I Am Buraot

I was still a kid back then.  I didn’t know anything outside my personal scope. I remember a few years back when a certain Ninoy was shot  dead. Seeing him on TV moments before his death made me realize that this surreality is a signal of a wrong. Something tremendously wrong.

Then EDSA came.

I didn’t know what to do. I can hear the sounds of planes hovering above our rooftops. The number of people outside our street in Dimasalang carrying transistor radios blaring modulated noises are enough to let a kid know that there is something big going on. Continue Reading…

At the start of the new government under President Noynoy Aquino, I do understand that former congressman and secretary Butch Abad is going to have a juicy post. In fact I expected it. After all, he was  Noynoy’s campaign manager at the last election.

On a personal note, I would love to see him back in government. I saw him as an alternative politician capable of running an agency that requires skills without having to abandon a belief that government work need not necessarily equate graft.

I commended him when, along with nine other cabinet secretaries during the time of President Arroyo, they decidedly quit from their posts. I said, “Hmnnn.. even with a bit of political propaganda, some people still knew what the word delicadeza means.”

Then Noynoy became president. By virtue of political gratitude that is not unknown to Philippine politics, it would be safe to assume that Abad was personally asked by the President to take his pick. I was expecting Butch Abad to be his Executive Secretary since to me it would be the most influential of all.  He was appointed as Budget Secretary.

It made me wonder if it’s about the pork. Continue Reading…

I got a call from a former comrade, they are now converging on the streets of the EDSA, waiting for the imminent yet another uprising to unfold.

I was inside the former US base where I currently hold my office. It was another period of turmoil and political uncertainty. Then Philippine President Erap Estrada is facing impeachment charges at the floors of the Senate.

I wanted to go to the capital, and join the ongoing protests. But something I felt at that time was out of line. The dreams of the first EDSA never faded. Simply because it never materialized. So seeing another one in the works made me realize my personal reservations on this ongoing second one. Continue Reading…

When the City of Olongapo is mentioned, the first things that would come to mind are two: the entertainment bars lining its streets and the name Gordon.

While the roots of existence of the former are well-traced, the existence and the reason why the latter became a household name is not much talked about.

Who really are the Gordons? How did they come into power? And how for several decades, did a single family dominate the entire political landscape of the city? Continue Reading…

I was a fan of Dick Gordon, the man who they called The Flash. He was full of idealism and a natural leader. I would love to be seated next to him. I would love to catch the same breath of air that passes through his sense of national pride.

I first saw him on TV after the tragic 1990 major Luzon earthquake. He was there saving lives in the cities of Baguio and Cabanatuan. Those cities were the hardest hit with several collapsed buildings and hotels. He was then armed with his advanced SBMA units doing search and rescue operations. His efforts are rarely seen from politicians and public servants anywhere in the country. And to think that Olongapo is actually hours away from these cities makes it even more heroic.

Gordon, gadgetry, flash, hero. Who wouldn’t fancy any young guy’s idealism and imagination? Continue Reading…

For seven years, I have kept my silence.

With disconcerting thoughts, I have injected my veins with apathy. I have infused my brain with reflections of a selfish new me. I have permeated my consciousness with the dismal concept of your non-existence. I busied myself with the customary schedule an apolitical being would rather adhere to.

For seven years, I gave you time to help yourself.

I gave you the chance to renew your ways. All those times, you had the option to forsake those phantoms that constantly hound you. You had the chance to renounce ill specters that wander all around you. You had the chance to restore your dignity, not just to the entire world, but much more, to yourself.

For seven years, I have kept my distance. Continue Reading…

Jan. 21, 2010. This is the day a miniscule blogger was picked on by a pea-size brained Philippine government official. A blogger named Ella of Blog ni Ella is now facing libel charges from an article about those “rotting” merchandise inside the DSWD warehouses.

If you guys can remember, the Philippines took a beating from typhoon Ondoy last October 2009. It was October 23, 2009, when this site issued an article in reference to the original article of Blog ni Ella regarding the state of of some government relief efforts in some warehouses owned by the Department of Social Welfare and Deveopment (DSWD). Continue Reading…