elections as gnashing and pulling of teeth

I had a wisdom tooth pulled out a week ago and it was not a pleasant experience. Worst, me and the dentist to decide to leave a tooth fragment in. This is when strong teeth is a disadvantage. There was much pulling, must drilling and much pain. Towards the end of the procedure, the anesthesia began to wear off and I was willing very tired and weary. I actually felt the last two of the three stitches on my gums. Thankfully, i am close to ending my diet of soft food and pain killers.

To go with the pain and agony of having my wisdom tooth pulled out, I had to endure the anguish of watching Philippine elections unfold. Each occasion of electoral violence and vote buying felt like my tooth being drilled all over again. kakangilo.

The Philippine National Police sure did its darnest best to characterize the last elections as peaceful. But i don’t suppose 150 plus people killed can be considered peaceful by any means imaginable. While lower than 2004’s 180 plus people dead, one life is just too many. Thankfully, media did not buy the spin.

But can there ever be peaceful elections in the Philippines? obviously, the Comelec has done zilch in assuring no one gets killed. In fact, it might have even promoted the bloodshed by issuing all those exemptions of all those guns to all those politicians. If my recollection is right, the Comelec gave out around 20,000 exemptions. A total gun ban is the only way to reduce the bloodshed. All guns should, without exemption, be in the hands of only the police and military.

It seems the PNP did nothing in stamping out private armies, members of whom are adept at hiding. Stamping out private armies seems to be the only sure way to control rabid followers of politicians who will just as easily whack someone for their patron. I have heard stories of a list compiled by the PNP. Now if the national police has already identified politicians who are keeping private armies, then what is the PNP waiting for? The task force formed to go after private armies? i heard not a peep from them the whole elections. It didn’t help they were avoiding the press.

As i write this, special elections are underway in Lanao province. Sadly, the holding of the elections here in this troubled province is a reflection and a result of how bad the Comelec handled the 2004 elections. These people should not be allowed to handle the 2010 elections, or this country is really in trouble. Friend Tony Velasquez on ANC says the Lanao is one of the most disorderly this election year. That is putting it mildly i think. I’ve been to Mindanao and I have marveled at the beauty of the landscape which provides a sharp contrast to the violence.

I spotted an interview with Julkipli Wadi of UP’s Islamic Studies where he said people in Mindanao don’t take elections seriously because they don’t feel the national government is doing anything for the quality of their lives. But, it can be argued, isn’t that what you have the local governments for?

A friend who writes for another broadsheet told me that local elections there are so intense because local officials feel an entitlement to funds from the national government, at the expense of public services. This might be a simplistic observation not supported by any facts. But if that were the case, politicians in Mindanao seems to me no different from a politician in either Luzon or Visayas. On the other hand, I am sure there are responsible officials in Mindanao who care about their constituents. But like most things in this country, they are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Time to take my painkillers.

new stuff, technolust, and a bouncing baby

Its a miracle I still remember my username and password for this blog account. It has been awhile, so maybe some updates are in order.

First off, I have been shipped out of the education beat and I am now covering the PNP. I was brought in to pinch hit around October when Luige left for the US. But lo and behold, in the next reshuffle last January, I was made to stay. The pace here is faster and it has been quite an effort just to keep up. The stress level has gone up but I am managing. I have to constantly remind myself to keep focused and keep with the pace. Although, truth to tell, I would have wanted a smaller beat, like the few stray beats in QC (DILG, COA, CHR) or the health beat because I think stories there have more impact than the “glorification” of the PNP generals. But don’t get me wrong, some of them are quite nice.

Before I left the education beat, my little boy Anton came into my life. To be honest, I had always felt a little detached in the past when my male friends start going on about how wonderful their little tykes are. Now, I can totally relate, especially the part when they say “naalis pagod ko pagnakikita ko baby ko” and “nagmamadali nga ako pauwi para makita ko si Junior.”

Our childbirth story is enough to fill one blog entry. I hope to accomplish this when I have more time to give it more justice.

Moving on, lately, the office has thankfully come to its senses and issued us the new Macbooks. We managed to convince them that if they didn’t want viruses prowling around our office system, they should get us the Macs. I must say that its been a blast using these things. In terms of user-friendliness and “eyecandy-ness” nothing beats a Mac.

Just a few days after I got the Mac, I was able to score a free Nokia E61 from my network’s retention program. Despite the lack of a camera, this phone is very useful. It has wifi and surfing the Net is effortless and amazing. I was aiming for the Treo, since I think it has a better build than the fragile Nokias. But the Treos dont have wifi as of yet. I’ve already replaced the stock memory card for a 1 gig card for larger storage room. Truly, this is what our computers have become.

So now, I can safely safe, without a shadow of a doubt, my life is complete. Except for my tiresome beat. haha