K for K

So want to go here, but my knees are failing me..

Of Death

(Photo source: http://www.gmanews.tv)

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde's untimely death came as a total surprise, as Jen was telling me about it on the way to ATC yesterday. I don't know the man personally. Heck, I don't even remember his face! Lol. I haven't read any of this articles nor watched him intently in the news.

OK, what actually caught me by surprise was the fact that he died alone in his bathroom at a very young age of 51. I haven't read or seen much news about his death (because I haven't been watching TV recently), but Jen was telling me that the Press Secretary lived alone here in Manila and that his family was based in Cebu. Upon hearing that, I thought that his passing was such a sad way to go; he died without his family by his side. And he lived his recent years just working and working away from his family.

Some of us, we work hard in building our careers or in engaging in our businesses. We sometimes fail to spend time with family and friends. We fail to create time for recreation. We think, "I'll just relax and spend time with friends and family when I retire from work. I'll have the time then." But this sudden passing of Remonde should remind us that time is of the essence and that life is truly short. We do not know when we'll go and how sudden or how prolonged death will come to us. The retirement age that we envision may not even come upon us. Our time may be up before we know it.

So live life NOW. Spend time with people who are important to you NOW. Yes, do not forget responsibilities, but do not also forget your loved ones. Try to always be happy and to feel blessed and grateful (I'm also saying this to myself! hehe).

Kris Allen in Manila!

I wanna see this!!!

Shine Your Light

(Photo source: CNN.com)

On last night's The Correspondents:

Karen Davila: Two thousand pesos a month?

Efren Penaflorida: Hindi naman po ako nagstay for the money; this is for the kids. Tingin ko po eto ung calling ng Lord sa akin. Kung saan kang nilagay na darkness, you have to shine.. shine your light.

Very well said.

Them Child Assassins

(Photo courtesy of current.com)

Over lunch yesterday, my officemates and I got into the topic of children in Maguindanao being trained to kill at a very young age. It was told that, at age 12, kids are taught to have no mercy and to kill without remorse. And if they suddenly grew a conscience and refuse to kill those they were tasked to exterminate, the kids have to exchange their conscience for their life. So, everything comes to just one choice: they kill or they will be killed. Not a good set of options right?

The talk about these kids being trained to kill people led me into thinking that what a blessing it is that I was born into a life, an environment, and a family in which I did not have that kind of dilemma, the dilemma of having to choose between my life or another's. I am blessed to be born into a life that opens different opportunities for me to excel, to dream, and to be happy. I am blessed to be born into a relatively safer place with no ongoing war, no soldiers constantly on the move, no fear of continuous gunshots and grenade bombings. I am blessed to be born into a family who gave me a baby doll for a toy and not a baby armalite, who let me run with my playmates and not run after men to kill, who taught me my ABCs and not how to dislodge a grenade. I am indeed blessed. How then can I be not thankful for the life given to me?

Jollibee MaAga ang Pasko

(Photo courtesy of mushings)

Yey! Jollibee Foundation finally replied to the e-mail I sent them last week. I inquired if they were still accepting volunteers for the Jollibee MaAga ang Pasko Clean-up Activity.

Actually, I wasn't aware that there was such activity. I was scanning through the website of Hands on Manila (HOM; of which I am a registered volunteer), looking for updates. There I saw that HOM is a partner of Jollibee Foundation on this endevour. The Cleanup Activity is meant for the cleaning and sorting of all the donated secondhand toys and books received by the different Jollibee branches nationwide. The said event is ongoing until end of December at the Jollibee warehouse at Rockefeller St. in Makati.

Anyway, Miki of Jollibee Foundation, in her email response, referred me to another colleague, who, she said, would contact me regarding my inquiry. So, no finalities yet. It might have been too late for me to ask them, or there may no longer be any slots for new volunteers. In any case, I just hope they contact me real soon, so I could squeeze it in my packed December schedule. If my schedule doesn't permit, then I just have to forego it and maybe be real early next year in emailing them. =)

If anyone is interested in joining me on this, just comment. Thanks!

Walls of Hope

I am so excited! On the 19th, my friend Mazel and I will be volunteering for Walls of Hope to help them paint the entire first floor of the Phillipine Children's Medical Center. The murals really need repainting. As the ad said, artists and nonartists will be painting side by side to refurbish the walls of the hospital and bring joy to the kids afflicted with sickness currently confined there.

Wanna come?

Tara na!

Cebupac's on sale!!

From now until tomorrow, all domestic destinations and flights from Manila to Taipei and Kota Kinabalu, and from Clark to Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Bangkok can be had at a ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare of P999.

Flights from Manila to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Macau and Guangzhou, and flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Manila and Cebu are at a seat sale price of P1,499.

Flights from Manila to Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta, and flights to Incheon from Manila or Cebu, and to Busan from Cebu are for only P1,999.

Going to Japan? Manila-Osaka flights are available at the ‘Go' fare of P1,999.

Travel period is from January 1 to March 31, 2010.

Yey! Hoping I could book a MLA-SG-MLA or MLA-HK-MLA for March!

Claudine and Change

Caught this in the news yesterday. After being with ABS-CBN 2 for the longest time (I wouldn't know how many years exactly; i'm not a fan.), Claudine finally hopped fences and joined rival network GMA7. At first, I found it weird. She is the face of Star Magic, one of the most prized possesions of ABS-CBN. Seeing her make that huge move makes one think what could have happened. Anyway, that is none of my business. What just stuck me was the realization that change really in inevitable. Your friends now may no longer be your friends tomorrow. Your enemies now may become your BFFs tomorrow. Your life now may not be the same in the future. There is always change. And that statement is never easy to accept to most, especially to some who dread change (like me!).

They say change is always good. I say, yeah, it may be, but with it comes the risk, and that is what I am not always accustomed to. I was never a risk-taker. I always want to be sure. I am at peace with security. I always ask for a guarantee. Yeah, I know. That will not always be case. For certain things happen beyond my control. But I'm slowly trying to learn. I am beginning to learn to be open to change. I just hope the day will come when I can fully embrace it.

Maguindanao massacre

It is amazing how little power can do so much to corrupt people.

(Photo courtesy of crienglish.com)

As of last night, it has gone up to 57, i.e., the number of recovered bodies of victims of the recent gruesome murder in Maguindanao. The well-planned mass killing that happened last Monday has been all over the news. And why not? Women, lawyers, media men-all innocent civilians-have been abducted by some 100 armed men, killed in various horrific ways that no one can possibly imagine, and buried in a massive grave. As if initial reports of the victims only going to file COCs in the local comelec being abducted and killed were not horrendous enough, the latest news about the terrible incident of the women being raped first before being killed, of some being shot not only in the head but in their private parts, of the slain being buried alive inside their vehicles in a massive grave, and of some body parts found that had been teared up with chainsaws makes one think, "Is this for real?" Is is really possible for people to do this kind of atrocity toward others? How can the perpetrators stand doing this? Don't they have hearts? Don't they believe in a God that sees all things and all their doings? How can they sleep at night, knowing that they killed 57 people, ended 57 dreams, and destroyed 57 futures?

The answers to such questions will not be known as long as the people behind this act of cruelty are freely roaming around, attending to their day-to-day activities like nothing ever happened and unmindful of the extensive call for justice from different sectors of the society.

And while investigations are still currently underway and as the authorities are "trying their best" to go after the perpetrators, for people like us who cannot march the streets and cry for justice, who cannot go to Maguindanao to directly voice out how unhuman this murder is, and who cannot contribute much in the ongoing investigations, the only thing that we can do to help is to offer a prayer. Let us pray:

- for the repose of the souls of those brutally murdered
- for comfort for their families and loved ones during this time of mourning
- for justice for the lives lost in a trivial quest for power
- for strength of character for people in the government for them to do what needs to be done despite affiliations and debts
- for safety for the people who are currently in Maguindanao helping in finding justice for those slained (the media men who are covering the news, the people from Commission on Human Rights, etc.)
- for peace in Maguindanao and in areas that have a similar situation with regard to political clans and violence
- for change in the hearts of not only those behind this massacre but also-and more importantly-people who have been too enamored by power and have been corrupted by it.

His calling was to educate

At 16, he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to help street children and provide them with basic education with whatever means he had. He is Efren Penaflorida.

(Photo courtesy of CNN)

Efren is the talk of the town as he was recently recognized as CNN Hero of the Year for 2009. And this is no mistake. Kuya F!, as he is fondly called by his volunteers and the children he helps, is the founder of Dynamic Teen Company, a group of teens who pushed makeshift carts of books and blackboards along the streets of Bacoor, Cavite, under the blistering heat of the sun, just to reach out to and gather kids and to teach them how to read and write. He organized the group at a time when he himself was struggling to make ends meet and to provide for his own education. Let it be known that Kuya F! was not as priviledged as other founders of foundations and socio-civic groups with money and resources to spare. He was from a poor family, living near a garbage dumpster, and was only able to finish his education because of the generous support that World Vision Phils. and Club 8586, Inc., gave him. He was not as popular back then as certain politicians or celebrities who have their own foundations; he was, in fact, bullied and often assaulted by his peers. All he had was a vision of a better youth: educated and with moral principles and values.

That vision, fueled with support, was the driving force of the hero known today that is Efren. And with that vision is encouragement; he encourages everyone to look into themselves and let their heroism unleash. More so, he affirmed that his work is the calling that God has given him and that he is only responding to that calling.

That led me to thinking. What is my calling?

Chiz: I'm not running

(Photo courtesy of ChizEscudero.com)

It is final. Chiz Escudero is not running for the presidency in 2010.

In a press conference early morning today, Chiz finally revealed his decision regarding his presidential bid come May of next year. For the past few weeks, he has been delaying his announcement of his plans as he "needed time to weigh his options."

It can be remembered that he was initially with NPC and was the other half of the Chiz-Loren tandem. He then decided to leave the party and run for president as an independent candidate. But, with this decision, many feared that, although he is qualified to run, he may not have a fighting chance, because-let's face it-money is a big factor in Philippine politics. Without a party to support his bid, rally up sponsors and supporters, and gather funds for his campaign, he will surely be left in the dust by his opponents.

That reality must have settled in as he announced this morning that he will not run for any position at all. He further said that he has yet to decide whom to support. Asked if his decision was affected by Sen. Noynoy's decision to run for the same position, he noted that it was a factor, among everything else, as the latter is a dear friend. Chiz said that, in a time that seems to be intended for Sen. Noynoy, he would not want to stand in the way of his friend. However, he reiterated that he has not chosen a presidential candidate to support and instead encouraged everyone to be aggressive in making this coming elections clean and peaceful and in making the right choices.