Born 1973

Boring title but not life. It's full of excitement and the same can be said about fatherhood. Now fatherhood is fifty percent aspect of parenthood. You need a mom to help you raise a child. Now our child will learn a great deal from his parents, his life, and yes - about fatherhood. Life is good.

Fergie: 'Lego of my dress!'

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After Lady Gaga's shocked the MTV crowd with her block of meat haute couture, Fergie made heads turn when she came out to play at the Kids' Choice Awards wearing a dress made out of Lego Blocks. Hey, I think I see the price tag from Toys R' Us. Hahaha. Just kiddin' Fergie. Honestly, Michael Schmidt did a great job piecing this together. 

Writing for Business As a Writer, Huh?

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Malou and I attended this "Writing as a Profession" seminar held this afternoon at a nearby mall. All the resource speakers were talking about getting money from writing. I didn't hear a single speech about how to improve or love the work you're doing in writing. They forgot to help attendees put more heart into their work. 


I didn't hear anybody talk about passion and the deep sense of appreciating the work of writing. Passion for me is doing something even if you're not paid to do it. Disagree or not but imagine all the artists that we have now - I'm sure they all did their work without even thinking about  making it big. Think about Jose Rizal - a prolific writer you think - but did he ever imagine that will make a big deal out of his work? He didn't write Noli Me Tangere or El Fili with the thought, I will make it big doing these works. So I really had a hard time digesting what the theme of the workshop was all about. 


As writers, we'll be missing the point if all we do is write with the financial status in mind. For me, writers who think about money as the end of their means needs to know how to write again.

Daddy. . .are you okay?

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My left foot stepped on a slope of a curb on my way to get our car to attend a church seminar on parenting. It was embarrassing. I literally collapsed in view of about twenty tricycle drivers converged on the other side of the road and a bunch of beauty parlor clients behind me who probably saw everything. It was painful. Not my pride - it's the farthest thing from my mind. I quickly recovered and was able to come into a one leg kneeling position waiting for the numbing pain to subside. A good minute passed then I stood up to walk, injured but walking - albeit slowly and painfully still.

I continued walking to my car, which is about a good 30 yards away. Ack! Eck! Argh! I thought to myself as neighbors cautiously ask me what happened. Each step was excruciating. I smiled and said, "natapilok ako."

Night time. Malou helped prepare a bucket full of ice and water and dipped my swelling left foot in it. "Aaaaaa!" It was more painful. I couldn't believe how painful it was. At this, my one year and eleven months old son, Kye, came and started rubbing my legs as I lay on our couch. With his innocent voice he ask me, "Daddy. . .are you okay?" It was still very painful - mind you - but I was amazed at how concerned he was. He understands. I couldn't care less what happened to me now when your son who, at his very, very young age, know that his dad is not okay and he was showing that much care.

Day two. It's Sunday morning and I wrote this piece in honor of God who taught me to teach and demonstrate love that I am now getting from my son. I never wrote anything about my fatherhood (which was one of the main purpose of this blog) experiences. I blinked and now here. I'm glad I blinked. It's was one of those moments that you would like to read over and over as time passes by. 

My son. I love my son. Thank you God.

Why is the RP Hostage-Taking, 83-Page Report only 59 Pages?

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Curious how extensive and fast the investigation of the August 23 bungled hostage rescue drama, I downloaded a copy of the IIRC-prepared report and I immediately noticed that it only contained 59 pages out of the supposed 83-page report promised. What happened to the other 24 pages? What does it contain? I ask because the Aquino-led government is saying that it is promoting transparency, which I appreciate. But if they're going to promote transparency, why weren't there news about the missing 24 pages that the public needs to know? Why isn't the media pursuing this angle? Frustrating how our media is not thorough in shedding light in simple observations like this.

What’s common between Captain Mendoza and Venus Raj?

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 “Mean what you say and say what you mean.”

The biggest blunder the recent “Major, major” twin tragedies (excuse me for bringing this up again but it’s a must) that happened in the hostage-taking drama and Ms. Universe were all about miscommunication. You can never be right in taking communication for granted.

If the dismissed Captain Mendoza were true to his heart to say that he will not hurt his hostages, he may still live up to his family's honor. If Venus Raj (Ms. Philippines) humbly used a translator to answer her question and not be purely overwhelmed by the emotions of the pageant, she wouldn’t be finishing 4th runner up in the recent 2010 Ms. Universe pageant.

“Ask,” I always tell people when they’re not sure of what they’re observing because through more information, you can never go wrong. Using the right communication, we will avoid fights, quarrels, and God forbid – death and yes, 4th runner up finishes.

If you want to improve your communication, read this article and improve your skills keeping peace wherever you work and live. The article headlines ten things you should never forget when talking to anybody. If you are one that gets a lot of complaints when people talk to you, this article is for you.

Scary Flash Rain Preview of 2010

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Minutes before 6 PM, rain poured as the sun sets and the effect was reminiscent of Ondoy.

My family went for a short ride to San Juan to look for a restaurant where we will celebrate Father's Day. As we head off north on EDSA, rain started to pour: frist drizzle-then came the rain.

I read stories of flashfloods in the city of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, Europe, and India early this year and seeing how water was pouring hard gave me chilling thoughts of what Philippines was up to this year since we just experienced El Niño over the hottest-dry season on record. I'm also scared because our nation is still preparing for the new president's oath-taking by the end of this month. You also have President Arroyo winding down her work as Administrator and Commander-In-Chief and preparing her exit.

While driving around for ten minutes, I said "Let's go home." The hard rain reminded me of Ondoy and all I could think about was getting home. Big puddles of rain water started to form at the two outer lanes of EDSA causing more traffic as cars and buses alike drive at a snail's pace to avoid more accidents. I turned on my hazard lights (and so did others) to help others see me.

"This is a perfect disaster forming." I thought. With everyone turning their attention on other government matters, the residents are about to get hit by this storm system that not even the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa)  was able to warn us. I documented the experience and posted it on CNN's iReport so netizens can help me warn others about this potential disaster.

I'm not being pessimistic but for all intents and purposes, I just want this to be something that the Philippine government (outgoing and incoming) should focus on more this year. I am sure that flood-control, environment protection and its awareness, and disaster management will be one of President-elect Noynoy Aquino's acid tests of his job in the first 100 days in office. As they prepare for the party, I hope this government and the incoming one should be talking to avert any further loss of lives as we brace for La Niña. Let's wait and see as I pray for our people and the government to act decisively and fast.


SHOCKING PHOTO: 50 Cent Loses 50 Lbs.

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Whoa! Playing a cancer-stricken role in his upcoming movie, 50 Cent went on a strict liquid diet and exercise for two months. This is how he looks like now. Read his story.

NOW READING: The Dip by Seth Godin

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You can never go wrong reading Seth Godin's books. It's small, handy, and yes - insightful. I held the book at a popular bookstore in Bonifacio Global City and started chomping on it like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it because it's not right reading it without actually buying it. "What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts." - there are those options we can do in life but there's only one thing that we should be doing in life. This is really intriguing and I can't wait to go back and...er... buy the book. It's Php550 and it's worth being in my virtual shelf. Yep, I'm praying for one. Read on.

Do we have a minority president?

With 109 members in the House and about a dozen more likely to be added after the winners of the party-list votes have been proclaimed, Suarez said the Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition could remain dominant with an ability to impeach the President to counter the Chief Executive’s power over pork barrel releases.

With a lot of Arroyo allies in congress, are we seeing a minority president coming on board on June 30th? This is a scary thing to see cause as it is right now, president-elect Aquino seems to be waging a war already with the incumbent president who just got elected as a member of congress who has the potential to be the House Speaker. She wields more than 100 plus house representatives while Aquino's liege only has fifty congressmen to speak of. I just hope and pray that we will not have a divided congress, otherwise, the people will eventually be the loser. For more of the story, click on the newsinfo.inquirer.net link above.

Why romanticize what Cory did?

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Why romanticize Cory? I pray that we don't pin our hopes on something that God gave us a long time ago. Cory was a great person and she is blessed but why are we so worried about filling her shoes when we should be thinking how we can improve ourselves. If there's something Cory could do that we should improve on is sticking to God's word and making sure this is lived out. And then there's grace. God is faithful to give something we don't have and if it is lacking in skills, patience, talent, and perseverance then we should ask for it. Let's not fill Cory's shoes. Let's fill our own shoes so we can lead our lives and then our family. This piece was picked up here at the Philippine Daily Inquirer today, May 16, 2010 (Sunday).

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

". . .like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. . ." Judges 18:7