In everything, give thanks = )
- For having the mercy to call me and to know Him. Thank you, Lord for everything specially for my continuous health and this unceasing push to continually seek learning.
- To Mapua's School of IE-EMG, for the opportunity to offer my gifts, talents and service.
- To Beb, for always choosing to love an imperfect and fault-ridden me. This coming 2010 is a special year for us.
- To my family: Tatay, Nanay, Tuto, Ate Rose, Elisbeth, Elisa Marie, Ria Elinor, Jan Elis and Ellis - I am not me without all of you.
- To my spiritual family: Campus Crusade for Christ, Influencers, Miler, JC, Ron, Mark, Chris, Marlyn, Orpah and those who pray anonymously for my well-being, thank you for all the prayers. I really needed them in this walk and journey with God.
- To Kaka, every time we are together, though the age piles up, we are each others fountain of youth.
- To Imaj, for the opportunity to share and hone my managerial and leadership skills in the business and the entertainment world.
- To Sir Joe, for opportunity to sharpen my awareness and skill on everything about improvement.
- To Sir Henry, for the gift of affirming to me a dream that I hold dear that I dare not speak...only in hush prayers and longings.
- To National Bookstore, PowerBooks and Fully Booked, for making "rosetta" stones available everywhere.
- To "espn.com/nba and cnnsi.com/nba", for the insights = )
- To Manny Pacquiao, for the glory and pride you bring to the Filipino people. Please stop making movies. You are a real hero. Not a silver screen superhero. And please listen to what F. Sionil Jose wrote for you.
- To Ondoy and Pepeng, for bringing us to a deeper understanding of what ails our country and what should we do about it.
- To bad politicians, for ingraining in us what is bad so that we never forget once it is our turn to lead = )
- To good politicians, for reminding us that not everyone is asleep.
- To my critics, for expanding my views and become more inclusive.
- To my patters, for letting me know the good steps I took.
- To the students, including those who listened and those who simply passed by, for the privilege of having your attention = )
- To business partners in the business of making sure businesses in the Philippines remain relevant and competitive, thank you for the opportunity to be of service and to learn from your experiences.
May we all have a meaningful and grace-filled 2010.
"To God be all the glory..."
Thursday
Wednesday
My Jose Rizal blog entry
Over a century ago, Jose Mercado Rizal, our national hero, was shot at Bagumbayan.
I knew him first through stories that has a gamu-gamo in it. Later, in high school, thanks to Ms Mylene Capati, my Filipino teacher during my sophomore and junior years, Rizal became an inspiration through his works of Noli Me Tangre and El Filibusterismo. Though both are required read during high school, it made a mark because Ms Capati challenged us to stage the best play about Noli Me Tangre. So, we did = )
I still remember how our room at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 217, called "The Bag", was transformed to become the backdrop to fit the first 20 chapters of Noli Me Tangre. We had two nitso at the back of the room to the horror of our teachers. Specially, Ma'am Silvela, our Religion teacher = )
The beauty of the whole becoming-a-man situation is that, in order for one to stage a play about Rizal's work, one has to read the book which encourages one to reading and understanding the Philippines during Rizal's time.
Back then, me and my high school friends, the KAKA, got into theater big time. (By the way, Kaka is the term Crispin uses when he calls his older brother, Basilio, in Noli Me Tangere. Which will also tell you, that these moments were not simply a stage play but a galvanizing point that will forever link the lives of twelve men.) By that, I mean, we read the novels in order to understand the nuances and objectives of each of the character so that we can create what Rizal was trying to say. So that in return, the audience can experience his work in a new way.
It was only recently, after finishing reading the book called The First Filipino, a book first printed in the 60s, that my understanding of Rizal grew deeper. The book made Rizal real to me. Expounded the internal mechanism that drove him to be become who he is. This has shifted his heroism, for me, from the area of myths and genes towards the science of psychology, environment, nature and nurture.
It also explained to me why he wrote so strongly. So beautifully. His obras, his magnum opus, his works after all was written before he was 33. His work were untarnished with the beautiful burden of having a wife and raising kids. He wrote the books even before he was domesticated = )
But one can argue, how could a man love someone completely if his burden is the whole independence of the Philippines? I even doubt, if he could find a true partner at that time to share his burdens. For one, only few women would really understand him and get him for only a privilege few ever went to school. And it would not also help that it was customary, at that time, to have single educated ladies be married via arrangement as early as 15 years old. And the fact that his surname, Mercado, is linked to Burgos of the GomBurZa in a bad way as seen through Spanish eyes, didn't help either. Plus, Facebook has not been invented yet = )
I do not mean to trivialized his greatness. I firmly believe that he is the greatest Malay to have ever lived. His circumstances, his choices and decisions and the result of those is legendary. Heroic indeed. And the book made me understand him as a man, as a Filipino. The book made him accessible to me. Made him a friend, a brother. He came alive = )
After reading the book I was thrown back to a chapter in El Filibusterismo, when Simoun, the more seasoned Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangre, was talking with and actually lambasting Basilio's semi-charmed life. I felt sad because Rizal's observation in the 19th century is still very true now at the 21st.
It is true, "... nothing is new under the sun."
Now, as a I do my morning run and as I reach the front of his monument at the Luneta, I will forever offer a salute as I pass by.
Rizal showed what was possible. And now, I believe him in ways unknown in my past.
"... why think like mere men?"
I knew him first through stories that has a gamu-gamo in it. Later, in high school, thanks to Ms Mylene Capati, my Filipino teacher during my sophomore and junior years, Rizal became an inspiration through his works of Noli Me Tangre and El Filibusterismo. Though both are required read during high school, it made a mark because Ms Capati challenged us to stage the best play about Noli Me Tangre. So, we did = )
I still remember how our room at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 217, called "The Bag", was transformed to become the backdrop to fit the first 20 chapters of Noli Me Tangre. We had two nitso at the back of the room to the horror of our teachers. Specially, Ma'am Silvela, our Religion teacher = )
The beauty of the whole becoming-a-man situation is that, in order for one to stage a play about Rizal's work, one has to read the book which encourages one to reading and understanding the Philippines during Rizal's time.
Back then, me and my high school friends, the KAKA, got into theater big time. (By the way, Kaka is the term Crispin uses when he calls his older brother, Basilio, in Noli Me Tangere. Which will also tell you, that these moments were not simply a stage play but a galvanizing point that will forever link the lives of twelve men.) By that, I mean, we read the novels in order to understand the nuances and objectives of each of the character so that we can create what Rizal was trying to say. So that in return, the audience can experience his work in a new way.
It was only recently, after finishing reading the book called The First Filipino, a book first printed in the 60s, that my understanding of Rizal grew deeper. The book made Rizal real to me. Expounded the internal mechanism that drove him to be become who he is. This has shifted his heroism, for me, from the area of myths and genes towards the science of psychology, environment, nature and nurture.
It also explained to me why he wrote so strongly. So beautifully. His obras, his magnum opus, his works after all was written before he was 33. His work were untarnished with the beautiful burden of having a wife and raising kids. He wrote the books even before he was domesticated = )
But one can argue, how could a man love someone completely if his burden is the whole independence of the Philippines? I even doubt, if he could find a true partner at that time to share his burdens. For one, only few women would really understand him and get him for only a privilege few ever went to school. And it would not also help that it was customary, at that time, to have single educated ladies be married via arrangement as early as 15 years old. And the fact that his surname, Mercado, is linked to Burgos of the GomBurZa in a bad way as seen through Spanish eyes, didn't help either. Plus, Facebook has not been invented yet = )
I do not mean to trivialized his greatness. I firmly believe that he is the greatest Malay to have ever lived. His circumstances, his choices and decisions and the result of those is legendary. Heroic indeed. And the book made me understand him as a man, as a Filipino. The book made him accessible to me. Made him a friend, a brother. He came alive = )
After reading the book I was thrown back to a chapter in El Filibusterismo, when Simoun, the more seasoned Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangre, was talking with and actually lambasting Basilio's semi-charmed life. I felt sad because Rizal's observation in the 19th century is still very true now at the 21st.
It is true, "... nothing is new under the sun."
Now, as a I do my morning run and as I reach the front of his monument at the Luneta, I will forever offer a salute as I pass by.
Rizal showed what was possible. And now, I believe him in ways unknown in my past.
"... why think like mere men?"
Saturday
the story that was Dec 2009-IE302
I just finished checking my IE302 class' last quiz and boy, there were surprises. I'll focus on one particular curiosity = )
You see, I got a student who has taken this class twice already. This is this student's third attempt and lo behold, he ranks third in the class performance. To boot, a notch higher than the usual scholars.
Let's spend sometime on this fact for awhile.
For the cynical and the hurt people out there, one will surmise that it is only appropriate that this student ranks that high. I mean, it is this student's third time after all.
But here's the thing, that logic of "three's a charm" only holds water if and only if all the exams are the same. But exams are not the same. In fact, it can argued by those who has taken this class a second time and the very student we are discussing, that this class was filled with more challenges than the previous ones.
If this is true, what would explain the student's performance? A performance even better than the usual scholars?
I am in an opinion, that this student has made ***self as smart as the scholars by sheer will and repetition. I mean, the scholars are scholars because of maybe genes and their early embrace and epiphany on the benefits of classroom prowess.
But this student, had to reach that epiphany through a different path. Maybe this path has not been shown to *** earlier in *** life. And epiphany only happens now.
To the student, I have this to say - you are as smart as the so called scholars now. Maybe not in the past. But you are now.
It is now up to you, if you want to be like this tomorrow and for the rest of your life.
But let us not get ahead of ourselves yet. Let's enjoy this and let me say that I am glad you are now!
Finish this.
"... why think like mere men?"
You see, I got a student who has taken this class twice already. This is this student's third attempt and lo behold, he ranks third in the class performance. To boot, a notch higher than the usual scholars.
Let's spend sometime on this fact for awhile.
For the cynical and the hurt people out there, one will surmise that it is only appropriate that this student ranks that high. I mean, it is this student's third time after all.
But here's the thing, that logic of "three's a charm" only holds water if and only if all the exams are the same. But exams are not the same. In fact, it can argued by those who has taken this class a second time and the very student we are discussing, that this class was filled with more challenges than the previous ones.
If this is true, what would explain the student's performance? A performance even better than the usual scholars?
I am in an opinion, that this student has made ***self as smart as the scholars by sheer will and repetition. I mean, the scholars are scholars because of maybe genes and their early embrace and epiphany on the benefits of classroom prowess.
But this student, had to reach that epiphany through a different path. Maybe this path has not been shown to *** earlier in *** life. And epiphany only happens now.
To the student, I have this to say - you are as smart as the so called scholars now. Maybe not in the past. But you are now.
It is now up to you, if you want to be like this tomorrow and for the rest of your life.
But let us not get ahead of ourselves yet. Let's enjoy this and let me say that I am glad you are now!
Finish this.
"... why think like mere men?"
The BRAT Diet
Let me be clear on this. I am not assigning blame. I am not assigning accountability. I am narrating what happened to me.
It happened last Saturday, December 19. I had lunch after my 9:00-10:30 class was done. Bought fish fillet and pechay at our school canteen.
It started around past 1:00PM with the frequent trips to the loo. I went five times within one hour. I was dehydrated for the first time in my life. I felt weak. This feeling of weakness is a first and unnerving. You see, I jog every other day for almost seven years now. I can continuously jog for 45 minutes without stopping and I will be fine. Of course, I have to drink water after that but the feeling of weakness that Saturday afternoon was new.
Went down to the school clinic and stayed there. I missed the end of my MGT164 class and my Graduate class and for that I am sorry for my class.
I was given the usual prescription. The kind doctor gave me hydrite and allowed me to sleep until past 4PM. During that downtime, I went to the loo for three more times. I was really weak. So weak that my sense of bearing relaxed.
When I ask the doctor if this was life threatening, he simply said, "No. It will go away. It is self-limiting."
Thirty minutes after that conversation, I decided to go the hospital. And this is where I found out the extent of definition of the Hippocratic oath embraced by our school. I can not and will not blame them. Though they are medical staff, they are also employees. I understand. Policy is policy. And nobody died after all = ) And they can argue, the policy worked.
But a sick man, in pain, weak and really dehydrated, would surely appreciate an extra mile. But beggars can not be choosers = )
My fault is that, I am used to giving an extra mile when it comes to the students and I assumed that in my weakened state, in this situation, I will be on the receiving end but I was wrong. It is an EXTRA mile after all. And it is still six days before Christmas = )
Or maybe I simply did not show enough pain = )
But please do not get me wrong. I am deeply thankful for the medical assistance of our school. Things could have been worse without their help and first aid. So let me be clear about this,from the heart of my heart, "Thank you, Mapua Clinic!"
They hailed me a cab and in ten minutes I was at the emergency room of Manila Doctors. I gave them the note that the school doctor gave. The attending physician was surprised to how neat was the penmanship of the doctor and I had enough humor in me to respond with a smile.
Curiously, they made me sign a waiver and I was put on dextrose. I was really dehydrated.
I thought I was on my road to recovery. But I was mistaken. I went to the Emergency Room's loo three more times and when the fecal analysis came back, the doctors made me stay at the hospital. Apparently, pus were everywhere. Pus is one of the manifestation when our body is fighting an infection. It appears that I was in the middle of a microbial fight inside my digestive system. I was in pain. I was weak. I was perspiring. I was cold. And Beb, fearfully, saw my colors leave. I was groaning. Shouting for nurses, for doctors.
I felt like vomiting when they injected me with pain killers. I did not like the effect it had on me. Plus, it did not make the pain in my stomach go away. (And on hindsight, I guess, the waiver I nonchalantly signed will come in handy for the hospital if things did not turn out well.) And then, they finally injected me with anti-biotics. And in a few minutes, like magic, the pain was gone. And I was wheeled into my room at the third floor.
The discharges continued well into the night and until the next morning. I was given an "Ok to go home" after staying another night.
And on Monday, close to 9AM, the dextrose was removed and by 11 AM, I was back in school hearing Feasibility presentations. As if nothing happened. Though I was PhP 12,500 poorer = )
I am sure the various financial safety nets are in place. The money I spent will be recovered with the help of the Retirement Fund, FAMIT, PhilHealth and Grepalife Insurance.
But will my trust be recovered? Well, I do not know. But the more important question is - will, whoever is responsible for my hospital visit, even do a tiny thing to recover the trust? Or do they see all of us, including themselves, as a statistic. Void of dreams, of hopes and of a future. Unworthy of time and effort?
I understand the financial side of argument. It is true. It is really far more financially viable to maintain status quo and let the insurance dynamic handle it. Though this is the best thinking, staying with the best thinking that has showed its limitations and not making the "best thinking" better is something we should let go and leave behind in 2009. We are all better than that.
Replacing a social contract with a financial payment, a fine, is very limited.
Lord, I know you are in control. I know you have a plan for all of us. And "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you (us) a future and a hope..."
Thy will be done, Lord.
"... why think like mere men?"
By the way, BRAT stands for Banana, Rice, Apple and Tea. The diet for recovering patients like me who had a bout with a stomach infection = )
It happened last Saturday, December 19. I had lunch after my 9:00-10:30 class was done. Bought fish fillet and pechay at our school canteen.
It started around past 1:00PM with the frequent trips to the loo. I went five times within one hour. I was dehydrated for the first time in my life. I felt weak. This feeling of weakness is a first and unnerving. You see, I jog every other day for almost seven years now. I can continuously jog for 45 minutes without stopping and I will be fine. Of course, I have to drink water after that but the feeling of weakness that Saturday afternoon was new.
Went down to the school clinic and stayed there. I missed the end of my MGT164 class and my Graduate class and for that I am sorry for my class.
I was given the usual prescription. The kind doctor gave me hydrite and allowed me to sleep until past 4PM. During that downtime, I went to the loo for three more times. I was really weak. So weak that my sense of bearing relaxed.
When I ask the doctor if this was life threatening, he simply said, "No. It will go away. It is self-limiting."
Thirty minutes after that conversation, I decided to go the hospital. And this is where I found out the extent of definition of the Hippocratic oath embraced by our school. I can not and will not blame them. Though they are medical staff, they are also employees. I understand. Policy is policy. And nobody died after all = ) And they can argue, the policy worked.
But a sick man, in pain, weak and really dehydrated, would surely appreciate an extra mile. But beggars can not be choosers = )
My fault is that, I am used to giving an extra mile when it comes to the students and I assumed that in my weakened state, in this situation, I will be on the receiving end but I was wrong. It is an EXTRA mile after all. And it is still six days before Christmas = )
Or maybe I simply did not show enough pain = )
But please do not get me wrong. I am deeply thankful for the medical assistance of our school. Things could have been worse without their help and first aid. So let me be clear about this,from the heart of my heart, "Thank you, Mapua Clinic!"
They hailed me a cab and in ten minutes I was at the emergency room of Manila Doctors. I gave them the note that the school doctor gave. The attending physician was surprised to how neat was the penmanship of the doctor and I had enough humor in me to respond with a smile.
Curiously, they made me sign a waiver and I was put on dextrose. I was really dehydrated.
I thought I was on my road to recovery. But I was mistaken. I went to the Emergency Room's loo three more times and when the fecal analysis came back, the doctors made me stay at the hospital. Apparently, pus were everywhere. Pus is one of the manifestation when our body is fighting an infection. It appears that I was in the middle of a microbial fight inside my digestive system. I was in pain. I was weak. I was perspiring. I was cold. And Beb, fearfully, saw my colors leave. I was groaning. Shouting for nurses, for doctors.
I felt like vomiting when they injected me with pain killers. I did not like the effect it had on me. Plus, it did not make the pain in my stomach go away. (And on hindsight, I guess, the waiver I nonchalantly signed will come in handy for the hospital if things did not turn out well.) And then, they finally injected me with anti-biotics. And in a few minutes, like magic, the pain was gone. And I was wheeled into my room at the third floor.
The discharges continued well into the night and until the next morning. I was given an "Ok to go home" after staying another night.
And on Monday, close to 9AM, the dextrose was removed and by 11 AM, I was back in school hearing Feasibility presentations. As if nothing happened. Though I was PhP 12,500 poorer = )
I am sure the various financial safety nets are in place. The money I spent will be recovered with the help of the Retirement Fund, FAMIT, PhilHealth and Grepalife Insurance.
But will my trust be recovered? Well, I do not know. But the more important question is - will, whoever is responsible for my hospital visit, even do a tiny thing to recover the trust? Or do they see all of us, including themselves, as a statistic. Void of dreams, of hopes and of a future. Unworthy of time and effort?
I understand the financial side of argument. It is true. It is really far more financially viable to maintain status quo and let the insurance dynamic handle it. Though this is the best thinking, staying with the best thinking that has showed its limitations and not making the "best thinking" better is something we should let go and leave behind in 2009. We are all better than that.
Replacing a social contract with a financial payment, a fine, is very limited.
Lord, I know you are in control. I know you have a plan for all of us. And "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you (us) a future and a hope..."
Thy will be done, Lord.
"... why think like mere men?"
By the way, BRAT stands for Banana, Rice, Apple and Tea. The diet for recovering patients like me who had a bout with a stomach infection = )
Thursday
2009 Christmas!
To all my fellow seeker and journeyman who drops by and make their presence felt, I wish you, from the heart of my heart, a grace-filled and joyful Christmas!
May 2010 be a time of great adventure with our Christ The Lord... finally = )
".. why think like mere men?"
May 2010 be a time of great adventure with our Christ The Lord... finally = )
".. why think like mere men?"
Monday
one hundred dollar question
"Can you give $100 dollars if you do not have it?", ask my former senior manager.
"...No, Sir?!?", was my unsure youthful quip.
"Then, if you allow me this latitude and please follow me on this logic - if one does not have it. One can not give it. It is also true for situation like these - if one does not have inspiration, how can he inspire others?"
= )
I guess this is also why we have to be save... to be loved first before we can love. Christmas is His way of sending His love in flesh and blood, so that we can love others in return.
Lord, our Father, I am able to do what I am able to do because I received first. Everything I have, was given by You. I am able to live this life because You gave it to me and someone in the past prayed for my existence.
Thank you, po.
"... why think like mere men?"
"...No, Sir?!?", was my unsure youthful quip.
"Then, if you allow me this latitude and please follow me on this logic - if one does not have it. One can not give it. It is also true for situation like these - if one does not have inspiration, how can he inspire others?"
= )
I guess this is also why we have to be save... to be loved first before we can love. Christmas is His way of sending His love in flesh and blood, so that we can love others in return.
Lord, our Father, I am able to do what I am able to do because I received first. Everything I have, was given by You. I am able to live this life because You gave it to me and someone in the past prayed for my existence.
Thank you, po.
"... why think like mere men?"
Sunday
the privilege
The economist version:
"Our forefathers has to study politics and war, so that their sons and daughters can study economics and engineering so that their sons and daughters in return can study arts and music."
The called version:
"I am glad to be given the privilege to be part of the generation that has to die to one's self for the sake of the next..."
Thank you, Lord.
"... why think like mere men?"
"Our forefathers has to study politics and war, so that their sons and daughters can study economics and engineering so that their sons and daughters in return can study arts and music."
The called version:
"I am glad to be given the privilege to be part of the generation that has to die to one's self for the sake of the next..."
Thank you, Lord.
"... why think like mere men?"
Tuesday
astounding truth about our brains
I facilitate learning.
And when my eyes went through these words, "... the brain is not designed to think" - my eyes lit up and my jaw dropped. I could not believe that. And what makes it even more interesting is that these words were written by a cognitive psychologist, the expert among the super "freaks" on the subject called - learning = )
And here's one of the earlier astounding suggestions - "when the students can not seem to grasp a concept, do not give an easier quiz or work load. Just simply make thinking easier."
= )
My December 2009 is made now = )
Thanks, Lord!
"... why think like mere men?"
And when my eyes went through these words, "... the brain is not designed to think" - my eyes lit up and my jaw dropped. I could not believe that. And what makes it even more interesting is that these words were written by a cognitive psychologist, the expert among the super "freaks" on the subject called - learning = )
And here's one of the earlier astounding suggestions - "when the students can not seem to grasp a concept, do not give an easier quiz or work load. Just simply make thinking easier."
= )
My December 2009 is made now = )
Thanks, Lord!
"... why think like mere men?"
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