comelentek

nothing irks me more than when the government brings in scripture and the koran to defend an immoral decision.

as per pat evangelista,

On November 11, Ferrer denied the petition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group “Ang Ladlad” for recognition as a sectoral party under the partylist system.

which means basically...

Along with Commissioners Luencito Tagle and Elias Yusoph, Ferrer presided over a decision that declared homosexuality a state that offended religious morality, and announced it the Comelec’s duty “to protect the youth from moral and spiritual degradation.”

as she poignantly demonstrates...

Take out your children from Ateneo; Danton Remoto might turn them gay.

Pull out your subscription from the Inquirer; Manolo Quezon might kill their spirituality.

can you imagine telling our bffs

that they are:

dangerous to the youth:

that [they] deserve less than anyone else,

that they are the other, to be shunned and condemned, deserving of every discriminatory act they have fought against since they started stepping out of dark closets.

sad times, indeed...

read her full article here.

ako ang simula

this sign was, i thought, a sign of things to come.

the registration poster was in a nice gilded frame and red easel. this is probably the nicest registration poster in the country!

it was in the rockwell tent... so it was comfy, not a lot of people... KINDA organized... airconditioned...

it took me, however, THREE HOURS to register! ugggh!!!

i was nerdy enough to do some pre-work: downloaded, printed and filled up forms as instructed by the website.

only to find out that these are INVALID!

as per cranky comelec guy, "di yan puede, manipis ang papel" -- wtf?

cranky comelec guy also had loud spats with a good number of registrants while we were there -- wtf?? so much for 'public service'...

i have more to say about the system... but too tired to do so. but if you can imagine, they could have cut a LOT of steps and gov't workers in the process, a MICROCOSM of our current situation.

***

so here i am, registered but still undecided...

after witnessing the awful inefficient system of this li'l comelec satellite registration, it really is making me wonder who to vote for.

for me it's a matter of figuring out what will help solve our problems the most...

will it be a very incorruptible leader?

or will it be a very smart reformer?

on the one hand, an incorruptible leader will inspire people to not be corrupt, and will assure us that at least on the highest level, there will be no direct corruption (maybe by family members, but not by him himself because he won't allow for it).

on the other hand, a very smart reformer will address other aspects that cause corruption -- aspects like bureaucracy, inefficiencies and poor foundations of our political system...

but then again, is there even a very smart reformer in the running? but also, is our situation so so dire that we are all forced once again vote for a reluctant leader who peers find to be a bit intellectually incapacitated?

so obviously, at the moment, i'm still undecided.

but elated, nonetheless, that i have actually registered. here's the proof:

my apolitical days are over.

and i'm sure i'll have a candidate in a few months' time... i just need more time and information... and inspiration.

so, here's to our country, and to hoping that at the very least erap/binay won't win.

in the meantime, let's not obsess too much about the government, and just do what we can like we always do.