I Was There!

Yesterday marked another milestone in the pages of Philippine history. The first female president of the Philippines, Cory Aquino, who succumed to colon cancer on August 1, 2009, was finally laid to rest at the Manila Memorial Park, Sucat, Parañaque.

Seeing the Laban sign flashed by thousands of Filipinos on TV gave me goosebumps as it brought me back to my childhood memories when my neighbors, along with my siblings, acted like bullies at the streets, in our little town of Surigao. We did not necessarily know what we were fighting for (or shall we say, shouting for) nor we were aware of danger then as we saw helicopters flying above us and military vehicles passing by.

So much with the good ol' times (sigh!).. I decided to go to Magallanes yesterday and there I waited for Cory's funeral march to walk by. Check out the pictures which me and my colleagues captured:


I. people were already crowding the foot of flyover at the south superhighway corner edsa:




II. after the rain stopped: brrr! so cold!




III. the Laban sign!




IV. grabeh!
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1TXOcJMIT2TCBhpAcY28sZofkdvBxbvbOBNGqhyphenhyphennq9tY2mfauaSKv7Jgpq4Bg14R71mxKn0rj04cVNapRBs9By-y5GJBaBxKkFi8NDPs_u-hzLNMa3xfjdcJmuDPBDMfrvwaMcgTlwY/s1600-h/Photo-0004.jpg">



V. malapit na si tita cory!




VI. ayan na!




VII. ayan na talaga!




VIII. goodbye tita!


IX. ako yan pagkatapos manood :)

The Hopeless Romantic In Me

Here I am again.  The hopeless romantic in me strikes again.  Just last Friday, we had a videoke session with my colleagues (hey! that was part of our "team-building activity". hehehe).

Anyway, due to public demand, a good-looking gentleman (i heard he is a Director-lawyer) hit the song, "Hanggang" by Wency Cornejo.  He sang it with such passion that my officemate was teary-eyed while I, well, I was trying not to be affected (hehehe).  The consequence?  To this day, that song kept ringing in my ears. :(

Here is the lyrics of that song:

Ilang ulit mo bang, itinatanong sakin
Kung hanggang saan, hanggang saan, hanggang kailan,
Hanggang kailan magtatagal,
Ang aking pagmamahal,
 
Hanggang may himig pa akong naririnig,
Dito sa aking daigdig
Hanggang may musika akong tinataglay
Ika'y iniibig
 
Giliw wag mo sanang isiping
Ikaw ay aking lilisanin
Di ko magagawang
Lumayo sayong piling
At nais kong malaman mo
Kung gaano kita kamahal
 
Hanggang ang diwa ko'y
Tanging sayo laan
Mamahalin kailanman
Hanggang pag ibig ko'y
Hanggang walang hanggan
Tanging ikaw lamang
 
Hanggang may himig pa akong naririnig
Dito sa aking daigdig
Hanggang may musika akong tinataglay
Ika'y iniibig
 
Giliw wag mo sanang isiping
Ikaw ay aking lilisanin
Di ko magagawang
Lumayo sayong piling
At nais kong malaman mo
Kung gaano kita kamahal
 
Hanggang may puso akong
Marunong magmahal
Na ang sinisigaw ay lagi ng ikaw
Hanggang saan hanggang kailan
Hanggang kailan kita mahal
Hanggang ang buhay ko'y
Kunin ng may kapal
 
Giliw wag mo sanang isipin
Ikaw ay aking lilisanin
Di ko magagawang
Lumayo sayong piling
Hanggang may pag ibig
Laging isisigaw, tanging ikaw
Hanggang may pag-ibig
Laging isisigaw, tanging ikaw

Good News! Good News! Good News!

Yesterday, my officemate informed me that her daughter passed the Nursing Licensure Examination conducted last June 2009. And as if the good news was not enough, just an hour ago, my boss disclosed that her son has passed the recently-held Architect Licensure Examination.

To view the complete list of passers, please click new nurses and/or new architects.

By the way, my professor has also passed the nc-4 programming examination given by TESDA just few weeks ago.

I can say, with deep sincerity, that I am happy and proud of the achievements of the people who, somehow, has become part of my life.

To the passers, kudos and God bless! :)

ben...

today would have marked the 69th birthday of my father, ben, short for buenaventura. i would like to believe that i was also papa's girl, next to my only sister. hehehe

please don't get me wrong. i was never jealous of my sister or any of my siblings. my papa had his special ways of letting me know that I was also his favorite child. i remember during my early childhood days when he would sit me on his lap. he would fondly call me, "bhalah", which he mimicked from me every time i was asked about my nickname. of course, i could not correctly pronounce "guia" then. (yeah, i know. i could not see the connection. hehehe)

to my papa, happy birthday. i love you very much. you will always be the best father in the world.

i hope to see you again, in God's time. :)

erratum...

i recently got a comment that the prior-to-plane-crash photos i previously posted in this blog was, accordingly, taken from the tv series, "lost".

i haven't confronted yet my colleague who emailed that article to me. he is still alive, and i have yet to strangle him. hehehe

seriously speaking, my sincere apologies if that were proven to be bogus pictures. i, too, am a victim of that misleading information.

but one thing is for sure, the gruesome agony leading to the tragic death of those passengers was.. unimaginable and could not even be realistically depicted in a tv series or captured in a camera.

My prayers for their soul...

Quit a Bad Marriage?

When i was still in Butuan, i often heard comments like this, "so easy for you to surrender your marriage". Well, i hope the foregoing article, which i recently got from the e-newsletter of Bo Sanchez, will enlighten them, at least... ;)

I have to answer a difficult question today.

I received 120+ comments in my last Blog entry entitled "Quit Often To Succeed In Life". Six comments were from suffering wives who asked (my paraphrase), "Bo, can I quit my marriage? Jimboy isn't my boyfriend. He's my husband."

Here's my answer. To a married person, marriage is the purpose and the path.
So if you're talking about the ordinary problems of married life—like your hubby is cranky, insensitive, loud, disorganized, or lazy—love him anyway. These aren't marriage-breakers. Besides, if you think you don't have any faults, ask your mother to remind you what they are.
But I believe there are marriage-breakers: If your husband is physically and emotionally abusing you—get out. Or if he's on drugs—get out. Or if he's a gambling addict and can't stop, stealing, and losing everything—get out. Or if he's in adultery, get out.
I'm not saying you separate from him permanently. But by leaving him temporarily, you're telling him in no uncertain terms that the marriage can't go on if he continues to abuse you or continues to be unfaithful to you.

You're doing this to heal the marriage. Sometimes, marriage needs painful surgery. When there are marriage-breakers, your husband needs tough love.

But at the end of the day, if you've tried everything but he still persists in his sin, then he broke the marriage. Not you. Move on with your life. Either remain single, serve God, and live happy. Or seek a Legal and Church annulment if you wish to remarry.

If you're in a difficult marriage, go for counseling. Seek it out from spiritual elders and counselors in your area. You may also call our Counseling Center at Tel. (02) 7259999 or just log on at www.KerygmaFamily.com and click on "Counseling".

Let's pray…

Lord, I lift up the wife who is reading this now who is suffering in a difficult marriage. Embrace her now with your love. Heal the wounds in her heart. Lord, create a miracle and heal her marriage.
Give the abused wife the courage to give tough love.
Give the abused wife the strength to love herself.
Give the abused wife the provision to live apart from her abusive husband.
And I pray for a change in her husband's life.
I pray, if there's still that chance for conversion and transformation, to unite their marriage in love. I also pray for the children especially—be with them, hold them, heal them, and embrace them.
And I also pray for the spouse with an irreparable marriage.
I pray for strength to live life without her spouse, and still be happy with You, with her friends, and her spiritual family. Lead her to a life of love and service and happiness. I claim your promise when you said that all things—no matter how bad—will work for her good—in Jesus name, Amen.