what’s bugging me since last week was what happened to four high school students in quezon city who got their basic right to free speech shot down by their school principal.  the case stemmed from the students writing negative stuff in a blog about the school’s policies brought about by the principal herself.  according to news reports, the principal was humiliated in the blog by being called names and made fun of in songs denouncing her administration of the school.  the end result?  the school principal imposed a 10-day suspension on the students which was supposed to take effect this past monday.  although the division of city schools supported the penalty, the department of education overturned the decision and ordered an investigation of the case, thus the students are still going to school pending the results.

as a blogger myself who very openly writes about what i feel about whatever and whoever, i see the imposing of the 10-day suspension by the school principal as a cowardly, irresponsible, narcissistic, and grave abuse of power.  all of us–and i do mean all of us, which includes students–have the right to free speech by saying whatever we want to say.  granted that with free speech comes responsibility, but what if all the allegations of the students are true?  writing stuff about one’s experiences in blogs stems from their own experiences and therefore has merit.  calling people names in blogs is no different from protesters in the streets exercising their right to assemble and call public officials with different names.  as one official in the department of education told a news reporter, “school officials should be open to criticism and not be onion-skinned.”  the school officials in question should broaden their understanding of what was written and not just think of themselves or what people might think of them.  in fact, they should look into these allegations as well.  curbing free speech by punishing people who exercise that very basic right is just the same as being in the 70s when martial law was implemented.

basing on what the reasons the school principal gave on imposing the 10-day suspension, which were “degrading the school and the repuation of it’s officials by malicious statements,” this just goes to show how overly sensitive to criticism most filipinos are.  this brings back similar reactions by “old-school” filipinos to jokes made by foreign television soap operas, talk shows and comedy sketch shows.  looking at all of these, i’m going out on a limb by stating that culturally, filipinos are overly sensitive.  we take jokes about us as insults, and criticism about how we do things as a slap in the face.  no wonder we’re in the state that we’re in!!  we always want to hear the good things.  news flash for all you old-timers who are ultra-conservatives:  good things don’t always sound so good.  in a society that clamors for honesty and transparency, bloggers are slowly being made as the front-liners in making sure that everything that people in power do is in check.  and in today’s age where the minority can be elected to the highest office in the planet, ultra-conservatism has no place here and should learn to adjust like everyone else.

here’s a simple message to the school principal and all the officials of quezon city science high school who were “offended” by the students’ remarks on the blog:  let go of your egos.  instead, take criticism as a way to improve or change what’s needed to be changed.  yes, the word “change” might be overused nowadays, but if we want to really have world-class education–the one we’ve been aiming for–maybe we should start listening to those who we teach.  ironically, maybe you can also learn from them instead of what goes on daily in the classrooms.

and to the four high school students who wrote the blog, well, you might not be able to read this, but here’s a message to you as well:  don’t be discouraged.  continue doing what you have done.  as long as there is basis in what you have written, and deep down inside you know that you’re right, you’ll never, ever be wrong despite what other people might say.  free speech is the last bastion you can rely on when all else fails.

in closing, i would like to reiterate that blogs should be off-limits to persecution, prosecution and censorship.  everyone in the world should have the freedom to say what they want to say about anyone or anything without the fear of being hunted down, alienated, or being “silenced.”  yes, again, with free speech comes responsibility.  so if what is being said has basis or solid truth behind it, by all means, say it to the world.  it’s not like i haven’t called someone a no-good, stupid, social-climbing, paris hilton-feeling, slutty whore-bitch without it being true, right miss candee dela cruz?  or someone a gutless, spine-less, no-balls piece of sh*t son of a bitch, right mister eduardo de jesus jr.?

have a good weekend everyone!!

on this very special day, i would like to greet my one and only sister a:

 HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 here’s wishing you all the best!  love ya!!  😀

2009 looks to be a good year again for movies.  touted as another year of the sequels with such releases as angels & demons, night at the museum 2, transformers:  revenge of the fallen, terminator:  salvation, fast & the furious 4, and ice age:  dawn of the dinosaurs, moviegoers will be in for another banner year.  but there’s one movie in particular that may be a sleeper hit.  little has been said about it, and i just heard about it from my sister.  i went to the official movie website and saw the teaser trailer and i’m quite intrigued and impressed by it.  what makes it all the more something to look forward to, is that the events in the movie will be based on something scientific.  yes, that concept is nothing new to hollywood to make big bucks on such as the day after tomorrow, armegeddon, deep impact, and other disaster movies, but with those movies i mentioned, there is no specific timeframe as to when the events depicted in those films will happen.  with this new movie coming out, there is one.  to share my excitement of anticipating this movie, you can watch the teaser trailer below:

crazy, isn’t it?  i did the google search as suggested at the end of the trailer and i found the scientific basis behind it.  it’s freaky when you think about it that the world will end in three years time.  but as far as i’m concerned, this movie will be one of the screw-you-if-you-miss-watching-it films for this year.  prepare, for the end is coming!!  hahahahaha!!!

oh, and by the way, here’s the official movie website if your still curious:  http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/2012/

as surprising as it may sounds, i decided to entitle my review of 2008 as such because i want to end the year and everything that has happened to me as it is:  dead and buried.

2008 was…  how would i say it… a disaster.  and that’s putting it lightly (read:  being polite).  i was almost hesitant to write a review about it because of the many unfortunate things that came my way during the course of the year.  but in keeping with the tradition i started in giving yearly reviews, plus the fact that i had to be fair in posting both positive and negative things that happened to me, i had to go back to both sweet and bitter memories and once more relive the year that was.  take note that i’m writing this as i go along like i always do.  no drafts, no sketches, no rehash, no revisions.  and so i begin…

old folk used to believe that how you start the year reflects on what the rest of the year will be like for you.  or something like that.  i suppose you can chalk one up for them old folk as 15 days into the new year, i was forced to leave hsbc, the company i was working for more than two years.  you may quite remember the fiasco i had with my former superior–who i’ll be talkling about more a bit later–and the mess he has brought upon me.  almost a year later, i still haven’t forgotten.  a fire still lights inside me whenever i think or talk about it with someone.  there is a saying that goes, time heals.  i guess one year still ain’t enough to heal that wound.  with me leaving the company, i was jobless for two months until i finally landed a job with a local financial institution’s call center.  although i was able to pick myself up after the near-devastating setback i had, things were not quite the same.  yes, the schedule was very good, with weekends and holidays off, and my physical life back to normal, i had to endure the complete opposite of how things are being done in a US-based call center.  i’m feeling that all i have learned in the more than six years of being immersed in operations were useless in my new environment.  that instead of being brought in because of my experience, i was forced to adapt an old-school management philosophy where the gap of superior and subordinate is likened to heaven and earth.  i never thought i would miss the US call center atmosphere, but i found myself continuing to look for better opportunities outside of where i was.  and i still am.  hopefully 2009 will hold a better chance for success than this year.

regarding my personal life, nothing changed much this year.  though i have forged new friendships and retained & revived old ones, there were two paticular persons who topped my blacklist; who i damn to the deepest parts and recesses of existence; who by the mere mention of their names, i utter a curse; who to me are persona non-grata:  eduardo de jesus jr., and candee dela cruz.  the male and female worst person of the year.  you may also recall the entries i posted regarding both of them.  the former of course, for corporate backstabbing and lying straight to my face, and the latter, well, let’s just say for personal and character abuse.  i never thought in my entire life that i would come to have such ill and deeply rooted feelings of negativity and hate for either man or woman, but i was proven wrong.  inasmuch as i would like to expound or summarize what they have done to me over the year, the blog entries i posted speak for themselves.  i have learned from trusted sources that candee has read my entries about her and i don’t care less.  in fact, i’m quite glad that she has seen for herself the kind of person she was to me.  the truth hurts, doesn’t it?  as for the other one, well, i heard that he’s in the running to succeed his former superior who was promoted.  if there’s a prayer that can be said for someone to fail, i’d say it for him.  but if by some act of lucifer he gets the post, well, if i could warn everyone in the department to leave, i would do it in a heartbeat.  yet as hard as i am and feel toward them, there’s only one thing that can maybe change things (emphasis on the word maybe):  an apology.  but not just any apology.  an apology in front of common friends and colleagues.  you may mistake this for a public apology, but it’s not.  a public apology includes people who have no association with us.  so just in front of friends, acquaintances, and colleagues.  oh, and they should be on their knees when doing so.  if they do that, then maybe, just maybe, i could let bygones be bygones.

as far as my lovelife is concerned, the only major event that happened this year was the resurfacing of donna.  but like she has done in the past, her re-emergence was short-lived.  she confirmed her marriage last year, we continued the exchange of messages over a course of a couple of weeks, and then just like that, she’s gone.  if in case you’re still wondering, i don’t have feelings for her anymore.  not like what i had a couple of years ago.  she’s just an ordinary friend to me now.  other than her, no significant person made a positive impact on my personal life this year.  as far as personal goals are concerned, one thing i have accomplished this year was after almost a 10-year drought, i was able to complete the 9-day christmas dawn novena masses.  though i am not a very religious person, it has been a part of my christmas celebration since i was in high school to attend and complete the novena in hopes of a wish to be granted for christmas.  though no wish has been granted yet, i’m still hopeful that someday, something i wish for will finally be granted.

yet there are also people who say that it’s not how you start things, it’s how you end it.   and that’s what i’m trying to do right now for this year.  no pedestals of recognition, poems or songs of remembrance for 2008, but just to bury it six feet underground with tombstone just marking a footnote that 2008 came and went.  i’m sure that i’m just one of a few people who can say that i had a totally…  challenging year (read:  still being polite).  as the year of the ox comes, i look forward to a brighter year for me.  hopefully more good things than bad.  as i have mentioned several times in the past, though i am positively hopeful about the coming year, i still set lower expectations so as not to be disappointed.  aim small, miss small.  yet i go forth steadily, meeting whatever lies before me head on.  with this, i leave the plague that was 2008 and receive the blessing that is 2009.

hope everyone has a safe, boisterous and joyous new year’s celebration!!