Expletive Deleted

Disgraced former Philippine president Joseph Estrada is found guilty for corruption and economic plunder after stealing $80 million (a conservative sum IMO) from the government purse. He has been sentenced to life in prison (due to a moratorium on the death penalty) but there is, sadly, local clamor from his supporters that the current president Gloria Arroyo pardon the ex-president. Given that Mrs. Arroyo is very unpopular, I think she might actually entertain this possibility.

Madam, don't! Mr. Estrada has been shown to be corrupt, and he must pay his dues to society. Anything less is an admission that our country does not respect the rule of law and is easily swayed by mere opinion polls. Another reason why I am suspicious of the collective "wisdom" of our countrymen.

Update: The official ruling of the Sandiganbayan is now online. I've already saved it on my PC for reading tonight.

As I've blogged before, the Philippine-based communist terrorists are using landmines despite international condemnation of its use. It was just a matter of time before such devices would end up hurting civilians. Sadly, this has come to pass:

Communist rebels injure civilians with indiscriminate landmine use

At least 15 people were wounded, five of them seriously, when their minibus hit two landmines planted by communist rebels along a highway in the southern province of Surigao del Sur, Monday morning.

The packed vehicle was traveling in Tago town, 830 kilometers southeast of Manila, when it ran over a land mine in the village of Unidos, said police Chief Superintendent Geary Barias.

The New People's Army, who have been waging a protracted war for 37 years, at first said the blast was a "gift to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," but later apologized on learning the victims were civilians.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a big crater created by the explosion, as well as electrical wires. The policemen followed the trail of the wires, which led them to a group of communist guerrillas waiting in an ambush, Barias said.

Sorry, but your apologies don't mean a thing. Your movement is not supported by the populace, your methods are brutal and merciless, and your inflexibility for change will only marginalize your cause. Go do some real work for a change, and stop extorting people and firms with your revolutionary taxes (a thief by any other name...).

We Filipinos will celebrate our Independence Day tomorrow June 12th. Why June 12, even though technically the Philippines got its independence on the fourth of July?

With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War on April 20, 1898, the Filipino insurrectionists, who were already revolting from their Spanish conquerors, expanded their campaigns and, with victory almost at hand, declared independence in the province of Cavite on the afternoon of June 12, 1898. Emilio Aguinaldo became the first leader of the Philippine Republic. Since neither Spain nor the US recognized the Philippine Declaration of Independence, America sent a fleet of ships to the capital, Manila, where they engaged and defeated an ill-prepared and demoralized Spanish fleet.

When Spain conceded defeat to the Americans, they were forced to hand over their overseas colonies, including the Philippines. Of course, the Filipinos had already declared independence and therefore it did not recognize the handover of power. When American troops arrived in the Philippines on August 14, 1898 to occupy their new spoils of war, the Filipinos resisted and the Philippine-American War commenced. Untrained and poorly armed, the Philippine resistance relied on guerilla tactics rather than confronting the superior American soldiers head-on. Americans responded by burning entire villages, forcing the civilian population to live in concentration camps, and summarily executing surrendering Filipino fighters. With the full force of American aggression pressing against the Philippine Army, the organized resistance to the US occupiers was finally quashed in 1902.

Spain and the United States chose to ignore the proclamation of freedom by the little brown natives in the Philippine Archipelago and instead awarded the subjugation of the land to the victor of their brief skirmish.

The Philippines was finally given back its independence on July 4, 1946 after the end of WWII. From 1946 to 1961 the country celebrated Independence Day on July 4, but was changed by President Diosdado Macapagal (father of current president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) back to June 12. And so, every year we Filipinos celebrate our Independence Day on June 12 rather than July 4.

Ang Pambansang Awit ng Pilipinas: Lupang Hinirang

Bayang Magiliw
Perlas ng Silanganan,
Alab ng puso
Sa dibdib mo'y buhay.

Lupang Hinirang,
Duyan ka ng magiting,
Sa manlulupig,
'Di ka pasisiil.

Sa dagat at bundok,
Sa simoy at sa langit mong bughaw,
May dilag ang tula
At awit sa paglayang minamahal.

Ang kislap ng watawat mo'y
Tagumpay na nagniningning,
Ang bituin at araw niya
Kailan pa ma'y 'di magdidilim.

Lupa ng araw, ng luwalhati't pagsinta,
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo;
Aming ligaya, na 'pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay nang dahil sa 'yo.

On a personal note, on Independence Day tomorrow, I will marry my long-suffering girlfriend Cate in a church ceremony (alas, it cannot be helped) at three in the afternoon with the reception to follow at a hotel. Cheers!