The day Saint Valentine died

According to the Legenda Aurea , St Valentine refused to deny Christ before the "Emperor Claudius"in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. He's one regular stubborn hard-ass like all the other saints. At least, that's his official Catholic Story--another martyr who died in the name of Jesus H. Christ.

The Legenda does not contain anything about hearts and last notes signed "from your Valentine", as is sometimes suggested in modern works of sentimental piety. Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, giving flowers , or offering sweets like chocolate. While the day was originally a pagan festival that was named after the Early Christian named Valentinus, the day became associated with romance in the circle of sentimentalists like Chaucer in the late middle ages, when the tradition of courting flourished. The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines."

Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States (wiki).

Like Christmas, Valentine's day is another pagan holiday turned Christian festival turned commercial enterprise. Who cares about the life of that Saint Valentine? Kids think that the cherub Cupid is Valentine anyway. To the older kids, Valentine's day is a log line at the court owned by a certain lady named Victoria. Coincidentally, Valentine's day is also the birth anniversary of my father-in-law. Another day, same shit.

The true Mafia

This afternoon, after coming home from a week-long seminar sponsored by the Judiciary which goals were apparently to inform me on stuff that I already know, I turned on the tele and see what's cookin' on the early evening news. Sure enough, it's still the "LPG Crisis." Womenfolk from Gabriela (an ND [nationalist democratic ] organization of women similar to that of the KMU [Kilusang Mayo Uno], Boyoyong Clowns, etc.) were making a racket with pots and pans in front of the DOE (Department of Energy) building. These ladies (and some men) were also throwing rotten tomatoes at a makeshift DOE emblem and at the latter's center were the faces of GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and Energy Secretary Ret. Gen. Angelo Reyes. The news clip was as funny as a cold day in hell.

Earlier this morning, while I was taking a dump, I was reading the hotel-provided Manila Bulletin. Of course, one can only read the Bulletin while sitting on top a toilet bowl. On its head line was something like "NO LPG CRISIS: Says DOE Chief." The line said it all though. There was no real story, just a goddam quote from a dumb guy who happened to be at the right place at the right time. Secretary Reyes--the unofficial spokesman for the Big Three-- is perhaps the dumbest person ever to hold the position of Cabinet Secretary. Save perhaps maybe, Tito Sotto. Even wacky senator Mirriam Defensor-Santiago is insanely unhappy with his performance, or more accurately, the lack thereof.

The problem with LPG is fairly simple and yet one of the most difficult ones facing our little economy. LPG, or Liquefied Petroleum Gas, is a generic commodity. It is an everday fuel we use in our stoves instead of our cars. Meaning, in like manner, it won't really matter if we use Caltex (Chevron), Shell, Petron, PTT, Red Oil, or UniOil in our cars, as long as we use the prescribed formulation (Diesel, Unleaded, or Premium) by our car's manufacturers. Our stoves at homes won't explode if we use Liquigaz this month and Shellane or Gasul in the next. As long as it is LPG, it would be fine and will still cook our food. Again, LPG is a generic commodity, like water and electricity.

One of the supposed benefits of the Oil Deregulation Law (otherwise known as REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8479 AN ACT DEREGULATING THE DOWNSTREAM OIL INDUSTRY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES) was opportunity for middle-class Filipino businessmen to participate in the petroleum business. Section 2 of the said law provides: "It shall be the policy of the State to liberalize and deregulate the downstream oil industry in order to ensure a truly competitive market under a regime of fair prices, adequate and continuous supply of environmentally-clean and high-quality petroleum products." But to this date, this is just a pipe-dream. The market is still monopolized by the Big Three, the Tatlong Itlogs, or namely Caltex (now Chevron), Shell, and Petron. How do they do it? By keeping government people in their pockets and the police and military under their strings. They are the true strongest families in the Philippines.

The tatlong itlogs have blindfolded the Filipino LPG consumer with campaigns that misinform the public of the true nature of LPG. They market LPG as a brand commodity. They have made us believe that this product is like Coke or Pepsi, Adiddas or Nike, or Technomarine or Tag Heuer. By manipulating the legislature, these big oil companies have created an indestructible legal armor which protects this wrong notion/belief/idea on the nature of LPG. And as brand name products, they are, in the crossed-eyed eyes of Philippine Commercial Law, under the protection of infringement/patent/trademark laws. Think of the Philippines is the Cuban Dream of Michael Corleone and the paradise of a reality to the Big Three.

Many middle-class Filipino businessmen, supposedly publicly represented by the LPGMA (LPG Marketers Association) have entered the LPG market as bulk refillers or in other words, wholesalers of LPG. They cater to the needs of even smaller-scale businessmen who sell LPG in 11 kilogram tanks retail to you and me. These retailers operate their business by investing on LPG tank containers and then selling them to the public individually. It is of common knowledge that when a household buys, it surrenders their own empty tank together with cash in exchange of the tank filled with LPG. Now, these retailers, as it is in every free market, think of every strategy to earn. Some are unscrupulous and underload their supposedly 11 kgs. tank with 10.5 or even 10 kgs. Yet, some are still honest traders. No kidding.

Nevertheless, honest or otherwise, these retailers all face an inevitable dilemma: If they carry only Brand P, or brand P or C but not brand S, and the household consumer's empty tank is the latter brand, will they accept the empty S cylinder in exchange of the P or C brand LPG filled cylinder? In almost all cases, the retailer does not have a choice. In an atmosphere of stiff, if not cutthroat competition, an entrepreneur cannot afford to lose even one loyal customer in order for the business to thrive. Repeat this situation 365 times and within a year, the retailers' cylinders are a mix of brands P, C, S, and as a result of the Oil Deregulation law, even less-known, but as safe and reliable others such as Bayan Gas, or Tiger, or Elxia, or Liquex.

Here comes the true problem: At the beginning, these retailers have their fill of cylinders from usually one source, either from C, or P, or S. But since they now have a collection of tanks/cylinders that look like a box of primary crayons when arranged in their truck, C or P and S will not accept cylinders/tanks other than their own brands. What to do, what to do!

Here comes an independent bulk refiller. In accordance with reason, he choses to refill these assortment of LPG and thinks he makes honest profit from his business. However, this practice was made malum prohibitum by our unreasonable statutes. As a consequence, these independent bulk refillers are constantly plagued with coercion to bribery, harrassment, extortion, and worst, raids by different "lawful" agencies--on the basis of a very reliable report, of course, by "concerned citizens" who always happen to be paid by either one of the tatlong itlogs.

It does not take one to be of the caliber of the economist J.M. Keynes to realize that: When there are less independent refillers, there would be less supply of LPG. When there is less supply of LPG, the Big Three can control/manipulate the price. When the price is manipulated, they go nowhere but up. hen the prices go sky-rocketing, the people suffer. And when the people suffer, they watch more TV to forget their suffering. And when they watch TV, they see the government saying there is no problem, and "everything will normalize soon.".

Our laws, especially those which have something to do with business, instead of fostering an environment that promote and nurture free competition and entrepreneurial growth, discourage the same and strangles the middle-class businessman before he can become rich so he can become poor again. In short, our commercial laws are designed to keep Filipinos poor. Poor as rats in the sewers of old Quiapo.

But laws, by themselves, however twisted and unreasonable they may be, cannot make people poor. The government (technically, the administration) does. During my short lifetime, there has been as many "Special Presidential Task Forces" and "Committees/Fact Finding Commissions/Investigating Panels on everything under the Philippine sun" as there are craters in the moon. They are, however, all designed with the same vile end in mind, to protect the big businesses which keep the rich richer and the pockets of those filthy alligators and snakes in the government fatter and their hands greasier.

A few months ago, this one government official, whose name and face will be forgotten as soon as the tenure of his little lady boss expires, as leader of the PASG (Presidetial Anti-Smuggling Gang) raided and closed down the headquaters of UniOil with their obligatory show of force through the totting of sub-machineguns and automatic rifles--on mere suspicion that the folks at UniOil were performing illegal activities because they price their gas two (2) pesos lower than the other brands! I understand that there is some "political" shades on this particular act, but the same is happenning all over the country. Those who oppose the powers that be shall be crushed by the very government who swore to protect them.

Caveat to us all who do not conspire with the forces who artificially controls the prices of goods such as petroleum-based products! This administration's messages are very clear: Don't fuck with the hands that feed. Screw Free Competition. Fuck Democracy.

And, of course, Die all poor Citizens a slow, painful death.

Hate Me All Arabs and Koreans

I was playing this stupid on-line poker game in facebook and one other player whose arabic name spelled out in western letters I can't even pronounce started typing on the shout box "phillipine fuck." I checked and found out that I was the only Filipino there in the "room." So I replied with a succint "kiss my ass, camel boy." Fuckin Arabs. George Dubya was right, they're all goddam terrorists and deserve a healthy shellacking of nukes about once or twice a week. Must be rooted in their shallow noveau religion. Damn ragheads. Without the oil in their land they don't amount to shit anyway. I for one totally agree with what the Jews are doing these days. Killing everyone who wears a fuckin' shemagh who steps into Israel. I'd do the same if some smelly camel boy start threathening my teritory. The one thing that stops me from whacking these suckers is the cheap price of the knockoff DVDs they sell. But once I buy one that doesn't work, I swear I'll shove it up his Allah worshipping ass. I swear.

Don't get me started on the Koreans. Who the fuck are these people? And why do they multiply exponentially by the day here in our over-populated little country? Andseo?!? What the hell is that? Can't they talk American? LOL. They go around in packs and talk as loud as hell. I've read somewhere that Koreans are the lousiest drivers in the world. Yes, even worse than our Capampangans. If I ever encounter one dumb Kimchi-munching Korean fuck in a street altercation, I promise, I'll shoot the motherfucka'. No kidding. Besides, them Korean shitheads are destroying the world of local golf. They make golf cheap. Goin' round in groups and exercising on the street the night before tee time. What the hell is that shit? Who does that? I know it's common knowledge but I still want to type it here: All Koreans are fuckin' cheap. Ask your friendly neighborhood GRO. Show me a Korean who isn't cheap as a bottle of Tanduay and I'll show you a donkey with three (3) dicks. Almost seventy-five (75) per cent of my neighbors are fuckin' Koreans. Our village, once upon a time called Riverside is now Korea Town. Now tell me who's the stranger here? Goddam Kimchi munchers in their cheap-ass Daewoos and Hyundais.

Tolerance is one thing but turning the other cheek is totally stupid.

Superstitions on the New Year

"But let me say this. I am a superstitious man, a ridiculous failing but I must confess it here. And so if some unlucky accident should befall my youngest son, if some police officer would accidentally shoot him, if he should hang himself in a cell, if new witnesses appear to testify to his guilt, my superstition will make me feel that it was the result of the ill will still borne me by some people here. Let me go further. If my son is struck by a bolt of lightning I will blame some of the people here. If his plane should fall into the sea or his ship sink beneath the waves of the ocean, if he should catch a mortal fever, if his automobile be struck by a train, such is my superstition that I will blame the ill will felt by people here."


-Don Vito Corleone, on superstition

Superstition (Latin superstitio, literally "standing over" derived perhaps from standing in awe; used in Latin as an unreasonable or excessive belief in fear or magic, especially foreign or fantastical ideas, and thus came to mean a "cult" in the Roman empire) is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used to refer to supposedly irrational beliefs of others, and its precise meaning is therefore subjective. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the irrational belief that future events can be influenced or foretold by specific, unrelated behaviors or occurrences (wikipedia).

Absolutely no man in our family really believes in superstition. It is but a fool's excuse not to reason. It's worse than organized religion, as anyone could invent one or two themselves and start a craze. Sometimes, however, most people in my family do stuff which may appear to be superstitious.

Last New Year's Eve, one of my uncles (a retired police sergeant, now martello) and a small band of his crew, filled a hundred or so medium-sized grocery bags with groceries to be delivered that very night to the poor pesantes who lived in his neighborhood. These unmarked white bags were filled with about two (2) Kilos of rice, some canned goods, some noodles, and even several toiletries in sachets. As I was in the old neighborhood that day, I witnessed the scurrying about of my uncles' crew making sure each bag had the exact same contents. I said to my uncle: "What you're doing is really admirable, but I thought you do this sort of thing during the Holy Week?" "We used to, but the Church forbade it." He answered me right back. "It's an honorable thing, what you are doing." I replied, without telling an inkling of what I was truly thinking. Then I left them to go about their business.

First, I thought that the reason why the packages were unmarked is because my uncle didn't want the people to know initially where the stuff originated from. My uncle knew that while these peasants are mostly ignorant, they are seldom fools. After New Year's day have come and gone, they, by their own methods will eventually discover the source of these "gifts." And they will think that the act of concealing their origin is a great sign of humility of the benefactor. This is one of the many subtleties one must learn when dealing with the sensitive masses. They all like dole-outs and free shit and all, but charity must not be done at the expense of a poor man's dignity. These simple folk are bribed each time a local election comes but the the one who always win by bribery are not respected, much less feared, by these people. As a family, we have over the years worked carefully to gain the respect, if not fear, from the people surrounding us.

Second, I instantly recognized that the people he was using for this job are not his old-time crew who are his childhood buddies, but up-and-comers who are peasants themselves. Not young kids, but people who are also trying to win respect from their little neighborhoods, while not having the financial means and the insight to do this kind of shit themselves. By working for this uncle of mine, they are doing him a favor, for he is not paying them for this job, and as well as doing themselves a favor, for they have earned the friendship of my uncle.

Third, I had not asked but wondered about why and how exactly did the Catholic church forbade the giving of groceries during Holy Week. I dismissed this thought as a characteristic irrelevancy of my uncle. He thinks the Church to still have such power over men. When the priests in the pulpits are as crooked as the dirtiest of all politicians as they have ever been here in our insignificant Roman Catholic Archipelago. If my father, or godfather, wanted to give groceries on Holy Week, no Church can impose its will over them like they are their puppets on a string. The current Pope, after all, is no Rodrigo Borgia.

Finally, I pondered over the logic of this, "charity." It is no secret that this uncle of mine has aspirations to "public service", and my godfather the Don even offered to buy his political seat (which this uncle proudly refused to his bitter regret). Despite his recent loss, however, he managed not to go about shooting anyone. This uncle is not a rich man by any standard, but he is not poor either. Nevertheless, I know that he could hardly afford to keep his mistress and children to live the sort of extravagant lives they live, and then manage to do this, benevolent act. After all, what future favors can the family expect from these wretched families to whom he is doling-out these free shit?

As I was walking towards our own compound, the truth came flying over to my head. I remembered that since his cop days (when he was still doing this thing during the Holy Week), my uncle kept a list of well chosen "beneficiaries." They were all poorer than rats, but included in their ranks all sorts of cutthroats, stick-up boys, wranglers, informants and thieves which in the future, may or may not be of service to our family. A bag of cheap groceries every year is a ridiculously small investment for their potential usefulness and friendship. He's like an Arctic Explorer in days past, who left small packages of food behind along the way to the North Pole, thinking he might need them in case something goes bad. There is nothing superstitious about that.

The next day, New Year's Day, my godfather granted a wish. He gave me a bottle of a very expensive Blue Label Scotch, which I jokingly requested from him while we were having drinks last Christmas. Dons, after all, always keeps their word. Superstition or no Superstition.

Synchronocity

Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which are casually unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. In order to be synchronous, the events should be unlikely to occur together by random chance.


The concept does not question, or compete with, the notion of causality. Instead, it maintains that just as events may be grouped by cause, they may also be grouped by their meaning. Since meaning is a complex mental construction, subject to conscious and subconscious influence, not every correlation in the grouping of events by meaning needs to have an explanation in terms of cause and effect. (wikipedia)


Swiss master psychologist Carl Jung coined this now household friendly (well, at least in educated ones) word. To my humble mind, synchronicity is just "meaningful coincidence." Meaning, just two (2) or more things happening on or about the same time where in one's perception, all the events have a somewhat logical (or sometimes even fantastical) relationship.


MANGA TRIVIA: In 2002, manga author Itagaki Keisuke based one of the story arcs of "Baki The Search Of Our Strongest Hero" on the synchronicity theme, presenting a story in which five death row inmates escaped at the same time, in different countries, each after surviving his own execution. Each inmate went back to Japan at the same time to meet in the same place for the same objective. That is, of course, to find out "who is the strongest hero." To those who have read Baki, or watched the anime, you all know who's the strongest.