Separations

My Kakang Benito passed away August 12 at noon time. He's my mom's eldest brother. Because he served as Barangay Captain for twenty years and as councilor in Valenzuela for 3 years, he was given a tribute by the local government. I arrived late for the "Luksang Parangal" and I was surprised by the number of people in the street watching it. There were 3 big screens for the projectors. Congressman Gatchalian, Vice Mayor Martinez, city councilors from different generations, Barangay Captains from different places, politicians of all sorts are there. We discovered a lot about how Kakang Benito was as a politician. He was brave, diplomatic, and he served with sincerity. One of his ordinance was to have an open dialog between employers and employees before granting permit for union protest. I don't even know if he was a good politician because I was still young then. But I remember joining campaigns and motorcades as a child. There were a lot of things said about Kakang Benito, except for one -- that he was a good father. His sons could not say it straight. That really breaks my heart. We all know he have his shortcomings as a father but he raised 6 sons from his first wife and 3 sons from his second wife. It was not an easy task. He gave them enough of what they need -- food, shelter, education, protection, guidance, and I believe, he loved them all.

At the end of it all, whether he has been a good father or not, does not matter much. An old man like him deserves compassion and forgiveness. After all, he cannot be solely blamed for their failures. They were the ones who put the chip on their own shoulder.

Before it's too late, let's heal broken relationships especially in our families. It's hard to live with regrets and more so, die with it. Remember that LOVE HEALS. Pray that love conquers hatred and pain so that we can forgive and live in peace.

Missing Daddy Terribly

I miss dad so much.

Last Thursday I donated blood for the first time. Six years ago, I could have done the same for my daddy. I was so sad then because I could not give blood to the guy who gave life to me. But anyway, I'm happy to do this for a stranger. He could be somebody else's dad.

Yesterday, my sister accompanied me to my OB-Gyne... in Chinese General Hospital. Dra. Marleen transfered to the new Medical Arts Building of CGH. We were seventh in line and was told to wait outside. Guess what? We were sitting exactly across dad's old room in the main building. It brought back a lot of memories. Ditche and I were exchanging stories. Some are funny, some sad, some are painful, and some are even creepy.

Today we went to mass and then went to the cemetery. Today's gospel is about the rich fool. This is the topic of my last long talk with daddy as mentioned in this post. That Sunday night, I saw peace in daddy's face. He was ready to go.

Six years. That's a long time but I still miss him terribly. :(

Simple Happiness

Coming home from a fun photo shoot in UP, I opened my car window to take a picture of these happy people:

They are my mom's brothers and sisters. They usually gather under the mango tree in the afternoon but it's seldom that all of them are there. Many people had this wrong impression that we are a rich clan. There was a time when all of them have good businesses but that was a very long time ago. I think our family's real treasure are the moments like this we get to spend together even when there's no special occasion.

When I first saw them I thought there's a wheelchair race. That's 3 of them on wheels including my cousin who's got polio since childhood.

Why I Will Vote for Noynoy

I don't care if Winnie Monsod's email was hoax or not. Here are my own reasons:

I will vote for Noynoy because his promise is INTEGRITY over other plans. One might argue that this is not enough to move the country forward neither would it take us out of pit of poverty. This may not be the fastest way to recovery, but it's the surest and perhaps the only way.

I have seen and experienced first hand how corruption destroys people and the community. On the other hand I've also seen how integrity revives trust, pride, and eventually, progress. In my own town, we've been under a corrupt government before. I know a lot of people working in our local government, some are my friends and some are relatives. When Mayor Gatchalian stepped in, he made some reforms. Employees should come on time, in proper uniforms, they should be at all times efficient, polite, and helpful. These are things that they should have been doing all along yet it was not an easy transformation. Employees started earning less not because their salaries were slashed but because they were prohibited to take gifts and favors and even free lunch or dinner from suppliers and contractors. They were complaining at first, but when these people started to realize that they are not only public servants but at the same time they are professionals. They have slowly accepted change. They were given trainings and had team-building activities. People started to respect them and this is greater than the "gifts" they were receiving before. In Valenzuela today, we trust our policemen, we trust our traffic aides, our garbage collectors (who never fails in their schedule). We have courteous staff in our local agencies. In terms of infrastructure, since the money goes to where it should be, we now have high standard school buildings, dialysis facilities, clean and modern government offices, vehicles and ambulances. Public school children will never be ashamed of their classrooms anymore. Even the quality of education has improved. Flood is something we all grew up with, but thankfully, only those as bad as Ondoy and Pepeng caused destruction.

I believe that the changes in our local government is not because Mayor Win is all "Galing and Talino" and definitely not because he knows how it is to be poor (they are filthy rich, we all know that). It is because he has integrity and good intentions and he wants everyone to work the same way. This is the same quality I found in Noynoy. He can be the change we need. He can be the inspiration we all lack today because we don't trust our government. He can be one to clean out the reeds of corruption that prevent progress and prosperity. Although it’s true that I will vote for Noynoy because I admire his parents, I’m proud that it’s not my only reason. Inspiration in a time of crisis is hard to come around and I believe that change cannot come from one person even if he have Galing and Talino, Sipag at T'yaga. Change should come from all of us, we need to be ignited by good examples. So I don't see anything wrong about Noynoy using the good name of his parents. We need modern heroes like Ninoy and Cory so we can continue fighting our own battles.

Who ever you are voting for, I will not disagree as long as you keep in mind the future of our country. I'm happy that we have better choices for May 2010. I'm happy that Filipinos are now a bit wiser. Please pray for a clean and honest election. This may be our chance for change. God bless our country.

A Thankful Heart

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Finally, Daday da Makulay has seen the rainbow after the rain.

Thank God for:

• giving me 32 good years and 69 for mama;
• fun-filled Daday's Cup
• passing a required certification exam
• having normal results after a month of medications
• the light work load running on it's 3rd month
• finally getting the promotion!

God is good all the time!

2nd Daday's Cup: Close - Open 2010

Out of a very late conversation with Rors on what to do for my birthday, I decided to hold another Daday's Cup. The first one was February 19, 2004 held at a cement court in Libertad. Wow! That was ages ago. We were not even Baddicts then. It was composed of friends from college, my sisters, and officemates from PHIC.

A lot has changed since then. It was harder to organize now that everyone's busy and that includes me of course. Anyway, after all the challenges of the preparations, all things started to fall into place. Not even the closure of the northbound lane of EDSA can stop this tourney.

I was overwhelmed by the love I felt. I felt really special. Sometimes we have to allow ourselves to feel that. I guess that's what birthdays are for. I cannot say enough how thankful I truly am.

Winners Badong and Roy

Winners Joy and Rory

The Leftie Trophies

Me, Des-the-cake-holder, and the cake from Es

So glad to see old friends again

Till the next Daday's Cup!

Watch out for the 2nd Daday's Cup

Badminton Fan

I cannot stress it enough how much I love badminton. There will be new fads -- running, yoga, futsal, dragon boat -- but I will always love badminton.

It has given me so much and my faithfulness is my way of paying back. When I was bored, it kept my blood pumping with excitement. When dad was in the hospital, I was given a lot of time off work because I was playing for the agency's badminton team. When dad needed blood donation, my team did not hesitate to volunteer. When dad died, my baddicts friends were one of the first to arrive. When I quit my job, I played 3 times a week to keep me sane and keep my cholesterol down. When I joined Accenture, I played on my second day at work and felt that I belong.

Of course it has also given me a lot of body aches, cramps, pulled tendons on my wrist, two injured ankles, and failing knees. But it's all for the love of the game.

Now that the badminton fever has already subsided, I will continue to play. I will still encourage newbies, and I will still continue to...

buy new shoes. :P LOL!

Happy birthday to me!

Health Problems AGAIN

After a year of living in the condo without cooking and eating real food, my cholesterol problem is back. Now, I also have problems with my uric acid, triglycerides, liver, and blood pressure.

For the whole week, I've been in and out of Medical City for blood tests, ECG, 2D Echo, and ultrasound. Today after showing the doctor all my lab results I was given loads of medicines to take. For my labs, the bill was more than 10K, and for my meds -- 5.5K. Thank goodness we have a very comprehensive health package in the office.

So now I'm taking medicines for each of the problems I mentioned above. Good news is my heart is fine.

Favor, include me in your prayers. Not only for healing but for a healthy lifestyle as well.

Lesson #1: Baking

Okay, so it's an instant brownie mix. But technically, I still baked it.

I'm determined to learn a lot of new things this year and one of them is baking. We've never had an oven so this is really new for me. Short of saying this is also my first time operating one. I'm glad it turned out well.

Next time I'll do something more challenging than just shoving the mix into the oven. Wish me luck. I bought a dessert cookbook and some measuring cups and spoons and a pan. I can't wait for my new project!