For A Change

Sa mga nakalipas na araw, masyadong naging seryoso ang mga posts ko. Kaya naman, naisipan kong maiba today. Oo na, aaminin ko, wala akong masabi ngayon. Yun bang walang interesanteng mga bagay na kumuha ng atensyon ko today. Kaya naman, malamang sa malamang, walang kwenta ang post na ito.

Buong araw, nagblog hopping lang ako dito sa opisina. Gamit ang Sun Broadband ng kasamahan ko sa trabaho (maraming salamat sa kanya :p), ayun sinaksak ko sa laptop ko at naghanap ng mga interesanteng blogsites na pwedeng makapawi ng boredom na aking nafifeel mula pa kaninang umaga. 

Anyway, highway, napadpad pala ako sa isang blog na nagsabing si Kris Aquino daw ang magiging host ng Pilipinas Got Talent ng  ABS-CBN. Wow, nag-function ulit ang utak ko. Napabigay akong opinyon tuloy. Naisip ko kasing hindi bagay kay Ms. Kris yung show. I believe in her hosting talent. Bongga sya! Kaso i just don’t feel talaga na she fits for that show. Anyway, as if naman may mangyayari kung ipagpilitan ko ang opinyon ko diba?

Next stop, hanggang ngayon, di ko pa rin magets kung bakit tatakbong president si Sen. Jamby Madrigal. Hindi naman sa minamaliit ko sya noh, kaso kasi parang di lang swak sa kanya ang posisyon na inaatim nya. I guess she would be better kung wag nalang nyang ituloy ang binabalak nya.

Well, bago ko sinulat ang blog na ito, napadpad ako sa videos sa Facebook ng aking friend sa college na nagtatrabaho sa isang publication. Para akong adik sa kakatawa sa mga videos nila. Sobrang nakakatuwa at nakakatawa talaga how they made their dance moves. Anyway, naisip ko tuloy, seeing those videos made me laugh, in their little way, nakatulong sila sa mga tulad kong walang magawa, bored, at higit sa lahat, medyo down ang mood ngayon.

O sya. Hanggang dito nalang. It seens like this is not the type of blog post that I should be writing here. Anyway, patalastas lang naman after the serious matters I tackled in my past posts. After this, serious na ulit.

A Nation of Heroes

Who doesn’t want to become a hero? A lot of people of different ages would have always wanted to become a hero precisely because becoming a hero entails a lot of priveleges. When you are tagged as a hero, you have all the fame, the recognitions, and all the other extras that come with the title.

But becoming a hero is not easy. That is what and how I’ve viewed it then. Today, I realized, you don’t need to die for your country just so you could be tagged as a hero. You don’t have to neither write moving literary pieces nor fight for something just so you can be called as one. All we need is to share ourselves, our blessings, our efforts, our time to those who badly need it, and that in itself is an act of heroism already.

Today, becoming a hero is becoming selfless amid our own distress. Today, becoming a hero is becoming compassionate. We can all become the heroes that we want to be. We don’t need other people to see our good works just so we can be called as heroes.

In the past week, we’ve seen a lot of heroes. We’ve heard a lot of inspiring stories of heroism. This thought came to mind just this morning, “If there is one thing that we should be thankful about the occurrence of Typhoon Ondoy, that is the fact that it has brought out the best in us.” The typhoon became a bridge of people’s selflessness and compassion.

Ondoy made us realize that no tragedy or calamity could ever hinder us from becoming the heroes of our fellow countymen. It showed us that at the end of the day, our love for others is what matters most. It made us realize that no matter how painful everything that happened was, as long as we have each other around, everything will be okay.

I salute every person who came out and took part in helping our fellowmen. Indeed, you are these people’s heroes.

NOTE: Speaking of heroism, I couln’t help but be proud of another unselfish Filipino. He’s named, Efren Peñaflorida. He’s currently recognized as one of the Top Ten Heroes of 2009 by CNN. Vote for him and let us continue spreading the goodness of our fellow contrymen.

To vote, click THIS.

Lavish Dinner While In Distress

Only in the Philippines

When most of us are worried about other people’s distress, some politicians are worried how would they make “papogi” to the electorate. Common! This is not the time to repack or pack foods with your name on it. I saw in a blogger’s site yesterday a photo of a packed food being given to victims of Typhoon Ondoy with a sticker on it signifying his color trademark, and a scotch taped piece of paper with the politician’s name. How come these people were still able to do so amid the tragic situation of our fellowmen?

This is not the time to make “pabango” or “papogi.” Campaign period is still way too far. This is definitely not the time to brag about how much you have donated or that you did this and that. Okay, thanks for your help. But please, let’s all be concerned wholeheartedly. Let’s not take advantage of the situation.

Politicians, yes, this is your time to shine, as a defunct TV show says. But definitely, not the time  to be insincere of your efforts. It looks like you’re telling these people, “Hey! During the typhoon I helped you out through sending food so vote for me!” or “Hey! This help comes from me, so you better not forget the essence of ‘utang na loob.’” Shame on you people!

If you’re helping just for the sake of the coming elections or for your own sake come May 2010, you better stop. There are a lot of sincere people out there willing to help without asking anything in return. These victims don’t need you. I may be harsh with my words now, but this is reality. You should stop if what you’re just doing it for your own good. Really, shame on you. Okay, nevertheless, thanks for your efforts.

Oh, by the way, I read in a blog that Mikey Arroyo was seen buying a liquor in Rustan’s in Katipunan while everybody else is so concerned on saving their lives. My goodness! Hail to you Mr. Mikey! You are suck a jerk!
 

Just So You Know

I have shared my thoughts about what Typhoon Ondoy has done to us on my two other blogsites already. Nasabi ko na yung sarili kong experience, as well as yung mere thoughts ko lang about what happened. But there are a lot more things to say. There are a lot more realizations that came my way, which urged me to write this blog.

While I was commending the heroes of Ondoy (people who took their part in helping our unfortunate fellows), I was also in the midst of thinking why in the middle of a tragedy, there are people who were selfish enough not to care at all. Opo, you read it right. There are companies, businesses, people, who did not care. Too bad really.

I thought of not blogging about it anymore, but the hell. I just need to. I need to share my disappointment with these people. I need to spread not nasty words, but warnings perhaps to these people so as to spare this from happening again.

On the night of September 26, 2009, while the whole Metropolis was in darkness, I was listening over to Jam 88.3 through my cellular phone. Lucky enough, I was able to recharge the batteries of my phones before the electricity was turned off. Habang nakikinig ako sa  radio, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was not to experience what other people were experiencing right that very moment.

Madaming tumatawag sa station nila. Some of them have shaky voice asking for news about certain areas where their family and friends were located. Some on the other hand, were asking for help dahil nasa area talaga sila nung mga binaha. Now, what caught my attention that night were the people texting the station to help them plead to some establishments. They were asking the management of these malls to not let them out, to give them shelter dahil nga stranded sila sa sobrang baha along their way home.

I don’t want to mention the names of the malls kasi baka maging sikat pa sila lalo. Now, ito lang naman ang masasabi ko, mall owners, hindi po ba ninyo naisip na yung mga taong hindi nyo binigyan ng shelter sa kasadsagan ng bagyong Ondoy ay ang mga taong nagpapasok ng revenues, ng asset sa inyo? Hindi po ba ninyo naisip na sila ang kung tutuusin ay ang nagpapakain sa inyo? How come you become so selfish? So greedy?

May isang mall na sobrang kilala dahil sa sobrang laki nito. You know what they did? They kicked out their employees in the middle of a dark, flooded night. Hindi po porket Intsik ang may-ari nito, eh hindi na sila makikialam sa mga empleyado nilang Pilipino, hindi po ba? Come to think of it, your employees are your assets. Without them, no one would run your businesses. Nobody would take care of your establishments. How come na in the middle of distress, you kicked them out instead of giving them shelter and taking care of them?

You are lucky because you have all the wealth and luxuries in life. But how come you could not even give even just yung care nalang for your people, for your countrymen? Sa kabilang dako, may isa pang mall na pinasok ng baha at na-stuck ang mga tao sa cinema lobby ng mall. Ok, they were inside, they were safe. But the big but is, they starved. While the supermarket at the ground floor was soaked in water, the people upstairs were hungry. This what came to my mind. Sa loob po ng mall ay may department store. Meron pong  tinitindang food doon. Sa gitna ng kalamidad, how come di nalang kumuha ng food doon and gave them to the starving people inside? Hindi po ba dapat ang adrenaline natin ay gumagana? Di po ba that would have been our solution to not let people starve?

Naisip ko lang, nasaan ang mga pag-iisip ng management, lalo na ng mga may-ari ng mga establishments na ito habang nasa gitna ng calamity ang mga tao nila? Were they thinking how to save their asses? Oh, I’m sorry, I mean their money, their wealth pala? Too bad for you, really. You know why? Sometimes, karma really strikes back.

Anyway, let me give my another point of view. People were taught to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best, right? Napansin ko lang po, though the government was trying to handle the situation in the best way they could, pano pong nangyari na may mga news na nagsasabing, hindi po tayo handa with such kind of calamity? One example, the National Disaster Coordinating Council was reported to have about 13 or 18 rubber boats only (my apology, I couldn’t recall the exact number). Wow, for the whole country? Yun lang ang meron tayo? I guess we should rather stuck one at home nalang. Kawawa naman ang gobyerno, kulang ata ang budget. Pero in fainess, pagkainan sa bonggang restaurant outside the country, may budget tayo.

By the way, before I forget, my gratitude to those countries who extended their help to us. Government, please make sure it’ll go to the people and not to your pockets. Thanks!