BUNOT

Summer is almost over. Kids will go back to school soon. This lazy Saturday, Ted and I had a good laugh about elementary years. The experience he shared below is something, I know, that everyone can relate if their school is still in the slow-moving category.

When we were in Grade IV, I almost came to a fistfight with a bully classmate.  Do you know what he did?

Flores de Mayo

Every morning, I’d see children crowding about the flowering shrubs in the flower garden of an elementary school just across the street from our house. They had plastic bags with them whereby they put the flowers they pick. The smaller children contented themselves with the flowers of the euphorbia and the

Aunt Ste

Far away in a lonely hospital room, an old lady is left alone… sick and lonely. The nurse assigned to her has just checked her vital signs and the nurse-aide has just given her the sponge bath. Every morning for three months she asked if someone has dropped by for a visit while she was asleep,

Tinagong Dagat of Lambunao

The short bath in the river was so refreshing. We were revitalized. From down below we clambered up again on the opposite bank. This time though the incline is gentler although it was also winding through the high hills towards the peak of the highest slope. 
It was 10:30 in the morning when we arrived at top where we have to go single file.. The residents call this narrow path ‘the taripis.’ The path was just about 1.5 feet wide and

The Trek to Tinagong Dagat

4:00 in the morning, the third day… We were awakened by the sweet aroma of the soup concocted by some Talunanons -Tay Auring, Nelnel,Nong Baste. At 5:40 in the morning, we were on our way to the last lap of the journey towards the group’s ultimate destination – the famous Tinagong Dagat of Lambunao. Talunanon members –Nong Nanding, Felix, Jojo and two others… were

Climbing Mountains

Downhill to the Village
(2nd of the chronology of events) 

The trek to the village was all downhill with only a few climbs. It surprised us because we have to go single file - through winding paths in the forest, ravines winding on the mountain side, paths so narrow carved above the cliffs that you have to cling to the vines that were interlocking there. The forest scenes have changed too. We heard unfamiliar bird calls and insect sounds that were both interesting and arty. In the middle of the tracks though we were all arrested by the very melodious sound of a bird that made my hairs stand on ends. It was so unique and touching… beautiful in its depths with a twang of note akin to nostalgia and

Climbing Mountains (1st of the chronology of events)

(Starting today I'll be writing about my personal experiences on climbing mountains. this is just the first of a series. Bear with me; feel the thrills and the difficulties. I am sure that you'll love each mountain too.)

Exploring the Base

Pototan, my home place, is surrounded by mountainous municipalities. We can always see them from afar but most of us can only guess what they hold in that distance. One time, the Talunanons (the local mountaineering group) of the town of Lambunao made a plan to reach out to the residents of Brgy. Cabatangan, in a form of a medical mission in coordination with the municipal office concerning skin maladies with more focus on leprosy, Ted, my better half,  decided to go with them in order to see the actual situation of the barangays in this side of the town too. At that time, he was assigned in that municipality. They went with private individuals and the local church group in this noble task. I didn’t allow the chance to pass me up so, I signed up with them.
From the tip of the feeder road in Brgy. Bagongbong to the Tinagong Dagat of Lambunao, it took about 8 to 12 hours. Every one of the members of the four eight-man team was so excited right from the foot of the hills where we were to commence. Canned items, biscuits, a bottle of water, a small packet of salt and chips were distributed to each man in addition to each one’s provision. Our guides wanted no mishaps to happen on the way that before we started, important pointers were run through. The locals commissioned to carry our packs of provisions were instructed to go ahead but

Sorting the Men from the Boys

The national election of 2010 has generally been a success. The flaws in the process were quite a number but those were minor ones that were confined to the voting centers itself. It cannot be denied though that many were not able to cast their votes because of the delays but

Battle of the Sexes

Pupils in the graders’ school always refer to their classmates as either boys or girls. In school, whatever the girls do that wins the appreciation of their teacher; the boys have to simply outdo or they do better. It holds true even if done the other way around in the elementary years. It is an aggressive contest between the sexes in these years of learning, discovering, and

Inviolable Bond

“Hahaha! What a joke!”... “No way, that’s a loser’s gamble!”... “That’ll be a great sexperience! He-he.”

So many reactions - all in a minute after everyone heard from the radio that there is a bill filed to put a limit of 10 years to marriage and that it be made renewable on its expiry. Was it exactly as it was aired or just something I didn’t get right? Well, whatever…

I asked several men and women as to why they got married and

Misinterpretation Mr. Policeman?

May 8, 2010. Three days away from the national election. The people are about ready to cast their votes.

Early today, we wanted to satisfy our curiosity about the overall situation of the city of Iloilo when every candidate seems to be in a frenzy regarding how their candidacies fare. We went for a walk in the newly constructed Ephraim Treñas Boulevard (most popularly known as ‘the boardwalk’) at about 5:45 in the morning.

Joggers, health buffs, lovers and fans streamed through the boulevard towards,

EXCESS PCOS MACHINES

(What’s Up?)

The Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines were certainly delivered to the respective areas. These were delivered complete with the necessary accessories and its defects. The deficiencies that the people of the Philippines hope will be corrected soon before May 10, 2010, which is the very day of the election.

May 6, 2010. Some acquaintances in the Province of Capiz in Region 6 informed that they have more PCOS machines in their area. According to the source, the excess in the number is the contingency unit. OH?

All throughout those early days when the Commission on Election (COMELEC) was talking about the PCOS machine, we can only remember them explaining how it works and how it is used. They also emphasized how reliable it is in ensuring an honest and clean election process. Further, they announced that there will only be one PCOS machine for a polling place which may also be a pooled number of precincts. Moreover, no pronouncement was ever made to date that there shall be contingency units or reserves in some areas.

What Next, COMELEC?

During this presidential election year of 2010, the COMELEC allegedly did much preparation to safeguard a clean and honest election process. It wants to ensure an ‘honest count of votes’. The automated election process is one, according to the Region 6 regional director, that will bring in this reality. Definitely, this is next to the hi-tech means for the electorates’ way of finding out their precinct. The COMELEC had been persuading the people to verify their voter information in order that they know their respective precincts in the May 10, 2010 election through their website: www.comelec.gov.ph
Great! People will be saving time. No need to elbow their way to seek out their name. Somehow the Commission on Election (COMELEC) has gained an inch of the electorates’ trust. That was months ago though.
The COMELEC is facing yet another issue that spells big trouble

WOEFUL COMMISSION ON ELECTION

The Commission on Election (COMELEC) is an agency of the government which obviously has less work if not for the election years. They have less clients comparatively becuase not all the people of the Philippines are interested to be candidates although they are tasked to vote for the right guys among the candidates. Unlike other government agencies that have continuing concerns to address and monitor,COMELEC has only voters' registration to keep up,verify and correct. In election times they are busy with the candidates alone and the unending complaints of the opposing camps from the national down to the local levels. At other times, they're just fine.However, with that "HELLO GARCI..." scandal that made an international issue some years back the commission has suffered more cynical comments from the people.Too bad.

They upgaraded their voters' registry and made it accessible on-line. Great! The COMELEC had been persuading the electorate to move early and verify their voter information in order that they know their respective precincts in the May 10, 2010 election.

No, we didn’t need to go back to our hometowns in order to do this. The COMELEC now goes hi-tech. All we need to do is go to the nearest internet station and click on this website: www.comelec.gov.ph. As the site appears, scroll the page down until you find the icon entitled: on-line precinct finder. Click on that icon. After about 2 minutes a set of required questions will appear on your computer screen and will require you to give the following data: First Name, Middle Name, Surname, and your Date of Birth.

Within a minute, the site will give you the following: (1) your precinct number, (2) the name of the school where the precinct is located, and (3) the name of the barangay where the school is located. The procedure is so easy to undertake. Within 10 minutes upon entering the internet station, I was able to know my voting precinct and that of my two (2) daughters. My husband’s name, however, was missing. And the site advised that in such a case, he needs to follow it up with the COMELEC registrar concerned and have his registration checked.

That’s good… in fact it’s very good. People will be saving much time in voting because they don’t have to jostle their way to the registry to seek out their name and ask for a ballot. Somehow the Commission on Election (COMELEC) has regained the electorates’ admiration because of this.

Woe! That was several weeks ago though. The COMELEC is now in another trouble… The Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) issue is a hot topic in coffee shops, barber shops and beauty parlors, and even in the market. COMELEC! When will this agency learn? Now you have all the doubts as well as the ire of most Filipino people.