the mungo conspiracy

My daughter was born almost 20 years after my mother died. But somehow I am sure my mom would love her -- and not just because it is automatic for a grandparent to do so, but because they are connected. My daughter slept through Frozen, was too afraid to watch How to Train Your Dragon, but rocks to Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. Who would have guessed, my mother and daughter have the same favorite movie.

On the fifth anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre case -- a case that has not, to date, proceeded beyond the bail hearing phase, the SandiganBayan finally rendered a decision on the Ozone fire tragedy. After almost 19 years, it is finally done -- well nearly done, the respondents can still file an appeal with the Supreme Court. So the world record attempt can not as yet be submitted with the Guinness people -- proud to be Pinoy! In the face of this absurdity, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Lourdes Sereno, has come out with the statement that the judiciary shall take extraordinary measures to ensure a speedy resolution of the Maguindanao case. Well, excuse me Madame Chief Justice, but you are totally missing the point. We are not looking for extraordinary measures. What we, the common tax paying citizen of this godforsaken republic want, is for speedy trials to be a normal, regular, as to be expected, everyday occurrence -- not extraordinary. We don't want the cour...

There is a little person walking around my teeny tiny apartment with an open Dora umbrella. I am afraid this is the first of many arguments that I will lose to this little girl. God help me.

That is how my life has been to this point. The other day, I finally finished the three-week download of all Voltes V episodes from "less than legal" sources on the internet. Because I wanted all episodes, including the missing episodes that were never dubbed in English, I chose a link to all forty episodes with the original Japanese audio track with English subtitles. Last night, I sat down my one-and-half year old daughter on the couch with me, so I can share with her the greatest anime ever made. -- not realizing the gravity of the conspiracy that was to unfold right before our eyes! There was never any Armstrong brothers, Steve, Big Bert, and Little John! No, not even a Mark or Jaimee. Instead, you have the Go brothers, Kenichi, Daijiro, and Hiyoshi, with Ippei and Megumi. It's all been a lie. Dr. Amstrong is actually Prof. Go and Dr Smith is Prof. Hamaguchi. Thankfully, Camp Big Falcon is actually Camp Big Falcon. And Voltes V is spoken in heavy Japanese acc...

Yesterday I folded your crib to officially usher in the next stage of your life. I thought you would protest, but you didn't mind that at all, not even a little bit. But then again, I thought, of course, that was your "jail" for whenever you got too much to handle -- no, you hardly ever slept in your crib, preferring instead to sleep with your mom and I. You are growing up so fast. I am excited but a little nervous. I can't wait to see you grow up but want you to stay little forever at the same time. One thing is certain, you will always be my baby.

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Aside from calling me "dada", and your mom, "mamam", your first words are, when you've finished your bottle of formula is, "la na". And when you want to coax your mom to hurry up, so we can go to SM already, you are now able say, "tara". And oh, you speak a whole paragraph of gibberish when you've soiled your diapers and want them replaced pronto.

His name is Andray Blatche and he played for the Brooklyn Nets, averaging 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. He will become a Filipino citizen on the strength of Senate Bill 2108 as proposed by Sen. Edgardo Angara in order for him to play for Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippine national basketball team. So there you have it folks -- if PNoy approves the Senate bill, we have a legitimate Filipino NBA player. Not exactly how you imagine it would happen, right?

That her sex life in general and that bloody vajayjay in particular is now a matter of national interest leads me to suspect we are all just being taken for a ride in this whole pork barrel saga. It's not even in the entertainment section folks, it's actually legitimate straightforward news. If Janet Napoles opts for an Ai Ai delas Alas vajayjay tightening procedure next -- since they're already digging in there, you know that the acquittal of Pogi, Sexy, and Tanda, can't be too far behind. I've seen this movie before, or was it an episode of Face to Face?

I think it's time for me to issue my own blanket denial. I deny knowing Ben Hur Luy, Janet Napoles, or anyone connected to the JLN group. I did not profit, in any way, from the PDAF releases of any lawmaker. I deny everything and anything that anybody would accuse me of. Take this statement to be true from hereon out or until I make a signed confession.

And so the bastard half-brother would sign, after all, the death sentence of one Senator Jinggoy. As for Senator Pogi, yesterday's quotable quote was, "Now na." When will these honorable actors finally realize that this is not the movies anymore? And that their ad libs no longer cute? That there are no more scripts to follow? Reality will bite -- and soon. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And no forgiving. The Filipino people are no longer in a forgiving mood.

Today, is the first day you officially called me dada. I would have preferred daddy, but that is okay. You can call me dada for as long as you need to. We will work on the second syllable as we go along. 15 months into your new life, and you certainly are growing into your name, Sea (se-ya), unique enough to be creative, but not too much to be strange. I explain to people that your name is just "Lea" spelled with an "s", this explanation seems to work mostly. Remember this, you will need it all throughout your life, I'm afraid. Your first favorite song is "Skip to my Lou". You dance to it even when you are sick and weak from having just vomited. You are quite the dancer. I keep trying to get a video of you, but my phone camera is proving too much of a distraction for you that you stop dancing once you notice it. I have a video of you dancing from before you could even walk but trust me, you have progressed far from that one step to quite a routine -...

Apparently, it is not legal for Erwin Tulfo to accept payment in return for “advertising services” from NABCOR. Now that is a surprise. That’s not legal? Not appropriate? But MERALCO buying ad spots right before and right after the news segment on power hike is acceptable. It is being done openly, and no one is raising a howl. Media is bought and paid for. Have no illusions, neither GMA nor ABS-CBN is doing the news as a public service. So all this “the right of the people to know” takes a backseat whenever potential sponsors might get offended, reason why we have blind items like “naholdap ang isang bangko sa isang sikat na mall sa Mandaluyong”, for news reports because they can not say “Mega Mall” nor “BPI”. And for ratings, we get live coverage of Delfin Lee being transported from Pampanga’s Provincial Jail to the Court of Appeals. That is newsworthy, apparently, according to GMA’s breaking news team. What did the news crew expect to get out of giving in to the public’s voyeuri...

like the novel you want to write.

I nearly forgot. It's that all important time of the year again. Happy birthday, Kris Aquino!