NINONG is going Down, Down, Down…

They sentenced him. Ninong is going down.

Today Joseph Ejercito Estrada, erstwhile president of the Philippines was found guilty of plunder by the nation's anti-graft court. Plunder is a capital offense punishable by Reclusion Perpetua or Life Imprisonment.

Estrada by far will be the highest official, to date to be convicted of plunder.

Malacañang and other government officials will surely welcome this conviction as a victory against graft and corruption.

But is it really a victory?

We are just seeing the proverbial tip of the iceberg here. Cases in point:

-Joey Marquez's alleged 'broomstck scandal'

-Cebu Provincial government's alleged 'lamp post scandal'

-The Arroyo's numerous alleged involvements in contract kickbacks especially in the country's coal shipments.

-Jose Pidal, turning out to be presidential brother-in-law Iggy, who openly admitted he's Pidal. He's now a happy elected congressman.

-The Cojuangcos, Enriles, etc

-and the Marcoses, who have never repented despite the massive pillaging in the history of our country. The Guinness World Records effectively put us in the world map.

Given these things, I don't think we can rejoice yet, not when more 'kapalmuks' are still on the loose. Some says they are all still on 'pwesto' or are controlling these 'pwestos'.

Some says the biggest crook now resides on that historical edifice in the mythical Pasig river. It is not over yet.

Pasensya ka na Ninong, mas malaking aso nakasakmal sayo

Stupid!

Some people are just stupid. Or acting like stupid. Or just a born natural. Plain Stupid with the capital S.

Consider this: You were already told of something not to do thereby informing you also of what is the proper way to do things.

Then you did that thing again which you are not supposed to do.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Miss A is a team leader of a group in this certain company. She was a good first level employee that she was easily promoted to the next level and so on blah blah. During this period she was even groomed to be the next big thing in this group, which in a rollercoaster turn of events she eventually did bagged that coveted position, albeit in a controversial one.

Nice.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

In www.wikipedia.org, Apes are members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. Under the current classification system there are two families of hominoids:

Hylobatidae consists of 4 genera and 12 species of gibbons, including the Lar Gibbon and the Siamang, collectively known as the "lesser apes"

Hominidae consists of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans, collectively known as the "great apes".

In Oxford (www.askoxford.com), apes were defined as: 

  • Noun 1 a large tailless primate of a group including gorillas, chimpanzees, and gibbons. 2 informal; an unintelligent or clumsy person. 

  • Verb imitate in an absurd or unthinking way.

I remembered something funny I almost fell of my chair…

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Again, Miss A acquired the habit of doling out instructions similar to what the late Strongman did during the Martial rule, dispensing orders via the mighty Presidential Decrees or PDs. In this case, she did use the mighty Internet tool called Internet Messaging.

Cool.

However it did backfired. The instructions were not clear (do you really expect that? It’s just a frigging chat!). Now a miscommunication ensued between her and her subordinate.

And she did the abominable. She did that something she was already told not to do (yet). She wielded the mighty email and carbon copied every known god in the topmost hierarchy. The email lambasted the subordinate for not following the mighty instruction wielded out from the mighty IM. The previous order was to attend all matters first at the lowest level, escalating it only when needed. It’s like the Military Chain of Command. You go from point A to point B, then to point C until you get to point E.

She jumped from A to E.

Haha! Stupid…

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Now the funny thing was, the subordinate pointed out that her email differed from what was actually the given instruction in the IM…

Ohmigod…

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Even funnier, realizing the muck she easily put herself in a sorry state, she even requested the subordinate to answer her previous email…

Which the subordinate did.

The bomb blasted through her shielded face exposing her ignorance… a frigging sorry state of affairs…

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Aping has become synonymous with our one of our basic characteristics. It is true that we learn by means of imitation. Babies and toddlers usually do this. In our whole life span we ape what we see and what we hear. The good thing about this type of action is that we learn through it.

Learn is the operative word.

Even in work we imbibe the styles of our superiors once we are at their former positions.

The poor Miss A is a poor mimic, befitting the second noun definition given above:

“Informal; an unintelligent or clumsy person.”

She certainly qualified as such. The looks may be applied to the definition but it’s not worth discussing anymore…

CENOMAR

Ok, kumag level set to a minimum (the very minimum, the Subaudible)….

Fact 1: Nowhere near a Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) made a requirement to contract marriage. http://www.gov.ph/faqs/marriage.asp

Fact 2: A CENOMAR is not a requirement for marriage. It is only essential if you want to be certain that the civil status of the person you are marrying is still single and that he or she is unattached. http://www.weddingsatwork.com/laws_cenomar.shtml

So we did what any law abiding Filipino citizen should do in order to be married.

We applied for CENOMARs.

And because I know nothing about getting documents in our City Hall, I enlisted the help of my Tatay to help me secure these needed documents to contract marriage. Tatay is such an expert with these things (his spider connections helped a lot of people before so why shouldn’t I too?) So while I am still here in Las Piñas, good old Tatay took it upon himself securing a CENOMAR for me so applying for a Marriage License will be in a jiff.

And off to the City Hall we went!

I am not surprised anymore to find literally a mob in the City Hall transacting this and that, people queuing up everywhere to get this and that, blah blah yakityy-yakitty-yakyak…
We didn’t have a hard time getting to the Civil Registry since, ahem, Tatay had lots of acquaintances. So while we were waiting (yes we did wait some time too, city employees are not that many you know) Tatay and I get to chat to pass time. I forgot the exact conversation but I reconstructed it to the best of my knowledge and poor memory; heck I was a dud in memorizing things but this is the nearest that I can get with the gist still juicy…)

Kumag: Hindi naman pala kelangan ng CENOMAR pagkuha ng lisensya (Marriage License) ano?

Tatay: Ha? Kelangan yun ano ka ba? Requirement talaga yan.

Kumag: Hinde ah? Nabasa ko sa Family Code hindi required sa pag-apply. Pero yung iba hinahanap yan tulad ng simbahan o ibang religion.

Tatay: Aba kelangan nga yan, kung hindi kelangan yan eh hindi ka na pakukuhanin nyan…

Tatay’s right. Why would I be required to produce a document like CENOMAR if is not required? He could have looked at me with incredulity and could have been thinking hard if he had succeeded at last in fathering a crazy son (which in some respects he did I think, but that’s another story). To cut the long story short, we were able to secure a marriage application, with the help of our CENOMAR!

Now this is much more perplexing…

Lisette is now having a hard time securing needed Church documents in Batangas. We need this so I can present this in turn to my local Church here in Las Piñas. Reason: She doesn’t have a CENOMAR.

Lisette, ever the smart aleck opined to the kind Church dude that the CENOMAR was submitted to the City Hall in Lucena as a “requirement” to have a Marriage License. Now since the Church will somehow get a hold of the Marriage License, it will no longer be necessary to go through the motions of presenting the CENOMAR, when in fact we can present the Marriage License itself.

Nice Lisette!

Meanwhile, the Church dude said:

“We still need it.”

AAHHRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!! NOSEBLEED!!!

*** Here is the excerpted text in http://www.weddingsatwork.com/laws_cenomar.shtml.

A CENOMAR is not a requirement for marriage. It is only essential if you want to be certain that the civil status of the person you are marrying is still single and that he or she is unattached. This may be important since any marriage contracted while another one is still subsisting is considered as null and void under Article 35 (4) of the Family Code of the Philippines for being bigamous. Moreover, bigamy (the contracting of a second or subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a judgment rendered in the proper proceedings) is also punishable as a crime under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code. So if you have doubts regarding the civil status of your future spouse, it might be a good idea to procure a CENOMAR.

At times, a CENOMAR may be required by certain parishes. It may also be required if your future spouse is applying for a fiancee visa in your behalf. Moreover, Philippine embassies may also require a CENOMAR for Filipino nationals who wish to get married in a foreign country or in the Philippine Embassy within the foreign country.

*** I was thinking why don’t the Family Code require the CENOMAR since it’s being required anyways? ***holes!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!

So my dear org Society of Premed Students celebrated its 17^th founding anniversary with a bang. Jomel told me the feast that happened with Red Horse Beer a flowing…

Without me of course.

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!

It used to be that I am the resident alcoholic of the festivities. I really felt bad I had to turned down numerous invitations, putting the blame on the weather (it was still raining last week). I felt bad I passed the chance to meet new members and enduring (read: old) brods and sisses as well.

A price to pay to be with enteng.

But what the hell, there will be more to come; the org will still be there. Too bad they missed the company of one of the wildest characters to don the white and gold colours of ΣΠΣ, hehe…

Time to tame the old lion down (plus I save 1 more for my liver, hurrah!)

Happy Anniversary pips!
 

Monday, August 20, 2007

fine time

The weather is really taking its toll on people.

The gloomy weather is getting unbearable; my friends are all down like bunnies suddenly having their energizers worn out. Relationships are getting battered too. I have this friend whois on a brink of getting on the edge (maybe the proverbial Saturn Return working its magic on him).

If it’s for better then so be it.

But I like this weather!

I’m picturing myself cuddling beside mami and baby later in the warm embrace of our bed. A hot choco would do too, plus lazily watching HBO amidst the cool breeze and gentle humming of the rains.

Before I dread this weather but I’m liking it now…

If only I could spend a lot of time with them…

Friday, August 17, 2007