It's almost official: We're undergoing Martial Law II!

You'd probably already know about the tear gas and the bombs and tanks that surrounded the Manila Peninsula yesterday as the timeslot of last night's news shows were gobbled up by all that "Live" footage of the door of the Peninsula. Well, Trillanes and his gang have voiced their desire for Pres. Arroyo's resignation and now they are getting arrested for that. Their reason is extremely valid especially now that every day is getting to seem like Martial Law the second. Here's why:

1) The military is in charge. At least of whether or not to confiscate video/audio recorders (which are property of the press). This just goes to show that we are not much of a free country right now, what with our freedom of speech, especially that of journalists, denied. Strangely enough, they only did that to a few journalists and not to the major ones (GMA, ABS-CBN) but still, they have nerve...

2) Curfew?!!! Of course, a curfew could be useful to ensure the safety of minors and adults alike during the afterhours, but I'm a late-night movie patron, which means that my family I tend to watch movies at the cinema 'till near-midnight (of course during the weekends and Friday). It's kinda selfish, I know, but how about the 24 hour convenience stores and restos? The employees that work during the night-shift will be forced to lose their jobs that way, am I correct? Plus, to add a comparison to the Marcos era, the curfew is also from 12pm to 5am, just one hour longer...

3) I thought rallies were legal anyway. Those rights are "Freedom of Expression" and "Freedom of Gathering", no? I wonder why the government is hard-pressed to suppress these rights as well. Is it due to the fact that Trillanes is a senator? He's part of the Genuine Opposition party anyway! Didn't they expect to see him doing things like this by now?

4) Is Ayala a sort of Arroyo crony? Though this is a most unlikely theory, Marcos had cronies too. And since one of the most shocking events to happen in recent months also "coincidentally" occurred in Ayala property, can you blame me for making up a theory like this? As stupid as it is, Arroyo may be paying them to allow the government to bomb "undesirables" or detract attention from a heated, but losing word war. Of course, the cash would be just the thing to subsidize the damages estimated, but does Ayala really need more cash than they already have right now? Who knows? The richest could also be the most conniving of men...

5) Maybe we can call Trillanes a Ninoy and Honasan a Salonga? Martial Law had its share of bombings that are almost similar- or worse- than this. Remember Plaza Miranda? That's where Jovito Salonga almost got killed because of a military bomb. And of course, who'll forget Rolando Galman, the alleged gunman of deceased senator Ninoy Aquino? Maybe we'll be having updated counterparts to these historical men, with Trillanes getting arrested (almost similar to Aquino!), and the probability of Gringo Honasan, also a senator, of being the next target of the government. Maybe he'll be making a speech that opposes the administration and almost get killed as Jovito Salonga did in the Marcos era? And who knows? Trillanes could go abroad and get gunned when he gets back to "speak up for the people's rights and advocacies" to quote him.

In the News Number 4

BREAKING NEWS
Glorietta 2 bombs. Literally.
The Ayala-owned shopping mall has just been bombed just yesterday noon and it was a tragic mess of cars, shrapnel and not to mention, glass. Officials at first didn't want to alarm people of a bomb, but they eventually admitted that there is a presence, or a whiff, of powder in the site. My condolences go to the victimized families...

8 people have been confirmed dead and more than 30 are casualties. (UPDATE: 9 people have now been confirmed dead.)

PHOTO CREDIT: Inquirer.net

JDV and Gloria: From closest ally to arch-nemesis
Though it's not very literal, it's close. President Gloria and the Speaker De Venecia have reportedly been silently fighting over the recent bribery held within Malacañang Palace grounds which involve his son and the First Gentleman as the AFP and other sectors of government can testify. And no, Gloria wasn't there (at the bribery) as previously stated yesterday in the Inquirer (they have an erratum today).

Ermita denies quitting

"I'll stick by Mrs. Arroyo's side." said Eduardo Ermita in response to rumors about his resignation due to the President's decision not to fire the Cabinet member who gave out quite a lot of money to congressmen, and governors. Now that's loyalty for ya...

3 bishops want GMA to quit

If Ermita isn't quitting, these bishops want Gloria to. The three are namely Archbishop Emeritus Julio Labayen of Infanta, Quezon, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, and Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan who are advisers of the NGO called Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya. Their efforts have been sparked by issues such as the ZTE scam, the Hello Garci scandal and the distribution of money to lawmakers and local officials. They believe that the sooner GMA gets toppled, the sooner would be the recovery of our country. Ironically, the peso which weakened during the Estrada and earlier Arroyo era is currently fighting fit and stronger than ever at 44.240 pesos to a dollar.

Joining the Bandwagon

Estrada may be detained but his wife ain't. Former senator Dr. Luisa Estrada has joined the opposition who calls for the President to resign. When asked about the giving of funds during the Estrada era, which has been likened to the mroe recent one involving Arroyo and the Speaker, she responds, "We did distribute cash. But we issued a receipt and did not put them in paper bags!". She describe the alleged distribution of cash as "garapalan" or barefaced (I agree.).

Cops now securing Quezon City malls post Makati blast

Fresh from the traumatic Glorietta blast came the preemptive response of the Quezon City Police District which will now cover EDSA, Cubao, Fairview and Commonwealth Avenue and make checkpoints near malls in these respective areas. It has not been known whether the Glorietta blast was a terrorist attack. (It certainly isn't safe anymore...)

SOURCE: Inquirer.net

GOOD NEWS

Prisoners at it again

The dancing prisoners at Cebu are at it again and with something new this time around. Though users aren't as thrilled as they were with the Thriller video, their rendition of Rico Mambo has become more popular compared to past videos excluding Thriller.

COURTESY OF YAHOO! VIDEO

Great time to be a Mario fan

November is almost here and Mario fans are waiting. Drooling, rather, for the biggest ever Mario game release on a Nintendo platform since Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo (well,) 64.

Of course, Galaxy is the one I'm talking about and it'll be on the Wii (obviously). It features new power-ups, huge stages and exhilirating space traversing as well as 2-player assist.

COURTESY OF GAMETRAILERS.COM

Okami gets Wii treatment

Capcom has appointed acclaimed developer Ready at Dawn to tweak a few controls of the once PS2-exclusive adventure but will retain all elements of found in the original since it's a direct port. Now Wii gamers can brush their enemies away and color the world literally as the sun god in this acclaimed adventure game originally developed by the now defunct Clover Studios.

Street Fighter IV
An awaited sequel ten years in the waiting line has finally been announced. Capcom's flagship fighting series has now gone next-gen will be released in maybe the fourth quarter of 2008 or early 2009 since the details given were extremely vague. "The latest chapter in the popular beat-'em-up series isn't coming anytime soon," warns Capcom. How hazy can you get?! Only a teaser has been released as of now with their website saying, "The long wait is over."

CAPTION: This cool trailer contains the never-ending rivalry of Ryu and Ken.
VIDEO CREDIT: GAMESPOT

Gear up for more Wii Resident Evil action!
Resident Evil 4: Wii edition has been awarded as the definitive version of a modern classic. Now, they are attempting to utilize the new Wii Zapper accessory in their new light-gun rail shooter version of Resident Evil, subtitled Umbrella Chronicles. Doubts are going to be present since Capcom hasn't really had any luck with Resident Evil light-gun shooters. Hopefully this'll turn the tide and become as fun as House of the Dead.

PS3 cuts price again
Stop it, Sony. C|Net has already made a "What if Sony wasn't stupid video.". You know why? 'Coz it still costs $400 with a Spiderman 3 Blu-ray bundle! That's still not cheap at all!

Another flop for Palm
It seems that 2007 isn't really the year for Palm. Following the Palm Foleo flop (lappie that pairs with a Treo), the Palm Centro, which looks somehow like a Treo, only smaller, has disappointed the lot at C|Net. I guess you'll have to try again next year, Palm.

Apple outlines Leopard upgrade path
Critics have long criticized the new Macintosh hardware not only with crappy support, but with unannounced upgrade paths. Now, it seems that Apple has made a great deal for Mac buyers in and beyond October 1- they get a free upgrade to Leopard (with 10 dollars shipping). Sucks for early upgraded Mac adopters, though. They have to shell out a hundred and 20 bucks which is a bargain in itself, actually.

It will feature a revamped (and eye-poppingly) gorgeous desktop which makes use of wonderful 3D effects for the Dock, Stacks which store a lot of applications in an entirely convenient and fun way, Spaces which transport you effortlessly from one desktop to another, Cover Flow for a scenic view of your documents and not just album art right in the Finder, Time Machine which is the most user-friendly back-up utility I've ever seen, simplified Sharing which also includes Windows PC's in the network, Quick Look which gives you a Live Preview of every document or video, etc., WebClip for making widgets out of web pages and new and improved existing applications (how ironic). It will be released in 6 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes as of this writing.

iPhone becomes iMacPhone?
Yes, the name I made was corny. But Apple has finally announced a new Developer's Kit for making real applications on the iPhone which until February 2008, will rely on Web applications.