Dark Age in Journalism History

Last November 23 2009, in Maguindanao, a province in Mindanao, Philippines.
At least 57 were killed by gunmen including 20 Journalists. It was a clash between 2 Political families that led to this massacre. The Mangudadatus went to the town of the rival Amputuans to file Certificates of Candidacy at the Commission on Elections office for the next years election. On their way there, they were gunned down and buried by mass graves.

For me, what I care is the innocent lives of the Journalists who were just there to record history, but they themselves were put to history...It just proves that even how civilized people are, there is still barbarism inside of each and everyone of us.

Is this what happened to Politics in Maguindanao? People desperate and do anything just to keep their grip to power. Where is the Dignity and Peace in each and everyone of us.

Killers have forgotten their God, their hearts and their lost souls.

I pray for them, they will always have a special place in my heart for I am an aspiring Journalist myself and for that to happen made me stronger and hungrier to graduate.

This blog is for them, the fallen comrades, the searchers of truth, man or woman, muslim or catholic...they all have 1 title: Journalists

In memory of:

Henry Araneta
Bong Reblando
Nap Salaysay
Bart Maravilla
Joy Dojay
Andy Teodoro
Leah Dalmacio
Gina Dela Cruz
Maritess Cablitas
Neneng Montano
Victor Nunez
Macario "MacMac" Arriola
Humberto Mamay
Joel Parcon
Noel Decena
John Caniba
Art Belia
Ranie Razon

May your souls be together with God in heaven forever.

"No Journalism, No Democracy"

Volunteerism! Alive in the hearts of the young Filipinos

I was coming home happy after watching the Knights defeat the Stags last September 25, Me and my friends were in the car screaming and shouting "Arriba Letran!" on the streets until the rain started to fall.

The next morning, I woke up late, had my breakfast and then tuned in to DZMM Teleradyo, and from that moment I saw that disaster had fallen to Luzon. People were on their rooftops, some were swept away by flash floods and others drowned inside their homes. At first I couldn't believe the pictures that I was seeing on net, There was flood on places that was not prone to flash floods. I spent the day watching the News and calling up my friends and relatives to check if they were safe in their houses.

On the 27th of September, Search and Rescue teams from PNP and the Navy started to mobilize, The rescue team found it hard to save the people on their roofs because of the strong current, the power lines added as an obstacle to the way and lack of equipment. At around 7pm there was a distress call by my uncle that they were already in the rooftops of their home, I got really worried and I just couldn't believe what I heard. Everybody went silent in the house. I just sat in front of the television and watch the Broadcasters and Journalists trying to help these stranded people by relaying the information to the Rescuers. I just couldn't watch the News anymore, I felt guilty that I'm not doing anything for these people.

That was the time when it really hit me, I said to myself "I'm here on the house, safe and sound, no flood or electricity interruption and my friends and relatives are on their roofs with nothing to eat, I have to do something".

So I called up my friend who wants to volunteer, I said to him that I would just sneak out of the house because I doubted that if I asked my parents if I can volunteer they might not allow me. We decided to meet up at the MRT station to go to Sagip Kapamilya to help repack the donations. I left the house at 5am so that they won't see me. All I brought was my cellphone, Wallet and Extra shirt on my bag. Upon arriving at MRT we went to Sagip Kapamilya and registered as volunteers. Our co-volunteers were also college students like us.

We packed clothes for infants, children and adults while the others packed canned goods. We had a chance to meet new people in our lives, different people from different walks of life. We were there for an hour until more volunteers came and I felt that repacking donations wasn't my style of helping victims. I called up my friend who was a volunteer at the Philippine National Red Cross Rizal Chapter and I asked if there was a deployment available to the affected areas, and he said that they were leaving at 10am. From Quezon City I dragged my friend from bulacan to Pasig City where the Red Cross were.

We were just in time when we arrived there, they were good to go so we joined the deployment going to Floodway Pasig city for a feeding program. Floodway was beside Pasig River and when we arrived there people were cleaning their houses. We found shelter and started to feed the people, People started shoving each other off the line because they were so hungry as I stood up try to calm the crowd but some wouldn't really listen. Our supplies only fed 29 families while more than 100 lined up hoping they'll get their lion's share. It was hard for me to say that there was no more food available, some simply walked away and others were dissapointed and one even started cursing us. With no more supplies available, we headed back to Red Cross Rizal Chapter Headquarters.

After eating our lunch I started to help in carrying all sorts of donations to the stockroom. Clothes, Canned Goods, Water, Food and others offered their cars to be used in deployments. There was no social discrimination during that time, either you're rich or poor, We all had this burning goal and passion to help. During breaks I had a chance to talk with other volunteers, We shared stories to each other and talked about our experiences so far with the Red Cross.

I was like in a crowd of Golden Hearted people, I saw donors after dropping their goods they just run away because they didn't want the Red Cross to know who they were. They were true donors not like some officials who donated, yes they donated packed foods but do they need to stamp their names on the packed goods they've given.

Around 8pm an assignment was given to us to deploy to Marikina to bring food for the volunteers and would leave at 9pm. Our group was only 15 people strong with 250 packs of goods on our cars. While we were driving our way to marikina I saw the deperation of people trying to make a living out of cars.

The location had no electricity, mud was all over the place, some streets were flooded, some not so we had to find our way to the site. We were like in a movie where the place was deserted and broken glass and broken doors indicated that the house was robbed and Scavengers were running across the street carrying things that I know did not belong to them.

When we stopped for a while we were ordered not to get out of the car so that people won't jump on us asking for relief goods but not far away an accident took place where a motorcycle crashed into a passenger FX. We had no choice but to ignore the order of our team leader and we ran to the helpless and bleeding motorcycle driver. Luckily we had 2 nurses with us and they assisted the man. I was shocked because it was my first time to see someone bleeding and fight for his life. Thanks to God, someone passing by volunteered to bring the victim to the hospital so that we can carry on to our mission.

Finally we got to the site we were greeted by a starving Team leader. We started distributing food packs to the hungry volunteers and to my surprise, Singer "Sitti" was there to join the volunteers! We talked to some of them and they were tired but still willing to help. I was tired too but everytime I think about the people sleeping on their rooftops I feel a lot stronger and it adds fuel to my fire of passion to help people.

We went back to headquarters at around 12am. Our job was finished for the night. We were dead tired, I was working from 8am to 12am. I worked a total 16 hours of volunteerism so when I got home I took a shower and then pigged out the refrigirator and then slept for 11 hours straight.

Thus, In times of need the Filipinos will always be known for being kind-hearted to their fellow countrymen. This is a country of patriots, this is a country of selfless people, this is a country of volunteers and I can truly say that:

BUHAY ANG BAYANIHAN SA PUSO NI JUAN

these are some pics from my experience as a Red Cross volunteer.
Being a Red Cross volunteer IS NOT COOL...IT's LEGENDARY :D

Lending my hands

PICTURE 1: Broken asphalt roads. Caused by flooding.

Tomorrow at around 7am, I'll meet up with my friend to volunteer for Sagip Kapamilya's Relief Operations. I don't know what will they require us to do...but whatever it is, I hope it's worth volunteering for.

We all know that Eastern Luzon of our beloved Philippines is in a state of calamity after nonstop rains flooded the land. Fortunately our house is located above sea level and it water didn't come to visit our home.

As I was watching the news I saw people on their rooftops screaming desperately for help. I felt that it was my responsibility to help my fellow countrymen.

Earlier this morning we went to my tita's house and saw the damaged caused by the flood. It's Tragic.

tomorrow, I shall go wherever the tide would bring me. I didn't ask permission from my parents but I'll just leave a letter in front of my room. Don't worry about me, I just couldn't stand anymore watching at home and not do anything.

I am in the position where I can help those in need, and so I will lend my hand to anyone in need.

This is it. This is the chance. I'll grab it.

Mixing Stress with hobbies

Well, this semester has been the most exhausting...so far... and my body's so tired that when I get home as I turn on my computer I suddenly fall asleep on the table and wake up after 2 hours. yesterday was a holiday and It was the 1st time in almost 3 months that I hanged out in our street.

It was good to see people greeting and their surprised on how much weight I've put onto my body and of course their asking if my injury is already healed and my answer to that is "it'll get better, but it will never heal" I saw things I've not done for years, like playing street basketball and biking around the surrounding streets.
You see what I mean? He can smile and say HAKUNA MATATA!

I miss the the old times, when there's more fun than stress. Where I can relax on a weekend and talk with my neighbors, Where I can smile for a whole and worry about nothing but what to eat for supper.

hmmm college life is indeed time consuming. I haven't read the latest book I bought "KAPITAN SINO", it's the 7th book of Bob Ong. I bought it last July and up until now I'm still on chapter 1!!! I guess my mind's so tired when I get home. I don't play the guitar that much too, as of now I haven't finished the new song I'm composing, no title yet..just a few words and rhythm, I'm finding a hard time looking for new inspirations for new songs, I'm getting tired of writing about heartaches, It does nothing but make you remember how stupid I were back then.

So I've found a new way of stressing out or unwinding my mind, whatever you want to call it. For me, this really works, it relaxes my mind and releases my brain's creative juices. It's Painting! I know that I can't even draw but it's a skill I'm so desperate to have.

Well really just wanna show you the pics of my so called "Masterpieces" :D

This is the first painting, made with Posterpaint entitled "Choices" Inspired by this play I watched last year. It's about making choices of your own, each road leading to a new direction.

This is the latest painting, made with acrylic paint, entitled "Goodevening to the sun" inspired by Barbie Almalbis' song "Goodnight" - that's a pretty song. It shows the moon and the sun colliding with each other and the creatures are confused on whether it is day or night.


- I told you I'm a frustrated painter. Well I hope I'll get better in painting as well as in Photography and music writing. :D Sometimes I think that I can have my own world...Inside my room. :D

"John!you've got a visitor!, It's a ZOMBIE!"

I slept at 3am....zzzzzzzzzz.....then it came...

CHAPTER 1: 12 noon and the sun is high!

Morning: Me and my buddy from college were soldiers trying to eliminate the zombies around the city. At the front gate to the city Isaw my friends bidding us goodluck!

So we went in with our highly sophisticated guns and gears, locked and loaded, we blasted our way into the city. Bang!Bang!Bang! it goes on and on and I kept firing until there's no zombie infront of me.

We went into this college building and made our room to room check, Each room contains a zombie or 2. After we eradicated Student-Zombies.

CHAPTER 2: The Fall of my comrade

Our next mission was to clear a Government Establishment about a 100 meters away from our 1st mission. Going there was tough, running and gunning at the same time. I didn't feel exhausted though, I was in an adrenaline rush moment.

I was a Sniper and my buddy Dani was a rifleman for me. We fired and killed more zombies (It was a bloody dream) And then I was about to rescue trapped people from the building but a soldier threw in a small hand grenade into the building, I raced to the entrance but the grenade exploded, so was the whole building. Debris of human parts came falling down.

It was becoming dark and the sun's fast retreating into the horizon, so after the explosion we ran away from the zombies and tried to provide cover from the survivors, but as we retreat, Dani was caught by the zombies and I tried desperately to free him from the abductors, but as they drag him he threw his rifle to me and another soldier pulled me saying "We have to go!"

CHAPTER 3: Animals join the zombies

We were on the rooftops to avoid zombie confrontation, for some reason even if they hear us but if they don't see us, they can't find us! So we were "roof hopping" until the roof I jumped in collapsed and unfortunately it was filled with zombie animals. I stayed at the dark corner and suddenly a Siberian Tiger breaks away from the cage and I said to myself "shit,shit,shit" and luckily it went outside without detecting me.

CHAPTER 4: I EXECUTE

By midnight we reached the hospital and planned to stay there until the sun rises when the zombies are slower. Because we were Roof hopping, we came in from the second floor. As we were walking the hallway a voice of a crying girl was heard by all.

Sometimes zombies try to copy sounds by human so as a precautionary measure we turned off our gun lights. A soldier turns on his light and points exactly where the girl was, but I realized that it was no girl, but a witch-zombie so I said "OH SHIT!" and then it jumped to the soldier and kills him instantly, now it's coming for me! As it jumped towards me to claim my life I took out my sniper rifle, aimed and fired 1 shot.....BLAAAG! a body falls down, the witch has fallen.

Downstairs more survivors are hiding and to my surprise, my friends, Stef, Janine, Thor and Divine were the nurses attending to the wounded. There was 1 woman speaking so weird that the other soldiers held her and asked permission from me to shoot the girl because she was wounded by a zombie bite and therefore she becomes a zombie in a few hours, I was wouded too by a zombie bite but I was immune to it.

As I turned my sight on the girl, I recognized her and said to her "Badet?" and she stopped from murmuring weird words and began to cry, It was my friend so I quickly grabbed her and embraced her and I scried too. Her skin started to lose color and her eyes becoming bloody red, and so I turned away because I know what was going to happen next, she'll become the enemy, and so I walk towards the exit of the hospital the last words she heard from me was "EXECUTE HER".

CHAPTER 5: The battle for the bay

The last phase of our mission was at hand, we defended about 3 cruise ships that should sail away from the abandoned city, but zombies got in and started climbing the tower of the cruise where the main command was. I was there throwing, shooting and hittingthem trying to push them off, It seemed endless, I used the knife for I have no more ammo and even using my helmet to smash their skulls, it seemed like I was going to do it for eternity as more and more zombies climbed but then......

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I OPENED MY EYES.....I was in my bed, it was 5:00am in my watch, time to go to school.

One thing I would like to say, I became a hero in my dream. Well at least that's a sign at what I should do in real life.

BE

A

PROTECTOR

What do stars do? They shine.

I am actually so ashamed to say this, but just earlier at around 11pm, It was the first time that I saw the 2007 date movie STARDUST. Yes yes say anything you like but at least I've watched it now.

So first I'd like to critic the movie. Stardust, well the story looked like that the story happened around the 18th century. A young boy in loved with the most beautiful lady in town, suddenly a falling star comes blazing down earth and then crashes into the earth. Tristan offers to get the star for her Victoria in exchange for her hand (or in short them getting married). Tristan travels across the wall and finds a lady by the name of Yvaine. She is the star, they had adventure and so starts the heartbeats. This star has fallen in Love with Tristan and so does the man.

I need not to tell you more about the story because for those who haven't watched it yet, I don't want to serve as an spoiler to you people. All I can say is that they had the BEST CHEESY LINES OF ALL TIME, AND I LIKED IT. It actually made me smile while watching the movie.

It was also the 1st time that I saw Robert De Niro going gay, It was so funny that I can't believe him actually danceing like that.

This is THE BEST OF ALL, I asked myself earlier "How come I didn't watch this in 2007?!" IT WAS A CLAIRE DANES MOVIE FOR GOODSAKE!!! she is one of my most adored actresses of ALL TIME together with Anne Hathaway and Emma Watson. It's funny that there's an existing similarity among the women I've mentioned:

1. They are very feminine
2. They have worn dresses at their movies
3. and most of all, They have those Round eyes that I love so so much. That's where I get soooo attracted, in the eyes.

I liked this part right here, I love Claire Danes' eyes in that scene, it's too lovely I can't help but melt. hahaha.

The movie actually took of a lot of stress out of my body and also that It made me believe that there's still true love in this world. Well I hope that what I'm feeling right now is true.

Cory Aquino: The Mother of Philippine Democracy

August 21, 1983 - Mom and Dad were having their first date (as of what I remember what they told me) somewhere in Manila when the television started airing the assassination of a Philippine senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. at the then Manila International Airport (now named after him).

Moving on when mom and dad heard the news, mom asked dad "who's that Ninoy Aquino?" so dad told that Ninoy was the opponent of the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. That's what I only could remember. Millions of people joined the parade of Ninoy's funeral.

It was not until the last week of November 1985 that Ninoy's opponent Ferdinand Maros shocks the country by calling snap elections to be held on Febuary 1986. The wife of Ninoy was reluctant to run for presidency at first, her reasons are that she is only an housewife and knew nothing about politics. She requested 1 million signatures for her to run. She later was convinced to run after being inside the convent for 10 hours.

Febuary 7, 1986 - The elections was clouded by corruption and violence, at least 30 COMELEC computer technicians walked-out and told that their machined were rigged and the numbers don't match to their records.

Febuary 15, 1986 - Despite the alleged rigged machines, The Supreme Court proclaimed Ferdinand Marcos as winner of the elections.

Febuary 22, 1986 - At about 9:00pm, Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin asked a favor to the Filipino people, to go out to the streets and support the opposition. Knowing that they won't stand a chance to the guns and tanks of the Government's loyal soldiers, people came in millions.

Febuary 23, 1986 - Former soldiers of the military Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos consolidated their positions. by mid afternoon Radio Veritas relayed that tanks were closing in to their positions. tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets and blocked the tanks by linking their arms together, nuns knelt infront of the tanks and prayed the rosary. The military ordered the people to clear the road, no one budged. They were stopped just 2 kilometers away from the camps that Enrile and Ramos were staying. In the end, the tanks retreated without firing a single shot.

Febuary 24, 1986 - A fire was shot, by my mother that is. My older brother was born at this day when the revolution was on-going. This came Marcos' finest hour in the People Power Revolution.

• The actual dialogue on TV went as follows:
  
• FABIAN VER(head of military) and Ferdinand Marcos
  

Fabian Ver:We have to immobilize the helicopters they've got. We have two fighter planes flying now to strike at any time, sir.
Ferdinand Marcos: My order is not to attack.
Ver: They are massing civilians near our troops and we cannot keep on withdrawing. You asked me to withdraw yesterday....
Marcos (interrupting): My order is to disperse [them] without shooting them.
Ver: We cannot withdraw all the time...
Marcos:' No, no, no! Hold on. You disperse the crowds without shooting them. You may use any other weapon...

Febuary 25, 1986 - 2 inaugarations were held, Marcos and Cory both declared that they were presidents of the Philippines. at 9pm Marcos were flown by 4 American Helicopters to Clark Air Base before going to Guam. When people heard of this they stormed the Palace that once they were denied to enter, people looted objects but mostly people just wandered inside and looked at the halls where the fate of the country is being decided.

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I was thinking what would happen if this housewife didn't stood up and ran for president.
I was thinking what would happen if this housewife didn't have the courage to lead the nation.
I was thinking, how good it was to live during the EDSA Revolution.
It was when the Philippines were born again and really started to be free.
Our country wasn't free in 1898, we were freed in 1986.
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Now, Cory Aquino has passed away. It was such an honor to be there waiting for her
me and my buddies Dani and Jai didn't mind the heat and rain, cory offered her private life and sacrificed so much in this country, I'm sure 2 hours of waiting for her and to show our support to her wasn't enough. It is never enough.

at my background is the line of people...if you know Intramuros, this stretch of line is so long. I think the lines reached more than a hundred meters.

as I end this blog I would like to tell you what Bob Simon, an anchorman at CBS once said:

"We Americans like to think we taught the Filipinos democracy. Well, tonight they are teaching the world."

*Some Sources are from Wikipedia.

Confessions of a Commuter

Time Is Gold, that is the oldest yet most true quote of all time, time is everything, from the moment you open your eyes until it shuts down, It's time, It's Mathematics.

In a commuter's life, time is their lifeline, timing is everything. You plan ahead of you including minor setbacks such as delays during the travel or the number of stops in each place. Running, jumping, sweating, looking haggard and smelling funny, that's a commuter's life.


Have you ever ridden a pedicab?a tricycle?a jeepney? how about the FX? Taxi? Bus? Train?

Honestly speaking, I've been through all that...Every week, 4-6 times a day I ride the train, Trains here in the Philippines have only a few number of coaches, and because of cultural influence, the first two coaches are exclusive for women, the elderly and the disabled of course. A commuter's life is one of the hardest thing to do. You have to have great stamina and the ability to blend with others. This might be a very hard thing to do for some rich kids who don't want to sweat and get bumped by other commuters. Commuters like me really hate it when there's fare price hikes and Strikes because we won't be able to go to where we want. Actually, the reason why I wrote this blog is to give tips on how to survive in commuting via RAILWAY or the TRAIN.

NEVER DO THESE THINGS WHEN RIDING OR AT A TRAIN STATION:

1. Say the word "YUCK" while holding at the safety handrails inside the coach.
2. Eye Contacts with people who looks like maniacs or criminals.
3. Never leave your things unattended, I just lost my wallet inside my bag at the train station
4. Try to speak softly, you might wake up the man sleeping beside you.
5. No horse playing.
6. Never ever try to get inside while someone is trying to get out.
7. don't be a delay to others.
8. Don't read other people's messages while their texting.
9. Avoid being hot headed.
10. Stop Complaining up to the smallest flaw of the manufacturing of the train.

DO THESE THINGS BELOW AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY.

1. Guard your things
2. mind your own business
3. always smile

It's also better to travel with friends, there's always safety in numbers.

-Time is something we should never waste, life's too short to do all the things we want, but there will be always time to do the most important things in life.

What's that most important thing you want to do? for me, it's getting to school early. =P

HAPPY 111th Independence Day?

June 12, 2009. 5 in the morning, the alarm goes off. I got up disappointed because I planned to shoot at Rizal Park that day to capture the flag raising BUT it was raining really hard.

6:30am - I stare at the T.V. waiting what's going to happen at Rizal Park, I texted my friend who was supposedly my companion for the shoot that day. I texted in Filipino

"Dude! I have to cancel our trip because of the bad weather, haha"

7:00am - The sun suddenly showed up, It brought me joy and the weather forecast said that it's going to be sunny in Manila, so I hurried up, I actually ran into the bathroom and readied myself. and then I texted him that I was going there and try my luck.

8:00am - at the MRT & LRT Train station the guards says in Filipino: "ma'am! sir! free ride until 9am!" and it made me smile a little bit, because that's savings for my part :D

9:00am - I finally arrived at Rizal Park, I walked like as if I was a tourist from a foreign country, I had no worries because I still believe that bad elements or criminals also needs to take a break, It's a tough and bad job you know.

In a banner it says "KALAYAAN 2009" or "FREEDOM 2009" - Then things suddenly came to my mind asking this question:

"What is Freedom?" "Freedom from what?" "Are we truly free?"

I went to a small side park there where there are tables and people who I can watch (I love "PEOPLE WATCHING") and the shade I've been desperately needing because of the heat of the sun, can't help but think about Global Warming. I sat there at a small round table with 4 seats on it. 1 one was sitting there but it didn't matter to me because I need to sit down and take a break. An old man of about 50+ yrs. old was sitting on my left. Looking at what he's doing he was a man on a mission. His mission was the big job fair held across the park. I felt sorry for him because at the age of 50 or above that, he should be enjoying the park with his grandchildren but I didn't dare to ask him not that I was scared but because he was busy fixing his ballpen. After 15 minutes I stood up and went on to start my shoot, hmmmm I hope he gets the job he wants.


I stood in front of Rizal's monument, still people watching and somewhat eavesdropping at the same time. I heard a kid asked her mom:

Kid: "sino yan?" (who's that?)
Mom: "Jose Rizal, National Hero, huwag mo siya kakalimutan kasi siya ang dahilan kaya tayo malaya" (That's Jose Rizal, our National Hero, don't forget him because he's the reason why we are free.)


I was surprised to hear that from a mother. Moving on I saw A LOT of lovers sitting in the shade talking to each other, cuddling and having a world of their own. I was happy to see 2 people so free from problems and careless as long as they have each other (kinda cheesy I know). I love to watch people without disturbing them, It's not like stalking.

I also saw lots of Dove birds around the park because the government built houses for them. It adds drama to the scenery there, yes it adds drama because when I saw those birds flying so high and against the wind I wished that I was one of them so that I can go anywhere I want to go, because up there they're free, no boundaries. My soul is like of a bird, continuously looking for something but it doesn't know what it is looking for, me, I'm looking for peace in my mind and soul. The first reason I planned to go to the park was not photography opportunity but more of soul searching, setting my goals for the future.

11:30am - BEEP BEEP! my cellphone received a text message I didn't notice that it's been almost 3 hours that I've been people watching and soul searching, the text message was from my friend who was supposed to be with me shooting. the text says:

"pare san ka na?may rally dito sa kalaw punta ka" (where are you?there's a rally near kalaw)

-so I hurried and followed him there, we met at a nearby street and then together we chased the on going rally. Even if my feet hurt so much we still kept going because it was my first time to see a rally. When we got there they were chanting and screaming their lungs out. I quickly took pictures of the rally. The rally was about throwing back the Visiting Forces to their country, in short, they want the U.S. Troops out of the country, I listened to their speakers and people watched more. Of all their posters there's only one that I agree on (this is only my personal opinion)

- this particular flag that I'm holding and the words in it. "STOP THE RAPE OF OUR WOMEN", I have to say that this is a sad truth, most men of the visiting forces think that Filipina women are sex slaves. I just don't agree to what their thinking, women raised here in the country and women raised by a Filipino citizen are raised are not as what you think they are, they are the sweetest, most caring and the best women I've ever met in my life and I wouldn't turn my back on them.

2pm - We ended our photowalk and It was so hot that I finished a Big Gulp (a 800ml) drink in less than 5 minutes.

3:30pm - I took a bath at home and then slept.

TOTAL EXPENSE: 72 pesos(about $2) - that includes 2 train rides and 2 bottles of softdrinks, I had a tight budget of 150 pesos ($3)

TOTAL EXPERIENCE: PRICELESS =)



Freedom can come in many different ways, it can be personal and it can also be as a whole. For me, Freedom is something that we should always keep and protect, Freedom is doing things without stepping at anyone's life, It's not a RIGHT but a PRIVILEGE.

I love the country they've been calling:

"THE THREE STARS AND A SUN "

Back to School!

Summer's almost over!, last 2 days I already bought my school supplies so that I won't have to do a last minute shopping when school's about to start because we've always done that when I was younger and I can't stand the volume of people trying to get what they need, it's almost like they're all in fast motion and I can't help but just to watch people shout, children cry, the non-stop sounds of the cashier. So by the time I was in highschool, I've always made sure that I have everything ready two weeks before classes start.

As I grew up I just noticed the school supplies needed. other than the books needed, these were the additional requirements.

WHEN I WAS IN:

ELEMENTARY:
10 notebooks
10 folders
3 ball pens (black,blue,red)
2 pencils (mongol #3)
10 pcs. Oslo Paper
10 pcs. Art paper (the assorted colored ones)
1 tissue paper (in case you want to go poo poo)
100 sheet pad paper
24 color Crayola
1 ruler
1 pencil/ball pen case (better if the case was made in metal and had several levels)

HIGH SCHOOL:
10 notebooks
10 folders
1 scientific calculator
1 highlighter
2 ball pens (black and red was standard color for our school)
24 color crayola
100 sheet yellow pad paper
1 pampapogi kit (hahaha, i never had this one)

College:
1 Binder Notebook
1 scientific calculator (for math and science minor subjects)
1 highlighter
2 ball pens
1 whiteboard marker

- I mean, whoa! when I was younger and whenever I see college people walking and holding only their binders I thought that they were the "bobo and tanga" of the school because they never carried their books and didn't have bags, but now I realized that sometimes that's what I'm exactly doing.

-physical attributes changes a lot as we grow up too! when I was:
ELEMENTARY: so cute, soft skins and so huggable
HIGH SCHOOL: baby fats gone but beer belly started to emerge
COLLEGE: Grew my beard and mustache, and the everyday battle with that PIMPLE!


I'm about to enter my 2nd year college, major in Journalism. My first year was awesome, so many many many new things and opportunities happened! and I've rated it as my #2 top list of best school years, my #1 would be my 4th year high school.
- I'm also looking forward to see again my friends, haha I miss them bigtime! did you know that I was elected as a course representative for the Student Council? haha yes I was! It was hard, tiring but fun work! I met great people along the way and I got a chance to shake the hands of Senator Dick Gordon. I was inspired by his intelligence to infrastructure developement! well anyway I hope I'll have a blast this year just like last year!

cheers!

Sharing Knowledge this Summer.

My bedroom is a small and cozy one, usually it's very messy, my clothes' everywhere and I don't usually make up my bed because for some reason it doesn't get messed up. You'll also find in my room My old guitars, I didn't sell them because it has sentimental value to me. But what you can really notice is the amount of books stuck inside the room, some of the books were since I was Grade 2.that's my room, small but I like it. this is where I do my "deep thinking" about things.

So after a quick thinking I remembered that one of my tutors was teaching for free to this christian community in her village. To me it was an opportunity to help again to less fortunate people which I LOVE DOING! So I gathered all the books in my room, I got very dusty and dirty and I sneezed a lot =P. While I was cleaning my books all sorts of memories came back, I saw my childish doodles, different styles of writing my name, names of my friends, my crushes and all kinds of kiddo things were written on my books.
some of the books I cleaned.

FLASHBACK:this picture was in lipa batangas when we were having our reach-out program in 4th year.


I don't know where I got my "charity spirit" but I guess I learned it in school. Back then we used to do "reach-out program" and as far as I remember it was in the 7th grade that I felt so blessed. We went to buwayang bato, a poor barangay in mandaluyong just facing the pasig river. The goal of the program is to live how they do for 1 whole day, we did the chores they do, It was my first time to eat kamote cue dipped in rock salt. I also did the laundry and went to the small wet market there and bought lunch. What suprises me is the size of their house, the space is so small. I think it's about 5 meters in length and width, it's that small but their family is big, too many children. They sleep on whatever space is left.
that's me with a "baka" in Filipino terms. He wasn't that camera shy at all.

PRESENT:
education is the best gift you can give to yourself - I don't know who said it first but I always believed in it. Without education you can't have the basic needs for you to survive the streets of the world, If you can't read then you can't go where you want to, If you can't write and count then you will be fooled by others in terms of money.

BOOK GIVING TIME:
Supposedly I was to give the books at around 3pm to my tutors but there was 1 problem, THE CAR!!! at around 1pm my brother told me to go to the nearest gas station to put in clutch liquid and put gas and air, so I went to petron station and did it but after the tires were fixed I couldn't drive the car because the stick won't go into Gear 1. So I asked one of the gas boys there to check the car. They found out that my Master and Secondary Clutch kit was already destroyed. It only means that while I was driving the car going to the gas station It was already broken, good thing that it broke while I was in the station, so no choice for me but to let them repair the car and I called my brother who called mom and asked for money. After long hours of labor at around 4:30pm the job was done! I rushed back home, took a quick shower and filled the car with books and finally gave the books to my tutors. Better late than never hahaha!Some of the books that are ready for transportation. I gave more than 60 books. =P

It gave me real joy to finally donate the books because I felt that I have given more than just an old book, but with the book I shared the knowledge that I learned through those books.

once in history someone said:
"ONLY A LIFE LIVED FOR OTHERS IS A LIFE WORTHWHILE"
but to me:
I'm just sharing what I have, doing what I can do, how bout you?what can you do? I help wherever help is needed, no second thoughts, the word "HELP" is a general term, either you're Black or White, Muslim, Catholic, Christian or whatever religion there is...

HELP HAS NO BOUNDARIES AND LIMITS, IF YOU CAN, YOU MUST.

Travel: Laguna Recreational Site

2007

Way back in 2007, I was then a 3rd year high school from a Private school for boys in Mandaluyong. The day began when me and my friends met up early in the morning at Ministop( convenience store) since Starbucks Coffee was still closed, we just sat at the corner of the street waiting for 5:30am to arrived, exchanged some experiences about yesterday and some smoked secretly but I can smell them :)).

At last! 5:30am arrived and we went to the school grounds where the bus was boarding students for the long journey to Laguna. at around 10:30am we got lost because we went to this place but it was not it.



We arrived there lunchtime, so we played a couple of starter games and then we ate, after that we went to the obstacle course, it was hard and scary...we crawled over mud, walked a bamboo bridge (not a bridge actually but there was only 2 pieces of bamboo just enough for your feet to walk onto and we were about 20feet above the ground.

that's me loving the nature behind me :D

Sad thing was I only got few photos of this trip because my camera was broken.
but above all, I got the thrill and excitement together with friends that I was looking for.

Travel: Batangas Scuba Diving

Summer of 2006

yes! we go back to 2006, It's been 3 years now since I tasted a little bit of what it's like to live underwater. We went there with my Godfather and his brothers and with my team is my older brother and father. Originally it was only my Godfather and his brothers who were going there but we joined in to add a little fun.

It was a 1 day trip we left manila at 4am and arrived at the port at around 5:30am... and then we arrived to Maricaban Island at around 7am. We got complimentary drinks from the resort, fresh buko juice! Then after we had our breakfast, we ate some hotdogs,eggs and rice, nothing fancy just a typical Filipino day breakfast. I swam around the beach, throwing some corals back to the sea.
the morning was just spent talking to each other, taking a walk at the coastline and enjoying the scenery. After that we ate lunch, seafood and some crispy porkchops and ice cold softdrinks to put it down to your stomach... I can't remember how much extra helpings I got but all I know is that I got a lot!

This is my Godfather or "ninong" in Filipino language term.

After having lunch we went to one of the surrounding islands to learn basic scuba diving. The european scuba trainor taught me the parts of the scuba gear, I also learned about the hand signals that they use it was funny because they have signals for "awesome" and "cool". The older people went on first and after an hour they surfaced and talked about how scared one of them is because while he was descending at the depth of the ocean he saw this blue shark sitting at a rock inches away from him was staring at him like he was a descending bait :)). They also saw this big turtle who was snobbish and it looked like that it didn't want humans entering his territory, my godfather's brother even joked "he must have been from his office, cause he looked like been scolded by his boss, he was not in the mood".



Finally! it was my time to shine and the first question I asked my diving instructor was "how deep will we go?" he said about 30feet below, and we went on decending to the coral reefs. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty and amount of fish swimming around. I saw different species, lots of sea urchins(dangerous but they said it was delicious) and sometimes curious fishes will go directly at your goggles as if they were asking "what are you stranger?". I managed to touch some fish.
In this picture you can see the instructor carefully assists me while we were wandering below the waters. Inspite of all the water surrounding you, I got thirsty because of the air I was inhaling from the oxygen tank. After 30 minutes we surfaced and it was already noon.


This picture shows the last moments before surfacing. That's me showboating my newly learned sign. "two thumb's up!" haha, I really enjoyed this. After that we had our dinner and then went back to the port by small boat, while we were at the sea you can see stars in the sky as many as the sand on the beach, it was just a magnificent scene. Then we got home at around 3am.

I hope that the future generations will still see what I saw that day.

Travel: a day of meeting the wildlife

APRIL 6, 2009
Blag!blag!blag! "get up and dress up, we're going somewhere", said my dad in Filipino language. For me, I get irritated when someone wakes me up in the morning and tells me that I'm going somewhere and I didn't have it on my calendar of activities. I always wanted to put activities on my calendar so that I can prepare myself and my things and my mood for that activity. Having no choice, I got up with a dragon's face, went straight to the bathroom and then got dressed, got my camera and we took off.

Then I asked "where are we going?", "Avilon Zoo" says my mom, and suddenly I got excited because I've been planning to have a photo shoot there for the summer but my budget was short and then here it is again! voila! I'm going to have my planned photo shoot for free! but first we have to go to WAWA DAM, my dad said that when he was young they used to here and swim around.
It was an awesome site to see, I even saw some people with big cameras and I assumed that they were filming the place. You have to trek for about 15 minutes to get to the dam, The only thing that I didn't like about the place is that it was noisy because some huts have videokes. It swallows the songs of the birds, gush of the river and hymn of the Nature. We didn't stay at the dam that long as soon as we got there, after a minute or 2 we went on to Avilon Zoo.

When we got to Avilon Zoo, I got out of the car with a smile on my face. I didn't even wait for the others to get off the car, I rushed inside at the ticket booth like it was my treat. The entrance fee was PHP208.00 ($4) It was a privately owned zoo an d it has some of the endangered species in the world. I hate to spill the info about the zoo but I just can't stop myself from telling it, haha! Going on we went inside and had our lunch at the foodcourt inside it. I ate Spaghetti and after that we set off to explore the zoo. It was a wide collection of Snakes and Lizards, and it was the first time that I saw a Cougar and Leopard, It was a funny thing to watch because the Leopard was scared when the Cougar growls!

This is the best thing that happened in that zoo, I want all of you to meet Camille , she's a female orangutan who walks around and charms people and sometimes scare children. When I saw her I was so excited I quickly asked mom for PHP50.00 ($1) so that I can play with the Orangutan. So I did and took a lot of pictures. She was very kind though it seems that she's bored with me I was happy! It was a very touching moment for me because I care about animals and It was my first time to interact with one of them. So I went home with a smile on my face and slept te way home.