Like sheep lost

Former President Corazon Aquino was laid to rest yesterday. It was declared a special non-working holiday so I was able to watch the last funeral rites on TV. Before that, I was able to see her coffin up close when her remains were transported last Monday from De la Salle Greenhills to Manila Cathedral. The funeral cortege passed by Ayala Ave. so I just went down from the office to join the procession if front of our building. I offered a little prayer for Tita Cory then flashed the 'Laban' sign while chanting her name together with the crowd.

I felt sad the first time I heard that she passed away last Saturday. Although everybody knew that she was battling with cancer, it still came as a shock because news reports said that she was already in a stable condition. I guess we always assumed that Tita Cory would always be there to lead us in protest and prayer, especially when there are scandals brewing in the government or there are threats to our democracy. Now that she is gone, I'm afraid that we would all be like lost sheep, following the mob but never really knowing where to go. I'd like to believe that after witnessing the Cory magic that brought the whole nation together in unity and prayer, the Filipinos would step up and take it up on themselves to continue what Ninoy and Cory started. With the Filipinos' short term memory, there's a big probability that this will never come to be but I'm still hoping that we would be able to rise above ourselves and make our nation great once again. Let the spirit of Edsa live on!

And the list goes on

The second ANC Leadership Forum is interesting on a very different level than the first. In this round, the guests were Former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. Sen. Panfilo Lacson was supposed to be there but he backed out again and this time he also announced that he was withdrawing his presidential bid for 2010, citing his lack of funds as his reason. However, many are speculating that he struck a deal with the government that he would back out from running for president in exchange for easing him out of the Dacer-Corbito murder case. I wouldn't be surprised if this is true because of the timing of his announcement -- Cesar Mancao, who is supposed to be the state witness for the trial just arrived in the country then. Anyhow, the leadership forum pushed through without Ping and the University of the Philippines School of Economics was jampacked with students and teachers alike wanting to witness the forum live. If you haven't seen it yet, you can do so here.

Listening to the guests, you would really see their different visions for the country.

The race is on!

I saw the ANC Leadership Forum being aired in ABS-CBN last night, which reminded me that I haven't blogged about it yet, which I should have done right after I watched it on ANC when it was first aired. Anyway, for those who didn't know about it, ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel), together with the Ateneo School of Government, hosted a leadership forum on May 11 for the aspiring presidential candidates of the 2010 Philippine elections. The guests were Senators Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, and Mar Roxas; Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio; and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. Senator Panfilo Lacson confirmed his attendance but backed out before the event. They also invited Vice President Noli de Castro, and Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda but the three probably didn't confirm. If you haven't seen it and you want to get an idea of what transpired, visit the following links:

• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 1


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 2


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 3


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 4


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 5

Now for my opinions.

Shameless plug

I am going to promote it here mainly because it's our site. My boyfriend and I created a website called personalads.com.ph and we want you to be the first to use it. It's a site where people can create personal ads for free and it's perfect for all the pinoys out there are looking for new people to connect with. Whether you're looking for textmates or for new friends to add to your friendster/facebook/multiply account or, if you're more daring, for new peeps to meet and hook up with, you'll find it here. That is, if someone has the courage to post his or her ad first! You see, we don't want to put any dummy data in and we don't want to spam other people's sites and forums either. So I'll just encourage you, my dear readers, to post your personal ads and hope that when I visit the site again tomorrow, there will be a long list of pinoys wanting to socialize and interact with each other. :)

Farewell Francis

A great Filipino was laid to rest yesterday. I didn't get to write about his death and it's impact on me earlier because I was catching up with work. So I'm taking my time now to write down my thoughts.

I learned about his death last Friday while I was at work. I was in a meeting when my bf sent me a message saying Francis M. has died. Of course I couldn't reply to him that instant but the minute the meeting was over, I messaged him back. He said it was announced at Eat Bulaga that Francis passed away at 12 noon that day. I found myself in a state of shock really because I had just visited his blog the day before. Yes, you could say that I was a bit of a fan. Growing up, I found it totally inspiring listening to his music. I don't have all his albums though; I just have a cassette tape of FrancisM and that's it. But I followed his career, from Eat Bulaga, to his photography, to his directing of music videos, to his t-shirt company, to his fight with cancer. I guess this is why I was saddened by his death, he shared so much of himself when he was alive, it's such a shame it will all now come to an end. He still had so much to give, so much love, joy and hope to share but sadly his time is up. So now, it's up to his children to continue his legacy, and up to the Filipino people to remember and never forget what his life and his music has been about. If all of us could just live out the same love of country that this great man has shown in his life then his death would not have been in vain and we would emerge a better people and a better nation.

Thank you Francis for teaching us how to be truly Filipinos!

Roderickrolling and The Heart of Saturday Night

Ever since I saw this on YouTube, I've been humming "Never Gonna Give You Up" non-stop. This happened last Aug. 1 when Rick Astley visited Manila for a one night concert. Although people kept calling him a one-hit wonder, he never was for the Filipinos. He had a lot of hits here back in the 80's (I can still sing parts of "Together Forever", "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man", and "Cry for Help" if you ask me too!). I suspect this is partly due to Roderick Paulate singing Rick Astley's songs whenever he makes guest appearances in variety shows on TV and also on his very own show with Carmi Martin, "Tonight with Dick and Carmi". I salute Roderick for giving in to the request of the Filipino multitude! (If you want to find out how this all came about, click here)

Now, as much as I like Rick Astley and his songs, I was glad to have my LSS (last-song-syndrome) replaced yesterday with a song by Diana Krall, which I heard on the radio on the way home from work. I didn't know the title of the song so I researched about it today and found out that the original version was recorded in 1974 by Tom Waits. Here's The Heart of Saturday Night:


Lyrics | Diana Krall - The heart of saturday night lyrics

Dobie Sings Tagalog

I don't usually post YouTube videos but this one delighted me so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Dobie lives in California, is married to a Filipina, and sings great in Talagog!



If you enjoyed that, you can check out the other related videos of foreigners singing tagalog songs. Blame it on Magic Sing (Karaoke Microphone), on the OFWs scattered all over the world or on Filipina wives of foreign nationals. It's becoming a worldwide phenomenon and I'm loving it!

The Verdict

I can't quite put a finger on it, but there seems to be something wrong with the conviction of Erap. If the Filipino people has been vindicated with the guilty sentence on his plunder case, why aren't the people dancing in the streets? Or have we become indifferent of the whole thing, thinking it does not concern us anymore? "The courts have spoken. Uphold the rule of law. Let's just move on with our lives." But how can we move on if we know that injustice has taken place. Given that Erap amassed illegal wealth, I still think that the decision was more politically motivated than it was based on hard evidences. Some say that the current presidency is better than the former administration. I don't know about that as I'm still regretting the fact that I joined Edsa Dos.

To learn more about the events that transpired regarding the Estrada Trial, visit this link: http://www.inquirer.net/specialreports/theestradatrial/archive.php

Egay, Edsa, Eboards

It's been raining hard all week due to supertyphoon Egay. And although the Philippines is not the one directly hit, the constant rain and heavy flooding were enough reasons to suspend classes in elementary, high school and college levels. Unfortunately, employees were not spared the trouble of going to work. I was even stuck in traffic for three hours last Wednesday. Good thing I had my digicam with me so I had something to amuse me while I trudged along Edsa, inch by excruciating inch:

Onli in da Pilipins: Tubero Tree Ads

I don't know if it only happens here in our country, but when one needs some plumbing fixed here, one only has to go outside and look for the nearest tree and call the number on the Tubero posting. Tubero is the tagalog word for plumber, and they don't advertise in the phone directory or the newspapers, but on trees. In my subdivision alone, I pass by fourteen trees with Tubero ads, from my home to the bus stop. Some have even adopted the tubero's tree ads; there are even ads for home tutorials and piano lessons.

You don't believe me? take a look at these pictures :)

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Today is our National Independence Day but it's a working holiday because we were supposed to 'celebrate' it yesterday. Funny though, I didn't see the usual June 12 festivities that is happens yearly at the Rizal Park or at Kawit, Cavite, where the Philippine independence from Spain was declared on June 12, 1898. Shows you how much we Filipinos care about our freedom. Sad, noh?

Honestly, I think we are still a very young nation in search for our true identity. We've been colonized for too long (377 yrs under the Spanish rule, 48 yrs under the Americans and 3 yrs under the Japanese) that we've forgotten how to stand on our own. It is only now that we are relearning to take our own steps, as guided by our own national leaders. How I wish that someone would push to change our country's name, Philippines, so that we won't have be named after a dead king anymore.

In celebration of being Filipino, I would like to share an article I found in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Here's an excerpt:

Enjoy, be Pinoy; bahala na si Batman
By Gilda Cordero-Fernando

MANILA, Philippines -- Pinoy is what Filipinos call each other, a term of endearment. You’re Pinoy from Pilipino just like you’re tisoy from mestizo or chinoy from chino.

It’s a nickname just as Minoy is from Maximo, Ninoy from Benigno, Tinay from Florentina and Kikay from Francisca. But now they’re Maxi and Ben and Tintin and Cheska.

You’ve been called indio, goo-goo, Negro, flip, noypits. Or Filipino, a biscuit that is brown outside and white inside, or a word stricken from the dictionary which means domestic. Ay, lintik!

You’re Juan de la Cruz or Mang Pandoy. You’re common tao, masa, urban poor but also Cecile Licad and Don Jaime, Jose Rizal and Tony Meloto, Shawie and Pacquiao and Nick Joaquin, galing galing.

Born June 12, 1896, the Republic of the RP is a Gemini, good at connecting, good at loving-loving, good at texting and interpersonal skills.

Filipinos like to yakap, akbay, hawak, kalong, kalabit. We sleep side by side, siping-siping, we go out kabit kabit.

There’s lots of us to go around. Someone always to listen to a sob story, even in a jeepney, to share-a-load or to share a TV.

...

The Filipino is fearless, bahala na si Batman, which actually means Bathala na or “leave all to God.” Okay lang if I die by bitay, okay lang if I live, okay lang if I survive by the skin of my teeth.

Saway ni Inay: Di ka naman Bill Gates, di ka naman French, mahirap nang magbuhat ng sarili mong bench.

Be Pinoy! Enjoy!

King Long and Tito Boy

I rode the bus to work yesterday and as soon as I stepped in the vehicle, I noticed something different. Heck, everything was different. There were no disarrayed headrest covers, no broken armrests, no vandalisms on the backs of seats and no foams peeking out of torn leather seats. I should have expected this when I first spotted the bus from the outside. It wasn't the usual Hino or locally-built bus. It had King Long on it's side and back and it was definitely a new bus. It was probably the first bus purchased by any of the bus liners in 30 years so I just had to take a picture:

Notice the plastic still covering the seats? I noticed that too and I can't help but chuckle as I remember Rex Navarrete's comedy about Tito Boy's House. If you haven't heard or watched him yet, do try to catch him if he has shows in your area. I haven't watched him yet but I have all his CDs so I know he's really funny. Though, you'd have to be Filipino or be "related" to one in order to relate. Hehe.

To have a sample of Pinoy humor, visit his site and myspace or simple search for videos of his performances in YouTube. :-)