The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

So you arrived at the airport terminal 3 hours before your flight because yo wanted to avoid the traffic and the long queues at the check in counters. Then while at the predeparture area, you start hearing that dreadful announcement, "your flight will be delayed due to blah blah blah..." You look at your watch and realize you have another hour and a half of waiting for your flight. What do you do?  You can rant about it, complain to the ground personnel or ask questions which you are pretty sure they can't and won't answer anyway. There has to be a more productive way of waiting for your delayed flight, which is actually a more common phenomenon while in the Philippines. It has to be said though that our Philippine airports are the worse place to wait for a (super) delayed flight. I wouldn't mind waiting for a delayed flight if I am in Changi airport or Dubai. International airport. There is so much to do and so many places to go to while inside their airport cum ...

There are many things a 4th year or 3rd year medical student should look forward to during his or her clerkship. Ah, clerkship! It's that moment in a medical student's life that, well, he would either want to remember forever or just plain forget. Whatever it is, it is a process that no medical student gets exempted from. In order to survive the tumultuous clerkship phase, a medical student must get himself psyched for this experience. No. 1: Ready to Embrace Stress . Yes, nothing can be more stressful than clerkship. Not only is it physically stressful but also mentally stressful as well. One must learn how to roll with the stress in order for a medical student to see the end of what appears to be an endless tunnel of clerkship. From dealing with patients to dealing with residents and consultants and sometimes menopausal nurses, a clerk can find less stress inside a pressure cooker than being inside the hospital. And it doesn't seem to go away, maybe except when you sleep....

It was my first time to travel to Masbate City via Legazpi. I was originally scheduled to take the early morning flight direct from Manila to Masbate but the flights then were fully booked. Since it was imperative that I should be in Masbate city, I decided to do the more "scenic route" and island hop from Bicol to the Rodeo City.  After taking the morning flight from Manila to Legazpi via Philppine airlines, I immediately rushed from Legazpi airport to CHD V office where my transportation was waiting. I was to join the staff of CHD V in crossing to Masbate City. To catch the ferry to Masbate City, one must travel to Pilar, Sorsogon either via a shuttle or a bus. Travel time is about 1 hour.  Upon arriving at the port of Pilar, one must wait for ticket booth to open and buy the fast-selling ticket to Masbate. Depending on the type of ferry, a ticket to Masbate City can cost around 400 pesos. Since I was unable to catch the 12noon trip, I had to wait with the CHD V staff for t...

I had the privilege of being invited as guest speaker during the transition rites of the Grade 6 students of the University of Saint La Salle. Here's the transcript of the speech I gave to the students, their parents and teachers: "Exactly 20 years ago, I found myself in the same position as you are now fellow Lasallians. I found myself leaving the elementary campus and moving up to first year High School. I cannot anymore remember my exact thoughts during that moment, but what I can never forget is that feeling of excitement. I was moving up. I was becoming a teenager. I was becoming a high      school student. Moving up meant that I have  accomplished the first few phases of life and that I was ready to face yet another phase. Becoming a teenager meant facing a whole new adventure in exploring new occurrences in friendships and relationships. Becoming a high school student meant transforming into a more mature person.  20 years ago, I was going th...

     Last April 2, the province of Masbate, led by the Department of Health Center of Health and Development Region V together with the Zuellig Family Foundation, conducted a Provincial Health Summit in Masbate City. It was the first time that the provincial health summit was attended not only by public health leaders and mayors but also other government agencies and  NGOs. The idea of having the summit was due to the observation that among the provinces in the Bicol Region, Masbate is one of the provinces who were not performing well when it comes to improving some of their health indicators, particularly their maternal deaths. In 2012, around 16 mothers died due to pregnancy complications in Masbate, all of whom were poor but were not covered by Philhealth. In the province of Masbate, ZFF has 4 active partner LGUs: Cataingan, Mandaon, Milagros and San Jacinto. All of the mayors of our partner municipalities came to the summit along with other mayors from other ...