Cyberbullies
4 hours ago
SM mall shooting
Posted by Job in bomb, Everyday Things, mall shooting, philippines security, Rant, Warnings
SM is currently in hot water for two shooting incidents. The first happened in SM North EDSA where a disgruntled wife shot her husband (who supposedly left her for another woman) then "accidentally" killed a security guard who attempted to stop her from taking her life. That news has barely subsided when another news of a shooting that occurred in an SM Mall surfaced in Twitter. This time, a 13-year old boy shot a 16-year old boy who was supposedly his lover.
There is an evident theme in these crimes of passion and it seems like the media and the government are both putting the blame on the mall's lack of security. They could not be more wrong.
The issue is not about security. The issue is the emotional and mental state of our people.
There was a time when the concept of destroying something so no one else can have it was a fiction exclusive. That statement comes off better in Tagalog, "Kung hindi kita mapapakinabangan, walang makikinabang sa iyo."
Filipinos have always been an emotional lot. Unfortunately, this emotional side is coupled with a seemingly fanatical desire for token efforts. On December 30, 2000, Metro Manila was rocked by a series of near simultaneous bombings. That incident put national security in "high alert." The solution? We now have guards with a single drumstick in every imaginable entrance who poke at people's bags.
The population is fooled into a false sense of security by the sheer number of security guards everywhere. Foreigners are flabbergasted by the security presence and probably believe that security guard is the country's national profession.
Seven years of "heightened security measures" later, an explosion occurred in Glorietta 2 of Ayala Center in Makati on October 19, 2007. Many believe this to be a bomb, but a series of "investigations" and probably the most impressive display of Crisis Management later had most believing the explosion was caused by an LPG tank.
And so the toothpick check proliferated. The population were supposed to feel safe and secure because each and everyone's belongings were poked by a stick before entering the premises. Because that's just how we roll. Token security is still security, not to mention dirt cheap.
The problem is not with mall security. The real problem is that criminals and disgruntled lovers/murderers are confident of the ineptitude of our police force. Everyone knows that the friendly neighborhood cops will never arrive to prevent or stop any crime from happening. There is no 911.
This was proven on August 23, 2010, when a single disgruntled policeman was able to hostage a busload of foreign tourists for an entire day. Police were unable to control the situation and the media jumped in to exploit the scoop. Incompetence killed six people that day.
With two very fresh shooting incidents, we can now expect the most heightened security imaginable. Maybe guards will now have two chopsticks to inspect our belongings.
Joahnna Marie was telling me about reading her ancient blog posts. I figured I'd repost some of my oldest here.
This one's from February 24, 2005:
That Fucking Tax Thing
One look at my measly pay slip got my looking up all the words in my curse dictionary again. A simple computation and I saw that I was being taxed at 15%. And relatively, I don't know what that means, only that it's biting off a huge portion of my highly-negligible salary.
In reference to the hundreds of columnists all over, "Where the fuck are my taxes going?!" Seriously now, I'm starting on looking at those Expeditions with "8" plates with contempt. Never been much of a tibak myself, but geez, with the money I'm dishing, I might as well expect some good hospitals, roads, and other services. And the sad truth is, there is no such thing here.
*takes on a nationalistic stance, hand over heart, simulating booming voice dripping with passion for country* Now I understand the wrath of the Filipino people. This is a despicable country. And the government expects professionals to stay? There's no such thing as a future here for honest (read: non-corrupt) people. Writers can file their fingers to dust typing away with how much the government, and every citizen must help each other for progress. Activists can scream chants and go hungry for the rest of their lives, radio commentators can waste all their spittle for nothing.
Whew! All that anger over a blasted pay slip... Might as well use the "relative misery" technique. In other lands like Djibouti, Somalia, or in planets like Omicron Persei 8, in parallel dimensions, some other nutcase is bitching over greater sorrow. There are people who can barely afford food and shelter. There are people with more pain and probably an unknown, incurable and extremely painful disease. Some CIA agent is getting his skin peeled off inch by inch in some torture chamber somewhere. And...
Nope, it doesn't lighten my load at all. Not by one fucking bit. I still don't see how people get comforted by the thought that other people are having an even harder time than they are.
***you've just read another annoying complaint in life by someone you don't know or hardly care about. Ah, the wonders of technology.***
Hmmm, now, how much have I changed in how I blog?
Sa isang grill
Guy: Cocktail ka na lang. Order ka ng blowjob!
Girl: Ayoko nun!
Guy: Bakit?
Girl: Gumuguhit sa lalamunan eh.
Guy: Ibang blowjob ata ang tinutukoy mo...
Before the Block was there, it was just a huge parking space for SM North. And the Supersales club was more than just a Bingo place, Parking building, and LTO Driver's License renewal center. It was a big Uniwide kind of department store where you could pick up just about anything. I used to do my groceries back there during my college days. I remember my staples. Every week, I'd buy a big can of Maling (sometimes I'd get Purefoods Luncheon Meat for variety's sake) and a pack of Lucky Me! instant noodles. They came in packs of five there. I'd also get some random cheap SM Bonus food item, usually cheese. I'd live on that for the entire week.
The World of Fun in Supersales Club also had a videoke machine where we've witness people murder popular songs. I specifically remember a guy who always sang Bryan Adam's Heaven every fucking time. I remember him because he'd sing, "Poooom! Baby you're all that I want... with you lying here in my arms.." There was also a guy who keeps on mispronouncing the lyrics of 'Till Death Do Us Part by White Lion. I mean, what the hell does "Jubilee you every day" mean?
But the best memory about that place was when Jeff belted out Bon Jovi's It's My Life. I can still remember the sheer terror on the kid's face as he did that. The poor kid just wanted to watch the video games and pretend to play. Unfortunately, as Jeff got to the chorus, he was separated from his mom by Jeff and the videoke machine.
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