So now, since my wife calls me by another name (the sound emitted by a certain farm animal), and all but a few friends in Philly call me "Benito", "Happy" seems to be fading fast.

I guess this is when I start to miss it.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has inflamed tension with the Philippines, suggesting it acted like a "marshmallow" and provoking a formal protest from Manila.

The Philippines will demand Australia's ambassador attend a dressing-down today, following similar action by Spain yesterday over Mr Downer's claim that its withdrawal from Iraq had also encouraged terrorists.

No reason to get hurt. Australia is still reeling from the fact that Bush had them sold on the war and finding WMDs. Not that we weren't, and indeed, had Angelo dela Cruz not been hostaged, we might have stayed in Iraq to please our American friends. Whatever the reason, we have now joined the coalition of the unwilling. And that's okay by me. You don't burn the house down to catch a mouse, Mr. Bush.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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I, the anti ruffa does not make sira to your idol. She is the one who made ruined her so called reputations. She is the bitch diva who has a thing for money. ( thats why she went to brunei to find her rich prince but she ended up in turkey ). She wants to be known as a best actress but the scam did not work either and yes she got away with it by paying someone of course, and last but not least she is the bitch diva who does not care for other people feelings especially her poor assistants who does everything for her. She is nothing but a liar liar bitch and I believe in saying what goes around, comes around.

Aaah, but can she sing like a diva?

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Pero mas nagulat ako na ama na pala si Tonton Gutierrez sa isang "baby girl" sa asawa nyang (dapat linawin na asawa, ahem) si Glydel Mercado (na nakita ko na na ubod nang laki ang mga mata). Ang pangalan daw ay "Aneeza", na pinagsamang pangalan ng dalawang magulang. Diba dapat "Tondel" o kaya ay "Glyton"? Ang gulo!

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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As de la Cruz ponders on these questions and on his future, he is very sure of one thing, according to press reports. He would till a two-hectare farm and go back to farming, just like what an entire generation of de la Cruzes had done before him. My brotherly advise to him is No. Forget it. Find another overseas job but work in a country with the least of work-related hazards. Don’t go back to farming unless your agenda is to live on a hand-to-mouth existence. And unless you want to starve your eight kids.

I am a farmer myself and I will tell you why.

The Filipino farmer generally lives a wretched life. That we are the wretched of the earth is an apt description on who we are.

"Wretched" is a strong word. I would normally use it only to describe non-human conditions, such as the taste of coffee from a vending machine or, say, a movie. To call the life of the Filipino farmer -- all Filipino farmers -- as "wretched" is to me both desultory and self-defeating.

Sure, I may be too optimistic for my own good, farmers do have it hard in the Philippines, maybe even hopeless in many cases. The numbers sure seem helpless:

The Filipino farmer generally lives a wretched life. That we are the wretched of the earth is an apt description on who we are. For example, a typical rice farmer gets P15,000 a year, per hectare, net. The most efficient rice farmer nets roughly P35,000 to P40,000 per hectare, a year. At the most, the two hectares of Angelo will give him P80,000 net a year from rice farming. Filipino truck drivers overseas can ear that amount in two months or less.

But "wretched", to my mind, is also destitute, even worthless, almost void of pride. Certainly those qualities do not fully describe the Filipino farmer, an individual so downtrodden but not without dignity? One would, publicly, reserve the words "wretched of the earth" to describe other more abominable beings. For example, for irresponsible columnists with sticks up their asses.

If the point of the article, hence, is to discourage Angelo dela Cruz from returning to his farming roots, can it not be done without slamming and dissing on the Filipino farmer? I have relatives, friends and in-laws who are farmers, yet the thought of them being in a "wretched" state is far from their mind. Everyone's had hard times, but if you call yourself "wretched of the earth" you might be so utter a failure that you can't even believe that better times are ahead. Admitting you are a loser will no doubt make you one.

Of course, I cannot argue with Mr. Ronquillo if he so believes -- being a farmer himself -- that the life of a Filipino farmer is indeed "wretched". How I wish it was at least a bit more bearable for him, that way he might have stuck to farming and saved us the bloated self-pity of his Sunday column.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:03 PM | Permalink
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Having said that, it also needs to be said that Joan Allen is not too shabby for a 48 year old. And, for you LOTR fans out there, here's a chance for you to see your beloved Carl Urban in action again, armed but unmounted.

The best part of Bourne Supremacy is its tightly-written and tensely twisting script, a requirement, apparently, of Damon, who was only interested in doing a sequel to Identity if the script was rock-solid. Indeed, it was, keeping the audience guessing at every turn what the lead will do next, how the CIA will react -- and who will get popped.

And, if for some reason you can't see the entire movie, see it for the car chase scene at the end. Better than Ronin (Audi, 'nuf said), better than French Connection (a Pontiac chasing a train!), better than The Transporter (one BMW, a fleet of Peugeots, and a bunch of car sick bank robbers). Bourne speeds through Moscow with a broken leg, a bullet in his shoulder and a bottle of vodka in The Little Taxi That Could. That handbrake is your friend in this car chase where, it seems, the threshold for human pain has been stretched to an airbag-less world. Damon's Bourne is both indestructible and determined: really about the only two things needed to pull off Jason Bourne. All in all, a well-made movie that's worth every heart-pounding minute.

Although Ultimatum was the weakest of the Bourne series, I can't wait to see it made.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:17 AM | Permalink
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"A new world record has been set in the 100 meter dash,” Leno said on his television show Wednesday. “It was set by Filipino troops fleeing Iraq.”

The other night Leno made fun of the fact that the Philippines only had 51 soldiers:

“Fifty-one? P Diddy has a bigger posse than that. ‘Come on, everybody in the Humvee. We’re leaving,’ “

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:34 PM | Permalink
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Everdearest kris,

I am like you.. Loving without buts and ifs..without conditions..fully trusting..always the second best..but it is said what is due to Juan should be for him.
I always watch and try to update myself with your situation through TFC here in Dubai. i am not a hypocrite nor a saint but as I could analyze it.. YOU ARE A VERY STRONG WOMAN WITH ALL THE EXCELLENT TALENTS..
I admire you for being so honest and brave enough to ask forgiveness for the people youve hurt and for giving lessons for the people who are trying to use you. GMA MUST PAY FOR THAT..DONT LET THEM STEP OVER YOU..
Nevertheless let the courts decide and judge. Dont say a single word against them but try to leave everything to your lawyer.
I know that you trying to straighten your life..JUST HOLD ON and STAND FIRM ON YOUR PRINCIPLE AND HAVE FAITH IN GOD.

Inspiration for those needing it.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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I do however have something interesting: I've started a 2 glasses of wine a day policy, to help me sleep at night. The 7:30 schedule means I have to start my day at 5:15 or so, since the train ride's about 45 minutes. Fabulous invention, this wine in a box, it's like I have Merlot on tap! Stays fresh, and you can keep drinking.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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On a lighter note, CNN.com's website had this picture in its index page:

I believe that's BAYAN leader and former POLSCI 10 classmate Teddy Casino, no doubt later troubled by the premature celebrations. Can anyone verify this?

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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His is a different form of celebrity -– not the regular kind that comes with entertainers, or the kind that attends notoriety -– but it is a form that celebrates his good looks even as his origins are alluded to, then discursively erased. In the warped world of Philippine politics and its happy entanglement with entertainment, the lack of retributive justice – encapsulated here in Borgy’s stardom -– is the appalling failure on the part of the government (in collusion with the media, and the amnesiac fans) to learn from the errors of history. To see the smiling face of Borgy is to see the face of his grandfather laughing.

I, too, dislike the fact that Borgy, like the rest of the Marcoses, walk untramelled by the sins of their past. Indeed, Borgy may not have been to blame, but he must feel at least ashamed. Or, has his mother taught him so well? (And Tim Yap, former Benetton (see Gift Gate) model turned columnist -- or the other way around -- gives Borgy's Swatch endorsement even more irony.)

Does it hurt more to think that Borgy once dated Sarah Meier?

Read The Wily Filipino here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Three armed and masked men stood behind the seated hostage, threatening to kill him if the Philippines doesn't pull out within three days. A banner on the wall behind them identified the captors as a previously unknown group, the Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin al-Waleed Corps.

Read about it here.

It's not really the 50 or so military personnel we've sent -- that doesn't compare to the 4,100 Filipinos working in the U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:35 PM | Permalink
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1. Imelda, the movie, has apparently been hit by a restraining order and is on appeal at the SC for reversal for having such absurd grounds too delicious and vile (at the same time!) to mention here. Ew-ew-ew. Imelda, the person, has made it her birthday wish for the SC to stop showing the movie for good. Okay to show "The Passion", even if it is at face anti-Semitist. But not okay to show Imelda, the movie (okay that's the last time), because it's about the loathsome, crude and shamelessly entertaining life of the wife of the former dictator.

2. Jinggoy apparently didn't get a Senate office. Hint hint.

3. And, pandesal now costs a whopping P2 per piece. I remember it at two for P1, and Coke (sa plastic) was P1 too. The good news is the pandesal, says the Philippine Federation of Bakers Association (wha?), is now bigger and heavier.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:52 PM | Permalink
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Maybe I should turn Freelance Philippines into a bulletin board for celebrity chitchat. Seems like people are more interested in gossip and rant than trying to make a buck. :-(

Hey, creative pros, where you at?

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:03 AM | Permalink
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