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.

Beautiful Morning

We thank God for mornings like this,

nothing but the sound of strong waves

as they approach the shore,

the sky tinted with hues of pink and blue as we wait for the sun to rise. 

Raw and beautiful,

no filter needed at all.

At dusk, I watch the skyscrapers come  to life,

As they paint the clouds with a breathtaking skyline

These lights I've seen countless times,

Yet they still hold so much promise

I still find myself almost hypnotized

The same feeling I had at first glimpse

"Will you return to stay longer next time?", they ask

I hear myself whisper, "Someday, you'll see me coming back"

In between spoonfuls of sans rival mcflurry 

and red light stops

I've unconsciously let you inhabit 

this corner in my heart

Where childhood dreams and 

happy thoughts live, 

For as long as they possibly can.

How long you intend to stay there

Is a question I don't have an answer for.

#jessandmelanie2015

Some girls have to kiss several frogs before they get to the one who turns out to be a prince

While some girls are lucky enough to find a prince in the first man who plants a kiss on their lips.

Who would have thought that the "NBSB" in our little Grad Girl Group in the PM team would end up to be the first one to walk down the aisle and marry the man of her dreams?

When I joined DKS more than 7 years ago, Mel was the first person outside my grad program batch who became my friend. I was hired by the PM team to take over her tasks so she became my trainer. She's one of the most organized people I know and was the one who taught me to be OC with even the smallest things such as file names and subject lines. Spending most of our working hours with each other allowed us to get to know each other really well and it didn't take a long time for us to realize that we have a lot in common and became good friends even outside work. She was my shoulder to cry on when I was going through a  terrible heartbreak, would listen to my stories about attempts to move on, and surprised me with the best frozen brazo cake on my first birthday away from home. In between long working hours and getting frustrated in some meetings, she waited patiently for love to come into her life, the kind of love that makes you excited and giddy like in those chick flicks we watched.

We were on a weekend trip in Subic when she first told me about Jess. Even then, I somehow knew that Jess could potentially be The One. I didn't get to see them together as often as their other friends but in the few instances that I got to spend time with them as a couple, I witnessed just how caring Jess is of Mel. His humor complemented Mel's and his opinions about current issues showed his integrity and that he's someone who would stand up for the things that he believed in and people he loved.

I couldn't be happier that I got to witness Jess and Mel tie the knot. It was such an honor that they chose me to be one of their bridesmaids. While we were waiting for the ceremony to start, we teased Jess that perhaps Mel was already on her way back to Manila instead of heading to the chapel. He played along but we know the joke did not bother him one bit. That Mel was going to come and walk down that aisle was as certain as the beautiful sunset that would later come in sight. I don't know if wedding organizers put some sort of formula in all the brides' drinks on the day of their wedding. Somehow, brides are just glowing and look their most beautiful on the day they get married and this of course was the case for Mel. Tears were already flowing down her father's cheeks a few seconds after they started walking. Theirs was the most emotional bridal march I've seen and Abby and I had to exert much effort to stop our own tears from flowing. It was truly a beautiful ceremony. Their vows were genuine and heartfelt, and the priest's homily made us realize even more just how perfect they are for each other, because God brought them together. :)

Even though the guest list was probably a little more than a hundred, the whole event still felt very intimate. I was certain that every single person present either at the chapel or at the chapel knew the couple at some point and for some of the guests, the wedding reception doubled as a reunion of some sort. High school classmates, college friends, previous workmates had the chance to catch-up over cocktails and snapshots at the photobooth. It was great to see my teammates from the PM team. Though it's been years since the last time all of us were in one place, I still felt that same old feeling of comfort and assurance around them and we still laughed about the same things.

                       

Who's next? :)