upper

Tortang Talong.

Say it out loud. And repeatedly.

If this doesn't make your senses tingle, you got your priorities all wrong. Loosen up a bit. It can't be that bad.

Ang Kapatiran

A lot of Filipinos say that this year's senatorial election is a choice between two evils. I couldn't but disagree more. In case you haven't been looking closely, there is a third force. Ang Kapatiran (or The Alliance of Common Good) promises to be the party that upholds virtue and answers the call of duty. It was founded on the ideology of the common good based on 10 ethical principles:
1. Belief in God
2. Respect for life and human dignity
3. Strengthening of the family
4. Community participation
5. Basic rights and responsibilities
6. Preferential option for the poor and the vulnerable
7. Dignity of work and rights of workers
8. Care for nature as God's creation
9. Peace and active nonviolence
10. Solidarity

To be honest I don't know much about the party. I first heard about them a few weeks ago when news of the Administration and Opposition's scramble for candidates were at its peak. What caught my attention was the fact that their candidates know from the start that it is more likely for them to lose. It seemed to me that they have no grand illusion of winning. They just wanted to make a difference and to let the Filipino know that the coming election is not a choice between two evils. That there is a better alternative!

The party is fielding three candidates. Dr. Noel Bautista, a physician, who after 17 years in the US went home last year. When a significant number of our doctors go back to school to study nursing so they can live the American dream, he packed his bags and uprooted his family from Oklahoma to start a new life in Manila. When he was asked why he never applied for a green card; his reply was that he always knew he'd be coming back to his native land.

Jess Paredes was a director of the presidential commission monitoring the Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement. When Cpl. Daniel Smith was transferred to US Embassy custody from the Makati City jail, he resigned in protest. Other government officials staunchly defended the blatant disrespect of Philippine law just to please Uncle Sam. He didn't! Now talk about integrity.

Last and definitely not the least is Adrian Sison. One of the country's top lawyers, Atty. Sison is also a broadcaster and an author. He participated in the drafting of the 1987 constitution and is working for the abolition of death penalty. It is time to clean up our politics and bring hope to our people, he said.

A single vote is all I have. I cannot make them win. I just wanted to make a difference. And at least, I will have the satisfaction knowing that my vote will not go to waste. Because I am supporting those who are good and better.

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Please read Conrado de Quiros' column today here.

Also, you can access the blogs of Dr. Baustista and Atty. Sison here and here.

i walked his way

When I'm excited, I can't keep my mouth shut. If something caught my fancy, I make it known to everyone how much I love it. I rave about it! So it was really an agony not to tell Ketty when sometime in October I decided on what I was going to give her for her birthday last December. Occasionally, I'd drop hints about it, and she would always tell on me. "Ayan ka na naman, di ka mapakali." I'd always reply, how much I can't wait to be in Manila so I can finally give her my present.

My gift was a walking tour of Intramuros by Carlos Celdran. I hate to say this but I probably enjoyed it more than Ketty. Not saying that she didn't enjoy it because she did. It's just that its impact on me was so huge, that I was left bewitched, bothered and bewildered. I've been on a few guided tours before, but this was different. Tour guides normally are just tourist information in flesh, Carlos Celdran is a tour guide in love. Manila seemed like a misunderstood, battered but nevertheless beautiful woman. When he was dishing out facts about the tour, he was telling it with so much passion that it almost felt like he was talking about his lost paramour. There was a sense of longing. Throughout the tour you'll be left laughing, reflecting, heart-broken, and wondering. Sometimes all at the same time.

In honor of the hundred and so thousand Filipinos who died, Carlos chose the San Agustin Church mausoleum to talk about Manila during the Second World War. He couldn't have picked a perfect setting. What I heard was heart-breaking. The new information weren't in our books, much less taught in school. Amidst the countlesss tombs, our group was enveloped by melancholia as we reflect the atrocities of war. The haunting ambiance added to the drama. Candle lights danced while the air carried the smell of wilted flowers. He showed pictures of a devastated city that left us pensive and contemplative. A moment of silence was all we could offer for everything that was lost.

After the tour, I sort of wished that Manila is a person. Somebody I can touch and look in the eye because I want to give her a hug.




Click here for more photos.

rubber

Richard Gomez is running for senator under the administration’s unity ticket.

If that was a joke; I am not laughing.

photo-tastic

"You certainly have the eye for a good picture." That was what my work colleague said when I showed him photos that I took when I went home last Christmas. I told him that I really didn't have to do much, my hometown was already beautiful.

Click here to view the whole album.






























































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PS. Mc, thank you for the present. You know, those pictures wouldn't be possible if not for that wicked red gadget.