PJB » people

Dick Gordon for President!

PJ — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:20:43 +0000

Update:

The elections are over and the people have spoken. With Noynoy Aquino as the country’s President-elect, most people are optimistic of the changes that will take place once we’ve transitioned over to the new Aquino-led government.

It’s about time to put aside pre-election choices regardless of who you voted for during last May 10 elections. It’s time to support a new government. It’s time to start over.

Congratulations to Noynoy!

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Futility: 10 months to register and be listed, but still late.

Pacquiao – Clottey Fight

PJ — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:32:43 +0000

Congratulations, Pacman! It was absolute boxing mastery! Mabuhay! :)

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Credibility is not an issue

PJ — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:15:16 +0000

I don’t understand why a lot of people have been hitting on the credibility of Mr. Jun Lozada, the ZTE-NBN deal star witness. Some sectors keep on presenting arguments about his checkered past that they simply forget or ignore what the real issue is – our quest for the truth. Come on, the truth is still the truth regardless of the source.

So what if he has a lot of skeletons in his closet? If we go by this argument, then why did we, as a nation, insist on hearing out and believing other star witnesses in the past, like the Chavit Singsons, the Jessica Alfaros, etc., who also had their share of hidden skeletons or were accomplices to a particular crime? Why should credibility be an issue now with Mr. Lozada?

If I recall, Erap’s downfall and GMA’s ascendancy into the presidency was because such a star witness with a questionable past was initially vilified, then listened to, and eventually glorified by most Filipinos.

Let’s burn our brain cells to figure out how to sift through the truth and not how to bring a good (or bad) man down.

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Political Poetry – v1.0

PJ — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:44:22 +0000

Have you read any good poetry stuff lately? Well, check out Ganns Deen’s take on the political brouhaha that’s currently troubling the Philippines. He’s got some pretty awesome stuff going here.

Cheers!

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Makati’s Bungled Coup Attempt

PJ — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:33:00 +0000

Yesterday was another interesting day in Makati City, highlighted by another bungled ‘coup’ attempt, mutiny, rebellion, standoff, or what-have-you, led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier General Danilo Lim, which was staged at the posh Manila Peninsula hotel.

‘Tis true, the government has lost the support of a great number of Filipinos, mostly induced by the recent spate of scandals, questions on legitimacy and alleged constitutional and human rights violations. True still is the fact that the opposition is slowly gaining ground in its attempts to wrest control of the government leadership. But whatever momentum the opposition has gained went for naught simply because they can’t put their act together. Haven’t they ever heard of the ‘team building’ concept?

Oh well, are there other lessons to be learned? Hell, yes!

And some of these are:

1. Never make bookings in any of Makati’s premier hotels. Settling for three-star hotels or motels will do.

2. Make sure you have enough fuel in your tanks. Curfew-induced traffic can quickly deplete your car’s fuel and trigger your temper. We have an opposition’s senseless action begetting a government’s equally senseless reaction

3. Make sure to empty your bladder before driving. Again, curfew-induced traffic can be hell for anyone with a full bladder. It’s sort of a ‘piss poor’ drive after a ‘piss poor’ coup.

4. We now have new ways to use plastic cable ties aside from managing computer cables – Yes, steel handcuffs are obsolete – talk about Filipino ingenuity. Those bondage and S&M couples definitely learned a thing or two and added a new toy to their arsenal.

5. When applying for a building insurance, remember to add in a clause stipulating coverage from tanks or assault vehicles barging into your facility. This is what I call a true ‘Urban Assault’. Shock and awe baby! NOT!

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Wedding bells for my mom

PJ — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:33:00 +0000

My mom finally remarried after more than twenty years! She got married yesterday, to Daniel Pavan, in Jacksonville, FL. I feel sad because we weren’t there to witness the special event. But I feel happy too knowing that they both love each other.

I wish both of them the best. May they love each other and take care of each other always.

To Mr. and Mrs. Pavan, congratulatios! We love you guys! God bless!

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The Makati City bomb blast at Glorietta 2

PJ — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:26:00 +0000

Today’s another very tragic day for the Philippines due to the Glorietta 2 bombing incident.

At about 1:30PM this afternoon, an explosive blast ripped through the ground floor of Glorietta 2, one of the country’s busiest and most heavily populated shopping malls, located at the heart of the Makati City central business and shopping district.

The Makati bombing claimed the lives of at least 9 people and injured hundreds more when its shock waves caused a violent chain reaction of collapsing building structures (ceilings, floors, walls and roof), menacing shards of projectile-like glass and metal shrapnels, falling debris and paranoia-induced human stampede.

The blast was initially thought of as an LPG tank that exploded inside Luk Yuen, one of the restaurants located at ground zero. Investigators soon ruled out the exploding LPG tank theory and found evidence that the cause was far more sinister than initially expected, it was a terrorist bomb attack using C-4 plastic explosives.

Most of the victims were rushed to different hospitals in the Makati area, such as the Makati Medical Center and the Ospital ng Makati.

For now, please pray for the eternal repose of those who died and for the quick recovery of the injured victims. May justice be served swiftly.

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7 ways to avoid road rage – part 2

PJ — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:33:00 +0000

As promised, this is the second and final part of my blog entry entitled “7 Ways to Avoid Road Rage”. The first four points covered in Part One are:

1. Be courteous.
2. Observe traffic rules.
3. Always signal your intentions.
4. Don’t tailgate.

Here are the remaining tips:

5. Observe the proper parking lot etiquette. – This is one of the most important tips to remember, since a lot of people have died just because of parking lot scuffles. Some of the parking lot rules of thumb to consider are: observe the first-come-first-served basis; if a space opens up, turn on your signal light to the direction where the parking space is to indicate your intentions, in turn, drivers who see this should understand not to take that space; when a parking space suddenly opens up behind you, don’t back up anymore and just move on; and stick to the lane you are in and try not to get too greedy with the area you are surveying.

6. Watch your high beams. – When driving at night, nothing pisses me off more than some half-blind driver forgetting to switch to low beams when approaching cars or tailing them. (In the Philippines: Jeepney drivers do the extreme opposite. Most of them drive around at night with their headlights turned off, only relying on their darned park lights!)

7. Turn down the bass. – As with tip number 6 above, here’s another example of drivers with defective senses, and this time it involves their sense of hearing. I don’t understand how people driving boom boxes for cars can drive properly and responsibly if they can’t hear what’s going on outside. Along with the sense of sight, I was made to understand that a good sense of hearing is also a prerequisite for safe and defensive driving. Not only is the half-deaf driver not able to hear cars honking at him or ambulance/police car sirens begging for road space, but some studies have shown that loud music with fast beats tend to draw out aggressiveness in people as opposed to soft, slow soothing music. This makes people more prone to succumbing to road rage. (In the Philippines: Again, a lot of Jeepney drivers are guilty of this. Heck, these drivers can’t even hear their passengers shouting “Mama, para po!!!” (to indicate that they want to be dropped off at a certain spot) or “Mama, eto pong bayad ko!!! (to indicate that they are about to pay their fare) at the top of their lungs. Mind you, a driver-passenger road rage confrontation can and does happen because of this!)

Following these tips does not guarantee that you won’t succumb to road rage or be in the receiving end of one, but it does help make the streets safer and more peaceful for everyone. Do you have anything else to add?

Happy driving!

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7 ways to avoid road rage – part 1

PJ — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:20:00 +0000

What’s the popular buzzword nowadays? The term “road rage” is one of the most popular terms being used today in the Philippines, particularly in Manila. This is mainly because of the recent spate of unfortunate road rage-related crimes happening across the metropolis. It’s such a major concern, especially in this traffic forsaken land of ours where machismo, pride and ego predominate.

So how can we lessen or contribute to the elimination of road rage in the Philippines?

Here’s Part One of: “7 Ways to Avoid Road Rage”.

1. Be courteous. It pays to be a courteous driver. Just imagine what the world would be like if every driver followed the “Golden Rule”, which simply means “Do unto others what you want others to do to you”. The increase in the number of courteous drivers will help decrease of road rage incidents, which means safer streets for our everyone to ply on. But it’s quite unfortunate that a lot of stupid drivers still follow the “Do unto others before they do it to you” maxim, which really sucks.

2. Observe traffic rules. – Traffic rules were meant to aid people and help improve our overall driving experience, not limit them. Just imagine how organized and efficient our roadways will be if all drivers obey existing traffic rules – one ways, no overtaking, speed limits, no parking, etc. This leads to lesser headaches. (In the Philippines: You’d expect law makers and law enforcers to set an example, but this is more often not the case. With heavily tinted windshields, diplomatic or special plates, blaring sirens, and police escorts, they seem to think that they’re above the law, those fu#*@rs!)

3. Always signal your intentions. – If you can’t do the simple task of engaging your signal lights prior to turning or changing lanes then you shouldn’t be driving at all. Admit it, your brain just can’t handle simple multi-tasking tasks so much so that it’s eating up all of your concentration just to focus on the road ahead and not anything else. How can people expect you to handle complicated tasks such as making good driving judgment calls or performing successful evasive maneuvers? Your brain will probably be overwhelmed and “lock up” when situations like these occur. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “pea brained.” Ha!

4. Don’t tailgate. – Some people just have a fixation for trains. They seem to think that they’re the train’s caboose. (In the Philippines: You’d see these tailgate jerks swerving around, nipping at your rear, stuck to you like glue and driving in the wake of speeding ambulances, diplomatic convoys and, if they happen to have color-code violating license plates, right smack at the tail end of just about any car they come across so as to hide their plates from those “ever vigilant” law enforcers!)

Part Two’s coming up in my next post. Can you figure out what the remaining three are?

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Pasig Road Rage: Lawyer suspect released on bail

PJ — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:37:00 +0000

Atty. Manuel Hernandez Jr, the lawyer suspected of shooting down and killing Kay Palmero and Ed Canizares after a traffic altercation, has been granted bail this afternoon, October 5th. This was after the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office agreed to downgrade the charges against Hernandez from two counts of murder to two counts of homicide, which made him eligible for bail.

The suspect was therefore released on bail after posting PhP 80,000, and upon receipt by the Pasig City police of the release order given by Pasig City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Amelia Manalastas.

This new development has raised a lot of issues especially since Hernandez works for Pasig City Hall as a legal officer.

There won’t be anything much for us to do but wait and, as good citizens, presume that the suspect is innocent until proven guilty in court (if there will ever be a trial) no matter how damning the evidence may be (like several eyewitnesses). But let’s just hope and pray that the truth comes out and that justice be served immediately.

What do you think?

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