The Spin Cycle

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills
Quezon City

MESSAGE

My dear graduates,

Today, we celebrate a momentous accomplishment.  Today, you realized your dreams; your diploma is not only a concrete proof that you’re a graduate of this school, but it also tells the story of the ups and downs of your journey as students.

Graduation Day is just a part of a very long preparation.  The investment you and your parents took for you to finish school is significant: I believe that if one is not prepared by education to face the challenges of life, one wastes time and energy.  More than that, I believe that if one is not primed to face life through a proper education, our young men and women would be crippled in facing the problems of the nation, especially as our future leaders.

The theme of this graduation ceremony is, “BUILDING THE NATION’S FUTURE LEADERS THROUGH THE K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM.”  I believe that this is a step in preparing a complete educational program for our young people.  Education is one of the key challenges of modern living today.  All the conveniences and improvements we have in our daily lives should be complemented by  educational programs of government and policy makers.

We should not strive for excellence for its own sake, but strive for higher causes. Excellence makes us globally competitive.  More importantly, excellence sets the course of our nation’s destiny. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Dear graduates, and your parents and teachers.  All of you should share in the accolades and accomplishments that we celebrate in this occasion.  This is the moment for you to ignite new sparks of hope to light your way, as you negotiate the challenges that stand in the way of your dreams and aspirations.

Dear Graduates, I appeal to each and every one of you to treasure, cherish, and use to its fullest extent, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  This is your vehicle for the future.  With God’s grace and the guidance brought to you by what you learned in this school, you will reach the pinnacle of success.  Succeed not only for yourself, but succeed for your community as well.  Remember that you are this nation’s future leaders, and the hope of the Motherland.  Hold on to everything you have learned, and take care to make all the best things possible.  “Education is the only inheritance that cannot be taken away.”  Ang edukasyon ay ang tanging yaman na hindi kayang nakawin ninuman.

Hold on to your education.  Treasure it, cherish it.  One day, at the right time, you will reap the rewards of learning; the greatest of which is when you yourselves contribute to that wonderful vision.  A wonderful vision for Bagong Paranaque.

Congratulations, and may God bless us all. 

Yours in Public Service,

Edwin I. Olivarez

Let’s see how far we can go with this one.

“Dalawang matatalim na ulos ang isinunod ni Christian.  Siya’y nanigas, at ibinuhos ang kanyang sarili sa akin nang siya’y lumabas na.”

“Sipsipin mo ako.”  Ang kanyang hinlalaki ay idiniin niya sa aking dila, at nagsara ang aking mga labi sa kanyang daliri, walang taros ang aking pagsuso.  Hay, punyeta.  Alam kong mali, ngunit tangina lang, ang landi.”

“Ang kanyang hintuturo ay umiikot sa aking ngiwing yungib ng pag-ibig.  ”Handa ka na ba?” tila pusa ang kanyang pangnguyaw, nakangisi sa akin na tila inang ardilya na handang kainin ang kanyang mga anak na tatatlo lamang ang paa.

“Bigla na lamang siyang napatayo, at hinubad ang aking panty at tinapon sa sahig.  Hinubad niya na rin ang kanyang short, at umigkas ang kanyang umaalburotong titi.  ”Banal na baka!”“

“Linamon ko pa ang kanyang sandata, maramdaman lamang siya sa likod ng aking lalamunan, at muli sa aking bunganga.  Paikot-ikot ang aking dila… siya ay aking pinipig crunch na lasang Christian Grey.  Patuloy pa ang aking marahang pagchuchupa.  Hay.  Ang aking lihim na diwata ay pawang umo-otso otso, na uma-Angelina pa.”

The argument for the Cybercrime Law is almost always predicated on a catchphrase from the Spider-Man movies: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

That is a notion that is perfectly valid in a world with superpowers, where we can leap across buildings and where we can sling webs from our wrists to save damsels in distress from the clutches of evil.

When what you have in lieu of a superpower is the Internet, and the very human ability to express your views, that argument is problematic.

The Internet – the Internet in the Philippines, for that matter – is not a “great power.” The “great power” comes from Internet service providers, and whether or not they can deliver Internet services at the speed of an opinion; which they often don’t.

The “great power” comes from the people who legislate about technology and services which they can barely understand, and have the social superpower of abridging rights in the first place.

The “great power” comes from the people who will benefit from public discourse that’s shaped and molded to protect the rich and famous and powerful: not you and me. We have to “think before you click.”

Whatever “great power” that there is in a Constitutionally-enshrined “free speech” doctrine is already diluted by perfectly legal contradictions that abridge it. Libel is a crime. We don’t have a Freedom of Information Law. We have strong clamors for right of reply from the rich and famous and powerful few.

That’s the reality of free speech here: some “great power” that is. You cannot expect “great responsibilities” from powers that aren’t great. Or powers that are abridged.

Those who invoke Uncle Ben Parker’s (disputable) exhortations are clearly mistaken about what “great power” is. As such, for us to be subjected by the “great responsibility” of ascribing to - or following - a Cybercrime Law is essentially a surrender of what little rights we already have, instead of a defense of it.

Yes, the fences that we help build may one day become the walls of our prison.

Our “great responsibility” is to fight for our freedoms and protect what we have. Not to bow to the will of powerful people who already have instruments of power in the first place. Our great responsibility is Internet freedom, better Internet, the decriminalization of libel, and the open access to information.

Oppa Gloria Style
Gloria Style 

Last year nandun na sa Veteran’s si Gloria
At dun meron pa siyang mga pa-fiesta sa masa
Kung alam niyo lang kung bakit siya naging kakosa
Heto na ang kaso ni Gloria

May sala eh
Milyones ang kupit sa lotto
May sala eh
Nandaya ng libu-libong boto
May sala eh
Kurakot pa sa pondo ng gobyerno
May sala eh, yan may sala eh

Siya’y nagnakaw ng ating boto
Mandarambong, HEY, madarambong
At nangupit pa sa ‘ting pondo
Mandarambong, HEY, mandarambong, HEY
Yan tuloy kunwari pang nakapiit eh eh eh eh eh… 

Oppa Gloria Style
Gloria Style
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style
Gloria Style
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style 

Ehhh… Hello Garci
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style
Ehhh… Hello Garci
Op, op, op op
Eh eh eh eh eh 

June 27 nung nag-sorry pa si Gloria
Iningatan lang daw ang boto kaya hindi raw siya nandaya
Nung siya’y hinabol ay nag-neck brace pa si lola
Nagkasakit daw siya ng bigla 

St. Luke’s eh
Maselan daw para sa Bilibid kaya
St. Luke’s eh
Kung kelan malapit nang maaresto dun sa
St Luke’s eh
Bulok na na dahilan pero hinayaan na sa
St Luke’s eh, dun sa St. Luke’s eh 

Ilang taon na ang kanyang kaso
Nasa Kongreso, HEY, sa Kongreso
Nandun si Mikey, nandun si Dato
Di mahinto, HEY, di mahinto, HEY
Kung magkasakit doon sa St. Luke’s na uli, eh eh eh eh… 

Oppa Gloria Style
Gloria Style
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style
Gloria Style
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style 

Ehhh… Hello Garci
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style
Ehhh… Hello Garci
Op, op, op op
Eh eh eh eh eh 

Tuwing May yon
Bina-baby lagi na lang ganon
Maysakit daw yon
Bina-baby lagi na lang ganon
Para satin yon
Bina-baby lagi na lang ganon
Ang saya-saya no?

Oppa Gloria Style

Eh eh eh eh eh eh ehhh, Hello Garci
Op, op, op op, oppa Gloria Style
Ehhh… I am sorry
Op, op, op op
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Oppa Gloria Style 

* - based on “Gangnam Style” by PSY

Yung inaangat kasi, yung antas ng diskurso. Hindi yung kilay.

Sino ba naman ang kokontra sa mga opinyon ng intelektwal, ng may pinag-aralan, yung may malawak na kaalaman sa mga sports tulad ng golf, tennis, croquet, polo, equestrian exhibitions, whatever?  Di nila sport yan.

Pero kung pwede lang sana, for once, hayaan nyo naman sigurong magluksa ng kahit konti lang yung mga taong affected doon sa pagkatalo ni Pacquiao, i.e., the “stupid masa” you love deriding on a frequent basis.  Let them feel sad and maybe a bit sorry, without bringing your high horse in na as if bobo at mangmang sila for believing in him and idolizing him.

Yes it’s true, and you can probably fault them from here to eternity while you enjoy a breezy drive through EDSA without traffic because the “idiot masa” is not around to clog it.

You have cable, they don’t.  You have more “sophisticated” tastes (for whatever that’s worth).  You have more access to resources than they do.  Can you fault them?  Really, you can’t: the fact that you have resources and they don’t makes you and them complicit in each other’s place in the economy and society.  It’s more complicated than the black-and-white you see of this world, or you being “better” than them.  It’s not about “awa” or guilt but about recognition, respect, and empathy.

Somehow this unequal, unfair world of rich and poor, of cultured and not cultured, demands a little more equality in the right places for it to be a little more bearable. Wag kang killjoy.

Let them celebrate, let them be a wee bit pissed.  Let them feel it.  Let them have their pride in the same way you cheer for Federer in Roland Garros or Deandre Siobhan Magnus in American Idol.  Let them have their sadness in the same way you get disappointed if Nadal wins again on clay, or if it’s another WGWG on AI or the same waifs in ANTM.  Pwede naman yun eh.

Itaas ang antas ng diskurso, hindi ang anggulo ng kilay.  Sila - yung “idiot masa” mo - sila na mismo alam nilang boksing lang yan.  May nananalo, may natatalo.  After ng boksing, back to reality.  Sila na rin mismo yung mamamasada ng taxi, magbubukas ng tindahan, manalo man o matalo si Pacman.

For all we know, mas alam pa nila yan kaysa sa yo.