In what ought to have become the whodunit of the century, the low key wife of broadcaster Ted Failon, a respected radio commentator and newsreader died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Surrounding this death are enough mysterious circumstances to keep forensic experts busy for months. Instead, the public has concentrated its outrage on the conduct (misconduct?) of the police officers conducting the investigation.

What a mess.

At this point, this writer cannot discuss any established facts because, well… there aren't any yet, save for the fact of Trina Etong's death. That it is a tragedy for the family need not be stated, be it murder, parricide or suicide. We condole with her children, her husband, her siblings, close friends and associates. And together with the rest of the country ponder the effects of police action when it is a family that must come under scrutiny of the criminal justice system.

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I had an invisible friend when I was four. I knew he was real because he could move things. I met him when I was playing alone - not an unusual occurrence. I was an easy child to care for, but unnaturally quiet at times, eerily accurate in my observations, as children often are. But I was gifted with an acerbic tongue that creeped people out when they would hear strange adult thoughts from a four year old. When asked what I wanted to be when I grow up, I once answered, "But I already AM."
To say the least, I was left to my own devices. When my mother's house was being built in my grandmother's flower garden, my siblings would play among the sawdust, retrieving nails, exploring the new things that were constantly going up. They wouldn't take me with them, because I was too old have a nanny, but too young to go with the big kids. So I sought the garden corners, where I could find bugs and frogs and fairies. And I once tossed pebbles into a blind corner, hoping that someone would come out and play.

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I am appalled at the attempt to lower the juvenile age from 15 under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act back to 9, following the Revised Penal Code. Clearly the lawmakers who want this do not believe that their own precious offspring will ever be in conflict with the law. Or, that if these privileged children do get into such conflict, the parental units will quickly come to their aid and hush the whole thing up.

My own personal stand is that only adults should be tried as criminals.

Children and adolescents have a difficult time enough as it is, even with the best of parents and conditions. The Department of Social Welfare and Development says:

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Don't get me wrong, but sometimes I think EDSA I was a bad precedent. Too many people think it was brought about by the congregation of people in the streets on those four fateful days. It wasn't of course. The struggle against Marcos began long before the man fell bloodied on the tarmac.

The struggle began with the students, who, in the spirit of the times with the kind of exuberance we lose when burdened with the weight of adulthood, started their "demos." These demos became angrier and angrier, with the government making short shrift of the students, until blood flowed and the pillpox became the great equalizer.

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Anyone who has appeared in the Supreme Court (SC) or the Court of Appeals (CA) knows that the entire set up of these institutions is designed to highlight the awe and majesty of the law, as personified by these somber faced men and women in their black robes. As my gay lawyer friend says, "Feeling magisterial." Nevertheless, it is true. The justices (as do judges, though the state of the Regional and Municipal/Metropolitan Trial Courts is so demeaning, one barely notices) sit in elevated positions, high above the litigants and their counsels. They are not restrained by the usual etiquette, they interrupt any one at will, ask pointed questions, even dispense with the rules of interrogation - er, examination. All this is in the pursuit of the ends of justice.

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The most cringe-inducing word issued by the government appears to be "together." And I mean this seriously. The oft-repeated phrase that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) had worked fervently on the "peace-process" (a cringe-inducing phrase, especially coming from the likes of Hermogenes Esperon) to bring unity, boggles the imagination and sends shivers down the spines of even the most jaded among political pundits.

The theories have flown fast and furious. The GRP entered into the by now infamous MOA for purposes because it needed a cover for the "sale" of the largest tract of land and sea rights since - well, since ever, the proceeds of which , she and her cronies have already pocketed. Or that the GRP had been negotiating in bad faith, without any intention of complying with its conceded obligations (who would want to?) intending instead to back out of an "unconstitutional" agreement that would spark renewed conflict, which in turn would justify the declaration of martial law. Or that the GRP knew of the unconstitutionality of the provisions of the MOA but hoped that this would justify Charter Change that would allow Mrs. Arroyo - incidentally, of course - to extend her term..

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I caught a video on youtube of a touchingly young Bob Dylan, looking frail and shy. In it, he is singing Mr. Tambourine Man at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964. To date, he has been performing for over thirty years and his genius is undiminished. The song, now a classic, is vintage Dylan.

Many speculate that it is about the dependence of a druggie on his dealer since it speaks of being taken "disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind, Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves, The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach, Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow." But to think so would be to buttonhole the universality of message that is characteristic of Dylan.

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Luis Taviel de Andrade was not a lawyer, but he was called upon to defend Rizal in the latter's court martial. Rizal was tried by a military tribunal for rebellion -- the act of rebellion being the creation of La Liga Filipina. Taviel de Andrade's name appeared on a list of equally unqualified military officers. It was from this list that Rizal had to choose his defender. Taviel de Andrade's brother was one of Rizal's guards, which could explain why he - of about a dozen names-was chosen, in typical Pinoy fashion. Kilala ng gwardya niya e.

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I wondered before why we insist on calling the baro't saya or the terno a national "costume"? Is it because we are only really impersonating Filipinos, and that deep inside we feel we're actually Americans or Europeans or Chinese who just so happen to find themselves miraculously transported to this backwoods country where nothing seems to work. Thus we spend so much of this lifetime trying to escape this place.

However, every so often, like in August for Buwan ng Wika, we have to pretend we live in this place, instead of thinking of it as some kind of transition point - you know, like the old tradition of Limbo. So, we dress up in what we quaintly refer to as "costumes" and make a big show of "nationalism."

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In August 1717, Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda was appointed governor general of these islands, by King Philip of Spain. He was chosen for his probity and efficiency after reports of the bankruptcy of the treasury in Intramuros reached the court.

An efficient administrator, Bustamante threw himself into work. The treasury was in a deficit and collections were down due to excessive graft and tax evasion allegedly abetted by Church officials (no separation of Church and State then). As Bustamante pressed for tax payments, prominent citizens sought Church assistance in continuing to evade collections, seeking traditional sanctuary.

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In Kentucky, as it is in the Philippines, when a man and a woman marry and then the woman gives birth to a child, the child is presumed to be the son of the couple and the man is his father. Sounds simple enough; a married couple have children in most instances, right? But unmarried people have children too. And sometimes married people have children with other people to whom they aren't married.

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KC Concepcion is suffering from something her mother (Sharon Cuneta, but you knew that) never did: overexposure. The difference in the management of their careers perhaps best describes the times too.

Sharon was launched first as a singer. Having proven her worth as such, she was launched as a major star in her first movie, Dear Heart, which fatefully paired her with KC's father, Gabby. Her movies were perfectly timed about one to two years apart. Product endorsements and magazine covers were carefully screened and timed to ensure a career longevity Sharon has enjoyed to this day.

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What would you do if you had the power to change anything in this country instantly? Well, I've had time to think about it, and - Lord forgive my shallowness - it would be, removing black spaghetti. Seriously. By black spaghetti, I mean those coils and coils of ugly black wiring strung across our view-scape. Electric, telephone, cable and various other doodad wiring that may or may not be live, strung on posts throughout the portions of this country that are considered civilized.

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George Orwell said that in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. Conversely, the acquittal of Gen. Garcia on charges of perjury brings home to us the reality that at this time, in this country, the liar, thief and cheat reaps the rewards of the just.

One cannot commit plunder without necessarily lying about it, and especially lying about it under oath. Government transactions are replete with requisites for sworn statements. A statement of assets and liabilities is required to be sworn to, under oath and notarized, that is, made public. An acquittal for perjury, despite the very obvious lies, sends home the message that it is the untruth that is given precedence so that other greater crimes will be forever hidden and the very public lies will be protected (think ZTE and the persecution of whistle blowers).

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The morbid fascination for Brian Gorrel's blog and the increasingly public display of conspicuous consumption and aimlessness shown by high society scions make for a different form of societal self-examination. By the look of it, Brian's blog has opened up a forum for the envy generated and yet so coveted by the society page-denizens - after all, the point of the whole thing is to show everyone who isn't anyone what they're missing.

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The Constitution states as a principle that the Armed Forces of the Philippines are the protector of the people and the State. Since the State is made up of people (the other elements are territory, sovereignty and government), the apparent redundancy is read to give historical recognition to the fact that the State may turn against its own people. In such an instance it becomes the duty of the Armed Forces to stand in the way.

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When we turned away from the Hello Garci controversy, this nation became co-conspirators in the grand scheme to steal the vote. The sad part is that we had consented to being robbed, and we continue to aid and abet the culprits. We would not mind so much if we didn't have to pay such a high price for our complicity. But we do pay, and we do so, continuously.

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Many of us cling to the belief that a Philippine style revolution must have several components to ensure success: church, military, civil society, political leadership and a mass of indignant warm bodies. Personally I think that relying on an elemental approach, especially one that seeks to recreate a past victory achieved through a confluence of events far removed from the current situation, is a pipe dream. If we keep deciding to move only when all the elements have come together, that isn't a revolution, that's a jigsaw puzzle that even if put together will still fall apart, because the glue that fits us together is still missing. The rage that comes like a cleansing rain washing away all iniquity just isn't there. It has been replaced with the hardened cynicism of a mad scientist who thinks that by sewing up diverse body parts, he can create life

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The advent of ESPN has turned most sports into spectator events and much of this planet's male population into armchair athletes. I've had the misfortune of being in a sports bar and being hit on by otherwise sane upright good-looking guys who become Neanderthals once the football game came on the multitudinous flat-screen TVs. Don't ask me why I was in a sports bar. Suffice it to say that unless the World Cup or the NBA finals are on, I wouldn't normally hang out in one. But I digress.

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The shooting in the Regional Trial Court of Manila highlighted the mess of the courts in that city. The rooms are hot and cramped with barely enough space to accommodate lawyers and accused when hearing criminal cases. On more than one occasion, I've had to sit next to either a jail guard or a detention prisoner. The latter, more often than not, has not had a bath since he began hearings, so multiply that smell with the number of inmates, and you kind of get the feeling that this is a yet undiscovered circle of Hell.

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Just like any other human being, I sometimes think I'm immortal. No, seriously. I walk around never giving a second thought to my own mortality. I've though about other people dying, certainly, and on more occasions than I care to remember. But on any given day, one doesn't usually think of dying. That is, until one gets a cold, such as I have right now, and then quite possibly, you may begin to want to.

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Call me shallow, but I can't really help it. Gloria Arroyo is off to Switzerland where she can regale foreign heads of state and their representatives with sweetened lies about the booming economy (is "boom" the sound of an economy going bust? - just asking). And she hasn't taken me. Or any one I know. And she's doing it on my money. That is, my tax money.

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In what is clearly an off-shoot of the 29 November 2007 incident, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales issued an "order" informing media practitioners that it would be the news publishers and media companies that would bear the brunt of their disobedience to "lawful orders" during emergency situations. The message clearly intends to address the refusal by some reporters to vacate the premises of the Manila Peninsula upon the exhortation of PNP NCRPO Chief Geary Barias.

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Why do they do it? Why do people raise their voices in dissent or clamor for change. The cynical say that these people are in the wings, using protest as political platform. It is news. It gets your name in the paper and on the evening current events programs and makes for name recall come election time. While it is true it happens that way and equally true that the more jaded among us do exactly that, sometimes people protest because it's the right thing to do.

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Bishop Socrates Villegas admits in an affidavit submitted to the Senate, that he took Garci witness Vidal Doble from the seminary he had holed up in with former NBI deputy director Samuel Ong. Villegas was provided with transportation by then AFP Chief of Staff Efren Abu. He then brought Doble to Camp Aguinaldo and turned the latter over to Abu. Villegas says he did that to save the seminarians who had been disturbed in their study and mediation by the presence of the two men who had sought the ancient sanctuary that the Church used to offer.

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On condition of anonymity, a victim of forced disappearance described himself to me as a lucky man. He had disappeared for four months, taken at gunpoint from his farm. His abductors were looking for NPA informers, or those who give aid to rebels. They accused him of being both. He says he was and is neither.

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1. Amnesty is to be offered to all "enemies of the State."

Availment of such amnesty becomes a tacit admission that one has acted against the interests of the State. The nature of a double patriot is to act in the highest interests of the State or its people. It is not likely therefore that they will be willing to make such an admission. There is also the subtle strategy of rendering their nationalism meaningless by humiliating these men, turning them mercenary in the acceptance of this 'favor' from the challenged authority.

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First, we are informed that the government, through the Presidential Commission on Graft and Corruption (formerly the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission) has investigated and found probable cause against several of its officials, many of whom are Cabinet-rank. Then we are informed that Malacañang, the office that authorizes the prosecution of these cases, has refused to act on at least ninety of the said cases. Executive Secretary was quick on the draw and answered, that they have sat on only thirty-five. How interesting that they think that sitting on any number of cases becomes less of a crime (non-feasance) if it has the word, "only" before it. How many ought there be to qualify as "only" -- eighty?

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The war theorist, Carl von Clausewitz a Prussian subject, took the path of double patriotism when he disobeyed his emperor's edict to serve under Napoleon in the invasion of Russia, and opted instead to serve the cause of Prussian nationalism by serving under the tsar.

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Davao City is known for its durian, pomelo, banana plantations, the Mandaya cultural community, controversies on extra-judicial killings, and most recently, youth rioting. An informal survey on the rampant and striking increase in juvenile delinquency indicates that most people believe that its causes are varied. In general, however, the people of Davao City are at a loss. They blame it on the gang, drug-use or plain youth-related recklessness.

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In what may well be one of the most bizarre controversies to erupt in this administration, the ZTE National Broadband contract trumps every one, including that kidnap/rescue of an anti-FG (First Gentleman) witness courtesy of then mighty Mike Defensor. Some people have actually begun to broach the possibility that perhaps Mrs. Marcos was correct in saying that there is a black hole that opens directly over these fair islands.

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In the recent elections, we beheld a scenario where several candidates for Senate held themselves out to be "opposition." That is, they opposed the current administration, its policies and practices. In response, the electorate -- the people -- accepted their advertising and gave the corresponding payment: their vote. Too soon thereafter, these same candidates changed their tune and the term "opposition" was rendered meaningless.

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