Own Opinions

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less values on his own opinions of himself than on the opinion of others.

Marcus Aurelius

The So-Called "children of god"

Children of God, as I have been taught throughout my life, means all of us living on this earth. However, this past week, I learned a new meaning for this phrase. A sort of negative connotation of what basically is a religious word. The new meaning implies the “untouchable” bunch of employees who are, most of the time, exemption to the rules & regulations that were made & implemented by the management. It was told to me that they came up with this description in reference to the religious meaning that the Children of God are close to the heart of God, now they use it to as a reference to the people who would be first on the management’s list. It doesn’t matter if they whether they fit or not. Oftentimes, these “children of god” are accommodated individuals who they have known for a long time or people who have helped them before. They could also refer to the people who they pity and try to alleviate a little the life of these persons. However, this accommodation doesn’t come without a price; it requires blind loyalty and support to the causes advanced by the management.

Although, this is some type of charity for the management to look after their people, I have some problem with it because helping doesn’t anything in return. Help people for the sake of helping and not because of the expectation that they will serve you in the future. Is this how we serve people now? And why are these things tolerated and never questioned? It is because you don’t want to be seen in bad light by the management. But they would never admit this. Sad but true.

Remembering Martial Law

Last Sunday was the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in this country 36 years ago. I didn’t even know it then until I watched the news of several groups remembering one of the darkest hours of our nation.

I watching surfing the television shows last night and chanced upon the documentary IMELDA last night on TV5. The documentary shows Imelda thoughts and opinions of her past and the opinions of several witnesses to her time. It shows what Imelda thinks of her actions and the reality that happens during that time. How sad is it to live at that time when our leaders were more concerned on the aesthetic appearance of our country over the alleviation of plight of its people.

One of the business associates of the Marcoses that time even remarked that it was one of the most wonderful times in the country because people are disciplined and does what they are told to. How inconsiderate is it for someone to say something like that? The people are doing what they are told to do is not a mark of democracy. The people were afraid of being imprisoned or killed, for that matter when you can only do what your leader thinks is correct. Stifling basic freedom like freedom of expression and the freedom to know, not the things that the government wants us to believe, is one of the cruellest things that can be done to an entire nation.

I can’t believe that Imelda could say that she is both a star and a slave and that the people are happy if happy if they see her extravagance. She thinks that she is some sort of delusional drug for the people must take for them to be happy. I can’t help but feel awful after her statements and her assumption that one of the worst times of our country was its best because of her, is something I cannot accept. One cannot say that they created something if it is not theirs. Invoking the word of God and that they were the savior of this third world country is one of the most blatant lies ever told.

In those times when all types media are stifled, could they ever stifle the people’s voice today with all sorts of free media such a blogging. Makes me think, in those times, how much the government would be willing to do to suppress our freedom.

In the Guise of Service

The next election is still in 2010 but some interested individuals are now publicly expressing their interest in running for office and are doing so because the want to serve the Filipino people.

I have a problem with that reason of service to the country as a reason for running for political office. Every year, most of the politicians if not all, increased their assets & liabilities. They are getting richer & richer every year. And they all reason out that their businesses and investments are improving. Some of them would even say that they are sacrificing when they enter politics because they will lose money. And do you think they are getting poorer, even with the millions that they will spend for election? No, they are still getting richer because you can always take it back using government funds under some bogus project that they would create.

How stupid do they think we are? A public position may not give one person a higher salary but it gives that person power. The power to intimidate others and the power to let others favor you or your friends business or enterprise even if you’re not worthy. It is the power of influence, in the negative sense.

Now, people who even no background or knowledge about politics or leadership for that matter are positioning themselves for public office. It is an open secret why people enter politics; they want to protect their private & public interests. Mind you, the people are not on top of their priorities, they prioritize themselves. Then when their terms are finished, they let other family members on it and make their public office some sort of family corporation. The only thing that those men will do in their office is there are sign something that someone told them to sign because they have little or no understanding of what their position entails. And they will be easy to manipulate with the color of money. The number one on their scheduled activities would be doing some photo-ops for some project that have offered to the hungry masses and have it plastered all over town to let the people know that they have done something.

I abhor seeing the signage or posters places in most streets that says that projects are brought to us by some president, senator, congressman, governor or mayor. It is as if they have done it themselves using their own money. They are promoting their goodness to their constituents using the people’s money. How lame do they think the people are? One must not own what is not theirs.

I’m just here ranting my disappointment with our government. And however we may wish it would be different, it won’t. This is due to the fact that we continue to elect public officials who promote themselves as something they are not, while taking money on the side. We have learned to tolerate their actions because we have lost hope for change. There are still a few out there who still do real public service but you can count them all with the fingers of your hands. People, we must realize that the “lesser evil” is still evil. And wrong is still wrong even if everybody else is doing it. So let us not be blinded by the smiling faces and the dole outs that these would be public servants offer. Let us learn to discern more when we make a choice and have them offer real service and leadership.

Yes Ma’am / Yes Sir

Watching the news today, one of hot topics is the appointment of Chavit Singson as a deputy National Security adviser. Before that, there was the issue of Ralph Recto and Tito Sotto's appointment. All are defeated senatorial candidates that were now appointed to the president's cabinet after losing the senatorial elections now that the moratorium for hiring of defeated candidates has expired.

I has always bothered me why are defeated senators are appointed to cabinet positions. Couldn’t the president find any other more qualified individual who can do the jobs entailed by those government offices? Does the qualified person have to be a member of the party of the president? Is it necessary that cabinet posts be given to politicians?

I have asked these questions because there are many individuals out there who are more qualified than the ones appointed. I have studied before in my management class that one must find the right personnel to do the job at hand. In my own opinion, the president is looking for “yes ma’am” individuals. Persons who “she owes or they owe her” type of individuals that agree and approve to whatever she says or plans to do.

I have seen individuals who were just hired for political accommodation. These individuals have no knowledge of the job appointed to them because they are not appropriate for the job, they were just for convenience. With this mindset of politicians, it would be difficult to change what is wrong with the government because the problem is not just in the executive level but also in the local level where there are many “politically-accommodated employees”.

I’m an optimistic pessimist. Although, I wouldn’t see any "correct" changes in the government in years to come, whatever the type of government may be, I’m still hoping that it will change. And it will start in us individuals be not tolerating it starting from the grassroots level.

Killing Time / Wasting Energy

I'm in the office right now work. A few of us were required to work while the others are enjoying their weekends. Been here the whole morning and I think my work for the day just lasted about an hour. And now, I just killing time here just to finish the required 4 hours of work. Surfing the net, reading the news, blogging and updating some things in the internet.

This really deviates from the purpose of the company of energy conservation. This is the reason why they removed our half day work schedule every Saturday. Do you think it really works? First of all we still use quite a load of energy working here today even if there are only a few of us. The server should be turned on as well as our computers. And we all know that desktop computers an servers consume a lot of power. I can only say that the intention was noble even if it saves nothing. Or is this just riding the advocacy nowadays of Energy Conservation. This proposal in our office should have been studied and tested well before being implemented, not just for public relation purposes.