Jul

17

July 18, 2008: The Day The Philippines Ended

Filed Under General | 26 Comments

Or just became incredibly incredibly dumb.

My dad called me up to say that he won’t be teaching tomorrow at a local school, a Catholic school, may I add, because classes were suspended because someone predicted that there will be an 8.1 Magnitude earthquake in the Philippines tomorrow, and that thousands will die.

WHAT?

My dad doesn’t believe it, and neither do I.

The rumor stems from an email that had originated from a Brazilian psychic named Juseleeno Nobulega DaRoose (or more correctly, Jucelino Nobrega da Luz), and apparently people say he has credibility because he predicted 9-11, the Indonesia Tsunami, the death of Princess Diana, etc.

It’s one thing for superstitious people to believe in stuff like this, but it’s another thing for a school to suspend classes because of it. They’re probably thinking…. what’s the harm anyway if kids don’t to school tomorrow. They can always go to school another day. You know… just in case?

What this school, and I assume a lot of other schools are doing, is *validating* rumors. Schools that are supposed to be teaching kids the right thing are teaching kids to believe in predictions and rumors. If people were not scared before, they’re scared now because supposedly credible people who are supposedly have their head screwed on straight are lending credibility to fucking RUMORS.

Where the fuck was this DeRoose character before Typhoon Frank struck the country which killed hundreds and hundreds of people? And NO, predicting that OH, there’s going to be a typhoon in the Philippines in 2008 and it’s going to kill a lot of people! Duh. That happens EVERY year, and happens nearly the same time each time. Hello? Around TWENTY typhoons hit the country each year and people die every year because of it.

How’s THIS for a prediction? I predict a typhoon will hit the Philippines before, on, or after June 2009 and people will die! Yes! It’s true! Watch out, believe me, or else you could DIE. I’ll give free copies of ELMER #4 to every one who doesn’t believe in me and at the end of 2009 NOBODY dies because of a typhoon. Game? Anyone?

Where the fuck was this character before that killer earthquake devastated the Philippines in 1990? Where the fuck was he in all the times disaster after disaster hit this country since then resulting in the deaths of thousands and thousands of Filipinos?

Yeah, that figures.

I don’t even believe that this guy is actually real. His name sounds like those many scammers out there who send you spam trying to phish you and scam you out of your money. I think the email that writes of this this person, and his list of “predictions” is nothing but a manufactured document to test how gullible people can be.

And we’re proving how gullible Filipinos are.

A year from now we’ll be reading about our gullible selves as “The Most Gullible Nation In Asia” in a Reader’s Digest article.

Declaring tomorrow no classes… the fuck is that? I’m scratching my head.

You know, at this same time tomorrow I could be dead amidst rubble of my collapsed house and my comments section will be filled with “I told you so, Idiot!” from all over the world. That may well be but then it’s one hell of a coincidence. And that’s ALL it will be.

Whatever I’m going to do tomorrow is the same thing I’ve been planning to do. I won’t change a damned thing. And that’s a big fuck you to any human being who says they can predict the future.

Comments

26 Responses to “July 18, 2008: The Day The Philippines Ended”

  1. Ash Exconde on July 25th, 2008 10:03 pm

    I totally agree with you 100%. Nakatanggap din ako ng ganitong email and looking at the trail, the email’s been sent to at least a hundred addresses before it was sent to me. I did the best thing I think I could. I deleted the email but not before replying to the sender “You’re wasting time – yours, mine and so many other people.”

    Hirap isipin na meron mga taong magsasayang ng oras to forward something that’s so obviously stupid. Well, obviously, it’s not obvious to a lot, and I mean A LOT of Pinoys.

    Buti na lang hindi dineclare ni GMA na holiday ang Friday because of this “prediction”.

  2. Noel on July 25th, 2008 10:05 pm

    what?!?! there will be a magnitude 8.1 earthquake tomorrow? wait there are still stuff i have to do… i still have to climb everest (or k2, either will do); bike italy (or france); have a pork steak; have that last cigarette.

    not.

  3. viannee on July 25th, 2008 10:06 pm

    Tomorrow, I will be at my cousin’s hospital room then my mom and I will watch a movie.

    Seriously though, I pray the we all stay safe… like I do every night before I sleep.

    I don’t understand why some people enjoy watching panic and hysteria at the expense of others. I also don’t understand why other people are too damn gullible.

  4. Mike Janus Lopez on July 25th, 2008 10:06 pm

    What The ****?

    Who WiLL BeLieve in THat StuPidiTY?

    And some other Fil. Will only say “Sus.. Galit lng satin yang Brazilian n yn kya pinredict nya na sa pinas magkakaron ng 8.1 magnitude na Lindol.”

    How can you tell that There will be a EarthQuake if you can’t go to the FuTurE.?

    haha.. That’s a Joke said my Couzin…

    Coz no one had ever gone in the future.. haha..

    HmPp.. i Think That won’t happen even that ive DreamT about that 8.1 magnitude..

    and ill die that day.. xD…

    Only God Knows all.. Only GOD Created Us.. God Loves You.. God Loves me, And Only God Can give us Our Last BreaTh…

  5. Mike Janus Lopez on July 25th, 2008 10:07 pm

    Ehem.. July 18, 2008 na…

    hantayin nalang natin ang 1PM mmyang TangHaLi..

    pra mkita ntin QNg Tama Prediction ng Brazilian n Yan..!!

  6. Mike Abundo on July 25th, 2008 10:08 pm

    I am so glad I only heard about this now. That means my friends aren’t morons who forward dumb emails.

  7. Jonas Diego on July 25th, 2008 10:09 pm

    You can lump this together with those chain letters that say you’re going to either get rich for passing the message on or die a horrible death for failing to do so all in the name of a supposedly merciful and benevolent deity.

    There was a study somewhere that said that Filipinos are still incredibly receptive to advertisement as compared to other nations who found ads less and less credible.

  8. Ed on July 25th, 2008 10:09 pm

    I’m still waiting for something in my flat to shake…

    Am I dead already? Hehehe!

  9. Gilbert Monsanto on July 25th, 2008 10:11 pm

    kaya nga may BELIEVE IT OR ELSE si Gerry eh, dun naniniwala ako hahaha.

  10. Markus on July 25th, 2008 10:12 pm

    Too bad!.. Some people are just too superstitious they lose touch with reality and logic. Thankfully, not me and my friends.. We’re going to a party tonight :D

  11. rhardo on July 25th, 2008 10:12 pm

    yeah… read this one few weeks back, and damn was I struck! i don’t believe the validity of the predictions as well, sir. i even wrote about it in my blog: rhardo.i.ph
    but, dasal lang naman ang kailangan natin, di po ba?

  12. Reno on July 25th, 2008 10:13 pm

    Hey, remember the THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS craze during the early 90s? Rumors spread that there will be three days of darkness, and everyone was really scared.

    Of course, nothing happened.

    Which, I predict, will be the same case here. But who knows? We still have until 12 midnight!

  13. Mike Abundo on July 25th, 2008 10:14 pm

    Which school is this? We need to know where not to send our kids.

    Canossa College – Gerry

  14. Robby Villabona on July 25th, 2008 10:15 pm

    It’s *because* it’s a Catholic school, not despite… The very religious are the ones who tend to believe these stuff.

  15. auggie on July 25th, 2008 10:16 pm

    O eto naman ang prediction ko: Next month, uulan ng apoy, SODOM & GOMMORAH REDUX sa RIO DE JANIERO. August 15th. Dali i-text ninyo agad, sabihin ninyo propetang taga Tigbauan, panay island…. Ang record kamo sa predictions eh 10-zero….

  16. Gerry Alanguilan on July 25th, 2008 10:17 pm

    On the contrary, Mr. Villabona. According to passage 2116 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I quote:

    “All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. “

    It is clear that predictions such as those made by this Brazilian “psychic” should have been rejected by Catholics, and so for a Catholic school to cancel classes because of this is truly unacceptable. It is “because” it is a Catholic school that it shouldn’t have believed in it. I am incensed by this because they have made a very gross violation of something that they should have stood for.

    I do urge you, Mr. Villabona, and to anyone else concerned, to please ascertain the facts before formulating opinions and making any definitive conclusions.

    And to help you in that regard, and to expand your knowledge about Catholics, please consult the Cathecism of the Catholic Church at this link:
    http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm
    Please don’t interpret this as an overture to convert you. Simply consider this an intellectual exercise with no other purpose but to help you understand an oft misunderstood religion, and to help you formulate a more informed opinion in case you wish to offer further opinion about the Catholic belief in the future.

  17. Eusebio Yu on July 25th, 2008 10:17 pm

    Pinapasikat lang natin yung kumag na yan eh…KSP lang siya. P.T. Barnum comes to mind…

  18. JC John SESE Cuneta on July 25th, 2008 10:18 pm

    It’s the end of that dumb psychic’s career.

    WARNING: The Philippines is not affected by the normal flow-of-time. All Psychics will… (as gamers call it) have an EPIC FAILURE!!

  19. Jason Maranto on July 25th, 2008 10:19 pm

    Gerry, I just want you to know how much I admire you.

    Best,
    Jason.

  20. Robby Villabona on July 25th, 2008 10:19 pm

    Hi, Gerry… please don’t take offense — it’s a general statement about *very religious people*, not Catholics in particular. And by that I mean those who shudder waiting for the 3 days of darkness or believe anybody who claims to speak to the Virgin Mary. It could very well apply to any person of any religion, especially those waiting for doomsday.

    I’ve gone to Catholic schools all my life, had 21 units of Theology in a Catholic college, and had been a very good practicing Catholic when I was one. One thing I can say is that there’s a great divide between catechisim and ordinary day-to-day practice… as evidenced by the tendency of practicers of “folk Catholicism” to believe in these doomsday predictions.

    Even after I’d given up the faith, I still continued to contribute to Catholic charities and organization. That’s one of the areas of the institution I’m most impressed with.

    So before I’m misunderstood, I’m not a Catholic-basher, and am very well versed in official teaching. It’s the superstitious type I’m criticizing. Whoever made this decision for that school appears to be one of those.

  21. Gerry Alanguilan on July 25th, 2008 10:20 pm

    Robby, the one who made the decision was most likely a nun. And in my mind that really makes it worse. An official reprimand has to be forthcoming because she just put to practice something they had supposed to be teaching against.

  22. Ed on July 25th, 2008 10:20 pm

    I remember when my grandmother told me that the “end of the world” will be in the year 2000…because as we all see from images and statues of Jesus Christ, we see his doing the two-finger peace sign. Meaning year 2000.

    Can anybody tell me if I’m dead already? :P

  23. Gerry Alanguilan on July 25th, 2008 10:21 pm

    I think we all are Ed, we just don’t know it yet. But we pretend to live and make the best of it, just in case we ARE alive. Bigat no? Ano ba itong mushroom na nakain ko?

    Thanks Jason!

    John, unfortunately, the psychic will just continue doing what he’s doing. He’ll just write this off, saying that he doesn’t get it 100% right.

  24. Jose Mari Lee on July 25th, 2008 10:22 pm

    “Hey, remember the THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS craze during the early 90s? Rumors spread that there will be three days of darkness, and everyone was really scared.”

    Three days of darkness, takot na agad?

    Punta nga sila sa northern Alaska, The Yukon Territory at Northwest terrritory.

    ISANG BUWAN lang naman na WALANG ARAW. Puro lang gabi. He-he. Siguro, kung pumunta naman sila sa summer, isang buwan namang walang gabi, puro lang araw.

    Hay, buhay. Lagi na lang merong oakulong ganito. Naroong huwag kumain ng isda dahil lumafang iyon ng mga nalunod na tao. As if hindi na-digest ng isda yung kinain. Naroong, huwag kumain ng isda dahil may uod ito.

    Pero sige naman ang kain ng pork at beef na may TAPE WORM pa.

    Ewan!

  25. auggie on July 25th, 2008 10:23 pm

    Gerry,

    That’s the problem when Christianity gets fused with Paganism, kung ano-anong eksena ang lumalalabas. Parang Theater of the Absurd.Anyway, lumipas ang 18th eh buhay pa tayo di ba ? now time to return the favor, i-text nyo na nga yung pag-ulan ng apoy….

  26. toteng on July 27th, 2008 1:02 pm

    hi gerry, i was in tears laguhing when i heard that our kapitbahay catholic school announced that there wont be classes that day…hahaha, i recalled the 1991 quake, i was in 2nd year highschool there, the sister told us to sit and pray….. sit and pray??? what if the whole building collapseD.. hehe anyhoo… please give me some info’s on the upcoming comic convention… thanks im just a 5 minute walk away… :)