enough to brazenly do everything to turn the numbers into their favor. Blatant cheating. Ask your local teacher on their experience how ballots have been manipulated in the past elections, and some of them will confirm it for you, in hushed tones, naturally.

Ask how dead voters were suddenly able to rise from their graves and vote. It’s either the candidate’s so popular that even the dead would rise to vote, or somebody’s bullshitting us. Ask how a barangay of 100 suddenly have 200 voters. Again, the candidate’s probably so popular, the animals and insects have insisted making their voice, bark, or meows count.

If you’re disillusioned, I say go ahead and vote. That way, you’ll have every reason to be angry when these politicos cheat. You can be rightfully angry when the same bastards who lied to us for the longest time will be coming back to power, pissing on our faces, and laughing behind our backs.

However, if you still believe that these bastards deserve to return to power, you are entitled to your own opinion. But let me also say that there are such things as wrong opinions.

dearest 26van,

i don’t go with stationeries to add some juice to this letter. no greetings that would make your heart scream. no formalities to please human expectations and standards. this is just a simple shout out to the world, letting myself express a complex reality in man. a reality that this author wants to carve in your stone and closed heart.

it was during the loneliest era of my existence when you accidentally came. it was the fall of my elation from heaven when you brought forth the light of hope. what are you to me? more than words can muster, more than speech can give meaning ; you are more than anything and anyone that i can compare. you are you! and because you are true to yourself my lowly kind of life was enlightened with just your simple smile. that gesture affected my life so much. absorbed with the concept of death you changed my manner of existence and made it into a life accepting and loving. now it has many reasons to beat because you are in it. i know that a glance could not satisfy one’s critical judgement. but yours, revealed so much to me. so much that i am bursting with joy and inspiration. i found you ; a mythical creature searched and even envied by the gods of ancient times. you gave me a chance; a simple creature to adore your mystical beauty. that for me is a sense of pride to boost my soul and continually say that i indeed would want to “love you”.

words have been scribed and itched into human consciousness. but it would only add the greatness that you already have. thus, making the fact that I am a nobody – a strong founded concept.

I for one would endorse to have the Constitution amended when there’s a need to address current issues that have not been foreseen by the people who originally drafted it.

But that’s not where the problem lies. It’s on the people who want to change it.

These people who want to change the Constitution in less than a year are the same people who cannot create any significant change in their respective districts in three years.

Presenting the representatives of the Republic of the Philippines.

I am ashamed that Eastern Samar’s congressman, Teodulo M. Coquilla supported House Resolution 1109. Why? Because I don’t think he has the credibility to change the highest law of the land.

He presented himself during the 2007 elections as the opposite of who the previous congressman was. He promised to have the roads fixed where his predecessor neglected them. And by being the previous congressman’s opposite, Coquilla should have reversed the trend of corruption that was steadily eating up the province.

And I believed him. I voted for him. Only for this current congressman to remark that he has given up and cannot do anything anymore to repair the roads of Eastern Samar (a remark that he gave in a dialogue with several concerned citizens of the province).

I am ashamed because I have voted for this guy who hasn’t done anything really tangible to change the province in his first 2 years in office. More than the roads, corrupt people still dominate the province. And he engages in petty fights with Eastern Samar’s governor in which the governor is guilty of as well.

And now I am ashamed because he is one of the people with no credibility whatsoever who want to change the Philippine Constitution of all things.

Do you want your country’s future shaped by these kind of politicians? Tap away at the comments box.

Note: Here’s the complete list of the representatives who voted yes to HR 1109.

But it’s unfair to only focus on Nievera since he isn’t the only guilty party. The NHI should also begin a crackdown on others who are equally guilty of the NHI’s accusation.

Tone-deaf people should apologize too. Jesus Christ, they should be banned altogether from singing the song because, well, they can’t sing the national anthem or any song for that matter. They sing so badly that every time they sing the anthem, it is an utter disrespect for the song — not to mention a violation of Section 37 of the Republic Act No. 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

And it’s not only the adults who should apologize, even preschool kids too. I remember almost all of my classmates in preschool who messed up every attempt they made at singing the national anthem. In fact, I already came up with a list of those classmates and will be sending it to the NHI first thing tomorrow.

Before you know it, the NHI will be very, very, very busy sending letters to these people demanding them to apologize for bastardizing the “Lupang Hinirang”. And I imagine these people doing a mass apology for sucking at singing. And Martin Nievera? I’m not sure if he’ll be present when that happens.

“The clouds move by themselves,” she contends as I ask her on why it travels from place to place. Perhaps she meant by this that there is an invisible force innate to a cloud. And perhaps this force is the making of a Great Mechanic.

“My hypothesis is that clouds move due to the earth’s rotation,” this I argued.

It seems clear to me, though, that our insight of motions like that of the cloud’s is rather influence by the Scientific Revolution in Europe. Herbert Butterfield is correct when he said, “The greatest obstacle to the understanding of the history of science is our inability to unload our minds of modern views about the nature of the universe”.

The knowledge of the pre-colonial Waray concerning the cosmos, I suspect, is far from similar to our knowledge like the vast difference of the Ptolemaic universe with, say, the Newtonian universe. The concept of gravity, for instance, was nonexistent in the minds of these people. Or if this idea was present, if present at all, it would be different compared with Newton’s description of gravity.

I think the pre-colonial Waray also pondered about the workings of the sky. Like a child, perhaps they had observed or studied on what was happening up there. According to a 17th century manuscript, in fact, these people made a name of a star they called Marrokporok. This Marrokporok star means boiling lights and it assumed a different name when found at certain points of the sky during the year.

There was also a story in an epic form that shows an image about the skies and the world as understood by the pre-colonial Waray. In this tale, the protagonist named Datong Somangga attempted to invade the eight heavens – a task given by Huamianon before she give her approval for their marriage. Datong Somangga sets sail toward the end of the world called ginduutan sa langit – where the earth connects to the skies – to take a piece of thunder as a gift to his beloved. Unfortunately, he failed.

From this epic and the Marrokporok star, perchance, we could infer or reconstruct the understanding of the cosmos as pictured by the ancient Waray. I list them in my head:

1.There are eight skies or heavens above the earth.
2.One of these skies is compose of clouds or thunders.
3.The skies are semi-spherical in shape.
4.Thunders are touchable.
5.The earth’s surface is a flat circular disk.
6.The earth and the heavens are connected at the horizon.
7.Stars and other heavenly bodies move from place to place.

It remains ambiguous to me, though, on how the ancient Waray imagined the position of the stars and other heavenly bodies in space or sky. Were they attached to a transparent and impregnable crystalline semi-sphere? Was the earth the center of their cosmos? And how vast was their universe?

I wonder.

“As the earth rotates in its axis,” I explained to her my viewpoint, “the clouds are somehow affected, though minimally, by its rotation”.

Silence was her reply to my imagining concerning the motion of the clouds. She just turned her eyes toward the beautiful scenery of the sea and sky while the wandering clouds seem to disappear in sight.

* A place besides the seashore of Borongan poblacion.

Most of the roads within the vicinity of San Julian have already been repaired, although I noticed that some of the newly-asphalted roads already show signs of damage. I reckon this is because the underlying dirt road isn’t leveled before asphalt is poured on top of it creating a gap between the foundation and the asphalt.

Another thing that I observed is the absence of heavy machinery between Borongan and Sulat which would have suggested repairs to the roads are being done in the area. However, this could be because these roads haven’t been slated for repair just yet.

Note: The poor video quality is due to the cellphone I used to record the video clip.

The members of the LCP are surely celebrating. Why shouldn’t they? The decision means less LGUs to divide the IRA for cities and with this year’s increase in IRA allowances, then they will surely have more to spend for their programs, projects and activities!

But what about the programs, projects and activities of the League of 16? Who will shoulder these PPAs which are intended to alleviate the lives of their constituents? And with the world still experiencing economic downturn, who will suffer more? The national government its best to promote jobs and anti-poverty programs to respond to the growing world economic mess. This event will surely mean that the national government will have to exert more effort for the sake of the League of 16′s constituents now that these LGUs are back to naught!

Every law is supposed to be for the welfare of the people. But this time, maybe the equal protection clause works only on the side of those who don’t need the protection as they didn’t really experienced so much trouble. The clause has worked against a few which could have contributed a lot if they have just been given the chance!

The night before the “Grand Sinulog Festival” everyone was in the party fever. Events here and there were a “must hook-up” thing that was filling the avenues of the city. Well, the culture of boozing-up was also starting. It was normal! However, I stayed in the house. I was not up to the challenge of getting drunk and walking around Cebu.

The day finally came! It was the Fiesta proper. Almost all the Cebuanos flocked to the parade route. The street dancing proceeded! I stayed on the house of my friend. I glued myself to the television set. As I watch the event was really amazing for a first timer like me. The mood was getting into me but I never went out.

I waited and waited for the presentation of our very own the “KARASIKAS” dancers. But then the Governor of Cebu caught my attention. I asked my friend as why the Governor of Cebu was onstage- dancing. He said that it was her yearly thing, a devotion of some sort. Gov. Gwen Garci (not the VIVA hot babe member) was like a regular devotee of Sto. Niño in her perhaps a Brazilian themed costume. She was waving the image of the Sto. Niño with grace, poise, sense of competition and energy that was in par with any contestant. It was hard to imagine that such a person with such a high position in the LGU of Cebu was presenting in front of everyone. I was astounded that she was participating – joining in with the rush of her people. The word is participation. Where am I getting you might ask?

The simple gesture of Cebu’s Governor was like an indigestible meat in my stomach. It stayed in there, in my thoughts and I could not but keep on thinking about it. The simple gesture made me realize and reflect on something. I could not stop, because I cannot help but compare her to our very own governor of Eastern Samar. I know that a mentor told me “to compare is not right”. But anyways his not here and allow me to express the idea that I have been keeping inside me.

Governor Ben Evardone said something way back December during the Christmas Party at the capitol for the LGU employees. The season made the employees of our capitol including the people working in the Provincial Hospital in a happy mood. Festive I might say. Then suddenly, it was the time for the leader of the Province to say his speech. A line in that speech of his gave me unrest. The line was like a strike of the match in an “LPG tank”. He said to the health workers of the province, “HUWAG NIYO AKONG SUBUKAN”! What was the reason that the governor became the “KJ star” of the party? The line was his challenge to the latter due to their complains that they passed on court caused by his inability to give what is DUE TO THEM – salary wise speaking. The same people that I saw roaming around the night streets of the Borongan to do the “Caroling” for the purpose of giving the patients of the Provincial Hospital something to wear (patients gown) during confinement. A work that should have been done by him or at least he could have the enough budget for the institution. But then again, it was so necessary for him to say it right there. Talk about participation. I could have been pleased to see the infamous governor made his traditional “Kuracha” number with him showering his money. At least he was going with the jive. But he cannot! I guess he wants to project an image that he can hold his people’s neck and wring them to obedience.

The point? Our governor in my own opinion sucked so bad at that event! The supposed Christmas Party (putting an emphasis on the word party) was ruined – thanks to him. Who would want to have some fun if your boss is a having tantrums? And, what’s more sad is that it is not only on that certain event that he fails each and everyone but I do think in his being a Governor too. That is why the capitol is like a nation that is on the verge of Coup de ‘tat but lacks someone to challenge the dictator.

I write because no one wants – worst than that no one cares!

But if you’re one of the greedy bunch, then surely you can put a price on it. Not sure how much your integrity’s worth? Let me demonstrate some of the figures to you.

If you trade it for a Cebu Pacific flight to Hong Kong and back then it would cost around 7 thousand pesos, more if all your expenses are paid for. How about trading it to watch a famous circus act? Around a thousand maybe. How about a ‘lakbay aral’ trip? Several thousands of taxpayers’ money. A sack of rice or a plastic of groceries? Around a thousand pesos – lower if it’s only the barangay elections. And a cut on the budget for repairing roads? It depends on the agreed percentage.

The thing is that when you trade your integrity for something that will diminish it — like money and material things — then you cheapen yourself because it means your values can be bought at any price. It doesn’t matter how many zeroes follow that figure. The fact that there is a figure cheapens something that’s supposed to be priceless.

And when you turn back on the things you are supposed to be against, then you rank yourself lower the cheapest, oldest whore in town.

Photo courtesy of djayo @ sxc.hu.