Gonzalez: UP breeds destabilizers, naked runners

First posted 02:18am (Mla time) Aug 27, 2006
By Armand Nocum
Inquirer

Editor’s Note: Published on page A5 of the August 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THIS time Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has picked on the University of the Philippines school system, saying it mainly produces militant protesters and fraternity men and women who run around the campus naked.

“That school breeds the destabilizers that haunt the country year after year. They are acting as if they are the only ones who know how to run the country,” Gonzalez told the Inquirer yesterday.

He made it clear, however, that he was not assailing the entire university population because “there are many students there who are bright and good.”

Interviewed by phone while he was with President Macapagal-Arroyo in Guimaras, Gonzalez pointed to the Oblation run of the APO fraternity as another indication of the kind of students that came from UP.

“I doff my hat to them because they initiate the running of naked people… That’s also one kind of culture that they develop there,” he said, noting that women had begun to join the naked run as well which is held in December.

“Maybe we are going in that direction… there are now women running naked. I will not be surprised if they will go to school with only their books, nothing more,” he said.

Gonzalez made the statements while lamenting that UP was the site of numerous protest rallies and symposia calling for the resignation of President Arroyo.

“In every storm that takes place, UP students are in the forefront,” he said. “As a matter of fact, our history will show that since the martial law years, students from UP were the ones who went underground and fought the government. In fact, many of them went to China and never came back.”

Bomb-making in labs

Gonzalez said he came to see the militant activism of UP students first-hand during the First Quarter Storm of 1970 when then Sen. Genaro Magsaysay formed a panel to look into the violent protests there and he saw pillbox bombs being assembled in the school laboratories.

He said this was not the way the students should repay the government for giving them a world-class education.

“They should consider the fact that the state is the one paying for their schooling. Why fight the state? Why try to bring it down. I think some degree of gratitude should be there also,” he said.

He noted that UP had always been known as a “cradle of leadership” but he was worried that with the way some students there were acting, some serious questions would be raised about the “kind of leaders we will have in the future.”

But he said he was “not degrading UP per se,” but was only questioning the kind of students that came from it.

‘I am well-behaved’

He said the matter of the high “tolerance to education freedom” should be raised to UP officials and teachers during the annual budget hearing for the school.

Asked what school he graduated from, Gonzalez replied: “University of Sto. Tomas… that’s why I am well-behaved.”

Gonzalez is known for speaking his mind on most issues and creating controversy.

Earlier, when he was asked if he was going to arrest the widow of the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. for inciting to sedition when she spoke out against President Arroyo, he said she was too pretty to be arrested.

Another time when it was revealed that he was undergoing dialysis for kidney stones, he said that was not what made him launch verbal tirades against critics of Ms Arroyo.

“What does [having the] balls [to say things] got to do with that?” he said when he was asked if the painful passing of stones in his urine was the reason he was grouchy to critics and media people.

What the hell is stuck up Norberto Raul Gonzales’ ass? He really likes to make hasty generalizations but this recent comment about UP students really irked me. He keeps on denying that he isn’t generalizing but isn’t that what he just did? I’m a UP graduate and I’m damn proud of being an “isko.” My years in UP Diliman were an eyeopener especially after being stuck in an all-girls Catholic school for more than a decade. UP taught me a lot. I learned how to interact with people from all walks of life. I experienced complete freedom and the consequences of every choice I made. I learned how to value the importance of education and to not completely rely on educators for information. The University taught me to become openminded and to see things from different perspectives. The most important lesson I learned though was how to lookout for my country because all of us have the responsibility to do so.

Mr. Gonzales thinks that UP students are a bunch of ingrates because we really fight for what we love and believe in even if this means we have to go head-to-head with the state. Clearly he fails to see that the reason why “in every storm that takes place, UP students are in the forefront” is because we want to save the Philippines from the cancer that’s eating it up. If there’s nothing wrong with the government, we wouldn’t be this contradictory but since there are a lot of bad apples in our system, we need to be extra vigilant and more vocal. “As a matter of fact, our history will show that since the martial law years, students from UP were the ones who went underground and fought the government. In fact, many of them went to China and never came back.” Another hasty generalization. Students from different universities fought the government, not only UP students. Besides, if students didn’t want to become another statistic of political killings back then, what choice do they have but to go underground? Who’s the ingrate now? If it weren’t for activists, we would still be under martial law!

The oblation run is an annual tradition of the APO fraternity wherein neophites run around in their birthday suit on. Frankly I don’t know how this started and I don’t care much about it. Who wants to see nekkid guys with nasty dicks running around the campus? However, this is a testimony to the kind of freedom we have in UP so I might as well enjoy it. Contrary to the information gathered by Mr. Gonzales, the female runners of last year’s oblation run aren’t members of the APO sorority nor are they UP students. The women came there unannounced so it was a big surprise to the UP community. They are from a women’s group, maybe Gabriela.

Who knows why Raul Gonzales suddenly picked on UP students. He sounds like a bitter kid who didn’t pass the UPCAT exams. Whatever the reason behind his comments, he should think twice before releasing poorly researched comments. Didn’t he learn the proper way to do that from his school?

Mom/Boss gave me a list of my duties and responsibilities in the company yesterday and I’m a bit disappointed with what she came up with. Based on the list, I’m the company techy so I’m in charge of the upkeep of computers, internet, etc. I’m also in charge of imaging which basically entails doing the graphics and web design as well as marketing and promo materials. Lastly, she put me in charge of seeking out more cost-effective ways in operating the business. I’m already doing all of the above and she likes my work but I thought I was supposed to learn how to run the business. Maybe she knows better but I don’t think my current duties and responsibilities are paving the way for me to become a good businesswoman. I thought that my training would be more on the managing side, learning about accounting, entrepreneurship, etc. Maybe I’ll be tasked that someday but right now, I’m the company geek. Don’t get me wrong, I like what I’m doing. Heck! Our company now has broadband and is using a router now so several computers can connect to the net at the same time. Used to be we only had a crappy dial-up ISP and it was costing us around P3000 a month. So I was able to lessen company expenses and I get to be online at work. It’s a win-win situation. But again, I don’t think this is a training in running a business.

Did anybody miss me? I haven’t updated for awhile because I didn’t feel like doing so. Been feeling crummy these days and I’ve been cranky. I couldn’t really pinpoint what brought this about but I guess it’s a mixture of self-loathing and boredom. I hate myself lately. Hate my body and I feel so ugly. I feel the need to lose weight but I have no discipline at all. Work is starting to bore me again but I made my choice and I know this is for the best.

I know I’ll get over this soon but I still hate what I’m feeling right now.

Crap! This boil hurts like hell. I couldn’t go to work because of this since it’s painful to sit and even to walk. I just slept all day since the damn thing made me feel weak. I’m on antibiotics and painkiller and hopefully this mark of the devil will disappear soon. It popped just a few hours ago and it was damn messy and bloody. Heh! It’s still bleeding so I started wearing overnighter sanitary pads.

My body hurts like fuck! I am so getting a massage tonight. I guess this goes with growing old. Hell! I’m only 28 and I ache all over.

Plus I have a big boil on my butt. Ouch!

God! I’m so exhausted. I guess this is burnout due to work. I’m not complaining about work. I like what I’m doing and the projects I started. I’m feeling the blues today because of my burn-out. I don’t have the stamina.

I couldn’t bring the laptop to work because my sister needed it for some class project in college. Bad news for me because she said that she needs the laptop tomorrow until Monday next week. So I’ll be computer-less during the duration of my sister’s project. Damn! I want my own laptop. Sadly, I couldn’t afford one. At least, not yet.

So much to do and I need this damn laptop for work! There’s nothing I can do about it because it’s not mine! :angry:

I’m glad that I have my makeup again and I don’t regret getting that $60 bareMinerals get started kit cos it makes me look great. I have a problem with the kit though. My face is as rough as sandpaper now. I think the kabuki brush is at fault. It’s made from sable hair and each bristle pokes my skin when I apply the foundation. It stings a bit and I didn’t mind at first until I noticed the sad state of my skin a couple of days ago. I thought the kit was a really good deal because of the free brushes. Hmmm, it still is a good deal but goddamn that brush. I don’t use that particular brush anymore. I just use the other two which came with the kit.

I’m a big fan of Wong Kar-Wai so let me post this forwarded email.

Things Wong Kar-wai Taught Me About Love
by Alice Dallow

1. Requited love is an impossibility.

2. You will fall in love only once. Obstacles will
prevail. The rest of your life is spent recovering.

3. Eroticising their possessions will be the pinnacle
of your sexual fulfilment.

4. Anything that distracts you from the pain of your
loss is good. Some people are more successful in this
regard than others.

5. Hook up with someone. Live with them. Sleep with
them. Tag along. Don’t be fooled. You are only a
transitory distraction. Ask for commitment. Declare
your love. Watch the set up evaporate.

6. The most potent way to exist is to occupy someone
else’s imagination.

7. Desire is kept eternally alive by the impossibility
of contact.

8. Modern communication enabling technologies will
only heighten your sense of desolation by making you
more keenly aware of the fact that no one is trying to
call.

(Alice Dallow is a long time fan of Wong Kar-wai’s
films. In her spare time she makes shorts films and
music clips.)

Damn! I’m almost broke again. I spent most of my salary trying to pay my credit card bills. I also bought some CDs (Strawberry Switchblade, B-Movie, and Regina Spektor’s Begin to Hope) and a DVD (my favorite, Heartburn) Sunday night at the Podium. We were at that mall because it was my cousin Paul’s birthday treat for us. We ate good food at Burgoo. After that, we had desserts at Goodies and Sweets. Oh I digressed again.

I’m already working but money is still elusive to me. I forgot when the next salary will be released. I hope it’s this week. I really need cash.