So... What Are You Waiting For? An Open Letter To Anti-RH Lawmakers

.:So... What Are You Waiting For? An Open Letter To Anti-RH Lawmakers:.

Dear Anti-RH Lawmakers (I heard there's so many of you guys, so I can't really name you all, but you know who you are.),

We get it, we really do. There is no point in debating issues with you because any attempts to respond to your points have been either ignored or outright rejected. You don't want to find out how wrong you are, and your colleagues in the Senate are decent enough people to not take pleasure in making fools out of you. That's kind of surprising since Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago is in your roster, but it is what it is.

So no, I'm not here to debate the points of the RH Bill with you. That achieves nothing at this point, since you clearly refuse to listen to reason, and your mind is made up. In fact, my stand on the RH Bill at this point is rather irrelevant to what I, as a taxpaying citizen, expect you to do, all things considered.

The bill has been met with so many delays that instead of addressing the pros and cons of the bill, people are now discussing how to stop filibustering on the issue.

For the pro-RH, filibustering means a rejection of the bill, by default. For the conscientious anti-RH, filibustering is a denial of the democratic process: the very numbers game that makes them think that because the Philippines is composed of 80 percent Catholics, then their values must be the Filipino's values. If the RH Bill is to be rejected, it must be because the people who voted on it clearly did not want it, not because time ran out on the bill.

You will notice that at no point are the pro-RH trying to delay the proceedings, for obvious reasons. They want the bill to pass, and for them, dealing with Sotto's woes on plagiarism is a very real opportunity cost: doing that, as Sotto himself has proven, will be yet another opportunity to stall progress with the bill. It has become a race against time.

Senator Enrile believes they have the numbers. Tito Sotto obviously wants the RH Bill "out of his hair." And even if they clearly aren't supposed to be dictating public policy since we are not a theocratic country, you don't need a link to know that the CBCP believes that God is on their side, and He will not allow something as dastardly as the RH Bill to ruin the Philippines the way it has "ruined" Italy (Where the Vatican is located.), Spain (Who introduced Catholicism to us.), Israel (Where Christ was born.), and America (Because screw America, I guess? I don't really know why they even have to be part of this.).

How lucky then, that the Philippines is the last standing bastion of morality! We're currently the only country where divorce is illegal! Are we the new chosen people or something? Surely, our high rate of teenage pregnancy must be some weird aberration: our cause is pure, right?

At this point, we've established four things:

1. The anti-RH camp believes their cause is just.
2. The anti-RH camp wants to lay this matter to rest.
3. The anti-RH camp is convinced that its arguments have been strong and irrefutable.
4. The anti-RH camp is confident it has the numbers to once and for all reject this bill.

So... what the Hades are you waiting for?!? Why is the RH Bill on the backburner yet again? Why are you interpellating yourselves when you can't trollbait the pro-RH into getting into long, protracted arguments with you? Or are we actually looking at the Rapture, come to take the rest of the Senate while you rambled on?

Pictured: A riveting debate between two men over what to do with a woman's body. 
Of course, they would be the ones to know best about this, right?*

Even the CBCP is open to putting the RH Bill to a plebiscite. After all, former President GMA is on their side, and she knows a thing or two about putting things to a vote. If you truly don't have time, why not leave it in the hands of the people, who clearly are the ones who will be affected by this bill the most?

You have everything going for you, as far as you're concerned, dear anti-RH lawmakers. So what the Hades are you waiting for? It's not like you had problems getting things done in a timely manner before. Just ask former Chief Justice Corona: he'd tell you.

Do not deny us the right to see this democratic process completed. Whether the RH Bill is accepted or junked, we aren't paying you our hard-earned money to have you merely stall this process out. If it's such a thorn in your side, then strike it down by putting it to a vote!

It has been way too long, and too many lives have already been sacrificed as you stall this law, hoping that the 2013 elections will make it all go away. Where is your confidence that your cause is just? Where is your belief that you are in the right? If you truly believe that you have the numbers, then you should get through the amendments with little incident, then proceed to voting on the bill upon third reading.

Surely, you're not afraid that the numbers aren't in your favor, right? You believe God is on your side. What more can you ask for? Are you questioning His divine power to validate your beliefs through a vote?

Then, and only then, can you truly prove that you are anti-RH, once you have taken this matter to a vote. Then, and only then, do you prove that you are not a public official who just doesn't want to do their job, instead malingering over the RH Bill issue so as to look busy while not actually accomplishing anything.

TL;DR. Let democracy prevail: whether in Congress, the Senate, or a plebiscite, quit stalling and put the RH Bill to a vote. We, the people, whether we are pro, anti, or undecided on the RH Bill, deserve that much. We are not paying our taxes to see you waste our time again and again on this issue.

Sincerely yours, it's true! It's true!
Kel Fabie

*Image from Kenneth Keng.

Dear Noynoy, Now That You've Been Sworn In...

.:A Belated Dear Noynoy:.

Dear Noynoy,

I hope that the car ride with the former president GMA was not an awkward time for you. I just wanted to say "congratulations" to you on becoming the 15th president of the Republic, although really, I'm more inclined to say "good luck," because you're sure going to need it.

If your predecessor was any indication, you should learn from history by now: like you, she was sworn in. But she was also sworn at. A lot. And for all the right reasons, no less. Please don't follow her example.

If that inauguration happened at Wrestlemania, you probably would have heard people singing "Nananana nananana hey hey hey, goodbye," as your predecessor stepped away to rip Pampanga off for the next three years, instead of the whole country. The only good thing I can say about her at the moment is that I'm glad she actually turned the reins of power over to you (Or to anyone at all, for that matter.). I was half-expecting something to come up at the last minute and prevent that from happening.

I hope you know what you got into, really: the presidency, thanks to your predecessor desecrating the office for a miserable nine years, really became an unenviable position of power. It doesn't matter who you are, what background you came from, or what your intentions are: once you become president, all eyes are on you, and any mistake you commit becomes forever etched in the history books. In the age of the internet, history is no longer going to be a kind judge of character over time. In fact, it's not even a kind judge of character for the present, seeing how many people already started Facebook groups and want you to resign even before you assumed office.

Let's face it, Mr. President: prior to the presidency, your track record was anything but impeccable. I know the Filipinos seem to act like they have massive entitlement complexes when it comes to the qualifications they seek in a president, but since they're paying your salary, I think that sense of entitlement is rather justified. Whether it's the people who blindly follow you and will walk to the ends of the world for you, or the people who blindly hate you and wish you were shot during yesterday's inauguration and for singing "Estudyante Blues" with the very telltale lyrics "Ako'y walang kalayaan/sunod sa utos lamang," you have your work cut out for you, and high expectations across the board from all sectors of all persuasions in this country.

Can you handle it, Mr. President? I don't really know. That's not for me to say. But what's for me to say is that even as a person who did not vote for you, I still stand by the choice my people have made, and a choice I respect and treasure, because with a margin of over four million votes, the legitimacy of your mandate is almost undisputable, save for a few sourgrapes here and there. The elections are done. That was the easy part. Now comes the hard part: picking up the pieces of a nine-year administration characterized by shady transactions, euphemisms, and backhanded stifling of free speech.

Indeed, I did not vote for you, but unlike others far more bitter than I, I want you to succeed. Hades, if Erap actually won, I'd want him to succeed, no matter how much I disliked his presidency, too, and I'll tell you why: if you fail, we, the Filipinos, suffer for it. If those 15 million or so Filipinos who shaded the circle beside your name in the ballot made a mistake, the whole 90++ million of us will end up regretting it. I am not selfish enough to want anyone but my personal choice for president to succeed at your job, because everyone is going to pay for your failure, the way all of us paid for the few of us who were stupid enough at the time to come together for EDSA 2 and oust Joseph Estrada, only to install someone who was no better in power.

Dear Mr. President, I want you to succeed, not for you to finally have achievements to your name, but for this nation to succeed with you. Your glory is not your glory alone: it is the glory of the Filipino people, not because we live vicariously through you, but because the truly patriotic Filipino people will support you despite their personal choices for the greater good, and not only for their selfish purposes. I hope that over time, as people approach to "help" you, you will be granted the wisdom to know the difference between those who want the country to succeed, and those who only want their own interests to be satiated.

You said it, not I: kailangan mo kami. Here we are, ready to help, ready to deliver the change you promised, knowing full well that you cannot do it alone. We have no illusions that you will be our savior. You went un-Obama on us during the campaign and made it painfully clear that this was not going to be a one-man show. Despite that, we certainly want to keep an eye on you and the people around you, because there are still so many things that need to be done.

I'm sure you're used to all the mudslinging that came before, during, and after the elections. It's all part of the territory, especially since your mom herself was not spared from all these, even after her passing. Nonetheless, steel yourself, because it only gets worse from here.

I hope that my letter, no matter how seemingly negative and anticipatory of darker times ahead, does not dissuade you, Mr. President. I am merely stating what lies ahead in the horizon, but by no means should these obstacles hinder you from becoming the great president that I can almost be sure of, in your heart, you truly wish to be. Ultimately, as you recognize this is not a one-man show, then the success of your presidency rests in the ability of the Filipino people to come together and show the world that this so-called Filipino pride is anything but misplaced. You are not blind to the shortcomings of the Filipino as a people. This does not mean that we are somehow racially, genetically, or fatally relegated to failure. Kaya natin ito. Hindi ka nag-iisa.

Once again, Mr. President, congratulations, salutations, and as a sort of special request, we hope to see your erstwhile rival, former Senator Dick Gordon, in the Comelec someday, seeing as the automated elections was his brainchild, after all. Offhand, though, we'd gladly take any excuse just so we can call him "Commissioner Gordon".

Godspeed, and long live the Filipino people.

Sincerely,

Marcelle Fabie

Yet Another Act Of Unprofessionalism: An Open Letter To The Producers Of ABS-CBN's Matanglawin

.:An Open Letter To The Producers Of ABS-CBN's Matanglawin...:.

Last Saturday, I was requested by your crew to be present in Makati for an interview for your episode involving magic and mentalism. Initially, this shoot was scheduled at 6PM, but the day before, it was moved to 1:30PM instead.

I understand that schedules are often subject to change when it comes to TV productions. As a former segment producer in another TV network, I know how difficult it is to get schedules in sync just to get a shoot right.

I suppose this explains why I am writing this to express my disappointment when despite being at the venue and despite the fact that the shoot was already being conducted, Jay Mata and I, who were designated as Escape Artists for this particular shoot, were asked to be rescheduled with another group of magicians instead of the group of mentalists we were with at the time.

Now, first of all, Jay Mata and I are both mentalists as well who only happen to have branched out in Escape Artistry. Secondly, we were specifically asked to be present for this shoot, and not this other shoot we have only heard about on the day itself. Thirdly, we were already at the venue, and the shoot was already in progress. Why would we have to reschedule ourselves when we were already at the venue while the shoot was already in progress? Would it have been too much effort to actually inform Jay and myself earlier on that our presence was not required?

You see, this other shoot was something we were completely uninformed about, and was scheduled at 9PM, a full seven and a half hours after the schedule agreed upon. Both Jay and I took the effort to free up our schedules for this shoot, in my case no mean feat considering I sacrificed sleep to make this commitment on time, having been up for the past thirty hours due to my work as a radio personality in Campus 99.5. If a distinction between magicians and mentalists exist, would there not be yet another distinction for escape artists? Unlike magicians, there is simply no "secret" to escape artistry, except pure skill and efficiency.

This abhorrently unprofessional display by your staff is a far cry from what I would expect from a program produced by one of the country's leading television networks. As professional performers, Jay Mata and I value our time and expect due respect as professionals who have taken time out to be present for this particular shoot. Furthermore, asking us to reschedule a full two days after this mishap only emboldens our opinion that your staff does not possess any amount of professional courtesy whatsoever: we categorically stated that given this mistreatment, we would rather not be featured on this particular episode anymore.

Did you honestly think that we merely said this for dramatic effect? We would rather sacrifice a chance for exposure if it means that we could preserve our integrity as professionals. We are hoping that if your staff is sincere in making up for their transgression, they would have a far more substantive effort than that, otherwise, it would be best not to extend anymore half-baked efforts at rectifying this mistake.

We are putting this grievance out in public as it is an affront to Jay Mata and myself. Given the effort we have extended to be present for this shoot, the least your staff could have done was to simply interview us since we were already there. Just because we do not appear to have the clout and influence to make threats does not give you the right to treat us unprofessionally.

Dear producers of Matanglawin, we hope this letter would allow you to rectify this issue in a timely manner. All we asked was some professional courtesy, which we were unfairly denied. Was this really too much to ask for?

Sincerely,
Kel Fabie

Sometimes, It Just Has To Be Said...

.:After All This Time...:.

We're still not talking?

Dammit, I hate having to carry burdens to the grave. Don't you? Aren't you just as tired of this as I am?

Maybe it's time to bury the hatchet.

My door is open for that much.