The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

The web is buzzing with the latest controversy regarding an alleged tactless comment made by a Filipina allegedly named Jacque Bermejo. The inappropriate comment was posted allegedly in her own facebook account. The comment was in Filipino. The comment was allegedly accusing the Filipino people as sinners thus the penalty earned from the onslaught of Typhoon Ketsana (locally named Ondoy). More than 200 Filipinos have died. 80% of Metro Manila was underwater. More than 400,000 people are homeless. Millions and millions of pesos worth of properties destroyed. According to this Jacque Bermejo (based on the middle east), the Filipinos deserved such as punishment for being "sinners". There are now two sides to the story. There is the side of the "believers", who are convinced that it was Jacque Bermejo herself who made those comments and reactions in her facebook account. Then there is the side of the "unconvinced", who thinks that Jacque Bermejo was just a vic...

P.S. Still discerning

I am making a 7 day silence in my blog and other social networks starting later at 3 pm. This symbolically begins my supposed "retreat" before I make that final decision. I am in a fork at the road and whatever I choose next week will definitely change my life. There are options but there are certain circumstances that will influence my choice. There are many things to consider and there are many things to think about. There are many uncertain things but there is one thing sure, things will never be the same again after I make my decision, whatever choice I make. So to symbolically start my self-detachment and begin my discernment, I will NOT be blogging for 7 days. Included in my discerning process is a walk down memory lane, to remember how I started as a doctor to the barrio, the factors which made me choose to become a DTTB and the people along the way, encountered throughout the 2-year journey. Perhaps there will be unpleasant memories that might be recalled from the pro...

This coming September 26, ABS-CBN Bantay Bata Foundation will be coming to Candoni to conduct for the first time ever in the municipality their Medical Mission and Feeding Activity. According to the letter addressed to the Mayor and our conversation during the teleconference with the Bantay Bata coordinators, they are expecting to serve around 800 persons, 400 for the feeding and 400 for the medical mission. This does not even include the Advocacy class they will be conducting during the same date, regarding Child Abuse. To prepare for this big event, all department heads had a meeting yesterday during which I was able to share the plans already made by the RHU and what we still needed. So, we are coordinating with the Local PNP for security, the Engineering Department for the Physical set-up and sound system, the Budget Office and the Treasurer's Office for our funds for the lunch and snacks of our guests, and the MSWD for helping us prepare for the things needed by the guests as ...

My September was supposed to be a quiet month, but it turned out to be a very hectic month as well. One of the most major activities we had at the Candoni RHU was of course our RHU sportsfest activity. It was supposed to celebrate the first year anniversary when we transferred to the newly renovated Main Health Center. The original plan was to hold a ceremony commemorating the event, but later, I decided to hold a sportsfest activity instead. It was to be the first time ever in the history of the RHU to have its entire staff, to include the barangay health workers and our barangay captains, compete in a sportsfest activity. It was a successful activity and the preparations for the activity were very toxic. The sportsfest became the talk of the town and the staff could not help but talk and share about their funny experiences the day after the sportsfest. Everyone enjoyed the activity, which ended at around 6:30 pm already. Everyone enjoyed the Amazing Relay Game, the final event of the...

Black Eyed Peas performing their latest hit, "I Got A Feeling" At Oprah's Block Party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpVnrsSqHSg

Floyd Mayweather and Juan Miguel Marquez Boxing Fight here. Streaming .TV shows by Ustream (To join the online chat, just click on read more) In my opinion, Mayweather should have chosen to fight Pacquiao instead. But of course, Mayweather got scared watching the fight between Pacquiao and Hatton. Face it, Mayweather fans. Floyd is one big scardy cat.

Last September 15, 2009, in celebration of the First year anniversary of the reopening of the renovated Main Health Center (Candoni Infirmary), the RHU (big) family held our very first Sportsfest Activity. Dubbed as the Candoni Healthy Games, the one-day event was filled with fun and games involving all of our barangay health workers, midwives, nurses, even our Barangay Captains and Kagawad for Health. There were five teams competing. The Over-all Champion was the Red Team. First Runner Up was the Green Team and the Second Runner up was the Blue Team. The White and Yellow Teams were tie for the Third Runner up spot. The Red Team also won Best Cheer-Dance, Softball Championsip and the Amazing Relay Game Championship. Green Team won the Volleyball Championship. The White Team was the runner up in the Softball Event. The Yellow Team was the runner up in the Volleyball Event. The Blue Team was the runner up in the Amazing Relay Game. Special Prize was also given to the Muse and Escort of t...

I will always miss the mist of Candoni, especially after the end of my tour of duty as Doctor to the Barrio

Watch live video from thegooood on Justin.tv Currently playing, Federer vs. Djokovic

These videos are totally hilarious!

Back in 1996, in order to attract more male students to join the female-dominated Campus Peer Ministry (CPM) in USLS-IS, I decided to form the CPMales, an all-male movement that would somehow draw more young men to actively participate in religious endeavors inside the school. With the support of Ms. Boogie (a.k.a. Mama Boogs) and then USLS-IS Principal Bro. Gus Boquer, FSC, the CPMales was born in October 18, 1996 with around 30 plus third year and first year male students. The following year, the second council of CPMales was formed in October 20, 1997 and the third council in October 14, 1998. The last council was formed in 2001. Since then, the CPMales no longer conducted a retreat. It has already satisfied its objective. By the end of 2000, there were as many boys as there were girls and the boys were the ones leading the organization already, at the same time becoming role models of fine Christian gentlemen in the campus. I was happy though that a few weeks ago, Vince, the presen...

The Candoni RHU opens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Public Health staff would report to work. After 5 p.m., the Night Emergency Clinic staff will take charge. The NEC is supposed to cater to emergency cases however, there are times that some patients would even visit the NEC to see consultation, even have their BP's checked. Mostly, the NEC would serve only emergency cases such as: severe abdominal pains, trauma cases, loss of consciousness, difficulty breathing, etc. A typical "day" at the NEC would start with me asking one of the staff, usually my night utility staff, to buy me my dinner (which is usually inasal na manok and 1 cup of rice). If there are no patients, then I would join the night staff during dinner while watching the news. Sometimes, patients would start coming in at around 6:30 p.m.: skin abrasions, foreign body, etc. A few nights ago, I had to cater to a patient who had a metal rod sticking out the sole of his foot. He accide...

Who is Mary, Mother of Jesus (who is God the Son)? For Catholics, she is the ultimate model of Christian Faith, the First of All apostles, the First to believe in her Son and her Savior. Mary is mother to Jesus and eventually to His disciples. At the foot of the cross, Mary received her "second Annunciation". But who is Mary to non-Catholics? Present-day Protestants criticize Catholics for their "adoration" of Mary, calling it idolatrous. It would be interesting though how the Founders of Protestantism, from Martin Luther to John Calvin, look at Mary. Present-day Protestants would be surprised. Martin Luther said Mary is " the highest woman ," that "we can never honour her enough," that " the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart " and that we should "wish that everyone know and respect her." John Calvin said, " It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of...

A month from now, I will be attending what will be my last official CME as a Doctor to the Barrio, at Oxford Hotel, Clark, Pampanga. Time does fly fast. It has been almost two years since I started working as a Doctor to the Barrio in Candoni, Negros Occidental. I got deployed to Candoni on December 3, 2007 during the feast day of St. Francis Xavier the great missionary. My very first act as Municipal health officer was to conduct a workshop-meeting with my RHU staff on December 7, 2007. I remember my first night in my room at the Tourism Cottage. I spent my first dinner with the Municipal Treasurer who happened to be my wife's relative, and his katiwala Nong Nono. It was a quiet night, my first night to be away in a strange place. I could not sleep as well. My mind was overflowing with ideas in preparation for my first staff meeting. I was so eager to share with them my plans for the place. Looking back, I have come to realize that the many accomplishments we were able to make we...

Our advocacy against Pulmonary Tuberculosis last August seems to be paying off. Last week, about 7 patients went to the Main health center for consultation, all were suspecting to have Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Sputum specimens were collected and even Chest X-rays were requested for some. Before this week ended, our microscopists were able to finish examining their sputum specimens and so far, about 5 of them turned out to be sputum AFB (acid-fast bacilli) positive. All five were then asked to return to the Main Health center's TB DOTS together with their treatment partner to start their 6-months treatment. All anti-Koch's medications are given free for the entire 6 months of treatment. Follow up sputum examinations are also free. The treatment partner, who is usually a Barangay Health Worker or Midwife, ensures that the medications are taken on a daily basis. Two of those who turned out positive are active Philhealth members. Our midwife microscopists are on a roll here and they...

The long weekend has given me an opportunity to spend it with the family. So we decided to watch a movie. Thank God the animated film Up of Disney (Pixar) was still on screen so I was able to bring the family to watch this movie. It has been a while since I watched a Disney film on screen. And it was truly a big adventure. I loved the movie. It is a movie fit not only for kids but even for adults, especially the child-like adults. It was really a movie for the entire family. Up is a fast-paced adventure film which fascinates the imagination of both young and old. Imagine a geriatric protagonist flying on a house being kept afloat by thousands of helium-filled balloons. His sidekick, a wanna-be boy scout (Wildlife Explorer) who only wanted to help the elderly to get promoted to Senior Explorer. And there is this talking dog which managed to fill the generation gap. The story is about one man's dream to go in an adventure in Paradise Falls, "a place lost in time" or more sp...

I got a linked from a fellow Negrense blogger about a video uploaded in youtube. The video allegedly contains a captured shot of a White Lady in the mountains of Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental. According to the youtube description: "A strange apparition has appeared on a video taken by a member of the police Regional Mobile Group (RMG) using his cellular phone. But Negros Occidental Board Member Nehemias de la Cruz said no one could explain the image of a woman in white on the video. On January 15, the RMG personnel were conducting a mapping operation at Spur 21, in the village of Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto (DSB) when one of them took the video of his companions and the mountainous area at noon, De la Cruz said on Monday. The RMG personnel was surprised when they returned to their headquarters in the town at about 6 p.m., to see a female in a white flowing gown on the side of a mountain, said De la Cruz, a former mayor of Don Salvador Benedicto. The RMG men sai...