The World of Second Chances

Typhoon Ulysses in Central Luzon

November 17, 2020

Life & Love

I seldom watch the news on TV and the only source of weather update that I have is Facebook. I was aware of the incoming typhoon (Ulysses) but did not expect it to be a super-typhoon like Rolly, after all, the Philippines is a typhoon-prone country. We just needed to prepare for the storm surge or flash floods.

The day just went normal, it was even humid. There was little trace of the incoming typhoon Ulysses except for the number of insects that went out of hiding. By 10:00 PM, it was raining in Central Luzon but not as hard as a typhoon-rain. Meanwhile, in Bicol Region, Ulysses has started to devastate the provinces who were affected by the earlier typhoons like Rolly.

By 1:00 AM, strong winds were beginning to be felt in our area so Meralco had to cut off the power supply for safety reasons. An hour later, the winds
sounded like whistling wolves. The last time I heard of these sounds was two decades ago.

Between 3:30 AM to 4:30 AM, the rain poured heavily as if an ocean of water was thrown against our house. Then the wind blew harder and created slamming sounds against our roof.
I was saving my phone battery so I turned off the data. I was unaware of what was happening outside of our subdivision and the rest of Central Luzon, as well.

It was a long agony of strong winds and heavy rains. The skies were clear by 9:26 AM the following day. I turned on my data to get some updates and to my surprise, the barangay next to us was flooded! What was even more unfortunate was the damage the typhoon has done to Cagayan Valley and NCR (Marikina and Pasig)!

Somehow, I felt guilty for the small inconveniences that I felt when there was no electricity and water supply. By the way, until now, our water supply is limited but it is nothing as compared to the pain and loss of the most affected typhoon victims.

I pray that 2021 will be a better year for all of us.
2020 hit us hard but with everyone’s love and support, we can rise again.
Here’s A Free E-Book For You

November 10, 2020

Poems & Stories

one-day-at-a-time-1-1 Download

This is a compilation of my daily thoughts, small success and struggles.

I wish to spread hope and love in this pandemic. 🙂

PS: If you liked the e-book, please share this post.
Sarah Balabagan’s Revelation

August 28, 2020

Life & Love

It was in 1995 when Filipina domestic helper Flor Contemplacion was sentenced to death by hanging in Singapore. It was a sad day for the Filipino people back then. A year later, another Filipina hit the headlines for serving her 100 strokes of cane together with blood money. She is Sarah Balabagan.

Sarah Balabagan grew up in a poor family in Sultan Kudarat. She did not finish her grade school because of poverty. At a young age of 14, she left her hometown to become a domestic helper in United Arab Emerates. Her recruiters faked her age. Her employer was old enough to be her grandfather. There were early signs of her employer’s sexual advances that she reported to her recruiters but they disregarded her cries for help so she had no choice but to stay with her employer. At 15 years old, Sarah Balabagan killed her employer when he tried to rape her.

At 17 years old, she came back to the Philippines with a hero’s welcome after serving her 3-year jail term and receiving 100 strokes of the cane. The blood money amounting to US$41,000 was donated by businessman Mr. William Gatchalian, father of Senator Win Gatchalian and Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian. Sarah became the symbol of every OFW’s risk and struggles in the hands of their employers. She became an overnight sensation. With her natural beauty and talent, she tried to become a singer and even had a collaboration with Geri Halliwell of Spice Girls. To immortalize her plight, Viva Films made a film out of it which starred popular teen star Vina Morales.

Sarah Balabagan’s world turned a hundred and eighty degrees for the better but her ordeals would not be far from over. Rumors about how her family demanded money from her circulated but Sarah was gracious not to talk about it. The Sarah Balabagan fever from 1996 to 1997 ended abruptly when she became missing in action from 1998 and onwards. At 19 years old, she was rumored to have given birth and people were quick to point fingers at Mr. Roy Seneres, Mr. William Gatchalian, and Mr. Rey Langit as the possible father. Still, Sarah kept her silence. There were occasional mentions of Arnold Clavio as the fourth suspect but most people found it hard to believe that a very much married and respected journalist would take advantage of a young woman’s vulnerability. With Sarah Balabagan’s continued silence, another Sarah quickly rose in the music world. Of course, most of us are aware that in 2002, Sarah Geronimo bagged the 1st prize on the singing contest “Star for a Night.”

Sarah Balabagan kept a low profile from 1998 to August 2020 when she decided it was time for her to reveal the father of her firstborn. While most young people are shocked beyond belief, those who have heard the rumors before simply took it as an “it’s about time” confession.

Whether Sarah Balabagan’s confession has something to do with Arnold Clavio’s anti-Duterte tirades or not, I think that it is about time to put to rest her daughter’s paternity issue. Sarah has been silent since 1998 and isn’t it too long a time to keep a secret that nearly destroyed other personalities like Mr. Roy Seneres, Mr. William Gatchalian, and Mr. Rey Langit?

I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to Arnold Clavio about his reason for not openly admitting his lovechild maybe out of respect to his wife and children. As long as there are child support and a conscious effort to be part of his child’s life, then there should be no further issue about it.

In the end, I hope that Sarah and her child have found their peace together with their family. I hope that Arnold Clavio’s wife and children receive comforting messages, too because whether they like it or not, it would hurt them to see him being attacked by netizens. And for Arnold Clavio, so much has been said about you. You can be critical of any person’s wrongdoings without losing your cool.
Through Night And Day

July 15, 2020

That’s Entertainment

Note: May contain spoilers.

“Through Night and Day” is the latest talk of the town because of its tearjerking break-up story about a long-time couple who is about to get married. The big question is, why would Ben dump his long-time girlfriend/fiance just because he thinks that their personalities are poles apart?

To answer this, we need to understand that the ex-couple started their relationship when they were in high school. As we know, most high school sweethearts do not end up with each other because either of them will outgrow the other. In their case, they managed to sustain their relationship until they were mature and independent enough to supposedly head to married life. The problem is, Ben was stuck with the idea that Jen was the ideal girl for him. He put her on a pedestal and romanticized whatever shortcomings he felt Jen had.

In real life, we tend to forgive the annoying behaviors of our girl/boyfriend in the hope that maybe she/he will mature or change. Living in separate houses makes us more forgiving, too because we don’t want to end the day fighting.

Therefore, when Ben realized that Jen was not the ideal girl he thought she was, he was not only lost but disillusioned. He was disillusioned to the point of forgetting whatever past they shared. It was like realizing that oil and water could never mix. He did not bother to check on Jen unlike what most ex-boyfriends normally do. He just wanted to proceed with his life and find another girl who would be his ideal girl.

If Jen is not sick, do you think Ben will bother to visit her and renew their friendship? I don’t think so because his original plan was just to finalize the selling of the family-owned bar. Ben felt guilty about leaving Jen so he made amends for his mistakes.

The bottom line, forgiveness is the main theme of the movie followed by the realization that if we truly love a person, we need to accept them at their worst, too. I hope that Ben learned his lesson from his failed first relationship in the same way that most of us become better partners after a previous relationship.
Researching a Topic to Write About

July 3, 2020

Poems & Stories

Writing any random topic is easy but the question is if the readers will like it or not. In the age of eCommerce, online marketing, and even SEO (search engine optimization) wherein a good content can be monetized, it is important to know what kind of topic we want to present to our readers in the first place.
The internet is a very useful tool in researching for the trending topic. If you are a personal blogger and want to gain more views, check what is trending and who are your intended readers. Take note that not all trending topics equate to viewership so you need to discern which topic to choose from.
Another way is to check the trending topics on Twitter and create content out of it. However, if your blog is not yet established, this trick might not help because not all Twitter users are blog searchers or readers.
Knowing the demographics of your blog can help in finding a good topic to write about. If you have a wide viewership, you can research about a trending topic in the country or location where your readers are based.
The quickest way to research a topic for your content is to check the trending topics of the top bloggers or influencers and create your own content or interpretation. The psychology of this is because people are hungry for more information about something that they are curious or amused about.
If you are a movie fanatic, you can write a review about the latest blockbuster movie. Movie fans take delight in finding a good movie review about their idols. On the other hand, those who are unsure whether they want to watch the movie will need the review to convince themselves.
To sum it all, if your blog does not have a large following yet, it is important that organic searching leads them to your site. Of course, a good topic is the pre-requisite to achieve that goal.
When Good Employees Must Leave

June 26, 2020

Career, Finance & Product
Let’s talk about retrenchment as it is a very timely topic.

Left and right, we hear about companies letting go of their people. The tourism industry was greatly affected and so companies in the aviation business started laying-off their people as early as March. Tourist destinations were closed and the usually crowded places like Baguio imposed a very strict lockdown protocol that even their locally stranded individuals (LSI) had a hard time returning home. And just when we were getting used to the Airbnb services, these too were directly hit by the pandemic.

What could be one of any organization’s challenging decisions than letting go of their GOOD employees?Certainly, we’re talking about those employees who are performers; those who would walk an extra mile just to get the job done; those employees whose reliability cannot be questioned; those who would sacrifice a little comfort just to deliver; those who are respectful and team-players; those who are smart and do not need much supervision; those who have no attendance or tardiness problem because they respect everyone’s time. In short, who in their right minds and fair hearts would let go of such employees?

We all want to have good employees on our team. And the worst part of this Covid-19 crisis is the decision to let go of the good ones. Thus, it is forgivable if some companies find it hard to tell the employment status of their good employees. Maybe they’re avoiding the drama. Perhaps they’re thinking more than thrice if they can still reverse the management’s decision. Possibly, they just want their good employees to take the cue and leave.

But, should management keep silent on their manpower plans and just wait for the right time to announce the lay-off? Surprisingly, the answer must be YES.

Yes, the management should avoid any pre-mature press release until the following are final:
1. retrenchment package
2. reorganization
3. turnover plan
Under Article 298 of the Labor Code, companies are allowed to scale down its operations in order to save themselves from further losses. Retrenched employees are given either a full-month salary or a half-month salary x 15 days x years in service—whichever is higher. Please take note that this is just a basic computation as packages differ from company to company.

The company must ready the reorganization plan because letting go of people means the transfer of tasks to the employees that will be left behind. On the other hand, some companies assess their workforce and redesign the table of organization to simplify the roles and tasks. The challenging part of the reorganization is assigning leaders who are capable of unifying their members to achieve the company’s new goals. Don’t forget to consider the concerns of those employees who would be left behind because there could be undocumented tasks that they are doing that could add to their workload. In short, re-organized tasks must be written because new KPIs and deliverables are expected to emerge from these changes.

Once the reorganization plan is done, it’s now time to talk to the employees that would be retrenched to prepare them for the turnover activity. Retrenchment letter must be sent to the concerned employees by mail or through e-mail. Definitely, it pays to be transparent and empathetic, too by informing them ahead of these notifications about their employment status. Effective communication and honesty are important when telling people about their work termination because if not, the turnover plan will not be successful.

Bosses can also offer to recommend the retrenched employees to other companies who might need their services. It is called an outplacement program. It creates a friendly exit between the bosses and the employees instead of bad memories. Who knows, you’ll end up working in the same company someday. Even luckier, what if your former staff becomes your boss or CEO years later? Nothing is impossible, right?

When it seems that there is no hope, remember that good employees never run out of jobs; whenever, wherever.

We are not just talking about employment opportunities here but other activities that are income-generators, as well. There’s a story about a flight attendant who used her cooking and baking skills to sell foods while on lockdown. I personally know of retrenched employees who put up a sari-sari store, a motor shop and also those who turned turned pottery and plant hobbies into business. The shift to homebased jobs or online jobs through the freelancing sites also give people an opportunity to earn while taking care of the household. It takes a lot of courage to start over again in these difficult times. I call it a leap of faith.
Happy Father’s Day

June 19, 2020

Life & Love

Happy Father’s Day!

Some dads are tough.

Some dads are gentle.

Some dads are loud.

Some dads are timid.

Some dads are rich.

Some dads are poor.

Some dads are still with us.

Some dads are gone for good.

Wherever, whenever, greet your dad on this special day.

Let’s talk about retrenchment as it is a very timely topic.

But, should management keep silent on their manpower plans and just wait for the right time to announce the lay-off? Surprisingly, the answer must be YES.

When it seems that there is no hope, remember that good employees never run out of jobs; whenever, wherever.