read along, and if you wouldn't like what you've read, get a gun, and PULL THE TRIGGER...
people tend to pre-judge me as the typical snob. well, let me tell you this: it's partly true. i'm like that to people whose minds are inflicted with nothing but stupidity. and also to those who think that i'm really a snob.
BUT, i'm really friendly and approachable. there are just times when i tend to succumb to my own world and be the ever-pessimistic me. but it happens rarely. ^_^
i rant a lot when i'm stress-pissed. to the OCs out there, 'stress-pissed' doesn't exist. i just used it just for the heck of it. hehe..
visited *loading* times
this post is my column in Lasalleño volume 15 issue 1, the official magazine of The HERALDO FILIPINO, official student publication of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas.
Twenty-three.
A figure brought about by greed.
Of it, 17 became barricades of our precious land.
People have read and heard of journalists, human rights activists, and political leaders being killed to hide the twisted reality.
But of these extrajudicial killings, 23 cases caught my attention.
Under the Arroyo administration alone, 23 environmental activists have died, 17 of them opposed mining operations in their respective areas.
The latest victim was Armin Marin, a councilor in
The murder of Marin happened on October 3, as he led his fellow anti-mining advocates in a picket in Sitio Olango in Barangay España,
It was, however, a brutal death. Witnesses say that the bullet went through Marin’s mouth and exited through the back.
The Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment says that the contracts of the companies were all signed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes. The contract in Sibuyan includes cutting of 69,709 trees for mining operations and explorations.
Now, who can blame Marin and his neighbors for standing against armed men? Who can blame them for wanting to protect their environment?
* * *
Just because he loved his land, I thought after reading the news from the internet.
Yes, Marin is the 23rd environmentalist whose blood is now one with the land he fought hard for.
And nearly 300 others have been killed since 2004 while defending their rights as Filipinos—as people.
The growing number of deaths is evidence that the government pays little attention to extrajudicial killings. It appears that the primary concern is improving the economy; setting aside the gifts that Mother Nature has given our land.
If President Arroyo is sincere in helping this country, she should start by educating the Filipinos about our natural resources. Only by loving our land would we learn to respect it, to care for it, and to be ready to die for it.
Twenty-three individuals stood their ground and they now rest in the land they stood up for.
Bullets may have caused their deaths. But it was greed that stopped their journeys. It was treachery that stole their souls.
They are alive, however, in the hearts of those who shall pursue their fights.
“…Here he lies where he long’d to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.”
- Requiem, Robert Loius Stevenson
* * *
When President Arroyo condemned political killings during her State of the Nation Address, she should have had concrete measures. She had the time to praise her officials; she should have spent some time in presenting what actions she plans to do to abate extrajudicial killings. After all, this issue lies entirely on the state.
I have signed an online petition in pinoyhr.net to stop extrajudicial killings in the
it's not funny anymore.
during campaign days, political candidates boast of how they want to make the country beautiful and corruption-free and all other nonsensical blahs. why say nonsensical, you might ask. this is because the country has already suffered from repetitive and in-your-face lies from politicians. people are already tired of dreaming to have better leaders as they are of hoping for a better tomorrow.
but what i hate most in the elections are the paraphernalia used by the politicians. what we have is a dirty election period, literally. posters, streamers, tarpaulines, flyers, banners, etc. are being placed on billboards, walls, posts, railings, bridges, trees, benches, fences, and wherever that can be seen with the naked eye. now, i'm not saying that these are wrong. rules say that as long as the places are of public property, they can be piled with these materials. yes, i can deal with seeing all the vote-for-me-i-am-better-than-my-rival faces. but only during the campaign period. but hey! the campaign days are over.
the campaign period is over!!
now, those paraphernalia are nothing but mere rubbish to me.
to those whose bogus smiles are scattered all over, why don't you make our country livable by actually starting to pick up your own mess? show to us how great a citizen you are before you can be announced as an official couch potato in your airconditioned office. show some respect to our country before we do to you. but the best i can say? listen to the voice of the people, not to the voice of someone on the phone. <insert 'hello, garci' scandal.>
really, it isn't funny anymore.
but hey, it never is...
this is the me that nobody wants me to be. i've heard a lot of comments and the only positive response i had from my gothic-inspired pictures were from my emo friends. the thing is, i like to be different sometimes. not that there aren't any gothic girls out there. what i mean is, i want to explore what others think are different for me. what's wrong with these photos? i hid loads of pics like these, all because of one reason: the people that i know might disapprove of the "aura" i have in my photos. well, there aren't much of these now coz our PC doesn't work anymore. *sigh*
what i really want to put to the open here is the idea of change. people greatly succumb to being on the safe side, always on the safe side, that we refuse to embrace a little change. a simple example here is a change in our government. we were so used to having a democratic government that we're scared of what parliamentary might lead us to. what does this imply?
it makes us look like prisoners, always being guarded by routines and outdated beliefs. if we were to accept that as the world progresses, so should we. as the society develops, so should our decisions. we shouldn't be captives. we shouldn't let our minds stick to the usual. sometimes, it's good for us to step out of our shades and expose ourselves to the world--the other side of the world.
this man came up to me one afternoon in school and asked, "are you an editor of this school's paper?" i was really tired during that time, it was the second day of the Lasalle Schools Press Conference (LSPCon) and we were on our "haggard modes." i was supposed to reply, "uh, may i know who you are?" but i saw that he was holding a brown paperbag (which is where we put the tokens to be given to speakers for the LSPCon sessions) so i managed to politely say, "yes sir." after a few minutes, i learned from a fellow student journalist that the person i just talked to is Mr. Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippione Daily Inquirer. oh crap, i said to myself.
honestly, he doesn't look to me like a publisher of one of the leading newspapers in the country. don't get me wrong, he looks really professional but i was just kind of expecting him to be stiff and all that. but i am glad he wasn't who i expected to be.
but this blog isn't about sir Yambot nor the LSPCon experience. it's about the power of my pen--of our pen.
words can convince or entertain people. hell, it has loads of purpose i wouldn't want to waste time stating each. but my favorite of all is the fact that words can destroy. i know that people would already understand what i mean by this. the power of the pen is so intense that most of the times, the answer to the truth is a bullet through the head.
i've seen loads of news reports stating how numerous journalists have been gunned down, ambushed, kidnapped, etc. often, my mother would ask me if i still want to pursue journalism. always, i'd say yes. if it is only through pen that i can deliver the truth to our people, then i am ready to trade one story for a bullet.
one shot. and i shall be happy.
