Philippines: For Sale

(Nickel Mining in Surigao)

I don't quite understand how the government can just ignore this destruction that the mining companies are causing our environment, in our own land. Yes, most of the mining companies are foreign-owned, so it's not a big surprise for me to see images like this. Pero nak naman! Is our government blind??? Don't they have any concern for the indigenous people's living in this part of the country that struggle for the very life of their communities, their children? Don't they have any concerns for the next generation of this nation? Ano nalang ang aabutin nila kung sinisira na natin ang sa totoo lang ay dinatnan na natin dito? Lagi nalang bang pera?! pera?! pera?!


The government's always statement regarding this matter is that "it is for the national interests" but the question is "who's nation are we talking about?". Is this the nation of the people living in Luzon? The nation living in Metropolis? Is Surigao or Palawan not part of this nation?

(Blue skies and... is that blue sea water I'm seeing from afar?)

(Polluted water caused by mining)

Nasaan na ang daang matuwid mo PNoy? The way his administration works, it's look like they're more concern with foreign investments and giving all we have, yes! all we have than to safeguard the interests and the lives of our countrymen. What can I say? God save the Philippines from its own government.

Pedring's Ravage

 

It will all be over. God is with us.

'Pedring' is one of the worst typhoon my home province had ever encountered. Several towns are still submerged in flood waters and is barely subsiding. Let's pray for the safety of everyone who are affected by the typhoon.

Maluwag pa! Maluwag pa!

Napaka-gagaling mang-uto ng mga kundoktor sa maynila! Kapag sumasakay ako ng bus sa Makati, siguro isa lang ako sa maraming nagogoyo ng mga kundoktor. Sasabihin nila maluwag pa, maraming upuan, tapos pagsakay mo tama nga sila, maluwag pa sa gitna para tumayo! Ang nakakainis pa, hindi ka na pwedeng bumaba dahil bawal bumaba sa sakayan. Kunsensya mo pa kung maging pasaway ka at bumaba ka dahil mahuhuli yung bus at ma-aabala yung mga sakay nila.

Madalas din kapag pumapasok naman ako, pilit na sinisiksik nung mga kundoktor na yan yung mga tao sa gitna. Sasabihin, "Boss maki-usog po dun sa likod oh at naaaapaaaakaaaluwag pa dyan.", Wow manong! Naaaapaaaakaaaaaluwag ba kamo ng bus nyo? Ano yan MOA??? Feeling siguro nila mga gummy bears yung mga pasahero nila na lumiliit habang sinisiksik. Eh kung kayo kayang mga kundoktor ang isiksik ko ng husto sa isang bus at ng maintindihan nyo kung anong pakiramdam!

Meron pang ibang kundoktor na kunyare concern na concern, "Konting urong naman po dyan sa likod oh, para makasakay naman po yung iba at makapasok din (sa trabaho)." Hay kuya 'wag ka ng dumrama dyan dahil hindi effective!

Ang nakakainis pa sa mga yan, ang baiiiiiiittt bait bait nila kapag sasakay ka. Pero kapag bababa ka na nako! Sila pa yung galit! "Paki-bilisan naman nung mga bababa dyan oh!" Manong aba! Paano naman magiging mabilis maka-baba eh halos wala ng daanan sa gitna dahil puno ng tao na pilit nyong siniksik! Meron pa, "Oh, mga bababa ng megamol! megamol! megamol!" Kuya Shangri-La palang! Ang layo pa ng megamall! Tapos, kapag hindi ka umimik nung nagpapababa sila ng megamol sa shangri-la at dun ka bumaba sa babaan ng megamall, sila pa ang galit. "Nakoooooo! kanina pa sinabing megamol eh!" Nakaka-inis! 'di ba Monch??? Haha. Madalas nararanasan ko yan kapag pauwi ako ng Bulacan. Wala pa kami sa terminal ng Five Star sasabihin nung kundoktor, "Oh yung mga bababa ng Baliwag! Baliwag! Dito na po!" Gusto ko nalang sabihin, "Ay nalipat na pala yung terminal ng Baliwag, mas lumapit na sya."

Hindi naman ako yung tipong gusto kong bumaba sa saktong sakto. Ang sakin lang, may mga tamang babaan naman. Sana sundin naman nila yon. Isa pa, konting respeto naman. Lahat naman tayo nagtatrabaho. Lahat tayo kailangang kumita. Pero sana 'wag tayong maka-sarili. Isipin din natin kung mabuti pa ba yung nagagawa natin o hindi. Hindi mo naman ikakayaman yang pangsi-siksik at pang-aabala sa iba.

Sana lang din kasi maging maayos yung pasahod sa mga driver at kundoktor para hindi sila ganyan. Kung meron lang siguro silang fixed na sahod at allowance at hindi sila kaparte lang ng kumpanya eh hindi naman siguro sila magkukumahog at ipagsisiksikan hanggang sa kahuli-hulihang espasyo ng bus nila yung mga pasahero. Sabi ko nga, isipin din natin yung kalagayan ng iba. Hindi ang sarili lang natin.

Kayo? Anong pinakanakaka-stress na nararanasan nyo sa bus???

It's better AUTOMATED!

I.B.A. na ngayon!

Ako, tulad ng 50 Milyong botanteng Pilipino ay malaki ang expectation sating kauna-unahang automated election. Sino ba naman ang hindi? Eh unang-una, sobrang magiging madali na ang pagboto dahil nakalista na lahat sa isang mahaba napaka-habang papel ang mga pangalan ng pulitikong kumakandidato sa national at local positions at sobrang magiging mabilis na rin ang bilangan at pagkuha ng resulta ng botohan dahil sa gagamit nalang tayo ng GSM networks o satellite para mai-transmit ang resulta. Less time of canvassing, less work for teachers, less possibilities of vote-padding and vote-shaving. Great!

Bago pa man tayo kumanta ng "May bilog, may bilog na hugis itlog", marami na rin ang hindi bilib sa bagong sistema. Well, ganun naman talaga kapag may bago, takot mag-adopt. Masyado lang talaga siguro tayong natatakot dahil na rin sa mga napagdadaanan nating kaguluhan nung mga nakakaraang eleksyon at ayaw na nating magkamali. But I believe our country desperately needs such electoral change para naman maka-usad tayo. We are left far behind. If we will not going to give it a chance, then when is the right time?

Day of election, I was quite surprised to see huge amount of people standing by precints to vote. An evidence of how Filipinos badly wants a change. Nakakatuwa kasi maraming nagpa-participate. Kaso medyo nakakainis lang kasi ang gulo-gulo ng sistema. Kelangan mo pang pumila at kumuha ng number. Tapos may pila pa ulit sa voting precints. Bakit kelangan mo pang kumuha ng number kung alam mo na naman yung precint no. mo??? Hindi ka naman pwede hindi kumuha ng number dahil kapag pumila ka sa presinto at wala kang number, hindi ka nila papapasukin para bumoto. Ano yon may priority number parang bangko??? Tapos hindi manlang umuusad yung pila, napaka-konti kasi ng marking pens. Hindi mo din malaman kung sino susundin mo sa mga dumada-dakdak don dahil iba-iba sila ng sinasabi. Yung iba naman hindi mo alam kung sigurado ba sila sa sinasabi nila. Hayyy. Nakakapanghinayang dahil ang daming umuwi nalang dahil sa inis. Sayang ang boto nila. Ako naman, medyo nagtyaga nalang kasi para naman yun sa kapalaran natin for the next 6 years. Relax relax.

Cluster Precint No. 36. Precint 95B Number 39. Medyo nahimasmasan naman ako nung makuha ko na yung ballot ko at maka-upo na. Ang hirap pala i-shade nung bilog. Hehe. Ang liit pala kasi tapos ang nipis nung linya. Pati dapat talaga ingat na ingat ka. Hindi din dapat madiin yung pag-shade dahil tumatagos sa likod ng papel. Nung unang pagsubo ko ng balota sa PCOS (Precint Count Optical Scan) kinabahan ako kasi niluwa nung machine. Hala! akala ko tuloy hindi na mabibilang yung boto ko. Pero thank God kasi nag-CONGRATULATIONS na sya nung pangalawang beses na try ko. Buti nalang hindi nangangain ng tanga yung PCOS, balota lang. Haha.

Ang napansin ko lang, although mabilis sa bilangan ang optical scan, sobrang bumagal naman yung process ng voting dahil sobrang kinompress ang tao sa 1 machine. Halos 6-8 precints ang pinagsama-sama sa 1 Cluster Precint o 1000 voter per PCOS. Mabagal kasi parang 10-15 voters at a time lang ang pwedeng bumoto. Pangalawang napansin ko, wala namang silbi yung secrecy folder. Parang kalahati lang yung natatakpan sa balota mo. Yung balota naman kasi OA sa haba. Isa pa, sa sobrang effort mo na huwag madumihan, malukot o mapawisan yung balota mo para basahin ng napaka-arteng PCOS machine, eh hindi mo na magagawa pang hawakan yun secrecy folder. At eto pa, usually, yung election inspector ang nagsusubo ng balota sa PCOS dahil karamihan ng botante takot magpasok ng balota nila sa machine. Ang siste, kapag nahirapan ipasok ni E.I. (Election Inspector) yung balota, tatanggalin na nya sa secrecy folder yung balota mo tsaka nya isusubo sa PCOS kaya hindi na secret yung boto mo. Hehe. At hindi pa dyan nagtatapos, sa mga malalabo ang mata, o minsan yung mga medyo may edad na, hindi nila makita kung nasan na ba yung mga bilog na hugis itlog na binibida sa TV, ang lagay tuloy kung kani-kanino nalang sila nagpapatulong mag-shade. Tsk tsk.

For me, ok pa tong mga pagkakamali at pagkukulang na to. Well for now. Kauumpisa palang naman kasi natin sa bagong sistema. But I hope these things will be addressed and be changed para hindi na natin maranasan sa mga susunod pang eleksyon. Mistakes are the best teachers anyway. We don't know what the future holds for us. But I hope that we'll never get tired to pray for a better Philippines. God Bless our Nation.

Ondoy

Our nation is once again mourning due to the devastation brought about by the tropical storm Ondoy last weekend. Atleast 78 people died and more than a quarter of million have been displaced. It was the worst flooding in more than four decades in history.

Saturday morning, I woke up 10am and fixed myself to buy food outside for my breakfast meal. I saw that It was raining hard so I looked for my umbrella and got outside. Our unit is on the 2nd floor and from there, upon closing the main door, I saw the walk way in flood, the water is just at least 1 foot high so I decided to still go to the store. When I reached the gate, hala!, parang ilog na 'yung daan! I have to cross the street to get to the store so kelangan ko talagang salubungin 'yung rumaragasang tubig baha! I still decided to go and buy food as I'm already starving that time. It was fun crossing the raging flood. Really. Haha, It was like every step you're taking, you have to pause for a moment to steady your balance before you take your next step. And don't forget to watch your slippers! Hehe. Kidding aside, from my experience, you'll know that I really don't realized how serious the situation that time is. Electricity is out, no worries for that. Our only problem that time is our laundries. An insult for those people who have lost everything.

The extent of devastation in the capital and the neighbouring cities and provinces have seen clearer on Sunday as the sun shone briefly - destroyed houses, overturned vans and cars, and streets and highways covered in debris and mud. That's the only time I've realized that this storm has really gone bad. ABS-CBN's special coverage for Ondoy is a great evidence of how serious the situation is. Watching this coverage made me realized how fortunate I am and my family that we never experienced such deluge and lost.

Photo Credit: ABS-CBN News Online (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/26/09/arroyo-visits-hard-hit-marikina)
Aerial view of a flooded portion of Marcos Highway in Marikina City, September 27, 2009. ABS-CBN News/Jeff Canoy

At the midst of the tragedy, it is really heart-warming to see people working willingly for relief and rescues and risking their lives to save those in need. Foundations and huge companies extending their donations and letting their resources be used for rescue operations for those cities and provinces that is affected by Ondoy. In such time, I proved that the Filipino nation is still united...that we are one in this battle...beacuse we are family. I admire those people whose heart is unselfish. Indeed, for God is so gracious that He never let this storm rest in the country for several days. Let's keep on praying for the healing and comfort of those people who have lost their love ones, their homes and livelihood. God Bless our nation.

How you can help: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/27/09/tropical-storm-ondoy-how-you-can-help