And I thought today was going to be uninteresting…

(UPDATE 11) ‘Our military operation has started’–Barias

INQUIRER.net
Last updated 04:33pm (Mla time) 11/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Operations to flush out the group of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV from the Manila Peninsula hotel in Makati City have begun, Police Director Geary Barias of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said.

“Our military operation has started; it’s ongoing,” Barias told reporters from his position outside the hotel.

He said Marines and Navy troops, as well as police commandos, have entered the hotel from the fountain area at the rear, along Ayala Avenue.

A Marines tank is headed for the fountain area of the hotel from the direction of the Landmark mall.

Three large ambulances and several smaller emergency vehicles have also arrived and are parked at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Just a few minutes ago, successive bursts of what sounded like gunfire were heard as government forces took up positions outside the hotel in preparation to serve a warrant of arrest on Trillanes and several officers being tried for plotting to toppled the government.

“We are ready to move. We will effect the warrant of arrest,” Barias said as he walked along the stretch of Makati Avenue, clapping his hands and shouting, “Let’s go, let’s go,” to several armored personnel carriers deployed on the intersection with Ayala Avenue.

Asked if they were entering the hotel, Barias replied: “Definitely.”

“We are ready to go at any time,” Barias told reporters outside the hotel, where at least two armored personnel carriers had taken up position.

Earlier, police failed to serve the arrest warrant against Trillanes issued by Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati regional trial court.

Pimentel has found Trillanes guilty of contempt of court.

Trillanes said he would stay at the Manila Peninsula for “as long as necessary” after claiming that “nothing will happen” after the 3 p.m. deadline for their departure lapsed.

“What we did was not only our duty but our moral obligation,” said Trillanes said in justifying his latest act of defiance, adding,“It is our duty as religious individuals to do what is right.”

“Dumaan tayo sa tamang pamamaraan [We passed through the right processes]. Elected pero wala ring nangyari [We were elected but nothing happens]. They voted for me so that I can speak up for their rights and our advocacies,” said Trillanes, referring to his election as senator last May.

He has been barred from participating in the Senate sessions because of the criminal cases that had been filed against him.

Earlier in the day, Barias left the Manila Peninsula without talking to Trillanes despite setting the 3 p.m. deadline.

A rebel soldier in uniform said Barias was “causing too much trouble.”

Barias had ordered all guests to vacate the premises supposedly pending the results of negotiations between the government and Trillanes.

“I am asking all guests of the hotel to leave so that we can do our jobs,” Barias said in a live interview earlier in the day.

Barias issued the order as Trillanes and his comrades faced arrest after laying siege on the hotel.

But Barias said they would try to negotiate with the Trillanes camp.

Mariano Garchitorena, head of the Public Relations office of the Manila Peninsula, described the situation at the hotel as “calm” and said that if the order of the authorities was to vacate, they would follow it “like good citizens.”

Garchitorena said they had around 400 guests but that he didn’t know how many had left before the pro-Trillanes forces blocked the exits.

Trillanes and other officers accused of leading the July 2003 rebellion walked out of their trial Thursday and marched through the streets of Makati calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

As of posting time, Trillanes and his comrades are at the Manila Peninsula where they are scheduled to hold a press conference.

The soldiers, numbering around 30, were accompanied by armed guards as they broke down a door of the hotel, overwhelmed security guards and read out a statement against Arroyo with a full list of their demands.

Heavily-armed government troops quickly surrounded the hotel in Manila’s Makati financial district — the same location of a failed 2003 coup against Arroyo allegedly led by many of the same soldiers.

The renegades urged Arroyo to resign and called on the military, a central power in this vast Southeast Asian island nation with the power to make and break its leaders, to turn against her.

People were going in and out of the Peninsula Hotel freely but a guest said he had been stopped by men with machine guns from going up to the second floor, where Brigadier General Danilo Lim, a co-accused, and others were said to be planning their next move.

The surprise events appeared to have been well orchestrated.

A detailed website immediately appeared on the Internet, announcing Lim and Trillanes as the leaders of the uprising. The site called on the Filipino people to mass in the financial district.

All the soldiers were sporting red armbands with what appeared to be the letter “I” emblazoned in the middle of a white sun.

The walkout began shortly after the trial resumed after a brief recess. Lim, who himself is detained and facing coup d’etat charges following an alleged failed coup attempt in February 2006, was pulled away by several soldiers from the witness stand.

Trillanes and Lim said they were calling on the Filipinos to withdraw support from the government because the President has corrupted its institutions.

“We are joining the people… because the President continues to violate the Constitution of the Philippines repeatedly,” Lim told DZMM’s Teleradyo program, adding they were “calling for the removal of an illegitimate President.”

Trillanes, Lim and the other accused soldiers were joined by civilians, including a group of militant farmers and opposition figures led by former vice president Teofisto Guingona.

It was not clear if the prisoners’ guards had joined the protest, but they marched along with the accused.

Reports culled by INQUIRER.net reporters and staff said police have barricaded the streets leading to Ayala Avenue and that two military trucks had crossed Paseo de Roxas.

Four Army trucks and anti-riot police have barricaded the hotel, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said Trillanes and Lim spoke rightly.

“This government does not deserve the support of the armed forces and the people. We express solidarity with their cause and likewise call on President Arroyo to heed the people’s clamor,” he said.

Leah Navarro, a convenor of the civil society group, Black and White Movement, said she was shocked when radio reports said that her group was part of the protest march although she added that they would assess the situation.

“I am shocked. I have nothing to do with it. In fact I am in Southwoods, Alabang in a golf tournament playing golf since 8 a.m. and which will be finished at 3 p.m.,” Navarro told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

But Navarro also said that former social welfare secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman will be going to Makati “to see what’s going on.”

“We have to assess the situation. Our main concern is that those marching are safe. We don’t want violence here. We know that this thing is spontaneous,” Navarro said.

There have been at least seven coup attempts in the Philippines since 1986 as the armed forces have maintained a central role in the nation’s political life since the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos that year.

But Arroyo has been under particular pressure since a tape recording emerged of her allegedly conniving with an election commission official to help orchestrate her 2004 re-election.

She admitted it was a mistake to have called the official while the vote count had not yet been finished, but denied any wrongdoing.

Since then she has fought off impeachment attempts — while being regularly accused of having improperly won the election — as well as actual and alleged coups.

Thursday’s dramatic events came just a month after Arroyo gave her predecessor and nemesis, popular ex-film star Joseph Estrada, a presidential pardon on charges of corruption.

The government said the pardon was granted after the 70-year-old Estrada agreed not to pursue any elective office.

He has always insisted his 2001 ouster from the presidential palace was a coup organized by the military, the powerful Catholic Church and the country’s political elites.

With reports from Julie M. Aurelio, Inquirer; Maila Ager, Jessie Delima, Cathy Miranda, Veronica Uy, Alex Villafania, INQUIRER.net; Agence France-Presse; Reuters; Originally posted at 11:16am

I am so sleepy.

Yun lang. Hay.

Van Gogh is love

Artist’s Way updates

There are NONE!!!

Sigh. I haven’t been able to do Morning Pages. Because I’m just so fond of sleeping

I’m supposed to wake up an extra 30 minutes earlier than usual. Basically morning pages are 3 pages worth of long-hand writing of your first streams of consciousness. It’s one of the most important tasks of the whole Artist’s Way journey. Sigh.

I still have trouble with commitment, obviously. And compromise. I hope tomorrow I’ll fare better. I know it’s just a matter of actually DOING IT. A matter of choice. And I really don’t want to be stuck where I am now so I should just go ahead and move forward already.

Anyway…work talk!

I’ve adjusted. As in I can honestly say that I have adjusted. I’m more open and I joke around with my officemates now. It’s THAT stage already. Hehe

I need more casual clothes! lol. Sometimes it still amazes me, the fact that I can wear clothes I’m comfortable in…clothes that express what I’m all about. Fashion freedom is love <3

As for the project…I know I’ll do a good job of marketing it.

Sometimes though…I still think about whether or not I made the right choice by accepting this job. I know, as in I know with all my heart (as cheesy as that sounds), that all I really want to do in life is to make it as a writer. To hone my craft. I know I’m not yet the writer I see myself becoming. I know there’s still room for improvement. But I can honestly say that all I really want to do is write for a living. I want to eventually have my works published and I know that this is just a day job. A stepping stone.

I realized I don’t really see myself as a marketer or even a PR practitioner in the long run. I know I CAN be good at it but I don’t really want to make a career out of it. I just want to write. And travel. And paint. And I want to eventually make a living out of the things I’m really passionate about so despite all the belief systems I’ve had about how hard it is to make it as a writer/painter, I still see it as my end result. My end goal.

As in 3 to 5 years from now, I’ll be working as a fulltime writer. I’ll have written a novel, submitted a really witty short story entry to the Palanca, and have published a collection of my short stories and earn loads of moolah because I’ll be really really good at it. I’ll be having solo and group art exhibits regularly too. Have lunch and dinner dates with fellow artists and writers…and spend half of my year in transit. I’d have already toured my beloved Pinas and have visited more than half of Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas. Sometimes I’d go on my own, sometimes I’d go with a friend, a lover or a family member. O diva??

I already see it happening. Really, it’s only a matter of time.

Breakthrough!

I rode a big bike this weekend! Haha an F4i Honda CBR 600cc!

I just HAD to write that down. I’ve never ridden a motorbike before. A group of us went over to Pao’s after the OC meeting and a little after midnight, I had the sudden impulse to ride his bike. And so we went around his village! It was awesome!!! As in I felt as if velocity took over my body! Haha I loved it every time he upped the speed! I was grabbing on for dear life but I was really enjoying myself! And it was a blue moon (I’ve never seen the moon look so big)!!! Perfect time to do something crazy! Wheeee I wanna do it again!

My parents would kill me if they ever find out about this. Haha!

Anyway, it was a really busy weekend for me. GA was on Sunday so Saturday Wes, Pinky, Sharry and I had to go to the place and arrange the setup. We had to wait until the lolos and lolas finished at the activity hall before we can spruce it up for the event the following day. We finished around 8pm and we went to have dinner at Trinoma after. Also ended up watching Enchanted. Haha it’s funny! And McDreamy is as steamy as ever. Sigh.

Sunday was tiring but all worth it. And I got to talk to someone about something and at first I thought I’d be doing something I didn’t want to do but, well, okay na. Hehe cryptic much?

So now I’m back at the office pretending to be busy…hehehe I can’t wait until the long weekend! I have a date on Thursday and then Dodgeball on Friday! hehehe

Last but not the least, it’s my best friend Au’s birthday!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUNA CARTOLINA!!!!!

You was smoochin’ with my brother!

Christmas is coming! I went home last night to find the house already decked out in Christmas decorations. It was a good sight to come home to, especially after a relatively stressful day at work–okay, not too stressful. I just have a tendency to exaggerate.

So I’m just waiting for the clock to strike SIX so I can get out of here and say hello to the weekend.

And in the spirit of the good ‘ol holiday cheer, I’m listing my favorite Christmas movies off the top of my head:

1. Home Alone - I never get tired of watching this movie. Brings back lots of crazy childhood memories. I think Macaulay Culkin was my first real crush ever. Him and Aladdin. And Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid.

2. Elf - Because Will Ferrell’s crazy antics never fail to crack me up!

3. A Christmas Carol - I miss you, Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future! Feel free to visit me anytime! (Kidding)

4. The Family Stone - This movie I can watch over and over again and I still find I have tears left to cry some more. Reminds me of my family. Haha.

5. Love Actually – Perfect feel-good Christmas movie. I love Brit humor. And Colin Firth.

Thirty minutes to go! Hello weekend!

Musings of the bored and…well, just bored.

On last night’s commute: You would think that watching a DVD on a bus would somehow make the ride more bearable. But if the movie happens to be Snakes On A Plane, then you have another thing coming. Not only will it give you the heebie jeebies and make you paranoid enough to want to check the nooks and crannies under your possible snake-infested seat, it will also give you a headache. A pounding one that only a bottle of Advil will cure. And there is not one Advil in sight. Huhu.

—

On listening to music: My work computer’s speaker is busted. So is my Zen–traitor!!! I’m buying an iPod!!! I’m so sick of my cell phone’s playlist! And Yahoo Music is super limited!

—

On money: I feel A LOT coming my way this year. Muahaha.

—

On traveling: Definitely going around Pinas in 2008. Have a trip to Sagada lined up for Feb with Wes and whoever else we can drag along with us. And I promised Igor I’ll visit him in Sunny Dumaguete! Haha I’m using you as an excuse to escape Manila’s clutches baklush! Also plan on going to Bangkok next year or wherever with Alet and Steffi for a reunion. Where will I get the money? See previous paragraph. Haha bahala na si Batman!

—

On work: I’m done with my pending for the day! Wheee! Eyeluvit.

—

Yun lang.

OH, and NEIL GAIMAN’S coming to Manila this week!!! But I won’t be able to see him!!!! Huhuhu I have prior commitments. Waaaah.

Z: Trish bilis! Pa-autograph mo E-BOOKS mo!!!

Harhar. Nahiya naman ako. I swear, Mr. Gaiman, my first pay will include a purchase of Preludes and Nocturnes! lol

Commute commute commute

I totally rocked commuting last night! LOL

Yes, Miss high-maintenance (during evenings anyway because I’m totally cool with taking the bus during the day) finally managed to commute home with all her nerves intact. And in high spirits, no less!

I rode a jeep I thought was on its way to the Buendia MRT Station–um, it wasn’t. And the people riding the jeep with me knew it. Smirk all you want, why don’t you? Heh.

Anyway, I had to ask the jeepney driver to pull over right before entering Bel-Air where I walked the remaining few kilometers to the station. Then I joined the crowd at EDSA and looked for the bus that would take me all the way to MIA road. I got a good seat right up front by the window where I read the first few chapters of Artist’s Way. I started with my morning pages today. It gave me a headache. I had to wake up an extra half-hour earlier than usual. Which would’ve been ok had I not spent the night talking to my friend on the phone. Hehe.

Anyway, commuting. I got off the intersection of MIA and Quirino and rode a tricycle to my village. I rode outside behind the driver. Waaaah thank god I wasn’t wearing a skirt because I nearly toppled over when the driver stepped on the breaks out of the blue! I don’t mind, really. Only my life at stake here. Nyehe. Then I walked home after the driver dropped me off by the chapel. The walk helped clear my head a bit. By the time I arrived home (and was greeted enthusiastically by our three makukulit dalmatians), I was in a good mood!

This entry’s really pointless. All I want to say is that commuting at night isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. And this was also the first time in weeks I was home before 8pm. Because of everything I’ve been up to lately, going home at midnight is early. So being home by 8pm was really pleasant. Spent the better part of the night pampering my feet. Hehe.

Ulit na naman mamayang gabi. I’m broke. I don’t really have much of a choice. But at least I’m not being a brat about it! Haha!

SWEEET twist of fate!

An old college crush works in the same building as I do!!!

I had just stepped into the all but freezing 6th floor food court when I suddenly saw a familiar (gorgeous to the high heavens) face sitting at the center of one of the tables–let’s just call him Michael Douglas or Mike–hmmm Mikey because he’s sort of boyish looking. Why? Well I’ve always resonated with Catherine Zeta-Jones so it’s only fitting I name crush after her hubby. Law of Attraction at work here yeah. (I just watched The Secret again yesterday hehe)

Anyway, so Mikey was there and I got totally excited. Haha he looks better than ever! Seeing him reminded me of the days when I would stalk…er, happen to be at the same place he was. Hahaha.

I wonder what floor his office is or if his office is really here–maybe he was just meeting friends who work here for lunch? What’s his schedule?? Is he married already to a trophy wife and is already the father of three perfectly adorable children??? Haha!

Don’t you just love surprises like this one?? Makes the average day a wee bit more interesting!

In choosing, we often resist what we most need.

I guess I need this job then. Because I am resisting it like crazeeeeeyeah. I’m not leaving though because, aside from the fact that that would really make me feel like the flakiest coward in the planet, I KNOW if I do a helluva job here, I can go on anywhere and success will be ROUTINE. Tang ina.

Yaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhh. Deep breaths. YOGA I need YOGA…Find your center…

Sigh.

So yes, I guess what I’m saying here is that this is one challenge I am choosing to overcome. I should really just quit with the whining and commit to something bigger than myself.

And you know how they always say that succumbing to fear will only cripple you? It’s true. Because my self-doubts are resurfacing, it has been keeping me from being productive and creative. So I am choosing to let these stupid doubts go. Go away, doubts! Go awaaaaaay!

Heh.

Great timing – I’m finally going to do Artist’s Way.
It’s a workbook by Julia Cameron and it’s supposed to help with creativity blocks, which I feel I am experiencing at the moment. So really great timing. I thought E would forget to bring it again yesterday but he didn’t so I’m really excited to get started. I’m reading through the first few chapters now.

I really DO want to experience myself at my utmost creative again. I’m planning on organizing a group exhibit for up and coming artists (including moi) for the second quarter of 2008. As in I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. I don’t have a theme yet but I know I don’t want to limit it to just one art medium.

My job, so far, gives me a lot of free time to work on outside rackets so why not take advantage of it right? As in I see myself pushing through with the exhibit. So it’s really good that I’m doing this creativity workshop now.

Yiieeeeeee I’m excited!!! I’ll even make an action plan for it by tonight!!!! hehehehehe

That is, after I finish doing my pending project tasks. Ehehe.