A survey released by GlobeScan and the University of Maryland’s Program on International Study Attitudes last September (2004) showed the Philippines as George W. Bush’s strongest stronghold among the very few countries around the world who favor him over Sen. John Kerry for the US Presidency.

Are we this seriously out of touch with the rest of the world? I am ashamed.

Sinamahan ko si Mama kanina sa New Era University. Habang pinagmamasdan ko ang ganda at linis ng unibersidad ng mga Iglesia, napaisip ako. Sa dinamirami ng taga-Iglesia at iba pang mga fundamentalist Christians, mga sarado at hipokritong Katoliko dito sa Pilipinas, sa tingin ko hindi ko maitutuloy ang dati kong pangarap tumakbo sa pagka-presidente ng bansang ito. Magkakatalunan lang kami on ‘moral’ issues. Never mind if I would have had excellent credentials or if I would have offered a sound economic and nationalistic platform. I definitely wouldn’t get their votes. Not when I have nothing against legalizing such things as regulated prostitution, recreational drug-use, artificial contraceptives or homosexual unions. It really ticks me off when I debate with someone and he/she begins drawing references from the Bible or religious and moralistic traditions. I really hate how many organized religions in this country take the government hostage and force them to implement policies based on their moral beliefs. There are times I wish I was European. You may call some of them ‘immoral’ but they appear so much better off than us. Don’t get me wrong, I am personally more traditional and Catholic than you think. But see, it’s just that, a personal matter and choice. Others should be entitled to their own choices of lifestyle too. I may not agree with their choices, but it shouldn’t be my business as long as they’re not doing me or other people any harm.

[Post-Script: Oct. 9, 2004, 20:20] Here’s something from US Sen. John Kerry from the US presidential debate this morning (Philippine time).

I’m a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy. Religion has been a huge part of my life. It helped lead me through a war, leads me today.

But I can’t take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn’t share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can’t do that.

Okay, I’m now using OpenOffice to do my papers. It’s an open-source software that can rival MS Office. The best thing is it’s free. And it’s open source! Meaning… it’s free of corporate watchamacallit. It can open and edit your MS .doc, .xls and .ppt files too, just as you can with MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, so that’s great too. I’m liking it so far! It’s just a ~40mb download. I can’t believe this is for free

[via Prem’s blog]

Dumalo ako sa thesis presentation at defense kanina ng mga film majors ngayong sem. Kasama dun ‘yung kay Kuya David na short film na ginanapan ko. Grabe, ang hirap pigilan ang mga kamay kong takpan ang mga mata ko. Gusto kong matunaw habang pinapalabas ‘yung pelikula!! Nung tumili ‘yung ilang manonood nung kissing scene, halos makitili na rin ako sa kanila (pero hindi sa kilig). Wala akong masabi! Gusto kong magtalukbong ng kumot!! Pero, sa totoo, ang galing nung pelikula. Pero… ah, damn, nahihiya talaga ako, kahit na sabihin nilang hindi ko dapat ikahiya. Na magaling naman daw ‘yung pag-arte. Ewan ko, siguro hiya is not the right word. Iba lang talaga ang pakiramdam kapag pinapanood mo sarili mong umaarte, at alam mong may ibang nanonood. Parang nasasagwaan ako na ewan. Maybe it’s a personal bias, na alam kong hindi ko ginagawa sa totoong buhay ‘yung ginawa ko as my character, kaya nasasagwaan ako nung nakikita ko ‘yung sarili kong ganun umasta. Parang, ang sagwang pinapanood ko sarili kong naninigarilyo, umaastang-siga, at ‘yung iba pa. Basta. Anupaman, congratulations sa ‘ting lahat na naging bahagi ng production na ito, lalu na s’yempre sa ating butihing direktor!! Galing!

Anyway, moving on. It’s less than seventeen hours before I have to submit 5 papers due tomorrow. I had weeks to do this and I’m cramming them all in one night. I got off from school last Friday, and between then and now, I didn’t even finish any of the five. Pero meron na ‘kong isang natapos na kanina ko na pinasa, so I actually had 6 papers to do. Damn, I never got out of this habit. So high school. See, I even alot time to blog about it. But hey, I guess I just thrive and bloom under pressure. I can do this. I’ve done this so many times, I can do it again this time. After tomorrow, it’ll all be over and I’ll be finally on a full-scale sembreak.

‘Wag akong tularan.

Wala na ‘kong pasok. Last class ko na ‘yung KAS 1 class ko nung Biyernes. But I’m not officially on sembreak yet. Gatambak na papers ang kailangan kong tapusin at ipasa bago mag-Huwebes. Kaya ‘to. I have three days to do them.