Apostles' Creed

I believe in the President almighty, bringer of life and death.

I believe in the War on Drugs, His central cause, ours too.
Drugs were perpetrated by drug lords, borne by pushers, consumed by addicts;
have corrupted, co-opted, and compromised society.
We have descended into hell.
In the previous administration the drug trade rose again;
they peddled it from prison, seated drug lords in government;
they will come again to blight the living and the dead.

I believe in the righteousness of killing criminals,
the infallible packing tape and cardboard,
the curse of human rights monitors,
the conspiracy of yellow-tinted media,
the narcopolitical opposition,
and the final victory of the President, everlasting.

Amen.

Doomed to repeat it

There was a time when the mere allegation of Marcosian tendencies was enough to make a politician back down from authoritarian leanings. Now, politicians are openly suggesting the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, a constitutional dictatorship, and a remilitarisation of the police. 

Suicide; Bisaya; Terrorism

Idiocy

Country elects a murderous, misogynistic, foul-mouthed boor. Country wonders why they're stuck with a murderous, misogynistic, foul-mouthed boor.  

Bisaya

His supporters-- heck even his official spokesperson-- attribute his crass boorishness to his being Bisaya. That's just the way they talk down South, they say. That's how they do banter down South, they say. 

Ok, I'm an arrogant, ethnocentric Tagalog who was born and raised in Imperial Manila. So I am not exactly an expert on Bisaya subculture. But I have Bisaya family members, Bisaya friends, and Bisaya colleagues. They're not crass or boorish. They don't pepper conversations with cuss words or make lewd jokes without regard to context. I'd say they are pretty decent and sensitive people, definitely more decent and sensitive than this Tagalog. 

You see, his crass boorishness has nothing to do with his being Bisaya. His crass boorishness is just because he is a crass boor. That is all. Nothing to do with being an outsider from the genteel halls of Imperial Manila. Don't insult an entire ethnoliguistic group in trying to defend him. Just accept and admit that he is a crass boor whose mannerisms do not always do justice to his high office. After all, he won't be the first person to hold that office with a penchant for swearing. Although he would be the first one to have no filter. 

Terrorism (from here)

The fundamental motivator of terrorism is not religion or ideology or money. It's self-righteousness. The firm belief that you are right and those who disagree with you, necessarily, wrong. Every dictator who ordered a massacre, every bomber who blew up a public space, every zealot who slew a heretic believed it was for the greater good, a righteous cause. Believe in your own righteousness and you can justify any atrocity your heart desires.

Defeating the drug menace is indeed a righteous cause. Up there with saving souls. 

On contributions to civilisation

Rep. Steve King Asks What ‘Subgroup’ Contributed More to Civilization Than Whites

Funny he mentioned Christianity. Jesus and the 12 apostles were NOT WHITE. They were Semites. Their closest genetic and linguistic relatives today would be the Syriac Christians; i.e., Arab. They'd look more like the Syrian or Iraqi refugees than the Europeans fencing them off.

If Jesus were alive today he'd be "randomly" selected at airports for enhanced security checks. If Jesus were alive today he won't be welcome as a refugee in many states. If Jesus were alive today he'd be unwelcome in certain political rallies.

Singapore, T minus 4 days

SIN-AMS-LIM-UIO-GYE-LIM-AMS-SIN

Gonna be out for 2 weeks, mostly for work in LIM but with a (very) short leisure trip to UIO and GYE. It's been a while since I had one of these long, multi-city trips and I have to say I'm pretty excited. But I'm gonna miss my Dear and the Boy too-- this will be the longest I'll be away from them, not counting the time I moved to Singapore and they were still in Manila. Even then I'd see them every 2 or 3 weeks.

Need to brush up on my Spanish.

On he who is despicable

Repugnant as he is and everything he represents, he is still entitled to all the legal recourse due someone who may have lost an election. Let him pressure the commission into proving the integrity of the electoral process. Let him demand a recount or an inspection of the codes and machines, for you would be demanding the same if the numbers were the other way around. He should not be denied due process, or pressured to waive it, on account of who he is or electoral cheating three decades ago. That would not be decent.

Holy shit

It's happening. Holy fucking hell. IT'S HAPPENING.