TRAVEL LIGHT

My past week have been all but upsetting and depressing. Pangunahin na rito, sa loob ng isang linggo my baby Maia was sick from a Urinary Track Infection (UTI). Her mommy Bambit was away to conduct a two weeks series of IT trainings in Masbate.

Dagdag pang nakakapanlumo at bad trip ang mga balitang: Ang patuloy na pagpapauwi sa ating mga OFWs na natanggal sa kanilang mga trabaho abroad. Ang P*** I*  si Jocjoc Bolante is still free and happy at nakakapagsinungaling pa straightfaced. And, for the fourth time, GMA was once again saved by her lapdogs in Congress from another impeachment complaint. !@#$%^&*!!!+… kung di ka ba naman manlumo.

Ah, but this week is all sunshine and at least a little glimmer of hope. Sunshine, for Maia is now up and about after undergoing anti-biotic treatment and Bambit is now back with us in our home sweet home. At ang konting pag-asa na baka sakali ay swertehin – no winner pa (as of this writing) ang Superlotto (6/49) 127 Million jackpot prize. (update: 144 Million na ang jackpot, no winner for Dec.7 draw)

Topping the happy news for this week and perhaps the following weeks to come, is Manny Pacquiao’s victory. Wala ng hihigit pa for a dose of Pinoy pride than Manny Pacquiao beating the boxing legend, Golden Boy Oscar De la Hoya. Manny deserves our praise – here is a man with the heart of a lion, fought against all odds and had won. Here is a man who had put the Philippines back in the center of the World stage, for a more honorable reason other than that of being the most corrupt country in Asia.

Wala akong paki-alam kung inuna ni Manny na pasalamatan si Chavit Singson o si Gloria o sino mang pulitiko…o si Ara Mina ba kaya, si Mang Karding, maging si Heztas, barabas kahit sino pa man…wala na tayong pakialam…si Manny ang umakyat sa ring at nakipagtagisan ng tapang at lakas, hindi tayo. Karapatan nyang sabihin kahit anong gusto nya dahil panalo nya ito. Ang mahalaga, Manny had once again gave us glory and pride, lasapin natin ito kahit sa sandali. Dahil tiyak bukas, sila Gloria, Chavit, Lito Atienza, etc..na naman ang magsasalita – yan na ang pagkakataong magmura tayo!

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Photo taken from Inquirer.net

Prayer is a very important and serious undertaking. It is the only medium known to us humans to communicate to our Almighty Creator, for succor, guidance or simply expressing gratitude for our manifold blessings.

One does not make fun or inject any amount of humour into a prayer. Unless you are in a black mass or delivering a message addressed to someone else other than God.

GMA has been known to use the name of God for her political ends. She once claimed that God placed her in the position as President. Now who would believe that what Dureza said in his prayer was a simple faux pas. Perhaps GMA’s evident disgust was caused by the fact that in Dureza’s eagerness to kiss her ass, he jumped the gun and stole that line from her.

Blasphemous pricks.

Mayor Jejomar “Jojo” Binay is the first to personally proclaim his intentions of running as Presidential candidate for the 2010 elections. Never mind Bayani Fernando, the King of EDSA – he’s running for President in a fairytale land he calls “METRO PHILIPPINES”, wherever that is. The public declaration of Jojo Binay officially signals the opening of the Election Season. Expect a lot of gift giving stints by prospective candidates this Christmas season.

Some Binay supporters want to utilize and ride on the Obama victory as Binay’s PR campaign line. This somehow becomes a bit of a hard selling line. For while it is without doubt that Jojo Binay is one of the best Mayors of the Philippines, his supporters are using the Obama line simply by liking Jojo’s skin to that of Obama. If the idea is just to generate humor, it is of bad taste. A sense of humour that fits only the taste of the “skin-whittening-users” crowd. This propaganda line brings nothing but that of undermining Jojo’s intelligence and belittling his capacity as a good leader. It highlights a more negative and politically incorrect line which might not sit well to serious electorates.

The problem with PR handlers of Politicos is that, in their poor attempt to get the masa votes, they never fail to make their principal look Stupid! I just hope these politicos are aware of this kind of negative PR stints. However, I know many of these Politicos need no PR handlers in order for people to know that they look, talk and walk Stupid!

My take and for anything, instead of Obama, I would rather liken Jojo Binay to Bill Clinton, they are both my brothers in the Order of DeMolay.

Ah, but then…

(photo taken from inquirer.net)

Watch the President of the Republic of the Philippines blow her top…

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is conducting clearing operations against illegaly placed billboards and signages, including BF’s giant posters. According to DPWH these posters provide nothing beneficial to people but empty slogans. The DPWH had given the MMDA time to do the clearing of the BF Posters, or the DPWH will tear it down themselves.

BF and his Kingdom, known as MMDA, reiterates that they will not remove the posters. Bayani Fernando has responded to the impending demolition of his giant self-imposed advocacy posters, (a.k.a — BF campaign posters) by claiming that his posters do not obstruct traffic and that they are in fact very beneficial to the people because of its messages.

These giant BF posters has not yet been actually blamed as a direct cause of any accident that resulted to death, physical injuries or damage to properties. If there is such, it might present itself as a strong case against BF and or the MMDA. Such case might compel the courts to order the posters illegal, hence must be removed.

But that is physical injury. What if by seeing those BF giant posters on a daily basis, on your way from home to work and back, you develop a certain psychological illness? Too much exposure to these giant BF’s posters might lead one to develop CACOPHOBIA - the fear of ugliness.

A lot of vehicles now running on our streets are imported used cars. They are twice cheaper than a brand new or a locally sold used car of the same brand. So to keep up with the Joneses, the conspicuous consumers have their sights set to Subic. Subic has become a Mecca of imported used cars. If you see big SUVs like the Big Horn, Surf, Trooper etc., on our streets, it is most likely that that vehicle came from Subic. Most commonly transported to the free ports of Subic are right-hand drive vehicles which are converted to left-hand drive and sold at a cheaper price. Subic handles auto transport coming from all parts of globe.

Car shipping to the Philippines, or importing used vehicles are generally not allowed. Subic being an international free port is exempted but not without the usual customs. However, returning residents or OFWs, since they are considered modern heroes, are given a special privilege to bring in one they own. Provided that ownership is at least 6 months old on the day of importation.

For the OFW’s international car shipping, the car’s year model is not a question. What is important is that the shipper is the absolute owner of the vehicle for at least the past 6 months and can prove that he/she worked in that country where the car will be exported. This includes, Income tax returns, visa/passport, and so on as the case may require.

Imagine if all our OFWs will bring home one car each. Then there will be no more traffic in EDSA. The whole stretch of EDSA will become one big parking lot.

Philippines is fast becoming a world capital of disappearing acts. From persons, properties, pets, and just about anything can easily disappear. Some of them completely disappearing from the face of the earth, without trace. Others resurfaced and brought to freedom from the hands of kidnappers by ransom. Even cars parked in secured parking areas, can suddenly disappear without trace. Next to go are pets, like, dogs, cats and including, alligators or reticulated pythons.

These phenomena however, is not surprising. For in this part of the world even votes can easily disappear and to reappear as votes counted for the other party. Our government officials are adepts in making public funds appear and disappear like bubbles in the air. Children just disappear in shopping malls. Criminals both convicted and those should-have-been-convicted persons can simply disappear right in front of the noses of their supposed guards.

The problem with all these disappearing acts, is that it happens without trace. If only have we a GPS Tracking device installed to our loved ones, cars, pets, etc, then it would not be difficult to trace their whereabouts. I hear that some convicts in the US are attached with a kind of GPS Tracking device in their bodies in order for them not to escape easily. It would only be necessary that such GPS Tracking devices must be discreet and concealed, or better still implanted just skin deep into any part of the body.

As for public funds disappearing, it can be traced but it will never be returned. The only effective solution for this would be, the utilization of devices such as a criminal court, the impeachment process or better still another people power revolution.