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Created by Eugene Villar.
10
Jul
11
Happy 15th, Chico & Del!
I am often asked to report for work on a Saturday and, like everyone on this planet, I’m always never happy to do so. But on this one time last July 8 – and a rainy one at that – I woke up cheerfully and made my way to Ortigas Center to meet up with some friends from the Rushers ML (Mailing List). We were going to a live broadcast of The Morning Rush, an early morning radio show that has captured the imagination of thousands of listeners since 1996. The hosts – Chico and Delamar – were having a 15th anniversary bash at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf shop along Emerald Avenue (hey, that’s the street name I’m used to) for its loyal fans and I wasn’t going to miss it.
Starstruck with Chico and Del
Chico and Del are arguably the best FM DJs of Philippine radio and downright the nicest duo on air (and off). Monitoring the remote broadcast from my car radio, C&D (as their loyalists call them) sounded overwhelmed by the listeners who flocked to the coffee shop to celebrate their milestone. The noise they made in response to the jokes, especially the “appearance” of C&D “offspring” Jacky Tiyanak, reverberated over the airwaves. And when my friends and I got to the area, the place was simply teeming with people. So how does one argue with their success?
I’d think the world of show business, which already embraces radio jocks such as C&D, is a fickle one: popular today, a footnote tomorrow. But C&D apparently are cut from a different cloth. The crowd who came to their shindig was a mixture of diehard followers, the ones who began tuning in in their formative years, and those who caught on as they began making a name for themselves, followed suit, and never let go. There were even those who came with their children, siblings, significant others, and even their parents. While C&D’s may be playing music for the present generation, their voices, their personality, their character, cut across ages.
It was by accident that I stumbled upon these two. I actually can’t recall the details, but when I started listening to them, I was hooked. This was one witty tandem, almost irreverent, and definitely with a good head on their respective shoulders. They actually made talk radio more worthwhile listening to than the music they put out over the airwaves. In 2004, I put forward this crazy idea to make them resource speakers in a plenary session for the League of Corporate Foundations’ Corporate Social Responsibility Week. The whole Expo was about creating a better future for the Filipino children and youth, and for their session, how media takes responsibility to help mak that happen. Since I was the chair of the Communications team at the time and that Plenary Session was our department, I bravely went up to Strata to introduce myself to them, and asked if they would accept an invitation from a total stranger to speak to a few hundred people at the PICC. OK so I wasn’t a TOTAL stranger as I had been joining their Top Ten every so often. But C&D didn’t know me from Adam, and it was a genuine relief (and indescribable thrill) that they said YES. The Plenary Session turned out to be a huge success because of them (and partly because of Ces Drilon and Nestor Torre, who were also part of the panel). And I turned out to be a loyalist.
With C&D and fellow Rushers at the RX studio...
Also because of C&D, my network of friends grew significantly, as I got linked to other Rushers (followers of the show; in the 60s and 70s, this would be described as groupies), first through an email list, and eventually, through meeting them in EBs and other small gatherings. They’ve become genuine friends, all thanks to C&D. On rare occasions, we would drop by the studio to say “hi” before we headed off to a game of bowling and they would gamely pose for pictures with us after the show. One special time was when we all got together for lunch and Chico and Del made their way to Makati to actually join us! Popular and successful as they were, they remain unbelievably friendly and accommodating. These two are genuinely good people, and they richly deserve the love and affection that their listeners give to them.
...and having lunch at A Venetto in Glorietta
So thank you Chico and Delamar, for The Morning Rush, for the Top Ten, for the News at 17. Your insanity is actually keeping all of us sane each and everyday, as listening to and laughing along with you prevents us from minding the traffic, from choking that S.O.B. who drives like a maniac, from fretting about work and whatever concerns there are for the rest of the day. And thank you for the friends I’ve made – Joey, April, Rodel, Aiz, Lee, Louise, Mark, Apa, Shane, Michelle, and everyone else – because of you.
Happy 15th anniversary guys! Keep on doing what you do ‘cause there ain’t nobody better.
p.s. special love goes to Del, my eternal crush, for remembering who I am. I’ve actually earned a small measure of fame from my fellow Rushers when, during the Tea Party at CBTL, she called me out from the crowd, “Hey, Adobong Sitaw is here! He’s at the back!” Simply awesome!
05
Jan
11
New Year Is All About Change…
01
Sep
10
PROUDLY PINOY
Much has been said in the aftermath of the senseless and tragic hostage taking that took place in the Quirino Grandstand. For the most part, they have been in the negative, from the outpouring of grief from the victims’ families to the condemnations of those living in the Middle Kingdom and all the way to the Monday night quarterbacking from media who not only should know better but were actually much to blame for the mess that happened.
In the din of all the hoopla surrounding this event, one man had some good to say. Alex Lacson, author of the short book “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country” and one of the better Senators we could have had if many more of us had the sense to vote for him in the May 2010 elections, gave an outstanding counterpoint to the undesirable news that continue to be churned out by our irrepressibly irresponsible media.
The Filipino Today
By Alex Lacson
After the August 23 hostage drama, there is just too much negativity about and against the Filipino.
“It is difficult to be a Filipino these days”, says a friend who works in Hongkong. “Nakakahiya tayo”, “Only in the Philippines ” were some of the comments lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles received in her Facebook. There is this email supposedly written by a Dutch married to a Filipina, with 2 kids, making a litany of the supposed stupidity or idiocy of Filipinos in general. There was also this statement by Fermi Wong, founder of Unison HongKong, where she said – “Filipino maids have a very low status in our city”. Then there is this article from a certain Daniel Wagner of Huffington Post, wherein he said he sees nothing good in our country’s future.
Clearly, the hostage crisis has spawned another crisis – a crisis of faith in the Filipino, one that exists in the minds of a significant number of Filipinos and some quarters in the world.
It is important for us Filipinos to take stock of ourselves as a people – of who we truly are as a people. It is important that we remind ourselves who the Filipino really is, before our young children believe all this negativity that they hear and read about the Filipino.
We have to protect and defend the Filipino in each one of us.
The August 23 hostage fiasco is now part of us as Filipinos, it being part now of our country’s and world’s history. But that is not all that there is to the Filipino. Yes, we accept it as a failure on our part, a disappointment to HongKong, China and to the whole world.
But there is so much more about the Filipino.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Hitler and his Nazi had killed more than 6 million Jews in Europe. But in 1939, when the Jews and their families were fleeing Europe at a time when several countries refused to open their doors to them, our Philippines did the highly risky and the unlikely –thru President Manuel L Quezon, we opened our country’s doors and our nation’s heart to the fleeing and persecuted Jews. Eventually, some 1,200 Jews and their families made it to Manila. Last 21 June 2010, or 70 years later, the first ever monument honoring Quezon and the Filipino nation for this “open door policy” was inaugurated on Israeli soil, at the 65-hectare Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
The Filipino heart is one of history’s biggest, one of the world’s rare jewels, and one of humanity’s greatest treasures.
In 2007, Baldomero M. Olivera, a Filipino, was chosen and awarded as the Scientist for the Year 2007 by Harvard University Foundation, for his work in neurotoxins which is produced by venomous cone snails commonly found in the tropical waters of Philippines. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology at University of Utah, USA. The Scientist for the Year 2007 award was given to him in recognition to his outstanding contribution to science, particularly to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins. The research conducted by Olivera’s group became the basis for the production of commercial drug called Prialt (generic name – Ziconotide), which is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction.
The Filipino mind is one of the world’s best, one of humanity’s great assets.
The Filipino is capable of greatness, of making great sacrifices for the greater good of the least of our people. Josette Biyo is an example of this. Biyo has masteral and doctoral degress from one of the top universities in the Philippines – the De La Salle University (Taft, Manila) – where she used to teach rich college students and was paid well for it. But Dr Biyo left all that and all the glamour of Manila , and chose to teach in a far-away public school in a rural area in the province, receiving the salary of less than US$ 300 a month. When asked why she did that, she replied “but who will teach our children?” In recognition of the rarity of her kind, the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States honored Dr Biyo a very rare honor – by naming a small and new-discovered planet in our galaxy as “Biyo”.
The Filipino is one of humanity’s best examples on the greatness of human spirit!
Efren Penaflorida was born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and a mother who worked as laundrywoman. Through sheer determination and the help of other people, Penaflorida finished college. In 1997, Penaflorida and his friends formed a group that made pushcarts (kariton) and loaded them with books, pens, crayons, blackboard, clothes, jugs of water, and a Philippine flag. Then he and his group would go to the public cemetery, market and garbage dump sites in Cavite City – to teach street children with reading, math, basic literacy skills and values, to save them from illegal drugs and prevent them from joining gangs. Penaflorida and his group have been doing this for more than a decade. Last year, Penaflorida was chosen and awarded as CNN Hero for 2009.
Efren Penaflorida is one of the great human beings alive today. And he is a Filipino!
Nestor Suplico is yet another example of the Filipino’s nobility of spirit. Suplico was a taxi driver In New York. On 17 July 2004, Suplico drove 43 miles from New York City to Connecticut, USA to return the US$80,000 worth of jewelry (rare black pearls) to his passenger who forgot it at the back seat of his taxi. When his passenger offered to give him a reward, Suplico even refused the reward. He just asked to be reimbursed for his taxi fuel for his travel to Connecticut. At the time, Suplico was just earning $80 a day as a taxi driver. What do you call that? That’s honesty in its purest sense. That is decency most sublime. And it occurred in New York, the Big Apple City, where all kinds of snakes and sinners abound, and a place where – according to American novelist Sydney Sheldon – angels no longer descend. No wonder all New York newspapers called him “New York ’s Most Honest Taxi Driver”. The New York City Government also held a ceremony to officially acknowledge his noble deed. The Philippine Senate passed a Resolution for giving honors to the Filipino people and our country.
In Singapore, Filipina Marites Perez-Galam, 33, a mother of four, found a wallet in a public toilet near the restaurant where she works as the head waitress found a wallet containing 16,000 Singaporean dollars (US $11,000). Maritess immediately handed the wallet to the restaurant manager of Imperial Herbal restaurant where she worked located in Vivo City Mall. The manager in turn reported the lost money to the mall’s management. It took the Indonesian woman less than two hours to claim her lost wallet intended for her son’s ear surgery that she and her husband saved for the medical treatment. Maritess refused the reward offered by the grateful owner and said it was the right thing to do.
The Filipina, in features and physical beauty, is one of the world’s most beautiful creatures! Look at this list – Gemma Cruz became the first Filipina to win Miss International in 1964; Gloria Diaz won as Miss Universe in 1969; Aurora Pijuan won Miss International in 1970; Margie Moran won Miss Universe in 1973; Evangeline Pascual was 1st runner up in Miss World 1974; Melanie Marquez was Miss International in 1979; Ruffa Gutierrez was 2nd runner up in Miss World 1993; Charlene Gonzalez was Miss Universe finalist in 1994; Mirriam Quiambao was Miss Universe 1st runner up in 1999; and last week, Venus Raj was 4th runner up in Miss Universe pageant.
I can cite more great Filipinos like Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, Leah Salonga, Manny Pacquaio, Paeng Nepomuceno, Tony Meloto, Joey Velasco, Juan Luna and Jose Rizal. For truly, there are many more great Filipinos who define who we are as a people and as a nation – each one of them is part of each one of us, for they are Filipinos like us, for they are part of our history as a people.
What we see and hear of the Filipino today is not all that there is about the Filipino. I believe that the Filipino is higher and greater than all these that we see and hear about the Filipino. God has a beautiful story for us as a people. And the story that we see today is but a fleeting portion of that beautiful story that is yet to fully unfold before the eyes of our world.
So let’s rise as one people. Let’s pick up the pieces. Let’s ask for understanding and forgiveness for our failure. Let us also ask for space and time to correct our mistakes, so we can improve our system.
To all of you my fellow Filipinos, let’s keep on building the Filipino great and respectable in the eyes of our world – one story, two stories, three stories at a time – by your story, by my story, by your child’s story, by your story of excellence at work, by another Filipino’s honesty in dealing with others, by another Pinoy’s example of extreme sacrifice, by the faith in God we Filipinos are known for.
Every Filipino, wherever he or she maybe in the world today, is part of the solution. Each one of us is part of the answer. Every one of us is part of the hope we seek for our country. The Filipino will not become a world-class citizen unless we are able to build a world-class homeland in our Philippines.
We are a beautiful people. Let no one in the world take that beauty away from you. Let no one in the world take away that beauty away from any of your children! We just have to learn – very soon – to build a beautiful country for ourselves, with an honest and competent government in our midst.
Mga kababayan, after reading this, I ask you to do two things.
First, defend and protect the Filipino whenever you can, especially among your children. Fight all this negativity about the Filipino that is circulating in many parts of the world. Let us not allow this single incident define who the Filipino is, and who we are as a people. And second, demand for good leadership and good government from our leaders. Question both their actions and inaction; expose the follies of their policies and decisions. The only way we can perfect our system is by engaging it. The only way we can solve our problem, is by facing it, head on.
We are all builders of the beauty and greatness of the Filipino. We are the architects of our nation’s success.
To all the people of HK and China, especially the relatives of the victims, my family and I deeply mourn with the loss of your loved ones. Every life is precious. My family and I humbly ask for your understanding and forgiveness.
Again, not my original. But damn if I don’t like the wit of children!
Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.
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Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.
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Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.
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Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow.
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Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
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Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.
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Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.
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Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.
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Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A: Premature death.
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Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (e.g.abdomen.)
A: The body is consisted into three parts – the brainium, the Borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.
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Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.
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Q: What does ‘varicose’ mean?
A: Nearby.
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Q: Give the meaning of the term ‘Caesarean Section’
A: The Caesarean Section is a district in Rome
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Q: What does the word ‘benign’ mean?’
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.
01
Jun
10
Winning Kontrabida Lines
As a rule, I avoid watching Pinoy telenovas like a plague. Apart from my usual whining (predictable plot, terrible acting, really bad sets and costumes), these afternoon and primetime boob-tube fodders highlight the Filipino, if not human nature, at its worst. It’s stretching my already overstretched imagination how a character can be abused for months on end every day by a truly abusive evil kontrabida and his/her family whose sole purpose in life is to plot and plan unceasingly to erase the said character and his/her family from the face of the earth. Or how the bida can be mauled and maimed and left for dead and never ever die (if the bida does die, trust that he or she will be resurrected in the telenova’s sequel (or its iteration).
Having said that, I must confess to the guilty pleasure of hearing the kontrabida’s one-liners, which I consider as the telenovela’s only saving grace. Here are a number of oldies but goodies shared by a colleague (a closet telenovela aficionado):
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20
May
10
WHAT TEACHERS MAKE
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”
To stress his point he said to another guest; “You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?”
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began…)
“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental…
“You want to know what I make?” (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)
I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.) “Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant…
You want to know what I make? “I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What do you make?”
06
Apr
10
SAYING GOODBYE (EPISODE 1)
Yesterday, I said goodbye to our car. After calling her (I finally decided it was a ‘she’) mine for the last ten years, I sold our 3rd hand, grey 1989 Daihatsu Feroza to an uncle’s acquaintance.
I never thought I’d sit down and spend time to write about a material thing, but then again, I never thought my five-year old daughter Isabel would break down in tears and cry herself to sleep before, during and after bidding her farewell on the night prior to turning her over to her new owner. During that process, I almost cried along with Isabel as I got to thinking: our old Feroza was not just a thing, or just a car. She was in many ways our first love. Looking back, I realized that the Feroza was the very first and only car I bought with my own earnings; she was my carriage during my courtship period, and the one who took me to the church on the day of our wedding. She was my steady steed who carried my pregnant wife to the hospital for the delivery of Isabel and my boy Martin and was one of the first to greet the children when both came to this world, and then safely brought them home. When my schedule permitted, our trusted Feroza ferried us to family outings in Subic, Tagaytay, Rizal and Laguna, among others places. And during the months when I went to Los Baños to direct a play for the UPLB Thespian Circle, she tirelessly and without a hitch took me back and forth.
As a car, she wasn’t perfect. She was small (had just three doors, including the compartment), chugged a lot of gas (really, a lot!), needed to be brought to the talyer almost quarterly, and was notoriously difficult to find spare parts for. For the different mechanics and auto shop dealers who looked at her, she was called instead parusa, for the headache and pain in the pocket that the Feroza supposedly brought upon me, the hapless owner. Yet for all the negative marks she got, she handled real well, was a relatively comfortable ride, was a sturdy and dependable vehicle, and once even managed to bring a 5-foot+ aparador from the store to a friend’s place (go figure!). She took on every storm and flood that came our way, but like most of us in Marikina, not even she could withstand the onslaught of Ondoy.
In her very early years, Isabel would enjoy riding in the Feroza on her car seat
For us, she was the family car. In fact, she was the only car my children ever knew. And they loved her for all she was worth. That’s why it was not entirely strange for me to relate to Isabel when she cried over an inanimate object. She was saying goodbye to her first love, here trusted companion, her friend. Without her knowing it, she was saying goodbye for me as well.
Bye car. Thanks for the ride. And the memories.
For anyone who has tuned in to the Morning Rush Mondays to Saturdays from 6-10 AM on Monster Radio RX 93.1 FM, I’m sure you’ve heard of the insane duo of Chico and Delamar. I particularly look forward to the show at the middle and top of the hour, when the two announce their Top 10 of anything (topics are suggested by listeners, who also send their answers via SMS and now Twitter). Topics can be anything, and the answers as equally unnerving, especially to the DJs. Here’s a sample of one crazy Top Ten and the equally riotous answers:
The Top Ten Stupid Answers To Game Show Questions – sent in by Sasha Purse
Blasphemous – Q: “Ano sa Tagalog ang teeth?” A: “Utong!”
Carlo of Taguig – Q: “Kung ang light ay ilaw, ano naman ang lightning?” A: “Umiilaw!”
Pancho – Q: “Kung vegetarian ang tawag sa kumakain ng gulay, ano ang tawag sa kumakain ng tao? A: “Humanitarian?”
Joan C – Q: “Sina Michael at Raphael ay mga…” A: “Ninja?”
Potpot/Simplyme – Q: “Ano ang karaniwang kasunod ng kidlat?” A: “Sunog!”
Arcueid – Q: “Magbigay ng sikat na Willie.” A: “Willie da pooh!”
Raimon – Q: “Ang mga Hindu ay galing sa aling bansa?” A: “Hindunesia?”
Bonnjeru – Q: “Anong hayop si King Kong?” A: “Pagong!”
MaudeEvans – Q: “Magbigay ng mabahong pagkain.” A: “Tae!”
Supertanker – Q: “Saang bansa matatagpuan ang mga Canadians?” A: “Canadia!”
RC & Cess – Q: “Kumpletuhin – Little Red…” A: “Ribbon!”
Jose de Vengenge – Q: “Ano ang tinatanggal sa itlog bago ito kainin?” A: “Buhok?”
Arcueid – Q: “Magbigay ng pagkain na dumidikit sa ngipin.” A: “Tinga!”
LilMaui – Q: “Anong oras kadalasang pinapatay ang TV?” A: “Pag balita?”
Katherine – Q: “Ano ang tawag mo sa anak ng taong grasa?” A: “Baby oil?”
RC & Cess – Q: “Saan karaniwang ginagawa ang mga sweets na ginagamit sa halu-halo?”
A: “Sweetserland?”
RC & Cess – Q: “Sinong higanteng G ang tinalo ni David?” A: “Godzilla?”
LilRedShiningNips – Q: “Ano ang mas malaki, itlog ng ibon o sanggol ng tao?” A: “Itlog ng tao!”
Jose de Vengenge – Q: “Anong S ang tawag sa duktor nag nago-opera?” A: “Sadista?”
Ned – Q: “Blank is the best policy.” A: “Ice tea?”
Boc – Q: “Anong parte ng itlog ang masarap?” A: “Yung tangkay?”
Espeks – Q: “Saan binaril si Jose Rizal?” A: “Sa likod!”
No Angel – Q: “Fill in the blanks – Beauty is in the eye of the ____.” A: “Tiger?”
No name – Q: “Ano ang kinakain ng monkey-eating eagle?” A: “Saging!”
No name – Q: “Kung ang suka ay vinegar, ano naman ang Inggles ng toyo?” A: “Baliw!”
Kayee – Q: “Anong tawag mo sa kapatid ng nanay mo?” A: “Kamag-anak!”
Kid Bukid – Q: “Saan nakukuha ang sakit na AIDS?” A: “Sa motel?”
His Cuteness – Q: “Kung ang H2O ay water, ano naman ang CO2?” A: “Cold water!”
Katuray – Q: “Sinong cartoon charcater ang sumisigaw ng yabba dabba doo?” A: “Si scooby dooby doo?”
Loipogi – Q: “Heto na si kaka, bubuka-bukaka.” A: “Operadang bakla?”
litzkrieg – Q: “Ilan ang bituin sa American flag?” A: “Madami!”
Adakrab 14 – Q: “Ano ang tawag mo sa taong isa lang ang mata?” A: “Abnormal!”
Enjoy more of these nuggets of wit and wisdom from Chico’s blog www.chicogarcia.wordpress.com.
01
Jan
10
Ten in 2010
Another year gone, a new one begins. For 2010, I thought I’d start off the year by looking at the reasons to celebrate it. Partly because 2009 was such a bum year, with all the scandals and calamities that dominated it that I’m hard-pressed to sound hopeful. And partly because, as the priest said during the New Year mass, to start off right, with a sense of purpose and direction, and to start off with God. So I’ll put my biases aside and try to remember that every new year is God’s gift to us, a new chance to see the good in everything and to make a change in our own lives so we can make a difference in the lives of others.
1. Jojo celebrates her 40th birthday
My wife’s birthday in January will be her 40th. Midway through life and I know she’s got a lot of reasons to be proud of. Despite her simplicity, Jojo has lived her life well and has accomplished much in four decades. I and my kids are looking forward to celebrating this birthday.
2. Batch 85 turns 25
Silver Jubilarians! Come February 6, members of Roosevelt College Cainta’s Batch 85 will host the Grand Alumni Celebration, marking 25 years after we graduated from the school. Months before the big event, we’ve already been meeting up and having activities to prepare for the get-together. Already, we’ve assembled 71 from the batch and 22 from our section Archimedes. A number of those based abroad are flying in just for the occasion. Twenty five years after, I’m looking forward to meeting up with everyone from our batch. It’s a special group of people with whom I’ve shared a special time growing up, and it’s time we spent a special day together. Mabuhay Batch 85!
3. UPLB Thespian Circle celebrates two decades
I and a bunch of idealists (dreamers) once decided in college to put up a theater organization because, well, we wanted to act but didn’t want to go through the audition process. We never imagined that others would join this joyride in March of 1990, much less dreamed that the organization would continue on until today. Well, the dream lives on, with some 50 productions to take pride in (one of which I directed last year). Happy 20th anniversary, UPLB Thespian Circle! And hats off to our beloved and forever adviser, Jean Claire Fernandez. Por nostro circolo!
4. Petron moves to Ortigas
In 2008, Petron Corporation – the company I work for – became part of the San Miguel group. The country’s largest oil refining and marketing company was now a member of the Philippines’ biggest food conglomerate. It was a major happening, to say the least, and put a lot of questions over the future not only of Petron but al the people working in it, myself included. However, change is inevitable and one of the changes come March will be the company’s transfer from Makati to San Miguel’s sprawling compound in the Ortigas CBD. A new building. A new set-up. A new start.
5. Making the right choice for the country
National elections will be held in May and despite the circus atmosphere that this activity brings, this is also a chance for us to give hope back to the country: by choosing the best person for public office. Granted that as usual, it’s slim pickings from a supposedly bountiful crop of candidates, we can still choose to make an effort in deciding carefully who to vote for. We can choose to see beyond the TV ads and campaign rhetorics and the requests for favor of friends and relatives and simply make the right decision. We have only one country and it’s time to take it back.
6. Isabel goes on to the big school…How time flies! It’s as if I just started my daughter off in pre-school yesterday and now, she’s about to move on to the big school. In June, Isabel will be entering Prep in St. Bridget QC or St. Scholastica Marikina, depending on the results of her entrance exams. It just dawned on me that she is fast growing up. Her world is getting bigger, and pretty soon, she won’t be daddy’s little girl anymore. I’ll be sad but I’ll also be enormously proud to see her grow.
7. …while Martin enters pre-school
At the same time, my son Martin replaces his ate at the pre-school. My little boy is also growing up and is about to wreak his brand of havoc in school, as all little boys do. I’m excited to se him don his school uniform and do homework.
8. Jojo and I mark seven years of togetherness
Most other couples dread turning seven years, associating it with the proverbial seven-year itch. I hope this remains a proverb. Despite the fact that ours has not been a perfect relationship the last six years, it’s a union that I know will last. Everyday, I just keep on realizing how lucky I am to have won my wife Jojo in the great lottery of life. She has been absolutely caring as a partner and incomparable as a mother to our two kids. I can’t imagine going through life without her.
9. We’re getting a new car
It’s a target that I pray I achieve by the end of 2010. In fairness to our 1989 Feroza, it’s been a dependable car that my kids have grown up to and love dearly. But it’s getting too small for comfort, too expensive to maintain, and figuratively speaking, is being held together only by band-aid. It’s time to get a new and bigger one. But if we can afford it, we’ll keep the old Feroza for the shorter trips and short errands. And for old times’ sake.
10. Blog on and blog more in 2010
Well, here’s to adding more nonsense in cyberspace. Unless some restless soul stumbles into my blog and actually finds it worth reading or — heaven forbid – a helpful and useful site. Either way, I figure that as a writer, I should be putting thoughts on paper (or in this case, in a blog) for whatever it’s worth.
