The blood bath that was the hostage taking...

I've been swamped at work hence the time it took since the last post. Last Monday marked a very tragic day in Philippine history. Our amazing police force is at the forefront of what is to be the best documented hostage taking in media history. No, that wasn't a compliment.

The day started out normal for me. I was at work doing work stuff when my friend sends me a message telling me there was a hostage taking. I thought nothing of it at first. Admit it, we all thought it was just one of those things. So I went on with my day getting updates every once in awhile. It seemed to be going well for them. Hostages were being released in groups and well, at least there was progress. At some point I got lost, I couldn't understand what the buzz about 3PM was until later that day. But from the way I saw it, everyone was just taking their time.

I'm not a fan of violence. I don't really like watching wrestling or UFC. I try not to be a hater. I qualified that since I do have my moments. But since getting back together with the bu, I've been trying to be more...grown up. If things can be fixed amicably then by all means it should be. So I do believe the fact that the police didn't shoot the hostage taker when they first saw his profile was a good call. They would have been criticized the same way for resorting to violence instead of trying to negotiate their way out of it. I don't envy them.

But then again, there were so many people there. Too many actually and that's what I think made everything worse. By standers, street vendors, media and way too many people who know it all. It wasn't a good equation at all.

I think the biggest thing that went wrong was the fact that the media decided to air everything. LIVE. Big mistake. I was watching a clip from a news crew last night and I was surprised. The reporter kept mentioning that the hostage taker was probably watching his family get arrested and that this would probably trigger him to becoming more aggressive and yet there he was...continuing his play by play. Common sense right? You knew the danger, you knew what could happen, you knew he was watching and yet you still went at it. Seriously. How can they say they had nothing to do with it.

Then there's the other fact that well, media is opinionated. They kept going at it. They kept pressuring the police, giving them ideas that well, maybe the brother is an accessory. I mean seriously, could all of these not have waited. Just a thought.

In the end, it was just sad. I saw the footage of how he shot at the side of the bus. I kept flashing back to previous shots when that same woman kept peeking out the window. How surreal is it that well, one minute she's alive, the next...we all know.

As a Filipino, I am ashamed. That our government system is like this. It was left like this by the previous administration. Sad and maddening. We have a lot to do, loads to fix and we all need to be part of it. Part of the change.

Now is not the time to point fingers. In the age of technology where everything is magnified and everything is broadcasted right away, we have to take responsibility. For our actions and our opinions. I too have to be like this. As Ghandi so very well phrased it for all of us...you must be the change you wish to see in the world.

But that's just my point of view...

Three Day Weekends...

Recently it was announced that the President has decided to take back the proclamation of Aug 23 as a holiday. That irked me. I mean really...

I am a worker, I sadly don't own my own company. I got to work 5 times a week at least for 9 hours at least. Now don't take it the wrong way, I like my job. But it's tiring and well, a three day weekend was one of those bonus days that you look forward to. I was already planning my trip! So the disappointment was obvious. Thank you Mr. President for taking away that silver lining from me.

When I thought more about it, I figured why was I so mad. There really was no reason to declare it a non-working holiday. The real holiday was on the 21st really. But the thing is. He already did declare it. He already made the statement then he took it back. It's like being a told as a child that you could get your favorite toy then taking it back again because I just felt like it. That was seriously stupid. Don't say something then take it back again. That's just wrong. It would have been perfectly fine if you just kept your mouth shut and not get everyone so excited.

I respect the fact that he thought about it and realized that it was a waste of a work day. If I owned a company I would be grateful. But next time...just don't say anything if you have nothing good to say.

But that's just my point of view...

Expose shows...are they really helpful or are they all hype?

There are more than 3 expose shows in the Philippines. Both major stations have one and well, smaller stations have them on as well.

I get the whole facination people have with them. It's the same way that people are so into "reality shows" because everyone has this need to see other people's lives. It's more real...or so it's what they want us to believe. But unlike most reality shows, expose shows have a goal. To help the less fortunate fight those with obvious powers compared to them...or so that's what they want us to believe.

Don't get me wrong, I believe people should have a place to run to when they have nothing else. I agree with that. But let me explain.

I have watched more than 1 episode of these expose shows. They are interesting. They have a lot of cases that are unique and well, eye opening. But recently I've been given the chance to see one of the expose shows more closely and boy was a surprised.

Expose shows are sensationalized journalism. They get all these complaints and all these pleas for help in a day and they have to respond and do something about it. i get that. But what I don't understand is why they don't do their jobs, find out the truth. That's what journalism is about right? Getting to the bottom of things and understanding it without judgement and bias. But what they do is respond routinely by reporting it to the proper authorities. Yes, that's what is expected of them and that is the right thing to do, but they don't even bother to get the other side of the story. Where's the journalism in that? They should do their jobs and investigate then expose those that need to be exposed. I hope they keep that in mind before they do anything that might harm other people, their reputations or their lives.

But that's just my point of view...

President's First Pay Check

It was big news when our President showed off his first pay check amount to no more than PHP 63,002.17 after deductions.



My reaction when I first heard the news was why is he showing this to us? Really? Did we need to know? But I guess it's part of his transparency. It's just sad because from what little I know about politics I believe that when you're in government you're not allowed to be part of any other private organization. I understand that it's due to the fact that you might have bias but really. I mean, this guy is working for us to make our country better and all we're paying him is a measly 60,000. Seriously. I believe that hard work should have pay commensurate to the amount of work that is expected of you. No wonder our past President didn't do much and actually made things worse for us. She wasn't really getting paid well...on paper.

Who decides what salary the President gets? They need to powow and do an assessment, give the guy a break. He deserves to be paid for everything we expect him to do.

But that's just my point of view...

Who is Ivan Padilla?

I admit, I haven't been keeping up with the news. Partly due to the fact that I don't see the importance of some of the things that I've been able to catch. Like a certain hosts hairstyle. I mean seriously, who chooses these topics? Don't we have better things to talk about? Like the state of our country and where is that ex-President of ours who decided to hide after she stole all our money. Those are important, I couldn't care less about the hair.

But that's not what this specific blog is about. My first blog and right away I speak of death. Sad. Not exactly what I thought I would be writing about. But it's an important topic for me. I'm a pescitarian, someone who choses to eat just fish and vegetables. My reason for this is cause I don't support the way the animals are slaughtered. I know, fish are animals too but I have a protein problem so this was my compromise. Please try to stop yourself from making me feel bad about it.

Anyway, as I was saying. Who is Ivan Padilla? The little information I have on him is that he is part of a carnapping syndicate in our country. A very notorious one at that. He came from a broken family. He had problems. He was into drugs. He was a son, a brother, a partner and a father. Those are just some of the things I gathered when I search for information about him.

But the other day he was apparently killed in a shoot out. It's not uncommon to hear about shoot outs in our country. It's like everyone is trigger happy. A lot of views have been aired about this certain shoot out. A lot of people say that he got what he deserved. He was an evil man and at least that lessens the evil people in our society. We are safer. I believe otherwise. Let me explain.

I am a firm believer that we were all put on this earth equal. That means NO ONE has any right over another. We make choices, we make mistakes, we choose paths. But NO ONE has the right to dictate whether or not someone deserves to die. I do not agree with Ivan Padilla's choice of lifestyle. He was wrong, he deserved to be punished, put away for life maybe. But he did not deserve to die the way he did. There are speculations that he actually died because the police failed to bring him to the hospital right away and that means he was probably in agony before he died. Another thing I believe he did not deserve. He was a person too, therefor he deserved to be treated like one.

I know his victims might feel otherwise. He did put them through a horrible ordeal I would not wish on anyone. But I have faith that they too think this way too harsh a way to die.

But that's just my point of view...