Why do I want a PhD?

A Doctor of Philosophy degree is the highest academic degree anyone can earn. They used to say a Ph.D. requires such extended study and intense intellectual effort, that less than one percent of the population gets the degree. People show respect for a someone who has a Ph.D. by addressing him with the title "Doctor".

They say that to earn a Ph.D., one must master a specific subject completely and he must extend the body of knowledge about that subject. A Ph.D. student is expected to pursue structured, supervised research. He will also needs to write an extended thesis, demonstrating evidence of the capacity to pursue scholarly research. The results of that research should make an original contribution to knowledge and be of a standard appropriate for publication.

Sounds daunting, doesn't it. Today it seems there is a surfeit of Ph.D.s. In my youth, very few have post-graduate degrees in the circles I move in. Ph.D. holders then really look and act the part. At present, many universities offer Ph.D. courses and many obtain the degree. But often you will hear people whisper "hoy, may PhD yun!." "Ha? yun? hindi halata" is whispered back often in disbelief. Stereotypes are distorted, images cheapened.

I breezed through my masters degree, hardly worked a sweat. The solid undergrad plus the extensive work experience helped a lot. By the time I hit the momentum to learn more, the game was over. I got my post-grad in record time. It's been a year since and I still feel the challenge. Besides, a Ph.D. sounds right for me - 'Perry Hugo - Doctor'. What can I say? I hate stereotypes and I'm cheap.

All hoping it'll be a better year.

I share the optimism of 91% of Filipinos that 2008 year will be a better year. How low can we go anyway? There’s no way but up. My personal emotional roller-coaster ride in 2007 scraped nadir right on Christmas week when I learned my name was mentioned in a contract mess. I hope the culprits will be judged guilty in the cases filed against them because that’s what they are, guilty.

For a better year, I resolve to:

• Start pursuing my Phd
• Work smart not hard, or better yet, work hard at working smart
• Give more time to tutoring my sons
• Lose the flab, and get some abs
• Be more discerning, as somebody maybe advising me cryptically when he set my password to 'trustno1'.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

It's the last day of the year and yet this is my first post for the year. Why do I blog at all? Others find blogging cathartic, some blog to document their lives, some do it to shout out their opinions, a few make money off their blogs. Except for the profit angle I could say I blog for the same reasons as others but I do primarily because it's an IT thing. I just have to know how to do it.

I was on an emotional roller-coaster ride this year. My father died. I did well in my masters class and I got my post-graduate degree. An uncle died. The job challenge went from exciting to ho-hum. The wife went on official travel, making me a solo parent for a week. The comatose company that my friends and I put up years ago had a De Niro-style Awakenings only to revert back to deep sleep. These are enough fodder for blog posts, but i posted nada.

Then on Christmas eve I received info that my name was mentioned negatively in online newspapers. I checked it and sure, there was not just one but at least two references to me. The fact that it's negative and appears on search engines (Google this or this) make me doubly mad because it means it won't go away easily no matter how untrue. The news can give the impression that either I'm in the scam and/or an incompetent analyst.

It is reported that a rich electric cooperative whose billing system I helped revise, entered into an anomalous contract with an IT company. The contract was onerous, the IT company failed to deliver despite receiving full payment. The coop's new board and employees sued the old board that approved the contract. An audit showed that the old board approved the contract based on the mere recommendation of a certain Perfecto Hugo. But wait, I never evaluated any proposal for them. I never recommended anything regarding any project. The job I did was billing system revision, nothing else. Clearly there is some misrepresentation here, and falsification. Documents were fabricated and antedated to suit the board and in effect attribute something to me. My beef is now that anybody who searches for me online will be led to the untrue, unsavory, unflattering news reports.

I talked to the current president of the coop and the current GM. They are shocked that the supposed recommendation I made was a fake. They thought all along that it was real albeit biased recommendation to favor the winning contractor. Maybe be they even thought the recommender was part of the scam. On paper it looks like, as they say 'malinis ang pagkagawa'. The decision was covered by proper evaluation/recommendation. The winning company appears legit, although undercapitalized and registered just days earlier before receiving the contract.

How could a board of directors completely unknown to me use me? They didn't even know my full name. I signed their logbook as Perry Hugo. They didn't know my affiliation with e-novention. My only connection to them was their IT consultant who got me to do the billing system. He was the computerization consultant. But he has denied being part of the scam. Does that mean he didn't know why they gave the contract to the days-old company? He swears he'll never use me that way. He admits though now, when confronted regarding the fake recommendation, to getting most of the budget for the billing system. What will I believe now? Occam's razor should be used, I think. All other things being equal, the simplest explanation is the best.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Improving stats and otherwise

It's been a while since my last post. Tiger Woods won another major slam, putting him closer to Jack Nicklaus' record. Hindi yata talaga tao.
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Manny Pacquiao again won convincingly. As a tribute to the great event, I posted round 3 of his fight versus Morales on YouTube. They shot it down after 106 views, acting on a complaint from HBO saying it is copyright infringement. The last time I checked YouTube, there were still 1,248 videos of the same fight, some with more than 4,000 views. Just my luck to be singled out and threatened with a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
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Philippine life has not improved since. But this delusional government believes otherwise. It says unemployment is down. The government brought unemployment down not by creating more jobs but by not counting the unemployed properly. So if you see lots of tambays on the streets, they may be not working but they are not unemployed. It is a very imaginative unemployment reduction. Unemployment is down by more than 2 pts on a sub-par economic growth (compared to our neighbors) and a very high population growth (again compared to neighbors). How did GMA do with her promise of a million jobs a year, anyway? They are silent on that while they gladly report the new unemployment figures. Perhaps we should ask the government to reveal also the number of 'discouraged' workers who are left out in the counting of the unemployed.

In a zone and SONA

Tiger Woods at 30 won his 11th major (in less than 10 years of tournament play). Nicklaus won his record 18th and last (in 24 years of tournament play) when he was 46. At this rate, Tiger will double Nicklaus’ majors haul before he retires. Tiger once again proves his super human golfing talent. He is an alien. He is not human.
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For a change, this cute government acted fast in declaring no classes and office due to weather conditions on the day of the SONA. I wish they also act this fast on other non-SONA days.
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Hearing the latest SONA, we realize the true state of the nation today and that is - the president doesn’t have anything really good to say about our state today. She cannot embellish the truth more than they have done the past months, as in the redefinition of unemployed and underestimation of imports/balance of trade. So instead of getting flak for lying again through official statistics, she did not present the state of the nation at all. In lieu of the SONA, she presented her plans for the rest of her term.

What’s wrong with plans? All great accomplishments start with good plans, don’t they? Sure they do. But in presenting plans instead of the true state of the nation in a SONA is reveals several things: 1) the true state of the nation is not something to brag about in a SONA; 2) after 5 years in office, she is just starting to plan, we are still in the planning stage; 3) she is in denial about the true state of the nation; 4) she is still in dream state.

In her first SONA, she first articulated her plans through her ‘bangkang papel’ dramatics. Trabaho, edukasyon, sariling tahanan, pagkain. Succeeding SONAs should have mentioned where we have gone from those plans. Had she done that, she would have reported that unemployment is down because she redefined unemployment. More are being educated because she packed each classroom with more than 100 students per day. Hunger/poverty is easing because her statisticians say the basic caloric requirement is available via an unpalatable but cheap diet. More houses are being built not by her but by NGOs.

She cannot ascribe any positive development to her governance without getting criticism from all sectors. And next year is an election year, so even this early she goes on campaign mode, promising infrastructures. Talk is cheap and she can dream, can’t she?

Back to the grind

After the project that required me to report for a daily 8 to 5 grind ended, I had projects that allowed me to stay home and freely schedule my time. There were meetings, presentations, and occasional travels that brought me around region 7 and Batangas. But for the past years I caught the NBA AllStars, SuperBowl, the Grammys and Oscars, and some beauty pageants live on TV.

Now I'm back to a regular daily routine that makes me miss the usual live events on cable. I work with a group that shares common passions - foremost of which is working for an institution for more than 10 hours straight daily, 5 days a week; and still manage to come fresh as daisies the next day. This group routinely pours in long hours what other offices do on a seasonal basis.

This day marks the first full month of working with them. Statistically, my entry raises the group's average age. I hope I also upped the overall job knowledge and experience, if not the average looks (he-he-he, joke lang, officemates in case you're reading this).

The group also shares other passions. Eating is one. But that will be another subject.

The eternal sunshine of the spotted mind.

This cute GMA administration is an ever optimistic lot. It never fails to see the silver linings. When the peso was down, it sees increase in demand for the exports, and better life for our OFWs, our fodder in the conflicted Middle East. Never mind that rise in local prices of imports which we are addicted and the brain drain. Our BOP will improve, so she says.

Now that the peso is improving, she is even more upbeat. Suddenly, she forgets her beneficiaries of devaluation. She salivates at the prospects of ratings upgrades. When it does not completely come, she sees it as a challenge, not as a rebuke. What does the rating do for the common Filipino? For GMA, it simply means she can borrow more at better rates. At least in the short run, the ordinary family should have lower prices of imported goods in the local market. Fuel and LPG prices should be down because even oil prices abroad are down after winter. But are they? Can small Filipinos borrow at better rates? That is if they can borrow from anyone at all, if they are not still neck-deep in debt.

Most people do not share GMA's enthusiasm on the stronger peso. The US$100 they get from their family member used to fetch PhP56+, now it's Php51. And still they are paying more for electricity, water, fuel, transport, credit card interests, etc. Tumaas pa rin ang lahat, pwera si GMA at ang kanyang rating.

If this cute administration cannot provide a trickle of its enthusiasm to the poor, it will be extinct sooner than the spotted owl.

Kawawa we!

Throngs stayed days in vigil to get inside the Ultra. They wanted a chance to partake of the US$50K that WowWowWee will give away. They thought that the odds of getting inside the show, being selected as contestant, and winning, is more realistic than getting a trickle of the growth that the government claims.

The stampede that resulted in terrible loss of life is unfortunate enough. There will be investigations as usual. But what do officials learn from these investigations? Just very recently, four persons died and scores wounded in another stampede in a rock concert. Investigations showed that there were only about a hundred bouncers/policemen to control 20,000 beer-thirsty-rock-concert-going crowd. In that stampede, the police general that looked like comedian Long Mejia claimed that the stampede started when somebody shouted 'may magnanakaw'. The comical police chief this time may say that somebody shouted 'bomba' to start this accident.

But the government should start a serious investigation on what drives masses of people to flock these mindless shows just to be ridiculed on national TV. The reason, of course, is the same reason for the long queues at the lotto. We think that the chances of getting a small fortune there is better than getting a slice of the growth that this government claims. This indicates that the people has lost all confidence in this government. With GMA, Kawawa we!

Taken off or taken for a ride?

GNP accelerates. The exchange rate is up. Better credit ratings ahead. The economy, again, is poised for a take-off. So what's wrong with all the good news?

We have taken off several times already. GMA said so several times in the past. If her past pronouncements were true, we should be cruising right now. Pero flight delayed yata. Are we in the runway yet? Most are not excited about the flight anymore, having lost confidence in the pilot and crew. The collective mood now, after last year's indignation and exasperation, is mild acceptance - 'if we take off, fine; if we don't, still fine; we're better off with a new pilot anyway.'

The trouble with GMA's chest-thumping news is again their credibility. The government believes in the dictum that lies repeated often enough starts to sound true. They may sound true but still they are lies. And they certainly sound true only to them. The economy is doing well, the government boasts. The people shout, 'show me the money!'.

Maybe the Philippines is really doing well. They surely mean the economic situation of GMA and crew. Government statisticians should measure the growth of this administration's personal economies, then GMA would boast of triple digit growth rates. The trouble with government statistics is they try to spread the rate to the entire nation, thus diluting the growth which in reality accrues only to a select few. This gives the impression that the rest of the nation also enjoys growth. How do we account for the growing hunger despite the purported growth?

How can we believe the economics of GMA and her students? She berates one of her former students in broadcast TV; another student cleverly evades taxes; another looks like an X-Men morphed with Ben David. But kidding aside, the X-Men/Ben David-look alike say the economy is getting better and in the same breath say that 30% is lost to corruption. But they are in control, they should control corruption. They should control themselves from further corrupting this nation. Does this mean they improve their economy so they can skim off more?

Gloria basking in other's glory

What's wrong with GMA wringing out all political mileage out of the PacMan euphoria? Here's what's wrong. It shows that we have sunk so low because no good news have come to us for months. So, the administration has to use Manny's feat to remind us that Filipino are capable of being great. And because the politicians want to bask in the glory, they imposed hours long traffic jam on us last Friday. Hindi nga maliit na bagay ang panalo, pero pinalaki na yatang masyado para ma-picture lahat ng kaalyado.

That GMA took the opportunity to have herself on the same stage with PacMan, the honest little girl, and the beauty queen, is also wrong. She clearly does not belong to the same stage as those exemplary Filipinos. PacMan won in a fair and clean fight. The little girl is honest. The beauty queen is, of course, beautiful. Does GMA belong to the group? She thinks that by association with these model citizens, the people would think that she also has their qualities and achievments. But we know better.

Hail PacMan!!

Manny's convincing win will be discussed for several days to come. The euphoria will rise again when he comes home to a hero's welcome. His feat once more proves that positive things can still come from this country. Unfortunately, the long wait for the fight to start made some of us turn to our favorite past-time - rumor mongering. I received several text and phone messages saying either Pacquiao won in 3, lost in 6, KOd Erik in 9, etc. All were untrue, of course, as the fight was yet to start. This rumor mongering even reached a message board dedicated to boxing discussions. It was embarassing and annoying to know that fellow Pinoys flooded the message board with nonsensical comments, and in Tagalog at that, when all members should just be waiting for the round-by-round updates. Ang Pinoy talaga!!

I have way too much time!

Win-win ruse?

REMEMBER, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fast-tracked the creation of the Consultative Commission because of the “Hello Garci” scandal. Its real objective was to mollify a nation who wanted to oust her. Precisely, the ConCom was meant to accommodate former President Ramos and Speaker Jose de Venecia—who both saw on that critical night of July 8, when the Arroyo regime was about to fall, an excellent opportunity to dangle Charter change as a way of providing GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) a graceful exit by cutting short her term of office to 2007—so they would not join the ouster calls.

Many fell for the ruse. Now, the ConCom has this very unpalatable “extension” proposal for all elective public officials whose terms are expiring in 2007.

For GMA, her political lackeys and media apologists, the proposal is a win-win strategy. If the people don’t agree to the proposal, then GMA stays. If the people approve it, then GMA can stay longer in power, as prime minister, of course. (Politicians are most likely to go all-out for its approval since their terms will be extended.) Either way, GMA’s term is not cut short. Tuloy ang ligaya. (Let the good times roll.)

I may be cynical, but I think we’re better off with the present Constitution. We don’t need a new constitution to pull us forward. We just need to get rid of the politicians who are dragging us down.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 2, 2006, page A12

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Win-win strategy = lose-lose for the people

GMA's Con-Com is designed to fail. Remember that although it was hinted of in the Sona (as with other motherhood statements), it was fast-tracked because of the Garci scandal. The main objective was to mollify a nation who wanted to oust her. Precisely, it was an accomodation for FVR and JDV not to join the ouster calls. Indeed, many fell for the ruse. Now they want to put in the very unpalatable condition of term extension. For GMA and her lackeys (politicians) and apologists (some media people), it should be a win-win strategy. If the people will not approve of the Con-Com proposal, then GMA stays. If the people approves (with the full campaign support of politicians who want a free ride extension), then GMA stays longer. Either way, GMA's term is not cut short. Tuloy ang ligaya.

I may be cynical, but I think we're better off with the present constitution. We don't need a new constitution to pull us forward. We need to get rid of the politicians that drag us down.
Postscript/PhilSTAR/Dec. 20, 2005/Tuesday
Ducky Paredes/Malaya/Dec. 21, 2005/Wednesday

John and Ninoy

It's been 25 years since John Lennon was killed. He died at 40, after contributing greatly not only to world music but more importantly to world peace and understanding. Had he lived this far, he would have wanted to kill himself, if not kill people like George W. Bush. In a sense, his death like that of Ninoy's, preserved his legacy. Their deaths prevented them from being tainted by this increasingly corrupt world. Ninoy would have killed Joey M. Hell no, he wouldn't have the chance because he would have killed Kris a long time ago.

PLAK! Pera lang ang katapat.

Questions: Why would a Comelec Commissioner and a Shariah Court judge allow themselves to be ridiculed by a neophyte senator who himself has been accused of graft? Why would people lie outright on national TV? What self-respect will be left to those who are caught lying and continue to prevaricate? Why are they willing to be subjected to public humiliation because they are caught cheating, lying and abusing their given authority? Why do they continue to cover-up for a cheater, liar, stealer? Why would people decry the present government, only to make a complete turn-around? Remember Mahusay? Mahusay ang pagkagawa!

One simple answer: PLAK. Pera Lang ang Katapat. Some other people have discovered how much the Commissioner and Judge cost, and have paid them accordingly. Everybody in Philippine politics can be labeled as either "sold" or "for sale". Almost no exception, especially those 50 years and above. We see bright, articulate young men on TV, but it's easy to label them as "sold". Mike Defensor comes to mind. Chiz Escudero? Hmm, let's all groom him as "not for sale".

CSI

The CSI series is so successful that it has spun off two other versions. The spin offs are equally good and there is still another show called NCIS which is still about crime investigations. To my mind part of the charm of the CSI franchise comes the theme songs. All three CSI shows use music from The Who as theme songs.

The original CSI, with Roger Daltrey singing 'who are you? who? who? who? who?' in the promo trailer, rekindles memories of that great '60s-'70s band. The theme song very aptly adds essence of the show. The producers followed up the success with CSI:Miami. Another song from The Who became the theme music - 'Won't get fooled again!'. Again, very apt. Still the producers came up with CSI:New York. And again they did not miss with 'Baba O'Riley' from The Who (who else) as theme music.

In the coming impeachment/truth commission investigations, we don't need CSI:Metro Manila to know who is guilty. Just from GMA's reactions/inaction to the jueteng and wiretap controversies we can conclude that she is guilty. The present stance of some members of the civil society indicate not a wait and see attitude. It's not weighing its options, it is maximizing its return on investment before investing anew on another leader.

The Who's songs in the CSIs are all very apt to the current situation.
To the question of whose voices are on the recordings, we sing--
Well, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who? )/I really wanna know (who are you? who, who, who, who? )/Tell me, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who? )/’cause I really wanna know (who are you? who, who, who, who? )

The anti-GMA rallyists sing -
I don’t need to fight/ To prove I’m right/ I don’t need to be forgiven

And we the people say -
won't get fooled again

We’ll be fighting in the streets/ With our children at our feet/ And the morals that they worship will be gone/ And the men who spurred us on/ Sit in judgement of all wrong/They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution/ Take a bow for the new revolution/ Smile and grin at the change all around/ Pick up my guitar and play/ Just like yesterday/ Then I’ll get on my knees and pray/ We don’t get fooled again

The change, it had to come/ We knew it all along/ We were liberated from the fold, that’s all/ And the world looks just the same/ And history ain’t changed/ ’cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I’ll move myself and my family aside/ If we happen to be left half alive/ I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky/ Though I know that the hypnotized never lie/ Do ya?

There’s nothing in the streets/ Looks any different to me/ And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye/ And the parting on the left/ Are now parting on the right/ And the beards have all grown longer overnight

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
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Let’s get it on!

GMA is clearly in denial. At her SONA, she made no mention of the political crisis she caused on herself and on the country. She said she will continue her economic reforms regardless of the costs. Coming from one with an MS, that means More of the Same programs that she has been imposing on us for five years. And the lady has a PhD too, that means we’ll be buried under programs Piled higher and Deeper. There’s no escape for the Filipino people.

Meanwhile, she is opening the ChaCha debate to escape from the rut she is in. She took the JDV and FVR bait on the parliamentary system. JDV has been ranting on the benefits of the parliamentary system in Europe, and why the Filipinos go there for jobs. Somebody has to remind him of the US model. The point is the system did not drag us down. It’s the people that run the system that caused all this. Even if we shift to any other system, if it’s led by people like GMA, JDV, Erap, and FVR, we’ll still be in this hellhole. Did the present system make all those loans? Did the present system sign the EPIRA? Did the system make them accept jueteng payoff and call Garci? Did the system overprice public works projects? I don't think so!

If they can convince the people that the new system will replace the greedy, patronage politics that we have, then the people will gladly embrace change. But not if it's clearly to distract us from the real issues. And certainly not before uncovering the truth about Gloria. So, are you ready GMA? Are you ready impeachment/truth commission? Let’s get it on!

GMA has to go now

GMA has to go now before the people drives her out of office. Filipinos are very patient. We put up with Marcos for a long time. During martial law, many rallies and protests called for FM's ouster. But even with Ninoy's murder, it still took quite a while before protests reached a critical mass. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was election related. We remember Enrile admitting that he was ordered to produce votes in his province. We remember the walk-out of data-entry volunteers. Filipinos can bear with lots of government abuses, but not electoral fraud because we believe that election is the only way we can remove an unpopular leader.

The Filipinos patience was once again evident with the way we put up with Erap. The news of his drinking binges, lavish lifestyle and extramarital activities were not enough to anger most of the people. But with the jueteng controversy, the people believed it's his time to go. Maybe we didn't like the idea that the small change (a small fortune to most bettors) we bet being skimmed off. 'Munting pangarap na nga, kinukupitan pa'.

But what could have been GMA thinking? She has committed the two crimes that caused FM's and Erap's downfalls. Electoral fraud and jueteng. That shows how bad a leader she is, and how greedy she is. It won't be long before we, the people show her what we do with such leaders.

No alternative? Only for simple minds

Secretary Ignacio Bunye says there is no alternative to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. That's true only to his simple mind, and it doesn't take away the fact that she isn't fit to run this country anymore.

The country cannot rise again with Ms Arroyo at the helm. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel is right in demanding Ms Arroyo's resignation to pave the way for a snap election. But a snap election will take too long and will be costly, divisive and prone to controversy and manipulation just as the 2004 elections were.

If Ms Arroyo resigns now, she will be treated more kindly by the people and later by history. Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada had come to know this. But if Ms Arroyo insists on hanging on to power and dragging us deeper into the mess, she'll be booted out of office, literally, by an angry mob.

The smoothest way to Philippine recovery is Ms Arroyo's resignation. Not coups, not people power, not US intervention, not a snap election. I'm not a fan of Vice President Noli de Castro, but he gets to inherit the post. He needs all the help he can get. Everybody who wants anybody but Ms Arroyo should help. He should be acceptable to civil society because it invested in him, and he should be acceptable to the masses because of his roots. He has no bad record yet. I just wish there is no tape of his alleged "AC/DC operations" while he was with the media. Page A14, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 21, 2004