Jay M. Pascual

Sumambulat na naman sa bokabularyo ng maraming Filipino ang salitang oligarchy, oligarch, o sa atin pa ay oligarkiya, oligarko. Subukan mo lang pumunta sa Facebook at Twitter. Maraming balita, status, at comments ang bumabanggit ng salitang oligarch o oligarchy. Minsan mapapaisip tayo kung tunay nga bang naiintindihan ng mga tao ang mga terminolohiyang ito. Sa punto de bista ng political science, hindi simple ang pakahulugan sa oligarkiya. Marami itong sanga-sangang depenisyon. Magkagayunman, nakatutuwang makita ang tumataas na interes ng mga tao sa konsepto ng oligarchy / oligarkiya. Pansinin ang screenshot galing sa Google Trends. Makikita ang biglang paghirit ng interes sa search term na oligarchy noong mga nakaraang araw. Marahil dahil na rin ito sa pahayag ng panggulo ng Pilipinas na nabuwag na niya ang oligarkiya kahit walang Martial Law. Nagbunyi ang iba; ang iba nama’y napakamot ang ulo. Kaya pumunta sila sa Google para magsearch kung ano ba talaga ang ibig sabihin ...

Vote buying has always been a regular feature of Philippine elections. It has been successfully used by moneyed politicians, often belonging to political dynasties, local gentry classes, and traditional clans, to entice the electorate to vote or not to vote for specific candidates. In the recently concluded mid-term Philippine elections, quite a number of independent poll watchdogs observed that vote buying has become rampant compared to previous electoral exercises. Some analysts pointed out that the automation of Philippine elections forced many candidates, especially at the local levels, to buy votes to ensure victory. That is because with automation, the avenues for electoral cheating became limited and more expensive. Thus, moneyed politicians were compelled to re-focus their so-called “black operations” through vote buying.

Hindi ko alam kung matatawa o maiinis ako sa inaasal ng 15 grupong partylists sa Mababang Kupulungan ng Kongreso ng Filipinas. Ayon sa mga ulat, pinangunahan ng grupong An Waray ang iba pang mga partylist sa isang di-umano'y "protesta" laban sa partidong Bayan Muna. Ayon sa An Waray, inaakusahan umano sila ng Bayan Muna (BM) na hindi kabilang sa mga grupong marjinalisado. Itinutulak din di-umano ng BM ang diskuwalipikasyon ng ibang partylists. Kaya ang ginawa ng An Waray at ng 14 na iba pang partylists: Isinara nila ang kanilang tanggapan, itinaboy ang kanilang mga constituents na humihingi ng tulong, at idinuldol sa Bayan Muna ang mga abang mamamayang nais makakuha ng suporta. Kakutya-kutya ang ganitong asal. Ipinapakita lamang ng An Waray at ng iba pang grupong partylist na kabatak nito ang kanilang tunay na kulay -- sila ay ASAL AMO. Ang pakiramdam siguro ng ganitong mga grupo ay panginoon sila, na karapatan nilang basta itigil ang pagbibigay serbisyo sa mamamayan.

Wanbol University disowned Sen Tito Sotto, a.k.a Tito Escalera for plagiarizing his speeches in the Philippine Senate. This piece of news was confirmed in an open letter from Wanbol and signed by a certain George Tapia, the vice president for Alumni Relations and apparently, the long lost grandson of Miss Tapia -- the famed professor of Mr. Escalera/Sotto. A copy of the said letter is published below: open letter of Wanbol University to Tito Sotto

Kapag lumalabas sa balita ang sinasabing Chinese incursions sa Scarborough Shoal o sa Spratlys Islands, nakamamangha rin ang naglalabasang mga komentaryo sa mga pahayagan, radyo, TV, at lalo na sa mga social media websites kagaya ng Facebook.

UPDATE:  George T. Calaor's first book of poetry, Uyayi ng Himagsik, is now available in several formats and ebook shops.  Here are your options: 1. Print Edition at Lulu (Perfect Bound Paperback, B/W): BUY THE BOOK HERE 2. Uyayi ng Himagsik at Smashwords 3. Uyayi ng Himagsik at Barnes and Noble 4. Uyayi ng Himagsik at Sony Reader Store My friend, George, recently published his first book of poetry, Uyayi ng Himagsik .  It was a compilation of his most militant poems about the "struggle of the Filipino masses for freedom and democracy." Clearly, it was a revolutionary book.  I will write a comprehensive review on Uyayi ng Himagsik and will publish it here. (See the first chapter review, Paghehele ng Isang Makata: Pagsusuri sa Uyayi ng Himagsik )

Forced Haircut in Schools is Corporal Punishment (Why This Policy Is Unjust and Violates Basic Child Rights) Valencia City, BUKIDNON.  The Department of Education (DepEd) has a long-standing policy that governs good grooming. This includes prescribing a so-called proper haircut for male pupils in both private and public schools.  According to Undersecretary Yolanda Quijano, “the prescribed haircut for boys is at least one inch above the ear and three inches above the collar line.” Schools under the supervision of DepEd are required to follow such standard. Unfortunately, this “haircut policy” has no clear implementing guidelines.  As a general practice, school principals and administrators have the authority to define their own sets of rules on how to implement the policy, including the enforcement of disciplinary actions on erring pupils.