Presidential Candidates

     At the moment, my President vote is blank as I wanted to listen to what they say on relevant issues especially those affecting the poor. Thus, when I learned Boy Abunda will have a one-on-one interview with them, I welcomed it as it is an opportunity for me to know their stand. 

Boy Abunda interviewed them online

     I completed watching them but my choice remains blank. I am surprised with Isko Moreno's response, although I treat him a trapo. He for me was the best in dealing with the issues although I am not sure of the sincerity. 

     Leni tried to forward visioned responses but to me she remained a trapo trying to win the hearts of the masses. Her responers didn't have the sincerity as she tried to answer them generally, no specific mention of finite solutions.

     Bongbong Marcos gave learned and safe answers but he played safe trying to win many viewers. He is so popular but the Marcos history haunts him like forever.

     Ping Lacson seemed knowledgeable although the trapo label remains. He answered honestly and for me, he came second to Isko.

     Manny Pacquiao was the worst among all. He was unable to expound his answers and I felt the lack of sincerity. He tried to portray himself as coming from the masses but to me it looked so rehearsed. His words were meaningless that I don't know if the masses will buy them.

 

Rainy Birthday

     It's my birthday and it's raining. According, to Chinese beliefs, it's a blessing from heaven. Rain is wealth showered upon us on earth. I pray it does bring me more, both wealth and health. I had no plan to have a grand party but a very close friend is coming with the wife. My family had to slaughter some chicken and cook some noodles, pansit as called in the local dialect. (Supposed to publish this on 27 January but there was no electricity then, after that I forgot.)

Rain is God's grace from heaven

    My close high school mates came on my birthday. They enjoyed singing while drinking beer and tuba. 

My College Guidance Counselor

     Last week, I had a surprise video call from my college guidance counselor who I have not met since college. I was aware he was in the US for work when the university I went to in college closed down due to the union. I was not aware of the datails of his US stint, I thought he migrated with his family. I just learned he was there to work after the university's closure sometime in 1995. He is back to Tacloban for good and I am probably one of the few people he called up via video.

Sir Meynard was my college guidance counselor

     I am deeply touch by the gesture to contact me after all those years, and probably he is right, I am one of the few individuals he can't forget. I can understand what he meant by that. He came to know me right when I started in the university. 

     Barely two or three months in college, he called me to his office to inform me of my being a recipient of the Philippine Merit Scholastic Potential Award, one of the thirteen nationwide, for topping the College Scholastic Aptitude Test(CSAT) which the university used to gauged our entry into the university. It was a notable award being the only one from poor province, coming from a public high school, while the rest were all from private schools in Metro Manila and one from a private school in Bicol. I had to fly to Manila, receive the award.at the Century Park Hotel, after guesting in Good Morning Manila, then Korina Sanches PTV4 show.

     The experience was definitely unforgetteble for me, coming from a poor secondary public school. It is a memory that I won't forget it.

     Thus Sir Meynard, I feel, holds me in high esteem thus he contacted me the moment he is back to Leyte.

Money Politics

     In a poor country like the Philippines, money does really rule. People vote based on how much money they get, not on the capacity of the politician to lead the country to become a better one.  Politicians are manipulating that to their advantage, heeding the basic want of the masses. When will this change?

That's flagrant indirect vote buying

     I can't blame the poor because they are in an environment that keeps them. The wealthy politicians like Manny Pacquiao are exploiting that without any long term vision to change the situation. Elections year in and year out remain an instrument for the wealthy politicians to exploit the poor.

Opportunist, No Principles

     I know him personally in college and then I knew his politics were traditional in student politics. Simply opportunist. Today he is active in the nation's politics and he has been jumping from one loyalty to another in order to gain political mileage. This is no exempt. He is aware that Bongbong Marcos-Sarah Duterte is a formidable team and since he is a party list candidate, he tries to connect himself to the two for personal mileage. Party list, by the way is originally a means to represent the marginalized sectors of society but it is manipulated by the wealthy politicians to forward their self-centered interests to the detriment of the poor sectors of society.

The epitome of a trapo

The Sun Is Back

     After 9 days of rain and gloom, the sun is out. It feels weird to be wanting the sun out, getting the heat we wished we had in the last nine days of cold. It's awesome to finally see the sunrise which has been absent for a while right after Christmas. I pray that this be the beginning of sunny and dry days.

It feels great to see the sunrise again

New Year Rush

     Everybody is rushing for the New Year. In town, people are everywhere trying to buy stuff for their new year's eve gaiety. 

    Goldilocks, the country's foremost bread and cake brand, is no exception. There is a a long queue early in the morning. This shows the eagerness of the Filipinos to celebrate New Year.

What a queue!