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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

THE GREAT FLOOD (ONDOY)

(Juliet de Loza/Noel Abuel/Eralyn Prado/Dindo Matining/JB Salarzon/Tina Mendoza/AFP)

Ginulantang kahapon ng walang patid na buhos ng ulan na hatid ng bagyong ‘Ondoy’ ang rehiyon ng Luzon kung saan pangunahing sinalanta ay ang Metro Manila matapos nitong palubugin sa ga-hita hanggang lampas-taong baha ang 90% ng kalungsuran.

Kasabay nito ay naitala ang 9-kataong nasawi dulot ng hagupit ni ‘Ondoy’ sa iba’t ibang panig ng rehiyon. Paliwanag naman ng Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Admi­nistration (PAGASA) flood forecasting center, ang bumuhos na ulan kahapon ay katumbas ng halos dalawang linggong normal na pag-ulan.

Nabatid pa na simula alas-otso hanggang alas-11:00 pa lamang ng umaga ay umabot na sa 112 millimeters ang volume ng bumuhos na ulan at sobra-sobra na umano ito para bumaha ang malaking bahagi ng Kalakhang Maynila. Bagama’t sunud-sunod ang bagyong pumasok sa teritoryo ng Pilipinas nitong nakalipas na tatlong linggo, ang pinagsama-sama nilang buhos ay naitala lamang sa sukat na 300 millimeters. Samantala, isa pa sa nakadagdag ng biglang paglaki ng tubig ay ang obligadong pagpapakawala ng tubig mula sa mga water reservoir na mabilis na napuno at umangat ang tubig sa critical level dahil na rin sa walang patid at tila galit na galit na buhos ng ulan. Unang nagpakawala ng tubig ang La Mesa dam matapos umakyat sa 80.15 meters ang antas ng tubig dito. Sinundan ito ng pag-akyat din sa critical level ng tubig sa Angat dam kaya’t napilitan din itong magpakawala ng tubig dakong alas-11:00 ng umaga. Ilang oras makaraan ito ay nagpahayag din ang Magat dam sa lalawigan ng Isabela na posible rin silang magpakawala ng tubig dahil sa mabilis na pag-akyat sa critical level. Ang Ipo dam ang unang nagbawas ng tubig dakong ala-1:20 ng madaling-araw nang buksan ang gates 2, 3 at 4. Makaraan ang ilang oras ay isinara na ang gate 2 at ang gates 3 at 4 na lamang ang iniwang nakabukas hanggang kahapon. Bilang direktang resulta, 25 barangay sa Marilao, Meycauayan, San Miguel at Bocaue sa Bulacan ang lumubog sa flashfloods. Sa pang-alas-dos ng hapong ulat ng National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), umabot sa 33 barangay sa Metro Manila ang iniulat na lumubog sa baha: isa sa Maynila, dalawa sa Marikina City, anim sa Malabon City, dalawa sa Muntinlupa City, lima sa Quezon City, isa sa Makati City, isa sa Pasay City, lima sa Pasig City, isa sa Valenzuela City at siyam sa San Juan City.

Bukod pa rito, 37 kalsada sa Kalakhang Maynila ang idineklarang ‘impas­sable’ o hindi madaanan ng maliliit na sasakyan. Ngunit sa ulat ng Manila Police District (MPD) district tactical operations center, sa Maynila pa lamang ay 33 major at minor streets na ang hindi madaanan pagsapit pa lamang ng alas-12:30 ng tanghali. Bunga nito, kinaila­ngang gumamit ng mga 6x6 o 10-wheeler truck ang mga kawani ng Manila City Hall sa paghahatid ng mga relief goods sa evacuation centers at maging sa pag-rescue sa mga na-trap sa baha. Sa kahabaan ng Epifanio Delos Santos Ave. (EDSA), daan-daang commuters ang na-stranded sa hindi inaasahang pag­laki ng baha rito kung saan marami sa mga ito ang sumugod na at nagpakabasa sa ulan habang sinasagasa ang ga-tuhod hanggang ga-baywang na baha makaraan ang siyam na oras na pagtitiyaga sa walang galawang trapiko. Sa Makati City, mahigit 1,000 pamilya sa Silverio Compound ng San Isidro ang kinailangang iligtas sa ga-bewang na baha. Samantalang umakyat din hanggang tuhod ang baha sa San Antonio , Palanan at Olimpia.

Sa Taft Ave. sakop ng Pasay City , umabot din hanggang sa bewang ang baha. Sa Bgy. Putatan, Alabang at Sucat, Muntinlupa City , umabot sa 4,000 pa­milya ang nagsilikas sa mga paaralan para sa kanilang kaligtasan. “We need the help of the concerned agencies to help us evacuating hundreds of (families) in eight out of nine barangays in Muntinlupa. They are in danger,” pagsusumamo ni Muntinlupa City Rep. Rufino Biazon. Ang mga tirahang barung-barong ng mahigit 1,000 pamilya sa San Isidro , Parañaque City ay nilamon din ng malaking tubig. Bunga nito, nagpasaklolo kahapon si Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez sa pamahalaan upang saklolohan ang mahigit 5,000 pamilyang naapektuhan ng baha sa kanyang distrito. Karamihan umano sa mga ito ay ngayon pa lamang nakalasap ng baha sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon. “These areas never experienced flooding in the past. Ngayon lang sila binaha kaya marami ang naapektuhan,” ani Golez habang tinutukoy ang mga lugar ng Bgy. San Antonio , Marcelo Green, Don Bosco, Moonwalk, Sun Valley , Merville at San Martin de Porres. “We also need big trucks for distributions of relief goods,” ani Golez. Si Bayan Muna party­list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, sa kabilang dako, ay nanga­lampag naman ng rescue teams para saklolohan ang mga pamilyang na-trap sa biglang pagbaha kung saan marami sa mga ito ay nasa bubungan na ng kanilang bungalow na mga bahay sa kasagsagan ng buhos ng ulan. “Please prioritize the families on the roof of the house on P. Santos St. , Doña Peña cor. Road 1, Bgy. Tumana. Malulunod na daw sila doon,” anang kongresista.
Sa Kabikulan, tinatayang 1,000 hanggang 2,000-katao ang na-stranded matapos na harangin ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ang kanilang paglalayag. Sa Caliclan, Aklan, hindi rin pinayagang magbiyahe ang mga maliliit na bangka. Sa inisyal na ulat na 9-kataong nasawi, isa rito ay mag-ama na nabagsakan ng isang bumagsak na pader sa kasagsagan ng baha at buhos ng ulan samantalang apat na bata ang nalunod at tatlo pa ang tinangay ng malakas na agos.

Hindi matiyak kung kasama sa bilang ang tatlong batang naiulat sa tanggapan ng alkalde ng Muntinlupa City na nalunod sa Bagumbayan River . Samantala, iniulat kahapon ni Manila Electric Company (Meralco) external communications mana­ger Joe Zaldarriaga na kinailangan nilang agapan ang pagputol ng supply ng kuryente sa mga lugar na unang dumanas ng matin­ding pagbaha upang matiyak ang kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan. Kadalasang panganib na hatid ng lumalaking tubig ay ang pagtulay dito ng kuryente.

“Power was disconnected in many areas so as to ensure the safety of the public,” anang Meralco executive. Sa Pasay City, isang lalaki ang nakuryente kahapon ng tanghali matapos pasukin ng baha ang loob ng bahay nito. Nakilala ang biktimang si Rolando Lozada. Kaugnay pa rin ng ma­tinding pananalasa ng ulan ni ‘Ondoy’, kinansela ng Korte Suprema ang bar exa­minations ngayong araw at sa halip ay iniurong ito sa Oktubre 4, 2009. Ito’y alinsunod sa desisyon ni 2009 Bar Chairperson Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura.


People are stranded in Cainta, province of Rizal , eastern Manila .


Aida De Leon grieves in Pasig City , east of Manila .


An aerial view aboard a Philippine Air Force chopper shows devastation brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana in Cainta, province of Rizal , eastern Manila .


A Philippine Air Force aerial shot shows damaged houses in Marikina City , Metro Manila. More than 70 people were killed, Manila was blacked out and airline flights were suspended as a powerful tropical storm battered the main Philippines island of Luzon .


Residents are evacuated by police boats during flooding in Cainta Rizal, east of Manila .


Residents cross a flooded street with the use of a rope in Quezon City .


Thousands of people in the Philippine capital and nearby towns were marooned by flash floods after a strong tropical storm hit the main island of Luzon , disaster officials said.


Residents wait to be evacuated from a partially submerged house during flooding in Bocaue, north of Manila .


A boy is lifted onto the roof of a building to escape the flooding in the Quezon City suburban of Manila . Nearly a month's worth of rain fell in just six hours Saturday, triggering the worst flooding in the Philippine capital in 42 years, which stranded thousands on rooftops in the city and elsewhere.


Residents clamber on electric wires to stay out of floodwaters while others wade neck-deep in Cainta Rizal, east of Manila .


A victim of floodings is rescued in Pasig City , east of Manila . Authorities rushed rescue and relief to thousands of people who spent the night on the roofs of their submerged houses in Manila and surrounding provinces.

Commuters wade through waist-deep floodwaters after heavy rains dumped by Tropical Storm Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy) on Saturday, Sept. 26, in Manila , Philippines .

1 dead, 3,000 families evacuated in Calamba City

By Karen Lapitan
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 11:59 09/29/2009


Filed Under: Disasters (general), Flood, Evacuation (General)

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, Philippines - One died and over 3,000 families in this city were evacuated to safe ground as floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy swamped this city, disaster officials reported on Tuesday morning.

Officials identified the dead as David Rafols, 20, a resident of Barangay (village) Looc, Calamba City while the city's Action Center said 3,084 families or 15,765 individuals were already in 43 designated evacuation centers in the area.

It added that so far, 4,598 families or 22, 015 persons in this city either fled from the floods or lost property due to the floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy.

City government and resident-volunteers had been clearing the streets of mud since Monday afternoon.

7 REASONS WHY WE ARE SUPPORTING NOYNOY

1. We see the handiwork of God in his candidacy --Ninoy died for the country and his widow became president after people power. After battling cancer, Cory went home to the Lord which ushered in an unprecedented showing of support and love for a former president. This showing of support miraculously bankrolled into a people's call for Noynoy to run for president even if he had no plans of doing so. These events could only be orchestrated by a sovereign God who has compassion over nations shackled by the blight and darkness of arrogant and shameless corruption.

2. He inspires hope -- Prior to Noynoy's candidacy, we were resigned to our fate of just choosing the utopian lesser evil among traditional, same old, eager beaver presidentiables. None of them inspires hope. But all that changed when Noynoy responded to that God-given calling in his life to serve the Filipino people whom his father died for . Tears of hope from the hearts and eyes of ordinary Filipinos flowed when he declared his candidacy. Upon learning of Noynoy's candidacy, a Bureau of Customs employee said, "Salamat. Pwede na ulit mangarap."

3. He is honest -- Ballsy Aquino Cruz, Noynoy's sister declared on national media that she is willing to be shot if anybody could present evidence that her brother is a thief. This sincerity is unparalleled even among the closest family and relatives of the other presidentiables. None of the other presidentiables' sisters or brothers would like to end up dead. Noynoy was reared in an environment of honesty as exemplified by the lives of his parents. Indeed, an apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

4. He has strength of character -- We don't need a president who will hang a shingle in Malacanang that reads, " Business as Usual". He is the only candidate that we believe when he says he will clean house because he is clean.

5. He is humble and not in love with power -- Everything about him is not contrived. Ordinary people like us could see through spin doctor- managed acting among public officials and candidates. But we see in Noynoy the sincere simplicity of a simple man, who although pedigreed, is not self-centered, power and recognition hungry. He doesn't mind having thinning hair, simple clothes and a down-to-earth manner of speaking. More so, his humble spirit was manifested when he sought God's direction first before plunging in the presidential race.

We could see that his reluctance to seek the presidency is genuine. We believe that power should be given to those who have strength of character because they are not obsessed nor in love with it. And yes, Mr. Gary Olivar, Malacanang spokesman, Noynoy is his own man because true manhood could only come from a humble spirit.

6. He alone could mobilize people power -- No other presidentiable could ask the Filipino people to bankroll his campaign and credibly call for volunteers. In this country where the norm is patronage politics and presidentiables spend billions just to win an election, Noynoy is the only presidential candidate as of press time who is being swamped by a snowballing groundswell volunteer support from unknown, ordinary Filipinos from Luzon to Visayas without any budget. Noynoy is the anti-thesis of patronage politics because he could ask for volunteers to spend time and resources to campaign for him.

7. He is the good in this fight between good and evil -- No other opposition candidate had earned the most vicious attacks from Malacanang and the other political parties who are fielding candidates in the presidential race than Noynoy.

In fact, some parties are already demolishing the people's perception and argument that the 2010 presidential race is a fight against good and evil. Noynoy's detractors would like to brush aside the morality of the elections because morality in government leadership is not a campaign strategy that could propel their traditional, same old, eager beaver presidential candidates.

It is true what Earl Spencer said ,that true goodness is threatening to those who are on the other side of the moral spectrum. In this fight versus good and evil, Noynoy credibly represents the good.

In his declaration speech, he was unmindful of politics or a possible loss of votes when he said he desires justice over the unresolved issues and cases the Marcoses committed against Filipinos. That to us, is true goodness, because it is a conviction that stands up for what is right no matter what the consequences are. Mabuhay ka Noynoy!

Mabuhay and Pilipinas!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Cory An Intimate Portrait

By Margie Penson-Juico

I'm reading Cory An Intimate Portrait at the moment and I was able to know how she manage the government during her time. But what I want to know more about her life not only in politics but also her personal life. My target next is to get the book entitled The Making of Cory. Hope to find a copy soon and I hope that there's more to know about her on this book.

Typhoon Ondoy

My husband was caught in traffic due to floods in almost whole of metro manila and wasn't able to go home last night. He was stuck in traffic from 9am to 10pm, from Osmena cor. San Andres St. going to Makati with low gasoline =(. Poor hubby, no aircon all through out the waiting, good thing there's a lot of vendors who took advantage of the situation so he's starving in the traffic jam unlike the other area.

Ondoy causes a lot of damage not only in Manila but also in other region. They say that this is a historical event. There was a flood in Metro Manila 40 years ago but not as worst as what had happen yesterday.

I hope this won't happen again in the future.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

NATURAL HEALER - esp. for CANCER PATIENTS

How Dr Wu rid himself of cancer with a vegetarian diet
By: ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA
Published: 7/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Mylife


At the age of 30, Chinese doctor Tom Wu was diagnosed with advanced stages of lung cancer, and was told he had only a few months to live.

However, Dr Wu, who recently spoke with Mylife, has already reached 70 years old, and to our surprise, he still looks like a young and healthy man in his 50s.

Not only has he survived, but the doctor has maintained a healthy life. The cancer is all gone, and he said he's never caught a cold or other illness for 40 years.
He has stopped going for blood tests.

"My body and feelings tell me I'm well, that I'm truly in good health," says Dr Wu.

His secret lies in the power of natural healing. Dr Wu always says that no wonder drug can cure diseases. But our own internal healing power,
our immune system, can. And what can strengthen our immune system are simple foods from Mother Nature, and a healthy lifestyle.
In his view, diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease can be overcome by changing the diet.

Dr Wu says people get sick because they eat the wrong foods. Fried food, for example, causes blockage in the arteries, bad circulation, cholesterol, and heart disease.

"Instead of taking a cholesterol lowering drug, I would urge them to stop eating greasy food. My suggestion is to eat clean food, which is high in phytochemicals, " he says.

Phytochemicals are natural cleansing agents that will help rid plaque from your arteries. They come from natural foods such as vegetables, fruits with their seeds,
and common garden herbs. Phytochemicals will nourish the body's cells so they can fight against any foreign substances that invade your body.

Dr Wu's outstanding contributions to the development of natural medicine earned him the "World Famous Doctor Award" from the UN in 2001,
and the "Best Wellness Doctor of the World" award from India 's World Wellness Open University in March.

The secrets of how he won the fight against lung cancer and maintains a healthy body are revealed in his first book,Dr Wu's Principle of Natural Cures,
which has recently been translated from its original Chinese version into a Thai edition,Thammachart Chuay Chewit, published by Nanmeebooks Publications.
It was launched in Thailand in March.

Dr Wu says what's written in the book is unique and easy to understand because "the author is both the doctor and the patient himself".
All the ideas and guidelines suggested in the book come from his own experience as well as what he has learned from his patients.

Dr Wu turns to natural medicine.

Dr Wu had first studied Western medicine in France , and then furthered his education in alternative therapy, earning a doctorate degree.

The turning point arrived when he was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 30. Modern medicine gave him no hope; it was too late
to remove the damaged parts of the lung. The cancer had already spread to other organs, and the doctor told him he had only a few months left.

In his despair, Dr Wu picked up the Bible and prayed to God. Then the Bible fell to the floor, and he read the page it opened to carefully.
The chapter talked about the days God created the Earth and everything needed for human beings. Then he created Adam and Eve,
and told both of them that plants, vegetables and seeded fruits growing on Earth have been provided for them to eat.

"I thought about what I had eaten in the past - meat, fish, fried and grilled food, sweet cake, but God simply wanted us to eat vegetables and sour fruits.
I was confused and doubted whether I would become weak if I ate too many vegetables and less meat," says Dr Wu..

Yet he decided to follow the Bible's guidance. He ate a lot of vegetables and fruits, drank clean water, and completely adjusted his lifestyle -
his sleeping, breathing and exercise habits.

Nine months later, he went for a check-up, and surprisingly no cancer cells were detected.

He advised people in his family and in the neighbourhood about his discovery, and studied natural medicine until he received a doctorate degree
in naturopathy and nutrition from the US .

Dr Wu has been a frequent speaker at worldwide forums, spreading his knowledge on natural cures and the use of organic food.
He advises people to use the most simple foods in the most natural way in order to fight illnesses and maintain good health.


Dr Wu's secrets to good health
Published: 7/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Mylife


The human body has the power to heal itself. The immune system has a self-defence mechanism to block and destroy bacteria or viruses that invade our bodies, while the self-healing mechanism will get us back on the road to recovery. When you have a cold and take medicine, the medication may kill the virus but your immune system will not fully function, and its efficiency will decrease. As a result, your body will be more vulnerable to germs.

Dr Wu's principle is to strengthen the immune system, and avoid medication as much as possible. In his book, he offers the following guidelines to good health:

1. Have at least three bowel movements a day.

Other health experts may advise one bowel movement a day, but Dr Wu says that's not enough. You need three to four bowel movements a day in order to excrete all the accumulated faeces from your intestine. Your liver will not be overburdened and it also helps reduce cholesterol in your body..

2. Drink at least three glasses of fruit or vegetable smoothies each day.

This is a way to ingest enough phytochemicals to strengthen the body's cells and immune system. Use not only the flesh, but also the skin and seeds of fruits and vegetables to make smoothies, as they are rich in phytochemicals.

Most of the fruit seeds have small amounts of cyanide which kill bacteria and viruses without damaging the body.

Actually the recommended smoothie diet is six glasses a day, two in the morning, one before lunch, two more in the afternoon, and one more before dinner.
However, if that's too much, you may start with three glasses a day. Use a high powered blender (at least three horsepower) as it can release phytochemicals
from the fibre. It's best to choose sour fruits like green or red apples, grapes, pineapples, kiwi and lime.

3. Sunbathe 30 minutes daily.

We often hear that the Sun's UV rays will damage our skin, and many people apply sunblock before going out.

But Dr Wu says the opposite. He says the UV rays will help convert cholesterol underneath the skin into vitamin A which helps moisten the skin and
prevent skin cancer, and also vitamin D that helps prevent colds, osteoporosis, and certain kinds of cancer.

"Therefore, use the Sun. Expose yourself to sunlight about one-half hour a day, at noon or another appropriate time based on your local climate.
The Sun will make you healthier," says Dr Wu.

4. Exercise 30 minutes a day.

Don't exercise for more than 30 minutes. If you go beyond that, your body will be overworked.

"If you do it more than half an hour, that will become labour, not exercise. Your heart and your body will be working too hard," he says.

5. Shower with hot, then cold water.

Try an alternating cold and hot water shower: Three minutes of hot water followed by 30 seconds of cold water, then repeat twice more.

This process will bring a rush of blood and energy to your body. It helps increase your immune system, blood circulation, and metabolism.

6. Drink a lot of water, in the correct way.

How much water you need to drink each day depends on your specific situation. If your office is air-conditioned, drinking six glasses of water a day is enough.
If your work involves lots of walking, you have to drink 8-10 glasses a day. If you work under the hot sun, then 10-12 glasses of water are required.

The way you drink is also important. The correct way is to sip it little by little, to give your body cells time to absorb the water.
If you drink the whole glass down at once, your cells can't absorb it all, and the water will be excreted as urine.

7. Eat according to your blood type.

Your blood type determines what you should eat. Eating the wrong foods will make you sick.

People with blood type O have to eat a certain amount of meat. If they eat only vegetables for a long time, their body won't absorb all the substances they need
to strengthen their immune system. The recommended diet for this group is 75% vegetables, 10% fruits, 10% meat, seafood and goat's milk (avoid cow's milk),
and 5% grains.

People with blood type A, however should avoid milk and meat, while increasing grains and fruits.
People with blood type B should also avoid meat, while those with blood type AB should avoid chicken and beef.

8. Eat according to your biological clock.

Every human being has a biological clock that tells us when to eat, sleep, and wake up. If you don't follow your biological clock, the organs will lose their balance.
Toxins and wastes won't be excreted from your body, and soon you'll get sick.

According to Dr Wu, the biological clock is divided into three phases.

From 4am to noon is the time for bowel movements, so in the morning you should eat foods with lots of fibre. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are recommended.

From noon to 8pm , your body will absorb food so lunch is the most important meal. A vegetable salad with grains is recommended.
Fish or boiled eggs can be added to your lunch. Avoid meat at dinner as the amino acids in the meat will disturb your sleep. Try to finish dinner by 6pm .

From 8pm to 4am , the nutrients and energy from food will be distributed throughout your body organs. The golden time for your sleep is between 10pm and 2am ,
as your immune and self-healing system will function at its best.

A letter to Senator. Benigno (Noynoy) C. Aquino III

Dear Senator. Benigno (Noynoy) C. Aquino III,

Mr. Senator I have nothing to brag about political machinery nor a group that I belong, and neither did I wrote this letter with ulterior motive or political ambition, other than to let you know that we share the same advocacy on political reforms and to see this country rise again. In my own humble way I would like to assure you that I will campaign your fight for a cause to my immediate family, relatives and friends or to strangers like taxi drivers if I may, and to the best I could to vote for you.

Mr. Senator, though we don't have so much gap in our age for I was born 1962 still I considered you and myself as heaven and earth for I wasn't like you who is educated from prestigious academe, nor do I got political exposures and accomplishments as public servant like you do, but I was just a mere observant of what is happening to Filipino people much more that we shared dream that this country we choose to live, The Philippines shall and will rise again.

Truly I'm not much of an avid fan of eloquent politicians but as I watched the speech of the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., as uploaded in "youtube" that was delivered on February 15, 1981, before a crowd of Filipinos and Americans in Los Angeles, I was really touched. Truly the late Senator Ninoy, your father is undoubtedly a hero and a wasted leader of Democracy by an unconscionable mind who wanted nothing more than to cling and perpetuate to power.

In your person Mr. Senator, we the Filipino people cry out for a true leader of Democracy, who shall deliver us from the hands of tyrants and corrupt officials hiding in the guise of, or cloaked as public servants. At this early time of your popularity and campaign for the Presidency you can't avoid to be surrounded by people either sincere friends, enemies, but worst to an opportunistic, exploitative and manipulative people posing as your allies with nothing in their minds
other than to ride on your popularity.

Mr. Senator, hoping you will be discreet in choosing who shall run with you in your ticket, either purely LIBERAL or UNITED OPPOSITION, for they may taint your good name and leadership so as with your advocacy because of their vested interest. And with those who shall speak in your behalf should you apply strict cautions to their opinions much more than allowing no one among your closest relative nor your would be wife quoted that as if it was you who speaks on the subject matter. Once elected, may you come up and guided with principles in choosing the right person or trustee to your would be cabinets whom you shall entrust your advocacy for reforms.

At this point in time the Filipinos are not much in particular to the decadence of brilliant minded leaders, or to eloquent politicians that are hungry like crocodiles that can't control their appetite and cravings to wealth and power and readily devours on our present foreign debt buried and poor economy. But more on mediocre minded leaders with hearts and conscience that fully understand the plight of the Filipino masses. So just let your detractors and political adversaries to mock and attack you. Likewise, mind not the clamors and opinions of some puritanical and bigoted leaders of different sect of Religions who are nothing less than opportunistic people, who often exploit their fanatic followers to remain subservient to their own convenience. For as long as the majority of the voting masses will hold on to support your advocacy for reforms.

The Filipino people knew the burden you will be facing once elected to the Presidency that sooner or later out of your dedication and sincerity as a true reformist and a public servant, will lead you to an unpopular decision which more often than not, be taken against you as a friend or as a relative. But I know that with your courage and principles as the only son of a hero, the courageous, late Senator Ninoy Aquino and the Incorruptible late President Cory Aquino, it won't take you less of a leader. Such a burden, we do hope that you will lead for a total change or reform of politics in this country.

So allow not the challenge to only lies on you, nor let it be conflicting political ideas, but should be the sum of all the efforts among your allies working together for a change, thus making it possible to achieve a common goal. And there should be the integration of both moral and political will to implement the law. With sincere cooperation among your allies and you as a leader to give up or set aside some self serving interest.

Again Mr. Senator, I hope that you will lead a move to eradicate the proliferation of politics like a tool or as a means and as source of livelihood among politicians to enrich their families. Politicians and politics must be confined in its true essence as public service and the former as servants and not as tyrants of the people after the election.

This I hope will be lessened or totally eradicated when as elected President, with your political will for a reform, shall you lead to direct the Congress to come up with well defined provisions to enact or amend any existing law banning Political dynasty in this country.

In which anyone who shall be elected to the highest position in the government will automatically bar their relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity to seek or give up positions on the lower post of the government either elected or appointed, also barring all their relatives either by consanguinity or affinity up to the forth degree to do business to the government. Having this kind of a well defined provisions of an existing law or to enact such a law on Anti-Political Dynasty will discourage family of politicians to make use of politics as a means of business or a ground to amass wealth that often lead to "CORRUPTIONS" .

Perhaps such an enabling law will divert the minds of families of politicians to exert more effort and to use their talents and profession to other worthwhile and beneficial business for the masses other than purely politics. With this, the real meaning of public servants could be achieved and be distinct from public tyrants.

We both know Mr. Senator, and all the Filipinos knew that the kind of existing politics in this country had transform and mutate from public service to tyranny. Therefore to create an atmosphere of unity and to lessen bickering or too much factionalism among elected politicians, there should also be a law passed banning all the creation, registration and recognition of multi party system in the COMELEC, that even Party list representatives once elected should start to make choice only from two party system of politics, with absolute provisions of "NO" to "TURN-COATISM" . With this, politicians could easily be disciplined by their parties as well as the abuses of its members will automatically render weakness to the entire political party that they belong. Unlike the multi-party political system that we have now, wherein politicians could easily get away from their abuses and accountability by just creating another party to misled the people and avoids the punitive action by the party they belong. This multi-party system of politics has so many disadvantages to the voting masses, for it's like a mad dog that could easily be replaced with another collar so as to appear as another docile dog.

More often than not, this kind of political system in our country will render confusion among the voting masses much more on factionalism and bickering among politicians, who shall waste their time on useless arguments rather than to pass a law that is both beneficial to the public and progress to the economy.

Mr. Senator you know for a fact much more than to million mediocre mind Filipinos combined, that the problem of poverty in this country is deeply rooted from "GRAFT and CORRUPTION" done by either duly elected or appointed government officials in our country.

That's why Filipinos are hoping that upon your ascension to the highest office, you shall or will lead to lessen, for I can't say eradicate "CORRUPTION" in this country.

As a duly elected President in the near future, I wish you could address well about the distribution of country wide development fund or the "PORK BARREL" among the elected Congressmen wherein majority if not all of them could easily be represented by the logo of "LACOSTE".

That if there's only a non discrimination of its distribution and without prejudice to either party but rather based on essential and feasible projects to either allies or adversaries. You know for sure that power struggle will be avoided and most of their time will be concentrated on doing their job well. But what I'm not sure upon its equal distribution if you can insist on, or direct them to amend the existing law on "PLUNDER" to reduce its present ceiling of "50 MILLION" pesos to its one tenth which is "5 MILLION" pesos. Likewise those pork barrels should not be spent on useless projects like waiting sheds, road signs, road markers and all the likes, or to any form of beautifications without giving priorities to what is needed most by their constituents like farm to market roads
or school buildings but of course not as a sub-standard one. And to ban all politicians posting their names on any projects of the government for all we know that what is spent is not their money but people's money from taxes. Likewise, there should also be a tougher law banning all bidders of projects with no means or capacity and capabilities for such projects but relied on for sub-contracts, for this is where "CORRUPTION" starts.

Truly "INCORRUPTIBLE" and sincere servants of the people won't be scared of this reduction and amendment to the existing law on "PLUNDER", and perhaps from this proposal you could pinpoint hesitant, and who among them are "SERVANTS or TYRANTS" of the Filipino people.

And from the same amendment and reduction, would be "CORRUPT" minded officials can't easily escape prosecution, since they can't amass huge amount of money and can easily afford to dazzle and bribe another "CORRUPT" hoodlums in the robe in our Judiciary system.

Mr. Senator we do hope that you should also speak categorically before the masses that once elected as President; you shall use your power to amend the 1987 Constitution to get rid of its obscurities, loopholes and ambiguity and to strengthen its provisions so that no one among your would be successor in the future can make use of it as a tool to abuse and exploit the Filipino people.

Long live Mr. Senator, and may you leave an unforgettable legacy to live a modest and simple life by example among your allies and to all Filipinos by not allowing yourself to be exploited and suck by long established, traditional and worsening political system in this country. Finally open the eyes of the Filipino masses into the dawn of new politics in the Philippines.

Sincerely Yours,

Wilson (Sonny) R. Reyno

Quezon City

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Days at work

I don't know what's with me, but I felt that I have nothing to do at work. Kung pede lang wag ng pumasok without sacrificing my leaves I would really stay at home ang bond with my baby.

Lahat nang for filing ko tapos ko na rin ang wala akong report na pedeng simulan para lang hindi ako mainit while waiting for the break time.

Ewan ko ba kung bakit sa bahay ang bilis ng oras pero dito sa office parang ang bagal-bagal ng oras, except for month end of course.

Monday, September 7, 2009

HARRY TRUMAN



Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year..

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As President he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale. (sic. Illinois )

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

I say dig him up and clone him!!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

15 Hidden Health Secrets of Lemons

Abolish Acne

Lemon contains citric acid, which can be effective in treating acne. The vitamin C found in citrus fruits is vital for that healthy glowing skin while its alkaline nature kills some types of bacteria known to cause acne. In addition to drinking lemon juice with water first thing in the morning, here are some suggestions on how to prepare a homemade acne treatment using lemon:

· With your finger or a cotton ball, apply fresh lemon juice on acne and leave it overnight. Wash with water the following morning. There may be an uncomfortable sensation of burning at first, but it will soon disappear.

· Mix one part of freshly squeezed lemon juice with an equal part of rose or honey water. Put the mixture on affected areas for at least half an hour. Wash it afterwards with water. This application should be repeated twice daily, ideally in the morning and the evening.

Note: these remedies are safe and natural, but if acne is severe or there are open wounds, consult your doctor first.


Abandon Your Anxiety

Research has shown that lemon balm has a calming effect and therefore may be able to help remove fatigue, exhaustion, dizziness, anxiety, nervousness, and tension. It is also believed that inhaling lemon oil helps in increasing concentration and alertness. It can therefore be used as a room freshener in offices to increase the efficiency of the employees. If you’re feeling tense sprinkle a few drops of lemon balm essential oil (Melissa officinalis) on a handkerchief to inhale.


Canker Sore, No More

The proven antibacterial and antiviral properties of lemons can accelerate the healing process in the case of cankers. Mix the juice of freshly squeezed lemon into a glass of lukewarm water and rinse your mouth with this solution; do this three times a day. There may be a burning sensation when the lemon juice comes into contact with the canker, however, the more frequently you use it, the less burning there will be.


Leave the Fever

Chills and fevers may be due to a variety of causes, but the lemon is always a helpful remedy. Here is a method that can ease symptoms: add the juice of 1 lemon to a cup of hot water with honey and drink at once, then every 2 hours until the fever or chill subsides.


Cold and Flu Got You Blue?

When you have a cold, the healing power of lemons works both internally, by supplying urgently required vitamin C to your defense cells, and externally, through the application of its antiviral properties to the virus on the mucous membranes in the nose and throat.

At the first indication of a cold – a runny nose or sore throat –try to give your body as much immune-boosting vitamin C as you can so that the virus is eliminated before it gets a chance to take hold. Drink the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon in a glass of lukewarm water every 2 hours.

If you have a sore throat, add the juice of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon (5ml) of sea salt to 1 cup (250ml) lukewarm water. Gargle three times a day for 1 minute to diminish the burning sensation. If it’s a case of tonsillitis, gargle every 2 hours for at least 30 seconds with the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon. Tilt the head back to allow the antibacterial and antiviral properties of the juice to flow into the back of the throat. You can swallow the juice when you have finished gargling thereby benefiting from an immune-boosting vitamin C shot.


Cure Corns and Calluses

Lemon poultices applied overnight are a good home remedy for corns and calluses. Place a slice of lemon approx 5 mm thick on to the corn, bandage and fasten. Dabbing the affected area with lemon essential oil also helps accelerate the healing process. Take care to only use the undiluted oil on the callused area using a cotton ball or Q- tip, as it is too strong for un-callused skin.


Erase Eczema

If you suffer from skin infection such as eczema, a lemon wrap may offer relief. Add 8 drops of lemon essential oil to 1 cup (250ml) lukewarm water and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of liquid honey. Honey also has anti-inflammatory effect and strengthens the healing power of lemon.
Soak a linen cloth in the liquid, squeeze out the excess, and gently place the cloth on the affected area for 15 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day. Not only will this ease the infection, it will counter the overwhelming urge to scratch.


Fight Fatigue

Long distance walkers, world travelers, and explorers look upon the lemon as a Godsend. When fatigue sets in, they might suck lemon juice by piercing the top of the fruit with a straw, giving themselves a quick-acting medicine and a lovely refreshment.

Explorers also use lemon for protection against many infections of the tropics. A small amount of lemon juice will quench thirst more effectively than many times the amount of water.

Experienced travelers declare that when they add lemon juice to ordinary drinking water, in various localities, it acts as an antiseptic and prevents illness due to allergy to different water supplies.

Lemon oil also seems to be able to stimulate brain activity so whenever you feel tired for no reason or are finding it hard to focus or concentrate, add 4 drops of lemon oil to a water-filled aromatherapy lamp. Alternatively, drink a glass of lemon water every few hours.


Hexed with Halitosis?

Lemons can help freshen breath that has gone sour after consuming certain spices, alcohol, cigarettes, or that is caused by insufficient salivation. To keep breath fresh, thoroughly rinse your mouth several times a day with the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon in a glass of lukewarm water. Chewing on a lemon slice after every meal will also help.


Healing Hypertension


Garlic and onions have been shown to be effective in the fight against hypertension, and they combine well with the healing power of lemon. Add 3 crushed garlic cloves and 1 chopped onion to 1 quart or cold skimmed or low fat milk or soy milk. Slowly bring to the boil and let it stand for 5 minutes. Pour through a sieve and chill. Add the freshly squeezed juice of 3 lemons and sip throughout the day.

And if you suffer from high cholesterol, don’t forget that the pectin power in lemons along with its other metabolism and circulation, boosting nutrients can help lower cholesterol.


Smite a Bug Bite

If the stinger is still in the skin, take it out with a pair of tweezers. Massage 1 to 2 drops of lemon oil, mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey, into the skin around the bite.

To repel insects, add 20 drops of lemon oil to 1 cup (250ml) of water and spray into the air. It smells great and repels insects at the same time. Another home remedy is to place a cotton ball soaked in lemon oil in your bedroom. If you are sitting outside in the evening, apply lemon scent to skin areas not covered in clothing. Or, add 10 drops of lemon oil to 1 ½ oz of sunflower oil and rub into the skin.


Put Insomnia to Rest

Several studies have found that lemon balm combined with other calming herbs (such as valerian, hops, and chamomile) helps reduce anxiety and promote sleep. In a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 18 healthy volunteers received two separate single doses of a standardized lemon balm extract (300 mg and 600 mg) or placebo for 7 days. The 600 mg dose of lemon balm increased mood and significantly increased calmness and alertness.


Pulverize Pain

Even though it tastes bitter, lemon juice has a powerful alkaline effect in the body and is therefore a natural agent against excess acid, which is in part responsible for rheumatism. Drink the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon in a glass of lukewarm water 3 times a day and if you experience severe pain add the juice of 2 lemons 3 times a day.

Lemon oil has pain-relieving qualities, so to inhibit inflammation and ease pain, massage the affected area daily with several drops of lemon oil mixed with 1 tablespoon (15ml) jojoba oil.


Save your Stomach

Drink the juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon in a glass of lukewarm water after each meal. The lemon acid will stimulate the production of stomach acid and the activity of stomach muscles.


Say Adios to Varicose

Lemon oil has vessel-strengthening properties that can help fight varicose and spider veins. For spider veins, take 2 to 3 drops of lemon oil every day and mix in a small bowl with jojoba, avocado or almond oil and massage the affected area.

For varicose veins, add 6 drops of lemon oil to 1 ½ oz (50 ml) wheat germ oil, and 2 drops each of cypress and juniper oil. Use this mixture daily for a gentle massage of the legs from bottom to top, in the direction of the heart. For a vein and vessel-rejuvenating bath add 8 drops of lemon oil to a warm bath. Also add 4 drops of cypress oil blended with 1 tablespoon (15ml) of honey. Soak in the bath for 15 minutes and when you come out, pat your skin dry – don’t rub it.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Homily of Fr. Catalino Arévalo, S.J. at the requiem mass of President Corazon Aquino, August 5, 2009

If I may first ask pardon for what might be an unseemly introduction. In the last days of President Cory’s illness, when it seemed inevitable that the end would come, the assignment to give this homily was given to me. By Ms Kris Aquino, in fact. She reminded me that many times and publicly, her mother had said she was asking me to preach at her funeral Mass. Always I told her I was years older, and would go ahead of her, but she would just smile at this. Those who knew Tita Cory knew that when she had made up her mind, she had made up her mind.

What then is my task this morning? I know for certain that if liturgical rules were not what they are, she would have asked Congressman Ted Locsin to be here in my place. No one has it in him to speak as fittingly of Cory Aquino in the manner and measure of tribute she uniquely deserves, no one else as he. Asked in an interview she said that the address before the two Houses of Congress at Washington she considered perhaps the supreme shining moment of her life. We know who helped her with those words with which she conquered America. These last few days, too, every gifted writer in the press and other media has written on her person and political history, analyzed almost every side of her life and achievement as our own “icon of democracy”. More powerfully even, images of her and of EDSA UNO have filled hour after hour of TV time. Really, what else is left to be said?
So, Tita Cory, you’ll forgive me if I don’t even try to give a shadow of the great oration that should be given here this morning. Let me instead try to say some things the people who persevered for hours on end in the serried lines at Ortigas or here in Intramuros can (I hope) more easily follow. This is a lowly tribute at one with “the old sneakers and clothes made tighter by age, soaked by water and much worse for wear” of the men, women and children who braved the rain and the sun because they wanted to tell you, even for a brief and hurried moment, how much they love you. You truly ”now belong among the immortals”. But these words are for those mortals who with bruised hearts have lost “the mother of a people”. Maybe less elegantly than the seminarian said to me Monday, they would like to say also: “She was the only true queen our people have ever had, and she was queen because we knew she truly held our hearts in the greatness and the gentleness of her own.”

One of my teachers used to tell us that if we really wanted to know and understand a position held, we would have to learn it from someone fully committed to it. Just as only one who genuinely loves a person, really knows him or her also. So to begin with, I turned to three real “experts on Cory”; to ask them where for them the true greatness of Cory Aquino lay. My first source thought it was in her selflessness, seen above all in her love of country - surely above self; yes, even above family. Her self-giving, then, for us; what she had received, all became gift for us. The second, thought it was in her faith her greatness lay, in her total trust in God which was also her greatest strength. And the third said it was in her courage and the unshakable loyalty that went with it. It was a strength others could lean on; it never wavered; it never broke. . . . . . Cory’s selflessness and self-giving; her faith (the Holy Father just called it “unwavering”); her courage, her strength. -- May I use this short list to frame what I will say? O, let me name my experts now, if I may. They were three, all of them women close to her: Maria Elena Aquino Cruz, whom we know as Ballsy, Maria Aurora Aquino Abellada, Pinky to her friends; and Victoria Elisa Aquino Dee, Viel to the family. Kris and Noynoy are the public figures; they can speak for themselves. I hope they will forgive me that I did not ask.

First, then, her generous selflessness. For us this morning what is surely most to the point is her love of country. When her final illness was upon her already, she said, -- most recently at the Greenmeadows chapel (her last public words, I think) --that she was offering her suffering, first to God, then for our people. I heard that grandson Jiggy asked her why first for country and people, and she said that always the priority line-up was God, our country and our people, and then family. On radio, the other night, the commentator asked an old woman in line why she stood hours in the rain to get into La Salle. “Ito lang ang maibibigay ko po sa kanya, bilang pasasalamat.” “Bakit, ano ba ang ibinigay ni Cory sa inyo?” “Di po ba ang buhay nya? Ang buong sarila nya? At di po ba ang pagasa? Kaya mahal na mahal po namin siya.” Early on, on TV, they ran many times the clip from a last interview. She says, “I thank God, and then all of you, for making me a Filipino, for making me one of you. I cherish this as one of the truly great gifts I have received.” A few weeks from her death, she could say that; without put-on or the least insincerity. “I thank you, for making me one of you..”

Her selflessness, her self-gift. Pope Benedict likes to say that the God whom Jesus Christ revealed to us, is Father. A Father who is wholly self-gift; the God “whose nature is to give Himself” – to give Himself to us, in His Son. And, the Pope says, that is what is the meaning of Jesus and the life of Jesus, and, by discipleship, what the Christian’s life is meant to be. We Christians too, we must give ourselves away in the self-giving of love. “Ang buhay po nya at sarili. Kaya po mahal na mahal namin sya.” In the last days, when finally and reluctantly still she admitted she had much pain, I kept thinking that only a couple of weeks before, for the first time publicly, she said that she was offering it up first of all for us.”

Secondly, her faith. Pinky says, it was her mother’s greatest strength; it was what was deepest in her. Her faith was her bedrock, and it was, bedrock . Frederick Buechner the ordained minister and novelist likes to say that through his lifetime, he’s had many doubts, even deep doubt, daily doubts. “But I have never really looked down into the deep abyss and seen only nothing. Somehow I have known, that underneath all the shadows and the darkness, there are the everlasting arms.” I think Cory’s faith was like that, not in the multiplicity of doubts (even if. in a life so filled with trial, there surely were doubts too), but in the certainty of the everlasting arms. More than once she told me, “Every time life painted me into a corner, with seemingly no escape, I always turned to Him in trust. I knew He would never abandon us if we trusted in Him. And you know, somehow, He found a way out for us.” And so Pinky says, “Mom was always calm even in the most trying times. She trusted God would always be there for us, She was our source of strength. She made this world seem so much safer and less cruel for us. And now that our source of strength is gone, we have to make our faith something more like hers. But we know in our hearts that in every storm she will watch over us from heaven.”

Within this faith was her devotion to Mary, the place Our Lady of Fatima and the rosary held in her life. All we can say on this, this morning is that Our Lady truly had a special, living presence in her life: Mary was, for Cory, true mother and incomparable friend; as we say in the hymn, - vita, dulcedo et spes, - life, sweetness and hope. No, Mary was not the center of her faith, but its air, its atmosphere; and the rosary, her lifeline through every trial and crisis. In the long harsh months of her illness, Sister Lucia’s beads almost never left her hands. She was holding them, as last Saturday was dawning and her years of exile were at last done, when we know her Lady “showed unto her, the blessed fruit of her womb.”

Lastly. Her courage, her strength. Her children tell us that their father was only able to do what he wanted to do, because her loyalty and her support for his purposes was total, so she practically raised them up as a single parent. Ninoy himself wrote, again and again, that he endured imprisonment and persecution, leaning so much on her courage and love. And after his death, when she could have withdrawn in a way “safely”, to her own life with her children at last, she stayed on her feet and fought on in the years that followed, through the snap elections and what went before and after them, through her presidency and the seven coup attempts which tried to bring her down. Even after she had given up her rule, could she not have said “enough”, and we would all have understood? But with not the least desire for position or power again, whenever she thought the spaces of freedom and the true good of our land were threatened, she went back to the streets of struggle again. Once again she led us out of the apathy we so readily fall into; once again she called us out of our comfort zones to the roads of sacrifice.

Here, even hesitantly, may I add one trait, one virtue, -- to those her daughters have named? One day Cardinal Stephen Kim of South Korea asked if he might visit her. Through Ballsy, she said Yes. It was a day Malacanang was ‘closed’; they were making up the roster of members of the forthcoming Constitutional Convention. Someone from the palace staff ordered us turned away when we came; it was Ballsy who rescued us. Stephen Kim, hero and saint to his own people,--perhaps, along with Cardinal Sin, one the two greatest Asian Catholic prelates of our time,- = spent some 45 minutes talking with her. When we were on our way back, he said, “I know why the Lord has entrusted her with power, at this most difficult time. … It is because she is pure of heart. She has no desire for power; even now it is with reluctance she takes it on. And she has done this only because she wants to do whatever she can for your people.” He said, “she truly moves me by the purity of her spirit. God has given a great gift to your people.”

With this purity of heart, in the scheme of the Christian Gospel, there is joined another reality which really, only the saints understand. It is suffering. How often (it is really often; over and over through the years) she spoke of suffering as part of her life. Much contemporary spirituality speaks of suffering almost as the epitome of all evil. But in fact for all the saints, it is a mystery they themselves do not really understand nor really explain, Yet they accept it quietly, simply as part of their lives in Christ. There is only one painting she ever gave me. Kris said then, when her mom gave it to me, that it was her mom’s favorite. The painting carries 1998 as its date; Cory named it “Crosses and roses” There are seven crosses for the seven months and seven weeks of her beloved Ninoy’s imprisonment, and for the seven attempted coups during her presidency, and many roses, multi-colored roses all around them. At the back of the painting, in her own hand, she wrote a haiku of her own: “Crosses and roses/ make my life more meaningful./ I cannot complain.” Often she spoke of her “quota of suffering.” When she spoke of her last illness, she said: “I thought I had filled up my quota of suffering, but it seems there is no quota. I look at Jesus, who was wholly sinless: how much suffering he had to bear for our sakes.” And in her last public talk (it was at Greenmeadows chapel), the first time she spoke of her own pain: “I have not asked for it, but if it is meant to be part of my life still, so be it. I will not complain.” “I try to join it with Jesus’ pain and offering. For what it’s worth, I am offering it up for our people.” Friends here present, I tell you honestly I hesitated before going into this, this morning. But without it, part of the real Cory Aquino would be kept from view. Quite simply, this was integral to the love she bore for her people.

At this point, may I, following the lead Mr Rapa Lopa has given, just speak a word of thanks to President Cory’s children, who shared so much of her service and her sacrifice. They have almost never had their father and mother for themselves. For so many years, they have been asked to share Ninoy and Cory with all of us. And because of the blood and the spirit their parents have passed on to them, they too gave with generosity and grace the sacrifices we demanded of them. – Ballsy and Pinky, Viel and Kris, your husbands and your children, and Senator Noynoy, may we thank you this morning from all our hearts, and may we offer also the gratitude of the hearts of a people now forever in your debt.

In have used up all my time, some of you will say, and I have not even approached the essential: her political life, that she was our nation’s unique icon of democracy, that Cory Aquino who, throughout the world. was TIME magazine’s 1986’s woman of the year, she who led the ending of the dictatorship that had ruined our nation, the bearer of liberation, of freedom, and of hope for a prostrate people. So, by your leave, may I add one item, along this line at last. In October 1995, Milano’s Catholic University, conferred on her the doctorate honoris causa in the political sciences (incidentally, only her twenty-third honorary degree). This was only the fifth time this particular one had been given since the university’s inception: the first time to an Asian, the first ever to a woman. She wanted, at the end of her lectio magistralis, to spell out, perhaps for the first time with some explicitness and completeness, her personal political creed. She listed seven basic beliefs which, regarding political life , she said she tried to live by. Then she spoke of one more, “one more I may not omit.” Perhaps the paragraph which followed is worth citing here, even without comment, because it has something to say to our present hour.

(We cite her words now.) I believe that the vocation of politics must be accepted by those who take up the service of leadership as a vocation in its noblest meaning: it demands all of life. For the life of one who would lead his or her people, -- in our time as never before, -- such a life must strive for coherence with the vision aspired to, or else that vision itself and its realization are already betrayed. That vision must itself be present, in some authentic way, in those who seek to realize it: present, in the witness of their example; present, in a purity of heart vis-à-vis the exercise and usages of power; present, in an ultimate fidelity to principle, in a dedication that is ready to count the cost in terms of “nothing less than everything.” It is Cardinal Newman, I believe, who said that in this world, we do good only in the measure that we pay for it in the currency of our own lives. For us Christians, there is always the image of Jesus, and the price his service demanded of him. And for me there has been, as a constant reminder, the sacrifice my husband offered, and the word that it has spoken, to me and my people.” (Cory Aquino, end of citation)

Conclusion

With all this said, I am done. Ma’am, tapos na po ang assignment ko. It has been so hard to do what you asked. But I comfort myself that these so many words really do not matter. What counts in the end is really – what all this week has been; these past few days’ outpouring of our people’s gratitude and love; what will come after all this today; what we will do, in the times ahead, in fidelity to your gift. I received a text last night from a man of some age and with some history behind him. “She made me proud again, to be Filipino.” Maybe that says it all., Cardinal Sin used to put it somewhat differently. “What a gift God has given our people, in giving Cory Aquino to us.” The nobility and courage of your spirit, the generosity of your heart, the grace and graciousness that accompanied you always. They called it “Cory magic” – but it was the truth, and the purity and beauty, clear and radiant within you, that we saw. And the hope that arose from that. And when the crosses came to you and you did not refuse to bear them, more to be one with your Christ and one with your people and their pain. “Blessed are the pure of heart; for they shall see God.”

Thank you Father in heaven, for your gift to us of Cory Aquino. Thank you that she passed once this way through our lives with the grace you gave her to share with us. If we give her back to you, we do it with hearts of thanksgiving, but now, oh, with breaking hearts also, because of the greatness and beauty of the gift which she was for us, the likes of which, perhaps, we shall not know again. Salamat po, Tita Cory, mahal na mahal po namin kayo.

Ninoy's letter to his daughter Ballsy

August 18, 1973
FortBonifacio
Makati, Rizal


Ms. Maria Elena C. Aquino
25 Times St. Quezon City


My dearest Ballsy,


I write you this letter with tears in my eyes and as if steel fingers are crushing my heart because I wanted so much to be with you as you celebrate your legal emancipation. Now that you have come of age, my love, a voice tells me that I am no longer young and suddenly, I feel old.

An old poet gave this advice very long ago “when you are sad, remember the roses will bloom in December.” I want to send you bouquet of roses, big red roses from my dreamland garden. Unfortunately for the present, my roses are not in bloom, in fact they have dropped all their petals and only the thorns are left to keep me company. I do think it is fitting to send you a thicket of thorns on this memorable day!

I am very proud of you because you have inherited all the best traits of your mother. You are sensible, responsible, even-tempered and sincere with the least pretenses and affection which vehemently detest in a woman. I am sure like your mother, you will possess that rare brand of silent courage and that combination of fidelity and fortitude that will be the life vest of your man in the tragic moments of his life.

During my lonely hours of solitary confinement in FortMagsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija last March and April with nothing else to do but pray and daydream, with only my fond memories to keep me company, I planned a weekend barrio fiesta for you in Tarlac for your 18th birthday. I fooled myself into believing that my ordeal would end with the fiscal year. I planned to invite all your classmates and friends and their families for the weekends.

The schedule called for an early departure by bus from Manila and the first stop will be Concepcion, where lunch will be served by the pool. And after lunch, you were to visit the SantaRitaElementary School to distribute cookies and ice cream to the children of that public school where you were first enrolled.

I guess sheer nostalgia prompted me to include Santa Rita. We were only three then: Mommie, you and I. Those were the days of happy memories little responsibilities, tremendous freedom, a great future ahead and capped by a fulfillment of love. You are the first fruit of our union, the first proof of our love and the first seal of our affections.

From Concepcion we were to proceed to Luisita for the barrio fiesta. I intended to invite a friend who could roast an entire cow succulently. Swimming, pelota, dancing and eating would have been the order of the day.

Sunday morning was reserved for a trip around the Hacienda and the mill and maybe golf for some of the parents and later a picnic-lunch on Uncle Tony’s Island. Return to Manila after lunch. I am afraid this will have to remain as one of the many dreams I had in Laur.

Our future has suddenly become uncertain and our fate unknown. I am even now beginning to doubt whether I’ll ever be able to return to you and the family. Hence, I would like to ask you these special favors.

Love your mother, whose love for you, you will never be able to match. She is not the greatest mother in the world, she is your sincerest friend.

Take care of your younger sisters and brother and lavish them with the love and care I would like to continue giving them but am unable to do so.

Help Noy-noy along and pray hard that he will grow to be a real, responsible man who in later years will protect you all.

You are the model for your three younger sisters. Your responsibility is therefore great. Please endeavor to live up to our highest expectations. Be more tolerant to Pinky, more accessible to Viel, our little genius-princess, and more charitable to Krissy, our baby doll, and make up for my neglect.

Finally, forgive me, my love, for not having been an ideal, good and thoughtful father to you all as I pursued public office. I had hopes and high resolve of making up, but I am afraid my destiny will not oblige.

I seal this letter with a drop of tear and a prayer in my heart, that somehow, somewhere we shall meet again and I will finally be able to make up for all my lapses, in the kingdom where justice reigns supreme and love is eternal.


I love you,

Dad

I have fallen in love

(Ninoy's Poem for Cory)

I have fallen in love
With the same woman three times
In a day spanning nineteen years
Of tearful joys and joyful tears
I loved her first when she was young
Enchanting, brilliant, middle-strung
Vibrant, fragrant, eternally new
Cool, invigorating as the morning dew.
Desperate, she shared, quieted my despairs
Hopeful, she fanned the fires of my hopes
Lavished me with days of bliss and peace,
Endless, perpetual days of fond memories.
She is my hope; I do not wish to realize
Hence my hope; forever green, eternal prize
My life transcending life, my ultimate quest
Dream of my life for whom I’ll spare no rest.

I fell in love again
With the same woman the second time
When first she bore her child and mine
The first fruit of our union and our love.
The pains and anguish of motherhood she braved
Loved her children, their love she deservedly craved
Times were she hung on the very brink of death,
Unflinchingly fulfilling her mission to procreate.
In politics I plunged, she was always by my side,
Steadfast, uncomplaining, helping to turn the tide,
Amidst hardship, her rare courage would not relent
She was my secret weapon, the source of my strength.
The world was my concern, our home her domain,
The people mine, the children hers to maintain,
So it was in those eighteen years and a day
Till I was detained, forced in prison to stay.

Suddenly she became our sole support
Wellspring of hope, source of comfort
On her shoulders fell the burden of life
She emerged our captain in the sea of strife.

I fell in love again
With the same woman the third time
Looming from the battle, undaunted, unafraid,
Calm composed, she is God’s lovely maid.
It has been a year of many disappointments
Endless dark nights, long days of sad lament,
Of grave doubts, frustrations, bitter desolations,
Of privations, untold indignities, humiliations.

Dreams became nightmares; hopes, despair.
Rally to freedom’s call, no one will dare.
Future is obscured, life has lost its meaning,
The tunnel is long, we’re only at the beginning.

Leaders I admired, whose advice I sought
Became fallen idols, their souls were bought,
Their conscience they bartered for “soft” convenience,
Due to despicable cowardice, they’ve lost their patience.

Leaders became dealers, begging for part of the spoils,
Forgetting the value, the essence of the hottest toil,
Paralyzed be fear, they joined the amoral dictator,
Defending, waving the bloody flag of the new oppressor.

The pillars of society became the props of tyranny,
“Be realistic,” they urged, “if not for safety, for money.”
It is useless to resist, the tyrant is too strong,
Yet aware, with their help the tyranny will prolong.

Mother Pilipinas weeps, her noble sons are gone,
Her land of the morning, is now of the setting sun,
Back to her dungeon in chains she’s been returned;
For all her sacrifices, this is what she earned.

The night is cold and dark, there are no stars,
Our prisons are full, our souls wrinkled with scars,
Afflicted, persecuted, struck down but not crushed,
How soon will this blight be erased by Allah’s brush?

My only escape is to cling to the woman of my dreams
Who gave me a life full of love, a love full of life,
She is my urge to live, my sole motivation to survive,
She taught me not only to dream, but to make dreams alive.

Fight on! She says: Let not the guiltless ghost depart.
Your pains, our people know are caused by a thousand darts,
But be assuaged, remember the Filipino, his story, his past,
Soon, very soon, the tyrant will choke in his greedy power lust!

Prayer for a Happy Death (2004)

by Corazon C. Aquino

Almighty God, most merciful Father
You alone know the time
You alone know the hour
You alone know the moment
When I shall breathe my last.

So remind me each day, most loving Father
To be the best that I can be
To be humble, to be kind,
To be patient, to be true,
To embrace what is good
To reject what is evil
To adore only You.

When that final moment does come
Let not my loved ones grieve for long
Let them comfort each other
And let them know how much happiness
They brought into my life.
Let them pray for me
As I will continue to pray for them,
Hoping that they will always pray for each other.
Let them know that they made possible
Whatever good I offered to our world
And let them realize that our separation
Is just for a short while
As we prepare for our reunion in eternity.

Our Father in heaven
You alone are my hope
You alone are my salvation
Thank You for Your unconditional love. Amen.

The funeral cortege of former Pres. Cory Aquino: My tears came naturally

From: (The Philippine Star)
by: Joey De Leon


Wala na sa piling ng mga Pilipino,
Tinig ng awiting Mga Kababayan Ko,
At lumisan na rin noong isang Sabado,
Inang nagpalipad sa awiting Bayan Ko.
Ako’y sumasaludo, paalam Pangulo,
May isa ‘kong lihim, kay tagal itinago,
Sa lahat nang inabot kong mga namuno,
Tanging ikaw lang sa luha ko’y nagpatulo.

Marami ang nalungkot sa iyong pagyao,
Magalang ang lahat at puno ng respeto,
Nagpasalamat pa nga Kapamilya sa ‘yo,
Dahil kanilang himpilan naibalik mo.

Subalit ano itong nabalitaan ko?
Nangyari noong Lunes, a-tres ng Agosto,
Habang inililipat ang mga labi mo,
Ika’y parang nabastos sa isang TV show.

At ang napakasaklap at masakit dito,
Ang nambastos pa’y kapamilya ng anak mo,
Napanood ito ng tao at publiko,
Kakaunti na nga, ngunit lahat nahilo.
Sabi ng TV host na mainit ang ulo
Pagkakita sa video na kanyang kasalo,
“Sandali, meron akong ano… sa’ting ano…
Hindi naman sa ano,” nagkaanu-ano!
Ayon sa Internet, meron pa s’yang nasambit,
“ Sana pakitanggal muna ‘yan sa’ting traffic…”
At ‘di maaalis sa iyong pag-iisip,
Ang parada ng patay ang pinaliligpit!
At dagdag pa daw ng naghahari-harian,
“I don’t think na dapat n’yong ipakita iyan…”
Nasaan naman ang paggalang, o nasaan?
Mga sinasabi natin minsa’y pag-ingatan.

At ‘di pa nangimi nang sumunod na araw,
Pinilit pa ring ginawa n’ya ay tama raw,
Mga nakarinig ‘di na nakagalaw
At ayon sa iba sila na la’y napa-wow!

“… Pero ako, totoo ‘ko eh … “, sabi kuno,
Totoo nga at totoo ring walang modo,
Pwede namang sabihin itong pa-sikreto,
Kaya’t wala na rin mga paliwanag mo.

“Kung ganyan, pakita na lang ‘yan!”, ang hamon pa,
Para bang ang prusisyon nila-“lang - lang” lang ba,
Ang pangasiwaan ay pinapili pa n’ya,
Sumunod ang himpilan, nung August 5 wala s’ya.

May mga komentong pwede nang pang-harapan,
“On camera” baga sa TV ang tawag d’yan
At kung sensitibo man ang gustong bitawan,
Pagpasok ng commercial, hintayin mo na lang.

Matutong magbaba muna ng mikropono
At saka idikta lahat ng iyong gusto,
Lagi kang mataas lahat daw takot sa ‘yo,
Ratings lang ang mababa — totoo ba ito?

The breaking news breaks your heart — at ‘yan ang bawi mo,
Nang mahalata mong sumablay ang pasok mo,
Pero sigurado ika’y maa-abswelto,
‘Di ba ikaw rin ang may-ari ng network n’yo?
Nung Hueves nag-apologize sa diario naman,
O, akala ko ba wala kang kasalanan,
Tapos ng angalan, sunod paliwanagan —
COMPLAIN before you EXPLAIN ka na naman!
O ito kaya ay isa na namang “glitch” lang,
Tulad ng “two-zero” ‘di na natin nalaman,
O ito ay maliwanag na kabobohan?
Sa tingin ng marami, mahirap lusutan.

Ang sabi ng iba — istupidong mayabang,
At giit ng iba — istupidong mayaman,
Mayaman man o mayabang ang tiyak diyan,
Napakayaman n’ya sa kaistupiduhan.

Buti pa ang apat na honor guards ni Cory —
Sina Malab, Laguindan, Rodriguez, Cadiente,
Walong oras tumayo sa ulan at viaje,
Ang lahat ay tiniis at walang sinabi.

Samantalang ikaw na may bubong sa ulo,
Komportable ka lang sa malamig na studio,
Nang kapirasong libing sa TV sumalo,
Angal at inis ang sumambulat sa iyo.

Maaari din namang pabayaan na s’ya,
Subalit ang nangyari’y mabigat talaga,
Namayapang pangulo’y huling paalam na,
‘Di mo pa pinagbigyan … hoy, nag-iisa ka!

At nais ko lang sabihin at ipagyabang
Sa mahigit na s’yam na libong tanghalian,
Sa limang pangulong sa Bulaga’y dumaan,
Kahit isa wala kaming nilapastangan.

Ber Month!

September na! Pasko na he he he

Yeah! That's how excited I am for this coming Christmas since this will be the first Christmas of my son. And I'm so excited for him na!

I already asked my college dabarkads to start planning na our Christmas party for this year. As usual, venue is our place pa rin. ;)
Lilypie Second Birthday tickers