People

I've met some famous personalities in the Philippine society at one time or another. I hardly could find some of my pics anymore with some of them. The problem sometimes with having your own camera is that you could hardly find someone to take your pic with them.

Here is the first installment of the pic files I was able to retrieve from my tons of collection in my hard disk.

With Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and wife Rep. Lani Cayetano of Taguig. This pic was taken a night before their garden wedding at the Manor Hotel in Baguio City. I was one of their ninongs. My ex-girlfriend was also one of the ninangs. Lani was in the Singles Ministry which we served as couple counselor for a year. Both of them are truly humble and simple. Alan was yet a congressman then.

With charismatic leader Isabela Governor Grace Padaca who spoke to the Civic Leaders of Bocaue for Progress Movement in May 2009.

With MMDA Chairman and Presidential aspirant Bayani Fernando who visited the St. Martin of Tours Parish during the Krus sa Wawa Festival in July 2009.

With the charismatic leader Bro. Bo Sanchez of Kerygma. With me was Mrs. Luzviminda Estrella, a Religious Education teacher. This was taken during the Kerygma Convention in November 2008 at the ULTRA in Pasig City.

With TV personality and broadcaster Mari Kaimo of both RPN Channel 9 and GMA Channel 7. He is no longer as active as before as a news anchor. We've met him in Antipolo City at the Our Lady of Chartres Convent.

With the child wonder now UP professor Mikaela Irene Fudolig. She graduated summa cum laude in BS Physics from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a general weighted average of 1.099. She entered as a college student at the age of 11. She was our guest during the 2008 SPC Educators' Congress.

With The Philippine Star editorial cartoonist Mr. Dominic Dumaraos. He gave a lecture in cartooning during the 3rd Asian Journalism Seminar in Pasig City.

With Miss Melclaire Delfin, news reporter of GMA 7. She delivered news writing during the 3rd Asian Journalism Seminar in Pasig City.

At the GMA 7

We went to GMA Channel 7 for a Studio Tour.

We were brought around by Lottie Joya, whom I learned later from her that she was a Paulinian of St. Paul University Quezon city. She gave us Kapuso pins for us to wear while inside the GMA premises, and as a souvenir. Lottie played an AVP of the Kapuso network as part of the orientation. She also gave us a copy of the GMA Kapuso Magazine which featured the inauguration of the state-of-the-art studios.

Lottie showed us Studio 3 where the newscasts are usually shot. The studio is small yet very much stuffed with state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment. A teleprompter with a hidden camera behind the see-through screen guides the newsreader, read: newscaster, on the exact words and cues while on the air. A green monochromatic background gives a transparent effect for superimposed images on screen, like the shots for newsflash where the reporter seems to be broadcasting just at the newsroom.

Klieg lights are everywhere. Wide-angled cameras are used to make the studio appear so large on screen. Camera tricks, so to speak.

We also saw the Studio where talk shows are done. Not much to see but merely space. The sets, I learned, are changed and removed regularly. No studio is occupied exclusively by one show. Cameras do the trick of making them appear so beautifully decorated on screen.

The DZBB, the flagship AM radio station of GMA 7 is located in one of the oldest buildings of the company. The station is just small, with the announcer's booth just big enough to accommodate featured visitors.

Barangay LS 97.1 FM is a much better place. Papa Bodgie, one of the DJs, was at the anchor when we were there. We had the opportunity of having a pic with him.

GMA boasts of having the best equipment in the broadcast industry in the Philippines. It has maintained its number one stature in the more prestigious AGB Nielsen surveying firm for patronage, statistics shows.

At the Pinoy Big Brother House

No. We did not enter the house. We just stayed outside. Just for fun. Haha!

We were not starstruck either. No one was there except the guard who refused kindly our promptings of letting us in. So we contended ourselves taking pics right there at the gate.

Manila Ocean Park

My ex-girlfriend and I had the opportunity of going to the Manila Ocean Park yesterday.

The Manila Ocean Park is the first ever oceanarium in the country. I had been to Ocean Adventure in Subic, Zambales which features dolphins, but the M.O.P. offers a different exciting stuff. The fish are segregated into several tanks. The corals are shown live and soft. The collection presents various kinds of fish.

What captured my attention was the tank where the green mussels and barnacles were housed. The water comes unfiltered from the Manila Bay itself. Though not murky in appearance, one could see how dirty the water is. Yet, it is where the green mussel or tahong thrives best. They like the dirt. It must be food for them. It made me rethink my fondness of the tahong.

This was not my first time to have seen the Manila Ocean Park. I was expecting for additional features and improvements. But it seemed to me that only the restaurants and some shopping stalls were the new ones. Same tanks. Same layout. Same features. I haven't noticed any big change after 2 years. The roots of the vines grew longer, though.

Here are a few shots we had.

The Teddy Stallard Story

I stumbled upon this beautiful and touching story of a teacher who made a difference on the life a boy. The story is heart-rending and even brought tears down my eyes the first time I viewed it.

I showed the clip to a group of college deans and basic education corrdinators and principals in a seminar that I had given in Olongapo City last month. It touched us and made us rethink of our profession again as teachers. Watch it and you'll realize why.

The original is found in this site: http://www.makeadifferencemovie.com/. Thanks to the makers of this touching film clip.

Teachers, please pay attention...

Series of High Profile Deaths

As if we were not yet relieved from a death of an icon, here came another.

Our very own Francis M, a master Pinoy rapper and advocate of authentically Pinoy passed away on March 6, 2009 at the age of 44. He succumbed to multiple organ failure secondary to severe sepsis and secondary to pneumonia, his doctor confirmed. The rapper was earlier diagnosed to have acute myelogenous leukemia.

On June 25, 2009, pop icon and superstar Michael Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion. Reports about the cause of his death confused many. Some claimed it was due to an overdose of a certain drug. Others blamed failure of the initial interventions given him when found vegetable. The Los Angeles coroner treated it as homicide against his personal physician. No matter what the circumstances were, one thing was definitely saddening: he is gone. Michael was known for his famous strut dance moves and moon walks. He gyrates onstage, often holding his crotch to the screams of fans. I was able to watch a DVD of his HISTORY concerts. Thousands of fans shriek as he conquers the stage. He statues himself to dramatically segue his moves. Even just a single flip of his fingers caught on big screen would send his audience to real frenzy. Strutting his arms and legs could cause spells of fainting and tears flowing down a river on fans' eyes. His moonwalks would blow the fans away! There was magic in his every single concert. I loved his Jackson 5 years. His Give Love on Christmas Day has become immortal. I like the beats of Billie Jean, Thriller, and Beat It. The drama of Heal the World calls on everyone. His help in We Are the World of USA for Africa is unforgettable. More so for his transformation from black to white. He had his share of controversies. But now everything under the bridge. He is gone but to the billion of fans worldwide, me included, he lives.

August 1 made all of us in the Philippines grieved for the loss of the icon of Philippine democracy. Cory Aquino succumed to heart failure as she battled for colon cancer.

Now it is Ka Erdy Manalo, 84, of the Philippine endemic Iglesia ni Cristo. Executive Minister of the INC, he was a king maker. Whoever his choice was during elections would definitely make it big. There is just one INC vote, so to speak. His steadfast stewardship of the flock founded by his father, INC Founder and 'angel' Felix Manalo, was undoubtedly to the full and brimming. He died of heart attack.

Series of high profile deaths. The year 2009 must be unforgettable. I hope no one else follows very soon. Let's have a rest. Let's grieve and breath.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace.

Amen.

The Campo Trexo

Venue: Campo Trexo

Place: Alfonso, Cavite

This is a real and authentic forested place. The topography is a challenge. There's a slope of a hill, a ravine, a shallow creek, shaky hanging bridges, wall climbing facilities, rapelling drop, gliding range, camping sites, trekking trails, etc.

Whoa! The place is even slippery when wet!

A good place indeed for group dynamics, bonding, adventure, communing with nature. Just be ready to get tired at the end of the day.

The Forest Club

We were brought to Bai, Laguna one day for an ocular inspection of a possible field trip venue for our students. The place was Forest Club.

I should not wonder. Laguna is known for Mt. Makiling, which is a forest sanctuary. But Bai is not that really forested. When we reached the place, it was as if we were entering Fern Gully. A big green gate welcomed us. When it was opened, all I could say was WOW!

The place reminded me of my former childhood playground. I grew up near a forested place. In fact, our house then was at the foot of a hill. Facing our house was a range of great mountains which were just a few steps away. In 15 to 20 minutes, you are in the thick of the forest.

Along the crevices of the forest ran brooks and creeks. My brother and I would often go to the creek after our dismissal in the afternoon and would bring home basinful of big padaw or udang to the delight of our mother. How did we do it? We would catch them just by our hands by wading into the crevices of boulders and rocks. There were plenty to catch. We could see them swimming or hiding underneath the rocks. It was an enjoyable sight.

The forest gave us beautiful sights of nature. Birds would sing their hearts out. There were big kalaws, agile green bullilising, white-dotted martines, noisy salaksak, and many more exotic birds whose local names I don't remember anymore.

The Forest Club reminded me of those memories. But there's a difference. The Forest Club is a man-made forest. The place used to be ricefield. The owner developed it into a forest in a span of only 9 years. The trees were already big when they were planted in the site. But it was a rapid development because one would not even know it just used to be a rice field.

Here are a few shots of the Forest Club:

More than a state funeral

Yesterday's funeral for Tita Cory refreshed back the memories of both EDSA I and the burial of her fallen husband and hero Ninoy.

The 1986 People Power Revolution seemed to have resurrected from the grave of slumber. There was an immense outpouring of gratitude and love for Tita Cory. The Philippines had never before witnessed such a funeral for a family. Only for the Aquinos. Ordinary mortals usually can not even gather a thousand mourners, more so for an interment. Ordinary families usually could reach the cemetery in less than an hour or so. But for Ninoy and Cory, their funeral marches went way beyond 9 hours of solemn procession, flocked by thousands of well-wishers and mourners alike. The sight moved my heart. The images made me wonder when else could we ever witness such funerals again.

I admire the Aquino children for having made a wise decision in not accepting a state funeral for the former President. Perhaps, it would have been a different spirit, a different atmosphere, a different ceremony. True enough, real honor emanated from the Filipino people. Cory's genuine love for the Filipino - his aspirations, his dreams, his struggles - bore fruit of burning love from them. Braving the heat of the sun and the cold heavy downpours, people did not move a bit from where they positioned themselves to bid goodbye to Tita Cory. I glued myself on television watching with my heart than ever before. Tears also rolled down like a river on my cheeks. I could not explain it. I felt the same thing when my beloved Pope John Paul II was about to be interred. I felt the same with the late Jaime Cardinal Sin. The three of them were icons of goodness, sincerity, and serenity of heart. The three of them touched the lives of millions. The three of them were legends of their own. Like Ninoy.

While watching until the end, I was having thoughts of who among the still living Philippine Presidents could muster the same kind of crowd enthusiam and sincerity when it will also his or her turn. I was thinking perhaps Erap might be able to draw also a huge crowd. I doubt if FVR could. What if it were GMA?

One thing is a reality: No other Filipino couple may be able to duplicate the heroism of Ninoy and Cory. It may take me a lifetime to wait for that day when others could emerge like them.

The fever is still on. But I hope that it will not just be a fever. May the spirit of Cory continue to inspire people to aspire for good governance and honesty and integrity both in public and private service.

Prayer for a Happy Death by Pres. Corazon Aquino

I am posting here the prayer written by Tita Cory herself about death. I heard it first over the radio this morning. I surfed the Net then I got it from Inquirer.net.

Almighty God, most merciful Father
You alone know the time
You alone know the hour
You alone know the moment
When I shall breath my last.

So, remind me each day
Most loving Father
To be the best that I can be.
To be humble, to be kind,
To be patient, to be true.
To embrace what is good,
To reject what is evil,
To adore only You.

When the final moment does come
Let not my love ones grieve for long.
Let them comfort each other
And let them know
how much happiness
They brought into my life.
Let them pray for me,
As I will continue to pray for them.
Hoping that they will always pray
for each other.

Let them know that they made possible
Whatever good I offered to the world.
And let them realize that our separation
Is just for a short while
As we prepare for our reunion in eternity.

Our Father in heaven
You alone are my hope.
You alone are my salvation.
Thank you for Your unconditional love. Amen.

Godspeed, President Cory...

Early today at 3:18 a.m., the beloved icon of Philippine democracy passed away. She was 76.

President Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino fought hard with the Filipino people an irreversible colon cancer. Her demise was announced officially by her son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

"Our mother peacefully passed away at 3:18 a.m. of cardio-respiratory arrest," he told reporters.

It must really be a difficult and trying moment for the family. To lose a mother like Tita Cory is likened to losing your strength in an uphill battle. I experienced it myself when my own mother passed away.

I knew it from the start that when the media began to continuously give newsfeeds on the condition of Tita Cory, her body was about to give in. The inevitable came nearer. But we love her to be with us for more years to come. The Filipino people stormed heavens with prayers for her to recover from the dreaded colon cancer. Up to the end, we never wanted to give up as a people because of our love for Tita Cory. I may not have joined the novena of Masses covered by the media. In my own little way, I asked my students to join me in praying for Tita Cory before and after my classes with them.

When I learned this morning over the radio and television that she has finally passed away and joined the Almighty in heaven, there was a lump in my throat. As I was listening to some tributes over the radio, I felt I was losing again my own mother. Indeed, she was simply a mother to all of us, the Filipino people who are vigilant on the excesses of those in power.

To me, Tita Cory was a woman of strength. She was a woman of principle. She was the symbol of triumph against an oppressive regime. She stood by her husband, Ninoy, in his fight for freedom and democracy for the Filipino people. Though a political novice, she accepted the seat of power in Malacanang with all humility - armed with her strong faith in the Almighty in leading a divided and wounded country. She did not fail the Filipino people in showing there's hope after the dark ages of martial law. As a transition president, she stood ground in rebuilding back the confidence of the people in their government. She instituted reforms that restored back the freedom and democracy that had been robbed from the people during the dark years of martial law. She was steadfast in fulfilling her mission as a transition President despite some series of coup de'tat that wanted to grab power. She did not falter. She showed to the world that though she was a simple widow who was even reluctant to be pitched against the most feared and powerful dictator in a well-machinated election, she can lead a torn nation into a tomorrow that promises a rising sun of hope.

That was Tita Cory. She finished her term in a smooth transfer of power which I witnessed for the first time in my life. I was not able to see how power was transferred during the Macapagal - Marcos ceremony. Perhaps I was too young then.

Now, Tita Cory is gone. But her memories are forever etched in history. To many of us who saw her as the mother of our nation who gave birth to the democracy that we now enjoy, she will be missed so deeply.

I must admit it. Tears welled in my eyes for Tita Cory. When I served in the SMT Parish this late afternoon, another lump choked me as Tita Cory's name was read during the Prayers of the Faithful.

As one radio reporter read on the air Tita Cory's prayer about death, which she personally wrote when she was yet President, my admiration grew stronger. She was a woman of faith. She was a woman of God.

Tita Cory was a gift of God to us, Filipinos. And she will forever be.

Tita Cory, thank you so much for not having chosen to be just an ordinary widow after Ninoy's martyrdom. Thank you for having restored back the dignity of the Filipino nation. Thank you for being a model of faith.

Godspeed, President Cory. Be with Ninoy now and with Jesus. Look down upon us with your motherly love and jolt those who have forgotten the martyrdom of Ninoy and the idealism of his widow.

We love you.

Eternal rest grant unto Tita Cory, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

Photographs: Reuters

Make a Ghost(tm) image for further protection of your PC

For many years that I had been tinkering with so many computers, I find the use of an imaging software so convenient in restoring back the life and limb of an erratic PC. The Symantec Norton Ghost(tm) is an excellent choice for me.

But there's a caveat before you make an image of your system so that you are assured that once you restore back your image, the PC is as healthy as expected.

I usually follow these steps:

1. Make a fresh installation of the operating system, say Microsoft Windows(tm) on the first partition of your hard disk.
2. Install all the software drivers that the hardware of the system would need to operate crisply.
3. Setup all the software that you wanted to be a part of the recovery image that would be made. Tinker with their settings so that they would function the way you like them before the entire system is imaged. This should include an updated virus definition for your favorite anti-virus software.
4. Do a little diskkeeping task by running a defragging tool to ensure faster access to the needed files when they are run by the system.
5. When satisfied with all your settings, shutdown the system.
6. Reboot the system but choose not to boot from the hard disk. Instead, use a boot CD which allows you to run the Symantec Norton Ghost(tm).
7. Once Symantec Norton Ghost(tm) is already running, choose the option that allows you to make an image of the partition where the entire operating system and all the software that you have installed reside. Save the image file in another partition of your hard disk. Once the image had been successfully done, you are now assured of a healthy recovery image that you can use when things would go wrong with your PC.

This has saved me a lot of man-hours to restore back the health of my notebook and other PCs as well whenever something goes wrong with them. It's quite a tedious task in the beginning but once the image is made, reinstallation, re: restoring back the good health of the PC, is as easy as a breeze. It does not even take 15 minutes to restore back the image.

Wanna try it? Ensure you have the necessary software to use.

Protect your PC with a freezing software

A very annoying and recurrent problem in most PCs is virus attack. Viruses come in many forms and get into the PC system in so many many ways. With most PCs nowadays connected to the Internet, viruses, worms, trojans, and many other forms of malwares can get through stealthily especially to an unsuspecting user. When a system gets infected, though it may have an antivirus software, the antivirus may no longer be able to perfectly clean the system especially if a wrong button or wrong option was executed by an inexperienced user when a warning prompt popped out during a scan. This happens most likely when a USB flash drive is inserted to a USB port. The antivirus could be configured to immediately scan any storage device attached to the system, but a wrong choice of commands or options on what to do with the antivirus warning could easilty upload the payloads of the the viruses residing in an infected flash drive.

The next time that the system is restarted, the virus could already become resident, waiting for its chances to spread like a ferocious wildfire.

To ensure protection, I highly recommend the use of third party software that locks a clean installation of the system. It is expected that before using the third party software, all application software had already been installed and configured. The job of the third party freezing software is to lock the system to its original, uninfected state.

I am fond of using WinRollBack that protects the system and maintains the original setup of the PC prior to its protection. I just have to protect the drive where the operating system is installed. Once WinRollBack is configured to protect the system drive, there would be no way that viruses can infect the system. Any infection is flushed out by the system once the PC is reboot.

Another is DeepFreeze. It also works like WinRollBack. Using any of the two could save the PC from harm caused by either viruses or test installations of software.

Get one now and try it.

Am back!

I truly hibernated for a while. I am pretty sure my followers missed my regular updating of my blog. Sorry for it. I was sooooo occupied with a lot of things that there's not much time left to write my thoughts. At this point, I took time out to relax a bit and break a leg for a while.

I miss blogging. No joke. Because this is the outlet of my soul. My blog chronicles the fragments of my soul. It immortalizes what's in me.

Lately, I was so engrossed with my desktop computer in my office. A brand new Acer Veriton X270. It is powered by Intel Core2Duo with 2GB RAM, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 7100 chipset and a huge 250GB HDD. It has a DVD super multiburner, Gigabit ethernet LAN, 5.1 channel audio, and an HDMI port.

What I like most about it is the audio jacks and the USB ports are just in front. It has a small form factor with its DVD writer lying on its side. The package comes with a 17" Acer LCD Monitor.

It is a sight to behold. So small yet powerful. I hope it will deliver my expectations based on its configurations.