The Philippines' Commission of Higher Education (CHED) Is a Disgrace

 

I just heard the stupidest thing the other day, that people don't have time to read novels anymore, relying instead on "book summaries" sold on Amazon, with such titles as "50 Books You Don't Have Time to Read, Briefly Summarized."

And we all know that people don't have time to write anymore (and when I say WRITE I mean write from SCRATCH, which actually requires you to USE your brain), relying instead on ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot to "produce" "content" for them.

People don't have time to philosophize about life, they don't have time to study history (and so, naturally, they are doomed to repeat the same mistakes), they don't have time to learn a new language, they think that making art and literature and music is useless.

They don't care that teachers who actually teach you how to think are going to lose their jobs. They don't realize that everyone is going to lose their jobs anyway because of artificial intelligence -- and that replacing GE subjects with something that will make them more "employable" is actually bullshit -- thanks to the shortsighted idiots who actually spent a lot of time and energy creating these Gen AI agents that are now eventually replacing them.

Sure, feeding the capitalist system with more corporate drones who can't think for themselves and are only good for "training" AI and writing prompts is just what the doctor ordered. 

We have the Commission on Higher Education to thank for that.

A Virgo Thing

Is it a Virgo thing, this penchant for thinking about things you've lost over the years? For instance, I suddenly remembered this blue American Eagle polo shirt that an uncle gave me several years ago, which I can't find in my closet anymore. It's not even one of my favorite shirts; I didn't like the size and the cut particularly, especially in the tummy area, because it made me look fat. I was lying on the couch the other day, taking a nap, when in that zone between wakefulness and sleep I was suddenly jolted awake by the realization that I haven't seen the shirt in a while. And so instead of trying to go back to my nap I cut it short and headed to my room -- and my closet, of course -- to try to find the shirt.

Of course I didn't find it. There seems to be a Twilight Zone dimension where lost objects from all over the world just find themselves teleported to, never to be seen again by their original owners. And for majority of those owners, unless it's a brand-new car or an expensive watch or an entire home, losing those things isn't really a big deal. But of course, I'm not one of those majority of owners who really don't care. Otherwise I wouldn't bother writing a blog post about it.

I am conscious of this preoccupation or fixation of mine on things that get lost in the ether. I remember not just shirts but -- or more importantly, because for me they are more important than any article of clothing -- books. I've lost countless books over the years: some lost while traveling, some lost to friends who never really had the intention of returning them anymore (I guess they have a different definition of "borrowing"). And of course, some books I've lost to that Twilight Zone dimension where lost objects from all over the world just find themselves teleported to, never to be seen again by their original owners. This I've remedied by downloading PDF copies of those lost books -- regardless of the reason why I lost them. And of course, I've never read majority of those PDFs anyway. It's just that the thought of having at least digital copies of those books makes me feel better at least -- or so I believe.

And then there's the matter of money, which for me is worse. I keep thinking about the money that I lost over the years, and in this case there's no Twilight Zone dimension where lost MONEY from all over the world just find themselves teleported to, never to be seen again by their original owners. In the case of money -- in the sense of both physical cash (which they call "efectivo" here in Mexico) and digital money -- I know precisely where the lost money went. Especially money lost by way of purchased things that I believe could have gone to more useful things. Is this a Virgo thing? I suspect it is.

I also suspect that this is the reason why -- even though a lot of Filipinos are now, sadly, addicted to it, especially the online variety -- I'd never really been drawn to gambling. If you're the type of person who keeps on thinking about the money you lost buying so-called frivolous things (which weren't actually frivolous at the time of purchase), then how bad will it be when you lose money instantaneously through gambling, no matter what variety? I remember our one and only trip to Las Vegas, when my uncle and aunt graciously drove us there and booked us a hotel room, and my aunt was enjoying her favorite (occasional) pastime of playing the slot machies, I decided to give it a try. After losing a couple of games, Diana, my wife, was so amused that I cashed in a ten-dollar win instead of powering through. That was it for me. As my uncle parked himself in the bar enjoying cocktails while my aunt kept on playing, I took my wife by the arm and led her outside to the strip, which we toured with a freshly won ten-dollar bill tucked inside my back jeans pocket. 

There are a lot of things going on in my mind. I am an extremely anxious person, and the last thing that I need is to keep on looking back, especially at things that I've lost over the years -- money or otherwise. I've been prescribed Xanax for my anxiety, which works swimmingly well for me, but which is extremely addictive -- and so I've been trying to wean myself from it totally. It would, therefore, be a big load off my mind if I could just let go of this bad habit of mine of looking back at things that I've lost over the years. 

Sometimes I just want to look ahead, but then again when I do look far ahead, I get anxious of what the future might bring. They say that you should take it one day at a time. But then if I focus on the present, I worry that I'm not planning enough.

I don't want to chalk this up as a Virgo thing, but I think that's just what it is.

It's a Virgo thing.

(PS: I never used to believe in the Zodiac, but I blame my anthropology professor in college -- him of all people! -- who checked his horoscope religiously and shared it to the class every chance he got. And no, I don't remember if he was a Virgo. He probably was.)

NPA Recruitment in UP? That's Not the Biggest Problem

To the parents who are worried about sending their children to UP because of the potential "NPA recruitment" that's allegedly going on there, I'd say there's nothing to worry about. In the '70s and '80s, at the height of its powers, the NPA supposedly had around 25,000 active guerrillas (thanks -- or no thanks -- to its biggest indirect recruiter, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his Martial Law). Now government estimates peg the NPA's armed members at around 1,000 or fewer. If these recruitment drives by the communists were really that effective, shouldn't they still have 25,000 guerrillas now -- or more? 

I'd actually argue that if your child decides to go to the PMA rather than UP, you have a BIGGER PROBLEM on your hands.

Heartless

These people (I'd call them heartless but I'll settle for animals; they should aptly be called animals -- my profound apologies to animals) who throw the words “bopis” or “corned beef” around, especially on social media, while feeling so slick about themselves like they just spewed some words of wisdom don't realize that it was the struggle -- yes, even (or especially, whether you like it or not) armed struggle, you ignoramuses -- of people like RJ Nichole Ledesma and Alyssa Alano (of course the same like-minded people all over the world, not just in the Philippines, who came before them, but people like RJ and Alyssa, in their own selfless way that majority of us don't even have the courage to do, them deciding to continue the fight and eventually costing them their lives) that has brought us hard-won victories that the modern middle-class workers enjoy right now: the 8-hour workday, the weekend, overtime pay, minumum wage, social security, workplace safety, employer-provided health insurance, laws against wrongful termination, etc. etc, just to name a few. These are not just your run-of-the-mill “HR concepts” or the things that you commonly see when you sign that employment contract. They are there because they were literally bled for. People over the years have literally died for those things to appear on that fucking contract that you affixed your analog or digital signature to.

Do you think -- and I'm addressing the “sumunod nalang, wag pasaway crowd” -- if all those people who fought the Good Fight to bring us all those labor standards and statutory benefits didn't push back and just complied without being pasaway, the people in power would proactively go out of their way to treat the common manggagawa with dignity? Hell no -- fat fucking chance. They'd take all they could and leave everyone else with breadcrumbs. Or peanuts. Or, more aptly in Cebuano, mumho.

And there are people still getting mumho after all these years, especially in the rural areas where big corporations who grow fat from the land while leaving nothing to the lumads wreak havoc using private armies that are kept unchecked because of State complicity. Guess why there are more RJs and Alyssas in the pipeline, no matter how slick you think you are to call them “bopis” and “corned beef” behind your keyboards and smartphones and tablets? Most of these “sumunod nalang, wag pasaway crowd” are also the ones who believed (and still believe) that Rodrigo Duterte did a great job, was the “best president ever” – “Kay Bisaya man” -- but who in reality hardly made a dent in improving large parts of the Visayas and Mindanao anyway, even if he promised that he'd bring the people there a better standard of living. Most of Mindanao is beautiful, of course (as is the Visayas) but -- as a friend who's from Davao City but who's also sane and intelligent enough to know the real score recounted to me -- large swaths of Mindanao remain almost uninhabitable because of the grinding poverty that you find there, while mayors and governors who've ruled for decades pass down their government positions to their kin and offspring as though they were passing on a vintage razor or handwoven silk scarf. They can pass on the mayoralty or governorship to their kin indirectly because they rule like warlords in the howling wildernesses that they consider their fiefdoms -- dare to run against them and, well, just refer to the Magindanao Massacre and I'm sure you'll know what I mean.

So what the Alyssas and RJs and the other faceless people who have been gunned down in the service of the people are, believe it or not, doing just that -- serving the people. It's a simple concept, even if a lot of us can't wrap our heads around it. Trying to improve the lives of those who still don't have the luxury -- unlike us, we who work behind computer screens and earn a decent wage at least -- of signing an employment contract with those “HR concepts” thrown in, while unfairly and maliciously (they just can't hide their true nature, can they?) being called “bopis” and “corned beef” to their bullet-riddled and mangled faces.

Robin Padilla Wants to Leave the Philippines. Good.

The fact that you won as the #1 senator is proof that the system is broken. Like I've repeatedly said before on social media, one big step to fixing the political system in the Philippines is if all DDS voters just somehow died suddenly of natural causes. The same voters, by the way, who put you in that #1 spot.

So go ahead and leave. Nobody's gonna miss you anyway. And while you're at it, take the rest of the DDS senators and other politicians with you. Good riddance. 😂

An affordable, reliable mass transit system in the Philippines: We can still dream, can't we?

When I go to work here in Mexico City, I take the Metro Bus. It's a bus that has its own lane, like the BRT that Cebu City has been trying to construct for many years now, without much success. When I go to the boxing gym, I take the subway. For a one-way trip, the fare for the Metro Bus costs 6 Mexican pesos or 20 PhP, while the subway costs 5 pesos or 16 PhP. The Metro Buses and the subway system will take you virtually anywhere here in the city, and are supplemented by smaller feeder microbuses and vans called peseros or transporte colectivos (what used to be the Volkswagen Combis of old, but which have since been replaced by newer vans or shuttles). 

Both the Metro Bus and subway are affordable, practical, and relatively reliable mass transit systems that ensure mobility for Mexicans (and immigrants like me) living and working here in the capital, particularly for those in lower-income areas. (Side note: both systems are not perfect and they have their flaws, and I've heard a lot of people complain about the subway in particular. But I dare them to take the subway in New York. Or the one in the Philippines. We'll see if they still complain after. Lol) 

Public transportation here in Mexico City – I'm not sure in other Mexican states, though – is heavily subsidized by the government. The city sets fares below the actual operating costs to ensure affordability, with the local government covering a significant portion of expenses through tax revenue.

I'm hoping to see something similar in the future, both in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. We can still dream, can't we? 🤞🏼

Undying Loyalty

Sara Duterte is gunning (wink, wink) for the Philippine presidency in 2028.

Did her announcement really come as a surprise, though? We all knew she wanted the top post way back, even before the 2022 elections, when she decided to slide down to vice president -- a compromise that gave rise to the short-lived and now meme-worthy UniTEAM (and countless tasteless tattoos that have since -- I assume -- been lasered off by now, thank God).

In giving way to Bongbong Marcos, Sara counted on something that she and the Dutertes could always count on from the registered voters of Davao City since time immemorial: undying loyalty. That undying loyalty has resulted in multiple terms as mayor and vice mayor in Davao City for both Sara and her father, Rodrigo Duterte, as well as a congressional seat for Paolo Duterte in Davao City's 1st District, a congressional seat for Omar Vincent Duterte in the 2nd District, and a council seat for Rodrigo "Rigo" Duterte II. And guess who's the current mayor now? Yup. The supposed vice mayor, Baste Duterte, who had to take over for his father because a cardboard cutout really won't cut it as the city's head honcho, can it? (Although that actually gives you pause, doesn't it? I mean, how many degrees better as mayor, really, is Baste than a cardboard cutout anyway?)

The Marcos administration, it turned out, had other plans other than undying loyalty to Sara and the Dutertes. Sara was caught off guard when Martin Romualdez, Bongbong's cousin, stripped her of her confidential funds -- barely a year after the tandem "won" the elections by a landslide. And the unraveling was swift, which included Sara threatening to hire a hitman to go after (and threatening to, of all things, behead) her boss, culminating in that same embarrassed, emasculated boss allowing (or ordering?) Nicolas Torre to whisk off the elder Duterte in a waiting private plane and fly him to the Hague.

So speaking of loyalty: as expected, after the announcement, the rabid DDS horde has been making noise on the socials and beating the war drums. You dare pick on our Tatay and his family, expecting no retaliation? Just you wait. Hooboy, just you wait. Just you wait for 2028. (Yo Dutertards, that's pretty catchy, huh? "Just you wait for 2028." You're welcome.)

From what I've gathered by observing the non-Davao City DDS in their natural habitat (I know a lot of Cebuano Dutertards, so I know whereof I speak, or write), this loyalty is borne out of a desire to have someone in charge who's uncompromising -- follow me, follow my orders, or you're fucked.

You know the type: the Rodrigo Duterte who murdered thousands in his drug war, the Sara Duterte who beat up a court sheriff on live camera for doing his job, the Paolo Duterte caught on CCTV footage pulling out a knife at a bar and threatening a businessman, and the thirtysomething Baste Duterte who challenged the fiftysomething Torre to a fistfight only to chicken out at the last minute.

This type of loyalty is worrisome. These people know that Digong killed thousands. They know that Sara plundered her confidential funds (remember her spending P125 million in a span of 11 days, and explaining that part of the expenses was a "tree-planting activity"? The fuck were you planting anyway, Taylor Swift's pubic hair?). They don't care that there are rumors of Paolo being a member of the Hong Kong Triad. And, more importantly, they don't give a flying fuck that Ellen Adarna dumped Baste.

These type of people can't be reasoned with. They have a singular goal: to bring the Dutertes back in power by voting for Sara in 2028 -- come hell or (ghost-project flood-control) high water.

Remember that famous quote by Kyle Reese in Terminator 1, when -- tired, hungry, and on the run -- he was trying to explain to a terrified Sarah Connor that the cyborg hunting them is not human and can't be negotiated with?

"Listen and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop . . . ever, until you are dead!"

Listen and understand: these die-hard Dutertards are out there, and they can't be reasoned with. They don't feel empathy or shame. They are devoid of humanity. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until another Duterte burns the country to the ground. As long as it's "their" Duterte. 

When James Cameron wrote the character of the Terminator, he focused on its unwavering, unrelenting loyalty to Skynet, a hostile AI program that became self-aware and vowed to wipe out the human race. While trying to escape the machine and bring Connor to safety, Reese managed to burn off the T-800's living tissue and skin, and blow off its midsection with a pipe bomb -- at the cost of his own life. Still, the Terminator pursued Connor, acting on Skynet's command. That's the thing with Terminators, regardless of the model, from the T-800 to the T-X -- they are loyal to a fault, and the only way to stop them is to turn them off. Which Connor -- played by the iconic Linda Hamilton -- did by crushing its CPU, flattening the cyborg in a hydraulic press.

"That's loyalty for you," I could picture Cameron saying out loud, alone, while writing his screenplay.

Oh, James. Obviously you haven't met a Dutertard.

Sara is counting on something that she and the Dutertes could always count on from the registered voters of Davao City since time immemorial, and now from the registered Dutertard voters not only in the Philippines but also around the world: undying, unwavering, unrelenting loyalty.