Sundown Caffeine featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), thanks to Nokia IAC

Here is the transcript of the original unedited interview:


What are the names of the band members?

Mark Robert Dy, "MRD" (vocals & rhythm guitar)
Conrado Cruz, "Conrad" (lead guitar)
Gerard Munsayac, "Gboy" (bass guitar)
Ian Joseph Alesna, "Ian" (drums)


How did you come up with the name of your band?

The band name emerged from our observation of Philippine cafe culture. People consume coffee or tea any time of the day, even late at night. It stops being about necessity, but true unapologetic desire. We think this is a perfect simile for our music. Like sundown caffeine, our music is something we take in not because we need to, but because we want to.


How long have you been a band?

The band was formed in Cebu back in 2004, but we only started playing with the new line-up in Manila last December 2008.


How would you describe your band's music? 

A combination of rock, blues and country, bent to suit Filipino island culture and taste.


What are you busy with now? 

We are busy arranging songs for our debut album release next year. We all have pretty tough day jobs, so it has been one monster of a balancing act.


What made you sign up at the IAC website?

A friend told us about it. What intrigued us enough to sign up as an IAC band is the fact that big corporations like Nokia are beginning to value independent artists who would, otherwise, never stand a chance against the muscle of the mainstream music industry.


What's one song that you play that you think people should hear? why? 

The song we're proudest of is Nine Rivers because of the simplicity and human-ness of its message. The song talks about making the tough effort to pick up the pieces and move on after a big tragedy... I'm pretty sure this is a sentiment anyone would be able to identify with.

You can see the music video of the song at: 
http://www.flippish.com/lss-sundown-caffeine/

If you like the song, please support us by voting at the Indyhits Website:http://www.bandpromote.com/votes.asp?BandID=525 

As of today, our song Nine Rivers is ranked number 12 out of 725 songs on the IndyHits Chart in Los Angeles, California.


Has being in the site given you more exposure?

Definitely. We are an independent band. This means you won't find our music in malls or record bars. IAC allows us to reach our audience directly without any direct cost to us. This is truly a gift from Nokia. Many people who listen to us today would never have known about our work, had it not been for sites like IAC.


How do you feel about bands using the Internet to market their music?

There's no stopping it. This is the future. Not only are we reaching a broader global audience, we are also saving a lot of paper, metal and plastic in the process. Green and global. If people use it right, the Internet can be a wonderful thing.


When are your next gigs? 

Our gig schedules change from time to time. You can check out our website for updates: www.sundowncaffeine.com 

Our next major gig will be the Island Rock Show 2: Speak Your Mind in November 14. This will happen at Checkpoint Louie's Bar in Paranaque. 


How else can people catch your band? 

Visit our official website at www.sundowncaffeine.com 


What's the best thing about being an indie band? 

Nobody tells you what to do, how you should do it, when you should do it or why.


Is there anything else you want to promote?

Support Independent Music. Support Nokia's Independent Artists Club.

Simply Great

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.

- CHARLES DE MONTESQUIEU

In this world of greed and inflated egos, this is a story that must be told so that we might remember that there are still wonderful people out there... that there are still gestures of greatness, no matter how seemingly simple for the originator.


This week, some people from work and I were doing the final edit of a WIPO Copyright Book. We wanted to "Filipinize" the book by changing the examples to suit Filipino culture and experience.


One of the examples in the book was a comic strip by a famous American cartoonist. We wanted to transform the page, and one thing instantly came to mind: Pugad Baboy by Pol Medina, Jr.


I was hesitant at first in asking Mr. Medina for permission to use one of his book covers for the publication. Nevertheless, we sent him an email and formally asked for his permission.


He replied and said "yes" immediately. We were ecstatic. 


And so that was that... or so we thought... 


Three hours later another email arrives... and lo and behold... Mr. Pol Medina, Jr. sent us a strip specially customized for IP Philippines.

This was so much more than we could ask for. He was able, to sum up in four boxes what the office has been trying to do for many decades.


Medina is one of the biggest names, if not the biggest, in the industry. He reportedly earns five figures each day for a single strip on the Philippine Daily Inquirer... and yet, with this single stroke, he obliterated the mystique that surrounded his person and his empire... his generosity and humility is something that just gives me goosebumps each time I think about it.


We don't need to save lives to be great. We don't need to die as martyrs or run for president to be remembered forever.


Sometimes, doing what you do every single day generously and with a humble heart is enough. This time, it truly was.


Mabuhay ka, Pol Medina, Jr.! Mabuhay ang Pugad Baboy!


To know more about the cartoon, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pugad_Baboy

The Capiz Reflection: Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Peoples' Rights

If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories?

- J. EDWARD CHAMBERLIN

There is very little we know about ourselves in spite of the years and years of formal education we are compelled to accomplish... but ever so rarely, a moment comes when the horizon suddenly explodes into wide view for just a split second... and we are forever transformed by what greatness we see and what little we remember.

For me, this experience was not a first in its valuable components, but it was certainly a first in its combination. I have been an Indigenous Peoples' Rights Advocate for about five years now and an artist for much, much longer than that... but I never really had these two separate worlds fuse into a beautiful mesh of philosophical possibilities (this only goes to show how little we do with even the things we think we understand).

When you talk about Indigenous Peoples' Rights, one word immediately comes to mind: LAND. After that, everything else becomes a blur, an afterthought, a collateral matter. I fell into that same trap and found myself deprived of a wider area of understanding where I could have given more of myself. After all, what is land without the beliefs, the creations, the art, the epic tales, the science, the survival, the artifacts, the crafts and all that is produced by the minds of the dwellers of that land?

Human communities will never be limited to the physical act of building houses, planting crops and hunting game... All these things acquire meaning... all these things are jealously inseparable from human imagination. In every society, no matter how ancient, there will always a wealth of creativity... from the artisan, the alchemist, the healer, the inventor, the craftsman, the musician, the poet, the merchant, the weapon-smith, the carpenter, the builder, and even the town crier. 

The sun and the stars will never be just balls of flaming gas, but bodies that aid people in navigating through treacherous waters and explaining personalities, behavior and cosmic events... the land will never be just dirt, bugs, and roots but a sacred source of life, healing, and stability. Modern societies and religions reject these notions as "superstitious beliefs" and "heresies"... but today, in this chapter of global decay, this ancient wisdom and affinity to nature just might be what will save the human race.

Makes me think how ignorant we really are today.

When I entered IP Philippines to work, I feared one thing: that my advocacy for human rights would be in peril... that it would be just a pleasant memory (if not the only one) from my days as a law student. I tried to rationalize this by demonstrating that intellectual property is a human right (a fact that I think I proved in my graduate thesis... but was actually more of an attempt to convince myself). Then comes this opportunity... this gap in legal and philosophical understanding that allowed two of my great passions to step in together and shake my imagination.

I was humbled during these few days in Capiz... I was humbled by the T'boli weavers and musicians... by the Ati alchemists and the healers... by the Kalinga builders and percussionists. For these people, art and science have always been a part of life... not just source of cheap thrills. Everything I saw was celebration of hundreds of years of the diversity and unity of what we now know as the Filipino.  

After the reflection, comes the resolve. What I do with what I know must protect human creation... not only that which is new... but also the creativity that has been part of our history and heritage. We are who we are today because of these things... and only by looking back at them can we find a way to deeply know ourselves.

In the end, I had to step out of lawyer-mode to become part of the entire human experience of pure imagination. Doubts were kicked aside and disbelief was suspended. What I found humbled me and humbled me again as it expanded my mind further (and this didn't even involve Peyote).

Now it's time to come home, knowing that I am mounds richer today than I was a week ago. Thank you, Capiz.

Yellow

I am not embarrassed to tell you that I believe in miracles.

-    CORAZON C. AQUINO

Have we forgotten?


… that we were once the masters of democracy?


… that in 1986, long before anyone had even heard of Barack Obama, there was a more pronounced and dynamic miracle here in our very own islands?


… that we were the envy of the world for our singular display of peace, reconciliation and true power?


Back in the day when power was yielded by the vicious, it was unthinkable that a housewife with no political ambition could topple down a twenty-year-old empire. The proud few fell under the furious voice of the humble in glorious unison. 


“No more”, they said. 


“Not in my country”, they said even louder.


To avoid falling into the trap of romanticizing the past too much, understand that it was no secret that Tita Cory had her share of failures and frustrations. As her administration was cursed by violent coups, natural disasters, and economic ruin, she had an army of critics that watched her every move. This forced her team to be dynamic in both composition and strategy. In the end, she never really settled in. There was no calm -- no settling of the dust from the aftershock of Marcosian and natural devastation. She sat at the edge of her seat during her entire service.


President Aquino was not your typical idealized hero. She was not one who rose from the masses to become a champion of the people. She was never in war, or tortured, or humiliated. She was part of the elite Cojuangco family that had much in life. She had everything she ever needed, including a US education, a secure family and a fount of inexhaustible finances. 


She could easily have sat back to watch the wicked and the greedy devour each other while keeping her family safe, not losing a single night’s rest. But she chose a difficult life. She chose to jump into the fray and serve her God and her people. 


It was her great personal sacrifice that won for us a sustained increase in national hope. It was this -- her resolve to abandon the quiet life that she craved in exchange for a life lived for everyone else -- that made the Filipino people feel even human again.


The years when she was in the Palace were not the most productive years for the Philippines… they were not the happiest years… they weren’t even the most peaceful years… 


… but they were certainly the most hopeful years.


And we lost this because we have forgotten that it's not what you have or what you've been through that defines you as a true leader… It’s how much you’re willing to give up.


That is the story of Corazon C. Aquino.


And it is a story we must constantly revisit and learn from.


Because certain great sacrifices have to be made in the months to come… and we shall see who will finally step up to take the challenge head-on.


Rest in peace, Madame President.

Transform

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

-    CHARLES DARWIN

How we change… and so often and much in only a single lifetime.


This is clearest when we look at our heroes -- our public icons -- our human torches. 


Take the recently deceased high-pitched, crotch-grabbing, energetic pop star that went from being deified to being demonized in a matter of years… and now he is put to rest by a world transfixed with ambiguous feelings and unanswered questions. 


Time and again, we see our war heroes and redeemers turn into tyrants. People from humble beginnings become billionaires. Many times we see the good guys give up. Many times we see evil extinguished by conscience.


People have the capacity to live as saints or villains and shift from one personality to the other with relative ease. We have this as a free gift and a harsh responsibility. We determine our truth by our individual choices and our reputation by our habits.


In our own lives, we encounter extremes of transformation… a once funny uncle who just stopped laughing… a friend with whom you once burned the phone line for ten straight hours who just chose to become a complete stranger… a person you once feared who now serves as your role model… 


The weak become strong… the dull become colorful… the meek become loud… the arrogant are humbled… the evil finds redemption… and the heroes fall with greed. 


Transformation is inevitable. Change is who we are because we constantly seek for that which we do not have. We long to live someone else’s life. We are fascinated by the unfamiliar. We are drawn towards the unknown. 


Never mind if we have it all and no apparent right to envy others. The truth is… we always will. 


The prince will always have recurring dreams of being the pauper and vice versa a million times over.


But every now and then, we find true rocks in our lives… people who serve as the solid foundations unto which we cling for safety… people who shift and sway, and sometimes leave but always return.


These people shield us from the chaos. They help us find our center and stay on a predictable course, and they will live and die with us through any transformation. 


They are the keepers. 


They are home.  


… and they are the ones we often fail to notice… because with them, we are safe. 


After all the excitement... after all the adventure... after all the changes... we always come home. Always.

Happiest People on Earth

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.

-    BILL COSBY

It doesn’t take a professional therapist to know that humor is one of the finest coping mechanisms that the human animal has ever had the good fortune of learning. 


Filipinos, more than any other people in my limited experience, have the greatest wealth of humor and its appreciation at their disposal (at par with the Latin Americans, probably). When we dislike what we see around us, our primary reflex is to ridicule it with comments, posters, skits, funny text messages, blogs, YouTube videos, Twitter statuses, and even TV commercials. 


Humor is a cool way of telling the truth without being too emotionally transfixed in its ugliness. As a modest people, this is our chosen method of communication, allowing us to avoid the risk of judgment or rejection. We joke about things we casually and instinctively cannot talk about, especially the big four: money, sex, politics, and religion. It makes life easier to take in and our ideas easier to let out.


Knowing who and how we are today, it’s not hard to imagine the Katipuneros of olden times bursting into laughter after one of their members let out a non-so-quiet fart during one of their solemn strategic meetings. 


It’s not difficult to think about Dr. Rizal laughing at the funny accents of his fellow Illustrados in Europe while giving their fiery speeches during one of their many dinner parties. 


It is not far-fetched to picture Lapu-Lapu's warriors pointing and laughing hysterically at the flamboyantly dressed Spanish soldiers as they landed on the shores of Mactan Island, just before their deadly skirmish.


Humor makes us a malleable people that will not snap with the harsh daily pressures. It doesn’t mean we take nothing seriously – only that our understanding and acceptance of the things we see, hear and experience is cautious and cushioned by a filter of laughter. 


We have never had a superior army against a foreign power. So our foreparents scampered away like vermin only to strike again at the next opportune time. A humorless lot cannot pull that off and sustain it for many months at a time. 


We never had the wealth of our neighbors, and so we are forced to find riches in our imagination. Without humor, many of us would have jumped off our many cliffs or hung ourselves under our many trees.


We are fortunate in our ability to detach from the material world and appreciate the best in any situation. We are strong in our ability to sidestep danger and dodge pain. We are wise in our ability to search for the truth without emotionally overheating. This is how we survive.


Because of all these, in spite of all the frustrations, and regardless of all the insecurities, we are still one of the happiest people on Earth.

Royal Blues

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily

No law granting a title of royalty or nobility shall be enacted.

-     THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

One of the most unsightly words in the English language is entitlement. It suggests baseless superiority of a group of persons because of accident or the work of their forebears. It suggests that genetics and succession absolutely decide one’s rights and options in life. 


What I hate even more is that we allow this to be true by our actions and inaction.


The people who run this country and the world mostly consist of these presumptuous heirs of the wealthy and powerful. They are the landowners who resist the changing social needs and choose to keep their huge tracts of unproductive land for their own pleasure. They are the sons and daughters of privilege, luck, and influence who breeze through life with fancy clothes, nightclubs and designer drugs. They carry their names proudly like banners of moral terrorism against all who live quiet normal lives.


We may not have a nominal house of nobles, but our government seems to act like one. During the past weeks, many of these persons who claim to be our representatives have proved to act only for themselves and those they owe allegiance to. They use culture, breeding, and pretty words to justify keeping what they already have, without moving an inch to improve the lives of those who look up to them for succor. 


Feudalism in Europe and Japan has ended long, long ago. But the Philippines still carries the system with pride. People still lord over the poor just as they did during the middle ages. Too bad our nobles do not fight it out as the knights of olden times did. Too bad our system of choosing leaders no longer involves strength, intelligence, and compassion, otherwise we would have a President who is a combination of Manny Pacquiao, Epifanio de Los Santos, and Cardinal Sin. A very tall order, but a striking ideal, nonetheless.


We hate being called a nation of servants to our face, only because we cannot and will not face the unsweetened truth. We are servants under very few but very powerful masters. Most of us live under the poverty line, even after a full degree of college. The poor stay landless and dreamless as they eat scraps from the tables of the greediest members of Filipino society. 


And here we are, the educated middle class, caught in the center of a raging storm ready to erupt into cleansing bloodshed. We can either choose to imitate those above us and accumulate everything we can for ourselves, or we can look below us and pull up as many people as we can from their hellish lives. 


The good news is that we are not a defeated nation. Everywhere you look today you see collective movements and powerful dissent – clusters of resistance that act as breakwaters that stand against the crashing waves of the tainted and the corrupt. People from all walks of life, young and old, wealthy and poor are coming together to defend human solidarity against those who act only for themselves.


Let us bring down our masters by exposing them for what they truly are -- greedy animals, undeserving of the powers and duties entrusted to them. Let us be merciless in our search for truth so that we might all be able to act with our very best judgment.


To save our country and our people, we must be a nation of servants… and be damn proud of it.

Steering A Nation

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily

If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.  

-- SENECA

Individual behavior is a result of the series and combinations of rewards and punishments a person receives throughout his or her life. In the most extreme, those who commit criminal acts are placed behind bars or fined while those who accomplish great things are rewarded by fame and fortune. In the center is a wide expanse of gray area of where minor behavioral nuances can no longer be micromanaged. Nonetheless, they can be generally steered by policy and law.


Taxation is the system of reward and punishment that leads the general populace to move towards certain behaviors while avoiding others. It is a process of soft obliteration, where undesired actions less than criminal are quelled. Imposing high taxes on certain industries like mining or logging can protect the ecology by some measure. Lowering taxes on green industries can encourage investment in these protective ventures.


Unfortunately, this behavioral control mechanism is not fully utilized in our islands. European countries, for example, charge very hefty luxury taxes on vices while keeping collections minimum for education. It sends a message to people that if you want to use your money for unproductive activities, you have to pay a high price for it. If you use it for something desirable, you will get some reprieve from the tax collector.


In our case, the government has already tried to impose greater taxes on book importations. It failed mainly due to political pressure, not sound judgment. Many legislators have proposed large ‘sin taxes’ but they keep getting stopped in their tracks by industry lobbyists, resulting in the cheapest liquor and tobacco to be found in the region.


Governance is one great social experiment, and although there is some leeway for creativity, there are general policies that ought to be maintained. Education must be supported while violence is to be eliminated. Productivity and hard work must be encouraged while destructive behavior must be penalized. Health is to be protected while environmental damage must be kept at a negligible minimum. 


For now, it is comforting to know that our Constitution has tax measures that protect educational, religious and civic interests. But even the solid foundations of our organic law are being grinded by our so-called ‘representatives’, who have very fat business interests. There are those intent in practically selling the country to foreign powers who have no interest other than profit, while local farmers walk on, landless. 


How do we steer national behavior when those who vote on these issues in our behalf have interests that conflict with ours – when those who command our tax collectors and cops give in to the temptations that such awesome powers provide? 


It all comes down to the populace and their ability to come together and express their frustrations and aspirations through their votes and their collective actions.


Democracy is not dead. It only remains misunderstood, misguided and unclaimed. In less than a year’s time, we will once again be collectively challenged to act with our best judgment. 


Let us steer the nation harder to a better place this time. 


No more excuses.

Greatest of Virtues

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily


If you’ve seen the film The Devil’s Advocate, you will certainly remember Al Pacino as the dark prince, repeatedly describing vanity as his “favorite sin”. 


Indeed, it is the greatest evil we could allow into our lives because it is the essential first step in getting into more trouble. Pride is the attitude of the wicked and the cruel. It leads to selfishness, deceit, envy, greed, ignorance and finally, violence. History is filled with famous proud butchers: Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler, Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and our very own Ferdinand Marcos. These highly intelligent and highly ambitious people were pinnacles of human pride and brutality. They just didn’t know when to stop, and so their own mortality silenced them and cursed them upon the dark pages of human history forever. 


On the flip side of the coin, I believe that humility is the greatest virtue accessible to humanity. Great deeds of love and kindness are products of the most humble figures in history: Siddhārtha Gautama, Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. These are people that millions try to emulate, because they were great in their humility. They did not claim glory or wealth, but their small individual acts of kindness snowballed into global movements for change and unity. 


Humility is also the key to successful relationships. It ensures that we do not put ourselves above other people. It keeps our eyes and ears open, giving us a life of perpetual learning. It reminds that everything we are, have and know are fleeting – that we are a fraction of a speck in the grand scheme of the universe. 


Proud people just talk loud, exclude everyone from their tiny worlds and never run out of excuses each time they fail. They live in constant fear and distrust. They believe in the illusion of superiority, and waste their time chastising others who they consider inferior. They cannot survive even the smallest form of criticism, and so they shut themselves inside tiny boxes ignorance and fear. They become slaves to wealth and power, always clawing for more. Never having a moment’s rest. Never satisfied. They stop growing and drag everyone else down with them.


Humble people do not speak of their achievements and talents, but celebrate them by using them for others. They know that they live on borrowed time and work with borrowed resources. With this mindset of gratitude, they are able to create lasting good in their circles of influence. With humility comes detachment from material things and temporary successes, giving us freedom to move, discover and understand.


I say these things because I want to be reminded of that slippery slope we are prone to rolling into, as we grow older. That ominous tendency to glorify ourselves comes to haunt us more often as we accomplish more. Celebrating degrees, titles and awards are all well and good for a night. But when we get back into the difficult real world, we are all the same. None of it will matter. We all have to pull our own weight and help those who cannot. 


The funny truth is this: The more we learn, the more we realize that we know so little. 


As I end my long years formal education, I pray that I will never forget this… as well as those around me.

The World is Skewed

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily


On paper and as an ideal, globalization promises a new economic world order that will uplift humanity to heights difficult to imagine. The free exchange of goods and services promises to create a single global market where the only restriction is the law of supply and demand. 


Grand plans… grand promises… but at what cost?


To get to that ideal, many people have to give up their livelihood. Small-scale farmers and fishermen will have to abandon their trades when faced by the uncontrollable influx of cheaper imported goods. Small-scale businesses and neighborhood shops will be crushed under the heels of large foreign-owned shopping centers. 


Cheaper goods and services might look like a strong selling point for consumers, but you have to remember that every consumer is also a producer and a service provider. What use are cheaper goods when people’s incomes are obliterated by unfair competition? What’s the point of having retail prices of your favorite grocery store cut in half when you have to close your own shop permanently?


To make this great economic omelette, we have to break a whole lot of eggs. Millions will plunge into hopeless destitution, while the few truly big businesses continue to balloon into grotesque proportions. The poor stay poor, the middle class joins them and the rich become gods.


To look at the end-goal without seeing the painful steps leading to that goal is Social Darwinism at its very worst. It attacks the life, liberty and property of the most marginalized sectors of society, widening the already vast chasm that separates the rich from the poor. Social ills are exponentially amplified, turning pride of labor into systematic worldwide greed. 


Powerful first-world countries welcome globalization with arms wide open, but for a tiny nation like ours, nationalist economics is our final line of defense against the tidal waves of mass production just waiting to erase entire industries and cultures. 


I do not dare to question the bigger-picture wisdom of economics experts, but to my mind, the evils needed to reach their goals are simply unacceptable. 


Is there a way around it? Is there a better way to do this?


There is. But for now, richer countries are not willing to give us a truly meaningful and effective quid pro quo situation. Their industries are allowed to flourish in our land, while they prevent our greatest and most abundant resource from being fully utilized. If they are allowed to sell their goods here without restriction, our people should be allowed to travel to and work in their countries similarly without restriction. This is how we create a formidable middle class. This is how economic balance is achieved. This is how globalization becomes a cultural revolution, rather than just a concept of economics. Instead, they use security reasons and terrorism scares to keep global trade consistently skewed in their favor. 


I used to be a believer in big-picture economics and full globalization. But as we draw deeper into this socio-economic experiment, the picture becomes uglier and uglier. Maybe it’s time to take a few paces back, cut our losses and try to figure all this out.


Higher productivity is no excuse for the perpetuation of human suffering. In its present form, globalization is a lethal pill to the most vulnerable nations in the world. Unless we come up with a better strategy and an honest will to bring economic fairness in the world, all this is simply unacceptable.

We The Spirits

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily

The disembodied spirit is immortal; there is nothing of it that can grow old or die. But the embodied spirit sees death on the horizon as soon as its day dawns.

- THOMAS HOBBES (1588 - 1679) 

For those of us who work with the law, we often think in terms of finality. We believe ourselves to be boxed in by parameters set by old men and women who seem all-knowing of all there is and all there ever will be. Our education implies that outside this box we call the Rule of Law, there is no other form of succor. But any person with a bit of life experience knows that there are forces greater than government, institutions, and people. There are virtues far greater than the decent human minimums of justice and fairness.


This holy week, I invite everyone to reflect on the greater things in life -- more than our business interests, our personal ambitions, and our dreams. These are the greater forces of compassion, kindness, and love -- super-natural urges that seem to always keep us off tangent from normal human behavior and reasoning. Why are we capable of being generous at a time of personal need? Why are we able to reach out and pull up those we fairly defeat in life’s race? Why do we still believe in miracles after all that education we’ve been put through?


There exists that great force that keeps humanity reaching out for its best qualities. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or even a self-declared atheist, there is reason and meaning behind every good work that you do and reprieve from your baser actions. The inevitable truth is that we are all spiritual beings and no denial, no backsliding, no distancing mechanism can change that. 


Whatever may be your interpretation, there will always be room for greater things and greater ideas in your life. Call it God, goodness or love; we recognize it almost immediately when we see it. We are forever drawn towards it in our search for meaning. 


Sometimes your cynicism may leak out through your words, but your actions will always betray the truth. How hard you work for your family will show it. How you comfort a friend at a time of loss will show it. How you tip the cab driver or the waiter will show it. How you call people through your mobile phone for no reason except to say “How’s it going?” will show it. How you forgive someone who took much from you or betrayed you in the most terrible way will show it.


These things are who we are. These things fuel our hope.


Our failures, our pains, our frustrations fade in time because we are spiritual beings, mindful of things more important than simply what we go through this day. We are a constant work-in-progress and will remain this way until the day we die. This is our common journey towards perfection – towards the spirit.


Thus, we are not of this world. We will never be satisfied with what we have now because they lock us up in this place so fleeting and temporary. That bigger TV or faster car will become old and meaningless in time. Your clothes and jewelry will go out of style. Your gadgets will become obsolete and stop working. Your beauty will fade. Relationships will end, whether by choice or by death. Everything has an expiration date.


So survey your blessings. Value the good things in your life because all these are temporary: our careers, our material things, and our loved ones. Someday, we will lose them. Someday, only shadows and memories of the good old days will remain. But even on those days, we will survive. Through any war, recession, heartbreak or frustration, we will survive. Because at the end of every episode of pain, after every loss and even when everything else fades into wind, the human spirit remains.  


Peace and blessings to you all. Happy Easter!

Philippine Emancipation

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily


The Philippines is the oldest democracy in Asia. In our minds, we believe strongly in equality, freedom, justice and human rights. 


In our minds.


We are one of the poorest nations in the world and yet we have the most number of servants per household. We live in a country where it is customary to leave the care of our children and our homes to people we pay a very minimal amount of money and provide very few benefits to. 


The rich down to the middle class have become so accustomed to this social setup that they see no reason to stir the waters with inconvenient change. The poor who constitute the ‘informal service industry’ also do not complain, either because of innate Filipino meekness or simply because they feel ‘lucky’ to even have a job at all. 


Worse than the low wages are the ‘house rules and conditions’ we impose upon them. We confine them in our homes inside tiny living quarters with bad ventilation and nothing but a straw mat to sleep on, while we sleep soundly on soft mattresses inside air-conditioned rooms. They do nothing but work all day everyday and are always on call, often disturbed from their sleep late at night to open our gates as we come home from clubbing or a poker game. The next day, they wake up before the sun to water the plants, sweep the floor, cook breakfast and walk the dogs, so that when their masters wake up, everything is in perfect shape. We always eat before they do and provide them with either our leftovers or unhealthy canned goods and noodles. We give them a day off but expect them to come home in time to prepare supper. We prohibit them from dating because we fear losing their services should they decide found a family of their own. 


Sound familiar?


Of course, I speak of averages. The worst ‘masters’ among us shout at their helpers and even call them names. In the very worst scenarios, physical abuse is an everyday thing.


The best of us offer education and health benefits to our domestic companions and even give them opportunities to augment their income through livelihood programs. Some employers always have their helpers with them at the same table no matter where they choose to dine. Few even get to travel around the world for free. But this, of course, is an anecdotal rarity.


Nonetheless, most of our house helpers suffer the very worst working conditions in and outside the country. Even Philippine labor law treats them as sub-human workers who deserve much less than everyone else who works as hard or less.


This unspoken Filipino caste system has gone on for so long that we even export our helpers to every country in the world who would have them. Some foreign employers have inherited our habits and take the atrocities even further by confiscating their helper’s passport and locking them up in their houses. 


It is no revelation that foreigners see the Philippines as the number one outsourcer of help. Our people manage and maintain the households of thousands upon thousands of people all over the world, and they get very little in return. Few complain. Few earn enough to live decent lives and die with dignity. 


Why do we allow this? 


Because it is convenient.


This is something we do not bother to even talk about. Maybe it took a few heart piercing words by a Hong Kong writer to make us see our own errors. Indeed, the truth hurts. But what do we do about it? 


These are the people we trust with our most precious possessions: our homes and our children. Do we really want to treat them badly?

Check and Balance

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily


A recent Pulse Asia survey regarding the Filipino opinion about charter change shows that about 42% reject it. But the more alarming finding is that 57% of Filipinos know little to nothing about the Constitution. Although I have this inherent distrust for survey results, experientially, this figure seems to be true. Even I knew very little about our most basic law before entering law school. I just never bothered to learn it back then. And like so many of our Filipino youth, I just didn’t care.


Now that I work for the Filipino people, I have no choice but to do care. So allow me to explain our system of government and how it is supposed to work. 


Our government is composed of three parts or branches. 


We have the Legislative Branch or the people who make the laws. These are the House of Representatives and the Senate. Legislative Power is otherwise known as the Power of the Purse because it is the lawmakers who design the national budget.


We have the Executive Branch or the people who implement the law. These are the President, the Cabinet members and everyone else working under the different departments. Executive Power is also called the Power of the Sword because it is the Executive that imposes the law and controls the police and the military.


Finally, we have the Judicial Branch or the people who interpret the law in actual cases. These are the Supreme Court justices and the justices and judges of the lower courts. Judicial Power is sometimes referred to as the Power of the Scales because it is the courts that have the final word on actual cases or controversies. 


Power is spread out among these three branches because of a long history of world experience that if power belonged only to one person or to a single family, there will be tyranny. By giving specific groups specific powers and duties, they are able to check and balance each other’s actions so that minimal damage will arise out of any fault or error by any individual person in government. In other words, our system essentially is a result of a well-placed mistrust in human nature. This is called the Separation of Powers.


How do these checks and balances work? In several ways:

1. If Legislature approves a bad law, the Executive can veto it. If the Executive abuses his veto, the Legislature can, in turn, override it by getting a higher vote.
2. If the Judiciary makes a bad decision in a criminal case, the Executive can pardon the convicted person and set him free.
3. If the Executive assigns unworthy or questionable persons to the Cabinet or to certain key government positions, this decision can be rejected by the Commission on Appointments under the Legislative Branch of government.
4. If certain government officials, namely the President, the Vice-President, the Supreme Court Justices, the Commissioners of the Commission on Elections, Audit and Civil Service, and the Ombudsman prove to be unworthy of their positions, they can be impeached with the initiative of the Legislative Branch.
5. Finally, if any person in government exercises his or her power with grave abuse of discretion, the Judiciary can reverse, modify or set aside that abusive exercise of power and order that person to behave properly.

All these are designed to keep power in its proper place.


Sadly, these checks and balances have mostly been illusory in recent years. The Supreme Court Justices, Members of Congress and even the Ombudsman are either friends or family of the President. There exists a personal touch that contorts the entire system into something no longer recognizable as a democracy. The Philippines has been disfigured under the rule of pakikisama. What we used to consider as a value is now proving to be a serious liability and a blockade against national unity and freedom. 


After all is said and done, the ultimate check and balance comes from us – the common people. We vote for our leaders, their policies, attitudes, experience, education, faith, prejudices, mistakes, triumphs and yes… their families. Our collective decision will form our collective destiny. 


I hope we can all remember this next year.


Register. Vote. And use nothing less than your very best judgment.

Over Power

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily




The nature of power is to bend or break the will of the weak. Through the promise of reward or the threat of harm, power is exercised in our daily lives. Today we see two convicted rapists set free because of the power they wield over the weak. One is backed up by the wealthiest nation on earth, and the other by his own personal, less grand but equally effective, wealth, status and influence.


How did it ever come to this? 


Since when did we become a people who set criminals free just because they have more money than others who are equally or less guilty?


I remember working with an NGO that serves persons who languish in jail. Our clients were people who have not yet been found guilty but are serving time just because they could not afford to fork out bail money. They are treated as second-class citizens who are herded into our congested, filthy and putrid city jails while they wait for a trial date that may never come. This is my most salient experience of the Philippine justice system. It makes me loathe my choice of profession and want to fly away to a country that values its people.


The nature of power is to bend or break the will of the weak. This is why I do not dare blame Nicole. I do not blame the weak for their weariness and their exhausted patience. I do not blame the fearful woman for running away when faced by the might of the most powerful government in the globe. 


Many people spit venomous words at this girl while they watch the news on their plasma TV screens well within their comfort zones. This girl has no comfort zone. As a victim of a violent crime, that’s one of the things taken from you forever. Your reality is altered, and to escape from it by any means possible is a very welcome option.


This is not about her. It’s about us and the system that we allow to sink its roots deep into our consciousness and culture because of our resignation – because of our refusal to speak out and act in unison against the few bad people who have all the power. It is everything wrong about human nature and our unwillingness to rebel against it.


Election after election we grant power to those who don’t deserve it. Year after year we shortchange ourselves by believing that this is our lot in life and this is all that we will ever be. 


See the drama of it all. Two freed rapists, two broken women and thousands of confused people behind bars. Welcome to the third world. 


Is this the Philippines that was fertilized by the blood of our martyrs? Is this the nation envisioned by the free thinkers of our past?


Many of us feel that we do not belong here. Many of us feel that our one life is too short to waste in a place that does not offer us any real chance for growth. If you have these sentiments, then you are one of the many who have no power – then you are one who truly knows Nicole.


The nature of power is to bend or break the will of the weak. Today, the Philippine dream is to leave the Philippines.


How did it ever come to this? 

Death of a Taxman

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily




Taxation is perhaps the most boring subject matter I can think of to write about (and the most detested subject for those who ever took the bar exams). But taxation remains, or at least it ought to be, the most effective tool for social justice. 


Long before agrarian reform, welfare and socialized housing, there was taxation. Taxes are nothing more than enforced contributions to society, where people give a certain percentage of their earnings to fund State services. It is clearly designed as form of socialism or equalizing device to shrink the gap between the rich and the poor. 


Here are the basic premises for taxation: 

1. People gain wealth by using State services and systems (e.g. land, business grants, government contracts, etc…). 
2. The more wealth you gain from this system, the more you have to contribute to keep that system running.
3. If you are poor, you need help, so you are exempted from giving your contribution to the State until you can rise to a level where you can support yourself and those who depend on you.

From this, we formed a system where the fortunate support the unfortunate to a certain extent so that the latter are given enough breathing space to improve their lot in life. Progressive taxation means that those who have more must give more, while those who have less are given assistance. 


In its proper sense, taxation ought to be taken from income – money that is gained. This ensures that taxes do not cut deep into the resources needed by people to survive. This ideal has been mangled because the rich find ways to avoid paying their rightful contributions to society. Those who ought to be supporting society are the hiding behind tax shelters and offshore dummy corporations. They avoid their social responsibility and make all these fancy legal excuses to justify greed.


So how does the government respond? By creating non-progressive fixed taxes, like the misleadingly named value-added taxes, that burden everyone equally, rich or poor. This painfully upsets the balance. After all, equal treatment of unequal people is inequality. The purpose of taxation is mangled, and people don’t know why they are suddenly paying 12% more for something that they’ve been consuming for a very long time.


On the other hand, people are quite justified in refusing to hand out their hard-earned money without seeing concrete results. Massive corruption and incompetence of government have left us a cynical people. Angry. Restless. Our taxes do not seem to be making more schools. They do not seem to stop the violence in our streets. They do not give us clean air or water. They do not seal the cracks on our roads or provide enough supplies to our hospitals. They do not seem to provide health, safety, justice, education, convenience or even access to state services.


The nasty people from both the business sector and government have turned us into this nation of whining idiots, always complaining about things we think we cannot control. They have transformed us into people who would rather ignore the difficult reality than actively steer it towards a better place. The greed of the few has virtually doomed us all… all because of money… all because our best defense against greed and inequality also involves money.


In spite of all this, I believe that a tight, disciplined and brutal taxation system managed by people with the same qualities is one of the keys to moving forward. Obliterate all the fixed taxes and optimize progressive income tax collection. This is the surest way to swell our middle class and give a fighting chance to our poor. 


The wealthy support the poor. 


That is the design. 


That is the way it should be.