Honoring Estela

Lying on a hammock with my brother on the opposite end, we would hear her humming, her hands fidgeting with needle and string as she repairs some torn kiddie t-shirt. We would squint our eyes while pretending to be asleep, but would sometimes receive from her a lash with coconut leaf rib. That's everytime we feign to be snoring but with our eyes half open and make a silly little smile on our face.

I can still smell the rattan hammock, the squeaking sound of abaca ropes grinding on our corner posts as she subconciously push our boat-like hammock into a gentle swing. Often times, she is a quiet sweet image we were too comfortable to notice, too familiar to be seen and too trusty to be taken for granted. But she is the one constant being to correct me when I'm wrong, share my joy when I'm happy and accomplished, always hoping that wherever I go, all is well with me.

Today, I may not write about the many details of my admiration for her. This blog space my not suffice, and attempting to would do her injustice. Memories of my most adored past will always be traces of her generosity, kindness and care beyond description of the written words. I just want to remember her today and honor her for giving me to the world. Happy mother's day dearest Nanay!

Bangus Festival

I just arrived from Dagupan, Pangasinan for the Bangus Festival. All the hotels were fully booked so me and my boss, instead of getting a beach hotel which takes 20-30minutes ride to the main event, were content on taking a traveller's inn that has a warm aircon, a measly water supply and orange-bright curtains that brought us sunrise earlier than it should. Nevertheless, Dagupena's char-grilled bangus was excellent and our events did great. Session Road and Ethel Booba highlighted our event, front acts done by Masculados and Maricar Fernandez, talents of the White Castle Whiskey. My sponsors include Clusivol Adult and Nescafe Classic. The event was held at stage 9 along A.B. Fernandez St. and started around 7pm.

Mediafest

I have attended the first day of MediaFest today. Organized by the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) in cooperation with United Print Media Group (UPMG) and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), this media festival is the first of its kind in the Philippines where print and broadcast media have united their forces to re-educate advertisers and marketing people of the unique power of radio and print in bringing their message to the public. I haven't gone to any talk outlined by the organizers for today, but hopefully I will be able to attend one topic tomorrow.

Above is Mr. Butch Canoy of Radio Mindanao Network (KBP President), Ms. Blenn Fernando of Alaska Milk Corp. (PANA President) and Mr. Pepito Olarte of the Phil. Daily Inquirer (UPMG President).

Pakwan, Pakyo!

...Not meant to insult PDI as well. Neither the size of this water melon with a spade-sized spoon. This hot hot summer, I don't care about anything anymore than ice cold luscious-red water melon. Tomorrow, the headlines would be something like... "Josua, Nanigas Dahil sa Pakwan".

And the whole country would ask: "Josua who?"

Letche kayo! Kumain na lang kasi ng malamig na pakwan!

A street car named Dumi

They named him Dumi. I have no problem these little smart-ass brats would call my second- hand car Dumi. My classmate-friends were just creatively candid—I pointed to them a dusty, silvery, freshly-out-of-talyer Lancer and in just seconds they all agreed to call him “Dumi”. Funny and memorable, only if you really know where and why it was named so (Tom spotted Kim, Camille got reassured she really was a girl and Apple kept wondering if the Baguio guy has gone to this kind of place).

Just the same, the next day, I treated Dumi a seventy-peso shower and a vacuum of his smelly gut. I went to school to hand out cum laude (clap! clap!) Camille her list of prospect employer ad-agencies. Before she could introduce me to her mom and biological (her emphasis) sisters, she introduced them first to Dumi. Brat girl. She named her lumot-green Honda “Finding” and a friend’s car that’s regularly parked beside her “Nemo”. So, shall we name Prof. Ethics' car “Fatal” and his bestfriend’s car “Attraction?” Hmmm… "Chocolate" and "Kiss" just sounds better.

Easter Sunday

Can’t you just imagine the conversation that God had with Jesus on the first Easter? Today let’s think about the joy and accolades that the Father gave to Jesus.

“My Son, I am so glad that the trial is over and that you have triumphed. You endured the shame and the hatred of a people who did not understand that you came for them. Your love was shunned, yet you gave it so freely. I am so proud that you turned your cheek even when you were spit upon. I am so proud that you showed my people what true love looks like."

“Thank you, my Son, for bringing my people home. Your death has torn in two the veil that separated us. Your blood has washed away their sins. No longer do they have to hide as Adam and Eve did. Instead, they can now come into the light and receive all the healing and joy I have stored up for them."

“My Son, you are coming back to me. How I long to embrace you and clothe you in glory once more. You have defeated sin, and once more you can see me in my fullness. We are no longer separated! You are leaving those you have loved with an everlasting love, but each of them will join you one day in the kingdom, where the angels will dance and the elders will bow down in worship. That day is coming, Son, when we all will be together at last."

“O my people, see the victory my Son has gained for you. Come join in the celebration feast. You were lost but are now found. You were blind but now can see. Come now, and share in our love!”

“Dear Jesus, we love you! Thank you for your gift of eternal life. You have made it possible for us to return to the Father and to know his love intimately. Who are we that you would love us this much? No less than your very own children. All praise and glory to you now and forever!”

Acts 10:34,37-43; Psalm 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; Colossians 3:1-4 [from WAU]

Work pa rin!

Made a site for my events updates. You may click on the Bombo icon to the left, or click here what I did in just an hour. Hopefully I can update pics in here from time to time.

Fleeting College Life

After a month of chasing egocentric clients and pampering the management of my new office with fresh sales, this one night came when I can still manage to sit on my dusty computer chair and turn on my grieving PC. Oh yes, I totally forgot my postpaid PLDT Vibe is running already, and I just don’t get it when they still bill me with the much slower connection. (I know, in this country, consumer rights are as trivial as food for its street kids.)

But online I went, and how I missed writing again. Everyday the itch of writing would haunt me. Of just sitting in one dark corner, motionless and soundless but my fingers, scrawling of things that are either tragic or orphic.

Once again, I opened my classmates’ journals and websites. Their written thoughts and digital images spreading on my computer screen conjured happy and nostalgic moments. A familiar feeling that swarmed me long time ago, maybe ten years back, of fresh faces that’s probably smeared now with the harsh realities of life. Well, I recently saw some, much older, plumper and acerbic.

College life is a concoction of tears and sweat, laughter and grief, some forever etched on dainty logbooks, others on the oft-forgotten blue books. A friend, Jerry Uy, has presented such thoughts on his website, with his own version of honoring the sweet passage of time that goes farther and farther along with the images of his (our) friends. If we could only capture time in a bottle, I would choose one from college, where life is kinder and people are truer. I like Amy’s angst, Nikki’s passion for pets, Arcie’s escapades, Angelie’s girlie notes and the many bubbly smart-asses I happen to befriend.

To them I take off my hat and wish them luck!

Moreau Rouge

Sounds like Moulin Rouge, that Oscars awardee movie starring Nicole Kidman (Satine) and Ewan McGregor (Christian) where the famous line of Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) was uttered, "There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy..."

But, hell no, it has nothing to do with movies, or outrageous sets and costumes, frantic choreography, or endless variety of camera angles and editing tricks. Moreau Rouge is a cheap table wine with 12% vol. of alcohol my friend-boss recommended me so I get to sleep earlier than my usual slumber. Sometimes I wonder why cheap wines are much bitter than costlier ones, like say Asti. I assume sugar in France, or Spain, is costlier than in Italy where Novellino tastes better, not bitter. I don't know how wine should taste to be authentic, but given the fact that any beer is less healthier than wine, I'd rather prefer the taste of the latter than die sooner.

So there, so you'll know why I have 2 bottles of different wines in my ref. I feel groggy now but why should I care, it feels better than absorbing all the annoying farcical scandals and politickings in the Philippine government. Whacking your TV with empty wine bottle is another way of protecting your sanity from the evening news.

For now, I just hope to wake up in the morning with our lost cat returning home alive.

---

Btw, I feel flattered to be mentioned in Manuel L. Quezon III's blog (kahit link lang, at least nabasa nya) last December.

International Women's Day

March 8. Paseo de Roxas cor. Ayala Ave. International Women's Day.

Manong Guard and Manong Driver. Pasimple pa kayo. Sige na nga, Women's Day naman. Pero sino sa inyo?

Gabriela and Pinoy Big Brother? Mas lalong hindi bagay. Ok na sana, anti PGMA ang network pero pro-feudal and programming-- di ba pwedeng sunugin na lang ang bahay ni kuya?

Sino ang mas pikon?

My first thesis was "Content Analysis of Ninez Cacho-Olivares' Column About Cory Aquino in the Philippine Daily Inquirer" in 1992. It was an approved topic, and I was able to finish data gathering and classifying the words and phrases used by Ms. Olivares to describe Cory Aquino.
At some point, she called Ms. Aquino "coward who buries her head in the sand", "thief" and similar descriptions. As far as I can recall, Ms. Olivares has lambasted Cory Aquino far worse than Gloria Arroyo today in her columns. The only difference is that Cory was more tolerant with criticisms than Gloria. In fact, Gloria is more vindictive, to a point that she rejoiced when she learned that cases have been filed against Ms. Olivares and her two editors. See Daily Tribune's report on this.

Unfortunately, my stint as USC councilor and being chairman of the Popular Struggles Committee at the height of the campaign to oust the US Bases has deferred me to finish it and eventually drop the topic. My 2nd thesis topic is "Study of the decline of newspaper readers in the Philippines" (don't dare start counting the years!). I have not yet concluded my analysis but I still go with my theory that newspaper readership increases when controversial issues pop up. More so when the issue in question is the newspaper itself. To quote the Daily Tribune, "On the part of the Tribune, it was an unwelcomed free publicity, as publisher Ninez Cacho-Olivares has said in an interview, circulation of the newspaper has rocketed since the raid. " Taking that out as a variable, is the newspaper readership really declining?

Shall I answer that question next semester? I can afford to have Inc when the publishing climate is this messy. Then may I scream: "Kasalan ni Gloria lahat ito!"

Over Reactions? No.

Today, 20 years ago, I was in an unknown rural place, watching on TV the unfolding of an event which liberating effects I still have to appreciate. In college, stories of heroic misadventures of those who were party to it replay like Harry Potter or the Lord of the Ring of today-- I can still recall how my Lolo recount his risky ventures with the Japs, criss-crossing his arms that once held a deadly bolo to protect his family.

Well, EDSA 1 is 20 years past. Just yesterday Ms. Arroyo declared a state of emergency and cancelled permit to rallies by those who wish to celebrate freedom gained from the longest-running dictatorship of the world.

On the same day, her minions arrested personalities critical to her administration, the likes of Prof. Randy David, Crispin Beltran and Satur Ocampo among others. Two months ago I attended Ka Beltran's forum on the issue of Oil Crisis from which I took data of my online article about the topic. Also, two months ago, I bumped on an acquintance Anto, Satur's son, who happens to be an orgmate at CNS and Journ Club in UP Diliman. Of course their lives have always been on the edge, and I know some who died for the cause. I have some friends who did, and some who are still at it.

The irony is, I also know some who, by sheer political ambitions and selfish motives, became oblivious of the cause they once fought for. Oh well, excluding myself standing at "critical cooperation" mode, Mike Defensor has gone far. We used to be in the same fence babbling the same slogans. He was our predecessor in the univ. student council, a respected mentor. Until he drifted away, consumed by the fires of the system and its evils that he once fought against.

Just an hour ago, I watched him at ANC justifying the state of emergency, rationalising why the Daily Tribune was taken over by policemen, upon orders of Malacanang, short of closing them down. In case of a takeover, he said, the government could even have a say on the paper’s editorial content. I can still remember how he blew the megaphone lambasting anti-riot policemen breaking the students' line that protects the Katipunan squatters. Oh, how he valued much freedom of expression. Looking back, he owe a great deal of what he enjoys now from the Bill of Rights he once so gallantly trumpeted.

Meanwhile, a new breed of disenfranchised, idealist and driven generation is catching up. I can only guess what comes next as things go worse.

Lost Pet

Lost cat, named "Badjing", a spoof for her bungee jumping mode when still a kitten. Sweet, regal and smart, she has become the family's favorite. Last seen (presumably) along Esperanza Street, Caloocan, last Feb. 17 outside of my girl friend's house. If found, please tag me, or call my number 0920-9021208. For details you may also see Yna's link. I made reference to this cat in my previous friendster blog. Cash reward awaits finder.

Champoy Internet Control

In an era of information super-highway, democratized knowledge and cross-border explosion of information, I find it somehow odd that "China operates a vast and technologically sophisticated firewall to protect the ruling Communist Party against what it views as Web-based threats to its authority."

Beijing's Internet policies have come under close scrutiny abroad since Google and Microsoft acknowledged helping China censor information available through Web searches and blogs, and Yahoo was accused of providing data that helped convict dissidents who had used its e-mail accounts. [for more of this, click here]

of mudslide and mudslinging

February 17, 2006.

The farming village is gone, swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders that swept down with terrifying speed Friday from a mountainside in Saint Bernard, Leyte. Officials feared the death toll could climb past 1,800. There are no signs of life, no rooftops, no nothing.


With the mudslide is mudslinging, again against the PGMA government as opposition groups blame Ms. Arroyo's complacency on environmental preservation.

barong

You should see me with my "gusot-pangmayaman" barong. It's been a long time that I wore one, probably four years ago when a friend forced me to be part of her wedding entourage. Now, this becomes my daily get-up, from 8am to 10pm, except Saturdays. I feel a little confident facing a client-- "sabi nga nila, nakakahiyang tawaran"! Wala lang, wento lang.

Racket!

Whoa! Sabi ko kailangan ko pa ba magexam? "Oo, ceremonial lang. Para naman masabing dumaan ka sa proceso." To cut the long story short, hindi na ako in-between jobs. I have job na uli! Problema ko ngayon paano pagkasyain ang oras ng J117 at J200 with this new job that requires me 8:00am-10:00am and 7:00pm-10:00pm in office and sales pitches in between. Medyo mahirap kasi mataas ang expectation-- imagine, 12 days pa lang, I had P.700M personal sales na! Yeah, hindi ako magaling... magaling ang network na dala ko-- it has the most number of No.1 stations nationwide. Hay, sana maabot ko target ko and have my brand new car in less than 6 months... Hehe... libre naman mangarap. Let's see then.

Sorry Aling Suming!

I'm supposed to be in school this evening. I have more reasons to be there than home, and than anybody else, perhaps. First, because this is my last workless Saturday, and the suceeding Saturdays hereafter will be busier-- my first day of work is on Monday. Second, it's the CMC alumni get-together homecoming, dubbed "Tawag Ka ni Aling Suming"-- our retired trusty CMC manang who knows every detail of our requirements (I went back 7 years after AWOL and she can still recall my name and my incomplete Thesis!) Some of my batchmates in the mid 90s might be coming over and it would be a good time hanging around with them. Besides, our org, UP Journ Club, has a presentation to make (I just can't imagine me cheering on the side of the students rather than with my "real batchmates"). It would have been very amusing and nostalgic. But here I am, over powered by laziness, or perhaps sleepiness. I slept almost the whole day, watched TV in between slumbers and deeply pondered what might be the nicest place to unwind tonight. Yeah, I'm free tonight, and coffee and beer are more inviting than the CMC alumni homecoming.

Smart has been reminding me via SMS to pay my overdues, otherwise my outgoing call will be redirected. What can I do, they'd been texting me for a week now and my account is still active, hehe. Don't worry Mr. Pangilinan, I'll be paying you soonest! Is another week okay? Sige na, or I'll switch to Sun, haha!

Mouse Story

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.
I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a Mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house --like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did
not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for
one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Of Shrinking Sales and Stenches

Callous is an adjective which means "emotionally hardened"-- example, "a callous indifference to suffering". Callousness is what best describes my former employer who, after 4 months of leaving them, continues to pester me with an account I bagged them for P1M. They reminded me that commercial airing of my account will end January 15 and I have to give them feedback at once if it's gonna renew, otherwise other interested parties might take over of the account. The gall of this company to put pressure on me when they still owe me hundreds of thousands of unpaid commissions, including my incentive for the account in question. I just can't keep my pique on this one-- they'd been holding what's due me for years! Their audit system sucks, their documentation of collectibles and payables sucks and their alibis reek of a management stenching from the top. A classic case of outrageous ingratitude for people who raked-in millions of sales for the company. What can I say, theirs is a typical "pakabig" mode of management. Thank God, I'm out of there. Pay me first dude, before you ask me to sell! Are your balls now on the line? I guess yes.