Youth has no age.- Pablo Picasso
This post has been moved to Never too late to drive a funky sports car
“It’s a useless life that is not concentrated to a great ideal. It’s like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.” Jose Rizal
I braved the rains and drove all the way to Fort Santiago in my period costume to celebrate Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday. Celebrating Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary is not just a one day affair or even a year-long sesquicentennial festivities.
The organizers decided to call this celebration ““MY RIZAL” as it “engages all of us to be a part of what JOSE RIZAL stood for. It invites us to internalize a version of RIZAL in our own personal lives. It inspires us to feel the hero in each one of us, and to follow RIZAL’s footsteps in his true love for country.”
I look at the Rizal in me. Just like some of the bloggers and social media users that joined me in Fort Santiago, each of us have our own advocacy and ideals.
In my role as a blogger and editor of Blog Watch, I call out the societal evils such as environmental destruction and child abuse. I hold President Aquino accountable for his campaign promises. I believe in the promise and unwavering passion of the youth. I am sure Jose Rizal will also fight for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill).
Most of all, love of country is what I am fighting for. Who wouldn’t want a good future for their children, and children’s children. I still cannot understand why corrupt officials exist. Why do they think only of themselves? It is a long and difficult road to fighting corruption and poverty. But if we call upon ourselves to check our government and talk about it, we have gained something.
Rizal’s ideals, as exemplified by his life, his works and his heroism, are universal. They live in each one of us in many ways.
We can live Rizal now.
“Filipinos don’t realize that victory is the child of struggle, that joy blossoms from suffering, and redemption is a product of sacrifice.”- Jose Rizal
We are all different, but we must embrace and respect our differences. We must come together through the very emotion that makes us human: love. US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.at at the LGBT Pride Month Reception
What a long but productive day. I treated my family for lunch in celebration of my 54th birthday because I wanted to attend the dinner reception of US Ambassador Henry K. Thomas Jr. in honor of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month in the USA. President Barrack Obama proclaimed June 2011 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. It is about time our country also take initiative to stop the hate and homophobic attitude. Last year, I was shocked and saddened by the suicides by young American kids who were bullied for being gay. I often wonder the extent of our Filipino LGBT kids who suffer bullying. Is our school system supportive? Is our society even supportive?
The US administration is taking steps to engage with LGBT communities even outside the USA. The Philippines can certainly learn a thing or two here.
The message is important. The Ambassador started off his speech with “I am gay.
I am gay.
I am gay.
Three little words.
Six letters.
Three syllables.
It is not a phrase that trips the tongue. It is not a phrase that should take lifetimes to utter.”
One need not be ashamed to say if one is gay, or lesbian . There is no need for condemnation. There has been so much discrimination on the basis of gender identity and bullying on young LGBT kids. President Obama adds that ” No one should be harmed because of who they are or who they love, and my Administration has mobilized unprecedented public commitments from countries around the world to join in the fight against hate and homophobia.”
I cannot imagine how many LGBT kids and teens hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. “Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can’t imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted  even tortured  simply for being themselves.”
I approached the ambassador for a photo op after the reception. After all, I gave up dinner celebration to attend his reception at his Makati residence. Ambassador Thomas laughed at my request and thought I should have given a dinner blowout instead of him.
But guess what? I celebrated with Melo Esguerra whose birthday is also June 14 and Harold Geronimo who celebrated a day before.
Now lying in bed, I read through the message of President Obama and searched for more information on US support of LGBT. What struck me most is the “It gets better project”. While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves the, “It Gets Better Project” was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years.
Maybe one day, a similar initiative can be organized to help our LGBT kids and remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone  and it WILL get better.
““I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.” –Anonymous
I grew up in Cebu, surrounded by blue skies, sunny smiles and the deep blue sea. The beach was always a family activity every weekend. No ritzy mall or entertainment centers during my childhood days circa early 1960 to distract me. The picnic by the sea is what I called fun. Mom prepared a picnic basket containing our lunch of roasted chicken and apple pie and it was off to the most popular beach destination, Talisay just 20 minutes away.
There was just something magical at the beach. Time doesn’t move hour to hour but mood to moment. It is as if I live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun. The beach is probably the only place children actually entertain themselves without parents having to think of million ways to distract them.
Perhaps my dad noticed these frequent trips and decided to buy a small property near the beach in Talisay and in Mactan Island. How we loved the bahay kubo nestled under the coconut tree.
College years brought me further away from Cebu. Being based in Manila, the beach was just too far away to travel even once a month. I miss the memories of joy in a summer breeze and sinking my toes in the sand.
I often tell my children these stories ..how as college students, we would just get to the car and travel to the beach. The pretty little fishes swimming by the sea shore. How fascinating it was to spot the sea horse or sand dollar during low tides.
Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles. Robert Henri asks himself, ““Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”
Each one of us looks at the sea differently. For me, the sea represents my roots. Appreciating its beauty, breadth and power is appreciating my existence, who I am and why I am here. Like the ocean, all of us are connected and interdependent yet each person is significant in its existence. Even John F. Kennedy felt tied to the ocean. “And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came… ”
““Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.”
–Albert Schweitzer
““We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
–Mother Teresa
Photo of El Nido by Anna Oposa
““Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”
–Anonymous
Let us all act now to save our seas, what’s left of our coral reefs and to protect our marine life so those beautiful and important natural resources are preserved for our children and future generations to enjoy.
The ocean is a mighty harmonist… (William Wordsworth)
Spoiler Alert ….
Most weekends, my husband and I watch the movies. Today, he felt like watching “Priest” and he says it is a movie about a priest who is for the RH Bill.
I knew he was kidding “Aww really?” I quickly searched for a synopsis.
Apparently, the movie is an adaptation of a Tokyopop graphic novel, Bettany’s Priest with a cross emblazoned on his forehead. The priest tries to rescue his kidnapped niece with the help of her boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), a warrior priestess (Maggie Q, ““Nikita”) and a sheriff (Stephen Moyer, ““True Blood”).
I love thriller movies but I wasn’t sure if I wanted the horror part of the movie- the vampires. Still, we went to watch it in 3D at Eastwood Cinema 6.
As the movie unfolded with my eyes closed at times, I thought my husband was probably right when he kidded me that the movie is about a priest who is pro-RH bill.
Though the Catholic Church does not say this quote , “To go against the church is to go against God” , I feel sometimes it is implied when the RH Bill is being debated.
In the movie, the protagonist is a good and tough priest and a warrior in an alternative universe. The priest is a metaphor for the fight between good and evil. Even good guys can be corrupted or destroyed by the dark side like Black Hat, the head of the vampires (who used to be a priest).
The good versus evil is also seen in the institution such as the Church in the movie.
The Church was initially good. The Church unleashes ““the Priests,” humans with super-human-like reflexes, who drive the vampires into exile. They protected them from the vampires but later on, got corrupted by their own power by invoking their infallibility, “To go against the church is to go against God” .
The head of the church (in the movie) insisted there were no more vampires but the priest didn’t think so. The Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her niece, Lucy before they turn her into one of the vampires. I will leave it at that so there are no more spoilers.
The movie got me thinking that there are probably many Catholics that are conflicted and/or have left their faith because of disagreement with certain teachings such as Humanae Vitae (Latin “Of Human Life”) , an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and lawful and unlawful ways of regulating birth.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines are still in denial when it comes to the need for the RH Bill. It has always been referred to as “evil” during the homily by some priests.
Priest , the movie just struck me as having so many similarities with the way some bishops of the Philippine Catholic Church particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are exerting authority over its faithful.
Let me give you just one example out of many. Last April 27, San Pablo (Laguna) Vicar General Msgr. Melchor Barcenas said RH bill advocates are using “tactics of Satan.”
“In this fight against RH Bill, our true enemies are not the people (who proposed it) but Satan. It is the evil that is manipulating the minds of all (pro RH Bill Congressmen) or those higher ups in the world. This is the reason why it is difficult to fight this enemy,” he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site last April.
There goes Satan again.
Just watch the movie.
Now I know what it feels to be an actress. Yesterday, a UK Travel documentary group came over to my house to film a 3 minute segment for the 45 minutes Philippines series in “It’s a Woman’s World” with a potential 60 million viewers . I think we finished close to 3 hours. The interview revolved around cooking Adobo and the FilipinaImages.com advocacy. I let Dine prepare the Green Mango Salad as Camilla asked questions. There were probably 5 questions that focused on the Filipina, They concentrated on me cooking adobo and Dine with the salad while asking questions about The Filipina, What is a Filipina, the international perception and our online work . The action type of interview went quite well.
You know I am used to only one filming angle done during an interview but the videographer took 3 angles. Now this is one film I should see.
They concentrated on me cooking adobo and Dine with the green mango salad while asking Camilla asked questions about The Filipina. It was an action and interview story. Some of the questions asked :
- What is a Filipina
- How would you describe the typical Filipina?
- Why did you start your website/blog?
- Why do you think Filipina’s have the international perception they do, especially online?
- Do you want to change this perception and if so how are you doing this?
You will just have to hear our answers when the documentary comes out on October. But let me just tell you, after almost four years, The Filipina Images project has been successful in at least creating balance in the search engine results. When we first started, almost 9/10 search engine results in the first page was dating sites. Not that these girls are Filipinas but there are more Filipinas that need to be showcased. The word “Filipina” is used by these sites.
Since then, search engine results on the first page for keyword “Filipina” has other sites that are not connected to dating services.
What image pops up in your head when you say or hear the word ““Filipina?” is a question my sister Lorna asked four years ago.
A smile.
A mother breastfeeding her child.
An excellent homemaker.
A powerful leader and mentor in her chosen business, profession or vocation.
Another smile, inviting you to meet her family and firends.
A friend who’s there for you, no matter what.
Ah, I’ve never met a Filipina  but I’d like to.
An influential, affluent decision maker.
A woman, confident and willing to go an extra mile to get things done.
A woman I can trust to take care of my kids.
A sexy woman.
A mystery?
A girl, shy and innocent.
A fun-loving woman.
A beautiful person, inside and out.
Endless, timeless images of a Filipina.
I am glad that the Travel documentary series of “It’s a Woman’s World” communicated with us to be part of this filming project. There is no one exclusive category of Filipino women who has the better right to claim that it is more representative of the Filipina than the others The Filipina campaign should not only be limited online.
Television viewers need to see that we , the Filipina of the Future deserves a more empowered, diverse image online and offline.
Multiple, complex, and whole.
Left to right: Camilla Andersen, me , Julia Cornes and Dine Racoma
The documentary series will be viewed on October 2011. It’s a Woman’s World will introduce and immerse viewers into the lives of interesting and inspiring local women they meet. So many travel experiences these days are mocked up for tourism, It’s a Woman’s World wants to avoid these and get the inside perspective on each culture they are discovering.
Remember my article Discovering Tranquility in Luijoe Meadow? I felt something good was going to happen. Positive developments on the resolution of the Willing Willie incident looked promising. During the Holy Week, I received news that a child advocacy group would file a complaint of child abuse against Willie Revillame. I kept the good news to myself.
What I did not expect is I would actually be a co-complainant in a suit filed by DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman. Together with ““running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes, environmentalist Froilan G. Grate, advertising executive Frances Irene Bretana, and myself, we filed separate but joint complaint-affidavits before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, charging Willie Revillame for violation of the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (Republic Act 7610).
Sure I had plans to file a complaint against Willie Revillame but I was awaiting a formal report from the Commission of Human Rights.
Trying to keep the issue burning, I initiated a ““blog and twitter carnival” in which people online are invited to write articles and express their views about the controversial March 12 incident concerning the crying dancing boy. The blog carnival began on April 18 and ends tomorrow April 28. Not many seemed interested to blog and instead chose to tweet their views.
I was afraid the child abuse issue would die down after the holidays. As I said earlier, this Willing Willie episode erupted to such madness that it zapped so much energy from me. I got sick for two days with one day totally bed-ridden. My immune system must have gone haywire. I knew I just had to be tranquil for a day. I needed to let go when things are just beyond my control.
I prayed hard to Luijoe to show me the light. The image of the crying boy just could not leave my mind. I must do something. If filing the case was not meant to be, I will accept it. Even if Luijoe is not around, I still talk to him. I told him about the six year old boy. “What should I do Luijoe?” Is filing the complaint a good step? Then I lifted my prayer to God.
Truly, God is faithful. Yesterday, I got word from End Child Abuse Community Facebook administrators Froilan Grate and Frances Irene Bretaña that we could be co-complainants in a suit filed by DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman.
I yelled “I am in.”
Today we walked the talk . We filed this child abuse complaint so we could speak in behalf of the children who have no voices.
This is not about networks. This is not about Willie alone. This is about our children, the future citizens of our country.
I will now let the Courts take care of this as I cannot make comments anymore on the complaint and Willie after today.
Every child deserves a nurturing family and a safe environment, free from fear, abuse, and neglect. Parents, guardians, relatives, and neighbors all share a responsibility to prevent these devastating crimes, and our government plays a critical role as well.
I am a firm believer that one of the solutions to our country’s economic woes is that more of us should start a small business and be self-sustaining. With the advent of the internet, business can even start online.
Women entrepreneurs are an ever-growing part of the economy, and one of the best opportunities to start is through online selling on your own platform or using one like eBay. I had the opportunity to talk to eBay Philippines a few weeks back. I discovered that eBay Philippines provided our women to run successful businesses right in the comfort of their own homes.
The topic is still a burning issue. The Big Bad Blogger and the evil PR brouhaha is still making waves in the Philippine blogosphere. I am always asked, “who do you think is big bad blogger?” or “is there really a big bad blogger?” I am aware there are a lot of bloggers with various interest, business model and purpose. I may not agree with all the time but I have yet to hear or encounter allegations of “extortion”. The accusations are downright unfair. In fact the the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) issued a statement on
“In the Interest of Philippine Blogosphere”
(This is an industry response to Marguax Salcedo’s column dated 23 Jan 2011 in Sunday Inquirer Magazine, where she hinted at unethical behavior by a blogger and a PR agency http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20110122-315972/)
Please-Dont-Give-Blogging-a-Bad-Name IMMAP recognizes the value that blog marketing brings to the success of building brands in the digital space. Bloggers themselves are publishers of their own personal websites, and as such are entitled to embrace opportunities to monetize their online presences.
We also recognize the fact that digital PR agencies, which help clients manage their online reputation, often engage bloggers for word-of-mouth promotion.
We understand that blogging as a credible medium can only grow if there is transparency and accountability by all parties — clients, agencies, and writers. It is in the public’s best interest to know if a write-up is affected by a potential conflict of interest.
Our biggest concern with Ms. Salcedo’s article is that it was essentially a blind item. Speculation (amplified by social media) only casts doubt on all bloggers and all PR agencies, which doesn’t help anyone. However, if the insinuations are true, then such behavior — essentially blackmailing a potential client with the threat of a negative review — is unacceptable as a marketing services practice. This is something IMMAP frowns upon as it diminishes the credibility of the medium. We also believe that such behavior is limited to a few black hat practitioners and not representative of the Philippine Blogosphere.
We hope that at some point Ms. Salcedo will clarify the issue and disclose the names of the client, blogger, and PR agency involved so the matter can be brought to the proper light. We at IMMAP are always open if Ms. Salcedo wishes us to mediate between the parties concerned during this discussion.
To help strengthen the credibility of the majority of the Philippine Blogosphere, IMMAP recommends the with the ability to safeguard its practitioners. We would be more than happy to be of assistance in the formation of this organization. In doing so, we can table the interest of the Philippine Blogosphere in the broader digital conversations in the industry.
For our part, IMMAP is currently updating its 2007 Code of Ethics with updated guidelines for digital advertising and social media. We’re looking forward to having a dialogue with representatives of the Philippine Blogosphere immediately to assist in the establishment and ratification of relevant ethical standards.
The statement hits it right on the part where doubts have been created if names are not mentioned or brought forth to the right forum. While I do agree with a collective set of ethical standards for bloggers , I am not convinced on the establishment of a national blogging organization. Bloggers are so diverse and may not want to belong to one big group for one reason or another.
Before the establishment of an organization, a set of ethical standards should first be deliberated and agreed upon in a conference or summit, then the rest can follow.
It is good to have guidelines and let’s start from there.
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I caught on the horoscope just once in my life. I was around 14 years old when I had this huge crush on a guy I met in a class party that I hosted at my home. He had whispered sweetly to me that he’d give me a ring. I waited eagerly for his call the next day. While browsing through the news paper, my eye caught on the Horoscope section. I can’t remember the exact words but it said something about a “phone call”. Right after I read the horoscope, the phone rang indeed and it was my huge crush. Perhaps it was just my luck that day. My crush didn’t call me back after three calls and with it , the horoscope stopped working for me.
Maybe I was looking at the wrong Zodiac sign.
All these years I thought I was a Gemini. When astrologers said that the sun is in Pisces, it’s really not in Pisces. I always thought our astrological sign was determined by the position of the sun on the day I was born. Everything I thought I knew about my horoscope is wrong.
New is astrology has had issues from its inception. (Aside from the fact that it tries to link personality traits with positions of the stars.) Ancient Babylonians had 13 constellations, but wanted only 12, so threw out Ophuchicus, the snake holder. Libra didn’t even enter the picture until the era of Julius Caesar.
According to the Minnesota Planetarium Society, here is where the real signs of the Zodiac should fall. Get ready for your world to change forever.
Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17. (Yep, this one is new  read all about the Ophiuchus way of life here)
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.