Simple Joys

When you realize that you unconsciously saved up two thousand bucks by the end of the year... 

In life you will meet people who will believe that you can soar high before you even realize that you have wings.

I have a very low alcohol tolerance but I was more than willing to take this shot for one of the best managers I had in my career. Definitely no goodbyes, see you in 2016. :)

What I should have said yesterday

So you've had enough experience to handle awkward conversations? Good for you. Obviously what your experience didn't teach you is that in the grand scheme of things, being kind trumps being right. Every single time.

I hope that you never find yourself in his shoes someday. And if you do, I hope that you would have given enough kindness to the world so that there will be someone who'll defend you the way I defended him.

8 years of passion to perform

In a women's engagement session yesterday with two of our leaders from the region, someone asked them about their biggest regret in their career. I reflected on the same question and asked myself if I had my share of regrets. And i realized that careerwise, I can't think of any. Not that the road has been smooth the entire time but I just can't think of anything that I would want to change. I am celebrating my 8th anniversary with the bank today. Yes, celebrating is the right word. Work has been such a big part of my life in the past 8 years so it's a blessing to be doing something that gives me a sense of fulfillment. The next 2 years may be bumpy for the organization but I am grateful to have been given a seat in the bus as we go through this journey. I am looking forward to take part in the transformation.

Chasing A Wild Dream

This is the first time I'm writing about Philippine politics, and possibly the last. As shameful as it may sound, I admit that I was a very apathetic citizen. Philippine politics is something that I've never taken interest on and I have never participated as a voter in a single election. Yes, I know that being a non-voter means I have no right to complain about the government and how it's run and this is exactly why you never see me sharing my views on whatever crisis the country is going through on social media. At times I do express my dismay and frustration with greedy politicians when I speak with my close friends but that's about it. Like many people in their 20's and 30's, I also dream of making a difference in this world but I guess I've decided that I can still do that on my own or alongside people with pure and genuine intentions; it doesn't have to be through people in power.

With the 2016 elections fast approaching, it's impossible to let a day pass without seeing something related to the presidentiables in my newsfeed. Though I haven't completely decided on the candidates that I'd want to support, I realized about a month ago that perhaps it's time to end this apathy; I must register for the upcoming election. When news about the possibility of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte running for president started to spread, I became even more convinced that it was worth being a registered voter this time. While I'm not 100% sold on the idea of Federalism, he is one candidate that I see myself campaigning for. Obviously, I was not alone in this. In the past two weeks, the clamor of people for him to run continued to grow and by the time the COCs were due to be filed, there were actually people camping outside the COMELEC office in Intramuros, waiting for him to file his CoC for the presidency.

The reality is, he never spoke of his desire to run for the country's highest post. In fact, he insisted that he is not running, over and over again. But did this stop people from believing in him? No. People from all walks of life continued to hope. I never cared about politics but this week, for the first time in my life, I found myself closely monitoring the situation, hoping for good news to come. Two days before the final deadline of COCs, people started shaving their heads to show their support for Duterte. Barber Shops and Salons in Davao City even offered free head shaving services. Even after he filed his CoC for re-election as Davao City's Mayor, the shaving continued. OPM artists even collaborated on a song to convince him to run. This is how much people believed in him and you must be one hell of a callous person not to be astounded by  the kind of support people were giving. 

The last four hours of filing was probably the longest for people who believed that he would somehow show up at the last minute in Intramuros. When his daughter posted a photo of her CoC around noon yeterday, I got teary-eyed and like most people, took it as a sign that it was right to believe in him all this time. One of his close friends posted on facebook that a private jet arrived in Davao to pick him up and it was like that moment in a Transformers movie when Optimus Prime came back to life to fight Megatron. I could hardly concentrate on work because I was refreshing my news feed every two minutes. Minutes before 5PM, a statement was released through his official Facebook account reiterating that he is not running for president. For a few moments, I was in denial and I was hoping with almost every fiber of my being that his account was just hacked. But alas, 5PM came and there was really no trace of him in COMELEC. It was over, it was time to wake up from the wild dream.

Prior to the last day of filing, I told my friends that even if he doesn't end up running for office it was nice to see a huge portion of the population coming together for a cause, despite knowing that their efforts may just be for nothing. Mabuti naman na hindi lang puro loveteam yung kaya nating ipa-trend. I am not surprised that many people felt heartbroken with the turn of events. I for one had a lot of emotions over it which made me realize that as with everything else in life, it's heartbreaking when something you've believed in for so long ends up not happening. Naniwala ka eh, kaya masakit. May pakialam ka eh, kaya masakit. Now I had to ask myself, was it worth it? If I had continued to allow apathy to rule over me, I wouldn't have been attached to the idea and I would just be nonchalant about whatever I see in my news feed. Instead, here I am writing about politics for the first time on my blog. To answer the question, yes it was worth it. It was a great feeling to have something to believe in, something to fight for even just for a few moments. What's even greater is witnessing that there were many of you that believed in the same dream, first time soldiers that decided to join the army because finally there was a battle worth fighting for. Maybe patriotism isn't dead after all.

While I know that most of the people that believed in having Duterte as the president are still trying to move on from the idea, I sincerely hope that this will not result to the the "new soldiers" abandoning the army. We should not forget that the battle we are fighting for is not limited to just having a specific person to run for president, it is about building a nation with the highest standards, it is about cleansing and transforming a corrupt government, one step at a time. Kung nagawa nating magkaisa para iconvince yung isang tao na tumakbo dahil sya ang karapatdapat para sa posisyon, siguro naman magagawa rin nating magkaisa para hindi manalo yung mga walang karapatan maging bahagi ng gobyerno. We should never settle. We need to continue fighting until we get it right.

LDR Problems

Most days I don't mind being in a long distance relationship. I get to do my own thing, do my chores, decide spontaneously without having to check someone else's schedule, and have a bunch of stories that I can share with the boyfriend over the phone at the end of the day.

But there are days when I wish my boyfriend were living in the same city as I am. No, not on valentine's day. It's when I'm stuck in the emergency room all by myself, with an empty stomach (required for the CT Sonogram) and I badly want/need to eat something, but I am not allowed to leave the ER. Like today.

Buhay Makulay Children's Project: From children at risk to children of HOPE

I have been helping out with the Buhay Makulay Children's Project for several years now. Today is actually the fifth fair that I participated in and one would assume that by this time, I'd be so used to it already that it wouldn't be as impactful as the first one. No, that isn't and will never be the case. Each year and with each fair, there's always a story to tell; one that never fails to bring me teary-eyed and give me goosebumps. 

This year, I was assigned in the Sword Booth where the children were given sword cutouts for them to color and write their commitments in. Having been assigned to more "active" stations in previous fairs (e.g. Cookie decorating and pizza making), I had my doubts on how interested the kids will be in coloring a sword cutout. Plus, we were dealing with a 6-11 age group, could we really expect them to come up with commitments?

As usual, I was in for another surprise. Not only were the kids really engaged into decorating their swords, they also had really inspiring commitments! Most of them wrote that they promise to study hard and finish school. I know that it sounds very generic but I felt a tug on my heartstrings with this because knowing their circumstances, there's no certainty on how long they can actually stay in school. There was one kid who promised to buy a house someday. This one made me smile and I prayed that the promise will be a source of strength and motivation for him. My favorite is the boy who wrote that he wouldn't be afraid of darkness anymore because he has the sword of the spirit. This was one of the highlights from Tanya's introduction about the fair's theme for 2015. I was in awe at how he actually took away something from it, considering that he's only 10 and kids his age normally don't pay attention to opening talks because they're too excited for the actual activities to start.

At the end of each sword decorating session, we gave each kid a coloring book and a box of crayon with 16 colors. This again was another moment for me to be amazed by the children's maturity. The box of crayons and coloring books were within their reach and there were moments when I stepped out of the room. Did any kid try to get more than 1 box of crayon? No. Did any kid try to get someone else's coloring book. No.

Knowing their circumstances, of course wouldn't be a surprise if some children would marvel at the idea of a pile of coloring books right? Some might even think of trying to get as much as they can because who knows when they'll get another opportunity like that. But they were so well behaved and waited for their turn. When someone in the group missed out on the giveaway,  there was at least one person who'll remind him to get one. (Faith restored in humanity!) I was truly amazed and could not help to compare it with the Freedom Friday in the office last year. There was a pile of snacks in the pantry for the people and everything was gone in less than 30 minutes. At least half of the population didn't get their share and those who hoarded didn't even bother to drop a donation in the CSR box as instructed. And believe it or not, these are employees who are on the 30% tax bracket! Quite a comparison and the difference is astounding.

When I volunteered for Buhay Makulay in 2010, I initially thought of it as a one-time thing. I didn't expect that I will still be part of it five years later, that I will actually get to see some of the children grow, that it will be a constant reminder for me of how capable we all are to make a difference, regardless of our income bracket. I am also happy that it has become something that I get to share with my closest friends, (most of them have taken part in a Buhay Makulay activity at one point or another) and I hope to continue bringing the color of hope to these children in the years to come.