Witnessing Christmas

For those who fret to have work shifts on the 24th and 25th, remember that the first witnesses of Christ's birth, the shepherds, were at the middle of their jobs when it all happened. Rejoice that you are in good company. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, it must not hinder us from celebrating the true meaning of the holidays. Merry Christmas everyone.

Time and Space and Life and Love

What does life has to offer? What can I offer to life?
When you ask for a pillow, you’ll be given a knife.
And then you ask yourself, what it is that I see.
Is this my imagination, or is it the reality?


There are days that I want to shed all negativity,
Though circumstances take me off my objectivity,
Trying hard to get things going, acting like a hero,
While the easiest thing to do is just to let go.


An ordinary human would succumb to all these pain,
And nothing could be done to keep a person sane.
That would happen certainly if you are all alone,
Thus like a weakly kingdom with a queen-less throne.


There’s always a Divine plan, but we’re given a free choice,
Which makes it tough to follow while fighting all the noise.
But directions from above will always be the pure one,
With a clear mind you will know when things are to be done.


It was never perfect, but is relatively near.
With you beside me, there are few things that I fear
One is the thought of not having you with me,
It’s like living in this world when there’s nothing else to see.


We’ve shared all this love that is bountiful and overflowing,
That adds up these two beating hearts, so lively and fulfilling,
To them we part our joys, our present and our future,
That no matter how hard this life is, together we’ll endure.


Beautiful portions of my life, most of the reason is you,
From the deepest pits of it, you’ve always pulled me thru,
The smallest things you do push me to stand up,
The biggest deeds you make pull me back to where we start.


Time and space have always been so important,
But being beside you makes these things irrelevant,
Adding up these two kids, the four of us together,
Having you all close to me, I want now to be forever.

Happy birthday to my wife Cel. Thank you and I love you.

Imaginary Enemies of Insecurity

There’s a sudden increase of quotes and posters going around the social media that portray heroism out of underrated roles in the society. Or, are they really?

Playing the victim card is rampant not because people are real victims but most of the time, it is caused by insecurity. There are those who think that their roles in the society are lowly and that people look at them degradingly. Truth is, thinking low starts within the person himself, not from the outside. Unaware of this, an insecure person starts justifying his existence by magnifying and dramatizing his acts. And while doing so, he creates imaginary enemies like those whom he think are belittling his contributions and in the process doing ugly comparisons and ends up as the one guilty of degradation of the role of another person.

Insecurity is never a justification to put someone on a higher pedestal while dragging another one below. Insecurity is an illness of the society. Confidence is the better alternative. Confidence is to understand that what you do is important for who you care for and not for the others to care about

Educate Yourself by Reading Facebook Comments (and being lazy)

 I am the laziest person that I know. There are some guys that might beat me at that but since I can monitor myself more than them; I get more evidences that I’m the one. I don’t know how some people can focus and complete their jobs easily. They are good at deadlines. Following and remembering instructions for them are so relaxed. I can’t do most of my tasks without being distracted a lot. Before I typed that last sentence, it took me a while to write it because I heard some noise downstairs and it got me thinking far from what I was doing. I thought of food. 

It is a cliché but Facebook indeed plays a big part of our modern lives. We’ve been surfing the internet scattered for some years before we were sucked into this black hole which we now call the social media. It’s an organized disorganized way of sharing and telling people what you do, where you go, what you are, what you think even what you eat, wear, read, watch, hate, like, love in the world wide web. It’s not even surprising that it makes a good marketing ploy for some as news spread like fire when there’s something controversial explodes in our midst. Log in and you’ll see the information in a minute. Or even seconds. 

With all these shared news, what I usually do first is read the comments and look at the common and popular ones. There’s that usual phenomenon on these sections that 70% of the comments are similar, 10% are informative, 10% are in contrast of the majority, 5% makes sense, 5% is total garbage, or maybe more for the last one. If you ask me how I got this, this is from 100% of my opinion and observation. And I’m sure that many will agree with it though. And some will not, but it’s ok since you are only 10%. 

Seeing how similar most people think, it makes one ask if it’s reality that most of us are agreeing with each other or it’s just many are lazy to think deeper.  Replies are too predictable. And we can’t learn anything from them anymore. 

Again, laziness gets into me when I read these comments that when I think I have something to contribute to the discussion, I still choose not to. But when I feel like it, I look for the most commented and liked one. Most of the time, I disagree with it. I am not trying to be a contrarian but that’s what usually happens. I know that there’s something wrong with what they are saying. But just saying that they are wrong wouldn’t give any value to them, to the readers and to me. So I start researching and reading anything about the subject. After getting more facts and drawing some conclusions, I may reply to the post, and may also not. Sometimes I write about them here. Or I just talk about it and share with people around me. And by doing that, I understood the matter more than before. And the bottom line is I learned something better from reading the Facebook comments. And my laziness helped me on that.

Bitay Bitay!

"Ibalik ang death penalty!"

Panigurado na kada bukas mo ng comments tungkol sa mga balita ng mga nangyayaring krimen sa bansa, yan ang laman at may pinakamaraming likes. Nakakapanggigil naman talaga ang mga nababalitaan sa araw araw. Wala nang sinasanto ang mga kriminal ngayon, saan mang lugar, ano mang oras, edad, kasarian, lahat ay wala nang nakakaligtas. Hindi na nga tayo mapalagay. Oras oras na lang tayong nagdadasal at kinakabahan tuwing di natin kasama ang mga mahal natin sa buhay. Umaasa na sana ay di sila ang susunod na maging biktima. O kaya e tayo mismo rin ay makaiwas sa mga walang pusong kriminal na yan. Talagang mapapasabi ka ng "ibalik ang bitay"!

Siguro nga, talagang gugustuhin mong mamatay ang isang taong halang ang kaluluwa para ipaghiganti ang mahal sa buhay na biniktima nila. At siguradong hindi lang simpleng pagbitay kundi yung pinakamahirap na kamatayan ang pipiliin mong igawad sa kanila.

At hindi biro ang usaping ito

Ang death penalty, tulad ng iba pang parusa ay isang bagay na magagawa lang pag tapos na ang krimen. Ang argumento kadalasan ng mga pumapabor dito ay para matakot ang mga kriminal na gumawa ng masama. Baka nga naman kabahan sila, magbago ang isip at mabawasan ang krimen.

Pero kadalasan ng gumagawa ng mga krimen na may hatol na bitay marahil ay hindi naman naiisip ang parusang ito pag gumagawa sila ng masama. Kahit pa nga walang death penalty, kung tutuusin ay puede rin naman nilang ikamatay ang krimen na gagawin nila.. Ang isang nanghoholdap, nangre-rape, nagnanakaw, o papatay ng ibang tao ay puede ring mapatay sa akto na mahuli sila sa kanilang ginagawa. Alam nila yun. Pero wala nilang takot na ginagawa ito dahil sa mas matindi ang kagustuhan nilang isakatuparan ang krimen. 

Ang parusa ay umeepekto lang bilang panakot sa isang taong may matinong pag-iisip. Ang isang rapist ay wala sa katinuan ng pag-iisip. Ang isang taong walang takot pumatay sa kahit anong dahilan ay wala rin sa matinong pag-iisip. Ang pagsasabing ang bitay ay nakakapagdulot ng takot sa kriminal ay para lang sa may rasonableng pananaw. Kung tutuusin, ang pagkakakulong habambuhay ay nakakatakot nang pangitain sa isang taong normal. Pero para sa kriminal na may tama sa utak, wala na sa kanila ito. Mas nangingibabaw ang kagustuhang mairaos ang kanilang mga makamundong hangarin.

Idagdag pa natin ang kabagalan ng hustisya sa ating bansa. Ilang kaso ang gumagapang sa bawat araw dahil na rin sa napakarami at lumang sistema na meron tayo sa kabuuan. Ilan kaya ang nakakulong ngayon na walang kasalanan at hindi pa rin makalaya dahil sa hindi lang matuloy tuloy ang kaso? At alam din nating marami ang nakakulong at nahahatulang guilty sa kabila ng pagiging inosente.

At papaano pa kung may bitay? Hindi malabong magkaroon ng hatol na bitay para sa mga walang kasalanan. Paano pa mabibigyan ng pagkakataon ang isang walang kasalanan kung hahatulan na agad ng kamatayan? 

Isa pa dyan ang pagkakaroon ng malaking hadlang sa pagkakapantay pantay ng tao sa hustisya ng bansa. Ang mga simpleng kaso lang ay kailangan nang gumastos ng malaki. Meron mang mga pro-bono na abogado, kakailanganin pa ring magbigay ng oras ang isang nasasakdal o nagdedemanda. Paano na ang mga dukha na hindi kakayaning hindi magtrabaho para lang maghabol sa hustisya?  Hindi pa natin pinag-uusapan ang sinasabi nilang ang hustisya ay para lamang sa mayaman. Paano kung ikaw na simpleng mamamayan lang ang napagbintangan at mahatulan ng bitay laban sa maimpluwensyang tao? Maging sa pagdampot ng kriminal, ang mayamang lider ng sindikato ay protektado at hindi makakanti, pero yung simpleng nangshoplift ng gatas para sa gutom na anak ay kadalasang nabubugbog pa bago ikulong.

Bukod sa panawagang ibalik ang bitay, kaakibat na rin ng mga salitang ito ang patutsada sa Simbahang Katoliko. Kontra daw kasi ang Simbahan kaya di ito mapatupad. Puro bawal bawal daw pero wala naman daw maitulong sa nangyayaring krimen. At marahil, iisipin ng iba na kaya di ako sang ayon sa bitay ay dahil sa bawal ito ng Simbahan. Mali po. Hindi po tahasang sinasabi ng Simbahan na ang bitay ay kontra sa aral. Bilang pangunahing tagapagtanggol ng buhay, ang mga matatawag nating bayolenteng pamamaraan ay natural lamang po na hindi ayunan ng Simbahan. At ang position sa pagpapahalaga sa buhay ay consistent din ang katuruan. Kaya nga kahit anong yurak ng iba sa kabuuan nito bilang isang boses laban sa contraception, abortion, euthanasia, divorce, etc, hindi binabago ng Simbahan ang posisyon laban sa mga ito.

Pero kung patungkol naman sa bitay, katulad ng giyera, kung babalikan natin ang kasaysayan ay ilang beses na ring pinayagan ng Simbahan ang ganitong mga pamamaraan. Importante ang buhay pero kung ang pagkitil ng isang buhay ay magliligtas sa mas marami pang buhay ay maaari itong payagan. Subalit matatawag itong “last resort” na ika nga. Kung wala na talagang magagawang ibang solusyon, pinapayagan ito ng Simbahan ayon na rin sa ating katesismo. Kasama dito ang gyera at ang pagbitay.

Ang krimen ang siyang problema. Kung magiging mas maayos lang sana ang mga batas, ang mga nagpapatupad, ang mga nangangalaga, ang mga namumuno at tayong mga tao bilang kabahagi ng lipunan, mababawasan ang mga ito. Bakit naman sa ilang bansa na walang bitay ay may mas mababang crime rates pa nga? Ano ang meron sa kanilang bansa na di natin magawa? At bakit may ilang bansa naman na kahit may bitay pa ay malala pa rin ang lagay ng krimen kumpara sa ating bansa? Kung titingnan na lang natin mismo sa Estados Unidos na kung saan ang kanilang mga estadong may capital punishment ang siya pang mas mataas ang bilang ng kaso ng pagpatay kesa sa mga wala nito. At habang tumatagal ay mas palaki pa ng palaki ang agwat ng mga ito na maaari na rin nating sabihing patunay na hindi pinababa ng death penalty ang mga kaso ng murder sa kanilang bansa bagkus ay wala lang talagang epekto sa bilang ng gumagawa nito o mas pinapalala pa nga. Isa siguro rito yung mindset na dinudulot ng death penalty patungkol sa ideya ng pagpatay.

 

With vs Without Death Penalty (Murder Rates) -source http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates

 

 

 

 

 

To summarize my position, pabor ako sa bitay kung mangyayari ang mga bagay na ito:

-         Magiging maayos ang pagpapatupad ng batas ng gobyerno at kapulisan.

-         Mas magiging maayos at progresibo ang sistema ng hudikatura.

-         Magiging mas mapagmatyag at matulungin ang bawat isang myembro ng lipunan sa kanilang kapwa.

-         Mas magiging pantay na ang batas sa pagtrato ng bawat kaso ng bansa, mayaman man o mahirap.

Pero isa lang ang problema dito. Kapag natupad kasi ang mga hiling kong yan para ipatupad ang bitay sa bansa, malamang, di na natin kakailanganin pang manawagan ng bitay dahil marahil ang mga bagay na yan ang mas higit nating kailangan para mabawasan at masugpo ang maraming krimen sa ating kapaligiran.

One Click Mentality

My breakfasts are amazing especially that my wife always prepare a good set of it. I also do the preparations at times but since I have to start working at 4:30 AM daily, all I can do is to prepare my coffee and wait for my wife's cooking. Or sometimes if we are both too busy, everything else will be instant. Noodles, pancit canton, canned goods, etc. I admit that the taste of these kinds of food are mostly good. It's the preservatives, maybe?

Listening to the news daily, on the other hand, is a different story. 80% of it are bad or even more than that. Corrupt government, crimes, poverty, tragedies and disasters are the usual headlines. If there's one thing that we can't be desensitized from, it's with the nation's problems. Even if most of them seemed happening repeatedly, most will still make you sick to your stomach.

 
Are there solutions to these? For sure there are. But are we taking the right steps towards it? Is the public really aware of what we need to do to alleviate these problems? Or are we all just taking things in face value and not looking for the root cause? With the suggestions that we are hearing, it seems that it is the case.

For poverty, there's RH law. For crime solving, it's death penalty. For governance issues and corruption, it's to support this candidate for president. It's like for every big problem that this country have, there's a one click solution that we can readily choose from. And many are buying into them. I can't blame these people. Most probably, they are tired of it all and just want sudden changes and hoping that a superhero or a super-formula antidote is found somewhere and can make things happen like a simple one click solution.

The irony though is that the this kind of thinking is the same mindset that causes most of our society's trouble. Most of us wanted shortcuts. When applying for government permits and licenses, when driving thru our congested roads, when we want to achieve something, we have our own ways of what we call "diskarte" to get it done quicker. Usually, "diskarte" is about something not legal that we just turn a blind eye on. We deem them as normal since a lot is already doing it. One click and it's done.

Looking at the nation's situation deeper, everything is interrelated. The effect that we see could be the root, same as the chicken and egg situation. Everything is crisscrossed that suggesting a huge one-click solution could spell another disaster. In mathematics, the simplest solutions are usually the best ones. But in our society, the simple solutions, especially those that are not analyzed well and are merely products of public clamor and emotions can be a can of worms that once opened will extend the tentacles of the illnesses of the society rather than fixing them. Just as instant meals which usually taste good but lacks the nutrients that our body needs.



And I love my breakfast today. A cup of rice, "bistek" which my mom cooked yesterday, fried egg and a cup of coffee. I eat a lot for breakfast but I usually miss out on dinner. I read somewhere that it's a healthy practice. Though I think skipping or eating a meal is not the point whether it's healthy or not. It's still on what things you put on your plate and how much of it you take that matters.

The Dumbest Ways an Adult Talk

I love playing card games. More than the winning or gambling part, it’s on how you can increase your chances by using physical movements and actions even with the worst set of hands you have. I wonder if psychologist would be good poker players.

There are many ways to get some edge.  There are physical and verbal. On discussions, the verbal part is the most important. By the words you use, people will judge both your points and your personality. It can either make or break you. And if you want to end up broke, here are some of the worst way you can do when you talk.

1. Shoving ideas down people’s throats. You don’t force people to change their thoughts about something. You can only showcase and tell stories behind what you believe in may it be about sports, consumable products, advocacy, faith or the lack of it, or anything. While you may have the best argument about your preferences, you still have to be aware that people choose what they want, where their passion are and what they truly understand. The last one is your biggest chance of making them give a second look at what you offer.

2. “Just saying”, “I don’t want to offend”, “it’s just my opinion”. These words. People who use these obviously know they are offending but just want to look clean to avoid retaliation by adding their disclaimer. Those who say these words after saying their own piece and blatantly criticizing others are cowards.

3. Assuming that one person is siding on the opposite of what you believe in when he criticizes yours. Most problems in the world are caused by this illusion of having to choose only between two sides. By limiting your options and your view, you’re also losing the opportunity to pick a better one.

4. Using the “no one’s perfect” and “don’t judge” cards unnecessarily. I’m sure there are those few arguments where you can validly use these but using it often to defend something without categorically answering allegations and criticisms shows your lack of knowledge of the subject.

Unfortunately, there are still those who think that these ways are effective and valid and many like-minded people will even approve it. If it happens that you are in a middle of an argument and one person suddenly use one of these strategies, stay away. Or if you can’t, tell them that what they think about your idea is not what it really is. Ask them not to judge as no one is perfect. Then tell them that you are only after what is good so if they disagree with you, that means they are supporting what is bad.  Then ask them to change their way of thinking and start to think like you. Then tell them that you’re not trying to offend them, you’re just saying it. Then observe their faces if you can. But no, just stay away from them.  Most of the time, these people are just trying to make it look that they know what they are saying. Truth is, they are bluffing.

Accountability Matters

Experiences in life will teach you the hard lessons. No matter how much effort you put in trying to make wrong things right, as a result, the truth will surface in the end. Yet, some people still won’t learn for they rather blame the sorry outcome to other people’s actions and never on their own decisions.  But going back to earlier argument, as a result, the truth will surface in the end.

Political Wrongness

Mali man ang mga bagay na ginagawa mo noon, maaaring tama na ito ngayon. Sa sobrang kaadikan na ng tao sa "political correctness", bumagsak na tayo sa correctness ng wrongness. 

Hindi ko na gustong isa-isahin pa ang maraming bagay patungkol dito. Pero bilang buod, ito na ang nangyayari ngayon. Ang taong gumagawa ng maraming mali, bulgaran, nagsasalita ng hindi maganda at walang pagtatangkang itago ang mga ito, ang tawag sa kanya ng marami ay totoong tao. At kung magsalita lang siya ng kahit isang patungkol sa kabutihan, papalakpakan na ng marami at lalong sasabihing totoong tao nga talaga siya. Marami pa ang iidolo at susundin ang kanyang ehemplo. Dadami ang pilosopo.

Pero kung ikaw naman ang isang tao na sa kabuuan ng buhay mo ay sumusubok na magtimpi, magpasensya, gumawa at magsalita ng mabuti at pagkatapos ay nakitaan ng kahit isa lang na di kaaya-ayang pagkilos, ikaw na ngayon ang pinakamasama. At lahat ng sasabihin mo ay di na kapani-paniwala dahil ikaw ay ipokrito. At sa kabila ng mabubuting gawa, siya na ngayon ang kasuklam suklam at pinakawalang kwenta at kabastosbastos na tao sa paningin ng marami. Wala na siyang gagawing tama at wala nang magtitiwala.

Gusto nyo ba ko magbigay ng example ng mga nasa itaas? Wag na. Alam nyo na kung sino o ano ang mga yan at paniguradong may naiisip na kayong halimbawa kung sino sila sa buhay nyo. At sana, di mo pagsisihin sa huli na kasama ka pala sa may ganitong pananaw.