Insensitive, that's what I am
From the eyes that embraces me dearly
Incapable, Inconsistent, Untrustworthy
Strong adjectives
With a hint of truth in it
Yes, I admit... I admit!
Fumbling fool.
Remorseful soul.
Repentant heart.
That's also true.
But what does it mean
If the heart that embraced me
If the presence that tried dearly
... is jaded?
I walk with the weight of nothingness.
God, guide me through this process of being alone
... alone with You.
Friday
Monday
deaf and mute
If there's one thing that the Omnipotent One allowed me to experience is to be a steward for a Talent Agency that supplies talents in commercials (TV, Print and Web).
Last week, a different casting call landed in our hands. "Deaf and mute talents, wholesome faces who can dance well."
Funny. Interesting. Challenging. A stretch. A success. We found them.
But what amazed me is how fast they can get visual cues from us as we taught them the needed choreography for the dance.
One pass, they got it.
Amazing.
Maybe they, the differently-able persons, had to process what we are trying to communicate not from the words we speak but from our faces and our actions.
It is really true, actions speaks louder than words.
Funny. Thankful.
Last week, a different casting call landed in our hands. "Deaf and mute talents, wholesome faces who can dance well."
Funny. Interesting. Challenging. A stretch. A success. We found them.
But what amazed me is how fast they can get visual cues from us as we taught them the needed choreography for the dance.
One pass, they got it.
Amazing.
Maybe they, the differently-able persons, had to process what we are trying to communicate not from the words we speak but from our faces and our actions.
It is really true, actions speaks louder than words.
Funny. Thankful.
one of my favorite me
I just remembered. Funny.
One of the nieces talking to her friend, "Yan si Tito Nunoy. Pag kini-kiss kamin nyan sa cheeks, ang tagal-tagal. Tapos ang diin. Tapos kinikiliti pa kami 'nyan!"
At the end of the day, it's really how you made your family feel better.
During the not-so-shiny days, I just think of that and how they giggle as they share who I am with their friends.
To my three lovely nieces, Elisbeth-Elisa Mari-Rhia Elinor, I love you!
One of the nieces talking to her friend, "Yan si Tito Nunoy. Pag kini-kiss kamin nyan sa cheeks, ang tagal-tagal. Tapos ang diin. Tapos kinikiliti pa kami 'nyan!"
At the end of the day, it's really how you made your family feel better.
During the not-so-shiny days, I just think of that and how they giggle as they share who I am with their friends.
To my three lovely nieces, Elisbeth-Elisa Mari-Rhia Elinor, I love you!
Saturday
"truly, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder..."
It was this Thursday, last.
I was surfing the cable channels when I stopped at a program that was discussing and focused on Philippine business, to be specific, the SM-Investment Corporation, I think.
It stoked my interest because the CFO Siao(?) was talking about investing and burying some PhP 10 billion in the next three years in their pet project in Roxas Boulevard where Mall of Asia is. The money will be used to expand the current reality of Mall of Asia to something like having our own version of Singapore in the beautiful and scenic Manila Bay.
I was surfing the cable channels when I stopped at a program that was discussing and focused on Philippine business, to be specific, the SM-Investment Corporation, I think.
It stoked my interest because the CFO Siao(?) was talking about investing and burying some PhP 10 billion in the next three years in their pet project in Roxas Boulevard where Mall of Asia is. The money will be used to expand the current reality of Mall of Asia to something like having our own version of Singapore in the beautiful and scenic Manila Bay.
Pompous hot air?
I don't think so. This guy is a CFO and to say what he said in broadcast TV and not mean it is stupendous stupidity = )
Sidebar - can anything compare to our Manila Bay sunset? Have you seen it recently? Try the one sometime in April or May. You'll be blown away. Promise.
What is beautiful about this whole exercise is that the physical land where Mall of Asia is on is actually reclaimed land. Reclaimed from the sea. Meaning, it was not there to begin with. That was part of the sea originally. It is there now because someone saw what was not there. That person saw a dream, the potential of the spot. He moved away and shifted his sight to look at the potential and not to what it was in the naked eye. Beautiful.
And because of that, that spot along the reclaimed land is worth putting in PhP 10 Billion.
Could we also do this for our students? Our learners? Not see who they are but their potential?
Here's a confession. I have had students who got a grade of 2.75 or even a 3.0 (1.0 being the highest), some even got a failing mark but who is a definite 1.0 on the "Potential Scale." Maybe they already started to believe what the others have been telling them that they don't have it. That they will not amount to anything good, decent, GREAT!
I hope that when I met them, I made them feel different. I hope I reminded them of their true great selves. I hope I've reminded them of the 7 year old version of themselves. When things are simply possible = )
If this blog entry struck a chord in you, I really meant to talk to you! Promise!
Tuesday
and then the heavens opened up...
At a time when the future starts to look foreboding, heaven smiles.
Finally - questions were asked. Heaven's wink for a learning facilitator like me.
As most of my classes start, it begun non-chalantly for the students. It's a requirement afterall, the curriculum. Then it proceeds to worry after the first quiz has been returned. And by the third quiz - hands are raised and questions abound.
It is painful to realize that what we know is not enough. It is in this delicate and fertile stage that one is really ready to learn. That's why I really think that humility is essential for a learner. A realization. A eureka. Openness is key for learning to happen.
Paradigm shift as Covey said.
I thank God because He allowed me this "openness" on the 5th week of a 10-week term. I pray that He equips me to pour what needs to be poured for the remaining weeks. There is so much to learn. SO much to impart.
Lord, prepare the room. The laptop. The LCD. The students. That they may be true to the meaning of what it means to be a student.
Lord, prepare me too. That I become the man You created in my mother's womb. That I be true to the calling. That I may be true to You, my Audience of One.
Lord, I am fumbling fool. I have my moments of weakness. Lord, not this time. Let me live through the time with courage like a lion of Judah.
I am Yours, save me.
Finally - questions were asked. Heaven's wink for a learning facilitator like me.
As most of my classes start, it begun non-chalantly for the students. It's a requirement afterall, the curriculum. Then it proceeds to worry after the first quiz has been returned. And by the third quiz - hands are raised and questions abound.
It is painful to realize that what we know is not enough. It is in this delicate and fertile stage that one is really ready to learn. That's why I really think that humility is essential for a learner. A realization. A eureka. Openness is key for learning to happen.
Paradigm shift as Covey said.
I thank God because He allowed me this "openness" on the 5th week of a 10-week term. I pray that He equips me to pour what needs to be poured for the remaining weeks. There is so much to learn. SO much to impart.
Lord, prepare the room. The laptop. The LCD. The students. That they may be true to the meaning of what it means to be a student.
Lord, prepare me too. That I become the man You created in my mother's womb. That I be true to the calling. That I may be true to You, my Audience of One.
Lord, I am fumbling fool. I have my moments of weakness. Lord, not this time. Let me live through the time with courage like a lion of Judah.
I am Yours, save me.
Monday
The Sun, The Moon and The Earth
It's funny when you think that the very people that our government have mistreated and limitedly cared about is the very people that has kept the economy afloat.
The very people that's the victim of the dangerously limited leadership is the very people that makes the "dangerously limited leadership" looks acceptable to the eyes of of our world creditors with their Fitch Ratings.
Funny. Painful. That's the Philippines. My country. My Motherland. The Pearl of the Orient.
But why do our OFWs send dollars home? For their families. That's definite.
The politicians who hogs the limelight is more like the moon to the sun. It would not shine if the love of our OFWs for their families is not there.
So, here's plea to the receiving end of the sun's love, the OFW's family - spend the dollars wisely. Spend it on the education of the next generation. Spend it on books. Spend it on trips to the museum. Let them see that the Philippines, the sick man of Asia now, have produced great men like Rizal and Luna. Expand their view when it comes to the heroes they embraced. Be afraid if all they know are the winners of the talent search from the Channel 2 and Channel 7. Spend it also on trips to the cemetery of our fallen recent heroes. Spend it also on trips to the beautiful places in the Philippines. Expand their view of the Philippines. Spend it also on the trips to Singapore that they see the context of the Philippines in Asia. Spend it on things that will last awhile longer than Game Boy and XBox. Spend it on their character.
And please don't just be a spender. Invest also. Invest. Put up a sari-sari store. Put up a tapahan in your neighborhood. Spend it on setting your own neighborhood child care facility. Charge your neighbor a fee = ) Invest. You are not just a consumer. You are an investor, too. Invest.
And to the Moon, the government, you have a role to play too. You have to understand that the tides on earth is controlled by the gravitational pull of the moon. Please set things in order. Provide for the services and infrastructure to make this happen. Please be consistent in delivering the services. Please be there. Please be predictable in a good way. Keep the schedule of new moon and full moon. Please be consistent, predictable.
But please do not forget, the Moon reflects only the Sun's light. So please do not be a Sun = )
But there would come a time that the roles will change but for the mean time - let the order stay for the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.
The very people that's the victim of the dangerously limited leadership is the very people that makes the "dangerously limited leadership" looks acceptable to the eyes of of our world creditors with their Fitch Ratings.
Funny. Painful. That's the Philippines. My country. My Motherland. The Pearl of the Orient.
But why do our OFWs send dollars home? For their families. That's definite.
The politicians who hogs the limelight is more like the moon to the sun. It would not shine if the love of our OFWs for their families is not there.
So, here's plea to the receiving end of the sun's love, the OFW's family - spend the dollars wisely. Spend it on the education of the next generation. Spend it on books. Spend it on trips to the museum. Let them see that the Philippines, the sick man of Asia now, have produced great men like Rizal and Luna. Expand their view when it comes to the heroes they embraced. Be afraid if all they know are the winners of the talent search from the Channel 2 and Channel 7. Spend it also on trips to the cemetery of our fallen recent heroes. Spend it also on trips to the beautiful places in the Philippines. Expand their view of the Philippines. Spend it also on the trips to Singapore that they see the context of the Philippines in Asia. Spend it on things that will last awhile longer than Game Boy and XBox. Spend it on their character.
And please don't just be a spender. Invest also. Invest. Put up a sari-sari store. Put up a tapahan in your neighborhood. Spend it on setting your own neighborhood child care facility. Charge your neighbor a fee = ) Invest. You are not just a consumer. You are an investor, too. Invest.
And to the Moon, the government, you have a role to play too. You have to understand that the tides on earth is controlled by the gravitational pull of the moon. Please set things in order. Provide for the services and infrastructure to make this happen. Please be consistent in delivering the services. Please be there. Please be predictable in a good way. Keep the schedule of new moon and full moon. Please be consistent, predictable.
But please do not forget, the Moon reflects only the Sun's light. So please do not be a Sun = )
But there would come a time that the roles will change but for the mean time - let the order stay for the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.
Saturday
i am my own enemy
Lest I start to believe I am excused. I am not. I am part of the problem, too.
I am part of the problem when I don't do my best. I am part of the problem when I hide. I am part of the problem when I am not honest with myself and with others. I am part of the problem when I choose to look the other way. I am part of the problem when I ran away when I should have stepped up and faced the fire.
I am part of the problem when I believe that the enemy is out there.
I have my struggles.
I have my victories as well as my defeats.
But as long as I breathe, as long as I am alive, as long as God allows me to wake up - I will not let today's defeats be the enemy of my tomorrow's victories.
Just like everybody - I am forgiven. I am a work in progress.
I am part of the problem when I don't do my best. I am part of the problem when I hide. I am part of the problem when I am not honest with myself and with others. I am part of the problem when I choose to look the other way. I am part of the problem when I ran away when I should have stepped up and faced the fire.
I am part of the problem when I believe that the enemy is out there.
I have my struggles.
I have my victories as well as my defeats.
But as long as I breathe, as long as I am alive, as long as God allows me to wake up - I will not let today's defeats be the enemy of my tomorrow's victories.
Just like everybody - I am forgiven. I am a work in progress.
the enemy is NOT out there
But please, don't get me wrong.
Our situation is not the sole fault of the limitly inspired "powers that be". We are also part of this problem. And to go thru who has more fault is a useless and bitter exercise. I personally will not let the mistakes, defeats and setbacks of today and of the past be the enemy of my victories tomorrow. (A Knick-great once said that line.)
The past does not belong in the future. Let's bury the dead, so to speak, but let's not forget them, too = )
But here's the beauty of this situation. If we are part of this situation then we are also part of its solution. Serious. Dead serious.
Think, when was the last time we actually talked to our congressmen? (Do they have time to talk to us?) When was the last time we asked our local executives how did they use our taxes?
That's a small step. And that step is a step in the right direction.
I really like this segment in CNN called "Keeping them honest", hosted by Anderson Cooper. (I think he is the great grandchild of the famous Vanderbuilt clan.)
The segment is about tracing how congress allocated and used the taxpayers money in making their respective district better, more economically viable.
How I wish we can have that here in the Philippines.
Soon.
I know we will have this but something has to change about us. We have to ask questions and demand answers, not from the President, but from our local executives and our congressman on what they have done with the hard-earned money we gave them in form of taxes?
It seems that we rather choose this ongoing Maalala mo kaya line, "Wala naman tayong magagawa dyan. Wala namang pag-asa dyan kung aantayin nating silang magbago. Mag-abroad na lang tayo at mag-hanap ng pera. Wala naman tayong mapapala sa ating gobyerno."
But which one is easier or harder - to personally ask our "leaders" about their actions and hold them responsible for their actions and for their decision or to risk the next generation Filipinos to grow up in a home where one of the parents is an OFW?
What is the social and emotional cost for the next generation Pinoy for our "not wanting to ask" our leaders and holding them accountable?
How many broken lives will it take?
How many songs in the tradition of "Napakasakit Kuya Eddie" must be written until we understand that we are part of the problem and being part of the problem also part of the solution?
The enemy is NOT out there. It resides in the thoughts we embrace. It resides in the beliefs we never bother to challenge.
The enemy is NOT out there.
Our situation is not the sole fault of the limitly inspired "powers that be". We are also part of this problem. And to go thru who has more fault is a useless and bitter exercise. I personally will not let the mistakes, defeats and setbacks of today and of the past be the enemy of my victories tomorrow. (A Knick-great once said that line.)
The past does not belong in the future. Let's bury the dead, so to speak, but let's not forget them, too = )
But here's the beauty of this situation. If we are part of this situation then we are also part of its solution. Serious. Dead serious.
Think, when was the last time we actually talked to our congressmen? (Do they have time to talk to us?) When was the last time we asked our local executives how did they use our taxes?
That's a small step. And that step is a step in the right direction.
I really like this segment in CNN called "Keeping them honest", hosted by Anderson Cooper. (I think he is the great grandchild of the famous Vanderbuilt clan.)
The segment is about tracing how congress allocated and used the taxpayers money in making their respective district better, more economically viable.
How I wish we can have that here in the Philippines.
Soon.
I know we will have this but something has to change about us. We have to ask questions and demand answers, not from the President, but from our local executives and our congressman on what they have done with the hard-earned money we gave them in form of taxes?
It seems that we rather choose this ongoing Maalala mo kaya line, "Wala naman tayong magagawa dyan. Wala namang pag-asa dyan kung aantayin nating silang magbago. Mag-abroad na lang tayo at mag-hanap ng pera. Wala naman tayong mapapala sa ating gobyerno."
But which one is easier or harder - to personally ask our "leaders" about their actions and hold them responsible for their actions and for their decision or to risk the next generation Filipinos to grow up in a home where one of the parents is an OFW?
What is the social and emotional cost for the next generation Pinoy for our "not wanting to ask" our leaders and holding them accountable?
How many broken lives will it take?
How many songs in the tradition of "Napakasakit Kuya Eddie" must be written until we understand that we are part of the problem and being part of the problem also part of the solution?
The enemy is NOT out there. It resides in the thoughts we embrace. It resides in the beliefs we never bother to challenge.
The enemy is NOT out there.
Thursday
parliamentary Philippines reloaded
So, what's the significance of the 12 million OFWs to the "parliamentarization" of the Philippines?
Think - why do we have 12 million OFWs?
Is it because all of them are greedy and want a California Dream or is it because one of the major pillars that suppose to create opportunities so that they can have a California Dream while living in the Pearl of the Orient is not functioning the way its envisioned and mandated?
They went out because there's not enough opportunities in our Motherland. Period.
One of the strongest reasons why this is so is because of how things behave in our current times, the status quo.
The power in our land is still in hands of an "elite" group who has held the same power over a century ago. I won't be surprised if we do some research and number pushing and see that power is handed over from one family to another then back to that family again.
This system is one of the strongest reasons why we are in this seemingly lethargic rut. The system is running out of diversity, of new variables, in order to thrive in a new globalized world. Essentially, this is incest = )
And here's the funny part, I think, these "powers that be" response is to strengthen their hold in a system that's bursting and demanding - change. They are strengthening their hold by "parliamentarization". By staying the same. By concentrating power and hastening decision making within a smaller group.
The last two stated characteristics of parliament is truly beautiful but it's only attractive and inspiring if and only if - we trust the "powers that be". If we don't trust them - then all is a mere seduction. A temptation. A set up. Not love.
If we go parliament without including the 12 million voting OFWs , we support the status quo. We support the view that the Philippines is just a part of the Pacific Islands and not of Asia.
Let's include those who have seen.
Let's include those who have experienced globalization first hand in deciding how we should be governed.
Let's include those who have suffered the effects of the status quo.
Let's include the victims of the present mindset of the "powers that be" in evolving our society to something else.
All is not loss. Think swamp land then Singapore. Think Nevada desert then Las Vegas.
Think - why do we have 12 million OFWs?
Is it because all of them are greedy and want a California Dream or is it because one of the major pillars that suppose to create opportunities so that they can have a California Dream while living in the Pearl of the Orient is not functioning the way its envisioned and mandated?
They went out because there's not enough opportunities in our Motherland. Period.
One of the strongest reasons why this is so is because of how things behave in our current times, the status quo.
The power in our land is still in hands of an "elite" group who has held the same power over a century ago. I won't be surprised if we do some research and number pushing and see that power is handed over from one family to another then back to that family again.
This system is one of the strongest reasons why we are in this seemingly lethargic rut. The system is running out of diversity, of new variables, in order to thrive in a new globalized world. Essentially, this is incest = )
And here's the funny part, I think, these "powers that be" response is to strengthen their hold in a system that's bursting and demanding - change. They are strengthening their hold by "parliamentarization". By staying the same. By concentrating power and hastening decision making within a smaller group.
The last two stated characteristics of parliament is truly beautiful but it's only attractive and inspiring if and only if - we trust the "powers that be". If we don't trust them - then all is a mere seduction. A temptation. A set up. Not love.
If we go parliament without including the 12 million voting OFWs , we support the status quo. We support the view that the Philippines is just a part of the Pacific Islands and not of Asia.
Let's include those who have seen.
Let's include those who have experienced globalization first hand in deciding how we should be governed.
Let's include those who have suffered the effects of the status quo.
Let's include the victims of the present mindset of the "powers that be" in evolving our society to something else.
All is not loss. Think swamp land then Singapore. Think Nevada desert then Las Vegas.
Tuesday
parliamentary Philippines
There was a moment when I was part of an audience where the former President Fidel V. Ramos spoke. It was in our graduate class in one of the conference rooms on the fourth floor of the RCBC Tower. Maybe around the second half of 2000.
I stood up as he entered. Why? I don't know. Maybe because my professor at that time only told us that he invited a very prominent speaker. I did not expect that it would be FVR. I stood up to confirm. I think.
The West Point education showed. The presidential aura and mojo still envelopes him. I was impressed. He spoke clearly. No non-sense.
That's why, at that time, I agreed with him when he said that the Philippines would be better if it goes parliamentary. My attention is always held by speakers who know what they're talking about and they say it in the most straighforward way. Simple.
A deeper chord was struck when he said that the parliamentray system would ensure that the best suited candidate would seat in Malacanang and not the most popular, like Erap.
And up to this moment that is true but my awareness of the situation has expanded since then.
History would show that the type of government follows a certain unfolding. An evolution of sorts. From King or Emperor to Presidents and then to a House of Commons. But this government evolution of sorts is a reflection of the maturity of the governed.
That's why we have the emperors and kings of the old world, from the Greco-Roman to the Anglo-Saxons and to the Sino-Malay civilizations. The pattern is Emperor/Kings to an evolution to a democracy. Look at China now, a socialist country behaving like a capitalist. It won't be long it would have a Sino version of Democracy running in its veins.
But the United Kingdom example is intriguing, the House of Commons.
This is what the administration politicians want and they are swaying the masses to dance to ChaCha.
Off the bat, I disagree with Parliamentary system not because GMA is pushing it.
I disagree with it because of one glaring fact - most of our educated and globalized minds of our population is out of the country making a living. Sending billions of dollars. From the last count, 12 million OFWs. Roughly, 15 % of our population and definitely more than a third of the voting populace.
Why would I exclude their voice because of greed-ravaged economics, of uninspired logistics, of limited view technology and of a misplaced sense of patriotic self-righteousness?
The House of Commons works because the globalized people of the United Kingdom can vote. This is not true for the case of the Pearl of the Orient. Our situation is different. Our values is different. Our greed is different. Our hopes is different. Our dreams is different. Our journey is different.
Let's not "plug and play" for we are different. Let's not use easy arguements.
I stood up as he entered. Why? I don't know. Maybe because my professor at that time only told us that he invited a very prominent speaker. I did not expect that it would be FVR. I stood up to confirm. I think.
The West Point education showed. The presidential aura and mojo still envelopes him. I was impressed. He spoke clearly. No non-sense.
That's why, at that time, I agreed with him when he said that the Philippines would be better if it goes parliamentary. My attention is always held by speakers who know what they're talking about and they say it in the most straighforward way. Simple.
A deeper chord was struck when he said that the parliamentray system would ensure that the best suited candidate would seat in Malacanang and not the most popular, like Erap.
And up to this moment that is true but my awareness of the situation has expanded since then.
History would show that the type of government follows a certain unfolding. An evolution of sorts. From King or Emperor to Presidents and then to a House of Commons. But this government evolution of sorts is a reflection of the maturity of the governed.
That's why we have the emperors and kings of the old world, from the Greco-Roman to the Anglo-Saxons and to the Sino-Malay civilizations. The pattern is Emperor/Kings to an evolution to a democracy. Look at China now, a socialist country behaving like a capitalist. It won't be long it would have a Sino version of Democracy running in its veins.
But the United Kingdom example is intriguing, the House of Commons.
This is what the administration politicians want and they are swaying the masses to dance to ChaCha.
Off the bat, I disagree with Parliamentary system not because GMA is pushing it.
I disagree with it because of one glaring fact - most of our educated and globalized minds of our population is out of the country making a living. Sending billions of dollars. From the last count, 12 million OFWs. Roughly, 15 % of our population and definitely more than a third of the voting populace.
Why would I exclude their voice because of greed-ravaged economics, of uninspired logistics, of limited view technology and of a misplaced sense of patriotic self-righteousness?
The House of Commons works because the globalized people of the United Kingdom can vote. This is not true for the case of the Pearl of the Orient. Our situation is different. Our values is different. Our greed is different. Our hopes is different. Our dreams is different. Our journey is different.
Let's not "plug and play" for we are different. Let's not use easy arguements.
Monday
the view from the hospital bed
Affliction really has this beautiful and wonderful way of expanding our awareness of how limited, though it may seem inspired, our view is of what's is significant and important in our lives.
An this is my epiphany when I was on the hospital bed - that the most important thing in my life is the quality of relationship that I have with the people that I love and hold very dear. I also visited the question if I have done good in this world and if I have blessed the lives of others. Everything else is peripheral and ancillary, a very distant milky way second.
Knowledge, intelligence, the things I have achieved and the things that I own became insignificant. Faith and courage is suddenly front and center.
An this is my epiphany when I was on the hospital bed - that the most important thing in my life is the quality of relationship that I have with the people that I love and hold very dear. I also visited the question if I have done good in this world and if I have blessed the lives of others. Everything else is peripheral and ancillary, a very distant milky way second.
Knowledge, intelligence, the things I have achieved and the things that I own became insignificant. Faith and courage is suddenly front and center.
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