Hope for Philippines

Is there hope for Philippines?

It is as if all the good things here in the Philippines have been taken away. They took away our natural resources, they took away our best people, they took away our identity, and they took away our pride as a nation.

Gone are those days that Asia looks at Philippines as a progressive and ideal model of success.

Now, this entire Social and Political malady is being blamed to a corrupt government. We keep on complaining that the government is not doing its job properly. But had we forgotten, “we deserve the government that we have and that we elected”. A government that is corrupt just magnifies the corruption that is happening even to the smallest fabric of our society.

Corruption is everywhere and every one of us is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Buying of pirated DVDs is corrupt and a crime. Not following traffic rules is corrupt. Bribing and under the table transactions is corrupt. Not properly segregating your waste and littering is corrupt. Any form of stealing is corrupt. Cheating in any form is corrupt. These are some of the corruption we consciously and unconsciously done.

Adding insult to injuries is when other nations look down on our race and discriminate us for being a Filipino. I sometimes can’t blame them because we act such barbaric (sometimes beyond what we can even comprehend). Now our identity as Filipinos, as a race, and as a nation is generalized and stereotyped as Thieves and Murderers just to name a few.

Now is corruption the problem of this country?

It is actually shocking to hear that a Korean can understand well the problem of Philippines compared to other Filipinos. Jaeyoun Kim said: I strongly believe that the problem is the lack of love for the Philippines. I was deeply moved by this because it totally makes sense.

If we really respected our country, we would do anything to protect its integrity. But we did otherwise. We blemished it with inconceivable ways of corruption. We act foolishly and selfishly. We act to serve our self-seeking and egotistical “selves”. We care so much for ourselves that we have forgotten the role we play in a big jigsaw puzzle. What is worse is that this acts becomes callous that will eventually be a tumour deeply concealed to all tenets of our society. And this scares the hell out of me.

Now I ask you, would you rather leave this nation and serve someone else nation than help rebuild whatever is left for this country? Are you willing to give up on our country to earn a small reward of fortune?

I think this poses as a challenge to every one of us. If you feel like making a difference let us start it to ourselves. Small changes will be small steps of revolution, but if everyone is united to changing their lives, it will be a big leap towards a new Philippines.

Now I will leave a question for everyone to ponder upon,

What do you call those people who blames and insults you for a crime you did despite being guilty of the same crime? We call them Hypocrites. In retrospect, how do we call those people who says that our government is so corrupt yet we are corrupt as well?

Now make yourself count for this country…

Going Green: a mere propaganda?

At this point Global Warming is no longer a myth. We now see in our own eyes Mother Earth’s wrath.

And because of this, we see continuous pressure for a lot of companies to “Go Green”. It therefore sets the bar higher for future innovations in the business operations.

Companies have been more keen and vigilant on reducing waste in their production line. And some take this call more seriously by creating products that are environmentally friendly. One that I am very familiar with is the creation of Prius, a hybrid, fuel efficient car of Toyota. From then on, we see more big companies’ committing to creating Earth-friendly products even to the little things like using of Reusable Canvas Totes instead of plastic bags in the market.

Although this new trend has created such a big fuss, I can’t help but to remain sceptic. Does it really reduce waste? Does it really reduce carbon emission? Does it really make sense? Despite these counter measures, there are still a lot of arguments against it that I somehow find plausible.

They say that green technology is very expensive. You need to invest a lot on research and development. This means you need a lot of money to jump start your green advocacy. But the problem just starts there, a lot of them tried but with only few successes. But even if the prototypes used in the R&D has been put into mass production, very few will be able to buy these products because the prices gets inflated due to high cost and investment. Well, companies still looks at their accounting books for a good ROI. This is the reason why we can see very few Prius along EDSA or elsewhere.

Also, the “Going Green” advocacy has been viral for consumers. They became more sensitive on products that they buy. They check the labels, the facts about it, etc. It is seen as a shaping movement by consumers not just to be informed but to have a direct participation on dictating market trends. At first, it was a consumer nightmare for companies. But, thanks to the ingenious marketing people to see this as another tool to increase their profit.

At first it may seem good. Companies are adopting the “Go Green” advocacy, but not really for the true intentions of it. It somehow became a Marketing race to create a new strategy that revolves in this new consumer craze. It is a race to gain sympathy for consumers to buy their product i.e. is the “Earth hour”.

My fear now is that, Going Green has not really served its purpose because of too much cheap pandering on it by a lot of insincere companies.

In the end, I would like to ask this question: Would we rather depend saving the environment to these profiteers or should we be a bit more sensitive and change our lifestyle? Just have a little sacrifice, a little change to make our home / ecosystem conducive for living for our children.

Work meets leisure

The past months were awfully-wickedly-busy months. Workload is pouring in like the last quarter of the year is headed for a total train wreck. Although the calendar is overcrowded with a lot of deadlines and events, I could say that I was able to get through it (Proof: I am blogging again).

I would say that the past 2 weeks or so has been amazingly tough. I’ve been on and off the office for meetings and official business trips. And I can say that these were the times that I realized the degree and gravity of our work.

In those days I have travelled and met a lot of interesting people, not to mention, really accommodating hosts. I would say that this experience will definitely go to the top of my list of favourite things a love about my work.

Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.

I came to research. I saw what these places can offer. And I conquered the great foods that each places offers.

Beyond my work, I tried to enjoy every place I visited. I laid out a carefully planned itinerary for every trip so I won’t miss out the fun of being a tourist.

I surely missed my working area. And since my last official business trip was cancelled, I am to go back to my office routine. Darn! I almost forgot, I still have to do my liquidation.

Cheers everyone! I hope you are enjoying your job as well!

Part 4: Eavesdropping

Past midnight, I am just nearing deep slumber when I heard a loud noise. Damn it! I forgot to change my alarm. I am wide awake now just staring at the ceiling.

If sleeping for me is just as simple as counting sheep in my head, then I would have no problem now. Geez… As an insomniac like me, I could only hope that sooner or later I will get some sleep.

Clueless of what to do, I just listen to the bark of the dogs, the speeding cars along EDSA, the air-con, until I finally feel drowsy. And finally I am dozing off.

I woke up at around 6 in the morning. I prepare my clothes for work. Spread some butter to the freshly toasted bread. Pour on cold milk onto my cereal.
Then after taking a bath and changing into my corporate clothes, I left right away to avoid being late.

Tuesday mornings are not too different from all the working days except for the weekly update presentation to the executives.

Since I am pretty much done with my presentation I decided to take a load off by smoking a stick at the smoking area. The smoking area is just a few feet away from the pantry. While I consume my first stick of the day, I accidentally overheard some colleagues talking about something.

Maybe because I am curious or just simply bored, I made an effort to eavesdrop on their conversation. They are talking about someone, the newly hired Marketing Assistant. They seem excited and eager to meet that person.
So for me, I was like- Fresh meat! Bottom of the corporate food chain…
I am curious of course, but then why should it concern me that much? After all, we don’t belong on the same team.

After all the early morning rituals at the office I went back to my cubicle. That time the HR is already introducing the new hire. Much to my delight, the new hire is Cathy. She is a friend way back in College.

Part 3: The recoil

It is past 7pm when I arrive at the Apartment. I enter the building with so many things going in my head. Who is she? What is her name? Will she remember me? These questions reverberate until I reach the 4th floor. And then I saw my neighbour smiling at me and appear to be saying something. Well, I never really paid much attention to it. I guess he is just asking how my day went. To be frank, I want to reply with a big grin in my face. On the other hand, since I’m trying to be nice, I just smiled back at him but did not say anything to avoid a prolonged conversation.

I search for my keys to open the door of my unit. As I open the door, my room is pretty much the same. It is dark, almost pitch black. It is bare, for I prefer to have a big space and less furniture. Despite the almost barrenness of my place, I make sure that it is clean.

I turn-on the lights and proceed to the kitchenette. I open the refrigerator and scavenge for whatever leftover I had from the pizza I ordered last night. I also took a beer can just to booze off all the questions I had in mind.

After eating I undress and headed to the shower for a hot bath. I opened the shower and just feel the pressure and warmth of the hot water. I closed my eyes and then think of my random encounter with my crush. I just can’t help it. Her beautiful face sticks to my mind.

It is past 10pm already and I am still thinking of her. I wonder if she thinks of me too or at least wonder what my name is. So I decided to get off the bed took my Marlboro and headed towards the ground floor.

I took my first stick while observing my surrounding. As I consume my first stick of the night, I watched this building construction at the other side of the street. They are just welding the metal framework of the building.

After finishing my first stick I decided to take a second stick. Just as I am lighting up my cigarette, I saw a vintage Mercedes struggling to park in-front of the building. The driver seems to be not in tune with the car. He struggled and often gets his engine cut off when trying to stir the wheel to the other side. Finally, after many minutes the driver parked the car and I finished my second stick. I decided that it is time to sleep already.

I went back to my room, locked the door, placed a timer in the air-con, and took off my pants. As I lay on my bed, I finally rest my case on her. It is just something random, coincidental, and I just have to sleep this shit over.

Part 2: Random Encounter

As I faced towards her direction, I noticed that she cut her hair. She looks quite different; nevertheless, she is still stunning. At that moment I immediately offer her the seat, hoping that the little incident would be forgotten.

It was really awkward for both of us. I wanted to open my mouth just to start a conversation. But my throat feels so dry and I can barely mumble a word. My hands are sweating and apparently my face is turning slightly reddish. Oh my holy shit, I am blushing- I told myself. Indeed I am.

I finally made up my mind; I will be the one to start a conversation. So I took a sip of my coffee to quench the dryness of my mouth and throat. Darn! That was hot! I almost forgot that I like to drink my coffee when it is no longer hot.

But at the moment I am opening my mouth she just took the lead and asked me, So what were you thinking? You seem so preoccupied with something.

I then responded that Nothing… I am just killing some time before going back to the apartment.

I wanted to throw her a couple of questions too, but she just keeps asking me random questions. I don’t know if she is just bored that is why she is doing this or is just plain talkative. But then I don’t care if she keeps talking since I am spellbound by her beauty.

The conversation that started out of nothing seems to be getting longer. Her stories of herself were really fascinating. I find everything about her adorable. She basically talked about all the random experiences she had. And all I can say to myself is, just keep talking keep telling me weird stories.

But as we slowly getting comfortable, someone just barged in. Her friend just came to pick her to go see a movie. She hurriedly picked up her things and then she said goodbye.

And in just a matter of seconds I can no longer see her. She is gone and we never get to exchange numbers, worse is we haven’t formally introduced ourselves. Yes, we talked for almost an hour yet we never care to ask what our names are.

So I thought to myself, probably another random encounter of the day. So deeply disappointed, I just left the café and headed straight back to the apartment.

Part 1: The Cafe

It was an exhausting day; another manic Monday rush. It was one of those days of the week that we wish we never have to go through. But alas! It is almost over.

Tic-tac... Tic-tac... I am literally counting every second until it reach 5pm. The minutes that passed by seems longer than the usual. And I anxiously and irritably waited.

My eyes are glued at the clock. But then, I gather my thoughts again and try to check my bag if I forgotten any of my things. I pulled each drawer to make sure nothing is left. I pile each folder and paper neatly on my desk. It was more like a habit- to make everything look organized.

Finally, it is time to go home. I made my final inspection on my desk just like a detective looking for any signs on the chaos that transpired early that day. As usual, I bade my colleagues the usual cliché. Goodbye. See you tomorrow. Take Care. But it depends. If I’m in a mood and chatty, I’d probably say something else like Ohh… You got a really nice tie, Ohh… Nice Bag, Where are you heading… But today is not that day to chat while taking the lift to the ground floor.

As soon as the lift reached the ground floor and opened its doors, I rushed towards the exit. Then, as I jumped outside, I stood still trying to remember where I am heading at. I am clueless. Why am I really on a hurry? So I just decided to go with where the majority is headed for.

Then I saw this coffee shop while crossing the street. So I think, maybe I need to take some caffeine into my system before heading somewhere I am really not sure of. I entered the Café. I ordered the usual Brewed coffee and a cinnamon. I sat by the window watching the rushing pedestrians running for the buses at the pick-up points.

Every time I drink coffee, it is as if I went to a Trans. There is as if a barrier that is covering me and leave me deep into my thought while staring blankly at the walkway. But, this day someone dared enter my sacred moment alone. At first I don’t really paid much attention. Then the soft whisper turned to a bitter slightly hard toned question. Mister, is this sit taken?!

Obviously both of us are pissed off; I stopped my fascination of the rushing hordes and turned my head towards the direction of what is ruining my afternoon siesta. We met face-to-face probably both making a forced smile. And to my surprise, she is the girl I used to take the elevator with. She is the girl from the 25th floor that I had a crush. And I thought to myself, this day is beginning to shape to something interesting.