Bisdak Babbles

“Don’t frown, else new wrinkles will appear”.

It’s one of the most common things to say to make someone smile, or just to stop from frowning.
“That teacher is giving beautiful ladies a hard time because she never had a boyfriend”. No, this didn’t come from me. I often overhear it in my country, especially. I don’t want to be labeled as such so I avoid frowning as often as I can. I don’t want to be told that I’m getting older, thus cheerfulness is being sucked out of me.

Afterall, laughter is the best medicine and genuine smile is better than all wrinkle creams combined. Still, beauty creams are nice to have.

Smile, even if you don’t get a smile back…

Lowest temperature here in Osaka today is 9C.  I’m supposed to hold off using my heater until last week of November but I guess it’s already too much for me.  So I’ve unpacked my small heater and now at least I’m comfortable.  I can’t help but think of those homeless people roaming around Osaka.  Some of them live in the banks of the Yodo River, some under the bridges.  My Japanese friends told me that many homeless people die due to hypothermia.  This lead me to thinking that being homeless in the Philippines might be more bearable than being homeless here in Japan.  At least in the Philippines, you don’t have to battle with temperature.

It makes me feel sad seeing a native in this country not having a home while I, a foreigner, have a home.  May it be their choice or not, whether it’s their fault or not,  in Japan, in the Philippines, or anywhere, it just makes me so sad seeing people having a harder time in life.

And yet, what can I do? What can we do?

In my country and I’m pretty sure it’s also the same with many other countries, it is very rare for poor to middle class people to get the compensation they should get in case of accidents. Watching so many movies, TV shows, and after I’ve read something like Chicago accident attorney, made me realize the importance of law awareness.

About a couple of decades ago, my younger brother and his friend were biking home one night when they were hit by a jeep. The driver tried to escape but fortunately, some neighbors chased and caught him. When we look at the situation, it was mainly the owner of the jeep’s fault because not a single headlight was working when the accident happened. The jeep was impounded so the owner had no choice but to pay the hospital bills. That was it. My parents didn’t even ask them to pay for the medicines after the hospitalization. We were just more than happy that nothing serious happened to my brother.

When I was still in grade school, I sometimes overhear conversations between my parents and their visitors. There were times when someone offered them to get a term life insurance. But upon hearing those words, they would be appalled and treat the topic as a taboo. My parents weren’t the only ones who thought so, but most of the people in the neighborhood. Little did they realize the importance of getting such an insurance.

Most of the families in the Philippines only have the father as the breadwinner.  When unfortunate things happen to that breadwinner, it’d very difficult to ones left behind, both emotionally and financially.  To avoid or lessen these problems, it’s best to avail even the government’s social security system. Just think of it as savings and it’d definitely help a lot.

I’ve always wanted to rant about Sulpicio Lines but due to the recent Princess of the Stars disaster, I’ve put this entry off a few weeks.

Anyway, I’d just would like to share some of my experiences with Sulpicio Line’s Dipolog Princess (DP). This ferry has been around for as long as I could remember.

Experience #1:
I was still a freshman in college, I boarded DP one Saturday night from Cebu to Iligan City. There was no problem when it left Cebu but it suddenly stopped 4 hours after departure due to engine trouble. It started running again 5 hours later. It was supposed to arrive in Iligan at 6:00AM, but due to the problem, we reached Iligan Bay at around 1:00PM. We were about a hundred meters from the port but the engine died again. The problem wasn’t fixed so they left us with no option but to transfer to a tugboat to the port. It was my first time riding a tugboat and jumping from the ship to the tugboat was really horrifying!

Experience #2:
DP is the only ship that goes to Iligan City from Tagbilaran City. My father died in Tagbilaran City so we had to stay a few days in Bohol waiting for the ship. DP was supposed to leave Bohol on Wednesday but, due to engine trouble (again), we left Bohol the next day. We were mourning and provoked by the ship’s delay. These drove me to my limit and I actually lost my temper when I found out that some people had the same bed number as my family and me. Moreover, we weren’t able to get the economy accommodation, so we got the tourist ones. The room was supposed to be air-conditioned but we weren’t able to get some sleep because the air-conditioning system was broken!

The only good thing I can say about Sulpicio Lines is that they serve good meals. Honestly, I like some of the Sulpicio Lines ferries, especially Princess of the Ocean. But they should let go of Dipolog Princess.

I think that not only Sulpicio lines, but also most of the ferries in the Philippines have major problems. Most (if not all) of the ships are old and have poor maintenance. Serious mechanical inspections are only done when tragedies happen. Security is tightened only when a bombing incident occurs. I just hope they won’t wait for another incident to happen before they do something.

For decades, my family’s been living in Lanao del Norte in Mindanao. Mindanao is very beautiful and we love living there, if not for the constant red alerts.

Yesterday, civilians from our neighboring towns were once again mandated to evacuate due to an impending rebel attack. Sadly, incidents like this have been going on for decades. A huge percentage of poverty-stricken Filipinos are located in the war-torn Mindanao. Obviously, these wars scare away investors, hindering the progress of many places in Mindanao.

The cause of these wars? It is said that our brothers from some separatist groups demanded the formation of an independent Moro Islamic state in Mindanao. Obviously, the Philippine government declined this demand.

Many of those separatists might still have noble intentions for such demand, but what if they are just being taken advantage of by some leaders for their own selfish goals? Rumor has it that the group recruits anyone who’s willing regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Who wouldn’t be tempted to join in exchange for a sack of rice a month and meager compensation? Better that than being jobless at all.

Poverty causes war. But war causes poverty. Wouldn’t it be better if we just fight poverty but not with war? Can’t we just live in harmony? After all, we’re in one nation, we’re all Filipinos.

This seems like an impossible feat but I’m still praying for all these conflicts to stop.
Let there be peace in Mindanao…
Let there be peace in the whole world…

Most of the time I catch my self complaining that I don’t earn enough, that my salary is way too low for an OFW working in the I.T. field, and that many of my acquaintances earn a lot more than me. Then thinking about my hometown always leaves me feeling ashamed of my self…

More than a decade ago, Iligan City held up to its name as the Industrial City of the South. The National Steel Corporation (NSC) was still prosperous and thousands of its employees were well-off. Suddenly, the company plummeted along with other companies. Thousands lost their jobs and many youths stopped going to school. The once fully-booked ferries bound for Cebu almost became deserted and many families moved out of Lanao del Norte to find a way of living somewhere. This downfall also affected small businesses like carenderias and jeepney drivers and operators. Almost everyone suffered. Until today, many of the people in my hometown are still having a hard time.

How are they able to survive? That also left me wondering and in awe at the same time. This crisis drove many to tread on the path of an OFW. Some are forced to rely on the support of other family members and/or relatives. Others are left with no option but to take on a job that pays way below the minimum wage, part-time employment. Some take on the initiative of competing for a small pool of consumers by putting up a sari-sari store.

Indeed most of us have been going through hardships but these don’t keep us from smiling. We always have this strong will to survive and unexplainable hopefulness.

To every Filipino who is struggling for the sake of his family and the nation, mabuhay ka!

“Men and women are supposed to be different.” *
I should have known and accepted this fact before my past (and only) relationship crumbled. If I had known this, this would have made a big difference and that relationship might have been salvaged.

I have just started reading the book “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” by Dr. John Gray with the hope of understanding why people in long-term relationships don’t usually end up together or why some marriages don’t last.

The first chapter points out harsh realities about relationships:

“Falling in love is always magical. It feels eternal, as if love will last forever
… But as the magic recedes and daily life takes over, it emerges that men continue to expect women to think and react like men, and women expect men to feel and behave like women.” *

“From those who are able to sustain love long enough to get married, only 50 percent stay married. Out of those who stay together, possibly another 50 percent are not fulfilled. They stay together out of loyalty and obligation or from the fear of starting over. Very few people, indeed, are able to grow in love. Yet, it does happen.” *

Indeed, many people out there want to stay in a relationship not only so that they could avoid the inconvenience of starting over. Many, if not all of us, are hopeful that we stay in a relationship because that “magical feeling” is still there…

“By validating and accepting our differences, creative solutions can be discovered whereby we can succeed in getting what we want. And, more important, we can learn how to best love and support the people we care about.
Love is magical, and it can last, if we remember our differences.” *

I’ll be sharing more points from this book that I find important hope you’ll remain with me ’til I finish reading this book ^-^… ’til next time.
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* these are quoted from the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”