Aircon, snow, Manuel L. Quezon, Kris at Susan Roces

Dear Mouse, Mainit ang mga nakaraang araw. Pero hindi tumutulo ang pawis ko. Hinihika tuloy ako. Madalas ang punta ko sa ladies room para wisikan ko ang aking mukha ng malamig na tubig. May isang "mapusyaw ang kutis" na nagtanong sa akin kung bakit daw parang init na init ako eh dapat daw sanay ako sa init dahil mainit sa Pinas. Di ba sanay ka namang magpaypay? Ano raw ang ginagawa ko pag mainit? Sabi ko ginagamit ko isa kong daliri ? Anoooohhh, oh di lumaki ang mata niya. Oo, sabi ko. Tikwas ang ilong ko noong sinabi kong isang daliri para i-push ang on ng airconditioner sa bahay, sa opisina at sa kotse. There is one such invention, you know. DIto nga sa Estet, may mga building na walang aircon, heater lang. Pag uminit, para akong pop-corn na gustong magpop sa loob ng microwave. Hindi mo rin masisisi ang mga puting kutis na ito ng walang kaalaman sa Pinas. Kahit naman sa atin, marami ring Pinoy na akala lahat ng mga 'Merkano nakakakita na ng snow. Marami rin sa mapupusyaw ang kulay na walang alam tungkol sa mundo lalo nasa Pinas. Mayroon akong nakilalalang Pilipina na may ari ng isang travel agency. Nakapangasawa siya ng isang "merkanong" nagmula sa mga liblib na sulok ng Estet. Nang iuwi siya mula sa Pinas, pinagkalipunpunan daw siya ng mga kamag-anak at mga kabarangay. Tinitingnan ang kaniyang 'powet' na para bang hinihanapan siya ng buntot. Tiningnann ang kaniyang paa. siya ay nakaboots. at sabi bakit daw maganda siya. Sabi ko hintayin nila akong makita. oops. Marami ang pumupula kay Manuel L. Quezon, sa katunayan may nabasa pa ako noong nakaraang buwan na sinisisi siya sa pagsabi niya na mas nanaisin pa niya ang pamamahala ng Pilipinas pa rang impyerno kaysa mapailalim ng Estet. (tama kaya ang translesyon ko?) Bilang Philippines Resident Commissioner sa Estet, nakita niya kung paano ang Pilipino ay ipinakita sa mundo. Sa 1904 World Fair para i-celebrate ang St. Louisiana Purchase. Ang pinakita sa mundo ay mga savages at ang mga larawang parang yon nga ang Pilipino at ang mga commissioners at mga pensionados(Scholars) ay mga kaunti lang sa numero. Ang mga retratong nakita ng milyong pumunta sa carnabal na yon ay: 1. mga negritong (binyag nila sa maliit na bersiyon ng kanilang Itim) na umaakyat sa Puno 2. mga Igoroteng kumakain ng aso (sa mga taong mahal pa nila ang kanilang alagang aso kaysa sa mga tao, ang mga kumakain ng aso ay mga savages. 3. mag-asawang midget sa Bisaya 4.mga taong bundok na nakabahag lang at sinasabing head hunters at cannibals Nagtalumpati siya sa maling pagpapakita sa mundo nang tungkol sa Pinas. Ang mga hindi sumasang-ayon at ang mga sumasangayon ay parehong ginamit ang mga retratong ito sa bawat expositions na kung saan ay mga Pilipinong mga walang sibilasasyon na dapat kaawaan at hindi dapat isama sa mga ini-exploit(ayon sa mga anti-imperialists). Sa kabilang panig naman ay ang mga imperialists na ang Estet ay naniniwalang kailangang kalingain ang mga Pilipinong walang sibilisasyon daw, turuan sila ng abc, turuan silang maligo at magsuot ng damit. Kaya halos lahat ng mga Simbahang Kristiyano ay nagpapadala ng mga misyonaryo sa mga lugar na ang mga Pilipino ay mga pinaniwalaang kailang mkabinyagan, kailangang maturuang ng Ten Commandments kung saan may nasasaad na Huwag Papatay---kasama doon ang huwag kumain ng kapwa tao.Nireretrato nila ang mga "natives" kagaya ng mga Igorote na for a fee, susuotan kanila ng makulay nilang mga damit na may kasama pang sayaw. Pag nakita ito sa Estet, akala ng mga "badly'informed" na mga Puti, akala nila ang mga Pinoy, pagdating sa Pinas ay nag-aalis ng damit. May isang larawan kasi ang isang Igorota na walang pantaas. Ang mga Egyptians ay hinangaann sa kanilang mummy hindi dahil lang sa kayamanang nakabaon kasama sa libingan kung hindi ang siyensiya ng pagprepreserve sa mga bangkay ng mga taong nabuhay noong hindi pa mang naglalakad sa mundo ang mga nakilalang magagaling sa Siyensiya. Ang mga Igoroteng ito ay may sarili rin silang pamamaraan ng matagal na pagpapanatili ng katawan ng kanilang ninuno. At sino ba ang gumawa ng rice terraces? Katulad ng Pyramid, ito rin ay isang kababalaghan dahil wala ring makinarya na ginamit sa pagtayo ng mga tanimang ito. Sa mga nag-isip na kung hindi kay Quezon, sana ay naging Estet na rin tayo at marahil ay madalas tayong maghalo-halo---- 1. Hindi lahat ng parte ng Estet ay may snow 2. Hind man lang pinangarap na mga Puti na malahian ng mga asyano sakaling maging teritoryo tayo In fact dahil sa takot ng mga ibang mapupusyaw na kulay na masamahan ng dugo nila ng dugo ng mga tagarito sa Asya, may batas na nagbabawal ng pagpapakasal ng Puti sa mga Asyano. Una ay sa mga insik lang ito pero eto ay inextend sa mga ibang lahi ng Asya. Kaya noon walang makapakasal sa Asyano at kung mayroon man ay mga nagsasama lang ng hindi kasal. Ang batas na ito ay pinawalang bisa lang noong middle 40's. Kailan nga ba kinasal ang magulang ni Fernando Poe? Tulad din ng mga Puti, ang mga Insik din ay ayaw pag-asawahin ang mga anak nilang Insik sa ibang lahi. Sa pelikulang Mano Po, may dialogue na ang mga Insik na babae ay para lang sa mga Insik na lalaki. At sa Mano Po 2, muling lumabas na binabawal ang pagpapakasal sa Pilipino ng mga Insik. Ito raw ay isang kahihiyan. Wala sigurong isinulat na batas pero mas matindi ang batas ng paniniwala at ipinapamana sa mga susunod na henerasyon. Pero ito ang aking mga tanong: 1. Bakit naging Susan Roces si Kris Aquino, samantalang si Sza Sza ay hindi tumanda? 2. Bakit nang barilin si Christopher at naulanan ang kaniyang buhok, nawala ang puti ng buhok. 3. Bakit nang bata pa si Christopher, hindi siya singkit? Sabi ni Susan(Mrs. Fernando Poe, Jr.) aka Sol, dalawa na nga tayong asawa, magiging tatlo, hihintayin ko pa bang maging walo? Bakit yong alam kong Chinese Tai pan may apat at mayroon pang satellites. Noong makita ko ang mga mansion ng mga asawang ito, naisip ko ilan kaya ang itinayo ng pawis ng mga trabhanteng nagsusuweldo lang ng minimum at minsan ay below minimum. Sandali , bakit napunta ako sa pelikula. The CA t )

bakit ka sumisigaw

Dear Mouse, Madalas sabihin sa akin ng aking mga kausap na bakit daw mahina ang aking boses. Tanong ko naman, mahina ba? May isang buwan na rin akong nanonood (hindi talaga nanonood, nagagawi lang ...deny,deny, deny...) sa mga noontime shows, sitcom at mga talk shows sa aking Filipino channel. Bakit sila ganoon? Mga bingi ba sila? May hawak na mga microphone pero sila ay nagsisigawan. Hindi ba sila makakapagpatawa kung hindi sila sisigaw? Akala ko mga Asians lang ang may mga speaker sa kanilang ngala-ngala. Kasi ang mga insik pag nag-usap sa tren, ang ingay. Pag punta ko sa bangko kahapon, may naririnig akong malakas ang boses na tila ba nagsasalita sa megaphone o sa public speaker. May demonstrasyon kaya sa malapit? Wala naman. Nakita ko ang isang Puti na hindi naman sumisigaw pero ang lakas ng sabi niya..Spare some dollars and you will be blessed. Bigla akong nabingi, hindi dahil sa lakas ng boses niya kung hindi sa salitang spare...Laki ng katawan niya noh. Sa loob ng bangko ay may dalawang Pinay na habang nakaupo naghihintay sa kanilang numero ay nag-uusap sila. Sa lakas ng boses nila, akala ko ay may nag-uusap sa malapit sa nakabukas na microphone at naririnig sa speaker ang mga boses. Nakakalat sa loob nga maliit na floor ng bangkong iyon. Parang gusto kong buksan ang kanilang bibig at silipin kong may nalunok silang amplifier. Hindi naman sila mga bagong salta dito na sanay diyan sa mall na napakaingay dahil sa musikang (musika nga ba yon?) pinatugtog kaya di tuloy magkaringgan ang sales clerk at ang namimili. Namimili: Magkano ito? Sales Clerk: Hindi ho Markano yan. Namimili: Hindi, ang sabi ko magkakano ito? Sales clerk: Ahhh...magkakano,bakit kayo sumisigaw? Five hundred ho, wholesale ho yan at hindi pwede ang tingi? Namimili: Hindi ako naliligaw at hindi rin ako bingi. Hindi kanyo nakakatawa? Alam ko. Kasi mali ang gawa ninyo. Basahin ninyo ng pasigaw. Pag binato kayo ng kasama ninyo. Yon ang nakakatawa. HAHAHAHAHA The CA t

hindi ako ang may sala, huhuhu

Dear Mouse, Sinisi si Fernando Poe, Jr. sa pagtaas ng peysos, ngayon ay sinisisi siya sa pagkaba ng dibdib ng mga pinansiyal institusyons dahil sa paggamit ng salitang restructuring. Mga ekonomik at pinansiyal jargons ng mga ordinaryong tao ay di makakaintindi. Kaya dapat mag-ingat siya sa paggamit ng mga salitang hindi niya naiintindihan dahil baka pag gumamit siya ng mga legal na pananalita ay maisisi sa kaniya ang pagpatay kay Rizal. hehehe Ang huhuhu ni Erap ay hindi kapanipaniwala. Mga tapat na alagad na lang niya ang maniniwala na ang mga luhang yon ay hindi luha ng buwaya (crododile tears). Ang actor ay actor. Kung minsan di nila alam kung kailan sila umaakting at kailan sila seryoso. Gusto ko na sanang maniwala na nasa panganib ang kaniyang buhay pag hindi siya madala sa Estet para maoperahan kahit na maraming doktor ang nagsasabi na puwede nang operahin sa Pinas ang kaniyang tuhod. Nang pinayagan na siyang makalabas, ay siya naman ang tumatanggi. Nakakapamasyal pa siya sa labas ng bilangguan. Naisip niya na mas magaling kung nandito siya at nakaantabay sa kaniyang manok na si Fernando Poe, Jr. Sino man ang nagsasabing siya ay maka Diyos na ngayon ay may muta sa taynga. Lumang istorya na yang pagbabalik. SI Enrile raw ay nabalitang naging born again(hindi ko alam, hindi ko naman nakita) nang siya ay tumatakbo sa puwestong hindi ko rin alam. Alam ko si Fernando Poe ay di pa lubusang nadecklarang natural born at si Eddie Villanueva ay reborn, ang iba naman ay born against. hehehe The CA t

Basic education-literacy, numeracy and makabayan?

Dear Mouse, My former mentor and boss was an educator by avocation and an engineer by vocation. In both fields he was a builder---character and edifices. He earned his wealth from the construction industry and his psychic income from the academe. If he were alive, he would nag me for not expressing my opinion on issue that is dear to his heart---integration of moral values in the curriculum. The revision of the curriculum could have made him happy. He can not tolerate to see teachers requiring students to memorize dates and events in History and stretching the number of hours of a subject that did not even require one school year to cover the course syllabus. He did not like me sitting quietly in the corner of the room, enjoying my late late lunch while he talked incessantly about values integration in the curriculum and in the advertisement whether in print or media. He would have raised a howl for that wine ad that was considered by many as offensive. He liked me to make "patol" to him by responding to his thoughts. This way he knew that it was not only him who was thinking and talking. Someone was listening to him too and responding. Sus, ginoo... sarap ng burger. I made him wait. I preferred to be labeled harebrained than to develop ulcer. He would give me his dagger look. If there is anything wrong with the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)2002 , it is the use of the word Makabayan. The word which means nationalistic is not at all the proper word to describe fifth learning area that addresses the moral values formation and heritage appreciation of the school children who will become the future leaders of the country. There is also nothing wrong with the Science subject being taught in Grade 3. Singapore?s curriculum has Science subject in Primary 3 too. This country tops in Science and Math exams. It may be true that the Science and Math are the basis of subsequent studies of the many professions and branches of the physical and life sciences, but it is equally true that there is a need to put heavy emphasis on developing the basic values and attitudes that allow character formation enabling the young to grow up as good persons and good citizens. As stated in the BEC summary, 1. Makabayan will be a "laboratory of life" or a practice environment for holistic learning to develop a healthy personal and national self-identity. This requires an adequate understanding of Philippine history and our politico-economic system, local cultures, crafts, arts, music and games. 2. Makabayan entails the use of integrated units of learning tasks which will enable the learner to personally process, assimilate, and systematically practice a wide range of values and life skills including work skills and a work ethic. 3. Each of the 5 learning areas addresses both the individual and social needs of the learners. Makabayan, however, will be the learning area that lays the most stress on the development of social awareness, empathy, and a firm commitment to the common good. Except for integration of some courses and eliminating redundant subjects, the BEC did not do much damage to the Science components of the curriculum. The basic foundation is still the same, language (English and Pilipino) science and math. There is no shortage of ideas as to what more to include in the curriculum. But there will never be no enough hours and years to teach everything. The reduction of hours serve as a challenge to the teachers to incorporate what really need to be taught. The values and attitudes help the students to harness and manage change as the world changes every minute of the day when technology innovation is introduced in the market, when country?s governance is being watched not only by other countries' leaders but also of financial institutions and investors and when world economies are in crises. Excuse me, while I grab a subway sandwich. Serious topics make me hungry. The CA t

Basic education-dumb, dumber?

Dear Mouse, Grade school graduates can't spell. High school graduates can't read. And college graduates can't write. Sounds familiar? But you are wrong if you think this pertains to the Philippine educational system graduates. Michelle Mclnervey wrote this in an article that was published in the Business Journal of Kansas City, USA about the fears of the educators that the US schools are dumbing down the curriculum. According to the writer: The educational horror stories are out there, but is there more to the phenomenon of dumbing down than just the whispers? Many fear U.S. schools are lowering the standards and scope of curriculum and the scales by which grades are determined. The author also mentioned the observation of an interim associate dean of a law school: "It's hard to know if it's really happening," said Ellen Suni, interim associate dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, "but students today don't have the skills they did when I started teaching 25 years ago. Some do, but overall, I don't feel colleges have prepared them as well as they used to in both basic skills and work ethic." The last statement seemed to be shocking. If they do not have the basic skills and work ethic, so what kind of education did they get from the schools and universities. He listed down the common mistakes compiled from the students’ exams to illustrate the extreme results of this dumbing; • Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. • Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin, which he built with his own hands. • Under the Constitution the people enjoyed the right to keep bare arms. • Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. Or take Anders Henriksson's "Non Campus Mentis: World History According to College Students," a book compiling the funny, frightening and almost unbelievable responses the author/educator has gotten through the years on papers and exams. Some of those include: • During the Dark Ages, it was mostly dark. • Hitler's instrumentality of terror was the Gespacho. • And the mother of Jesus was Mary, who was different from other women because of her immaculate contraption. If you think it is extremely funny, wait 'till you read this news. Student walkout over budget cuts turns ugly A student walkout Wednesday in Pinole over school budget cuts turned ugly after police said many youngsters jumped on cars and looted a convenience store. About 200 students walked out from Pinole High School, and proceeded to vent their anger over budget cuts by stomping on top of nearby vehicles, police said. Police videotaped the students as evidence for possible criminal charges. The CA t

Empires are falling

Dear Mouse, I should have written these a few days back but my short term memory lapses' attacks are more frequent these days because of anticipation for the "audit period". Martha Stewart's empire was crumbling the moment the lawsuits started knocking at her door. When she was convicted, the last tower went-a-falling as the TV network scrapped her show. She may be sentenced to a maximum of 2 to 5 years but she will never be given the opportunity to build another empire. That is merely for lying. Another evil empire is reduced to a mere " barangay". Enron---the giant company, the milking cow of the corrupt executives, the power conglomerate that corrupted governments of developing countries, a public corporation that cheated stockholders--- has left the building literally and figuratively speaking. Enron, which sold its namesake tower late last year, completed its long-planned move to a space more befitting its shriveled corporate size. The remaining 1,100 Houston-based Enron employees are now housed across downtown at 4 Houston Center, an office building a few blocks from the baseball park formerly known as Enron Field. The 20-year-old Enron tower, once a symbol of the booming Houston energy merchant industry, became a nightly news staple after Enron's spectacular collapse into bankruptcy in December 2001. Empires in the Philippines do not collapse. The buildings are made of "buhos" concrete and so are their consciences. They can lie to their teeth and get away with it-- and run for elective positions for more power. Sana tamaan kayo ng diarhhea o sugurin kayo ni DARNA. The CA t

Patalastas

Dear Mouse, I read a lot of blogs but I have only a few links. I got to confess, I use sassy's links and sassy's links' links. Her site is almost one- stop shopping. When I feel like eating home-cooked easy to cook food, I go to her recipe section. Legal views and lawyers' opinions are aplenty. There are bloggers who provide the latest in entertainment-local and international alike. There is one particular link that provides very useful information, manny viloria. His latest entry may be of interest to many bloggers who would like to keep a hard copy of their journals. His wife, Angel writes too. From day one since I started my blogs, I have been printing and binding my journals for *ahem* posterity kuno. I type direct to the new post and come back later to edit and save them in a disk. The CA t

Confused-use is no longer confused

Dear Mouse, The CAT is no longer confused. Thanks to sassy lawyer who wrote: Despite what the mainstream media and Fernando Poe Jr.'s partymates are screaming, Tecson, et al. v. COMELEC, et al., otherwise known as the Fernando Poe Jr. consolidated disqualification cases, does not conclusively establish that Fernando Poe Jr. is a natural-born Filipino citizen. To those still claiming otherwise, enough. The Filipinos do not need more confusion. Read all here. Tuloy ang larong dama. The CA t

Job interview-leadership skills

Dear Mouse, KNP and Fernando Poe's handlers are not biting to the invitation of the PMAP for interview to determine the leadership skills of the presidential candidates. To make it easy for them, here are the sample questions and hypothetical answers. 1. A good leader is a good coach as well. True False Fernando Poe: True. Basketball or boxing? 2. There should be only one leader in a team. True False Fernando Poe; True. I have Tito…erm…Mike…erm…Rod…erm 3. All good leaders have a clear vision. True False Fernando Poe: True. That is why I am wearing prescription glasses. 4. Leaders make decisions for their teams. True False Fernando Poe, Jr. True. Ask my advisers. 5. Leaders must have good interpersonal skills. True False Fernando Poe, Jr. True. I come now for my personal appearance. 6.A leader must be a good motivator. True False Fernando Poe Jr. True. When I direct movies, I motivate them to cry or act. Do not call us, we'll call you. Next The CA t

Job interview

Dear Mouse, Personnel managers urge Poe, Macapagal to take interview ONLY President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and actor Fernando Poe Jr. have not responded to the challenge by the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) for all presidential bets to take their job interviews so voters will know their leadership skills and competencies, PMAP head Oscar Contreras said Wednesday. The Cat took the liberty of writing down the responses for selected questions in an interview for the position of the President. 1.Why should we give you a chance to perform in this job? Eddie Gil: because I am rich . Fernando Poe Jr: Because I am DA KING. 2.We have 6 candidates. The other candidates have more experience than you do. Why should we hire you instead of one of the other candidates? Eddie Gil: Because I am going to pay the national debt from my own money.(Do they accept personal checks?) Fernando Poe, Jr.: Because I am Da King In the interview, Da King brought some of his friends and endorsers. (Eddie Garcia: oragon 'yan) (Dolphy: Siya ang magiging pinakaguwapong presidente, nababakla tuloy ako) (Sotto: He is an action man) 3.Why do you want this job and how does it fit you? Eddie Gil: I want to be the President and it fits me. thank you. Fernando Poe,Jr.: Because I am DA KING (Loren: he is sincere and honest, makamasa katulad ni Noli..oops) 4.What do you intend to accomplish as a president? Eddie Gil: I want to pay the national debt. Fernando Poe, JR. : I am going to serve breakfast,lunch and dinner to the people because I am DA KING. 5. Why should we vote for you? Eddie Gil: Because I am rich. FernandoPoe, Jr.-because I am DA KING. I have no record of governance, no record of corruption except for my corrupted birth records. 6.What additional training or development will you need to perform in this position? Eddie Gil: Team work with my senatorial candidatesso they will not abandon me. Fernando Poe, Jr. : crash course on everything. Next. The CA t

Say it again SAM

Dear Mouse, Poe has admitted to having no experience in governance, but said he had no record of corruption either. He is also counting on his popularity and the support of fellow movie stars to win over the electorate. Cat says: How can he have a record of corruption when he has not started governing yet ? What about fraud ? My position is very clear. I am against a parliamentary form of government at this time. Our culture of politics is not suitable,"--Ping Lacson Cat says: The Philippines is a monarchy---where power is passed on the members of the family. The Fernandos of Marikina, the Abaloses of Pasig, the Villars of Las Pinas, The Ejercitos of San Juan, the Aquinos and Cojuangcos of Tarlac, the Macapagals of Pampanga, the Osmenas of Cebu, the Laurels and Rectos of Batangas, the Binays of Makati. If Sharon agreed to run, she could have become mayor of Pasay for life just like her father. But Frankie Pangilinan aka Sharon Cuneta made a big leap by running for a higher position.With this “ form”of government,just change Congress to parliament and we will have England's government system, a monarchical-parliamentary system. Should DA King be elected, then we will have a queen instead of a first lady. In the party's platform, it said it intends to bring back the people's trust in the government by fair and just implementation of laws, and by practicing transparency in all government transactions Cat says: I do not deal with abstract. Having been trained with the abacus in one hand and Spreadsheet as the mantle for my desk, I want a quantifiable statement whether it is an expression of a mission or a platform that is to be operationalized. How is he going to evaluate whether this intention of bringing back the trust and practicing transparency has brought economic progress? But I do not trust surveys. Just like in Constructive Accounting, the desired gross revenue can be obtained by working back from the desired return on investment, the desired result may be reconstructed from the end to the beginning. Go ask the people of Enron. Will there be a survey of perceptions again or will there be a correlational study to show the relationship between trust and increase in productivity? Civic organizations and a team of economic think-tanks helped formulate the KNP's platform. Cat says: Consultancy business is in a boom. With a clueless person on the helm, there is a consultant for almost anything that should be done. There is a consultant to undo whatever is done wrong and there is a consultant to cover up for what is wrong. Here is my christmas card. ROWENA C. DIMAAMPAO of Winnipeg, Manitoba wrote: I FIND it so stupid that Senator Loren Legarda would say that her edge over Senator Noli de Castro in the election for vice president is that she has "brains" and Noli is just a man of the masses, which is not enough. How ironic that she would say this when her choice of running mate is Fernando Poe Jr. How stupid of Loren to contradict her own convictions. Or does she even have one? What was her reason for choosing Poe again? Cat says: Amen... LOI REYES LANDICHO wrote on Dolphy's insensitive joke: IN AN EFFORT to defend his friend and presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr., comedy king Dolphy has made a careless, insensitive remark against people with the Down Syndrome. Interviewed by the press during a campaign sortie in the Bicol region, Dolphy, who was with Poe's entourage, remarked: "Hindi naman tanga 'yan eh. Hindi naman 'yan parang mongoloid." [He's not stupid. He's not like a mongoloid.] Cat says: He does not have to use the mentally challenged individual to bring his message across. He just have to make him open his mouth. P.S. Pilita Corrales says:Maghanap siya ng boyfriend na maraming pera. Lotlot says: I can never say negative things about my mother-in-law and husband. CAT says: pahiya si Pilita noh. Mas matured pa ang twentyish na manugang. The CA t

happy anniversary to me

Dear Mouse, It was not very long time ago, when my lady boss met me at the San Francisco airport as my port of entry. I still had to fly to my place of destination but in the meantime, I had to stay in the famous city by the bay for a number of days. Direct from the airport, she drove to the Hyatt Hotel so we can have late breakfast. The airplane taxied at past 7 in the morning and my boss left her residence before six. I hardly can open my eyes but I managed to catch some of her "lectures" for a newcomer. It was almost lunchtime when we went to the office where I met the staff of the branch office. If I did not have second thoughts of coming to the USA, this could have been my office but well i had other things in my mind and going to the US embassy to claim for my visa that had been approved already was not among my priorities then. I called up my mom and my sisters in the East coast to tell them that I arrived safe and sound and was about to step out of the office to visit some clients. Already ? they exclaimed.Why not give me time to change and catch my breath? I told them, that the day was still early and I learned that I would be staying with my lady boss while in town. She had no plans of going home to the suburbs. Off we went to the Golden Gate where I had my first snapshot---my windswept hair practically covering my face---another photo shoot from the inside of the car and it was my lips and my eyes that were captured by the camera lens--no way you can identify whose facial features they were. A photo that was meant to show that I was in SF was taken in the downtown area where the street name can also be found in another town. The next stop was a mall. I was looking up--expecting a tower or a big shopping center but I was disappointed. It was merely a one story building that housed fastfood, shoestores, Macy's and etc. My boss warned me not to leave my leather jacket inside the car in full view from outside. The car may be vandalized to get the jacket. It was a souvenir from my trip abroad and I would not like to lose it. Her car was insured anyway. It was the longest day for my first year in the USA that when I got home to my lady boss' house, I simply threw myself in the bed. I did not even notice that I had the housekkeeper as my roommate. First time I did not remember if I had a dream. I reminded myself never to wear boots in the SF downtown. That was when I saw how odd it was seeing ladies in their business suits walking in rubber shoes. The CA t The CA t

Fa(s)t Food

Dear mouse, I am not a fan of Ronald McDonald but the cheeseburger bill amused me no end. The billion dollar industry can see the writing on the wall---the warning that tobacco industry did not heed not until its too late and was beseiged with lawsuits that costed them their arms and legs and neck and head and hair so to speak. Whew. With the help of the paid lobbyists, the cheeseburger bill that prohibits overweight consumers from suing the fastfood chains for their obesity is for approval. Washington -- Congress is poised to tell fat Americans: You are what you eat, and that's your fault -- you can't blame the fast-food industry. The issue of obesity will loom large on Capitol Hill this week with the House expected to approve the so-called "cheeseburger bill," which would prevent Americans from suing fast-food giants such as McDonald's for making them overweight. Turon na lang sa akin o maruya. The CA t

Offshoring for US and Filipino Workers' Migration Issues-Revisited

Dear Mouse, US corporations that offshore their jobs are accused of greed and are less concerned about the interest of their country-- USA. Like the Filipino OFWs, their loyalty to the flag that they wave is being questioned because of the same issue of movement from one country to another; one is the job and the other is the worker. For the Philippines, the failure of the government providing gainful employment to these Filipinos in order to prevent their exodus has been condemned by several armchair analysts, government critics and opposition mouthpieces. Isama pa dito ang mga iniwan ng boyfriend o grilfriend na sinisisi pa rin ang gobyerno sa kanilang decision para magsapalaran sa ibang bansa. The anti-offshoring sentiments have led to the filing of bills at state and federal levels to stop awarding contracts to corporations that use foreign labor an indirect way of stopping the corporate practices of offshoring jobs. The responses to of the CEOs on this issue are worth pondering on... 1. Carol Bartz-Pres.-CEO Autodesk- I have enough belief that in open markets to believe there will be other things for our people to do here. 2. John Thompson-CEO, Symantec-Our company derives half of its revenue from outside the United States so we have an equal obligation in places where customers provide an underpinning revenue and helps grow business. 3. Scott McNealy- CEO, Sun Microsystems. Global companies grow globally. Shouldn't India a little upset that we have most of their software programmers here? Who's making value judgements here? But the most interesting and thought provoking statements came from Carly Fiorina, Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. To quote: There is no job that is God-givenright anymore. It's interesting to me that so many people talk about China or India or Russia as being source of low-cost labor. Truthfully, over the long term, the greater threat is the source of well-educated labor. And if you look at the number of college educated students that China graduates every year, its close to 40 million. The law of large numbers is fairly compelling. For this CA T, this is a thought from a positivist who would see the half- full glass than the half- empty. For me, this is a view of the graduates as human resources that would make the businesses move forward, so unlike short- sighted people's view of workers as a piece of commodity being peddled in the labor market. This is a view of a visionary who warned about the US labor being left out academic and training wise by developing countries which human resources are one of its greatest strengths. The Philippines, despite its educated labor is far behind this global labor development because of too much emotional and pride baggage. Masyado tayong ma-pride--- pride chicken, pride egg, pride rice. The CA t

Doctor to nurse, Programmer to Midwife

Dear Mouse, While some Filipinos raised the issues of patriotism and materialism on the case of doctors- changing- careers- to nurse in order to go abroad, the casualties of the dot.com crash were trying to cope with their less glamorous and low paying jobs just to survive. A former senior software engineer from Silicon Valley who was receiving six figures and was amortizing a car for more than 600 a month is now working as a substitute teacher in a school district with a salary less than 10 per cent of his former take home pay. A lady web developer is now working as a doula (childbrith assistant)(HILOT sa Tagalog)and developing a practice as an accupressure massage therapist ( masahista sa Tagalog)in order to bring food in the table. Two years and many months, it is not only the tech jobs that are slowly disappearing. Jobs that do not require personal attention and can be done thru telephone, such as call telemarketers; jobs that can be done thru computers such as payroll, paralegals, etc were being offshored to low-cost highly educated regions such as India and China. With the unemployment benefits, the displaced people are encouraged to change careers thru government funded projects that equip people of skills that they think give them better chance to be employed. The Filipino doctor who turned to a related career of nursing is not pathetic all. Sa mga mata lang iyon ng mga ang mata ay malapit lang ang natatanaw. The CA t

Nagkukuwento lang

Dear Mouse, Biyernes ang paborito kong araw. Lalo sa gabi na pagdating ko ay nanonood ako ng one to sawa sa TV. Kaya nang tumawag ang aking kaibigan kung puwede raw magconsulta tungkol sa isang bagay ay may condition ako--kailangan makauwi ako nang maaga para hindi ko mamiss ang mga pinanonood ko. Ayaw kong irecord, baka alam ko na ang ending, ikuwento ko pa sa sarili ko.(disclaimer,sa mga kaibigan ko, ultimong pagkawala ng pusang bumalik ay ikinukonsulta pa sa akin, meow). Sulat mula sa dating amo ng asawa ng aking kaibigan ang ipinakita sa akin. Nananakot. Takot siya. Ako hindi takot kasi hindi naman sa akin ang sulat.(meow). Mayroon kasing praktis dito na papirmahin ang empleyado na hindi makikipagkumpetensiya ang empleyado sakaling umalis siya sa pamamagitan ng pagtayo ng ganong klaseng negosyo sa loob nang panahon (tatlong buwan o isang taon) either empleyado, consultant o isang stockholder. Ang sulat naman ay banta na tigilan na ng asawa ng kaibigan ko ang pag-imbita sa mga dati niyang kasamahang empleyado at pagdidivulge raw ng trade secrets na kasama sa inilagay doon sa pinirmahan niya. Ang pinirmahan niya ay ang hindi pagkumpetensiya sa negosyo na sa ilang States ay kinukunsiderang illegal(uneforceable) dahil nirerestrict ang kumpetensiya at ang means of livelihood ng datimg empleyado. Isa pa kaya nga nakakapagtayo ng negosyong ang taong ire ay dahil sa experience na natutuhan sa pinasukan nila. Bakit nila ipagbabawal. Ang sulat naman ay pagpapahinto sa kaniya nang paghire ng mga empleyado na gustong lumipat sa kanila. Wala namang naksaad na ganoon doon sa non-disclosure agreement niya, Ano ba pinag-usapan nila na masasabing trade secret. Sabi niya ay yong unstable financial condition, yong room for growth at di magandang pamamalakad ng may-ari. Eh hindi naman pala trade secrets yon. Ang financial condition ng kumpanya ay hindi trade secret. Ito ay mababasa ng mga stockholders, management at mga empleyado...hellllllllo. Sa Estet na sinusunod ang employee at employer na anytime puwede kang lumayas at palayasin ng walang kaabog-abog at walang luha, pag nakita nilang lumulubog ang kumapanya, walang makakapigil sa kanila na umalis. Sa Pilipinas ay puwede pa silang pakiusapan na hindi magsweldo habang wala pang pera, dito, huwag mong suwelduhan ang tao at patay kang bata ka. Walang maraming martir dito. Pati ang mga sumasali dito sa demnstrasyon ay binabayaran para magbitbit ng placard. Yong iba naman ay gustong makita sa TV news. Maraming industriya ang masasabing wala namang trade secret, dahil ang negosyo nila ay pangkaraniwan lang. Kung may dapat silang protektahan ay sa Patent office sila pumunta total ang patent lawyering dito ay lucrative profession. Kaya yong coffee cup na inimbento ko (yong kusa siyang magtitimpla ng kape, papasok sa kuwerto, gigisingin ako at ibubuhos ang kape sa aking bunganga para ako magising mula sa pagpupuyat) ay pinakukunan ko ng patent. meow. Yong mga kumpaniyang may research at may bagong mga produktong dadalhin sa market ay may mga confidential information na hindi dapat ikwento o itsismis ng empleyado na isa sa mga pinagkatiwalaan ng sikreto. Ang mga empleyadong pangkaraniwan na tulad ng maintenance at housekeeping ay hindi pinapipirma dahil ang mga assumptions ay wala silang kapabilidad para makaintindi o magkaroon ng interes sa mga ganoong klaseng impormasyon. Hindi alam ng iba na ito nang mga taong ito ay minsanang pinanggalingan ng mga ganitong impormasyon dahil sila ang nakakapasok sa opit ng mga taong may hawak na sikreto. Lalo yong mga taong burara o kaya ay tamad nalumakad doon sa shredding machine. Minsan naman ay di talaga tanga ang pumapasok, nagtatangatangahan lang para maacess ang mga confidential information pero huwag ka marunong isyang magdownload, marunong siyang magretrato ng mga documento. SANDALI ano bang channel itong pinanood ko? Law and Order ba itong pinanood ko o rerun ng James Bond. Kung inaakala ninyong nakalimutan ko ang pulitika, hindi ah. Iniiisip ko lang kung paano nakipag-usap si Poe doon sa sinasabing labing walong ambassadors ng ibang bansa. May interpreter kasa siya? Bakit nasa bahay bakasyunan si Erap? Balik tayo sa sulat. Tanong niya ano ang sulat na iyon? Yon ang nastygram na sinasabi. Tanong niya, puwede ba akong idemanda? OO, dito sa Estet na ultimong pagkadulas ay puwedeng idemanda ay puwede silang magdemanda. Ang problema ay kung mananalo ba sila ? Kahit alam nilang hindi sila mananalo ay itinutuloy para lang makagulo. Nuisance ba. Saka walang abugado ang magdidiscourage saiyo kung makikita nilang takot ka. Lalo ka nilang tatakutin. So tanong niya, ano ang kaniyang gagawin. Binigyan ko siyang mahahabang karayom, stuffed toy na kamukha ni Dilbert at pinayuhan ko siyang tusuk tusukin niya habang sinasabi niya ng nakakatakot na mantra. >>>inamo>>>>inamo... Patawad po. Kung may e-mail lang ako tiyak may susulat na pagagalitan ako. Down pa po aking Ey o el. The CA t

Bakasyon

Dear Mouse, Every quarter ay mayroon kaming isang araw na personal leave na pag hindi mo kinuha ay mawawalan ng bisa at hindi madadala next quarter. Nagpapirma ako sa bago kong bossing ng pl,--- approve kaagad siya. Marahil naitsismis noong pinalitan niyang boss na isa sa mga nagpapataas ng aking pressure ay ang hindi aprubhan ang bakasyon ko. Ang hindi niya alam ang aking ikinangiwi ay ang paghingi niya sa akin ang approved application sa pagkakasakit ko. Hellooooo, hindi mo malalaman kung kailan ka magkakasakit anoh at wala sa policy manual yan. Kailangan magbasa siya at magtanong sa HR. Talking about policy manual, nabasa ko ang isang balita tungkol sa dati namang cliente sa Pinas. Naalala ko tuloy kung gaano siya ka T. (tanga). That time, gumagawa ako ng handbook at policy manual sa kumpanya nila.(Boss ko ang consultant, workhorse lang ako. tigidig tigidig.) (take note, kaya lang naging General Manager ang cliente namin , dahil tatay niya ang may-ari ng conglomerate). Ininterview ko siya sa mga procedures para makagawa ako ng flow chart nang lumapit sa kaniya ang kanilang Accountant. "Sir, overdraft ho ang bangko natin". Bigla siyang sumagot, mag-issue ka ng tseke at ideposito mo. Tanong ko sa Accountant, ilan ba ang bank account ninyo? " Sabi niya, isa. Atcheche. Tama ang hinala ninyo na ang artikulo ko ay mauuwi sa pulitika. (Ayan inunahan ko na kayo). Sabi ng mga kampon ni Poe taga desisyon lang siya dahil marami namang matatalinong makakatulong sa kaniya. Eh kung gaya niyang General Manager na inutusan ang Accountant niya para gumawa ng tseke na galing din sa bangko na may overdraft, gusto kong ipukpok ang aking ulo sa aking desk. tong tong tong. Naalala ko tuloy ang pagpapalaya ni Erap doong sa dating criminal na life ang hatol. Anong excuse niya? Kasi nakasama raw ang pangalan doon sa bibigyan ng parole na pinirmahan niya. Malay daw ba niya. Tong tong tong. Para rin yong isang opit mate ko na sinabihan kong itsek ang balumbon ng tseke kung may nawawalang numero o mali ang pagkakasunod sunod bago ipasok sa printer. hindi sumunod. Resulta, maraming tseke ang pinawalang bisa dahil may isang numero ang nawawala at ang sequencing ng tsekeng na print ay hindi kagaya ng nasa system. Tapos sasabihin sa akin hindi niya magawa dahil marami kasi. Hellowwwww, trabaho nga yon eh at hindi pagkaalam o ordinaryo lang na katamaran ay lalong magpapatagal sa trabaho. Hindi ibig sabihin ang walang pinag-aralan ay walang utak pero may mga trabaho na may desired level of expertise and skills; adequate know-how and a lot of common sense kaya kung sasabihin ng iba na kahit high school drop out ay puwedeng maging presidente, helllowwwww. May alam nga akong magsullat ay nakakaimpress, may mga graph pa at statistics kahit di niya alam kung anong kaibahan ng linear at ang stastical projection pero makita mo at bumilib sa plataporma na pag binasa ko ay para akong nagbabasa ng policy manual. Tong tong tong... Huwag ninyo akong akusahan na mainit ang ulo ko dahil naconvict si Martha Stewart. Sa totoo lang hindi ko gusto ang mga producto niya. Baduy. Chee. The CA t

Sell out (Bili na kayo)

Dear Mouse, Nang mabasa ko ang editorial na SELL OUT ay para bang gusto kong sumagot kaya lang nanonood ako ng American IDOL at gusto kong malaman kung mananalo ang aking paboritong mang-aawit na Pilipinang si Jasmine Trias. Tapos nabasa ko ang reaction ni Mark (Click mo mukha mo). Sa isip ko buting sagot ng batang ire. Tapos nabasa ko ang iba-ibang reaction sa “Letters to Editor”. Yong isa ay di umaayon, ikalawa ay umaayon, isa ay nagtatanong, isa ay nagagalit. Naisip ko makigulo na rin kaya ako. Dahil mukha raw akong coin na may dalawang mukha, sasagot din ako galing sa dalawang mukha. Una: sulat ni DR. KIM ARVIN P. LOPEZ, University of the Philippines UP College of Medicine 2003, WHO are you to judge what Dr. Elmer Jacinto, or anyone else for that matter, wants to do with his life? Oo nga naman, sino ka nga naman magjajudge? Judge ka ba? While you were traipsing around in ridiculous outfits at Manila's hippest parties, Dr. Jacinto spent a year in the Philippine General Hospital caring for the poorest of the poor. Long after you handed out your token donations, Dr. Jacinto was just starting another sleepless day of working in the most horrendous of conditions, sometimes shelling out even the last of his own minute resources to buy his patient's medicine. Oo nga naman, ang aking kapatid na nagtrabaho sa PGH pagkatapos niyang maggraduate siya sa UP ay araw araw na ginawa ng Diyos na hindi lang niya tinutulungan ang mga pasyenteng mahihirap na libre man ang operasyon, ang mga medisina naman ay hindi. Para siyang nagpapalimos na humihingi ng mga sampol na gamot para maibigay sa mga pasyenteng yaon. Kung ang pinairal niya ay ang sinasabing patriotism (kuno) na pagsilbi sa kababayan at hindi siya pumunta sa Estet di sana ay isa pa rin siyang dalahin ng mahirap na bansa at isang matandang dalaga na sumpungin at ang mga pasyente ang kaniyang pagdidiskitahan. May kasabihan nga na ang pagkamakabayan ay di kilala ng gutom na isda. This is what has become of our country of afflictions. Where the elite have the self-righteousness to put down a young man from a modest background (your belief that public school teachers are part of the middle class notwithstanding), deride him for not having suffered enough in their rose-tinted eyes, and accuse him of throwing in the towel when in fact every single day of his 28 years has been nothing but struggle. Kahit yong mayayaman na nangangaral ng Isulong ang sariling atin ay sumulong na ring magtayo ng kanilang negosyo sa Indonesia, China at Vietnam. Habang pinangangaralan nila ang mga kabataan na naghahanap ng kanilang kinabukasan sa ibang bansa at pinadadala ang kaunting dolyar (kung kaunti ang bilyon)…ang mga nasabing mga pekeng makabansa raw na mangangalakal sa atin ay nagkakamal ng salaping dolyar sa ibayong dagat at kanilang idenedeposito rin sa bangko sa ibayong dagat. Palagay ninyo bakit ang Hongkong ay paboritong puntahan ng mga mangangalakal na Pilipino-Tsino-purong Pilipino? Dahil ang mga bqngkong pinakamalapit sa kanila ay ang nasa Hong Kong.(galit na ako). Sulat ni Joe Dapo IN reference to your editorial "Sellout," are you aware that around 90 percent of the Class of 2003 of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital medical school plan to do their residencies in the US with the intention of settling there in the long term? It just seems rather unfortunate -- and tremendously saddening -- that so few of them feel any obligation to serve the people/country who had subsidized (through the Philippine government) their medical education. Perhaps you ought to research and do a story on that as well. Ang tanong ay nirerequire pa ba nang UP na kailangang magsilbi sila sa bayan o sa school pagkatapos grumaduate. Kung nirerequre sila tulad ng ibang study grant, di patrabahuhin at huwag bibigyan ng certificate o ano pa mang papel na puwede silang umalis. O kaya naman ay pabayarin sila kung hindi sila puwedeng magtrabaho. Kaya nga kung minsan ayaw kong kumuha ng study grant dahil sa mga strings attached. Masyadong mahaba ang tali. Pero ang pagkakaalam ko sa UP ay socialized tuition fee. Yong mga walang kakayanang magbayad ay kaunti lang ang tuition fee na binabayad at yong mga elite na gustong mag-aral at nagququalify naman ay nagbabayd ng malaki. Pakisampal ako kung tama ang aking pagkakaalam. Ayaw kung tanungin ang aking kapatid. Masungit kasi. Hehehe JOANNA LA O, San Juan, Metro Manila (via e-mail) On INQ7.net, the editorial is featured on the same page as a sponsored link inviting nurses to work in Canada. I think that sends mixed signals, don't you? -- May software kasi na pumipick-up ng topic sa isang page at nililink yong sa mga ads. Palagay ko mayroon ang Inquirer. MARITEL R. LEDESMA, M.D., Silay City, Negros Occidental (via e-mail) YOUNG people taking up Nursing or Marine Engineering or other related courses as a stepping stone to a career abroad is something that has always happened in this country, so it's not really a shock, but doctors taking up Nursing is something I as a doctor find hard to accept. What is happening to doctors now tells me in a very personal way what kind of values medical professionals and the Filipino people in general have developed over the past 10 years or so. I just feel bad because I have wanted to believe that for the majority of us in the profession, we are beyond materialism as our purpose in life. I guess not. Sinasaluduhan ko yong mga nagtitiis para makasilbi sa bayan pero hindi ibig sabihin pag nagtatrabaho ka sa ibang bansa ay materialistic ka na. Hindi po. Realistic lang po. Iba-ibang henerasyon, iba-iba na rin ang values.Basta ako enjoy noong Edsa 1 dahil libre ang ice-cream saka sandwich. Parang pista. Kaya lang bakit ba sagot ako ng sagot dito sa mga sulat eh hindi naman editorial ang pangalan ko...Sandali nasaan nga ba ako? The CA t

Bakit ba ganyan ?

Dear Mouse, Kung si FPJ ay natural born Filipino, paano naman ang mga Filipino na binigyan ng US citizenship dahil isa sa magulang nila ay US citizen. Baka ang sabihin sa kanila ay --kung ang SUpreme Court ninyo, kinukonsidera na natural born kahit na ang ina ay Merkana, paano ninyo kami makukumbinsi. Para bang ang nangyari, ay kung ang magulang ninyo, sinasabi na hindi kayo mabait, kami pa kaya. Kaya lang pusa lang ako kaya hindi ko alam ang sagot. Sa aking kaunting nalalaman ang US citizenship ay puwedeng makuha sa dalawang paraan; natural born ka o naturalized. Ang natural born ay yong mga pinanganak na ang magulang ay parehong citizen, natural man o naturalized. Yaong mga mestiso na isa sa mga magulang ay citizen, regardless of the birthplace at yong mga ipinanganak sa US regardless of the nationalities of the parents ay nagiging citizen din pagdating ng takdang araw na gusto na nilang angkinin ang pagiging Kano. May kaibigan ako na dahil lakwatsera ang parents niya kahit buntis ang ermats niya, ipinanganak siya sa New Jersey. Pag-abot niya nang edad na nagdecide siyang maghanap ng trabaho sa Estet, pumunta naman siya sa Embassy, ibinigay ang birth certificate at binigyan siya ng US passport. May kapitbahay naman ang aking kapatid na bastarda. Pero ang apelyido niya ay sa tatay niyang 'Merkano na nang umuwi sa Estet ay kinalimutan na sila. Mabuti na lang at ang nanay niya ay may pagka obsessive-compulsive(yon bagang hindi mahilig magtapon ng papeles o basura dahil nasa isip niya ay baka kailanganin balang araw . O di kinailangan nga. Hiningan si Kapitbahay ng mga papeles para patunay na ang tatay nga niya ay Puti, baka raw anak -araw lang siya. Kinalkal ng ina ang kanilang baul at inilabas ang mga sulat na galing sa "Merkano". Kumbinsido naman ang mga nasa embassy dahil hindi yon puwedeng mapeke ng Pilipino. Iba ang English ng Kano sa English ng Pinoys. Maganda ang English natin.hehehe Pangkaraniwan o sop na tinatawag na aside from birth certificate, marami pang hinihinging patunay ang embassy para maestablish ang pagiging kamag-anak hindi dahil sa sinasabing mahilig mameke ang mga Pinoy. Kaya yong isang naisulat sa diyaryo na ininterview para sa working visa at pinagtatanong ng skills niya bilang inhenyero dahil sinabing mahilig daw tayong Pinoy mameke, that's crap. Isa, sino mang consul na nagsabi noon ay maaring i-complain. Masama yon. Sabi nga nang aking tagapa-alaga noong maliit pa ako. Titikwas ang labi mo niyan. Dahilang inaplayan niya ay working visa para inhenyero, natural lang na tanungin siya tungkol sa nalalaman niya sa engineering. Kung accountant naman ang inaplayan, siyempre ang tatanungin diyan ay tungkol sa accounting. Merong isa na approved na dito sa Estet ang H1 niya na bumagsak pa sa interview diyan sa embassy dahil tinanong kung anong job description niya at ang sinagot niya ay para sa bookkeeper. Ang bookkeeper ay nagtatago ng libro (MEOW) --na kahit yong tapos lang dito ng 2 year vocational ay puwedeng mag-apply. Ang accountant ay yong mga nagbabalanse ng libro. Sila ang mga sirkero at sirkera na pagkatapos ng buwan ay di mo na makausap sa init ng ulo. Sandali pinag-uusapan natin ang citizenship, bakit napunta sa embassy. Kaibigan ba kayo ng SC ? Sandali nasaan ba ako ? Sino ba kayo. The CA t

Dama

Dear Mouse, Supreme Court declared Poe qualified to run in the presidential election because he is a natural-born citizen. SC: Poe qualified to run Posted:11:31 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 03, 2004 Inquirer News Service High court votes 8-5 FPJ natural-born IT WAS a victory for Fernando Poe Jr. Wednesday, with the Supreme Court voting 8-5 with one abstention to throw out a petition seeking to disqualify him from the presidential race. The high court upheld a previous ruling by the Commission on Elections declaring the standard-bearer of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino a natural-born Filipino and qualified to run for president. A statement issued by the high court said the justices had ruled that the Comelec "did not abuse its discretion" in earlier dismissing the disqualification case against the opposition presidential candidate, thus declaring him "a natural-born citizen and qualified to run." The ruling is subject to appeal. The chess players view this as a successful defense manuever to save the DA King from being checkmated. At this point, I rather watch the dama instead of the chess players. For those who do not know what kind of a game this is, I suggest that they go to the nearest kanto. This is an unsophisticated game that can be played with the ordinary street pebbles and cardboard drawn with horizontal and vertical lines. If you think that only simpletons play this game. Think again. Haven't you heard of padadamahin ka lang pagkpatapos, tsak, kain ka. Come hither hither pretty fly...hehehe The CA t P.S. I have always been an admirer of Davide. Until now.

Ang Pasyon ni Hesukristo

Dear Mouse, Natira kami sa isang lugar sa Pilipinas kung saan ang Pasyon ay pangkaraniwang makikita sa bawat sulok ng bayan tuwing Mahal na Araw. Hindi ko naintindihan yaon dahil nakasulat ito sa sariling wika ng bayang iyon. Ang alam ko lang ay libre ang meryenda pag ikaw ay kumanta ng pasyon kahit na anong tempo ang gamitin. Habang ng matatanda ay kumakanta ng pasyon sa ganitong gawi...nang si Hudas ay nagtaaaaaaaanonggggggggggggg. haaay haaaay...samantalang ang kabataan ay nang si Hudas ay nagtanong (rock), siya ay sinagot..(rock).... Nang nasa college ako at pinag-aaralan namin ang World religions (assignment namin sa Philosophy teacher na pari)naganyak akong bumili ng Pasyon book sa Quiapo. Ito ay nasa Tagalog at nakasulat sa tula na may limang stanza. Doon nakasaad ang Genesis, ang paglaki ng TAONG sasakop sa mundo at ang salitang laging panakot sa akin noong ako ay bata pa."Ano ka Hudyo?". Tuwing Mahal na Araw at kami ay maingay ay maririnig mo ang salitang para kang Hudyo". Naisip ko tuloy, lintek na Hudyo yan, ano ba ang ginawa niya na naging kamukha ko siya? Nasa topic ako nang gospels kung saan ang apat na sumulat ay hindi magkasundo sa mga impormasyon tungkol sa pagkamatay ni Hesus nang maganyak akong basahin nang buong buo ang Pasyon. Sa mga hindi nakabasa sa Pasyon, magsasabing sobra ang pagsasapelikula ng paghihirap ng ISANG TAONG ang personalidad ay tagahasik ng pag-big, nang pang-unawa sa makasalanan at mapagpagpatawad sa mga nanumbalik sa mabuting asal. Pero basahin natin ito: Dunggol na ipinatiis niyong mga malulupit sa matamis niyang bibig, ang mukhang kaibig-ibig, dila'y di masulit. Para lumawit ang iyong dila sa pahirap, malakas na mga dunggol ang ibig sigurong sabihin. Iginapos na si Kristo sa isang haliging bato, Hinampas na walang toto Mahigpit na limang libo, na tagos hanggang buto. Ang paghampas bilang kaparusahan ay ginagawa pa rin kahit na sa modernong sibilisasyon kagaya ng Singapore at ng mga bayan sa Middle East. Naalala ba ninyo ang isang Amerikanong tinedyer sa Singapore na naparasuhan nang paghampas dahil sa tsiklet? Barbaric ? Bawal ang tsiklet sa Singapore. Mula ulo hanggang paa, matatadtad ng suplina, walang lamang nakikita, kundi sugat na lahat na, ang buong katawan niya. Sa mga hindi naniniwala na ipinako nga si Hesus, ito ang sinasaad sa Pasyon: Isa ngang pakong marilag ang nasa bayang karpentas na minamahal ng lahat kung ipagpiesta'y ang tawag, Clavo Santo ang pamagat. Ang ikalawa sa bilang, nitong pakong lubhang mahal nasa simbahannng Milan, Si San Carlos ang naglagay nang paroon at dumalaw. Ikatlong pakong maganda Isinangkap kapagdaka Nang Emperatris Elena, sa marikit na diadema, sa bugtong na Anak niya. Ang wika ni San Ambrosio, Pakong ikaapat ni Kristo ipinatapong totoo, ng Ina ni Konstantino, Sa dagat ng Adriatiko. Ang wika ng ilang doktor, Sa pakong yaon ni Hesus, ng maitapong matapos, sa tubig ay di lumubog, himalanang Poong Diyos. At ito ring Pakong mahal ang sa dagat na binitiwan, ang nasa Paris na Bayan, Sa templong mainam ni San Dionisiong mahal.a Sa mga magbabasa natin, mga tanong kung sino ang dapat sisihin, Hudyo ba? Romano ba ? tayo bang makasalanan na tinutubos ang kasalanan? O ang mga kasalanang nagtutulak sa mga tao para maging malupit sukdulang pumatay ng mga Inosenteng TAO. Ang mga Romano bang sundalo? Sila ay tagatupad lamang ng batas. Ang pag-aalis sa eksena ng mga high priests sa kanilang kalaban na si Hesus ay dapat legitimate. May kaso at may hatol para hindi lumabas na Siya ay biktima lang ng Simbahan. Ang Romano ang nakakasakop sa Herusalem. Relihiyon ba noon? Ang pagkakaunawa ko, hindi kinakalaban ni Hesus ang relihiyon ng mga Hudyo. Ang inaayawan niya ay ang pagpapatupad ng mga relihiyon ayon sa pag-iinterpret ng mga nasa mataas na Katungkulan noon sa Simbahan. Kahit sa panahon ni Hesukristo, ang takot na insecurity ay malaking pangit na dambuhalang nagtutulak kahit sa mga inaasahang makaDiyos na mga tao. Ang insecurity ay ina ng kasalanang pagsisinungaling, paghahabi ng mga gawa gawang akusasyon, ang pandaraya, ang pagpapatay sa mga taong pinaniwalaan na magiging sagabal sa kanilang mga balak. Hanggang ngayon naman ay nandito pa rin ang mga kasalanang pumatay kay Hesus. Hindi naman kailangang maging Hudyo, Katoliko, Protestante, Muslim o wala mang relihiyon. Hindi mo na kailangang tumanaw sa malayo. Mousey, masyadong mabigat itong tinalakay ko. (thud)...sound of a falling body.... The CA t

bata batuta

Dear Mouse, May kalaro ako noon na sobrang bilib sa sarili dahil sa gawi ng pagpapapalaki ng magulang. Kailan ko lang nalaman ang naangkop na salita para ganoong gawi. TMPR. Too Much Positive Reinforcement. Yon ba yong kahit yong drowing niyang aso ay mukhang si Gollum, maririnig mo ang kaniyang ina na: " Wow, galing ng anak kong magdrowing, maggiging pintor ka niyan." Nang minsan ay may dula kami sa eskuwela at hindi siya ang nakuhang bida-supporting role lang-- katulad ko rin siya na halos walang dialogue, taga sunod sa bida, para bang miyembro ng gang na tagasunod at taga tsuwarewarewap lang. Nang araw ng palabas, bumili ng maraming ticket ang kaniyang ina at ultimong naghuhugas ng kanilang kotse ay inanyayahan para lang maraming pumalakpak sa kaniya. Masigabong palakpakan ang kaniyang inani sa sinabi niyang makabagbag damdaming " Here she comes". Nang magkaroon nang fund raising at nagkaroon ng Miss Philippines contest sa mga bata, number one siya dahil gumastos ang kaniyang ina ng libo-libo para siya at manalo. Ang isa naming kaklase na balak ring kumandidato ay pinili ang lumipad sa Hong kong kapalit nang hindi niya pagsali. Aanuhin daw niya ang korona at panandaliang tagumpay na habang nagpaparada siya sa labas ay makakarinig ka ng mga pintas na "Yon ba ang reyna, pangit naman pala". Nanalo lang yan dahil sa pera". Totoo, pero masakit. Pinamili siya ng kaniyang ina kung ano ang gusto niya. Kaya habang nagkakaway ang isa kong kakalse bilang reyna, ang isa namin ay nag-eenjoy sa HK. Ako, natulad ako kay Enrile. Maraming ubas ang pinipilit ubusin, pero ako ay nagkaroon lang ng dayariya. Pareho kaming lumaki na iba ang pananaw sa buhay. Naniwala siyang walang imposible at lahat ay puwede din niyang makamit. Pero ang nakalimutan ng kaniyang ina ay ang ihanda siya sa katotohanan na ang buhay ay parang tsokolate, minsan ay matamis, minsan any durog (layo noh). Maraming beses na wala siyang tagapalakpak. Maraming beses na nakakatanggap siya ng hindi na sagot. Ang dating mundong rosas sa kaniyang paningin ay naging technicolor at kadalasan ay abuhin ang kulay. Natuto siyang uminom. Una social drinking lang. Dumating sa sukdulang na hindi na siya makatulog kung hindi uminom. Bata pa siya ay mukhang dala na niya ang mundo. May karelasyon siya na hindi nagtagal dahil hindi niya naririnig ang mga positibong pananalita para lang magkaroon siya ng confidence. Ang mata niya ay namumula madalas. Sabi niya dahil walang tulog. Nakarating siya rito sa America dahil padala siya ng kaniyang ina. Kahit minimum wage pinagtiyagaan niya. Nanigarilyo pa rin siya. Pinakilala ko siya sa isang kaibigan kong binata. Pumunta sila sa isang bar. Para siyang isdang uminom ng tubig sa dagat. Pag-uwi niya ay lasing na lasing siya. Nagtatantrum. Dismayado ang aking kaibigan. Maihahalintulad din siya kay Poe na nahirati sa mga palakpak, sa mga tagahanga, kaya minsang may lugar na hindi siya tinanggap ay bigla siyang nawala. Kailangan maghanap nang dahilan nang kaniyang pagkawala. Maraming ubas ang mga kinakain ng mga kakampi ni Erap at ni Poe. Sawa na sila sa ubas. Kahit isang parang bata batutang nagtatantrum pagtitiyagaan nila kung ang batang yon ang aagaw ng korona na nakuha sa kanila. The CA t

Excuse letter

Dear Mouse, There was a school year when I was in grade school when I did not feel like attending one class-a Math class. I always looked for excuses not to come to school because of it--either I had stomachache, toothache, headache and if I were just old enough, I could have used heartache as an excuse when I was running out of aching body parts and appendages. That was the time when I discovered that when you think you are sick, so you would be. You can actually feel the pain. You will feel weak when the feigned illness calls for it. Then you rationalize. I got stomachache because of the milk that my mom required me to drink for my calcium supplement. That time, lactose intolerant was not yet in my vocabulary. I got a headache because of the rain, intense heat, the barking of the dogs, the harmless grass and flowers---even the stupid commercials, so forth, so on. I could not say however that my tooth ached because of cavity. I could not tell them I was growing a wisdom tooth just because I heard an older relative that growing wisdom tooth was also a pain especially when you were regarded to have a better wisdom already. Excuses and alibis are very useful to avoid stuff that you do not want to do because, either you are intellectually, socially, academically or physically challenged. So when Poe came up with lots of alibis in order to avoid debate, I expected him to come up with an excuse that his compacted wisdom tooth was giving him trouble talking. He was able to hide this disability to utter more than 100 words in one given scene in his movie by delivering more than 100 jabs to a bad guy without breaking his sternum. I thought it was normal for an action star to talk less but seeing Robin Padilla deliver witty lines while pulverizing a character actor in a movie, it changed my wrong perception. His mediocre one-on-one interview with Soliven confirmed my belief that he has nothing to say because he really has nothing to say. So when Sir Sotto, said that it was an emergency that brought Poe away from the campaign. I was not surprised. LEGAZPI CITY--Presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr, cut short his provincial campaign sortie here due to a personal emergency, close ally Senator Vicente Sotto III said Monday. Sotto said Poe received an emergency call at 2 a.m. prompting him to leave early Monday. He denied the emergency was related to the disqualification case Poe is facing before the Supreme Court. Campaign plans for the rests of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (Coalition of United Filipinos, KNP) for the provinces of Sorsogon and Catranduanes will push through, Sotto said. Sotto said, however, he will also be returning to Manila together with Poe. I want to believe that his Iskul Bukol days had given him bags of ready-made excuses to explain somebody’s non-appearance. If and when DA KING would become a king and there is a need for him to welcome and meet heads of States, I wonder what excuses would Sir Sotto offer if he refuses to do such task. 1. He got a headache 2. He got a stomachache 3. He got a toothache ? 4. He got an emergency? The CA t

Oscar Award

Dear Mouse, I am watching the Academy right at this very hour. Another LOTR winner and I am going to collapse. I feel tired watching them went up stage to collect the trophies. I got three favorites who made it though; Tim Robbins, my favorite actor of the Shawshank Redemption won the best supporting actor role in Mystic River; Charlize Theron, best actress and Sean Penn for Best Actor in Mystic River. He should have won in I am SAM. Many Hollywood actors and actresses are highly educated. Sean Penn is one of them with a high IQ to boot. Tommy Lee Jones was a Harvard graduate and so was Elizabeth Shure. Acting for them is not just papogi. The CA t

DA KING AND DA KNIGHTS OF the CROOKED TABLE

Dear Mouse, In the faraway kingdom by the sea, there lived a king who would be king not because of his wisdom but because of people who would like him to be king. 1. His knights of the crooked table whose tasks are to give excuses for his crooked statements. a. Knight Escudero b. Knight Sotto c. Knight Reyes d. Knight Romero 2. The knaves are the has- been- lawmakers who by themselves cannot gather even a motley crowd. They are bright and smart--so smart that they can twist facts and make fictions look real. Their experience and stature should have elevated them to the likes of the Diokno, Salonga and other statesmen who gave the country their best even during the dwindling years of their political career. One such knave had the guts to ask the rivals of his presidential candidate if they too can direct movies. Not suprising for a man who staged a mock assassination just to convince people of the need for martial law. The other one was quick in recommending the queen if the king cannot qualify. 3. the former king who is incarcerated. His only hope is his partner. They both deny to death that they have the covenant to work for his freedom but no amount of the left hand denying the accusation can hide the right hand telltale signs that this is the handiwork of the former King who would like to vindicate himself. a. the presence of Lumbao and his " portable" people power that gave a bad name to the phrase b. the presence of the expensive wily lawyers who for the love of money can incite rebellion just to win a case. c. the snobbery of the leader of a religious cult to the other presidential candidate for fear of being reprimanded by the former king. His media network and his followers were used in EDSA 3. d. the croaking Adopted Son/ex senator who wasted his career by making ungentleman and unethical statements in defense of his favorite PATRON e. the disgruntled people in the media who stopped prophesizing the doom of the "illegitimate government" but is now quick to defend a a constitution that was short in specifying provisions about 'illegitimate". 4. the unemployed movie people hoping that they will make hay if the DA King will become the President. At this point, they are ready to kiss his ass. I like Eddie Garcia but I did not want him wearing the shirt emblazoned with something that declared Poe as Bayaning Bayan ? Bayani ba ang pangalan niya? Sana tamaan din kayo ng virus na tumama sa aol ko. Huwag mong kunin ang laptop (pleads to the laptop owner using another internet server). Sandali lang, three hours pa. pretty please. *sigh*. The CA t

Lost in Translation part 2-Oh brother!

Dear Mouse, The debate on debate and what to debate is still ongoing among the presidential candidates. In the meantime, let us scrutinize the issues that were addressed by the candidates in their short essay of "How to Win the election without really trying to be good debaters". Bro.Eddie Villanueva :What a pitiful country. It has even been said that we have a death wish. Confused-Use says no fish vendor cries rotten fish, no vegetable vendor says spoiled tomatoes. Translation: Once elected, he will make a hard sell in order to promote the country he once demeaned. On corruption: Bro. Eddie: I will lead and live by example. It is the only way that all will be convinced that they, too, must change. Confused-use says an ounce of an example is worth a ton of advice but gifts may have higher price tags. (Layo noh?) Translation: Paano naman kami? Bro. Eddie: It has been proven that credible leadership can provide a solution to insurgency. If poverty and injustice are uprooted and addressed, communism will have no reason to exist. Confused –use says man should work with facts and not opinions. Communism did not solve poverty in China. Not all communist leaders in the Philippines are for peace. With peace, they have no agenda of being in the lucrative alternative government business. They have their own taxation you know. Translation: Ano, aalisin ninyo kami sa eksena? Bro. Eddie: There is no doubt that we should fight terrorism in all its forms because it is an assault on all civilized people. If we had less corruption then we could modernize our Armed Forces, and our soldiers would be treated better and with more respect, and they would have higher morale. Then we would not need the United States to help us fight terrorism. Confused use says that it is not correct to think that we can totally be without enemies. Even with perceived less corruption in the US, terrorism is a major problem to reckon with. The fight in terrorism is global since the struggle for world supremacy is as old as the world itself. Translation: Pag may bida, may kontrabida. Bro.Eddie: Agriculture will be a priority in my administration. Farm-to-market roads will be built, credit will be made available, technology will be provided, middlemen shall be eliminated. Local communities shall be empowered to make the Philippines sufficient unto itself in food. Confused –use says –for sea matters,ask the fishermen, for farm matters, ask the farmers. For marketing, ask the cartel. Translation: Mga hinayupak kayong mga saboteurs. The CA t

Kung Fu Shoes says

Dear Mouse, After the crash course program, Da King came up with his platform. 1. poverty He will address poverty by providing poor people three square meals a day. Action plan: Hire cooks in every congressional districts. Use the pork barrel. Pork has a lot of recipes, among them is adobo. Chicken are prone to bird flu.The barrel can be recycled into water containers. Kung Fu shoes says..hahaha 2. peso depreciation He learned from his mentor that it is not his candidacy that affects the falling of the value of the peso. It is the demand and supply of the currency. Whatever that means. Damn the law of demand and supply. No he will not have the law repealed. Action plan: Look for the author of the law and ask him to amend it or else "Di na siya sisikatan ng araw". Kung Fu Shoes says...hahaha 3. Budget deficit Balance the budget. Why they cannot balance the budget? There are already digital weighing scales. Our government should live within its means. To avert a fiscal crisis, all government departments, bureaus and other agencies will be directed to implement drastic cost-cutting measures on non-essential expenditures such as travel, miscellaneous and intelligence funds. Action plan: We will provide each department heads with scissors to cut on their budget. Only one page budget report will be allowed. The excess page will be cut. No intelligence funds. Only intelligent people. Kung Fu shoes says hahaha 4. Foreign debts Filipinos have colonial mentality. Even debts are foreign. Action plan: Borrow from local banks. Offer amnesty to these foreign debts para maging Filipino. Hindi nga lang natural born. Kung Fu Shoes says hahaha 5. Corruption Pahuhuli ko ang mga corrupt na police. Kagaya sa mga pelikula ko, pahihirapan ko sila. Ipapakulong ko ang mga corrupt na opisyales na hindi pa nakakukulong. (pssst...nakakulong na ang kumpare mo )At palalayain ko ang nakakulong. Kung Fu Shoes says hahaha 6. Kidnapping Pahihinto ko ang kidnapping. Hindi naman mga bata ang kinikidnap nila kung hindi mga matatanda na mayayaman. Tapos sasabihin nila ako ang walang utak. Kung Fu Shoes says hahaha 7. Globalization Globalization is a reality that we cannot ignore. We have to actively participate in international trade. Action plan:I will ask them to annex international in every business name. Hindi lang plataforma ang kaniyang ibinigay kung hindi mga sagot sa mga akusasyon sa kaniya. 1. on not being a natural born Poe: ano sila baliw. Hindi caesarian ang nanay ko. Naghirap siyang iluwal ako sa St. Luke's. 2. on being temperamental Poe: Hindi totoo yan. Reporter; Bakit hindi ho totoo Poe: Bakit ba ang kulit mo? Sinabi kong hindi totoo yan. 3. On being a drunkard worse than Erap Poe: Hindi totoo yan. Binigyanako ng 100 million ni Cojuangco ng San Miguel para ipromote ang kanilang beer. Dapat lang gantihan ko sila. Tagay 'bay. kung Fu Shoes says hahaha The CA t

Lost in Translation-Not theMovie

Dear Mouse, 1. Poe is not joining the debate. His crash course program must have crashed. Translation: The teacher is mum about the rating. Movie playing: Low Waist Gang 2. Poe shrugged off the offer, saying a debate was just "pure talk." "Debates divide (the) people. 'Tsaka puro salita 'yun, wala namang nagagawa (Besides, that is pure talk, and nothing is being accomplished)," he told reporters. Translation: All talk and no action does not make you an action star. Movie Playing: Tough Guy 3."Mabuti sila na magdebate muna (Let the President and Roco debate between themselves first)," Poe initially told reporters Friday during a break in the motorcade and rally at the public plaza.Poe said that he might join the debate, pagdating sa dulo. Translation: Got to wait for teacher to agree to go to the length of explaining that the depreciation of the peso is caused by the demand and supply and not by his candidacy. Movie Playing "Umpisahan Mo, Tatapusin Ko" ( one of his movies) 4.He would only accept the challenge for a presidential debate if it would be held in depressed areas like Payatas in Quezon City where people would be allowed to ask questions. Translation: It helps to be with the adoring fans regardless whether you talk gibberish or you do not talk at all. Movie Playing: Mga Alabok sa Lupa The CA t

K generation

Dear Mouse, After baby boomers, we have the X Generation. For FIlipinos, there is the so-called K generation.--Karaoke generation. Two Saturdays ago, a pint-size 11-year old Filam boy from California wowed the three judges of Star Search including the popular Naoemi Judd. He bested the other two finalists with a perfect score of 15 and another 13 votes from the viewers. He is a very polite kid who always says tenk yu to his fans. Star Search was the singing contest that launched the singing career of Christina Aguillera. Filipina winner “”Banig” who was rated to be a better singer lost her star even before it shone. A week ago, Camille Velasco, a contestant in the Americal Idol was voted the best in the second batch of the semi-finalists. She claimed she is a native of Maui but when asked what she does during her spare time, she said she usually visit her Nanay(Grandma). Another Fil-am is in the fourth batch of the American Idol semi-finalists. Her name is Jasmine Trias. Her dream is to produce an album of a soundtrack for a Filipino soap opera. Win or lose, they are winners. They do not have to be TMPRed in order to believe in themselves. The CA t

Turon kayo d'yan

Dear Mouse, Rhet of karinderia fame was fuming mad over a quartered banana inside a turon. He had every reason to curse the object of his ire. Nakikiayon ako sa kaniya, kaya ako rin pa-curse. Sana ay lumaki ang inyong ilong ng katulad ng banana, quartered nga lang. Sana ay madupilas kayo sa balat ng banana . Sana ay managinip kayo na hinahabol kayo ng mga bananang hubad. Paborito ko rin ang turin ‘noh-- yong may langka sa loob at maraming pulang asukal. Kahit hindi turon, kahit banana cue. Noong huling uwi ko sa Pinas, pumunta pa ako sa paborito kong banana cue stand para lang bumili noong banana cue na medyo over hinog at malambot na, nababalutan ng maraming asukal. Tapos iinom ka ng malamig na malamig na coke. Burp... Tama ang obserbasyon ni rhet. Kumpara sa mga Chinese restaurant, ang Filipino restaurant ay takal ang kanin. Mura naman ang bigas. Sa Peborit kong Chinese restaurant, sangdamukal ang kanin kaya yong isang order na katulad ng Peking Duck over rice, matagal nang nailibing mo yong buto ng duck, may tira pa ring kanin sa refrigerator na naninigas na sa kalumaan. Pero huwag kang magkakamaling umorder ng “flied lice”. Mas marami ang ibibigay saiyo dahil mga second generations yon ng tirang steamed rice, tirang meat with green peas and carrots. Lalagyan lang nila ng kaunting itlog at kaunting oyster sauce--- Voila "FLIED LICE" na. Pero dahil sa bagsak din ang economy ng US of A pati mga restaurant ay naapektuhan.Maraming restaurant ang hindi puwedeng magtaas ng presyo dahil wala nang pupunta sa restaurant nila. Kaya hindi sila sa pricing tumitingin. Sa quantity sila nagfofocus. Cost cutting baga. Bawas ang kanin at ang “over rice” pero di halatado, dahil ang kanilang pinggan ay lumiit din. Ang kanilang “to go’ boxes or styro ay lumiit din. Marami munang beses akong kumain sa restaurant bago ko nahalata. Nauubos ko ang isang order at wala na akong ng “togo”.Hindi naman ako nagiging matakaw. (Sa mga nasa Pinas, ibig sabihin balot ang tira para sa aso. Heheheh)huwag ka hapunan ko na iyon, minsa baon pa sa opit. Dahil sa maliit ang pinggan,hindi mahalata na ang order ay bawas na dahil puno pa rin ang pinggan. Katulad din yang mga practice ng malalaking manufacturing companies na imbes na magtaas ng presyo, nililiitan nalang nila ang packaging. Kagaya ng lata ng gatas ng ebaporada. Dati puwede mong gawing laruang telepono. (binubutasan at pagkatapos pinagkakabit ng tali ang dalawang lata. Tapos mag-uusap ang magkalaro. Hello, hello, Ngayon sa liit nila ay puwede na lang silang cell phone na may tali pa rin. Hello, helllo, can you hear me now? Kahit noong panahon ng mga tingi, marurunong na rin ang mga negosyante sa pamamaraan upang lumaki ang kanilang tubo. Makinig tayo. Inay: O Rosa, nalagyan mo na bang mga batong maliliit ang bigas. Rosa: Opo Inay: Nalagyan mo na ba ng tubig ang suka? Rosa: Opo Inay: Binawasan mo na ba ang palito ng posporo. Rosa: Opo Inay: O halika na at magdasal na tayo. Totoo pong nangyari ito at hindi kathang isip lang. Taghiyawatin man po yong manufacturer ng facial cream ko. Ang mga tinamaan ng kulog, mas malalim pa ang puwetan ng lalagyan ng cream kaysa sa Philippine Deep. Kaya pala ilang pahid ko pa lang, kita ko na yong ilalim. The CA t

Fact or Fiction

Dear Mouse, Nagbakasyon ako noon sa malayong bayan sa Bicol. Hometown noong isa kong opit mate. Nakapanungaw ako sa bintana na nag-iimagine kong paano ba ang hinaharana sa probins, nang biglang may sigawan. Takbo, takbo, naghuhuramentado na naman. Hindi naman Muslim ang mga tao doon pero nakita ko ang isang lalaking hubad maliban sa suot na boxer. May hawak itong gulok at hinahabol ang lahat nang makita.Ngeee. Wala bang pulis? Wala siguro. Kung si Darna lang ako sana ay tumalon na ako sa bintana at binigyan ko siya ng magkakasunod na suntok (ala Fernando Poe) saka ala Matrix akong tatalon pabalik pasamano ng bintana. Wooh. Pero naunahan ako ng matandang lalaking walang takot na lumapit doon sa nagwawalang lasing. Marka demonyo siguro ang nainom. Piningot nito ang isang tenga noong lasing habang nagtutungayaw…sa salitang Bicol. “Pag uminom ning tuba, sa tulak ilalaag bako sa payo. Ang nag-iihi sa pader saka sa poste, ayam. Tatay pala niya. Translation: When you drink tuba(native wine from coconut) put it in your stomach not in your head. Only dogs urinate on walls and posts. I also remember that in one of our retreats in Laguna, we decided to visit the Palace in the Sky.(This was a relic of the Marcos Administration built on top of a mountain). Erap was a still a VP and Ramos was the President. Halfway, I decided to drop from the group negotiating the road uphill going to the palace. My friends bid me goodbye and promised me that they were going to take pics for me. As I traced my way back down the foot of the mountain, a shuttle bus breezed by and stopped. The driver offered me a lift going up. Kapalaran nga naman, I did not hesitate to say yes. We passed by my friends who were puffing as they walked uphill. Hehehe di nila ako nakita. As the other passengers of the shuttle bus got off to go the direction of the palace, I bided my time to wait for my companions. I overheard this conversation: Man 1: Noh pare, kumusta ang pagdadrive. Balita ko driver ka doon sa kasal ni Presidente? Man2: Oo. Pare. Malaki nga ang ibinigay. Mabait pa si Pers Lady Ming. Pinakain muna kami bago ang mga bisita. Baka raw pag nagdatingan na makalimutan kami, Man 3 : Suwerte ka pare, noon yong dating Pers Lady, ni hindi man lang kami matapunan ng buto pag dinadrive naming yong mga bisita niya. Man1: Pero pare, ako kalian man di magdadrive sa ating bise presidente. Man2: sino pare, si Erap Man1: Oo, pare, pag nalalasing yan, tatawagin ka at iihi sa binti mo. Marami pa sanang kuwento pero dumating na ang mga grupo ko. Gulat kung paano ako nakarating na una sa kanila. Sabi ko lumipad ako. Hehehe So if the story about Poe’s peeing on Cabaluna is not an urban legend or a black propaganda from the camp of his political rivals, I should like to add this to the admonition of the father to the son… Aso lang ang umiihi sa pader , sa puno at sa binti ng mga taong hindi makalaban dahil sa takot. Maglipon tells the story, now the stuff of urban legend, about a confrontation between Poe and Franklin Cabaluna, at that time an acerbic but widely read movie columnist. The legend goes that, unhappy with Cabaluna's repeated dissing of his person and movie persona, Poe approached Cabaluna at a showbiz party, beat him up and then peed on him. The reality, as recounted by Cabaluna himself, is that Poe merely took him on a typical drinking peregrination, all the while mouthing off on how Cabaluna had hurt people mentioned in his columns. From time to time while in an open-air beer garden, Poe would stop in his exhortations, approach a tree and pee on it. Which maybe explains the part on his being peed on by Poe, Cabaluna said. But the beating part is also based at least on a nugget of truth. Rushing to his "idol's" defense, a stuntman lackey of Poe's walked up to Cabaluna one day and beat him so badly that the writer had to stay in the hospital for a few days. If show business is rife with gossip, malice and black propaganda, politics is even dirtier and can descend to even lower depths of sleaze. Will Foe be able to handle the potshots and criticisms, the sly innuendo, black operations of political handlers? Can he pee in public these days without this turning into a campaign issue? The CA t

Let us pray

Dear Mouse, Time for prayers. For the poor people awash in the belief that actors lacking skills and experience but were portraying their cause in their movies should become President Patawarin ninyo po at sampalin sila For higher education academicians of note who provide crash programme on economics and governance to an actor, an academic endeavour that graduate schools require students/executives to work full time for more than 12 months to get masteral degree and become half-baked experts in the finance/economics/marketing and management . Patawarin ninyo po sila at tanungin kung sino sa kanila ang aamin na sila ay nanood ng pelikulang Tagalog. For members of academic intelligentsia whose training abroad qualify them more to be armchair analysts and their so-called expertise are promoted via expert opinions on economics travails of a country that they hardly know. I rather talk to a farmer who does not know what economies of scale is but is enthusiastic to join a cooperative in order to avail of cheaper fertililzer and pesticides by bulk purchase. Patawarin ninyo po sila at sabihin doon sa mga nagbibigay ng academic grant na mga theories lang ang kanilang pinagsasabi at hindi nakakabigay ng solusyon sa problema ng bansa. For instant constitutional analsysts and test tube bred baby eagle experts(translation:hindi talaga lawyers)who inundated the newspapers and the web sites with their opinions on Poe's citizenship that they claimed their own but later proven to be the opinions of the real authorities on the said issues that they have talked to. Unahan lang yan sa print media at paramihan. Patawarin ninyo po sila at bigyan ng Tagamet.Kabag lang yan. For a presidential bet who would agree for a debate if he has the poor people as his cheering squad. Patawarin ninyo po siya at pakisabi. DUWAG, DUWAG, DUWAG For the head of a religious denomination who snubbed the President with a flimsy excuse. Patawrin po ninyo at pakisabi, HINDI GANOON ANG NAKASULAT SA BIBLIYANG ITINUTURO NILA. Love your enemies even the political ones. For those whose idea is to launch the candidacy of Poe but did not bother to check his citizenship.The cost includes the lawyers' fees of very expensive lawyers, OPMs of directorship to economic advisers just so they play the game, battery of paid columnists to launch a highly orchestrated emotional appeal of twisting the Constitution written for the security and protection of majority and not by the few and paid busloads of Lumbao's mercenaries. Patawarin ninyo po sila at bigyan ng utak. The CA t

TheThird

Dear Mouse, Kahit sa Estet ay may sinasabing political dynasty; katulad ng mga Adamses, Kennedys, Bushes and Tafts. Dalawa lang ang alam kong mag-ama na naging parehong presidente-- Si John Adams at ang anak niyang si John Quincy Adams at si George H.W. Bush at ang anak niyang si George W. Bush. Ang mga Roosevelts ay hindi mag-ama. Political dynasty nga kina Kennedy pero walang mag-ama o mag lolo na naging Presidente. Kung hindi siguro namatay si John, Jr., baka puwede. Sa Pilipinas ay mas marami. Mas matindi. Nandiyan si Ina, Si Ama, si Anak, Si Tiyong, si Tiyang, Si Hipag. Si bayaw, Si Bilas at kung puwede nga lang patakbuhin pati si Yaya Maria, ay gagawin nila. Ito ay dahil ang kapangyarihan any nakakalasing at ang pagiging popular ay nakakalunod ng puso sa galak na hahanap-hanapin ang pagsamba ng publiko. Kaya ngayon hindi lang yaman ang pinamamana kung hindi ang puwesto. Ang ating mga pangulo at may mga naging anak at kamag-anak na naging pulitiko at nagsilbi sa pamahalaan. 1. Emilio Aguinaldo-wala akong alam na descendant niya ang naging aktibo sa pulitika. Ang kilala ko lang Aguinaldo ay ang Misa Aguinaldo pag pasko at ang aguinaldo sa akin ng aking mga ninong. 2. Manuel Quezon- Dalawa ang maari sanang sumunod sa yapak ng dakilang pangulong Ama ng Wikang Pambansa. Si Nini Avancena at si Manuel Quezon Jr. Nguni’t minarapat ni Manuel, Jr. ang maging tahimik ng pribadong mamamayan . Kung siya man ay nagpakita nang pagmamalasakit sa pag-ugit ng pamahalaan ay dinaan niya ito sa pagsusulat,samantalang ang kaniyang kapatid ay naging abala sa mga pamamahayag sa kalsada. Si Manuel Quezon III ay hindi rin natuksong pumalaot sa pulitika. Ngunit ano man ang maririnig sa pangulo ng bansa ay nanggaling sa kaniyang panitik. Ano kayang isinusulat niya para sa talumpati, Tagalog kaya o English ? Kung si Manuel Quezon ang ama ng Wikang Pambansa, ang anak niya kayang si Manuel, Jr. ang apo, si theTHIRD ba ang apo sa tuhod ? 3. Jose P.Laurel, Sr. Tatlong anak niya ay kilala sa pulitika,si Dating Bise-Presidente Salvador Laurel, Speaker Jose Laurel,Jr. at dating Senador Sotero Laurel. Ngayon yata ang alam kong Laurel na nasa pulitika ay si Ate Vi at ang kaniyang asawang Senador. 4. Sergio Osmena Anak niya si Sergio Osmena, Jr. na nakalaban ni Marcos sa halalang pag- kapangulo, kung kailan ay di ko alam. Apo niya kung ganoon si Sergio Osmena III. Ano niya si Senador John Renner Osmena at si Minnie Osmena, ang nakasabunutan ni Dewi Sukarno ? 4. Manuel Roxas Ang mga anak niya ay si Gerardo Roxas na naging Senador at si Ruby Roxas na kilala sa alta sosyedad. Kung may theThird, mayroong Junior ? 5. Elpidio Quirino Nag-iisang anak ang nabuhay pagkatapos ng digmaan. Si Vicki Quirino Hidalgo. 6. Ramon Magsaysay Paborito ng aking mader dahil pinadalhan siya ng retrato ng pamilya nang siya ay sumulat sa Malacanan.Noong bata pa siya,mahilig siyangmagsusulat. Di niya akalaing papansinin ang kaniyang sulat.Pinagmalaki niya sa mga kapitbahay. Umiyak daw siya nang namatay si Pangulong Magsaysay. Si Ramon Magsaysay Jr. ay Senador na. Pero wala akong alam na Ramon Magsaysay the 3rd dahil ang mga anak niya ay walang may pangalang Ramon. 7.Diosdado MacapagaL Hindi ang Junior niya ang naging Pangulo kung hindi ang kaniyang anak na babae. Si Gloria. Ang isa niyang anak na si Cielo ay naging Gobernador ng Pampanga. Ang kaniyang apo na si Mikee ay hindi lang artista kung hindi pulitiko rin. 8.Ferdinand Marcos Si Imee ay Senador at si Jr.ay Gobernador ba o Congressman ? Hindi na kailangan ang botohan. Kanila naman ang Ilocos. Pero si Imelda,umiyak man siya ay hindi siya magiging Presidente. 9. Joseph Estrada Si Jinggoy ay tatakbong Senador. Manalo kaya ? Ayaw na kasi ni JV bitiwan yong pagkamayor ng San Juan. Away ng magkapatid sa Ama. Si Loi, senadora.Buti na lang hindi lumaban si Guia o kaya si Laarni o kaya si ___ At si ____ at si _______ at si_________. Si Guy nga lumaban sa Bicol. Talo naman. Pag manalo kaya si Poe, may the Third kaya ? Bakit ko sinulat itongtungkol sa mga henerasyon? Dahil nasa link ko Si Manuel Quezon the Third. Magandang basahin. May mapupulot kayo. Ako gusto ko ring mamulot. Pera nga lang. The CA t

Anniversary

Dear Mouse, It is our anniversary today. I have our pictures taken for posterity. Here The CA t

Prayers for you

Dear Mouse, My mom was a very religious woman. She would bring me to different churches as she prayed for different intentions. One such church was Quiapo Church, now a basilica. Inside the church were women who offered to pray for your intentions. Naïve as I was, I thought it was for free so I thought that it was very pious for them to pray for other people. Then I learned later that they were charging for a fee for prayers. Thoughts that came to my mind were: mas malakas ba sila sa Diyos? May commission ba si God sa kanila..(sounds of thunder and lightning) bibiro lang SIR. * sigh * of relief. Walang bang time magdasal ang mga nagpapadasal? Magkano kaya ang kita ? When our propesor in Entrepreneurship required our class to form a small group and come up with a small business for one semester, applying the theories that we will be learning from the class and earning at the same time , I thought of the PRAYERS For YOU business. hehehe BTW, the propesor did not look like a professor because of his dangling camera in his shoulder all the time. In our first meeting, I thought he was the official photogprapher of the university. After our first meeting, he asked us to pose with the wall fence as the background for an id picture-actually four pictures for one pose. One pic went to our class card, the other one went to the seat plan. For easy recall of the faces, he said. Good business. He was a good entrepreneurship professor indeed.The rest of the pics were for our own disposal. The Prayers for you business was rejected outright by my group mates. First, they were not the prayerful types and second, we cannot decide whether we would give a money-back-guarantee- if the prayers were not answered. As elected COO, I concurred with the members. At that time, I did not have any plan to confront my CREATOR with issues other than mine. Why the prayers as subject of my blog? Because the pawns in the Poe chess game decided to invoke the help from Someone UP there thru prayers. Very CORY. Awwww. "Bukas 10 a.m. lumabas ka sa kalsada magdasal ng 1 minuto para sa paglilinaw ng isip ng SC justices sa FPJ citizenship issue (At 10 a.m. tomorrow, go out in the streets and for a minute, pray that the Supreme Court justices will be enlightened in deliberating over Poe’s citizenship)," one of the text messages being circulated stated. Anti-riot policemen have been ordered deployed around the Supreme Court where deliberations are scheduled today over the petitions seeking to disqualify Poe to run for president in the May 10 polls. The CBCP also urged the Filipino people to pray for peaceful resolution of the disqualification case of Poe. Sino kaya ang pakikinggan ni BOSS sa ITAAS? Lumbao promised 10,000 followers for the human chain while Nino Muhlach boasted for his 50, 000 fans. Wow , if I had put up that business and these people joining the rally were my customers for my prayers for you--- for a peyso, that would give me 60,000 peysos or more than a thousand dollars. (THUNDER AND LIGHTNING) Sabi namang nagbibiro lang eh. Seryoso naman ninyo BOSS. Did I mention what business, we went into? Halls candies and worksheet pads courtesy of the offices of our siblings, friends and parents. Project daw. Kawawang mga opisinang mahina ang internal control sa office supplies. Mataas ang grade naming grupo. Libre kasi ng Halls yong prop namin every meeting. Kung hindi mo makuha sa santong dasalan ang propesor, daanin mo sa librehan ng Halls candy (kayo diyan). The CA t

Game of cheese,ermm I mean Chess

Dear Mouse, I prefer watching tennis than chess. In tennis, all I have to do is to move my face to the left, to the right, to the left and to the right. These exercise my facial and neck muscles. In the game of chess, I do not move while watching the players. The game was not on a tournament level. It was just a game between my braders to decide who would be the next week's dishwasher. The older brader usually won not because he was a good strategist but because he was a great detractor. Before you even make a countermove, he shouted sige check ka diyan. Aha aha aha kain ka. Tagal naman ang moves, anong buwan na ba ngayon or gisingin mo na lang ako pag tapos ka na ha. On the issue of Poe’s citizenship, the oppositions are just like my elder brader. They preempt moves and countermoves. Their threats are civil disobedience, revolution, riot and even anarchy. Ow, I forgot to mention that my other brader had a habit of drinking soda in a bottle. When he was fed up with my older brader’s antics, as if on cue, the bottle simply dropped on the chess board. Game was usually declared over without a winner. The dish remained unwashed until my pader brought the dog inside and threatened the two, that the retriever was going to lick all the dishes. In politics, just like in the chess, between the DA KING and the Queen, the latter is more powerful. It can check the DA King but not vice versa. If the pawns of the DA KING will continue the threat of not playing the rules of the games, the Queen can simply declare, there is no game. The CA t

Confused-use thinks

Dear Mouse, Confused-use thinks for a response to M. Viloria’s question. Confused-use was with a friend when a grim-looking guy got by. Confuse asked the friend, bakit maasim ang mukha niya? The friend responded,”baka maasim ang gatas na pinainom sa kaniya noong bata pa siya. Nakababad kasi sa phone ang baby sitter. Ah ah ah. Confused-use said, o eto ang dolar, maghanap ka nang makakausap. Cathy however sees that the spoiled milk is the stuff that the young man has to put up with to make his dream come true. It is not the May–December relationship that sucks but the promise of instant popularity dangled like a carrot to induce loyalty, forced love and undivided attention by the predator to the willing victim. The lure of the celluloid world transforms young ambitious people to dog-begs/dog/sits and dog/barks in exchange for a few minutes of exhilarated appearance in the TV that could lead to their discovery. When the young man sang for his geriatric lover/fiance in Sharon's program, nakataas ang kilay ko pero natatakpan ng bangs ko. Bakit yong paborito ko pang Basil Valdez song ang kinanta? Hindi na ako mukhang si Cleopatra. Ginupit ko na ang bangs ko. Peksman. The CA t

Falling Stars

Dear Mouse, Have you ever wondered where ageing idle movie stars went before they found politics as a good option ? The following stories were what I gathered from a couple of senior retirees who are a delight to talk to. The lady was looking for a room because her daughter-in-law declined to take her in when she she got evicted from her apartment. Sabi niya kahit garahe lang. But that is another story. She has been here in the States for 40 years and even in her pre-senior years, she was already a regular attendee in Filipino community gathering. She took interest in the article I downloaded and printed about Aga Muhlach threatening to leave for the US when political and economic conditions in the Philippines would not improve. She commented that “I did not know he is dumb”. Doesn’t he know that the US economy has still to recover from a crisis? "These movie stars",she continued, " they came here several years ago in droves thinking that their looks were enough to get them high paying jobs. As you can see, mamera lang dito ang guwapo. Hahaha" Story 1 There was this has-been-movie idol who came to the US but who never got employed. He had no other option but to join the movie stars peddling the cooking pots and pans that were not meant for use but just for display. A Filipino-American household that owned this set of cooking pans was regarded to have “ARRIVED”. hahaha .He did not make good in the selling. He was an action star and therefore had few words..(hahaha). His territory manager was a young woman who must also have been star struck. He married her. She was proud to have a former movie star as a husband. So what if he was a has-been? The actor’s son was so devastated that he became a bad boy both in reel and real life. Story 2 This actor was not a has been yet when he came to the US. He was a big star in the Philippines, adored by many and worshipped by women. In fact he married three times.. One was a Filam that he married to get a green card when his career suffered a slump. He left her when he met a mega star, whom he married in a very elaborate wedding in a cathedral. The third was just a live-in but he got a daughter by her. When he was being rumored to be reconciling with the long suffering wife, he suddenly jumped to marriage to a beautiful model. Haah. One scandal led to another and a case that could have brought him to prison made him fly to the US. Where is he now? He is still in the States, rumored to have married a moneyed lady who is a lot older than him. There was a press release that he was studying in some prestigious university. People in the islands should know that universities here have always extension classes for short term courses that do not make them bona fide degree students. hahaha Story 3 The brothers were both actors who had beautiful and popular actresses as their girl friends. Both the actresses were doing good in the box office but the two were not. The whole family went (not migrated) to the US. Without documentations, the only jobs that they can get were being valets on a per diem basis. Coming back to the Phils years later, they claimed that it is their business. One brother eloped with the daughter of a former movie queen who was originally known as Taray Queen. He sealed their fates. Rumor was that the ma-in-law collected some thousands for tipping off some illegals. Sabi nila tsismis. Pag tsismis, you cannot trace the origin. hahaha Story 4 He was a has been heart throb, married and separated from a movie queen. He came to the US because his star was not only shining but his pockets also dripped. There were new handsomer young actors invading the moviedom. They said that in the US, he worked as a gas boy. Press release showed him in an old expensive car to belie the story. Once, I had this picture taken infont of a parked Porsche. I showed them to my friends in the Philippines. Sabi nila. Wow kotse mo. I raise my left brow. Back to the falling star. He came home to the Philippines. The storyteller said that it might be some paper problems. He got involved with a popular actress and a rumor that a video was taken during their intimate moments--for their eyes only. The storyteller thought that he must have made some money from it. He went back to the States and married a moneyed old woman, according to the rumor. hahaha Story 5 He was an action star. There were no more action films for him. At least he was honest to tell his friends when he came back to the country that he worked as a taxi driver. hahaha Story 6 He was a popular basketball player. He worked as janitor in the US. He married a basketballstarstruck fan who knew him during his hoop days.hahaha Story 7 He was a movie pop idol when he was young. Together with his wife, they fled to the US when the wife was sued for estafa. He became a top sales agent of the cooking pots and pans because of his good looks. They came back to the Philippines and the beautiful daughter became a star. She was rumored to have a rich prince as a fallback when her stars started to fade. A scandal in award winning ceremony pulled her popularity down. Not even all the kings horses in a beauty contest made her star glow again, so off she went back to the US. Her press releases claimed that she was in Hollywood and was making it big in program hosting. Sometimes, her parents also come to the US. The mother sells jewelries that she claimed are her daughter’s.She was also the lady who claimed that the result of the scan of her baby from a rich businessman shows that the unformed fetus exactly looked like the mother. (Arrgh).hahaha Now these ageing and falling stars have a new fallback. Politics. When asked if this is just a chismis, the storyteller from Olongapo who is a natural-born citizen since her mother was an American quipped, Oy iha, kung tsismis lang yan, kung may pera sana ako, may -asawa na rin akong dating artista. Some people would accuse me of harboring dislike for movie stars because I am not a star material. While it takes some to write an article as a reaction to annoy people; it will take me just one word…SO ? The CA t

Confused-use is confusing

Dear Mouse, My Confused-use blog elicited a reaction from one reader. She said that she cannot make out the messages in my words of wisdom. Even my translations are far off. But that is the exactly the message of the blog. Not all those who seem to be talking in riddles have the mind of a philosopher. There is really a thin line between genius and insanity. Along this line, there is a break ; for some,it is a bubble. Not all those who have few words are action people, it is just that they really have nothing to say.Not all those who talk much have a lot of air in their heads. Sometimes the air is below the diapraghm. So if Confused-use is confusing you---then you got the message. Labo pa rin. :-) The CA t

Confused-use

Dear Mouse, Mousey, I am now a great philosopher. Call me Confused-use. According to Edicio de la Torre, convenor of the "Pinoy si FPJ" Movement, a decision by the SC disqualifying Poe from running could provide some of his supporters the needed excuse to mount a wave of violent protests. "It's hard to speak conclusively. We don't want trouble but they (Malacañang) are provoking us. This is a highly-charged case and the Supreme Court should decide objectively. There is something worse than rebellion and that is anarchy," he added. Confused-use says THE GREAT CATASTROPHIES IN LIFE ARE THOSE (narrated by desperate people and emotional blackmailers)THAT HAVE NOT HAPPENED YET. Translation:Nalunod na bago pa naligo sa dagat. Pimentel said that while it is the right of Poe’s followers to protest, the scenario of civil strife breaking out is far-fetched There is neither any basis for the report that the opposition will disobey Supreme Court ruling on the issue, Pimentel added. Confused-use says,Some people are not in the same page but has the same url.Give them bookmarks please. Translation: Ilabas ang beer. Newest spokesman Francis Escudero, two leaders of the FPJ Movement and several movie stars intoned that Poe will never call for violence. But they quickly added, as if on script, that he will not be able to stop contrary plans of other fans. They in effect were saying he has no ability to control his men. Sadly they nicked the image of the man they tout to unite the fractured nation. Confused-use says . The worst day of your life is when you have not laughed. Translation: Hindi naman komedyante nagpapatawa. Archie-(Archie who ?)the twenty year old fiancee of Madam Auring (Madam Auring who?..the 60ish former-beautician-turned-celebrity-fortuneteller) said when asked on his first impression of his girl friend older than his mother-Akala ko po noong una siya yong type na-easy-to-get.Yon pala hindi. Programhost: Anopala siya ? Archie=Totoong tao pala siya. Confused-use says some believe that love is blind.I beg to differ. This young man is not blindly in love. He isn't blind not to see that her plastic surgeries did not turn her into a wax/mannequin. Translation:Walang maasim na gatas sa uhaw na bata. hehehe. The CA t Happybelatedtomybraderlast Feb.12.