I didn’t quite follow my resolve to take photo chronicles for each of the twenty last school days.

Anyway, the past school week was stressful. It was when most of the last high shcool projects’ deadlines piled up. The most stressful project of all was the Physics chain reaction project. I’m not really into manually making projects that have to move as designed. We used the holiday last Wednesday to cram the project which was due the following day. We did the project at Rene’s house in Antipolo.

By Thursday, I was embarrassed with our slipshod project. It was just a bunch of cardboard boxes and styro piled into one junk. Haha.
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It’s just wrong. Next time, even an acting president shouldn’t be allowed to run for the presidency for a fresh new term. I see no difference from the constitutional ban on full-term incumbents. The incumbent president will always have the full powers of the influential Palace.

Palace hand seen in survey results. [From The Manila Times, February 26, 2004]

How can that be when the same survey said that 72 percent of those polled will not vote for [Mrs. Arroyo]. That means that 72 percent plus 31.9 percent [Mrs. Arroyo’s rating] is more than 100 percent. Ibig sabihin, wala na ring undecided� [Senator Panfilo] Lacson said.

…

[KNP Spokesman Mike] Romero said that Pulse Asia’s survey was intended to condition the minds of voters for an Arroyo victory, which is possible only through a wholesale poll cheating.

I don’t like surveys either, especially when many Filipino voters vote largely based on their candidate’s winnability, which makes them not vote for who they truly want. Sponsored surveys have the vulnerability to become political tools used to fool and sway voters to vote for certain politicians.

Palace denies raid on P500M student fund. [From Malaya, February 26, 2004]. Okay, so the Palace says it’s blatant falsehood. That’s all they can say? That’s the problem. So you say that it’s part of her ‘job’ to dole out government-spent privileges to the most needy. Why so many right now when you’re campaigning at the same time? We cannot distinguish any more. (Besides, doling out is the least of a President’s job. If she wanted to do her job as President, there are so many other things she can and should do).

Palace in mad scramble to cover up NEA mess. [From The Daily Tribune, February 26, 2004].

Sanchez, however, stressed that the agency has been practically shut down and that the employees, numbering 133, not 158 as announced by Bueno, were hired in the past two weeks to enable Malacanang and NEA management to cover their tracks.

…

Sanchez also last Tuesday dared Malaca�ang and NEA to prove their claim that the agency is functioning under normal circumstances by allowing the media to inspect the supposedly operating main and regional offices.

See? Some provisions must be added to the Constitution, banning acting presidents to run for the position they are filling in. They still are, incumbents, with the same powers to abuse just as any full-term President has. Plus, it gets really annoying when several people keep insisting that we should just elect (NOT re-elect) Gloria Arroyo for the lame sake of continuity. Continuity of what? Rampant corruption among her minions? Inefficiency in governance? It wouldn’t be good if we keep changing presidents, they say. Well, that’s the point of our democracy. I guess you’d rather have monarchs and dictators then?

Oh, there’s more to Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo’s desperation to grab another six-years to her term as President than P100 million in diverted funds.

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita, concurrently chairman of the administration Lakas-NUCD party in his home province of Batangas, could not make any immediate disclosure of the NDCC disbursements despite the fact that he has all the audit reports.

“But it seems that Ermita is in hiding, because that (P100-million missing funds) is only the tip of the iceberg, and he is afraid that other diversions might be dug up,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.

[from The Daily Tribune, February 24, 2004]

Pres. Arroyo also recently abolished the National Electrification Administration by terminating 700 NEA officials from all its 12 regional offices. But, its billion-peso worth budget is still there, ready to be used for whatever purposes the President deems necessary.

The NEA budget amounting to P3.119 billion is feared to be utilized by the Arroyo administration to perk up the presidential campaign kitty.

This was disclosed yesterday by former NEA administrator Noel Sanchez as he charged that the termination of NEA’s 700 employees is part of the administration’s plan in preparation for the May national elections.

…

Sanchez said in the 2003 budget, NEA was given a P450-million subsidy from Congress, P150 million of which was used for its electrification efforts in hundreds of barangays all over the country. NEA then had a savings of P300 million in 2003.

With the reenactment of the 2003 budget, a fresh P450-million subsidy is again infused in NEA but with the agency closed, the subsidy plus the P300 million in savings of last year will be considered as savings scheduled for realignment for whatever purpose the President deems.

“That would amount to P750 million in subsidy plus the more than P600 million for workers’ salaries amounting to P1.35 billion ready for disposal anytime even during the election period,” Sanchez pointed out.

[from The Daily Tribune, February 24, 2004]

Also part of the dirty tricks is the alleged Oplan Bawas, in connection with the administration’s ‘Votes for freedom‘ deal with Moro National Liberation Front chairman, Nur Misuari.

The second stage of the three-step subplan of Oplan Bawas, a Malaca�ang-inspired plot to grab victory at all costs through the electoral route with the active participation of four loyal police and military Arroyo generals, is now operational, with newly appointed National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, confirming an agreement to get former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chieftain Nur Misauri released from detention by dropping the rebellion charges against him has been forged with the administration.

[from The Daily Tribune, February 24, 2004]

But of course, the Palace has rebutted all of these allegations.

MALACANANG on Monday said it has no power to order the dismissal of cases against leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and thus clear the way for a resumption of peace negotiations.

[from The Manila Times, February 24, 2003]

Uh, duh? Your own political strategist (who is at the same time, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director), General Norberto Gonzales confirmed the alleged deal at a gathering in Marawi City.

Oh, and there’s more to her desperation than doling out land-titles to shanty dwellers.

[House Minority Leader Rep. Carlos] Padilla, quoting Palace informants, said Arroyo gave P20,000 each to municipal mayors, P10,000 to barangay chairmen and yet undisclosed amounts to barangay councilmen (kagawad).

Sen. Panfilo Lacson. LDP presidential bet, said the report was confirmed to him by a barangay chairman in Quezon City.

[from Malaya, February 24, 2004]

Why vote for someone this desperate?

The Daily Tribune has been manifesting an angry bias against Pres. Gloria Arroyo for the past months (well, I only started reading a couple of months ago), publishing exclusive stories and opinions against her. That’s why I like them. Too bad they don’t get too much exposure.

P100-M calamity funds missing, �diverted� to GMA�s poll coffers.

This is aside from the new government-paid public service ads, and the reeenactment of the national bugget. She gives away land titles spent on by the government during her campaigns! Government vehicles are being used to transport crowds at her rallies. Her campaign contributors have been appointed at the Commission on Elections! She will do anything to win! And she’s using government resources at her disposal. Will you vote for someone like her? Anybody who wants the presidency so much should not be entrusted with the position.

I am scared of an FPJ presidency. But I am scared even more of a Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo one.

Deadlines for our year-end school projects begin tomorrow. Kaya ‘to!!

We didn’t have classes today as a reward for reaching our yearbook fund drive class quota. So anyway, I spent most of the day sleeping and starting on some of our many year-end academic projects.

Now that I’ve passed UP, it becomes ever more, so much more daunting that I’m going to leave almost all of my classmates in Ateneo come college. It’s daunting because, I’ve never realized how much I’ll miss my classmates and my high school very, very much. Erik, tayong dalawa lang sa UP. That’s so sad, not because I’m going to be with just him, but because we are not going to be with 41 of our other classmates!

I was looking at our class pictures from first year, and all the pictures I’ve taken since November when I got possession of the digital camera. I was reading through my journal entries, from first year up to now. All I could do was resist the great urge to cry else I’d want to look like some weird freak crying in front of his computer.

For all the secret and not-so-secret bashing I did to some of the stuff I didn’t like among my classmates and Ateneo, I thought it was going to be easy for me to leave. But no! I never realized that these things won’t matter to me now that I’m leaving. Memories came rushing in and those bad misunderstandings never stood out.

I’m known among my teachers and classmates in school for my childlikeness. I think I am going to cry like a little kid come graduation. A little boy who has to leave his family behind.

We had some debate exercises during English class. It wasn’t really serious, so it was all in fun. Heheh.

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The results of the UPCAT were apparently released today at the Diliman Campus. When news of the release got to us, people got frantic calling up their contacts in UP asking them to look for their names etcetera. I asked some of my classmates to ask their contacts to look for my name too.
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