If there is anything stark about how election campaigns are shaping up, it is that there is a general agreement that the current Arroyo administration is so horrible, so corrupt, and indeed so dark (ang “paligid ay madilim”) that there is an urgent need for a way out. But decades of personality politics and the class-biased nature of our democracy and elections have and will still practically forbid the possibility of having any presidentiables from the middle/working class by mere virtue of the huge costs of an election campaign. The song “Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa” reflects this hopelessness—and more strikingly, the passivity of the bourgeoisie (“ang Pilipinas ay naghihintay, kami ay susunod”).

Of course, to deflect focus on this passivity, the song uses images of activism and rallies (“magkapit-bisig tayo”), which is strange because these are the very techniques that many petty/bourgeoisie deem “outdated” and “ineffective.” Apparently, the image of a mass demonstration (most notably used in Boni Ilagan’s historical documentary “Sa Liyab ng Libong Sulo,” definitely a more progressive and highly contextualized use of the sulo imagery, which you can watch online in six parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6) remains acknowledged as the most powerful tool in the collective struggle for social change—and while those in a comfortable social position are wont to avoid it like the plague, they are also quick to use it in pursuit of their own interests.

I take offense when some individuals insist that the Filipino people deserve the corrupt government and the inept public officials they elect. In light of the recent calamities that struck the nation, some people have the gall to gag people from blaming their government. It is insulting. Nakakaawa na nga ang sitwasyon ng masa, sinisisi pa sila. Pinning the blame on the people is the kind of mentality that lets crooks in government get away with corruption and ineptitude. In other words, it’s a scapegoat. It’s unfortunate that some people buy it and promote it without shame.

Truly, the Filipino people do not deserve being bled dry by their inutile government. The Filipino people do not deserve being denied of adequate social services. True, it is the people who elect the politicians. But the claim on the direct relationship totally disregards the prevailing conditions of the democratic system in the Philippines, and in many places in the world for that matter.

All along, it’s akin to providing a sick man with heart disease only establishments in a fastfood-exclusive food court to choose from for his meals. (Reminds me of a government hospital along East Avenue). He cannot be faulted for choosing a Big Mac or a two piece ChickenJoy meal–the system denies him any alternative, else he induce famish upon himself. It may answer his immediate needs from hunger, but the fact is, any choice he makes in the food court will eventually harm him, some faster and more harmful than others, and will even profit and make money from his plight. What can he do? These choices, and the entire food court establishment is maintained by well-oiled machineries of propaganda and intense commercial advertising campaigns which make the establishment and the choices look very appealing–enough to induce one to consume and feel fulfillment from the consumptions, without providing the consumer, or in this case the sick man, with the space to realize the long-term effects.

True enough, once in a while, small-time concessionaires offering healthier alternatives (so-called “reform candidates” or “progressive parties”) attempt to break through the establishment, but soon many of them will be gobbled up and be defeated by the intense advertising and the collusion among the big established names. As with real life mom and pop shops, they will never defeat the big commercial players within the establishment and with the set of rules implemented by the ruling order. It was never a level playing field. They deserve our all-out support, yes, but realistically, they are at best the mom and pop shops that they are–a minority, some more privileged than others. They perform the functions of offering alternatives and exposing the inadequacies of the establishment and the prevailing conditions, but their chances of completely defeating the ruling order in their own game is next to nil.

My parents hosted two small birthday parties for Tisay and our foster kid Bugoy a few days ago. Tisay’s actual birthday was more than a month ago, but since it was during the time when tropical storms were battering Luzon, we couldn’t go out and celebrate.

The first party was at our hometown in Bulacan. There was no program nor games, just a get-together over fastfood meals. Present were my mom’s colleagues in Sta. Maria and a handful of strangers.

The other birthday party was held at our hometown in Cavite, which with our paternal relatives. This time, there was a kid’s program hosted by a fastfood crew, complete with games and prizes. After the birthday party, we proceeded to the cemetery to visit the resting places of our departed paternal relatives.

As youths and new registrants endure long lines to register for the 2010 polls, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino today questioned the legality of the Commission on Election’s shortening of the period of continuing registration up to tomorrow October 31.

Palatino today filed a Petition for Certiorari and Mandamus with Application for Preliminary Mandatory Injunction before the Supreme Court today. The full text of the petition may be read at http://tinyurl.com/yhyqwov.

Other petitioners were Jade Charmane Rose Valenzuela, Jacqueline Alexis Merced, Ana Katrina Tejero, Kenneth Carlisle Earl Eugenio and Victor Louis Crisostomo, all first-time-voters who tried but failed to register due various reasons; and Alvin Peters, president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), Vijae Alquisola, president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Ken Leonard Ramos, chairperson of Anakbayan, and, Ma. Cristina Angela Guevarra, chairperson of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP).

The petitioners stated that the Comelec violated the people’s right to register and, thus, right of suffrage, when it issued and implemented Comelec Resolution No. 8585, dated February 12, 2009, fixing the deadline of application of registration of voters on October 31, 2009, more than two months earlier than is prescribed by Republic Act. No. 8189 or The Voters Registration Act of 1996.

Under RA 8189, the pertinent provision on the period of registration states, “No registration shall…be conducted during the period starting 120 days before a regular election and 90 days before a special election.”

Palatino also said that the Comelec has committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction for ‘usurping the legislative powers of Congress.’

“The Comelec, therefore, in its issuances and despite appeals by several sectors to extend voter registration has shortened the period contrary to what is mandated by law. Only Congress can amend the deadline of continuing registration, Comelec has no discretion nor power to do so,” he said.

Palatino also added that calls to extend voter registration are more reasonable, practical and justifiable in light of the recent onslaught of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, as well as the limited number of registrants Comelec offices can accommodate in a day and unavailability of satellite registration sites, among others.

Citing National Statistics Office data, he said that the Comelec will disenfranchise roughly four (4) million first-time-voters if it ends registration period tomorrow.

NSO data shows that there are 3.8 million first-time-voters from age group 18 to 19 alone, while half of the 8.8 million in the age group 20 to 24 may be projected as new registrants for 2010. “Based from this data, we can roughly project at least seven (7) million first-time-voters for 2010.”

Earlier, Palatino filed House Resolutions 1162, directing the Comelec to return the deadline for voter registration to its original deadline of December 2009; HR 1443, calling to extend voter registration for those affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng; and, HR 1336, calling for a one-day leave with pay for employees’ voter registration.

A day after our trip to Batangas, I took a bus to Pangasinan to join my fraternity batchmates from UP Los Banos in a brief leisure outing.

After a little more than four hours on the road from Manila, I reached the municipal hall of Bugallon, Pangasinan. I had asked for the bus to drop me off at the landmark where my fraternity brothers were to pick me up. They had arrived hours earlier and had gone sight-seeing ahead of my arrival.

I took the opportunity to go around the plaza taking photos while waiting for my companions. After meeting up with my brods and sisses, we proceeded west of Lingayen to Alaminos, where we spent a few moments at the town’s docks with the famed Hundred Islands in the horizon. Unfortunately since we only had a day and a few hours to stay in Pangasinan, a Hundred Islands trip was out of the itinerary.

On our way back to Lingayen, we passed by the place of the mayor of Alaminos, who is apparently a fraternity brother also, but we didn’t catch up with him as he was somewhere else. We spent the rest of the afternoon till early in the evening at the wide stretch of beach right behind the provincial capitol in Lingayen. I don’t remember being in a beach that wide-stretching. Like a public park, locals and probably a few tourists were all there just having a good time.

The rest of the night was spent at one of our batchmate’s family rest houses in town. We did have to go back to Manila right after midnight since some of us had to attend to our own functions by morning.

In other news, if all goes well, I shall be taking an entrance exam in another law school in a month or so. To be honest about it, I’m really enjoying being out of law school right now, but I’m still looking forward to the practice of the legal profession–admittedly not that passionately, but it’s there, somewhere. In any case, I have months to think about it seriously before jumping into law studies once again.

During and after our relief operations, we still have to expose the ineptitude of the government and its causes. We, after all, pay taxes mandatorily and thus maintain the system with almost every consumption we make. If the cost doesn’t translate to social services, especially in times of calamity, and worse, makes life more miserable for the masses, why maintain it? I’m posing that as a serious question.

Even worse, calamities are often abused by the government and policy-makers to intensify the prevailing order by implementing unpopular and anti-people policies. Naomi Klen calls it the “Shock Doctrine” where government use “the public’s disorientation following massive collective shocks – wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters – to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy.”

A few days ago, I attended a Congress committee hearing on what we all thought to be was a junked proposal to tax SMS messages. Without as much attention as the previous hearings, and with the public focused largely on the relief operations, pro-tax congressmen actually revived the proposal, and even had the gall to use the calamity to justify the additional tax. Other congressmen who opposed the tax tried to junk it altogether to no avail. When more and more observers and media were coming in the meeting, the leadership suddenly decided to suspend the hearing and re-convene in executive session some other time, without all the observers and the media, and the other congressmen who weren’t members of the committee.

Another thing I’d like to point out is the excessive media exposure of American troops in their relief missions. This assistance, I’m telling you is far from selfless. It is a motivated and concerted action to ‘win hearts and minds’. I’m willing to bet that all these will be used to justify the continued implementation of the Visiting Forces Agreement. It’s all a big public-relations stunt. I’m not discounting the help they have probably extended. Yes, thank you, but it’s not worth our sovereignty.

These are but a few government policies that are being rammed into implementation at the wake of the people’s tragedy. There will be more.

Tulong Kabataan is continuing its relief operations for the victims of tropical storms Ondoy and Pepeng. We’re going to have a Balik Eskwela drive where we would do campus clean-ups and other intensified youth volunteer work to mark resumption of classes in storm and flood hit areas. Click here for more details.

Campus clean-ups, intensified youth volunteer work to mark resumption of classes

Classes resume Monday but students and schools affected by Ondoy may not have the materials and resources to begin again.

Tulong Kabataan, a youth network of volunteers, is calling for urgent donations of school supplies such as notebooks, pencils and ballpens, school bags, old uniforms, and even chalk, paper and blackboard erasers for students and schools devastated by heavy rains and floods.

Textbooks, educational materials and other school paraphernalia are also most welcome. Donations may be brought to the Tulong Kabataan Command Center and/or other drop off points.

For inquiries and information, contact the Tulong Kabataan Hotlines: (02)3944285 or email tulongkabataan@gmail.com or click here.

Tisay’s understanding of “birthday” unfortunately, is of a party, so all along up until today she doesn’t believe it was her birthday. She insists that she still has to celebrate her “birthday” distinct from the simple celebration we had last weekend. If the weather permits, we will push through with our trip to the theme part this weekend. I think she even expects to give a blow-out bash to her kindergarten classmates.

Kabataan Rep. Mong Palatino remarked that this is imperative, as the proposed budget has barely any allocation for SUC’s capital outlay. How then can SUC’s affected by the recent calamities rebuild their schools?

A few days earlier, the DBM released a statement defending the budget cut in response to several protests launched by the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP). They claimed that the proposed P21 billion budget is sufficient to sustain the services of SUC’s, as they are anyway allowed to generate their own income. What they didn’t say is that this forced income generating policy is done at the expense of students, through tuition and other fee increases. The statement only proves that our analysis as correct, that budget cuts and tuition increases are state policies that harm the future of the youth and the nation.

The motion to restore the P24 billion budget drew cheers from the attending university officials and employees. One state university president, however, remarked that though he was elated by the motion of the congressmen, he feared that it may be another disappointment. Apparently, congressmen, the politicians that they are, have for the past years committed to similar promises of budget increases, only to disappoint SUC’s once the General Appropriations Act is passed. Hopefully, the attending congressmen stay true to their word and maintain the P24 billion commitment–insufficient as it is, is better than the P21 billion budget proposed by the Executive.

It must be stressed, however, that this relief is temporary, as though the sub-committee approved the increase, the same must also be approved by the Committee on Appropriations and the House of Representatives in plenary session. It also has to get the approval of the Senate. Needless to say, it is too soon to be glad about the development.

Tulong Kabataan’s relief effort for the victims of tropical storm Ondoy is still ongoing! You may drop off your donations at any of the donation centers in schools across the Metro. You may also donate via Paypal. Or you may go to our headquarters at 118-B Scout Rallos St., Quezon City for volunteer work. The HQ is near GMA Network’s main offices along Timog Avenue.

With your help, Tulong Kabataan was able to hold soup kitchens in some communities a few days ago. Yesterday, we joined Makabayan’s clean-up effort at Tumana, Marikina. Hand in hand, volunteers helped the residents fill up two garbage trucks of debris. Today, there will be a medical mission in Malate. This weekend, if the weather permits, we will push through with the centralization of all relief goods collected from the donation centers and do repacking and distribution to several affected communities.