I am A

I am an agnostic-almost-atheist. I like black a lot. Sometimes I go to school wearing an absurd punk outfit, and sometimes sidecar drivers ask me where do you work? Wherein I say, I don't work yet, I still go to school. I like corporate-looking outfits too which barely pass as 'casual'. It sometimes depresses me when people think I'm twenty-something, but I'm nineteen, and nineteen is a good age not to mind such opinions.

 
(more…)

Erap, Pardoned. Woot.

Erap has been living almost like a free man for the past six years, in and out of his resthouse. What's the difference of a pardon?

A professor told me once that if we give away even just a little of our freedom, whether as individuals or as a people, we should be ready to give up all of it eventually. Our freedom to seek for truth and political parity has already been compromised when we let Erap stay in his rest house with nary a whimper. It's been compromised a little bit more when we allowed him to go to his mother's birthday parties. One compromise, and another for a good six years. And now? It's completely given away.

Somehow I can't find it in myself to be angry or even offended by this expected pardon. I didn't do anything to stop it in the beginning. Did you?

 
(more…)

The Pattern of Things

A long time ago, when god equaled truth and toilets were holes in the earth, fate and destiny were a given. Fate is usually understood to be the force that drives one's destiny, but for purposes of this short treatise, we will take them to mean the same. These terms both enforce the ancient assumption that humans have limited or no free will.

This assumption might have arisen from the concept called religion. Polytheistic religion, as invented by the Egyptians and spread to the rest of the world by the Greeks and the Romans, is simply the belief or worship of multiple gods and goddesses. These deities were said to meddle with the affairs of man, using their magic to befuddle and control human minds and to alter events. Their mythology is littered with fantastic creatures to help them in their tasks, and some such creatures are called The Fates—three sisters, usually depicted as hags weaving cloth in a loom. One spins the thread of life, the other determines how long the tread shall be, and the last cuts the thread.

 
(more…)

Looper

"O ayan Jan, binili na kita para di kayo mag-away ng ate mo," said my mom after rummaging through SM plastic bags and finding what she looked for.

"Yey, may looper na ako!" my younger brother said in absolute glee.

 
(more…)

What’s Up?

I got here a new template which is less extravagant than my last. It's fairly simple, really. It shows Marco's chucks and my killer pointy shoes doing a preposterously emo pose together. Aren't they cute? Yes, just say yes. I'm in a pretty good mood today as the semestral break is in full swing (I think, but I might be wrong because I tend to forget little things like, I dunno, final exams? Guh.) I'm just bumming around the house until something happens. The weather seems to cooperate too—all mellow and cool like it just gobbled fishballs swigged down by a plastic cup of sago't gulaman—so I'm quite happy just being here.

 
(more…)

Bundok Banahaw

We were told that Bundok Banahaw is practically a huge church—a church with lichened trees for marble columns, cold stones for pews, and creeks and rivers to provide the holy water. I find the idea of a leviathan natural church fascinating. I have lost my faith a some time ago but the symbols of faith have a certain majesty and mysticism which reels me in to explore.

Before we went up to the forest, we visited two Rizalista churches. The first one was called Iglesia del Ciudad Mistica de Dios, which claims to be a Christian sect headed by what they call a “Suprema”. They do not exactly worship Jose Rizal, but they do revere him as one of the heroes of our country, along with Ninoy Aquino and Andres Bonifacio. The name of the second church we visited escapes me at the moment, but I remember that they are what one might call “hard-core” Rizalistas.

They believe that Rizal is one of the manifestations of god and that the Bible corroborates this belief. Specific verses can be found in the Songs of Solomon “referring” to Rizal as god. I find this belief…strange, for lack of a better term. As an agnostic I feel strongly about people interpreting the Bible any way they feel like, because really, all those thousand pages can tell you anything anyone might like to hear if looked at from a certain perspective. But of course—it's this thing they call faith. It's never logical, and this group of Rizalistas is a very good example.

 
(more…)