The Blue Eagles Soar

I may hail from the land of the UP Fighting Maroons, but my next favorite UAAP team in the league is the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

And I would like to congratulate these Atenean cagers for snatching the championship title from the beleaguered De La Salle Green Archers in this season's UAAP Games.

Di man lang pinaabot ng Game 3 ang UAAP Finals. These guys literally creamed the Archers, foiling any attempt of the latter to regain their crown.

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The Season 71 finals of the UAAP was probably the most-attended one after a long time, considering that it was the Eagles and the Archers renewing their age-old grudge match on the basketball court. It was something reminiscent of the old Crispa-Toyota games in the 70s that saw the Araneta Coliseum filled to the rafters with cheering fans.

You Atenistas should really be so proud of yourselves now -- and you deserve to be. You got a very strong team this year.

But we Iskos and Iskas will be meeting you guys head-on in other battlefields: debate and law school. Let's see who among us gets ground into minced meat the next time we meet.

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My previous paragraph reminds me of a joke I heard from way back when I was still a struggling undergrad in UP Diliman. It goes this way:

Two college guys -- an Atenean and a UP guy -- take a pee using the CR cubicles. The Atenean goes first, then while he turns to the sink to wash his hands, the UP guy uses the facilities, comes out, picks up his bag, and gets ready to leave the CR.

With a disgusted expression on his face, the Atenean says, "Yuck, you UP guys are so disgusting -- not even bothering to wash your hands after using the CR!"

The UP guy turns to the Atenean, smirks, and replies, "That's because we UP guys don't pee on our hands."

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College rivalries... I miss them...

Damn Proud

Parang kailan lang, we were fresh UP graduates trying to make a name for ourselves in media. He was an artist, I was a writer. Something developed between us then (No Einstein, it wasn't a picture!), and although it didn't work, he'll always have a special place in my heart.

Many years later, he's in Singapore still doing what he loves best: making his art. And I'm...well...languishing in the urban jungles of Cebu, still as an unnamed writer/spammer. He has really made a name for himself, and I'm so damn proud to have been part of this guy's life.

Please visit this link to The Manila Times online edition and you'll see what I mean.

Manny Francisco, bilib ako sa 'yo!

The Good, the True, and the Beautiful

All you Martial Law babies out there who would like to reminisce "the good, the true, and the beautiful" would really appreciate this.

It's a website dedicated to this wonderful icon of Dekada 70 who -- together with her equally dashing husband -- so wonderfully led this nation to an era of darkness, fear, and despondency. Check out The Wit and Wisdom of Imelda Marcos.

And don't forget to also click on the links there.

A word of warning especially for those from my generation: have your fill of antacid before browsing through this. It may just cause unnecessary attacks of hyperacidity. hekhekhek...

Sayang, Mang Pandoy

Mang Pandoy is dead.

For those not aware who Mang Pandoy is, he was the "mascot" of Pres. Fidel Ramos when the latter decided to give a prominent face to represent the impoverished Filipinos of that time.

In fairness to Mang Pandoy, he properly played the role until his death.

He lived poor. He still died poor. And probably, this will also be the same fate the rest of us are destined to have.

Mang Pandoy did experience a breather during Ramos' term when he was given a consultant position in the House of Representatives. His children were given scholarships, they were given a small piggery, and it even came to a point when he was given a co-hosting stint in a television show.

But when Ramos' term ended, so did all the giving. And Mang Pandoy, for his part, faded into the background and reverted back to his isang-kahig-isang-tuka ways.

Is there a lesson to be learned in all this?

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I can't blame the former president, or any president for that matter, for not following through with the charity provided. After all, government can only do so much to help the poor.

Mechanisms have been built to provide the impoverished many with means to help them in helping themselves. However, a lot of these people deem it much easier to just wait for alms from government. Thus, they mishandle livelihood projects, loan more money from their respective cooperatives than they can repay, and misuse logistics meant as rolling funds for sustainable and/or capability-building programs.

At the end of the day, they go back to Square One: still as dirt-poor as ever.

And then, we'll be seeing these people on TV whining to the president to help them with their day-to-day problems. "Presidente Gloria, tulungan naman po ninyo kaming mga mahihirap." Geez...

The president, through her different government agencies, did try to help. It was just that either many of them were too busy squandering whatever money they had for drinking sprees, or making babies.

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My assessment of Mang Pandoy's fate was that he simply had no idea what to do with the newly-found opportunities that came his way. Perhaps the lack of education became a factor to his "downfall," but that could have been remedied when his children continued with their studies and eventually graduated.

Notwithstanding, it is evident that a blatant mishandling of opportunities led to Mang Pandoy's return to poverty.

Sayang.

Animal Cruelty as only Humans could Do It

Look at this video and tell me what kind of heartless being could so such a thing:



I have seven six-week old kittens of my own right now, and I just couldn't imagine them suffering such a cruel fate like this.

Sometimes, situations like this reinforce my opinion that animals make better companions than humans...