Mt Gulugod-Baboy

Mt. Gulugod-baboy Hiking nov 4-5, 2009

Top of the World

literally on top of the world????

how high can you go for your job???
How high can you go to earn money???

map

My Lakbayan grade is F!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

My Lakbayan grade is F!How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!Created by Eugene Villar.

YouTube - I Swear This Time I Mean It, Acoustic. Derek Sanders (Mayday Parade) LYRICS ON SIDEBAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqmO5oEjVmI
Oh, Florida, please be still tonight
Don't disturb this love of mine
Look how she's so serene
You've gotta help me out
And count the stars to form the lines
And find the words we'll sing in time
I wanna keep her dreaming
It's my one wish
I won't forget this

I'm outdated, overrated
Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right

If luck is on my side tonight
My clumsy tongue will make it right
And wrists that touch
It isn't much, but it's enough
To form imaginary lines
Forget your scars
We'll forget mine
The hours change so fast
Oh, God, please make this last

'Cause I'm outdated, overrated
Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right
Could get it right

You could crush me
Please don't crush me
'Cause, baby, I'm a dreamer for sure
And I won't let you down
I swear this time I mean it

And I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right

I Swear This Time I Mean It (Mayday Parade)

Oh, Florida, please be still tonight
Don't disturb this love of mine
Look how she's so serene
You've gotta help me out
And count the stars to form the lines
And find the words we'll sing in time
I wanna keep her dreaming
It's my one wish
I won't forget this

I'm outdated, overrated
Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right

If luck is on my side tonight
My clumsy tongue will make it right
And wrists that touch
It isn't much, but it's enough
To form imaginary lines
Forget your scars
We'll forget mine
The hours change so fast
Oh, God, please make this last

'Cause I'm outdated, overrated
Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right
Could get it right

You could crush me
Please don't crush me
'Cause, baby, I'm a dreamer for sure
And I won't let you down
I swear this time I mean it

And I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening
Sleeping softly while I sing
And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times
Hoping that my voice could get it right

Pinoy is one of CNN's TOP 10 HEROES 09

A CNN hero started with a
pushcart full of hopes
(GMANews.TV)
With an ocean of garbage as his
playground as a child, Efren
Peñaflorida Jr. was accustomed
to living amid the ills of society.
The slum area in Cavite province
where he grew up abounded
with solvent-sniffing kids and
tough gangsters. People sifted
through dumpsites during the
day and slept in the cemetery’s
empty crypts at night.
To vote for Peñaflorida as CNN
Hero of the Year, click here. It
was 1997. Peñaflorida, a
gangling 16-year-old youngster
back then, was occasionally
bullied and beaten by street
toughies. No one would have
thought that, 12 years later, he
would be short-listed by
globally known Cable News
Network (CNN) as a candidate
for its CNN Heroes. “I grew up
really poor. My father was a
driver and my mother was a
laundrywoman. When I went to
school, I experienced being
mocked, bullied, discriminated
against," said Peñaflorida, the
second of three children.
“I wanted to settle scores with
the bullies. But I realized I could
turn a bad experience into
something positive." At the time,
Peñaflorida was part of Club
8586, a youth group in Cavite.
His mentor encouraged him to
help curb the rampant gang
wars and fraternity feuds in
their communities, where kids
as young as nine years were
already involved in violent
fights.
‘Pushcart classroom’ Despite
having to cope with his own
limited means, Peñaflorida
formed the Dynamic Teen
Company (DTC) with his two
peers. The fledgling group
ventured into work among
destitute and out-of-school
youth, teaching them basic
literacy skills, values formation,
and even personal hygiene.
Armed only with plastic bags
loaded with books and school
supplies, Peñaflorida and his
team roamed the shantytowns
of Cavite, offering kids a unique
chance to learn useful things in
the “street classroom" setting.
Years later, the platform for
their mobile classroom would
evolve into pedicabs, and
eventually into what it is
today – a Kariton Klassrum
(literally, “pushcart classroom").
The Kariton Klassrum now
carries a mini-library, reading
aids, blackboards, and even
detachable tables and chairs.
One of the mobile classrooms
turns into a "relief cart" for
Ondoy victims. DTC file photo
Peñaflorida says that his
commitment to teach basic
literacy to kids is his way
of “paying forward" – having
been a scholar himself. His
elementary and high school
education was funded by World
Vision Philippines, while his
college education was
shouldered by Club 8586. Not
surprisingly, he took up a
degree in Education.
Now 28, Peñaflorida earns a
living as a public school teacher
in Cavite. On Saturdays, he
continues his pushcart
classrooms –which have
expanded into Manila – with
other teen volunteers now
reaching 2,000. Aside from
teaching literacy, the group also
conducts feeding programs for
abandoned street kids who
scavenge for food by sifting
through heaps of garbage.
Who is a hero?
When the world-renowned
Cable News Network (CNN) early
this year called for submissions
for its annual search for Heroes,
Club 8586 nominated
Peñaflorida.
The network’s Blue Ribbon
Panel sifted through 9,000
nominees from over 100
countries, and soon narrowed
down its choices to 28. On
October 1 (October 2 in Manila),
CNN announced its top 10
finalists for its Hero of the Year.
Peñaflorida made the cut.
The word “hero" has been used
so loosely, that these days even
someone who performs a
singular, momentary selfless act
like jumping into a river to save
a child is quickly declared a
hero. But the same public
recognition is not so easily
earned by a person who
performs the same heroic act,
quietly and doggedly from day
to day. Peñaflorida (in white)
pushes for change. Hub Pacheco
file photo Nonetheless, Rezcel
Fajardo has no doubt in her
mind that Peñaflorida is indeed
a hero. One of the co-founders
of DTC, Fajardo says she knew
from the start that her colleague
would be included in the CNN
shortlist. “He is a modern-day
hero. He would use his meager
salary to buy food for the kids.
In fact, he had already pledged
the prize money to the children
he is helping, should he win,"
Fajardo said. But like a real hero
who embodies humility,
Peñaflorida refuses to take the
credit for the honor given by
CNN, much less brag about it. He
says that his inclusion in the
roster of 10 finalists is already
an honor in itself. “This is not
about me," he says. “If the
people vote for me, they are
actually voting for the poor kids
DTC is teaching and the
dedicated volunteers behind
this work." Peñaflorida, fondly
called Kuya F, distributes
biscuits to the kids at a slum
area in Cavite. DTC File
Photo ‘Rainbow after the rain’
Peñaflorida views his inclusion
in CNN’s Top 10 as the
proverbial “rainbow after the
rain" to Filipinos.
On October 2, the country was
still reeling from the weeklong
floods wrought by
storm “Ondoy" when it braced
itself anew to face
typhoon “Pepeng’s" wrath.
Like many other citizens who
volunteered for Ondoy-related
relief operations, Peñaflorida
joined others in packing and
distributing donations to flood-
stricken communities in Cavite.
True to his mission, his
pushcarts turned into relief
carts used to collect donated
goods.
Peñaflorida says that Anderson
Cooper’s announcement of the
Blue Ribbon Panel’s
decision “gave Filipinos a
breath of fresh air, a brief
moment to cheer and celebrate,
to be inspired all the more" to
pursue volunteer work and
rebuild our nation. The many
heroes emerging from the
Ondoy tragedy inspires
Peñaflorida to devote more of
himself to the disaster victims in
his home province. “There are
many people who rose to the
occasion, but their stories
remain untold. It’s an honor to
represent a nation of heroes,"
Peñaflorida says. “Indeed, the
Filipino is worth dying for," he
adds, quoting the famous
words of his personal hero,
Ninoy Aquino. With Filipinos
abuzz with Peñaflorida’s
nomination, the young man
recently visited the World Vision
office one busy afternoon and
was promptly hounded by
media. He now confesses he is
still unaccustomed to being
thrust into the spotlight.
Peñaflorida recalls that he and
other DTC volunteers had to
endure taunts and rejection for
many years, while carrying out
their mission. “We’ve
experienced being degraded
and unwanted, so we just had
to bow our heads low while
they shouted, ‘Here are the
basureros (trash collectors)!’"
Despite the difficulties of
bringing education closer to
impoverished youth,
Peñaflorida finds fulfillment not
in awards and other forms of
official recognition – not even
in the flattery by politicians
who have started courting him
for their election plans – but in
the smiles of the children who
rush to meet him when they
spot his humble pushcart.
Peñaflorida’s success is not
your ordinary rags-to-riches
story. While he is no longer
hounded by the pangs of
hunger and destitution, he
continues to offer himself to the
underprivileged as an example
of a kid who fell victim to
violence driven by poverty and
yet found a way to lift himself
up.
With heroes, the need to
catalyze change always leads to
endless possibilities. Even if the
only possibility at first is to
simply start pushing a pushcart.

''when i choose the life I want...

PRINCIPLE IN LIFE.....its a law in the physical world that every celestial system attains its inevitable decay and ultimate existence, so its imperative for me to hinder this predictable line of destiny by continously producing new belief and sense in appreciating life's dynamic beauty and therefore establishing a state of equilibrium so that the universe will continue on its harmonous and temporal existence.. some people... try to look down on me....all i can say is ..I CHOSE THE LIFE I WANTED TO... no one can ever break that.....

Parallelism: ONDOY and ORMOC

First published by the
Philippine Daily Inquirer on April
21-22, 1992.
by HOWIE SEVERINO
ORMOC, Leyte — Five months
after the flood that claimed over
2,000 of its residents in 1991,
Isla Verde is hot and dry. On
both sides of the islet, the Anilao
River has become a harmless
stream. In the shade, half-naked
men talk idly about how the
water came and killed their
families.
On the morning of November 5,
1991, water from a heavy
rainfall roared down from the
surrounding hills carrying logs
and uprooted trees, and
engulfed Isla Verde and much of
Ormoc. Isla Verde used to be a
crowded community of about
2,500 before the great Ormoc
flood almost completely wiped it
out.
According to the remaining
residents of Isla Verde, only
about 200 people here survived.
Since then, the government has
said Isla Verde should never
have been inhabited in the first
place. But despite warnings that
it is one of the most dangerous
places in the city to live in, some
20 families have returned, along
with a few migrants to Ormoc
who were displaced by floods
elsewhere in Leyte. They say
their number is increasing.
Rosendo Lumanta, 57, a former
farmer who moved his family to
Isla Verde 30 years ago,
survived the big flood by
climbing a coconut tress after
the roof his family was standing
on was swept away. Twenty-
two other survivors had climbed
the same tree. His wife, a
daughter and tow grandchildren
couldn't hold on. They were
among the 2,300 or so dead
from Isla Verde alone, a sand
strip of land that divides The
Anilao River into two channels.
Like his other neighbors who
have returned, Rosendo believes
the tragedy was a freak that is
unlikely to happen.
A Warning to Other
Communities
The city government counted
4,875 dead in Ormoc, but
according to Mayor Victoria
Locsin, remains of bodies were
still found after the official count.
As one of the country's worst
natural disasters, the tragedy in
Ormoc has been invoked across
the nation as a warning to other
ecologically devastated
communities.
Here in Ormoc, however, most of
the survivors have been too
preoccupied with trying to piece
their lives together to heed any
words of caution. Finding the
evacuation camps too crowded
and resettlement slow, Lumanta
has returned to Isla Verde with
one daughter and her family.
"This is where my family died
and this is where I want to grow
old. I don't want to live
anywhere else." He says, wiping
his eyes with a dirty towel.
Isla Verde is only one of this
coastal city's many hazardous
areas, where the settlement of
people is prohibited by law.
Along riverbanks around the
city, where many residents were
swept away by rampaging
floodwaters, people are back.
"We have been discouraging
people not to move back there,
but they have been hard-
headed," says Dr. Gregorio
Yrastorza Jr., Ormoc councilor
and the chairman of the City
Disaster or Coordinating Council
(CDCC). "But you also can't tell
them to leave if you don't have
an alternative yet for families
living in high-risk areas."
The city planned to resettle 2,668
Ormoc families displaced by the
flood, and several hectares were
purchased for the purpose with
donations from private
organizations. But negotiations
for some of the land bogged
down because, city officials say,
some landowners raised the
price at the last minute. In one
instance, according to Yrastorza,
representatives of the Makati
Business Club were on the verge
of buying nearly eight hectares
of land about two kilometers
outside the city when the
owners abruptly jacked up the
price from P60 per square meter
to P65.
Even some flood victims who
have been offered new lots have
returned to rebuild their homes
on the old sites. "The
resettlement site is too small and
too crowded," says Alfred
Casicas, a father of four who
lives with his family on the
riverbank across from Isla Verde.
Even with the year's rainy
season only a few months away,
residents living in dangerous
areas tempered their fears with
a self-assurance that such a
tragedy could happen only once
in their lives. "What happened
here was a buhawi (whirlwind),"
says Jimmy Castillo, a resident of
Isla Verde. "It was very rare. It
never happened here before,
and it won't happen again."
A Disaster Waiting to Happen
Experts who have studied the
disaster disagree. The
environment of Ormoc is even
more critical now because of
what happened," says Rosalio
Goze, Eastern Visayas director
for the Department of
Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) at the time of
the flood and the Manila-based
coordinator of the government's
Oplan Sagip Gubat (Operation
Save the Forest). "We could have
the same kind of disaster with
only half as much rain. And
remember, that part of the
country is hit by an average of
five typhoons a year. We can
never be sure that it won't
happen again."
Experts now say that even
before the flood, it should have
been obvious that Ormoc was a
natural disaster waiting to
happen. Located on the delta
where the Anilao and Malbasag
Rivers meet, Ormoc was
surrounded by ills that had been
cleared of all its vegetation to
make way for sugar cane. The
soil around Ormoc was also
naturally loose and unsuitable.
When heavy rain fell on the hills,
little of the water was absorbed
or held back by the watershed.
The rest poured into the city,
quickly overflowing the fragile
banks of the two rivers and
leaving no time for most people
to evacuate.
A DENR study points out that
with adequate forest cover on
the watershed, the flood would
have been no more than four
feet deep. The waters that killed
thousands rose ten feet in about
three hours.
Experts say the root causes of
the flashflood were man-made.
In particular, they cite the
conversion of forest lands into
sugar cane plantations, a process
that began in 1952. That was the
year when a proclamation by
then President Elpidio Quirino
reclassified all lands with less
than 18 degree slopes as
"alienable and disposable,"
meaning they could be privately
owned. But the conversion of
Ormoc's watershed from trees to
sugar accelerated and was
completed in the late 1970s
when world prices of sugar
peaked.
Tests by the DENR have shown
that soil planted to sugar cane
has a very low capacity for
absorbing water — much lower,
for example, than the soil
underneath cogon grass. Today,
according to records of the
DENR, nearly 100 percent of the
immediate watershed of Ormoc,
an area of 4,500 hectares, is
owned by six sugar-planting
families, including the
Larrazabals, the family of the
incumbent mayor, Victoria L.
Locsin.
Landowners as Part of Solution
But as the private landowners
are part of the problem, they are
also said to be part of the
solution. In separate reports on
the disaster, three government
line agencies and a US Agency
for International Development
(USAID) engineering team, in
addition to several private
organizations and consultants,
have all urged the immediate
reforestation of Ormoc's ruined
watershed. Environment officials
argue that since the watershed is
private land, only the
landowners can decide when
and where reforestations should
begin.
Yet there is no indication that
this task is being taken seriously
by either Ormoc's landed elite or
the city government. Says
Locsin: "The landowners are
waiting for the DENR to assist
them and call their attention."
DENR Secretary Fulgencio
Factoran Jr. insists, however, that
under the new local government
code, local officials must take the
lead in the city's reforestation
drive, while line agencies such as
his provide technical support.
"They (local officials) have more
power now to do something,"
says Factoran. "But if there is no
political will, wala."
National officials say the
problem in Ormoc is that the
landowners are reluctant to
convert profitable sugar lands
back to forest. "The economy
there depends on sugar," says
Rosalio Goze, the former DENR
director for Eastern Visayas. "But
it's a trade-off. The question
should be whether they want to
prevent a disaster or not."
City officials say it's not that
simple. "Of course, given the
choice between the survival of
the city and economic interests,
we will choose survival. But that
is easier said than done," says Dr.
Yrastorza, the city councilor in
charge of disaster rehabilitation.
"Some of these proposals (for
reforestation) are basically telling
the landowners, "We will make
you poor."
A Department of Agriculture
recommendation for the total
reforestation of Ormoc's 4,500-
hectare watershed is dismissed
by Yrastorza as "very drastic."
"We are still waiting for a plan
for reforestation that will not
disrupt the economy," he says.
"To make reforestation
attractive, the landowners must
be convinced that the economic
value of the trees will be
commensurate to the value of
the sugar cane."
Yrastorza suggests a
reforestation plan that would
place trees between sugar fields.
But Jose Alfaro, a local bank
manager and founder of SOS
Earth, an Ormoc-based
environmental organization,
says he believes any change in
the status quo would be
considered too drastic for the
landowners. "Turning everything
back to forests may not be
viable," he says. "But the least
that should be done is to start
planting trees and shrubs along
riverbanks and mountain ridges.
The sugar planters should also
start shifting to contour farming,
to preserve the slopes of the
mountains. But you can't change
the farming system without
disturbing the economy. In other
words, you can't have your cake
and eat it too."
As proof of what he says is a
lack of seriousness toward
reforestation, Alfaro cites the
city's P1.5 million budget
allocation for disaster
rehabilitation. "Not a single item
went to reforestation.
Everything is going to
infrastructure. It's election time."
Mayor Locsin confirms the lack
of city funding for reforestation,
but remarks that Ormoc has
already received many seedling
donations and is only waiting
for Japanese assistance to
support its reforestation
program. The DENR has
proposed the conversion of the
steepest 30 percent of the
watershed back to trees and
shift to contour farming, or
terracing, on the sugar
plantations, a move that would
entail enormous expense.
"We are expecting the DENR to
come up with a reforestation
plan that is practical," says
Yrastorza. "Convincing the
landowners is a problem. What
we're trying to come up with is a
solution that they will be happy
with, realizing that it is good for
the majority."
A 'Legal' Ecological Destruction
What if the landowners aren't
convinced? Factoran explains
that government's hands are
tied. "Expropriation of the land is
something you can do as a legal
option," he says. "But that's not
viable because you have to pay
them a fair market value. With
the kind of money our
government has, and with the
kind of Congress we have, who
will appropriate funds for that?"
He adds that the only realistic
approach is to "put pressure on
them. And how do you put
pressure on the rich? By getting
the poor who are plenty to
demonstrate. If there is another
flood, the poor will be the first to
die. This is agrarian reform
redux. You see it again and
again and again."
Based on real estate records in
Ormoc obtained by the DENR, the
families owning most of the land
comprising Ormoc's watershed
are the Larrazabals, the Seraficas,
the Torreses, the Torrevillases,
the Pongos, and the Tans. The
Larrazabal family owns most,
nearly 16 percent, or about 413
hectares.
"The landowners may appear
like culprits now," says Gary
Tengco, a researcher with the
Environment Research Division
of the Manila Observatory. "But
we shouldn't lose sight of the
fact that the law legitimized the
conversion of the watershed
into sugar plantations. The
owners claims on the watershed
is legal…The law on land
classification didn't consider the
watersheds. Having seen what
can happen, we need to put
ecological considerations in the
law."
In the aftermath of Ormoc's
tragedy, however, lawmakers in
Manila have tended to castigate
"illegal orders," rather than
initiate reform in a system that
legalized the destruction of
Ormoc's delicate ecosystem.
Ormoc residents who are once
again living along the path of
deadly waters seem oblivious to
the issues that could determine
their fate. "We are prepared now
to evacuate at anytime," says
Alfred Casicas, who moved his
family back to the banks of the
Anilao River. "But we don't think
we will see that kind of flood
again."

Parallelism: ONDOY and ORMOC

First published by the
Philippine Daily Inquirer on April
21-22, 1992.
by HOWIE SEVERINO
ORMOC, Leyte — Five months
after the flood that claimed over
2,000 of its residents in 1991,
Isla Verde is hot and dry. On
both sides of the islet, the Anilao
River has become a harmless
stream. In the shade, half-naked
men talk idly about how the
water came and killed their
families.
On the morning of November 5,
1991, water from a heavy
rainfall roared down from the
surrounding hills carrying logs
and uprooted trees, and
engulfed Isla Verde and much of
Ormoc. Isla Verde used to be a
crowded community of about
2,500 before the great Ormoc
flood almost completely wiped it
out.
According to the remaining
residents of Isla Verde, only
about 200 people here survived.
Since then, the government has
said Isla Verde should never
have been inhabited in the first
place. But despite warnings that
it is one of the most dangerous
places in the city to live in, some
20 families have returned, along
with a few migrants to Ormoc
who were displaced by floods
elsewhere in Leyte. They say
their number is increasing.
Rosendo Lumanta, 57, a former
farmer who moved his family to
Isla Verde 30 years ago,
survived the big flood by
climbing a coconut tress after
the roof his family was standing
on was swept away. Twenty-
two other survivors had climbed
the same tree. His wife, a
daughter and tow grandchildren
couldn't hold on. They were
among the 2,300 or so dead
from Isla Verde alone, a sand
strip of land that divides The
Anilao River into two channels.
Like his other neighbors who
have returned, Rosendo believes
the tragedy was a freak that is
unlikely to happen.
A Warning to Other
Communities
The city government counted
4,875 dead in Ormoc, but
according to Mayor Victoria
Locsin, remains of bodies were
still found after the official count.
As one of the country's worst
natural disasters, the tragedy in
Ormoc has been invoked across
the nation as a warning to other
ecologically devastated
communities.
Here in Ormoc, however, most of
the survivors have been too
preoccupied with trying to piece
their lives together to heed any
words of caution. Finding the
evacuation camps too crowded
and resettlement slow, Lumanta
has returned to Isla Verde with
one daughter and her family.
"This is where my family died
and this is where I want to grow
old. I don't want to live
anywhere else." He says, wiping
his eyes with a dirty towel.
Isla Verde is only one of this
coastal city's many hazardous
areas, where the settlement of
people is prohibited by law.
Along riverbanks around the
city, where many residents were
swept away by rampaging
floodwaters, people are back.
"We have been discouraging
people not to move back there,
but they have been hard-
headed," says Dr. Gregorio
Yrastorza Jr., Ormoc councilor
and the chairman of the City
Disaster or Coordinating Council
(CDCC). "But you also can't tell
them to leave if you don't have
an alternative yet for families
living in high-risk areas."
The city planned to resettle 2,668
Ormoc families displaced by the
flood, and several hectares were
purchased for the purpose with
donations from private
organizations. But negotiations
for some of the land bogged
down because, city officials say,
some landowners raised the
price at the last minute. In one
instance, according to Yrastorza,
representatives of the Makati
Business Club were on the verge
of buying nearly eight hectares
of land about two kilometers
outside the city when the
owners abruptly jacked up the
price from P60 per square meter
to P65.
Even some flood victims who
have been offered new lots have
returned to rebuild their homes
on the old sites. "The
resettlement site is too small and
too crowded," says Alfred
Casicas, a father of four who
lives with his family on the
riverbank across from Isla Verde.
Even with the year's rainy
season only a few months away,
residents living in dangerous
areas tempered their fears with
a self-assurance that such a
tragedy could happen only once
in their lives. "What happened
here was a buhawi (whirlwind),"
says Jimmy Castillo, a resident of
Isla Verde. "It was very rare. It
never happened here before,
and it won't happen again."
A Disaster Waiting to Happen
Experts who have studied the
disaster disagree. The
environment of Ormoc is even
more critical now because of
what happened," says Rosalio
Goze, Eastern Visayas director
for the Department of
Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) at the time of
the flood and the Manila-based
coordinator of the government's
Oplan Sagip Gubat (Operation
Save the Forest). "We could have
the same kind of disaster with
only half as much rain. And
remember, that part of the
country is hit by an average of
five typhoons a year. We can
never be sure that it won't
happen again."
Experts now say that even
before the flood, it should have
been obvious that Ormoc was a
natural disaster waiting to
happen. Located on the delta
where the Anilao and Malbasag
Rivers meet, Ormoc was
surrounded by ills that had been
cleared of all its vegetation to
make way for sugar cane. The
soil around Ormoc was also
naturally loose and unsuitable.
When heavy rain fell on the hills,
little of the water was absorbed
or held back by the watershed.
The rest poured into the city,
quickly overflowing the fragile
banks of the two rivers and
leaving no time for most people
to evacuate.
A DENR study points out that
with adequate forest cover on
the watershed, the flood would
have been no more than four
feet deep. The waters that killed
thousands rose ten feet in about
three hours.
Experts say the root causes of
the flashflood were man-made.
In particular, they cite the
conversion of forest lands into
sugar cane plantations, a process
that began in 1952. That was the
year when a proclamation by
then President Elpidio Quirino
reclassified all lands with less
than 18 degree slopes as
"alienable and disposable,"
meaning they could be privately
owned. But the conversion of
Ormoc's watershed from trees to
sugar accelerated and was
completed in the late 1970s
when world prices of sugar
peaked.
Tests by the DENR have shown
that soil planted to sugar cane
has a very low capacity for
absorbing water — much lower,
for example, than the soil
underneath cogon grass. Today,
according to records of the
DENR, nearly 100 percent of the
immediate watershed of Ormoc,
an area of 4,500 hectares, is
owned by six sugar-planting
families, including the
Larrazabals, the family of the
incumbent mayor, Victoria L.
Locsin.
Landowners as Part of Solution
But as the private landowners
are part of the problem, they are
also said to be part of the
solution. In separate reports on
the disaster, three government
line agencies and a US Agency
for International Development
(USAID) engineering team, in
addition to several private
organizations and consultants,
have all urged the immediate
reforestation of Ormoc's ruined
watershed. Environment officials
argue that since the watershed is
private land, only the
landowners can decide when
and where reforestations should
begin.
Yet there is no indication that
this task is being taken seriously
by either Ormoc's landed elite or
the city government. Says
Locsin: "The landowners are
waiting for the DENR to assist
them and call their attention."
DENR Secretary Fulgencio
Factoran Jr. insists, however, that
under the new local government
code, local officials must take the
lead in the city's reforestation
drive, while line agencies such as
his provide technical support.
"They (local officials) have more
power now to do something,"
says Factoran. "But if there is no
political will, wala."
National officials say the
problem in Ormoc is that the
landowners are reluctant to
convert profitable sugar lands
back to forest. "The economy
there depends on sugar," says
Rosalio Goze, the former DENR
director for Eastern Visayas. "But
it's a trade-off. The question
should be whether they want to
prevent a disaster or not."
City officials say it's not that
simple. "Of course, given the
choice between the survival of
the city and economic interests,
we will choose survival. But that
is easier said than done," says Dr.
Yrastorza, the city councilor in
charge of disaster rehabilitation.
"Some of these proposals (for
reforestation) are basically telling
the landowners, "We will make
you poor."
A Department of Agriculture
recommendation for the total
reforestation of Ormoc's 4,500-
hectare watershed is dismissed
by Yrastorza as "very drastic."
"We are still waiting for a plan
for reforestation that will not
disrupt the economy," he says.
"To make reforestation
attractive, the landowners must
be convinced that the economic
value of the trees will be
commensurate to the value of
the sugar cane."
Yrastorza suggests a
reforestation plan that would
place trees between sugar fields.
But Jose Alfaro, a local bank
manager and founder of SOS
Earth, an Ormoc-based
environmental organization,
says he believes any change in
the status quo would be
considered too drastic for the
landowners. "Turning everything
back to forests may not be
viable," he says. "But the least
that should be done is to start
planting trees and shrubs along
riverbanks and mountain ridges.
The sugar planters should also
start shifting to contour farming,
to preserve the slopes of the
mountains. But you can't change
the farming system without
disturbing the economy. In other
words, you can't have your cake
and eat it too."
As proof of what he says is a
lack of seriousness toward
reforestation, Alfaro cites the
city's P1.5 million budget
allocation for disaster
rehabilitation. "Not a single item
went to reforestation.
Everything is going to
infrastructure. It's election time."
Mayor Locsin confirms the lack
of city funding for reforestation,
but remarks that Ormoc has
already received many seedling
donations and is only waiting
for Japanese assistance to
support its reforestation
program. The DENR has
proposed the conversion of the
steepest 30 percent of the
watershed back to trees and
shift to contour farming, or
terracing, on the sugar
plantations, a move that would
entail enormous expense.
"We are expecting the DENR to
come up with a reforestation
plan that is practical," says
Yrastorza. "Convincing the
landowners is a problem. What
we're trying to come up with is a
solution that they will be happy
with, realizing that it is good for
the majority."
A 'Legal' Ecological Destruction
What if the landowners aren't
convinced? Factoran explains
that government's hands are
tied. "Expropriation of the land is
something you can do as a legal
option," he says. "But that's not
viable because you have to pay
them a fair market value. With
the kind of money our
government has, and with the
kind of Congress we have, who
will appropriate funds for that?"
He adds that the only realistic
approach is to "put pressure on
them. And how do you put
pressure on the rich? By getting
the poor who are plenty to
demonstrate. If there is another
flood, the poor will be the first to
die. This is agrarian reform
redux. You see it again and
again and again."
Based on real estate records in
Ormoc obtained by the DENR, the
families owning most of the land
comprising Ormoc's watershed
are the Larrazabals, the Seraficas,
the Torreses, the Torrevillases,
the Pongos, and the Tans. The
Larrazabal family owns most,
nearly 16 percent, or about 413
hectares.
"The landowners may appear
like culprits now," says Gary
Tengco, a researcher with the
Environment Research Division
of the Manila Observatory. "But
we shouldn't lose sight of the
fact that the law legitimized the
conversion of the watershed
into sugar plantations. The
owners claims on the watershed
is legal…The law on land
classification didn't consider the
watersheds. Having seen what
can happen, we need to put
ecological considerations in the
law."
In the aftermath of Ormoc's
tragedy, however, lawmakers in
Manila have tended to castigate
"illegal orders," rather than
initiate reform in a system that
legalized the destruction of
Ormoc's delicate ecosystem.
Ormoc residents who are once
again living along the path of
deadly waters seem oblivious to
the issues that could determine
their fate. "We are prepared now
to evacuate at anytime," says
Alfred Casicas, who moved his
family back to the banks of the
Anilao River. "But we don't think
we will see that kind of flood
again."

we are all victims and survivors...

i really appreciate those companies who let their employees stayed in their offices last night instead of dismissing them early to battle with heavy rain flood and traffic. im glad our company did. they even provided us food and hot drink/free movie viewing/they even provided a tv for us to know the news.they even change the shift schedule today

PHILIPPINE SOCIETY OF YOUTH SCIENCE CLUBS SCIENCE OLYMPIAD 2009 QUIZ BEE WINNERS: HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL 1st place~ ZAMBOANGA CHONG HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2nd place~ PSHS SOUTHERN MINDANAO 3rd place~ PSHS CENTRAL MINDANAO.....ELEMENTARY LEVEL CHAMPION~ALBERT EINSTEIN SCHOOL COTABATO CITY....i forgot the runner ups. sorry! students from mindanao ruled the competition...

Philippine Society of Youth Science Clubs Science Olimpiad 2009 was held at the NIDO FORTIFIED SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER, MALL OF ASIA. Up to this moment the students, delegates and employees are staying at the center because of the heavy floods and rain caused by typhoon ONDOY. The management decided to let them stay until morning for the safety of everyone. The delegates are currently enjoying planetarium shows.

For the 6th time?:( Seems like an IVR...

"With life, there is only one thing that is CONSTANT and that is CHANGE.." Im having fun reading articles from socyberty.com, go check this out guys...

Being in politics or earning a seat for public office is NOT a REQUIREMENT for a person to help other people...

im going back to Manila, til next time batangas! Kissed my daduds, kissed my mom, kissed my youngest sib,,,

Just watched KALYE,i like atom araullo's feature "HIDALGO STREET"...alam ko na kung san ipapagawa ang camera ko!hehe

MANAGER VS. MANAGER...parang mga hindi MANAGER,..magsigawan ba naman sa loob ng ADMIN office...plus may guest pa dun,,,at very obvious pa sa lahat ng mga empleyado. How can you set good example to us, mga superiors pa naman namin kayo. How dare you say RESPECT, e ikaw mismo sa sarili mo, hindi mo alam yun...ini-Earn po yun.,

So-called Bed...Waterbed? Bwiset!

After eating my dinner at around 1AM, after facebooking and tweeting, after watching tv, and after dishwashing, whats the next best thing to do? Yeah! You got it right! Time to sleep...

Teka!!! Anong meron sa kwarto ko? My bukal ng tubig? Oo nga bukal! Mali. Fountain kaya? May himala! Tanga! Tumutulo yung kisame. Potek! Basang-basa ang so-called bed ko, pati ilang mga damit at brief ko! Peste, pati yung kumot at unan ko pala. Pati bag ko. Nakakainis!

Idagdag mo pa ang housemate mong KAIBIGAN mo pa ng halos 6 na taon na sobrang insensitive and walang pakialam. Hindi man lang nag-aya na palipasin ko ang gabi sa room nya. Concern naman kahit pano, pero nakakainis yung suggestion, isabit ko daw ung planggana sa kisame! Kung hindi ka tanga at kalahati, imposible yung naiisip mo, hindi ka ba nag-aral sa physics ng balance and gravitational pull. Yung naiisip mong ideya, e lalong magpapahamak sakin. Baka pag puno na yung planggana bumuhos pa sakin. Pumunta kana sa kwarto mo at itulog mo nalang yang utak mong babad sa tubig. Bahain ka sana.

Ngayon matutulog akong nakaupo at pabaluktot sa so-called kung bed. Na may katabing planggana. First time ko to. Waterbed, pangmayaman! Este wetbed pala...ay potek! Pati extra kong kumot at pillowcase nabasa din, pati ilang damit na naka-hanger. Para tuloy may tiktak ng orasan akong naririnig sa bawat patak ng tubig sa plangganang nakapatong sa so-called kung bed.

Goodnight. Goodluck. Sweet Dreams. Wag sana akong magka-back pain at stiff neck. Housemate may araw ka rin....

2ne4 (twentyfour24bentekwatro)...happy 24th anniversary nay and daduds...

2ne4 (twentyfour24bentekwatro)...happy 24th anniversary nay and daduds...

2ne4 (twentyfour24bentekwatro)...happy 24th anniversary nay and daduds...

2ne4 (twentyfour24bentekwatro)...happy 24th anniversary nay and daduds...

2ne4 (twentyfour24bentekwatro)...happy 24th anniversary nay and daduds...

Appropriate and Applicable

Complicated, confusing and happy. These are the best adjectives that describe my current situation.

I like the internet so much, and i got a lot of social networking accounts,yes! Name it and you will have it.

While i was updating my posts in facebook and twitter, i found two posts from my contacts that are very much applicable and appropriate to my present situation. Here are those...

"Never explain yourself: Your friends dont need it and your enemies wont believe it."
- post of Mr. Sonnie Santos


"admit what you feel. Feel it and then give it up. The issue is not that you experience the emotion, its what you do in response to the emotion - SURRENDER!"
- a tweet from Juris Fernandez of MYMP

Same here...

Revealing the way you feel, sharing your thoughts towards unusual things and confessing something real, oh man! Believe me, takes a lot of courage and strength to admit it to people or even to a single person. Letting other people know what you been hiding all those times is a huge step to start. It can make or break you. It might result to the best output or might ruin your whole life. What scares us most is that, the people who you think will understand and very close to you might be the ones who will not gonna accept you, and sometimes the total stranger, the one you least expected to accept you is the one who will welcome you with an open arms and give you the best comfort you want. What makes us feel worried and sad sometimes is when you discover that the people you trusted the most is not comfortable when you are together, they're pretending. (Pambihira, your were one of the firsts to know it, tapos sasabihin mo, naiilang ka? Kala ko ba tanggap mo ako?) im not saying all, some. But there is always someone who will support you along the way, (friends?real friends.) along the roads of your journeys whether its rough or not. It makes us feel better.

Along your journey, you'll gonna meet a lot of people. And yes, i met one. I knew that person more than a year now, and we are not that close. I find that person rude and "snob" but not pala. We became close (somehow, sometime..) lately. I heard so many things about that person, good and bad. Until i got a confirmation about it from that person's mouth. Very brave! That person admitted whats real. And we got a long and interesting conversation. I learned a lot from that person. I finally discovered that "We are the same." questions in my mind are now dotted. But still have some question marks to ask. And yeah, that person is SP, one of the most person i want to be with now.

Im happy yet sad. But now i found someone near me who im 100% sure, will understand me. We both have so many similarities. We have the same issues, preferences and thoughts. We are one. Same here...

I cannot drop any names/pronouns to be used. I want to protect that person's privacy.

Oh traffic again, what else's new, even if you wake up so early to avoid not being late, if its traffic, useless!

I just finished my essay. Its my entry for the 2009 I-witness Docufest this September...im praying to become a participant, hoping but not expecting...

I just finished my essay. Its my entry for the 2009 I-witness Docufest this September...im praying to become a participant, hoping but not expecting...

I thought the confrontation between me and gie would be the end of our friendship...(sigh)

Let the important things happen in 9 minutes...(hoping but not expecting...)

Busy day @ Science Discovery Center, Gala Premiere of "DarkStar Adventure", new planetarium show...

Overwhelming, Pouring Happiness: thanks "SP", I hope you meant what you said (posted?)...salamat! Kung alam mo lang...sigh*

I ruined my own plan...

"never give meaning to a little act of sweetness for it might give you a wrong impression as well as expression..."(ugh!)

boring:(

My special someone is....

Just last Wednesday, i received a text from my friend, Leslie. This is her exact text message, where i find very funny but cute. It only showed that we have so many things that we'd like to do, that can make us happy, even if its the simplest one... "mga pare! nakasakay n AKO s MRT w/ daddy harvey...harhar..wala lng, gus2 q lng ishare...hehe.."jul292009 10:20pm Hahaha! We planned it before, we planned that her first MRT RIDE would be with the TRIPODS(Gie, arvin, me, jean, cecille) but it didnt happen,huhuhu! But im happy for you Les, finally! Hehe. Goodtimes

Monday:woked up at 7am, did the Jeker's ritual, tuned in to Magic 89.9's Goodtimes with Mo, Mojo And Grace Lee, a glass of milk and 2 pcs of bananas, pressed my shirt, took a bath, shaved, fixed myself, locked the door, waited so long to catch a PUJ, i felt i might be late, almost hit by a bus, RUN! last 3minutes, last 1 minute,wore my Work Uniform, whew! Punched in, 9:45am! Abot! Im not late! Deep Breath! Relieved! Did taeboo! Btw, my facebook is updated, while these things were happening im online...hahaha! Part of my life is facebook!hehe I really deserved to be the "Runner of the Year" awardee...=)

sketch...

The Bottom Line Now is not the time to be critical. Jump in headfirst -- sort out the facts later. In Detail You have very little time to achieve your mission of finding a way to make your loved ones realize that working together on the same side is better for all parties concerned than keeping a nonsensical feud going -- which won't help anyone at all. That said, you can only do what you can do -- and you can't live anyone else's life for them. So if they won't cooperate, don't beat yourself up about it.

what a snake-move of a PUJ to avoid the traffic, peste! Need to take 10min-walk under the flaming sun, init! plus a box office-like line of passengers,pucha!...spell L-A-T-E Darwin spell!

It isnt my job! It should be done by you. Dont waste your time doing extra-curricular activities while "WHILE ON DUTY!"...

Summer 09

Talisay, Batangas (Taal Lake)

Get together with my closest high School friends,,sayang hindi present yung iba...

Last Night's Dream

I had this weird, partly emotional and funny dream last night. It awakened me somehow at around 12midnight. It goes like this...

"we were going somewhere, (i cant recall the place) with my friend gie and leslie. Gie told us to go this way,coz it was the easiest according to him, a slum area, where we need to cross a narrow and polluted creek flooded with floating trash. We need to cross the creek just by passing a wooden bridge the size of a "bangko" (wooden bench). They all used that except me, i jumped instead. I saw some people crossing that way too, theres a chinese girl, a salesclerk and etc.

And then bigla nalang ung setting eh sa isang bar na. There was a standup comedian performing but no one from the audience wass laughing. Everybody was bored. So i stood up there and do my thing, and still no one was entertained. So i headed my way to pick up one audience. Suddenly ms. Simone came, i held her hand and we went to the stage while singing. She was shocked of i did. Parang eksena sa pelikula na nagsisigawan ang mga tao, habang kumakanta ako, nahihiya pa si ms. Simone pero di nagtagal nag-duet na kami...hehehe! We both gave them a good show. And here came our backup dancers and we were doing na a production number, (sing and dance) but the weird thing was we were all very emotional and crying while dancing.. I didnt know what we were singing. I can only recall 2 words, Paris and Father. And then I logged in to Facebook, browse ms. Simone's profile and she posted something about relationship in a form of question. Its like a survey. Hahaha! I cant recall the exact words. And she also posted some pics about her garage sale. Hehehe! Madame pa ngang ngcomment sa garage sale nya.,

I went to her garage sale and i saw Wendy, my friend and our operations supervisor and Leslie, they were choosing some clothes to buy. Ang nakakatuwa dun, basa yung sahig kaya lahat ng naka-hanger na damit basa yung dulo...

There's also a part na we were running sa isang farm na may mga puno ng buko,then sa kalsada my dumaang bus or truck I think."

I cant recall some parts and events dun sa panaginip ko, yan lang yung mga natandaan ko. Does this dream wants to say something or just brought by my wild imagition o panaginip lang talaga! Anyway, nakakatawa at ang weird pa din.,hahaha!

"rain, rain go away,.. Come again, another day,.." Badtrip, hindi din pala makakauwe ng maaga, umulan pa kasi...=(

Just attended the Fire Safety Seminar early this morning, 8AM!Hirap bumangon ng ganon kaaga plus the Monday morning rush. Thank God i was not late. My shift suppose to start at 1PM, but because of that seminar, it went to 8AM. Early in, early out! yeah! Thats the good thing, 5PM! Unless my boss asks me to render an overtime til 10PM...ugh! That sucks...=(

Testing lang...hirap mgconnect kanina eh!ù

First In, Last Out!?

What kind of life do I have right now? What's waiting for me in the future? Masyado matagal, lets just say, in the next couple of months?

I've been working as a Planetarium Control Operator for almost 2 years now, on August 28, to be exact. In fact, Im one of the pioneer employee of the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center, formerly known as SM SDC. Sabi nga ng former manager namin, Ugat na ako ng SDC, lupa pa lang to, nadito na ako,hehe! Ive seen how it was built, developed and improved. (meron nga bang improvement? meron nga ata.) I can still remember the day when I had my first step on its ground. Amoy rugby at pintura pa, may nagliliparang alikabok na parang galing pinatubo, my nakakalalat na kahoy at semento, mga baga na galing sa mga nagwewelding na bigla nalang lalaglag sayo, pagalingan na lang umilag dagdag mo pa yung mga nakahilatang mga construction workers pag oras ng pahinga. Ok na sana yung first day ng training kaso, matinding sakripisyo kasi hindi man lang kami binigyan ng facemask! Kaya a few days after, lahat kami nag-uubuhan na sa dami ng mga bagay na nalanghap namin. I must admit, I was so amazed when I saw the plan, kahit nung ginagawa palang. I felt lucky and i cant believe na dito ako magtatrabaho. I find it as an interesting and exciting opportunity for me. Plus those wonderful people Ive been with, Ms. Jenx (Operations Supervisor), Sir Ian (Technical Supervisor), Jay (Technical Support), Paul (Planetarium Operator-turned-Technical Support) and Jojo (my enemy!hahaha! Planetarium Operator din). They are those people who became my first friends at SDC. Kami madalas magkakwentuhan at magkakasama s biruan at kalokohan.

(to be continued)

How can I make this day productive and happy?

Im hungry for something that will make me real... (Like this line,ms. simone)

"going back to Manila, My body wants to go but my heart says to stay...i will miss my family..."

More days please!

few hours to go, end of my vacation leave and restday and im going back to Manila. I still want to stay here in Batangas and spend more time with family, besides, the weather is too bad, nakakatamad lumuwas. Expect a horrible traffic. I want to stay, rest and enjoy but i cant. I still have some work to be done.. If i can still extend my vacation leave...(sigh!)

Having my midnight snack...

No Place Like Home

Sa byahe ko palang kagabi, hindi ko na maitago ang excitement ko sa pag-uwe ko. My facebook was updated with what's going. I also posted a note here in multiply. And when I woke up earlier and went online, my facebook's status got a lot of comments from my colleagues and friends asking for pasalubong. (Mga walang hiya,hahaha!ano tingin nyo sakin mayaman!) {just kidding!}

And also, this morning, my brother set up the dvd-videoke that i bought as my father's day present for my daduds. And we all sang together. Me too, i sang without even gargling!hahaha, then i went back to sleep. I woke up at around 1PM, then took up my lunch, my favorite sinigang na baboy. Kasi puro nalang fried food ang kinakain namin sa apartment. Iba pa rin talaga ang lasa ng lutong bahay.

I felt different today. Mas masaya compare sa mga uwe ko before. I dont know why. And as per my father's health condition, i think he's doing fine, unlike before. Although he really lost a lot of weight, he now can move and wala na sya madalas na lagnat. He had his checkup din kanina, before he undergoes ultrasound. Continuous medications and ofcourse our prayers. Also for the help of my colleagues and friends, esp that someone na helping me a lot financially na still unknown. Nananatili pa rin malaking question mark kung sino yun. I really thank Almighty God for this. And worth it talaga lahat ng efforts and prayers ko s Redemptorist Church, Mother of Perpetual Help really helps us a lot. Thank you po talaga for listening to our prayers and for helping my father in his fast recovery. Im hoping na continous na'to hanggang tuluyan na syang gumaling...ù

Isang magandang umaga! A nice picture welcomes me as I opened up my eyes this morning: "My Family"...sarap gumising! They were singing in the dvd-videoke i bought...ofcourse im joing them, walang mumugan yun!hahaha

Im going home...

My excitement keeps running in my nerve!(laugh). Finally im going home to Batangas.

After my shift at 7PM, I directly head my way to Buendia Bus Terminal. On the way, the horrible traffic welcomes me. I was stucked up for almost 30mins w/c normally takes only 10min-travel from MOA-Buendia. I stopped over at Jolibee to take out burger and fries because i was already starving (PG-MODE).

Inside the bus, I turned on my music player, tuned in to Magic 89.9s Boys Night Out. (i havent heard them for a long long while.) I'd rather listen to the radio than watching the movie, "Witness" starring Harrison Ford. Sweet Jesus, the trip is so fast til now, theres no traffic, the skyway is great, SLEX has a few cars which make us move fast. The music thats playing is cool and groovy. Im still on the bus while blogging this one.

Cant wait to see my family. I havent seen them for a quite while, for the last time i saw them was last May pa. I also want to check my father's condition. And I want to give my daduds the dvd-videoke he's requesting last december. Its my fathers day present to him. He'll undergo check up tomorrow, im planning to go with them. I hope hes fine na.

It will be a 3nights-2days rest for me. I would like to have DVD marathon. I will go back to work on friday afternoon. Its 20:41pm already...still in the bus/slex.

Im going home...

My excitement keeps running in my nerve!(laugh). Finally im going home to Batangas.

After my shift at 7PM, I directly head my way to Buendia Bus Terminal. On the way, the horrible traffic welcomes me. I was stucked up for almost 30mins w/c normally takes only 10min-travel from MOA-Buendia. I stopped over at Jolibee to take out burger and fries because i was already starving (PG-MODE).

Inside the bus, I turned on my music player, tuned in to Magic 89.9s Boys Night Out. (i havent heard them for a long long while.) I'd rather listen to the radio than watching the movie, "Witness" starring Harrison Ford. Sweet Jesus, the trip is so fast til now, theres no traffic, the skyway is great, SLEX has a few cars which make us move fast. The music thats playing is cool and groovy. Im still on the bus while blogging this one.

Cant wait to see my family. I havent seen them for a quite while, for the last time i saw them was last May pa. I also want to check my father's condition. And I want to give my daduds the dvd-videoke he's requesting last december. Its my fathers day present to him. He'll undergo check up tomorrow, im planning to go with them. I hope hes fine na.

It will be a 3nights-2days rest for me. I would like to have DVD marathon. I will go back to work on friday afternoon. Its 20:41pm already...still in the bus/slex.

Monday Morning: Rush hour yet everything's so slow...define "traffic". No choice ka, its a part of our daily lives esp here in Manila...

"We dont need you. You havent got through college yet" - Hewlett-Packard's rejection of Steve Jobs, who went on to found Apple Computers.

"I missed the action,damn! Lets see what's gonna happen next. Im wondering how those people feel, those who cannot decide on their own, those who make themselves busy of nothing, those who act against the policy, those who violate their own rules, those pretend they're doing something and those who perfect the art of ass-kissing."(sigh!)

FECI Summer Outing 2009

Family Entertainment Center Inc. Summer Outing 09 was held @ Club Manila East, Taytay, Rizal

"you can have me for a bar of chocolate..."

Am I Waiting in Vain

I wrote this poem (supposedly a song) but I don't know how to play the guitar. I already have the tune/melody for it. I made it, I think when I was in 3rd/4th year college. I was inspired by my first crush, my first love. But my supposed-to-be love story didn't end the way I want it to be. And until now, I'm still hoping...waiting...

Anyone who can help me to put a music in this lyrics. Your help will be highly appreciated.


Its not easy to pretend
how much i love you
sometimes i wish to end
the feeling that i have for you

I'm always here waiting
for the perfect time
for your way of caring
which i thought forever mine

Will your heart trust me
or just hide and leave me
Is your love forever a reality
or just a huge fantasy?

Mediocre day! Mediocre day? Mediocre day.

What a tiring wednesday! My neck is still aching after fixing the alignment/grid of the planetarium til 11pm (sakit tumingala habang nakaharap sa computer ng ilang oras). But unfortunately, im n0t yet done, however its my restday today,thursday! But is it really a time to rest when theres a lot of laundry to be done?waaaah!ù

Watching the GMA 7's Live Coverage of Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.

Watching the GMA 7's Live Coverage of Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.

Im happy when that someone said "dito ka muna,hwag ka muna umalis...":) "iyon yun eh..."

I felt guilty and bothered because of what i've done earlier. I almost committed something bad. Andun na, malapit na talaga, well just thinking of it is already a sin.Thank God, I was able to control and stop myself from doing it. Kakadaan ko palang naman ng Redemptorist Church tapos I was tempted easily. Buti na lang talaga at hindi natuloy...Im sorry but I cannot post the real story behind it. It was too sensitive and confidential... Im just blogging it, because somehow it eases the guilt that i feel right now. I need to release this feeling. I need to get this out of my mind. Im trying to avoid it. I really want to, pero sobra talagang lakas ng tukso. Ayoko na pero bakit madalas mangyari kahit ano pang iwas ko, choice ko talaga 'to o natutukso lang talaga ko? Sakit na ba itong maituturing na wala nang igagaling? O anino ito ng nakaraan ko na kailangan kong harapin at labanan? Sino ang pwede kong lapitan? Kailangan ko ba ng tulong ng iba o ako mismo sa sarili ko, kaya ko 'to? Ang hirap talaga...

I felt guilty and bothered because of what i've done earlier. I almost committed something bad. Andun na, malapit na talaga, well just thinking of it is already a sin.Thank God, I was able to control and stop myself from doing it. Kakadaan ko palang naman ng Redemptorist Church tapos I was tempted easily. Buti na lang talaga at hindi natuloy...Im sorry but I cannot post the real story behind it. It was too sensitive and confidential... Im just blogging it, because somehow it eases the guilt that i feel right now. I need to release this feeling. I need to get this out of my mind. Im trying to avoid it. I really want to, pero sobra talagang lakas ng tukso. Ayoko na pero bakit madalas mangyari kahit ano pang iwas ko, choice ko talaga 'to o natutukso lang talaga ko? Sakit na ba itong maituturing na wala nang igagaling? O anino ito ng nakaraan ko na kailangan kong harapin at labanan? Sino ang pwede kong lapitan? Kailangan ko ba ng tulong ng iba o ako mismo sa sarili ko, kaya ko 'to? Ang hirap talaga...

Laughing out loud while listening to DJs Nicole and Chris of Tambalan-90.7Love Radio...

Dinner@Mcdo-M0a with the TRIPODS, while waiting for leslie, we are going somewhere, n0t decided yet kung direcho kmi quiapo church...

Atlast, nakalabas din...

"...mind if I stolen this scene from a song..?"

Im late again...huhuhu! Its only 3rd day of the m0nth and i already got 3 attendance violations...2 lates and 1 overbreak! Waaah!

Body pain...i need to take a rest...

Im very much sleepy...

I have a lot of interesting stuff to blog, but im too sleepy now, i need to wake up so early later...so goodnight, este good m0rning!ù

goodnight everyone!

im hungry...overtime!

im hungry...overtime!

Got nothing interesting to do.... Spell this moment... capital B-O-R-I-N-G

Got nothing interesting to do...boring...

i might be late again...goodtimes!!!

TRANSFORMERS: The Revenge of the Fallen@ IMAX THEATER. ("NOT" the IMAX Experience!!!)

I am Optimus Prime.

Transformers 2 is really a movie to watch for this year because it recieves a lot of good reviews and comments from film critics and viewers all over the world.(showbiz na showbiz ah! Kala mo kung sinong magaling at updated!hahaha). Well anyway, I was able to watch the movie earlier because I "won" 2 tickets for an exclusive screening at IMAX from a SMART REWARDS. Well honestly I didnt win the tickets, instead i had it because of some sort of negotiation, a good and fair deal, and in exchange of something to the promo girls. The rest is a long story.

Well, i was really excited about it, but there were so many spoilers who cant shut their mouth in telling the plot of the movie. (may araw din kayo).

But what pissed me off was that, were late because we came from work, we got only the front seats, and there was no 3D eyeglass!!! We didnt feel the total Imax Experience of that movie. Screw and hell them. Malas lalo ng mga nagbayad ng 400bucks, and yet they were screwed. Well it sucks to be one of them,buti nalang i only spent P60 for downloading from Smart.

But when it comes to the movie, whoooa! Its really actionpacked, awesome, and fascinating. The effects are all good. The fight scenes are incredible. There are funny moments and lil drama. Its not like the other cartoon series-turned-movie. You will really stay in your seat from the start til the end. Plus the protagonists, oh I forgot the name of the guy, and Megan Fox...plus when i opened the bottle of my softdrink, it squirted and spilled out all over my body, thank God ,im wearing my jacket,so i wasnt totally get wet. But i really laughed my head off, i felt like people saw what happened.

Overall, the movie: great! The Imax Experience: SUCKS! i was really disappointed, my first imax experience is screwed!ù

LATE!!!

"To-do List" Part 2

Here's the continuation of my to-do list for the last 6 remaining m0nths of 2009...

A. Gain weight (sobrang payat ko na kasi,napapagkamalan na akong adik!hahaha)
B. Eat "sisiw ng balot" (para kasing kinikilabutan ako pag nakakakita ako nun, the last n kumain ako ng balot, bata pa ata ako, at hindi ko rin talaga kinakain yung sisiw)
C. Save atleast Php4000-5000 before December (lagi kasi ubos laman ng ATM card ko,)
D. Compile and Upload atleas half of the pictures and videos i have taken,(based on my estimate,its almost 4thou-5thou pics)
E. Finalize my personal website
F. Complete the album of Hale, (i dont have yet their 2nd album,the Twilight. But i already have the 3rd one)
G. Own a storage device with bigger capacity..
H. Find and Keep all my Bob Ong Books collection.(nasa pahiraman kasi yung iba)

Parang puro gastos 'to ah!?hehe..i might still add more. Bahala na,..

Sunday Mass

Just went to baclaran to attend the sunday mass...

FECI Summer Outing 2009

Its a day full of laughter, fun, and excitement...

Just last June 10, the much awaited company outing came true (after so many dates t'was postponed). Our pick up time was 6AM to 6:15 at Science Discovery Center, but JR, our colleague arrived late. Since SDC peeps were the biggest group, we were the noisiest inside the bus undeniably, We started the trip with a prayer led by Mr. Rim, then we picked up the Fairview group at Rob Pioneer, followed by a couple of games like guess the title of the movie, dugtungan ng kanta, guess what commercial it is, while heading our way up to Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal..

(Getting to know your team mates) - we were pre-divided into 5 colorcoded team, we were given 30mins to practice our cheerdance. Each presentations were so hilarious. Imagine, AVP,managers, supervisors were dancing ungracefully..there were no so-called "KJs" (kill joy) because everybody was participating.(hahaha) then followed by super hilarious Banana Eating Contest, where me and Ms. Ethel of Yellow Banana Team won, After that, is charade,then the m0st exciting kayak race which was very physical and funny because its really hard to balance and maneuver the kayak..

After those couple of games, we took our lunch,(a cup of rice, 2 sticks of barbecue, fried chicken, and veggies plus soft drink in can).

Then kanya-kanya gala na...we went to the wave pool, then proceeded to the 14ft dive pool. I saw lil Danchie jumped,so what the heck am i doing just watching them, i jumped also at the highest level, yap! I felt like my stomach is going out my system while I was in the air...then we went back to kayak area to try it once again. Its easy lang pala to control the kayak, maybe the reas0n why were n0t able to perfect that during the race was because of the pressure coming from your cheering team mates. We also played volleyball, water wrestling, kwentuhan, and other b0nding stuffs. We were so busy and happy that we havent noticed our skin was already burned. We also did some crazy modeling (w/c can be viewed in youtube). And also,hindi mawawala ang konting inuman...hehehe!

We went home at 6PM, while inside the bus the awarding ceremony to the winners were conducted. And guess what the unprepared team, the worst cheerdancer, our team, The Yellow Banana Team hailed as the Overall Champion. Thanks to the high spirit, cconfidence and fun-to-be-with team mate, Ms. Ethel! grabe ang level ng energy nya, everyone admired her attitude that day..instant celebrity sya tuloy...

Hilarious.Fun. Memorable. That's how will I describe it. till next year guys..ú

"To-do List" for the 2nd half of 2009

After browsing her facebook, I was inspired to make a list of the things that i want to do, of places i want to go, of people i want to meet (pati ba tao, napaplano kung gusto mo makilala o hindi!? Parang hindi di ba?hehehe). Besides, yung mga resolutions ko,hindi natutupad (laughs!) Anyway I got this idea from a person very close to me eventhough i only know her for a couple days,(well for me, it doesnt matter how long you have been with that person, as long as he/she creates a good mark or gives positive impact to our heart and mind). And that person is you, yes its you, the real Supergirl Simone...and I want to name that list, please give me the right to name it "The SuPer List" or "The Simone List" (Sounds like one of my favorite movie "The Bucket List")

Which do you prefer? Got any suggestions? Please let me know!...

Here are some of those (i need to finalize this muna,)

1. Meet my former classmates in Prep @ KES, batch 93 (so far ive seen 2 of them)
2. Watch an indie film
3. Walk around the walled city of Intramuros and visit the historical spot there
4. Complete the Mother of Perpetual Help Novena for 9 consecutive Wednesday
5. Attend a mass in Quiapo Church
6. Perfect an attendance for one whole month (preferably, August)
7. Celebrate the wedding anniversary of my parents together with the whole family
8. Give my parents something special and memorable.

To be continued...

pasikatan mo si mr. deyto - doods

Im just having my restday today. Ooops! Should i say, my laundry day, coz i do my laundry always. And tomorrow might be an exciting/mind-boggling day for me, bcoz i'll be doing a project or a sample for the launching of the new company name and i think it will happen this m0nth or next. I will again have to show my skills in programming/scripting of the planetarium show. My task is to put a video and logos before the main show starts. We already did that before but its very difficult. It was done of course with the help of my former colleagues who werent now working there. And as always i need to do it. I have to prove that im the pioneer, that im good at it, that im one of the few who knows it. I have to impress my superiors esp PDD as my manager told me yesterday.

Its my time to shine...
Or my time to fade down...?

I hope i can do it...