Cory Aquino - In Memoriam

To the woman who brought back democracy.

To the Mother who'd unselfishly loved her country & family beyond measure.

To the President who would always be remembered.

To you, Cory Aquino, my humble tribute.

What Michael Made of Me

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He came before me but from the first time I looked into his soul, I knew that deep inside the legend were the cries, longing and dreams of a child who never used to be. We had never met in our lifetimes, but it was his voice that I heard and listened to most often. He was a gifted musical phenomenon. His sad story of stolen childhood, changing appearance, broken marriage, notable eccentricities, child abuse accusations and the isolating incendiary meganess of his stardom had made his journey even more complicated and indelibly fanciful. People called him Michael and despite spending as much time seducing the tabloids as the microphone, his undeniable talent had made him to me, an idol.

He was a talented man. That impressed me, even if I have never felt singing along with his dance tracks or strutting the iconic moon-walk. Michael has a lot more to teach the world than just how to grab his crotch while performing or hanging his baby over hotel balcony. I have learned a great deal from listening to his artistry and musical career in general. His commitment to greatness at his trade, his willingness to persist despite adversity and the genius level at which he performed are things that would surely etched in our memories long after he has his untimely demise.

I have been introduced to him through Ben. Ben, just so you know was Michael's first solo hit, and was the theme of the 1972 film of the same title that tells a story of a young boy who befriends a pet rat named Ben that later on turns evil and recruits other rats to attack humans. But for me the song dictates a different meaning aside from friendship between two unlikely pair. My inner thoughts believes that Ben represented two things, the yearnings to understand why little people without a voice are always shut out, and another, a cry for help from someone who thinks that no one could ever love him, which could very well be another symbolical figure of himself. Early on, we could see how he's been championing the cause of the voiceless, the sidelined and the unlovable.

After his poignant tale of Ben, Michael reminded us about that one day in our lives, that moments when we were experiencing our first love, and losing it and how sweet it is to know that somoene is still there to wait. His early musical brilliance had assured him of tremendous fame, at the expense of a normal life. People placed him along line the statue of gods forgetting that he was just as human as all of us. For all his strange behaviors and ambiguities that have accorded his critics and followers the difficulty understanding his personality, he had to tell them that it's just human nature. That to sneak around to do normal activities like going to the store without being bothered or hitting the streets of New York and sleeping around with women or not being afraid of things that you don’t understand is only human nature. And I couldn’t agree more.

And just as we humans are all vulnerable to committing mistakes, in our hands also lies the power to rectify and undo whatever prejudices and destructions we may have done to things around us, be it living and non living. That’s the exactly the message that he had wanted to impart when he encouraged everyone to look at the man in the mirror. Indeed, it mirrored a socially relevant battlecry that if you want to make a change, it has to start from oneself. And he didn’t stop there. The progressing inhumanity of men to his fellowmen had made him lead a call to heal the world, that if we love the future of our children, it is the same love that should make this world a better place to live in.

If we don’t succeed, life could still be beautiful. In times of sorrows and pains, Michael had lifted our spirits. Whatever the object, whatever the magnitude, whatever the distance of the burden that we may be carrying, he sung to us that someone would always be there to comfort and say that "you are not alone'. More than ballad of promise of a guy to girl to never leave her side, I liked it more for its spiritual conveyance of God's eternal love for all of us. Now he's out of our lives, truly I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. H'es gone too soon.

-0 Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009 0-

He'd be missed, everything about him, his musical talent, his eccentricities, his legacy. Say what you will about this man, ridicule him, judge him, but you gotta' admire him for his commitment, persistence and willingness to put himself "way out there." What you cannot deny is this is a man that came from nothing and became known to the entire world. His commitment to his dreams, the pursuit at becoming great at his trade and his willingness to go all the way should both be admired and modeled by anyone that wants to make their dreams come true and to make a difference in this world in our own natural ways.

So what had he made of me, nope, he never made me moon-walk or screamed with thriller. He just made me realized that no matter who you are, you can still be loved, that we are all humans vulnerable to committing mistakes and as such, everyone deserves a second chance and that you can have the power to save the world from its complete imbalance by starting within yourself whatever changes you would want to happen. Inspirations come from all forms. For this matter, and from Michael, it's through his music and his equally brilliat and tragic life. RIP.


We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

Joey, The Crab

A joey is a young kangaroo. But the joey that I'm talking about here is nothing young and cute, but an ageing self proclaimed carnivorous lion. King of the jungle? Nothing can be more fitting, for who else should reign a kingdom where the most savaged, merciless, breed less roam. No one is more deserving.

With all due respects to Mr. Joey de Leon, I recognize that fact that he is already a pillar in the entertainment industry, having starred in countless forgettable parodic comedies back in the 80's and hosting the country's longest running variety program which undeniably has lost its originality. He has already made a name for himself, constantly reinventing as one talented and brilliant artist. But sad to day, his latest reinvention was shameless and unbecoming. Indeed proving that the case of Benjamin Button do really exist! Only this time, it’s the character that ages backgrounds.

You might be wondering why I hate Joey de Leon this much. Nope. I don’t actually hate him, I abhor him. I can withstand his cleverness when explaining something or when he's defending himself against his rivals, but to put down someone who has not done him any wrong, think that’s totally disappointing, something nobody would be expecting to hear from someone of his stature.

What am I talking about here? Well, it's his latest column in Philippine Star where he hit back on those people who trying to get their share of spotlight from the death of the King of Pop. I am now in Dubai and I am the least likely to care about him and his traditional antics, but when he's hitting on an unsuspecting fellow who's just starting to make a name for herself in the international music scene, my gloves and shields are ready to defend the innocent from the attacks of the crabs.

Here's an excerpt of that shameless and tasteless poem-article he published which undoubtedly was referring to ____________________________________ CHARICE PEMPENGCO:

Meron pa daw biglang naging idol s’ya,

Mabubuking mo dahil iba mga kanta,

Laging birit Beyoncé, Celine at Mariah,

Nang bumigay si MJ, umiba ang gaga.

Tigilan na nuno ng kasinungalingan,

Kesyo kinukuha raw para sa one-on-one

Nila ni Michael Jackson gagawin sa London,

Beat it! That is Bad, puro kayo ka-cheap-an.

Hoy, ano ba naman, eh humigit kumulang

Ang mga presyo ng tickets ay fifty thousand,

Makita lang si Michael ‘yan ang babayaran

At hindi bisitang galing kung saan-saan

Man, is this how you belittle a kid with an enormous talent, please give this child a break! Has your cleverness to write interesting articles gone down to drain that even now you're trying to second the bitterness of Mr. Freddie Aguilar? If Charice and Arnel were "monkeys", you are the lice in their hairs! Where is your wisdom? Is this the culmination of all your years building your name which you think is synonymous to pride, respect and might? If so, then it's sad. Mr. Joey de Leon, Charice is no Willie Revillame nor a tabloid writer that you wished to kill. She's a young Filipina trying to represent the dreams of so many of us, dreams that you could wish you've been given too. So Please spare her. Spare her of your jealousy.

Admittedly, there might really be some people riding on the issue of MJ's death, but Charice is different. When she claimed that she's supposed to perform a showdown of Billie Jean with the late MJ, she could be telling something so possible. After all, Charice 's mentor, David Foster was the co-producer of MJ's single "Heal the World". And if you could only searched Youtube to see her perform that song with all her mimicry, you could say that this little girl really has talent that even MJ couldn’t resist. It's just so sad that a lot of people around the world are praising and admiring her, but in our country, people just feel the opposite. Talking about people using MJ for their own benefit, what would you call his article any way. Isn’t that cheaper and self serving?

I don t want to end sounding like I am so obsessed with Charice. I am not, I am just a fan, a proud fan. So for you Mr. Joey de Leon, grow up in the way we should all do, forward. You had your time. Now it’s for others to shine. Be happy for other people successes, it's also ours. Be receptive of new talents. We are all Filipino, not crabs.

A Note to God

I don't know anymore how to stand up against the rising of the tide. I have already drowned myself in the pursuit of my own meaning and happiness. Aside from a straw of hope that keeps me breathing from submerged, faith is one thing that remains afloat, faith that sooner it's still going to be alright. I don't know anymore if God is hearing my prayers. If He doesn't, I understand. Maybe a lot of people are calling out to His name and He just can't get back at each of us all at the same time. One versus 6.7 billion, surely anybody doing the same job needs a break once in a while.

Maybe, if there is a special line to heaven where prayers are heard and answered right away, I would have sent as many notes to God as I could so I won't be in this situation anymore. If only toy balloons can touch the sky and fly beyond the limitless universe, I would have bought as many and tie them to my notes and release them on my hands in complete surrender. If they reach the gates of heaven and get a chance to fall at God's doorstep, He would read:

"Oh Father in Heaven, I am giving myself to You. From this day on, be the driver of my journey and the steward of the borrowed life. Give me strength to face each day with hope and high spirit. Guide me through out my daily instances and keep me away from any harm. Grant me peace when the day is over and embrace me with Your divine love when I am about to close my eyes."

If only paper boats can stay afloat and dry to travel to the high seas where God takes to skinny dipping and go scuba diving, I would torn every single pages of my notebook and figured them to boats, written all over it:

"Oh Father Almighty, as I work hard to provide for my family's needs, miles away from home, bless them always on my behalf. Please take care of them and keep them safe and absent of any worries about my situation. Bless also all my friends and all the people that I unknowingly loves me. Be it unto You to pay them pack for all their generosity and kind heartedness. Lastly, show me the way to where I should really belong. You know what my heart wants and longs to have. It is Your will I will follow."

If the wind can carry dandelions and take it to far unreachable places and if only dandelions can speak, I would blown myself all dandelions that I could find here on earth and let them fly abandonly. if ever they find their way to the clouds where God plays soccer with His angels, they would whisper:

"Oh Father, thank you for all the blessing that You have been giving me and my family. teach me how to find goodness even in times of suffering and great frustrations. Forgive me for all my sins and wash me from all my shortcomings and excesses. Guide me as I walk through another day and all these, I pray in Jesus name. Amen."

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Another Note to God that has been answered recently was that of Charice Pempengo. Last May 18, 2009, Charice released her very first single off from her very first international album via a live performance at the Oprah show. Her single, "Note to God", was written by hitmaker Dianne Warren and was produced by no less than David Foster. The song was originally recored by Jojo, but Charice's soulful and heartfelt rendition of the song has made it her own. After its first day of release, the single has already climbed the charts of internet downloads, proving once again, that we all can write a note to God and it's just a matter of time before we realize it. Like what happened to Charice.

Here is the video of Charice's live performance of her single, "Note to God", on the Oprah show.

The Real Queen of Beauty

High tide or low tide?”, that’s probably one of the smartest question or should I say answer that has ever been given in the Miss Universe Pageant. That of course pertains to the eloquent reply of Miss Philippines Charlene Gonzales when asked about how many were the islands that make up the Philippines. Then she completed by saying, that it’s 7,107 during high tide and 7,108 on low tide. The fabulous line has indeed became a by-word during that time, selling mostly to people who borrows that line to respond to whatever question , some totally unrelated just to be able to use that line. Aside from that, we had never really taken that context so seriously. That we have indeed 7,107 wonderful islands scattered like rosary across the richest marine area in the world.

Charlene Gonzales produced one of the most famous answers in an international beauty competition. When asked by the host about the number of islands in the Philippines, she boldly asked back, "At high tide or low tide?"

Ours is a beautiful and rich country, history will testifies that many races in the past had tried to own us simply because of our rich and abundant natural wonders. Our seas flourish with vast marine species of fish and underwater flora and fauna. Our mountains are filled with high value elements and mineral deposits. Our forests thrive with exotic plants and rare animals never to be found elsewhere. Our lands are fertile for crops and our beaches are the best in the world. Our scenic landscapes are incomparable and one of a kind. Our hidden natural wonders are simply awesome and breathe-taking. Our climate is the envy of the people above the Equator. Our people are the sweetest in the world, sadly just the same, our people are the least likely to believe and appreciate that we are indeed a beautiful and rich country.

So we never really care about what we have or for what is left. Look at us today? The mountains are gone, the seas are polluted, the air is contaminated, the lands are wasted and dirty and the people, well I couldn’t say much cause I myself is part of it. Guess we have exercised too much freedom and democracy that we have acted beyond our limits. The grasses do not grow anymore, the fishes are floating dead in the shores, the animals are endangered, the waters are rushing from the high hills because the trees are no longer there to stop it and there still many more mess which are unpleasant to the eyes and irritating to the ears that need not be mentioned. Guess we have become too complacent to think that all of these things would never run out.

Then it all comes back to us. We pay for all our negligence, abuse and disrespect for the things that we have blessed with. Numerous flash floods and landslides have unjustly claimed the lives of our fellowmen. We are running out of steady food supply and the prices of food commodities are always increasing. Lot of diseases are spreading out of our dirty and uncontained misbehavior like throwing garbage wherever we want. We go on with our daily lives as if nothing alarming is going on. We are too concerned with our individual families that we forget the Mother that always provides, Nature.

And like all other mistake, we will never know that we have made one unless we are badly affected and until we learn our lessons and rise from it. It’s never too late too make up for all our shortcomings. We could always undo whatever falling out we may have with our friends and with our loved ones. Same for our environment, whatever abuses and disregards we may have done to her, it’s still within our reach to bring her back to her original glory. Plant more trees, stop illegal logging, don’t hunt the animals in the forest, avoid dynamite fishing, don’t throw your wastes everywhere at your convenience, conserve water and electricity, the possibilities for a renewed and healthy environment is limitless and just waiting…

Mirriam Quiambao had almost brought home the Miss Universe crown in 1999 after falling off the stage and regally picking up her shoes like nothing has ever happened. We may have caused a lot of damage to Mother Nature but it’s not too late to pay her back for all the bounties and all the beauties she gave our land. In 2007, the new7Wonders Foundation, in an official declaration in July 07, 2007 formally launched the campaign for the world’s New Seven Wonders of Nature. They are the same organization that officially selected the New Seven Wonders of the World, the latter being consisted of outstanding human architectural and engineering marvel. Now it is nature’s turn to grab the spotlight as seven of the world’s most amazing and incredible natural wonders will be selected and recognized.

Since January 01, 2009, the national qualification phase has been over and unfortunately, only one attraction from the Philippines, the Palawan Underground River has been able to be part of the 261 qualified nominees. We used to have three other entries running, the Mayon Volcano, the Chocolate Hills and the Tubbataha Reef but they didn't make it. Voting for nominees will continue through July 7, 2009. The top 77 nominees by group categories (the top 11 in each of the seven groups) will be eligible for consideration by the New7Wonders of Nature Panel of Experts, the Panel of Experts will then review these 77 nominees and choose from them the 21 Official Finalists, according to published criteria. The selection will be announced on 21 July 2009, and the 21 Official Finalists will then enter the third and final phase to vote and choose the Official New7Wonders of Nature.

OUR PRIDE BEARER

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. It features a limestone karts mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world's longest. At the mouth of the cave, a clear lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water's edge. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find their niche on the beach near the cave.

As of this time, the Palawan Underground River tops the Category E (Forests, National Parks and Nature Reserves). It is still a way to go before the final 77 are selected. Like what Janina San Miguel said, we just don't feel the any pressure right now, but when the on line runs out, I just hope that we got the long legs to keep the Underground River running at the top od its class. We can never be too confident, we just need to keep on voting and supporting.

Being an OFW, far away from the land that I call home, the least I could do is to create awareness of this campaign. In this place that I could only see sands of limitless boundaries, I could only wish to the moon at night to behold the beauty of our local natural wonders on my behalf. The reasons balikbayans try to visit as many places in the Philippines during their short vacation period is because once they are back to the country where they work, they just begin to miss home and everything in it. And that's probably something that Filipinos in the Philippines don't realize. It is because the beauty of our lands is so close to them that they just don't see it.

We have screwed up many things before but many times we have proven our worth as a united nation. Four times we have won thru internet votes the Miss Universe Miss Photogenic Award. Now we can make it happen again, this time for the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Let us show to the world that no matter how bad our image is as far as politics, corruption, economy, peace and order is concerned, ours is nation blessed with extra ordinary God Given natural wonders. Let us give Mother nature the respect and recognition she deserves. Let us be aware that we have 7,107 islands that other nations can only dream of. Let’s take pride and join hands together to place the Philippines in the list where she rightfully deserves to be included. This is the right time.

To vote for the Philippine candidates in the new seven wonders of nature, please visit www.new7wonders.com