Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we celebrate the life and legacy of a person who gave herself to the Philippines as a sacrifice to free its people from the bondage of dictatorship and injustice.

Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we mourn for the person who mothered our land during the most trying moments of its history.

Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we commemorate the person who served as our model of faith and unyielding love. 

Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we express our utmost gratitude to the icon who served as the nation's ceaseless hope.

Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we carry on the fire and passion of a woman who despite several adversities stood still and led this nation.

Amidst the tide of yellow and black, we stand strong as a nation, knowing that this is now a battle we must fight.

A battle which Corazon C. Aquino started twenty six years ago. a battle for true freedom, a battle to rebuild this nation. 

We now dream of an ideal nation, one which Corazon Aquino wished to see.

And now that she has left us here to carry on, we must not cease.

Let us not spit on her sacrifice.

Let us be brave.

Let us stand strong.

Let us be Filipinos.

Filipinos who are worth LIVING FOR.

---

Over the past few days, I was watching several tributes being aired on tv. I was truly inspired by the way Cory Aquino defied the odds and rewrote books. Tomorrow, I hope to be part of her historical funeral. But my one true hope is that when she is laid to rest, her legacy will live on in each Filipino, for we wouldn't have been free if it weren't for people like her who sacrificed herself for the good of all.

Truly, God gave Cory Aquino as a gift to this nation. And just like every special gift, we must put value in whatever she has done for the country and to the world. Her unwavering faith and courage must always be remembered and enlivened by each person who calls him or herself a Filipino.
 
 
I was born to witness freedom and democracy in this country. I have not endured a major political upheaval against a tyrant who seized power for two decades and hoarded wealth in the government. I have not seen people being arrested in the middle of the night because they broke curfew. I have not heard of gunshots being randomly fired in the streets by forces of the military. 

Whatever happened 26 years ago, to my young mind, is a momentous event that forever changed the history of the Philippines. I would never be able to comprehend the emotions running through the veins of each Filipino who had to suffer through the dictatorship of Ferdinand V. Marcos. I was never there to see how some Filipinos would go out on the streets with nothing but their rosaries, their hopes and dreams for their country, and a heart filled with courage to fight for this nation's freedom. No, I would never fully understand how hard life was during the time when the most basic of rights were being violated. 

When I was a kid, I did not know what the importance of this man whose name is printed on the 500-peso bills issued by the Central Bank was. I did not think how great a sacrifice his life was for the Filipino. But whatever the impetus for my sheer passion to serve and sacrifice for this country is now, I would probably attribute a major part of it to what happened in the tarmac of what was then known as the Manila International Airport. From that point on, I believe that Filipinos have learned to value their nationality. Ninoy Aquino definitely made that event his last major personal statement to the Filipino people -- that we are truly worth dying for. 

I do believe that no one would dare die the way Ninoy did for the country. Despite the implications that certain people in government (and even particular citizens) spit on the sacrifice that Ninoy Aquino has made for this country. While we have a constitution that allows us democratic rights that have been robbed of my elders back in the day, we do not maximize them so that we could make this nation better. We let the government officials run this country their way-- tolerating graft and corrupt practices, rallying without contributing to the solution for the problems we face, relying on people to step up before we do small things that could make big differences. We fail to realize the importance of our being Filipino, which is in itself, a blessing from God. We only take pride in the victories, and fall to shame when we are faced with adversities as a people. We choose to be apathetic because we think that these matters do not concern us. We choose to sit on the sidelines and wait to hero-worship someone without realizing that we could be our own heroes. 

While we have the option to sit comfortably in our couch at home and care less about the plight of our country, we should remember that we owe it to people such as Ninoy and Cory who have dedicated their lives so that we could enjoy the freedom that they and the millions who lined up along Edsa have fought for. 

In commemorating Ninoy Aquino's 26th death anniversary, let us continue fighting for freedom and praying for the change of heart of our leaders -- that they serve with pure hearts. And we, as citizens of this country, should do small things that could affect change: those that could pull our country out of its plight. While it is an act of martyrdom to die for this country, it would only serve our country's best interest if we live lives worthy of being Filipinos. We say: Ipagpapatuloy natin ang laban. But I hope that we don't wait too long because the hero lives in us. This country could boast of so many heroes from the hispanic times up until the contemporary era, and I believe that the same blood runs in this generation of Filipinos. Let's step up for this country and make it great again!
 
 

(sent to Inquirer) 
I am writing in response to the article Pacman’s political agenda, dated May 7, 2009. After having just watched Legally Blonde 2, I was inspired to speak up because I’ve observed that there has been too much hype going on after Pacquiao’s victory, and it really ain’t pretty.
            Being a symbol of Filipino pride is one thing, running for office to represent the Filipino is another. To me, Manny Pacquiao has always symbolized the Filipino who had to sweat and bleed to rise from poverty; an inspiration to those who had to live with almost nothing to their name; a man who represents the faith and strength of the Filipino. Yet, I still can’t help but dwell on the issue of his political agenda.

            After a failed attempt at congress, Pacquiao, after his victory over Hatton stated his intention to run for office again because he supposes that he can help the poor through the Congress. To me, this idea of governance has been the problem why our government is like traffic on a Monday morning – stand-still: people thinking that it is the only avenue for them to affect change in this country.

I have always believed that good governance is a function of electing brilliant leaders whose sole purpose is to serve their country. To me, good leaders are those who actually know how to argue for themselves, those who have actually learned to research on issues that affect our country, those who have experience in managing people and have immersed themselves enough to know the problem. While Manny has the experience to back his candidacy for Congress up, I think that he does not have enough knowledge to actually be immersed in that kind of politics. Being a congressman is a tough job – he has to propose legislation and decide on very important matters that will affect this country such as to confirm treaties, declare war, impeach a public official, etc. He cannot always rely on his staff to do things for him because in the end he is the one who decides. He will just be used by others to advance their political agenda. I have this observation that he has kept this attitude of the uneducated voter who thinks that those people run really do want to do good. This is the Philippines, and to tell you honestly, not all of them have clean intentions, and to rise from our poverty, we must elect an Obama!

Pacquiao has won over P580M during his match with Hatton. It is just sad to him throw it all away should he really run for office. Heck, even if he gives each Filipino a million pesos each, he still has over P400M left! But if he really wants to help people and to rebuild this nation, why not invest in long term development projects of NGO’s such as Gawad Kalinga, World Vision, and the World Wildlife Fund? Through those organizations he could provide scholarships for those who are smart from the slums but do not have the money to study, help save the environment and most importantly REBUILD THIS NATION!
The wisest investment and agenda he could make is to put his money where real solutions lie; nothing political – just pure, genuine, faith-based and principled service. HHat

 
 

Okay, before you react negatively, let me explain why I think that.

Proud as I am to be a Filipina, I still can't help but be utterly disparaging towards him.

Fine, he does bring honor to the country by playing abroad,  but is he the only athlete that we can be truly proud of? Is he the only athlete worthy of funding and massive support from the government? Is he the only athlete who has ever won titles and such?

For me, Manny Pacquiao has been a symbol of the unjust practices of the Philippine government. This guy wins millions of pesos abroad, and they still gives him incentives and lure him into politics and be their puppet. He LETS himself GET USED by those bloodsucking politicians (Lito Atienza and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to name just a few)

Aside from that, there are MORE TALENTED ATHLETES in this country who don't get sent abroad to join competitions. Why? Lack of funds! WTF? Why spend it on Pacquiao or trips abroad? Why not sponsor those who truly NEED it? Isn't that the purpose of the government? Just look at the Beijing Olympics! How dismal! Some of the athletes who participated already had the money. How disappointing! For a country whose government engages in a lot of unimportant activities here and abroad, we sure do have the lamest excuses for not alloting enough funds for gifted people.

He has a lot of money too, yet his participation in social causes has been gravely disappointing. Why?

His way of supporting the less privileged has been in the form of dole-outs. A system I strongly am against. I mean, yes, it is good up to a certain point, but shouldn't we invest on training them to find more creative ways to sustain their families and daily living. This system is but a short-term solution to the greater problems our country faces. It is but disappointing to see people like him advocate this. This just highlights the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots. He does not contribute to the long-term solution of eradicating poverty -- even if he has the influence to do so.

If this guy runs in 2010, I'm so running amok (err... maybe protest a lot)!

We've already had terrible examples in the past. Do we have to replicate them over and over again?

 
 

Partially Free.
Posted by Carmel Puertollano on Jan 18, '08 7:06 AM for everyone

As the political situation has worsened and the moral ascendancy of our "leaders" has become questionable, the country was relegated to "partially free".

Why wouldn't it be?

The government has freed a criminal who hasn't served his time, the sheer volume of corruption charges has inflated, the number of political killings has risen, and what course of action does the government take? They shrug it all off and act as if nothing is happening. They only prefer to look at the good side of things but that doesn't change the fact that people are suffering and that their rights are being violated. They only care about themselves and their reputation but they do not realize that their followers aren't at all content. If they ever try to act as if they care, it doesn't really manifest (or I'm just apathetic). In extreme cases, it's as if they drugged people and make them blindly follow. With a government such as ours, they only care for what they can reap from their relationship with the greater powers, like the US.
My litelec professor told me yesterday that I should be in the government because I'm more of a dove rather than a hawk. A statement I found, well, hard to take in. I know for one that I'm not the most diplomatic person in the world, nor have I ever attempted to do so. There are just things that I find unacceptable like Catholics (like my family), who discriminate against other religions. I guess that's why I never was firm with my beliefs -- I find my background leaning towards unhealthy fundamentalism which results into various misconceptions about religions that breed chaos (and that is why the Philippines is so damn f-ed up). What I'm trying to say is, we have to see things in different perspectives and that we should learn to respect how they are. We can't always expect them to do some things out of the goodness of their hearts all the time, nor can we expect them to believe in what we believe.

People have convictions that they fight for, and that's something we can never change about human nature. We can never have things go our way.

 
 

This is a moment in history that Martin Luther King would've been very proud of. This is Martin Luther King's Dream.

For the first time in the history of the United States, an African-American was elected as the commander-in-chief. Barack Obama captured the position with 338 electoral votes against John McCain's 163, as of November 5, 2008, 11:06PM (HK Time). The Dems have also captured majority in the Senate and in the House.

Barack Obama speaks in front of his supporters in Chicago after being declared winner of the highly contested US Elections, citing that "Change has come to America". Read full transcript here.

For the first time, John McCain is not too negative towards his opponent as he concedes. McCain calls for unity with the Obama camp as the nation prepares to welcome its new leader. Full transcript here.

Personally, I feel that this is the first election where America has proved to have deviated from its dark past of having fought civil wars after the eras of slavery and racial discrimination. While there's still so much to work on -- reviving an economy that has fallen so gravely and a war that has been fought without reason in Iraq (and a host of other issues such as health care and energy), I think that Obama's administration can handle these pressures well. Or at least it has to do what it has promised.

This is not just a victory for Americans but of the world too. Change has come. Please do not disappoint us.

 
 

McCain finally sells his soul to the devil for this lame attempt at comedy.

My goodness, he's terrible.

 
Last four days. 10/31/2008
 

I was watching CNN earlier and remembered that it's been a while since I've last seen a full show there. Earlier today, I've realized that the US elections are just days away. So I played catch up on the internet, until I gave up knowing that I can watch it on TV.

I was quite disappointed with the McCain camp though after hearing Schwarzenegger's (did I spell it right) speech. I mean come on! Don't you have policies to discuss at all? Instead of speaking about Obama's scrawny legs, can you at least share a decent platform to the people? Isn't it what they deserve from you Reps?

OH NO.

You have no idea what you're talking about, don't you?

Here's the first ten minutes of Barack's speech today. Hope I can find the full one soon. :)

 
 

Thanks to my friend Niko, who is also an avid fan of the US Presidential elections, I have discovered the wonders of SNL. Here are a few of my favorite clips.

Disclaimer to people who aren't familiar with NBC though, it's a liberal version of Fox, so don't expect the actors to be nice to the reps here.

Okay, so some may not approve of this, but it's fun to see politicians take the humor. Although I still don't approve of Sarah Palin, it's funny how she rode with the joke. At least some people know how to make fun of themselves.

And oh, I love how Tina Fey does those impersonations. She should win the Emmy for it.

 
Discernment. 10/30/2008
 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and don't lean on your own understanding. In all things acknowledge him, and he shall direct your way.
- Proverbs 3:5-6

Discernment is a term used in Christian tradition to describe the process of discerning God's will for one's life.

What a big word.

In the past twenty years that i've lived, I've never imagined a situation where I'd kneel down so helplessly discerning what I will do with my life. This is after all, a big step that I'm going to take.

I've said YES to Gawad Kalinga already, as I've already thought about that over in the last months before I left my previous job at the International Organization for Migration.

I know that I am being called to serve.

"Why not?", I asked myself. Looking back at everything that has happened in the past year or so. I can't help but think of serving God through GK.

The thing is, while I've said yes to GK, there are still phases of discernment. Olivia and I are excited more than anything, but at the same time, we're still on a fence, after discussing the options with Regz.

I'll be giving Regz my answer by Sunday or Monday. I've already attempted discussing this with my titas and my dad. But they've kept shunning me, which is making this process much more difficult than I want it to be.

All I can really say now is... HAAAAAAAAYYYY.