ingat kuya... (take 2)

today, my brother is leaving to seek for greener pastures in the land of Arabs. his income has been dormant for many years now. he and his family of nine (including his wife) has been living with my mother for maybe seven years now. all the household expenses has been shouldered by my mother though my brother is the one who continued the farming that our father left. i don't know what is it that he lacks that everything he puts their (his wife) hands on ends up in misfortune. they started a grocery store in the public market but suffered bankruptcy; tried their luck in piggery for a long time but no success; i remember them doing meat dealership but no gain either; the farming is not as good as it was when my father used to handle it -- to make it short they tried their best to earn but did not succeed. i know my brother is a hard-worker, he is a good father, i think he is a good husband, a good son, a caring brother and i'm pretty sure he is a very loving person. i don't know, i just feel sad that inspite of all the good qualities that he has, he was never able to provide enough for his family. maybe it has to do something with his gambling, nobody really wins in gambling i'm sure of that. my other siblings and i have always been there to help him but it's not the type of help that we should provide what they need for them. i remember kuya ringo told me weeks before he died that we should help him find the resources and not to be the resources for him. everybody in the family has had a share of the resources that they received especially my mother, who gave the most. the rest of our family got tired of that routine but i'm very proud to say that nobody back stabbed my kuya cris, walang sumbatan and i feel good about that.
today, i am very happy, worried, excited.. actually it's mixed emotions, a fruit salad of emotions, hehe. i am happy that he has made it at last!!! i'm a little worried that he'll be away like me but the difference is that he is a family man, he's got children who are all so close to him back home... but i hope he will not be defeated by homesickness. i'm excited for his success as a family man!!! and a fruit salad for him when he comes back home... goodluck kuya, mag-iingat ka lagi. we believe in you, kaya mo yan!!! god bless you

good things

yesterday was a busy day for me. we had a band rehearsal and it's really tiresome. we are preparing for a gig on independence day (12th june) in peach garden bar in hilton hotel. me and the rest of the guys are excited about this because we haven't played for a while now and what makes it more exciting is that we are going to play in a bar. we haven't played in a closed space eversince and we were just using our small amps and speakers so i hope we sound good when we play there. well, i wish our band good luck and success on this gig because i'm the one who arranged this commitment, hehe!!!

after the rehearsals, i rested for a while at home with my wife and then i went to the event that i organized in the same bar. me and oliver (peach garden) started this karaoke singing contest last year and this is already our second season. our opening was a success!!! the bar was jam-packed and the program was just fine! thanks to our partner, mr. salim of aladdin restaurant, eventhough i did not get a chance to meet him because of the thick crowd. i hope this brings good product exposure and of course more sales on my part! thanks to people like oliver and manny and of course to mr. salim also.. though i'm alone here in al ain branch, my marketing through events is not dormant. thanks to the judges also, who never expected anything in return. well, it's a long contest, there are still seven weeks to go. i hope everything will run smoothly and i hope i can handle this properly with the help of those guys that i mentioned, without help from our head office, hehehe!!! anyway, thanks to isabelle for texting; honestly speaking, it morally helped.

today is my brother's 40th day of resting in peace. we miss you very much kuya!!! maraming salamat sa magagandang alaalang iniwan mo sa aming lahat...

Long Live CDC!!!...

i have something here that i have written for our underground org way back in college. i was already working and has finished college when i wrote this maybe six years ago. it was a sleepless night in Taal, Batangas where i was residing at that time and i am deeply missing my friends so i got up, took a pen and paper from my cousin's things and started writing this:

pano ba tyo nabuo? hindi ko na gaanong maalala, basta ang alam ko lang minsan sa isang bahagi ng mga buhay natin nabuo ang isang samahang kinabibilangan ng mga indibidwal na may kanya-kanyang pagkatao. mga indibidwal na pinagbuklod ng iisang mithiin at ng iisang organisasyon... ang CDC.

Ilang flare lights na ba ang nasindihan natin? Natatandaan mo pa ba kung gaano kasaya ang pakiramdam natin habang pinagmamasdan ang pulang ilaw na nagsisilbing tanglaw sa ating pagkakaisa? Hindi lang isang beses kundi marami na..at umaasa ang marami na may sanlibong flare lights pa tayong sisindihan.Walang makakalimot sa samahan natin; takbuhan ng mga nawawalang tupa na kung saan makikitang muli ang panibagong pakikisama at pagasa. Sandalan ng mga nawala sa sirkulasyon ng mga dati nilang kaibigan na umaasang makakatagpo ng bagong kaligayahan bagamat hindi nila nalalaman na isa sila sa mahahalagang sangkap ng taos-pusong kaligayahan sa piling ng bawat isa.

Hindi na mabilang ang mga salaping natalo sa PUSOY kung saan nag-ugat ang ating samahan. Ngunit sa kabila ng halaga ng salaping natalo ay mas malaki ang sayang idinulot ng magulong paglalaro. Laro na sugal sa isip ng iba ngunit para sa atin ay isang pundasyon na pinagmulan ng isang matibay na pagkakaibigan.May isang timba na ang upos ng yosi na naubos sa bawat pagsindi. Yosing tinitipid at pasa-pasang pinaiikot ng tiga-tigalawang hithit lamang. Yosi, na napakagandang pasalubong mula sa mga bagong dating..ang yosi ng isa ay yosi ng lahat.Isang sako na kung iipunin ang mga basyo ng GIN at EMPARANING na naubos natin. At isang drum na siguro ang naisuka natin sa bawat inumang walang kasing saya. Sa walang patid na tugtog ng gitara at magulong kantahan, naidadaos natin ang mga gabing ilang beses na nating hiniling na wag ng matapos. Mga gabing sana ay wala ng bukas. Mga inumang ginulo ng mga away na agad ding nareresolba at mamamalayan mo na lang na lalo lang nagpatibay ng samahan at pagkakaibigan. Mga inumang nagbubulgar ng saloobin ng bawat isa at mga kuro-kurong walang kwenta na pagmumulan ng mainit na pagtatalong mauuwi lang sa tawanan at kantyawan.

Hindi ko lubos maisip kung panong nagsasama-sama ang mga taong may iba't ibang pananaw at paniniwala na dagling nakakalimutan o kinakalimutan sa sandaling nasa loob na ng samahan. Ang samahang ito ay para sa lahat, walang hanggan at walang limitasyon. Maliban lamang sa iilang kasunduan na nagbabawal sa mga bagay na alam ng lahat na mali at sinang-ayunan ng lahat na ipatupad. Sa kabila ng kalagayang walang namumuno at nanunungkulan sa atin, nandiyan pa rin ang pagkakaisa at respeto. Samahan ito ng mga malalaya, organisasyong binuo ng iba't ibang utak at prinsipyo na pinagsama sama ng iisang puso. Pusong handang ibigay sa kasamahang nangangailangan, handang umintindi sa mga pagkukulang at handang tumanggap ng mga paliwanag. Pusong bumubuhay sa ating masayang samahan. Ngunit hanggang kelan? Patungo saan? At para kanino?

Hangga't may mga taong masaya sa samahan natin. Maaaring mawala ang ikatlong palapag sa silangang bahagi ng ating unibersidad subalit mananatili sa atin ang diwa ng ating pagkakaibigan. Maubos man ang mga alak at yosi sa tindahan, sigurado akong hindi mabubuwag ang samahang itinakda ng tadhana para sa mga taong tulad natin. Hanggang nananalaytay sa ugat natin ang dugong bumubuhay sa atin at sa ating samahan.. dugong CDC

Patungo tayo sa isang magandang bukas na bagamat hindi mo mapapansing minimithi ng bawat isa ay naroon ang kasiguruhang may umagang papawi sa dilim ng ating mga gabi. Na sa bawat hakbang ng panahon ay may mga bagong sibol na magtataguyod ng mga kinagisnang tradisyon at prinsipyo tungo sa walang katapusang pag asa.

Dapat pa bang itanong natin kung para kanino? Maaaring para sa ating sarili ngunit higit sa lahat ay sa mga taong nasa likod natin na umaasa sa ating matagumpay na bukas. Kahit ang karamihan sa kanila ay iniisip na walang magandang maidudulot ang ating samahan ngunit hindi lang iilang beses nilang hinangaan ang tibay at kabuluhan ng ating samahan. PARA SA WALANG HANGGAN PAGKAKAIBIGAN....KAMPAI...

'di ba ang sweet? ang Casino De Coabte ay nabuo taong 1999. parang nagmerge ang dalawang grupo nun sa College of Office Administration and Business Teacher Education (COABTE) hanggang sa lumaki nang lumaki at kahit hindi mga taga-COABTE ay nakisali na rin. hindi ito fraternity katulad ng laging iniisip ng iba, barkada lang ito with or without a cause. surprisingly, hanggang ngayon ay may CDC pa rin sa PUP. makikita n'yo sila sa 3rd floor, East Wing. matagal ko na silang hindi nakikita pero i'm sure CDC pa rin ako at hindi na mawawala yun. kung sakaling makita nyo sila, ikamusta nyo na lang ako. pakisabi sa kanila miss na sila ni welfunk.

Ughhh!!!

nakakarindi na ang mga balita sa tv!!! mahigit isang linggo na hindi pa rin natatapos at lalo pang tumitindi! they'll do everything to get that five-letter-word P O W E R.. pathetic. too many people have been killed and much more have been damaged, this is just too much to bear!

How many DEATHS will it take until we know that too many PEOPLE have DIED?

why can't we just grow up without causing trouble to others?

be proud!!!

hi, i've been silent for a couple of days. nothing runs into my mind, i had two boring days, hehe. yesterday, i was busy reading about baybayin commonly known as alibata. i was just reading in wikipedia (i usually go here when i have nothing to do) clicking things that catch my attention until i ended up seriously reading that article about our ancient writing. i found it interesting because a Canadian, Paul Morrow, who loves Pinoy culture, is using this kind of writing as his signature. There is no Filipino blood running in his vein, he simply loves the Philippines and he learn Tagalog by himself. In fact he has a website about baybayin and Philippine history and the articles are all in Tagalog convertible to English. my interest grew bigger and bigger while reading it especially when i read about that copperplate inscription found in Laguna De Bay in 1989. the inscription was made way back april 21, 900. can you imagine that? it just means we were not fools when the Spaniards came. the scroll was discussing something about debt settlement and mentioned there were places like Tondo, Pulilan and Paila in Bulakan, etc. although the language used there was not purely Tagalog (mixture of Tagalog, Malay and Java) and the writing was not in alibata --it was more advanced, which only shows that they were the people occupying our country at that time. there were arguments that they were foreigners or the scroll was but for sure they were Filipinos because they were talking about the places that exist until now, which are part of the Philippine archipelago without a doubt! we already had accountancy, rules, formal public documents and we know how to write 500 years before the Spaniards came contrary to what they claim that we were stupids.
unfortunately, that kind of writing disappeared and was replaced by a simpler alibata - the one that we were using when the Spaniards came. it is very enlightening to learn things like this! it makes you proud that you are Filipino, imagine how rich our civilization was? what makes me sad is the whitewashing done by the Spaniards. if they never came, maybe we were able to keep our own culture standing on our own identity. anyways, thanks to people like Paul Morrow. he is amazing, he is a lot prouder of the Philippines than most of the Filipinos are! he knows more about our country than any of us... shame on us!!! my salute and high respect to you, Gat Paul Morrow!!! In case you want to visit his site: http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/index.htm

doctor prescribed irritants

ay napaingo!

my brother was supposed to leave for Saudi today. it was his first time to go out of the country and he just applied for work through an agency. he got lucky so the agency booked him to travel today along with the others. inside the airport at the immigration, he was questioned because they have a name same as my brother's in their record with estafa case. so my brother called the agency to send his NBI clearance (just a recent one) through fax, which they did. but still, they held my brother and never allowed him to travel asking him to get a clearance somewhere, i think in Intramuros. it was really irritating!! after all the preparation and the excitement this thing happened to him. i don't know what system do we have in the Philippines now but as far as i know, you will never get a passport if you will not secure a clearance from NBI that you are allowed to travel abroad. if my brother's name has a record then they should have questioned him at that point while he was asking for the clearance and they could have asked him to get a clearance that they needed from whatever office is it that issues a clearance much honored than the one from NBI; in that case, the problem could have been rectified earlier before he prepared himself to travel.
anyway, my brother can still travel and go to Saudi but hey, i know he was so depressed and emotionally frustrated that time. actually it's not only him, the rest of the family was also upset because of that. it stinks! but maybe it was actually for safety or the SOP in the immigration, maybe i'm just reacting like this because it's my brother who is involved. what if it was not my brother? what if it was actually the person that was listed in their record? the person will still remain at large 'coz they gave him a chance when they asked him to get a clearance instead of detaining him. i should still be thankful, they did not detained my brother, hehe!! anyways... i just hope that my brother travels in a couple of days. i'll pray for that kuya!!


name game

after i have learned of the luck that my brother had, i received a circular from our Head Office. attached to the circular that they sent through email was the minutes of the meeting that they had days ago. while reading the minutes, which contained list of committees and its members and objectives, i was really confused because almost all of the members listed were pertained to with their initials just like our big bosses. i know that when you are a company owner or you hold a high position in the company (or in the country like GMA, FVR) you are pertained to with your initials but for heaven's sake they enjoyed doing it with themselves, too!!! some of them are wannabes who thinks that they are an asset to the company and they should be treated with high respect. they didn't know that they are not relaying clear information because of their power tripping with their initials. they just give confusion and irritation to their subordinates. i thought they were still pertaining to a person when i read IT and WWW, hahaha!!! i just hope they realize that they are still far from reality to use that first-letter-of-the-name title. just give it to our big bosses, guys! they deserve distinction from the rest of us...


Yours very truly,

RR
(it could be Rudolph the Reindeer, Ramon Revilla or Ronald Reagan... i told you it's confusing!!!)

post election

grabe!!! it's very disappointing to hear news about what's happening after the election. you waited for months for those hypocrites to stop bugging you in the television stating their promises to give you everything, all those banners, posters, leaflets....they make your eyes sore... pangarap kong tuparin ang pangarap nyo, buti na lang me tito ako... they were just few of those famous shit taglines! so you wished the election day is over for these people to shut up pero pagkatapos ng eleksyon eto naman... dayaan, patayan, protesta, suguran.. it's never-ending. why are they doing these things? it's like they (politicians) tried very hard to make the people believe of what they say about themselves and just hours after the judgment they were the first ones to ruin it, step on it to destroy it. just like building a beautiful mansion and burning it when the people were preparing to enter it. anyway the mansion was made of paper so it's better that the people never entered because they might be badly hurt if they did. kelan kaya gaganda ang politics sa pinas? yun bang tipong pag sinabing eleksyon hindi dayaan ang papasok sa isip mo.. yung poprotektahan ka ni tito... ni tito wawel




iboto nyo ako ha!!!

numb3rs

yesterday was my birthday. i turned 28 twenty-eight days after my brother died.. he died a day before my father's 6th death anniversary and they both died because of cardiac arrest. i don't know what's the connection in it basta ang alam ko masakit ang mawalan ng mahal sa buhay. both of them lived a life full of success at sila ang masasabi mong mga taong walang kaaway. it is very common that people say 'sayang namatay sya, ambait pa naman nya' after somebody dies but i can say that they were indeed mabait not because they are already dead. ang kuya ringo, namatay sya na malayo sa amin, very sudden. i was at work reading something in wikipedia (i think it was an article about magnets) when i received a text from my kuya edgar: tawag ka samin, urgent. re ringo. so i grabbed my phone and walked out of the office to call thinking what the matter could be but i was not thinking of death because kuya edgar (my brother-in-law) is my joking buddy. but when he was speaking to me in a very serious tone, it changed my mood.. i knew it was something bad and the next words changed the rest of the day until now. what was more painful is the fact that we can't even see him before he was buried nor visit his grave on all soul's day. he died and was buried in the land of kiwis far from home... away from home...