Free at last!

I will do a cartwheel and a back flip if I could. My 78 days covering Malacanang on top of defense ended two days ahead of schedule today, Sunday. Hell yeah!

No more monitoring government radio and television (no offense to friends in state media, much respect). One morning, I puked listening to a mid-morning anchor lambasting the Sumilao Farmers, and I have a high tolerance for stomach-turning stuff.

No more wearing formal shirts, pants, and shoes. I don't iron clothes and I'm a sneakers person.

No more walking from LRT-2 Legarda Station to the Malacanang Press Corps working area, which to the overweight like me feels like a kilometer.

Thanks to old and new friends who helped me out over the two and a half months of double duty.

Finally, I can resume jogging around camp, taking a power nap after work, and most importantly, income-augmenting activities.

It gets sweeter. Tomorrow, Monday, I'll be back on Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys, and next week, I'll be somewhere in the extreme north for my vacation.

Market Manila

Read up on Marketman after the Holy Week fast. I log on to this site everyday because it's about two of my favorite things -- food and photography.

Lost is Quiapo, three blunders in one day

The universe conspired against me today, March 11, 2008.

I made three errors in my stories. I left my concentration in my apartment: I said the budget 2008 budget was P2.227 trillion instead of P1.227, I said the budget was for the "three Gs" instead of the "three Es," and I wrote Executive Order 127 instead of 712.

It's easy to blame it on fatigue, after all, I'm working the equivalent of three print reporters on two major beats, but at the end of the day, it's my responsibility.

I just wasn't myself today, I need a vacation bad.

I decided to call it a day early. I usually walk from the Malacanang press office to the Legarda LRT station, but I decided to take as jeep to Quiapo and take the train from Recto because of the early evening drizzle.

There I was, a 27-year-old lost in Quiapo. It was a long walk. I held on to my bag and my phone in my pocket, I was in snatcher territory.

I asked for directions from a pedicab driver. He didn't give me a straight answer. He couldn't believe that I couldn't find my way to Recto. I hope he burns in hell.

Luckily, a policeman (or at least I thought he was one) was on the street corner, I recognized him from his "Manila's Finest" sports shirt. His motorcycle wasn't marked.

He said I could take the jeep or walk the entire stretch of what I assumed was Avenida. I decided to walk, and in the 250 or so meters, I found out that at 5:30 p.m., you can buy the following in downtown Manila:

• DVDs (porn, American TV, movies)
• what I assumed were inflatable dildos (Imagine a shampoo sachet, 12 inches long, and with a picture of a penis)
• a "live show" (The faces of the girls were displayed on white illustration boards covered with plastic wrap that were displayed in front of doors that open to a narrow staircase. They looked like they were in their later 20s to early 30, and auditioning for "That's Entertainment)
• squid -- deep-fried crispy calamares style, or dried and roasted over hot coals
• knock-off fashion -- rubber shoes, shirts, jeans, jackets
• Diplomas, the one I saw was supposed to be from DLSU
• huge speakers, the kind that makes your heart and lungs beat
• roast pork belly (I would have stopped for one, but the place didn't look hygenic) and chicken

I decided to treat myself to Jollibee chickenjoy for dinner, but only the wing part was available. I ordered it just the same. It didn't taste fresh and it was a it overcooked. Damn. And the Jollibee Katipunan branch charged VAT separately, which explained the unusually steep bill. It said so in the receipt.

I hope I used up all my bad luck for the year today, and I'm really looking forward to my vacation.

US soldiers kill animals, too

To say this is cruel, even evil, is an understatement. What did the poor puppy do to him? According to a CNN report, the son of a bitch in question is being investigated by the US Marine Corps.

When I wasn't too old for MTV (rock)

At the turn of the millennium, sometime between the late 90s and the 2000s, I was hooked on MTV and Channel V, when it was all about the music, when the VJs were cool (Trey, Nadya, Mike, Kamal, Rahul, Sonya, even Donita Rose). I just don't get the music channels now, especially MYX, who the hell hired Lucky or Heart to VJ? I can't stand them and their twangs.

Thank heavens for YouTube.

Splender "I Think God Can Explain"



The New Radicals "Someday We'll Know"



The Goo Goo Dolls "Black Balloon"



Fuel "Hemorrhage"



Default "Wasting My Time"

The dissenting opinion

I'm sick and tired of people using the word "truth" so loosely, as if it were their monopoly. This article was the fourth most read article on INQUIRER.net on Monday evening.

Has Lozada been playing us for fools all along?

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:11:00 03/03/2008

MANILA, Philippines - I agree with Belinda Olivares-Cunanan that, indeed, Rodolfo Lozada Jr.’s “too emotional” look makes him appear believable. (“Whistleblower’s own sins,” Inquirer, 2/13/08)

We were intently watching the live telecast of the confrontation between Lozada and former Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos. At the start, I was under the impression that Lozada should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, his coming-out derailed his career and many ambitions.

Sadly, however, at one point in the program—when Abalos was talking about how good the hamburgers at his daughter’s canteen in Wack Wack was—we saw Lozada making faces in the background. I realized then that the benefit of the doubt should be given to the administration.

When Lozada was told he was on TV, he said he was not aware that he was also on air. How can an IT expert not know that it is possible for a TV station to simultaneously show on air two persons in different places?

Lozada’s seemingly innocent comment cast a dark cloud on his credibility. Has he been playing us for fools all along? I have been monitoring the NBN hearing at the Senate and the more I hear Lozada’s testimony, the more I realize that he is enjoying every minute of it. Maybe, there is truth to our perception—unpopular though it may be—that Lozada is part of a grand conspiracy to destabilize the present government. Sadly, this is not being shared by those who have been ranting, before the media, against the government.

We dream of a better country to live in, not only for ourselves but also for our children and their children. We fervently pray that our incomes grow tenfold. But allowing a few people to use us, make fun of us and play God with our future will not lead us to this dream. That will keep us from this dream.

—FRANK GONZAGA,

1 President Osmeña St. ,

Commonwealth Heights Subd.,

Quezon City

Click here to read the article on the site