Understanding General Aguinaldo

Due to rave reviews on the movie Heneral Luna I urged my mom and daughter to watch it with me. I must admit that I was in awe while watching the movie. Kudos to the director and the entire cast and crew that made the film really interesting. They made the scenes so vivid that it actually burns the viewers’ consciousness about the history of our country. They also injected humor and wit to entertain even the young viewers.

However, this post does not want to tackle on reviewing how the film was made. We already knew that it is one of the best historical film ever made so far. In fact it has been selected as the Philippines' official entry to 2016 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

What bothers me is the negative reaction gained towards Gen Emilio Aguinaldo. Granted there was no solid evidence that he was behind the assassination of Gen Luna, the perpetrators were said to be from Kawit, presidential guards and soldiers once removed by Luna from service. On that basis, historians cannot help but doubt that Aguinaldo might have had a hand in the massacre. Unlike with the case of Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procorpio, it was definite that Emilio Aguinaldo  ordered their arrest and execution on the grounds of sedition.

Because of the film, netizens were outraged calling Gen Emilio Aguinaldo a traitor and a coward. Some even commented that his image should be remove from our five peso coin. On impulse, I also got carried away and felt ashamed that all these unfortunate events happened in Cavite. But after thinking deeply, I’ve realized that being declared as one of our National Hero does not mean that they are already perfect and free of blunders. Bear in mind that our country’s independence had just been declared then and a big burden was placed on Aguinaldo’s shoulders to lead a young republic. He had to balance all sections of society from meeting the needs of the masses, satisfying the elite, assuring businessmen and possible allies of the country's independence as well as boost the confidence and morale of his soldiers. Remember, during those times there was no professional military but only brave Filipino volunteers without any proper training nor salary from the government. They were only united with a common goal and that is to gain freedom from the foreign oppressors.

Assuming that Aguinaldo was in any way connected with the death of both Bonifacio and Luna, we have to realize that this has happened during the war. Although it is immoral to order and persecute a compatriot, we have to take into account that even the toughest leader will recourse in taking the most horrible decision for the benefit of the majority and to keep the campaign going.

Aguinaldo might have committed terrible mistakes during his time but we cannot disregard the fact that if not for him and the bravery of our Filipino soldiers we won’t be able to enjoy the freedom we are now experiencing. So give them RESPECT and let us look more on their sacrifices for it is their blood and spirit that we became an independent nation.

EPILOGUE:

I highly recommend that each Filipino should watch Heneral Luna with a broader perspective. Not to focus on the misjudgment of our former leaders but instead learn from their mistakes.

Teleserye ala Grace Poe

Filipinos are a great fan of teleserye. Whether it is Mexican, Korean, Taiwanese dubbed in Tagalog or locally filmed teleserye we all just go gaga over it. This time it even level up with the new fad "kalyeserye" that breaks the record of twitter trending it worldwide with more than 12M tweets!
However, teleserye no longer confines itself on television as we now have something to look forward to as they say “SUNDAN ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA” and that is the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) on the citizenship of Grace Poe Llamanzares to make her eligible to run for president.
For a common "masa" like me that do not have much knowledge about those Republic Act law and legal terms lingo all I understand is that there was a time in Grace Poe’s life that she renounced her Filipino citizenship and opted to become a naturalized US citizen.
Although there is really nothing wrong in doing so as majority of us Filipino if given a chance will also change citizenship considering the present situation of our country. Every day we struggle to live a decent life. We scrape our pocket to pay the tuition of our children. We just depend on God not to let us go sick as we cannot afford the high cost of hospitalization. We crammed ourselves like sardines on MRT/LRT and public transportation just to go to work that pays us so little that can barely feed our family well.
Grace Poe never experienced what we are going through. Although a foundling, she was adopted by the king and queen of Philippine movies and was sent to the best and most expensive school in the country. In spite of that she still chose to abjure her Filipino citizenship. For what? So she can also enjoy the fringe benefits that go with being an American citizen? To heck with other Filipinos who cannot avail the privilege she can get.
Just like the usual teleserye to make it a hit there should be an interesting twist on the story. Her adopted father, Fernando Poe, Jr, run for presidency on 2004 and was allegedly cheated by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Then 7 months after, he suffered from stroke and eventually died. The unfortunate event drove Grace to come home and help her adopted mother run their family business. For her own convenience she filed for Dual Citizenship because it is illegal for a foreigner to own a business or buy a property in the Philippines. Take note, she still keeps Uncle Sam citizenship up her sleeve.
Comes the conflict of our teleserye. On October 2010 President Benigno Aquino III offered her the seat to become a chairperson of Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). To accept the position she has to abandon her US citizenship. So a day before her oath taking she files an affidavit before a notary public in Pasig City renouncing her US citizenship. She, however, submitted the affidavit to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and not to US government. Grace Poe only swore oath of renunciation with the US Vice Consul in Manila on July 2011 which is already 9 months after she assumed office at MTRCB. Why did she wait like a pregnant woman until the baby is full grown before she informed the US government that she is giving up her citizenship?
 Ok now we have to fast track our storyline so we should not lose our viewership rating. Grace Poe ran for senatorial seat in 2013 and won. Now 3 years later she is running for presidency. Wait! Is the story going too fast to your liking? You bet it is!  But then our lead role can’t wait any longer. She obviously got overwhelmed by the result of the survey and the incitement of some ambitious traditional politician who wanted to join her popularity bandwagon.

Of course we have to have villain in our teleserye to make it more exciting. So we will give the role to a defeated senatorial candidate Rizalito David and his counsel Manuelito Luna filing a disqualification suit against Grace Poe on the grounds of her residency but Judge Antonio Carpio, the chair of SET suggested that residency be dropped. Instead Grace Poe’s citizenship should be given more focus on the case.
As of this writing the SET which is composed of a nine-member team that includes Senators Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar, Pia Cayetano, and Paulo Benigno Aquino IV, as well as Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion is yet to release its decision on the fate of Grace Poe Llamanzares’ ambition to run for president. For the meantime, let our viewers standby on the upcoming episode of our exciting teleserye entitled “Wag naman Poe!”

International Coastal Cleanup in Naic

Around 1000 volunteer participated last September 19, 2015 to commemorate International Coastal Cleanup at Timalan Balsahan in Naic Cavite. Those who attended were representative of Knights of Columbus, Coast Guard, Cavite Office of Public Safety – Environmental Protection Operation Division, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, and students of La Salle GreenHills. Residence of Brgy Munting Mapino as well as students of Cavite State University Naic took part in the cleanup on the stretch of Bancaan, Bagong Kalsada and Bucana Malaki. 
During the Cleanup, volunteers don’t just pick up trash and debris but they RECORD information about them in a standardized OCEAN TRASH DATA FORM.  They tally debris items listed in the data card which are categorized according to the most likely to be found, fishing gear, packaging materials, personal hygiene and other materials during land and underwater cleanups to ascertain how debris differs above and below the waterline. The resulting body of data becomes the Marine Debris Index which provides item -by -item, location -by -location accounting of what’s trashing the world's ocean. 
According to one of the volunteers of Munting Mapino most of the trash they gathered were plastics bags, rubber slippers and other trash that were washed on their shore from nearby barangays.

Traffic in EDSA

Yesterday i have to do some errand at Boni Serrano Avenue in Quezon City. Coming from Cavite the fastest route I can think of is through EDSA, my nemesis! I totally abhor driving on this main thoroughfare as i feel like a warrior battling ferocious dragons that wants to eat me alive. I am referring to rude public transport drivers that load and unload passengers at their own whim. They also swerves from one lane to another without signalling that if your reflexes were not that fast you will surely end up in accident. Though I can still tolerate such barbaric style of driving, the montrous traffic is really the killer! 

Now my experience. I left Cavite around 11am. It was all green and go from Cavitex to Coastal then a little build up along NAIA Road which is understable because of the ongoing flyover construction. When I reached EDSA extension I was surprised to see that public buses were all inside the yellow lane. As I passed them I felt like sticking out my tongue and shout at the top of my lungs "serves you right!" 

As I crossed the intersection of Taft Avenue and EDSA came another surprise! The public transport jeeps that usually eats up most of the road loading and unloading passengers were no longer there! You can see Highway Patrol on almost every block directing traffic. The whole EDSA was such a breeze even along Guadalupe where usually 1 lane were already being use by commuters because all sidewalks are already filled up by street vendors. Now everything is clear!

As I was about to turn left going to Boni Serrano the traffic police COURTEOUSLY told me to go 100 meters more to make a U turn. Can you imagine not even a hint of arrogance on his voice? Wow! It was like heaven opening up with all the angels singing allelujah! This is indeed a miracle!

I finally reached my destination. Time checked 12:30pm. Not bad really as it usually takes me more than 2 hours travel time before.

NOTE: 

Just on the news today traffic is back in EDSA this morning although it eased up later in the evening

Well I guess the saying still proves right "Walang forever!"

Why I will not vote for Duterte

I have nothing against Mayor Duterte. He made good in bringing so much development in Davao. In fact it even ranked as one of the safest city in the world! But in my opinion managing a city is a far cry in managing a whole country.

Apparently, most are feeling hopeful that If Duterte wins, he will implement stricter rules to law offenders or to the extreme let the vigilantes put them in a "proper" place. (Note: Rumor has it that Duterte is the head of the Davao Death Squad responsible for summary executions of individuals suspected of petty crimes and dealing of drugs in Davao).

Obviously this reaction boils down out of sheer frustration of the people to find someone that will personally  end the evils of the country. Is this not what the former Pres Marcos did before? Then why even the mention of MARCOS almost always brings negative reaction? 

On hindsight, mere frustrations because of the absence of discipline as well as the imperfections we are now encountering is not an absolute excuse to vote a person who believes that killing offenders who do not want to follow the rules is the best solution to have a better nation. 

I believe that what we need is a leader who will protect the citizens' rights and strengthen the institutions collectively. A leader who will serve the people and not be lenient to his cronies with vested interest in corrupting the nation's fund to their advantage. Well, i guess i must be wishing so hard because with the list of aspiring presidentiables not one meets such criteria... But then again who knows maybe someone will just come out. Anyways we still have a few more days before the filing of candidacy so its a wait and see for now...

Remembering the Past

Do you know that Cavite is named as the Historical Capital of the Philippines? This came about when the colonizers saw a hook shaped land, which in Tagalog is called Kawit. They saw its value where to dock their bulky galleons that it eventually became the most important port linking the colony to the outside world.

Because of its strategic location, foreigners attacked Cavite in the quest to conquer Manila and the Philippines between the 16th and 17th centuries. But it was on the 18th century when the Filipinos finally staged a revolution against the Spaniards. Caviteños led by Gen Emilio Aguinaldo raided several Spanish Headquarters leading to the Philippine Independence Day on June 12, 1898.

Having witnessed the country’s theater of blood, of mutinies and resistance, revolution and war during the Spanish regime there is no doubt that the province was the cradle of Philippine Revolution and definitely the home of the brave.