The World of Second Chances

Five Things That I Will Do For A Better Philippines

July 1, 2010

Life & Love

June 30 gave me an opportunity to slow down. I spent the day just relaxing while watching PNoy’s inauguration. Contrary to speculations, there was a peaceful transfer of government from ex-PGMA to PNoy. PMGA looked cheerful when she welcomed PNoy. I didn’t see a trace of her being negative and regretful that she would no longer be the highest elected government official on the Philippines. It must be the fallback, huh? She won as Congresswoman in Pampanga. The Pampangueños must really love her so much.

The four Aquino sisters were beautiful at their yellow gown. Ballsy’s beauty is that of a colegiala, sosyalin!. Pinky’s bangs made her ten years younger, I mistook her for cousin Jackie Aquino! Viel’s angelic face resembles that of cousin Mikee Cojuangco. The youngest Kris was a stand out in her yellow gown. Oh, she handled her personal problems well. I didn’t see her gloomy at the occasion. (I was hoping that James would attend. Sad!)

PNoy is regarded by his supporters as the messiah who would save us from our economic, social, political and maybe spiritual problem. The presidency is no easy task so I think it would be better if we start changing our mindsets in time for the new government.

These are the five things that I intend to do for a better Philippines:

1. I will work harder to attain 100% financial freedom.
– They say that you cannot give what you do not have. At present, I am sending my youngest brother to school. Such a noble act, isn’t it? But this is what I learned from my Japanese sponsors in college: share whatever you have. Offer scholarships to poor but deserving kids even if it means sacrificing some of your luxuries in life. Ok, very noble! But I am also working for my family! So, I think that to be able to afford some of life’s luxuries while helping others, then I need to be 100% financially independent. Financial independence means that I have a positive cash flow. Walang malaking utang.

2. I will continue to study and hone my craft.
– I can’t stop at my current position. I need to learn the latest in engineering and business administration to be able to mentor the people under me. The Indians are good at IT because they persevered for it. Are the Filipinos regarded as good in Engineering? Maybe yes. It’s the reason why Singapore, Taiwan and China hire Filipino Engineers. But can you tell me how you were treated compared to your Chinese or at least Malaysian counterparts?

3. I will teach my kids to speak, write, pronounce and understand English.
– Grammar police, arrrest me! I don’t claim to be flawless when it comes to speaking the King’s language. In fact, until now, I am still lost for some English words. I notice that most of our young children and teenagers today find it hard to express in English. It’s very different during the 80’s when even public school kids speak and write good English. Are we deteriorating? Yes. Most of the people here at the office can write good English but cannot speak in straight English. I think that it’s my duty as a parent to teach my kids good English. We don’t live in a community where English is the means of communication. It’s the countryside where the Tagalogs live.

4. I will stay beautiful inside and out.
– False spirituality teaches us not to focus on physical beauty because what is important is inner beauty; the spirituality itself. I beg to disagree. We have eyes to appreciate what is beautiful and what is not beautiful. Physical beauty is about maintaing a good skin, good set of teeth, good smile, good health and clean finger and toe nails. Being beautiful inside and out radiates and affects other people. I will affect other people by staying beautiful inside and out.

5. I will be more disciplined.
– I will religiously segregate the biodegradables from non-biodegradable wastes. I will follow the traffic rules. I will be on time for appointments. And I will teach or influence my family and friends to do the same.

There’s a lot to do more than those mentioned above. But I will start from there. 🙂
Good-bye, Viveka!

June 28, 2010

Life & Love

Sixteen years ago, Gabby Concepcion was the most sought-after leading man in Philippine showbiz. Ruffa Gutierrez’ acting was considered inferior to that of Aiko Melendez’ acting prowess. Edu was a good actor but lacked that matinee idol status. Aiko had better acting skills than Ruffa but Ruffa had better showbiz connections. If Ruffa would win, nobody would question that. Likewise with Gabby; he had Lolit Solis while Edu had June Rufino. Not that June Rufino was an inferior manager but Lolit had wider showbiz connections than her.

Viveka Babajee was involved in this high profile showbiz case when she asked Rocky Gutierrez to take (Take it! Take it!) the envelopes containing the real winners’ name, Edu and Aiko. Viveka was Ms. Mauritius 1994 and represented her country in the 1994 Ms. Universe beauty pageant held in Manila, Philippines. She could have been another Michelle Van Eimeren who turned out to be a good host or Dayanara Torres who was a well-loved dancing host/foreign actress. But after becoming involved in the Filmfest contoversy, she left the Philippines and the people remembered her as the one who connived with Lolit to swap the envelopes.

Time had been good to her. In India, she became a famous supermodel and product endorser. Her looks even improved. She found her second home next to Mauritius.

Friends claimed that she was a strong and helpful woman. They could not imagine Viveka taking that extreme step; that of taking her own life. She had 2,000 friends from her Facebook account yet not one of them really knew what was inside her mind days before she took her own life.

Beauty, success, connections, power, money—she had them all. What could be lacking in her life?

We’ll never know.

Good-bye, Viveka. Take my prayers with you wherever you’ll go in the afterlife. Take it, Viveka. Take it.
I Miss You, I’m Sorry, I Love You

June 23, 2010

Life & Love

I miss my friends. Terribly. I miss those friends whom I used to exchange life updates. I miss the small talks, the little gossips and funny chats. I miss my late mother. I miss talking with her about anything under the sun. I miss laughing at our own silly mistakes. I miss my late grandmother who taught me how to love unconditionally.

I’m sorry for not having enough time for my kids because their mom is a busy careerwoman. I’m sorry for not having enough time to visit my friends and relatives in the province. I’m sorry for being too stubborn to my husband at times.

I love you, my brothers and father. Nothing has changed when I got married. You can still count on me and you know that.

I love you, my children even if I appear too strict at times (specially to the older one).

I love you, Miel. It’s the reason why I chose you among the rest–you’re simply the kind of person who I can share my bad side with. I deleted my past in the story of my life when I decided to start my life with you.
My Mt. Pinatubo Experience (Part 1)

June 22, 2010

Filipino Culture

My youngest brother was only a week old when the first major eruption of Mt. Pinatubo occurred. I can’t remember the exact date if it was June 12. Definitely, it was June of 1991.

I was hanging the clothes at our backyard when I noticed a big mushroom-like formation in the sky. I called my mother who was then busy attending the baby. She went outside and told me that the volcano somewhere in between Zambales and Pampanga probably had a major eruption. There were news before the major eruption that Mt. Pinatubo, considered as an inactive volcano, had signs of activation. I had no idea about volcanic eruptions then. I thought, well, that was cool!

At 10:30 AM, that mushroom-like formation rapidly conquered the skies of Bataan. It didn’t look like 10:30 AM that time…well, I thought that maybe, that was just the way it should be.

“There will be an ashfall later. Get yourself prepared,” my mother said in a still very calm voice.

I sensed that it was not normal to have a dark sky at 10:30 AM even if there’s an approaching typhoon. I sensed that that ash fall could cause harm to the people. What about my youngest brother? What about us?

1:30 PM, I received a telephone call from Shellah to inform me of the little granites that were falling along with the volcanic ash. We were neighbors so we agreed to meet outside our house to witness that “spectacular” event.

Under our umbrella, we were happily chatting as if we were in the middle of a snowy field. The ashfall was just spectacular (our sunflowers wouldn’t agree as they were the first casualties of the ashfall!)

We noticed that our neighbors were sweeping the ashfall on their roof. We didn’t do the same thing. Fortunately, our roof was strong enough to hold the weight of the ashfall.

Classes were suspended afterwards. Our sunflowers died because of chemical reaction, I guess. My skin was irritated and so were my eyes. This was not fun anymore!

A lot of people lost their livelihood. Some people lost a family member. From an innocent happy experience, I became very upset about how this volcano was affecting the lives of the people in Central Luzon.

(with continuation)
There’s A Way To Be Good Again

June 22, 2010

Life & Love

I am aware that I am not as good as a person today than three years ago.

There are people that I hate now. Heck, I used to love everybody before.

There are offenses that I consider unforgivable; I even declared WAR against those offenders.

Hate…. Why do I keep hatred in my heart now?

I remember myself to be a very forgiving and broadminded person.

Could it be the bitter experiences?
Does it mean that I’m emotionally stronger now because I can bear to burn bridges with the ones that I used to love?

I don’t know.

I am not happy with what I am now. I know that there’s a way to be good again. I just have to trust the people around me—not all of them are vultures, anyway.

Yes, there’s a way to be good again.
Working Girls, The Movie

June 21, 2010

That’s Entertainment

I was a young girl when the original Working Girls was shown. Hindi pa uso ang girl power nun! Sa original na Working Girls, pinakita ang glamour ng pagtatrabaho sa Makati. Ganun naman kasi dati ang impression, basta’t sa Makati ka nagtatrabaho, sosyal ka! (Ngayon, meron ng Ortigas at Taguig at normal na lang na magtrabaho ka sa mga sosyaling lugar na ito.)

Bakit ko nasabing di pa uso ang girl power nung ipalabas ang pelikulang Working Girls? Kasi, ang mga babae nung panahon na yun ay pinaghihinto sa kanilang career ng kanilang asawa dahil kaya naman ng lalaking buhayin ang pamilya. How I wish ganyan din ang set up ngayon,no! Ngayon, double income na nga kayo pero parang andami pa ring bayarin at gastusin!

Iba ang inaasahan ko sa Working Girls na pinagbibidahan nila Ruffa Gutierrez, Eula Valdez, Eugene Domingo, Bianca King, Cristine Reyes at Jennylyn Mercado. Inaasahan ko ang mas malaman na kwento tungkol sa mga adventures at misadventures ng mga working women. Isa-isahin natin ang roles nila at kung ano ang relevance nila sa pelikula.

Ruffa Gutierrez- ano ba ang work nya sa movie? Asawa sya ng isang mayamang matandang namatay na nag-iwan sa kanya ng naluluging negosyo at limang milyong piso na tadtad ng bayarin at tax. Her husband also left her a bitchy daughter who wouldn’t stop in making her life miserable. Bukod sa pa-party-party at minsanang meeting sa kanyang corporate lawyer, wala namang substance ang pagiging CEO nya. I can’t remember of a scene na pinakitang CEO nga sya. If there will be a part 2, sana mag-focus ang story sa corporate life nya at hindi puro social life with Eula Valdes and Carmi Martin who played her socialite friends in the movie.

Eula Valdes- She’s STILL hot at forty-something! No wonder, Rocky Salumbides is head over heals in love with her. She’s my favorite characted in the film. Feeling ko, derived from Dr. Vicki Belo ang role nya.

Eugene Domingo- Sige na nga, isama na ang mga self-employed sa pelikulang ito. Her chemistry with Ricky Davao na gaya nyang street smart is good. In fact, I wish hindi na sila magkabalikan ni Antonio Aquitanias sa movie. Antonio played as her womanizing and lazy husband. I love Eugene’s role because it’s so real—mga babaeng nagsisikap para sa pamilya; her kids go to school at Ateneo! Sosyal!

Christine Reyes- The promo girl! Sana binigyan ng konting substance ang role nya. Kainis kasi sya dito at ang wish mo lang eh i-dump din sya ng lalaki gaya ng ginawa nya sa role ni Carlo Aquino.

Jennylyn Mercado- Pwedeng ibigay sa lesser star ang papel nya–that is, kung hindi naman mag-e-evolve ang kwento. Sana pinakita ang sacrifices ng mga single moms. Sana kung may sequel, ipakita na single moms can still find their Mr. Right.

Bianca King- Girl, bakit parang lagi kang galit? Hehehe…Is it just the role or what? Or nasanay lang ako sa Bawana role mo? Bianca should loosen a little; irritating minsan ang matapang na dating ng personality nya. Maybe the role calls for it.

Sa sequel, sana magkaroon ng interaction ang poor working girls na sila Eugene, Jennylyn at Cristine at ang sosyal na working girls na sila Eula at Ruffa. And please include Ms. Carmi Martin, ha! Carmi never changed—at forty-something, she’s still very attractive!
Today, I’ll Face My Goliath

June 21, 2010

Career, Finance & Product

Who is my Goliath?

—–It’s my stressful job.

But today, I’m gonna face it like what little David did.

I maybe a David in the eyes of this Goliath-like company but I am confident enough that with God’s help, I can make it through each stressful day.

Thanks, Bo Sanchez for publishing this book about how to conquer our Goliaths!

Today, I’ll face my Goliath with all my strength!