House Bill 6052: Congress working on jailing children instead of the Anti-dynasty Law

Philippines-  A debate on lowering criminal liability from 15 to 12 years old divides the lower house as it tackles House Bill (HB) 6052 titled Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System in the Philippine Act. In summary, the proposed law subjects children over 12 years old to criminal liability once found to have acted with discernment.

These people must be joking!

My fellow voters, this debate is stupid, working on how to jail children instead of crafting meaningful laws like anti-dynasty. This, definitely signals the need to change all members of congress.

Juvenile Justice is an oxymoron. How does one equate justice with children? Justice is such a vast concept that takes years to understand. Even lawmakers are lost as to its meaning like when they become fugitives, Senators Gregorio Honasan and Panfilo Lacson as well known example along with  not a few law makers who are also law breakers. 

HB 6052 was prompted by media reports on rampant shenanigans committed with audacity right in the busy highway of EDSA by out-of-school youth gangs alternately called 'Bakal Boys' , 'Car Wash' and 'Tropang Rugby' .  One very graphic footage captured a taxi driver in mid morning traffic assaulted by a boy, probably no more than 15 whose cohorts, meantime, grabbed the cabbie's earnings. It was a stunning depiction of lawlessness.

And Lawlessness is what it is, the inability of law enforcement agencies to enforce the law. One day Philippine Law enforcement would land in Roget's as an oxymoron.
Children are children. What these children lack for parents, the state must provide but not in form of incarceration.
Poverty kicked these children out of homes, into the street and into sniffing rugby. We know about syndicates who pick up these  children using them to beg. We know about men in uniform, men in high places cuddling these syndicates but what do our lawmakers do, they decide to jail children. S T U P I D !!!!
Poverty is caused by a myriad of corrupt practices that  has stunted the rise of a level playing field- government corruption, oligarchy, dynasty and the alliance of criminals and law enforcement personnel. And what do our lawmakers decide on, to jail children. S T U P I D !!!!
One day we'll see news of an ambush in Antimonan of 200 kids massacred under Oplan Batang Armado.
If they are going to say children of 12 can have discernment, then we should not call them children. These people of 12 years and above should be, if they can be criminally liable :
(1) allowed to vote
(2) contract marriage- (and where will that leave your RH law)
(3) Have consensual sex
(4) be emancipated from their parents
(5) be able to go into a contract
(6) sue
(7) allowed to drive
(8) statistics would include them in the ranks of unemployed if they're not in school
Look at the HB, it doesn't bother to mention these ramifications. What can I say?

The Righteous Path

Philippines-Campaign for election 2013 nears fever pitch with everybody in helter skelter. Candidates of all hues prominently run around covering as much area as humanly possible, spreading good cheers and money as long as their pockets hold out. People cheerily flood candidates' HQ to return home with some booty. Local leaders once again step into the spotlight while the sea of unemployed gain work, at least in the next three or four months. Suppliers are abuzz.
It's Christmas in February!!
Elections- I love elections. It's the only time when ordinary citizens rule; when the corrupt regurgitate what they stole and economics is at its high. Everybody is happy- that is until the last vote has been tallied and the corrupt retains their position. Then it's back to the grind.
As citizens, we should make every election work.
In character , the President dives into the campaign, head first, hands-on, landing squarely on ground zero. Endorsing in Cavite the senate candidacy of the 12 administration bets culled from a hodge fudge of disparate parties, called Team PNoy, he makes his call using the slogan that has kept people , even his detractors, glued to his every move- DAANG MATUWID (THE RIGHTEOUS PATH).

When first heard back in 2010 , I thought it was so cheesy that it would immediately kill the lactose intolerant. Pointedly addressed at his immediate predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) , the slogan struck a raw nerve in the voting population, made clear in the landslide victory of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III (PNoy) over his opponents including heavy favorite former president Joseph Estrada and media front runner, senator Manny Villar. After two odd years in office, the slogan remains the resounding battle cry of the administration that has kept the popularity of PNoy at the forefront of national politics. In November 2012, result of the Pulse Asia survey yielded a high trust rating of PNoy at 78% . It is widely expressed that this popularity spearheaded the unexpected economic growth for 2012 of 6.6%.
The exact translation of 'Daang Matuwid' (Daan: path, road, way/Matuwid: straight) in English would be the straight path but that losses the impact of its connotation with governance. Righteous to my mind aptly translates the message of justice with compassion, moral, ethics, social equity and level playing field that PNoy in the image of his mother Cory would like to impart. The slogan brings to the fore, not for the first time I am sure, albeit differently accentuated, the malady of corruption that afflicted the succession of regimes. Corruption in turn, accounts for wide spread poverty and a general climate of lack of opportunities. So it was that the GMA regime was used as a springboard to catapult Daang Matuwid soaring into national consciousness like the Good Year Blimp on a bright sunny day. Not that her 9-year regime towered in terms of corruption in the annals of Philippine governance but the presidency of GMA fell into so much controversies that made her poster girl material. In his inaugural speech, PNoy further defined 'Daang Matuwid'' by calling the citizens his boss and vowed 'Walang Wang-Wang' a reference to practice of government officials in using sirens to sweep clean roads when they pass, avoiding traffic. The speech sounded like the beginning  of a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people' aspirations verbalized by Abraham Licoln and John Kennedy.
PNoy spent the whole first year of his presidency leading the campaign to impeach Supreme Court chief Justice Corona, intruding on the trial by unabashedly criticizing, accusing and indicting Corona publicly which resulted to PNoy garnering criticisms.  He saw Corona as the last visage of the GMA regime, an obstacle to finally holding GMA accountable for her corruptions.
However, rumor mill spins the tale of PNoy's merely exacting vengeance on GMA for her pull out of law enforcement personnel in Hacienda Luisita during a violent incident. Then, there was the pull out of security escorts of Cory which appears left of righteousness and downright petty.
Eventually, Corona was unseated in a dramatic trial that saw an inept prosecution team, and a gathering of  two brilliant aging lawyers, one for the defense and the other as chief impeachment judge. Before anyone can bat an eyelash, PNoy installs Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice to the howl of protests in the legal circle.  Seen from another angle it seems PNoy was out to control the judiciary.
Now with elections, he might just also control the legislative branch, if he has not already.
The man's on a roll given his batting average. There's the  hiatus on demolition of informal squatter families cheered on by probably half of the residents of metro Manila. Pnoy also pushed the much contested Reproductive bill to now Republic Act 13054 against an intense lobby of the catholic church which has yet to stop. And topping the cake, a 6.6% economic growth hailed by both outside and inside industry leaders.
However, it seems his overriding goal is to see GMA in jail.
Is he living up to the righteous path? As far as he is concerned, Pnoy remains unblemished by any accusation of corruption, so maybe. However, his defense of classmates,shooting colleagues and a myriad of friends  installed as government functionaries have been subject of criticism more prominently those of Viriginia Torres over Stradcom, Rico Puno over Jueteng, Proceso Alcala over Carp and Rene Almendras over the handling of the Mindanao energy crisis. Also PNoy seem prone to the bulldozer tactics as in the Corona impeachment. Likely he sees ends justifying the means, a horrible proposition.
If PNoy succeeds in getting a majority in both houses, he becomes dictator. It would be the biggest irony in Philippine history. There would be no fiscalizer; no check, no balance, no righteous path.
Do you think that if UNA is able to dominate the senate and congress, there would be a fiscalizing element? I think not. They are the same dynasty oriented, pork barrel consuming, MOOE realigning, committee hungry, neurotic lot as their fathers.
It is wise therefore, to look for alternative candidates that may help PNoy really implement this much vaunted  'Daang Matuwid'. But then if you look at the roll of candidates, there's slim pickings made more obvious with three candidates included in both UNA and Team PNoy slate.
Still there are the few promising prospects, so look up: John Carlos Delos Reyes, Kapatiran with his hands-on campaign against social ills; Greco Belgica, Democratic Party of the Philippines with his progressive tax concept and Edward Hagedorn, no none sense former Palawan mayor.

Good Music and Excellent Food at The X Bar

Ortigas Center crawls with bars, there's one on every corner of every kind- from convenience stores that have taken to serving alcohol and music, crowded by the call center practitioners, 24/7; to dives serving cheap street foods and cold beers; to pool halls and sports bar; to KTVs with their Hi-Definition, Sensurround systems; to stand alone bars playing live music with middle income prices and then hotels with their staple of live acts and fancy food. Each cater to a specific market, setting prices and entertainment fare accordingly. So if you're working in the area, there is not going to be a dirt of places to go come special occasions or the occasional three rounds to bide time while traffic flow eases. 

Nine years ago, I tried a place called the X bar, recommended by Arthur where he performed regularly. Apart from the X, Arthur had dozens of gigs in the circuit at that time, including the Kalesa Bar at the Hyatt-Regency  (Now Midas) where I chanced upon his Tuesday night performance.

Arthur is a big guy with long hair tied in a pony tail, making him look like a sumo wrestler rather than a Tony Bennet-James Ingram, Luther Vandross sound alike. Several foreign acts have chosen  Arthur to open, most famously for Pat Upton of the defunct Spiral Staircase. Conducting his show with a bit of comedic flair sometimes bordering on the ribald, I was immediately captivated by this huge guy and struck a conversation with him. Thus, he gave me his club schedule. His style sometimes goes off the wall as in a show at the Hard Rock Cafe where he poked fun at a foreigner who did not understand a single word of Tagalog. He had him sing obscene lyrics to an otherwise serious ballad that sent the audience rolling down the isle. The companions did not find it funny  and a little altercation ensued or that's how I remember the event.
At the first instance I tried it, the X bar stood unremarkable with its staid interiors, bad sound system and inattentive crew. But the food was great and judging by its prices, were totally cheap compared to other hotel bars. And the coffee,uhmmm was magnifico, made  even better with free refills to boot. With Arthur on stage, my night was complete.It thus became a once a week destination for me specifically on nights of Arthur's performance. Later. I would introduce it to friends who found the atmosphere cozy enough for repeat visits.

Observing the crowd in my weekly jaunt, there was this particular group that came to my attention who seem to attend Arthur's weekly gig as I did. It was a big group, 6 or 7, consisting of mostly gentlemen in their advance years. They seem fairly well-off, drinking single malt scotch or blue as well as gorging on expensive cuisines on the menu . At the last set, the group would invariably take to the stage on what would be an impromptu open mike. Arthur would sit beside me as we watched the going-ons. Looking like they enjoyed sequestering the stage, the group conducted the late night proceedings themselves, calling on  one another for turns on the stage or inviting the other habitues.  They could carry tunes with repertoires markedly 1940's-50's, leaning towards old Sinatra tunes  and classic musical materials from the likes of 'King and I', Guys and Dolls, or South Pacific and a mild sprinkling of 60's ditties  There were times, I myself took to the stage at the egging of Arthur but to my dismay the piano player wasn't familiar with 70's tunes.

In time, I was formally introduced by Arthur to the group. There was Danny who seemed to be always footing the tab and would sing MacArthur's Park (Jimmy Webb, composer, Edwin Morris publishing, 1968) in his inimitable rendition. Joey, another performer who would later replace Arthur does a hilarious parody behind Danny, of course. Another member of the entourage was Chito, the stage actor, who would be invariably asked for several anchors, specially by the ladies. Vic almost always took the house down with his rendition of "Big Spender' (Cole-Fields, from the Musical Sweet Charity, Chrysalis Music Group publisher, 1966) accompanied by a rollicking dance number then seguing into a display of his french. It was amusing hearing  songs with  original french lyrics, back to back with the English version like 'My Way' (Comme d' Habitude written by Claude Fracois and Jaques Revaux). My favorite remains 'Beyond the Sea' originally 'La Mer' composed by Charles Trenet (1913-2001) with the unrelated English adaptation by Jack Lawrence (1912-2009, Songwriters' Hall of Fame 1975)  . Ben, who passed in 2006 sang a variety of Sinatra tunes with an easy style. Once in a while his daughter would join the group singing samba ditties in their original Portuguese lyrics. Mel and Long sang with baritone voices that caught the attention of the crowds. Completing the group was Boy who loved dancing as well as singing. Once in while, he would dazzle with his piano playing.
At the piano was Ferdie Borja, player extraordinaire who was followed by the group of Danny from gig to gig. Prior to the x bar,  Ferdie played in a bar in Mabini for nine years. While never having formally studied piano, he started as a piano demonstrator and salesman and had played gigs with a multitude of big name singers in the club circuit.
Amazingly,he could play back a tune on the piano with just one hearing, sometimes annotating on paper with symbols that only he understands. To me, he is piano superhuman. The thing with Ferdie, however, is that at the time we got introduced, he was lost with 70's music and rock and roll in general. A month of us talking and jamming together sorted the problem.
Ferdie and me became good friends sharing a love for TV trivia apart from music. In his opening pieces, before the featured singers would take the stage, I would challenge him, now and then, to play now obscure TV series themes as that one from Mannix (CBS 1967-1975, music by Lalo Schifrin) or M.A.S.H (CBS 1972-83 theme by Johnny Mandel, Suicide is Painless). Do you remember Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat? Look it up.

Not a few big names visited the X bar in the years 2003-09, either brought along by Danny's group or those who were looking for Ferdie like: Senator Dick (he sings well), Vernie V., Karylle, Jose Marie, A Ferdie namesake who is lawyer of a previous president who also surprisingly sang very well; international singer David and some other movie denizens I cannot recall at the moment.
Some notable staple performers who graced the X bar stage include Joey Bautista of Mulato, guitarist par excellance Paul Sotto, Girl Valencia and the current Friday headline, the Big Bash.
Right now the X is under renovation. Through the years, service had improved to the relief of frequent visitors, I sincerely hope that with the renovation, they would change their sound system. I'm sure that as soon as it opens it would be back to good music and excellent food.

Elementary: Sherlock Holmes on Crack and other Delightful Twists

Sherlock a junkie? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must be rolling in his grave. Not really.

In the original stories of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Conan Doyle indicated that Sherlock occasionally used drugs. So there is basis on the updated treatment of CBS, titled 'Elementary' which premiered September 2012 featuring Johnny Lee Miller (Trainspotting 1996 Polygram UK) as Holmes and Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angel trilogy starting 2000 Columbia) as Watson.

Wait...Watson a girl and Chinese? She definitely is not Filipino and delineating Watson as a female is old hat,  already done in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1987.

What is new is a fast talking, unsuave, unkempt, recovering junkie Sherlock in the age of Google working as an unpaid consultant for the New York police department with an ex-surgeon, sobriety companion in tow. Sherlock's father is rich and owns the brownstone he lives in so there's no Mrs. Hudson, the foil to the bohemian lifestyle of the detective. Mycroft, Sherlock's older brother is also absent in the series  as well as Moriarty his perennial nemesis. In place of the Conan Doyle characters are Captain Gregson played by Aidan Quinn (Blink 1994 New Line Cinema) who would be 'M' if this were Bond and Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill Person of Interest premier 2011 Bad Robot Production) who would be Q.

In premise, Elementary resembles The Mentalist, another CBS program created by Bruno Keller, where both protagonists suffer from deep emotional wounds while working for the police as profilers, being masters at deductions and observations. Both characters rise above the milieu of their environment because of their wit but additionally with their costumes, one being under dressed while the other, GQ cover except for the shoes. They differ, of course, in pedigree where Sherlock is a classic.
While other police programs, Criminal Mind (Also CBS written by Jeff Davis and stars a favorite Joe Mantegna), CSI (Another CBS) among others, have their own brilliant profilers, they rely on  studied procedures to derive conclusion, where Sherlock and Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) work on their intuitions and over developed deductive reasoning to crack open puzzling cases.
The few episodes of the first season of Elementary showed plots of mixed ingenue, with some that really stretches the imagination and then, those worthy of Conan Doyle. Solutions to crimes come by bits of obscure data only Sherlock would pay any attention. As an example, the pilot involved a murder committed by a lunatic on steroids manipulated by the husband of the victim. A bag of rice opens and closes the case. Now it strains to breaking point the elasticity of suspended logic to believe the premise of the most elaborate preparation for a crime: a) the mastermind, a doctor and husband of the victim, has to find a sick perpetrator of an assault which victim resembles his wife b) convince the perpetrator to come to him for consultation  and lastly, c) get his wife to agree on several cosmetic procedures and hair color alteration to hue more closely to the first victim. That is completely preposterous my dear chap, I could hear Conan Doyle admonishing Robert Doherty (Producer, writer of pilot) from his grave.
Now the episode titled 'The Leviathan' is more believable and ingenious where four in a jury panel gets the idea to replicate a crime they have tried, written by Corrine Brinkerhoff and Craig Sweeney, directed by Peter Werner.
The action portion is definitely wanting. It's police drama, somewhere along the way there should be some running, parkour, chase over the skyline, car chases and shooting involving perhaps Sherlock and I don't mean Sherlock being tased (as in Rat Race episode written by Craig Sweeney and directed by Rosemarie Rodriguez).

Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes is both annoying and engaging. There is the brit accent in formula one speed which is often hard pressed to decipher. For audiences to appreciate the show, they have to be in on what he is seeing and because the plots unravel in the most bizarre way, it is positively required that we understand his explanation. He is a recovering junkie and most recovering junkie friends I have would have this slow sometimes slurred speech pattern, why not try that one. Now in true Conan Doyle fashion, there is very little known about Holmes which is a problem in terms of audience identifying with him. However, running alongside each new episode is the continuing search of Watson for the real Sherlock and the reason for his addiction, which could turn  into understanding, leading to empathy for the character.
On the plus side, Miller was great in Trainspotting and Eli Stone (ABC 2008-July 2009). It is a residual idea that works for the series. We think it's great because Eli Stone is playing Sherlock.
Lucy Liu was most effective and engaging in Ally McBeal (20th Century TV 1987-2002) . Was it the character or the actor? Imagine Liu playing the character of Loretta Divine (Waiting to Exhale 1995 20th Century Fox) in Eli Stone and migrating Divine to Ally McBeal, would they still fit? "That's why they have casting directors dummy" somebody shouted at the back. Oh Yeah.
But what happens if Liu played a bit of Ling Woo crossed with nurse Mildred Ratched (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 United Artist) into Watson then develop a would they or wouldn't they thingy like in Moonlighting (ABC 1985-89) or Remington Steele (NBC 1982-87). By the way what's Stephanie up to?
Elementary is already engaging as it is supported by the fact that it has been nominated the People's Choice Awards for Favorite New TV Drama.
Watch it on DVD.
You could develop a hyper deductive reasoning or a hyper british accent.