Pedring and Quiel

If there’s anything we learned — or relearned — from these back-to-back typhoons is that we’re still underprepared. That is different from being unprepared. Being unprepared means not knowing what’s about to hit you. Being underprepared, on the other hand, means knowing what’s about to hit you but not putting much effort to get ready.

It’s fair to say that we’ll never accurately predict — not in this country anyway — how much torrential rains would fall where or how strong the winds would get. But it always becomes apparent that most people don’t prepare enough, our general infrastructure isn’t prepared enough.

I’m not sure if it’s mainly because of the persistent “Bahala na” attitude, or the “Pwede na yan” mentality, or the misguided “Hindi tayo pababayaan ng Diyos” belief.

Vizconde Massacred Again

This time, the perpetrators are members of the Philippine Supreme Court who voted for the acquittal of the suspects — Hubert Webb (son of a former senator, Freddie Webb), Antonio Lejano II (related to actress Pinky de Leon and actor Christopher de Leon), Hospicio Fernandez (son of a retired commodore), Michael Gatchalian and Miguel Rodriguez (sons of prominent lawyers), Peter Estrada (son of a wealthy businessman), Joey Filart.

The problem here, according the SC decision, is the failure of the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the suspects did commit the crime. The SC questions the quality of the evidences. Of course, when over 15 years have passed already, how the fuck can evidences and testaments even still bear meaning after all those years. Gravitas has been lost.

The justice system simply moves too slow. And perhaps, there is outright ineptness in investigating and collating evidences and keeping the integrity of the evidences. Lastly, with briberies and political powerplays aside, there is a question on how competent the prosecutors are/were. All these separate elements combine to build how people trust (or lack thereof) our justice system.

Read the decision here.

Pilipinas Kay Ganda

That’s the new slogan that the Department of Tourism wants to use to promote the Philippines. Quite a mouthful compared to the recently retired “Wow Philippines”. And honestly, I find it a bit difficult to swallow when you look around.

But that’s not the real problem. It appears that the logo that goes with the slogan is not entirely original. Take a look at the logo being used to promote Poland’s own tourism. It’s hard to deny the similarities, if not exact replicas, of some elements in both logos. The letter “P” for examples looks exactly the same. The wave illustration is the same although separated and repositioned. Except for the extra letters and the tree, sun, and tarsier illustrations and the color scheme, it is easy to see conclude that either the same person made the logos or whoever the DoT commissioned to create the logo thought nobody would notice.

If the second case turns out to be true — which I think is more likely — it’s going to be another international embarrassment following a recent decision by a Supreme Court justice that plagiarized international sources. I hope they won’t make excuses this time. But I doubt it.

All Souls’ Day

It’s funny how a time that’s meant to be spent remembering our dearly departed loved ones in solemnity has morphed into a fiesta of sorts. It’s that couple of days in a year when cemeteries are turned into Lunetas.

Violeta Aylward and Her Carelessness

In this article, DFA has finally confirmed that the nurse involved caught on video was a Filipina. The incident resulted in serious brain damage to Violeta’s patient, who was already paralyzed from the neck down.

Quick points. a) For reasons that have yet to be determined, Violeta was seen turning off the ventilator of her patient, Jamie Merrett, a man who was paralyzed after a car accident. b) After failing to restart the ventilator, she inserts a resuscitation equipment in the patient’s mount instead of connecting it to a passage in the patient’s neck. c) The patient had a CCTV installed because he was worried with the “quality of care” he was receiving, as the mentioned in the video clip.

This news makes me wonder about the quality of training that our nursing student receive here. Do they get the best theoretical education and have been prepared well by the nursing schools? Or is the country simply mass-producing graduates, waiting to be exported abroad, upon accomplishing requirements and passing examinations?

It also makes me wonder about the agencies, both local and abroad, and how the hire and retain nurses. With regards to this incident, I find it odd that Violeta would turn off the machine and fail to turn it back on. Was the machine faulty or was she unfamiliar with operating the machine? And I find it disturbing that she did not attach the resuscitation equipment to right opening, which, in that case, is a hole in the patient’s neck. Perhaps, she panicked and got confused.

Anthony Nepomuceno and His Protectors

In this news article, Anthony Nepomuceno the suspect in the bar exams bombing surrendered himself to the NBI. Voluntarily. And yet we have VP Binay and former Justice Sec Bello claiming innocence. WTF?

“Due process” (whatever it means in this country) hasn’t even begun yet and we already have high ranking public officials blurting out their judgement. Why? Because Nepomuceno is their “bro” in Alpha Phi Omega, or APO, fraternity. (Recall that APO members were involved in the hazing and eventual death of EJ Karl Intia, but were later freed. See what special connections can do?)

And he seems to be getting some special treatment as well — being safeguarded from the media “as respect to his right to presumption of innocence.” Wow. If it were a common suspect without the backings of high ranking officials, his face would have been all over the tri-media outlets already.

If Nepomuceno’s really innocent, why come out only now? I suspect he’s been trying to seek the protection of his fellow brods all this time. Which seems to have succeeded in getting.

This manifestation of a twisted sense of brotherhood is turning out to be a really big problem for this country.

Mara Clara Remake

I guess creativity is really dead. Oh well. It seems plagiarism is the “in” thing these days. From songs to movies to tv shows, and apparently, even Supreme Court decisions. Heh.

Indonesian Tsunami

A 7.7-magnitude quake strikes western Indonesia, causing a tsunami that left at least 23 dead and 160 people measing (as of 6:19pm).

Yahoo News.

Macbook Air 2010

Apple just announced some new hardware: the Macbook Air. I want one!

It’s probably high time I replace the one I’ve been using for a couple of years now. I’ve tried the 13-inch Macbooks but what really peeks my interest is the the 11-inch version of the Macbook Air. It can’t possibly have a normal sized keyboard now, can it?

Affording it though is another story. Buying anything that cost five figures just can’t sit well with my financial conscience.

 

Bed Weather

The cool and wet weather makes you want to stay in bed and do nothing.