On the Bangsamoro

If it were up to me I'd grant the Bangsamoro outright independence and not mere autonomy. There has just been so much pain and injustice over the centuries. For them, Manila is an occupying power the way the rest of the Philippines saw Madrid, Washington, or Tokyo.

I'd like the peace talks to prosper just like anyone, but I can't see it happening under these circumstances. Too much bad faith. I'm also not sure if MILF are the right people to be talking with-- they have too little control over BIFF/PAGs/lost command/etc. (not to mention ASG) that a deal with them will not really end any of the hostilities (cf. MNLF 1996). It's not like MILF are the sole representative of the Bangsamoro, even if they fancy themselves to be such.

I say just let them go. Give them the vote. Give them the right to self-determination.

Phone Scam: Identity Theft in Manila

First, this is not from some floating email-- this happened to me, twice.  I already reported it to one of the banks mentioned and it seems they're not aware of it happening-- they were very appreciative that I reported it to them.  Read this and be warned.

It seems Filipino scammers are getting into identity theft these days.  It begins with your name and phone number-- how they get it, how they got mine, I don't know.  The caller, usually a female, will say you have been pre-approved for a credit card or a loan, and will even explain what you can get (loan amount, interest rates, terms of payment, etc.).  Then they will ask you for information for security purposes, ostensibly to confirm that you are who you say you are.  Here's my experience:

Incident 1: Caller claimed to be from Metrobank Blumentritt branch, said I was pre-approved for a credit card.  I actually have a pending credit card application with Metrobank, so this wasn't a complete surprise to me.  She asked for my birthday, which I gave thinking my card application has been approved.  Then she asked for my mother's maiden name and billing address, which sounded alarm bells in my head.  I told her they should know that information and they can just send the card to my billing address.  She was irritated and asked for my information again, saying that my card will be cancelled if I don't give it to her. I refused and asked for her contact information instead.  She refused, said my card will be cancelled, and hung up.

Incident 2: Caller claimed to be from Citibank Savings Ortigas branch, said I was pre-approved for a car or home loan.  She went on to say that I can borrow from P300k to P2M, low interest, three to 12 years to pay, etc.  She then asked for my credit card number, monthly income, and taxpayer identification number (TIN).  I refused to give the info and lied about my income just to get more information from her.  I got her name and contact info and reported her to Citibank Savings Ortigas-- the real one-- and they were unaware that such a scam was taking place.  I told them to warn their customers because a Citibank customer who is unaware of the scam might have given up the info.  They were very happy I brought this to their attention.

Piece of advice-- never give information to unsolicited callers, even if they claim to be from your bank.  They should know the information they are asking from you, and if you think it might actually be your bank, call them yourself using a publicly listed number and go from there.  

If you get a similar call, get as much information on the caller and report it to the bank concerned (get their number from their official website).  They will be more than happy to know that their name is being used illicitly and will take actions to protect their customers.

Lastly, be careful.  They know your name and telephone number, so they probably know where you live.  Don't let them know you're onto them.  Just ride out the call and don't give any vital information.

Frat Violence... Again

Seems frat violence reared its ugly head-- again-- at UP, this time along AS Walk on a Tuesday morning. I don't really care if these frat guys kill each other, so long as they don't hurt (or even inconvenience) non-participants when they do so. It would really be better for everyone if they just do their mutual killing away from school grounds (and away from any kind of civilisation, for that matter).

That said, I have to say I'm getting sick and tired of the predictable statements and rallies of outrage coming from UP student leaders, the latest from the ironically-named UP-SAWA. Really, is that the best the UP community can do? Make statements or hold rallies?

The law and the SDT have their hands tied when it comes to punishing these people-- the Mendez and Dungo cases are testaments to that. Add to that the fact that these frat guys usually have rich and powerful brods, who ensure they have only the best lawyers defending them. Waiting for the law and the SDT to punish these people is like waiting for pigs to evolve wings.

So if they cannot be punished legally, why not punish them socially? Ostracise them. Make them pariahs. Turn them into untouchables. If a frat is invioled in a rumble, kick out all their members from organisations, committes, and councils. Bar their members from attending any university or college activity. Extricate them from university life. Tell them that their brod's actions-- and their defence or tolerance of them-- are unacceptable. Tell them that there will be no forgiveness or reconciliation until they hang their erring brods out to dry, or they resign from their frat (which some brave men did after the Mendez case).

UP-SAWA's statement calls on everyone to "to take small but significant steps within their personal circles to continuously and emphatically condemn any and all forms of fraternity-related violence". Are they now ready to sever their academic and personal ties from members of the frats they so "continuously and emphatically condemn"? Are they ready to put their money where their statement is?

All for one and one for all implies the acceptance of collective punishment, so give it to them. Since the law doesn't seem to be any disincentive against frat violence, maybe social ostracisation will send the message home. Kung wala silang hiya, hiyain nalang sila.

Stupid Smart (BRO)

Goddammit! I'm sick and tired of this terrible service from Smart BRO (the broadband service of Smart Communications, Inc.). My connection speed right now is an excruciatingly slow 23.2 kbps. I checked my speed ten times tonight-- all of them register less than 50 kbps (dial-up gives me 56 kbps). WHAT THE FUCK?!?

I subscribed to Smart BRO last October, availing myself of Plan 999 where I pay P999/month for broadband service. They say they offer speeds up to 384 kbps, but ever since I signed up I never got any speed faster than 300 kbps. On a good day (which is rare) I can get 250 kbps, but my usual speed would be around 90 to 150 kbps. I've considerably lowered my standards for bandwidth speed, grudgingly being satisfied with acceptable speed instead of fast speed (my broadband speed in San Francisco is 1 Mbps, btw). And by acceptable I mean I can surf the web with relative ease; I still have to wait for YouTube vids to completely load before I watch them. But starting this year the service really deteriorated WAY below decent, starting in January. In February and March it went back to semi-acceptable speed, but today it's the worst.

Now, I've called Smart BRO multiple times to complain about my insanely slow bandwidth speed-- so many times that I already know what the customer service rep will tell me from their list of prefabricated responses, always going through the motions of checking my connection to the base station for whatever problem I tell them. They are trained to "understand" customers' complaints and to give an apology, with all calls eventually ending in a referral to their technical department. Twice they even sent technicians here to check my connection to the base station, BUT THE PROBLEM ISN'T MY CONNECTION BUT MY SPEED!!! I connect to the base station just fine, IT'S YOUR SERVICE THAT IS SO FUCKING SLOW.

And what really irritates me is that it's company policy NOT to let customers talk to the managers (or whoever is responsible for this crap). I've asked for the contact info of Smart BRO managers many times, but they say they can't give it to me. So I'm left with pouring my frustrations at powerless customer service reps who really can't do anything about my problem, while the managers and bosses have no accountability. These Smart BRO managers and bosses choose to be holed up in their offices, oblivious to the fact that THEY ARE FUCKING UP AT THEIR JOBS. If I'm Manny V. Pangilinan, I'll subscribe to Plan 999 to experience Smart BRO's service first hand, then I'll FIRE ALL THEIR ASSES.

I'm really frustrated at Smart BRO's terrible service. I've called them so many times and nothing has improved. The customer service reps try to be helpful, but there really isn't much they can do. I think Smart BRO just got so many customers that they can't serve then properly-- the old congestion problems. But that isn't any excuse for terrible service. Smart BRO's service has really been a terrible dissapointment for me. I have never been satisfied with their service, and after I lower my standards they actually do even worse. Smart BRO is a sorry excuse for an ISP.

When people sign up with Smart BRO, the contract stipulates that the subscription period is for a minimum of one year. If I can get out of this contract without having to go through a lawsuit, I will.

If you've also suffered from Smart BRO's excruciating service, please do leave a comment. If you work with Smart BRO (and want to defend the firm), you're also welcome to leave a comment.

If you're thinking of subscribing to Smart BRO, don't. For the love of God, don't.