My mom, in an effort to market and promote her salon, and to help the barangay’s youth council, sponsored the appearance of Jamilla Obispo and Edgar Allan, um… Guzman during last weekend’s annual sagala in our part of town. It’s the time of the year when girls and some drag queens who feel like it, dress up and walk all around town in an evening parade, with brass marching bands and all those fireworks. Oh, and it’s also when young girls and boys get forced by their parents to get made up and dressed to be shown off like some trophies. Whew, I remember being an escort in one of these parades years ago when I was an ignorant preschooler.

As expected, people trooped to the streets to see the celebrities, and some of the local girls. Lots of people in this town would troop to the plaza just to see even someone like Jimmy Santos or Pokwang or Chokoleit. It’s crazy. Watching spectators was a spectacle for me. I wasn’t able to take that much pictures, however.

Just a few blog entries before we leave for the US in a few hours.

It’s been a week since elections were held in the Philippines. And true, there appears to be numerous things to be content with. There’s this redeeming feeling in the triumph of opposition senatorial candidates over those of President Gloria Arroyo’s, though there is still the very obvious attempt by the present administration at manipulating the final results. There’s also delight in seeing new actors defeating traditional actors in the political arena in various local elections around the country.

Mong Palatino of Kabataan Party, however, recently wrote about how though there are instances where there appears to be progress in the way our democratic elections are held and conducted, we should not be illusioned into believing that our democracy is “finally working”. That though once in a while traditional oligarchs are defeated in some localities, hundreds more continue to reign in many other parts of the country. He likened our politicians to burgers, coke and fries. Regularly, consumers are offered variations and additional sauces and whatnot. But they are still burgers, coke and fries. In the same way, traditional actors simply morph and rebrand or repackage themselves–say, as youthful and idealistic new breeds–but continue to be the same kind of bureaucrats their forefathers actually were.

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My family and I are leaving for the US for a vacation next week. I can’t wait. I really need a break. This summer has not allowed me to rest. From internship, to org work, to frat duties.

Though I am not able to vote, the past elections season has also been quite interesting for me. Aside from helping out in the campaign for Kabataan Party in the party list elections, I also got involved in the campaign of some brods in the Upsilon who were running in their respective localities. Whew. I feel like a political hopper. It was quite an experience.

By the way, democratic participation doesn’t end in elections. I got quite annoyed when one of my acquaintances made the comment, “you don’t have a right to complain if you don’t vote.” As if non-voters, even children, don’t pay taxes through VAT.

KA - Karapatan sa Edukasyon at Empleyo (Right to Education and Employment)
BA - Batayang Serbisyong Panlipunan (Basic Social Services)
TA - Talino at Galing sa Pamamahala (Excellence in Governance)
AN - Anak ng Bayan para sa Maningning na Kinabukasan (Sons and Daughters of the Nation for a Bright Future)

Our future IS our choice.

This coming May 14, vote for honest officials, for principled leadership and for change. Now more than ever is the time for the youth to be involved.

Vote for KABATAAN PARTY-LIST. Tayo naman sa Kongreso!

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Two of the three major student political parties in UP Diliman conducted their own mock elections this week. KAISA, held theirs last Monday. ALYANSA, on the other hand, held theirs yesterday.

Both elections showed the same set of twelve candidates in the winning circle, with some variations in ranking.

Last Sunday some brods and I were asked to go to Cavite to offer assistance to an alumni brod, Boying Remulla, in his congressional re-election bid. Though there are some issues wherein I don’t agree with Mr. Remulla, helping him was perfectly fine for me. Especially when his opponent is one of the President’s men, and that his propaganda have saturated the entire district. It felt quite tokenistic, though, since I doubt our giving out flyers to a handful of baranggays will have an impact.

I found it quite sad that a majority of the people whom we were handing flyers to always asked for something–cigarettes, candies, food, anything, when we didn’t have anything to give aside from the pieces of flyers. I guess people really have gotten so used to being given tokens and other such material and financial gifts during campaigns.

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Yesterday, I received more than a dozen forwarded text messages from friends in Mass Comm about a certain abduction that happened that morning within the college’s premises. The victim has not been identified, but witnesses have taken note of the car, which the abductors also seized, and its plate number. Throughout the day I’ve been receiving more than a dozen calls and text messages from friends who asked about my whereabouts or if I was okay.

I highly appreciated the concern, though I sort of wondered why I was one of the first persons that came to their minds. Am I perceived to be that much of an “activist,”? Is it because I’m a frat member and the incident was probably frat-related? Or is it simply because they thought I drive the same car?

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Yes, instead of trooping to the cinemas to see Spider-Man 3 on its first official screening day, I went to Manila, together with some friends from UP and fellow members of Kabataan Party, to join the annual Labor Day celebration and protest of thousands of workers and activists. It was my first May 1 mobilization.

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