The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

For those living in Bacolod City and are planning to light up some "legal" fireworks, locally produced fireworks are being sold right beside the New Government Center. I was there a week ago and bought some sparklers and "luces". There was one guy who even approached me and asked, "ano atun to? Gusto mo Goodbye Philippines? Goodbye NGC?" (What are you looking for? Good-bye Philippines? Good-bye NGC?") Goodbye Philippines and Goodbye NGC are names of supposedly very powerful firecrackers. I politely declined after giving out a good laugh. Goodbye NGC? That's a first. NGC refers to the New Government Center. Anyway, for those who are still on a last minute rush to buy some fireworks and a few firecrackers as well, the vendors are situated right at the left side of the NGC if you are coming from Lopue's East. Lopue's East also sells fireworks produced by Dragon Fireworks. View Larger Map Of course, always consider safety when you dec...

Whenever there are fireworks displays, people would always flock to the venue and wait until the skies are lit up with a variety of colors. Every year, it has been a tradition to watch fireworks displays around the city especially during the Christmas season. Mostly, the shopping malls would sponsor these fireworks display. I remember a few years back, there would be a pyrotechnic show competition and many people would watch this spectacular choreographed exhibition of lights and sounds in the sky. Even if it would entail straining one's neck to gaze upon the dark skies being splattered with shades of gold and white and sometimes green and purple and red. Fireworks have been with us for centuries and they were once used as part of warfare. Now, they have been adopted as symbols of celebration and life. I think it is our fascination for that which is bright and fleeting that attracts us to watching this kind of shows. We are mesmerized by the glitter of the sparkles raining ...

2011 is a year of firsts. Allow me to recall the many personal highlights of 2011 which for me will become one of those memorable years. 1) Working on a cruise ship - I began working aboard the Voyager of the Seas last December 2010 and the entire month of December 2010 was really an adjustment month. But by January 2011, everything went on smoothly. I was still homesick and perhaps I was never cured from it but I was now able to adjust with my workmates. I was also able to get my groove back and started earning me some money to send back home. The experience aboard the cruise ship was amazing. Almost every night I would watch the shows in the theater, then hit the gym with the Filipino Mafia, or pig out at Johnny Rockets. Every Sunday was "Wal-mart" or "Target Day" in Galveston. But walking around the ship alone was such an experience already. Meeting my patients from so many countries, learning new languages and even making new friends and connections. I wasn...

Below are Interactive Maps of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, two of the most devastated cities hit by Typhoon Washi or Sendong. Relief Operations are ongoing. The international community has already sent aid. More support is needed. Most of the urgent needs are water and food. Electricity is being restored in some parts but potable water is still scarce and the local water districts are working 24 hours a day to restore water supply. Map of Cagayan de Oro View Larger Map Map of Iligan City View Larger Map Negros Oriental was also hit, particularly towns like Tanjay and Valencia. They too need your help Map of Valencia View Larger Map Death toll has risen beyond 1,000 and authorities are saying the actual number of deaths may never be ascertained. Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

Merry Christmas to everyone around the world. May you have a bountiful table to share with loving family and loyal friends. Remember those who have none this Christmas and pray that the God of bounty Himself who so generously offered His Son for our sake remember those who have little or none to share. After all, Christmas is a season of the poor. So, wherever you are tonight, whatever language you speak, whatever circumstances in life you have, let this still be a joyous season for all of you. Large Visitor Globe Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

Before the year 2011 ends, let us look back at the memorable moments of 2011. The year 2011 has been an unforgettable year for many. For me, 2011 is a year of international travel. It also means being away from home 8 months out of 12 months. It is a huge struggle for me but it is still a year worth remembering: a year of fresh beginnings. Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

Finally, after weeks of circulating rumors that Blessed Pedro Calungsod would be elevated into Sainthood, the Vatican has finally announced that Blessed Pedro Calungsod will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. What a blessed blessed surprise and a perfect gift by the Church to the Filipino faithful. What perfect timing as well. After the onslaught of Typhoon Sendong, the Universal Church seems to be telling us Filipinos to hold on and keep the faith by adding yet another martyr in the list of saints in the Church. Once canonized, Blessed Pedro Calungsod will be the second Filipino saint and the first saint coming from the Visayas. Here's the quote from the Website The Manila Paper regarding this wonderful news: "The Vatican has announced today that Blessed Pedro Calungsod will become Saint Pedro Calungsod. The Vatican said Pedro Calungsod, along with six others, will be canonized as a saint for the Roman Catholic Church after Pope Benedict XVI approved the promulgation of...

Changing the world, all 8 billion people, is an impossible feat. The 90 million Filipino people alone are already very hard to manage. So many have tried and yet the world seems to be the same. Many have given up after trying having realized that to change that which is beyond their reach is virtually impossible. Many have tried dying. Others have survived but with the scars of their experiences. So, we still complain that the world is unsafe, is not peaceful, still riddled with hate and destruction and negligence. And then we stopped trying to change the world because apparently, the world cannot be changed. But maybe we are setting our sight for something far from which our eyes can see. Maybe, it is time to set our eyes on that which is closer to us: our families, our neighbors, our friends. Maybe by affecting the lives of others that surround us, especially those that are dear to us but most especially those we don't know at all, we can ignite the spark that shall spread l...

It seems nobody's giving good advice to our government leaders lately. The many foul ups they have been committing are directly and indirectly affecting the entire country. Well, if I were president and if I was given the chance to choose an adviser, I would choose this old lady who calls herself Madea. Madea is a tough cookie who speaks her mind and has this uncanny way of making profound things seem pragmatic. Sometimes the advice she would give would even make people uncomfortable, would shake them to their core, but once you step back and allow it to settle, you would then try to understand the meaning of her words and say, "It actually makes sense." Unfortunately, Madea is not a real person. She is just the creation of Tyler Perry who actually plays the role. The Madea series started as a stage play which gained popularity and had movie versions of her stories. One particularly favorite is Madea's Big Happy Family. The story is simple to follow but the advi...

The local news are a buzz today when it was confirmed that the Philippine president was out partying with his security the night after Typhoon Sendong hit and devastated Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and the rest of Mindanao and even Southern Negros. ABS-CBN reports that "President Benigno Aquino III partied with the Presidential Security Group on Sunday night, an action that did not sit well with some users of social media sites". His PR team scrambled to "sanitize" what is seemingly a worse scenario for any public relations officer. Talk about insensitivity. First of all, PNoy was already criticized when he opted to delay his visit to the hard hit areas 2 days after Christmas. When they finally decided to come early (Tuesday Dec. 20, 2011), another headlines grabbed the spotlight when PNoy was again seen partying Sunday night. The first to "announce" the news was showbiz personality Valerie Concepcion when she twitted how the president enjoyed her jokes duri...

Typhoon Sendong might have spared most of the Visayas a few days ago but not Mindanao which is usually not used to being hit by strong typhoons. Typhoon Sendong, perhaps the last typhoon to hit the country this year, has created so much havoc and loss of lives especially in the city of Cagayan de Oro. More than 300 are expected to be dead, most are entire families and villages washed away into the sea. The picture shown here is perhaps the most heart-breaking picture I have ever seen in relation to the latest news about the storm. No one was prepared for this storm which is actually very surprising since the storm was already announced a few hours before it even entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). The original pathway though was forecasted to hit Easter Visayas, then crossing over the central Visayas and supposed to exit West of Palawan. However, when it entered the PAR (last Friday)it suddenly changed course and went straight across northern parts of Mindanao. ND...

When CNN declared that the Hero of the Year is Robin Lim, a midwife working in Indonesia, I told myself that Robin is just the face of many other midwives around the world, especially in the Philippines, who would sacrifice life and limb to deliver the most basic health care services to those who cannot access these. When I visited St. Bernard, a municipality in Southern Leyte, and met its hardworking midwives and RHU personnel, I was brought back down memory lane when I was a municipal health officer. I was a fresh graduate then and despite my being a neophyte, I was welcomed by my RHU personnel with warmth and respect. I arrived in my RHU thinking that I was to bring them new and more modern ideas. I ended up learning from them. The midwives were my mentors. Thus, when I met the midwives of St. Bernard, I had the same respect and admiration for them. They actually reminded me of my former midwives. The municipality of St. Bernard grabbed the headlines a few years ago when an entire...

Last week's X-Factor USA elimination was perhaps its most controversial yet. Last week, after the American viewing public voted on their favorites, Simon Cowell's protege Rachel Crow and Marcus Canty were both in the bottom two. To prevent from being eliminated, the two had to sing their last "survival" song and the 4 X-Factor Judges (Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid) would choose which of the two they would send home. L.A. Reid voted for Rachel to go home in favor of his ward Marcus. Simon Cowell sent Marcus home in favor of Rachel. Paula Abdul chose Marcus to be sent home. Majority of the crowd in the live studio was cheering on for Nicole to spare Rachel after a heart-rendering performance. Nicole however chose to let the public decide, saved Marcus instead and allowed the votes to choose who would be eliminated. There were some boos already from the crowd but perhaps majority of those waiting for the results were quite confident that Marcus C...

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle formally takes possession of the archdiocese today. Tagle’s installation at 9 a.m. will be preceded by a “karakol” dance-procession that will start at San Agustin Church. The procession will be joined by more than 1,500 priests, religious men and women, and lay faithful from Tagle’s previous diocese of Imus. In front of the cathedral, there will be a civic reception by the mayors of the five cities covered by the archdiocese—Manila, Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong and San Juan. The mayors, Malicdem said, will hand over to Tagle the symbolic keys to their cities “signifying the cooperation and collaboration of Church and civic authorities in the promotion of the common good and the pursuit of peace and justice.” Tagle will then enter the doors of the cathedral, where two auxiliary bishops and the cathedral’s rector will escort him through rites of liturgical reception before the actual canonical installation begins. Tagle, 54, is the 32nd archbishop of ...

The winner of the 4th Grand Finals of ABS-CBN's popular noontime show, Showtime, was a group of Tinikling Dancers who danced the traditional folkdance with a twist. It was definitely pure talent and I must say, the contestants for the grand finals of Showtime were far better than those of Pilipinas Got Talent. Anyway, here's the video of the performance of the Grand Finals Winner from Misamis Oriental. The UDC group, which started a new original dance craze, won the Most Entertaining Award as voted by random members of the live audience. La Castellana's Bailes de Luces was also among the grand finalists. I have to say that this Bailes De Luces Festival of Lights in Negros was the original when it comes to dancing with electric lights. Bacolod's Electric Masskara I feel is only a "second-rate trying hard copy cat." From the other side of the Negros Island, Dumaguete's Prime Machine also presented a very outstanding dance number with a fut...

The year is about to end and for some people, it will only be 3 months more before they finish their studies and join the bandwagon of the "unemployed". It is definitely going to be tough looking for a job, let alone finding a career. In this highly competitive dog-eat-dog world, fresh graduates must fight to the teeth for their pass to what would presumably their economic stability. When we were younger, we were asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We answer it with our dreams sometimes almost too fancy to be real (I remember answering that question with, "Astronaut"). As we grew older, the dream gets challenged by the realities of economics and social pressures. So, the childhood dream for example of becoming an artist gets swallowed by the lure of becoming rich (or richer) thus the enrollment in a Nursing course. So we ask ourselves, what would be the right job or career for me? Let us be guided with three measures in choosing our caree...

And this is the guy we are sending to China as our official representative. Defintion of terms: Diplomacy - is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations. Hard power - is a theory that describes using military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. It is used in contrast to soft power, which refers to power that comes from diplomacy, culture and history. I think this guy is worse than any "midnight appointee" of former president Gloria Arroyo. P.S. The three pillars of Philippine diplomacy are economic, political and people-to- people cooperation. Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

Last night, the Zuellig Family Foundation held its annual Christmas Party at the Romulo Cafe in Makati. It was my first time to step inside Romulo Cafe but it was not as intimidating as some high class restos are. It is definitely a highly recommended place to dine or hang out with family and friends, whether you are talking about the most trivial things in life or closing a business deal. Romulo Cafe is named after the famous Filipino diplomat, Carlos P. Romulo. History class would teach us that Romulo was the first President of the United Nations General Assembly. It is owned by the granddaughter of the diplomat and the idea was not only to share good food but also good lessons in history. Upon entering the restaurant, one would not miss the many framed pictures highlighting the many moments in the life of Carlos Romulo. The second floor appears to be almost like a museum. The maze like pattern of the wall paper creates a contemporary atmosphere but the comfortable sofas and pil...

Just before this year has ended, another scandal has rocked the local showbiz scene. The scandal involves DJ Mo Twister and his (former?) girlfriend Rhian Ramos. In a video confession, DJ Mo Twister, popular for being candid and outspoken, confessed that he got Rhian pregnant and because of pressure, Rhian opted to have her baby aborted in Singapore. The video was then circulated in the web and forced DJ Mo Twister to temporarily quit showbiz. Here's the full video courtesy of youtube. Rhian Ramos is of Welsh-Filipino descent and is the youngest daughter of Gareth Howell and Clara Ramos. She has an older sister named Nadine. She is also the niece of Ida Ramos Henares, the Assistant Vice President of GMA Network. Ramos first starred in the television series Captain Barbell and in Stairway to Heaven. She then started working in commercials including an appearance in a McDonald's McJelly Duo advert. She was cast as the female lead of the telefantasya Captain Barbell, in 200...

Last December 3, 2011, I sat down on the bleachers beside the corner of the Rizal football field to witness what seemed to be a history for Philippine sport. A football icon, David Beckham, visited the country and together with his L.A. Galaxies, played against our national football team, the popular Philippine Azkals. When I first heard about the scheduled game and being aware that I would be in Manila on that day, I was toying with the idea that I had to watch this historic event. For me, it would be the first. My first to watch a sporting event in the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium. My first to watch an Azkal match. And definitely, my first time to see the legend David Beckham himself, together with the other superstars of the L.A. Galaxies who were the recently crowned MLS Champions. I hesitated though when I heard about the price. The cheapest ticket was being sold at 2,000 pesos or roughly 47 US Dollars. However, I decided to watch the game live thinking that this would be a onc...