22 March 2007

Of calloused indifference...

Since becoming semi-active in this blog, I've vowed to stay apolitical, since for me there are more edifying pursuits, however simple, than politics.

But some things really gets one's goat, so to speak. The following story, for me, is the height of the indifference and haughtiness of the nation's top leader, who I believe is an anomaly primarily to her gender and to everything that she stands for. Does she even know how it is to be hungry, just as millions of Filipinos do?:

Arroyo:'I'm a hunger victim, too'

Article posted March 22, 2007 - 07:25 PM
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday said that if simply missing a meal would qualify a person as having experienced hunger, then she, too, is a victim of hunger.

In an interview after a roundtable discussion at MalacaƱang, Mrs Arroyo said the way the question was posed among respondents could have been a factor why the hunger incidence reached a record high of 19 percent.

"Kasi iyun naman ang question ng hunger (It?s because of the way they posed the question), do you miss one meal during the last three months? Pati naman ako (me, too), I?ve missed one meal in the last three months," she said.

The nationwide Social Weather Stations survey conducted from February 24 to 27 showed that the hunger figure remained at 19 percent though there had been a recorded worsening in Metro Manila from 17.7 percent in November 2006 to 20.7 percent in February 2007, and in Luzon from 17.7 percent in November to 18.3 percent in February.

The President, however, admitted that insufficient income could be one of the factors why some families have missed a meal. She said most of those who missed a meal belong to families of coconut farmers. "That's why we want to spend as much as possible the coco levy on increasing the income of the farmers," she said.

The President said there are also cases when one of the parents or a family member has vices, like drinking. She said they spend the money buying liquor instead of food.

Mrs Arroyo said this is why her administration will try to educate families by teaching students about the right ?spending habits" to ensure that the family income is spent on basic necessities like food.

She said teaching parents about responsible parenthood and family planning methods would help poor families save more money, which they can spend on food.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza Cabral said a family spends about P2,000 for infant formula every month, which can be used to buy food.

The President said aside from saving money, breastfeeding is also a good family planning method.

Mrs Arroyo and Cabral also traced the high incidence of hunger to the removal of the ?food for school" program in the supplemental budget sought by the administration in 2006.

Cabral said the DSWD food-for-school program, where each daycare school children gets a kilo of rice daily for 120 days, had been scrapped and replaced with milk feeding and hot meals. The same program is offered by the Department of Education for younger elementary pupils. - GMANews.TV

21 March 2007

The Pirates are back!

I just saw the 2 minute plus trailer of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and man... I'm hooked! It's simply fantastic and I can't wait. Check this youtube entry. Better yet, here's the official site.


07 March 2007

Intimations of Mortality redux

Without dwelling too much on the what should be and might be's, I hopped on a decrepit bus off to Baguio, right after attending a media conference in Holiday Inn @ Clark Pampanga. The bus left Dau around 930pm that Saturday night. Five hours later, I arrived in Baguio and I was simply the happiest person on earth.

The air was as fresh and as cold as I wanted it to be and the city was just as... well, sleepy and quiet as I expected it to be. I just didn't expect many people to still mill around Session Road at that hour, mostly the young ones.

Without any sense of urgency, I spent the next two hours in finding a suitable lodging. But being the height of the festival, naturally all the rooms were booked, even the sleazy ones in the City's nooks and crannies (don't ask me how I knew that). But nothing daunted me --- I was even prepared to sleep on Session Road, like the many I saw that dawn, never mind the cold.

A kindly taxi driver, among Baguio's truly gentle souls, helped me find some place to stay but in the end I contented myself in bunking on a 5-in-a-room dormitory at Baden Powell. Before managing to sleep around 430am, I made a mental note to wake up a few hours later to catch the Flower Festival parade...

Unfortunately, the flesh was weak (and tired from all the travelling) --- I woke up late at 1030am, hurriedly dressed, ate the Baden Powell's free but uninspired breakfast and hurried off to Session Road a few meters away to catch the parade.

I did manage to catch its last 30 minutes though, but the best parts were all gone already. Still, this did not stop me from sporting a crazy grin while walking around my favorite Session road, which just disappeared in a sea of people.

I managed to find a suitable transient room (with my own bathroom and cable tv at that) within walking distance to the city center. I savored the cold water of my first Baguio bath and soon after was off to hang out and pound away on my trusty laptop and finish my writing backlogs.

In Baguio, there are several places for me to stay while working on my stories, articles or simply just pouring out my mind --- the Figaro @ the Filling Station @ the Camp John Hay's entrance, the Starbucks at the Camp's Baguio Country Club end, the Figaro at SM Baguio's 4th level, @ the Tamawan Village, @ the Zola Cafe @ Session Road and my old time favorite, @ Cafe by the Ruins.

But hanging out in the places I mentioned do not come cheap though... But then again, no place is cheap anymore these days, especially in Baguio during Panagbenga.

Still I had a good time, was able to write a lot of stuff and caught up on my cable viewing too. I was extremely happy to catch Hotel Rwanda on HBO and watch the underrated but superb Don Cheadle.

So I just spent my time in Baguio doing simple things --- I wrote a lot, walked a lot, slept a lot and watched cable tv a lot. Surprisingly, I had a mild appetite --- I contented myself in eating street fare I would normally shun in Metro Manila, like my favorite one day old chick (3 pieces for 18 pesos, deep-fried with their bile taken out) at the Burnham Park area. I also attempted to check out the Mabuhay wag-wagan area but simply gave up after an hour --- I never did have the patience to do ukay-ukay shopping.

What I did not fail to do while in Baguio though was to have coffee at every imaginable cafe and surf the internet at ridiculously low rates --- part of the city's discount giving spree due to the festival.

I especially tried to cram a lot of mundane activities as the time for me to leave the city came near. Eventually, I reluctantly left at a very late 230am on Tuesday morning, with my class obligations to start 8 hours away, with a 6hour trip to make and two more to get to school.

Oh well, what's the use in living if you can't feel you're alive, right?

06 March 2007

Intimations of Mortality

If you were given only one day more to live, what will you do?

Me? I would simply roam the streets of my favorite mountain city --- Baguio.

I did just that, as if it was my last day on Earth. And yes, I was alone at a time when the Panagbenga or Flower Festival was in full bloom. What better way to hide my isolation in a sea of people?

02 March 2007

Retreat to Mountain City




Just when I thought my sanity would leave me, I went up to my favorite retreat place, the mountain city of Baguio. And what good timing it was as the Panagbenga or Flower Festival was in progress. I still had two days remaining for last year's VL so I cashed it in by going up after my two day media conference in Clark Pampanga.

The full story of my retreat and adventures on my next post. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of that memorable time.

Crunch time

It seems like I am always catching up on something whose deadline was like ages ago. And now I've run out of excuses not to do the things I've put off for so long. And so slowly but surely, I'm reclaiming my life by finishing important tasks, personal and professional. I only hope that it's not too late for me though. But in case I get penalized for defaulting on my deadlines, I guess it only serves me right...