Slipping away again?

I was listening to the radio while going to work and heard this commentator talking about the plea bargain of Gen. Garcia and how it was done behind our backs. Normally I would not have paid attention to the issue since I had known long ago that cases involving high ranking officials almost always get away with any issues linking them through the use of time and money. But somehow I can't fathom how shitty our judicial system is since these tactics have always been in play and they don't do something about it.

If we look at the past, how many corrupt politicians out there are now behind bars? After years of "in depth" investigations, how many were incarcerated? I could only count a handful compared to the magnitude of cases that were acquitted.

Our judicial system is flawed. Flawed because they are subjected to the same political strategies and never learn from it. If cases are not prolonged for the public to lose interest, they are then bought with chunks of cash. I believe this was exactly how Garcia was able to have the plea bargain.

According to the sandiganbayan in January, graft evidences against Garcia was strong enough to put him behind bars, but when March came they suddenly switched sides and said it was insufficient. And by May, while we were all concentrated on the Presidential Elections, Garcia was offered the plea bargain. If these were true, then what else can we think? There might have been some underhanded negotiations going behind our backs.

Time and money has always been the loophole of our Philippine justice system. If acquittal cannot be accomplished through time, then they're going for money. In some cases both strategies are used to acquit an accused.

The judicial body always argue that the slowness of the proceedings was a result of the lack of personnel, or the lack of funds, or the observance of due process and what not. I don't agree that all of these cannot be resolved by the government. Due process cannot be an excuse since other countries observe these processes (some even more) and still ended up with a verdic in a month's time.

The shortages of people and funds can be easily addressed by the government's budget. If they're serious about finishing these cases quickly and truthfully, then I believe they know what to do.

Fastfood acquaintances

I've had a chicken fillet meal at Mc Donalds glorietta earlier today and felt nostalgic while eating the small meal. Half of my college life was spent eating Mcdonalds with my friends that it felt lonely eating one without them. I'm not really very fond of eating in this fastfood chain becaues of its repetitive dishes, but for some reason I can't seem to get the habit out of my system.

Eating at a fastfood restaurant has been the ways of college students for an affordabel and clean meal. With just a P49, one can get a rice meal and drink with free wifi for those that need it. Besides the affordability of the restaurrant, what I liked about it most are the memories I've had during college. I can't count how much time I've spent eating that fillet with my friends while enjoying the company with each other. Whether it be because of acads or just to soothe grumbling tummies, Mcdo has become a part of my college life.

Of course, half of my college life is not all Mcdo. Prior to coming to Diliman, my lunch in UP Manila consisted of eating the thirty niners of a Jollibee food chain. I remember every lunch, my friends and I would go to Robinsons Palce in Manila to pick our lunch or dinner choices from the arrays of restaurants in the fourth floor. But for some reason we always ended up eating at Jollibee and ordering the same old thing. It might be because of affordability that led us going back to that restaurant, or it might also be the memories we've shared doing our Philo 11 and Pol Sci 14.

When I'm with my high school friends, we don't go to McDo and Jolibee because they prefer something more special than the ones we usually have. That is justified because we only get to see each other once a month due to our different schools. So instead, we settled for a more fancier restaurant. A..K.A. Burger King.

Yes, a place a bit fancier (and pricier!) than your average burger shop, but still a fast food restaurant. We can spend hours just seating there talking about what was happening with our lives while eating the same old Whopper combo meal or BK chiken burger for a few extra bucks. For the past four years, we would never let it pass without mentioning eating at that restaurant despite our pallates getting tired of it. Right now, despite moving on to a more pricier...ahem... more sophisticated restaurants out there, we often look out for that BK sign at any mall we go to.

It was amusing that my college life can be boxed with the three fastfood restaurants commonly found around the metro. It became a place for having fun chatting with old and new friends. A tambayan for acads or extra curriculars. A meeting place for long lost acquaintances, and a start of a new beginning.

*photo taken from clickthecity.com