Do Not Underestimate Stupidity

What we have now is a confused citizenry. We, Filipinos, have a mind set that whoever is popular, or wealthy or wise should be the one to be entrusted the most sensitive positions in government. This with the many evidences of taking advantage of our own stupidity by undeserving people. We put people that has no clear platforms or programs that could elevate the country from the quagmire that it has been in for so many years.

We had put Gloria in her pedestal because of her wit. Because of her wit, we are now submersed more in deep trouble that includes debts, economic crisis, political arguments, and lack of many government services to the people. We had put Erap in the same pedestal because of his charm which was derived from being an actor. The ‘makamasa’ image is just an advertisement which many Filipinos hungrily bought. We had put Ramos (or did we?), too, because he is a strong man from the military who we thought could probably instill discipline and order in the country. We failed to realize that Ramos himself need disciplining. It was not only Gloria who traveled abroad and dined luxuriously. Fidel and Ming had probably done so many times and surreptitiously. Do we have to go back to the past to determine who among them robbed (not loved) their constituents the most?

I am sipping coffee now but not from a jura coffee machine. I am thinking. Is there hope from the stupid decisions we made and will be making? Are we going to the same trend of voting for these traditional politicians? Well, all I can say is these politicians should not underestimate stupidity. As Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” It is awareness that the Filipino people need.

Photohunt: Technology

Technology comes in many forms. It can be seen anywhere and in almost everything. It does not only talk about the artifacts but the science and engineering that goes with it. Even in intangible things like a Medicare supplement, technology plays a big part. Why? Because technology had changed nature to meet our needs and wants.

Photohunt today has TECHNOLOGY as its theme. And I am almost late posting!

Thinking about Safety

We think so much about the children being safe. We give our best efforts trying to protect them and in their childhood, we even get child safety seats to protect them from injury. We also think so much about our safety. We make sure that the car is equipped with a safety harness. In many jobs and activities, we ensure our safety.

But what can protect us from monsters like the killers of those poor and helpless victims in the Maguindanao massacre? What can protect anyone from the evil schemes of those executioners? What can guard us from the beastly machinery of conspirators who assume that they are untouchable ‘pigs’?

THE FILIPINO PEOPLE CONDEMN THE SAVAGERY THAT HAPPENED IN MAGUINDANAO! LET JUSTICE BE SERVED QUICK! PRESIDENT GLORIA ARROYO, DO SOMETHING FOR JUSTICE TO BE SERVED FOR THOSE INNOCENT VICTIMS. PERHAPS DOING SOMETHING FOR THEM FAST AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE CAN UNDO SOMEHOW THE MANY SHORTCOMINGS YOU HAVE FOR THE COUNTRY.

Christmas Party Invitations – this early?

It is not. It is a normal thing that when the ‘ber’ months here in the Philippines set in, plans for Christmas parties are conceived. And yes, I have been receiving Christmas party invitations as early as the last week of October.

It is inevitable that the celebration for this season will take place. Sometimes, I feel that it is all business but then again, I think of the little children (and my children, too) who get excited at the thought of Christmas time. It’s probably because what they were told about it. That is what makes me sad at times. Children anticipate Christmas because of the gifts not because why it is celebrated.

I feel somewhat hesitant celebrating. The tragic events the country is receiving overwhelms this feeling of jubilation and hope. The ruthless killing of those people in Maguindanao is the worst of all the tragedies. It is not even comparable to the death of people from the natural calamities which we can not almost have control of. But the killing, it is so barbaric and brutal. And the killers are still out there ready to prey on any victim that they like, innocent or not.

It is just right to feel indignant about how some people can be callous and merciless. They are truly the epitome of evil. Still, I hope that justice will be served, even not in this lifetime.

Protection Against Fakes

Fake products proliferate in the market. Now, the question is how should an organization protect its products from imitations? The crooks seem to be investing money for these kinds of criminal acts. Therefore organizations should invest more for the authenticity of their products. It must be an investment that the crooks will find hard to imitate.

Most products have bar codes as marks of authenticity. These are subjected to barcode scanners that gives the identity of the product. These can be limited though because there are products sold directly to customers.

Some have standardization marks from certifying or registration bodies. Other forms include marks of acceptance from customers that can be found on the packaging. But back to bar codes, their application are limited and are only mostly used in supermarket checkout systems.

Information dissemination is still the best method of protecting products from fakes. Organizations should always have a concrete plan on informing its customers about the basic features of and changes in a product. This way, they will be made aware if what is being sold is an authentic product or a fake.

Do you have something in mind that could help in protecting products against fakes?

With Daryl?

It’s been more than a week that me and my son, Daryl, exercise together to burn fat. Right. With Daryl.

Suddenly son became conscious of his ‘growing’ belly. I have a guess that his determination was bolstered after a meeting with his high school friends. Only a few gained weight and most of them became ‘smaller’. When I came home seeing them, I uttered, “Daryl, you are the only one who’s gotten big!” His friends laughed. Daryl replied, “Oh, well, coming from my own mother!”

Would you believe that every morning, he goes out of his way waking up early and waking me up for the day’s exercise routine? There are some improvements though. He can lift his legs forming an L in 16 counts continuously. That required a lot of effort from him.

Congratulations, Pacman!

Manny Pacquiao never ceases to amaze the world with his prowess, speed and confidence. Manny said Cotto will not be an easy fight as he had said before the bout. And it was not really one easy fight with Cotto. But it turned out that Manny is still the best pound for pound fighter. His opponent failed to find a way to resolve his speed and strategy. Cotto was swollen and bleeding after the 12th round.

Listening to the radio in the morning brought excitement to the crowd and in the afternoon, watching the fight brought more excitement. I wished we could have watched the fight live. It could have made Papsie shouting more with joy. But alas, we could not afford the trip to Las Vegas and the stay in Las Vegas hotels. We could only watch the fight in the television with the many ads in between!

Anyway, this is not about me but about the unbeatable Manny Pacquiao. I just hope he stops boxing though a lot still wants him to fight with Mayweather. It is always better to leave in the middle of stardom.

Photohunt: Music

Photohunt has MUSIC as this week’s theme. The photo above is a choir in a local church singing music like angels. A few words for now, I am just so tired from the day’s chores that I wanted to sleep and rest. Enjoy!

Talking About Wedding Videography

Last year 2008, Kay had her debut. Resources were just enough but we tried very hard to celebrate the day and make it unforgettable. Her closest friends were there. A few relatives were invited. There was a program, and a band that played for her 18th birthday. But alas, we were not able to avail of a more organized video service. The one we had was not perfect.

That is why, if my daughter choose to wed, I will make it sure that if resources are teeming, I will hire the services of Buddy Gancenia, a reality wedding videographer in the Philippines. His services are a novelty to me. As he claims, he is the the first and only Documentary-Reality Wedding Video producer in the Philippines, and in the world. Imagine a video for wedding that is like a TV reality show. It sounds unique to me.

The package includes interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and unexpected occurrence.s The approach is personal. and different from the traditional music-video style. Each video produced is one of a kind. Yours will make you feel it is only you who has a wedding video in the Philippines that is truly your own, and not the usual arrangements that ordinary wedding videos provide.

They have three packages to choose from: documentary-reality video coverage, reality-music video, and love story pre-nup video. The prices are commensurate to the high-quality product plus you get your wedding videos in two weeks! How would you not think of getting his services?

Buddy Gancenia is a corporate, events, and wedding videographer. Visit his site if you are interested.

Because for now, I cannot yet avail. Kay is only 19 years old, and I think marrying is still a far-fetched idea. But who knows? Love is sometimes blind. ha ha ha Believe me, it is a nightmare thinking about the children marrying at an early age!

Where are the railings?

We make it a habit of passing by Marikina River Banks every second of November when we go to Loyola Memorial Park. Last November 2, we managed to visit it after more than an hour of traffic and discovered the devastation the typhoons had left. Though visits to the place is not the typical orlando vacations that offer extraordinary entertainment, Marikina River Banks before the typhoons is a picturesque park with its Shoe Boat (a symbol of Marikina City), Gazebo, bicycle lane, World of Butterflies, Evolution Park, and many more. Concurrently, the Shoe Boat lost its beauty and only have its skeleton left, the Gazebo is gone, and also the bicycle lane. We did not see what happened to the Evolution Park and the World of Butterflies.

Overseeing the bicycle lane, 2008

Where are the railings? 2009

So Filipino

November 5, 2009

BAD TRAIT

A friend tried to beat the deadline for the registration for the 2010 elections last October 31st. She went to the registration center at 11:00 am and was able to finish at 1:00 am the following day. While people are queuing, it was announced that the center will only serve up to 700 registrants. My friend’s number was 698. She was laughing while she was telling me the story and told me that my husband crossed her mind while waiting to be registered. Prior to her plan of registering, I somewhat scolded her about it. I told her that Papsie hates this Filipino trait of procrastinating.

In the television, people were enraged outside the registration centers. As I had expected, there are still people who wanted to register though Comelec made it clear that yesterday was a special registration day for those who went to register last October 31 and were not able to complete the process. Comelec repeated that they will not entertain another set of new applicants. That is very clear to me. But seeing those enraged applicants outside those centers made me think that change is still far away from the Philippines.

I could not blame the election officers who berated the people. Who would not be mad if these people are cursing you and shouting at you? It was not Comelec’s neglect if they missed the deadline and were not able to exercise their rights. There were already satellite registrations starting January 2010. How come they decided to register at the 11th hour? If we really wanted change then change should start within ourselves. If we wanted to do something, there will always be a way to do it, but if we do not want to do it, there are a lot of alibis why we were not able to do it. As a song tells, “Kung gusto may paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan.“

This made me think that Filipinos should start considering life insurances and looking at life insurance rates. Sometimes I think that we get angry for the wrong reasons and tend to be ecstatic with the wrong reasons, too. Truly bad for the health, and these wrong attitudes could debilitate progress. Perhaps the reason why we are still a third world country.

GOOD TRAIT

We went to a mall to buy Christmas gifts. It has been three years since I started going to this mall to buy gifts because, first, there are no crowds of people converging at that part of that mall. (Filipinos patronize only the big and popular malls.) Second, there are a lot of inexpensive but nice toys in that department store.

As we pay, Papsie as usual began ‘interviewing’ the sales clerks and the cashier. It happened that the sales clerk who were assisting the cashier was on her second day at work. It was her first job we learned. Papsie could not stop himself from being nosy and asked what educational attainment does the job require. He asked further what course did the sales clerk graduate from (though I was pinching him at the sides to stop). The sales clerk told him, in between smiles and giggles, that she’s a college graduate and a board passer. We were stunned, of course. Papsie continued prying but the girl did not answer. But at the last minute, she admitted that she is a nursing graduate and a board passer. We were more than stunned.

The sales clerk continued telling me that she had applied for jobs in many hospitals and clinics but to no avail. I suggested that she applies for work abroad and she replied that she had done that already. She decided that she had to work while waiting for the results of her applications. For her, it would be a big waste of time, and if she will not earn money. We were so concerned that we told her she had to continue finding a job that best fits her. She smiled sweetly.

While I admire her for being a hardworking and persevering lady, I think that she had to continue finding the best job for her. With her kind of attitude, she deserves better. Filipinos are truly resilient, patient and persevering. It is a sad thought, however, that citizens like her do not even have a decent chance of getting a fitting job in her own country.

Photohunt: Bags

Skipped last week’s chance to participate in Photohunt. Today’s theme is BAGS. The first bag was a gift by my children. The second gift was a gift to Kay for her debut. She’d let me use this bag a couple of times.

The bags above do not cost even an eighth of an original Louis Vuitton bag. I was reminded of this because I heard of a bid in DZMM’s Aksyon Ngayon for a Louis Vuitton bag by a known actress. The project is for a cause. The radio show aims to accumulate enough money to rescue women OFWs in Middle East countries. The bag originally cost more than fifty thousand pesos. That’s a lot of money to me.

Do you own a very expensive bag?

Why I was not around…

You maybe wondering… If not, it’s okay. But in case you are wondering why you don’t see me around paying a visit to your blog sites, these are the reasons:

Son and I saw them at a book sale in a mall. Kay was in Cavite that day. Yes, she treated us at Dampa sa Libis in the evening. That was a fun night, really enjoyed it.

Back to these books, I am currently reading Scheisshaus Luck by Pierre Berg and Brian Brock. It is an interesting read but unsentimental, brutal, gory, and atheistic. It is a true to life experience of a survivor. Quite disturbing to me but I plan to finish reading it. Reading the book leads me to asking this question – what is the be-all and end-all of wars for those people who wanted them to happen? I mean, everybody loses in wars. Why plan for wars then? How can those people involved in conquering nations and letting the massive bloodshed happen? How can a selfish ambition kill hundreds of thousands?

Deviating from the topic, Papsie discovered the car does not have break lights. Thank God we were not apprehended, or met an accident and needed the likes of a San Jose motorcycle accident attorney. Oh, wait, a car attorney, I mean.

The car has break lights now. And I am going to read again tonight if Father Clock allows.

A Sunday Treat by Daughter Kay

Last last Sunday, it was a date with Daryl. Last Sunday, it was a treat by daughter Kay. Why, you may ask. She had already received her cheque as payment for an ad when she had her OJT.

We went to Dampa sa Libis. It was my first time to go there. I had first dined at Dampa in Cubao. Kay will be coming from Cavite that night so we met with her at SM Hypermart. From there we went to Libis.

I had not finished with the rest of the pictures we had there. We had fun, of course. The children enjoyed the wet market. We saw one of our customers before with his wife and kids. He looked like a rock star with his very straight long hair. And, oh, we saw Mr. Mike Enriquez, GMA ‘s television news anchor. Papsie planned to approach him and tell him, “Excuse me po, pwede bang magpa-picture?” with a tone that is so Mike Enriquez. He was not able to even go near him. We were laughing very hard while we took a picture of Papsie near the window with Mr. Mike Enriquez eating at the background. Papsie was giggling that time.

I am not sure when I can be able to organize the pics but here is the feast:

Car is New. Not.

I do not have a new car. But our car is newly painted and had undergone body repair and was painted ice blue. It looks like a newly purchased car during the 90s. Smooth to the brim. Shiny new.

We were thinking of buying a few car accessories that will replace the old ones. We were also thinking of having the radiator overhauled. Papsie thinks it can be the reason why the car overheats at times.

Jumping to another topic.

I am so happy that the car is back. Life is hard without the car even if it’s not a Benz. The other day I got sick because I went to the grocery store forgetting that the car is in the repair shop. I bought four kilos of assorted wet products. It was too late to realize that the bag is heavy while the other grocery bag with the dry items is lighter but not really that light. I forgot I am not feeling well but remembered that I had to buy them to maximize my visit to the mall. My original plan was only to pay the bills.

I am just so happy for the car to come back home.