There is something particularly bothersome with the condescending arrogance displayed by some people with regard the issue of the urban poor and their problem on housing. Relying on pure legalese, they forward an overly simplified position that since “squatters” do not own the land where their shanties are built on, they deserve to be evicted–by force.

These people fail to recognize the social context of the problem. A fourth of Metro Manila, a staggering 584,425 families according to the National Housing Authority, are informal settlers. When the problem affects a significant portion of the population it ceases from becoming a purely legal problem of property rights and land ownership. It becomes a tragic social phenomenon, in much the same way as peasant landlessness is, and thus calls for fundamental political and economic solutions like agrarian land reform.

If you think squatters are not entitled to live in their homes, you might as well ask for the eviction of a fourth of Metro Manila for squatting on idle lands. Wow. If you don’t realize it, many of Manila’s laborers come form the urban poor. They do everything from cooking and serving your food, doing your laundry, and ironically–building your homes. You might as well ask for the paralysis of economic activity in the national capital.

Even the 1987 Constitution (Secs. 9-10, Art. XIII) recognizes the problems of the urban poor as a manifestation of a grave social ill, rejects the idea that squatting is merely an issue of property rights, and affords the urban poor protection.

Sec 10. Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.

No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated.

Naysayers are quick to make judgments about the urban poor. That they are stubborn and anti-development, lazy and unwilling to work, that they are in cahoots with syndicates, etcetera. The urban poor are not anti-development. They are not totally unwilling to move out of their shanties, because whose man’s dream to live in a squatter’s area, really? They only ask that they be relocated to homes that they can afford, and to communities that are near places of economic activity that will provide them jobs and places where there are public services and utilities–in other words, places where they could live like all Filipinos should. It escapes me why the government insists on relocating the urban poor to places where there are no jobs and where there are dilapidated public utilities and services–the very reasons they left their places of origin in the first place.

A government that fails to address the fundamental roots of poverty, especially in the countryside, that forces millions of Filipinos to “squat” in urban centers has no business evicting them from their homes. If they insist on inflicting violence and displacing a fourth of the national capital from their homes, they might as well call for a massive riot the next day, for it is instinct for any man to defend his home, sometimes to the point of anarchy and death. Thank god for activists though, however maliciously maligned by those in power, for organizing the urban poor to ensure organized political action to assert the rights of the marginalized. #

*original piece can be found here http://www.victorvillanueva.net/archives/2012/01/12/on-squatters/
The problem with most of the people in the Metro is that they always blame the poor. They blame the poor for the pollution, for the congestion in settlement areas, for the petty crimes in the streets, for the traffic caused by public transportation, and in fact, a lot of people blame the poor, simply, for being poor.

I wont post a very long commentary for I think my side is already clearly stated in Bikoy’s piece. I would, however, would just like to register my CONDEMNATION of the brutal, violent, and illegal arrests and demolitions of so-called authorities against the poor Filipinos in Metro Manila!

I am one with these urban poor activists in protesting against the demolitions, in calling on Pres. Noynoy Aquino to issue a moratorium on demolitions, and calling on the Philippine government to allocate more funds and make this country a better place for these poor citizens to live in instead of throwing them away in far flung substandard resettlement areas!

Create an enabling environment for these urban poor settlers to develop. Create more jobs through national industrialization and genuine agrarian reform!

###

• Marami pang iba… Grabe no? Ang kawawa nila. Laki ng problema. Samantalang maraming ibang tao na ang problema ay kung paano kakain at pakakainin ang pamilya kahit na halos buong araw naman silang nagta-trabaho.

Everybody wants to be happy.. everybody wants to be successful.. Everyone wants us to be happy and successful.. but the problem is that NOT everyone has the same definition of HAPPINESS and SUCCESS… and especially, LIFE.

"They say, Im a dreamer. But Im not the only one."

###

This is what Kris Aquino told the nation Monday morning on her television program.

Bakit, Kris? Bakit?

When your mother died, every single Filipino stopped whatever he or she was doing at that time, and paid homage to her! 

Pang Pnoy, masama bang makipaglamay ka sa amin?

Millions of Filipinos stood in line to view her. Millions waited hours along Luneta, Roxas Boulevard, Quirino Avenue, South Superhighway, South Expressway and Sucat Road to pay their last respects,

Now, your brother is President and he cannot even spend a few minutes attending to relief and avacuation operations in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, Negros Oriental, Compostela Valley and other affected areas?

Kris, daan-daang katao ang namatay Kris. Libo pa ang bilang ng mga nawawala. Ari-arian at tanging yaman ang nasalanta. Fathers and their kids, mothers and their babies, whole generations were wiped out. The entire Cagayan de Oro was almost transformed into a wasteland and you will tell us that ”life should go on…and it will not be good if our lives stop for a while and for us to mourn?”

We mourn for your father, Kris. We vowed to sacrifice our lives for your father get justice. Many of our colleagues were jailed, others are still missing to date.  

Our lives stopped when your father and mother died.

Don’t you ever tell us, us, the Filipino people that we will not mourn our fellow Filipinos, especially the Mindanaoans who died during this typhoon.

We are not like you, who do not care. 

We care for fellow Filipinos, poor ones, who became victims.

More than a thousand lost their lives because of the ingratitude and the ineptitude of their leaders!

Thousands more lost their futures because of the callousness of the leaders like your brother, Kris.

A mere apology would have sufficed.

~copied from https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-sonza/iparating-ito-kay-kris-aquino/323489674337127

*Im just helping this cause. haha!

~~~

Some tweets from those in the CampOutPH movement:

“Dear PNP, ang firetruck po ay para sa apoy, hindi po ito dapat ginagamit sa kapwa tao! Kahit grade 1 po alam yan.”

“Bus Driver: ‘Kahit sino ang maupo, mangungurakot yan. Sistema talaga ang problema’ #sawangsawa”

*CampOutPH movement is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and other countries, where people are protesting the inequality and exploitation done by corporate greed and capitalism as well as the widespread austerity measures and budget cuts by different governments.

Tagaytay Trip – November 26, 2011

Finally! We were able to use the vouchers that I purchased a few months ago. The vouchers were good for a whole day entrance and zip line adventure at 2 mini-zoos in Tagaytay. First, we went to Paradizoo, which is not exactly in Tagaytay. Then next, we headed to Residence Inn, in Tagaytay. As I share our experience, I will also include instructions that could be helpful for those of you who will be commuting, just like us. So, here’s how we spent the day and made the adventure/nature trip…

First, we went to Baclaran. Since we came from the South, we had to go to the other side of Roxas Blvd over the foot bridge. Beware, the foot bridge looks like it will collapse soon! It is still by far the worst foot bridge that I know of.

As soon as we got of the overpass, there was already a bus conductor that called our attention while shouting “Tagaytay, Tagaytay!” We found comfortable seats that cost PhP 87.00 per person from Baclaran to Mendez Crossing. It is the big corner made by the Mendez-Tagaytay highway meeting the Tagaytay-Nasugbu highway. Your landmark would be the Mercury Drug on the right before the corner. When we got off, we had no idea how to go to Paradizoo in Brgy. Panungyan, Mendez, Cavite. So we walked a few steps and then turned right at the corner. A jeep barker immediately greeted us and asked where our destination was. He told us to just wait, and as soon as a jeepney with a signboard Mendez/Indang arrived, he told the driver to drop us off at Mendez. He even reminded us that the fare is only PhP 8.00, the minimum. After a few minutes, we found ourselves in a town with many stores. I thought that the 7-11 was on the left, as seen in Google Maps, but what caught my attention was a tricycle terminal with a sign that read Panungyan. Then when I asked the driver where the 7-11 of Mendez is, boom! We just passed by a few meters from it. When we got off, the trike drivers were so warm enough to ask where our destination was and they know Paradizoo very much. The fare for about 10 minutes of a ride is PhP 24.00.

When we entered Paradizoo, there were HS students from several schools that were on a field trip. They were walking towards the left so we went right… And first thing that caught our fancy was this:

this is called a Miniature Horse-- very creative eh?

This was the very first animal that we came across, and the excited me asked the caretakers a chance to pet the horse originally from Alaska. The lady said that they use these mini horses for little kids who wanna go horse back riding.

We then saw some turkeys, chickens, and geese walking around the area. Along the walk path were big cages of goats, wild boars, and a chicken hatchery. It must be nice to have a steady supply of fresh eggs!

A few meters away, we came across this…

Pet Cemetery

Further down the path was a Butterfly farm beside a Honeybee farm. After a quick inspection of the bees (and their honey), we entered the netted parcel of land that enclosed flower plants…

couldn't go nearer, was just using a P&S digicam...

As we inspected a butterfly terrarium, we saw this and I even thought that it was a plastic model… But alas! The caterpillars were moving!

butterfly metamorphosis terrarium

After walking through a garden of various plants, we arrived at the gazebo where the fieldtrippers were and saw a cultural presentation.

More steps brought us to a vegetable garden of different veggies, herbs and spices. After seeing rows of cabbages, chili peppers, and others, we felt like we were in a live version of Plants vs Zombies! Hahaha!

brains!

After strolling amongst vegetables, we went horseback riding. You can rent one horse for 50 Pesos. Good thing that one of the manongs was nice enough and volunteered to be our photographer. But he was kind of trigger happy even when I told him that we might need to save the camera’s battery for the rest of the day. But he didn’t mind! Oh well, good thing we had this lone pic with both of us in the frame

what do you call medium-sized horses?

We then checked out the prettier garden with the decorative colorful plants and flowers. Here are some of them:

Next stop was a barn of some sort. We saw more miniature horses and 2 humongous camels!

petting the camel brought out the excited kid in me! )

After I was able to pet the camel, one kuya offered us to hold a snake… I said no thanks, but my JJ was too brave to say yes!

no thanks! kaya mo na yan

We also saw the farm’s mascot famous one, Bull-tes 5 (named from Voltes V), a cow that has 5 legs.

BULLtes 5

There was also a white carabao. Too bad I wasn’t able to snap a photo of it.

After spending around 2 hours in Paradizoo, our tummies told us to hunt look for food. So we went out of that place and as I planned, we went back to the highway for lunch in a nice place that overlooks Tagaytay ridge and one that has a nice view of Taal.

After a few minutes of waiting outside Paradizoo, we were able to get a trike back to the Panungyan terminal. We then took a jeepney with an Olivarez terminal signboard. The jeep will turn left when it reaches the highway. I just don’t know if it will take Mahogany road or Tagaytay highway on its way to Olivarez which is found near the intersection of Tagaytay-Nasugbu highway and Aguinaldo highway.

Just a few meters from Mendez Crossing (or Crossing Mendez, according to some establishments’ signage) was Viewsite restaurant. I read from other blogs that they had a nice view of the volcano, plus they have great Bulalo at a relatively cheaper price than the more famous Leslie’s or RSM. Since we were just halfway through the day, I thought that traveling further up the city was a not a good idea.

After having awesome Bulalo and Calderetang Kambing and having serenaded by the resident band, we had this (bad) pic of ourselves with the Taal volcano supposedly in our background. But since we had no one to take our pic, I had to stretch out my arm to take a pic of us, and it was a BAD shot. :p

After the hearty meal, we were escorted by Viewsite’s parking manong and helped us cross the highway. He instructed us to take the Nasugbu jeep and not the Mendez-Indang ones. We paid for 10 bucks apiece for the jeep fare. And just before the border of Tagaytay City (and Batangas?) we arrived at Residence Inn.

Upon entering the front doors, you will see a row of cages on your left. I was immediately feeling ecstatic because of the wonderful and colorful birds that can be found there! The bird with the most pleasing color was this one:

Salmon Crest Cockatoo with one injured foot

Since it was after lunch, the animals seemed to also be having their siesta time! The animals that we found awake were the monkeys and apes and also some birds. The sleepers were the porcupines, the wild boars and this puma!

ZZZzzzzz...

dito galing yung Beki word na BOARlogs )

We were then awed by these fierce white lions:

White Lions: truly majestic-- that's why they're called King

When we arrived by their cage, we were thrilled that they stood up. Only to find out that they were about to have a very quick one! Hahaha

After the lions, we saw 2 Cayman crocs. I was thrilled to see them in the flesh because I only see Caymans in Discovery channel and Animal planet. Next that got my attention was this big cage that held Tigers! And many many more tigers…

After being scared by the huge tiger paws and their big teeth, we also saw some cool birds. I just felt like my fave encyclopedia page from childhood came to life!

bleeding heart pigeon

the A-K bird (Chattering Lory)

You can also find a museum of some sort that had reptiles, turtles, spiders, and fishies. After being amazed by the reptiles, we saw two peculiar terrariums that had webs in them. And since we entered from the back door, we didn’t see the labels immediately. I was expecting spiders, but when I peeked into the first one, I couldn’t find the spider suspended in the webs. Then BOOM! It was right in front of my face! I was very quick to take 2 steps back and felt a bit hot as I felt sweat coming out of my body. Haha!

Silver Arowana

i call it tattooed fish LOL

After seeing all the animals, we then took on the zipline challenge!

The zipline was actually fun! At first I was afraid when I looked straight down the cliff but then I decided to shift my sights to the finish point. The ride was a bit long! It took us longer than what we expected. It was real fun!

On the way back to the zipline’s starting point is a cable car ride. It was fun at the start, but the screeching sound from the cables was really loud that made us shout as we talked. Towards the end of the ride, I had this face:

cable car rocking back n forth

Hahahaha! I think that the operator purposely made the car rock back and forth. But nonetheless, it was really FUN!

Oh, by the way, after the cable car ride, I didn’t know that we had pictures taken by the resident photo booth. We were offered a deal worth PhP 250.00 where we would get a CD that contained around 30 photos of us on the zipline and select one photo to be printed. I thought that the price was a rip off especially when I saw the photos not to be in the high-resolution versions. But, oh well, at least, we have pictures of that memorable adventure.

Right outside of Residence Inn, we were able to ride a bus back to Manila via Cavite. This was the only bad thing during that day…

We spent 3 really COLD hours on the bus from Tagaytay to MIA road in Paranaque, which cost 91 pesos each, by the way.

Anyways… It was a really fun fun fun Saturday! This is just a start of our trips together… Next stop, further away from Manila, and then Asia, and then the world!

Jigs & Jhei =)

~~~

Oh,  I think it started with he proliferation of BPO offices and Pinoys became call center agents.

Oh, it came in as a bonus after we started celebrating Halloween and Pinoys kinda hit a high mark on buying Halloween stuff.

Oh, maybe a congress representative filed a bill for it.

***

FB post: “God provides! Thank you Lord!” (or something like this)

If so, then why are here a lot of people dying because of hunger and poverty?

Why do the devotees of Quiapo remain poor despite their yearly (and weekly) show of faith?

Why is their social stratification? Why is there a 1% class of elites?

Looks like their God has a bias for some people…

***

Manny Pacquiao should just stick to what he is good at– BOXING!

He is a horrible singer, a terrible host, a trying-hard comedian, and much more, I don’t like him as a congressman!

Seeing him in Manny Many Prizes (?) made me lose the little respect that I have of him as a public figure.

***

I am really a nature lover… My tita Bee pointed this out about a year ago… I dunno, but I guess I just love seeing the spectacular sights and wonders of nature… I visited 2 mini-zoos today and I really had a great time with my girlfriend/bestfriend/soulmate/significant other, JJ. I will make a separate blog post for that trip!

***

Kris Aquino, the youngest sister of President Noynoy Aquino, daughter of the late former President Corazon COJUANGCO Aquino, tweeted her thoughts about the recent decision of the Supreme Court that orders Hacienda Luisita to distribute the land to the farmers.

Apparently, the showbiz personality drew flak about her family’s “story”…

For my opinion on the issue… Well, all I can say is…

Oh, I think the people have said most of what I have to say!

###

Occupy Mendiola

The Philippine’s elite 1% have maintained the prevalent inequality and poverty in the country for decades, if not centuries. Even if the 75% of the population- the farmers- have been working day in and day out to feed the nation, 7 out of 10 of our farmers have yet to have their own land. The 15%- the workers- have been working to create our roads, buildings, houses, clothes, and every other thing that we use in our daily lives, but they have yet to receive just wages for decent living. Wages have remained low and some firm even do not even meet the minimum wage requirement, yet they remain unpunished. Contractualization had been haunting employees with job insecurity.  Students and youth have been deprived of their democratic right to education. Women continue to die with the lack of a reproductive health law to protect them, in addition to continuous violence against them under this patriarchal society. The people are continuously deprived of basic social services, with the more important health services to maintain a healthy populace and work force.

Despite the seemingly moving wheels of justice in the recent events with former President/Tyrant Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo being finally served her warrant arrest, we, the people, the 99% should not forget that this Aquino administration still owes us a lot. Speeches such as the SONA can never tell us the truth about an administration’s plan for the country. To know what a president’s priority is, we should look at the national budget. And with the pending 2012 budget, the people have nothing but lesser funds in basic social services, while corporations and banks continue to get stimulus packages from the government.

This absurdity should not be tolerated by us. We should not be complacent about the government spending for the rich while it continues to spend less for the people who are but same taxpayers and “bosses” of this President.

On December 06, the people should assert for what they should rightly receive from the government that (should) emanate(s) from the people. The people is us. We, should take the power back– the power to assert from this government what it should prioritize. To take the power back, we should take on the seat of power that is Malacanang, located in Mendiola.

End capitalist greed! End impunity!

Down with imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism!

Take the power back! Take on the streets! Occupy Mendiola!

photo from www.facebook.com/TheOther98

we always get furious when we get stuck in traffic…

most of the time, traffic is caused by vehicular accidents or flooding…

but there are also times when heavy traffic is caused by big political rallies…

and admit it… most of the time, we get angry…

this photo apologizes in behalf of all the protesters in Wall Street, and also maybe including those Occupying in other places, who are fighting the same struggle to change the world…

I am, in solidarity with these people, dearly and humbly apologizing to those of you who have experienced inconvenience…

I am ashamed that we have cause you this much trouble…

I am sorry that we have caused your trip to have an additional hour or two…

I am sorry that these farmers, workers, urban poor, youth, teachers, and women have loitered and blocked your streets…

I am sorry that your struggling in traffic, while these people are exploited every single day, every hour, and every minute…

I am sorry that we have to fight for our rights…

I am sorry that we chose to stand up and speak out…

I am sorry that we have chosen to change the world…

I am sorry that we have to fight even for you…

And lastly,

I am sorry,

for hoping,

with all optimism,

that you would,

someday,

join us.

#occupytogether

know your enemy

when there is oppression, there is resistance

Karl Marx: capitalism is full of flaws and contradictions

already in debt

occupy wall street!

over 60,000 Chileans occupy Santiago

down with US imperialism and capitalist greed!

*photos were grabbed from different Facebook sources.

But as of now, I do not have my own DSLR camera. I sometimes borrow the office camera. (Since we are a GOCC, I’d like to think that the cam is owned by the state– bought using the the people’s money– therefore, I am part owner of it. LOL) Up until now, I am dreaming of having my own camera, complete with several lenses and accessories. So far, I have been adept in using Nikon cameras. And for that, here is my Nikon DSLR wishlist:

D7000 photo from kenrockwell.com

Body: Nikon D7000

I really want this one! But it is a bit expensive. Ken Rockwell’s review says that it is Nikon’s best DSLR to date. He talks about the fabulous Auto Focus (AF) system being fast and smart, the ergonomics having dedicated dials/knobs/switches/buttons, the 2 card slots, the sharpness and clarity of photos, high but less noise ISO, fast and quiet shooting, and improved White Balance (WB) settings. With this body, I can take A LOT of clear and good photos. Even if the saying goes that “its the Indian, not the bow”, I say I still want a better gun!

Since the d7000 body is still too costly as of now, I have a second weapon of choice. But if I win the lottery, that is another story!

Body: (2nd option) Nikon D90

D90 with MB-80 battery grip

This has been a superb camera for years, up until Nikon had released the D7000. Well, of course, the pro level cameras are a different story. But for mid levels, this has been serious Nikon photographers’ choice. As of now, this body is priced half of the D7000.

What I like about the D90 is that it has the better ergonomics than those of the entry level Nikons like the D40, D60, and even the newer D5000 or D5100. It has a new sensor system than those of the entry levels, more AF points, and a faster FPS speed for action shots. Plus, it has the AF motor built within the body, enabling the D90 to use non-DX lenses which do not have AF motors in them. This will allow me to save a bit on lenses, such as the cheap yet superb 50mm f/1.8D.

Accessory: MB-80 Battery Grip

This will double the battery life thereby allowing me to take more shots in one outing, make it easier to hold the camera when shooting portraits, and it would give a boost to the FPS rate!

Lens: 50mm f/1.8 D

A cheap yet superbly performing prime lens! It is fast, quiet, and produces very sharp photos! Plus, it can be used for low light photography.

50mm f1.8D

With this, I can be able to take photos in places where flash is not allowed. And since I do not have the money to buy the expensive telephotos with big apertures, I can use this in sports shots, but I just have to stay on the sidelines. I can open the aperture as wide as possible and then pump up the shutter speed so I could freeze the subjects’ motion. Nice!

Lens: 35mm f/1.8 DX

35mm f1.8G DX

A more pricey, yet a bit wider and same aperture width as the 50mm D. If I have the extra funds, I would get this instead of the 50mm.

Lens: 55-300mm VR

A normal priced telephoto zoom lens that has more reach than the 55-200mm zoom for only a little more on the price. Current Philippine prices of the 55-300 is around 12-13k, while the 55-200mm is around 9-10k. Since it is a telephoto, I would not want the non-VR 55-300. A little shake would easily blur the photo especially when in the 300mm focal distance.

55-300mm VR

Maybe a cheaper third party brand would do.  With a 18-200mm with me, I would not need the 18-55 kit lens anymore. But I would might still keep the 55-300mm.

Lens: 18-200mm VR II

This versatile lens is all what I will need to bring during an outdoor trip! It IS rather pricey, but imagine having the 18-55mm kit lens and the 55-200mm telephoto in just one piece. You wouldn’t have to change lenses anymore. Sweet! But the price is not, since right no its cost is about the same as a D90 body! Again, If I win the lottery, it is another story. LOL

18-200mm VR II

Accessories: neoprene neckstrap, extra Nikon batteries, filters, and a nice camera sling bag or backpack.

That’s all for now, folks. I hope to have these so I can take more awesome photos for friends and family’s events, as well as historic moments such as #occupyPH, and the like.

Oops! Wait. GTG. Now off to the lottery playing station!

#