The Farce that is Philippine Politics, the Circus that is the Philippine Judicial System
Amidst the ZTE Scandal and the over hyped Erap Plunder case, the Philippines has once again proven that power corrupts and money is the root of all evil. I am not against the government per se, I adhere to its laws and the democracy that it represents. But I thoroughly abhor the people who run it, not necessarily the people in the limelight, but those people who hides in the shadow of those in power. They are the puppeteer and those in power are merely puppets. As puppets, they are easily manipulated to do things that they normally would not do, they are driven by ambition, by the lure of easy money and ultimately by the temptation of power.
I have ceased to read the headlines of Philippine newspapers a year ago, I only read the paper for my daily dose of comic strips and sudoku puzzles. Its all the same, day in and day out. Everything is over hyped and every politician wants to make a name for himself by riding on whatever is hot at the moment. It gets stale easily and it disrupts my appetite. But news get around fast and even if I no longer read the headlines I am still updated. I even watched the Erap plunder case ruling and it disgusted me. Erap was not the one who was on trial that day, the Philippine Judicial System is. I once wanted to become a lawyer, but just watching the circus that is the Philippine Judicial System, I lost all desire to be one. It does not matter if you are a good lawyer with good intentions, power still corrupts and money rules the system and not justice. Lady Justice is not just blindfolded in the Philippines, she is thoroughly blind.
I am a staunch believer of goodness and democracy and to be surrounded by too much corruption and greed is suffocating. I still believe that the Philippines deserves to have democracy in its truest sense, because what we have now is democracy that is only skin deep. You might think that you are free to say whatever you want and that the people will ultimately decide the future of our country. It is not so. The Philippines is a democratic country in name only, and I am saddened by that fact. I do not want my children to be in a country that is ruled by corruption and money. But I am a Filipino and will always be one. I believe that the Philippines still deserves the benefit of the doubt and if the Filipino people unite, justice can still be restored and the government can still restore whatever dignity it once held.
Senior Citizen
The tune is catchy, and my little girl absolutely loves it. It was uploaded to my mobile phone by my sister weeks ago but I was unable to check it out until now. Tonight was the first time we heard it, and Khleomi told me that “Ang tigulang” is now her favorite song. Yesterday, it was “Sitsiritsit Alibangbang”. She liked it a lot that instead of our routine nighttime lullabies, she had me play the song again and again. She fell asleep on the 8th repetition. Finally.
And here I am now, researching the song and the artist who sung it. I thought the title was “Ang Tigulang” because that was what my sister named the song. The actual title is “Senior Citizen” sung by Aggressive Audio. The song was written in cebuano, a dialect that is alien to me save for a few snippets here and there. But the tune was really catchy.
One very funny thing was the chorus, my little girl and I sang it as “Ang tigulang bisan bahu” which literally means “An elderly although stinky…” All the while I thought those were the right words, if you have to listen to the song and does not know cebuano, you would really hear those words. Those are the only words that Khleomi knows in the song - and its wrong! The correct words are “Ang tigulang bisag baku…” Don’t ask me the meaning of those words, I do not know. I will post a translation of the song to english as soon as I find someone fluent in cebuano. Anyway, here is the lyrics of the song:
Senior Citizen
La.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. lo.. la.. la.. la.. lo la
La.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. la.. l..a lo laaaaa
Anang akong lolo sige nag pa gwapo
Bisag wala na siya’y buhok sa iyang ulo
Ang akong lola kay mag lagot niya
Kay ang chicks pwerte man gyud niyang pilita
Sigeg pamada bsan ang ulo gikaingin na
Mao kana si lolo ang akong lolo na gwapo
Chorus:
Ang tigulang bisag bako maningkamot
Mobarog motindog aron molabyog
Ang tigulang bisag bako maningkamot
Mobarog motindog aron molabyog
Karon si lola nasad ang nagpa gwapa
Nag butag pulbos, lipstick, mag maskara
Unya si lolo perting niyang lagota
Kay si lola magsul-ob man diay og mubo na saya
Magsige rampa rampa bsan nangorog ng tohod nya
Mao kana si lola ang akong lola na gwapa
(Repeat Chorus)
Sa dihang nag lalis sila kung kinsa gyud ang gwapo og gwapa
Niabot si mama nagdala og planggana gibunalan silang duha
(Repeat Chorus)
La..la..la..la..la..la..la..la..la..la..lola..la..lolaaa
La..la..la..la..la..la..la.. la..la..laa.. lolaaaaaaaaa
Quest #2 completed - Offshore IT Staff Leasing
Well, I was not that active for awhile but I finally completed my second quest. Be Thumbed is #1 in the keyphrase “Offshore IT Staff Leasing”. It took me longer than I have expected but I did make it in 11 days to be exact. 
It will be a little while before I go on another quest, I have a lot of work piling up. hmmm… so much to do, so little time. Anyway, here’s a screenshot from google:
