Sa pagtatapos ng taong 2009, gusto ko dito ibahagi itong tula na sinulat ni Pete Lacaba na binigkas ni Armida Siguion-Reyna.
Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!
Mabuhay ka!
Iyan ang una’t huli kong
Tagubilin at habilin:
Mabuhay ka!
Sa edad kong ito, marami akong maibibigay na payo.
Mayaman ako sa payo.
Maghugas ka ng kamay bago kumain.
Maghugas ka ng kamay pagkatapos kumain.
Pero huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay para lang makaiwas sa sisi.
Huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay kung may inaapi
Na kaya mong tulungan.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 Pinoy Expat/OFW Blog Awards.
The awarding ceremonies was held at the Philamlife Auditorium last Dec. 27.
The winners are:
1.Isla de Nebz (Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia)
http://isladenebz.blogspot.com/2009/07/peba-entry-where-my-ofw-dollars-go.html
2.Pink Tarha Girls (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
http://thepinktarha.blogspot.com/2009/08/ang-tunay-na-katas-ng-saudi.html
3.Wits and Spirits (Bangkok, Thailand)
http://josephilsaraspe.blogspot.com/2009/08/going-abroad-is-dream-of-almost-every.html
Sea tragedies have become become common occurrences during the holiday season when city folks go home to the province to spend Christmas with families and relatives.
We never learn our lesson.Every tragedy, we bewail the overloading, the poor vessel maintenance and the questionable capabilities of the crew. But after the stories have ceased to be headline news, we go back to our usual slipshod “bahala na” attitude until the next tragedy.
The past week has seen two sea tragedies that claimed hundred of lives caused miseries to families in this supposedly season of joy.
Ayun sa reports, kulelat ang pelikula ni Manny Pacquiao na “Wapakman” sa Metro Manila Film Festival.
Sana magmumulat yan sa mga mata ni Manny na siya ay ini-idolo sa boksing. Sa boksing lang. Kung gusto ng mga tao manood ng pelikula, gusto nila ang magaling na artista. At hindi si Pacquaio yun.
Ayon sa official box office records ng MMFF, ang topnother ay “Ang Panday” ni Sentor Ramon “Bong” Revilla na kumita ng P16.9 million sa unang araw, na sinundan ng “Ang Darling kong Aswang” ni Vic Sotto (P16.8 million) at “Shake, Rattle & Roll XI” (P16.2 million). Fantasy films itong mga topnotcher.
(Last Dec.14, the Union of Foreign Service Officers wrote Gloria Arroyo and copy-furnished the Commission on Appointments opposing the midnight appointments of Francisco Benedicto as ambassador to China and Antonio Cuenco as ambassador to Italy. The CA rejected Cuenco’s appointment upholding the reason forwarded by the Unifors which is the appointment is a waste of money with only five months left in the Arroyo administration. The CA, however, approved the nomination of Benedicto.
The author of this article, Mr. Roberto Romulo, son of the statesman Carlos P. Romulo,was formerly foreign affairs secretary during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos.)
by Roberto Romulo
Philippine Star
In the course of the year, I usually devote a column or two to critical issues of concern in the Philippine foreign service, believing how vital it is to our ties with the world. This yearend column is such a piece.
Contrary to the feeling of some that ambassadors may have outlived their usefulness in the age of the Internet, competent diplomats are more important than ever. The new global security threats — not only terrorism — require more intimate knowledge of foreign peoples and places that still cannot be acquired from Discovery Channel and websites. We still need to get our passports from a government office and not from e-Bay. Trade deals still need to be negotiated and economic promotions have to be carried out face-to-face and mano-a-mano in the face of intensive globalization. International migrations call for countries, like the Philippines, to deploy diplomatic and consular agents in far-flung and often hostile parts of the world.
And perhaps most important of all, we need effective ambassadors to man the ramparts of a new 21st century international order where many new players jostle one another for ever greater global and regional power and influence. This game has quickened considerably since the position of the United States has begun to erode in many international arenas, including East Asia
by J.B. Baylon
Malaya
This holiday season has allowed me to do something I like doing a lot – and which costs very little.
I refer to my habit of going to a bookstore, and staying there for an hour or two, sometimes even three – while I browse the many books available, taking my own sweet time paring down the purchase options to one, or two, or three, sometimes even five books I would finally go home with.
And so, over the last five days I have visited the different branches of Fully Booked daily, and the National Book Store in Greenbelt 1 twice as well, as a result of which I now have seven books added to my list of “next to read” tomes.
Mamayang gabi, malalaman ang mga nanalo sa pangalawang Pinoy Expat/OFW Blog Awards.
Gaganapin ang awarding ceremonies sa Philamlife Theater sa U.N. Avenue, Manila, 6 p.m.
Kahanga-hanga itong project na itinataguyod ng grupo nina Kenji Solis na ang pangunahing layuin ay magbigay pugay sa ating mga kababayang sa ibang bansa na siya ngayon ang nagbubuhay ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas.
The international outrage generated by last month’s massacre in Maguindanao of 57 men and women, half of them journalists, may offer opportunities to make progress…
Maligayang Pasko!
Sa kabila ng lahat na kalamidad, natural at kagagawan ng tao, marami pa rin tayo dapat ipasasalamat sa Panginoon.
Unang-una buhay tayo. Isipin nyo na lang ang mga sawimpalad noong bagyong Ondoy o kung nakasama tayo sa 57 na kasama sa Maguindanao masaker.
Ngunit ang pamilya ng 57 ay mabuti pa rin ang lagay dahil nakita nila ang bangkay ng kanilang mga kamag-anak. Nailibing ng maayos. Mas mahirap ang lagay ng tatlo na hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa nakikita ang katawas. Dalawa doon ay reporter din at ang isa yata ay ang operator ng backhoe na ginamit para sana itago ang krimen.
Kapag panahon ng Pasko, madalas sabihin magpapatawad at magbati tayo sa ating mga naka-away.
Medyo mahirap gawin yan kay Gloria Arroyo at sa kanyang mga kampon kasama na doon ang pamilyang Ampatuan. Paano ka naman magpapatawad kung wala ka namang nakitang pagsisisi?
Tinitingnan ko sa TV si Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. noong dinala siya sa Department of Justice para sa preliminary hearing at parang maluwag ang turnilyo nito. Duwag pala itong halimaw na ito. Nang hiniwalay siya sa kanyang abogado, nagmamaka-awa siyang, “Atty, huwag mo akong iwan.”
Ito ang taong walang- awang nagpatay ng 57 na taong walang kasalanan sa kanya. Hindi siya sinagi, hindi siya sinaktan. Ngunit basta lang niya pinagbabaril na parang mga manok.
Habang pinapanood ko ang interview ni Anthony Taberna kay “Abdul” ( hindi niya totoong pangalan) ang lalaking nagsabi na sampung taon pa lang siya ng kinuha siya at tinuruan ng mga Ampatuan pumatay, na-alaala ko ang “Blood Diamonds”. Di ba doon sa pelikula, hinanap nina Leonardo di Caprio at ang tatay ng bata ang kampo kung saan sinasanay ang mga bata magiging killer. Meron palang ganoong kampo sina Ampatauan sa bundok ng barangay Upi sa Maguindanao.