Philippine Election: Ten Days and Counting

Exactly ten days from now, as election fever hits high range, we will surely feel the chill and frenzy accompanied with it. Sure the freebies are great as almost everyone will benefit from the commercialism brought on by election campaign with those free shirts, caps, baller ids, fans, food, monetary allowance, etc. but may we all be reminded that public service is not only during the campaign period and it is not all about the free stuff that we could get, elected officials have greater things to do to reconstruct a nation submerged in corruption and poverty. Just think of those million Filipinos who are deprived of even the basic necessities (without food, water and shelter). Yes, some good things come with a price but I hope that our vote is not among them. A few hundred or thousand pesos may not suffice to last for more than six days. Another six years of the Philippines’ future is at stake here and it is only fitting that we thoroughly think about it and be intelligent enough to choose who among those candidates is best suited for the position. If someone offered money for a vote, that candidate is not worth even a drop of ink on your ballot. We will benefit more from a clean and honest election and much more we will gain if we elect the decent and responsible ones who will not give us a lame excuse and fool us into saying “I AM SORRY!” for all the irregularities and inadequacies of the government.

We might be too saturated to see the candidates’ faces on their TV advertisements and too numb to feel the sincerity of their dialogues, our ears bleeding with their speeches on political platforms and promises, our eyes sore with all their banners and political colors but somehow we knew that this election is neither a popularity contest nor an acting award ceremony. May 10 will be the day, when this nation will decide who among the candidates deserve our most coveted vote of trust and confidence. This will be the day when we will decide who among them seem to be sincere enough, responsible enough, and capable enough to be the leader of this country. Are leaders really born and not made? I don’t really know but whether he is born or made, I hope the outcome of the election will not lead us to doomsday. May GOD bless the Philippines!

Green Philippines for Earth Day: Today and Beyond

Yippeee!!!! It’s another weekend, and that means precious time to spend with family and all those activities that I only get to do when I am away from my forty hours a week of paid toiling. At least I was able to sneak some time to attend an event for Earth Day last Thursday with friends and distinguished individual who has the same concern for Mother Nature. Before that I checked out the website for Ten Million Movement and made a personal commitment to plant indigenous plants and trees.  There are simpler tasks that one can pledge and I think it should be innate in each of us and need not be included as a commitment.

So what was Earth Day event like? It was no tree-planting or street-cleaning event (should I be disappointed or what?) but a show that seek to entertain and to create awareness. It was a presentation of the previous string of earth-day related activities by certain organizations, the various laws enacted by the government and what it has accomplished over the years when it comes to protecting the environment. It showcased a motorcade with Ms. Earth beauties, speeches from distinguished personalities with the likes of SM Supermalls President Ms. Annie Garcia detailing SM Supermalls contribution in the conservation and preservation effort, an Earth Day message from the Chairperson of Earth Day Network Philippines Ms. Elisea Gozun, the Report on the Green Philippines Program presented by DENR Secretary Horacio Ramos, a song number from singers Corita and Heber Bartolome, a performance by the world-renowned Banda Kawayan, awarding ceremonies for government and private organizations for their exemplary commitment and for those prized works-of-art of talented children.

What was I thinking during the show? Oh, the experience was not something new but I wonder how much percentage of people who attended that event will ever get to put into action what the speakers talked about. Would our actions be far greater than the carbon emission that we put through to pollute this earth? I saw there were much more people interested in shopping inside air-conditioned mall than care to attend this event outside an open-air function hall. Probably one would say, “Holy heat! I’d rather relax in a cozy room than listen to their speeches and be tortured in heat and sweat.” And with that I must be glad for those industrious farmers and street sweepers who continue to endure agonizing working conditions under intense heat. It sure is Earth Day for them every single day.

Sponsored Ads:

Earth Day Philippines 2010

This will be the first time that I will be attending an event for Earth Day. This will be held tomorrow (April 22), 9AM at the SM Mall of Asia – Music Hall in Pasay City, Philippines marking the 40th year of the global celebration for Mother Earth. Here in the Philippines, a national environmental holiday is scheduled to be celebrated every 22nd of April as Earth Day through Presidential Proclamation No. 1481.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) together with Earth Day Network Philippines (EDNP) are the main agencies involved for the “10 Million Movement” campaign which seeks to collect 10 million commitments by individuals for the conservation, preservation and restoration of the environment which is in line with the celebration of Earth Day 2010. If you want to know more about this campaign or you want to make your pledge, you can visit http://www.10mm.ph/ .

Just can't wait to see how is it like to be part of this global event and what worthwhile things I could learn and earn from that. Are we going to plant trees, clean the metropolis or just be an spectator? Hhmmm, I'll just wait and see :-).

Seeing Beyond the Camera Lens

Here is the second note in the plans I wish to get done:

"Get back at those activities I want to indulge in (if my time allows it)"

Gosh! It has been more than twelve years since I last touched my unfinished cross-stitch project, my favorite pastime during my younger years. I evaluate myself if I would be able to devote much time doing it. With kids and all, I really find it difficult to complete it so after much thought, I decided to finally give it away to someone who has the luxury of time and the craving for this activity instead of leaving those materials in my drawer taking space and collecting grime.  Some things really changed and so are my yearnings for things I want to do. Now I get to enjoy reading more on days when I love doing it and I discovered the passion for writing especially when I need to relieve myself from stress, (just take the time to read my posts in this blog). I also get to indulge in activities that my kids and I will get to enjoy together like traveling, gardening, some cooking here and some decorating there and the list just keeps on growing. Oh… and did I mention photography? I really like to do that now and so are my kids. As a matter of fact, my little girl was too keen on doing it that she always seizes the camera to have her own photo op. It helps to support and nurture what your children are interested in but certainly there are drawbacks for that as my kid already broken two point and shoot cameras (thank goodness it was not DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) and thank goodness those are old models). Now I am into scouting for repair centers for Kodak EasyShare and Sony CyberShot digital camera :( and I guess that will make me busy in the coming days. Need to have them repaired as I need to return the Sony to my cousin and I will surely need my Kodak when my kids’ indulgence kicks in again.

By the way here are some pictures taken during my family's recent travel and short vacation in the countryside, just some earth images using Sony DSC-W70 before it was broken. I chose that theme for my kids and other kids to learn how climate change affected this one part of the planet. This is not just an indulgence but an advocacy that my family is willing to do for our precious earth. May we see beyond the camera lens and start to commit one part of ourselves into doing something valuable for our precious habitat before everything goes into ashes.

    intense heat and temperature ranging from 30 to 40 degrees celcius

 

   soil too dry and eroded,

    dying plants and trees

   green grass no more, nothing for the goats and cows

   Part of Sierra Madre Mountain used to teem with green flora but is now mostly rock, soil and houses

   too parched to survive....

   I hope we will not reach a day when our earth will become like this....

Thankful for These...

Hi everyone! Missed writing here, I had very busy days at work and had been too stressed out the past two weeks that is why I had no time to do this writing stuff. But finally, I found some peace and quiet time for myself for now, THANK GOODNESS! Just took a week-long leave from work which I feel I really deserve so I am back writing (a big thanks to my kind boss). The last post I did Just Some Happy Thoughts was a repost because aside from my busy schedule at work, I just had this urge to make some reassessment of all things happening in my life at that moment and like what I said, to see if I accomplished anything that I wrote in my plans I wish to get done, so let me start off with this one….


“Continue to be thankful for all the treasures that I possess (those I mentioned above and all the beautiful things that will come my way)”


I used to always wish and wait for great things that I feel I am worthy of and most of the times I forget about the simplest of things that I should be thankful for. Now that I gained more maturity, I have learned how to be grateful for all blessings that I have may it be too simple as a smile from my precious little daughter. I also get to be thankful for meeting a bunch of good people and for gaining more knowledge from them thus I have written a simple poem which I would like to share with everyone.

I am thankful that I was able to see
The beauty of life that was shown to me
I met new people explored various places
shared laughter and unexpected graces

Thanks for the unfeigned concern and compassion
For true self shown without hesitation
For novel friendship that blooms out of the blue
And collective thought that's forever true

Thanks for the chances that were given to me
For all those sights I was able to see
Those breath-taking experiences that unfold
Remarkable stories that were told

To all those people I worked with over the phone
With very lowly voice and courteous tone
Thought we've not seen each other face to face
We became acquainted, there's a trace

To all those people I only know by name
With whom I swapped letters roughly each day
Each common task we accomplished together
Brought relief or achievement, if ever

Thanks for the friendship that developed out of it
Genuine support and respect was a gift
will we see each other? I never know
Stil i hope good relations will grow

For long lasting memories beyond pleasure
For people and places that I will treasure
To all those moments particularly blissful
With all these, I will forever be grateful.

(c) A. Gonzales